Today is the last day for members of the IPSG to nominate work for the ZeBBies, the inaugural awards by the Guild that celebrate the best work in film, radio, television and theatre by Irish writers.
Each Guild member can nominate one project from each of the four categories. Nominations close today, at 5pm.
The short-list of nominations will be announced on Monday, the 8th of October.
IFTN reports that the 10th Annual Manhattan Short Film Festival will be travelling to Galway and Cork in the coming weeks as part of its world-wide journey to find the best film among its twelve finalists, which were selected from 456 entries received from 33 countries.
The short film festival will screen at the Town Hall Theatre, Galway, on Sunday, September 30th at 3 pm, and the Cork Film Centre, Cork City on Sunday, September 30th at 8 pm. Tickets cost €7. It will be the end of a week-long tour of countries from as far apart as St. Petersburg, Russia and Buenos Aires, Argentina. 50,00 people are expected to see the films.
Filmgoers at every event are asked to vote for one film. The votes are forwarded to the festival's headquarters where the winner will be announced at Union Square Park (NYC) on Sunday, September 30th at 9:15 pm. and posted on the web site by 10 pm.
Dominic Cooke, the Artistic Director for The Royal Court in London, has an article in The Observer about the kind of work he would like to see from emerging playwrights, and his opinions on theatre's need to represent the various factions in society.
The Star, the Toronto-based newspaper, has an article about the recent Toronto International Film Festival, and its traditional support of emerging female directors. The piece also discusses the issues surrounding why women's participation in the film industry continues to remain so low.
The Stage reports that in the autumn season of the BBC's Cuture Show there will be a special edition spotlighting the work of director, playwright, and screenwriter Stephen Poliakoff.
Poliakoff has created a one-off 45-minute television drama, called A Real Summer, that will air as part of his feature on the Culture Show. The piece is centred on a single actress, Ruth Wilson, and is shot on one location. It serves as a prequel to Poliakoff's forthcoming BBC2 drama, Capturing Mary.
Members of the IPSG are reminded to submit their nominations for the ZeBBies, the inaugural awards by the Guild that celebrate the best work in film, radio, television and theatre by Irish writers.
Each Guild member can nominate one project from each of the four categories from the master-list of qualifiers, which you can view on the web site. Nominations close on Friday, September 21st, at 5pm.
The short-list of nominations will be announced on Monday, the 8th of October.
RTÉ and the BBC both report on the Primetime Emmy Awards, handed out in Los Angeles last night. The final season of The Sopranos garnered three Emmys, one of them being the Best Writer award for creator David Chase's episode "Made in America", and the overall Best Drama award - the first time a series has won that prestigious award for its final season.
The other writing awards went to Greg Daniels in the Comedy category for his work on The Office; the writing team of Late Night with Conan O'Brien for the Variety, Music or Comedy Program category; Irish screenwriter Frank Deasy for Prime Suspect: The Final Act in the Miniseries, Movie or Dramatic Special section; and Ric Burns and James Sanders for Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film in the Non-Fiction division.
The New York Times notes that a great deal of the actors accepting awards recognised the writers' importance to their work, which is a recognition of the on-going negotiations in the USA over writers' contracts.
Always wanted to direct the Irish version of Enter the Dragon? Filmbase in Dublin has the solution: take their new four-day (over two weekends) 'The Art of Action' seminar with international stunt coordinator, Roger Yuan.
The course costs €400, and go prepared to demonstrate the moves.
Over 100 free events will be taking place throughout Dublin city to celebrate Culture Night 2007. Events include tours, talks, exhibitions, concerts, films, workshops, indoor and outdoor performances from 5pm until 10pm on Friday the 14th September.
Full details about the location and description of the events are available on the web site.
Due to vacation the blog will be on hiatus until mid-September.
Come back next month for regular supplies of news and information about the film, radio, television and theatre industry.
Liam O'Mochain, a guild member, and writer and director, has informed us that his second feature film WC has been selected to screen at the 2007 Montreal World Film Festival (August 23rd - September 3rd). It will feature in the focus on world cinema section of the festival. O'Mochain says on hearing the news "I was delighted, Montreal is a great festival, with a particular strong emphasis on world cinema. It will be a great international platform for the film". WC received its world Premiere at the 2007 Dublin International Film Festival in February, where it sold out. It also screened in July at the 2007 Galway Film Fleadh in the WILDCARDS strand.
WC is a quirky drama set in and around the toilets of a Dublin Jazz bar, it follows a day and in the life of two toilet attendants, Jack (Liam O'Mochain - The Book That Wrote Itself), an Irish guy who has recently been released from prison and Katya (Julia Wakeham - The Tudors), a Russian girl who has come to Ireland to find a better life. As Jack and Katya deal with argumentative customers, an interfering bar manager and an inept thief, they find an unlikely friendship with one another in the last place one would expect - the toilets. Described by the director as a "social drama", the film examines topical issues like racism, social integration, sex trafficking and low paid workers in a every day setting. In making WC O'Mochain has drawn inspiration from the films of Mike Leigh, Ken Loach and Michael Winterbottom.
On August 19 at 6.20pm the IFI in Temple Bar, Dublin will screen a preview of Hallam Foe, the new film by Scottish director David Mackenzie, which he co-wrote with Ed Whitmore based on a Peter Jinks novel.
The screening will be followed by a Q&A with David Mackenzie conducted by Michael Dwyer of the Irish Times.
According to IFTN the Irish Film Board (IFB) has increased its Regional Support Fund by 100% to encourage film and television production outside of Dublin.
The Fund's 2:1 spend requirement means that in order to attain the €250,000 award, the production must spend over €500,000 on costs such as cast, crew, local goods and services, location and post-production, in the designated region.
