M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film production, The Last Airbender, was recently awarded over $35 million in film tax credits from Pennsylvania over two years.  The award is the largest in the history of Pennsylvania’s Film Tax Credit (FTC), breaking the record held by his previous project, The Happening, which received $12 million in tax credits.  His film Lady in the Water also received a film production grant. The only good news is that taxpayers are only forced to subsidize these movies, not to watch them.

Pennsylvania first created a film tax credit in 2004, replaced it with a film grant program in 2006, then enacted its current $75 tax credit program in 2007, in which films can receive up to 25 percent of production costs in the form of tax credit. The state’s FTC was temporarily reduced, as the 2009 state budget agreement reduced all tax credits by 33% for three years.

Forty-four states offer tax incentivizes or grants to filmmakers for in-state production, according to a recent report on film tax credits by the Tax Foundation.  Pennsylvania is among the 26 states that offer transferable (or in some states refundable) tax credits to film producers.  This means that tax credit awarded is more than the actual state taxes the recipient owes, they can sell the remaining credit to another business. (more…)

In Hollywood, being a conservative is the kiss of death. — Jonathan Kahn

Today’s entertainment-industry conservatives can only wish they lived under the same type of blacklist practiced in the 1950s. As terribly misguided as that was, there was at least an honesty to it. There was an actual list and when you were on it you were told you were on it and understood why your phone had stopped ringing. This gave its victims something to fight against and better yet, no one tried to stereotype them as untalented, paranoid whiners for daring to mention its existence.  

Today’s Progressive Hollywood Blacklist is a much more insidious thing. By design it functions in a way that still punishes those who stray from the ideological plantation but like the elephant behind Jimmy Durante, remains hidden well enough in plain sight so that when you try to point it out, the progressive blacklisters can say, “What elephant?” even as they laugh in your face.

As we witnessed with Jonathan Kahn’s coming out in the Wall Street Journal last week, the Progressive Hollywood Blacklist is a system upheld with no small amount of help from the entertainment media. They are Leftist Hollywood’s professional character assassins specialized in the dark art of keeping the industry ideologically pure through the stereotyping of conservatives. (more…)

24 is now officially over.  As with so many of the previous seasons, this final one ended with Jack Bauer wounded, bereft of sleep, separated from his family, barely hanging on to see another day, but hanging on with his enemies including his own countrymen continuing in their pursuit of him.

Through all the years, the sheer genius of 24 lay in the fact that viewers returned show after show, even though they already knew its outcome.  No matter what the odds, no matter how dire the circumstances, no matter how evil the enemy, Jack Bauer was going to find a way to survive. 

What is it about this character that so captivated the American public?  It was not Jack Bauer himself but the ideals he represented.

Jack was good, and there is still something embedded deep within the American spirit that makes us long to see this good triumph over evil.  Regardless of the political correctness of the program in recent years, and regardless of the bastardizing of those who strive for truth, justice and morality in popular culture, there are still Americans out there of all political stripes that understand that in this world there is good and evil.  Every human being is nuanced, and man’s imperfection is endemic, but we still intuitively know that there are real heroes, protectors, patriots. (more…)

Tamera Mowry, who happens to be a person of mixed race, appeared on The Wendy Williams Show yesterday.  The subject of Tamera’s relationship with Fox News reporter Adam Housley came up and Williams made a curious observation:

YouTube

“I looked at him and he doesn’t look exactly like Jim Belushi, but he looks like from the same tribe…”

Now, let’s just say that Wendy Williams is not wasting a lot of time at Mensa Conventions and we doubt she’ll be going on Celebrity Jeopardy anytime soon (let alone Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader) but this ignorance transcends intelligence, this is a reveal into a mindset.

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When British actress Charlotte Lewis first came forward to accuse fugitive director Roman Polanski of abusing her in 1983 at a press conference last week, one of the more intriguing statements was made by her attorney Gloria Allred:

“[Ms. Lewis] did present fresh complaint evidence to law enforcement, and it is in their possession.”

