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Why are there so few seniors in Hollywood movies? An insider view

aadmin — Thu, 27 Jun 2013 16:29:29 +0000

Just over one year ago, in May 2012, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel was released in theatres in North America. The movie, starring iconic older British actors such as Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, and Tom Wilkinson, featured a group of British seniors spending their retirement years at a resort hotel in the Indian city of Jaipur.

And although the movie was both a critical and box office success, bringing in more than $130 million dollars (US), movies with a senior cast and catering predominantly to older people are rare sights in today’s entertainment industry, according to prolific Hollywood producer Adam Leipzig.

In a conversation with RetirementHomes.com, Leipzig – producer of the American version of March of the Penguins and currently CEO of Entertainment Media Partners in Los Angeles – said that big-budget Hollywood movies tend to shy away from senior-focused movies, partly because many executives don’t believe they are as profitable.

“Studios do not make movies for this demographic, because the majority of execs are 20 years younger, and they just don’t think it’s cool,” Leipzig said. “They also think seniors don’t do as well when it comes to word of mouth.”

And although social media – one of the most widespread ways word of mouth is spread today – is used less among seniors than their younger counterparts, Leipzig said seniors have proven themselves to be very effective at sharing their positive views of movies to friends and family.

“Even though it’s not on social media, seniors spread the word the way word of mouth had always been spread until technology started changing it 20 years ago,” Leipzig said.

Joe Boyd, an Ohio-based movie director, created one upcoming drama comedy film, 'A Strange Brand of Happy,' scheduled for release in September, that prominently features a group of seniors, one of them acted by Oscar winner Shirley Jones, and he concurred with Leipzig that the biggest obstacle to senior-targeted Hollywood movies is a matter of economics.

“Every day is a box office gamble, but the best and most experienced actors we have are the ones who have been doing it for a while,” Boyd said. “But for things to change, the studios are going to need to see that it’s marketable to have seniors play leading roles,” he said.

And while Boyd agreed with Leipzig that seniors’ under-representation on social media is, in the eyes of movie studios, a limiting factor to their social reach, Boyd said he is convinced that as North America’s population grows older and more tech-savvy, and as social media becomes more ubiquitous , moviegoers in Canada and the United States may expect to see more seniors in Hollywood productions in the near future.

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SuperBowl ad featuring seniors goes viral

aadmin — Thu, 31 Jan 2013 15:18:30 +0000

Super Bowl is coming up this weekend, on Sunday, February 3 in New Orleans, Louisiana. In addition to the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers squaring off, one of the highlights of the game will be the commercials, priced at around $4 million for a 30-second spot.

Even before the first kickoff, one commercial is already making rounds on the Internet, according to a recent article on AdWeek.com.

The 60-second commercial, produced for fast-food eatery Taco Bell and posted to YouTube, follows Bernie Goldblatt, a senior resident of an assisted living community, pulling an all-nighter with his elderly friends, as they pull pranks, attend a rave, get tattoos, and then enjoy Taco Bell before returning to their assisted living community. In the background plays a Spanish version of the pop song, ‘We Are Young.’

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=KvxZcULxfKw

“There's a common misconception that to appeal to millennials you have to show millennials,” Mike Sheldon of advertising agency Deutsch LA, which produced the ad. “The reality is to appeal to them you simply need to entertain and engage them,” he said.

The YouTube clip has already garnered more than 200,000 views, and that number is sure to jump dramatically in the coming days as it is shown during SuperBowl XLVII.

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Dustin Hoffman Makes Directorial Debut with "Quartet"

aadmin — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 19:45:33 +0000

Quartet, about four opera singers in a retirement home for performers, will be released in theaters to the public on December 28. It will be Dustin Hoffman’s directorial debut, an appropriately sweet achievement for the 75-year-old American actor.

The film features Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Billy Connolly, Pauline Collins and Tom Courtenay as retired opera stars. Retired musicians and accomplished stars are employed by Hoffman to serve as the other residents in the retirement home, including Grammy-winning opera singers and a former conductor of the London symphony.

The movie's main characters reminisce about past rivalries, love affairs and good times and their aging lives at the English countryside Beecham House. A Christmas opera is created as a benefit gala to financially save the old-age home from closing.

The script is by Oscar-winning screenwriter, Ronald Harwood - The Dresser, The Pianist - and is based on his stage play of the same title.

Variety wrote about Quartet: "An ebullient encore not only for its central foursome - Tom Courtenay, Pauline Collins, Billy Connolly and Maggie Smith - but also for the distinguished musicians who comprise the rest of the ensemble, Quartet shows retirement hasn't diluted the drama one bit."

Quartet should become a staple at assisted living and continuing care residences.

