May 2007 - Southern Screen Report

Vol. 3, No. 3
Feinberg takes 2
films to Cannes
ATLANTA — Well known Atlanta actor, writer, and director Ken
Feinberg is premiering, not one, but
two short films at the 2007 Cannes
Film Festival.
Seven Generations and Hearts
and Souls will
screen as part of
the Short Film
Corner
market of the venerated festival.
Both films were
Ken Feinberg
written and directed by Feinberg, an Atlanta native
and University of Georgia graduate.
He has a 20-year career in film and
theater, and has made numerous appearances on television as an actor
in shows such as Buffy the Vampire
Slayer, The District, Alias, Charmed,
and Star Trek Enterprise.
See Cannes on Page 8
May 2007
The Secret: Georgia
Production Partnership
By Pamela Cole
There is an organization in Atlanta that
probably impacts your ability to make a
living in the film/video industry in Georgia more than anything else. You may not
be aware of them, but for the last ten years
this group has gone about it’s business, behind-the-scenes, of touting the benefits of
filmmaking in this state and influencing
lawmakers to create financial incentives.
What is this secret organization? It’s
the Georgia Production Partnership (GPP)
– and they’ve got your back.
In recognition of the enormous contributions of this group over the last decade, IMAGE recently honored the GPP
at the 2007 IMAGE Awards Gala (along
with Will Packer of Rainforest Films and
Kenny Blank, Executive Director of the
Atlanta Jewish Film Festival).
“We’re a coalition of companies and
individuals who are active in all these industries: film, interactive gaming, music,
and video, although it’s mostly been film
and video,” says current co-president
Fran Burst-Terranella. Burst-Terranella, a
founding member of Women in Film and
IMAGE, shares the position of GPP copresident with Craig Miller (Craig Miller
Productions).
Not a networking or program organization, the goal of GPP is to be “the colSee GPP on Page 12
INSIDE:
Union or Non-Union? ....... 5
The Woman’s Angle ........ 6
NABFEME Film Salon ..... 9
Ciné Arthouse Theater... 10
Anime Evolution ............ 14
DEPARTMENTS:
Editorial ........................... 2
Out There in Pictures....... 3
Location: Riverwood’s
Historic Backlot .......... 4
In Production ................ 15
Classifieds ..................... 16
The National Association of Black Female Executives in Music & Entertainment
(NABFEME) Film Salon. (L-R) Yalanda Lattimore, Dryerbuzz.com; Tanya Dixon, Tandi
Productions/Tandimonium Films; Michell Davis, Davis Register LLP; Diedre Thomas,
Writer/Director; Johnnie Walker, NABFEME Founder; Monique Woods, Filmmaker; Krys
Copeland, FUSION Magazine; N’Dieye Gray-Danavall, Filmmaker; Joanna Madruga,
CNN; and Zina Brown, Life Dreams Entertainment. See story on Page 9.
Editorial Opinion
The Avid Wars
By Craig Tollis
[email protected]
Generally, I try to stay out of the Avid
vs. Final Cut Pro wars: what works best
usually depends on your individual circumstances. A recent gig with CBS’s College
Sports TV (CSTV) on their NCAA Final
Four team gave me an opportunity to see
their Final Cut Pro edit setup in action.
CSTV was not only using the latest
Final Cut Pro 5, they had it running on
Quad processor G5 systems with the Aja IO
interface and G-Tech G-Raid storage. Nice,
fast, quiet, and looks cool, too. Part of the
dilemma for FCP is that while the software
will run on just about any recent Macintosh
system, it doesn’t necessarily run at its best.
Avid has always been a stickler for performance, supporting only a fairly strict list of
“approved” hardware. This makes their systems more expensive, but generally consistent and reliable. For practical professional
editing on FCP, you need a nicely kitted out
system with good hardware behind it. This
makes all the difference in terms of speed
and performance.
Conceptually, it was interesting to see
Final Cut Pro set up in a professional environment. A lot of FCP projects I’ve seen
have been cumbersome to work with and
confusing to edit—largely because of the
haphazard way they’re organized. Again,
this is FCP’s dilemma of accessibility: its
flexibility and ease of use make it simpler
to get a project going, but you can also get
yourself into a mess. CSTV had their projects and media well prepared and well organized. They didn’t outsmart themselves
by trying to be too compartmentalized, but
stayed consistent with their workflow.
Once you’re into the edit, FCP’s comprehensive, software-based mindset really
comes to the fore. For example, every clip
has its own set of properties. They include
the ability to composite in different ways,
crop, scale and distort the image, change
speed and other parameters, many of which
are keyframable. This is generally more
powerful and more elegant than Avid’s approach of dropping effects onto clips in the
timeline, which can become confusing and
awkward with multiple or nested effects.
All your basic processes are right there and
they stay with the clip when you manipulate it in the bins.
FCP’s LiveType also outperforms
Avid’s Marquee in terms of usability and
Page 2
May 2007
practicality. Both type creation systems require you to jump out of the main editor
to a separate application, but LiveType is
much easier to learn, contains a good number of editable presets and generally makes
more sense. It also integrates well back into
the parent application. Avid could use some
radical improvement in this area.
Another big software-based plus for
Final Cut Pro is its ability to deal directly
with various source resolutions for both
video and stills. Although Avid’s latest
products include a plug-in for manipulating
high-resolution stills, this is still somewhat
awkward compared to FCP’s approach, and
Whatever happens, the
competition can only
benefit users of both
systems, who continue
to get more for less.
doesn’t apply to video. Avid converts digital files to project resolution when it imports them. FCP accesses the original file
directly—both stills and movies—so you
can manipulate full resolution images in
the editor.
FCP does offer alternate ways to perform many editing tasks by specifying numeric lengths or time codes. A lot of the
problems and errors I’ve seen in FCP sequences come from reliance on setting
times, levels or speeds using click-and-drag
methods. If you take the time to learn the
more advanced and deeper hot key functions, it can really pay off in terms of accuracy and avoiding problems later on.
I still prefer Avid’s way of thinking about the timeline. While FCP’s clipbased paradigm is powerful, appealing and
makes you aware of footage options early
in an edit, as you approach a more finished
product this becomes less useful. There’s a
point at which you want to deal conceptually with the end result itself—to access it
universally and cut and dice at will. FCP
will do this, but you’ll have to look into
some of the more advanced and secondary
tools and it’s a little counter-intuitive to the
way the timeline is arranged by default.
Although I was warned about problems
creating long sequences in Final Cut Pro,
I didn’t encounter any on the CSTV job.
This is a good thing, since I generally like
to combine a nearly finished project into
one sequence, unless there is some inherent
www.screenreport.com
logic to splitting it, like commercial breaks.
A professional edit system should be able
to cope with the complex 30 to 60 minute
timeline you need for TV, if not the full 90
minutes plus required for feature films.
Finally, Apple has rolled the latest FCP
into a bundle of video, audio, graphics
and DVD authoring tools called Final Cut
Studio. This is everything you’ll need to
achieve a professional look, from capture
to delivery. Avid still suffers from the outdated notion that text, animation and compositing aren’t really a part of editing. It’s
a hang over from the hey-day of the Media
Composer as an off-line edit system supported by specialized graphics and finishing equipment. Avid needs to reconsider
this and take seriously the popularity of the
one-stop post production station, where everything can be conveniently put together,
from start to finish. Especially when cable
stations like CSTV are choosing Final Cut
Pro on their edits.
What remains to be seen is what Avid’s
next step will be. Rumor has it that they intend to out-develop Apple’s product line with
a trickle-down of features from their higher
end systems. Whatever happens, the competition can only benefit users of both systems,
who continue to get more for less.§
Southern Screen Report
Editor-in-Chief, Pamela Cole,
[email protected]
Associate Editor, Ruksana Hussain,
[email protected]
Senior Advertising Executive, Melissa Randle,
[email protected]
Classifieds: classifi[email protected]
News: [email protected]
Production Listings: [email protected]
Published by Front Runner Communications, Inc.
Atlanta, GA 30324, 404-806-7044
Editorial Policy: Southern Screen Report covers
news, reviews, and production listings of the film
and video industry in the Southeastern United
States. The views represented here do not necessarily represent the views of the publisher.
Issue 3, No. 3 © 2007 Front Runner Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of this
publication may be reproduced, stored in any
retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by
any means—electronic, mechanical photocopying, recording or otherwise—without the prior
written permission of the publisher.
