Universal Film Magazine Issue13

Groucho Club Under Siege Over Child Abuse Cover-Up P.12

film & UNIVERSALtransmedia magazine

Is Tarantino a Whining Bitch Ass Monkey Boy Mother F**ker?

Foxcatcher P. 4 Richard Attenborough P. 8 5000 Film Processing Deal P.18

Sylevester Stalone “Expendables 3” P.26

How to train your Dragon

Ken Loach’s New Film Mr Turner

Kidman in Grace of Monaco

Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

About UFM The Universal Film Magazine is a free magazine that delivers passionate and creative coverage about the global film and festival communities. The publication differs from the competition because it is totally free. It is the mission of the Universal Film Magazine to uphold our uncompromising high standards in professional journalism with compelling stories that are unbiased and fact-based.

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Contents FEATURED STORIES: Attenborough 08 Richard A look at his life Tarantino 10 Quinten Goes ape sh*t over leaked script Club Child Abuse Demo 12 Groucho over cover-up of Paedophile network TV hooks big deal 18 MoMedia New Deal to Process 5000 Films 24 NIPROS New Camera Systemization Technology FX 35 Boris Boris Continuum Complete 9 Units Film Reviews 37 Classic by James Knight Cinema 42 Secret Back to the Future $1.5M Movie 43 The Neil Gordon shows you how Brussels Film Festival 50 The Special Guest director Alan Parker TV - IBC 2014 55 Suitcase Showcasing Integration and Workfl ow Independent Film Festival 64 Cardiff Now a BAFTA qualifying Film Festival Itself 74 Life A fi lm by Steve James

Foxcatcher P. 4

The Expendables 3 P.26

Grace of Monaco P.28

Mr Turner by Loach P.80 3 www.ufmag.biz

Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

FOXCATCHER CANNES - 2014

by Amanda Ford

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ased on true events, FOXCATCHER tells the dark and fascinating story of an unlikely and ultimately tragic relationship between an eccentric multimillionaire and two champion wrestlers.

du Pont’s mercurial personality turns, and he begins to lure Mark into an unhealthy lifestyle that threatens to undermine his training. Soon du Pont’s erratic behavior and cruel psychological game-play begin to erode the athlete’s already shaky selfWhen Olympic Gold Medal winning esteem. Meanwhile, du Pont becomes wrestler Mark Schultz (Channing CANNES fixated on Dave, who exudes the Tatum) is invited by wealthy heir 2014 confidence both he and Mark lack, John du Pont (Steve Carell) to move on knowing that these are things even his to the du Pont estate and help form a money cannot buy. Fueled by du Pont’s team to train for the 1988 Seoul Olympics increasing paranoia and alienation from the at his new state-of-the-art training facility, brothers, the trio is propelled towards a Schultz jumps at the opportunity, hoping to tragedy no one could have foreseen.. focus on his training and finally step out of the shadow of his revered brother, Dave FOXCATCHER is a rich and moving story of (Mark Ruffalo). Driven by hidden needs, du brotherly love, misguided loyalty and the Pont sees backing Schultz’s bid for Gold and corruption and emotional bankruptcy that the chance to “coach” a world-class wrestling can accompany great power and wealth. team as an opportunity to gain the elusive As with Academy Award® nominee Bennett respect of his peers and, more importantly, Miller’s previous feature films, CAPOTE and his disapproving mother (Vanessa Redgrave). MONEYBALL, he explores large themes in society through his complex character Flattered by the attention and entranced portraits of real people. All of Bennett Miller’s by du Pont’s majestic world, Mark comes films, including his first, the documentary to see his benefactor as a father figure and THE CRUISE, are centered on real people grows increasingly dependent on him for with vivid personalities in unusual approval. Though initially supportive, circumstances. And despite the stockpile

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of evidence that was collected during the years of preparation for FOXCATCHER, in the end those stark facts become the seeds for drama, and many of them, as the actors have indicated, were distilled and transformed through the process. “It’s fact to fiction as a vehicle back to the truth, says Miller. Some months after CAPOTE was released I received a letter from Harper Lee. She said the film was a demonstration of fiction as a means towards truth. There was as she pointed out, a great deal in the film that we had invented, but that ‘The film told the truth about Truman.’ That’s what I have tried to do with FOXCATCHER.” Miller first heard about the story of eccentric multi-millionaire John Eleuthère du Pont (Steve Carell) and a pair of world champion wrestler brothers, Mark (Channing Tatum) and Dave Schultz (Mark Ruffalo) when executive producers Michael Coleman and Tom Heller showed him a newspaper article about the story. “The circumstances seemed comical and absurd, but the outcome was horrible and real, says Miller. The deeply strange things that happened down there were unlike anything I had personally experienced and yet they felt immediately familiar. There was something about the story, or perhaps something beneath the story that I sensed wasn’t strange at all. In fact, the opposite.” While his initial impulse to take on the project was immediate, the subsequent time and energy Miller ended up pouring into it was expansive. As he had previously done with CAPOTE and MONEYBALL, Miller embarked on a research journey that would last several years. “I wanted to learn what hadn’t been known about the story and that takes time. It takes years and it takes interest and care, he says. This is a story with some uncomfortable truths, everyone I spoke with seemed to be guarding some aspect of what happened.” Miller traveled all over the country—to Iowa, California, Colorado, Missouri, and Pennsylvania—to find materials and to interview dozens of people including Mark

Schultz, Dave’s widow Nancy, their friends and fellow wrestlers, people who had worked for du Pont, police, and anyone who had lived any part of the story. In addition to all the first-person accounts, he assembled a trove of video of both du Pont and the Schultz brothers. While Dave was only a little older than Mark, they didn’t have a typical brother relationship. Their parents split up early, and Dave took on a parental role for Mark as they moved between their parents’ homes, fending for themselves. Mark had an incredible love, reverence, and need for his brother—he relied upon him for emotional support, a partner to wrestle with, and as a coach—but at the same time he was very jealous of Dave’s success, and his inner turbulence escalated as the years went by. “Mark was always that little brother that just couldn’t break out, couldn’t figure out how to do it on his own, says Tatum. He always had to rely on Dave, and this kept him from having his life, his career, and the thing he wanted most—his respect from people.” Mark’s confused vulnerability makes him turn his pent-up anger on himself as much as on his wrestling opponents—at times he literally hits himself in the face. Says Tatum: “I don’t think anybody could punish Mark more than he could himself, and I think he hardens himself against the world by punishing himself.” The intricate dynamic between the brothers is vividly illustrated through the scene in which they practice wrestling with each other: It begins like a dance, with Dave effortlessly ushering Mark through some moves, lightly correcting and instructing. “There is real tenderness between them and so much unspoken communication, says Ruffalo. It’s as intimate as two men can be without being lovers.” Gradually Mark’s complicated feelings about Dave spill out and compel him to amp up the aggression and do real damage. Says Ruffalo: “Mark is so much bigger and more aggressive and stronger, but Dave still has the psychological edge on him. But you can also see that

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Mark is exceptionally gifted.” Says Miller: “You see Dave’s steadfastness, his fairness, and his love, but you simultaneously see his status—he’s the Alpha. Not an uncaring, unsympathetic, unloving Alpha, but an Alpha.” The brothers’ complicated relationship comes to a boil with Mark’s realization that Dave was beginning to move on with his life, to pursue his family and career. Says Ruffalo: “There’s a deep, deep connection between them and what some people might call a codependency that became unhealthy as they moved into the world. As Dave started transitioning, embarking on his adult life, Mark saw it as a betrayal, and honestly, it was a betrayal. It’s at this time, when Mark is at his lowest ebb that du Pont invites Mark for a lifechanging meeting at Foxcatcher. There he showers him with the words of praise and respect that Mark had always wanted to hear, albeit in an aloof and peculiar manner. “I think Mark had a lot of trepidations, says Tatum. I don’t think he trusts anyone. But finally he is hearing somebody see him and Dave the way he thinks they deserve. Du Pont is saying that the brothers are heroes. They literally fight for their country, and no one supports them, no one cares about them like he does. I don’t think Mark knew completely but I think he slowly started to see that this was the best opportunity he had ever been given. This is an opportunity for him to finally get the attention, respect and accolades that he’s always wanted, and to separate himself from Dave.” In telling Mark that he wasn’t getting the appreciation he deserved, du Pont could just as well have been speaking about himself. He was burdened by a family legacy that was nearly impossible to uphold because it went back so many generations. “While the expectations were high, the celebration of the successes seemed almost nonexistent, says Carell. His mother, from all reports, was a rather cold woman. He was close to her but really didn’t

experience much affection from her at all— she reserved that for her prized horses. I think that wrestling became very important to him because it was a vocation of his own choosing. It didn’t apply to any other part of his upbringing. His mother was not a fan of wrestling, thought it was barbaric, so he stepped out from her shadow in that way.” Carell is reluctant to pass any easy judgment on du Pont. “I don’t see him as a monster; he says. I see him as someone who did something terrible who was suffering from mental illness. He was a very sad, damaged human being.” Du Pont had previously tried numerous ways to make his mark on the world: as an ornithologist, conchologist, philatelist and philanthropist, a trainee for the Olympic pentathlon, and a benefactor to sports of all kinds. But ultimately he focused on becoming the savior of USA wrestling, building the Foxcatcher facility and being the leading funder of the sport. “He was highly competitive, says Carell. He yearned for respect. I think he wanted people to look up to him in the way they naturally looked up to Dave Schultz. But ultimately, he was unable to earn that same kind of esteem and admiration. Dupont wanted to be one of the guys, but at the same time, he wanted to be held in a somewhat higher regard.” There’s no doubt that Steve Carell’s fans will be surprised to see him in the role as dark as John du Pont. “I knew that Steve could play awkward and eccentric, says Miller, but when I met him, I realized how many layers there are, that he is one of these actors that has a public self and a private self—and you never see the private self ever. And I thought those protected, guarded areas of himself might relate to this character in some way.” A vast dynasty of industrial enterprise and wealth, the du Pont family has one of the oldest and most prestigious legacies in American history.

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Richard Attenborough 1945–2014

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veryone must leave something behind and giving their talent its chance to live. when he dies. . . Something your hand Fellow film producer David Puttnam cites touched some way so your soul has the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (Rada) somewhere to go when you die. . . It doesn‘t and the British Film Institute (BFI) among the organisations Lord Attenborough saved. matter what you do, so long as you change something from the way it was “Nobody achieves this level of before you touched it into something 1945 influence, and almost universal that‘s like you after you take your to love and respect, without being a hands away. After a few weeks of tragic news, of untimely and violent 2014 very special individual themselves, somebody who is very, very driven. deaths of the young, the unknowing, the innocent and the courageous, it’s worth Always a man with a cause.“ standing back to remember one of our Amanda Neville greats who reached the grand age and lived “He had huge authority and great intellectual a grand life. rigour - people listened to him.“ Lord Richard Attenborough’s name and Michael Grade face were synonymous with British film, an overused phrase – but literally a legend In life, it’s all too easy to stand back. To wait in his own lifetime. Not just for his body of for others to make our opportunities arise, to work as an actor and a director, but for the blame others when things don’t go our way. dedication, fearless hard work and energy Lord Richard Attenborough’s life attitude he put into the betterment of the British is one that can inspire us all. The battles Film Industry, for the sake of his own passion he fought were for the sake of the talent and his own films and the sake of other that is out there and the art and inspiration filmmakers and actors who would stand the that comes from that talent. He got lottery chance to live out their vocations, making money into the film industry..., and that the struggles they faced that little bit easier transformed the industry. When a man from

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humble beginnings can go on to create such an impact. When one individual can achieve astonishing results for the whole industry, we must be reminded that we all have a duty to do our own bit. It’s comfortable and easy in filmmaking and acting to let jealousy and resentment creep in, for egos and pride to yearn for one-upmanship, to slip into divides. Nothing can be achieved this way. Great things grow from solid living earth, not from dust and mud. We can all work for changes that better ourselves and the next generation coming up behind us. We can all take a stand for positive action. In difficult times, despondency is easy. But it’s worth remembering that Lord Attenborough would not have worked so hard or so tirelessly were it not for the same enormity of challenges he and others alongside him faced in their time. An echo of the difficulties we now face.

“The industry was on its knees... in the late 80s and early 90s. It was Richard‘s ability to persuade John Major to include film in lottery distribution that altered everything.“ “He had a genius for knowing what to do and for having the persistence to go ahead and do it,“ Melvin Bragg. “I adore my family; they are my joy. However, I am committed to my work. If on a Saturday morning when I was ostensibly going to be with the children and something arose at Rada or at Unicef or at the orphanage or whatever, I would allow the other pressures to take precedent.“ Richard Attenborough

“We are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of esteemed filmmaker and former BAFTA President, Lord Attenborough Kt, CBE, whose passionate support of BAFTA for more than 50 years was integral to who we are The following quotes about a man and a life today. He will be sorely missed.” truly lived can inspire us to never give up on BAFTA our own dreams and remind us that if one man can create such a mark then many of “ET depended absolutely on the concept of us standing together as one can move even cinema and I think that Steven Spielberg, who I‘m very fond of, is a genius. I think ET is a quite bigger mountains. extraordinary piece of cinema.“ Enjoy and be inspired by more quotes from Richard Attenborough and about Lord Attenborough “A titan of British cinema, to say he embodied its finest qualities is to have it backwards. “I can‘t write; I can‘t paint; I don‘t compose.“ British film would do well to live up to the Richard Attenborough example of industry, skill and compassion set “My first film role was for Richard by Richard, Lord Attenborough.“ Attenborough. A beautiful, brilliant, gentle, positive man. Gave me confidence & endless “I believe we need heroes, I believe we need certain people who we can measure our own encouragement.” shortcomings by.” Tom Goodman-Hill Richard Attenborough “Well, you cannot think of cinema now, and you cannot think of cinema in the UK and not place Chaplin in the most extraordinary elevated context, if there can be such thing, in that he was a genius, he was unique.“ Richard Attenborough “British film would do well to live up to the example of industry, skill and compassion set by Richard, Lord Attenborough.“

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QUINTEN TARANTINO GOES APE-S**T OVER LEAKED SCRIPT as shallow and blames him for generating a media frenzy that led the website to link to the leaked screenplay. Apparently, the leak occurred because QT was betrayed by somebody who he had entrusted with the script. Although the project now appears to have recovered from the leak, QT was left depressed by the whole affair. According to the Tech Times web site, Tarantino stated “I gave it to three actors: Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Tim Roth. The one I know didn’t do this is Tim Roth.

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ome of our readers may remember a while back we wrote a story about Tarantino and his refusal to comment on the violent nature of his films in an interview and stated, “I’m not your slave and you’re not my master. You can’t make me dance to your tune. I’m not a monkey.” Since this rather funny interview, we have a new celebration of depravity of the human language from the “Whiney Bitch-Ass, Monkey-Boy, Mother-F**ker, Tarantino. We need to be sure when he reads this and we are certain he will, then he can understand it in Tarantino f**k-speak. Quentin Tarantino completely lost his S**T because his new script, was allegedly leaked by a close associate. The script ‘The Hateful Eight’ was the follow up to ‘Django Unchained’ and was allegedly cancelled as the script was leaked all over Hollywood and online. To say he went bananas is an understatement, part of the Tarantino public tantrum included sending a takedown notice pursuant to the DMCA to the Gawker website and then went on to sue Gawker over the leaked script. Gawker in turn attacked Tarantino’s lawsuit

One of the others let their agent read it, and that agent has now passed it on to everyone in Hollywood.” This was a damning statement for QT to make and must have seriously damaged not only the credibility and integrity of the two actors, but also that of their agents. The normal procedure is that they, the actors and agents would be bound by a strict NDA, a nondisclosure agreement that protects both parties. Of course, the casual observer may give some consideration to QT’s plight, other may say, what the FU**K QT, man up and get on with it bitch, write another Fu**ing script and stop your bitch ass whining. No, this was not to be; QT has decided to travel to snivel town and wallow in the pretentious Hollywood quagmire of public sympathy. We would try and help put QT back on the right track and ask him to remember, Rocky, Rambo and the Expendables, by the great genius director Sylvester Stallone, take a page from his book. Get some kickass fight back and stop behaving like a yellow bellied, liver lilied snivelling pussy. (well this is Hollywood ;-)) So, on a more serious note, Actors and Agents

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names have now been dragged through the mud by Tarantino’s Titillating Tantrum. At this stage, we can all say with absolute clarity that when Tarantino made the statements he could not have had definitive evidence about who was actually responsible for leaking “The Crazy Eight” script. Now you might call me a little old fashioned, but where I come from, there’s a word for that, it’s called libel!. Here are some of Tarantino’s Bitch Ass statements to the press: 1. “I’m very, very depressed, I finished the script, a first draft, and I didn’t mean to shoot it until next winter, a year from now. I gave it to six people, and apparently it’s gotten out today.”

is a statement of opinion that was arrived at based on accurate facts? it does not look like this either. Was there Malice in Tarantino’s statements against the producer, the actors or the agents?. If intentional malice can be shown and/or proven in a court of law, then it can qualify as defamation for damage to one’s reputation. Furthermore, if the statement has done harm and were untrue, any one of the group whose reputations have suffered may still pursue this tort if they can demonstrate loss of business or special damages. Were Tarantino’s statements libellous of the actors, producer or agents? This is when defamatory statements are published in print or broadcast in the media. In addition, the publication of such comments or statements, don’t need to be made to more than one person to qualify as libel.

