“Harold and Maude” to Kick Off Weekend Retrospective Screening Series

   Cameron Crowe and Peter Bart will host a free-wheeling discussion with panelists including Jon Voight, Judd Apatow, Seth Rogen, Diablo Cody, Haskell Wexler and Jeff Berg as part of special Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences salute to Oscar®-winning film editor and director Hal Ashby on Thursday, June 25, at 7:30 p.m. at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The conversation will be followed by a screening of Ashby’s 1971 bittersweet romance “Harold and Maude.” The salute also will kick off a weekend retrospective screening series at the Linwood Dunn Theater, featuring five new prints of Ashby’s films from the Academy Film Archive.

   Ashby began his career as a film editor; he was nominated twice in the category, winning in 1967 for “In the Heat of the Night.” He made his directorial debut in 1970 with “The Landlord.”

   Ashby applied his unconventional storytelling style to a series of films that uniquely combine the humor and pathos of everyday life within a broad range of subjects, from returning Vietnam War veterans to Hollywood hairdressers.

   In 1978 Ashby was nominated for directing the anti-war drama “Coming Home,” a film that received eight Academy Award® nominations and went on to win three Oscars® including Actor in a Leading Role and Actress in a Leading Role for Voight and Jane Fonda. Ashby died in 1988.

For the complete schedule of the Ashby retrospective click HERE

Get the Book "Life of a Hollywood Rebel"

Erick De La Vega is a painter, sculptor,photographer, and make-up FX artist.
   Concentrating primarily on his special effects work for the past 15 years, Erick has a host of project credits under his belt throughout the film and television industry (Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV series, Angel TV series, Jeepers Creepers, Blade II, Batman Dead End, & Willard). His fine art paintings draw upon that work experience and showcase the ease of realism he achieves with airbrushed acrylics.

   Trained at the New World School of the Arts and the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, Erick’s work is influenced by the modern masters of dark, fantasy art like Frank Frazetta, Wayne Barlow, and H.R. Giger, as well as a mixture of his own Catholic upbringing and his obsession with monsters and creatures. De La Vega’s painted creations are otherworldly and yet eerily familiar.They expose the viewer to a horrific beauty that potentially awaits at the end of every darkened passageway.
They are fearsomely compelling.

Be sure to see Erick’s amazing work:

Saturday June 20th 8pm-12am

 Hyaena Gallery

1928 W. Olive Ave.
Burbank, CA 91506

Show runs June 16-30th

Reuters
Two New York financiers have launched an independent film company to make and sell low-budget movies in a tight U.S. market that has seen hard times for two years due to competition, slowing DVD sales and a lack of fresh money.
Mary Dickinson and Charlene Fisher unveiled DF Indie Studios late Friday to eventually produce 10-12 films annually with a production cost of $10 million or less. They plan to guarantee distribution in the U.S. and Canada, backed by what they say is $150 million in equity financing.
DF Indie Studios (DFIS) has the support of big-name movie makers such as brothers Tony and Ridley Scott (“Gladiator”) and independent film veterans Ted Hope and Anne Carey. (“Adventureland” and “In the Bedroom”).
“We’ve been amazed to see the competitors in our budget range have pretty much disappeared,” Dickinson told Reuters.”That’s why we’re excited about this time period,” added Fisher. “We see it working in our favor.”
Dickinson and Fisher plan to usher low-budget movies from script through production, editing, marketing and distribution, and they believe they are entering the market for art house flicks at a low-point after many studio players fell on hard times starting in late 2007.

Many independent film producers making contemporary art house films like Oscar winner “Slumdog Millionaire” hope to sell their distribution rights at festivals like Sundance. But DF Indie Studios vows to self-distribute movies they produce.
Currently many of the specialty divisions of major studios, such as Twentieth Century Fox’s Fox Searchlight or Universal Pictures’ Focus Features and even major independent companies like Lions Gate, routinely crank out films at a cost of $15 million to $30 million and more.
But with a production cost of less than $10 million, DF Indie Studios hopes to hit it big with movies more in the vein of a “Napoleon Dynamite,” which was a festival favorite before hitting mainstream success.
But DFIS comes into the market at a difficult time after a glut of low-budget movies met keen competition about two years ago, causing several indie companies to fail in 2008, a trend that continues this year.
Moreover, declining DVD sales have cut revenues and digital downloads remain a future uncertainty.
Still, Dickinson and Fisher could be entering the market poised for an uptick. At May’s Cannes film festival, many major players said they were starting to see signs the glut of movies easing and that late 2009 and 2010 could mark a turning point.
Like others, Dickinson and Fisher also noted that amid the recession, theater ticket sales were currently on an upswing as people were flocking to theaters for cheap entertainment.

