Salli Richardson-Whitfield Named Celebrity Host Of 21st Annual Pan African Film Festival

Salli Richardson-Whitfield

The Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) has named Salli Richardson-Whitfield its Celebrity Host for the festival's 21st Annual edition.

"The Pan African Film Festival applauds the fine work of Salli Richardson-Whitfield," said Ayuko Babu, founder and executive director of PAFF. "She’s a combination of beauty and brains – that is, a seasoned actress who’s chosen smart roles to gracefully elevate, and not compromise the image of African American women in film and television. Through her craft, she is an amazing storyteller, and the film festival is excited to have her as a celebrity host."

PAFF 2013 is set to take place at the new Rave Cinemas Baldwin Hills 15 at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles, and will kick off festivities with a star-studded Opening Night Gala on Thursday, February 7, 2013 at the Rave Cinemas Baldwin Hills 15 theatre.

The Pan African Film & Arts Festival is an official event of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa's Celebration of African American Heritage Month.

In addition, the Pan African Film Festival (PAFF) will receive the first ever Special Achievement Award in the Film Festival Category by African American Film Critics Association (AAFCA).

The festival will be recognized for its contribution to cinematic arts, and will be presented with the award during the AAFCA’s private awards ceremony on Friday, February 8, 2013 at the Taglyan Complex in Hollywood, Calif.

Each year, PAFF screens more than 150 films made by and/or about people of African descent from all over the world.

This year's edition runs from February 7 - 18.

For more info, visit paff.org.

DO WE STILL HAVE MONKEYS IN NOLLYWOOD?

Nollywod, the Nigerian film industry is going through many controversies caused by squabbles and disaffections among stakeholders in the various associations and guilds who think they are the movers and shakers calling the shots in the industry. In fact, there are still court cases and grudges in the hearts of many of them. They say that in  some cases, many have become dancers and clappers of politicians and some business moguls; yes there is nothing wrong with deciding who you associate yourself with only when it turns out the money given to be shared creates problems among the beneficiaries that it becomes ridiculous

During the candle light procession for the Late ENEBELI Elebuwa (may his soul rest in peace),  the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN) Ibinabo  Fiberisima called for all the troublemakers  to stop their childish and foolish chitty chatty mudslinging,  backbiting and antagonistic attacks in the Nollywood family so that the industry will move to the next level. Unfortunately some individuals and even heads of associations still sent text messages to members not to attend very important events such as the annual film workshops, film festivals, etc; they even went as far as sending wrong signals to corporate organizations with wrong information not to sponsor very viable projects that can create good platforms for the development of the Nigerian film industry. With this reaction from the President of Actors Guild of Nigeria, the question is “do we still have monkeys in Nollywood?

Durban International Writers Festival

16^th TIME OF THE WRITER

International Writers Festival

Durban March 18 – 23, 2013.

A select group of leading writers from South Africa, Africa and abroad will gather in Durban for a thought-provoking week of literary dialogue and exchange of ideas at the  University of KwaZulu Natal’s 16^th Time of the Writer International Writers Festival which takes place from March 18 to 23, 2013.

 SUSAN ABULHAWA

 JONNY STEIBERG

Presented by the Centre for Creative Arts, housed in the College of Humanities and made possible through principal funding from the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund, the festival offers an activity-rich week, in which audiences can expect to hear the opinions of award-winning writers, from a variety of political and social contexts, on the creative and artistic processes and perspectives which inform their writing. 

 ZINIAD MEERAN 

JUDE IDIBIA

Evening panels, book launches and discussions will take place at the UKZN Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre while wide-reaching free day programmes are spread across Durban and surrounding areas as part of the festival’s ongoing effort to promote and nurture a culture of reading, writing and creative expression. This includes school visits, a publishing forum,and a range of seminars and workshops.

For more information go to www.cca.ukzn.ac.za.

 Organised by the Centre for Creative Arts, University of KwaZulu-Natal the 16th Time of the Writer festival is funded by the National Lottery Distribution Trust Fund (principal funder) and the City of Durban.

Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards

Emma and Seth take to the stage

Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards

Performance by an actor in a leading role

• Bradley Cooper in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"
• Hugh Jackman in "Les Misérables"
• Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master"
• Denzel Washington in "Flight"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

• Alan Arkin in "Argo"
• Robert De Niro in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Philip Seymour Hoffman in "The Master"
• Tommy Lee Jones in "Lincoln"
• Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"

Performance by an actress in a leading role

• Jessica Chastain in "Zero Dark Thirty"
• Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"
• Emmanuelle Riva in "Amour"
• Quvenzhané Wallis in "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
• Naomi Watts in "The Impossible"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

• Amy Adams in "The Master"
• Sally Field in "Lincoln"
• Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"
• Helen Hunt in "The Sessions"
• Jacki Weaver in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Best animated feature film of the year

• "Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman
• "Frankenweenie" Tim Burton
• "ParaNorman" Sam Fell and Chris Butler
• "The Pirates! Band of Misfits" Peter Lord
• "Wreck-It Ralph" Rich Moore

Achievement in cinematography

• "Anna Karenina" Seamus McGarvey
• "Django Unchained" Robert Richardson
• "Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda
• "Lincoln" Janusz Kaminski
• "Skyfall" Roger Deakins

Achievement in costume design

• "Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran
• "Les Misérables" Paco Delgado
• "Lincoln" Joanna Johnston
• "Mirror Mirror" Eiko Ishioka
• "Snow White and the Huntsman" Colleen Atwood

Achievement in directing

• "Amour" Michael Haneke
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Benh Zeitlin
• "Life of Pi" Ang Lee
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg
• "Silver Linings Playbook" David O. Russell

Best documentary feature

• "5 Broken Cameras"
  Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi
• "The Gatekeepers"
  Nominees to be determined
• "How to Survive a Plague"
  Nominees to be determined
• "The Invisible War"
  Nominees to be determined
• "Searching for Sugar Man"
  Nominees to be determined

Best documentary short subject

• "Inocente"
  Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine
• "Kings Point"
  Sari Gilman and Jedd Wider
• "Mondays at Racine"
  Cynthia Wade and Robin Honan
• "Open Heart"
  Kief Davidson and Cori Shepherd Stern
• "Redemption"
  Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill

Achievement in film editing

• "Argo" William Goldenberg
• "Life of Pi" Tim Squyres
• "Lincoln" Michael Kahn
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Jay Cassidy and Crispin Struthers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Dylan Tichenor and William Goldenberg

Best foreign language film of the year

• "Amour" Austria
• "Kon-Tiki" Norway
• "No" Chile
• "A Royal Affair" Denmark
• "War Witch" Canada

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

• "Hitchcock"
  Howard Berger, Peter Montagna and Martin Samuel
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
  Peter Swords King, Rick Findlater and Tami Lane
• "Les Misérables"
  Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

• "Anna Karenina" Dario Marianelli
• "Argo" Alexandre Desplat
• "Life of Pi" Mychael Danna
• "Lincoln" John Williams
• "Skyfall" Thomas Newman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

• "Before My Time" from "Chasing Ice"
  Music and Lyric by J. Ralph
• "Everybody Needs A Best Friend" from "Ted"
  Music by Walter Murphy; Lyric by Seth MacFarlane
• "Pi's Lullaby" from "Life of Pi"
  Music by Mychael Danna; Lyric by Bombay Jayashri
• "Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
  Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth
• "Suddenly" from "Les Misérables"
  Music by Claude-Michel Schönberg; Lyric by Herbert Kretzmer and Alain Boublil

Best motion picture of the year

• "Amour" Nominees to be determined
• "Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Dan Janvey, Josh Penn and Michael Gottwald, Producers
• "Django Unchained" Stacey Sher, Reginald Hudlin and Pilar Savone, Producers
• "Les Misérables" Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Debra Hayward and Cameron Mackintosh, Producers
• "Life of Pi" Gil Netter, Ang Lee and David Womark, Producers
• "Lincoln" Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, Producers
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Donna Gigliotti, Bruce Cohen and Jonathan Gordon, Producers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Mark Boal, Kathryn Bigelow and Megan Ellison, Producers