Out There in Pictures
yourACT was honored with a “BIG PICTURE AWARD” as Best
Professional Educators at the 2nd Annual Georgia Big Picture
Conference. Bob Harter (L) accepts award from GABPC Executive
Producer, Ken Feinberg. (Photo by Pam Cole)
WaveGuide Studio wins three awards for their PSA for the Hands On
Network. (L-R) Marshall Peterson, Eric Lease, Tember Fasulo, Todd
Watson, Steve Reed.
Chris Klaus, CEO of Kaneva,
speaks at the closing ceremonies
of the 2nd Annual Georgia Big
Picture Conference. (Photo by
Pam Cole)
Shayne Kohout on the set of
Manhattan Crack’r being filmed
in Atlanta, South Carolina, and
Savannah. (Photo courtesy of
Ron Vigil)
On the set of
CONJURER,
camera
operator Todd
Marshall films
Andrew Bowen
and Maxine
Bahns (with
her prosthetic
belly).
(Photo by Kevin
McKnight)
GSU’s Digital
Arts and
Entertainment
Lab (DAEL)
recorded a
live studio
performance
of the bands,
Celephais and
The Liverhearts
in its Blue screen
studio downtown.
www.screenreport.com
May 2007
Page 3
Location, Location, Location
Riverwood Studios, Senoia, GA
Setting the stage for historical filmmaking
By Ruksana Hussain
The development of a period back lot in
historic Senoia is Georgia’s next invitation
for films to be shot here, thanks to Riverwood Studios. The studio has taken on this
latest effort to lure several Hollywood projects, offering them a historic looking set of
buildings and streets - a fairly unique asset
for Georgia and the industry. Riverwood’s
existing studios include four massive
soundstages, production offices, editing
space, a screening room, a mill, and plenty
of hair/make-up/wardrobe space.
For the back lot, Riverwood has acquired more than a dozen acres of developable land within the historic district of
Senoia and has begun construction on the
project, offering unique features designed
to accommodate the practical needs of production crews. These include underground
power lines and multiple shooting perspectives on each street.
In addition to the historic production
facilities, Riverwood’s new development
will include live/work space including office, retail, and restaurant space, and renovation of older buildings. Presales of lofts,
brownstones, and town homes are scheduled to begin by Summer 2007.
Southern Screen Report caught up with
Scott Tigchelaar, President of Riverwood
Studios, to find out more:
How did the idea for a back lot in
Senoia originate and why Senoia?
Senoia is a half-mile from the Riverwood Studios. Fifteen movies have been
shot there in the last 15 years, so it was a
natural choice for a place to do something
like this because of its proximity and because it’s a quaint little town, frozen in
time. There is no real modern development
in Senoia and that’s part of the reason why
it has been so attractive to the film industry
over the years as a setting for producing
pictures.
What are the facilities Senoia will offer?
There is always demand for locations
but we are building Senoia first and foremost as a development. What we are doing
is building it with an eye to making it conducive to future film projects as well. We
want 50 more films to be shot here, so we
are making sure that everything we build
is consistent with the historic period and
look of the town. And we’re laying it out
Page 4
May 2007
in such a way that it makes it easy to film.
The best example of that is, we have alley
access to all the homes and even the businesses so you can shut down a street for
filming and it doesn’t disrupt peoples’ ability to get to their home. That’s usually the
biggest complaint when you are filming
in a practical town. If you close the street
off, the businesses and residents complain,
since it restricts their access.
The other thing we are doing, within the
context of the historic town, is to have a
street of brownstones, a couple of streets
of single family homes that approximate
Charleston and
Savannah,
a
street of live/
work
town
homes, factory
lofts, and things
like that. By
having brownstones, those fit
within the context of a southern town but
they also allow
Scott Tigchelaar
you to cheat
New York. All you have to do is park a
couple of New York cabs on the street, and
nobody knows it’s not New York. It might
not work for every movie but for a film or
television series working here and needing a New York looking street that will be
available to them without having to go to
New York. The same goes for Charleston
and Savannah. Those are both heavy tourist
areas and often they don’t like their streets
www.screenreport.com
being shut down for filming. And they’re
not as easy to get to as Senoia, which is just
25 miles away from the busiest airport in
the world. There are also no direct flights to
get to Charleston or Savannah from L.A.,
you have to go through Atlanta. So Senoia
is all about being close to the infrastructure,
the amenities, and logistical considerations
of a place like Atlanta, but still being able
to cheat a neighborhood like Charleston or
Savannah.
We are doing this as a development.
There will be places people are going to
live, offices where they will work, restaurants where they will eat, and all that other
stuff, but it will be just that much more conducive to film work and by having a studio
a half-mile away.
When is the back lot at Senoia expected
to be ready for filming?
That’s the beauty of it! There have already been 15 movies shot here so the town
can already be used for filming. It’s not like
everybody has to wait till we are done with
what we are doing. We’ll just be adding to
what’s already there. But that being said,
we have started construction, and based on
the way the demand is going, we’ll probably be done in two to three years. It’s going
relatively fast.
Has there been any special interest in
the new development?
There has been interest already from
studios in Hollywood. We have met with
them and showed them the renderings of
the development. They’re already talking
about Senoia is terms of development for
TV series. It’s very easy to do a show
See Riverwood on Page 8
Legalizations
Union or Non-Union: That is the Question!
By Cliff Lovette, Esq.
One of the many questions facing independent film producers is whether to sign
collective bargaining agreements with the
various unions/guilds that represent film
talent, crew, and other filmmaking personnel. The main ones are:
• Screen Actors Guild (SAG) - represents actors, extras, dancers, choreographers, stunt coordinators, and stunt
doubles
• International Association of Theater
and Stage Employees (IATSE) - represents technical crew such as cinematographers, camera crew, production
designers, and grips
• Teamsters - represents the transportation workers
• Director’s Guild of America (DGA) represents directors, assistant directors,
and directors of photography
• Writer’s Guild of America (WGA)
– represents screenwriters
There are no union rules that would
force a producer who signs with one union
to sign with all other unions. So, a producer
can make a separate decision to sign with
each union or guild on a case-by-case basis.
This article focuses on practical considerations in making that decision as related to
the Screen Actor’s Guild (SAG).
(For convenience, this article will use
“union” and “guild” interchangeably.)
SAG Agreement
To use SAG actors in your production,
you must sign a SAG guild agreement. The
SAG Codified Basic Agreement for Independent Producers (“Basic Agreement”)
covers matters such as minimum pay for
actors, working conditions around the set,
credits, and residual payments for TV telecasts, DVD sales, merchandising, and other
non-theatrical exploitation of the film. SAG
provides the minimum terms and conditions, but many ‘stars’ and established actors can negotiate terms that are much more
favorable to them than those in the Basic
Agreement.
In 1997, SAG created SAGIndie to encourage the use of SAG members in independent films. Under SAGIndie, there are
four major classes for low budget agreements, depending on the amount of the production budget (see table).
Benefits of a SAG Agreement
Virtually all professional motion picture and television actors belong to SAG or
AFTRA (the sister guild which shares jurisdiction over TV production with SAG).
The quality of SAG actors and other talent
is likely to be much better in terms of experience and performance than non-guild talent. Some experienced directors and other
key personnel may not be willing to work
on a project if the key cast for a project is
filled with non-SAG actors.
Independent producers attach key elements to their project, such as a known
director or actor, to attract production funding and distributor interest, and to secure
presales of certain exploitation rights. Creating a commercially viable project often
requires the use of known talent, which necessitates becoming a SAG signatory. However, not all independent producers choose
this route. Recently, The Signal was produced in Georgia as a non-SAG production
and still secured a significant domestic distribution deal at Sundance in January.
Using inexperienced performers who
are not familiar with working on a film set
can easily translate into longer rehearsals
and more ‘takes,’ which increases production costs. Established SAG actors also
offer the advantage of name recognition
and ‘marquee’ value that an unknown non-
SAG actor will not provide. Such high
profile talent may generate increased box
office revenues.
If the production requires the use of
stunt performers, using non-SAG stunt
performers can greatly increase the risk of
injury, increase the number of ‘takes’ because of inexperience in working with film
crews, and increase the amount of liability
insurance premiums.
If a producer doesn’t sign a SAG agreement and ends up hiring SAG actors, the
SAG actors will be forced to quit if the
guild finds out. This could be devastating
for an unfinished project.
Drawbacks of a SAG Agreement
A SAG production will require a higher
production budget because minimum salaries may be higher and they bear fringe
benefit payments. Also, the producer will
have to observe SAG’s working condition
restrictions, including the length of time a
performer may work on the set. Additionally, SAG requires the payment of residuals
for exploitation of the film in ancillary markets such as TV and DVD (‘supplemental
markets’).
