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Hammond On Cannes: Jury Takes Center Stage As Oscar Rivals Steven Spielberg And Ang Lee ”Worship” Each Other

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 8:49am PDTTags: 66th Cannes Film Festival, Ang Lee, Cannes Wrap-Up, Christoph Waltz, Jury, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Nicole Kidman, Steven Spielberg, The Great Gatsby
Pete Hammond

Once rivals for Oscar in February and now fellow jurors in Cannes, Ang Lee called Steven Spielberg his “hero” as Spielberg praised Lee’s Life Of Pi, which won Best Director over Lincoln. This mutual lovefest took place as the jury for the 66th Cannes Film Festival was introduced to the world’s press this afternoon. Spielberg, who said he hasn’t served on any festival jury since 1974 (the beginning of his feature film career) is President and has been asked many times but said the timing was finally right. “I’ve been so consistently at work, especially in the spring months directing, that every time I’ve been approached to be on the jury I’ve been working so I suddenly found myself with an open year, and so that’s why this all came together this year. I am honored I was invited,” he said. Spielberg has been to Cannes many times before with films like E.T. and most recently, Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull.

Asked about being on the Cannes panel with Spielberg after defeating him for the Oscar almost three months ago Lee said, “Steven and I are good friends. I worship him. I don’t know how he looks at me, but I worship him. I don’t think any result would change how I feel about him or even myself. He’s my hero.” Spielberg responding seemed at a loss for words. “I don’t know how to answer that, except to say Ang and I have been friends for a long time and we’ve never ever been competitors, we’ve always been colleagues and that will just contiinue. And certainly I worship Life Of Pi and therefore I worship Ang Lee as well.” READ MORE »

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Ang Lee Talks “The New Illusion Of Cinema” At London’s 3D Creative Summit

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday March 27, 2013 @ 9:41am PDTTags: 3D, Ang Lee, Life of Pi

Joe Utichi contributes to Deadline’s UK coverage

Life Of Pi helmer Ang Lee caused controversy last month when he failed to thank the film’s VFX artists – including those at the troubled Rhythm & Hues – during his acceptance speech for the Best Director Oscar. Today, the director topped the bill at the opening of the 3D Creative Summit in London, appearing via satellite to discuss the visual work done on Pi.

The film’s VFX consultant David Conley presented the audience with a breakdown of the visual effects wizardry featured in two extended Pi sequences, as it pertained to the film’s use of 3D. But Lee, who praised the detail of Conley’s presentation, stuck to discussing the third dimension alone. Speaking of the cost of visual effects, he said he had feared that the economic reality of Pi would not match the artistic demands of realizing it. “It would be like the number Pi: it keeps on going and makes no sense.” 3D, then, was a way to keep the budget manageable. It added a level of authenticity that allowed him to downplay the VFX. “It gives volume. It picks up so much information and gives realism.” He added that the film’s most famous creation, the CG tiger Richard Parker, was rendered more believable because it was presented in 3D. Read More »

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Rhythm & Hues Facility To Open In Taiwan By Late March: Report

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Thursday February 28, 2013 @ 6:36am PSTTags: Ang Lee, Big Deals Film, Life of Pi, Rhythm & Hues

Two weeks after its U.S. parent filed for Chapter 11 reorganization, a new Rhythm & Hues facility is on course to open in Taiwan, according to Rhythm & Hues Studios Taiwan Co. manager Mike Yang. The … Read More »

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OSCARS: Winners By Picture

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday February 24, 2013 @ 10:44pm PSTTags: Argo, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Oscars

WINS BY PICTURE

Life Of Pi Oscars 2013 WinnerLife Of Pi 4
Argo 3
Les Miserables 3
Skyfall 2
Django Unchained 2
Lincoln 2
Amour 1
Silver Linings Playbook 1
Searching For Sugar Man 1
Brave 1
Paperman 1
Inocente 1
Curfew 1
Zero Dark Thirty 1
Anna Karenina … Read More »

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UPDATE: Rhythm & Hues Gets $5M To Finish Legendary’s ‘Seventh Son’

By JEN YAMATO | Thursday February 21, 2013 @ 11:00am PSTTags: 20th Century Fox, Life of Pi, Rhythm & Hues, Universal Pictures

Dominic Patten contributed to this report

Rhythm & Hues Bankruptcy4TH UPDATE, THURSDAY 11:00 AM The court has given Legendary the go-ahead to infuse Rhythm & Hues with another $4.9M to finish Seventh Son. Law firm Venable LLP repped the studio, which sought the court’s approval to pump additional payments into the ailing effects house after receiving only 25% of their commissioned 225 VFX shots last December.

