08 July 23: Payne

Alexander Payne is on the short list of American directors who have final cut rights for their films.

08 June 29: Venice

The world's first major film festival was held in Venice in 1938.

08 June 1: Academy

The 1st Academy Awards ceremony was held Thursday, May 16, 1929, at the Hotel Roosevelt in Hollywood to honor outstanding film achievements of 1927 and 1928.

08 February 7: Pentagon

‘More than 20 public information specialists are assigned as liaisons with the film and television industry. They review scripts and proposals, advise producers on military procedures, and decide how much assistance, if any, a film or TV show portraying the military should receive.’

08 February 2: Bar-Lev

‘Amir Bar-Lev grew up in Berkeley and graduated from Brown University. In 2001 he made his directorial debut with Fighter, which followed two Holocaust survivors on their emotional return to a Czech labor camp. The film was named one of the top documentaries of the year by several leading publications. Bar-Lev’s second feature documentary – My Kid Could Paint That – focuses on the meteoric rise, fall and re-emergence of Marla Olmstead, a four-year-old abstract painter from Binghamton, New York.’

08 January 30: Credit

New York offers a refundable tax credit equal to 15% of production costs for feature films, television pilots and TV movies/miniseries ... For location and other costs to be eligible, either 1) at least 75% of the location shooting days must be in New York, or 2) production spends at least $3 million on facility-related costs.

08 January 28: Equation

‘The writers’ strike is not a factor in the film financing equation – yet. ‘The strike is having no effect on film slates,’ says one fund manager. ‘This is a TV production strike, not a motion picture strike, unless it goes another few months.’’

08 January 27: Grace

Sundance 2007 is where Weinstein Co. fought for the right to pay $4 million for worldwide rights to Grace is Gone, which went on to earn just $37,000 in its domestic release.

08 January 26: Backlash

At Sundance 2008, ‘[t]op celebs, it seems, have a case of swag backlash. They're being more circumspect this year, eschewing obvious gift suite appearances and the attendant phalanx of photogs.’

08 January 25: Renfro

On January 15, Brad Renfro - the young actor who first gained fame at age 12 in 1994's The Client - was found dead at his LA home (at press time, autopsy pending, the coroner's office said the cause may have been an accidental overdose of alcohol and Xanax).

08 January 24: Oprah

Oprah is launching the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN) in conjunction with Discovery Communications.

08 January 23: Smurfs

Celebrations are under way across Belgium: the Smurfs turn 50 this year.

08 January 22: Page

Ellen Page, star of Juno, is set to headline Drew Barrymore's directorial debut, Whip It.

08 January 20: Slamdance

‘Once known as the rebellious younger sibling of the Sundance Film Festival, Slamdance has become a respected event in its own right, having found theatrical distribution for over 50 films in its 13-year span while helping launch some of the most successful careers in Hollywood.’

08 January 15: Pusan

‘This October, Pusan International Film Festival screened 275 films in its official program, 193 of which were world, international, or Asia premieres...’

08 January 14: Sundance

‘Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization based in Park City, Utah, and founded by actor/director/producer Robert Redford in 1981. Emerging and aspiring filmmakers, directors, producers, film composers, screenwriters, playwrights, and theatre artists from around the world attend highly competitive artistic development programs run by the Institute, to assist them in developing their craft.’

08 January 11: Injurious

Porn was first seriously restricted in Japan in the Meiji Era, when materials deemed ‘injurious to public morals’ were banned. After Japan’s defeat in WWII, American authorities changed many of Japan’s laws to guarantee freedom of speech and expression – but the pre-existing law regarding porn remains in effect to this day.

December 25: Campus

Many schools hold the notion that the roommate of a student who dies (the story often specifies suicide as the cause) will receive straight As for that term. The tale is so widespread that it served as the premise for MTV Films' 1998 release Dead Man on Campus.

December 8: Telefilm

Telefilm's role is to foster the production of films, television programs and cultural products that reflect Canadian society, with its linguistic duality and cultural diversity, and to encourage their dissemination at home and abroad.

December 3: Oh

Sandra Oh's acting career began in the early 1990s when she beat out hundreds of other actresses for the coveted title role in the CBC movie The Diary of Evelyn Lau.