Press Releases Archive for January, 2012

The Film Society of Lincoln Center announces 12th Edition of FILM COMMENT SELECTS, February 17-March 1

PRESS RELEASE New York, NY, January 31,—The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced the schedule for the 12th edition of FILM COMMENT SELECTS (February 17-March 1), Film Comment magazine’s essential and eclectic film festival. Featuring a handpicked lineup of films that are alternately previewing prior to their theatrical runs or quite possibly never coming back to…

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LIONSGATE ENTERS WITNESS PROTECTION WITH TYLER PERRY

Eugene Levy, Doris Roberts, Tom Arnold, Denise Richards, John Amos, Marla Gibbs And Romeo Star In Next Installment Of Tyler Perry’s Beloved Madea Franchise SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 30, 2011—LIONSGATE® (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, together with Tyler Perry, today announced the commencement of production of MADEA’S WITNESS PROTECTION.  The film marks the prolific filmmaker and…

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Screen Actors Guild Honors Outstanding Film And Television Performances at the 18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LOS ANGELES (Jan. 29, 2012) – Screen Actors Guild presented its coveted Actor statuette for the outstanding motion picture and primetime television performances of 2011 at the “18th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards” in ceremonies attended by film and television’s leading actors, held Sunday, Jan. 29, at the Los Angeles Shrine Exposition…

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2012 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES AWARDS

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 28, 2012 The House I Live In, Beasts of the Southern Wild, The Law in These Parts and Violeta Went to Heaven Earn Grand Jury Prizes Audience Favorites Include The Invisible War, The Surrogate, SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN and Valley of Saints Sleepwalk With Me Receives Best of NEXT <=> Audience…

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Eulogy For Bingham Ray, By Ben Barenholtz, Eamonn Bowles, Tom Prassis, Arnie Sawyer

(As read by John Cooper at the Sundance 2012 award ceremony.) We are here to mourn, and honor, an icon of the film industry.  And as we begin we can hear his voice whispering in our ears, “Don’t fuck it up, Kitty Kats!”  Followed by a huge roar of sarcastic laughter. This was Bingham Ray…

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Statement from SAG National President Ken Howard Regarding the AFTRA National Board Vote

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LOS ANGELES (January 28, 2012) — Screen Actors Guild National President Ken Howard released the following statement regarding the AFTRA National Board vote on the proposed merger with Screen Actors Guild: “This is a terrific outcome and I offer my sincere thanks and congratulations to AFTRA’s National Board  and National President Roberta…

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Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors Approves Merger Package with AFTRA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE LOS ANGELES (January 27, 2012) – The Screen Actors Guild National Board of Directors today voted overwhelmingly to approve and recommend a plan to merge with AFTRA. The board met in a regularly scheduled plenary meeting in the James Cagney Board Room at the Guild’s Los Angeles headquarters and voted after reviewing…

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PRODUCER CREDITS DETERMINED FOR 2011 BEST PICTURE NOMINEE TREE OF LIFe

January 27, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Beverly Hills, CA – Producer credits for 84th Academy Awards® Best Picture nominee “The Tree of Life” have been determined by the Producers Branch Executive Committee of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The official nominees for the film are Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Dede Gardner and…

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JENS ASSUR WINS 2012 SUNDANCE/NHK INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER AWARD

MEDIA ALERT WHAT: Sundance Institute and NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) have announced Jens Assur, director of the upcoming film, Close Far Away, as winner of the 2012 Sundance/NHK International Filmmaker Award. Created in 1996 to celebrate 100 years of cinema, the annual award recognizes and supports a visionary filmmaker on his or her next film….

