Hilary Swank, Sanaa Lathan, Aaron Paul and Krysten Ritter are set to lend their voices for Audible Originals releasing next year in collaboration with James Patterson Entertainment.
Audible Inc. announced Monday that the stars will narrate three new originals from the author: Zero Tolerance starring Swank, The Justice starring Lathan, and The Coldest Case Season 2 with Paul and Ritter. The three scripted audio drama releases will be available exclusively on Audible.
In Zero Tolerance, Swank will star as Sergeant Jo Barnes whose all-female U.S. Army investigative team is known for solving sex crime cases within the military. After their new mission takes them to the Mojave Desert amid the mysterious disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons — a soldier who accused a comrade of assault — things take a turn when the accused is set free.
The original, co-written by Duane Swierczynski and also starring Christine Ko, Melonie Diaz and a full cast,...
Audible Inc. announced Monday that the stars will narrate three new originals from the author: Zero Tolerance starring Swank, The Justice starring Lathan, and The Coldest Case Season 2 with Paul and Ritter. The three scripted audio drama releases will be available exclusively on Audible.
In Zero Tolerance, Swank will star as Sergeant Jo Barnes whose all-female U.S. Army investigative team is known for solving sex crime cases within the military. After their new mission takes them to the Mojave Desert amid the mysterious disappearance of Private Nichelle Simmons — a soldier who accused a comrade of assault — things take a turn when the accused is set free.
The original, co-written by Duane Swierczynski and also starring Christine Ko, Melonie Diaz and a full cast,...
- 8/14/2023
- by Lexy Perez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Amazon’s MGM division is in final negotiations for worldwide distribution rights to a “Night of the Living Dead” sequel from director Nikyatu Jusu. The follow-up to George Romero’s horror classic will come courtesy of Village Roadshow Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Westbrook, Origin Story and the late Romero’s Sanibel Films.
Presuming the distribution deal comes to pass, the film, penned by “The Walking Dead” scribe Latoya Morgan, will be distributed by MGM as a theatrical release.
Released in 1968, “Night of the Living Dead” is considered one of the most influential and profitable theatrical films ever made. It essentially birthed the modern zombie movie (and the modern MPA ratings system) upon its release and led to decades of rip-offs, homages and zombie-specific media such as “The Walking Dead,” “Resident Evil” and Romero’s own ongoing zombie series like “Dawn of the Dead” in 1978 and “Survival of the Dead” in 2009.
Also...
Presuming the distribution deal comes to pass, the film, penned by “The Walking Dead” scribe Latoya Morgan, will be distributed by MGM as a theatrical release.
Released in 1968, “Night of the Living Dead” is considered one of the most influential and profitable theatrical films ever made. It essentially birthed the modern zombie movie (and the modern MPA ratings system) upon its release and led to decades of rip-offs, homages and zombie-specific media such as “The Walking Dead,” “Resident Evil” and Romero’s own ongoing zombie series like “Dawn of the Dead” in 1978 and “Survival of the Dead” in 2009.
Also...
- 12/15/2022
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
While Greg Nicotero gears up to make a movie about the making of George A. Romero’s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead (watch it Here), Nikyatu Jusu – who recently made her feature directorial debut with the horror film Nanny, which reaches Amazon Prime this Friday (December 16th) – is gearing up to make a sequel to Romero’s film. And now Deadline reports that MGM is in final negotiations to acquire the worldwide distribution rights to Jusu’s Night of the Living Dead sequel. MGM is planning to give the film a theatrical release.
This Night of the Living Dead sequel is coming to us from Romero’s ex-wife Christine Romero, the late George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, Origin Story, Vertigo, and Westbrook Studios. Romero is the creative overseer on the project, producing alongside Village Roadshow’s Jillian Apfelbaum, Nic Gordon, and Tristen Tuckfeld, Origin Story’s Ryan Silbert,...
This Night of the Living Dead sequel is coming to us from Romero’s ex-wife Christine Romero, the late George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, Origin Story, Vertigo, and Westbrook Studios. Romero is the creative overseer on the project, producing alongside Village Roadshow’s Jillian Apfelbaum, Nic Gordon, and Tristen Tuckfeld, Origin Story’s Ryan Silbert,...
- 12/15/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Exclusive: Amazon’s MGM division is in final negotiations to acquire worldwide rights to the Night of the Living Dead sequel that Nikyatu Jusu (Nanny) is directing for Village Roadshow Pictures, Vertigo Entertainment, Westbrook, Origin Story and the late George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films.
While specifics as to the financials haven’t been disclosed, we understand that the deal has emerged from a highly competitive situation. The Walking Dead‘s Latoya Morgan scripted the film we were first to report on, which will be released by MGM theatrically.
Credited with launching the zombie subgenre, as well as the career of horror icon George A. Romero, the original 1968 indie Night of the Living Dead is considered to be one of the most influential and profitable films ever made. While spurring countless other projects over the years in the flesh-eating arena, Romero’s film launched a franchise of its own that...
While specifics as to the financials haven’t been disclosed, we understand that the deal has emerged from a highly competitive situation. The Walking Dead‘s Latoya Morgan scripted the film we were first to report on, which will be released by MGM theatrically.
Credited with launching the zombie subgenre, as well as the career of horror icon George A. Romero, the original 1968 indie Night of the Living Dead is considered to be one of the most influential and profitable films ever made. While spurring countless other projects over the years in the flesh-eating arena, Romero’s film launched a franchise of its own that...
- 12/15/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Since the distributor failed to put a copyright notice on the film, George A. Romero‘s 1968 classic Night of the Living Dead was released directly into the public domain. Because of that, anyone can release it, remake it, sequelize it, profit off of it in any way they want. And many have. So it’s not surprising to hear the announcement that a Night of the Living Dead sequel is in the works. What’s pleasantly surprising is that this one has the official backing of Romero’s ex-wife Christine Romero!
Deadline reports that the Christine Romero-approved sequel is set to be directed by Nikyatu Jusu, who recently made her feature directorial debut with Nanny, which became the first horror film to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for drama at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Jusu will be working from a screenplay written by Latoya Morgan,...
Deadline reports that the Christine Romero-approved sequel is set to be directed by Nikyatu Jusu, who recently made her feature directorial debut with Nanny, which became the first horror film to win the U.S. Grand Jury Prize for drama at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Jusu will be working from a screenplay written by Latoya Morgan,...
- 10/27/2022
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
George Romero’s classic zombie movie “Night of the Living Dead” is getting a sequel, with Village Roadshow Pictures partnering with the late Romero’s production company on a new film to be directed by “Nanny” filmmaker Nikyatu Jusu.
The new “Night of the Living Dead” film will be an expansion of the 1968 original and is being conceived as a potential franchise, though plot details are being kept under wraps. Latoya Morgan of “The Walking Dead” fame is writing the script.
Village Roadshow is putting together the film as a package to be presented to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. They’ll be partnering with Chris Romero and George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, as well as Origin Story, Vertigo and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios.
CAA Media Finance and Village Roadshow Pictures to co-represent U.S. rights. FilmNation is handling international sales and will introduce the project to buyers at AFM.
The new “Night of the Living Dead” film will be an expansion of the 1968 original and is being conceived as a potential franchise, though plot details are being kept under wraps. Latoya Morgan of “The Walking Dead” fame is writing the script.
Village Roadshow is putting together the film as a package to be presented to buyers at the upcoming American Film Market. They’ll be partnering with Chris Romero and George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, as well as Origin Story, Vertigo and Will Smith’s Westbrook Studios.
CAA Media Finance and Village Roadshow Pictures to co-represent U.S. rights. FilmNation is handling international sales and will introduce the project to buyers at AFM.
- 10/27/2022
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
Exclusive: In an American Film Market package coming together that could wake the dead, Village Roadshow Pictures has partnered with Chris Romero and the late George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, Origin Story, Vertigo and Westbrook Studios on what all hope will create a new franchise from Night of the Living Dead.
That is the 1968 Pittsburgh-shot film that godfathered the flesh-eating zombie genre that has nourished Hollywood in countless movies and series like The Walking Dead and its spinoffs. The film will be directed by Nikyatu Jusu and written by Latoya Morgan. They are keeping the logline under wraps, but clearly hungry corpses will be on the menu.
‘Night of the Living Dead’
CAA Media Finance and Village Roadshow Pictures will co-rep U.S. rights, and FilmNation is handling international rights and will introduce the project to buyers at AFM.
