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OSCAR GIVES TO INDIE’S AGAIN

jcc — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 02:19:26 +0000

The clouds rolled in early Oscar Sunday morning in LA, what did this mean for the global awards show?

The numbers tell us this award show has been down with viewers, but the A.M.P.A.S touted a huge “billion” viewers internationally. I’d love to have that many viewers on any one of my productions! So, that wasn’t any concern.

The Red Carpet didn’t disappoint those looking for glamour. With overcast sky’s, colors popped and as most of us know, an overcast sky is a shooters best friend.

But, what really got my attention was that 17 Golden Oscars were presented to Independent films. Yeah, Independents!

Once again, an independent walked away with best picture! “The Artist”, somewhat an abstract film (by MPCI standards), did come through to catch the attention of the Academy voters. This $15 million dollar film was creative enough, to adorn Hollywood’s top honor. Just think if they had $5 million more, they could have added sound and color! (Just joking…I think?).

“The Artist” will make all it’s production money back and make a handsome profit for the investors, it will be remember for the type of film it is and make some unknown actor’s move to the front of the Agent’s casting roasters. Admittedly, I didn’t have it on my winners list. But, I understand the challenges developing movie projects whether it’s in France or in Hollywood. What I really can’t imagine is pitching the story to a studio and telling them the film will be shot in black and white with only two lines spoken. I just can’t image, it’s truly an Independent. Obviously, they got beyond that hurtle and went on to win. Congratulations!

Hugo was another independent film, produced and directed by Marty Scorsese. [I get to call him “Marty” for the abuse I had to take from him when I worked on the remake, “Cape Fear”, but the pay was great.] Hugo was a $170 million production budget experimenting with 3D or stereoscopic cinematography. Although, a few scenes missed the mark, with objects vanishing or becoming transparent in a move, the story was all the things that take an audience into a fantasyland without leaving their seats. The film hasn’t come close to making it’s production budget back, but I’m sure in time, will become a true classic. “Hugo” was on my winners list and I applaud the end results.

Oscar has an interesting taste, a flavor lost by big studio productions. “The Help” was booked at a $25 million budget and grossed some $160 million, although it was produced by Dreamworks and distributed by Disney, not an Independent. Good stories will always be the winner in filmmaking. Everyday I’m working my contacts to raise the funds to produce our good stories, because I believe in magical storytelling.

Making a film at a budget so costly is many times a red flag. I’m waiting to see ‘The Long Ranger”. Disney has agreed to pour a huge amount into a franchise they hope will yield the return (about $215 million plus production budget). The Director wants to have a real train wreck in a scene, with real trains! In a time when computer animation can clone actors on screen and Disney has ownership in PIXAR, go figure. As a Disney stockholder, I hope the film with Johnny Depp isn’t a real train wreck, like the Dreamworks financial blunder “Cowboys and Aliens”!

That’s the difference between an Independent picture and a studio movie. Independents have to have a great story, “bust butt” with limited funds or use new technology to get someone to give it a look. Studios have the stock market to fall back on as they gamble all day long (and they do) on projects they can make into a line item in their portfolios.

Once again, the sun sets on what was once known as the Kodak Theater and this year’s winners and almost winners. Actors have again glorified their standing amongst their peers and agents, while the unions have added to their coffers. The Independent Producer, are at it again, another day of phone calls to investors and believing in a project, getting ready to bring their magic to the screen for your entertainment. And That’s the REEL STORY…!

Andre Norton Broadcast Tribute

jcc — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 16:00:46 +0000

BURBANK, CA: The Motion Picture Company, Inc. is honored to announce its participation in the development of a tribute and biography of famed science fiction and fantasy author Andre Norton.

Sue Stewart, literary executor of the Andre Norton Estate, is collaborating with MPCI to produce an hour-long biographical tribute, profiling the prolific author’s life story.

Norton was the recipient of several respected honors, including being the first woman to win the Gandalf Grand Master of Fantasy Award and the Nebula Grand Master Award for lifetime achievement, the later a title she shared with Isaac Asimov and Ray Bradbury.

