Nominee reaction: Thelma Schoonmaker

For "Hugo" editor Thelma Schoonmaker, Martin Scorsese resurrecting the story of George Melies was similar to the preservation work Scorsese has done on pics by her late husband Michael Powell.Schoonmaker recalled that her husband once wrote that because of Scorsese, " 'The blood started to flow in my veins again.' It's the same story with George Melies."Although she has three Oscar wins already, Schoonmaker said her nom this time around is even more of an honor because "the film is such a celebration of the things that taught us how to be filmmakers." Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Steady pace of deals as Sundance bows

Actress Emily Blunt leaves the Getty portrait studio in Park City as shes blanketed by snow and a flurry of fans.The Queen of Versailles In the Sundance Film Festival's opening weekend, deals and offers have blanketed the event, though no one is expecting a blizzard of activity equal to last year's. Buyers tell Variety that while deals are getting done, last year's feeding frenzy has given way to caution.The first deal was struck Friday, when Sony Pictures Classics bought North American rights to "Searching for Sugar Man," a documentary about unsung 1960s music phenom Rodriguez.The three most well-received pics thus far -- "Beasts of the Southern Wild," "Compliance" and "Robot and Frank" -- were still up for grabs, with a feverish scramble under way for "Beasts." WME Global is selling the story of a 6-year-old girl named Hushpuppy who lives in a southern Delta community during quasi-apocalyptic events that cause the seas to rise. Critics, bloggers and audiences were sparking to the magical-realist pic, and as of Sunday afternoon, there were still several buyers in the mix, with Fox Searchlight looking like the strongest contender."I'm pretty optimistic. We're getting great response to our films and figuring out deals with the right partners quickly," said Submarine Entertainment's Josh Braun, who has already sold three films. "Talking to buyers and other reps, it feels like a pressure cooker about to blow. There are a ton of films buyers are interested in, but most are waiting for the right price. I would predict a lot of deals in the next 48 hours."Other early fest pickups included the following: "Black Rock," the thriller on which David Dinerstein and Mickey Liddell's LD Distribution was finishing up a North American theatrical distrib deal for something close to seven figures; "The Words," the Bradley Cooper-Zoe Saldana drama that screened for buyers ahead of its closing-night preem and attracted a sight-unseen offer from Open Road, which eventually lost out to CBS Films' $2 million upfront and $1.5 million P&A commitment offer during an all-night negotiation; "The Queen of Versailles," the docu about a Florida real-estate mogul who sets out to build his family the largest house in the U.S. (and is suing the filmmakers and the Sundance Institute for characterizing him as broke); Magnolia Pictures picked up all North American rights.Other big premieres at the Eccles Theater included Friday night's "Red Lights," whose producers are entertaining three separate offers and expecting others. The psychological thriller stars Cillian Murphy, last year's Sundance it-girl Elizabeth Olsen (who's also here with "Liberal Arts"), Sigourney Weaver and Robert De Niro, who returns to the fest for the first time since "What Just Happened" four years ago.Major studios haven't yet been in the buying mix, though bizzers tell Variety that more than one is showing interest in "Filly Brown," the "Hustle and Flow"-esque story of a young hip-hop artist starring Gina Rodriguez."I think buyers are hungry for product but looking to make the right deal," one studio buyer told Variety. "Everything that has sold has had multiple offers, which shows that it's an active market -- but distribs are cautious after big acquisitions last year did not perform."A steady snowfall gummed up the roads and slowed Sundance shuttles to an agonizing crawl -- but was a welcome relief for locals, many of whom said they'd been waiting all year for snow.Tough economic times and deep, slushy snow couldn't dampen the vibrant party scene, as festivalgoers shivered outside dozens of Main Street bashes on the fest's opening weekend. The official Sundance kickoff party Thursday night at Legacy Lodge at the foot of the mountain drew a line several hundred people deep, though the industry crowd stayed away, opting instead for intimate filmmaker dinners, private affairs and, much later into the night, Tao, where stars ranging from Chris Hemsworth to Mary J. Blige made the pulsating scene.A heavy industry crowd turned out Saturday night at the Bing Bar on Main to see rapper Drake do a five-song set that threw the room into a gyrating frenzy -- despite being almost two hours later than expected."Imagine that, the rapper is late," said Aziz Ansari, who did a short standup to introduce the hip-hop star.Besides "Beasts of the Southern Wild," easily the most admired film of the fest so far, early buzz awards went to "Robot and Frank," starring Frank Langella as a curmudgeonly retiree whose children buy him a caretaker robot; and "Compliance," the based-on-a-true-story tale of a man who calls fast-food restaurants posing as a cop to accuse employees of stealing.As far as the rest of the fest -- with more deep snow in the forecast -- bizzers and auds were looking most forward to Spike Lee's "Red Hook Summer," which unspools Sunday night; the young alcoholics drama "Smashed," starring Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul and Octavia Spencer, which also preeems Sunday; and "Bachelorette," the wedding-centric comedy by Leslye Headland that opens Monday at the Eccles. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Beyonce Repetition States Entertainers First Interview Since Pregnancy Is Completely Composed, Magazine Stands By Story

