The P3 Update Magazine Blog

By Dyana Carmella

With all the drama in the industry, including the proposed strikes from unsatisfied actors over their pay, there is still reason to cheer in Los Angeles, as filming was up 26 percent last quarter, a record high for the period. However, don’t get too excited as this increase is most likely stemming from the production company taking shorter breaks and getting as much work done as possible before the potential strike turns into reality. The studios changed their schedules in order to complete projects by June 30, when the SAG contract expired.

These numbers were released by the Los Angeles permitting authority FilmL.A., who also said that television had the largest increase in filming days. From April to June on-location filming for dramas increased 85 percent, reality series went up 72 percent, pilots were up 24 percent and sitcoms grew 7 percent.

Its numbers like this that provide evidence that people in the industry are working. Lets hope the contract issues between SAG and the Producers get quickly resolved so our industry can remain active.

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By Iain Blair

Went up to Santa Barbara for the gala opening night of the Santa Barbara Museum of Art’s great new exhibit, “MADE IN HOLLYWOOD: PHOTOGRAPHS FROM THE JOHN KOBAL FOUNDATION” which has an accompanying book “GLAMOUR OF THE GODS” published by Steidl. It runs through October before traveling around the country and should not be missed if you have any interest in seeing career defining images of such icons as Garbo, Deitrich, Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Louise Brooks,Joan Crawford, Marlon Brando and Bogart.

John Kobal was the pre-eminent authority on Hollywood photography and was the first collector and author who systematically sought to understand photography’s important role in creating and marketing the great stars central to the Hollywood mystique. His collection of fine art celebrity photography, one of the largest personal collections in film history, is being made available to the public through this special exhibition. I knew John back in London in the ‘70s and ‘80s – he sadly died in the early ‘90s, and he was a larger-than-life personality who had a fund of wonderful stories about meeting people like Deitrich when he was just 22. His enthusiasm for the glamorous icons of old Hollywood rubbed off on me, because when I first arrived in Hollywood in my ‘20s, I also met many of the great old stars, including Mae West, Cary Grant, Bette Davis, Katherine Hepburn and George Raft, who were all surprised that anyone still wanted to talk to them about their amazing careers.

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By Iain Blair

Had dinner the other night at the beautiful Montecito home of legendary DP Haskell Wexler and his wife Rita. It was a very small group of friends, including director Chris Monger  (The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain starring Hugh Grant)  and producer Karen Montgomery and we all sat outside and had a very amusing evening and ate amazing food that Rita had bought that day at the local farmer’s market.  Although he’s now in his mid-80s, Haskell is amazingly youthful and the perfect host – he draped his own jacket over my friend, painter Jacqui Winter ( her husband Dario owns Ca’Dario, one of the top restaurants in town) , to make sure she wasn’t getting cold, and later he made tea for everyone. Haskell, who won Oscars for Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Bound for Glory, has shot so many seminal films – including One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Coming Home and In the Heat of the Night, and he’s still busy working on several documentary projects. And it was like a tour of the golden era of ‘60s and ‘70s Hollywood to walk around the house and look at photos of pals like Jack Nicholson and George Lucas, whom he encouraged to go to film school when Lucas was still a film-mad teenager.

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By Iain Blair
Saw early screening of Meet Dave, Eddie Murphy’s new sci-fi fantasy where the comedian plays a tiny alien from the planet Nill who lands near The Statue of Liberty in a spaceship shaped exactly like a life-sized Eddie Murphy…….none of what happens next makes much sense, but it gives Murphy a chance to show off his slapstick skills as he marches around New York, deals with his crew, and interacts with clueless earthlings. The good-natured comedy pokes fun at everything from Star Trek to hot-dog eating competitions, and the visual effects, supervised by Mark Stetson who worked on Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring almost steal the show – especially the scene where the inch-tall Murphy and crew member #3 (Gabrielle Union) try to make their way across Times Square.

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By Iain Blair

Was chatting with director Paul W.S. Anderson – NOT to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson or Wes Anderson. The Brit writer-director-producer has carved out a very successful Hollywood career thanks to such hits as his Resident Evil franchise, AVP: Alien vs. Predator and Mortal Kombat. Paul told me he’s lived in Hollywood for the past 14 years, “and when I arrived, I thought, Great! I’ll be making movies here and driving to the studio lot every day, which was always a dream of mine growing up in Newcastle in England.” But the reality is “very different,” he laughs. “Now with all the tax breaks and incentives, you end up making movies everywhere except Hollywood.”

Indeed, his latest film is Death Race, a remake of the 1975 futuristic thriller, starring Jason Statham, Joan Allen, Tyrese Gibson and Ian McShane, is a big August release for Universal which he shot on location in Montreal. Paul says “the stunts are amazing – and all real,” and the early buzz on the film is great.

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By Iain Blair

There’s an interesting new doc just out, Chris & Don: A Love Story, about the great Brit author Christopher Isherwood (his Berlin Stories formed the basis of Cabaret) and his artist lover Don Bachardy.  The film, narrated by Michael York, mixes great archival footage with Bachardy’s own reminiscing and is well worth seeing.

It reminded me of the time I first met Chris and Don when I first arrived in L.A. in the late 70s. I went over to their house in Santa Monica Canyon and they took forever to answer the door. When they finally did, they were quite excited and explained that there was a young couple  - completely naked - making love on the roof of a house down below, oblivious to the fact that anyone might be able to see them. Of course we all rushed back to the window to watch. As Chris remarked, “It’s like watching two beautiful animals mating in the sun.” Pity they didn’t include that incident in the film….

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 By Iain Blair

Went to a special IMAX cast-and-crew screening of  The Dark Knight last week and wasn’t disappointed. The film works on every level– script, acting, direction etc. and looks AMAZING in IMAX.

Chris Nolan told me it’s the first time a major feature film has shot IMAX and he did all the major action sequences in IMAX, including the tense opening bank heist (where Chicago stood in for Gotham). He also told me that he purposely used very few CGI shots, and that also works -  when buildings and cars blow up, it just looks so much better than CGI explosions.

The scariest – and saddest – part of  the new Batman film (out July 18) is Heath Ledger, who gives a truly frightening performance as The Joker. In fact, while the film’s title may refer to Bruce Wayne’s alter ego,  it also fits as a chillingly apt, if unintended, reference to Heath Ledger. Ironically, the late great Aussie actor first made a splash as a leading man when he starred in the sunny, rock ‘n’ roll-themed A Knight’s Tale back in 2001. But watching The Dark Night on Saturday night, it was immediately obvious just how far behind the actor had left the golden-locked, carefree hero of A Knight’s Tale. It’s tragic that his career was cut so short.

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