May 25, 2012
$18.5M settlement for ‘Transformers 3’ injuryCHICAGO (AP) — The family of a woman left with brain damage after an accident during the filming of “Transformers 3” has reached an $18.5 million settlement with Paramount Pictures.
Gabriela Cedillo was working as an extra in 2010 when she was hit in the head by a piece of flying metal during the filming of a stunt sequence in Hammond, Ind. An investigation found a weld connecting a car to a tow cable failed.
Her attorney says the 26-year-old needs constant care. Part of the settlement will be set aside for monthly payments to ensure Cedillo has care for the rest of her life.
Paramount spokesman Robert Lawson says the studio is pleased the family agreed to “move forward with the settlement.” He calls what happened “a tragic accident.”
Oracle buys cloud marketing platform VitrueREDWOOD SHORES, Calif. (AP) — Just a day after rival SAP AG announced its latest “cloud” deal, software maker Oracle Corp. said Wednesday that it is buying Vitrue, which helps companies manage marketing campaigns on social media networks such as Facebook and Twitter.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The business software maker was once dismissive of cloud computing, which refers to the practice of companies storing software and information on remote servers kept outside the office, rather than on the corporation’s own machines.
But Oracle is now expanding into the field as part of its effort to create a one-stop technology shop for big companies and government agencies.
Oracle’s competitor, Germany-based SAP AG, announced a $4.5 billion cloud computing acquisition on Tuesday, of Ariba Inc.
Oracle, based in Redwood Shores, Calif., expects the Vitrue acquisition to close this summer.
JWT’s Geiger named jury chair for One Show Interactive 2013NEW YORK–Mike Geiger, president and chief integration officer at JWT North America, has been named jury chair for One Show Interactive 2013.
Prior to joining JWT this year, Geiger served as chief digital officer and associate partner at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, where he led multidisciplinary teams in strategy, branding, production and development of cutting-edge digital and advertising content for clients including Adobe, Comcast, HP, Sprint, Got Milk?, Gucci and the NBA.
“Continuing with the quarterly entry system that we established five years ago for One Show Interactive, entries for the 2013 awards competition will be accepted starting June 1, 2012, for work created after January 29th of this year,” said Kevin Swanepoel, president and interim CEO at The One Club. “The quarterly entry system allocates more time for judges to review and discuss the work in smaller groups throughout the year and enables the work to be judged while it’s fresh and enjoying buzz in the marketplace. In addition, quarterly submissions offer agencies who are ‘first to market’ with groundbreaking technology to be first in the judging process, well before similar works are created and entered.”
One Show Interactive 2013 quarterly entry guidelines are as follows:
June 1-July 31 (For entries created after January 29, 2012)
August 1- September 30
October 1-November 30
December 1- January 31.
HBO Archives introduces 2nd unit footage
NEW YORK–HBO Archives has added The Premiere Collection to its clip licensing library. Comprised of exclusive b-roll and outtakes from HBO Series, HBO Films and HBO Mini-Series, the collection is available for licensing to all types of productions, including commercials, documentaries and feature films.
Examples of the material available include recreations of life during the late 1700s from “John Adams,” iconic L.A. scenic shots from “Entourage,” voting imagery from “Recount,” cattle ranches from “Temple Grandin,” sweeping aerials of the Midwest plains from “Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee” and London landmarks from “The Special Relationship.”
HBO Archives is a full-service stock footage library for commercial/professional media use. In addition to The Premiere Collection, the library offers sports, contemporary stock, entertainment news, archival and royalty-free wildlife footage. The website (www.hboarchives.com/contemporary) offers high-speed dual footage and text searches as well as the ability to view and download video clips.
Facebook to target Mideast with office in Dubai
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Facebook is not letting a slumping stock get in the way of its global growth ambitions.
The social networking company on Wednesday invited journalists to an event next week to launch its first office in the Middle East business hub of Dubai.
A Dubai public relations firm hired by the Menlo Park, California-based company declined to comment further. It said details on the Gulf outpost would be released at the May 30 event. Facebook itself didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Facebook has some 30 offices worldwide, but doesn’t list any in the Arab world. It teamed with Cairo-based advertising company Connect Ads in 2010 to better reach advertisers in the region.
Facebook shares have fallen sharply since the company’s initial public offering Friday.
Brad Pitt brings ‘Killing Them Softly’ to CannesCANNES, France (AP) — Brad Pitt has arrived in Cannes with a hardboiled crime film featuring heavy doses of President Barack Obama and a backdrop of the economic crisis.
Pitt stars in and produced “Killing Them Softly,” which screened at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday. It’s a stylized adaptation of a George V. Higgins novel that director Andrew Dominik has filled with speeches of Obama and former President George W. Bush to give the film a broader financial commentary on top of a story of violent, back-stabbing criminals.
Pitt said the movie was conceived “at the apex of the mortgage loan debacle,” which he called “criminal.”
Pitt also fended questions about his planned wedding to Angelina Jolie. He said no date has been set and Jolie was not with him in Cannes.
Judge: POM deceptively marketed pomegranate juice
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal administrative judge ruled Monday that POM Wonderful used deceptive advertising when claiming that its pomegranate juice could treat or prevent heart disease, prostate cancer and other illnesses.
Chief Administrative Law Judge Michael Chappell sided with federal regulators and ordered POM to halt all claims of health benefits and performance for its beverage. Expert witnesses testified in court that scientific evidence does not support claims made in company advertising, which appeared in national newspapers, magazines and online.
