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.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Nearly 40 films sold at Toronto...

Nearly 40 films sold at Toronto
Robust tally, announced day before fest ends, includes 29 sales to U.S. distribs

Nearly 40 films have been sold at the Toronto International Film Festival, including 29 to U.S. distributors.
The festival made the announcement Saturday, the day before the event closes.

"We're pleased that the Festival continues to provide opportunities for buyers to see films in a strong environment which facilitates film sales," said Justin Cutler, senior manager of TIFF's sales and industry office. "It had been a particularly robust year for sales and we're happy that the Festival's official selection will reach film lovers across the world."

Focus Features' acquisition of cop thriller "The Place Beyond the Pines" on Sept. 8 has been the largest deal so far at an estimated $3 million for U.S. distribution rights. That deal appeared to lead to other acquisitions closing in the subsequent week.

Lionsgate and its partner Roadside Attractions have been the biggest buyers, snapping up U.S. right to historical drama "Emperor" on Friday night to go along with four other acquistions -- Sarah Polley's doc ''Stories We Tell,'' Joss Whedon's ''Much Ado About Nothing,'' Stuart Blumberg's ''Thanks for Sharing,'' and Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman's ''Imogene.''

IFC picked up a quartet of projects -- Neil Jordan's vampire thriller "Byzantium," Mira Nair's "The Reluctant Fundamentalist" and Noah Baumbach's "Frances Ha" and Jamie Babbit's thriller "Breaking the Girls."

Millennium Entertainment acquired U.S. rights on two high-profile films: Josh Boone's comedy-drama "Writers" and Julianne Moore-Alexander Skarsgard starrer "What Maisie Knew." Buyers for significant titles have included Anchor Bay ("Jayne Mansfield's Car"), newly launched Outsource Media Group ("Great Expectations") and 108 Media/Paladin ("The We and I").

HBO Films also snapped up the U.S. television rights on a pair of feature docs -- Liz Garbus' Marilyn Monroe vehicle "Love, Marilyn," beating out bids from Sony Pictures Classics, IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures; and Tom Donahue's casting directors project "Casting By."

Late acquistions closing Friday included Samuel Goldwyn Films' buying Michael McGowan's romancer "Still," starring James Cromwell and Genevieve Bujold; Magnolia Pictures' snagging North American rights to Ramaa Mosley's fantasy-satire "The Brass Teapot"; and Cinedigm buying horror project "Come Out and Play."

Strand, which specializes in foreign titles, bought three films for U.S. distribution -- Pablo Trapero's "White Elephant," "In the Fog" and the "Paradise" trilogy.

Tribeca Films acquired "How to Make Money Selling Drugs" and "Fitzgerald Family Christmas," and MPI Pictures bought U.S. rights to "Therese Desqueyroux," the final film of French director Claude Miller and the closing night film at Cannes this year.

Two days before Toronto started, one of the more intriguing purchases went through, when Annapurna Pictures bought the U.S. distribution rights to Harmony Korine's "Spring Breakers," starring James Franco - even though Annapurna does not yet have a distribution arm.

Some of the unsold titles include Terrence Malick's "To the Wonder," Rola Nashef's "Detroit Unleaded," Deepa Mehta's "Midnight's Children," Sally Potter's "Ginger & Rosa" and Ariel Vromen's "The Iceman."

The festival accredited 4,280 industry delegates, up 9% growth over 2011 and representing 2,563 companies from 81 countries (up from 77 in 2011). TIFF said attendance from Asia increased by 40% from Japan, China, India and South Korea.

"With the Festival's inaugural Asian Film Summit and Mumbai as the focus of the City to City programme, our goal was to attract more interest from delegates in Asia this year and we're very happy with the results," said TIFF artistic director Cameron Bailey.

Sales to international markets included "7 Boxes," "Come Out and Play," "The Deep," "The Deflowering of Eva Van End," "The Fifth Season," "A Hijacking," "Lore," "Out of the Dark," "Reality," "Something in the Air" and "Stories We Tell."

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Toronto 2012: Robust U.S. Film Sales Reported as Fest Draws to a Close...

TIFF organizers point to 29 indie titles finding U.S. distribution this year as acquisition titles like "Place Beyond the Pines," "Imogene" and "What Maisie Knew" secured buyers.

High-profile deals during the Toronto International Film Festival had organizers on Saturday touting a robust film market this year.

