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OT: What’s the Point of a Motion Comic?
http://comicsworthreading.com/2009/08/23/whats-the-point-of-a-motion-comic/
agreed. Wowio is still good, just not for Platinum. I think we all agreed Platinum should acquire movie properties and make movies. Thats what there good at. I also think Brian would not have bought WOWIO if he didnt have some plan for it. IMO
Wowio No Longer Owned by Platinum
http://blog.collectingcomix.com/wowio-no-longer-owned-by-platinum/
Money TV already up. Brian almost at the end.
http://www.emergingcompany.com/volume13week32qt.mov
OT: Hollywood playing catch-up in game space
'Avatar' could set trend for developing movie-based games
By Scott Roxborough
Aug 20, 2009, 01:26 PM ET
COLOGNE, Germany -- Films and video games would seem a match made in heaven, so why are games based on hit movies so bad?
Despite sharing the same demographic of devoted fans, action, sci-fi and fantasy films rarely translate into branded video game hits.
"Movie-based games almost never work, no matter how cool the movie, the game is almost always lame," said Philipp Dollinger, a gamer reviewer for German blog Pressakey.com and one of thousands of gamers swarming the halls of the gamescom trade fair, which runs until Sunday in Cologne. "Most are just bad imitations of better games already out there."
Hollywood has been burned before in the gaming space. Just ask Brash Entertainment, the U.S. group that raised $400 million to buy up film licenses and turn them into hit games. After two major flops -- an "Alvin and the Chipmunks" game and one based on Fox's sci-fi feature "Jumper" (2008) -- Brash folded.
It was a similar story for Pandemic Brisbane, the Australian outpost of the L.A.-based games developer, which shuttered in February following a disastrous attempt to deliver an ambitious game based on Christopher Nolan's blockbuster "The Dark Knight."
Despite those warning signs, there are plenty of new A-list movie ties at gamescom, and plenty of developers saying they have learned their lessons.
"For a lot of movies, the game is an afterthought," said Jake Meri, a producer at LucasArts. "The filmmakers are close to finishing production and they say, 'Oh, what about the game?' But a good game takes years of development."
LucasArts put in the time for its new release, "Star Wars: The Old Republic," a game it is developing together with Canadian outfit BioWare for games giant Electronic Arts.
"Star Wars"-based games have gotten mixed reviews in the past, but the buzz has been strong for "The Old Republic." LucasArts and BioWare have spent years designing the title, which will be a massively multiplayer online game similar to "World of Warcraft" -- a game intended to be played online by thousands of people simultaneously. PC Gamer U.K. called "The Old Republic" "a credible 'World of Warcraft' killer," and the lineups to see the demo at gamescom have been longer than those at most movie premieres.
"We have a lot to live up to with this game, which is why we've spent so much time and money on it," Meri said. "It will be the first fully voiced MMO game in the world. Voicing this game has been the most ambitions voiceover project ever -- we have thousands of characters speaking more than 200,000 lines of dialogue."
"Avatar"
LucasArts is famous for its obsessive protection of the "Star Wars" franchise, but the trend towards closer cooperation between film and games studio is one seen across the industry.
James Cameron was hands on for the more than three years France's Ubisoft took to develop "Avatar," a combat game based on Cameron's upcoming epic.
"It was really unprecedented," Ubisoft developer Patrick Naud said. "We had full access to everything -- the story boards, the concept art, the sound, the voices, the animation. It wasn't a typical movie licensing, where you buy the license and go away and make the game. It was a much closer collaboration."
"Avatar" will be one of the first big tests of this kind of tight movie-game teamwork when it hits stores in November, ahead of the film's holiday release.
"It might be too soon to say this, but James Cameron is a trendsetter, so maybe, in the future, this is the way everyone will be doing business," Naud said. "It would certainly make a lot more sense."
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i449839ed4a8362b63eae1d9891add3da
OT: Looks like Film Sales overseas seem to draw in more money than here. I bet DD does really good overseas in box office draw. Hmmmmmmmmm. IMO
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-fi-ct-iceage18-2009aug18,0,1075152.story?track=rss
Financials out: Any comparisions you see from the last 10Q you were looking at Caution;
http://www.secinfo.com/$/SEC/Registrant.asp?CIK=1410132
Vanguard Films Signs with Vanguard Publishing
For_Immediate_Release:
(Free-Press-Release.com) August 20, 2009 -- New York, NY, August 20, 2009 -- On Jun. 5, 2008 Vanguard Animation announced their plans to team with Platinum Studios to launch a comics imprint named Vanguard Comics, designed to develop properties that can simultaneously be launched as comicbooks or graphic novels as well as feature films. It was quickly noted by many including Diamond Comics Distributors VP, Bill Schanes; Publishers Weekly journalist, Heidi MacDonald; and Vanguard Productions chief counsel, Charles W. Grimes, Esq.; that there was already a Vanguard in the publishing industry whose products included comics and graphic novels.
Active since October 1990, Vanguard is a noted publisher of pop culture books, graphic novels, mystery, science fiction, comic books, and more. Vanguard is best known as the world's leading producer of art book biographies on illustrators and cartoonists and has garnered acclaim from The New York Times, The Village Voice, Time Out New York, The IPPY Awards, Starlog, National Public Radio, Video Watchdog, The Eisner Awards, Entertainment Weekly, Fangoria, Publishers Weekly, The Society of Illustrators, Rue Morgue Best of the Year, Variety, science fiction’sHugo Awards, Amazon.com, Library Journal, The Rondo Awards, Locus Best Science Fiction Reading, and more. Publisher, J. David Spurlock is currently expanding Vanguard's video projects as well as working on new books on illustrators J. Allen St. John, Marshall Arisman, Joe Kubert, and various popular musicians. Vanguard's biography on Hal Foster inspired the Society of Illustrators to induct the Prince Valiant creator into their Hall of Fame, and inspired Foster's hometown to erect a life-size bronze statue.
GRE exam papers study material free, disney cartoon characters, free movies download
Vanguard’s publications have been widely distributed through Diamond Distributors since 1993 with expanded trade distribution through nearly every major distributor including Ingram, Baker & Taylor, Watson-Guptill, MPS, etc. since 2000. Vanguard likewise keeps a high profile presence through tradeshows including San Diego Comic-Con (this year marks Vanguard’s 16th consecutive year at Comic-Con), Book Expo America (often with their longtime associates, Watson-Guptill), New York Comic-Con, Wizard World and more. Vanguard also represents many top creators. Numerous Vanguard-related talents including Neal Adams, Jim Steranko, Carmine Infantino and Vanguard publisher, J. David Spurlock are featured on the recent Starz network documentary, Comic Books Unbound.
Vanguard, commonly known in the publishing industry as Vanguard Press, is the owner of various trademarks including Vanguard Publishing, Vanguard Magazine, Vanguard Comics, Vanguard Studio, and, U.S. Trademark Registration No. 3,429,227 for the trademark Vanguard Productions for publishing. Additional Vanguard related trademark properties include, The EDGE, The Space Cowboy, Kid Spider among others.
http://www.free-press-release.com/news-vanguard-films-signs-with-vanguard-publishing-1250749682.html
What do you mean? They just got the money this week. They should be hopefully ramping up here shortly to work on some films. I hope they get a director soon for C&A. However, I would like to hear news from them on their next Platinum projects. There overdue. IMO
Dylan Dog Facebook, courtesy of the guys from Brandon Routh.com" Brandon Routh is Dylan Dog" site.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Dylan-Dog-Dead-of-Night-FILM/110077592945
http://www.bluetights.net/theplanet/showthread.php?t=25481
Interesting article, sort of a already posted article but has some new details: Looks like C&A may have a 100M+ budget and we hope is the big tentpole movie mentioned. IMO
DreamWorks gets go-ahead for action
The company relaunched by Steven Spielberg as an independent studio finally has financing in place and plans to make about six movies a year.
