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UK Stunt Girls Exposed In 2009 Calendar

Eight professional stunt girls have decided to bare all for children's charity 'Make A Wish Foundation' by featuring naked in a 2009 calendar. 

For the very first time, they now appear are in front of the camera naked in the UK Stunt Girls Exposed 2009 Calendar. Each month features a photo of the girls posing with the equipment and rigging actually used in the stunt industry. All proceeds from the sale of the calendars will be donated to the ‘Make a Wish’ charity.

In addition to the contribution made by the stunt girls, Pinewood Studios, wire riggers, technicians, stunt engineers, photographers, makeup and hair artists and many others generously donated their time and resources in support of this worthy cause.

The calendar will retail through various outlets for £10.

Copies will also be signed by international stars including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie and will be auctioned at various charity balls. Times and locations will be posted on the UK Stunt Girls website as and when information becomes available. The girls hope to raise in excess of £50,000.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What others have to say about the realities of working in the television and movie industry....

 

 

 

 

 

IATSE/AMPTP: Controversial Health Plan Eligibility Rollback Causing Complaints

This December 4th email (see below) sent to International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 members from national president Steven Poster confirms my Thanksgiving weekend details of the previously undisclosed tentative terms in the IATSE/AMPTP deal. And, yes, it included the controversial new rollback that, effective 07/31/2011, the Health Plan will change the standards for continuing eligibility from a requirement of working 300 hours to 400 hours over a six month period.  MORE...

 

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/iatseamptp-tentative-deal-health-plan-eligibility-rollback-confirmed/#comments

 

 

 

 

 

 

Studios can watch Strike.TV, but they can't touch its content

The website, a product of the 100-day writers strike, lets scriptwriters own, feature and control their work.
By Richard Verrier
November 14, 2008
Striking writer Peter Hyoguchi was walking the picket line outside Disney's ABC Studios in Burbank in January when he had an epiphany. ¶ What if scriptwriters launched a website featuring their work, which they would own and control free of studio interference? ¶ That hunch is about to be tested. After months of planning and delay, Hyoguchi and his colleagues have turned their seemingly quixotic idea into a reality. Two weeks ago they launched an online "network" for original programming named Strike.TV.   MORE

 

 

 

Hollywood Feeling Pinch Amid Economic Worries

Associated Press
October 28, 2008 - Hollywood is feeling some impact from the economic downturn, but its famous resilience to recession is kicking in, and analysts remain optimistic.

Even between 2000 and 2001, during the downturn following the Sept. 11 terror attacks and the dot-com boom, consumers' movie spending _ box office, rental receipts and home video purchases combined _ rose 10 percent, to $28.4 billion.

Between 1989 and 1991, movie spending rose 8.5 percent to $16.8 billion, and between 1980 to 1982 as VHS tapes hit the mass market for the first time, it rose a whopping 47 percent.

Consumers' movie spending has been flat for three years, but the stock market is where Hollywood studios seem to be suffering the most, and none of the six largest studios is independently owned so the market's censure includes lots of factors unrelated to movie spending.

Between Sept. 12 _ the last trading day before Lehman Brothers declared itself bankrupt, it's a rough starting point for the current downturn _ and Wednesday, the S&P 500 fell 28 percent. Time Warner Inc., Sony, Viacom Inc., News Corp., General Electric Co. and The Walt Disney Co. _ fell an average of 32 percent in those six weeks.

Many other companies that rely on consumers' discretionary spending saw their share prices drop by half or more.

As for financing, even if some outside sources fall away or turn to other investments, executives and analysts are confident in the studios' ability to keep churning out big budget movies, which are their biggest money makers.

"As the private money dries up it's going to be more internal sources and internal credit facilities," said Fitch Ratings analyst Jamie Rizzo.

For example, Paramount Pictures owner Viacom Inc. also owns cash-steady cable networks MTV, Nickelodeon and Comedy Central, which provide a buffer to the sometimes hit-and-miss nature of moviemaking, where revenue can vary dramatically, Rizzo points out.

