Kit Harington and Scoot McNairy play old friends who reunite under dangerous circumstances in the first trailer for crime thriller Blood for Dust.
The Avenue is set to release director Rod Blackhurst’s feature in select theaters and on digital platforms April 19 following its premiere at last year’s Tribeca Festival. Josh Lucas and Stephen Dorff also star in Blood for Dust, which tells the story of Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman with financial issues who becomes enveloped in the world of drug trafficking after reuniting with Ricky (Harington).
“I don’t sell products that sell themselves,” Harington says in the trailer. This leads McNairy to respond, “You’re an arms dealer who sells drugs, Ricky.”
Blackhurst (Here Alone) helmed the film from a script by David Ebeltoft. Ryan Winterstern, Bernard Kira, Petr Jákl, Ari Novak, Arun Kumar, Bobby Campbell, Nathan Klingher, Mark Fasano and Noah Lang serve as producers.
The Avenue is set to release director Rod Blackhurst’s feature in select theaters and on digital platforms April 19 following its premiere at last year’s Tribeca Festival. Josh Lucas and Stephen Dorff also star in Blood for Dust, which tells the story of Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman with financial issues who becomes enveloped in the world of drug trafficking after reuniting with Ricky (Harington).
“I don’t sell products that sell themselves,” Harington says in the trailer. This leads McNairy to respond, “You’re an arms dealer who sells drugs, Ricky.”
Blackhurst (Here Alone) helmed the film from a script by David Ebeltoft. Ryan Winterstern, Bernard Kira, Petr Jákl, Ari Novak, Arun Kumar, Bobby Campbell, Nathan Klingher, Mark Fasano and Noah Lang serve as producers.
- 3/5/2024
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Visit Films has sold doc Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory to Kino Lorber for the United States.
The film tells the story of the Johnson family and focuses on Randi, Justin’s mother, after she is diagnosed with breast cancer and her husband Brian, a conservative Midwest family man, who embarks on a journey to boost her morale, which blossoms into an unexpected homespun prosthetic nipple business, which is kept under the radar from their friends, church and five unsuspecting children.
The film is directed by Justin Johnson (aka Justinsuperstar), whose credits include Double Digits: The Story of a Neighborhood Movie Star and Behind The FX, which won a Daytime Emmy.
Kino Lorber is releasing on April 2, 2024. The sale was negotiated by Visit’s President Ryan Kampe with Kino Lorber’s Senior Vice President, Wendy Lidell.
The movie, which won the Best Feature Audience Award at Milwaukee Film Festival,...
The film tells the story of the Johnson family and focuses on Randi, Justin’s mother, after she is diagnosed with breast cancer and her husband Brian, a conservative Midwest family man, who embarks on a journey to boost her morale, which blossoms into an unexpected homespun prosthetic nipple business, which is kept under the radar from their friends, church and five unsuspecting children.
The film is directed by Justin Johnson (aka Justinsuperstar), whose credits include Double Digits: The Story of a Neighborhood Movie Star and Behind The FX, which won a Daytime Emmy.
Kino Lorber is releasing on April 2, 2024. The sale was negotiated by Visit’s President Ryan Kampe with Kino Lorber’s Senior Vice President, Wendy Lidell.
The movie, which won the Best Feature Audience Award at Milwaukee Film Festival,...
- 1/5/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Greenwich Entertainment announced today the acquisition of North American distribution rights to Katie Burrell’s feature debut Weak Layers.
The film is directed and co-written by Burrell (who also stars), and Andrew Ladd, also stars Chelsea Conwright and Jadyn Wong. Weak Layers will arrive in theaters in top 50 markets and in select mountain towns on January 5, and on VOD on February 6, 2024.
The three women star as evicted roommates who enter a ski-movie contest to resolve their living situation. Set in Lake Tahoe, these three passionate and lovably rowdy local women go on a quest to win a world-famous 72-hour short ski film competition. A progressive throwback to the cult classics, the film dissects modern, male-driven ski culture while championing the tight-knit local communities found in ski towns throughout the world.
“I love anything that upends a trope and this movie is full of the kind of teasing satire that satisfies the rebel in me.
The film is directed and co-written by Burrell (who also stars), and Andrew Ladd, also stars Chelsea Conwright and Jadyn Wong. Weak Layers will arrive in theaters in top 50 markets and in select mountain towns on January 5, and on VOD on February 6, 2024.
The three women star as evicted roommates who enter a ski-movie contest to resolve their living situation. Set in Lake Tahoe, these three passionate and lovably rowdy local women go on a quest to win a world-famous 72-hour short ski film competition. A progressive throwback to the cult classics, the film dissects modern, male-driven ski culture while championing the tight-knit local communities found in ski towns throughout the world.
“I love anything that upends a trope and this movie is full of the kind of teasing satire that satisfies the rebel in me.
- 11/13/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Award-winning feature documentary “Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory” has inked a deal with Sonder Entertainment for a national theatrical tour beginning in October to coincide with National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. “Mom & Dad’s Nipple Factory,” a Jubilee Production, will screen in theaters nationwide and into next year ahead of its digital release in February.
Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Justin Johnson, the feature documentary tells the story of Johnson’s parents’ resilience in the face of a breast cancer diagnosis and unilateral mastectomy — which unexpectedly leads them to launch a novel homespun prosthetic nipple business. They hide this endeavor from their five children, church and small community.
“Mom and Dad’s journey, filled with love, humor, and ingenuity amidst adversity, has blossomed into a project that has already touched thousands of hearts in our festival run. I’m excited to partner with Sonder Entertainment to share this poignant yet humorous film with audiences nationwide,...
Directed by Emmy-winning filmmaker Justin Johnson, the feature documentary tells the story of Johnson’s parents’ resilience in the face of a breast cancer diagnosis and unilateral mastectomy — which unexpectedly leads them to launch a novel homespun prosthetic nipple business. They hide this endeavor from their five children, church and small community.
“Mom and Dad’s journey, filled with love, humor, and ingenuity amidst adversity, has blossomed into a project that has already touched thousands of hearts in our festival run. I’m excited to partner with Sonder Entertainment to share this poignant yet humorous film with audiences nationwide,...
- 10/5/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay, Jaden Thompson and Caroline Brew
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Vmi Worldwide has acquired world rights to the WWII title Liberation, formally known as Avenue of the Giants, starring Stephen Lang (Avatar), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Robin Weigert (Deadwood) and Luke Blumm (Where The Crawdads Sing).
Written and directed by filmmaker Finn Taylor, the film tells the true story of Herbert Heller (Blumm), who kept his experience as a teenage boy surviving for years in Auschwitz hidden from his family. That is until he meets Abbey (Fisher), a young teenager whose own brush with pain and death inspires him to open up as well, leading the two of them to exchange their stories as a meaningful and healing friendship is born.
The deal was negotiated by Jessica Bennett, COO of Productions and Acquisitions, Mickey Guerin, VP of Legal and Business Affairs for Vmi, and Mark Halloran and Executive Producer Noah Lang on behalf of the filmmakers.
The film was...
Written and directed by filmmaker Finn Taylor, the film tells the true story of Herbert Heller (Blumm), who kept his experience as a teenage boy surviving for years in Auschwitz hidden from his family. That is until he meets Abbey (Fisher), a young teenager whose own brush with pain and death inspires him to open up as well, leading the two of them to exchange their stories as a meaningful and healing friendship is born.
The deal was negotiated by Jessica Bennett, COO of Productions and Acquisitions, Mickey Guerin, VP of Legal and Business Affairs for Vmi, and Mark Halloran and Executive Producer Noah Lang on behalf of the filmmakers.
The film was...
- 9/6/2023
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Rosario Dawson and Sam Adegoke have joined the cast of “Dark Days & the Dawn,” the latest film from “This Is Not a War Story” director Talia Lugacy.
“Dark Days & the Dawn” unfolds over the course of one night and into daybreak, as Maria Del Sol (Dawson) and Samuel (Adegoke), a couple who have been together for four hundred and sixty years, hit their breaking point. Lugacy and Kamau Ware collaborated on the genre bending script for “Dark Days & the Dawn,” penning characters written specifically for Dawson and Adegoke to portray.
Lugacy produces under her Acoustic Pictures banner, alongside Noah Lang for Witchcraft Motion Picture Company, and Ware for Kamau Studios. Cassian Elwes and Tom Culliver executive produce for Elevated Films. The film will shoot in Savanah, Georgia later this year.
Dawson’s credits include “Death Proof,” “Top Five” and the upcoming Star Wars series, “Ahsoka,” for Disney+. Adegoke is best...
“Dark Days & the Dawn” unfolds over the course of one night and into daybreak, as Maria Del Sol (Dawson) and Samuel (Adegoke), a couple who have been together for four hundred and sixty years, hit their breaking point. Lugacy and Kamau Ware collaborated on the genre bending script for “Dark Days & the Dawn,” penning characters written specifically for Dawson and Adegoke to portray.
Lugacy produces under her Acoustic Pictures banner, alongside Noah Lang for Witchcraft Motion Picture Company, and Ware for Kamau Studios. Cassian Elwes and Tom Culliver executive produce for Elevated Films. The film will shoot in Savanah, Georgia later this year.
Dawson’s credits include “Death Proof,” “Top Five” and the upcoming Star Wars series, “Ahsoka,” for Disney+. Adegoke is best...
- 6/8/2023
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Drama stars Stephen Lang in the true story of Holocaust survivor Herbert Heller.
Avenue Of The Giants, a drama from writer-director Finn Taylor, has wrapped production in California and the Czech Republic.
The film stars Stephen Lang, Elsie Fisher, Robin Weigert and Luke Blumm in the true story of Herbert Heller, who keeps his experience as a teenage boy in Auschwitz hidden from his family until he meets a teenager whose own brush with death inspires him to open up.
Jeanine Thomas and George Rush are producing, with Debi Memmolo, Greg Taxin and Noah Lang serving as executive producers. David Minkowski...
Avenue Of The Giants, a drama from writer-director Finn Taylor, has wrapped production in California and the Czech Republic.
The film stars Stephen Lang, Elsie Fisher, Robin Weigert and Luke Blumm in the true story of Herbert Heller, who keeps his experience as a teenage boy in Auschwitz hidden from his family until he meets a teenager whose own brush with death inspires him to open up.
Jeanine Thomas and George Rush are producing, with Debi Memmolo, Greg Taxin and Noah Lang serving as executive producers. David Minkowski...
