Indie filmmakers gave two big thumbs up to a trade agreement announced late Friday that would allow more U.S. films into China.
The Independent Film & Television Alliance praised the trade deal, saying it would create "unprecedented opportunities" for the U.S. independent film industry.
"For independents, this agreement is momentous,'' said IFTA President-CEO Jean Prewitt. "Our sector has been unable to benefit fully from the existing revenue-sharing import quotas and has had limited avenues through which to distribute. For the first time, through this agreement, there is a promise of creating a commercial foundation that will allow independent producers to participate more fully in the Chinese marketplace."
The agreement announced Friday by the White House would increase the number of foreign films allowed into China under a revenue-sharing agreement by 14, at least for so-called enhanced films that are shown in IMAX or 3-D. The current quota is limited to about 20 foreign films, mostly American. Additionally, the agreement, which stemmed from a longstanding complaint the U.S. filed with the World Trade Organization, also increases the amount of revenue foreign studios can receive under the quota from 13% to 25%.
But the trade deal also gives independent filmmakers, most of whom distribute their movies in China without any revenue sharing, something they've long coveted: the ability to negotiate license deals on commercial terms comparable with other markets. The pact also includes other provisions that are standard practice elsewhere, including audit rights, consultation on market campaigns and the ability to appeal decisions on movies that are rejected for censorship reasons, Prewitt said.
This post has been corrected. See the note at the bottom for details.
Addressing a long-standing concern among major studios, China has agreed to ease restrictions on the number of foreign movies it allows into China and the amount of revenue that studios can collect from box-office ticket sales there.
Under a deal announced Friday by the White House, China has agreed to allow an additional 14 so-called enhanced format foreign films -- those that are in 3-D or in IMAX -- into the country each year.
The current quota limits the number of foreign films allowed into the country under a revenue-sharing agreement to about 20 a year, most of which are U.S. movies. The agreement also increases the amount of revenue that foreign studios collect from movies distributed in China from about 13% to 25% of ticket sales.
The agreement was finalized on Friday in negotiations between Vice President Joe Biden and Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who was visiting Los Angeles on a trip to promote more trade between the countries.
Easing China's restrictions on access to its vast market has been a top priority for the Motion Picture Assn. of America and its chief executive, Chris Dodd, who has been working with U.S. trade officials on a compromise with the Chinese government. During his visit to Los Angeles on Friday, Xi met with studio executives, including Walt Disney Co. Chief Executive Bob Iger and DreamWorks Animation Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg, who just announced a deal to build a new animation studio in Shanghai with two state-owned Chinese media companies.
China has faced heavy pressure to comply with a World Trade Organization ruling in 2009. In a decision hailed as a big victory for the U.S. entertainment industry, the WTO ruled that China had violated international trade rules by restricting imports of foreign movies and other media. But China disagreed with the ruling, which stemmed from a complaint the U.S. filed with the world body in 2007.
The rapid growth of the theater industry in China has made the market that much more appealing to studios, which can generate $20 million to $40 million in ticket sales per film, compared with about $1 million a decade ago. Popular movies released in China include the blockbusters “Avatar,” “Alice in Wonderland” and “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.”
The agreement was quickly praised in the movie industry.
"This is a major step forward in spurring the growth of U.S. exports to China," Dodd said in a statement. "It is tremendous news for the millions of American workers and businesses whose jobs depend on the entertainment industry."
Disney's Iger added: "China is one of the most populous countries in the world, and this agreement represents a significant opportunity to provide Chinese audiences increased access to our films."
For the record, 8:00 a.m. Feb.18: An earlier version of this post incorrectly said that Dodd had met with Xi in Los Angeles on Friday. Dodd met Xi at a luncheon in Washington on Tuesday.
Fox Digital Entertainment has joined the growing pack of companies creating high-quality content for the Internet. The 2-year-old unit of 20th Century Fox movie studio this week released its first made-for-the-Web series called "Wolfpack of Reseda."
The 12-minute inaugural episode revolves around Ben March, a hapless car insurance salesman (played by Tate Ellington), whose life is transformed when he thinks he had been bitten by a werewolf at a San Fernando Valley park. The show, which consists of eight episodes with a new one released each Thursday, is something of a dark comedy.