Nearly a year after embarking on plans to relaunch DreamWorks as an independent studio, Steven Spielberg finally has the financial means to greenlight his own movies.
DreamWorks said Monday that it had finalized the first phase of a long-in-the-works funding deal that paves the way for the production company to be fully operational.
The funds, which will enable DreamWorks to make 18 to 20 films over the next three years, include $325 million in bank debt and a matching equity investment from Spielberg's 50% partner, India's Reliance Big Entertainment. Additionally, as part of DreamWorks' recent distribution deal with Walt Disney Co., the Burbank studio agreed to lend DreamWorks as much as $175 million to bankroll movies.
Although the $825-million total falls short of the $1.25 billion the director had originally sought, DreamWorks has achieved what many in Hollywood have been unable to do: secure new sources of film funding in financially treacherous times.
But independence comes at a steep cost: Spielberg, to raise the money, had to sell a half interest in his new company to Indian investors who want a toehold in Hollywood.
Reliance -- whose parent, Reliance-ADA Group, has a market cap of $38 billion with far-flung interests that include communications, power generation and healthcare -- retains all distribution rights to the DreamWorks movies in India.
DreamWorks plans to produce as many as six movies a year, which will be released under Disney's Touchstone Pictures label. Disney, suffering an uneven run at the box office, hopes to benefit from movies supplied by the famous filmmaker.
Nonetheless, the major beneficiary at the moment is Spielberg and his business partner, Stacey Snider, who haven't been able to bankroll a new movie since their company's contentious split from Paramount last fall.
DreamWorks had hoped to have its financing in place months ago, but efforts to raise the debt portion of the funds were set back by the credit crunch. The debt financing was led by JPMorgan Securities, which brought together eight other lenders including Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co., City National Bank and Comerica Bank.
"I'm thrilled that after 11 months we can finally be a company," Snider said in an interview. "We got the funding in an environment where credit has been almost impossible to secure."
Reliance Capital Vice Chairman Amitabh Jhunjhunwala and JPMorgan's Alan J. Levine, who helped Reliance structure the financing deal, are joining Snider and Spielberg on the DreamWorks board of directors.
Snider said the goal would be to eventually raise a second phase of funding if the credit markets improve. If successful, that would trigger an additional equity investment by Reliance. The Mumbai media company, which is headed by billionaire investor Anil Ambani, originally said it was prepared to invest as much as $550 million in Spielberg's new studio.
Of the six or so films, Snider said she expected one to be a "big tent pole" movie. She noted that she and Spielberg retained "complete creative control" over the movies and that Reliance had given them "a generous greenlighting cap" that is more than $100 million for each film.
During the period when JPMorgan was struggling to raise funds for DreamWorks, Snider operated with limited financial resources as she scrambled to attach actors and filmmakers to movie projects she was stockpiling. During that period, Spielberg and Reliance covered overhead and development costs at DreamWorks, which employs 80 people and is based at Spielberg's longtime production offices at Universal Studios.
DreamWorks plans to be in production on its first movie this fall and have its first release in 2010.
In October, cameras will roll on "Dinner for Schmucks," a comedy budgeted at $75 million, directed by Jay Roach and starring Steve Carell, that the company will make in partnership with Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment.
Paramount will distribute the movie.
Up next for Spielberg to direct is a remake of the 1950 Jimmy Stewart movie "Harvey," which will begin shooting in early 2010. The film, adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play about an eccentric man who befriends a 6-foot-tall invisible rabbit, will be financed by 20th Century Fox, which had been developing the project, and DreamWorks.
Fox and Disney will distribute the movie, but it is still undecided which studio will handle the domestic release and which will oversee the international release.
Among DreamWorks' priority projects are "The 39 Clues," based on the children's series about the world's most powerful family; "Real Steel," a family movie that Robert Zemeckis is producing with Don Murphy about the relationship between a man and his son who team up on the boxing circuit -- in which the fighters are robots; "Motorcade," an action thriller about terrorists attacking the president's motorcade in Los Angeles; and an adaptation of the graphic novel "Cowboys and Aliens."
DreamWorks also has more than a dozen other movies in development that Spielberg bought from Paramount as part of his company's divorce settlement from the Viacom Inc.-owned studio. Paramount has the option to partner with DreamWorks on those movies as well as any other it greenlights before the end of this year.
Spielberg recently completed directing "The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn," a 3-D film based on the classic Belgian comic strip series for Paramount and Sony Pictures, due out in 2011.
claudia.eller@latimes.com
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/la-fi-ct-dreamworks18-2009aug18,0,6634226.story
Update to the IBOX. Easier on the eyes and alot easier to find info. Still alot of info but hopefully better. IMO
DreamWorks, Reliance Finally Get Hitched
“This will allow us to move ahead quickly into production with our first group of films."
Ending a year of drama, departures and dealmaking, DreamWorks' marriage with India's Reliance Group has officially kicked off, with the two companies announcing on Monday the completion of the studio's funding.
An initial sum of $325 million, put together by J.P. Morgan, will be matched by Reliance. Including a loan from Disney as part of its newly-formed distribution deal with DreamWorks, the total value of the financing will be $825 million.
The money puts DreamWorks back in the production game. After taking its leave from Paramount months ago, the studio had, as of recently, yet to begin production on any films.
That changed in early August when DreamWorks announced that Steven Spielberg had signed on to direct "Harvey," a Fox co-production which will be the first film under the Disney deal.
“Our partnership with Stacey (Snider) and Steven is the cornerstone of our Hollywood strategy as we grow our film interests across the globe," Reliance CEO Anil Ambani said. "Given our faith in the business plan that they presented to us and despite the current economic climate, we were always confident that this day would come."
“This will allow us to move ahead quickly into production with our first group of films, said Snider and Spielberg in a joint statement.
Indeed, the funding means DreamWorks could theoretically have three movies in full production by early 2010. In October, filming will begin on "Dinner With Schmucks," a Jay Roach-directed comedy starring Steve Carell and produced with Paramount and Spyglass.
The studio had always said it intends to eventually release about five to six movies annually.
Along with several films in development, DreamWorks in January acquired 17 movies that were launched while the company was at Paramount, including "Cowboys & Aliens"and "The 39 Clues."
Spielberg recently completed directing the 3-D “Tintin” for Paramount and Sony, due out in 2011.
The Reliance financing is truly a joint effort, with J.P. Morgan corralling lender participants, including Bank of America, City National Bank, Wells Fargo, Comerica, Union Bank of California, SunTrust, California Bank & Trust, and Israel Discount Bank.
DreamWorks' deal with Disney, which was finalized in Feb., calls for six live-action films per year. In India, Reliance Big Entertainment will retain DreamWorks' distribution rights.
