RECENT PRESS
Frank Darabont to Direct “Law Abiding Citizen (Blog)
Frank Darabont (Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile) will direct the thriller "Law Abiding Citizen" starring Gerard Butler for The Film Department, which is selling international rights here. Production is set to begin on August 18th in Detroit on the low $40 million...
Fresh contenders ready for Cannes
[i]New Line Intl.'s exit creates opportunity for indies[/i] As the international film community gets ready to head to the south of France next week, a seismic shift and a few other movements are realigning the balance of power among the major film sales companies. New...
Beowulf & Grendel (2005
BEOWULF & GRENDEL is the first of two big screen adaptations, released two years apart, of an anonymously written Old English poem chronicling the heroic efforts of a Geat warrior to destroy a monster that terrorizes a Danish kingdom. Neither version is faithful...
Game (2009) (Blog)
From the minds of directors/writers Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank) comes "Game" which sounds a lot like "Running Man". "Set in a future-world where humans can control other humans in mass-scale, multi-player online gaming environments, a star player (Butler)...
300 (Blog)
The influence that green-screen visual techniques (or ‘chroma keying’, as the process is known) have had on modern film is not to be underestimated. The method known best for producing the animated weather map on the TV news has been called into action on all sorts of...
SAG, Film Dept. ink first deal
If there is an actors strike, at least one indie film company won't be affected. The Film Department said Wednesday that it has inked completion agreements with SAG for nine pictures that are gearing up for production in the spring and summer. The announcement comes...
SAG signs interim pact
[i]Guild aims to pact with indies[/i] After two days of contract negotiations with the majors, the Screen Actors Guild is looking to put some pressure on the studios by signing interim deals with indie feature producers that would allow actors to continue working on...
SAG Gets the Indie Spirit
Actors are used to working for scale on indies. Now they're just glad they'll be working. The Screen Actors Guild sealed an interim deal with independent film producers on Wednesday that ensures its members will be able to finish some upcoming features even if the...
Review Wrath of Gods (2007)
Wrath of Gods is an intriguing exploration into the rigors of plastic film making as seen through the troubled production of 2005s Beowulf and Grendel (not to be confused with Robert Zemeckis forthcoming motion capture adaptation of the same famed fib). The action is...
Content’s the Thing at New NAB Theater
LAS VEGAS The annual NAB extravaganza in Las Vegas every April is mostly known for its focus on the technical side of the broadcasting business, but one forum that will debut at the 2008 NAB Show will serve to sharply underscore what makes all of that technical...
Interview with Aaron Yoo
[i Excerpt from article. Click link above for full story...[/i The film he just finished working on, Game, is a futuristic sci-fi thriller, where multi-player video games have been created to allow players to control actual humans. Alison Lohman, Aaron Yoo, and...
Disney Sets Up First Three Stan Lee Projects
Variety is reporting that Walt Disney Pictures and Stan Lee's POW! Entertainment have set up three projects, the first three films resulting from the first look deal that Lee signed with Disney last June (see "Disney Signs Stan the Man"). All three projects, Nick...
Indie working on knight moves
The Film Department, the indie production outfit run by Mark Gill and Neil Sacker, has won a bidding war for "Galahad," a revisionist King Arthur spec from newcomer Ryan Condal. Gill and the company's Robert Katz will produce with Energy Entertainment's Brooklyn...
An upstart startup shoots to deliver on early promise
Perhaps you've heard the story of startup cameramaker Red, which is aiming to shake up the world of cinematography in which high-end digital cameras offered by the likes of Panavision, Arri and Sony can list in the six figures. Red has broken the model with a $17,500...
The Film Department to unveil pic at Cannes
Catherine Zeta-Jones will star in an untitled romantic comedy for the Film Department, with Bart Freundlich directing from his own script. Shooting starts April 17 on the Process production. Tim Perell, Freundlich, Mark Gill and Robert Katz are producing; Neil Sacker...
DreamWorks delays ‘Dragon’
Mindful of a crowded schedule for 3-D films late next year, DreamWorks Animation has pushed its offering "How to Train Your Dragon" by four months to March 26, 2010. The move leaves the studio with just one release, "Monsters vs. Aliens," scheduled for next year and...
It Takes a Butler To Tame a Dragon (Blog)
I tried not to make that joke -- but hey, everyone else is using McLovin' ones! The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Gerard Butler joins America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Christopher Mintz-Plasse to voice How to Train Your Dragon. Get your minds out...
DreamWorks’ ‘Dragon’ finds its voices
Jay Baruchel, Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill and Christopher Mintz-Plasse have signed on to voice-star in "How to Train Your Dragon," the CGI fantasy feature from DreamWorks Animation. Based on Cressida Cowell's first novel in the children's book series,...
DreamWorks fires up ‘Dragon’ cast
[i Butler, Ferrera, Hill, Baruchel join animated pic[/i Gerard Butler, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel and Christopher Mintz-Plasse will voice "How to Train Your Dragon" for DreamWorks Animation. Peter Hastings will helm the feature toon, and Bonnie Arnold...
DreamWorks Animation chief sees ‘new era’ with 3-D
LAS VEGAS (AP) — DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. chief executive Jeffrey Katzenberg promised a "new era" in moviegoing Tuesday, as Hollywood studios prepared a huge slate of 3-D movies for theaters that are increasingly going digital. "It is nothing less than the...