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Details on Jim Jarmusch‘s surprise new film project have finally been revealed, and it’s a family affair.

Paparazzi photos from the set made the rounds in January, showing Cate Blanchett filming an outdoor scene with Vicky Krieps (in a pink wig) but little was known about the project at the time as Jarmusch tends to keep things closely guarded. However, on Thursday in Cannes the Match Factory confirmed that it had boarded the project and will handle international sales during the film festival while Jarmusch completes postproduction back in New York.

The film is titled Father Mother Sister Brother and features some of his trusted collaborators. The cast includes Blanchett, Krieps, Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat. Per official intel received by The Hollywood Reporter, Father Mother Sister Brother is described as “a feature film in the form of a triptych.

Adam Driver, Mayim Bialik, Tom Waits, Charlotte Rampling, Indya Moore and Luka Sabbat have joined the cast of Jim Jarmusch’s anticipated next film, “Father Mother Sister Brother.”

They’re joining Cate Blanchett and Vicky Krieps, who were previously rumored to be starring after being photographed on set. “Father Mother Sister Brother” recently wrapped production in Paris following shoots in Dublin, Ireland and in the Northeastern U.S. Post-production has begun New York, and the film is expected to be finished later this year.

“Father Mother Sister Brother” is a triptych, following three separate stories set in different countries and revolving around relationships between adult children, their somewhat distant parents and each other. The first part, “Father,” is set in the east coast in Northeastern U.S., “Mother” in Dublin, Ireland, and “Sister Brother” in Paris, France.

Possibly one of Jarmusch’s most personal films, “Father Mother Sister Brother” is...

Because the fall festivals had fewer actors and writers on hand due to the strikes, more independent movies came into the season looking for buyers. And even with AMPTP buyers getting cold feet on some with interim agreements, many titles have already found homes, making it one of the busiest fall festival seasons across Venice, Toronto, and Telluride in recent memory.

Below is the running list of movies that have found buyers.

Movies Acquired After the Festivals

“Ezra”

Section: TIFF Gala Presentations

Distributor: Bleecker Street

Date Acquired: Nov. 6

Bleecker Street’s second TIFF acquisition is “Ezra,” the family dramedy from director Tony Goldwyn that stars Bobby Cannavale, Rose Byrne, and Robert De Niro. The distributor is planning a 2024 theatrical release.

“Ezra” follows a once successful late-night comedy writer turned less-successful stand-up comic also struggling through the failure of his career and marriage. After moving in with his father, Stan (De Niro...

Ketchup Entertainment announced today that they have acquired North American rights to the critically-acclaimed and award-winning Memory, written and directed by the internationally acclaimed filmmaker Michel Franco. The film stars Academy Award ® winner Jessica Chastain, Peter Sarsgaard, Brooke Timber, Merritt Wever, Elsie Fisher, Jessica Harper and Josh Charles. It premiered in Competition at the 80th Venice Film Festival earning an eight-minute standing ovation, with Sarsgaard going on to receive the Volpi Cup for Best Actor from the Jury. It also screened to great acclaim at the Toronto International Film Festival. The film is screening at AFI this Saturday, October 28th with Franco and Sarsgaard in attendance and will open theatrically this December.

Memory follows Sylvia (Jessica Chastain) a social worker who leads a simple and structured life until Saul (Peter Sarsgaard) follows her home from their high school reunion. Their surprise encounter will profoundly impact both of them as they...

Jessica Chastain and Peter Sarsgaard have both officially entered the Oscar race for their extraordinary performances in Michel Franco’s “Memory.” However, the awards campaign has announced that Sarsgaard’s riveting turn as a man suffering from Alzheimer’s disease will be submitted for supporting actor consideration at the major ceremonies, including the Golden Globes, SAG and Academy Awards. His Oscar-winning co-star Chastain (“The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) will vie for lead actress.

Written and directed by Franco, the film was recently acquired by Ketchup Entertainment for North American distribution and will receive an Oscar-qualifying run in December. It premiered at the 80th Venice Film Festival, where Sarsgaard received the Volpi Cup for best actor from the Jury, joining the ranks of past honorees such as Brad Pitt (“The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford”) and River Phoenix (“My Own Private Idaho”). It was later screened at the Toronto,...

Just as it was beginning to look like the dance card for this season’s Oscar race was full, the release date for a highly acclaimed film that was not expected to drop until 2024 has been set for December 2023.

The Hollywood Reporter has learned that the North American distribution rights of Michel Franco‘s Memory, which stars Peter Sarsgaard and Oscar winner Jessica Chastain, have been acquired by Ketchup Entertainment, which will release it shortly before the end of the year.

Memory tells the story of Sylvia (Chastain), a social worker who leads a simple and structured life until Saul (Sarsgaard) follows her home from their high school reunion. Their surprise encounter profoundly impacts both of them and opens the door to memories, challenges and revelations that will leave a lasting impact.

The hope and belief of the film’s makers and new distributor is that Academy members will respond...

