VIDEO: Top Chef's First Champion Harold Makes His Favorite Holiday Hangover Dish

Harold Dieterle The holiday season may be going to an in depth, but we've got a perfect recipe to combat that New Year's Eve hangover. Inside the video below, Harold Dieterle, the first champion of Top Chef, prepares his favorite hangover recipe: Cornflake crusted French toast drenched in egg nog getting a rum raisin walnut syrup. For further inside our Holiday Eats series mind here.

5 Best Favorite Christmas Movie Toys

Lots of classic Christmas movies have toys that everyone wants. That toy might not be also real, but that didn't stop us from imaging that in some manner Santa brings us the gift that really didn't exist. So as we open our presents relating to this Christmas morning, we now have made all of the lots of the most popular Christmas movie toys. Turbo Guy The toy every youthful boy wanted gave Arnold Schwarzenegger one of the worst last-minute holiday shopping encounters ever in "Jingle Completely," nevertheless it was totally useful. Turbo Guy has precisely what a great action figure should have, however, many importantly, he's a jet pack. Being the truly amazing father Arnie was (in this particular movie, no less than), Arnold faced offered by Sinbad and attracted out all the stops to have the ability to bring the awesome action figure home. Talk Boy Besides this Christmas toy ensure it is easy to record every word you hear surrounding you, furthermore, it's speed control, that could prove helpful. If you undertake like Kevin McCallister in "Home Alone 2" did, you need to use your Talk Boy to achieve a place within the Plaza and among people little fridges you have to open getting a vital. Bank card? You initially first got it. The Nut Cracker The first Christmas gift. He may not look like anything special. All he may do throughout your entire day is crack open some nuts, but merely delay until help with sleep. You with thankful you've this individual working for you when the multiple-headed rat king appears in your house. This is where the nut cracker will come in most handy. Keep in mind that. Rugby Tiger In 1986, when Jim Henson produced the primary one-hour special, "The Christmas Toy," Rugby Tiger was the present to acquire. This plush tiger found themselves in the pickle twelve months later on he found his owner, Jamie. He was afraid he'd lose the romance and attention of his owner, so he devised an idea being the prize of Christmas again. Crafty and affectionate, an excellent combination. Red-colored-colored Ryder BB Gun It should be mentioned. You will probably shoot your abilities out driving under the influence this toy for Christmas. All Ralphie in "A Christmas Story" wanted will be a BB gun, but his mother had her concerns about his eyes. Ultimately, Ralphie got his gun, while not without learning a lesson. He didn't shot his eye out, but he gained kids around the globe become more careful utilizing their peepers.

TMG shelves up worldwide sales

BERLIN -- Entertainment giant Tele Munchen Group has obtained a slew of sales because of its in-house and licensed productions, including "Moby Dick" and "Haven." TMG's sales arm TM Intl. offered "Moby Dick," which stars William Hurt and Charlie Cox, to Cinemax in Belgium, Carmen Video for Russia and also the Commonwealth of Independent States, and Medallion Media in Japan. The $25 million adaptation from the Herman Melville classic opened recently on Germany's RTL which summer time on Starz/Encore within the U.S. TM Intl. also inked numerous deals for TMG's British-language miniseries modified from Rosamunde Pilcher's best-selling romance books: "Shades of affectionInch visited Soulmedia for Scandinavia and Antena 3 in The country the "Four Seasons" collection was licensed to Universal around australia, together with two TV movies in line with the books of Pilcher's boy Robin Pilcher, "A Danger Worth Taking" and "Beginning Over." The very first season of eOne's mystery series "Haven," according to Stephen King's "The Colorado Kid," offered to Italian pubcaster RAI and Leopolis for that CIS. Universal Systems, which lately restored the show for any third season, airs the series on all Syfy channels worldwide. TM Intl. also closed a library bundle with DT Prods. for that CIS which includes such high-profile game titles as "Terminator 2," "Universal Soldier" and "Fundamental Instinct." Contact Erectile dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com

Janusz Kaminski on Shooting War Horse, Avoiding 3-D, and Those Spielberg Close-Ups