Joining Snider and Spielberg on DreamWorks’ Board of Directors on behalf of the Reliance Group are Amitabh Jhunjhunwala, vice chairman, Reliance Capital, and J.P. Morgan’s Alan J. Levine.
Aside from its entertainment holdings, which comprise Reliance Big Entertainment and Reliance Big Pictures, Reliance has interests in varied sectors ranging from communications (Reliance Communications), financial services (Reliance Capital), power generation, transmission and distribution (Reliance Energy), natural resources (Reliance Natural Resources), infrastructure and health care.
DreamWorks, according to a company spokesman, will be staying on the Universal lot.
http://www.thewrap.com/article/dreamworks-reliance-kick-deal_5261
Thanks Brian, appreciate the quick response. I know there is alot of people waiting for the trailer, hearing such good things. The hype is really great. I dont think we will be disappointed at all.
This is the first I have seen this pic, well not the first time, but first posted it. Not sure even the other sites have seen this, they stick with the original 8 (on your DD website). Oh well, they'll catch on it eventually ").
Brain, can we get a little data of what happened at Comic Con. There is SO much activity going on that I know you cant speak of but we know is happening due to other people spilling the beans, so to speak (yes I got the jest of the Money Tv investors comment :))Maybe a newsletter would be a good vehicle for releasing all this data in one shot vs a bunch of PRs. Just a suggestion.
Thanks
Is this an exclusive picture from the Dylan Dog set. This Webpage says yes. What do you guys think. Brian or Dan?
http://www.wizarduniverse.com/050809dylandogsetvisit.html
http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/wizarduniverse_2064_1661295120
MoneyTv is up. Brians interview at the final 5-10 minutes. Good interview. Sounds like television projects with FOX and affilates, MTV, Starzs. Things are moving along. Official PRs are a coming. IMO
http://www.emergingcompany.com/volume13week31qt.mov
Brett Ratner Wants 'Twilight' Star Robert Pattinson For 'Youngblood' Movie
Posted 2 hrs ago by Rick Marshall in Image Comics, News
Robert Pattinson and his brooding "Twilight" alter ego might not be the first things that come to mind when contemplating the casting for Brett Ratner's upcoming, big-screen adaptation of the superhero series "Youngblood," but that's exactly whose name the filmmaker dropped when asked if he had any actors in mind.
"Definitely [Robert Pattinson] from 'Twilight,'" Ratner told MTV News when asked if he has his eye on any potential "Youngblood" actors at this point. "He just feels like he belongs in that world. I don't only see him as a vampire, he's a really good actor."
Given the roster of the comic book's team, Pattinson's leading-man resume and Ratner's previous comments about the "Youngblood" storyline, it's not too difficult to guess which role Ratner has in mind for the "Twilight" star.
The series, which was conceived by "Deadpool" co-creator Rob Liefeld, chronicled the adventures of a government-funded team of superheroes who dealt with with supervillain-level danger and super-sized drama, all while constantly remaining in the public eye. The team was led by a former FBI agent and expert marksman codenamed "Shaft"—one of the focal points for the film and the most likely character for Pattinson to play.
"[Pattinson] could do anything. He just has that look," said Ratner. "I picture him on Youngblood, for sure."
As for where the project stands these days, the "X-Men: The Last Stand" filmmaker said the script is still being written, and the mature themes of the source material—which often served as a commentary on politics, government and the nature of celebrity—will find their way into the screenplay.
"My vision for it is: We're going to make a very edgy, cool film," explained Ratner. "We're not soft-peddling it at all."
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/08/13/brett-ratner-wants-twilight-star-robert-pattinson-for-youngblood-movie/
Yea, occasionally we pull some exclusive info, found here first. Unfortinatly, our small group here is the only one that benefits. Cusack would be a good fit as the lead if RDJ cannot do it. Wonder who they will get to play the lead female. With the script finalized, we should be hearing alot of news shortly. IMO
'Star Trek' Writers' 'Cowboys And Aliens' Script Turned In, Robert Downey Jr.'s Status Unknown
Posted 1 hr ago by Josh Wigler in News, Platinum Studios
For a time, the only thing unlikelier than an actual altercation between cowboys and aliens was the prospect of seeing comic book adaptation "Cowboys and Aliens" in theaters with Robert Downey Jr. front and center. But today, fans are one step closer to that surreal reality.
"Star Trek" writers Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman penned the screenplay for "Cowboys and Aliens," and recently told Sci Fi Wire that after months of deliberations and drafts, the script is finally turned in.
"We literally handed it in yesterday," Kurtzman told reporters on August 6, noting that they'll hopefully hear feedback as soon as the following Monday—which is, interestingly enough, today.
"We're just literally waiting to hear if they hate it or what," Orci said regarding feedback on the script. "We're waiting to hear from the principals. We try not to turn it in until we think it's ready. Obviously, there are always things you can improve."
The screenplay was written by the aforementioned pair in collaboration with "Lost" co-creator and showrunner Damon Lindelof. The trio's script now faces the judgment of producers Brian Grazer, Ron Howard and Steven Spielberg. Even prospective star Robert Downey Jr. will have a chance to read the story, despite previously expressing uncertainty about his involvement in the film.
"I don't know," Downey told MTV News in April when asked whether the film was still on his radar. "I don't know what I've got coming up."
While the writers said they'd spoken with Downey about the role, they conceded it might not work out.
"He's one of the busiest men on the face of the Earth," Orci said of the actor. "If the schedule can line up, we'd absolutely love it."
With the screenplay turned in, it's only a matter of time before we find out if RDJ's schedule is open enough to pit pistols against death rays.
Are you excited for "Cowboys and Aliens"? Will Robert Downey Jr. find his way into the film?
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/08/10/star-trek-writers-cowboys-and-aliens-script-turned-in-robert-downey-jrs-status-unknown/
http://scifiwire.com/2009/08/cowboys-aliens-script-is.php
Just checked. No problems now.
FYI. MoneyTV video has some audio problems. There working the issue now.
MoneyTV this week. Brian at the end of the video.
http://www.emergingcompany.com/volume13week30qt.mov
New video for Dylan Dog (not the trailer).
http://io9.com/5330918/the-zombie-gap-is-where-the-latest-undead-fashions-are-in-dylan-dogs-movie-world
Okey, I check yahoo all the time, but I dont see a link saying these shows are Platinum related. Just a few posts saying there is. Maybe Brian can give us more detail on Money TV tonight, or the PR we have been waiting for. I say, throw all the data in a newsletter and put it put it out there. It will get picked up by the Comic sites. It always does.
IMO
Brian, can you give us any details on the new deals, or at least what happened with you at Comic Con.
MM
Can you PLEASE post it. I cant find it. I see alot of new TV shows, but nothing Platinum related.
Your CRS must be really kicking up. Its 3 movies so far using their characters, Witchblade, Magdalena, and Aphrodite IX.
This title is one of Top Cows heavy hitters of comics, selling millions of comics and a huge following of fans. Its a darker character. Its also a well known character, with a good fan and following. I know people have been waiting for a film for years on this. Every time I read a Top Cow interview, its one of the questions from the interviewer. To me it says "instant box office hit". Of course it has to be done right, but after the processes of dotting the I and crossing the T on Dylan Dog I think it can be done. Check out the Darkness youtube videos on the IHUB page. just added. It will give an idea of the character. Just my opinion of course on this whole post.
