Saturday, February 19, 2000
For those of you looking for my original post on the Sweeney situation, click here...
11:52 PM
Thursday, February 17, 2000
James Marino is in London and has been even more in the middle of the Sweeney Todd situation than I have. He discussed the situation in today's entry of his own online journal.
8:38 AM
Wednesday, February 16, 2000
For those of you following the Sweeney Todd fiasco soap opera, today's Evening Standard article discusses the latest.
1:13 AM
Tuesday, February 15, 2000
Over the past several days, I have received an unbelievable amount of support as far people concerned and outraged over the Sweeney Todd fiasco. People have conveyed their anger, sadness, willingness to have helped to pay for my flight and tickets, etc... and I thank them all for their kind words.
It all comes down to the fact that at the moment it looks as if there are a great amount of people who will not be paid for their services. There are an awful lot of people who have already received checks that proceed to bounce upon cashing. There are many people, friends of mine, who have paid out of pocket to see that the production made it through the final curtain and they will likely never be repaid.
The old saying that "you get what you pay for" could not be farther from the truth, in this situation. Many of us have gotten nothing (actually lost money) in return for for over three months of hard work.
The other big loser is Crusaid, a non profit AIDS organization in London that this production was intended to benefit.
7:15 PM
Okay, folks... some big Oscar surprises. To make a long story short, I came out two for three with my predictions. I'm most pleasantly surprised by the inclusion of South Park in the Best Song category, though "Blame Canada" was not its best song. Most unpleasant surprise is Jim Carrey missing from the Best Actor category. He didn't deserve a nomination for Truman Show but did for Man on the Moon. Oh well.
Interestingly enough, last year I predicted the nominations and picked two out of three. At least my odds aren't decreasing.
Here are this year's results...
Color Code:
Correcty Predicted Nomination
Incorrecty Predicted Nomination
Nomination
PICTURE
American Beauty
The Insider
The Sixth Sense
The Cider House Rules
The Green Mile
Being John Malkovich
The Straight Story
ACTOR
Russel Crowe
Richard Farnsworth
Kevin Spacey
Denzel Washington
Sean Penn
Jim Carrey
ACTRESS
Annete Bening
Janet McTeer
Julianne Moore
Hillary Swank
Meryl Streep
Sigourney Weaver
SUPPORTING ACTOR
Michael Caine
Tom Cruise
Haley Joel Osment
Michael Clark Duncan
Jude Law
John Malkovich
Christopher Plummer
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Angelina Jolie
Catherine Keener
Samantha Morton
Chloe Sevigny
Toni Collette
Julianne Moore
DIRECTOR
Michael Mann
Sam Mendes
Spike Jonze
Lasse Halstrom
M. Night Shyamalan
Norman Jewison
Mike Leigh
David Lynch
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
American Beauty
Being John Malkovich
Magnolia
The Sixth Sense
Topsy-Turvy
Three Kings
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Cider House Rules
Election
The Insider
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Green Mile
The End of the Affair
FOREIGN FILM
All About My Mother
East-West
Caravan
Solomon and Gaenor
Under the Sun
The Cup
Rosetta
Three Seasons
ORIGINAL SONG
"Music of My Heart" - Music of the Heart
"Save Me" - Magnolia
"When She Loved Me" - Toy Story 2
"You'll Be In My Heart" - Tarzan
"Blame Canada" - South Park: Bigger, Longer, & Uncut
"Beautiful Stranger" - Austin Powers
ORIGINAL SCORE
American Beauty
The Cider House Rules
The Talented Mr. Ripley
The Cider House Rules
The Red Violin
The End of the Affair
Sleepy Hollow
EDITING
American Beauty
The Insider
The Matrix
The Sixth Sense
The Cider House Rules
The Talented Mr. Ripley
CINEMATOGRAPHY
American Beauty
The Insider
Sleepy Hollow
Snow Falling on Cedars
The End of the Affair
The Talented Mr. Ripley
COSTUME DESIGN
Sleepy Hollow
Titus
Topsy-Turvy
The End of the Affair
Star Wars: Episode I
ART DIRECTION
Anna and the King
Sleepy Hollow
Topsy-Turvy
The Cider House Rules
The Talented Mr. Ripley
American Beauty
Titus
SOUND
The Matrix
The Mummy
Star Wars: Episode I
The Green Mile
The Insider
The Sixth Sense
Sleepy Hollow
MAKEUP
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
Life
Topsy-Turvy
Bicentenial Man
VISUAL EFFECTS
The Matrix
Star Wars: Episode I
Stuart Little
The Mummy
SOUND EFFECTS EDITING
The Matrix
Star Wars: Episode I
Fight Club
The Mummy
10:18 AM
Monday, February 14, 2000
It's days like this that make me wonder if Prozac might be something to look into...
10:14 PM
Sunday, February 13, 2000
Oscar nominations come out on Tuesday morning so here are my final nomination predictions...
