When Andrew Karpen wants to convince a filmmaker to let him release their movie, he doesn’t blow them away by offering more and more money. For one thing, Bleecker Street, the indie studio he founded in 2014, doesn’t have the financial firepower of an Apple or a Netflix.
“Our pitch is always centered around the kind of experience that they will have with us, knowing that we will be collaborative and transparent,” Karpen says. “I always say, ‘This is not a campaign where you will just be emailed the final poster and trailer and given two tickets to the premiere.’”
And over nearly 70 films, that openness has kept Karpen and his small but mighty staff in the game. While Bleecker is celebrating its 10th anniversary, many of its competitors haven’t managed to survive in a business that’s only become more treacherous to navigate. Several of Bleecker’s contemporaries,...
“Our pitch is always centered around the kind of experience that they will have with us, knowing that we will be collaborative and transparent,” Karpen says. “I always say, ‘This is not a campaign where you will just be emailed the final poster and trailer and given two tickets to the premiere.’”
And over nearly 70 films, that openness has kept Karpen and his small but mighty staff in the game. While Bleecker is celebrating its 10th anniversary, many of its competitors haven’t managed to survive in a business that’s only become more treacherous to navigate. Several of Bleecker’s contemporaries,...
- 5/15/2024
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
In Steven Soderbergh's sexy 1998 crime thriller, George Clooney plays the world's smoothest bank robber, Jack Foley, a man so charming that he manages to rob a bank using nothing more than a yellow highlighter. Foley begins "Out of Sight" in prison, having been busted after someone snitched on him. He bonds with imprisoned compatriots -- notably, Albert Brooks -- and the two of them arrange for Jack to get a job upon his release. When released, however, Jack is double-crossed by the Brooks character, and he is ejected from the building with no job. The rejection leads Jack, in a fit of resentment, to commit the above-mentioned robbery. He is caught, and put right back in prison.
Clooney, a handsome man sculpted out of hardened cologne, makes his yellow prison jumpsuits look downright dashing, while his silvering hair swoop and five o'clock shadow are impeccably maintained behind bars. Some...
Clooney, a handsome man sculpted out of hardened cologne, makes his yellow prison jumpsuits look downright dashing, while his silvering hair swoop and five o'clock shadow are impeccably maintained behind bars. Some...
- 12/20/2023
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
In today’s film news roundup, “Surviving Supercon” releases its trailer prior to its opening night slot of the Florida Film Festival, a coronavirus movie has completed production, Javier Bardem’s “The Roads Not Taken” gets a virtual release and 1606 Studio adds to its staff.
Film Festival
Abyssmal Entertainment has released its first trailer exclusively to Variety for convention documentary “Surviving Supercon,” which will premiere as the opening night film at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Fla.
The festival was recently postponed from April 17-26 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Festival staff members are tentatively aiming to reschedule for August for the 29th iteration of the event.
“Surviving Supercon” showcases the 2018 Supercon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., following husband and wife owners Mike Broder and Sandy Martin dealing with an array of problems arising from hosting 60,000 attendees.
The film is directed and edited by Steven Shea and contains original music composed by Robert Reider.
Film Festival
Abyssmal Entertainment has released its first trailer exclusively to Variety for convention documentary “Surviving Supercon,” which will premiere as the opening night film at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, Fla.
The festival was recently postponed from April 17-26 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Festival staff members are tentatively aiming to reschedule for August for the 29th iteration of the event.
“Surviving Supercon” showcases the 2018 Supercon in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., following husband and wife owners Mike Broder and Sandy Martin dealing with an array of problems arising from hosting 60,000 attendees.
The film is directed and edited by Steven Shea and contains original music composed by Robert Reider.
- 4/7/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Bleecker Street’s Sally Potter movie The Roads Not Taken had a limited New York and Los Angeles run over the March 13-15 weekend, just as the Covid-19 climate was impacting theatrical business. But now the movie, which stars Javier Bardem, Elle Fanning, Laura Linney and Salma Hayek, will be part of the New York-based distributor’s new virtual streaming program with exhibition, starting on April 10.
