Director Jean-Marc Vallée’s Café de Flore received 13 nominations and David Cronenberg’s A Dangerous Method received 11 nominations—both films are nominated for Best Motion Picture and Achievement in Direction.

Rounding out the Best Motion Picture category are the awardwinning Monsieur Lazhar; the suspenseful The Whistleblower and the crowd-pleaser Starbuck.

BEST MOTION PICTURE
A DANGEROUS METHOD – Martin Katz, Marco Mehlitz, Jeremy Thomas
CAFÉ DE FLORE – Pierre Even, Marie-Claude Poulin, Jean-Marc Vallée
MONSIEUR LAZHAR РLuc D̩ry, Kim McCraw
STARBUCK РAndr̩ Rouleau
THE WHISTLEBLOWER – Christina Piovesan, Celine Rattray

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTION 
DAVID CRONENBERG – A Dangerous Method
STEVEN SILVER – The Bang Bang Club
JEAN-MARC VALLÉE – Café de Flore
PHILIPPE FALARDEAU – Monsieur Lazhar
LARYSA KONDRACKI – The Whistleblower

The full list of nominees are locate at Hye’s Musings Blog   http://hyemusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/32nd-genie-awards-nominees.html

I know it’s wrongheaded, but I’m beginning to be anti-anti-piracy.

Wherever you turn these days, the anti-piracy mafia has become ever more shrill. There’s a new White House initiative, there are new bills in the House and Senate — and then, of course, there are Hollywood’s awards-season screeners. The DVDs sent to voters do not begin with a cheerful invitation to enjoy the film, but rather with a litany of legal threats that each year grow longer and more dire.

Talk to the anti-piracy professionals, of course, and they’ll acknowledge these admonitions consist of useless legal rhetoric. Each year, essentially the same percentage of vids end up getting pirated anyway.

There are growing signs that the copyright-protection lobby is pissing people off rather than converting them to the cause. Political leaders and the Silicon Valley elite all seem alarmed by new bills with virtuous-sounding titles like the Protect Intellectual Property Act — bills that, as the Wall Street Journal observed, could “strangle the Internet with regulation.”

The fear is that, if these bills pass, a single infringing link on a single page of a website could result in the entire site being shut down.

In Hollywood, the release of screeners each year plays out like a ritual of ambivalence. The studios want voters to view the screeners — but not really. They’d prefer we go to theaters. So would filmmakers, who resent seeing their artistry squeezed onto a TV screen. Even the Academy’s furtive experiments with digital downloads make filmmakers edgy because streamed images look more like standard-def DVDs than like high-def Blu-rays (the same for iTunes streaming).

I’ve been an Oscar voter for many years and relish the annual avalanche of screeners, but I nonetheless find the threats and admonitions tiresome. Further, a substantial number of TV sets cannot recognize the “enter” instruction on the vids that certify your “acceptance” of the threats, so you never get to see the movie anyway.

Historically, screeners have always seemed to drive the Academy to distraction. One year voters were even sent a device that scanned the screeners, but many were defective and were soon discarded.

For the studios, dispatching screeners is an expensive exercise — the whole production and marketing process comes to as much as $400,000 a film. Voters may receive a DVD and a Blu-ray but distributors are not supposed to send more than one screener to a voter.

To save costs, a few studios have tried to develop exclusionary lists of “retired” Academy members — those who do not pay their $250 annual fee and thus cannot cast votes. No one knows what percentage of the 6,000 Academy members is “retired” but it could run into the thousands as a result of the bad economy and the Academy’s AARP-plus demographics.

As a voting member, I still find it gratifying to watch a screener in the quiet of my den to admire the individual components of the filmmaking process — art direction, cinematography, etc. With that in mind, it’s doubly jarring to be instructed at the outset that I must break the screener in half immediately upon viewing and feed it into the nearest inferno.

I don’t like destroying movies. I also don’t like breaking videos in half (there must be myriad lawsuits over cuts and bruises). Finally, what if the voter wants to rerun a DVD just before the final vote to reassess a performance or even a musical score?

The anti-piracy zealots aren’t interested in aesthetic considerations such as these. They want to protect their copyright even if they have to badger you and send you to jail to do so.

Other festival films will also be available on VOD, including Dax Shepard’s Brother’s Justice and Zach Braff starrer The High Cost of Living.

