Anne Hathaway to Play Judy Garland in Film and on Stage

Reuters reports that Movie kingpin Harvey Weinstein has signed Oscar-nominated Anne Hathaway to play singer Judy Garland in both film and stage adaptations of the biography Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland.

In a statement, Weinstein called Hathaway “brilliantly talented” and said “she will be a true class act in this challenging role.”

Garland, of course, is the legendary movie star of Hollywood’s Golden Age who portrayed Dorothy in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz, starred opposite Mickey Rooney in the “Andy Hardy” films and was twice Oscar-nominated for roles in A Star is Born and Judgment at Nuremberg.

She also enjoyed a long singing career and scored a No. 1 Grammy-winning album with “Judy at Carnegie Hall” from her 1961 concert at the famous Manhattan venue.

Garland was married five times, including to producer Vincente Minelli with whom she had daughter Liza Minelli. She died at age 47 due to an accidental drug overdose after years of battling addiction problems.

Hathaway, 26, is one of Hollywood’s rising stars who got her first big break in 2001 Disney movie The Princess Diaries, and more recently starred in movies like Brokeback Mountain and The Devil Wears Prada.

This past year, she was nominated for a best actress Oscar playing an addict who returns home for her sister’s wedding, in Rachel Getting Married. At the Oscars, she sang part of a song with host Hugh Jackman, wowing the crowd that, for the most part, knew her only for her acting.

Original story – http://www.reuters.com/article/filmNews/idUSTRE52M70D20090323

Guardian Student Media Awards

“The Guardian Student Media Awards have sought out the very best student writers, designers, broadcasters, editors and photographers for over 30 years.

And this year one of those people could be you.

Enter the 2009 Guardian Student Media Awards and soon you could be playing against real media heavyweights including the likes of Andrew Rawnsley, Rankin, Jonathan Freedland, Rachel Newsome and Emily Barr – all previous winners. Along with 100s of others, these guys were mere mortals like you before making it big in the media.

As well as choosing individual and category winners, our esteemed panel of judges will pick out one overall winner who displays particularly outstanding talent and promise. That person will undertake an extended six-week work placement at the Guardian and receive a subsistence allowance of £1,650.”

The categories, instructions and application forms are all on http://www.guardian.co.uk/student-media-awards-2009.

Film About John Lennon’s childhood

According to Hollywood Reporter, a film is to be made about John Lennon’s childhood, focusing on the battle between Lennon’s aunt and mother for custody.

The Weinstein Co have acquired rights for “Nowhere Boy,” which is to be directed, by Sam Taylor-Wood.  Matt Greenhalgh wrote the script; Greenhalgh previously wrote “Control” the story of Joy Division lead singer Ian Curtis.

Aaron Johnson plays the Beatle as a young man, with Kristin Scott Thomas playing his Aunt Mimi, who begins raising Lennon until his mother re-enters the picture.  Production is under way.

Visit for Hollywood Reporter the full story.

New Film and Movie Search Engine

We’ve created a custom Google search to help people search for film and movie news and information.  You can use it at http://www.google.com/coop/cse?cx=018436150521358100921:fft8th8lcok&hl=en.

You can also get the code to add it to your web page or you can add to your iGoogle page.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions about the websites we should add to it, or would like to volunteer to contribute.

We’ve also incorporated the search into a Google Gadget, that has five feeds, three of which are changable, to bring you the latest film news and release information.  You can preview the Gadget and use the search on our Film Search page.

Contacting Us
There are a number of ways you can contact us.  As well as using the contact form on our website, you can email info@ownafilmcompany.com or text us on +44 7624 80 81 82. Just make sure you start your text with the keyword FILMS.

Video of the Week: THRU YOU | Kutiman mixes YouTube

A mix of unrelated YouTube videos, put together to make one music video.  It works quite well and must have taken hours of editing, so the creator definitely get’s 10/10 for effort.

more about “THRU YOU | Kutiman mixes YouTube“, posted with vodpod

Visit http://thru-you.com/#/videos/3/ for more information.

Social Networking for the Entertainment Industry from ACTORSandCREW

There are a number of social networks out there, like MySpace and Facebook, but while those huge social networking sites are valuable, they have the disadvantage of being open to everyone. For actors and crew members, it’s great to have a profile on a large social networking site, but the chances are good that those sites won’t facilitate connections with other people in the business. For that, you need a highly targeted site that is specifically designed to link talented actors, DPs, costume designers, and others with those who are doing the hiring.

