Brent Simon - FishbowlLA

Latest LAFCA President Stephen Farber Settling In

Richard Horgan — Mon, 17 Sep 2012 12:45:48 +0000

In addition to his duties as an author and freelance film writer, Stephen Farber has a new gig: president of the Los Angeles Film Critics Assocation (LAFCA). He took over in late July from Brent Simon and tells FishbowlLA he has just begun working on the logistics of the group’s annual awards dinner.

Farber recently wrote a quartet of reviews for The Hollywood Reporter from Telluride and says that by year’s end, he will have written somewhere between two and three dozen critiques for the publication. He also contributes interviews and critical essays to outlets such as The Daily Beast and the LA Times.

“As an example, I did a piece for The Daily Beast before The Artist won Best Picture,” Farber recalls. “I was writing that if it did win, it would be the first time that a movie about movies or about Hollywood had won that prize, even though many such pictures have been made and, in some cases, been nominated.”

A problem in recent years with the Oscars telecast is that the winning performers have previously won the same prize at several other major awards shows, rendering their acceptances speeches moot. For example, Lincoln’s Daniel Day-Lewis could possibly run the table in 2012.

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

The Problem with Crowd-Sourced Criticism

Matthew Fleischer — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:36:04 +0000

Los Angeles Film Critics Association President Brent Simon nicely illustrates the downside of crowd-sourced film criticism in today’s tweet o’ the day. Nicely done, sir.

Something tells us said-UPS guy is probably a Yelper too. The one who inexplicably gave Luscious Dumplings one star. A borderline criminal offense.

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.

LAFCA President Simon Says: Inception Not on my Top Ten

Richard Horgan — Mon, 18 Oct 2010 15:20:14 +0000

On Sunday, October 24th, members of the Los Angeles Film Critics Association will gather to decide who is going to receive their 2010 Career Achievement award. As with all matters involving LAFCA, the man at the helm of the proceedings will be President Brent Simon, truly one of the nicest-guy film critics out there.

Because LAFCA has had a history with this award and others of thinking outside the publicist box – past Career kudos for example have gone to editor Dede Allen, cinematographer Conrad Hall, executive John Calley and French actor Jean-Paul Belmondo – they are fairly impervious to the full-court PR press. But that doesn’t mean it won’t get heated this coming weekend.

“We frequently have around two dozen Career candidates,” reveals Simon via e-mail interview with FishbowlLA. “Any member who nominates an individual speaks for a bit about their reasoning, and we typically have at least eight to ten solid candidates who garner the majority of the vote. Sometimes, candidates make strong showings several years in a row before being selected. Other times, they remain perennial bridesmaids.”

continued…

New Career Opportunities Daily: The best jobs in media.