Woody Allen To Snub Golden Globes

Woody Allen To Snub Golden Globes

Woody Allen, celebrated stage, tv, and motion picture Writer-Director-Actor, has won a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Golden Globes, and yet predicts he will not attend that Award Ceremony.

Woody seems still to be reticent regarding Awards and Award ceremonies, even though he has been nominated for thirteen and won two previous Golden globes, and four Academy Awards, and has been Nominated by the Motion Picture Academy a record fifteen times. And many, many other Awards. (113 wins & 131 nominations).

Woody Allen Films TV Plays

2014 Magic in the Moonlight
2013 Blue Jasmine
2013 Fading Gigolo
2012 Paris-Manhattan
2012 To Rome with Love
2011 Midnight in Paris
2010 You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger
2009 Sdelka
2009 Whatever Works
2008 Vicky Cristina Barcelona
2007 Cassandra's Dream
2006 Scoop
2005 Match Point
2004 Melinda and Melinda
2003 Anything Else
2002 Hollywood Ending
2001 The Concert for New York City
          ("Sounds from the Town I Love")
2001 The Curse of the Jade Scorpion
2000 Company Man
2000 Small Time Crooks
2000 Picking Up the Pieces
2000 Company Man
1999 Sweet and Lowdown
1998 Antz
1998 Crimes and Misdemeanors
1998 The Impostors
1998 Celebrity
1997 Deconstructing Harry
1997 Count Mercury Goes to the Suburbs
1997 Wild Man Blues
1996 The Sunshine Boys (TV Movie)
1996 Everyone Says I Love You
1995 Mighty Aphrodite
1995 Une aspirine pour deux (TV Movie)
1994 Bullets Over Broadway
1994 Don't Drink the Water (TV Movie)
1993 Manhattan Murder Mystery
1992 Husbands and Wives
1991 Shadows and Fog
1991 Scenes from a Mall
1990 Alice
1989 New York Stories ("Oedipus Wrecks")
1989 Crimes and Misdemeanors
1989 Somebody or The Rise and Fall of Philosophy
1988 Another Woman
1987 King Lear
1987 September
1987 Radio Days
1986 Meeting Woody Allen (Documentary)
1986 Hannah and Her Sisters
1985 The Purple Rose of Cairo
1984 Broadway Danny Rose
1983 Zelig
1982 A Midsummer Night's Sex Comedy
1981 The Subtil Concept
1980 Stardust Memories
1979 Manhattan
1978 Interiors
1977 Annie Hall
1976 The Front
1975 Love and Death
1973 Sleeper
1972 Play It Again, Sam
1972 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex
          But Were Afraid to Ask
1971 Men of Crisis: The Harvey Wallinger Story
1971 Bananas
1970 Pussycat, Pussycat, I Love You
1970 Hot Dog (TV Series)
1969 The Woody Allen Special
1969 The Kraft Music Hall (TV Series)
1969 Take the Money and Run
1969 Don't Drink the Water
1967 The World: Color It Happy (TV Movie)
1967 Casino Royale
1967 The Kraft Music Hall (TV Series)
1967 Woody Allen Looks at 1967
1966 Gene Kelly in New York, New York
1966 What's Up, Tiger Lily?
1965 What's New Pussycat
1963 The Sid Caesar Show (TV Series)
1962 The Laughmakers (TV Short)
1961 The Garry Moore Show (TV Series)
1960 Candid Camera (TV Series)
1960 Hooray for Love (TV Movie)
1959 At the Movies (TV Movie)
1958 The Sid Caesar Show (TV Series)
1956 Stanley (TV Series)
1950 The Colgate Comedy Hour (TV Series)

Woody Allen
Golden Globes
Academy Awards
Birthday 1 December
Motion Picture Academy

Red Skelton 100th Birthday 18 July 2013

Red Skelton - 100th Birthday - 18 July 2013

I met him in Seattle, Summer 1977. My writing partner John Halvorson called me up on the phone. "You've got to get down here! Red Skelton is here! Olympic Hotel!" And he hung up. 

Zoomed down! Speed-walked into the Olympic Lobby. It was filled to capacity with Japanese tourists, and right in the middle, ignored by the tourists, chewing on an enormous unlighted cigar the size of a Presto-Log, was Red Skelton. 

