February 16, 2021

Record China box office foreshadows global pent-up demand for movies, Imax CEO says (cnbc.com)

Imax broke its box-office records in China over the Lunar New Year holiday weekend and the results foretell what will happen when more U.S. movie theaters resume operations this summer, CEO Rich Gelfond told CNBC on Tuesday.

The company, which produces immersive movie experiences, said it grossed $25 million between Friday and Sunday, representing a 45% increase from a pre-pandemic record.

“It tells you [that] when it’s safe to go outside and people want to go, they’re going to run to go to the movies,” said Gelfond, who appeared on “Closing Bell” after trading ended for the day on Wall Street.

“Detective Chinatown 3,” a comedy adventure that was postponed from its Lunar New Year release last year, generated a large portion of Imax’s ticket sales during the three-day period. The film brought in $23.5 million, the best results Imax said it has ever seen for a Chinese film. The action film “A Writer’s Odyssey” and “New Gods: Nezha Reborn” animation also helped Imax reach both gross attendance and gross sales highs.

By: Tyler Clifford

Continue Reading at cnbc.com

Proposal awaiting approval for new film production studio in Savannah (wtoc.com)

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) – Savannah’s movie and tv production industry could be getting a boost in the form of a new film production studio. And Georgia Tech’s Savannah campus is prime real estate for the venture.

Georgia Tech’s Savannah Campus sits just off Jimmy DeLoach Parkway near I-95, and sprawls 54 acres that could eventually be the site of Savannah’s newest film production studio.

At this point it’s just a proposal, though, and still needs to be approved by the Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia.

Currently, the University System of Georgia and Georgia Tech own one building and 43 acres. The rest is leased to Georgia Tech through The University Financing Foundation, Incorporated.

One benefit noted in the presentation to the Board is by developing a film production studio at the site, the Board of Regents and Georgia Tech would get a nearly $3 million decrease in lease costs. It would also allow for the professional education programs currently held here to move to a more central Savannah location.

By: Sean Evans

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In New Essay On Federico Fellini, Martin Scorsese Takes Aim At The Movie Industry And Streaming (deadline.com)

In a new essay for Harper’s Magazine, legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese doesn’t pull any punches as he has some harsh criticisms for the state of the movie industry. Titled “Il Maestro”, the article focus is on director Federico Fellini but dives into so much more especially the current state of streamers and his issues with their effect on the movie going experience.

“As recently as 15 years ago, the term ‘content’ was heard only when people were discussing the cinema on a serious level, and it was contrasted with and measured against ‘form,’” Scorsese writes. “Then, gradually, it was used more and more by the people who took over media companies, most of whom knew nothing about the history of the art form, or even cared enough to think that they should.”

Scorsese does mention how he has benefited from places like Netflix that produced and distributed his gangster pic The Irishman and his upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon at Apple, but says film has been devalued by them and that they ultimately turned film into “content.” He goes deeper into the idea of content analogy by saying it is the “business term for all moving images.”

He goes on to say “We can’t depend on the movie business, such as it is, to take care of cinema. In the movie business, which is now the mass visual entertainment business, the emphasis is always on the word ‘business,’ and value is always determined by the amount of money to be made from any given property — in that sense, everything from Sunrise to La Strada to 2001 is now pretty much wrung dry and ready for the ‘Art Film’ swim lane on a streaming platform.”

By: Justin Kroll

Continue Reading at deadline.com

Roku job listing suggests big plans for original movies and TV shows (theverge.com)

Roku is looking to create its own original “episodic and feature productions,” according to a recent (and now closed) job listing posted by the company (via Protocol). The job listing mentions Roku’s “expanding slate of original content.”

Roku currently doesn’t have any in-house content of its own. It now owns Quibi’s lineup of shows, which it acquired from the defunct streaming company, and it also offers The Roku Channel, an ad-supported service that lets users watch a wide range of TV shows, movies, live news, and more — but we haven’t yet seen any shows that are made by Roku itself.

The job listing, however, indicates that Roku is looking to get into the content production business — something its hardware competitors like Amazon and Apple have already done. Providing its own shows could give its users a reason to spend more time on their Roku devices, which in turn could help further boost the company’s ad revenue, even if users aren’t watching its shows specifically.

By: Mitchell Clark

Continue Reading at theverge.com

Should Utah pony up more money to bring shows like ‘Yellowstone’ back to Beehive State? (deseret.com)

SALT LAKE CITY — A bill that would more than double subsidies for films that shoot in the Beehive State sparked a passionate debate Tuesday about the popular television series “Yellowstone” and whether the entertainment industry deserves special incentives.

SB167 would increase the maximum tax credit the Governor’s Office of Economic Development can award to a motion picture during a year from $6.7 million to $15 million. The bill would cost $8.2 million in ongoing funding from the education fund.

Bill sponsor Sen. Ronald Winterton, R-Roosevelt, told the Senate he looked into running the bill when the Paramount Network series starring Kevin Costner stopped filming in Utah last year and moved to Montana due to tax incentives.

“This is money that left our state and went to Montana,” Winterton said.

He said the first two seasons’ filming brought $35 million and $40 million per year in local spending to his district in rural Duchesne County and surrounding areas.

The owner of the primary ranch location for the show said it brought “immediate and significant support” to ranching operations in the area, according to Winterton.

By: Ashley Imlay

Continue Reading at deseret.com