Today, Apple TV+ revealed the trailer for “The Big Cigar,” the upcoming limited series led by André Holland, who stars alongside Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, P. J. Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie and Glynn Turman. “The Big Cigar” makes its global debut on May 17 with the first two episodes, followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14.
Based on the magazine article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who also serves as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” tells the incredible true story of Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution. It’s a wild caper about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan — involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can.
NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois is the showrunner of “The Big Cigar.
Based on the magazine article of the same name by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who also serves as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” tells the incredible true story of Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution. It’s a wild caper about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan — involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can.
NAACP Image Award winner Janine Sherman Barrois is the showrunner of “The Big Cigar.
- 4/24/2024
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Apple TV+ has just unveiled the trailer for “The Big Cigar,” the six-part limited series about Black Panther party founder Huey P. Newton (André Holland). The show tells the remarkable true story of how Newton, a film producer, and a whole crew of people involved in a fake movie production helped the political activist while he tried to evade the FBI in 1974.
The trailer introduces Holland as Newton and his revolutionary accomplishments, along Alessandro Nivola as producer Bert Schneider. The cast includes Tiffany Boone, Pj Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie, and Glynn Turman (guest stars include Taylor Jackson as Candice Bergen and Inny Clemons as Richard Pryor). With upbeat ’70s music and the peppy fonts to go with it, the vibe is more upbeat than one would expect of a drama thriller — but as the premise underscores, there’s always more story to tell.
The trailer introduces Holland as Newton and his revolutionary accomplishments, along Alessandro Nivola as producer Bert Schneider. The cast includes Tiffany Boone, Pj Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie, and Glynn Turman (guest stars include Taylor Jackson as Candice Bergen and Inny Clemons as Richard Pryor). With upbeat ’70s music and the peppy fonts to go with it, the vibe is more upbeat than one would expect of a drama thriller — but as the premise underscores, there’s always more story to tell.
- 4/24/2024
- by Proma Khosla
- Indiewire
André Holland takes on the role of revolutionary Huey P. Newton in the trailer for Apple TV+’s The Big Cigar.
Far from a straight biopic about the founder of the Black Panther Party, the six-episode limited series based on Joshuah Bearman’s magazine article of the same name delivers the high-impact energy of a heist as it tells the story of how Newton escaped the FBI and fled to Cuba with the help of famed Hollywood producer Bert Schneider (played by Alessandro Nivola) in perhaps the most ambitiously staged and fake movie production of all time.
“You’re the hot-shot producer, man, produce this,” Newton tells Schneider as they begin to cook up an elaborate plan to help the political activist evade a murder charge, as police attempt to pin him for the death of a 17-year-old sex trafficking victim in 1974.
Tiffany Boone stars alongside Holland as Newton’s girlfriend Gwen Fontaine,...
Far from a straight biopic about the founder of the Black Panther Party, the six-episode limited series based on Joshuah Bearman’s magazine article of the same name delivers the high-impact energy of a heist as it tells the story of how Newton escaped the FBI and fled to Cuba with the help of famed Hollywood producer Bert Schneider (played by Alessandro Nivola) in perhaps the most ambitiously staged and fake movie production of all time.
“You’re the hot-shot producer, man, produce this,” Newton tells Schneider as they begin to cook up an elaborate plan to help the political activist evade a murder charge, as police attempt to pin him for the death of a 17-year-old sex trafficking victim in 1974.
Tiffany Boone stars alongside Holland as Newton’s girlfriend Gwen Fontaine,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Brande Victorian
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Today, Apple TV+ revealed the trailer and key art for The Big Cigar, the upcoming limited series led by André Holland, who stars alongside Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, P. J. Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Moses Ingram, Rebecca Dalton, Olli Haaskivi, Jordane Christie, and Glynn Turman.
The first two episodes of The Big Cigar will make their global debut on May 17. They will be followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14.
Based on the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (Argo), who also serves as executive producer, The Big Cigar tells the incredible true story of the Hollywood revolution and the social revolution.
It’s a wild caper about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan — involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can.
Award-winning actor, producer, and director...
The first two episodes of The Big Cigar will make their global debut on May 17. They will be followed by new episodes every Friday through June 14.
Based on the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (Argo), who also serves as executive producer, The Big Cigar tells the incredible true story of the Hollywood revolution and the social revolution.
It’s a wild caper about Black Panther founder Huey P. Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan — involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can.
Award-winning actor, producer, and director...
- 4/24/2024
- by Mirko Parlevliet
- Vital Thrills
Black Panther Party co-founder Huey P. Newton (played by Moonlight’s André Holland) is a wanted man in the upcoming caper The Big Cigar, premiering with the first two episodes Friday, May 17 on Apple TV+. New episodes will stream weekly through June 14.
A new trailer for the six-episode limited series previews Newton’s daring escape from the FBI, who viewed the thought leader as a threat and had been pursuing him for years.
More from TVLineNeuromancer: Callum Turner to Lead Apple's Series Adaptation of Sci-Fi ClassicJohn Travolta's Surprise Welcome Back, Kotter Reunion With Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs - WATCHRashida Jones...
A new trailer for the six-episode limited series previews Newton’s daring escape from the FBI, who viewed the thought leader as a threat and had been pursuing him for years.
More from TVLineNeuromancer: Callum Turner to Lead Apple's Series Adaptation of Sci-Fi ClassicJohn Travolta's Surprise Welcome Back, Kotter Reunion With Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs - WATCHRashida Jones...
- 4/24/2024
- by Keisha Hatchett
- TVLine.com
Apple TV+ has unveiled a first look at ‘The Big Cigar,’ the highly anticipated limited drama series that chronicles the story of Black Panther leader Huey P. Newton’s escape to Cuba, and is based on the monumental, eponymous magazine article of the same name.
Legendary, award-winning actor, producer and director Don Cheadle serves as director and executive producer on the first two episodes.
Based on the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who will also serve as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” is the incredible true story of the Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution: it’s a wild caper of Black Panther founder Huey Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan – involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can. And somehow, it’s all true. Mostly.
Also in news – Arnold Schwarzenegger...
Legendary, award-winning actor, producer and director Don Cheadle serves as director and executive producer on the first two episodes.
Based on the magazine article by Joshuah Bearman (“Argo”), who will also serve as executive producer, “The Big Cigar” is the incredible true story of the Hollywood revolution meeting social revolution: it’s a wild caper of Black Panther founder Huey Newton escaping from the FBI to Cuba with the assistance of famed producer Bert Schneider in an impossibly elaborate plan – involving a fake movie production — that goes wrong every way it possibly can. And somehow, it’s all true. Mostly.
Also in news – Arnold Schwarzenegger...
- 3/14/2024
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: The Christmas tree trade in New York City is big business. Every holiday season, hundreds of thousands of trees are sold on the sidewalks of New York, and competition is fierce.
This is the foundation for a new feature documentary from Call Me Miss Cleo director Celia Aniskovich.
Aniskovich is directing and producing The Merchants of Joy (w/t), which comes from Boat Rocker, the company behind War Game, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and Hulu’s Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Aniskovich’s company Dial Tone Films and Epic Magazine.
The doc will follow five families, who are equal parts street corner capitalists and Christmas die-hards, as they source, bargain, and hustle to sell as many trees as they can in the city that never sleeps.
It started as an article in Epic magazine, which was published in December 2022.
Todd Lubin and Jack Turner will executive...
This is the foundation for a new feature documentary from Call Me Miss Cleo director Celia Aniskovich.
Aniskovich is directing and producing The Merchants of Joy (w/t), which comes from Boat Rocker, the company behind War Game, which just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and Hulu’s Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields, Aniskovich’s company Dial Tone Films and Epic Magazine.
The doc will follow five families, who are equal parts street corner capitalists and Christmas die-hards, as they source, bargain, and hustle to sell as many trees as they can in the city that never sleeps.
It started as an article in Epic magazine, which was published in December 2022.
Todd Lubin and Jack Turner will executive...
- 2/12/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The long-awaited reboot of the cult classic fantasy film ‘Highlander’ is finally moving forward, with Henry Cavill set to star as the immortal swordsman. The project, which has been in development for years, is helmed by John Wick director Chad Stahelski and produced by Lionsgate.
