The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Sex, politics and Steve Jobs highlight Sundance Film Festival Posted: 17 Jan 2013 04:24 AM PST  Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt sits courtside as he attends an NBA basketball game between the Denver Nuggets and Los Angeles Lakers in Los Angeles January 6, 2013. — Reuters pic Showing in theaters alongside the Steve Jobs biopic "jOBS," festival goers can catch a movie about porn star Linda Lovelace, played by Amanda Seyfried in "Lovelace," and British soft porn publishing magnate Paul Raymond, played by Steve Coogan in Michael Winterbottom's "The Look of Love." "Sexuality and sexual relationships are an area that people are naturally interested in but it has been so taboo that there haven't been a lot of films that get into the complexities of it," Trevor Groth, the festival's director of programming, told Reuters. "Now those audiences are hungry for them," he added, "and filmmakers are feeling confident that there's an audience for those stories." One of the hotly anticipated premieres is comedy "Don Jon's Addiction," actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt's directorial debut about a porn addict who tries to change his ways. It opens tomorrow. Gordon-Levitt, who plays the title role, leads a star-studded cast including Scarlett Johansson and Julianne Moore, who play two women who help the porn addict become less selfish. In its 35th year, the annual Sundance Film Festival, held in the snowy streets of Park City, Utah, has become a launch pad for low-budget films and unknown stars in films that need investors. Co-founded in 1978 by actor-director Redford, this year's 119 films were culled from 12,000 submissions. The ten-day festival, starting on January 17, showcases the films in competitions and low-key premieres that serve as an antidote to Hollywood's glittering awards season. Sundance has also become a more star-studded affair. This year's roster is expected to bring A-listers such as Nicole Kidman and Jacki Weaver, who star in the mysterious thriller "Stoker," and Naomi Watts in the passionate drama "Two Mothers." Even in death, Apple CEO Steve Jobs is the festival's biggest star. The biography "jOBS, starring Ashton Kutcher as the entrepreneur, claimed the coveted spot closing the festival. It was selected in part because festival organisers wanted to take advantage of the late computer executive's enduring popularity, said Sundance director John Cooper. It didn't hurt that the film is already selling well with buyers, he added. Gordon-Levitt, 31, is no stranger to Sundance, having featured in festival entries such as "Brick" in 2005 and more recently the indie comedy "(500) Days of Summer," which went on to become a box office hit in 2009. "Sundance is more than a festival, or even an institution. It's a community," the actor said in an email. "Whether making films or watching them, Sundance folks have a deep love of cinema." The festival helped catapult the former child star into mainstream movie roles such as "The Dark Knight Rises" and "Inception." His next film is the noir thriller "Sin City: A Dame to Kill For," alongside Clive Owen and Jessica Alba. SEX SELLS AT "UPLIFTING" SUNDANCE Gordon-Levitt's "Don Jon" leads a slate of films about pornography, adult entertainment and sexual relationships. Actor James Franco, a co-star in "Lovelace," is bringing two sexually charged films - the documentary "kink," which will play in the festival's midnight slot, and S&M film "Interior. Leather Bar.," which will complete in the New Frontiers Films slot, which showcases underground films and multimedia projects. The diverse roster of films appeals to buyers, said Lia Burman, executive vice president of acquisitions at independent film company FilmDistrict. She said "In A World," actress Lake Bell's directorial debut about a vocal coach's attempt to become a star, was getting "unbelievable buzz." "Each Sundance seems to have themes and this one seems to have a more sexual coming-of-age trend ... a theme is either uplifting or challenging, and this one, it seems like they've chosen a more uplifting list," Burman told Reuters. Sex isn't just reserved for the feature film categories, as director Freida Mock's "Anita" explores the impact of Anita Hill's allegations in 1991 of sexual harassment against then-US Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas. Documentary directors will also use the Sundance platform to shine a spotlight on bigger social issues, such as economic inequality, a topic that organizers believe would resonate closely with Americans after last year's presidential debates. The widening income gap in America is explored by economic policy expert Robert Reich in "Inequality for All," while "99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film," delves into the Occupy Wall Street movement. The documentary roster will also feature R.J. Cutler's film "The World According to Dick Cheney," which profiles the former US vice president, and Alex Gibney's "We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks," about the new era of information transparency. "All the films have a certain fearlessness to all the subjects they take on," Cooper said. "That's what we're drawn to, the originality of a story." — Reuters |
| Oprah’s task: Turn Armstrong audience into regular OWN viewers Posted: 16 Jan 2013 09:21 PM PST LOS ANGELES, Jan 17 — Millions of people are expected to watch Lance Armstrong confess to using performance-enhancing drugs in a two-part interview with Oprah Winfrey beginning this evening, likely giving her OWN cable network its largest audience ever. The challenge for OWN will be convincing those who tune in for the Armstrong interview to come back to the network afterwards. Comedian Michael Ian Black summed up the enormity of that task by tweeting: "Like most of America, really torn between wanting to see Lance confess and never wanting to watch OWN."  