PARANORMAL ACTIVITY SOCIAL MEDIA SUCCESS CASE STUDY

Social Media Case Study: How a $15,000 horror movie made more than $7 million with help of Twitter and Facebook

Late Bloomer - Official selection at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, Late Bloomer is a compelling and humorous short film about 7th grade sex ed class gone horribly wrong. Loosely based on the dark tales of H.P. Lovecraft.

▶ Late Bloomer - Short Film - Sundance Film Festival - YouTube

James Bond’s golden anniversary moment in the spotlight hasn’t ended yet. The twenty-third film in the spy series, Skyfall, is still counting the cash, bringing home a total of $669 million so far (with a budget of $200 million).

10 Low-Budget Films That Became Unexpected Hits – Flavorwire

Website Pajiba recently surveyed 007′s place amongst the most expensive movies of all time, and the titles aren’t entirely surprising, but the numbers are indeed outrageous. The comprehensive list got us thinking about the opposite end of the spectrum: low-budget films that became unexpected hits. Success is subjective, and we’ve measured each movie by its cult likability and by the numbers (not adjusted for inflation). Click through for more movies made on the cheap that became big, and tell us your favorites.

Altitude to present 'Blood Mountain' project to buyers at European Film Market in Berlin

Benedict Cumberbatch to Star in ‘Blood Mountain’ (EXCLUSIVE) | Variety

LONDON — Benedict Cumberbatch has been attached to star in the thriller “Blood Mountain,” which Altitude Film Sales will be shopping to international buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. UTA Independent Film Group is repping North American rights.  Sergei Bodrov (“Mongol,” “Seventh Son”) will direct, and Lawrence Bender (“Pulp Fiction,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Kill Bill”), Nicola Horlick and James Gibb are producing. Jonathan W. Stokes penned the original script, with revisions by John Romano.

Illinois is home to a thriving film industry with a nationally renowned crew base, actors, and industry vendors. Illinois offers an aggressive 30% Film Tax Credit and is the only US State to have a diversity provision as part of its tax credit.

Film: Welcome to The Illinois Film Office

Welcome to The Illinois Film Office

Illinois is a world class film destination!  Check out our locations, from the beautiful, iconic Chicago skyline and 58 mile lakefront to the gritty back alleys and unique historic neighborhoods.  Illinois boasts breathtaking natural vistas, rivers, prairies, industrial centers, picturesque farmland and small towns seemingly frozen in time.

Illinois is home to a thriving film industry with a nationally renowned crew base, actors, and industry vendors.  Illinois offers an aggressive 30% Film Tax Credit and is the only US State to have a diversity provision as part of its tax credit.

Contact us for expert assistance on locations, housing, and tax credit, casting and crew hotlines to help make your creative vision a reality.

‘Insurgent’ production expected to start in spring.

‘Insurgent’ Script Getting Polished by Akiva Goldsman | Variety

Akiva Goldsman has come on board to work on the script for Lionsgate’s “Insurgent,” the sequel to its upcoming “Divergent.”  Brian Duffield worked on the initial script for “Insurgent,” set to open March 20, 2015.  Variety reported last month that “Divergent” director Neil Burger will not helm “Insurgent” and no director has been hired yet. Burger is currently in post-production for “Divergent,” starring Shailene Woodley, for a March 21 release.

Tell it again, tell it again! The Power of Story.

Rediscovering the Power of Story: One Actor, Making Magic | Monica Bauer

Underneath all the tech wizardry of Broadway, the glitter and glitz and high kicks and special effects, there is just story. And sometimes, story is what we really crave. Children first learn to love literature when someone tells them a story for the first time. And then, the endless pleas; "Tell it again! Tell it again!"

Strip away the spectacle and the snow, and Sundance is all about one thing: movies.

