Bunim-Murray Prods. chairman/CEO Gil Goldschein is leaving after a 20-year run at the pioneering unscripted production company. Goldschein, who was elevated to the supremo role in April 2015, said he plans to pursue other opportunities “at the intersection of technology and entertainment.”
Goldschein will remain with Bunim-Murray (also abbreviated as Bmp) until Feb. 15, 2021 to help with the management transition. He took over as CEO of the Banijay-owned company more than five years ago from legendary co-founder Jonathan Murray, who was eager to shift his focus back to producing.
“At heart, I am an entrepreneur with a passion for taking on new challenges, which is why I feel the time is right to leave what has been my home for so long,” Goldschein said in a statement.
Goldschein first joined Bunim-Murray as director of business and affairs in 2001, later becoming general counsel and then chief operating officer in 2007 and president in...
Goldschein will remain with Bunim-Murray (also abbreviated as Bmp) until Feb. 15, 2021 to help with the management transition. He took over as CEO of the Banijay-owned company more than five years ago from legendary co-founder Jonathan Murray, who was eager to shift his focus back to producing.
“At heart, I am an entrepreneur with a passion for taking on new challenges, which is why I feel the time is right to leave what has been my home for so long,” Goldschein said in a statement.
Goldschein first joined Bunim-Murray as director of business and affairs in 2001, later becoming general counsel and then chief operating officer in 2007 and president in...
- 11/19/2020
- by Michael Schneider
- Variety Film + TV
Producer, director and documentarian Eddie Schmidt has signed an overall deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio and Universal Television. Under the terms of the deal, Schmidt will produce both scripted and unscripted fare.
A celebrated documentary filmmaker, Schmidt most recently served as executive producer, showrunner, and episodic director of the Netflix series “Ugly Delicious” He is also the executive producer and director on “In Search Of” starring Zachary Quinto for History.
“We are thrilled that a filmmaker of Eddie’s caliber is joining our studio family after seeing his impressive work firsthand on History’s ‘In Search Of,’” said Meredith Ahr, president of Universal Television Alternative Studio. “With his directorial eye and documentary storytelling instincts, he brings a fresh perspective and breadth to our studio’s development slate, and we can’t wait to collaborate with him on his next big ideas.”
Previously, Schmidt was executive producer, showrunner, and director...
A celebrated documentary filmmaker, Schmidt most recently served as executive producer, showrunner, and episodic director of the Netflix series “Ugly Delicious” He is also the executive producer and director on “In Search Of” starring Zachary Quinto for History.
“We are thrilled that a filmmaker of Eddie’s caliber is joining our studio family after seeing his impressive work firsthand on History’s ‘In Search Of,’” said Meredith Ahr, president of Universal Television Alternative Studio. “With his directorial eye and documentary storytelling instincts, he brings a fresh perspective and breadth to our studio’s development slate, and we can’t wait to collaborate with him on his next big ideas.”
Previously, Schmidt was executive producer, showrunner, and director...
- 8/20/2018
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Producer, director and documentarian Eddie Schmidt (In Search Of) has signed an overall deal with Universal Television Alternative Studio and Universal Television for both unscripted and scripted fare, respectively.
The Oscar and Emmy-nominated filmmaker has produced six projects that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including Netflix’s Chelsea Does, which he also directed, HBO’s Emmy-nominated Valentine Road, IFC’s This Film Is Not Yet Rated (which he co-wrote), HBO’s Oscar-nominated Twist of Faith, Morgan Neville’s Emmy-nominated music doc Troubadours for PBS and the prescient teenage tapestry Chain Camera.
On the TV side, Schmidt most recently served as executive producer/showrunner and episodic director of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious, with chef David Chang, and the new In Search Of, starring Zachary Quinto for History. Previously, Schmidt was executive producer/showrunner and director of The Case of: Jonbenet Ramsey for CBS, executive producer/showrunner of Bravo’s Newlyweds: The First Year...
The Oscar and Emmy-nominated filmmaker has produced six projects that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, including Netflix’s Chelsea Does, which he also directed, HBO’s Emmy-nominated Valentine Road, IFC’s This Film Is Not Yet Rated (which he co-wrote), HBO’s Oscar-nominated Twist of Faith, Morgan Neville’s Emmy-nominated music doc Troubadours for PBS and the prescient teenage tapestry Chain Camera.
On the TV side, Schmidt most recently served as executive producer/showrunner and episodic director of Netflix’s Ugly Delicious, with chef David Chang, and the new In Search Of, starring Zachary Quinto for History. Previously, Schmidt was executive producer/showrunner and director of The Case of: Jonbenet Ramsey for CBS, executive producer/showrunner of Bravo’s Newlyweds: The First Year...
- 8/20/2018
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The film industry’s gender divide is well known at this point, but action is often slow to follow knowledge. Fox took a step toward closing that gap with its Global Directors Initiative, which is “dedicated to cultivating emerging and established directors with diverse voices, backgrounds, life experiences and perspectives spanning episodic broadcast and cable television, filmed entertainment, sports and digital media.” The Fdi launched with an introductory video called simply “Fox Directors.” Watch below.
Read More: Adult Swim Creative Director on ‘Limiting Female Projects’: ‘Women Don’t Tend to Like Conflict’
Among the featured filmmakers are Hannah Fidell (“A Teacher”), Anja Marquardt (“She’s Lost Control”), Amanda Marsalis (“Echo Park”), Marta Cunningham (“Valentine Road”), and Cherien Dabis (“May in the Summer”), all of whom briefly discuss their work and their experiences within the industry. The video is directed by Jessica Sanders, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker whose documentary “After Innocence...
Read More: Adult Swim Creative Director on ‘Limiting Female Projects’: ‘Women Don’t Tend to Like Conflict’
Among the featured filmmakers are Hannah Fidell (“A Teacher”), Anja Marquardt (“She’s Lost Control”), Amanda Marsalis (“Echo Park”), Marta Cunningham (“Valentine Road”), and Cherien Dabis (“May in the Summer”), all of whom briefly discuss their work and their experiences within the industry. The video is directed by Jessica Sanders, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker whose documentary “After Innocence...
- 10/9/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Chelsea Handler, made famous by her late-night show, "Chelsea Lately" on the E! Network, is set to host a new series on Netflix entitled "Chelsea Does...", debuting on Netflix January 23. The series, directed by Oscar and Emmy-nominated Eddie Schmidt ("This Film is Not Yet Rated", "Valentine Road") and produced by Academy Award-winning Morgan Neville (of "Twenty Feet of Stardom" fame), will see the talented funny-woman explore a slew of topics in a quest to "understand how things work." Read More: 7 New Netflix Shows to Binge Watch in January 2016 (And the Best Episodes of Each) In that vein, Handler explores a range of socially engaging issues, including racism, marriage, drugs and the Silicon Valley, all through the lens of her brash, vivacious self. She brings her socially challenging, politically incorrect personality along with her as she critiques, intrigues, and...
- 1/5/2016
- by Riyad Mammadyarov
- Indiewire
Read More: Netflix Gets Topical With a Chelsea Handler Talk Show, But What Does That Mean? Chelsea Handler's been an intriguing figure for the last two years, following her escape from E! and the celebrity gossip grind for a sexy new deal on Netflix. What exactly that deal would lead to was originally unclear — because binge-viewing and late night chatter don't seem mutually conducive — but now we have a sense of what's up, and when, more importantly, we can expect to see it. This January, Handler's four documentary specials, featuring her tackling the subjects of marriage, drugs, Silicon Valley and racism from her unique point of view, will premiere (as per usual, all at once) on the streaming service. Oh, and for those wondering how legit the "documentary" part of this equation is, the series is directed by Oscar and Emmy-nominated Eddie Schmidt ("This Film Is Not Yet Rated,...
- 11/18/2015
- by Liz Shannon Miller
- Indiewire
LatinoBuzz: Participant’s 'Cesar Chavez' is Nominated for Four Imagen Awards, Including Best Picture
The nominees for the 29th Annual Imagen Awards, honoring portrayals of Latinos and Latino cultures in television and film, have been announced and Diego Luna's "Cesar Chavez" is up for four awards:
Best Picture Best Actor (Michael Pena) Best Actress (America Ferrera) Best Actress (Rosario Dawson) The awards will be presented at a gala black-tie dinner on Friday evening, August 1st, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, airing as a one hour special on PBS SoCal.
The complete list of nominees is below:
Best Primetime Television Program: Drama or Comedy
The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Chicago P.D. (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) The Fosters (ABC Family in association with Prodco, Inc.) Law & Order: Svu (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Switched at Birth (Prodco, Inc. in association with ABC Family) Best Primetime Program: Special or Movie-of-the-Week
Historias Detras Del Diamante: Yasiel Puig (Time Warner Cable Deportes) John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown (HBO Entertainment in association with Silver Lining Entertainment, Insurgent Media and Rebel Films) The 2013 Nclr Alma Awards (Big Vida Entertainment) Best Actor/Television
Demian Bichir, The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Raul Castillo, Looking (HBO Entertainment in association with Fair Harbor Productions) Ian Gomez, Cougar Town (TBS) Danny Pino, Law & Order: Svu (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Best Actress/Television
Edy Ganem, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, The Fresh Beat Band (Nickelodeon) Ana Ortiz, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Dania Ramirez, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Judy Reyes, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Roselyn Sanchez, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Best Supporting Actor/Television
Frankie J. Alvarez , Looking (HBO Entertainment in association with Fair Harbor Productions) Nestor Carbonell, Bates Motel (A&E/ Universal Television) Al Madrigal, About a Boy (Universal Television) Joe Minoso, Chicago Fire (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Mel Rodriguez, Getting On (HBO Entertainment in association with Anima Sola Productions and BBC Worldwide) Jon Seda, Chicago P.D. (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Best Supporting Actress/Television
Stephanie Beatriz, Brooklyn Nine Nine (Universal Television) Constance Marie, Switched at Birth (ABC Family/ ABC Studios) Hayley Orrantia, The Goldbergs (ABC) Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation (Universal Television) Monica Raymund, Chicago Fire (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Emily Rios, The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Catalina Sandino Moreno, The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Best Young Actress/Television
Paola Andino, Every Witch Way (Nickelodeon in association with Cinemat) Amber Montana, The Haunted Hathaways (Nickelodeon) Fatima Ptacek, Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon) Bella Thorne, Shake It Up! (Disney Channel/ It's A Laugh Productions) Best Young Actor/Television
Mateo Arias, Kickin' It (Disney Xd/ Poor Soul/ It's A Laugh Productions) Benjamin "lil-p-Nut" Flores Jr., The Haunted Hathaways (Nickelodeon) Fabrizio Zacharee Guido, Welcome to the Family (NBC) Adam Irigoyen, Shake It Up! (Disney Channel/ It's A Laugh Productions) Xolo Mariduena, Parenthood (Universal Television) Best Children’s Programming
Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon) Every Witch Way (Nickelodeon in association with Cinemat) Best Documentary/Film or Television
America ReFramed: Deputized (American Documentary, Inc.; World Channel) El Boxeo (El Boxeo Productions) Mendota (Espn ) Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle (City Projects, LLC; Latino Public Broadcasting) The State of Arizona (Camino Bluff Productions, Inc.) Valentine Road (HBO Documentary Films Presents a Bmp Film in association with Eddie Schmidt Productions) Best National Informational Program
LatiNation (Latv Networkds) Latino Americans (Weta; Bosch and Co., Inc; Latino Public Broadcasting; In association with Itvs) mun2 News Special: Hecho en America (mun2) Oprah's Next Chapter (Own/Harpo Studios) Pati's Mexican Table (Weta/Follow Productions) Best Local Informational Program
#LAPrepa (Time Warner Cable Deportes) CBS2/KCAL9 News Special (CBS) Kvcr Now (Kvcr TV (PBS)) Latino Americans of NY & NJ (Wliw) Vista L.A. (Kabc - TV/ABC7) Best On-Air Advertising
"Premio lo nuestro " Award Show On-Air Promotion (Univision Network) Combate Americas (mun2) Friends for Change (Riverstreet and 7ate9) PBS SoCaL Community Champions (PBS SoCal) Best Variety or Reality Show
Brain Games (National Geographic Channel) Cesar 911 (Nat Geo Wild) Combate Americas (mun2/Bunim-Murray Productions) I Love Jenni (mun2/Blank Paige) The Voice (Mark Burnett's One Three Inc. and Talpa Media USA in association with Warner Horizon Television) Best Picture
A Miracle in Spanish Harlem (DigiNext/Vista Clara Productions) After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) Coyote (Toe Pictures/Gravitas Ventures) Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Best Director
Carlos Melendez, After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Jeffrey Travis, Dragon Day (Burning Myth Films/Entertainment One) Christopher Landon, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Paramount Pictures/ Blumhouse Productions) Nicole Gomez Fisher, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Best Actor/Supporting Actor - Feature Film
Jorge Diaz, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Paramount Pictures/Blumhouse Productions) Mauricio Mendoza, After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Adrian Moreira-Behrens, After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Diogo Morgado, Son of God (20th Century Fox Film) Michael Pena, Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) Carlos Pratts, Coyote (Toe Pictures/Gravitas Ventures) Best Actress/Supporting Actress - Feature Film
Rosario Dawson, Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) America Ferrera, Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) Priscilla Lopez, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Ana Ortiz, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Gina Rodriguez, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Michelle Rodriguez, Fast & Furious 6 (Universal Pictures) Best Theatrical Short or Student Film
Chub (Yb Project) Dirty Laundry (The Other Sock Productions) El Toro (Juan Ramirez) Madrugada quebradiza: The Break of Day (USC School of Cinematic Arts) Mediation (Top Rebel Productions) You're Dead to Me (PBS) Best Web Series: Drama
Caribe Road (Helu Films) Encounters Web Series (Angel Flight Media in association with True Form Films) Fixing Paco (Mendez National Institute of Transplantation) Best Web Series: Comedy
Fixing Paco (Mendez National Institute of Transplantation) Larry Hernandez: El Presidente (mun2) Saved by the Pole (Blame it on Rios) Best Web Series: Reality or Informational
Fixing Paco (Mendez National Institute of Transplantation) Big Shots, Los Angeles Magazine Online Web Series (Giselle Fernandez Productions for Los Angeles Magazine) Newsbreaker en Español (Ora TV) Street Knowledge 2 College (Specific Pictures, Latino Public Broadcasting)...
Best Picture Best Actor (Michael Pena) Best Actress (America Ferrera) Best Actress (Rosario Dawson) The awards will be presented at a gala black-tie dinner on Friday evening, August 1st, at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, airing as a one hour special on PBS SoCal.
The complete list of nominees is below:
Best Primetime Television Program: Drama or Comedy
The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Chicago P.D. (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) The Fosters (ABC Family in association with Prodco, Inc.) Law & Order: Svu (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Switched at Birth (Prodco, Inc. in association with ABC Family) Best Primetime Program: Special or Movie-of-the-Week
Historias Detras Del Diamante: Yasiel Puig (Time Warner Cable Deportes) John Leguizamo's Ghetto Klown (HBO Entertainment in association with Silver Lining Entertainment, Insurgent Media and Rebel Films) The 2013 Nclr Alma Awards (Big Vida Entertainment) Best Actor/Television
Demian Bichir, The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Raul Castillo, Looking (HBO Entertainment in association with Fair Harbor Productions) Ian Gomez, Cougar Town (TBS) Danny Pino, Law & Order: Svu (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Best Actress/Television
Edy Ganem, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Yvette Gonzalez-Nacer, The Fresh Beat Band (Nickelodeon) Ana Ortiz, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Dania Ramirez, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Judy Reyes, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Roselyn Sanchez, Devious Maids (Lifetime/ABC Studios) Best Supporting Actor/Television
Frankie J. Alvarez , Looking (HBO Entertainment in association with Fair Harbor Productions) Nestor Carbonell, Bates Motel (A&E/ Universal Television) Al Madrigal, About a Boy (Universal Television) Joe Minoso, Chicago Fire (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Mel Rodriguez, Getting On (HBO Entertainment in association with Anima Sola Productions and BBC Worldwide) Jon Seda, Chicago P.D. (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Best Supporting Actress/Television
Stephanie Beatriz, Brooklyn Nine Nine (Universal Television) Constance Marie, Switched at Birth (ABC Family/ ABC Studios) Hayley Orrantia, The Goldbergs (ABC) Aubrey Plaza, Parks and Recreation (Universal Television) Monica Raymund, Chicago Fire (NBC/Wolf Films/NBCUniversal Television) Emily Rios, The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Catalina Sandino Moreno, The Bridge (FX Networks/Shine America and FX Productions) Best Young Actress/Television
Paola Andino, Every Witch Way (Nickelodeon in association with Cinemat) Amber Montana, The Haunted Hathaways (Nickelodeon) Fatima Ptacek, Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon) Bella Thorne, Shake It Up! (Disney Channel/ It's A Laugh Productions) Best Young Actor/Television
Mateo Arias, Kickin' It (Disney Xd/ Poor Soul/ It's A Laugh Productions) Benjamin "lil-p-Nut" Flores Jr., The Haunted Hathaways (Nickelodeon) Fabrizio Zacharee Guido, Welcome to the Family (NBC) Adam Irigoyen, Shake It Up! (Disney Channel/ It's A Laugh Productions) Xolo Mariduena, Parenthood (Universal Television) Best Children’s Programming
Dora the Explorer (Nickelodeon) Every Witch Way (Nickelodeon in association with Cinemat) Best Documentary/Film or Television
America ReFramed: Deputized (American Documentary, Inc.; World Channel) El Boxeo (El Boxeo Productions) Mendota (Espn ) Ruben Salazar: Man in the Middle (City Projects, LLC; Latino Public Broadcasting) The State of Arizona (Camino Bluff Productions, Inc.) Valentine Road (HBO Documentary Films Presents a Bmp Film in association with Eddie Schmidt Productions) Best National Informational Program
LatiNation (Latv Networkds) Latino Americans (Weta; Bosch and Co., Inc; Latino Public Broadcasting; In association with Itvs) mun2 News Special: Hecho en America (mun2) Oprah's Next Chapter (Own/Harpo Studios) Pati's Mexican Table (Weta/Follow Productions) Best Local Informational Program
#LAPrepa (Time Warner Cable Deportes) CBS2/KCAL9 News Special (CBS) Kvcr Now (Kvcr TV (PBS)) Latino Americans of NY & NJ (Wliw) Vista L.A. (Kabc - TV/ABC7) Best On-Air Advertising
"Premio lo nuestro " Award Show On-Air Promotion (Univision Network) Combate Americas (mun2) Friends for Change (Riverstreet and 7ate9) PBS SoCaL Community Champions (PBS SoCal) Best Variety or Reality Show
Brain Games (National Geographic Channel) Cesar 911 (Nat Geo Wild) Combate Americas (mun2/Bunim-Murray Productions) I Love Jenni (mun2/Blank Paige) The Voice (Mark Burnett's One Three Inc. and Talpa Media USA in association with Warner Horizon Television) Best Picture
A Miracle in Spanish Harlem (DigiNext/Vista Clara Productions) After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) Coyote (Toe Pictures/Gravitas Ventures) Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Best Director
Carlos Melendez, After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Jeffrey Travis, Dragon Day (Burning Myth Films/Entertainment One) Christopher Landon, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Paramount Pictures/ Blumhouse Productions) Nicole Gomez Fisher, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Best Actor/Supporting Actor - Feature Film
Jorge Diaz, Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones (Paramount Pictures/Blumhouse Productions) Mauricio Mendoza, After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Adrian Moreira-Behrens, After School (True Form Film and Plus Entertainment) Diogo Morgado, Son of God (20th Century Fox Film) Michael Pena, Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) Carlos Pratts, Coyote (Toe Pictures/Gravitas Ventures) Best Actress/Supporting Actress - Feature Film
Rosario Dawson, Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) America Ferrera, Cesar Chavez (Canana Films) Priscilla Lopez, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Ana Ortiz, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Gina Rodriguez, Sleeping with the Fishes (Unikki Productions, LLC) Michelle Rodriguez, Fast & Furious 6 (Universal Pictures) Best Theatrical Short or Student Film
Chub (Yb Project) Dirty Laundry (The Other Sock Productions) El Toro (Juan Ramirez) Madrugada quebradiza: The Break of Day (USC School of Cinematic Arts) Mediation (Top Rebel Productions) You're Dead to Me (PBS) Best Web Series: Drama
Caribe Road (Helu Films) Encounters Web Series (Angel Flight Media in association with True Form Films) Fixing Paco (Mendez National Institute of Transplantation) Best Web Series: Comedy
Fixing Paco (Mendez National Institute of Transplantation) Larry Hernandez: El Presidente (mun2) Saved by the Pole (Blame it on Rios) Best Web Series: Reality or Informational
Fixing Paco (Mendez National Institute of Transplantation) Big Shots, Los Angeles Magazine Online Web Series (Giselle Fernandez Productions for Los Angeles Magazine) Newsbreaker en Español (Ora TV) Street Knowledge 2 College (Specific Pictures, Latino Public Broadcasting)...
