Monthly Entertainment Industry News

October 2008

Established in October, 2004, the Eerie Horror Film Festival has quickly become one of the most popular and respected events of its kind in the country. Every year the Eerie Horror Film Festival attracts thousands of fans, filmmakers, screenwriters and game developers to the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, for a five day celebration of independent cinema, featuring special celebrity guests, screenings and workshops. Over 200 films have been shown at the festival since its inception, including several world premieres and movies that eventually secured distribution deals with major companies. With their current and ever expanding contacts, the Eerie Horror Film Festival hopes to play an active role in connecting their filmmakers, screenwriters and game developers directly with those within the industry. Reel Logix Inc has been a sponsor of the Eerie Horror Film Festival for the last three years.

September 2008

Hit Entertainment, users of Reel Production Calendar, delivers engaging content for children via television, internet, books, stage and DVDs. Hit Entertainment is the home of many popular entertainment favorites such as Bob the Builder™, Barney™, Angelina Ballerina™ and many more. The big news from Hit Entertainment this month is that Barney™, the loveable purple dinosaur is celebrating a birthday. Barney™ is 20 years old and to celebrate, Hit Entertainment and Lionsgate have launched The Best Of Barney Dancing onto DVD on September 9, 2008. A 20-day bus tour of the Barney is a part of the celebration.

August 2008

Final Draft, Inc., publisher of Final Draft, the #1-selling scriptwriting software have announced the four judges for the 9th annual Big Break contest. This global screenwriting contest which rewards screenwriters with cash, prizes and A-list executive meetings will announce final three winners in October. Winners and finalists of this screenwriting competition get their screenplays optioned and produced and have secured high-profile representation as well as lucrative writing deals. Since its inception in 2000, Big Break has awarded screenwriters with over $100,000 in cash and prizes and invaluable industry exposure. A panel of notable industry professionals conducts the final judging. Judges this year will judge the top -10 scripts in September, and the three winners will be announced at an awards event in October. Final Draft Inc and the Reel Logix Inc have partnered to helped screenwriters import a script into the Reel Production Calendar to create and manipulate story timelines.

June 2008

Chapman University Dodge College of Film and Media Arts student Shauna Fleming teamed up with four other students to win the Reel Ideas Studio Distinguished Documentary Award for their documentary at the Cannes Film Festival. Forty five film students from 13 countries were placed in teams of 5 students to compete in making a short documentary about the festival itself or the city of Cannes. Each team was charged with creating, shooting, editing and promoting the 5-minute film during the festival itself. All the necessary equipment was made available to the teams. The films were then judged by a panel of professionals. Chapman University was the only film school to have more than one student representatives. Current student Carlos Estrada and former Chapman student Matt Hall were also selected as well for other teams. The Reel Production Calendar film scheduling software has been a part of the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts since August 2007, when it was installed in all campus labs for film and media students.

May 2008

The long awaited Iron Man movie opens this May. Iron Man represents the first film self financed by Marvel, compared to Spider-Man and X-Men which were co-financed by major studios. The movie is just the latest in the series of comic book heroes coming to life on the big screen. The story of course is about Tony Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., a billionaire industrialist, weapons manufacturer and genius inventor who builds a high tech super armor and vows to protect the world as Iron Man.
The film stalled in development since 1990 at Universal Studios, 20th Century Fox and New Line Cinema. It was reacquired by Marvel in 2006. The first sequel is scheduled for a spring 2010 release. Reel Production Calendar user, Susan Pickett, was the Visual Effects Production Manager on the Iron Man project.

April 2008

AFI Dallas grows in second year

Inside New York / Tribeca Film Festival.

After last year's heat over the Tribeca Film Festival's shortcomings -- too high ticket prices! too spread out! too many movies! -- lowered to a simmer, some insiders were left wondering about the title changes among the rank and file. More

March 2008

AFI Dallas grows in second year

The high society of Dallas puts its money where its art is. Eighteen square blocks in the budding downtown Arts District are devoted to 13 different multimillion-dollar disciplines, including the Nasher Sculpture Center, the Crow Collection of Asian Art, the Dallas Museum of Art and the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center. More

The Blue Man Group founded by Phil Stanton, Chris Wink and Matt Goldman in 1988, began their run at the Apollo Theatre in Stuttgart, Germany last month. The group continues their show at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas as well. If you are visiting New York this spring, check the performance calendar for best available seats at the Astor Place Theatre. Blue Man Productions currently use the Reel Logix Calendar Planner on New York productions.

February 2008

Mexico's industry back from the brink New generation follows Cuaron, Inarritu, del Toro

MEXICO CITY -- In the last decade there has been a slow resurgence of Mexican cinema, following the near-extinction of local film production in the 1990s. During that time, Alfonso Cuaron, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Guillermo del Toro broke out, drawing attention to Mexican film. In their wake, the next generation is making its mark. More

Well the strike by members of the Writers Guild of America may be coming to an end soon, but fans of Fox's 24 will have to wait until August 2008 or even Spring 2009 to see agent Jack Bauer finish what he started this year. When the writers strike began this year, Fox's 24 had finished less then 10 of it's 24 episodes. According to E! Online, 24 producer David Fury says "24 works best 24 hours in a row. I don't think we'll see it until 2009."
Michael Klick , Producer on 24 has been a fan of Reel Production Calendar for several seasons.

January 2008

Regina-based, Emmy award-winning Partners In Motion and clients of the Reel Production Calendar was recognized for business excellence by the Saskatchewan Chamber of Commerce last year.
The ABEX Awards are the most highly respected symbol of excellence in business within the Province of Saskatchewan, Canada. As well as winning the awards for Business of the Year and Community Involvement, Partners In Motion was also a finalist in the Marketing and Exports categories.
“It is an honor to be recognized locally for our achievements that we have displayed both in our province and around the world”, says CEO and Executive Producer Ron Goetz.