In all, TIFF reported that 29 of its film titles sold into the U.S. market.
That included The Place Beyond the Pines selling to Focus Features, Millenium Entertainment grabbing Writers and Julianne Moore's What Maisie Knew, and Samuel Goldwyn taking the James Cromwell-starrer Still.

STORY: Toronto 2012: THR Celebrates Film at Cocktail Party

Also selling at Toronto's unofficial film market is Thanks for Sharing, Imogene, the historical epic Emperor and Much Ado About Nothing going to Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions, Dangerous Liaisons landing with Well Go U.S.A., Roadside Attractions taking Stories We Tell for itself, and The End of Time going to First Run Features.

Harmony Korine's Spring Breakers, which bowed in Venice before screening in Toronto, went to Annapurna, and IFC Films busily picked up Neil Jordan's vampire pic Byzantium, Something in the Air and Mira Nair's The Reluctant Fundamentalist for North America.

Other Toronto titles nabbing U.S. distribution included the North American rights to The Brass Teapot going to Magnolia, Magnet taking John Dies at the End, and Love, Marilyn going to HBO Doc Films.
PHOTOS: Toronto 2012: Inside THR's Video Diary Featuring the Festival's Leading Talent
In all, 40 TIFF titles this year sold internationally, and more agreements are expected in the lead-up to AFM, as Toronto fest organizers touted the gains of its film market over the last nine days leading up to Sunday, when the festival wraps its 37th edition.

"It's been a particularly robust year for sales and we're happy that the festival's official selection will reach film lovers across the world," Justin Cutler, senior manager of TIFF's sales and industry office, reported Saturday.

Toronto will next hand out its audience and jury awards on Sunday afternoon.

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Tax incentives face scrutiny...

Tax incentives face scrutiny
Breaks to be extended, but climate cools
By TED JOHNSON

As California Gov. Jerry Brown grapples with a beleaguered California budget, he is still expected to extend the state's production incentives.

Production tax breaks, which have bloomed across the country over the past decade, have shown surprising resiliency in the face of state budget cuts. In California, which some observers says is on the brink of bankruptcy, Gov. Jerry Brown is set to extend the state's $200 million in production tax incentives.

But the question is, what happens next? This year's presidential campaign has been tinged with talk of tax reform and, if there is a genuine drive in this direction on the part of Washington as it grapples with the so-called "fiscal cliff" later this year, it is not too much of a stretch to think that talk of reform could extend to other levels of government, including the 38 states that have some form of production sweeteners.

Pressuring states against further incentives are two orgs on opposite ends of the spectrum, the left-leaning Center on Budget & Policy Priorities and the right-leaning Tax Foundation, which have for several years challenged the benefits as little more than giveaways that don't return lasting jobs.

"When it comes to film credits, it is better to receive than to give," says Jon Shure, director of state fiscal strategies for the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

The MPAA, meanwhile, has countered with its own reports and research, and characterizes the tax orgs' premises as misleading. It points to states like Michigan, which, after having scaled back its incentives significantly, restored $25 million to the program for fiscal year 2013. Even in Iowa, where a criminal investigation surrounding abuses of incentives ensued, there is some talk of re-starting a program in limited form.

Incentive programs grew over the past decade, often because states without tax credits feared that they would lose out on productions.

Yet some of the strongest advocates of credits say that more state film offices face a growing burden of transparency -- to show where jobs are being created, or whether money is being spent in-state, as a way of ensuring that the benefits aren't being enjoyed elsewhere.

Earlier this year, Ernst & Young released a study commissioned by the MPAA that was, not surprisingly, generally supportive of the idea of incentives. But it also cautioned that programs shouldn't be measured just by how much state and local government coffers recoup, but rather via a host of other factors that boost the private sector.

The Ernst & Young research states: "If a film is successful in generating tourism, the economic and fiscal impacts can be substantial. For example, if a successful $10 million film production induces 100,000 visitors to a state over several years, these visitors would spendmately $34 million during their visits on lodging, meals, entertainment and other purchases. In a typical state, this spending would create 310 direct and indirect jobs and $1.2 million of additional state and local taxes."

The tax orgs question the assumptions of a ripple effect from Hollywood production. But no matter whose statistics are more correct, it's hard to imagine that more indiscretions like the one in Iowa, in which production money ended up helping to buy a filmmaker's Land Rover, will be tolerated at a time when the issue of fiscal reform may soon hit the front burner.

