The Synapse to Screen 1.0 Pre-Production Tools Conference

Make Better Movies! Synapse to Screen 1.0 Pre-Production Tools Conference, December 3rd and 4th, 2009 during the Santa Fe Film Festival at the Hotel Santa Fe - Kiva A.

Synapse to Screen 1.0 Pre-Production Tools Conference is a two day multi-session exploration of the tools available to organize and take a motion picture from the first spark of an idea up to the verge of shooting.

Exploring the tools of the trade, the December 3rd sessions are focused on the writing steps, including; 9:45a to 11:30a Mind Mapping & Brainstorming, 11:40a to 12:40p Outlining, 1:40p to 3:00p Character & Plot Development & 3:10p to 5:00p Scripting & Screenwriting. The first three sessions on Dec. 3rd would be of interesting to any writer. The December 4th sessions are; 9:30a to 10:45p Storyboarding, 11:00a to 12:15p Production Reports, 1:15p to 3:00p Budgeting, 3:10p to 4:40p Scheduling. The Dec. 4th sessions are devoted to the steps that take the written script and turn it into a roadmap that a collaborative creative team can turn into a motion picture. Sessions will include panels, demonstrations, comparisons and audience interaction.

The Synapse to Screen 1.0 Pre-Production Tools Conference is sponsored by the Santa Fe Macintosh User Group, a 501c-3 educational non-profit serving the community since 1994, and is presented in association with and as part of the 10th Annual Santa Fe Film Festival. For further information visit www.santafemug.org/s2s1.0.html or call 505-670-2134

Article in Las Cruces Sun News About crewnewmexico.com and Film In Southern New Mexico

by Derrickson Moore
LAS CRUCES— Daniel Taras is bullish on the New Mexico film industry and wants to help ensure southern New Mexico gets its piece of the film pie.

"I'm the founder of a company called crewnewmexico.com. We are a production support, networking, and marketing resource for the New Mexico film industry," said Taras, who has been visiting this month "to begin a big push to bring more film business to the area."

After a planned "couple of days" of meetings stretched into a week, the Albuquerque-based business may open a branch office in Las Cruces, Taras said.

"Everyone was extremely open and accommodating during my stay, and it's a real reflection on the community. You have great weather and infrastructure. I plan to come back in about four weeks for more meetings. I look forward to promoting all that Las Cruces has to offer the film industry," said Taras, whose recent visit included meetings with sources ranging from Alma duarte Charter School for the Arts to New Mexico State University's Creative Media Institute, Dona Ana Community College's Film Tech Training Program, Las Cruces film liaison Bill McCamey and local sources of food,
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lodging and possible locations.

Taras, 37, has a deep interest in filmmaking and an eclectic background that includes a bachelor's degree in geography and a stint as a safari guide in Africa. He's lived in New York and Portland, Ore.

In August, 2008, he decided to found his company.

"I felt that if the New Mexico film industry was going to continue to grow, we need to have a dynamic interactive resource when your considering whether to shoot and when you're actually here, as well.

The company's Web site is divided into three categories.

"Find," a free source, offers information on potential cast, crew, production support and personal services, filming locations, production lodging, furnished rentals, real estate. dining and entertainment, plus extensive listings about New Mexico film resources and current news relating to movies and filmmaking in the state.

"Be Found" offers listing opportunities for everyone from cast and crew to those who offer production, support and location services. Prices start at $79 for a basic profile with add-on options for multiple specialties and extras like demo reels.

Want to be a star? The cast profile page features, include "demo reels, video resumes, headshots, bio, credits, and links to your agent. Your profile features critical casting details including your stats, dialects, sports, musical skills and more."

A "What's New section", free to searchers, offers Facebook, a New Mexico film blog, "who's filming now" and "cast and crew calls." The site is now "a 24/7 operation, with over 600 individual and business partners. It's also accessible to citizens of New Mexico who want to know what's going on in their back yard. Every person who lists on the site gets his own URL, Web site and Web address."

Taras said he also has an e-mail list of up to 10,000 sources involved in the film industry.

For more information, call (505) 930-0443, e-mail daniel@crewnewmexico.com or visit online at www.crewnewmexico.com.

S. Derrickson Moore can be reached at dmoore@lcsun-news.com, (575) 541-5450

Supernanny is Coming for Your Children!

Surely you know of a family in need of a visit by the Supernanny! Well, the good news Supernanny is auditioning in Santa Fe on December 5th! So, either hide the kids or bring them on down. . . Check out our New Mexico Movie Jobs page for details!

Trailer for Crazy Heart - Filmed in New Mexico!

Crazy Heart, starring Jeff Bridges and Maggie Gyllenhaal, and in New Mexico, is coming soon to a theater near you. Trailer looks great. . .

