March 15, 2013,
‘Bullitt’ producer Robert E. Relyea dies
Derrik J. Lang, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The film producer and director whose credits included “The Magnificent Seven” and “West Side Story has died. Robert E. Relyea was 82.
A spokeswoman for Relyea says he died March 5 of natural causes in Los Angeles.
Relyea’s career spanned over 40 years. He worked with stars such as John Wayne on “The Alamo” and Elvis Presley on “Jailhouse Rock.”
He collaborated with Steve McQueen on several films, including “Bullitt,” ”Le Mans” and “The Reivers.”
Relyea started as an MGM crew member in 1955 and served as president of production at MGM-United Artists from 1997 to 2001. He released his autobiography, “Not So Quiet on the Set,” in 2008.
He is survived by his wife, Dorothy; five children; two stepchildren and grandchildren.
5 convicted of inventing movie to hide tax fraud
By Jill Lawles
LONDON (AP) – The clue was in the title.
In some ways “A Landscape of Lies” was a typical indie film, with a tiny budget, a B-list cast and an award from an American film festival.
What made it special is that it was created solely to cover up a huge tax fraud.
Five people in Britain face jail sentences after being convicted this week of attempting to bilk the government of 2.8 million pounds ($4.2 million) in a moviemaking scam reminiscent of Academy Award-winning hit “Argo” – without the heroic hostage rescue.
Prosecutors and tax authorities say the fraudsters claimed to be producing a made-in-Britain movie with unnamed A-list actors and a 19 million-pound budget supplied by a Jordanian firm.
In fact, officials say, the project was a sham, set up to claim almost 1.5 million pounds in goods and services tax for work that had not been done, as well as 1.3 million pounds under a government program that allows filmmakers to claim back up to 25 percent of their expenditure as tax relief.
Britain’s tax agency, Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, said that the filmmakers had submitted paperwork and already received 1.7 million pounds when checks revealed “that the work had not been done and most of the so-called suppliers and film studios had never heard of the gang.”
The self-described movie producers were arrested on suspicion of tax fraud in April 2011 – and decided their best shot at avoiding criminal charges was to hastily make a film.
Paul Knight, a true-crime writer turned low-budget filmmaker, was hired to write and direct “A Landscape of Lies,” described in its Internet Movie Database entry as a crime thriller about a Gulf War veteran out for justice for a murdered comrade.
Just as in “Argo” – in which the CIA dreams up a fake sci-fi movie, complete with screenplay, posters and advertisements as cover for a hostage-rescue mission – the production was announced in film industry magazines. The casting of Andrea McLean, a host of talk show “Loose Women,” as a troubled, bisexual therapist was reported in the tabloid Sun. The producers also recruited a former soap actor – Marc Bannerman from the BBC’s “EastEnders.”
Neither the stars nor Knight were accused of knowing about the fraud.
“A Landscape of Lies” was released straight to DVD in Britain in 2011. But it did garner some fans, winning a commendation called a Silver Ace award at last year’s Las Vegas Film Festival.
That wasn’t enough to deter the tax authorities. Five producers from various parts of Britain – Bashar Al-Issa, Aoife Madden, Tariq Hassan, Ian Sherwood and Osama Al Baghdady – were convicted Tuesday of conspiracy to cheat the public revenue at London’s Southwark Crown Court. They will be sentenced March 25.
Tax officials said the case marked the agency’s first-ever prosecution for film-tax fraud.
“We are pleased that instead of this film flop going straight to DVD, these small-screen z-listers could go straight to jail,” said John Pointing, the revenue agency’s assistant director of criminal investigation.
Comcast, networks collaborate on TV binge week
David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) – The nation’s largest cable company is planning a television “watchathon” for the last week of March, collaborating with several television networks to make entire series available for free on demand.
The Comcast Corp.’s plan encourages binge viewing, where people spend hours catching up on television series they may have missed the first time around and serves as a grand look into what may be the future of TV viewing.
