Book Adaptations

What happens when you sell the rights of your beloved book (or a series of books) to a production company, and a movie is made? There currently seems to be a lot of movies adapted from books. (Not like this is something new.) There are high dollar productions and series of films that have been stemming from books. The Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Twilight, Harry Potter, The Help, the Chronicles of Narnia, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just to name a few.

The outcome could be in your favor. J.K. Rowling was pleased with the Harry Potter films. She was very much a part of the early process of creating the look of some of the locations. After all, these were all fictional places. Only she would know best. According to an interview on hypable.com she said, “I felt a huge protectiveness and loyalty to the readership. Once I knew it was running, it was fine.“ J.K. Rowling’s relationship with Warner Bros. was a good running one with the Harry Potter series that they have announces a new movie. According to insidemovies.ew.com this isn’t a prequel or a sequel to Harry Potter but a spin off of the wizarding world.

Unlike Harry Potter, the book Mary Poppins turned into a movie was so repugnant for P.L. Travers that Disney was able to make a movie out of that. Saving Mr. Banks is about the story of Walt Disney and P.L. Travers meeting about making Mary Poppins. It took Walt Disney around 20 years for P.L. Travers to give the rights to create the Mary Poppins movie. She was a very difficult woman to please, and Mary Poppins was very dear to her. She thought “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” and other songs were foolish. She didn’t like the relationship Disney added between Mary Poppins and Bert, and wanted the animated scenes cut out completely. After the film was completed. She was not openly invited to the release, but had to request her presence from Disney. Unlike the movie (which I haven’t seen, but heard the reviews) she was very displeased. There was no happy ending for P.L. Travers.

The importance of an artist or actor/actress manager

What is an artist or actor/actress manager? A manager is someone who can evolve with your career. From just getting you started, a manager is introducing you into the industry, and getting you the gigs. To later on managing your schedule, gigs/affairs, and keeping you on track, as well as, getting your agent, attorney, etc. into place once your career has kicked into full swing.  A manager is someone you end up having a business relationship with. Sometime that relationship can be an amazing 25-year journey, or go south due to creative differences.

According to deadline.com Jim Carrey is ending his 25-year run with his managers Jimmy Miller and Eric Gold. This split was agreeable to all parties. Jimmy and Eric were with Jim Carrey all the way back to his In Living Color days. Jim Carrey has gone from TV sketch comedy to mega movie hits like Dumb & Dumber, Ace Ventura, and all the way up to 20 million dollar payday from The Cable Guy. Jim Carrey has also played memorable roles like the Grinch in How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Andy Kaufman in Man in the Moon. According to celebritynetworth.com Jim Carrey’s net worth is $150 million. Jim Carrey has won two Golden Globes for his performances in Man in the Moon and The Truman Show as well as many other nominations.

Lady Gaga has fired her manager Troy Carter after being with him since 2007. According to forbes.com Troy Carter, along with his management company, is the reason that Lady Gaga is in the position she is in artist wise and financially. Lady Gaga has topped Forbes list of most powerful musicians. According to entertainmentwise.com the reason for the split is due to creative differences. Either way, Lady Gaga is without representation. She just released her new album Artpop. At this time now, more than ever, she will need to remain wise on her deals to remain at the top of her game. Pushing the envelope with her fashion and art will only go so far.

James Franco is someone else who is going on with his career without a current manager. He’s has been acting and directing in The Sound And The Fury. If you ask me, now more than ever, is he in need of a manager. James Franco has crossed over from not only acting, but also now writing and directing. He will need to continue with what is best in his career and his name.  Having a manager would only alleviate the stress and pressure of business issues for himself. He could then focus on what’s important to him, his work!

Having a manager in this business is so crucial and important; someone who is there to represent your interests and what’s best for you. Without having good manager in place you could end up like The Three Stooges or Creedence Clearwater Revival. 

To Stream or to Stream

According to the Wall Street Journal “Netflix’s paid domestic streaming subscriber base has increased to nearly 28 million from 25.5 million at the start of 2013 and 22 million a year before.” For those of you who have been living under a rock Netflix is a DVD rental and video streaming company through Internet subscription that incorporated on August 29, 1997. Netflix offers TV and movies.

HuluPlus is another online subscription that offers video streaming. Most of what is on HuluPlus is TV, and some older movies. HuluPlus offers a lot of TV shows on NBC, ABC, CBS, and FOX. Some of which can be viewed the next day after airing live.

Redbox is literally a big red box that you can rent DVD’s overnight for $1. Redbox launch on March 14, 2013, Redbox Instant, which allows you to stream movies online. Even though Redbox has made it’s name by holding onto DVD’s now RedBox Instant offers an $8 a month subscription for DVD rentals plus online streaming.  Sounds a lot like Netflix, huh?