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IFC FILMS TAKES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO ANTONIO CAMPOS’ SIMON KILLER

Park City, UT (January 27, 2012) – IFC Films announced today from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival that the company is acquiring North American rights to director Antonio Campos’ SIMON KILLER. The film, with a screenplay also by Campos, stars Brady Corbet, Mati Diop, Michael Abiteboul, Constance Rousseau, and Lila Salet. The picture wasproduced by Josh…

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AUDIENCE AND JURY PRIZES ANNOUNCED FOR 2012 SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 26, 2012 PARK CITY – January 26, 2012, The 18th Annual Slamdance Film Festival tonight announced the feature film and short film recipients of this year’s awards in the Audience, Grand Jury, and Sponsored Award categories. The award winners were announced at the annual Closing Night Awards Ceremony at the Treasure…

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DRAFTHOUSE FILMS’ “BULLHEAD” OPENS FEBRUARY 17 IN LIMITED RELEASE

****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**** BULLHEAD is Nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Foreign Language Film Category Los Angeles, CA – Friday, January 27, 2012 – Drafthouse Films announces that Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award-nominee BULLHEAD will open Friday, February 17 in New York, Los Angeles and Austin in the following theaters and will expand to…

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SUNDANCE SELECTS TAKES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO DAVID FRANCE’S HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Park City, UT (January 26, 2012) – Sundance Selects announced today from the 2012 Sundance Film Festival that the company is acquiring North American rights to David France’s documentary HOW TO SURVIVE A PLAGUE. The film, with a screenplay by France, T. Woody Richman, and Tyler H. Walk, wasproduced by France and…

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DVD, Blu-ray, and Television Launches of Award-Winning Chicago Documentary The Interrupters

Star Ameena Matthews to appear on The Colbert Report Kartemquin Films has produced independent documentary films in Chicago since 1966. We’re pleased to announce the February 14th DVD, Blu-ray and US television premieres of our film The Interrupters, the Chicago Film Critics Association’s “Best Documentary of 2011.” PBS will release the DVD and Blu-ray editions of The Interrupters on…

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IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO WRITER-DIRECTOR NICHOLAS McCARTHY’S THE PACT

Park City, UT (January 26, 2012) – IFC Midnight announced today from the 2012 SundanceFilm Festival that the company is acquiring North American rights, to writer-director Nicholas McCarthy’s THE PACT. The film, which premiered in the festival’s Midnight section on January 20, stars Caity Lotz, Casper Van Dien, Haley Hudson, Kathleen Rose Perkins, Sam Ball, and Agnes Bruckner.  The…

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ACADEMY PARTNERS WITH EVERYONE COUNTS ELECTRONIC VOTING SYSTEM TO LAUNCH FOR 2013 OSCARS

January 25, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has entered into an agreement with Everyone Counts Inc. to exclusively develop an electronic voting system for the 85th Academy Awards®, to be held in 2013. Everyone Counts will work with PwC, the Academy’s accounting firm of…

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FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES ACQUIRES “BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD”

For Immediate Release Specialty Arm Acquires U. S. Rights PARK CITY, UT January 24, 2012 – Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that the company has acquired U. S. rights to the fantastical drama BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD. Directed by Benh Zeitlin  and written by Lucy Alibar and Zeitlin,…

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FOX SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES ACQUIRES “THE SURROGATE”

For Immediate Release Specialty Arm Acquires Worldwide Rights PARK CITY, UT January 24, 2012 – Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula announced today that the company has acquired worldwide rights to the inspirational true story THE SURROGATE. Directed and written by Ben Lewin, THE SURROGATE stars John Hawkes as Mark O’Brien, Helen…

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Millennium Entertainment Stops for RED LIGHTS, Rodrigo Cortés’ Paranormal Thriller

Los Angeles (January 24, 2012) – Millennium Entertainment’s CEO Bill Lee announced today that the company has acquired North American rights to Sundance thriller RED LIGHTS, featuring an all-star cast led by Cillian Murphy, Sigourney Weaver, Robert De Niro, Toby Jones, Joely Richardson, Elizabeth Olsen, Craig Roberts, Leonardo Sbaraglia and Adriane Lenox.  Written and directed…

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SUNDANCE INSTITUTE | MAHINDRA GLOBAL FILMMAKING AWARD RECIPIENTS ANNOUNCED

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE January 24, 2012 Emerging Artists from South Africa, Australia, Chile and India Selected for their Visionary Projects PARK CITY, UT — Sundance Institute and Mahindra today announced the winners of the 2012 Sundance Institute | Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, in recognition and support of emerging independent filmmakers from around the world. The…

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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