March 22, 2013
Official: NY tax breaks would apply to ‘Tonight’By Michael Gormley
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — If New York isn’t trying hard to lure “The Tonight Show” back to Manhattan, it’s doing a pretty good impression.
A Cuomo administration official said Thursday that New York is trying to lure TV shows from California with a proposed tax credit program and the “Tonight” show would qualify if it decides to move back to Manhattan. The show moved to Burbank in 1972 when Johnny Carson was host.
But there is no deal with NBC or the “Tonight” show, and the official wouldn’t say if the state is trying to attract the show. The person wasn’t authorized to comment on any potential deals and spoke to The Associated Press on the condition of anonymity.
Still, a bill in Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s pending budget looks like it’s all about “Tonight,” without ever mentioning the iconic show that began broadcasting in the 1950s from Manhattan and has featured a series of popular hosts — Jack Parr, Steve Allen, Carson, and the current Jay Leno.
The bill expected to be voted into law in coming days would provide a 30 percent tax credit for a “relocated television production.” Past and current tax credits have gone to new productions starting in New York, such as “Law & Order.”
The bill also says it is intended for “a talk or variety program that filmed at least five seasons outside the state … (and) episodes are filmed before a studio audience of at least 200 more” with a budget of at least $30 million.
You don’t have be Carson’s “Carnac” to make the connection with “Tonight.”
The state’s ability to help return the “Tonight” show to Manhattan at NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Center after decades in California was first reported by the New York Daily News.
NBC confirms it’s creating a new studio for Jimmy Fallon in New York, where he hosts “Late Night.” But the network did not comment on speculation that it may replace Leno with Fallon and its Rockefeller Plaza headquarters may become home to a Fallon-hosted “Tonight.”
Chinese, super fans boost global movie revenue
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Global movie ticket sales rose 6 percent in 2012 to a record $34.7 billion thanks to the growing popularity of movies in Asia and higher attendance by diehard fans in the U.S. and Canada.
According to the Motion Picture Association of America, China overtook Japan as the biggest market outside the U.S. and Canada combined, with sales there growing 36 percent to $2.7 billion.
As a whole, the Asian box office grew 15 percent to $10.4 billion, while in Europe, Middle East and Africa, ticket sales fell 1 percent to $10.7 billion. Latin American revenue rose 6 percent to $2.8 billion.
In the U.S. and Canada, sales rose 6 percent to $10.8 billion, driven higher primarily by moviegoers who attend once a month or more.
Those super fans represent only 13 percent of the population but bought 57 percent of all movie tickets, an increase of 7 percentage points from a year ago. Super fans grew as a share of the population by 2 percentage points.
About two-thirds of people in the U.S. and Canada saw a movie at least once last year.
And even as the number of 3-D movie screens grew, enthusiasm for the format appeared to plateau. There were 9 percent more 3-D screens in the U.S. and Canada, but revenue from 3-D showings was flat at $1.8 billion.
Globally, the number of 3-D screens rose 27 percent to 45,500.
The lackluster 3-D result was partly due to the six major studios that make up the MPAA releasing fewer movies in the format. Those studios — Sony, Universal, 20th Century Fox, Disney, Paramount and Warner Bros. — released 36 3-D movies in 2012, down from a peak of 45 in 2011.
Attendance for 3-D movies peaks among teenagers but declines rapidly as people get older, MPAA data showed.
Charter refuses ads for TV antenna makerBy Jim Salter
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A TV antenna maker wanted to use the competition’s own medium — cable TV — for its anti-cable message. Now, officials at Antennas Direct say Charter Communications’ refusal to air the ads is evidence of the cable industry’s growing concern over antennas.
At issue are three 60-second spots that Antennas Direct of Ellisville, Mo., sought to air in the St. Louis market through Charter Communications on ESPN, the History Channel and other cable networks. The ads encourage viewers to cancel cable and save money by buying an antenna. One shows a man chained, telling an unseen voice of a cable company, “You’re gonna lose a ton of money when people realize they don’t have to pay you just to watch TV.”
Antennas Direct spokesman Scott Kolbe said Thursday that a Charter executive responded that the company would not run ads for “direct cable competitors.”
Charter spokeswoman Anita Lamont said the company decides on a case-by-case basis whether to accept advertising of competitors. “In this instance, we made a decision not to accept business advertising from this company for this particular product,” she said.
