November 30, 2012
MacFarlane surprises UCLA class, announces Oscar contestBy Sandy Cohen, AP Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Oscar host Seth MacFarlane is inviting college students to join him on stage at the Academy Awards.
The “Family Guy” creator made a surprise appearance at UCLA to announce a contest sponsored by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and MTV that will allow winning college students to appear on the Feb. 24 Oscar telecast.
The contest invites students to submit videos on the academy’s Facebook page describing how they’ll contribute to the future of film. At least six winners will serve as trophy carriers on the Oscar show, replacing the leggy models who usually perform the duties.
MacFarlane spent 40 minutes leading the undergraduate film and television class at UCLA’s Westwood campus on Wednesday as part of MTV’s “Stand In” series, which brings celebrities to colleges as guest lecturers.
“In re-imagining what we want our Oscar show to be, we wanted everyone appearing on that stage to feel a deep commitment to film and its legacy and, most importantly, its future,” said Oscar producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron in a statement. “That was the impetus in creating this special honor.”
The contest is also aimed at drawing the younger viewers favored by advertisers to the Oscars’ aging TV audience. Like UCLA student Abby Smith, who immediately pulled out her smartphone to share the moment on Facebook when MacFarlane appeared before her class.
“Seth MacFarlane is speaking to my film lecture for the next hour,” Smith posted. “I’m having a panic attack.”
The 39-year-old entertainer urged the aspiring filmmakers and show-runners in the class to make a “commercially viable student film” before leaving school, adding that “Family Guy” was based on his own student film.
And MacFarlane said “Family Guy” could once again become a film. He said he’s already come up with a concept for a feature-length movie and promised “it will happen at some point.”
MacFarlane cheekily described the Academy Awards as “a crazy little variety show” and said “all I can do is do what I think is funny and most entertaining.”
“The Oscars is a tricky venue,” he said. “The (hosts) who have not done well, I would classify them as a noble failure, an honorable failure, because at least they were trying something new… If I can do it without torpedoing my career and getting drummed out of the business… All I can do is my very best.”
He paused a beat, and added, “Lame (expletive) answer.”
Johnson pitches London as Bollywood partner
MUMBAI, India (AP) — The mayor of London has announced that two Indian films will be shot in his city next year as part of a bid to bring Bollywood to the British capital.
Boris Johnson said Thursday in Mumbai that Indian filmmakers should make London their movie set of choice.
He offered tax breaks, cooperation on clearing streets and spoke of “the huge audiences that Indian films have in London.”
Producer Sajid Nadiadwala says he will film two movies, including the latest in the hugely successful “Housefull” series in London.
Besides “Housefull 3” starring Akshay Kumar, Nadiadwala will shoot “Kick” in London.
Johnson’s visit is part of a series of trips he plans over the next 18 months to China, Brazil and the Middle East to attract investment after the successful London Olympics.
10 Contenders Remain in VFX Oscar RaceBEVERLY HILLS, Calif.–The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 10 films remain in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 85th Academy Awards๏ฟฝ.
The films are:
“The Amazing Spider-Man”
“Cloud Atlas”
“The Dark Knight Rises”
“The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”
“John Carter”
“Life of Pi”
“Marvel’s The Avengers”
“Prometheus”
“Skyfall”
“Snow White and the Huntsman”
All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 3. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.
Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre® at Hollywood & Highland Center๏ฟฝ, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.
‘Cuckoo’s Nest’ filmmaker Forman earns DGA prize
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Two-time Academy Award winner Milos Forman is receiving the lifetime-achievement award from his peers at the Directors Guild of America.
The filmmaker who won Oscars for “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Amadeus” will be getting the guild honor at the directors union awards ceremony Feb. 2.
In announcing the award Wednesday, guild President Taylor Hackford called Forman one of the greatest filmmakers of modern times, saying the filmmaker finds the “universality of the human experience in every story.”
Along with the directing Oscars for “Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Amadeus,” Forman also received the Directors Guild top prize for both films.
