April 12, 2013
Chan adds best director award to his trophy shelfHONG KONG (AP) — Jackie Chan has received a lot of awards during a career that’s spanned 50 years, but a best director award is rare on his trophy shelves.
The action star took home one for his 100th film, “Chinese Zodiac.” He was among entertainers honored at the Huading Awards in Hong Kong on Wednesday night.
Chan was all smiles backstage because he says this award didn’t come easy. He says directors like Stanley Kwan and Tsui Hark “move the camera and have fun with it.” But he says the tempo is faster in an action film, and it’s harder to win directing awards.
He added: “I think I also got lucky.”
Chan said last year he thought “Chinese Zodiac” would be his last action movie and he’ll focus on other genres.
In other awards, Fan Bing Bing won best actress for “Double Exposure.” She’s an A-lister in her native China, but her Hollywood debut in “Iron Man 3” was reportedly cut back.
Fan said that as long as she had fun shooting, even if it was a small cameo, it doesn’t bother her: “I think it’s important to have a good time, and I was helping some friends out. It’s fine.”
Best-actor winner Nicholas Tse said he was happy about his win and thanked the cast and crew of the winning film “The Bullet Vanishes.”
“Cold War” was named best film, and a lifetime achievement award went to filmmaker Raymond Chow.
The Huading Awards winners in some categories are selected by industry experts, while others are voted by viewers.
DreamWorks Animation buys Trolls brandGLENDALE, Calif. (AP) — DreamWorks Animation says it has bought the Troll brand from Denmark’s Dam Things and plans to expand the fuzzy toy franchise worldwide.
DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. also said Thursday that it has hired Shawn Dennis, previously a senior vice president at doll company American Girl, to oversee the Trolls franchise and other businesses.
The company is not disclosing the financial terms of the deal. The Troll dolls were a big craze in the 1960s and saw a resurgence in the 1990s. The often unclothed Trolls are known for their grinning faces and shock of big hair that comes in many colors.
The first Troll created by Danish woodcutter Thomas Dam, who carved the doll in 1959 when he couldn’t afford a Christmas gift for his young daughter Lajla. The Dam family will remain the brand’s licensor in Scandinavia, DreamWorks said.
DreamWorks has previously said it is planning a Trolls film for 2015.
Shares of Glendale, Calif.-based DreamWorks closed up 11 cents at $19.62.
Wash. jury rejects claim of actress who sued IMDb
By Gene Johnson
SEATTLE (AP) — A federal jury in Seattle on Thursday rejected a claim brought by a little-known actress who first lied about how old she was on the popular Internet Movie Database, then sued the company when it published her true age.
Huong Hoang goes by the stage name Junie Hoang and has appeared in such films as “Gingerdead Man 3: Saturday Night Cleaver” and “Hoodrats 2: Hoodrat Warriors.”
Her lawsuit generated a lot of media attention when she filed it — anonymously, at first — in 2011. She said she intended for her case to highlight online privacy as well as age discrimination in Hollywood, and she initially sought $1 million in damages.
“My hope was that it would make a change in the database,” Hoang told The Associated Press after the verdict. “I knew it was a problem not just for me but for anyone else who had their age on their profile.”
The 41-year-old claimed offers for roles dried up after the popular online movie database mined her account information to learn her true age, then posted it on her profile in 2008. She sued for breach of contract, and the case went to trial this week. The judge dismissed IMDb’s parent company, Amazon.com, as a defendant before the trial.
IMDb argued that it has a First Amendment right to publish accurate information. It also said Hoang couldn’t prove she lost any money or roles because of it, and even if she could, she couldn’t prove it was IMDb’s fault.
“Hoang did not present any testimony, documents, or other evidence supporting her damages allegations of lost income and profits,” the company’s lawyers wrote in a court filing at the end of the trial.
IMDb.com is an searchable database that includes more than 2 million pages for movies, television and entertainment programs, as well as 4 million cast and crew members.
Hoang signed up for a subscription service with the website called IMDb Pro. The service is designed for entertainment industry professionals. It provides contact information and other details for the actors, actresses, directors and others listed.
She said she initially listed a false birth year — 1978, instead of 1971 — because she usually plays characters younger than she is.
