Press Releases Archive for May, 2018

KROLL & CO. ENTERTAINMENT ACQUIRES JONATHAN LETHEM’S THE FERAL DETECTIVE

Los Angeles, CA (May 30, 2018) – Kroll & Co. Entertainment, the recently launched production company of producer Sue Kroll, has acquired the rights to Jonathan Lethem’s new novel, The Feral Detective, through her exclusive deal at Warner Bros. Pictures. The highly anticipated novel—Lethem’s first detective story since hisNew York Times bestseller Motherless Brooklyn—sold to Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, and will be…

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RICHARD SUCKLE NAMED PRESIDENT OF ATLAS ENTERTAINMENT

  The Academy Award®-Nominated Producer Proves Instrumental In Building Atlas’ Business Across TV & Film   (LOS ANGELES, CA) May 30, 2018 – Today, Atlas Entertainment’s Founder/CEO Charles Roven announced that the company has elevated longtime executive and veteran producer, Richard Suckle, to the position of President, effective immediately.  In his new role, Suckle will work closely with Roven to…

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True/False Receives Academy Funding For Its 2019 Neither/Nor Series

[pr] Columbia, MO –  The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has awarded True/False $10,000 for the continuation of its Neither/Nor Series. Now entering its sixth year, Neither/Nor is True/False’s ongoing survey of groundbreaking film movements that—through their imaginative approaches to sound, image, and reality—altered the course of nonfiction cinema. In keeping with its…

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City of Los Angeles Officially June 16 Buster Keaton Day

Events include dedication of plaque commemorating Buster Keaton, Charlie Chaplin Studio, plus location tours and screenings Los Angeles (May 23, 2018)—A bronze plaque commemorating the location of a movie studio where both Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin created their timeless comedies in the early part of the 20th century will be dedicated at 4 p.m. June…

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Creative and Technological Case Studies

AMIA’s Digital Asset Symposium Presents A Powerful Lineup of  Two Keynotes, Netflix’s “Bobby Kennedy for President” and Crowdsourcing for Data Collection, Join Archive, Data Science, and Object Storage Discussions NEW YORK (May 16, 2018) – The Association of Moving Image Archivists’ Digital Asset Symposium (DAS) returns to New York on June 6, presenting a full day of…

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SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES DENYS ARCAND’S THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE

NEW YORK (May 16, 2018) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired all rights in the US, Latin America, Australia and New Zealand to Academy Award® winner Denys Arcand’s THE FALL OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE.  The film, a follow up to his critically acclaimed and Oscar-nominated THE DECLINE OF THE AMERICAN EMPIRE, is written and…

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Gary Oldman to Direct, Star In Longtime Passion Project, Bio Of Motion Pioneer Eadward Muybridge

Gary Oldman to Direct, Star In Longtime Passion Project, Bio Of Motion Pioneer Eadward Muybridge

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CHICAGO CRITICS FILM FESTIVAL Announces Audience Award Winners, Exponential Festival Growth

(Chicago, IL) — The Chicago Film Critics Association (CFCA), the Chicago-area print, online and broadcast critics group that celebrates the art of film and film criticism, today announces the Audience Award winners following the 6th Chicago Critics Film Festival. Audiences selected Closing Night feature presentation Eighth Grade as winner of the Audience Award for narrative…

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ANDREA RISEBOROUGH AND CHRISTOPHER ABBOTT INHABIT BRANDON CRONENBERG’S SCI-FI THRILLER ‘POSSESSOR’

Cannes, France Andrea Riseborough (upcoming Nancy, The Death of Stalin, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)) and Christopher Abbott (upcoming Catch-22, It Comes At Night, James White) are set to star in Brandon Cronenberg’s (Antiviral) anticipated sophomore feature film Possessor, it was announced today by producers Fraser Ash (Closet Monster, Enemy), Niv Fichman (The Red Violin, Hobo With A Shotgun), and Kevin Krikst (Closet…

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BOARD THANKS EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR TRACY LANE FOR NINE YEARS OF SERVICE

Tracy Lane has been part of Ragtag Film Society since 2009, and has served as its Executive Director since 2010. On May 1, Tracy informed the Board of Directors that she has accepted a position as Executive Director at Roots N Blues. Her last day with Ragtag Film Society will be June 3, 2018. Ragtag…

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NEON NABS NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS TO ALI ABBASI’S “BORDER” FOLLOWING WORLD PREMIERE IN CANNES

CANNES (May 11, 2018) – Immediately following the world premiere, NEON acquired the North American rights to Border, a troll love story directed by Ali Abbasi (Shelley) and based on a novel by the writer of Let the Right One In. The Swedish genre film made its World Premiere yesterday at the Cannes Film Festival in Un Certain Regard. …

