Hollywood
World Film Premiere Festival to coincide with International Film Expo in Manila
NEW DELHI: A World Premiere Film Festival is to be launched by the Film Development Council of the Philippines (FDCP) in June next year to coincide with the annual International Film Expo (IFX)
The inaugural edition will host 25 to 30 feature films including a 12-film competition and a programme of films from ASEAN countries. Organisers expect that the competition films will be world premieres or, at least, Asian premieres.
The festival has already struck a partnership with the Shanghai International Film Festival, which will next year screen a programme of films from the Philippines. The Manila event will be hosted either before or after SIFF.
WPFF will be hosted at SM Mall of Asia and at the new SM Aura in Metro Manila’s Taguig City, which includes a 449-seat IMAX screen.
The festival also hopes to introduce a distribution component so that films have a life after the festival.
According to FDCP Head Briccio G. Santos, he is already in talks with various embassies in Manila – including those of Italy and Spain – to secure films to broaden the range of foreign films reaching local cinemas.
Hollywood
Iger’s final act: Disney boss wraps up epic saga with a new captain at the helm
After 15 turbulent years, two stints in the c-suite, and billions spent on blockbuster acquisitions, Bob Iger is stepping away from the Magic Kingdom.
CALIFORNIA: The 75-year-old chief, hailed as one of the most transformative leaders in modern media, officially hands over to former parks chief Josh D’Amaro on 18 March. And this time, he’s getting the succession right.
Iger’s legacy glitters with big bets and epic wins: the $7.4bn Pixar buy, $4bn Marvel swoop, and the colossal $71bn 21st Century Fox deal. He dragged Disney into the streaming age, fought off activist investor Nelson Peltz, and saw off a political scrap with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
But it hasn’t all been pixie dust. The forced return of Iger in 2022—after the short, shaky reign of successor Bob Chapek—tarnished an otherwise stellar run.
Now, D’Amaro takes the wheel with a streamlined leadership team and Disney firing on all cylinders. The firm’s streaming business is in the black, theme-park attendance is soaring, and five global films have hit $1billion at the box office in the past two years. Not bad for a firm that was on the ropes just months ago.
D’Amaro’s first move? A slick reorg under new president and chief creative officer Dana Walden, folding film, tv, streaming and gaming into one punchy unit. Sean Shoptaw, heading up the gaming division, now reports directly to Walden—bringing Fortnite and Epic Games collaborations closer to Disney’s creative heart.
Iger isn’t sailing off into the sunset just yet. He’ll keep busy with Angel City FC, the women’s football club he owns with his wife. And as Ann Mooney Murphy of Stevens Institute predicts: “A guy like that never truly retires.”
One era ends. Another begins. And the House of Mouse bets big on a future beyond the king.
