Exclusive: VFX studio in Taiwan pact

Visual effects company Rhythm & Hues Studios has pacted for three new ventures in Taiwan: a film investment fund, a new visual effects facility and a cloud computing center for the vfx and animation industries. The deals, to be formalized in signing ceremonies on Dec. 30 in Taipei and Dec. 31 in Kaohsiung, will set up three standalone enterprises. The film investment fund, East Grand Films, is being set up with the help of Taiwan's Ministry of Economic Affairs. It aims to co-finance and co-produce "major Hollywood motion pictures," according to R&H. East Grand will leverage R&H's Hollywood relationships to find investment opportunities. R&H will set up its new vfx facility in the southern city of Kaohsiung. It aims to eventually employ 200 Taiwanese artists. The new facility will be Los Angeles-based R&H's sixth, joining facilities in Vancouver; Hyderabad, India; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The cloud computing center will be set up as a partnership between R&H, Chunghwa Telecom and Quanta Computers, a maker of notebook computers and electronic hardware. R&H is crediting helmer Ang Lee, who is working with the company on Fox's "Life of Pi," with suggesting greater cooperation between R&H and Taiwan. "He opened doors for us with the MOEA," said Lee Berger, prexy of R&H's film division, "And we've been extremely impressed with the support and guidance we've received from the Taiwanese government ever since." Besides "Life of Pi," R&H's slate includes "Big Miracle," "R.I.P.D." and "Snow White and the Huntsman." Studio is known for its fur and animal work, which was prominently featured in the Oscar-winning vfx for "The Golden Compass." It was a producer on "Yogi Bear" and is developing its own feature properties. Its development slate including "Super Zero," to be helmed by John Dykstra. Contact David S. Cohen at david.cohen@variety.com

2012 Movie Preview: Romances, From 'The Vow' to 'Breaking Dawn Part 2'

With 2011 in its death throes, what better time to look ahead to 2012. All this week, Moviefone is previewing the seemingly endless supply of big-time films hitting theaters during the next 12 months -- from from 'The Devil Inside' to 'Django Unchained' and everything in between. Next up: the 12 romances to watch for next year. 2012 Movie Preview: Romances 'Declaration of War''The Vow''Perfect Sense''Wanderlust''Good Deeds''Salmon Fishing in the Yemen''Playing the Field''Mirror, Mirror''The Lucky One''Breaking Dawn Part 2''Les Miserables'Bonus: 'The Wedding' See All Moviefone Galleries » EARLIER: 2012 Movie Preview: Blockbusters 2012 Movie Preview: Comedies 2012 movie Preview: Family Films [Photo: Summit] Follow Moviefone on Twitter Like Moviefone on Facebook

Watercooler: That Has The X Factor?

Josh Krajcik, Chris Rene, Melanie Amaro OK, so we are gonna ignore that Tron-meets-the Fox football robot Michael Jackson number, all of the clips cheap somebody think it is smart to have R. Kelly perform having a 19-year-old girl, and merely arrive at the real stuff: The X Factor's finale performances.Josh: OK. His cover of Etta James' "FinallyInch was great and measured and type of boring. Felt just like a great audition. Not feeling it.Chris: Love his original "Youthful Homie." Love his message. Love that he'll most likely prosper, arriving second.Melanie: Must. Win. If you didn't get chills from her rendition of Beyonce's "Listen," it is possible someone has privately embalmed you.So, to quote Steve Johnson, who would you like to win the $5 million recording contract? And what do you want to see transformed within the show's second season?Sign up for TV Guide Magazine now!

