January 15, 2021

French Industry Looking to Seize International Opportunities, Rendez-vous Panelists Say (variety.com)

Changes in local financing coupled with new opportunities in global distribution have pushed the French industry towards a more international outlook, argued panelists at a Tuesday round table presented as part of UniFrance’s Rendez-vous With French Cinema.

“[For certain French producers] ‘international’ used to mean who would take care of their talent when they travelled,” said film exporter Nicolas Brigaud-Robert. “[Only] today, with the way that we finance films having changed, that concern is much more widespread.”

Throughout the export focused talk – which brought together sales agents Brigaud-Robert of Playtime, and Emilie Georges of Memento, producer Bénédicte Couvreur of Lilies Films, and CNC exec Mathieu Fournet – the panelists detailed the ways French actors could seize international opportunities.

By: Ben Croll

Continue Reading at variety.com

How COVID-19 and Oklahoma’s film industry growth impacted top 10 movies of 2020

 

Movie theaters shut down, streaming services ramped up, and superheroes and other tentpole protagonists were suddenly sidelined during 2020, a year with more plot twists than a horde of Hollywood screenwriters could have ever imagined.

Even as COVID-19 continually changed — and continues to change — all aspects of American life, heroes new and old emerged in the film industry. Oklahoma’s burgeoning movie scene started making an impact on awards season, with the celebrated Tulsa-made drama “Minari” generating Oscars buzz (assuming, of course, those coveted golden statuettes actually get handed out on April 25) and Edmond-based filmmaker Andrew Patterson picking up prizes for his feature film debut “The Vast of Night.”

Although many potential blockbusters were pushed out of their release dates due to the pandemic, plenty of independent and foreign films like the Irish animated tale “Wolfwalkers” and the Russian horror film “Sputnik” made meaningful bows in the year just past. Even when they were forced to close their physical theaters, art houses like the Oklahoma City Museum of Art, Rodeo Cinema, Tower Theater and Tulsa’s Circle Cinema have helped curate such promising titles through their innovative Virtual Cinema offerings.

By: Brandy Mcdonnell

Continue Reading at oklahoman.com

Artpark announces organizational & strategic business updates (wnypapers.com)

Organizational changes, selection of new ticketing platform & New York State Film Production Facility designation

Artpark & Company revealed organizational and strategic updates as it works toward continued future growth.

The board of directors announced Sonia Kozlova Clark as president of Artpark. Clark, who has served as the organization’s executive director since 2016, will continue to lead Artpark.

Joanne Bauer, chairwoman of the board, said, “Sonia has been instrumental in developing a new vision for Artpark and her accomplishments are numerous. Her appointments to various Artistic committees have been well deserved and exemplify her importance in the arts. Her creativity to keep Artpark relevant during these unprecedented times has been outstanding. She understands the importance of the arts and continues to serve our Western New York community.”

Artpark also announced Dave Wedekindt, who has served as director of marketing and sales since 2018, was promoted to vice president of concerts and marketing.

Continue Reading at wnypapers.com