News

February 2, 2010 - [ Oscar.com ]

Best documentary feature
· "Burma VJ" (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Magic Hour Films Production   Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller 
· "The Cove" (Roadside Attractions) An Oceanic Preservation Society Production   Nominees to be determined 
· "Food, Inc." (Magnolia Pictures) A Robert Kenner Films Production   Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein 
·   "The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers" A Kovno Communications Production   Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith

January 31, 2010 - [ Variety ]

Kathryn Bigelow has won the Directors Guild of America award for directing "The Hurt Locker," becoming the first woman to do so in the 62 years of the DGA awards.


Bigelow's win was announced Saturday night at the conclusion of the DGA awards ceremonies at the Century Plaza. She defeated James Cameron for "Avatar," Lee Daniels for "Precious," Jason Reitman for "Up in the Air" and Quentin Tarantino for "Inglourious Basterds." 
 


Bigelow, who shot the gritty drama in Jordan, was only the seventh female to be nominated for the DGA trophy. 
 


Bigelow said she was "stunned, honored and proud" in her brief acceptance speech.
 


"I felt a deep obligation to tell this story with as much honesty as possible," she added. "This is the most incredible moment of my life."
 


The DGA award is viewed as a reliable predictor of the Academy Award for best director. The same director has won both in all but six years since 1948, including last year, when Danny Boyle won both trophies for "Slumdog Millionaire." 
 


The directors branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences currently has 366 voting members, or about 6% of the total membership of 5,777. Oscar noms will be announced Tuesday. 
 


Bigelow was one of four "Hurt Locker" producers who took home the Producers Guild of America award Sunday. 
 


During a DGA panel discussion Saturday, Bigelow had stressed the importance of achieving a realistic portrayal of a US military squad desfusing bombs in Iraq. "Authenticity is a moral imperative," she declared.
 


Leslie Linka Glatter took the drama series award for the "Guy Walks into any Advertising Agency" for AMC's "Mad Men." The series pilot won the category two years ago.
 


Jason Winer won the comedy series kudo for the pilot of ABC newcomer "Modern Family."
 


Ross Katz took the award in the movies for TV-miniseries for HBO's Iraq war drama "Taking Chance."
 


Louis Psihoyos took the documentary trophy for "The Cove," which won the PGA award in docs Sunday. It's one of the 15 finalists for the Oscar documentary award.

January 31, 2010 - [ Variety ]

Winter's Bone," director Debra Granik's spare, suspenseful tale of a teenage girl's coming-of-age in the rural Ozarks, and "Restrepo," Sebastian Junger and Tim Hetherington's intense, close-up documentary look at a group of American soldiers in Afghanistan, won the top jury prizes for American films at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival's Saturday evening awards ceremony.
Audience awards for American competition entries went to "Happythankyoumoreplease," writer-director Josh Radnor's sitcom-style comedy about young New Yorkers trying to deal with grown-up issues, and the docu "Waiting for Superman," Davis Guggenheim's agitating assessment of the failing of the American public schools system.

January 28, 2010 - [ Variety ]

A kind of suicide hotline for a rogue-nuke world, "Countdown to Zero" boasts a cast of international superstars -- Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Pervez Musharraf, Tony Blair -- and a convincing argument that the human race is on borrowed time: Given the number of nuclear weapons in existence, the ease with which they can be made, the eagerness of terrorists to possess them and a worldwide cluelessness about nuclear security, it's only a matter of time before something terribly ugly happens. A politically urgent picture, it will also literally scare the breath out of what will certainly be a worldwide audience.

January 27, 2010 - [ Entertainment Weekly ]

Despite the fact that none of the 15 films on the Academy’s documentary short list this year have grossed more than $5 million, four of the top documentary filmmakers working today remain optimistic about their future and the future of non-fiction filmmaking Alex Gibney, director of Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Lucy Walker, behind the new film Countdown to Zero, Mark Lewis who directed the first 3-D documentary Cane Toads: The Conquest, and Davis Guggenheim, whose latest film Waiting For Superman marked the first sale of the Sundance film festival, participated in a panel Sunday afternoon, hosted by Entertainment Weekly and Participant Media, to discuss the state of documentary filmmaking. Said Guggenheim, “I think features are stuck. There are not a lot of movies out there that I’d like to direct. But I’m very envious of all these other guys sitting up here with me today.”

