OSCARS: Indie Animation Upstart GKIDS Guns For Rango And DWA

Talk about the minis slaying the majors! It doesn’t get much more defined in those terms than in the financial divide between the nominees for this year’s Best Animated Feature Oscar. In one corner you have Paramount, which in addition to their own first big foray into the ‘toon competition with front-runner Rangohasa distribution deal with Dreamworks Animation, which landed both of their 2011 films –Puss In Boots and Kung Fu Panda 2 –in the hunt. In the other corner you have tiny upstart GKIDS. Who? The small NY outfit that became a distribution offshoot of the NY International Children’s Film Festival incredibly has the other two animated feature nominees with their indie pickups Chico & Rita and A Cat In Paris. Counting their initial foray into the Oscar race two years ago with The Secret Of Kells, this tiny distrib now has three ‘toon nominees in just a couple of years. Not bad. Left feeling shell-shocked are Disney/Pixar, a perennial nominee and winner in this category for the past four years running; Sony Pictures Animation, which touted Aardman’s Arthur Christmas;and 20th Century Fox’s Rio from Blue Sky Studios (Ice Age) — not to mention Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson’s intial animated effort, the motion capture The Adventures Of Tintin. Eric Beckman, founder of GKIDS and thekidpic festival that spawned it, was hoping for one nomination this year but almost didn’teven reallydream there could be two. “I won’t dare to lie: We had the hopes, if not expectations of getting at least one, having been down this road before with Kells, so we had planned onopening Chico & Rita in NY with that hope,” he says. “But I will completely fess up to the fact that when I was watching the Oscar nominations at 8:30 AM that morning and the first one that came up was Cat In Paris and the second one that came up was Chico & Rita I started spontaneously screaming around the room, and I had to rewind on TiVo to find out who the other actual films were because I was fucking floored. To have the Academy give us such a resounding endorsement made me really happy.” Beckman isn’t an Academy member so he can’t vote for his films, and when Kellswas nominated two years ago he couldn’t even get a ticket to the ceremony to cheer on the filmmakers — how times have changed. He says he doesn’t even believe in this kind of competition, comparing it to pitting Picasso vs. Van Gogh, but the marketing value is unmistakable. “For us our whole purpose is to help open the market up and expand the market for what I find both artful and thoughtful, sophisticated animated films for both adults and kids, an art form that exists with more economic success outside the U.S than inside,” he says. Indeed, both his nominees this year are international in nature. Chico & Rita is from Oscar-winning Spanish director Fernando Trueba and is a musical love story set initially in 1940s Cuba and spanning many years. It was first seen in the U.S.at the 2010 Telluride Film Festival but took over a year before a distribution deal could be set in motion. A Cat In Paris is a French ‘toon noir from first-timers Jean-Loup Felicioli and Alain Gagnol, a novelist who specializes in crime stories. GKIDS hope to use the Oscar nomination to launch the film in the U.S. in late spring after it is dubbed into English, possibly with star names — “If Matt Damon or Tina Fey are reading this now, please call,” Beckman laughs. Meanwhile Chico opened in NY a couple of weeks ago and received rave reviews and decent business with plans to slowly expand the adult ‘toon. Beckman hadn’t even met the directors until earlier this month; they had been doing everything by phone and email. In terms of finding films, Beckman says he hasa distinct advantage as Artistic Director of theNY Children’s Fest because, as he puts it, he looks at a “gazillion” films and has early tabs on stuff. Ironically, he first saw Cat In Paris because he was out at Pixar doing a promotional thing for 2009 festival winner Mia And The Migoo,which GKIDS distributed.Folimage, the French outfit behind it, was there and askedhimand the Pixar crowd to look at 15 minutes of the then-unfinishedCat In Parison DVD. Beckman loved it, waitedfor it to be finished and bought last year before Berlin. As fortrying to compete against the big-budget Oscarcampaigns of Paramount andDreamWorks Animation, Beckman is realistic. “I don’t think that double-fold wrap-around advertising or tweet, whatever, convinces someone to like a film,” he says. “I think it gets them to watch a film. Maybe it does shape their opinions in some way, shape or form. But our challenge is just getting the film into the hands of the Academy and getting them to put the damn thing in the DVD player. We’re an indie film company; we’re not going to spend a half million dollars on an awards campaign — we can’t. But we are spending something and we got a big shot in the arm from the NY critics (withChico). Beckman says he has several projects in the pipelinewith the basic goal of being the go-to home for Oscar-caliber independent animation, something the Academy members who vote in this category clearly appreciate. GKIDS is right in the thick of it now. And Beckman definitely has tickets for the Oscars this time.