"These (cable networks) throw off billions of dollars in cash flow," he said. "That was the whole part of bringing these movie studios in house into a big conglomerate, to take away some of that volatility on the movie studio side."

 

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A semester abroad ... in Tinseltown

http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/business/la-me-lastudy6-2008oct06,0,4753339.story 

U.S. colleges send students to Britain for literature or Italy for art -- so why not to Hollywood?
By Larry Gordon, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
October 6, 2008
Forget about Paris and a semester at the Sorbonne. Who needs to study in Florence or struggle with Mandarin for just months in Beijing?

Instead, consider the allure of Burbank and the nearby Oakwood apartments. Think about Los Angeles' Wilshire district and the chance to speak like a Hollywood agent.

A growing number of U.S. colleges and universities, mostly from the East Coast and the South, are making something close to that pitch for what are in effect study-abroad programs in the Los Angeles area. And while programs in Italy often emphasize art and those in England literature, the focus here is squarely on the entertainment industry and on internships that might jump-start a Hollywood career.

Emerson College in Boston, the University of Texas at Austin, Boston University and Ithaca College in New York are among those that sponsor year-round or summer programs that bring students to Southern California. Others include Columbia College in Chicago, Temple University in Philadelphia, Elon University in North Carolina and a national consortium of Christian colleges.

The colleges enroll their students in classes on screenwriting, acting and agentry, and get them into apprenticeships -- mostly unpaid -- in television, movies, music or advertising.

In most cases, the programs are modeled after those for overseas studies. They take out-of-town students to a strange, interesting and potentially rewarding place far from home for education and fun. And like those others, the L.A. programs encourage students to mix with the natives but usually require them to live in university-affiliated housing, often at the Oakwood Toluca Hills or Park La Brea apartments.

"We joke that we are in a foreign country here," said Bill Linsman, who heads Boston University's 6-year-old Los Angeles Internship Program from a Wilshire Boulevard office. Most of the students are from the East Coast, and L.A.'s entertainment business "is a foreign culture" for them, he said.

The biggest lesson for the 67 Boston University students enrolled in the program this fall is that show business is serious business, he said. "When you look at the surface of Hollywood, you see sunglasses and blue jeans and tans and sitting around the pool. But dig deeper and you see it's dollars and cents."

Generally, more than half of the students in the L.A. programs end up staying in the area if it's their final semester before graduation, or return later, administrators report. They join what the colleges tout as large networks of alumni already in the entertainment field in Los Angeles.

"It really does immerse you immediately into what's going on here and gives you a real sense of how to break into the industry," said Jeff Bibeau, an Ithaca College senior enrolled in that school's L.A. semester. "It would be silly of me to study four years of communications in upstate New York, cut off from the rest of the world."

A television and radio studies major from Massachusetts, Bibeau is juggling internships with the "Brothers and Sisters" television series and at a movie production house. He does clerical work, fetches coffee, reads scripts and offers opinions in story meetings.

Bibeau enjoyed a sophomore semester in London but said his Los Angeles jobs and classes on film criticism and media law seem "much more relevant." He intends to finish at Ithaca in the spring and may job hunt in Los Angeles.

L.A. semesters, which typically cost about the same as a term at the home campus, aside from transportation extras, help students make informed decisions about their futures, explained Stephen Tropiano, director of Ithaca's program, which started in 1994. "For some, it affirms what they are interested in. For some, they realize it's not what they want to do," he said.

The only other U.S. city with so many out-of-town college programs is Washington, D.C., where political science and government are emphasized.

The rise of the L.A. semesters can be partly attributed to students' becoming more vocationally oriented, said Peter Bukalski, an official with the University Film and Video Assn., a national faculty group. Yet Bukalski, a film professor at Southern Illinois University, sounded a cautionary note about raising false career hopes. "It's a very, very competitive business," he said.

