Showbiz Sandbox: Movies Were the Stars at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival
June 5, 2022
After the COVID pandemic hampered the Cannes Film Festival over the last two years, the 2022 edition moved back to its usual May time frame with all the glamor and artistry that has made it one of the most important annual cinematic events in the world. Despite critics’ complaints about what was deemed a weak official selection, the festival featured its fair share of impressive films from noteworthy auteurs.
What’s more, many of these movies will find audiences as distributors were rather active in acquiring titles to release theatrically over the next 12 months.
On this special episode of Showbiz Sandbox we are joined by Karen Krizanovich, an independent journalist and broadcaster, not to mention a member of the London Film Critics Circle, as well as Stephen Garrett, the founder of the movie marketing firm Jump Cut who covered the festival for the New York Observer. Both attended this year’s Cannes Film Festival and we’ll discuss the highs and lows of the latest edition, which concluded last weekend.
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Showbiz Sandbox: Streaming Through the 2022 Sundance Film Festival
February 2, 2022
For the second straight year the COVID pandemic forced the Sundance Film Festival to move its 2022 event online. Even so, its organizers did a great job of putting on a virtual festival programmed with movies from emerging filmmakers and important documentaries on timely subjects.
Joining us to discuss the 2022 Sundance Film Festival is Stephen Garrett, a writer for the Book & Film Globe and the founder of Jump Cut, a marketing company that specializes in creating compelling trailers and posters for a wide variety of acclaimed motion pictures. We discuss the entries that will surely see some life after the festival, a few that won’t and the likelihood that any of them will ever be seen in movie theaters.
As expected, streamers such as Apple, Netflix and Hulu opened up their checkbooks to acquire Sundance titles for their subscription services, perhaps signaling a pause, if not an end, to big theatrical acquisitions being made at the festival.
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Showbiz Sandbox Special Episode: To Each Their Own Cannes Experience
May 22, 2013
With selections from world renown filmmakers like the Coen Brothers, Asghar Farhadi, Jim Jarmusch, Baz Luhrmann, Alexander Payne, Roman Polanski, Steven Soderbergh and Jia Zhangke, this year’s Cannes Film Festival is one of the most anticipated in recent memory.
Stephen Garrett is in Cannes this year as both a journalist covering for media outlets such as the New York Observer, and also as the head of Jump Cut, an advertising firm that specializes in producing trailers for foreign, independent and documentary films. Even at the halfway point in the festival he’s seen upwards of two dozen films and joins us to discuss some of the highlights and news items coming out of this year’s Cannes.
On the other hand, filmmaker Andrew Einspruch of Wild Pure Heart Productions is in Cannes to participate in the annual market. As he meets with sales agents, buyers and distributors in an attempt to sell his next movie, Einspruch hasn’t been able to see a single film.
It just goes to show how every attendee at the Cannes Film Festival has a different and unique experience.
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Showbiz Sandbox 58: Celebrities Take Over Broadway
June 14, 2010
The Tony Awards were held on Sunday evening honoring the year’s best Broadway productions and performances. Brian Scott Lipton the editor-in-chief of TheaterMania.com was there and he stops by to fill us in on all the big winners, memorable moments and why so many movie stars are currently working in theater.
The 11th Annual Golden Trailer Awards also took place this past week and Stephen Garrett of Kinetic Trailers won two big prizes. He joins us to discuss the current state of movie promos and what its like to win the award for Trashiest Trailer.
At the box office “The Karate Kid” knocked “Shrek Forever After” out of first place after three weeks and provided a little hope for this summer’s poor ticket sales. “The A Team” on the other hand opened to poor reviews and even worse box office receipts.
In television news, the final ratings for this past season’s television shows have been released. We’ll fill you in on which shows finished on top as well as the ones nobody cared to watch. You’ll never guess where “The Jay Leno Show” came in (hint: it’s not in the top 100).
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