Industry Features

Independent film producer Ryan M. Murphy just got back to Vancouver to commence two film productions.

The idea that Cannes is telling filmmakers like Alfonso Cuarón and Paul Greengrass to take their new movies elsewhere is mind-boggling to me. It’s not like Netflix is offering the festival a bunch of Adam Sandler movies. No, the streaming service is offering Cannes the cream of their crop, so to speak, and yet, somehow, that still isn’t good enough.

Multiple WGA members are lobbying for an “Additional Writing By” credit section, naming everyone who had a hand in a film’s screenplay. The general concept behind this is that, if you were hired to write and you wrote, you should get credit for that work, whether or not said work was used. But is that really a good idea?

While insiders have denied that a deal is in the works, one would make sense since Apple is preparing to make a formidable entrance into Hollywood production, and it could use a library to build around.

“Steven Spielberg doesn’t think that Netflix movies should be eligible for Oscars. So would Spielberg, who has been such an enormous supporter of the #MeToo movement, begrudge Mudbound cinematographer Rachel Morrison her history-making nomination? In the words of my therapist, ‘there’s a lot to unpack here,'” writes Neil Turitz.

East Coast Editor Edward Douglas opines about the fact that sometimes having too many options means you’ll never have time to watch some of the less-publicized content.

“Sure, awards season is a horrible slog and the Oscars always last longer than they should, but honestly, I can’t help myself. I’m like the Grinch who has a heart two sizes too small at the beginning of the show, but by the time Best Picture has been handed out, it has grown three full sizes,” writes Neil Turitz.

“Paramount made the Heathers pilot available to critics online after the Parkland shooting two weeks ago. Early reviews were not kind, to say the least, so when Paramount made the announcement about delaying the premiere, it raised more than a few eyebrows,” writes Neil Turitz.

The sad truth is, this town is full of predators eager to prey on your dreams, knowing full well how many people will do anything for a job in showbiz. For Harvey Weinstein and those like him, that meant sex in exchange. For others, like this cowardly scammer, that means money. Just know that you don’t need to give up either for a job,” writes Neil Turitz.

“Hollywood is facing such an interesting backlash that is simultaneously creating a flashforward that’s catapulting rising stars like Daniela [Vega] onto the center stage,” writes Sabrina Cognata.

“You have to wonder if these Netflix numbers are, in a sense, an effort by Nielsen to justify its own continued existence. All the way back to 1950, the Nielsen company has tracked TV viewership, and has become synonymous with the medium. But as that medium changes, the company has struggled to keep up,” writes Neil Turitz.

The Oscar-nominated superstar hasn’t made a studio film since 2013’s animated The Croods, so is there a way for Cage to climb his way back to the top of the ladder?

“If we’re using Jodie Foster’s metaphor, and Black Panther is part of the theme park that Hollywood has become, then it’s one of the best rides — the kind that leaves you wanting more,” writes Neil Turitz.

“It’s not the most ridiculous idea that Sony would go looking for more comic book IP, but the way it’s going about it is what feels so misguided, and until someone explains to me the value of an IP that has no popular recognition, I will continue to be baffled,” writes Neil Turitz.

With a clever marketing campaign that perhaps distributed DNA and paternity tests to people, thus getting them talking and maybe even laughing, the studio behind Father Figures might’ve had a conversation starter on its hands, rather than an underwhelming movie,” writes Neil Turitz.

Having more immediate success with its Emmy-winning television series, many in their third, fourth and fifth seasons, will Netflix’s decision to release so much content on a weekly basis end up hurting the brand?

“It also was that rare moment when Netflix actually spent some serious money to push one of its movies, which might just suggest a change in thinking for the streaming service. That being the spending of money to do any marketing at all,” writes Neil Turitz.

“DMG boss Dan Mintz has no interest in comic book publishing. He sees it as a sort of ghetto art, and is focused solely on turning the company into an output factory for the big and small screens, rather than focusing on the publishing entity that gave the company its value in the first place,” writes Neil Turitz.

The Australian filmmaker returns with two very different movies, one a period spy-thriller starring Paul Rudd as Moe Berg, the other a more contemporary dramedy starring Dakota Fanning. The latter is now in theaters and On Demand.

“I’ve spoken to a few people who don’t believe that Maria Contreras-Sweet and her team will be able to pull it off, but the industry will be behind her, as there’s nothing that Hollywood loves more than a happy ending,” writes Neil Turitz.

“Selling a cinematic property to a buyer who has no chance of recouping an investment. These kinds of things happen all day every day here, and this is just the most obvious and blatant one this week,” writes Neil Turitz.

“The longer Apple waits to reveal the specifics of its distribution plan, the more the company risks getting the short end of the stick from both the creative community, and audiences who will have already committed their annual entertainment budget elsewhere,” writes Neil Turitz.

“I’ve seen an alarming number of complaints from paid subscribers who either did not receive their cards in a timely fashion, or received inoperable cards. MoviePass also has an issue with customer service, in that it appears to be basically nonexistent,” writes Neil Turitz.

The studio’s movies grossed $5.1 billion worldwide in 2017, but when you’re spending over $4 billion to accomplish that, and you have significant money losers like King Arthur and Geostorm sprinkled in among the smash hits, you’re simply not doing as well as you could,” writes Neil Turitz.

In the past couple years, making sequels years even decades after their popular predecessors has proven to be folly for anyone involved. And yet, 2018 offers more than a couple sequels being released an insanely long time after the original movies.

The only prediction we’re willing to make at this time is that The Florida Project star Brooklynn Prince is going to stay up late dancing the night away.

The Spanish actor has been making a series of bad thrillers and action films for Saban Films and Lionsgate Premiere lately, killing any credibility he had as a serious theatrical draw in the ’90s.

With the success of this year’s Girls Trip and 2013’s The Best Man Holiday, the director has set himself up to direct even bigger movies through his deal with Universal.

Playing the manager of a run-down Orlando motel is the culmination of an amazing career of film roles for the twice Oscar-nominated actor.

Names like Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford and Jack Warner come to mind for the inaugural class, just to name five people who were integral to the birth and growth of the medium.