LOS ANGELES -- If Beale Street Could Talk (Annapurna Pictures) marks the first English-language feature based on the work of revered novelist James Baldwin. Doing justice to Baldwin was the prime challenge posed to Barry Jenkins, who not only directed and served as a producer on the film but also wrote the adapted screenplay. On the latter score, Jenkins shared, “The way James Baldwin structures prose, the way he reveals story is quite complicated. It’s not something that’s easily translatable to the screen... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Peter Jackson has used digital wizardry to conjure J.R.R. Tolkien's Middle Earth and King Kong's 1930s New York, but he has now — in perhaps his most acclaimed film — employed all his technical powers to bring to life the Western Front of the first World War. Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old" is the 57-year-old filmmaker's first documentary. Commissioned by Britain's Imperial War Museum to coincide with the centenary of the Armistice, Jackson assembled the film from more than 100 hours of... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced shortlists in consideration for the 91st Oscars® in nine categories: Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Foreign Language Film, Makeup and Hairstyling, Music (Original Score), Music (Original Song), Animated Short Film, Live Action Short Film and Visual Effects. T DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Fifteen films will advance in the Documentary Feature category for the 91st Academy Awards. One hundred sixty-six films were originally... Read More, Comment

PARK CITY, Utah -- Five feature films and a Special Event have been added to the 2019 Sundance Film Festival’s slate of independent work. Also announced was the winner of the 2019 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, seven Day One films and the Closing Night Film. The Festival will take place in Park City, Salt Lake City and at Sundance Mountain Resort January 24-February 4, 2019. The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind , screening in the Premieres section, has been named the winner of the 2019 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film... Read More, Comment

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Production house Superprime has signed filmmaker Sean Baker to its roster for U.S. commercial representation. Baker is a director, cinematographer, producer, screenwriter and editor best known for his independent films Tangerine and The Florida Project . Tangerine , shot entirely on an iPhone 5S, premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was released by Magnolia Pictures. It was nominated for four Independent Spirit Awards including Best Feature and Best Director, and four Gotham Awards... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Deutsch has elevated Brett Craig to partner, chief creative officer of its Los Angeles office. He joins president Kim Getty and chief digital officer Pam Scheideler in leading the L.A. operation. In his new role, Craig will oversee all creative output from the office and will report to Pete Favat, North American CCO. “Brett and I share the belief that collaboration is the future of creativity and ideas,” said Favat. “He’s led with that principle time and time again and has consistently created... Read More, Comment

