Press Releases Archive for June, 2011

AFI-DISCOVERY CHANNEL SILVERDOCS DOCUMENTARY FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES DOCUMENTARY CONFERENCE PROGRAM

Conference Designed With Emphasis on Mid-Career Filmmakers Includes Popular Pitch Sessions and Advanced Sessions on Craft and Funding Silver Spring, Maryland, June 14, 2011 –AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival today announced highlights of its Documentary Conference taking place June 21-25, 2011 at the new Silver Spring Civic Building, just steps away from the Festival’s home…

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PALADIN CATCHES “A BIRD”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE A BIRD OF THE AIR, a new comic romance based on Joe Coomer’s highly acclaimed novel, “The Loop,” will be released by Paladin, it was announced by company president, Mark Urman.  The film, which stars Rachel Nichols and Jackson Hurst, represents the feature film directorial debut of noted actress Margaret Whitton and…

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The weinstein company acquires MADONNA’S W.E. FOR U.S. RELEASE

Abbie Cornish, James D’Arcy, Andrea Riseborough Star In Romantic Drama Madonna’s Feature Film Directorial Debut 2011 Release Planned New York, NY, June 13, 2011 – The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that it has acquired U.S. distribution rights to “W.E.,” Madonna’s directorial debut of a feature film.  W.E. is a romantic drama co-written by Madonna…

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37th SEATTLE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL WRAPS WITH 2011 GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARDS

Jury, Audience Awards Given for Best Film, Documentary, Director, Actor and Short Film SEATTLE – The 37th Seattle International Film Festival, the largest and most highly-attended event of its kind in the United States concluded today with the announcement of the SIFF 2011 Competition Awards and Golden Space Needle Audience Awards. The 25-day Festival, which…

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ACADEMY ANNOUNCES MEDAL PLACEMENT FOR 2011 STUDENT ACADEMY AWARD® WINNERS

June 11, 2011 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Beverly Hills, CA – Fifteen students from colleges and universities around the world were honored tonight (June 11) as winners in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 38th Annual Student Academy Awards® competition. For several days, they had participated in a slate of industry-related activities and social…

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The Amicus Brief Filed Against The IRS Case Against Doc Filmmakers

UNITED STATES TAX COURT In The Matter Of: LEE & WILLIAM STOREY, Petitioners, v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. ________________________________ ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) Docket No. 10230-10 BRIEF OF AMICI CURIAE INTERNATIONAL DOCUMENTARY ASSOCIATION, FILM INDEPENDENT, national association of latino independent producers, WOMEN MAKE…

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“SHUT UP LITTLE MAN! AN AUDIO MISADVENTURE” MOVES INTO TRIBECA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Feature Documentary premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the International Documentary Competition “Alternately hilarious and discomfiting, and finally rather poignant.”- VARIETY New York, NY – June 9, 2011 – Tribeca Film announced today that it has acquired select US distribution rights, including VOD, theatrical, digital, DVD and festival, to Shut Up…

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The Cinema Guild Acquires Hong Sangsoo’s “The Day He Arrives,” Official Selection of Un Certain Regard at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival

New York, NY — The Cinema Guild announced today the acquisition of U.S. distribution rights to The Day He Arrives, the acclaimed new film from Hong Sangsoo. The deal was negotiated by Ryan Krivoshey of The Cinema Guild with Luna Kim of Finecut. Theatrical release details will be forthcoming. Sungjoon, a film director who no…

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18th CHICAGO UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES: 2011 JURY AND AUDIENCE AWARDS

(June 6, 2011) – The 18th Chicago Underground Film Festival (CUFF), presented by IFP /Chicago, kicked off on Thursday, June 2, showcasing a savvy program of film and video exploring the many definitions and interpretations of the ‘underground’ concept. All films were screened at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 North State Street. The winners…

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“Sushi: The Global Catch” Delivers a Powerful and Thought-Provoking Look at Growth of a Global Cuisine, World Premiere This Week at the Seattle International Film Festival

SEATTLE, June 6, 2011 — How did sushi become a global cuisine? What began as a simple but elegant food sold by Tokyo street vendors has developed into a worldwide phenomenon over the past 30 years. Sushi: The Global Catch is a powerful feature-length documentary shot over the course of two years that explores how…

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COLUMBIA PICTURES OPTIONS REMAKE RIGHTS TO JAPANESE HIT FILM “BIG MAN JAPAN”

CULVER CITY, Calif., June 3, 2011 – Columbia Pictures has optioned remake and sequel rights to Big Man Japan, which will be developed and produced into a new feature film by Neal H. Moritz through his Original Film banner, it was announced today by Hannah Minghella, president of production for Columbia Pictures.  Big Man Japan…

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THESSALONIKI MARKET ADDS CENTRAL EUROPE

November 5 – 12, 2011 THESSALONIKI AGORA MARKET NEWS Athens, 2 June 2011 — The Thessaloniki Agora Market is bracing for a boost this year with new developments and expansions. More specifically, the Agora Market is welcoming new countries into its fold, such as the Czech & Slovak Republic, Poland and Hungary, and takes a…

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OUTFEST 2011 TO PRESENT 15TH ANNUAL OUTFEST ACHIEVEMENT AWARD TO FENTON BAILEY & RANDY BARBATO

LOS ANGELES, CA (June 1, 2011) – Outfest, the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization dedicated to nurturing, showcasing and protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) media, will present its 15th Annual Achievement Award to Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato. The Achievement Award is Outfest’s highest honor and is presented in recognition of a body of…

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INVESTMENT BANKER AND REAL ESTATE VETERAN MARIE ADLER LAUNCHES ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY ADLER PRODUCTIONS

Adler to Finance and Produce Up to Four Projects Per Year Los Angeles, CA (June 1, 2011)—Investment banker and real estate veteran Marie Adler is launching Adler Productions, an entertainment company focused on the production and financing of up to four feature films per year in $5-25M budget ranges. Adler is currently assembling a team…

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Speaking In Canada, NATO President Challenges Early VOD And Announces New Support From Creative Community

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (OTTAWA, ONTARIO, June 1, 2011) In a keynote speech at industry confab ShowCanada, NATO President & CEO John Fithian today urged Canadian movie theater operators to be vigilant in their focus on theatrical release windows.  Challenging a recently announced proposal from four Hollywood studios to release movies early to the home on…

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Press Releases

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon