But two films with Canuck roots landing nominations in the category? Pretty much unheard of. Until now.

This year, two of the five films vying for Hollywood’s most prestigious prize have strong Maple Leaf connections, although just one technically represents the Great White North.

The country’s official submission is the bittersweet francophone dramedy “Monsieur Lazhar,” a festival hit that comes from the same producers as last year’s homegrown Oscar contender, “Incendies.”

It faces off against the wrenching Holocaust drama “In Darkness,” a co-production that started with a Canadian script and Canadian producers before bringing on its main backers in Poland.

“It’s wonderful that we have this situation now with the Oscars,” says the film’s Toronto-based scribe David Shamoon, who drew his inspiration from a Toronto newspaper article.

“It speaks highly, I think, of the talent that’s in this country.”

Oscar rules allow just one film per country to compete. But it’s not unusual for one country to have a stake in more than one nominee because of co-production ventures. France is a frequent nominee, if you count its many international alliances:

In 1990, it had a stake in three films: its official submission “Camille Claudel,” the Canadian co-production “Jesus of Montreal” (submitted on behalf of Canada) and the ultimate winner, “Cinema Paradiso,” from Italy.

France three-peated again in 2009, when its official nominee, “The Class,” competed against Germany’s co-production “The Baader Meinhof Complex” and the Israeli co-production “Waltz with Bashir” (which also boasted partners from Germany, U.S., Finland, Switzerland, Belgium and Australia). All films lost to “Departures” from Japan.

However, this appears to be the first time Canada has had an official nominee competing against another film with deep homegrown connections.

The coup sheds well-deserved light on Canuck filmmakers who are making their mark on the international stage, says Telefilm boss Carolle Brabant.

“Having two Canadian-backed films in the running for best foreign-language film is a tribute to the talent of Canadian artists and also offers a superb showcase for our industry and our country as a whole,” Brabant said in an email from Germany where she was promoting Canadian productions at the Berlin International Film Festival.

“In Darkness” is inspired by the true story of Leopold Socha, a sewer worker in Nazi-occupied Poland who risked his life to hide a group of Jews in a filthy underground labyrinth during the Second World War.

Shamoon came across Socha’s story in a Toronto newspaper in 2003 and was so enthralled that he optioned a book about the man’s experiences and wrote a screenplay.

From there, he lured Canadian producers Eric Jordan and Paul Stephens to shepherd the project, and they brought on Polish director Agnieszka Holland (”Europa, Europa”) to helm the feature.

Shamoon, who spent his entire career in advertising up until a few years ago, says the project hit very close to home.

His parents were Iraqi Jews who were forced to flee a pogrom in 1941 known as the Farhud. They sought refuge in India, where Shamoon and his brothers were born, and later moved to Iran where Shamoon spent his teenage years.

Shamoon moved to Canada in 1970 after studying advertising in the United States.

“For me it was never really just a Holocaust story, it was a real human drama,” says Shamoon.

“We think to ourselves, ‘Oh, well, if we were in that situation we’d do the same thing or we’d do even more’ or whatever. But the fact of the matter is, it was extraordinarily difficult for Socha to do what he did. And not just the physical danger that he had to face, but it was also the people themselves that he was trying to save — they were not terribly grateful, they weren’t terribly nice.”

Shamoon’s shift into filmmaking was a gradual one, with screenwriting courses and other attempted scripts squeezed in between advertising jobs for clients including SE Johnson, Proctor & Gamble, National Trust and Unitel.

“In Darkness” was his first stab at adapting a book, Robert Marshall’s “In the Sewers of Lvov,” and his first effort to make it to the big screen.

“It’s very much a fairly tale, there’s no question,” says the 64-year-old, who earned a Genie nomination for best adapted screenplay, one of three nods for the film.

“When you start doing it, all you really want is to get your script read. That’s the first order and you get very excited when someone, anyone, will read your script and then you sort of progress from there, you know.”