He wasn't sad...exactly...but none of the tourists recognized him, or seemed to speak English. He brightened up, when he caught sight of us. "What are you doing here?" I asked. "Looking for you!" he replied.

The next hour was delightful. He told us he painted a painting and wrote a piece of music, every day. He told jokes - often - just like regular folks gab about the weather. He autographed my glossy of him, so it could hang on my Editing Room wall. "My Thanks, Red Skelton."

I asked if he'd autograph my copy of "The Groucho Files," because in it, Groucho wrote Red was the natural comic successor to Chaplin. Groucho wrote that Red could do anything. Monologue, pantomime, jokes, stories. He had all the comic gifts. High praise indeed, from another Master.

Red seemed quite moved. He turned to a tourist, and said "Look! Groucho Marx says I'm funny!" He only got a puzzled smile from the tourist, to which Red did a huge shocked take, which was...funny. Of course.

Wherever you are, on your 100th Birthday, bless you Red.







A delightful collection! More of Red Skelton's great comedy.



The Plege
The Pladge
The Pleadge
Red Skelton
Skelton Red
Ed Sullivan
Peforming Arts
Red Skelton Show
Red Skelton Pledge
The Red Skelton Show
Red Skelton Paintings
The Pledge Of The Allegiance
Red Skelton Pledge Of Allegiance
Pledge Of Allegiance Red Skelton
Pledge Of Allegiance By Red Skelton
John Wayne John Wayne John Wayne

"Solar System Soup" Is Yummy! - Book Review

"Solar System Soup" Is Yummy! - Book Review

This review is from: Solar System Soup (Paperback)
Children's Book, Story by Lindsay Marshall,
Illustrated by Don Bearwood

http://amzn.to/solar-system-soup


A good story carries one far away, and this one certainly does that. It takes me to when I was five, skipping second grade at Sartori Elementary in Renton, Washington, in 1961.

My school had an enormous library, full of good books and a nice Librarian, who imparted to me my love of books and facts and stories. That Library was amazing! There were screenings of Bell Laboratory science movies (Directed by Frank Capra), great big Encyclopedias, and huge models of Saturn and our Moon, hanging in the Lobby. It was magnificent, and I remember it fondly.

I walked under those planetary models every day, and I went to the Library as often as I could, and my imagination was stoked! I wanted to go to Outer Space! (I almost went once, and I'll tell you about it some time).

Well, this book is like that. "Solar System Soup," written by Lindsay Marshall and Illustrated by Don Bearwood, takes the Reader on a fanciful journey around our Solar System, where Sam's Dad gathers ingredients from the Planets, to make Sam a special Birthday Soup.

It's a simple story, and a good one, and if I tell you too much, I'll just mess it up. Don Bearwood's illustrations are charming, done in colored pencil and paint, by hand! Not on a computer! And they are lovely, in that way I remember from my favorite books as a child. They stick in my mind, and I am glad I read this book. You'll like "Solar System Soup," too! So will your kids.

Sam Longoria                http://amzn.to/solar-system-soup
Producer
Hollywood CA USA  

Gondoliers - Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society

Gondoliers - Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society

Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan's "The Gondoliers,
or the King of Barataria."
Gilbert & Sullivan's last big hit, and a wonderful evening's entertainment. 

Tickets $16 Youth, $35 Seniors, $38 Adults.
CLICK TICKETS http://bit.ly/-gondoliers

Showtime 7:30 pm
July 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, and 27

Matinee 2 pm
July 13, 14, 20, 21, and 27
CLICK TICKETS http://bit.ly/-gondoliers




Gondoliers
The Gondoliers
Gilbert & Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan
Seattle Gilbert & Sullivan
Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan
Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society
The Gondoliers, or the King of Barataria
Seattle Gilbert and Sullivan Society - The Gondoliers

The Adventures of Mark Twain - Claymation - Clay Animation

The Adventures of Mark Twain - Claymation - Clay Animation

Man! This was a long time ago. Let me tell you about a hectic year. 1982.

I owned a movie theatre in Enumclaw, Washington, and a Print Shop, and was a DJ, playing music and comedy on the local AM radio station. That was on weekends.

Most of the week, I did a 300-mile commute to Portland, Oregon, and built computers and cameras for an animation company, making an animated Mark Twain theatrical feature. 