For most of the last 18 years as Steven Spielberg’s go-to cinematographer, Janusz Kaminski has held one of the sweetest creative gigs in Hollywood. The post has netted the Polish D.P. two Academy Awards (for Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan, plus an additional nomination for Amistad) and credits on some of the most commercially successful films of the last generation, but more than that, it has made Kaminski’s eye the one through which audiences witness Spielberg’s influential vision of the past, present and future. It’s a huge responsibility. It’s also a singular opportunity. Their latest film together, War Horse, returns Spielberg and Kaminski to the scope of those epic, Oscar-winning collaborations, adapting Michael Morpurgo’s novel of a young man (Jeremy Irvine, in his film debut) and his thoroughbred separated by duty in World War I. It’s masterful filmmaking, for better or worse; the battle scenes are extraordinary, and the movie’s sentimentality is less of a shortcoming than an aesthetically achieved device — one that Kaminski’s lens has helped Spielberg refine over more than a dozen films. The cinematographer recently spoke with Movieline about the development of their shared language, the end of film as we know it, why he’s skipped 3-D so far, and what really makes a Spielberg close-up. What was the first Steven Spielberg film you remember seeing? I know it was The Sugarland Express. I was still in Poland at that point. And then he made Duel. That’s probably it, because I left Poland in 1980. Sugarland Express was probably 1973 or ‘75. And then Duel came right after. What was your reaction to them? I liked Sugarland Express simply because it reflected the America that I knew from the movies. It had this raw quality — the freedom, the quirkiness, full of weird people. And my perception of America was based on American movies, you know? But strangely… Well, actually, not strangely. It makes perfect sense: The censorship in Poland allowed the great movies made in the States to be available for Polish audiences, because at that time, America was questioning its social make-up through cinema. It evaluated the social make-up and would frequently become critical of that society. So the Polish censorship embraced that, because in their mind, they were showing the decadent, immoral America. But for us, it was just the land of freedom. We wanted to watch those movies just for the whole idea that if you could question the government, then you were already free. Among those films that came over to Poland, which were the ones that you think most inspired you to pursue filmmaking and cinematography? I started as a filmmaker, and then I chose cinematography for various reasons. But I think Vanishing Point was one of those films. I liked the movies that reflect the rebellion of the individual against the system, you know? And I guess that’s why I left Poland as well. I’m still like that: I still want to rebel against the system and those things. It’s a little bit different these days — maybe just through my work — but I’m still attracted to those movies. So after 15 films working with Spielberg, what challenges remain? Apart from the films themselves — how does that relationship evolve? It evolves just because each of those films is a different story. You get a different screenwriters, different actors, different this or that. And the challenges are great, because the physical aspects of production are always challenging — simply to get through the day. You have to provide a quality of work that’s just right, and you have to make the day. That’s always challenging. And the movies are getting bigger and more complicated, especially the ones that are supposed to entertain. They are just getting bigger. When I did Minority Report, I felt this was the biggest movie I’ve ever done. And then, of course, we did War of the Worlds, which was even bigger. And then Indiana Jones [and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull], which was even bigger. Audiences’ expectations are such, you know? So doing a movie like War Horse, which was big but not really driven by action so much as the story, was very rewarding. And we’re doing Lincoln right now, which is virtually no action. It’s all about performance. So right there, you have two very much different films. That’s what makes it exciting — the subject matter he’s interested in. What kind of shorthand have you two developed to navigate those challenges from film to film? We kind of know what’s going to happen. You kind of know what the shots are going to be. You kind of know what to expect. There’s no mystery. If something looks really good to me, I know that he’s going to see it as well, and we’re going to go for it. Particularly the angles: If we walk into this room, obviously it’s very logical to shoot this direction [against a window overlooking Manhattan], because it’s great. If you didn’t have money, I’d shoot against this wall because you can control it — you can control the environment. So there are certain things. You just know how the movie’s made. And also, you expect to know that we’ll see certain shots everywhere. We have to accommodate that desire of the director. And also be accommodating of actors so that the work becomes better — so that you’re not taking too much time from the actors and the director. The time is always a big issue; every 10 or 15 minutes you take on a set, that adds up over the course of a day to one or two hours of production time. You’re really robbing the ability of the director and actors to do better work. So that gets more refined. There’s no guessing. We know what the work will be. Beyond the films getting bigger, the technology changes. How does the preponderance of CG or the advance of 3-D affect your craft, if at all? It doesn’t, because I haven’t done a digital movie, and I haven’t done 3-D. We still work with film, and we still work flat. I think that 3-D, apparently, was going to be something that was very popular — and it was — but now it’s kind of winding down a bit. The digital will be a reality for us very soon because will be no more film. There will simply be no film emulsion. Kodak is going out of business. So we’ll end up shooting digital, and the quality of the digital becomes higher and higher. It will never be compared to film; it’s just a different vocabulary, a different language, different aesthetics. And it shouldn’t be. It’s a different palette, and that’s fine. Does 3-D turn you off? I haven’t done it. I haven’t seen a movie in 3-D. You haven’t seen a movie in 3-D? No Avatar? No. No Hugo? No, not yet. I’d like to see Hugo because I’m sure that Robert Richardson’s work will be spectacular. But I just… I don’t know. I’m not drawn to those movies — the movies that are made in 3-D. Not because of the form, but just the story. You know? Not into it — not into those action films, I guess. But if we do one, I’ll see it! Until then… Until then! So Spielberg has a trademark shot — that tracking-in close-up that he does — that has carried over to seemingly all of his films over the decades. It’s a very specific thing; a lot of filmmakers use that shot, but there’s something a hair different about Spielberg’s. What is it? I think they’re emotions. He just does it at the right time, when he wants to evoke those emotions. And he knows so much about emotions — human emotions. I think that’s why his movies are so successful: because we can all identify with those emotions, and we can really clearly see those emotions on the screen. But it’s not just the one shot. It’s a sequence of shots that allows you to make it so much different then. You can imitate his shots, but you can’t imitate every shot. His trademark is also wide shots — especially wide shots where you have explosions or special effects. He likes to give the audience the thing happening in one take, right in front of you without editing. Because the moment you cut, you’re cheating. And audiences don’t realize how cinematography itself affects emotion. It’s so subtle, right? They don’t, sure. Well, they don’t really intellectualize it, but they know when something moves them emotionally. They cannot pinpoint why or who’s responsible for it. But they know the impact of visuals — and when the visuals are impacting them. Follow S.T. VanAirsdale on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.

