Wednesday, Mar 10, 2010
Volunteer cast and crew, including cinematographer Ed Gutentag, left, and actor Jack McGee, seated, shoot "Ordinary, Average Guys," a short film that is part of a campaign to keep movie and TV jobs in California.
In a North Hollywood studio, actor Jack McGee is stripped down to his boxers, his legs duct-taped to a chair in a room draped in plastic sheets. He's not playing his best-known role of Chief Jerry Reilly in the TV series "Rescue Me" but the unlucky owner of a nightclub, sweating profusely as a mobster and his goons threaten to cut off his legs with a chain saw.
His crime: luring the mobster's younger brother to perform in drag because the kid couldn't get other work in California.
The short film, "Ordinary, Average Guys," a cross between "Goodfellas" and the "Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert," doesn't have a distributor. The cast and crew are working free, and it's being shot over just three days. And its not-so-comic subtext -- that jobs are scarce in California -- isn't likely to warm up studio executives.
That doesn't faze industry veteran Mike Kehoe, the film's director and co-producer. Kehoe and his colleagues hope to use the film to promote awareness about the economic consequences of so-called runaway production and build support for stronger incentives to keep filmmaking centered in Southern California.
"If we can get everybody involved and really wake people up to do something, then there's a big chance we can help," said Kehoe, a longtime craft service coordinator. "We have to make a statement to the politicians."
Of course, where there's a film, there are aspirations for a film festival to go along with it.
Kehoe and his colleagues hope the 20-minute movie will be featured in a festival they're planning that would showcase short films that are shot in California and public-service announcements highlighting production flight.
The festival would dovetail with a campaign by a coalition of industry, labor and city officials to market the region's film industry, which has seen a steady loss in production to other states and countries.
Kehoe said he was motivated to make the film after spending three months away from his family last summer, missing his twin sons' birthday, while working on "Battle: Los Angeles," a Sony Pictures movie about aliens invading L.A. that was shot in Louisiana.
"I want to make movies here because I want to be near my family, just like so many other skilled professionals," he said.
Kehoe had no trouble finding volunteers, recruiting about 100 actors and crew members, many of them friends he's worked with over the years, like McGee.
Cinematographer Ed Gutentag provided his services and enlisted help through a website called Shoot Movies in California (www.shootmoviesincalifornia.com).
The site evolved out of a Facebook group and claims 14,000 users, many of them below-the-line crew members hard hit by the exodus of production.
"We're using films to get our message out," said Gutentag, a camera operator on such films as "War of the Worlds" and "Collateral." "And what better way to hone our craft."
Vendors donated camera and lighting equipment, and the studio space was provided courtesy of an actors training center in North Hollywood.
Some high-level players pitched in, including sound mixer Jeff Wexler, whose credits include "Valentine's Day," and Tommy Harper, a unit production manager on "Alice in Wonderland," who is a co-producer on Kehoe's project.
"A project like this shows that we need to come together and formulate a plan of how to keep stuff in L.A. It stirs up the conversation," Harper said.
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Saturday, Jun 23, 2012
The Second "Kazakhstan Montage of Cinemas: Film & Cultural Festival" launches at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles on Aug. 3 for a one-week celebration of Kazakh cinema and culture, including musicians.
The festival is a stellar opportunity for directors, producers, location scouts, and the general public to get an understanding and appreciation of this exotic locale without leaving home.
Sweeping from the Caspian Sea on its Russian border to the Altai Mountain range on the Chinese border, Kazakhstan has a rich nomadic history as well as a powerful current tapestry of cultures. Since gaining independence in 1991, the Central Asian Republic has embraced its remarkable filmmaking past that dates back to the 1930's, when Sergei Eisenstein made his classic “Ivan the Terrible” in this mystic land, and has even given rise to several "New Wave" movements.
Opening night on Aug. 3rd begins with a reception at 7 pm, and includes a program of live entertainment until 11 pm, at the DGA Theater.
Sponsored by Kazakh Geographic Society (KazGeo.kz ), helixfilmsinc.com , the Embassy of the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the Honorary Consulate of Kazakhstan in Los Angeles, the festival includes Advisory Board Members Steven-Charles Jaffe (GHOST, K19), David Marconi (Screenwriter, ENEMY OF THE STATE), and Ambassador Erlan Idrissov.
Tickets cost $10 (including free parking) can be purchased from the festival’s website. "Kazakhstan Montage of Cinemas: Film & Cultural Festival 2012" will be held Aug. 3 - 9 at the Directors Guild of America on 7920 Sunset Blvd in Los Angeles, California
For more information, please see www.kazakhfestival.com - KazakhFilmFestLA@gmail.com
Source : HelixFilmsInc.com
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Sunday, May 27, 2012
The 65th Festival de Cannes drew to a close tonight with the closing awards ceremony hosted by Academy Award nominated actress Berenice Bejo.
The top prize was captured yet again by Michael Haneke for his portrait of an elderly couple Amour. This is the second time he has bested Jacques Audiard who was also in competition with De rouille et d'os (Rust and Bone). Haneke becomes one of the few two-time Palme d'Or winners alongside Alf Sjoberg, Francis Ford Coppola, Bille August, Emir Kusturica, Shohei Imamura, and Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne and only the second after August to win with consecutive films – his previous Palme d'Or was for his 2009 film Das weiße Band (The White Ribbon).
Matteo Garrone picked up his second Grand Prix for his film Reality. Previously, he had won in 2008 for Gomorrah.
The surprise winner for the Jury Prize was Ken Loach with The Angels' Share. He previously won the Palme d'Or in 2006 with The Wind That Shakes the Barley.
Another previous Palme d'Or winner won Best Screenplay. Cristian Mungiu who made 4 luni, 3 săptămâni þi 2 zile (4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days) returned with După dealuri (Beyond the Hills), and it also shared the Best Actress for its stars Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur.
In spite of the heavy American representation in the selection, the only American film to win a prize was Benh Zeitlin's Un Certain Regard entry Beasts of the Southern Wild which won the Camera d'Or for first film. Last night, it had won the FIPRESCI international critics' prize.
Complete list of winners for the 65th Festival de Cannes
Palme d'Or
Amour, Michael Haneke (France-Germany-Austria)
Grand Prix
Reality, Matteo Garrone (Italy-France)
Jury Prize
The Angels' Share, Ken Loach (U.K.-France-Belgium-Italy)
Best Director
Carlos Reygadas, Post tenebras lux (Light After Darkness) (Mexico-France-Germany-Netherlands)
Best Actress
Cosmina Stratan and Cristina Flutur, După dealuri (Beyond the Hills) (Romania-France-Belgium)
Best Actor
Mads Mikkelsen, Jagten (The Hunt) (Denmark-Sweden)
Best screenplay
Cristian Mungiu, După dealuri (Beyond the Hills) (Romania-France-Belgium)
Caméra d'or
Beasts of the Southern Wild, Benh Zeitlin (U.S.)
PALME D'OR FOR BEST SHORT FILM
SESSÝZ-BE DENG (SILENCE), REZAN YEÞÝLBAÞ
Source : www.ensonhaber.com
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