Brian Dietz, a spokesman for the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, said that as Americans watch more TV every year, “the value of cable’s video service continues to be the best of any form of entertainment.”
But Kolbe said customers are increasingly turning to antennas because streaming services such as Netflix or Hulu allow them to watch their favorite TV shows for a monthly fee that’s far less than cable, and the antenna gives high-definition access to local channels.
Statistics from the National Cable & Telecommunications Association show that the number of cable customers was 58 million in 2011, the most recent year available, down from a peak of 66.9 million in 2001.
Cable has faced increasing competition from competitors such as satellite services and more recently from antennas, throwbacks to the “rabbit ears” of the early days of TV.
Today’s antennas are more complex. Selling for $50 to $100, they connect to HD outputs. Pictures gathered from over-the-air signals are usually strong, Kolbe said, and there are no monthly fees.
Antennas don’t pick up cable channels — no “Pawn Stars,” no “Homeland,” no “Breaking Bad.” And if the signal fades, there is no picture.
The National Association of Broadcasters cited a 2012 study showing that 17.8 percent of U.S. household with TVs use over-the-air signals, up from 15 percent a year earlier. The study by GfK Media found that nearly 21 million households now receive TV exclusively through broadcast signals rather than cable or satellite.
“Five years ago I don’t think anybody considered an antenna company a threat to cable,” Kolbe said. “I think streaming has been the catalyst that has helped legitimize antenna television.”
Beyonce stars in H&M summer ad campaignBy Samantha Critchell, Fashion Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Beyonce, who seems to be everywhere as she prepares for her upcoming world tour, is going to be seen in even more places.
The 31-year-old singer is featured in H&M’s new ad campaign, announced by the retailer Thursday. Mrs. Carter, as she’s called in the ads, is seen lounging on a beach wearing a sundress, short shorts, a bikini and other key items from the summer collection.
H&M says the ads, which were shot in the Bahamas, aim to capture the many sides of women, showing Beyonce as strong, vulnerable, sensual, fun, flirtatious and maternal.
Beyonce said that thanks to the tropical island setting, she felt more like she was shooting a music video than a commercial.
She and her husband, Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, have a year-old daughter, Blue Ivy.
Director Scorsese urges NYC to preserve BoweryNEW YORK (AP) — Famed director Martin Scorsese wants New York’s mean streets to keep some of their grittiness.
The “Gangs of New York” director has joined an effort to curb redevelopment of the Bowery. That’s the former skid row near where Scorsese grew up.
Scorsese wrote to New York City Planning Commission Chairwoman Amanda Burden last week. He praises the neighborhood’s grittiness, ambience and vivid atmosphere.
Scorsese is backing a plan that would limit the height of new development on the east side of the Bowery to eight stories. The plan also calls for preservation of several historic buildings.
Planning Department spokeswoman Rachaele Raynoff tells the Daily News the agency has not made a ruling. She says the department recognizes and appreciates the Bowery’s historic value.
HP develops glasses-free 3-D for mobile devicesLOS ANGELES (AP) — Researchers at Hewlett-Packard Co. have developed a way to put glasses-free 3-D video on mobile devices with a viewing angle so wide that viewers can see an object more fully just by tilting the screen.
Glasses-free 3-D is not unique. Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s 3DS handheld allows video game play in 3-D without glasses, but it requires players to look straight into the screen with their noses centered.
HP’s researchers have found a way to make images viewable in 3-D from angles up to 45 degrees from center in any direction —up, down, side-to-side or diagonally. That means viewers can see a person’s face with one ear blocked from view, but reveal the ear by swiveling the screen.
The company’s findings will be published in the scientific journal, Nature, on Thursday.
The scientists used nanotechnology to etch multiple circles with tiny grooves into a glass layer of the display.
The grooves bend light in a way that allows for 64 different points of view. By moving the screen, people will perceive two of those points of view at any one time, one with their left eye and one with their right. As a result, the image will appear in 3-D.
David Fattal, the lead author of the paper, said the effect is “much like you’d see in the movie ‘Star Wars’ with the hologram of Princess Leia.”
He acknowledged the effect wouldn’t be identical to a hologram, however, since the images won’t pop as far out of the screen as Leia’s projection did in the movie.