- 6/25/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
On February 12th, 2008, a 14 year old boy stood up in class and shot a fellow student twice in the back of the head. He fled the scene, was caught two blocks away and taken into custody. It was the beginning of a saga that rocked the suburban domiciles of Oxnard, California to their very core. The victim, one Lawrence “Larry” King, was a 15 year old who had recently come out as gay, the shooter was Brandon McInerny – they were both born of broken homes into a broken system.
And that’s the story that Valentine Road really tells, the tale of a country and a debate packed with people obsessed with being on one side of the fence or the other. The film tries very hard indeed to convince you that it’s towing the fine line in between, but ends up as a piece of biased, tonally uneven and...
And that’s the story that Valentine Road really tells, the tale of a country and a debate packed with people obsessed with being on one side of the fence or the other. The film tries very hard indeed to convince you that it’s towing the fine line in between, but ends up as a piece of biased, tonally uneven and...
- 3/29/2014
- by Dominic Mill
- We Got This Covered
Last night, the Hollywood Black Collaborative (Hbc) hosted an informative panel discussion on the distribution methods of black independent films. Moderated by SAGIndie National Director Darrien Michelle Gipson, the panel included filmmakers Charles Murray (Things Never Said), Matthew Cherry (The Last Fall), Marta Cunningham (Valentine Road), Sheldon Candis (Luv), and Effie T. Brown, who produced the recent Sundance hit Dear White People. Panelists discussed the various funding models for their films, highlighting the roles of personal investment and working with investors and influencers. They also shared the importance of staying active and involved when working with a...
- 2/20/2014
- by Nijla Mumin
- ShadowAndAct
The 2014 GLAAD Media Awards nominations have been announced, celebrating TV shows, movies, music artists and journalism that puts forth fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.
The awards are given our in two ceremonies, April 12 in Los Angeles and May 3 in New York. The nominees are as follows:
Outstanding Drama Series
"The Fosters"
"Grey's Anatomy"
"Orphan Black"
"Pretty Little Liars"
"Shameless"
Outstanding Comedy Series
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
"Glee"
"Modern Family"
"Orange is the New Black"
"Please Like Me"
Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular Lgbt character)
"Bride and Prejudice," "The Soul Man"
"Larp and the Real Girl," "Supernatural"
"Secret Lives," "Drop Dead Diva"
"Snow Angels," "Elementary"
"There's the Door," "Necessary Roughness"
Outstanding TV Movie or Miniseries
"Behind the Candelabra"
"In the Flesh"
Outstanding Documentary
"Bridegroom"
"Call Me Kuchu"
"God Loves Uganda"
"The New Black"
"Valentine Road...
The awards are given our in two ceremonies, April 12 in Los Angeles and May 3 in New York. The nominees are as follows:
Outstanding Drama Series
"The Fosters"
"Grey's Anatomy"
"Orphan Black"
"Pretty Little Liars"
"Shameless"
Outstanding Comedy Series
"Brooklyn Nine-Nine"
"Glee"
"Modern Family"
"Orange is the New Black"
"Please Like Me"
Outstanding Individual Episode (in a series without a regular Lgbt character)
"Bride and Prejudice," "The Soul Man"
"Larp and the Real Girl," "Supernatural"
"Secret Lives," "Drop Dead Diva"
"Snow Angels," "Elementary"
"There's the Door," "Necessary Roughness"
Outstanding TV Movie or Miniseries
"Behind the Candelabra"
"In the Flesh"
Outstanding Documentary
"Bridegroom"
"Call Me Kuchu"
"God Loves Uganda"
"The New Black"
"Valentine Road...
- 1/30/2014
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Pop2it
With two big ceremonies coming up (April 12th in Los Angeles and May 3rd in New York City), the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards has a ton of great nominees all vying for a trophy.
On the film end of things, “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” both received nods, and “Orange is the New Black” and “Pretty Little Liars” lead the way for television.
The GLAAD Media Awards honors the biggest and brightest stars in entertainment, journalism and real-life Lgbt movements.
The nominees for the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards are:
Outstanding Film – Wide Release
Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects)
Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)
Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Philomena (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Film – Limited Release
Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)
Geography Club (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Out in the Dark (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Reaching for the Moon...
On the film end of things, “Dallas Buyers Club” and “Blue is the Warmest Color” both received nods, and “Orange is the New Black” and “Pretty Little Liars” lead the way for television.
The GLAAD Media Awards honors the biggest and brightest stars in entertainment, journalism and real-life Lgbt movements.
The nominees for the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards are:
Outstanding Film – Wide Release
Blue Is the Warmest Color (Sundance Selects)
Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features)
Kill Your Darlings (Sony Pictures Classics)
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Philomena (The Weinstein Company)
Outstanding Film – Limited Release
Concussion (RADiUS-The Weinstein Company)
Geography Club (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Out in the Dark (Breaking Glass Pictures)
Reaching for the Moon...
- 1/30/2014
- GossipCenter
This morning the national Lgbt media advocacy organization GLAAD announced nominees for the 25th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. According to GLAAD President Sarah Kate Ellis, the year “has brought momentous progress for Lgbt people and families – and our nominees have created images and stories that continue to challenge misconceptions, shatter stereotypes, and change hearts and minds of millions all across the globe.”
There are 130 nominees in 29 categories but a few notable honorees include wide release films Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena and Kill Your Darlings, all of which were previously reviewed here on TheBacklot.
In the limited release category, Geography Club scored a nod. (The film is based on the classic Ya novel by AfterElton alum Brent Hartinger.)
In the outstanding TV drama category, ABC Family scored 2 nominees: The Fosters and Pretty Little Liars.
In the TV comedy category, perennial nominees Modern Family and Glee were joined by Brooklyn Nine-Nine and...
There are 130 nominees in 29 categories but a few notable honorees include wide release films Dallas Buyers Club, Philomena and Kill Your Darlings, all of which were previously reviewed here on TheBacklot.
In the limited release category, Geography Club scored a nod. (The film is based on the classic Ya novel by AfterElton alum Brent Hartinger.)
In the outstanding TV drama category, ABC Family scored 2 nominees: The Fosters and Pretty Little Liars.
In the TV comedy category, perennial nominees Modern Family and Glee were joined by Brooklyn Nine-Nine and...
- 1/30/2014
- by Dennis Ayers
- The Backlot
(From Sundance Institue Newsletter)
New research shows Sundance Institute lab projects helmed by women succeed at just shy of equal rates as male-helmed projects in production and top festival exhibition. Collaborative initiative now includes deepened mentorship program, financing intensives, expanded network of allied organizations and updated research. Study conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
At a gathering of filmmakers, producers and members of the film distribution industry, at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, and Cathy Schulman, President, Women In Film Los Angeles, announced significant growth of a collaborative initiative designed to achieve gender parity and sustainable careers for women working in filmed entertainment.
Recent expansions of the initiative, which launched two years ago, include a deepened mentorship program, new financing intensives, an expanded network of allied organizations and new and updated research, the results of which were also released today. The study was commissioned by Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles and was conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
Putnam said, “Our collaborative initiative has furthered the dialogue around the importance of women behind the camera. We are grateful to the researchers and allied organizations in lending their analysis and expertise to help us identify the most productive next steps to address existing challenges.”
Schulman said of the results, “In terms of our committed course of change for women, this year's study is another invaluable tool in understanding how Sundance and Women In Film can help guide the industry to institutionalize permanent progress through our programs and collective influence."
The research documented the gender distribution of filmmakers participating in Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (Ffp) and Documentary Film Program (Dfp) Labs between 2002 and 2013 to determine how many emerging female writers, directors and producers receive critical artistic support as part of their filmmaking background, and how this may affect their careers and the pipeline overall. It also updated last year’s inaugural study by quantitatively examining the gender of 1,163 content creators (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors) across 82 U.S. films selected and screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Lastly, the research delved deeper into the original qualitative interviews to further explore obstructions facing female directors and producers in the narrative space.
Key findings include:
Artist Support Through Sundance Institute Labs •Female storytellers compete and flourish at Sundance Institute labs. Of the 432 lab fellows between 2002 and 2013, 42.6% were female. Women comprised 39.3% of fellows in the Feature Film Program (Ffp) and 54.5% of fellows in the Documentary Film Program (Dfp).
•Sundance Institute Lab projects helmed by women succeed at just shy of equal rates as male-helmed projects in production and top festival exhibition. The percentage of Ffp lab projects completed did not vary by gender; roughly 41% of male-helmed and female-helmed projects were finished. 81.3% of all finished Ffp films went on to play at the top 10 festivals worldwide, and of these, no gender differences emerged.
Barriers Facing Female FilmmakersThe initial report revealed career obstacles that face female filmmakers, including gendered financial barriers, male-dominated industry networks, and stereotyping on set. We analyzed a subset of the original 51 interviews with industry thought leaders and seasoned content creators.
•When industry leaders think director, they think male. Traits were gathered from 34 narrative and documentary decision-makers and filmmakers. We explored whether attributes of successful directors reflect stereotypical characteristics of men or women. Nearly one-third of traits (32.1%) were coded as masculine and 19.3% feminine. Conceiving of the directing role in masculine terms may limit the extent to which different women are considered for the job.
•Putting female directors on studio lists is limited by stereotypes. A group of 12 individuals working in the narrative realm were asked specifically about hiring directors into top commercial jobs. Two-thirds (66.7%) indicated that there is a smaller pool of qualified female directors. Half mentioned that stereotypically male films (i.e., action, horror) may not appeal as job opportunities to female directors. These findings illustrate how a reliance on stereotypes creates decision-making biases that weaken women’s opportunities.
Updates To Last Year’S Study•Of the 1,163 content creators working behind the camera on 82 U.S. films at Sff in 2013, 28.9% were women and 71.1% were men. The presence of women differed by storytelling genre: 23.8% of content creators were women in narrative films whereas 40.4% were women in documentary films.
•2013 was an extraordinary year for women in documentary filmmaking at Sff. 42.2% of documentary directors and 49.2% of documentary producers were women at the 2013 Festival. Focusing on directors specifically by program category, 46.4% of U.S. documentary competition directors were female as were 30.8% of documentary premiere helmers.
•Female narrative directors saw gains and losses in 2013, but little overall change. For the first time, gender parity was achieved in U.S. dramatic competition movies in 2013 with 50% of all helmers being female. In contrast, only one of the 18 directors in the premieres section was a woman.
•Narrative directors at the 2013 Festival continued to outperform directors in the top 100 box office: Turning to the 100 top-grossing films of 2013, only 2 (1.9%) of the 108 helmers were female. This represents a 48.1% drop from the percentage of female directors in the Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition films.
•Examining female participation at the Festival as directors and producers from 2002 to 2013 revealed no meaningful change over time. Instead, the percentages of female participation often fluctuate but no continuous and sustained increases or decreases were observed across the 12 years. For dramatic features, females accounted for 24.4% of all competition helmers and 13.9% of all non-competition helmers. In documentaries, the percentage of female competition directors is 41.7% and 25% of non-competition helmers.From 2002-2013 17.1% of directors of U.S. narrative films and 35.3% of directors of U.S. documentary films at Sff were female.
This year’s mentorship fellows include Producer Brenda Coughlin (Dirty Wars), Director Marta Cunningham (Valentine Road), Director Mari Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl), Director Shola Lynch (Free Angela and All Political Prisoners), Producer Jordana Mollick (Life Partners) and Producer Kim Sherman (A Teacher).
The Dove short film fellow is Cynthia Wade, who directed a short film entitled Selfie, with producer Sharon Liese. Cynthia was mentored by Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple.
In addition, this past year Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles launched a Finance Forum in Los Angeles, where 68 female filmmakers with 58 industry advisors and guests participated. A second financing intensive will be presented in April 2014 in New York.
Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles also continued to meet with leading organizations working on gender in media. Allied Organizations involved in and lending counsel to the collaborative project include: AFI Conservatory; Alliance of Women Directors; Athena Film Festival; Chapman University; Chicken & Egg Pictures; Creative Capital; Film Independent; Fledgling Fund; Ford Foundation; Fusion Film Festival at Nyu; Gamechanger Films; Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; Ifp; Ifp New York; Impact Partners Women's Fund; Loreen Arbus Foundation; Los Angeles Film Festival; Loyola Marymount University; Nyu; Paley Center for Media; Producers Guild of America; Reel Image Inc.; Tangerine; The Harnisch Foundation; Time Warner Foundation; UCLA; USC; USC/Annenberg; Writers Guild of America; Women and Hollywood; Women In Film Nywift; Women In Film; Wifv (DC); Women Make Movies; Women Moving Millions and Women's Media Center.
The Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles collaboration is supported by Dove, Norlien Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Gruber Family Foundation, J. Manus Foundation, Bhakti Chai, and The Harnisch Foundation.
New research shows Sundance Institute lab projects helmed by women succeed at just shy of equal rates as male-helmed projects in production and top festival exhibition. Collaborative initiative now includes deepened mentorship program, financing intensives, expanded network of allied organizations and updated research. Study conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
At a gathering of filmmakers, producers and members of the film distribution industry, at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, Keri Putnam, Executive Director, Sundance Institute, and Cathy Schulman, President, Women In Film Los Angeles, announced significant growth of a collaborative initiative designed to achieve gender parity and sustainable careers for women working in filmed entertainment.
Recent expansions of the initiative, which launched two years ago, include a deepened mentorship program, new financing intensives, an expanded network of allied organizations and new and updated research, the results of which were also released today. The study was commissioned by Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles and was conducted by Stacy L. Smith, Ph.D., Katherine Pieper, Ph.D. and Marc Choueiti at Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California.
Putnam said, “Our collaborative initiative has furthered the dialogue around the importance of women behind the camera. We are grateful to the researchers and allied organizations in lending their analysis and expertise to help us identify the most productive next steps to address existing challenges.”
Schulman said of the results, “In terms of our committed course of change for women, this year's study is another invaluable tool in understanding how Sundance and Women In Film can help guide the industry to institutionalize permanent progress through our programs and collective influence."
The research documented the gender distribution of filmmakers participating in Sundance Institute Feature Film Program (Ffp) and Documentary Film Program (Dfp) Labs between 2002 and 2013 to determine how many emerging female writers, directors and producers receive critical artistic support as part of their filmmaking background, and how this may affect their careers and the pipeline overall. It also updated last year’s inaugural study by quantitatively examining the gender of 1,163 content creators (directors, writers, producers, cinematographers, and editors) across 82 U.S. films selected and screened at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Lastly, the research delved deeper into the original qualitative interviews to further explore obstructions facing female directors and producers in the narrative space.
Key findings include:
Artist Support Through Sundance Institute Labs •Female storytellers compete and flourish at Sundance Institute labs. Of the 432 lab fellows between 2002 and 2013, 42.6% were female. Women comprised 39.3% of fellows in the Feature Film Program (Ffp) and 54.5% of fellows in the Documentary Film Program (Dfp).
•Sundance Institute Lab projects helmed by women succeed at just shy of equal rates as male-helmed projects in production and top festival exhibition. The percentage of Ffp lab projects completed did not vary by gender; roughly 41% of male-helmed and female-helmed projects were finished. 81.3% of all finished Ffp films went on to play at the top 10 festivals worldwide, and of these, no gender differences emerged.
Barriers Facing Female FilmmakersThe initial report revealed career obstacles that face female filmmakers, including gendered financial barriers, male-dominated industry networks, and stereotyping on set. We analyzed a subset of the original 51 interviews with industry thought leaders and seasoned content creators.
•When industry leaders think director, they think male. Traits were gathered from 34 narrative and documentary decision-makers and filmmakers. We explored whether attributes of successful directors reflect stereotypical characteristics of men or women. Nearly one-third of traits (32.1%) were coded as masculine and 19.3% feminine. Conceiving of the directing role in masculine terms may limit the extent to which different women are considered for the job.
•Putting female directors on studio lists is limited by stereotypes. A group of 12 individuals working in the narrative realm were asked specifically about hiring directors into top commercial jobs. Two-thirds (66.7%) indicated that there is a smaller pool of qualified female directors. Half mentioned that stereotypically male films (i.e., action, horror) may not appeal as job opportunities to female directors. These findings illustrate how a reliance on stereotypes creates decision-making biases that weaken women’s opportunities.
Updates To Last Year’S Study•Of the 1,163 content creators working behind the camera on 82 U.S. films at Sff in 2013, 28.9% were women and 71.1% were men. The presence of women differed by storytelling genre: 23.8% of content creators were women in narrative films whereas 40.4% were women in documentary films.
•2013 was an extraordinary year for women in documentary filmmaking at Sff. 42.2% of documentary directors and 49.2% of documentary producers were women at the 2013 Festival. Focusing on directors specifically by program category, 46.4% of U.S. documentary competition directors were female as were 30.8% of documentary premiere helmers.
•Female narrative directors saw gains and losses in 2013, but little overall change. For the first time, gender parity was achieved in U.S. dramatic competition movies in 2013 with 50% of all helmers being female. In contrast, only one of the 18 directors in the premieres section was a woman.
•Narrative directors at the 2013 Festival continued to outperform directors in the top 100 box office: Turning to the 100 top-grossing films of 2013, only 2 (1.9%) of the 108 helmers were female. This represents a 48.1% drop from the percentage of female directors in the Festival’s U.S. Dramatic Competition films.
•Examining female participation at the Festival as directors and producers from 2002 to 2013 revealed no meaningful change over time. Instead, the percentages of female participation often fluctuate but no continuous and sustained increases or decreases were observed across the 12 years. For dramatic features, females accounted for 24.4% of all competition helmers and 13.9% of all non-competition helmers. In documentaries, the percentage of female competition directors is 41.7% and 25% of non-competition helmers.From 2002-2013 17.1% of directors of U.S. narrative films and 35.3% of directors of U.S. documentary films at Sff were female.
This year’s mentorship fellows include Producer Brenda Coughlin (Dirty Wars), Director Marta Cunningham (Valentine Road), Director Mari Heller (Diary of a Teenage Girl), Director Shola Lynch (Free Angela and All Political Prisoners), Producer Jordana Mollick (Life Partners) and Producer Kim Sherman (A Teacher).
The Dove short film fellow is Cynthia Wade, who directed a short film entitled Selfie, with producer Sharon Liese. Cynthia was mentored by Academy Award-winning documentarian Barbara Kopple.
In addition, this past year Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles launched a Finance Forum in Los Angeles, where 68 female filmmakers with 58 industry advisors and guests participated. A second financing intensive will be presented in April 2014 in New York.
Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles also continued to meet with leading organizations working on gender in media. Allied Organizations involved in and lending counsel to the collaborative project include: AFI Conservatory; Alliance of Women Directors; Athena Film Festival; Chapman University; Chicken & Egg Pictures; Creative Capital; Film Independent; Fledgling Fund; Ford Foundation; Fusion Film Festival at Nyu; Gamechanger Films; Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media; Ifp; Ifp New York; Impact Partners Women's Fund; Loreen Arbus Foundation; Los Angeles Film Festival; Loyola Marymount University; Nyu; Paley Center for Media; Producers Guild of America; Reel Image Inc.; Tangerine; The Harnisch Foundation; Time Warner Foundation; UCLA; USC; USC/Annenberg; Writers Guild of America; Women and Hollywood; Women In Film Nywift; Women In Film; Wifv (DC); Women Make Movies; Women Moving Millions and Women's Media Center.
The Sundance Institute and Women In Film Los Angeles collaboration is supported by Dove, Norlien Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, The Gruber Family Foundation, J. Manus Foundation, Bhakti Chai, and The Harnisch Foundation.
- 1/22/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Continued from picks 20 to 16….