Nikyatu Jusu last month at Toronto
Jusu earlier this year...
That is the 1968 Pittsburgh-shot film that godfathered the flesh-eating zombie genre that has nourished Hollywood in countless movies and series like The Walking Dead and its spinoffs. The film will be directed by Nikyatu Jusu and written by Latoya Morgan. They are keeping the logline under wraps, but clearly hungry corpses will be on the menu.
‘Night of the Living Dead’
CAA Media Finance and Village Roadshow Pictures will co-rep U.S. rights, and FilmNation is handling international rights and will introduce the project to buyers at AFM.
Nikyatu Jusu last month at Toronto
Jusu earlier this year...
- 10/26/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The graphic novel Alliances: Orphans, written by Stan Lee, Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert, will be showcased at a panel today at 5:30pm Pt at San Diego Comic-Con’s “Special Edition.”
Lieberman, Silbert and artist Bill Sienkiewicz will be on hand to discuss Alliances: Orphans and provide a first look. Alliances: Orphans is the first original graphic novel in the expanding Stan Lee Alliances universe, and is the first story to be written by Alliances co-creators Silbert and Lieberman. Alliances; Orphans features a prologue co-written by Stan Lee.
Sienkiewicz did the cover art and first chapter for the graphic novel.
Artist Szymon Kudranski illustrates the Alliances: Orphans original material written by Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert, all set in the Alliances Universe.
Alliances: Orphans will be published by Dynamite Entertainment (“The Boys”) under the Figment imprint from Ryan Silbert’s Origin Story and Luke Lieberman’ Magik Doom.
Dynamite was...
Lieberman, Silbert and artist Bill Sienkiewicz will be on hand to discuss Alliances: Orphans and provide a first look. Alliances: Orphans is the first original graphic novel in the expanding Stan Lee Alliances universe, and is the first story to be written by Alliances co-creators Silbert and Lieberman. Alliances; Orphans features a prologue co-written by Stan Lee.
Sienkiewicz did the cover art and first chapter for the graphic novel.
Artist Szymon Kudranski illustrates the Alliances: Orphans original material written by Luke Lieberman and Ryan Silbert, all set in the Alliances Universe.
Alliances: Orphans will be published by Dynamite Entertainment (“The Boys”) under the Figment imprint from Ryan Silbert’s Origin Story and Luke Lieberman’ Magik Doom.
Dynamite was...
- 11/27/2021
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
‘You Were Never Really Here’ and ‘We Need To Talk About Kevin’ filmmaker Lynne Ramsey has jumped on board the adaptation of Stephen King’s ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’.
The 1999 novel follows a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the girl winds up stumbling through the woods for days, wandering farther and farther from civilization even as she tries to make her way back home. As she walks, dehydration, hunger and exhaustion cause her to hallucinate, causing her to talk to her idol, a baseball player named Tom Gordon. But she also begins to believe that she’s being stalked by a supernatural beast, and soon her ordeal becomes a test of both her sanity and her ability to fight for her life.
Famed horror filmmaker George A. Romero...
The 1999 novel follows a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the girl winds up stumbling through the woods for days, wandering farther and farther from civilization even as she tries to make her way back home. As she walks, dehydration, hunger and exhaustion cause her to hallucinate, causing her to talk to her idol, a baseball player named Tom Gordon. But she also begins to believe that she’s being stalked by a supernatural beast, and soon her ordeal becomes a test of both her sanity and her ability to fight for her life.
Famed horror filmmaker George A. Romero...
- 11/17/2020
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Lynne Ramsay, the auteur behind “We Need to Talk About Kevin” and Joaquin Phoenix’s “You Were Never Really Here,” is set to direct an adaptation of a Stephen King novel, “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,” an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.
The adaptation is set up at Village Roadshow Pictures. Ramsay also wrote the screenplay adaptation with Christy Hall, who created the Netflix series “I Am Not Okay With This.”
“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” is a psychological horror story about a nine-year-old girl who gets lost in the woods on a hiking trip with her family. After wandering alone and scared for days, she begins to hallucinate and imagines that she’s talking with her heartthrob, a baseball player named Tom Gordon. Only later does she begin to suspect that a supernatural beast is pursuing her as she tries to find her way back to civilization.
The adaptation is set up at Village Roadshow Pictures. Ramsay also wrote the screenplay adaptation with Christy Hall, who created the Netflix series “I Am Not Okay With This.”
“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” is a psychological horror story about a nine-year-old girl who gets lost in the woods on a hiking trip with her family. After wandering alone and scared for days, she begins to hallucinate and imagines that she’s talking with her heartthrob, a baseball player named Tom Gordon. Only later does she begin to suspect that a supernatural beast is pursuing her as she tries to find her way back to civilization.
- 11/16/2020
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Lynne Ramsay, whose hallucinatory films often have a genre edge, is making her first official foray into horror with an adaptation of Stephen King’s 1999 cult novel “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.” Ramsay will direct the film from a script she co-wrote with Christy Hall, co-creator of the Netflix series “I Am Not Okay With This.” Production is set to commence sometime next year, with Village Roadshow Pictures backing the project. “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” carries an impressive horror pedigree, as the producers include Christine Romero, the former wife of the late George A. Romero, and “It” producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films.
For those who haven’t read King’s chilling novel, here’s the official synopsis from the horror author’s website: “Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail.
For those who haven’t read King’s chilling novel, here’s the official synopsis from the horror author’s website: “Nine-year-old Trisha McFarland strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail.
- 11/16/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Scottish filmmaker Lynne Ramsay has been tapped to direct The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, the film adaptation to the 1999 psychological horror novel by Stephen King, which is set up at Village Roadshow Pictures.
Ramsay, who wrote and directed the Joaquin Phoenix-starring drama, You Were Never Really Here, also penned the screenplay for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon with Christy Hall.
The story centers on 12-year-old Trisha McFarland who strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, she listens to baseball games and fantasizes that her hero will save her. Nature isn’t her only adversary, though – something dangerous may be tracking Trisha through the dark woods.
Ramsay, who wrote and directed the Joaquin Phoenix-starring drama, You Were Never Really Here, also penned the screenplay for The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon with Christy Hall.
The story centers on 12-year-old Trisha McFarland who strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher, she listens to baseball games and fantasizes that her hero will save her. Nature isn’t her only adversary, though – something dangerous may be tracking Trisha through the dark woods.
- 11/16/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Lynne Ramsay, who last directed the acclaimed thriller You Were Never Really Here, has come aboard to direct The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Village Roadshow Pictures’ adaptation of the Stephen King novel.
Christine Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is producing with It producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story and Jon Berg through Stampede Ventures.
Published in 1999, Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the ...
Christine Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is producing with It producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story and Jon Berg through Stampede Ventures.
Published in 1999, Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the ...
- 11/16/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Lynne Ramsay, who last directed the acclaimed thriller You Were Never Really Here, has come aboard to direct The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, Village Roadshow Pictures’ adaptation of the Stephen King novel.
Christine Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is producing with It producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story and Jon Berg through Stampede Ventures.
Published in 1999, Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the ...
Christine Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is producing with It producer Roy Lee of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story and Jon Berg through Stampede Ventures.
Published in 1999, Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the ...
- 11/16/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Exclusive: Village Roadshow Pictures has optioned Stephen King’s psychological horror novel, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, which will be adapted for the screen by Christy Hall, the co-creator and executive producer of the Netflix series, I Am Not Okay With This.
Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures is producing the project alongside It Chapter Two and Doctor Sleep producer Roy Lee of Vertigo, Christine Romero, the former wife of the late George Romero who is best known for the Living Dead films, and Origin Story’s Ryan Silbert.
Originally published in 1999, the book follows 12-year-old Trisha McFarland who strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher,...
Jon Berg of Stampede Ventures is producing the project alongside It Chapter Two and Doctor Sleep producer Roy Lee of Vertigo, Christine Romero, the former wife of the late George Romero who is best known for the Living Dead films, and Origin Story’s Ryan Silbert.
Originally published in 1999, the book follows 12-year-old Trisha McFarland who strays from the path while she and her recently divorced mother and brother take a hike along a branch of the Appalachian Trail. Lost for days, wandering farther and farther astray, Trisha has only her portable radio for comfort. A huge fan of Tom Gordon, a Boston Red Sox relief pitcher,...
- 4/30/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
John Saavedra Aug 23, 2019
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is getting the movie treatment. What Stephen King story isn't these days?