According to Deadline, Lionsgate launched sales at the American Film Market for the reboot, which is expected to have a budget of over $100 million and start production in 2024. The studio is targeting a 2026 release date, but no official date has been confirmed yet.
The original ‘Highlander’ film, released in 1986, starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a Scottish warrior who discovers he is one of a rare breed of immortals who can only be killed by decapitation. He must fight against other immortals in a centuries-long battle for “the Prize”, a mysterious power that grants the last survivor the ability to shape the world. The film...
According to Deadline, Lionsgate launched sales at the American Film Market for the reboot, which is expected to have a budget of over $100 million and start production in 2024. The studio is targeting a 2026 release date, but no official date has been confirmed yet.
The original ‘Highlander’ film, released in 1986, starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a Scottish warrior who discovers he is one of a rare breed of immortals who can only be killed by decapitation. He must fight against other immortals in a centuries-long battle for “the Prize”, a mysterious power that grants the last survivor the ability to shape the world. The film...
- 11/10/2023
- by CineArticles Editorial Team
- https://thecinemanews.online/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/IMG_4649
If the atmosphere seems spiced with something other than pumpkin extract this month, don’t worry. That’s just the creamy mouth-feel (sorry!) of awards season, which is once again upon us in full-force. Look no further than this month’s Don’t-Miss Indies, full of auteur-driven storytelling from tip to tail, including plenty of Film Independent Spirit Award alumni. Want to receive screeners and vote for this season’s Spirit Award winners? Go ahead!
Fingernails
When You Can Watch: Now
Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited), Apple TV+
Director: Christos Nikou
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White
Why We’re Excited: Film Independent Spirit Award winners Buckley (Robert Altman Award co-recipient for last year’s Women Talking) and Ahmed (Best Male Lead for 2020’s Sound of Metal) stars as Anna and Amir—two colleagues who work at the “Love Institute”, which has supposedly developed a test to...
Fingernails
When You Can Watch: Now
Where You Can Watch: Theaters (limited), Apple TV+
Director: Christos Nikou
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Riz Ahmed, Jeremy Allen White
Why We’re Excited: Film Independent Spirit Award winners Buckley (Robert Altman Award co-recipient for last year’s Women Talking) and Ahmed (Best Male Lead for 2020’s Sound of Metal) stars as Anna and Amir—two colleagues who work at the “Love Institute”, which has supposedly developed a test to...
- 11/6/2023
- by Su Fang Tham
- Film Independent News & More
Based on Joshua Davis’s 2013 article for Wired, “A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses,” Radical, a stirring, poignant drama co-written and adapted by Christopher Zalla (Blood of My Blood), literally and figuratively revolves around Jose Urbina Lopez Elementary School in Matamoros, Mexico. A town on the U.S/Mexico border, Matamoros suffers from crushing poverty, dilapidated infrastructure, and gang-related violence. It’s as hopeless a city or town — depressingly, painfully real by all accounts — as any put on Spanish-language, Mexico-set film since Luis Buñuel’s award-winning classic, Los Olvidados (The Forgotten Ones) almost 75 years ago. Unlike Issa Lopez’s recent — and it should be added, excellent — horror-thriller hybrid, Tigers Are Not Afraid, Radical centers the drama on the elementary school itself, the...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/3/2023
- Screen Anarchy
In a thrilling announcement for film enthusiasts, Henry Cavill, previously acclaimed for his roles in ‘Superman’ and ‘The Witcher,’ is confirmed to lead the upcoming reboot of the iconic ’80s fantasy flick – ‘Highlander.’ Directed by Chad Stahelski, renowned for his work on the ‘John Wick’ series, this project promises to merge the grandeur of the original movie with a touch of modern cinematic brilliance.
The original ‘Highlander,’ which graced the silver screen back in 1986, featured the likes of Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown, and Sean Connery. It painted a world where immortals roamed modern-day New York City, pursuing one another in a relentless quest for power. With the tagline “There can be only one,” it paved the way for a series of sequels and TV spin-offs. Queen’s unforgettable soundtrack only added to its legacy.
Lionsgate is gearing up to launch sales of this much-anticipated reboot at the AFM. Given its...
The original ‘Highlander,’ which graced the silver screen back in 1986, featured the likes of Christopher Lambert, Clancy Brown, and Sean Connery. It painted a world where immortals roamed modern-day New York City, pursuing one another in a relentless quest for power. With the tagline “There can be only one,” it paved the way for a series of sequels and TV spin-offs. Queen’s unforgettable soundtrack only added to its legacy.
Lionsgate is gearing up to launch sales of this much-anticipated reboot at the AFM. Given its...
- 10/27/2023
- by Hrvoje Milakovic
- Fiction Horizon
Exclusive: Ahead of its U.S. release on November 3, Eugenio Derbez-starrer Radical is off to a great start in Mexico. The film, which won the Festival Favorite Award when it premiered at Sundance in January, opened last weekend in Mexico, selling 631.7K tickets, outdoing the sophomore frame of Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, as well as that film’s debut the previous session; both in terms of admissions.
Released by Videocine, this was the biggest local-language opening in Mexico since the Covid era began in both grosses and ticket sales. Radical grossed Mxn 43,339,719 ($2.36M) across the October 20-22 frame, which is just slightly under what The Eras Tour brought in across its second weekend. That’s because the Taylor Swift movie is being sold at event pricing with tickets going for Mxn 215 a pop versus Mxn 69 for Radical. The latter also had the highest per-screen average of the October 20-22 session.
Released by Videocine, this was the biggest local-language opening in Mexico since the Covid era began in both grosses and ticket sales. Radical grossed Mxn 43,339,719 ($2.36M) across the October 20-22 frame, which is just slightly under what The Eras Tour brought in across its second weekend. That’s because the Taylor Swift movie is being sold at event pricing with tickets going for Mxn 215 a pop versus Mxn 69 for Radical. The latter also had the highest per-screen average of the October 20-22 session.
- 10/27/2023
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Seven years have gone by since John Wick franchise director Chad Stahelski signed on to direct a reboot of the 1986 classic Highlander (watch it Here), and the filmmaker has been focused on making John Wick sequels while developing the new Highlander. But now John Wick seems to be taking a little break, so it looks like Stahelski might finally have some time to bring sword-wielding immortals back to the screen. Deadline reports that Lionsgate will be presenting Stahelski’s Highlander project to potential buyers at the upcoming American Film Market, looking for partners that will help them recoup the film’s budget, which is said to be over $100 million.
Two years have passed since Henry Cavill of Man of Steel and The Witcher signed on to star in the film, and Cavill remains attached to the project.
The original Highlander had the following synopsis: When the mystical Russell Nash kills...
Two years have passed since Henry Cavill of Man of Steel and The Witcher signed on to star in the film, and Cavill remains attached to the project.
The original Highlander had the following synopsis: When the mystical Russell Nash kills...
- 10/27/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: In the world of Highlander reboots, there can still only be one…and it’s a good one at that.
For the first time, Lionsgate will be launching sales at the AFM on their long-gestating fantasy reboot which has Henry Cavill aboard to star as the eponymous Scottish swordsman and John Wick filmmaker Chad Stahelski set to direct.
We hear this will be a big-budget proposition, north of $100M. Stahelski himself has previously talked about it as akin to John Wick with swords. The team is eyeing a 2024 start.
This will be welcome news for AFM buyers whose pool of pre-sale projects has been diminished by the ongoing strike.
The new movie will be based on the 1986 original, which starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown as immortal beings, hunting down one another and collecting more power. The time-jumping film — with its “There can be only one” tagline...
For the first time, Lionsgate will be launching sales at the AFM on their long-gestating fantasy reboot which has Henry Cavill aboard to star as the eponymous Scottish swordsman and John Wick filmmaker Chad Stahelski set to direct.
We hear this will be a big-budget proposition, north of $100M. Stahelski himself has previously talked about it as akin to John Wick with swords. The team is eyeing a 2024 start.
This will be welcome news for AFM buyers whose pool of pre-sale projects has been diminished by the ongoing strike.
The new movie will be based on the 1986 original, which starred Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery and Clancy Brown as immortal beings, hunting down one another and collecting more power. The time-jumping film — with its “There can be only one” tagline...