SAG also requires that producers tender a security deposit (the ‘SAG bond’),
which equals about 40% of the budgeted
See SAG on page 8
SAG Low Budget Agreements*
Short Film
Agreement
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total budget less
than $50,000
Length of film must
be 35 minutes or
less
Salaries are deferred
No consecutive
employment (except
overnight location)
No premiums.
Allows the use of
both professional
and non-professional
performers
Background performers not covered
Ultra - Low
Budget
Agreement
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total budget less
than $200,000
Day rate of $100
No step-up fees
No consecutive
employment (except on overnight
location)
No premiums
Allows the use of
both professional
and non-professional performers
Background performers not
covered
Modified Low
Budget
Agreement
•
•
•
•
•
•
Total budget less
than $625,000
Day rate of $268
Weekly rate of
$933
No consecutive
employment (except on overnight
location)
Six-day work week
with no premium
Reduced overtime
rate
Low Budget
Agreement
•
Total budget less
than $2,500,000
• Day rate of $504
• Weekly rate of
$1752
• No consecutive employment (except on
overnight location)
• Six-day work week
with no premium
• Reduced overtime
rate
• Reduced number of
background performers covered
* http://www.sagindie.org/resources/contracts, 2007
www.screenreport.com
May 2007
Page 5
In the Spotlight
The
ma
n’s
A
Wo
By Pamela Cole
It all started with
Laura Mulvey in 1975.
If you’ve ever endured
the agony of a film
theory class, you may
remember Laura Mulvey (in fact, it’s probably all you remember
from that class).
That’s because Mulvey wrote about sex
and gender and voyeurism (hard-to-forget
topics) in her influential essay, “Visual
Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.” Her
controversial ideas about “the controlling
male gaze,” based on Freudian concepts,
have fueled academic debate in film,
sociology, psychology, women’s studies,
and gender and cultural studies.
A local filmmaking project has now
taken up that debate. “The Woman’s
Angle,” founded by Tracy Martin and Bret
Wood (the team that created Psychopathia
Sexualis) is again treading into the territory of sexual controversy. The Woman’s
Angle is “a short film project specifically
designed for the new or established woman
director who desires an opportunity to gain
a fuller understanding and appreciation of
her voice as a filmmaker.”
“As much as I detest
singling out a group of
people for their experience or their talent,
I started feeling like
it would be empowering for me
as well as other
women if we
could come together and say
‘let’s do this
together,’”
explained
Martin, who
was one
of nine
filmmakers that
completed short films as
part of the first Woman’s Angle
project.
“I think more women would make films
if we had an environment that was more
collaborative, that allows them to move
forward,” said Martin, citing the fact that
only 16% of filmmakers (directors, executive producers, producers, writers, cinematographers, or editors) are women. (Source:
“The Celluloid Ceiling: Behind-the-Scenes
Employment of Women in the Top 250
Films of 2004,” Martha M. Lauzen, Ph.D.)
Martin has produced several films including the 2006 sensation, Psychopathia
Sexualis. She recently directed a short
(Day Trip) that appeared in the Atlanta
Film Festival.
Laura Mulvey?
DP Marc Story and director Tracy Martin on the set of Sucker
Punch, a film in The Woman’s Angle Project (Photo by Pam Cole)
Page 6
May 2007
It was co-founder
Wood who mentioned
Mulvey’s essay, after
Martin approached him
about wanting to start a
project for women-only
directors. In a really broad
nutshell, Mulvey says that
since most films are made
by men, they naturally
give us a male view of the
world — showing men as
more powerful, featuring
mostly male protagonists,
and focusing on stories
www.screenreport.com
ngl
e
Nancy Knight
and Deirdre
Walsh (Photo by
Sherri Larsen)
that are important to men. Oh, and seeing
women mainly as sexual objects. Mulvey
says this “male gaze” is the classic perspective of Hollywood films.
“I don’t know that I agree with everything she says, but she makes some very
strong points that open the discussion,” said
Martin about Mulvey. The original group
of twelve women in The Woman’s Angle
discussed Mulvey’s essay and watched film
clips from the 30s and 40s that illustrated
her ideas.
“We were rolling on the floor. It was
amazing how women were portrayed in
earlier films! It’s not as obvious anymore,
but there are still plenty of movies that are
examples of her opinions,” Martin said.
It was then up to the directors to decide
on the story they wanted to tell. There were
no restrictions on theme, genre, or adhering
to Mulvey’s premise. “We encouraged directors to either embrace or completely defy
Laura Mulvey’s opinions. I wanted this to
be just ‘what is your angle as a woman?’
To achieve that was a theme within itself,”
said Martin.
Rules of the Game
Taking a page from the successful Atlanta Dailies Project, The Woman’s Angle
Continued on Next Page
The Woman’s Angle
allows filmmakers to collaborate on all
aspects of creating a film from script to
screen. There is no fee to participate in
The Woman’s Angle.
“There were two main rules: the director
had to be a woman, and you had to workshop your script with the group,” said Martin, stressing that the workshops were “not
as diligent or aggressive as I would have
liked them to have been.” Some films went
over the original ten-minute time limitation,
which the group decided to allow after discussing the reasons why it happened.
“In the indie film community there’s
a bit of resistance or suspicion when it
comes to saying we’re going to workshop
your script. In theater, where I started,
plays are workshopped all the time. But
it’s a new thing in the indie film community. So we were a little reluctant to scare
people with too much workshopping.”
The Woman’s Angle began meeting
monthly on Sept. 13, 2006, sponsored by
yourACT in collaboration with Sketchworks theater. yourACT agreed to let The
Woman’s Angle meet and screen their
films at Sketchworks in exchange for a
share in the ticket sales from the screenings.
“yourACT has been wonderful,”
stressed Martin. “It’s been incredible how
many people and companies have come
out and helped these women make their
films,” she said, adding that each film set
it’s own budget and was self-financed.
Most were under $3,000—some way
under.
Future TWA Projects
The next Woman’s Angle project is
scheduled to start in January 2008 and
will run for nine months, as did this one.
“Yeah, it’s a big joke,” laughed Martin,
when I pointed out that that’s exactly how
long it takes to have a baby. “But it wasn’t
intentional. It’s just that six months was too
short and a year was too long. You have to
be able to work within people’s schedules,
and nine months seems to be just right.”
For the next project, Martin wants to
have scripts submitted in advance and approved to go forward before the workshopping process. She also hopes to be able to
offer filmmakers some financial support,
adding that “if you don’t have a little bit
of money, it’s very difficult to make a decent film.”
“We’re going to become a 501(c)3 nonprofit and generate more backing, and accept donations. It would be ideal if we
could help back each project with just a little bit of soft money. It would be great to be
able to go to the vendors in this city and ask
them to sponsor us.”
While The Woman’s Angle is open to all
levels, Martin hopes to attract more professional women directors to the next project.
“There are a lot of women directors in Atlanta who do commercial or feature work.
Making shorts just isn’t where they’re at
anymore. But I knew that after our inaugural project, we would get some interest.”
She says that she now gets “daily” e-mails
from women who want to be involved in
the next project.
Overall, response to The Woman’s
Angle project has been “overwhelmingly
positive” according to Martin. But there
was one recurring question.
“You wouldn’t believe how many
people asked me, ‘Oh you’re not going
to make another Oxygen film, are you?,’
which there is nothing wrong with. But nobody ever asks guys, ‘are you gonna make
another comedy or action film?’”
Martin says she just wanted women “to
get behind the camera and shoot what was
important to them—from their angle.”
www.screenreport.com
“It was a learning process, we’ve got
kinks to work out, but I can’t tell you how
wonderful it’s been! We were successful at
building a collaborative filmmaking community—we actually did it!”
The first nine graduates of The Woman’s Angle project will premiere their
works at four screenings on June 1-3 at
Sketchworks. (Friday & Saturday at 8 pm;
Saturday & Sunday at 5 pm.) There will be
a Q&A with the directors after each screening. Tickets are $10.
For more information, see http://www.
cinemaweb.com/womansangle. §
Films screening in
The Woman’s Angle:
Angela Harvey - Sleep Keep
Wake Take
Avril Z. Speaks - Defining
Moments
Cara Price - Voices
Deirdre Walsh - Insanity Du
Jour
Kathleen Kelly - Je Ne Sais
Quoi
Kimberly Jürgen - Fortune’s
Fool
Kristi Israel - Changing Baby
Shandra L. McDonald The Promise
Tracy Martin - Sucker Punch
May 2007
Page 7
Cannes
Continued from Page 1
“I’ve always wanted to be in Cannes…
I submitted my first film to Cannes,” said
Feinberg, who just finished a stint as Executive Director of the Georgia Big Picture
Conference in Atlanta.
