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New York Film Academy hosted a casting session this week at the Abu Dhabi campus for a short film produced by the Abu Dhabi Film Commission. The Abu Dhabi Film Commission plans to shoot the film for one day at New York Film Academy’s campus.

New York Film Academy Abu…

(Source: nyfa)

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2011 proved women can be just as powerful, funny, and smart in Hollywood without taking their clothes off. Look at some the top releases of 2011:

Comedy? BRIDESMAIDS - Ranked in the top 20 most financially successful films of 2011, this hilarious all-female ensemble film led by Kristen…

(Source: nyfa)

The WGA has announced the nominees for its 2012 awards.  The Original Screenplay category rewarded films that leaned toward comedy, while the Adapted Screenplay features a number of Oscar Best Picture frontrunners.

The awards will be announced Feburary 19.

The complete list of nominees in all three categories is below:

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY

50/50, Written by Will Reiser; Summit Entertainment

Bridesmaids, Written by Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig; Universal Studios

Midnight in Paris, Written by Woody Allen; Sony Pictures Classics

Win Win, Screenplay by Tom McCarthy; Story by Tom McCarthy & Joe Tiboni; Fox Searchlight

Young Adult, Written by Diablo Cody; Paramount Pictures

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

The Descendants, Screenplay by Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash; Based on the novel by Kaui Hart Hemming; Fox Searchlight

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian; Based on the novel by Stieg Larsson, originally published by Norstedts; Columbia Pictures

The Help, Screenplay by Tate Taylor; Based on the novel by Kathryn Stockett; DreamWorks Pictures

Hugo, Screenplay by John Logan; Based on the book The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick; Paramount Pictures

Moneyball, Screenplay by Steven Zaillian and Aaron Sorkin; Story by Stan Chervin; Based on the book by Michael Lewis; Columbia Pictures

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY

Better This World, Written by Katie Galloway & Kelly Duane de la Vega; Loteria Films

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, Written by Marshall Curry and Matthew Hamachek; Oscilloscope Pictures

Nostalgia for the Light, Written by Patricio Guzmán; Icarus Films 

Pina, Screenplay by Wim Wenders; Sundance Selects

Position Among the Stars, Script by Hetty Naaijkens-Retel Helmrich, Leonard Retel Helmrich; HBO Films

Senna, Written by Manish Pandey; Producers Distribution Agency

Another way a good movie can get screwed is when a studio loses confidence and tries to sell it as something that it isn’t. The 2009 film Adventureland, which I didn’t produce but admired,was a thoughtful coming-of-age story set in the late eighties that, though funny, was more romantic and emotional than broadly comedic. Yet Miramax decided to market it as the director Greg Mottola’s follow-up to his hugely successful prior film Superbad. The trailer packed in clips of physical and off-color humor from the movie, combining it with swoosh and whip-crack sound effects, and downplaying anything deep or poignant. The result was that not enough adults were made interested in seeing it and the juveniles who did go were disappointed that it wasn’t what they thought it would be. I’ve never seen this marketing tactic work on a movie: You can’t succeed by fooling the audience. 

Choosing a release date is not an exact science and often difficult, given how many movies are in the marketplace at any one time. Part of what made the release of Drop Dead Gorgeous so disappointing was that New Line had chosen a great date, opening up against a horror film called The Haunting and the children’s offering Inspector Gadget, neither of which were competing for the same audience as our film. I did not have this luxury when it came to one of the best movies I have produced, Stir of Echoes, which Artisan (the distribution company that eventually merged with Lion’s Gate) decided we should open against another horror film, Stigmata, in September of 1999. Stigmata had a bigger ad spend and was coming out in more theaters, but that wasn’t even our biggest threat: Buena Vista’s blockbuster The Sixth Sense — which, like Stir of Echoes, was about a boy seeing ghosts — was still in 2,800 theaters across the country on our opening day. Our film had been finished and ready for exhibition much earlier in the year, but Artisan’s distribution executives were certain that September was the best time for a horror film. When director David Koepp and I heard this, knowing that the Bruce Willis starrer was coming, we asked for a conference call with the studio and tried to get them to exhibit Stir in the spring. We expressed our apprehension that The Sixth Sense had the bigger star and Buena Vista would outspend us two to one, so it would be advantageous to come out earlier and not be the second “kid sees ghost” movie of the year. The executives told us that they had heard The Sixth Sense was really bad and would surely bomb, and not to worry about it. Obviously, things didn’t work out as they predicted … though Stir of Echoes did do well enough to warrant a direct-to-DVD sequel. Of course, it didn’t do well enough to pay me a cent of my deferred compensation nor profit participation. And, in case you’re wondering, I was paid nothing on the sequel, either.