20. Fruitvale Station – Ryan Coogler
19. Cutie and the Boxer – Zachary Heinzerling
18. Valentine Road – Marta Cunningham
17. Dirty Wars – Rick Rowley
16. Leviathan – Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel
15. American Hustle – David O. Russell
Doing his best Goodfellas impression, Russell has put together a lovably silly, surprisingly grim conman caper that has been wrongly billed as an outright period farce. Yes, Bradley Cooper in curlers, Christian Bale with a beer gut and classic comb-over, and Jessica Laurence as a headstrong, bellicose homemaker are the stuff of comedy gold, but this not a film stacked with one liners and physical gags. Instead, the awkwardly induced laughs are generally played as masterful characterial counterpoints to the increasingly complex and socially succinct narrative. Layered in the bungled schemes of Cooper’s power crazed FBI agent, Richie Dimaso, there is a scarily poignant depiction of the judicial system overreaching their means to the detriment of the American public at large.
20. Fruitvale Station – Ryan Coogler
19. Cutie and the Boxer – Zachary Heinzerling
18. Valentine Road – Marta Cunningham
17. Dirty Wars – Rick Rowley
16. Leviathan – Lucien Castaing-Taylor & Véréna Paravel
15. American Hustle – David O. Russell
Doing his best Goodfellas impression, Russell has put together a lovably silly, surprisingly grim conman caper that has been wrongly billed as an outright period farce. Yes, Bradley Cooper in curlers, Christian Bale with a beer gut and classic comb-over, and Jessica Laurence as a headstrong, bellicose homemaker are the stuff of comedy gold, but this not a film stacked with one liners and physical gags. Instead, the awkwardly induced laughs are generally played as masterful characterial counterpoints to the increasingly complex and socially succinct narrative. Layered in the bungled schemes of Cooper’s power crazed FBI agent, Richie Dimaso, there is a scarily poignant depiction of the judicial system overreaching their means to the detriment of the American public at large.
- 1/7/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
20. Fruitvale Station – Ryan Coogler
Sundance has left a lasting impression this year. Among the lucky few who attended the world premiere of Ryan Coogler’s Grand Jury Prize winning debut feature in Park City, to say the least, I was completely blindsided by its overwhelming emotional power and distinguished empathy. Coogler’s fictionalization of Oscar Grant III’s last day before being murdered in cold blood by a Bay Area police officer breathes life back into the man – a father, lover, son, and former inmate – by all accounts accurately illustrating him with warmth and understanding of his sometimes fiery personality. With a promising young director behind the camera and a set of vibrant new talents before it in Michael B. Jordan’s wholly fleshed out depiction of Oscar and Melonie Diaz as his girlfriend and mother of their child, Fruitvale Station is a devastating and culturally crucial work. [July 12th NYC & L.A Release - Fox Searchlight]
19. Cutie and the Boxer...
Sundance has left a lasting impression this year. Among the lucky few who attended the world premiere of Ryan Coogler’s Grand Jury Prize winning debut feature in Park City, to say the least, I was completely blindsided by its overwhelming emotional power and distinguished empathy. Coogler’s fictionalization of Oscar Grant III’s last day before being murdered in cold blood by a Bay Area police officer breathes life back into the man – a father, lover, son, and former inmate – by all accounts accurately illustrating him with warmth and understanding of his sometimes fiery personality. With a promising young director behind the camera and a set of vibrant new talents before it in Michael B. Jordan’s wholly fleshed out depiction of Oscar and Melonie Diaz as his girlfriend and mother of their child, Fruitvale Station is a devastating and culturally crucial work. [July 12th NYC & L.A Release - Fox Searchlight]
19. Cutie and the Boxer...
- 1/6/2014
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Glenn here with the first of three pieces looking at this year’s 15 finalists for Best Documentary. Watch along with us!
Prior to the announcement of the shortlist, I had seen roughly 30 of the 151 contenders. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have managed to catch up with all 15 of the shortlisted titles, which will be the first time that has ever happened. As Team Experience's apparent resident doc expert, I am determined to do it, although I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that I couldn't catch even more of the longlist. 151 is a lot even for me.
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Synopsis: Filmed over the course of 6 months, this documentary tells the incredible story of three young moments of Pussy Riot, a Russian activist punk band out to disrupt the status quo and bring attention to their homeland's injustices by the hand of Vladimir Putin.
Prior to the announcement of the shortlist, I had seen roughly 30 of the 151 contenders. Hopefully by the end of the week I will have managed to catch up with all 15 of the shortlisted titles, which will be the first time that has ever happened. As Team Experience's apparent resident doc expert, I am determined to do it, although I would be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed that I couldn't catch even more of the longlist. 151 is a lot even for me.
Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer
Synopsis: Filmed over the course of 6 months, this documentary tells the incredible story of three young moments of Pussy Riot, a Russian activist punk band out to disrupt the status quo and bring attention to their homeland's injustices by the hand of Vladimir Putin.
- 12/12/2013
- by Glenn Dunks
- FilmExperience
A follow up to our recent discussion on contenders for the 2014 Best Documentary Oscar. The Academy has culled its list down to 15 feature documentary films still in consideration. None of the five black female-directed films in our earlier post - Free Angela and All Political Prisoners, American Promise, Gideon's Army, Valentine Road, or The New Black - were selected for the short list. However, two more projects we've followed at length - Roger Ross Williams' exploration of the African missionary movement, God Loves Uganda, and 20 Feet From Stardom, Morgan Neville's profile of powerhouse background vocalists - have been included in the top...
- 12/4/2013
- by Jai Tiggett
- ShadowAndAct
Woefully underreported by major news outlets to date is the fact that this year, there are at least five feature documentaries directed by black women qualifying for Academy Award consideration, including Gideon's Army by Dawn Porter; Free Angela and All Political Prisoners by Shola Lynch; Valentine Road by Marta Cunningham; The New Black by Yoruba Richen; and American Promise by Michele Stephenson. I've written often here on S&A about the work being done in the documentary world and how it tends to fly under the radar. Even critically acclaimed docs tend to receive less attention,...
- 11/12/2013
- by Jai Tiggett
- ShadowAndAct
Dave and Devindra discuss the battle between HBO and Netflix, decide not to get bothered about how streaming is killing off movie history, and praise the riveting, elegiac Valentine Road. Special guest Jeff Cannata joins us for this episode. Be sure to check out Jeff’s new show, Newest Latest Best. Also, be sure to check out Mary Pols and Andrew O’Hehir’s reviews of The Counselor. You can always […]...
- 10/28/2013
- by David Chen
- Slash Film
Larry King, the 15 year-old boy who’s murder became the genesis for Marta Cunningham’s jaw-dropping, tear-jerking powerhouse investigative debut, Valentine Road, is memorialized through his loving illustration in the words of the many who loved him. With that in mind, the film stands firmly on the notion that neither murder nor the lengthy imprisonment of a 15 year old murderer is justifiable. Seeking the origins of hate that led Brandon McInerney to shoot his classmate before his fellow students, Cunningham stares sternly into the horrifying gaze of unabashed, home grown prejudice and let’s those willing to speak their mind in juxtaposition to the testimony of those still mourning Larry’s passing.
Cunningham has come from the opposite side of the lens, initially making her way in the film business as an actress and dancer. Now a mother of two, she is spending her time behind the camera, both directing...
Cunningham has come from the opposite side of the lens, initially making her way in the film business as an actress and dancer. Now a mother of two, she is spending her time behind the camera, both directing...
- 10/7/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Sure, Sunday tends to be overcrowded with high-end TV, including "Boardwalk Empire," "Eastbound and Down," "Homeland," "Masters of Sex" and more, but what to watch the rest of the time? Every Monday, we bring you five noteworthy highlights from the other six days of the week. "Valentine Road": Television Premiere Monday, October 7th at 9pm on HBO Coming to HBO off of a premiere at Sundance earlier this year, Marta Cunningham's documentary looks at the murder of eighth grader Larry King by his classmate Brandon McInerney, unpacking a story of Lgbt discrimination, bullying and two kids coming from abusive backgrounds and meeting in tragedy. "Pov": "Brooklyn Castle" Monday, October 7th at 10pm on PBS Katie Dellamaggiore's quiet charmer of a doc about an inner city school's champ chess team comes to PBS this week. The film follows students from I.S. 138's program as they face national championships and budget cuts,...
- 10/7/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
Communal Intolerance: Cunningham Finds Apathy and Heartbreak In The Wake of Larry King’s Murder
On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, an openly gay 15-year-old student named Larry King was shot in the back of the head at point-blank range in front of a classroom full of fellow students by his classmate and repulsed love interest Brandon McInerney, then all of 14. After this community shattering moment of horror, blame was tossed between parties, careers were ended and lives forever altered, but strangely, the shooting that occurred at the E.O. Green Junior High School was not the next Columbine, destined to remain ingrained in societal memory. King’s murder and McInerney’s subsequent trial, where he was tried as an adult with the possibility of life in prison, only received minimal attention in the national press. Despite living within miles of the event, director Marta Cunningham was shocked and appalled to...
On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, an openly gay 15-year-old student named Larry King was shot in the back of the head at point-blank range in front of a classroom full of fellow students by his classmate and repulsed love interest Brandon McInerney, then all of 14. After this community shattering moment of horror, blame was tossed between parties, careers were ended and lives forever altered, but strangely, the shooting that occurred at the E.O. Green Junior High School was not the next Columbine, destined to remain ingrained in societal memory. King’s murder and McInerney’s subsequent trial, where he was tried as an adult with the possibility of life in prison, only received minimal attention in the national press. Despite living within miles of the event, director Marta Cunningham was shocked and appalled to...
- 10/7/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
On TV this Monday: Hart of Dixie and Beauty and the Beast return to the CW, soaps siren Nadia Bjorlin gets catty on 2 Broke Girls and The Blacklist cracks the code. As a supplement to TVLine’s original features (linked within), here are 10 programs to keep on your radar.
Video | Bones Baddie Pelant Pays [Spoiler] a Startling Visit
8 pm Hart of Dixie (CW) | Season 3 premiere: After spending the summer in New York City, Zoe is ready to make her move more permanent. Meanwhile, Dexter’s Josh Cooke begins a recurring run as another New Yorker who relocates to Bluebell. (Get scoop from Bluebell’s Golden Boy.
Video | Bones Baddie Pelant Pays [Spoiler] a Startling Visit
8 pm Hart of Dixie (CW) | Season 3 premiere: After spending the summer in New York City, Zoe is ready to make her move more permanent. Meanwhile, Dexter’s Josh Cooke begins a recurring run as another New Yorker who relocates to Bluebell. (Get scoop from Bluebell’s Golden Boy.
- 10/7/2013
- by riannucci
- TVLine.com
The documentary “Valentine Road,” which debuts on HBO October 7, isn’t a film that provides easy answers.In February of 2008, 15-year-old Lawrence “Larry” King was gunned down while in computer class. Larry, who was openly gay, had recently been exploring his gender expression, and would wear women’s makeup and high-heeled boots to his middle school in Oxnard, California. Brandon McInerney, a fellow student, was so humiliated when Larry asked him to be his Valentine during a playground game, that he shot Larry twice in the back of the head the following day, in an act of apparently premeditated murder.The devastating case only became more complicated as details emerged. Both Larry and Brandon led traumatic childhoods. In the months before his death, Larry had been moved to a shelter for troubled foster kids. Meanwhile, Brandon lived with his father, an abusive alcoholic, because his mother, a drug addict, wasn...
- 10/7/2013
- by Beth Hanna
- Thompson on Hollywood
Perhaps the best and worst thing about young teenagers is that they're capable of what George W. Bush fans used to call “great moral clarity.” In HBO's sure-to-make-you-bawl documentary Valentine Road, Aliyah, a student at E.O. Green Junior High School in Oxnard, California, breaks down the differences between gayness and transsexuality with a certainty and sensitivity that too few adults possess—it's her conviction that the distinctions are of vital importance. Another kid, explaining what it's like to be gay in a small town, spills a truth most grown-ups would be too polite to: “It's basically ignorance. That is the plague of our school.” When kids like these tape over their mouths for the annual Day of Silence protest against schools' tre...
- 10/4/2013
- Village Voice
Thore Scholermann (above), who is 29, Linda Hamilton is 57, Melissa Sue Anderson is 51, and Serena Williams is 32.
Big congrats to Jeremy Hooper and his husband. Awww!
Jeff Probst is not a fan of Colton Cumbie.
Gwyneth Paltrow Signs on to Co-Produce Musical About the GoGo’s. I’m happy about half of that sentence.
This is a promo for hot guys in underwear and pillow fights the Joyce Theater.
Glee First Look pic.twitter.com/ewGCqKMwcU
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) September 26, 2013
Here’s the trailer for the HBO documentary Valentine Road, about the murder of Lawrence King
BroadwayWorld.com has a first look at Joe Manganiello in A Streetcar Named Desire
Jon Hamm and Dave Salmoni. John Hamm and Dave Salmoni, people! Remember when Zsa-Zsa went on The Tonight Show with her cat, and asked Johnny “Do you want to pet my pussy?” and Johnny responded “I’d love to, but first...
Big congrats to Jeremy Hooper and his husband. Awww!
Jeff Probst is not a fan of Colton Cumbie.
Gwyneth Paltrow Signs on to Co-Produce Musical About the GoGo’s. I’m happy about half of that sentence.
This is a promo for hot guys in underwear and pillow fights the Joyce Theater.
Glee First Look pic.twitter.com/ewGCqKMwcU
— Ryan Murphy (@MrRPMurphy) September 26, 2013
Here’s the trailer for the HBO documentary Valentine Road, about the murder of Lawrence King
BroadwayWorld.com has a first look at Joe Manganiello in A Streetcar Named Desire
Jon Hamm and Dave Salmoni. John Hamm and Dave Salmoni, people! Remember when Zsa-Zsa went on The Tonight Show with her cat, and asked Johnny “Do you want to pet my pussy?” and Johnny responded “I’d love to, but first...
- 9/26/2013
- by snicks
- The Backlot
Most documentaries addressing social injustice do so with the intent to create discussion and inspire change, but the director and producers of HBO’s Valentine Road – about the shooting death of 15-year-old Larry King – took that intent one step further Wednesday night. Following a screening of the documentary at the Museum of Tolerance, director Marta Cunningham was part of a panel discussion that led the audience in a dialogue about race, tolerance, abuse and how to make change. Cunningham’s unflinching exploration of the King case – in which his classmate, Brandon McInerney, shot him at point-blank
read more...
read more...
- 9/25/2013
- by Carly Milne
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In July, HBO announced a fall documentary slate that includes Alec Baldwin and James Toback's Cannes-shot "Seduced and Abandoned" and Whoopi Goldberg's directorial debut about pioneering comedian Jackie "Moms" Mabley. Indiewire is pleased to present an exclusive first look at the trailer for the fall season, which kicks off October 7th with Sundance favorite "Valentine Road" and continues into December with a new film (or collection of short films) every Monday night at 9pm. Dates and titles for the films in the lineup are below -- check out the full list with descriptions here. Oct. 7: "Valentine Road" Oct. 14: "Mondays at Racine," "Open Heart" and "Redemption" Oct. 21: "Life According to Sam" Oct. 28: "Seduced and Abandoned" Nov. 4: "Tales From the Organ Trade" Nov. 11: "Dial One for Vets" Nov. 18: "Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley" Nov. 25: "Toxic Hot Seat" Dec. 2: "The Battle of Amfar" Dec.
- 9/6/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
The Rocket was voted most popular feature and The Crash Reel as most popular documentary at the 62nd Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff).
The 17-day festival screened 320 films from 63 countries in 45 different languages, including 23 world premieres and 52 Australian films. .2013 has been a very successful festival boasting more than 170 sold out sessions,. said Miff artistic director Michelle Carey. .It.s very heartening to see audiences embracing the program and engaging with our guests both through Q&As and the Talking Pictures program.. The Age critics (Philippa Hawker, Jake Wilson and Craig Matheison) presented the Miff Premiere Fund-supported These Final Hours with a $5,000 cash prize and the title of best Australian feature while fellow Miff Premiere Fund title In Bob We Trust was hailed by Wilson as .one of the best Australian films of any kind in years.. Highlights of the 2013 Festival included:
- The world premiere of the Miff Premiere Fund-supported Tim Winton.s The Turning,...
The 17-day festival screened 320 films from 63 countries in 45 different languages, including 23 world premieres and 52 Australian films. .2013 has been a very successful festival boasting more than 170 sold out sessions,. said Miff artistic director Michelle Carey. .It.s very heartening to see audiences embracing the program and engaging with our guests both through Q&As and the Talking Pictures program.. The Age critics (Philippa Hawker, Jake Wilson and Craig Matheison) presented the Miff Premiere Fund-supported These Final Hours with a $5,000 cash prize and the title of best Australian feature while fellow Miff Premiere Fund title In Bob We Trust was hailed by Wilson as .one of the best Australian films of any kind in years.. Highlights of the 2013 Festival included:
- The world premiere of the Miff Premiere Fund-supported Tim Winton.s The Turning,...
- 8/13/2013
- by Staff writer
- IF.com.au
As Moore’s Law has continued to raise the quality and lower the cost of Av equipment, and more fledgling filmmakers have dipped their feet in the fountain of non-fiction, there’s been much talk about us being in the midst of a new golden age of documentary filmmaking. Now, lofty statements like these generally wind up being little more than buzzword attractions meant to set the blogosphere aflame, but this year has undoubtedly been a stellar year for the non-fiction form. From politically shattering investigations to form flexing art films to immensely personal portraits, not only are documentaries making a major impact on the ol’ festival circuit – Sundance, Tribeca, Hot Docs, SXSW, AFI Docs – many fest favorites from last year have had considerable success this year in art house theatres, not just in NYC & La, but in some cases nationwide – not an easy feat.
Of the lengthy list of...
Of the lengthy list of...
- 7/29/2013
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Espn isn't the only network announcing its fall doc lineup -- HBO announced its own new set of nonfiction films set to air in the upcoming months today, among them the Alec Baldwin and James Toback Cannes feature "Seduced and Abandoned," Whoopi Goldberg's directorial debut on Moms Mabley and the David Cronenberg-narrated "Tales From the Organ Trade." Here's the full list, with descriptions courtesy of the network: Valentine Road (debuting Oct. 7) unravels the school shooting of a young teenager who had begun exploring his gender identity, detailing the circumstances that led to his murder by a fellow student, as well as its complicated aftermath. Directed and produced by first-time filmmaker Marta Cunningham and produced by Sasha Alpert (HBO’s “Autism: The Musical”) and Eddie Schmidt (HBO’s “Twist of Faith”), the powerful and disturbing documentary raises questions about the safety of Lgbt teens, while challenging the efficacy of...
- 7/26/2013
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
HBO will debut a series of documentaries in the fall, including Alec Baldwin and James Toback's "Seduced and Abandoned," Whoopi Goldberg's portrait of pioneering performer Moms Mabley, and a Stephen Sondheim profile featuring the work of director Todd Haynes and others. The documentaries will come from a range of filmmakers including James Lapine, Sean and Andrea Fine, Cynthia Wade, Jon Alpert and Matthew O'Neill, James Redford and Marta Cunningham. The first film, Cunningham's "Valentine Road," debuts Oct. 7, and at least one film will premiere on each of the next nine...
- 7/25/2013
- by Tim Molloy
- The Wrap
Valentine Road
Directed by Marta Cunningham
2013, Usa
This gripping American documentary focus’ on a school shooting in 2008 where a student was shot for allegedly being an Lgbt person. The film is essentially split up into three phases: the retelling of the incident, character studies of the two boys and societal critiques of the legal and schools systems. A large majority of the film is made up of interviews with relevant individuals.
A good documentary has the director talking to the right people, asking the right questions and editing intelligently and ethically to keep the film cohesive. This film does all three and in fact does them all well. With a premise like this one might expect the film to be very one sided about the whole affair, but in fact its incredibly fair about showing both sides of the story in depth. It really isn’t as simple as ‘he...
Directed by Marta Cunningham
2013, Usa
This gripping American documentary focus’ on a school shooting in 2008 where a student was shot for allegedly being an Lgbt person. The film is essentially split up into three phases: the retelling of the incident, character studies of the two boys and societal critiques of the legal and schools systems. A large majority of the film is made up of interviews with relevant individuals.