Older PRs.
http://www.moviesonline.ca/movienews_6519.html
http://www.countingdown.com/movies/3619916
The only thing I dont know is if the Pang Brothers are still involved and if Channing Tatum is also involved for sure. I had heard they were not, but it sounds like it has changed. Im also assuming Platinum is involved, as they own the rights to the movie, but we have not seen anything official yet (hint hint). Also, Its weird that Top Cow has a bunch of other Movies, TV shows with other companies coming into play, but Im guessing the contract only extends to characters at that time. Anything produced after the contract is free game for Top Cow to choose the best Production company.
IMO again
original PR
http://www.bloody-disgusting.com/news/16899
Channing Tatum is the Darkness? The Pang Bros. Directing?
Comic Book Movie News, Horror Movie News, The Darkness Movie — By Nix on July 29, 2009
Wait, where was I when it was announced that the Pang Brothers were directing a live-action version of Top Cow Comic’s “The Darkness” comic book? Geez, I must have missed that one. Anyways, according to Bloody-Disgusting, they’ve gotten word that “G.I. Joe’s” Duke, Channing Tatum has been cast as the lead in the film adaptation of the comic book, which was created by Marc Silvestri, Garth Ennis, and David Wohl back in the early days of Image Comics.
Here’s what Wikipedia says about the comic and the Darkness in question:
The comic’s central subject is the power known as The Darkness and its wielders. The Darkness is an ageless power dating back beyond human history. It is linked with the Angelus and the Witchblade. The Darkness is passed down a family line from father to son, leaving the previous user (and taking his life) as his first child is conceived. The power then manifests in the child on his 21st birthday.
Darkness users can create anything they desire with The Darkness, even sentient beings, but anything they make will crumble to dust in the light. The Darkness is quite deadly, allowing the user to call forth darkling minions to aid them, and even survive gunshots. The power can also be used to maul and feed on people.
The Darkness does not function unless it is dark, but some users can also manipulate this by creating their own shadows/darkness (e.g. smoke grenades), being underground, turning off lights in a room, etc.
Top Cow is also trying to get a “Witchblade” movie into theaters, so if they could pull both off, and the films are successful enough, I wouldn’t rule out a cross-over movie ala what Marvel Studios is currently doing with their film properties at the moment.
And hey, throw in “Magdalena”, and you got yourself one big Top Cow Movie Spectacular, Spectacular, Spectacular!
http://screenrant.com/channing-tatum-to-star-in-the-darkness-ross-19319/
http://www.beyondhollywood.com/channing-tatum-is-the-darkness-the-pang-bros-directing/
TNA Wrestling Steals the Show at Comic-Con
Stars of Chuck, Terminator, Pirates watch Sabin & Shelley vs. Suicide & Daniels.
by Matt Fowler
July 31, 2009 - It might be hard to believe, but IGN editors weren't the only "shining beacon of awesome" that attended Comic-Con '09 last weekend. Yes, the wrestlers and knockouts from TNA rolled into San Diego and took Comic-Con by storm. As one of the sponsors of "The Con" itself, TNA sent down TNA World Champion Kurt Angle, Alex Shelley, Chris Sabin, Christopher Daniels and "Knockouts" Traci Brooks and Christy Hemme.
With Kurt Angle also promoting the Kevin Munroe (TMNT) horror-comedy Dead of Night, in which he stars alongside Brandon Routh (Superman Returns) and Sam Huntington (also from Superman Returns, as Jimmy Olsen), TNA got the red-carpet treatment at the very exclusive "Wrath of Con" party - which became notorious for turning away gate-crashing A-listers like Joss Whedon and Matt Fowler.
With Chuck's Zachary Levi as the special guest ring announcer, Sabin and Shelley took on the team of Suicide and Daniels - wowing the crowd full of industry movers and shakers with their death-defying athleticism.
Watch this entertaining video package of TNA's Comic-Con experience and watch the TNA stars mingle with the likes of Routh, Robert Englund (Freddy!) and Kane Hodder (Jason!). Watch Sabin and Shelly walk the floor of Comic-Con. Watch Kaz (who was there for some reason, what could it be?) show up on the arm of Traci Brooks. Watch JB take wrestling "two steps back" by using the term "Hollyweird." Enjoy
http://tv.ign.com/articles/100/1009668p1.html
OT: Comicbooks promote upcoming films
Hollywood studios court fans prior to pic bows
By MARC GRASER
Comicbooks are starting to do double duty in Hollywood.
It seems as if every day, a new deal is announced to turn a graphic novel into a high-profile feature like "300," "Watchmen" or "Wanted."
Development executives love the books, since they give a visual sense of what a film and its characters may end up looking like on the bigscreen.
But filmmakers are now hoping the launch of new comics will help promote properties moviegoers may not necessarily be familiar with before films bow at the megaplex.
Paradox Entertainment, the company that's developing a reboot of the "Conan the Barbarian" film franchise, inked a deal last week with Dark Horse Comics that will launch books for characters, created by pulp writer Robert E. Howard, that the shingle wants to turn into film franchises.
While Conan may be familiar among the masses, Dark Agnes, El Borak, Cormac Mac Art and James Allison are more obscure characters.
Earlier this year, Paradox and Dark Horse began publishing a series of Solomon Kane books to promote the shingle's upcoming actioner, based on the character played by James Purefoy.
"Although it's a legacy character, a new generation had never heard of him," says Paradox president and CEO Fredrik Malmberg, who hopes the books help introduce the 16th-century swordsman to audiences, while turning into a viable publishing biz for the shingle.
Comicbooks like "Solomon Kane" often serve as prequels and establish characters, flesh out backstories and the overall world or storyline that will drive the pic's plot. The goal is to interest a new generation of fans who will recommend the film to others through a flurry of Internet chatter.
This summer, comicbook prequels were published to hype Paramount's reboot of "Star Trek" and Warner and Sony's "Terminator Salvation." A new series of books was handed out at last week's Comic-Con to tubthump Par's "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra."
In fact, the interest in comicbooks has grown so much in Hollywood that publishing one to help drive a pic has become a standard piece of a film's marketing campaign -- especially for major tentpoles.
"Studios have come to the realization that having a presence out there and the ability to build interest is valuable to a film," says Dark Horse prexy Mike Richardson. "We reach the same demographic the studios are trying to reach," namely 16- 30-year-old males.
Because of that demo, Malmberg sees comicbooks as "one component of a character or franchise launch."
But it's a strategy that needs to follow a set of rules in order to strike a chord.
"You have to do the book for the love of the game and not as a crass marketing play," says one studio marketing maven.
While that's easier said than done, it's why Paradox turned to Dark Horse -- the company is producing films (its recent credits include the "Hellboy" films and "30 Days of Night"), but publishing comicbooks is Dark Horse's core business.
"We tap into their editorial knowledge, so we're not just Hollywood types wishing for comicbook sales," Malmberg says. "You can't fool the readers. If it's not a comicbook, they don't want to read; they're not going to buy it. And if they don't buy it, they don't help your movie."
Dark Horse prefers publishing prequels that end right where the movie begins.
"We're happy to do the straight adaptations, but those are less fulfilling," Richardson says. "You're just retelling the story you'll see in the theater."
It's too early to tell whether comicbooks can serve as an effective marketing tool.