December 2007

Golden Compass was released on December 5th by New Line Cinema. The movie, starring Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman represents the first in a trilogy of books from Philip Pullman. The Reel Production Calendar was used by co-producer Nikolas Korda, who became a fan of Reel Logix scheduling software while working as the Unit Production Manager on the Lord of the Rings trilogy.

Ah, the Academy Awards. Perfectly styled celebrities. One-of-a kind gowns. Opulent parties. But before any of that, one thing must happen first -- the accounting. That's right. Without accounting -- careful tabulation of all the votes -- there can be no nominees, no winners and possibly no gift bags. And coming up with a list of nominees is fairly tricky because you're looking for something different than a photo finish across a red line. .

November 2007

Reel Logix sponsors the First Glance Film Festival. The 10th Anniversary First Glance Film Fest Philadelphia was one of the most successful events in the festival's history.

The First Glance Film Festival has currently run 16 successful events with the 9th annual Philly festival in June 2006 and the 7th annual Hollywood event in December 2006. FirstGlance Films is run by indie filmmakers, so they know what filmmakers are looking for resources for getting their projects completed and visibility for their projects!! Reel Logix Inc has sponsored the First Glance Film Festival for the last three years.

October 2007

The 4th annual Eerie Horror Fest will be held this year at the Erie Playhouse in Erie, Pennsylvania October 10th - 14th. Each year, since inception the Eerie Horror Film Festival attracts thousands of fans, filmmakers and screenwriters to the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, for a five day celebration of independent cinema, featuring special celebrity guests, screenings and workshops.

The Eerie Horror Film Festival was established in order to provide more opportunities and exposure for filmmakers, screenwriters and video game developers working within the horror, science fiction and suspense genres, as well as to draw more attention to the Northwestern Pennsylvania region via our annual film festival and other, year round special events. Reel Logix Inc has sponsored the Eerie Festival for the last two years.

September 2007

Steve Saeta, UPM and Executive Producer of The Kingdom, said this about using Reel Production Calendar on this latest project, released on September 28 --"PCal is the first computer program I use when I start a project because it is necessary to lay out an overall game plan for the project. Identify what parameters we are given? What are the cast’s needs? What is the delivery date? In other words --What box are we being forced into?-- With that information I can lay out prep times and get a sense of what the production period will be then easily see the effect of how holidays will fall or where a hiatus might occur. Quickly I see the overall picture of the upcoming months before I have a production schedule.

The Kingdom was no different except our start date kept moving back for a variety of reasons. With each change in plans PCal made the process of preparing a new calendar quick, neat and easy. With every idea, thought and concept that came our way it was a snap to use Pcal to illustrate the new plan so our accountant could come up with a cost estimate in short order. As production continued the value of the program and its clarity was an asset to all who received copies. I won’t do a movie without it!"

August 2007

The FilmGate International Student Film Festival, held August 17 to 19th, provided a venue for student filmmakers from around the world to once again showcase their films. The festival strives to build collaborative relationships with other organizations and corporations, like Reel Logix Inc., who support student filmmaking. In it's 2nd year, the festival aimed to enlighten audiences, provide invaluable exposure for student filmmakers, and present inspired entertainment for everyone. The festival took place at the Winifred Moore Auditorium on the campus of Webster University in Saint Louis, Missouri. Reel Logix Inc., has supported the FilmGate International Student Film Festival since it's inception.

July 2007

MovieMaker Magazine writer Brian Malik gives kudos to the Duke City Shootout. "With technology growing at a staggering rate, the popularity and importance of the short-film genre will inevitably continue to rise...meaning that competitions like 48 Hour Film Project and the Duke City Shootout will only grow in importance as the digital revolution continues to reshape the way we make - and watch - movies." Reel Logix, Inc is a festival sponsor for the second year in a row. MovieMaker Magazine

June 2007

Only 4 films from the last 10 years made the American Film Institute latest list of 100 greatest films. The list includes Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (No. 50), Saving Private Ryan (No. 71), Titanic (No. 83) and The Sixth Sense (No. 89). Read more about the entire list at Topix

May 2007

Si TV, the first network to offer this nation's large and growing Latino audience a 24/7 channel of compelling high-definition content designed for their tastes and lifestyle, announces that they will launch Si TV - HD in 2008

April 2007

The NAB2007 show in Las Vegas had the third largest number of registered attendees in the show's history. Over 108,232 registered guests included in excess of 26,000 international attendees from 141 countries. Reel Logix Inc participated in NAB2007 as part of the Accenture team to showcase the Disney supply chain project where Reel Logix calendar technology is utilized. NAB2008 is scheduled for Las Vegas in April 12-17. National Association of Broadcasters

March 2007

Academy Award winner Joe Letteri and Weta Digital have teamed up with Director James Cameron to create visual effects, creatures and digital environments for the movie, Avatar, to be released in Spring 2009. "Weta Digital has proven themselves a leader in visionary effects, especially in the area of performance capture based character animation, which is a big part of my new film", says writer/director James Cameron.

February 2007

To celebrate this year's Oscars, AMC Theatres will host an "AMC Best Picture Showcase" event Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 78 select AMC theatres nationwide. The day-long event will showcase the five films nominated by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for "Best Picture." This year's nominees are Babel, The Departed, Letters from Iwo Jima, Little Miss Sunshine and The Queen. Guests can purchase the AMC Best Picture Showcase All-Day Pass for $30. AMC Theatres

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