But eventually, she moved from her hometown of Houston, Texas, to the more competitive entertainment market of Los Angeles, and as what would have been her fake 30th birthday approached, she decided she didn’t want any age listed on her profile.
IMDb refused to remove the age listed unless she could provide evidence that it was incorrect. She asked the company to check its records to see if it had any information that would substantiate that age.
The company did so — using her account information to find her real name, and then using her real name to conduct a public records search and discover her true age. IMDb posted her real age on her profile, over her objections.
She claimed that the company breached its contract with her by misusing the account information she provided in violation of its privacy policy. The company disagreed, noting that the privacy policy stated that it maintained its customers’ information “for such purposes as responding to your requests.”
Hoang said she plans to keep acting.
She played Sandy in “Gingerdead Man 3,” a sequel to a 2005 Gary Busey movie in which “an evil yet adorable gingerbread man comes to life with the soul of a convicted killer,” according to a description on IMDb.
Other credits include a part as a triage nurse in the television series “I Didn’t Know I Was Pregnant,” and as the part of Janet in “My Big Phat Hip Hop Family.”
Reebok drops Rick Ross following pro-rape lyricsNEW YORK (AP) — Reebok has ended its relationship with Rick Ross following heavy criticism of lyrics by the rapper considered by some to be pro-rape.
The sneaker brand said in a statement Thursday that “Reebok holds our partners to a high standard and we expect them to live up to the values of our brand. Unfortunately, Rick Ross has failed to do so.”
Rick Ross formally apologized for his lyrics on Rocko’s song “U.O.E.N.O.” in a tweet last week. It came the same day a women’s group, UltraViolet, protested outside of one Reebok’s stores in Manhattan.
In Rocko’s song, Ross raps about giving a woman the drug MDMA, known as Molly, and having his way with her.
Reebok added that “we are very disappointed (Ross) has yet to display an understanding of the seriousness of this issue.”
Yangaroo, USA Studios Enter Into Strategic AllianceTORONTO–Yangaroo, a secure digital media management company headquartered in Toronto, and USA Studios, a New York-based provider of postproduction and distribution services for brands and agencies, have entered into a multi-year, comprehensive partnership. Per the arrangement, Yangaroo and USA will jointly sell and market their services–Yangaroo’s digital distribution technology and USA’s capabilities–to drive growth and revenue. At the same time, Yangaroo and USA will benefit by being integrated into each other’s workflows and that of their customers as well as from opportunities for collaborative, customer-centric product development.
Existing and new customers of USA Studios will benefit from Yangaroo Advertising. Powered by the company’s patented Digital Media Distribution System (DMDS) platform, it is a web-based and hardware-free service that enables senders to deliver high-quality ads and videos to broadcasters around the globe. It includes a fully-automated traffic management system called “Reporter”, which merges personalized traffic instructions with a signed and date-stamped confirmation that traffic instructions have been received.
USA, with clients that include Microsoft, TAG Worldwide, Jaguar, Land Rover, Priceline, Calvin Klein, Disney, Ubisoft, Diageo Brands, My Traffic Department, Grey Goose, Overstock.com, Ancestry.com, and Mattel, will continue to provide its post services–video editing, closed captioning, on-air tracking, direct response versioning, adaptation for online and multimedia services–and Yangaroo will gain access to USA’s infrastructure, including customer support personnel as well as office space in New York.
Columbia Pictures Acquires David Ayer’s “Fury”LOS ANGELES–Columbia Pictures has acquired domestic distribution and a good portion of the available international distribution rights to David Ayer’s epic war film “Fury,” with Brad Pitt set to star in the leading role, it was announced today by QED International CEO Bill Block and Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures. QED is producing the film with John Lesher’s Le Grisbi Productions and Ethan Smith. Alex Ott is co-producing the feature with Ayer. Principal photography is set to begin in September 2013 and Columbia anticipates releasing “Fury” on November 14, 2014.
“Fury” is set at the very end of World War II, in April 1945. As the Allies make their final push in the European Theater, a battle-hardened army sergeant named Wardaddy (Brad Pitt) commands a Sherman tank and her five-man crew on a deadly mission behind enemy lines. Outnumbered and outgunned, Wardaddy and his men face overwhelming odds in their heroic attempts to strike at the heart of Nazi Germany.