- 5/20/2023
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Stephen Lang (Avatar), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), Robin Weigert (Deadwood) and Luke Blumm (Where The Crawdads Sing) have teamed for writer/director Finn Taylor’s feature Avenue of the Giants, which recently wrapped filming. A first-look photo has also been unveiled.
Avenue of the Giants tells the true story of Herbert Heller (Blumm), who kept his experience as a teenage boy surviving for years in Auschwitz hidden from his family. That is until he meets Abbey (Fisher), a young teenager whose own brush with pain and death inspires him to open up as well, leading the two of them to exchange their stories as a meaningful and healing friendship is born.
The film was produced by Jeanine Thomas and George Rush. Debi Memmolo, Greg Taxin, and Noah Lang executive produced. David Minkowski and Matthew Stillman for Stillking Films (The Gray Man) co-produced alongside Jennifer Goshay, Michael Manasseri, Jeffrey Brown, and Mirka Taylor.
Avenue of the Giants tells the true story of Herbert Heller (Blumm), who kept his experience as a teenage boy surviving for years in Auschwitz hidden from his family. That is until he meets Abbey (Fisher), a young teenager whose own brush with pain and death inspires him to open up as well, leading the two of them to exchange their stories as a meaningful and healing friendship is born.
The film was produced by Jeanine Thomas and George Rush. Debi Memmolo, Greg Taxin, and Noah Lang executive produced. David Minkowski and Matthew Stillman for Stillking Films (The Gray Man) co-produced alongside Jennifer Goshay, Michael Manasseri, Jeffrey Brown, and Mirka Taylor.
- 5/19/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Scoot McNairy and Kit Harington discuss gun-running, drug-dealing and the last episode of Game of Thrones (Ok, maybe not that) in this first-look still from Blood for Dust, the action-thriller from Netflix’s Amanda Knox documentary director Rod Blackhurst.
Written by David Ebeltoft (Here Alone) from a story he co-wrote with Blackhurst, the feature is being sold at the European Film Market in Berlin by Highland Film Group.
Now in postproduction, Blood for Dust follows former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal weapons dealer making serious money, who reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Josh Lucas). Reluctantly he agrees to retrofit his beat-up station wagon to carry dozens of kilos of drugs.
Written by David Ebeltoft (Here Alone) from a story he co-wrote with Blackhurst, the feature is being sold at the European Film Market in Berlin by Highland Film Group.
Now in postproduction, Blood for Dust follows former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal weapons dealer making serious money, who reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Josh Lucas). Reluctantly he agrees to retrofit his beat-up station wagon to carry dozens of kilos of drugs.
- 2/16/2023
- by Alex Ritman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Momentum Pictures has landed the North American rights to queer horror movie Swallowed from writer-director Carter Smith.
Swallowed is set in a remote township on the border between Maine and Canada and, according to the project’s description, “is a story about friendship and the extremes we are willing to endure to protect the ones we love. Dripping with blood and pus, its queer body horror told in the grindhouse tradition – with all the naked flesh and shocking violations of a classic midnight movie.”
Momentum Pictures is targeting a Feb. 14, 2023 release.
Cooper Koch, Jena Malone, Mark Patton, and newcomer Jose Colon star in the movie that was produced by Smith, Noah Lang, Helio Campos and Ross O’Connor. Josh Senior and Evan Buxbaum executive produced.
Swallowed has made the rounds on the festival circuit, including horror fests Fantasia, Fantastic, and Screamfest. It won the Grand Jury prize for best feature at NewFest,...
Swallowed is set in a remote township on the border between Maine and Canada and, according to the project’s description, “is a story about friendship and the extremes we are willing to endure to protect the ones we love. Dripping with blood and pus, its queer body horror told in the grindhouse tradition – with all the naked flesh and shocking violations of a classic midnight movie.”
Momentum Pictures is targeting a Feb. 14, 2023 release.
Cooper Koch, Jena Malone, Mark Patton, and newcomer Jose Colon star in the movie that was produced by Smith, Noah Lang, Helio Campos and Ross O’Connor. Josh Senior and Evan Buxbaum executive produced.
Swallowed has made the rounds on the festival circuit, including horror fests Fantasia, Fantastic, and Screamfest. It won the Grand Jury prize for best feature at NewFest,...
- 1/17/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bloody Disgusting has the first word on Witchcraft Motion Picture Company and Good Wizard’s Creep Box, writer/director Patrick Biesemans’ cerebral sci-fi thriller that was recently shot on location in Manhattan.
The film follows a unique engineer at a technology firm specializing in communicating with “whispers” of the recently deceased. Through his exploration of this unsettling piece of newly-developed technology, his research deepens and he finds himself on a dark path as he becomes increasingly unglued from reality.
Bloody also has the above first still to share from the film starring Geoffrey Cantor (Netflix’s Daredevil), Sean Mahon (BBC’s EastEnders), Ian Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun), Katie Kuang (HBO’S Westworld), Annie Young (The Conjuring 2), and Annemarie Lawless (The Mountain).
An expansion of Biesemans’ short film of the same name that played North Bend Film Festival, FilmQuest, H.P Lovecraft Ff, Under Worlds, and San Francisco Short Film Festival.
The film follows a unique engineer at a technology firm specializing in communicating with “whispers” of the recently deceased. Through his exploration of this unsettling piece of newly-developed technology, his research deepens and he finds himself on a dark path as he becomes increasingly unglued from reality.
Bloody also has the above first still to share from the film starring Geoffrey Cantor (Netflix’s Daredevil), Sean Mahon (BBC’s EastEnders), Ian Lithgow (3rd Rock from the Sun), Katie Kuang (HBO’S Westworld), Annie Young (The Conjuring 2), and Annemarie Lawless (The Mountain).
An expansion of Biesemans’ short film of the same name that played North Bend Film Festival, FilmQuest, H.P Lovecraft Ff, Under Worlds, and San Francisco Short Film Festival.
- 11/17/2022
- by Brad Miska
- bloody-disgusting.com
Jennifer Carpenter stars, produces story of scientist who replicates dead wife.
Double Dutch International (Ddi) has come on board to launch worldwide sales at AFM on sci-fi thriller Control Group starring Jennifer Carpenter.
Liz Manashil directs from a screenplay by Amy Starbin and Michael Nathanson about a scientist who, after losing his wife, replicates her in the hope of continuing the perfect life they started together. Complications soon arise when the derivative wife develops desires of her own.
Carpenter (Dexter) is producing alongside Noah Lang for Witchcraft Motion Picture Company, Nathanson for Magic Scope, and Ross Meyerson. Executive producers are...
Double Dutch International (Ddi) has come on board to launch worldwide sales at AFM on sci-fi thriller Control Group starring Jennifer Carpenter.
Liz Manashil directs from a screenplay by Amy Starbin and Michael Nathanson about a scientist who, after losing his wife, replicates her in the hope of continuing the perfect life they started together. Complications soon arise when the derivative wife develops desires of her own.
Carpenter (Dexter) is producing alongside Noah Lang for Witchcraft Motion Picture Company, Nathanson for Magic Scope, and Ross Meyerson. Executive producers are...
- 11/2/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Highland Film Group has locked distribution deals in key international territories in all media for “Blood for Dust,” a new action-thriller starring Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas. The film is directed by Rod Blackhurst, best known for Netflix’s “Amanda Knox” and Peacock’s “John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise,” and written by David Ebeltoft.
Highland Film Group has sold the rights to “Blood for Dust” to 101 Films Distribution for the U.K., Originals Factory for France, California Filmes for Latin America, Splendid Film GmbH for Germany, Daro Film Distribution for Eastern Europe, Filmfinity for South Africa, Spentzos Film for Greece, Blue Swan Entertainment for Italy and Eagle Films for the Middle East.
“Blood for Dust” will begin filming in mid-November on location in Montana. Highland Film Group is representing international rights and UTA is co-representing domestic sales.
The film is produced by Noah Lang, Mark Fasano and Bernard Kira.
Highland Film Group has sold the rights to “Blood for Dust” to 101 Films Distribution for the U.K., Originals Factory for France, California Filmes for Latin America, Splendid Film GmbH for Germany, Daro Film Distribution for Eastern Europe, Filmfinity for South Africa, Spentzos Film for Greece, Blue Swan Entertainment for Italy and Eagle Films for the Middle East.
“Blood for Dust” will begin filming in mid-November on location in Montana. Highland Film Group is representing international rights and UTA is co-representing domestic sales.
The film is produced by Noah Lang, Mark Fasano and Bernard Kira.
- 10/20/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Blue Finch Films has boarded international sales, excluding North America, on LGBTQ+ body horror “Swallowed.”
The film is directed by Carter Smith, known for cult horror film “The Ruins.” It follows two childhood friends, Benjamin and Dom, who are on the verge of being separated as the former is leaving rural Maine for Los Angeles. Dom has a plan to send Benjamin off with a pocketful of cash — all they have to do is deliver a package across the border. But things spiral wildly out of control when the package turns out to be something far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.
“Swallowed” has played at the Overlook Film Festival and Fantasia, and is due to play at Arrow Video FrightFest and Fantastic Fest. The film stars Jena Malone (“The Neon Demon”), Cooper Koch (“They/Them”), Mark Patton (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2) and debutant Jose Colon.
Written, directed and produced by Smith,...
The film is directed by Carter Smith, known for cult horror film “The Ruins.” It follows two childhood friends, Benjamin and Dom, who are on the verge of being separated as the former is leaving rural Maine for Los Angeles. Dom has a plan to send Benjamin off with a pocketful of cash — all they have to do is deliver a package across the border. But things spiral wildly out of control when the package turns out to be something far more dangerous than they could have ever imagined.
“Swallowed” has played at the Overlook Film Festival and Fantasia, and is due to play at Arrow Video FrightFest and Fantastic Fest. The film stars Jena Malone (“The Neon Demon”), Cooper Koch (“They/Them”), Mark Patton (A Nightmare on Elm Street 2) and debutant Jose Colon.
Written, directed and produced by Smith,...
- 8/18/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Scoot McNairy, Kit Harington and Josh Lucas are set to star in “Blood for Dust,” an upcoming action thriller that will be directed by Rod Blackhurst.
Former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal-weapons dealer making serious money, reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Lucas). Reluctantly he agrees to retrofit his beat-up station wagon to carry dozens of kilos of drugs. When Ricky turns a simple exchange into a bloodbath to eliminate the competition, Cliff is forced to grapple with a harsh new reality.
McNairy has appeared in “Argo” and “Gone Girl” and in the streaming miniseries “Godless,” as well as “Narcos: Mexico.” Harington starred in “Game of Thrones,” earning an Emmy nomination,...
