UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. -- American Cinema Editors (ACE) announced nominations for the 68th Annual ACE Eddie Awards recognizing outstanding editing in 10 categories of film, television and documentaries. Winners will be revealed during ACE’s annual black-tie awards ceremony on Friday, January 26, 2018 in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel and will be presided over by ACE president, Stephen Rivkin, ACE. Nominees in the Dramatic Feature category are: Joe Walker, ACE for Blade Runner 2049 ; Lee Smith,... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK -- The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) have announced nominations for outstanding achievement in screenwriting during 2017. Winners will be honored at the 2018 Writers Guild Awards on Sunday, February 11, at concurrent ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York City. Nominated for Best Original Screenplay were The Big Sick, Get Out, I, Tonya, Lady Bird and The Shape of Water . In the running for Best Adapted Screenplay are Call Me By Your Name, The... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK (AP) -- Reese Witherspoon, Shonda Rhimes and Jennifer Aniston are among hundreds of Hollywood women who have formed an anti-harassment coalition called Time's Up. The initiative ( www.timesupnow.com ) was launched Monday with an open letter vowing support for women in the entertainment business and beyond, from janitors to health care workers. Time's Up will include a legal defense fund and will advocate for legislation combatting workplace harassment. Time's Up also is backing the movement for women... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK -- Matt Miller, president and CEO of AICP announced that Robin Shenfield, co-founder and CEO of The Mill, will serve as chairperson of the 2018 AICP Show: The Art & Technique of the American Commercial. The AICP Show is one of the tent-pole events of AICP Week, which also includes the debut of the AICP Next Awards, as well as various creative and educational sessions at the AICP Week Base Camp. AICP Week will take place in New York this June. Entries are now being accepted. “Having... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES -- The call for entries for the 2018 AICE Awards for excellence in postproduction are now open. In addition, the awards competition will inaugurate three new categories, two of which are for music, with this year’s event. While this year marks the 17th annual AICE Awards, it’s the first to take place under the auspices of AICP, whose merger with AICE became official on January 1 of this year. The gala AICE Awards presentation is scheduled for Thursday, May 10, at Unici Casa in Culver City,... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES -- Director Zach Merck has joined RSA Films for commercial representation in the U.S. He is often sought for his expertise in real people/hidden camera fare such as Chevrolet’s “Real People. Not Actors” campaign. A versatile filmmaker, Merck also directed Volkswagen’s Racing Under Green doc-style TV series about the VW SCAA Racing Team via Crispin Porter+Bogusky, The Art of Walking , a branded documentary for Nat Geo created in partnership with the Tourism Board in Victoria, Australia, and ads for... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK -- The ANA (Association of National Advertisers) is acquiring another leading trade group, the Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA). Founded in 2004, WOMMA is the leader in ethical word of mouth marketing practices through its education, professional development, networking opportunities, and knowledge sharing with top industry marketers, all areas of keen interest to ANA members. WOMMA’s membership is made up of the most innovative companies committed to progressing the word of mouth... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 10 scientific and technical achievements represented by 34 individual award recipients, as well as one organization, will be honored at its annual Scientific and Technical Awards Presentation on Saturday, February 10, at the Beverly Wilshire in Beverly Hills. In addition, visual effects technologist Jonathan Erland will receive the Gordon E. Sawyer Award (an Oscar® statuette) for technological contributions that have brought... Read More, Comment
HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- The Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) has announced nominations for the 22nd Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards in theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and, for the first time, animation features. Winners will be honored at the Awards Gala on Saturday, January 27, 2018, in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Hollywood and Highland. The announcement was made by Art Directors Guild president Nelson Coates, ADG, and awards producers Thomas Walsh, ADG, and... Read More, Comment
