Film California First (FCF)—the successful anti-runaway program which provides reimbursements of certain film-related costs incurred by qualified production companies when lensing on local, state or federal public property in California—may be facing a funding cutback. In his proposal to narrow a state budget deficit of some $21 billion, Gov Gray Davis has recommended that $2.1 million be sliced off the allocation for the FCF this fiscal year. The state legislature is slated to convene next week to discuss budget cuts. The FCF currently operates under a $10 million appropriation for fiscal year 2002-’03….Word is that Cody Cluff will soon step down from his post as president of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (EIDC), the entity which oversees the joint Los Angeles County/City Film Office. At press time, representatives of Cluff and the EIDC executive board were finalizing a settlement that would pave the way for the EIDC to name an interim successor to Cluff, while an audit and a Los Angeles County District Attorney’s investigation of EIDC expenditures continues (SHOOT, 9/20 and 11/29, p. 1)….Director Tim Godsall has joined Biscuit Filmworks, Los Angeles, for U.S. spot representation….Anne Skopas has left her position as executive producer at postproduction facility Nice Shoes and sister visual effects shop Guava—both in New York—and joined New York hybrid postproduction/design/graphics facility Charlex as senior producer with responsibilities in new business development….A pair of Florida post/effects houses, BVI and Manhattan Transfer—which merged in May—are now operating under the Manhattan Transfer-Miami name, with both operations consolidated at the longstanding BVI facility in Coconut Grove. Rick Legrow remains president of the company, with Bob Corti taking the reins as general manager….Inferno artist Ali Laventhol, a former freelancer, has come aboard digital visual effects studio Radium, Santa Monica. Over the years, she had been freelancing regularly at Radium, which also maintains a San Francisco studio. Earlier in her career, she held staff positions at Ring of Fire Advanced Media, West Hollywood, and now defunct Western Images….The industry is mourning director/DP David Elliot, who died Nov. 25 after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer. Elliot directed numerous commercials, through Screen Gems, New York, and its subsidiary, David Elliot & Company, also New York, including ads for Polaroid, Hasbro, and Quaker. In recent years, he worked on long-form projects, including the campaign launch film for Andrew Cuomo’s short-lived New York gubenatorial race. Elliot was the son of Steve Elliot and the nephew of Mike Elliot, who, along with Bill Unger, founded EUE Screen Gems in 1948. David Elliot is survived by his wife, Priscilla Watts, their son Ben, as well as his older children, Sam and Kate. Donations in Elliot’s name may be made to: Gilda’s Club NYC, 195 Houston St., New York, NY 10014….
“Mickey 17” Tops Weekend Box Office, But Profitability Is A Long Way Off
"Parasite" filmmaker Bong Joon Ho's original science fiction film "Mickey 17" opened in first place on the North American box office charts. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Robert Pattinson-led film earned $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters, which was enough to dethrone "Captain America: Brave New World" after a three-week reign.
Overseas, "Mickey 17" has already made $34.2 million, bringing its worldwide total to $53.3 million. But profitability for the film is a long way off: It cost a reported $118 million to produce, which does not account for millions spent on marketing and promotion.
A week following the Oscars, where "Anora" filmmaker Sean Baker made an impassioned speech about the importance of the theatrical experience – for filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screens, for distributors to focus on theatrical releases and for audiences to keep going – "Mickey 17" is perhaps the perfect representation of this moment in the business, or at least an interesting case study. It's an original film from an Oscar-winning director led by a big star that was afforded a blockbuster budget and given a robust theatrical release by Warner Bros., one of the few major studios remaining. But despite all of that, and reviews that were mostly positive (79% on RottenTomatoes), audiences did not treat it as an event movie, and it may ultimately struggle to break even.
Originally set for release in March 2024, Bong Joon Ho's follow-up to the Oscar-winning "Parasite" faced several delays, which he has attributed to extenuating circumstances around the Hollywood strikes. Based on the novel "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton, Pattinson plays an expendable employee who dies on missions and is re-printed time and time again. Steven... Read More