MTV's "Jersey Shore" once again put New Jersey on the map, but last year, Gov. Chris Christie blocked nearly a half-million dollars in production tax credits, perhaps seeing the political danger of the words "Snooki" and "snookered" in the same headline.

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Italian Cinema Industry Questions Need for Competitions After Venice ...

Italian insiders also wondered why Italian productions do well in Cannes and Berlin, but not in Venice.

ROME – Nearly a week after scandal erupted at the Venice Film Festival after it was revealed that the international jury was prohibited from awarding the festival's top prize to the film they thought was best, Italian industry figures are still discussing the bewildering developments.
O
Italy's President Calls Marco Bellocchio to Praise 'Dormant Beauty' After Venice Snub
The entertainment pages of Italian newspapers have been filled all week with discussions of the 69-year-old festival's conclusion, which also included criticisms for the relative lack of hardware for home-grown Italian productions, including the critically acclaimed Bella Adormentata (Dormant Beauty), a powerful euthanasia drama from Marco Bellocchio. The film was considered a contender for a major prize, but it went home almost empty handed.

The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson's fictional account of the forming of a new Scientology-like religion, wowed the jury so much that they wanted to give it the prize for Best Film, Best Director, and for Best Actor to co-protagonists Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman. Prohibited from giving all those prizes to The Master, the jury elected instead to give the Golden Lion to Kim Ki-duc's provocative mother-son drama Pieta.

Much of the discussion about Venice's end game centered around the value of having a competition at film festivals, noting that the Toronto Film Festival, which runs through Sunday, has no official competition.

"A competition makes sense for a sporting event, where everyone runs 100 meters and you see who is fastest," said Pascal Vicedomini, the founder of film festivals on the islands of Ischia and Capri, off the coast of Naples -- neither of which has a competitive section. "For festivals it makes a lot less sense. How many times have we seen a disconnect between what plays best with the audience and the film the jury selects?"

Film director Gianni Amelio, now artistic director at the Turin Film Festival, which does include competitive sections, was the last Italian to win Venice's top prize, with his film Cosi redevano (The Way We Laughed) in 1998. But even he is not convinced competitive sections are a good idea.
"The only way it makes sense for a film is if the film is released a short time later," he said. "Otherwise, the prize doesn't help the film and by the time the film is released it's forgotten that it won the prize."
Sebastian Oliveras, a commentator, said: "There are more festival prizes than there are great films each year. You do the math."

Despite those discussions, most of the ink on Venice was about the lack of prizes for Bellocchio's Bella Adormentata and other Italian films that screened on the Lido.

Stefano Rulli, an Italian screenwriter and director said, "When Italian films go to Cannes or Berlin, they are treated with the upmost respect, but in Venice this does not happen."
Francesco Giro, a former Italian Minister of Culture, agreed.

"The flop of Italian cinema in Venice cannot be without consequences," Giro said. "We need to open a serious debate on this failure. :It is not credible that we win at Cannes and Berlin and at Venice we are ridiculed and censored.

Riccardo Tozzi, a producer and the president of the Italian audiovisual organization ANICA, said the trend was bad for both Venice and for Italian cinema.

"At this rate, the Lido is going to become a very difficult place for Italian cinema," he said. "Today it is very difficult to make a serious film, and if they aren't supported by festivals the situation becomes deadly."

For his part, Bellocchio said he had a solution. After this year's experiences, the director said he would never again bring one of his films to the festival in Venice.

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Marijuana And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers

20 years of research to figure this out

"We started by researching breast cancer," said Desprez. "But now we've found that Cannabidiol works with many kinds of aggressive cancers--brain, prostate--any kind in which these high levels of ID-1 are present."

Marijuana And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers

A pair of scientists at California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco has found that a compound derived from marijuana could stop metastasis in many kinds of aggressive cancer, potentially altering the fatality of the disease forever.

"It took us about 20 years of research to figure this out, but we are very excited," said Pierre Desprez, one of the scientists behind the discovery, to The Huffington Post. "We want to get started with trials as soon as possible."

THC selectively targets and destroys tumor cells while leaving healthy cells unscathed. Conventional chemotherapy drugs, by contrast, are highly toxic; they indiscriminately damage the brain and body.

"We used injections in the animal testing and are also testing pills," he said. "But you could never get enough Cannabidiol for it to be effective just from smoking."

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MAKE HISTORY~SUPPORT Chez Chicas non-profit

MAKE HISTORY~SUPPORT Chez Chicas non-profit,1st French HEALING Restaurant w/ Med #Marijuana in L.A. Food that Heals! http://www.indiegogo.com/chezchicas
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Argentine Gov't Boosts Film Sector to Industry Standards...