The Polanski-loving media didn’t mention this. They prefer a ”He Said, She Said” argument. Upon hearing this, however, my first thought was that a witness would be interesting, though obviously unlikely.

This is me speculating, but in a just-released statement Ms. Lewis might have revealed what that fresh complaint evidence is. And while it’s not a witness to the crime, it is the next best thing: (more…)

For over a year, Big Hollywood contributors have been documenting Hollywood’s intolerance towards all things conservative — both when it comes to our ideas being given a fair shake in the industry’s product and, most importantly, the intolerance towards individuals whose beliefs stray from the liberal plantation. Again and again, people have come to us to share the stories of how their social and political beliefs hurt their show business careers in ways both big and small. And to their great credit, most of these individuals have said so on the record; with their names and faces prominently displayed in the upper left-hand corner of their Big Hollywood testimony.

Without fail, every single time someone tells their story here, the insulting snark hits from every corner of the web, dismissing out of hand our ever growing list of witnesses to this new blacklist. Sure, the Gawkers and the Farkers are entitled to their fun. They peddle in shallow superiority and there are plenty of buyers. Welcome to Al Gore’s creation.

Lately, however, Patrick Goldstein, a film writer at the L.A. Times, has been taking his own partisan shots. Tuesday, after Jonathan Kahn came out in the Wall Street Journal, there was this:

[I]t’s seems like quite a stretch to say that Kahn’s politics have held him back. But that’s what all too many conservatives do. They put the blame for their stalled careers on liberal Hollywood, when lack of marketable talent might be a far more likely source for the problem.

What’s curious about this argument regarding Kahn needing “marketable talent” is how Goldstein willfully ignored this part of the WSJ story:

One person stunned to hear of Mr. Kahn’s double life as a tea-party troubadour is top Hollywood record producer and Grammy Award-winner Walter Afanasieff. The two have worked on projects for years and are now midway through writing and producing an album for a young singer.

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Most of you know Jon David from his famous Big Hollywood “My Date With a Liberal” series that debuted not long after the site launched. After the Tea Party movement caught fire, so did Jon’s “American Heart,” which also had its premiere right here.

My congratulations to our friend Mr. Kahn who set an example for all of us with his willingness to throw off those shades and fight the good fight.  There are right-of-center “sleeper agents” like Jon all over Hollywood. He is not alone. And when others throw off the shades and declare themselves the movement to reclaim a piece of the Hollywood/pop culture pie for pro-American and pro-liberty ideas and ideals can only grow stronger.

Jon is proof that you are not alone. It’s time to activate yourselves. Join the fight.

Or, as Robert Davi memorably put it,  ”After all we’re only talking about saving our country.”

The Wall Street Journal:

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This is what’s so great about Big Hollywood. In one post we’re giving you the latest on the Christian “Narnia” film franchise and in the next saying goodbye to The Mighty Ronnie James Dio, the first “horn thrower,” on-and-off lead singer of Black Sabbath and a big solo star in his own right, who died Sunday night of stomach cancer at the age of 67.

In 1983 I was 17 years old and if you were 17 years old in 1983 — unless you lived in a cave — “Holy Diver” is part of the soundtrack of your life. The relentlessly driven title track, the album cover, the video (above) all created this unholy image of Dio and then you’d see him interviewed on MTV and he’d blow you away coming off like your family doctor (with really cool hair) due to an unexpected mix of mild-manner and soft-spoken intelligence.  (more…)

In 1983 when Charlotte Lewis says Roman Polanski  “sexually abused me and manipulated me in the worst way,” she was one month into her 16th year.

He was 50.

Charlotte Lewis and Roman Polanski in 1986

Since this story broke yesterday a lot of speculation’s been flying about questioning Ms. Lewis’ willingness to make “Pirates” in 1986 with a man who she says sexually abused her in 1983. The AP put it this way: [emphasis mine throughout]

Los Angeles County prosecutors have met with a British actress who claims she was sexually abused by director Roman Polanski in his Paris apartment when she was 16 — years before she appeared in one of his movies.