3RD UPDATE, WEDNESDAY AM: Legendary Pictures has officially filed a motion to be allowed to give Rhythm & Hues an additional $4,961,751 to complete VFX work on their October release Seventh Son, according to a change order filed yesterday (read it here).

2ND UPDATE, FRIDAY PM: In a preliminary ruling, Judge Neil Bason has approved $11 million of the loan. A first disbursement of $6 million is expected immediately, with $5 million to follow on February 19. On March 12, Bason will offer final judgement on the loan and, pending no legal hurdles or objections, allow the remaining $5.5 million to be given to Rhythm & Hues.

UPDATE, 12:40 PM: Legendary Pictures has asked the court if it can write a check to Rhythm & Hues outside the DIP loan being offered by Universal and Fox. The production company said if the “change order” is not approved it could mean a $9 million hit, and that even though it’s already paid for the work it’s willing to “pay twice” to get its movie finished. That could be a reference to Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim, which already has set a July 12 release date via Warner Bros. (UPDATE: Nope. Legendary lawyers say it’s the Jeff Bridges-starrer Seventh Son, which has an October 18 release date via Warner Bros. A hearing date has been set for February 21.) Read More »

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OSCARS: The Adapted Screenplay Nominees

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday February 18, 2013 @ 6:30pm PSTTags: Argo, Awardsline, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook

Chris Terrio | Argo

Chris Terrio had a trove of primary and secondary material to consult in writing the screenplay for Argo, most notably the memoir Master of Disguise, by former CIA agent Tony Mendez, and Joshuah Bearman’s 2007 … Read More »

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OSCARS: Handicapping Best Score

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday February 18, 2013 @ 6:00pm PSTTags: Anna Karenina, Argo, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall

David Mermelstein is an AwardsLine contributor

Leaving artistic issues aside, you could—at first glance—say that the competition for best original score isn’t a fair fight this year. Three of the nominees—Mychael Danna (Life Of Pi), Alexandre Desplat (Argo), and Thomas Newman (Skyfall)—have never won an Oscar, and one of them (Danna) is enjoying his first nomination. Dario Marianelli won once before, but his nom for Anna Karenina is only his third. So who’s the heavyweight in the ring? None other than John Williams (Lincoln), who has won five Oscars for original score, as well as one for adapted score.

Williams is basking in his 39th nomination for original score. His first was for The Reivers (1969), starring Steve McQueen. His closest competitor within this group is Newman, who is savoring his ninth nom since 1994, when he earned two—for Little Women and The Shawshank Redemption. Desplat is suiting up for his fifth round since 2006, when The Queen first brought him close to Oscar gold. Read More »

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OSCARS: VFX Nominees Discuss Key Sequences

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday February 18, 2013 @ 5:30pm PSTTags: Life of Pi, Marvel's The Avengers, Prometheus, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Thomas J. McLean is an AwardsLine contributor

This year’s nominees show how visual effects have spread from summer blockbusters to genres as diverse as superheroes, different flavors of fantasy, more traditional sci-fi territory, and even the art-house film. For each nominee, there’s a moment that makes it worthy of an Oscar nomination. Here, the visual-effects supervisors on the nominated films break down the key challenges and talk about the sequence that clinched the nomination.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

The nominees: Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton, R. Christopher White

No. of visual-effects shots: 2,176

Tech breakthrough: The complexity and number of techniques used to create the digital creatures. “It’s a combination of lots of things to get a creature to that point”, says Letteri. “It’s muscles, it’s skin, it’s facial capture, it’s performance capture”. All those things had to come together to bring to convincing life six leading digital characters with dialogue. Read More »

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OSCARS: As Final Deadline Approaches Academy Urges Members To Vote; Studios Launch Last-Minute Ad Blitz

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday February 18, 2013 @ 2:05pm PSTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Ang Lee, Argo, Harvey Weinstein, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Online Voting, Oscar Voters, Silver Linings Playbook
Pete Hammond

Okay Academy members, this is your last chance to vote.

And by all indications from my own admittedly unscientific survey over the weekend there are many who are choosing to wait, despite the Academy’s emails encouraging them to vote early in this final round. Part of the reason seems to be a desire to catch up on the Documentary Feature, Live Action and Animation Shorts which have been sent to the entire Academy membership for the first time, instead of requiring voters to attend special screenings. One voter told me he received his late and was trying to watch them all before submitting his ballot.