What to watch: our favorite movies of the 2014 Sundance Film Festival | The Verge

For its 30th anniversary year, the film festival debuted an incredibly diverse selection of titles, ranging from the funny to the violent to the just outright odd. Below we’ve collected some of the films we liked the most so you know exactly what to look out for in the year ahead.

Adam Rosenfelt, a film producer and president of Element Pictures with more than 15 feature films to his credit, including “Mr. Brooks” and “Waiting,” wants to create Mississippix Studios, based in Jackson.

Updated: Movie producer Adam Rosenfelt wants to open major film studio in Jackson | The Clarion-Ledger | clarionledger.com

Mississippi is set to land a major motion picture company, with at least $100 million in private investment, and potentially revolutionize the state film incentives game – all because of a baby who couldn’t sleep and the beauty of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

The blockbuster has grossed $462M overseas and trails only “Finding Nemo” as Disney’s highest-grossing original animated movie ever

'Frozen' Passes 'The Lion King' With $810 Million at Global Box Office - TheWrap

Disney’s animated “Frozen” continues to be a box-office avalanche, and crossed the $800 million mark at the global box office this weekend.  The 3D tale of two princess sisters added $20.2 million from abroad and another $9 million domestically, to raise its worldwide total to $810 million since opening at Thanksgiving.  That pushes “Frozen” past “The Lion King’ and makes it Disney’s second-highest non-sequel animated release ever, behind only “Finding Nemo,” and the seventh-highest of all time. It has taken in $462 million internationally and $347 million domestically after 10 weeks in release.

This six-second animation short is better than most studio movies. Screw the Grammys. The only thing I want to see tonight is this tiny short by Wayne Unten showing the imagined takeoff of Olivia Wright in 1903, "the first to pilot the great grasshoppers of North America."

This six-second animation short is better than most studio movies

Director Quentin Tarantino has filed a lawsuit against Gawker Media for copyright infringement.

Quentin Tarantino files lawsuit a week after script leak - NBC News.com

A week after declaring he would no longer make his next film "The Hateful Eight" because someone in his small circle had leaked the screenplay, director Quentin Tarantino has taken legal action against Gawker Media alleging copyright infringement for disseminating the script.

How do you make sure you stay in frame and focus while performing? What is the best way to work with off-camera actors while performing a close-up? How can props like cigarettes become a major headache? Michael Caine answers these questions and more as part of a film acting workshop broadcast on the BBC. You can watch the hour-long special in its entirety after the jump, along with 10 film acting lessons pulled from it — highly recommended for actors and non-actors alike!:

10 Lessons in Film Acting from Michael Caine « No Film School

10 lessons I learned from Sir Michael Caine on film acting:  1) When speaking to an actor off-camera, look into one eye and stick with it; 2) Film acting is, in large part, reacting and listening; 3) While rehearsing something with a fellow actor, if a crew member can come up and recognize you’re rehearsing vs. having a real conversation, then you aren’t doing it right; 4) An actor relaxes in front of the camera by concentrating, and knowing that you have no enemies on set, everyone’s on your side and doing their best to make you look your best for the movie; 5) The camera catches everything you do, so don’t be afraid to play things subtly; 6) If you’re going to smoke on-screen, you must plan it absolutely perfectly, don’t mess up the continuity; 7) All actors steal certain gestures and behaviors from other actors — but the best actors make these gestures their own.  Steal from the best, and make it your own; 8) You can make four pictures as an actor in the time it takes a director to make one — so if you’re an actor planning on becoming a director, consider the financial aspect; 9) A majority of movie acting is relaxation.  If you’re knocking yourself out, you’re doing it wrong; 10) Theater acting is an operation with a scalpel, movie acting is an operation with a laser.

'Sherlock,' 'Downton Abbey,' And 13 Other Great British TV Shows You Can Watch For Free Right Now

Hola App Lets You Watch Any TV Program Anywhere In The World - Business Insider

Of all the Olympic match-ups happening in Sochi next month, perhaps the most momentous will be the epic game of whack-a-mole that the International Olympic Committee will be playing with content pirates around the world
.

