The Joy Theater Presents Stand-Up NOLA

Stand-Up NOLA will come to the Joy Theater Friday, May 8th at 8pm. Here’s the press release:

New Orleans, LA — On Friday, May 8 at 8pm, The Joy Theater in New Orleans (1200 Canal Street) presents a one-night-only opportunity to see performances by 5 of New Orleans’ top comedians. The show features comedians Matt Owens (headliner), Leon Blanda, Joe Cardosi, Mary Devon Dupuy, Katie East, and Andrew Polk. Local DJ Doug Funnie will perform throughout the show. Doors open at 7pm, and the show begins at 8pm.

“I think some the best stand-up talents in the country are living and working right here in New Orleans. Four of the comedians on this May 8 bill were selected by Louis CK to open for him at his two sold-out shows here at the Joy in 2014. Both shows sold out in a less than an hour of their announcement. I put this show together so locals can have another chance to see this New Orleans talent,” says the show’s organizer and headliner Matt Owens.

The Comedians:

Matt Owens

After receiving a full acting scholarship, Matt Owens studied and performed Theatre at the University of Mississippi in Oxford. Matt has extensive experience in stage acting, short films, commercials, and sketch comedy. Matt completed an Improv Intensive at The New Movement Theater in New Orleans. Matt performs stand-up regularly in New Orleans (House of Blues, Howlin’ Wolf) and throughout the Southeast. He hosts a monthly New Orleans Comedy Showcase at The Government Street Grocery in Ocean Springs, MS, and regularly headlines sold-out shows at the Castle Theater in Kenner. He recently organized and headlined a New Orleans Comedy Road Tour featuring Andrew Polk, which ended with a sold out show in the resort town of Saint Simon’s Island, GA. Matt opened for Hannibal Buress at the Irish House, and shared the stage with Bill Burr and Darrell Hammond at the House of Blues. In November of 2014, Matt was selected to open/feature for Louis CK at a sold-out show at New Orleans’ historic Joy Theater. He was featured at Hell Yes Fest in November of 2014. In February 2015, he performed five nights of shows in New York.

Andrew Polk

Andrew Polk was raised in the backwoods of North Louisiana, where he learned to live, laugh, love, and then get the hell out of there. A resident of New Orleans for 4 years, he describes the city as “largely problematic” as bars don’t close, and parallel parking is required in almost all situations. Many of Polk’s influences can be found by turning on the television anytime in the mid-90’s. He produces and hosts the weekly New Orleans comedy showcases Comedy Beast and NOLA Comedy Hour, and his sketch group Massive Fraud produces a monthly film and stand-up showcase at the Indywood Theater. NOLA.com named him one of the 15 New Orleanians To Watch in 2015.

Andrew has been featured in The Guardian and Savage Henry Magazine, has toured as a feature for Todd Barry, performed with Anthony Jeselnik, Maria Bamford, Hannibal Buress, Garfunkel and Oates, Kyle Kinane, Bill Burr, Darrell Hammond, Harland Williams, and many more. He was a featured guest on the Nerdist Network podcast Terrified!, performed on Dave Attell’s Road Work special for Comedy Central, and he was (very briefly) a special guest on the Esquire Network’s Best Bars in America. Most recently he was hand-picked by Louis C.K. to open for his two sold-out shows at the Joy Theater in New Orleans.

Joe Cardosi

Joe Cardosi is a stand-up comic, lo-fi filmmaker, sketch writer/performer, podcaster, and radio guy hailing from New Orleans. He has performed at Crom Fest in Omaha, The Comedy Exposition of 2014 in Chicago, The Orlando Indie Comedy Festival, The Memphis Comedy Festival, and Hell Yes Fest in New Orleans. Joe was personally selected by Louis CK to open for him at The Joy Theater in New Orleans, and has also shared the stage with Doug Stanhope, Kyle Kinane, Bill Burr, Sean Patton, Rory Scovel, Eric Andre, Darrell Hammond, and many more. As half of Massive Fraud, Joe co-produces the sketch/stand-up hybrid KARATEFIGHT that has hosted comics such as Hannibal Burress and Louis CK and consistently sells out every single month. Massive Fraud releases a new sketch video every week, and a podcast called The Fraudcast, where the duo interview comics from across the country about their worst experiences in comedy. Joe is featured on releases from Oscillations Records and Sure Thing Records that are currently available on iTunes, Spotify, and Pandora.

Kate East

A Baton Rouge native, Katie East returned to Louisiana in 2012 after a five-year stint performing improv and stand-up comedy in New York City. Last Fall, she opened for Louis CK at the Joy Theater in New Orleans. While in NYC, East was trained at Amy Poehler’s Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and has been a featured performer there as well. She has been featured in a Comedy Central television pilot with comic Patrice O’Neal and a popular Internet sketch appealing to actor/singer Justin Timberlake which the star himself retweeted. East’s one-woman show Sick Girl has been produced at theaters in New York City, New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Currently, East lives in New Orleans and performs stand-up around the Gulf Coast.

Leon Blanda hosts and stars in two weekly showcases at the House of Blues in the French Quarter of New Orleans – Give It Up Open Mic Night and Comedy Boom.

Mary Devon Dupuy has performed stand-up at KARATEFIGHT at the Indywood Theater, The Air Sex Championships (think air guitar, but with an imaginary sexual partner in place of a musical instrument) at the Hi-Ho lounge, Comedy Beast at the Howlin’ Wolf, and at the House of Blues.

Tickets are $20 and go on sale Tuesday, March 31 at (504) 528-9569 and www.thejoytheater.com. A limited number of VIP ticket packages are available.

Sync Up Music & Cinema 2015

Sync Up Conference returns to New Orleans April 27-29. Here’s the press release:

Sync Up – the entertainment industry conference during Jazz Fest – makes its eighth annual appearance at a new venue: The George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center.

Join us for seven days of educational and networking sessions for independent artists and industry professionals in music, film and digital media, presented by the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Admission is free, but seating is limited so advance registration is required.

Sync Up brings together leaders in music, film and digital media for educational and networking events – all designed to help independent artists navigate the ever-changing landscape of new media.

As in the past, Sync Up Music will host sessions on the mornings of the Friday and Saturday of both weekends of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival presented by Shell – April 24-25 and May 1-2.

Sync Up Cinema (organized by our colleagues at the New Orleans Video Access Center and the New Orleans Film Society) will present film screenings and workshops on the Monday-Wednesday between Jazz Fest weekends – April 27-29.

And once again our friends at Launch Fest – which connects technology start-ups with venture capital – will take place on the Thursday between weekends, April 30.

Admission to all Sync Up events is free, but seating is limited so advance registration is required.

Register for Sync Up Music here, and for Sync Up Cinema here. Register for Launch Fest here.

Sync Up Music will be streamed in live video at www.WWOZ.org. And don’t forget that you can always watch the content from previous editions of Sync Up at our YouTube channel here.

NEW LOCATION
We’re proud to host Sync Up at our new building, the George and Joyce Wein Jazz & Heritage Center (map) – a state-of-the-art education and performance facility located at the gateway to the Tremé neighborhood.