Among Forman’s other films are “Ragtime,” ”The People vs. Larry Flynt” and “Man on the Moon.”
Forman is the 34th recipient of the guild honor, whose past recipients include Steven Spielberg, Clint Eastwood, Martin Scorsese, Stanley Kubrick, Ingmar Bergman, Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock.
The CLIO Awards Announce 2013 Jury Chairs, New Media Types
NEW YORK–The CLIO Awards named nine global industry leaders to serve as jury chairs for the 2013 awards program. It also announced a number of new and updated media types to mirror the latest changes in an ever-evolving industry.
The 2013 jury chairs include:
o Film – Mark Tutssel, global CCO, Leo Burnett, Chicago7Print, and Amir Kassaei, worldwide CCO, DDB
o Content & Contact – Rob Schwartz, global creative president, TBWA, Los Angeles
o Branded Entertainment – Bill Davenport, president, Wieden & Kennedy Entertainment, Portland
o Direct & Engagement – Nick Moore, EVP, CCO, Wunderman, NYC
o Digital/Mobile & Digital Technique – Malcolm Poynton, European Chief Creative Officer, SapientNitro, London
o Design – Joachim Sauter, chairman & head of design, Art+Com, Berlin
o Public Relations – Matt Neale, international president, GolinHarris, London
o And Audio & Audio Technique – Bill Cimino, CCO, Y&R, Chicago
The rapidly changing media landscape and the impactful work of those within it have prompted the CLIOs to announce seven new or updated media types: Branded Entertainment & Content; Engagement; Digital Technique; Hall of Fame (updated to include Print, Out of Home (OOH), Audio and Design); Digital & Mobile (formerly Interactive); Direct (formerly Direct Mail); and Audio and Audio Technique (formerly Radio & Radio Technique)
Categories that are unchanged include Innovative Media, Integrated Campaign, Print, Print Technique, Film, Film Technique, Public Relations, OOH and Student.
On May 15, 2013, the 54th Annual CLIO Awards will honor the groundbreaking work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. Prior to the ceremony, guests will be able to view the winning work at a Gallery housed at the museum, which will be open to the public.
The online entry system for the 2013 Awards program began accepting submissions Monday, November 19 at www.clioawards.com. Submission deadline is January 18, 2013.
Freelancers’ films on Libya, Syria win media prize
LONDON (AP) — Freelance journalists from France, Spain and Britain on Wednesday won the Rory Peck Awards for video reporting in warzones including Libya and Syria.
The annual award, presented at the ceremony at the British Film Institute, recognizes the achievement of freelance cameramen and women working in news around the world.
Alberto Arce and Ricardo Garcia Vilanova from Spain took the features prize for a self-funded film about young rebel fighters in the besieged Libyan city of Misrata.
Arce, who has directed several documentaries in Iraq and Afghanistan, joined The Associated Press earlier this year as a correspondent in Honduras.
French freelance photographer and filmmaker Mani won the news award for a report on the Syrian forces’ shelling campaign in Homs in February. Mani gained rare access to the people and fighters in the city as they took on President Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Briton Daniel Bogado won the Sony Impact Award for a film on a largely unknown war between civilians and the government in Sudan.
The AP is a sponsor of the Rory Peck Trust, which produces the awards. The prize, established in 1995, is named after freelance cameraman Rory Peck, who was killed in Moscow in 1993.
‘Potter’ star Radcliffe heads to Sundance fest
LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Harry Potter” star Daniel Radcliffe has landed his first entry in the Sundance Film Festival.
Radcliffe plays poet Allen Ginsberg in the drama “Kill Your Darlings,” which premieres next January at Robert Redford’s Sundance festival. “Kill Your Darlings” was among 16 films announced Wednesday that will compete for the festival’s top prize in the U.S. dramatic competition.
Directed by John Krokidas, “Kill Your Darlings” co-stars Elizabeth Olsen, Ben Foster and Jack Huston in the story of a murder that brings the young Ginsberg together with fellow future Beat Generation heroes Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944.
The Sundance festival runs Jan. 17-27 in Park City, Utah.