Brazilian distrib, pay TV net line up 20 films

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Local indie distrib Imagem and pay TV net Telecine have announced eight Brazilian features for theatrical release in 2012 and 12 for 2013.Imagem and Telecine co-produce the pics, holding 15% to 50% of the equity in each production, whose individual budgets range from $2.3 million to $6.7 million.Local companies, such as Conspiracao, Gullane, TV Zero, LC Barreto and Bananeira, will make the features, which are in different stages of production. The list also includes Brazil-U.S. and Brazil-Argentina co-productions.Imagem, which will invest incentive coin, will release the pics theatrically. Telecine, which has the pics' VOD and pay TV rights, will invest via incentives and its own resources in a 50-50 split. It will also promote the releases on its seven film channels.Two pics with strong B.O. potential are scheduled to open in the first quarter of next year. Ad director Afonso Poyart's feature debut, "Dois coelhos" (Two Rabbits), a "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels"-like pic with state-of-art action and vidgame-style animation, is due to open Jan. 20. Helmer Jose Eduardo Belmonte's comedy, "Billi Pig," starring Selton Mello, is scheduled for March 2.Vet helmer Antonio Carlos da Fontoura's "Somos tao jovens," a biopic about deceased local rock star Renato Russo, is due for July 20. Marcelo Machado's "Tropicalia," a doc about Brazil's musical movement, is set for a second-half release.The list's pre-production highlights include Lula Buarque de Hollanda's "O vendedor de passados," a Conspiracao production based on Angolan author Jose Eduardo Agualusa's book; Roberto Berliner's biopic "Nise da Silveira," about a local revolutionary psychiatrist, produced by TV Zero; Bruno Barreto's "The Art of Loosing," a co-production of Brazil's LC Barreto and the U.S.'s Goldcrest, is based on the true love story of American poet Elizabeth Bishop and Brazilian architect Lota Macedo Soares.The co-production is Pablo Frendrik's "El ardor" (Bananeira and Magma).Carolina Jabor's "Cordilheira," an RT Features project, is seeking an Argentine co-production partner."Imagem released 30 features in 2011, of which seven are Brazilian and accounted for 35% of the company's total ticket sales in the year. In 2012, we aim to increase our local films' share to 50%," said Abrao Scherer, Imagem's partner director.Telecine is a joint venture of Globo group's Globosat, which holds 50%, and Fox, Paramount, Universal and MGM, which hold 12.5% each. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Grudge Producer Goes Viral

Builds up student short for Screen GemsRecent UCLA film school graduate Tim Shechmeister just acquired his first large break: his online video Virus remains caught by Screen Gems, who are likely to spread it in to a full-blown feature.The ten-minute short looks like it's an extremely Catfish-like cyberbullying tale, though a supernatural edge. Shechmeister remains selecting for your festival circuit, rather than posting the whole factor online, there is however a short trailer available. It shows two women being mean round the still-active facepage from the dead "friend", and achieving a terrible shock after they hear back from her. Signal a brief montage of violent images like necks in nooses and guns in mouths.It is a little Ring (improving the cursed technology from video-cassettes to social media) along with a little Grudge, that's clearly why it attracted the eye of (American) Grudge author Stephen Susco, who consequently needed it to franchise producer Roy Lee. "I enjoy maintain what's happening, which i see plenty of student films," states Susco. "I rarely see something as polished as Viral. It hits a hot nerve in this particular country. The means by which youthful people communicate is changing, and technology is altering the tenor of the communication, oftentimes for your worse. It becomes an opportunity to behave frightening and very potent concurrently.InchSusco and Lee will produce, along with Lee's creating partner Lawrence Grey. Schechmeister will probably be pointing, and he'll co-write the feature script, while he did the short, along with his brother Matt. You can her up-to-date round the project's own Facebook site, which hopefully won't finish off haunting or stalking or killing you.

David Gordon Green compares Suspiria remake to Black Swan

The possibility of aSuspiria (1977) remake has been upsetting gore geeks since 2008, but now it looks like it's finally in motion.Director David Gordon Green (Pineapple Express) recently shed a little light on his Suspiria project. During an interview for his latest film The Sitter, Green commented on how the success of Darren Aronofsky's The Black Swan has helped his remake of Dario Argento's artful horror flick."No, that adds to it. That means there's an audience for prestige in genre, and to me, that's exciting. We're really close to getting that movie made if I can get over a couple more budgetary hurdles I think I can pull it off." "My version doesn't really have any similarities to Black Swan, but it proves to the marketplace that you can take a great risk and you can have something that has great artistic ambition, but also has incredible commercial appeal."So now we probably have no choice but to sit back and wait for it to happen, but fans of the original may be pleased to hear thatGreen has previously said it will "remain quite faithful" to the original.Suspiriais directed by the Italian Hitchcock, Dario Argento. Suspiria's omnipresence still dominates the horror genre with its influential visual flair and ultra violence.Set in Germany, Suspiria follows an American ballet student who transfers to an esteemed dance academy, only to find that it is run by a coven of witches.

