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Citizen Kane makes it’s debut in Hearst Castle

John P. Hess — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 00:33:57 +0000

Seventy one years after Citizen Kane premiered, Orson Welles’ thinly veiled character study of a mogul resembling William Randolph Hearst is finally getting a screening at the real life version of Xanadu. As part of the San Luis Obispo International Film Festival, the film was showcased on a 5 story tall screen at Hearst Castle on March 9, 2012.

When the film “Citizen Kane” came out in 1941, William Randolph Hearst gave it an unequivocal two thumbs down.

The press lord kept ads for the film out of his many newspapers. Just before its release, one of his allies in Hollywood tried to buy the footage in order to burn it. Another approached FBI chief J. Edgar Hoover, who launched a decade-long investigation of Orson Welles, the film’s 26-year-old director, producer, co-writer and star.

But rosebuds bloom in unlikely places. Seventy-one years after Hearst’s effort to derail it, “Citizen Kane” will be shown at Hearst Castle’s visitors center, with the blessings of the Hearst family.

L.A. Times | Read the Full Article

Why so many Hollywood relationship movies are box-office duds

John P. Hess — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 09:42:50 +0000

You ever look at a movie and wonder how that could have possibly been greenlit? Many times its done to solidify a relationship be it between a studio and a director or actor. LA Times’ Patrick Goldstein takes a closer look at why these “relationship” movies often end up being “just friends”.

…In Hollywood, everyone is in the relationship business. Studios woo auteurs. Directors schmooze stars. Writers cozy up to producers. Agents and managers zealously court the bankable filmmakers and actors who can get movies off the ground.

The relationships pay off in a million different ways. Will Smith, who just finished shooting “Men in Black 3,” has now made eight of his last 10 live-action movies at Sony, thanks largely to a close relationship with studio co-chairman Amy Pascal. Warner Bros. is skin-tight with director Christopher Nolan. 20th Century Fox is James Cameron’s home court. Ditto for Paramount with J.J. Abrams and Universal with Judd Apatow.

But if you look at the recent crop of movies that have crashed and burned at the multiplex, something striking stands out: Many of the duds would never have passed the studios’ standard box-office smell test. They were made because they were Relationship Movies.

— LA Times Blog | Read The Full Article

Film directors are embracing TV

John P. Hess — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 10:00:34 +0000

Some people will argue we’re in a golden age of television, as networks are more and more likely to gamble on edgy original character driven stories while Hollywood studios retreat back to safe bets and sequels. Perhaps, it’s this reason that big name directors are feeling comfortable jumping the divide and working for the small screen.

…After years writing television shows such as “Starsky and Hutch,” “Vegas” and “Crime Story” and producing the series “Miami Vice,” Michael Mann left television for film with little intention of returning. The director of such movies such as “The Insider, “The Last of the Mohicans” and most recently “Public Enemies,” Mann had fully embraced the world of film: Its long shooting schedules, big budgets and creative autonomy were a perfect fit for his exacting personality.

Then a new HBO script, set in the world of horse racing and penned by David Milch (“Deadwood,” “NYPD Blue”), landed on Mann’s desk. “I really didn’t want to get back into television, but the script was just so damn good,” Mann said of the series “Luck,” which stars Dustin Hoffman and will air on HBO next year. “It was one of the best things anyone has ever given me to direct.”

— LA Times | Read The Full Article

Tips for writers: Go away, Internet

Filmmaker IQ — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 00:47:46 +0000

Is the Internet a tool or distraction? We it’s certainly both and all writers need to find a balance. Although, finding that balance is easier said than done. Jacket Copy, the book blog of The L.A. Times, takes a look at some of the more drastic measures some writers have implemented to avoid “the web of distractions.”

…Earlier today I wondered if Philip Roth would have been so prolific if he’d come of age nowadays, with the electronic distractions of Twitter and blogging and Facebook and what-all. Turns out two writers that I enjoy keeping up with on the Web have decided to restrict their online activities so they can get more work done.

— Los Angeles Times | Read The Full Article

John August’s on the “death” of independent film

Filmmaker IQ — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:02:29 +0000

John August replies to Mark Gill’s LA Time’s article “The sky is falling on indie film.” In the process he discusses his independent film “The Nines,” the roll of Sundance in the indie film world, the realities, the future and other great advice for anyone wanting to distribute their small film. Some may find it not very encouraging, but you need to know what you are in for if you have any hope of becoming successful.

…There are lots of ways to criticize his logic. For starters, most Sundance movies are way under $10 million. Many are under a million. And he seems to omit a figure for how many indie films are getting a theatrical release now as opposed to three years ago.

We need to ask, “Failure for whom?” Even a movie that doesn’t earn its budget back will likely make money for its distributors, once you factor in video and TV sales. More crucially, a good indie film generates future work for its stars and filmmakers. So there’s a lot of success to be found in that 99.9% failure.

All that said, he’s kind of right.

— John August | Read The Full Article