Friday, October 31st, 2008
COLUMN ONE
Chinese want a piece of movie ‘Action!’
Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times
Qi Shuyo and others wait the gates of the Beijing Film Studio, hoping to be called for an audition.
Thousands of would-be extras arrive at the gates of Beijing Film Studio each year, hoping to become stars or just to generate a little excitement in a tough life.
Los Angeles Times By Mark Magnier
October 30, 2008
Reporting from Beijing — When you have a movie calling for 700 eunuchs, it’s good to live in a country with a potential pool of more than 1 billion extras. And this is the place to find them: at the gates of a nondescript compound on the north Third Ring Road called the Beijing Film Studio.
It’s just after 6 on a recent morning, but a sizable crowd is already swarming the entrance to the studio, which has become a mecca for wannabe actors across China yearning for their big break. Most aren’t particularly ready for their close-up — migrant workers with dusty clothes and dirt-etched fingernails — but they’re hungering for a bit of celluloid to counteract a tough, often dull, existence.
By some estimates, 100,000 people land in front of these gates each year looking for infinitesimal roles as policemen, soldiers, pedestrians. The odds don’t favor wallflowers, which prompts many to toot their own horns, sometimes literally.
“My skill as a master of oral instruments sets me apart,” says Han Shixi, a 43-year-old farmer, emitting a sound somewhere between a trumpet and a Bronx cheer from his pursed lips.
Others sport court jester hats, sequined blouses and cowboy hats in a bid to stand out when casting crews show up looking for bodies to populate the country’s steady diet of action films and period dramas — sometimes as eunuchs, as in the case of director Zhang Yimou’s “Curse of the Golden Flower.” That movie reportedly required more than 4,000 extras, including 700 “specialists,” presumably castrated only in the filmmaker’s imagination.
Han won’t win any beauty contests. But his weathered face has become an asset in landing minor gangster parts in crime dramas, a genre in heavily censored China that always ends with the bad guy in cuffs and the caring policeman bestowing tender justice to the relief and joy of all.
“The first time a director saw me, he said, ‘I want you to play a thief, flirt with the woman, then sexually assault her,’ ” Han says, before launching into a few of his old lines. “This time we go to a cargo station, see? We don’t make any mistakes, see?”
Others say their emotional depth helps them land their tiny roles, even if most amount to little more than breathing, or not even that: Some play corpses. “I believe I’m talented,” says Yang Hui, a 30-year-old from Hebei province with a dreamy smile and red shoes, citing a role she had recently as a scared bus passenger. She also watches lots of movies for inspiration. “I liked ‘Forrest Gump,’ ” she says.
Shop assistant Lin Chengguo got his 15 seconds of fame playing a young Afghan when China stood in for Afghanistan in the film “A Boy Running After a Kite.” Say what? “Or maybe it was called ‘The Kite Runner,’ ” he says.
After a couple of hours, casting agent Meng Ying arrives, choosing four people apparently at random from the crowd while negotiating with a street vendor for lunch. “We’re looking for foreigners for commercials,” he says after noticing an overseas reporter in his midst. “You free?”
Although some extras supplement their meager pay working as security guards or day laborers, most of the wannabes have little but time on their hands as they wait up to 14 hours a day — time spent kibitzing, trading acting tips or offering a view on why they should be the next Bruce Lee or Gong Li.
“I’m stylish, good-looking and the girls love me,” says Huo Wenjie, 21, also from Hebei, which surrounds Beijing. He has his hair pulled back in a ponytail under a large cowboy hat. “I’m also an excellent singer,” he adds, belting out a few lyrics from a dated pop hit: “There’s you and me in the crowd. . . .”
The commotion attracts Wang Wenhua, 28, and his creative partner, Wang Guoliang, 31, not related, who pull a script from a backpack, its stained cover vaguely reminiscent of a Rorschach test. How much for a script?
“Oh, around $1.2 million,” says Wang One.
What’s it about?
“It’s sort of an interior dialogue of a depressed person,” Wang Two says. “Audiences might not be that interested, but the world needs more serious art.”
Several extras say they fantasize about visiting Hollywood, where they hear the pay is high, the working conditions great, the red carpets omnipresent and the unions eager to protect you. “I’d probably have to ride there on a rocket though,” Han says. “There are so many visa restrictions now.”
