News
September 13, 2013
September 13th News Report from your Los Angeles Representative
TORONTO ONTARIO film office - A partnership of the Ontario Media Development Corporation, City of Toronto and FilmOntario.
WEEKLY UPDATE September 13, 2013
from Kelly Graham-Scherer, Los Angeles Representative - torontoontariofilm@gmail.com
The L.A.-based trades continue their blanket coverage of TIFF and Ontario continues to benefit from some very positive coverage with regards to our film and television production industry. The Hollywood Reporter this week took a look at festival films shot in various provinces, highlighting incentives and infrastructure in each along the way. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/x-men-hollywoods-canadanian-shoots-619308
The Hollywood Reporter also acknowledged the depth and breadth of talent north of the border by naming the "Next Gen: 20 Young Canadian Stars on the Rise in Hollywood". It was presented in a photo montage impossible to recreate below my signature, but I encourage you to click on the link to read about some of the people who help make our jurisdiction so special. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/gallery/next-gen-20-young-canadian-620821#1-marc-almon-35-producer
Shock waves reverberated through Hollywood this week with the news that Universal Studios had forced out its top executive. As detailed in the Los Angeles Times below, the shakeup reflects the studio's desire to place more emphasis on foreign business, which now accounts for 65-70% of box office, a reality that is changing which films are green lit and how they are made and distributed. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-fi-ct-universal-shakeup-20130910,0,5633763.story
The venerable business publication Forbes also weighed in on the changes at Universal this week, noting that the entertainment business is fragmenting in such a way that it is now more important for studio chiefs to be high-level business strategists, than well-connected Hollywood insiders. http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorothypomerantz/2013/09/11/jeff-shells-promotion-at-universal-shows-hollywoods-shifting-priorities/
A story in the L.A. Times reported this week on one of the changes with which studios are grappling: as detailed below, a new report from Nielsen found that VOD is available in 60% of American TV households, a dramatic increase from just five years ago, when such services were offered to just 37% of homes. http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-vod-sleeper-technology-reaches-60-percent-tv-homes-nielsen-finds-20130906,0,6599703.story
And finally this week, the L.A. Times is also reporting that Digital Domain, the Los Angeles-based visual effects studio, is bulking up its operations in Vancouver and plans "to shift a growing amount of work from its Los Angeles operation to Vancouver to take advantage of film subsidies offered in British Columbia". http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/cotown/la-et-ct-digital-domain-vancouver-20130910,0,6542959.story
You'll find the full text for the linked articles below my signature. Please feel free to distribute this e-mail widely and to get in touch with me with comments or links for inclusion.
Warmest regards,
Kelly Graham-SchererLos Angeles Representative
Toronto/ Ontario Film Office