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85 year-old Sushi Master Dreams of Perfection

aadmin — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 15:43:33 +0000

If you love all things Japanese, especially Japanese food, and in particular sushi, then you would enjoy the documentary, Jiro Dreams of Sushi. It's an hour and a half long, and worth the watch for sushi lovers.

The film features 85 year-old Jiro Ono who is considered to be one of the world's greatest sushi chefs. He is the owner of Sukiyabashi Jiro, a 10-seat, sushi-only restaurant in Tokyo's Ginza metro subway station. A meal at Jiro's restaurant would cost 370 dollars in the USA, reports SeniorsAloud. Plus, reservations are difficult and expect a long wait. Remember, Sukiyabashi has only 10-seats.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi, directed by David Gelb received an enthusiastic write-up by The New Yorker's Silvia Killingsworth. She described a meal at Sukiyabashi Jiro consisting of twenty pieces of sushi served one at a time. The meal lasts about fifteen or twenty minutes. There are definitely no California rolls.

Killingsworth writes that Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a gorgeously shot documentary by director Gelb. Ono has been making sushi since 1939 when he left home at the age of nine. Japan has declared him a national treasure, but the 85 year-old says, “all I want to do is make better sushi.”

Jiro's older son, Yoshikazu, goes to great length to bicycle to the fish market and to bid for the best catch of the day. His father's rice is revered by foodies for being expertly cooked, fanned, vinegared, and maintained at the perfect temperature, writes Killingsworth. When the sushi is served it must be consumed right away; hence, the fleeting nature of the meal.

This 85 year-old sushi master deserves a wide audience in Jiro Dreams of Sushi.

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Famous Play about Elderly is Revived on London Stage

aadmin — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 15:40:43 +0000

There's not much drama about older people or about the inevitability of death. One exception is Samuel Beckett, a Dubliner who spent most of his writing life in Paris. He gain literary fame for 'Waiting for Godot' and won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969.

His play, All That Fall, about the relationship between an older man and woman opened recently on London’s Jermyn Street Theatre.

Beckett’s play was written for radio and broadcast by the BBC in 1957. This performance is the first time Beckett’s estate has permitted it to be shown onstage, according to The Week with The First Post.

The play showcases actors Maddy, an elderly woman going to meet her blind husband Dan at the train station after work. Returning home, Maddy begins to suspect that Dan may have committed a terrible crime.

The critics have giving thumbs up to the production. One reviewer praised the production of Beckett’s most Irish and accessible play, writing about the old man: the actor conveys "the tetchiness, sadness and sorrow, as well as occasional bawdiness of old age", without diminishing our laughter. "Beckett at his most beguiling."

Charles Spencer in The Daily Telegraph, wrote that the performance "mingles comic relief with moments of desperate grief". Another critic noted that the play was soporifically slow at times, "yet it's a worthy relic that we are unlikely to see staged again".

Theatrical productions are favorites at Assisted Living and Continuing Care Residences.

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Books and Movies

See How You Can Direct a Movie about Seniors

aadmin — Thu, 13 Sep 2012 15:02:22 +0000

Who wants to see a movie about grumpy old people when there's so much glamorous fare to check out? The Dark Knight Rises, The Avengers, The Hunger Games, share alot in common - high action, beautiful young actors and actresses & lots of special effects.

And not one person over 50!

But writer-director Taylor Guterson of Seattle suburb, Issaquah, Washington has shown how easy it is to direct meaningful movie about older adults with the release of 'Old Goats'. After last year's debut at the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), the film officially opened at Seattle’s SIFF Cinema Uptown.

Guterson's formula about senior-related movies is a template for other filmmakers .

Keep the audience wide. The film needs a cross-generational appeal

The Issaquah Press quoted Carl Spence, artistic director of SIFF: “You’d expect this film to be for everyone who’s over 50, maybe closer to 60 or 70, but in many ways it’s a film for everyone,”

Keep the budget low

Guterson's 'Old Goats' was his premier film and he wanted to keep expectations in check. He knew the movie had potential, but he also needed to maintain low financial risks. He found the subject of the elderly to be personally rewarding but he was unsure about the response of a large audience.

Find actors to work free of charge

Actors Britton Crosley, Bob Burkholder and David VanderWal had worked previously with Guterson and delivered their skills for nothing, hoping for free publicity.

Offer an authentic perspective on aging

The Issaquah Press quoted Spence: "Director Taylor Guterson really found a way to shape and direct these characters into something that I think people will see themselves in and laugh with rather than laugh at.”

Avoided clichés about elderly characters pining for their lost youth

Guterson told the news source that he took a detour around the plethora of movies that present older people returning to their youth. The director said ‘Old Goats’ is about celebrating age. "You don’t have to return to youth. You can still have fun,” said Guterson.

