LOS ANGELES -- Production designer Paul Harrod would some day like to collaborate directly with fellow production designer Adam Stockhausen. For the time being, though, Harrod has to settle for at least having worked on the same film--but at different intervals--with Stockhausen. That film is Wes Anderson’s stop-motion animated fable Isle of Dogs (Fox Searchlight), a journey that begins with a city’s dogs being exiled to a vast garbage dump due to a contagious canine flu. Accustomed to being pampered, the... Read More, Comment

PARIS (AP) -- The director of the Cannes Film Festival called Harvey Weinstein "an earthquake" — but he said that the quality of films, not gender quotas, remains the top factor in selecting movies for this year's festival lineup. Organizers unveiled Thursday the 18 movies competing for the Palme d'Or next month, with a lineup that includes new movies by Spike Lee and Jean-Luc Godard. "The world is not the same anymore," Thierry Fremaux told a press conference, referring to the aftermath of the Weintsein... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Ted Sarandos, Netflix's chief content officer, on Wednesday said the streaming giant is pulling its films from the Cannes Film Festival, further intensifying an ongoing dispute between Netflix and the world's most prestigious film festival. Cannes earlier banned any films without theatrical distribution in France from its Palme d'Or competition. That essentially rules out Netflix movies, which are released either day-and-date — on Netflix and in some theaters — or simply go straight to Netflix... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Fox Searchlight Pictures has launched Searchlight Television, making the company a 360-degree hub for creative talent and broadening the variety of projects produced under the Searchlight banner. Announcement of the new venture was made by Fox Searchlight Pictures presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula. David Greenbaum and Matthew Greenfield have been promoted to presidents of production for Film and Television effective immediately, adding Searchlight Television to their current... Read More, Comment

ATHENS, Ga. -- The Peabody Awards board of jurors have selected 60 nominees that represent the most compelling and empowering stories released in electronic media during 2017. The nominees were selected from approximately 1,200 entries from television, radio/podcasts and the web. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. “True to tradition, we are proud to present a rich mix of excellence in the craft of storytelling,” said Jeffrey P... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Now in its fifth year, The Good Report has named State Street Global Advisors’ “Fearless Girl” from McCann New York as the most successful campaign promoting good causes in 2017. BBDO New York earned The Good Report mantle as the most successful agency promoting good causes last year. Helping the shop earn that lofty ranking was its Sandy Hook Promise PSA titled “Evan,” which was ranked Good’s fourth most successful campaign of 2017. The Good Report ranks the world’s best use of creative... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES & LONDON -- RSA Films has added filmmaker Sophie Edelstein to its roster for commercial representation in the U.S. and U.K. Edelstein has directed high-profile fashion films for Smythson featuring Phoebe Tonkin, Elizabeth Arden featuring Reese Witherspoon, Gucci featuring Clara Paget, Vogue featuring Cara Delevingne, Westfield featuring Dame Edna, and Charlotte Olympia, among many others. Also an accomplished writer and magazine editor, Edelstein combines strong storytelling with an artful visual style and... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Three West Coast-based editors whose lives and work made an impact on their colleagues, their clients and their peers are being honored with posthumous induction into the AICE Hall of Fame at this year’s AICE Awards on May 10 in Culver City, California. Editors Michael Bartoli of Hybrid Edit, Chris Hafner of Cutters and Eric Zumbrunnen of Exile are all being inducted in recognition of their accomplishments as editors and company owners and their overall impact on the industry. Bartoli passed... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Michelle Roufa has been promoted to executive creative director on Verizon at mcgarrybowen New York. Roufa first worked for mcgarrybowen from 2013-2015, and helped to land millions of dollars of new business including The Clorox Company and Intel accounts. She returned to mcgarrybowen as a group creative director in September 2016, helping mcgarrybowen win a portion of the Verizon B-B account and position the client as more than wireless company. Here she created a campaign called “Humanability... Read More, Comment