I fooled away the rest of my time, sleeping. Sometimes, I slept as I drove.

Will Vinton, Portland Claymation tm Producer, had won an Oscar for an 8-minute animated film he made with Bob Gardiner, seven years earlier.

He had read about my 35mm feature film, and my Radio Shack TRS-80 Model I computer motion-control animation system, and my software. He hired me to design and build one for him. So I began the commute.

It was all very creative. A house full of Artists! Sweet and funny Patty (Matt Groening's sister) answered the phone, and managed the office.

The script was amusing, sculptors were insanely talented, and the Twain anecdotes were funny. Modeled in clay, and photographed one frame at a time.

It was one very cold wet year in Portland, building cameras and projectors and motion-control, and writing software, just before I went Hollywood. The coldest and wettest year on record! I'm still shivering.





All I could think was, "Next year, I want to be somewhere WARM." Luckily, the movie got done, and I went to Hollywood, and everything moved forward...warmly.

I didn't know anybody had even seen this film until recently, because it had a poor distribution deal at first, and Independent Distribution is so iffy.

I'm gratified so many have seen it, and that they like it.
Now "The Adventures Of Mark Twain" is on DVD and blu-ray!



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Tales Of Hollywood - Ray Harryhausen Lunch

Tales of Hollywood - Ray Harryhausen Lunch

In 1983, I was working "Ghostbusters" and "2010," for Boss Film, and the stop-motion guys were fun to lunch with. They had done some of the best stop-motion anywhere. Phil Tippett, Jon Berg, Randall William Cook, Jim Aupperle, and some others. 

They were very funny guys, and I was was very pleased to be in their company. I was fresh off an animated clay movie in Portland, and my 35mm Seattle feature, now I was building 65mm camera equipment in Hollywood. 

My friend Jerry Jeffress had told me Ray Harryhausen had a unique way of speaking, and Jerry could imitate it perfectly. He was great at it. So, I could mimic Jerry imitating Ray, which I did to the amusement of the stop-motion guys at lunchtime.

To my surprise, they ALL could imitate Ray's speaking voice! It was clear they loved him. He was their hero, the reason they got started animating. That was fun! 

In the next couple of days, some amazing things happened. A magazine writer asked if I could do a favor. Ray Harryhausen was in town, and could I take him to lunch? And then bring him to Showscan, where the writer also worked, to see the Showscan demo presentation? 

(Showscan was a 65mm 60fps system, at Doug Trumbull's company near Boss Film). 

Then Mr. Harryhausen would be interviewed for the magazine. Did I say yes? Yes, indeed! 

I picked up Mr. Harryhausen, and we chatted a bit. I took him to the restaurant, where the stop-motion guys were. I asked if we could surprise someone, and he grinned yes. As he waited outside for a minute, I went in. 

"Guys, our last lunchtime, my Ray Harryhausen imitation wasn't very good. I've been working on it, and it's better. I want to show it to you. I just need a moment to prepare." What a setup. Such eager, expectant faces.

I went outside, and sent Ray back in. Hubbub! Tumult! Somebody yelled "Sam, that's a fantastic imitation!" And that was a fantastic lunch.



2010
Boss Film
Showscan
Ghostbusters
Sam Longoria
Doug Trumbull
Clay Animation
Ray Harryhausen
Tales of Hollywood
Stop-Motion Animation

When Are The Oscars Decided?

When Are The Oscars Decided? 

Most think of the Academy Awards selection as a mysterious process. I've seen some parts of it up close, and I can tell you, what I saw was just a bunch of guys having dinner, and discussing "Who did what," Who deserves what," and "Who gets what." Just like you or I would judge a school Talent Show or local Film Festival.  

When are the Oscars decided? Three times. When they are Nominated, When they are reported in the Media, and again When they are Voted upon. 

Are there rules to the selection? Yes, and you have probably noticed them. If you haven't noticed the rules, Journalist Bill Wyman has, and he will share them with you.



Who are the Oscars?
What are the Oscars?
Where are the Oscars?
When are the Oscars?
When are the Oscars decided?
How are the Oscars?

