February 15, 2013
River Phoenix’s last movie shown in BerlinBERLIN (AP) — The late River Phoenix’s last movie, “Dark Blood,” has received a rare screening at the Berlin film festival.
But its director says the picture may never go out for general release.
George Sluizer told reporters Thursday negotiations with the financial company that owns the movie are “tough” because “they don’t care about culture, they care about money.”
Phoenix died of a drug overdose in October 1993 before filming on “Dark Blood,” co-starring, Welsh actor Jonathan Pryce, was completed. Phoenix stars as a young widower living in the Arizona desert who takes a couple prisoner.
Sluizer finished the movie last year by using voice-over narrative for some of the missing scenes.
The movie, first shown in the Netherlands last year, is running out of competition at the 63rd Berlinale.
‘Sesame Street’ nears 1 billion views on YouTube
By Jake Coyle, Entertainment Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Nearing 1 billion views on YouTube, “Sesame Street” is headed for Justin Bieber territory.
The children’s program is closing in on the kind of rarified digital milestone usually reserved for the likes of pop stars and cat videos. “Sesame Street” will soon pass 1 billion views on YouTube and it’s celebrating the mark with a campaign to put itself over the hump.
“Sesame Street” on Thursday will post a video featuring the character Telly Monster, urging viewers to click the show past the final 20 million views and unlock a “top secret video.” Naturally, for the nonprofit children’s series, it’s a teaching moment, too. Don’t be surprised if Count von Count shows up to ponder such a big number.
For “Sesame Street,” the milestone — a first on YouTube for a nonprofit or U.S. children’s media outlet — reflects the increasingly multimedia nature of kid entertainment. Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch are now about as likely to be watched on an iPad, phone or laptop as they are on PBS.
“We have this theory that if we get content on multiple platforms and devices, it gives kids and families a chance to reinforce and experience the curriculum multiple times,” says Terry Fitzpatrick, executive vice president of content and distribution for Sesame Workshop, who emphasizes videos are best co-viewed with child and parent. “It blows me away to think about how popular and strong a platform (YouTube) has become for us.”
“Sesame Street,” a mainstay on PBS since 1970, launched its YouTube channel in 2006, but has continually expanded its mindfulness of online and mobile viewers.
Sesame Workshop last year integrated its digital media group into its TV production, so that digital and interactive elements are considered from the start of an idea. Its most popular video is “Elmo’s Song,” which has been watched nearly 86 million times since being uploaded in 2009. More recently, another PBS hit, “Downton Abbey,” was parodied in “Upside Downton Abbey,” a video where British muppets have trouble drinking tea and eating crumpets because, well, they’re upside down.
Caitlin Hendrickson, strategic partner manager for YouTube’s educational realm, YouTube EDU, says that education is one of the fastest growing content categories on the Google Inc.-owned site. “Sesame Street” reaching 1 billion views, she said in a statement, “is proof of their outstanding leadership in this space and their creative use of YouTube.”
First lady plugs ‘Beasts of the Southern Wild’By Darlene Superville
WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama on Wednesday gushed over the Oscar-nominated film “Beasts of the Southern Wild,” calling it one of the “most powerful and most important” movies in a long time in a ringing endorsement delivered less than two weeks before this month’s Academy Awards ceremony.
The first lady commented during a Black History Month workshop at the White House for about 80 middle- and high-school students from the District of Columbia and New Orleans. The movie was set in Louisiana.
Students saw the film, then got to question director Benh Zeitlin and actors Dwight Henry and 9-year-old Quvenzhane Wallis. Wallis stars in the mythical tale of a 6-year-old girl named Hushpuppy struggling to survive in the southern Delta with her ailing father as a storm approaches. Her world consists of a tight-knit, shantytown community on the bayou with wild animals, both real and imagined.
The film won four Oscar nominations, including for best picture, best actress and directing.
Mrs. Obama said she saw the 93-minute film over the summer with a large group of friends and family who ranged in age from 3 to 73, and they were enthralled by it.
“It’s rare these days to find a movie that can so completely and utterly captivate such a broad audience and that was one of the things that struck me about this movie,” she said. “It managed to be beautiful, joyful and devastatingly honest.”