Leave it to the incurious, unskeptical leftist media to attempt to plant that talking point seed in the opening paragraph. Anyone interested in offering a little context would take the time to explain that a production the size of “Pirates,” a debacle so bloated it killed off the genre until “Pirates of the Caribbean” seventeen years later, can easily take three years from start of pre-production to release. You have rehearsals, the building of massive ships, the shoot (which is rumored to have taken nearly a year), and post-production.

This must-read Mail Online interview with Ms. Lewis backs up this fairly obvious scenario. She explains that the abuse occurred when she first met Polanski to try out for her eventual role in the film. In other words, the spin Polanski’s apologists are tossing out – the idea that Ms. Lewis escaped the fugitive rapists clutches only to return willingly for a starring role in “Pirates,” just isn’t that simple.  (more…)

The Associated Press:

Los Angeles County prosecutors have met with a British actress who claims she was sexually abused by director Roman Polanski in his Paris apartment when she was 16 — years before she appeared in one of his movies.

Charlotte Lewis, 42, said Friday that the filmmaker abused her “in the worst possible way” in the 1980s.

Lewis provided no evidence to support her claims, and her attorney, Gloria Allred, did not permit her to answer questions during a news conference in her office.

However, Allred said the woman provided evidence to a police detective and officials from the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office. She refused to provide specifics and also refused to answer questions about whether her client’s allegations involved drugs or rape.

“Our detectives did conduct the interview but the department has not begun an investigation,” said police spokesman Richard French. He did not know when the interview was conducted. (more…)

***UPDATE: According to Texas Governor Perry’s office:  “At this time, no funds have been released to Troublemaker Studios.”

I’m assuming this statement is in reference to ”Machete.” But Rodriguez wasn’t going to to shoot “Machete” in Texas without the promise of tax incentives:

****END UPDATE

Not sure which is more revealing about our friends in Leftist Hollywood; the blatantly racist double standard at work in Robert Rodriguez’s ”Machete,” or the fact that the same industry relentlessly lobbying both behind the scenes and up on that big screen to “soak the rich for socialism” is also the biggest group of corporate welfare-whores we’ve ever seen. The Worst People In The World are fully aware tax cuts/credits help businesses to create jobs and obviously feel that they’re the only industry entitled to them.

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In the case of “Machete” the tax cuts/credits you and I pay for are being used to intentionally stoke racial tensions.

Infowars.com not only discovered that “Machete” sucked hard on the public teat for funding, but a copy of the script they managed to get their hands on confirms that the actual film is somehow more incendiary than the ”Fuck Arizona” trailer Rodriguez released last week:

Worst of all, Robert Rodriguez’ incendiary race film ‘Machete‘ was made, in part, with help from tax incentives and location access provided by the Texas Film Commission, a division of Governor Rick Perry’s Office. A spokesperson from the organization confirmed that Rodriguez has indeed applied for funding. (more…)

Though she was in her mid-fifties at the time, the first time I ever laid eyes on Lena Horne had enough of an impact that I still remember it today. And as much as I would like to say that the introduction occurred in some classy venue like a concert hall or one of those MGM movie musicals where she might not have starred but still stopped the show with a specialty number, it wasn’t. Truth be told, it was a 1973 episode of “Sanford and Son” where Fred told a whole bunch of lies to get his idol and dream girl,  ”The Horne,” over to the house.

There were a lot of beautiful women on television at the time so there had to be something more to her than just the physical. Obviously it was that special “thing” that separates the attractive from the star. In Lena Horne’s case that thing came from the effortless way in which she carried herself. Dignity, class, whatever you want to call it, “The Horne” had it to spare, even in a 1970’s sitcom. Without even trying she was also damn sexy. Maybe sultry’s a better word, or seductive. Let’s just leave it at ”wow.”