QED and Columbia previously partnered on the worldwide hit “District 9.” “Fury” is Ayer’s second film with QED, which is financing and producing his ensemble action thriller “Ten,” starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sam Worthington and Mireille Enos, and which is set for release from Open Road Films in January 2014. “Fury” also reteams Ayer with John Lesher, who produced his last film, “End of Watch.”
Digital Pulse registers with director Fabio NardoSYDNEY–TV commercial director and designer Fabio Nardo has joined Aussie production company Digital Pulse as its new creative director. His credits include the direction of memorable campaigns Down Under such as those featuring the bouncy Birds Eye birds and Demazin’s “man flu” character. Other campaigns he has applied his design acumen to include Eveready’s toys, Lexus, Toyota, Ford and Hyundai.
Prior to joining Digital Pulse, Nardo worked freelance and in-house as a TV spot director and designer with Filmgraphics Entertainment.
REELZ to debut network’s first two reality showsALBUQERQUE, NM–The first two reality series for the REELZCHANNEL—TV About Movies� network will premiere on Wednesday and Thursday, June 5 and 6. The primetime premieres begin Wednesday, June 5 at 9pm ET and at 8pm PT with “Beverly Hills Pawn,” a docuseries starring store owner Yossi Dina which delves into the wonder and values of Hollywood memorabilia, high-dollar collectibles and fine jewelry, where the people and stories behind these rare items are even more extraordinary. To kick off “Beverly Hills Pawn,” the June 5 premiere will feature four new half hour episodes airing back to back.
“Race to the Scene” premieres on Thursday, June 6 at 9pm ET and at 9pm PT, with action movie star Dolph Lundgren hosting the competition reality series that brings the best of the big screen right into viewers’ living rooms. Contestants race to and from iconic movie locations participating in competitions inspired by some of the biggest blockbuster movies of all time, from “Transformers” to “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial,” “Terminator 2: Judgment Day,” “Speed” and many more. Lundgren motivates contestants as they compete up to their eyeballs in brains from “Pulp Fiction,” race to pull off their own heist in “The Italian Job” and viewers will even see Lundgren put on wedding dress for a “Bridesmaids” stunt.
China pulls ‘Django Unchained’ on day of premiereBy Didi Tang
BEIJING (AP) — “Django Unchained” became “Django Unscreened” on Thursday as Quentin Tarantino’s violent slave-revenge saga was pulled from Chinese theaters on its opening day, with the importer blaming an unspecified technical problem.
The rare suspension order by China Film Group Corp. was confirmed by theater employees throughout China, and has led to speculation that the Hollywood film could have run afoul of Chinese censors despite weeks of promotion in the country.
Calls to the importer and to China’s regulatory agency, the State Administration of Radio Film and Television, were unanswered. The China office of Sony Pictures, which released the film, refused to comment.
“Django Unchained” reportedly cut some violent scenes and had already been cleared by China’s rigorous censors, who generally remove violence, sex and politically edgy content. With such an exacting system, suspension on a film’s premiere date is unusual.
Tian Zaixing, general manager of the Beichen Fortune Center movie theater in the southern city of Kunming, said he could not recall any other imported film being halted on the opening day. The order from China Film Group came in a phone call around 10 a.m., he said.
“We were excited about the film yesterday,” he said. “We had had high expectations for this film’s box office.”
Tian said he had hoped the movie would bring about one-tenth of the monthly box office, or about 150,000 yuan ($24,000), to his six-screen theater in April. Now, he must scramble to fill newly opened slots for screening.
“This means we might not be able to meet our box-office goal for the year,” Tian said.
The cited technical reason might only be a ruse, said Tian, who was unable to provide an alternative explanation.
He dismissed speculation that a nude scene was the offending culprit.
“The censors have sharper eyes than we do,” Tian said. “Shouldn’t they have already spotted it?” He added the scene was not lewd at all but powerful in making the audience sympathetic toward one character.
The film stars actors well known to the Chinese audience: Leonardo DiCaprio as a plantation owner and Jamie Foxx as a freed slave who trains to become a bounty hunter and demands his wife’s freedom.