For the price of $12 for a three-day viewing window, audiences can log on to their local exhibitor’s website, the participating partners being Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, Cmx Cinemas, Bow Tie Cinemas, Laemmle Theatres and Studio Movie Grill, to watch the movie for a 3-day viewing window. Many indie distributors in the current coronavirus climate, which has shuttered movie theaters, are banding together with exhibition to stream their movies in an exclusive window while the nation is quarantined at home.
More from Deadline14 Movie Theaters,...
For the price of $12 for a three-day viewing window, audiences can log on to their local exhibitor’s website, the participating partners being Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, Cmx Cinemas, Bow Tie Cinemas, Laemmle Theatres and Studio Movie Grill, to watch the movie for a 3-day viewing window. Many indie distributors in the current coronavirus climate, which has shuttered movie theaters, are banding together with exhibition to stream their movies in an exclusive window while the nation is quarantined at home.
More from Deadline14 Movie Theaters,...
- 4/6/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Screenings to start on April 10 in association with aprticipating theatres.
Responding to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Bleecker Street has partnered with Us independent theatres to orchestrate a virtual release for Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken.
Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, Cmx Cinemas, Bow Tie Cinemas, Laemmle Theatres and Studio Movie Grill have signed up as the early number of exhibition partners has established a site footprint of more than 175.
Sally Potter’s drama received its world premiere at the Berlinale in February and its subsequent theatrical release on March 13 was cut short when Us theatres closed as part of a...
Responding to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, Bleecker Street has partnered with Us independent theatres to orchestrate a virtual release for Sally Potter’s The Roads Not Taken.
Cinepolis Luxury Cinemas, Cmx Cinemas, Bow Tie Cinemas, Laemmle Theatres and Studio Movie Grill have signed up as the early number of exhibition partners has established a site footprint of more than 175.
Sally Potter’s drama received its world premiere at the Berlinale in February and its subsequent theatrical release on March 13 was cut short when Us theatres closed as part of a...
- 4/6/2020
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Updated with more numbers and analysis. Specialty newcomers are mostly wilting in the heat this weekend. Meanwhile, though, second-week holdover The Farewell from A24 packed a wallop with an expansion and Bleecker Street’s The Art of Self-Defense jumped to well-over five hundred runs for a seven-figure, three-day gross.
Riding the wave of music-oriented documentaries, Sony Classics opened Sundance 2019 debut David Crosby: Remember My Name in several New York and La theaters Friday. The title directed by A.J. Eaton and produced by Cameron Crowe grossed $41,050 for a $10,263 per theater average, a slower start than other music-centered docs of late. The title had the highest opening average among reporting specialty debuts as of Sunday morning.
Fellow rock documentary Echo in the Canyon (Greenwich Entertainment) bowed has cumed more than $2.6M since opening in late May. The title had an opening weekend of over $117K in two locations, averaging $58,826. Though a very different genre of music,...
Riding the wave of music-oriented documentaries, Sony Classics opened Sundance 2019 debut David Crosby: Remember My Name in several New York and La theaters Friday. The title directed by A.J. Eaton and produced by Cameron Crowe grossed $41,050 for a $10,263 per theater average, a slower start than other music-centered docs of late. The title had the highest opening average among reporting specialty debuts as of Sunday morning.
Fellow rock documentary Echo in the Canyon (Greenwich Entertainment) bowed has cumed more than $2.6M since opening in late May. The title had an opening weekend of over $117K in two locations, averaging $58,826. Though a very different genre of music,...
- 7/21/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
The Memorial Day holiday is a fairly busy one this year for Specialty films. Headlining the weekend’s new limited release titles is writer-director Noble Jones’ Sundance debut The Tomorrow Man, starring John Lithgow and Blythe Danner via Bleecker Street. The title began its roll out on Wednesday. Following up his successful documentary Dior And I, director Frédéric Tcheng is out this Friday with Halston, about the famous American designer. 1091, known as The Orchard when it released Dior and I, is taking Halston to theaters Friday. Oscilloscope’s 2018 Tribeca fest doc, Jill Magid’s The Proposal about architect Luis Barragán, has an exclusive New York run before heading to L.A. next weekend, while Greenwich Entertainment will play L.A. exclusively with doc Echo In the Canyon before heading East in its second frame. Blue Fox Entertainment, meanwhile is opening Slamdance 2018 tragic comedy Funny Story day and date Friday.