Sync Up MUSIC Highlights At a Glance

Music Publishing: A keynote interview with Matt Pincus, CEO and founder of Songs Music Publishing, which with artists like Lorde, DJ Mustard and Q-Tip is one of the hottest boutique publishers in the business.
Touring: Two panels featuring booking agents with long experience helping up-and-coming as well as established acts build profitable careers on the road.
Independent Distribution: A keynote interview with David Macias, co-founder and CEO of Thirty Tigers, who is helping independent artists top the charts and score Grammy nominations while owning their own masters.
Crowdfunding: A panel with local artists who can share lessons from working with various platforms, including Indiegogo, Pledge Music and Kickstarter.
Case Studies: Sturgill Simpson and Aaron Watson, two artists who’ve hit the big time on self-released records, will be the subjects of special presentations.
Digital Distribution: Top leaders from BitTorrent will discuss why their platform – once known only for file sharing (stealing) – is now the first choice for rappers like Curren$y and rock stars like Thom Yorke of Radiohead.
E-Commerce: The drummer Stanton Moore shares his creative ideas for making money over the Internet.
Music In Film: Music coordinators for three TV shows that are filming right now on the streets of New Orleans will explain how best to get local music into their shows.

Sync Up CINEMA Highlights At a Glance

Sync Up Cinema, programmed by NOVAC, is bringing you great locally produced projects, music documentaries and industry experts in film.  Highlights include:

The Newport Effect: Telling the story of the Newport Folk Festival, founded by George Wein, the founder of Jazz Fest, who will be in attendance along with the filmmakers and special guests – preceded by a trailer for The Blues House, currently in production.
Fresh Dressed: Fresh from Sundance, Sascha Jenkins’ documentary explores the intersection of fashion and hip-hop. Presented by the New Orleans Film Society.
Gimme Shelter: The Maysles brothers’ iconic rock documentary of the Rolling Stones’ infamous 1969 concert at the Altamont Motor Speedeay, presented by Shotgun Cinema.
This Ain’t No Mouse Music: Exploring the genesis and history of Arhoolie Records, which preserves American roots music, especially Louisiana.  Filmmaker Maureen Gosling will attend.
Local Films: Sync Up Cinema will present the BEST OF THE FESTS, the best of Louisiana short films from the New Orleans Film Festival, TImeCode NOLA, 48HR Film Project and the Louisiana Film Prize, as well as Brian Harrison Nelson’s KEEPER OF THE FLAME and NOVAC’s Digital Youth project, PROJECT 10.

Sync Up Cinema also will feature panels and conversations with industry experts, including an indie filmmaker’s guide to exhibition presented by Shotgun Cinema, and a Louisiana Independent Film Producer’s panel featuring Angela Tucker, Amy Mitchell-Smith and Josh Penn.

For the complete schedule of events, please visit us online at www.syncupconference.com.

Sync Up is a program of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation. Sponsors include:

Louisiana Entertainment
The New Orleans Video Access Center
The New Orleans Film Society
IATSE 478
The Recording Academy – Memphis Chapter
Audiosocket
WOMEX
The City of New Orleans
The Louisiana Division of the Arts, Office of Cultural Development
The Arts Council of New Orleans
Basin Street Records
Cineworks Louisiana
Shotgun Cinema
Final Draft
Napper Law
Second Line Stages
Hollywood Rentals
Breathe Video Nation

The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Foundation is the nonprofit that owns the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival Presented by Shell. The Foundation uses the proceeds from Jazz Fest (and other raised funds) for year-round activities in education, economic development and cultural enrichment. For more on what we do, please visit us online at www.jazzandheritage.org.

INT’L TRAILER: Baton Rouge-Shot ‘Fantastic Four’

Above is an international trailer for the Baton Rouge-shot flick Fantastic Four. You can watch the initial teaser trailer here. Still no answers to the “Be ready for what is coming” dialogue but we’re getting closer.

The new international trailer shows us some of the same images we saw in the first teaser trailer. The newest installment brings the four a little closer and reveals their powers more individually.

We see Johnny “flame on,” we see Sue Storm’s blue force-field, we see The Thing’s massive rock crushing power and we see Reed Richard’s flexibility for a brief second.

The Interstellar-esque theme continues with this international trailer. The corn fields and the endless world destruction reminds me of the imagery in Christopher Nolan’s most recent sci-fi epic. After recently binge watching and finally finishing season three of House of Cards, I couldn’t help but love Freddy’s (Reg E. Cathey) methodical voice-over narration. Still no sign of Toby Kebbell playing Victor Domachev but I’m sure it won’t be long before he shows up.

Fantastic Four is directed by Chronicle helmer Josh Trank. The superhero film stars Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell.

The film wrapped in Baton Rouge in early August 2014 and is set to be released August 7.

Baton Rouge-Shot ‘Magnificent Seven’ Adds Luke Grimes

The Baton Rouge-shot reboot of Magnificent Seven has added another rider to the cast. Fifty Shades of Grey and American Sniper star Luke Grimes have joined Antoine Fuqua’s remake. Luke Grimes has had a very impressive last twelve months as he appeared in two of Hollywood’s most talked about features.

With the addition of Grimes, the cast includes Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt, Ethan Hawke, Liam Neeson, Haley Bennett and Vincent D’Onofrio, who will play the villain. The synopsis of the Magnificent Seven reboot begins shortly after the Civil War. The setting takes place in a war-torn town inhabited by a ruthless gold mining tycoon and his fearsome thugs. A man is brutally killed and his widow calls upon a bounty hunter to settle the score. The bounty hunter calls upon six other guns to help take down the gold mining tycoon and his thugs.

The role of Luke Grimes is yet to be revealed but we can make assumptions that he will be one of the six riders. Grimes also has a new project on the horizon called Freeheld, a gay rights drama with Julianne Moore and Ellen Page. He’s also been in Taken 2, Brothers and Sisters and the Louisiana-shot HBO vamp camp series True Blood.

Production for Magnificent Seven will begin May 18 in Baton Rouge. If you want to work on Magnificent Seven visit jobScene for further information.

Source: /film

Shreveport-Based Moonbot Studios Gets Emmy Nod for Short Film ‘Silent’

Moonbot Studios is a secret, zero-gravity colony inhabited by interstellar beings in Shreveport, La. Their mission is to create the best books, films, apps, games and entertainment in the galaxy. Award-winning artists and filmmakers William Joyce, Brandon Oldenburg and Lampton Enochs co-founded Moonbot Studios in 2009. Since then, the studio has won an Academy Award for The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore, which is also an iTunes Hall of Fame iPad app and New York Times best-selling hard copy book.

Moonbot’s latest multi-platform story is The Numberlys, released as a Webby Award-winning app, best-selling book and Academy Award shortlisted animated film. In 2013, the studio made a mark in publishing by establishing Moonbot Books, a publishing imprint with Simon & Schuster’s Atheneum Books for Young Readers.

On March 31, Silent, an animated short film collaboration between Moonbot Studios, Dolby Laboratories and Creative Artists Agency (CAA) received five Daytime Emmy nominations, including:

• Outstanding Special Class Animated Program
• Outstanding Directing in an Animated Program (Directors, Brandon Oldenburg, Limbert Fabian)
• Outstanding Sound Mixing – Animation (Re-Recording Mixer, Jurgen Scharpf)
• Outstanding Sound Editing – Animation (Sound Editor, Steve Boeddeker)
• Outstanding Music Direction and Composition (Composer, John Hunter)

Silent is a three-minute animated short film featuring Mr. Morris Lessmore from Moonbot Studios’s Academy Award-winning short film The Fantastic Flying Books of Mr. Morris Lessmore. Lessmore and his fellow street performer dream of bringing their Picture and Sound Show to life. When they discover a magical contraption inside an old theatre, they embark on a cinematic adventure of sight and sound, traveling through movie history to find the audience they always wanted. The collaboration celebrates how storytellers, inventors, and technology work together to create cinema magic.