Administrators say the "domestic abroad" programs here are not recruiting rivals because they mainly enroll students from their own colleges. But they say they need a Los Angeles presence to counter the hometown advantage of cinema graduates at, for example, USC and UCLA.

"We are saying our students are just as good as yours, if not better, and we are going to compete head to head with you," said Philip Nemy, executive director of the 3-year-old University of Texas at Austin program in Los Angeles.

Classes for most of the programs are held in rented offices in the Burbank and mid-Wilshire areas. Columbia College leases space at Raleigh Studios in Hollywood for the 200 students it trains each year.

Emerson, the L.A. semester pioneer, recently took a big step. It paid $12 million in April for a Sunset Boulevard parking lot in Hollywood where it plans to construct classrooms, dorms and production facilities. David Rosen, Emerson's vice president for public affairs, said the campus would show that after 20 years in Los Angeles, "we were there to stay."

On a recent morning, things were bustling at Emerson's current headquarters in a Burbank office building.

In one classroom, veteran television writer Debra Epstein was leading eight students she had assigned to devise plots for established TV series such as "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." After one promising but complicated reading involving a murdered Russian spy, Epstein gently urged a rewrite. "It's getting too hard for the audience to follow. You need to streamline," she said.

Upstairs, the Emerson program's executive director, Jim Lane was screening "A Clockwork Orange," the controversial 1971 movie, for 19 students in his course about American films of the '70s. Later, Lane lectured about director Stanley Kubrick's bold cinematic style and detailed the film's themes of violent youth and untrustworthy authorities.

"It is a self-conscious, aggressive film that challenges you on all sorts of levels," said Lane, whose course also examines "Dirty Harry" and "McCabe and Mrs. Miller," among others.

Elon University is the newest here. The North Carolina school started its Los Angeles program this summer with 20 students and space at the Oakwood, according to coordinator Jason McMerty. Since a growing number of graduates move to L.A., he said, Elon figured it should "demystify" the city to students who knew it only from "Baywatch" or "Entourage."

Los Angeles' libertine reputation did not stop the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities from starting its Los Angeles Film Studies Center. Its 50 current students, from schools such as Asbury College in Kentucky and Calvin College in Michigan, work on film projects and internships. They also pledge not to drink or smoke and must take a course called Theology in Hollywood.

Any culture shock is less about morality than adapting to a big city, said program director Rebecca Ver Straten-McSparran. "A lot of our students come from towns with one stop light. So this city is overwhelming," she said.

Evan Kaufman, a senior from Connecticut in Emerson's program, often bicycles from his Oakwood apartment to his internship with film producers on the nearby Universal lot. A writing major, he says the L.A. semester is a good way to "dip your toe in the water" of the entertainment industry without the risk of going it alone.

It's possible to work on independent movies in Boston, Kaufman said. "But if you want to write the next 'Iron Man,' you have to be here. There's really no two ways about it. And I think a lot of kids have that fantasy of coming out here and making it big."

He too may return to Hollywood next year, he said. And if things don't work out: "Mom and Dad's basement awaits."

 

 

 

 

Hollywood actors urged to strike

Thursday, 2 October 2008 12:37 UK

The governing board of the Screen Actors Guild is being urged to ballot its members over strike action.

Contract talks between the actors' union and Hollywood studios are at a deadlock, after the latest pay deal was rejected in July.

Those negotiating on behalf of SAG's 120,000 members are calling for a ballot. They want the board to back a strike, calling it "unavoidable".

MORE

 

 

Bollywood workers strike for better wages

Thu Oct 2, 2008 1:01am BST

By Nyay Bhushan

NEW DELHI (Hollywood Reporter) - More than 100,000 Indian film industry workers in Mumbai went on strike Wednesday, protesting low wages, late payments and the employment of nonunion members in Bollywood.

The strike was called by the Federation of Western India Cine Employees, a group that encompasses more than 20 affiliate unions representing the interests of actors, technicians and camera operators, among others.