"The key challenge in this space is the storytelling," said Matt Glotzer, senior vice president at Fox Digital Entertainment. "And then the challenge becomes about breaking the show. How do you make sure people see it?"
Fox Digital turned to Myspace, which is trying to transform itself, as its primary distributor. Myspace plans to create its own content, acquire other series and become something of a digital "farm system" to find new talent.
Kia Motors America is sponsoring the series. Tim Chaney, Kia's director of marketing communications, said the car company was attracted by the show's transformational theme. The story line felt like a good fit for its funky Kia Soul vehicle, he said.
The emergence of Fox Digital Entertainment and "Wolfpack of Reseda," highlights the trend of major media players stepping up their game when it comes to creating Web content. Online video has become the fastest-growing advertising segment, according to eMarketer Digital Intelligence.
"Marketing and advertising is about going to where the eyeballs are, and increasingly those eyeballs are online," said Rebecca Lieb, media analyst with the Altimeter Group.
The big-budget sci-fi adventure film “John Carter” opens March 9. On Friday its director, Andrew Stanton -- who also helmed the animated hits "Finding Nemo" and "Wall-E" -- hit Twitter for some unfiltered talk about his new movie.
The film, based on Edgar Rice Burroughs' series of early 20th century adventure novels, will reach theaters just eight weeks after Walt Disney Studios replaced its head of marketing, MT Carney, with Ricky Strauss. Stanton addressed questions about the movie's marketing and publicity campaigns.
Asked to assess the new television commercials promoting the film, Stanton responded, "They're trying hard. #goodfolk." Regarding the use of music by Peter Gabriel and Arcade Fire in a trailer, Stanton said, "New guy at Disney. Really caught tone of film." This appears to be a reference to Strauss.
Stanton, who has periodically fielded questions about the film on Twitter from his account @andrewstanton, also retweeted a discussion between two people about Disney's decision to prevent journalists from writing about advance screenings of the movie until March 7.
"The review embargo is Disney being dumb (Well you are, Disney. People love it.)," wrote a person under the Twitter handle @MattIsland.
There are 11 books in Burroughs' John Carter series. Is a Stanton-directed sequel to the first "John Carter" film possible? Asked if he would choose to shoot a sequel to one of his animated films, "Finding Nemo" or "Wall-E,” Stanton volunteered another title, "Carter."
When it comes to parting with their spectrum, many broadcasters have the same attitude Charlton Heston had when it came to his rifle: The government can pry it from their “cold dead hands.”
On Friday, Congress cleared the way for the Federal Communications Commission to auction off some of the airwaves that broadcasters use to transmit their programming to wireless companies.
The proceeds would go toward building a new national network for law enforcement and public safety workers and toward paying for an extension of payroll tax and unemployment benefits.
Now comes the hard part: actually getting the spectrum, which has been valued at $25 billion, back from broadcasters to sell.
Even though the potential cut for broadcasters from the sale is $1.75 billion, there doesn't seem to be a whole lot of excitement about the idea.
“We have no intention of giving up spectrum,” said Alan Frank, president and chief executive of Post-Newsweek Stations, a broadcasting group that owns stations in several big cities, including Detroit, Houston and Miami.
David Smith, CEO of Sinclair Broadcast Group Inc., which operates 74 stations around the country, said he “hasn't heard of any broadcaster who has said they have anything for sale.”
The big networks seem to share that view. Although none would comment publicly, executives at Fox and NBC indicated they had no desire to sell any of their airwaves. CBS Chief Executive Leslie Moonves has previously said his company wants to keep all its spectrum.
“It would hurt our business,” Moonves said when asked last year at the National Assn. of Broadcasters convention if he would consider parting with some of CBS' airwaves.
Some broadcasters of independent and small-market stations could be game. Bert Ellis, president of Titan Broadcasting, which owns KDOC-TV Channel 56 in Los Angeles, told the House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology last June that his company might be willing to sell some of its spectrum.
In Los Angeles, there are several small independent stations that cater to ethnic groups including Asians and Latinos. The National Assn. of Broadcasters worries that if they sell, local communities would suffer.