Former friends Cliff (McNairy), a traveling salesman struggling to make a living, and Ricky (Harington), an illegal-weapons dealer making serious money, reconnect one fateful day. Hoping to make some quick cash, Cliff agrees to partner with the violent Ricky, who is expanding his business to include cross-state drug and gun deliveries for John, a mid-level American cartel boss (Lucas). Reluctantly he agrees to retrofit his beat-up station wagon to carry dozens of kilos of drugs. When Ricky turns a simple exchange into a bloodbath to eliminate the competition, Cliff is forced to grapple with a harsh new reality.
McNairy has appeared in “Argo” and “Gone Girl” and in the streaming miniseries “Godless,” as well as “Narcos: Mexico.” Harington starred in “Game of Thrones,” earning an Emmy nomination,...
- 5/21/2022
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards: ‘The Lost Daughter’ Takes the Top Prize (Complete Winners List)
The 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, with comedy power couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally serving as hosts.
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!
There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”
But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!
- 3/6/2022
- by Missy Schwartz
- The Wrap
After about a half dozen portraits in the short form, docu-helmer Ryan Maxey makes the move into feature length terrain with One Road to Quartzsite. Tucked away in the West part of Arizona – a former waterhole of the the late 1880’s now serves as a temporary home for campers — and doubles (as the clip demonstrates) has a place to evade the isolation. A docu-film that perhaps serves as a companion piece to Nomadland, this was produced by Maxey and Josh Polon and executive produced by Kyle Marvin, Michael Angelo Covino, Noah Lang and Emily Korteweg. One Road to Quartzsite will have its world premiere at the 2022 edition of Big Sky Documentary Film Festival.…...
- 2/18/2022
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
Distributor A24 and Zola led nominations as the Film Independent Spirit Awards revealed their 37th annual nods in a pre-taped presentation hosted by Beanie Feldstein, Regina Hall and Naomi Watts. The Spirit Awards are skedded for Sunday, March 6, 2022 — live and in-person this year back on the beach in Santa Monica, and broadcast on IFC.
A24’s Zola, by Janicza Bravo and based on a Twitter chain from a riotous road trip, was recognized for Best Feature Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Female Lead and Supporting Male. Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix took four nods including feature, director and screenplay. Accolades were rounded out by two nominations for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, for Best Male Lead, Simon Rex ,and Best Supporting Female, Suzanna Son. The Humans, directed by Stephen Karam based on his one-act play, was nominated in cinematography.
Netflix and Neon took nine nods each, with...
A24’s Zola, by Janicza Bravo and based on a Twitter chain from a riotous road trip, was recognized for Best Feature Director, Screenplay, Cinematography, Editing, Female Lead and Supporting Male. Mike Mills’ C’mon C’mon with Joaquin Phoenix took four nods including feature, director and screenplay. Accolades were rounded out by two nominations for Sean Baker’s Red Rocket, for Best Male Lead, Simon Rex ,and Best Supporting Female, Suzanna Son. The Humans, directed by Stephen Karam based on his one-act play, was nominated in cinematography.
Netflix and Neon took nine nods each, with...
- 12/14/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro and Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
WarnerMedia OneFifty and HBO Max have partnered to acquire the independent feature “This Is Not a War Story” from director Talia Lugacy and executive producer Rosario Dawson.
Lugacy wrote, directed, edited, produced and starred in the film, which also features Sam Adegoke, Danny Ramirez, Brian Delate and Frances Fisher. According to a description for the project, “This Is Not a War Story” tracks a ragtag group of combat veterans in New York whose anti-war art, poetry and paper-making keep them together, despite the specter of their friend’s suicide and the ever-crystalizing fact that healing from war is sometimes an impossible mission.
The movie will debut in November, released both in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, with special events in the works organized in partnership with OneFifty collaborators and veterans’ organizations.
“This film is not only the product of years of research and the painstaking effort of our team,...
Lugacy wrote, directed, edited, produced and starred in the film, which also features Sam Adegoke, Danny Ramirez, Brian Delate and Frances Fisher. According to a description for the project, “This Is Not a War Story” tracks a ragtag group of combat veterans in New York whose anti-war art, poetry and paper-making keep them together, despite the specter of their friend’s suicide and the ever-crystalizing fact that healing from war is sometimes an impossible mission.
The movie will debut in November, released both in theaters and streaming on HBO Max, with special events in the works organized in partnership with OneFifty collaborators and veterans’ organizations.
“This film is not only the product of years of research and the painstaking effort of our team,...
- 9/8/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Originally planned to shoot in early 2020, before Covid-19 lockdowns made that an impossibility, director Thomas Torrey’s “All the Names We Buried” is pitching in the Proof of Concept section of the Frontieres Platform at the Cannes Marché du Film, looking to reignite the project’s pre-covid buzz and recuperate lost financing. In a move likely to aid those goals, Torrey has shared with Variety that “First Cow” lead John Magaro, one of indie cinema’s hottest actors going today, will star in the film.
Set to join Marago in the film’s other lead roles are “Winter’s Bone” standout Dale Dickey and Caity Brewer, who most recently impressed with her work in Amazon’s “Uncle Frank.” Promising young “Promising Young Woman” actor Ray Nicholson (Prime Video’s “Panic”) is in talks to fill out the film’s other key role.
Like so many filmmakers raring to go last spring,...
Set to join Marago in the film’s other lead roles are “Winter’s Bone” standout Dale Dickey and Caity Brewer, who most recently impressed with her work in Amazon’s “Uncle Frank.” Promising young “Promising Young Woman” actor Ray Nicholson (Prime Video’s “Panic”) is in talks to fill out the film’s other key role.
Like so many filmmakers raring to go last spring,...
- 7/8/2021
- by Jamie Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Frontières Platform, the genre-focused event run by Fantasia and Cannes’ Marche du Film, returns to the French fest for another edition this year, with 13 projects selected to take part in the showcase, running July 10-11. Scroll down for the full list.
The event is technically taking place physically, as per Cannes’ commitment to staging an in-person industry event in July, but Frontières has informed participants that it does not encourage them to travel during a pandemic and that all pitches will be screened online. If participants do wish to travel to Cannes, however, the event will allow them to do so, and a representative of Frontières will be in attendance, restrictions allowing.
Activities will include the Proof of Concept presentations for projects in the advanced stages of financing, and the Buyers Showcase for films that are in post-production or have recently been completed. Footage will be screened from seven projects,...
The event is technically taking place physically, as per Cannes’ commitment to staging an in-person industry event in July, but Frontières has informed participants that it does not encourage them to travel during a pandemic and that all pitches will be screened online. If participants do wish to travel to Cannes, however, the event will allow them to do so, and a representative of Frontières will be in attendance, restrictions allowing.
Activities will include the Proof of Concept presentations for projects in the advanced stages of financing, and the Buyers Showcase for films that are in post-production or have recently been completed. Footage will be screened from seven projects,...
- 4/28/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
We're a few long weeks away from the lucky 13th edition of the Frontières co-production market. Taking place at the end of July twenty groups from all over the globe will present their projects virtually this year. The first ten titles were announced back at the end of May. The balance of titles are being announced today. Looks like Sequence Break's Graham Skipper is pitching a new project called Cirkus. Producer Noah Lang has popped up on our pages over the years. He is looking to produce a Canadian title called...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 6/16/2020
- Screen Anarchy
Exclusive: Witchcraft Motion Picture Company is adding to its growing slate of films since launching last year. Rod Blackhurst (director of Netflix’s Amanda Knox)and Noah Lang of Witchcraft have acquired the rights to the thriller Empire of Dirt written by Noah Harald.
Blackhurst is attached to direct Harald’s script which follows “a female ex-soldier turned Emt who, certain of her son’s innocence in the wake of his overdose death, ventures deep into the underbelly of opioid country in relentless pursuit of truth and vengeance.”
“This is a film about motherhood, pain and strength set against the backdrop of a city ravaged by a drug epidemic where justice seemingly only comes at a premium,’’ said Blackhurst and Lang in a statement. “Noah Harald’s script about a middle aged woman of...
Blackhurst is attached to direct Harald’s script which follows “a female ex-soldier turned Emt who, certain of her son’s innocence in the wake of his overdose death, ventures deep into the underbelly of opioid country in relentless pursuit of truth and vengeance.”
“This is a film about motherhood, pain and strength set against the backdrop of a city ravaged by a drug epidemic where justice seemingly only comes at a premium,’’ said Blackhurst and Lang in a statement. “Noah Harald’s script about a middle aged woman of...
- 3/4/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Saturday in recognition of the best in indie films from 2019.
Willem Dafoe won the first award, Best Supporting Male, for his role in “The Lighthouse.” “Uncut Gems” won Best Editing, while the Best Documentary award went to “American Factory.” Best Cinematography went to Jarin Blaschke for “The Lighthouse.”
Kelly Reichardt was awarded The Bonnie Award, which recognizes a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant. The John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $500,000, was given to “Give Me Liberty.”
Also Read: Independent Spirit Awards 2020: Aubrey Plaza's Best Jokes (So Far)
“Parasite” won Best International Film. Zhao Shuzhen won Best Supporting Female for her role in “The Farewell.” “Marriage Story” won Best Screenplay. Adam Sandler won Best Male Lead for his performance in “Uncut Gems” and Renée Zellweger received the Best Female Lead for her role in “Judy.
Willem Dafoe won the first award, Best Supporting Male, for his role in “The Lighthouse.” “Uncut Gems” won Best Editing, while the Best Documentary award went to “American Factory.” Best Cinematography went to Jarin Blaschke for “The Lighthouse.”
Kelly Reichardt was awarded The Bonnie Award, which recognizes a mid-career female director with a $50,000 unrestricted grant. The John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made for under $500,000, was given to “Give Me Liberty.”
Also Read: Independent Spirit Awards 2020: Aubrey Plaza's Best Jokes (So Far)
“Parasite” won Best International Film. Zhao Shuzhen won Best Supporting Female for her role in “The Farewell.” “Marriage Story” won Best Screenplay. Adam Sandler won Best Male Lead for his performance in “Uncut Gems” and Renée Zellweger received the Best Female Lead for her role in “Judy.
- 2/8/2020
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Moments ago, the Film Independent Spirit Award nominations for 2019 were announced. Though pulling from a very different crop than the Academy Awards do, the Spirit Awards do have some cross over each year. While success here assures a title of little, making moves with this group never hurts while wooing the Academy. Today, we saw several Oscar hopefuls try and score some love, while a few received damaging snubs. Mostly, though, the status quo remains, as movies jockey for position heading into the holiday season. Go figure, this isn’t going to be an easy year to predict. Leading the way were The Lighthouse and Uncut Gems, each with five nominations apiece. The former from Robert Eggers definitely over performed, relative to expectations here, while the latter from the Safdie Brothers solidified its status as a player on the indie precursor stage. More likely Oscar fare such as Clemency, The Farewell,...
