Good news for the LA production community. FilmLA issued an update regarding regional filming activity. After posting three consecutive record-breaking quarters, local filming in the second quarter (“Q2”) of 2022 was down by -5.8 percent over the same period last year. From April through June, FilmLA recorded a total of 9,220 Shoot Days (SD) compared … Continue reading “LA film production returns to pre-pandemic levels”
During Day 1 of the American Film Market, a panel was held that looked at the continued lack of pandemic insurance. According to notes from the AFM, the situation has added complexities, expense and risk to most productions. Moderated by Jill Goldsmith, Co-Business Editor of Deadline, financiers and producers discussed strategies that can get films made, what projects are … Continue reading “AFM: Finance Conference looks at lack of pandemic production insurance”
Who would have assumed that Andy Serkis’ film, with Tom Hardy reprising his role as a reporter with superpowers gained from aliens, would have the biggest first weekend since December 2019? Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Sony’s follow-up to the hit 2018 supervillain film blew past expectations at the box offices this weekend. Pre-opening estimates … Continue reading “Venom 2 has the biggest opening of the pandemic”
Good news for CBS, and Paramount+. The 73rd annual Emmys saw its viewership rise to 7.4 million, according to Nielsen’s preliminary numbers. Over the past decade, major award shows have seen a steady decline in audience, but last year’s ceremonies saw an even steeper decline due to the pandemic and quarantine. The 72nd Emmys only … Continue reading “Emmys: Ratings rise from previous pandemic year”
Things didn’t go exactly as planned for Hollywood’s biggest night. In a year, where Hollywood held back most of its biggest films due to the pandemic, the 93rd Academy Awards drew its smallest audience ever. While the awards tried to change things up in a year that saw a tragic pandemic take and shut down lives, … Continue reading “Pandemic Academy Awards ratings anemic”
Director Martin Garde Abildgaard wants to make one thing clear – his debut feature A Beautiful Curse is not a pandemic story, it’s a love story. Though the backdrop of the film is a sleeping pandemic, it merely sets the scene for romance; a story of boy meets girl in unusual circumstances which allow for … Continue reading “A Beautiful Curse is not a pandemic story, but a love story”
While living at the epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak, in the daily world of double face masking, social distancing and isolation, the Latinx community is creating a safe and comforting way for people to gather together in the name of Angelino’s favorite food — tacos. Villas Tacos Pop Up Shop, a family business that started … Continue reading “Villas Tacos makes the pandemic comforting”
2020 was an incredibly challenging year for production, across advertising, TV and film. These teams are not considered essential workers, neither federally nor on state levels. Thus, when the country was on complete lockdown, there was a 3-4 month period with essentially no work, which caused great hardships for production companies, thousands of crew members, … Continue reading “Post-COVID, some pandemic-policies should stick around”
Upon turning 50, George Clooney joked to his friends that he should be put on the cover of AARP The Magazine with the headline “Sexiest Man (Still) Alive.” But it took nearly 10 more years – and living through a decade that included his first marriage, the arrival of children, and a nearly fatal motorcycle accident – to agree … Continue reading “George Clooney on the pandemic, aging and more”
Producer and director Michael Bay released the trailer for his new feature, Songbird. The first feature filmed in Los Angeles since quarantine, which has sparked criticism as a tone-deaf movie about an ongoing horror that America and the world is still experiencing. For months, experts have hammered home a critical point: the US’s disastrous handling … Continue reading “Bay’s pandemic movie ‘Song Bird’ is triggering”
Whoa. That was quick. Like a short form video, six months after Quibi’s official streaming launch it has announced it is shutting down. Short form video streaming service, and the brainchild of former Dreamworks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg and former eBay CEO Meg Whitman, announced Wednesday that it was shuttering for good, just six months after … Continue reading “Quibi shuts down streaming service amidst pandemic”
Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Rite Aid drug store chain is offering seasonal flu shots and encouraging all age groups to get the vital shots as soon as possible to help maintain strong immune systems, keep communities thriving and play a role in minimizing the number of flu hospitalizations this year. With health care providers … Continue reading “Creating a flu shot spot… during a pandemic”
With millions of Americans waking up to a new quarantined world of working from home, businesses shut down, restaurants, movie theaters, bars and gyms shuttered, some companies are attempting to make the populations’ social and work distancing at home more pleasant. Down Dog is one of those companies. Today, the highest-rated app for practicing yoga … Continue reading “Down Dog keeps yoga app free during pandemic”
There are at least 2,033 cases of the novel coronavirus COVID-19 in the United States, according to the state and local health agencies, governments and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In response, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers (AICP) has released a blog to help members through what they call, “a myriad of issues.” … Continue reading “AICP releases blog to help members through pandemic”
While Lily Tomlin, Jane Fonda, Sally Field, and Rita Moreno are no strangers to the adoration of millions of fans, they return that adoration tenfold – to none other than seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady. The greatest quarterback in NFL history announced his retirement last week after his Tampa Bay Buccaneers were ousted by the Dallas Cowboys. Brady also had … Continue reading “80 for Brady cast talks friendship and Tom Brady”
Budweiser is continuing its Super Bowl legacy by returning to the Big Game with a reintroduction to its iconic tagline, “This Bud’s For You.” The spot is titled “Six Degrees of Budweiser” and kicks off a new focus for the brand in reaching a younger audience and depicting authentic, first-hand experiences that show the importance … Continue reading “Kevin Bacon introduces 6 degrees of Budweiser”
Global creative collective Forsman & Bodenfors continues its longstanding creative partnership with Diageo by crafting a clever new campaign for the latter’s Seagram’s 7 Crown American blended whiskey brand. With “It’s Your Spot,” Forsman & Bodenfors highlights how Seagram’s 7 has expanded its status beyond that of a dive bar favorite into a drink suitable for the … Continue reading “Iliza Schlesinger in Seagram’s 7 campaign”
Creative collective Wild Gift, home to some of advertising and entertainment’s most exciting storytellers, welcomes Rylee Jean Ebsen to the company for commercials. A Telly-award winning comedy director and writer, and alumnus of the 2020 Forbes 30 Under 30 list, Ebsen also recently was honored as Best Director at the Women’s Chicago Comedy Film Festival for … Continue reading “Wild Gift signs wildly gifted Rylee Jean Ebsen”
Cuban American filmmaker Gabriel Caste’s latest short film Are You Awake? will have its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival. The psychological thriller will premiere as part of the Fear & The Truths We Avoid Shorts Block scheduled for Friday, February 10th at 10 a.m. and Monday, February 13th at 7:20 p.m., with a filmmakers’ Q&A following each day’s screening. … Continue reading “Gabriel Caste’s Are You Awake? to premiere at Santa Barbara Film Fest”
Boutique production company Team (not that kind of team) Bubbly (not that kind of bubbly) turned 10, a feat that saw it through a recession, the COVID-19 pandemic and industry-spanning inflation, all while appeasing their arduous, micromanaging agent. To celebrate, they spent half a year–and half the new guy’s, director Justin Ongeri’s, chance at a … Continue reading “Bubbly premieres self-mocking ode to Advertising”