China film studios plan Shanghai stock offerings
By Kelvin Chan, Business Writer
HONG KONG (AP) — Two big Chinese state-owned film studios are planning to sell shares on the Shanghai stock exchange in a sign of Beijing’s desire to build a film industry that can compete with Hollywood.
China Film Co. and Shanghai Film Group Co. are on a list of companies preparing to go public in Shanghai. The list was posted this week on the website of China’s securities regulator.
No details were provided on how much money they plan to raise or timetables for their initial public offerings. Officials at both companies declined to provide any further information when contacted by phone.
A stock offering would help the companies raise money for big-budget blockbuster productions rivaling the Hollywood movies that are increasingly popular in China’s government-controlled film market.
Beijing-based China Film’s credits include the critically acclaimed 2010 box office hit “Let The Bullets Fly,” starring Chow Yun-fat. It was also involved in the 2010 remake of “The Karate Kid,” which starred Jackie Chan and was filmed in China. The company is part of the China Film Group, one of two companies authorized to distribute foreign movies in China.
The Shanghai Film Group, part of the Shanghai Media and Entertainment Group, produced “Aftershock,” a 2010 drama about a devastating 1976 earthquake, as well as 2005’s “The White Countess,” starring Ralph Fiennes and set in Shanghai.
China’s leaders hope to develop the country’s cultural industries as a way to expand their influence abroad. They’ve reached out to Hollywood this year as they look for co-production deals that would help their studios make movies that appeal to both Chinese and global audiences.
For their part, Hollywood studios such as Dreamworks Animation have been teaming up with Chinese partners to gain access to China’s fast-growing but tightly regulated film market.
Chinese adore foreign movies, and six of the top 10 highest grossing films in the country last year were Hollywood productions, including “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Kung Fu Panda 2.”
But leaders are also worried that domestic moviegoers are increasingly choosing Hollywood flicks over local ones.
Tian Jin, deputy head of the State Administration of Radio, Film and Television, the industry regulator, said earlier this month that domestic films took 41.4 percent of total box office receipts in the first 10 months of 2012, according to a report by the official Xinhua news agency. That was down from the year before, though the report did not say by how much.
China’s box office revenue rose more than a third in 2011 to $2 billion, putting the country on pace to become the world’s second largest movie market after the combined U.S. and Canadian region this year.
Multiplatform content creation company Antenna launches
LOS ANGELES–Antenna, a full-service studio focused on multi-platform content creation for commercial advertising, film and television, has launched in Los Angeles under the aegis of exec producers Marie Soto and Michael J. Katz. The company, which also features a satellite production facility in Europe, offers design, animation, visual effects, live action production, music composition and a broad range of digital services. It aims to provide advertising agencies, motion picture VFX producers, television studios and others with turn-key content-creation services for all media: theatrical, broadcast, online and print.
Antenna launches with a strong pedigree and a background of groundbreaking work. Its staff of designers, animators, visual effects artists, composers and producers, as well as its technical resources, is drawn from the in-house design and production department of The Ant Farm, a leading entertainment advertising agency.
Soto, who will lead Antenna’s sales and marketing effort, is new to the company and brings broad experience as a producer and sales executive for companies involved in commercial production, visual effects and design. She most recently served as executive producer at The Traveling Picture Show Company, a producer of commercials and feature films. She has recently produced work for TaylorMade, Sea World, Chevy, Infiniti and Nike.
Katz, who will oversee production operations, has headed The Ant Farm’s design and production unit for the past two years. His background includes a stint as executive producer at Oishii Creative and extensive credits as a freelance producer for such companies as Imaginary Forces and Zoo Films.
Antenna’s production services incorporate all types of content including broadcast, online and print. Antenna plans to tap national and international markets for both clients and talent. The company is currently assembling an international sales team and has plans to establish additional satellite production facilities in Europe and on the East Coast.
Beyonce documentary premiering on HBO in FebruaryNEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce is getting personal.
