Month: January 2010

26 Jan 2010 19:56 Africa/Lagos

Teen Indie Film, TO SAVE A LIFE, Debuts With Impressive Numbers on Opening Weekend

Teens embrace Samuel Goldwyn Films’ release that encourages and inspires, but now has literally saved lives Social media has kicked off a movement of 90,000 Facebook fans actively building a community of support

OCEANSIDE, Calif., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire/ — How can a little indie film with no major actors, no real TV advertising, and little attention from the mainstream press catch the attention of 215,000 teenagers who came out opening weekend?

How can it also have the #1 fan rating today on Fandango.com and Flixter.com?

IndieWire.com says “‘Life’ Debuts Strong” and “debuted on an aggressive 441 screens and managed to break the overall top 15. The film – about ‘an all-star athlete must change his life – and sacrifice his dreams to save the lives of others’ – grossed an impressive $1,499,400.” (Final numbers in today give the weekend gross for To Save A Life at $1,513,955)

In comparison, To Save A Life was neck and neck with teen horror flick Daybreakers, however To Save A Life was on less than a third of the number of screens. A similar story occurred with Youth In Revolt, which was on 300 more screens, yet To Save A Life grossed nearly $700,000 more.

The LA Times calls the film an “absorbing redemption story” that “is a deftly acted, generally absorbing cautionary tale with wider allure than its faith-based label may imply.”

The Miami Herald reports, “It features good acting, excellent production values and even a solidly eclectic musical score that ranges from rap to alternative.”

Big Hollywood.com, on the making of the film, states, “To Save a Life is perhaps even more a miracle than the average feature film. Not only did it beat the odds, it did so with its soul still firmly attached.” In contrast to more typical teen fair, such as Youth In Revolt and Daybreakers, it begs to ask the question – are teens looking for more?

“I was thinking as I was approached about this film, why aren’t we creating films that can actually make a positive change in the life of teens, movies that don’t just entertain, but also make an impact in the lives of the viewers?” said Brian Baugh, director of To Save A Life. Exit polls from teens after having seen the film show they want be challenged. And, they feel typical Hollywood films aren’t inspiring them to make their schools a better place.

Not only do box office numbers speak loudly, but the social media sites prove this point. The movie’s official Facebook page jumped over 30,000 users in the last five days – with over 90,000 active users. This number, compared to Youth In Revolt’s 42,000 fans, and the Book of Eli’s 44,000 fans, is compelling. Now, local splinter groups are breaking off, creating To Save A Life groups for their own communities.

Teens are coming together on the Facebook site, talking about their lives, their struggles, and inspiring each other to reach out to the hurting and lonely in their communities.

The proof comes from what teens are saying about the movie themselves:

Nicole- This movie saved my life, last night i attempted suicide but didnt succeed and my confirmation sponsor asked if i wanted to go see it today and as much as i didnt want to i did, and it made me think so much. I have been where jake was on top of everything and no matter what was happening in your life i always had a smile on my face but i have also been in jonny’s position too, i used to cut, people just dont no peoples breaking points and i wish people could just be who they want to be without being judged or doubted on your abilities. i was, and now i realize if you trust in the lord and just do the right thing, you will be just fine.

Mark – IN 6th grade i felt alone. i didnt feel like anyone liked me. today, i still feel like some people are just acting nice to me. i dont know what to do. i feel alone a lot, and i dont know what to do. Please help me. The movie was great and got me thinking that other people are just like me. I still feel alone, please help me.

Missy – I cried when I saw the movie, because I want real life to be like that. I never had anyone to turn to when I was depressed, and I still don’t. I don’t cut myself and I don’t try to hurt anymore, I’ve made a few friends but none of them have seen me hurt. I hide it all in a mask of shame, but I’m going to take off the mask, finally I’m gonna start and I’m gonna help other people, I’m gonna help myself too. No longer will I just be [Missy], I’m going to be known to save a life. Because of this movie. You inspired me.

Travis – I saw the movie yesterday and all i can say is wow it has really touched my life and im not gona sit back and watch anymore im goin out and try to make a difference

Dale – When I was in junior high, I was bullied to the point of suicidal thoughts. God is who stopped me from following through. I had previously just pushed the memories behind me and acted like nothing ever happened, but now I want to do something. I want to make sure no one else feels the way I once did. This movie changed the way I look at life. Save a Life!