“It’s an honor for our work to receive recognition from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. It’s led to one amazing crescendo of celebration here at Moonbot,” said Limbert Fabian, who co-directed the animated short film with Moonbot partner Brandon Oldenburg. The pair previously received honors at the Emmy Awards for their work on a collaboration with Chipotle Mexican Grill, The Scarecrow.

Watch the incredible short film Silent here. Also, see a full list of nominations here. And for more information about Moonbot Studios in Shreveport, La please visit their website here.

Source: shreveporttimes

Mustafa Shakir Joins New Orleans-Shot ‘Quarry’

A couple months ago, Cinemax ordered a 1970s period drama series based off of the novels of Max Allan Collins. Now, shooting on Quarry is already underway in New Orleans, directed by Australia-native John Hillcoat.

The New Orleans-shot series will star Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim), the incredibly versatile Stellan Skarsgard, Logan Marshall-Green (Prometheus), Noah Taylor (Game of Thrones) and Jamie Hector (The Wire).

Joining the cast as a regular in Quarry is Mustafa Shakir (The Grounds). Shakir just wrapped a five-episode arc in the HBO miniseries Criminal Justice. He is set to play Moses, a clever and an Iago-ish type character who doesn’t hold loyalty high in his repertoire. Moses is autonomous, perplexing and will reveal his dark side at the drop of a hat.

Hillcoat is responsible for the dark, visceral and emotionally powerful films The Road and Lawless. The outgoing director has a knack for adapting novels to the screen. Cormac McCarthy’s The Road was adapted for the screen and the visually bleak and ravaged backdrop Hillcoat created was amazing. We can expect Hillcoat’s visceral vision to translate well in Quarry.

Quarry follows Mac Conway as he returns home from serving two tours in Vietnam, but struggles to find work and return to normal life. A shady opportunity provides him an entry into another, more dangerous life he knows little about, but is very adept at.

If you are interested in a job working on Quarry visit jobScene to submit a resume. The post-Vietnam dark drama will be an eight-episode season.

Source: Deadline

TRAILER: Jack Black and James Marsden in New Orleans-Shot ‘The D Train’

Jack Black is easily one of my top ten favorite people of all time. He is the front-man of one of my favorite bands of all time, Tenacious D, and is a vibrant and spasmodic actor that fills me with joy. His latest film The D Train was showcased at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival and was well received.

Jack Black plays Dan Landsman, the head of his high school reunion committee, he has the task of convincing his former classmates to attend their reunion. He was the loser who wishes to claim fame with the help of the most popular guy from his high school, Oliver Lawless (James Marsden).

James Marsden has made frequent stops in New Orleans to film movies including The D Train, The Best of Me and The Loft. Check out The SceneCast episode that includes Marsden’s work out regiment for The Best Of Me here.

The D Train is a dramedy directed by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel. The film also stars effortlessly funny Jeffrey Tambor and one of the funniest females on the planet Kathryn Hahn. The D Train will race into theaters May 8.

Read IFC Films synopsis below:

All his life, Dan Landsman (Jack Black) has never been the cool guy. That’s about to change – if he can convince Oliver Lawless (Marsden), the most popular guy from his high school who’s now the face of a national Banana Boat ad campaign, to show up with him to their class reunion. A man on a mission, Dan travels from Pittsburgh to LA and spins a web of lies to recruit Lawless. But he gets more than he bargains for as the unpredictable Lawless proceeds to take over his home, career, and entire life. Showcasing Jack Black and James Marden’s most outrageous performances to date, THE D TRAIN serves up the question: how far would you go to be popular? Co-starring Kathryn Hahn and Jeffrey Tambor.

UK TRAILER: ‘Terminator: Genisys’

The new UK trailer for Terminator: Genisys highlights JK Simmons as a detective that seems to have no issues with following Sarah Connor’s lead as they try to stop the end of the world. JK Simmons says that the Terminator script was a love story. We will wait and see who is romantically involved when the huge summer blockbuster is released.

The Whiplash Oscar winner showcases a small comedic touch in his brief moments in the trailer above. Terminator: Genisys will obviously be chock full of robotic warfare but will have comedic and romantic themes drizzled into the screenplay, I know this because JK Simmons said so.

The news of Arnold Schwarzenegger returning for the Genisys sequel is still intriguing. His time treading journey will have him face to face with himself in 1984 for a showdown of all Arnolds, or ages. Visit the official website here. The film is set to be released July 1.

‘Halt and Catch Fire’ Season 2 Premieres May 31 on AMC

Season one of Halt and Catch Fire ended with Gordon’s dream turning into a nightmare, Joe searching for himself in the woods and Cameron and Donna teaming up to start Mutiny. This AMC series has created incredible traction of late and is set to premiere just two weeks after the infamous Mad Men closes its doors forever.

Halt is set in Texas in the 1980s during the second wave of personal computer innovation. Scoot McNairy, Lee Pace, Mackenzie Davis and Kerry Bishe star in the drama and James Cromwell will have a recurring role in the upcoming season.

In our exclusive Scene interview with Scoot McNairy, he said fans should expect to see Gordon more comfortable in his own skin. The facial hair department is up in the air but we should see his beard come and go as the season progresses.

Watch a single-take sequence of Halt and Catch Fire here courtesy of /film. Also, the first season of Halt and Catch Fire will hit Netflix on April 8.

Scoot McNairy On Fire

This interview first ran in the March/April 2015 issue of Scene Magazine. The second season of Halt and Catch Fire returns to AMC on Sunday, May 31.

A bat out of Dallas, Texas, Scoot McNairy can’t slow down. After breaking out in In Search of a Midnight Kiss and leading Godzilla director Gareth Edwards’ micro-budgeted 2010 film Monsters, he has starred in thirteen films. Last year, he appeared in five films including Gone Girl, Black Sea, Frank, The Rover and Non-Stop. McNairy’s memorable but virtually unrecognizable in all of them, a testament to his talent and evidence that he’s quietly becoming one of the best actors of his generation.

In David Fincher’s Gone Girl, McNairy plays Amazing Amy’s most damaged ex. In 12 Years a Slave, his character Brown playfully coaxes Solomon Northrup into slavery. In Killing Them Softly, he steals scene after scene alongside Brad Pitt and Ben Mendelsohn. In David Michôd’s The Rover, he’s Henry, a petty criminal hardened by an economic apocalypse. In Ben Affleck’s Best Picture winning film Argo, McNairy is the voice of dissent against a preposterous plan dreamed up to smuggle six Americans out Iran. He appears alongside Matt Damon in Gus Van Sant’s Promised Land.

The Texas native also anchors AMC’s Halt and Catch Fire, a 1980s period piece set in the second wave of personal computer innovation. It’s a new AMC show that’s so good, I expect Walter White to walk on screen. He plays Gordon Brown, a talented computer engineer trapped in a cubicle at a profitable Texas electronics company. In the first season, he sees an opportunity in Joe McMillan, a silver-tongued shark who could sell salt to the Dead Sea. Together, they set out to change an industry still in its infancy. Season two is set to return to AMC this summer.