Other...
Other...
- 5/24/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
Corruption swings in every possible direction on the latest episode of Billions.
This Billions review contains spoilers.
Billions Season 4 Episode 5
As last week’s “Overton Window” proved, the faster Billions chugs through an episode’s many, many plot points, the better off it is. Andrew Ross Sorkin, Brian Koppelman and David Levien’s Showtime series about the corrept machinations of New York moneymakers and politicians has almost always been chock-full of major and minor characters enacting or enduring primary and secondary storylines. So the speedier everything runs, the better.
Hence “A Proper Sendoff,” which runs a narrative marathon without breaking a sweat or taking a break from its opening shots of “Black” Jack Foley’s (David Strathairn) cremation and a baking pizza destined for a particular table. Specifically, the table shared by Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and Rebecca Cantu (Nina Arianda...
This Billions review contains spoilers.
Billions Season 4 Episode 5
As last week’s “Overton Window” proved, the faster Billions chugs through an episode’s many, many plot points, the better off it is. Andrew Ross Sorkin, Brian Koppelman and David Levien’s Showtime series about the corrept machinations of New York moneymakers and politicians has almost always been chock-full of major and minor characters enacting or enduring primary and secondary storylines. So the speedier everything runs, the better.
Hence “A Proper Sendoff,” which runs a narrative marathon without breaking a sweat or taking a break from its opening shots of “Black” Jack Foley’s (David Strathairn) cremation and a baking pizza destined for a particular table. Specifically, the table shared by Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti), Wendy Rhoades (Maggie Siff), Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis) and Rebecca Cantu (Nina Arianda...
- 4/15/2019
- Den of Geek
The cosmos somehow aligned for this to be the weekend in which two headlining actors star as singers in two limited releases that open in the same frame — albeit with quite different stories… In the end, it seems both Gunpowder & Sky’s Her Smell and Bleecker Street’s Teen Spirit mostly split the audiences — or shared them. Her Smell took the edge with the highest per theater average of a crowded weekend. The title grossed $39,058 in the Sunday morning estimate, averaging $13,019 in three locations. Teen Spirit has the second-best PTA. The Bleecker Street release played one more gig than Her Smell. In four theaters, the title starring Elle Fanning grossed $44,361, averaging $11,090.
Only slightly below Teen Spirit in the Sunday estimate is Greenwich Entertainment’s Wild Nights With Emily with Molly Shannon starring as Emily Dickinson. The 2018 SXSW premiere by filmmaker Madeleine Olnek played to $33K in three New York and L.
Only slightly below Teen Spirit in the Sunday estimate is Greenwich Entertainment’s Wild Nights With Emily with Molly Shannon starring as Emily Dickinson. The 2018 SXSW premiere by filmmaker Madeleine Olnek played to $33K in three New York and L.
- 4/14/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
Women and music are at the center of two new Specialty releases this weekend. Ld Entertainment/Bleecker Street is taking Elle Fanning starrer Teen Spirit by Max Minghella to New York and L.A. before a fairly wide expansion next weekend, while Gunpowder & Sky is opening Alex Ross Perry’s punk drama Her Smell with Elisabeth Moss in New York and Toronto. The titles join a fairly packed group of new limited releases this weekend. Molly Shannon stars as Emily Dickinson in Greenwich Entertainment’s Wild Nights with Emily by Madeleine Olnek which launches in New York and L.A. before heading to 50 markets in the coming weeks. In the wake of its lucrative if controversial opening in China, Kino Lorber is opening Bi Gan’s Cannes debut Long Day’s Journey Into Night. Also from China is Well Go USA’s Master Z: Ip Man Legacy, launching in 20 North American markets.
- 4/11/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
Billions Season 4 recovers from last week’s misfire with a spectacular episode with real consequences for the show.
This Billions review contains spoilers.