The first lady said “Beasts” makes viewers “think deeply about the people we love in our lives who make us who we are” and shows the strength of communities and the power they give others to overcome obstacles.
“It also tells a compelling story of poverty and devastation but also of hope and love in the midst of some great challenges,” she said.
Mrs. Obama also said it was “cool” that “there are so many important lessons to learn in that little 93 minutes.”
“That a director and a set of writers and producers can say so much in just 93 minutes,” the first lady told the students. “And it doesn’t always happen in a movie, quite frankly, but this one did it, and that’s why I love this movie so much and why our team wanted to bring it here to the White House and share it with all of you.”
Mrs. Obama also used the film to inspire her young audience, noting that Wallis was just 5 years old when she auditioned for the part and Henry, who runs a bakery, had never acted a day in his life.
“You all have to really be focused on preparing yourselves for the challenges and the opportunities that will lie ahead for all of you. You’ve got to be prepared,” she said, urging them to go to school, do their homework every day and follow her husband’s example by reading everything they get their hands on.
CSS Studios changes name to TODD SOUNDELUXHOLLYWOOD–CSS Studios today announced it will be changing its name to TODD SOUNDELUX. CSS Studios is the holding company behind several notable creative postproduction sound brands, including Todd-AO, Soundelux, POP Sound, Modern Music, Soundelux Design Music Group and The Hollywood Edge. These individual brand names will remain unchanged.
The CSS Studios group of companies was acquired last year by Florida-based Empire Investment Holdings. “We deeply respect the history of these companies and want to honor their strong creative legacies by elevating the names of Todd and Soundelux, bringing them to the front and center of our business, said David F. Alfonso, the company’s owner. “Both Soundelux and Todd-AO are globally known brands, and we believe the name TODD SOUNDELUX will better connect the company with the creative community and offer greater clarity as to who we are and what we do.”
The company, however, intends to renew its focus on promoting its individually branded properties. “Our brands have deep roots in the creative business and we want to allow these businesses to proudly shine with their established identities,” said Alfonso. “As new owners, we are already deeply engaged with the process of investing in our group of companies, including upgrading our stages to accommodate Dolby’s Atmos technology and ensuring that we are making smart choices to future-proof our technology, attract extraordinary creative talent and protect our position as a trusted partner in content security.”
International AME Awards announces 2013 shortlist
NEW YORK–The AME Awards๏ฟฝ for The World’s Best Advertising & Marketing Effectiveness® has announced the shortlist for the 2013 competition. The Grand Jury of interactive and multidisciplinary marketers, planners, and creatives selected the shortlist from entries submitted from 27 countries worldwide.
Two categories newly launched in 2013, Social Benefit and Branded Entertainment, exhibited an uptick in entries achieving Shortlist status with brands including CNN International, Volkswagen, DuPont, Intel, Bench, and Cornetto. Trends dominating the Shortlist include a robust number of entries employing celebrity interaction, interactive consumer participation, contests, green-themed, and cause marketing. The case briefs also showed trends in advocacy-led strategy, brand reinvention, and public responsibility.
“The big theme this year seemed to be ‘celebrity’—whether that meant employing actual celebrities in a campaign or creating a contest where the consumers or their ideas would be the star,” said Alisun Armstrong, executive director, AME Awards. “It’s an interesting shift from the community-building focus that prevailed in last year’s competition, and just goes to show how a single trend can be translated into effective campaigns for an incredibly diverse field of brands.”
Celebrity-focused campaigns propelled multiple entries to the medal round: DDB Chicago “GED Pep Talk Center” for the Ad Council featured celebrities ranging from Christopher Lloyd to Terry Crewes; Metro International’s “Global Guest Editors” included Lady Gaga, Karl Lagerfeld, and Sir Richard Branson; DDB Hong Kong’s “Chinese New Year Campaign: Sharing the Blessings with One and All” for McDonald’s featured comedic duo Soft Hard. Other shortlisted entries with famous faces: TBWASantiago Mangada Puno’s “Benchingko/Films” for Bench starring Piolo Pascual and Coco Martin; OMD USA’s “Intel IdeaJam” with Ashton Kutcher; and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO’s “Going from Good to Great” with British comics Stephen Fry and Jimmy Carr.
