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Wednesday, Nov. 27, 2013

Boston Marathon Bombing Affected David O. Russell's 'American Hustle'

From left, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Jennifer Lawrence in a scene from "American Hustle." While shooting in Boston, David O. Russell’s upcoming fictionalization of the Abscam investigation, “American Hustle,” found itself caught up in the Boston Marathon bombing. When the city was essentially shut down for the manhunt, the production had to be stopped for a day. The experience, Russell says, was felt closely by the production. (AP Photo/Sony - Columbia Pictures, Francois Duhamel)

By Jake Coyle, Film Writer

NEW YORK (AP) --

While shooting in Boston, David O. Russell found his film "American Hustle" caught up in the Boston Marathon bombing.

When the city was essentially shut down for the manhunt for suspect Dzokhar Tsarnaev in April, the production - which had been shooting in the area - had to be stopped for a day. The experience, Russell says, was felt closely by the filmmaking crew and actors.

"It was hanging over us the whole time," Russell said in a recent interview.

"You just end up feeling the emotion and the strength of the community around you," said the director. "It just makes you more human, really, because you end up having a very human connection with, literally, everyone around you. I mean, everyone, strangers on the street. Everybody was moved and pulled together by that tragedy."

Russell, a New York native, has become increasingly identified with Massachusetts. A graduate of Amherst College More

Thursday, Nov. 28, 2013

Hawaii investigating 'American Jungle' TV show

By Audrey McAvoy

HONOLULU (AP) --

Hawaii officials said Wednesday they are investigating whether any state regulations were broken during the filming of the History channel's television show "American Jungle."

The state Department of Land and Natural Resources said in a statement that an episode that aired Nov. 17 showed hunters at night, but hunting at night is illegal on both public and private land.

Maps used on the show also demark areas under the department's jurisdiction, even though the state denied a request by the production crew for a permit to film on state forest lands, the department said.

A spokeswoman for History owner A&E Television Networks LLC said the company would have no comment.

The History channel website says "American Jungle" depicts rival clans using knives and spears to hunt feral bulls, wild boars, goats and rams in "the island paradise of Hawaii." The clans are battling for hunting trails More

Friday, Nov. 29, 2013

Ang Lee plans to make movie in Philippines

MANILA (AP) --

Academy Award-winning director Ang Lee, who plans to make a movie in the Philippines, said Thursday that independent Asian filmmakers have a better chance these days of finding audiences around the world.

The Taiwan-born director of "Brokeback Mountain" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is in the country as a guest of Taiwan's de facto embassy, which honored him with a special screening of "Life of Pi."

Lee told a forum with filmmakers and media that he was inspired by how the world received the movie. He said 85 percent of the film's income came from outside of America, which used to be the market leader. The movie took four years to make, cost around $130 million and earned Lee his second Academy Award for best director.

"I think that's good news for all of us," he said. "You have a chance to make it and find your audience."

He said for Asian filmmakers who want to make mainstream More

Friday, Nov. 22, 2013

Obama to visit California DreamWorks studio

GLENDALE, Calif. (AP) --

President Barack Obama will visit the home of "Shrek" next week to deliver remarks on the economy.
     White House spokesman Josh Earnest says the president will stop next Tuesday at DreamWorks Animation in Glendale, just north of Los Angeles. Earnest won't provide details but he says the U.S. movie and TV industry is creating thousands of jobs around the country.
     The studio's animated hits include "Shrek," ''Madagascar," ''Kung Fu Panda" and their sequels.
     DreamWorks CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is a big supporter of Obama and Democratic Party causes. Last year he gave $2 million to the group supporting Obama's re-election. During an August trip to California, the president and Katzenberg dined in Obama's Los Angeles hotel room.