The strike was called after talks demanding better wages with film producers broke down in August.

"It is within our rights to ask for better pay," FWICE head Dinesh Chaturvedi said. "A film worker gets 600 rupees (7 pounds) per day, and a television worker gets paid 500 rupees (6 pounds) per day," Chaturvedi said.

MORE

 

 

 

Abu Dhabi channels more cash to Hollywood

The oil-rich emirate is launching a production company with Hollywood partners, with more than $1 billion in financing.

By Claudia Eller and Josh Friedman, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
September 4, 2008
Furthering the links between the United Arab Emirates and Hollywood, a venture controlled by the government of Abu Dhabi is launching a production company with a $1-billion-plus fund to make movies and digital content in partnership with three as-yet-unnamed Los Angeles producers and other international filmmakers.

Abu Dhabi Media Co., through a newly formed subsidiary called Imagenation Abu Dhabi, plans to make eight films a year over the next five years, primarily for the English-speaking market. Imagenation will announce the first of its production deals next week at the Toronto Film Festival. The U.S. companies plan to open offices in Abu Dhabi.....  More

 

 

 

 

Movie Work Drops Off As Actors Negotiate

United Press International

http://nab365.bdmetrics.com/NST-6-50094981/Movie-Work-Drops-Off-As-Actors-Negotiate.aspx 

August 28, 2008 - Union members say major movie production in Los Angeles has come to a virtual halt as producers eye contract talks with the Screen Actors Guild.

The Hollywood studios scheduled most of their productions to wrap up around June 30 in anticipation of drawn-out negotiations, and indeed, talks between the Guild and the industry are ongoing, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday. It said only one major studio film, DreamWorks SKG's "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," is underway.

"We've had a substantial drop-off," Ed Brown, business agent for Local 44 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, told the Times. His union represents craft workers such as set decorators and special effects technicians. Brown said about 3,500 of the union's 5,500 members were working.

He told the Times that current work levels are off nearly 10 percent from this time last year, saying that the drop-off would have been larger if not for a substantial number of small-budget films whose independent producers have signed contracts with the Screen Actors Guild.

But analysts say producers are ultimately betting there won't be an actors' strike and will ramp up production next month, the Times said.

 

 

 

 

By JOHN ANDERSON

Published: July 27, 2008

Twin Hopes: Satisfying Movie, Low Cost

...Immediately after “Manure” wraps, essentially the same crew will begin production on another film, “Stay Cool.” “The old studio system had that factory, conveyor-belt process,” Mark Polish said. “That was something we wanted to look into, say, ‘Hey, maybe we could do two like these, maybe three or four with breaks in between.’ ”....  More

 

 

 

Hollywood actors, producers at loggerheads over contract

 LOS ANGELES, July 18 (Xinhua) -- The chief negotiator for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) on Friday accused the latest contract offer from Hollywood producers of falling short in the area of work appearing in new media.

    In a message sent to SAG members and posted on the union's Web site, chief negotiator Doug Allen said the contract could not be accepted even though the offer largely follows the framework of deals accepted by directors, writers and a smaller actors' union.

    The harsh response served as an indication that the on-again, off-again contract talks between SAG and producers were at a standstill. No new negotiations have been scheduled.   more...

 

 

 

CHANNEL ISLAND

Will 'Ugly Betty' and others strike for SAG?

Films and TV sag under the $tar system.
By Scott Collins, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
May 11, 2008

"...Hollywood doesn't have a technology problem. It has an income-disparity problem. Everyone knows it, and yet no one talks about it..." more

 

 

 

TV crew members still feeling effects of writers strike

Many can't find work with production down, and their bills are piling up. Some are facing foreclosure and bankruptcy.
By Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
April 28, 2008
"...The writers strike ended two months ago. But many in Hollywood remain on the brink..."  more

 

 

 

 

 

The Difference Between Great and Dumbass Producers

Before I get started let me acknowledge that not all creative teams are created equal. But in this business, most are pretty damned competent. The creative end of things is highly competitive and the bad apples get weeded out reasonably quick. On the flip side, anybody who can raise money or talk a good game can claim rights as a producer. Who knows what one does for an “assistant producer” screen credit.

