On Thursday, April 7, 2011 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that The Board of Governors of the Motion Picture Academy voted on Thursday to establish a new executive structure for the organization, replacing retiring executive director Bruce Davis with former Film Independent head Dawn Hudson and long-time Academy executive Ric Robertson, who will become the organization’s CEO and COO respectively. Robertson will report to Hudson in the new leadership tandem.

Hudson has spent 20 years at the helm of Film Independent, which grew from a small non-profit into a nationally recognized arts institution under her leadership. Film Independent’s two signature programs are the 26-year-old Independent Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, held annually in June.
“The Academy is the gold standard for the world’s most influential art form, and I am humbled by what the Board of Governors, the Academy members, and the staff have accomplished under Bruce Davis’s leadership.” said Hudson. “I am thrilled to have this opportunity to work with Ric, and to carry the Academy’s mission forward into the future.”

Robertson joined the Academy in 1981 following a short stint with the Los Angeles International Film Exposition (FILMEX), and became the organization’s second-in-command in 1989, when he was appointed Executive Administrator. In that position he has overseen the Academy’s public programming, its library and film archive as well as its public relations, marketing, legal affairs, and numerous awards-related events and activities.

“Having Bruce as a mentor has been tremendously valuable to me,” said Robertson. “It will serve me well as I move into this new management position and partnership with Dawn, as we help to write the Academy’s next chapter.”


Academy president Tom Sherak said that the new structure for the Academy’s executive staff had occurred to the officers of the organization as they began seriously considering the succession issue. “We’re a different organization than we used to be,” Sherak said, “with a range of activities that couldn’t have been conceived of when the present structure came into place. Now, with the leadership team of Dawn as our CEO and Ric as our COO, we have the ideal combination of new vision and institutional continuity to move us forward.”

Following a planned bylaw revision, already in the works, Hudson and Robertson will assume their new positions on June 1.


About The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies. For more information visit them at http://www.oscars.org

DAWN HUDSON Photo credit: Jordan Strauss/WireImage.com & RIC ROBERTSON Photo credit: Richard Harbaugh  ©A.M.P.A.S.

On May 14, 2010 The Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced that it has awarded a total of $500,000 to a record 73 film-related nonprofit organizations – including universities, museums and career development programs – throughout the United States as part of its annual Institutional Grants program.

“The Academy strives to make the motion picture industry as accessible as possible to new talent and the public.” said Andrew Marlowe, Grants Committee Chair.  He concluded “Among the wide variety of programs earning the Academy’s support are grants that will provide students with valuable internship opportunities and enable established filmmakers to visit schools and organizations where they can discuss their work and share their expertise.”

The Academy Foundation’s Grants Committee selected the following programs for 2010–2011:

Internship Programs

$10,000
California Institute of the Arts (Valencia)
Columbia University School of the Arts (New York City)
Emerson College (Boston)
New York University – Kanbar Institute of Film & Television
University of California, Los Angeles – Film and Television Program
University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill)
University of North Carolina School of the Arts (Winston-Salem)
University of Southern California (Los Angeles)

$9,500
New York University – Moving Pictures Archive and Preservation Program

$8,300
Stanford University

$7,500
Columbia College Hollywood (Tarzana, CA)
DePaul University (Chicago)
Florida State University (Tallahassee)
Loyola Marymount University (Los Angeles)

$5,000
Brooklyn College
Cornell University (Ithaca, NY)
Hampshire College (Amherst, MA)
Montclair State University (New Jersey)
Penn State University (University Park)
Southern Illinois University Carbondale
University of Arizona (Tucson)

Institutional Grants

$15,000
American Film Institute (Los Angeles) – Directing workshop for women
Streetlights (Los Angeles) – Job training program

$12,500
Inner-City Filmmakers (Los Angeles) – Job training program
Los Angeles County Museum of Art – Film program