The technology isn’t exactly coming to a movie theater near you any time soon. While moving images can be created using computer animation, any live video capture would require an array of 64 cameras all pointed at an object, Fattal said.
YouTube now serving videos to 1 billion people
By Ryan Nakashima, AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — YouTube says more than 1 billion people are now visiting its online video site each month to watch everything from zany clips of cute kittens to sobering scenes of social unrest around the world.
The milestone was announced Wednesday at a splashy event in Santa Monica that was aimed at advertisers and featured performances from some of the website’s biggest stars, such as the bands CDZA and Monsters Calling Home. It marks another step in YouTube’s evolution from a quirky startup launched in 2005 to one of the most influential forces in today’s media landscape.
YouTube crossed the 1 billion threshold five months after Facebook Inc. said its online social network had reached that figure for the first time. YouTube first hit 800 million monthly visitors in October 2011.
The vast audience has given YouTube’s owner, Google Inc., another lucrative channel for selling online ads beyond its dominant Internet search engine.
Google bought YouTube for $1.76 billion in 2006 when the video site had an estimated 50 million users worldwide.
Since late 2011, YouTube has refocused its site to prioritize watching along distinct channels of its creators. Such channels were seen as better allowing advertisers to focus on certain genres of content like beauty or music.
In 2012, it seeded 96 channels with around $100 million in funding to help them accelerate that growth, often partnering with big-name Hollywood producers and directors that had made it big in movies or TV but not on the Internet, including “CSI” creator Anthony Zuiker. Later, YouTube vowed to spend another $200 million marketing the channels to boost viewers.
But Wednesday’s event focused largely on those who had succeeded on YouTube before the channel-funding strategy was in place, such as Michelle Phan, a YouTuber who has been giving viewers makeup tips since 2006.
Robert Kyncl, vice president and global head of content partnerships, acknowledged to reporters after the event that the channel funding strategy had not worked as well as hoped.
When asked if the channel funding investment had paid off, Kyncl said, “Every year we reserve the right to get smarter.”
He said that while YouTube was committed to continuing to invest in content, he said more of such investment in the future would go to those channels that had already proven they can be successful at building an audience on their own.
“What we’re looking for is the acceleration of those who are figuring out how to retail their content,” he said.
International AME Awards announces 2013 WinnersNEW YORK–The International AME Awards for the World’s Best Advertising and Marketing Effectiveness, announced the 2013 competition award winners. The Grand Jury presented the prestigious AME Grand Award and Regional Platinum Award/Europe to DDB Tribal Germany. DDB Canada, Vancouver/North America and PHD China/Asia-Pacific also earned AME Regional Platinum Awards.
The 2013 AME Grand Jury awarded 17 Gold AME Awards, 20 Silver, and 23 Bronze Awards to entries received from 27 countries worldwide. Celebrity-focused brand interaction was a huge trend, with campaigns employing actual celebrities or creating contests where the consumer or their ideas would be the star. Entries submitted into newly launched categories, including Social Benefit, Branded Entertainment, and Use of Discipline/Low-Budget also scored Gold Awards for multiple campaigns.
DDB Tribal Germany was honored with the AME Grand Award and AME Regional Platinum Award/Europe for “Don’t Make Up and Drive” for client Volkswagen AG. The campaign exposed women to the danger of applying make-up while driving by partnering with online make-up star, Nikkie, whose tutorial is interrupted by a crash delivering an impactful, life-saving message. The campaign mobilized community support to persuade women that life’s not worth risking, even for the most beautiful make-up, scoring 2 Gold AME Awards, as well as 1,364,000 views, thousands of re-tweets, blog posts, and world-wide PR.
The AME Grand Jury awarded two global agencies the AME Regional Platinum Award: DDB Canada, Vancouver received the Platinum AME Award/North America for “Canada. Keep Exploring” created for the Canadian Tourism Commission. The campaign employed consumer participation and leveraged the power of peer-to-peer influence by presenting real journeys documented by fellow travelers. The marketing effort shifted perceptions amongst international travelers propelling Canada to the #1 country brand two years in a row, and reversed the decline in international visitation to Canada. The campaign also earned an AME Gold and Silver Award.
PHD China earned the Platinum AME Award/Asia-Pacific for “Dive Into Love” for Cornetto. The campaign targeted young lovers in China, and was designed to help Chinese teens and young adults navigate modern love. The campaign employed a series of four 12 minute films focused on different aspects of love with Cornetto ice cream as the star, using product placement and branding woven into the story lines. The results: Cornetto doubled their sales over a two year period, and the medium launch generated a total of 320 million video views, and over 2.8 million posts on Sina Weibo.