A good documentary has the director talking to the right people, asking the right questions and editing intelligently and ethically to keep the film cohesive. This film does all three and in fact does them all well. With a premise like this one might expect the film to be very one sided about the whole affair, but in fact its incredibly fair about showing both sides of the story in depth. It really isn’t as simple as ‘he...
- 6/4/2013
- by Taegan J. Brown
- SoundOnSight
The Next-Gen program, a suite of scheduled films that tackle cultural and social issues in a way that is accessible to a younger audience, is as strong as ever this year, and the Melbourne International Film Festival (Miff) has just unveiled the full lineup.It is an ambitious program with sensible goals to enlighten and educate youth (from primary to senior secondary age) about film and its contexts, but do not be deterred; there is plenty here for adults to enjoy.In total there are 13 events in the program that range from documentary to Japanese road-trip drama to wonderful animation. Here are my top picks from the diverse list, which can be found here.The stirring documentary Valentine Road is about 14 year old Brandon McInerney from Oxnard,...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...
- 5/13/2013
- Screen Anarchy
Amir here, reporting from the Hot Docs documentary festival in Toronto. There are a few films at the festival this year that deal with Lgbt issues. Paolo has already reviewed one of them – though I’m using the term “issue” very loosely with regards to that one - but on a more serious note, here are three more documentaries about the gay community.
First up is Valentine Road, which explores the story of a 15 year old student, named Larry King, in Oxnard, California who was fatally shot by a classmate, Brandon McInerney, during school hours for confessing his love for him in front of a group of friends. Larry, a biracial boy who had always shown female tendencies, had begun to dress in girls’ clothing and put on heels and make-up to school. On the face of it, the crime is one born of hatred, homophobia and racism, but director...
First up is Valentine Road, which explores the story of a 15 year old student, named Larry King, in Oxnard, California who was fatally shot by a classmate, Brandon McInerney, during school hours for confessing his love for him in front of a group of friends. Larry, a biracial boy who had always shown female tendencies, had begun to dress in girls’ clothing and put on heels and make-up to school. On the face of it, the crime is one born of hatred, homophobia and racism, but director...
- 5/5/2013
- by Amir S.
- FilmExperience
Coming on the heels of some exceptionally strong Lgbt docs at both Sundance (Marta Cunningham's "Valentine Road" and Roger Ross Williams' "God Loves Uganda") and Berlin (Sébastien Lifshitz's "Bambi" and Angela Christlieb's "Naked Opera"), SXSW continued what is clearly shaping up to become a banner year. In its previous two editions, SXSW was the theatrical birthplace of both Andrew Haigh's romantic drama "Weekend" and Jonathan Lisecki's gay man/straight girl romantic comedy "Gayby," establishing the festival as just as reliable a place to find quality queer narrative films as its two aforementioned predecessors. But this year was all about non-fiction. Three documentaries -- Malcolm Ingram's "Continental," Jeffrey Schwarz's "I Am Divine" and Pj Raval's "Before You Know It" -- each premiered at the fest, and each will deservedly be a highlight at the scores of doc and Lgbt-focused festivals they'll surely...
- 3/15/2013
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
Thom Powers is a friend of ours in the business and amazes us by his acumen, generosity, range of activities and devotion to what many of us consider the most frequently relevant, creative and earth changing form of feature length cinema - the documentary. I came upon this fascinating dialogue on his website (link below) where he ruminated most eloquently about what actually went on at Sundance business wise with documentaries. Fascinating. Please check out his 'Stranger Than Fiction' website which is of great value to any filmmaker wanting clarity on the business of documentary film. Two fascinating reports (for example) listed on the site among others were these two - Guide to Documentary Buyers at Tiff and Guide to Documentary Sales Agents at Tiff. Every docu filmmaker should start here. Thom Powers has been an International Documentary Programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival® since 2006. He is also responsible for Mavericks, the Festival’s discussion series with cinema innovators. Powers is the Artistic Director for the weekly documentary series, “Stranger than Fiction” at Manhattan’s IFC Center and for the Doc NYC festival in November. He also consults on programming for the Miami International Film Festival. He has directed documentaries for HBO and PBS; and is a founding member of the documentary production company Sugar Pictures. He teaches documentary courses at New York University’s School of Continuing Professional Studies and the School of Visual Arts. He is a co-founder of the Cinema Eye Honors, an annual award for documentary excellence; and the Garrrett Scott Development Grant. He has served as a juror for Sundance, SXSW, Cph: Dox and DocAviv festivals; as well as the Emmy, Ida and Independent Spirit Awards. He has written extensively on documentary filmmaking for The Boston Globe, Real Screen, and Filmmaker Magazine. Stranger than Fiction Exclusive documentary film screenings, hosted by Raphaela Neihausen and Thom Powers. Winter Season: Jan 8 - Feb 26, 2013 IFC Center 323 Sixth Ave. @ West Third St.
A Conversation With Thom Powers on the Sundance Film Festival
by Rahul Chadha | Sunday, February 3rd, 2013
For most people on the indie film circuit, the Sundance Film Festival marks the start of the new year. Park City is where filmmakers go to earn buzz for their projects, get some press and maybe even ink a distribution deal. On Jan. 30 I spoke with Thom Powers about the documentary films at Sundance that garnered the most chatter and the biggest checks, among other subjects.
[Q&A has been edited for content and clarity]
Rahul Chadha: It seemed like so much of the press attention around Sundance was focused on sales. The Hollywood Reporter said that four docs sold for at least seven figures and I read a report that Blackfish elicited a bidding war from four or five distributors. Did you get the sense that sales were better this year, and if so, why do you think that was?
Thom Powers: Some of those figures are slightly inflated. I know at least one of those films that is being reported as a million dollar sale is a little under a million dollars. But the fact remains that there were some very strong doc sales, and notably the emergence of a new player in The Weinstein Company’s RADiUS brand run by Tom Quinn and Jason Janego. Tom previously worked for Magnolia, where he worked on several successful docs such as Food Inc. and Man On Wire. Months ago RADiUS announced involvement in the new Errol Morris film about Donald Rumsfeld, The Unknown Known, due out later this year. Tom told me they would be very selective about docs which left me unprepared for their recent buying streak. Their first Sundance acquisition was the opening night title 20 Feet From Stardom, set in the music industry that gives it a solid commercial hook. Then RADiUS acquired Inequality For All, which struck me as less obvious. But if you imagine it following in the footsteps of An Inconvenient Truth you can see the commercial appeal. Then they announced Cutie And The Boxer, which has no celebrity connection and on the surface feels less obviously commercial, although it had strong word of mouth. So it seems RADiUS is trying out a wide range of docs and it’s good for the industry to have a new player in the mix. In addition to their strong showing, there was notable acquisitions by mainstay distributors including Sundance Selects, which bought Dirty Wars and The Summit, and Magnolia Pictures, which bought Blackfish.
Chadha: It seemed like Submarine had a strong presence this year.
Powers: For years Submarine–run by Josh Braun and his brother Dan–has been the dominant doc sales agent making the biggest doc deals at both Sundance and Toronto. There are certainly other big sales agents, including Cinetic and big agencies like Wme, CAA, UTA, or ICM taking on the occasional doc. But no one carries as big a slate of high prestige documentaries as Submarine. This year their lineup included 20 Feet From Stardom, Blackfish, The Summit, Dirty Wars and Cutie And The Boxer, all of which were high-profile deals. Their slate includes other films that have yet to announce deals, including God Loves Uganda, Muscle Shoals, Who Is Dayani Cristal? and Citizen Koch.
Chadha: Do you think this underscores that filmmakers really do need a sales agent at a festival the level of Sundance?
Powers: I think for a film that has real theatrical potential a sales agent is key. For a film that may find it tougher in the American marketplace, such as many of the docs in the world competition that may not be competing for deals – any subtitled film has a harder time in this marketplace – for those films I don’t know that a sales agent necessarily helps for the kinds of smaller deals that may or may not be offered.
Chadha: Do you think that as digital becomes an increasingly important distribution channel that festivals will take on a new importance?
Powers: I do. In an old model, the way a film would imprint itself on the public’s consciousness is to get a theatrical run. But now there are more documentaries and more films in general being released than ever before. There are weeks when the New York Times is reviewing 15 films, so it’s harder to leave an impression on the public. A lot of these films are seeing their financial future on digital platforms. Because viewers aren’t hearing as much about films in theatrical release, I think the festival circuit is going to have increasing importance for the life of a film.
Chadha: There were a few films at Sundance that dealt with the legacy of 9/11. You mentioned Dirty Wars but there was The World According To Dick Cheney and Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington and We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks.
Powers: Yes that thematic cluster absolutely stood out. The legacy of 9/11 and the response to it through wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other kinds of counter-terrorism actions played out in other countries, remains a key subject for documentary makers to grapple with. I think the distance of 12 years from 9/11 gives us time to reflect. In the film Manhunt about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, there’s a clear connection. The World According To Dick Cheney is about the chief architect of post-9/11 counter-terrorism actions. It came in for criticism that the filmmakers weren’t hard enough on Dick Cheney, weren’t asking tough enough questions. And while I shared some of those frustrations, I certainly learned a lot about Cheney’s career from watching it.
Chadha: Anthony Kaufman recently wrote a piece that singled out Dirty Wars and the Alex Gibney film We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks as two films that he thought might presage a wave of films by left-leaning filmmakers that are critical of Obama and his policies? Do you agree with that assessment or see a similar trend?
Powers: It’s a smart observation. Dirty Wars – which is one of the films I was most impressed by at Sundance – takes a long view of American foreign policy after 9/11 in the hands of the journalist at the center of that film, Jeremy Scahill, who’s best known for his book on Blackwater, and who now has a new book coming out that ties into this film. Alex Gibney’s Wikileaksfilm looks at the harsh response of the Obama administration to Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier who had leaked the headline grabbing documents to Wikileaks. Those two films make an interesting contrast to documentaries of the past decade which comfortably coincided with a liberal critique of the Bush administration. I’m thinking of docs like Farhenheit 9/11 or No End In Sight that liberals rallied behind to point a finger at their political opponents. These new films force a more uncomfortable confrontation with an administration that those same liberals helped get elected.
Chadha: You previously mentioned to me that you thought that filmmakers screening unfinished films at Sundance were taking a risk. Why is that?
Powers: For some reason at Sundance, more than other festivals that I’m aware of, you find filmmakers rushing to screen works that sometimes aren’t completed. In my seven years of programming at Toronto, I’m not aware of any documentaries that went back for serious editing after their premiere – other than those presented as works-in-progress. But at Sundance every year there seems to be a few films that push the deadline so hard that they get taken back to the edit room afterwards. A notable example a couple of years ago was The Interrupters which played at Sundance in a version close to three hours before getting re-edited and having nearly an hour of material taken out of it. The question is, how much does that hurt a film, to have its first presentation before critics and industry be a version of itself that’s not the best. You can point to The Interrupters as a positive example. A lot of people, myself included, appreciated the long version of that film, and it didn’t diminish our interest at all. A fresh example this year was The Square, Jehane Noujaim’s film about the last two years of protest in Egypt around Tahrir Square. In this case the film arrived without any credits on it and Jehane told audiences that she was going back into the edit room. Normally that would sound to me like a challenging strategy. However, The Square came away from Sundance with an audience award. There’s clearly a power to that film, and a power that touched me watching that film, that transcended any rough edges that it contained. So I’ve just given two examples of films that made it work for them. I wouldn’t want to call out films where I think that strategy has not worked. But there certainly are cases and I’d strongly caution filmmakers not to assume that they’ll be the happy exceptions if they’re rushing their films for a festival deadline.
Chadha: There was a lot of talk this year about how well-represented women were on the doc side. I was wondering why you think this difference exists between the doc side and the fictional narrative side, where women still are underrepresented?
Powers: You can start a documentary with just a camera, as opposed to a fiction film where you need actors, a crew, a script, a lot more start-up resources. It may be self-perpetuating. Because there have been more prominent female doc makers, dating back to Barbara Kopple winning an Academy Award in the mid-70s, they’ve become role models for other women.
Chadha: What lost opportunities do you think filmmakers are struggling through at Sundance in terms of self-promotion? I know you’re a big proponent of filmmakers using Twitter.
Powers: I continue to be surprised by filmmakers who spend thousands of dollars on a publicist, but don’t take more advantage of social media which isfree. The Sundance docs that I saw making strong use of Twitter were Sound City which had 20,000 followers at the end of the festival; and 99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film which had 15,000 followers. Then there’s a sharp drop-off. Films such as After Tiller, Dirty Wars and American Promise had around 1,500 followers each – they are getting off to a good start. Whenever possible, filmmakers need to begin their Twitter strategy well before their first festival in order to accumulate followers who can spread what’s happening at the festival.
Chadha: Which film were you most surprised by, and why?
Powers: It’s a reality of film festivals that you can’t see everything. You’re dividing your time between seeing films and utilizing that unique space to have meetings with people that you can’t otherwise. There were around 40 docs at Sundance and I’ve now seen roughly half. I think the film Blood Brother that won the audience prize and the jury prize took a lot of people by surprise because there was hardly any chatter about it in the corridors where press and industry exchange tips. It shows you that in a big festival, things can always surprise you.
I think certain filmmakers going into Sundance or other big festivals should consider screening more for press and tastemakers before the festival. The traditional wisdom has always been the opposite: to not screen for anyone prior, let your film be seen by an audience, and generate the buzz from there. That works for a film like Supersize Me – where the description made people put it on their priority list. But for a film that doesn’t have an obvious hook – including a lot of the films in the world documentary competition – those filmmakers might be better served trying to strategically screen for certain press and tastemakers so they can enter the festival with people already talking about them.
Chadha: Are there any films that are now on your “can’t miss” list?
Powers: Some of my favorite Sundance titles I’ve programmed for the Miami International Film Festival, which just announced its line-up last week. They include 20 Feet From Stardom, Blackfish, Gideon’S Army, The Crash Reel, Valentine Road, Which Way To The Front Line From Here? and Who Is Dayani Cristal?. There were many other strong films at Sundance that I look forward to showing at the Montclair Film Festival and Stranger Than Fiction. The Square I admire a lot. Muscle Shoals really took me by surprise. It played late in the festival and didn’t gain as much buzz as I thought it deserved. The director, who I believe is a first time director, made all kinds of smart creative decisions. Another film that went under the radar but made a big impression on me was The Stuart Hall Project about the U.K.-based black intellectual Stuart Hall. The film is wholly constructed out of archival sources, primarily from the BBC.
Chadha: What were the lessons about funding that came out of Sundance?
Powers: Sundance is a good survey of how docs are getting funded. This year reflects the important influence of Kickstarter. Recently Kickstarter introduced a tag for its projects that have a Sundance affiliation, and skimming that list I was impressed to see that Inequality For All had raised $83,000 and American Promise had raised $50,000 on Kickstarter. Other documentaries raised more modest sums. What’ so significant about Kickstarter is that those filmmakers did not need to wait around for a grant application committee to give them a green light. They could take matters into their own hands. Other funding players who were prominent are the Sundance Institute, the Tribeca Institute and the Ford Foundation which last year announced a $50 million commitment through the Just Films program. That Ford initiative supported projects like Gideon’S Army, Valentine Road, American Promise, Who Is Dayani Cristal?, God Loves Uganda and Citizen Koch.
Another important player is the equity group Impact Partners, who for several years have had a strong showing of their catalog at Sundance. This year their involvement included American Promise, The Crash Reel, Who Is Dayani Cristal? and Pandora’S Promise. The last group that I would mention is Cinereach, who were the heroes of Sundance last year for their funding of Beasts Of The Southern Wild, and who were back this year with four docs: Cutie And The Boxer, Citizen Koch, God Loves Uganda, and Narco Cultura.
When you look at the kinds of films that are showing up at Sundance, you see the names of some key producers re-occurring. This year the producer Julie Goldman, whose recent Sundance titles include Buck was back with three projects – Gideon’S Army, Manhunt and God Loves Uganda. The producer John Battsek from the U.K. who last year came with Searching For Sugar Man, was back this year with The Summit and Manhunt. And Jess Search, also based in the U.K., who is the founder of Britdoc and the Good Pitch had her name attached to the films Dirty Wars and Who Is Dayani Cristal? Clearly those producers and others like them have a good eye for spotting what makes a strong documentary in development. Those producers perform a variety of roles for filmmakers, whether it’s connecting them to financial support or supplying editorial perspective or connecting them to the other kind of industry players who can take a project further.
Chadha: Going back to Kickstarter for a minute, do you think films that have success on Kickstarter have the added benefit of showing to grantmaking institutions that their films are viable and that there’s an audience for them?
Powers: Absolutely. One bit of industry news this past week was that the HotDocs Forum, which has been a key place for documentaries to raise money, mainly in the broadcast world, announced that they will now accept projects on the basis of a certain amount of funds raised on Kickstarter. It used to be that you had to demonstrate a portion of your budget, like a quarter, was already being supported by a broadcaster or other traditional grantmaking institution. This change in policy signals the way in which Kickstarter funding is being taken more seriously.
In the case of The Square, the producers launched a Kickstarter campaign at Sundance to help finish their film. That seems like a very smart strategy for other filmmakers to consider. When you’re at a film festival, you have a rapt and enthused audience and if you can point them to a Kickstarter campaign, that’s a great way to leverage that enthusiasm. Even if you don’t need finishing funds, it’s a way to get outreach funds. I also saw the team from The Square selling t-shirts. After one screening they came away with few hundred dollars of cash in hand, which can help defray costs of attending a festival. These are strategies that filmmakers like Gary Hustwit have long practiced, emulating the way rock musicians sell t-shirts and posters at live performances. The film community has been slow to catch on. Maybe filmmakers are so busy getting their films made that they don’t have time to think about merchandise. But every bit of revenue helps.
Chadha: Any final thoughts?
Powers: We’ve talked about theatrical and digital distribution and new trends in crowdfunding. But it has to be said that the most long-standing and reliable place for documentary makers to get money is the broadcast world. HBO, which usually has a strong presence at Sundance, had the most overwhelming presence that I can remember, coming with six feature length documentaries. Plus during Sundance HBO bought Pussy Riot-a Punk Prayer. When you consider that HBO also has the film that was the 2012 winner at Idfa, Alan Berliner’s First Cousin Once Removed, and had two films at the Toronto festival – Mea Maxima Culpa by Alex Gibney and First Comes Love by Nina Davenport – that’s an impressive slate of films. There was news generated by other broadcasters getting active in the documentary field, including Showtime, which came with The World According To Dick Cheney. Just before Sundane, The New York Times reported about Showtime’s announcement of several documentaries in progress, including a film about Richard Pryor by Marina Zenovich, who made the Roman Polanski film, that I am personally looking forward to. In addition, CNN made an announcement during Sundance about a slate of feature-length docs, including a film by Alex Gibney. Another major player in that realm is A&E IndieFilms, which didn’t have any films in Sundance this year, but they’re already attached to Errol Morris’s Donald Rumsfeld documentary coming out later this year. All in all, the year is off to a good start.
Link to the original article here...
A Conversation With Thom Powers on the Sundance Film Festival
by Rahul Chadha | Sunday, February 3rd, 2013
For most people on the indie film circuit, the Sundance Film Festival marks the start of the new year. Park City is where filmmakers go to earn buzz for their projects, get some press and maybe even ink a distribution deal. On Jan. 30 I spoke with Thom Powers about the documentary films at Sundance that garnered the most chatter and the biggest checks, among other subjects.
[Q&A has been edited for content and clarity]
Rahul Chadha: It seemed like so much of the press attention around Sundance was focused on sales. The Hollywood Reporter said that four docs sold for at least seven figures and I read a report that Blackfish elicited a bidding war from four or five distributors. Did you get the sense that sales were better this year, and if so, why do you think that was?