Achievement in production design

• "Anna Karenina"
  Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
  Production Design: Dan Hennah; Set Decoration: Ra Vincent and Simon Bright
• "Les Misérables"
  Production Design: Eve Stewart; Set Decoration: Anna Lynch-Robinson
• "Life of Pi"
  Production Design: David Gropman; Set Decoration: Anna Pinnock
• "Lincoln"
  Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson
  

Best animated short film

• "Adam and Dog" Minkyu Lee
• "Fresh Guacamole" PES
• "Head over Heels" Timothy Reckart and Fodhla Cronin O'Reilly
• "Maggie Simpson in "The Longest Daycare"" David Silverman
• "Paperman" John Kahrs

Best live action short film

• "Asad" Bryan Buckley and Mino Jarjoura
• "Buzkashi Boys" Sam French and Ariel Nasr
• "Curfew" Shawn Christensen
• "Death of a Shadow (Dood van een Schaduw)" Tom Van Avermaet and Ellen De Waele
• "Henry" Yan England

Achievement in sound editing

• "Argo" Erik Aadahl and Ethan Van der Ryn
• "Django Unchained" Wylie Stateman
• "Life of Pi" Eugene Gearty and Philip Stockton
• "Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson

Achievement in sound mixing

• "Argo"
  John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Jose Antonio Garcia
• "Les Misérables"
  Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes
• "Life of Pi"
  Ron Bartlett, D.M. Hemphill and Drew Kunin
• "Lincoln"
  Andy Nelson, Gary Rydstrom and Ronald Judkins
• "Skyfall"
  Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell and Stuart Wilson

Achievement in visual effects

• "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey"
  Joe Letteri, Eric Saindon, David Clayton and R. Christopher White
• "Life of Pi"
  Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott
• "Marvel's The Avengers"
  Janek Sirrs, Jeff White, Guy Williams and Dan Sudick
• "Prometheus"
  Richard Stammers, Trevor Wood, Charley Henley and Martin Hill
• "Snow White and the Huntsman"
  Cedric Nicolas-Troyan, Philip Brennan, Neil Corbould and Michael Dawson

Adapted screenplay

• "Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio
• "Beasts of the Southern Wild" Screenplay by Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin
• "Life of Pi" Screenplay by David Magee
• "Lincoln" Screenplay by Tony Kushner
• "Silver Linings Playbook" Screenplay by David O. Russell

Original screenplay

• "Amour" Written by Michael Haneke
• "Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino
• "Flight" Written by John Gatins
• "Moonrise Kingdom" Written by Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola
• "Zero Dark Thirty" Written by Mark Boal

OSCAR® HOST SETH MACFARLANE JOINS EMMA STONE TO ANNOUNCE OSCAR NOMINATIONS

Seth MacFarlane

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – Nominations for the 85th Academy Awards® will be announced by the show's host, Seth MacFarlane, and actress Emma Stone on Thursday, January 10. This will be the first time since 1972 that an Oscar show host has participated in the nominations announcement.

MacFarlane and Stone will unveil the nominations at a 5:30 a.m. PT news conference at the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills, where hundreds of media representatives from around the world will be gathered.

Since the first nominations announcement in 1964, the Academy president has been joined by one or more co-announcers at the event. This year the Academy will break with tradition when MacFarlane, who was named Oscar show host in October, joins Stone on Oscar nominations morning. Charlton Heston (1972) was the only other show host to participate in the nominations announcement.

Stone starred in the 2011 Best Picture nominee "The Help" and the summer release "The Amazing Spider-Man." Her other film credits include "Superbad," "Zombieland," "Easy A" and "Crazy, Stupid, Love." Stone will be seen in "Gangster Squad" later this month and in "The Croods," due out in March.

