Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Sunday, December 10, 2006
High School Musical 2 to be filmed in Utah
From the Salt Lake Tribune
The cast and crew who made "High School Musical," the tween sensation of the year, are returning to Utah to film the sequel.
The producers of "High School Musical 2" and officials from the Disney Channel confirmed Friday that the sequel will begin filming in March in St. George and Salt Lake City.
"I'm very excited about it because, among other things, our director again is Kenny Ortega, and Kenny loves Utah," said the sequel's producer, Don Schain, who runs Salt Lake City-based Salty Pictures, which also made the first film.
"I think the crew here is as good as you can get," Schain added. "They played a big part in the success of that movie."
The original film boasted catchy songs and energetic choreography by Emmy winners Ortega and Salt Lake City's Bonnie Story, and told the story of high school jock Troy (Zach Efron) and brainiac Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), who join forces to star in the school musical.
The movie garnered two Emmys including one for Schain for Outstanding Children's Program. It also became the highest-rated program for the Disney Channel, and the soundtrack so far is the biggest-selling album this year. The movie, in addition to being a sensation in countries like India and Japan, has spawned theatrical productions and a touring concert.
To boost Utah's chances of getting the sequel made here, the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board (GOED) on Friday offered Salty Pictures a cash incentive of up to $500,000.
"At least 26 other states offer incentives for motion pictures," Schain said. "So it [the $500,000 incentive] helps enormously."
For months while the movie's screenwriter, Peter Barscocchini, worked on the sequel's script, executive producers Barry Rosenbush, Bill Borden and Ortega looked at a number of cities, including San Diego and Palm Springs.
But Aaron Syrett, director of the Utah Film Commission, said the state pushed hard.
"Since the first one was filmed in Utah, we wanted to make sure we got the sequel, too," he said.
Salty Pictures applied for the state incentive long after Utah had exhausted the money in a fund designed to lure films to the state. But the movie stands to benefit Utah so much that the GOED temporarily "loaned" money to the film incentive fund from the Industrial Assistance Fund, typically used to provide cash incentives to lure new companies to the state.
GOED plans to "pay back" the corporate incentive fund after they receive money from the legislature next year.
The proposal to the governor's office states filming will take two months, and the film is budgeted at about $7 million. Up to 95 percent of the crew will be from Utah, according to the documents.
The cast and crew who made "High School Musical," the tween sensation of the year, are returning to Utah to film the sequel.
The producers of "High School Musical 2" and officials from the Disney Channel confirmed Friday that the sequel will begin filming in March in St. George and Salt Lake City.
"I'm very excited about it because, among other things, our director again is Kenny Ortega, and Kenny loves Utah," said the sequel's producer, Don Schain, who runs Salt Lake City-based Salty Pictures, which also made the first film.
"I think the crew here is as good as you can get," Schain added. "They played a big part in the success of that movie."
The original film boasted catchy songs and energetic choreography by Emmy winners Ortega and Salt Lake City's Bonnie Story, and told the story of high school jock Troy (Zach Efron) and brainiac Gabriella (Vanessa Anne Hudgens), who join forces to star in the school musical.
The movie garnered two Emmys including one for Schain for Outstanding Children's Program. It also became the highest-rated program for the Disney Channel, and the soundtrack so far is the biggest-selling album this year. The movie, in addition to being a sensation in countries like India and Japan, has spawned theatrical productions and a touring concert.
To boost Utah's chances of getting the sequel made here, the Governor's Office of Economic Development Board (GOED) on Friday offered Salty Pictures a cash incentive of up to $500,000.
"At least 26 other states offer incentives for motion pictures," Schain said. "So it [the $500,000 incentive] helps enormously."
For months while the movie's screenwriter, Peter Barscocchini, worked on the sequel's script, executive producers Barry Rosenbush, Bill Borden and Ortega looked at a number of cities, including San Diego and Palm Springs.
But Aaron Syrett, director of the Utah Film Commission, said the state pushed hard.
"Since the first one was filmed in Utah, we wanted to make sure we got the sequel, too," he said.
Salty Pictures applied for the state incentive long after Utah had exhausted the money in a fund designed to lure films to the state. But the movie stands to benefit Utah so much that the GOED temporarily "loaned" money to the film incentive fund from the Industrial Assistance Fund, typically used to provide cash incentives to lure new companies to the state.
GOED plans to "pay back" the corporate incentive fund after they receive money from the legislature next year.
The proposal to the governor's office states filming will take two months, and the film is budgeted at about $7 million. Up to 95 percent of the crew will be from Utah, according to the documents.