Thom Powers: Some of those figures are slightly inflated. I know at least one of those films that is being reported as a million dollar sale is a little under a million dollars. But the fact remains that there were some very strong doc sales, and notably the emergence of a new player in The Weinstein Company’s RADiUS brand run by Tom Quinn and Jason Janego. Tom previously worked for Magnolia, where he worked on several successful docs such as Food Inc. and Man On Wire. Months ago RADiUS announced involvement in the new Errol Morris film about Donald Rumsfeld, The Unknown Known, due out later this year. Tom told me they would be very selective about docs which left me unprepared for their recent buying streak. Their first Sundance acquisition was the opening night title 20 Feet From Stardom, set in the music industry that gives it a solid commercial hook. Then RADiUS acquired Inequality For All, which struck me as less obvious. But if you imagine it following in the footsteps of An Inconvenient Truth you can see the commercial appeal. Then they announced Cutie And The Boxer, which has no celebrity connection and on the surface feels less obviously commercial, although it had strong word of mouth. So it seems RADiUS is trying out a wide range of docs and it’s good for the industry to have a new player in the mix. In addition to their strong showing, there was notable acquisitions by mainstay distributors including Sundance Selects, which bought Dirty Wars and The Summit, and Magnolia Pictures, which bought Blackfish.
Chadha: It seemed like Submarine had a strong presence this year.
Powers: For years Submarine–run by Josh Braun and his brother Dan–has been the dominant doc sales agent making the biggest doc deals at both Sundance and Toronto. There are certainly other big sales agents, including Cinetic and big agencies like Wme, CAA, UTA, or ICM taking on the occasional doc. But no one carries as big a slate of high prestige documentaries as Submarine. This year their lineup included 20 Feet From Stardom, Blackfish, The Summit, Dirty Wars and Cutie And The Boxer, all of which were high-profile deals. Their slate includes other films that have yet to announce deals, including God Loves Uganda, Muscle Shoals, Who Is Dayani Cristal? and Citizen Koch.
Chadha: Do you think this underscores that filmmakers really do need a sales agent at a festival the level of Sundance?
Powers: I think for a film that has real theatrical potential a sales agent is key. For a film that may find it tougher in the American marketplace, such as many of the docs in the world competition that may not be competing for deals – any subtitled film has a harder time in this marketplace – for those films I don’t know that a sales agent necessarily helps for the kinds of smaller deals that may or may not be offered.
Chadha: Do you think that as digital becomes an increasingly important distribution channel that festivals will take on a new importance?
Powers: I do. In an old model, the way a film would imprint itself on the public’s consciousness is to get a theatrical run. But now there are more documentaries and more films in general being released than ever before. There are weeks when the New York Times is reviewing 15 films, so it’s harder to leave an impression on the public. A lot of these films are seeing their financial future on digital platforms. Because viewers aren’t hearing as much about films in theatrical release, I think the festival circuit is going to have increasing importance for the life of a film.
Chadha: There were a few films at Sundance that dealt with the legacy of 9/11. You mentioned Dirty Wars but there was The World According To Dick Cheney and Which Way Is The Front Line From Here? The Life And Time Of Tim Hetherington and We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks.
Powers: Yes that thematic cluster absolutely stood out. The legacy of 9/11 and the response to it through wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as other kinds of counter-terrorism actions played out in other countries, remains a key subject for documentary makers to grapple with. I think the distance of 12 years from 9/11 gives us time to reflect. In the film Manhunt about the hunt for Osama bin Laden, there’s a clear connection. The World According To Dick Cheney is about the chief architect of post-9/11 counter-terrorism actions. It came in for criticism that the filmmakers weren’t hard enough on Dick Cheney, weren’t asking tough enough questions. And while I shared some of those frustrations, I certainly learned a lot about Cheney’s career from watching it.
Chadha: Anthony Kaufman recently wrote a piece that singled out Dirty Wars and the Alex Gibney film We Steal Secrets: The Story Of Wikileaks as two films that he thought might presage a wave of films by left-leaning filmmakers that are critical of Obama and his policies? Do you agree with that assessment or see a similar trend?
Powers: It’s a smart observation. Dirty Wars – which is one of the films I was most impressed by at Sundance – takes a long view of American foreign policy after 9/11 in the hands of the journalist at the center of that film, Jeremy Scahill, who’s best known for his book on Blackwater, and who now has a new book coming out that ties into this film. Alex Gibney’s Wikileaksfilm looks at the harsh response of the Obama administration to Bradley Manning, the U.S. soldier who had leaked the headline grabbing documents to Wikileaks. Those two films make an interesting contrast to documentaries of the past decade which comfortably coincided with a liberal critique of the Bush administration. I’m thinking of docs like Farhenheit 9/11 or No End In Sight that liberals rallied behind to point a finger at their political opponents. These new films force a more uncomfortable confrontation with an administration that those same liberals helped get elected.
Chadha: You previously mentioned to me that you thought that filmmakers screening unfinished films at Sundance were taking a risk. Why is that?
Powers: For some reason at Sundance, more than other festivals that I’m aware of, you find filmmakers rushing to screen works that sometimes aren’t completed. In my seven years of programming at Toronto, I’m not aware of any documentaries that went back for serious editing after their premiere – other than those presented as works-in-progress. But at Sundance every year there seems to be a few films that push the deadline so hard that they get taken back to the edit room afterwards. A notable example a couple of years ago was The Interrupters which played at Sundance in a version close to three hours before getting re-edited and having nearly an hour of material taken out of it. The question is, how much does that hurt a film, to have its first presentation before critics and industry be a version of itself that’s not the best. You can point to The Interrupters as a positive example. A lot of people, myself included, appreciated the long version of that film, and it didn’t diminish our interest at all. A fresh example this year was The Square, Jehane Noujaim’s film about the last two years of protest in Egypt around Tahrir Square. In this case the film arrived without any credits on it and Jehane told audiences that she was going back into the edit room. Normally that would sound to me like a challenging strategy. However, The Square came away from Sundance with an audience award. There’s clearly a power to that film, and a power that touched me watching that film, that transcended any rough edges that it contained. So I’ve just given two examples of films that made it work for them. I wouldn’t want to call out films where I think that strategy has not worked. But there certainly are cases and I’d strongly caution filmmakers not to assume that they’ll be the happy exceptions if they’re rushing their films for a festival deadline.
Chadha: There was a lot of talk this year about how well-represented women were on the doc side. I was wondering why you think this difference exists between the doc side and the fictional narrative side, where women still are underrepresented?
Powers: You can start a documentary with just a camera, as opposed to a fiction film where you need actors, a crew, a script, a lot more start-up resources. It may be self-perpetuating. Because there have been more prominent female doc makers, dating back to Barbara Kopple winning an Academy Award in the mid-70s, they’ve become role models for other women.
Chadha: What lost opportunities do you think filmmakers are struggling through at Sundance in terms of self-promotion? I know you’re a big proponent of filmmakers using Twitter.
Powers: I continue to be surprised by filmmakers who spend thousands of dollars on a publicist, but don’t take more advantage of social media which isfree. The Sundance docs that I saw making strong use of Twitter were Sound City which had 20,000 followers at the end of the festival; and 99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film which had 15,000 followers. Then there’s a sharp drop-off. Films such as After Tiller, Dirty Wars and American Promise had around 1,500 followers each – they are getting off to a good start. Whenever possible, filmmakers need to begin their Twitter strategy well before their first festival in order to accumulate followers who can spread what’s happening at the festival.
Chadha: Which film were you most surprised by, and why?
Powers: It’s a reality of film festivals that you can’t see everything. You’re dividing your time between seeing films and utilizing that unique space to have meetings with people that you can’t otherwise. There were around 40 docs at Sundance and I’ve now seen roughly half. I think the film Blood Brother that won the audience prize and the jury prize took a lot of people by surprise because there was hardly any chatter about it in the corridors where press and industry exchange tips. It shows you that in a big festival, things can always surprise you.
I think certain filmmakers going into Sundance or other big festivals should consider screening more for press and tastemakers before the festival. The traditional wisdom has always been the opposite: to not screen for anyone prior, let your film be seen by an audience, and generate the buzz from there. That works for a film like Supersize Me – where the description made people put it on their priority list. But for a film that doesn’t have an obvious hook – including a lot of the films in the world documentary competition – those filmmakers might be better served trying to strategically screen for certain press and tastemakers so they can enter the festival with people already talking about them.
Chadha: Are there any films that are now on your “can’t miss” list?
Powers: Some of my favorite Sundance titles I’ve programmed for the Miami International Film Festival, which just announced its line-up last week. They include 20 Feet From Stardom, Blackfish, Gideon’S Army, The Crash Reel, Valentine Road, Which Way To The Front Line From Here? and Who Is Dayani Cristal?. There were many other strong films at Sundance that I look forward to showing at the Montclair Film Festival and Stranger Than Fiction. The Square I admire a lot. Muscle Shoals really took me by surprise. It played late in the festival and didn’t gain as much buzz as I thought it deserved. The director, who I believe is a first time director, made all kinds of smart creative decisions. Another film that went under the radar but made a big impression on me was The Stuart Hall Project about the U.K.-based black intellectual Stuart Hall. The film is wholly constructed out of archival sources, primarily from the BBC.
Chadha: What were the lessons about funding that came out of Sundance?
Powers: Sundance is a good survey of how docs are getting funded. This year reflects the important influence of Kickstarter. Recently Kickstarter introduced a tag for its projects that have a Sundance affiliation, and skimming that list I was impressed to see that Inequality For All had raised $83,000 and American Promise had raised $50,000 on Kickstarter. Other documentaries raised more modest sums. What’ so significant about Kickstarter is that those filmmakers did not need to wait around for a grant application committee to give them a green light. They could take matters into their own hands. Other funding players who were prominent are the Sundance Institute, the Tribeca Institute and the Ford Foundation which last year announced a $50 million commitment through the Just Films program. That Ford initiative supported projects like Gideon’S Army, Valentine Road, American Promise, Who Is Dayani Cristal?, God Loves Uganda and Citizen Koch.
Another important player is the equity group Impact Partners, who for several years have had a strong showing of their catalog at Sundance. This year their involvement included American Promise, The Crash Reel, Who Is Dayani Cristal? and Pandora’S Promise. The last group that I would mention is Cinereach, who were the heroes of Sundance last year for their funding of Beasts Of The Southern Wild, and who were back this year with four docs: Cutie And The Boxer, Citizen Koch, God Loves Uganda, and Narco Cultura.
When you look at the kinds of films that are showing up at Sundance, you see the names of some key producers re-occurring. This year the producer Julie Goldman, whose recent Sundance titles include Buck was back with three projects – Gideon’S Army, Manhunt and God Loves Uganda. The producer John Battsek from the U.K. who last year came with Searching For Sugar Man, was back this year with The Summit and Manhunt. And Jess Search, also based in the U.K., who is the founder of Britdoc and the Good Pitch had her name attached to the films Dirty Wars and Who Is Dayani Cristal? Clearly those producers and others like them have a good eye for spotting what makes a strong documentary in development. Those producers perform a variety of roles for filmmakers, whether it’s connecting them to financial support or supplying editorial perspective or connecting them to the other kind of industry players who can take a project further.
Chadha: Going back to Kickstarter for a minute, do you think films that have success on Kickstarter have the added benefit of showing to grantmaking institutions that their films are viable and that there’s an audience for them?
Powers: Absolutely. One bit of industry news this past week was that the HotDocs Forum, which has been a key place for documentaries to raise money, mainly in the broadcast world, announced that they will now accept projects on the basis of a certain amount of funds raised on Kickstarter. It used to be that you had to demonstrate a portion of your budget, like a quarter, was already being supported by a broadcaster or other traditional grantmaking institution. This change in policy signals the way in which Kickstarter funding is being taken more seriously.
In the case of The Square, the producers launched a Kickstarter campaign at Sundance to help finish their film. That seems like a very smart strategy for other filmmakers to consider. When you’re at a film festival, you have a rapt and enthused audience and if you can point them to a Kickstarter campaign, that’s a great way to leverage that enthusiasm. Even if you don’t need finishing funds, it’s a way to get outreach funds. I also saw the team from The Square selling t-shirts. After one screening they came away with few hundred dollars of cash in hand, which can help defray costs of attending a festival. These are strategies that filmmakers like Gary Hustwit have long practiced, emulating the way rock musicians sell t-shirts and posters at live performances. The film community has been slow to catch on. Maybe filmmakers are so busy getting their films made that they don’t have time to think about merchandise. But every bit of revenue helps.
Chadha: Any final thoughts?
Powers: We’ve talked about theatrical and digital distribution and new trends in crowdfunding. But it has to be said that the most long-standing and reliable place for documentary makers to get money is the broadcast world. HBO, which usually has a strong presence at Sundance, had the most overwhelming presence that I can remember, coming with six feature length documentaries. Plus during Sundance HBO bought Pussy Riot-a Punk Prayer. When you consider that HBO also has the film that was the 2012 winner at Idfa, Alan Berliner’s First Cousin Once Removed, and had two films at the Toronto festival – Mea Maxima Culpa by Alex Gibney and First Comes Love by Nina Davenport – that’s an impressive slate of films. There was news generated by other broadcasters getting active in the documentary field, including Showtime, which came with The World According To Dick Cheney. Just before Sundane, The New York Times reported about Showtime’s announcement of several documentaries in progress, including a film about Richard Pryor by Marina Zenovich, who made the Roman Polanski film, that I am personally looking forward to. In addition, CNN made an announcement during Sundance about a slate of feature-length docs, including a film by Alex Gibney. Another major player in that realm is A&E IndieFilms, which didn’t have any films in Sundance this year, but they’re already attached to Errol Morris’s Donald Rumsfeld documentary coming out later this year. All in all, the year is off to a good start.
Link to the original article here...
- 2/19/2013
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
Here is a complete listing of the films that were shown/covered by the Ioncinema.com team comprised of Nicholas Bell (Nb), Jordan M. Smith (Js) and Eric Lavallee (El). We’ll be populating this page up until March.
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Afternoon Delight – Jill Soloway: Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Ain’T Them Bodies Saints – David Lowery: El (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review // Interview
Austenland- Jerusha Hess: Nb (★): Review
C.O.G.- Kyle Patrick Alvarez: Js (★★ 1/2), Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Concussion – Stacie Passon: El (★★★), Js (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★): Review // Interview
Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes – Francesca Gregorini: Js (★★★), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review
Fruitvale – Ryan Coogler: El (★★★), Js (★★★★★), Nb (★★★★): Review // Interview // Video
In A World… – Lake Bell: El (★★★): Review
Kill Your Darlings – John Krokidas: El (★★★), Nb (★★★): Review
The Lifeguard – Liz W. Garcia: El (★★ 1/2): Review
May In The Summer...
U.S. Dramatic Competition
Afternoon Delight – Jill Soloway: Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Ain’T Them Bodies Saints – David Lowery: El (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review // Interview
Austenland- Jerusha Hess: Nb (★): Review
C.O.G.- Kyle Patrick Alvarez: Js (★★ 1/2), Nb (★★ 1/2): Review
Concussion – Stacie Passon: El (★★★), Js (★★★ 1/2), Nb (★★★): Review // Interview
Emanuel And The Truth About Fishes – Francesca Gregorini: Js (★★★), Nb (★★★ 1/2): Review
Fruitvale – Ryan Coogler: El (★★★), Js (★★★★★), Nb (★★★★): Review // Interview // Video
In A World… – Lake Bell: El (★★★): Review
Kill Your Darlings – John Krokidas: El (★★★), Nb (★★★): Review
The Lifeguard – Liz W. Garcia: El (★★ 1/2): Review
May In The Summer...
- 1/29/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
The problem with the top festivals is that no matter what you are doing, you feel you should be doing something else. Whether to stay home and write or be out seeing films or partying/ networking, sometimes you feel like you're missing out of the really important things. And I lost my hat! If any readers find my white Russian fox hat that I bought in a Berlin flea market, please return it to me! Yesterday I missed the inauguration brunch Acme PR hosted in conjunction with the film Citizen Koch about Mayor Koch because I was trying to send out photos from my camera to my new MacBook Pro to my blog! I also missed Occupy Wall Street. But the truth of that is I am no longer in the mood for issue docs. Inequality For All satisfied my need for understanding that issue, God Loves Uganda repelled me, though one of the volunteers I was talking to was so incensed at the film's message of homophobia that I realized its value. I am going to write more on the docs in the coming days, but now just for fun, I'm going to do a survey of how many deal with personal subjects and how many with social issues. I did find a great parking lot for $5, but it was so far away that I was unable to see the films Big Sur (sold out) and C.O.G., but I did catch the buzz film Fruitvale about the New Years Eve shooting of Oscar, a 22 year old Bay Area resident. Starring the superb Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer and Melonie Diaz and directed by Ryan Coogler, it captured the family life so beautifully, Oscar was so sympathetic, so human, so young that at its end, I was totally depressed by the gun violence done in this film and in so many incidents over this past year. Another film about guns, Valentine Road by Sasha Alpert is getting very good buzz as well. Seeing Fruitvale because it was a buzz film and was so easy to enter with my press pass meant missing out of Gideon's Army which I really wanted to see but did not realize a ticket had been reserved for me and so I missed out on seeing it. Gideon's Army follows three young public defenders who are part of a small group of idealistic lawyers in the Deep South challenging the assumptions that drive a criminal justice system strained to the breaking point. I wanted to share it with my Pd friends in L.A. And the issue of justice and idealism would have taken me out of the depression over Fruitvale where the security guard who shot Oscar twice got off after serving 18 months in prison. Since this doc is an HBO doc, I might not get another chance to see it. At 4:00pm in Sundance (and Berlin, Cannes and Afm), the cocktail hour begins and we put aside watching films and switch to networking, catching up with news, meeting new people, etc. and so I went off to parties: The Louisiana Film Festival , Ifp, Film Independent and Indiewire, Kofic (the Korean film organization) and "The Party" of Sundance hosted by John Sloss and Cinetic were all on the calendar. Starting at the Riverhorse on Main, the Film Independent / Indiewire party was so exciting that I missed the Ifp party up the street. At the Find/ Indiewire party, I got to catch up with so many people including Bob and Jeannie Berney who will be opening their new company Picturehouse (2) with a Metallica film in 3D which sounds like a perfect Bob Berney film. I met Adam Donaghey, a partner of Aviation Cinemas who had been at the Arthouse Convergence. His theater is where they arrested up Lee Harvey Oswald and was originally the flag ship theater created by Howard Hughes as part of the Rko Theaters chain. They also have started the Oak Cliff Film Festival which is a festival of festivals, much like Toronto was in its early days before becoming the showcase and discovery festival it is today. We spoke of a new sort of festival scam that filmmakers need to heed, called Awards Festivals. You can buy an award so you can show your film to be a winner of a festival where it never even needs to screen! Withoutabox even lists these festivals without warning. Adam wishes Withoutabox would curate chosen festivals a bit more. I agree because uneducated filmmakers often tend to think that quantity not quality of film festivals their films show at makes the look better than it might be. For uneducated audiences who might then watch the film, disappointment may result. For the trade, it gives the film a tawdry look.
Michele Satter, Founding Director, Feature Film Program of the Sundance Institute and Paul Federbush, International Director of the Feature Film Program invited me to tomorrow's Mahinda Global Filmmaking Awards Reception which awards $10,000 to 4 filmmakers with projects which give voice to issues needing to be heard. Again I have to miss something if I go there…Narco Cultura plays at 6:30pm, the Awards ceremony starts at 6pm, And I have been invited to my host's dinner party. I hope I can catch Narco Cultura (Isa: K5) on Cinando! The winners are Sarthak Dasgupta,The Music Teacher from India; Jonas Carpignano, A Chjana from Italy-us; Aly Muritiba, The Man Who Killed My Dead Beloved from Brazil; and Vendela Vida & Eva Weber, Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name UK-Germany-us. See more here
Rick Allen, Founder and CEO of Snagfilms (the owner of Indiewire) and I spoke of their ever-growing developments and I was startled and very happy to hear him praise my blog. Stefanie Sharis, COO and Andrew Mer, VP Content Partnerships of Snagfilms and I spoke of our plans in Berlin and Cannes.