It made more than $160 million at the North American box office and has proved successful overseas as well. China has risen to the second-biggest movie market with sales of $2.7 billion last year, according to the Motion Picture Association of America.
A man who is on the official promotional team for the film but refused to give his name because of the perceived sensibility of the issue said there had been no prior warning about the suspension and that the film’s midnight premiere was unaffected.
Photographer Xue Yutao said he was about one minute into the movie at a Beijing theater Thursday morning when a couple of theater employees walked in and told the audience that the screening would be postponed. The announcer did not give a reason or say when the movie would be re-shown, Xue said.
“It was so sudden. I was very shocked,” Xue said. “How could this be possible? Something like this has never happened before.”
Xue said he resorted to a pirated copy of the film and did not see anything that would have offended Chinese censors.
“I’m not a noble man,” the photographer said of his viewing of pirated movies. “I would still prefer to see it in the theater.”
MTV cancels ‘BUCKWILD’ after W.Va. star’s death
By Vicki Smith
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) — MTV said Wednesday it is canceling its West Virginia-based reality TV show “BUCKWILD” a week after the accidental death of 21-year-old star Shain Gandee.
Network spokesman Jake Urbanski confirmed the news, saying it was “not an easy decision.”
“But given Shain’s tragic passing and essential presence on the show, we felt it was not appropriate to continue without him,” the network said. “Instead, we are working on a meaningful way to pay tribute to his memory on our air and privately.”
On Sunday, MTV will air a special, “BUCKWILD: WV to the NYC,” which was shot before second-season filming had begun. The network said Shain’s parents, Dale and Loretta Gandee, support the move.
Gandee and two others were found dead of carbon monoxide poisoning on April 1. Gandee’s SUV was stuck in a mud pit near his home in Sissonville, its tail pipe submerged. That could have allowed the invisible gas to fill the vehicle’s cabin.
Gandee, his 48-year-old uncle, David Gandee, and 27-year-old friend Donald Robert Myers had last been seen leaving a bar at 3 a.m. March 31. Friends and family searched all day for them, and authorities issued a missing-persons report the following day.
The Gandees were buried Sunday after a joint memorial service in Charleston that drew hundreds of friends, family and fans. Cameras were not allowed inside the Charleston Municipal Auditorium or at the private family burial in Thaxton Cemetery.
Shain Gandee, nicknamed “Gandee Candy” by fans, was a breakout star of the show that followed the antics of young friends enjoying their wild country lifestyle. Season one was filmed last year, mostly around Sissonville and Charleston.
Gandee favored four-wheelers, pickups and SUVs over cellphones and computers, and “mudding,” or off-road driving, was one of his favorite pastimes. It was no coincidence some mourners arrived in mud-splattered trucks.
Shooting was underway on season two at the time of Gandee’s death, but MTV said film crews were not with him over Easter weekend and hadn’t filmed him since earlier that week.
MTV said the half-hour series in the old “Jersey Shore” time slot was pulling in an average of 3 million viewers per episode since its premiere and was the No. 1 original cable series on Thursday nights among 12- to 34-year-olds.
Some fans reacted angrily to the decision on social media, launching a campaign to keep the show alive using the hash tag (hash)KeepBuckwildForShain on Twitter. Cast member Cara Parrish was also among those objecting.
“I think MTV should show reality. Losing Shain broke all our hearts,” Parrish tweeted.
Although the idea of filming without Gandee “hurts me clear through my soul,” she wrote, “the thought of turning our backs on his dreams is worse.”
But many others, including some at Gandee’s funeral, said the show just wouldn’t have been the same without him.
The network issued a statement from Loretta and Dale Gandee, thanking fans for their thoughts and prayers.
“We have truly felt all the love and know that Shain is resting peacefully,” they said. “Shain was an incredible, outgoing and positive person who was loved by whoever he met. We are honored that we were able to let the world see what a wonderful son we had.”
Shain Gandee was the third BUCKWILD cast member to make unwanted headlines.
Last month, 24-year-old Salwa Amin was sent back to jail for violating the terms of her bond following a February arrest on drug charges. She is facing two counts of drug possession with intent to deliver and remained behind bars without bond on Wednesday.
