Showbiz Sandbox 249: Why Film Festivals Are More Important Than Ever
September 16, 2014
Anne Thompson, an editor at Thompson on Hollywood and Indiewire, just spent the past two weeks at the Telluride and Toronto Film Festivals before she heads off to the New York Film Festival. Thompson takes us through some of the noteworthy films we’ll be seeing in coming months and discuss the important role festivals play in creating buzz before a movie’s commercial release.
The competition for landing premieres of noteworthy titles has become so fierce that Toronto switched up its programming this year to give less prominence to any film screening a week earlier at Telluride. One aspect of each festival which is unlikely to change is their reputation for selecting films that go on to win Best Picture Oscars.
While fall festivals might be the talk of the film industry, television executives have been preoccupied with their over-the-top strategies. As audiences switch to OTT offerings from Amazon to Roku, networks are experimenting with direct-to-consumer offerings while contending with increasingly meaningless overnight ratings.
Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including opting-out of a free U2 album, Microsoft picks up “Minecraft” and Netflix’s invasion of Europe.
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Thompson on Hollywood’s Film Festival Coverage
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/category/festivals
Indiewire’s Screen Talk Podcast
http://www.indiewire.com/tag/screen-talk
Box Office Milestone: ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ Crosses $600M Worldwide
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-milestone-guardians-galaxy-732644
‘The Imitation Game’ Takes the Toronto People’s Choice Award, Forerunner to Oscars
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/the-imitation-takes-the-toronto-peoples-choice-award-forerunner-to-oscars-20140914
Toronto: Festival Head Holding Firm on Telluride Premiere Policy
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/toronto-festival-head-holding-firm-732712
The Toronto International Film Festival Insists on Premieres for its Opening Weekend
http://blogs.indiewire.com/thompsononhollywood/00000143-da14-dc86-a9c7-db57cbe20000
New York Film Fest: Top-Secret Edward Snowden Doc Added to Lineup
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/edward-snowden-doc-added-new-733161
‘Big Hero 6’ to Close Abu Dhabi Film Festival
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/big-hero-6-close-abu-732775
Europeans Bracing for Netflix
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/13/business/media/europeans-bracing-for-netflix.html
Deezer Joins a Crowded Music Subscription Market, With a High-End Pitch
http://recode.net/2014/09/10/deezer-joins-a-crowded-music-subscription-market-with-a-high-end-pitch
Everyone Is Mad at Apple for Forcing Them to Download a U2 Album
http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2014/09/everyone-mad-at-apple-for-u2-stunt.html
After Downloading the U2 Album To Your Phone, Apple Now Helps You To Delete It
https://gigaom.com/2014/09/15/permanently-delete-u2-from-phone/
U2 Returns to iTunes Top 100 — 26 Times
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/music/posts/la-et-ms-u2-itunes-songs-innocence-20140915-story.html
Elisabeth Moss to Star on Broadway as ‘Mad Men’ Ends
http://variety.com/2014/legit/news/elisabeth-moss-broadway-heidi-chronicles-mad-men-1201303749/
Sales of Rivers’ Book Skyrocket
http://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/publisher-news/article/63965-sales-of-rivers-book-skyrocket.html
‘Sons of Anarchy’ Final Season Premiere Breaks Ratings Record
http://variety.com/2014/tv/news/fxs-sons-of-anarchy-hits-series-highs-ratings-in-return-tuesday-dominates-in-demos-1201302221/
Line by Line, E-Books Turn Poet-Friendly
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/arts/artsspecial/line-by-line-e-books-turn-poet-friendly.html
Yes, We’re Being Bought by Microsoft
https://mojang.com/2014/09/yes-were-being-bought-by-microsoft/
Annie Lennox To Release ‘Nostalgia’ Via Blue Note Records This Fall
http://www.iconvsicon.com/2014/09/15/annie-lennox-to-release-nostalgia-via-blue-note-records-this-fall/
SeaWorld Hit With Lawsuit Over Failure to Advise on ‘Blackfish’ Impact
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/seaworld-hit-lawsuit-failure-advise-731846
United Nations Names Leonardo DiCaprio Messenger of Peace
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/united-nations-names-leonardo-dicaprio-733215
CBS’ Les Moonves: “Overnight Ratings Are Virtually Irrelevant Now”
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/cbs-les-moonves-overnight-ratings-731944
TV Ratings: CBS and NFL’s ‘Thursday Night Football’ Partnership Gets a Strong Start
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/tv-ratings-cbs-nfls-thursday-732443
Time Warner And CBS Chiefs Say They’re Considering Taking HBO And Showtime Direct To Consumers
http://deadline.com/2014/09/time-warner-cbs-ceos-hbo-showtime-direct-consumer-internet-832623/
Warner Bros. Squeezed by Jeff Bewkes Strategy
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/warner-bros-squeezed-by-jeff-731654
Spot Apple – “Apple Forrest Gump”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNa4EMUWnAc
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