Film Buffs United Leeds Endeavours Follow on Twitter

Are you a film fanatic? Here at United Leeds Endeavours we are. As we specialise in direct sales for the film and entertainment industries we’re serious about keeping up to date with all the news, gossip and reviews that are coming out of the film world. Here are our top 5 film critics to follow on Twitter if you want to stay ahead of the game.

1. Erik Davis @erikdavis

Who are they? Erik is the editor-in-chief at Cinematical.com

Why follow them? He’s a massive fan himself and these come across in his tweets. But don’t worry he knows his stuff too.

2. Eugene Hernandez @eug

Who are they? Editor-in-chief at indieWIRE

Why follow them? Eugene is absolutely the best person to follow for those of you who want to keep abreast of the indie film scene.

3. Karina Longworth @karinalongworth

Who are they? Karina is a film writer for LA Weekly

Why follow them? Her reviews are off the cuff and the personal anecdotes that she adds in are very very funny.

4. Nikki Finke @NikkiFinke

Who are they? Founder of Deadline Hollywood

Why follow them? She is nearly always the first with any industry scoop. Want up to the minute film news? Follow her now!

5. Peter Sciretta @slashfilm

Who are they? Editor-in-chief of SlashFilm

Why follow them? Peter is one of the best connected people in the film-making world. He always gets first access to new clips and posts them on his twitter. If you want to see the real deal first, he’s your man.

United Leeds Endeavours Looks at Yorkshire’s Olympic Success

United Leeds Endeavours takes a look at the incredible display by Yorkshire’s athletes at the London 2012 Olympics.

Much has been made of the incredible success of Team GB’s athletes. With 29 gold medals, 17 silver medals, and 19 bronze medals the British team achieved their highest ever medal tally of 65. United Leeds Endeavours, a direct sales and marketing company based in Leeds city centre looks at the fantastic statistics and shares why they think the county is so successful.

Whether you look at the most gold medals, or the total number of medals Team GB came in either 3^rd or 4^th. Both statistics make for fantastic reading. The team at United Leeds Endeavours will be resting their voices for the next few days to recover from all the cheering and shouting that they have done for their local athletes. A lot has been made of the fact that Yorkshire has been so successful. United Leeds Endeavours has pulled together some of their favourite statistics to share with you.

Yorkshire has finished the Olympics with seven gold medals, two silver and three bonzes which would put it in twelfth place in the final medals table if it were an independent country. That means the county beat Jamaica, Spain, South Africa and Brazil!

The gold medal winners were

Nicola Adams, boxing, Leeds

Jessica Ennis, heptathlon, Sheffield

Alistair Brownlee, triathlon, Horsforth

Ed Clancy, cycling, Huddersfield

Andy Triggs-Hodge, rowing, Yorkshire Dales

Kat Copeland, rowing, North Yorkshire

Luke Campbell, boxing, Hull.

United Leeds Endeavours are already enjoying the lasting legacy being left behind by their medal winners. “We’ve loved watching the special postboxes springing up around the place over the last few weeks as Royal Mail have honoured the gold medal winners by painting a postbox gold in their hometown. What a fantastic tribute, something that the whole community will be able to treasure and take pride in.”

So why does United Leeds Endeavours think that Yorkshire has been so successful? “There are so many reasons for the success. Firstly we have fantastic facilities in the region. Sheffield in particular is a hub for athletics and Hull and Bradford are training up a new generation of boxers.

Secondly there is a real passion for sport in the region, it’s well supported and this means everything to young athletes and spurs them on.

Finally we believe that Yorkshire has the competitive nature that we take great pride in having at United Leeds Endeavours as well. The athletes we produce have grit, determination and drive. They train hard, and learn fast. These are all values that make them so successful and also the things that we look for in our industry of direct sales. It has been an incredible Olympic games. Well done to the organisers, the volunteer and the athletes. You all did us incredibly proud.”

United Leeds Endeavours Prepares to Cheer on Brownlee Brothers

United Leeds Endeavours gets ready to cheer on local heroes Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee in the Olympics triathlon tomorrow morning.

Wow what a weekend! At United Leeds Endeavours we’re almost too exhausted after all the excitement of an epic weekend to keep going for another week. But keep going we shall, with a busy week ahead at our Leeds headquarters, and even more local heroes to cheer on in the Olympics we can’t rest yet.