2. “I gave it to one of the producers on Django Unchained, Reggie Hudlin, and he let an agent come to his house and read it, That’s a betrayal, Common-sense would dictate that QT was but not crippling because the agent didn’t end wrong by summarily judging (if that what it was) or levying the allegations against up with the script. the actors, producer or agents, we can be 3. I gave it to three actors: Michael Madsen, reasonably certain that it can’t possibly have Bruce Dern, Tim Roth. The one I know didn’t do been leaked by all of them. If it were indeed this is Tim Roth. One of the others let their agent leaked by one of the actors, producer or read it, and that agent has now passed it on to agents perhaps Tarantino should have waited until he had definite evidence before he went everyone in Hollywood. on a public rampage blaming everyone in 4. I don’t know how these fucking agents work, sight. but I’m not making this next. I’m going to publish it, and that’s it for now. I give it out to six It remains to be seen if Tarantino will now be people, and if I can’t trust them to that degree, sued over his comments. More importantly, if then I have no desire to make it. I’ll publish it. I’m any of the actors, producer or agent’s careers done. I’ll move on to the next thing. I’ve got ten have suffered, will they be as eager to read any of Tarantino scripts in the future? If there more where that came from.” is another script leaked, then surely Tarantino First thing that springs to mind is, boo, will again scream the same hysterical rhetoric mother f**kin hoo, and off course Tarantino’s and tar everyone with the same insane brush. contrary comments that “The Crazy Eight” Could it be said that it’s just not worth running film was being cancelled turned out to be the risk? utter claptrap worthy of a whining assmonkey biach; the project is now very much confirmed When all is said and done, If it’s all just a PR as back on track. Was there ever any doubt? stunt or if it was Tarantino himself who turned his script into a news story that generated a Can Tarantino’s comments be considered “fair great deal of attention then “all’s well that comment”? it would not seem so. Was this ends well” in the land of Hollyweird.

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Groucho Club

Under Siege by Child Abuse Activists Demo outside the Groucho Club over cover-up of Paedophile network operating on their private members forum

Demonstration outside the Groucho Club

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ondon’s infamous Groucho Club was recently under siege by Child Abuse activists who were demonstrating at the cover up of a child abuse forum It was a hot summer’s day in London, and Abuse Activists came from as far as Australia to demonstrate against the cover up of the paedophile network operating on the Groucho Clubs own member’s forum. The activists represented many groups and charities from all over the world. They lined both sides of Dean Street, in Soho, London, the home of the media haunt, The Groucho Club. This was a well-planned and executed static, silent demo. The protestors stood five feet apart; they did not block the pavement or the road and no disruptive behaviour occurred. However, there were several members of staff of the Groucho Club, who attempted

to argue with the activists, but the activists knew full well this was a probability, and this was why it was a silent demo. The Police were informed that the demo was taking place but oddly enough there was no Police presence. The Soho demo went off peacefully and pretty much without a hitch. Support banners we up high on the scaffolding on Shaftsbury Avenue, out of the second-floor window of the iconic French House Bar in Soho and later activists went on to demonstrate outside the House of Commons, Westminster Abbey and Big Ben. The activists protested the cover up that took place after the discovery of an organised network of paedophiles operating

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on Groucho Club’s private members online forum. The network operated freely and without recourse from the law or management of the club for a year. The forum had 42,000 members and 900,000 posts. Much of the content was dedicated entirely to videos and images of young children being advertised for sex. Robert-Charles Carwardine, a respected campaigner and also runs the Come Clean on Child Abuse campaign, said, “no matter where they hide or who they are, the campaign to expose those who cover-up or hide child abuse will continue. They are as bad as the Paedophiles, who commit these horrific offences and make it easy for them to continue. The meeting in Soho square saw people from all over Britain come together in London and unite in a common cause. The message is simple, its fair, its human, come clean on child abuse or face protests.”

Club) run by an elusive multimillionaire conservative strategist and is bankrolled by a billion Pound Corporation (Graphite Capital). On the other side, there is a documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist (Tyrone D Murphy) who has proved time and again to be a resourceful adversary in many ways. Murphy successfully defended a libel action as a “litigant in person” that was instigated by the Groucho Club management in 2009. This appeared to be a futile attempt to shut him up. This was at a time when the libel laws in the UK were an embarrassment to the Country and considered by many to be backwards and in the interests of big money. They also instigated bankruptcy proceedings against him for a costs order that was awarded based on information provided to the courts that could not have been true. In addition to the court cases instigated against him, he was under surveillance for over a year, followed around the country constantly, strangers were observed going through his garbage bins. On another occasion, he chased an individual off the grounds of his property who was attempting to bug his telephones. Murphy emphasises that because of legal reasons he cannot state the name of the organisation responsible.

After the discovery of the child pornography network by a number of Journalists, numerous complaints were made by one of the journalists (Tyrone D Murphy) to CEOP and the Metropolitan Police in London UK. Apparently, the Police simply stood back and The French House with banner on 2nd floor did nothing. The same process was repeated The story behind the Groucho Club affair is time and again. a lengthy one and reads like something out of a spy novel; it involves illegal electronic After being informed that the evidence surveillance, a failed libel trial, a court case needed to be preserved as it was being in Newport Wales, a bankruptcy petition, destroyed, the police did nothing, they were rape that went unreported, a massive child simply not interested. Despite the discovery pornographer’s network and sexual abuse in of a rape that had allegedly gone unreported, again, nothing. Despite a lengthy statement the workplace. by an employee together with irrefutable On the one side, there’s a very powerful and video evidence of a sustained campaign of wealthy Media Celebrity club (The Groucho sexual abuse and harassment by a superior,

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again no action was taken. After twenty-four e-mails, countless phone calls and letters to the Metropolitan Police, Murphy finally had enough and set about instigating an inquiry with a number of British Members of Parliament. At first some MPs were horrified at the revelations. However, when one MP contacted the police he received assurances from the police they would act.

although the IPCC found that elements of the Police report were inaccurate but because DCI Graham Grant was due for retirement soon, no action was taken against him.

The IPCC selected a senior high ranking Police officer to investigate the cover-up and the false report. The would seem like the norm; however, the investigating officer was none other than DCI Grant, the very same officer who the head of the department he was investigating and was the person responsible for writing the false report in the first place.

Groucho Club Staff, harassing the activists

As far as the Groucho Club is concerned, the managing director, Mr Matt Hobbs stated he knew nothing about the paedophile network. However, he later he said it was a spammer while they were changing servers (just at that The officer put in charge of the case was very moment a spammer got in) and then to DCI Graham Grant, the head of Child Abuse the police he stated, that they had no security Command for the Metropolitan Police in issues with their servers. London. He contacted Murphy and assured him that he was looking into it and to use him Hobbs’s different accounts cannot be true. The as the sole point of contact within the Met spamming story appears to be completely nonsensical as the abuse network was Police. operating for almost a year unchallenged. As However, Murphy later discovered that DCI unbelievable as this story is, it would also infer Graham Grant’s response to anyone, MP or that the other story Hobbs’s gave to the Police otherwise, was to send a hastily drafted report that they had no security issues with their that completely decriminalize and trivialised servers cannot be true or correct. the whole affair while absolving the Police and the Groucho Club of any wrongdoing. Murphy obtained a copy of the report from a friendly politician. After reviewing the report, he realised that a cover up was taking place. Murphy immediately made an official complaint to the IPCC, the Independent Police Complaint Commission which is the UK organisation that investigates the police in the UK.

DCI Grants report of the investigation was predictable, Murphy appealed. Another officer was then selected to investigate and again the result was predictable, Murphy Appealed again, and yet another review of the investigation. The result being that

Despite all Hobbs’s different versions, there has never been a denial by the management of the club that the paedophile network was operating on their on their members forum. Perhaps it may be because they don’t know exactly how much evidence Murphy and the other Journalists have uncovered; we are led to believe, it’s quite substantial. Six months after the initial report that the evidence was being destroyed the police inspected the Groucho Clubs computers, albeit with the permission of the Groucho Management. So at this stage, the reader most likely knows the

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another individual discussing kidnapping and forcing someone into the trunk of a car. The employee said he was terrified by this. The alleged rape was reported to the Police by Tyrone D Murphy 2009 as soon as he became aware of it. However, despite supplying the Police, and later DCI Graham Grant with the name of the victim, the alleged perpetrator and witnesses, no arrests were ever made. Again this formed part of the false report circulated by DCI Graham Grant that absolved Of course, it’s outrageous that in this day and all of any wrong doing. age such a cover up could take place and to date, not one person using the Groucho Club’s Private Members’ forum was ever charged with any criminal offence or even questioned. Andy Preacher from Freedom Talk Radio said: The Groucho club Soho demo was a wake-up call to management; people will not lie down and tolerate the cover up of child abuse in any way shape or form.” answer to the next question, what did the Police find on the Groucho Club Computers? The Police found nothing, and this poses some other interesting questions, firstly, the evidence was witnessed by a number of Police Officers, Journalists and Politicians. So the obvious conclusion is where is it? Was the evidence destroyed as Murphy stated before the police examined the computers? If so by whom?.

During the libel court case in 2009 that was instigated by the Groucho Club against Murphy a statement came to light by an ex-employee of the Groucho club. Within the statement, allegations were made that a woman was raped in the basement toilet/ Manager Kent Olesen filming the demo lavatory of the Groucho club as she lay unconscious on the floor. The employee immediately informed their superior who There was another rape in the dark corridors allegedly told the employee to keep their of the Groucho Club in 2008, this was reported to the Police but was never been mouth shut. solved. Murphy later attempted to track down According to the statement, the superior footage from CCTV cameras that the Police then followed the alleged perpetrator down may not have been aware of. However, the the street after he left the club to hand Police showed no interest. This lack of interest him his spectacles as the perpetrator had was despite information that came to light forgotten them. According to this employee, in open court that the club had more CCTV the perpetrator of the rape was the well the cameras in the club than they stated they did known industry agent, Addison Creswell. The in statements before the court. employee’s statement was made in 2009, and Cresswell died in December 2013. The In 2010, an employee took an action in a employee stated that Cresswell behaved like tribunal against the club over an alleged an animal in the club, and whenever he went campaign of sexual assault and harassment too far, he simply splashed some cash about. by a superior. This claim was backed up by The employee also said in his statement that irrefutable video evidence from the clubs he overheard Cresswell on the telephone with CCTV cameras and was presented to the

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tribunal. The employee and his superior cannot be mentioned by name. This is because the employee faced four specialist barristers in a routine hearing at the tribunal where the employee acted as a litigant in person. The Groucho Club legal team argued over and over with the court that the names of the alleged perpetrator and his victim should not be named in public. In addition, the former employee called two other employees from the club as witnesses to the behaviour of the superior.

Hunt substantial amounts of money to go to New York to meet with the Murdoch family. Jeremy Hunt in his role as Cultural Secretary embarked on the paid trip to meet with the Murdoch’s to discuss the Newscorp bid. This trip was bankrolled by ‘Mr John Lewis of Dorset.’ This is misleading; his correct title is, John H J Lewis OBE, and he is, in fact, based in London. He is a multimillionaire Tory strategist and is the head of The Groucho Club. Hunt told the Commons Committee he has given full disclosure of his Newscorp communications and admitted that he had meetings in New York with the Murdoch’s. He withheld the fact that he spoke almost entirely to Newscorp and that he has business interests with the Murdoch’s that go back years. In addition, Hunt failed to disclose correspondence of over a hundred emails.

These employees were later dismissed from their positions; one was told, after years of loyal service, that he did not fit in. The employee who was the alleged victim was quoted as saying; “I was intimidated and frightened and had to back off.” Any normal person may ask, why would the management of the Groucho Club go to such drastic lengths to protect an employee despite irrefutable Hunt’s reputation has at times has been evidence of sexual abuse and assault. questionable, to say the least, but he has A dossier was sent by Journalist Tyrone D been steadfastly protected and promoted by Murphy to the owners of the Groucho Club, a grateful Prime Minister. So we now know Graphite Capital. It listed all of the evidence the John H J Lewis is a Tory strategist and mentioned in this article and much more. Mr head of conservative tourism and has some Rod Richards, the CEO of Graphite Capital, serious political connections. Would this be a stated in his reply that he was satisfied with good enough reason to deter the Police from the Groucho Clubs management and their investigating the Groucho club? handling of the clubs affairs. Cathy Fox, a well know child abuse activist The Groucho Club seems impervious to the and Blogger said, “Politics is about power. Law as any normal person would understand The people that want this power so much are it; one could even say that this organisation the ones that should have it the least. Powers is entirely above the Law and immune from lowest common denominator appears to be a precaution. How could that be? Well, perhaps cesspit of drug abuse and child abuse. The full it may have something to do with the political truth over the child abuse and its cover up will continue to trickle out until such time as the clout the club enjoys. Groucho Club decides to come clean. “ A number of high-ranking politicians regularly frequent the Groucho Club, among The former head of the British Metropolitan them, is Jeremy Hunt, who at the time of the Police, Sir Ian Blair stated that he’d happily raid expose of the child abuse network was the the Groucho Club, and implied that cocaine Cultural Secretary. He is a friend and cohort use at the Groucho Club was equivalent of John H J Lewis OBE, who is the chairman to buying oranges from apartheid South of the Groucho Club. Both were embroiled Africa or taking a holiday in Burma. Rather in a scandal that saw John H J Lewis pay Mr predictably, The raid never happened.

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Issue 10 2013

Universal Film Film Universal

MOVIE MONEY e n i z a mag Issue 6 of 2012 Issue 13 - 2014

All about

FILM FINANCE Free Issue of “Movie Movie Magazine”

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Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

5000 FILM PROCESSING DEAL MOMEDIA SECURES 5000 FILM PROCESSING DEAL FOR LOOPR VoD SERVICE

by Amanda Ford

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oMedia TV, a leading digital media company and provider of VoD services, has secured a deal to process 5000 Films with Infostrada Creative Technology, Holland.

the cost. We aim to lower the barrier to entry and give more money back to rights holders” said Lucas Bertrand, CEO, MoMedia.

Loopr is already distributing shows from local language rights holders of Hollywood productions including Dallas Buyers Club; The Blood Ties; Hercules Reborn and Frank, as well as award-winning local language films such as The Great Beauty and Dogtooth.

As part of the deal, Infostrada will provide all content processing and asset management of the 5000 films. Evert Larooi, Sales Director Content Distribution Infostrada says: “Loopr is disrupting the market and enables content distributors to both simplify and maximise exploitation of their properties. We are, therefore, delighted to partner with MoMedia on this deal.”

“With the explosion of VoD devices & platforms, there is a real opportunity for rights holders to monetise their content The deal enables its Loopr VoD service VOD to deliver substantial discounts to Distribution from digital sales. However, managing with no the complex variety of metadata, rights holders wanting to distribute middle windowing, pricing, currency and VoD onto services including iTunes, men technical information is expensive, Google Play, Amazon, Samsung, and time-consuming to handle. Loopr and Xbox amongst others. Focused on aggregating ‘localised’ content for the major resolves this complexity by providing rights global & local VoD platforms, Loopr provides holders with a centralised way to manage a cost effective and efficient solution to their transactional VoD distribution, and we can offer up to 90% savings.” digital distribution for content providers.

With this new deal, Loopr will be able to disrupt the cost of getting content licensed, processed and marketed on VoD services. “It can cost thousands of dollars to get a feature film onto these services with very high technical requirements, including closed captioning and localisation files that drive up

Loopr initially focused on the major global VoD players but is now targeting the major local platforms that are looking for new release and quality library titles.

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CANADA HOSTS

THE NIAGARA INTEGRATED FILM FESTIVAL

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Set amongst the breathtaking backdrop of the Amazon rain forest, Ribbit tells the tale of a frog with an identity crisis. Unlike other frogs, he hates hopping and has a strong aversion to water. Feeling a misfit, he is full of questions about his life. So, together with his best friend he embarks on a Canada soul-searching journey in his quest for the truth and his rightful place in this On the bill featured at NIFF was 2014 world. Malaysian animation ‘Ribbit’. The world-wide premiere stars the voices of Hollywood legends Sean Astin, Russell This is just the start of what KRU International Peters and Tim Curry and was shown for the plans to accomplish. The company already has five 3D animation films and three first time to a live audience in 3D at NIFF. animation TV series in development. “We Written and directed by Chuck Powers, want to show that a Malaysian company can Chief Creative Officer of Kartun Studios; the produce shows that can play in international animation division of KRU International. markets and do well. We want a production ‘Ribbit’ takes Malaysian animation to the with universal appeal. That’s the key for us” next level with this world - class animation, says Powers. featuring some of Hollywood’s biggest heavy hitters. ‘Ribbit’ tells the story of a ‘Ribbit’ is KRU International’s first step into beautiful heart-warming adventure that the animated feature film industry and has relates to both parents and adults alike; already garnered sales to over 80 countries coupled with visually stunning graphics and worldwide including UK, Germany, Australia, action-packed scenes it is truly a movie that Japan, China and Brazil. The movie is slated to be released worldwide in the fall of 2014. the whole family will enjoy.

anada palyed host to the inaugural launch of the Niagara Integrated Film Festival (NIFF). The festival’s showcase to the world was a spectacular film festival experience featuring a handpicked selection of the industry’s finest premiering movies.

