And it is with the diversity in mind that the producers of the new HBO epic “Hemingway & Gellhorn” endeavored to use parts of Northern California to stand in for civil war era Spain, China…and about a million other places around the globe.  They had good motivation: if they won California’s production incentive lottery, they’d save huge amounts by staying in the state.

How’d they do it?  Clever scouting and use of digital effects.  Check Tippett Studio’s reel out HERE.

I was asked to moderate a panel on this subject by the California Film Commission with producer Trish Hoffman, special effects supervisor Chris Morley and location manager Patrick Ranahan.  Turned out to be a fascinating look at making a blockbuster on an HBO budget (< $20 million)…. especially considering that director Philip Kaufman had never worked with digital effects in his 50-some odd years in the business.

CFC by mattholzman

More about the making of “Hemingway & Gellhorn”

The pernicious and pervasive idea that the Jews “control” Hollywood must be dispensed with once and for all.  To that end, I want to repeat a commentary I wrote years ago on The Business Brief.

There’s no doubt that Jews played a major role in the creation of the American entertainment industry. Many of the titans of early Hollywood – Harry Cohn, William Fox, Carl Laemlle, Louis B. Mayer, Jack and Harry Warner, and Adolph Zucker – were Eastern European Jews.  And so were many of the creative types they hired to write and direct their movies. Jews might have run Hollywood then.  But now?  Come on.  Every major studio is owned by a giant, publicly traded conglomerate.  There are no more Hollywood titans.  These days, no one person has the power to green-light a $250 million movie.

Let’s face it, you do run into a lot of Jews doing business on a day-to-day basis in Hollywood.  And Yiddish — the language of the shtetl – has become a kind of Hollywood lingua franca.  In this town, if you don’t know what a putz is, you’re a putz.

In fact, while Jews represent just under 2% of Americans identifying with a religion, they account for something like 35% of the 50 most powerful people in Hollywood as determined by Premiere magazine in their 2007 Power List. They represent a similar percentage of Entertainment Weekly’s “50 Smartest People in Hollywood.”

While this is anything but a rigorous statistical analysis, we can all agree that Jews are disproportionately represented in Hollywood as a whole, but in control?  Jews 35% – non-Jews 65%.  The Democrats make up 53% of the House…and no one’s saying they’re in control.

Unlike the early days, the modern entertainment industry is a global, billion-dollar business employing millions of people.  To even suggest that one group “runs” it is to side with the conspiracy theorists.  You might as well believe that the Apollo 11 moon landings were faked by NASA.  Well, that’s a bad example.  But you know what I mean.

In the modern corporate world of mass media, if there is a god that the industry prays to, it is money. And before you go there, that’s also true in, say, the oil business, which nobody accuses of being run by the Jews.

So while it’s true that Jewish secular culture has lingered from Hollywood’s early days, and it’s true that Jews are still disproportionately represented amongst Hollywood’s elite, let’s not make the unacceptable and offensive leap to the erroneous conclusion that Jews “run” Hollywood.  OK?  I humbly step down from my soapbox.

Do yourself a favor.  Go see Polisse.  Just go see it, OK?  Powerful, funny, heart-pounding, heart-breaking…this movie works on so many levels, you’ll need a few glasses of wine and a long conversation to get it out of your system.  If it qualifies for Foreign Language Oscar, it’s a lock and it’s the best movie of 2012 so far, by far!

If you’ve already seen Polisse three times like I have, here’s another idea.  I love silent film with live accompaniment.  I’ll be seeing some Harold Lloyd at UCLA on Sunday.

And though I can’t personally vouch for The Mystery Of The Double Cross, Episodes 1 – 8 at the Egyptian on Friday, I gotta say, it looks awesome. 

Based on a true story, The Intouchables is a feel good movie about a guy who can’t feel – literally. He’s a wealthy quadraplegic who hires a street-smart ex-con as his caretaker.  It’s a surprisingly fun movie – and the two leads are totally irresistible.  Matt’s Movies will screen The Intouchables for KCRW Angels on Wednesday the 23rd at the beautiful Art Theater in Long Beach.

“The Artist” got us all talking about silent movies again.  But when’s the last time you checked out the awesome “real” deal?  Now’s your chance!

This Sunday the 20th, the LA Chamber Orchestra will accompany two of Harold Lloyd’s seldom-seen masterpieces, The Kid Brother (1927) and High and Dizzy (1920) at UCLA’s gorgeous Royce Hall (completed 1929!).

It’s Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra’s 23rd annual Silent Film Gala with a U.S premiere of music composed by conductor Carl Davis.  For more info, click here!

Also, while I can’t personally vouch for The Mystery Of The Double Cross, Episodes 1 – 8 at the Egyptian on Friday, it looks awesome!