The UBS Evening Movie News 04.24.08
Posted by George H. Sirois on 04.24.2008
The “Hollywood Needs Another Roger Corman” Edition
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and as I promised you, I got something to talk about in my Mad Prophet of the Airwaves section. But before I get to that, I got news to report, so here we go…
TOP STORY
The Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers is crying foul against the WGA for its Friday e-mail to members outing 28 writers who chose to go fi-core during the 100-day strike.
On Tuesday, the AMPTP filed two unfair labor practices charges -- one against the WGA West and the other against the WGA East -- with the National Labor Relations Board, claiming the missive by WGAW president Patric Verrone and WGAE president Michael Winship was meant to "restrain, coerce and retaliate against the 28 writers for exercising their rights" under federal law.
Using phrases from the WGA's Friday message, the charges allege the WGA blacklisted the writers, subjecting them to "scorn and opprobrium by openly publicizing their names and referring to them as 'strikebreakers' and the 'puny few.' "
"The WGA directed WGA members, including 'show runners' and others who have the power to hire, fire, discipline and adjust grievances, to boycott the blacklisted writers by holding them 'accountable' and by keeping them 'at arm's length,' " the charges claim.
The e-mail chastises the members who elected to leave the guild during the strike under the government's financial core status law.
The 28 writers, the majority of who write for daytime soaps, elected to file fi-core, allowing them to cross the picket lines and return to work. Writers who chose fi-core still paid union dues and are part of the guild's collective bargaining. The WGA can't fine them for opting out but can bar them from ever holding office or voting in guild elections.
The WGA letter sharply criticized the decision by those writers, stating they "must be held at arm's length by the rest of us and judged accountable for what they are -- strikebreakers whose actions placed everything for which we fought so hard at risk."
The AMPTP believes that crosses the line.
"By publicly naming names and encouraging people who have the power to hire writers to keep them 'at arm's length' and saying they must be 'judged accountable,' it is clear the WGA leadership is seeking to deny employment to these writers in the future," the AMPTP said in a statement. "That is a direct violation of federal labor law, and as the employers of those writers we have a responsibility to defend them and the rule of law in this case."
In a statement, the WGAW said the charges are "legally baseless and represent an intrusion by the studios into an internal union matter."
Choosing fi-core "is not a private act, because it directly affects the livelihood of all guild members, especially during a strike," the WGAW added. "Accordingly, the guild leadership believes that it was appropriate to inform all members of the actions of these former members."
The WGAW also said the writers' actions were "ethically wrong" because federal law allows them to reap the benefits of the new union contract, even though they resigned. The guild also denied it has encouraged anyone to not hire the writers.
After the initial filing, the NLRB will investigate the charges with both sides and determine whether there is a case. If the board decides a formal hearing is needed, then a complaint is filed by the NLRB and heard before an administrative court judge.
This explains why there wasn't a big spec market boom like there was in the late 80s when the WGA had a strike. During that period of time, studios went nuts grabbing as many different original spec scripts as possible from writers you'll likely never hear from again. They got their big paychecks – around then they were selling for six and seven figures - and are likely living with the consequences of being looked at as strike-breakers.
Nowadays, not only is the industry populated with writers who actually WANT TO REMAIN WRITERS, but these writers are also willing to stay in the industry any other way possible. There are always plenty of writer/directors out there, and they know better than to even try to take advantage of a strike by submitting something to the studios.
And it's not only the writers that have learned their lesson; it's also the studios. So many of the purchased scripts from back then are still gathering dust. Maybe sometime the dust will get blown off of them and they'll make their way to the silver screen, but who knows? The studios still have their minds set on remakes. Joy…
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
DVD REVIEWS
Get ready for a lot of DVD news, people! There are a lot of announcements to give for future releases…
If you read Chad Webb's Big Screen Bulletin lately, or heard our award-winning Movies Zone Podcasts (it's only a matter of time), you know how pleased he was with George A. Romero's latest film Diary of the Dead. Well, Genius Products will be releasing the film on DVD on May 20, so you'll be able to see for yourself how good it is. (I'll be able to see for myself as well.) No extras have been announced yet, but the retail price is $24.95.
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment will be releasing The Other Boleyn Girl (which surprised me by not being that bad, although I haven't read the novel) on DVD and Blu-Ray Disc on the same day.
Special features include Camera Tests with director narrations, commentary, deleted scenes, bios and featurettes. In addition, the Blu-Ray version will also contain a Picture-in-picture Trivia Track called "Inside the Court," so it's nice to see Blu-Ray using some of the same techniques that HD DVD used during its time.