Nominations information for all categories will be distributed to news media in attendance and via the Internet on the official Academy Awards website, www.oscar.com.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

  courtesy oscar 

... A YEAR OF MIXED FORTUNES FOR NOLLYWOOD

MOVIEDOM 2012

IT'S MOTION WITHOUT MOVEMENT

By Shaibu Husseini

 ONE reason it may be difficult to clearly define the accomplishment of Nollywood, as an industry, last year, is the perceived inability of practitioners and leaders of the guilds and associations to set their priorities right at the start of 2012.
So they walk into a year without a clearly stating how they intend to put Nollywood on the path of growth. Even if there were plans at all, they were so unrealistic that mid way into the year, they were abandoned. So rather than spend time on schemes that would lift the industry, improve the content of offerings, and guarantee effective copyright and distribution system, much of the time last year was spent on chasing crumbs, on hauling insults on themselves and issuing threat of court action.
Save for some individual efforts that have kept the turf busy particularly few practitioners who have continued to crank cameras inspite of the complete collapse of the distribution system and the discouraging activities of pirates, much of the time in the year under review was spent on settling controversies and disputes including intra and extra guilds and association wranglings.

Ibinabo.Fiberesima

  President:Actors Guild of Nigeria.

In fact, to conclude that year 2012 was characterized by mounting bickering and needles disputes will be stating the obvious.  For instance, needless was the controversy that preceded the election of Ibinabo Fiberisma as the first female President of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN). But for good reason that was later allowed to prevail, the major actors in that AGN election would have been struggling it out in court. The issue of who was eligible to contest and who was “ordained to succeed” the immediate past president of the AGN, Segun Arinze dragged and almost split the group. Thankfully, its Board of Trustees (BOT) promptly stepped in and affirmed Ibinabo as duly elected President.

Zik Zulu Okafor

  President Association of Movie Producers

Needless too is the raging controversy over the right to commemorate the much-hyped 20th anniversary of Nollywood. In the controversy ring, are the leadership of the Association of Movie Producers (AMP) and the organizers of the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF).
The AMP claimed it had since 2011 mooted the idea of commemorating Nollywood at 20 in 2012, since in their estimation, Nollywood came into being in 1992 and would want to anchor the grand celebration of the anniversary. In fact, talks around the event began as soon as Zik Zulu Okafor assumed office as President of the AMP, but by September of 2012, the actual month that marked 20 years of the release of the phenomenal Living in Bondage — the movie that spurred interest in the commercial production of movies, the group announced a shift in the date of the anniversary party to 2013. “We have moved the Nollywood at 20 event to 2013,” Zik Zulu Okafor said on the grounds of the 9th edition of the annual Abuja International Festival (AIFF) which was dedicated to a celebration of “the phenomenon Nollywood at 20.”
In fact, the AMP President was a part of the panel at the AIFF on Nollywood titled Nollywood: 20 years after — the good, the bad and the ugly. Besides, as a way of drawing attention to the success story of Nollywood as it clocked 20, the organizers of the African International Film Festival (AFRIFF) then decided to include the hosting of a conference on Nollywood in their programming of the third edition of the festival, which was planned to hold in December 2012. A similar conference and award ceremony held in Germany on December 8 under the direction of Isaac Izoya of Ehizoya Golden Entertainment. The AFRIFF conference on Nollywood was intended as a side event.  The organizers had invited speakers including the AMP President to undertake a retrospective on the industry and proffer solution to its multi-dimensional challenges. They had also as part of the conference planned to present a book of Nollywood Icons, a promotional publication they hope will be widely circulated. Observers felt that those events would have been an appropriate way to kick-start activities commemorating the 20th anniversary. But the organisers had hardly sent out invites when they were reportedly ordered by the leadership of the AMP to hold their festival but to steer clear from hosting any event around Nollywood at 20.
The AMP insisted that it was anchoring an industry celebration of the anniversary of Nollywood which its leadership has fixed to hold in June 2013 and as such they would not want energies dissapiated on organising any event that will likely make their planned grand commemorative event appear anti-climatic. The AMP stressed that the celebration was ‘an industry affair ‘ and must be seen as such. That directive was to later pitch the directors of AFRIFF against the leadership of AMP. Text, emails and black berry messages, most of them disparaging, started circulating. The matter is likely to be resolved in court, as the directors of AFRIFF have threatened court action unless the disparaging comments allegedly credited to the leadership of the AMP are withdrawn. But the AMP insisted it would not be distracted. It recently announced that it would start its programme of commemoration with a world press conference and close with a grand dinner and award ceremony in June 2013.
But the leadership of the AMP may need to still look at the composition of its organising committee if it truly intends to have an industry celebration. Already the leadership of Association of Nollywood Core Producers (ANCOP) have protested their exclusion from the organising committee. President of ANCOP, Alex Enyegho in a press statement described as a “grand game of deceit the attempt by AMP to railroad unsuspecting stakeholders and Nigerians into believing that the planned Nollywood at 20 event was a product of consensus by all Nollywood associations, guilds and practitioners.’’ Comrade Eyengho further stated that the planned commemorative event was “an AMP event and cannot be said to be an event by the whole industry.” Questions have also been raised on why folk associations like the Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (ANTP), the Motion Picture Practitioners Association of Nigeria (MOPPAN) which represents the movie industry in Kano called Kannywood and the current chairman of the Coalition of Nollywood Guild and Association (CONGA) Bond Emeruwa are not represented on the organising committee of the planned industry event.

