Hollywood International Filmmaker Magazine - 2020 Fall

Editor-in-Chief: Sandro Monetti

Editors: Jimmy Jiang,Yiming

(Eva) Bian

Art Editor: Yiming (Eva) Bian

Editorial Committee: Kimberley

Kates, Jimmy Jiang, Sandro Monetti, Yiming (Eva) Bian

Facebook: Hollywood International

Meryl

LEGENDS OF CINEMA: MERYL STREEP SIMPLY THE BEST

Meryl Streep is the best actress alive—and nobody doubts it.

The numbers back up the argument. She has been nominated for a record 21 Oscars.

Admired as much for her humility as her versatility, the acting icon has kept her feet on the ground while her career has hit the heights.

Receiving a career achievement award at the Golden Globes, Streep said, “An actor’s only job is to enter the lives of people who are different from us and let you feel what that feels like.”

Raised in New Jersey, she started out on the stage and was happy performing in Broadway plays, only going up for film roles after being inspired by Robert De Niro’s work in 1976 film Taxi Driver which showed her the possibilities of screen acting.

Making her film debut in 1977 in the drama Julia alongside Jane Fonda and Vanessa Redgrave, Meryl has since gone on to star in 70 more movies including big commercial hits like Mamma Mia, The Devil Wears Prada, Death Becomes Her and The Bridges of Madison County.

Out of those 21 nominations, her three Oscar winning roles came for playing a troubled wife in Kramer vs Kramer, a Holocaust survivor in Sophie’s Choice and Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

More critical acclaim came with the likes of Out of Africa, The Deer Hunter, Doubt, Silkwood and The Hours.

Now at 71 she’s still at the top, is a role model and an inspiration for so many others. Truly, a legend.

—Sandro Monetti

MERYL STREEP

HOLLYWOOD INTERNATIONAL FILM EXCHANGE, CAPSTONE GROUP NEWS RELEASE

Despearate to pay off his debts, a man secretly tries to manipulate his father into selling his funeral home, but unknowingly unleashes an evil spirit which has its sights set on his pregnant wife.

DIRECTOR

Oliver Park

WRITER

Hank Hoffamn

STORY

Jonathan Yunger

Pre-Production

ABYZOU is a contained horror feature in the vein of Hereditary and The Conjuring and is based on authentic Jewish demonology. Set in the Hasidic world, this story follows a family struggling with unresolved trauma who find themselves at the mercy of an ancient demon bent on destroying them from the inside.

Director Oliver Park is a young British horror filmmaker who exploded onto the scene with his award-winning short film VICIOUS, which BuzzFeed dubbed "one of the best short horror films ever made.” His follow-up short, STILL, has already screened at more festivals than its predecessor.

DIRECTOR

MJ Basset

Start of Principal Date: Oct 28th 2019

Samantha O’Hara leads a team of mercenaries in Africa on a mission to rescue a group of kidnapped schoolgirls. When their extraction plan goes sideways, the mercenaries find themselves stuck in the African bush having to defend themselves from the kidnappers and angry lions looking for revenge after the killing of their pride.

A small-town cop, struggling with a failed marriage, a rebellious daughter, and a lackluster team of officers, is tasked with solving a series of brutal murders that are occurring on the full moon. As he's consumed by the hunt for the killer, he strggles to remind himself that there's no such thing as werewolves...

After the success of Thunder Road, winner of the Grand Jury Award at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival, Jim Cummings debuts his much anticipated sophomore project.

DIRECTOR

Jim Cummings

WRITER

Jim Cummings

CAST

Jim Cummings

Thunder Road

Robert Forster

Jackie Brown-The Descendants

PRODUCERS

Matt Miller

Natalie Metzger

Ben Wiessner

GOLDEN FILM AWARD2020

Hollywood, CA – The annual Golden Film Award program of events will be in a new virtual format this year.

Due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the screenings and ceremony are moving online.