Tribeca Enterprises’s Geoff Gilmore says: “We are excited to be able to present a spectrum of specialty films that will simultaneously premiere at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival and on demand in over 40 million homes, giving those not at the Festival in NY a chance to enjoy these quality films.” Details on the films below.

Tribeca Film’s initial VOD offerings feature notable stars such as Ryan Phillippe, Zach Braff, Keira Knightley, Taylor Kitsch, Sam Worthington and Eva Mendes. Film and television star Dax Shepard gets behind the camera for his directorial debut as he takes viewers on his journey to become an internationally-renowned martial arts star. These films will introduce audiences to the world of conflict photography, the violent side of 1970s Glasgow through the eyes of a bright young boy on the brink of adolescence and the life-changing consequences and relationships that can result in the course of one night.

The Tribeca Film website http://www.tribecafilm.com/ has an easy-to-use guide on where to find all films.

Source: http://blogs.indiewire.com

Much of the city centre was blocked off to traffic for the shoot. One photograph shows Washington, who reportedly plays a villain in the movie, walking along Strand Street. 

Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds shooting in Cape Town

In one scene he is wearing a hat and a pair of spectacles, a costume reminiscent of his role as civil rights leader Malcolm Xin the Spike Lee movie from 1992. In the movie, Reynolds plays Matt Weston, a CIA agent who must protect prisoner/rogue ex-agent Tobin Frost (Washington) from assassins when their safe house is hit. Reynolds was photographed shooting scenes on a balcony with the beautiful and on the rise French actress Nora Arnezeder. He was also spotted at a U2 concert in the city on Friday.

Production on Safe House is expected to continue in Cape Town into March. The movie has been slated for a February 2012 release by Metro-Goldwyn Pictures

"Tron: Legacy"

Case in point: Universal is in the process of handing director Carl Rinsch a $170 million budget for 47 Ronin, a 3D samurai revenge story starring Keanu Reeves that will begin shooting March 14 in Budapest. Rinsch’s résumé includes a popular short film and a Heineken commercial (below) — but no features.

And he’s far from the only fresh-faced director stepping into the big-budget fray. Disney gave commercials helmer Joseph Kosinski close to $200 million for Tron: Legacy. Universal recently hired first-timer Rupert Sanders to helm the $100 million-plus Snow White and the Huntsman. Relative newbies Marc Webb, who’s shooting Sony’s The Amazing Spider-Man, and Daniel Espinosa, who’s helming Universal’s action thriller Safe House, took on the potential blockbusters with little previous feature work.

It’s not an entirely new phenomenon, but for several reasons the scale and justifications behind the hires have changed. During the 1990s, commercial and music video directors such as David Fincher (Alien 3, 1992), Michael Bay (Bad Boys, 1995), Gore Verbinski (Mousehunt, 1997) and McG (Charlie’s Angels, 2000) made the jump to features, but most of them did so with comparatively modest budgets.

During the past five years, though, technology has enabled rookie directors to hone their skills via FinalCut Pro, digital-video cameras and other state-of-the-art effects tools from a young age, prompting budget-cautious studios to salivate over what they can put on screen for a price. Gareth Edwards, for instance, made his indie sci-fi film Monsters for a few hundred thousand dollars, even though it looked much more expensive. He’s now up to direct Godzilla for Warner Bros.

“It’s a reflection on the innovation of emerging filmmakers,” says Anonymous Content manager Michael Sugar, who reps Webb and Kosinski. “You’re looking at people like Fede Alvarez, who made a short film (Panic Attack!) for $300, put it on YouTube, and it looks like it was made for $20 million.” Alvarez, an Anonymous client, was hired by Sam Raimi’s Ghost House Pictures to develop a sci-fi feature. 

More than ever before, the short film and commercial environment has become a playground to use up-to-the-minute tech to create feature-film calling cards. Sanders, District 9 co-writer-director Neill Blomkamp and Noam Murro — recently hired by Fox to direct the fifth Die Hard — all did spots for recent Halo video game campaigns, a gig that has become as coveted as any debut film job because it often becomes a higher-profile entry into features.

To read more visit The Hollywood Report (http://bit.ly/h9LEyj)

Article written by Jay A. Fernandez

 Carl Rinsch Heineken commercial!

The drama Winter’s Bone had the most nominations, with seven nods including Best Feature. Winter’s Bone is directed by Debra Granik and stars Jennifer Lawrence, as a girl searching for her lost father in a rural Arkansas town filled with drug pushers.

