Press Releases

Academy Museum of Motion Pictures Adds Seven Trustees, Including Laura Dern, David Dolby and Mark Johnson

[pr] Los Angeles—The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures today announced the addition of seven new trustees, including Laura Dern, David Dolby, Sidonie Seydoux Dumas, Mark Johnson, Miky Lee, Katherine Oliver, and David Rubin. The governing body of the Academy Museum, the Board of Trustees oversees the organization’s strategic vision, maintains its financial health, and ensures the…

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Landmark Theatres Names Paul Serwitz Prez, CEO

[pr] Charles S. Cohen, Owner and Chairman of Landmark Theatres, today announced the appointment of veteran exhibition executive Paul Serwitz as Landmark Theatres’ President and Chief Operating Officer. Paul Serwitz brings his highly regarded reputation to Landmark after serving 17 years as Vice President of Film for Regal Entertainment Group, the national theatre circuit whose brands include Regal Cinemas, Edwards Theaters and…

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HBO Max Gets Complete Studio Ghibli Output Streaming Debut

[PR] Los Angeles – October 17, 2019 – HBO Max will bring the wonder of Japan’s legendary, Oscar®-winning animation house, Studio Ghibli, to its slate of premium content that will be available at launch in the spring of 2020. HBO Max will be the US streaming home to the entire Studio Ghibli film library, one…

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Start-Up Acquires Errol Morris’ Steve Bannon Chat Film For Release A Year After Preem

[pr] August 7, 2019 – Utopia has acquired U.S. rights to Academy-Award winner (THE FOG OF WAR) Errol Morris’ AMERICAN DHARMA following debuts at Venice, Toronto and New York Film Festivals. Morris’ probing and urgent conversation with Stephen K. Bannon made waves on the festival circuit as a disturbing, intimate look at the man many consider…

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David Rubin Elected Academy President

David Rubin was elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences August 6 by the organization’s Board of Governors. Also elected to officer positions by the Board: Lois Burwell, First Vice President (chair, Awards and Events Committee) Sid Ganis, Vice President (chair, Museum Committee) Larry Karaszewski, Vice President (chair, Preservation and History…

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Record-breaking Opening Weekend of ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD 
on 70mm at the Music Box Theatre

[pr] JULY 30, 2019 (Chicago) — As one of five theaters in North America screening Sony Pictures’ ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD on 70mm, the Music Box Theatre saw its three-day (July  26–28) weekend estimated grosses top $122,000 – the venue earning the second-highest per-screen average in the country, the highest gross in Chicago…

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HOLLYWOOD CHAMBER OF COMMERCE TO HONOR FILMMAKER GUILLERMO DEL TORO WITH STAR ON THE HOLLYWOOD WALK OF FAME

WHO:        Honoree: Guillermo del Toro Emcee: Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, President/CEO Rana Ghadban Guest Speakers: Director J.J. Abrams and singer/songwriter Lana Del Rey WHAT:      Dedication of the 2,669th Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the Category of Motion Pictures WHERE:   6918 Hollywood Boulevard in front of The Line Store WHEN:     Tuesday, August 6, 2019 at 11:30 A.M. PST…

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Award Winners of 2019 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival

OUTFEST LOS ANGELES LGBTQ FILM  FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES 2019 AWARD WINNERS Los Angeles, July 29, 2019 – Outfest – the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization promoting equality by creating, sharing, and protecting LGBTQ stories on the screen – has announced the award winners of its 2019 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival, presented by HBO. The nation’s…

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Co-founder and Artistic Director Paul Sturtz Leaving True/False Film Fest, Ragtag Film Society 

[pr] Columbia, Missouri — Paul Sturtz, artistic director and co-founder of True/False Film Fest and co-founder of Ragtag Cinema, is stepping away from Ragtag Film Society to pursue new opportunities. “Over 22 years, I have worked with inspiring, curious people, many of whom have become dear friends and accomplices,” Sturtz says. “I feel confident that…

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Forty-Sixth Telluride Film Festival Announces Guest Director Pico Iyer

BERKELEY, CA – Telluride Film Festival (TFF), presented by National Film Preserve LTD., is proud to announce its 2019 Guest Director, Pico Iyer. The celebrated author is set to select a series of films to present at the 46th Telluride Film Festival running over Labor Day Weekend, August 30 through September 2, 2019. Festival organizers annually…