Lensers aren't frightened of the dark

'Harry Potter as well as the Deathly Hallows: Part 2''Tree of Life''Take Shelter'Maybe it's just a manifestation in the ongoing global financial meltdown and overall sense of impending disaster, however it might be a dark and stormy evening indeed in lots of films released this season, while using apocalypse pending large such diverse productions as Lars von Trier's "Melancholia," Rob Nichols' "Take Shelter" and David Yates' "Harry Potter as well as the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," because the Large Bang notifies Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Existence."Author-director Nichols and cinematographer Adam Stone artfully ratcheted within the suspense scene by scene in "Take Shelter" -- in which the gathering storm may be construed as either the consequence of disintegrating mind or alerts in the real factor -- carefully mixing real "storm-chaser" footage with CGI by Hydraulx. "We wanted the film to look natural and unfettered with," states Stone. "Our primary goal wound up being to get rid of as much artifice as you can within the filmmaking process -- ironic since 'Take Shelter' is chockfull of CGI work."To get this done look, they shot on film, "as celluloid would add honesty for the film and help blend the CGI while using relaxation in the movie," in line with the d.p.Really the only deviation within the plan's at shooting the storm shelter, the film's set piece. "We wanted it cramped, claustrophobic, and dark," Stone states. "To get this done, Rob instructed our production designer to create the set using size an authentic storm shelter. This meant no drop roofs or flyway walls."The mandate forced their hands if the found shooting and lighting, which is why a power-burning Coleman lantern is "the main lightInch inside the shelter.The conclusion around the world may also be within the forefront in "Melancholia," having its two-part story from the planetary collision plainly featuring the disaster-laden transcendent music of Wagner juxtaposed while using restrained visual approach by Danish cinematographer Manuel Alberto Claro.The film's opening, dream-like "overture" was "difficult to picture personally,In . states the d.p., "because the shooting from this was like collecting puzzle pieces. As (the rogue planet) Melancholia approached, we intensified nowhere, but saved it vibrant and austere. We wanted a very apparent and crisp apocalypse."According to Claro, von Trier wanted "maximum freedom for your stars, which was perfect because i had been concentrating on this kind of beautiful location, which easily may have absorbed once we had staged things more."Shooting on Alexa and mainly employing a 28-76mm zoom "being as flexible as you can,In . the d.p. suggested von Triers' own back catalog for a number of the moody and natural look, they terms "significant naturalism.""Harry Potter as well as the Deathly Hallows: Part 2," the climactic final chapter inside the decade-extended film series, creates a similarly dark, dangerous and ominous world, due to lowering skies as well as the steady hands of director Yates and also the d.p., Eduardo Serra."A Few Things I loved in regards to the last film is always that David pressed me to go to dark, which all cinematographers enjoy,In . Serra states. "Generally you're fighting while using producers (in regards to the look) nonetheless they all wanted it dark and atmospheric, too."Serra shot the film on Arri cameras, and notes that although really the only "Harry Potter" film being released in 3d "wasn't shot in 3d, the conversion to 3 dimensional in publish handled to obtain look much more dark laptop or computer was."Serra also needed to cope with numerous evening shoots and all sorts of pervading visual effects work. "We'd a great deal greenscreen work, in virtually every scene," according to him. "But when we shot the ultimate two films back-to-back, it absolutely was all very carefully prepared strategies by advance, but we did justice for the last Harry Potter film."The question and origin of existence rather than the destruction around the world notifies the ambitious, enigmatic "The Tree of Existence," directed with the equally enigmatic and ambitious Malick, and shot by his "" " New World " "" d.p. Emmanuel Lubezki. "Ultimately blocked moments in the more conventional way on 'New World,' Terry wanted this to feel more 'found,' as being a documentary," states Lubezki, a four-time Oscar nominee, regarding visual approach. "Which we not used whatsoever other films as references -- it absolutely was photos, art pieces and speaking about our travels."While "Tree" was "carefully scripted, not improvised," Malick commonly used index cards, "with some other ideas authored inside it,In . Lubezki states. "At that time he'd pull one out and go, 'We don't have to shoot the script. Exactly how can we shoot that feeling of a kid's memory to become youthful? Exactly how should we capture may have that emotion into film?' We'd throw ideas forward and backward, as well as the movie's style developed everything. We'd make an effort to create 'happy accidents.'"The d.p., who shot "Tree" on Arri cameras and master primes ("for the crisp, clean look"), states the finest challenges were making all the moments "look completely unrehearsed" and dealing with the complex visual effects, "particularly for natural history part of the film."Because a lot of the imagery happen to be culled as time passes, including some stock footage, continuity was key."The (digital intermediate) needed many several days, as Terry had shot a couple of from the plates 2 decades ago," states Lubezki, "and matching the lighting for your dinosaurs and so on was very difficult. But ultimately we first first got it the means by which we wanted."EYE Round The Oscars: THE CINEMATOGRAPHERLensers aren't frightened of the dark For 'Hugo,' depth adds to character Period photos invite wide spectrum of styles Projecting turmoil Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Kids TV Vet Andy Heyward and Wife Announce Partnership With Indian Company Tata