Edinburgh Film Fest returns honours

The Edinburgh Intl. Film Festival has reinstated several major honours, including best worldwide feature film with a growing director, best performance in the British feature film as well as the Michael Powell Award for top British feature. Previously years within the fest, the Michael Powell Award honored the most effective British feature film selected within the British Gala section in the significant change to the 2012 edition, documentaries can also be qualified. The performance award is going to be provided for a person for exceptional be employed in a U.K. feature-length production. The world feature film with an emerging director kudo can also be open to documents. Both British and worldwide competition sections will probably be judged by worldwide juries. Qualifications for your honours will probably be within the artistic director's discretion it will be achievable for worldwide and British features to screen incorporated within the program but from competition. Fest artistic director Chris Fujiwara mentioned in the statement, "I am delighted to re-introduce these honours for your Festival this year and am thrilled to give both documentary and fiction films the opportunity to win the honours. I'm very strongly that getting significant honours is important with an worldwide film festival. Honours can stimulate creative dialogue and more importantly help shine the spotlight on emerging talent, that's part of the mission of EIFF." Contact Carole Horst at carole.horst@variety.com

Sarah Michelle Gellar Plays 2 Roles in CW's 'Ringer'

NY (AP) One role just isn't enough for Sarah Michelle Gellar.On her freshman CW series "Ringer," she co-stars in two of them, both identical twins and both in serious trouble.But that isn't all for Gellar, who also plays a leading off-camera role as an executive producer.Even so, the demands on her weigh lighter these days than during "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she labored for seven seasons."I work shorter hours on this show everybody does than I did on 'Buffy,'" she says with satisfaction. Efficiency reigns on "Ringer." Her actors and crew members are fellow pros who help get the job done smoothly. She's having fun.Meanwhile, she's keeping work in healthy balance with her private life, enjoyed with her husband of 10 years, actor Freddie Prinze Jr., and their 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte, as they give their roles as parents top priority."When Charlotte was born, Freddie was on '24' and I didn't work for two years," says Gellar. "I had asked him, 'When I'm ready to go back to work, will you stay home with her then?' He was like, 'Fine!'" She laughs. "He loves it. I think I've created a monster!"That's not to say her "Ringer" routine, however moderated, isn't hectic. Interviewed one recent morning at her Manhattan hotel during a whirlwind publicity visit, she presents herself in sweat pants, a "Ringer" hoodie she grabbed from her L.A.makeup trailer "as I was walking out the door," and sandals borrowed from the hotel spa. She explains that, in her haste to leave for NY, she neglected to pack clothes or shoes other than the ensembles chosen for her TV appearances.On "Ringer" (which airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST), Gellar plays Bridget Kelly, an ex-stripper on the run after witnessing a mob hit, as well as playing her troubled NY socialite twin sister, Siobhan Martin, whose own brewing problems compel her to fake her own death. With Siobhan's apparent death, Bridget sees no choice but to claim her ritzy life and handsome husband in an effort to hide in plain sight from mobsters and the law.Portraying two characters (plus Bridget masquerading as Siobhan) isn't so hard, according to Gellar."It's a group effort hair, makeup, wardrobe," she says. "Besides, as identical twins, Bridget and Siobhan have characteristics that are inherently very similar. So you don't have to worry they HAVE to be able to be confused for each other."Her biggest challenge: "keeping in mind who knows what and who doesn't know what."As an executive producer, Gellar knows everything (far more than her fellow cast members, who, operating on a need-to-know basis, include Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd and Nestor Carbonell). She notes that the seemingly convoluted story line has been charted out for three full seasons. There will be no false moves or narrative blind alleys tripping up the writers as they turn out weekly scripts."I realize viewers have gotten really frustrated with shows that set up a lot of questions but never answered them," says Gellar.On "Ringer," revelations come weekly, with a major reveal scheduled for the March 13 episode: Viewers will find out why Siobhan went on the lam."We would never set up a question if we didn't know the answer," Gellar vows. "You have to take my word for it even my husband doesn't know but WE do know where it's going."Although the job is grueling, Gellar's added responsibilities as producer reduce rather than increase the burden, she says."I don't have to waste time worrying about what they're doing with my character and my story line. I get to make the show I want to make," she explains. "And since I'm on-set most of the time, if there's a decision that has to be made while we're shooting, I can make it, as opposed to calling upstairs. So I can help keep things moving along."At age 34, Gellar is a show-business veteran. Discovered at age 4 in a Manhattan restaurant, she made dozens of commercials as a youngster. She spent a couple of memorable years on the daytime drama "All My Children" playing Susan Lucci's 15-year-old daughter, whose multiple marriages, seductions, attempted suicide and coma all helped Gellar score a 1995 daytime Emmy award.Then, in 1997, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" premiered with a bang.With that high-profile performance by an overnight star in her late teens, Gellar could have fallen prey to prying reporters and, perhaps, tabloid-savoring misbehavior. But Gellar, with nothing to hide, chose to keep her tidy private life private, and, she says, her huge fan base understood, respecting the boundaries she set."But that can get tricky in the age of reality shows and Twitter," she acknowledges. "I think what happens is, you give an inch, and then you kind of owe people a mile. For instance, you can't do a reality show and then claim the right to privacy it doesn't work that way."So don't look for a show like "Gellar Family Values" or "Freddie Loves Sarah Michelle" on future TV schedules.Gellar chortles at the idea. "It would have to be on the Fish Channel you know, that channel where they show fish swimming in an aquarium. Or the Yule Log Channel."She simulates a scrap of sample dialogue:"Are you picking Charlotte up from school today?""No, you're picking her up.""Can you go by the Whole Foods?"Gellar, clearly pleased to be sticking with "Ringer," laughs again at going the reality route. "That would be THE most boring reality show!"Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. By Frazier Moore February 13, 2012 Sarah Michelle Gellar PHOTO CREDIT The CW NY (AP) One role just isn't enough for Sarah Michelle Gellar.On her freshman CW series "Ringer," she co-stars in two of them, both identical twins and both in serious trouble.But that isn't all for Gellar, who also plays a leading off-camera role as an executive producer.Even so, the demands on her weigh lighter these days than during "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," where she labored for seven seasons."I work shorter hours on this show everybody does than I did on 'Buffy,'" she says with satisfaction. Efficiency reigns on "Ringer." Her actors and crew members are fellow pros who help get the job done smoothly. She's having fun.Meanwhile, she's keeping work in healthy balance with her private life, enjoyed with her husband of 10 years, actor Freddie Prinze Jr., and their 2-year-old daughter, Charlotte, as they give their roles as parents top priority."When Charlotte was born, Freddie was on '24' and I didn't work for two years," says Gellar. "I had asked him, 'When I'm ready to go back to work, will you stay home with her then?' He was like, 'Fine!'" She laughs. "He loves it. I think I've created a monster!"That's not to say her "Ringer" routine, however moderated, isn't hectic. Interviewed one recent morning at her Manhattan hotel during a whirlwind publicity visit, she presents herself in sweat pants, a "Ringer" hoodie she grabbed from her L.A.makeup trailer "as I was walking out the door," and sandals borrowed from the hotel spa. She explains that, in her haste to leave for NY, she neglected to pack clothes or shoes other than the ensembles chosen for her TV appearances.On "Ringer" (which airs Tuesday at 9 p.m. EST), Gellar plays Bridget Kelly, an ex-stripper on the run after witnessing a mob hit, as well as playing her troubled NY socialite twin sister, Siobhan Martin, whose own brewing problems compel her to fake her own death. With Siobhan's apparent death, Bridget sees no choice but to claim her ritzy life and handsome husband in an effort to hide in plain sight from mobsters and the law.Portraying two characters (plus Bridget masquerading as Siobhan) isn't so hard, according to Gellar."It's a group effort hair, makeup, wardrobe," she says. "Besides, as identical twins, Bridget and Siobhan have characteristics that are inherently very similar. So you don't have to worry they HAVE to be able to be confused for each other."Her biggest challenge: "keeping in mind who knows what and who doesn't know what."As an executive producer, Gellar knows everything (far more than her fellow cast members, who, operating on a need-to-know basis, include Kristoffer Polaha, Ioan Gruffudd and Nestor Carbonell). She notes that the seemingly convoluted story line has been charted out for three full seasons. There will be no false moves or narrative blind alleys tripping up the writers as they turn out weekly scripts."I realize viewers have gotten really frustrated with shows that set up a lot of questions but never answered them," says Gellar.On "Ringer," revelations come weekly, with a major reveal scheduled for the March 13 episode: Viewers will find out why Siobhan went on the lam."We would never set up a question if we didn't know the answer," Gellar vows. "You have to take my word for it even my husband doesn't know but WE do know where it's going."Although the job is grueling, Gellar's added responsibilities as producer reduce rather than increase the burden, she says."I don't have to waste time worrying about what they're doing with my character and my story line. I get to make the show I want to make," she explains. "And since I'm on-set most of the time, if there's a decision that has to be made while we're shooting, I can make it, as opposed to calling upstairs. So I can help keep things moving along."At age 34, Gellar is a show-business veteran. Discovered at age 4 in a Manhattan restaurant, she made dozens of commercials as a youngster. She spent a couple of memorable years on the daytime drama "All My Children" playing Susan Lucci's 15-year-old daughter, whose multiple marriages, seductions, attempted suicide and coma all helped Gellar score a 1995 daytime Emmy award.Then, in 1997, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" premiered with a bang.With that high-profile performance by an overnight star in her late teens, Gellar could have fallen prey to prying reporters and, perhaps, tabloid-savoring misbehavior. But Gellar, with nothing to hide, chose to keep her tidy private life private, and, she says, her huge fan base understood, respecting the boundaries she set."But that can get tricky in the age of reality shows and Twitter," she acknowledges. "I think what happens is, you give an inch, and then you kind of owe people a mile. For instance, you can't do a reality show and then claim the right to privacy it doesn't work that way."So don't look for a show like "Gellar Family Values" or "Freddie Loves Sarah Michelle" on future TV schedules.Gellar chortles at the idea. "It would have to be on the Fish Channel you know, that channel where they show fish swimming in an aquarium. Or the Yule Log Channel."She simulates a scrap of sample dialogue:"Are you picking Charlotte up from school today?""No, you're picking her up.""Can you go by the Whole Foods?"Gellar, clearly pleased to be sticking with "Ringer," laughs again at going the reality route. "That would be THE most boring reality show!"Copyright 2012 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

