Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world. It was once so rich that Concorde used to fly from Caracas to Paris. But in the last three years its economy has collapsed. Hunger has gripped the nation for years. Now, it’s killing people and animals that are dying of starvation. The Venezuelan government knows, but won’t admit it!!! Four in five Venezuelans live in poverty. People queue for hours to buy food. Much of the time they go without. People are also dying from a lack of medicines. Inflation is at 82,766% and there are warnings it could exceed one million per cent by the end of this year. Venezuelans are trying to get out. The UN says 2.3 million people have fled the country - 7% of the population.

Friday, September 9, 2011

Indie Filmmakers Are Now Soliciting Fans For Funding Online...

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When backing dollars fail, small-budget moviemakers are starting to turn to crowd-funding for help, but can the strategy go mainstream? Award-winning documentary director Jennifer Fox had just wrapped production on her new film, My Reincarnation, when she got one of those 'bad news' calls. 'One of our backers suddenly couldn't come through with their commitment,' she recalls. 'Our film was finished, about to go out to festivals, and suddenly we had a $100,000 hole.'...
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Toronto 2011: IM Global and Penny Black Team on New Financing Fund

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Joint venture will focus on developing entertainment properties that have the potential for success in multiple media formats. Powerhouse sales and financing company IM Global and New York-based investment firm Penny Black are teaming on The 1840 Fund, which will focus on developing entertainment properties that can play across multiple media platforms, whether movies, live events or digital media. The combination of IM Global's eye for commercially viable content...
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Call your CA State Senator to PASS AB 1069 - Film tax incentives bill

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<<<< whether you work on commercials (where we don't get tax incentives in CA), or other film mediums such as movies, where they do get tax incentives in this state... this is still a fight to keep jobs in California.. . please put the word out to your production families to support this: This is an update on the status of AB 1069 -- the bill to extend incentives for film and television production in California. Last week, the bill was passed out of the...
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Toronto 2011: Canadian and European Producers Chase Buyers at Film Market

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As Hollywood stars strut the red carpet in Toronto, local and foreign producers will be active behind velvet ropes beating the ferns for film buyers. TORONTO -- Like paparazzi with their "Hey guys! Over here! Over here!" calls this week at the Toronto International Film Festival, Canadian and international producers will be battling for attention in Toronto amid the Hollywood glare. •Toronto International Fil... Cedric Jeanson of New York-based Filmbox, which is selling...
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Hollywood Pushes California Legislature For Filming Incentive Extension..

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Lobbyists, including the Motion Picture Association of America, look to extend a $500-million tax credit to keep TV and film production in the state. A coalition of Hollywood unions, moguls and lobbying groups are pushing the California state legislature to extend a five-year, $500-million tax credit to promote filming of TV shows and movies in the state. But the measure is getting push-back from some who feel the benefit to the entertainment industry is coming at the...
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Sony 4K Camera To Ship in January, Starting at $65,000...

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On the outskirts of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, a 75-acre former communist-era studio will soon draw a contingent of Hollywood heavies including Sylvester Stallone, Mickey Rourke, Bruce Willis and former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. The testosterone-heavy ensemble will gather at Nu Boyana Film Studios on Sept. 19 to begin filming the second installment of "The Expendables," the hit movie about an elite group of mercenaries that garnered $275 million at...
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Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) Sets Up IFTA London...

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Jim Sheridan, Ken Loach and Dearbhla Walsh attend soiree to herald fresh networking opportunities. Comcast, NBC Uni sign deal with IFTA The Irish Film & Television Academy (IFTA) is setting up IFTA London, aiming to birth a creative network between the Irish and U.K. film and television industries. STORY: IFTA Unveils Production Conference Theme, Lineup And to launch the fresh network, the Irish did what they do best: IFTA hosted an evening reception at the British...
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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Migraines: Myth Vs. Reality

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Migraines: Myth Vs. Reality An Understanding of Migraine Disease & Tips for Migraine Management Michael John Coleman and Terri Miller Burchfield of M.A.G.N.U.M. "One pill makes you larger, and one pill makes you small and the ones that mother gives you, don't do anything at all," words the Cheshire-Cat could have uttered, but they came to us from Grace Slick in her iconoclastic lyrical interpretation of 'Alice In Wonderland'. Over a hundred years ago a fine...
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Monday, September 5, 2011

Hollywood lobbies to extend tax credit for California filming

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Hollywood moguls and unions ask California Legislature to extend a $500-million tax credit for film and television show productions in the state. Hollywood is lobbying the California Legislature to grant a five-year extension of tax credits that the industry maintains are necessary to keep jobs in the state. (Ann Johansson / For The Times / February 11, 2010) By Nicholas Riccardi and Richard Verrier, Los Angeles Times September 4, 2011, 7:25 p.m. Hollywood wants a...
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The Devil and Demian Bichir

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By ALEX KUCZYNSKI You can learn a lot about a man by the way he disembowels an avocado. Demian Bichir, the Mexican film star, stood in my kitchen at lunchtime testing the pile of avocados on the counter. He wanted to make guacamole the way he used to as a busboy at Rosa Mexicano in the 1980s, during his first sustained lap as an actor in the United States. Instead of a contrived lunch date at a restaurant, digital recorders whirring, he decided to come over to my...
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Summer Blockbusted 2011: Studios Still Sinking Too Much into Sequels...

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Summer Blockbusted 2011: Studios Still Sinking Too Much into Sequels By: Simon Brookfield | 08.31.11 (10:28 AM) | (27) Comments So how does this "toss money at the problem" phenomenon stack up to last year? Back on an eve of August in 2010, as the summer movie season was nearing its annual stage of hibernation, I felt a burning necessity – more than any year before – to delve deep into the often perplexing machine that is Hollywood and why, perpetually, they expect...
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Hulu to Launch in Japan...

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UPDATED: Content deal includes "CSI" franchise and marks the streaming firm's first overseas expansion. TOKYO – Hulu will launch its first international operations with a subscription service in Japan, offering streaming of CBS shows, such as CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI Miami, CSINY, NICS and 90210, under a content deal with CBS Corp.. 'Modern Family' creator: Why I took on Hulu Analyst: Selling Hulu Would Be `a Mistake of Epic Proportions' for Entertainment...
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