GFA暨美国好莱坞国际金影奖3月启动，参赛影片多元化视角，辐射范 围跨越五大洲，特开辟网络电影竞选单元

（5/26/2020，记者讯）据记者获悉，自今年3月份开始，GFA暨美国好 莱坞国际金影奖将会向全球开始征集新一年的作品评选。届时来自五大 洲的电影作品将会激烈角逐GFA最高荣誉“金影奖”。

今年2020 GFA网络电影单元是在成功举办6届美国好莱坞 国际金影奖网络电影单元的基础上，根据新媒体影视行业发 展的新趋势新方向进一步拓展和深化的成果，包含优秀作品 线上展映、“创新·融 合”电影行业交流会及网络电影单元 总结会等组成部分，线上线下结合，探索对电影新秀在各个 层面予以支持、鼓励和规范。2020年，GFA将会开展多个 视频平台特开辟GFA网络电影单元专题页面，举行为期一周 的集中展映。评审会组织将会严苛评选从中挑出优秀网络电

影最终进入线上展映，届时广大网友可登陆相关网站观看。

Michael 也向记者介绍：第7届度“美国好莱坞国际金影奖颁 奖典礼”将于2020年12月在美国好莱坞隆重举行，作为全 球具有标杆性质的大型国际化电影盛典的启动，亮点颇多。

The Golden Film Award (GFA)is a annual event in Hollywood,Ca.with support from major film industry professional around the globe

这场以“聚焦新影像，见证新实力”为主题电影盛宴，是 GFA献给世界电影人的一份大礼。据悉，组委会邀请好莱坞 著名电影人担任本次活动宣传 大使。同时新锐导演、一线明 星担任启动嘉宾列席现场与媒体互动，高潮迭起；一线导演、 明星担任评审并派代表致辞，获益良多；与此同时，活动讯 息 也将在优势媒体平台进行展映，一场关于“电影梦”的传 播热潮将会呈在观众眼前。

“While we are obviously disappointed that we will not be able to share the Golden Film Award in person on December 16, 2020, we feel that the virtual platform is the best and most accessible option for us to move forward and, most importantly, the best way for us to promote the health and safety of our community members,”said GFA Chair Michael Tse.

GFA主席Michael Tse 说：“今年2020美国好莱坞国际金影 奖着力开展线上直播典礼活动，我们也会整合实力互联网视 频平台，通过集中展映高质量、高水平、具有传播分享价值 的网络电影作品， 聚拢有梦想、有创意、有思想的网络电影 创作人才，推动电影研究工作和新兴电影产业的繁荣发展。 The virtual festival will feature an award ceremony, screenings of a diverse roster of features, documentaries, and shorts. There will also be panels, Q&A sessions , and a series of conversations with industry experts and artists.

GFA will announce information on virtual screening passes and ticket sales soon for December’s festival with the full program of virtual screenings and discussions being released in early October.

IFSM – Int'l Fashion SuperModel2020

This fashion industry event in Los Angeles, CA, allows veteran and emerging fashion designers, new brands, industry professionals or newcomers to display their latest collections in runway shows, giving buyers and media a look at the latest trends.

Most importantly, it lets the industry know what's "in" and what's "out" for the season.

SLIVE爱尚独家直播美国洛杉矶国际时装周暨IFSM Fashion Week LA模特面试，爱尚专业主播揭秘国 际时尚超模选拔标准

据悉，IFSM国际时装周将启动线上直播模特面试环 节。与往届不同，IFSM国际时装周将突破以往定点 直播形式，首次在直播过程中实现与模特、设计师 的实时互动交流。

ISLIVE爱尚直播将作为IFSM国际时装周模特面试 的独家直播平台，邀请平台主播国际时尚超模冠军 和美国知名独立设计师做客直播间，全程直播面试 环节，并采访国内外模特，对模特挑选进行专业解读。

HIFEX SPONSOR

BIG SCREEN ENTERTAINMENT GROUP

BIG BREAKTHROUGH FOR FEMALE FILMMAKERS

Some of the best emerging female filmmakers are having their work championed by Big Screen’s streaming channel, Big Stream Entertainment.