'Guard' nabs five honours at Irish Honours

John Michael McDonagh's "The Guard" was the big champion within the ninth Irish Film & TV Honours on Saturday evening at Dublin's Convention Center, taking five honours including best film.McDonagh won for director, script as well as the Rising Star award, while "The Guard's" Fionnula Flanagan was named best supporting actress. Flanagan also received the Lifetime Achievement Award.But "The Guard" didn't have everything else but its way. Michael Fassbender needed the actor prize for "Shame" before Brendan Gleeson, while Ryan Gosling won the world actor award for "Drive" before Don Cheadle.Saoirse Ronan was named best actress for "Hanna." Glenn Close won the world actress prize for "Albert Nobbs," which needed honours for makeup and hair, appear and original score.Best supporting actor visited Chris O'Dowd for "Bridesmaids," while "Mess Tailor Soldier Spy" won the prize to find the best worldwide film.Consolata Boyle nabbed the costume design award for "The Iron Lady," and Seamus Garvey won the cinematography prize for "We must Discuss Kevin."Feature documentary laurels visited "Bernadette: Notes around the Political Journey," while "Corp & Anam" won the special Irish language award, and "The Boy inside the Bubble" won the animation prize.Round the TV side, the second season of local gangster drama "Love/Hate" repeated last year's triumph with seven wins, including drama, director, author and actor (for Aidan Gillen), supporting actor and supporting actress. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