“The Kids Are All Alright”, which stars Annette Bening and Julianne Moore, received five nominations, including Best Feature.

Check out the list of nominees for the 2011 Film Independent Spirit Awards. www.spiritawards.com

James Bond seems set to live another day after debt-ridden film giant MGM secured a deal to end months of financial deadlock, which put the latest 007 movie on ice along with the studio’s fate.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, whose catalogue includes the Bond franchise as well as the Pink Panther and Rocky series, announced a debt-restructuring rescue deal late on Friday while rejecting an offer from billionaire Carl Icahn.

In a statement the legendary studio – famous for its trademark roaring lion logo – said its lenders had “overwhelmingly approved its proposed plan of reorganisation” with US firm Spyglass Entertainment.

Spyglass was favoured over a rival offer by Icahn, who reportedly owns about $800m of MGM’s debt, to merge the studio with film producer Lionsgate in which he is the largest shareholder.

“MGM will now move expeditiously to implement that plan, which will dramatically reduce its debt load and put the company in a strong position to execute its business strategy.

Struggling

“MGM is appreciative of the lenders’ support,” said the MGM statement.

The studio, with a 4 000-strong back catalogue that also includes The Wizard of Oz and Singin’ in the Rain, has been struggling for the last few years, and its owners put it up for sale a year ago.

Several candidates emerged, including US-Canadian studio Lionsgate, as well as America’s Liberty Media, Australian-born US media tycoon Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, and India’s Reliance Entertainment.

If the plan announced late on Friday is approved, MGM is expected to emerge from bankruptcy with 95% of its capital in the hands of creditors led by US bank JPMorgan Chase.

The remaining five percent would be held by Spyglass, which notably produced Clint Eastwood’s last film Invictus.

In April, uncertainty over the debt-ridden studio’s future forced the suspension of work on the latest James Bond movie, the 23rd in the long-running franchise.

The British production company behind the project said they had put work on hold “indefinitely” after MGM failed to attract a buyer. There was no immediate word on when filming could resume

 Source: http://www.channel24.co.za

Other Highlights:

Telefilm invested about $1.2M in support of Canadian companies’ participation at international markets. Every dollar invested by Telefilm within the framework of its foreign activities generated $16 in sales deals for Canadian film companies, compared with $11 in 2008 and $9 in 2007. If we include pre-sales and probable sales (that is, sales deals likely to be closed quickly after the market), this figure jumps to $100 for every dollar invested.

In 2009, total sales and pre-sales of Canadian films and television programs stood at $17.6M, a 26% increase over the $14M earned in 2008. Negotiations conducted during the international markets generated $90.7M in probable sales. This brings the total of sales, pre-sales and probable sales to $108.3M, a 27% increase over the previous year’s total of $85M.

In 2009, the Cannes Festival was the most profitable market in terms of the ratio of sales, pre-sales and co-production/co-venturing agreements per dollar invested: every dollar invested by Telefilm generated more than $333 in economic activity. 

“There’s no doubt that Canada’s audiovisual industry benefits from the strategic support it obtains abroad from Telefilm,” said Carolle Brabant, Executive Director of Telefilm Canada. “We’re very pleased to see how dynamic our companies are when they negotiate co-production and co-venturing agreements with foreign partners. Telefilm’s activities at international markets provide a real showcase for Canadian talent abroad and prove that Canadian products can compete on the world stage.”

2009 International Market Report:  http://bit.ly/9bq2uM

Source: Telefilm Canada

How to make the transition from the editing room to the marketplace.

Picture this! By some miracle to end all miracles, born of equal parts luck and blind determination, you’ve managed to rise above the never-ending barrage of questions from “concerned” friends and family who’ve always thought your talk about making movies was reckless. You’ve put together a cast and crew, refined your script, found some financing and in the process, you’ve even figured out how to ignore all your significant other’s not-so-subtle hints that a career selling life insurance really wouldn’t be that bad. To be honest, looking back, even you aren’t really sure how you pulled it off. Yet, despite all of the concerns and self doubt, you’ve somehow managed to make the impossible possible. You’ve made your first feature film! And, by definition, you’re finally a real filmmaker.

So, as your significant other drinks celebratory champagne with your family, friends and whatever members of your cast and crew are still speaking to you at the wrap party, you and I both know there is one nagging thought still rattling around in the back of your mind. It’s the same thought shared by every independent feature filmmaker. You’re asking yourself, how am I going to distribute this thing?

As a feature filmmaker, your distribution strategy will fall into one of two categories. Either your movie will be picked up, marketed and sold through various outlets by one of those distribution companies you read about in the trades, or you will sell it yourself. This is the major difference between traditional distribution and self-distribution. Regardless of which path you take, there are certain fundamental steps you must complete to ensure the film makes a smooth transition from the edit suite to the marketplace.

Preparing to Find a Distributor

When finding a distributor, many filmmakers partner with sales representatives, agents, lawyers or consultants to help get their movies seen and, hopefully, sold. It is during this time that the representative will often furnish the filmmaker with an extensive checklist of deliverables that include (with some variation): the movie master, talent agreements, high resolution digital photos for use in promotion, a credit lock, talent bios and press kits, a copyright registration form, chain of title and just about every other legal clearance the distributor can think of to minimize liability. One area where first-time filmmakers often stumble is in properly securing the rights to each and every bit of music included in their flick.

To continue reading this artcle please visit  www.independent-magazine.org

NEW YORK – Like an actor waiting for a big break, the nascent market for watching independent movies on TV video-on-demand channels or online via streaming or downloads still needs a big hit to make believers out of moviemakers.

Last month, the Tribeca Film Festival launched an unusual effort to acquire films and release them on video-on-demand (VOD) in an effort to help kick-start the market. Typically, film festivals screen movies, not distribute them.

As the festival wound down earlier this week, the success of Tribeca’s effort was still unknown. But market players said VOD and online sales are not likely a financial game-changer anytime soon for the beleaguered independent film industry that in recent years has fallen on hard times as too many indie movies competed for space in too few theaters.

“They (VOD and Web downloads) have generated meager revenue at best. The total revenue has not been up until now anything resembling financially compelling,” said Eamonn Bowles, President of Magnolia Pictures.

Still, Tribeca organizers and industry executives agree the old financial model of a film creating buzz at festivals and being acquired for theatrical release needs changing.

“So many filmmakers still want that traditional route, they want to be able to walk down that red carpet at a cinema,” said Tribeca’s chief creative officer Geoff Gilmore.

“But I can’t make that world exist any longer when it doesn’t,” he added. “I can’t tell (filmmakers), ‘you are going to have a number of different buying opportunities’ when in fact it has been more and more mitigated…so we are trying to create new opportunities.”

Tribeca’s distribution arm, called Tribeca Film, acquired more than a dozen films and over half were shown at the festival, including “Climate of Change” and “Metropia.”

They were offered on VOD via cable, satellite and telecom providers that reach some 40 million homes and fans could watch them at the same time as New York moviegoers at the festival.

Separately, but also for the first time, Tribeca offered eight full-length films online at a flat fee of $45.

Festival organizers aren’t yet saying how many people paid to watch the movies, but its experiment followed other, smaller efforts including one at the recent Sundance Film Festival, which offered five movies for rental at $3.99 on YouTube. It attracted little revenue.

FILMMAKERS GIVE MIXED REVIEWS

Tribeca filmmakers gave VOD and Web downloads mixed reviews and said they hoped audiences would still be able to see their films on the big screens for which they were made. Some wondered whether a conflict of interest might arise if a festival promoted their own films more than ones they did not acquire. Director Josh Sternfeld, whose “Meskada” played in the festival, told Reuters he thought filmmakers should “keep their minds open to how films get seen” but also recognized watching a film in a theater was “special.”

Others were more reluctant, including director Ricki Stern of “Joan Rivers — A Piece of Work,” who said “it’s wonderful that movies can get out to the masses on the Internet,” but quickly added that she still preferred cinemas.

“Movies should be in a big old movie theater with lots of popcorn,” she said.

Josh Braun, of Submarine Entertainment, which represented “Climate of Change”, said any festivals exploring their own distribution must be “extra vigilant to account for any perception that their own films might get preference.”

“And they have to be smart about it because they still want distributors to be coming to their festival and looking for movies for sale,” he said.

But while the industry waits to see if Tribeca’s VOD experiment captures much revenue, the festival is marching forward with plans to acquire more films throughout the year.

“What we are saying is ‘we realize that you are watching films on your computers and on cable, we are going to offer that to you,” said Nancy Shafer of Tribeca Enterprises, which funds the festival and the distribution arm. “Everyone is trying to figure out how to make filmmakers money…and how to rebuild the independent film business.”

(Additional reporting by Sharon Reich; Editing by Bob Tourtellotte)