January 27, 2010 - [ Hollywood Reporter ]

Five years into its mission to make both issue-oriented entertainment and money, Jeff Skoll's Participant Media can now develop its own projects, fully finance them thanks in part to $250 million from Abu Dhabi's Imagenation, and get them into theaters via one-off arrangements or its five-year, nonexclusive, 15-feature distribution pact with Summit. Now Participant and its CEO Jim Berk are reaping the benefits of those deals with a broad slate of films, including next month's bio-toxin horror pic "The Crazies" and April's environmental-themed family comedy "Furry Vengeance." He's also making a splash at Sundance with four documentaries, including Davis Guggenheim's "Waiting for Superman," about the troubled U.S. public education system, which Paramount picked up last week. 
 


The Hollywood Reporter: You might have the best job in the film business because your films don't necessarily have to be financial hits to be successful. 


Jim Berk: It's a unique position because we have this double bottom line. One part of our mission is entertainment that inspires people for social change. But on the other side, we're a for-profit company. Sometimes those goals are very much aligned and sometimes they're not. So you balance.

January 26, 2010 - [ Entertainment Weekly ]

Despite the fact that none of the 15 films on the Academy’s documentary short list this year have grossed more than $5 million, four of the top documentary filmmakers working today remain optimistic about their future and the future of non-fiction filmmaking Alex Gibney, director of Casino Jack and the United States of Money, Lucy Walker, behind the new film Countdown to Zero, Mark Lewis who directed the first 3-D documentary Cane Toads: The Conquest, and Davis Guggenheim, whose latest film Waiting For Superman marked the first sale of the Sundance film festival, participated in a panel Sunday afternoon, hosted by Entertainment Weekly and Participant Media, to discuss the state of documentary filmmaking. Said Guggenheim, “I think features are stuck. There are not a lot of movies out there that I’d like to direct. But I’m very envious of all these other guys sitting up here with me today.”
 


Of the four films, all of which Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media financed or co-financed, only two have secured distribution. Paramount Pictures will likely debut Superman this fall with hopes of drawing Academy interest, while Casino Jack will be released by Magnolia in May. Still Cane Toads and Countdown to Zero are trying to find theatrical distribution for their films. “I’m optimistic,” says Gibney, who chronicled the rise and fall of Jack Abramoff, the corrupt lobbyist who bought and sold Washington D.C. with gobs of money from special-interest groups. “It will be difficult and hard, but the future is bright.”

January 26, 2010 - [ LA Times ]

Reporting from Park City, Utah - When documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker smiles and says, "I can't complain my life isn't varied," she is not kidding. While most directors would be grateful to have one film in Sundance, Walker has two compelling works and they could not be more different.



For "Countdown to Zero," a hair-raising exposé of the dangers of rogue nuclear weapons, she spent considerable time talking with world leaders like Jimmy Carter, Mikhail Gorbachev, Tony Blair, F.W. de Klerk and Pervez Musharraf, "more presidents than I could keep track of."
 

January 25, 2010 - [ Associated Press ]

Musician John Legend poses for a portrait during Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah on Saturday, January 23, 2010. (AP Photo/Carlo Allegri)
(AP)A convenient truth greeted John Legend when the singer contacted documentary director Davis Guggenheim about collaborating on a film to examine the nation's public-school system.
 


Legend had been working with the hip-hop group the Roots on an album exploring 1960s and '70s music, which led to a discussion about the civil-rights movement and then education, which he considers the civil-rights issue of our time.

January 25, 2010 - [ Entertainment Weekly ]

The director Alex Gibney now sets the gold standard for documentary muckraking. His movies, like Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) and the Oscar-winning Taxi to the Dark Side (2007), are electrifying investigations that probe deep beneath the surface of contemporary events; after you’ve seen one, you feel you know something essential about what’s happened in America that you didn’t grasp before. When Gibney got up at Sundance to introduce his powerful new movie, Casino Jack and the United States of Money, he noted that the recent Supreme Court decision knocking down any and all restrictions on campaign finance had made the film “rivetingly relevant.” He wasn’t being egotistical.