RTE reports that The Walworth Farce, a play written by Enda Walsh and directed by Mikel Murfi for the Druid Theatre Company, has won a Fringe First award at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
The Stage reports that RTÉ has grand plans for its autumn schedule.
Investment in television drama in recent years has increased substantially and alongside returning favourites Fair City and The Clinic, are Prosperity, a major four-part series written by Mark O’Halloran looking at life on the margins of the Celtic Tiger economy, romantic comedy No Laughing Matter by Barry Murphy and Stuart Carolann, and a feature-length adaptation of Eugene O’Brien’s award-winning play, Eden.
New entertainment shows on the way are I Dare Ya, another variation on the hidden camera format, youth talent show Class Act and a spoof documentary series looking at The English Class.
The Arts Lives profile series also returns featuring programmes devoted to novelists John Banville and Patrick McCabe and Father Ted creator Graham Linehan.
The BBC reports that a fire broke out last night at the famous Cinecitta film studios in Rome, and destroyed over 3,000sq m.
It started in a warehouse that stored sets - such as those used in the HBO/BBC TV show Rome - and spread. Luckily, it did not reach the historic areas where Federico Fellini filmed, or where Ben Hur was shot. No one was hurt or injured.
LA Times reports that the on-going contract negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are fraught at best.
Reuters notes that the rush to stockpile scripts before October 31--when the writers' contracts expire--and to complete production on films before the actors and directors' contracts expire next summer could result in poorly-executed and mediocre cinema fare.
At least they'll have an excuse next year...
Those of you who were unable to attend the recent Information Session on Arts Council Funding in Dublin, organised by the Arts Council and Filmbase, will be happy to know that Filmbase has published notes from the meeting online.
Filmbase notes that the Centre Culturel Irlandais in Paris will host the 1st Festival of Irish Women's Film in conjunction with Women in Film & Television (WFTV) Ireland, and WFTV France, on the 29th of September, 2007.
Women in Film & Television was established in 1973 and is an international network composed of 37 chapters worldwide and over 10,000 members dedicated to protect and enhance the status, interests, and diversity of women working at all levels of the film, television, and digital media industries.
The programme of events for the Festival of Irish Women's Film can be downloaded from the WFTV Ireland web site.
The IFI in Dublin is showing Electroma, the visually ravishing science-fiction fable from Daft Punk duo Guy Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, on August 10th and 11th.
The film is without dialogue and doesn’t feature any of Daft Punk's music. Instead, it boasts some stunningly beautiful imagery and an evocative soundtrack featuring numbers from Brian Eno ("In Dark Trees"), Curtis Mayfield ("Billy Jack"), Sebastian Tellier ("Universe") as well as pieces by Chopin and Haydn. The cinematic references range from George Lucas' THX 1138 to Gus Van Sant's Gerry.
The Stage announced that the Dublin Theatre Festival has launched the programme for its 50th anniversary season.
Highlights this year include Sankai Juku's Olivier Award-winning production of Hibiki, the 28-strong Young@Heart Company (who range in age from 72 to 93) from Massachusetts, a production of Chekhov’s Ivanov from Budapest's renowned Katona Jozsef Theatre Company and, in their first visit to Dublin in 11 years, Pan Pan will give the first performance in English of their adaptation of the Lars Von Trier film, The Idiots.The programme is "designed to deepen and enhance the relationship between Dublin audiences and artists and the international performers visiting the city", according to artistic director Loughlin Deegan. The festival runs from September 27 to October 14.
Works receiving world or Irish premieres during the 18-day festival include new plays by Sebastian Barry, Marina Carr and Christian O'Reilly, and an updating to contemporary Dublin of The Playboy of the Western World by novelist Roddy Doyle and Nigerian actor and drummer Bisi Adigun. The Gate Theatre will also mount a new production of Brian Friel’s version of Uncle Vanya, one of three Chekhov plays to be featured.
The deadline for the Irish Film Board's Short Shorts scheme is Friday, August 10th.
Scripts for live-action or animated films up to 3 minutes in length are eligible. Up to six films will be selected for support, and production budgets must not exceed €15,000.
Information on how to apply is available on the web site.
The Independent features an article today that profiles the top movers and shakers in the UK Film industry, which contributed £4.3bn to the British economy in 2006.
Further evidence that we live in a science fictional world is supplied with an article by The Stage that informs us that the first online musical--Joined at the Heart--will be staged in the Internet-based virtual world, Second Life. The production will be streamed live on August 4 at 7.30pm, and any of the seven million "residents" of the system will be able to watch it.
Mark Duffy, 3D manager of Fusion Unity, told The Stage: "It [Second Life] is a business tool - this proves it. People from all around the world can attend a premiere or a launch event, and actually be able to see it without invitations, travel or costs. This is the first musical to be streamed, and it just shows what is possible.
"You can log in, see the play and see people's reaction to it. They will be able to turn round at the end and say it was a classic, or it was rubbish, and you’ll get that interaction the same way you would with an audience."
Joined at the Heart is an original musical by Graham Brown and Geoff Meads, based on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein. In the real world, the production has a 30-strong cast and will run at The Junction in Cambridge from August 1 to 4. It will then play at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe from August 12 to 18.
The Venice Film Festival has announced a new award, according to the BBC.
The Queer Lion award will be bestowed upon the best full-length film featuring a gay theme or character.
Films entering the main competition are eligible for the award, as are other films being shown at the festival, which runs from 29 August to 8 September.
A small international jury will select the winner, who will be presented with a gold plaque featuring the Venice Lion winged logo with the rainbow colours of the gay pride flag on the wings.
The Berlin International Film Festival has been handing out a similar prize, the Teddy Award, for the past 21 years as an offshoot of its Golden Bear award.