No bloody western for you!

The Hateful Eight and 7 other Quentin Tarantino movies that never got made - The Week

Until yesterday, Quentin Tarantino's upcoming film roster was as straightforward
as it ever gets.  His next movie was going to be a Western titled The Hateful Eight —
with Bruce Dern, Michael Madsen, and Tim Roth in early talks for starring roles —
that would start filming sometime late in 2014.

Oscar race fror Best Original Screenplay

Oscar Analysis 2014: Breaking Down The Best Original Screenplay Race - CinemaBlend.com

Every year, the Academy Awards and its voters honor screenwriters old and new by handing out the statue for the Best Original Screenplay, often while employing a lackluster script of its own. While it remains to be seen what kind of material host Ellen DeGeneres will be given, you can bet than the stage direction "This is the part where you dance" will show up more than a few times. Probably in between jokes about Christian Bale’s gut, or his beard, or his hair. 

Tarantino scraps plans to make leaked screenplay as his next film.

Leaked Tarantino screenplay riddle - LIFE - Globaltimes.cn

Pulp Fiction director Quentin Tarantino is on the warpath, after someone leaked his latest­ screenplay, prompting him to scrap plans to make it as his next film.  The filmmaker is pointing the finger at someone linked to only six people with whom he shared the screenplay for The Hateful Eight, which he now says he will turn into a book instead.

Here's a look at 7 films to put on your calendar for 2014.

Movie stars, monsters and Muppets: 7 must-see films for 2014 - TODAY.com

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

The new slate of movies spreads out in front of us like a blanket of new-fallen snow. So much sparkle! So much promise! The flops are as yet unknown, and every production could be an Oscar winner. Well, not really, but you can't blame us for wishing.

The film gets the organization's first 'Movies for Grownups' seal Read more: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit First To Get AARP Movies for Grownups Seal | TIME.com http://entertainment.time.com/2014/01/22/jack-ryan-good-for-older-people-says-aarp-movies-for-grownups/#ixzz2rEmU45tw

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit First To Get AARP Movies for Grownups Seal | TIME.com

You’ve heard of the MPAA rating movies by which are appropriate for children — G, PG and so forth — but here’s a new one: which movies are appropriate for adults. AARP, the advocacy group for Americans 50 and up, recently awarded the movie Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit its first-ever “Movies for Grownups” Seal, signifying that the international thriller would appeal to AARP’s demographic.
 

Indie filmmakers are not beholden to studios or focus group analysis when casting their movies. So they take intriguing leaps, including adding family members to the cast.

This year, Sundance films take family to a new level

PARK CITY, Utah -- Family ties loom large at this year's Sundance Film Festival.  Not only are filmmakers making movies about their parents and grandparents — like Remembering the Artist: Robert De Niro Sr. and The Battered Bastards of Baseball -- but they're also involving their young children.

HBO’s “True Detective” opened Sunday night with a solid 2.3 million viewers, making it the premium cabler’s most-watched debut since “Boardwalk Empire” drew 4.8 million in 2010.

‘True Detective’ Cops HBO’s Largest Premiere Audience Since 2010 | Variety

Among the shows that “True Detective” outperformed in its premiere are dramas “Game of Thrones” (2.22 million) and “The Newsroom” (2.14 million) and comedies “Veep” (1.38 million) and “Girls” (870,000).  A replay a couple of hours later brought in another million viewers, according to Nielsen, bringing Sunday night’s tally for “True Detective” to 3.3 million.  “True Detective,” starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, tells the story of two Louisiana homicide detectives’ hunt for a serial killer. The first season of the anthology series consists of eight episodes.

Films that premiere at Sundance are looking for distributors to put their films into theaters, or for invites to other first-tier festivals to shop their film around, according to Wisconsin Film Festival director Jim Healy.