Louisiana International Film Festival and Mentorship Program party where, for the second time during this festival, I caught a fantastic musical performance. The first was at the New York Film Lounge. This one was a "love riot" performance by jazz pianist extraordinaire, actor and educator Jonathan Batiste . Both the groups are represented by N.Y. Attorney Stephen Beers . I was with Ula again, and Indiewire's James Israel, doing the party circuit. I hope Ula will bring this fine New Orleans jazz pianist Jon Batiste to The American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. He had the room rocking with a sax, drums and -- was that a tuba? -- backing him up. I have filmed both groups and hope I can upload them for your enjoyment! The Louisiana Film Festival will be held in April and includes a mentorship program. It is being organized by our friends Jeff Dowd and Dan Ireland. Dan is now working on his next feature which sounds great with a cast of great actors. I want to go to this new festival to celebrate my birthday especially since my parents met in New Orleans as university students there, married and moved to L.A. where I was born, so it means a lot to me. Coincidently, when I mentioned this to the Executive Director and filmmaker Chesley Heymsfield, telling her my father was in med school at Lsu, she told me her father was Chancellor of the Lsu Medical School. In addition I am thinking that perhaps we can join forces with their Mentorship Program with The Literacy Project, which I began 4 years ago at El Centro del Pueblo in Echo Park. Their Mentorship Program, from what I understood, is headed by a Nobel Prize Winning Scientist. I may have heard wrong however, because the noise at this party was horrendous and the speech given was too long for sustained silence. Ula, James and I proceeded to the Korean party was a different group of folks gathering of the trade. While there I could do some matchmaking, one of my favorite pastimes, introducing Ula to Kiril of the Moscow Film Festival, seeing Clay Epstein, party organizers Henry Eshelmann and Mark Rabinowitz, being introduced by Ula and Kiral to the Busan International Film Festival/ Asian Film Market's Steering Committee Deputy Director (who is responsible for international marketing of the market, Chanil Jeon, who then introduced me to the programmer for North American films, Dosin Pak whose email is "Program [At] biff.kr" for all you North American filmmakers looking to break into Asia. I have written about Busan several times because I think South Korea's development and support of filmmaking, film education and film financing through its pre-sales market is a model other countries would be wise to follow. I would personally love to create an educational initiative there about cross-cultural competence. During one Cannes Festival, I spoke to their education director about that. So perhaps, with a little more time, I will be able to speak of how to actualize this idea. From the Korean party we went (Early) to John Sloss's Cinetic party, The Hot Ticket party for me. I know I'll see old friends there and meet new and not only interesting but important people in the business, and sure 'nuff, I did. I also know that if you come late to this party you are liable to spend a long time shivering in the cold waiting to be admitted. There was Anne Thompson holding court, Christine Vachon holding court and I am sure many others. I got some good face time with Cotty Chubb who has 3 films nearing completion, and Carol (whose last name I have forgotten regrettably without her card to jolt my memory) whom I last saw in Paris many years ago and has now returned to filmmaking. She in turn introduced me to the L.A. Based Rio Film Commissioner who works with the Rio-based Steve Solet. We gathered with old friends Tom Davia (of Shoreline) and Rodrigo Bellot whose film he wrote, We Are What We Are (Isa: Memento), just sold to eOne for U.S. for a low 6 figures. Eone already has Canada and U.K. That's enough for now. See you tomorrow!!
Michele Satter, Founding Director, Feature Film Program of the Sundance Institute and Paul Federbush, International Director of the Feature Film Program invited me to tomorrow's Mahinda Global Filmmaking Awards Reception which awards $10,000 to 4 filmmakers with projects which give voice to issues needing to be heard. Again I have to miss something if I go there…Narco Cultura plays at 6:30pm, the Awards ceremony starts at 6pm, And I have been invited to my host's dinner party. I hope I can catch Narco Cultura (Isa: K5) on Cinando! The winners are Sarthak Dasgupta,The Music Teacher from India; Jonas Carpignano, A Chjana from Italy-us; Aly Muritiba, The Man Who Killed My Dead Beloved from Brazil; and Vendela Vida & Eva Weber, Let The Northern Lights Erase Your Name UK-Germany-us. See more here
Rick Allen, Founder and CEO of Snagfilms (the owner of Indiewire) and I spoke of their ever-growing developments and I was startled and very happy to hear him praise my blog. Stefanie Sharis, COO and Andrew Mer, VP Content Partnerships of Snagfilms and I spoke of our plans in Berlin and Cannes.
Louisiana International Film Festival and Mentorship Program party where, for the second time during this festival, I caught a fantastic musical performance. The first was at the New York Film Lounge. This one was a "love riot" performance by jazz pianist extraordinaire, actor and educator Jonathan Batiste . Both the groups are represented by N.Y. Attorney Stephen Beers . I was with Ula again, and Indiewire's James Israel, doing the party circuit. I hope Ula will bring this fine New Orleans jazz pianist Jon Batiste to The American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland. He had the room rocking with a sax, drums and -- was that a tuba? -- backing him up. I have filmed both groups and hope I can upload them for your enjoyment! The Louisiana Film Festival will be held in April and includes a mentorship program. It is being organized by our friends Jeff Dowd and Dan Ireland. Dan is now working on his next feature which sounds great with a cast of great actors. I want to go to this new festival to celebrate my birthday especially since my parents met in New Orleans as university students there, married and moved to L.A. where I was born, so it means a lot to me. Coincidently, when I mentioned this to the Executive Director and filmmaker Chesley Heymsfield, telling her my father was in med school at Lsu, she told me her father was Chancellor of the Lsu Medical School. In addition I am thinking that perhaps we can join forces with their Mentorship Program with The Literacy Project, which I began 4 years ago at El Centro del Pueblo in Echo Park. Their Mentorship Program, from what I understood, is headed by a Nobel Prize Winning Scientist. I may have heard wrong however, because the noise at this party was horrendous and the speech given was too long for sustained silence. Ula, James and I proceeded to the Korean party was a different group of folks gathering of the trade. While there I could do some matchmaking, one of my favorite pastimes, introducing Ula to Kiril of the Moscow Film Festival, seeing Clay Epstein, party organizers Henry Eshelmann and Mark Rabinowitz, being introduced by Ula and Kiral to the Busan International Film Festival/ Asian Film Market's Steering Committee Deputy Director (who is responsible for international marketing of the market, Chanil Jeon, who then introduced me to the programmer for North American films, Dosin Pak whose email is "Program [At] biff.kr" for all you North American filmmakers looking to break into Asia. I have written about Busan several times because I think South Korea's development and support of filmmaking, film education and film financing through its pre-sales market is a model other countries would be wise to follow. I would personally love to create an educational initiative there about cross-cultural competence. During one Cannes Festival, I spoke to their education director about that. So perhaps, with a little more time, I will be able to speak of how to actualize this idea. From the Korean party we went (Early) to John Sloss's Cinetic party, The Hot Ticket party for me. I know I'll see old friends there and meet new and not only interesting but important people in the business, and sure 'nuff, I did. I also know that if you come late to this party you are liable to spend a long time shivering in the cold waiting to be admitted. There was Anne Thompson holding court, Christine Vachon holding court and I am sure many others. I got some good face time with Cotty Chubb who has 3 films nearing completion, and Carol (whose last name I have forgotten regrettably without her card to jolt my memory) whom I last saw in Paris many years ago and has now returned to filmmaking. She in turn introduced me to the L.A. Based Rio Film Commissioner who works with the Rio-based Steve Solet. We gathered with old friends Tom Davia (of Shoreline) and Rodrigo Bellot whose film he wrote, We Are What We Are (Isa: Memento), just sold to eOne for U.S. for a low 6 figures. Eone already has Canada and U.K. That's enough for now. See you tomorrow!!
- 1/24/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The International Documentary Association (Ida) attended the Sundance Film Festival this year. Founded in 1982, the International Documentary Association (Ida) is a non-profit 501(c)(3) that promotes nonfiction filmmakers, and is dedicated to increasing public awareness for the documentary genre. They believe that the power and artistry of the documentary art form are vital to cultures and societies globally, and exist to serve the needs of those who create this art form. Their major program areas are: Advocacy, Filmmaker Services, Education, and Public Programs and Events. Ida is a proud supporter of the following three projects in this year's Sundance Film Festival:
After Tiller
Directors:
Martha Shane, Lana Wilson
After the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas in 2009, there are now only four doctors left in the country who provide third-trimester abortions for women. After Tiller moves between the rapidly unfolding stories of these doctors, all of whom were close colleagues of Dr. Tiller, and are fighting to keep this service available in the wake of his death. These four people have become the new number-one targets of the pro-life movement, yet continue to risk their lives every day to do work that many believe is murder, but which they believe is profoundly important for their patients' lives. After Tiller shows them confronting harassment from protesters, challenges in their personal lives, and a series of tough ethical decisions.
Citizen Koch
Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin
Wisconsin - birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, cheeseheads and Paul Ryan - becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Valentine Road
Director, Writer: Marta Cunningham
On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head during first period. When Larry died two days later, his murder shocked the nation. Was this a hate crime, one perpetrated by a budding neo-Nazi whose masculinity was threatened by an effeminate gay kid who may have had a crush on him? Or was there even more to it? Looking beyond all the copious news coverage of this tragic event, Valentine Road tells the story of two victims: the deceased and the murderer. With keen insight, the film connects the human wreckage of Larry's and Brandon's troubled lives-both physically abused, both from broken homes, and both searching for a sense of belonging. ...
After Tiller
Directors:
Martha Shane, Lana Wilson
After the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in Kansas in 2009, there are now only four doctors left in the country who provide third-trimester abortions for women. After Tiller moves between the rapidly unfolding stories of these doctors, all of whom were close colleagues of Dr. Tiller, and are fighting to keep this service available in the wake of his death. These four people have become the new number-one targets of the pro-life movement, yet continue to risk their lives every day to do work that many believe is murder, but which they believe is profoundly important for their patients' lives. After Tiller shows them confronting harassment from protesters, challenges in their personal lives, and a series of tough ethical decisions.
Citizen Koch
Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin
Wisconsin - birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, cheeseheads and Paul Ryan - becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Valentine Road
Director, Writer: Marta Cunningham
On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head during first period. When Larry died two days later, his murder shocked the nation. Was this a hate crime, one perpetrated by a budding neo-Nazi whose masculinity was threatened by an effeminate gay kid who may have had a crush on him? Or was there even more to it? Looking beyond all the copious news coverage of this tragic event, Valentine Road tells the story of two victims: the deceased and the murderer. With keen insight, the film connects the human wreckage of Larry's and Brandon's troubled lives-both physically abused, both from broken homes, and both searching for a sense of belonging. ...
- 1/22/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Title: Valentine Road Director: Marta Cunningham During the day one press conference at the Sundance Film Festival, festival director John Cooper responded to a question about Hollywood being blamed for the Newtown school massacre by citing Valentine Road as an especially timely entry, one which was selected for the festival before that tragedy occurred. The story of an eighth grader shot to death in his classroom by another student because of his effeminate nature is certainly an important film, yet its argument has a different relevance, one which speaks about the danger of violent influences but also takes a crucial look at bigotry and intolerance. Valentine Road, in many ways, [ Read More ]
The post Valentine Road Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Valentine Road Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 1/22/2013
- by abe
- ShockYa
Autodidact filmmaker Marta Cunningham has made a stunning multi-faceted film about a very high-profile and gruesome killing: the point-blank range school shooting of Larry King, a young student exploring his gender identity in a California mega-suburb, by his classmate. The film, a part of Sundance's U.S. Documentary Competition, will be released later this year on HBO. What It's About: "Valentine Road" is about how the effects of one boy's horrible action affected an entire community and justice system. And So It's Really About: In February 2008, a classroom shooting shattered the coastal, working-class town of Oxnard, California. As the community reeled and the national media descended, a 15-year-old lay dead and his 14-year-old attacker awaited trial for murder. Was this a hate crime, retaliation for unwanted playground flirting or something more complex? The sensationalized tale of a flamboyant young Latino pushing an...
- 1/22/2013
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Valentine Road
Director: Marta Cunningham
Writer: Marta Cunningham
Official Synopsis: On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head during first period. When Larry died two days later, his murder shocked the nation. Was this a hate crime, one perpetrated by a budding neo-Nazi whose masculinity was threatened by an effeminate gay kid who may have had a crush on him? Or was there even more to it?
When a transgendered 15-year-old boy named Larry is shot twice in the back of the head in front of his entire class, the murderer, Brandon McInerney, is quickly caught and put in jail. As the town of Oxnard reels from the loss, Brandon's fate hangs in the balance while massive media attention and sneaky lawyer tactics cause the trial to stretch out for years. Similar to last year's exhaustive documentary...
Director: Marta Cunningham
Writer: Marta Cunningham
Official Synopsis: On February 12, 2008, in Oxnard, California, eighth-grade student Brandon McInerney shot his classmate Larry King twice in the back of the head during first period. When Larry died two days later, his murder shocked the nation. Was this a hate crime, one perpetrated by a budding neo-Nazi whose masculinity was threatened by an effeminate gay kid who may have had a crush on him? Or was there even more to it?
When a transgendered 15-year-old boy named Larry is shot twice in the back of the head in front of his entire class, the murderer, Brandon McInerney, is quickly caught and put in jail. As the town of Oxnard reels from the loss, Brandon's fate hangs in the balance while massive media attention and sneaky lawyer tactics cause the trial to stretch out for years. Similar to last year's exhaustive documentary...
- 1/21/2013
- by Ben Pearson
- GeekTyrant
*Note Updates in next blog: Sundance By Numbers Update
Originally this report used a horserace as its metaphor. It was designed to see who was ahead of the others and who was lagging behind. U.S. talent agencies were increasingly acting as producer reps and thus inserting themselves into the sales of U.S. rights, an activity formerly the exclusive domain of international sales agents who would map their entire international strategy for sales, using the U.S. sale as a marketing tool for other sales. Now the race between producer reps and international sales agents for representing films, primarily at Sundance and Toronto is tracked in the By Numbers Report.
The report tracks which agents and which international sales agents are selling the most films, which titles are selling best, which distributors are buying the most, and any other noteworthy “races”, e.g., how many films are by women, Asians, African-diasporites, or are about such subjects as Jewish, Glbt, politics, whatever.
This year’s Cannes saw the number of women directors fall so drastically (from a steady 10 – 13% in festivals during the last few years), that an outcry was heard from professionals in the industry. Sundance significantly ups this figure. This year out of 16 fiction features in competition, 8 are by women. Of Sundance’s 113 features, 37 are by women which means 33%. We hope this is a trend and not an anomoly. Only time will tell. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 5% of the 250 highest-grossing films last year were directed by women.
Over time, the reports spot trends in the business of buying and selling, especially during festivals like Toronto and Sundance.
With time, we may find the number of Asian, Asian-American, African diaspora, Middle-Eastern and female directed films impact the marketplace itself. For that reason, these reports will continue to be offered to film professionals. The criterion are not set in stone but depend upon the moment.
Sundance By Numbers
If there were a Sundance Institute Performance Metric, a measure of its activities and performance, inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization, would show a high value of performance against customer requirements and value. Its performance metrics would prove it to be very healthy and consistent with the six criteria: time, cost, resources, scope, quality, and actions.
Bravo Sundance! On all fronts it is carrying through its original purpose and vision.
Out of 12,146 features and shorts (429 more than in 2012) submitted this yearincluding 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 113 features were chosen. 98 of these are world premieres. 33% of these are directed by women.
This year half of the 16 narrative fiction features in competition are directed by women. In the 2012 festival, only 3 of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. Overall, 33% (37 out of 113) of the Sundance titles are directed by women.
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, represented films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
Other numbers
Films by women are markedwith the♀, African American withthe symbol α (9). Latino is marked by the symbol ɤ (7). Jewish by ✡ (13), Asian by ¥ (10), Middle Eastern ᵯ (4), Lgbt (13)
Us in Progress, the two year old, innovative look at films in post held by American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and by Champs Elysees Film Festival already has a track record with 3 of its films at Sundance. A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀ which was picked up subsequently by Visit and is being repped for U.S. by ICM, I Used to be Darker and Milkshake.
San Francisco Film Society's claims 5 of their films funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs will have their world premieres: Ryan Coogler's (α) Fruitvale will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Joe Brewster (α) and Michèle Stephenson's (♀, α) American Promise, Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer, Jacob Kornbluth's (✡) Inequality for All and Shaul Schwarz's (✡) Narco Cultura will screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
11 Ifp program-supported projects at Sundance include Audrey Ewell♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read and Nina Krstic's ♀ 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film; Martha Shane ♀ and Lana Wilson's ♀After Tiller;Zachery Heinzerling's (✡)Cutie and the Boxer, Dawn Porter's ♀ Gideon's Army; and Roger Ross Williams' (α, Lgbt) God Loves Ugandain the U.S. Documentary Competition. Narrative films include David Lowery's Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Stacie Passon's (♀,Lgbt)Concussion in the U.S .Dramatic Competition; Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice,Shaka King's (α) Newlyweeds,and Chad Hartigan's This is Martin Bonner in Next; and Rama Burshtein's (♀,✡) Fill the Void in Spotlight. Blue Caprice and Concussion are alums of Ifp’s 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs; Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, and This is Martin Bonner are fiscally sponsored by Ifp; and all of the other films (and Cutie) were selections of Independent Film Week’s Project Forum in 2011-2012.
Number Of Producer Reps Repping U.S. Rights
What shows up most on this scorecard is the prevalence of the talent agencies and other “producers’ representatives”. In those “good old days” of Sundance before “Sex, Lies and Videotape” alerted Hollywood that there was some capital to be made in Park City, Sundance gave a home to the original visions of a few independent minded filmmakers, and there were no terms to describe “producer reps”. International sales agents (when these films had any such representation, which was also rare) did their work without deferring to dealmakers in Hollywood. And, as I said, these films usually did not have international representation. That is why the newly emerging acquisitions executives went to Sundance looking for films that they would not find in the existing markets (Cannes, Mifed or Afm).
Anyway, here we are today and here are the numbers:
There are about 12 Producers Reps. The newest fold in the relatively new “mini industry” of representing producers to the U.S. distribution community is that now, instead of one producer rep per film, often two competitive agencies might rep the U.S. rights as you can see in top scorers CAA, Wme or UTA’s lineups.
Producer reps do their best work in Sundance and in Toronto. They usually represent the producer to help make a lucrative U.S. deal. After the heat is gone in Sundance and Toronto, the producer reps usually fade away from the deal making, leaving the unpicked-up films in a limbo until some distributor finally makes a deal with the producer or the international sales agent directly.
In terms of capitol, while there is no official count, it is said that last year $30 million in deals were done at Sundance. If this is true, is it made primarily by the producer reps? What percentage do they get from the deal? Does this mean filmmakers have to have CAA rep them to break out of the gate? (The answer is no). Agents taking on the job of being producer reps are doing so because they have helped with packaging and/ or financing the films they are repping. Sometimes talent takes lower salaries when they work in indies and the agents must get as much back as possible.
It is not necessary to have an agent, there are other types of producer reps, including attorneys who act as attorneys but sometimes seem to be producers reps like Cinetic’s John Sloss, or Linda Licther, or Donaldson Callif who has 11 films in Sundance and 2 in Slamdance this year. There are also independent producer reps who are hungrier than the major agencies who must quickly earn their 10% (or not) and move on. These producer reps tend to work year round with the films they represent. Submarine, Preferred Content and Ronna Wallace’s Eastgate are the most important ones today.
Producer Reps “By Numbers”
12 Films
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which repped a total of 14 films in 2012 is still calling a lot of shots this Sundance.
1 jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern (✡), Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. (Synopses are written by Sundance staff.) Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. Closing Night Film -- Open Road Filmshas U.S. Entertainment One (in collaboration with Remstar) has Canada except theatrical, VOD and French-language TV rights in Quebec which Remstarholds exclusively. Isa: If Entertainment
2 Anita /α/ U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock ♀¥) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.
3 Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong ¥) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.
4 Hell Baby / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon) — An expectant couple moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans – a house with a demonic curse. Things spiral out of control and soon only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team can save the pair – or can it? Cast: Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel.
5 The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr. α, Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.Isa: Aldamisa
6 The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia ♀ɤ) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert. Isa: Joker Films
7 Narco Cultura / ɤ/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz (✡) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.Isa: K5
8 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Voltage Pictures has sold to Future Films for Finland, Remstar Films for Canada, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for Germany and Switzerland, Midget Entertainmentfor Denmark, Noori Picturesfor So. Korea.
9 The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia Labeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Isa: Voltage Pictures sold to Ascot Elite for Switzerland and Germany, Midget for Denmark, Vvs Films for Canada.
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Sierra/ Affinity
11 Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner (♀,✡)) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.
12 Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine ♀, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.Isa: Gaumont sold to Remstar for Canada, Hopscotch Features for Australia/ N.Z., Gaumont for France.
United Talent Agency (UTA)
1 Austenland / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess ♀, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined. Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
2 In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell (♀,✡)) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
3 Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ Lgbt ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
4 Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.