- 10/27/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Film Independent has set seven filmmakers for the 2023 edition of its Producing Lab, an intensive program designed to help creative, independent producers develop their skills and further their careers. The list includes Camila Grimaldi & Farah Jabir (AmeriGirl), Rob Cristiano (Gone by Morning), Daniel Tantalean (In the Summers), Valeria Contreras (Not My Name), Annalisa Shoemaker (Obsolete), and Fiona Hardingham (Smoke Country).
Film Independent looks to bolster its Fellows by introducing them to film professionals who can advise them on both the craft and business of independent producing. Each is paired with a Creative Advisor, with whom they’ll look to develop a project over the course of the program. Rebecca Green will serve as lead creative advisor for this year’s program, which will also feature an expansive roster of guest speakers: Jason Michael Berman, Apoorva Charan, Marissa Frobes, Nate Kamiya, Kristen Konvitz, Stephen Lee, Alex Lo, Lauren Mann, Jack Pearkes,...
Film Independent looks to bolster its Fellows by introducing them to film professionals who can advise them on both the craft and business of independent producing. Each is paired with a Creative Advisor, with whom they’ll look to develop a project over the course of the program. Rebecca Green will serve as lead creative advisor for this year’s program, which will also feature an expansive roster of guest speakers: Jason Michael Berman, Apoorva Charan, Marissa Frobes, Nate Kamiya, Kristen Konvitz, Stephen Lee, Alex Lo, Lauren Mann, Jack Pearkes,...
- 10/11/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Sundance 2023: ‘Radical’ directed by Christopher ZallaChristopher Zalla returns to Sundance (‘Padre Nuestro’, U.S. Dramatic Grand Jury Prize 2007) thanks to one of Hollywood’s most innovative producers, Ben Odell and Eugenio Derbez, the top star of Mexico. Their company 3Pas has consistenly created entertainment for the Latinx community in new ways and now this powerfully inspiring story about a teacher deserves to be put to the test to see how it stands with a public along side with education classics as ‘Blackboard Jungle’, ‘Goodbye Mr. Chipps’, ‘Dead Poets’ Society’ and ‘To Sir With Love’. And yes, ‘Stand and Deliver’ as well, Edward James Olmos’ breakthrough and best film.
Director Christopher Zalla. Courtesy of Sundance Institute, photo by Erynne Dowe
With Mr. Zalla in Sundance is Mexican Superstar Eugenio Derbez, who appeared at Sundance in 2021 as Bernardo in Sian Heder’s Coda, top prize winner at Sundance and winner of three Oscars including Best Picture. InCoda he played an inspirational high school music teacher, and in Radical he is again such a teacher.
Every student in K -12 should be given the opportunity to see this film on the educational non-theatrical circuit as well as theatrical and streaming platforms. This is the film that will inspire children to become teachers like Sergio Juarez as played with all his heart by Eugenio Derbez, Mexico’s top comedian and movie star. The discovery of the joy of learning for the children on Matamorros, Mexico, a place where kids live in a world where they can’t be kids, was based upon a true story.
Eugenio Derbez — Co-Founder, 3Pas Studio — Lead Actor & Producer, Radical speaking at Illuminative’s Indigenous House, courtesy of the social justice organization IllumiNative, a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to challenging the narrative about Native peoples:
“I started as a comedian in television. When I made the transition to cinema, I always tried to bring joy into each of my movies. Even though it’s drama, it’s part of our brand. I have a production company called Tripas Studios. Tripas means guts, so when you do everything with your guts, you can make all the decisions with your guts. When we are looking for a project, we always look for the three H’s: Humanity, Humor, and Heart. We need at least two of these elements to be in the movie. But I always need to put in some humor. Even though ‘Radical’ is a drama and a really sad and true story, you’re going to laugh a couple of times because humor makes everything easy. When you show me drama and a true story, I put in a little bit of joy, so you can digest the information much better.”
Eugenio Derbez at the Illuinative panel. Photo Credit: INDÍGENA for IllumiNative
[When asked what he wanted viewers to take away from Radical] “I want to celebrate education. I think education is the base for future generations. I feel that right now education, not just in my country, but worldwide, has been the same for the last 200 years. The same kind of structure, it’s twisted, we’re teaching kids to obey, sit down, shut up, do this, do that, memorize this. We’re teaching them to obey, we’re teaching them to memorize and we need to teach them how to learn.”
Radical shines a light on the incredible potential children can manifest when an innovative teacher empowers them to think for themselves. The Wired article by Joshua Davis (also a producer here) explains it is based on the life of teacher Sergio Juárez Correa, who with his students was the subject of a 2013 Wired magazine cover story titled A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses. The article details Juárez’ rather incredible story as an unorthodox teacher in a poor Mexican border town called Matamoros. It is a forgotten poor city with little hope for its kids, particularly in the elementary school, where he uses a teaching method he stumbled upon seeing a Ted Talks video in which the students lead the curriculum in learning what they want to learn, not what officials dictate through testing and other methods.
Eugenio Derbez conducting a class on the solar system. Courtesy o Sundance Institut
After establishing the To Sir, with Love nature of this school and who the kids in the sixth-grade class are, we meet Sergio. He has turned over all the desks in his classroom and tries to convince the incredulous students to come aboard these “lifeboats” in the make-believe ocean for the kind of off-the-wall lesson they have never encountered before.
As we learn to know the students: Paloma (the nascent shining star Jennifer Trejo), who aspires to be a rocket scientist (That is true and her story is more incredible), Nico, Lupe and others surrounded by cartel culture and bullies, their fates take shape.
Derbez never has been better than in this film, one that’s for sale and, if there is any justice, will be picked up immediately by a distributor looking for a feel-good true story with real potential to make a difference. It co-stars Daniel Haddad, Jennifer Trejo, Mia Fernanda Solis and Danilo Guardiola.
Radical was produced by 3Pas Studios (Derbez’s label run by Benjamin Odell), in association with Epic Magazine and The Lift, and financed by TelevisaUnivision/ViX.
The film is seeking worldwide distribution in all territories, save Mexico. Andrew Herwitz of The Film Sales Company is representing the film.
Eugenio Derbez. Courtesy of Sundance Institute photo by Mateo Londono
“Three Steps” says Ben Odell, co-founder of 3Pas (as in 3Pas, Tripas or tripe, or Guts as Eugenio decribes them), when explaining to me the meanng of the pun. 3Pas in Spanish means three steps, but is also a play on words, something Mexicans like a lot. Personally, I too love tripas y menudo. Delicioso!
Ben and Tripas also won the 2007 Grand Jury Prize Winner at Sundance with the art house Spanish language thriller, Padre Nuestro. IFC changed the title to Sangre de mi sangre for its U.S. release. It also played at New Directors/ New Films at Museum of Modern Art in New York in the Spring of 2007, received two Independent Spirit Awards nominations, for Best First Feature (for which Odell was nominated) and Best Screenplay.
Ben is sure that his producing partner Eugene will go way beyond his current core Latinx market “He is so lovable to watch. He has a magic about him that is undeniable and transcends language and culture.”
When Ben and Eugenio decided to go together they knew it was The-One-Time-In-a-Career-To-Capitalize moment. It happened while Eugenio was making his breakout film Instructions not Included. They formed 3Pas to focus on brand-building based upon Eugenio’s popularity. They planned to go beyond his own work, in English and Spanish. 3Pas Studios signed a first-look deal with Pantelion in August 2014. Neither Eugenio nor Ben had any idea Instructions not Included would be so big. It was released in 2013 by Pantelion and grossed $44.5 million, making it the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. It grossed another $55 million overseas making it the number one Spanish language movie in the world.
Before I met Ben, I always pictured him as my other friend whose last name is Odell, a slight and wiry, dark haired type. How surprised I was to see this big, handsome blond who exuded warmth and a good-willed wit and storytelling skill. Love at first sight! And I am sure I am not the only one who is smitten with him. I wish I could convey his spirit, humor and strength as he recounted his life and career(s) to me in the hour we spent together in his new spacious, airy and bright Santa Monica office where Ben Shalom-Martinez was the third person in the new company, manning a phone system not yet working.
I told Ben I had read his mini bio in IMDb, and it made me want to know how he had gotten into the Latinx side of the business. I expected him to reveal that, in fact, and in spite of his name, he was Latino.
