North America’s largest movie ticket website is feeling quite charitable lately. In fact, over the next two weeks (June 7th through June 20th) Fandango will be donating $1 to the Starlight Children’s Foundation for every ticket they sell to “The Karate Kid” which is being released today by Sony Pictures in the U.S. and Canada.
The partnership seems rather complimentary given that Starlight’s whole mission of aiding critically ill children and their families revolves around entertainment. The 25-year-old charity uses entertainment as a distraction from the pain, depression, fear and isolation a child may experience during an illness. The organization presently has more than three million family members in their network.
A single dollar may not seem like much, but according to the press release published to announce the program Starlight manages to stretch a dollar quite far:
- $1 enables a child with cancer to play Starlight’s Fun Center video games for almost an entire day while going through chemo therapy
- $1 enables a teen who is too sick to leave home to spend a day finding supportive friends on Starlight’s Starbirght World
- $1 helps a family get away from hospital treatments to have fun for a day at a Starlight Great Escapes event
Over the last five days “The Karate Kid” has accounted for 52% of Fandango’s ticket sales and the film continues to outpace the sales of this weekend’s other new releases.
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Popularity: 10% [?]
The Academy Award winning documentary “The Cove” was a big winner at the 11th Annual Golden Trailer Awards last night. The documentary, which details the dolphin slaughters taking place in Taiji, Japan, picked up the prize for Best Documentary and also won Best In Show, the events top award. It marks the first time a documentary has won the award.
The Golden Trailer Awards were created to honor the art of short movie previews. The event nominates trailers and television spots in categories as wide ranging as Summer 2010 Blockbuster and Best Video Game Trailer. Prizes are given to the companies and craft people who produce the trailers. In the case of “The Cove” that would be AV Squad.
Other winners at this year’s ceremony included “Sherlock Holmes” for Best Action (produced by Mojo), “Shrek Forever After” for Best Animiation & Family (produced by Aspect Ratio), “Brothers” for Best Drama (produced by Seismic Productions), “Antichrist” for Best Horror (produced by Kinetic Trailers), Best Romance went to “The Young Victoria” (produced by Mojo), the Independent Trailer Award went to “A Serious Man” (produced by Mark Woollen & Associates).
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Popularity: 12% [?]
Posted in
Events,
Trailers
Tagged as
Andy Samberg,
Aspect Ratio,
AV Squad,
Edgar Wright,
Empire Design,
Golden Trailer Awards,
Kinetic Trailers,
Marc Webb,
Mark Woollen & Associates,
Mob Scene,
Mojo,
Ruth Vitale,
Seismic Productions,
The Cove
Last week Cinedigm announced a partnership with Sensio that will allow them to bring the FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament being held in South Africa this month to theatres all over the world. What’s more, the matches will be shown live and in 3D.
The press release sent around to promote the partnership was was pretty standard, but there was one sentence that raised a question for me:
“To kick things off, the companies will use Sensio’s technology and Cinedigm’s theatre technology design to bring select matches from this year’s FIFA World Cup Soccer Tournament in Live 3D to hundreds of theatres around the world.”
My curiosity wasn’t necessarily stirred over which of the matches would be shown, because the release goes on to mention they’ll start with the quarterfinals. Instead, I was left wondering what “Sensio’s technology” actually was and how Cinedigm, a leading North American digital cinema integrator, would utilize it to project a live broadcast of a World Cup Soccer game in 3D. The rest of the press release only served to make me even more inquisitive, especially upon reading:
“…Cinedigm’s extensive experience in bringing live 3D sporting events to U.S. theatres through Sensio 3D format and CineLive technology.”
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Popularity: 12% [?]
Berkeley Breathed making his mark at Technicolor. (LA Times)
If I mention the name Technicolor what is the first thing that comes to mind? Chances are you’ll think of the company primarily known as a film processing lab and the world’s largest DVD replicator. Original content creation is probably not a concept most would associate with the company.
That may be changing soon, as Richard Verrier reported in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times. Technicolor has purchased the rights to “Pete & Pickles”, a children’s book by Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed with the intent of adapting it into an animated television series. The book focuses on the Mutt and Jeff friendship between a playful circus elephant and a prim-and-proper pig. Breathed is probably best known for his comic strips “Bloom County” and “Opus”.
Continuing the trend of sending animation and effects work overseas to India, most of the show’s production will be done in Bangalore, where Technicolor built a computer animation studio with partner Dreamworks Animation in 2007. Technicolor has since taken full control over the facility and renamed it Technicolor India. About two dozen artists will work in the United States on key frame drawings before the work is sent to India, where skilled labor is less expensive. The studio plans to have a staff of 1,200 by the end of the year working on projects for a range of clients, including Electronic Arts and Nickelodeon.
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Popularity: 9% [?]
While tech industry pundits and media outlets have spent the past several weeks throwing stones at Facebook over its privacy policy, Walt Disney Studios may have figured out a way to exploit the popular social networking website to sell movie tickets to their films.
As the New York Times reported yesterday, on May 26th Disney launched Disney Tickets Together, a Facebook application that allows users to purchase tickets for “Toy Story 3″. Without ever having to leave the Facebook site, moviegoers can see which of their friends have purchased tickets to the film or invite their friends along when purchasing tickets.