5 Ass Backwards / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Nelson, Screenwriters: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson) — Loveable losers Kate and Chloe take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children, only to discover what really counts: friendship. Cast: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty. Isa: Premiere Entertainment Group
6 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
7 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez (ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with Preferred Content
8 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀, Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with Submarine
9 The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. Isa: The Exchange
10 Magic Magic / ɤ/ U.S.A., Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ, Lgbt) — An American girl vacationing in remote Chile mentally unravels, putting herself and those around her in danger. Cast: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Augustín Silva. World Premiere Isa: The Exchange/6 Sales
11 Kill Your Darlings / U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales Isa: Inferno Entertainment
12 The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom Lgbt, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. - UTAis No.American consultant to StudioCanal
Submarine along with Preferred Content is one of the truly independent producers reps.
1 Blackfish / U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite ♀) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
2 Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin ♀) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
3 Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ✡) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband’s assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
4 Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
5 God Loves Uganda / α / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams (α, Lgbt)) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada (Excluding U.S TV Rights)
6 Twenty Feet From Stardom / α / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we’ve had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada/ U.K/ Australia/ N.Zealand
7 The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
8 Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere.
9 Charlie Victor Romeo / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Berger, Karlyn Michelson ♀, Screenwriters: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory) — An award-winning theatrical documentary derived entirely from ‘Black Box’ transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies brought to the screen with cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D technology. Cast: Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, Noel Dinneen, Sam Zuckerman, Debbie Troche, Nora Woolley.
10 Running From Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple ♀, ✡) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.
11 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀ Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with UTA
12 Muscle Shoals / α /U.S.A. (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded Fame Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. Shares rights with Wme
10 Films
William Morris Endeavor (Wme)
1 Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth (✡)) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
2 Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler α) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
3 A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman ✡, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.
4 S-vhs / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez ɤ , Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto ¥, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies) — Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance. Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes.
5 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales
6 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Gersh
7 We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.Isa: Memento Films
8 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Preferred Content
9 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Voltage Pictures
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Sierra/Affinity
9 Films
Cinetic Led by John Sloss, premier N.Y. independent attorney who has represented films internationally, acted as an aggregator of digital rights and acts as a producers rep for North America:
1 After Tiller / U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane ♀, Lana Wilson ♀) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm. -- Isa: ro*co
2 Before Midnight/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. -- Isa: Im Global
3 Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
4 Escape from Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
5 Milkshake / α / U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
6 Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green ✡) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.
7 Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
8 The Square (El Midan) / ᵯ/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim ♀ ᵯ) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
9 Toy's House / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
6 Films
Preferred Contentis another truly independent producer’s rep started by Kevin Iwashina when he left CAA in L.A.
1 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with UTA
2 Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini ♀, Lgbt) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
3 Pit Stop / U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan ¥ Lgbt, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn’t quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
4 Kink (documentary) / U.S.A. (Director: Christina Voros ♀) — A story of sex, submission and big business is told through the eyes of the unlikely pornographers whose 9:00-to-5:00 work days are spent within the confines of the San Francisco Armory building, home to the sprawling porn production facilities of Kink.com.
5 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Wme
6 Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.Isa: Atlas International
5 Films
The Film Sales Company- Andrew Herwitz is another independent Producer’s Rep, based in N.Y. repping worldwide rights to films.
1 The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker ♀) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. Salt Lake City Gala Film
2 Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.
3 Computer Chess / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
4 Interior. Leather Bar. (Lgbt)/ U.S.A. (Directors: Travis Mathews Lgbt, James Franco, Screenwriter: Travis Mathews) — To avoid an X rating, it was rumored that 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was cut from the controversial 1980 film, Cruising. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what was in the lost footage. Cast: Val Lauren, James Franco, Travis Mathews, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory.
5 The Moo Man / United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier ♀) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Paradigm
1 Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu α, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.Isa: K5
2 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell ♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic ♀) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
3 Concussion Lgbt/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon ♀,Lgbt) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can’t do it anymore. Her life just can’t be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor. Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
4 I Used To Be Darker / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
5 Virtually Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Gj Echternkamp, Screenwriter: Matt Yamashita) — Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence. To find answers, one abandons his partner and mission, seeking to unravel the cheat codes of life. Cast: Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill, Ben Messmer.
3 Films
ICM Partners
1 Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World PremiereIsa: Independent Film Company-- Haut et Court has France
2 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with Traction Media
3 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.Isa: Visit Films
2 Films
Elevated Film Sales- Cassian Elwes
1 Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with UTAIsa: Inferno Entertainment
2 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Wme
Traction Media is an attorney led producers rep based in L.A. repping worldwide rights
1 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with ICM
2 Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
1 Film
Gersh
1 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Wme
Circus Road Films
1 Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King α) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
1 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with UTA
The Film Collaborative
1 A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam ♀ ¥) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World PremiereIsa: Cat & Docs
Azoff Music
1 History of the Eagles Part One / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood ♀) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Showtime picked up for cable.
Bunim-Murray
1 Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham ♀ α) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
Wavelength Pictures
1 The Stuart Hall Project / United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah α) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
Mosaic
1 Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. -- Shane Carruth will self-distribute via his Erbp banner.
Rada Film Group
1 American Promise / α /U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster α, Michèle Stephenson ♀ α) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.Isa: ro*co
International Sales Agents Selling U.S. (And Other Territories)
4 Films
Visit Films
1 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck. Domestic: ICM
2 Il Future (The Future) ɤ/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson ♀ ɤ) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
3 It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman ♀) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
4 Halley ɤ/ Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann ɤ, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores.
3 Films
Goldcrest Films International
1 Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
2...
Originally this report used a horserace as its metaphor. It was designed to see who was ahead of the others and who was lagging behind. U.S. talent agencies were increasingly acting as producer reps and thus inserting themselves into the sales of U.S. rights, an activity formerly the exclusive domain of international sales agents who would map their entire international strategy for sales, using the U.S. sale as a marketing tool for other sales. Now the race between producer reps and international sales agents for representing films, primarily at Sundance and Toronto is tracked in the By Numbers Report.
The report tracks which agents and which international sales agents are selling the most films, which titles are selling best, which distributors are buying the most, and any other noteworthy “races”, e.g., how many films are by women, Asians, African-diasporites, or are about such subjects as Jewish, Glbt, politics, whatever.
This year’s Cannes saw the number of women directors fall so drastically (from a steady 10 – 13% in festivals during the last few years), that an outcry was heard from professionals in the industry. Sundance significantly ups this figure. This year out of 16 fiction features in competition, 8 are by women. Of Sundance’s 113 features, 37 are by women which means 33%. We hope this is a trend and not an anomoly. Only time will tell. According to San Diego State University’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film, only 5% of the 250 highest-grossing films last year were directed by women.
Over time, the reports spot trends in the business of buying and selling, especially during festivals like Toronto and Sundance.
With time, we may find the number of Asian, Asian-American, African diaspora, Middle-Eastern and female directed films impact the marketplace itself. For that reason, these reports will continue to be offered to film professionals. The criterion are not set in stone but depend upon the moment.
Sundance By Numbers
If there were a Sundance Institute Performance Metric, a measure of its activities and performance, inwardly focusing on the performance of the organization, would show a high value of performance against customer requirements and value. Its performance metrics would prove it to be very healthy and consistent with the six criteria: time, cost, resources, scope, quality, and actions.
Bravo Sundance! On all fronts it is carrying through its original purpose and vision.
Out of 12,146 features and shorts (429 more than in 2012) submitted this yearincluding 4,044 feature-length films and 8,102 short films. Of the feature film submissions, 2,070 were from the U.S. and 1,974 were international. 113 features were chosen. 98 of these are world premieres. 33% of these are directed by women.
This year half of the 16 narrative fiction features in competition are directed by women. In the 2012 festival, only 3 of the 16 dramatic competition films were made by women. Overall, 33% (37 out of 113) of the Sundance titles are directed by women.
For the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 113 feature-length films were selected, represented films were selected from 12,146 submissions (429 more than for 2012), 98 feature films at the Festival will be world premieres.
Other numbers
Films by women are markedwith the♀, African American withthe symbol α (9). Latino is marked by the symbol ɤ (7). Jewish by ✡ (13), Asian by ¥ (10), Middle Eastern ᵯ (4), Lgbt (13)
Us in Progress, the two year old, innovative look at films in post held by American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and by Champs Elysees Film Festival already has a track record with 3 of its films at Sundance. A Teacher by Hannah Fidell ♀ which was picked up subsequently by Visit and is being repped for U.S. by ICM, I Used to be Darker and Milkshake.
San Francisco Film Society's claims 5 of their films funded by San Francisco Film Society grants and incubated with the support of various Filmmaker360 programs will have their world premieres: Ryan Coogler's (α) Fruitvale will screen in the U.S. Dramatic Competition, and Joe Brewster (α) and Michèle Stephenson's (♀, α) American Promise, Zachary Heinzerling's Cutie and the Boxer, Jacob Kornbluth's (✡) Inequality for All and Shaul Schwarz's (✡) Narco Cultura will screen in the U.S. Documentary Competition.
11 Ifp program-supported projects at Sundance include Audrey Ewell♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read and Nina Krstic's ♀ 99%: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film; Martha Shane ♀ and Lana Wilson's ♀After Tiller;Zachery Heinzerling's (✡)Cutie and the Boxer, Dawn Porter's ♀ Gideon's Army; and Roger Ross Williams' (α, Lgbt) God Loves Ugandain the U.S. Documentary Competition. Narrative films include David Lowery's Ain’t Them Bodies Saints and Stacie Passon's (♀,Lgbt)Concussion in the U.S .Dramatic Competition; Alexandre Moors' Blue Caprice,Shaka King's (α) Newlyweeds,and Chad Hartigan's This is Martin Bonner in Next; and Rama Burshtein's (♀,✡) Fill the Void in Spotlight. Blue Caprice and Concussion are alums of Ifp’s 2012 Independent Filmmaker Labs; Cutie and the Boxer, God Loves Uganda, and This is Martin Bonner are fiscally sponsored by Ifp; and all of the other films (and Cutie) were selections of Independent Film Week’s Project Forum in 2011-2012.
Number Of Producer Reps Repping U.S. Rights
What shows up most on this scorecard is the prevalence of the talent agencies and other “producers’ representatives”. In those “good old days” of Sundance before “Sex, Lies and Videotape” alerted Hollywood that there was some capital to be made in Park City, Sundance gave a home to the original visions of a few independent minded filmmakers, and there were no terms to describe “producer reps”. International sales agents (when these films had any such representation, which was also rare) did their work without deferring to dealmakers in Hollywood. And, as I said, these films usually did not have international representation. That is why the newly emerging acquisitions executives went to Sundance looking for films that they would not find in the existing markets (Cannes, Mifed or Afm).
Anyway, here we are today and here are the numbers:
There are about 12 Producers Reps. The newest fold in the relatively new “mini industry” of representing producers to the U.S. distribution community is that now, instead of one producer rep per film, often two competitive agencies might rep the U.S. rights as you can see in top scorers CAA, Wme or UTA’s lineups.
Producer reps do their best work in Sundance and in Toronto. They usually represent the producer to help make a lucrative U.S. deal. After the heat is gone in Sundance and Toronto, the producer reps usually fade away from the deal making, leaving the unpicked-up films in a limbo until some distributor finally makes a deal with the producer or the international sales agent directly.
In terms of capitol, while there is no official count, it is said that last year $30 million in deals were done at Sundance. If this is true, is it made primarily by the producer reps? What percentage do they get from the deal? Does this mean filmmakers have to have CAA rep them to break out of the gate? (The answer is no). Agents taking on the job of being producer reps are doing so because they have helped with packaging and/ or financing the films they are repping. Sometimes talent takes lower salaries when they work in indies and the agents must get as much back as possible.
It is not necessary to have an agent, there are other types of producer reps, including attorneys who act as attorneys but sometimes seem to be producers reps like Cinetic’s John Sloss, or Linda Licther, or Donaldson Callif who has 11 films in Sundance and 2 in Slamdance this year. There are also independent producer reps who are hungrier than the major agencies who must quickly earn their 10% (or not) and move on. These producer reps tend to work year round with the films they represent. Submarine, Preferred Content and Ronna Wallace’s Eastgate are the most important ones today.
Producer Reps “By Numbers”
12 Films
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) which repped a total of 14 films in 2012 is still calling a lot of shots this Sundance.
1 jOBS / U.S.A. (Director: Joshua Michael Stern (✡), Screenwriter: Matt Whiteley) — The true story of one of the greatest entrepreneurs in American history, jOBS chronicles the defining 30 years of Steve Jobs’ life. jOBS is a candid, inspiring and personal portrait of the one who saw things differently. (Synopses are written by Sundance staff.) Cast: Ashton Kutcher, Dermot Mulroney, Josh Gad, Lukas Haas, J.K. Simmons, Matthew Modine. Closing Night Film -- Open Road Filmshas U.S. Entertainment One (in collaboration with Remstar) has Canada except theatrical, VOD and French-language TV rights in Quebec which Remstarholds exclusively. Isa: If Entertainment
2 Anita /α/ U.S.A. (Director: Freida Mock ♀¥) — Anita Hill, an African-American woman, charges Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas with sexual harassment in explosive Senate hearings in 1991 – bringing sexual politics into the national consciousness and fueling 20 years of international debate on the issues.
3 Linsanity / U.S.A. (Director: Evan Leong ¥) — Jeremy Lin came from a humble background to make an unbelievable run in the NBA. State high school champion, all-Ivy League at Harvard, undrafted by the NBA and unwanted there: his story started long before he landed on Broadway.
4 Hell Baby / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Robert Ben Garant, Thomas Lennon) — An expectant couple moves into the most haunted fixer-upper in New Orleans – a house with a demonic curse. Things spiral out of control and soon only the Vatican’s elite exorcism team can save the pair – or can it? Cast: Rob Corddry, Leslie Bibb, Keegan Michael Key, Riki Lindhome, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel.
5 The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete / U.S.A. (Director: George Tillman Jr. α, Screenwriter: Michael Starrbury) — Separated from their mothers and facing a summer in the Brooklyn projects alone, two boys hide from police and forage for food, with only each other to trust. A story of salvation through friendship and two boys against the world. Cast: Skylan Brooks, Ethan Dizon, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks, Anthony Mackie, Jeffrey Wright.Isa: Aldamisa
6 The Lifeguard / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Liz W. Garcia ♀ɤ) — A former valedictorian quits her reporter job in New York and returns to the place she last felt happy: her childhood home in Connecticut. She gets work as a lifeguard and starts a dangerous relationship with a troubled teenager. Cast: Kristen Bell, Mamie Gummer, Martin Starr, Alex Shaffer, Amy Madigan, David Lambert. Isa: Joker Films
7 Narco Cultura / ɤ/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz (✡) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.Isa: K5
8 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Voltage Pictures has sold to Future Films for Finland, Remstar Films for Canada, Ascot Elite Entertainment Group for Germany and Switzerland, Midget Entertainmentfor Denmark, Noori Picturesfor So. Korea.
9 The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman / U.S.A. (Director: Fredrik Bond, Screenwriter: Matt Drake) — Traveling abroad, Charlie Countryman falls for Gabi, a Romanian beauty whose unreachable heart has its origins in Nigel, her violent, charismatic ex. As the darkness of Gabi’s past increasingly envelops him, Charlie resolves to win her heart, or die trying. Cast: Shia Labeouf, Evan Rachel Wood, Mads Mikkelsen, Rupert Grint, James Buckley, Til Schweiger. Isa: Voltage Pictures sold to Ascot Elite for Switzerland and Germany, Midget for Denmark, Vvs Films for Canada.
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with Wme Isa: Sierra/ Affinity
11 Very Good Girls / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Naomi Foner (♀,✡)) — In the long, half-naked days of a New York summer, two girls on the brink of becoming women fall for the same guy and find that life isn’t as simple or safe as they had thought. Cast: Dakota Fanning, Elizabeth Olsen, Boyd Holbrook, Demi Moore, Richard Dreyfuss, Ellen Barkin.
12 Two Mothers / Australia, France (Director: Anne Fontaine ♀, Screenwriter: Christopher Hampton) — This gripping tale of love, lust and the power of friendship charts the unconventional and passionate affairs of two lifelong friends who fall in love with each other’s sons. Cast: Naomi Watts, Robin Wright, Xavier Samuel, James Frechevile.Isa: Gaumont sold to Remstar for Canada, Hopscotch Features for Australia/ N.Z., Gaumont for France.
United Talent Agency (UTA)
1 Austenland / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Jerusha Hess ♀, Screenwriters: Jerusha Hess, Shannon Hale) — Thirtysomething, single Jane is obsessed with Mr. Darcy, as played by Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. On a trip to an English resort, her fantasies of meeting the perfect Regency-era gentleman become more real than she ever imagined. Cast: Keri Russell, Jj Feild, Bret McKenzie, Jennifer Coolidge, Georgia King, James Callis.
2 In a World... / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lake Bell (♀,✡)) — An underachieving vocal coach is motivated by her father, the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voiceover star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. Cast: Lake Bell, Demetri Martin, Rob Corddry, Michaela Watkins, Ken Marino, Fred Melamed.
3 Crystal Fairy / Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ Lgbt ) — Jamie invites a stranger to join a road trip to Chile. The woman’s free and esoteric nature clashes with Jamie’s acidic, self-absorbed personality as they head into the desert for a Mescaline-fueled psychedelic trip. Cast: Michael Cera, Gabby Hoffmann, Juan Andrés Silva, José Miguel Silva, Agustín Silva. World Premiere. Day One Film
4 Breathe In / U.S.A. (Director: Drake Doremus, Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones) — When a foreign exchange student arrives in a small upstate New York town, she challenges the dynamics of her host family’s relationships and alters their lives forever. Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis.
5 Ass Backwards / U.S.A. (Director: Chris Nelson, Screenwriters: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson) — Loveable losers Kate and Chloe take a road trip back to their hometown to claim the beauty pageant crown that eluded them as children, only to discover what really counts: friendship. Cast: June Diane Raphael, Casey Wilson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Alicia Silverstone, Jon Cryer, Brian Geraghty. Isa: Premiere Entertainment Group
6 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
7 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez (ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with Preferred Content
8 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀, Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with Submarine
9 The Spectacular Now / U.S.A. (Director: James Ponsoldt, Screenwriters: Scott Neustadter, Michael H. Weber) — Sutter is a high school senior who lives for the moment; Aimee is the introvert he attempts to “save.” As their relationship deepens, the lines between right and wrong, friendship and love, and “saving” and corrupting become inextricably blurred. Cast: Miles Teller, Shailene Woodley, Brie Larson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kyle Chandler. Isa: The Exchange
10 Magic Magic / ɤ/ U.S.A., Chile (Director and screenwriter: Sebastián Silva ɤ, Lgbt) — An American girl vacationing in remote Chile mentally unravels, putting herself and those around her in danger. Cast: Michael Cera, Juno Temple, Emily Browning, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Augustín Silva. World Premiere Isa: The Exchange/6 Sales
11 Kill Your Darlings / U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales Isa: Inferno Entertainment
12 The Look of Love / United Kingdom (Director: Michael Winterbottom Lgbt, Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh) — The true story of British adult magazine publisher and entrepreneur Paul Raymond. A modern day King Midas story, Raymond became one of the richest men in Britain at the cost of losing those closest to him. Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton. - UTAis No.American consultant to StudioCanal
Submarine along with Preferred Content is one of the truly independent producers reps.
1 Blackfish / U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite ♀) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
2 Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin ♀) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
3 Cutie and the Boxer / U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling ✡) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role as her overbearing husband’s assistant, Noriko finds an identity of her own.
4 Dirty Wars / U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
5 God Loves Uganda / α / U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams (α, Lgbt)) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada (Excluding U.S TV Rights)
6 Twenty Feet From Stardom / α / U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we’ve had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. -- Submarine handling U.S/ Canada/ U.K/ Australia/ N.Zealand
7 The Summit / Ireland, United Kingdom (Director: Nick Ryan) — Twenty-four climbers converged at the last stop before summiting the most dangerous mountain on Earth. Forty-eight hours later, 11 had been killed or simply vanished. Had one, Ger McDonnell, stuck to the climbers’ code, he might still be alive. International Premiere
8 Who is Dayani Cristal? / United Kingdom (Director: Marc Silver) — An anonymous body in the Arizona desert sparks the beginning of a real-life human drama. The search for its identity leads us across a continent to seek out the people left behind and the meaning of a mysterious tattoo. World Premiere.