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Roaring Currents 2014

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sia’s leading contents company Kim Han-min conducted extensive historical CJ E&M is distributing the mega- research over several years; for instance, eight scale naval action film Roaring ships were built using authentic materials. While many sequences were filmed at sea, Currents, portraying the historic Battle of several action and other dangerous Myeongnyang on the southwestern coast of the Korean peninsula. The Produced shots were filmed on land. For the land shots, a special massive gimbal was by Big film is produced by Big Stones Stone created in order to simulate 30m long Pictures and will hit Korean theaters on July 30th, followed by theaters Pictures ships swaying on dangerous tides and in whirlpools. Giant green screen panels in the United States and other Asian were also utilized, covering all areas of the countries. ships so that CG elements could be seamlessly The film stars veteran Korean actor Choi integrated into the shots. Min-sik (Oldboy; Lucy) as Admiral Yi, and Ryu Seung-ryong (The Target) as Japanese Director Kim Han-min previously created the general Kurushima. Commanded by authentic historic war film War of the Arrows, Admiral Yi Sun-shin, the Joseon Dynasty which was the biggest hit among local films won the Battle of Myoengnyang which in Korea in 2011 (7.5 million tickets). Through occurred during the Imjin War against Roaring Currents, he aims to vividly present the historical war between Joseon Dynasty Japan in 1597. and Japan, as well as portray the life of a fabled In order to realistically re-create the battle admiral, normally viewed as a fantastic and in which 12 Joseon ships defeated 330 mythic figure as a human haunted by personal Japanese ships in eight hours, director demons.

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FLANDERS/BELGIUM

@IBC AMSTERDAM WITH FLANDERS INVESTMENT & TRADE

SEPTEMBER 12-16, 2014 21

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Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

Korean Films in Foreign Markets

Make Your Move Sold to 54 Countries for USD 6.3 Million Co-produced by CJ E&M, SM Entertainment, and Robert Cort Productions, the dance romance film Make Your Move, starring renowned K-Pop artist BoA, has been sold to 54 countries including France, Germany, Australia, the Czech Republic, and across East Asia for total sales to-date of USD 6.3 million. Already released in 14 countries including Belgium, the Netherlands, Hong Kong, and Vietnam since July of last year, Make Your Move will be released in North America by High Top on April 18. CJ E&M will release the film in Korea on April 17. Make Your Move is directed by Duane Adler and tells the story of Aya (BoA) and Donny (Derek Hough) who although from different

worlds grow to understand and fall in love with each other through the common language of dance. The film also marks the Hollywood debut of BoA. “Winning attention from buyers around the world, particularly in Europe, which accounts for 70% of pre-sales to-date, we’re excited at the model of global collaboration Make Your Move provides to advance Korean films into foreign markets,” said Steven Nam, CJ E&M’s Senior Vice President of International Film Financing and Production. “As Make Your Move hits theatres worldwide, fans are in for a real treat with the film bringing together Korea’s representative pop star BoA and Hollywood’s advanced production capabilities.”

Purgatory’ New Actor UPSOGUE PICTURES announces that actress Jillian Murray has been confirmed as one of the lead roles as the character of ‘Danni’ in its upcoming fantasy motion picture ‘Welcome to Purgatory’. Murray, who is best known for her roles in ‘Wild Things: Foursome’ (2010); ‘Never Back Down 2’ (2011); ‘The Graves’ (2009) and ‘Bad Ass’ (2012) opposite Danny Trejo, will star as ‘Danni’, a young woman who suffers an untimely death after an accident and arrives in an afterlife in the midst of war. Murray will star alongside a cast that currently includes Nathan Jones (‘Troy’, ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’), Jack O’Halloran (‘Superman’, ‘King Kong’), Tory Kittles (‘Olympus Has Fallen’, ‘Next’) and Stephen Marcus (‘Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels’, ‘Quills’), and will be executive-produced by horror-legend Scott

Spiegel, and directed by British director Gene Fallaize. “Welcome to Purgatory’ follows three new arrivals – Willis, Taylor and Danni - as they navigate this fresh vision of the Afterlife, helped along the way by trusty Guardian Paul. They find the afterlife in ruins amidst a growing war between Good and Evil. All the rules of the Afterlife have been broken, and they must find a way to make things right, before Heaven is ruined for the rest of time. Scott Spiegel, Tony Cook and Victoria Fallaize will be producing the picture for Cupsogue Pictures, which was written by Tony Cook, Gene Fallaize & Marcus Ako, and Gene Fallaize will be directing. Filming is due to commence on ‘Welcome to Purgatory’ at the end of 2014 at Pinewood Studios, England, ahead of a theatrical release in 2015.

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NIPROS

CAMERA SYSTEMIZATION TECHNOLOGY

by Amanda Ford

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ollowing a successful NAB 2014 and As founder of Montreal-based départment sales in the US, Samaserve, the Nipros caméra, one of Canada’s major rental houses, sales, marketing and service affiliate, Jacques Lamontagne has been familiar with has announced the sale of five Nipros LS the Nipros brand for many years. Highly 750/850 GTS camera systemization rigs positive early reports on the Nipros to leading Montréal and Toronto-based LS 750/850 GTS camera system, led NAB production rental/firm département Lamontagne to make a special point Show caméra. “We held a number of of visiting the Nipros/Samaserve NAB Camera extremely positive meetings at NAB,” booth. Sales Mel Medina, Samaserve CEO, states. “The fact that département camera “We provide production technology to a wide range of TV, feature film and has made this decision, underscores the flexibility and cost effectiveness of the documentary production companies, and we have been looking for a highly flexible Nipros Systems.” system, capable of working with virtually The camera-agnostic, Nipros LS 750/850 any camera,” Lamontagne said. “Nipros has GTS systems, HDS 300 camera system build- developed the most versatile camera system up rigs; HDF 700 SK monitors, and related we’ve seen. It enables us to maximize the accessories, will provide département potential of every camera in our inventory, caméra with the ability to maximize the from Sony to Canon, ARRI and RED. The fact potential of virtually any camera for literally that the system is 4K-ready now, makes it an any type of shoot, including simultaneous, even stronger long-term investment.” uncompressed 4K and HD projects. “These Nipros systems will benefit our customers, Mel Medina reports that a second Canadian and their clients, with significant savings sale of multiple Nipros camera systemization in time, flexibility and by extending the rigs will be announced soon. productive life of their existing camera investments,” Medina added. NAB Show is a must: UFM

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Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

EXPENDABLES -3 HE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team come face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill… or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school

style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet. The most star-powered film franchise in history raises the bar to unprecedented heights with a dream team of global superstars, explosive stunts and mind-boggling weaponry in The Expendables 3. For the first time on film, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jason Statham join forces with Mel Gibson, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford and 11 more legends and rising stars in an epic adventure that introduces audiences to a new generation of Expendables. An assignment to stop a powerful weapon from falling into the wrong hands ends in a shocking turn of events for Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone) and his crack team of mercenaries, known

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as The Expendables. They discover that the ruthless arms dealer they are pursuing is none other than Conrad Stonebanks (Mel Gibson)—Barney’s former partner and Expendables’ cofounder, and a man he thought he had killed more than a decade earlier. The conflict turns personal when Max Drummer (Harrison Ford) of the CIA dispatches the new team to bring Stonebanks to justice and the wily weapons smuggler makes it his mission to destroy The Expendables—including his former partner. When the intricate operation goes awry and the new team is captured, Barney embarks on a noholds- barred rescue effort, aided by his comrades-in-arms, Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Galgo (Antonio Banderas), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Doctor Death (Wesley Snipes), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Trench Mauser (Arnold Schwarzenegger). For the third hard-hitting installment in the franchise, Stallone reteams with his partners at Lionsgate and Millennium Films. “Sly is a legend,” says Millennium chairman Avi Lerner. “He may be the only guy in the world who has created and starred in three successful film franchises—Rambo, Rocky and The Expendables. He’s a great moviemaker—a writer, director, producer, and star. The only job we haven’t given him yet is craft services.” The filmmakers have guaranteed fans of the adrenaline-fueled series that each new episode of The Expendables will take the franchise’s trademark over-thetop style to ever- ascending heights. For The Expendables 3, that meant first putting together a powerhouse cast that would outstrip even the mind-blowing rosters of screen legends assembled for the first two installments. “To top the first Expendables, we added a few more names to the second film,” explains producer Kevin King-

Templeton. “On this one, we wanted to find a way to keep the concept fresh and excite audiences all over the world, so we invited every action star we could think of to join the cast.” Lerner, who has produced some of the most successful action films in history, leveraged a lifetime’s worth of relationships to assemble this cast. “I believe this is the best cast that has ever been together in a movie,” he says. “Seven of our stars have at least one blockbuster franchise to their names. Some, like Harrison and Sly, have two or three.” The result is a star-spangled line-up the likes of which audiences have never seen before—and will likely never see again. “The Expendables franchise is extraordinary,” says Jason Constantine, head of acquisitions and co-productions for Lionsgate. “It takes the whole idea of a star-driven action movie to the next level. Sly’s script about a group of mercenaries played by the greatest action heroes of all time is a wish fulfillment for the audience. The Expendables is basically the fantasy league of action movies, only it’s not a fantasy. We bring the legends and icons of the genre together in one scene after another.” Initially, Stallone considered returning to the director’s chair. “But you know, the first movie was an experiment that worked,” he says. “And I still haven’t recovered from it. I was acting and trying to run four units at once, so it was a grueling experience.” Instead, the filmmakers put their faith in director Patrick Hughes, based on his work on the low-budget Red Hill. “Patrick Hughes’ previous movie resonated very deeply with Sly,” says King-Templeton. “It reminded him of First Blood. We thought let’s see what happens if we give this guy bigger resources and a massive cast. We were not disappointed.” by Amanda Ford

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GRACE OF MONACO CANNES 2014

by Amanda Ford

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race Kelly is a huge movie star with itinerary was what was hidden beneath the the promise of a glittering career surface. It resonated with my personal life. when she marries Prince Rainier of So GRACE OF MONACO is not a historical Monaco in 1956. Six years later, with her movie, even if it depicts real events. As a marriage in serious difficulty, Alfred filmmaker I was interested in telling how Hitchcock offers her the chance to a torn woman finds it impossible – or CANNES at least very hard – to find the right return to Hollywood to play the role 2014 of Marnie in his next film. But France balance between her life as a wife, a is also threatening to annex Monaco, mother and a woman and her career. In the tiny principality where she became my opinion, GRACE OF MONACO reflects the Princess. Grace is torn and forced to these contradictions. choose between the creative flame that still burns within her and her role as Her Serene What elements did you change in the script? Highness, Princess of Monaco. I wanted to give the film a more “adult”, a more mature and a darker feel while retaining the INTERVIEW WITH OLIVIER DAHAN glamorous aspect of the story, its “princess” touch. I wanted to delve into the contrasts. What did you find appealing about GRACE OF For example, I invented scenes about Grace’s MONACO? private life, as when Grace calls her Apart from anything else, it is the fact that Mother on the phone. It allows us to get to she was an actress and an artist who had to know give up on her career. I was not interested in making a biopic. I need to make films that Is it particularly difficult to direct an actress resonate with me and my feelings. I would like her? find it boring to have to depict facts only It is not. She is a great listener. She totally focusing on the character’s story. I always try dedicates herself to her work – she hardly to blend things and talk about myself too. And ever goes into her dressing room and she I think that what touched me about Grace’s remains very collected on the set. On the set,

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she is an actress who seeks solutions, works hard, sometimes has doubts and is inspired. She is one of the few contemporary stars who is also – and mostly – an actress. She took on Grace Kelly’s face and demeanour, didn’t she? It is the role of an actress to inhabit the character she plays and adapt her appearance to her emotions. She altered her voice, working hard on the accent because Grace Kelly had invented her own accent. Then the make-up artist helped to finetune Nicole’s appearance. Nicole had to do her homework on several things, like Grace Kelly’s voice, demeanour, posture, poise and mindset in order to be able to get in character. Then with the make-up and the character in a more personal way. I intended first and foremost to make a film about a woman who is an artist, but who must give up an important part of what she is in order to be able to keep her family together. This is the linchpin of the film. Did you have Nicole Kidman in mind when you started working on the project? Not in the beginning. I’ve been a fan of hers since DEAD CALM, but I didn’t at first visualize her in the role. Actually, I didn’t visualize anyone. Then, we talked via Skype for a couple of hours. That’s when I started to have a change of heart. She seemed like an obvious choice. I went back to Los Angeles, and we met up three or four times. Her motivation to portray the character came from within, as though she was telling things about herself in the movie. It resonates with things she has experienced in her own life… Her intuition matched mine instantly…

enjoyed “mixing them up” and working with each of them.As for Frank Langella, he is an actor whom I have loved since I was a child, and enjoyed watching in many movies. He’s just perfect. Tim Roth is a wonderful performer. His acting is subtle and outstanding. The character he plays is not an easy one. On the set he listens very carefully to the director’s instructions, is always eager to work hard and give the best of himself. He did a lot of rehearsing prior to the shoot and worked hard to come up with the right tone and accent. When he’s away from the set, he keeps working to improve the quality and the complexity of his performance. He definitely created, and rightfully so, a character that is more romantic than fact-based. What was the importance of editing? It is a very long phase which lasted a whole year. It takes me more and more time to edit the film. I spend a lot of time editing and reediting my films because it is the only way to find the best pace and fluidity. It is a bit like a Rubik’s Cube! And it took me a whole year to arrange the six faces. I had to highlight such and such a sequence and the film has plenty of psychological variables and subplots, so finding the right balance and weaving together all the stories did take a long time.

How did you choose the rest of the cast? First of all I must say that I was very lucky to direct all those actors! I love all of the cast members. Paz did a wonderful job. Derek Jacobi is an outstanding Shakespearean actor, and it was an honour to work with him. Parker Posey, Jeanne Balibar, Yves Jacques, Milo Ventimiglia, Olivier Rabourdin – they all come from different backgrounds, and I

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Panasonic

by Amanda Ford

extends its portable LCD projector lineup

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anasonic has expanded its business projector line-up, with the launch of the PT-LB360 series – a new range of portable projectors with up to 3,600 lumens of brightness. The series features four models*1 that offer an easy and simple projection solution for education or corporate environments. The PT-LB360 series feature a compact body, brightness ranging from 2,800lm to 3,600lm and a high contrast ratio of 5,000:1, ensuring images are clear, bright and easy to view. With a long lamp life replacement cycle of up to 8,000 hours in Eco mode and 5,000 hours of filter life, these models promise low maintenance and hassle free operation. The series is designed with Panasonic’s original Daylight View Lite function, which allows total control of image brightness, even in a brightly-lit room, for comfortable viewing. Hartmut Kulessa, Marketing Manager at Panasonic, said, “The PT-LB360 series offers reliable performance in an

extremely compact body (less than 3 kg in weight), eliminating cumbersome set up. These projectors are ideal for presentations in meetings, lectures and classrooms. With extremely low-maintenance set-up and operation, the user can focus on the job in hand.” The PT-LB360 series is equipped with both vertical and horizontal projection, with corner keystone*2 as well as a 1.2x zoom lens. Additionally, by using the Curved Screen Correction feature*2, images can be easily adjusted and projected onto a curved screen. The Memory Viewer function enables PCless presentation meaning users can project PDF files by simply inserting a USB memory device. The built-in speaker and direct power off are convenient and useful features in both classrooms and meeting rooms. For further information, visit: business.panasonic.co.uk/visual-system.

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Spark New Zealand selects OTT platform provider, Xstream

S

park New Zealand, a New Zealand- wide communications and internet service provider, has selected Xstream’s award winning professional video management platform, Xstream MediaMaker™, for delivery of their new OTT video service. Lightbox is the new OTT video services by Spark New Zealand. At launch the service will be available as a subscription based video on demand service (SVOD) with more than 5000 hours of insanely good TV available to all New Zealanders. The service can be used across multiple devices, including laptop, desktop, iPad and Airplay on Apple TV. With Xstream MediaMaker™ and a set of RestFul API’s, Xstream has had a leading role in creating the OTT service. “Xstream comes with a proven technical strength, an impressive track record of managing high-end, customized OTT and TV Everywhere services and a software that truly sets the company apart from others, enabling us to take our service to the next level today and tomorrow.” said Mike McMahon, CTO at Spark New Zealand’s OTT service, Lightbox. “ Xstream has met all our rigorous demands for high-quality and flexibility. Their cloud based video management system, Xstream MediaMaker™, is one of the most complete and flexible OTT platforms we’ve seen in the market, including everything one need to create and manage a complete OTT solution. “We’re thrilled to be working with one of the worlds most innovative Telcos on creating and deploying their OTT solution.” said Frank Thorup, CEO at Xstream. “Xstream MediaMaker™ is designed to work in parallel with legacy TV systems, leveraging existing infrastructure investments while, at the same time, be flexible to integrate with any other third party solution and to enable customers to deploy complete end-to-end

by Amanda Ford

OTT solutions like Lightbox. Some core features in the OTT solution powered by Xstream MediaMaker™ includes advanced voucher integration and functionality, advanced parental control where the entire frontend has a dimension that’s controlled by parental guidelines enabling parents to filter out content playback according to rating. Xstream MediaMaker™ also provides an easy and transparent workflow management for content ingest including a OTT loading dock service with screener application, which is integrated with Gracenote and Technicolor, assets management, automated and scheduled publishing across devices, subscriber management, Shop and Payment module enabling Lightbox to create and manage multiple business models. The in built device management allows Lightbox to set up rules on number of devices registered to each Lightbox account as well as control concurrent streams, a service that enables Lightbox customers to use one account to watch different content on different devices. “We’re delighted to partner up with a company like Xstream who truly understands the complicated OTT/TV Everywhere ecosystem” said Simon Hoegsbro, “Xstream offers more than just an online video platform/video CMS, they offer a cloud based platform with a wide palette of capabilities and features that we see as cost-effective and flexible. Importantly, Xstream MediaMaker™ is proven and future-proof, enabling us to build a platform we can grow and develop with as we move forward in a rapidly evolving market place. We need to stay ahead of the game and are relying on Xstream to help us do exactly that”

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Cameragrip Launch New Website The new, bigger and better, cameragrip. com website has finally arrived. Following on from the global success of the original site Cameragrip have continued to grow and expand within the camera supports sector both in the UK and abroad. The new website pays testament to this with a wider variety of products than ever before, carefully selected from a variety of reliable brands. Having developed a worldwide reputation for their range of products and customer service Cameragrip have ensured that the new .com presence is a further improvement for their loyal base of customers. It’s new clean and

crisp look makes navigation easy and allows you to focus on the products which are now better displayed and incorporate more pictures. The new site is also mobile compatible and incorporates a streamlined checkout process. Customer accounts can also be created for regular shoppers allowing you to manage your orders, create duplicate orders and to quickly make your purchases. The new website is online now and can be found at www.cameragrip.com.