Trailer for Brothers, Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire, and Natalie Portman. Filmed in New Mexico

Site Visitor Map for 11.16

We're always amazed at who spends time on our site! Check out our most recent visitor map. . .

Calling New Mexico Filmmakers

Las Cruces Channel 98 welcomes submissions of films made by New Mexico Filmmakers!

Channel 98 is a public access station, and Las Cruces's only TV station, and they invite you to submit your New Mexico-made film to be shown on their Late Night With Sahara show, or on other local filmmaker showcase events.

Contact Chris Soular at lcc98tv@gmail.com for more information!

New Mexico Women in Film Holiday Food Drive!

This in from NMWIF:

"Please join us for the November Meeting of New Mexico Women in Film on Thursday, November 19, 2009 at the New Mexico Film Museum, and help kick of the NMWIF Holiday Food Drive:

Doors open for Networking at 5:45pm, meeting starts at 6:30p. Meeting is open to members and non-members alike at no charge, but please bring non-perishable food donate-ables to support the Food Drive and help out local pantries – good condition, warm winter clothing is also accepted.

We are very excited to have Lieutenant Governor Diane Denish with us, who will accept an honorary membership in NM Women in Film and speak a little about the challenges of hunger and homelessness in New Mexico.

Santa Fe State Representative Brian Egolf will speak about the upcoming legislative session and the challenges facing our industry.

And we will show a very short screening of “The Other Side of the Tracks,” a short film produced by students at the Santa Fe School for the Arts and Sciences on homeless teens in NM, winner of Mayor David Coss’ 2007 Youth Film Contest.

If you can’t join us on Thursday, please support our industry-wide Food Drive by dropping off donate-able items in any of the following places: the Production Office for the picture company you are working on, or on-set with the Craft service person on your show; either IATSE Local 480 office, in Santa Fe at 1418 Cerrillos Rd., or in Albuquerque at Channel 26/27 on 4^th and Tijeras ; the New Mexico Film Office on Montezuma in Santa Fe ; the commissary at Albuquerque Studios; Sunflower Marketplace, either in Santa Fe or in Albuquerque, and Flying Star Cafes in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, now through December 20^th. NMWIF will arrange for pick up and delivery.

If you would like to make arrangements for your own local bank, business, or favorite bar or restaurant to make space for a drop box on their premises, please e-mail (lisa@santafefilm.org) and we will arrange to deliver one, and then to pick-up and distribute.

Thanks in advance for helping us make this campaign a success, and for showing the larger community that supports us, that we are appreciative and eager to give back.

Big Returns at the Box Office

- Recession aside, the box office keeps on rolling in the big bucks.

Roland Emmerich's 2012 almost made back its $260 million budget in just three days. The domestic opening weekend was a whopping $65 million and the global total was a mammoth $225 million. This is the seventh-biggest domestic bow ever in November, and just shy of the $67 million that Emmerich's The Day After Tomorrow pulled in during the Fri-Sun portion of its four-day Memorial Day weekend launch in 2004. With its $160 million non-domestic weekend gross, it's also the fifth-largest non-US debut of all time and the all-time champ non-US debut for a non-sequel/franchise picture. So the film pulled in a surprisingly potent 2.8x weekend multiplier and actually had a token increase on Saturday from $23 million to $24 million. Point being, this one is playing as a normal grown-up smash hit and should have decent legs until Avatar comes down the pike in just over a month. See, that's what happens when you actually deliver the goods and have the decency to be not all that bad.

Click here for more of the latest box office news.

Hollywood rethinks use of A-list actors - Films are showing that a good concept trumps star power

Hollywood studios are now thinking twice about splurging on A-list movie stars and costly productions in reaction to the poor economy, but also because of the surprising success of recent films with unknown actors.

After buddy comedy "The Hangover," a movie with a little known cast, made $459 million at global box offices this past summer, several films have shown that a great concept or story can trump star appeal when it comes to luring fans.

"District 9," a low-budget movie in which the biggest stars were space aliens treated like refugees and the lead actor was South African Sharlto Copley, made $200 million. Thriller "Paranormal Activity," starring Katie Featherston and Micah Sloat, has cash registers ringing to the tune of $100 million.

Next up, on Nov. 20, comes Summit Entertainment's relatively low-budget ($50 million) franchise movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon," a sequel to 2008 hit vampire romance "Twilight" which made global stars of Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart. Online ticket sellers report "New Moon" is one of their highest pre-sale movies of all time, and box office watchers expect the film to have a smash opening.

"Nobody says that a big wonderful movie needs to be expensive, it's just that that's been the trend, and perhaps the trend is misguided," said University of Southern California cinema professor Jason E. Squire.