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Saban Takes North America For Matthew Ross’ Keanu Reeves Crime Thriller

 CANNES (May 11, 2018) – Film acquisition and distribution company, Saban Films has acquired North American rights to Matthew Ross’s Siberia, starring Keanu Reeves (The Matrix, John Wick) and Ana Ularu (Inferno, Emerald City) with supporting performances from Golden Globe Nominee Molly Ringwald (“Riverdale”, Jem and the Holograms) and Pasha Lychnikoff (Ray Donovan, Shameless). The romantic crime-thriller was produced by…

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SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES NADINE LABAKI’S CAPERNAUM

Acquisition Comes In Advance Of The Film’s Cannes Premiere CANNES, FRANCE (May 10, 2018) – Sony Pictures Classics announced today that they have acquired North American and Latin American rights to Nadine Labaki’s CAPERNAUM. The film is set to premiere next Thursday at Cannes, where it screens in competition. CAPERNAUM marks a return to Cannes for the…

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Sundance Institute Selects Erica Tremblay and MorningStar Angeline Wilson For 2018 Native Filmmakers Lab

Sundance Institute Selects Erica Tremblay and MorningStar Angeline Wilson For 2018 Native Filmmakers Lab Los Angeles, CA — Two emerging Native storytellers, Erica Tremblay (Seneca-Cayuga) and MorningStar Angeline Wilson (Navajo, Blackfeet, Chippewa Cree) will participate in the 2018 Sundance Institute Native Filmmakers Lab, continuing the Institute’s year-round work in the discovery and development of artists from diverse backgrounds. The Lab takes place May 13-18 in…

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MovieCoin Launches Revolutionary Blockchain-Based Entertainment Financing Fund and Platform Innovative System Will Democratize Hollywood Investment

Opportunities and Bring Unprecedented Transparency and Enhanced Payment Processes to Industry Financial Transactions May 7, 2018 – Los Angeles, California, USA – MovieCoin (the “Company”) has launched a transformational entertainment industry financing fund that will offer qualified investors an unprecedented opportunity to invest in Hollywood films, television programs and other strategic assets using a blockchain-based financing…

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BINGE ACQUIRES COMPELLING DOCUMENTARY BEYOND BITCOIN

Marks First Acquisition of the Market for Blockchain Powered Streaming Platform in a 7 Figure Deal with Fulwell 73 and Conch Studios CANNES (May XX, 2018) – In its first acquisition of the market, Slate Entertainment Group (SEG) has acquired worldwide distribution rights to the much-anticipated cryptocurrency documentary Beyond Bitcoin, directed by Jake Witzenfeld, for is a blockchain video on…

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EDGAR RAMIREZ AND PEDRO PASCAL TO STAR IN OLIVER ASSAYAS’ “WASP NETWORK” FOR RT FEATURES AND CG CINEMA

LOS ANGELES (May 8, 2018) – RT Features announced today that Golden Globe® and Emmy® Nominee Edgar Ramirez (The Girl on the Train, Hands of Stone) and Pedro Pascal (“Game of Thrones”, Kingsman: The Golden Circle) will star in Wasp Network. Oliver Assayas (Personal Shopper, Clouds of Sils Maria) wrote and will also direct the film, which is based on Fernando Morais’ book, The…

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RT FEATURES AND MARTIN SCORSESE’S SIKELIA PRODUCTIONS BOARD DANIELLE LESSOVITZ’S“PORT AUTHORITY” AND ANTONETA ALAMAT KUSIJANOVIC’S “MURINA”

    Films Follow Jonas Carpignano’s “A Ciambra” which was the First Film out of the Joint Venture   CANNES (May 9, 2018) – RT Features and Martin Scorsese’s Sikelia Productions announced today that they have signed on to produce and finance Danielle Lessovitz’s Port Authority and Croatian writer-director Antoneta Alamat Kusijanovic’s Murina, a tense coming-of-age drama.  Both films come out of RT Features joint venture…

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Brooklyn Film Festival Announces Lineup for 2018 Edition

Brooklyn, NY (May 9, 2018) – Bad times make great art, so this year’s Brooklyn Film Festival (BFF) should be amazing! And so BFF announces today the film lineup for its 21st edition: THRESHOLD. Like an aircraft entering the threshold on runway “21,” BFF takes off on Friday, June 1st at returning venue: Wythe Hotel…

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Nominees For 19th Annual Golden Trailer Awards Named

  Netflix and Warner Bros. Earn Most Nominations By Studio With 61 Nominations As 21st Century Fox Rounds Out Top 3 with 53 Nominations; Top Nominations by Vendors Include Buddha Jones with 30 Nominations, Trailer Park with 29 and Mark Woollen & Associates with 23 (Beverly Hills, CA, May 9, 2018) — The Golden Trailer Awards, the entertainment…

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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