One year out of college, Ben said,
“I worked in editing with the Maysles Brothers. I was a P.A. on the first film John Turturro directed called “Mac”, and I was a reader for Art Linson. And that was my degree in Liberal Arts in Film. I wanted to be a screenwriter but I didn’t feel I had enough life experience. A family friend offered me a job in commercial production in Colombia. It was 1992 and my dad said: “if you love all things Latino, go learn Spanish and become an expert in the Latino market. It’s going to need people that understand it. No one was really talking about its importance then but that piece of advice changed my life. I moved to Colombia to learn Spanish and start what would be a life long journey in all things Latino, from U.S. Latino to Latin America. It’s not a single market but there is a connectivity between all of it.”
Ben grew up in Pennsylvania and when he was six years old, neighbors, who had old friends from Colombia, did an exchange of one of their children with a Colombian child. “My father ended up basically adopting that child for the year he lived with our neighbors and from that grew a friendship with this Colombian family.”
When he was 12 years old the whole Colombian family moved to Philadelphia. “I wanted them to adopt me. They were crazy, emotional, passionate, loving. It was a warmth and lust for life I hadn’t really experienced in suburban white America. And then I realized there was a whole country full of them.” At 15 he went with a friend to Colombia and loved it.
His father eventually married someone from that family. So Ben’s connection to Colombia, if not to all of Latin America was very organic. Colombia is not part of the “U.S. Latino market” per se, but Colombia and the rest of Latin America share certain characteristics and commonalities — views on life and death, family, spirituality — that end up working their way into storytelling that are shared throughout the U.S. Latino market and Latin America along with a larger emotional scale in the tone of their storytelling.
Odell lived in Colombia from 1992 to 2000. He also worked as a freelance journalist before becoming a Spanish language television writer and screenwriter there.
When he was in Colombia working in commercials, he met Tom Quinn, a journalist Iiving there for 25 years, working for Time Magazine and running an English language rag called The Colombian Post. In his youth, Tom had run with the likes of Hunter S. Thompson. He had lots of adventures and lots of stories of those days.
Ben asked Tom what was the most compelling story they could make into a movie that wasn’t about narcotrafficking, and Tom said one word: “Emeralds.” Colombia supplies 60% of the world’s emeralds. The mines in the Emerald Zone have strong drug laundering connections as well, as one might guess. The land is leased by the government to the three or four mining companies and they control everything with no supervision by the government.
Ben thought this was a great story to develop into a movie, and so he went back to New York to the contacts he had made including an exec at Tribeca Films. “They all said the same thing, great story but you are not a writer. Go write the script and then we’ll talk.” Ben returned to Colombia to do research.
In the meanwhile he began writing for Colombian TV. He had never written a feature film script, nor did he speak Spanish. He had, however, taken a course in feature film screenwriting with Robert McKee. And he had a girlfriend who was bilingual. He knew about Colombian TV and he saw the potential for legitimizing the story first as a TV show and then making it into a feature later.
Tom Quinn was very well known in Colombia as he was the Time News correspondent there at a moment when the magazine had a lot of power; the drug wars were one of its most consistent cover stories. They pitched it to Rti TV, and structured it like The Fugitive.
There is a drug, called burandanga, scientifically known as Scopolamine. It comes from a plant that grows wild in Colombia. The drugged one loses control of his or her will. Ben once heard a story about a man in a bar who wakes up in jail accused of a murder he can’t remember. This became the basis of the story. The lead goes into the Emerald Zone and drugged by burundanga, he kills one on the wrong side in a war going on there. He wakes up with no recollection and a full on civil war going on around him. He can’t get out of the Emerald Zone until he finds the man who drugged him. The title of this series that Tom and he pitched and in 1998 created was Fuego verde, like the 1954 Hollywood movie, Green Fire starring Grace Kelly and Stewart Grainger.
As a television writer, he eventually created and wrote over 300 hours of Spanish-language narrative television including Fuego Verde — the first-ever action series. It was one of the highest rated series on Colombian television. He also co-wrote the Colombian political satire feature film, Golpe de estadio, which was nominated for Spain’s Academy Award, the Goya in 1999, and was Colombia’s nomination to the Oscar in 2000. It is still one of the highest grossing Colombian films of all time.
In the film, Golpe de estadio, (Golpe de Estado means “Coup d’état”but it also could mean “Coup de Stadium”), an oil company has set up a camp for geological research in a small village in Colombia that has been named New Texas. It becomes the target of the guerrillas who are constantly clashing with police in the area. The confrontation is put on hold however during the TV transmission of the world Cup qualifiers.
For more about this and Ben, read my blog from several years ago here.
In summary, Tripas has created a feel-good story that has great potential to make a difference and is available for distribution.
EducationMexicoFilm FestivalsInternational FilmFemale Empowerment...
Director Christopher Zalla. Courtesy of Sundance Institute, photo by Erynne Dowe
With Mr. Zalla in Sundance is Mexican Superstar Eugenio Derbez, who appeared at Sundance in 2021 as Bernardo in Sian Heder’s Coda, top prize winner at Sundance and winner of three Oscars including Best Picture. InCoda he played an inspirational high school music teacher, and in Radical he is again such a teacher.
Every student in K -12 should be given the opportunity to see this film on the educational non-theatrical circuit as well as theatrical and streaming platforms. This is the film that will inspire children to become teachers like Sergio Juarez as played with all his heart by Eugenio Derbez, Mexico’s top comedian and movie star. The discovery of the joy of learning for the children on Matamorros, Mexico, a place where kids live in a world where they can’t be kids, was based upon a true story.
Eugenio Derbez — Co-Founder, 3Pas Studio — Lead Actor & Producer, Radical speaking at Illuminative’s Indigenous House, courtesy of the social justice organization IllumiNative, a Native woman-led racial and social justice organization dedicated to challenging the narrative about Native peoples:
“I started as a comedian in television. When I made the transition to cinema, I always tried to bring joy into each of my movies. Even though it’s drama, it’s part of our brand. I have a production company called Tripas Studios. Tripas means guts, so when you do everything with your guts, you can make all the decisions with your guts. When we are looking for a project, we always look for the three H’s: Humanity, Humor, and Heart. We need at least two of these elements to be in the movie. But I always need to put in some humor. Even though ‘Radical’ is a drama and a really sad and true story, you’re going to laugh a couple of times because humor makes everything easy. When you show me drama and a true story, I put in a little bit of joy, so you can digest the information much better.”
Eugenio Derbez at the Illuinative panel. Photo Credit: INDÍGENA for IllumiNative
[When asked what he wanted viewers to take away from Radical] “I want to celebrate education. I think education is the base for future generations. I feel that right now education, not just in my country, but worldwide, has been the same for the last 200 years. The same kind of structure, it’s twisted, we’re teaching kids to obey, sit down, shut up, do this, do that, memorize this. We’re teaching them to obey, we’re teaching them to memorize and we need to teach them how to learn.”
Radical shines a light on the incredible potential children can manifest when an innovative teacher empowers them to think for themselves. The Wired article by Joshua Davis (also a producer here) explains it is based on the life of teacher Sergio Juárez Correa, who with his students was the subject of a 2013 Wired magazine cover story titled A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses. The article details Juárez’ rather incredible story as an unorthodox teacher in a poor Mexican border town called Matamoros. It is a forgotten poor city with little hope for its kids, particularly in the elementary school, where he uses a teaching method he stumbled upon seeing a Ted Talks video in which the students lead the curriculum in learning what they want to learn, not what officials dictate through testing and other methods.
Eugenio Derbez conducting a class on the solar system. Courtesy o Sundance Institut
After establishing the To Sir, with Love nature of this school and who the kids in the sixth-grade class are, we meet Sergio. He has turned over all the desks in his classroom and tries to convince the incredulous students to come aboard these “lifeboats” in the make-believe ocean for the kind of off-the-wall lesson they have never encountered before.
As we learn to know the students: Paloma (the nascent shining star Jennifer Trejo), who aspires to be a rocket scientist (That is true and her story is more incredible), Nico, Lupe and others surrounded by cartel culture and bullies, their fates take shape.
Derbez never has been better than in this film, one that’s for sale and, if there is any justice, will be picked up immediately by a distributor looking for a feel-good true story with real potential to make a difference. It co-stars Daniel Haddad, Jennifer Trejo, Mia Fernanda Solis and Danilo Guardiola.