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ALTERED Review of Kely McClung´s film

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hat a sick movie...I´m gonna have to watch that again. That´s the first thing that popped in my head after I had watched Kely McClung´s “ALTERED.” You know how it is...you go see a movie, really like the special effects, the tough hero and the beautiful yet vulnerable damsel in distress, but that´s about it. Most movies don´t leave a mark imprinted in your brains.The Shining or Inception were such movies; you´re going to want to watch them again, you need to, no, you MUST watch them again. They are creepy and yet you have to go back to that place and get chills, although you know what will happen. What came from director and writer Kely McClung´s mind is both disturbing and morbidly fascinating. One can only assume it is ether movie making or mental asylum for Mr. McClung, there is just no other way to describe the level of insanity this movie carries. Another big part of the movie´s fascination

is the main cast. Next to Kely McClung himself starring in this picture, there are of course Amanda Dreschler and Robert Pralgo. Amanda is most known for Perception (2012) and Lost Angels (2014). She is a rising star on the silver screen and her performance in ALTERED is breathtaking. And it gets more in the person of “The Priest” Robert Pralgo. Robert describes the filming of ALTERED as “being outside your own body at times.” And this is understandable. Coming from shows like Vampire Diaries, which are not mild on the creep factor, Robert has about one hundred films under his belt, so he knows what it is like to be in that spot. But even for a seasoned actor like him, ALTERED was a hellish experience. The Priest is a bastard. A Demon. Satan in human form. There are simply no words to describe Robert´s character; you have to go see it for yourself. But bring a friend, you will be terrified.

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Boris FX Announces Boris Continuum Complete 9 Units

by Amanda Ford

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ounded in 1995, Boris FX is a leading “The ability to purchase individual units developer of VFX, compositing, titling, from a larger plug-in set is unique to Boris video editing, and workflow tools Continuum Complete,” notes Boris Yamnitsky, for broadcast, post-production, and film Boris FX Founder and CEO. “It allows us to professionals. Boris FX products have offer critical features to our customers at a grown to serve over a million artists much lower price point.” worldwide. The company’s success lies BORIS in its ability to tightly integrate and “The new BCC AVX Units are a welcome FX option for Avid users, drastically leverage technologies through strong partnerships with Adobe, Apple, reducing the entry price for those Autodesk, Avid, Grass Valley, Nexidia, seeking to enhance their VFX options in Avid systems,” says David Colantuoni, Sr. Sony, and other leading developers of video editing software. Director of Product Management for Creative Apps and Storage. Support for Apple, Boris Continuum Complete 9 (BCC) Units Blackmagic Resolve, Assimilate Scratch, and are now available from Boris FX, the leading The Foundry Nuke will be added later this developer of integrated VFX and workflow quarter. technology for video and film. The sixteen Units include new filters, features, and New Feature Highlights: speed improvements from the recently • FX Browser™ updated flagship product, Boris Continuum • BCC Film Unit. Complete. • BCC Image Restoration Unit • BCC Keying And Composite Unit Host Support: • BCC Lights Unit The updated BCC Units are currently • BCC Perspective Unit supported in Adobe and Sony applications, • BCC Stylize Unit. and available for the first-time in Avid NLEs. • BCC Transitions Unit: www.borisfx.com

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Classic Film Reviews by James Knight

DETOUR Al Roberts (Tom Neal) is walking through the streets of Manhattan with his girl Claudia Drake, played by Sue Harvey. Ulmer inserts a close up of a street sign telling us we’re on Riverside Dr. The couple keeps on walking, but then Ulmer inserts a second close up of the Riverside Dr sign. Why? Because the streets are engulfed with thick fog. Why? Because Ulmer had no money and couldn’t afford to have any Manhattan exterior sets made so instead used fog. The scene in question is a flashback, Roberts’ memory, with the fog giving the scene a nightmarish quality. Roberts’ girl Claudia is his reason for living in life, and the fog makes the memory of her seem like an illusion, like he dreamt it all. The nightmarish mood is continued when Roberts later gives a ride to hitchhiker Vera (Ann Savage). Vera is a one dimensional character, aggressive, angry and joyless, but her one dimensionality adds to the nightmare as no matter what he tries, Roberts can’t escape her vile velocity. Everything in Detour is told from Roberts’ perspective, making the film extraordinary because everything we’re told, everything we see, is up for debate. It is one thing to question what we read in literature but it’s another thing entirely to question what we see in front of us. Detour, like a good Dylan album, is completely open for interpretation. It is a film that has to be seen not to be believed. We first meet Al Roberts in a road side diner, the song “I can’t believe you fell in love with me” comes on the jukebox and just like Bogart in Casablanca his past comes flying back at him. The story is solid in its simplicity; whilst hitchhiking from New York to Los Angeles, Roberts gets tangled in a web of crime and deceit after accepting a ride from 36

so called bookie, Charles Haskell Jr. (Edmund MacDonald). Tom Neal carries the film’s themes in his soul and his dejected eyes. He’s on the road like Kerouac but without the hedonistic lust for life and instead of marijuana in his top pocket he carries his own doomed fate with him, like a dead dog on a leash. “Emily Post outta write a book of rules for guys bumming rides.” Detour is an anti road movie, a warning that you won’t find the American dream on the open highways. Robert and Vera as characters of the road are like zombies, with the harshness of hitchhiking stripping them of their emotions. Reportedly shot in just six days using only three sets, Detour has made a cult following for itself off the back of its anti studio system feel and style. But the style is cheap and grainy, and aesthetically it doesn’t quite hold up, with the background screens instead of actual highways jumping out as archaic. The film poses the important question; should audiences allow leeway for mistakes because a film has been made on the cheap? Simply, no. Cinema has a library of films that were made for next to zero and still manage coherence and a visual beauty. Saying all that, the positives in Detour vastly out punch the negatives. The film is tight and breezes along at a terrific racket whilst also being void of any weighty and boring exposition. Detour will not change your life, but it’s a pretty good way to spend 67 minutes

GILDA “It looks like one thing then right in front of your eyes it becomes something else.” That’s what Johnny Farrell (Glenn Ford) thinks about a woman. The woman in question is Gilda, played by Rita Hayworth. As the title suggests the film is about her, but it’s told entirely from the perspective of the male www.ufmag.biz

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characters. Is it misogynistic? Possibly. But it’s also brutally honest; Vidor never tries to hide the truth. As Farrell says, “I wanted to hit her.” Her being Gilda. Rita Hayworth’s entrance as Gilda is one of the great moments of American cinema. The moment she bursts into frame, flinging her hair from her face to reveal a smile that could start and end wars, we know we are looking at a true movie star, and also a director that knows how to shoot one. Hayworth’s Gilda is a tease with a soul; she says at one point, “It’s so crowded yet so lonely.” What she’s referring to is the crowd at her husband’s casino, where the majority of the film takes place. Vidor creates a wonderful stillness steaming from the solitude of casino gambling. He also manages to brilliantly capture the way people interact differently in both public and privacy. The story is told in subtle looks and steamy glances with silence almost acting as a supporting character. Before De Niro in Casino, before Alec Baldwin in The Cooler, there was Glenn Ford as Jonny Farrell. Farrell, a small time gambler, talks his way into a job at Ballin Mundson’s (George Macready) Buenos Aries casino. He then meets Mundson’s new wife, none other than Gilda, but unbeknown to Mundson, Farrell and Gilda already know each. They play nice for appearances, but their past and their hatred for each other soon springs to the surface. Gilda is an intelligent film and a film of technical significance with Vidor creating a consistent tone and mood through unique scene framing. Sidney Lumet once remarked that he didn’t much care for the use of camera zooms in cinema; well Gilda is the opposing argument. Vidor decorates the film with sumptuous zooms that scream talent. Gilda must be praised for its little use of score; instead Vidor focuses on character gestures instead to tell the story. When there is score however, it is not obvious and didactic, but rather cool and sultry and is the type of music that directors of the French New Wave would’ve been more than happy to use in

their own films. The costumes sparkle and Rudolph Mate’s cinematography glows with glory. There’s one marvelous scene where Mate shoots George Macready in complete shadow, making him look like a noir ghost. Despite its overall effectiveness, there are some blunders along the way, most notably in the final act. The story for the most part has the beautiful simplicity of a well crafted short story but then suddenly becomes complex and overweight, like an unpublished amateur novel. There are just too many turning points in the final moments. Gilda focuses on human flaws played out under the cover of glitz and glamour. Vidor lingers on his characters expertly, forcing them to reveal their true selves. It is a film that somehow manages to be both of its time and ahead of its time. It is a film of iconic moments, no more iconic than Hayworth’s two contrasting performances of “Put the Blame on Mame,” which just have to be seen.

MURDER MY SWEET The first image in Murder, My Sweet is that of a light bulb, giving us the hope that maybe this is a film of bright ideas. We immediately meet Chandler’s Phillip Marlowe (Dick Powell) as he’s interrogated by the police. The interrogation room is engulfed by darkness giving us some of the most breathtaking use of shadow cinematography in all of cinema. Jean Renoir was so impressed with Harry J. Wild’s cinematography that he hired him to shoot The Woman on the Beach. Marlowe is in the middle of telling the story of how he came to be temporarily blinded. Dmytryk’s camera then looks out of the window onto a sparkling Los Angeles’ strip, a night exterior shot to rival those of Broadway and Times Sq in Sweet Smell of Success. We’re now back in time and looking in through the window of Marlowe’s office. Inside, Marlowe sees Moose Malloy (Mike Mazurki) standing behind him in the reflection of his window, again another genius shot from the

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cinematographer. Not too long after, we find ourselves on a job with Marlowe. Marlowe treks cautiously through a secluded wooded canyon, there’s the sound of a twig snapping, he turns and it’s that old movie adage of a deer and not a man with a gun. Despite this awful cliché it’s still utterly intriguing, but somewhere in between the introductions of phony reporter Ann Grayle (Anne Shirley) and Claire Trevor, who played the femme fetal Helen Grayle, everything that was intriguing and compelling gets lost in foggy weather and becomes all but a rumor, just like the disappearance of Glenn Miller in the very same year of the film’s release. One of the main problems restraining Murder, My Sweet is Dick Powell. A perfectly fine actor yes, but he has one major disadvantage, he’s not Humphrey Bogart (Bogart played Marlowe in Howard Hawks’ The Big Sleep). He may however though, fit the bill of a private detective better than Bogart. Powell’s face is nondescript; he disappears into backgrounds. He easily passes as the guy at the bar who you pay no attention to but who’s been following you all night. Then again, Bogart’s weathered looks can tell a story better than most screenwriters. Where Bogart was flamboyantly charismatic, Powell was the complete opposite, in Murder, My Sweet he’s dull and instantly forgettable. And now we get onto plot. Like most films steaming from the works of Chandler it becomes death by plot suffocation for the viewer. Roman Polanski’s Chinatown, still remains to this day the greatest plot/mystery noir of all time. Why? Because it’s a wonderful marriage of plot and character. Here, all we get is plot, plot, plot, plot, plot, plot, plot, plot, and messily handled plot at that. Simply, take away plot and this film would cease to exist, and so too Chandler for that matter. There are some good things along the way mind, I’ve mentioned the cinematography but it’s worth mentioning again. There’s just

something about black and white, and men in sharp suits, and women in glamorous gowns, and cigarettes, plenty of cigarettes, that looks so beautiful on screen, and Wild captures this beauty better than most. There’s also a wonderful dream sequence, where we see Marlowe falling through the vast blackness. A sequence where Dmytryk manages to capture the insecurity and the vulnerability of the dream state, only to almost go and spoil it by then covering the camera lens in cobwebs, which just looks like a cheap amateur trick. Dmytryk does manage to create a world that is cynical and interesting; a world of blackmail and humans as islands, but even that becomes tainted with the final scene that can only be described as a Hollywood cop out. The direction from a technical standpoint also follows a similar pattern. After a promising first act, the camerawork then becomes tepid and mild and littered with reaction shots straight out of the “Directing for Dummies” book. The great American short story writer Raymond Carver once wrote that he didn’t much care for ‘tricks’ in stories. Murder, My Sweet is one trick after another, but as viewers we’ve already seen what’s behind the magician’s curtain.

OUT OF THE PAST As viewers we know immediately realize that we’re in good hands, opening with a car shot like no other with the camera on the back seat of a moving convertible, Tourneur is telling us we’re going to be taken for a cinematic ride. It’s clear from the off that this is a film noir all on its own. We’re greeted with greenery and mountains and wide open landscapes which gives the film an authenticity missing from studio back lot noirs (Later Tourneur will frame a shot with the steep San Francisco hills and the Golden Gate Bridge as the back drop). Out of the Past is told almost entirely

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in flashbacks and voice over, but Tourneur manipulates time so well that the film feels like its constantly moving forward rather than back, just like Harold Pinter’s Betrayal. A cinematic technique which culminates in a shot of Jeff Bailey (Robert Mitchum) sitting alone at a Mexican bar, where in one continuous take, Tourneur pans from Mitchum at the bar to Mitchum sitting on the other side of the room to demonstrate the passing of time. But before that moment of genius, we’re in a moving car with Jeff and his girlfriend Ann (Virginia Huston). Opening in a two shot, Jeff delves into his murky history, the camera pushes in onto his face and we’re suddenly into the past. Jeff tells the tale of his former life as a private investigator in New York where he was hired by Whit Sterling (Kirk Douglas) to track down his girlfriend Kathie Moffat (Jane Greer) who apparently shot him on her way to stealing $40,000. The two shot in the car of Ann and Jeff is significant because it demonstrates the subtly in acting that is so evident throughout the film. Virginia Huston’s face remains almost expressionless and her feelings are kept inward as Mitchum recalls his history which he long hoped to forget. Like most of his films, Mitchum ends up playing Mitchum and the film is better for it. Mitchum was always fearless when it came to letting his own personality shine through, he never hid, and his performance here highlights why he was so popular and so successful, we see his wit, his charm and the demons behind his eyes. Jane Greer gives a complex and misleading performance; we never know which Kathie will show up from one scene to the next, whilst Kirk Douglas ranges brilliantly from a cunning Cheshire cat to a tough no blinking gangster. Tourneur’s subtle direction helped bring these wonderful performances to the forefront of the picture. As a director he was less interested in surroundings and more interested in characters, thus evident in the vast majority of his scene framing, and for

better or worse (I think worse), the film is void of any symbolism that populates the noirs of Fritz Lang. The realism in the acting marries well with the realistic dialogue. The characters talk slowly and normally with the occasional thought provoking one liner thrown in for good measure. This all comes as a relief compared to the frenetic and frantic dialogue that engulfed the noirs that steamed from the works of Raymond Chandler. Jeff says at one point, “Nothing’s any good if you can’t share it.” Out of the Past can today be seen as an expansion on the hardboiled novels of Chandler and James Crumley. The film is philosophical with a strong humanistic edge and is taken to another level by the sharp black shadows of the moody cinematography. The majority of Tourneur’s camerawork here however is unimaginative as he employed a mostly static camera that seems almost lifeless compared to the camera of Max Ophuls in his film noir, The Reckless Moment, released two years later. The score is sometimes overwrought and soppy but there is a nice balance between plot and story, though occasionally plot takes over and Tourneur briefly loses control of the reigns. Tourneur has to be commended for a wonderful use of silences, most notably exhibited in a sequence in a San Francisco apartment where Jeff attempts to hide a dead body. Tourneur spreads the action out sporadically and gives the characters space to breathe. The most notable action sequence is a fist fight between Mitchum and Steve Brodie that is worthy of Raging Bull. Mitchum’s Jeff encapsulates the general tone of the film brilliantly. He’s mysterious, melancholic and shelters himself from the above cloud of doom with an umbrella of self denial, but deep down, like most noir antiheroes, he knows he can’t escape his own fate, or his own past.

