"All That Matters Is Past" is the fourth Norwegian selection for the Toronto International Film Festival.

Norwegian director Sara Johnsen’s All That Matters Is Past (Uskyld) will have its world premiere at the 37th Toronto International Film Festival - one of the world’s largest film festivals, with more than 300 films from 60 countries, which runs between 6-16 September. 

Johnsen’s third feature will join Espen Sandberg and Joachim Ranning’s Kon-Tiki, Eva Sarhaug’s 90 Minutes (90 min) and Aleksander Nordaas’ Thale in the most extensive Norwegian participation at the festival since 2001.Starring Maria Bonnevie, Kristoffer Joner and David Dencik, All That Matters Is Past follows the fatal consequences when a woman meets her lost love and leaves her partner to spend the summer with him.

Scripted by Johnsen, and produced by Turid versveen, of 4 Fiksjon, the film will be domestically released on 2 November by Nordisk Filmdistribusjon, while Denmark’s TrustNordisk handles international sales.

Both Johnsen’s previous films, Kissed by Winter (Vinterkyss/2005) and Upperdog (2009) were prize winners and frequent festival travellers – the took two and five Amandas, respectively, Norway’s national film award.

Ron Howard: Young Actors Are Under ‘Intense’ Scrutiny These Days

Access Hollywood
Ron Howard poses on the set of Access Hollywood Live with Kit Hoover and guest co-host Donny Deutsch on August 17, 2012Caption

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Director Ron Howard is thankful the Internet wasn’t around when he was rising through the ranks as a young actor in Hollywood.

“Let me just say, every so often something pops on the Internet and I am saying, ‘I’m glad it wasn’t around when I was 19 years old,’” he laughed as he hit Access Hollywood Live on Friday to promote the Project Imaginat10n Film Festival with Canon U.S.A.

While speaking with Access Hollywood Live’s Kit Hoover and guest co-host Donny Deutsch, the “Happy Days” and “Andy Griffith Show” legend said he marvels at how tough it is for young, rising stars these days.

“It is intense and I think that you must be aware of it,” he said of scrutiny placed on new talent, when Donny asked him about Jodie Foster’s recent essay about Kristen Stewart and the price of fame. (Click HERE to read more about Jodie’s essay.)

“Politics, professional sports, all of it,” Ron continued of the groups that can have trouble in the spotlight. “If you’re not sort of willing to understand that should I actually gain the kind of profile that I’m dreaming of, along with it is going to come this other level of scrutiny.

“It’s a kind of funny thing of what technology has done. We didn’t need big brother to have ‘1984,’” he said. “We invited it into our lives because of all the other great things that come with it. And to me, there’s a tremendous irony that all of us face a measure, a level of scrutiny that we never had before.”

And Ron will be part of the journey for a new crop of rising stars who are coming into the limelight as part of the Project Imaginat10n film festival.

Earlier this week, Canon announced that with Ron, they have a partnership with directors Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, Biz Stone, Georgina Chapman and James Murphy.

The celebs will take inspiration from consumer submitted photos and head behind the camera to direct short films. Those films will then be unveiled at the upcoming film festival.

‘The Tonight Show’ Lays Off 20 Staffers And Host Jay Leno Takes Pay Cut To Save Jobs

by Nikki Finke
BREAKING....NBC insiders tell me The Tonight Show went  through ”downsizing” today and that 20 staffers lost their jobs. Others tell me the number is more like 25, and producers were forced to take pay cuts or lose their jobs. I’ve also learned that Jay Leno took what is being described as a “tremendous” pay cut to “save as many people’s jobs as he could”. Leno’s Tonight Show is consistently the #1 late night talk show in both households and demographics, except for some anomalies when Leno does get beaten. And that’s despite the fact that the network’s primetime ratings have been dismal for many years or that Leno himself was harshly criticized by the media for that January 2010 standoff with Conan O’Brien. Even so, The Tonight Show has been and still is a cash cow for NBC. So what happened to merit the downsizing? “I don’t think ad sales are off. I just think the people who bought this company, Comcast, wants to go through everything at NBC and get their money back,” an NBC insider tells me. ”It’s hard to go through those kinds of cuts. It’s more a network issue than a late-night issue. And I would say that Jay doesn’t get credit for digging out of a gigantic hole every single night. He’s a very valuable guy to NBC and someday everyone will understand that. He does a great job.”

