On Location: EUE/Screen Gems Studios Atlanta

ScreenGems from The Credits on Vimeo.

The Credits recently traveled to Atlanta–home of Coca Cola, the Braves, and one of the most dynamic movie and television studios around. EUE/Screen Gems Studio Atlanta is a 33-acre, state of the art lot that hosts some of the biggest projects in film and television–from USA's Necessary Roughness to Columbia Pictures' Zombieland (2009). Boasting one of the largest independent film studios in the country,

Summing It Up, Boiling It Down: The Art of the Movie Tagline

We’d all like to think we’re too savvy to fall for modern-day marketing tactics, but when it comes to movie messaging, they’re just so darn clever. By the time you sit down in a theater, it’s likely that the marketing behind a film has already worked it’s magic on you, and taglines—the single phrases you see emblazoned across billboards, buses, benches, and subway walls—help to set the stage. Whether they’re piquing your interest ("Reality is a thing of the past"

From Bookshelves to the Big Screen: Young Readers Spur A Movie Boom

After the stratospheric success of movies based on the Harry Potter, Twilight and Narnia book series, young adult fiction has become a rich hunting ground for studios looking for the next franchise.

The next wave of YA-based films has already arrived with The Hunger Games, but filmgoers can expect many more in the coming months. So what are the next page-turners to hit the silver screen? Get a sneak peek below.

The Wired Theater: Audiences Get Social At The Cinema

There is a well-known myth of movie audiences in the late 19th century fleeing for the exits at the sight of a train that seemed to be barreling straight toward them. In reality, audiences’ early fascination with motion pictures quickly turned to admiration, a sacred respect for the movie going experience. Talking during movies became, almost instantaneously, strictly verboten. Decades later, other rules reared their heads to stomp out social distractions in the cinema. First it was,

The Return of Smell-O-Vision, the Advent of 4D Cinema, and the Brave New World of Sensory Film

TIME Magazine might have deemed it one of the worst 100 ideas in history, but it’s hard not to harbor a fond nostalgia for the wonderfully bizarre promise Smell-O-Vision once afforded moviegoers. Making movies that smelled was a bold and definitively quirky concept intended to persuade the television-hooked masses of 1950s Americana to migrate from their plastic-covered couches and microwaved TV dinners in order to experience movies in a ‘scent’sational new way. Of course,

Movie Poster Masterminds: An Interview With Allied Creative

Everyone knows movie ad campaigns are crucial to the industry. After all, who hasn’t let an eight-foot billboard of an impressive movie advert persuade them into making a trip to the local theater queue? But, like most things in the business, there’s more to making movie posters than meets the eye. Creative agencies are devoted to achieving the optimal aesthetic of movie posters and ad campaigns—from appealing to the target audience, to capturing the ambiance and essence of the movie itself.

Special Effects for Everyone: The Democratization of CGI Technology

You could say independent filmmaker Gareth Edwards is a surprising champion for CGI technology. After all, his feature film Monsters (2010) wasn’t a big-budget summer blockbuster, nor did it star Tom Cruise, Matt Damon or any other major A-list actor. In fact, he made his film for a mere $800,000—and that’s with CGI technology included. In an interview with film critic Mark Kermode, Edwards said, “You can go in [a] shop now and buy a computer that’s faster than the computers they made Jurassic Park on.”

MPAA and DGA Present: An Evening With Director Michael Apted

Senator Chris Dodd interviews British director Michael Apted in the inaugural installment of the MPAA’s new series, “An Evening With…,” which celebrates the work of cherished film icons and aims to shed new light onto contemporary issues facing the industry—from expanding into international markets, to raising awareness about copyright issues, to fostering an ongoing dialogue about innovations in the world of cinema.

Michael Apted is a critically acclaimed director, writer, producer,

On Location in Albuquerque: The Film Industry Drives a Creative and Economic Resurgence

If you ask Ann Lerner when the film industry landed in New Mexico, she’ll say it all began in 1898 with a one-minute silent documentary called “Indian Day School.” Then she’ll laugh and tell you that even though Hollywood has been shooting in the state for more than a century, it wasn’t until 2003 that a rumble erupted into a boom.

Lerner is the film liaison for Albuquerque’s Office of Economic Development, and she’s witnessed firsthand the surge in local film and television productions over the past few years,

The Art of the Trailer: Movie Marketing in the Digital Era

Now appearing on every-sized screen near you: A trailer for an upcoming movie. In this YouTube age of multiple platforms and ubiquitous screens, movie trailers—once seen only in actual movie theaters—have taken on a life of their own. They are distributed more widely than ever; they are studied at film schools; and they are recognized for their creativity with industry awards. In short, they are more important than ever to a film’s marketing and release.