Their short films are being screened on the platform in an attempt to both entertain the audience and support and highlight talented women worthy of industry attention.

Among the first films selected are Anastasia Katarina’s thriller Cabin Stay, Jessie Henry’s (right) comedy Felicity Makes A Friend and Tai-Ying Chi’s look at modern dating, I Have A Date Tonight.

“I’m so happy to feature these outstanding, young female filmmakers on our Big Stream channel in the hopes their work is noticed, appreciated and many doors open up for them,” said Big Screen Entertainment Group (BSEG) Chief Executive Kimberley Kates.

“It’s important for women to help other women in this business. Showcasing their talent, giving them opportunities is a must if we’re to start balancing out the scales. Hollywood is finally accepting diversity but there’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Big Stream delivers a dynamic library of films, documentaries, TV shows and other content. It is available as a Roku channel, a mobile and desktop portal and on the web at bigstreamentertainment.com.

BSEG is a publicly traded company, based in Los Angeles, focused on making commercial content perfect for the fastchanging media landscape.

— Sandro Monetti

RISING STARS

The next generation of talented filmmakers from around the world was recognized and rewarded at the GSA BAFTA Student Film Awards 2020.

Presented in a digital ceremony screened on You Tube, winners accepted their awards virtually from their home countries, with votes cast by BAFTA members and special juries.

The short films which made the final were truly global, being set in Ghana, Ukraine, the United States, Uganda and Cambodia as well as various countries in Europe. They tackled issues as diverse as racial and economic justice, ecosystem collapse, refugees and the Holocaust.

The annual British Academy run event aims to uncover new voices, unique stories and alternative storytelling perspectives which can move the film industry forward.

Ever since his surprise Oscar wins for Parasite, the film world has been wondering what Bong Joon-Ho will do next.

It turns out the South Korean moviemaker has several projects already in development.

One is an English language drama largely set in 2016 London, another is a Korean-language movie set in his homeland. He is working on both at the same time but keeping story details secret.

Bong hopes to follow up both of those with a musical which he vows will be different from anything the genre has ever seen.

Parasite was so different and dynamic that it won four Academy Awards – including best picture – and in addition to the writer-director’s movie workload, he is also producing an upcoming spin-off TV series version of Parasite for American broadcaster HBO.

When he won at the Oscars, Bong famously said, “I will drink until next morning.” But it looks like he was straight back to work after that and so audiences can look forward to more unmissable projects soon from this hugely talented filmmaker.

—Sandro Monetti

INDIANA JONES AND THE SEQUEL OF DOOM?

The new Indiana Jones movie will be the first one in the action franchise not directed by Steven Spielberg.

He has decided to step down from the director’s chair which is going instead to Ford v Ferrari’s James Mangold.

Harrison Ford remains in the starring role for Indy 5, a much-delayed project which has undergone several script rewrites and is now due for release in 2022.

The poorly received fourth film, Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, came out in 2008.

Spielberg will remain attached as a producer but reportedly wants to let another director make his mark on the much-loved movie series.

Mangold, whose previous work includes Logan, Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma, has certainly proved himself a quality filmmaker time and again.

But there has not been a great deal of enthusiasm on social media for the director change with some fans fearing the archeologist hero won’t conjure the same magic without Hollywood legend Spielberg at the helm.

—Sandro Monetti

Mangold

CANNES GOES VIRTUAL

Just because this year’s Cannes Film Festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, it didn’t mean no deals were done.

Instead the marketplace aspect of the iconic festival moved online with thousands of film industry participants from around the world joining the virtual event.

Buyers, sales companies, agencies and financiers attended as new projects were presented in a marketplace which set the path forward for festival deals in the new normal.

Films were screened online via private passcodes sent to invitation only delegates.