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SECRET CINEMA

by Amanda Ford

BACK TO THE FUTURE FINISHES WITH OVER 75,000 ATTENDED CHANGING THE WAY AUDIENCES EXPERIENCE CINEMA

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ecret Cinema’s “Back to the Future“ was a truly amazing experience, and exceeded my expectations on every level. The recreation of Hill Valley was wonderful, the cast was outstanding, the bands were terrific, and the enhanced presentation of the film was awesome…My hat is off to Secret Cinema for pulling off this glorious, magical tribute!’ – Bob Gale Secret Cinema broughtRobert Zemeckis,’Back to the Future back to life in the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford from the 31st July to the 31st August 2014 with an audience of over 75,000, making this the biggest live cinema event of its kind to date. The audience, having left their mobile phones at the door, entered Hill Valley through Otis

Peabody’s ranch and became residents of a fully functioning town, exploring over 20 shops created from the film including Lou’s Café, a suburban street, the High School featuring the famous Enchantment under the Sea Dance, Dr. Brown’s mansion and a massive reconstruction of the Town Hall with its famous clock tower. The film was screened on the wall of the Town Hall with the world coming to life around the audience in the central green – 80 actors, several vehicles, including 2 Deloreans, and a series of stunts created a magical atmosphere. Audiences stepped inside this world from the moment they bought a ticket, registering on an especially designed website, www. hillvalleycalifornia.com, where they were each given a new character, had access to a

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telephone and left over 100K answer phone messages. As part of the pre-event narrative, the audience could visit Secret Cinema’s popup vintage store and café, The Hill Valley Stores on Hackney Road, London. The town of Hill Valley had its own live radio station, a broadcasting studio where the audience produced short films, a functioning print press and newspaper, as well as Mr. Peabody’s farm, complete with live animals. Three live music stages hosted over 20 bands with guests including Jarvis Cocker, Alex Kapranos of Franz Ferdinand, Happiness, Ekhah, Money for Rope and Avecsans. Secret Cinema engaged a cast of 74 actors with 200 members of crew to build Hill Valley. Over 40 of the crew were employed as part of the Newham Workplace scheme, as part of Secret Cinema’s local recruitment initiative. Over 20 different food stalls brought the taste of 1950s America to the audience and the four main bars provided bespoke cocktails to fit in with the mood of the film. Secret Cinema’s biggest experience to date has reinvented the way audiences experience Cinema whilst catapulting the film back into the Top Ten box office, for the first time since its original release in 1985. Customers affected by the cancellation of the opening weekend were offered to reschedule or obtain a refund on their tickets, and those eligible to travel

on Virgin Trains were offered complimentary train tickets to travel back to Hill Valley at a later date, courtesy of Virgin Trains. Bob Gale, the film’s writer, visited the show on several occasions during a trip to the UK, and says: ‘Secret Cinema’s Back to the Future was a truly amazing experience, and exceeded my expectations on every level. The recreation of Hill Valley was wonderful, the cast was outstanding, the bands were terrific, and the enhanced presentation of the film was awesome. And let’s not forget the audiences: they were fabulous, and their enthusiasm, love and passion for the film pushed everything over the top. I had an absolute blast all 3 times I attended, and I can’t imagine a better way to kick off the film’s 30th Anniversary. My hat is off to Secret Cinema for pulling off this glorious, magical tribute!’ Fabien Riggall, Founder and Creative Director says: ‘ We looked to build the most epic and detailed experience of this classic and wonderful film. I feel we have delivered this and reinvented how films could be experienced in the future. Audiences are looking for something different; they want to be part of the story and take part in an adventure through the films and music they love. We shall continue to push the boundaries of what we do to allow for another way of experiencing culture.’ Secret Cinema is making plans to launch

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“CBFF is an honest and transparent festival”

QUALIFYING BAFTA CYMRU/WALES FILM FESTIVAL The festival will be held in the coastal town of Llanelli, Carmarthenshire in Wales, UK. 2015 will be its biggest year yet with submissions flooding in from all corners of the world! CBFF support the UFFO remit of “Best Business Practices” for film festivals www.uffo.org

Films judged by Industry Jury Widely promoted Film Festival Committed to transparency BAFTA Cymru Qualifying Festival

TEL: + 44 (0) 2921 28 0162 | [email protected] | www.carmarthenbayfilmfestival.co.uk

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THE $1.5 MILLION MOVIE THE FILMMAKER’S NEW EQUATION FOR BIG SUCCESS! WRITTEN BY: NEIL GORDON the way we entertain. More important, this began the melding of the movie and TV businesses into one industry, with both media competing for the same mega-dollars....And It All Revolved Around One Huge TRILLION DOLLAR Discovery About Human Nature:

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ntil Just A Few Years Ago... the movie and TV businesses were, by every standard, very separate and quite different industries. Movie people shot “features” on film, edited them by hand, spent an average of 20 to 80 million dollars per project, and took one to two years to complete each film. Television, on the other hand, was run like it had been from its inception-like the old radio networks of the 1940‘s. TV was produced quickly and comparatively inexpensively while film was slow and much more costly. But the revenue streams were different for each so profits were made, and the economics of each industry worked out.. Eventually, The Inevitable Began To Occur. As technology progressed, new forms of distribution entered the market, and virtually all of them encompassed both film and television. DVD’s, blu-ray, cable, satellite, tablets, smart phones, etc. The new products released in the last ten years comprise a revolution, and have irreversibly changed

Film industry executives, who long worried that the public wouldn’t go to the theater if they could watch the same movie at home, have now learned something astounding. The public not only still flocks to theaters to watch movies, they also buy the same movies on DVD, blu-ray, and cable and Netflix! The same applies to TV. People who watch their favorite television shows on live TV still clamor to buy the same shows from all the various outlets, purchasing boxed sets of everything from Seinfeld to National Geographic. Over night, start-up ancillary businesses, exploded into mega-industries generating huge revenue streams and opening new markets for more products to utilize. As quickly as technology is progressing in distribution, it’s moving even faster and more dramatically in production! Technology also fused the movie and TV industries together when, for the first time in history: MOVIES --that had previously been edited by physically cutting the film. AND TV --that had previously used magnetic tape transfer to edit... BOTH - began editing on the same systems (AVID and FCP. ) What finalized the fusion of the two was when movies, which had always been shot on film, and television, which was principally shot on tape, both abandoned those mediums for digital format. Now, for the first time, the same technology currently supports

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BOTH industries -- but strangely, the film industry is still doing business based on their old economic models. Though now movies are produced using new state-of-the-art technology, capable of much faster production, they are still moving at their old outdated, slow time frames with expensive production costs. THE NEW REALITY IN MOVIES: Now, you can create and shoot a full quality feature film on a television timetable and budget, and release it theatrically in direct competition with a film costing millions of dollars more. Additionally, these mega-million dollar movies with their huge advertising budgets, attract large paying audiences to their theater complexes which simultaneously play your low budget film. Giving you the opportunity to receive the same revenues as the mega-million-dollar film. The major studios have a history of ignoring economics when they smell profits, which is why they limit their own profit potential. Take the movie “Paranormal Activity” which was independently produced for under $1million. It was bought by DreamWorks/ Paramount which, according to the producer’s published press notes, originally planned to shelve the low-budget film and re-make it with bigger stars and a much higher budget. Then pressure from the producers caused them to acquiesce to a small release. With social media, word of mouth spread, the movie caught on and, to date, the film theatrically has generated $194,183,034.00. The movie studio’s first instinct was to try to re-make the film and drive their own costs up, rather than how to make the biggest profit with the least risk. Creating quality work for less and targeting your best customers is a plan that’s foreign to Hollywood, but it’s now time they start exploring that plot line. Studios used to be able to sell tickets and DVDs even for duds. Now social networks and fan sites ensure that bad reviews spread quickly, sinking a film’s reputation faster than a director can shout “cut!” When costly movies flop, the losses are scary. As widely reported in multiple read magazines, Disney took a $160 million dollar write-off after the failure of “John

Carter,”a confusing space adventure. Let’s look at “business as usual” in the film industry, to better understand how costs inflate. Today to shoot, edit, score and complete a feature length script for a live-action, minimal special effects film like “When Harry Met Sally,” before adding all the “Hollywood Extras,” it would cost an experienced, budget conscious producer, about $1,500,000.00. That same script, shot as a mainstream major studio film, with all the “Hollywood Extras” would increase by approximately $40,000,000.00. Why? Let’s look at just some of the published A-List rates for these “Hollywood Extras.” BEFORE PRODUCTION: Rights- An already successful book, play, video game, etc. $500,000.00 - $2,000,000.00 Script Writer: $250,000.00 $ 5,000,000.00 Director: $500,000.00 - $10,000,000.00 Big Name Talent: $10,000,000.00 $20,000,000.00 But those large numbers don’t even begin to cover the ripple effect they trigger during production and beyond. Let’s look closer at each of these and you can see how they escalate a film’s cost into Mega-Ridiculous! DURING PRODUCTION Story Rights ($500,000 - $2,000,000.00) is just the upfront money. Add to that profit participation, plus a guarantee to have approval of certain elements in the production of the movie, and you’ve not only just added possibly several million dollars to the basic budget, you’ve also added costs by slowing down the entire production schedule. Script Writer Double the above as all of it applies to the writer as well! Director: When you place a top director in control, there is a “mistaken belief ” that, the more time and money used, the better the film. That misconception has cost Hollywood more wasted dollars than any other single element of movie making! Talent: Star power can enhance pre-sales and

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stimulate interest in a film, but aside from the Mega-Millions it adds to the cost of the film in salaries and percentages, every time you put another big name in front of your camera, you have to add their personal (and inevitably much higher priced) makeup, hair, and wardrobe people. In addition to drivers, more expensive meals, longer shooting schedules with shorter days, all kinds of costs that inflate and distort your film’s budget, but have nothing to do with the hard mechanics of making your film-except for the fact that all the crew and other cast members add the same grossly inflated hours to their time cards as well! So, if you add the potential pre production costs, along with the inflated additional crew, support, and scheduling costs, it’s not hard to see how the film made today can run $40,000,000.00 to $60,000,00.00 and it’s also not hard to see that the same script can be made into a competitive theatrical feature film, and enjoyed by a huge audience, much less expensively. Remember that “Mistaken Belief ” I mentioned above? (“The more time and money, the better the film.”) The opposite is true. The less time and money you have, the more prepared a director has to be in advance, the more he has to visualize and lock in BEFORE he ever gets to the set. THAT TYPE OF PRE-THOUGHT AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL IS THE BEST CHANCE A DIRECTOR HAS TO ACHIEVE A HIT MOVIE, and it’s the best chance today’s filmmakers have at cashing in on the next big wave of success. But beware, it takes skill and experience to prepare and deliver a Hollywood quality film on a shoe string budget. Here are some of the tricks of the trade for lowering your budget without compromising the production; USE PRACTICAL LOCATIONS STAY AWAY FROM SOUND STAGES AND STUDIO BACKLOTS. Instead of building an apartment set use a real apartment. This saves thousands of dollars. USE UNKNOWN ACTORS. Hollywood is filled with terrific actors, most of whom will never get the opportunities their talents merit.

These actors are plentiful and very affordable! “American Graffiti” is a great example both of the above. It was all shot on location in Stockton California. They used primarily unknown actors, many of whom went on to become box office stars. NEVER PAY RATE-CARD FOR YOUR PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT All rental houses have rate cards they prominently display in their literature and on their wall. Most people just assume those are the prices and pay them. If you’re renting for more than a day, virtually all will be willing to negotiate a reduced fee and we’re not just talking about “chump change” here! Charging a client for a 2 day rental then giving them the rest of the week at NO CHARGE is very common.THIS SAVES THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS! PRE-PLAN EVERYTHING! DON’T CREATE WHEN YOU ARE SHOOTING. Very Important- when you are shooting a movie, you are “executing a business plan.” Know EXACTLY what you are going to do and get it done. MAKE SURE THE SCRIPT IS RIGHT FOR THE TYPE OF PRODUCTION YOU ARE ATTEMPTING. For low budget productions, I like comedies. A good comedy is “box office gold.” If a script is genuinely funny, the characters fresh, and you can make the audience laugh, for a budget of under $1.5million, you’ve got all the elements for success!

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oney agazine M Movie www.moviemoneymag.com

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IBC-2014 Wowza Shares Benefits of Cloud-Based Video Streaming at IBC2014 and Announces Expansion of Partner Program

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ice President of Product Management Mike Talvensaari and Senior Product Manager Philipp Angele are among the video experts from Wowza Media Systems, presenting at IBC2014 set to take place September 11-16 in Amsterdam. The session will discuss how cloud-based streaming solutions enable broadcasters and content creators, like Camcast, to reach their audiences through relevant streamed content. Media and entertainment broadcasters are challenged to engage growing audiences with high-quality video content — both live and on-demand. Today, cloud-based streaming solutions have streamlined the process bringing affordability, scalability and reliability to broadcasters. Wowza video experts will share how customers are using the cloud to efficiently broadcast to their audiences through relevant streamed content. In addition to presenting during IBC, Wowza also announced a new partnership with JVC, developer and manufacturer of professional video camcorders. JVC joins the Works With Wowza™ partner program, expanding the ecosystem to include video capture sources. Together, JVC and Wowza will give content creators the ability to instantly stream video from live events including breaking news, corporate events, concerts and sports. With streaming capability built into JVC professional camcorders, joint customers can now stream over both LTE and Wi-Fi networks, providing powerful live video experiences while on the go. “Wowza is an industry leader in streaming technology and we are pleased to announce integration between JVC cameras with

streaming capabilities and Wowza Streaming Engine server software,” said Edgar Shane, GM Engineering at JVC Professional Products Company. “Through this partnership content, creators can bring live video to end users anywhere, on any device. This opens up new opportunities for content development, as broadcasters are able to deliver real-time video directly to their viewers.” As a result of this partnership, joint customers will experience tighter integration from camera to streaming server, so those who want to transmit content directly from their professional cameras can easily connect to Wowza Streaming Engine™ server software. Broadcasters and other content creators can now economically transmit high-quality HD video from wherever they are to broadcast live on the air or online. “JVC is associated with the very best in video technology, and we’re pleased to partner with them to transform live event experiences,” said David Stubenvoll, CEO and co-founder of Wowza Media Systems. “The demand for live video streaming is growing, and end users expect to see high-quality, realtime video, and this partnership helps deliver on those expectations.” The Works With Wowza partner program simplifies streaming by providing customers with tested, integrated, and supported endto-end streaming components. Works With Wowza partners provide industry-leading technology needed for robust, flexible and scalable streaming to any device. For more information on Wowza Media Systems and their solutions, visit www.wowza.com.

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THE HOUSE THAT LATINO LOVERS BUILT by IDA ALWIN

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DA ALWIN is a Los Angeles-based Producer of the film, THE ART OF LIVING, starring Jimmy Smits, Edward James Olmos and Efren Ramirez. In this article, she explores how independent film can rally a floundering domestic US market by doing what it does best. This year the Hispanic population became the largest ethnic group in California. This, of course, is no surprise. The US has steadily been going through a relatively rapid period of ‘Latinisation,’ everything from Food, clothing and news through to politics are being influenced by the US’s Hispanic population and culture. The entertainment industry has fallen short in mirroring this dynamic social shift, possibly to its own detriment at time of great flux and uncertainty. A study by the USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism found that Hispanics represent less than 5% of all speaking roles on-screen, and with more and more US Hispanics itching for content that is relevant to their experiences, the entertainment industry is failing to service this all important and growing domestic market. Not only that, but they are managing to do it against all the odds. Hispanics have a considerable online presence. As a general rule of thumb they utilize social media to a greater extent than non-Hispanics. Pew Research put the number of Hispanic adults online at 80% vs. 72% overall for the country. In addition, Hispanics spend more time online so it follows that as a group they are twice as likely to click on and share content. This considerable and continued growth of an online Hispanic presence can be accredited to the fact that social media lends itself to the word-of-mouth approach that defines Hispanic

consumerism. For an industry like film, which is going through a digital renaissance of its own, Hispanics are a key focus for the online marketing of goods and services, and so they should be. Studios and media outlets are not completely blind to this extraordinarily active market, and there have been many bespoke online initiatives, such as Fandango Cine, an online ticketing service playing host to content pertaining to new film releases aimed specifically at Spanish speakers. These kinds of platforms aid in the continued success of traditionally well performing products such as animation blockbusters, which are known to attract Hispanic audiences specifically because of their appeal to the whole family. Despite these efforts in targeted promotion and the fact that Hispanic moviegoers makeup 25% of all ticket sales at the box-office, there is still something missing in the approach to capitalise on this continually growing market. The big white piñata in the room is that the product being pushed out there is conspicuously lacking in the Hispanic talent area. This is very strange indeed, as we can see from reports as far back as 2011 that there would be a demand for something meaningful in the dramatic Hispanic realm. Back then “The Maximo Report” revealed that 50% of “New Generation Latinos” want to see “their lives, entertainment interests and issues authentically represented”. It would seem that no serious attempt has been made by the film industry to engage this demographic outside of the catchall strategies already working for it. What is fascinating is that this is a demographic that repeatedly oversamples in movie-going versus their population proportionally, and yet Hollywood is doing very little to court the

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Hispanic footfall with consequential content. To put this in a historical context, content aimed specifically at Hispanic audiences has been difficult to hone due to the heterogeneous nature of the Hispanic and Latino communities in the US. Politically, socially and culturally first-generation Hispanics and Latinos identified with their country of origin rather than a generic “Hispanic culture”, which naturally led to stereotypical and generic representations of ‘the community.’ Outside of the stereotypes, studios stayed away from developing any strategy that would attempt to cater seriously to this fractured demographic. Investing in indefinable audiences goes against the grain of successful marketing 101. But with the advent of a ‘New Generation Latino’, a second generation of Hispanics who are born in the United States to one or both immigrant parents, this previously ‘unmarketable’ group suddenly became an ideal consumer group: Young, bi-lingual, tech-savvy Americans with a disposable income and vested interest in their ethnic roots. Commercially, Hollywood had an ‘in.’ The continued reluctance to engage on any meaningful level with this demographic has not gone unnoticed. One area the industry seems to be doing very well is in garnering criticisms from the media on their portrayal, or lack thereof of Hispanics on and off screen. Among other things, the media have recently reported on studies that reveal that in addition to very little on-screen representation, the Hispanics that are featured are more likely than their non-Hispanic counterparts to be portrayed “partially dressed”, nude and/or sexualized. Hispanic actors complain that the only substantive roles offered are parts playing the struggling illegal immigrant or maid. This does nothing to improve upon the stereotype of yesteryear and besides which doesn’t these days perform particularly well at the box office, which begs the question why we still see these caricatures developed at all. Even when doing the rounds in the development of our own film THE ART OF LIVING, a film with a lead Hispanic protagonist who is not a) illegal, b) an immigrant, or c) dancing

and / or partially clothed, we were repeatedly told by studio executives that our true-story drama would be too “complex” for Hispanic audiences. So what’s next for an audience that is telling the entertainment industry that they no longer want patronizing storylines and stock characters? There is a possibility here that the ‘disconnect’ between the consumer and producer lies in the nature of the corporate complex. Studios are like giant super tankers that require 6 miles to come to a complete halt and change is slow for corporations that can only evolve by committee. Navigating longestablished hierarchies and political nuance is a task in itself that must be successfully executed before any change can even be debated. To expect these entities to react in a significant and timely way outside the parameters of established corporate strategy is unrealistic. Evolving past stereotypes so embedded in US popular culture could mean sticking it out for a mile or so it takes for these super tankers to change course. Independent film, on the other hand, has a great tradition of unearthing the new and embracing the unexplored. There is a reason the late 90’s sparked a shopping spree by conglomerate media corporations for independent film studios. With their ‘turn on a dime’ ability to tackle provocative subject matter and bravely employing emerging talent to do it, they were the frivolous proxy sent out to engage a market that was looking for something to challenge the studio conventions. From the movement that brought you Matt Damon, Jennifer Lawrence and Jake Gyllenhaal, Clerks, Sex, Lies and Videotape and Reservoir Dogs, it’s time for yet another innovation and renovation of the broken elements of this barrier to enlightened entertainment. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that by 2025 nearly three-in-ten children in the US will be of Hispanic ancestry. Couple that with an industry that is having to look to foreign markets to make up the shortfall in the domestic one and you get an equation that is hard to ignore. Being out of touch in the age of technology and information will have dire consequences for those unwilling to adapt.