Strategic interactive consumer participation initiatives achieved stellar results for the following Shortlisted entries: Grey Worldwide GmbH “Breathe Happy” for Febreze; Heimat Werbeagentur GmbH Germany “CNN Ecosphere”; DDB Canada/Vancouver “Canada. Keep Exploring” for the Canadian Tourism Commission; DDB “Bleachable Moments” for Clorox Liquid Bleach; OMD Hong Kong “Wyeth Learning Surprise Video Library”; Spectacolor “Dunk Tank”; and Spinn Action Marketing Sweden “Is it a Chocolatewaferchocolate or a Waferchocolatechocolate?” for Kexchoklad.
Contest marketing helped gain brand awareness and provided a fast track to the medalist round: Fred & Farid Paris “Kisser Casting” for Martini; DDB Canada/Vancouver “‘Pass the Present’ Facebook Promotion,” for Best Buy Canada; and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO UK with both “Going from Good to Great” for Pepsico and “Escape the Map” for client Mercedes Benz.
Entries in the Social Benefit categories concentrated on brand initiatives that contributed to the greater good including Green-themed “The Donation Army” by Ogilvy Germany for OroVerde Rainforest Foundation; Heimat Werbeagentur GmbH’s “CNN Ecosphere”; and TBWASantiago Mangada Puno’s campaign “KNOxOUT Project: EDSA” for Boysen Knoxout.
Germany saw 32 entries with shortlist status with campaigns based in social media: DDB Tribal Group GmbH “Don๏ฟฝt Make Up and Drive,” for client Volkswagen; Serviceplan Gruppe GmbH & Co. kg “Internit๏ฟฝ pour Chalamp๏ฟฝ. A French village wants to become German.” for client Kabel BW GmbH; and Heimat Berlin took fan rivalry to the next level with “Go All in for Your Team. Make Your Choice” for client Adidas.
The U.S. was recognized with 15 shortlisted entries; the Philippines with 9; Hong Kong 7; England 5; Canada, and France each with 4; China and Sweden each with 2; and Denmark, Egypt, Japan, Malaysia, and UAE were each recognized with 1. To view the complete the AME Awards shortlist, visit http://www.ameawards.com/shortlist/2013/. The 2013 International AME Award medalists will be announced in March.
Yahoo CEO plans to prune company’s mobile appsSAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer thinks the Internet company will be able to please more people with fewer smartphone applications.
Mayer says she hopes to winnow Yahoo’s portfolio of mobile applications from the current 60 to 75 programs to about a dozen. Her remarks came during a Tuesday appearance before investors in San Francisco.
It marked the first time that Mayer has spoken at an investment conference since she defected from Google Inc. to become Yahoo Inc.’s CEO seven months ago.
Since joining Yahoo, Mayer has stressed that the company needs to come up with a better mobile strategy to ensure its services become ingrained as daily habits that “delight and inspire” its users.
If Yahoo succeeds, Mayer thinks the company will be able to sell more advertising.
Intel working on TV set-top box to replace cable
Peter Svensson, Technology Writer
SANTA CLARA, Calif.–Intel Corp. said Tuesday that it will sell a set-top box that brings Internet-delivered movies and shows to a TV set this year.
Erik Huggers, general manager of Intel Media, said the company plans to sell a box that will offer “a vastly superior experience” to today’s cable boxes.
There are various boxes today that bring Internet content to TV sets, with popular ones made by Roku and Apple. But Intel wants to go further and make its box and streaming service a replacement for cable.
Rumors of an Intel set-top box and video service emerged last year. Huggers didn’t say what the box and service would cost, or when this year such a device would come out. He said Intel’s goal is to provide quality rather than undercutting cable pricing.
The video service would also be available on non-TV devices such as the iPad, Huggers said. Cable companies have been making some content available on smartphone and tablet computers as part of their TV Everywhere initiative, but the selection of programs and channels is limited.
Intel is the world’s largest chipmaker, but has little direct contact with consumers. Its chief business, making processors for PCs, is stagnating as PC sales are declining and consumers are moving to tablets and smartphones, most of which don’t run Intel chips. Huggers said the company was motivated to get into the consumer business after realizing that it needed to control every aspect of the service, from chips to software, to get it right.