$10,000
Film Independent (Los Angeles) – Project: Involve
George Eastman House (Rochester, NY) – Visiting artist series
UCLA Film & Television Archive – Screening series
Writers Guild Foundation (Los Angeles) – Education programs

$7,500
The ACME Network (Los Angeles) – The ACME Animation Program
American Documentary (New York City) – History of Documentary film project
Cornell Cinema (Ithaca, NY) – Visiting filmmaker program
The Flaherty/International Film Seminars (New York City) – 56th Flaherty Film Seminar
Frameline (San Francisco) – Frameline at the Center screening series
International Documentary Association (Los Angeles) – Doc U Seminar series
Jacob Burns Film Center (Pleasantville, NY) – Filmmaker residencies
The MacDowell Colony (Peterborough, NH) – Filmmaker residencies
The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston – Visiting filmmakers program
National Association of Latino Independent Producers (Santa Monica, CA) – Latino Producers Academy
New York Women in Film & Television – Women’s film symposium
Salt Lake City Film Center – Visiting artists program
Wesleyan University (Middletown, CT) – Guest speakers’ program

$5,700
Crowing Rooster Arts (New York City) – Cine Institute Haitian film training program

$5,000
Appalshop (Whitesburg, KY) – AMI Advanced Lab program
The Autry National Center of the American West (Los Angeles) – Crossing Borders film series
Brooklyn Museum (New York City) – First Saturdays screening series
California College of the Arts (Oakland) – Master class program
California State Summer School for the Arts (Los Angeles) – Visiting artist residency
Cinefamily (Los Angeles) – Silent Treatment film series
Film Forum (New York City) – Premiere screenings/filmmakers-in-person program
IFP (New York City) – Independent filmmaker labs
IFP Chicago – Producers’ workshop series
The Light Factory (Charlotte, NC) – German New Wave tribute program
Maysles Institute (New York City) – filmmaking education program scholarship fund
Northwest Film Forum (Seattle) – Visiting artist program
Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) – Conference on film criticism
Oklahoma City Museum of Art – Hollywood Costume Design exhibition
Outfest (Los Angeles) – Access LA seminar series and screenwriting lab
Paramount Center for the Arts (Peekskill, NY) – Music and Film series
SIFF (Seattle) – FutureWave Filmmakers Visits program
San Francisco Film Society – Artist-in-residence program
Southern Arts Federation (Atlanta) – Southern Circuit Tour of Independent Filmmakers
Squaw Valley Community of Writers (CA) – Screenwriting program
Tribeca Film Institute (New York City) – Tribeca All Access program
Vassar College (Poughkeepsie, NY) – Guest filmmaker series
Walker Art Center (Minneapolis, MN) – Filmmakers in Conversation program
Wexner Center for the Arts (Columbus, OH) – Visiting filmmaker series

$3,700
Berklee College of Music (Boston) – Visiting artists program

$3,500
IFP Minnesota – Independent Producers Conference
3rd i South Asian Independent Film (Berkeley, CA) – Speaker series

$3,000
Echo Park Film Center (Los Angeles) – Microcinema screening series

$2,800
Boulder Public Library (CO) – Stan Brakhage screening program

$2,500
Northeast Historic Film (Bucksport, ME) – Summer film symposium

Since its establishment in 1968, the Academy Foundation has distributed more than 710 institutional grants totaling more than $6.3 million in funding. For more information on the grants program, visit http://www.oscars.org/education-outreach/grants/.

The Academy Foundation – the Academy’s cultural and educational wing – annually distributes more than $1 million to film scholars, cultural organizations and film festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad. The Foundation also presents the Academy’s rich assortment of screenings and other public programs each year.