Scoot connected with me over Skype from Atlanta, Georgia, where he’s currently filming the highly anticipated second season of Halt and Catch Fire.

MH: You currently star in Halt and Catch Fire, which is such a great show. It’s set in Texas in the 1980s, where you were raised. Did you grow up with an awareness of the so-called Silicon Prairie?

SM: No, not really. I didn’t know much about computers when I was a youngster. And I definitely don’t recall the area having anything to do with computers. I spent a lot of time [in that space] with my dad when I was a kid. He was a financial planner, so on the weekends, he was always driving to clients’ houses and I’d go with him. I read the show and it kinda reminded me of that. I feel like I knew the world so well from the 80s. When I got on the show, I started seeing things around the house like blankets and pictures on the walls that we had in our house. Which I guess a lot of people had in their houses: it was a Sears catalogue type of thing. I thought, “Gosh, this is such a blast to the past seeing all this stuff.” I felt like I really knew a lot about the world of Dallas in the 80s. But, I did not know there was anything going on there with any kind of computer boom.

MH: Halt caught me at just the right time. I had just read Walter Isaacson’s biography of Steve Jobs, which is really a prelude to the era of Halt and Catch Fire. I’d also read this great book called Masters of Doom, which is about the video game revolution that happened in the late 80s and early 90s. That’s a short time after the events of the first season, and Halt occupies that magical time in between, pregnant with possibilities after the first boom in the personal computer market.

SM: I didn’t know much about the video games. What was Masters of Doom?

MH: They were these kids, some from Texas and some from the Midwest, that all ended up in Shreveport, Louisiana at this software company that sold subscriptions. Their business model was “Subscribe to us and we will send you video games, word processing software, spreadsheet software and all this stuff.” They start making these games for this little company, and one weekend, they decided to use their work computers to port Super Mario Bros 3 to the PC, hoping Nintendo would license it and they could sell it. Nintendo didn’t. So they took the tech, started their own company and made Commander Keen. Then they made Wolfenstein 3-D.

SM: No way! I remember that when I was a kid.

MH: That game was huge, so they went out on their own, dropped their distributor and self-distributed the video game Doom, one of the biggest games of all time.

SM: Yeah, my brother was super into Doom and Final Fantasy.

MH: The thing that really interests me is that these guys are entrepreneurs. They’re driven just like the Henry Fords who worked in the technology of the past. They are driven to create and so much of that is embodied in Halt and Catch Fire.

SM: Yeah, man! They were innovators. Without giving you any spoilers, I have to say: you’re really going to like the second season a lot. And I can’t say anything more than that.

MH: Awesome! I can’t wait. I’m primarily a film guy, but there is just something about that entrepreneurial spirit that I identified with. I think it’s present throughout the independent filmmaking community, too.

SM: I read that Walter Isaacson Steve Jobs book right before we started shooting. That was probably one of the best biographies I’ve ever read. So much so that I went out and bought the biography he did on Einstein. I come from the same background of super independent filmmaking, where there’s no more than like six or seven people in the whole production. You’re shooting stuff in cars and ripping shots. It’s the same thing. It’s like building a small company and just crashing it.

MH: In Halt and Catch Fire, you play Gordon Clark, who has already attempted being an entrepreneur at the beginning of season one, experiences failure, and now he’s doing it again. Where is he at the beginning of season two?

SM: Gordon really had something to prove. He had a very large chip on his shoulder and he was really struggling. Are his ideas good? Is he smart? Does he have something to offer to this industry? Obviously, his dream was to always build his own computer. But through season one, he really struggled with that and also with the control that he wanted over the way that his computer could be built. In season two, we jump ahead in time. I can’t say how far. But you get to see what has happened over that time period that we jump. I think that Gordon’s feeling a little bit like riding on the coattails of success when we pick up with him.

MH: Gordon’s partner and occasional adversary is Joe McMillan, who is this sort of Steve Job-sian salesman character. He’s almost too slick for his own good. At first, Gordon seems really put off by Joe’s polished exterior. What do you think it is about Joe that Gordon decides to take a chance on?

SM: When we pick up with Gordon, he’s been burnt out. He’s given up on his dream, his goals and his life. And this guy Joe McMillan walks into his life and tells him, “You are a genius. This article that you wrote is visionary. I wanna work with a guy like you.” It starts to fire that juice back inside Gordon to think, “Okay. Wow, there’s somebody that believes in me. But he’s such a prick!” And I think that that’s the inspiration. Gordon is looking for adventure. He’s looking to create and his dream’s always been to build a computer. And he’ll do anything for that to happen.

However, he has a family that he has to think about. That’s the one hurdle. As bad as he wants his dreams and his goals to happen, he doesn’t want to lose his family over it. Joe McMillan is a guy that you really want to keep at arm’s length, and I think that Gordon’s completely aware of that. Yet, he crosses that line back and forth. Working with Joe is exciting, but like Steve Jobs, Joe is really hard on Gordon.
One of the things that I really connected with in Steve Jobs’s biography was that he was so hard on people. But when you interviewed the people who worked for him, they say, “He was so mean to us but he got us to do things that we didn’t even know were possible.” That’s just a fascinating process. I felt that I’ve dealt with that in my past in Texas, growing up in Texas football and working with some acting coaches. That’s really a liberating feeling, when somebody’s really hard on you but they get you to do something that you didn’t really know you were capable of.

MH: There’s got to be a trust factor with those coaches and teachers that makes you tolerate their sort of Whiplash-ian intensity.

SM: I’ve always been incredibly attracted to it. I like it when somebody’s all over me. I liked being worked. I don’t know if that’s from being a kid and the coach is just whipping you and pushing you.

MH: I love that you make the association with Texas football.

SM: Before I worked with David Fincher, I heard that he pushed actors hard and had them do lots and lots of takes. I remember hearing that and thinking, “Well, I really want to work with him then.” That sounds like a really productive process to me. And now having worked with him, I definitely don’t think he’s hard on you. He forces you to really think and puts you in positions where you really have to make decisions. But I don’t get that complaint, “Yeah we did a whole bunch of takes.” What actor out there doesn’t like a lot of takes?

MH: That trust factor with really has to be there, though. Maybe not with Jobs, but definitely with an acting coach and hopefully with David Fincher. A character like Steve Jobs or Joe McMillan hasn’t had a success yet. They’ve had nothing but failure or no history at all. Why do people trust them when they don’t really have any reason to?

SM: You know, that’s an interesting human question. What is it? I don’t know. I’m not answering the question, I’m asking it, too. Maybe it’s self-gratification. As much as you hate this person, they’re making you feel as though you are better at something. Or you are a better person for that. Maybe it’s worth taking all of the beatings to feel like you’re worth something.

MH: While reading Jobs’ biography, what did you think Steve Wozniak? He is very different than Gordon but sort of an analog in Gordon’s relationship to McMillan. What do you think Wozniak might have seen in Jobs?

SM: I think that Wozniak looked at Jobs and said, “He does all of the things that I don’t want to do. All I want to do is create and really make the world a better place.” I think that they share that same vision. They wanted to make a ding in the universe and wanted to improve technology and pave the way. That relationship between Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak was that. But with Gordon and Joe, I think that the relationship between them is kind of the opposite of that. Gordon looks to Joe and says, “Man, if I could just be a salesman like that guy! If I could just be as smooth as that guy and if was as good looking as that guy, then I wouldn’t need that guy. That guy can’t build a computer, but I can build a computer.” Gordon looks at Joe and thinks, “Wow, he can talk his way into anything.” That’s a skill that Gordon doesn’t possess.