Production companies pay $7 to $12 a day for extras, but less than half of that generally reaches the actors, given the giant sucking sound of middlemen. Many are poorly treated during production of the 400 movies and thousands of television programs made here each year. This is a country, after all, where lax labor laws can make it cheaper to use humans than computer automation.
Complaints of agent rip-offs abound. Some of the victims who stream in from the provinces with stars in their eyes and a few hard-earned dollars in their pocket find themselves locked in houses where they’re charged for food, rent, costumes and agent fees until they’re broke, says Zhang Gang, co-founder of the Self-Support Center for Small-Time Actors, a group that fights exploitation.
“As we say in China, ‘As long as there’s a pit, people will fall into it,’ ” says Zhang Bao, 24, an extra who lost $15 to an unscrupulous “talent scout.”
Many of the migrants live in basement rooms for as little as $42 a month, or share a bed with people who work different hours for half that amount. Then there are those like Huang Fuli, 21, who pays nothing to stay in “starlight hotels.” “I sleep over there,” he says, pointing to a park. “It’s very difficult and I’m often cold and hungry, but many of us have no place else to go.”
Chen Haoran, 21, offers a tour of his living quarters: a pile of rug liners, some old clothes and a plastic Mickey Mouse shopping bag in a pedestrian underpass he shares with 20 men 300 yards from the gate. You get used to the steady stream of people staring at you, he says, but those who cover their noses in disgust as they pass, not so much.
The lights on the roof of the tunnel burn all night, he says, and the underpass floods when it rains. When it gets really bad, he sleeps in a chair in an Internet cafe for $2 a night.
The police sometimes chase them out of the underpass, but most residents drift back. “Our dreams are here,” he says.
Chen, who made $10 in a recent month as an extra, wears a “Last Emperor”-style cap adorned with a garish Davy Crockett-style raccoon tail. “You can’t be shy in this business,” he says. “You must remain upbeat. Even if I shed tears, I wipe them and move on.”
Chen says his family members would look down on him if they saw his life, so he tells them he has a job selling cars. Keeping this life secret is a common theme among the extras, many of whom tell their relatives they’re real estate agents, office workers or owners of some imaginary thriving business to avoid the stigma of their line of work and keep loved ones from worrying.
“No one really appreciates extras,” says Xiao Fan, 20. “Even on the set, you work hard and they swear at you all the time.”
But the highs can make it all worthwhile, some say. “It’s such a joy to act,” says Ding Liang, 57, who became an extra after being a soldier, farmer, miner and laborer. “Once you do it well, you feel such a sense of achievement. It’s better than anything else I’ve done in my life.”
Another source of inspiration is the likes of Wang Baoqiang, a Hebei village boy who haunted these same gates as recently as 2004 before catapulting to fame. In late August, Wang was voted the most popular TV actor in China, arguably making him one of the biggest stars on the planet.
Across town at his studio, Wang, 24, now surrounded by publicists, producers and hangers-on, reflects on his meteoric rise and the dream he embodies for many extras. “I know many see their hope in me,” he says. “As an extra, I lived in a shabby room and earned a few dollars a day. Now, I’m supporting my parents. I feel like I’m living the dream.”
But Wang and others say extras also need to be realistic. “It doesn’t happen very often that you pick somebody,” says director Feng Xiaogang, who discovered Wang. “I don’t want to waste my time teaching them.”
Wang says his new life won’t make him snooty, but some are skeptical. “Do any of them remember us little extras?” Chen says. “They go up to the sky and dare not return to Earth.”
As the light fades on another day at the gate, some extras even dream about becoming directors or producers someday. “I think I’d make a movie about all the extras waiting at the gate,” says Ding, the former soldier, farmer, miner and laborer. “With all the hardship in China right now, they come here to live a dream. It’s something positive we should encourage at a time of so much stress.” Hollywood USA opportunites for Producers, directors, writers, actors, singers and crafts persons at: info@archeremc.com and www.archeremc.com
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Saturday, October 25th, 2008
No mere mortal can resist… the invading hordes of Michael Jackson zombie dancers.