- 11/21/2019
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Two dark and unruly films released by A24, Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse” and the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems,” led all films in nominations for the 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards, Film Independent announced on Thursday.
In the Best Feature category, “Uncut Gems” was joined by Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.”
“Uncut Gems” was the only film nominated in both the Best Feature and Best Director categories, though “Marriage Story” was nominated in the former category and was also voted the special John Cassavetes Award, which goes to a film’s director, cast and casting director.
Also Read: 'Marriage Story,' 'The Farewell,' 'Uncut Gems' Top Gotham Award Nominations
“Honey Boy” and “Give Me Liberty” received four nominations each, while “Hustlers,” “Clemency” and “Luce” received three.
As usual, the Spirit Awards’ system of...
In the Best Feature category, “Uncut Gems” was joined by Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life,” Chinonye Chukwu’s “Clemency” and Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story.”
“Uncut Gems” was the only film nominated in both the Best Feature and Best Director categories, though “Marriage Story” was nominated in the former category and was also voted the special John Cassavetes Award, which goes to a film’s director, cast and casting director.
Also Read: 'Marriage Story,' 'The Farewell,' 'Uncut Gems' Top Gotham Award Nominations
“Honey Boy” and “Give Me Liberty” received four nominations each, while “Hustlers,” “Clemency” and “Luce” received three.
As usual, the Spirit Awards’ system of...
- 11/21/2019
- by Brian Welk and Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Before Vfw makes its world premiere at Fantastic Fest, Rlje Films has grabbed up North American rights to release the movie in theaters and VOD in early 2020. Here's the official press release:
Los Angeles, Sept. 17, 2019 – Rlje Films has acquired North American rights to the action-horror feature Vfw ahead of its world premiere at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin. The movie is scheduled to be released in theaters and on VOD and Digital HD first quarter 2020.
Written by Max Brallier (“The Last Kids on Earth”) & Matthew McArdle and directed by
Joe Begos, the film stars Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, George Wendt (“Cheers”), David Patrick Kelly (“Twin Peaks”), Tom Williamson (“The Fosters”), Sierra McCormick (The Vast of Night), Travis Hammer (“Godless”), and Dora Madison (“Friday Night Lights”).
“We are so excited to work with the legendary Stephen Lang,” said Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer for Rlje Films.
Los Angeles, Sept. 17, 2019 – Rlje Films has acquired North American rights to the action-horror feature Vfw ahead of its world premiere at this year’s Fantastic Fest in Austin. The movie is scheduled to be released in theaters and on VOD and Digital HD first quarter 2020.
Written by Max Brallier (“The Last Kids on Earth”) & Matthew McArdle and directed by
Joe Begos, the film stars Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Fred Williamson, Martin Kove, George Wendt (“Cheers”), David Patrick Kelly (“Twin Peaks”), Tom Williamson (“The Fosters”), Sierra McCormick (The Vast of Night), Travis Hammer (“Godless”), and Dora Madison (“Friday Night Lights”).
“We are so excited to work with the legendary Stephen Lang,” said Mark Ward, Chief Acquisitions Officer for Rlje Films.
- 9/19/2019
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Exclusive: Rlje Films has acquired North American rights to Vfw, an action horror move with a tough-guy cast that includes Stephen Lang, William Sadler, Fred Williamson and Martin Kove. The deal comes as the pic, directed by Joe Begos, is prepping for its world premiere Saturday at Austin’s Fantastic Fest.
Rlje, which is coming off acquiring Richard Stanley’s Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness wo rld premiere Color Out of Space a couple weeks ago, will release Vfw in theaters on on-demand in first-quarter 2020.
Penned by Max Brallier & Matthew McArdle, Vfw revolves around a group of war veterans who must defend their local Vfw post and an innocent teen against a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of punk mutants. George Wendt, David Patrick Kelly, Tom Williamson, Sierra McCormick, Travis Hammer and Dora Madison also star.
Dallas Sonnier (Bone Tomahawk), Amanda Presmyk...
Rlje, which is coming off acquiring Richard Stanley’s Toronto Film Festival’s Midnight Madness wo rld premiere Color Out of Space a couple weeks ago, will release Vfw in theaters on on-demand in first-quarter 2020.
Penned by Max Brallier & Matthew McArdle, Vfw revolves around a group of war veterans who must defend their local Vfw post and an innocent teen against a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of punk mutants. George Wendt, David Patrick Kelly, Tom Williamson, Sierra McCormick, Travis Hammer and Dora Madison also star.
Dallas Sonnier (Bone Tomahawk), Amanda Presmyk...
- 9/17/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Witchcraft Motion Picture Company announced today that they have acquired the rights to the psychological horror She Came Back from screenwriter Emily Renee Bennett. Witchcraft’s Rod Blackhurst (Director of Netflix’s Amanda Knox) and Noah Lang will fast-track the feature as the first project optioned under the company’s new underrepresented writer mandate. Blackhurst is set to direct.
Described as if The Haunting Of Hill House took place at The Overlook Hotel, She Came Back is a film about a young woman haunted by the childhood murder of her young sister, and who, upon returning to her hometown, discovers that her sister might not be dead after all.
“She Came Back is a film about mental illness, addiction, guilt, and a strong and vulnerable woman’s struggle for identity,” said Blackhurst and Lang in a joint statement.
Described as if The Haunting Of Hill House took place at The Overlook Hotel, She Came Back is a film about a young woman haunted by the childhood murder of her young sister, and who, upon returning to her hometown, discovers that her sister might not be dead after all.
“She Came Back is a film about mental illness, addiction, guilt, and a strong and vulnerable woman’s struggle for identity,” said Blackhurst and Lang in a joint statement.
- 7/10/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Two-part programme will nurture film and TV projects from leading international producers.
The Climb producer Noah Lang, Finnish Making Movies Oy chief Kaarle Aho and Canadian actress and producer Rebecca Gibson are among the 26 producers who will participate in the 11th edition of Trans-Atlantic Partners (Tap).
A joint initiative between Germany’s Erich Pommer Institute (Epi) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (Cmpa), with the support of Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund, the two-part Tap programme is the only one of its kind devoted to supporting transatlantic film and high-end TV productions.
The first module runs in Berlin...
The Climb producer Noah Lang, Finnish Making Movies Oy chief Kaarle Aho and Canadian actress and producer Rebecca Gibson are among the 26 producers who will participate in the 11th edition of Trans-Atlantic Partners (Tap).
A joint initiative between Germany’s Erich Pommer Institute (Epi) and the Canadian Media Producers Association (Cmpa), with the support of Telefilm Canada and the Canada Media Fund, the two-part Tap programme is the only one of its kind devoted to supporting transatlantic film and high-end TV productions.
The first module runs in Berlin...
- 6/18/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all worldwide rights, excluding France and German-speaking Europe, to Michael Angelo Covino’s buddy comedy “The Climb.”
The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Heart Prize alongside “A Brother’s Love” on Friday.
Covino directed, co-wrote (with Kyle Marvin) and stars in the film with Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche.
The story centers on two best friends who share a close bond — until one sleeps with the other’s fiancée. The movie follows the tumultuous, but enduring relationship between the men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage.
Topic Studios produced and financed the movie. The producers are Noah Lang, Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin. The executive producers are Michael Bloom, Ryan Heller Adam Pincus and Gilda Moratti.
“To know my first movie will open...
The film premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival and won the Un Certain Regard Heart Prize alongside “A Brother’s Love” on Friday.
Covino directed, co-wrote (with Kyle Marvin) and stars in the film with Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche.
The story centers on two best friends who share a close bond — until one sleeps with the other’s fiancée. The movie follows the tumultuous, but enduring relationship between the men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage.
Topic Studios produced and financed the movie. The producers are Noah Lang, Michael Angelo Covino and Kyle Marvin. The executive producers are Michael Bloom, Ryan Heller Adam Pincus and Gilda Moratti.
“To know my first movie will open...
- 5/24/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
The Match Factory announces territory sales on The Traitor.
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up worldwide rights excluding France and German-speaking Europe to Michael Angelo Covino’s comedy and Un Certain Regard selection The Climb.
The distributor additionally confirmed on Friday (24) that it had acquired Marco Bellocchio’s Competition entry The Traitor from Match Factory, which announced a string of territory sales.
Covino and Kyle Marvin wrote The Climb based on their own experiences. The story tells of best friends and cycling enthusiasts whose close bond is strained when one sleeps with the other’s girlfriend. Covino and Marvin star alongside Gayle Rankin,...
Sony Pictures Classics has picked up worldwide rights excluding France and German-speaking Europe to Michael Angelo Covino’s comedy and Un Certain Regard selection The Climb.
The distributor additionally confirmed on Friday (24) that it had acquired Marco Bellocchio’s Competition entry The Traitor from Match Factory, which announced a string of territory sales.
Covino and Kyle Marvin wrote The Climb based on their own experiences. The story tells of best friends and cycling enthusiasts whose close bond is strained when one sleeps with the other’s girlfriend. Covino and Marvin star alongside Gayle Rankin,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired worldwide rights excluding France and German-speaking Europe to The Climb, the Michael Angelo Covino-directed buddy comedy that premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at the Cannes Film Festival.
The deal comes after Spc acquired Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor, another Cannes pic, after its premiere Thursday.
Covino wrote the screenplay for The Climb with Kyle Marvin, and the two star along with Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche. They play best friends who share a close bond — until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. The pic about a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage. It is also the story of real-life best friends who turn their profound connection into a rich, humane and frequently uproarious film about the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships.
Topic Studios produced and financed the film.
The deal comes after Spc acquired Marco Bellocchio’s The Traitor, another Cannes pic, after its premiere Thursday.
Covino wrote the screenplay for The Climb with Kyle Marvin, and the two star along with Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche. They play best friends who share a close bond — until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. The pic about a tumultuous but enduring relationship between two men across many years of laughter, heartbreak and rage. It is also the story of real-life best friends who turn their profound connection into a rich, humane and frequently uproarious film about the boundaries (or lack thereof) in all close friendships.
Topic Studios produced and financed the film.
- 5/24/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Sony Pictures Classics has acquired all worldwide rights to Michael Angelo Covino’s “The Climb” (excluding France and German-speaking Europe), the distributor announced Friday.
