LOS ANGELES -- Intel brought the Sundance Film Festival and the Smithsonian to Los Angeles with a presentation kicking off the wrap day of the recently concluded 5th annual VRLA confab/expo (5/4-5) at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Among those featured in the session was writer-director Eliza McNitt who gave the VRLA audience a taste of her Spheres VR experience which rolled out earlier this year at the Sundance Film Festival. A three-part episodic journey through space and time produced by Darren... Read More, Comment

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Editor Jim Haygood of Union Editorial won the Best in Show this evening (5/10) at the 2018 AICE Awards for excellence in the postproduction arts. Haygood was recognized for his work on “Web of Fries” for Taco Bell, a parody movie trailer for a thriller starring actor Josh Duhamel that promoted the brand’s introduction of its Nacho Fries product. The spot, created by Deutsch, helped Haygood emerge as the most-awarded editor or postproduction artist at the show, winning four trophies: Best in... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France (AP) -- On the eve of the 71st Cannes Film Festival, the festival's director held an unscheduled press conference Monday to address the many issues roiling this year's gathering, from Cannes' feud with Netflix to the #MeToo movement to the banning of selfies on the red carpet. Thierry Fremaux, in lengthy, impassioned comments, promised that the festival — long known as a playground for disgraced producer Harvey Weinstein — would adapt to the world's shifting cultural landscape. "We want to keep pace... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France (AP) -- Forty-four years after his Cannes Film Festival debut, "Mean Streets," Martin Scorsese returned to the Croisette Wednesday to recall his breakthrough film, one he said he only understood years later. A day after declaring open the 71st Cannes with jury president Cate Blanchett, Scorsese joined a post-screening conversation for "Mean Streets," which played in Cannes' Directors Fortnight section in 1974. "This was the first time for me at Cannes," said Scorsese. "And it was almost the best... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France (AP) -- The 71st Cannes Film Festival is opening with the premiere of Asghar Farhadi's "Everybody Knows," starring Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, but much of the drama at this year's festival is off screen. The shadow of disgraced film mogul Harvey Weinstein is looming over this year's Cannes. For two decades, Weinstein had been an omnipresent figure at the festival, where several of his alleged sex crimes took place. This year, Cannes has established a hotline for sexual harassment victims at the... Read More, Comment

NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- The Television Academy announced the recipients of its 11th Annual Television Academy Honors, recognizing seven outstanding programs that have leveraged the dynamic power of television to inspire social change. The 2018 honorees were selected from a record number of submissions and represent some of the most meaningful and relevant series, programs and documentaries of the past year. The honorees are: Andi Mack, Daughters of Destiny, Forbidden: Undocumented & Queer in Rural America, Full... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Cannes Lions has announced the 20 participants taking part in this year’s See It Be It program, an increase of five participants on previous years. Now in its fifth year, the initiative aims to create a platform for women who face diversity challenges in the industry and enable them to become the drivers for change in their respective regions and throughout the industry by providing access to high-profile leaders, executive coaching and mentoring opportunities with senior figures from across... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Norwegian directing duo Matias & Mathias has garnered its first U.S. representation, signing with Epoch Films for spots and branded content. Matias Rygh and Mathias Eriksen met in school at the age of 16 and have been friends and collaborators ever since. Their foray into filmmaking began with skate films, which is where they started developing their craft, but it was their dark, visually driven narrative shorts that caught the attention of a producer in Oslo and landed them their first... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Chromista--the production house founded by Oscar-nominated ( Black Swan ) director Darren Aronofsky and partners/producers Scott Franklin, Sandy Haddad and Ted Robbins--has signed writer and director Eliza McNitt for commercial representation. Earlier this year writer/director McNitt’s VR series Spheres , a three-part episodic journey through space and time produced by Aronofsky and Ari Handel through Aronofsky’s company Protozoa, made history at the Sundance Film Festival when it became the... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Production and management company Anonymous Content has signed director Marco Prestini for commercial representation in North America. Prestini’s poetic visual style marks a body of work that spans award-winning fashion films, music videos, and commercials for brands including BMW, Vogue and UNIQLO. The winner of a Gold Cannes Young Director Award for his “Star* Back Home” campaign for Italian luxury brand Golden Goose, Prestini has had work screened at the 2017 Milan Fashion Film Festival and... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has announced Google as the Creative Marketer of the Year 2018. The award honors brands that distinguish themselves through consistently outstanding creative storytelling. This year, Google is recognized for embracing creativity across their brand marketing, the application of new technology to creating effective campaigns, and inclusive storytelling. The Cannes Lions honor will be collected by Google’s chief marketing officer, Lorraine... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Global creative agency Kirshenbaum, Bond, Senecal & Partners (KBS) has appointed Christine Austin to serve as its executive director of creative services. In this newly created role, Austin will be responsible for talent management, resourcing and creative culture initiatives across all projects. Reporting to global chief production officer Madison Wharton, Austin will work closely with creative and talent leadership in KBS’ New York office. An industry veteran, Austin has worked in New... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Directing duo Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard has joined PRETTYBIRD for commercials and branded content in the U.K. The signing comes as the directors’ “The Dali and The Cooper,” the new episode of anthology comedy series Urban Myths , recently debuted on the Sky Arts network. “The Dali and The Cooper” reimagines one day in 1973 when musician Alice Cooper met mythical artist Salvador Dali backstage after a gig in New York as part of his "Billion Dollar Babies" Tour. "The Dali and The Cooper" is... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- ModOp Films has evolved into MOR and added directors Bram Coppens and Raphael Dias to its roster. Developed by EPs Rossi Cannon, Steve Schofield and creative technologist David Cullipher, the company focuses on producing brand-supported engagements, from advertising campaigns to immersive experiences. Understanding a brand’s audience and core value is central to MOR’s approach--one that blends creativity and analytics to deliver impact. MOR features a talent pool of creative, directors,... Read More, Comment

