Scr(i)nk

Monday, November 18, 2013

AMPAS Governors Awards

5th Annual Governors Awards Honor Angelina Jolie, Steve Martin & More

On November 16, the fifth annual Governors Awards is set to take place in Hollywood. Paula Wagner produced this year’s event, which celebrates the awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ Board of Governors. SSN takes a look at the honorees, along with an infographic with facts on the gala. (SSN)

Spotlight: Producer Meghan O’Hara on Shooting Concert Doc ‘12/12/12’

Last December’s 12/12/12 fundraising concert raised over $50 million to aid the victims of Hurricane Sandy and the film opens theatrically in Los Angeles and New York today. SSN spoke to Meghan O’Hara about teaming with Harvey Weinstein, her favorite moments in the doc, and what the post schedule is like on a film that used 28 separate cameras. (SSN)

SSN Insight: ‘The Best Man Holiday’ & the ROI of African-American Comedies

SSN analyzes the return on investment (ROI) and demographics of comedies featuring a predominantly African-American cast as the sequel to 1999’s hit The Best Man hits theaters. Included: infographics on the African-American movie theater audience’s annual $6.3B spend and the Top 10 highest-grossing African American comedies of the last 10 years. (SSN)

Choosing the Safest Villain for Your Film: Nazis

As villains in film have changed over the years along with global and cultural shifts, it's a challenge to find an appropriate villain that's evil enough to rally audiences behind the hero. SSN looks at the history of Nazi villains in film from Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator in 1940, to today with The Book Thief and The Monuments Men. (SSN)

Exec Shuffle For 11/15/13: Lifeboat Capital, Skydance Productions, Cineflix Media, Naegle Ink

SSN’s weekly summary of the latest major corporate moves in entertainment and media. (SSN)

Rep Moves For 11/15/13: UTA, Greene & Associates, Resolution, Medavoy Management

SSN’s weekly summary of the entertainment industry’s major rep changes. (SSN)

Paramount Studio Analysis Redux

SSN Studio Analysis Part One: The Marvels & Dreams of Paramount’s Past

While its executive hierarchy has hardly changed over the past few years, the fortunes of Paramount Studios at the box office have been a roller coaster. As with each of the previous studio analyses, we begin Part One of our Paramount analysis with an examination of the four years leading up to this one. (SSN)

SSN Studio Analysis Part Two: Paramount's Present Trek

In Part Two of our Paramount analysis, SSN looks at the studio’s present: six major releases so far in 2013 and not a flop among them, plus four major releases to go in the final two-plus months of the year. None of the films have a prohibitive budget—and all have reasonably good box office and awards-season prospects. (PAR)

SSN Studio Analysis Part Three: Behind the Paramount Gates & Inside Corporate

In Part Three of our Paramount analysis series we come to the nitty-gritty: taking a peek behind the mountain gates to look at the business side of how Paramount makes its movies and its executive structure - from greenlighting movies and sending ideas up the ladder to co-productions and marketing. (SSN)

SSN Studio Analysis Part Four: A Paranormal Future Awaits Paramount

The final part of our week-long analysis of Paramount Pictures takes a look into the crystal ball. SSN reports on Paramount’s upcoming 2014 film slate and why its active franchise properties can still go head to head with just about any studio for the sheer number it owns. (SSN)

‘Thor’ Wins Weekend Box Office

Vanity Fair Profile: Nicole Kidman On Grace of Monaco, Marriage To Cruise, Life Today

Vanity Fair’s cover story on Nicole Kidman is here in its entirety. (VF)

‘Thor’ Wins but ‘Best Man Holiday’ Is Surprise of the Season

Weekend box-office numbers have Thor: The Dark World at No.1 with $38.4M, bringing its global gross to $480M, out-earning the original Thor in just three weeks. Universal’s Best Man Holiday out-performed projections with $30.5M for second place, followed by Last Vegas, Free Birds, and Bad Grandpa. (SSN)