On the Set: Jane Curtin Is Ready For Prime Time in Unforgettable

Jane Curtin You can hear a pin drop in the Queens homicide squad as Det. Carrie Wells calls a cellphone that could belong to a serial killer she's tracking. When a drug dealer answers, she hangs up, disappointed. A familiar face in the corner makes a wisecrack and the Unforgettable cast hold back their laughs. Live from NY... it's Jane Curtin! The Saturday Night Live alum's addition to Unforgettable is part of a mid-season tweak for the CBS procedural, which stars Poppy Montgomery as Wells, a driven cop with the extraordinary ability to remember everything she experiences. Despite consistently besting time-slot competitors Body of Proof and Parenthood in overall ratings and demos, the crime show is no sure thing for renewal. To up its chances, cocreators Ed Redlich and John Bellucci have grown the show's family of characters. Asked by CBS to consider adding a mature actress to the cast, "right from the beginning, we thought about Jane," says Redlich. "It turned out to be a great fit." They also brought in newcomer Britt Lower to play brainy tech expert Tanya Sitkowsky. "We liked the idea of bracketing Carrie with two other very smart women," says Bellucci. "Poppy plays beautifully off both of them." Other than a long-ago unaired pilot, this is Curtin's first role in a crime drama. "I like it a lot," says the actress, whose last major TV series was 3rd Rock From the Sun. "We have fun!" Curtin plays Dr. Joanne Webster, a formerly powerful Manhattan medical examiner demoted to Queens for insubordination. "That's fine with Webster, because it gives her more time to teach her romantic poetry class," says Curtin. "The producers wanted to bring a little levity to the group, so she's quite flippant." Curtin's sunny presence has the cast smiling. "I'm just obsessed with Jane," says Montgomery. "I was terrified that she was coming on the show, but the moment I met her, I fell in love." Carrie and Webster "quickly bond," Montgomery reveals, especially when the doc volunteers to help Carrie investigate her sister's unsolved murder - the one case in which she can't recall the most important details. Tonight's episode amps up the adrenaline with the introduction of a serial killer determined to get under Carrie's skin. "We always wanted to bring Carrie's investigation of her sister's murder more into the present with a serial killer who knows about her," says Redlich. "We feel it's important to give Carrie the kind of opponent that Sherlock Holmes had with Moriarty. Someone as brilliant as this guy will find Carrie's mind irresistible." Or, at the very least, unforgettable. Unforgettable airs Tuesdays at 10/9c on CBS. Subscribe to TV Guide Magazine now!

Robert Halmi Sr. exits RHI Entertainment

In another major change at RHI Entertainment, Robert Halmi Sr. is exiting the business he founded decades ago to make a completely new Gotham-based production shingle. Halmi, who's 88, mentioned he'd still collaborate with RHI on projects that he's lately been developing. The move has come about as RHI emerges in the Chapter 11 personal personal bankruptcy filing and develops its focus beyond the made-fors that have been Halmi's signature for several years. Halmi's boy Robert Halmi Junior. left his publish as prexy and Boss of RHI within this summer time. "As our new management team re-focuses our production strategy, we intend to broaden our portfolio to include television series together with other formats that haven't typically been central to RHI's enterprize model,Inch mentioned RHI board chairman Gabriel p Alba. "This new agreement is wonderful for each side. It guarantees our working relationship with Robert continues which we can be helped by his singular creative vision, whilst the business evolves into new areas." Halmi Sr. mentioned the completely new pact enables him the "freedom to target exclusively which has inspired me immediately. I am thrilled to be capable of keep doing a few things i have always loved most likely probably the most.In . The Hungarian-born Halmi Sr. made his title just like a producer of huge-budget event movies and miniseries. Halmi hit his peak inside the the 19 nineties getting a string of effective made-fors on NBC and ABC, including "Gulliver's Travels," "Your Way,Inch "Noah's Ark," "Merlin" and "Alice in Wonderful." Contact Cynthia Littleton at cynthia.littleton@variety.com