The Stephen King movie renaissance will continue with an adaptation of the writer's 1999 novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. The project is still in its early days, according to THR, and the search for a writer to pen the script is underway.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon tells the surprisingly uplifting story of a 9-year-old girl named Trisha who is lost in the woods after straying from her mother and brother during a hiking trip. Forced to survive on her own, Trisha is inspired by her favorite baseball player, former Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon, to face off against the God of the Lost, an evil entity which she believes is hunting her. Needless to say, fans of the It movies' resourceful young heroes, the Losers' Club,...
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is getting the movie treatment. What Stephen King story isn't these days?
The Stephen King movie renaissance will continue with an adaptation of the writer's 1999 novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. The project is still in its early days, according to THR, and the search for a writer to pen the script is underway.
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon tells the surprisingly uplifting story of a 9-year-old girl named Trisha who is lost in the woods after straying from her mother and brother during a hiking trip. Forced to survive on her own, Trisha is inspired by her favorite baseball player, former Red Sox pitcher Tom Gordon, to face off against the God of the Lost, an evil entity which she believes is hunting her. Needless to say, fans of the It movies' resourceful young heroes, the Losers' Club,...
- 8/23/2019
- Den of Geek
In today’s film news roundup, a Stephen King horror movie is in the works, “Downton Abbey” is seeing strong sales and a project about Revolutionary War soldier Deborah Sampson is in development.
King Adaptation
Stephen King’s “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” has been set up as a movie at George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, Vertigo Entertainment and Origin Story.
Vertigo partners Roy Lee and Jon Berg will produce the film alongside Chris Romero and Ryan Silbert. Andrew Childs will executive produce.
“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,” published in 1999 and tells the story of a 9-year-old girl who gets lost on the Appalachian Trail. As she stumbles through the woods for nine days, she wanders farther and farther from civilization as she tries to make her way back home. The late George Romero had been developing the movie more than a decade ago.
“I’m thrilled...
King Adaptation
Stephen King’s “The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon” has been set up as a movie at George A. Romero’s Sanibel Films, Vertigo Entertainment and Origin Story.
Vertigo partners Roy Lee and Jon Berg will produce the film alongside Chris Romero and Ryan Silbert. Andrew Childs will executive produce.
“The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon,” published in 1999 and tells the story of a 9-year-old girl who gets lost on the Appalachian Trail. As she stumbles through the woods for nine days, she wanders farther and farther from civilization as she tries to make her way back home. The late George Romero had been developing the movie more than a decade ago.
“I’m thrilled...
- 8/22/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
I’ve been wondering when Hollywood would get around to adapting the Stephen King novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon. This is actually a story I would have loved to adapt. It’s such a great story and it’s being developed by the producers of the It films, so it seems like it’s in good hands.
If you’re not familiar with the story, here’s a description for you:
Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her recently divorced mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the girl winds up stumbling through the woods for nine days, wandering farther and farther from civilization even as she tries to make her way back home. As she walks, dehydration, hunger and exhaustion cause her to hallucinate, talking to several people, including her idol,...
If you’re not familiar with the story, here’s a description for you:
Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her recently divorced mother and brother in the woods. Nine years old and scared of the dark, the girl winds up stumbling through the woods for nine days, wandering farther and farther from civilization even as she tries to make her way back home. As she walks, dehydration, hunger and exhaustion cause her to hallucinate, talking to several people, including her idol,...
- 8/21/2019
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Stephen King’s novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is heading to the screen.
Chris Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is teaming with It producer Roy Lee and Jon Berg of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story to produce a film adaptation of the 1999 novel.
The move happens under the looming shadow of the opening of It Chapter Two, the highly anticipated sequel to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.
Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her recently divorced mother and brother in ...
Chris Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is teaming with It producer Roy Lee and Jon Berg of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story to produce a film adaptation of the 1999 novel.
The move happens under the looming shadow of the opening of It Chapter Two, the highly anticipated sequel to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.
Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her recently divorced mother and brother in ...
- 8/21/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Stephen King’s novel The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is heading to the screen.
Chris Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is teaming with It producer Roy Lee and Jon Berg of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story to produce a film adaptation of the 1999 novel.
The move happens under the looming shadow of the opening of It Chapter Two, the highly anticipated sequel to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.
Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her recently divorced mother and brother in ...
Chris Romero, the former wife of late horror filmmaker George A. Romero, is teaming with It producer Roy Lee and Jon Berg of Vertigo Films as well as Ryan Silbert of Origin Story to produce a film adaptation of the 1999 novel.
The move happens under the looming shadow of the opening of It Chapter Two, the highly anticipated sequel to the highest-grossing horror movie of all time.
Tom Gordon tells of a young girl named Trisha McFarland who gets lost while hiking with her recently divorced mother and brother in ...
- 8/21/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The late, great Stan Lee is known for pretty much being the grandfather of comics, as he is the creator of so many of our favorite superheroes. But he had his hand in even more projects than we even knew of. One of the final projects Lee created before he passed away was Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light, an audio drama that is set to be released on Audible this June!
Read the press release below with the description of this cool story, and then watch/listen to the trailer below that. It’s pretty awesome to still be able to hear Stan Lee’s voice, hear his stories, and see him in the movies that are continuing to come out. I know they will run out at some point, but he gave us so much to look forward to even after his passing. He was such a cool guy.
Read the press release below with the description of this cool story, and then watch/listen to the trailer below that. It’s pretty awesome to still be able to hear Stan Lee’s voice, hear his stories, and see him in the movies that are continuing to come out. I know they will run out at some point, but he gave us so much to look forward to even after his passing. He was such a cool guy.
- 4/26/2019
- by Jessica Fisher
- GeekTyrant
One of Stan Lee's final creations is coming to life at last. The late comic book legend spent years developing a universe featuring dozens of characters, and now the first chapter is set to debut as an audio drama this summer.
Audible will release Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light on June 27. The Hollywood Reporter has the first trailer, which, like the actual audio drama, includes an introduction Lee recorded before his death in November 2018.
Lee created the universe with Ryan Silbert and Luke Lieberman, the latter of whom has fond memories of joining Lee for ...
Audible will release Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light on June 27. The Hollywood Reporter has the first trailer, which, like the actual audio drama, includes an introduction Lee recorded before his death in November 2018.
Lee created the universe with Ryan Silbert and Luke Lieberman, the latter of whom has fond memories of joining Lee for ...
- 4/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One of Stan Lee's final creations is coming to life at last. The late comic book legend spent years developing a universe featuring dozens of characters, and now the first chapter is set to debut as an audio drama this summer.
Audible will release Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light on June 27. The Hollywood Reporter has the first trailer, which, like the actual audio drama, includes an introduction Lee recorded before his death in November 2018.
Lee created the universe with Ryan Silbert and Luke Lieberman, the latter of whom has fond memories of joining Lee for ...
Audible will release Stan Lee's Alliances: A Trick of Light on June 27. The Hollywood Reporter has the first trailer, which, like the actual audio drama, includes an introduction Lee recorded before his death in November 2018.
Lee created the universe with Ryan Silbert and Luke Lieberman, the latter of whom has fond memories of joining Lee for ...
- 4/25/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
The Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) has been in the making for several years and in September its debut took place at the 2015 trinidad+tobago film festival (ttff) . Bruce Paddington, a filmmaker himself as well as an academic and the Founder and Director of the Festival, along with Annebelle Alcazar, Jonathan Ali and Nneka Luke, and spearheading the Cfm and the Caribbean Film Database (Cfdb) , Emilie Upczak and Melanie Archer, have created an A level event which after 10 years now encompasses three important aspects of film beyond the showcasing of the Caribbean and international docs and fiction films: filmmaking, film marketing and film education which this year included an academic symposium through the University of the West Indies, a Youth Jury of young people from 16 to 21 and sold out matinees for school children.
Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.
For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.
This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.
The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.
“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.
The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.
The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.
The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.
Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.
The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:
1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.
Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.
“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.
This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.
Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.
2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.
The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.
Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.
Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.
The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.
3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.
This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.
In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.
“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”
The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.
4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).
This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.
5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.
Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.
In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.
Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011
Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)
Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:
filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/
Watch the short Here.
6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.
What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.
Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”
http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida
7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.
The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.
8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.
http://www.miquelgalofre.com .
You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice
9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.
The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.
10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.
The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.
11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.
12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.
Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.
13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.
It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.
14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.
Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.
The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.
The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.
Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.
15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.
Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.
They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.
Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.
Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer
Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171
Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include
16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.
“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.