In the early 1950s, Norton broke genre gender barriers with her stories only thought appealed to young male readers. She went on to pen The Beast Master, the Witch World series, and more than 130 other novels in 67 languages during her long career. She operated High Hallack, a library for genre writers, in Murfreesboro, TN, as she provided opportunities for new writers and collaborative efforts with her expanding collection of stories.

The documentary-tribute working title: “THE LADY’S QUILL, A TRIBUTE TO ANDRE NORTON” will scan the early days of Alice Norton, as she began writing children’s books, continuing after she changed her name to “Andre” at a publisher’s request to be more marketable with readers in fantasy and science fiction. The broadcast will include sound bites of Andre Norton interviews from friends and other famous authors in the genre, and personal insights of her private life.

MPCI will begin pre-production and development of the documentary with further announcements on March 17, 2011, the six-year anniversary of Norton’s death at age 93. Clips, photos, and interviews of Norton are being cataloged. Many other authors and friends from around the globe will be participating with on-camera comments as they share stories and remembrances of the Lady and her Quill.

Reality Show or Reality Check?

jcc — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:18:29 +0000

Does society need a reality check or another reality show? It seems we continue to reward bad behavior and minimize good. The public is fascinated by other people’s trivial nonsense while television networks along with media outlets are making a fortune. Have we become a boring society? The financial crisis has obvious taken its toll! The media has gone so far out of control citing their rights under the first Amendment or entertainment value to broadcast anything controlling your attention.

Freedom of Speech has become a double edge sword in our country. Do you really think our founding fathers had any idea this Constitutional Amendment would apply to network carnival shows plaguing the daytime and nightly primetime viewing hours? As one constitutional scholar said, “the reason for the first amendment was to protect those who spoke out against the monarchy or government leaders that clearly were not doing the jobs representing the united people…the amendment protects from being hung, shot or imprisoned”. Wow, that concept sure changed.

The FCC, which governs broadcast airwaves, have been a do nothing licensing cash cow for years. They waste time, make lawyers tons of money, keep law students busy and historically side with the big guys on broadcast issues. Now, they’re in the business of WIFI signal and phone company transmission. Let’s go back a few years to the famous Super Bowl “malfunctioning wardrobe” incident. They’re still dealing with that issue, while more boobs, butts and language show up during family viewing hours each season making the ‘malfunction’ trivial.

The new generation of television producers love or think its ‘cute’ to shock the audience…forget creativity or basic morality…lets make it and when “Standards and Practices” receives enough complaints then they call producers on the carpet…the show goes to cable. Networks are in business to make money (I get it). But we’ve taken it a bit too far or have we crossed a line? Competition is a hard pill to swallow when you’re trying to build an audience grabbing your share of advertising dollars. The production attitudes of Hollywood and New York are to splash anything on the screen to see if it sells.

News media outlets have become just short of TMZ, or trash TV tabloids. The staffers (for the most part) are made up of kids out of college who think frat house drinking and partying is great. TMZ legitimizes their news credentials with “we broke the story of Michael Jackson death first”…give me a break. This is pure Hollywood trash.

I don’t understand the fascination surrounding drug attics, fighting on camera and disjointed people. Please understand, I’m not a prude, but the level of this mentality is what seems to be getting the attention of the viewing public.

So you think I’m nuts…well, the couple that ‘crashed’, (but didn’t crash) the White House event received a ‘green light” for their own TV Reality talk show. “Jersey Shores” have a whole new meaning. The Housewife’s in Atlanta, Orange County, New York or wherever else, represents the pure trash with diamonds in our society while most of them are mothers. I don’t get it…you now have to sleep with twelve contestants during a network series to find the person you’re going to marry?

The irony is that these shows get good if not great ratings! What about the Flight Attendant who lost his professionalism, obviously he needs a quick course in anger management, but became an overnight hero! Are we reverting to medieval or Roman times, when do we release the lions or watch blood and guts during dinnertime? Oh excuse me…Starz is airing a blood and guts series, what’s wrong with me?