VENICE, Calif. -- Saville Productions has signed BAFTA Award-nominated documentary film director Jennifer Peedom for U.S. commercial representation. Peedom is a visually-driven filmmaker with over a decade of experience directing gripping, intimate portraits of individuals in raw and sometimes extreme circumstances. With credits including the internationally renowned feature documentaries Solo, Sherpa and most recently Mountain , she brings a unique, cinematic eye and expertise filming in high-altitude... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- California continues to make progress in the fight against “runaway production” as its expanded Film & TV Tax Credit Program 2.0 lures more big-budget films to the Golden State. The California Film Commission announced that “Ford v. Ferrari” (Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp.) and “Coming 2 America” (Paramount Pictures) are among the nine projects selected for the latest round of film tax credits. They join a growing list of big-budget wins for Program 2.0, including “A Wrinkle in Time,” “... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- If Pablo Picasso had a blue period and the Beatles went through a psychedelic phase, then Chiwetel Ejiofor is currently going through his religious period. The Oscar-nominated star of "12 Years a Slave" has gone from playing Peter the apostle in the upcoming biblical drama "Mary Magdalene" to playing a contemporary Pentecostal pastor in the midst of a religious crisis in the Netflix drama "Come Sunday." Could this be pure coincidence? "Who knows? Perhaps," the British actor says, laughing. "... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- New York Festivals® International Television & Film Awards announced the 2018 award-winners on Tuesday (4/10) at the annual NAB Show in Las Vegas. This ceremony honored the World’s Best TV & Films and celebrated blockbuster entertainment from 40 countries around the globe. The New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Grand Jury, a panel of prominent international broadcast and film industry executives, awarded trophies to content creators across all platforms and in all genres. For 2018... Read More, Comment

GLENDALE, Calif. -- The Location Managers Guild International (LMGI) announced the winners of its 5th Annual Location Managers Guild International Awards (LMGI) on Saturday (4/7) night. The motion picture winners were Dunkirk (filmed at the French location of the real evacuation and Malo-les-Bains) and Baby Driver (shot on locations throughout Atlanta). The TV series winners were Game of Thrones (filmed in Northern Ireland, Croatia, Morocco, Malta and other locations) and Ozark (shot in seven areas in Atlanta)... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- The directing team Kronck--consisting of Jessica Benzing and Maximilian Gerlach--has signed with Great Guns for U.S. representation. The German duo has directed spots for such brands as Coca Cola, Loctite Super Glue, Allianz, Durex, Sony Erickson. Kronck has won multiple awards worldwide at notable events including the Gold at the Global Awards, being shortlisted at the Cannes Lions, Gold at the New Media Awards, Special Jury Prize at the Amsterdam Film Festival, BVMI, and 1st Prize at The... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Sweetshop has announced a management restructure of its global team with the core aim of creating more opportunities for its international roster of Directors, allowing their content to operate across new multiple platforms and multi-outlet streams. Paul Prince, formerly CEO, moves into the position of chairman working closely with Sharlene George as global executive producer. The two founding partners will concentrate on new strategies and partnerships to expand content opportunities for its... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Bicoastal production company Honor Society has signed comedy director Josh Ruben for U.S. commercial representation. A five-time Webby award winning actor, writer and director, he has directed and starred in assorted shorts for comedy megasite CollegeHumor and has brought that signature dialogue-driven humor to the commercial space. His Swiss army knife, comedic skill set can be seen in work for such brands as Geico, Lucky Charms, Vitamin Water, Ford, TurboTax, NFL, Vogue and Columbia... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The instant-hit status of "Roseanne" is triggering the enduring Hollywood impulse to copycat success. Even with series pilots nearing completion for the 2018-19 TV season, producers are eagerly pitching revivals of sitcoms that, like "Roseanne," had their day 20 or 30 years ago, according to an industry insider. There are networks and streaming services trying to figure out how to create projects that similarly resonate with viewers, said veteran movie and TV screenwriter Lionel Chetwynd. The... Read More, Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Under fire for the worst privacy debacle in his company's history, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg batted away often-aggressive questioning from lawmakers who accused him of failing to protect the personal information of millions of Americans from Russians intent on upsetting the U.S. election. During some five hours of Senate questioning Tuesday, Zuckerberg apologized several times for Facebook failures, disclosed that his company was "working with" special counsel Robert Mueller in the federal... Read More, Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg made several assertions about Facebook's data collection and privacy controls during two days of hearings on Capitol Hill. Those included claims that Facebook lets you download your data and take it elsewhere; that users can turn off data collection for advertising purposes; and that Facebook tracks users even when they're not on Facebook itself, but only for "security purposes." In all these cases, the situation is not as clear-cut as Zuckerberg made it sound. Here... Read More, Comment

Cinema might have a worthy successor to early Terrence Malick in Chloe Zhao, whose second feature "The Rider " is a spiritual and poetic journey into the fading world of the Lakota cowboy, starring the real people who inspired her film. As in her first, the beautiful "Songs My Brothers Taught Me" which was also set on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Zhao transports us to the badlands of South Dakota to tell the story of a rodeo cowboy who must give up his dream after suffering a devastating... Read More, Comment

Let's begin this review of "Borg Vs. McEnroe" with a huge spoiler alert. The final score of the 1980 Wimbledon men's final between Bjorn Borg and John McEnroe, which takes up the climactic last third of the movie, was 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6. It's not a secret, really. And, in the end, it doesn't really matter. This fabulous, moody film isn't your typical jock flick where bitter rivals compete to a crowning, sweaty end. There isn't a real victor in "Borg Vs. McEnroe " and the points don't prove... Read More, Comment