MH: And you can definitely see that in the first season, too. There’s envy there. I’ve never read that Wozniak seemed envious of Jobs. Woz seems happy completing his own mission.

SM: Yeah! When Gordon buys the Porsche, it’s almost screaming, “Look, the guy really wants to be like Joe.” And he’s just not. I think in season two, you see him settle a lot more into his own skin.

MH: What can we expect to see from Gordon? In the facial hair department.

SM: Oh, in the facial hair department! Well, you might see a number of things. I’d say his beard might be coming back. But this season I think you’re going to see a side of Gordon where he in a really, really good place in his life. You get to see that a little bit through the season and then things change drastically for him. Maybe they get really, really better or maybe they get even worse.

MH: Hopefully both. Hopefully, it’s a sine wave of terrible and awesome all throughout the season.

SM: There you go.

MH: You’re shooting Halt and Catch Fire on location in Georgia, which is standing in for Texas. What is your favorite Georgia past time and why is it NASCAR?

SM: Ha! Well, I’ll tell you something about Georgia: go thirty minutes in any direction outside of the city and you are in a beautiful country. Big, lonely pines. Go a little up north and you got the mountains, you got the Chattahoochee Mountains. Me and my daughter went and hiked Chattahoochee. There’s just so much beautiful outdoor stuff to do here. That’s one of the things I really love about Atlanta. I was talking to a guy today at work who said the service industry in the last eight years has just gone through the roof. So many incredible restaurants here and so much stuff to do. A lot of people are like, “I wish I was shooting where I live.” And Atlanta’s not a bad place to shoot at all. It’s actually a really great town.”

MH: You’ve also got direct flights to L.A., directs to New York, so it’s easy to head home for the weekend.

SM: And we’re only here four and a half months.

MH: You shot three films in Louisiana: 12 Years a Slave, Killing Them Softly, and the upcoming film Our Brand is Crisis. What do you look forward to when you’re headed back for your fourth film?

SM: I love going to Café du Monde and grabbing my coffee, walking up to the river and just sitting there and watching the ships coming in and out. Massive, massive tankers are cruising right down the river. It’s phenomenal. I love going up to the Garden District. Tons of really great restaurants. And I don’t ever miss a swamp tour when I get there. Go out on an airboat. One of my buddies I was working with was supposed to take me fishing. We never got around to it, but I hear the fishing’s incredible. And the food down there is incredible! It’s Louisiana, man. There ain’t no other place like it and there ain’t no other place like New Orleans. That’s for sure.

MH: You have a memorable role in Best Picture winner 12 Years A Slave. When I saw that film, it eclipsed even my already high expectations. What were your thoughts on set? Did you have any sense of how powerful it was going to be?

SM: No. I was already a huge fan of Steve McQueen. I was really just beating on his door to come work with him, so I was really excited about getting the job. But we played these cartoony-type characters and I remember thinking to myself, “This character seems a bit…much. This doesn’t fit into a Steve McQueen movie.” But they were like “No, that’s what he wants. He loves that!”

And I realized later the crew got a huge relief by having the two of us come. For the rest of the film, the shoots were so dramatic on some days that it was nice to have me and Taran [Killam] come in and lighten up the mood for a little bit.

One of the greatest things that Steve McQueen did was that he didn’t tell a story about Solomon Northup or slavery. He put you on the plantation – sitting there, watching, like a fly on a wall – what was happening during that time. I feel like that film really gave me an understanding of how awful slavery was.

MH: Such a good film. I have never seen in any other film a depiction of how a financial debt could be inextricably tied to a moral debt. They were just stuck together and it seemed like nobody was willing to unravel the two.

SM: Yeah, man. That’s an interesting theme.

MH: You’ve also got Our Brand is Crisis coming up.

SM: It is a bit of a satire on American politics. It’s based on the documentary of the same name, Our Brand is Crisis. It’s about a strategist company that works in American politics in Washington. They have been hired to go and help one of the Bolivian presidents to get reelected after being out of office for about twenty years.
There’s a team of strategists and I play the head of marketing, doing all of the commercials and stuff for the campaigns.

MH: That’s great. I’ve heard so much about this film from my friends at work on it.

SM: It’s great. And working with David Gordon Green is great. He’s a really fun dude to work with. And he’s a big fan of New Orleans. He’s actually spent a lot of his time in New Orleans as well at the beginning when he was just writing stuff. He wrote a ton of screenplays and was selling them to Hollywood and living out of New Orleans for years. I think he lives in Austin, Texas now, but he’s a good Southerner.

MH: I love your work on screen in Killing Them Softly with Ben Mendelsohn. Those scenes are so hypnotic and I love everything Andrew Dominik’s done. The scenes in that film seem like a gift to actors to work out whatever they needed to work out.

SM: When I got that script, it was all on the page. It was just these really great, long scenes. It felt like doing these little short one-act plays for every scene. The dialogue was so good and Andrew did such a good job at combing through that book and really pulling everything out. It was a pleasure to work on. I’m very blessed to have been able to be a part of that picture.

MH: You worked again with Ben Mendelsohn on Black Sea. He’s really not that much older than you, but he’s been in the industry since the early 80s. Since like 1984 when he was a young kid. What do you learn from an actor like that after working with him over the course of two films?

SM: Ben Mendelssohn is a talent. I’m not going to lie: he is a really, really incredible actor. I learned so much from him, to be honest with you. He doesn’t care or apologize for anything. The way he works is different than most people. I really can’t put my finger on it or describe it with words. But you find yourself really lost in scenes when you’re working across from somebody. You’re just really staring at him and really listening to him. Every take’s just completely different. He’s just a total wild man. When the cameras aren’t rolling, the guy is entertainment twenty-four hours a day. And he plays such psychos! If you meet him, he’s such a teddy bear of a guy. One of the sweetest, nicest guys you’ve ever met.

MH: That’s awesome. So, you’ve worked with some really great directors. You’ve worked with Ben Affleck, Steve McQueen, Andrew Dominik, David Fincher. These gents are pretty amazing. Would you like to direct? And whose career as a director are you maybe a little bit envious of?

SM: First I have to say, yes I have been fortunate to work with those directors and I feel like an incredibly lucky person to have done so. All of them. That’s one of the reasons why I do absolutely want to direct. I love all of these people that I’ve worked with. I love all of their movies. To get on set and see how they work, see what their process is, and see what their technique is. To compare it with others and then see the picture when they’re done and what they did with it. I’m getting some of the best directing education you could ever get from working with these guys.

MH: Is there a specific project you have in mind to direct?

SM: Yeah! We’re going back and forth on the script right now. It’s a movie called Black River Water. You’ll be the first to print that. We’re just in the process of locking down that script. I’ve been busy over the last couple of years and so I’ve been spending as much time as I can on it and my writing partner as well. He’s been pretty busy. His career took off, so we’re just working on this one particular project together. It’s in the process. Hopefully, I’ll be in production in a year or so.

MH: That’s very exciting.

SM: Thanks man. I’m excited man, I can’t wait to get behind the camera.