In the overall comicbook market, DC and Marvel overwhelmingly dominate the charts each month with their lineup of superheroes, creating little room for movie-based books to break through. And like other media, the comics biz is struggling, with a 10% decline in sales this year.
Yet TV networks have launched successful books to promote "Fringe" and "CSI," and keep older ones like "Angel" alive with fans. "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" moves around 100,000 copies per run for Dark Horse. Even videogame companies have launched books for "World of Warcraft," "Mirror's Edge" and, soon, "Mass Effect" among others, to promote titles.
For a book to be considered successful, it needs to move 20,000 units per issue. Generally, trade paperback collections wind up breaking even or generating profits sincethey have a longer shelf life, carry higher pricetags and are sold at large bookstores.Books for "Star Trek," "Star Wars" or "Transformers" have been successful "because the fanbase is so rabid," says one senior comicbook agent. "The material sells no matter what."
A prequel setting up the first "Transformers" pic in 2007 was expected to sell a strong 50,000 copies overall, but wound up moving more than 1 million books for IDW Publishing. Another prequel book for this summer's sequel has also sold well.
Sales like that are usually unreachable for more unknown titles. Most wind up losing money.
Summit Entertainment sold only around 20,000 copies for a six-issue series, published by DC Comics' Wildstorm division, to promote its sci-fi actioner "Push." The run ended in February.
Paradox has done better with "Solomon Kane," so far. Its first five books have sold more than 57,000 copies.
"Comicbooks do a better job at helping set up a movie or TV show at a studio," says an agent who reps comicbook publishers and clients looking to adapt them or launch their own. "That's where you're going to make the most money. More obscure properties aren't going to sell enough to warrant attention."
Yet even if the books aren't successful, studios aren't risking too much by publishing them, at far less than $1 million for a run."We view comicbook publishing as a viable business that stands on its own," Malmberg says. "It's a profitable and growing business for us. You have to see the comicbook as one piece of a much broader launch so that the film becomes the big tentpole and all the other things can support it. This is a town of hype, so any buzz for a project is positive."
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118006753.html?categoryid=10&cs=1
Lets hope for the best.
Yep, and I think that doesnt include the other news on the actress or Top Cow films. IMO
Would be nice to see that one too. Were also overdue from some press on current activities. Alot of Inquiries I hear about what happened at CC. Waiting on that PR, Top Cow finalize announcement on The Darkness Movie, New actress on Aprodite IX and other news. Maybe a Investor newsletter if were lucky. IMO
MoneyTV this week. There is some good news in this one.
5 picture deal and 10 video deal?
http://www.emergingcompany.com/volume13week29qt.mov
Maybe, but Im guessing everyone moves up the ladder 1 ring or someone does multiple jobs, like the rest of us. Look at Shawn OReilly, working at Archania more than Platinum (only guessing since his name appears more over there than here.)Im not sure hes at Platinum anymore. We never find out these things until this kind of post arrives.
JMO
American Original sets branding unit
Rich Marincic tapped to oversee the new division
By Borys Kit
July 21, 2009, 08:03 PM ET
Related
THR's Comic-Con blog
American Original, the entertainment company run by studio executive-turned-comic book author-turned producer Jeff Katz, has launched a branding division.
Rich Marincic, who previously was vp film and television at Platinum Studios, will oversee American Original Branding.
The division seeks to represent corporate entities looking to enter or grow into the genre or geek world and also provide management services to that sector's talent and literary clients that might have brand potential
* Does that mean he has moved on or side job? If so, I need to update the IBOX.
MM
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i00860fac3d23b30ee580483eceeeed43
Roberto Orci: Star Trek 2 Won't Follow Transformers 2 Formula
http://io9.com/5325779/roberto-orci-star-trek-2-wont-follow-transformers-2-formula
(small C&A mentioned- wrapping up another draft- first not good enough?)IMO
Wrath of Con 2009 Album 1
Picture information
(best to hit the slideshow button)
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_joomgallery&func=detail&id=623&Itemid=99
good article. IMO
SET VISIT: We Creep Into the Dead of Night with Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington!"
I think of it as a comedy, action, thriller, horror. It is all of those things. There are some funny-scary moments, but I am not a huge fan of horror in general. Dead of Night is riding a fine line, which is why I think this film is so unique. It is many things. I don't think you could place it in just one genre. I think it is Ghostbusters for this generation." - Brandon Routh
Things that go bump in the night. Devils, demons, werewolves, and the living dead. An angry vampire and a mummy. These are all minor nuisances to the supernatural private investigator Dylan Dog and his trusting, zombified sidekick Marcus. Clad in his signature red shirt, this challenger of the unknown and his faithful undead companion roam the Louisiana bayou looking to thwart any paranormal oddities out to wreck havoc on our unsuspecting daily lives. In Italy, he is a legend. In the States, he will be soon, as director Kevin Munroe is set to unleash the first ever-big screen adaptation of Tiziano Sclavi's hugely popular Italian comic sometime next year. Dylan Dog made his first illustrated appearance in 1986, and has since wowed audiences worldwide. Now, he is set to storm the local Cineplex in what is sure to be one of the scariest and funniest theatrical experiences of 2010. And he will be arriving in the Dead of Night!
Munroe, most famous for directing 2007's excellent animated film TMNT, is pulling out all the stops in making this one of the most over-the-top action films of next year.
In May of this year, we were invited to participate in a tour of the Dead of Night set. The film takes place in New Orleans, where we set up camp and climbed behind the scenes of this wicked new comic book adaptation. Upon our arrival, we were asked to tour the make-up trailer, where we were given the full zombie treatment. That's right, not only did we get to watch the film being made, we also got to participate in these ghastly shenanigans being captured for a whole new generation of fans. After being smeared with fresh mud and dressed in corpse duds, we were escorted to a chamber in an old warehouse, where Dylan Dog and Marcus were busy fighting a giant mutant zombie that had been injected with (spoiler removed to heighten your anticipation).
Most movie sets are slow rolling playgrounds. They offer the same fun found in leisurely going over a speed bump. It sometimes takes hours to set up one shot, and there is quite a bit of waiting around time associated with creating each new on-screen moment. That is all fine and good in the name of art, but the energy on Dead of Night was far more accelerated than anything I've ever experienced before. Munroe's entire team of filmmakers seemed to be in sync as they quickly breezed through one take after the next. Rehearsed and ready for perfection, it didn't take long for Munroe to lock each scene down. Instead of taking hours, he and his crew were onto the next shot in a matter of minutes. This was one well-oiled machine, and I think that energy level will translate to the screen in beautiful shades of aggressive horror comedy.
In the scene being shot, Dylan is on a scaffolding, fist-fighting one of the ugliest zombies ever rendered for the big screen. Tattooed, angry, and fitted with rows of dangerous shark teeth, this behemoth went after our hero, tire-sized fists swinging. In the process, our monster accidentally knocks Marcus over a railing. That's where we, the zombie nation, come in. After Sam Huntington is attached to a wire, he is to be tossed off the scaffolding above us, where we are going to jump, claw, and bite at his frightened frame. As we eagerly anticipate this moment, we are called into the next room, where director Kevin Munroe stands at a monitor, watching the action as it unfolds in front of him. He decides to continue filming the fight between Dylan and the transformed corpse before turning his cameras on us. Our chance to scratch at Marcus would have to come later. While the shots were quickly rearranged, Munroe took a few precious moments out of his busy shooting schedule to chat with us about his film.