Ms. Horne also had talent to spare and while the legacy of recordings and film appearances she left behind is plenty rich, you have to wonder what might have been had skin color not been a hindrance to her film career. And we don’t have to wonder all that much. Not to take anything away from Ava Gardner’s memorably heartbreaking performance as the doomed Julie LaVerne in 1951’s “Show Boat,” but the fact that Gardner looks nothing like a mulatto woman hangs over the entire picture. It’s just too much disbelief to suspend. Horne was considered for the role but in the end lost it based solely on race. In 1951, the idea of casting a for real black woman as the love interest to a white man was a bridge too far. (more…)

“Inception” opens July 16th, and represents one of those rare cerebral summer flicks that sometimes end up being the best studio offering of the season. With Christopher Nolan’s name on it and this mind-blowing trailer that promises plenty of realistic-looking special effects and action set upon a strong emotional foundation, every new piece of publicity makes it more of a must see.

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In the hands of any other director, the premise of entering someone’s dreams to gain their secrets would be worrisome. The key to that kind of concept is The Rules. Without the rules the premise can get away from you — become unwieldy — and you end up with a film where a lot of numbing special effects infest a dull but attractive world where nothing makes a damn bit of sense. With “Memento,” the man who brought us George W. Bush “The Dark Knight” proved that he’s more than capable of grabbing hold and executing a seemingly impossible idea and making it work… brilliantly. (more…)

Our friends at Comedy Central have found their cojones again. Although if you’re mining for brass there, move along. This same network that so quickly retreated in the face of threats of bodily harm from a militant Islamic website regarding their South Park episode which depicted the prophet Muhammed in a bear suit, has somehow mustered the intestinal fortitude to go after that most fresh and elusive of targets. You guessed it, (*yawn*) Jesus Christ…again. The haute irreverent network is set to announce “JC,” a half-hour show about Christ wanting to escape the shadow of his “powerful but apathetic father” and live a regular life in, where else, New York City.

Apparently the free speech warriors discovered that their beloved First Amendment has an “on/off” switch. It reserves them the right to offend with obvious intent only those religions that profess such core tenets as “turn the other cheek” and “do unto others” when slighted. Of course, when the target of their rapier wit responds not with quiet resignation but rather the banshee wails of “Allahu Akbahr!” followed by exploding IEDs in their fruit of the looms—well the art warriors tune changes to free speech, schmee speech just don’t slit my throat bro! Wow, if only those God-fearing wimps at Normandy and Iwo could have mustered such courage of conviction!

Oh my…there are just so many places I can go with this story but to rehash the topic would demonstrate a lack of originality that only another trite lampooning of such a docile target as Jesus in the name of “art” could top. I suppose I could berate the absolute hypocrisy of those on the left who rail with such self-righteous piety against the imagined intolerance of others while demonstrating their very real, almost bizarrely manic, hostility towards Christianity. (Except of course when they are on one of their ”Jesus was a liberal” or “what would Jesus do” soap boxes to justify this or that expansion of the entitlement state on my dime. Then suddenly “JC” as the self-proclaimed hipsters call him is a handy God to have on their side, but that is another story.) (more…)

Over the last forty years, leftism has failed in every particular but one:  it has succeeded in demonizing the opposition.

Leftists will blacklist you—then if you complain, they’ll attack you for whining.  They will call you racist and compare your leaders to Hitler—then if you return the insult, they’ll scream about the decline of civility.  They will do everything in their power to cut you off from media and artistic outlets—then when you create outlets of your own they will savage them for their bias.  Like the mobster in a Raymond Chandler novel, they will beat your teeth out, then kick you in the stomach for mumbling.

As a result of their success in marginalizing dissenting opinions, nothing now creates a greater commotion in modern American discourse than speaking the obvious truth.