Radical was produced by 3Pas Studios (Derbez’s label run by Benjamin Odell), in association with Epic Magazine and The Lift, and financed by TelevisaUnivision/ViX.
The film is seeking worldwide distribution in all territories, save Mexico. Andrew Herwitz of The Film Sales Company is representing the film.
Eugenio Derbez. Courtesy of Sundance Institute photo by Mateo Londono
“Three Steps” says Ben Odell, co-founder of 3Pas (as in 3Pas, Tripas or tripe, or Guts as Eugenio decribes them), when explaining to me the meanng of the pun. 3Pas in Spanish means three steps, but is also a play on words, something Mexicans like a lot. Personally, I too love tripas y menudo. Delicioso!
Ben and Tripas also won the 2007 Grand Jury Prize Winner at Sundance with the art house Spanish language thriller, Padre Nuestro. IFC changed the title to Sangre de mi sangre for its U.S. release. It also played at New Directors/ New Films at Museum of Modern Art in New York in the Spring of 2007, received two Independent Spirit Awards nominations, for Best First Feature (for which Odell was nominated) and Best Screenplay.
Ben is sure that his producing partner Eugene will go way beyond his current core Latinx market “He is so lovable to watch. He has a magic about him that is undeniable and transcends language and culture.”
When Ben and Eugenio decided to go together they knew it was The-One-Time-In-a-Career-To-Capitalize moment. It happened while Eugenio was making his breakout film Instructions not Included. They formed 3Pas to focus on brand-building based upon Eugenio’s popularity. They planned to go beyond his own work, in English and Spanish. 3Pas Studios signed a first-look deal with Pantelion in August 2014. Neither Eugenio nor Ben had any idea Instructions not Included would be so big. It was released in 2013 by Pantelion and grossed $44.5 million, making it the highest-grossing Spanish-language film ever released in the U.S. It grossed another $55 million overseas making it the number one Spanish language movie in the world.
Before I met Ben, I always pictured him as my other friend whose last name is Odell, a slight and wiry, dark haired type. How surprised I was to see this big, handsome blond who exuded warmth and a good-willed wit and storytelling skill. Love at first sight! And I am sure I am not the only one who is smitten with him. I wish I could convey his spirit, humor and strength as he recounted his life and career(s) to me in the hour we spent together in his new spacious, airy and bright Santa Monica office where Ben Shalom-Martinez was the third person in the new company, manning a phone system not yet working.
I told Ben I had read his mini bio in IMDb, and it made me want to know how he had gotten into the Latinx side of the business. I expected him to reveal that, in fact, and in spite of his name, he was Latino.
One year out of college, Ben said,
“I worked in editing with the Maysles Brothers. I was a P.A. on the first film John Turturro directed called “Mac”, and I was a reader for Art Linson. And that was my degree in Liberal Arts in Film. I wanted to be a screenwriter but I didn’t feel I had enough life experience. A family friend offered me a job in commercial production in Colombia. It was 1992 and my dad said: “if you love all things Latino, go learn Spanish and become an expert in the Latino market. It’s going to need people that understand it. No one was really talking about its importance then but that piece of advice changed my life. I moved to Colombia to learn Spanish and start what would be a life long journey in all things Latino, from U.S. Latino to Latin America. It’s not a single market but there is a connectivity between all of it.”
Ben grew up in Pennsylvania and when he was six years old, neighbors, who had old friends from Colombia, did an exchange of one of their children with a Colombian child. “My father ended up basically adopting that child for the year he lived with our neighbors and from that grew a friendship with this Colombian family.”
When he was 12 years old the whole Colombian family moved to Philadelphia. “I wanted them to adopt me. They were crazy, emotional, passionate, loving. It was a warmth and lust for life I hadn’t really experienced in suburban white America. And then I realized there was a whole country full of them.” At 15 he went with a friend to Colombia and loved it.
His father eventually married someone from that family. So Ben’s connection to Colombia, if not to all of Latin America was very organic. Colombia is not part of the “U.S. Latino market” per se, but Colombia and the rest of Latin America share certain characteristics and commonalities — views on life and death, family, spirituality — that end up working their way into storytelling that are shared throughout the U.S. Latino market and Latin America along with a larger emotional scale in the tone of their storytelling.
Odell lived in Colombia from 1992 to 2000. He also worked as a freelance journalist before becoming a Spanish language television writer and screenwriter there.
When he was in Colombia working in commercials, he met Tom Quinn, a journalist Iiving there for 25 years, working for Time Magazine and running an English language rag called The Colombian Post. In his youth, Tom had run with the likes of Hunter S. Thompson. He had lots of adventures and lots of stories of those days.
Ben asked Tom what was the most compelling story they could make into a movie that wasn’t about narcotrafficking, and Tom said one word: “Emeralds.” Colombia supplies 60% of the world’s emeralds. The mines in the Emerald Zone have strong drug laundering connections as well, as one might guess. The land is leased by the government to the three or four mining companies and they control everything with no supervision by the government.
Ben thought this was a great story to develop into a movie, and so he went back to New York to the contacts he had made including an exec at Tribeca Films. “They all said the same thing, great story but you are not a writer. Go write the script and then we’ll talk.” Ben returned to Colombia to do research.
In the meanwhile he began writing for Colombian TV. He had never written a feature film script, nor did he speak Spanish. He had, however, taken a course in feature film screenwriting with Robert McKee. And he had a girlfriend who was bilingual. He knew about Colombian TV and he saw the potential for legitimizing the story first as a TV show and then making it into a feature later.
Tom Quinn was very well known in Colombia as he was the Time News correspondent there at a moment when the magazine had a lot of power; the drug wars were one of its most consistent cover stories. They pitched it to Rti TV, and structured it like The Fugitive.
There is a drug, called burandanga, scientifically known as Scopolamine. It comes from a plant that grows wild in Colombia. The drugged one loses control of his or her will. Ben once heard a story about a man in a bar who wakes up in jail accused of a murder he can’t remember. This became the basis of the story. The lead goes into the Emerald Zone and drugged by burundanga, he kills one on the wrong side in a war going on there. He wakes up with no recollection and a full on civil war going on around him. He can’t get out of the Emerald Zone until he finds the man who drugged him. The title of this series that Tom and he pitched and in 1998 created was Fuego verde, like the 1954 Hollywood movie, Green Fire starring Grace Kelly and Stewart Grainger.
As a television writer, he eventually created and wrote over 300 hours of Spanish-language narrative television including Fuego Verde — the first-ever action series. It was one of the highest rated series on Colombian television. He also co-wrote the Colombian political satire feature film, Golpe de estadio, which was nominated for Spain’s Academy Award, the Goya in 1999, and was Colombia’s nomination to the Oscar in 2000. It is still one of the highest grossing Colombian films of all time.
In the film, Golpe de estadio, (Golpe de Estado means “Coup d’état”but it also could mean “Coup de Stadium”), an oil company has set up a camp for geological research in a small village in Colombia that has been named New Texas. It becomes the target of the guerrillas who are constantly clashing with police in the area. The confrontation is put on hold however during the TV transmission of the world Cup qualifiers.
For more about this and Ben, read my blog from several years ago here.
In summary, Tripas has created a feel-good story that has great potential to make a difference and is available for distribution.
EducationMexicoFilm FestivalsInternational FilmFemale Empowerment...
- 2/11/2023
- by Sydney
- Sydney's Buzz
This year, women directors – and their women-centric subjects – swept the awards at Sundance Film Festival. Three women directors – Madeleine Gavin, Maryam Keshavarz, and Noora Niasari – won Audience Awards for their films on North Korea (“Beyond Utopia”), intergenerational motherhood (“The Persian Version”), and custody in diaspora (“Shayda”). Portraits of masculinity were also celebrated as well. First-time feature filmmaker Sing J. Lee won the Directing Award for his touching portrait of masculinity and fatherhood in “The Accidental Getaway Driver,” while Sauvnik Kaur’s intimate documentary on brotherhood “Against The Tide” took home a Special Jury Award. After two years of isolation and virtual festival-ing, it seems that stories of tenderness appealed over aggressive storytelling at Park City this year.
“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film.
“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film.