Will the hot films at Sundance play at this year's Wisconsin Film Fest?

PARK CITY, Utah — Will any of the buzzed-about independent films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival make it to the Midwest for the Wisconsin Film Festival in April?  It’s possible, said Wisconsin Film Festival director Jim Healy, who is in Park City at the festival. But not very likely.

It may be a lesbian Persian-American 'Girls' knockoff, but writer-director-star Desiree Akhavan's debut still packs plenty of punch.

Sundance Film Review: ‘Appropriate Behavior’ | Variety

It would probably be horribly reductive to describe Desiree Akhavan’s “Appropriate Behavior” as a lesbian Persian-American “Girls” knockoff, but it wouldn’t be entirely inaccurate, either. A debut feature from the writer-director-star, this tart, sexually frank portrait of a disintegrating relationship — and its long, bitter aftermath — packs plenty of punch in its best scenes, but it also frequently tests audience patience with its relentless deadpan affectlessness and insistence on leaving no Brooklyn cliche unmined. Pic should be a natural for future festival play all the same, and its auteur ought to be well worth watching once she starts to find her own voice.

Harvey Weinstein and Oliver Stone are trying to make very different kinds of movies.

Hollywood politics: Filmmakers target NRA, MLK and Mitt | Fox News

Harvey Weinstein and Oliver Stone are trying to make very different kinds of movies.  Both are playing with political fire, which will delight some partisans and infuriate others — while generating the kind of buzz that boosts the box office.  

Stone, who’s no stranger to politically charged films, has just bailed from a biopic about Martin Luther King Jr. after his script rewrite was rejected.  He says on Twitter that “the script dealt w/ issues of adultery, conflicts within the movement, and King’s spiritual transformation into a higher, more radical being.”  But, warns Stone, “I’m told the estate & the ‘respectable’ black community that guard King’s reputation won’t approve it. They suffocate the man & the truth.”  Now whether that’s accurate or not, I can read this two ways. The man who made “Nixon,” “JFK” and “Born on the Fourth of July” wants a warts-and-all portrait that includes the fact that the FBI spied on King when he was with other women. Or he could be contemplating a tabloid approach designed to mar the image of a great civil-rights leader.  

Weinstein, the veteran film executive, is making no bones about his politics in taking aim at the NRA.  “They’re going to wish they weren’t alive after I’m done with them,” Weinstein told Howard Stern. Doesn’t exactly sound like he’s looking for a fair and balanced approach, does it?

Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig give knockout performances as estranged siblings in Craig Johnson's character-driven crowdpleaser.

‘The Skeleton Twins’ Review: Kristen Wiig, Bill Hader Play Siblings | Variety

Sibling bonds are fertile territory for indie dramedies, but “The Skeleton Twins” distinguishes itself from the pack with a pair of knockout performances from “Saturday Night Live” veterans Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig. This character-driven crowdpleaser also reps a step toward the mainstream for sophomore helmer Craig Johnson (whose little-seen mumblecore debut, “True Adolescents,” toplined Mark Duplass, an exec producer here). Prime acquisition bait should have no trouble scoring in specialty release, with a shot at crossover success thanks to the winning work of its stars.

Paramount becomes the first big Hollywood studio to embrace digital-only U.S. releases. Others are expected to quickly follow suit.

Paramount stops releasing major movies on film - latimes.com

Roll credits.  For more than a century, Hollywood has relied on 35-millimeter film to capture its fleeting images and deliver them to the silver screen. Now, in a historic move, Paramount Pictures has become the first big studio to stop releasing its major movies on film in the United States.  The studio's Oscar-nominated film "The Wolf of Wall Street" is the studio's first movie in wide release to be distributed entirely in digital format, according to theater industry executives briefed on the plans who were not authorized to speak publicly.

'Nebraska' star Bruce Dern likened his Academy Award nomination for Best Actor - his first in 35 years - to a shot at the Super Bowl trophy.