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Award-Winning Filmmakers Dan Cogan and Liz Garbus Launch Story Syndicate Production Company

 Academy Award® winning producer Dan Cogan (ICARUS) and two-time Academy Award® nominee and two-time Emmy-winning director and producer Liz Garbus (WHAT HAPPENED MISS SIMONE?, THE FOURTH ESTATE) have launched a new production company, Story Syndicate. They will be joined by Julie Gaither as their Head of Production and Jon Bardin, formerly Head of Documentaries at Discovery,…

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Sundance Institute Brings Free Summer Film Screenings to Salt Lake City, Park City, Ogden, St. George and Coalville

Park City, UT — Summer has finally arrived, which means it’s time for the return of Utah’s outdoor movie tradition, now in its 22nd year! The nonprofit Sundance Institute will once again celebrate the season and Utah’s natural beauty with free screenings of eleven Sundance Film Festival favorites, taking place in Salt Lake City, Park City,…

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Academy Elects 2019-2020 Board Of Governors

THE ACADEMY ELECTS 2019–20 BOARD OF GOVERNORS  Runoff election required for Film Editors Branch  LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced its newly elected 2019–20 Board of Governors. They will assume their posts July 1. Newly elected to the Board: Ellen Kuras, Cinematographers Branch Ruth Elaine Carter, Costume…

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Slamdance Goes Miami 2020

LOS ANGELES (June 6, 2019) – Slamdance  today announced Slamdance Miami, their inaugural South Florida festival, which will kick off May 28-31, 2020 and shine a spotlight on the next generation of multicultural filmmakers. In collaboration with Slamdance alumni partners and Miami’s leading arts and educational organizations, Slamdance Miami seeks to help local, Caribbean, Central and South American…

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Sundance Institute Brings $182 Million in Economic Impact to Utah with 2019 Sundance Film Festival

Benefits Highlighted by 122,000 Attendees, $18 Million in State and Local Tax Revenue, 3,052 Jobs Supported Park City, Utah — The nonprofit Sundance Institute announced today that its 2019 Sundance Film Festival, which took place in Park City, Salt Lake City and Sundance, Utah from January 24 through February 3, generated a total economic impact of…

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2019 Governors Awards: Geena Davis, David Lynch, Wes Studi, Lina Wertmüller

THE ACADEMY TO HONOR GEENA DAVIS, DAVID LYNCH, WES STUDI AND LINA WERTMÜLLER AT 2019 GOVERNORS AWARDS LOS ANGELES, CA – The Academy announced today that its Board of Governors voted (Saturday, June 1) to present Honorary Awards to David Lynch, Wes Studi and Lina Wertmüller, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award to Geena Davis….

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Winners of the Inaugural Critics’ Choice Real TV Awards

“QUEER EYE” LEADS WINNERS OF THE INAUGURAL CRITICS’ CHOICE REAL TV AWARDS   Leah Remini Receives First Ever Impact Award Netflix Tops Networks with Nine Awards  Show Will Air on VH1 on Sunday, June 9 Los Angeles (June 2, 2019) – The Broadcast Television Journalists Association (BTJA) and NPACT, the trade organization serving the producers of…

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Fox Searchlight and Malick Reunite

CANNES, FRANCE, May 23, 2019 – Fox Searchlight Pictures Chairmen Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula announced today that the company has acquired North American and select international territory distribution rights to writer-director Terrence Malick’s “A Hidden Life.” Fresh off its World Premiere in competition at the 72nd Festival de Cannes, the film reunites Malick with Searchlight following…

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Academy Announces Three New At-Large Governors

The Academy Board of Governors has confirmed the appointment of three new governors-at-large, DeVon Franklin (Executives Branch), Rodrigo García (Directors Branch) and Janet Yang (Producers Branch). They will each serve a three-year term, beginning July 1. This furthers the Academy’s A2020 initiative, which seeks to support inclusion and increase representation within its membership and the greater film community. “The Board looks…

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For Oscar 92, Academy Issues New Rules (Which May Still Change)

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM AWARD RENAMED “INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM AWARD” LOS ANGELES, CA — The Academy’s Board of Governors has approved Oscars® rules for the 92nd AcademyAwards®.  Notable changes and updates are as follows: In the Animated Feature category, the theatrical release of eight eligible animated features in the calendar year is no longer required for the awards category to be activated….

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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