The film premiered at this month’s Cannes Film Festival and stars Covino, Kyle Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche. Covino and Marvin wrote the screenplay.
The film follows Kyle and Mike, who are best friends — until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. Topic Studios produced and financed the film. Covino, Marvin and Noah Lang produced, while Michael Bloom, Ryan Heller Adam Pincus and Gilda Moratti executive produced.
Also Read: Cannes Report, Day 10: 'Mektoub, My Love' Trolls, 'The Traitor' Sells Out
“To know my first movie will open with the same logo as so many of my favorites is hard to fathom,” Covino said, offering praise for Sony Classics co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker. “I can’t wait to work with Tom,...
The film premiered at this month’s Cannes Film Festival and stars Covino, Kyle Marvin, Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godrèche. Covino and Marvin wrote the screenplay.
The film follows Kyle and Mike, who are best friends — until Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée. Topic Studios produced and financed the film. Covino, Marvin and Noah Lang produced, while Michael Bloom, Ryan Heller Adam Pincus and Gilda Moratti executive produced.
Also Read: Cannes Report, Day 10: 'Mektoub, My Love' Trolls, 'The Traitor' Sells Out
“To know my first movie will open with the same logo as so many of my favorites is hard to fathom,” Covino said, offering praise for Sony Classics co-presidents Tom Bernard and Michael Barker. “I can’t wait to work with Tom,...
- 5/24/2019
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Here’s a fun first clip for Cannes buddy comedy The Climb, which has been among the best-reviewed movies in the Un Certain Regard strand so far.
U.S. writer-director Michael Angelo Covino’s feature debut, sold by Memento and Endeavor Content on the Croisette, takes a look at the turbulent friendship between two guys over many years. The film’s debut here was greeted with sustained applause and interest is understood to be strong from U.S. and international suitors.
Covino stars alongside his co-writer and co-producer Kyle Marvin. It’s adapted from their Sundance short inspired by their real-life friendship. Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godréche also star. The Topic Studios production is also produced by Noah Lang.
Covino previously produced Hunter Gather, which won a Special Jury Prize at SXSW and was nominated for the Cassavetes Award in 2017. He also produced Kicks, which...
U.S. writer-director Michael Angelo Covino’s feature debut, sold by Memento and Endeavor Content on the Croisette, takes a look at the turbulent friendship between two guys over many years. The film’s debut here was greeted with sustained applause and interest is understood to be strong from U.S. and international suitors.
Covino stars alongside his co-writer and co-producer Kyle Marvin. It’s adapted from their Sundance short inspired by their real-life friendship. Gayle Rankin, Talia Balsam, George Wendt and Judith Godréche also star. The Topic Studios production is also produced by Noah Lang.
Covino previously produced Hunter Gather, which won a Special Jury Prize at SXSW and was nominated for the Cassavetes Award in 2017. He also produced Kicks, which...
- 5/19/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Production underway in Dallas, Texas.
Voltage Pictures, riding high on the international box office success of Ya adaption After, has boarded international sales rights on Fangoria’s upcoming action-horror film V.F.W. in time for Cannes and will commence talks on the Croisette next week.
Genre specialist Joe Begos, who latest film Bliss premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last weekend, is directing from a screenplay by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle about Vietnam War veterans who take a stand against a deranged drug dealer and his army of punk mutants to defend their local V.F.W. (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post and an innocent teen.
Voltage Pictures, riding high on the international box office success of Ya adaption After, has boarded international sales rights on Fangoria’s upcoming action-horror film V.F.W. in time for Cannes and will commence talks on the Croisette next week.
Genre specialist Joe Begos, who latest film Bliss premiered at Tribeca Film Festival last weekend, is directing from a screenplay by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle about Vietnam War veterans who take a stand against a deranged drug dealer and his army of punk mutants to defend their local V.F.W. (Veterans of Foreign Wars) post and an innocent teen.
- 5/6/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The title is born out of Covino’s short film of the same name which screened in Sundance in 2018.
Memento Films International (Mfi) has acquired international sales rights to Us filmmaker Michael Covino’s comedy-drama The Climb ahead of its premiere in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).
Born out of Covino’s short film of the same name, which screened in Sundance in 2018, the feature revolves around the enduring but tumultuous relationship between best friends Kyle and Mike.
The pair share a life-long close bond but this is shaken to the core when Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée.
Memento Films International (Mfi) has acquired international sales rights to Us filmmaker Michael Covino’s comedy-drama The Climb ahead of its premiere in Un Certain Regard at the Cannes Film Festival (May 14-25).
Born out of Covino’s short film of the same name, which screened in Sundance in 2018, the feature revolves around the enduring but tumultuous relationship between best friends Kyle and Mike.
The pair share a life-long close bond but this is shaken to the core when Mike sleeps with Kyle’s fiancée.
- 4/24/2019
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Robert Klein (The Backup Plan), Andrea Navedo (Jane the Virgin), Willie Garson (Sex and the City), Craig Bierko (Unreal), Chris Perfetti (The Night Of), and Shaed lead singer Chelsea Lee have joined previously announced Annabella Sciorra in God The Worm from Mainstay Entertainment. Written and directed by Eric Schaeffer, the project began filming this week in New York City. The story centers on Samantha Miller (Sciorra), a talented singer-songwriter who, questioning life’s meaning, journeys through New York City’s colorful neighborhoods where chance encounters with a roster of eccentric and unforgettable characters who help illuminate her future path and restore her zeal for life and music. Klein plays Samantha’s hopeful and loving father, Jasper. Bierko (Walt), Garson (Francis), Navedo (Chloe) and Perfetti (Johnson) are among the dynamic New York City characters she meets along the way. Lee makes her acting debut here as a street artist. Mainstay’s...
- 3/29/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
With production underway on Chelsea Stardust's Satanic Panic and a movie adaptation of Preston Fassel’s Our Lady of the Inferno in development, Fangoria has exciting film projects on their upcoming slate, and they've now added another one to the macabre mix: the acton horror movie V.F.W., starring Stephen Lang and directed by Joe Begos.
Deadline reports that Begos will direct V.F.W. from a screenplay by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle, with Lang in the starring role.
Described as "The Wild Bunch meets Night of the Living Dead," according to Deadline, V.F.W. "follows Fred and his military buddies as they must defend their local Vfw post – and an innocent teen – against a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of punk mutants. These Vietnam vets have been to hell and back, but this will be the longest night of their lives."
V.F.W.
Deadline reports that Begos will direct V.F.W. from a screenplay by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle, with Lang in the starring role.
Described as "The Wild Bunch meets Night of the Living Dead," according to Deadline, V.F.W. "follows Fred and his military buddies as they must defend their local Vfw post – and an innocent teen – against a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of punk mutants. These Vietnam vets have been to hell and back, but this will be the longest night of their lives."
V.F.W.
- 3/4/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Exclusive: Stephen Lang, who played Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron’s epic sci-fi Avatar, is set to star in V.F.W., an action-horror film with Brawl in Cell Block 99 producer Dallas Sonnier and Amanda Presmyk producing for Fangoria. Joe Begos is at the helm, directing from a screenplay by Max Brallier and Matthew McArdle. Begos’ Channel 83 Films partner Josh Ethier is also producing.
Slated to go before cameras this month in Dallas, the film is described as The Wild Bunch meets Night of the Living Dead. It follows Fred and his military buddies as they must defend their local Vfw post – and an innocent teen – against a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of punk mutants. These Vietnam vets have been to hell and back, but this will be the longest night of their lives.
Executive producers are David Gilbery and Charles Dorfman of Media Finance Capital,...
Slated to go before cameras this month in Dallas, the film is described as The Wild Bunch meets Night of the Living Dead. It follows Fred and his military buddies as they must defend their local Vfw post – and an innocent teen – against a deranged drug dealer and his relentless army of punk mutants. These Vietnam vets have been to hell and back, but this will be the longest night of their lives.
Executive producers are David Gilbery and Charles Dorfman of Media Finance Capital,...
- 3/2/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Amblin Partners has preemptively acquired and put on a fast track The White Room. The pic has a script by hot genre scribe Bryce McGuire, and Rod Blackhurst will direct it. It was developed by The Picture Company and Ace Content and will be a co-production between those companies.
Evan Hayes will produce the film along with The Picture Co. partners Alex Heineman and Andrew Rona. Noah Lang will also serve as a producer. Ace’s founding partner Justin Barocas will also be executive producer.
The White Room is a female-driven thriller that takes place over the course of one night in the offseason of the remote Adirondack Mountains. The story unfolds when a mysterious young woman goes missing and it is up to a hardened local widow to find out the truth behind the disappearance, which may have been caused by something inhuman. The aspiration is Don’t Breathe meets Hereditary,...
Evan Hayes will produce the film along with The Picture Co. partners Alex Heineman and Andrew Rona. Noah Lang will also serve as a producer. Ace’s founding partner Justin Barocas will also be executive producer.
The White Room is a female-driven thriller that takes place over the course of one night in the offseason of the remote Adirondack Mountains. The story unfolds when a mysterious young woman goes missing and it is up to a hardened local widow to find out the truth behind the disappearance, which may have been caused by something inhuman. The aspiration is Don’t Breathe meets Hereditary,...
- 1/11/2019
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Sam Adegoke, who currently stars in CW’s Dynasty reboot, and Frances Fisher are set for 8000 Shots, an indie film which Talia Lugacy wrote and is directing. Rosario Dawson is producing the film with Lugacy, who previously directed Dawson in the 2007 drama, Descent, along with Adegoke, Noah Lang, and Cheyenne Drinkwater.
Adegoke stars as Will Larue, a combat veteran who served in the Iraq war, who loses his friend and fellow vet to suicide, which resurrects his past and forces him to confront the fact that healing from war is not possible.
The pic set in NYC and is currently in production on location.
Previously, Adegoke has appeared Lifetime’s Searching for Neverland and had recurring stints on Freeform’s Switched at Birth and Murder in the First on TNT. He’ll reprise his role as Jeff Colby when Dynasty returns in the fall.
Fisher has appeared in numerous film...
Adegoke stars as Will Larue, a combat veteran who served in the Iraq war, who loses his friend and fellow vet to suicide, which resurrects his past and forces him to confront the fact that healing from war is not possible.
The pic set in NYC and is currently in production on location.
Previously, Adegoke has appeared Lifetime’s Searching for Neverland and had recurring stints on Freeform’s Switched at Birth and Murder in the First on TNT. He’ll reprise his role as Jeff Colby when Dynasty returns in the fall.