That first film was Coming and Going
(1999), shot in Covington, Georgia — in the
same cabin where scenes from My Cousin
Vinny (1992) were also filmed. But Coming and Going didn’t make it into Cannes.
“That original film was about 20 minutes long. I was too young of a filmmaker
and it’s a very mature piece. I had a producer who said, you know you’ve already
done it, it’s behind you, move on to the next
one. But always in the back of my mind, I’d
think, ‘Oh I’d like to cut this out, chop it
down.’” And that’s what Feinberg did earlier this year. Hearts and Souls is the re-edited version of Coming and Going, a film
that was destined for Cannes, it seems.
Feinberg’s other film premiering at
Cannes is Seven Generations, which was
adapted from a novel he wrote and funded
by an actress who needed a demo reel. Feinberg wrote the novel, The Other Side of
Now, while on a writing retreat that began
the weekend of Sept. 11, 2001.
“I was in LA and I had signed up for
this writer’s retreat in Sedona, when 9/11
came. I was going to cancel, but then I decided to go. So I was in Sedona, Arizona
the weekend after 9/11, which was a great
place to be. I went there with an idea for a
short film—the next thing I know, I’m writing a novel. I came back to LA six weeks
later and had the whole first draft written.”
Feinberg adapted a scene from the novel
for actress Nalini Sharma’s demo reel. (She
executive-produced and starred in Seven
Generations.) After finding the perfect location in Talking Rock, Georgia, and hiring
and transporting the crew, he realized that
it wouldn’t cost any more to shoot for the
entire day.
“I said to Nalini, why not stretch it out
and make a short out of it? We’ve got this
perfect location, we’ve got the crew, and
everybody’s going to be in Talking Rock
anyway?” explained Feinberg. The oneday, mini-DV shoot produced both Sharma’s demo reel and the 8-minute short now
set to premiere at Cannes.
“My intention now is to go there an use
it as a sales piece to parlay it into a feature film, or sell the novel, or both,” said
Feinberg, jostling two cell phones ringing
simultaneously as he prepares for the journey to France.
Page 8
May 2007
Feinberg plans to have a celebratory
fund-raising event upon his return from
Cannes, to raise money to make the feature
length version of Seven Generations. Details will be posted soon on www.kenfeinberg.com.
Ken Feinberg is the owner of Atlantic Station Studios, which provides rental
space for casting, classes, events, photography studio, and production offices. He
also teaches the Director’s Boot camp and
Writer’s Boot Camp for aspiring directors
writers. Feinberg completed a three-year
mystical study program as well as a twoand-a-half-year certification as a relationship coach.
Launched in 2004 by the Festival de
Cannes, the Short Film Corner is part of
the Marché du Film (the Film Market) at
Cannes, where filmmakers can showcase
short films to potential buyers. More than
3,000 companies from 80 different countries will be attending. §
Hey! Say you saw it in
Southern Screen Report!
Riverwood
Continued from Page 4
like Northern Exposure or Desperate Housewives in a location like this.
Some are already considering it in their
development process for projects they
are working on.
Do you see any difference between
Indie cinema and mainstream cinema in using this location?
No, only that mainstream is more
likely to be attracted at the studio level
for TV series. But half the films shot in
Senoia have been independent films, so
we will always appeal to the independent category.
How do you see this development
contributing to better tax incentives
for the film industry in Atlanta?
A better bill for tax incentives was
just passed so there is always hope for
more. What was passed is outstanding
and is going to set Georgia in a much
more competitive position so it’s all
good. We will probably have more business in the next two years than we can
handle, and that’s good.
For more about the Senoia back lot
development, see www.riverwoodstudios.com.§
www.screenreport.com
SAG
Continued from Page 5
talent costs (including fees above the SAG
minimum scale and the pensions and health
benefits). This security deposit is collected
by SAG to insure that talent is paid what
they are owed even if the production goes
over budget or is otherwise under-funded.
However, the deposit is paid in addition
to the actual talent fees that the producer
pays the talent, and is not released back to
the producer until after production is completed. (Repayment will be withheld pending outstanding disputes over the accuracy
of talent fees paid.) Consequently, a producer has to secure up to 140% of the actual talent costs to comply with SAG rules.
A producer must also pay about an additional 14% of the amount of the talent scale
wages to SAG, to cover pension and health
benefits that SAG provides to its members.
Since most actors are independent contractors, SAG members rely on these important
benefits, the majority of whom could not
afford to fund on their own.
The SAG low budget agreements also
provide for overtime pay, travel expenses
(including the cost of first-class travel),
and other work condition restrictions, all of
which add to the cost of production.
Summary
Independent film producers, working
on the slimmest of production budgets,
may conclude that they cannot afford to become SAG signatories due to the increased
production costs. However, using SAG performers greatly increases the chances of:
• attracting production financing
• getting quality talent performances
• attracting experienced directors and
crew
• securing theatrical distribution
Regional SAG/AFTRA representatives, such as Melissa Goodman, Executive Director, Screen Actors Guild/AFTRA
– Georgia, are happy to walk producers
through the entire signatory process, and
field questions regarding production budgets and other matters.
(Thanks to Yokow Ribeiro for contributing to this article.) Cliff Lovette was recently
ranked as the 9th most influential Atlanta
music power broker by The Sunday Paper.
The Lovette Entertainment Law Group, Ltd.
provides legal services to recording artists,
music publishers, independent motion picture
and television production companies, animators, game developers, directors, and similar
content creators. Cliff can be reached at cliff.
[email protected]. §
Atlanta NABFEME Hosts Film Salon
Organization showcases films of local women of color
By Dawn Price
“Perseverance and Passion” was the
common theme for the inaugural Film
Salon, hosted by the Atlanta Chapter of
the National Association of Black Female
Executives in Music & Entertainment
(NABFEME). The salon featured some of
Atlanta’s top female talent in the film and
entertainment industry, who had an opportunity to showcase their work and participate as guest panelists to answer questions
for aspiring filmmakers.
The panelists included: Joanna
Madruga, CNN; Deidre Thomas, Writer/
Director; N’Dieye Gray Danavall, Director/Producer; Monique Woods, Director/
Producer; Zina Brown, Director/Producer/
Videographer; Tanya Dixon, Director/Producer/Editor; Michell Davis, Entertainment
Attorney; and Krys Copeland, PublisherFusion Magazine (see picture on p. 1).
The event started with a VIP Reception,
where attendees had an opportunity to mingle with the panelists, while listening to the
smooth vibes of Amarim, an up-and-coming vocalist on the Atlanta music scene.
Next, attendees had an opportunity to
view excerpts of the panelists’ documentaries and current projects, which covered
a wide variety of topics, including Music
(“The Beginning”, “Finally Saying What
I Really Mean”); Social Issues (“Random
Acts”), Human/Civil Rights (“Link: One
Man’s Connection to the World”); and
Health/Mental Issues (“Positive Faces”,
“Death by Dementia”). Then, the panelists opened the floor for questions from the
audience. Yalanda Lattimore, E-Publisher
of DryerBuzz.com, an online news source
for the latest in Atlanta Urban news and
entertainment, facilitated the panel. Some
of the questions, directed at the panel, included: how the filmmakers got their start,
how their projects were funded, copyright
issues, and general advice.
Most of the panelists were in agreement that film was a “natural progression”
in their individual career pursuits and instructed the audience that, while the process can be difficult—with passion and
perseverance—their goals and dreams can
be achieved, whatever they may be.
NABFEME founder, Johnnie Walker,
was also in attendance and was pleased at
the event’s turnout. Walker is the Senior
Vice-President of Promotions for the Def
Jam Music Group, and has been instrumental in developing the careers of some of
music’s biggest stars, including Jay-Z, Ludacris, and LL Cool J.
“This is a beautiful event. I couldn’t
miss the opportunity to be here and lend
my support. NABFEME is all about getting together, those women who don’t
mind sharing their experiences and knowl-
NABFEME is a non-profit professional
organization dedicated to the support and
empowerment of women of color in recorded music, the media, and related entertainment industry fields. Their motto: “One
woman can make the difference, but it’s
easier when we work together as a group!”