PARIS (AP) -- Australian actress and campaigner against sexual harassment Cate Blanchett will head this year's Cannes film festival jury, organizers said Thursday. In a statement, top Cannes officials Pierre Lescure and Thierry Fremaux expressed their delight in welcoming "such a rare and unique artist whose talent and convictions enrich both screen and stage." A two-time Academy award winner, Blanchett follows Spanish director Pedro Almodovar, who headed the 70th edition of the festival last year. This year... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES -- The Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild (MUAHS, IATSE Local 706) have announced nominations for outstanding achievements in motion pictures, television, commercials and live theater during 2017. Leading the way on the features front were Darkest Hour and Wonder, each with three nominations. Topping the TV field was Saturday Night Live with five nods. Winners will be honored at the black-tie annual MUAHS Guild Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 24, at The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live,... Read More, Comment
PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The Fox broadcasting network, home to "The Simpsons" and "The Orville," will continue to air scripted entertainment after the Fox TV studio's sale to Disney, Fox executives said Thursday. The pending deal that will separate the Fox network and 20th Century Fox studio won't turn the network into a platform solely for sports and other live programming, Fox Television Group chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman told TV critics Thursday. Speculation about the network's future arose after Fox founder... Read More, Comment
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) -- Hollywood's first awards show of the new year included a visit from Wonder Woman Gal Gadot and a promise from Jessica Chastain that "major change is coming" to how women are treated in the industry. Actors Gary Oldman, Holly Hunter, Sam Rockwell and others journeyed out to the desert Tuesday night for the opening gala of the 29th annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, a non-televised ceremony that offers a chance for honorees to reconnect with friends, prepare for the more high-... Read More, Comment
PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) -- Gal Gadot, Saoirse Ronan, Mary J. Blige and Allison Janney will be dressed in black at Sunday's Golden Globe Awards as part of a planned anti-harassment protest, and all four voiced their support for a new initiative, Time's Up, that's aimed at supporting women who bring complaints. "I am one of those women, so, you know, I don't want to go into detail about that and I haven't, but I am, and I stand with those women. I champion them," Blige said Tuesday at the Palm Springs International Film... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Nine-year-old Adalyn Ficken snuggled next to her dad in the reclining movie-theater seats, clutching a teddy bear in one hand and a cup of popcorn in the other, waiting for the film to start. A pudgy 5-year-old boy tugging an IV pole behind him raced into the theater, his mom rushing up behind him. Some of the moviegoers wore hospital gowns or arrived in wheelchairs. Far away from the starry happenings around Sunday's Golden Globe Awards, this Lollipop Theater Network screening of "Ferdinand"... Read More, Comment
It's startling how few filmmakers have tried to tackle terrorism with anything beyond a standard procedural account. It's less surprising that one of the few to really grapple with a response is Fatih Akin, the German-born filmmaker of Turkish descent, whose thorny, probing dramas traverse borders as a matter of course. His latest, "In the Fade," is Germany's Oscar submission and one of the nine films shortlisted for best foreign language film. It deservedly earned its star, Diane Kruger, the... Read More, Comment
There's a Black Panther party going on all around the country. Superhero fans, movie fans and especially connoisseurs of black culture — American and African — are eagerly awaiting the debut of Marvel's "Black Panther" movie starring comic books' first black superhero with an enthusiasm not often seen in American cinema. "Black Panther" viewing parties are being scheduled around the country for its February release, smack dab in the middle of Black History Month. Clothing lines are being... Read More, Comment
Jan Lewandowski built a "polka empire" from his base in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, only to watch it crumble after his arrest on fraud charges. Lewandowski's rise and fall is played for laughs in "The Polka King," starring Jack Black as the flamboyant Polish emigre who attracted legions of polka fans — and fleeced some of them as he tried desperately to keep his business enterprises afloat. The movie comedy premieres Jan. 12 on Netflix. Now living quietly in Florida, the 76-year-old is thrilled... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC News opened the new year Tuesday by appointing Hoda Kotb as co-anchor of the "Today" show's first two hours with Savannah Guthrie, replacing Matt Lauer following his firing on sexual misconduct charges in late November. Kotb, 53, will continue to co-host the show's fourth hour with Kathie Lee Gifford. It will be the first all-female team headlining "Today" in the show's 65-year history. Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts blazed that path for ABC's "Good Morning America" in the 2000s, but... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK (AP) -- Showtime says it is keeping its political television series "The Circus" alive despite the loss of co-host Mark Halperin on sexual misconduct charges. The network announced Wednesday that the show will return on April 15, with Alex Wagner of CBS News and the Atlantic magazine joining holdover hosts John Heilemann and Mark McKinnon. The series explores the character and strategies of politics, and will focus this season on the upcoming mid-year elections. The show's future was in doubt when... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK (AP) -- Mark Zuckerberg says his "personal challenge" for 2018 is to fix Facebook. The Facebook CEO has declared a goal each year since 2009. Past challenges have included wearing a tie every day, learning to speak Mandarin and eating meat only from animals he killed himself. Last year, he visited every U.S. state he hadn't been to yet. This year, though, his challenge is directed at his company rather than personal ambitions. Zuckerberg wrote Thursday that he wants to focus this year on protecting... Read More, Comment
NEW YORK (AP) -- The cold weather proved a boon for television celebrations of the New Year. More than 25 million people tuned in to see Ryan Seacrest ring in 2018 from a frigid Times Square, the biggest audience for ABC’s venerable “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” since at least 1991, the Nielsen company said. CNN and Fox also set standards for their celebratory coverage that night. The cold likely cut both ways: with most of the country in a deep freeze, fewer people than usual may have ventured out to celebrate and... Read More, Comment
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- On the last day of the calendar year, "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" has surpassed "Beauty and the Beast" as the top grossing film in North America in 2017. It also topped the charts for the weekend for the third time, but just barely — Dwayne Johnson's "Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle" is close on its tail. According to studio estimates on Sunday, "The Last Jedi" will add $52.4 million over the weekend bringing its domestic total to $517.1 million. "Beauty and the Beast," also a Disney release,... Read More, Comment
In this spot titled “Kids' Dreams,” Volkswagen initially lets vehicles of other manufacturers take center stage--which is quite a departure from the automotive advertising norm. These models are presented as children’s dream cars which make the kids forget everything else around them when they see them. This is where the VW Golf comes into its own. Thanks to the city emergency brake function of the “Front Assist” ambient traffic monitoring system, the Golf brakes automatically just in time as a... Read More, Comment
In lieu of its traditional holiday gift giving, Ditch Edit in Minneapolis opted to support a local school, Maxfield Elementary, through a program called Adopt-A-Classroom. The charity provides teachers with funding for their students. Many of these teachers spend their own money to buy supplies for their students. And while many teachers will continue to dip into their own pockets, Adopt-A-Classroom at least helps them in terms of providing some much needed resources. At Maxfield, many of the... Read More, Comment
In healthy snack company KIND’s latest film More Than Nice , produced by Park Pictures, three-time Academy Award winning cinematographer Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki and Emmy-winning director Chris Wilcha question the courageous acts of being “kind” over “nice,” and if the distinction could repair the wide cultural rifts Americans experience today. The piece incorporates Lubezki’s interpretation of “kind,” rather than just “nice.” As an example, the co-director showcases volunteers who leave jugs... Read More, Comment
Olly Blackburn of Great Guns directed this :60 for BT Mobile which centers on a young family. Beginning in their home, we see the couple and toddler enjoying precious moments before the mother--a nurse--leaves for work. Later, on the bus to the hospital, she receives a video call from her partner. He excitedly turns the camera to their child, capturing the magical moments of her very first steps. The proud mother tearfully encourages her baby girl, who responds to her voice and walks towards... Read More, Comment
Fall foliage travel is a billion-dollar industry in America. And while Tennessee has some of the most beautiful fall scenery in the country, every other state is making the same claim. So how does Tennessee stand out? There are roughly 280 million people in the world who are red-green color deficient, which means they’ve never truly seen what fall looks like. One in 12 American men experiences some form of color blindness, a condition that affects nearly five percent of American women, too. So... Read More, Comment