Heimat Werbeagentur GmbH, Germany was honored with the 2013 AME Green Award for “CNN Ecosphere”. CNN International created an interactive digital ecosystem based on Twitter where politically and environmentally active opinion leaders around the globe could take part in a worldwide debate on climate change during COP17. The motto: “Plant a thought, watch it grow.” Every Tweet containing #COP17 was added to a visualized discussion on the ECOSPHERE micro site and became part of a worldwide debate on climate change. CNN ECOSPHERE gathered more than 227,000 tweets, generating more than 6.7 million unique media impressions around the globe. “CNN Ecosphere” also scored 2 AME Gold and 2 Silver Awards.
This year, celebrity-focused campaign themes scored high. DDB Hong Kong McDonald’s “Chinese New Year McGreetings” featuring comedic duo Soft Hard earned 2 Gold AME Awards and 3 Silver; DDB Chicago’s “GED Pep Talk Center” for the Ad Council, featuring celebrities such as Christopher Lloyd and Terry Crews, was honored with 3 Silver AME Awards; and Abbott Mead Vickers BBDO’s “Going from Good to Great” for PepsiCo/Walkers, starring British comics Stephen Fry and Jimmy Carr, received a Silver AME.
To view 2013’s AME Award winners, log onto www.ameawards.com.
Robinson film screenings to help KC Negro LeaguesBy Bill Draper, Associated Press
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City was announced Wednesday as the host site for the only advance public screenings of a film chronicling the rise of Jackie Robinson, a nod to the city where the baseball great made his professional debut two years before breaking the major league color barrier.
Harrison Ford stars as former Brooklyn Dodgers General Manager Branch Rickey in the film, “42,” which details Robinson’s Rookie of the Year season in 1947 while combating unabashed racism on and off the diamond.
Ford and fellow cast member Andre Holland planned to attend the screenings on April 11 at a movie theater on the city’s north side. Proceeds will benefit the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, museum president Bob Kendrick said.
Although the story of Robinson in Brooklyn is well known, Kendrick said Kansas City also played a prominent role in his early career. Robinson played for the Kansas City Monarchs, a member of the Negro Leagues, in 1945, batting .387 while hitting five home runs and stole 13 bases in 47 games. After a year in the minor leagues, he joined the Dodgers in 1947 and won the inaugural Rookie of the Year award.
The film gets its name from Robinson’s uniform No. 42, which is retired throughout baseball and prominently displayed at major league stadiums
Kendrick said Robinson’s story “signaled the beginning of what we know as the civil rights movement” and was a source of pride for Kansas City.
“This film gives us the opportunity to collectively stick out our chest,” Kendrick said Wednesday at a news conference at the museum.
Other than the official premiere in Los Angeles, the movie will be shown only in Kansas City prior to its nationwide opening April 12, which is three days before the 66th anniversary of Robinson’s first game as a Dodger.
The Negro Leagues museum is in the midst of a revival after falling on hard times following the death in 2006 of one of its founders, former Kansas City Monarchs star Buck O’Neil. Only blocks from where the Monarchs took the field at Municipal Stadium, the museum sits adjacent to the American Jazz Museum in the heart of the city’s 18th and Vine District. After nearly being forced to close in 2010 after it started losing money, the museum got a huge boost last year when Kansas City hosted the major league All-Star Game.
Kendrick said the exposure “42” brings to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum will be as important as the financial windfall from the advance screenings.
“We’re often asked here if Jackie Robinson was the best player in the Negro Leagues,” Kendrick said. “No, he wasn’t. He may not have been the best player on our Kansas City Monarchs team. But he was the right man” to break the color barrier.
The Overland Park, Kan., financial planning company Waddell & Reed was instrumental in bringing the screenings to Kansas City, taking advantage of its relationship with Legendary Pictures — which along with Warner Bros. Pictures produced the movie — to arrange them.
Thomas Butch, executive president of Waddell & Reed, said the $42 tickets include unlimited concessions, two adult drink tickets and a souvenir bag and has a total value of $70. He said “42” is the only movie that will be shown at the BarryWoods 24 complex on the night of the screenings.