17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.
The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.
18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.
This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.
19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams
“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“
“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.
“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”
The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.
Cfm envisages the Caribbean -- home to the most genetically variegated people of the world -- as a whole whose varied stories will go out into the larger world (much like the Trinis themselves). Coming from islands which remind us of those planets described in Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry ), the Caribbeanos gathered here in Trinidad to receive coaching and positive feedback to extend their reach into the rest of world. Our world, still divided along colonial and post-colonial color and class lines needs this idealistic and inspiring vision.
For more coverage of the event, Lisa Harewood, a Barbados filmmaker, has written about the event in Shadow and Act.
This year 15 feature film projects from 10 countries were pitched and discussed at the inaugural Caribbean Film Mart (Cfm) in parallel with an academic symposium of university professors presenting on films, festivals and markets at the Hyatt Hotel. The unique mix of academics and professionals with upcoming filmmakers was vibrant, alive and upbeat, and we hope it continues to grow even though the financing from Acp Cultures which made this event possible may not continue to lend its support.
The 11 fiction feature projects and four doc projects (out of 100 submissions) selected from Guadaloupe, Cuba, Curaçao, Guyana, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Barbados, Dominican Republic and The Bahamas in development and pre-production were discussed over three days with 30 international film producers, sales agents and film funds coming from diverse countries in the Caribbean, Europe and North America.
The meetings resulted in professional relationships and partnerships that will enable the production and distribution of the participating projects going forward.
“We are pleased that a number of the projects are from ttff alumni, some of whom have gone through our Rbc Focus: Filmmakers’ Immersion, and others the Eave Producers’ training initiative which took place at ttff/14,” said Emilie Upczak, ttff Creative Director.
The selected projects were selected by the ttff, the Global Foundation of Democracy and Development from the Dominican Republic, the Association for the Development of Art Cinema and Practice from Guadeloupe, the Foundation of New Latin American Cinema in Cuba, and the Regional and International Festival of Cinema of Guadeloupe.
The project is co-financed by the Acp Cultures+ Program (Acp Group of States), funded by the European Union ( European Development Fund), and implemented by the Acp Group of States.
The projects were all most interesting visualized stories, and the filmmakers themselves, whether just beginning or with one or two features already under their belts, were all well prepared and professionally aligned with the more seasoned professionals in their objectives. Every one of the selected projects holds a promise of unique enchantments.
Jan Miller the international consultant and trainer specializing in film and television coproduction and coventuring who started Transatlantic Partners after she established Atlantic Partners, part of the Atlantic Film Festival in Nova Scotia, and who has delivered one of the top pitching and content development events for 20 years created a substantive and fun environment intensely devoted to the filmmakers.
The winner of the 15 selected Cfm projects was:
1. "Kidnapping Inc.” a fiction feature from Haiti to be directed by Bruno Mourral and produced by Gaethan Chancy and Remi Grelletty who both produced “Moloch Tropical” and “Murder in Pacot” and Raoul Peck the award winning director who has also produced five features and four docs.
Read more about Raoul Peck and his current production “The Young Karl Marx” on Shadow and Act.
“Kidnapping Inc.” has Canal + Antilles as a coproducer as well as private equity. They are still seeking other coproduction partners.
This twisted, dark comedy is about two delivery men working for an underground kidnapping corporation in Haiti. Doc and Zoe are scheduled to deliver a senator’s son worth $300,000. In the midst of their usual bickering, one kills the senator’s son accidentally. Trying to fix the mess they find themselves in, they stumble upon the senator’s son’s lookalike, which sets them on the craziest kidnapping of their lives.
Bruno Mourral is interested in developing the industry in Haiti as well as making movies. He says, “’Kidnapping Inc. is a dark comedy and satire of Haitian society waltzing between ‘City of God’ and ‘Pulp Fiction’. This film depicts the raw complexity and Haiti’s harsh day-to-day and pushes the viewer towards a better understanding of social issues such as color, sexism, machismo, social class discrimination and identity.
2. “The Dragon” is a fictional story from Trinidad and Tobago based upon the novel by the world renowned (but little known in the U.S.) Earl Lovelace and to be directed by his daughter Asha Lovelace. Having read the novel I can say that this story of a Trinidad community of African descendants which has inherited traits cultivated under slavery is immediately riveting. It brings another view of the radical political actions we in the U.S. witnessed in the 70s. Moreover, a musical composition written by a Trini composer who read the novel and was so enamored that he freely and without asking composed an entire opus makes this immediately into a transmedia project which is accessible and exploitable. The novel, the musical opus, and what I hope to see -- the movie -- all tell a tale of a people we can identify with but have never seen like this.
The book is a masterpiece and brings to mind “Black Orpheus” with its setting in the poverty-stricken Calvary Hill whose inhabitants’ lives are centered in the yearly Carnival. It also brings to mind John Steinbeck’s stories with struggling characters in the Salinas Valley.
Director Asha Lovelace’s debut short “George and the Bicycle Pump” premiered at Toronto International Film Festival. She co-wrote, produced and directed her first feature “Joebell and America” which screened at several film festivals and won for Best International Narrative Feature Film at the Women’s International Film Festival in Miami in 2008. She lectures on film at the University of the West Indies, founded and is festival director of Africa Film Trinidad and Tobago, a film festival dedicated to African cinema.
Producer Lesley-Anne Macfarlane has worked in the audio-visual industry in U.K. and Trinidad, graduated with an Ma in Cultural Policy and Management from City University, London and has produced several short films and music videos.
The story centers on Aldrick whose sole responsibility in life is to his dragon masquerade that he plays for Carnival. When he finds himself falling for Sylvia, the most desired young woman on the hill, he is unable to commit to her and she succumbs to the advances of an older man. This plummets Aldrick into a moment of blind rebellion that ends in tragedy and forces him to confront his role as dragon and man.
3. “ Sprinter” from Jamaica will be directed by Storm Saulter whose well-received first feature, the 2010 crime drama “Better Mus’ Come” received U.S. distribution through Ava du Vernay’s Affrm. It is being produced by Donald Ranvaud (“City of God”) who is well known and well loved on the international film circuit.
This fictional feature is set against the world of track and field – an area in which Jamaica has excelled for decades – and addresses urgent and poignant broader themes. “Those images of Rastas smoking ganja on the beach or the gunman from Kingston – it isn’t who we are,” Saulter told Jeremy Kay in a Screen interview.
In his interview with Screen, Jeremy also asked what has it been like pitching to dozens of people here.
“You kind of have to get to the soul of the thing and you see what people respond to. This is about meeting with people that can help with financing and also potentially sales agents and exploring co-production possibilities. Jamaica does not have a treaty with the U.S .but we have treaties with the U.K. and Canada. It’s this whole puzzle you have to put together. The responses have been positive.”
The film is about Akeem, a young Rastafarian, who surprisingly shatters the 200-metre high-school track record. He must make the national team tocompete at the World Youth Championships in Philadelphia if he wants a chance to reunite with his mother who has been living there illegally for ten years. Akeem’s overnight popularity and the sudden return of his estranged older brother disrupt his focus. Meanwhile, a scandal is brewing that threatens to derail his career before it’s even started.
4. “ Beauty Kingdom ” is a Dominican Republic project to be directed by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas who will also produce along with Mónica De Moya. Guzmán and Cárdenas also worked together on "Sand Dollars" (2014) which premiered at Tiff in 2014, "Jean Gentil" (2010) which premiered in Venice in 2010 and "Cochochi" (2007).
This fictional feature takes place in a magical place in the Caribbean and is about the most expensive film of all time which is about to be shot. The Diva, a 70-year-old eccentric actress (played by Geraldine Chaplin), has arrived to star in the film. She finds herself surrounded by the absurdity that such a film production implies, as she rigorously prepares for her role. All the while, she senses the impending end of the world. Nevertheless, the film must go on.
5. “Doubles With Slight Pepper” is a fiction feature coproduction of Trinidad and Tobago and the U.S. to be directed by Ian Harnarine, produced by Ryan Silbert and exec produced by Spike Lee.
Ian Harnarine , a Trinidadian living in Canada has already won numerous awards for the short that this feature is based upon and has been working on this feature for several years. The film will go into production in Trinidad in November.
In Lisa Harewood’s interview for Shadow and Act , Ian said, "The Caribbean Film Mart was incredibly important in opening up the world (literally!) to the project. To meet face to face with people from Sundance Institute, Tribeca Film Institute, Norwegian South Film Fund, World Cinema Support etc makes the opportunities available to me very real."