While Brad Soroca’s home is Deluxe Entertainment Services Group as its chief commercial officer, he has long resided at the intersection of content and technology, dating back to his prior tours of duty at such roosts as NBC Local Media, ESPN Digital Media, eMusic, and cloud-based workflow tech startup Arazoo. Being situated at that intersection continues to provide Soroca with a vantage point which he described as “a good window” looking onto industry transformation as “massive amounts of... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Dentsu Aegis Network has acquired Digital Evolution Group (DEG), a provider of data-driven marketing, commerce and collaboration solutions in the U.S. market. DEG will join global agency Isobar, creating a shop called “DEG, Linked by Isobar.” Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. This strategic acquisition supports Dentsu Aegis Network’s continued growth strategy for the U.S. and Isobar’s commitment to delivering experience-led transformation. By joining the Dentsu Aegis Network, DEG... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Director Nicole Ackermann has landed her first U.S. representation for commercials and branded content, joining the roster of Merman. Among her recent endeavors is a spot for The Economist out of Proximity London, a sister shop to AMV BBDO, London. “It is rare to find a director with a strong visual aesthetic who has an equally strong conceptual point of view,” said Kira Carstensen, global managing partner of Merman, which maintains offices in L.A., New York and London. “Nicole’s film is... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Bernardo Romero has joined Grey New York as executive creative director for health-related business. This marks the agency's fifth senior creative hire in the past month. Romero comes over from Area 23, an agency of the FCB Health Network, which he joined in 2016, rising to ECD. Under his leadership, Area 23 won international recognition as both the Cannes Lion and Clio “Health Network of the Year” for its innovative, cross-channel campaigns. “Bernardo is one of the most creatively recognized... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Bas Berkhout, a director known for his intimate short films, has joined bicoastal production company ArtClass for commercials and branded content. This marks his first U.S. representation after five years of freelancing in the American market. After meeting company EP Geno Imbriale, Berkhout knew ArtClass would be the right fit. The two worked on an ESPN and Facebook project that further cemented the partnership. Berkhout began his career in the Netherlands. He began working for a travel agency... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Everyone involved in the making of "Mary Poppins Returns " felt the pressure to do justice to the original 1964 film. Rob Marshall worked on it for three straight years. Animators came out of retirement to do hand-drawn animation in the style of the first. Sets were built. Cast members moved their family to London for a year. But perhaps no one short of Emily Blunt and Marshall were as heavy with responsibility as composer Marc Shaiman and his co-lyricist Scott Wittman. They had the Oscar-... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- The movie theater was dead, they said. After ticket sales slumped in 2017 , due largely to the worst summer season in more than a decade, pundits far and wide predicted the hastening demise of moviegoing, an inevitable casualty to the rise of streaming. This year, the movies flipped the script. This weekend, as "Aquaman," ''Bumblebee" and "Mary Poppins Returns" arrive in theaters, ticket sales will reach a new record for the year, passing the previous 2016 high of $11.4 billion. Driven in part... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Penny Marshall, the trailblazing director of smash-hit big-screen comedies such as "Big" and "A League of Their Own" who first indelibly starred in the top-rated sitcom "Laverne & Shirley," has died. She was 75. Michelle Bega, a spokeswoman for the Marshall family, said Tuesday that Marshall died in her Los Angeles home on Monday night due to complications from diabetes. "Our family is heartbroken," the Marshall family said in a statement. In "Laverne & Shirley," among television's... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Facebook gave some companies more extensive access to users' personal data than it has previously revealed, letting them read private messages or see the names of friends without consent, according to a New York Times report. The newspaper on Wednesday detailed special arrangements between Facebook and companies such as Microsoft, Netflix and Spotify, in the latest revelations on how the social network shares user data. Here are highlights from the report. THE DEALS Facebook shared data with... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Producer/actress Jane Fonda will be honored with the Producers Guild of America’s 2019 Stanley Kramer Award. Established in 2002, the award honors a production, producer or other individuals whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues. Fonda is being recognized for her lifetime activism and philanthropic work, and will receive the award at the 30th Annual Producers Guild Awards on January 19, 2019 at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Los... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Jeff Bridges may have once been considered as one of Hollywood's most underappreciated actors, but next month's Golden Globe Awards will showcase his life and illustrious career next month by bestowing him one of its highest honors. Bridges will receive the Cecil B. DeMille Award during the 76th annual awards ceremony on Jan. 6, 2019, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Monday. The actor been praised for starring in films including "Crazy Heart," ''True Grit," ''Hell or High Water... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Visual Effects Society (VES) has named acclaimed writer-director-producer Jonathan Nolan as the next recipient of the VES Visionary Award in recognition of his valuable contributions to filmed entertainment. The award will be presented at the 17th Annual VES Awards on February 5, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The VES Visionary Award, bestowed by the VES Board of Directors, recognizes an individual who has uniquely and consistently employed the art and science of visual effects to foster... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Visual Effects Society (VES) has named award-winning creators-executive producers-writers-directors David Benioff and D.B. Weiss as the forthcoming recipients of the VES Award for Creative Excellence in recognition of their valuable contributions to filmed entertainment. The award will be presented at the 17th Annual VES Awards on February 5, 2019 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. The VES Award for Creative Excellence, bestowed by the VES Board of Directors, recognizes individuals who have made... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS announced Monday that former CEO Les Moonves will not receive his $120 million severance package after the board of directors concluded he violated company policy and was uncooperative with an investigation into sexual misconduct allegations. The decision, which came after a five-month outside investigation, capped the downfall of one of television's most influential figures, the biggest entertainment powerbroker to see his career derailed amid the #MeToo movement against sexual misconduct... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Actress Eliza Dushku says she struggled with her decision to keep quiet about the sexual harassment she says she endured from the star of the CBS show "Bull," weighing her desire to keep her ordeal private against her worry that it would be swept under the rug. Dushku, who says she was written off the show after she complained about actor Michael Weatherly's behavior, agreed to stay silent as part of a $9.5 million settlement with CBS earlier this year. But she says she took solace in a... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- A New York judge declined to dismiss sexual assault charges against Harvey Weinstein Thursday, rejecting the latest push from the disgraced film producer's lawyers to have his indictment thrown out. Judge James Burke's ruling buoyed a prosecution that has appeared on rocky ground in recent months amid a prolonged defense effort to raise doubts about the case and the police investigation. Weinstein's lawyers argued the case had been "irreparably tainted" by a detective's alleged coaching of a... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS on Friday (12/14) pledged to give $20 million to 18 organizations dedicated to eliminating sexual harassment in the workplace as the network tries to recover from a scandal that led to the ouster of its top executive, Les Moonves. The announcement comes as the network's crisis deepens, with details emerging from an ongoing investigation into Moonves' conduct and news surfacing of other instances of sexual misconduct at CBS. In the latest revelation, CBS acknowledged that it reached a $9.5... Read More, Comment