Academy Awards 2014 nominations: Bruce Dern, Barkhad Abdi, Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Julia Roberts, Chiwetel Ejiofor and others react  - NY Daily News

The talent from in front and behind the camera who were fortunate enough to notch an Academy Award nomination Thursday morning scrambled to give reactions worthy of Hollywood’s biggest honor.  Perhaps the best feel-good story of the day was the Best Supporting Actor nomination for newcomer Barkhad Abdi. The Somali-born 28-year-old was toiling a limo driver in Minnesota just two years ago when he stumbled on a television news report on an open casting call for a Tom Hanks movie.

Harvey Weinstein says he won't back "crazy action (movies) to blow up ... and exploit people"

Producer Weinstein vows not to back excessively violent movies - CNN.com

As Hollywood slashes spending, nobody has felt the brunt as much as movie producers

For Movie Producers, a Golden Age Fades - WSJ.com

LOS ANGELES—They still sit on the northern edge of the Universal Pictures lot—symbols of an era when producers were the kings of Hollywood.  The Tuscan-style villa covered in ivy, with balconies and a fountain in an interior courtyard, was built to fit the tastes of Robert Zemeckis, the writer and producer of "Back to the Future" and "Forrest Gump." A huge, white modernist structure housed Ivan Reitman, who made "Ghostbusters" and "Dave." A blue Cape Cod house with Adirondack chairs in the front yard provided a cozy office for Michael Lobell, the producer of "Striptease" and "Honeymoon in Vegas."

Leonardo DiCaprio was at home having breakfast — coffee and eggs, with tomatoes — as he discussed his multiple Oscar nominations for “The Wolf of Wall Street.”

Leonardo DiCaprio Didn't Exercise His Producer's Prerogative - NYTimes.com

Our punk-rock film,” he called it. Mr. DiCaprio served as producer and star, and it was he who brought the idea — to make a film from the corrupt stock trader Jordan Belfort’s memoir — to Martin Scorsese.  “There’s been two projects in my life that I’ve done everything I can to make happen,” he said, this and “The Aviator,” also directed by Mr. Scorsese.

In a society where everyone has the ability to fly, the citizens anchor themselves to the ground via “gravitation boots”. Devoid of sunlight and the open sky, the members of society go about their routine without any hope of personal gratification. One day, however, a man decides he has had enough attempt to challenge the status quo. He quits his job, loosens his bindings, and literally takes off.

Won Golden Palm on Cannes Film Festival.

Directed by Bobbie Peers / Norway / 2009

Aspiring screenwriter that worked as an assistant at Universal since 2009 gets Warner Bros. script deal

Warner Bros Alliance With Black List Leads To Script Deal For Universal Assistant - Deadline.com

EXCLUSIVE: Four months after aligning with The Black List to find new writing talent in under-served demos,Warner Bros has selected the first writer who’ll get a two-step WGAminimum deal. 

Despite 'Doctor Strange' reports, his reps say talks aren't underway; Film would have to fit in with Depp's schedule for a fifth 'Pirates of the Caribbean' and 'Alice in Wonderland' sequel

Johnny Depp as Doctor Strange? Actor May Join Marvel’s Superhero Universe | Variety

It was only a matter of time before Marvel Studios started courting Johnny Depp to play one of its superheroes.  Sources have told Latino Review that the Mouse House’s main man is in very early discussions with Marvel to take on the role of eccentric magician Steven Strange in “Doctor Strange,” which the company has long been developing as a solo pic to join the ranks of its “Iron Man,” “Thor” and “Captain America” franchises. “Ant-Man” is another character it hopes to launch in 2015 as a standalone franchise around one of the comicbook company’s heroes.  While it makes sense that Marvel would want to have a conversation with Depp over how it could launch a new franchise with the thesp, sources tellVariety that such talks have yet to take place and any possibility of such a pairing is premature.

