Academy Launches 2015 Student Academy Awards Competition
The Academy is now accepting entries for its 2015 Student Academy Awards competition. All Student Academy Award® winners become eligible for Oscars consideration. The 42nd Student Academy Awards presentation will be held on Friday, September 18, 2015 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills.
Beginning this year, students are able to submit their films online using FilmFreeway, a widely used festival and competition platform. Also new this year, the entry deadline has moved to June 1, and the awards ceremony date has been changed from June to September to better align the competition with the academic calendar.
Complete rules and a link to the online submission platform are available at www.oscars.org/saa.
Past winners have gone on to receive 47 Oscar nominations and have won or shared eight awards. Two previous Student Academy Award winners received 2014 Oscar nominations: J. Christian Jensen, a 2014 Silver Medal winner, received a nomination for Documentary Short Subject for “White Earth,” and Talkhon Hamzavi, a 2013 Silver Medal winner, received a nomination (with Stefan Eichenberger) for Live Action Short Film for “Parvaneh.” Past Student Academy Award winners include such acclaimed filmmakers as Pete Docter, John Lasseter, Spike Lee, Trey Parker and Robert Zemeckis.
Awards may be presented to student filmmakers in the following categories: Alternative, Animation, Narrative, Documentary and Foreign Film.
The Student Academy Awards U.S. competition is open to all full-time undergraduate and graduate students whose films are made within the curricular structure of an eligible accredited institution. In the Foreign Film category, eligible schools are allowed to submit one film to the competition. The deadline to submit entries is Monday, June 1, 2015. For a list of eligibility requirements, visit www.oscars.org/saa.
In 1972, the Academy established the Student Academy Awards to provide a platform for emerging global talent by creating opportunities within the industry to showcase their work.
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Monday, March 23, 2015
"Sex Criminals" Comic Book Gets Trade Collection in April 2015
Hit comic book series collected in first trade paperback
It was welcomed into the world at a release party held at a sex club, where the writer had his nipple pierced on stage and the artist wore a Garfield suit. It was banned by Apple. Its first issue was reprinted six times (and counting!). It was Time’s best comic book of the year. Not bad for a little comic book about two people who can stop time when they have sex and turn to a life of crime. SEX CRIMINALS by Matt Fraction (SATELLITE SAM, Hawkeye) and Chip Zdarsky (Prison Funnies) is the title everyone has been talking about, and with its first trade paperback collection, One Weird Trick, due out in April, its audience is set to grow… and grow… and grow.
Suzie was all alone in what she calls “the quiet” until she met Jon, who has a decidedly less poetic name for the place where time freezes when they have sex. It’s all fun and games and rearranging the stock in the local porn shop until Suzie and Jon realize they can use their power for good — and start robbing banks.
Widely hailed for its sweet emotional core wrapped up in naughty hijinx and Zdarsky’s candy-colored art, SEX CRIMINALS isn’t just about sex. It’s about love, too. And sex. And robbing banks. And also about those mysterious figures who seem to be on to Suzie’s and Jon’s little coital trick.
SEX CRIMINALS VOLUME ONE will be in comic book stores on April 16 and in bookstores on April 29, 2015. It’s specially priced at $9.99, making it easy for new readers to jump onboard the hottest title of the year.
SEX CRIMINALS VOLUME ONE: ONE WEIRD TRICK by Matt Fraction and Chip Zdarsky
ISBN 978-1-60706-946-1
136 pages, full color, paperback
$9.99
Collects SEX CRIMINALS #1-5
In comic book stores April 16, bookstores April 29
Available for pre-order now
Praise for SEX CRIMINALS:
“Fraction’s been having a very good year — his many other projects include the sleeper-hit superhero series Hawkeye — but this R-rated romp (about a bank-robbing couple whose orgasms can stop time) is his best work yet. It’s a precision-tuned screwball comedy on its surface, and that surface is gorgeous, thanks to Zdarsky’s ace sense of design and inventive color technique. But it’s also genuinely insightful about the ways sexuality shapes people, and it doubles as a love letter to analog media —one that happens to have been banned by the iTunes store.” – Douglas Wolk, Time
“A sex comedy with a splash of crime thriller, the title is a fascinating examination of the pleasures and pitfalls of intimate relationships, using the central fantastic conceit as a metaphor for the way sex distances people but also, under the right circumstances, brings them together.” – Oliver Sava, A.V. Club
“...there are some moments that are incredibly deep and moments that are deeply funny, and the art in this book is absolutely at least as multi-layered and interesting as the writing…. Buy it. Read it. Love it.” – Jaydot Sloane, The Mary Sue
“...funny and imaginative, with a strong emotional core, and characters who, despite their fantastic power, are relatable, even lovable….” – John Parker, Comics Alliance
“It's gleefully silly, it's deadly serious, it's whip-smart, and you don't need to take a shower afterwards.” – Greg McElhatton, Comic Book Resources
“There is nothing mean in the narrative of this book; no one – not even the “dirty girls at school” – is really denigrated or played as a stereotype…. The sexual politics and experiences ring absolutely true, right down to the tone of the first date between Suzie and Jon. None of their flirtiness, their attraction to each other, or their experience of the shared bond of their special power seems forced or stilted. These two would have been together even if they didn’t have a super-power, and they’re both enormously likeable, very real characters.” – Ian Dawe, Sequart
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"Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" - Full Trailer and Advanced Ticket Sales
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
Watch the full trailer now: https://youtu.be/gOW_azQbOjw
Advance Tickets are Now on Sale
Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th through Friday, March 27th, 2015 fans purchasing advance tickets at Fandango and Movietickets.com will receive a code for a free HD digital copy of any previous installment in the blockbuster “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE” franchise. More information below!