First Launched: The month of the month of january 17, 2012 6:55 PM EST Credit: WireImage Caption Beyonce hosts the screening of Live at Roseland: Sun And Rain of 4 within the Paris Theatre, NY City, on November 20, 2011LOS ANGELES, Calif. -- Beyonce did not give the interview to British gossip magazine Star, in regards to the birth of her baby, Blue Ivy, a repetition for your celebrity told Access Hollywood. Despite the fact that British publication was broadly stated on the internet on Tuesday, in colaboration with quotes about motherhood credited for the new mother, her repetition demands it's not an authentic interview. Completely composed, the repetition told Access. When asked for once the interview was legitimate, the repetition responded, certainly not. However, when showed up at by Access Hollywood on Tuesday, an editor for your magazine mentioned the publication stands by their story. It isn't composed or pretend whatsoever. We bought the interview in the reporter inside the U.S. who completed the interview with Beyonce just before the birth. The reporter then acquired the most effective-up info following a birth, which we're feeling to own been signed served by a woman on her behalf account LSM team, the Star Uk editor told Access Hollywood. Star UKs online article could not make any reference to the two interviews one before then one after getting happened. The headline round the story online reads, Beyonce WORLD EXCLUSIVE first interview and Beyonce unveils to Star how she felt following giving birth to Blue Ivy. Really, the initial kind of the story appears to suggest the quotes came from in one interview following a birth of Blue Ivy. Speaking exclusively to Star in their first interview since getting an infant, Beyonce Knowles told us she'd an instantaneous mention of the her daughter Blue Ivy, the information states. Beyonce and husband Jay-Z are actually infamously private regarding personal lives, rarely speaking about their particular relationship in public areas. The singer was several several days pregnant before she broke what is the news herself about her impending arrival finally falls MTV Video Music Honours. Copyright 2012 by NBC Universal, Corporation. All rights reserved. These elements is probably not launched, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

'Magic/Bird' snags Longacre

Incoming basketball bio play "Miracle/Bird" has slam-dunked its just right Broadway, nabbing the Longacre Theater to have an April opening. Production also offers arranged a cast which includes Peter Scolari, Off Broadway vet Deirdre O'Connell, Take advantage of Ray Manning Junior. and Francois Battiste, showing up alongside formerly introduced topliners Kevin Daniels and Tug Coker. "Miracle/Bird" pounces around the Rialto vacancy left by "Chinglish," whose producers introduced its closing the 2009 week. Show verifies its slot inside a new play selection this year which includes "Seminar," "Venus in Fur," "Stick Fly," "The Mountaintop" and approaching excursions "The Writer" and "One Guy, Two Guvnors." Story of "Miracle/Bird" follows the hoops competition of Miracle Manley and Ray Bird, having a script developed from interviews using the two gamers. Show may be the second sports-centric stage outing from producers Fran Kirmser and Tony Ponturo, who mounted pigskin play "Lombardi" last season. "Miracle/Bird" reunites the creative team of this show, including author Eric Simonson and helmer Thomas Kail ("Within the Levels"). "Miracle/Bird" starts previews March 21 in front of an April 11 opening in the Longacre. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

'Young Adult,' 'I, Anna' to unspool in Berlinale Special

BERLIN -- Jason Reitman's "Youthful Adult" and Barnaby Southcombe's "I, Anna" are the latest worldwide photos selected with this particular year's Berlin Film Festival. "Youthful Adult," with Charlize Theron and Patton Oswalt, and "I, Anna," a noir thriller starring Charlotte now now Rampling, Gabriel Byrne and Hayley Atwell that got a substantial increase in the fest's Co-production Market this season, will screen incorporated within the Berlinale Special sidebar. Also unspooling inside the section is Doris Doerrie's "Bliss," an appreciation story with various short story by best-selling author and Berlin defense attorney Ferdinand von Schirach that follows a young prostitute and her punk boyfriend abroad. The Berlinale Special is featuring 18 features and documentaries, including U.S. records "Alongside,Inch by Chris Kenneally, and Alison Klayman's "Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry." Also showing are Bassam Mortada's Egyptian doc "Verifying A Revolution" Nederlander helmer Klaartje Quirijns' "Anton Corbijn ThoroughlyInch and Alvaro Longoria's The the spanish language language doc "Sons in the Clouds, the ultimate Colony." To celebrate the 60th anniversary of French film journal Positif, the Berlinale Special may even present Volker Schloendorff's 1975 drama "Coup p sophistication" and many types of 15 hourlong cases of Mark Cousins' documentary "The Story of Film: An Journey." The sidebar may even unspool Ulrike Schamoni's docu "Farewell for the Frogs" in recognition in the 50th anniversary in the Oberhausen Manifesto that introduced in the new trend in German film. Additional screeners add a restored version of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 1943 British drama "The Existence and Dying of Colonel Blimp." Incorporated in Berlinale Retrospective, the Berlinale Special may even unspool a lately restored version of Sergei Eisenstein's 1928 Soviet classic "October," supported with the Berlin Radio Symphony Orchestra undertaking the first score by Edmund Meisel. This Year's Retrospective, named The Red-colored-colored Dream Factory, examines early Soviet socialist cinema. Meanwhile, the Berlinale's Co-production Market will showcase 39 projects including three within the Rotterdam-Berlinale Express initiative with Rotterdam's CineMart and 11 within the Berlinale's Talent Campus program. The producers and company company directors in the projects, which range in budget between $1.25 million and $9 million, will see having a couple of 450 potential co-production and financing partners. The Berlin Film Festival runs Feb. 9-19. Contact Erection dysfunction Meza at staff@variety.com

'Porgy' can get an unlikely Spike

Suzan-Lori Parks along with her Bess, Audra McDonald A debate fomented by Stephen Sondheim couldn't stop "The Gershwins' Porgy and Bess" from opening on Broadway. Reviews the very next day were all over the map, but Thursday's opening evening crowd within the Richard Rodgers Theater gave it a hearty thumbs-up. Including some aud people that are infamously demanding.Consider Spike Lee, one of the well-wishers to congratulate scribe Suzan-Lori Parks, who written the show's new book."Spike wants it!Inch she cried happily right after their intermission tete-a-tete. "I written a film for him" -- that'd function as 1996 pic "Girl 6" -- "which he never just states he wants it!Inch