For the commercial production industry, Super Bowl Sunday is the main event of the year. With an estimated audience of 111 million people, and a 30-second spot going for $3.5 million, Super Bowl advertising demands the highest production values, and top-notch talent. »

Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is an entangling thriller involving the key players at an investment firm during the first 24-hours of the 2008 financial crisis. Writer/director J.C. Chandor’s enthralling first feature is a stark portrayal of the financial industry and its denizens as they confront the decisions... »

Carlos Saldanha’s charming animated film Rio tells the story of Blu – a domesticated Macaw who never learned to fly, enjoying a sheltered life with his owner Linda in Minnesota. Blu and Linda think he’s the last of his kind, but when they learn about another macaw who lives in Rio de Janeiro, they... »

On Sept. 15, Canon sent a short message to the press advising us all to “save the date” for a “historic global announcement,” Nov. 3 at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, with no other details – not even a hint what it might be. Since then, the term “historic global announcement” has fueled the imagination... »

The best animated feature Oscar isn’t exactly a below-the-line award. In a sense, it’s more akin to a “best picture” Oscar, (which just happens to be animated). For animated film contenders it all comes down to how all of the crafts work together. Story, animation, direction, editing, production design and sound have to coalesce... »

When it comes to Hollywood’s well-documented obsession with the pomp and pageantry of awards shows, The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, (ATAS) takes it to the extreme with their Primetime Emmy Awards, which will be given out in September. This year’s crop of nominees, announced late last week, includes 504 nominations in 99... »

Sony announced that optical disk manufacturing operations, including Blu-ray, are expected to resume around the end of May, and magnetic tape manufacturing operations are expected to resume around the end of July. Sony Chemical & Information Device Corporation’s Tagajyo Plant in the port city of Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture was badly damaged in the March... »

Arts lovers should keep "tax day" in 2011 in mind for a great way to help the arts in the Golden State. Californians can now directly contribute to the California Arts Council through their annual tax refunds to advance the arts and arts education. The 2010 tax return form from the Franchise Tax Board... »

Sony sent a letter to its broadcast and professional distributors earlier this week warning of upcoming shortages of physical media as a result of the recent magnitude 9.0 earthquake and resulting tsunami that devastated northern Japan. “The earthquake resulted in severe damage at one of Sony’s key production facilities very near the epicenter in... »

This year’s awards season kicked off with a healthy raft of contenders vying for attention, but no clear front runners expected to sweep up, making it difficult for pundits to read the tea leaves – unlike last year, where two odds-on favorites – Avatar and The Hurt Locker – overshadowed all others. James Franco... »