Video

With credits including such iconic films as An American Werewolf in London, FlashdanceRain Man, and Batman Returns producer Peter Guber clearly knows a thing or two about what makes a good story. If you're interested in learning more about the philosophy behind his success, now's the perfect time to school yourself via his new book Tell to Win: Connect, Persuade, and Triumph with the Hidden Power of Story. As Breaking Bad's own Executive Producer Mark Johnson states: "For decades now Peter Guber has understood the power of a great story. With his new book he makes it clear how successful storytelling is at the cornerstone, not just of selling and marketing, but of all social intercourse. This book should be on all of our required reading lists!" Need further proof? Read this AMC interview (or watch the video interview after the jump).

more »
Director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) stopped by the AMC News studio at the Sundance Film Festival (wearing his Technicolor logo-coat) to discuss his new documentary The Greatest Movie Ever Sold, which premiered in the festival's newly created Documentary Premieres section.
 
In his very "meta" documentary, Spurlock looks at the world of marketing, advertising and, specifically, product placement in entertainment...all while financing the film with marketing, advertising and product placement tie-ins.
 
AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff sat down with Spurlock -- both were executive producers of the AMC News documentary special Committed -- to talk about how the director made and financed the film, which, thanks to a festival opening day purchase by Sony Pictures Classics, will hit theaters in April. 
more »

The new Ryan Reynolds suspense-thriller, Buried, is the little film that could. Shot for a minuscule $2 million in Spain over the course of seventeen days by director Rodrigo Cortés, it tells -- in real time -- the 94-minute story of how truck driver Paul Conroy (Reynolds) attempts to free himself from a coffin buried underground in Iraq.

The film had its world premiere in January at the Sundance Film Festival, where it screened at midnight for a sold-out crowd, part of which had waited six hours in line. Shortly afterward came a flood of reviews and a $3.2 million distribution deal with Lions Gate. Since then, the film has slowly been building momentum with several mysterious promotional trailers and select public screenings at the Deauville American Film Festival in France and the just-wrapped Toronto International Film Festival.

AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff sat down with Reynolds and Cortés in Toronto to discuss how they shot the claustrophobic film. Seven coffins not much longer than Reynolds's height were used during filming. Lighting them was primarily accomplished by Reynolds with the items he had inside -- a lighter, a cell phone, glow sticks, and a flashlight. Reynolds joked that he was also part of the lighting department in addition to his acting role in the film.

more »

Donation. Completion. These are the unsettling science-fiction elements that anchor the story in the new film Never Let Me Go, directed by Mark Romanek (One Hour Photo).

Adapted by Alex Garland from the 2005 best-selling novel by Remains of the Day author Kazuo Ishiguro, the film features actors Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield as teenage friends who are leaving the shelter of their sinister boarding school for the next phase of their doomed lives.

In our interview with Mulligan at the Toronto International Film Festival, AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff asked the actress about the importance of the science-fiction through line. Earlier this month, Romanek told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted it to be relatable but "never wanted it to be a science-fiction film in terms of its being fantastical." Mulligan said the science fiction in the story is more of a metaphor for the relationships between the main characters and the world around them.

more »

Over the years, the Toronto International Film Festival has become the place where Hollywood unveils its Oscar hopefuls. Films like Juno, Precious, and eight-time Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire all began their road to the red carpet at Toronto.

During our time at this year's fest, the AMC News team caught a number of buzzed-about films like Never Let Me Go, The Debt, and Black Swan as we prepared to shoot our upcoming AMC News special (airing this Friday night). Since we couldn't see all of the fest's most popular films, our correspondent Jacob Soboroff sat down with journalists Nicole LaPorte from the Daily Beast, Dave Karger from Entertainment Weekly, and Steven Zeitchik from the Los Angeles Times to get their takes on which Toronto pics will most likely make it to the Oscars.

more »
In actor Colin Firth's new film, The King's Speech, he portrays King George VI -- the father of Britain's current Queen, Elizabeth II. George 'Bertie' VI was a man who was considered unfit to be king because of his embarrassing stammer -- a condition that would not fare any potential leader well in the early days of radio. But when his older brother King Edward VIII suddenly abdicates the throne in 1936, Bertie is crowned king. In the story in the film Bertie enlists eccentric Aussie speech therapist Lionel Logue (Geoffrey Rush) to help him speak clearly on live radio in order to inspire his country, which is on the brink of war. Logue puts Bertie through unusual and hardly "royal" exercises to help Bertie's stammer including rolling on the floor, swearing exercises, and vocalizing nursery rhymes. Firth told AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff during our interview at the Toronto International Film Festival that the therapy techniques used in the film came from Firth's sister, who is a speech therapist. more »

Gifting suites are ubiquitous at any major event where Hollywood stars are expected, especially on the weekends of the Golden Globes, Oscars, and Grammys. They've also become a big promotional vehicle at major film festivals like Sundance, Tribeca, and this year's Toronto International Film Festival. AMC News stopped by the DPA gifting suite at Toronto's downtown InterContinental Hotel, where Nathalie Dubois, CEO of the marketing company, gave a tour of their multiroom suite filled with boots, jewelry, and apparel, as well as Mad Men, Breaking Bad, and Rubicon items all waiting to be whisked away in a celebrity's swag bag.

more »

At this year's Tribeca Film Festival there was some serious star power in the Shorts lineup -- both on-screen and behind the camera. AMC News Correspondent Jacob Soboroff and the AMC News team caught up with some of the well-known actors who helped push Tribeca's short films to the forefront this year.

more »


In this interview with AMC News Correspondent Jacob Soboroff, indie auteur Edward Burns reveals why he turned down a big paycheck in order to re-live the best fifteen days of his life by making Nice Guy Johnny.

more »


Vincent D'Onofrio and director Joachim Back sit down with AMC News Correspondent Jacob Soboroff to talk about what drew D'Onofrio to their Oscar-winning short, The New Tenants.

more »


AMC News Correspondent Jacob Soboroff asks the cast of Beware the Gonzo to compare the movie's story with real-life high school and elicits a scandalous explanation for why it's doing so well at Tribeca.

more »


In an interview with AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff, rapper Ice Cube admits he uses his movie Straight Outta L.A. to wax nostalgic on the Raiders in '80s LA and to plead for the team's return.

more »


In her short film Roots in Water, Martin Scorsese's daughter Domenica Cameron-Scorsese explores family dynamics. In this interview with AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff, she admits that sometimes she just wants "daddy," not a critique from the master.

more »
in the video after the jump, AMC News correspondent Jacob Soboroff talks with Los Angeles City Councilman Tom LaBonge and Paige Rausser of the Trust for Public Land about their effort to stop a Chicago-based developer from putting luxury homes next to the world-famous Hollywood sign. LaBonge and Rausser are trying to raise $12.5 million by April 30 -- through their Save Cahuenga Peak campaign -- to buy the land from the developers and preserve it in perpetuity. more »

Don't Miss