Learn Makeup Effects!

10th Annual Golden Trailer Award Winners

Show Category Winners

Best Action

Fast and Furious, AV Squad, Universal

Best Animation/Family

WALL-E, Craig Murray Productions, The Walt Disney Studios

Best Comedy

Bruno, The Ant Farm, Universal Pictures

Best Documentary

Man on Wire, The Editpool, Icon Film Distribution

Best Drama

Frost/Nixon, Empire Design, Working Title Films

Best Horror

The Unborn, Buddha Jones, Rogue Pictures

Best Independent Trailer

The Wrestler, Mark Woollen & Associates, Fox Searchlight

Best Music

Where the Wild Things Are, The Ant Farm, Warner Bros.

Best Romance

500 Days of Summer, Mark Woollen & Associates, Fox Searchlight

Best Thriller

Angels & Demons, Trailer Park, Sony Pictures

Best Video Game Trailer

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, Eyestorm Productions, Lucasarts

Best Voice Over

Tropic Thunder, Buddha Jones, DreamWorks

Golden Fleece

The Spirit, Seismic Productions, Lionsgate

Most Original

My Winnipeg, Kinetic Trailers, IFC Films

Summer 2009 Blockbuster

Star Trek, Aspect Ratio, Paramount Pictures

Trashiest Trailer

One Eyed Monster, The Refinery, Liberation Entertainment

Best In Show

Star Trek, Aspect Ratio, Paramount Pictures

by Peter Knegt – Indie Wire

   The 2009 Palm Springs International ShortFest announced its roster of 315 films, selected from more than 2,500 worldwide entries.  Now in its 15th year, ShortFest will showcase 76 World Premieres, 43 North American Premieres and 14 U.S. Premieres.  All selections are structured into 52 themed programs, which will screen June 23-29, 2009, at the Camelot Theatres in Palm Springs, California. See attached or visit www.psfilmfest.org for a complete list of this year’s film programs.

   “We were fortunate to have a wealth of extraordinary work submitted to us from all around the world this year, which made the selection process that much more difficult,” Darryl Macdonald, Programming and Executive Director said in a statement. “The resulting line-up of short films is a richer, more diverse and accomplished collection of work than I’ve ever seen, and heralds a wealth of great new talent to enrich the film world for years to come.”

   Festival attendees will be able to see a roster of films featuring familiar faces in front of and behind the camera.  Four actors will have their directorial debuts featured at the Festival including Demi Moore directing “Streak,” starring Brittany Snow, Rumer Willis and Madeline Zima; Courteney Cox-Arquette directing and starring in “The Monday Before Thanksgiving” along with Laura Dern and Rosemary Harris; Marianne Jean-Baptiste directing “Ink,” and Joseph Gordon-Levitt directing “Sparks” starring Carla Gugino and Eric Stoltz.

  The selected short films are organized into 52 programs covering a variety of genres – including thrillers, horror, animation, documentaries, and comedies – and themes including family, war, art, grandparents, pet peeves, sex, memories, immigration, obsessions, couples, travel, parents, the Jewish experience, gay and lesbian lifestyles.  In addition, one of the programs will highlight short films from the NYU Tisch School of the Arts Asia, based in Singapore.  The school has students from 21 countries and a faculty of working film professionals all dedicated to educating the next generation of storytellers.

   This year’s opening night screening on Tuesday, June 23, will be highlighted by award-winning live-action and animated comedy films including “Dead Bunny” (USA), “Emilia Eckle” (USA), “Expiration” (USA), “Eyelash” (Switzerland), “Multiple Choice” (Australia), “My New Toy” (Australia), “Stop Requested” (France), “The Suffering of Mr. Karpf – The Birthday” (Germany), “True Beauty This Night” (USA) and “The Williams” (France)

   A jury of three industry professionals will screen this year’s short films selected for competition in eighteen categories including Best Animation, Best Documentary, Best Live Action, Best of Festival and the Future Filmmaker Award.  A total of $94,000 in money and production prizes, including $14,000 in cash awards will be given out.  First place winners in four categories will automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a possible Academy Award nomination.  Over the course of its first 14 years, the Festival has presented 64 films that have gone on to receive Academy Award nominations.