President Kirchner announced the creation of an Audiovisual Pole in Buenos Aires and raised the fund limit for local productions.

BUENOS AIRES – Argentine President Cristina Kirchner signed yesterday a series of decrees that categorizes the audiovisual sector as a "cultural industry", an old demand from the film sector which can now benefit from industry legislation and tax regulations.

Taviani Brothers To be Presented With 2012 Nastro d'Argento Prize

"Audiovisual contents must be regarded as one of the country's main industries, because they also transmit Argentine culture and values", said Kirchner in her speech at the Bicentennial Museum in Buenos Aires. "We pass on culture, ideals, and values through our artists, directors, and film crews".
Kirchner, who pointed out Argentina is "the fourth largest exporter of audiovisual contents and formats in the world," also announced the creation of a hub for audiovisual development in Demarchi Island, a vacant 400,000 sq ft industrial borough located by the shore of the Rio de la Plata in Buenos Aires. The initial plan contemplates a 5 million pesos ($1.08 million) investment and a tender to have urban developers rebuilding the area, in order to enable the relocation of studios, sound stages, production companies, film training institutions, and theaters.

According to the President, the ANSES (Social Security Administration Agency) will be in charge of managing the process. The public tender will be put out in 30 days, and the development of the "Audiovisual Pole" will be carried out by a mixed venture between ANSES, the Secretary of Communications, and private real estate capitals.

The second decree signed by Kirchner raises the limit of state funding to local big-budget productions from 3.5 to 5.5 million pesos (USD 1.2 M), a move that aims to "ensure that Argentine film productions are able to compete in the local market and project themselves abroad". The funds are aimed to films selected by Argentina's Film Institute that have a theatrical commercial release.

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Chez Chicas Restaurant: anti-migraine & marijuana-infused dishes

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U.K. Freesat TV Venture to Offer Paid-For Content

The satellite TV venture of the BBC and ITV is launching a VOD service called Free Time.

LONDON - Freesat, the U.K. satellite TV joint venture of the BBC and commercial broadcaster ITV, said Tuesday that it will launch a VOD service called Free Time and is looking to add paid-for film, TV and music content offers from partners yet to be announced.

Netflix, Amazon.com's LoveFilm, Vevo and BSkyB's Now TV are possible partners for those offers.
On-demand TV programming via the BBC iPlayer and the ITV Player is coming to the service and will be followed by on-demand content from Channel 4 and Channel 5. Users will be able to scroll through the electronic programming guide to watch past shows up to eight days after they aired.

The service will be available via a new set top box, which will cost £279 ($443) and be available later this month.

"TV is a simple pleasure that technology can make even better, not more complicated," said Emma Scott, managing director of Freesat. "We want to help viewers find something great to watch the minute they sit down, so they can spend less time searching and more time watching the TV they love."

Freesat was launched in 2008 as a free-to-air offer to rival pay TV giant BSkyB, in which Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. owns a 39 percent stake. Freesat currently has signed 2.6 million customers.

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8K Ultra High Def TV Format Opens Options for TV Viewing...

With UHDTV standards in place, broadcasters are getting ready to tackle new challenges.

The administrations of the International Telecommunication Union recently agreed on two levels of Ultra High Definition Television (UHDTV), making it officially a worldwide standard. This means more consumer options are on the horizon—and a lot more work needs to be done in the broadcast world should it choose to pursue this new TV system.

London 2012: Experimental 8K Television System Set to Debut

NHK Research Arm To Be Honored by Broadcasters
Adoption of a new standard means that UHDTV overcame a key hurdle, yet it's just one step in a lengthy and complex process when it comes to changing a television system—just consider the challenges of the transition from standard definition to HDTV.

STORY: London 2012: Experimental 8K Television System Set to Debut

With the recent decision, technology manufacturers can now "go ahead and make equipment knowing the standards debate is over," said the European Broadcasting Union's technical deputy director David Wood, who chairs the ITU working group that drafted the UHDTV recommendation.

There are two "levels" of UHDTV, and while they are not resolution-specific, you could effectively think of level one as one that supports 4K, the resolution that digital cinema is currently moving towards; and level 2, which effectively supports 8K resolution, or 16 times more picture information than HD.