Mel – I just got home from watching “To Save A Life” and immediately I came on the computer to Google information. I haven’t even taken my jacket off yet. I was so touched by this movie its indescribable; I cried all the way home. I want to make a difference in someone’s life. I notice things from the movie that happen around me in school, but it never hit me till now. This movie made me sad, emotional, but most importantly it made me realize that I have the opportunity to help someone. I’m a college student and I cant wait for classes to start Monday cause I already know what I’m going to do. Save a Life

Sara – The To Save A Life Story means a lot to me, because I was the one that needed saving last year. If people could only understand how far one small act of kindness could go, the world would be a better place. I love that this movie is bringing real-life issues that people rarely talk about to light and showing teens how to deal with them. You never know who around you feels he is the outcast – treat others as you would want to be treated. Save a life. This movie is going to change our teenage population for the better.

To Save A Life was created by New Song Pictures and Outreach Films, and is distributed through Samuel Goldwyn Films. After opening on 441 screens this weekend, the film will continue to open in new markets in the coming weeks.

www.ToSaveALifeMovie.com

ABOUT TO SAVE A LIFE

An all-star athlete and his girlfriend find their lives spinning out of control when Jake loses a childhood friend. Help comes when he reaches out to others who are hurting, and he realizes some people are just dying to be heard.

The movie asks…
How far would you go?
How much would you risk?
How hard would you fight…TO SAVE A LIFE

ABOUT SAMUEL GOLDWYN FILMS

Samuel Goldwyn Films is a major, independently owned and operated motion-picture company that develops, produces and distributes innovative feature films and documentaries. The company is dedicated to working with world renowned and emerging writers/filmmakers and committed to filmed entertainment that offers original voices in uniquely told stories. This steadfastness is best exemplified by the Academy Award® nominated SUPER SIZE ME, AMAZING GRACE and Julie Delpy’s hit comedy 2 DAYS IN PARIS. Goldwyn’s past slate included PRICELESS, a romantic comedy starring Audrey Tautou, Academy Award® winner Claude Lelouch’s ROMAN DE GARE, the critically hailed ELEGY starring Academy Award® nominee Penelope Cruz and Academy Award® winner Ben Kingsley and the box office smash FIREPROOF.

ABOUT NEW SONG PICTURES

New Song Pictures is proud to release TO SAVE A LIFE, their debut production. New Song Pictures is based in Oceanside, CA, and seeks to make films that tell relevant stories while being encouraging and uplifting.

www.tosavealifemovie.com

www.facebook.com/tosavealife

Source: New Song Pictures

CONTACT: Lori Lenz of Biscuit Media Group, +1-714-553-5181,
lori@biscuitmediagroup.com

Web Site: http://www.tosavealifemovie.com/
http://www.outreachfilms.com/
http://www.facebook.com/tosavealife

If you do, then you have to see the typical British romantic film Sony Pictures AN EDUCATION directed by Lone Scherfig and written by Nick Hornby.

When the British Empire was losing her colonies in Africa, Jenny, a 16 year old school girl living with her parents in London wanted to attend Oxford to have the best education that would give her a better life than her parents. But her father was not happy with her over Latin and going out with a social misfit named Graham until Jenny met David Goldman an older man who convinced her parents that he was only going to improve her education in socio-cultural life style. But Jenny learnt more than she bargained for.
You have to see the film for the rest of the story.

An older man dating a younger woman is a popular theme in movies since Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. See Jurassic Park, The Firm and In the Line of Fire.

100% Pure New Zealand’s Filmmaking Competition will Premiere Winning Film on IFC leading into 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 5, 2010

Los Angeles and Auckland, New Zealand (January 21, 2010) /PRNewswire/ — Academy Award®-winning producer Barrie Osborne (The Lord of the Rings) and a panel of judges named the five finalists in the 100% Pure New Zealand Presents Your Big Break short film competition today. American finalists Kristi Simkins from Auburn, Wash., and Aya Tanimora from Santa Monica, Calif., will now travel to Queenstown, New Zealand, where they will work with Osborne and world class post-production facility Park Road Post Production to shoot and direct their own short films capturing the essence of the world’s youngest country. Academy Award®-winning director Sir Peter Jackson will select the winning entry.

After Jackson personally views and judges the five finalists’ films, he will select one overall winner whose film will air on IFC just prior to the Spirit Awards live broadcast on March 5 at 8 p.m. Pacific/11 p.m. Eastern.