- 2/1/2023
- by Grace Han
- AsianMoviePulse
While our Sundance Film Festival 2023 coverage continues to roll in, the respective juries at Park City have doled out their winners, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to A Thousand and One (U.S. Dramatic), Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project (U.S. Documentary), Scrapper (World Cinema Dramatic), and The Eternal Memory (World Cinema Documentary), and the Next Innovator Award presented by Adobe was awarded to Kokomo City.
Check out the full list of winners below, with our coverage where available.
Grand Jury Prizes
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to A.V. Rockwell for A Thousand and One / U.S.A. — Convinced it’s one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps 6-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City.
Check out the full list of winners below, with our coverage where available.
Grand Jury Prizes
The U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic was presented to A.V. Rockwell for A Thousand and One / U.S.A. — Convinced it’s one last, necessary crime on the path to redemption, unapologetic and free-spirited Inez kidnaps 6-year-old Terry from the foster care system. Holding on to their secret and each other, mother and son set out to reclaim their sense of home, identity, and stability in New York City.
- 1/28/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Teyana Taylor and Aaron Kingsley in ‘A Thousand and One’ (Photo Courtesy of Sundance Institute / Photo by Focus Features)
The Sundance Film Festival named A Thousand and One from writer/director A.V. Rockwell the winner of the prestigious U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s The Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2023 festival which hosted in-person screenings as well as access online.
“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections...
The Sundance Film Festival named A Thousand and One from writer/director A.V. Rockwell the winner of the prestigious U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic. Directors Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s The Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project won the U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Documentary at the 2023 festival which hosted in-person screenings as well as access online.
“This year’s Festival has been an extraordinary experience,” said Joana Vicente, Sundance Institute CEO. “The artists that comprise the 2023 Sundance Film Festival have demonstrated a sense of urgency and dedication to excellence in independent film. Today’s award winners highlight our programs’ most impressive achievements in the current moment of cinematic arts. I hope you will join me in congratulating our winners, as well as thanking all artists across sections...
- 1/27/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
From To Sir, With Love through Stand and Deliver and Dangerous Minds, inspirational dramas about dedicated educators overcoming the apathy of disadvantaged students to expand their horizons generally stick to a formula carved in stone. But when that formula works, it works. In rare instances, a movie in this narrative ballpark breaks the mold, like Laurent Cantet’s The Class, with its granular documentary-style textures and illuminating social and political context. Writer-director Christopher Zalla adheres to the subgenre’s conventions and doesn’t stint on sentimentality, but Radical more than earns its surging emotional payoff.
Given its assault on the tear ducts combined with its resolute channeling of hope even in the wake of tragedy, it’s no surprise that the film snagged Sundance’s Festival Favorite Award, voted by the audience. That should help give it an acquisitions nudge, along with a big-hearted lead performance from superstar Mexican actor and comedian Eugenio Derbez,...
Given its assault on the tear ducts combined with its resolute channeling of hope even in the wake of tragedy, it’s no surprise that the film snagged Sundance’s Festival Favorite Award, voted by the audience. That should help give it an acquisitions nudge, along with a big-hearted lead performance from superstar Mexican actor and comedian Eugenio Derbez,...
- 1/27/2023
- by David Rooney
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Participant and Pantelion Films releases the film in theaters on Friday, November 3.
The figure of the selfless teacher with an idealist mindset about education has abundant onscreen representation. Of these, Edward James Olmos’ lively, Oscar-nominated portrayal of Jaime Escalante, who taught math to marginalized teens at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, in “Stand and Deliver,” serves as quintessential example of these admirable paladins of knowledge in American popular culture.
In the well-intentioned drama “Radical,” Eugenio Derbez boasts similar, if more subdued charisma as unorthodox elementary teacher Sergio Chavez. This crowd-pleaser based on a remarkable true story documented in a Wired article by Joshua Davis (also a producer here), marks the Sundance return of director Christopher Zalla, whose 2007 debut “Padre Nuestro” won the top jury prize in the U.S. Dramatic competition.
The role...
The figure of the selfless teacher with an idealist mindset about education has abundant onscreen representation. Of these, Edward James Olmos’ lively, Oscar-nominated portrayal of Jaime Escalante, who taught math to marginalized teens at James A. Garfield High School in East Los Angeles, in “Stand and Deliver,” serves as quintessential example of these admirable paladins of knowledge in American popular culture.
In the well-intentioned drama “Radical,” Eugenio Derbez boasts similar, if more subdued charisma as unorthodox elementary teacher Sergio Chavez. This crowd-pleaser based on a remarkable true story documented in a Wired article by Joshua Davis (also a producer here), marks the Sundance return of director Christopher Zalla, whose 2007 debut “Padre Nuestro” won the top jury prize in the U.S. Dramatic competition.
The role...
- 1/20/2023
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
Idealistic teachers propel some of the most shamelessly schmaltzy tearjerkers of cinema, but whether we like it or not, we all respond to them at some sincere, emotional level. Christopher Zalla’s resolute crowdpleaser “Radical” is a heart-tugger in the mold of such old-school “inspiring teacher changes everything” tales as “To Sir With Love,” “Dead Poets Society” and even recent Oscar winner “Coda,” with which it shares star Eugenio Derbez. It’s a conventional film with broad audience appeal — watch it without tissues at your own risk — and hits all the expected notes.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing for a film centered on time-honored themes. Based on a true story, Zalla’s script is inspired by a decade-old Wired article titled “A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses” — the writer of which, Joshua Davis, serves as a producer here. In the piece, Davis zeroed in on...
That’s not necessarily a bad thing for a film centered on time-honored themes. Based on a true story, Zalla’s script is inspired by a decade-old Wired article titled “A Radical Way of Unleashing a Generation of Geniuses” — the writer of which, Joshua Davis, serves as a producer here. In the piece, Davis zeroed in on...
- 1/20/2023
- by Tomris Laffly
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Apple TV+’s Huey P. Newton series The Big Cigar has rounded out its cast, with Jaime Ray Newman (Dopesick), Noah Emmerich (Dark Winds), John Doman (City on a Hill), Chris Brochu (Zero Contact) and newcomer Brenton Allen coming aboard in recurring roles. André Holland leads the cast, with Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, Pj Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Jordane Christie, Moses Ingram, Olli Haaskivi and Glynn Turman also set to star, as previously announced.
The six-episode limited series, based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Argo‘s Joshuah Bearman, tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
Newman will play Roz Torrance, with Emmerich as Schneider’s brother Stanley, and Doman as his father Abe.
The six-episode limited series, based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Argo‘s Joshuah Bearman, tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
Newman will play Roz Torrance, with Emmerich as Schneider’s brother Stanley, and Doman as his father Abe.
- 9/1/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Emmy winner Glynn Turman (Women of the Movement) has joined Apple TV+’s Huey P. Newton limited series The Big Cigar as a recurring guest star. He’ll be part of an ensemble led by André Holland, which also includes Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, Pj Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Jordane Christie, Moses Ingram and Olli Haaskivi, as previously announced.
Based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Argo‘s Joshuah Bearman, the six-episode series tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
2022 Apple TV+ Pilots & Series Orders
Turman is set for the role of Huey’s ailing father, Walter — a man he reveres, who worked multiple jobs over the course of his life to support his family.
Based on the eponymous Playboy magazine article by Argo‘s Joshuah Bearman, the six-episode series tells the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
2022 Apple TV+ Pilots & Series Orders
Turman is set for the role of Huey’s ailing father, Walter — a man he reveres, who worked multiple jobs over the course of his life to support his family.
- 8/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Olli Haaskivi (Oppenheimer) is the latest actor to join Apple TV+’s six-episode Huey P. Newton series The Big Cigar in a recurring role. He joins an ensemble fronted by André Holland, which also includes the previously announced Alessandro Nivola, Tiffany Boone, Pj Byrne, Marc Menchaca, Jordane Christie and Moses Ingram.
Based on the Playboy magazine article of the same name by Argo‘s Joshuah Bearman, The Big Cigar will tell the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
Haaskivi will play Artie Ross, the screenwriter behind such titles as Brubaker and Creature from the Black Lagoon, who was at one point blacklisted as the Red Scare infiltrated Hollywood.
The Big Cigar‘s showrunner...