Brandon Routh as Dylan DogEveryone in attendance is amazed at the practical effects and make-up work that has brought the so-called "Tattooed Zombie" into existence. He is played by creature actor Brian Steele, but you'd never recognize the lanky thespian under all of that rubber. Watching Steele work his magic on the monitor, Munroe smiled, "Everyone that is involved has done such a great job with the particle effects. This is very cool. I know a lot of CGI tricks, but its neat to have a guy come dust a windowpane, so that when the vampire or werewolf goes through it, the glass vaporizes. You could do that with digital effects, but it is so much cooler when you have it on camera. It feels tangible. You buy it. You get someone in a costume, and they are actually there in the room with you."
This is the first time Kevin has worked with flesh and blood actors, and he enjoys having them in costume on set. Though, he doesn't see it as that big of a change from directing the animated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles film from a few years back, "You are always trying to tell a story. You are trying to shoot it as exciting as possible. You are trying to make it look cool. At the end of the day, it comes down to what is on screen. Whether you are drawing it, or you are directing actors, and telling the DP to do certain things. There are a lot of elements that live action and animation share. One of them is lighting. Lighting is always a pain in the ass. Here, it takes three hours to light something. You'll just end up not doing it. Then you have CGI, and you have ten lights in the scene, and you can't render it because it ups the render time. There are always limitations. The great thing about CGI is not having limits, but it's also a little agoraphobic. Everything has to be created, even the sheen on metal. It is neat to have particle collaborators on this. Its is a lot cooler than CG. Because CG is one actor doing the lines, and then you have fifteen people trying to animate that personality. When it works, it works really well. But this is neater, because it is much more intimate. You can sit down with the actors, and craft their performances with them."
The vibe on set is definitely a fun one, and a lot of people have already described Dead of Night as Ghostbusters for a whole new generation. This isn't a straight up horror flick. The tone is light and full of goofy humor. Munroe told us, "The whole movie is a really cool kick back to my favorite things. The script is a really fun buddy action movie that takes place in the middle of all these iconic horror ideas. It's a lot like Men in Black in the sense that there is a world we don't know about. It was our goal to keep it as real as possible. We didn't want it to feel like we were creating something that wasn't there. We want you to walk out of the theater and go, 'Zombies work at that fast food place! Werewolves work at that pizza joint.' The goal was to keep it grounded in reality."
Dylan Dog is sticking pretty close to his comic book roots. Only a few of the details have been changed, "The original comic was set in London. We are not saying he never lived in London. We aren't saying that he could never go back there. What's cool about New Orleans is, if there is one city in the states that most mimicked Dylan's homeland, its here. You can't fake that. The biggest thing is that we've lost the Groucho Marx character. His personality is still in Marcus. But it's our take on his personality. Dylan has left this world, and is now going back into it with our film. It's a great way to do an origin story without having to know how he started out. The dry humor is still intact. There is a lot of Italian influence with the older vampires. We filmed some of their dialogue in Italian. Its neat, and it adds this backstory that comes from the comics. We have a nice, warm scene between the vampires and Dylan."
One of the coolest things about the film is how deep into the world of Dylan Dog Munroe's two leading men are. Both Brandon Routh and Sam Huntington are extremely committed to the material, and have collaborated extensively on the finished product. Both actors were with the film way before Munroe ever signed on to direct, "When I went to pitch my guts out, Brandon was already cast. They had an old tape from a casting session where they had read Sam Huntington separate of all that. Sam just popped off the screen. I didn't know they were such good friends at the time. I knew they were acquaintances from starring in that Superman movie. Seeing them together was neat. I had already hung out with Brandon for a while, working on the script. Then I met Sam. He came to one of our lunches. He just came in and was Sam. Seeing their friendship sealed it. We were under the gun to get this started, and it was to our benefit to have two great friends starring in it. We didn't have to worry about their chemistry. They felt like they had such a long relationship together. I don't think people will think of their other film when they watch it. That was Clark Kent and Jimmy. Sam didn't have a lot of scenes with Brandon as Superman. I wasn't too worried about it. Maybe it will effect future installments of Superman, but that's not my problem."
Sam Huntington stars as MarcusAll three have worked closely together to get the screenplay just right. That's one of the reasons the actual filmmaking process has been so proficient. These guys know this story like the back of their hand. Why did they each have such a vested interest in making the best film possible? Munroe says, "It was all about being true to the property. Brandon didn't want to step into another iconic role and ruin it. We wanted the script to work, and we wanted an arch that was believable. We were always on the same page since day one." Chowing down on a plate of beef, Brandon stepped beside his director, shaking his head, "Yes." The pair seems to be in agreement about most things.
While Sam (aka Marcus) was being fastened to a harness on the scaffolding, Brandon shared some of his thoughts on the process behind making Dead of Night. It sounds like it will be one of the definitive must-see genre flicks of next year, but that wasn't always the case. When first dipping his toe into the role, Routh quickly realized he was following up one iconic figure in pop culture (i.e. Superman), with another that was equally as popular (at least in Dylan Dog's homeland). It's been difficult for Routh to find just the right role to follow-up his 2006 debut, but he saw this as the road less traveled, "This was an opportunity to do something completely different from what I'd done before. Most people have only seen me as Superman and Clark Kent. This is very far removed from those two characters. That was the main draw. I have been attached to this for a long time. I think it's been about a year and a half. I grew to really love Dylan Dog. When Kevin Munroe came on, we were able to be very collaborative. We were able to talk about the story. We formed a great partnership. I felt really included. And I loved the subject matter. It is a fun ride and a great script. It is something we haven't really seen before. Sure, it was already all in those comics, but those comics haven't reached that wide of an audience in the states yet. We have an opportunity to show this relationship between Marcus and Dylan in a new light. That is exciting to me."
Brandon and Sam have been close friends since starring together in Superman Returns, and that off-screen relationship has certainly broken through and seeped into Dead of Night. Routh says of their on and off-screen relationship, "There are some similarities. Sam is very similar to Marcus. They have the same energy level. They both never want to be the bad guy, so they are always apologizing. They are always saying, "I'm sorry." My nature is a little more balanced. I tend to be a little bit drier with my humor. And that is how Dylan is too. It holds everything in nicely. In the comics, my character does have a bit of a dark side. We don't delve into that too much. There is a deep backstory as to why Dylan has left the investigation business. In our story he was a cop at one time. He left that and became the investigator fans all know and love. At the beginning of this film, he is a regular P.I. He is doing husband and wife stuff, cheating spouses, numbing himself just to stay alive. He knows what is out there, but doesn't want to think about it. Dylan is in a funk. He is just getting back into the swing of things, and he doesn't want to take this particular case. Then bad things happen, and he is forced into action. When we go further in future movies, we will be able to look back. Maybe we will do a prequel, or we will reflect on some of Dylan's past in upcoming episodes." Yes. That's right. Munroe, Huntington, Routh, and the rest of the team are planning a trilogy. But there main focus is on making the best film possible at this very moment in time. Without that, there will be no sequels.