That Thing You Do - Tom Hanks - Film Editing - Richard Chew - Conversation - Singles - Walter Murch

That Thing You Do - Tom Hanks - Film Editing - Richard Chew - Conversation - Singles - Walter Murch


I really like Tom Hanks's "That Thing You Do," Tom is a wonderful Director, as well as a foremost and accomplished Actor.

Editing on the film was spectacular, as well as the Acting and Writing. And that means the Director was waay good. Yay Tom! 

Tom also chose, when he wrote himself the part, something hard to pull off. His character is utterly necessary to the story, and he pushes the story along, and he is NOT LIKEABLE. 

This movie is wall-to-wall cute (Liv Tyler has never looked so kissable), and yet Tom Hanks wrote himself a hard-nosed cold-blooded toad, to play. And then played him, straight as a string. I have a LOT of admiration for Tom in this movie, on every level.

"That Thing You Do" is a movie about the Music Business, before the Beatles came along and changed everything, by refining the process and jacking the numbers up to the stratosphere. 

This little Band, "The Wonders" does not sound like the Beatles, but their one-hit wonder song follows the classic pop formula the Beatles followed, and the sound is pure-dee 1964. If I were to describe their music, I'd say it is a faithful re-creation of The Dave Clark Five.

Tom was more interested in making the feel of this movie just right, and that is the foundation of this film, the feeling.

There is one scene where the Band hears its song on the radio for the first time. No dialogue, just Band members running in to turn it on, and then jumping up and down and screaming. Too wonderful scene. 

I'll tell you how wonderful the Editing was. Only in hindsight did I realize - There is ONLY ONE song to play in the movie. They play it through at least FOUR times, and the Editor manages to keep it extremely interesting, and make it feel different each time. An Amazing Task! It is done so well, one scarcely notices it. Really well done! 

I am not surprised the Editor is ABLE to do it, he is Richard Chew. He and Paul Hirsch and Marcia Lucas and George Lucas edited the original "Star Wars," and Mr. Chew edited Francis Coppola's "The Conversation," (Sound by Walter Murch), one of the best ever. 

The only film which compares to "That Thing You Do" in my mind, for the pop music sequences, is George Lucas's "American Graffiti."
(Edited by Verna Fields, Marcia Lucas, and George Lucas, Sound by Walter Murch). 

HOW Mr. Chew chose to pull off that prodigious feat, (playing the same song multiple times, and keeping it exciting), in "That Thing You Do," is utter Mastery of Film Editing. Man, he is good!

Richard Chew also Co-Produced and Edited THE made-in-Seattle music movie, 1990's "Singles."  As I have similar projects going, I'm waay interested. Read about how a real Hollywood movie goes together in Seattle.



That Thing You Do
Song That Thing You Do
The Conversation
Tom Hanks
Film Editing
Richard Chew
Singles
Walter Murch
Singles
American Graffiti

There was a Man - Charles Durning Actor

I met Charles Durning at the Oscars, in 1983. He'd been nominated for "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas," Best Supporting Actor. 

I was struck by how much The Camera loved his face. It was stunning. In real life, you'd never know he was a movie star. In real life, he was startlingly, breathtakingly homely. The word "ugly" is not out of the question. Somehow, The Camera smoothed all that out on the movie screen, and fixed it. 

I actually jumped, seeing him in a crowd of really pretty people, which is what the Oscars crowd is. He looked like a potato, lumpy and bumpy, in a beauty pageant. 

Even more jarring, Mr. Durning had two incredibly beautiful women, each a solid Hollywood "10," one on each arm. Huge smiles all around, they clearly adored him. Whatever it takes to rise above a superficial first glance, to a Character Actor Star, he had it, in spades. 

I was 27, and worried I was starting Acting too late. I asked him, and he told me he only got started Acting in his '40s, but that I should hurry. I asked if Acting had been his first choice. He told me he'd had lots of other jobs, including Dance Instructor. But Acting...He grinned, and said, "What else could I do?" 

Mr. Durning was Oscar-nominated the following year, again Best Supporting, for Mel Brooks's "To Be Or Not To Be," and he's my favorite in lots of movies, notably The Coen Brothers's "The Hudsucker Proxy," "O Brother Where Art Thou," and David Mamet's "State and Main."

Rest in Peace, Charles Durning. You were great. A wonderful Actor. (And a war hero). You made your mark.

Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
Charles Durning
Charles Durning Actor
Coen Brothers
David Mamet
Larry McMurtry
Mel Brooks
O Brother Where Art Thou
State and Main
The Hudsucker Proxy
To Be Or Not To Be 

TWINKIE Ingredients Twinkie Recipe Twinkie Song
Clean and Jerk Sam Longoria The WILD SIDE

Clean and Jerk (Andrew Lorand and Preston Gould) recorded THE TWINKIE SONG, which played on  The WILD SIDE Radio Show in Hollywood, to great acclaim. 

Never before in History has a song seemed so ripped from daily headlines, in this case the tragic tale of Hostess Twinkie Snack Cakes.

The Hostess Cake company has been forced into bankruptcy by a union dispute, and there's a new and terrifying Twinkie development. They just ain't makin' 'em any more.

So I whipped up a creme-filled little video, as a filmmaking exercise, and to commemorate and commiserate, to benefit The WILD SIDE Foundation.

Song is skyrocketing up the charts, with a bullet-shaped snack cake.

Twinkie Ingredients
Twinkie Recipe
Twinkie Song
Clean and Jerk
Andrew Lorand
Preston Gould
Sam Longoria
The WILD SIDE

Women In Film - More Women Seem To Be Breaking Into Filmmaking

Women In Film - More Women Seem To Be Breaking Into Filmmaking


The Sundance Film Festival has, apparently, a record lineup of female directors competing for its top honor this January. Half the entries this year, which is eight of its 16 films, were made by women, according to Sundance director John Cooper. Those are the numbers, they might indicate that more women are breaking into filmmaking.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h2dLnWoqLprObRk3GaC2X8Ghwobg?docId=a754f192c54442c595dbbd986c282872 

women in film
women in filmmaking
women breaking into filmmaking

Memorial Day - Memorial Day Movies

Memorial Day - Memorial Day Movies - Best War Movies

Originally, it was "Decoration Day." Confederate ladies decorated the graves of their fallen soldiers. This spread to the Union, and became Memorial Day, May 31. Now it's the last Monday in May. 

It's Summer today, until Summer ends on Labor Day.

Memorial Day is to honor all Americans who have died in all wars, remembering men and women who died while serving in the United States Armed Forces.

People visit cemeteries and memorials, and volunteers place American flags on graves in national cemeteries.

There have literally been hundreds of wars since 1945, the end of WWII, and I've quite given up on this being a peaceful planet, and ours being a peaceful species, that can get along with itself. After a certain point, I just had to quit hoping for any change in Humanity, and accept what IS.

(A good thing, too, that nobody ever asked for my opinion).

War will always be with us, whether you're pro- or anti-, and War is a favorite topic of filmmakers everywhere.

Memorial Day is a big holiday. Post Office and Banks are closed. Play the DVDs, open your eyes and heart, and solemnly reflect on Man's Inhumanity To Man.

Here's what I'll start watching today. A great international favorite, from Universal Pictures. Beautifully shot and acted. It was the Best Picture Oscar-winner in 1930. "All Quiet on the Western Front."

Another Great War Movie, also about WWI. The incomparable Stanley Kubrick's "Paths Of Glory." Stanley's name should loom large on your Best War Movie list, as he made several of the Best War Movies ever.

Just so we don't get stuck in the Twentieth Century. Spartacus? War movie? Stanley Kubrick? Yes!


 
There were lots of war movies made during the Vietnam era. "Full Metal Jacket." Best Vietnam War movie? Yes.




Also-Great Vietnam War Movie. Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now."


Robert Altman's blood-soaked comedy, M*A*S*H. Set during the Korean war, but it's really about Vietnam.



Mike Nichols's Great, but too-cute-for-its-own-box office "Catch-22." About WWII, but really about Vietnam. (Recognize some Great Actors, as youngsters?)

iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlkt5Q9a9Ek " width="560">

Stanley Kubrick's end-of-the-world Nightmare Comedy about Nuclear War. (Which we don't discuss any more, but it's more likely now than ever). "Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb."



Great Cast (Lee Marvin, Robert Carradine, Mark Hamill), in Samuel Fuller's masterpiece, "The Big Red One."





America is a land of contradictions. We believe passionately in Freedom and Rights, but historically, America has infringed some American citizens' Liberty.

