LOS ANGELES -- A Quiet Place (Paramount Pictures) got cinematographer Charlotte Bruus Christensen to think about audio in a way she hadn’t before--and it’s a lesson she plans on carrying over to her future exploits, even when sound isn’t as inherently integral as it was to this particular film’s storyline. Set in a post-apocalyptic, not-too-distant future, A Quiet Place is where mysterious creatures hunt people based on the slightest of sounds. John Krasinski--who directed and co-wrote the feature--and Emily... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES & WESTPORT, CT -- The SHOOT stories that generated the most engagement (clicks to view) in 2018 delved into subject matter such as a documentary featuring the last on-camera interview with the late ski filmmaker Warren Miller to an inside look at the Emmy-contending Starz series Outlander , the news that Procter & Gamble’s poignant “The Talk” had won the primetime commercial Emmy Award, backstory on a quarterly Top Ten Tracks Chart #1 entry, edit shop Uppercut entering into a partnership with VFX studio ZERO... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES & WESTPORT, CT -- Stirring public service fare, comedy and GEICO were prevalent in the 10 most viewed SHOOT videos of 2018. Also included in the mix were a music video benefiting Jamaican bobsledders, a feel-good commercial for the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, and a Nike spot in the continuing “Just Do It” campaign. A gun reform PSA generated the most views this year. It came from a unique vantage point--that of military veterans. Writer/director and veteran Kyle Hausmann-Stokes teamed with producer Ellen Utrecht... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Christian Bale had a choice to make. He'd been hemming and hawing about Adam McKay's very unconventional proposition that he play Dick Cheney in a biopic about the former vice president of the United States, and his deadline to decide was coming up. "I thought it was going to be impossible. I also didn't want to do that much work," Bale said recently in Beverly Hills. "I just thought, 'this is going to be a lot of work!' Like, 'Do you realize how difficult this is going to be? I don't really... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Ruth Bader Ginsburg film "On the Basis of Sex" was about to fall apart when Felicity Jones got her hands on the script. The origin story about the future Supreme Court justice written by Ginsburg's nephew Daniel Stiepleman had been in various stages of development since 2012, looking for the right star (Natalie Portman was originally attached), the right director (Mimi Leder could only do it after finishing the third season of the HBO show "The Leftovers") and the right time to finally hit... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Playing Oliver Hardy, the large comic with the even larger persona, was a burden that became a mission for John C. Reilly. The actor had early misgivings about becoming the man whose legendary partnership with Stan Laurel is explored in "Stan & Ollie," which will be released Friday in the United States by Sony Pictures Classics. "It was a pretty terrifying prospect," Reilly said earlier this month after learning the role had earned him a Golden Globe nomination. "Those are some very big... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The name Joanna Kulig might not ring a bell for the majority of American moviegoers, but that could all change in the coming weeks with the theatrical expansion of "Cold War." The Polish drama from "Ida" director Pawel Pawlikowski about a singer, Zula (Kulig) and a musician, Wiktor (Tomasz Kot), "doomed" to love one another has made Kulig someone-to-watch on the international stage. With a timeless movie star quality that only comes along every so often, Kulig has been compared to everyone from... Read More, Comment

If you simply can't get enough Ruth Bader Ginsburg, these last few years have been glorious — a Tumblr account, T-shirts and totes with her face, "Saturday Night Live" parodies, a workout book and a CNN documentary. This year — marking the Notorious R.B.G.'s 25th anniversary on the Supreme Court — will end with another reason to cheer the feminist icon: The feature film "On the Basis of Sex." Felicity Jones steps into the role of Ginsburg but this adoring biography ends well before she is sworn... Read More, Comment

There are lot of movies in theaters right now trying to grab your attention, and dollars, from big superhero spectacles and musical extravaganzas to awards darlings and wannabes. It's easy to get overwhelmed with the options in the multiplex (and, frankly, at home) and when something like, say, a late-career Laurel and Hardy biopic comes along, you'd be forgiven for thinking it easy to dismiss, or at least put off for a little while. But I'm here to tell you not to sleep on "Stan & Ollie... Read More, Comment

A different Nicole Kidman stares out at us under the harsh Los Angeles sun of the neo-noir "Destroyer." The actress who famously donned a prosthetic nose for "The Hours" has here gone to greater and grittier lengths of transformation. Her eyes are sunken. Her skin is hardened. Her stare is provocatively hollow. She looks dead inside — nearly so on the outside, too. Such metamorphoses have long been standbys of Oscar seasons both past (Charlize Theron in "Monster") and present (Christian Bale in... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Comcast Cable Advertising, a division of Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:CMCSA), has launched the next phase of Blockgraph, an industry initiative designed to create a secure way to use data and share information. Comcast is now working with other industry partners on this initiative, including Viacom and Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales division of Charter Communications, Inc., in a collaborative effort that will facilitate the secure exchange of privacy-compliant audience insights for... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- After a year like this, Netflix shows no signs of chilling. The dominant online video streamer started 2018 with almost 118 million subscribers, went on to win its first feature-film Oscar, briefly surpassed Disney as the most valuable U.S. media company, lured the likes of superstar show runners Shonda Rhimes, Kenya Barris and Ryan Murphy — not to mention Barack and Michelle Obama — and is expected to end the year with 146 million subscribers and a likely best picture Oscar nominee in "Roma."... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif.(AP) -- A look at the biggest box-office hits and flops of 2018: HIT: "Black Panther": On a budget of $210 million, Ryan Coogler's superhero film — the first to feature a predominantly black cast — grossed more than $700 million domestically (third highest all-time, not accounting for inflation) and $1.3 billion worldwide. It became the first movie to top the weekend box office five times in a row since "Avatar." MISS: "Solo: A Star Wars Story": Not everything Disney did in 2018 was perfect; "The... Read More, Comment