MH: I think I read somewhere that you had a background as a cinematographer?

SM: Yeah, I moved out to California to be a cinematographer. That was the dream. I went to film school and then ended up dropping out and just started doing commercials. But no one was calling me to shoot. They were calling me to act, so I just kept doing that. I was about twenty-five when I got serious about it and started going to school for acting.

MH: I love it when people make their way into acting and it’s not their first calling. There’s some sort of journeyman aspect to their careers.

SM: Coming up, I did whatever blue collar work I could find. I did carpentry out in California for about a year and I was doing carpentry in Austin as well. I was an arborist in Austin. I was a tree cutter. I was super into the outdoors and rock climbing and camping. I thought, “If I can become a cinematographer, then I could go live in the woods and photograph animals or the snow caps for three weeks and get paid for it.

MH: One more question. You have a role in Batman v. Superman coming up. I know you can’t say anything about it. What was it like for you on one of Zach Snyder’s sets? He’s this guy who has produced some of the most incredible images of the last fifteen years.

SM: I’ll tell you something. Zach Snyder has crazy, crazy energy. I mean, that guy has a million things going, not just Batman. He’s in the process of working on Justice League. He goes to the gym like twice a day. I don’t know how he fits that in. He was recutting or redoing posters on Sucker Punch in the middle of all this and I just couldn’t believe the guy. He was incredible to work with. You just look at that energy that he has and it’s incredibly contagious. He was wonderful man, couldn’t have been nicer. I think the script is really good and it’s going to be really different and grounded. It’s going to be a really big superhero film. I think this one’s gonna compete with the Chris Nolan films.

MH: I can’t wait. And I can’t wait for your directorial debut. Thanks for speaking with me, Scoot.

IN THEATERS: ‘Get Hard,’ ‘Home,’ ‘While We’re Young’

Get Hard

Narrow-minded millionaire James King (Will Ferrell) is arrested for fraud and sentenced to ten years at San Quentin prison. King looks upon a physically and vocally colorful Darnell Lewis (Kevin Hart) for prison prep help. James King will have to go from soft millionaire to the hardest prisoner on the block under Darnell’s coaching. 100 min. Rated R.

Home

Jim Parsons and Rihanna star in the DreamWorks picture Home. A misguided alien lands on earth and meets a girl who is on an adventure of her own. 94 min. Rated PG.

While We’re Young

Ben Stiller and Naomi Watts star in a coming-of-age story of a middle aged couple. Their lives and careers are dramatically changed when a younger couple enters their lives. 97 min. Rated R.

An Interview with ‘Get Hard’ Star Paul Ben-Victor

Paul Ben-Victor has his roots in the New York theatre. Born and raised in Brooklyn, Ben-Victor made the transition from east to west coast early in his career. Scene spoke with him while shooting Emmett/Furla Films’ Empire State, a film set in New York but shot in New Orleans. “I started off a little bit in New York,” said Ben-Victor. “I started off on the off-off-off-off-off  Broadway thing for about a year. I got some early commercials in New York… the original Levi’s 501 Blues campaign. And then I got shipped off to L.A. to do a Dodge Boy campaign commercial. I did a bunch of those. The weather was great. I didn’t have any allergies out there.”

His budding film and television career grew during his early years in Los Angeles. “Back lots had no security,” Ben-Victor recalls about getting his start in 1980s Southern California. “I’d sort of walk on and say, ‘Hey, I’m going to walk in this building.’ ‘Alright.’ I’d walk in, I’d introduce myself. I did my monologues wherever I wanted to, an office here, an office there. Some guys said, ‘Come on in. You’d be good. Go in at four o’clock for a show called L.A. Law.’ I got my first guest on L.A. Law, and the rest is history. I started doing a scene here, an L.A. Law here, a Cagney and Lacey, a China Beach and a movie there. I became a member of the Actors’ Studio out there. I did a play by a playwright named Lyle Kessler who wrote Orphans.”

Though his career seemed to be developing rapidly, it wasn’t without growing pains. “Twenty years ago, I was confused, I was less happy,” remembers Ben-Victor. “A little nuttier, a little angrier. I burned some bridges that I regret doing back then. Just being a little cockier. But there was nobody to teach me otherwise. I had to learn these things alone.”

Perhaps Ben-Victor’s biggest break came when he was cast in the HBO drama The Wire, also starring Wendell Pierce. “That was probably one of the most exciting times of my life, in terms of career,” he says. “That was probably one of the most exciting times of my career so far because I was doing several things at the same time. I had written a play with my mom that was playing in a beautiful theatre, The Hayworth Theatre in L.A. At that time it was called The Good Steno, but we’re changing the name to This Little Jew Girl. Morty is this horrible villain, and I play Morty. So it’s a great play, and I was doing that. And then I get an offer to do The Wire, which was the greatest offer at the time. I don’t know how exactly that happened but [The Wire casting director] Alexa Fogel… I owe her a lovely gift that’s long overdue.”

“[Alexa] was amazing. She made that happen,” says Ben-Victor. “I don’t know how, but I get a call saying, ‘Paul, you start shooting next Monday. Get on a plane to play this Greek guy.’ I was doing Entourage at the same time, and I was doing The Good Steno, In Plain Sight. There was a lot of stuff happening that year. I was overwhelmed doing theatre, TV and film all at the same time. It was a great time.”

Now a veteran actor, Ben-Victor has gone back to his roots, again collaborating with his mother, but this time as a writer. “It’s Should’ve Been Romeo,” says Ben-Victor. “I co-wrote it with my mom. She’s a playwright, Leah Kornfeld-Friedman. We started writing it fourteen years ago, based on a summer stock play I did thirty years ago. [It was] Romeo and Juliet where I played Benvolio. When I should’ve been Romeo, but I was Benvolio. So it was the seed and wrote a draft, then kept writing new drafts. Greg Ferkel is another writer that came on board and myself. And then my friend Michael Goldberg came on board, who wrote Cool Runnings and Snow Dogs. Big family film writer. And that’s what this is: it’s a wonderful, funny, lovable little family story. We wanted to make a funny movie, a lovable feel good movie.”

“Over the years it just evolved and evolved and evolved and we finally put it together,” he continued. “And it stars Ed Asner, Carol Kane, Michael Rappaport, Alanna Ubach and Evan Handler. Kelly Osbourne has a  wonderful cameo in it. Mary McCormack from In Plain Sight has a cameo. It’s chock full of cameos! We needed Tina Majorino (True Blood), so I think we had to work around her schedule for the movie. She’s wonderful. Again, she has a cameo, and then she turns around and hits it out of the park. Everybody does. Costas Mandylor is in it. Natasha Henstridge and I go back to the Van Damme movie we did twenty years ago, Maximum Risk. Evan Handler and I did The Three Stooges together. We became and are still very close friends. Matt Winston, he did In Plain Sight. It’s a wonderful thing to call your old friends and say, ‘Hey, could you come do a day for us? Could you come do a couple days?’ And they go, ‘Sure, when should I show up and where? If I’m in this country, I’ll get there.’”

Now in New Orleans filming a movie about his native New York, Ben-Victor is enjoying himself. “Empire State is just exciting to just be a part of this thing,” he said. “It was exciting because it’s another Greek family that I’m playing that I’m a part of. And then I watched Dito Montiel’s movie, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. I was blown away by that, then I watched Fighting, which is one of his other movies. I got the script [for Empire State], and I didn’t put two and two together, ‘Oh, it’s this guy.’ He’s amazing. It’s just an exciting thing to be a part of.”