Shares of the Santa Clara, Calif., company rose 16 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $21.19 in afternoon trading, as other technology stocks declined.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs told his biographer before his death in 2011 that he wanted to revolutionize the TV, but Apple so far hasn’t revealed anything about those plans. A big obstacle is believed to be that movie studios and TV networks like the current cable model, under which TV customers can’t choose to pay channel by channel, but have their choices limited to certain packages. It’s a profitable model for them, and they’ve been reluctant to open up to more flexible programming models.
But Huggers said media companies were showing some flexibility.
“I think we can bring an incredible TV experience via the Internet, to consumers, and that is a great opportunity for programmers,” he said at the “D: Dive Into Media” conference in Dana Point, Calif.
One of the features of the Intel box would be the ability to identify, through a camera, which family member is watching and offer him or her personalized recommendations, Huggers said.
Netflix, DreamWorks to make original kids seriesLOS ANGELES (AP) — Netflix is buffing up its credentials as a popular way for parents to keep their kids entertained.
The subscription video provider said Tuesday that it will team up with DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. to create its first original cartoon series for kids.
The series will be based on DreamWorks’ upcoming movie, “Turbo,” which is about a snail who gets the power of super speed after getting in a freak accident.
The film, starring Ryan Reynolds, Paul Giamatti, Michael Pena and others, opens in theaters July 19. The series will be called “Turbo: F.A.S.T. (Fast Action Stunt Team)” and debut exclusively in December on Netflix.
Netflix has been adding original programming to its roster of movies, and debuted the original series “House of Cards” on Feb. 1.
It has also increased its focus on children’s programming in a move seen as taking a different tack than traditional premium pay TV channels such as HBO, Starz and Showtime, whose original shows are tailored more to adults.
In December Netflix announced it will offer Disney movies, starting with films released in 2016. It declined to make a similar deal for the rights to Sony movies starting in 2016, which was kept by Starz in a deal announced Monday.
White, Francis top mtvU Woodie Awards nomineesNEW YORK (AP) — Jack White and EDM artist Dillon Francis are the lead nominees for this year’s mtvU Woodie Awards with two apiece.
The awards recognizing artists infiltrating the music landscape will return to the South By Southwest Music Festival on March 14 for what has become an annual festival and a special will air on MTV and mtvU on March 17.
Nominees for top honor Woodie of the year are fun., Kendrick Lamar, A$AP Rocky, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Grimes, MGK and Walk the Moon.
Fans can vote for winners in several categories at the Woodies website through 4 p.m. EST on March 14. Other nominees include Frank Ocean, The Lumineers, Avicii, Fiona Apple, Swedish House Mafia and The Weeknd.
Starz renews deal to get Sony movies through 2021By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Premium pay TV channel Starz said Monday that it has renewed its agreement to carry movies from Sony Pictures through films hitting theaters in 2021. The deal, which was seen as a must-win for the channel, comes two months after Netflix snatched future Disney movies from Starz.
The deal will extend Sony’s relationship with Starz by five years, giving the channel access to major Hollywood releases into the future. Disney movies released in 2016 and beyond will play on Netflix’s streaming service instead of Starz.
Analysts speculated that Starz is paying anywhere from $250 million to $400 million per year, an increase from the estimated $200 million it is paying Sony currently.
Starz CEO Chris Albrecht said in a securities filing, “we believe the terms are consistent with other recent agreements between traditional premium TV networks and major Hollywood studios,” without elaborating.
The wording suggested Starz was paying more than $200 million annually, but less than $350 million a year, which is what Netflix is estimated to pay Disney.
Netflix isn’t considered a “traditional” pay TV network, but its service, at $8 a month, is seen as increasingly competing with premium pay TV channels such as HBO, Showtime and Starz, which cost $15 a month.
Starz had 21 million subscribers as of the end of September. Netflix has 27 million subscribers at the end of 2012.
Both Netflix and Showtime were bidders, according to a person familiar with the matter. Showtime only bid for films made by Screen Gems, the Sony label behind niche fare such as its “Resident Evil” franchise, according to a second person. Both people weren’t authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
A Netflix representative declined to comment.