Comcast has convinced more than 30 TV networks to make their programming available for the March 25-31 promotion. More than 3,500 television episodes will be offered, said Matt Strauss, senior vice president of digital and emerging platforms for Comcast.
“We’re at an inflection point in how people watch television,” he said.
Broadcast networks like ABC and CBS generally make only the four most recent episodes of a series available to on demand services. For the promotion, participating networks will make all of a season’s episodes available for people to catch up on viewing.
Comcast customers will also have free access to premium networks like HBO and Showtime, which they would normally pay extra for, during the promotion. In many cases, entire histories of programs like “Game of Thrones,” ”Homeland” and “Girls” will be available, along with some old series like “Sex and the City” and “The Sopranos.”
The sheer size of Comcast, which owns NBC Universal, is what gives the experiment its resonance. Roughly 20 percent of the nation’s television households are Comcast customers.
For the television networks, the experiment offers viewers a chance to catch up with or get acquainted with series they might not have followed. Lately, series like “The Walking Dead” are increasing in ratings in a way that indicates many people are watching past episodes during lulls in the series and getting hooked.
For the premium networks, the special week might also encourage more customers to pay for their service if they try, and like, some series that they might not have been exposed to, Strauss said.
All of the programs will be available to Comcast customers on mobile devices and tablets as well as television. The company is encouraging greater use of its application that allows viewing everywhere, a product that has started more slowly than people expected. Networks might also be encouraged to make more of their programming available on demand if the week is successful, he said.
Networks might have been concerned about losing some of its live audience to on-demand programming, but the week before Easter is generally slow with a lot of reruns being aired.
“We really see this as a collaboration where we are all partners,” Strauss said.
Colin Trevorrow to direct ‘Jurassic Park 4’LOS ANGELES (AP) — Colin Trevorrow is taking the reins of “Jurassic Park.”
Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment announced Thursday that the 36-year-old director will helm “Jurassic Park 4.”
Trevorrow made his feature film directorial debut with last year’s “Safety Not Guaranteed.”
Steven Spielberg is executive producing “Jurassic Park 4,” which is set for release in 3-D on June 13, 2014. The script was written by “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” screenwriters Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver.
The first two “Jurassic Park” films were directed by Spielberg, while the third installment was helmed by “Captain America” director Joe Johnston.
The dinosaur franchise has grossed $1.9 billion at the box office worldwide since the first film was released in 1993.
The original “Jurassic Park” will be rereleased in theaters April 5 in 3-D.
Snoop documentary “Reincarnated” has SXSW premiere
By Michael Brick
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — The rapper formerly known as Snoop Dogg is showing off his new movie, album and identity at the South by Southwest Film Festival.
In the documentary “Reincarnated,” filmmakers followed Snoop as he traveled to Jamaica, immersed himself in Rastafari culture and changed his musical moniker to Snoop Lion. The film made its domestic debut at the festival Thursday.
Snoop emerged from the trip with not only the new name, but a reggae album and what sounds like a political agenda. For example, he renounces gunplay a song titled “No Guns Allowed.”
And on the red carpet Thursday, he said current marijuana laws “need to be tweaked to the people of today.”
But Snoop Lion says he’s no politician. He says he just likes “dealing with the reality of it.”
Missing movie exec’s car found; homicide suspectedLOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California authorities say they’ve found the car of a 20th Century Fox executive who vanished nearly a year ago and they now believe he is dead.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department says a Mercedes-Benz registered to Gavin Smith was found Thursday at a Simi Valley storage facility.
Authorities say that the storage facility was linked to a man who’s jailed on an unrelated drug conviction.
A sheriff’s statement says detectives are now investigating the case as a homicide, although Gavin’s body hasn’t been recovered.
The 57-year-old Smith was last seen in May in Ventura County after leaving a friend’s home.
Smith was with Fox’s movie distribution department for nearly 18 years and was a branch manager for several theaters.
CBS launches app for watching full episodesLOS ANGELES (AP) — CBS Corp. launched an app for iPhones and iPads that allows viewers to watch full episodes of prime-time TV shows like “NCIS,” ”Survivor” and “The Good Wife” on the eighth day after their debut on air.
