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Anne Thompson

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East Village, Los Angeles
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Covers:  sxsw film festival, box office, filmmakers, new media, classic hollywood, marketing/advertising, film, animation, toronto international film festival, independent film, awards shows, hollywood, producers, marketing, cannes film festival, cable television, television and film reviews, classic cinema, social media, documentaries, screenwriters and directors, oscars, film festivals, reviews, award shows, hbo, academy awards, awards, distribution
Editor at Large at IndieWire, founder of Thompson on Hollywood, awards maven, co-host of Screen Talk podcast, author of "The $11 Billion Year."
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Military Rape Doc 'Invisible War' Continues to Push Change on Capitol Hill

Military Rape Doc 'Invisible War' Continues to Push Change on Capitol Hill

blogs.indiewire.com — While fictional Oscar nominee "Zero Dark Thirty" has challenged Washington politicians to respond to its hybrid journalism, Kirby Dick's searing Oscar-nominated "The Invisible War" is a documentary that has exposed the scope of a military crisis that Capitol Hill didn't realize was happening. In a way, seeing the film has given the DC establishment permission to respond to something that had been heretofore hidden and taboo. That's because the film puts a face on a group of well-trained, idealistic young women who sought to serve their country and were rewarded with rape, mental and physcial stress, injury and trauma, and an insensitive military bureaucracy that looked the other way when they sought redress.
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The Hollywood Education of Ben Affleck, from 'Chasing Amy,' 'Armageddon' and 'Shakespeare' to his...

The Hollywood Education of Ben Affleck, from 'Chasing Amy,' 'Armageddon' and 'Shakespeare' to his...

blogs.indiewire.com — Before accepting the Santa Barbara Modern Master Award from childhood pal Matt Damon, "Argo" helmer and star Ben Affleck, 40, with graceful help from master interviewer Leonard Maltin, showed his mettle as charming raconteur and ace impressionist. These skills have served "Argo" well in its surging race for Oscars.
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Alex Gibney Reacts to Pope Resignation, Talks HBO's 'Mea Maxima Culpa,' Exposing Institutional Pr...

Alex Gibney Reacts to Pope Resignation, Talks HBO's 'Mea Maxima Culpa,' Exposing Institutional Pr...

blogs.indiewire.com — One of the villains in documentarian Alex Gibney's takedown of the Roman Catholic Church, "Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God," is the Pope, who February 11 announced his plan to resign at age 85. Did his long-term role --as Cardinal Ratzinger and Pope Benedict XVI--in covering up pedophile priests contribute to this decision? Gibney's email response: "Yes. But I have no proof. There was no way that the church could move forward on that issue with Benedict in office. I think that his resignation was the best thing about his Papacy. It confirmed the humanity of the office."
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Writers' Panel Talk Originals 'Looper,' 'Flight' and 'Moonrise Kingdom' and Adaptations 'Perks of...

Writers' Panel Talk Originals 'Looper,' 'Flight' and 'Moonrise Kingdom' and Adaptations 'Perks of...

blogs.indiewire.com — Every year I conduct a Santa Barbara Film Festival ritual: the "It Starts with the Script" panel with writers of the year's best screenplays. In the 2013 group, some are up for Writers Guild awards next weekend: David Magee for his adaptation of Yann Martel's "Life of Pi," Stephen Chbosky for adapting his bestseller "Perks of Being a Wallflower," Roman Coppola for co-writing original "Moonrise Kingdom" with Wes Anderson, Rian Johnson for his original "Looper" and John Gatins for his original "Flight," which earned Denzel Washington an Oscar nomination. And Magee, Coppola and Gatins are also up for Oscars.
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State of the Oscar Race, Reading the Oscar Nominees Lunch Tea Leaves (VIDEO)

State of the Oscar Race, Reading the Oscar Nominees Lunch Tea Leaves (VIDEO)

blogs.indiewire.com — As of Friday, February 8, Academy members can vote for the Oscars, right up to February 19. Many have already received their paper ballots, and three have anonymously revealed their votes to the LA Times. All they show is that this year, more than most, the race is wide open and hard to call. "It's the best collection of movies in 90 years," says Harvey Weinstein, who is chipper, having finally turned his company fortunes around via box office hits "Django Unchained" and "Silver Linings Playbook," even if they don't wind up winning any Oscars.
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'Zero Dark Thirty' Writer-Producer Boal Defends Film in 'First Amendment Week' Keynote