Dhani, a young Trinidadian street vendor, struggles to support himself and his mother by selling doubles. When his estranged father, Ragbir, unexpectedly invites him to New York, Dhani must travel to America and decide if he will save his father’s life.
Best Short Film at the Toronto International Film Festival 2011
Best Live Action Short Drama at the Genie Awards 2012 (the Canadian Academy Awards)
Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film:
filmmakermagazine.com/news/people/ian-harnarine/
Watch the short Here.
6. “The Extraordinary Journey of Celeste Garcia” from Cuba will be the first fiction feature to be directed by Arturo Infante. His shorts have shown at home and abroad and have won several awards and he has written several produced scripts such as “Havana Eva” and “L’edad de la peseta”, films which Cuban film fans all know well. His producers,Claudia Calviño and Alejandro Tovar are two of Cuba’s top young producers whose film “Juan of the Dead” is Cuba’s most current best selling satire. Like that, this story highlights characters who must react to a surreal situation in an already slightly surreal country called Cuba.
Celeste is in her sixties and sells tickets at a planetarium. The discovery of an alien race shocks the world. Humans will send a spaceship carrying regular citizens to make contact with the alien civilization. Tired of her monotonous life, Celeste decides to apply for a spot on the ship and embark into the unknown.
What Celeste and the rest of the passengers on the ship seek in another galaxy is the Cuban dream of a better life.
Arturo speaks of his interest in characters, both real and as actors. “Growing up in a family with many women made me develop a special ‘ear’ towards the feminine. I spent my childhood in an old colonial-style house, hearing the voices of my mother, my grandmothers, aunts and neighbors. They all talking from one side to another, sharing their stories, dreams and secrets, but also their visions about the reality and politics of my country. That’s why I think the main character in my story must necessarily be a woman. I realize now that Celeste embodies all those voices of my childhood. Celeste’s character also represents my parents’ generation. A generation that gave their best years to build a utopian project that was diverted into paths that were not exactly the ones they dreamed of. A generation now marked by disenchantment and skepticism, a process of which I have been a constant witness. With my story I want to give Celeste a chance to travel to a new planet, the opportunity to see the rebirth of those fallen dreams of her youth.”
http://www.facebook.com/produccionesdela5taavenida
7. “The Fisherman’s Son” from Puerto Rico and Colombia will be directed by Edgar Deluque. Producer Annabelle Mullen from PR is a former entertainment attorney with several credits to her name. She presented this project about a transsexual running away from the city to his childhood home at a fishermen’s island after murdering a policeman. He must face his father whom he hasn’t seen in fifteen years and who doesn’t want anything to do with his transsexual child.
The writer-director, Edgar Deluque, is an emerging talent from Colombia.
8. “Hello Nicki” from Trinidad and Tobago will be directed by Miquel Galofré whose previous moving doc about songwriters who were in prison in Kingston, Jamaica, “Songs of Redemption”, showed at various festivals including Havana and Krakow. Aside from this Miquel has made six other feature docs This doc, produced by Jean Michel Gibert whose sequel to “Pan! Our Music Odyssey” called “ Re-Percussions! Our African Odyssey ” just won the award for Best Trinidad and Tobago Documentary Feature Film at ttff.
This documentary follows Shanice, a teenage girl from Trinidad, as she seeks to actualize her grand dream of making music and collaborating with Nicki Minaj, a Trinidadian born American rapper – the most popular musical personage in the world today. Shanice is a spirited soul living with cerebral palsy and has a unique way of viewing the world. She is keenly aware of the isolation her appearance has caused, but her personality remains bright, upbeat and hopeful.
http://www.miquelgalofre.com .
You can meet Shanice here: https://vimeo.com/136969025 Password: Shanice
9. “Papa Machete” from Haiti, Barbados and U.S. to be directed by Jonathan David Kane is based upon the short which screened at ttff. The producers, Jason Fitzroy Jeffers and Keisha Rae Witherspoon were discussing the doc as well as the fiction feature to be made. Many of the people they spoke with, including myself, thought the fiction feature would be more accessible, though perhaps a TV doc would also be possible with the footage they have made the 10 minute short with.
The story is fascinating as the machete was used as a weapon 200 years ago when Haitian slaves defeated Napoleon’s armies with the very tool they used to work the land. Papa Machete explores the esoteric martial art that emerged from this victory through the life and recent death of Alfred Avril, a poor farmer who was one of the art’s few remaining masters. With his passing, Avril’s two sons are confronted with loss, legacy and American dreams.
10. “Wind Rush” is conceived as a doc coproduction between Trinidad and Tobago and U.S. director-writer-producer Vashti Harrison lives in Atlanta, Geogia. Her parents are Trinis and she has a great love for Trinidad and its music. This is an experimental doc about Calypso music which serves a significant role in the Caribbean emigrant experience in London, which began in earnest in the 1950s. Calypso was the music of the minority, the voice of the other, and it helped to define the West Indian identity in England. Using the music of calypsonians Lord Beginner and Lord Kitchener as a road map to this journey of discovery and displacement, the film will focus on their homes both in Trinidad and London.
The criticism she received was about obtaining music clearances in U.K. when she herself is not a U.K. resident or citizen. Perhaps she needs to find a U.K. producer who can also access U.K. Funds. Her experimental films and docs have shown around the world at Rotterdam, Edinburgh, N.Y. and Havana Film Festivals. All of her work focuses into her Caribbean heritage and is quite evocative, artistic and well executed.
11. “Conch” from Curaçao will be directed and produced by German Gruber whose first film, urban drama, “Sensei Redenshon” was completed in 2013 and will be released in the Netherlands this fall. This fiction feature about the natural side of Curaçao is a road movie about a young boy who runs away from home after the loss of his mother. Searching for the message that he saw her whisper into a conch shell the night before her death, he seeks clues from the characters he meets along his desolate journey. Between nightmares of drowning and daydreams of becoming a musician, he eventually confronts his fear of the sea to find the answer.
12. “Green Days by the River” is a fiction feature set against the backdrop of rural Trinidad in 1952. A fifteen-year-old boy who has just moved to a village naively seeks the affection of two girls, an attractive rich Indian girl, and a more personable and accessible one. The ensuing triangle forces him to focus on becoming a man as he must make life enduring decisions.
Director Michael Mooleedhar has made several award winning shorts.Producer Christian James graduated in 2014 with an Mfa in Cretive Producing from Columbia College Chicago, has interned with K5 International during 2014 Cannes and participated in the 2015 Rotterdam Film Festival Lab.
13. “Potomitans : Women Pillars in Revolt” , a doc project from Guadeloupe will be directed by Bouchera Azzouz whose first documentary, “Nos Meres nos daronnes” (“Our Mothers”) aired this year on France 2 (France Televisions) and was one of its biggest audience hits. This is her second work on popular feminism. Producer Nina Vilus' short "Vivre” has won awards and their “Villa Karayib”, a 3 minute 30 second series with 140 episodes aired on Canal + Antilles. Laurence Lascary is coproducing.
This film is an exploratory journey into the heart of the everyday life of five Guadeloupean women who are considered “potomitans”, women who assume professional and familial responsibilities without the help of a man. Everything rests on the courage of these women, who are trying to emancipate themselves by claiming a new way of being a woman.
It is an Art & Vision Productions, De l’autre cote du periph (Dacp) and Canal + Antilles coproduction which Canal + will broadcast in the French Caribbean. 37% of the financing is secured through the Guadeloupe regional council, Agence national pour la cohesion social et l’egalite des chances (Asce), Ministry of French overseas territories. Apcag network of theaters in Guadeloupe, Martinique and French Guyana along with Aubervilliers Theater in France will premiere the film.
14. “The Seawall” is a fiction project to be coproduced by Guyana and U.S.
Director Mason Richards says, “My intention for ‘The Seawall’ is to create a dramatic narrative set in Guyana, South America with simple characters navigating through complex issues within the Caribbean cultural context. It is also my intention to make a film that seeks to reconcile our Caribbean and non-Caribbean identities through the journey of my protagonist who returnes “home” to Guyana and is confronted with issues of his past that he has suppressed. The story needs to be told because many of us from the Caribbean diaspora struggle with “trans-national” identities, meaning we are from the Caribbean, however we’ve immigrated to other countries like the U.S. where we’ve adapted to a new dominant culture and way of life. With tht, there is a feeling of “dis-connect” as though we have left something behind, back “home” in the Caribbean, whether it’s family members, our cultural identity, or simply our childhood memories. It is also my intention to make an entertaining, quality film that highlights the beauty of the Caribbean through the stories and hearts of the characters.