'Warrior' Q&A Online

Duncan Stewart, director of casting at National Artists Management Company, discusses opening every submission and what he really wants to see inside a headshot. casting Duncan Stewart headshot NY city open distribution Duncan Steward, director of casting, discusses what he wants from an actress inside a general meeting, mainly truth, likability, and insufficient ego. advice casting Duncan Stewart NY city tips Duncan Stewart, director of casting, discusses what he needs from an audition and customary mistakes stars make. advice auditions casting Duncan Stewart NY city Alaine Alldaffer stops working the actual role of the casting direcor. Alaine Alldaffer casting casting director Gray Gardens play stage theater Casting director Alaine Alldaffer discusses casting "Saved" and all sorts of the myths about becoming an actor in NY City. Alaine Alldaffer casting director New york city theatre play saved NY casting director Bernie Telsey describes what stars have to know before walking into an audition. (Part a couple of) Bernie Telsey casting director We spoken with casting director Mark Teschner about focusing on cleaning soap operas. (Part 1 of three) General Hospital Mark Teschner cleaning soap opera NY casting director Bernie Telsey describes how you can give your very best audition. (Part 2 of two) Bernie Telsey casting director We spoken with casting director Mark Teschner about focusing on cleaning soap operas. Only need beautiful people apply? (Part 2 of three) General Hospital Mark Teshner cleaning soap opera We spoken with casting director Mark Teschner about who audition for cleaning soap operas. (Part 3 of three) General Hospital Mark Teschner cleaning soap opera Videos for that Back Stage News & Features section.

Russell Brand Lands Late-Evening Forex Show

First Released: December 15, 2011 2:30 PM EST Credit: Getty Premium La, Calif. -- Caption Russell Brand steps out at BBC Radio One out of London on April 20, 2011 Late-evening will be receiving a dose of British comedy from actor/comedian Russell Brand! Forex introduced on Thursday that Russell will host six half-hour payments of the unscripted as-yet-untitled show before an active audience. The show can give the funnymans unvarnished, unfiltered undertake current occasions, politics and popular culture, the network stated inside a statement to gain access to Hollywood with lots of audience interaction too. I'm so excited Im about to climax, actually I'll place the O into Forex, which spells FOX, that is really the channels real title, the actor/comedian stated inside a statement. Thats the only real factor that worries me about all of this to tell the truth. A minimum of Ill have the ability to possess a Christmas drink with Bill OReilly. Flight from the Conchords producer Troy Burns is joining track of Russell for that series something the network thinks will push the envelope of TV comedy. Were very excited to include Russell Brands bracingly funny, original, and honest voice towards the Forex comedy line-up, Nick Grad, Executive V . P ., Original Programming at Forex stated inside a statement. We anticipate supporting Russell and the partner Troy Millers ambition to strip lower the located comedy format to the most fundamental elements and also to create something daring and unfiltered for that Forex audience. Russells late-evening show is slated to debut in spring 2012. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All privileges reserved. These components might not be released, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