The LA Times By Elina Shatkin
October 25, 2008
The hardest part of learning the moves in Michael Jackson’s legendary “Thriller” music video isn’t the fancy footwork or the hip swivels. It’s the iconic “claw swing.” “You show your claws to the left, then swing down, show your claws to the right, and go back and forth. People get caught up on that a lot,” says choreographer and dance instructor Ines Markeljevic.
In 2006, after setting the first Guinness world record for largest “Thriller” dance — Toronto, 62 people — Markeljevic went global. Taking the flash mob phenomenon to a new level, she began organizing Thrill the World last year, marshaling dancers around the globe to simultaneously perform the steps from the zombie-filled video directed by John Landis. Since premiering on MTV in December 1983, it’s been referenced in films, TV shows, video games and many other venues.
In fact, Markeljevic was in the throes of planning when the inmates of Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center in the Philippines thrilled the YouTube world with their version. “I was like, ‘Oh, they beat me to it.’ But I took it as a sign that there are other people out there with this same global ‘Thriller’ consciousness,” Markeljevic says.
Hollywood USA opportunites for Producers, directors, writers, actors, singers and crafts persons at: info@archeremc.com and www.archeremc.com
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In 2007, Thrill the World included 1,722 dancers in 52 cities on five continents, setting a Guinness world record for largest worldwide simultaneous “Thriller” dance. Today, she wants to break that record, with 95 cities, including Berlin, Shanghai and Brisbane, Australia. For the first time, Los Angeles will be one of them, at the Hollywood & Highland complex at 11 a.m. today.
No experience is necessary, either as a dancer or a zombie, though you need to learn the dance in advance. “A year ago I was watching YouTube videos of people doing the ‘Thriller’ dance,” says Mahdroo McCaleb, who co-organized the L.A. event with Amanda Ayres. After learning from Markeljevic’s online videos, he led other dancers last year in San Diego. “I taught a Catholic priest to do the dance. He was walking down the sidewalk and asked what we were doing. We told him and asked, ‘Do you want to do it?’ He said yes, so we put a little fake blood on his head. He already had the outfit.”
The L.A. event will be led by teen dance phenom Adam Sevani, and last-minute participants are welcome. “This project is made for beginners with limited to no dance experience,” says Markeljevic, who will be at Hollywood & Highland. “If you can say it, you can do it. That’s my motto.”
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Friday, October 24th, 2008
Bottom Line: All-out thriller with few Bond touches but plenty of high-octane action.
The Hollywood Reporter
By Ray Bennett
Oct 24, 2008
Opens: Friday, Oct. 31 (U.K.); Friday, Nov. 14 (U.S.)
LONDON — The meanest and leanest James Bond film yet, “Quantum of Solace” is a breathless splash of high-speed action that hurtles from one reckless chase to another.
There’s not much solace and few words as the British secret agent exercises his license to kill in dispatching one bad guy after another in the attempt to avenge the death of the lover who died in “Casino Royale.”
Fans of that boxoffice smash and the earlier films might be disappointed that the new picture allows hardly any flourishes of style and character in the 007 tradition, but moviegoers seeking an adrenaline rush will be well pleased. Running almost 40 minutes shorter than the bloated “Casino Royale,” the film should do bristling business around the world.
So much of the movie comprises furious pursuits in boats, planes and racing automobiles that you wonder how many scenes were left for director Marc Forster to take care of. Second unit director Dan Bradley and stunt coordinator Gary Powell, both “Bourne” veterans, must take a huge chunk of the credit for all the thrilling encounters that leave credibility in the dust.
Forster’s regular cinematographer Robert Schaefer and Oscar-winning production designer Dennis Gassner (”Bugsy”) contribute fine work and the intricate assembly by editors Matt Chesse and Richard Pearson is staggeringly effective. A gunfight cut against a lavish performance of “Tosca” is an action triumph.
Jack White’s title song passes without notice, but composer David Arnold provides a top-flight action score, keeping the familiar themes to a minimum as they hardly suit Daniel Craig’s Bond.
Craig looks incredibly fit, and his manner suggests someone capable of surviving everything that’s thrown at him. This Bond is more invincible than ever and shares with Jason Bourne and the kite runner the unerring ability to know exactly where the object of his chase will end up.