Fisher has appeared in numerous film...
- 7/17/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Rod Blackhurst, whose debut feature Here Alone won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at Tribeca in April, has signed with ICM Partners. Blackhurst also produced the postapocalyptic thriller with writer David Ebeltoft and Noah Lang. Here Alone is set after a virus has destroyed civilization, leaving humanity divided into two groups: the uninfected and those whom the virus has turned into insatiably violent savages. Three survivors living deep in the…...
- 6/22/2016
- Deadline
A Kickstarter was launched for the Hollywood Horror Museum which will preserve the history of the genre we all love so dearly. Also in this round-up: details on the Goosebumps screening at Mile High Horror Film Festival, horror survival game Romero's Aftermath, and distribution details for Crabs!
Hollywood Horror Museum: Press Release: "The Nsf just announced the launch of their Kickstarter for the Hollywood Horror Museum. The museum, created by some of horror and Sci-Fi’s biggest names, will be the world’s first educational, non-profit museum teaching the history of horror in films, TV, literature and art, as well as filmmaking, makeup, costumes and special effects, from model making to computer graphics.
The museum coincides with the Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum and will have a permanent home in 2018.
The project goes back to 2012 when writer/fan Huston Huddleston found two Star Trek Enterprise Bridges in the trash at Paramount in 1998 and decided to restore them.
Hollywood Horror Museum: Press Release: "The Nsf just announced the launch of their Kickstarter for the Hollywood Horror Museum. The museum, created by some of horror and Sci-Fi’s biggest names, will be the world’s first educational, non-profit museum teaching the history of horror in films, TV, literature and art, as well as filmmaking, makeup, costumes and special effects, from model making to computer graphics.
The museum coincides with the Hollywood Sci-Fi Museum and will have a permanent home in 2018.
The project goes back to 2012 when writer/fan Huston Huddleston found two Star Trek Enterprise Bridges in the trash at Paramount in 1998 and decided to restore them.
- 9/26/2015
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
Pierce Berolzheimer wrote and directs the love letter to practical effects and old school creature features.
Crabs! follows a wheelchair-bound man on the look-out for a prom date who must become a local hero when his sleepy coastal town is invaded by mutant horseshoe crabs.
The film featured in the current edition of The Frontieres International Work-In-Progress Market.
Toronto-based Raven Banner will also serve as executive producers. James Fler, Annick Mahnert and Michael Paszt negotiated the worldwide rights deal with Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum.
“We never thought we’d say this but we are so happy to have Crabs!” said managing partner Paszt.
Crabs! follows a wheelchair-bound man on the look-out for a prom date who must become a local hero when his sleepy coastal town is invaded by mutant horseshoe crabs.
The film featured in the current edition of The Frontieres International Work-In-Progress Market.
Toronto-based Raven Banner will also serve as executive producers. James Fler, Annick Mahnert and Michael Paszt negotiated the worldwide rights deal with Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum.
“We never thought we’d say this but we are so happy to have Crabs!” said managing partner Paszt.
- 9/25/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
One of the half dozen invited projects to the Paris edition of the U.S. in Progress (Champs Elysees Film Festival) it is James Morrison’s global catastrophe project, Diverge. Produced David Mandel and Noah Lang, this is about the survivor who is given the seemingly impossible chance to reclaim his lost life, love, and child by stopping the man responsible for the cataclysmic event: himself. Here is the top prize description: The U.S. in Progress award includes post-production services provided by Titra Tvs, Commune Image and Eaux Vives Productions, and an acquisition by French channel Ciné+. As part of the prize, the project will also be pitched at the Producers Network during the next Cannes market.
- 6/12/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Sci-fi thriller wins fourth edition of Us indie showcase in Paris.
James Morrison’s debut sci-fi thriller Diverge has won the fourth edition of indie showcase Us in Progress in Paris.
The time-warp drama revolves around the survivor of a global catastrophe who is given a chance to reclaim his lost former life by stopping the man who caused the cataclysmic event - himself.
It is debut feature for Morrison after shorts Stay True and Little Brother, which travelled the North American festival circuit.
The Paris Us in Progress showcase – a joint initiative between the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris and Black Rabbit Film – aims to connect upcoming Us independent films with distributors and sales agents in Europe.
Last year’s winner, Benjamin Dickinson’s Creative Control premiered at SXSW, where it took the Special Jury Recognition for Visual Excellence award, before being picked up for international sales by Paris-based The Coproduction...
James Morrison’s debut sci-fi thriller Diverge has won the fourth edition of indie showcase Us in Progress in Paris.
The time-warp drama revolves around the survivor of a global catastrophe who is given a chance to reclaim his lost former life by stopping the man who caused the cataclysmic event - himself.
It is debut feature for Morrison after shorts Stay True and Little Brother, which travelled the North American festival circuit.
The Paris Us in Progress showcase – a joint initiative between the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Champs-Élysées Film Festival in Paris and Black Rabbit Film – aims to connect upcoming Us independent films with distributors and sales agents in Europe.
Last year’s winner, Benjamin Dickinson’s Creative Control premiered at SXSW, where it took the Special Jury Recognition for Visual Excellence award, before being picked up for international sales by Paris-based The Coproduction...
- 6/12/2015
- ScreenDaily
Deb Shoval’s adaptation of her award-winning short (Awol), Carson Mell’s feature film debut (Another Evil) and Gabe Klinger’s Porto, Mon Amour starring Anton Yelchin and Lucie Lucas (see prod photo above) are among the half dozen projects in post-production that were selected for the U.S. in Progress Paris workshop. With all the buzz surrounding Cannes, we lost track of the unveiling of Champs-Élysées Film Festival’s selection which has also provided us with a possible preview of possible Sundance and SXSW titles for the 2016 campaign. Here are the six projects:
Another Evil, directed by Carson Mell (produced by Riel Roch Decter and Sebastian Pardo)
Awol – Deb Shoval (produced by Jessica Caldwell, L.A. Teodosio and Michel Merkt)
Diverge – James Morrison (produced by David Mandel and Noah Lang)
Live Cargo – Logan Sandler (produced by Thymaya Payne) ;
Porto Mon Amour – Gabe Klinger (produced by Rodrigo Areias, Nicolas R. de la Mothe,...
Another Evil, directed by Carson Mell (produced by Riel Roch Decter and Sebastian Pardo)
Awol – Deb Shoval (produced by Jessica Caldwell, L.A. Teodosio and Michel Merkt)
Diverge – James Morrison (produced by David Mandel and Noah Lang)
Live Cargo – Logan Sandler (produced by Thymaya Payne) ;
Porto Mon Amour – Gabe Klinger (produced by Rodrigo Areias, Nicolas R. de la Mothe,...
- 5/13/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Principal photography has concluded on the comedic thriller that reimagines Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn and Tom Sawyer as grown men.
Kyle Gallner (pictured at left) and Adam Nee (pictured at right) star with Matthew Gray Gubler, Hannibal Buress, Melissa Benoist, Eric Christian, Daniel Edward Mora and Stephen Lang.
Brothers Adam Nee and Aaron Nee directed Band Of Robbers. Their previous film The Last Romantic premiered at SXSW and IFC distributed in the Us.
Rounding out the cast are Johnny Pemberton, Beth Grant, Lee Garlington, Maria Blasucci, Cooper Huckabee and Creed Bratton.
John Will produces for Torn Sky Entertainment with Rick Rosenthal for Whitewater Films alongside Matt Ratner and Arun Kumar.
Nick Morton, Bert Kern, Tims Johnson, John and Margo Miller, Matthew Gray Gubler and Noah Lang are the executive producers.
Kyle Gallner (pictured at left) and Adam Nee (pictured at right) star with Matthew Gray Gubler, Hannibal Buress, Melissa Benoist, Eric Christian, Daniel Edward Mora and Stephen Lang.
Brothers Adam Nee and Aaron Nee directed Band Of Robbers. Their previous film The Last Romantic premiered at SXSW and IFC distributed in the Us.
Rounding out the cast are Johnny Pemberton, Beth Grant, Lee Garlington, Maria Blasucci, Cooper Huckabee and Creed Bratton.
John Will produces for Torn Sky Entertainment with Rick Rosenthal for Whitewater Films alongside Matt Ratner and Arun Kumar.
Nick Morton, Bert Kern, Tims Johnson, John and Margo Miller, Matthew Gray Gubler and Noah Lang are the executive producers.
- 9/18/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Paris! What could be better than to be in Paris, when it sizzles and drizzles, with spectacular lightning, and an evening view of the Arc de Triomphe every night as the participants of the Champs Elysees Film Festival, U.S. in Progress and Paris Coproduction Village drink champagne and eat exciting and uniquely presented hors d’oevres.
Even as we left for the airport after our five nights at the festival, at 6 am we were treated to a full moon and the Eiffel Tower on our right, still enveloped by the navy blue night and on our left, the Seine River and the sun turning the sky rose with its long fingers of dawn.
The beautiful and erudite Jacqueline Bisset, Bertrand Tavernier, Agnes Varda, Keanu Reeves, Whit Stillman and Mike Figges were all here in this intimate and quintessentially Parisian film festival, being celebrated and giving master classes to a public which is eager to soak in American films and French films in the only film festival in Paris.
The American films showing here are indies, relevant, funny, and all special. The Official Selection of American features include Sundance premiere films “Obvious Child” which also screened in Rotterdam and is now playing in U.S., “See You Next Tuesday”, “American Promise”, “Rich Hill” (also played in Hot Docs) and “Test”; the Toronto hit about the French photographer of U.S. street scenes in 1940s and ‘50s U.S. “Searching for Vivian Maier”; Tiff’s “Fort Bliss”; Urbanworld Ff’s “The Magic City” the debut film of R. Malcolm Jones; the critical hit “Locke”; last year’s U.S. in Progress and Tiff films “ 1982”; “Summer of Blood” which went on to play in Tribeca and “Sunbelt Express” in its world premiere.
I have to mention that very relevant French films, both new and classic, are also showing. For me the standout is Jacques Tati’s “Playtime” with English subtitles by Art Buchwald which came out 1967 to the great surprise and delight of the American public lucky enough to see it. In this adventure, Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. (Written By Leon Wolters <wolters [at] strw.LeidenUniv.nl>)
Writing this after “Fort Bliss” won the Audience Award is great because I loved that film.
That it could avoid the clichés expected to abound in a film about a beautiful young mother who enlists not once but twice to serve in Afghanistan was a feat of expert script writing and filmmaking.