10 Live Action Short Films Make Oscar Shortlist

When Jon Cryer's publicist called with word of his first SAG Awards nomination, the Two and a Half Men star wasn't expecting the good news.our editor recommendsSAG Awards Nominations: The Nominees' ReactionsSAG Awards TV: 'Modern Family' Leads Nominations, 'Homeland' SnubbedSAG Awards Nominations: The Complete List "Being that it's been a year of very surprising developments, when I get a call from my publicist at 6 a.m. I really don't want to answer it," Cryer told The Hollywood Reporter on Wednesday after he picked up his first career SAG Awards nomination for outstanding male actor in a comedy. "But this was a good one." STORY: Jon Cryer: I Thought Charlie Sheen Was Going to Die Cryer, who has been battling a cold the past few days, wasn't expecting to receive the recognition from his peers in the category that doesn't distinguish between lead and supporting roles. "I had no reason whatsoever to expect that I would be included in this company. That I was is astounding." With nominations coming the day after news broke that Two and a Half Men co-creator Chuck Lorrenearly quit the CBS hitcom after public battles with the show's former star Charlie Sheen, Cryer said he learned of the news after doing the interview for the story. PHOTOS: SAG Awards Nominees "[Lorre] went through a lot of pain during that time and it was awful to watch," he said. "It was awful to watch because he really considered himself a friend of Charlie's. I remember the day he came into my dressing room and he was practically in tears and said, 'I don't know what to do, something is very wrong with Charlie' and he was begging me to talk to him. Obviously, I did but I don't know what good it did." Cryer was able to play the role of the messenger later Wednesday, when he told Lorre news of not only his mention for Men but also The Big Bang Theory's first comedy ensemble nomination in a text exchange. STORY: Chuck Lorre Nearly Quit 'Two and a Half Men' Because of Charlie Sheen "Chuck hadn't heard about the nominations at all and he texted me to thank me for having given the interview to TV Guide," said Cryer, who wound up congratulating -- and breaking the news of Big Bang Theory's nom -- to Lorre. "He wrote back, 'NICE!!!' " As for plans to celebrate, Cryer will get into the holiday spirit and spend the evening with his family, taking cold medication, having hot chocolate and decorating their newly purchased Christmas tree. Email: Lesley.Goldberg@thr.com; Twitter: @Snoodit RELATED: SAG Awards Nominations: The Complete List PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery SAG Awards: The Nominees PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery Chuck Lorre & His TV Empire Related Topics Chuck Lorre Charlie Sheen Jon Cryer Two and a Half Men SAG Awards 2012

Steve Carell Returns to TV! Is Springfield Ready?

Steve Carell Steve Carell is back... in cartoon form. The former Office star will lend his voice to The Simpsons, Entertainment Weekly reports. Carell will portray Dan Gillick, an accountant for mob boss Fat Tony, who must step up when Tony has to serve jury duty. Check out the rest of today's news "He's nervous, and then Fat Tony says that he's got to kill some people and then he's really nervous because he actually wants to do it," executive producer Al Jean reveals. There may be good in Dan, too, though: He also joins Homer's bowling team. Carell's episode is slated to air next fall on Fox. The Simpsons airs Sundays at 8/7c on Fox.

'Game Of Thrones' Season Two Trailer: Cold Winds

In "Game of Thrones," the flamboyant Braavos swordsman Syrio Forel taught his young protg Arya Stark to "see with your eyes" and "hear with your ears." In the case of the brand new "Game of Thrones" season two preview, I'd echo Syrio's wisdom and encourage you to listen very closely. Though there are plenty of beautiful visuals on display worth gawking at, it's the words you're hearing that make this new "Thrones" footage so captivating. Specifically, they're the words of Stannis Baratheon: younger brother of the late King Robert, older brother of self-anointed renegade King Renly, and the man who would sit upon the Iron Throne. "My brother left no trueborn heirs," drones the cool voice of Stannis, played by actor Stephen Dillane, as images of the various "Game of Thrones" players still in the mix (see: no Ned Stark) flow across the screen. "By right and birth and blood I do this day lay claim to the Iron Throne of Westeros. Let all true men declare their loyalty. The Iron Throne is mine by right. They will bend the knee or I will destroy them. The cold winds are rising." Very much a man who will break before he ever bends, Stannis is one of the most important characters in the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series, and even though we don't see him in this new trailer, his presence hangs heavily. Mark my words: Stannis is not a man you will soon forget. "Game of Thrones" returns to HBO in April 2012. What did you think of the latest "Game of Thrones" preview? Let us know in the comments and on Twitter!