9 Charlie Victor Romeo / U.S.A. (Directors: Robert Berger, Karlyn Michelson ♀, Screenwriters: Robert Berger, Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory) — An award-winning theatrical documentary derived entirely from ‘Black Box’ transcripts of six real-life major airline emergencies brought to the screen with cutting-edge stereoscopic 3D technology. Cast: Patrick Daniels, Irving Gregory, Noel Dinneen, Sam Zuckerman, Debbie Troche, Nora Woolley.
10 Running From Crazy / U.S.A. (Director: Barbara Kopple ♀, ✡) — Mariel Hemingway, granddaughter of Ernest Hemingway, strives for a greater understanding of her family history of suicide and mental illness. As tragedies are explored and deeply hidden secrets are revealed, Mariel searches for a way to overcome a similar fate.
11 Touchy Feely / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Lynn Shelton ♀ Lgbt) — A massage therapist is unable to do her job when stricken with a mysterious and sudden aversion to bodily contact. Meanwhile, her uptight brother’s foundering dental practice receives new life when clients seek out his “healing touch.” Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Josh Pais. Shares rights with UTA
12 Muscle Shoals / α /U.S.A. (Director: Greg 'Freddy' Camalier) — Down in Alabama Rick Hall founded Fame Studios and gave birth to the Muscle Shoals sound. Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Gregg Allman, Aretha Franklin, Etta James, Alicia Keys, Bono and others bear witness to the greatest untold American music story. Shares rights with Wme
10 Films
William Morris Endeavor (Wme)
1 Inequality for All / U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth (✡)) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
2 Fruitvale / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Ryan Coogler α) — The true story of Oscar, a 22-year-old Bay Area resident who crosses paths with friends, enemies, family and strangers on the last day of 2008. Cast: Michael B. Jordan, Octavia Spencer, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Kevin Durand, Chad Michael Murray.
3 A.C.O.D. / U.S.A. (Director: Stuart Zicherman ✡, Screenwriters: Ben Karlin, Stuart Zicherman) — Carter is a well-adjusted Adult Child of Divorce. So he thinks. When he discovers he was part of a divorce study as a child, it wreaks havoc on his family and forces him to face his chaotic past. Cast: Adam Scott, Richard Jenkins, Catherine O’Hara, Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Clark Duke.
4 S-vhs / U.S.A., Canada (Directors: Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Edúardo Sanchez ɤ , Gregg Hale, Timo Tjahjanto ¥, Gareth Huw Evans, Jason Eisener, Screenwriters: Simon Barrett, Jamie Nash, Timo Tjahjanto & Gareth Huw Evans, John Davies) — Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his abandoned house and find another collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying motives behind the student’s disappearance. Cast: Adam Wingard, Lawrence Levine, L.C Holt, Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Hughes.
5 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Elevated Film Sales
6 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Gersh
7 We Are What We Are / U.S.A. (Director: Jim Mickle, Screenwriters: Nick Damici, Jim Mickle) — A devastating storm washes up clues that lead authorities closer and closer to the cannibalistic Parker family. Cast: Bill Sage, Ambyr Childers, Julia Garner, Michael Parks, Wyatt Russell, Kelly McGillis.Isa: Memento Films
8 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Preferred Content
9 Don Jon’s Addiction / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Joseph Gordon-Levitt) — In Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s charming directorial debut, a selfish modern-day Don Juan attempts to change his ways. Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Glenne Headly, Rob Brown. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Voltage Pictures
10 The Way, Way Back / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Nat Faxon, Jim Rash) — Duncan, an introverted 14-year-old, comes into his own over the course of a comedic summer when he forms unlikely friendships with the gregarious manager of a rundown water park and the misfits who work there. Cast: Steve Carell, Toni Collette, Allison Janney, Sam Rockwell, Maya Rudolph, Liam James. Shares rights with CAA Isa: Sierra/Affinity
9 Films
Cinetic Led by John Sloss, premier N.Y. independent attorney who has represented films internationally, acted as an aggregator of digital rights and acts as a producers rep for North America:
1 After Tiller / U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane ♀, Lana Wilson ♀) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm. -- Isa: ro*co
2 Before Midnight/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Linklater, Screenwriters: Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke, Richard Linklater— We meet Jesse and Celine nine years on in Greece. Almost two decades have passed since their first meeting on that train bound for Vienna. Before the clock strikes midnight, we will again become part of their story. Cast: Ethan Hawke, Julie Delpy, Xenia Kalogeropoulou, Ariane Labed, Athina Rachel Tsangari, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. -- Isa: Im Global
3 Blue Caprice / U.S.A. (Director: Alexandre Moors, Screenwriters: R.F.I Porto, Alexandre Moors) — An abandoned boy is lured to America and drawn into the shadow of a dangerous father figure in this film inspired by the real life events that led to the 2002 Beltway sniper attacks. Cast: Isaiah Washington, Tequan Richmond, Joey Lauren Adams, Tim Blake Nelson, Cassandra Freeman, Leo Fitzpatrick.
4 Escape from Tomorrow / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Randy Moore) — A postmodern, surreal voyage into the bowels of "family" entertainment; an epic battle begins when an unemployed, middle-aged father loses his sanity during a close encounter with two teenage girls on holiday. Cast: Roy Abramsohn, Elena Schuber, Katelynn Rodriguez, Annet Mahendru, Danielle Safady, Alison Lees-Taylor.
5 Milkshake / α / U.S.A. (Director: David Andalman, Screenwriters: David Andalman, Mariko Munro) — In mid-1990's America, we follow the tragic sex life of Jolie Jolson, a wannabe thug (and great-great-grandson of legendary vaudevillian Al Jolson) in suburban DC as he strives to become something he can never be – black. Cast: Tyler Ross, Shareeka Epps, Georgia Ford, Eshan Bay, Leo Fitzpatrick, Danny Burstein.
6 Prince Avalanche / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Gordon Green ✡) — Two highway road workers spend the summer of 1988 away from their city lives. The isolated landscape becomes a place of misadventure as the men find themselves at odds with each other and the women they left behind. Cast: Paul Rudd, Emile Hirsch.
7 Pussy Riot – A Punk Prayer / Russian Federation, United Kingdom (Directors: Mike Lerner, Maxim Pozdorovkin) — Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial: the three young artists or the society they live in? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
8 The Square (El Midan) / ᵯ/ Egypt, U.S.A. (Director: Jehane Noujaim ♀ ᵯ) — What does it mean to risk your life for your ideals? How far will five revolutionaries go in defending their beliefs in the fight for their nation? World Premiere -- Isa: Goldcrest Films
9 Toy's House / U.S.A. (Director: Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Screenwriter: Chris Galletta) — Three unhappy teenage boys flee to the wilderness where they build a makeshift house and live off the land as masters of their own destiny. Or at least that’s the plan. Cast: Nick Robinson, Gabriel Basso, Moises Arias, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally, Alison Brie.
6 Films
Preferred Contentis another truly independent producer’s rep started by Kevin Iwashina when he left CAA in L.A.
1 C.O.G. / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Kyle Patrick Alvarez ɤ, Lgbt) — In the first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work, a cocky young man travels to Oregon to work on an apple farm. Out of his element, he finds his lifestyle and notions being picked apart by everyone who crosses his path. Cast: Jonathan Groff, Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, Troian Bellisario. Shares rights with UTA
2 Emanuel and the Truth About Fishes / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Francesca Gregorini ♀, Lgbt) — Emanuel, a troubled girl, becomes preoccupied with her mysterious, new neighbor, who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to babysit her newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper. Cast: Kaya Scodelario, Jessica Biel, Alfred Molina, Frances O’Connor, Jimmi Simpson, Aneurin Barnard.
3 Pit Stop / U.S.A. (Director: Yen Tan ¥ Lgbt, Screenwriters: Yen Tan, David Lowery) — Two working-class gay men in a small Texas town and a love that isn’t quite out of reach. Cast: Bill Heck, Marcus DeAnda, Amy Seimetz, John Merriman, Alfredo Maduro, Corby Sullivan.
4 Kink (documentary) / U.S.A. (Director: Christina Voros ♀) — A story of sex, submission and big business is told through the eyes of the unlikely pornographers whose 9:00-to-5:00 work days are spent within the confines of the San Francisco Armory building, home to the sprawling porn production facilities of Kink.com.
5 Blood Brother / U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find. Shares rights with Wme
6 Sweetwater / U.S.A. (Directors: Logan Miller, Noah Miller, Screenwriter: Andrew McKenzie) — In the late 1800s, a fanatical religious leader, a renegade Sheriff, and a former prostitute collide in a blood triangle on the rugged plains of the New Mexico Territory. Cast: Ed Harris, January Jones, Jason Isaacs, Eduardo Noriega, Steven Rude, Amy Madigan.Isa: Atlas International
5 Films
The Film Sales Company- Andrew Herwitz is another independent Producer’s Rep, based in N.Y. repping worldwide rights to films.
1 The Crash Reel / U.S.A. (Director: Lucy Walker ♀) — The jaw-dropping story of one unforgettable athlete, Kevin Pearce; one eye-popping sport, snow boarding; and one explosive issue, traumatic brain injury. An epic rivalry between Kevin and Shaun White culminates in a life-changing crash and a comeback story with a difference. Salt Lake City Gala Film
2 Pandora’s Promise / U.S.A. (Director: Robert Stone) — A growing number of environmentalists are renouncing decades of antinuclear orthodoxy and have come to believe that the most feared and controversial technology known to mankind is probably our greatest hope.
3 Computer Chess / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Bujalski) — An existential comedy about the brilliant men who taught machines to play chess – back when the machines seemed clumsy and we seemed smart. Cast: Patrick Riester, Myles Paige, James Curry, Robin Schwartz, Gerald Peary, Wiley Wiggins.
4 Interior. Leather Bar. (Lgbt)/ U.S.A. (Directors: Travis Mathews Lgbt, James Franco, Screenwriter: Travis Mathews) — To avoid an X rating, it was rumored that 40 minutes of gay S&M footage was cut from the controversial 1980 film, Cruising. Filmmakers James Franco and Travis Mathews re-imagine what was in the lost footage. Cast: Val Lauren, James Franco, Travis Mathews, Christian Patrick, Brenden Gregory.
5 The Moo Man / United Kingdom (Directors: Andy Heathcote, Heike Bachelier ♀) — A year in the life of heroic farmer Steve, scene stealing Ida (queen of the herd), and a supporting cast of 55 cows. When Ida falls ill, Steve’s optimism is challenged and their whole way of life is at stake. World Premiere
Paradigm
1 Mother of George / U.S.A. (Director: Andrew Dosunmu α, Screenwriter: Darci Picoult) — A story about a woman willing to do anything and risk everything for her marriage. Cast: Isaach De Bankolé, Danai Gurira, Anthony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi.Isa: K5
2 99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film / U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell ♀, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Kristic ♀) — The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
3 Concussion Lgbt/ U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Stacie Passon ♀,Lgbt) — After a blow to the head, Abby decides she can’t do it anymore. Her life just can’t be only about the house, the kids and the wife. She needs more: she needs to be Eleanor. Cast: Robin Weigert, Maggie Siff, Johnathan Tchaikovsky, Julie Fain Lawrence, Emily Kinney, Laila Robins.
4 I Used To Be Darker / U.S.A. (Director: Matthew Porterfield, Screenwriters: Amy Belk, Matthew Porterfield) — A runaway seeks refuge with her aunt and uncle in Baltimore, only to find their marriage ending and her cousin in crisis. In the days that follow, the family struggles to let go while searching for things to sustain them. Cast: Deragh Campbell, Hannah Gross, Kim Taylor, Ned Oldham, Geoff Grace, Nick Petr.
5 Virtually Heroes / U.S.A. (Director: Gj Echternkamp, Screenwriter: Matt Yamashita) — Two self-aware characters in a Call of Duty-style video game struggle with their screwy, frustrating existence. To find answers, one abandons his partner and mission, seeking to unravel the cheat codes of life. Cast: Robert Baker, Brent Chase, Katie Savoy, Mark Hamill, Ben Messmer.
3 Films
ICM Partners
1 Metro Manila / United Kingdom, Philippines (Director: Sean Ellis, Screenwriters: Sean Ellis, Frank E. Flowers) — Seeking a better life, Oscar and his family move from the poverty-stricken rice fields to the big city of Manila, where they fall victim to various inhabitants whose manipulative ways are a daily part of city survival. Cast: Jake Macapagal, John Arcilla, Althea Vega. World PremiereIsa: Independent Film Company-- Haut et Court has France
2 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with Traction Media
3 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck.Isa: Visit Films
2 Films
Elevated Film Sales- Cassian Elwes
1 Kill Your Darlings/ U.S.A. (Director: John Krokidas Lgbt, Screenwriters: Austin Bunn, John Krokidas) — An untold story of murder that brought together a young Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac and William Burroughs at Columbia University in 1944, providing the spark that led to the birth of an entire generation – their Beat revolution. Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Dane DeHann, Ben Foster, Michael C. Hall, Jack Huston, Elizabeth Olsen. Shares rights with UTAIsa: Inferno Entertainment
2 Ain’t Them Bodies Saints / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: David Lowery) — The tale of an outlaw who escapes from prison and sets out across the Texas hills to reunite with his wife and the daughter he has never met. Cast: Rooney Mara, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, Nate Parker, Keith Carradine. Shares rights with Wme
Traction Media is an attorney led producers rep based in L.A. repping worldwide rights
1 This Is Martin Bonner / U.S.A.(Director and screenwriter: Chad Hartigan) — Martin Bonner has just moved to Reno for a new job in prison rehabilitation. Starting over at age 58, he struggles to adapt until an unlikely friendship with an ex-con blossoms, helping him confront the problems he left behind. Cast: Paul Eenhoorn, Richmond Arquette, Sam Buchanan, Robert Longstreet, Demetrius Grosse. Shares rights with ICM
2 Lasting / Poland, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Jacek Borcuch) — An emotional love story about two Polish students who fall in love with each other while working summer jobs in Spain. An unexpected nightmare interrupts their carefree time in the heavenly landscape and throws their lives into chaos. Cast: Jakub Gierszal, Magdalena Berus, Angela Molina. World Premiere
1 Film
Gersh
1 Big Sur / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Michael Polish) — Unable to cope with a suddenly demanding public and battling advanced alcoholism, Jack Kerouac seeks respite in three brief sojourns to a cabin in Big Sur, which reveal his mental and physical deterioration. Cast: Jean-Marc Barr, Kate Bosworth, Josh Lucas, Radha Mitchell, Anthony Edwards, Henry Thomas. Shares rights with Wme
Circus Road Films
1 Newlyweeds / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shaka King α) — A Brooklyn repo man and his globetrotting girlfriend forge an unlikely romance. But what should be a match made in stoner heaven turns into a love triangle gone awry in this dark coming-of-age comedy about dependency. Cast: Amari Cheatom, Trae Harris, Tone Tank, Colman Domingo, Isiah Whitlock Jr., Adrian Martinez.
Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman
1 Afternoon Delight / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Jill Soloway ♀) — In this sexy, dark comedy, a lost L.A. housewife puts her idyllic hipster life in jeopardy when she tries to rescue a stripper by taking her in as a live-in nanny. Cast: Kathryn Hahn, Juno Temple, Josh Radnor, Jane Lynch. Shares rights with UTA
The Film Collaborative
1 A River Changes Course / Cambodia, U.S.A. (Director: Kalyanee Mam ♀ ¥) — Three young Cambodians struggle to overcome the crushing effects of deforestation, overfishing, and overwhelming debt in this devastatingly beautiful story of a country reeling from the tragedies of war and rushing to keep pace with a rapidly expanding world. World PremiereIsa: Cat & Docs
Azoff Music
1 History of the Eagles Part One / U.S.A. (Director: Alison Ellwood ♀) — Using never-before-seen home movies, archival footage and new interviews with all current and former members of the Eagles, this documentary provides an intimate look into the history of the band and the legacy of their music. Showtime picked up for cable.
Bunim-Murray
1 Valentine Road / U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham ♀ α) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
Wavelength Pictures
1 The Stuart Hall Project / United Kingdom (Director: John Akomfrah α) — Antinuclear campaigner, New Left activist and founding father of Cultural Studies, this documentary interweaves 70 years of Stuart Hall’s film, radio and television appearances, and material from his private archive to document a memorable life and construct a portrait of Britain’s foremost radical intellectual. World Premiere
Mosaic
1 Upstream Color / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Shane Carruth) — A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives. Cast: Amy Seimetz, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig, Thiago Martins. -- Shane Carruth will self-distribute via his Erbp banner.
Rada Film Group
1 American Promise / α /U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster α, Michèle Stephenson ♀ α) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.Isa: ro*co
International Sales Agents Selling U.S. (And Other Territories)
4 Films
Visit Films
1 A Teacher / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Hannah Fidell ♀) — A popular young teacher in a wealthy suburban Texas high school has an affair with one of her students. Her life begins to unravel as the relationship comes to an end. Cast: Lindsay Burdge, Will Brittain, Jennifer Prediger, Jonny Mars, Julie Phillips, Chris Dubeck. Domestic: ICM
2 Il Future (The Future) ɤ/ Chile, Germany, Italy, Spain (Director and screenwriter: Alicia Scherson ♀ ɤ) — When their parents die, Bianca starts to smoke and Tomas is still a virgin. The orphans explore the dangerous streets of adulthood until Bianca finds Maciste, a retired Mr. Universe, and enters his dark mansion in search of a future. Cast: Manuela Martelli, Rutger Hauer, Luigi Ciardo, Nicolas Vaporidis, Alessandro Giallocosta. World Premiere
3 It Felt Like Love / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Eliza Hittman ♀) — On the outskirts of Brooklyn, a 14-year-old girl’s sexual quest takes a dangerous turn when she pursues an older guy and tests the boundaries between obsession and love. Cast: Gina Piersanti, Giovanna Salimeni, Ronen Rubinstein, Jesse Cordasco, Nick Rosen, Case Prime.
4 Halley ɤ/ Mexico (Director: Sebastian Hofmann ɤ, Screenwriters: Sebastian Hofmann, Julio Chavezmontes) — Alberto is dead and can no longer hide it. Before surrendering to his living death, he forms an unusual friendship with Luly, the manager of the 24-hour gym where he works as a night guard. Cast: Alberto Trujillo, Lourdes Trueba, Hugo Albores.
3 Films
Goldcrest Films International
1 Which Way is the Front Line From Here? The Life and Time of Tim Hetherington / U.S.A. (Director: Sebastian Junger) — Shortly after the release of his documentary Restrepo, photographer Tim Hetherington was killed in Libya. Colleague Sebastian Junger traces Hetherington’s work across the world’s battlefields to reveal how he transcended the boundaries of image-making to become a luminary in his profession.
2...
- 1/20/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Park City – Marta Cunningham’s stirring pro-tolerance documentary, Valentine Road, chronicles the emotional aftermath and clumsy legal process that followed the killing of 15-year-old Lawrence “Larry” King by a middle school classmate in 2008. But arguably the most shocking moment in this impassioned case study is not the crime itself. It’s a comment from one of three San Fernando Valley women who served on the trial jury. After they discuss wine bargains at Trader Joe’s and sit down to eat cake, she defends the trio’s outrageous bias by saying of the shooter: “He was solving a problem.
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- 1/19/2013
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Just over a month after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the story of another elementary school shooting will premiere in the U.S. Documentary Competition at Sundance. "Valentine Road," directed by Marta Cunningham, focuses on the fallout of 14-year-old Brandon McInerney's decision to shoot eighth grade classmate Larry King in their school's computer lab in Oxnard, California in 2008. King, who was targeted by McInerney for being openly gay, succumbed to his gunshot wound days later; McInerney remained stuck in juvenile detention for three years before his case eventually went to court. The movie compellingly shifts between the backstories of the two boys, both of whom endured challenging adolescent experiences that culminated in tragedy. King was neglected by his parents and wound up in a home for neglected children, and had just started to express himself as transgender by wearing women's clothing to school when McInerney shot him. McInerney.
- 1/3/2013
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
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