State Police say a multi-agency task force arrested Amin and two other people at a Summersville residence after receiving a tip from an informant. A search found oxycodone pills, heroin and $3,000 in cash.
Another cast mate, Michael Douglas Burford, was charged in February with driving under the influence.
Some detractors, including U.S. Sen. and former West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin, had publicly worried about the show and its cast before the first episode aired.
Manchin asked MTV to cancel the show, telling the network’s president that it would profit from the “poor decisions of our youth” and that it played to ugly, inaccurate stereotypes about the people of West Virginia.
VC firms team up to invest in Google Glass ideas
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Three influential venture capital firms are teaming to find and finance entrepreneurs who want to create applications and other accessories for Google Glass. That’s an Internet-connected device that is setting out to turn wearable computing into the latest fashion trend.
The partnership announced Wednesday will join Google’s own venture capital arm with two other investment firms, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Andreessen Horowitz.
The firms are pledging to work together to arrange seed funding ranging from $250,000 to $2 million to support ideas for software and other gear built for Google Glass.
The formation of the “Glass Collective” is likely to heighten the anticipation surrounding Google Glass. The device isn’t expected to be released on the mass market until next year.
GM returning to Facebook with Chevrolet Sonic adsDETROIT (AP) — General Motors is returning to Facebook.
The automaker pulled its ads from the social media giant last May, just days before Facebook’s initial public offering. GM said the ads weren’t effective and didn’t justify the $10 million per year it was spending.
But on Tuesday, Chevrolet’s U.S. marketing chief Chris Perry said GM is introducing mobile-only Facebook ads for the Chevrolet Sonic subcompact car.
Perry didn’t reveal any details about the ads or say how much GM is spending. But he said GM is using new methods to target the ads and measure their effectiveness.
Facebook recently boosted its ability to track the impact of ads with the purchase of Atlas, a set of online marketing tools. Microsoft sold Atlas to Facebook at the end of February.
The Field [Social] launched to connect celebs to brands & causes
NEW YORK–The Field, a New York-based boutique advertising agency, will expand its presence in the ad community by creating a new division, The Field [Social], which will utilize the power of celebrity, notables, and business leaders to promote brands, causes, and products across a broad spectrum of industries. The division will be helmed by Shpresa Oruci, director of media outreach,
Oruci has a career centered on Hollywood, politics and Wall Street. Her work in celebrity advocacy began during her years as program director for The Creative Coalition, a nationally recognized leader in the arts and entertainment industry founded by Ron Silver, Christopher Reeve, Alec Baldwin and William Baldwin. There, she engaged and recruited celebrity involvement in hundreds of national and international events she spearheaded, including some of the most substantial programs at the presidential conventions, Sundance, Cannes and Toronto film festivals and presidential inaugurations. Subsequently, her consultancy at the Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Organization (IREO), a de-facto unit of the United Nations, included enlisting key Hollywood insiders and decision makers to join the Green Entertainment Media Committee, aimed at reducing the industry’s impact on the environment. She more recently served as the government relations liaison for Wall Street’s technology firm, FTEN, Inc., furthering the company’s global positioning by capitalizing on her strong inroads on Capitol Hill in preparation for merger and acquisition by NASDAQ OMX.
“Our success in our nationwide campaign, ‘Don’t Major in Debt,’ for the National College Finance Center, was in part due to Oruci’s capabilities in securing actress Jane Lynch as its national spokesperson,” said The Field’s CEO Michael Porte. “With over 800,000 unique visitors to the National College Finance Center’s site and $5 million in earned advertising after launching our campaign, we knew we were on to something that could evolve and serve both the business and not-for-profit communities in a big way.”
Oruci will work alongside Porte and creative director Lisa Birnbach.
Fans get early look at ‘Elysium’ footage
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The year is 2154, and Earth belongs to the poor. The wealthiest citizens live on “Elysium,” an idyllic, disease-free utopia they built in space.
On Monday, a few hundred film fans in Los Angeles, Berlin and Sao Paolo got an early look at the future home of the 1 percent as imagined by “District 9” writer-director Neill Blomkamp.