The downsizing also comes just 5 days after First Lady Michelle Obama appeared as a guest for the third time on The Tonight Show: high unemployment, job creation, and taxing the rich vs the poor all are issues in the 2012 president campaign. Leno has said publicly that he’s able to bank his entire Tonight Show salary and live on the hefty fees he makes from his hectic personal appearance schedule. Leno’s new salary is reportedly $27M-$30 million a year. He reportedly brings home another $15M-$20M a year from his other gigs. Leno replaced Johnny Carson as host of The Tonight Show in 1992 after having been a regular substitute host since 1987. He “officially” ended hosting of The Tonight Show in 2009 when Conan O’Brien started on June 1st. Leno was going to be paid for all of 2009 by NBC even though he was only working six months of it. When his ratings dipped, O’Brien was asked to move The Tonight Show‘s time slot later to make room for Leno’s return at 11:30 PM. O’Brien refused. NBC gave Conan a $40M payoff (including salaries for his staff) to leave The Tonight Show hosting job which Leno resumed in 2010.

Ron Howard to Return to Acting in 'Arrested Developement'

LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- “Arrested Development” fans, rejoice!

Ron Howard, executive producer/narrator of the fan-favorite TV comedy, will make his return to acting (after a lengthy award-winning break as a director/producer) in the show’s upcoming fourth season.

“I would kind of like to act again — in fact, I don’t think I’m giving away too much to say I’m going to wind up on camera in the new ‘Arrested Development’ episodes,” Ron revealed to Kit Hoover and guest co-host Donny Deutsch on Friday’s Access Hollywood Live.

While the decorated director — who earned Hollywood prominence at the tender age of 6 (playing Opie on “The Andy Griffith Show”) — is excited to get back to his acting roots, the 58-year-old star admitted he’s a bit anxious about getting back in front of the camera.

“I’m a little nervous. I have to shoot my first scene [for ‘Arrested Development’] next week and I realized it’s been really a hell of a long time since I memorized any dialogue,” he said. “I’ve become very used to being the one sitting [with my] arms folded in judgment and suddenly I’ll be back out there!”

Ron’s daughter, “The Help” star Bryce Dallas Howard, offered to assist her father with preparation for the role.

“[Bryce] said, ‘You know, Dad, if you wanna run lines, come on by!’” he said with a laugh.

The father-daughter duo worked together for Canon’s Project Imagina8ion – where Ron produced a film based on user-submitted photos, while Bryce directed.

As for whether Ron will ever direct his daughter in a film, he said he’s not sure he’s ready for the complications which may arise when dad and director duties are joined together in a work environment.

“People are always asking, ‘When will you direct Bryce?’… Of course I want to, but my joke reaction is to say, ‘I’ve never in my career had an actor or actress roll their eyes at me when they get directed,’” he joked. “And I’m just a little concerned [eye-rolling] is hard-wired into our relationship!”

For more information on how you can submit photos for year two of Canon’s project (Project Imaginat10n, which will feature directors Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, Georgina Chapman, Biz Stone and James Murphy), head to imagination.usa.canon.com.

“Arrested Development” Season 4 will be released on Netflix early next year.

-- Erin O’Sullivan

Pixar: 6 Filmmaking Tips

Features By Cole Abaius

If there’s any outfit that celebrates the team sport aspect of filmmaking, it’s Pixar. What began as the Graphics Group at LucasFilm has evolved into its own behemoth of wonder and magic. Not just pioneers of technology, they’ve sought to invent in order to put stories out into the world – using computer animation for the ancient purpose of spinning tales and crafting characters.