Billions Season 4 Episode 4
Many professional reviewers and recappers are probably going to begin their pieces on this week’s episode of Billions with a quick, Wikipedia-provided definition of its namesake, the “Overton Window.” As they should, for the political concept developed by the late Joseph P. Overton plays a pivotal role in defining all of the increasingly heinous shit that goes down in what amounts to a single day in the tumultuous lives of rivals turned allies Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis).
We’ll come back to Overton soon enough, but until then, let’s relish in just how delightfully fun and well constructed the fourth episode of Billions Season 4 truly is. Written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who also serve as co-showrunners,...
This Billions review contains spoilers.
Billions Season 4 Episode 4
Many professional reviewers and recappers are probably going to begin their pieces on this week’s episode of Billions with a quick, Wikipedia-provided definition of its namesake, the “Overton Window.” As they should, for the political concept developed by the late Joseph P. Overton plays a pivotal role in defining all of the increasingly heinous shit that goes down in what amounts to a single day in the tumultuous lives of rivals turned allies Chuck Rhoades (Paul Giamatti) and Bobby “Axe” Axelrod (Damian Lewis).
We’ll come back to Overton soon enough, but until then, let’s relish in just how delightfully fun and well constructed the fourth episode of Billions Season 4 truly is. Written by Brian Koppelman and David Levien, who also serve as co-showrunners,...
- 4/8/2019
- Den of Geek
‘Hotel Mumbai’
Hotel Mumbai‘s prospects in the Us look very promising after Anthony Maras’ thriller played to full houses in its platform release in Los Angeles and New York last weekend.
Bleecker Street launched the film co-written by Maras and John Collee, which stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher and Tilda Cobham-Hervey, at four cinemas, grossing $88,065 for a per-screen average of $22,016.
Hotel Mumbai was the No. 1 film at the Angelika and third at Lincoln Square in New York behind Jordan Peele’s Us (which rang up a superb $71.1 million nationwide in its debut) and Captain Marvel.
The thriller produced by Basil Iwanyk, Gary Hamilton, Mike Gabrawy, Julie Ryan, Andrew Ogilvie and Jomon Thomas ranked second behind Us at the Landmark and the Arclight in La.
Bleecker Street’s Jack Foley told Deadline there were sell-outs and near-sell outs at all four locations, from matinees through to evening sessions.
Hotel Mumbai‘s prospects in the Us look very promising after Anthony Maras’ thriller played to full houses in its platform release in Los Angeles and New York last weekend.
Bleecker Street launched the film co-written by Maras and John Collee, which stars Dev Patel, Armie Hammer, Nazanin Boniadi, Anupam Kher and Tilda Cobham-Hervey, at four cinemas, grossing $88,065 for a per-screen average of $22,016.
Hotel Mumbai was the No. 1 film at the Angelika and third at Lincoln Square in New York behind Jordan Peele’s Us (which rang up a superb $71.1 million nationwide in its debut) and Captain Marvel.
The thriller produced by Basil Iwanyk, Gary Hamilton, Mike Gabrawy, Julie Ryan, Andrew Ogilvie and Jomon Thomas ranked second behind Us at the Landmark and the Arclight in La.
Bleecker Street’s Jack Foley told Deadline there were sell-outs and near-sell outs at all four locations, from matinees through to evening sessions.
- 3/24/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Two historic dramas headline a comparatively slow weekend for new Specialty roll outs vs. last weekend’s heavy roster. Bleecker Street/ShivHans Pictures’ Hotel Mumbai with Oscar-nominee Dev Patel and Golden Globe-nominee Armie Hammer will have a minimal start in New York and Los Angeles ahead of a fairly wide release in the coming weeks. The film recounts the true events in 2008 when terrorists laid siege of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai. Sony Pictures Classics is opening Budapest-set Sunset by László Nemes, whose previous feature, Son Of Saul won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language film. Sunset is a fictional drama set amid the tense days leading up to World War I. The film will have a slow roll out, beginning in New York and L.A. Grand Rapids, Michigan, however, will have the theatrical bow for Oscilloscope’s Relaxer by Joel Potrykus. The company is opening the title...