This is the story of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, the most-decorated US outfit of WWII. Composed of Nisei (2nd generation Japanese-Americans), they fought valiantly, despite losing their Rights and Property and Personal Liberty. Their story is inspiring, in "Go For Broke"



Last, but certainly not least, here's Audie Murphy, the most-decorated boy soldier of WWII, who came home to a celebrated movie career.

Audie was 5'5" tall, weighed 110 pounds, crazy brave enough to wipe out German tanks and machine guns and soldiers, while he was sick to death with Malaria.

Audie won 33 medals, including the Congressional Medal of Honor. The movie story of Audie's life was Universal's highest-grossing film for 20 years, until it was topped by "Jaws."

Audie Leon Murphy. Somebody must have told him his middle name means "Lion," because he was brave as one.

I'm a big fan of Audie, starting with his heroic story, playing himself on the big screen, in "To Hell And Back."



Happy Memorial Day! May America and Americans live up to her proud heritage, and take the high moral road. God Bless America!

Tom Lehrer

All Quiet On The Western Front

Paths Of Glory

Full Metal Jacket

Apocalypse Now

M*A*S*H

Catch 22

Dr. Strangelove or How I learned to Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb

The Big Red One

Go For Broke

To Hell And Back

Cinco De Mayo Movies

Cinco De Mayo Movies

Cinco de Mayo is a Mexican holiday, not an American one, although more Americans celebrate Cinco de Mayo in the USA, than Mexicans celebrate it in Mexico.

For Americans, Cinco de Mayo is an excuse to drink alcohol and eat starch, flavored with vegetable irritants.
Americans think Cinco de Mayo is Mexican Independence Day. No, for that is 16 September, which doesn't roll nearly so well off the tongue.

Cinco de Mayo commemorates Mexico fighting the French in 1862. France invaded Mexico because Mexico owed them a lot of money. Countries do that. It happened, and will happen again.

Cinco de Mayo celebrates an unlikely victory - that of the raggedy little Mexican Army over the big bad French Army (then the most powerful in the world), in Puebla, Mexico on May 5th 1862. (Not surprisingly, most Mexican celebration of this event occurs in that city of Puebla).

In 1860, Mexico had been waging what historians call "Too many wars." Mexicans fought the Americans in 1846-48, and each other in 1858 and 1860. As has happened, and will happen again, to countries waging too many wars, Mexico's treasury was empty, because war is expensive.

In July 1861, Mexican President Benito Juarez decreed a 2-year moratorium. Mexico would make no payments on its debts to Britain, Spain, and France. This created what historians call, "A tense situation," between Mexico, Britain, Spain, and France.

Britain and Spain reached diplomatic arrangements, (negotiation usually preferable to conflict), but France...

Napoleon III, The Emperor of France, sent 8000 crack troops landing in Veracruz, marching to Mexico City, to conquer Mexico for France. Napoleon wasn't kidding around.

Even so, Napoleon's crackerjacques French army of 8,000 soldiers ran into 4,000 determined defenders at the city of Puebla, who...beat 'em.

Unthinkable, but it happened. 5 May 1862, Battle of Puebla. Outnumbered and outgunned Mexican Army...beat the top-shape French Army. Celebrate! Victory!

Well...the victory didn't last long, because the French regrouped, and wiped out the Mexican Army a year later, establishing Emperor Maximilian I to rule Mexico.  BUT...that's the Cinco de Mayo story.

Here are some movies with a Mexican flavor.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948)
Humphrey Bogart faces the Gold Hat Bandito, played by the unforgettable Alfonso Bedoya, in John Huston's classic film. Negotiation seems impossible.



Viva Max (1969)
Peter Ustinov takes over the Alamo, assisted by John Astin.



El Mariachi (1992)
Robert Rodriguez takes over Hollywood. Victory didn't last, but he had a great start. Negotiations continue...





viva max
el mariachi
cinco de mayo movies
treasure of the sierra madre

Tax For Washington State - Film Industry Incentives

Tax For Washington State - Film Industry Incentives


Congratulations to the Washington State Senate who passed the Washington State Film Incentives Bill SB 5539, with a vote of 92 to 6.