“The stations likely to sell — if any — are the ones that offer truly niche programming serving a melting pot of immigrant populations,” said Dennis Wharton, a spokesman for the broadcasters group. “The notion that an ABC or CBS affiliate would voluntarily choose to go out of business to help solve an alleged spectrum crunch is ludicrous.”
Not everyone paints such a grim picture. The Wireless Assn. and the Consumer Electronics Assn. said this week that “only a very small percentage of the nation’s broadcast stations need participate in the auction in order to address the nation’s broadband spectrum shortage.”
Philip Weiser, dean of the University of Colorado Law School and a former telecommunications advisor for the Obama administration, said he expects smaller broadcasters to try to have their cake and eat it too by sharing spectrum.
For example, one TV station could sell its spectrum and then partner with another station and share airwaves. Although that would not appeal to a big broadcaster, smaller mom-and-pop TV stations might be more willing to embrace such an option.
“It is a huge opportunity for them,” said Weiser, adding that such a practice would allow for a more efficient use of spectrum and would give broadcasters who choose to sell a “hefty profit.”
DreamWorks Animation on Friday announced plans to build a studio in Shanghai, in what the Glendale-based company billed as a landmark agreement with two state-owned Chinese media companies.
The creator of the "Shrek" movies said it was forming Oriental DreamWorks, a joint venture with China Media Capital and Shanghai Media Group in concert with Shanghai Alliance Investment -- an investment arm of the Shanghai municipal government -- to establish a family entertainment company in China.
With an initial investment of $330 million, the Shanghai studio would develop original Chinese animated and live-action movies, TV shows and other entertainment catering to the China market. The deal was among several business ventures announced in downtown Los Angeles during an economic forum attended by visiting Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to be the country's next leader.
"We share the same vision with DreamWorks Animation to build a world-class family entertainment company," Ruigang Li, chairman of China Media Capital said in a statement. "Oriental DreamWorks will be a unique position to create high-quality content and interactive entertainment products for China and international markets."
The new studio, which has been recruiting some staff in Hollywood, plans to begin operations later this year and could eventually surpass the size of DreamWorks' headquarters, which employs more than 2,000 people, Chief Executive Jeffrey Katzenberg said in an interview.
"Our objective is to build an animation studio that is competitive with what we’re doing here," Katzenberg said. "We already have people working on over a half-dozen projects."
The studio eventually hopes to produce one animated feature film a year, with its first release set for 2016. Additional animators will be hired locally to accommodate the new China facility, Katzenberg added.
The joint venture is the latest push by Hollywood to mine the world's largest country. Last year, DreamWorks signed a deal with online video site Youku.com to distribute the studio's popular "Kung Fu Panda" movies in China. Beverly Hills-based RealD also has partnered with Beijing SAGA Luxury Cinema Management Co. to equip the Chinese theater chain with 3-D technology. Production companies Relativity and Legendary East also have unveiled new ventures to co-finance and release movies in China.
"When you look out five to seven years from now, China will be the No. 1 media market in the world," Katzenberg said. "It’s a huge opportunity for us."
Major Hollywood studios have been frustrated, however, by rampant intellectual-property piracy in China, as well as restrictions the government places on the number of foreign films it allows into the country, and how much revenue foreign studios can share.
Talks between U.S. and Chinese officials to ease those restrictions have heated up this week, raising the possibility that an agreement could be reached during Xi's U.S. visit.
Since Hollywood's earliest days, families have come to Los Angeles to chase stardom for their children. In a departure from that tradition, companies are marketing the Hollywood dream in towns and cities across the U.S., offering children a chance to be discovered — for a price.
The talent businesses have thrived because the proliferation of children's TV programs has created a large pool of youngsters eager to become the next Miley Cyrus or Selena Gomez.
The companies blanket radio and TV stations with ads that use the names of Disney stars to draw children and their families to free auditions. Parents are then pressured to buy packages of acting workshops and other services that they're told will make their kids more appealing to talent agents and casting directors, according to court records and complaints filed with state attorneys general and the Better Business Bureau.
"I've talked to parents who've spent their children's college fund to make this dream a reality and have nothing to show for it," said Zino Macaluso, a national director of the Screen Actors Guild.
