‘In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity’ … the director of Gods of Egypt, Alex Proyas. Photograph: Evan Agostini/AP

By Ben Child

Remarkable statements from Lionsgate and Alex Proyas follow criticism over casting in fantasy epic, featuring mostly white Europeans as ancient Egyptians

The director and studio behind forthcoming fantasy film Gods of Egypt have apologised for casting mainly Caucasian actors.

Alex Proyas and Lionsgate issued statements to Forbes admitting the decision to hand white European actors such as Gerard Butler, Brenton Thwaites and Nikolaj Coster-Waldau the roles of duelling Egyptian deities and mortals had been a mistake. The move follows rampant criticism from celebrities including Bette Midler, and on social media.

Proyas, the director of The Crow, Dark City and I, Robot, said: “The process of casting a movie has many complicated variables, but it is clear that our casting choices should have been more diverse. I sincerely apologise to those who are offended by the decisions we made.”

Lionsgate added: “We recognise that it is our responsibility to help ensure that casting decisions reflect the diversity and culture of the time periods portrayed. In this instance we failed to live up to our own standards of sensitivity and diversity, for which we sincerely apologise. Lionsgate is deeply committed to making films that reflect the diversity of our audiences. We have, can and will continue to do better.”

The apologies are remarkable, especially given that Gods of Egypt does not debut in cinemas until 26 February and could now suffer at the box office. The film has also faced criticism for casting the star of Get On Up, Chadwick Boseman, as god Thoth, with Twitter users suggesting the character’s appearance in posters feeds into the “magical negro” stereotype.

The controversy over casting for Proyas’ movie follows criticism of biblical epic Exodus: Gods and Kings last year. Ridley Scott’s film was blasted for casting white actors including Christian Bale, Joel Edgerton and Sigourney Weaver in the story of Moses and the Israelites’ flight from Egypt.

In June, director Cameron Crowe was forced to apologise for casting the white actor Emma Stone as a “part-Asian” Hawaiian in controversial “whitewashed” romance Aloha. The movie also bombed at the box office, with just $26.5m worldwide, after picking up derisive reviews.

Ava DuVernay, director of the civil rights biopic Selma, took to Twitter to celebrate the latest apology, labelling it “an unusual occurrence worth noting”. She also praised Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rocky spin-off Creed for making considered choices on diverse casting.

Read more at TheGuardian.com

Ben Lopez, NALIP Projects Director, recently attended the IV Forum EGEDA-FIPCA held in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. The forum, a joint initiative organized the Rights Management Association of Audiovisual Producers (EGEDA) and the American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers (FIPCA), analyzed the reality and the challenges that the Latin American audiovisual sector. While aiming to define strategies via task forces, debate forums, social networks, publications, consulting at other decision-making forums, and development of collective solutions and resources. In addition to NALIP, the fourth new edition was attended by a hundred filmmakers, TV and content companies on-demand; promoting financial and development institutions in Latin America; representatives of film commissions; authorities of culture and cinema; and lawyers in Intellectual Property.

The meeting agenda was structured around seven workshops on issues such as creative and cultural industries as generators of wealth and development are addressed. Sharing the development of content for TV, reciprocal bilateral funds, intellectual property in the context of new business models, new business models for audiovisual content, and the contribution of film commissions in the development of the audiovisual industry, among others. Among the conclusions of the Forum they proposed implementing strategies and concrete actions such as designing a program in collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), in order to integrate regional cinematography. In addition, it was proposed to strengthen ties with the Conference of Latin American Film Authorities (CACI) to realize collaborative actions with Latin American broadcasters and to establish a project for encouraging series and films aimed at the medium. In this area, it was also proposed to support the creation and promulgation of laws audiovisual promotion that allow the integration of specific content for television. With regard to new platforms, the participants agreed to encourage private collaboration among countries in the so-called on-demand windows and seek mechanisms for monitoring the use of works on new platforms. On the institutional side, it was proposed to continue the initiative in defending the rights of audiovisual producers, support the expansion of the network of collecting societies on the continent and generate contacts international institutions in order to reach new funding formulas complementary to the existing ones.

The IV Forum -FIPCA EGEDA with the collaboration of the Dominican Film Festival (FCGD), the General Directorate of Film (DGCINE) and Funglode.