Last weekend, comic actor Jim Carrey's "A Christmas Carol" became the latest celebrity-driven movie to stumble at box offices, opening to a lower-than-expected $30 million.

Aside from Jim Carrey and "Carol," which cost at least $175 million, A-listers who suffered box office flops recently have included Bruce Willis ("Surrogates"), Adam Sandler ("Funny People"), Will Ferrell ("Land of the Lost"), Eddie Murphy ("Imagine That") and Julia Roberts ("Duplicity").

"The (major movie) machine didn't fly last summer, if you look at the movies and the names, they were not star-driven movies, they really weren't," said Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment and former head of Sony Pictures.

Hollywood insiders say A-listers currently are having trouble with salary demands in the $15 million range or participation approaching 20% of gross profits -- deals that were once somewhat common for top talent. Instead, they are being asked to take less money upfront and greater compensation only if a film breaks even.

Click here to read the full article.

MGM Headed for Sale

11/12/2009 - Variety Magazine

MGM may be the best known logo in the entertainment business, but the company seems headed for another possible garage sale.

Several sources say they expect that MGM will essentially be auctioned off within the next few weeks.

This would mean that a major, such as Time Warner, could buy the MGM-UA library while another entity might acquire the logo, and yet another deal could be made for United Artists. Sources speculated that Kirk Kerkorian, who has already bought and sold MGM twice, might buy the logo once again.

Last summer Harry Sloan was bounced as MGM's CEO and Stephen Cooper, a specialist in restructuring companies (Krispy Kreme was one of his projects) started meeting with bankers with the aim of restructuring some $3.7 billion in debt. There was speculation that the combined assets of MGM may now yield as little as $1.5 billion in the present market.

The various equity owners of MGM, including several private equity firms, have already written down their $5 billion acquisition, which closed in 2004.

MGM's library contains 4.000 titles, but some specialists in film libraries consider its list of titles to be geriatric.

Any sort of auction would need approval of a two-thirds majority of the bondholders, and a couple of the bondholders insist they have not been contacted as yet. Some sources believe a pre-packaged bankruptcy is still an option, and there is still an expectation that Time-Warner might make a last eleventh hour bid.

Neither Cooper nor MGM would comment.

MGM's released only a remake of "Fame" this year. For 2010, it's opening two comedies -- "Hot Tub Time Machine" in March and "The Zookeeper" in October -- and a remake of "Red Dawn" in November.

Synapse to Screen 1.0 Conference 2009 Seeks Panelists

The Synapse to Screen 1.0 Conference is a two-day event to be held on December 3rd and 4th, 2009, in association with the 10th Annual Santa Fe Film Festival (SFFF). Covering all things Pre-production in the making of movies, with panels, demonstrations, and lectures, including techniques and modern tools used in brainstorming & mind-mapping, outlining, plot & character development, screenwriting, story-boarding, budgeting, production reports, and scheduling a movie.

This will be a live event with audience interaction, and also streamed on the Internet to a select audience. The first day, Dec. 3rd, will deal with the writer oriented aspects of pre-production, and the second day, Dec. 4th, will address the aspects more related to taking the script from page to screen. The focus of S2S1.0 is the tools and their use, not the concepts of story, screenwriting, etc., per se. I would like to emphasize that the first day's sessions will be beneficial to all writers, not just screenwriters.

We are seeking panelists, demonstrations, advertisers, sponsors, software packages for raffles, and other ideas that might suit you. In addition, we are putting together a prize package for the winner of the SFFF "New Face in Cinema" award to be given at the SFFF Awards Ceremony and would like your input on that. I believe this is an opportunity to present your talents, product(s) and insight to a focused audience and show how their future projects can be better, more efficient, more entertaining and less expensive. Beyond the actual S2S1.0 event, attending the SFFF and mingling with the hundreds of moviemakers is an opportunity to make connections and introduce yourself to new people. Also, if you know of anyone who might fit our mission with this event, please have them contact us, or pass their information along to us at s2s1.0@santafemug.org. SFMUG is a 501c-3. http://www.santafemug.org/s2s1.0.html

If you're interested in attending the S2S1.0 event, in person or via the live video stream, and learn what's new in pre-production, please send an email to s2s1.0@santafemug.org and we will let you know how to reserve your space or how to access the live Internet stream of all the S2S1.0 Conference sessions.

A Shout Out to Las Cruces!

We'd like to give a big thanks and send warm regards to all those in Las Cruces who've been so great during our visit.

We'd live to give a special shout out to Dickerson's Catering, one of the newest members of our directory. They've provided food, cooks, and support services to a number of productions shooting in southern New Mexico, and have a vast array of resources they can offer to shoots of any size. Box lunches for scouting trips, private chefs, second meal, 2nd unit catering, and they're willing and able to bid for being the primary caterer for productions coming to the area. Check them out! (more photos and menus to come soon!)

