ICYMI: SSN’s Top Stories For 8/11 – 8/15/14

Go Hunting for Your Next Franchise at These 8 Treasured Indie LA Bookstores

Whether you’re a development exec, writer, director, producer, or agent, these brick-and-mortar gems are worth frequenting to jumpstart your creative juices and are treasure troves for those in the film and TV industry. SSN brings you eight of our favorite indie bookstores. Your next project awaits! (SSN)

LA’s Top Indie Bookstores Reveal the Hidden Gems, Trends & Adaptation-Worthy Titles

SSN looks at some of the bestsellers, trends, and hidden gems with cinematic potential, recommended by those who know best—the booksellers, owners, and mangers who are on the floor with the public. Several booksellers and managers tell SSN what’s trending, which titles are perennial best sellers, and what obscure finds they think are worthy of adaptation. (SSN)

SSN Awards Watch: Why the Press was Moved to Applause at the 'Whiplash' Screening

It’s never too early to predict the year’s awards contenders as films like Boyhood, Mr. Turner, Foxcatcher, and The Grand Budapest Hotel have moved audiences and critics alike to declare them early awards season sure –things. Now, Chazelle’s first feature, Whiplash, which ran at a recent press screening, inspired a room full of critics to spontaneously burst into applause at the end – SSN’s writer included. More here (SSN)

As Batman V. Superman Flies to Theaters March 25, How Have Other Film Release Shifts Panned Out?

While it’s not great to take a hit for a date shift, it’s monumentally worse to release a movie that’s half-baked. In addition, studios are changing the rules of opening certain types of films in a season to a year-around affair that’s a no-rules gambit. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. SSN analyzes some recent movie shifts and whether it was a smart move or not, from The Monuments Men to Maleficent. (SSN)

Summer Snapshot: Are Movies Getting the Audience They Deserve?

Yes, plenty of movies earn hundreds of millions (or even billions) of dollars despite being universally reviled but, increasingly, summer movies strive to be more than the mindless drivel we’ve grown accustomed to seeing, and are being rewarded for it. SSN takes a look here (SSN)