On Tuesday morning local boys Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee will take to the water in the Serpentine at Hyde Park to compete in the London 2012 triathlon event. Starting at 11:30 the brothers will be hoping to build on an incredible couple of years in the sport which has seen then become ranked numbers one and two in the world. The brothers have dominated the sport and are fantastic medal hopes for an already spectacular Team GB. A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours summed up the excitement of the company, “We can’t wait to watch the Brownlee brothers compete, triathlon is one of the toughest sports out there and we admire the grit they put into their races. At United Leeds Endeavours we work with a competitive bunch of people, sales is a competitive environment after all and we love the competition that Alistair and Jonathan have between each other.”

In an act seen by some as draconian the brothers have apparently been warned that they will be disqualified if they attempt to cross the line together. This comes in the wake of the ‘fixing’ scandal that took place at the badminton which saw eight players disqualified. Jonathan has previously said “To win a joint gold medal with my brother, that’s the dream.” However Paula Kim, a spokeswoman for the International Triathlon Union (ITU) has said ‘Intentionally trying or agreeing to cross the line together, under ITU rules, brings a mandatory penalty of automatic disqualification.’ United Leeds Endeavours has some sympathy with the ITU, “Sports is about competition, the Williams sisters have had to play against each other before and there can only be one winner. It slightly makes a mockery of the situation if they don’t want to compete with each other. We’re sure that when it comes down to it, they will compete their hardest and whoever is best on the day will win.”

United Leeds Endeavours was also delighted to learn about the dominance of Yorkshire athletes in the Olympics. Athletes from Yorkshire have won more medals than most participating countries and as of this morning would have been ranked 7^th in the Olympic medals table! “This is fantastic testament to the strength of sport in this region. We have fantastic facilities and training programs that are producing the best athletes in the world right now. We’re incredibly proud.”

United Leeds Endeavours Excited as Online Film Services get Better and Better.

United Leeds Endeavours, direct sales and marketing company, charts the rise of online film services.

A few years ago if we wanted to get the latest film to watch at home we would have headed out to our local DVD rental store. Gone are those days, as Blockbuster stores shutdown by the dozen, people in the UK are switching to online streaming services. Why the change? United Leeds Endeavours explains.

Michael Blake of United Leeds Endeavours believes that it all comes down to convenience. “Our whole home-viewing experience has changed in the last 5 years or so. We expect to be able to watch things when we want, we want to be able to pause and rewind, and we also want to be able to access everything from the comfort of our armchair. Online streaming services tick all these boxes.”

Furthermore technology has changed so rapidly now that gone are the days of sitting with a laptop on your bed waiting for the buffering wheel to stop turning. You can hook your 50 inch 3D HD TV up to the internet now and use services such as BBC iPlayer, Lovefilm and Netflix at high speed on your screen.

With a multitude of services out there what can you expect? From Netflix you can get a streaming. From Lovefilm you can get the same as Netflix as also get DVDs delivered to your door. Sky now has a huge bank of films that you can watch at anytime with their services.

What does United Leeds Endeavours think people can expect in the future? “We believe that companies like Lovefilm are going to get their whole catalogue completely online. So whether you want to watch the Dark Knight Rises or Casablanca you’re going to have the option to watch everything. In the future all TVs are going to be directly connected to the internet and we think that DVDs, like videos, will disappear completely.”

With Lovefilm today announcing that they have signed another exclusive deal with a major film studio, this time Miramax, the battle for customers gets intense. United Leeds Endeavours believes this is only going to benefit the customer. Mr. Blake continued, “As a direct sales company which works with the entertainment industry we’re seeing first-hand as each company tries to offer a better and better service to their customers to beat the competition. This is fantastic news for customers as they reap the rewards of the companies hard work.”

United Leeds Endeavours Reviews The Dark Knight Rises

After revealing the critics reviews last week United Leeds Endeavours gives their opinion on the biggest film of the year, The Dark Knight Rises.

At the headquarters of United Leeds Endeavours we read the reviews of The Dark Knight Rises with anticipation last week. As a direct sales and marketing company, which specialises in direct sales for the entertainment industry, we’ve been keeping our ears to the ground surrounding the hype for this film.Would it live up to our expectations?  Would the bad guy ever be as bad as Heath Ledger’s Joker?

The film didn’t disappoint and a group from United Leeds Endeavours put together their own thoughts and feelings over the weekend after their Friday night viewing. The reviews of the critics were largely spot on. Tom Hardy as Bane was formidable, though one could only wonder at how he managed to bulk up so spectacularly for the role. Christopher Nolan had said that Ann Hathaway’s performance of Catwoman was worthy of its own spin-off and we’d have to agree. She looked every inch the part and played the torn thief with class and elegance.