For level one, some 4K displays from leading set manufacturers have already been unveiled, as well as some 4K production technology including Sony's F65 4K digital cinematography camera.

STORY: 8K Ultra High Def TV Format Developed by Japan's NHK set to be Next Global Standard

The majority of attention on level two is coming from Japanese public broadcaster NHK, which is developing a level two-ready 8K UHDTV system called Super Hi-Vision.

NHK, BBC and Olympic Broadcast Services teamed up for a test and demonstration of Super Hi-Vision during the recent London Olympics. NHK hopes to start test broadcasts of Super Hi-Vision in Japan by 2020.

Broadcasting level one would be easier than level two because the required bit rate is much lower. Wood reported that Korea has plans in place to begin test broadcasts of level one next year. Still, he cautioned that change will not be overnight.

Consumers of course have a growing number of content delivery options, and Wood told The Hollywood Reporter that he views "availability of suitable displays [and] when will they create public demand" as a "critical factor" to when a potential transition might begin to occur.

He also noted that a tough decision would be whether broadcasters would look to start a transition with level one or move immediately to adopt level two. Wood told THR that many broadcasters view the move from HD to 8K as perhaps too great and thinks it is prudent to start with 4K. But NHK, he related, doesn't see an advantage in shifting to 4K and then making a second jump to 8K.

The ramifications of the UHDTV decision will be addressed next month at the IBC (International Broadcasting Convention), Sept. 6-11 in Amsterdam. Also during IBC, NHK's research arm will be presented the IBC's highest recognition, the International Honor for Excellence.

UHDTV will also be discussed in Hollywood during the upcoming Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers annual conference. During the event, slated from October 22-25, NHK researchers are scheduled to present an update on their developing Super Hi-Vision system.

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Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Ac

The movie vet talks to THR about nabbing "Looper," leaving Sony and the future for upstart film labels.

This story first appeared in the Sept. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.

Known in the film world as a sharp and savvy consigliere, Peter Schlessel spent 21 years at Sony -- including a stint as president of Columbia Pictures -- before leaving in 2010 to launch FilmDistrict, the domestic distribution company backed by financier-producer Graham King and oil billionaire Tim Headington. Schlessel, who discovered and acquired rights to a string of hits including District 9 while at Sony, continued his winning streak with the low-budget horror pic Insidious, the inspirational Soul Surfer and the Ryan Gosling vehicle Drive. But FilmDistrict hit a speed bump in fall 2011, when experienced execs Bob and Jeanne Berney exited. In an Aug. 27 interview in his Santa Monica office -- bursting with sports, movie and music memorabilia, along with pictures of daughters Stevie, 18, and Sammy, 16 -- the energetic executive discussed how the company has bounced back, growing from a staff of seven to more than 40, including newly installed marketing president Christine Birch. A key milestone for FilmDistrict comes Sept. 6 when Looper, a sci-fi thriller starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis, opens the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Hollywood Reporter: How did you acquire distribution rights to Looper, which you are releasing with TriStar/Sony?

Peter Schlessel: I'd started chasing the script during the early days of FilmDistrict. I love sci-fi movies, and this one had so many layers and the story had such great characters, but what really sold it was meeting with [director] Rian Johnson (Brick) and hearing his vision. I told Jim Stern, a friend who produced and financed the movie through his Endgame Entertainment, that he had to sell me this movie, and I slipped the script to Marc Weinstock [Sony's president of worldwide marketing].

THR: How important has Toronto become in terms of launching a fall film?

Schlessel: It's more important than both Telluride and Venice in terms of the North American market. That's not to take away from either, but more people pay attention to what happens in Toronto, both for awards movies and for films opening in September and October. Look at what happened last year with The Descendants. The drumbeat started at Toronto.

THR: Will you bid on any movies during the festival?

Schlessel: We have no space the rest of this year, but we have room next year. Toronto is my favorite acquisitions market for different reasons. It has bigger available movies -- our focus. We found Insidious there in 2010, when it played in the Midnight Madness section. We made our offer at 2 a.m. after the screening and closed the deal at 4:30 a.m.

THR: What does the near future look like for companies like yours as the major studios cut back on the number of films they make?

Schlessel: I don't know if studios have ceded any ground, but clearly they are concentrating on bigger tentpoles. It was clear to me watching what was happening in the marketplace that theater owners wanted more movies. And with all the new equity money coming into Hollywood, I realized you could run a smart business and figure out how to get these movies to the marketplace in a cost-effective way.