Last week during a stop in Washington DC, I gave a five minute interview to an extremely nice reporter named Peggy Star from CNSNews.  I pointed out that, while leftists speak their political minds openly and aggressively in Hollywood, conservatives are forced to meet in secret and speak in whispers to avoid insult and tacit blacklisting. (more…)

Since my scathing two-part Big Hollywood editorial on imprisoned Iranian film director Jafar Panahi nearly three weeks ago, I have found myself drawn neck-deep into the campaign to push for his freedom. In that cause I have email-blitzed the media, the Academy, all the major US film festivals and as many contacts in Hollywood as I know and could find. I sent out deep background on his case, petitions for his release, and heartfelt pleas for Hollywood voices to speak up on Mr. Panahi’s behalf, along with not-so-veiled threats of PR Armageddon should the deafening silence continue.

I also informed all parties involved that I would do the same for any of them under similar brutal and inhuman circumstances. Whatever it took, be it sweetheart pleas or promises of a nuclear PR war. I have since dropped the latter approach, as I have been informed by Iranians also campaigning for Mr. Panahi’s release that it was not helpful to his cause. So on Mr. Panahi’s behalf, I have traded in my sword for a plowshare for the duration. Not a problem. I’m not a total ideologue. Just mostly.

This past three weeks have also brought many valuable learning experiences as well. I have since found that Facebook, which I have avoided like the Plague because I have enough on my geek plate already, is an incredibly valuable social networking tool that reaches even into the heart of Iran itself. I have made many new friends behind the Islamist Curtain, among them a Panahi family member, by posting any good news I could find on the Jafar Panahi and Free Jafar Panahi Facebook pages. (more…)

On April 18, the Pew Research Center released the results of a recurring survey centered around people’s trust in government. In order to assess the results of several institutions, Pew asks the following question: “Is [insert item] having a positive or negative effect on the way things are going in the country these days.”

Only 33% said the entertainment industry was having a positive effect. 51% said it was having a negative effect. What I don’t understand is why the entertainment industry didn’t blow the lid off the survey on the positive side. It’s entertainment. Doesn’t everyone want to be entertained? Since Pew only asked a single question, we can’t effectively drill into this result to learn any hard and fast truths. However, by examining other studies, there are some inferences we may be able to draw.

The entertainment industry was but one of thirteen institutions the Pew survey mentioned, so it seems reasonable to conclude that respondents were very well aware what they were being asked. The question was not, “what is your opinion about the quality of entertainment you see from Hollywood?” The question was about the industry’s influence on the trajectory of the country, in the gestalt. Apparently, just over half the respondents think that Hollywood is, simply put, a bad influence. If the comments left for Big Hollywood articles are of any indication, people don’t feel Hollywood represents their values, morals, ethics, political views, religious views, or much of anything else. People fail to identify with the characters they see on the screen. They don’t care for dramatic or comedic situations presented. They don’t agree with what Tom Hanks or James Cameron or Sean Penn or Roger Ebert have to say about a wide variety of topics. (more…)

“It’s China, it’s India Anywhere the middle-class is exploding, everyone’s sucking up more power. Population’s continuing to grow, you know we’re going to have to do something about it.”

There it is folks. Straight from the mouth of James Cameron himself. When caught off-guard without his DNC talking points, he admits that the much talked about middle-class is “booming” in America, not shrinking. Also through his comparison to modern China and India, he even acknowledges that the class gap is closing because of –gasp– capitalism! Something must be done about it, and lil’ Jimmy is just the wimp for the job. Somebody call Sean Penn, just in case he needs a sidekick on this one.

Now remember, James Cameron hates capitalism (rumor has it that the creature in “Alien” was based on his own mental interpretation of free enterprise). He believes that it’s destroying the world and needs to be dealt with accordingly. Unless of course it interferes with the production, promotion or distribution of the most expensive motion picture of all time. Then it ain’t no thang, baby!

No, the “thang” that really bothers Cameron is when middle-class Americans act as selfish, evil consumers in order to better their own lives. You heard Jimmy. They’re “sucking up more power,” acting as nothing more than bottom-feeders of Mother Earth’s resources. (more…)