LOS ANGELES -- Editor Sidney Wolinsky, ACE first worked with director Guillermo del Toro on the pilot for FX Network’s The Strain , a series which del Toro created and for which he served as an executive producer. Their fruitful collaboration prompted del Toro to again gravitate to Wolinsky for a feature cut from fable cloth and set during the Cold War era of America in 1962. That story turned out to be The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight), which has garnered assorted accolades, including 13 Oscar nominations... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- If history stays true to course, it’s most likely that the Best Director Oscar will take the “Shape” of the DGA Awards which recently bestowed its coveted Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film honor upon Guillermo del Toro for The Shape of Water . All but seven of the DGA Award winners since 1948 have gone on to garner the corresponding Academy Award. In terms of recent history, 13 of the past 14 DGA Award winners have wound up garnering Oscars for directing, including last year’s... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Martin de Thurah of Epoch Films won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials last night (2/3) during a gala ceremony at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. It’s the second career DGA win for de Thurah who this time around earned best spot director of 2017 on the basis of three entries that exhibited a mix of humor and cinematic acumen: StubHub’s “Festival” and “Machines” for Goodby Silverstein & Partners; and WealthSimple’s “Mad World” from WealthSimple’s in-... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Rachel Morrison, ASC earned her first career ASC Award nomination last month on the strength of director Dee Rees’ Mudbound (Netflix). The nod carries historical significance because it broke the glass ceiling as Morrison became the first woman to be nominated for an ASC Award in the competition’s marquee Theatrical Feature category for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography. Two weeks later, Morrison broke more glass with Mudbound as the first female nominee ever for a Best Cinematography... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Though defensive-minded coaches found the Super Bowl shootout cringe-worthy, most everyone else enjoyed a thoroughly entertaining game with the high scoring affair yielding another bonus—a victory for the underdog as the Philadelphia Eagles ended a half-century of gridiron frustration, beating the heralded New England Patriots. The Big Game, though, was a double-edged sword for the ad community. On one hand, the Super Bowl held audience interest throughout, meaning that advertisers had a chance... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- In culling through this year’s Visual Effects Society (VES) Award nominations, SHOOT coverage across the board in 2017 carried a connection to many of those in the running for honors, ranging from commercials to features. On the latter score, for example, War for the Planet of the Apes (Twentieth Century Fox) tied with Blade Runner 2049 (Warner Bros. Pictures) for the most noms with seven. And one of the prime contributors to the Apes saga, Joe Letteri—sr. visual effects supervisor on War and a... Read More, Comment

AUSTIN, Texas -- The remainder of the SXSW Film Festival program has been set, including the Midnighters, Shorts, Virtual Cinema, Music Video, Title Sequence, and new Independent Episodic lineup, plus late-addition Features and the Closing Night Film for the 25th edition of the Festival. The North American premiere of Wes Anderson’s highly-anticipated stop-motion Isle of Dogs will close the 2018 Festival. The film tells the story of Atari Kobayashi, 12-year-old ward to corrupt Mayor Kobayashi. When, by... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- The Tribeca Film Festival will open its 17th edition with the world premiere of Love, Gilda on Wednesday, April 18, 2018. CNN Films presents the feature length documentary--produced by 3 Faces Films in association with Motto Pictures--which opens a window into the world of celebrated Emmy® and Grammy® award-winning comedian Gilda Radner who became a cultural icon the moment audiences first laughed with her on Saturday Night Live ’s debut episode. A trailblazer for female comedians, her impact... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Fresh off the Super Bowl, NBC begins more than two weeks of Winter Olympics coverage on Thursday with a new host, some new wrinkles and the hope that its business model keeps pace with the different ways people experience events on television and online. Some skiing and figure skating competition takes place Thursday in South Korea. NBC will stream the Olympic opening ceremony from Pyeongyang live early Friday in the United States, then repeat it that evening for television viewers with Mike... Read More, Comment