Fundamental steps Presidential Debate Draws 7.6 000 0000

ABC News’ Republican presidential debate came 7.6 000 0000 total audiences on Saturday, 2.millions of of those inside the 25-54 demographic. Titled Your Voice, Your Election Republican Presidential Debate in Iowa, the special ranks since the most-seen debate in the 2012 presidential campaign so far, eclipsing Fox News’ Sept. 22 telecast, which averaged 6.millions of audiences. ABC’s debate, moderated by Diane Sawyer and GeorgeStephanopoulos, might be the 2nd to air around the broadcast network this year, carrying out a November. 12 one on CBS, which released 5.2 million total audiences.

Poor reduce entertainment

No real surprise Hollywood is doing harm to. In line with the Bureau at the office Statistics (BLS), trading on entertainment has declined 7% since 2009.The poorest Us citizens perform a much more than their great deal to stem this decline by trading a larger section of their earnings on entertainment in comparison to relaxation of society.Per BLS, the normal U.S. household (or "consumer unit" in BLS speak) spent $2,504 on entertainment this season. That signifies about 4% in the typical household's pre-tax earnings.As you may expect, how much money consumed on entertainment generally increases with earnings. Houses producing $70,000 or maybe more spent $4,438 on movies, music together with other diversions a year ago, 3.7 occasions the normal expenditure of people inside the $15,000-$19,999 earnings slot. Yet, the 2nd group spent 6.8% from the total earnings on entertainment. The $70,000-plus houses spent only 3.4%.Total U.S. household trading fell 2% from the prior year. That adopted a few.8% decline from 2008 to 2009. Entertainment trading was the most difficult hit of major groups, falling 7% inside the 2010 survey. The prior year saw a 5% drop inside the category.Inside the latest survey, health care (+1%) and transportation (+2%) were really the only major facets of trading to enhance. Contact the number newsroom at news@variety.com

Dot-Marie Jones Talks Upcoming Glee Romance: I Could Die!

First Published: December 7, 2011 6:30 PM EST Credit: Access Hollywood Caption Dot-Marie Jones chats with Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Access Hollywood Live on December 7, 2011LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- A love interest recently entered the life of Shannon Beiste (Dot-Maries Jones) on Glee, and the actress says more romance is in store for the shows big-hearted football coach. Oh my God, theres stuff coming up in episode 10 I could die, Dot-Marie told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover of her characters storyline on Wednesdays Access Hollywood Live. Wow. First, I never thought in my life Id be singing on television! The actress, whose character is falling for football recruiter Cooter Menkins (played by Eric Bruskotter), said the pairs onscreen romance will soon be going strong, but not without challenges. Yes, there will be [romance], she told Billy and Kit of the upcoming episode. Theres a little love triangle you know, Sue [Sylvester] is in there. Dot-Marie sang her first solo (Dolly Partons Jolene) in episode eight and the 47-year-old admitted she was terrified to carry a song on her own. Last year, I did the George Thorogood song, One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer and it was no threat because we had to act like we were drunk, she said of her Season 2 duet with series star Matthew Morrison. We were having fun and it was with Matt, who I love to death. And then this one was by myself and I was like, scared to death, she added. Catch all of the Cooter/Coach Beiste action when Glees episode 10 titled The Proposal airs on January 17, 2012 on FOX. Copyright 2011 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

TV Rankings: 'Glee' and 'New Girl' Hit Season Lows for Soft Fox Win, Michael Buble Premieres a Modest 'Christmas'