“As nobody can leave their house, a virtual market is the next best thing. If it can help in some way to stimulate business that’s a great thing,” said attendee Dylan Leiner of Sony Pictures Classics.

—Sandro Monetti

THE SCARIEST MOVIE EVER MADE?

Celebrating its 60th anniversary this year, Psycho is still widely considered the scariest movie ever made.

Alfred Hitchcock’s creepy classic set a new standard for film frights by showing that terror could strike anywhere.

Anthony Perkins made an unlikely but unforgettable villain as Norman Bates, the nerdy motel manager with a murderous secret.

But he wasn’t the biggest name in the cast—that was leading lady Janet Leigh— and when her character Marion Crane was slaughtered in the shower a third of the way into the film, audiences knew Psycho was a game changer.

Killing off your biggest star so early in a film was a new departure for movies back then—and so was the lack of a happy ending, something previously thought essential for a box office hit.

But audiences loved Psycho from the start and it earned $50 million—and with a budget of just $800,000 became director Hitchcock’s most profitable film ever.

Psycho threw out the rule book and ushered in a new era of slasher films and horror classics—all of which owe a huge debt to this often imitated but never bettered 1960 chiller.

—Sandro Monetti

REMEMBERING OLIVIA DE HAVILLAND

Hollywood lost the last surviving star from the golden age of movies when actress Olivia de Havilland died this summer aged 104.

Forever associated with her role as frail Melanie Hamilton in classic film Gone With The Wind, the star’s legacy also includes her Oscar winning roles in The Heiress and To Each His Own along with crowdpleasers like Captain Blood and Airport ’77.

But it was for off screen headlines that she will also be remembered including winning a landmark lawsuit against Warner Bros that gave stars like her more control over their choice of roles.

Then there was the lifelong feud with her sister, fellow Oscar winning actress Joan Fontaine, with whom she often vied for the same roles.

Linked romantically with Howard Hughes. John Huston and Jimmy Stewart, she married twice, had two children and lived in Paris ever since leaving Hollywood in 1955.

She will be remembered as one of the leading movie stars from the golden age of classic Hollywood—and never forgotten.

—Sandro Monetti

MISSION POSSIBLE?

The announcement that Tom Cruise will team up with NASA to shoot a movie in space has excited the film community – but the project presents some out of the world technical challenges.

For one thing, shooting on the International Space Station – which is the plan for the so far untitled movie - is not like filming on any other set.

Blocking a scene and completing the shots in zero gravity is much more difficult because orbital dynamics mean you move in an entirely different way.

Plus calling “quiet on set” is impossible due to the constant buzz and hum of the equipment on the ISS.

Getting star Tom Cruise and director Doug Liman up there, most likely on a SpaceX rocket, is just the first part of the mission – making the actual movie comes with a whole other set of problems.

But Cruise has always sought for spectacle in his work and this project is the ultimate adventure to crown his action career.

The time it will take to work out all the technical challenges is part of the reason why no start date has been announced for the film but there is certainly a will to get it made from the technological community as well as the film world.

And NASA are helping every step of the way. The space agency has taken a much greater role in films lately having co-operated with dozens of films, TV shows and documentaries in just the last three years, including First Man, The Martian and Apollo 11.

Cruise is a space enthusiast having played an astronaut in the film Oblivion and narrated an Imax documentary called Space Station 3D but the Mission Impossible star will truly blast into the history books if he call pull off this ambitious project.

—Sandro Monetti

ENGINE OF CHANGE

The Unreal Engine is a pioneering software which has been bringing spectacular graphics to video games like smash hit Fortnite. But now it’s being adapted for movies – and with eyepopping results.

Recent films like Ad Astra, Ford v Ferrari and John Wick: Chapter 3 have all used the technology to enhance their visual effects and upcoming blockbusters such as The Batman have done the same.

It means that the days of filming epics in front of green screens, getting stars to look at a tennis ball on a stick to work out where a monster will be and having to only guess what the backgrounds will look like until the post-production wizards have finished their work are over.