Updating previous exclusive with trailer: Watch the first trailer Nuclear Now, the pro-nuclear energy documentary from three-time Academy Award winner Oliver Stone. Abramorama and Giant Pictures on March 3 acquired North American rights to the pic, which premiered (as Nuclear) at last year’s Venice Film Festival.

Abramorama will open the film theatrically in New York, Los Angeles, and select markets beginning April 28, bringing it to theaters across the U.S. and Canada on its “Nuclear Now Day” of May 1st, with Giant Pictures then bringing it to digital and streaming platforms.

Related Story ‘Ernest & Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia’ Acquired By Gkids Related Story Oscar-Nominated Director Simon Lereng Wilmont On Working With Ukrainian Kids In 'A House Made Of Splinters': It's All About Understanding "Their Hopes, Dreams, Fears" Related Story Giant Pictures Takes U.S. Theatrical, VOD Rights To Oscar-Nominated Documentary 'A House Made Of Splinters'

The film that Stone wrote with professor & Ph.

Click here to read the full article.

Gersh is expanding the ranks of its partner class with the promotion of two agents.

The Beverly Hills-based talent firm upped literary agent Sandra Lucchesi and talent agent Matt Vioral to partners, the company said Thursday. The promotions bring Gersh’s partners to 28, out of the 150 agents in its ranks across Los Angeles and New York locations.

“We are very proud of the leadership Sandra and Matt have brought to the agency and their respective departments and how well respected they are by their industry peers. We are thrilled to promote them both to partner,” said co-presidents David and Bob Gersh and managing partner Leslie Siebert in a joint statement.

Vioral started as an exec assistant at Gersh in 2006, became an agent four years later and was named to The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Next Gen” executive list in 2018. This June, he was part...

Sofia Coppola wrote and will direct the feature film “Priscilla” based on the memoir “Elvis and Me” by Priscilla Beaulieu Presley, A24 announced on Monday. Published in 1985, Presley’s intimate account of her life with Elvis became a New York Times Bestseller.

Cailee Spaeny will star as Priscilla Presley, and Jacob Elordi (“Euphoria”) will play Elvis.

Caille Spaeny (Daniel Brubaker) and Jacob Elordi (Getty)

The film will shoot in Toronto in the Fall.

Also Read:

Sofia Coppola to Receive Honorary Award From American Society of Cinematographers

Coppola, Youree Henley, Lorenzo Mieli of The Apartment, a Fremantle Company and American Zoetrope will produce the film; and The Apartment, a Fremantle Company and Sony’s Stage 6 Films will finance the film.

A24 will distribute in North America, Vision Distribution will distribute in Italy (and then become a Sky exclusive). Stage 6 Films/Sony Pictures International Releasing will distribute in the rest of the world.

Priscilla Beaulieu Presley’s 1985 bestselling memoir “Elvis and Me” is set to get the big screen treatment, courtesy of Sofia Coppola.

Coppola wrote and will direct the feature film, titled “Priscilla,” with Cailee Spaeny attached to star as Presley and Jacob Elordi as Elvis. The film will shoot in Toronto this fall.

A24 will distribute the project in North America, with Vision Distribution handling distribution in Italy — where it will later become a Sky exclusive. Stage 6 Films/Sony Pictures International Releasing will distribute in the rest of the world.

“Priscilla” marks the third collaboration between Coppola and A24, following “On the Rocks” and “The Bling Ring.” The partners are also in development on a series adaptation of Edith Wharton’s “The Custom of the Country.”

For the project, Coppola will also reteam with her longtime collaborators, including cinematographer Philippe Le Sourd costume designer Stacey Battat, editor Sarah Flack and production designer Tamara Deverell.

Click here to read the full article.

Bart Walker, a veteran power player on the independent film who is best known for a long tenure at ICM Partners, is joining Gersh as a partner.

Based in the agency’s New York office, Walker brings with him a long list of talent across film, TV and stage including David Byrne, Lisa Cholodenko, Sofia Coppola, Tamara Jenkins, Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Oliver Stone, Thomas Vinterberg, Mati Diop, Michel Franco, Mia Hansen-Love, Jim Jarmusch, the Kloster Brothers, Lorenzo Vigas, Benoit Delhomme, Iram Haq, Sally Potter, Richard Press and Olmo Schnabel.

The move by the well-respected agent is the latest major shift on the agency landscape in the wake of CAA’s acquisition of ICM. “The challenge of the moment in representation is focus and advocacy that is specific to the individual clients,” Walker said in a statement announcing the news. “My clients and...

Bart Walker, former talent agent and partner for ICM Partners, has joined the Gersh Agency as a senior partner, Variety has confirmed. He will be based in the company’s New York office.

Walker’s move comes shortly after fellow Hollywood talent agency CAA’s acquisition of ICM this June. Following the acquisition, Walker opted to leave the company, where he has worked since 2012.

Walker is expected to bring a large number of his clients with him to Gersh, with names such as David Bryne, Sofia Coppola, Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Thomas Vinterberg, Mia Hansen-Love, Jim Jarmusch, Mati Diop, Tamara Jenkins, Mira Nair, Michel Franco and Lorenzo Vigas.