Led by Ed Catmull, the production house (which was bought by Disney in 2006) boasts luminaries like John Lasseter, Brad Bird, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, Lee Unkrich and many more.

There newest film, Brave, is in theaters this week, so here’s a bit of free film school (for fans and filmmakers alike) from RenderMan and company.

Brutal, Honest Feedback in Support of the Team’s Vision

“One of the protections is the notion that [team leaders] have the final say so. Now this is a very hard thing to say because we say we are filmmaker led. The reason its hard is if they can’t lead the team, we will actually remove the person from it. That’s our version of what a failure is… it’s hard because it’s a personal thing. Until you reach that breaking point, you have to do everything you can.. sometimes it’s adding people to the team, sometimes it’s removing them, but as leaders we don’t tell them what to do.

We have a structure so they get their feedback from their peers… every two or three months they present “the film” to the other filmmakers… and they will go through, and they will tear the film apart. And it’s very important for that dynamic to work, because it could be a brutal process, there needs to be the feeling they are all helping each other who wants that help. In order for that to work its important that no one in the room has the authority to tell the director they have to take their notes [and make changes]. So no one is taking a list of what you have to do to fix the film. All we can do is give the feedback and he goes off with the feedback… our job as leaders is to protect the dynamic in the room so that they’re honest with each other.” – Ed Catmull

There’s a large element of faith that comes with working closely as a team – relying on other people to come through under difficult constraints while also worrying about your share of the load. There’s also a desperate need for thick skin. Great products of any kind aren’t built by sparing feelings in the room – but being caustic and negative isn’t the answer either.

A balance of delivering harsh criticism in a way that colleagues can still grab coffee together afterward is crucial.

Start Terrible and Be Unafraid

“Every single Pixar film, at one time or another, has been the worst movie ever put on film. But we know. We trust our process. We don’t get scared and say, ‘Oh, no, this film isn’t working.’” – John Lasseter

In the book “Bird By Bird,” writer Anne Lamott expresses the idea that we’re terrified as writers of finishing a first draft and then getting hit by a bus. That we’re afraid to put something so awful down officially and then disappear, leaving it behind for others to find.

The truth is that first drafts are garbage. The worst truth is that we often know we’re writing garbage while we’re writing it. The key is to get it done (and then use that brutal peer review process to make it better). It’s not like Wall-E or Toy Story or Up were Pixar’s first passes or anything. They took years of careful honing to make as strong as they are.

Technology Should Work in Service of the Story

Embrace Black Sheep and Imperfection “I said, ‘Give us the black sheep. I want artists who are frustrated. I want the ones who have another way of doing things that nobody’s listening to. Give us all the guys who are probably headed out the door.’ A lot of them were malcontents because they saw different ways of doing things, but there was little opportunity to try them, since the established way was working very, very well. We gave the black sheep a chance to prove their theories, and we changed the way a number of things are done here.” – Brad Bird upon starting on The Incredibles In the same piece, Bird talks about the crippling effect that “perfection” can have on a project. It can take 100% of your focus and place it on the wrong thing. That ties in well with the concept of starting terrible and going from there. Team Pixar seems to relish in being as bad as possible on the road to greatness. Never Start With Marketing in Mind “Because just myself, I… and this is kind of our approach at Pixar in general, we don’t really think about marketing and merchandising. That’s not what makes a good movie. If you start with that…well, you know where that goes. You have to think about good storytelling and characters first. Then hopefully, the rest of that stuff will follow, some more than others. But if you don’t have a good film and strong characters, then you don’t have anything down the road. ” – Pete Docter With the Cars franchise and the upcoming sequels/prequels, it’s unclear whether this philosophy still reigns supreme, but it’s hard to accuse Pixar of abandoning a Story First approach even in their missteps. Start with characters, and you get Finding Nemo. Start with toy sales in mind, and you get Battleship.  Know Your Lenses and Lights     

 
  What Have We Learned The root lessons here involve 1) knowing as much as possible about your craft and 2) realize that you’re not going to pop out a polished product on the first or second or third or fourteenth go of it. Embrace the challenges and your own faults in order to learn from them and craft something better. On the wildcard front, Bird’s offering insinuates that even when a system is working, it can still be changed or improved upon. So listen to a black sheep once in a while. Overall, it’s about creating characters and dropping them into a compelling story. Unfortunately, that’s not a silver bullet for successful filmmaking; it’s the hardest part of the process. But it’s one worth fighting to get right.