PICTURE
1. American Beauty
2. The Insider
3. Being John Malkovich
4. The Straight Story
5. The Sixth Sense
ACTOR
1. Denzel Washington
2. Kevin Spacey
3. Russel Crowe
4. Richard Farnsworth
5. Jim Carrey
ACTRESS
1. Hillary Swank
2. Annete Bening
3. Julianne Moore
4. Sigourney Weaver
5. Janet McTeer
SUPPORTING ACTOR
1. Tom Cruise
2. Christopher Plummer
3. Haley Joel Osment
4. John Malkovich
5. Michael Caine
SUPPORTING ACTRESS
1. Julianne Moore
2. Chloe Sevigny
3. Angelina Jolie
4. Catherine Keener
5. Samantha Morton
DIRECTOR
1. Sam Mendes
2. Michael Mann
3. Mike Lee
4. David Lynch
5. Norman Jewison
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
1. American Beauty
2. Being John Malkovich
3. The Sixth Sense
4. Magnolia
5. Three Kings
ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
1. The Insider
2. The Cider House Rules
3. Election
4. The Talented Mr. Ripley
5. The End of the Affair
FOREIGN FILM
1. All About My Mother - Spain
2. The Cup - Bhutan
3. East-West - France
4. Rosetta - Belgium
5. Three Seasons - Vietnam
ORIGINAL SONG
1. "When She Loved Me" - Toy Story 2
2. "You'll Be In My Heart" - Tarzan
3. "Beautiful Stranger" - Austen Powers
4. "Save Me" - Magnolia
5. "Music of My Heart" - Music of the Heart
ORIGINAL SCORE
1. Sleepy Hollow
2. American Beauty
3. The Cider House Rules
4. The End of the Affair
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley
EDITING
1. American Beauty
2. The Insider
3. The Matrix
4. The Sixth Sense
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley
CINEMATOGRAPHY
1. American Beauty
2. The Insider
3. Sleepy Hollow
4. Snow Falling on Cedars
5. The Talented Mr. Ripley
COSTUME DESIGN
1. End of the Affair
2. Sleepy Hollow
3. Star Wars: Episode I
4. Titus
5. Topsy-Turvy
ART/SET DIRECTION
1. American Beauty
2. Sleepy Hollow
3. Anna and the King
4. Titus
5. Topsy-Turvy
SOUND
1. Star Wars: Episode I
2. The Matrix
3. The Mummy
4. The Sixth Sense
5. Sleepy Hollow
MAKEUP
1. Topsy-Turvy
2. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me
3. Life
VISUAL EFFECTS
1. Star Wars: Episode I
2. The Matrix
3. The Mummy
SOUND EFFECTS EDITING
1. Star Wars: Episode I
2. The Matrix
3. The Mummy
1:48 PM
No Place Like London? I Wouldn't Know.It's been quite an interesting couple of days... days I wish could have been enjoying in London. Needless to say, I'm not writing this from London. Instead, I'm in California, never having been in London, and not attending the Sweeney Todd concert.
I refrained from writing about my not being in London to attempt to keep the news as quiet as possible that the concert itself was in jeopardy. Now that it's curtain time for the gala evening performance, my words will do little to threaten anything from happening.
I began working on the production staff of the 20th anniversary London concert production of Sweeney Todd three months ago. I became the production's graphic designer. I would produce the logo, advertising/marketing material, website, etc. In return I would receive round trip plane tickets to London, hotel accommodations, and theatre tickets for two. This "payment", was requested instead of monetary compensation simply because the concert was, after all, a benefit and the budget was tight. Little did I know how tight it would soon become. In addition to fulfilling all of my originally agreed upon responsibilities, I did much more to see that the production would be as successful as possible.
It then came time for my "payment" though it wasn't until about a week ago that reservations were ever made. My need for them to be made was brought up on many occasions only to be brushed aside with assurance that they would be made. Eventually they were, as were hotel reservations, less than one week ago.
The reservations were made for both yet said bookings were not paid for. I was assured again that they would be paid for in time and all would be well. Cut to Thursday at 11:30am, checking into United Airlines for our 1pm flight. Our reservations were indeed in the airline's database. We were greeted with a smile and the question, "How will you be paying for these tickets, Mr. Bakalor?"
Minutes later I was on the phone calling the London producer. Messages were left and I was on my way back home to hear what the next step would be in getting over to London. By the time I got in touch with the producer, it was late in the evening London time and he would have to wait until the morning to discuss the matter with the travel agent who he assumed had simply not paid the airline. Hmmm. And so I waited to hear from the producer who was going to call early in the morning London time, as soon as he was able to book us the next flight out of the States for London.
I did not receive word from London until the next day when I was told that I would not be going to London after all. Apparently the production was/is in danger of not happening at all. Money was virtually nonexistent, checks were bouncing, reservations were never paid for, and cost cutting and emergency fundraising was being implemented. A number of production insiders, including myself have gone above and beyond the call of duty and have put money into this production out of pocket that will likely not be seen in the near future, if at all.
For the past couple of days I was told from another inside source that the production might not happen in the first place for these monetary reasons. The latest word is that the show will indeed go on but a lot of money will be lost. In addition to this, it has recently become evident that a lot of work that went into this production will have been put in with little return recognition.
So here I sit, like most of you, jealous of the select few who are in London witnessing an anniversary concert production. One that I worked three months on and am now unable to attend.
And now you know.
On a related and happier note... thanks to all of you who wished me a fond farewell on my intended way to London. It was nice to be missed while "away". ;-)
Please click here for the latest journal entries which will have updated information on this situation....
11:50 AM
Earlier entries...