STORY: Toronto 2012: The A-List With Films For Sale

THR: Why did you decide to pick up MGM's Red Dawn remake after many of your competitors passed?

Schlessel: I wrote a memo to myself two years ago after I saw an early version saying the movie was good but the cast wasn't known. Then I saw the movie six or seven months later, and all of a sudden the cast was great, between Chris Hemsworth of Thor and Josh Hutcherson of The Hunger Games. It was like buying a good bottle of cabernet and letting it sit on the shelf.
THR: Will there be some heat because MGM changed the villains from the Chinese to the North Koreans?

Schlessel: No, but I think people will talk about it. It's a villain who people won't disagree is a villain.
THR: Why did you decide to leave the protection of a Hollywood studio for a more risky upstart?
Schlessel: I didn't look at it that way. It was time to take the next step. There wasn't room to create my own label, and my personal satisfaction had plateaued. I thought long and hard and had a lot of dinners with Amy [Pascal]. If ever I was going to leave, this was the time. To stay would have felt like a capitulation.

STORY: Toronto 2012: The New Hotspots In Town

IN THE OFFICE

While still heading Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions, the exec snapped up U.S. rights to District 9, a tiny South African film that went on to gross north of $115 million in North America, one of the most profitable movies of 2009.

The piece hanging behind Schlessel's desk in his Santa Monica office is from pop illustrator Burton Morris, who designed the poster for the 76th annual Academy Awards.

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Hungarian Film Fund Obtains Production Assets...

Headed by Andrew G. Vajna, the organization plans to turn them into profitable operations.

MOSCOW – The Hungarian National Film Fund, headed by Andrew G. Vajna, is obtaining film industry assets as part of a debt settlement with the Hungarian Motion Picture Public Foundation (MMKA), its predecessor as the country's main film body, and plans to turn them into profitable operations.

A Budapest court has approved an agreement between the National Film Fund and MMKA, under which the fund is taking over MMKA's previously accumulated outstanding debt of 6.3 billion Hungarian forints ($27.7 billion). In exchange the National Film Fund is acquiring two companies, Mafilm Zrt. and Magyar Filmlaboratórium Kft.

"Those are a studio and a laboratory," Vajna told The Hollywood Reporter. "They are in pretty bad condition and are losing a lot of money per annum."

"We are trying to revitalize them to make sure they are used to support Hungarian movies of the future," he went on to say.

According to Vajna, he hopes to cut the two companies' losses to zero by the end of this year and make them profitable in 2013.

"Whatever profits these companies would make, they would go support the Hungarian film industry," he concluded. "In other words, they will be spent on making movies."

Hungarian-born Vajna spent almost two decades as a producer in Hollywood, with his credits including Terminator, Basic Instinct and Rambo. He was appointed the government commissioner in charge of renewing the Hungarian film industry last year. The National Film Fund was founded in May 2011 and began operation later that year.

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Toronto 2012: The Film Collaborative Launches Legal Services Initiative...

Law firm of Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson is spearheading the program, availing itself for a flat fee rather than billing by the hour.'

Toronto 2012: 108 Media Picks Up International Rights to 'RastaFEARian,' Starring Christian Slater
Dubbed TFC Legal, the initiative will offer business affairs and legal contract expertise to filmmakers looking to hammer out distribution deals.

The Los Angeles- and New York-based law firm of Abrams Garfinkel Margolis Bergson is spearheading the program for TFC Legal, which will offer legal services for a flat fee rather than billing by the hour.

"The key to this initiative is that it is only focused on distribution agreements, our specialty and the focus of our mission," said Orly Ravid, founder and co-executive director of the nonprofit. "This new service pairs our expertise in distribution, particularly digital distribution, with AGMB's extensive experience in entertainment law, in order to achieve the best results for TFC clients."
Ravid stressed that because digital distribution has become the new paradigm, filmmakers need to be aware of all their rights as well as new licensing issues.

"Rather than filmmakers signing distribution agreements where the terms are not clearly defined, which can be the case with digital rights in particular, TFC Legal will advise on exactly which rights are being granted to the distributor and for which platforms, without taking control of the filmmaker/content creator's rights, as traditional sales agencies do," said Sheri Candler, director of digital marketing strategy. "This allows us to put the filmmaker's interests first and allows them to work with us instead of being locked into a sales agency agreement."

