New date and venue set for film commissioners annual Locations Tradeshow
The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) elected a new chairman and four officers to its board of directors at its annual board meeting hosted by AFCI Member, Film LA.
Kevin Jennings, executive manager of Film Otago Southland (New Zealand), was elected AFCI chairman.
Jennings’ leadership of the Otago Southland film office has allowed the region to enjoy a boost in economic development amassing a track record of big-budget feature film productions–serving as the backdrop to The Hobbit trilogy, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 10,000 BC, The Lord of the Rings, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, Prince Caspian, Vertical Limit, and Sundance Channel’s Top of the Lake.
Statistics New Zealand reports that film production brings $20 million annually into the local economy.
Joining Jennings in new officer appointments on AFCI’s board of directors include: first vice-chairman Nick Maniatis, director of the New Mexico Film Office; second vice-chairman Sigmund Elias Holm, Western Norway film commissioner; treasurer Walea Contantinau, film commissioner for the Honolulu Film Office; and Pam Haynes, director of West Virginia Film Office, who assumes the role of AFCI secretary.
The appointed officers join other board members: Silvia Echeverri, Colombian Film Commission; Denny Staggs, Montana Film Office; Marijana Stoisits, Vienna Film Commission; Karen Carberry Warhola, Maine Film Office; and Jeanne Corcoran, Sarasota Film and Entertainment Office in the leadership of the AFCI.
“It’s an honor to be in a position of servant leadership with AFCI and to continue serving the ever changing needs of the TV and film industry on-location internationally as we have for the past 40 years,” said chairman Jennings. “As the leading resource on the planet for location shooting, our members represent the best of the best in trained and knowledgeable film commission professionals around the world.”
Chairman Jennings also announced the new date and venue for AFCI’s annual Locations & Global Finance Show scheduled for Thursday, April 21–Saturday, April 23, 2016 at the Marriott Burbank (Los Angeles).
“Our Locations Show event has been around for more than 30 years and it’s an opportunity for our members to exhibit their locations, promote their infrastructure and the billions of dollars incentives that are available to the TV and film production industry,” said Jennings.
For 2016, AFCI is further enhancing the tradeshow with the inclusion of its Global Finance Conference.
With the addition of the global film finance conference, AFCI will present international industry leaders to meet with media producers and financiers interested in investing in foreign markets. The conference will complement AFCI members’ offerings with national film funds and private capital from both the financial and media production community.
The Locations & Global Finance Show is the industry’s only show pairing locations and film finance.
AFCI will release additional information regarding the tradeshow conference’s presenters, speakers and topics in the coming weeks.
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More