Anchor Bay Entertainment Heroes star Milo Ventimiglia has came back getting a violent, publish-apocalyptic thriller The Divide.our editor recommendsXavier Gens' 'The Divide' Can get Unrated The month of the month of january Release'Heroes' Star Milo Ventimiglia Crosses 'The Divide' in New Trailer (Video) Anchor Bay's The Divide concentrates on nine others, all dwelling inside a NY high-rise apartment, who escape a nuclear attack by hiding inside your building's bunker-like basement. After being trapped for the waiting being saved, the nine tenants get beyond control, each initiating each other -- then one survivor keeps the small chance they'll be capable of escape. Genre legend Michael Biehn (Aliens, Terminator), Lauren German, Ashton Holmes, Courtney B. Vance and Rosanna Arquette co-star inside the thriller directed by Xavier Gens (Hitman), searching for theatrical release on Jan. 13. The film received buzz at a year ago's SXSW film festival. The Divide posseses an explosive and chaotic opening, with people searching to get at safety after their city is under attack. The ominous score doesn't help matters, adding to everyone's impending disaster. Watch the opening sequence below: Milo Ventimiglia

All-American Muslim Handles to get rid of Internet marketer

For just about any show together with your a dividing subject, the lives of Muslims inside the U.S., TLC’s All American Muslim went remarkably extended without getting in main debate. But monthly into its run, the docu reality series has lost a substantial internet marketer, Lowe’s, carrying out a campaign by conservative watchdog the Florida Family Association. The show profiles only Muslims that appear to become regular folks while excluding many Islamic fans whose agenda poses a apparent and present danger to protections and traditional values that the majority Us citizens cherish, the crowd mentioned on its site. Clearly this program is attempting to manage Us citizens into neglecting the threat of jihad also to influence those to believe that worrying in regards to the jihad threat would in some manner victimize these nice folks this show. The crowd released instructions it mentioned it had received from Lowe’s verifying the pullout, something the home improvement center giant later acknowledged on Twitter but mentioned your final decision wasn't made pressurized within the Florida Family Assoc. We did not pull our ads based solely round the complaints or emails connected having a one group,” the business mentioned. “It is not our intent to alienate anybody. Lowes values diversity of thought in everyone, including our employees and prospects. Florida Family Assoc.’s campaign is comparable to the mother and father TV Council fought against against MTV’s racy drama Skins taken. But, because the PTC had mostly free reign within the attacks around the program since the charges were for child pornography, the Florida Family Assoc. is predicted to acquire pushback from Muslim and human rights groups. The first to voice its opposition was the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee. Sadly companies, for instance Lowes, have gave in for the idiocracy of those garbage campaigns, which are orchestrated by groups and organizations which lack credibility, authenticity, and so are founded the particular fundamental notions of bigotry and racism much like a shameful era in this particular countrys history, the company mentioned in the statement. It's unclear whether Lowe’s move will probably be then other blue-nick companies. (the Florida Family Assoc. claims that Home Depot and Sweetn Low have attracted their ads within the show too.) In a disagreement, TLC states that individuals support All American Muslim and were happy the show has strong advertising support. All-American Muslim was already at the center of another type of debate. A production company filed a suit captured proclaiming that TLC stole its idea for your show.