Blomkamp showed about 10 minutes of footage from the anticipated film during a special screening. Matt Damon, who stars alongside Jodie Foster, introduced the footage in Berlin and appeared at Hollywood’s Arclight Theater via satellite.
In the film, Earth is a trash-filled landscape policed unforgivingly by robotic droids. Flying military tanks patrol the sky.
Damon plays a diseased Earthling trying to infiltrate Elysium to save himself, and perhaps all of humanity. A group of Earth-bound rebels outfit him for the journey with a tentacled “strength suit.” They use a drill to affix a digital box to his head that allows him to transfer brain contents as effortlessly as computer files.
Foster plays an Elysium administrator determined to keep Damon out. The star of “District 9,” Sharlto Copley, plays a bearded villain who works on Earth to protect the wealthy space enclave.
Speaking to reporters after the screening, Blomkamp hinted that there could be a sequel to his breakthrough debut.
“I think the world of ‘District 9’ has a lot of very interesting race and impression-based ideas that I would still like to explore in that world,” he said.
“Elysium” opens Aug. 9.
Exec threatens to pull Fox signal if Aereo goes onLAS VEGAS (AP) — A top executive with the owner of the Fox broadcast network threatened Monday to convert the network to a subscription channel on cable or satellite TV if Internet startup Aereo Inc. continues to “steal” Fox’s over-the-air signal and sell it to consumers without paying for rights.
Although anyone with an antenna can pick up a station’s signals for free, cable and satellite companies typically pay stations and networks for the right to distribute their programming to subscribers. Industrywide, those retransmission fees add up to billions of dollars every year. Aereo says it’s not subject to those fees.
News Corp. Chief Operating Officer Chase Carey said that not being paid by Aereo jeopardizes the economics of broadcast TV, which benefits from both retransmission fees and advertising.
“This is not an ideal path we look to pursue, but we can’t sit idly by and let an entity steal our signal,” Carey said at the annual gathering of broadcasters, called NAB Show, in Las Vegas. “If we can’t do a fair deal, we could take the whole network to a subscription model.”
Fox owns 27 TV stations that thrive on the signal of Fox or its sister network, MyNetworkTV. Carey didn’t explain how they might be affected by his proposal.
His remarks came a week after a federal appeals court said Aereo could continue its service despite a legal challenge by broadcasters. Aereo takes broadcast signals for free from the air with thousands of little antennas, recodes them for Internet use and feeds that to subscribers’ computers, tablets and smartphones. Plans start at $8 a month, which is much cheaper than a cable package, though the service is mostly limited to broadcast channels.
Broadcasters argue that Aereo is engaged in copyright infringement by retransmitting the signals without permission and payments. But in a 2-1 ruling, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York accepted Aereo’s position that the individual antennas meant that Aereo wasn’t retransmitting signals, but allowing its subscribers to do what they already could at home with their own antenna and video recorder.
Aereo’s service had been limited to New York City when it debuted early last year. The Barry Diller-backed company expanded this year to the New York City suburbs, including New Jersey and parts of Connecticut. It plans to expand to Boston, Chicago, Philadelphia, Washington and 18 other U.S. markets this spring.
Analyst Todd Juenger of Bernstein Research speculated in a research note in January on what would make broadcast networks transition to a pay TV model.
Such a system would result in the loss of local news programs, broadcast personalities and advertising, which are all made possible by local TV stations. But a pay TV system could be better for network owners such as Fox if services like Aereo were to thrive, because it would cut off technology that siphons away customers from pay TV operators, he wrote.
News Corp.’s stock rose 77 cents, or 2.5 percent, to close Monday at $31.41.
2 top Olympic sports lose major sponsors
Raf Casert, Sports Writer
BRUSSELS (AP) — Two major Olympic sports — track and field and speedskating — have lost key sponsors in the midst of a global economic slump.
The South Korean electronics giant Samsung is cutting ties with track and field’s Diamond League series of top meets. The company’s decision comes on short notice following last summer’s London Olympics.
The International Skating Union also must begin looking for a major sponsor. The Dutch energy supplier Essent said it will end its longstanding backing of speedskating after the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.
“To be honest, it is not easy,” ISU President Ottavio Cinquanta told The Associated Press. “The international market is not in the very best condition. One has to admit, there is some problem. We will have to pay attention to what to do.”