TICKETS FOR THE FIRST U.S. SHOWINGS OF “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION” UNLOCKED TODAY
FANS WILL RECEIVE A “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE” HD MOVIE DOWNLOAD WITH ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASE
HOLLYWOOD, CA – Paramount Pictures today announced that tickets for the first showings of the highly anticipated film “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION” are unlocked with today’s trailer debut and on sale now – four months before the film’s theatrical release.
The advance tickets are available for Thursday, July 30th, 2015 showings at 7:00 p.m. in IMAX® and premium large format theaters and 8:00 p.m. at additional participating locations nationwide. The tickets are available online at Fandango, Movietickets.com and participating theater box offices.
Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, March 24th through Friday, March 27th, fans purchasing advance tickets at Fandango and Movietickets.com will receive a code for a free HD digital copy of any previous installment in the blockbuster “MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE” franchise.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit www.MissionImpossible.com
“MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – ROGUE NATION” reunites Tom Cruise with Mission: Impossilbe – Ghost Protocol stars Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg and Ving Rhames. The film also stars Rebecca Ferguson, Sean Harris and Alec Baldwin.
Paramount Pictures and Skydance Productions present a Tom Cruise / Bad Robot production. The film is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and produced by Tom Cruise, J.J. Abrams and Bryan Burk. The executive producers are David Ellison, Dana Goldberg and Don Granger of Skydance Productions and Jake Myers. Drew Pearce, Christopher McQuarrie, Will Staples, Laeta Kalogridis & Patrick Lussier and Dylan Kussman wrote the screenplay, based on the television series created by Bruce Geller.
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
In Theaters July 31, 2015
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.
MissionImpossible.com
facebook.com/MissionImpossibleMovie
twitter.com/MissionFilm
instagram.com/MissionImpossible
youtube.com/MissionImpossible
About Paramount Pictures Corporation
Paramount Pictures Corporation (PPC), a global producer and distributor of filmed entertainment, is a unit of Viacom (NASDAQ: VIAB, VIA), a leading content company with prominent and respected film, television and digital entertainment brands. Paramount controls a collection of some of the most powerful brands in filmed entertainment, including Paramount Pictures, Paramount Animation, Paramount Television, Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics, Insurge Pictures, MTV Films, and Nickelodeon Movies. PPC operations also include Paramount Home Media Distribution, Paramount Pictures International, Paramount Licensing Inc., and Paramount Studio Group.
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Sunday, March 22, 2015
"DC Bombshells" Line Grows With New Apparel and Collectibles
The Lovely DC Bombshell Ladies Collection Continues to Increase
(BALTIMORE, MD) – (March 19, 2015)- The DC Bombshells line of 1940’s pin-up style collectibles and apparel continues to grow as the March PREVIEWS offers fans the opportunity to re-order the exclusive Harley Quinn Satin Robe and pre-order their very own DC Bombshell tapestry blanket to curl up with. Both are scheduled to release in comic book specialty shops in late May 2015.
Ant Lucia's classic pin-up style artwork of DC Comics' super-heroines continues to grace the DC Bombshells Satin Robes from Underboss and blankets from The NorthWest Company. The exclusive Harley Quinn robe features a two-toned red and black coloring with playing card diamonds on the front and a high-spirited Harley holding her trusty pistol on the back. The robe is available in Small/Medium and Large/X-Large for $48.00 and goes great with the rest of the Bombshell collection featuring the lovely ladies of DC Comics: Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Poison Ivy, Supergirl, and Catwoman.