With today being a holiday, those voters who opted for paper ballots and still haven’t mailed them are out of luck if they hope to do that and still have it reach the downtown Los Angeles offices of the Academy’s accountants, PricewaterhouseCoopers, or the Academy lobby at its Beverly Hills headquarters in time before Tuesday’s 5 PM deadline. If you are a paper voter, not electronic, the best you can do at this point is have the ballot delivered in person to one of those locations before 5 PM tomorrow. And every year there are usually many that do just that. It has even numbered up into the hundreds in past years. But with the new, sometimes awkward, transition to online voting this year, that number will probably be significantly decreased.
Read More »

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OSCARS: Nominated Film Editors Break Down Key Scenes

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday February 18, 2013 @ 5:00am PSTTags: Argo, Awardsline, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Oscars, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty

Thomas J. McLean is an AwardsLine contributor

The film editing race is both diverse and expected. All five nominated films are also up for best picture, and the individual editors range from three-time Oscar winner Michael Kahn to several first-time nominees and one nominee, William Goldenberg, nominated for work on two separate films. We talked with the nominated editors and asked them to run through a key scene from their films—one that was crucial to making the picture work, either from a tone perspective or a more technical one. The results were as diverse as the nominated films themselves.

WILLIAM GOLDENBERG | ARGO

Goldenberg says Argo’s incongruous quality was epitomized in an often bizarre sequence that cuts from the elaborate table-read of the fake screenplay at the Beverly Hills Hotel to the houseguests trying to entertain themselves in their long isolation to Iranian forces frightening hostages at the U.S. Embassy in Iran with a mock execution.

“When I read the script, I thought this was a scene where if we can make this work tonally, the movie will work”, says Goldenberg. “Because it’s all these different tones colliding together, and if all these expositions can work as a scene, then I think what we’re trying to do with the movie will be successful”. Read More »

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Hot Featurette: Will Oscar Shine On ‘Life Of Pi’s Ang Lee In Strong Best Director Race?

By PETE HAMMOND | Friday February 15, 2013 @ 1:13pm PSTTags: Ang Lee, David O. Russell, Life of Pi, Oscars, Steven Spielberg
Pete Hammond

EXCLUSIVE: Whatever happens in the Best Picture Oscar race, where Argo has emerged as a strong frontrunner thanks to an unbroken string of victories in all the key precursor awards, the race for the Best Director Oscar is … Read More »

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OSCARS: Sound Editing and Sound Mixing Noms Often Overlap

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday February 14, 2013 @ 9:06pm PSTTags: Argo, Awardsline, Film Sound Editing, Film Sound Mixing, Life of Pi, Skyfall

Thomas J. McLean is an AwardsLine contributor

Few categories offer as much confusion in Oscar pools as best sound editing and best sound mixing. Unlike the more esoteric categories where few have seen the nominated films, most of the nominees … Read More »

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OSCARS: Best Picture Nominees Had Uphill Production Battles

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday February 14, 2013 @ 8:00pm PSTTags: Amour, Argo, Awardsline, Beasts Of The Southern Wild, Django Unchained, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Silver Linings Playbook, Zero Dark Thirty
Pete Hammond

As the industry kicks into full awards mode, with one guild after another handing out trophies to whomever they consider the year’s best in any given field, it’s become increasingly clear this is a year like we have not seen in a while. Certainly every season we go through this ritual of watching the crème de la crème of the industry line up to get awards, but rarely have we seen as dense a field of top contenders, and especially deserving ones, as we have this year. The common denominator among most, if not all, of the contenders in Oscar’s 24 categories is how difficult it was in the first place to get any of these films made in a sequel-happy, franchise-loving, play-it-safe motion picture industry.

RELATED: OSCARS: Best Picture Contenders Part 1

For example, Steven Spielberg began talking about Lincoln with Doris Kearns Goodwin before she started writing the book and struggled for well over a decade to bring it to the screen, getting turned down by three studios in the process. And first-time feature filmmaker Benh Zeitlin went against all industry norms to make the unique and hard-to-define Beasts Of The Southern Wild come to life. But no matter who the filmmaker is, the most often-heard mantra is stick to your core beliefs and vision and somehow an Oscar-worthy film can be willed into being. Even James Bond ran into trouble when MGM went bankrupt and a normal 2½-year process turned into twice that for Skyfall, which went on to win five Oscar nominations. It also got recognition as one of the year’s best pictures from the Producers Guild, as well it should, considering what its veteran producers went through to just to make it. Read More »

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OSCARS: Best Original Song Race Handicap

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday February 12, 2013 @ 8:00pm PSTTags: Chasing Ice, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Skyfall, Ted

Anthony D’Alessandro is Managing Editor of AwardsLine.