Oh lulla-lullaby, How I want to sleep, So I’ll put my head, On the white bed, Maybe I will fall asleep… Film about childhood that never returns, about dreams that can’t come true and about madness as a kind of happiness or grief.

Won Golden Palm at Cannes Film Festival in 2005. Directed by Igor Strembitsky / Ukraine / 2005



▶ Wayfarers (Podorozhni) by Ihor Strembitsky - YouTube

Mixing mainstream and specialty titles, the Writers Guild of America has nominated Tracy Letts for “August: Osage County,” Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy and Ethan Hawke for “Before Midnight,” Billy Ray for “Captain Phillips,” Peter Berg for “Lone Survivor” and Terence Winter for “The Wolf of Wall Street” for its adapted screenplay award.

Writers Guild Screenplay Nominations — WGA Unveils 10 Nominated Titles | Variety

The WGA selected Eric Warren Singer and David O. Russell for “American Hustle,” Woody Allen for “Blue Jasmine,” Craig Borten and Melisa Wallack for “Dallas Buyers Club,” Spike Jonze for “Her” and Bob Nelson for “Nebraska” for top original screenplay.

“Blue Jasmine” represented Allen’s 21st WGA nomination. He’s won WGA awards for “Annie Hall,” “Broadway Danny Rose,” “Hannah and Her Sisters,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors” and “Midnight in Paris.”

The nomination of Linklater, Delpy and Hawke for “Before Midnight” comes nine years after the trio scored WGA and Oscar noms for “Before Sunset.” Winter has won four WGA awards for his TV writing on “The Sopranos” and “Boardwalk Empire.”

Competition for Best Screenplay Oscar nominations crammed with contenders

Best Screenplay: Which Writers Will Be Celebrating Next Week? - Hollywood Prospectus Blog - Grantland

A couple of months ago, I wrote a Grantland column about the competition for Best Screenplay Oscar nominations in which I suggested that this year, Best Adapted Screenplay would be crammed with contenders and Best Original Screenplay would offer a quieter, sparser field. I would like to amend that slightly by explaining that I may have slightly overstated matters. No, let me go further: I misstated matters. I was wrong. In fact, for good measure, I would just like to offer a full and unconditional apology to the people of New Jersey.

Girls producers went on the defensive Thursday evening in response to a question during the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association press tour about the show’s nudity. But that’s putting it mildly.

'Girls' producers go on 'rage spiral' defending nudity | Inside TV | EW.com

If you ask exec producer Judd Apatow, who addressed the incident after the panel, the wording of the reporter’s question itself, directed to creator and star Lena Dunham, was not only “offensive” but “sexist” and “misogynistic.” (For the record, here it is verbatim: “I don’t get the purpose of all the nudity on the show — by [Dunham] in particularly. I feel like I’m walking into a trap where you go, ‘Nobody complains about all the nudity on Game of Thrones,’ but I get why they do it. They do it to be salacious and titillate people. And your character is often nude at random times for no reason.”)

This year, big studios such as Sony and Lionsgate are entering the fray by releasing films of, well, biblical proportions.

Five films that will make 2014 the year of the Bible - San Antonio Express-News

The Bible narrative has always been one heck of a story. It reads like a mix of action thriller, period drama, romance novel and, in more apocalyptic parts, like pure fantasy. The gripping narrative sections of the text are part of the reason the Bible is the bestselling book of all time.  But in 2014, we'll discover if the good book is as captivating on the modern-day silver screen as it is in print.

Oscar nominated Tanghi Argentini - An office clerk with a hankering to tango enlists the support of a workplace colleague as he prepares for a date.

▶ Tanghi Argentini by Guy Thys - YouTube

It’s Christmas time and the concept of giving assumes fairy tale proportions in this beguiling modern story.  Nominated for Oscar. Another 22 wins.  Directed by Guy Thys / Belgium / 2006

A month after a small plane crash in Hawaii, a surviving passenger shows GoPro footage and even a selfie taken during the ordeal.

