August 16, 2017

2018 SXSW Film Festival Submission Tips [Video]

SXSW provides the game-changing buzz every filmmaker dreams about for the premiere of their film, in front of press, film industry leaders, and film lovers as well as tech and music professionals. This entirely unique audience gives the SXSW Film Festival a distinct identity that sets it apart from other film festivals.

There are less than two weeks until the early film submission deadline on Friday, August 25. If your film isn’t quite ready, don’t worry. We still have two additional deadlines before submissions officially close for SXSW 2018.

Remember that you must have a secure link to your film ready to go before you complete your application. While submitting by the Early Deadline will keep some extra money in your pocket, we never want filmmakers to rush their films, as we will only consider the first cut submitted. So take your time, decide which deadline is best for your film, and get your film in its best form before submitting. Additionally, take a look at the festival’s many different screening sections and decide which category is best for you and your film. Find out more information about deadlines and fees here. Questions? Find answers in our Film FAQ.

The Official Deadline is Friday, September 22 and our Late Deadline is Friday, October 20.

Ready to submit? Take a few minutes to watch our How to Submit Your Film video posted above!

Join Us For SXSW 2018

Join us for SXSW 2018 – register to attend by Friday, September 8 for the biggest savings of the season. Make your hotel reservations through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates. Grab your Film badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops and parties. We hope to see you in March!

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, application tips, and updates.

The post 2018 SXSW Film Festival Submission Tips [Video] appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

August 13, 2017

Adam Savage Goes Incognito in the ‘Alien: Covenant’ Spacesuit at Comic-Con — Watch

He isn’t busting myths anymore, but Adam Savage remains a busy guy. His latest “Tested” segment finds the former “Mythbusters” host wearing an actual spacesuit from “Alien: Covenant” around San Diego Comic-Con — not that most of the people there realize it’s him. Watch the video below.

Savage first examines the spacesuit in depth, from the Reebok logo on the magnetic boots and the GoPro camera that was actually used to shoot footage in the film to the working screens on the wrist and the “pièce de résistance” that is the helmet. “This is one of the most beautiful space helmets I’ve ever seen, for real or for fiction,” Savage says of the elaborate headgear.

Read More: Adam Savage Tours Peter Jackson’s Prop Collection In New ‘Tested’ Video

The real fun starts when he puts the suit on, a lengthy process that eventually finds him roaming through SDCC; somehow, several people correctly guess his identity despite the giant, metallic-green helmet covering his face. Savage says it’s the most comfortable spacesuit he’s ever worn, so know that the many, many people who die in “Alien: Covenant” were at least comfortable.

Source: IndieWire film

August 13, 2017

‘Annabelle: Creation’ Leads Another Weekend of Plummeting Box Office

The good news: the Top Ten grosses dropped a bit over one third from the same weekend last year with a total of $97 million. That’s compared to last weekend, which was down more than half.

The bad news: despite a profitable showing for producer James Wan’s horror prequel “Annabelle: Creation” (Warner Bros.), August could wind up with the worst ticket sales in decades. Year-to-date grosses, which have been keeping pace with 2016 most of the year, are now over four per cent lower. The summer results will be much further down from last year, with the month likely to be off something like 40 per cent.

While this could be an aberration with an autumn rebound just ahead, it comes in the face of disconcerting news that “Wolf Warrior 2,” a Chinese-made period sequel, has grossed $681 million on its home turf. China has produced its own hits before, but lately has struggled with home product. If local audiences are increasingly happy with their own movies, it cuts into a huge market that has nourished Hollywood pictures (only a handful make the cut and not all thrive, despite the efforts studios make to cater to that audience). Hollywood’s focus on the foreign market has contributed to its own domestic decline.

“Annabelle: Creation” stands high among recent similar horror films, though historically not close to any records. Last summer’s “The Conjuring 2,” opening in June, managed a $41 million opening (against more competition from two other openers that topped $20 million). The first “Annabelle” did better in 2014, but as a followup “Creation” is credible and a clear positive on a weekend without much to cheer.