Check out more on: http://www.latamcinema.com/

EGEDA

EGEDA is a non-profit association and collection society that manages the rights of audiovisual producers, collecting on their behalf the royalties that cannot be collected individually. In addition, the association provides services to producers and the audiovisual industry as a whole. EGEDA is very active in the field of intellectual property rights management and among our its members, many American and Latino producers. EGEDA US was set up in Los Angeles in 2007 with the aim of having a permanent office in the US in order to be more accessible to its American members, whose rights are managed from EGEDA in Spain, and also to serve as a liaison to facilitate relations between the US film industry and those of Spain and Latin America. EGEDA serves as a major link between the Spanish film industry and the American and Latino film industries.

FIPCA

FIPCA, Federación Iberoamericana de Productores Cinematográficos y Audiovisuales.

The American Federation of Film and Audiovisual Producers (FIPCA) has its antecedents in the Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State and Government, specifically the one held in 1996 as an initiative of the Conference of Latin American Film Authorities (CACI) to contribute to develop the Latin American cinematography, expand our culture and create the basis for further integration between our peoples and their cultures.
FIPCA is intercontinental organization whose members come from all national federations that bring together entrepreneurs audiovisual producers and producer associations throughout Latin America.

By: V Renée

How would you like to be mentored by three of the most influential producers in indie film? If you're a female student filmmaker, that opportunity is upon you.

The Horizon Award exists to help close the gender gap in the film industry, and indie producers Christine Vachon (Boys Don't Cry, Still Alice, Hedwig and the Angry Inch), Cassian Elwes (Dallas Buyers Club, Ain't Them Bodies Saints, Lee Daniel's The Butler), and Lynette Howell (Blue Valentine, A Place Beyond the Pines, Half Nelson) want to do that by sending two female student filmmakers to Sundance 2016 to offer mentorship, as well as have their work viewed by indie film's most important creators.

"The simple fact is that there are not enough female directors in the film industry." - Horizon Award

The rules are pretty simple: you have to be a female who is currently studying for an undergrad degree (in any discipline), or has graduated within the last 6 months. Furthermore, you need to have a .edu address. You also cannot currently be represented by a manager or agent, or have made more than $5000 in the film business from "your creative talent."

Rules for Entry

• You must submit a film/clip directed by you
• Submission must be no longer than 2 minutes
• You can submit a film/clip you've already made
• Your clip cannot be larger than 250MB in file size and must be in .mov or .mp4 format
• You can only apply once

How to Enter

• Upload your source video file to Dropbox or WeTransfer
• Once the file is uploaded, send the link to [email protected]
• Make sure to include your name in the subject field or body of the email

If your film is chosen, you will get an all expenses-paid mentorship at Sundance 2016 with Vachon, Elwes, and Howell. All entries are due by December 1, 2015. 

Check this out at: NoFilmSchool.com

By: Justin Morrow

In the past few years, iPhone filmmaking has grown so much that there's a festival devoted to iPhone shorts and features, and they're calling for entries. From you!

In its second year, the Official iPhone Film Festival is now accepting entries in a range of different categories, including Fiction, Non-Fiction, Music Videos, Long Form (10+ minutes), and Features (60+ minutes). OIFF has gathered a great panel of judges to check out submissions and decide on a winner, including The Texas Chainsaw Massacre director Marcus Nispel and legendary cinematographer Caleb Deschanel (yes -- Zooey's dad). filmmaker Prizes include Apple Watches, iPad Air, Manfrotto Mini LED lights, iStabilizer products, iOgrapher Media Cases, RØDE Smart Lav+ mics, and more.

The rules are pretty straightforward:  The festival is called the iPhone Film Festival, so clearly this contest only wants to see footage captured from Apple products, including iPhones, iPads, and the iPod Touch. Also, every category except Long Form and Feature have a 10-minute cap.

If you want to see what other participants have done in the past, you can check out submissions from OIFF 2014 here. But if you want to get inspired, you should check out one of the first iPhone films to gain real notoriety and traction in the press, Tangerine, which scored big at Sundance with its no-holds-barred story of two transgendered sex workers in L.A. on Christmas Eve. The film was shot with three iPhones, both 5S, the app FILMIC PRO, and an anamorphic adaptor from Moondog Labs, currently developing prototypes for their 6S version. The film also made use of the Steadicam Smoothee.

Now, back to OIFF. It's free to enter, so if you've been itching to make a film with your phone, now's the time to do it. The deadline for entry is December 31, 2015 at 11:59 pm, which means you've only got about 6 weeks to get that film in the can (uh, camera roll) before the deadline, guys!

Check this out at: NoFilmSchool.com