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Alan Parker, guest of honour at the BRUSSELS FILM FESTIVAL

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he 12th BRUSSELS FILM FESTIVAL took place from the 6th to the 14th of June, 2014 at Flagey and Cinematek. After the success of the previous edition, the festival, under the guidance of Ivan Corbisier, worked hard to provide the audience this year with an even more prestigious edition. The look of the festival has undergone a facelift with a new site, a new logo and new posters. The programming was dedicated to European films, premieres, retrospectives and several discoveries, but also with cineconcerts, meetings and exhibition. After the French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier, last year, the Brussels Film Festival was delighted to receive an equally prestigious guest this year: the English director Alan Parker! The Brussels Film Festival pays special attention in its program to music, with our ’cine-concerts’ and meetings devoted to music in cinema. So it is with great joy that the festival may welcome this filmmaker, who successfully connects music and cinema. Alan Parker will open the festival on Friday, June 6th at Flagey. The next day, he gave a lecture on film at Flagey and an evening masterclass in Cinematek. Screenwriter, director, producer and composer Alan Parker (London, 1944) made his first feature film in 1976, the famous BUGSY MALONE, a parody of gangster movies played by children, including ... Jodie Foster. The film was presented in the official competition in Cannes, received two nominations for the Golden Globes and won three Bafta Awards. Two years later he scored again with MIDNIGHT EXPRESS, the tragic story of an American tourist who is

imprisoned in Turkey for drug possession. This film competed in Cannes, received two Oscars, and 4 Golden Globes/ In 1980 Alan Parker’s FAME, an American musical film that soon gained cult status, was crowned with two Oscars and nominated for a Cesar for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1982, he paid homage to one of the greatest rock bands of all time with PINK FLOYD THE WALL, based on a screenplay by Roger Waters himself. That same year, he shoots “SHOOT THE MOON,” a drama outstandingly played by Albert Finney and Diane Keaton. Two years later, the British filmmaker returns with the cult film BIRDY, with Matthew Modine and Nicolas Cage. It was praised for the unforgettable soundtrack written by Peter Gabriel and was awarded the Grand Prix du Festival de Cannes in 1985. In 1986, he made ANGEL HEART, a fantastic thriller in which Mickey Rourke performs one of his best roles alongside Robert De Niro. Two years later he directs MISSISSIPPI BURNING, an American thriller about the Ku Klux Klan for which Gene Hackman won a Silver Bear in Berlin for Best Actor and an Oscar. www.brusselsfilmfestival.be www.brff.be

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NATPE EUROPE ANNOUNCES POLISH PROGRAMMING FOCUS

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ATPE||Content First President and CEO Rod Perth today confirmed plans to turn the spotlight on Poland and its diverse television industry in a Showcase event at the upcoming NATPE||Europe. The event will place specific focus on the outstanding television programming being produced in the region alongside Poland’s fast growing and fiercely competitive TV landscape. With 80% of homes now accessing pay TV via cable or satellite and more than 20 DTT channels available, Poland is now one of Europe’s largest TV markets. Sponsored by leading Polish companies TVN, ATM Group and Monolith Films, the spotlight on Poland will take place at a Showcase event on Wednesday, June 25 at the Cloud 9 Sky Bar & Lounge at the Hilton Prague Hotel. All three sponsoring companies will also participate as exhibitors in the Polish Programming Pavilion on the NATPE||Europe Market Floor. Rod Perth commented, “This is another clear example of our commitment to supporting and promoting the program industry in Europe. With DTT and VoD making gains, local films and shows are now the primetime schedule drivers of Poland’s largest channels, with localized formats the mainstay of entertainment output along with factual entertainment and scripted reality. The growth and development of Poland’s TV industry represents a host of opportunities to the international market alongside a wealth of valuable experience for its neighboring regions and we’re delighted to present this must-attend event in Prague.” “TVN continues to successfully expand its prosperous portfolio of locally developed productions, as well as renowned global television formats adapted domestically. Therefore, we are glad to have the opportunity to bring our impressive accomplishments closer to the worldwide television community and all event attendees

at NATPE||Europe,” said Piotr Korycki, TVN Management Board Member. “Selling formats is the primary goal for ATM Group at NATPE||Europe in Prague. However, with the increasing quality of local Polish production and growing interest in this part of Europe, we believe that finished programming from Polish TV is now increasingly in demand, continued Andrzej Muszynski, President & CEO, ATM Group. “Some of our current new productions, commissioned by HBO Europe, FOX International Channels or Discovery will be distributed internationally. We are also looking to move into multinational coproductions where, with shared costs across all parties, high-quality series with strong talent can be created in the region.” “Due to strong production values and internationally renowned filmmakers and stars, Polish movies have outperformed locally, and they are now poised to bring quality entertainment to foreign TV markets,” says Mariusz Łukomski, president and founder of Monolith Films. NATPE||Europe is set to launch for the first time in Prague where the facilities of the Hilton Prague Hotel will enable the market, screenings, special events, networking and social events to take place under one roof. NATPE||Europe replaces NATPE Budapest the long running event which was previously known as “Discop” and offers buyers and sellers throughout Central and Eastern Europe an opportunity to meet in a relaxed atmosphere.

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DPA Microphones DPA Microphones Appoints Direct Imports as Its New Zealand Distributor

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PA Microphones is pleased to announce the appointment of Direct Imports as its distributor in New Zealand. Established in 1946, Direct Imports is a leading importer and distributor of consumer electronics, musical instruments and pro audio products. The company is focused on providing outstanding support and service to customers and to its dealer network throughout New Zealand. “We are delighted to have been appointed the New Zealand Distributor for DPA Microphones and honoured to have this outstanding brand join our portfolio and complement our current range of pro audio brands,” says Brett Dallas, Managing Director of Direct Imports. “DPA Microphones is a natural fit to our existing product range and a leader in its field. We are extremely excited to be able to offer the DPA microphones range to our existing customers and equally excited to welcome the new opportunities that this brand brings to our company in other sectors of the NZ Market. We are focused to grow the DPA brand and provide outstanding sales and service support to existing and new DPA Microphones customers in New Zealand.”

Ken Kimura, DPA’s general manager for the APAC region, says: “Direct Imports were the obvious choice due to their extensive distribution network in New Zealand and their professional approach to client service and support. Furthermore, our array of quality condenser mics for body worn, vocal and instrument applications, whether on stage or in the studio, was a great fit with the brands they already represent.”

The appointment of Direct Imports signals DPA Microphones’ continued commitment toward growth and customer service throughout New Zealand. From its headquarters in Hastings, Hawkes Bay, Direct Imports will carry a full stock of DPA products for live, recording and broadcast applications.

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Suitcase TV - IBC 2014 showcasing integration and workflow capabilities at IBC

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uitcase TV, a leader in media asset management and compliance logging will be demonstrating a wide range of its products at IBC 2014 where the company will be in hall 2 at stands C10 and C15. Besides MediaStor, Suitcase TV’s MAM, the company will be exhibiting its Aqua series of software modules, including TrakStak, MetaGenus, and ShotLogger. Organisations involved in live broadcasting will be interested in iphrame Vision; a simple and easy to use software-based video mixer that enables the user to make simple edits and apply effects to an incoming stream prior to output to an outgoing stream with no managed delay. In addition, Suitcase TV will demonstrate the ease with which its products integrate with third party products such as Vidcheck. MediaStor is right at the heart of Suitcase TV’s product offering, organising media on multiple servers, irrespective of physical or geographical location, within a virtual file system that makes it easy to manage. As well as cataloguing content, MediaStor records and manages the media metadata. Both technical and rich metadata is organised and stored

using a hierarchical metadata model that is configurable and flexible so that it can fit any organisation. Even the metadata set is scalable allowing the MAM to evolve and grow as use of the system increases. Aqua is a range of client applications for a wide variety of uses such as ingest, metadata tagging, legal and/or technical compliance, adding or synchronising audio tracks, and edit decision list (EDL) publishing. At IBC 2014, Suitcase TV will highlight several Aqua modules including TrakStak, MetaGenus, ShotLogger, and Splice. TrakStak facilitates the addition and adjustment of audio tracks for broadcast. It is not uncommon for additional audio tracks to arrive after content has been ingested, meaning each time a new language track arrives from the dubbing house, another time-consuming ingest must be performed. With TrakStak, the new audio track is appended to the asset at up to 80 times real-time, without the need to reingest the video. MetaGenus MetaGenus gives users the facility to edit

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metadata associated with a programme or series without having a view of the media. This is useful for organisations to fill in information about an asset before it has been ingested, or where users don’t need to see media to make changes. ShotLogger - As the name suggests, ShotLogger is a tool that offers the ability to mark points of interest in video, capture information about those events and then store it all for future use on a database. It is perfect for marking up goals and penalties in football, crashes and overtaking in F1 racing, speeches at political party conferences, special events in newsgathering, flashing lights, as well as nudity, violence, and profanities for film and TV compliance. Splice - Powerful but easy to use, Splice is ideal for creating EDLs or for performing simple edits of video content. Because it is a desktop application, performing pre-edits using Splice reduces the cost of craft editing.

At its stand at IBC 2014, Suitcase TV will recreate an existing workflow and will show how Aqua can simplify and automate a given process. The workflow will highlight integration with Vidcheck as well as the ease of importing and exporting to and from Avid. Language and promo workflows will be showcased along with a variety of metadata templates based on how other customers use ShotLogger and MetaGenus. iphrame Vision - There will be an iphrame Vision workstation with Dektec card at IBC, and visitors will be able to see demonstrations in a variety of configurations based on the markets for the products. These will include a single input with a delayed version, a 2 camera demo and a live event vision mix with 4 inputs. Suitcase TV’s stand at IBC - For further information about Suitcase TV, email info@ suitcasetv.com, or call +44 1473 258251.

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RYUJIN MABUYER JAPANESE SUPERHERO COMES TO MALAYSIA

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rom the highly successful and popular The story begins as our hero Andil, an adaptation of ‘Ryujin Mabuyer’ unsuspecting batik painter discovers that emerges Malaysia’s very own original he has been chosen as the warrior and must, superhero, ‘Ryujin Juwara’. Tokusatsu fans therefore, defend the peace and tranquillity and fans already familiar with the of Kampung Batik and the legendary popular Japanese drama series will Mabui Stones. Super not be disappointed with the thrilling and action packed adventure of the The young and talented cast of ‘Ryujin Hero Malaysian adaptation ‘Ryujin Juwara.’ Export Juwara’ are made up of the best of Malaysia’s rising stars. Iedil Putra that Ahmad Izham Omar CEO of Media Prima plays Andil, the main protagonist of the Television Networks (“MPTN”) said, “We’re show is famous on the local arts scene for the first to bring this type of Japanese format his live performances and roles in a number to the market, and I believe Malaysia is ready of local movies. Joined by his two other coto take our production to the next level with stars Faralyna Idris who plays his best friend this series. Utilising our local talent, we’ve Maya and Ali Alasri that plays Shafiq, a fellow developed a great Malaysian adaptation superhero that discovers his powers. of the superhero Ryujin Mabuyer.” He also added that as the number one television The returning season brings on more network in Malaysia, TV3 is always ready to cunning plots from the Majimun Army as offer fresh and exciting content to meet the their plans grow every more distortedly. demands of its audience. Follow the action, drama and adventure as we introduce new superhero ‘Ryujin The Malay TV drama series shot in both Gelora’, who is none other than Maya and Japan and Malaysia has been adapted for Andil’s friend Shafiq. Together they team up the Malaysian audience. Primarily spoken to guard the Mabui stones that bring peace in Malay, the series also offers a modicum and harmony to the land. Set in the beautiful of the English and Japanese language. landscape of Malaysia and Okinawa, Japan,

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watch as Ryujin honours the Malaysian culture and heritage and stands up for honour and justice against the evil Majimun Army. Ryujin Juwara is Malaysia’s first ever superhero drama series, co-produced by Malaysian production house, Double Vision Sdn Bhd with Japanese production company, Yomiuri TV Enterprise Ltd and the Mabui Stone Corporation. Yuichi Koyano, President of Mabui Stone Corporation and Toshikazu Sugae, Vice President of Yomiuri-TV Enterprise Ltd. Said, “We are excited about bringing ‘Ryujin Mabuyer’ to Malaysia. Fans can relate better to this local adaptation and get more involved in the gripping storyline of the tokusatsu”. Andil is an apprentice batik maker who is under the tutelage of Tok Mantin. Every day he devotes himself earnestly to his craft. Meanwhile, a hermit who lives in a forest senses a crisis infringing Malaysia and sends a message to the human world seeking a man of valor who can overcome the crisis. At the behest of the hermit, the hibiscus spirit Hibi sets out on a journey to find a human who is able to understand the hermit‘s message. The Majimun army, villains evolved from the animal kingdom, aims to steal the Mabui Stones, which are symbols of Malaysian culture and tradition. This is the crisis that the hermit foresaw. The Majimun army manages to steal the Batik Mabui Stone. As a result, the beautiful colours of the batik fadeaway. One day, Andil is attacked by Viper Jellyfish. Shiisa puts a bracelet on Andil and a light appears in the horizon. At this point, Andil transforms into Mabuyer, the brave soul from “Niraikanai”. Mabuyer enters into battle with the Majimun army at Okinawa and wins an impressive victory. He exclaims, “Now I’m going back to Malaysia to protect the village and the Mabui Stones. Having acquired Mabuyer’s power, Andil returns to Malaysia as Ryujin Juwara and succeeds in recapturing the Batik Mabui Stone from the Majimun army. However, the Majimun army is not discouraged by this loss and continues to steal other Mabui Stones.

REAL LIFE STORIES OF STRUGGLE AND COURAGE FROM AROUND THE WORLD

THIS IS OMAR, A TEENAGE REFUGEE FROM SOMALIA.

A LIFE ON HOLD

IS A NEW FILM ABOUT OMAR’S LIFE IN A REFUGEE CAMP IN TUNISIA. WATCH AT AMNESTY.ORG/REFUGEES

CHILDREN OF THE JAGUAR

AN INDIGENOUS COMMUNITY IN THE AMAZON JUNGLE TAKE ON THE COMBINED MIGHT OF THE GOVERNMENT AND AN OIL COMPANY IN ORDER TO SAVE THEIR WAY OF LIFE AND THE RAINFOREST THEY LIVE IN.

WATCH AT BIT.LY/JAGUAR-TRAILER

Find out more: [email protected]

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With over 25 years’ experience in color correction, DaVinci Resolve is the world’s most loved high end color grading system! Only DaVinci Resolve is designed to be real time all the time, so it keeps up with you when you’re working on demanding client jobs. With the most creative toolset and highest image quality, it’s easy to see why DaVinci Resolve is used on more Hollywood feature films, syndicated network television series, music videos and high end television commercials than any other system.

DaVinci Resolve includes more automatic tools such as the 99 point 3D window tracker so you’ll rarely need to manually track windows! You get automatic 3D eye matching, auto-grade, auto stabilization, auto 3D color matching, automatic XML, AAF and EDL conforming, real time proxies, auto scene detection and much more! World’s Best Compatibility

Greater Creativity With a massive toolset designed by colorists for colorists! The innovative YRGB primaries and node based design allow more creative grading and better looking images. Combined with PowerWindows™, RGB mixing, curve grading, blur, sharpen, mist, keying, noise reduction and 32 bit float quality, you get more with DaVinci Resolve.

No system supports more file formats in real time. Grade from mixed format clips on the same timeline including bayer format CinemaDNG, RED™, ARRI™ and F65™ raw, ProRes™, DNxHD™, H.264, uncompressed and more. Get full multi layer timeline XML, AAF and EDL round trip with editing built right into DaVinci Resolve! If your edit changes, Resolve will automatically relink grades!

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Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

Abu Dhabi the talk of Hollywood!