Judi Dench has a few good scenes tearing a strip off her favorite agent, and Olga Kurylenko has some serious action of her own, which she renders in high style. Gemma Arterton, however, is a mere bedroom dalliance, and Mathieu Amalric (”The Diving Bell and the Butterfly”) tends to let his character’s madness show too much with bulging eyes, one of which threatens to start blinking at any moment.
There are the usual lavish locales, and the film is as efficient as its supercomputers and high-powered weaponry and as sleek as the glamorous settings where Bond catches his breath. There is a danger in this version of Ian Fleming’s hero, however. A killer in the movies needs something redeeming about him. Bourne had presumed innocence, and Sean Connery’s Bond, while nasty, had ironic wit. Craig’s humorless Bond is in danger of becoming simply a very well-dressed but murderous thug.
Production companies: Danjaq, United Artists, Columbia Pictures.
Cast: Daniel Craig, Olga Kurylenko, Mathieu Amalric, Judi Dench, Giancarlo Giannini, Gemma Arterton, Jeffrey Wright; Director: Marc Forster; Screenwriters: Paul Haggis, Neal Purvis & Robert Wade; Producers: Barbara Broccoli, Michael G. Wilson; Executive producers: Callum McDougall, Anthony Waye; Director of photography: Roberto Schaefer; Production designer: Dennis Gassner; Music: David Arnold; Costume designer: Louise Frogley; Editors: Matt Chesse, Richard Pearson.
Rated PG-13, running time 106 minutes.
Hollywood USA opportunites for Producers, directors, writers, actors, singers and crafts persons at: info@archeremc.com and www.archeremc.com
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Friday, October 24th, 2008
The Hollywood Reporter
“SpongeBob SquarePants” will return to China Central Television in January, Nickelodeon announced Thursday.
Hollywood USA opportunites for Producers, directors, writers, actors, singers and crafts persons at: info@archeremc.com and www.archeremc.com
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Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008
Brought to you by www.phuketproperty.us
Phuket, which is among the best tourist destinations in the world, is becoming popular after Hrithik Roshan and Ameesha Patel’s superhit title song in Kaho Na Pyaar Hai was picturised in this picture post card island. In the last year alone, a dozen Tamil songs have been picturised at this seaside resort.
Last week, Nayanthara flew from Switzerland—after completing the last song of Aegan with Ajit — straight into Phuket island where Vijay and director Prabhu Deva were shooting a song for Villu.
Meanwhile, Sundar C and his producer wife Kushboo flew into Phuket to shoot a song for their Aindham Padai. It looks as if it has become cheaper to shoot a song in Phuket rather than Ootty!
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Tags: bollywood, film, India, phuket, Real Estate, Thailand, Travel
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Tuesday, October 21st, 2008
WITH his 007 status, James Bond travels around the world working for the British secret service, staying in some of the most luxurious locations.
As the new Bond movie, Quantum of Solace, is due out later this month, we have selected seven places we think he may have secretly invested in behind M’s back.
Paradise Island
The name speaks for itself – Paradise Island, a sunny tropical island just off the shore of the city of Nassau, in the Bahamas.
Formerly known as Hog Island, Paradise Island possesses stunning, sparkling, white sand beaches and breathtaking, warm, turquoise blue waters.
The economy of the Bahamas is driven by tourism, international banking and real-estate developments, but there is no income tax, capital gains tax or inheritance tax, and no sales tax except the stamp duty paid on the conveyance of properties.
Bond films Thunderball (starring Sean Connery) and Casino Royale (Daniel Craig) both had scenes on this amazing island, but with five-bedroom, five-bathroom houses selling for about £7million, only those with gold fingers can afford to invest here.
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital, as well as the commercial, cultural, political and population centre, of Thailand.
The city is a major economic and financial centre of south-east Asia and has one of the fastest quotients in the world for the construction of high-rise buildings.
Distinctly modern and westernised, Bangkok still has a sense of a sleepy Thai village at conflict with its louder, seedier side at night.
The Man with the Golden Gun (Roger Moore) and Tomorrow Never Dies (Pierce Brosnan) were both filmed in Bangkok and property prices range from one-bedroom homes going for a modest £80,000 (affordable, even on Miss Moneypenny’s salary) to a three-bedroom duplex penthouse in a prime downtown location selling for a cool £1million.