Interpol Issues Wanted Notice for 'Whale Wars' Star

Labels: WRLTHD World News

Interpol has issued an international wanted notice for conservationist and “Whale Wars” TV star Paul Watson, days after he skipped bail in Germany as Costa Rica tried to have him extradited.

Watson was arrested at Germany’s Frankfurt airport on May 13 on an arrest warrant issued by Costa Rica, which accuses him of endangering a fishing vessel off the coast of Guatemala in 2002.

He posted roughly $302,000 bail and was ordered to remain in Germany as it considered Costa Rica’s extradition request, but he stopped reporting to authorities on July 22, a German court said. Watson left Germany and forfeited his bail, according to his Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which isn’t revealing his location.

“Following confirmation from German authorities that Paul Watson had failed to satisfy the bail conditions established by the German courts and had fled the country, Costa Rican authorities renewed their request” for Interpol to issue an international wanted notice for Watson, which Interpol did Tuesday, Interpol said.

Costa Rican authorities allege that Watson – whose attempts to disrupt Japanese whalers at sea gained him fame on Animal Planet’s “Whale Wars” TV show – and his crew aboard Sea Shepherd’s Ocean Warrior ship endangered a Costa Rican fishing vessel during a confrontation off Guatemala’s coast.

The U.S.-based Sea Shepherd denies the allegations, arguing that the charges have less to do with law than with Watson’s anti-conservationist enemies.

In the 2002 incident, according to Sea Shepherd ship operations officer Peter Hammarstedt, the Ocean Warrior found a Costa Rican crew killing sharks for their fins in Guatemalan waters. The Ocean Warrior initially had permission from Guatemalan authorities to stop it and tow the vessel into port, he said.

The Ocean Warrior used water cannons on the fishing vessel, but “there were no injuries and no physical damage to any ship,” Hammarstedt said in May.

The Ocean Warrior did stop the ship, but Guatemalan authorities eventually asked Watson to release it, Hammarstedt said.

The confrontation is detailed in part of a 2007 documentary, “Sharkwater,” Hammarstedt said.

Shark finning is the practice of cutting the fins off sharks and throwing the sharks back into the sea, where they die. The fins are used for expensive soup, mostly in China.

The current charge, according to Interpol, is “causing a danger of drowning or of an air disaster.”

Sea Shepherd says that “anyone who’s viewed the documentary can clearly see the charges are bogus.”

“The water cannon Captain Watson allegedly used to stop the illegal shark finners never reached the wheelhouse, thereby having no possibility of interfering with their safe navigation, nor were there any aircraft overhead at the time so as to potentially cause an ‘air disaster,’” Sea Shepherd said in a statement issued Wednesday.

Interpol’s wanted notices, called red notices, are sent to police agencies across the world, but they are not arrest warrants.

“Each of Interpol’s 190 member countries must apply their national laws and standards in determining whether it may detain or arrest the wanted person,” Interpol says.

Joey Kovar of 'Real World,' 'Celebrity Rehab' Dead at 29

By Tim Kenneally/Getty Images
Joey Kovar, cast member of "The Real World: Hollywood," was found dead Friday morning. He was 29.

Kovar was staying at a friend's house in the Chicago area, according to TMZ. A female friend who found his body noticed blood running out of Kovar's ears and nose, and called 911. He was pronounced dead at the scene by responders.

TMZ reports that Kovar's family suspect that drugs are to blame for his death, which wouldn't be surprising; his "Real World: Hollywood" stint was punctuated by a stay in rehab for drugs and alcohol.