Though the film was admittedly long, we can forgive Christopher Nolan for being slightly self-indulgent in his last ever outing as director for the franchise. Despite the length it didn’t drag and twists and turns along the way kept an audience of all ages enthralled. The ending was both fitting and unpredictable. It left a strong enough conclusion for there to be no sequel but also enough open ends that one could easily be made. Such is the nature of huge movie franchises. At the viewing that a group from United Leeds Endeavours attended the audience broke out into spontaneous applause as the final credits rolled through.

The opening of the film was marred by the horrific tragedy that occurred at a midnight screening in Aurora, Colorado when 12 people were shot dead and countless others injured in a mass shooting by a crazed man. In the wake of the shootings Christopher Nolan spoke out in horror and shock at the events. Nolan summed it up fittingly describing the killings as a ‘senseless tragedy’ and that he couldn’t understand why someone would ‘violate that innocent and hopeful place in such an unbearably savage way.’ The whole team at United Leeds Endeavours would like to pass on their condolences to everyone affected by the tragedy.

United Leeds Endeavours Anticipates The Dark Knight Rises

United Leeds Endeavours looks at the latest reviews for the hottest film of the year, The Dark Knight Rises.

The Dark Knight Rises is easily one of the most hotly anticipated films of 2012. The final film in Christopher Nolan’s batman trilogy staring Christian Bale hits UK cinemas on Friday. United Leeds Endeavours has rounded up the reviews from around the world and so far, it’s looking very good indeed.

United Leeds Endeavours specialize in direct sales and marketing for the entertainment industry so their interest in films is pretty intense. Nothing has caught their attention more than The Dark Knight Rises. The trailers have been appearing on our screens for some months now and boy does it look good! Never one to be convinced by trailers however United Leeds Endeavours has been doing some detailed research since the film was viewed by the critics and it’s been getting some impressive reviews. According to Todd McCarthy at the Hollywood Reporter the film “ranks as the best of Nolan’s trio…a blockbuster by any standard.”

Justin Chang at Variety believes that the second film in the trilogy is better still thinks it was impressive. He said “If it never quite matches the brilliance of 2008’s The Dark Knight, this hugely ambitious action-drama nonetheless retains the moral urgency and serious-minded pulp instincts that have made the Warners franchise a beacon of integrity in an increasingly comic book-driven Hollywood universe.”

What is United Leeds Endeavours anticipating? “The trailer gives the impression of the film being as action packed and gritty as its predecessor. We’ve heard that Tom Hardy as Bane is scary and haunting though we don’t think he’ll be as good as Heath Ledger was as The Joker. Christopher Nolan has said himself that Anne Hathaway as Catwoman is so good that she deserves her own spin-off film so we’re expecting big things from her.”

The film gets its UK release on Friday with many cinema’s showing screenings at just after midnight. The team at United Leeds Endeavours is having a group cinema trip on Friday at 8pm (the tickets have been booked for weeks, us smug? No!). Keep an eye out for our review next week!

United Leeds Endeavours Cheers on Leeds 10K From Office Window

The 2012 Run for All 10K raced past the headquarters of United Leeds Endeavours this Sunday raising huge amounts for charity.

United Leeds Endeavours wrote a couple of months back about the Run for All 10K race that would be taking place through Leeds City Centre. Well the day finally came and the rain thankfully held off long enough for the race to be completed. The event in aid of Jane Tomlinson’s foundation was a huge success with 7,500 runners taking part. This event has become a mainstay of the Leeds calendar after 6 years. Since it began it has raised over £4.5 million for charity.

United Leeds Endeavours understands that there has been some talk that the route will be changed next year to add a different challenge for those who have been taking part for many years. Though nothing has been confirmed yet it seems a sensible idea and should hopefully attract more entries as well.  Gary Verity Chief executive of Yorkshire’s tourist board, Welcome to Yorkshire, took part in the race this year and said that it was a fantastic way to promote Leeds and Yorkshire as a whole.

As a successful direct sales company United Leeds Endeavours is fully behind the work being done in the county to promote businesses in Leeds. So they were excited to learn that Yorkshire is putting in a bid to host a stage of the Tour de France and Mr. Verity believes that the Headrow would make a great starting point. “This stretch of street would look particularly good with about 250 cycles on it, and what a day like today proves is that we can do it.”

A spokesperson for United Leeds Endeavours showed that there was incredible pride in the city. “Events like this show what a fantastic city Leeds is and how it is putting itself on the map as a ideal location for business and sports events. We mustn’t however forget about the reason for this run. Jane Tomlinson was a true Leeds hero and the legacy that she has left behind has helped countless charities and individuals. Huge congratulations should be given to those who completed the race, not just from the running aspect but also for all the hard work they’ve done for their chosen charities.”