That said, there are a lot of great producers and if it was not for them there wouldn’t be much entertainment in this world. Great producers are, without exception, hardest workers with the longest hours. They have to an eye for both the creative and financial and able to weigh them together and against each other.

John Tarnoff, the astute Head of Show Development at DreamWorks Animation, spent nine years as a film producer. I asked for his impression of producers, both great and dumbass. First he hit me with this: “There is no such thing as a bad producer, Peter. This may sound like a syllogism, but what I mean is that a bad producer just isn't really a producer.” And I’m thinking: ‘Yeah, but there sure are plenty of pretenders out there.” Pressing onward John suggested the characteristics of a great producer:

“A real producer holds the vision of the project. They're the first person to turn on the lights in the morning, and the last person to turn out the lights at night. They are the leader, the go-to person, the solution-provider, the conflict resolver. They are consistent, passionate, fair and fierce. They know how to pick their battles. They know how to inspire others, even and especially when they are taking hits and bleeding profusely from their own battles to keep the ship afloat. They are everyone's confidante, keep everyone's counsel, but beat to their own drum. Their number one client: the Director. Their number one loyalty: the project — which brings us back around to vision.” That was a passionate response. Clearly John has affection for producers. I think with those words, he just defined the position as it should be. But I certainly know “producers” who are nothing like that. Obviously they don’t work at Dreamworks.

Clearly there is a massive rift between the real producers and wannabies. The problem as I see it is that there are more producer pretenders/Dumbass producers out there than I like to see;. Some (mostly younger IMHO) studio execs have clearly been sucked in by “producers” who talk a good game. Consider the number of really bad movies getting made when there is much better material out there being ignored. A lot of really awful TV is being foisted upon us and, to quote Howard Beale, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.” Thus you see the motivation for this column.

Teamwork

As we all know, film and television production takes team work. You got your money people, your management team and youre creative team. To confuse things, there is often overlap. When it all works right, the money people get behind a project, raise the money and hire the right managers. Together they hire the best creative team they can put together. The money and management people then keep things organized and supportive while respecting and guiding the creative and production teams to put out an entertaining show. The Executive producer (and often the creator) is a part of it all, like a bridge. They are the ones with the original vision, or who spotted the property and made it a reality, the Ringleader., the Show Runner.

Gathering Input

I asked well known writer Billiam Coronel about producers from a writer’s perspective: “A good producer creates an environment in which the writer feels the relationship is actually helping to make the writer's script better; whereas a bad producer makes the writer feel like he or she is just another cog to put the producer's vision into script form.” I have to agree for the most part – with David E. Kelley being a notable exception I’ll talk about in a minute. I then talked with one of my heroes, the guy who built some of the most famous star ships in the universe along with tribbles for the various Star Trek incarnations, now he’s doing the same but more transparently, for Chuck: VFX Guru Dan Curry. “Great show runners surround themselves with competent people they trust and share vision with, let them do their jobs and communicate directly with them. They keep the approval process as streamlined as possible to minimize pointless remakes. They have people skills, and are supportive, and they are as quick to praise as they are to find fault. They also have a clear vision of what their show is about and can communicate that vision to cast and crew inspiring them.” Great, but I wanted to know about the really bad ones…so, over a really nice single malt Dan gave me this: “Poor show runners surround themselves with "court sycophants” that insulate them from the people who directly do the work. The intermediaries justify their own existences with pointless remakes that ultimately have to be done again when the show runner sees them. This results in wasteful expenditure. Poor show runners are poor judges of character who frequently promote the undeserving and perceptually challenged. “This results in disgruntlement among the real workers and ultimately affects the quality of the shows. Poor show runners frequently use the philosophy "always find fault... it keeps them humble". This is truly counterproductive as creative people need positive feedback to keep doing their best. Over negativity can create docility but then the show runner is denied the collective power of many great minds.” On the other hand, according to producer Gale Anne Hurd, the title “Producer” is the only film credit that you don't have to contribute anything tangible or perform any specific function, that studios often negotiate a generic producer credit in lieu of financial compensation. Gale has been a producer on the "Hulk" movies, Terminator, Abyss and more.