Between the two stints in the Army, Maggie Swann must renew her relationship with her five-year old son, adjust to her ex-husband’s new live-in and establish a new romance with a blue-eyed Mexican car mechanic, played by Manolo Cardona, who played Santiago in “Contracorriente” (“Undertow”) and is heart-throbbingly gorgeous.
Michelle Monaghan who played Maggie Swann reminded me a little too much of Sandra Bullock though she is a good actress, playing the two ends of the emotional spectrum so well that I actually cried with her. Returning home and to Fort Bliss in Houston Texas after a horrendous stint in the army where she served as a medic, unable to sleep much and determined to take back her son, she plays the stoic decorated U.S. Army medic that she has become and yet, to win back her son and establish any other loving relationship, she must (and does) allow her emotions to rule in the end.
The director, Claudia Myers, who also wrote the screenplay was at the screening answering numerous questions afterward in both English and French. She is American but grew up in France. She worked extensively with the military making training movies and wanted to write a story about a woman with a career and family. This extreme situation of a career in the military also appealed to her because the woman had to play such emotional extremes, from not showing emotion in the worst circumstances of war to allowing her emotions for her son and for her lover to have free reign. This is the second feature she has directed after the 2006 Showtime movie, “ Kettle of Fish”.
The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2013 and is being sold internationally by Voltage who has sold it for Showgate for Japan and Umbrella for Australia), and Phase 4 for North America.
If only there were a family-friendly version, I would take my young grandson and his mother to see this as I think a child would empathize with the little boy, played by if the two very hot (and very meaningful) sex scenes were edited out for a family-friendly version. The sex scenes, however, were great in that each showed the psychological needs of a long emotionally-suppressed military woman and latter the sad and determined lust of her and her lover. That was one cliché less: instead of showing the usual dreamy and loving sex motives of most films, sex revealed the emotional states of people under pressure. The second cliché avoided was the emotional bond between mother and son. It was a film even a child could respond too, much the way children respond to the story of Bambi on film, and yet it avoided any sappiness. And the Army wants to see this story told, despite it showing troubling subject matter like Ptsd, reintegrating into society and sexual assault -- but to their credit they have supported it and helped the film get made in terms of accuracy.
The credits offered thanks to the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss,
American Legion, American Red Cross, Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA, Patriot Guard Riders, U.S. Army Public Affairs, Union Editorial and the United Service Organizations (Uso).
Also playing were my favorite Tiff film “Searching for Vivian Maier” and “1982” which we (the jury) voted Best Film of Us in Progress last year in Paris and which also went on to play in Toronto. We’re waiting to see how Tommy Oliver releases it. He is now producing two other films: “ Halfway” and “Black Eyed Dog”.
Watch this moving picture of Tommy Oliver lighting up for the Us in Progress organizer Ula Sniegowska, Trust Nordisk’s Silje Glimsdal and others last year in Paris at the Champs Elysees Film Festival
My other personal favorites and wonderful discoveries were “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”. The next blog will be about these two films and their filmmakers.
The Champs Elysees Film Festival: American Independent Film Competition
My runner-ups to the Audience Favorite, “Fort Bliss” are “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”.
“Sun Belt Express” was named in 2012 as the Indiewire Project of the Day as it began its trajectory by raising money on Kickstarter.
See the article Here
"Sun Belt Express" is a funny movie about illegal immigration, set to the south of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert. The story follows Allen King, an offbeat ethics professor who ends up on a run across the Mexican border with his conservative teenage daughter in tow - and four illegal immigrants in the trunk. What follows is a family road trip where anything that can go wrong – does. Set on both sides of the border, the film is a testament to the enduring power of humor, even in the most trying of situations.
My interview with the Writer – Director Evan Buxbaum and the Producer Noah Lang took place at the Hotel Marceau, not far from the Champs Elysees where seven theaters were showing films from the Champs Elysees Film Festival, put on for the third year by Sophie Dulac – producer, distributor, arthouse exhibitor and vice-president of family-founded, Publicis, the third largest advertising agency in the world.
Women to Watch: Sophie Dulac and the Champs Elysees Film Festival
Evan Buxbaum started life as a totally unexposed-to-the-world upper Westside (NY) Jewish boy. He didn’t even go to film school. He studied political science and political conflict resolution at Swarthmore. He graduated in ’06 and learned filmmaking by making three or four shorts at the same time as he tended bar.
His “barback” (that is the busboy for bars) Gregorio Castro, shared his story of how he came to U.S. As they became better friends, Evan met other Latinos who had some insane stories about crossing the border which were oddly uplifting. They always showed an indominable spirit in telling these tough stories; they always laughed. It was a unique way to approach life with such a sense of humor.
He and Gregorio set about writing a script and made a 10 minute short, “La Linea” about people in the trunk of a car, as a test of the concept, to see if it would resonate in the way they wanted. They wanted to create a film in a space that didn’t exist. Terrible things happen on the border and the film gave him the opportunity to explore humor in adversity.
The short played in a lot of festivals and some people wanted to finance his feature and so his life was shaped over the next five years (from ages 20 to 30).
Producer Noah Lang -- who incidently is the son of actor Stephen Lang, who played a cameo in this film and was the bad guy in “Avatar” and will be again in “Avatar” 2, 3 and 4 – also went to Swarthmore but did not know Evan there. Noah was working at Cinetic when he went to Headsets and Highballs, a networking operation in NYC where a producer, telling a funny story, got him interested him in reading the script. Over the next four months, while working at Cinetic, he helped out in the development of the script and subsequently left Cinetic to produce independently and subsequently was accepted into a program The Dogfish Accelerator. There he met one of the producers and got involved. That was two years ago…and he didn’t grow broke.
A first feature is usually sheer blindness, stupidity and luck. Financing began with Kickstarter to raise seed money. That was the most difficult part of making the movie. Kickstarter is a great platform to make you do something! They had 650 donors and raised $40,000 to hire actors, an attorney, asting director and location scout. Kickstarter also created a big following. From crowdfunding they moved to private equity and cash flowed through New Mexico tax credit. They raised some money from Indiegogo for post-production and their very rough cut won the Us in Progress prize in the fall of 2013 in Wroclaw, Poland, sharing with “Lake Los Angeles ” for color, sound, foley and a full music mix. They will still use the Polish Us in Progress prize to do a final print mix and color pass and get a Dcp.
Says Noah: “This account of how we raised money is not a replicating model. The first film is a constant bargain for what you can do.”
The creative notes they received during Us in Progress were very important. It was the first time they knew what they needed to do.
“In editing you’re blind. The emotional connection is very powerful, the process however is a slog, filled with doubts,” Evan says.
The speed dating model of networking gave Evan and Noah a way to approach problems.
One French distribution company showed interest in the film and lots of international sales agents gave them advice. Some told them that the film would do well in U.K. and Russia, but would not play to a French audience.
Here in Paris, however, many people gave them their cards for French distribution. The French audience was very good and made them optimistic as their reception was overwhelmingly positive, in fact some in the audience were very passionate about the immigration issue.
“And this was supposed to be the difficult audience”, they said.
Even the French international sales agents had underestimated the French audiences. The strength of this well told story was in dealing with the issue of transplantation in a humanized, humanitarian way. The audience was very emotional and spoke of their own or their great-grandparents’ coming to France. I noticed questions were asked by Africans and North Africans as well as by French.
They are now in talks with sales agents and a domestic distributor. Stay tuned!
They have several projects jockeying for priority now. One is to work with the “Summer of Blood” team on a coproduction. This is still pre-script stage. More on “Summer of Blood” and their team to follow. Both the investors in “Summer of Blood” and “Sunbelt Express” are interested in continuing.
For more information, go to SunBeltExpressMovie.com.
Based on Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum’s recommendations and on the fact that like it had also been in Us in Progress and in Tribeca Film Festival, I went to see “Summer of Blood” and was not disappointed.
In fact, I was surprised by the humor of this so-called “mumble gore” movie which Mpi is releasing in the U.S. The best of it all was the presentation and post screening Q&A by the director and star Onur Tukel, a Turkish Woody Allen. This is a New York story of a guy who is afraid to commit and becomes a vampire and is still afraid to commit but has a great time having sex until he realizes his former girlfriend is still the one he loves.
Onur, a Turkish guy who grew up in North Carolina, and his producer Clifford McCurdy were in Paris with “Summer of Blood”. The two could not appear more disparate. One loose, dresses in plaid shirts, has a beard and long hair, the other straight-laced, short haired, reserved. When Onur begins talking, you don’t know if he is serious or joking and he gets pretty outrageous. He says this film is a cross between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “True Blood” and it is very Woody Allen. One of the actresses, Juliette Fairley was also there. She was sexy, drole, perky and funny in the movie. Her mother – French Jewish, her father African American met when he went to France during World War 2. She has a script about it which she is also beginning to show people. At one point in the Q&A, someone in the audience asked how Onur could be so brazen about how he portrayed his Jewish landlord or the African American date in one scene (Juliette) and he had no shame or trace of bigotry in his answer. As a Turkish American growing up in North Carolina, he had never met a Jew until he moved to New York and his landlord was actually like the landlord in the movie…why not? The question was made to seem like one in “Sunbelt Express” when the daughter asks her father how he can dare to call these people “Mexicans” and he replies, “but they are Mexicans”. The fun of poking holes in peoples’ politically corrected prejudices make both of these comedies subversively funny.
See the movie when Mpi releases it. As for “Sun Belt Express”, you’ll have to wait until they sign a distribution deal.
Even as we left for the airport after our five nights at the festival, at 6 am we were treated to a full moon and the Eiffel Tower on our right, still enveloped by the navy blue night and on our left, the Seine River and the sun turning the sky rose with its long fingers of dawn.
The beautiful and erudite Jacqueline Bisset, Bertrand Tavernier, Agnes Varda, Keanu Reeves, Whit Stillman and Mike Figges were all here in this intimate and quintessentially Parisian film festival, being celebrated and giving master classes to a public which is eager to soak in American films and French films in the only film festival in Paris.
The American films showing here are indies, relevant, funny, and all special. The Official Selection of American features include Sundance premiere films “Obvious Child” which also screened in Rotterdam and is now playing in U.S., “See You Next Tuesday”, “American Promise”, “Rich Hill” (also played in Hot Docs) and “Test”; the Toronto hit about the French photographer of U.S. street scenes in 1940s and ‘50s U.S. “Searching for Vivian Maier”; Tiff’s “Fort Bliss”; Urbanworld Ff’s “The Magic City” the debut film of R. Malcolm Jones; the critical hit “Locke”; last year’s U.S. in Progress and Tiff films “ 1982”; “Summer of Blood” which went on to play in Tribeca and “Sunbelt Express” in its world premiere.
