A Peculiar Chat With NikiNSammy
YouTuber Twin stars Niki and Sammy Albon sat down for a peculiar chat with Red Carpet News at a special fan meet and greet event at Ripley’s world famous London Odditorium celebrating the DVD release of Tim Burton fantasy adventure Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children. The boys shares their ‘most peculiar’ experiences with us along with YouTube advice and their plans for 2017. Fans of the film can also check out an exhibition of costumes from the film at Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! London.
Miss Peregrine’s Home For Peculiar Children is out now on Digital HD, Blu-ray™, Blu-ray 3D, 4K Ultra HD and DVD
TIFF Farewell For Midnight Madness Master
Piers Handling, Director and CEO of TIFF, and Cameron Bailey, Artistic Director of TIFF, salute veteran programmer Colin Geddes as he departs the organization to pursue new exciting opportunities. Geddes, an international programmer of TIFF’s cutting edge Midnight Madness and Vanguard programmes, is leaving after 20 years with the Toronto International Film Festival.
Geddes began his career at TIFF in 1997, when he was brought on by Midnight Madness founder Noah Cowan to co-program the selection. He took over Midnight Madness the following year and has shepherded it through two decades of incredible growth.
“Colin embodied a wicked and savvy eye for what’s at the cutting edge of fun, eye-popping horror, and way-out-there, in-your-face, genre-bending movies that were not always in good taste — and we loved him for it,” said Piers Handling. “He put his indelible stamp on Midnight Madness, corralling the programme and its wonderfully insane audiences for 20 years.”
“Colin raised a whole generation on the thrills, shocks, and laughs of Midnight Madness,” said Cameron Bailey. “Toronto audiences came to know and love his passion for movies, his knowledge and his celebrated red trousers. We’re grateful for everything he’s contributed to the TIFF experience, and glad to know he’s built a strong Midnight legacy that will continue to grow.”
“When I started at TIFF in 1997, I had no idea it would be a journey that would last two decades,” said Colin Geddes. “I’m very proud of the work we have done and of the growth of Midnight Madness during those years. What began as a fun sidebar for wild and provocative films has turned into one of the most respected genre selections in the world. I’m also very proud of the smart, dedicated and diverse audience for growing with me, being brave and risking sleep deprivation year after year to see these films.”
During his time at TIFF, Geddes programmed many notable world premieres and introduced a wide array of talent and works to the world stage including Miike Takashi (Ichi The Killer), Eli Roth (Cabin Fever, Hostel), Pratchya Pinkaew and Tony Jaa (Ong Bak: Muay Thai Warrior), Alex Aja (High Tension, Horns), James Wan (Saw, Insidious), Adam Wingard (You’re Next), Gareth Evans (The Raid: Redemption), Donnie Yen (SPL, Flash Point), Johnnie To (The Mission, Full Time Killer), Karyn Kusama (Jennifer’s Body), Osgood Perkins (February, I Am The Pretty Thing That Lives in the House), Ben Wheatley (Kill List, Free Fire) and many more.
“My career at TIFF has been filled with incredible opportunities and successes, and I will always love introducing films to new audiences, Geddes added. “Sitting in a full cinema while an audience is awed by a great film for the first time will always be one of my favourite feelings. Now after 20 years with TIFF, it is time to move on to the next chapter of my life and career.”
Geddes passes the TIFF baton to his programming associate and Midnight Madness protégé Peter Kuplowsky. He will continue his work as Curator for the horror streaming service Shudder, and with his wife Katarina Gligorijević in their role as Artistic Directors for the historic Royal Cinema in Toronto.
The 42nd Toronto International Film Festival runs September 7 to 17, 2017
EE Launches BAFTA Red Carpet Robot Selfies
At this year’s EE British Academy Film Awards, EE will be helping thousands of film fans get closer to the stars by giving them the chance to have a ‘virtual selfie’ taken on the red carpet. This will be made possible thanks to innovative custom-built camera technology featured in the EE Roboselfie: a high-tech, selfie-taking robot.
By submitting a headshot on Twitter using the hashtag #EEBAFTAselfie, lucky film fans will have the chance to be featured in one of the superfast selfies that the EE Roboselfie will be creating at record speed whenever an A-lister stops by for a picture.
In a red carpet world first, EE’s bespoke robot uses facial detection, built-in time codes and custom software to synchronise the camera to its display, simultaneously capturing fan images next to real-life celebrities to capture five different fan selfies per second.
The EE Roboselfie intelligently pairs the new images, once complete with an A-list cameo, to the @handle of the person who submitted the original photograph and even includes a personalised message — all live on the night.