DALLAS -- The heads of prominent Dallas and North Texas Film Festivals announced their selections for the Top Ten Films of 2018 with Ryan Coogler’s Black Panther , Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma , and John Krasinski’s A Quiet Place taking the top three spots among films released in 2018. Justina Walford (artistic director, Women Texas Film Festival), Michael Cain (director, EARTHxFilm), and Alex Garcia Topete (director of programming, Festival de Cine Latino Americano of North Texas) revealed the list of films... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Atomic Fiction (which was acquired by Deluxe Entertainment in July and then made part of Method Studios) handled the lion’s share of VFX shots for Welcome to Marwen (Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Pictures) which is based on the true story of Mark Hogancamp (Steve Carell), who, after a violent attack that shatters his body and memories, heals himself through the power of his artistic imagination. He creates a meticulous 1/6th scale town, Marwen, which he populates with doll alter-egos of... Read More, Comment

BELLEVUE, Wash. (AP) -- The young men sit in chairs in a circle in a small meeting room in suburban Seattle and introduce themselves before they speak. It is much like any other 12-step meeting — but with a twist. "Hi, my name is," each begins. Then something like, "and I'm an internet and tech addict." The eight who've gathered here are beset by a level of tech obsession that's different than it is for those of us who like to say we're addicted to our phones or an app or some new show on a streaming video service... Read More, Comment

BOSTON (AP) -- Kevin Spacey is scheduled to be arraigned next month on allegations he sexually assaulted the teenage son of a Boston television anchor in a restaurant, a Massachusetts prosecutor said Monday. The Academy Award-winning actor, 59, is due in Nantucket District Court on Jan. 7 to face a charge of indecent assault and battery, Cape and Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe said. A criminal complaint was issued by a clerk magistrate at a hearing Thursday, he said. Shortly after the charge became... Read More, Comment

Terry Bradshaw thought his career as a football analyst was over in 1993 when CBS lost the NFL rights to Fox. But instead of going back to cattle ranching, he has had a front-row seat to the biggest sports broadcasting startup of the past quarter-century. "It seems like an eternity. We all have occasionally talked about where we started. We've had all of these innovations that has transformed broadcasting on television," Bradshaw said. It was Bradshaw who helped usher in Fox's coverage of the... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The 16-year-old charmer who conquered “The Voice” with her old-school country touch helped boost NBC to a weekly ratings win. Nearly 10 million viewers watched Chevel Shepherd win the singing contest, making it last week’s most popular entertainment show. Shepherd, of Farmington, New Mexico, was coached by another talent show discovery: inaugural “American Idol” victor Kelly Clarkson. Football once again proved its ratings dominance, with broadcast and cable games and pre- or post-game shows... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- In a flood of new releases, "Aquaman" easily swam past "Mary Poppins Returns" and "Bumblebee" to lead the busy pre-Christmas weekend with an estimated $67.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates Sunday. Without a "Star Wars" film on the December schedule for the first time in four years, a crowded slate of films sought to capitalize on the lucrative holiday period in theaters. The DC Comics superhero film "Aquaman," which cost Warner Bros. $200 million to make, arrived already... Read More, Comment

At the heart of the “Every journey makes you stronger” campaign for the Mercedes-Benz GLE SUV is this nearly five-minute film In the long run , a modern family story about a strong woman and mother who is training hard for her dream: taking part in her first ever triathlon. With support from her husband she fights to her physical and mental limits and finally manages to participate in the race. But despite all this success there is an event from her past which is always with her like a dark... Read More, Comment

The new “Animals are not Christmas gifts” spot is based on the PETA Deutschland campaign “Abandoned after Christmas.” To illustrate the problem of pets being discarded after Christmas, PETA and German ad agency Serviceplan Campaign International created a dog silhouette including a leash fashioned from numerous holiday lights, which is “abandoned” in various places in Hamburg. In order to clarify the message behind the silhouette, places were selected where animals are commonly abandoned, such... Read More, Comment

Production house Glassworks Amsterdam and German agency Serviceplan Campaign were among those teaming on “Christmas Doesn’t Need Much, Only Love,” a seasonal film for German discount supermarket chain Penny. The online film mixing live action and 3D animation has had a big impact in Germany where it’s generated more than 22 million views, including 14.95 million YouTube views. Today the film is released globally. Featuring a single mother who cannot make her son’s wishes come true because she... Read More, Comment

For its new winter sale campaign, U.K. furniture retailer DFS has partnered with The LEGO Movie 2 . This TV and online ad shows the characters of the Warner Bros. blockbuster animation feature embarking on a mission to find themselves some comfy sofas and, in their words, “save our butts.” Created by London agency krow, the spot opens with key characters from the movie--LEGO Batman, Sweet Mayhem, Unikitty, Benny, Lucy and Emmet--piling on to a small uncomfortable sofa. Led by Emmet, their quest... Read More, Comment

London ad agency Brothers & Sisters has launched a campaign for property website Zoopla, introducing two CGI animated characters created by Oscar-winning studio Aardman--Jess and Debs, two humorous hermit crabs who are navigating the real estate market. It is the first work Brothers & Sisters has produced since all of the sister brands--Zoopla, uSwitch, Prime Location and Money.co.uk--were consolidated into the agency earlier this year. The agency was briefed to make Zoopla the obvious... Read More, Comment

Three tech nerds are at a tech convention-type event where they marvel over TurboTax incorporating a live CPA into their software. Titled “Tech Showcase,” this spot is part of a campaign from Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. Randy Krallman of Smuggler directed “Tech Showcase.” Read More, Comment

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