I have to mention that very relevant French films, both new and classic, are also showing. For me the standout is Jacques Tati’s “Playtime” with English subtitles by Art Buchwald which came out 1967 to the great surprise and delight of the American public lucky enough to see it. In this adventure, Monsieur Hulot has to contact an American official in Paris, but he gets lost in the maze of modern architecture which is filled with the latest technical gadgets. Caught in the tourist invasion, Hulot roams around Paris with a group of American tourists, causing chaos in his usual manner. (Written By Leon Wolters <wolters [at] strw.LeidenUniv.nl>)
Writing this after “Fort Bliss” won the Audience Award is great because I loved that film.
That it could avoid the clichés expected to abound in a film about a beautiful young mother who enlists not once but twice to serve in Afghanistan was a feat of expert script writing and filmmaking.
Between the two stints in the Army, Maggie Swann must renew her relationship with her five-year old son, adjust to her ex-husband’s new live-in and establish a new romance with a blue-eyed Mexican car mechanic, played by Manolo Cardona, who played Santiago in “Contracorriente” (“Undertow”) and is heart-throbbingly gorgeous.
Michelle Monaghan who played Maggie Swann reminded me a little too much of Sandra Bullock though she is a good actress, playing the two ends of the emotional spectrum so well that I actually cried with her. Returning home and to Fort Bliss in Houston Texas after a horrendous stint in the army where she served as a medic, unable to sleep much and determined to take back her son, she plays the stoic decorated U.S. Army medic that she has become and yet, to win back her son and establish any other loving relationship, she must (and does) allow her emotions to rule in the end.
The director, Claudia Myers, who also wrote the screenplay was at the screening answering numerous questions afterward in both English and French. She is American but grew up in France. She worked extensively with the military making training movies and wanted to write a story about a woman with a career and family. This extreme situation of a career in the military also appealed to her because the woman had to play such emotional extremes, from not showing emotion in the worst circumstances of war to allowing her emotions for her son and for her lover to have free reign. This is the second feature she has directed after the 2006 Showtime movie, “ Kettle of Fish”.
The film premiered at Toronto Film Festival 2013 and is being sold internationally by Voltage who has sold it for Showgate for Japan and Umbrella for Australia), and Phase 4 for North America.
If only there were a family-friendly version, I would take my young grandson and his mother to see this as I think a child would empathize with the little boy, played by if the two very hot (and very meaningful) sex scenes were edited out for a family-friendly version. The sex scenes, however, were great in that each showed the psychological needs of a long emotionally-suppressed military woman and latter the sad and determined lust of her and her lover. That was one cliché less: instead of showing the usual dreamy and loving sex motives of most films, sex revealed the emotional states of people under pressure. The second cliché avoided was the emotional bond between mother and son. It was a film even a child could respond too, much the way children respond to the story of Bambi on film, and yet it avoided any sappiness. And the Army wants to see this story told, despite it showing troubling subject matter like Ptsd, reintegrating into society and sexual assault -- but to their credit they have supported it and helped the film get made in terms of accuracy.
The credits offered thanks to the 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss,
American Legion, American Red Cross, Joint Forces Training Base Los Alamitos, CA, Patriot Guard Riders, U.S. Army Public Affairs, Union Editorial and the United Service Organizations (Uso).
Also playing were my favorite Tiff film “Searching for Vivian Maier” and “1982” which we (the jury) voted Best Film of Us in Progress last year in Paris and which also went on to play in Toronto. We’re waiting to see how Tommy Oliver releases it. He is now producing two other films: “ Halfway” and “Black Eyed Dog”.
Watch this moving picture of Tommy Oliver lighting up for the Us in Progress organizer Ula Sniegowska, Trust Nordisk’s Silje Glimsdal and others last year in Paris at the Champs Elysees Film Festival
My other personal favorites and wonderful discoveries were “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”. The next blog will be about these two films and their filmmakers.
The Champs Elysees Film Festival: American Independent Film Competition
My runner-ups to the Audience Favorite, “Fort Bliss” are “Sun Belt Express” and “Summer of Blood”.
“Sun Belt Express” was named in 2012 as the Indiewire Project of the Day as it began its trajectory by raising money on Kickstarter.
See the article Here
"Sun Belt Express" is a funny movie about illegal immigration, set to the south of Tucson in the Sonoran Desert. The story follows Allen King, an offbeat ethics professor who ends up on a run across the Mexican border with his conservative teenage daughter in tow - and four illegal immigrants in the trunk. What follows is a family road trip where anything that can go wrong – does. Set on both sides of the border, the film is a testament to the enduring power of humor, even in the most trying of situations.
My interview with the Writer – Director Evan Buxbaum and the Producer Noah Lang took place at the Hotel Marceau, not far from the Champs Elysees where seven theaters were showing films from the Champs Elysees Film Festival, put on for the third year by Sophie Dulac – producer, distributor, arthouse exhibitor and vice-president of family-founded, Publicis, the third largest advertising agency in the world.
Women to Watch: Sophie Dulac and the Champs Elysees Film Festival
Evan Buxbaum started life as a totally unexposed-to-the-world upper Westside (NY) Jewish boy. He didn’t even go to film school. He studied political science and political conflict resolution at Swarthmore. He graduated in ’06 and learned filmmaking by making three or four shorts at the same time as he tended bar.
His “barback” (that is the busboy for bars) Gregorio Castro, shared his story of how he came to U.S. As they became better friends, Evan met other Latinos who had some insane stories about crossing the border which were oddly uplifting. They always showed an indominable spirit in telling these tough stories; they always laughed. It was a unique way to approach life with such a sense of humor.
He and Gregorio set about writing a script and made a 10 minute short, “La Linea” about people in the trunk of a car, as a test of the concept, to see if it would resonate in the way they wanted. They wanted to create a film in a space that didn’t exist. Terrible things happen on the border and the film gave him the opportunity to explore humor in adversity.
The short played in a lot of festivals and some people wanted to finance his feature and so his life was shaped over the next five years (from ages 20 to 30).
Producer Noah Lang -- who incidently is the son of actor Stephen Lang, who played a cameo in this film and was the bad guy in “Avatar” and will be again in “Avatar” 2, 3 and 4 – also went to Swarthmore but did not know Evan there. Noah was working at Cinetic when he went to Headsets and Highballs, a networking operation in NYC where a producer, telling a funny story, got him interested him in reading the script. Over the next four months, while working at Cinetic, he helped out in the development of the script and subsequently left Cinetic to produce independently and subsequently was accepted into a program The Dogfish Accelerator. There he met one of the producers and got involved. That was two years ago…and he didn’t grow broke.
A first feature is usually sheer blindness, stupidity and luck. Financing began with Kickstarter to raise seed money. That was the most difficult part of making the movie. Kickstarter is a great platform to make you do something! They had 650 donors and raised $40,000 to hire actors, an attorney, asting director and location scout. Kickstarter also created a big following. From crowdfunding they moved to private equity and cash flowed through New Mexico tax credit. They raised some money from Indiegogo for post-production and their very rough cut won the Us in Progress prize in the fall of 2013 in Wroclaw, Poland, sharing with “Lake Los Angeles ” for color, sound, foley and a full music mix. They will still use the Polish Us in Progress prize to do a final print mix and color pass and get a Dcp.
Says Noah: “This account of how we raised money is not a replicating model. The first film is a constant bargain for what you can do.”
The creative notes they received during Us in Progress were very important. It was the first time they knew what they needed to do.
“In editing you’re blind. The emotional connection is very powerful, the process however is a slog, filled with doubts,” Evan says.
The speed dating model of networking gave Evan and Noah a way to approach problems.
One French distribution company showed interest in the film and lots of international sales agents gave them advice. Some told them that the film would do well in U.K. and Russia, but would not play to a French audience.
Here in Paris, however, many people gave them their cards for French distribution. The French audience was very good and made them optimistic as their reception was overwhelmingly positive, in fact some in the audience were very passionate about the immigration issue.
“And this was supposed to be the difficult audience”, they said.
Even the French international sales agents had underestimated the French audiences. The strength of this well told story was in dealing with the issue of transplantation in a humanized, humanitarian way. The audience was very emotional and spoke of their own or their great-grandparents’ coming to France. I noticed questions were asked by Africans and North Africans as well as by French.
They are now in talks with sales agents and a domestic distributor. Stay tuned!
They have several projects jockeying for priority now. One is to work with the “Summer of Blood” team on a coproduction. This is still pre-script stage. More on “Summer of Blood” and their team to follow. Both the investors in “Summer of Blood” and “Sunbelt Express” are interested in continuing.
For more information, go to SunBeltExpressMovie.com.
Based on Noah Lang and Evan Buxbaum’s recommendations and on the fact that like it had also been in Us in Progress and in Tribeca Film Festival, I went to see “Summer of Blood” and was not disappointed.
In fact, I was surprised by the humor of this so-called “mumble gore” movie which Mpi is releasing in the U.S. The best of it all was the presentation and post screening Q&A by the director and star Onur Tukel, a Turkish Woody Allen. This is a New York story of a guy who is afraid to commit and becomes a vampire and is still afraid to commit but has a great time having sex until he realizes his former girlfriend is still the one he loves.
Onur, a Turkish guy who grew up in North Carolina, and his producer Clifford McCurdy were in Paris with “Summer of Blood”. The two could not appear more disparate. One loose, dresses in plaid shirts, has a beard and long hair, the other straight-laced, short haired, reserved. When Onur begins talking, you don’t know if he is serious or joking and he gets pretty outrageous. He says this film is a cross between “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “True Blood” and it is very Woody Allen. One of the actresses, Juliette Fairley was also there. She was sexy, drole, perky and funny in the movie. Her mother – French Jewish, her father African American met when he went to France during World War 2. She has a script about it which she is also beginning to show people. At one point in the Q&A, someone in the audience asked how Onur could be so brazen about how he portrayed his Jewish landlord or the African American date in one scene (Juliette) and he had no shame or trace of bigotry in his answer. As a Turkish American growing up in North Carolina, he had never met a Jew until he moved to New York and his landlord was actually like the landlord in the movie…why not? The question was made to seem like one in “Sunbelt Express” when the daughter asks her father how he can dare to call these people “Mexicans” and he replies, “but they are Mexicans”. The fun of poking holes in peoples’ politically corrected prejudices make both of these comedies subversively funny.
See the movie when Mpi releases it. As for “Sun Belt Express”, you’ll have to wait until they sign a distribution deal.
- 6/22/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.