The fiscal partner of this project is Frog (Friends and Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of Guyana), Verisimiltude in New York City. The executive producer C.R. Wooten has exec produced several film projects for TV and HBO and exec produced the short film, “The Seawall”.
The writer-director, Mason Richards, is an alumnus of Film Independent’s Project Involve, a recipient of Sony Pictures Diversity Fellowship 2012, winner of The Ainslie Alumni Achievement Award 2011 and Guyana’s 46th Independence Golden Arrowhead Award.
Producer Sohini Sengupta is an award-winning of creative director of theatrical campaigns, including “Birdman”, “12 Years a Slave”, “Beasts of the Southern Wild”, “Black Swan” and “Slumdog Millionaire”. She is a production team member of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles and was named one of Glamour Magazine’s 35 under 35 Women Who Run Hollywood.
Malachi, a struggling young writer in Brooklyn, learns of his girlfriend’s pregnancy and returns to his birth country, Guyana, to sell off his inheritance. In Guyana, Malachi ends up confronting his estranged father who abandoned him as a child. Malachi gets closure, and makes decisions about the kind of father he would be to his unborn child.
15. “Epiphany” by Maria Govan who is a self-taught filmmaker from the island of New Providence in The Bahamas. When she was 18 she moved to L.A. and worked for four years on Hollywood sets. In 1999 she returned home, bought a digital camera and began making small guerilla-style local documentaries. In 2004 she moved to New York and began writing her first narrative script “Rain” which premiered in 2008 at the Toronto International Film Festival, won several awards and aired on Showtime to a strong audience response. Her second film “Play the Devil” was shot entirely in Trinidad in the spring of 2015 and she hopes it will premiere in the winter of 2016.
Producer Abigail Hadeed has worked with Caribbean crews on big budget commercials. She worked on the short “4am” in 2011 which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festval. In 2012 she produced an award winning feature doc “La Giata” and produced “Play the Devil” with Maria.
They are looking for coproducers and can offer a 35% rebate on Trinidadian spend with a 50% rebate on roles in key positions for films shot in Trinidad. Exterior and ocean environments can be shot in the Bahamas.
Set in the Bahamas — Mary, a loner with a passion for spear fishing and the sea, is forced to give up her room to her overbearing cousin’s girlfriend, an “illegal” colorful Cuban named Gabriel. When a love triangle develops and George realizes he’s been betrayed, the women are forced into the dark terrain of human smuggling.
Links to “Rain” (director’s previous work): Trailer
Link to Maria Govan’s Show Reel: https://vimeo.com/35611171
Other films in the program but exceeding the official number of 15 include
16. “Cargo” from The Bahamas, a fiction feature based upon the short film of Kareem Mortimer. Producer Trevite Willis has produced several films including the Lgbt feather “Children of God” with Kareem directing. Producer Alexander Younis now has a doc, “Brigidy Bram ” in post-production.
“Cargo”, based upon Kareem’s short “Passage”, is about a Bahamian fisherman whose life is slowly unraveling. After wasting his remaining money at a gambling house, he is approached by a security guard who suggests that Kevin supplement his income by using his vessel as a means to transport people illegally into the United States. Kevin leads scores of migrants on a treacherous, unsettling and perilous final journey.
17. “Scattered” reminded me of “Desperately Seeking Susan” in the story of an young uptight British woman who has her run-of-the-mill life disrupted when the Caribbean grandmother she barely knew leaves a request for her to scatter her ashes in Trinidad where a free-spirited cousin takes her on a wild road trip that changes her life forever.
The director-producer-cowriter, Karen Martinez, is a Trinidadian filmmaker based in London, U.K. She has worked extensively in the film world in U.K. and the Caribbean. In 2013 she wrote, produced and directed her frist narrative fiction “After Mas”. Her most recent film, “Dreams in Transit” is an essay-style documentary of a contemporary migrant reflcting on identity and the meaning of “home”.
18. “Unfinished Sentences” by writer-director-producer Mariel Brown, an award winning documentary director and founder of the creative and production company Savant. Her documentary films have been screened on television, at festivals and other special events around the world, most recently at the Pan African Film Festival and Clermont-Ferrand.
This is a story of a writer father and a filmmaker daughter who walks the line between adoration and disappointment, success and failure, race, family and art. When he dies, in her great grief she discovers his poetry and prose transcend death, allowing her to hear his voice again and to find a way back to her own self. For more information go to http://www.unfinishedsentencesfilm.com.
19. “Queen of Soca” by Kevin Adams
“’ Queen of Soca’ was inspired by my home base of Laventille, Trinidad and Tobago where the frustration of living a life of restricted opportunity is a narrative I observe often.“
“ Queen of Soca” is the story of Olivia, who lives in an impoverished community and is striving to make a better life for herself. Her life is full of struggles, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
The short version of “Queen of Soca”, entitled “No Soca No Life” premiered at Trinidad and Tobago Film Festival in 2012 and has been well received by movie goers and movie industry practitioners. “No Soca No Life” is currently available on Vimeo, Pay per view.
“We are now focused on the original goal of creating a blockbuster inspirational story for the world to enjoy, and using the Trinidad and Tobago culture as the vehicle for our message. On behalf of myself and my team, thank you for your interest in this project and we look forward to completing this journey with you !”
The Cfm was held from 24-27 September at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Port of Spain, Trinidad. The ttff/15 took place from 15-29 September.
- 10/7/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: Participants include Germany’s Sol Bondy, Jennifer Fox [pictured] from the Us, and Canada’s Lauren Grant.
Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap), the intensive training and networking programme for European Canadian and American producers, has announced the 26 participants selected for this year’s programme.
Partners on the initiative, which is now four years old, are the Erich Pommer Institut in Potsdam, Germany (the creator of Tap), Strategic Partners in Halifax, Canada and Ifp in New York. The scheme also includes observer producers from India and Mexico.
Tap is supported by the Media Mundus Programme of the European Union, by Telefilm Canada, and Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany.
The three training modules are taking place in Berlin, Halifax and New York City between June and September 2013. The selected producers also participate in the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners and the Ifp’s Independent Film Week in New York.
Nadja Radojevic...
Trans Atlantic Partners (Tap), the intensive training and networking programme for European Canadian and American producers, has announced the 26 participants selected for this year’s programme.
Partners on the initiative, which is now four years old, are the Erich Pommer Institut in Potsdam, Germany (the creator of Tap), Strategic Partners in Halifax, Canada and Ifp in New York. The scheme also includes observer producers from India and Mexico.
Tap is supported by the Media Mundus Programme of the European Union, by Telefilm Canada, and Vff (Verwertungsgesellschaft der Film- und Fernsehproduzenten mbH) Germany.
The three training modules are taking place in Berlin, Halifax and New York City between June and September 2013. The selected producers also participate in the Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners and the Ifp’s Independent Film Week in New York.
Nadja Radojevic...
- 6/13/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Nyu's Cinema Research Institute, which sponsors research projects for people studying the intersection of art and commerce in film, has announced its 2013 fellows. Michael Gottwald and Josh Penn, who have produced "Beasts of the Southern Wild" and the Ross Brothers' "Tchoupitoulas," are doing research and blogging about doing grassroots-inspired audience outreach for films. (See, for instance, Gottwald's blog post about online vs. offline organizing.) Filmmaker Micah Schaffer ("Death of Two Sons") will be producing a resource for filmmakers to find co-production partners and cross-border financing for independent film. Ryan Silbert (producer of "Holy Rollers," Oscar-winning short "God of Love") will be focusing on transmedia storytelling, working on the intersection of film, video games and technology. The Cinema Research Institute was launched by John Tintori, the Chair of the Graduate Film Program at Nyu as a way of fulfilling the university's motto, "a private...
- 4/1/2013
- by Bryce J. Renninger
- Indiewire
AFI Fest 2012 presented by Audi, a program of the American Film Institute, today announced the remaining sections and films that will screen in the festival.s World Cinema, Breakthrough, Midnight and Shorts programs. AFI Fest, which annually presents the best of world cinema in the movie capital of the world, will take place November 1 through 8 at the historic Grauman.s Chinese Theatre, the Chinese 6 Theatres, the Egyptian Theatre and the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
World Cinema showcases the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year, Breakthrough highlights work discovered only through the submission process and Midnight.s selections are always haunting. Both World Cinema and Breakthrough feature a number of films making their North American or U.S. Premieres, including The Angels. Share, Greatest Hits, Laurence Anyways, Nairobi Half Life, Pieta, White Elephant and Zaytoun.