Hopefully, fans of the comic will love this American big screen take on the franchise. Routh's intention was to never stray far from the character as it was drawn on the page, but they have taken some liberties, "There are a few differences. One being that we are bringing this to a mass audience that doesn't really know Dylan at all. We have to make him appealing to a lot of people. Unfortunately and fortunately, Dylan has certain quirks that make him unique on paper. When you are trying to bring those to the big screen, and he is your hero, those quirks can confuse the issue. Dylan is a little numb, because he is just coming out of his funk. That is the major difference. We had to do that. It's hard to translate Vertigo, or his being afraid of certain things, to film. While it makes him a great character in the comics, it doesn't make him likable on screen."
With the character never appearing in an American film prior to this, some aspects of his personality were open for interpretation. Routh did have a role model for Dylan, "Han Solo. Indiana Jones, certainly. All those great Harrison Ford characters have been a great starting point. It's in the voice of Dylan, probably from the writers. I have carried that into my performance. There are all of these emotions going on with Dylan. When he has to step up and face the danger, that all goes away. Dylan puts on his game face. The flaws in the character weren't so much about Dylan as they were about overall flow of the story. I didn't get involved with changing the dialogue in the script at all. That sometimes happens on set, because certain things are easier to say in a certain way. You sometimes change a few words. The relationships with Marcus and Elizabeth have changed a little bit. My involvement with the story has made me a little bit more passionate about it. I am proud to bring this to the screen. Maybe it makes me work harder."
SAnita Briem as ElizabethWhile we talked to Brandon, Sam Huntington was busy getting thrown off the scaffolding in the adjoining room. He had a wire attached to a harness on his back, which jutted out from the spine of his leather jacket. In a pageboy cap and striped purple and black t-shirt, Marcus looks like a missing member of the East Side Kids. His living dead make-up is subtle. His skin is just starting to yellow, and rigor mortis hasn't quite set in yet. He is the true definition of "sidekick". During a break between doing his own stunts, Huntington chatted with us about rotting from the inside out, "The make-up is not nearly as fucked up as it could be. I think I am freshly dead. Its mild. We originally thought I would wake up in the morgue, and I would have cataracts. But now, we think it would be cooler if I was walking down the street at the end of the film, and my eyes have just started to turn. I am slowly getting downtrodden. Dylan looks over at me and does a double take. Then, in the next film, I am more decomposed. I have upgraded myself with new limbs."
Sam came to the film before either Routh or Munroe, "I auditioned three months before Brandon even heard about it. It was the craziest thing ever. I auditioned for the movie. I had a great read. This was a year before Kevin came aboard. It was completely obvious. I loved this role. It is a fun, funny role. It is really appealing to me. I got a call from Brandon, and he says, 'I got attached to this movie. Its called Dead of Night. You should check it out.' I said, 'Yeah, man. I know all about it.' At that point, when we realized we were both really into it, it was our mission to make it together. We've been tight ever since Superman, but we were friends before that. It's nice to be on set with a buddy. There is that automatic comfort level. You don't have to worry about anything. We live in the same place here in New Orleans. Its nice to have that kind of relationship bleed into the screen."
When asked what was tougher, dealing with the make-up every morning, or dealing with a stunt like being tossed off scaffolding, Sam replied, "The make-up is a lot of fun. And we've done a lot of cool stunty stuff. I grew up as a gymnast. I grew up doing stuff like I am doing here today. It is all fun, and its natural for me to do the stunts myself. At one point, I had to crawl out from under a crypt that was under a flat slab. It was covered in dirt and spiders. That's the one thing I didn't want to do, and probably the most challenging.".
Though the film is dealing with a lot of iconic movie monsters, each creature of the unknown has a fresh take and update, especially zombies like Marcus, "That's what I love about this movie. I love the take on it. Everybody asks me if I am talking, or if I am the bad guy. But no, that's the thing. I am deteriorating slowly. My brain is still function. I just don't feel pain. I am still me. I am a little sallow. I don't want to reveal anything I am not supposed to. But there are some great things that zombies do in this world. I have a hard times coming to grips with my death. I think Marcus is just learning to deal with this world. We all have that friend that is a couple of years younger than you. They keep you young, and put a smile on your face. For Dylan, Marcus might be his comic relief,. They are old buddies. It's an older brother, younger brother dynamic. I am constantly trying to earn his respect. I can relate to that. I think anyone can. I think Marcus is trying to learn as much as he can from Dylan. There is a huge part of Marcus that wants to do legitimate detective work. He is trying to pull that out of Dylan, because Dylan has fallen into a funk. That's what a lot of the movie is about."
In the original Italian version of the comic book, Dylan's sidekick is Groucho Marx. Because of rights issues with the Marx estate, Groucho's image couldn't be used, but the character still resonates in Marcus, "The comic tried to utilize a lot of different kinds of humor. I think there is a little bit of that in my character. There are little winks to the Groucho Marx character. But this is not Groucho. This is a fresh take on things. There wasn't much research to do because of this. My research including reading the script twenty times. I wanted to get this character right. And I wanted to get Dylan and Marcus' relationship right. Because that aspect is new. It is unique to the script. Whenever I take on a job, I read the script several times. But with this movie in particular, I really wanted to do it justice. It was written so well."
Brandon Routh as Dylan Dog in Dead of NightOne of the greatest thing about the project is its menagerie of monsters. Before being hoisted off the ground, Sam spoke about this aspect of Dead of Night, "This giant zombie that we are fighting today is one of the coolest things in the film. It is so successfully transferred from one of Kevin's sketches. The make-up and effects guys nailed it. It is amazing. It is one of my favorite beasts that I have ever seen. Then there is a giant beast at the end that is just so awesome. But I am not allowed to talk about that. Then there are the zombies. Taye Diggs plays a vampire. There are a ton of vampires in the movie, but they are all in different stages of vampiredom. He is all vamped-up. He looks awesome. Then we have the zombies, and the werewolves. It is a fresh take on all of these things, while also being a throw back to the werewolves and zombies of olde. It is tremendous. And it is being done really well." With that, Sam was strung back up in the rafters, and we were finally instructed to leap and bite at him as he was dangled down into our zombie camp. It was quite the fun day on this particular movie set.
We will have more with Anita Briem, who plays Elizabeth, and Kurt Angle, who plays the werewolf king Wolfgang, in the coming months. The film is set to open in 2010.
http://www.movieweb.com/news/NEF8rOHJFyZsJL
SDCC: IESB.net's Wrath of Con Party Rocked San Diego Comic Con 2009!
Written by IESB Staff Tuesday, 28 July 2009 10:58
Poynt Presents IESB.net's Wrath of Con 2009!
We came...we saw...we kicked Comic Con's ass as well as the asses belonging to everyone that attended the wildest party on Friday night WRATH OF CON!
The night was kicked off with an amazing performance by DAUGHTRY that had the crowd rockin'!
We've got the first batch of images to share from the party event that took over the Woodstock Terrace Rooftop of the Hard Rock Hotel in San Diego on July 24!
Every web guy you can think of was there from IESB to Chud to Movieweb to Latino Review to Joblo to AICN to Slashfilm to STYD and the list goes on and on!
Plus celebrity attendees included Zack Snyder, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Chris Daughtry, Alexander Skarsgard, John Cho, Jimmy Hayward, Seth Green, Doug Jones, Zachary Levi, Yvonne Strahovski and the cast of CHUCK, Zoe Bell, Woody Harrelson, Nick Simmons, Kelly Hu, Brandon Routh, Sam Huntington, Anita Briem, Masi Oka, Milo Ventimiglia, Tom DeSanto, Don Murphy, comic book legends Stan Lee and Jim Lee, Dave Filoni, Michael Davis, Kyle Newman, Jaime King, Kurt Angle, Lucas Till, Steve Carr, Corin Nemic, Joseph Kosinski, Chris Hardwick, Kevin Sorbo, Robert Englund, Kevin Grevioux, Kevin Munroe, Ray Park, Ted Raimi, Erin Cummings, Kane Hodder and more!