Although Shamoon wrote the script in English, Holland insisted that the original languages be used for the film. As a result, the story unfolds in Polish, Yiddish, German and Ukrainian and with English subtitles.

Shamoon says “In Darkness” has been embraced by Polish audiences and has garnered 10 nominations for that country’s version of the Oscars.

“It has outperformed ‘Sherlock Holmes,’ Steven Spielberg’s ‘War Horse;’ there are people who are seeing it two or three times. People are discussing it constantly there,” says Shamoon, whose next film is a comic road movie.

“It’s not necessarily something that we aimed for but we did want some dialogue to happen about the Polish people’s involvement in the Second World War, both good and bad.”

He added that he’s looking forward to rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s elite at the Academy Awards on Feb. 26.

“In Darkness” and “Monsieur Falardeau” are up against Belgium’s “Bullhead,” Israel’s “Footnote,” and Iran’s “A Separation,” which won the Golden Globe for best foreign-language film earlier this month.

“In Darkness” will be released across Canada on Friday.

Source: CTV News

All told, there were 45,484 permitted production days in the entertainment industry’s backyard last year as opposed to 43,646 in 2010.

On-location feature production increased 5.7 percent for the year, with 5,682 movies filmed in 2011 versus 5,378 in 2010.

By contrast, L.A. TV production slipped 2.7 percent for the year, down 10.6 percent in the fourth quarter alone.

That precipitous slide is partly attributable to the loss of 10 one-hour television dramas to other states, notably the Empire State. New York is having a record television season — thanks to a tax incentive structure that offers more than four times the amount of funding available than California.

Last year in Los Angeles, the number of television dramas dropped 11.5 percent; reality shows were down 1.8 percent; and sitcoms were down 12.8 percent.

Bucking the trend, pilots logged a 6.1 percent increase over the year. Also showing strength were the number of television commercials shot in the city, which jumped 4.4 percent to a record 7,079 advertisements.

On the feature side, the number of films dropped a massive 26.4 percent in the final quarter of the year.

California’s film tax incentive program did help entice some productions to stay in the city, with 652 productions opting to stay in the region because of the credits, according to Film L.A.

Among the productions driving a significant amount of feature activity were “The Dark Knight Rises” and Oliver Stone’s upcoming thriller “Savages,” FilmL.A. said. 

The study generates its figures from the number of days of permitted production.

Source: Reuters

The network is developing The New Nabors, a single-camera comedy project that centers on a family that lives in Palm Springs and is aghast with their new neighbors — a gang of puppets.

The project, which hails from Jim Henson Studios in association with Universal Television, will be written by 30 Rock executive proudcer John Riggi and John Hoffman, who will also executive produce alongside Henson Company CEO and Jim Henson’s daughter Lisa Henson.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Aronofsky does not currently have a movie shooting; he was set to make Fox’s “The Wolverine” but bowed out of the production for personal reasons.

In 2008, Aronofsky’s Mickey Rourke drama “The Wrestler” won the top prize at Venice, the Golden Lion. Aronofsky also brought his romantic time-travel tale, “The Fountain,” to the festival in 2006.

In a statement, festival organizers called Aronofsky a “key figure in contemporary film.”

The Venice Film Festival is considered an important stop for many Academy Awards awards hopefuls. Last year, Quentin Tarantino headed up the jury, which, in a controversial move, awarded the Golden Lion to Sofia Coppola’s moody, faded-celebrity study, “Somewhere.”

The news comes as another American filmmaking personality, actor-director Robert De Niro, gets set to head the Cannes Film Festival jury next month.

Source: LA Times blog

The International Financing Forum was in fine shape in this, its fifth year. Functioning as a competitive feature film co-financing market, the event selected 39 feature film producers with developing English language projects, to network and do business with high-level film industry executives including international sales agents, financiers, distributors, agents, and executive producers. This was the final event hosted by the Ontario Media Development Corporation at the Toronto International Film Festival.