Sardinia
A popular tourist destination, Sardinia is renowned for its soft, sandy beaches, exquisite cuisine and splendid wines.
The northern part of Sardinia has the best infrastructure and some of the highest real-estate prices on the island. The southern part of the island is not as developed as the north and properties there tend to be more affordable.
The Spy Who Loved Me (Roger Moore) was shot in Sardinia, in Porto Cervo, and property prices on the island range from £35,000 for an old restoration townhouse in the south to £5million for a seven-bedroom beach-front villa in the north.
Rio de Janeiro
Although Rio is the second major city in Brazil after Sao Paulo, it is by far the most popular, with tourists flocking there to sample its lively nightlife, its famous beaches, Copacabana and Ipanema, the statue of Jesus and the Rio Carnival.
The currency exchange rate between sterling and Brazilian reais is exceptionally favourable at the moment, making it cheap for foreigners to invest in property.
There is an emerging property market in Brazil and beach-front properties in Rio are by far the most popular investments with overseas buyers, who are looking for the best rental returns.
Moonraker (Roger Moore) was filmed in Rio and, as it is still a developing market, bargains can be easily found, with two-bedroom houses in the region of £40,000.
Istanbul
Istanbul is the cultural and financial centre of Turkey.
The former capital of three empires, Byzantine, Ottoman and Roman, and the only metropolis in the world that’s situated on two continents, Europe and Asia, its different cultural history is evident in the extensive array of museums, churches, palaces, mosques and markets.
There are an estimated 700,000 new residents arriving in the city each year, creating an immense demand for housing which has triggered an unprecedented building boom.
The World is Not Enough (Pierce Brosnan) was filmed in Istanbul and a mere £30,000 will secure you a studio apartment close to the centre of town.
St Petersburg
St Petersburg is Russia’s second largest and Europe’s fourth largest city after Moscow, London and Paris.
The majestic appearance of St Petersburg is achieved through a variety of architectural details, including long, straight boulevards, spacious gardens and parks, monuments, sculptures and decorative wrought-iron fences. The Neva River, plus its many canals and bridges, gives the city a striking ambience.
The recent increase in demand for real estate has been fuelled, in part, by the increased availability of mortgage finance in Russia – and more buyers than ever are entering the property market.
Golden Eye (Pierce Brosnan) had a tank chase scene in St Petersburg, where the annual house-price growth is running, staggeringly, at above 90%, and the average cost of property is about £1,700 per sq m.
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated on the River Vltava, in central Bohemia, Prague has been the political, cultural and economic centre of the Czech state for more than 1,100 years.
Known as a popular weekend destination, Prague receives more than three million visitors per year and offers the contrasts of the past, with its bridges, cathedrals, gold-tipped towers and church domes, and that of a modern metropolis full of energy, music and art.
Mortgage financing is freely available to both Czech nationals and foreign investors, and up to 85% loan-to-value is possible. Mortgage interest rates, following a decline previously, rose through 2007 and into 2008 in line with the general rate increases in other EU countries.
Casino Royale (Daniel Craig) had scenes filmed in Prague, where it is possible to obtain a one-bedroom apartment for about £50,000.
Dan Johnson, managing director of leading international property company The MoveChannel.com, said: “So a wonderful selection of locations that any undercover agent would be proud to invest in while sipping on a Martini, cleaning his Walther PPK gun and waiting for the next intriguing mission.”
We couldn’t agree more, but we think Bond, whose father is a Scot, should consider buying in his homeland – and the Your Home supplement is the perfect place to start looking.
Tags: Property, Property News, thai
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Monday, October 20th, 2008
Actor Mark Wahlberg has listed his gated, 1.4-acre estate in Beverly Hills for $15.9 million. The property has about 15,000 square feet of living space, five bedrooms and 10-1/2 bathrooms.
Hot Property
By Ann Brenoff
October 18, 2008
ACTOR Mark Wahlberg Mark Wahlberg – a.k.a. Marky Mark (the guy whose trademark was stripping down to his whitey-whites during concerts) — has listed his house in Beverly Hills at $15.9 million.