 Ms Patricia Bala

Acting Director General,
Nigerian Film and Video Censors Board

Even though observers don’t see anything wrong with institutions celebrating an industry that has become a significant part of the nation’s popular culture, they think that there is more work for the leadership of AMP to do including facilitating access to funding for its members than spend time on needless controversies and disputes. They want the guild and association heads to direct energies on monitoring the way some regulatory agencies like the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) and the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC) have been discharging their mandates. The observers reasoned that things have continued to slow down in Nollywood because the agencies have left the core issues of lack of a definite film policy, absence of a practitioner’s council, poor distribution network, piracy and the absence of a film fund unaddressed. In 2012, it was the agencies to their supervising Minister and Nollywood to themselves. In fact, the practitioners related more with the Presidency last year than they related with the NFVCB and the NFC. Even now, the practitioners have become so disenchanted with the operations of the agencies that they have been calling for the heads of the chief executives of the agencies. They say they cannot point a finger to what the NFVCB has achieved last year apart from the little success they recorded with their ‘Nigerian in the movies’ initiative and their recent road show initiative to Scotland and India.

 Afolabi Adesanya

MD Nigerian Film Corporation

But the NFC faired well in the estimation of informed observers during the year under review even though the complaint has been that the NFC, its leadership especially is  far removed from developments in Nollywood. The NFC has in spite of budgetary constraints continued to ensure visibility for the industry locally and internationally. It has also continued to impact positively on the Nigerian motion picture industry through industry interventions.
But there are those who think that the NFC should do much more than signing memoranda of understanding and hosting film festivals with foreign missions in Nigeria. They wonder why it is taking the NFC so much time to work on a legislation that will provide the practitioners easy access to facilities like airports, court rooms, police and military formations that can enhance professionalism in film production. They also think that Nigeria is too ripe for a policy that will guarantee the provision of incentives and tax rebates for acquisition of professional equipments including exhibition equipments and wonder why the NFC as a film developmental agency cannot secure such legislation for the industry including legislation that will support the establishment of the National Film Fund.
They wonder why the NFC has not followed up on the promise made by the Minister of Information Mr. Labaran Maku at the 2012 Zuma International Film Festival to have the bill establishing the much talked about Motion Picture Practitioners Council (MOPPICON) passed. They also wonder why the NFC has all these years, not made a case for the provision of a production grant and also a grant to support industry activities such as festivals.
However, regular features such as the African Movie Academy Awards (AMAA) have continued to lift the banner of Nollywood at national, continental and international levels. Founder of AMAA, Peace Anyiam Osigwe has also continued to be a leading voice to get the National Film Policy implemented. Specifically, she wants the NTA to be compelled to commission programmes and not wait for practitioners to buy airtime before their programmes will be shown on television. Osigwe also wants government to initiate a policy that will encourage corporate Nigeria to support the entertainment industry and a policy that will compel advertising agencies to advertise on local programmes.
