SABATINE NAMED FILM INDY COMMISSIONER
In January 2016, Visit Indy, the Central Indiana Community Foundation, and the City of Indianapolis launched a new two-year marketing initiative called Film Indy. Fast forward to today and they have hired the city’s first film commissioner. The city’s Film Indy Advisory Board, made up of Central Indiana community leaders, has named Teresa Sabatine as the Film Indy commissioner.
Sabatine’s role will be to position Indianapolis as a production-friendly city for TV commercials, TV shows, corporate training videos, and movies–in support of driving additional tourism spending by visiting film crews, engaging local production companies, and generating marketing exposure for the city.
Sabatine leads Film Indy after a career in the marketing and film production industry, most recently serving as the director of business development for People for Urban Progress. Sabatine has also served as a page on the set of David Letterman; assisted producer Michael Bay with production for Transformers 4; worked with the City of Chicago and its Film Office; produced projects for Sony Pictures, Lionsgate, and 20th Century Fox in New York and Los Angeles; and worked in video production for Nike at its world headquarters.
Major corporations that have recently filmed TV commercials in Indianapolis include: Honda, Papa John’s, Apple, Visa, Reebok, TaylorMade, Delta Faucets, and Subaru. TV shows filmed here include: Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food and Food Network’s Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
DODD TO SPEAK AT CINEPOSIUM
The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) announced Senator Chris Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA), as the first confirmed speaker for its annual Cineposium conference scheduled for September 22-24 in Atlanta.
Senator Dodd will provide remarks immediately following the opening welcome address at Cineposium on Friday, September 23.
The MPAA is the voice and advocate of the motion picture industry in the U.S. and around the world. Its member companies regularly work with AFCI members before and during filming to find the right locations and navigate local laws, including film tax incentives, customs and other local procedures for on-location productions.
Building Your Business is the focus for this year’s Cineposium and will give attention to Infrastructure–How to Build It, Maintain It, and Manage Crew Development to Meet its Needs.
BLOODLINE RETURNS TO FLORIDA FOR SEASON 3
Bloodline, the hit Netflix series based in the Florida Keys, will return to Florida for season 3 despite the lack of state financial incentives that were available for seasons 1 and 2.
According to a recent market research study it was estimated that the season 1 of Bloodline was responsible for generating more than 39,000 incremental overnight household trips to the Florida Keys. The report also states, “as a result, incremental visits produced more than $65 million in travel spending over the seven months after season 1 launched that would not have otherwise occurred. Additionally, viewers of Bloodline are 20% more likely to positively promote the Florida Keys by word of mouth to their friends and family.”
Review: Director James Watkins’ “Speak No Evil”
Quick. Has there ever been a horror film set in a country home with a decent cell signal?
Nope, and there's no signal at Paddy and Ciara's house, either, deep in the English countryside. Soon, that land line will be cut, too, but we're getting ahead of ourselves.
Paddy and Ciara are that fun-but-somewhat-odd British couple whom Louise and Ben, early in "Speak No Evil," meet on their idyllic Tuscan family holiday. Americans based in London, Louise and Ben are at loose ends, with both job and relationship issues. And so, when the new acquaintances write to invite them for a country weekend, they decide to go.
After all, how bad could it be?
Don't answer that. There are many such moments in the first two-thirds of "Speak No Evil," a Hollywood remake of the 2022 Danish film, here starring a deeply menacing James McAvoy. Moments where Louise and Ben, out of mere politeness and social convention, act against their instincts, which tell them something is wrong – very wrong.
Director James Watkins and especially his excellent troupe of actors, adult and children alike, do a nice job of building the tension, slowly but surely. Until all bloody hell breaks loose, of course. And then, in its third act, "Speak No Evil" becomes an entertaining but routine horror flick, with predictable results.
But for a while, it's a way more intelligent film. And the jumpy moments work — I'll confess to literally springing out of my seat when someone uneventfully turned on a power drill.
We begin in stunning Tuscany, where Louise (Mackenzie Davis, in the film's most accessible and empathetic performance) and Ben (Scoot McNairy, all nerves and insecurity) are vacationing with 11-year-old daughter Agnes (Alix West Lefler). At the pool, they... Read More