The gated 1.4-acre property has about 15,000 square feet of living space, much of it devoted to grown-up toys.
The Mediterranean-style main house has a 2,500-square-foot gym with a boxing ring — do you think he maintains that physique just by eating his Wheaties? — and a full basketball court. There is also a state-of-the-art 35-millimeter home theater befitting an HBO prince like himself; a pool with a grotto (in case Hugh Hefner stops by?), and a waterfall. The property has a putting green as well. All that’s missing is a backyard ski slope — no doubt an oversight.
There are five bedrooms and 10 1/2 bathrooms.
Wahlberg debuted as a rap musician in 1991 and grew into an Academy Award-nominated actor. He had a brief stint as a model, gracing Calvin Klein billboards across America.
He is the executive producer of the HBO series ” Entourage,” which is based loosely on his Hollywood life, and of ” In Treatment.” He was nominated for an Academy Award for his supporting actor role in Martin Scorsese’s thriller “The Departed” in 2006. He is currently starring in ” Max Payne” and ” The Happening.”
Earlier, he appeared in “Boogie Nights” (1997), “Three Kings” (1999), “The Perfect Storm” (2000) and “I Heart Huckabees” (2004).
Hillel Sanowicz of John Bruce Nelson & Associates in Bel-Air and Greg Moore of ReMax, Sunset Boulevard office, share the listing. For information on Premier California Real Estate and Hollywood USA Film and TV opportunites for Producers, directors, writers, actors, singers and crafts persons at: info@archeremc.com and www.archeremc.com
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Sunday, October 19th, 2008
Reuters
Oct 19, 2008, 01:16 PM ET
‘Beverly Hills Chihuahua,’ ‘Bees,’ ‘W.’ round out the top four
Action-packed “Max Payne” shot its way to the top of the North American boxoffice, grossing $18 million during the video game adaptation’s first weekend in theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday.
Walt Disney Co’s family comedy “Beverly Hills Chihuahua” fell to the No. 2 spot with $11.2 million, while civil rights era movie “The Secret Life of Bees” was just behind with $11.1 million.
“W.,” Oliver Stone’s portrait of U.S. President George W. Bush, debuted at No. 4 with a take of $10.6 million. The biopic was released by Lionsgate, a unit of Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.
“Max Payne” was released by Fox, a division of News Corp., while “The Secret Life of Bees” was released by the same company’s Fox Searchlight.
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Thursday, October 16th, 2008
October 15, 2008
The Hollywood Reporter
The world premiere of Ron Howard’s “Frost/Nixon” received an enthusiastic welcome at the BFI London Film Festival on Wednesday evening.
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Wednesday, October 15th, 2008
Fan Bingbing at the open of the 20th Tokyo Film Fest
Bazaar boosts Japan’s content profile
By MARK SCHILLING
The Japanese biz releases more pics annually — 407 last year — than any other in East Asia. It also holds its own against Hollywood imports — the market share for Japanese pics was 47.4% in 2007. One particular focus of attention for both TIFF and TIFFCOM this year is TV programming, including Japan’s famously wild and inventive gameshow formats, which Ishikawa calls “the hottest (genre) right now among foreign buyers.” Reflecting that interest, 15% more Japanese TV companies (including all five major TV networks) are taking booths at TIFFCOM compared with a year ago.
Serial dramas also are a traditional strength of the Japanese broadcasting biz, with the more popular ones not only developing huge followings among viewers but selling millions of theme-song CDs, enjoying a long afterlife on DVD and serving as fodder for hit pics.
However, overseas sales of Japanese TV dramas amount to only $28.3 million out of $94.4 million in average yearly foreign sales of local TV programming. To boost that figure, a coalition of TV companies and orgs launched the Intl. Drama Festival last year in cooperation with TIFFCOM. This year, the fest, skedded for Oct. 22-24 as part of CoFesta, will feature not only screenings, awards and symposiums, but a Broadcasting Content Market.
“The quality of Japanese TV dramas as entertainment is high,” fest chairman Michisada Hirose said in a statement. “However, in terms of international competitiveness and profitability, there is still a room for improvement in Japanese TV dramas.”