'Zero Dark Thirty' Writer-Producer Boal Defends Film in 'First Amendment Week' Keynote

blogs.indiewire.com — Celebrating "First Amendment Week" at Loyola Marymount University, Oscar-nominated "Zero Dark Thirty" writer-producer Mark Boal (who won a writing Oscar for "The Hurt Locker," his first collaboration with director Kathryn Bigelow) gave the keynote address. He applauds his first amendment rights to free political speech. He makes the distinction between documentary and art. He compares and contrasts "Zero Dark Thirty" to past historic controversies and other historic recreations such as "All the President's Men" and "Argo," and the timely day-to-day commentary of John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. He wants to continue to work at the nexus between timely journalism and film.
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Harvey Weinstein Opens Up at Producers Guild Sundance Breakfast, Mistakes and All: 'I Was Worst C...

Harvey Weinstein Opens Up at Producers Guild Sundance Breakfast, Mistakes and All: 'I Was Worst C...

blogs.indiewire.com — Before Harvey Weinstein and his brother Bob accepted their Milestone Award at the January 26 Producers Guild Awards, Harvey sat down at Sundance with PGA chief Mark Gordon for a remarkably candid chat. This year--in the midst of Oscar campaigns for "Silver Linings Playbook" and "Django Unchained," following back-to-back best-picture wins for "The Artist" and "The King's Speech"-- Weinstein came to Sundance with ten staffers to scout movies, and acquire them they did. Conceding the burgeoning market for VOD, his new RADiUS-TWC arm bought several films, including Robert Reich doc "Inequality for All" and "Concussion," while Harvey brokered an all-night deal for Ryan Coogler's "Fruitvale," which went on to win the Sundance grand jury and audience prize.
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'Amour' Auteur Michael Haneke Talks Riva and Trintignant, Death of 35 mm UPDATED

'Amour' Auteur Michael Haneke Talks Riva and Trintignant, Death of 35 mm UPDATED

blogs.indiewire.com — Michael Haneke's "Amour" has been nominated for five Oscars: Best Picture, Best Directing, Best Actress, Best Foreign Language Film and Best Screenplay (which you can read here). And the film continues to score foreign film wins (NY and LA Film Critics, NBR, Critics Choice, Golden Globes and BAFTA, which also gave Emmanuelle Riva best actress, along with the LA and National Film Critics and the European Film Awards) after a stellar year that began with the film winning the Palme d'Or in Cannes last May. The film's success with the Academy is moderately surprising, given its beautiful but potentially uncomfortable end-of-life subject matter.
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Writing 'Life of Pi': David Magee Talks the Mother of Adaptations

Writing 'Life of Pi': David Magee Talks the Mother of Adaptations

blogs.indiewire.com — After ten long years of painstaking development, "Life of Pi" finally made it to the screen. And there were many times that Fox 2000 chief Elizabeth Gabler, who optioned it right after it was published, did not think that it would happen. Only when Ang Lee came along four years ago did it become possible. The device of using the older Pi (Irfann Khan) as the window into the story came from screenwriter David Magee, who was hired on the basis of his moving Oscar-nominated screenplay for the J. M. Barry biopic "Finding Neverland."
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Best Director Oscar Nominee Benh Zeitlin Talks 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' and its New Orleans ...

Best Director Oscar Nominee Benh Zeitlin Talks 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' and its New Orleans ...

blogs.indiewire.com — What a year it's been for Benh Zeitlin's "Beasts of the Southern Wild." The indie has received four Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Director, Actress and Adapted Screenplay. I grabbed the director back where it all started, at Sundance last January. We talk about his runaway festival hit "Beasts of the Southern Wild," picked up by Fox Searchlight and winner of the fest's Dramatic Grand Jury Prize. The film also played in Un Certain Regard at Cannes (where it won the FIPRESCI and Golden Camera prizes).
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Oscar Watch: Spielberg, Snider and Kushner Talk Finding 'Lincoln'

Oscar Watch: Spielberg, Snider and Kushner Talk Finding 'Lincoln'

blogs.indiewire.com — The thing that hits you on first viewing "Lincoln" is how unconventional it is. It's organic, grown from the seeds in Doris Kearns Goodwin's 800-page Lincoln tome "Team of Rivals," nurtured over five years by playwright Tony Kushner, and shaped by Steven Spielberg and actor Daniel Day-Lewis into something we've never seen before. This alchemy of a torrent of words, well-researched history, and the powerful personality of the world's most popular American president has yielded a magical biopic that is the current front-runner in the Oscar race.
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