Keep the story upbeat

Guterson says the movie stayed away from being a dark or depressing story. "It doesn’t deal with a lot of the stereotypes,” he said.

Guterson’s father is David Guterson, author of “Snow Falling on Cedars”, a 1994 bestselling novel, set in Puget Sound, Washington. The younger Guterson attended the Film Department at the University of Washington. He is from Bainbridge Island, Washington.

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The Woman Who Lived to be 150

aadmin — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 13:29:23 +0000

Katie Bonner, 75, isn't aging like her contemporaries. What can be her secret? Her new, young physician, Dr. Christian Bardo, dedicates his career to finding out.

His books about her reveal that Katie and he have been the love of each other’s lives despite the fifty years age difference between them.

In 2085, Katie is at last dying. Her beloved granddaughter Emma is at her side, determined that her Ga’s DNA will not fall into unscrupulous hands…

THE WOMAN WHO LIVED TO BE 150 is a new Amazon Kindle release. It can be downloaded for the introductory price of $2.99 at www.amazon.com/dp/B008F7YN2G.

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Retirement in India leads to laughs

aadmin — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:15:16 +0000

Imagine you’re online and you discover an exotic retirement community in India. It’s affordable, beautiful, and achievable. But when you get there, it’s not quite what you expected.

That is the plot of a recently-released British comedy/drama movie, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, which tells the story of a group of seven retirees, enticed by a glossy website and brochure, decide to retire at an Indian retirement home, only finding that it’s not nearly as luxurious as they were led to believe.

According to a review in the San Francisco Chronicle, each of the retirees has a separate story and background in the film, and their characters develop as the movie progresses, from a maid looking for a cheap hip replacement to an aging couple looking for a different kind of experience.
The film features celebrated actors such as Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Tom Wilkinson, and Indian actor Dev Patel, who rose to fame when he appeared in ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’

The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is based on a 2004 book, These Foolish Things.

In North America, there are plenty of retirement communities, ranging from assisted living to Alzheimer’s Care, which are as luxurious as their advertisements claim.

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Eight cheap (or free) retirement hobbies

aadmin — Tue, 17 Apr 2012 17:02:37 +0000

Money is a big worry for many Baby Boomers and seniors. Many people are worried that during retirement, when there’s no regular paycheque, lifestyles are bound to change. There might be less money for dining out, travel and other luxuries, and depression could set in.

But there are plenty of ways for seniors and retirees to be entertained, even on a tight budget, or no budget at all.

Here are 8 cheap hobbies seniors can take advantage of in retirement, courtesy of the San Francisco Chronicle:

1/ Photography- Whether it’s nature or architectural or anything else, photography is a fun option.

2/ Genealogy- Using the internet or local library, consider researching your family history.

3/ Writing and reading- If you enjoy reading, make it a bigger part of your day, and if you enjoy writing, consider spending time doing that too.

4/ Yoga- Healthy living is important for seniors, so Yoga, Pilates or even meditation might be for you.

5/ Arts and Crafts- Look online for local offerings, including at your local library or in a crafts store.

6/ Sports- Did you enjoy any sports during your childhood or adulthood? There might be senior leagues you might enjoy.

7/ Games- Playing games and puzzles is excellent at strengthening the brain. Board games can be inexpensive, but a good investment.

8/ Volunteering- Spend some time with others, whether it’s at a soup kitchen, the Cancer Society, or even just helping people in need.

Any of these hobbies can be taken advantage of by seniors across North America, whether they live at home, with adult children, or even at an assisted living or Alzheimer’s Care community.

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Group of grandmothers see midnight opening of Hunger Games

aadmin — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 12:45:14 +0000

The Hunger Games just arrived in theaters, and the movie is projected to be one of the biggest Hollywood successes in history. It grossed over $150 million in its opening weekend, the third best weekend ever.

But it’s not just teenagers who are seeing the movie: seniors are going too.

As reported recently in the Salisbury Post, at the midnight premiere at the Gem Theatre in Kannapolis, North Carolina, near Charlotte, a group of grandmothers were among the first people in North America to see the film.

Kathy Cornell, one of the seniors at the screening, told the news source that she enjoyed the movie, but that simply going to a midnight premiere was a first for her.

“I’ve never been to one, and I’ve always wanted to,” she said.

Cornell isn’t just a bandwagon fan; she has read two of the three books in the Hunger Games trilogy, and plans to complete the series soon. She told the media outlet that the movie was a good representation of the books, and the audience at the Gem Theatre was enthusiastic and participatory in watching the film.

Maybe next there will be movie screenings in assisted living and Alzheimer’s Care communities.

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