As if the opportunity to travel to Queenstown and work with the Academy Award-winning team responsible for The Lord of the Rings trilogy wasn’t enough, all finalists’ films will premiere in front of hundreds of the entertainment industry’s brightest at the 100% Pure New Zealand lounge at the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards, of which 100% Pure New Zealand is a Principal Sponsor, and on the Your Big Break Web site, www.your-big-break.com.

“The diversity of excellent entries demonstrates the passion people have for New Zealand,” says Tourism New Zealand Chief Executive Kevin Bowler. “Many of the screenplays capture the spirit of New Zealand including the country’s extraordinary landscapes, people and culture; the judges had their work cut out for them selecting just four.”

Barrie Osborne (The Lord of the Rings)

While Osborne and a panel selected four of the finalists, Your Big Break site visitors voted for Aya Tanimura’s film as the “People’s Choice” finalist.

The other three finalists include Andrés Borghi from Buenos Aires, and Tim McLachlan and Rajneel Singh from Auckland, New Zealand.

“Putting the spotlight on emerging filmmakers is the essence of the Spirit Awards, and giving the “Your Big Break’ finalists the opportunity to present their work on IFC is a fantastic way to cultivate new filmmaking talent,” said Jennifer Caserta, Executive Vice President and General Manager of IFC.

All of the finalists are aspiring filmmakers who’ve dabbled in multiple aspects of the entertainment industry. The protagonist in Simkins’s film “Something Special” seeks to fulfill a promise with his trip to New Zealand, while the main character in fellow American Tanimura’s script “Sweet As,” uses her imagery of the world’s youngest country to impress. New Zealand native Singh’s submission “Blank Spaces,” plays off New Zealand’s pure, untouched and unmapped image, while his fellow Kiwi McLachlan’s entry “Mr. Whippy and the BMX Kid,” focuses on a young Maori boy’s conversation with an old man searching for renewal. Borghi’s screenplay for “Working Day” centers on New Zealand’s creation and aims to take advantage of his post production prowess.

“Many of the entries were stellar, but our five finalists’ films displayed a combination of humor, imagination and passion that brought New Zealand’s spirit to life,” says Osborne. “I’m looking forward to working with all of these talented individuals.”

The submission and voting period ran from December 9, 2009 until January 15, 2010 on www.your-big-break.com. More than 1,000 aspiring directors from around the globe entered a screenplay for a three-minute short film that captured the spirit of New Zealand and any supporting content they thought would aid their selection. The five finalists will produce their films in New Zealand in early February.

Useful Links:
Your Big Break website: www.your-big-break.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/YourBigBreak
On Twitter: http://twitter.com/YourBigBreakNZ
For inspiration: www.newzealand.com

For information about New Zealand’s extensive vacation options, log onto the 100% Pure New Zealand website at http://www.NewZealand.com.

For other media information, log on to http://www.media.newzealand.com. For high-resolution images, visit http://www.images.newzealand.com.

ABOUT THE FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS The Film Independent Spirit Awards is a celebration honoring films made by filmmakers who embody independence and originality. Televised in millions of homes and covered internationally by the press, the Spirit Awards has become the vanguard event in independent film, recognizing the achievements of independent filmmakers and promoting independent film to a wider audience.

Media Contact:
Andrew Reynolds
Hill & Knowlton for Tourism New Zealand
949-223-2307
andrew.reynolds@hillandknowlton.com

James Cameron and his ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow are pitched against each other for the most coveted honours at the 2010 BAFTAAwards. I can bet you that Kathryn will upset James at the Bafta Awards and Oscars if the judges would be fair and square.

You do not need 3D glasses to see Bigelow’s American Iraqi war thriller The Hurt Locker, but you would be impressed by her guts and genius. She has already beaten her ex-husband when ‘The Hurt Locker’ won two Critics‘ Choice Awards‎ in the Best Director and Best Film categories. James took the awards at the 67th Golden Globe Awards, but he even confessed that he thought Kathryn would have beaten him to them. The truth is, he knows that her film deserves the awards and do not be surprised when she wins the Oscars for the Best Director and Best Film.

The details of the 2010 Bafta are in the following Film Awards Nominations.

Avatar, An Education and The Hurt Locker have each received eight nominations for the Orange British Academy Film Awards in 2010.

District 9 has seven nominations; Inglourious Basterds and Up in the Air have six nominations apiece; and Coco Before Chanel, Nowhere Boy, Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire and Up each receive four nominations.