OWN ranked behind Oxygen and Bravo in terms of viewer numbers in 2012. — Reuters file pic "Sustaining interest on a consistent basis is the problem," said Magid and Associates TV consultant Steve Ridge. "It is much like CNN getting big numbers during a major disaster, or the Weather Channel getting heavy viewership during major weather events. The peaks quickly turn into valleys with hundreds of cable channels to choose from." OWN plans to highlight its other programming in an effort to capitalise on the Armstrong audience, said OWN President Erik Logan. The network will promote upcoming shows, including Sunday's edition of "Oprah's Next Chapter," in which Winfrey interviews actress Drew Barrymore, as well as "Our America with Lisa Ling," a documentary series that has its season premiere on Tuesday. Both nights of the Armstrong interview will also stream live to a worldwide audience on Oprah.com, another platform Winfrey uses to promote her channel's shows. They include "Welcome to Sweetie Pie's," which focuses on a family that runs a collection of soul food restaurants, and "Iyanla: Fix My Life," featuring Iyanla Vanzant, a motivational speaker who was a regular on Winfrey's syndicated show. In another bid to make its programming less reliant on Winfrey herself, OWN recently inked a deal for comedian Tyler Perry to produce shows exclusively for the network. His one-hour drama "The Haves and the Have Nots" and half-hour comedy "Love Thy Neighbor" will premiere in late May. But OWN's challenge is multiplied by the fact that, despite it being a female-skewing network, a large percentage of the audience for the Armstrong interview is expected to be male. Or, to put it another way, viewers are more likely to be from Armstrong's fan base than from Oprah's or OWN's. Logan concedes that the long-term effects of the interview won't be known for some time, but added that it will "certainly be a net positive for us." "It's a great opportunity for the network," Logan said. "We are going to showcase the programming and take advantage of it while we have the interview." Oprah is next Oprah Winfrey, who topped Forbes' highest-paid celebrity list last year, beat out newsmagazine "60 Minutes" to land the Armstrong interview, the latest in a string of high-profile sit-downs scored by the "Queen of Talk" recently. Indeed, when Winfrey, 58, left broadcast television in 2011, there was much debate about who would be the "next Oprah." Would it be Katie Couric, or Anderson Cooper, or Ellen DeGeneres? But it turns out, the next Oprah is Oprah herself. After committing herself to OWN full-time last year, ratings at the network have increased on the back of Winfrey's landing marquee interviews. Her sit-down with Whitney Houston's daughter shortly after the singer's sudden death drew 3.5 million viewers, for instance. Singer Rihanna's appearance in August 2011 grabbed 2.5 million viewers. A two-night sit-down with reality TV clan the Kardashian family brought in more than a million viewers. Last week, she got late-night host David Letterman on her couch for a therapeutic interview in which he opened up publicly for the first time about his sexual transgressions. The interview garnered 711,000 total viewers, OWN said. "There will likely not be another Oprah, as fractionalisation of viewing has made it a near impossibility to replicate," said Ridge, the Magid and Associates consultant. Problem is, the ratings pops generated from Winfrey's interviews are short-lived, and viewing afterward resets back to low levels. OWN averaged 147,000 viewers aged 25 to 54 during prime time in 2012, which is more than 30 percent higher than its first year on cable systems, according to Nielsen data provided by Horizon Media. But that still ranks behind Oxygen in 2012, which averaged 168,000 viewers in that demographic and Bravo, which averaged 475,000 viewers. But in terms of national attention, the Armstrong interview is the biggest opportunity to happen to OWN yet. If played right, it can turn around the entire network's fortunes, said Syracuse University Journalism professor Robert Thompson. Pointing to how "Queer Eye For the Straight Guy" raised Bravo's profile, Thompson said, "One big hit can make it for you. This is the kind of thing that can get people to find you and if enough people who find you come back again, this could be the start of a rally." Small wonder then that the publicity campaign around the Armstrong interview has been orchestrated for maximum exposure. From Winfrey's appearance on "CBS This Morning" on Tuesday and an online teaser clip of the interview, to airing it over two nights in prime time and streaming it online live, the network is pulling out all the stops to entice viewers.  It's thought that the interview with Armstrong will attract more male viewers. — Reuters pic "These event interviews are a way to slowly gather back the fanbase from The Oprah Winfrey Show," Thompson said. Road ahead OWN is already capitalising on the Armstrong interview by selling advertising at a premium to its usual rates, said Logan, though he did not provide specific figures. The network is giving priority to advertisers who have bought time on "Oprah's Next Chapter," which will air the interview, in the past, and those that will also commit to other shows. Ongoing OWN sponsors include General Motors Co, Target Corp, and Kellogg Co. But for OWN to leverage the Armstrong interview into lasting financial gains, it needs to boost advertising revenue and distribution fees. OWN charges cable operators one cent per subscriber per month to distribute the network, according to consulting firm SNL Kagan. But that number is expected to rise to 10 cents per subscriber by the end of this year — on par with networks Oxygen and Animal Planet — which would increase OWN's revenue from US$106.7 million (RM322.4 million) in 2012 to US$239.6 million in 2013. While one year ago OWN was going through a restructuring that included layoffs, executive departures and a reshuffling of its programming lineup, Discovery executives now predict the network will turn a profit in the second half of 2013. "OWN has begun to really find a rhythm," Discovery's chief executive, David Zaslav, told analysts on a November 6 conference call. While the answer to whether OWN can ride the Armstrong interview to sustainable gains won't be known until months after the fact, the confluence of events surrounding the network led Thompson to conclude: "Things are looking a lot more promising for OWN than they were a year ago." — Reuters |
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