In talking with many people who didn’t want to be quoted, but have to deal with producers; I was enlightened both on the positive and the negative. Here are a few of the things that surfaced:

Greed is a show killer

Greed is one thing you’ll always find somewhere in the production line. It’s pretty much expected which is kind of sad in itself. It seems everybody wants to line their pockets and the money is sometimes distributed in inverse proportion to actual contribution to the show. It’s not unusual to find people on the payroll who really don’t contribute much if anything but haul down big chunks of cash per episode. It inflates the hell out of production costs without contributing to what’s on the screen.

The cost of a project can really skyrocket when it gets cluster-produced…that’s when you see the credits rolling for ten minutes with the names of all sorts of producers and producing entities. One guy finds a neat project and goes to another guy to finance it. That guy comes up with little money and three other guys who can raise a significant amount, but then we need to get the right people on board to grease the rails with the studio, network and distribution etc.. Pretty soon you have a large cluster of producers, many of whom bring little to the party except who they know. But then they are ‘producers’ with an IMdb credit and everything and have that business model to build on. Beware. I’d like to make a small concession here. When you end up with a show like Mash, 2.5 men, Friends etc, that have a long run, it makes sense for the producers to take home more money. They took the risks, created the show and now that it’s in syndication and there are multiple revenue streams, maybe spinoffs, the producers deserve to benefit big time. But it’s usually only the great show runners that end up in that situation. The bad ones get too greedy early on.

Plantec’s Producer’s Hall of Fame

You can see there are producers at all levels with many different job descriptions. It’s probably one of the most poorly defined jobs in Hollywood. Perhaps that’s why so many Hollywood wannabies have their cards made up with “Producer” beneath their name. It could mean almost anything.

So I’m going to go out on the limb and point out some people whom I believe to be great producers. There are many more but I wanted to honor these people in no particular order.

Chuck Lorre, creator/ writer/ and EP of many the really great comic TV shows over the last 18 years, from Rosanne to Two and a Half Men and Big Bang Theory. Chuck has a great sense of humor, respects his people, especially his writers and knows entertainment better than almost anybody. He’s truly a legend in this business.

Bill Prady, executive producer of Big Bang Theory and Dharma & Greg among others. Bill is an other example of a great producer who started out as a writer. He’s been a producing for about 13 years. He’s exhibits qualities of a great producer, being mostly attached to great shows, working his ass off and learning from those around him, especially the legend, Chuck Lorre. He’s also a family man striving to achieve balance.

Jerry Bruckheimer – One of the most successful film and television producers of all time, I’m thoroughly impressed with Jerry on all levels. He spoke at a class I was taking at UCLA night film school and was sharp as a tack. He is produces some of the very best programs starting with Flash Dance back in 1983 to the "CSI" TV franchise. Even his reality show The Amazing Race is one of the few I enjoy. Jerry is perhaps the greatest legend of them all.

Manny Coto, executive producer of 24 and Enterprise among other things has been producing for more than 12 years. I understand that he is held in high esteem by his crew and respected by his peers.

Josh Schwartz, executive producer of Gossip Girl and Chuck. Josh is an example of the best that our younger producers have to offer. At 26 he became the youngest show runner in network history. It was a good choice. He has all those stellar qualities that John Tarnoff mentioned above.

Gale Anne Hurd – Gale has been producing movies since 1982. She can be a tough negotiator, has great passion for her projects and can do hand holding when necessary. Her academic achievements before producing were stratospheric. This may be sexist, but I also think she brings something of the feminine to her work; and that is a wonderful thing.