January 24, 2010 - [ Variety ]

Exhilarating, heartbreaking and righteous, "Waiting for Superman" is also a kind of high-minded thriller: Can the American education system be cured? Can it be made globally competitive? Can it, at least, be made educational? A bucket of ice water in the face of politically motivated complacency, Davis Guggenheim's epic assessment of the rise and fall of the U.S. school has been bought by Paramount and will bear the Vantage imprint. While this bodes well for theatrical nonfiction overall, it also means that those who prefer can do their crying in the dark.
 
 

What Guggenheim brings to his documentaries (which include "An Inconvenient Truth" and "It Might Get Loud") are qualities generally not associated (wrongly) with nonfiction filmmaking: an agile, cinematic eye, a sense of rhythm and fluidity, and an awareness that unpalatable information has to be delivered with a side order of humor, not stentorian stuffiness.

January 21, 2010 - [ Hollywood Reporter ]

Marking the first sale of the Sundance Film Festival, which kicked off Thursday, Paramount Vantage has acquired worldwide rights to Davis Guggenheim's new documentary about the crisis in public education in the U.S.

The film, which will have its world premiere at the fest Friday as part of the U.S. doc competition, under the title "Waiting for Superman," was developed, financed and executive produced by Participant Media.

January 21, 2010 - [ Variety ]

Marking the first major deal of the Sundance Film Festival, Paramount Pictures has acquired worldwide distribution rights to Davis Guggenheim and Participant Media's "Waiting For Superman."

Par, which made the announcement on the festival's first day, is back in business with the same team behind documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
"Waiting for Superman," which makes its world premiere on Friday at Sundance, examines the public education crisis in the U.S. through interlocking stories, featuring leaders in the field, including Bill Gates, Harlem Children's Zone prexy-CEO Geoffrey Canada and Chancellor of the Washington D.C. Public Schools Michelle Rhee.

January 19, 2010 - [ LA Times ]

January 19, 2010 - [ The Wrap ]

January 12, 2010 - [ DGA ]

The Directors Guild of America today announced the Guild's nominees for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for 2009.

"Documentary filmmaking reflects and magnifies the reality of our lives – allowing audiences to see people and events in new, exciting and often unexpected ways," said DGA President Taylor Hackford. "The fine work of these talented nominees demonstrates why audiences are increasingly seeking out documentaries and why distributors are releasing more documentary films theatrically. I congratulate each of them for their extraordinary work."

The winner will be announced at the 62nd Annual DGA Awards Dinner on Saturday, January 30, 2010, at the Hyatt Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles

January 11, 2010 - [ Variety ]

DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY
"Against the Tide," Screenplay by Richard Trank; Moriah Films
"Capitalism: A Love Story," Written by Michael Moore; Overture Films
"The Cove," Written by Mark Monroe; Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions
"Earth Days," Written by Robert Stone; Zeitgeist Films
"Good Hair," Written by Chris Rock & Jeff Stilson and Lance Crouther and Chuck Sklar; Roadside Attractions
"Soundtrack for a Revolution," Written by Bill Guttentag & Dan Sturman; Freedom Song Productions and Louverture Films

January 8, 2010 - [ The Wrap ]

“Four films were nominated for the PGA’s documentary award: “Burma VJ,” “The Cove,” “Sergio” and “Soundtrack for a Revolution.”

December 15, 2009 - [ Reelz Channel ]

Another trailer has arrived online for Breck Eisner's remake of George Romero's 1973 horror classic The Crazies. The plot is similar for both movies. People in a small town slowly go insane after a contaminant is released in the city's water supply. Eisner's Crazies, however, is trying for more zombie-like scares, as evidenced in the trailer below.
 

December 14, 2009 - [ BFCA ]

'Inglourious Basterds' and 'Nine' Lead With a Record 10 Nominations Each for the 15th Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards
 


"AVATAR," "THE HURT LOCKER" AND "UP IN THE AIR" ALSO SHINE
 


AWARDS CEREMONY TO BE BROADCAST LIVE ON VH1 FRIDAY, JANUARY 15 AT 9:00 PM ET/PT
 


KRISTIN CHENOWETH TO HOST
LOS ANGELES, Dec. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- 
The Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) has announced the nominees for the 15(th) Annual Critics' Choice Movie Awards. The winners will be announced at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards live on Friday, January 15, 2010 at 9:00 PM ET/PT. This year's event will take place at the Hollywood Palladium and will be hosted by Kristin Chenoweth. For the third year in a row, VH1 will broadcast the gala live on the network.