Congratulations also to the many film and video persons in the NW who gathered and rallied and lobbied to get this Bill read and voted on.All right!
As I understand it, the tax benefits were removed from the Bill and other compromises were made, but it did pass. Now the Washington Governor has 20 days to sign it. Time will tell...


Here's an interesting photo, from the KOMO-TV (Seattle ABC affiliate) website, reporting this news:

See the microphone? It's supposed to point forward, but it is backward. Lens pointing forward, mic pointing backward. Oops!


Will somebody please tell the girl in the picture she's pointing her mic the wrong way?

Maybe she's trying to record somebody behind her, but he left.
Or, she's recording narration. I know, it's a retro-directional mic! 
Um, yeah.

Pretty girl, but hardly a photo choice to indicate Washingtonian filmmaking proficiency.  Too bad, KOMO-TV!


tax for washington state
film industry incentives
industry incentives
film industry
sb5539

Islands Of Hawaii - Screenwriting - Big Island Film Festival Screenwriting Workshops

Islands Of Hawaii - Screenwriting - Big Island Film Festival Screenwriting Workshops


Hawaii is the place to be, and Writing For The Screen is one of my favorite ways to work.


Check out the Big Island Film Festival, and their Screenwriting Workshops, May 24-28


hawaiiscreenwriting
islands of hawaii
writing for the screen
big island film festival
screenwriting workshops

Your Film Movie Camera Is Not a Story-Teller

Your Film Movie Camera Is Not a Story-Teller
This article tickles me, I love it!

Cameras Don't Make Movies People Do

Remember, you are a Story-Teller, That is your Filmmaking Function.
Cameras are Cool Tools, but only in support of Telling your Story.



film movie camera
movie camera film
movie film camera
film camera movie

Film Producers Wasting Time, Money and Paper on Non-Compliant Film Financial Projections

Film Producers Wasting Time, Money and Paper on Non-Compliant Film Financial Projections

This blog post is horrifying. It is entirely possible to spend a great deal of time to get Film Financial Projections which are completely a waste of time, money and paper.

The article is by Mr. John Cones, and its warning is clear and factual. I urge Producers with film projects to turn to him for information, as he is a fount of reliable content on the topic.

Sam Longoria
Producer

John Cones

film projects

film funding
film finance
film funding finance
film financial projections

Watch Raiders Of The Lost Ark

Watch Raiders Of The Lost Ark

I was present at ILM once upon a time, a guest of my friend and mentor Richard Edlund ASC, when they were shooting "Raiders Of The Lost Ark."

The day of the film's premiere, I attended a theatre screening of it, and was married in a hot-air balloon. That's an adventure!


Later, I bought a movie theatre, and ran that wonderful movie, for much of that year, in it.


I went on to work in Hollywood, with Richard and many of the "Raiders" visual effects team, on "Ghostbusters" and other movies.

I have met Steven Spielberg and George Lucas and Harrison Ford, and lots of those guys, and I love "Raiders Of The Lost Ark!"


Nothing could have prepared me for Jamie Benning's wonderful treatment of the film, in his "Filmumentary" movie, "Raiding The Lost Ark." It is GOOD.

KOSU article about "Raiding The Lost Ark."
NPR article about Jamie's filmumentary.

Benning turns "Raiders" on its head, inserting new angles and making-of footage and interviews and commentary, from remarkably unlikely sources.


You would think this would be distracting or detrimental to your viewing experience, but NO. It is a whole new experience, and quite a good one.


Take it from this jaded Hollywood Visual Effects Man and Filmmaker and Movie Theatre Owner: Set some time aside, and watch this movie. Do it NOW.






raiders of the lost ark
raiding the lost ark jamie benning 
harrison ford george lucas
steven spielberg
richard edlund asc

Nikon D800 - DSLR Essentials

Nikon D800 - DSLR Essentials 
I'm a Nikon man, but even I admit it - Canon's had the lead for a while, over Nikon. Canon's DSLRs shoot HD, and are state-of-the-art. Such bloody good cameras.

Well, Nikon's now thrown its weight behind this competition, and has raised the bar. There is some incredible Nikon DSLR hardware arriving. Quite the jump to 36.3 Megapixels, for one thing.

Take a look at some of this footage. 

Let me know what you think of it, and check out the Nikon D800 DSLR.

Nikon D800
Nikon DSLR
DSLR Essentials