ABOUT THE ACADEMY:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is the world’s preeminent movie-related organization, with a membership of more than 6,000 of the most accomplished men and women working in cinema. In addition to the annual Academy Awards – in which the members vote to select the nominees and winners – the Academy presents a diverse year-round slate of public programs, exhibitions and events; provides financial support to a wide range of other movie-related organizations and endeavors; acts as a neutral advocate in the advancement of motion picture technology; and, through its Margaret Herrick Library and Academy Film Archive, collects, preserves, restores and provides access to movies and items related to their history. Through these and other activities the Academy serves students, historians, the entertainment industry and people everywhere who love movies. For more information about the Academy visit http://www.oscars.org, http://www.facebook.com/TheAcademy and
http://www.youtube.com/Oscars

Writer/director Nancy Meyers (What Women Want, Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday) directs Meryl Streep, Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin in It’s Complicated, a comedy about love, divorce and everything in between. Jane (Streep) is the mother of three grown kids, owns a thriving Santa Barbara bakery/restaurant and has—after a decade of divorce—an amicable relationship with her ex-husband, attorney Jake (Baldwin). But when Jane and Jake find themselves out of town for their son’s college graduation, things start to get complicated. An innocent meal together turns into the unimaginable—an affair.
With Jake remarried to the much younger Agness (Lake Bell), Jane is now, of all things, the other woman. Caught in the middle of their renewed romance is Adam (Martin), an architect hired to remodel Jane’s kitchen. Healing from a divorce of his own, Adam starts to fall for Jane, but soon realizes he’s become part of a love triangle. Should Jane and Jake move on with their lives, or is love truly lovelier the second time around? It’s…complicated. www.itscomplicatedmovie.com

Genres: Comedy
Starring: Meryl Streep, Steve Martin, Alec Baldwin
Directed By: Nancy Meyers
Produced By: Scott Rudin, Nancy Meyers
Release: 12-25-2009
Studio: Universal Pictures


Editor Note: Picture and movie trailer courtesy of Universal.epk.tv distribution company.

On Thursday, October 22, 2009 was held the LA/Hollywood premiere and red carpet of “Oy Vey! My Son is Gay! At the Vista Theatre in Los Angeles-Hollywood, CA.
The movie is a comedy about two families, one Jewish (Hirsch’s) who was expecting their son to marry an educated and Jewish women and the other family (Angelos’s) who have accepted that their son was gay. For the Jewish family was very hard to accept their only son have fall in love in another men. So they tried to learn about his gay life. Finally they accepted what it matters is the his son was happy and the was nothing wrong loving another men. It is a funny movie, the you will laugh and even cry.

“Oy Vey! My Son is Gay” some of the cast members are: Golden Globe, Emmy and Tony Award nominee Lainie Kazan, Saul Rubinek, Carmen Electra, Vincent Pastore, Tony Award winner John Lloyd Young, Emmy Award winner Jai Rodriguez, and Emmy Award winner Bruce Vilanch.

It is a good movie to go see, support it and watch to learn about the there is nothing wrong been gay and what it matters in life is LOVE for each other.

The movie is to be release on Theaters November 6, 2009. Movie is produced by Evgeny Afineevsky, Svetlana Anufrieva, Igor Zektser and Rich Cowan. The movie features original songs by Desmond Child – writer: Ricky Martin’s ‘Livin’ La Vida Loca, writer: Bon Jovi’s ‘You Give Love a Bad Name’, and writer: Joan Jett ‘I Hate Myself For Loving You.’

For more information about showing and red carpet events please visit movie site http://oyveymysonisgay.com/

The premiere event benefits AIDS PROJECT LOS ANGELES (APLA), It is produced by New Generations Films and event sponsored by Metro Source and Clear Channel.

Oy Vey! My Son is Gay! movie trailer is courtesy of  NEW GENERATION FILMS. All Rights Are Reserved.

Photos are © 2009 By Diversity News Publications. Display photo by Alex Palomares, Diversity News Photographer. First slide photos by Esteban “Steven” Escobar, Diversity News. Second Slide photos by Alex Palomares, Diversity News. You can use them, but you need to contact the publisher for permission and authorization. Violation of Copy Rights may be fine by applicable laws.