Saturday, December 09, 2006
What's the Most Popular CD in America?
Just learned something pretty cool! Do you know what the #1 selling album of 2006 is? HSM!!!!!!!
From Entertainment Weekly:
"...the bubbly pop soundtrack to a made-for-TV Disney movie starring a cast of unkonwn teen actors, which will likely hit the 4 million mark by the end of the year....The three Cheeta albums, on the other hand, have racked up 2 million-plus discs moved and the Girls are currently in the midst of a sold-out 85-city U.S. tour....Hannah Montana regularly pulls more than 2 million....Currently, there's an HSM sequel in the works for 2007, and Buena Vista is pursuing acts in the same vein - including a solo off-shoot from HSM star Corbin Bleu, the all-sister band Everlife, and the fifth installment of the popular Disneymania series."
From Entertainment Weekly:
"...the bubbly pop soundtrack to a made-for-TV Disney movie starring a cast of unkonwn teen actors, which will likely hit the 4 million mark by the end of the year....The three Cheeta albums, on the other hand, have racked up 2 million-plus discs moved and the Girls are currently in the midst of a sold-out 85-city U.S. tour....Hannah Montana regularly pulls more than 2 million....Currently, there's an HSM sequel in the works for 2007, and Buena Vista is pursuing acts in the same vein - including a solo off-shoot from HSM star Corbin Bleu, the all-sister band Everlife, and the fifth installment of the popular Disneymania series."
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
High School Musical Popup Version over Thanksgiving
I don't know if you happened to watch High School Musical again over Thanksgiving but Disney Channel added the popup facts that were pretty interesting. Here are some of the ones I can remember:
The houses used for Gabriela and Troy in the movie were just a couple of houses apart.
Lucas' hats in the movie were bought at a cool clothing store in Utah.
The ski lodge used at the beginning is not a lodge but a nice building in Midway, Utah.
The opening scene is supposed to take place about midnight in the movie but was really filmed in the daytime.
There was no real snow outside during the filming because it was really August. The snow was made out of falling potato flakes.
Ms. Darbus' glasses were actually huge sunglasses but they replaced the lenses.
Zac Efron was born on October 18th in San Luis Obispo, California.
The stage used for the auditions was a different school.
The big Wildcats sign in the cafeteria is the same one you see the gym.
Vanessa's food was glued to her tray in the cafeteria dance scene.
They tried to find a skateboarder who played cello but couldn't find one.
The garden on top of the school was created for the movie. They used a crane to get the plants up there.
A big storm came right when Zac and Vanessa were filming and they had to run downstairs.
Gabriella's sweater didn't come with sparkles on it so the costume designer took it to a "sparkle expert" in Hollywood who adds sparkles to clothes for famous musicials, dancers, and ice skaters!
Lucas used 9 hats during the movie.
The large poster of Zac on the wall was only used for Vanessa's solo scene and then put away.
The first scene filmed was when Corbin and Monique are outside the school trying to to act like spies.
The last scene filmed was when Zac snuck up onto Vanessa's balcony and sang 'The Start of Something New' alone to her. She and Zac where the only 2 actors left and she started crying for real.
The houses used for Gabriela and Troy in the movie were just a couple of houses apart.
Lucas' hats in the movie were bought at a cool clothing store in Utah.
The ski lodge used at the beginning is not a lodge but a nice building in Midway, Utah.
The opening scene is supposed to take place about midnight in the movie but was really filmed in the daytime.
There was no real snow outside during the filming because it was really August. The snow was made out of falling potato flakes.
Ms. Darbus' glasses were actually huge sunglasses but they replaced the lenses.
Zac Efron was born on October 18th in San Luis Obispo, California.
The stage used for the auditions was a different school.
The big Wildcats sign in the cafeteria is the same one you see the gym.
Vanessa's food was glued to her tray in the cafeteria dance scene.
They tried to find a skateboarder who played cello but couldn't find one.
The garden on top of the school was created for the movie. They used a crane to get the plants up there.
A big storm came right when Zac and Vanessa were filming and they had to run downstairs.
Gabriella's sweater didn't come with sparkles on it so the costume designer took it to a "sparkle expert" in Hollywood who adds sparkles to clothes for famous musicials, dancers, and ice skaters!
Lucas used 9 hats during the movie.
The large poster of Zac on the wall was only used for Vanessa's solo scene and then put away.
The first scene filmed was when Corbin and Monique are outside the school trying to to act like spies.
The last scene filmed was when Zac snuck up onto Vanessa's balcony and sang 'The Start of Something New' alone to her. She and Zac where the only 2 actors left and she started crying for real.
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
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