The Federal Trade Commission filed a complaint against POM and its parent company, Los Angeles-based Roll International Corp., in September 2010. The company’s health claims are a hallmark of its advertising and are seen as working to convince consumers that they are worth a premium price.
POM Wonderful is credited with having started the pomegranate craze that has spread to everything from smoothies to salad dressings.
Chappell did not completely agree with FTC’s complaint, rejecting an argument that the company should have to provide evidence from rigorous medical trials– the same standard required of pharmaceutical companies. Instead, the judge said the company could provide “competent reliable scientific evidence.”
Los Angeles-based POM Wonderful said in a statement, “We consider this not only to be a huge win for us, but for the natural food products industry.”
The judge’s ruling becomes final after 30 days, unless the company appeals. POM said it is “continuing to review the ruling,” but did not indicate plans to appeal.
In addition to POM Wonderful juice, the company sells POMx pills and liquid extract.
Wood named Digital Experience Producer at Young & LaramoreINDIANAPOLIS–Kevin Wood has joined Indianapolis ad agency Young & Laramore in the newly created position of digital experience producer. He reports to executive creative director/principal Carolyn Hadlock and will oversee digital production across agency clients such as Brizo, Schlage and Farm Bureau.
With over a decade of experience in digital marketing and strategy, Wood has led the successful integration of digital on behalf of past clients including Dow Agroscience, Eli Lilly and Company, Roche Diagnostis and hhgregg Appliances & Electronics. Prior to joining Young & Laramore, Wood was owner and digital strategist at Kevin Wood Interactive in Indianapolis, where he oversaw the execution of digital strategies for businesses, including user-based design and development, social media integration, as well as online optimization and analytics. Additionally, Wood has held positions with zline media group, inc., Pathway Productions, Roman Brand Group and Hypnotic Arts.
Polanski returns to Cannes, presents shortBy Jake Coyle, Entertainment Writer
CANNES, France (AP) — Roman Polanski returned to the Cannes Film Festival, where he presented a short film sponsored by Prada.
Before a screening of a restored version of his 1979 film “Tess,” starring Nastassja Kinski, the Polish director showed the short, titled “A Therapy.” It stars Ben Kingsley and Helena Bonham Carter and was created as a high-quality commercial for Prada.
That was a relative disappointment for festival-goers who had been teased that Polanski would preview a new film.
The festival earlier screened the documentary “Roman Polanski: A Film Memoir,” which features conversations between Polanski and his friend Andrew Braunsberg about his U.S. arrest in 1977 for unlawful sex with an underage girl and his subsequent flight to France before sentencing.
Polanski, who currently lives in Paris, was in 2009 arrested in Switzerland to be extradited to the United States. The Swiss eventually rejected the request.
Polanski won the Cannes’ Palme d’Or in 2002 for “The Pianist.”
Indian epic by Anurag Kashyap launches at Cannes
CANNES, France (AP) — Director Anurag Kashyap is creating waves in India all the way from France.
His latest movie, “Gangs of Wasseypur,” is India’s first mainstream film to be screened in the Director’s Fortnight section at the Cannes Film Festival. The epic follows a feuding family over 60 years in the rural eastern coal district of Dhanbad.
It stars Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Richa Chadda.
Kashyap says being at Cannes has increased interest in his movies in India. He says Indian movies that are not Bollywood are too often “sidelined as very boring and art house, and they don’t often get released ” in his native land.
But he said when “people everywhere are endorsing the film, back home they suddenly take it very seriously.”
Kashyap has another film titled “Peddlers” showing in the festival’s Critic’s Week section.
The Cannes Film Festival runs until May 27.
Alain Resnais back in Cannes competition at 89
By Jill Lawless
CANNES, France (AP) — The Cannes Film Festival has received a dose of theater in the form of French director Alain Resnais’ new film.
“You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” is a love letter to the acting profession that shows a troupe of thespians performing a play based on the Greek myth of lovers Orpheus and Eurydice.
There are several plays-within-a-play in the drama, which features a who’s who of French dramatic talent, including Lambert Wilson, Michel Piccoli and Mathieu Amalric.
The 89-year-old Resnais says he was trying to show the similarities between theater and film, often portrayed as very different.
He said Monday that “people often say that the theater is a noble art whereas films are not.”
But, he said, “in both cases, you need actors.”
Feminist group protest at Cannes premiere
CANNES, France (AP) — A French feminist group upset about the lack of female directors at this year’s Cannes Film Festival staged a hairy protest on the red carpet Sunday.
Five women from La Barbe donned fake, different colored beards and stood in the torrential rain at the premiere of Michael Haneke’s “Amour.” They carried signs that said, “Marveilleux,” ”Merci!!!” ”Splendide,” ”Incredible!” and “Le Barbe.”
None of the 22 films competing for the Palme D’Or prize at the festival this year was directed by a woman.
La Barbe, which means The Beard, previously had a letter complaining about the male-dominated festival line-up published in Le Monde and The Guardian newspapers.
The lack of women directors at the festival also has spurred protest in the United States, where a petition has been signed by almost 2,000 people, including feminist icon Gloria Steinem and director Gillian Armstrong.
The festival’s artistic director, Thierry Fremaux, has defended the woman-free line-up, saying he does not pick movies based on who has made them. The festival has issued a statement in support of Fremaux, saying films were chosen “without regard to race, color, sex, language, religion, political opinion” or any other external factor.
Filmmakers including Britain’s Andrea Arnold, a member of this year’s Cannes jury, have defended the festival, saying the bigger issue is the lack of female directors making feature films.