For more information, see www.nabfeme.org. §
Southwest Arts
Center
Johnnie Walker (NABFEME founder) and
Zina Brown, filmmaker (Photo by Dawn Price)
edge, and helping one another to achieve
our professional and personal goals. I’m
proud of NABFEME-Atlanta for what they
are doing.”
Event attendee and aspiring filmmaker,
Celeste Weaver, felt the salon was helpful.
“I learned a lot, especially about the difficulties filmmakers face with funding their
projects and the copyright issues with film
soundtracks. I’m glad I came.”
The NABFEME-Atlanta chapter held
the Film Salon to showcase the work of
local Black American documentary filmmakers. The chapter also marked the occasion to kick off its membership drive,
themed “Atlanta 1000”, to reach its goal of
1000 new members.
NABFEME-Atlanta President-Elect,
and Filmmaker, Zina Brown believes the
time is right for the burgeoning Atlanta entertainment scene, and is committed to the
chapter’s goal.
“As the new President of the Atlanta/
Southeast network, I believe that there are
more than 1000 women who would like a
network that empowers women of color
in recorded music, the media, and related
entertainment fields. It’s a tall order, but I
am willing to devote the time to reach the
goal.”
www.screenreport.com
By Dawn Price
The Fulton Southwest Arts Center
collaborated with NABFEME-Atlanta in
hosting the Film Salon. The center, operated by the Fulton County Arts Council,
is the first facility built by Fulton County
solely for the arts. It offers classes on
Video Production for Teens, as well as a
Video Editing Workshop for independent
filmmakers. Courses last eight weeks and
cost $76. The Fall Session will feature
two new classes beginning in September:
Screenwriting for Short Film and a Short
Film class, where students will make an
actual film.
Joe Jowers, one of the center’s film
instructors, visualizes the film program
and its participants growing and working
together to become an integral part of the
vibrant Southwest Atlanta area.
“We want to build a community of
filmmakers who are interested in both
narrative and documentary films. We
also want to build a technical and aesthetic foundation for filmmakers of color
by providing a place where film & video
engages the community and gets them
involved,” said Jowers.
The Southwest Arts Center also
holds monthly film screenings for independent filmmakers on the last Friday
of each month at 7 p.m. Filmmakers
interested in submitting their work for
the monthly screenings may contact
Joe Jowers at (404) 505-3220.
The Fulton Southwest Arts Center is located at 915 New Hope Road in
Atlanta, Georgia, 30331. For more information, call (404) 505-3220, e-mail
the center at: [email protected].
ga.us, or visit the website at: www.fultonarts.org. §
May 2007
Page 9
New Athens Arthouse
Theater
exciting to hear that Brigitta had decided
to build one! She moved to Athens from
Berkeley and the first thing she noticed was
a lack of an art house theater. Most people
might choose another course of action, but
she decided that, well, if there wasn’t one,
she would just build one!
By Sumier Phalake
ATHENS, GA—Southern Screen Report recently interviewed Kamala Lyons,
the Public Relations Director at Athens
Ciné, an arthouse theatre that opened in
downtown Athens, Georgia on April 2,
2007. She talked about the facility, the
films we can expect to see there, and the
upcoming events.
How has the response been so far?
KL: So far, the response has really
been great. We did a special opening week
where we had one film per night that would
represent the kind of films that would be
presented at Ciné. Most of those screenings were completely sold out, so that first
week was really exciting. We have two
films playing and also a midnight screening on Fridays and Saturdays. It’s exciting
to see the local community supporting this
endeavor. The only way we’ll be successful
is if people actually come out for it.
What kind of films will you screen at
Ciné?
KL: In general, Ciné will screen independent and international films. We’ll also
do documentaries, films that come directly
from festivals, finds that don’t have distribution yet. The first week we showed Army
in the Shadows (L’Armee des ombres) a
French film from 1969 and we also did
two documentaries. One was from Cuba,
called Suite Havana (2003) and the other
was Iraq in Fragments by James Longley, which was nominated for an Oscar
this year. And then we threw in a Robert
Altman classic, The Player. Altman is so
Page 10
May 2007
great, and The Player is fun, because it’s
about the movie industry, so it was a great
film to start off with.
Tell me more about the structure itself; I
understand it’s really cool.
KL: It really is! I think Brigitta spent at
least a full year looking for the right kind of
building. She wanted it to be in the downtown area and Athens is pretty small, so
How did you get involved with Ciné?
there are only so many spaces available.
KL: I know the founder, Brigitta Han- She settled on this building that used to
gartner. I met her a couple of years ago after be a snow tire company that retread tires
she moved to Athens from the Berkley. I and it had been vacant for 15 years or so.
had been involved, and am still somewhat It had some interesting graffiti and kids
involved with this organization called Film used to hang out there. It was downtown
Athens, which at the time had just recently
and seemed to fit
started up. Film Athens
the square footage
is a not-for-profit, a netand footprint she
working vehicle for the
was interested in.
local film making comIt was also kind of
munity to be able to post
in the artsy part of
information, coordinate
town, so it was the
films and so on.
perfect
location.
I had heard that BriShe started workgitta was planning to
ing with designer
do this independent art
Carl Martin from
house cinema. One of
D.O.C. Unlimited,
the problems that we
who is a local arthad run into while proist and designer and
gramming screenings
does a lot of develfor the local community
opment projects in
in Athens was that there
town with kind of
really wasn’t any venue
an artistic feel. She
for screening films. We
also knew that she
had been working with
needed to go the
some of the clubs and
historic preservaFounder Brigitta Hangartner in front of
bars in town and they
tion route with the
the original Snow Tire Recap Plant (All
were fabulous for what
building, so she
photos courtesy of Ciné)
we were doing, and it
went through all
was exciting that they
those channels to
wanted to promote film and filmmaking, do that properly through the city. We evenbut it’s totally different from a cinema, tually got a grant that came from the Georyou know, a place that has been designed gia Cities Foundation, and this was the first
to screen films. So this was something that time Athens had ever gotten that grant. We
had been lacking in the Athens commu- even got it for the maximum amount posnity for a really long time, and it was really sible, so it was cool and exciting for Athens
and its development.
www.screenreport.com
Also, Robert Osborne, who intros movies on Turner Movie Classics before they
air, has been doing a film festival here in
Athens called the Classic Film Festival for
the past couple of years. They have to bring
all the projection equipment in from outside
Athens and there is a man named James
Bond who does that. We call him the 007
of the projection world, because he sets up
all the projection equipment for the Classic
Film Festival. He also collects old vintage projection
equipment, refurbishes it,
and then installs it and does
design work for theatres.
Through the Osborne
fest, Brigitta got in touch
with James and he came in
to do all the theatrical installation at Ciné. So, the
equipment at Ciné is really
top of the line, and some of
it is vintage and originally
restored. For example, the
bases for the 35mm projection equipment are refurbished antique bases, but
the projectors are new.
Is it open to the public for touring?
KL: Absolutely, we’re open to the public now. You need a ticket to watch a movie
in the screening rooms, but anyone can
enter Ciné, look at the facility, and hang
out at the bar café if they want. There’s
also a multi-function, multi-purpose space
that right now has an art exhibit, but it’s the
kind of space we can do a lot with for special events like catering, receptions, workshops, seminars, stuff like that.
In the future, there will be a restaurant in here too, which will be a separate
business concern. One of the best chefs in
town, Hugh Acheson (Five and Ten, at Five
Points in Athens) has gotten some recognition recently on a national scale from Food
and Wine magazine and is on the rise. He is
starting up a new Mediterranean tapas restaurant in front of the house, opening between July and sometime in fall.
How long did it take to plan and
launch?
KL: The planning had been going on for
about four years. The actual build out and
construction phase started in the late fall of
2005. So all in all, it’s been several years.
Who picks what movies play at Ciné?
KL: It’s a group process; we have a
board of advisors, primarily, Brigitta, our
founder and executive director; and our
Can anyone bring their films and try
to get them screened at Ciné?
general manager, Paul Strawser. They do
a good job of coming up with films that
they personally are very interested in having. And then we have a team of advisors,
a lot of whom are from UGA, and filmmaker friends who regularly attend film
festivals and are on the lookout. We generally try to book films that wouldn’t come to
Athens, movies that only play in selected
city markets. When possible we try to get
the filmmaker to come and speak about
the film, too. For example, we ran Iraq in
Fragments and the director James Longley
came to do the introduction and had a discussion afterward.
We’re also planning an environmental
film festival. We’re doing a little preview,
an awareness screening of a shorts program
from the Oakland Museum of California.