Reality, is bad enough…just take Washington DC, as politicians position themselves in front of cameras to get that ‘celebrity status’ they seem to want so badly. They seem to vote for what a special interest group promotes even if it’s wrong for the overall. We know these are hard times, maybe we just want to see other peoples misery to make our problems seem smaller.

If we question why our society enjoys all the negatives, maybe because we’ve become out of control or is it because we’re bored, escaping into someone else’s world makes us feel better. Whatever it is, we don’t need another reality show, we just need a major reality check! It’s another part of life’s little things.

Small Business…Not the Backbone!

jcc — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:16:15 +0000

Our government continually makes the statement that Small Business is the backbone of the economy. That sounds great, but in reality…small business is not! The last ones to receive any help is small business.

When the last administration allowed the country to ‘crash and burn’ knowing the economic condition was grossly coming apart, the past President never acknowledged there was a problem. In fact, he said the economy was strong in a speech in May ‘07 .

We as small business had no warning a cliff was dead ahead. So the world economic status came to a screeching halt. As most of us tried to keep our heads above water things didn’t get better. Our government bailed out Wall Street and continued to say small business was the backbone of the countries strength and did nothing to help the little guy.

Readers don’t have to agree with me, but take a trip to Detroit like I recently did and you look at the amount of real estate sitting empty. Old family businesses are closed, dealership after dealerships are vacant properties and major fast food chains have shut down in once thriving strip malls.

Someone asked me how would I define the economic devastation, I said it resembled a financial atomic bomb that ripped through the region. I had a reality check. The government ignored small business and helped Wall Street, Wall Street helped Wall Street and small business was ‘thrown under the train’ and yet Washington continues to say that small business is the backbone of America.

The point is…small business (most likely) is not on Wall Street, so we aren’t the backbone. If we had major investors, we might get some attention. But face the fact’s, we aren’t much to this country any longer. Banks won’t help, government says there is money but you have to do something according to government needs and most of us don’t service the government sector. Most small business must depend on big business, but if big business is focusing on their stockholders payouts, the little guy looses again.

Small business is in real trouble! Please be smart and don’t buy into the politician’s promises. Our “leaders” continue to tell us what we like to hear, not what they can do for us as they’ve demonstrated in the past several months. Congress has been acting like a bad marriage with unclear custody of the kids. I guess for some, it would be easier to go and work for some other company, but they’re not hiring to keep their spreadsheet looking good.

As we strive to maintain our little businesses flowing with some activity, remember who is supporting your efforts…YOU, not Washington, not your congressman, certainly not your banker…YOU!

Being a small business owner takes a special character, a mindset far beyond corporate America’s understanding. We struggle to keep food on our table, we struggle to keep our doors open, we struggle to pay our bills…small business is strength, something Wall Street and our Congressmen have forgotten.

Times will change for the better, I can only hope it is in our favor. Once it does turn around, I can promise small business will remember these days and who was there to help and who forgot about the core sector that once made this country great. This is just another part of Life’s Little Things.

'Tis the Season of Stress

jcc — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:09:52 +0000

Once again, we celebrate the holiday season and a new year. As we’re going about our business figuring out how we’ll pay for everything, one phenomenon stands out…holiday cheer! I not talking about the kind we put in a glass, but the kindness, politeness and forgiving attitude people seem to project.

Holidays are times we take a moment, stopping to reflect on family, friends and those that are no longer with us. These are times some reach deeper into their pockets and give a buck to the bell ringers. The holidays seem to lift our spirits or takes pressure off us even though nothing has really changed.

However, that spirit is very fragile. In a blink of an eye the phone could ring and a bill collector is on the other side demanding money you don’t have or the bank is calling to take your house away or the company you work for is about to chop people off their books to make the bottom line look better to their investors. Depression could set in very quickly.

The good thing…all the above is temporary, although very annoying while you’re going though it. The sun will come up tomorrow and a new day could bring positive change. Slumps are events all of us get to experience, no matter how wealthy you are, what you have or what you do for a living. I look at it as a balance from unseen forces, the stuff to keep us grounded and forcing us to look at all sides of life.