Use these item codes to pre-order the DC Harley Quinn Bombshell robe in the size you desire:
⦁ Harley Quinn Robe Small/Medium (MAR151838)
⦁ Harley Quinn Robe Large/ Extra Large (MAR151839)
Get comfortable and curl up with your very own DC Comics Bombshell Harley Quinn or Wonder Woman tapestry blanket. Each blanket measures 46"x60", is made of soft acrylic, and carries vivid detail of everyone's favorite Queen Clown Harley Quinn or Can-Do Wonder Woman both featured in their Ant Lucia Bombshell costume.
Use these item codes to pre-order the blanket of your choice.
⦁ Harley Quinn Tapestry Blanket (MAR152457, SRP: $39.99)
⦁ Wonder Woman Tapestry Blanket (MAY148427, SRP: $39.99)
The exclusive DC Bombshells satin robe and blankets are available to order from the March PREVIEWS catalog found in comic shops. Find a comic shop at www.comicshoplocator.com to order yours today.
ABOUT DIAMOND COMIC DISTRIBUTORS (DCD)—Diamond is at the nexus of comics and pop culture. Based in Baltimore, MD, DCD is the world's largest distributor of English-language comic books, graphic novels, and related pop-culture merchandise, serving thousands of retailers worldwide. For more information, visit Diamond at www.diamondcomics.com.
© 2015 Diamond Comic Distributors, Inc. All rights reserved. Diamond, the Diamond logo, and PREVIEWS are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Diamond Comic Distributors in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks are the property of their respective copyright owners.
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Sequart Announces New Books on Comics Film Adaptations
New Sequart Book Analyzes Comics Film Adaptations
Sequart Organization is proud to announce the publication of Moving Panels: Translating Comics to Film (http://sequart.org/books/28/moving-panels-translating-comics-to-film/), by Logan Ludwig.
Are comics just movie storyboards that are too expensive to ever actually commit to celluloid? Are movies just comics with added motion? These two media have become more closely tied in recent years (thanks to a bevy of comics adaptations), and they seem naturally related. Both are comprised of visual storytelling techniques that would seem readily compatible, but are they really that similar?
Moving Panels: Translating Comics to Film digs into this issue by analyzing, through careful examination of aesthetics, just how linked and distinct the two media are. By looking at the film and comics versions Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, Persepolis, Watchmen, and Sin City, Ludwig dissects just how the two media interact, their respective strengths and weaknesses, and how similar they really are.
The book runs 144 pages and is available in print and on Kindle.
Logan Ludwig is available for interviews, and digital review copies are also available. If interested, please send inquiries to sequart.mike@gmail.com
About the Publisher: Sequart Organization is devoted to the study of popular culture and the promotion of comic books as a legitimate art form. Sequart has released twenty-two books, six documentaries, and thousands of online articles. Its documentaries include She Makes Comics, and its books include Our Sentence is Up: Seeing Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles. Sequart is currently producing a documentary on writing powerhouse Neil Gaiman.
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"Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation" Teaser Trailer Debuts
Mission: Impossible Rogue Nation
In theaters July 31, 2015
Watch the first teaser: https://youtu.be/tNPZGc0WmfM
Read director Christopher McQuarrie and star Tom Cruise's interview with USA Today for more new photos: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2015/03/22/mission-impossible-5-first-look-tom-cruise/25057655/
Ethan and team take on their most impossible mission yet, eradicating the Syndicate – an International rogue organization as highly skilled as they are, committed to destroying the IMF.
MissionImpossible.com
facebook.com/MissionImpossibleMovie
twitter.com/MissionFilm
instagram.com/MissionImpossible
Saturday, March 21, 2015
Dark Horse Announces Paperback Edition of "The Fifth Beatle" Graphic Novel for October 2015
#1 ‘NEW YORK TIMES’ BESTSELLER ‘THE FIFTH BEATLE’ HEADS TO PAPERBACK
INCLUDES NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN SKETCHES AND ESSAYS, PLUS BONUS MATERIAL FROM THE SOUGHT-AFTER COLLECTOR’S EDITION
Paul McCartney: “If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian.”
MILWAUKIE, OR—This October, Dark Horse Comics invites you to experience the award-winning The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story in a whole new format, as the incredible original graphic novel written / produced by Vivek J. Tiwary with art by Andrew C. Robinson and Kyle Baker, heads to trade paperback for the first time.
This edition of the gorgeous, Eisner Award–winning original graphic novel recounting the untold story of visionary Beatles manager Brian Epstein—who engineered Beatlemania and guided the band from basement gigs to unprecedented international stardom— also includes bonus background material from the sought-after collector’s edition, including a revised sketchbook and Beatles memorabilia bonus section with insights from Vivek Tiwary and Andrew Robinson.