“The Glass Castle”

The two other openers were mediocre or worse. Open Road’s animated “The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature” in third place opened to less than half the initial go-round in January 2014. But it soared against family drama “The Glass Castle” (Lionsgate), the memoir adaptation starring Woody Harrelson and Brie Larson that crashed and burned with under $5 million in ninth place — around the same as “The Light Between Oceans.” But Disney released that during the Labor Day weekend dead zone.

Positive news: “Dunkirk” is holding strong at #2, with only a 33 per cent drop. At $153 million so far, it increasingly looks like its domestic haul will approach $200 million.

“Spider-Man: Homecoming”

The only other holdover in the Top Ten, which is also gaining due to lesser competition, is “Spider-Man: Homecoming,” which dropped only 31 per cent to get to a surprising $306 million. That makes it the third (and final) summer 2017 release to top $300 million domestic. That’s down from four the previous two years along with a decrease in movies topping $400 million.

The one 2017 film to pass that magic mark: “Wonder Woman.”

Falling off the Top Ten its second wide weekend, Kathryn Bigelow’s disappointing “Detroit” (Annapurna) fell 58 per cent to only $3 million and will fall short of $20 million.

The Top Ten

1. Annabelle: Creation (Warner Bros.) – Cinemascore: B; Metacritic: 62; Est. budget: $15 million

$35,040,000 in 3,502 theaters; PTA (per theater average): $10,006; Cumulative: $35,040,000

2. Dunkirk (Warner Bros.) Week 4; Last weekend #2

$11,405,000 (-33%) in 3,762 theaters (+252); PTA: $3,032; Cumulative: $153,713,000

3. The Nut Job 2: Nutty by Nature (Open Road) – Cinemascore:; Metacritic: 38; Est. budget: $40 million

$8,935,000 in 4,003 theaters; PTA: $2,232; Cumulative: $8,934,000

4. The Dark Tower (Sony) Week 2; Last weekend #1

$7,875,000 (-59%) in 3,451 theaters (no change); PTA: $2,282; Cumulative: $34,306,000

5. The Emoji Movie (Sony) Week 3; Last weekend #3

$6,605,000 (-45%) in 3,219 theaters (-856); PTA: $2,052; Cumulative: $63,592,000

6. Girls Trip (Universal) Week 4; Last weekend #4

$6,521,000 (-43%) in 2,303 theaters (-279); PTA: $2,831; Cumulative: $97,194,000

7. Spider-Man: Homecoming (Sony) Week 6; Last weekend #6

$6,100,000 (-31%) in 2,607 theaters (-509); PTA: $2,340; Cumulative: $306,454,000

8. Kidnap (Aviron) Week 2; Last weekend #5

$5,225,000 (-48%) in 2,418 theaters (+40); PTA: $2,161; Cumulative: $19,394,000

9. The Glass Castle (Lionsgate) – Cinemascore: A-; Metacritic: 56; Est. budget: $(unknown)

$4,875,000 in 3,502 theaters; PTA: $3,337; Cumulative: $4,8765,000

10. Atomic Blonde (Focus) Week 3; Last weekend #7

$4,572,000 (-44%) in 2,093 theaters (-1,233); PTA: $2,185; Cumulative: $42,820,000

Read more Studios Released Just 7 Films Directed By Women This Summer, and They Might Break the Billion-Dollar Mark

Source: IndieWire film

August 13, 2017

Luc Besson Says That Captain America Is ‘Propaganda’: ‘It’s Always Here to Show the Supremacy of America’

Luc Besson isn’t the biggest fan of superhero movies. The “Valerian” director, who’s previously said that he finds it difficult to relate to such characters, went further in a CinePop interview by calling Captain America “propaganda” that’s uniquely American — and not in a good way. Watch the full discussion below.

“What bothers me most is it’s always here to show the supremacy of America and how they are great,” he said. “I mean, which country in the world would have the guts to call a film ‘Captain Brazil’ or ‘Captain France’? I mean, no one! We would be like so ashamed and say, ‘No, no, come on, we can’t do that.’ They can. They can call it ‘Captain America’ and everybody think it’s normal. I’m not here for propaganda, I’m here to tell a story.”

Despite his problems with the genre, Besson did make a movie about a kind of superhero: “Lucy,” which stars Scarlett Johansson as a woman who develops psychic abilities and superhuman intelligence after ingesting a highly advanced drug.

Source: IndieWire film