‘Independent filmmakers can now be their own movie studios’: How Social Media Is Changing The Indie Film Game

Producer-author Britt Michaelian’s piece for HuffPo takes a look at the ways that indie filmmakers are using social media to vie for big studios returns. (HUFF)

‘I Will Do As My Mother Asked’: Angelina Jolie’s Governors Award Acceptance Speech

Vulture has the video clip of Angelina Jolie’s emotional speech this weekend as she honored her late mother’s influence and wisdom while accepting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. (VUL)

Screenwriting Legend Syd Field Dies At 77

Syd Field, author of eight books, including the industry classic Screenplay: The Foundations of Film Writing, died yesterday, his family confirmed. Judd Apatow and Tina Fey were among the writers who remembered him in the family-issued obituary. (BF)

‘Homeland’s Alex Gansa Talks ‘Homeland’ Backlash, Final Four Episodes of Season

THR’s Live Feed Q&A with the hit series showrunner on its third season. (LF)

Genius Brands, A Squared Entertainment Merge For Multi-Platform Content Experience For Kids

Variety has the details on the two companies merging to create children’s entertainment on a multi-platform level – TV, Web, and mobile – for global audiences. (VAR)

Viral Buzz: ‘Breaking Bad’ Alternate Ending: It Was All A Dream, Walter White Wakes Up As ‘Malcolm In The Middle’s Hal

The Week has the alternate ending, to be included in the Breaking Bad series box set, with Bryan Cranston waking up to sitcom wife Jane Kaczmarek. (TW)

Ron Meyer, Oliver Stone, Bill Paxton, & More On Where They Were When JFK Was Killed

Deadline’s collection of fresh remembrances by Hollywood notables as the 50^th anniversary of the late president’s assassination approaches. (DH)

Screenwriters: Why The First Images In Your Screenplay Are Vital

Script on great movie openings, what to keep in mind as you write your own, and why “if your opening is weak, what happens on page 8, 9 and 10 won’t help you.” (SCRIPT)

The Character Poster One-Sheet Trend

‘Go Where The Money Is’: Box Office Surprises Not Dependent On Teen Dollars

The New York Post on the ‘surprise’ box-office success of films with minorities or women – The Heat, We’re The Millers, Gravity, The Best Man Holiday, 12 Years A Slave – that surpass being mere niche hits. (NYP)

‘Who Are These People?’: The Character Poster One-Sheet Trend & What’s Not Working

Film.com takes on the current marketing vogue of films grabbing for mass appeals via character posters for films - featuring just one character/actor in the one-sheet – and how they can either be standouts or just plain confusing, telling you nothing about the film being marketed. (FILM)

Anna Gunn & Jacki Weaver Join Fox’s Limited Series ‘Gracepoint’

Vulture has the latest casting and development news for Fox’s upcoming Broadchurch remake, to be called Gracepoint. Original star David Tennant is back and the showrunners are In Treatment veterans Dan Futterman and Anya Epstein. (VUL)

Was Brittany Murphy Poisoned To Death?

HuffPo on Murphy’s father, Angelo Bertolotti, and biographer Julia Davis’ independent testing of hair, blood, and tissue samples after being frustrated by reported lack of further testing by the LAPD and the Los Angeles Coroner’s Office. Davis is saying those returned test results show 10 heavy metals “in abnormally high quantities…commonly found in rat poison, pesticides, insecticides.” (HUFF)

67 Years Later, ‘It’s A Wonderful Life’ Sequel Eyes 2014 Shoot

Variety has the story on the planned sequel to the original holiday classic, called It’s A Wonderful Life: The Rest of the Story, focusing on George Bailey’s grandson. (VAR)

Terry Gilliam To Follow ‘Zero Theorem’ With ‘The Man Who Killed Don Quixote’

The Film Stage reports on Terry Gilliam’s plans to make his passion project after years of preparation, including the documentary Lost In La Mancha that chronicled his attempt to make the film as it collapsed six days into shooting. The documentary, Lost In La Mancha, is included in its entirety in the report. (TFS)

