Press Releases Archive for August, 2012

THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces Main Slate of selections for the 2012 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL

PRESS RELEASE 32 Features include films by Olivier Assayas, Noah Baumbach, Leos Carax, Brian De Palma, Michael Haneke, Abbas Kiarostami, Ang Lee, Cristian Mungiu, Sally Potter, Alain Resnais, Raul Ruiz and Robert Zemeckis, among others   NEW YORK, August 16, 2012 —The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the main slate of selections for the 50th…

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THE ACADEMY AND THE MARY PICKFORD FOUNDATION LAUNCH MULTI-YEAR PARTNERSHIP PROMOTING THE SILENT FILM ERA

August 14, 2012 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE INAUGURAL EVENT INCLUDES TOURS OF ACADEMY’S VAULTS AND THE RESTORATION PREMIERE OF “MARK OF ZORRO” Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Mary Pickford Foundation have partnered on a multi-year initiative to promote the legacy of Mary Pickford and the silent film…

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Icarus Films Acquires Six Classic Jean Rouch Films for North American Distribution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 13, 2012, New York: Icarus Films announced today the acquisition of North American distribution rights to six films by legendary French filmmaker and ethnographer Jean Rouch. A founder of cinéma vérité, Rouch is widely recognized as one of the world’s most significant documentary filmmakers, but much of his filmography has long been unavailable in the United States. The…

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HELEN GURLEY BROWN, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, INTERNATIONAL EDITIONS, COSMOPOLITAN & AUTHOR OF SEX AND THE SINGLE GIRL, DEAD AT 90

Gurley Brown Redefined Womanhood for Many Women and Built Cosmopolitan Into Global Media Juggernaut NEW YORK, August 13, 2012 – Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan magazines’ 64 international editions and one of the world’s most popular and influential editors, died today at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. She was 90. Widely heralded as a…

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THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces the World Premiere of Ang Lee’s LIFE OF PI

PRESS RELEASE THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces the World Premiere of Ang Lee’s LIFE OF PI as the Opening Night Gala selection for the 50th Anniversary of the NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL  New York, NY, August 13, 2012 — The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that Ang Lee’s LIFE OF PI will make its…

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Lars Von Trier Challenges the People

Lars Von Trier Challenges the People Gesamt – an open invitation to people around the globe What happens when a master challenges the people? Danish cinema’s most famous film director is asking people around the globe to reinterpret six great works of art through the lens of their camera or recording of sound. It is…

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IFC FILMS TAKES U.S. RIGHTS TO BILL GUTTENTAG’S KNIFE FIGHT

New York, NY (August 9, 2012) – IFC Films announced today the company is acquiring all U.S. rights to director Bill Guttentag’s (SOUNDTRACK FOR A REVOLUTION) political drama KNIFE FIGHT. Guttentag wrote the screenplay with political consultant Chris Lehane, who served as White House advisor to President Clinton and First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton andserved as Vice President…

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THE FILM SOCIETY OF LINCOLN CENTER announces the World Premiere of Robert Zemeckis’ FLIGHT as Closing Night Gala selection

  PRESS RELEASE   New York, NY, August 8, 2012 – The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that Robert Zemeckis’s FLIGHT will make its World Premiere as the Closing Night film for the upcoming 50th New York Film Festival (September 28 – October 14). “We’re delighted to welcome Robert Zemeckis to the New…

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GREY REMBERT JOINS THE KENNEDY/MARSHALL COMPANY AS PRESIDENT OF PRODUCTION: Frank Marshall now sole head of the company

(Los Angeles, August 9, 2012) –  As part of the newly reorganized Kennedy/Marshall Company, founder Frank Marshall announced today that respected development executive Grey Rembert – longtime colleague of Kennedy and Marshall – will come on board as President of Production.  Marshall will now be sole head of the company. The announcement comes at a busy time for the company,…

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ON AUGUST 10 & 11 LARRY MCMURTRY TO AUCTION 300,000 BOOKS AS PART OF “THE LAST BOOK SALE”

Archer City, TX – August 8, 2012 – Academy Award winning screenwriter and acclaimed author Larry McMurtry has announced the sale of over 300,000 books as part of an auction entitled “The Last Book Sale,” taking place on August 10 and 11, 2012.  Addison & Sarova Auctioneers will oversee the event, which will be held…

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IFC MIDNIGHT TAKES NORTH AMERICAN AND UK RIGHTS TO CHRIS JAMES THOMPSON’S DOCUMENTARY THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES

New York, NY (August 8, 2012) – IFC Midnight announced today that the company is acquiring all North American and UK rights to director Chris James Thompson’s documentary THE JEFFREY DAHMER FILES. Thompson also produced the film and co-wrote the screenplay with Andrew Swant and Joe Riepenhoff. Chris Smith and Barry Poltermann executive produced the project, which world…

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Hope Arrives for Indie Film as San Francisco Film Society Names New Executive Director

Ted Hope, Veteran Independent Film Producer, Begins Leadership Role on September 1 8/8/2012 – Ted Hope, one of the film industry’s most respected and prolific figures, has been named executive director of the San Francisco Film Society (SFFS), effective September 1, 2012. In a surprise move, the veteran film producer and one of the most influential individuals in…

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FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA’S “TWIXT” OPENS EXCLUSIVELY IN SAN FRANCISCO ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 10

***SAN FRANCISCO OPENING DAY!!!*** FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA PRESENTS TWIXT  Sundance Kabuki Cinemas Theater 1881 Post Street San Francisco, CA 94115 (415) 346-3243 There will be a Q&A with writer/director Francis Ford Coppola on Friday, August 10 following the 4:45pm and 7:15pm screenings. For showtimes and information, please visit www.sundancecinemas.com A writer with a declining career arrives in…

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Principal Photography Begins on Luc Besson’s Malavita

  De Niro, Pfeiffer, Jones, Agron and D’Leo to Star in EuropaCorp and Relativity’s Comedic Actioner   (Beverly Hills, Calif.) August 8, 2012 –Principal photography begins today on EuropaCorp and Relativity’s comedic actioner Malavita directed by Luc Besson (Taken, Transporter) and starring Oscar®-Winner Robert De Niro (Limitless, Heat), Oscar®-Nominee Michelle Pfeiffer (Dark Shadows, People Like Us), Oscar®-Winner Tommy Lee Jones…

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MARTIN E. SEGAL (1916 – 2012)

MEDIA ALERT/UPDATE New York, NY – (August 6, 2012) One of New York City’s leading cultural figures, a former chairman of Lincoln Center as well as the founding president and chief executive of the Film Society of Lincoln Center for several years, Martin E. Segal died today in New York. Born July 4, 1916 in…

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UNIVERSAL PICTURES SETS STUDIO RECORD FOR FASTEST CLIMB TO $1 BILLION AT NORTH AMERICAN BOX OFFICE

NEWS RELEASE       Studio on Track for a Record Best Year at Domestic Box Office UNIVERSAL CITY, CA—August 6, 2012—Universal Pictures announced today that the studio has reached the $1 billion mark at the domestic box office, three months earlier than at any time in history.  The previous record was set during the…

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SUNDANCE SELECTS TAKES U.S. THEATRICAL RIGHTS TO KEN BURNS, SARAH BURNS AND DAVID MCMAHON’S THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE

New York, NY (August 6, 2012) – Sundance Selects announced today that the company is acquiring U.S. theatrical rights to acclaimed documentary THE CENTRAL PARK FIVE. Ken Burns co-directed, wrote and produced the project with his daughter, Sarah Burns (author of the book “The Central Park Five: A Chronicle of a City Wilding”) and her…

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KINO LORBER RELEASES EARLY KUBRICK FEAR AND DESIRE ON BLU-RAY AND DVD

>    New York, NY – August 6, 2012 – Kino Lorber Inc. announces the release of Stanley Kubrick’s rarely-seen first feature film, FEAR AND DESIRE, newly restored by the Library of Congress. The event marks a major milestone for Kubrick aficionados as, in the years since its original release in 1953, FEAR AND DESIRE has rarely screened to the…

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“The Great Gatsby” Moving to Summer 2013

  Baz Luhrmann’s 3D Adaptation to Get New Play Date in Sought-After Summer Frame      BURBANK, Calif., Aug 06, 2012 —Warner Bros. Pictures and Village Roadshow Pictures have moved the release date of “The Great Gatsby” to Summer 2013. The announcement was made today by Dan Fellman, President of Domestic Distribution, and Veronika Kwan…

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2012 Traverse City Film Festival Announces Awards

Traverse City, MI — The Traverse City Film Festival this evening announced the Jury and special awards of the 2012 festival at the Filmmaker Party, hosted by Michael Moore. “Each year the Traverse City Film Festival brings some of the world’s greatest films and filmmakers to join our audiences in a six-day celebration of cinema,…

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Press Releases

Quote Unquotesee all »

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