2010 Oscar Nominations
by Kam Williams
The Hurt Locker and Avatar Land 9 Nominations

Everyone expected James Cameron’s Avatar to land a bunch of Academy Award nominations. After all, the billion-dollar movie is on the brink of breaking the box office record as the best money-maker in screen history. But that 3D, sci-fi spectacular’s 9 nominations has been matched by The Hurt Locker, a super-realistic, Iraq War saga which barely made back its $11 million budget.

* The 82nd Academy Awards will air on ABC on Sunday, March 7th at 8 PM ET/5 PM PT, and will be co-hosted by Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. More

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Sundance Documentary “Why We Laugh” to Air Thursday, February 4th, at 8pm

Codeblack Entertainment CEO Jeff Clanagan announced today that “Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy,” the groundbreaking film examining the history and cultural influence of American black comedy, has been acquired by Showtime and will premiere on the cabler Thursday, Feb. 4 at 8 p.m. The film will air throughout US Black History Month.
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LFA FILMMAKING DIPLOMA OPEN HOUSE

What: An introduction to London Film Academy’s one-year Filmmaking Diploma, including an overview of the course with BAFTA-winning Writer-Director Stuart Urban, plus a screening of students' graduation short films and a Q&A session with the filmmakers themselves
When: Tuesday 2 February 2010, 18.30-21.00
Where: London Film Academy, 52a Walham Grove, London SW6 1QR (map & directions)
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A carol concert with a real difference: WAYout African Carol Concert

Are you entering the world of filmmaking as a Scriptwriter?
Are you wondering what you can do to improve your chances of your script being seen and maybe even commissioned? If those are just a couple of questions you have in mind, why not join us and hear how other Scriptwriters have done it in the past.
Time: 1pm – 5pm.
Date: 26 February, 2010

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The 11th bfm international film festival has now closed and it’s been a roaring success. For five days, between the 6th and 10th November, the bfm IFF screened the best of black world black cinema to enraptured audiences. The festival opened with one of the most talked-about movies of 2009: Chris Rock’s Good Hair had a sold-out crowd in stitches. Such was the demand for the achingly funny documentary that a second screening was booked and immediately sold out. Another strong title was A Good Day to be Black and Sexy, qualified as “urban pillow talk” by its director, African-American Dennis Dortch. More

bfm IIF: bfmmedia.com/festival

Me? A Camera Trainee?
November, 2009

So I'd been in the running to be a camera trainee on a feature that started a few days ago but sadly I didn't get the gig. It was a 7-week feature shooting in Newcastle and the rumblings were that they wanted someone local, which they went for in the end. As is often the case in this business I heard about it through a guy I know who is the focus puller on the film. It's shooting in Super 35mm and as you can no doubt guess using Panavision cameras.
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