Avatar has been nominated in the categories Best Film, Cinematography, Editing, Music, Production Design, Sound and Special Visual Effects. James Cameron is nominated for Director. An Education has been nominated for Best Film, Outstanding British Film, Adapted Screenplay, Costume Design and Make Up & Hair. Lone Scherfig is nominated for Director, Alfred Molina for Supporting Actor and Carey Mulligan for Leading Actress.

The Hurt Locker is nominated for Best Film, Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Sound and Special Visual Effects. Kathryn Bigelow is nominated for Director and Jeremy Renner for Leading Actor.

Completing the Best Film line up are Up in the Air and Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire, both of which are also nominated for Adapted Screenplay.

Up in the Air is also nominated for Editing as well as receiving three perfomance nominations: Leading Actor for George Clooney and Supporting Actress for both Vera Farmiga and Anna Kendrick.

Up against George Clooney and Jeremy Renner in the Leading Actor category are: Jeff Bridges for Crazy Heart, Colin Firth for A Single Man and Andy Serkis for Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll. Crazy Heart and Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll are also both nominated for Music.

Gabourey Sidibe and Mo’Nique have been nominated for Leading Actress and Supporting Actress respectively for Precious.

District 9 has been nominated for Director for Neill Blomkamp, Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Production Design, Editing, Sound and Special Visual Effects.

Inglourious Basterds has nominations for Original Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing and Production Design; Quentin Tarantino is nominated for Director and Christoph Waltz for Supporting Actor.

Audrey Tautou is nominated for her Leading Actress performance in Coco Before Chanel and the film has been nominated for Costume Design, Make Up & Hair and Film Not in the English Language.

Also nominated for Leading Actress are Meryl Streep for Julie & Julia and Saoirse Ronan for The Lovely Bones. Saoirse’s co-star Stanley Tucci is nominated for Supporting Actor, where he competes against Christian McKay for Me and Orson Welles and Alec Baldwin for It’s Complicated.

Nowhere Boy is nominated for Outstanding British Film and Anne-Marie Duff and Kristin Scott Thomas both receive Supporting Actress nominations. The film’s director Sam Taylor-Wood is nominated for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer. Joining her in that category are: Eran Creevy, writer/director of Shifty; Stuart Hazeldine, writer/director of Exam; the directing and producing team of Mugabe and the White African (Lucy Bailey, Andrew Thompson, Elizabeth Morgan Hemlock and David Pearson); and Duncan Jones, director of Moon. Moon is also nominated for Outstanding British Film where it is joined by Fish Tank and In the Loop, which also has an Adapted Screenplay nomination.

Up has nominations for Animated Film, Original Screenplay, Music and Sound.

The Hangover and A Serious Man both receive nominations for Original Screenplay.

Nominated alongside Up for Animated Film are Coraline and Fantastic Mr Fox, which is also nominated for Music.

Broken Embraces, Let the Right One In, A Prophet and The White Ribbon are nominated in the Film Not in the English Language category alongside Coco Before Chanel.

The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus received nominations for Make Up & Hair and Production Design. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was nominated for Production Design and Special Visual Effects. Star Trek was nominated for Special Visual Effects and Sound.

The Road was nominated for Cinematography. Nine was nominated for Make Up & Hair, as was The Young Victoria, which also received a Costume Design nomination as did Bright Star and A Single Man.

The Short Animation nominations are The Happy Duckling, The Gruffalo, Mother of Many and the Short Film nominations are 14, I Do Air, Jade, Mixtape and Off Season.

The nominees for the Orange Rising Star Award, announced earlier this month, are Jesse Eisenberg, Nicholas Hoult, Carey Mulligan, Tahar Rahim and Kristen Stewart. This audience award is voted for by the British public and presented to an actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and promise.

The Orange British Academy Film Awards take place on Sunday 21 February at The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, London.

This is the thirteenth year of Orange’s sponsorship of the Film Awards.

Coverage on the BBC begins with a stand-alone red carpet show on BBC Three followed by the ceremony on BBC One.

Download this Press Release (139 KB)
Download the Full Nomination List (145 KB)

For further information please contact Freud Communications:

Jo.Fernihough@freud.com / 020 3003 6386
Vicky.Grayson@freud.com / 020 3003 6327

21 January 2010. Nominations are correct at the time of going to print

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