Carolle Brabant Executive director, Telefilm Canadaour editor recommendsAnne Sweeney Tops THR's 2011 Women in Entertainment Energy 100 ListWomen in Entertainment: The Energy 100Bonnie Hammer Discloses E! Rebranding Plans Wants As much as Four New Kardashian SpinoffsJane Fonda Reveals About Her Father, Her Go back to Acting and also the Lesson She Learned From Warren BeattyRelated Subjects•Women in Entertainment The 20-year Telefilm vet is Canada's premier film financier. Additionally to backing features like David Cronenberg's A Harmful Method and Oscar nominee Incendies, she runs Telefilm's use the brand new Canada Media Fund, which provides $350 million yearly to aid digital content production. PHOTOS: 2011 Women In Entertainment Energy 100 Ruth Harley Boss, Screen Australia Just before becoming Boss from the government funding body Screen Australia in 2008, the previous Fulbright Scholar and native Kiwi was the main executive from the Nz Film Commission from 1997 to 2008. Harley has a lot more than two-and-a-half decades of expertise employed in film and tv. Christine Langan Mind of BBC Films The Oscar-nominated producer from the Full required over BBC's film division last year, managing productions including StreetDance three dimensional (Britain's first three dimensional movie) and Rob Fiennes' Shakespeare adaptation Coriolanus. Audrey Lee Gm of Sales and Purchases, Edko Films Lee continues to be instrumental in Hong Kong-based producer-distributor Edko Films' discharge of worldwide blockbusters in Asia, including 2008 Oscar champion Slumdog Uniform and recent Bollywood smash 3 Idiots. Edko also is the owner of the theater chains Broadway Circuit and AMC Movie theaters. Lori MacPherson Executive vice president Global Product Management, Wally Disney Galleries The lady who switched Blu-ray right into a money-spinner has become billed with doing exactly the same for digital distribution. MacPherson runs the management, sales and distribution of Disney content worldwide. COMPLETE LIST: 2011 Women in Entertainment Energy 100 Liz Mohn Investor/board member, Bertelsmann The Mohn family controls German media giant Bertelsmann -- who owns RTL Group, BMG, Random House and also the X Factor/Idol producer FremantleMedia. Mohn, the household matriarch, looks after a low public profile but continues to be regulating energy behind the throne. She also offers the ear of German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whom Mohn calls a detailed friend. Liz Murdoch Chairman and Boss, Shine Among the couple of Murdochs not stained through the phone-hacking scandal, Elisabeth founded Shine Group in 2001 and spent ten years building it into among the world's leading indie TV production companies with your global franchises because the Greatest Loser and MasterChef. Liz cashed out this season, selling Shine to father's News Corp. for around $650 million, but remains on Shine's board. Alison Owen Founder, Ruby Films In the period perfection of Jane Eyre towards the Emmy and Golden Globe success of Temple Grandin to cult zombie comedy Rob from the Dead, Owen has probably the most effective and eclectic creating careers within the indie biz together with her London-based shingle. Tessa Ross Mind of Film4 The uncrowned full from the British film industry, Ross accounts for developing, financing and professional creating highbrow fare as Slumdog Uniform, Happy-Go-Lucky and also the Lovely Bones. Her recent films include honours hopefuls The Iron Lady and Shame. Anke Schaeferkordt Boss, RTL Television Perhaps probably the most effective lady in European television, Schaeferkordt was the very first worldwide buyer to identify the potential for the CSI franchise. The channels she handles with each other paid for for 44 percent from the German TV ad market this year and gained $730 million in profit for parent company Bertelsmann. Nansun Shi Film Producer Probably the most influential female producer within the greater China region, Shi may be the longtime creating partner of Hong Kong super director Tsui Hark. A 30-year vet industry vet, she's also chairman of Hong Kong's influential Distribution Workshop and would be a jury member at this past year's Festival p Cannes. Friede Springer Majority investor, Axel Springer Another FOM (Friend of Merkel) and something of Germany's wealthiest women (personal wealth: $3.2 billion), Springer may be the chief energy broker at Germany's second-biggest media group. Marketers of Das Bild, Europe's greatest tabloid and also the broadsheet Die Welt, Axel Springer also holds stakes in a number of German regional Television channels. Alison Thompson Co-leader, Focus Features Worldwide The best hands of Focus Boss James Schamus and Leader Andrew Karpen, Thompson runs the indie giant's worldwide procedures, from production and purchases to sales, distribution and marketing for prestige game titles such as the American, Beginners and Wes Anderson's approaching Moonrise Kingdom. At Cannes in May, Thompson released FFI's most ambitious project up to now: the mega-budget Cloud Atlas, starring Halle Berry and Tom Hanks. Related Subjects The Lovely Bones The American Idol Show Happy-Go-Lucky Jane Eyre Slumdog Uniform The Iron Lady Masterchef The Greatest Loser A Harmful Method Shame The X Factor Women in Entertainment Women in Entertainment 2011 Worldwide