   For a complete list of this year’s lineup, please visit the festival’s website.

More FESTIVAL Info at GoreMaster.com

David S. Cohen – Variety

   Pacific Title & Art Studio, the 90-year-old Hollywood post-production house, has gone into receivership and will be liquidated.

   According to an email Pacific Title prexy-CEO David McCarthy sent to employees, efforts to obtain new financing for the company have failed.

   Pac Title will complete all current projects before the end of June.

“We will be contacting our customers shortly to explain what our intent is and to work with them to either complete their pending projects or to cease activity on the projects and transfer the elements to other facilities or return customer materials as appropriate,” he wrote.

   McCarthy’s missive held out some hope that a buyer may emerge that will leave the company intact but told all employees, “You should immediately consider yourself laid off.”

   The company received a $3 million cash infusion in 2008, but McCarthy said the industry slowdown caused by the turmoil surrounding SAG, “tax incentives in other locales and general economic conditions have all combined to create an excessively harsh industry situation that Pac Title could not escape.”

  The company has been dogged by rumors of its impending failure for weeks, after missing payroll more than once and furloughing a number of employees last week.

Pac Title was founded in 1919 by Warner Bros. animation artist Leon Schlesinger and counts among its credits “The Jazz Singer,” “Gone With the Wind” and “Ben Hur.”

Recent credits include “Terminator Salvation,” “Fast and Furious,” “Watchmen” and “Gran Torino.”

   In recent years it had moved into digital post, including visual effects and restoration. It was bought by private equity funds Celerity Partners and Ticonderoga Capital, which felt the company was well positioned to take digital work that would be outsourced by the major studios.

   But the company ran into hard times after the new owners dismissed topper Phillip Feiner in 2007. In August of that year he sued for wrongful termination and breach of contract

…       more like this at GoreMaster.com

CALL FOR ENTRIES: 6th annual BIG APPLE FILM FESTIVAL, November 3-7, Tribeca Cinemas, NYC. Now accepting entries in all lengths and genres. The Big Apple Film Festival takes place annually at Tribeca Cinemas in the heart of New York City. The BAFF, named one of MovieMaker Magazine’s top “25 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee,” is dedicated to showcasing and promoting the highest quality films from the New York City independent film community, as well as additional specially selected films from across the country and around the world. Additionally, the festival is proud to honor a variety of New York City based moviemakers, writers, actors and artists who have played an influential role in the growth of independent moviemaking in the Big Apple. For more information or to submit visit the official website Big Apple Film Festival

More Festivals and Events at GoreMaster.com

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qiwuGFpoG74]

CHUD – The New York Asian Film Festival is kicking off on June 29th at the IFC Film Center and ending at the Japan Society from July 1 – 5.
  A highlight will be TOKYO GORE NIGHT.
   One of the most insane new voices in cinema is the screaming howl of Yoshihiro Nishimura, director of TOKYO GORE POLICE, and special effects genius (who also did the effects for LOVE EXPOSURE and SAMURAI PRINCESS, screening in this year’s festival). First up will be screenings of several completely nuts short films from Nishimura and his cabal of lunatics all set in the TOKYO GORE POLICE and MACHINE GIRL universe. Then there will be a special onstage presentation by these madmen followed by a screening of TOKYO GORE POLICE during which will be recorded for the movie’s upcoming special edition DVD. Accompanying Nishimura will be Noboru Iguchi, the director of MACHINE GIRL and the maniac responsible for the short film SHYNESS MACHINE GIRL which we’ll also be screening that night. Also coming will be Tsuyoshi Kazuno, a visual effects supervisor on SAMURAI PRINCESS, MACHINE GIRL and many others. More surprises are in store, so make sure you wear something that you don’t mind getting soaked with blood.