This year’s crop of contenders—a doc tune, a musical melody, a jazz ditty, and an Indian lullaby—are similar to the genres that the category has recognized in recent years. Pop-radio songs, which arguably have … Read More »

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OSCARS: ‘Life Of Pi’ Production Design

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday February 12, 2013 @ 2:10pm PSTTags: Awardsline, Life of Pi, Oscars

Diane Haithman is an AwardsLine contributor

It was, in the words of production designer David Gropman, “a very large endeavor for a very short moment”. For Ang Lee’s Life Of Pi, designers created a faithful reproduction of the real-life Piscine Molitor in Paris in the 1950s. The set did not get much screen time, but Gropman says Lee insisted that the pool be fully rendered as an important key to the story. Pi was named after the swimming pool (full name Piscine Molitor Patel). Besides explaining Pi’s odd moniker, Gropman says Lee wanted to explain Pi’s ability to master the water and his alarming companion at sea, an adult Bengal tiger. Pi’s father survived polio as a young boy so he could not swim, but “he was happy to see his son be able to, not realizing it would one day save his life”, Gropman says. 1) The scene begins with a closeup of the Piscine Molitor sign. As a youth, Pi adopts the nickname to avoid having fellow students call him “Pissing” instead of Piscine. Read More »

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UPDATE: Rhythm & Hues Confirms Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Filing

By JEN YAMATO | Monday February 11, 2013 @ 1:38pm PSTTags: Life of Pi, Rhythm & Hues

UPDATE, 1:38 PM: Rhythm & Hues confirms Deadline’s original reporting that it will be filing for Chapter 11 tonight. Here’s the statement just released by President of Film Division Lee Berger:

Rhythm & Hues Bankruptcy“Tonight R&H is filing for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and hope to be in front of a Bankruptcy judge in the next couple days. In the meantime, all of our offices remain open, our clients are aware of the process; we have obtained commitments for financing to complete projects in house at the quality level the studios have come to expect. Following the filing, R+H will be seeking to secure financing for future growth. I believe that we are going to come out of this situation stronger, more efficient, and as prolific as we are now.”

PREVIOUSLY, SUNDAY PM: Oscar-nominated, VES-winning and Annie Award-winning animation studio Rhythm & Hues will be formally filing for bankruptcy Monday morning, Deadline has learned. Within hours of winning the BAFTA for Special Visual Effects for Life Of Pi, the financially troubled company informed employees around 9 PM Sunday of the upcoming Chapter 11 filing, insiders say. Many Rhythm & Hues employees were also told by management not to show up to work Monday. On Friday, the company, headquartered in El Segundo, preceded its bankruptcy filing news by announcing to workers that paychecks would be delayed indefinitely. Read More »

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OSCARS: Cinematographers On Creating The Right Imagery

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday February 8, 2013 @ 8:00pm PSTTags: Anna Karenina, Django Unchained, Life of Pi, Lincoln, Skyfall

Thomas J. McLean is an AwardsLine contributor

In a year filled with remarkable imagery, the work of the Oscar-nominated cinematographers stands out as integral to the success of the movies they shot.

The nominees bring broad experience to their films. Seamus … Read More »

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Art Directors Guild Awards: ‘Skyfall’ Best Contemporary Film, Fantasy Film To ‘Life Of Pi’, Period Film ‘Anna Karenina’; Also ‘Game Of Thrones’, ‘American Horror Story: Asylum’, ‘Girls’, 84th Oscars, ‘SNL’

By JEN YAMATO | Saturday February 2, 2013 @ 7:42pm PSTTags: ADG Awards, Anna Karenina, Art Directors Guild, Life of Pi, Skyfall

Art Directors Guild Awards 2013 WinnersSkyfall and James Bond were the big winners tonight as the Art Directors Guild handed out its 17th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards for 2012. Unlike the Academy, the ADG divides production design for film honors into in three distinct categories — Period Film, Fantasy Film, and Contemporary Film — allowing Oscar rivals Anna Karenina and Life Of Pi to both take home top trophies. Meanwhile, Skyfall and its production designer Dennis Gassner took the Contemporary Film honors during the awards Art Directors Guild Awards 2013ceremony at the Beverly Hilton hosted by Paula Poundstone, who kept the stylish below-the-line crowd rolling with trade-oriented zingers throughout the night. (The ADG loves her — it’s Poundstone’s fourth consecutive year doing her outsider stand-up comic routine as emcee.)

