Country music awards going live from dual locations

Double the venues, double the fun.

And more than double the challenge when the 46th annual Academy of Country Music Awards show goes live from the MGM Grand -- and Mandalay Bay -- at 5 p.m. Sunday. (Live to the East Coast, that is; local viewers will see the tape-delayed telecast at 8 p.m. on KLAS-TV, Channel 8.)

It's the ninth year the awards show has been based in Las Vegas. But it's the first year to feature dual locations.

Most of the awards will be presented at the MGM Grand Garden, but Mandalay Bay will host the ACM's Fan Jam, featuring Sugarland and the presentation of the best new artist award, according to executive producer Richard A. "RAC" Clark of dick clark productions.

"We've gotten so big we outgrew" a single venue, he says. "It's two shows," requiring "more cameras, more crew" -- and a satellite link between the two venues.

The two-stage telecast "affords a lot of opportunities to do back-to-back music," Clark explains, which makes the show more like "a concert with awards" rather than an awards show with musical interludes. These days, he notes, "you've got to keep it action-packed."

Incentive update: The quest to create a Nevada film incentive program, designed to lure more movie and TV productions to the Silver State, continues in Carson City.

The Motion Picture Jobs Creation Act, AB418, has been introduced in the Nevada Legislature and is headed to the Assembly's committee on taxation, according to Las Vegas filmmaker Joshua Cohen, who's co-chairing the effort to enact legislation offering a 25 percent tax credit to out-of-state productions with budgets of more than $250,000.

Currently one of six states without any incentive program, Nevada has been losing productions to neighboring states, Cohen says. If passed, the incentive plan would encourage more projects to shoot here.

Proponents plan a letter-writing campaign to show legislators "how many voters want this to happen," he says. "The biggest challenge is showing the Office on Economic Development (which oversees the state's film commission) that this is going to be profitable and not a drain on the state."

More information on the incentive proposal is available online at www.nevadafilmincentive.com.

Zombie romp: There's just no stopping those pesky astro-zombies -- or their creator, cult auteur Ted V. Mikels, who's busy shooting the sequel "Astro-Zombies M4: Invaders From Cyberspace" around town.

So far, Las Vegas locations range from the office of Mikels' dentist (handy for shooting X-ray scenes) to the home of former Lt. Gov. Lonnie Hammargren, who's featured as "a visionary attempting to contact the astro-zombies on their planet," Mikels explains.

"Flipping" in: Las Vegas' reality TV boom continues with A&E's "Flipping Vegas," an upcoming addition to the channel's Saturday morning "Big Fix" lineup. Now in production, "Flipping Vegas" follows house flipper Scott Yancey and his team as they buy and renovate abandoned Southern Nevada properties.

Contest countdown: Once an August fixture, the annual 48 Hour Film Project has moved to the weekend of April 8.

The contest challenges filmmaking teams to create short films in a two-day period; more than two dozen teams have signed up so far.

Participants may meet, greet and learn more about the competition at three upcoming mixers: 6-11 p.m. Thursday at Torino's Bar & Grill, 5570 W. Flamingo Road; 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday at The Beat Coffeehouse & Records, 520 Fremont St.; and 6-11 p.m. April 6 at LJ's Bar & Grill, 1243 E. Sahara Ave.

More information is available online at www.48hourfilm.com; click on "Las Vegas" for complete details.

Carol Cling's Shooting Stars column appears Mondays. Contact her at (702) 383-0272 or ccling@reviewjournal.com.