EE’s red carpet host Laura Whitmore will be introducing the EE Roboselfie to this year’s nominees and high-profile guests as they flock to the prestigious ceremony at the Royal Albert Hall on Sunday 12 February, encouraging them to take part in as many selfies as possible as hundreds are snapped every minute.
Laura Whitmore said: “I can’t wait to be a part of this year’s EE BAFTA red carpet and introduce the brilliant EE Roboselfie to this year’s nominees. Make sure you tune in to the red carpet action on EE and BAFTA’s social media channels from 4:30pm on Sunday 12 February to see how I’m getting on.”
The EE Roboselfie was designed by BAFTA-winning costume designer Jany Temime (Spectre, Skyfall, Gravity, Harry Potter, Passengers) whose inspiration behind the creation was to develop a timeless robot that grabbed the attention of the public.
Jany Temime said: “It is the combination of iconic form and innovative technology that makes the EE Roboselfie so exciting. One of the movies I have been most inspired by this year is La La Land and I wanted to capture the public’s imagination in a similar way. On the one hand, the design plays upon the traditional robot form, it feels familiar, fun and inviting. On the other hand, I wanted the robot to play with the norms, adding new references such as the latest connected camera technology from EE in order to go beyond expectations.”
Mat Sears, Director of Communications & Sponsorship at EE said: “At EE, we’ve always tried to bring the magic of the movies a little closer for film fans and our customers through our BAFTA partnership. As this year marks the 20th anniversary of our long-standing relationship with the Film Awards we wanted to do something for the public, that’s quite unique and creates those exciting and shareable moments, without the need to be there. Hopefully the big stars attending on the night will have some fun with it.”
Be right in the heart of all of the action by tuning in to the EE Twitter feed and Facebook page from 4.30pm on Sunday 12 February as BAFTA and EE join forces to live stream the action from the red carpet. Highlights from EE’s red carpet show hosted by Laura Whitmore will also be available across EE’s social channels from 9am on Monday 13 February.
To be in with a chance of appearing on the EE Roboselfie, participants can tweet a front-on colour headshot (no sunglasses) using the hashtag #EEBAFTAselfie.
For more information on EE’s partnership with BAFTA – including details of how to vote for this year’s EE Rising Star – visit BAFTA Rising Star.
Damien Chazelle Wins Director’s Guild Award
Damien Chazelle the Oscar nominated director of instant musical favorite La La Land has won the top prize at the Directors Guild of America Awards ahead of the Oscars later this month. The 32 year old used his acceptance speech to profess he intended to celebrate the act of dreaming and to express his political displeasure with new president Donald Trump. An increasingly common political theme dominated the night as it sadly has done at all recent awards ceremonies.
The ceremony also saw Sir Ridley Scott, director of films including Alien, Blade Runner and Gladiator, receive the 35th Directors Guild Lifetime Achievement Award.
The DGA win for Damien Chazelle will most certainly boost his Oscar hopes as the Best directing Oscar has a reliable history of following the guilds voting patterns. Yet another success following La La Land breaking the record for the most Golden Globe Awards last month, winning seven prizes.
James Cameron Filming Four Avatar Sequels
James Cameron has confirmed that long delayed filming on Avatar 2 will now finally be starting because he has now finished writing the script for Avatar 5. Cameron had initially promised fans a trilogy before insisting he needed to take four films to finish his increasingly epic saga. Now adding a 5th installment the visionary director has confirmed insanely ambitious plans to film all of the sequels in one go…
“The thing is, my focus isn’t on Avatar 2. My focus is on Avatar 2, 3, 4, and 5 equally. That’s exactly how I’m approaching it. They’ve all been developed equally. I’ve just finished the script to Avatar 5. I’m now starting the process of active prep. I’ll be working with the actors in the capture volume in August, so I’m booked in production every day between now and then.”
While studios increasingly do combine filming on major franchises to minimize costs and maximize cast availability it’s safe to say that Cameron’s plans to film four sequels at once are entirely unprecedented. Though many may question how sensible it is to gamble on the success of a franchise to such an extent in truth there may be some logic in Cameron’s madness.
While Avatar was a painfully long developed breakthrough in special effects that took over a decade to produce, given the massive strides in CGI over that past 8 year since the release of Avatar the actual costs of filming motion capture have decreased exponentially. By doing all the motion capture and vocal work for all his planned sequels at once Cameron effectively sets himself up to churn out his massive saga at relatively low cost later, having taken full advantage of the studios enthusiasm for what today remains one of the highest grossing films of all time.