Every major movie studio and comic book publisher was represented!
It was a TRUE Comic Con party in every sense of the word, where online guys, comic book writers/artists/publishers, movie studio reps and actors came together to celebrate all things geek.
We also celebrated 40 years of San Diego Comic Con with three specialty cakes to show our appreciation for everything the Comic Con folks including Eddie Ibrahim, David Glazner, Damien Cabaza and the rest of the crew do for us geeks each year. Here's to another 40 years!
Check out our first photo album from the party by clicking on an awesome image of director Zack Snyder after receiving the Wrath of Con Ultimate Fanboy award along with Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman for their awesome work in genre film and television!
Thanks to Wilson Morales for having the wherewithall to take these candid shots from inside the party while the rest of us were drunk out of our minds!
Stay tuned for a second batch of images from the red cart arrivals!
http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=7183:iesbnets-wrath-of-con-party-rocked-ssan-diego-comic-con-2009&catid=52:conventions
OT;Calif. incentives program lands 25 projects
Film commission began accepting applications July 1
By Carl DiOrio
July 27, 2009, 11:12 PM ET
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Film Commission on Monday announced the first 25 film and TV productions to qualify for recently passed state tax credits. A handful of high-profile projects were included, including DreamWorks' Jay Roach-helmed comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" and Sony's Facebook saga "The Social Network."
"I fought hard for economic-stimulus measures, including the film and television production incentive, because we must do everything in our power to stimulate the economy and put Californians back to work," Schwarzenegger said. "This is about the makeup artists, the caterers and the countless other small businesses that rely on film and television production to succeed and create jobs for Californians."
The governor said the tax-based production incentives are an attempt to stop a runaway-production trend that has seen more than three dozen other states lure film and TV projects from California. The new program offers various categories of incentives featuring 20%-25% credits that can be used by qualifying production companies after Jan. 1, 2011.
"I can state, without a doubt, that this new film-incentive program is the reason we're making our movie in California," said Tom Duffield, production designer on CBS Films' action thriller "Faster," starring Dwayne Johnson. "Without the incentive, it would have been made in New Mexico. I'm now free to hire the best crews and use the best local vendors in the business. This couldn't come at a better time."
The state film commission began accepting applications July 1.
"This program launches at a time when the state urgently needs to increase jobs and stimulate our economy," CFC director Amy Lemisch said. "We now have the resources to put more of our experienced crews back to work while keeping our production infrastructure healthy. I couldn't be happier with the early success of our program. It's performing exactly as it was intended: keeping movies and TV shows here in California that otherwise would have been lost to other regions."
Those qualifying for the program thus far include: "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2," Tiny but Mighty Prods.; "Burlesque," Screen Gems Prods.; "Christmas in Beverly Hills," Fast Lane Prods.; "Circle of Eight," Bronson Avenue II; "Cooper," Gramps Co.; "Dead Broke," Lucky Monkey Pictures; "Dinner for Schmucks," DW Studios Prods.; "Elevator Girl," Garding Ltd.; "Faster," CBS Films Prods.; "Fire in the Hole," Woodbridge Prods.; "1/2//fraction// Life," 1/2//fraction// Life Llc.; "Hero Factory," Threshold Animation Studios; "Important Things With Demetri Martin," Central Prods.; "Men of a Certain Age," Turner North Center Prods.; "Naked Gun 4," Paramount Famous Prods.; "The Perfect Family," Perfect Family Prods.; "Priest," Screen Gems Prods.; "The Raise," Unclaimed Freight Prods.; "Second Wives Club," Paramount Famous Prods.; "Slumdog Virgin," Steinbeck Llc.; "The Social Network," Columbia Pictures; "The Spanish Harlem Project," Mano Prods.; "Takin' It Back," Elixir Entertainment; "Untitled Movie," Close to Home Prods.; and "You Again," Briarvale Prods.
Calif. incentives program lands 25 projects
Film commission began accepting applications July 1
By Carl DiOrio
July 27, 2009, 11:12 PM ET
"Schmucks" was no schmuck and took the money.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the California Film Commission on Monday announced the first 25 film and TV productions to qualify for recently passed state tax credits. A handful of high-profile projects were included, including DreamWorks' Jay Roach-helmed comedy "Dinner for Schmucks" and Sony's Facebook saga "The Social Network."
"I fought hard for economic-stimulus measures, including the film and television production incentive, because we must do everything in our power to stimulate the economy and put Californians back to work," Schwarzenegger said. "This is about the makeup artists, the caterers and the countless other small businesses that rely on film and television production to succeed and create jobs for Californians."
The governor said the tax-based production incentives are an attempt to stop a runaway-production trend that has seen more than three dozen other states lure film and TV projects from California. The new program offers various categories of incentives featuring 20%-25% credits that can be used by qualifying production companies after Jan. 1, 2011.
"I can state, without a doubt, that this new film-incentive program is the reason we're making our movie in California," said Tom Duffield, production designer on CBS Films' action thriller "Faster," starring Dwayne Johnson. "Without the incentive, it would have been made in New Mexico. I'm now free to hire the best crews and use the best local vendors in the business. This couldn't come at a better time."
The state film commission began accepting applications July 1.
"This program launches at a time when the state urgently needs to increase jobs and stimulate our economy," CFC director Amy Lemisch said. "We now have the resources to put more of our experienced crews back to work while keeping our production infrastructure healthy. I couldn't be happier with the early success of our program. It's performing exactly as it was intended: keeping movies and TV shows here in California that otherwise would have been lost to other regions."
Those qualifying for the program thus far include: "Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2," Tiny but Mighty Prods.; "Burlesque," Screen Gems Prods.; "Christmas in Beverly Hills," Fast Lane Prods.; "Circle of Eight," Bronson Avenue II; "Cooper," Gramps Co.; "Dead Broke," Lucky Monkey Pictures; "Dinner for Schmucks," DW Studios Prods.; "Elevator Girl," Garding Ltd.; "Faster," CBS Films Prods.; "Fire in the Hole," Woodbridge Prods.; "1/2//fraction// Life," 1/2//fraction// Life Llc.; "Hero Factory," Threshold Animation Studios; "Important Things With Demetri Martin," Central Prods.; "Men of a Certain Age," Turner North Center Prods.; "Naked Gun 4," Paramount Famous Prods.; "The Perfect Family," Perfect Family Prods.; "Priest," Screen Gems Prods.; "The Raise," Unclaimed Freight Prods.; "Second Wives Club," Paramount Famous Prods.; "Slumdog Virgin," Steinbeck Llc.; "The Social Network," Columbia Pictures; "The Spanish Harlem Project," Mano Prods.; "Takin' It Back," Elixir Entertainment; "Untitled Movie," Close to Home Prods.; and "You Again," Briarvale Prods.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i64d7e42a898297d7dbe1e005a09e1449
Brandon interview CBR TV and a little bit more Top Cow.
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=video&show_id=130861
http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22280