Rick Berman, executive producer of various "Star Trek" incarnations and creator of some. Rick took over the franchise after Gene Roddenberry passed away and did a fine job of it.

Ronald D. Moore, executive producer of many space operas from Star Trek Next Generation to the new Battle Star Galactica. Ronald is respected by his crew and exhibits many traits of a great producer.

Steven Bochco – For 24 years, from NYPD Blues to Raising the Bar this creator/writer/producer has performed with style, brining to us some of the most authentic TV drama ever created. He’s a legend.

David E. Kelley – For 19 years Dave has brought us some of the wackiest and most entertaining shows on television, from Doogie Howser MD, Ally McBeal, and Boston Legal, to serious shows like Chicago Hope and Picket Fences. David is truly a legend, a family man and a great creator/Writer/Producer.

Ron Howard and Brian Grazer – a great team, they founded Imagine Entertainment 22 years ago. Don’t let Brian’s hair fool you, he’s a sharp business man and an excellent producer. Ron is the penultimate example of the actor who has all the talents needed. He’s a fabulous producer; he’s one of our most talented directors and from my observation (only meeting him once,) a decent guy. Imagine entertainment has brought us much of the best entertainment on TV and in the movies over the last two decades. Ron and Brian are huge co-legends.

Okay I’ve listed mostly TV producers. You go with who you know. And Gale Ann Hurd is the only woman on my list. It bothers me too… chalk it up to my ignorance. Help me find more great women producers, or is producing mostly a boys club? I knew female film producers when I was a member of Women in Film, but most of them were just starting out and didn’t fit this category. Forgive me. I am willing to be enlightened.

As with all my columns, this is how I see things based on my experiences and discussions with friends and associates in the biz. If you think I’m wrong then you need to speak up and tell me your side of the story. Or add to the list of what makes a good and what makes a dumbass producer in the comment section below or email me.

 

 

 

 

 

"Don't Swim at the Bottom" by Art Adams

If you’re competing on price alone, you’re going to lose. Compete on what you can DO! .... more

from "Stunning Good Looks by Art Adams".....Art Adams A native of Northern California, Art Adams spent ten years in LA--first at film school (Loyola Marymount) and then working in the film industry. He started out as a camera assistant ... more

 

 

 

 

"What it's really like to work in Hollywood"

"Moran is pragmatic when it comes to his future. He views trailer editing as a way to open doors and to gain valuable experience while also make a decent living.  'I have yet to give up my dreams, but I will probably spend more time now pursuing more realistic goals,' said Moran... more

 

 

 

""Here’s the best advice I ever got about working in the film industry.Hyams laughed a little, and said something like this:  “Ok, let me ask you something. When you guys get out into the film industry, what do you think your first job will be?”  more 

 

 

 

  16th Annual Power 100 Women in Entertainment

The Hollywood Reporter Women in Entertainment Power 100 list is our annual ranking of influential female executives in Hollywood. Rankings reflect professional achievements, company role, financial and green-light responsibility and force of personality... more

 

 

 

Column:  "Working Hollywood" by Cristy Lytal

 

 

Creature builder Shane Mahan tests his mettle with 'Iron Man'

Robert Downey Jr. has to carry his weight and then some.
CREATURE effects supervisor Shane Mahan modestly credits much of his success to being in the right place at the right time. Born and raised in Greenville, Mich., population 3,000, the 44-year-old spent his childhood watching horror films, making Super-8 shorts about Dracula and Frankenstein and writing and directing plays.

"I think what it boils down to is the abject boredom of living out in the country [spurs] little kids to create these fun things to do," he says.  more...

 

 

 

'Dexter's' bloody-minded expert

Real-life crime scene investigator Kimberlee Heale helps TV's 'Dexter' get the job done the right way.
WHEN Kimberlee Heale was a little girl growing up in Covina and San Diego, she used to ask her father, a firefighter, to describe traffic accidents. By the time she took a tour of the FBI Crime Lab as an eighth-grader, she knew that a career in forensics was for her.