Last month, Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings told analysts on a conference call he was interested in going after Sony movies. “Our appetite is just like it was for Disney, it’s strong,” he said. However, he added that “there is no specific piece of content that we must have.”
Disney content was seen as more important for Netflix, which is raising the profile of its children’s programming and is popular with kids.
In comparison, Sony has put big-budget, popular movies in theaters including “The Amazing Spider Man,” ”Zero Dark Thirty” and “Men in Black 3,” and has a stronger focus on movies rated PG-13.
The possibility of losing Sony movies was a major risk and would have jeopardized Starz’ carriage deals with cable and satellite TV distributors, said Barclays analyst Chris Merwin.
“Had the deal gone to another pay TV network or subscription video on demand provider, it would have put Starz in a very difficult place strategically,” he said. Merwin added that it was “very unlikely” that Starz would renew a deal to put its content on Netflix, which expired last year.
He raised his target price on Starz shares to $16 from $15 but kept an “Equal weight” rating.
Janney analyst Tony Wible upgraded Starz to “Neutral” from “Sell” and bumped his estimate on the shares to $16 from $10.50. It remains to be seen how much Starz can offset the higher costs of the deal by raising prices on TV distributors, he noted.
Starz shares rose $1.24, or 7.4 percent, to close at $17.91. Netflix shares fell $3.08, or 1.7 percent, to $177.89. U.S.-traded shares of Sony Corp. shares rose 7 cents to $14.99.
Producers: ‘Chicago’ cast to join Oscar performersBy Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Academy Awards producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron have run out of rehearsal space. Dressing rooms, too.
The award-winning production duo is planning the most performance-filled Oscar show ever. They promise a “wow moment” in each of its 13 acts, so the show demands a more dynamic stage and more dressing rooms and rehearsal time than previous Oscar productions.
“I don’t think any Oscars have been as performance-based,” Meron said.
It’s no surprise, given the pair’s hit-filled history: They produced 2003’s best picture, “Chicago,” and count TV’s “Smash” and the recent Broadway revival of “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” among their credits.
Running out of space for their Oscar production’s A-list roster of performers — including Barbra Streisand, Adele and Norah Jones — is what Zadan calls a “great problem.”
“When you do an Oscar show, you don’t have a dressing room problem. The presenters don’t get dressing rooms. And how many people perform on the Oscars, like one or two?” he said. “We have a staggering amount of performers, and each of them needs a dressing room… We’re measuring the magnitude of how big the show is by the fact that we don’t have (enough) dressing rooms.”
Just added to the list of stars who may need spots? The cast of “Chicago.”
The producers announced Monday that Renee Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Queen Latifah and Richard Gere will reunite on the stage where “Chicago” won its Oscar 10 years ago.
“In a night of celebration of the music of the movies, we find it very appropriate,” Meron said.
So will the musical cast sing?
“We can’t talk about what they’re going to do!” Zadan said.
Here’s what they will talk about:
o Expect a dynamic, screen-filled set to accommodate the movie-focused numbers: “We’re using a lot of cutting-edge technology with new LED screens of different sizes, shapes and configurations… It’s kind of thrilling what we’re doing with screens,” Zadan said. “There will be, too, the regular screen that you have to use each year… but then we have all kinds of other screens that we’re using in the show that are completely unique and different and allow us to do stuff with cinema, so it’s not a concert thing where somebody comes out and sings a song. It’s all integrated into movies.”
o Look for a lot of host Seth MacFarlane: “He’s going to be very present as a host, as a host should,” Meron said.
o And expect to hear him show off his chops: “Seth will sing. He’s got a great voice,” Zadan said.
o”Seth really does understand and have great reverence for the music of the movies,” Meron added. “He loves it.”
o And about those “wow moments?” Among them will be a celebration of the James Bond film franchise, a tribute to movie musicals, Streisand, Adele, a “special appearance” by Daniel Radcliffe, Charlize Theron, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and maybe something from the cast of “Chicago.”
“We think seeing the cast of ‘The Avengers’ is pretty wow,” Meron said.
Better book them a dressing room.