If you’re an actor or a crew member, how do you tell the great social networking sites from those that are ho-hum? First, ensure that the site is a networking and employment site that serves film, television, and theater professionals worldwide. Second, make sure its search engine is designed in such a way as to increase the types and number of collaborations for the people who use it.

The third criterion is probably the most important, and differentiates the best from the rest. You must be able to upload high-quality video, audio, and photography, as well as documents. The quality must be better than that offered by, for example YouTube or GoogleVideo. When that’s the case, the playback quality has HD clarity and can display at a large size – making you look and sound your best.

Lastly, the site should have direct access to industry job databases and the inside scoop on film production companies, film festivals, casting calls, and so forth. Generalized social networking may be the hallmark of Web 2.0, but in this niche, a networking site is also a vehicle for actors, crew members, and producers to find one another.

Established in 2005, ACTORSandCREW is the DBA for Broadsword Communications, Inc. The company has thousands of members in more than 80 countries, and throughout the US. Their website is http://www.actorsandcrew.com.

Watch the Worlds Largest Film Premiere Online

“The Age of Stupid” will be launched on March 15th in a solar cinema tent in the park in Leicester Square, and simultaneously at more than 60 other venues, including The Eden Project and a kids-only event in Fulham. As an INclusive, rather than EXclusive, premiere, the public can buy tickets (£10) to their local cinema and watch the green carpet arrivals and post-film Q&A live by satellite link-up from London. The whole event – but not the complete film, obviously – will also stream live on the internet and in Second Life.

All the Leicester Square venues have sold out, including the solar powered tent, but you can still watch the film simultaneously at other venues, along with the the green carpet arrivals and post-film Q&A live by satellite link-up from London.  If you can’t make it to one of the other venues, you can watch everything, except the film, live online at www.ageofstupid.net/premiere_webstream or in Second Life at www.oneclimate.net/stupid_premiere.

With a capacity of over 16,000, the Guinness Book of Records will hopefully soon confirm The Age of Stupid as the largest ever film premiere. The event is supported by the UK FIlm Council.

See Age of Stupid Press Release for more information.

Written by Tracey, OwnAFilmCompany.com

Newsletter and Press Release

We’ve issued a new Press Release today, visit http://www.ownafilmcompany.com/press-release-new-website to view it.

Our February newsletter also went out today.  Yes we know it’s March, but it is an update of the February happenings on the site.  If you haven’t received it, you can view the full newsletter online, but here’s an extract:

We’ve made it easier for people to register their interest. Previously the only way to let us know you were interested in becoming a paid member, when the time comes, was to register as a free member. Although that is still the best way becuase registered free members receive regular updates, invites to our events, have access to our forums, can vote in our polls and have other benefits, we’ve now made it possible to register your interest without actually registering on the website. We’ve added Google Friend Connect, so people can register their interest in becoming a paid member, and invite friends, using their Google, AIM, Yahoo or OpenID account.

We’ve created an iGoogle tab to make it easier for you to stay updated. When you add the tab to your iGoogle, you will have all our updates in one place. There are six boxes on the tab; latest posts to our homepage, latest articles in the updates section, latest blog posts, latest film news from our blog, latest film reviews from our blog and our latests Twitter updates. Try it now.

Written by Tracey, OwnAFilmCompany.com

New Website for Mobile Short Films

If you’re an independent short film maker, or a fan of short films, Zzizzl may be the service for you.  Zzizzl is a new website where you can buy short films for download to portable devices.  50% of the profit goes to the film maker.

Their website says “zzizzl is an new way to enjoy short films and videos. Our focus is to enable independent creators to get there work out there as well as earn money each time you choose to buy their film or video.

We guarantee that every time you buy a film from zzizzl, we share the profit 50/50 with the creators/rights holder. So your single purchase has a real impact for those who created it. You are enriching independent creators worldwide, encouraging them to create even more great stuff.

What’s so exciting is that you get to experience content from creators you may not have heard of before and suddenly you become the talent spotter.

zzizzl is focused on portable entertainment. What does this mean? We are encouraging you to buy films and videos to put on your mobile/cell phone or personal media player.

So now you have real freedom. You can carry your entertainment in your pocket and watch it anytime, anywhere.

Welcome to your personal portable cinema in your pocket.“

If you’re a film maker that would like to make your films available for mobile download, or a fan looking for portable content, visit http://zzizzl.com.

Written by Tracey, OwnAFilmCompany.com