Tickets are available exclusively on the website 42kansascity.com.
Oscar winner gets Austria geriatric society prizeVIENNA (AP) — It isn’t an Oscar or any other film industry prize, but Austrian director Michael Haneke says he is grateful for his award from the Austrian Society of Geriatric Medicine.
After all, he jokes, it comes with cash.
Haneke’s “Amour” — this year’s Academy Award winner for best foreign movie — also caught the eye of the society. It honored him Wednesday for its portrayal of a couple trying to come to terms with sickness and old age.
“Amour” also won a Golden Globe and Haneke said the time was right for the film, saying it “would have failed miserably 10 or 15 years ago.”
Tongue in cheek, he also said he was happy about the 5,000 euros ($6,500) that come with the honor, “which can’t be said of most awards.”
Director: Film on Egypt’s Jews cleared for showingCAIRO (AP) — The director of a documentary on Egypt’s Jewish community says authorities have lifted a ban on showing the film in local cinemas.
Amir Ramses said Wednesday on his Twitter account that the film will be screened in movie theaters starting March 27.
The “Jews of Egypt” follows the lives of the Egyptian Jewish community in the 20th century until they left in large numbers under duress in the 1950s. It was screened in Egypt last year in a private film festival after it was approved by censorship, a regular procedure in Egypt.
Last week, the movie’s producer, Haytham el-Khamissy, said he heard from the chief censor that a security agency he did not name asked to view the film before granting it a license to be shown in theaters.
HBO ending ‘Enlightened’ after 2 seasons
LOS ANGELES (AP) — HBO says the Laura Dern series “Enlightened” isn’t coming back for a third season.
In a statement Tuesday, the premium cable channel said it was proud of the show, and called canceling it a “very difficult decision.”
“Enlightened,” created by Dern and her co-star Mike White, was critically acclaimed but low-rated.
Last year, Dern won a Golden Globe for best TV comedy actress for her role as a manic-depressive who becomes an activist. The “Enlightened” cast also included Diane Ladd and Luke Wilson.
VFX artist Jeanette Vera joins Athena Studios
EMERYVILLE, Calif.–3D artist and compositor Jeanette Vera has joined Athena Studios, an Emeryville-based house headed by founder Jon V. Peters, as visual effects artist.
Vera had worked with Athena previously on a freelance basis, before leaving to work at The Base Studio in Foster City for a year. While at Base, she made VFX contributions to such hit films as “Captain America,” “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2,” “The Smurfs,” “The Avengers,” “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” and most recently, “Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.” She left Base to return to Athena Studios on a full-time basis.
Peters said of Vera, “Her expertise encompasses a wide breadth of modeling, compositing, match-moving and animation skills–critical talents for a smaller studio like ours to be able to offer to clients. While her primary expertise may be hard surface modeling, she also has a tremendous understanding of organics.”
Marjo Bernay Retires From Art Directors GuildLOS ANGELES–Marjo Bernay, a 33-year veteran of four IATSE Locals, has retired from the Art Directors Guild where she was manager, Awards and Events. A party is to be given in her honor at the Sportsmen’s Lodge in Studio City this Saturday, where proclamations from Senators Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer and Congressman Brad Sherman, as well as other dignitaries will be presented.
She was business agent of the Illustrators & Matte Artists, Local 790 and Set Designers & Model Makers, Local 847 from 1979 until they merged with the ADG in 2008. She was also business agent of Story Analysts, Local 854. While at the ADG she is also a trustee of the Set Designers Council and a member of the Board of Directors.
Bernay was a member of numerous organizations promoting the entertainment industry, including the California Film Commission, the Los Angeles Film Development Committee and the L.A. County Film Commission. She was a member of the Board of Trustees of the Motion Picture Industry Pension and Health Plans and the first woman from the labor side to chair the Health Plan.
In addition, she was VP and a member of the Executive Council of the California State Theatrical Federation and chairman of the Environmental Allocations Committee of the Permanent Charities Committee of the Entertainment Industry. She was a member of the Executive Committee of IATSE District 2 and first chairperson of the District’s Women’s Caucus.
‘Homeland’ writer-producer Bromell dies at 66By Lynn Elber, Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Henry Bromell, an Emmy Award-winning executive producer for the TV series “Homeland,” has died, a representative said Tuesday. He was 66.
