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Home » The Past Week in Review, for March 14, 2011

The Past Week in Review, for March 14, 2011

Steven Soderbergh really, really doesn’t want to get into another van to go scouting ever again. Photo credit: Joe Corrigan/Getty

We search for the more interesting and provocative news and views of the past week, just so you don’t have to.

This past week brought news on serious money for feature films on the web, feature films from your local multiplex, and a director giving up feature films.

How do you build a career out of a feature film that cost $1 million to create but you put on the web for free? Director Sebastian Gutierrez (Women in Trouble) is about to find out. His new comedy Girl Walks Into a Bar has shown in LA and at SXSW before popping up on Youtube’s new showcase site over the weekend, spiced up with a breathless The First Major Motion Picture Made For The Internet Only on YouTube tagline.
Granted, he does have someone else’s money proffered: a producer (Stephen Bing), an exclusive ad tie-in (Lexus), and some unspecified support (YouTube). Don’t know if this is something anyone but known directors will get traction on, but enough B-level actors (Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Rosario Dawson) have signed on to lend some validity. For those DSLR heads, the whole thing was shot with a Canon 7D.

Read Reporter Jason Zingale’s take on it is here. And yes, there is a Wikipedia entry too.

The annual South By Southwest music, film and technology fest, where with-it ventures like Gutierrez’ web feature turn up, is…face it, at this point SXSW has become a crowded, oversubscribed venue, at least according to any number of cranky web postings. If you now feel smart about not showing up, but would still like to be up with the latest SXSW gossip, head over to the GigaOM site; it offers an extensive listing of links to live streamed panels and concerts, all of which you can find here.

A slickly produced film that pushed new distribution scenarios via the web wasn’t the only notable news this past week, at least if you’re someone who moons over the passing of major studio Indie divisions. To whit, the two largest U.S. exhibitors–AMC Entertainment and the Regal Entertainment Group–launched a new venture, Open Road Films, which expects to release 8 to 10 films a year. First one to appear later in 2011, according to this posting.

Sony’s PMW-F3 camcorder, which just recently started shipping, is already winning enthusiastic responses. With features including a new Super 35 CMOS sensor, a new set of Sony primes and a price tag of 16,000 (body-only), the camera is spotted as a baby Sony F35/Red One/Alexa (as per Adam Wilt). If you’d like to know crucial, real-world details, Abel Cine has been running a series of tests. Here’s the most recent results from Andy Shipsides’ blog.

With all the commotion over Apple’s new iPad 2, some have wondered just how useful it might be for production professionals. Afterall, it does feature a dual core processor, improved graphics, and apps galore. How about a pro analyst’s take on it? Well, try one of theJon Peddie group’s reliably acerbic reports to help you figure out just how useful it might be by clicking here. (Hint: the iPad 2 is called a second-generation hype generator.)

For something less acerbic, and really, if you’re curious as to what serious, intellectual film mags have to say—you know, the ones that won’t discuss any films featuring regular series of explosions or excessive gun play—you might want to browse through this digest provided by David Hudson. Briefing us on what the top film mags (Cinemascope, Film Comment, Cineaste, and Offscreen) are covering this month, you’ll learn about Iranian filmmakers, German cinema at the Berlinale, and “La Lettre du cinema” by clicking here.

Oscar-winning Steven Soderbergh used the forum of an interview with Kurt Anderson on this past weekend’s Studio 360 to let the world know that “you’re not going to have Steven Soderbergh to kick around anymore.” With two more films to complete before he quits Tinseltown, the New York-based director—who expands on the above with a “if I have to get into a van to do anther scout I’m just going to shoot myself” comment—is said to be off on other creative endeavors that really, truly don’t require a van to scout.

Updated 3/15/11 with corrected links.

About Dan Ochiva

New York City-based journalist and NYCPPNEWS founder Dan Ochiva writes and consults on film, video, and digital media technology.

Community & Partner Links

How Sony’s New Virtual Sound Technology Can Change How We Hear Films

Kami Asgar and Jessica Parks are post-production heavyweights who work with major studios, namely Sony. As a sound designer (Asgar) and as a post executive (Parks), their collective resume touches on everything from Apocalypto to Grandma’s Boy to Venom.