Two of the shorts in competition are from AFI Conservatory.s recent class of...
World Cinema showcases the most anticipated and prize-winning international films of the year, Breakthrough highlights work discovered only through the submission process and Midnight.s selections are always haunting. Both World Cinema and Breakthrough feature a number of films making their North American or U.S. Premieres, including The Angels. Share, Greatest Hits, Laurence Anyways, Nairobi Half Life, Pieta, White Elephant and Zaytoun.
Two of the shorts in competition are from AFI Conservatory.s recent class of...
- 10/16/2012
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
This morning, the eight edition of the Ifp Narrative Labs kicked off in New York City, and the 10 films chosen to participate were unveiled for the first time. Projects chosen came from places as diverse as Vershire, Vermont and Miami, Florida.
Each year, 20 indie films with budgets under $1 million — 10 documentary and 10 narrative — are selected for participation in the Ifp post-production labs, which gives filmmakers strategic help and guidance regarding the completion, marketing and distribution of their projects.
Ifp’s Executive Director Joana Vicente said, “We are thrilled to welcome another talented class of emerging filmmakers to the Narrative Labs. With the majority of films from the 2011 Labs premiering at international festivals and many garnering top awards, the Labs are truly helping filmmakers succeed by providing invaluable marketing, distribution, and engagement strategy resources and by connecting their work to new audiences.”
The selected projects for the 2012 Narrative Lab and Lab Fellows...
Each year, 20 indie films with budgets under $1 million — 10 documentary and 10 narrative — are selected for participation in the Ifp post-production labs, which gives filmmakers strategic help and guidance regarding the completion, marketing and distribution of their projects.
Ifp’s Executive Director Joana Vicente said, “We are thrilled to welcome another talented class of emerging filmmakers to the Narrative Labs. With the majority of films from the 2011 Labs premiering at international festivals and many garnering top awards, the Labs are truly helping filmmakers succeed by providing invaluable marketing, distribution, and engagement strategy resources and by connecting their work to new audiences.”
The selected projects for the 2012 Narrative Lab and Lab Fellows...
- 6/11/2012
- by Nick Dawson
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
#23. The Girl is in Trouble - Julius Onah We can bet that this picture is a lock --- a 2012 debut was probably a more accurate prediction for a festival premiere to Julius Onah's debut feature. I predicted that The Girl Is in Trouble and the Filmmaker Mag 25 New Face Onah would be in Park City -- that production still stands. If this has an edgy, mean streak in it, a Park City at Midnight showing would be welcome. Gist: Written by Mayuran Tiruchelvam and Onah, August’s one night stand with beautiful Signe turns ugly when he discovers footage of a murder on her phone. He knows the dead guy – Jesus Guzman, a dealer. And the killer – Nicholas Feinman, son of New York’s most powerful investment banker. There’s a knock on the door - It’s Angel, Jesus’ brother and feared drug enforcer. Maybe August knows where Jesus is?...
- 11/9/2011
- IONCINEMA.com
The 2011 Dallas International Film Festival Announces
Award Winners
Jess + Moss receives the $25,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative Feature
Elevate receives the $25,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary Feature
Five Time Champion receives the $20,000 in Cash, Goods and Services for the Mps Studios Texas Filmmaker Award
If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front receives the Environmental Visions Award
Zero Percent receives the $10,000 Embrey Family Foundation Silver Heart Award
The Legend Of Beaver Dam, The Robbery and Paths Of Hate are named winners for Best Short Film, Student Short and Animated Short
Audience Awards go to Snowmen for Narrative Feature, Wild Horse Wild Ride for Documentary and The Legend Of Beaver Dam for Short
Dallas, TX, April 9, 2011 . For the second year running, the .Dallas Film Society Honors. presented by the Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation provided an elegant forum for the awards presentation at the Dallas International Film Festival presented by Cadillac.
Award Winners
Jess + Moss receives the $25,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Narrative Feature
Elevate receives the $25,000 Target Filmmaker Award for Best Documentary Feature
Five Time Champion receives the $20,000 in Cash, Goods and Services for the Mps Studios Texas Filmmaker Award
If A Tree Falls: A Story Of The Earth Liberation Front receives the Environmental Visions Award
Zero Percent receives the $10,000 Embrey Family Foundation Silver Heart Award
The Legend Of Beaver Dam, The Robbery and Paths Of Hate are named winners for Best Short Film, Student Short and Animated Short
Audience Awards go to Snowmen for Narrative Feature, Wild Horse Wild Ride for Documentary and The Legend Of Beaver Dam for Short
Dallas, TX, April 9, 2011 . For the second year running, the .Dallas Film Society Honors. presented by the Arthur E. Benjamin Foundation provided an elegant forum for the awards presentation at the Dallas International Film Festival presented by Cadillac.
- 4/11/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Nominated for an Academy Award, live-action short “God of Love” stars writer-director Luke Matheny as a lounge-singing darts champion who pines for the drummer in his band, while she has eyes for his best friend. The answer to his prayers quite literally arrives in a mysterious package of love darts. Here, producer Ryan Silbert writes about the keys to the student film’s success: a stellar script, yes, but also an ethos of working with friends.
By Ryan Silbert (producer of “God of Love”)
(February 2011)
Ryan Silbert
There is nothing quite like making films with people you consider your close friends.
As an independent filmmaker, you find that often the best work (as well as best working conditions) comes when you are around your close friends and collaborators. People whom you trust and who in turn can be honest and up-front with you.
I founded Toy Closet Films with my undergraduate college roommate,...
By Ryan Silbert (producer of “God of Love”)
(February 2011)
Ryan Silbert
There is nothing quite like making films with people you consider your close friends.
As an independent filmmaker, you find that often the best work (as well as best working conditions) comes when you are around your close friends and collaborators. People whom you trust and who in turn can be honest and up-front with you.
I founded Toy Closet Films with my undergraduate college roommate,...
- 2/23/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Nominated for an Academy Award, live-action short “God of Love” stars writer-director Luke Matheny as a lounge-singing darts champion who pines for the drummer in his band, while she has eyes for his best friend. The answer to his prayers quite literally arrives in a mysterious package of love darts. Here, producer Ryan Silbert writes about the keys to the student film’s success: a stellar script, yes, but also an ethos of working with friends.
By Ryan Silbert (producer of “God of Love”)
(February 2011)
Ryan Silbert
There is nothing quite like making films with people you consider your close friends.
As an independent filmmaker, you find that often the best work (as well as best working conditions) comes when you are around your close friends and collaborators. People whom you trust and who in turn can be honest and up-front with you.
I founded Toy Closet Films with my undergraduate college roommate,...
By Ryan Silbert (producer of “God of Love”)
(February 2011)
Ryan Silbert
There is nothing quite like making films with people you consider your close friends.
As an independent filmmaker, you find that often the best work (as well as best working conditions) comes when you are around your close friends and collaborators. People whom you trust and who in turn can be honest and up-front with you.
I founded Toy Closet Films with my undergraduate college roommate,...
- 2/23/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
Happy Valentine.s Day! Ryan Silbert, producer of the Academy Award®-nominated short film God Of Love, offers writer, director and star Luke Matheny.s picks for romantic V-Day movies.
God Of Love
2011 Academy Award® Nominee for Best Live Action Short Film
In the mood for dinner and a movie tonight with a significant other? On your own? It doesn.t matter: Luke Matheney offers his top eight for a date in a homage to the holiday.eight of the best Valentine.s Day films, in his opinion. So here they are!
Joe vs. The Volcano Paris Blues Miracle of Morgan.s Creek The Bodyguard The Thomas Crown Affair Doc Hollywood Shop Around the Corner Arthur
Want to know more? Ask Him!
God Of Love is produced by Gigi Dement, Stefanie Walmsley and Ryan Silbert. It stars Matheny, Marian Brock andChristopher Hirsh. Director of Photography was Bobby Websterand original music is by Sasha Gordon.
God Of Love
2011 Academy Award® Nominee for Best Live Action Short Film
In the mood for dinner and a movie tonight with a significant other? On your own? It doesn.t matter: Luke Matheney offers his top eight for a date in a homage to the holiday.eight of the best Valentine.s Day films, in his opinion. So here they are!