For more on the story, see today's article in the Los Angeles Times.
Photo: Bret Dawson and his parents, Gina and Shawn, spent thousands at Pacific Modeling and Acting Academy. The family, shown in their San Diego home, hoped it would prepare Bret to be in commercials. Credit: Don Bartletti / Los Angeles Times.
After the coffee. Before figuring out if I have Monday off.
The Skinny: This sure seemed like a long week! Who do I talk to about that? Friday's headlines include a cautionary tale about kids trying to break into Hollywood, a preview of the weekend box office and how a New York City politician is putting pressure on Time Warner Cable and the MSG channel to end their feud so subscribers can watch Knicks games and see new star Jeremy Lin.
The Daily Dose: For 15 years, Fox was the home of the NAACP's Image Awards show. Tonight, the show jumps to NBC. What gives? Well, when Comcast was in the midst of trying to get government approval for its deal to buy NBCUniversal, it went out of its way to get the support of minority-advocacy groups, including the NAACP, to back its merger. One of Comcast's promises was that it would bring more diversity to the screen. That apparently included picking up some TV shows such as the Image Awards. The price tag was about $1.5 million, one insider said, which was more than Fox was paying. NBC also snagged the ALMA awards, the show put on by the National Council of La Raza, a Latino advocacy organization. Craig Robinson, NBC's chief diversity officer, said this was not a case of a quid pro quo but rather part of the network's push to be "even more committed than ever to diversity."
My kid's going to be a star! Lots of parents hope their child will be the next Hailee Steinfeld. But the road to child stardom is often filled with hustlers promising big dreams, for a big price, who don't deliver anything other than heartbreak. The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the hard lessons some parents have learned when it comes to kids and Hollywood.
"Ghost" to haunt box office. Nicolas Cage's "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance" is expected to scorch the competition and drive away with the top slot at the box office this weekend. The other big opening -- Reese Witherspoon's "This Means War" -- isn't expected to generate much heat. Among the returning movies, "The Vow" and "Safe House" will battle it out for second place. Box-office previews from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.
Which way to Madison Avenue? Every spring, broadcast and cable networks promote their programming to advertisers in advance of the fall TV season. It is a ritual almost as old as television itself. Now Silicon Valley wants to crash the party. The Wall Street Journal reports that YouTube, Hulu and other online sites are going to start making their own presentations to try to woo some ad dollars away from the big boys. Having covered the promotional events for some years, my advice would be: Bring lots of booze and lots of shrimp! The WSJ also looks at some of the programming the folks up in Northern California are working on.
Is the timing right for this? Given all the problems at its British newspapers, one would think that News Corp. and its chairman, Rupert Murdoch, would be a little wary about expanding in that business. But that's why Rupert is Rupert. Apparently he wants to launch a Sunday version of the Sun tabloid. This is the same Sun tabloid at which several staffers were recently arrested on charges of paying off police and other officials for stories. More on Murdoch's plans from the Guardian.
Just make sure to keep your top on! The Hollywood Reporter says Janet Jackson is in preliminary discussions about joining Fox's "The X Factor," the musical talent show from former "American Idol" judge Simon Cowell. "The X Factor" posted solid but not spectacular numbers in its first season and is overhauling itself for the second season.
Time to kiss and make up. Are you caught up in the Jeremy Lin story? The Knicks forward has come out of nowhere to lift up the team and capture a nation's attention. But millions of Time Warner Cable subscribers in New York City have not been able to enjoy "Linsanity" because the cable channel that carries the Knicks -- MSG -- has been off its systems for months because of a contract dispute. Now Christine Quinn, speaker of the New York City Council and a likely mayoral candidate, is looking to score some points off the feud by ordering the two companies back to the negotiating table or they'll face the music from her. More on Quinn's publicity ploy from the New York Post.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: MSNBC's Ed Schultz is on a roll. Curt Schilling has gone from throwing fast balls to developing video games.
Demand Media Inc. found that out the hard way. A year ago the Web company, awash in traffic, was the darling of Wall Street, valued at $1 billion in a Jan. 26 initial public offering.