Another positive point is in the area of release of movies. Moviedom witnessed more releases in 2012 than in 2011. There was a noticeable effort to produce something substantial in spite of these challenges. Movies like  ‘Hoodrush’, ‘Hereos and Zeroes’, ‘Okon goes to Lagos’, ‘Tobi’, ‘Last Flight to Abuja’, ‘Phone Swap’, ‘Scores to Settle’, ‘The Meeting’, and ‘Dr Bello’ which benefitted a lot from the creative industry fund provided by NEXIM readily come to mind. These films were premiered and they screened at major cinemas in the country.
Also a number of practitioners including Tunde Kelani and Emem Isong were honoured and applauded for their enterprise during the year. Similarly, the Federal Government conferred national honours of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR) on two notable motion picture practitioners - Peace Anyiam Osigwe and Teco Benson. The award was in recognition of their individual effort, dedication and service.
In addition, the year witnessed some landmark events that were reputed to have put Nollywood on the path of growth. The intervention by the Lagos State government through the Nollywood Upgrade initiative readily comes to mind. Also iREP has continued to intervene through its annual documentary film festival and film screening. The 2nd edition of the yearly Light, Camera, Africa, a 4-day film, talk and music feast organized by the Life House, Lagos in partnership with The African Film Festival, Inc (AFF) added colour to the robust profile of 2012 in term of staging of film events such as the BOBTV; AMAA, the Eko International Film festival (EIFF), Abuja international Film Festival, the IN-SHORT film festival and the Gospel film festival.
As practitioners went on location, they also found time to raise funds for some of their colleagues who were bedridden. The last of such fund raising efforts was the N6.5 million Naira raised for the ailing stage and screen actress Ngozi Nwosu. The actress who until recently was a star of the popular sitcom, Fuji House of Commotion was reportedly diagnosed of Kidney complications. But she got substantial help from the Lagos state governor Babatunde Raji Fashola who donated N4.5 million.  She had earlier received N1 million from the communication giant MTN and another N1 million from contributions coordinated by Seun Olukoteyi of Best of Nollywood magazine. The actress should be on the way to India for further treatment. Also practitioners found time to mourn some of their colleagues – popular actor Pete Eneh; stage and screen actor Enebeli Elebuwa; popular Yoruba actor Lekan Oladipupo (aka) Lekkinson; and emerging Yoruba actress, Bisi Komolafe — who passed on during the year.
Indeed, observers are of the opinion that a lot still has to be done in terms of bridging the gap regarding support for the creative industry by government. Industry critics have however predicted a boom for the entertainment industry in 2013 but they say this will be possible if Nollywood re-invents itself, if government creates the enabling environment for the industry to thrive and if practitioners will stop playing “dirty politics” and focus on being more professional in 2013.

85TH OSCARS® TO FEATURE SPECIAL CELEBRATION OF JAMES BOND

85TH OSCARS® TO FEATURE SPECIAL CELEBRATION OF JAMES BOND

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – The 85th Academy Awards® will include a tribute to the James Bond movie franchise, which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, the telecast's producers announced today.

"We are very happy to include a special sequence on our show saluting the Bond films on their 50th birthday," said producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. "Starting with 'Dr. No' back in 1962, the 007 movies have become the longest-running motion picture franchise in history and a beloved global phenomenon."

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m. PT in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar® Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre™ at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

courtesy: The Oscars