That aim is shared by TIFF and TIFFCOM, which have lagged behind competing events elsewhere in Asia, such as the Pusan Film Festival and Hong Kong Filmart, even though Japan’s contents biz dwarfs its Asian counterparts.
TIFFCOM plans to change that by not only strengthening its focus on TV, but expanding its reach beyond the Asian region to recruit buyers and sellers from Europe and the U.S. As a result, nearly half the 172 registered sellers this year are non-Japanese.
Also, TIFFCOM has been beefing up its Tokyo Project Gathering, which this year will present 32 in-development pics Oct. 21-24. Projects include films to be helmed by outlaw master Seijun Suzuki and Hong Kong auteur Pang Ho-cheung, as well as one produced by Oscar-winning thesp Philip Seymour Hoffman through his Cooper’s Town Prods. shingle — with 101-year-old Butoh dancer Kazuo Ohno helming.
As for TIFF itself, Yoda, who was chairman and CEO of music biz powerhouse Avex before moving to a similar post with pic distrib Gaga Communications in 2004, is giving himself three years to boost the fest’s profile not only regionally, but globally.
“My goal is to make (TIFF) one of the four major festivals of the world, along with Cannes, Berlin and Venice,” says Yoda.
Getting there will require, as Yoda notes, “high-quality films,” but he has another, more unusual idea for making TIFF stand out from the pack: Starting this year, the festival is going green. The most obvious symbol of the new focus is the Green Carpet, replacing the traditional red rug, on which stars will make their entrance into Tokyo’s Roppongi Hills shopping and entertainment complex on opening day.
More substantively, TIFF will also debut a new “natural TIFF” and “natural TIFF Masterpieces” sections presenting docus and dramas with eco themes, and an Earth Grand Prix sponsored by Toyota will be awarded to the best green pic in the main program. Yoda will serve as one of the three judges.
“Filmmakers make films and films are created on the Earth — but the Earth is in trouble.” Yoda says in explaining the new orientation. In other words, no Earth equals no people and no pics.
But will becoming the fest equivalent of the Prius help make TIFF major? That’s a stretch, perhaps, but going green could soften TIFF’s rather stiff, corporate image among the global festival cognoscenti — as long as it’s not just a marketing ploy.
As for the foreign buyers and sellers at TIFFCOM and other CoFesta markets, the greenness of an event is not as important as the green it puts in their pockets. Perhaps by this time next year, those same folks will be looking at TIFF’s new carpet with a more appreciative eye.
TIP SHEET
What: Tokyo Intl. Film Festival
When: Oct. 18-26
Where: Roppongi Hills, Bunkamura and other facilities in Tokyo
Web: tiff-jp.net/en
Hollywood USA opportunites for Producers, directors, writers, actors, singers and crafts persons at: info@archeremc.com and www.archeremc.com
Revenues from abroad, however, have not kept pace with success at home. Even major Japanese pics, including the megahits of anime maestro Hayao Miyazaki, usually earn only a tiny fraction of their domestic box office globally.
Other Japanese content, notably toons, comics and games, has fared better abroad, but industrywide coordination to boost content sales has been lacking.
“We have to make more progress on that front,” says Tom Yoda, the new chairman of the Tokyo Intl. Film Festival, which unspools Oct. 18-26.
Yoda is not alone in thinking so: TIFF, together with the Visual Industry Promotion Organization (VIPO) and other groups and companies, joined together last year to launch the Japan Intl. Contents Festival or CoFesta, which might be described as the ultimate Japanese content bazaar.
This year, 15 official events related to games, toons, comics, music, TV shows and pics will unfold under the CoFesta banner from Sept. 30 to Oct. 28, including the Tokyo Game Show, Japan Anime Collaboration Market, Tokyo Asian Music Market, TIFF and the TIFFCOM market.
“We would like to shorten (the schedule) up a bit more — three weeks or so is ideal,” CoFesta director Tomoharu Ishikawa says, “but we can’t go much (tighter) because of logistics — there just aren’t that many big venues in Tokyo.”
There also are CoFesta partner events in other Japanese cities, but the center of the action is in Japan’s biggest metropolis — which also is the home of its biggest content companies.
“We want to make the world better aware of the rich variety of content we have here,” Ishikawa says.
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