- 3/21/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
With the Sundance Film Festival coming to a close, Oscar nominations out and Specialty distributors looking ahead, this weekend will have more new limited releases than the last few, post-holidays weekends. Bleecker Street is opening Joe Penna’s Arctic starring Mads Mikkelsen as a man stranded near the North Pole following a plane crash. The Orchard is opening The Unicorn by Robert Schwartzman, who hosted an event at Sundance last weekend. Starring Nick Rutherford who also co-wrote, The Unicorn will head out to theaters this weekend before going on-demand next week. The ‘widest’ Specialty roll out on this continent this weekend will be Bollywood’s Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Laga from Fip, which will take the title by director Shelly Chopra Dhar to 192 locations in North America. And Danish filmmaker Mads Brügger was at the Sundance Film Festival with doc Cold Case Hammarskjöld, but the director has also...
- 2/1/2019
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
‘High Flying Bird’ Review: Soderbergh Soars with Brilliant Netflix Basketball Drama — Slamdance 2019
Steven Soderbergh loves making heist movies. That was obvious from the “Ocean’s Eleven” trilogy, and the more recent “Logan Lucky;” in less explicit ways, it’s also evident in many of his other films. And while it’s likely that Soderbergh has a soft spot for thieves, it’s more accurate to say that he’s drawn to stories about people who try to steal back a measure of self-worth.
“Erin Brockovich” has the trappings of a legal drama, but it builds to a final scene in which its heroine scores a personal supply of restorative justice from the pockets of a corrupt system. “The Informant!” is an off-kilter comedy about a whistleblower who embezzled millions from his own company while snitching on his employers to the FBI, but Soderbergh can’t resist asking why someone would commit fraud after being granted amnesty. “Side Effects” might be misdiagnosed as a psychological thriller,...
“Erin Brockovich” has the trappings of a legal drama, but it builds to a final scene in which its heroine scores a personal supply of restorative justice from the pockets of a corrupt system. “The Informant!” is an off-kilter comedy about a whistleblower who embezzled millions from his own company while snitching on his employers to the FBI, but Soderbergh can’t resist asking why someone would commit fraud after being granted amnesty. “Side Effects” might be misdiagnosed as a psychological thriller,...
- 1/28/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The concept behind writer/director Justin McConnell's latest horror movie is fantastic: a guy with the ability to shapeshift by killing his victims, goes on a murderous spree in an attempt to rekindle a relationship with the woman he loves.
It seems that McConnell's Lifechanger does offer up a reason as to why the shapeshifter needs to change bodies so many times but it seems what's most notable of the movie is that at just shy of 90 minutes long, it moves quickly; "Even the gore is efficient."
Lifechanger stars Elitsa Bako, Lora Burke, Jack Foley, Sam James White, Steve Kasan, Bill Oberst Jr. and Rachel Vanduzer.
It's a...
It seems that McConnell's Lifechanger does offer up a reason as to why the shapeshifter needs to change bodies so many times but it seems what's most notable of the movie is that at just shy of 90 minutes long, it moves quickly; "Even the gore is efficient."
Lifechanger stars Elitsa Bako, Lora Burke, Jack Foley, Sam James White, Steve Kasan, Bill Oberst Jr. and Rachel Vanduzer.
It's a...
- 1/25/2019
- QuietEarth.us
"In the quiet moments, my thoughts always turn to her." Uncork'd Entertainment has debuted a new trailer for an intriguing horror thriller titled Lifechanger, from Canadian filmmaker Justin McConnell. The film premiered at the Fantasia Film Festival earlier this year, and it's described as a horror thriller about a "murderous shapeshifter [who] sets out on a blood-soaked mission to make things right with the woman he loves." Though a different description says that he's "not so much a shapeshifter as a body thief", moving from body to body until it decomposes too much. The film stars Lora Burke, Jack Foley, Elitsa Bako, Rachel VanDuzer, Steve Kasan, Sam White, Peter Higginson, and Bill Oberst Jr. as the voice of Drew. This looks crazy gnarly, especially all the body switches and gore. Here's the new red band trailer (+ poster) for Justin McConnell's Lifechanger, direct from YouTube: And here's the original first trailer for Justin McConnell's Lifechanger,...
- 11/27/2018
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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