The new paperback edition will also include new art and concept material from artist Kyle Baker, such as the never-before-seen Sgt. Pepper piece pictured here, as well as an excerpt from Vivek Tiwary’s TEDxFultonStreet talk, “The Birth of the Beatles and Impossible Dreams,” and his essay, “The Curtain Rising,” detailing Brian Epstein’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Winner of the Eisner and Harvey Awards, and a Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Best LGBT Graphic Novel, the number-one New York Times bestseller The Fifth Beatle recounts the untold story of visionary Beatles manager Brian Epstein—who created Beatlemania and guided the band from basement gigs to unprecedented international stardom. Paul McCartney said, “If anyone was the fifth Beatle, it was Brian.”
Winner of the Eisner and Harvey Awards, and a Lambda Literary Award Finalist for Best LGBT Graphic Novel, the number-one New York Times bestseller The Fifth Beatle has been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives, and is currently being adapted into a major motion picture. The Fifth Beatle film adaptation, written and produced by Tiwary, is the first-ever feature film about the Beatles to secure music rights to their songs and has been granted unprecedented access to the Lennon/McCartney music catalog. It is scheduled to begin shooting in 2015. More info can be found at FifthBeatle.com.
Experience Brian Epstein’s rise with the Beatles, lauded by critics from the New York Times to the Hollywood Reporter, for the incredible price of $14.99. Preorder your copy today from Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, IndieBound, or your local comics retailer.
Praise for The Fifth Beatle:
“10/10 . . . Brilliant in every aspect.” –IGN’s Best Graphic Novel, 2013
“Heartbreaking, exhilarating and unexpected . . . A complete triumph.” —The Hollywood Reporter
“A wonderfully eccentric telling of one of the great unsung architects of 20th Century culture, with luminous art by two modern masters of the field.” —Warren Ellis (Gun Machine, Red)
“Reveals an unexpected side of the Beatles’ manager and renders the Beatles’ story in a fresh, sophisticated way—full of poetic variation and surprising delicacy.” —Dave Marsh (Born to Run: The Bruce Springsteen Story, The Beatles’ Second Album)
About Dark Horse
Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. The company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Frank Miller, Mike Mignola, Neil Gaiman, Brian Wood, Gerard Way, Felicia Day, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Neal Adams, and Jim Steranko, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, Timecop, and SpyBoy. Its successful line of comics and products based on popular properties includes Mass Effect, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, EVE Online, Halo, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Domo. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading publishers of both creator-owned content and licensed comics material.
ABOUT VIVEK J. TIWARY
Vivek J. Tiwary is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, a Tony Award-winning Broadway producer, and the founder of multi-platform arts and entertainment company Tiwary Entertainment Group.
Vivek’s graphic novel The Fifth Beatle: The Brian Epstein Story, based on the untold life story of Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, received worldwide critical acclaim and won a number of prestigious literary awards including the Will Eisner Comic Industry Award for Best Reality-Based Work and two Harvey Awards including Best Original Graphic Novel. It is a Lambda Literary Finalist for Best LGBT Graphic Novel, an American Library Association Great Graphic Novel for Teens, and has been added to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Library and Archives Permanent Collection. The Fifth Beatle is now being adapted into a feature film that has secured unprecedented access to Beatles music and is on-track to shoot in 2015. Vivek is writing its screenplay and will serve as a producer.
On Broadway, Vivek’s productions have won a combined 25 Tony Awards over 44 Tony nominations—every single one of his shows has been decorated. They include such groundbreaking work as Green Day’s “American Idiot,” “A Raisin In The Sun,” and Mel Brooks’ “The Producers”. Vivek is currently working with Alanis Morissette and Pulitzer and Tony Award-winner Tom Kitt to adapt Morissette’s breakthrough album “Jagged Little Pill” for Broadway.
Vivek also serves on the Board of Directors for Valiant Entertainment, a multi-platform company that boasts the third largest and most-loved universe of comic book characters and has been hailed by the New York Times as “Marvel 2.0”.
Prior to founding TEG and online music education/empowerment company StarPolish, Vivek held a number of major label music-industry positions and has worked with artists covering the entire musical spectrum from Bruce Springsteen to Britney Spears.
Among many charitable pursuits, Vivek is the Co-Founder of Musicians On Call, a nonprofit organization that uses music and entertainment to complement the healing process.
Vivek is a Magna Cum Laude graduate of both the Wharton School of Business and the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Arts and Sciences, and a cum laude graduate of the Collegiate School in New York City. He also holds a filmmaking certificate from The New York Film Academy and is an acting student of Susan Batson/Black Nexxus Acting Studio.
He lives in New York with his inspiring wife Tracy, their delightful children Kavi and Nandini, and a feisty papillon named Sukhi.
Vivek is represented by Lawrence Mattis and David Alpert at Circle of Confusion, and for speaking engagements by Zach Radoski at APB Speakers.
www.circleofconfusion.com
www.apbspeakers.com
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