The friends a user selects to join them at “Toy Story 3″ will receive a message inviting them to purchase tickets for the same showing. In the same way the link to a popular YouTube video will make its way around the Internet via millions of emails, Disney has turned the purchasing of movie tickets into a viral activity. Disney told the Times the application has proven quite popular with groups as large as 80 purchasing tickets for “Toy Story 3′s” June 18th opening. Facebook will not be collecting a percentage of sales.
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Popularity: 14% [?]
Have you ever wondered what the difference was between a multiplex and a megaplex? It’s not a question that keeps me up at night, but every so often I’ll read about a theatre which is described as a megaplex and it will cross my mind. I mean, how many screens does a theatre need to have in order to be considered a megaplex? Fifteen? Eighteen? Or is it anything over 20 screens?
This rhetorical question was answered last week when AMC Entertainment announced they would not be renewing their lease on The Grand 24 in Dallas, TX., the first megaplex ever built in the United States. Several news stories, including one in the Los Angeles Times, defined a megaplex as any theatre with 14 or more auditoriums.
I could be faulted for burying the lead here, which is that AMC will be closing the historic venue after it couldn’t reach new lease terms with the property owner Entertainment Properties Trust. In a written statement Gerry Lopez, Chief Executive of AMC, the nation’s second largest theatre chain, said of the venue’s closure:
“It’s disappointing that we have not come to terms on a historical, and to us, a somewhat sentimental property. But in our opinion, the proposal advanced by EPT is simply untenable. We continue to negotiate with EPT on several other properties and will see where those discussions take us.”
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Popularity: 12% [?]
It’s hard to believe it’s been more than two years since the National Association Of Theatre Owners (NATO) announced they would be taking control of their annual trade show in 2011 when their contract expired with Nielsen Film Group. At ShoWest in March NATO made public the name of their new confab, Cinemacon. Now NATO has solidified the dates of the revamped convention, which will be held at March 28th to March 31st, 2011 at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas.
ShoWest ran for 36 years and grew into one of the largest and most important annual events for motion picture exhibitors and distributors. NATO is planning for CinemaCon to take up the mantle of largest annual gathering of worldwide theatre owners and as such are moving the event across the Vegas strip from Bally’s and Paris Hotels to Caesars Palace.
The new venue will offer more modern facilities and is meant to accommodate the size of the trade show, especially when it comes to screening product reels and upcoming releases from big Hollywood studios. Such presentations will be held in The Colosseum, a 4,200 seat theatre usually reserved for the likes of Celine Dion and Elton John. NATO is expecting 5,000 attendees at the first CinemaCon.
Like ShoWest, NATO plans for CinemaCon to set the tone for the upcoming summer movie season and will fill the schedule with “sponsored events, seminars, trade show, screenings, product presentations and a gala award show”.
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Popularity: 11% [?]
When it comes to handing out prizes and trophies to the year’s top movies there is no end to the number of awards shows waiting in line to applaud worthy efforts. But have you ever asked yourself whether the trailers created to promote those movies are ever recognized with any awards? If so, then have no fear. That’s why the Golden Trailer Awards were created.
For the past ten years Evelyn Brady-Watters and Monica Brady have been producing the Golden Trailer Awards which nominates and honors the best movie promo reels from the past year. The year’s event (the 11th annual) will be held in Los Angeles on June 20th at the El Rey Theatre. Winners for 16 of the 61 categories will be announced during the ceremony, which will be hosted by comedian Dean Edwards.
Vying for prizes this year are trailers for huge Hollywood hits such as “Sherlock Holmes” (Best Action) as well as smaller independent films like “Precious: Based on the novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Best Drama). And while James Cameron’s “Avatar” may have run away with a majority of the box office this past year, it’s unlikely the film’s trailer will walk off with an armload of Golden Trailer Awards since it is only nominated for Best Action.
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Popularity: 9% [?]
Kodak restated an unwavering commitment to film this morning, with an announcement that it has added two new films to its Vision3 family.
The stock additions include a medium-speed, tungsten-balanced color negative camera film, and a color intermediate designed for digital post workflows.
“These new Vision3 films are the tangible results of our ongoing commitment to filmmakers,” said Kim Snyder, president of the Entertainment Imaging Division, and vice president of Eastman Kodak Company, in a released statement. “By capturing the highest possible amount of image information, far more than any digital format, the Kodak Vision3 family of films gives the filmmaking community incomparable flexibility throughout the motion picture chain. That translates directly to time and cost efficiencies on set and in post, and greater creative control no matter what workflow is followed.”
From the press release:
Vision3 5213/7213 is a 200-speed, tungsten-balanced film. It features extended latitude, enabling cinematographers to record more details in highlights, and delivers finer grain for natural-looking images in the darkest areas. The emulsion is optimally designed for both controlled interiors and challenging high-contrast exteriors, and is available in all formats (65 mm, 35 mm, Super 16 and Super 8).
KODAK VISION3 Color Digital Intermediate Film 5254/2254 is designed for use with contemporary film recorders – both laser recorders and numerous CRT recorders that are still widely used in the marketplace. The imaging characteristics of this new intermediate film enhance the speed and efficiency of DI postproduction while rendering noticeably sharper images that more faithfully represent the intentions of filmmakers.
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Popularity: 9% [?]
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