'The Artist,' 'War Horse' Among Contenders Nominated for Satellite Awards

This article appears in the Dec. 9 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine.our editor recommendsThe Making of Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse'From 'The Artist' to 'War Horse,' 23 Awards Contenders That Prominently Feature Animals (Photos)'War Horse': Newest Trailer Heavy on Orchestration, Heartstring Pulling (Video)'War Horse' Star Jeremy Irvine to Play Young Colin Firth in 'The Railway Man' (Exclusive)Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson: The Titans Behind 'The Adventures of Tintin' In October 2010, Steven Spielberg fell in a hole. "I was walking in a trench with my viewfinder and the crew following me, and all of a sudden I disappeared," recalls the director of the time when he was shooting War Horse just outside London. "It was a hole dug for explosive charges, and a storm had washed away the warning cones and filled it up. I was totally under ice water. I threw my hands over my head, and two big grips pulled me out." Now, 13 months after wrapping his World War I epic, Spielberg can laugh about "the murder hole." But that was only one of the challenges involved in bringing his movie to the screen, along with fighting freezing weather, dealing with an army of 5,800 extras and about 300 horses, and turning to filmmaker Peter Jackson for crucial wartime artifacts from his private collection -- all within a 63-day shoot and with an exceptionally tight $70 million budget ($65 million after tax breaks). PHOTOS: The Making of 'War Horse' Spielberg first heard about War Horse in the summer of 2009. That's when his longtime producer Kathleen Kennedy mentioned the West End adaptation of Michael Morpurgo's 1982 novel, which centers on a British horse named Joey that we follow from birth through four years of war. During that time, he is enlisted by the army, captured by Germans and hidden by French farmers, all while being trailed by Albert, the young Englishman who raised him. When Kennedy spoke of the project, Spielberg was on the scoring stage for The Adventures of Tintin. Having finished 31 days of motion-capture work, he was in a yearlong holding pattern until animation was completed and he could return to the film. To his surprise, he discovered that the book's movie rights had not been optioned, so Kennedy flew to England, where she had breakfast with Morpurgo, then hired Billy Elliot scribe Lee Hall to craft an initial draft. COVER STORY: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson -- The Titans Behind 'Tintin' "What was irresistible for me had nothing to do with global war," says Spielberg. "It was how Joey linked disparate characters together and the length to which Albert went to find him." After working briefly with Hall, Spielberg moved on to a second writer, Four Weddings and a Funeral's Richard Curtis, in an attempt to bring the screenplay closer to the book. Curtis was nervous: He'd met Spielberg only once before, at France's César Awards in 1995, when the presenter declared Spielberg's Schindler's List a masterpiece and said, "If any other film wins, it will be a disgrace to the honor of France" -- only for Four Weddings to pick up the best foreign film trophy. PHOTOS: Steven Spielberg on Set But Spielberg was more interested in the new picture, and he was clear it should focus on the horse -- like the novel, the movie was to be told from the horse's point of view -- rather than intercutting that story with the boy's. Curtis became convinced this would work when he read the book aloud to his 14-year-old daughter while she was in bed, awaiting an operation. "I found it hard to read the last 10 pages to her because they were so emotional," he recalls, declining to say more about the operation. "I thought immediately, 'If it works in the book, we can do it in the film.' " PHOTOS: 'The Adventures of Tintin' Now he moved fast, whipping through more than a dozen drafts in three months while conducting two-hour telephone conversations with Spielberg. On one occasion, he had to hide in a hospital medicine cabinet while discussing the script, "surrounded by syringes and pills, because I couldn't talk in my daughter's room." As he wrote, a research team plowed through troves of artifacts at England's Imperial War Museum, frequently copying photos that would be used to stage scenes. Spielberg was fascinated by their discoveries. "I was not prepared for how many millions of horses perished during the Great War -- it was over 4 million," he says. "And it wasn't all in close combat; a lot was just through malnutrition and mistreatment. But don't forget that the Humane Society was born out of the First World War, and it was a huge turning point in technological warfare that supplanted the horse once and forever." PHOTOS: 23 Awards Contenders Featuring Animals In addition to the material his researchers found, Spielberg drew on an unexpected source: his Tintin producer Jackson, who collects war memorabilia. "He's even got about 15 working biplanes, which we didn't need," marvels Spielberg. "He sent about three cargo containers to the U.K., free of charge. He pretty much lent me his entire World War I collection." As all of that fell into place, a critical matter loomed: finding the right actor to play Albert, who ages from 15 to 21. "I looked for months and months," says Spielberg. "I was running out of hope, then Jeremy Irvine came in toward the last third of the casting process." There was one snag: The 20-year-old Irvine's most extensive acting experience had been playing a tree in the chorus of the Royal Shakespeare Company. "I had a couple of months of going in to audition two or three times a week, sometimes doing videotape and knowing it would be shown to Steven," he says. "It was quite intense." Weeks after his first audition, adds Irvine: "I got a call at about 8 p.m. or 9 p.m., saying, 'Can you meet Steven for tea in