Friday, Nov. 15, 2013

VER acquires Fletcher's Film & Digital Camera Division

CHICAGO --

Video Equipment Rentals (VER) and Fletcher Chicago, Inc. have reached an agreement to bring Fletcher's 16mm, 35mm and digital camera rental division into VER's cinema division, forming a new entity. This collaboration combines the strengths of VER's extensive inventory, comprehensive engineering and international reach along with Fletcher's film experience, knowledgeable staff and their respect for the craft of cinematography.
"The nature of modern motion picture production requires an ever changing variety of equipment and the ability to scale up to meet the needs of an often complicated and demanding production environment," stated Tom Fletcher of Fletcher Camera. "VER's extensive inventory, engineering prowess and presence in every incentive-driven production center means that we can now more fully serve the DP's and AC's artistic and technical needs alongside the financial and business needs of producers. My entire staff is excited to More

Friday, Nov. 15, 2013

Library to preserve Archive of Public Broadcasting

By Brett Zongker

WASHINGTON (AP) --

A collection of public broadcast recordings from radio and television dating to the 1950s will be preserved at the Library of Congress.
     Under a project funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, 40,000 hours of content is being digitized for long-term preservation and will become the American Archive of Public Broadcasting. It will be housed at the library's National Audio-Visual Conservation Center in Culpeper, Va.
     The project being announced Thursday will make the recordings available to the public through both the library and WGBH in Boston.
     The recordings include interviews with John F. Kennedy and Hubert Humphrey when they were presidential candidates. There's also a commentary by George Lucas on his first "Star Wars" movies.
     Curator Alan Gevinson says the collection includes an impressive collection of local and regional history.

Friday, Nov. 15, 2013

EU plans to widen scope of EU film subsidies

BRUSSELS (AP) --

The European Union's state aid chief says he wants to expand the scope of EU film subsidies to cover all stages of a production from story idea to cinema projector.
     EU Commisioner Joaquin Almunia also said Thursday production powerhouses like France and Italy will have more say in defining what will be covered by the movie subsidies which are exempt from normal economic rules because they are considered cultural products intrinsically linked to the identities of the 28 member states.
     The United States has frequently criticized the European movie industry because of lavish state subsidies of about 3 billion euros ($4 billion) a year.
     The EU is insistent that the movie industry stay out of the current trans-Atlantic trade negotiations with the United States, despite Washington's objections.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013

Cheadle to play Miles Davis in long-planned biopic

NEW YORK (AP) --

Don Cheadle will play Miles Davis in a biopic the actor has long planned on the innovative jazz pioneer.
     BiFrost Pictures told The Associated Press on Wednesday that it will finance and produce "Kill the Trumpet Player," with Cheadle also making his directorial debut. Cheadle has been trying to make the film for years, but production is finally set to begin in June.
     The production company said the movie won't be a traditional biopic, but will focus on when Davis temporarily retired from making music and then re-emerged in 1979. The script is written by Cheadle and Steven Baigelman.
     Ewan McGregor will co-star as a Rolling Stone reporter, and Zoe Saldana will play Frances Davis, the trumpet player's former wife.
     The film is being made with the collaboration of Davis' family. Davis collaborator Herbie Hancock will also be involved in the production.
     Davis died in 1991 at age 65.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013

'Fifty Shades of Grey' film postponed until 2015

NEW YORK (AP) --

The release of the big-screen adaptation of "Fifty Shades of Grey" has been postponed until 2015.
     The film had been scheduled to open in August next year, but Universal Pictures announced Wednesday that it will now debut on Valentine's Day in 2015.
     The production of "Fifty Shades of Grey" has not gone according to plan. "Sons of Anarchy" star Charlie Hunnam dropped out of the project shortly after his high-profile casting as billionaire Christian Grey. Jamie Dornan replaced him, and the start of production was pushed from November to December.
     A Valentine's Day release is fitting for the erotic romance, but it also moves the film out of the lucrative summer movie-going months. February is often a dumping ground for Hollywood's less prestigious releases.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 2013

Film directors protest at Iran's embassy in Sweden

STOCKHOLM (AP) --

A group of international film directors are protesting outside Iran's embassy in Stockholm against that government's censorship of Iranian film maker Mohammad Rasoulof.
     Around 20 directors, including Sean Gullette of the U.S. and Sweden's Tarik Saleh, stood blindfolded outside the Iranian embassy Tuesday, after learning that Iranian authorities have confiscated Rasoulof's passport, prohibiting him from traveling to the Stockholm Film Festival.
     The blindfolds were a reference to a scene in Rasoulof's latest film, "Manuscripts Don't Burn," that will be screened at the festival.
     Rasoulof's films are banned in Iran, where he has been accused of "making propaganda" against the ruling system.
     The chairman of the festival jury, Kristian Petri, said the directors wanted to "show that it is unacceptable to prevent filmmakers, artists and journalists from performing their work."