There is painfully little love, except for the warm and compassionate filmmaking itself, in Andrew Haigh's tender and heartbreaking coming-of-age drama "Lean on Pete." In his first American film, Haigh, the British director of "45 Years" and "Weekend," proves every bit as adept at burrowing into fragile human intimacies across a vast Western landscape as he showed in his earlier, more cloistered dramas. He makes precisely tuned, quiet movies that speak volumes about their characters. Fittingly... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Los Angeles prosecutors said Monday that they will not bring criminal charges against writer and director James Toback in five sexual abuse investigations they have reviewed. The Oscar-nominated writer-director has been accused of sexual misconduct by dozens of women. Documents released Monday by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office said the statute of limitations in all of the cases had expired. The women, none of whom are identified in the documents, reported sexual abuse from... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Finding dependable, bankable box-office hits for anything without a superhero has been a downright scary proposition for Hollywood. The solution, it turns out, is a nightmare, too. Horror has emerged as one of the most lucrative and in-demand genres in Hollywood, a box-office success story as well as — thanks to a new generation of ambitious genre filmmakers — a creative one. Like perhaps never before, horror is hot. For an industry that has struggled to find areas of growth outside of the... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- John Krasinski's "A Quiet Place" made a thunderous debut at the box office, opening with $50 million in ticket sales and rumbling to the year's second-best weekend after "Black Panther," according to studio estimates Sunday. The Paramount Pictures thriller far exceeded expectations to land one of the top opening weekends for a horror release. It marks an unlikely breakthrough for Krasinski, the former "Office" star many associate more with inter-office romance and deadpan expressions than... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Villanova’s comfortable victory over Michigan in the NCAA men’s basketball final may have been good for the blood pressure of the team’s fans, but it wasn’t good for television ratings. The game was seen by 16 million viewers on TBS, TNT and Tru TV last week, the Nielsen company said. That’s down sharply from the 23 million who saw North Carolina beat Gonzaga in the 2017 finals. The 30 percent drop is likely due to a combination of a relatively non-competitive game and its airing on a cable... Read More, Comment

International non-profit marine conservation organization Sea Shepherd launches with agency FF New York an awareness campaign to bring attention to the overwhelming plastic pollution of the ocean. The “Plastic Ocean” campaign includes this video directed by Geoff Bailey of Alkemy X which is dreamlike and colorful at first glance but highlights the plight of sea animals trapped in plastic waste. Various sea animals, including a dolphin and a shark, try to break through the surface of a plastic... Read More, Comment

While shopping at Monoprix can be a pleasure, carrying groceries that are bought there all the way home is not. Titled “The Worst Song in the World,” this spot directed by the Traktor collective via Stink for Paris agency Rosapark showcases the advantages of having one’s hands free--in this case free of carrying groceries as Monoprix introduces a new customized delivery service. We see a woman wearing headphones having to endure “The Worst Song in the World.” We see the band performing the song... Read More, Comment

The Newport Beach Film Festival has released its official 2018 marquee trailer “Quota: Who Made the Cut.” A sci-fi drama set in a dystopian future, the trailer--directed by Jillian Martin of Untitled.tv for agency Garage Team Mazda (GTM)--features two crystal miners who are pitted against each other to achieve their mining quota, and fulfill their contract. That’s the only way they’ll be able to return home. The question--like the one facing all film entrants to the Newport Beach Fest--is “who... Read More, Comment

Actor, producer and director ( Pitch Perfect 2 ) Elizabeth Banks of harvest films helmed this spot for Tommy John to promote its new women’s underwear collection. Part of the “Little Adjustments” campaign from agency Preacher, the :60 through a series of humorous vignettes presents women struggling with the uncomfortable effects of their inferior underwear. In the end, the message is clear--women can “Overcome the Uncomfortable” with Tommy John. “I loved this campaign from the beginning,” said... Read More, Comment

Director Zack Resnicoff of Impressionista Films collaborated with Peter Moffat (the English writer and EP of the HBO show The Night Of ) and pharma brands Sanofi and Regeneron to raise awareness about Atopic Dermatitis (AD). Moffat has AD and is the inspiration for John Turturro’s character in the show. The pharma brands approached Moffat through agency Weber Shandwick and the collaboration was born for this spot titled “Understand AD.” Moffat came on as technical advisor and provided the... Read More, Comment

JanSport’s new “Driven to Go” campaign is targeting a slightly older, more diverse, city audience, with a creative focus on urban exploration. A fun aspect of the production included sourcing all real people (no actors) mostly from social media, and a few key people were even handpicked off of the streets of San Francisco. Conceived by a creative ensemble at branding and content studio Teak, the campaign included this spot titled “Hammock,” which underscores that you can go pretty much anywhere... Read More, Comment