Uncategorized

Governor Northam Announces Production of ‘Raymond and Ray’ in Virginia

(governor.virginia.gov)

RICHMOND—The Governor today announced that the feature film Raymond and Ray, from Apple Original Films, will shoot in Central Virginia this fall. The film stars Ethan Hawke (Before Sunset, Boyhood) and Ewan McGregor (Halston, Fargo). 

Raymond and Ray tells the story of half-brothers who have lived in the shadow of a difficult father. Rodrigo García (In Treatment, Albert Nobbs) will write and direct. Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuarón (Gravity, Roma) will produce with Bonnie Curtis (Saving Private Ryan, Albert Nobbs) and Julie Lynn (Albert Nobbs, To the Bone). Lynn is a board member for the Virginia Film Festival in Charlottesville, and a graduate of the University of Virginia. Gabriela Rodriguez and Shea Kammer will serve as executive producers. 

“Major projects like Raymond and Ray shine a powerful spotlight on and increase awareness of all that Virginia offers,” said Governor Ralph Northam. “We look forward to working with the film’s exceptional team and to the economic benefits a film of this scale will bring to Virginia workers and businesses.” 

“The Virginia film, television, and new media industry is a source of strong economic growth for the Commonwealth,” said Secretary of Commerce and Trade Brian Ball. “The industry has provided high-wage jobs and revenue to many Virginia communities throughout times of economic uncertainty and especially so for our hard-hit hospitality industry. Projects like Raymond and Ray continue to build our profile as a preferred production location, and we eagerly anticipate the expansion of this important Virginia industry.” 

“Attending the lovely Virginia Film Festival whetted our appetite to film in the Commonwealth,” said Raymond and Ray director Rodrigo Garcia and producers Alfonso Cuaron, Bonnie Curtis, and Julie Lynn in a joint statement. “The Virginia Film Office has been amazing, and we’re thrilled to bring Raymond and Ray here, with Apple’s support, to take advantage of the gorgeous locations and fall colors.” 

“We are honored to welcome the many new and familiar faces of Raymond and Ray to Virginia,” said Virginia Film Office Director Andy Edmunds. “There is truly no greater testament to Virginia’s rich assets, talented workers, and film-friendly atmosphere than repeat customers of this distinction, and we’re enthusiastic about another special opportunity to grow our partnership.” 

Recent major projects that have been filmed in Virginia include the feature film Tapawingo, the Hulu limited series Dopesick, AMC’s The Walking Dead: World Beyond, and Apple TV’s Swagger.  

Raymond and Ray will be eligible for a Virginia film tax credit or grant. The exact amount will be based on the number of Virginia workers hired, Virginia goods and services purchased, and deliverables including Virginia tourism promotions. 

For more information about Virginia’s film production industry, please visit the Virginia Film Office website. To learn more about Virginia tourism, please click here.

By: governor.virginia.gov

Continue Reading at governor.virginia.gov

As COVID threatens Alberta film productions, union calls for mandatory vaccinations

(calgaryherald.com)

The head of Calgary’s biggest film workers union says COVID-19 vaccination requirements need to be toughened on Canadian film sets after several cases in the industry have forced productions to alter filming schedules.

Damian Petti, president of IATSE 212, could not speak about the status of specific projects due to non-disclosure agreements. But actor Andrew Garfield made headlines earlier this week when he appeared remotely on the American talk show The View and said he couldn’t appear in person because of a COVID outbreak on the set of Under the Banner of Heaven, currently being shot in southern Alberta. He said he was self-isolating in Calgary.

By: Eric Volmers

Continue Reading at calgaryherald.com

Why many UK independent producers are fighting for survival in the new “wild west”

(screendaily.com)

It is the paradox at the heart of the UK film industry. Billions are being generated in inward investment, the sector appears to be in rude health, and yet smaller independent producers are struggling to stay in business.

Producers working in the lower-budget thresholds are in disconsolate mood. They simply cannot see how to run their companies profitably. Their producer fees are trifling and their share of the back end is ever diminishing. Even on relatively successful films, they might struggle to achieve any meaningful profits. “We end up seeing 40% or less of any receipts the films get,” says one, preferring to remain anonymous. “Bigger budget films have embedded distribution, sales, legals. For the ones under that, it is the wild west.”