Since TFC's inception in 2010, it has offered resources and services to independent filmmakers, including film festival distribution, marketing and publicity strategy and implementation, theatrical releasing, digital distribution aggregation and foreign sales negotiation. The nonprofit has provided its services for more than 150 independent films, including Kirby Dick's The Invisible War, Andrew Haigh's Weekend and Musa Sayeed's Valley of Saints.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

How to Shoot a Project in Canada...

THR's city-by-city guide to Hollywood's neighbor to the north, from Vancouver to Hamilton, Ontario.
Toronto 2012: Canada's Alliance Films Launches Online Portal for Festival Launch Titles
Toronto 2012: Where to Shop If You're in a Clothing Jam
Toronto 2012: The A-List With Films for Sale

Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Acquisitions Market'
As it doubles for New York, Moscow and elsewhere, Hollywood's neighbor to the north plays host to Twilight and scads of TV series.

VANCOUVER

Recent Shoots: The CW's Supernatural and its upcoming Arrow, the TNT sci-fi drama Falling Skies, Fox's Fringe and the ABC fantasy series Once Upon a Time.
PHOTOS: Toronto Film Fest's Top Ten Fashion Statements
British Columbia has, for well more than a generation, served as Hollywood's backlot for its varied locations, from arid deserts and cattle ranches to rural ghost towns and glittering skyscrapers. Multicultural Vancouver has doubled for Moscow, Los Angeles, Shanghai and London. While the city offers a range of diverse settings, popular shooting locations include Chinatown, the University of British Columbia and Stanley Park.

That, plus local tax incentives, saw The CW shoot five of its eight pilots for the 2012-13 season in Vancouver, including Arrow, Cult and First Cut.
Shooting in the city also offers proximity to the coastal beaches and rainforests of Vancouver Island. In recent years, the island has played host to shoots for The Big Year, with Owen Wilson and Jack Black, and The Twilight Saga: New Moon.

In addition to a developed film and TV production infrastructure, backed by about 30 soundstages, Vancouver has a growing digital animation and visual effects industry, complete with dedicated tax credits and a talent pool. That makes British Columbia a top production center for the major Hollywood studios, one that rivals Los Angeles and New York. Says Tim Iacofano, producer on the upcoming ABC drama Red Widow: "Vancouver is a short flight and in the same time zone as Los Angeles. If need be, you can have people on the first flight out of Los Angeles and have them working in the afternoon."

Toronto 2012: Canada's Alliance Films Launches Online Portal for Festival Launch Titles

MONTREAL

Recent Shoots: ABC Studios' Zero Hour pilot, Relativity Media's Mirror Mirror and the Bradley Cooper starrer The Words.
Source Code producer Hawk Koch recalls how shooting the psychological thriller in Montreal was made easier because much of the film takes place inside a relocated Chicago commuter train. That meant the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer could be produced on a soundstage at Mel's Cite du Cinema complex, with cost savings to boot. Before choosing the Canadian city, Koch and his team scouted Pennsylvania, New York and Atlanta. So why Montreal? In part because of Quebec's generous 25 percent all-spend tax credit. Says Koch, the new president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, "We went there because the movie took place 90 percent in a train and we needed a stage and, from a monetary standpoint, it made the most sense."
Foreign location shooting helps fuel annual production volume of about $800 million in Montreal, most of it coming from French-language film and TV projects. So the local crews and acting talent are busy, experienced and speak fluent English. In addition to its greenscreen soundstages, Montreal has a historical old quarter, providing a wide range of settings for modern or period shoots on locations that can appear North American or European. The city also has more than 40 visual effects companies, making it the world's seventh-largest postproduction hub.

Toronto 2012: Where to Shop If You're in a Clothing Jam

TORONTO

Recent Shoots: Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, the RoboCop reboot, the Jake Gyllenhaal starrer An Enemy and the Stephen King novel adaptation Carrie.

Genre auteur Guillermo del Toro didn't just shoot his sci-fi epic Pacific Rim on a few of the stages at Pinewood Toronto Studios. The creature feature was shot on all seven stages of the megastudio, with one stage divided into two to create yet more space for del Toro to move his cameras. The shoot follows a busy year for Canada's largest production center as it continues to entice L.A. producers with a potential 54 percent of labor expenditure savings, thanks to traditional and digital tax credits and the federal government's 16 percent tax credit. Toronto also has a slew of studio facilities and a vast supply of technical and creative talent, and it routinely doubles for New York, Boston, Washington and Chicago while offering an array of services to help calm anxious filmmakers. Says Pacific Rim executive producer Callum Greene, "It's not just a tax break that steers a film of this size into port -- it's also the needed security of knowing we'll be taken care of at a higher level wherever we land."

