500,000 trees and counting to be planted so far with Earth movie tree-planting initiative

Moviegoers have already snapped up half a million tickets to catch the movie Earth and have a tree planted in their honor. Disneynature’s commitment to plant a tree for everyone who watches Earth between April 22-28 means that already 500,000 trees will be planted – and that number is still growing. Disney’s goal is to ….

Carmike Cinemas to present stand-up comedy series

Carmike Cinemas announced that it will partner with waggingtail entertainment and cinema advertising company Screenvision, to present Stand-Up 360 New York City Comedy at Carmike Cinemas theatres on May 4, 2009, which will deliver a series of feature-length stand-up comedy performances recorded live at the Broadway Comedy Club in the Big Apple. The Stand-Up 360 ….

David Newman to receive Richard Kirk Award during BMI Film & TV Awards

Prolific composer David Newman will receive the Richard Kirk Award for outstanding career achievement at BMI’s annual Film & Television Awards on Wednesday, May 20 in Los Angeles. Staged at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel, the black-tie, invitation-only dinner will also honor the composers of the past year’s top-grossing films, top-rated prime-time network television series and ….

MPEG Industry Forum to expand its activities during New World of Digital Television

During the MPEGIF Master Class titled The New World of Digital Television, the MPEG Industry Forum (MPEGIF) announced that it will expand its scope of activities. MPEGIF is an independent and platform neutral not-for-profit organisation facilitating and furthering the widespread adoption and deployment of MPEG and related standards in next generation digital media services. It ….

Indie action film Damages gets additional financing

Production services provider Affinity Mediaworks announced recently that it has completed a production financing agreement with Insight Film Studios to provide support financing for the film Damage starring “Stone Cold” Steve Austin. The bare-knuckles fight film is directed by Jeff King and also stars Walton Goggins (The Shield), Laura Vandervort (Smallville) and Donnelly Rhodes (Battlestar ….

30 Days of Night director taking on third Twilight film titled Eclipse

According to The Hollywood Reporter, David Slade, who directed 30 Days of Night, is attached to helm Eclipse, the third adaptation of Stephenie Meyer’s bestselling Twilight series of books. Summit Entertainment has just signed Slade to the project, which is expected to hit theaters on June 30th, 2010. Twilight and New Moon screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, ….

Third Da Vinci Code being prepped before release of Angels and Demons?

While fans await the May 15th Columbia Pictures’ release of Ron Howard’s Angels and Demons, Variety reports the studio is already working on the third pic in the franchise. Author Dan Brown announced that his next installment in the Da Vinci Code series will be The Lost Symbol, which Doubleday will publish on September 15, ….

David O. Russell and Christian Bale to join Mark Wahlberg’s The Fighter

Director David O. Russell and Christian Bale are negotiating to join the long-in-development boxing flick The Fighter, which already has Mark Wahlberg attached, according to a report by Variety. The Fighter tells the story of Boston fighter Irish Mickey Ward and how he was trained to the world lightweight championship by half-brother Dicky Eklund, who ….