Holidays put an added stress on us, because we have a deadline to meet, a certain day that comes too fast. For those in a bind, the mind plays tricks and you feel placed in a box unable to escape. But…we eventually do! Much of the trick is to keep it these times in our thoughts and never forget the hardship experienced once you emerge from these negative situations.

My mother always told me, when it gets to you and the times are tough, go help someone else, help a mission, call a local group or your church and volunteer. Remember, you always have your talents; you’re good at whatever you do! She would say, “you’ll probably see someone with bigger problems then your’s”. Good advise from a wise woman, I wish she were still around.

The bottom line, don’t beat yourself up if this year you’re going through a rough time. Don’t stress no matter how nasty those bill collectors are. Take a deep breath and know that this is a holiday for reflecting on the good things around you. Keep up the good cheer and raise a glass (even if its just water) knowing “this too will pass”.

Have a Happy Holiday from your friends that understand about “Life’s Little Things”.

DID THIS COUNTRY FORGET WHO’S “GOVERNMENT”?

jcc — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:49:58 +0000

We the people of the United States…. Yes, the Government is an organization formed to represent “WE THE PEOPLE”. Why are they getting in the way of the people with excuses like TERRORISM, BUREAUCRACY, GREED and other cover-ups for inefficiency?

I arrived at my local airport in Burbank, California. The Bob Hope airport is small, but I think easier than going to LAX. I stood in line waiting to clear security and noticed new x-ray machines or scanners. I don’t know how much these two machines cost us the taxpayer, but you can bet it was a chunk.

As I approached I was reminded to take off my sport coat and shoes…the TAS asked me to take off my belt! Wow, what’s next…our clothes? I’m all for security…. but wouldn’t you think technology would be updated with these new machines that see everything? Apparently not, if I go with just my shorts on I’d be arrested for indecent exposure. Now, I see a little more of our freedom being taken away in the name of safety.

If the two agencies during the Bush/Cheney days would have talked to each other rather than playing the ego card, maybe someone would have taken the treat to our safety more seriously. Our slick government spies could have averted one of the most devastating events on American soil in modern history. But no! Lets purchase more machines and have the American public subjected to x-ray vision of their private areas…hey; it’s in the name of safety. But the long antiquated security at airports puts people to work even though some still can’t speak English.

As a resident of California, please let me warn the country that if any politician coming from California wants to sit on a finance committee or work in an agency processing important documents related to the public DON’T LET THEM! Beware! The Golden State increase the cost of car tag fees and can’t even get processing done in 10 days if you mail it in. Yes, it takes these geniuses 4 to 6 weeks to process a car tag. Of course there is no option other than taking public transportation because your vehicle is not registered until they can get off their lazy bureaucratic butts to do a little more work or how about a computer? Oh, don’t forget the state is broke, so they don’t have the staff they once had and they can’t hammer my check in timely manner to get more money into the coffers. God forbid they handle any national issues. Governor Arnold needs to go back the movie set and citizen need to tell the government who really runs the operation…Yes. WE THE PEOPLE.

Law enforcement is getting worst. A higher percentage of mob style cops are in charge of patrolling our streets…or should I say looking for minor offenses to generate tickets, thus paying for their existence. I had my car broken into on my property in my driveway. When I discovered the bad deed I saw my car was unlocked. In my mind, I thought…what was someone doing on my property anyway. I called the Burbank police department on the regular line and told the officer who answered. His comment was “don’t leave your doors unlocked”. I was expecting a kinder comment like “let me take the information and pass it on to that department”. Instead, he lectures me on my failure to lock the doors! Forget about the part that my glove compartment was ripped apart and some invaded my property without permission.

What has become of our protection and wellbeing? We live in a society that preaches protection and responsible government and all we get are x-ray machines that cost billions and do less, a government bureaucracy that can’t even process car tags in a fare amount of time and protection that has become a profit center. Our representative in Washington DC are having a “food fight” while the states are reporting record unemployment and severe economic stress.

Shame on these states, Shame on the bureaucracy that pitches a better way while we all suffer, Shame on the police for not protecting the citizens they rape via tax money and profiteering with the plea that they need more police to save our citizens, Shame on credit card companies that bombarded us with 15 offers a day to borrow money, Shame on the indigent Congressman who belittled the President of the United States and Shame on the jerk that broke into my car.