Soccer still has money-making capability in hard times. Manchester United proved that over the weekend when it clinched a major eight-year sponsorship deal with the insurance firm Aon estimated at $230 million. But annual sponsorship commitments like Samsung or Essent are counted in a few million dollars annually. That, however, doesn’t make the income any less essential.
The ISU was fortunate in that Essent gave it a full year’s warning that it was ending a 16-year relationship.
“Of course, we were not on the market (before) looking for another sponsor,” Cinquanta said.
Europe is a prime market for both track and speedskating but the continent has been hit for the past three years by a government-debt crisis that has pushed many nations into recession and high unemployment as companies struggle to make ends meet.
Often sponsorship is an obvious cost-cutting division, making the search for new sponsors in a bad economic climate even tougher. That’s especially true for a niche sport like speedskating, which can count on global attention only when the Winter Olympics come around every four years.
Essent and Cinquanta refused to say how much the annual sponsorship of international competitions cost, but the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant estimated Essent’s involvement in the sport at $5.2 million a year.
The timing for track and field’s ruling body is difficult. The Diamond League begins in Doha, Qatar, on May 10, with more meets later that month in Shanghai, New York and Eugene, Ore.
“The Diamond League and the IAAF are confident that another title sponsor will be secured in the near future,” IAAF spokesman Nick Davies said.
Almost at the same time, Samsung announced a sponsorship partnership with Usain Bolt, “who is, above all else, a symbol of the sport of athletics,” Davies added.
Sponsorship experts see the Samsung deal as a business decision based on the premise that it can get greater exposure from a straight affiliation with Bolt rather than the Diamond League, where the name of the overall sponsor is sometimes trumped by an individual meet promoter.
Sports federations like the IAAF and the ISU have been advised to look further toward Asia, where the economy is still in relatively good health compared to Europe’s.
“When you look at the overall sponsorship market, it is still growing by about 4 percent,” said sports management professor Wim Lagae of Leuven University.
He adds that the loss of Samsung should not pose too big a problem for the IAAF.
“It is only one of several categories,” he said. “And if you lose sponsorship, even if it still is an important issue, it is not the end of the world because you still have TV rights, ticketing, and other diversification income.”
The IAAF has guaranteed income from TV until 2018 and from marketing until 2019, as well as increased revenue from the International Olympic Committee following the success of the London Games. Reserves for the next five years are estimated to stay above $65 million.
As for speedskating, Lagae said it was only normal for Essent to show some fatigue after 1 � decades of sponsorship — a notion echoed by the company itself.
“As sponsor, we reached the ceiling of our possibilities,” Essent Chief Executive Erwin van Laethem said.
Momentum builds with Monahan, Snyder
NEW YORK–Momentum Worldwide has made new leadership appointments to its North American integrated production team: Karen Monahan has joined as VP/director of integrated production, North America; and Jason Alan Snyder joins in the new role VP/director of technology, North America.
Monahan is charged with pioneering Momentum’s integrated production approach, innovating the industry model by connecting production resources–regardless of medium–directly into strategic and creative processes. The production resources she taps encompass interactive, video, technology, live events and beyond–better ensuring innovative brand solutions free of siloed tactics.
Monahan brings extensive experience to the role, encompassing stints at Weiden+Kennedy and RGA, and has delivered multi-award winning work for brands including Verizon, L’Oreal, AXE, ESPN and Nike.
Meanwhile, Snyder willl collaborate with creative, strategy, business leadership and production talent to ensure the most effective and current technology solutions for Momentum clients – offering insights to emerging technologies that boost experience and engagement. Snyder is a reputed technologist, futurist and business strategist with nearly two decades experience in the creative development of technology products, apps and services. He has spent almost a decade of that time at IPG agencies, including developing Deutsch’s iDeutsch as a founding member. Earlier, he held positions as head of product design at AOL and Yahoo! Music working with brands including Google, Coca-Cola, Dell, HBO, IKEA, J&J, Procter & Gamble and TiVO.
