Francis Coppola Makes A Come Back With The Film "Youth Without Youth"

After a 10-year break away from the film industry, Francis Coppola, the five-time Academy Award winner, film director, producer, and screenwriter returns to film-making with the film, Youth Without Youth following the accomplished movie The Rainmaker since 1997, based on John Grisham's 1995 novel, The Rainmaker.

The film, Youth Without Youth is an adaptation of a novella by the Romanian philosopher Mircea Eliade, which explores language, theology, the idea of the doppelgänger.

The central character is Dominic Matei (Tim Roth) a 70-year-old Romanian linguistics professor in pre-second world war Bucharest, who, in the midst of a possibly terminal depression, is struck by lightning and thus magically restored to the prime of life. Suddenly reinvigorated, Dominic can immerse himself again in his pet subject, the roots of language and religion, learning all the world's languages by a mysterious process of osmosis while conversing with his own alter ego and falling in love with two incarnations of the same mystically gifted woman.

It's bold and packed with ideas, but also fatally unformed, unconvincing and, on occasion, laughably pretentious - and too often you imagine that the central character will awaken to discover that it has all been a dream, and a pretty bad one at that.

But critics believe that the film might taste like fast food, suggesting that it might not contain the quality and style that characterizes Coppola's Oscar award-winning movies such as The Godfather and Apocalypse Now. Coppola, 68, funded "Youth Without Youth" on his own, using profits from his lucrative Napa Valley wine business, and as a result he's dubbed it his independent film.

The film is being distributed through Sony Pictures Classics in the United States and now showing in theaters since December 14. It was released in France on November 14.

View Youth Without Youth Trailer here

WGA Resume Talks Today

As the Writer's Guild of America strike enters it's fourth week, both parties involved in the negotiations are set to resume contract talks today. The WGA went on strike Nov. 5 over payment for TV shows and films being sold on Internet sites such as Apple Inc.'s iTunes.

Striking TV and movie writers kept up the pressure on studios by picketing and intensifying an Internet campaign that uses the very medium at issue in the contentious negotiations. On the other hand, studios, networks and producers, represented by the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, say it is too early to know which business model will succeed on the Web. They want flexibility to experiment without having to be locked into payment formulas.

For the past three weeks, writers use social networking sites, including MySpace, Facebook and YouTube, to communicate among themselves, post short videos, create blogs etc

One of the most popular efforts has been the video "The Office is Closed," which was shot on the picket lines by Peter Rader. The video features the show's writer-producer Greg Daniels and cast members belittling a TV network claim that reuse of episodes on the Web is merely "promotional". That video as shown below was posted on YouTube and has been viewed more than 520,000 times.

Update: The next United Hollywood Live broadcast will be today, November 26th, from 12-1:30 p.m. Covering all aspects of the WGA strike, the interactive show will include interviews, live reports from the various picket lines and video clips. Visit United Hollywood for more details.

Career in Filmmaking and Screenwriting at NY Film Academy

Are you interested in joining the next generation of filmmakers and actors in one of the most innovative and dynamic film schools and acting schools in the world? The New York Film Academy welcomes that generation.

With intensive, hands-on filmmaking, screenwriting, computer animation, and acting for film programs, the academy welcomes students from all over the world who develop an invaluable network of classmates that often provide opportunities for future work in the film industry.

Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers and stars such as Steven Spielberg, Susan Sarandon, etc have chosen to send their children to the film schools and acting schools of the New York Film Academy. Yet, some of the best projects to come out of the New York Film Academy are from students with no connections to the industry.

The following clip is from "Danny and the Ocean", a film written, directed by a New York Film Academy student named Abraham Heisler.

The Academy has film and acting locations in New York, London, Florence, Paris, Shangai, Bilbao, Milan, Abu Dhabi, Seoul, Budapest, Sardinia, Havard University, Universal Studios in Hollywood and Disney-MGM Studios in Florida.

Will the Kite keep flying for "The Kite Runner"?

