Daily Variety reported that Sands would be leaving the company after many of his duties were usurped by the appointment of Mary Parent to head of MGMs worldwide motion picture group earlier this month. Read more here.
Category: Production
He’s the special effects wizard who seems to visit the Academy Awards every other year to collect an Oscar for a “Lord of the Rings” film. But it’s a gentle, animated children’s show about a Medieval knight and her goofy, fire-breathing dragon that captures most of Richard Taylor’s attention these days. Of course it doesn’t hurt that Taylor’s own preschool children are among the biggest fans of “Jane and the Dragon,” the cornerstone show of the qubo Channel, NBC’s Saturday morning block of children’s programming.
Thanks to board member diedye for sending in this article in which Taylor reveals that the eyes of Lord of the Rings actor Andy Serkis stand in for the eyes of the dragon. Read More
New Line’s Richard Brener is staying on as Toby Emmerich’s right-hand man and has been promoted to president of production. The move comes two weeks after Emmerich was appointed president and chief operating officer of the scaled-down mini-major. The 35-year-old Brener joined the company in 1995 as a temp and rose through the ranks to story editor and senior VP. He’s been serving as New Line’s No. 2 production exec after a promotion to senior exec VP-COO in early 2007. Emmerich has indicated that New Line will focus on creating niche films in the vein of “Wedding Crashers” and “Freddy vs. Jason” along with occasional tentpoles such as “The Hobbit.” Read More
Ain’t it Cool News posted a juicy tidbit this morning that Howard Shore has confirmed he is involved with The Hobbit and has been working on ideas for it since he scored The Two Towers. Not necessarily anything we didn’t already highly suspect, but definitely another step in the right direction. Read More
From Variety.com: In her first creative hire since becoming head of MGM’s worldwide motion picture group, Mary Parent has brought in New Line Cinema executive Cale Boyter as exec veep of production.
“Boyter became available following last month’s decision by Time Warner chief Jeffrey Bewkes to remove New Line co-toppers Bob Shaye and Michael Lynne, and reform New Line as a downsized mini-major that will make six to eight films per year with budgets under $50 million, along with “The Hobbit” and proposed sequels to “Wedding Crashers” and “Austin Powers.” …Though New Line vet Toby Emmerich signed on to run the new division under Warner Bros. aegis, New Line is expected to lose the majority of its 600 staff positions, and numerous creative executives have been taking meetings. It would not be surprising if others land at MGM.”
Has the floodgate opened on the creative talent of New Line? If yes, how does it affect production of “The Hobbit?” Thanks to Board Member Compa Mighty for the link
London’s Daily Mail reported that the lucky lad is 17-year-old British actor Thomas Sangster, who has appeared in Love, Actually and Nanny McPhee and has a role in Jane Campion’s Bright Star, which is about to begin filming. A spokesman for Spielberg’s DreamWorks studio declined comment. While specifics about the project have been kept under wraps, Andy Serkis, who is set to play Tintin’s globe-trotting buddy, Captain Haddock, recently told the IndieLondon website that he is about to begin work on the back-to-back features, with Spielberg handling the first film and Jackson taking the directorial reigns for the second.