They host the EarthDance Environmental
Film Festival every year that’s environmentally focused. We’re showing their touring program as a way to generate interest
in doing a full-on festival in coordination
with the University of Georgia’s Institute
of Ecology. It will be a partnership between
that department and Ciné, and grow into an
annual film festival based here in Athens at
Ciné, focused on ecological and environmental issues in kind of a broad sense. Not
just documentaries, but also narrative films
that also touch on the subject.
www.screenreport.com
KL: We’re always open to suggestion and we’re very open to the local
community. We’re a little bit limited
because in one of the screening rooms,
we can only show 35mm prints and not
many indie filmmakers use those. But we
do have a digital room and that room is always available for rental. Anyone is always
welcome to have their own private screening or screen a film out of our schedule.
We have a little place on the website
where you can send in your suggestions
for the kind of films you want to see. We’re
just opening, so we’re still feeling out what
this area and Athens wants to see, and figuring out how we can incorporate that into
our programming.
It’s nice to hear that Ciné wants to support local filmmaking.
KL: I’ve been involved in the local
community for a long time and I’ve been
making films in the area. I think it’s really important to support local filmmaking and for Athens in particular, that area
is really growing right now. There are so
many young filmmakers doing their own
thing here, and there’s a great convergence
with the music scene. We have lots of folks
doing music videos or crossovers where
musicians will score filmmaker’s films.
We’re looking into doing some kind of a
local film festival that could be a showcase
of local work.
For more info, see the Ciné website at
www.athenscine.com. §
May 2007
Page 11
GPP
Continued from Page 1
laborative voice of the industry” according to Burst-Terranella. A non-profit, membership group, GPP membership is open to
anyone active in the Georgia film/video, interactive gaming, or music industries. Individuals (small Georgia-based businesses
and freelance artists & crew) can join for
$75 a year ($25 for students). Corporate
memberships are available for businesses
at $250 annually.
“One thing that GPP does is give an opportunity, once a month at our membership
meetings, for everyone who is involved in
the industry to have a voice, and to know
each other and collaborate. We’ve got independent producers and production companies, post houses, unions, equipment
houses, actors –we’ve got every kind of
person involved in the industry.” GPP meets
the first Tuesday of each month at Manuel’s
Tavern in Atlanta, a long-standing gathering place for politicos in this city.
“GPP has 200-300 members at any given
time. It’s an ever-changing cast of characters at our member meetings,” she adds. GPP
membership represents close to 5,000 people in professional and corporate organizations including members of AFTRA/SAG,
Cinematographers Local 600, IATSE Local
479, Teamsters Local 728, IMAGE Film and
Video Center, Women in Film and Television/Atlanta, AICP Southeast, and corporate
members such as Crawford Communications, Lab 601, and Turner Studios.
But GPP is about the industry and not
the individual, she explains. “We don’t do
self-promotion. We have a gentleperson’s
agreement that it’s all industry-related. But
there is a lot of opportunity to note accomplishments of industry folks.”
Beginning Incentives
Georgia enjoyed an influx of filmmaking revenue in the 70s and 80s, but in the
mid-90s, the state began to lose out to other
incentive-driven states and Canada—where
it was cheaper to make films.
“Many other states were stepping up to
the plate with incentives and we needed to
have a concerted effort to have an incentive
plan in Georgia, and we did not have one.
That was our main mission for starting and
it continues to be our main mission – to be
competitive, and to be friendly so that people want to film here,” she says, describing
the beginnings of GPP in 1997. It was then
known as the Atlanta Production Partnership. “The incentives are really the name
of the game at this point and have been for
close to ten years.”
Page 12
May 2007
GPP is the hand that guides the process
of figuring out what incentives the state
needs to remain competitive, and then presenting these needs to the state legislature.
It does so through a group called Economic
Development through Georgia Entertainment
(EDGE),
organized by GPP
and IATSE Local
479, the union that
represents Georgia’s over 3,000
film crew workers. (The Georgia Film, Video
& Music office
administrates existing incentive
programs, but as
Fran Burst-Terranella
a government entity, cannot propose the incentives.)
“It’s through EDGE that we can lobby
and take direct legislative action. As GPP,
we work to get ideas together and decide
on what kinds of things should be in the
incentives, but it’s through EDGE that we
actually take direct action.” EDGE hires
lobbyists to present the information to state
legislators and push for legislation. In May
2005, the work of GPP and EDGE resulted
in the Georgia Entertainment Industry Investment Act, which enacted incentives responsible for bringing over $300 million in
film revenue to Georgia in 2006.
Since May 2005, other states have
passed incentives that surpass Georgia’s,
and GPP has been busy building momentum for a new round of incentive legislation. Mississippi just announced passage
of film incentives that “trumped everybody,” according to Mike Akins, president
of EDGE. Since September 2006, Georgia
crew workers have been slipping over the
border into South Carolina to find work,
where new incentives have drawn a lot
of film production, “dispersing our crew
base,” says Akins.
Burst-Terranella adds: “We’re incredibly appreciative of what the legislature has
been able to do so far in terms of incentives, and we know that this is an ongoing
collaborative effort to keep improving what
we offer while still making it a benefit to
the state.”
Fast Forward
Incentives are the name of the game
now, “but you’ve absolutely gotta have
more,” says Burst-Terranella. So, GPP has
started a new initiative called “Fast Forward,” master-minded by GPP member,
Ric Reitz.
“It’s an online database to provide outof-state film, TV, and commercial prowww.screenreport.com
ducers with vital information about each
county’s film resources. We’re working
with the counties individually and collectively through the Association of County
Commissioners to build up a searchable
database. If someone is looking for a 200year-old oak tree, if they are looking for the
equivalent of a Whistle Stop Café, if they
are looking for a train station -- whatever
they are looking for, they can find using
this online searchable database.”
Burst-Terranella says that GPP is setting up Fast Forward in conjunction with
the Georgia Film, Video & Music office, to
supplement the location service already offered there. The link to the Fast Forward
database will be available from both the
GPP and Georgia Film, Video & Music
websites.
“Our goal is to have every county in the
state on the website. This is where we as an
industry can step up and help make these
contacts with the counties and help, potentially, more counties have more opportunities. It benefits everybody, because then
you have a statewide commitment to the
industry and you have a presence throughout the state. Of course, economically, it
spreads it out.”
The Fast Forward website is available at
www.georgiaproduction.org/fastforward/.
Sum It Up
So, what does all this mean to you?
Well, for those of you who want to stay
close to home and earn a living, competitive incentives determine whether there is
enough film production in Georgia to hire
and support you. After all—it is called
“show business” and every filmmaker
knows that the dollar is the bottom line.
Right now, southern states are in a bidding
war for film production revenue using incentives, initiatives like Fast Forward, and
plain old southern hospitality to lure those
film industry dollars.
GPP is the group that puts together incentives and sends them to the legislative floor—
so anyone who makes a dime in the film and
video (or music and interactive gaming) industry in this state owes GPP a big ‘thank
you,’ or at least a membership fee.
For Burst-Terranella, it’s a matter of
“keeping the big picture in mind as well as
the individual.”
“I think the important thing is for everyone to go out and make their movies,
but I think that we’ve also got to have a
voice together. If we make a united stand as
an industry then we have a great presence
nationally and internationally. If we aren’t
together, we don’t have the power to really
speak for ourselves.”
For more info, see www.georgiaproduction.org. §
Short Ends
• Asante Addae Bradford has joined
the Georgia Department of Economic Development as Digital Entertainment “guru.” Bradford’s new
position is part of Georgia’s plan to
attract the lucrative video gaming
industry. Bradford is also the founder
of the Independent Black Film Festival (IBFF) in Atlanta, and is married
to local filmmaker, Shandra L. McDonald.
• Sony buys FrameFlow - Digital Arts
Entertainment Lab’s (DAEL) business incubation initiative, Georgia
Entertainment Business Development, reported that Sony Pictures
Imageworks (SPI) has purchased an
equity investment in FrameFlow, a
DAEL-incubated visual effects and
animation company founded three
years ago. (Incidentally, Southern
Screen Report was also a DAELincubated business. Any buyers out
there?)
• Well-known Atlanta attorney Joseph
Beck of Kilpatrick Stockton got
a write-up in Hollywood Reporter,
ESQ as one of America’s top 32 mediation specialists for entertainment
disputes.(http://www.thresq-digital.
com/thresq/20070327sample/). Joe is
married to equally well-known GSU
Film History professor and IMAGE
Board Member, Kay Beck.