That’s because directors working with this new tool stand their actors in front of giant screens onto which Unreal Engine graphics are projected so the cast and crew can have an immediate immersive environment in which to work.

“This is something incredible. You see this world around you and forget where you are,” said veteran film director Werner Herzog, who is among the technology’s most devoted fans.

The Unreal Engine, which was created by Epic Games, promises to make movies as immersive as the video games for which the process was originally intended.

It seems unreal but this is clearly an engine for big change in the industry.

—Sandro Monetti

MOVIES THAT THE WORLD

Films can and do change the world – and these movies proved it. Policies and regulations were altered forever because of the impact the following five releases had on the film industry and society as a whole.

Stunt safety regulations were created and implemented to prevent any more tragedies like those suffered on Noah’s Ark (1928) where precautions were so bad that three extras drowned in the flood scene, one had his leg amputated and a dozen others suffered broken bones.

For the battle scene at the end of The Charge of the Light Brigade (1936), 125 horses were trip wired to make them fall – an act which resulted in 25 of them dying. Leading man Errol Flynn was so horrified he went public about the animal cruelty and got the attention of Congress. That eventually led to new rules about animal safety on sets being enforced by the Humane Society of America.

Victim (1962) was the first film to mention the word “homosexual” and took such a mature and understanding approach to gay lifestyles that the British movie, starring Dirk Bogarde, is credited with shifting public opinion so much that homosexuality was decriminalized in the UK a few years later.

Political satire Dr Strangelove (1966) proved such a cautionary tale that it shifted US government policy. Congress determined that no longer should just one government official should know nuclear weapon access codes and that way the kind of accident portrayed in the film could not happen in real life.

The current MPAA rules on movie censorship and ratings were introduced in response to the release of Blow Up (1966) featuring full frontal nudity and sexually explicit scenes.

INTIMACY CONTRACTS AGREED

While the film industry remained shut down during the pandemic, actors union leaders were busy hammering out terms for new contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

“Essentially we were negotiating for our future, and we did it,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris (Pictured left).

The result was a new set of rules and regulations addressing the realities and needs of the industry – and not just improved residuals for performers. Better protections regarding nudity and sexual harassment were also key to the talks.

Among the most headline hitting developments were enhanced intimacy protections for actors working in nude or simulated sex scenes.

As well as strict new safeguards at interviews and auditions, written consent forms known as “nudity riders” must now be submitted at least 48 hours in advance of filming so there will be no more last minute demands putting performers under pressure to show more skin.

Ending predatory heavier and creating a safer work environment were cornerstones of the negotiations for both sides and the outcome appears to be safer sets and a halt to unsavory practices.

—Sandro Monetti

IT ALL STARTED WITH A MOUSE

Walt Disney remains a cultural icon whose legacy of imagination and entertainment endures. His empire began when he created Mickey Mouse in 1928 and the cartoon character’s immediate popularity prompted Disney’s expansion into animated films.

Hit movies like Snow White (1937) Pinocchio (1940) Dumbo (1941) and Bambi (1942) made him a living legend.

Shy in private but outgoing in public, he used his fame to build the brand by diversifying into television and then theme parks with the opening of Disneyland in California in 1955.

Walt produced his long-cherished project Mary Poppins (1964) which won five Oscars and became Disney’s biggest hit of the decade.

In 1965 he began development of Disney World in Florida but didn’t live to see the amusement park open as he died from lung cancer later that year.

But his studio has continued ever since to turn our family entertainment by following its founder’s template for success.

As Walt famously said: “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.”

—Sandro Monetti

THE COMEBACK OF CHINESE CINEMA

Most movie theaters in China have reopened with social distancing and mask regulations and it seems to be working.

Despite capacity being limited to 30 percent, film fans have been enthusiastic to go back to theaters after months of being stuck at home.

American theater chains eager to reopen are keeping a close eye on China to learn what’s working, including the introduction of couple seats that allow partners to sit together.