Based on the Playboy magazine article of the same name by Argo‘s Joshuah Bearman, The Big Cigar will tell the extraordinary, hilarious, almost-too-good-to-be-true story of how Black Panther leader Newton (Holland) relied on his best friend, Bert Schneider (Nivola) — the Hollywood producer behind Easy Rider — to elude a nationwide manhunt and escape to Cuba while being pursued into exile by the FBI.
Haaskivi will play Artie Ross, the screenwriter behind such titles as Brubaker and Creature from the Black Lagoon, who was at one point blacklisted as the Red Scare infiltrated Hollywood.
The Big Cigar‘s showrunner...
- 8/18/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
It has been confirmed that Johnny Depp will star in the upcoming film, King of the Jungle, a comedy that will explore the story of John McAfee‘s disappearance in the jungle of Belize. The movie will be based specifically on the Wired article, “John McAfee’s Last Stand,” by Joshua Davis. The article recounts Davis’ trip to Belize to visit McAfee, who was […]
Source: uInterview
The post Johnny Depp To Star In Dark Comedy ‘King Of The Jungle,’ Story About Tech Outlaw John McAfee appeared first on uInterview.
Source: uInterview
The post Johnny Depp To Star In Dark Comedy ‘King Of The Jungle,’ Story About Tech Outlaw John McAfee appeared first on uInterview.
- 5/15/2017
- by Jacob Kaye
- Uinterview
Author: Zehra Phelan
Once known as the King of the high seas for his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (well not quite, we just made that up), Johnny Depp has now been confirmed to star in the ‘real life’ story of Antivirus magnate John McAfee in the new film, King of The Jungle.
The comedy, which is to be co-directed by Glenn Ficarra (Crazy, Stupid, Love, I Love You Phillip Morris) and John Requa (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Crazy, Stupid, Love) comes from Conde Nast Entertainment, the same Conde Nast who published the story, “John McAfee’s Last Stand” in Wired. The other players also involved are Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment.
Screenwriting team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (American Crime Story, The People Vs. Larry Flynt) penned the true story King of the Jungle which is based on the Wired article “John McAfee’s Last Stand,...
Once known as the King of the high seas for his role in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise (well not quite, we just made that up), Johnny Depp has now been confirmed to star in the ‘real life’ story of Antivirus magnate John McAfee in the new film, King of The Jungle.
The comedy, which is to be co-directed by Glenn Ficarra (Crazy, Stupid, Love, I Love You Phillip Morris) and John Requa (Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, Crazy, Stupid, Love) comes from Conde Nast Entertainment, the same Conde Nast who published the story, “John McAfee’s Last Stand” in Wired. The other players also involved are Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment.
Screenwriting team Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski (American Crime Story, The People Vs. Larry Flynt) penned the true story King of the Jungle which is based on the Wired article “John McAfee’s Last Stand,...
- 5/15/2017
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Imr International will introduce dark comedy to Cannes buyers.
Johnny Depp has signed on to star in the dark comedy King Of The Jungle that Glenn Ficarra and John Requa will direct based on a true-life story from Wired magazine.
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski adapted the screenplay from Joshua Davis’s article entitled ‘John McAfee’s Last Stand.
The story centres on the eponymous rogue tech magnate who cashed in his fortune and moved to the jungle in Belize where he established a compound of guns, sex and madness reminiscent of the character Kurtz from Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart Of Darkness.
When the interviewer goes to meet McAfee he encounters paranoia, blurry reality, and murder.
Imr International will introduce international buyers in Cannes to the project from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment. CAA represents Us rights.
Condé Nast’s Dawn Ostroff and Jeremy Steckler produce alongside Zaftig’s Charlie Gogolak, Ficarra...
Johnny Depp has signed on to star in the dark comedy King Of The Jungle that Glenn Ficarra and John Requa will direct based on a true-life story from Wired magazine.
Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski adapted the screenplay from Joshua Davis’s article entitled ‘John McAfee’s Last Stand.
The story centres on the eponymous rogue tech magnate who cashed in his fortune and moved to the jungle in Belize where he established a compound of guns, sex and madness reminiscent of the character Kurtz from Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart Of Darkness.
When the interviewer goes to meet McAfee he encounters paranoia, blurry reality, and murder.
Imr International will introduce international buyers in Cannes to the project from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment. CAA represents Us rights.
Condé Nast’s Dawn Ostroff and Jeremy Steckler produce alongside Zaftig’s Charlie Gogolak, Ficarra...
- 5/14/2017
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Johnny Depp will play John McAfee, creator of the world’s first antivirus software, in the dark comedy “King of the Jungle,” TheWrap has learned. Based on an article by Joshua Davis in Wired Magazine, “King of the Jungle” tells the story of how McAfee took the fortune he amassed from his successful software and fled the United States to Belize. A reporter for Wired flies south of the border for what he thinks will be a simple interview with McAfee, but instead gets pulled into the tycoon’s web of paranoia and violence. Imr International will handle foreign sales at Cannes for.
- 5/14/2017
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Three-time Academy Award nominee Johnny Depp is set to star in King Of The Jungle, a dark comedy to be directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa from a script by Golden Globe and Emmy Award winners Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski that is based on a true story first published in Condé Nast’s Wired by Joshua Davis. The film is from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment.
Based on the Wired magazine article “John McAfee’s Last Stand” by Joshua Davis, the film tells the wild true story of rogue tech magnate John McAfee, creator of the McAfee Antivirus software, who cashed-in his fortune, left civilization, and moved to the jungle in Belize. There, he set-up a Colonel Kurtz-like compound of guns, sex and madness. In the film, a Wired magazine investigator accepts what he thinks is a run-of-the-mill assignment to interview McAfee, but once he arrives in Belize,...
Based on the Wired magazine article “John McAfee’s Last Stand” by Joshua Davis, the film tells the wild true story of rogue tech magnate John McAfee, creator of the McAfee Antivirus software, who cashed-in his fortune, left civilization, and moved to the jungle in Belize. There, he set-up a Colonel Kurtz-like compound of guns, sex and madness. In the film, a Wired magazine investigator accepts what he thinks is a run-of-the-mill assignment to interview McAfee, but once he arrives in Belize,...
- 5/14/2017
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Johnny Depp will star in King of the Jungle, a dark comedy based on the true story of John McAfee, creator of the McAfee Antivirus software.
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa will direct from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The project is an adaptation of an article in Wired by Joshua Davis. The film is from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment.
The article, John McAfee’s Last Stand, followed McAfee, who cashed-in his fortune, left civilization and moved to the jungle in Belize. There, he set-up a Colonel Kurtz-like compound of guns, sex...
Glenn Ficarra and John Requa will direct from a script by Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski. The project is an adaptation of an article in Wired by Joshua Davis. The film is from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment.
The article, John McAfee’s Last Stand, followed McAfee, who cashed-in his fortune, left civilization and moved to the jungle in Belize. There, he set-up a Colonel Kurtz-like compound of guns, sex...
- 5/14/2017
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As Deadline first revealed March 27 when the package was first shopped to studios, Johnny Depp will star in King of the Jungle, with Imr International handling foreign sales at Cannes and CAA repping domestic rights. The dark comedy, directed by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, is based on a Wired magazine story about tech magnate John McAfee. King of the Jungle, from Condé Nast Entertainment, Zaftig Films, MadRiver Pictures, and Epic Entertainment, is based on Joshua Davis…...
- 5/14/2017
- Deadline
The Coen Brothers have found their next thriller to pen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Fox has enlisted Joel and Ethan Coen to write a new screenplay for their film “Dark Web,” formerly titled “Silk Road.”
Based on the two-part Wired magazine article by Joshuah Bearman, the project centers on the true story of Ross William Ulbricht, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts, who created the online illegal-drug marketplace called The Silk Road. Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling narcotics and money laundering.
The film was initially set up in 2013, with author Dennis Lehane writing the first draft of the movie.
Read More: ‘Moonlight’ Filmmaker Barry Jenkins Will Write Script For Fact-Based Female Boxer Coming-of-Age Drama
The project is being produced by Peter Chernin, Chernin Entertainment’s Jenno Topping, Joshua Davis and Bearman. At this moment it’s...
Based on the two-part Wired magazine article by Joshuah Bearman, the project centers on the true story of Ross William Ulbricht, also known as Dread Pirate Roberts, who created the online illegal-drug marketplace called The Silk Road. Ulbricht was arrested in 2013 and is currently serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole for selling narcotics and money laundering.