BENTONVILLE, Arkansas -- Director Jenna Laurenzo’s Lez Bomb won the juried Best Narrative Film Award while Miss Arizona from director Autumn McAlpin scored top Narrative distinction in the Audience Award competition at the fourth annual Bentonville Film Festival. Winners were announced during an awards gala on Saturday (5/5) at the Crystal Bridges American Museum of Art. Co-founded by Oscar winner Gennea Davis and Inclusion Companies CEO Trevor Drinkwater, The Bentonville Fest champions inclusion across all forms of... Read More, Comment

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) -- A Delaware bankruptcy judge said Tuesday that she will approve a private equity firm's purchase of the Weinstein Co., the studio forced into bankruptcy by the sexual misconduct scandal that brought down Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein. Judge Mary Walrath gave her approval after Dallas-based Lantern Capital emerged last week as the sole qualifying bidder for the company. Lantern offered to pay $310 million in cash for the Weinstein Co.'s assets and to assume $127 million in project-related debt... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Post-apocalyptic productions have proliferated in recent years just like the cliches around them. A human-made disaster occurs, survivors turn on each other and audiences go on dark journeys with little hope. "The Rain," a new, original young adult series released Friday by Netflix, certainly adopts some of these motifs but it tells the story of an environmental catastrophe through the eyes of Danish teens and other young people in Scandinavia where, unlike the United States, high-powered... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France (AP) -- At the Cannes Film Festival on Thursday, filmmaker Ryan Coogler reflected on the historic sensation of "Black Panther" and the changes he hopes it might effect on the movie business. Noting that Hollywood theories can't be challenged "if you don't have anything that disproves it," Coogler said in a conversation on stage that he hopes "Black Panther" is the groundbreaking force many say it is, disproving the old myths that black films "don't travel overseas." "I just hope that changes. It's got... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France (AP) -- The Cannes Film Festival opening-night premiere of Iranian director Asghar Farhadi's "Everybody Knows" coincided almost exactly with President Trump's announced withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal. For Farhadi, the multi-Oscar winner and one of the foremost filmmakers in international cinema, Trump's declaration colored the celebration with a familiar melancholy. In 2017, he boycotted the Academy Awards where his "The Salesman" won best foreign language film in protest of Trump's travel ban... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Disney is seeking new frontiers. The media company launched its $5-a-month sports streaming service, ESPN Plus, last month, and it signed a deal with Twitter this month to create Marvel, ABC and ESPN content on that service. Meanwhile, Disney is trying to buy much of 21st Century Fox, including the Fox television network and the X-Men movie franchise. The moves come as Disney seeks ways to extend beyond the traditional cable-bundle format as more people watch TV online. Sports network ESPN was... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- If Lesley Manville's Oscar-nominated portrayal of an icy, unyielding family gatekeeper in "Phantom Thread" sent shivers down your spine, "Mum" is the antidote. In the U.K. sitcom available on streaming service BritBox, Manville plays the polar opposite of her film role, a gentle soul with never a harsh word to say. It's further proof of the actress' shape-shifting artistry that has made her a favorite of top directors and actors. Let's name drop: Daniel Day-Lewis, the triple Oscar-winning star... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- The Golden Trailer Awards, the entertainment industry’s annual celebration acknowledging the most outstanding achievements in motion picture and television marketing, has unveiled the nominees in the 19th annual competition that is devoted to recognizing the artistry of film marketers and companies that create movie trailers, commercials and posters worldwide. Evelyn Watters, Golden Trailer Awards executive director, announced the 2018 nominees along with the show’s EP Monica Brady. GTA 19 will... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Technicolor’s Academy Award winning VFX studio, Mill Film, will open a new facility in Montréal, Québec with operations starting in the summer of 2018. The announcement comes in the wake of the February launch of Mill Film in Adelaide, Australia, and is an indication of the global expansion of Mill Film. Mill Film, which received an Academy Award for best visual effects for the movie Gladiator in 2001, will service clients not addressed today by existing Technicolor VFX brands--including MPC... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Oscar-winning film editor Anne V. Coates, widely considered one of the greatest in her field whose many credits include such disparate works as "Lawrence of Arabia," ''The Elephant Man" and "Fifty Shades of Grey," has died. She was 92. A representative from Coates' talent agency WME Entertainment said Wednesday that she passed away Tuesday at the Motion Picture Country Home and Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. The niece of British film mogul J. Arthur Rank, she tried to break into the... Read More, Comment