Jon Hamm: ‘The Guardian’ Interview

The Guardian’s feature-length interview with Hamm about season 2 of A Young Doctor’s Notebook, his Mad Men journey and connection with character Don Draper, as well as his career: “I just wanted to work on things I liked and to avoid douchebags. Thankfully that's how it worked out." (GUAR)

Viral Buzz: Sesame Street Parodies ‘The Hunger Games’ With ‘The Hungry Games: Catching Fur’

Cinema Blend has the five-minute Sesame Street parody, from camera angles to wigs, of the blockbuster with Cookie Monster starring as Cookiness Overeat. (CB)

GQ’s ‘The Last Ride of James Gandofini’

As part of its Men of the Year lineup, James Gandolfini’s best friend reminisces about their friendship and bringing him home after his death in Italy. (GQ)

Successful Plotting: How To Outline Chapter Books & Novels

Ellen Jackson, children’s book author of fiction and non-fiction titles, offers ways to outline your YA or middle-grade book: from the working title and surprises for your character, to the last loose ends. (EJ)

Robert De Niro On ‘Taxi Driver’ Sequel Talk

‘The Guardian’ Interview: Robert De Niro, Open To ‘Taxi Driver’ Sequel

Robert De Niro’s feature interview with The Guardian as he talks career, his new film The Family, thoughts on a Taxi Driver sequel – and his opinion on the theories about the classic original’s ending. (GUAR)

Slated Enters New Data Partnership With Studio System

Slated, the online marketplace for film financing and deal-making, has entered a new data partnership with Baseline's Studio System - the industry's only verified professional film and TV database. The announcement includes the details of the partnership as the companies joining forces will result “in a one-stop, premier film investment shop.” (SLATED)

Will Smith, Shawn Levy To Team For ‘City That Sailed’

Grantland reports on the project about a father and daughter steering the detached island of Manhattan across the Atlantic Ocean. Audrey Wells is rewriting the script first penned by The Truman Show’s Andrew Niccol. (GRANT)

Amazon Studios Makes First 3 Episodes of New Comedy Series ‘Alpha House’ Available For Free

The link is here to the first three episodes of Amazon Studios’ new comedy series about four senators sharing a house in Washington, D.C. John Goodman stars and Garry Trudeau is the writer and one of the executive producers. (AS)

"I believe I am part of the hoax": Michael Kaufman Says He’s Been Tricked

THR on the latest details of the Andy Kaufman contretemps. (THR)

#Flashback Friday: The Original R-Rated Finale of ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’

The original clip of the Raiders finale where villain Belloq’s head exploded, sans the superimposed flames added in post to earn the film’s final PG rating. (HUFF)

Screenwriter-Producers: Mistakes To Avoid & Solutions For Producing Your Web Series

Script’s checklist for what mistakes to sidestep, especially in pre-production, as you make your web series including: you can’t fix everything in post, personally interviewing your crew hires first, and knowing it’s your right to watch takes in real time because “it is your ass on the line if the project is a bust.” (SCRIPT)

Viral Buzz: Sarah Silverman Appears On ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live’, Returns A Box Of His Belongings

HuffPo has the video clip of Silverman’s guest appearance last night on JKL (“It’s like I never left, only you’re married!”) along with a box of his stuff. (HUFF)

The Viper Room, 20 Years Later

Variety on the revamp of the storied, oft-infamous, Sunset Strip club - Johnny Depp sold his share in 2004 - as it looks to a new generation. The Viper Room aims to be a hub for underground and nascent music acts, along with other avenues like comedy and burlesque. (VAR)

50 Minutes of Deleted Scenes From David Lynch’s ‘Blue Velvet’ Now Online

The Playlist on the lost scenes found by MGM tech Darren Gross, then edited by David Lynch. The scenes are part of what was cut from the original rough cut to make the contractually obligatory 2-hour cut for producer Dino De Laurentiis. (PLAY)