His latest invention, the Luci Solar Lantern, is a lightweight, inflatable durable LED lantern with solar-powered lithium ion battery. He co-founded MicroPowerDesign (MPOWERD) to commercialize this invention, which was recognized as a top 10 at CES this year. A pioneer in mobile, he invented and commercialized JAGTAG, the only mobile 2D barcode solution that did not require the download of an application prior to use and the only mobile medium that can successfully deliver optimized multimedia to both standard and smartphones. Snyder has more than 15 patents for new technology products related to social networking and information serving.
Geffen Foundation Donates $25M To Academy Museum
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.–The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced today that it has received a $25 million commitment from The David Geffen Foundation for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The gift was made as part of the Academy Museum’s $300 million capital campaign and is the largest commitment received to date. In recognition of this gift, the Academy will name the Museum’s premiere-sized theater The David Geffen Theater.
The Academy launched the Museum’s capital campaign in 2012 and has already secured more than half of the campaign’s goal in commitments. The campaign is co-chaired by Annette Bening and Tom Hanks.
“I’m pleased to support the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures,” said David Geffen. “This is an exciting opportunity to be part of the creation of an iconic architectural space and cultural institution that will combine the best of the old and the new and provide a permanent public home for the Academy’s rich tradition of honoring the shining stars of the cinematic arts.”
Designed by architects Renzo Piano and Zoltan Pali, the Academy Museum will be located next to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) in the historic Wilshire May Company building. Slated to open in early 2017, the Academy Museum will contain nearly 300,000 square feet of state-of-the-art galleries, exhibition spaces, theaters, screening rooms, education centers, and special event spaces.
The design for the Academy Museum fully restores the Wilshire and Fairfax street-front facades of the original 1939 Streamline Moderne building. It also includes a spherical wing at the northern end of the original building that will replace an extension made to the structure in 1946. Designed to represent the marriage of art and technology, the wing will house The David Geffen Theater and will be a spectacular new piece of contemporary architecture that will perfectly complement the historic building.
“David’s enlightened philanthropy touches lives every day,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “His generosity and commitment to our museum are deeply inspiring to all of us working to make this long-held dream a reality.”
The David Geffen Theater will be in operation throughout the year. Programming will include: premieres of films from an international roster of established and emerging filmmakers, major retrospectives, in-depth symposia that will illuminate the crafts of moviemaking, and high-profile special events.
Acclaimed documentary maker Les Blank dies at 77BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Les Blank, an acclaimed documentary maker who focused his camera on cultural corners ranging from blues music, to garlic lovers, to shoe-eating artists, died Sunday at age 77, his son said.
Blank died at his home in Berkeley, Calif. nearly a year after being diagnosed with bladder cancer, Harrod Blank said.
Blank’s 42 films earned him a lifetime achievement award from the American Film Institute.
“I think he’s a national treasure,” filmmaker Taylor Hackford, president of the Directors Guild of America, told the New York Times. “Although his films are not well known at the moment, they’ll take their place”
The Florida-born Blank’s early documentaries focused on musicians, including 1965’s “Dizzy Gillespie” and “The Blues Accordin’ to Lightnin’ Hopkins,” a portrait of the Texas bluesman that won Blank his first wide renown.
He shifted to food with documentaries like 1980’s “Garlic is as Good as 10 Mothers,” and 2007’s “All in This Tea.”
Blank was known for following his curiosity anywhere. No topic was too strange — or too ordinary. His 1987 film “Gap-Toothed Women” was a series of interviews on the subject spurred by an old high school crush.
“If he was interested in gap-toothed women, he’s going to make a film about it. If he wants to make a film about garlic because he loves to eat garlic, he’s going to do it,” said Harrod Blank, who is also a filmmaker.
But the subject that led to Blank’s most memorable work was fellow filmmaker Werner Herzog.
In 1979’s “Werner Herzog Eats His Shoe,” Blank chronicled Herzog’s attempt to dine on his boot, the result of a lost bet.
And “Burden of Dreams,” Blank’s 1982 behind-the-scenes view of Herzog’s disastrous filming of “Fitzcarraldo” in the Peruvian jungle, became a classic chronicle of artistic obsession.
“If I abandon this project, I would be a man without dreams,” Blank films Herzog saying in the film. “I don’t want to live like that.”
