Thompson on Hollywood

Sundance 2012 Winner 'Valley of Saints' Goes to 108 Media / Paladin for Worldwide Rights

News

108 Media/Paladin has picked up worldwide rights to "Valley of Saints," winner of Sundance 2012's Audience Award and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Feature Film Prize. The film, directed by Musa Syeed, played over fifty major festivals around the world and is now nominated for an Indie Spirit Award for Best Cinematography.

By Sophia Savage
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January 28, 2013 1:48 PM
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Scandinavian Directors Form Creative Alliance for Six English-Language Films; Thomas Vinterberg and Lone Scherfig On Board

News

Six Scandinavian directors, including Lone Scherfig ("An Education") and Thomas Vinterberg ("The Hunt"), have joined forces to form the co-op Creative Alliance. The alliance will serve as a development company for each director to make a film in English for the international marketplace.

By Beth Hanna
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January 28, 2013 1:36 PM
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Warner Bros. Chooses Studio Chief from Digital Ranks: Meet the New Boss, Tsujihara

News

Hollywood's biggest film and television studio, Warner Bros., has a tradition of hanging onto its chairmen for a long time. For two decades after Ted Ashley left the studio in 1980, Terry Semel and Bob Daly ran the TV and move divisions. TV exec Barry Meyer took over as studio chairman in 1999, with Alan Horn and various production chiefs running the motion pictures group, most recently--and effectively--15-year Warners vet Jeff Robinov.

By Anne Thompson
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January 28, 2013 1:30 PM
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Slamdance Winners 2013: 'Dirties,' 'Hank and Asha,' 'Bible Quiz,' 'My Name is Faith' and More

Festivals

Winners of the 19th Slamdance Film Festival are announced below. Audience and Grand Jury prizes were given to feature and short films at the Park City festival. Slamdance's Peter Baxter states, "We are pleased to be celebrating these extraordinary films from this year's truly powerful slate of vanguard cinema."

By Sophia Savage
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January 28, 2013 12:46 PM
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Norah Jones to Perform Nominated Song from 'Ted' at the Oscars, with Lyrics by Host Seth MacFarlane

Awards

Singer-songwriter Norah Jones will perform "Everybody Needs a Best Friend" from the comedy "Ted" at the Oscars on February 24. The song is nominated for Best Original Song, and features lyrics by host Seth MacFarlane, who wrote, directed and voice-acted in "Ted."

By Beth Hanna
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January 28, 2013 12:40 PM
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Steven Soderbergh Talks Retirement, Being a Responsible Filmmaker, His Two Films He's Satisfied With, and More

Interviews

Steven Soderbergh recently sat down with Vulture for a lengthy interview to discuss his impending retirement from filmmaking, being a responsible director, the one note of direction he gave to Matthew McConaughey for "Magic Mike," the two films he's made that he's satisfied with, and much more. Highlights below.

By Beth Hanna
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January 28, 2013 11:49 AM
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Trailers from Hell: John Landis on 'Road to Morocco'

Video

Comedy Classics! week begins at Trailers from Hell today with director John Landis introducing 1942's "Road to Morocco," starring Bing Crosby and Bob Hope.

By Trailers From Hell
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January 28, 2013 10:57 AM
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SAG Awards: With Critics Choice, Globes, PGA and SAG Wins, 'Argo' Now Challenges 'Lincoln' (VIDEO)

Awards

Ben Affleck accepted the Modern Master Award at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival Friday night, and at the after party, grilled me about where "Argo" stood in the Oscar race. A lot of people thought the movie might win the Producers Guild's top award Saturday, and so it did. But few expected it to also win the SAG Ensemble Award--that was supposed to be a win for "Lincoln" or Harvey Weinstein's "Silver Linings Playbook."

By Anne Thompson
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January 27, 2013 11:24 PM
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'Girls' Recap 3: 'Bad Friend,' or the One Where Hannah Does Lots of Coke

Television

Aspiring writers are often encouraged to write about their own experiences, a tactic that “Girls” creator and star Lena Dunham uses frequently. But sometimes, when a young writer doesn’t feel she or he has “lived” enough, an experience is contrived with the sole intention of then writing about it. Enter Hannah Horvath’s insane night on cocaine.

By Beth Hanna
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January 27, 2013 9:30 PM
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Arthouse Audit: VOD Vet 'John Dies at the End' Scores, 'Quartet' Builds

Box Office

The contrast between the fevered buying at the just completed Sundance and the pace of business, particularly for new openings, at specialized theaters was fairly stark this weekend. Among those new films reporting grosses, each opened in only one city (two in New York, one in Los Angeles), all getting a least some sampling among initial viewers.