Bromell died Monday at a Los Angeles area hospital, Peter Benedek, his longtime agent and friend, said Tuesday.
The cause of death could not be confirmed.
Last year, Bromell shared in Emmy and Golden Globe best-drama awards for Showtime’s “Homeland.” In 1992, he won a Humanitas Prize, given to work that meaningfully explores the human condition, for the TV drama “I’ll Fly Away.”
Bromell was “an immensely talented and prolific” writer and producer, Showtime said in a statement. His other TV credits included “Northern Exposure,” ”Chicago Hope,” ”Rubicon” and “Brotherhood.”
“Henry was a profoundly decent and generous man. A great writer and a great friend,” ”Homeland” executive producers Alex Gansa and Howard Gordon said in a statement. “Everybody here at ‘Homeland’ is grieving, and we will miss him beyond words.”
He is survived by his wife, Sarah, and sons William and Jake, Benedek said.
Funeral plans were not immediately announced.
China’s ‘Mystery’ honored at Asian Film Awards
HONG KONG (AP) — Chinese melodrama “Mystery” and veteran Filipino performers Nora Aunor and Eddie Garcia were honored with the top prizes at the Asian Film Awards.
The film directed by the often-censored Lou Ye tells the story of a middle-age woman who plans to take revenge on her husband after discovering his infidelity.
Lou said backstage Monday night that the award was an encouragement to the whole team who worked on the film, including photographers and art directors. “Mystery” also took home the award for best newcomer, Qi Xi, and best screenwriters.
Mainland China in 2006 banned Lou from filming for five years after he screened a film without approval, but in the interim he filmed a feature using small, digital cameras in defiance of the ban.
Aunor, one of the most popular Filipino stars of the 1970s and ’80s, won best actress honors for her comeback film, “Thy Womb,” playing a midwife struggling with her own infertility in a picturesque, impoverished Muslim community in the southern Philippines. It was directed by the award-winning filmmaker Brillante Mendoza but performed poorly in Philippine cinemas.
Backstage, Aunor thanked the AFA and her fans back home, while countryman and best-actor honoree Garcia said he was “elated and honored” for his win. The 87-year-old actor also took home the people’s choice award for favorite actor.
Garcia dazzled viewers playing an aging gay man coping with loneliness and missed opportunities in “Bwakaw,” or “Voracious,” a drama that tested sensibilities about sexuality in the conservative Catholic country.
Japan’s Kitano Takeshi was named best director for “Outrage Beyond” but did not attend.
Malaysian-born actress Michelle Yeoh, previously named recipient of the Excellence in Asian Cinema Award, called herself “an extremely lucky gal.
“I’ve worked with truly the best of directors, not just in Asia but around the world,” she said. “I do believe that the harder you work, the luckier you get and I’ve been very, very privileged. So I thank God every day that I’ve been so blessed.”
Last year’s people’s choice winner Andy Lau was in a different role this year, president of the jury.
“I like films or performances that moved me,” he said about how he decided his votes.
Asked backstage why films from the greater China region did not fare well this year, Lau said his own theory was that it was just a cycle.
“This year, perhaps Hong Kong produced more comedy films, like the ones you saw, and also some action films. They are at a slight disadvantage,” he said. With new films from other directors in Hong Kong and Taiwan in the coming year, things will change.
“It takes a year or more to make a film,” the Hong Kong actor said. “So I think next year we will make a comeback.”
International Cinematographers Guild Has Major Role at NAB
LOS ANGELES–The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) will play a prominent role at the upcoming National Association of Broadcasters Show in Las Vegas.
They will partner with the NAB for a Creative Master Series session in the Convention Center’s South Hall 220 on Monday, April 8, at 4:15 p.m., where filmmakers who worked on the hit NBC drama Revolution will discuss how two cinematographers, their on-set camera departments, and CGI artists have helped make Revolution look like no other episodic on the small screen. Title of the session is, “You say you want a Revolution? How Cinematographers and VFX collaborate on the hit NBC drama.” Participants will include DP David Moxness, CSC, VFX supervisor Jay Worth, associate producer Geoff Garrett, who oversees postproduction and supervising producer Paul Grellong. David Geffner, executive editor of ICG Magazine, will moderate.