U.S., Global Ad Growth to Accelerate in 2012 Driven by Special Events

NY - After the 2010 rebound following the recession, U.S. and global advertising growth continued this year, with prominent forecasters projecting accelerated momentum in 2012. As is tradition, the ad outlook will be in the spotlight early Monday when Steve King, CEO of ZenithOptimedia, MagnaGlobal'sVincent Letang and Adam Smith, futures director of ad conglomerate WPP's GroupM unit, will share their 2012 forecasts in the opening session of the 39th annual UBS Global Media and Communications Conference here. King will tell the media and entertainment investor conference that global spending on major media will grow 4.7 percent to $486 billion in 2012 following an estimated 3.5 percent improvement this year to $464 billion. The figures are below the firm's previous prediction for an already-lowered 3.6 percent gain this year and 5.3 percent next year. A continuing slowdown and debt worries in Europe will next year be offset by the quadrennial effect of the U.S. presidential and other elections, the Summer Olympics and the European soccer championship. Plus, Japan's recovery from the effects of the earthquake in March will also provide upside next year, Zenith predicts. All these factors will add $7 billion to ad spending in 2012, it says. Excluding them, worldwide ad expenditures would grow 3.1 percent next year, slightly less than this year, Zenith says. The firm then expects global ad expenditure growth to accelerate further to 5.2 percent in 2013 and 5.8 percent in 2014. In comparison, in the more mature U.S. market, advertising on major measured media, which excludes direct mail, telemarketing and PR, is expected to increase 2.2 percent in 2011 to $154.9 billion and 3.5 percent in 2012 and 2013, in line with previous estimates. That will be followed by a 4.3 percent increase to $173.2 billion in 2014, the firm forecasts. Zenith had previously said that the U.S. ad market is unlikely to reach the 2007 pre-recession spending level of $177.7 billion until 2015 or 2016. "There has been some downgrade in spending in the fourth quarter, but we are quite reassured," King told The Hollywood Reporter about current ad market trends. "There has been no dramatic change like we saw in 2008." Looking to next year, he said that "compared to 2008, advertisers are in much stronger final positions, even in tougher economic times...We looking for quite a robust figure and advertisers to stay their hand." Zenith forecasts that U.S. ad gains will also gain speed next year, but that growth will remain below the global rate in the coming years due to the maturity of the largest ad market in the world. "The [U.S.] economy is in a much better place than it was two years ago," King says. He highlights the "continued resilience" of TV advertising in the U.S. and the world, continued digital growth and further improvements in foreign growth markets, such as Asia, Central and Easter Europe and Brazil. The Internet's share of global ad expenditures will rise from 15.9 percent in 2011 to 21.2 percent in 2014, exceeding 30 percent in four markets, according to Zenith. It also forecasts that Internet spending will for the first time top newspaper ad spending in 2013 with $97.8 billion compared with $88.8 billion. Overall, King highlighted the ad market continues to be characterized not by "the exuberance of the 1980s and '90s, but continued spending on proven, trusted ways of getting returns" like TV and the Web. In terms of different media categories in the U.S., Zenith projects network TV will end 2011 down 2 percent followed by a 1 percent drop next year since the Olympics on NBC will take place in London, which means a time difference. Meanwhile, Zenith anticipates cable ad spending to rise 12 percent this year, and 10 percent next year. Internet spending will rise 12.6 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively. And cinema ads will rise 3 percent this year, half of the previous forecast due to a large drop in communications and government spending, and 5 percent in 2012. GroupM in its biannual worldwide forecast is calling for ad growth in measured media of 5 percent this year to $467 billion, followed by a 6.4 percent gain next year to $522 billion. The figure is down from a global forecast of a 6.8 percent jump in 2012 made in July. For the U.S., GroupM predicted 2011 ad spending of $147 billion, up 3.3 percent, down from a previous estimate of a 3.8 percent hike. For 2012, the firm sees U.S. ad spending rising 4 percent, instead of 4.2 percent previously, to $153 billion. "Japan's advertising recovery has proved substantially more vigorous and resilient than we forecast in our mid-year report," said Smith. He also cited digital ad spending as a key driver. "We expect digital to comprise 22 percent of all measured ad investment in mature Western economies in 2012, and 12 percent in the faster-growing world," he said. Meanwhile, Brian Wieser, who as former global director of forecasting at MagnaGlobal used to attend the UBS conference, is now senior research analyst at Pivotal Research Group. He eyes U.S. ad growth of 1 percent in 2012 on a normalized basis, meaning adjusted for the impact of political and Olympic-related activity. That would be slower than this year's projected 2.5 percent gain. Including political ads and Olympics, ad spending will grow 2.5 percent after a 1.2 percent improvement this year, Wieser predicts. "We do not foresee any significant new categories/brands emerging in 2012" amid a soft economy, he wrote in his forecast last week. "We expect that spending levels will generally flatten through the middle of 2012, after which the impact of status quo "new normal" should return, with weak growth in the periods that immediately follow." He also echoed a theme that King also sees dominating 2012, predicting that ad media will feel a haves versus have-nots crunch. "Simply put, in scarce times, marketers are concentrating their budgets among their primary medium (often network TV for large brands seeking awareness) and a secondary medium (often digital platforms for traditional brand marketers, who typically pursue engagement-based outcomes among a subset of the population who are aware of their brand attributes)," Wieser said. Print and other traditional media are likely to feel pressure though. Pivotal sees paid online search growing the most in 2012, expanding from $14.8 billion to $17.0 billion. But he is less optimistic about national cable ad spending. "That medium should slow significantly in 2012, rising by only 4.8 percent, compared to a gain of 9.0 percent in 2011," Wieser said. Related Topics