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bu Dhabi, UAE – twofour54, the commercial arm of the Media Zone Authority – Abu Dhabi, and Image Nation, the GCC leading content creator, have reinforced the Emirate’s emergence as a global hub for film and television production by showcasing its expertise during panel discussions with major studio executives in Los Angeles. Senior delegates from twofour54 as well as Image Nation, discussed the growing potential of Abu Dhabi as a production destination during an event organized by the Aspen Institute at the request of the United Arab Emirates embassy in the United States. The event coincided with the launch of Etihad Airway’s non-stop service between Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles, providing further opportunities for Hollywood studios to discover the unique locations and growing production infrastructure available in the Emirate. “Abu Dhabi has made a tremendous impact in the production sector attracting some of the world’s largest and most successful movie franchises,” said Noura Al Kaabi, the Chief Executive Officer of twofour54, who participated in the panel discussions. “The success we are experiencing is due to the infrastructure and support we have established at twofour54,

the development of location talent, the overwhelming support of Government entities and the Abu Dhabi Film Commission’s 30 percent rebate on production spend in the Emirate.” Mohamed Al Mubarak said: “At Image Nation, we have worked with a range of award-winning production companies including Parkes/Macdonald, Hyde Park Entertainment, and Participant Media, which allows us to work with some of the best of Hollywood whose experience and knowledge has enabled us to grow the industry in the UAE. During the event, Mohamed Al Mubarak discussed many of Image Nation’s upcoming productions, as well as its current co-production with twofour54, From A to B, directed by Ali F.Mostafa. Ali treated guests at the event with an exclusive first look at the film, which is slated for release at the end of the year. In the past 12 months is has attracted major international films including Star Wars: Episode VII and Fast & Furious 7, Deliver us from Evil, the Bollywood feature Bang Bang and television shows The Bold & The Beautiful and BBC’s Top Gear.

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Synchronisation The next stage in video consumption! The past few years have seen the TV industry reshape itself around the second screen, a new phenomenon that enables broadcasters to tap into viewers’ habit of switching screens from one second to the next, both during programming and the ad breaks. After a period of trial and error, the second screen is now widely adopted, and deployments can be found in every corner of the globe. Broadcasters, content producers, advertisers and brands now consider companion devices as an intrinsic part of TV distribution. Meanwhile, end users increasingly take to their mobile devices as soon as their favourite program or sport event starts, and often before. This has led many broadcasters to develop second screen apps blending original content and social media integration, radically transforming the way audiences interact with programming. Examples of dynamic second screen apps include broadcasting live events, such as the Grand National race on Britain’s Channel4 and extended via the Horse Tracker app; game shows catering for all audiences, including children as advertised by Italy’s SuperTV channel and its Super! app or the Chinese Idol app by Shanghai Media Group. These enable viewers to better engage with content, allowing broadcasters to reduce churn and increase their ratings as more and more viewers shift their interest to other activities. The film industry has also tapped into the hidden potential of the second screen through App the Movie, the first film that encourages viewers to use their smartphone to decide the outcome of a movie, or Warner Bros. France with its ‘My Warner’ second screen app, which synchronizes with all Warner content delivered to the TV screen including time-shifted, Blu Ray, VoD content

and a number of DVDs including Academy Award nominated movies ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘Gravity’. In addition to providing a fully immersive experience that re-engages consumers with the TV screen once more, content synchronisation can be extended to synchronize ads across multiple screens. For example, Civolution’s SyncNow enables the automatic identification of content being played on the main TV screen and synchronises it with the app in real-time, offering consumers a deeper engagement with their favourite TV shows and channels. Civolution’s TV-synced ad solution has been deployed by Brands Networks on Facebook and Twitter, demonstrating a strong lift in consumer click-through rate (+60% on Facebook and up to +250% on Twitter), showing that consumers are ready for a number of screens to become part of the advertising experience. As broadcast reshapes itself to tackle the time-shifted consumption challenge, being able to target consumers on every screen is crucial. Broadcasters and content owners can utilise a variety of solutions leveraging the second screen to bridge the gap between linear broadcast and consumers’ attachment to their mobile devices, creating real-time cross-screen experiences leading towards a new advertising and programming revolution; and this is only the beginning.

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oney agazine M Movie www.moviemoneymag.com

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Captures historic moment in at the coronation of Filipe IV

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ing Felipe VI was born in 1968 as heir apperent, until the abdication of his father King Juan Carlos, he held the title of Prince of Asturias. He succeeded to the throne of Spain on 19 June 2014. The recent 4K production of this historic m oment at the coronation Filipe IV was a collaboration between Sony, TVE, Xeltec and Fujinon. On site there were two Sony F-55 equiped with Fujinon Cabrio ZK4.7x19 and ZK3.5x85 4K UHD lenses at the Hall of Columns at the Royal Palace of Madrid. The 4K PL-mount 19-90mm Cabrio (ZK4.7x19) and 85-300mm (ZK3.5x85) feature an exclusive detachable servo drive unit, making them suitable for use as standard PL cine lens or as an ENG-Style lens. The ZK Series also feature flange focal distance adjustment, macro function, and are LDS (Lens Data System) and i/metadata compatible. With focal ranges from 14.5 to 300mm the ZK-Series are extremly light-weight starting at only 2.7kg including servo motors and drive unit, the

lenses have the longest focal range available in their class. Videographers used to shooting video in a typical ENG-style will be very comfortable with the full servo function; as all ZK-Series (Cabrio) lenses can be controlled using standard Fujinon control kits or cinema industry standard wireless controllers for zoom and focus functions. Nowadays Fujifilm entities operate in about 50 group companies in Europe and employ approximately 5,000 people engaged in R&D, manufacturing, sales, and service support. Throughout Europe they serve a range of industries including medical, chemical, graphic arts, electronic materials, optics, recording media and photographic technologies. FUJIFILM Europe GmbH (Duesseldorf, Germany) acts as Strategic Headquarters for the region and supports its group companies in Europe by formulating marketing and corporate strategies. www.fujifilm.eu/fujinon

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Film Production & Co-Productions

Film Productions/Co-Productions Post Production/Special Eects Crew/location scouting

CLASSIC MEDIA ENTERTAINMENT An award winning production company 62 CMEFILMS | e-mail [email protected] | www.cmefilms.co.uk Skype: www.ufmag.biz

Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

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Cardiff Independent Film Festival Now a BAFTA qualifying Film Festival

Judge Mark Foligno (Exe Producer The King’s Speech)

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ardiff Independent Film Festival, which held its first event early this April, was a long time in the planning. Since the demise of the old, Arts-Council funded Cardiff Film Festival in 2006, I had entertained outlandish fantasies of replacing it but never got any further than pitching the idea to more organized and accomplished friends who I failed to enthuse with the daunting task. It wasn’t until summer 2012 that Anthony ‘AJ’ James and his formidable wife Sonia aka Panik Attak Productions (whose continued recognition of my editing skills has kept me in soup for many years) agreed to entertain my plans, and we soon found a willing band of companions. Quickly, a constitution was agreed upon, a schedule of events was drafted and we approached Chapter Arts Centre. They are not short of films to show, with several festivals throughout the year as well as their usual excellent programme of films but we got their tentative approval, and CIFF was good to go.

Masterclass by John Giwa-Amu (Producer Machine)

Chief amongst our paperwork was a copy of the UFFO Code Of Conduct. We are filmmakers at CIFF and have been all over the country to festivals, some great, some good, some terrible (and being from South Wales; I’ll allow you to draw your own conclusions there). We wanted to treat filmmakers the way we wanted to be treated and if we didn’t have the big money we could make up for it by treating them with respect. We were going to do this properly, and this code of conduct seemed a good place to start. A packed out launch event at Halloween confirmed there was local demand. But we still feared that a first time festival would want for entries. We were, in fact, very happy to receive nearly 200 films in total, including 27 features, from a total of 35 countries. We watched every last one of them, voting as we went along and ended up with our selection of five features and ten shorts in competition. The quality, especially in short films, was such that we were able to hold a series of out-of-competition events including a riotous Q+A with local

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filmmaker Marc Price following a screening of his ‘Magpie,’ which set us up for the main event at Chapter. Kicking off with a popular masterclass with local success story Red and Black Films (‘The Machine”), our screenings were wellattended and we were delighted to welcome filmmakers from as far afield as India, Spain, Ibiza and Belgium who mingled with filmgoers (we don’t like festivals that put up barriers between people) as well as our special guest and judge Mark Foligno (The King’s Speech, Moon). We also proudly premiered local director Keri Collins’ star-studded debut feature ‘Convenience’ which complimented the international fare perfectly and attracted our biggest crowd of the weekend. Plans are already in place for next year’s festival – our aim in the medium term is for the festival to grow slowly but surely. Part of our success this year was keeping things manageable, sticking to our principles and doing the small things right, so we won’t be overreaching ourselves next time. In the longer term, our aim is to eventually establish an integrated film and music festival with a film market. In the meantime, we are bracing ourselves for another batch of submissions, which will open in September.

Winner: Aïda Ballmann (Best Actress)

Dave Beynon (CIFF), Phil Brookes (Best Short), Ally Parkhurst (CIFF), Aïda Ballmann (Best Actress for The Extraordinary Tale), Anthony James (CIFF) and Vivek Budakoti (Best Screenplay, Pied Piper).

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Universal Film & Festival Organization Best Business Practices for Film Festivals No 1: Film Festival organizers should operate a transparent selection process and publish details of the selection process and the names of the Jury/selection committee (publication can be after a festival concludes) No 2: Film festivals organizers should provide full contact details for the festival offices including address and telephone numbers and the names of the festival directors and or committee No 3: A Film Festival should publish its legal status as a company, charity or non-profit (this only applies to a registered entity) No 4: Film festival organizers should not share filmmakers’ financial data with any third parties No 5: Film Festivals should publish a year by year history of festival winners and films officially selected No 6: Film festival organizers, committee and or jury should not show or demonstrate any favouritism to any film submitted to the festival or attempt to influence other members of the jury or selection committee No 7: Film Festivals should declare the number of films sought and/or invited by the festival organizers to participate in the festival prior to and before the general call for submissions is sent out No 8: Film Festivals should provide the names of the selection committee and/or jury members who viewed the submitted film screeners to the festival (this could be after the festival has concluded) No 9: Film festival organizers should view at least 5 minutes of all submitted films No 10: All Festival organizers should declare any conflict of interest that may arise from any film submitted to or invited to participate in the festival

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FINGAL FILM FESTIVAL-IRELAND

2014

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inal Film Festival, will take place in Movies@Swords from 26th – 28th September, Pavilions Centre, Swords, Co Dublin. Now in it’s third year, the Festival has gone from strength to strength, connecting emerging voices in film with industry experts and independent creative filmmakers from around the world. Emerging and established filmmakers alike can submit their shorts, features or documentaries, animation to the Festival, and those selected will be in the running for the eight prestigious awards announced on the closing night of the Festival. The Awards categories are: Best Short Film, Best Feature Film, Best Irish Language Film, Best Documentary, Best Student Film, Best Animation, Best Fingal Newcomer and Best International Film. Deadline for submissions is June 30th, for more information see www. fingalfilmfest.com Commenting on the submissions process Festival Director Liz Kenny said “The increase in quality and quantity of submissions to the Festival year on year has been outstanding. We are very excited about this year’s Festival and the opportunity to enable the international film community and the general public to experience the power of film in our unique festival setting.”

opportunity to enhance their skill set through hands-on events and networking opportunities. The Festival is also screening at various venues throughout 2014 a selection of 2013 Festival favorites and Award winners as part of new initiative Fingal Indi Films on the Move, which kicks off in “ LIFT “ festival in Axis Ballymun this 9th – 16th April, a great opportunity to see some of last year’s highlights.(Go to website for schedule of screenings) Fingal Film Festival was established in 2012 to provide a platform for local, national and international emerging filmmakers, offering encouragement and promotion for new work in a quality cinema environment. Previous industry experts who have participated in the Festival include multiaward winning animators Brown Bag Films, Bafta winning writer and director Aisling Walsh, former president of the Irish Society of Cinematographers Ciaran Tanham and award-winning producer Arthur Lappin. Fingal Film Festival is a UFFO member festival and supports “Best Business Practices” for film festival. www.uffo.org W: www.fingalfilmfest.com E: [email protected]

The Festival is delighted to announce that award winning Dublin based Animation Company Boulder Media (The Amazing World of Gumball, Randy Cunningham 9th Grade Ninja) will host the Animation Workshop, led by Emmy nominated Creative Director Robert Cullen. Details of other Festival workshops, featuring some of Ireland’s most exciting names in filmmaking will be announced in the coming months, offering emerging filmmakers the

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Mad Frankie Fraser

Killed 40 People Certified Insane 3 Times 42 Years in Prison www.madfrankiefraser.com

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HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX and DREAMWORKS ANIMATION

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rom DreamWorks Animation, the with help from the dragon trapper Eret, son of studio that brought you “Shrek,” “Kung Eret (“Game of Thrones” actor Kit Harington). Fu Panda” and “The Croods,” comes the highly anticipated sequel to the Academy As Astrid (America Ferrera), Gobber (Craig Award®- nominated HOW TO TRAIN Ferguson) and Viking friends Snotlout YOUR DRAGON, based on the children’s (Jonah Hill), Fishlegs (Christopher book series by Cressida Cowell. In the Mintz-Plasse) and twins Ruffnut thrilling second chapter of the epic CANNES (Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (T.J. Miller), trilogy, five years have passed since 2014 lend their support, Hiccup, his mother the heroic young Viking Hiccup (Jay and tribal chief father Stoick the Vast Baruchel) befriended an injured dragon (Gerard Butler), must work together to and forever changed the way the residents protect the dragons they have grown to love. of Berk interact with the fire-breathers. Now, In the process, Hiccup finds the answers he Vikings and dragons live side-by-side in has been looking for in ways he could never peace on the fantastical isle that has been have imagined. transformed into a dragon’s paradise. DreamWorks Animation SKG proudly presents But when grown-up responsibilities loom on HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, featuring the horizon, Hiccup and his faithful dragon the voices of Jay Baruchel, Cate Blanchett, Toothless take to the skies in search of Gerard Butler, Craig Ferguson, America answers. It’s much more than he bargained Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, for, though, when Hiccup discovers that a T.J. Miller, Kristen Wiig, Djimon Hounsou and mysterious dragon rider is really his long- Kit Harington. The film is written and directed lost mother Valka (Academy Award®-winning by Dean DeBlois (“How to Train Your Dragon,” actress Cate Blanchett) and that the peace “Lilo & Stitch”). It is produced by Bonnie between dragons and Vikings is threatened Arnold (“How to Train Your Dragon,”“Over the by the power-hungry Drago (Academy Hedge,” “Tarzan”). The executive producers Award-nominated actor Djimon Hounsou) are Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders (“The

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Croods,” “How to Train Your Dragon,” “Lilo & Stitch”). The music is by John Powell. This film is rated PG for adventure action and some mild rude humor. WHAT A DIFFERENCE FIVE YEARS MAKES In 2010, DreamWorks Animation’s HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON soared into theaters and stole the hearts of audiences around the world with its blend of high- flying action, witty humor and dramatic depth, earning $495 million in worldwide box- office receipts and nabbing two Academy Award nominations along the way, for best animated feature and best original score. But the success of the film, written and directed by Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, was gradual. Even though it was a critics’ darling from the get-go and No. 1 at the box office in its opening weekend, “It actually underperformed according to studio expectations,” DeBlois says. “But it had amazing legs. It clung at or near the top of the box office for seven weeks. We were all really proud of the fact that the word of mouth surrounding the movie was bringing audiences to see it, and bit by bit, we ended up surpassing studio expectations.” The triumph of HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON spawned a TV series, a live stage show, a bevy of DRAGON merchandise — and legions of loyal fans. It’s deeply satisfying to know that the passion we put into the film is reciprocated,” DeBlois adds. “We see so much love coming back to us — fan videos and fan fiction and character drawings — it exists in a bigger way than we ever intended it to be.” From the beginning, DreamWorks Animation executives viewed DRAGON as a potential franchise. Its stellar reception and boxoffice achievement easily put sequel plans in motion. Since Sanders was turning his attention to directing DreamWorks Animation’s “The Croods,” they approached DeBlois about helming HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 on his own, with Sanders taking on an executive producer role.