Earlier in the evening, the Bond franchise’s production gurus Gassner, Ken Adam, Peter Lamont, and Allan Cameron were honored with the guild’s Cinematic Imagery Award, recognizing the longest-running franchise in film history for its visionary and innovative design. Gassner called the franchise “the greatest privilege of my life and career”. The only person to take the stage twice tonight, he joined the Bond team as production designer on Quantum Of Solace and Skyfall and is working on the next Daniel Craig-starring sequel, Bond 24. “It’s a joy to be able to work with such good people,” he said from the podium after winning the final award of the night, “because it’s such hard work.”

It won’t be the last we hear from Bond this awards season: the Academy plans its own tribute to the franchise, and Adele is singing the Skyfall theme, during the Oscarcast on February 24.

Art Directors Guild Awards 2013In other top honors tonight, production designer Sarah Greenwood staked her claim as the Oscar frontrunner, winning the Period Film prize for Anna Karenina, and David Gropman won the Fantasy Film award for Life Of Pi. Both brought their considerable crews onstage with them. “No designer acts by himself, so I thank my fantastic crew that helped me on this journey”, Gropman said.

Before the show, four-time Oscar nominee Greenwood spoke with Deadline about her ADG and Academy Award nominations for Anna Karenina (she won her first ADG award for 2010′s Sherlock Holmes): “I get more nervous [with each nominated film]. The first time we came out we had no idea what this was all about. You come in like an ingenue and you’re very naive. Now you come out and it’s quite scary, you’ve really got to keep it up. We always said Anna Karenina was a ‘marmite film’ — you either love it or hate it. And the reactions have been quite profound. People either got it, or they haven’t got it, and that’s fine. Joe had a very strong vision for this and we followed it through.”

Awards in nine categories of production design for film, television, commercials and music videos were announced during the evening, which saw Star Trek production designer and art director Herman Zimmerman receive the guild’s Art Directors Guild Awards 2013Lifetime Achievement Award. Family Guy creator (and Oscars 2013 host) Seth MacFarlane spoke of Zimmerman’s Star Trek legacy in a taped video: “Herman Zimmerman deserves a lot of credit that I don’t think he’s ever received for creating what is the most original production design for a spaceship that we’ve ever seen in the modern era of filmmaking.” The guild also enshrined Preston Ames, Richard MacDonald, and Edward S. Stephenson into the Hall Of Fame.

On the TV side, Saturday Night Live and the Academy Awards were repeat winners, while Girls (Judy Becker), Game Of Thrones (Gemma Jackson) and American Horror Story: Asylum (Mark Worthington) also scored. Following is a complete list of winners:

17th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards

Contemporary Film
SKYFALL
Production Designer: Dennis Gassner

Gassner previously won the Oscar for his work on Bugsy the same year he earned an Oscar nomination for Barton Fink. He is a man of few words but has the presence of mind to add a last important thank you before he departs the dais: “Thank you to David Gersh, my agent.”

Fantasy Film
LIFE OF PI
Production Designer: David Gropman

Period Film
ANNA KARENINA
Production Designer: Sarah Greenwood Read More »

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OSCARS: Best Picture Contenders Part 1

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday February 1, 2013 @ 9:00pm PSTTags: Awardsline, Les Miserables, Life of Pi, Lincoln

The first in a three-part series in which AwardsLine breaks down all nine of the best picture contenders.

Lincoln

What the Academy says: 12 nominations (Picture: Kathleen Kennedy, Steven Spielberg; Directing: Steven Spielberg; Lead Actor: Daniel LincolnDay-Lewis; Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones; Supporting Actress: Sally Field; Adapted Screenplay: Tony Kushner; Cinematography: Janusz Kaminski; Original Score: John Williams; Film Editing: Michael Kahn; Production Design: Rick Carter, Jim Erickson; Costume Design: Joanna Johnston; Sound Mixing: Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom, Ronald Judkins)

What the public says: $168.0M domestic boxoffice; $14.5M international (as of Feb. 1)

What Pete Hammond says: From the announcement that Steven Spielberg was going to direct Lincoln, this one had the hallmarks of a film that defines what the Oscars are all about. The fact that it was not an easy road for the iconic director and his screenwriter, Tony Kushner, only adds to the gravitas of the whole project. And with Daniel Day-Lewis scooping up best actor awards left and right—plus a sterling cast of supporting players led by nominees Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field—this one smells like a winner. With a leading Read More »

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