Amazon who is well known for being an online retailer with the world largest selection of everything also offers an online subscription of video streaming called Amazon Prime. This Prime subscription also offers you a free two-day shipping on items you purchase on Amazon.com.  According to Variety.com, Amazon just may be launching their own set-top box. This would allow TV’s to stream video titles purchased or rented not only through Amazon, but also through 3^rd parties.

The only issue I would foresee with this idea is that technology is forever changing, not to mention that Netflix almost tried this back in 2007. Right before it was going to release the company canned the idea. This should tell Amazon something, right? How about Netflix being one of those 3^rd parties? What about AppleTV? Netflix is one of the highest used apps on AppleTV. Let not forget about Roku and Chromecast.

Well it is no wonder that Netflix “stock has surged 178% so far” for 2013.  According to the Wall Street Journal “Netflix also has become a choosier content shopper. It now targets exclusive deals for high quality programming, opting not to pay for as much old library content as it did before.” Let’s not forget about Netflix original shows Orange is the New Black and House of Cards. Netflix also walked away with 14 Emmy nominations, and a win. Which is the first for an online TV company.

Time Warner

Did you know that Time Warner controls major networks like HBO, TBS, TNT, Cinemax, CW, and CNN. They are also in film studios like New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers, as well as operating People magazine, Sports Illustrated, and Time. HBO alone allows Time Warner to reserve about 70% of their cash flow. The box office projections for 2013 between their film production companies are about $1.4 billion monthly sales. Time Warner is on top of their game. They have been surpassing their competition for years. They have defeated industry standards by over 7%.

This weekend’s Warner Bros. big blockbuster Gravity opened this past Thursday night.  As it stands it’s projected to bring in almost $50 million, and there’s already talks of Oscar nominations. The movie is about space isolation, and was about $100 million to make. It’s lonely out in space with Gravity crushing it’s competition, but I’m sure that makes the people over at Warner Bros. / Time Warner happy. Hey, even Roger Ebert gives it four stars.

Just a few days ago there was a deal agreement with Warner Brothers and RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The deal consists of financial backing for Warner Bros for as many as 75 films over the course of four or so years.  RatPac will not have any creative involvement. There haven’t been any confirmed financial details as of yet; however, RatPac-Dune Entertainment has committed approximately $450 million according to anonymous person who was given the rundown of the meeting. Legendary Entertainment as stated back earlier in the summer they are going through with it’s move to Universal Studios. 

I am excited for the RatPac-Dune deal with Warner Bros.. As a huge fan of Time Warner's Warner Bros. and New Line Cinema. I look forward to their 75 movie deal.   

Directors Guild of America

What is the Directors Guild of America? It’s more than 15,000 members of a labor organization protecting the legal and artistic rights for directors and their teams.  The DGA was formed in 1936 by some of the most known directors in Hollywood. They forged the DGA through decades of constant issues with production companies. There was a lack of job security, threats of being fired, and no creative freedom before the guild was formed.

Back in the 1900’s the cameraman, producer, or the production company had full control over the picture. The director wasn’t even involved in the editing process at all, and wasn’t called to production until just before the filming started.  At this time the director’s position was still being formed, and sound hadn’t quite hit the scene yet. Before the guild was formed there was a group called Motion Pictures Directors Association, but was really more of a secret society. It was not a guild or a union. There wasn’t any benefits or job security that the MPDA provided. In the beginning their only intent was to straighten up the reputation of Hollywood and motion pictures.

Finally when sound made its way to motion pictures in the 1930's, directors still had almost no creative freedom, and a complete lack of compensation. In 1933 Congress stepped in with the National Industrial Recovery Act giving unions the rights to collective bargaining. The Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild was formed in 1933 as well, but still nothing for the directors. In 1935 the National Labor Relations Board formed and thousands of crew joined the IATSE. Paramount’s last attempt was to force directors to take pictures assigned to them or be fired. This was the moment thirteen directors met up at King Vidor’s house. The guild was formed. At that time it was called The Screen Directors Guild.

Not only do director’s now have creative freedom, but security, privacy, contracts, and rights. They have pensions, 401K, health benefits, and job security. There’s committee’s, awards, education, and much more. Without the battle the directors fought in the 1930’s with the production companies, the DGA may have never been formed, and directing may have been extinct.

One of the biggest impacts the DGA works towards is the production incentives. The DGA works with each state with active incentive’s to keep film production within the United States. This is a huge impact not only for all directors, but also future aspiring directors like myself. Without tax credits, Section 181, American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, and the help of the DGA film production could easily move to another country. This would not only impact directors, but the entire movie industry as well as the United States as a country. Hollywood is the mother to Motion Pictures, and will always remain to be.