• Hurricane Katrina forced production out of the Big Easy, but just up
the road, Shreveport is looking like
the new Hollywood. Louisiana incentives (25% tax credit on produc-
tion worth $300k or more plus 10% for
using local labor) kept filmmakers in
the state. According to Reuters, Shreveport, “a city that didn’t even keep tabs
on film production revenue,” saw 12
productions worth $300 million in
2006. (NOTE: Several Atlanta actors
have reported getting call backs for
productions in Shreveport recently. I
sense a mass exodus to LA, as in Louisiana, not Los Angeles.)
• South Carolina recently upped their
incentive package (again!), offering a
30% cash rebate on supplier expenditures, and up to a 20% cash rebate on
employee wages when at least $1 million is spent in the state.
• Cinema Concepts’ first feature, Kathy
T, won the Audience Favorite Award
at the 2007 Palm Beach International
Film Festival. A coming-of-age comedy
written and directed by Evan Lieberman, Kathy T was shot in Atlanta using
local talent and crew.
• BET Networks has picked up Somebodies (2006) by Athens, Georgia filmmaker Hadjii, for development into a
television sitcom. According to BET,
“the single-camera sitcom about a
group of post-collegiate slackers” will
air in the fourth quarter of 2007. Many
of the original cast and crew will be
retained for the sitcom. Somebodies
premiered at the 2006 Sundance Film
Festival. (NOTE: I saw it at the 2007
AFF, and it’s one of the funniest films
I’ve ever seen! Let’s hope the series is
as good!)
• Black Family Channel Closes - or
does it? While the Atlanta Journal
Constitution reported that the Black
Family Channel was being replaced by
the Gospel Music Channel, a press release issued by BFC said that it was entering a “partnership” with the Gospel
Music channel and that BFC programming would “soon be available free as
a brand new, feature-rich broadband
TV service.” But BFC Chairman Willie Gary admitted to the AJC that BFC
“never made money.” Keep watching
for BFC--somewhere.
• Blood Car Wins Award At Cinequest
- Atlanta-based Fake Wood Wallpaper’s first feature, Blood Car (directed
by Alex Orr), won the New Visions category as “the director whose film best
reflects the future” at the 2007 Cinequest Film Festival in San Jose.
• Tyler Perry’s new film, Why I Got
Married, starring Janet Jackson, recently wrapped in Atlanta.
• Conjurer started post-production on
May 8, “on schedule and on budget”
according to Executive Producer Richard Mix. The film, shot in Carrollton,
Georgia, boasted mostly local cast and
crew. “We had the best crew we’ve ever
had!” said Mix.
Got news? Send it to
[email protected].
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May 2007
Page 13
Anime Evolution
By Darius Washington
Welcome to the first of a series of articles covering the animation industry. This
introductory piece will cover the beginnings of the Japanese animation industry
and how it came to influence the American
market so greatly in recent years.
While some people reading this may
attribute the beginnings to when Cartoon
Network’s Adult Swim showed Cowboy Bebop, or their Toonami arm showed
Dragon Ball Z and Sailor Moon, you’d
have to go further back to really see the origins of Japanese animation (or as it’s commonly referred to in Japan, “anime”). You
would have to trace those origins to a man
named Osamu Tezuka.
Osamu Tezuka was a medical doctor
turned comic artist who changed the way
animation was presented in Japan. Initially,
just after World War II, there was very little
animation except for U.S imports of Tom &
Jerry and similar fare. When Tezuka came
into the comic field, he introduced an incredible amount of detail in his artwork,
a style that hadn’t been seen previously
in Japan. Tezuka also wanted to introduce
animation to television with his company,
Mushi Productions, going on to animate
his manga (the Japanese word for comics
and print cartoons), Tetsuwan Atom, and
revolutionizing the anime industry on two
fronts. (The cartoon graphic above is Tetsuwan Atom.)
On one hand, Tezuka changed the way
animated works were produced. He wanted
to use a different process from that of Toei
Page 14
May 2007
Animation, which had produced a film
every two years with 20,000 drawings for
every 30 minutes of animation. Tezuka
wanted to use 1/10th that amount with two
techniques. One was layering cells to produce different bits of implied motion. The
other was the “bank system,” in which cells
would be recycled and backgrounds moved
to other parts of characters and sequences
to create whole new scenes. These newer
production systems were part of what Tezuka called the “TV anime” style.
Tetsuwan Atom (later
imported to the U.S. as
Astro Boy) was the first
animated program on Japanese TV with a singular storyline instead of an
episodic structure. Tezuka
wanted to make a series
that kids could enjoy, but
which touched on themes
of the environment, ethnicity, and other topical
world events. Many talented animators wanted to
work in the film industry,
but decided to learn from
Tezuka’s style and proceeded into the television industry. As a result, three more animated series premiered
in 1964, bringing it to a total of four new
ongoing animated series running in Japan
that year, as animators learned to explore
new storylines without any boundaries.
This “TV anime” system remained
prevalent until 1974, when the series Space
Battleship Yamato premiered in Japan. It
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was significant in that it was the first anime
work that had not been adapted from a preexisting manga like all other anime works
had been. The series was later shown in the
U.S. as Star Blazers. The original 1979 TV
series Mobile Suit Gundam had a similar
fate before launching into a 25-year franchise, which in turn led to the publication
of several anime-only magazines, (none
existed before the late 70s-early 80s).
In the United States, domestically produced television animation had gone largely
by the wayside, with animation houses
such as Filmation and Ruby Spears closing down in the 80s due to rising costs and
companies exporting work overseas based
on concepts by American writers. Broadcast companies also saw opportunities to
import already produced programs for U.S.
viewers, either via syndication (as was the
case for Voltron and Ronin Warriors) or
as packages containing several shows such
as Pokemon and Yugi-oh, which networks
would distribute to affiliates willing to
show them, such as Kids WB.
During the 90s, Cartoon Network became most prominent for importing anime
programming for their Toonami lineup, with
their Adult Swim arm continuing the trend
gearing anime programming toward older
viewers. At the same time, various U.S.
production houses restarted the upswing
of American animation programming,
sometimes by re-imagining older works
such as Sealab and Birdman, or in some
ways spoofing Japanese animation the way
Megas XLR would. Others such as Teen
Titans and The Boondocks would simply
incorporate the Japanese
techniques of fast motion
lines and wide-eyed character reactions after seeing anime films like Akira
and Princess Mononoke
in art house theaters.
Currently 40 Japanese
companies produce 100
new anime episodes each
week. Labor is usually divided as follows: 1) storyboards and plotting; 2)
backgrounds and coloring,
Osamu Tezuka and; 3) scoring, sound design, and other elements.
The Japanese companies do not necessarily do all the work themselves, but mostly
organize and farm out work to other sub
companies. Thirty percent of it is farmed
out to China, Korea, and the Philippines to
cut costs. Contrast that with the fact that
ten years ago, Warner Brothers and Disney
sent about the same amount of animation
work to Japan for the same reason! §
In Production
DREAM STATES. IslandHippie Productions, LLP.
J.D. Moore, P.O. Box 190, Wadmalaw Island, SC
29487-0190. jennifer@makingofadocumentary.
com. Post-Production. Documentary. Mid (3060 min). Start Date: May 29, 2006. Location: 32
states in the US (list avail. online). Cast: Ginger
Hart, Corwin Brown, Vincent Tremblay, Victoria
Bogdan, Sharon K. Eubanks. Synopsis: Dream
States explores similarities and differences
between the dreams that people have, despite
having never met, being a different religion,
gender, etc.
THE CITY IN MIND: ATLANTA. Phases of
the Moon Motion Pictures. Landon Brown
404-275-7365, Polly Sattler 404-550-4481.
[email protected]. Pre-Production. Documentary. Feature (>60 min). Start Date: April
25,2007. Location: Atlanta. Cast: Female Narrator, Nine Women Hostess(Muses)<Now Casting
for both>. Synopsis: The City in Mind is a 3-part
documentary: Past, Present, and Future focusing
on Atlanta’s Quality of Life and Civic Identity. By
examining overarching issues like transportation
and development the doc seeks to understand
how Atlanta got where it is, what people think
about it, and the possibilities for change.
HOOKING UP IN COLLEGE. J’Hue Film Productions. Denice Ann Beckham. devans@j-huefilms.com. Pre-Production. Documentary. Short
(<30 min). Start Date: 4-20-07. Location: Athens,
Georgia. Cast: Students Actors/Non-Actors ages
18-24. Synopsis: Focus group of 12 women &
men to be interviewed in a group discussion of
dating vs. hooking up in college.
BABY OF THE FAMILY. DownSouth Filmworks
Inc. DownSouth Filmworks, P.O.Box 20602, St.