Blow your nose, and you'll miss the split-second shot of a younger Donald Trump in "Vice," Adam McKay's exhaustingly entertaining (and entertainingly exhausting) Dick Cheney movie. But make no mistake: the filmmaker wants us to be thinking about Trump. What he's telling us — implicitly, then more obviously — is that if you're upset today about what you might see as, say, a brazen executive-branch power grab, well, that already happened — and pretty recently. It's just that we didn't really... Read More, Comment

It took "Aquaman" two and a half hours just to put a fancy trident in its hero's hands. Pawel Pawlikowski's latest, "Cold War," follows a doomed romance over 15 years and across much of mid-century Europe in a mere 88 minutes. And you're telling me the guy who can swim fast is the superhero? In two immaculate films in a row, Pawlikowski has put countless filmmakers to shame with his devastating concision. In his Oscar-winning and surprise arthouse smash "Ida" and now in "Cold War," Pawlikowski... Read More, Comment

The "Transformers" movie universe has lately been leaky and rusted out. It's become shorthand for bad blockbuster moviemaking — male-driven, mindless spectaculars with sophomoric humor. How can it be saved? Just hand the keys over to some talented women. "Bumblebee," the sixth film in the series, is a stand-alone origin story written with disarming skill by Christina Hodson and starring the gifted Hailee Steinfeld. It's a charming tale of a girl and her adorable car-robot, flipping the script... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" swung to the top of the domestic box office in its first weekend in theaters, proving that there is widespread audience interest in big screen animated versions of Marvel's marquee superheroes. The film led a host of newcomers that debuted to varying success on this pre-Christmas holiday weekend, including Clint Eastwood's drug smuggling drama "The Mule" and the Peter Jackson-produced epic "Mortal Engines" which bombed in North American theaters. "Into the... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Professional football — the lifeblood of live television this time of year — illustrated its dominance in the ratings this past week. Four NFL games finished among the Nielsen company’s 20 most popular primetime programs, with NBC’s Sunday night and Fox’s Thursday contests the top two. Both games featured Los Angeles teams. Add in three pre-game shows, and football accounted for seven of Nielsen’s entries. The games usually dwarf regular programming. For example, Fox drew 17.4 million to its... Read More, Comment

Directorial trio JEAN turned out this two-spot package promoting Lifetime’s holiday movies as part of the network’s ongoing “It’s a Wonderful Lifetime” campaign. Created and produced in-house by Lifetime, the package included this tug-at-the-heartstrings spot, “Action Figure,” which introduces us to a boy who never goes anywhere without his favorite toy--a soldier that is his constant companion and best friend. Whether he’s playing his clarinet in recital, riding his bicycle or playing catch... Read More, Comment

After capital investments this year in both on-mountain attractions (new summer rides, winter chairlifts) and off- (new retail area and restaurants), POWDR Corp., owner of Copper Mountain, Frisco, Colo., wanted those improvements known. So from this sprung a campaign, agency TDA_Boulder's first work for the new client touting the fun and recreation available at Copper Mountain. In this TV :30 titled “I! Miss You,” a video game avatar sheds a tear for his former teen gamer, Brad. The lad now... Read More, Comment

Conflicts are one of the leading causes of hunger affecting millions of people around the world. Six out of ten undernourished people live in regions impacted by conflict. Hunger itself is often used as a weapon of war against civilians. Bombing markets, blocking access to roads, poisoning wells, destroying farming lands are some of the war tactics used to starve and enslave entire populations. In light of this, in countries such as Yemen, Syria, Nigeria, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central... Read More, Comment

Bryan Rowland of Escape Velocity Content directed, shot and edited this tongue-in-cheek film for Aviation Gin featuring Ryan Reynolds who “explains” how the libation is created. It’s a message marked by humor with an attitude as we're shown what goes into every bottle. Read More, Comment

In this music video, Kool-Aid Man comes together with Grammy award-winning rapper Lil Jon to put a modern spin on a holiday track sure to liven up any gathering. The pairing was conceived by a creative ensemble at mcgarrybowen Chicago. Brad Bischoff of Club Paradise served as director and editor of the music clip which puts a new twist on the Xmas carol “All I Really Want for Christmas.” Read More, Comment

Among the latest work in Credit Karma’s “Here’s to progress” campaign out of Goodby Silverstein & Partners is this spot, “Reunion.” Directed by Rupert Sanders of MJZ, “Reunion” follows a man determined to show up to his reunion in something other than the car he drove in high school, as he uses Credit Karma’s Auto Hub to arrive in style. Actor Justin Theroux ( Maniac , The Leftovers and the future voice of Tramp in Disney’s upcoming remake of classic Lady and the Tramp ) is the storyteller... Read More, Comment

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