   This year’s lineup is still rolling out, but it’s already well worth attention. Some of the sweet selections on the schedule include the Hong Kong action epic THE WARLORDS (featuring Jet Li and Andy Lau), the amazing kung fu flick IP MAN, the Shaw Brothers classic FIVE DEADLY VENOMS, Japan’s “softgore” action flick SAMURAI PRINCESS and the popular 20th CENTURY BOYS and K-20: LEGEND OF THE MASK, Indonesia’s bizarro THE FORBIDDEN DOOR , South Korea’s surprising ROUGH CUT, and the premiere of the insane gorefest VAMPIRE GIRL vs. FRANKENSTEIN GIRL

   The other focus of the fest this year is on Tak Sakaguuchi, ultimate badass of Versus and Azumi fame. He will be there to show off his films Yoroi Samurai Zombie and Be a Man! Samurai School! as well as the action scenes for Love Exposure. He’s going to be joined by stuntman/action choreographer Isao Karasaw (Flashpoint) to do some onstage stunts before the screenings!

   PINK POWER: PINK EIGA PRESENTS JAPAN’S UNKNOWN FILM INDUSTRY Japanese pink films are the last bastion of analog filmmaking in a digital world: softcore, sixty-minute sex films shot on film, edited on flatbeds and released theatrically. They’ve been around since the 60’s and not only have many mainstream directors gotten their start shooting pink films (including Kiyoshi Kurosawa), but 2009’s Academy Award winning director, Yojiro Takita (DEPARTURES), has a long string of pink films on his resume, and we’re showing two of them. We’ll be screening two double features in association with US-based pink film distributor Pink Eiga, who have begun releasing these treasures on DVD in the US this year.Program One will be Yojiro Takita’s ridiculous MOLESTER TRAIN: SEARCH FOR THE BLACK PEARL and the comedy/drama BLIND LOVE. Program Two will consist of Yojiro Takita’s MOLESTER TRAIN: WEDDING CAPRICCIO and hilariously bawdy send-up of Pier Paolo Pasolini’s TEOREMA, JAPANESE WIFE NEXT DOOR, PART 1. Daisuke Goto, the director of BLIND LOVE and Masahide Iioka, the cinematographer of BLIND LOVE, are expected to attend the festival and introduce the screenings.
   All of this plus a ton of screenings of films like Jet Li and Andy Lau’s The Warlords, Sion “Sucide Club” Sono’s Be Sure to Share, Wai (Fulltime Killer, Mad Detective) Ka-fai’s Written By, the NYC premieres of both chapters of Japan’s acclaimed 20th Century Boys, Takeshi Kaneshiro’s cyberpunk adventure K-20: Legend of the Mask, and Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit- a tribute to classic giant monster movies. That’s not even half of the lineup of films playing!

More Festivals and Gore at GoreMaster.com!

AOF $75,000 in cash and prizes, new sponsors, nearly 400 films and bigger and better than ever! AOF FEST named as one of MovieMaker’s Top 25 Festivals Worth the Entry Fee; The AOF Festival (Action On Film) International is one of the most progressive and fastest-growing festivals in the country. A week-long show featuring the top comedy, drama, action, animation and documentary works from top independent moviemakers and producers. The AOF Fest helps moviemakers and writers make a name for themselves in the industry. Great prizes, cash and sponsorship.

For more information, visit AOF’s Website.

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Crypticon Horror Convention 2009 runs June 5-7. It’s an all out celebration of all things good and bad about cinematic ghoulies. 

Taking place at the Seattle Center, tickets cost $20 for Friday and Sunday, $30 for Saturday, or one can get a weekend pass for $45. A slew of vendors will be present to sell antiques, hard to find cult classics and show off their latest film works. Also, various pictures will be presented through out the convention, including opening night’s showing of Black Santa’s Revenge. 

Mixed in between all of this will be panels featuring horror icons Michael Berryman (The Hills Have Eyes), Doug Jones (Pan’s Labyrinth), Sherman Howard (Day of the Dead) and many more. 

However, likely to be the highlight of the convention will be the Crypticon Seattle Costume and Dance Extravaganza, taking place Saturday night at 8pm and judged by, who else, Pinhead, Carrie and Jason. Prizes are awards in several categories and the party will feature the music of Dr. Foffo and DJ OnyxRane. 

For further details of the event, head to Crypticon’s official website. ..

For more info on Conventions and Festivals, visit us at GoreMaster.com