Dark Dark evening Increases Prologue Confirmed

Six IMAX minutes to screen before M:I4It's been leaked formerly and retracted again, there's however official confirmation from Warner Bros. the six-minute Dark Dark evening Increases prologue will probably be proven before IMAX tests of Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol later this month. *Cough* Stated so.States Christopher Nolan in the decision: "Our experience round the Dark Dark evening shooting and projecting IMAX 15 perf 65mm/70mm film was inspiring. The immersive company's image goes past almost every other filmmaking tool available, too as with coming back to Gotham, i would shoot even lots of movie in this particular unique format. Giving the fans an early on have a look in an IMAX sequence is a powerful way to highlight a few things i believe will probably be an incredible approach to experience our story if the arrives next summer season."People lucky folk in the usa will clap their eyes round the prologue when M:I4 lands there on December 16, while the following we'll have nearly each week to dodge the inevitable online blow-by-blows. December 21 might be the date to circle if you're inside the Uk.The following screens will probably be showing the footage inside the Uk: BFI London the country's Media Museum IMAX in Bradford Glasgow Science Center IMAX Cinema and Odeon Manchester IMAX @The Printworks in Manchester. If you would like one other reason to find out Tom Cruise hang in the Burj Khalifa by having an IMAX screen, your research has ended. The Dark Dark evening Increases is at cinemas about this summer time 20, 2012.