“The important thing about IFF is that it focuses on quality not quantity. If we can bring projects to the attention of sales and financing executives who can make the difference in helping a project go forward and every meeting they have is a valuable use of their time, then that’s the equation that we really focus on” says James Weyman, Manager, Industry Initiatives from OMDC.

This year, before the networking began, the topical “In Conversation…” panel discussion took place on the subject of The Genre Trend: Is Drama Really (un)Dead? Prominent film industry executives on the panel included Eamonn Bowles, President of Magnolia Pictures; Jonathan King, Executive Vice-President of Participant Films; Tanya Seghatchian, Head of Film Fund at the UK Film Council; and Mike Goodridge, Editor of Screen International, moderated.

The main advice given out was:

Be realistic about the market. Many producers overestimate what they think they may make in any given market and paying for prestige is something films and distributors can no longer afford. Magnolia Pictures has found that they are much more likely to make their money through video on demand that theatre and has even gone so far as to release their film, Freakonomics, on VOD at a $10 purchase point a month before it’s theatrical release. In these technological times, Eamonn Bowles feels it’s better to be agnostic about how people see the film as long as they pay to see it.

Do your research. Every executive and company finances a film for a particular reason, an agenda that they cater to, a business model that works for them, so make sure your film is right for the company before you approach them. For instance, Participant Films loves films that change how people view the world. They team with social sector organizations, non-profits and corporations who want to create an open forum for discussion, education and who can, with Participant, offer specific ways for audience members to get involved. Their horror film The Crazies, uses the real government reaction scenario that would be used should the water become contaminated and they were very interested in keeping the science exact.

Does your project have downside protection for your investors in order to mitigate risk? With the global economy in its present state, and the DVD market gasping, investors need more assurance than ever that they will get their money back. Taking care of your investors now, means stability for your future. Having a fantastic script and brilliant creative talent and stars attached may not be enough anymore, and theatrical release can only take you so far. Be sure to broaden your scope to access your increasingly diverse viewership; VOD and IPTV are just two of the new ways audiences can access your film. Licensing agreements are changing and offering distributors more rights may not be the right answer for you, but be prepared when the question comes up. Take into consideration how your pie is divided, and explore more creative ways to finance your film. 

See Film Financing 101 here. And 202 here.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission said it wants to enhance local participation on community channels with the new policy released Thursday.

“The role of the community channel should be primarily of a public service nature, facilitating self-expression through free and open access by members of the community,” the CRTC said in its decision.

It has given broadcasters until Sept. 1, 2014, to ensure that half of the programming is created by community members. The old rules, created in 2002, required about 30 per cent of programming be made by the community.

This means that the original idea for a program must come from members of the community, who must also be involved in some aspect of the production, whether in front or behind the camera.

The policy recommends that cable firms increase community outreach, train more volunteers and build better ties with community groups.

Half of spending at community channels must be devoted to access programming, under a new regime to go into effect on Sept. 1, 2014.

However, the CRTC has not imposed any new fees, nor will it allow ads on community channels. The cable channels currently collect about $120 million annually from Canadians to spend on community TV.

In hearings held in April, the CRTC found most cable and satellite firms devoted less than half of community-channel airtime to access programming in 2009:

  * Cogeco, 54 per cent.
* Shaw, 48 per cent.
* Quebecor, 39 per cent.
* Rogers (Ontario), 37 per cent.

An association representing community groups told the hearing that cable firms had withdrawn resources from volunteers in recent years and filled the airwaves with repeats.

The broadcast regulator noted the lack of transparency in determining how the cable firms spend money on community access programming.

It has introduced a new stricter annual reporting system on how cable companies spend money at community channels.

Source: CBC News

Sundance Selects, a sister to Rainbow’s IFC that is both a theatrical and VOD label, was introduced in the summer with the launch of Spike Lee’s “Passing Strange.”

Three films premiering at the Sundance fest, which kicks off Jan. 21 in Park City, have been chosen for the new Direct From the Sundance Film Festival initiative and will be available on VOD the same day each bows at the fest.