Three months later, Google Inc., which had sent millions of visitors a day to Demand’s websites, modified its search results to de-emphasize destinations deemed to have lower-quality content. The change throttled the Santa Monica company’s traffic nearly 25% between January and July.
Wall Street turned against the company, driving its stock from a lofty $24.57 in March to $5.62 by October.
On Thursday the company — whose properties include Livestrong, eHow and Cracked.com — reported a $6.4-million loss on $84.4 million in revenue in its fourth quarter, which ended Dec. 31. It had posted a $1-million profit on $73.6 million in sales a year earlier.
“The business that they took public changed fundamentally when Google changed its algorithm,” said Patrick Walravens, an analyst with JMP Securities. “The business model they had for producing content no longer works. So what’s the new model?”
This post has been corrected. See bottom for details.
Nicolas Cage plays with fire in "Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance," but it's the competition at the box office that will likely get burned this weekend.
The 3-D sequel, featuring a demonic motorcycle-riding superhero played by Cage, is expected to be the No. 1 film over President's Day weekend. According to those who have seen pre-release audience surveys, the movie will debut with around $30 million in sales from Friday through Monday.
The tear-jerker "The Vow" and the action film "Safe House," which each opened to over $40 million last weekend, will likely fight for the runner-up position with around $20 million in sales.
Two new films, meanwhile, are projected to trail behind. The romantic comedy-action flick "This Means War," starring Reese Witherspoon, Chris Pine and Tom Hardy, is expected to bring in a so-so $15 million over the four-day holiday. And "The Secret World of Arrietty," an animated film first released in Japan in 2010 and now dubbed with the voices of American actors, will likely start off with about $5 million.
The original "Ghost Rider" opened on the same weekend in 2007 and debuted with $45.4 million, ultimately raking in $115.8 domestically and about that much overseas as well. The film was one of the biggest successes in recent years for Cage, who has appeared in an astounding 14 films since the release of "Ghost Rider." Of those, most were action movies, with the highest-grossing one being the sequel "National Treasure: Book of Secrets," which took in about $350 million worldwide in 2007.
While the outdoor advertisements for the 48-year-old actor's latest project spotlight the recognizable Ghost Rider character, his face or name are not prominently featured. The movie was not screened in advance for critics, indicating that Sony Pictures may be nervous about its public reception.
The picture was funded by Sony along with production and financing company Hyde Park Entertainment for about $80 million, said one person close to the project who was not authorized to speak about it publicly. Hyde Park controls international distribution rights. The sequel was made for about $30 million less than the original, and also features new directors in Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, who are well known to fanboys for their work on the "Crank" series.
"This Means War" was initially slated to officially open nationwide on Valentine's Day, but last week 20th Century Fox pushed back the release date by three days. In an effort to spread positive word-of-mouth in advance of the film's debut, Fox previewed the picture in approximately 2,500 theaters on Tuesday evening. The picture grossed $1.6 million from one screening only at about 7 p.m.
Fox and co-financier Dune Entertainment spent about $65 million to produce the movie, about two CIA agents both vying for the affections of the same woman. The film is directed by McG, best known for his work on action films such as "Terminator: Salvation." It has been in development at Fox for over a decade, and in recent years attracted the interest of such stars as Bradley Cooper and Sam Worthington.
The film, which has so far received poor critical reviews, is debuting in 17 foreign markets this weekend, including Australia and Russia.
"The Secret World of Arrietty" was co-written by Hayao Miyazaki, the filmmaker behind "Ponyo" and "Spirited Away." Miyazaki enjoys a strong relationship with Pixar Animation Studio's creative guru John Lasseter, who also oversees Disney Animation.
It was Lasseter who helped bring "Arrietty" to the U.S. after the animated film found success overseas in 2010. That year, it became the top-grossing picture in Japan and collected a total of $126 million abroad. Now, the characters in the movie have been updated with the voices of English-speaking actors, including Bridgit Mendler as the lead character, Amy Poehler and Carol Burnett.
[Updated, 2:51 p.m., Feb. 16: An earlier version of this voice said actress Saoirse Ronan voiced the lead character in the U.S. version of "Arrietty." In fact, she voices the lead character in the U.K. edition of the film.]