"It was just the whole idea behind being able to put pieces of a puzzle together to figure out what somebody did," she says. "It was pretty interesting to me."  more...

 

 

Robbie Penny, greensman for 'The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian'

His job is to cultivate the lush outdoor settings.
SOME people have a window office. Greensman Robbie Penny has the great outdoors.

"I've always been involved in horticulture," says the Auckland, New Zealand, native. "My mother and father were both very keen gardeners, and my father worked for a company called Turners & Growers. I've never really been that interested in much else."   more....

 

De Longis helps Harrison Ford crack the whip -- literally

The bullwhip tutor teaches the actor how to get just the right snap for ' Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.'  more

 

 

As films' train master, he keeps period pieces on track....

Consultant Arthur J. Miller Jr. kept the railroads running for 'Leatherheads.'  more

 

She made sure 'Sweet Nothing in My Ear' takes signing seriously....

Linda Bove coaches the cast in deaf culture for the CBS telefilm.  more

 

Katie Brock makes them sit up and beg....

And her charges do plenty more for the animal trainer, who had quite an exotic menagerie to work with for 'Nim's Island.'  more

 

Miniatures master cuts dramatic backdrops down to size for '10,000 BC'....

Joachim Grüninger re-creates lands and landmarks to lend illusions of grandeur.  more

 

She minds their Ps and Qs....

An etiquette coach's love of history helps her ensure that 'The Other Boleyn Girl's' on-screen manners are true to their era.  more

 

Sound advice on issues of the deaf....

Deaf actress Linda Bove...  more (LA Times Archives)

 

He's locked in on authenticity; Percussion cap guns.  Flintlocks.  Pocket pistols.  Under R. Vern Crofoot, period projects get it right....

"Your average individual at that time, even a gentleman of that era, would have been carrying a weapon at all times," says Crofoot..more (LA Times Archives)

 

His job outlook is up in the air...

It was John Marzano's love of photography that first got his career as an aerial director off the ground... more (LA Times Archives)

 

He gives actors a sporting chance...

When he was shooting hoops on North Carolina's high school state championship teams, he dreamed of.... more  (LA Times Archives)

 

Drawing on his comic book cred...

When a film's in the hands of storyboard artist Rob McCallum, action springs to life... more (LA Times Archives)

 

Breathing life into Bigfoot...

Robert Hall's job isn't just about makeup. Engineering, chemistry and more are involved... more (LA Times Archives)

 

Steering clear of troubled waters...

Daren Bailey, former derring-do British diver, does whatever it takes to float Hollywood's boats... more (LA Times Archives)

 

Coach's accent is on accuracy...

Francie Brown uses her skills as a dialect expert to help actors open up and say 'ah' -- and other sounds -- the right way... more (LA Times Archives)

 

 

 

ACTOR'S TAXES: The Great Hollywood Ripoff - Getting paid "under the table" will end up putting you over a barrel.   by Frank Wynan

"This is going to be a strictly cash deal. No one's going to know! Right?..."  more

 

 

 

 

"...Moral of this story, friends: BE CAREFUL. That dream job may very well be just that-- a dream."     http://www.absolutewrite.com/forums/showpost.php?p=317303&postcount=7 

 

 

 

Hollywood Crew Blacklist

"Have you crewed on a project whose producers have promised that "the check is in the mail", or now actively avoid your phone calls? This is a list of clients who promise pay, but fail to cut a check at the end of a shoot or mail out payment..."

http://hollywoodcrewblacklist.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2008-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&updated-max=2009-01-01T00%3A00%3A00-08%3A00&max-results=2 

 

 

 

Rent your house out for movies, TV or commercials? How to earn $2,000 to $4,000 per day.  http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/pardonourdust/2007/10/rent-your-house.html 

 

 

 

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