Press Releases Archive for October, 2013

Int’l Documentary Association Announces 2013 IDA Nominations

Act Of Killing, Blackfish, Let The Fire Burn, The Square, Stories We Tell.

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Gotham Independent Nominations Announced; 12 Years a Slave Has 3 Noms; Blue Caprice, Concussion, Fruitvale Station, Inside Llewyn Davis, Upstream Color 2 Each

NOMINEES ANNOUNCED FOR 23rd ANNUAL GOTHAM INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS BY IFP   Monday, December 2nd at Cipriani Wall Street Nominations Honor 23 Films   12 Years a Slave Receives Three Nominations Blue Caprice, Concussion, Fruitvale Station, Inside Llewyn Davis, AndUpstream Color Receive Two Nominations Each   New York, NY (October 24, 2013) – The Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), the nation’s premier advocacy organization for independent…

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SAN FRANCISCO FILM SOCIETY ANNOUNCES FIRST ANNUAL FALL CELEBRATION HONORING FRUITVALE STATION, HER, NEBRASKA AND THE SQUARE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OCTOBER 22, 2013 Ryan Coogler, Spike Jonze, Michael B. Jordan, Jehane Noujaim, Alexander Payne and June Squibb in Attendance San Francisco, CA — The San Francisco Film Society announces its first annual Fall Celebration, which seeks to honor creativity, innovation, collaboration and inspiration in cinema. Fruitvale Station, Her, Nebraskaand The Square will be honored at the premiere gala celebration. The…

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Applications now open for second year of Kartemquin / Community Film Workshop mentorship program for filmmakers of colo

Chicago, IL – The first class of graduating fellows from Diverse Voices in Docs, a professional development and mentorship program for documentary makers of color, will be celebrated at a free, public event at the University of Chicago’s Logan Center at 6:30-9:30pm on October 30th. Host Robin Robinson (FOX 32) will present a screening of clips…

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Peter Travers Q&A National Simulcast Series Starts With NEBRASKA

Peter Travers is the Wizard in the Skype.

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Woody Allen Sees Magic In The Moonlight

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WOODY ALLEN’S NEW FILM IS TITLED “MAGIC IN THE MOONLIGHT”   NEW YORK (Oct 15, 2013) – Woody Allen’s new film is titled Magic in the Moonlight. Set in the South of France, it stars Eileen Atkins, Colin Firth, Marcia Gay Harden, Hamish Linklater, Simon McBurney, Emma Stone and Jacki Weaver; and co-stars Erica Leerhsen,…

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Open Road Films Extends Tom Ortenberg As CEO

Los Angeles, CA – October 9, 2013 – Open Road Films has extended Tom Ortenberg’s employment agreement as CEO.  Since it was founded in 2011 by AMC Entertainment Inc. (AMC) and Regal Entertainment Group (Regal), Open Road has established itself as a premiere independent theatrical distributor, acquiring and distributing star-driven hits and working with first-class filmmakers. OpenRoad recently…

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Ted Hope Steps Down As Exec Director Of SFFS

The San Francisco Film Society announced today that Ted Hope, Executive Director since August 2012, will step down at the end of the year to pursue other film-related interests. He will continue in his current role and will manage all activities of the organization until December 31, working with the staff and board to facilitate a smooth leadership transition….

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National Association of Theatre Owners Elects New Officers

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE NATO ELECTS NEW OFFICERS Industry Volunteer Leaders Selected at Annual Meeting; Theater Owners Visit Lawmakers In Nation’s Capital Despite Government Shutdown  (Washington, D.C. and North Hollywood, Calif. – 8 October 2013) The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO), announced today the election of new officers to two-year terms by the Executive Board of Directors at the…

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INDUSTRY VETERANS ALAN KLINGENSTEIN, DANNY FISHER AND JACK FISHER LAUNCH DISTRIBUTION COMPANY FILMRISE

2,500 FILM AND TELEVISION TITLES ACQUIRED   NEW YORK – OCTOBER 8, 2013 – Alan Klingenstein, Danny Fisher and Jack Fisher today announced their new distribution company, FilmRise.  As the industry continues to evolve, FilmRise approaches distribution in a forward-looking way with its emphasis on worldwide digital distribution and online DVD sales, together with traditional distribution models…

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76 Countries Listed For 2013 Foreign Language Film Oscar

A record 76 countries have submitted films for consideration.

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49th Chicago International Film Festival Dedicates Opening Night To Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert didn’t just write about the movies — he was the movies.

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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