An estimated 103.4 million people watched the Super Bowl on NBC, a 7 percent drop from last year that indicates that television's biggest event may have peaked in popularity. The Nielsen company said it's the smallest Super Bowl audience on television since 2009 despite the underdog Philadelphia Eagles beating the New England Patriots in a thrilling game that was close from start to finish. Last year's Patriots-Falcons game reached 111.3 million viewers. The all-time Super Bowl record — and... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- This year's Super Bowl ads ran the gamut from tame humor to ... tame messages about social causes. After a divisive year, advertisers during the Big Game worked overtime to win over audiences with messages that entertained and strove not to offend. The slapstick humor and sexual innuendo that used to be commonplace during Super Bowl ad breaks were nowhere in sight. Instead, Budweiser , as always the largest advertiser during the game, eschewed the usual puppies and Clydesdales to showcase... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- A Ram truck ad that used a speech by Martin Luther King, Jr., is drawing a backlash. The ad shows people doing service-oriented tasks set against audio of King's speech, which urges people to be "great" by serving the greater good. It was supposed to highlight the volunteer program Ram Nation. But it was criticized by viewers and ad experts alike for forging too tenuous a connection with the civil rights hero. On Twitter, most people expressed the idea that using King's speech to "sell trucks"... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- AICP has announced the composition of its 2018 National Board of Directors as well as the roster for its newly formed Post Production Council, which was spawned by the organization’s merger with AICE. On the former score, Ralph Laucella of O Positive, East Region director, was re-elected to a second term as chairman of the national board. Other officers elected included Rich Carter of brother as vice chairman and director at large, and Mark Androw, a past national board chairman, will once... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Cannes Lions has named Chloe Gottlieb, EVP, U.S. chief creative officer of R/GA, as the ambassador of this year’s See It Be It program, taking over from last year’s lead, Madonna Badger, CCO, Badger & Winters. Badger will continue to be involved with the project in the role of chair, in a three-year appointment. Now in its fifth year, See It Be It is a career development and acceleration program for women in the creative communications industry who face diversity challenges and want to lead... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- After integrating operationally over the last year, Deluxe sister VFX companies Iloura and Method have taken the final step in joining forces, unifying under a single brand: Method Studios. Now with a team across Melbourne, Sydney, Vancouver, Los Angeles, New York, Pune, Chicago and Atlanta, Method is a growing, global VFX force, with one of the industry’s deepest talent pools. The company works on blockbuster and prestige features, episodics, design, advertising and immersive experiences... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Click 3X has tapped David Fisher as the company’s new managing director and executive producer. Fisher comes over from the NY office of R/GA where he was executive content producer on Samsung Global and, before that, Verizon. Prior to joining R/GA he held senior production positions at such agencies as Arnold Worldwide NY, where he was SVP, director of integrated production, and TBWA\Chiat\Day, NY, where he was executive producer. At Click 3X Fisher will be tasked with guiding the studio’s move... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.(AP) -- The Oscar nominees luncheon brings together A-listers and rising stars — artists from every aspect of filmmaking — for an afternoon of celebration and mutual fandom. With little on the agenda other than posing for a group photo, Monday's gathering was a chance for nominees to bask together in their exalted status together before the Academy Awards are presented on March 4. The atmosphere makes for some fun moments. First-time acting nominees Timothee Chalamet and Daniel Kaluuya high-fived at... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Pixar Animation Studios was the big winner at this year’s 45th Annie Awards™ as Coco won Best Animated Feature, and garnered top honors across 11 categories including: Best Animated Effects; Character Animation; Character Design; Directing; Music; Production Design; Storyboarding; Writing; and Editorial. Earning Annie distinction as the Best Independent Animated Feature was The Breadwinner (Cartoon Saloon/Aircraft Pictures/ Melusine Productions). The evening was dedicated to the late June Foray... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.(AP) -- For Ryan Coogler, the essence of "Black Panther" came down to one question: What does it mean to be African? The Oakland-born filmmaker of both "Creed" and "Fruitvale Station" had been given the gargantuan task of shepherding Marvel's iconic superhero to the big screen, with a budget five times bigger than he'd ever had, Hollywood's most powerful studio behind him and the freedom to make "Black Panther" as personal as he wanted. Coogler had made his name creating films about the black... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- The supposedly cosmically vast Marvel Cinematic Universe, as it's called, spans planets peppered throughout the galaxy, but Ryan Coogler's Earth-bound "Black Panther," glittering and galvanizing, stands worlds apart. For those of us who have sometimes felt pummeled by the parade of previous Marvel movies, the sheer richness of Coogler's film is almost disorienting. Can superhero films, so often a dull mash of effects, be this dazzlingly colorful? Are genuine cultural connections allowed in... Read More, Comment

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- An extremist attack in Kenya inspired a short film that is in the running for an Academy Award. "Watu Wote" means "All of Us" in Swahili. The film depicts the true story of an al-Shabab extremist assault on a bus in northern Kenya just before Christmas in 2015. Muslim passengers helped to save the lives of Christian passengers by refusing to separate into groups. German film students read about the attack and decided to tell the story for its message of humanity and solidarity. Director Katja... Read More, Comment

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Issa Rae said she feels that women's voices have been amplified in the film and television worlds and she's happy to be part of the group leading the change and opening doors for others. "I do think there's a renaissance in so many different ways," the actress said at NFL's Women's Summit on Friday. "We have a newfound power, a newly rediscovered power. We're like, '...We can speak up, and we can get stuff done, and we can make a change, and we can reclaim our stories." "It just seems so much... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Robbyn Foxx Hines--known in the industry as Robbyn Foxx, a prominent agent at Innovative Artists for 11 years, serving as head of its commercial department--passed away last month (1/17) from respiratory complications at the age of 49. Prior to Innovative Artists, Robbyn worked at several production companies as an executive producer and head of production. She exhibited a wry sense of humor, no-nonsense honesty, caring and consideration for others which formed bonds throughout the business... Read More, Comment