ROCHESTER, NY & LOS ANGELES -- Spike Lee, Hirokazu Koreeda, and Alice Rohrwacher, among others, will compete for the Palme d’Or at the 71st annual Cannes Film Festival. Their latest films, all shot on KODAK film, will make their debut at Cannes. A total of thirteen films--captured on KODAK 35mm or 16mm Motion Picture Film stock--are in the Official Selection category this year. The Official Selection-- Films Shot on Film at Cannes 2018 In Competition “Ash is the Purest White” (35mm/ hybrid), directed by Zhangke Jia, produced... Read More, Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats on the House intelligence committee have released more than 3,500 Facebook ads that were created or promoted by a Russian internet agency, providing the fullest picture yet of Russia's attempt to sow racial and political division in the United States before and after the 2016 election. Most of the ads are issue-based, pushing arguments for and against immigration, LGBT issues and gun rights, among other issues. A large number of them attempt to stoke racial divisions by mentioning... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- As it heads toward the end of another season, CBS’ “The Big Bang Theory” has regained its familiar spot at the top of the television rankings. The CBS comedy was seen by nearly 13 million people last week, the Nielsen company said. The revived “Rosanne,” which has created a sensation since returning to the air on ABC this spring, slipped to fourth in last week’s ratings, with an audience of 10.43 million viewers last Tuesday. CBS’ “NCIS” was the second most-popular show of the week for the... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After breaking opening weekend records, "Avengers: Infinity War" continued to dominate in its second weekend in theaters, but alternative programming like the romantic comedy "Overboard" also found an audience in what has historically been considered the "official" kick-off to the summer movie season. The Walt Disney Co. said Sunday that "Avengers: Infinity War" will gross an estimated $112.5 million from North American theaters over the weekend, becoming the second highest grossing film in... Read More, Comment

The Hospital do Câncer de Barretos, a Brazilian treatment center for in children with cancer, has been renamed the “Hospital do Amor” (“Hospital of Love”) to promote love as the most effective resource in fighting the illness. To publicize the rebranding, Brazilian advertising agency WMcCann created a three-minute 3D-animated film showing the devastating challenges a child faces in receiving a cancer diagnosis and beginning the intrusive and treatment process, as well as the impact on her... Read More, Comment

This short film directed by Nicolas Galoux for TBWA/Paris (and produced by TBWA\ELSE) introduces us to a burn victim who enjoys going to the movies. But he is in the theater only when the lights are off, meaning he arrives late and leaves early. Thus he never sees how the movie ends. For him the silver lining is that he’s never disappointed by the ending of a movie because he simply imagines the ending the way he would like things to turn out. Most importantly, at least for the time he’s in a... Read More, Comment

In the year 2030, Peter Pan returns as a righteous hero defending Neverland from Hook who monopolizes technologies. But with the aid of Kia, Peter makes sure that everyone--not just the privileged few--can benefit from new technologies in the not-too-distant future. Directed by Philippe André (who’s on the roster of production house Skunk), this three-minute epic tale, Peter Returns , is the centerpiece of a Kia Motors campaign produced by Markenfilm for agency Innocean . Read More, Comment

Bryan Buckley of production house Hungry Man directed this Nissan Europe spot promoting environmental conservation and starring Margot Robbie, a Best Leading Actress Oscar nominee this year for her tour de force portrayal of Tonya Harding in I, Tonya . Robbie is seen surfing as others are also out and about enjoying the sun, sand and sea. She notes that ecological change starts with individual decisions--and that the power is in us to affect positive change for this and future generations. One... Read More, Comment

Joan Creative devised this campaign for confectionery brand Black Forest that introduces us to The People of The Black Forest--a previously unknown civilization, nestled in the verdant green forest, who have built a community around harvesting land fertile with deliciously juicy gummies and fruit flavored snacks. Through the reverence and traditions of the people of The Black Forest, the “So Juicy, Ja!” campaign showcases what makes Black Forest so special--deliciously juicy products made with... Read More, Comment