The film was initially set up in 2013, with author Dennis Lehane writing the first draft of the movie.
Read More: ‘Moonlight’ Filmmaker Barry Jenkins Will Write Script For Fact-Based Female Boxer Coming-of-Age Drama
The project is being produced by Peter Chernin, Chernin Entertainment’s Jenno Topping, Joshua Davis and Bearman. At this moment it’s...
- 10/14/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Writer of Argo to produce film about a culturally revealing war between Mexican and American lolly-sellers in Salem, Oregon
Get ready for The Cold War: a movie about rival ice cream truckers in Salem, Oregon.
The film will be co-produced by American Sniper’s Andrew Lazar and by Joshuah Bearman, on whose article the film Argo was based. In 2013, Bearman and journalist Joshua Davis set up Epic Magazine, a digital platform for long-form reportage with the potential for film and TV syndication.
Continue reading...
Get ready for The Cold War: a movie about rival ice cream truckers in Salem, Oregon.
The film will be co-produced by American Sniper’s Andrew Lazar and by Joshuah Bearman, on whose article the film Argo was based. In 2013, Bearman and journalist Joshua Davis set up Epic Magazine, a digital platform for long-form reportage with the potential for film and TV syndication.
Continue reading...
- 7/11/2016
- by Catherine Shoard
- The Guardian - Film News
Salem, Oregon served as the arena for an unusual war fought between 2009 and the early 2010s: a battle for ice-cream-truck supremacy. David Wolman and Julian Smith chronicled the stranger-than-fiction skirmish in an Epic Magazine article written last year, which later inspired an episode of Radiolab. New Line has now picked up the film rights to “The Cold War,” which chronicles the years-long skirmish between rivals Dennis Roeper and Efrain Escobar.
Read More: Movie-Infused Ice Cream
The offbeat story has been described as a turf war that gradually escalated into something more serious — including incidents of tailgating and arson. Epic’s Joshuah Bearman and Joshua Davis are co-producing with Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar. Bearman and Davis are no strangers to the world of film adaptation, as the former wrote an article for Wired called “The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran...
Read More: Movie-Infused Ice Cream
The offbeat story has been described as a turf war that gradually escalated into something more serious — including incidents of tailgating and arson. Epic’s Joshuah Bearman and Joshua Davis are co-producing with Mad Chance’s Andrew Lazar. Bearman and Davis are no strangers to the world of film adaptation, as the former wrote an article for Wired called “The Great Escape: How the CIA Used a Fake Sci-Fi Flick to Rescue Americans from Tehran...
- 7/7/2016
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Chicago – In the latest HollywoodChicago.com Hookup: Film, we have 50 pairs of advance-screening movie passes up for grabs to the new true-story drama “Spare Parts” starring George Lopez and Marisa Tomei!
“Spare Parts,” which opens on Jan. 16, 2015 and is rated “PG-13,” also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega, Esai Morales, Steven Michael Quezada, Stafford Douglas and David Del Rio from director Sean McNamara and writer Elissa Matsueda based on an article by Joshua Davis.
To win your free “Spare Parts” passes courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition!
Preferably, use your computer to enter rather than your smartphone.
“Spare Parts,” which opens on Jan. 16, 2015 and is rated “PG-13,” also stars Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega, Esai Morales, Steven Michael Quezada, Stafford Douglas and David Del Rio from director Sean McNamara and writer Elissa Matsueda based on an article by Joshua Davis.
To win your free “Spare Parts” passes courtesy of HollywoodChicago.com, just get interactive with our social media widget below. That’s it! This screening is on Thursday, Jan. 15, 2015 at 7 p.m. in downtown Chicago. The more social actions you complete, the more points you score and the higher yours odds of winning! Completing these social actions only increases your odds of winning; this doesn’t intensify your competition!
Preferably, use your computer to enter rather than your smartphone.
- 1/13/2015
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Parts Per Nil: McNamara Family Value Aesthetic Lessens Impact of Immigration Issues
As we meander through the opening credits of Sean McNamara’s Spare Parts, we come to the inevitable information announcing that the film is based on a magazine article from Wired by Joshua Davis (who, interestingly, directed a film back in 2000 called West Coast, which has not been released). Significant liberties have been taken to relate the rather inspirational story of four Hispanic (and undocumented) high school students that formed a robotic club and conquered a contest formerly ruled by reigned collegiate MIT students. While McNamara, whose other notable directorial outing was 2011’s family faith-based film Soul Surfer, is always well-meaning with this endeavor and doesn’t lodge into schmaltzy overtones, events and certain realities are unduly softened, as if we were watching a parable about disenfranchised minority teenagers from a slightly more progressive alternate universe.
Oscar Vazquez...
As we meander through the opening credits of Sean McNamara’s Spare Parts, we come to the inevitable information announcing that the film is based on a magazine article from Wired by Joshua Davis (who, interestingly, directed a film back in 2000 called West Coast, which has not been released). Significant liberties have been taken to relate the rather inspirational story of four Hispanic (and undocumented) high school students that formed a robotic club and conquered a contest formerly ruled by reigned collegiate MIT students. While McNamara, whose other notable directorial outing was 2011’s family faith-based film Soul Surfer, is always well-meaning with this endeavor and doesn’t lodge into schmaltzy overtones, events and certain realities are unduly softened, as if we were watching a parable about disenfranchised minority teenagers from a slightly more progressive alternate universe.
Oscar Vazquez...
- 1/12/2015
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
Lionsgate has released the trailer for "Spare Parts" starring George Lopez, Jamie Lee Curtis, Carlos PenaVega, Esai Morales, Jose Julian, David Del Rio, Oscar Gutierrez, Alexa PenaVega, Alessandra Rosaldo and Marisa Tomei.
The film was directed by Sean McNamara based on the Wired Magazine article “La Vida Robot” by Joshua Davis and Screenplay by Elissa Matsueda.
"Spare Parts" is a true life story about four Hispanic high school students who form a robotics club under the leadership of their school’s newest teacher, Fredi (George Lopez). With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country’s reigning robotics champion, MIT. On their journey, they learn not only how to build a robot- they learn to build a bond that will last a lifetime.
Have a look at the trailer below.
"Spare Parts" hits theaters on January 16, 2015.
The film was directed by Sean McNamara based on the Wired Magazine article “La Vida Robot” by Joshua Davis and Screenplay by Elissa Matsueda.
"Spare Parts" is a true life story about four Hispanic high school students who form a robotics club under the leadership of their school’s newest teacher, Fredi (George Lopez). With no experience, 800 bucks, used car parts and a dream, this rag tag team goes up against the country’s reigning robotics champion, MIT. On their journey, they learn not only how to build a robot- they learn to build a bond that will last a lifetime.
Have a look at the trailer below.
"Spare Parts" hits theaters on January 16, 2015.
- 11/10/2014
- by Kellvin Chavez
- LRMonline.com
Though my feelings about the upcoming American remake of Jacques Audiard’s terrific 2009 prison drama A Prophet remain decidedly mixed, news that novelist Dennis Lehane is now attached to write the screenplay for the remake gives me some hope that the film could turn out all right.
After all, Lehane’s writing ability is undeniable; the talented novelist has turned out many terrific crime thrillers throughout his career, including Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone, Baby, Gone. Lehane is also no stranger to screenwriting. His work on season 4 of HBO’s The Wire earned him and the other writers an Edgar Award for Best Television Feature and a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Lehane also served as an executive producer on Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shutter Island and recently reteamed with HBO to write for the currently airing fourth season of Boardwalk Empire.
After it...
After all, Lehane’s writing ability is undeniable; the talented novelist has turned out many terrific crime thrillers throughout his career, including Mystic River, Shutter Island and Gone, Baby, Gone. Lehane is also no stranger to screenwriting. His work on season 4 of HBO’s The Wire earned him and the other writers an Edgar Award for Best Television Feature and a Writers Guild of America Award for Outstanding Dramatic Series. Lehane also served as an executive producer on Martin Scorsese’s adaptation of Shutter Island and recently reteamed with HBO to write for the currently airing fourth season of Boardwalk Empire.
After it...
- 10/29/2013
- by Isaac Feldberg
- We Got This Covered
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