a hotel in London tomorrow morning?' I did what any actor would do: I freaked out." He won the role regardless, and shooting commenced Aug. 6, 2010, in Dartmoor, in the south of England. Production designer Rick Carter had searched for British locations that would be convincing, such as the bucolic farm where Joey's story begins and the no-man's-land where the war is fought. A crew of 750 worked ferociously so each location would be ready when filming took place. Operations revolved around seven locales, ranging from the untamed moors of Dartmoor to a derelict airfield in Surrey, England (where land could be dug up to look like a battlefield) to the Duke of Wellington's storied estate west of London. Each had its share of difficulties. In Dartmoor, a nature preserve, the land couldn't be touched. "We had to put down netting and bring the dirt in and plant what looked like rocks and dig into that," says Carter. The appalling weather created some "nail-biting situations," he adds. Right before the shoot, a terrific storm blew away part of a thatched roof on Albert's farmhouse -- in actuality, made of Styrofoam. "We had to have a crew repaint it every day because it was falling apart," Carter notes. For one shot, in which men and horses emerge like ghosts from a field of reeds, the plants were moved from another part of the country and set in place individually. "There was a marsh somewhere in the south of London still in bloom; we went there and paid a farmer to cut his whole field down, then we put the reeds in Styrofoam." Even the 250 yards of trenches Carter dug, which might seem a simple task but involved laying down an infrastructure to keep them in place and allow tracking shots, required six weeks of preparation alone. "It was like a construction site, with 20 Caterpillars running around," he says. Creating clothing for the men who would inhabit those locations was no easier. "[Costume supervisor] Dave Crossman would trawl through eBay, seeing what we could get -- the hardware and the insignias," says costume designer Joanna Johnston, a longtime Spielberg collaborator. Beyond the beauty of the uniforms, she was surprised at the real-life parallels she discovered with the movie. "The great-grandfather of a girl who worked with us was a milkman whose horse was taken during the war -- and amazingly, the horse made it back," she says. As far as the present horses were concerned, Kennedy brought one huge advantage: Having produced 2003's Seabiscuit, she knew the ins and outs of working with equines. "That was one of the biggest departments on the film, with 200 to 300 people," she says of the animal unit. "You'd sometimes have as many as 180 to 280 horses in a scene. You'd have groomers and drivers to haul the horses and the feed, people to set up portable barns, vets and everyone else who handled the tack and the horses' makeup." Fourteen horses in all played Joey, the most prominent being one named Finder, which had starred in Seabiscuit. "We had bought horses for Seabiscuit, then we sold them -- and Bobby Lovgren, our lead trainer, bought Finder," says Kennedy. "He turned out to be one of the best horses Bobby had ever worked with, so he brought Finder with him to England." Except for one notable shot in which the horse stumbles and falls into a trench, most of the work was done without CGI effects. That added pressure to the shoot, as did the ever-changing British weather. "It was unbelievably rainy and cold," says Kennedy. "Even when you had your wellies on, sometimes you'd just take a step and one would be left stuck in the mud. It was freezing and raining, but then there would be these amazing skies and the whole crew would stop and gaze out at the landscape because it was so beautiful." Moments like these vanished during the hardest part of filming, when the trench warfare took place. "As soon as your big woolen uniform gets wet, the weight is unbelievable," says Irvine, "and you'd be running across no-man's-land, right through the mud and dirt. There were sequences where explosions would take place next to me and three or four stuntmen would fly through the air -- and then there'd be other scenes where you're just soaking wet. I got trench foot [a medical condition contracted through lengthy contact with dampness]. The soldiers used to get it all the time. And then there were the rats." Several dozen rodents were released into the trenches with the actors, much to their horror. But the rats were even more of a nightmare for the producers. "When you put mud on a rat, it immediately starts to clean itself. We could never keep them covered in mud," says Kennedy with a laugh. Shooting wrapped Oct. 27, 2010, following five days of studio work. Audiences will see the finished movie when Disney releases it domestically on Christmas Day through its distribution pact with DreamWorks, which financed the film through its partnership with Reliance Entertainment. (The picture unfurls internationally starting Dec. 26 in Australia.) The U.S. opening comes four days after the Dec. 21 North American release of Tintin, which already has proved an international blockbuster. In some ways, War Horse is more important for DreamWorks -- Tintin, a joint venture between Sony and Paramount, wasn't financed by the company. The former's success is critical for the studio, which has had some recent disappointments along with one megahit, The Help. Spielberg says he'll cherish the memories of making the film -- the tenderness of working with the horses, the miracle of the sunsets and the chance to bring history to life -- despite all the obstacles he encountered. "The thing about filming is, [almost] everything goes wrong," he says. "It's using the parts that go right in the finished film that counts." PHOTO GALLERY: View Gallery The Making of Steven Spielberg's 'War Horse' Related Topics Steven Spielberg International Kathleen Kennedy War Horse Awards Season Preview Books Books to Film