“Moving the storytelling of the Sundance Film Festival beyond 10 days in Utah remains a top priority for us,” Sundance Institute founder Robert Redford said. “This collaboration with Sundance Selects is a new and important complement to this ongoing goal and a perfect way to introduce unexpected and refreshing voices to wider audiences simultaneous with the event.”

The films are:

– Michael Winterbottom and Mat Whitecross’ documentary “The Shock Doctrine,” which examines how capitalism exploits crises. It will have its North American premiere and on-demand bow Jan. 28;

– “Daddy Longlegs,” Josh and Benny Safdie’s autobiographical comedy about the responsibilities of parenthood, which bows Jan. 22 and is expected to have a theatrical run;

– Daniel Grou’s “7 Days,” which centers on a surgeon whose world is torn apart by the murder of his 8-year-old daughter, bows Jan. 22.

Direct From the Sundance Film Festival titles will be available for 30 days in a Sundance-branded section on participating cable systems’ main movies-on-demand channels.

IFC’s Arianna Bocco negotiated the acquisition deals on behalf of Sundance Selects for “Shock” and “7 Days” with Charlotte Mickie of E1 Entertainment International. She negotiated the deal for “Daddy” with producer Tom Scott and sales rep Victoria Cook of Cinetic Media.

Sundance Selects is one of several initiatives designed to extend the festival’s reach beyond Park City, a goal of new fest director John Cooper.

Another effort, the inaugural Sundance Film Festival USA, will bring pics from the fest — including “Daddy” and “Shock” — to eight cities Jan. 28.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

An acclaimed cinematographer, Kniest has created an impressive body of work. He has shot commercials for such prestigious brands as US Army, California Tourism, California recycle, Dodge, Drunk Driving, Easter Seals, GAP, HGTV, Honda, Islands Restaurant, Jaguar, Lexus, K-Mart, Marlboro Racing, Mervyn’s, and Nike. And music video for Baby “Bird Man,” Jeff Austin Black, Currency, Marcos Hernandez, Remy Ma, Little Mo, Lil Wayne, Sizzla and Topic. His film credits include Crossing Cords, Merry Widow, and Walkabout.

Kniest has been behind the camera for many acclaimed directors including Lenny Bass, TJ Hall, Marcos Hernandex, Tyler Jay, Murphy Karges, Warren Krushner, Dan “The Man” Melamid, melina, David Palmer, and Geordie Stephens.

The film, called Perkins’ 14, is a horror story about kidnapped children who are dehumanized for evil. Whether or not a horror flick is your cue to break out the popcorn, Perkins’ 14’s more interesting story lies in its creation. The film is the product of Massify, a film production community that provides tools for members to share ideas, collaborate on projects, post resumes and portfolios, secure funding through grants, and ultimately find an audience through distribution companies.

Massify gave its members control over Perkins’ 14 every step of the way, from voting on the initial concept pitches, to picking the cast, and even a contest for the poster. Pitches were solicited in February this year, and Massify members were allowed to vote on them through the middle of March. Once Perkins’ 14 was chosen by the community, casting auditions began in March, screen tests followed the next month, and pre-production began at the end of May.

Massify partnered with After Dark Films, the production company behind the yearly HorrorFest (warning: link resizes browser), to bring Perkins’ 14 to life. The film will debut in just a few weeks during HorrorFest III, which runs from January 9-15 ,2009.

Cofounder Brett Icahn (son of Yahoo’s outspoken investor-turned-board-member Carl Icahn) told the New York Times in March that Massify is “more a production network than a social network, because it’s driven by a creative purpose.” The company is making a name for itself in part for being a useful collaboration tool for film makers and various talent, but Kenneth Woo, Massify’s other founder, hopes to also make money from advertising by “building an audience before the film is made.”

Fangoria has a trailer for Perkins’ 14, and Massify features a number of behind-the-scenes clips and information about the film’s production and its actors. Even if only mildly successful, it is almost certain that more projects like this are on their way, harnessing democratic tools like Massify’s to produce major films.

Source: Ars Technica