Joe vs. The Volcano Paris Blues Miracle of Morgan.s Creek The Bodyguard The Thomas Crown Affair Doc Hollywood Shop Around the Corner Arthur
Want to know more? Ask Him!
God Of Love is produced by Gigi Dement, Stefanie Walmsley and Ryan Silbert. It stars Matheny, Marian Brock andChristopher Hirsh. Director of Photography was Bobby Websterand original music is by Sasha Gordon.
- 2/14/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
#10. The Girl Is in Trouble - Julis Onah This Sundance edition should be a vintage one for 2010 members of Filmmaker Magazine 25 New Faces and this could possibly include, Julis Onah's The Girl Is in Trouble. A Graduate Film Program at Nyu and supported by Spike Lee, he if quickly assembles his feature film debut, which also counts as his thesis film (Onah comes across as a workaholic) then Park City becomes a strong possibility. Columbus Short, Wilmer Valderrama, Alicja Bachleda, Jesse Spencer and Paz de la Huerta topline the thriller written by Mayuran Tiruchelvam and Onah, this follows a Lower East Side bartender who unravels a mystery that connects a desperate young woman (Bachleda) to a missing drug dealer and the scion of New York's most powerful stockbroker. Park City at Midnight slot or a SXSW birth likely. * Producers: Mark W. Campbell, Jen Gatien, Dana Offenbach, Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert(Ioncinema.
- 11/3/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Columbus Short, Jesse Spencer and Wilmer Valderrama have signed on to star in the independent thriller "The Girl Is in Trouble." According to The Hollywood Reporter, Julius Onah is directing from a script he co-wrote with Mayuran Tiruchelvam.Jen Gatien, Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert are producing with Spike Lee executive producing. The film focuses on a bartender who finds himself mixed up in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer and a powerful investment firm. Shooting begins next week in New York. Short recently appeared in "The Losers," "Armored," "Death at a Funeral," "Whiteout," "Quarantine" and "Stomp the Yard." Spencer can be seen on Fox.s "House," and has appeared in the films "Uptown Girls"...
- 8/11/2010
- by Adnan Tezer
- Monsters and Critics
Jesse Spencer (Fox's "House"), Wilmer Valderrama ("The Dry Land") and Columbus Short ("The Losers, "Armored") have joined the indie noirish drama "The Girl Is in Trouble" says The Hollywood Reporter.
The story follows a a Lower East Side bartender who becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer and the scion of a powerful investment firm.
Julius Onah is directing and co-wrote the script with Mayuran Tiruchelvam. Shooting kicks off next week in New York. Jen Gatien, Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert are producing the film.
The story follows a a Lower East Side bartender who becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer and the scion of a powerful investment firm.
Julius Onah is directing and co-wrote the script with Mayuran Tiruchelvam. Shooting kicks off next week in New York. Jen Gatien, Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert are producing the film.
- 8/10/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Alicja Bachleda (Ondine) and Columbus Short are set to star in, and Wilmer Valderrama and Jesse Spencer are attached to Julius Onah's feature debut, The Girl Is In Trouble. Recently profiled in Filmmaker Magazine's 25 New Faces of Independent Film, Onah, a Nyu grad working on his thesis film supported by Tribeca Film Institute's All Access program is backed by Spike Lee who is exec producing and producing is Toy Closet Films' Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert and Jen Gatien of DeerJen Films who we profiled in our American New Wave 25 series. Written by Mayuran Tiruchelvam (first feature screenplay) and Onah, this follows a Lower East Side bartender who unravels a mystery that connects a desperate young woman (Bachleda) to a missing drug dealer and the scion of New York's most powerful stockbroker. I imagine Short would topline the picture which is expected to either shoot next week in New York according to THR,...
- 8/10/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
Columbus Short will star in the indie thriller "The Girl Is in Trouble," from writer-director Julius Onah.
Jesse Spencer (Fox's "House") and Wilmer Valderrama ("The Dry Land") also have joined the cast.
Spike Lee is an executive producer on the noirish drama, which begins shooting next week in New York. The project was selected for the Tribeca Film Institute's All Access program this year as part of its narrative film roster.
In the story, a Lower East Side bartender becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer and the scion of a powerful investment firm. Mayuran Tiruchelvam co-wrote the script with Onah.
Jen Gatien, Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert are producing the film.
Repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Short recently appeared in "The Losers," "Armored," "Death at a Funeral," "Whiteout," "Quarantine" and "Stomp the Yard."
Spencer, repped by UTA and Untitled, appeared...
Jesse Spencer (Fox's "House") and Wilmer Valderrama ("The Dry Land") also have joined the cast.
Spike Lee is an executive producer on the noirish drama, which begins shooting next week in New York. The project was selected for the Tribeca Film Institute's All Access program this year as part of its narrative film roster.
In the story, a Lower East Side bartender becomes entangled in a murder mystery involving a desperate woman, a missing drug dealer and the scion of a powerful investment firm. Mayuran Tiruchelvam co-wrote the script with Onah.
Jen Gatien, Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert are producing the film.
Repped by CAA and Brillstein Entertainment Partners, Short recently appeared in "The Losers," "Armored," "Death at a Funeral," "Whiteout," "Quarantine" and "Stomp the Yard."
Spencer, repped by UTA and Untitled, appeared...
- 8/9/2010
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
What do Transformers, Francis Ford Coppola, and Martha Stewart have in common? Push Button House! That's the name of an art installation / actual usable home by Adam Kalkin as well as a short film by Robert Profusek and Ryan Silbert; the latter is now available for free online streaming, courtesy of our friends at SnagFilms.
Both Coppola and Stewart were fascinated by the idea of a shipping container that transforms into a pre-fabricated home. As described by Luxist, the Push Button House "is a fully functional and sustainable home built inside a standard industrial shipping container. In just 90-seconds with the push of a button the shipping container turns into a five-room home with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library." Kalkin created an earlier version in 2005; the updated illy's Push Button House debuted at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2007 and was exhibited late in the year at...
Both Coppola and Stewart were fascinated by the idea of a shipping container that transforms into a pre-fabricated home. As described by Luxist, the Push Button House "is a fully functional and sustainable home built inside a standard industrial shipping container. In just 90-seconds with the push of a button the shipping container turns into a five-room home with a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, living room and library." Kalkin created an earlier version in 2005; the updated illy's Push Button House debuted at the prestigious Venice Biennale in 2007 and was exhibited late in the year at...
- 9/8/2009
- by Peter Martin
- Cinematical
NEW YORK -- Jesse Eisenberg and Justin Bartha are set to star as drug-dealing Hasidic Jews in Kevin Asch's comic drama Holy Rollers.
The film, one of the first to emerge from the burgeoning "Jewsploitation" genre, is ripped from true-crime headlines and follows an impressionable youth (Eisenberg) from an Orthodox Brooklyn community. He's lured into becoming an Ecstasy dealer by a friend (Bartha) with ties to an Israeli drug cartel. Newcomer Danny Abeckaser is set to play the owner of a club where they do their decidedly unkosher business.
Set in 1999, Antonio Macia's screenplay was loosely inspired by real-life 1990s-era crimes where Hasidim were recruited as mules to smuggle drugs into the U.S. Production is slated to begin in the spring in New York.
Holy Rollers marks the feature directorial debut for Asch, who worked at production outfit the Shooting Gallery and went on to produce the feature "Point & Shoot."
Caro Entertainment's Cary Jones will produce alongside PS Pictures' Rob Profusek and Ryan Silbert.
The film, one of the first to emerge from the burgeoning "Jewsploitation" genre, is ripped from true-crime headlines and follows an impressionable youth (Eisenberg) from an Orthodox Brooklyn community. He's lured into becoming an Ecstasy dealer by a friend (Bartha) with ties to an Israeli drug cartel. Newcomer Danny Abeckaser is set to play the owner of a club where they do their decidedly unkosher business.
Set in 1999, Antonio Macia's screenplay was loosely inspired by real-life 1990s-era crimes where Hasidim were recruited as mules to smuggle drugs into the U.S. Production is slated to begin in the spring in New York.
Holy Rollers marks the feature directorial debut for Asch, who worked at production outfit the Shooting Gallery and went on to produce the feature "Point & Shoot."
Caro Entertainment's Cary Jones will produce alongside PS Pictures' Rob Profusek and Ryan Silbert.
- 11/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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