Month: January 2011

The Improving Economics of Independent Film

…For the past few years though, Sundance has been at the center of an industry in trouble. Like the rest of the economy, the independent film world got hit hard by the global crisis. Before 2008, Wall Street bankers with more money than they knew what to do with were directing extra funds into the film world in the hopes of turning a profit or at least getting to meet Scarlett Johansson.

That created a glut of independent films that were competing for limited theater space and audience attention. As a result marketing budgets started to exceed production budgets. The economics of making independent films fell apart around the same time Wall Street crashed. Independent film branches like Paramount Vantage and Warner Independent closed their doors.

But today, things are starting to look up for independent films. The glut is gone…

https://blogs.forbes.com/dorothypomerantz/2011/01/20/the-improving-economics-of-independent-film/?boxes=businesschannelsections

Q&A: Christopher Nolan on Dreams, Architecture, and Ambiguity

Christopher Nolan, director of Memento, and The Dark Knight, tends to let his twisty genre deconstructions speak for themselves. But he agreed to talk to Wired about the decade-long inception of his movie Inception (on DVD December 7). We talked to him about heists, architecture, and the difference between ambiguity and a lack of answers. Hint: One is better (looking at you, Lost)…

https://www.wired.com/magazine/2010/11/pl_inception_nolan/?pid=3930

Spam E-mails Decline to 34-month Low

The volume of spam e-mails fell this month to the lowest level in nearly two years, according to a report from Symantec’s MessageLabs. Spam accounts for 78.6 percent of e-mail traffic, down 3.1 percent from December and 5.3 percent from January 2010. The previous low-water mark was in March 2009 when 75.7 percent of e-mail traffic was spam…

Francis Ford Coppola: On Risk, Money, Craft & Collaboration

Over the course of 45 years in the film business, Francis Ford Coppola has refined a singular code of ethics that govern his filmmaking. There are three rules: 1) Write and direct original screenplays, 2) make them with the most modern technology available, and 3) self-finance them.

But Coppola didn’t develop this formula overnight…

https://the99percent.com/articles/6973/Francis-Ford-Coppola-On-Risk-Money-Craft-Collaboration

“Schindler’s List 3-D,” Anyone? The Problem With Hollywood’s 3-D Addiction

Movie industry execs are beaming over 3-D technology, which has helped bring about a box-office boom. Roughly 33% of earnings are now generated from 3-D films, and in 2010, six of the top 10 highest-grossing movies were shot in 3-D, with the top two, Toy Story 3 and Alice in Wonderland, banking more than a billion dollars each.

But it’s not all digitally enhanced sunshine and roses in Tinseltown–or, at least, it shouldn’t be. The industry’s addiction to profits is creating a serious dependence on the third dimension, and it’s manifesting itself in some very odd ways…

https://www.fastcompany.com/1715929/hollywood-is-addicted-to-3d-technology

CafeFX closed

“After 17 years in business, CafeFX/ComputerCafe has decided to officially close its doors. The current economic climate and global marketplace have made it unrealistic for us to continue to deliver the highest quality visual effects work, which has been our hallmark, at a competitive price and a sustaining profit…”

https://www.cgrecord.net/2010/12/cafefx-closed.html

https://www.vizworld.com/2010/12/cafefx-shutters-christmas/

https://www.ksby.com/news/big-crowd-turns-out-for-local-visual-effects-company-auction/

BOND IS BACK! Daniel Craig and Sam Mendes Set For Nov. 9, 2012 Release Date

EXCLUSIVE: MGM is announcing that “BOND 23” is set to go into production in late 2011. Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli of EON Productions, together with Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum, the Co-Chairmen and Chief Executive Officers of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc., today announced that the 23rd James Bond film will have a worldwide release on November 9, 2012…

https://www.deadline.com/2011/01/bond-is-back-daniel-craig-and-sam-mendes-set-for-nov-9-2012-release-date/