Sony Cyber Attack Delay Actor's Residuals Checks

This article is about the recent Cyber attacks on the Sony company and how exactly it's still affecting the lives of actors today. The studio has told SAG-AFTRA, (Screen Actors Guild) which is a union that most actors are apart of, that the member's residual checks will be delayed in an estimated time of 3 months. This is due to the fact that Sony Pictures computer systems were hacked. Residuals were said to be delayed by one quarter, meaning fourth quarter 2014 residuals and first quarter 2015 residuals will most likely not be posted for members online SAG for the residual tracker until after June in 2015. I chose this article because i was surprised to hear that the Sony hack is still a big concern in the industry because it continues to affect the lives of others. This is important/affects me as a filmmaker because it's important to understand how business works between companies like Sony and unions like SAG work together. As a student it's important to learn about unions, such as SAG-AFTRA, which is full of members who are actors. This union has certain conditions that its members must work in otherwise who ever is using the actors can in fact be sued. Lastly as a consumer, this affects me because actors aren't getting paid meaning they will be exposed to more work and we will have an opportunity to see them act more in films. Questions can rise up from situations like this such as, Are others being affected by the Sony Cyber attack (directors, Producers, etc)? If so, how? Will actors be in fact exposed to more work? Will SAG-AFTRA and Sony Pictures continue to collaborate with each other.

Spiderman Movies To Restart Again?

http://www.gamesradar.com/new-spider-man-movie-will-send-peter-parker-back-high-school/

This article is about how Marvel and Sony are currently both sharing the rights to the famous super hero franchise, Spider-man, and how new details have emerged for its future films. The new to come, Kevin Feige produced Spider-man movies are said to bring Peter Parker back into high school once again. This would be the third time we see Spidey in high school. The reason for this is because they want the audience to be able to "explore his awkward relationship with other students while fighting crime out of the classroom. " In addition to new films, Marvel announced the future appearance of Spider Man in the soon to be in theaters, Captain America: Civil War, along with Kevin Feige having important input when it comes to casting roles. Spin-offs are also in the process of being made, such as Venom and Sinister Six, but in much bigger news the search for a new Spider-man is on. The 31-year old Andrew Garfield will no longer play the role and instead Logan Lerman or Dylan O'Brien are being closely evaluated. I chose this article because I read the headline, which stated yet again restarting the Spider-man franchise, which I'm totally in support of. As a consumer, I would be glad to hear this considering the fact that the Andrew Garfield Spideys didn't reach my high expectations. It would be exciting to see what sort of new ideas and conflict they incorporate into the new films. As a filmmaker and a student, I can clearly see how there are new films being constantly planned for different movie franchises that already have been around for several years. Especially now that companies like Marvel ands Sony are sharing rights to something so well known from audiences around the world. It shows me how there are endless ideas and possibilities that can help build a new film from something that has already been made. Just goes to show you how a film doesn't necarsarily have to be original for it to be considered a great movie. This raises a lot of questions for me like: Will restarting the entire franchise from having the Spider-man back in high school make some fans unhappy? Are spin-offs a good idea? How will the incorporation of Spider-man in the new Avengers movie effect the box office?

Stephanie Meyer Giving Female Filmmakers a Chance

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Twilight-Coming-Back-Very-Cool-Way-Get-Details-69582.html

This article is about the future plans for the high-grossing film franchise based off Stephanie Meyer's book series called Twilight. It's going to make its return with several short films and screenplays that you can actually read right now. Stephanie Meyer announced her new project that she launched called "The Storytellers: New voices of the Twilight Saga" This project will allow female filmmakers to direct their very own short film based on a character from Twilight. As the process continues with the search of directors for the project, The Hollywood Reporter states that six screenplays have been done and are online and ready to download. Of course there were rules that went along the making of the screenplay, which included the already mentioned: be based off a character from twilight, must take place before Bella moved to Forks and changed the character Edward and his life. The reason I chose this article is because Iv'e never heard of a director allowing filmmakers from anywhere to incorporate their own ideas into something she created in the first place. This is important to me as a filmmaker and student because it shows me that opportunities like these are now known to come up. This could be a chance to be recognized not only as a fan, but a new director in the film industry. You never know, this could just be a major step forward in your future film career. As a consumer, I guess for those who love the Twilight franchise will enjoy seeing what other female directors/fans come up with story/plot wise of the short films. If it were some other franchise like Harry Potter, then I could understand what that fan base would be feeling because I'm a huge fan of that. Some questions that could come out of this is: Will other film franchises give the opportunity for filmmakers to do the same thing? Will these short films be screened? Is it competition where the best one wins something?