Simons Island, GA. 31522. downsouthfilm@aol.
com. Pre-Production. Drama/Comedy. Feature
(>60 min). Start Date: Fall 2007. Location:
Macon, GA. / Los Angeles, CA / St. Simons
Island. Cast: Alfre Woodward - Sheryl Lee Ralph
- Pam Grier, Loretta Devine - Vanessa Williams
- Ruby Dee, (still Casting). Synopsis: From the
moment of her birth in a rural black hospital in
Georgia, Lena Mcpherson is recognized by all
the nurses as a special child, one with the power
to see ghosts and predict the future. Only Nurse
Bloom knows the spells to ensure that the child
will see benevolent spirits, not evil ones, but she
hasn’t bargained for Lena’s mother, who scoffs
at “old timey ideas” and discreetly disposes of
the special tea the nurse has brewed. A new face
may be a new kid in town - or it may be the face
from the grave.
CONJURER. CONJURER, LLC. Richard Mix,
CONJURER LLC, 500 Old Bremen Rd, Suite
104, Carrollton, GA 30117, 770-634-7242, 770834-2232. [email protected]. In Production.
Horror. Feature (>60 min). Start Date: April 2nd.
Location: West GA - Carrollton - Decatur. Cast:
Andrew Bowen, Maxine Bahns, John Schneider.
Synopsis: Photographer Shawn Burnett reluctantly agrees to move to an isolated country farmhouse to help his wife, Helen, recover from the
loss of their stillborn baby. Shawn soon becomes
convinced that the farm is haunted and Helen
becomes estranged from her on-edge husband,
as the ghostly presence manifests itself in increasingly horrific and deadly ways.
SHUDDER - THE HAIN COUNTY HORROR.
Southlan-Films. Ron McLellen Southlan-Films
Flowery Branch Ga. 30542, 770 967 2356.
[email protected]. In Production.
Horror. Feature (>60 min). Start Date: 3/3/07.
Location: Roswell, Georgia. Cast: Stacy Melich,
Ondie Daniel, Hunter Ballard, Deborah Childs,
Robert Peterson, West Cummings, Cesar
Aguirre, Daniel Burnley. Synopsis: A recently
widowed mother, Samantha, and her 10-yearold son, Ryan, move to Crossville to start a new
life after the death of her husband. Soon after
moving in, Ryan, turns to a new make-believe
friend named Jenny for companionship. One day
Samantha catches Ryan in conversation with his
imaginary friend. Before long Samantha discovers that Ryan’s friend is not so imaginary, and not
very friendly at all.
If you have a film or
video in production in the
Southeast, please submit
your information online at
www.screenreport.com.
All production
listings are free.
BAD LAND. Southlan-Films. Ron McLellen,
5722 Garden Walk Flowery Branch, GA. 770 967
2356. [email protected]. Post-Production. Horror. Feature (>60 min). Start Date:
8/06/06. Location: Hall County GA. Cast: West
Cummings, Elizabeth Keener, Josie Lawson,
Jennifer Cudnik, Michael H. Cole. Synopsis:
Four college students embark on the final phase
of their fraternity & sorority initiations. Led astray
by their friends, the four find themselves trapped
on the private property of a family of hillbillies.
Now hunted, the students must fight to escape or
become permanent residents of Bad Land.
SAINT JAMES. New Moon Films. Steve Moon,
[email protected], Frankie Carra [email protected]. In Production. Drama. Feature
(>60 min). Start Date: March 2007. Location: Birmingham, Alabama. Synopsis: The true story of
the murder of a Catholic Priest and the rise of
power of the Ku Klux Klan in Alabama.
RANDOM ACTS OF KINDNESS: A DOCUMENTARY OF GIVING. Random Acts Foundation & Wavawoman Films, LLC. Random Acts
Foundation, P.O. Box 2675, Washington, DC
20013, www.RandomActsFoundation.com. busy
[email protected]. Post-Production. Documentary. Mid (30-60 min). Start Date:
02/25/2007. Location: South Africa & Swaziland.
Senegal, West Africa. Cast: Juanita “Busy Bee”
Britton, Executive Producer. Synopsis: A documentary of giving, chronicles the travel and experiences of an American woman’s compelling
and emotional journey as she spontaneously expresses her love of sharing with women in rural
African communities.
THAT GUY: THE LEGACY OF DUB TAYLOR.
JamesWorks Entertainment, LLC. JamesWorks Entertainment, LLC, 181 Rogers Street,
Claxton,
Georgia
30417,
912.334.0679.
[email protected].
Post-Production. Documentary. Mid (30-60 min). Start Date:
www.screenreport.com
May 30, 2006. Location: Nationwide. Cast: Dixie
Carter, David Zucker, Buck Taylor, Don Collier,
Riders in the Sky. Synopsis: Walter Clarence
“Dub” Taylor, is a character actor from Augusta,
Georgia, credited with more than 500 films and
television shows. He was most well-known for his
portrayal as Michael J. Pollard’s double-crossing
father in Bonnie & Clyde. However, most who’ve
seen Taylor on film never remember his name
after the credits roll. The well-respected character actor, with an active, six-decade career, never
played a lead role in a major motion picture.
FOUR FAGS IN A FABULOUS CAR. cmgsoon
productions. Ted Williams, 8581 Santa Monica
Blvd. #271, West Hollywood, CA 90069.
[email protected]. Pre-Production. Comedy.
Feature (>60 min). Start Date: July 2007. Location: West Hollywood, San Francisco, Portland,
Seattle. Cast: Gabriel Romero, Derrick Sanders.
Synopsis: When a gay man learns his father
died, he has four days to make it to the funeral,
but since he’s afraid to fly, his diverse gay friends
volunteer to drive him from West Hollywood to
Seattle in a fabulous new car, where they learn
something new about their friendship while reclaiming their own gay pride.
THE HIP HOP MASSACRE. dEM dAMN fILMZ.
eleGant., 1581 Lester Rd., Conyers, Georgia,
30012. [email protected]. Post-Production.
Drama. Feature (>60 min). Start Date: Feb. 2006.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia. eleGant. Cast: Deven
Bradshaw, Ed Bondz, Yardley Ilarraza, Andre’
Garner. Synopsis: Hip Hop as we all know is more
than just a music genre. It has become a Culture,
a way of living. At birth, Hip Hop was an uplifting, educational experience with a driving beat
that you could dance to. Through time it has gone
from Hip Hop to Strip Hop. This movie focuses on
the many topics, which are now denouncing Hip
Hop as well as destroying its Culture.
ON MY MIND. dEM dAMN fILMZ. eleGant., 678
755 5087, 1581 Lester Rd., Conyers, Ga. 30013.
[email protected]. Post-Production. Horror.
Short (<30 min). Start Date: May 2006. Location:
Conyers, Ga. Cast: von’Terraj aka {KAN’dCE}.
Synopsis: A constant replayed account of a man
dreaming of a woman. However, Kan’dce is actually living the dream as it is happening.
BODY BANG. dEM dAMN fILMZ. eleGant.,
1581 Lester Rd., Conyers, Georgia, 30012.
[email protected]. Post-Production. Music
Video. Short (<30 min). Start Date: Aug. 2006.
Location: Atlanta, Georgia. Cast: von’Terraj aka
{KAN’dCE}, Ronnis Spruill, Jaimyn Thompson,
Erik Dennis. Synopsis: KAN’dCE takes it upon
herself to change the game of women being demoralized in music videos.
Call for Trailers
And now for more free publicity!
Southern Screen Report is seeking trailers to run on our website.
Maximum 60 seconds in length.
See www.screenreport.com for
full trailer requirements.
May 2007
Page 15
Classifieds
Actors
Rafiq Batcha. Accomplished actor
guaranteed to connect to audience with powerful acting, nuanced
characterizations and strong
screen/stage presence. Wide range
of complementary skills in singing,
dancing, and Bollywood flair.
E-mail: rafi[email protected].
Phone: 404-723-5269.
Put your dreams in motion.
Homer A. Duke, IV.
Talented and motivated actor
with eclectic skills. Experienced
in film, theater, television, voiceover, and improv comedy. Will
travel. Headshot and demo
available upon request. E-mail:
[email protected] or call
404-693-3333.
Prieska Outland. Film, theater,
voice-overs, print, runway, promotions, directing.
E-mail: [email protected].
www.myspace.com/prieska
www.musecube.com/prieska
Page 16
May 2007
Georgia Film, Video & Music
Department of Economic Development
404.962.4052
www.screenreport.com