While it is a familiar refrain, many indie producers believe they are not being treated equitably by their sales agent and distributor partners. They claim they rarely get to peruse distribution contracts or royalty reports and have little idea how their films are performing. Where transparency is lacking, they become suspicious about the levels of expenses and fees charged by their partners, especially in a period when markets and festivals have had to move online because of the pandemic.

These producers cannot afford expensive legal advice or to audit companies they suspect of withholding or delaying payments. They already have to pay a fee to set up a collection account management agreement (CAMA). “Independent producers are being squeezed on all sides,” says Paula Vaccaro, founder of production company Pinball London. “There are many problems that have piled up and producers have been taking a big part of the burden for a long time.” For small films, Vaccaro adds, “cinema as a sole revenue stream is not a viable business.” The only way to survive these days, she suggests, is also to do TV where the terms of trade and receipts are clearer.

Of course, it is not just indie producers who are suffering. There are plenty of independent distributors, sales agents and exhibitors in a similar plight in the wake of the pandemic. “I think it’s fair to say the whole industry is reeling,” says Charlie Bloye, chief executive of Film Export UK. “There is a temptation for producers to shoot the messenger.”

However, others believe the situation for indie producers is reaching a nadir that has not been seen in more than 20 years. Chris Patterson of Belfast-based Causeway Pictures has a cautionary tale about his exorcism documentary Hostage To The Devil (2016), which was licensed to a major streaming company. A collection account had been set up by Freeway and that was where the money from the deal was supposed to go. “What happened was that the sales agent usurped the contract and had [the streamer] send them the money directly,” Patterson claims.

He believes the sales agent was breaking the terms of its contract with the producers. Patterson suspects it thought Causeway was too small to do anything about it. “We’re not a big production company,” he says. “They know we don’t have an endless pot of money to take them to court. They know the most we can do is moan at them.”

When the sales agent went bankrupt, Causeway and other partners were owed more than $200,000. In this instance, the streaming giant emerges with credit. It paid its final instalment again, this time putting the money into the collection account from where it could be disbursed to the right partners.

By: Geoffrey Macnab

Continue Reading at screendaily.com

American Film Market on a Shoestring Budget

(recentlyheard.com)

In early November, the American Film Market comes alive with sellers, buyers, and promoters bartering for placement in distributor’s catalogs. With attendance around 8,000 AFM is the World’s largest motion picture trade event. It’s a marketplace where producers and sales companies license films to distributors and this year they project to have 2,000+ New Films and Projects, 1,000+ Distributors and 400+ Production Companies. The market is based at the Loews Santa Monica Beach Hotel and it uses conference rooms and movie theatres in the area.

For struggling filmmakers and screenwriters, AFM offers opportunities for networking, project financing, and distribution. However, on a shoestring budget it takes a lot of planning to achieve ones goals. Attendance fees are steep and exhibition costs are higher. Yet there are ways to obtain meaningful accomplishments and do so without breaking the bank.

By: Raj0540

Continue Reading at recentlyheard.com

Our Film Critics Discuss the Future of Movies

(nytimes.com)

Movie theaters are open for business again, and the film world is abuzz with new release dates, in-person festivals, an accelerating Oscar race, an array of Covid-19 protocols and anxious prognostications. Is this the death of cinema (again) or its glorious rebirth? Or has it mutated into something new altogether, a two-headed Disney-Netflix monster with art somewhere in its genome? Our chief film critics, Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott, have some thoughts on these matters. They also asked some industry veterans to weigh in.

MANOHLA DARGIS Hello, friend — it’s been a while. I recently returned from a book leave and having failed to win the lottery, I am back (happily!). I ignored most of the movie news while I was gone, though was sad to learn about the closure of my favorite theater here in Los Angeles, the ArcLight Hollywood, which was felled by the lockdowns. It felt like the beginning of the end of something, but here we are in a new season that looks more like 2019 than 2020 — even with requests to see our vax cards. What’d I miss?

A.O. SCOTT You didn’t miss much, except for a few episodes in the continuing discourse — part soap opera, part séance, part tech seminar — about the Future of Movies. Judged solely from the slate of upcoming releases (some held back from 2020), that future looks a lot like the recent past. The fall will see new work from both Andersons, Wes and P.T. Jane Campion’s first feature in more than a decade. A new James Bond. The predominance of familiar directors and stars along with newly minted auteurs (like Chloé Zhao, following her best picture win for “Nomadland” with a Marvel spectacle) creates a reassuring sense of continuity. Cinema as we have known it seems to still exist.

By: Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott

Continue Reading at nytimes.com