“Empire State is a true story about these two neighborhood kids,” he explains. “Two crazy kids from Queens back in the 80s, I believe. They were the  biggest rip offs in history. One of them works for an armored car company, and they rip off fifteen million bucks. True story. It’s a great terrific project.”

“We did a night the other night; we wrapped at like five in the morning,” Ben-Victor continued. “So we got through the night, it was a very exciting night. There’s a big climax. I read the script and I went, ‘Woah, this is a great role. It would be great to get this.’ And when I got the offer, I was thrilled.”

“It’s great to be down here in this whole world, movie making down here,” he said. “Liam Hemsworth, a wonderful young actor, I play his father. A neighborhood immigrant from Queens back in the 80s just trying to hold down the fort, trying to be a good family man, and my son has his hands in some dirty business. We have a big week coming up where I’m going to meet with my family and work with some terrific actors. I’m looking forward to it. It’s a great group of people.”

“Liam Hemsworth and I were talking about [director Dito Montiel] the other night,” he said. “We’re like, ‘He’s sort of the perfect director,’ because he’s incredibly generous, incredibly warmhearted. He seems to really love actors and understand the actors, and yet, he’s really specific in what he wants. His direction is just really specific and really poignant. He seems to be able to say very little, and send you in another direction. He wants it to be very real, very organic. He’s very sensitive for it not to be anything stagy. He’s just got a beautiful quality.”

Though he laments the loss of production in New York and Los Angeles, Ben-Victor has appreciated his time in Louisiana. “Hats off to you guys. I’m thrilled you guys have this influx of the industry.”

photos by Kelli Binnings

REVIEW: Get Hard (GUEST: Writer/Director Mac Alsfeld) | The SceneCast

72% of Louisiana Public Favors Film and Other Tax Incentives for Businesses

In the run-up to each fiscal session of the Louisiana Legislature, critical media coverage of the State’s tax incentive programs intensifies in both print and broadcast media. In a year when the State of Louisiana has a projected budget shortfall, that coverage is even more intense. But it doesn’t accurately reflect the positive impact that programs like Louisiana’s film incentive program are having on the general public, many of whom work in or own businesses that have been impacted by the film industry.

A new report released today says that the Louisiana public overwhelmingly favors tax incentives to attract businesses to the state, including Louisiana’s film tax incentives. You can read the report in its entirety here. The report comes from Louisiana State University’s Public Policy Research Lab, which conducted the 2015 Louisiana Survey.

The report states that “nearly three fourths of residents (72%) support reducing state taxes on businesses to get them to come to Louisiana. A smaller majority (55%) supports using state government funds to pay businesses to get them to come to Louisiana.” Both of these statements describe the State of Louisiana’s film tax incentive program, along with other initiatives.

Even after pollsters offered specific arguments raised by critics of tax incentives, the Louisiana public remained supportive.

The support for tax incentives as a tool for economic development is also nonpartisan. “Both Democrats and Republicans support reducing state taxes on businesses,” the report says, although the two parties differ on the details of how the reduction is implemented.

I believe so strongly that part of the story isn’t being told, I chaired a Kickstarter campaign to fund an independent economic impact study to prove it. Hundreds of people statewide believed in it and together we raised $55,818 to fund the study. We’re still waiting on the results of that study. But in the meantime, this is another new study just released that continues to show how much wide support the film tax incentives have.

Pelicans Fall Short To The Houston Rockets

Last night, Anthony Davis went for 24 points and 14 rebounds but missed a dreadful eight free throws on route to the 95 – 93 loss to the Houston Rockets. The team as a whole shot a disappointing 20-32 (62.5%) from the charity stripe and gave up too many open looks from in the paint and beyond the arc.

At one point, the Pelicans had a 17 point lead and crumbled in the second and third quarters being outscored 58 – 36. James Harden led the way for the Rockets scoring 25 points followed by former Hornet Trevor Ariza who scored 22 points going 9-13 from the field. The dark horse X-Factor in this match-up was the seven-footer from Lithuania Donatas Motiejunas. Try saying that name five times fast. The Lithuanian big man played 37 minutes and scored 21 points and seemed to have an answer to every Pelican basket. His footwork and touch with both hands around the basket gave the Pelican front court fits throughout the night.

Eric Gordon finished the night without making a basket but did shoot 6-8 from the foul line giving him six points. Tyreke Evans led the Pels in scoring shooting an incredible 4-6 from long distance and finished with 28 points. I think it’s safe to say we have found our point guard in the Crescent City. He powered by defenders, hit open jumpers and created havoc at times on the defensive end. Who knows if and when Jrue Holiday and Ryan Anderson will be back in the lineup of a team that’s playoff dreams are slowly fading away. Don’t know how much longer Pelicans fans can keep hitting the snooze button in hopes of making the playoff dream a reality.

This loss caps a four game losing streak for the Pelicans and pushes them to 3.5 games behind the Russell Westbrook-led Oklahoma City Thunder. Pelicans claimed that illustrious eighth seed for a brief moment before dropping six of their last ten games. Next up for the Pelicans is Friday, March 27 as they will host the Sacramento Kings at 7pm. Below is the current state of the race for eighth for the Western Conference playoffs.

TRAILER: Arnold Schwarzenegger in New Orleans-Shot ‘Maggie’

The first trailer for Maggie shows a father’s will to protect his daughter knows no bounds. Arnold Schwarzenegger stars alongside Little Miss Sunshine‘s Abigail Breslin. Their roles in Maggie are a far cry from anything either actor has played in the past.

The zombie virus has spread its lifeless wings across the plains of civilization and Arnold’s daughter, Breslin, catches it. She is sent to a hospital and the ever-going threat of quarantine is unrelenting. The doctor consoles Arnold and says he must shoot and kill his beloved daughter, a perverse twist on the Old Yeller dilemma.

It’s solely up to Arnold to do what is necessary to help preserve he and his daughter’s remaining moments together. Will he bring her to quarantine? Does that undersized cop really kick Conan The Barbarian’s ass? Will Breslin take her own father’s life?

Henry Hobson directed the film. Maggie was acquired by Lionsgate and is set to be released on May 8.

The New Orleans 48 Hour Film Project 2015

One of the most innovative and challenging film contests will be held in New Orleans the weekend of July 24-26. The New Orleans 48 Hour Film Project is simple. Filmmakers will compete in hopes of making the best short film in only forty-eight hours. Filmmakers from New Orleans will be competing against others from around the world, vying for the prize of “Best 48 Hour Film of 2015.” Review the festival’s rules here.

Registration will begin Tuesday, May 19. Registering before Monday, June 29 is considered the Early Bird Registration which will run you $140. Paying subsequent to June 29, filmmakers will have to pay the Regular Registration of $160. Paying after Tuesday, July 14 will cost you $175.

Every year the 48 Hour Film Project houses film festivals and competitions in more than 100 cites worldwide. Each city’s top film will have a chance to advance and compete at Filmapalooza to be crowned the top dog of short films. Here are the winners from last year’s event. Visit the festival’s Facebook page here or you can check out the official website here.