These experts will explain how digital technology is integrating previs, live action and post. Topics that require a shared understanding include the overall look, lighting and design of complex composite shots, a choice of capture systems, monitoring and playback capabilities, use of special effects and atmospheric elements, and on-set and post workflows.
This will be followed by a session titled “Emerging Technologies and Toolsets: Emerging Cinematographers Talk with Technology Companies,” to be held at 5:30 p.m. in room S219. Emerging Cinematographer Award-winners will discuss the benefits and hurdles for successful real-world application of the latest technologies. Participants are Steve Tiffen of the Tiffen company, Tim Smith, Canon USA, Daron Keet, 2012 ECA honoree and Pete Villani, 2012 honoree. Steven Poster, ASC, president of the ICG, will moderate. A cocktail reception honoring ECA winners will follow. These awards are given to ICG members who have demonstrated exceptional skill, even though they are not yet in the DP classification. Last year only 10, of the more than 100 films submitted, were selected.
Two leading cinematographers will head up tours of exhibits. On Monday, starting at 11 a.m. from the ICG booth, Central Hall 10306, Steven Poster, ASC will focus on capture and lighting with a look at new tools and technologies from leading innovators. Among the vendors will be Arri, Bandpro Film & Digital, Inc., Element Technica and GoPro.
The following day at 11 a.m., Stephen Lighthill, ASC, Senior Filmmaker in Residence at the American Film Institute Conservatory and President of the American Society of Cinematographers, will lead a tour that focuses on the latest forms of capture and workflows. Lighthill will explain the newest technologies from Black Magic Design, Assimilate, MTI Film, Codex and Carl Zeiss among others.
Coke to Receive Inaugural Brand Icon honor at CLIO AwardsNEW YORK–The CLIO Awards announced The Coca-Cola Company as this year’s inaugural Brand Icon Award recipient, recognized for continuous and exceptional creative execution over the years. Pio Schunker, head of integrated marketing communications, will accept the award for Coca-Cola North America Group at the 54th annual CLIO Awards ceremony on May 15 at the Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The Brand Icon Award, a new annual honor from the CLIO Awards, distinguishes one brand that has transcended the product or service it provides to become a permanent fixture in popular culture. Each recipient is chosen for elevating its brand to icon status among its peers, industry experts and consumers.
The Coca-Cola Company was among the first global companies to create a department (120 strong) to focus solely on creativity in all of its forms, and as a result boasts a heritage including some of the most enduring brand icons, such as the contour bottle, introduced in 1915, and the famous red suited Coca-Cola Santa Claus, created in 1931. Coca-Cola’s polar bear and the “Happiness Factory” are two other recent icons joining the legacy.
“We are extremely humbled that Coca-Cola is the first-ever recipient of the Brand Icon Award. We always have believed that creativity lies at the very core of our business and helps drive it forward —something that we share closely with CLIO,” said Schunker. “We constantly seek new and innovative ways to harness the power of creativity, imagination and passion to drive our business forward and connect with the people who love our brands.”
Michelle Yeoh honored at Asian Film AwardsHONG KONG (AP) — Michelle Yeoh is happy to be honored with the “Excellence in Asian Cinema Award” but says she hopes there’s no hidden message.
She asked, “I hope it’s not their way of telling me that I need to retire?”
The star of “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” and last year’s Aung San Suu Kyi biopic “The Lady” is being honored at the Asian Film Awards on Monday night.
Speaking to reporters a day earlier, Yeoh said she’s happy to receive the award where her career started, in Hong Kong.
And while she acknowledged she’s long heard rumors of a “Crouching Tiger” sequel, she says she’s yet to see a script or other plans on the project. The 2000 original was directed by Ang Lee and won four Academy Awards.
The recent reports have attached kung fu star Donnie Yen to the unconfirmed sequel, and Yeoh said she’s a fan and would welcome the opportunity to work with him if a project is developed.
The Hong Kong film festival’s opener Sunday was “Ip Man: the Final Fight,” the latest film about martial arts master Ip Man. Lead actor Anthony Wong and actress Zhou Chou Chou were among stars walking the red carpet.
Veteran Hong Kong directors Johnnie To and Ronny Yu are also premiering works at the festival, which features “Infernal Affairs” director Andrew Lau.
The festival closes in April with the Iranian film “Closed Curtain,” which is fresh off a win for best script at the Berlin Film Festival.
‘Bullitt’ producer Robert E. Relyea diesBy 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.