Both the DVD and Blu-ray will arrive on June 10th for $28.96 and $38.96.
Universal has finally announced their plans for Blu-Ray releases from their existing catalog. Starting in the second half of this year, over 40 titles will be hitting the Blu-Ray shelves, including five of the studio's upcoming theatrical summer feature films, according to a report in trade publication Home Media Magazine.
Among these titles will be high definition versions of The Incredible Hulk, Wanted, Hellboy II and the Abba musical Mamma Mia, as well as the latest entry in the "Mummy" franchise The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. Prepare to Pre-Order, kids!
Also, the "Mummy" franchise will also mark Universal's return to high definition when the studio makes The Mummy, The Mummy Returns & The Scorpion King their first Blu-Ray titles on July 22, the same day that the new chapter hits theaters.
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Universal will also release on Blu-Ray many of the title, previously released on HD-DVD, such as U-571, Land of the Dead, End Of Days, American Gangster, The 40-Year Old Virgin and many more.
Universal will also be releasing the first and second season of "Heroes" on August 26 as well as Casino, The Thing, Gladiator and Miami Vice.
As I promised before, I have information on the Star Trek: The Complete Second Season DVD releases from Paramount.
All the episodes will be presented in their original fullscreen and Dolby Digital 5.1, but this time, the original mono tracks will not be included. Nine featurettes, original trailers and more of Billy Blackburn's videos are included, along with bonus Tribble episodes (The Animated "More Tribbles, More Troubles" and Deep Space Nine's "Trials and Tribble-ations"). Both of them are very much worth seeing, especially the DS9 episode, which quickly became one of my favorites in that series.
The set will carry a hefty $99.99 suggested retail price when it arrives, but it's actually not that bad considering that the HD DVD / DVD combo set for the first season cost about $179.99.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE POSTER OF THE WEEK: The Spirit
No matter what you may think of Frank Miller's movies, they always make for a damn good looking teaser poster…
Oh, and here's another piece of YouTube video goodness that I put together this past weekend. The natural progression from The Undertaker to Mick Foley continues with… Pee Wee Herman. And AC/DC. Just click on it and you'll see what I'm talking about.
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
Immediate Music Has Immediate Competition: APM Music today has announced its new film trailer music library, "Sonic Elixir," with two CDs of new compositions from composer/song¬writers Ella Louise Allaire and Martin Lord Ferguson, who were part of the creative team behind the original score for KÀ by Cirque du Soleil as well as the Fina open water championship opening ceremonies and the new Saltimbanco arena show. Three more CDs of original compositions are being written now for release later in the year.
APM's Sonic Elixir library is specifically crafted for use in motion pic¬ture and television advertising and contains custom contributions from a hand selected list of unique composers and songwriters from around the world, all of whom bring new sensibilities to the craft of writing for film trailers.
"We are so delighted to have partnered with Martin and Ella to help us launch our exciting new film trailer library. They bring a new approach to music, sound and storytelling," said APM Music President Adam Taylor. "Their music sensibilities are inspirational, their technical skills, honed from years of working to the highest Cirque du Soleil stan¬dards are fantastic, and they bring a musical signature to all their own to these new compositions."
"Working under Cirque du Soleil signature composer René Dupéré opens a person up creatively in a way that stays with you," said Ella Louise Allaire, who, throughout her years as a composer, arranger and orchestrator has written music for theater, live shows, films and sym¬phony orchestras. "We're inspired knowing that our music drives the performance."
This is some great news since there's always room for more composers to get into the trailer market. There's only so many times that you can hear Randy Edelman's score from Come See the Paradise (used in trailers for A Few Good Men, Clear and Present Danger, The Joy Luck Club, Philadelphia, Rising Sun, The Sum of All Fears, Executive Decision, School Ties, Swing Kids and Thirteen Days, among others), or any of the tracks by Immediate Music (The Mummy Returns, Scream 2 & 3, Spider-Man 2, Alien Resurrection, The Ring, King Arthur, Armageddon, The Rock, and many many others), E.S. Posthumus (Unfaithful, Spider-Man) Clint Mansell (The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers) or Craig Armstrong (The X-Files).
I've heard some of the Cirque Do Soleil music before, and tonight, I took a listen to the "KÀ" album that was mentioned in the report. It's pretty damn good, and it would make a great fit alongside the other composers that have licensed their music to trailers. I'd recommend giving it a listen, and I wish them luck in the endeavor.
