Blogs

For me, one of the most fun events I had the pleasure of covering in 2010 was ShoWest, which was held at the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas. Aside from NAB this was the biggest entertainment related event I attended. When it returns next week from March 28-31, 2011 there will be several major changes.

On March 16th Alice Mathias and Andy Landen, two graduate students from the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts, accepted the 2009-2010 Coca-Cola Refreshing Filmmaker's Award at ShoWest in Las Vegas for their short film entitled, "Message in a Bottle ".

"The Square ", a Film Noir thriller produced by Australian siblings Joel and Nash Edgerton's Blue -Tongue Films, has been generating positive reviews from publications including The New York Times, GQ and Variety, while drawing favorable comparisons to such classics as "Body Heat ". Prior to a screening held during ShoWest, I had the pleasure of speaking with screenwriter and actor Joel Edgerton.

There was no doubt that in spite of all the star power at ShoWest, including award recipients Jerry Bruckheimer, Katherine Heigl and Todd Phillips, the star that seemed to shine the brightest was the new technology – namely 3D. As Michael Lynton, the CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment said in his keynote speech, "The movie business is after all the child of technology." One thing the industry can expect is growing pains as this child develops In fact, the limited number of screens combined with the huge success of films like "Avatar " and "Alice in Wonderland " is already creating scheduling concerns for upcoming films like "Clash of the Titans 3D " from Warner Brothers and Paramount's "How to Train Your Dragon ".

Being in the Press Room the final night of ShoWest was one of my favorite parts of the week. Listening to the thoughts and words of filmmakers and actors, who are either industry veterans or stars on the rise, was a pleasure that I'm happy to share here with you. Let's start Part 2 at the top with film and television legend Jerry Bruckheimer, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.

Instead of saving some of the best for last, I decided to start by writing about my experience in the Press Room at ShoWest in the Paris Hotel on March 18th just before the banquet and awards ceremony. With the exception of Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis and Cynthia Nixon, who were picking up the Ensemble Award for Sex and the City, and Breakthrough Male Star of the Year, Jaden Smith, all of the other recipients and surprise guest, "Avatar" producer Jon Landau joined us. As you might expect a lot of the conversation touched on the success of 3D and where it might fit in with filmmaking, as audiences develop a taste for it. Below are a few highlights beginning comments from Jon Landau.

Although I'll be writing more about ShoWest on Saturday, I thought I'd share a little info with you from the first two days.