Much more news to come from the southern part of New Mexico!

Call for Entries - White Sands International Film Festival

The White Sands International Film Festival (WSIFF) is still accepting entries.

It will be April 15-18, 2010 in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

The White Sands International Film Festival is dedicated to enhancing, supporting and celebrating the film industry in New Mexico.

WSIFF screens outstanding short and feature length films and documentaries of all genres from around the world, and focuses special attention on Latino and New Mexican filmmakers as well as films produced in the state.

Click to learn more.

Better buzz on film funding - Lending universe will expand for industry

from Variety.com

While Hollywood's prospects for foreign financing is downbeat, the situation should slowly brighten, according to film biz honchos at the American Film Market on Friday.

"A year ago, lenders were sitting on their hands," said Jason Sklar, VP of the entertainment industries group at J.P. Morgan. "The lender universe will expand in the next year or two." But, he admitted, "It's going to take some time. There are other opportunities for investors that have a higher yield for less work."

Sklar made the remarks as part of a panel at the Fairmont Hotel on financial markets and liquidity issues, sources of equity investment, tax incentives and foreign investment. About 800 attended the session, sponsored by KPMG and moderated by KPMG managing director Benson R. Berro.

His fellow panelists said the $825 million investment by India's Reliance into DreamWorks is a strong signal of the direction of investments into the U.S. film business.

"For the time being, the equity will come from emerging markets," said Emmanuel (Manny) Nunez, motion picture agent at CAA.

Nunez also noted it's unlikely that any hedge fund money will return to Hollywood any time soon, pointing out that the "perfect storm" that attracted the funds -- huge amounts of money looking for investments in an industry hungry for funds -- won't take place again.

Instead, foreign investors will have far more strategic goals, according to Adam Leipzig, president of National Geographic Films. "Non-U.S. investment is smart money, not dumb money, that's looking for companies that have a track record," he added.

Hyde Park Entertainment topper Ashok Amritraj -- who signed a $250 million deal with Abu Dhabi's production banner Imagenation last year to develop and distrib up 20 feature films over seven years -- noted that Hollywood has a poor image in terms of how it treats investors. He urged attendees to be more attentive to those bringing the funding.

"If the first one works out, that's so important, because then there's more to come," Amritraj added.

Nunez also warned that more consolidation will likely come among the Hollywood majors, pointing to declines in DVD revenues. "That's a lot of dollars that have been taken away from the bottom line," he added.

The panelists agreed that use of government incentives remains essential in financing, with Leipzig saying that's the key reason he's shot only three of his 28 films in the Los Angeles area.

Amritraj noted that incentives in Louisiana, Michigan and North Carolina were a key reason why recent Hyde Park pics have been shot in those states. And he asserted that despite budgetary pressures on governments, it's unlikely incentive programs will disappear.

Film Industry Food Drive Supports New Mexico Families!

New Mexicans who work in the film industry are incredibly grateful for the amazing level of support we receive from the citizens of our state.

The film industry brings many positive economic, creative, and social improvements to our state, and it is great to watch how the support we receive translates into jobs, economic growth, and educational opportunities for our residents. We see it from the inside out, and we'd like to recognize and give back to those who see it from the outside in.

That's why the non-profit group New Mexico Women in Film is hosting a food drive to help replenish Community Food Banks around New Mexico. There's no question that lots of folks need more assistance than usual this year, and we invite all those who plan to attend our film industry mixer in Mesilla, this Saturday, November 7, to bring non-perishable food donations. All food will go to local agencies who will help distribute it to those in need.

Click here to learn more about the Mixer in Mesilla (it sounds like a wrestling match, but its really a social and business networking event for those who work, or want to work, in the film industry.) We look forward to seeing you, and thank you in advance for supporting your community.

Terminator franchise to be auctioned off

The rights to the Terminator film franchise will be auctioned this month in a deal that will test Hollywood intellectual property valuations at a time when film industry profits are under pressure from falling DVD sales.

The sale, which comes weeks after the rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were sold for $60m – and is likely to exceed that – has sparked considerable interest because Terminator is a rare example of a blockbuster film franchise not controlled by a big studio.

The interest in the future rights of Terminator underscores the value of IP during a tough time for Hollywood. That value has held up, with Walt Disney recently agreeing a hefty premium in its $4bn deal to buy Marvel Entertainment.

Several financial buyers have expressed interest in Terminator, including Platinum Equity, the Beverly Hills firm that owns Delphi, the auto parts maker. Platinum could not be reached for comment.

All the big film studios have also registered interest in the rights, with Sony Pictures a leading contender, according to a person familiar with the situation. Sony declined to comment.

To read the full article, click here.