After selling an untitled pilot a year and a half ago, Kahn began work on the outline for what would become “He’s Fuckin’ Perfect.” McKay read it, gave her notes, and then suggested she write the spec herself. “He told me, ‘The outline is really strong and you’ll have more creative control, so just do it.’ “

He also gave her another piece of advice. “He said, ‘When you pay your $13 and sit down in a movie theater, what do you want to see? That’s what you write. Not what you think is gonna sell. Not what you think is gonna be big. Write what you want to see.’ “

Execs like to emphasize the lifestyle when they list the reasons for shooting a production in Singapore, but the government has been spending heavily to give the tropical city-state a strong technical appeal as well as offering various financial incentives to film there.

Indeed, its facilities have lured some big names, including the Jim Henson Co. and LucasFilm Animation. The latter set up LucasFilm Animation Singapore in 2004.

Many shingles in Singapore are also willing to co-produce.

Singapore is also southeast Asian HQ for the BBC, HBO and MTV, and offers a range of production and post-production services to HD and 3D content creation.

It offers ancillary support services for projects, such as completion bonds and collection accounts, or other aspects related to its solid legal system. Sometimes that system can be too solid, but the government has promised a light touch when dealing with the bureaucratic issues that sometimes arise.

As the nature of the biz in Asia becomes more focused on mainland China’s booming market, Singapore touts the fact that Mandarin is one of its official languages, and Chinese culture is strong in the city-state, putting it in a good position to exploit the growing Chinese market.

And its Indian, Malay, Chinese and Western population means it offers an easier intro to the biz in these markets.

Singapore’s lavish film funds are well-known in the Asian biz and since 2003, the Media Development Authority has set aside $179 million for making movies.

But the take-up on the funds has always been slightly underwhelming, and there was confusion about the 46 funds on offer, so in September, the MDA revamped its slate of media funds to streamline the number of programs on offer, better reflecting the development of the industry.

“Sandcastle,” which bowed in 2010 Cannes Critics’ Week, took advantage of local funds, and was produced by local shingles Infinite Frameworks, Zhao Wei Films, Akanga Film Asia.

Singapore is also building Mediapolis @ one-north, a state-of-the-art media park offering soundstages, digital production and post-production as well as broadcast and distribution facilities.

Mediapolis @ one-north will cover 47 acres and serve as a catalyst for film, TV, animation, vidgame and emerging new-media production. First tenant will be local shingle Infinite Frameworks, which has expertise in computer graphics and vfx, which is building two visual effects soundstages for film and television on three acres.

Wow, you basically crowd-sourced your movie, and for $9,000.

Yup, $9,000 to get in the can. It’s sort of a return to how I made Brothers McMullen and Nice Guy Johnny: Use actors that were unknowns, have everyone do their own hair and make-up, get the locations for free, have a three- or four-man crew, use as much available light as we can. But hopefully I know what I’m doing now.

Is this the future of indie cinema?

I think it’s the future of a slice of indie cinema—the contemporary walk-and-talk movie. If you make a period movie, the minute you start spending on wardrobe and locations and production design, then you’re not going to try to save money by not doing hair and make-up. It has to be filmed that way. But if you’re making this type of film, it’s a great way to work. Because you’re not asking somebody for $2 million, you don’t have the studio or the producer or the financier as your collaborator. The filmmaker has 100 percent creative control. When you make a $200 million movie, like, you need this movie star—even for $2 million, I’ve had the title of my movie changed, I’ve been asked to cast a guy’s girlfriend, I’ve had to change music, change dialogue, all those things, because someone else’s writing the check. The other thing is you have to shoot 35 days consecutively. Everyday when you’re on set, there’s a guy on set whose job is telling you to move on.

2. Ticket prices are too high. People have always made that complaint, but historically the movies have been cheap compared to concerts, major league sports and restaurants. Not so much any longer. No matter what your opinion is about 3D, the charm of paying a hefty surcharge has worn off for the hypothetical family of four.

3. The theater experience. Moviegoers above 30 are weary of noisy fanboys and girls. The annoyance of talkers has been joined by the plague of cell-phone users, whose bright screens are a distraction. Worse, some texting addicts get mad when told they can’t use their cell phones. A theater is reportedly opening which will allow and even bless cell phone usage, although that may be an apocryphal story.

4. Refreshment prices. It’s an open secret that the actual cost of soft drinks and popcorn is very low. To justify their inflated prices, theaters serve portions that are grotesquely oversized, and no longer offer what used to be a “small popcorn.” Today’s bucket of popcorn would feed a thoroughbred.