The book, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini became a runaway best-seller in 2003 based largely on positive word-of-mouth among readers throughout the world. But can the Hollywood movie persuade fans of the book to see the film?

That's the intriguing question facing Paramount Vantage, the art-house arm of Paramount Pictures, after it embarked on an unusual marketing strategy to develop awareness of The Kite Runner movie among the novel's many fans.

The Marc Forster-directed film, which opens in Los Angeles on Dec. 21, tells the story of an emigre who, after spending years in California, returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his boyhood friend's son, who is in trouble. The film depicts Afghanistan as ruins where savages live and only the Johnny Walker drinking rich class who moved to the US deserves any sort of sympathy.

All around the United States, several "Kite Runner Clubs" are being set up as part of the marketing effort for The Kite Runner. Clubs with 200 members will receive copies of the book signed by the author, Khaled Hosseini and 100-member clubs will attend advanced screenings of the film in their hometowns along with family and friends.

Writers Guild Strike: Any Effect Yet?

Just one week into the Writers Guild of America strike (prompted by a disagreement over royalty payments) it has yet to send shivers down the spine as was expected. No doubt, the strike is bad news for all the small businesses that depend on Hollywood to keep running, but no one seems to care.

The American TV viewers are getting through the situation in one way or the other, as most of them haven’t even finished watching the DVDs of Sex and the City, let alone 24 or Desperate Housewives. Instead of being a cause of alarm, the strike has given TV viewers a rare opportunity to catch up with past episodes.

But it seems like there is light at the end of the tunnel as California's governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, claims to be on the case who of course has some Hollywood experience:-)

Writers Guild of America set for strike

The Writers Guild of America is poised for an industry strike from Monday, November 5 following three and a half months of negotiations over compensation for web content and higher residuals for DVD sales.

What does that mean for your favorite TV shows? Well, it if is anything like the last writers’ strike in 1988, the industry will be severely affected. The strike delayed the TV season after the writers’ stopped working for 22 weeks.

If Monday's scheduled strike continues, late night TV shows like “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” “The Late Show with David Letterman” and Jon Stewart’s popular “The Daily Show” will be sent into re-runs, as they all require monologue and script writing. Daytime soaps will be forced into repeats within the month. And if the strike continues into 2008? Hmm, prime time viewing will be affected, as the episodes already filmed run out.

Nick Counter, President of the Producers Alliance said the Writers Guild's call for a strike was "precipitous and irresponsible." Yet he held out some hope that a deal could be reached: "Our goal continues to be to reach a fair and reasonable agreement that will keep the industry working", he said.

Already, informal behind-the-scenes talks have been begun between high-level members of the writers' negotiating committee and the studio and network executives they work for. The committee is headed by comedy writer John F. Bowman ("Saturday Night Live") and includes such top writer-producers as Neal Baer ("Law & Order: Special Victims Unit") and Marc Cherry ("Desperate Housewives").

Another high-profile member of the committee, Carlton Cuse, an executive producer of "Lost," confirmed Friday that members of the guild and the negotiating committee were having "back-channel" meetings with leaders of the alliance.

Social Networking for Writers & Filmmakers at StoryLink

The Writers Store®, the premier resource center for writers and filmmakers worldwide, has announced the official launch of StoryLink - the first social networking website specifically created for screenwriters and filmmakers.

StoryLink offers members countless opportunities to network with professional and aspiring creatives and to promote, share and market their materials or services. StoryLink is the only online destination that combines the crafts of screenwriting and filmmaking in one community.

A unique feature of StoryLink, is that it allows members to hire expert freelancers and professional firms geared toward their creative needs - a feature found in GetAFreeLancer. Thus, members rate their service professionals and companies with a unique five-star system for the benefit of the entire StoryLink community.

Since its beta launch in March 2007, over three thousand media creatives have joined StoryLink. To date, over two hundred contests and hundreds of events have been listed.

Visit StoryLink and get linked!