Here’s another good article about the Texas film business that touches on the lack of a competitive film incentive program. Time to nudge your legislators. The wheelin’ and dealin’ has begun in Austin December 04, 2008 By Mark Dundas Wood Recently, Drew Barrymore directed and starred in a feature called Whip It!, set in Austin, [...]

No movement. That’s all there is to report on the ongoing standoff between SAG and the AMPTP. Trade publications put attendance at Saturday’s SAG membership meeting in Hollywood at 450 – 750, depending on which industry rag you want to believe. The producer-friendly Daily Variety article actually has the attendance at the upper end of [...]

One of the best reviewed films of the year had a stunning opening this weekend with an estimated take in excess of $155 million while playing on 4,366 screens. Apparently that wasn’t enough screens because the weekend was a virtual sellout and HOLLYWOOD REPORTER published a report of tickets selling on Ebay for around $50. [...]

The following letter members received from SAG today reinforces some of the points I was making in my earlier post: BIG PRODUCER$ MONETIZE YOUTUBE CLIP$ July 17, 2008 It’s Not New Media – It’s NOW Media Dear Screen Actors Guild Member, I want to tell you why your national negotiating committee has not accepted the [...]

While we wait for a resolution of the current contract ‘negotiations’ between SAG and the AMPTP, a few show biz reports give a look under the tent at why SAG is so concerned about issues like clip usage and residuals from new media. As an example, look at the deal announced this week between YouTube [...]

There is a terrific article by Steven Zeitchik in today’s Hollywood Reporter: Strike effect mirrors class struggle. A few excerpts: “A strike absolutely makes it possible to get the quality of people you normally wouldn’t have a shot at,” said Mark Gill, co-founder of the Film Department, which is prepping as many as four movies [...]

Here’s an interesting roundtable discussion from The Hollywood Reporter on the state of independent film. Where is the money coming from, how do you get distribution, what is the role of the international market in the indie film world and what about film festivals????? Stephen Galloway of The Hollywood Reporter discussed those and other matters [...]