FASHION: Andi Eaton Breaks Down Southern Design Week F/W 2015 | The SceneCast

Chloë Sevigny Joins ‘American Horror Story: Hotel’ as a Series Regular

Following the 87th Oscars, we received news of Lady Gaga joining the cast of American Horror Story: Hotel, the anthology series’ fifth installment. We now have news of White Collar star Matt Bomer and former Asylum player Chloë Sevigny jumping aboard the horror drama.

Sevigny appeared on season two of American Horror Story as a recurring character. The talented blonde actress, who also starred in HBO’s hit drama Big Love, played the nymphomaniac Shelley in AHS: Asylum. Ryan Murphy is probably thrilled to have Chloë Sevigny at his disposal again, this time as a series regular throughout the entire season.

The show’s fifth season will now include Lady Gaga, Wes Bentley, Matt Bomer, Chloë Sevigny and 30 Rock’s Cheyenne Jackson. The horrifying hit anthology series will be without its longtime linchpin Jessica Lange for the first time in its existence. Lange announced at PaleyFest that she would not be returning for AHS: Hotel. She will be sorely missed but this season’s cast looks to be locked and loaded with talent. Lange won two Emmys, a Golden Globe and a SAG award for the myriad of characters she has portrayed throughout the show’s duration.

Both Sevigny and Bomer will hold leads in the show opposite Gaga. Bomer’s return to television is not without Murphy at the helm as Bomer had a stint on Freak Show and has also guest stared on Glee. Like Bomer, Sevigny has made a powerful return to television as a recurring role on Netflix’s new hit series Bloodline.

American Horror Story is produced by 20th Century Fox Television. The show’s seductive fifth season is set to be released in October of 2015. Visit the official website here.

PHOTOS: ‘Terminator: Genisys’

Earlier Scene mentioned the return of Schwarzenegger for the Terminator: Genisys sequel, now Empire has given us a glimpse into the war torn world of Skynet. Before these photos, Terminator: Genisys had released cast photos, a movie poster, a trailer and a Super Bowl spot. This will be the first time we can over analyze Oscar-winner JK Simmons’ character in the upcoming film. Simmons plays a detective named O’Brien who has formerly been penned as “a weary and alcoholic detective who has followed a bizarre case involving Sarah Connor and robots.”

In the photos below we are shown various elements of the storyline including a young and distressed Sarah Connor being rescued by a T-800. We quickly transition to see Emilia Clarke as the older Sarah Connor wielding a gun, the robotic form of a T-800 driving a truck, a graying Arnie who still looks as jacked as ever and as mentioned before, JK Simmons observantly ogling Arnold as a T-800.

Alan Taylor will direct and Jason Clarke and Jai Courtney will also star.  Terminator: Genisys opens this summer July 1. Watch the trailer here. And visit the film’s official website. Source: /Film.

Young Sarah Connor

Terminator Exoskeleton

JK Simmons

Jacked Arnie

Cinderella, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Maidentrip, Snowpiercer, Mom’s Night Out, House of Cards, The Jinx, The Sopranos | The SceneCast

Micah, David and Beth talk about what they’ve Scene Recently, including Cinderella, Kingsman: The Secret Service, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Maidentrip, Snowpiercer, Mom’s Night Out, the TV shows House of Cards, The Jinx and The Sopranos.

The SceneCast is the official podcast of Scene Magazine, the entertainment magazine. Find out more at Sceneent.com. Email us at scenecast@sceneent.com.

SHOW NOTES

0:54 – Intro
2:00 – Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
7:43 – Maidentrip
13:15 – The Sopranos - Season 6
19:22 – House of Cards – Season 3
28:06 – Snowpiercer
33:15 – Mom’s Night Out
37:45 – Cinderella
46:16 – Kingsman: The Secret Service
51:07 – The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst (Cont’d)
1:02:44 – FIVE TO LOOK FORWARD TO (Upcoming stuff we’re excited about)

SPONSOR:

This episode of the SceneCast is brought to you by the East Baton Rouge Library, which brings you the ONE BOOK/ONE COMMUNITY novel A Confederacy of Dunces, now a major play starring Parks and Recreation‘s Nick Offerman as Ignatius Riley. Go to EBRPL.COM for more March events, including two discussions of the film John Kennedy Toole: The Omega Point, and a free film series based on the book’s Big Easy. For date, times and locations, visit EBRPL.COM.

Robert Durst's Lawyers Claim 'The Jinx' Subject Was Illegally Arrested

William Gibbens and Dick DeGuerin have asked a New Orleans court to schedule a preliminary hearing to prove there is no probable cause to keep Durst jailed.

read more

Robert Durst's Lawyers Claim 'The Jinx' Subject Was Illegally Arrested

William Gibbens and Dick DeGuerin have asked a New Orleans court to schedule a preliminary hearing to prove there is no probable cause to keep Durst jailed.

read more

EBRPL’s Digital Library Has Free Movies Online

The following is a guest post by Sonya Gordon of the East Baton Rouge Parish Public Library.

Local movie buffs can access thousands of streaming movies from around the world. And it’s free for East Baton Rouge Parish Library cardholders. For example, the Library’s Digital Library, which can be accessed via www.ebrpl.com,  offers IndieFlix. This streaming movie service provides unlimited access to award-winning shorts, feature films and documentaries.

With thousands of films to choose from, across more than 50 countries, IndieFlix offers a terrific viewing experience through your phone, tablet or computer from anywhere. You can watch on the web, download an app or use your home entertainment system.

Among IndieFlex’s offerings are:

Film-festival hits. View films from major festivals all over the world, including Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca and more!

Find the right film for you. Sort by language, genre or film length with easy-to-use filters.

Support filmmakers. Viewing films on IndieFlix directly supports the filmmakers who made them.

Great selection. Films range from festival award winners, audience favorites and experimental new features to comedies, horror, documentaries, animation and black-and-white movies.

Founded by filmmakers. IndieFlix curates the best (or possibly the weirdest, depending on your taste) from worldwide film festivals to make sure indies have an audience. Independent filmmakers have worked hard to create these incredible films—movie lovers deserve to see them!

A multitude of other services are easily accessible to you through the Digital Library, located online at www.ebrpl.com. Some of the free popular offerings include Flipster and Zinio for free magazine downloads, Mango and Muzzy foreign language courses, Learning Express, Homework Louisiana for online tutoring via tutor.com, TumbleBooks, Freegal for streaming and downloadable music, Comics Plus, downloadable eBooks and audio books, Gale Courses, Safari Tech Books and the Baton Rouge Room Digital Archive. Remember, all you need is your Library card. It’s free.

The East Baton Rouge Parish Library offers links to services and databases, educational programs and trainings, as well as foreign language lessons, homework assistance, ebooks, magazines, comic books, music, DVDs and more – all free online with a Library card. There are areas for kids, teens, college students, everyone of all ages and a special area just for eBooks and entertainment.

For more information or to start viewing movies now, log on to http://www.ebrpl.com/digitallibrary or call the East Baton Rouge Parish Library at 225.231.3750.

‘The Jinx’ Director Andrew Jarecki Says Bombshell Wasn’t Discovered for Many Months

Andrew Jarecki, the director of HBO’s landmark series The Jinx, discussed the show’s shocking Sunday night finale on CBS This Morning yesterday. The subject of the documentary, Robert Durst, was arrested in New Orleans last Saturday night and charged with the 2000 murder of his friend Susan Berman. We break down the timeline of events, and the role the documentary The Jinx played, here.