In his latest film, "The 15:17 to Paris," Clint Eastwood has taken his famously no-frills filmmaking further than ever before. Having already dispensed with many of the typical accoutrements of Hollywood filmmaking — lengthy development, a battery of takes, any handwringing at all — he has, with characteristically little anguish, jettisoned actors from the picture, too. Who needs 'em, anyway? Truth be told, there are numerous professional actors in "The 15:17 to Paris," about the foiled... Read More, Comment

With warm nostalgia for Beatrix Potter's classic children's tale, "Peter Rabbit " director, producer and co-writer Will Gluck channels the author's earnestness into a sweet film sure to delight young fans. Adults may find the plot predictable and the pacing a bit wanting, but the dynamic animation and beloved characters help compensate, as does the film's cheeky self-awareness. As in the book published in 1902, the story begins with Peter Rabbit (James Corden) disobeying his parents' rules and... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Super Bowl ratings may have been slightly down for NBC, but the network’s entertainment division was buoyed by the showing of “This is Us” after the game. The second-year drama scored with an episode that explains how the character of Jack Pearson, played by Milo Ventimiglia, died in the aftermath of a fire. The show was seen by just under 27 million people, its largest audience ever and the highest for any show with the coveted post-Super Bowl time slot in six years. NBC’s habit is generally... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Twitter made money for the first time in its nearly 12-year history, a milestone that satisfied investors in the short term but might not resolve the company's broader problems any time soon. The company is still struggling to get people to sign up, despite the attention President Donald Trump's no-holds barred tweets have drawn to the service. One problem: Anyone can read tweets without signing up. As a result, Twitter's user base pales compared with Facebook and the Facebook-owned Instagram... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- The heir to "Titanic" is ... "Jumanji: Welcome the Jungle"? For the first time since James Cameron's 1998 disaster epic, a December release has topped the weekend box office in February. Seven weeks after first opening in theaters, Sony Pictures' "Jumanji" again took the top spot at the North American box office with an estimated $11 million in ticket sales, according to studio estimates Sunday. On a sluggish Super Bowl weekend, that was good enough to surpass last week's no. 1 film, "Maze... Read More, Comment

For this Valentine’s Day, Renault has produced its first animated movie around love and silence of electric vehicles. When Lars, a postman, meets a girl on his daily postal round, he instantly falls for her. The only problem? His noisy vehicle keeps disturbing her small-but-angry dog, who blocks him from getting anywhere near to his new crush. The postman endures multiple comical attacks from the possessive dog, until finally, he is given a set of keys to a brand-new Renault Kangoo Z.E... Read More, Comment

Titled “As I Really Am,” this film from agency The&Partnership in Rome--part of Toyota’s “Start Your Impossible” campaign in collaboration with the International Olympic and Paralympic Committee--profiles world champion wheelchair fencer, Beatrice “Bebe” Vio whose story is one of strength and determination. Produced by Filmmaster Productions in Italy, the short was directed by Philippe Tempelman (who’s repped by Blink in the U.K. and Amsterdam). Read More, Comment

Airing during the second quarter of the Super Bowl, Avocados From Mexico’s “GuacWorld” unites a chosen few in a perfect world full of everything they’ve ever wanted in an idyllic paradise. But, it doesn’t take much for this ideal society to start unraveling once its celebrated leader is met with a world-defining question: “where are the chips?!” Turns out the chips are outside the cordoned off world, triggering havoc in utopia. David Shane and Michael Clancy directed via O Positive for agency... Read More, Comment

Following in the footsteps of its creatively inspired breakthrough pre-roll fare (such as “Unskippable,” “Fast Forward” and “Crushed”) for client GEICO, The Martin Agency has rolled out a new series of spots in which it admits they’re interrupting you and then lets you get in the fun by interrupting the interruption. Directed by the Terri Timely duo (Ian Kibbey and Corey Creasey) of Park Pictures, six dual interruption pre-roll spots are in this latest campaign, including this piece titled “... Read More, Comment

This U.S. Marine Corps spot debuted this past Sunday on NBC’s Super Bowl livestream. Titled “A Nation’s Girl,” the ad was directed by Henry-Alex Rubin of Smuggler for J. Walter Thompson Atlanta. “A Nation’s Call” features the overwhelming material might of the Navy and Marine Corps team--ships, amphibious vehicles, aviation and ground assets--disappearing to reveal the greatest weapon in the Marine Corps’ arsenal: the indomitable fighting spirit of every Marine. Read More, Comment

The Jamaica Bobsled Foundation (JBF) has released “Run The Track, It’s Bobsled Time,” an officially sanctioned team song to raise funds and awareness to benefit the ultimate underdogs--the athletes who compete in the sport of bobsledding and skeleton in the Winter Olympics for the country of Jamaica. The dance hall pop anthem is available globally on all download and streaming services just in time for the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongyang, which coincides with the 30th anniversary of the... Read More, Comment