The app, released Thursday, allows users to catch up on their favorite shows in the hopes they’ll return to TV when new episodes air. It also helps CBS earn advertising revenue, since mobile episodes will contain just as many commercials as regular TV. Ads on mobile devices can’t be skipped like they can on a digital video recorder.
The launch brings CBS more in line with some other broadcasters that also stream recent shows on mobile devices for free. ABC and NBC offer apps that provide full episodes for free the day after airing, while Fox offers the same over apps if users prove they already pay for TV from certain providers.
Marc DeBevoise, general manager of entertainment, sports and news for CBS Interactive, said the apps represent a revenue-generating alternative to viewing on DVRs. DVR viewers often skip ads, and after a week, CBS no longer earns ad revenue from the recordings because that viewing isn’t tracked a week after broadcast.
In contrast, app viewing can be measured and sold to advertisers regardless of how long after broadcast people watch them.
“As long as we can measure and monetize our content, we want to give it to them,” he said.
The company said that later this year, it would introduce the app for other major mobile and tablet platforms, including Android and Windows 8.
Spielberg mingles with Bollywood stars in IndiaNEW DELHI (AP) — Movie director Steven Spielberg says he chooses his work based on emotion, not business.
The multiple Oscar-winning American director told Indian actor Amitabh Bachchan in a television interview aired Tuesday that he chooses to work only on films that call out to him.
Spielberg is in the western city of Mumbai — the home of Bollywood — to celebrate the success of “Lincoln,” which was co-produced by the Indian company Reliance Entertainment.
He attended a glitzy Bollywood party Tuesday night, mingling with several top Indian actors, including Bachchan and his wife, actress Jaya Bachchan, and his daughter-in-law, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, a former Miss World who is also an actress.
‘Great Gatsby’ to open Cannes Film Festival
PARIS (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival has an American flavor this year, with a Hollywood icon heading the jury and a quintessential U.S. literary figure opening the event: The Great Gatsby.
Organizers said Tuesday that the film “The Great Gatsby,” with Leonardo DiCaprio in the title role and directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann, will open this year’s Cannes festival — in 3D, no less.
Luhrmann stressed the film’s French connection, saying in a statement that author F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote “some of the most poignant and beautiful passages” of “The Great Gatsby” at a French Riviera villa not far from Cannes. Tobey Maguire and Carey Mulligan also star in Luhrmann’s version of the 1925 novel.
Steven Spielberg is heading the jury at the Cannes festival this year, which runs May 15-26.
Vimeo On Demand self-distribution service launched
AUSTIN, Tex.–Vimeo today launched its open self-distribution service, Vimeo On Demand. Available now to all Vimeo PRO members, Vimeo On Demand empowers creators to sell their works directly to their audiences and retain a 90 percent share of the revenue after transaction costs. In addition to its creator-friendly revenue share, Vimeo On Demand gives creators the flexibility and control to choose their price; select country-by-country availability; customize their page design; and offer content on Vimeo, their own website, or both.
“Vimeo is committed to empowering creators with tools to display and distribute their work in beautiful HD quality,” said Vimeo CEO Kerry Trainor. “With the addition of Vimeo On Demand, creators can now use Vimeo to control the way they earn revenue and retain a significant portion of the proceeds.”
Videos purchased through Vimeo On Demand are accessible across devices, connecting creators to Vimeo’s 93 million monthly viewers across desktop, mobile (Android/iOs/Windows), connected TV devices (Apple TV/Roku/Google TV/Xbox Live), and major smart TV platforms (Samsung/Panasonic/Phillips).