HBO announced Monday that a documentary about the Grammy-winning singer will debut Feb. 16, 2013. Beyonce is directing the film, which will include footage she shot herself with her laptop.
The network said the documentary will include “video that provides raw, unprecedented access to the private entertainment icon and high-voltage performances.” It will also feature home videos of her family and of the singer as a new mother and owner of her company, Parkwood Entertainment.
Beyonce said in a statement the untitled project was “personal” to her. She is married to Jay-Z. They had their first child, daughter Blue Ivy Carter, in January.
The 31-year-old will perform at the 2013 Super Bowl halftime show on Feb. 3, 13 days before the documentary airs.
Camera sold for $2.19 million in Austria
VIENNA (AP) — An Austrian photo gallery says a camera used by a photographer who documented the life of artist Pablo Picasso has sold for a world record price of €1.68 million ($2.19 million).
The Westlicht gallery says the Leica m3d belonged to David Douglas Duncan. The 96-year-old former photographer for LIFE magazine was a close friend of Picasso and published hundreds of exclusive photos of him.
Manufactured in 1955, the camera is one of four ever made, and the price is a world record for a commercially produced camera.
In a statement Monday, Westlicht says the second-highest price in the Saturday’s sale was for a gold-plated Leica made in 1929, which sold for €1.02 million ($1.3 million).
China’s ‘Beijing Blues’ wins at Taiwan film fest
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — China’s “Beijing Blues” has won the best film award at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Film Festival, an event considered the Chinese-language Oscars. Hong Kong’s Johnnie To is taking home the best director’s award
“Beijing Blues” portrays the lives of the ordinary urban dwellers through the work of a squad of plainclothes crime-hunters.
At Saturday’s ceremony, To won the award for directing “Life Without Principle,” a movie about ordinary citizens’ struggles in hard economic times.
The film has also won veteran Hong Kong actor Lau Ching Wan the best actor’s award. Lau portrays a triad thug seeking to recover money lost in a loan shark scheme.
Taiwan’s Gwei Lun-mei won the best actress award for portraying a woman involved in a romantic triangle in “GF-BF” or “Girlfriend-Boyfriend.”
‘Sesame Street’ director Emily Squires dies in NYC
NEW YORK (AP) — A longtime “Sesame Street” director who also worked on soap operas including “The Guiding Light” and “As the World Turns” has died. Emily Squires was 71.
She died Wednesday (11/21) at New York’s Mount Sinai Hospital.
Squires’ husband, Len Belzer, said Friday that the cause of death hasn’t been determined.
Squires directed the “Sesame Street” children’s television series from 1982 to 2007 while also writing for the program.
She directed several “Sesame Street” TV specials as well as other children’s programs such as the PBS show “Between the Lions,” which promoted reading.
She also was a scriptwriter for soap operas including “The Guiding Light,” ”Search for Tomorrow,” ”The Secret Storm” and “As the World Turns.”
Squires later directed documentaries including “Visions of Perfect Worlds,” a conversation with the Dalai Lama.
Brenda Major Joins 4A’s From Disney/ABCNEW YORK–The 4A’s, the trade association representing the advertising agency business, has hired Brenda Major as its new VP for Conferences and Events.
Major will be responsible for strategy and planning for all 4A’s events, including the upcoming 2013 Transformation Conference in New Orleans.
She joins the association from Disney/ABC Television Group. She has spent a total of 30 years producing high-profile events across industries including media, entertainment and non-profit, rising to VP, Corporate Events at Disney ABC Television Group.
During her time at Disney/ABC, Major developed and executed all of the network’s major business meetings and special events including the Super Bowl, ABC Television’s annual upfronts and the World Cup.
Major’s career has included working in the Special Events division of Radio City Productions, overseeing the Daytime Emmy Awards, President Clinton’s 50th Birthday Celebration, McDonald’s product launches and the First Annual GQ “Men of the Year Awards,” which was broadcast on VH1.
Major also led event management teams at companies including American Woman’s Economic Develop Corporation, Jacob Javits Convention Center and Washington Convention Center.