CP+B promotes Dan Donovan to exec creative director
BOULDER, Colo.–CP+B has promoted Dan Donovan to executive creative director. Donovan, who is based in CP+B’s Boulder office, came to the agency in May 2012 as a creative director focusing on the Microsoft account. Since that time, he has been instrumental in several new business wins and contributed to the global Windows Phone campaign, which launched last November.
Prior to CP+B, Donovan was group creative director at McCann NY, where he oversaw parts of the Verizon Wireless account from 2005 to 2012.
Steve Babcock joins EVB as exec creative director
SAN FRANCISCO–Evolution Bureau (EVB), a creative agency that specializes in digital and social media, has hired Steve Babcock as its executive creative director. Babcock replaces Stephen Goldblatt who recently joined Mullen as chief digital officer.
Babcockwas VP/execcutive creative director at Crispin Porter + Bogusky (CP+B) in Boulder, Colo., where he worked for six years. He worked on accounts including Volkswagen, Geek Squad and Amex OPEN, and managed Domino’s Pizza, Guitar Hero, Best Buy, Applebee’s and others as an executive creative director or CD. Babcock won several industry awards for his team’s creative campaign that helped Domino’s Pizza turn its reputation around, including a 2009 Cannes Integrated Lion for “You Got 30 Minutes,” and a slew of Pencils, Lions and Clios for the “Domino’s Pizza Tracker.”
Babcock will open a creative office in Boulder. EVB is based in San Francisco where it has close ties to the Silicon Valley and technology. The agency also has a London office that handles its global social media account for Chivas Regal.
‘Lincoln’ screenwriter concedes inaccuracy
By Michael Melia
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) — The screenwriter for the movie “Lincoln” has conceded taking some liberties in its portrayal of a 19th century vote on slavery, but he said his changes adhered to widely accepted standards for the creation of historical drama.
A congressman who pointed out the flaw, U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, said Friday that he was pleased screenwriter Tony Kushner acknowledged that Connecticut congressmen did not vote against a constitutional amendment outlawing slavery, as depicted in the film. He said he hopes a correction can be made before the film is released on DVD.
“My effort from the beginning has been to set the record straight on this vote, so people do not leave the theater believing Connecticut’s representatives in the 38th Congress were on the wrong side of history,” Courtney said.
After watching the movie over the weekend, Courtney praised the artistry of the film about President Abraham Lincoln’s political struggle to abolish slavery, but he took issue with a scene that shows two Connecticut congressmen vote against the 13th amendment. He asked the Congressional Research Service to investigate, and it reported that all four Connecticut congressmen backed the amendment in a January 1865 vote.
In a letter to the film’s director, Steven Spielberg, the four-term Democratic congressman includes a tally of the 1865 vote by the state’s congressional delegation and a passionate defense of the state’s role in emancipating millions of blacks.
A spokeswoman for Disney, which distributed the DreamWorks film, had no comment on whether any changes will be made to the film either theatrically or in DVD form.
Kushner, the screenwriter, said in a statement Thursday that the film changed two of the delegation’s votes to clarify the historical reality that the 13th Amendment passed by a very narrow margin. He said the film made up new names for the men casting the votes so as not to ascribe actions to real people who did not perform them.
“In making changes to the voting sequence, we adhered to time-honored and completely legitimate standards for the creation of historical drama, which is what ‘Lincoln’ is. I hope nobody is shocked to learn that I also made up dialogue and imagined encounters and invented characters,” Kushner said.
Kushner said he disagreed with Courtney’s contention that accuracy is “paramount” in historical drama and said Connecticut should not feel as though it is defamed in the film. He also said Courtney was incorrect in saying Connecticut was “solidly” pro-Lincoln, saying he received 51.4 percent of the state’s vote in the 1864 election.
Courtney, who represents eastern Connecticut, said there was some local opposition to Lincoln but also noted the state lost more than 4,000 soldiers on the side of the Union in the Civil War.
“Their sacrifice emphatically demonstrates Connecticut’s fidelity to the struggle to preserve the Union and end slavery, which is represented in ‘Lincoln’ dramatically by the House’s vote on the 13th Amendment. The four members of Connecticut’s delegation reflected that commitment on January 31, 1865, and they deserved a better legacy than the screenplay portrayed,” Courtney said.
Movie Writer Christy Lemire contributed to this report from Los Angeles.