Vimeo On Demand will launch at the SXSW Interactive + Film Festival with a screening of “It’s Such a Beautiful Day,” the latest work by Academy Award-nominated animator and self-distribution pioneer Don Hertzfeldt. The film will screen on Tuesday, March 12, at the Vimeo Theater at SXSW from 11:00 a.m.-12:30 p.m., and will be followed by a Q&A with Don Hertzfeldt and Vimeo CEO Trainor. Vimeo is offering the newly re-mastered and expanded version of “It’s Such a Beautiful Day,” which brings together the entire tragicomic story of a troubled man named Bill, for $2 rental or $6 sale, exclusively through Vimeo On Demand.
Reports: Iran mulls suing Hollywood over ‘Argo’TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iranian media say authorities are planning to sue Hollywood over the Oscar-winning “Argo” because of the movie’s allegedly “unrealistic portrayal” of the country.
Several news outlets, including the pro-reform Shargh daily, said on Tuesday that French lawyer Isabelle Coutant-Peyre is in Iran for talks with officials over how and where to file the lawsuit. Coutant-Peyre is also the lawyer for notorious Venezuelan-born terrorist Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, known as Carlos the Jackal.
The decision on the lawsuit came after a group of Iranian cultural officials and movie critics screened the film in a closed audience in a Tehran theater late Monday.
Iranian officials in February dismissed “Argo” as pro-CIA, anti-Iran propaganda.
The movie is based on the escape of six American hostages from the besieged U.S. Embassy in Tehran in 1979.
New York Festivals Announces Six More JurorsNEW YORK–New York Festivals International Advertising Awards๏ฟฝ announced six additional appointments to the 2013 Executive Jury. The following prominent executives will join the elite group of worldwide chief creative officers to select the World’s Best Advertising๏ฟฝ across all mediums from the shortlist selected by the online Grand Jury:
* Fernando Bellotti, Regional Chief Creative Officer/President, Leo Burnett ,Argentina
* Wain Choi, Worldwide VP & Global ECD, Cheil Worldwide, South Korea
* Mariano Duhalde, Chief Creative Officer, Havas Madrid, Spain
* Rob Feakins, Chief Creative Officer/President, Publicis Kaplan Thaler, USA
* Dave Rolfe, Director of Integrated Production, BBDO, USA
* Yang Yeo, Chief Creative Officer, JWT Shanghai, China
The Executive Jury “Dream Team” convenes April 27-May 1 for live judging to determine the Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Grand winners, as well as the one entry worthy of being named the World’s Best Idea®.
Peter Mertz named director of digital at ZambeziLOS ANGELES–Zambezi, an independent, full-service creative agency specializing in sports and entertainment, has hired Peter Mertz as director of digital, a brand new position for the shop, effective immediately. Mertz will directly report to Chris Raih, managing director and co-founder.
In his new role, his primary responsibilities include director of digital operations, strategy, social, production and delivery capabilities; overseeing all facets of digital strategy from planning to activation and launch; educating the agency about digital marketing best practices; and providing strategic direction for clients’ technological and digital needs.
Mertz comes to Zambezi from Elastic where he served as head of digital. Additionally, he was formerly the global director of digital at TBWA/Media Arts Lab where he focused on Apple’s global digital presence. Throughout his career, Mertz has worked with other clients such as Ford, Lincoln, Audi, Subaru, HP, Seventh Generation, Citgo, Harley-Davidson, Cargrill, White Castle and American Standard.
Skrillex creates soundtrack for ‘Spring Breakers’By Ron Harris
AUSTIN, Texas–Grammy-winning electronic music specialist Skrillex brings his ear and oversight to Hollywood for the “Spring Breakers” movie soundtrack, enlisting some top-notch talent to deliver everything from dubstep to beat-heavy bass rap. “Spring Breakers” debuted at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin.
Besides several of his own tracks, the Skrillex-composed album features Atlanta-based rappers Gucci Mane and Waka Flocka Flame, the latter providing an interesting though nearly understated delivery on an explicit track about staying focused in the music industry to provide big dollars for his family.
Skrillex uses Ellie Goulding’s breathy dance track, “Lights,” as the finale on this decent assemblage. It’s not the disc’s song with the most pulse, but it brings things to a calming close.
All in all, it’s a decent soundtrack and a good sampler of what the spring break set is doing.
