Steve Caplan, senior VP, external affairs for the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP), has been elected to the executive committee of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (EIDC), which oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office. Caplan gives the spotmaking community a seat on the exec committee of the EIDC, an organization that was revamped last month (SHOOT, 12/12/03, p. 1). Caplan is also a member of the 33-member EIDC board, which includes two other representatives from the commercial production biz: former AICP West Coast chapter president Gary Rose, a partner/exec producer at bicoastal Go Film; and Randy Winograd, COO/general counsel of bicoastal HSI Productions, which is active in spots, music videos and longform….The three spotmaking groups of Hollywood-headquartered class-key chew-po, inc.—class-key chew-po animated commercials, live-action shop ka-chew! and class-key chew-po broadcast design—now operate under the overall ka-chew! banner. The change is designed to maximize talent across all three disciplines while maintaining continuity, as creative director John Andrews still oversees animation, Paul Babb remains executive producer of live action and Sam Schoemann heads broadcast design. The commercialmaking operations are all part of noted Hollywood animation studio Klasky Csupo….Vancouver-based Global Mechanic—an animation and live action production company founded by Bruce Alcock and Ann Marie Fleming in 2000—has opened an office in Boston. Matthew Charde will serve as executive producer of Global Mechanic, Boston. Most recently, Charde was senior VP/director of Circle Studios, the in-house multimedia production unit of interactive agency Euro RSCG Circle, Boston….Director Geoff Moore has joined Blueyed Pictures, Los Angeles.… Director Richard Carroll, formerly of the helming/design team Felt, has come aboard Santa Monica-based production house Pusher for exclusive spot representation in the U.S….John Scar-cella has been named president of Sony Electronics’ Broadcast and Production Systems Division (BPSD), headquartered in Park Ridge, N.J. He will succeed Patrick Whittingham, a 29-year Sony vet, who elected to take advantage of the company’s early retirement program. In addition to his new role, Scarcella will maintain his current responsibilities as president of Sony Electronics’ Business Solutions Division. In other BPSD organizational changes, Robert Wilcox has been named general manager of BPSD’s content creation unit, succeeding Larry Thorpe, who also elected to accept the early retirement option. And Alec Shapiro has been named senior VP of marketing, a role previously held by Stephen Jacobs, who will be the division’s senior VP, responsible for strategic planning and alliances….Designer/animator Shell Blevins has joined Fuel, Santa Monica….Monica Macdonald, former AICP West Coast chapter regional events director, has joined Quixote Studios, West Hollywood, as director of studio services. Founded by Mikel Elliott and Jordan Kitaen in ’95, Quixote provides stage facilities and production-related services to the film and spotmaking industries….The Clio competition has added an award category, Content & Contact, which will recognize innovation through the marriage of creative content and contact with a target audience. Nick Brien, president of corporate business development for Starcom MediaVest Group, Chicago, will chair the Content & Contact executive jury….If you are a member of the commercial production community who has a film that will be screened during the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and would like the project to be considered for coverage in SHOOT’s Sundance roundup, send a screener to senior reporter Christine Champagne c/o SHOOT, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. You can also e-mail info to cchampagne@shootonline.com….
“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