Showing posts with label California. Show all posts
Showing posts with label California. Show all posts

Sunday, March 10, 2019

The Illusionist - A Glimpse of Magic in Turn-of-the-Century Vienna



A seasoned freelance production accountant, Kelli Gillam has worked on several high profile film productions. Crash, The Matador, and The Illusionist are among the movies with which Kelli Gillam has been involved as a tax incentive accountant.

Released in 2006, the latter movie creates a believable early 20th-century milieu for the fabulist tale of Eisenheim (Edward Norton), a magician who astounds Viennese audiences with feats involving the summoning of supernatural forces.

Filmed in Prague by Neil Burger, the movie features a main character whom The New York Times called a model of “disturbing inscrutability.” Rather than try to astound the viewer with larger-than-life tricks, the director focuses on “aesthetic elegance” and does not rely on the obvious digital embellishments of many Hollywood movies on the theme of magic.

Featuring old-fashioned storytelling and a haunted romantic spark between the characters played by Edward Norton and Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti augments the intensity in his role as Chief Inspector Uhl. An official in the pay of the violent and jealous Crown Prince Leopold, the officer has been commanded to discover the secret of Eisenheim, who has declared in public that he can make the Prince disappear.

Monday, March 4, 2019

Monterey County’s Varied, Temperate Climate Wines


A seasoned California-based accountant, Kelli Gillam, CPA, has informed tax incentive strategies for various entertainment productions, including feature films. Passionate about wine, Kelli Gillam has also sold quality wines from around the world as the erstwhile owner of Terranova Fine Wines in Monterey.

Less well known than Napa Valley farther north, the Central Coast offers several exceptional wines, with 40,000 acres of vineyards planted across Monterey County. The highlight of the region is the Santa Lucia Highlands, which includes top-tier vineyards such as Mer Soleil, Morgan, Pisoni, and ROAR.

The Monterey AVA also encompasses the Carmel Valley and Salinas Valley, which are rich in loamy soils and enjoy a relatively cool climate, thanks to their proximity to the coast. The climate is typically in the 65-degree range and avoids the extremes of daytime heat and nighttime cold of areas farther inland. This makes the region ideal for pinot noir and other grapes with thin, delicate skins susceptible to wilting.

Tuesday, November 20, 2018

Notable Academy Award Wins for Crash in 2006


Kelli Gillam holds degrees in accounting and business taxation from Pepperdine University and the University of Southern California, respectively. Since 1993, she has worked as a freelance production accountant in Culver City, California. In that time, Kelli Gillam has functioned in an accounting role for various Hollywood productions, including Crash.

Crash is a 2004 film directed by Paul Haggis and written by Haggis and Bobby Moresco. The film, which chronicles the interweaving lives of a diverse cast of characters in a socially tense Los Angeles, received a number of award nominations and victories, most notably at the 78th Academy Awards. Haggis and Moresco won the award for Best Writing, Original Screenplay, while Hughes Winborne was recognized with the award for Best Achievement in Film Editing. Furthermore, Crash beat out the likes of Brokeback Mountain and Capote for the ceremony’s most prestigious award, Best Picture.

Additional nominations included Matt Dillon for Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role and Haggis for Best Achievement in Directing. Crash also received a nomination in the Original Song category for “In the Deep” by Michael Becker and Kathleen York.

Tuesday, July 10, 2018

Terranova Fine Wines


A freelance production accountant in Culver City, California, Kelli Gillam has more than two decades of accounting experience in multiple fields. From 2010 to 2014, Kelli Gillam owned Terranova Fine Wines, a wine shop in Monterey, California. 

With 30 wines distributed through a state-of-the-art self-service pouring system, Terranova Fine Wines sold wine in amounts of 1, 3, and 5 ounces. The shop also offered wine tastings for a minimal charge that the bar subsequently waived with purchase of any bottle. 

Terranova’s wine selection, chosen by manager Jeff Alexander, emphasized boutique brands from California. Beer drinkers could choose from bottled beers that included popular imports such as Chimay and domestic favorites such as Shock Top.

Terranova featured three flat screen televisions and comfortable padded chairs for customers to spend time and relax. Through a partnership with the neighboring restaurant Lallapalooza, patrons could also order food that ranged from seared ahi to pizza.

Friday, July 6, 2018

Jurassic Park Film Franchise Box Office Overview


Kelli Gillam has worked in and around Culver City, California, as a freelance production assistant since 1993. During her time in this position, Kelli Gillam has worked on several major motion pictures, such as Jurassic Park III and Hulk.

The Jurassic Park film franchise was launched in 1993 with Jurassic Park, adapted from the Michael Crichton novel of the same name. Directed by Steven Spielberg, the film was a major box office success, generating more than $1 billion around the world. The film has been re-released in theaters on several occasions, including a 3D version. The financial success of the original Jurassic Park led to the sequel, The Lost World, in 1997. Though less successful than its predecessor, The Lost World still managed to gross nearly $620 million.

Jurassic Park III concluded the original trilogy of films in 2001, but a 2015 franchise reboot saw the Jurassic Park series of films ascend to new heights. Starring Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, Jurassic World made $652 million in the United States alone, while setting a franchise box office record with $1.67 billion. To date, all four films combined have grossed close to $3.7 billion.