Wake up good citizens of America, we are being over taken by our own local and state government rookies and we buy into it. Since the economy took a dump, it has opened my eyes to what is really around us…and the sight is more depressing than bankers who received taxpayer money for their bad deeds and endorsed new lending rules. Where has our morality and respect gone? Maybe, Shame on us for allowing these bullies to take control or Shame on us for not standing up to the carefully drafted words of our forefathers…WE THE PEOPLE OF THE UNITED STATES!

Health Care Scams…Little Things Do Count

jcc — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 17:55:48 +0000

For years we’ve felt escalating health costs. 57% of American’s pay monthly payments to insurance companies with hope, should something serious happen insurance would protect them.

The horror remains, confusing contracts and legal meanings put in a paragraph buried deep in paperwork often shattered the security we’d hope for when purchasing a health plan. Its only human to get sick and profit minded investments prey on that concept. A statistic released claimed heart surgeons make on average, $665,000.00 annually with a newer general family doctor bringing in $165,000.00 per year. Both aren’t bad livings considering they’ve paid or borrowed a good amount for their education.

Like most of us, we want to make as much money as we need. All are threatened by these costs without much control. Let’s create an example: Something happens to you, 911 is called, that cost at least $350.00 for EMS team, if fire equipment arrives (which I never understood) it costs you more…before getting to the hospital we’ve racked up $ 1,200.00. Now we’re admitted into a hospital emergency unit, cost is really being racked up…add another $5,000.00 to the bill. As doctors begin to figure out your problem, they send you for an MRI, CT, x-rays and the bill keeps mounting. You seem OK, but they want to “observe” you for 24 hours at a room rate of $800.00 per night! You get out of the hospital 30 hours later and your bill is easily $25,000.00 or more. I know what you’re thinking…you can’t put a price on life! True, you know that and the medical industry clearly preys on that concept…and out come the fangs. Hospitals are so worried you may sue them, they put you through everything on your dime. Maybe, Universities should put out better doctors.

I first thought maybe I’m being unfair, so I went beyond the obvious. I took a closer look at the little things and was shocked to find out the inflation rate of medical supplies are outrageous. My research began while sitting in a waiting room with a fracture knee. The doctor saw me and set up an MRI to verify it indeed was a fractured. He prescribed a heavy dose of Ibuprofen and a knee brace. My bill was around $3,000.00, which was paid by my insurance minus my co-pay.

About two weeks later, I received a $129.00 invoice for the knee brace. I looked over the bill and realized my insurance was billed $750.00 and my co-pay equaled the amount reflected on the invoice. Now, aside of malpractice lawsuits, other costs of doing business a doctor pays out, things like a knee brace should be part of the deal. But in my case, the knee brace was an excessive cost. The apparatus was worth no more than my co-pay, yet, the cost was inflated 2000% which led me to understand another ridiculous charge going unnoticed in the battle against health care inflation. For a roll of tape which only 12 inches was used, I was charged $25.00. Now this is absurd and abusive.

When these little costs are adjusted to a fair market price, the bite of high profit charges could substantially reduce health care costs. Everyone says we don’t want government to get involved in business, but when the “fox watches the hen house” this is what we get. The same thing happened in the banking business, which continues to cripple the country. Of course, these thieves don’t want anyone looking over their shoulders, but get with the program you’re ‘crooks’. This sounds like Nixon all over again…”I’m Not A Crook” but when history revealed itself, he did some very shady things!

When will the American public wake up? They claim to care but allow these improprieties to continue year-after-year! Wake up, smell the roses and when they’re sour cut them off so a new one will grow. I’m not against profit, but when it’s absurd and impacts our country as a whole damaging the public, I want the government to stop the thievery. On a local scale, police will stop you if you look cross at them, but big business gets away with unthinkable actions as we sit and take it. I’m amazed that the majority of Americans are so uniformed about what is going on in our own communities, allowing these acts of bad business practices to continue. I guess, that’s just another trait of Life’s Little Things.