News
March 5, 2018
March 2nd News Report from your Los Angeles Representative
Happy Friday everyone,
It's Oscar week in Hollywood and you can feel the excitement in the air. I attended a brunch honouring Canadian nominees yesterday and, as always, was struck by the wealth of talent coming out of Ontario. My fingers are crossed that The Breadwinner will win best animated feature Sunday night and The Shape of Water will take home the best picture prize - go team!
There was additional late-breaking news to cheer out of Ontario this morning. As reported by the CBC below, Cinespace Film Studios has announced plans to lease the property near Unwin Avenue from PortsToronto and convert former Marine Terminal 51 into a 165,000 square foot studio.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/cinespace-port-lands-studio-1.4559274
A new study on diversity this week shows that Hollywood still has a ways to go. As reported in Variety below, although the US consisted of about 40 per cent minorities in 2016, “In both film and television, women and minorities remained notably underrepresented in every arena”.
http://variety.com/2018/film/news/hollywood-diversity-falls-short-ucla-report-1202711370/
The film and television industry in Louisiana is on the rebound after it nosedived by 90% in 2015 when the state's tax incentives were capped at $180 million. The New Orleans Advocate has details on the rebound below.
http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/entertainment_life/movies_tv/article_baa6f5f6-10c6-11e8-aa03-133d991c0dab.html
Many shows that left Louisiana in 2015 headed to Georgia and today production continues to boom in that state. As reported by Atlanta's WSB TV, industry stakeholders there met this week to discuss ways to sustain what has become a $7 billion per year industry.
http://www.wsbtv.com/news/local/atlantas-booming-film-industry-everybody-around-the-world-watching-growth-in-atlanta/707659952
Entertainment executives always consider whether film and TV properties can create and support ancillary revenue streams, and theme parks around popular IP, built by companies like Disney and Universal, are top tier examples of that. The Los Angeles Times reports this week that Lionsgate is the latest studio to get in the game and that Twilight and Hunger Games parks in South Korea and China are projected to,bring in about 20 million visitors by the end of 2020.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-lionsgate-theme-parks-20180228-story.html
NBCUniversal announced this week that it will cut the number of commercials running across its broadcast and cable networks next season in the hope that advertisers will pay more for them. As reported in the Times below, the move is an apparent response to the changing habits of viewers who are spending more time streaming video content online from Netflix, Amazon and other services that can be watched commercial-free.
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-nbc-ads-20180228-story.html
And just to bring things full circle: the Toronto Sun this week took an in-depth look at the many and varied connections between Ontario and this Sunday's eagerly-anticipated Oscars telecast.
http://torontosun.com/entertainment/movies/braun-canadians-shine-at-oscars
Warmest regards,
Kelly
Kelly Graham-Scherer
Los Angeles Representative
Toronto/ Ontario Film Office