“I told them, ‘I’m really interested if you’ll entertain the idea of it being a trilogy,’” DeBlois recalls. “‘The first movie can serve as the first act, this’ll be the larger second act and then there must be a third culminating act.’ Thankfully, they bought into that concept.” “Dean, in Hollywood terms, is the real deal,” says Producer Bonnie Arnold. “He’s a great storyteller. He thinks like a little boy, which is always helpful when you’re making movies about boys and their dragons. He’s creative, but the best news is that he lets the other creative members of the team bring the best things they have to offer to the movie.” Agrees Visual Effects Supervisor David Walvoord: “Working with Dean is amazing. He’s not just the director, but the writer, too. He has a incredibly special relationship with the characters and the world, and he has such a strong vision for what that world should be that it was really inspiring for us and, at the same time, made our job so much easier because he’s really able to articulate what he’s looking for, which helps send us in the right direction.” The first film, based on the children’s books written by British author Cressida Cowell, introduced to audiences the gangly teenage Viking Hiccup, whose world is flipped upside down when he encounters and befriends an injured dragon he names Toothless. According to Arnold, DeBlois viewed HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 as Hiccup’s coming of age story, “not the ‘further adventures’ of Hiccup and Toothless” as some sequels are prone to do. “When Dean pitched his idea for the second film to DreamWorks Animation executives, another crucial element of his pitch was the fact he wanted to age the characters by five years,” she adds. “It just made it a more interesting place to go and was something different that you don’t see in animation, honestly. That was a bold choice on his part and we feel really grateful that DreamWorks supported that idea.” Not that it was always an easy choice. According to DeBlois, it was a bit of a challenge on the design front and a trialand error process for the artists to retain the

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charm and appeal of each character while at well,” he says. the same time aging them. Thanks to Hiccup’s efforts in the first film, “We discovered ultimately, with most of the in HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2, the cast, that if we could just retain their overall residents of Berk, who once viewed dragons silhouette and stamp, but increase their size, as a scourge to be eliminated, now live change their wardrobe, age their face in subtle alongside (and ride!) them in friendship. This ways and give them different hairstyles, that time around, they face a different kind of seemed to do it,” he says. “Hiccup was maybe dragon problem, albeit a good one: There’s the trickiest one just because in aging him, we so many of them! With everyone owning his wanted to make sure that he didn’t become a or her own personal dragon and dragons classic Hollywood hero. He had to retain his permeating their way of life, the isle of Berk is gangly quality, because there’s so much of his a vastly different place. charm in that, that dorky awkwardness that To accommodate the new inhabitants, an he possesses. abundance of modifications have been “So we made sure that even though he did made on the island so that life is a little less get taller, he never quite filled out the way his dangerous for everybody: An aqueduct father, tribal chief Stoick the Vast, had hoped system is in place for putting out fires in a hurry; all-you-can-eat feeding stations mean he might in the first movie,” no dragon ever goes hungry; caves have been DeBlois continues. “He’s still slight of build repurposed into custom stables; a one-stopbut he continues to compensate with his shop dragon armory provides for all kinds of needs. intelligence, wit and advanced thinking.” Returning as Hiccup is actor Jay Baruchel, who personifies those very qualities, according to “The armory used to be the old blacksmith stall where Hiccup, in the first film, learned to DeBlois. be an apprentice,” says DeBlois. “Anything can “I can’t think of anyone else who could ever be taken care of there — whether a dragon play Hiccup in this way, because the character has a toothache or needs to be groomed.” is Jay, to a large degree,” he says. “He embodies Says Production Designer Pierre Olivier so much of what Hiccup is: A guy who’s quick- Vincent (affectionately known as P.O.V.), “It’s a witted, intelligent, spry on his feet…there’s much more joyful, decorative place now, and an adorable awkward quality to him that he’s that’s reflected in the many new colors we very aware of and plays to his advantage.” used when we were redesigning the village. And it’s through Baruchel’s ability to convey In fact, the colors of the film’s main dragons Hiccup’s emotions that the audience connects came into play when we reimagined it.” Keeping up with the demand at the dragon with the character, says Arnold. armory is Gobber, the village blacksmith and “The audience is experiencing the movie put upon right-hand man of Stoick the Vast. through Hiccup. What makes the whole Always up for adventure, he’s played once experience of the movie even more rewarding again by Craig Ferguson. is understanding how Hiccup feels about a given situation,” she says. “Jay is so passionate “Gobber is the guy who has to build all these about the character and brings so much of things that make living with dragons less that into his voice performance. As much as dangerous so he longs for the days of the Dean is a great writer of the Hiccup dialogue past where they fought dragons instead — and he really is — Jay knows Hiccup better of living with them peacefully. Craig plays than anybody.” DeBlois is quick to agree. that frustration very well,” DeBlois says. Even “Jay often makes modifications to his own though their relationships have changed, dialogue because he knows the character so one thing hasn’t: Vikings are still Vikings...and

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possible with flight, but they’ve been out there mapping the world, which has become their new hobby,” DeBlois says. Adds Head of Story Tom Owens: “They’ve taken that Viking map from the first movie and they’ve been adding pieces onto it in every direction. With Vikings on the backs of dragons, “Dragon Hiccup is just a curious and restless soul. He’s racing is exhilarating as long as you’re not always out looking for the next adventure.” a sheep, I suspect,” says Jay Baruchel. That’s because participants have to head around the On this morning, taking flight into the vast island hunting for the marked animals, scoop unknown is also a way for Hiccup to blow them up and dump them in a basket. Each off some steam: Before the start of the races, one is worth a point; the black sheep is worth he’s told by father Stoick that it’s time for the 10. “It’s kind of like the Monte Carlo race of young Viking to assume leadership of the Berk,” says DeBlois. A dragon race also proved island, a task that Hiccup isn’t quite ready for. to be an excellent way for the filmmakers to “Stoick, who is a burly, brawny, gregarious mountain of a man, is incredibly proud of introduce audiences to the new Berk. his son, despite his size, for what he has The opening sequence of HOW TO TRAIN accomplished in bringing peace to Berk,” says YOUR DRAGON 2 is “this kinetic, visceral Gerard Butler, who portrays Stoick. “Their obstacle race of a game that flies by all relationship has changed for the better in the new updates in Berk and introduces the past five years. Hiccup used to be an familiar characters from the first film with embarrassment to Stoick but now he wants their personal dragons, five years into those to make his son the island’s next leader.” relationships,” DeBlois says. The tough and Unsure what his true purpose is, Hiccup can’t competitive Astrid (America Ferrera) streaks imagine filling his father’s large boots — through the sky on the back of Stormfly the literally and figuratively. Deadly Nadder; quarrelsome twins Ruffnut (Kristen Wiig) and Tuffnut (T.J. Miller) straddle “With Hiccup, we’ve seen some of his promise the two-headed Zippleback Belch & Barf; the in the first movie realized a bit here,” Baruchel timid and skittish Fishlegs (Christopher Mintz- says of his character, “but the obligations of Plasse) wobbles furiously on his Gronckle adulthood are starting to pile up. It doesn’t Meatlug, while the smug and cocky Snotlout take a math whiz to know that as the son of (Jonah Hill) zooms by on Hookfang, his the chief, he’s next in line, and he struggles with that.” Monstrous Nightmare. dragons are still dragons. The HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2 team recognized that the citizens of Berk needed a new outlet for their natural aggressions, so they created…dragon racing!

“It’s meant to be very energetic, fun and reassuring for audiences familiar with the first film — everything they loved about Berk is bigger and better — and it helps set the stakes for the rest of the movie,” DeBlois says. “You realize that because this place is such a Utopia, anything that threatens it is really bad news”…and there will be a threat… Notably absent from the dragon race is Hiccup and Toothless. Instead, the inseparable duo are doing what they love best — taking to the skies in search of new dragons and new lands to add to Hiccup’s ever-expanding map. “In their spare time, not only have Hiccup and Toothless been pushing the limits of what’s

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WORLD CLASS POST FOR FILM AND BROADCAST

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Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

LIFE ITSELF A film by Steve James

cclaimed director Steve James (Hoop to Roger’s unexpected passing in April 2013 Dreams, The Interrupters) and Execu- was immense and profoundly moving – front tive Producers Martin Scorsese (The page news not just in Chicago, but worldwide. Influential filmmakers and politicians Departed, Raging Bull) and Steven Zaillian reflected on Roger’s legacy – everyone (Schindler’s List, Moneyball) present LIFE from Spike Lee, and Michael Moore to ITSELF, a documentary film that recounts the inspiring and entertaining CANNES President Obama, who said, “When he didn’t like a film, he was honest; when life of world-renowned film critic and 2014 he did, he was effusive – capturing the social commentator Roger Ebert – a unique power of the movies to take us story that is by turns personal, wistful, some place magical.” Roger was an avid funny, painful, and transcendent. supporter of independent film, and an earBased on his bestselling memoir of the same ly champion of the work of iconic filmmakname, LIFE ITSELF explores the impact and ers, and LIFE ITSELF interview subjects, such legacy of Roger Ebert’s life, from his Pulitzer as Werner Herzog, Errol Morris and Martin Prize-winning film criticism at the Chicago Scorsese. Sun-Times to becoming one of the most inRoger himself became an iconic force when fluential cultural voices in America. he joined with Gene Siskel to create one of The filmmakers were granted unprecedent- the longest running, most influential televied access to Roger and Chaz during the final sion shows in history, making Chicago the four months of his life. In that time, they cap- cultural center of film criticism. The film featured Roger’s fighting spirit, his sharp sense tures candid and insightful interviews with of humor, and the ways he directly inspired many of the principal producers of the show, filmmakers, family and fans. The response along with the first ever feature documenta-

A

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ry interview with Siskel’s wife, Marlene. In the wake of Roger’s illness and disability, Roger’s writing grew creatively and in importance – transcending film criticism. Using his blog, and social media, Roger became a must-read commentator, thoughtfully addressing the political and social issues of our time. His public defiance of cancer and the resulting disfigurement literally and symbolically put a new face on the disease, and brought inspiration to countless thousands in the disabled community and beyond. DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT – STEVE JAMES

ers and distributors and played a huge role in the film securing a theatrical release. During filming, I was really struck by his relationship with Chaz. They’ve always appeared to have a great marriage, but witnessing it up close, I really came to understand that she had been many things to Roger: his great love, the person who helped him find true happiness and contentment, and his rock through the many medical challenges of recent years. Finally, I really saw the making of this film as my chance to develop a friendship with Roger. That process was happening, but was cut short by his death. I feel his loss personally, along with the legion of fans, colleagues, and admirers who felt like they really knew him and had been touched by him. And so, at best he will be with us in spirit only when the film premieres at Sundance 2014. For me, there is a kind of cosmic poetry in that timing. It was twenty years ago that Hoop Dreams premiered at Sundance, and Roger became that film’s biggest, most influential champion. I owe him a lot. Perhaps this film is one modest way I can pay him back.

I first encountered Roger Ebert like most of the rest of America did: when he was co- host of Sneak Previews, the PBS incarnation of his groundbreaking television show with Gene Siskel. I was in film school at Southern Illinois University and stumbled across the show one night. My first thought was: “Why is there a television show devoted to reviewing movies?” My second was, “And why does it feature two newspaper guys from Chicago?” Having fallen in love with the reviews of Pauline Kael and being steeped in more scholarly film criticism in school, I initially found the show an Steve James is best known as the producer-dientertaining curiosity. rector of Hoop Dreams, winner of every major But it didn’t take me long to see just how critic’s prize of 1994, as well as the Directors smart and savvy Ebert and Siskel were, and Guild of America Award, and the Peabody and to revel in the show’s appeal. Yes, their argu- Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards. Hoop ments were entertaining and informative. But Dreams was also named to the Library of Conparticularly valuable to me was the way in gress National Film Registry. which Roger infused his analysis of a film with his own personal experiences and worldview. He struck me as someone who’d be great to have a beer (or three) with and just “talk movies.” I’d learn a lot but never feel patronized. I never did drink a beer with Roger. By the time we actually me at a Toronto Film Festival dinner in 1994, he’d long since given up drinking. Nine months earlier, when the first film I directed, Hoop Dreams, premiered at Sundance, Roger and Gene had taken the unprecedented step of reviewing the film during the festival – before we had distribution or even hope of distribution for this three-hour documentary. Their review galvanized festival go-

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THE HOMESMAN A Film by Tommy Lee Jones

hen three women are driven insane The Homesman is the story of three womon the edges of the Ame- rican fron- en who are transported in a wagon across tier, the task of delivering them back Nebraska in1854, because they have been east falls to a pious spinster named Mary Bee driven pretty much insane by the hardships of life on the American frontier. When I Cuddy (hilary swank). the daunting chalcompleted the script, my vision of the lenge of driving a wagon loaded with film was minimalist because there are madwomen four hundred miles compels her to employ a partner—a drift- CANNES not a lot of visual details to show it’s Nebraska and the Northern part of the ing low-life who goes by the name of 2014 West. Now, I’m certainly impressed by ‘George Briggs’ (Tommy Lee Jones). North Eastern New Mexico, where we together, the unlikely pair head out shot the movie, because it stands in very across the prairie with their freakish cargo, re-traversing the harsh, untamed ne- braska well for Nebraska. For me, the landscape itterritories in a journey marked by stark beau- self is a very important character in our movie ty, constant threat, and psychological peril.

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Their destination is a Church in Iowa where a minister’s wife (Meryl Streep) waits to relieve them of the lost souls in their care. But before they can cross back into civilization, their mission will exact a brutal toll—one that speaks to every backward tragedy and unsung act of heroism buried in the foundations of the American west. Q&A WITH TOMMY LEE JONES DIRECTOR What is The Homesman about?

Why was your vision minimalist? Because of the landscape, which mostly consists of a line that divides heaven and earth. The line is usually straight, which creates an emotional environment as much as a natural one, and you can take it from there. Why was it important for you to explore the female condition in the mid-nineteenth century American West?

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It was important for me to explore because I don’t know how the term Western is defined. I think it’s the origin of the female condition I have the impression over the years that the Western is a movie that has horses in it and today. big hats, and that takes place in the 19th cenWho is George Briggs, the character you por- tury usually on the west side of the Mississippi river. I’ve even read critics who are bold tray in the film? George Briggs is a fearless man, a claim jump- enough to call a science fiction movie a Wester, an army deserter—an independent man ern. It’s a term that people use so often that of rather low character. He is willing to help I don’t think it has many meanings anymore. a woman who believes she can get across So I’m not sure I can really answer your quesNebraska in a wagon with three insane wom- tion because I don’t know what a Western is. en as passengers. The truth is, he agrees to help her out because she rescues him from How was it working with Hilary Swank? a very dangerous situation, and so he is in- It’s wonderful to work with Hilary Swank; she’s debted to her, even though she finds out that always prepared, she’s always happy; very she wouldn’t have made it on her own. The creative. She read the script very rapidly and understood it. She’s always ready to go, at the Homesman features an original and an unlikely team. They don’t like each other at very beginning of every single day. It’s a joy to the beginning of the story. But they learn that know Hilary Swank, they need to be able to rely on each other, and and a greater joy to work with her. how to depend on another—until somehow they finally begin to understand one another How about Meryl Streep? Meryl Streep needs no praise; she’s got plenty. Do you consider it to be a Western?

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MR. TURNER A film by Mike Leigh

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The action of MR. TURNER takes place Hannah Danby, who loves him, and whom he over the last quarter century of the takes for granted, and occasionally exploits artist’s life, ending with his death in sexually. They both share the worry that Turner might have been involved in a bomb 1851. blast in Ostend, but he assures them he was The film being a dramatic reflection, rather elsewhere. than a documentary, Mike Leigh has chosen to let the action flow from one period of time After William Senior has organized the to another, without interrupting it with labels, purchase of paints and materials for his son, or identifying specific months and years. sorted out some new canvases, shaved Turner Design, costume and particularly make-up and eaten with him, he shows particular help to underpin and define this progression, customers round their private gallery, an and in the case of Turner’s housekeeper activity the painter views through a secret Hannah Danby, it is probably useful to hole. mention that what we gather from research about her deteriorating skin condition has led Another day. They receive a visitation from the aggressive and resentful Sarah Danby, us to decide that it was psoriasis. Turner’s ex- lover, and the mother of his adult Regarding Turner’s trips to Margate and why illegitimate daughters, Evelina and Georgiana, he goes there in the first place, the town who accompany her. Evelina presents Turner made an early impression on him. As he tells with his new-born granddaughter. Mrs Danby Mr and Mrs Booth, he attended school there grumbles at Turner’s neglect of her family. We for a couple of years, but we also know that learn that she is Hannah’s aunt. he was much taken with the quality of light in Now Turner retreats by horse coach to the Thanet, the part of Kent where Margate sits. country estate of the generous Lord Egremont, Returning from his continental travels, Turner where he paints and draws, communes comes home to his doting ex-barber father, with other artists, sings Purcell badly, lends William Turner Senior, and to his housekeeper, money to an errant and erratic artist Haydon,

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Universal Film Issue 13 - 2014

and sketches a musical evening. He travels on by steamer to Margate, where he finds convivial sea-facing lodgings with a Mr and Mrs Booth. After a coastal walk, he spends an evening with them, during which he reveals his schooldays in the town, and laments with them the pain of slavery and the loss of dear ones. Preferring to conceal his identity, he assumes the name Mallard. Back in London, he is visited by the Scottish scientist Mary Somerville. She demonstrates to Turner in his studio the magnetic properties of violet light. He is fascinated, and she is much taken with his paintings.

exchange with John Constable, whose ‘Opening of Waterloo Bridge’, all bright reds and scarlets, has been hung next to Turner’s predominantly grey seascape, ‘Helvoetsluys’. For a jape, Turner paints a startling red blob slap in the middle of his piece, and after a few minutes’ consideration by all present, culminating in Constable’s leaving in a huff, Turner returns to convert the red blob into a life-buoy. Much amusement all round.

On this same occasion, Haydon, who owes Turner £50, throws a public tantrum because his painting (of a donkey) has been hung in the ante-room. He is resentful of never having During one of Turner’s well-attended been elected to the Academy. but badly-delivered public lectures on perspective, William Senior suffers a serious Not to be missed. coughing attack. Subsequently, the old man’s condition quickly deteriorates, and in the presence of his bereft son and housekeeper, he dies. His last words with Turner concern the mentally unstable state of the artist’s long-deceased mother. It is apparent that For actors, TV/film production crew, neither man had much affection for her. musicians and performers. In grief, Turner goes fishing, and visits a Apply for auditions, castings BS brothel, where he draws a young prostitute, JO and TV/film production jobs. ID PA ISTED and breaks down in tears. At home he paints ! L LY ON ‘Death on a Pale Horse’, and has sexual intercourse with Hannah, taking her from behind as she selects a book from a bookcase. Now Turner roves the untamed countryside. In a remote coastal place, where a tiny ancient chapel perches on a clifftop, wild horses follow him over the horizon. Returning to Margate, he discovers that Mrs Booth is now a widow. He offers his condolences. Then, much to his amusement, she enquires whether he is still making his “nice little pictures”. Back in London, he displays a cold disregard for Hannah, ignoring her enquiries as to his trip. Since the old man’s death, she has taken over the running of Turner’s studio, and she now lists the latest delivery of his art materials.Varnishing Day at the Royal Academy, when the painters (all men) put the finishing touches to their work, now hung in position for the Annual Exhibition. Turner scuttles about, enjoying friendly banter with various colleagues. He shares a taciturn

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