Parks has recently shifted her focus from supervisor to hands-on sound design, and we talk about how it’s never too late to pivot on your career path and find the thing you love doing wherever you are in life.

Click on this link to read the rest of the article on No Film School’s site.

NJ – Governor Murphy signs $14B Incentive Program Bill – the NJ Economic Recovery Act of 2020

 Film tax credits — amending existing programs to include provisions for so-called New Jersey film partners and New Jersey film-lease partners and allowing an additional $200 million of tax credits annually over 13 years.

Click this link if you want to read the full article on the Lexology site. http://bit.ly/35NtDx6

Film Commish announces date for production restart

In her December 18, 2020 news update, MOME Commissioner Anne del Castillo announced that the Film Office is now accepting permit applications for production activity that begins on July 27th.

She also announced awards now (Awkwafina) and more. To read all of the Film Commish’s bloggy sort of news column, click here.

Stimulus Offers $15 Billion in Relief for Struggling Arts Venues

The coronavirus relief package that Congressional leaders agreed to this week includes grant money that many small proprietors described as a last hope for survival.

For the music venue owners, theater producers and cultural institutions that have suffered through the pandemic with no business, the coronavirus relief package that Congress passed on Monday night offers the prospect of aid at last.

To read the full article on The New York Times’ site, click here.

If you want to start production, here’s the latest news from the Mayor’s Office

Phase 4 production guidance is available on the Film Permit website. All production activity, whether it requires a Film Permit or not, must comply with New York Forward Industry Guidance.

For more information see, please refer to the State Department of Health’s Interim Guidance for Media Production During the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Please review the guidelines and FAQ before submitting permit applications. The Film Office is operating remotely, so please allow additional time for Film Permit processing.

The above paragraphs contain links to the various FAQ – just mouse over the relevant words.

Nikon to Stop Making Cameras in Japan

Nikon has fallen on hard times as of late as its camera sales have cratered, and now there’s a new indicator of how dire its financial situation is: the company is reportedly pulling the plug on making cameras in Japan after over 70 years of doing so.

To read the full article on Petapixel’s site, click here.

NVIDIA Uses AI to Slash Bandwidth on Video Calls

NVIDIA Research has invented a way to use AI to dramatically reduce video call bandwidth while simultaneously improving quality

What the researchers have achieved has remarkable results: by replacing the traditional h.264 video codec with a neural network, they have managed to reduce the required bandwidth for a video call by an order of magnitude. In one example, the required data rate fell from 97.28 KB/frame to a measly 0.1165 KB/frame – a reduction to 0.1% of required bandwidth.

To read the rest of this article on Petapixel, click this link.

 

 

 

Union Health Plan Dodges Film Workers’ Suit Over Virus Relief

Law360 (October 9, 2020, 5:22 PM EDT) — The Motion Picture Industry Health Plan’s board can’t be sued under ERISA for allegedly flouting its duties when it relaxed plan rules in response to COVID-19, a California federal judge has ruled, nixing a proposed class action filed by two cinematographers who still couldn’t qualify for benefits.

In an order entered Thursday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted the board of directors’ motion to dismiss Greg Endries and Dee Nichols’ Employee Retirement Income Security Act suit accusing board members of breaching their duty to treat all plan participants fairly.

Endries and Nichols, members of Local 600 of the International Cinematographers Guild, said in July that the board left them and others “out in the cold” in its attempts to address the problems COVID-19 caused for plan participants.

But Judge Klausner agreed with the board’s contention that the case, which alleged a fiduciary breach, should be tossed because plan administrators don’t act as fiduciaries when they amend health care plans.

Read the full article on the Law360 site by clicking here.

Russo Brothers Received Close to $50 Million From Saudi Bank

Anthony Russo and Joseph Russo photographed at the PMC Studio in Los Angeles for the Variety Playback Podcast.

The Russo brothers, directors of the all-time top grossing film “Avengers: Endgame,” quietly secured a roughly $50 million cash infusion for their production company AGBO from Saudi Arabia earlier this year, multiple sources tell Variety.

In a deal brokered and closed at the beginning of the pandemic, the Russos received the investment from an undisclosed Saudi bank in exchange for a minority stake in the brothers’ Los Angeles-based shop.

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