FILM MUSIC NEWS
* Recording Musicians Sue AFM, Local 47 Over Video Game Buyout Work Dues
* Pacific Northwest Film Scoring Program Announces Summer Intensive
* ASCAP Announces Bill of Rights for Songwriters and Composers
* The Scoreboard: Hundreds of Composers and Their Projects
* Signings and Projects: Kevin Kiner, Harald Kloser, Thomas Wander and More
* The Chart Doctor - by Ron Hess, "Anatomy of an Arrangement Part 4"
* Music Technology and You - by Peter Lawrence Alexander, "Happenings"
* Soundtrack Review - by Daniel Schweiger - "Fahrenheit 911" and "Mysterious Island" by Bernard Herrmann
* Current Film & TV Music Job Listings
Some more thanks to DivasRGr8 are in order for this one. A while back, he sent me some links to various sites to get material for future photo news briefs, and one of them was barstoolsports.com. Gotta love the name, although it is a Boston-based site, so being a Yankees / Giants fan, I doubt I'd be all that welcome.
Anyway, one of the sections on the site is a contest to find "the next Jenn Sterger." My immediate response was, "Who the hell is Jenn Sterger?!" Fortunately, they were nice enough to provide me with pictures so I now know who she is. And now you do as well.
The main thing I got from these pictures – other than her being hot – is that she's a Florida State fan, so in honor of Ron Simmons, please allow me to say, "Damn!"
Gentlemen, for your viewing pleasure, Jenn Sterger! Enjoy, and make sure to thank Divas for his continuing contributions…
There's a documentary that I'd recommend to anyone: Easy Riders, Raging Bulls. It's a basic rundown of the film industry from the period after Cleopatra - when movies were on borrowed time because of over-budgeted bombs and audiences being lured away by television, all the way to the releases of Jaws and Star Wars, the one-two punch that started the age of the blockbuster.
One of the earlier segments in the film dealt with a mentor that looked after the talents that would become instrumental in film's revival in the late 1960s and 1970s. The mentor was a writer/producer/director named Roger Corman.
Peter Fonda said it best when he said that while Corman may not have been the most talented filmmaker in the business, his real gift was finding talent in other people. His production company was the ultimate proving ground for recent film school graduates, and he would give them the best on-the-job training in the area. It didn't matter that Corman was an exploitation filmmaker whose work would populate the drive-in theaters; to these guys, this was a way to learn the ropes on writing, directing, editing, acting, everything.
You may have heard of some of Corman's students. Francis Ford Coppola. Martin Scorsese. Peter Bogdanovich. Dennis Hopper. Peter Fonda. Ron Howard. Jonathan Demme. Joe Dante. John Sayles. James Cameron.
It's safe to assume that Corman has very good taste when it comes to bringing talented individuals onboard. He allowed their talents to grow and, the more they learned, the more Corman would reward them with a camera and film. Bogdanovich mentioned in the documentary about how he would do everything from making sure the dry cleaning was done to re-writing more than half of a script without credit. But Corman made sure he was more than compensated by allowing him to write and direct his own feature using footage of The Terror with Boris Karloff. The result was the film Targets, which started Bogdanovich's career in the industry and – if it weren't for Bobby Kennedy's assassination happening at the same time – could have been his first box office success.
What we need in the industry right now is someone like Roger Corman. Hell, we need Corman himself! The man's still going, and he's got decades of experience that can still be very useful today. No matter what your taste in film, he could make it fun and provide plenty of tools to take with you when you sign your 3-picture deal. He kept his budgets tight and schedules short, and those restrictions forced creativity. Would you know of any producer today that would make a bet that he could make a feature film in less than three days? I don't think so. Well, maybe Lloyd Kaufman.
There are so many truly gifted writers and directors that owe their success to Roger Corman, and we need a mentor like him that is willing to set up their own production company and recruit a select group of film school graduates. They would get the best possible on-the-job training in every element of filmmaking. They would get a limited budget and tight schedule, two things that the students would likely be used to since their projects in film school are similar. And like I said, those elements force the filmmakers to be creative and not rely on large budgets and extravagant special effects.
I'll get into the forced creativity issue more next week, but as for now, I'll just say that all it takes is for the right person to step forward and nurture our next generation of filmmakers. Someone better step up if this industry has any hope for a future…
And that's a wrap for Chapter 62 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week!
Great column, as usual, George. Great stuff about needing another Corman. I just wonder, though, where a Corman like guy would or could get his movies shown. The drive-in circuit is gone, and the major theatre chains would probably want more money than a Corman like guy would want to part with. So would it be a DVD or television thing? And if so, would those directors suffer through the "He's making a direct-to-video movie? Those are lame!" kind of thing? What kind of market would a Corman have to go for?
Posted By: Bryan Kristopowitz (Registered) on April 24, 2008 at 08:44 PM