Plane crashes, woman dies, survivor films and takes selfie | Technically Incorrect - CNET News

Would you have done the same?  Ferdinand Puentes was one of nine passengers in a 2002 Cessna Grand Caravan which suddenly suffered engine failure off Kalaupapa, Molokai in Hawaii last month.  As he heard the engine fail and saw the plane heading for the water, one of his first instincts was to turn on his GoPro camera and film what might have been his own demise.  As KHON-TV reports, Puentes knew the danger he was in, yet the decision to film as much as possible might perplex a few.  He managed to get out of the plane alive and survived the crash. However, while he was floating on a seat cushion and wearing his life vest, he took a selfie.

Two weeks in and 2014 already has its first major hit.

Friday Box Office: 'Lone Survivor' First Blockbuster Of 2014 - Forbes

Following a limited awards-qualifying run starting on Christmas day, Universal (a division of Comcast CMCSA +1.25%) unleashedLone Survivor in wide release against one new release and a handful of other expansions. It’s no contest, with the Mark Wahlberg war thriller earning $14.4 million on its first day. 

Without dialogue or comment, save for verses from a sonnet by John Keats, Fridrik Thor Fridriksson links the thoughts, the emotions, the sensual longing of young lovers at opposite ends of the world. A tone poem, a collage of sight and sound.

NSFW WARNING: VIDEO CONTAINS NUDITY.

ON TOP – Iceland, a lighthouse, a cold winter evening. Her thoughts drift back to that summer … to bathing in the hot springs … to when they first met … and embraced.

DOWN UNDER – Australia, the desert, a blistering heat wave. His pickup stops at an icehouse … he lays the blocks neatly on the buckboard … and drives off haunted by a aching memory.

In the spring of 1999, the Family Learning Channel commissioned animator Don Hertzfeldt to produce promotional segments for their network. The cartoons were completed in five weeks. The Family Learning Channel REJECTED all of them upon review, and they were never aired… Nominated for Oscar in 2001, another 16 wins.

An animator’s commissioned works, rejected because of their increasingly absurd and violent tone, eventually find their entire animated world collapsing in upon itself..

An elderly monk, while training the young novice who will succeed him, recalls the mysterious lost love of his past – just as his young successor appears to be encountering her himself. Nominated for an Oscar in 1997.

Alexander Petrov "Mermaid" by vibliographer

Under a program enacted in 2009, California allocates $100 million annually to film and TV productions, which are eligible for up to a 25% tax credit toward qualified production expenses.

Hollywood seeks to bolster California film and TV tax credit - latimes.com

Hollywood stakeholders are calling on California to bolster its film and TV tax credit to keep its homegrown industry from permanently leaving the state.  Film industry and union officials are mobilizing to back legislation this year that would substantially increase funding for the state's film incentive program and lift some restrictions to make the program more competitive with those offered by New York, Georgia and other states and countries.

Leonardo DiCaprio, the 39-year-old speaks with THR about what angry "Wolf" moviegoers ought to know about the filmmakers' intentions, his special relationship with Martin Scorsese, his post-"Titanic" career and how he'd feel if he finally won an Oscar.

Leonardo DiCaprio on 'Wolf of Wall Street': 'We Don't Like These People' (Q&A)

As critics and moviegoers emerge from The Wolf of Wall Street -- a film that Leonardo DiCaprio developed, produced, appears in for all of its 179 minutes and regards as one of his "babies" -- many are debating whether he deserves to take home his first Oscar or be stoned for his performance as stock trader Jordan Belfort. But the actor, taking it all in stride, forcefully rejects any notion that he or director Martin Scorsese are laughing with -- as opposed to laughing at -- their protagonist and his cohorts. "Look, it is a cautionary tale," DiCaprio told me when we spoke by phone on Monday.