HALIFAX

Recent Shoots: The William Shatner TV show Weird or What?, the Jason Buxton debut feature Blackbird and the third season of stand-up series The Candy Show.
Tom Selleck should qualify for a Canadian passport by now. The actor was recently in Nova Scotia to shoot Jesse Stone: Benefit of the Doubt for CBS, the eighth in the series of TV movies shooting there since 2004 that has the Atlantic province double as Massachusetts. There's strong local government support for foreign location shooting, with Nova Scotia offering some of Canada's most generous tax incentives. The province also offers a regional and frequent filming bonus to entice returning shoots like Jesse Stone. Nova Scotia boasts varied locations, from urban streets in Halifax to historic villages and scenic coastal towns like Lunenburg.

Says producer Mark Montefiore, who shot Picnicface, a series for Canada's The Comedy Network, in Halifax, "It's one of the only places in Canada where you get invited over to dinner by the crew after you wrap."

Toronto 2012: The A-List With Films for Sale

HAMILTON

Recent Shoots: The Universal sci-fi series Rewind, Resident Evil: Retribution and Lifetime telefilm The Cold Spring.
When Anthony Zuiker, the CSI: Crime Scene Investigation creator, teamed with Yahoo to make the online thriller Cybergeddon, a 90-minute scripted drama, he didn't follow the herd and shoot in Toronto. Instead, he took his crew and talent an hour south to Hamilton, Ontario, to tap a 10 percent regional tax-credit bonus. Other advantages include skilled technical and creative talent, readily available soundstages and equipment, diverse locations and a local film commission to help at every turn.

Says Zuiker, "We're still stretching every dollar we can to make the best content possible, but that's all part of the fun."

BY THE NUMBERS

16% of tax credits that can be combined with the Quebec film and TV tax credit.
10% of the regional tax-credit bonus offered by Hamilton.

Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Acquisitions Market'

SHOOTING NORTH OF THE BORDER:

Canada is so competitive that even the major urban centers vie with one another for location shoots. Here's what each specializes in.
Montreal: European Settings
Old Montreal has period buildings and cobblestone streets dating to the 17th century. The Words, starring Bradley Cooper and Olivia Wilde, saw the city pass for Paris and New York.
Halifax: New England
The city's marine setting on the Atlantic makes it ripe to double for New England, as on the Syfy drama Haven and in the Angela Bassett starrer Jumping the Broom, in which Halifax stood in for Martha's Vineyard.

Toronto: Visual Effects

As Canada's top visual effects hub, the city lures Hollywood to bring FX-heavy movies such as Still Seas and Total Recall to take advantage of tax credits that can chop off 60 percent of a project's budget.
Hamilton: Working-Class Grit
They don't call it "Steeltown" for nothing. The 2005 action film Four Brothers used the Stelco and Dofasco steel mills as a backdrop, and Ron Howard's Cinderella Man shot a dockside scene at Hamilton Harbour.

Vancouver: Big-Budget Shoots
With about 30 soundstages, the city routinely hosts tentpoles such as Mission: Impossible -- Ghost Protocol, Man of Steel and Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

Thank you Hollywood Reporter

Sunday, September 30, 2012

Nearly 40 films sold at Toronto...

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Tax incentives face scrutiny...

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Monday, September 24, 2012

Marijuana And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers

20 years of research to figure this out

"We started by researching breast cancer," said Desprez. "But now we've found that Cannabidiol works with many kinds of aggressive cancers--brain, prostate--any kind in which these high levels of ID-1 are present."

Marijuana And Cancer: Scientists Find Cannabis Compound Stops Metastasis In Aggressive Cancers

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

MAKE HISTORY~SUPPORT Chez Chicas non-profit

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Argentine Gov't Boosts Film Sector to Industry Standards...

Thursday, September 13, 2012

Chez Chicas Restaurant: anti-migraine & marijuana-infused dishes

Saturday, September 8, 2012

U.K. Freesat TV Venture to Offer Paid-For Content

8K Ultra High Def TV Format Opens Options for TV Viewing...

Toronto 2012: FilmDistrict's Peter Schlessel on the Fest -- 'It's My Favorite Ac

Hungarian Film Fund Obtains Production Assets...

Toronto 2012: The Film Collaborative Launches Legal Services Initiative...

How to Shoot a Project in Canada...