“Bart Walker is a brilliant agent with impeccable taste,” Gersh senior partners Bob and David Gersh and Leslie Siebert said in a joint statement. “The list of filmmakers he represents is formidable and we anticipate amazing integration with our existing clients. He...

Bart Walker will join Gersh as Senior Partner in the New York office. The longtime ICM agent, who decided not to stay when CAA acquired that agency, will continue to represent his esteemed clients in film, television and theatre including Oscar nominees/winners such as David Byrne, Lisa Cholodenko, Sofia Coppola, Tamara Jenkins, Spike Lee, Mira Nair, Oliver Stone and Thomas Vinterberg; Cannes, Venice and Sundance prize winners such as Mati Diop, Michel Franco, Mia Hansen-Love, Jim Jarmusch, The Kloster Brothers, and Lorenzo Vigas: and multi-hyphenate artists such as Benoit Delhomme, Iram Haq, Sally Potter, Richard Press, and Olmo Schnabel.

Walker, along with ICM indie film head Jessica Lacy, have been fixtures of the film festivals and the independent filmmaking sphere for as long as I can remember. Lacy recently left to join Range Media Partners. He had been talking with agencies and management companies and landing Walker is a coup for Gersh.

Exclusive: Marking her first feature since she won a Best Actress Oscar for The Eyes Of Tammy Faye, Jessica Chastain and Dopesick and The Batman star Peter Sarsgaard have just wrapped on Michel Franco’s (New Order) new film, which we can reveal is called Memory.

Plot details are being kept under lock and key but the English-language project is rumoured to revolve around a New York City staycation. Also starring are Merritt Wever (Birdman), Josh Charles (Dead Poets Society), Elsie Fisher (Eighth Grade), and Jessica Harper (Suspiria).

The project marks Franco’s second American-set film after 2015’s Chronic, and marks the fifth collaboration between the filmmaker and cinematographer Yves Cape. Pic wrapped shooting in New York last Friday.

Franco, a festival-favourite, won the Venice Silver Lion Grand Jury Prize for recent feature New Order. Four of his films have played at Cannes, three winning prizes.

The film is produced...

Exclusive: European arthouse sales force The Match Factory and ICM Partners are teaming up to jointly represent four films playing at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Match Factory and ICM Partners will co-rep North American rights on Nanni Moretti’s Competition film Tre Piani (Three Floors), and Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Competition entry Drive My Car, based on Haruki Murakami’s short story.

Additionally, they will co-rep North American rights on two films in Un Certain Regard: Sebastian Meise’s film Great Freedom starring Franz Rogowski and Georg Friedrich, and Eran Kolirin’s film Let It Be Morning, which marks the director’s return to Cannes where his well-received film The Band’s Visit won an award in Un Certain Regard in 2007.

As previously announced, The Match Factory reps international sales on all four of the titles.

Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Wheel Of Fortune And Fantasy won Best Director at this year’s Berlinale.

Eleanor Coppola, wife of renowned filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, arrived at the Toronto International Film Festival this week with the sexy, charming road movie Paris Can Wait, her first narrative feature after decades in the industry. Acclaimed for her work in the documentary format (Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker’s Apocalypse), Coppola is now making waves with her new film, starring Diane Lane, Alec Baldwin and Arnaud Viard. Paris Can Wait centers on a woman confronting a mid-life crisis of sorts, who takes a brief respite from her neglectful film producer husband to take a trip through the scenic French countryside with her husband’s French business associate.

As the film begins, Anne copes with an empty nest, her daughter departing for college. The film then transitions into Anne’s mental escape, the character’s experience of a new world, and a celebration of all things French—the art, the breathtaking architecture,...

Exclusive: Film-maker Alexandra-Therese Keining is plotting a crime drama and “a feminist Blade Runner”.

Swedish director Alexandra-Therese Keining, who was signed by ICM at Toronto International Film Festival 2015 after the premiere of Girls Lost [pictured], is attached to direct two English-languages features.

Paramour, written by Jordan Katz, is being lined up for a 2017 shoot in Europe. Amy Rapp of Meredith Vieira Productions (Tower) produces with Us TV veteran Vieira executive producing. ICM handles domestic sales and the film will likely be set up as a Us-German co-production.

The film is based on the true story of a Swiss businessman who tries to extort millions of dollars from a German heiress. An Oscar-nominated actress is attached to the project. “It dares to show a very dark side of the human behavioural structure in society,” Keining said. “It cleverly explores the depths of our emotional complexities.”

Her second English-language feature, Just Like Beauty, is adapted...

Academy invitee Eddie Redmayne in 'The Theory of Everything.' Academy invites 322 new members: 'More diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before' The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has offered membership to 322 individuals "who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to theatrical motion pictures." According to the Academy's press release, "those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy's membership in 2015." In case all 322 potential new members say an enthusiastic Yes, that means an injection of new blood representing about 5 percent of the Academy's current membership. In the words of Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs (as quoted in the press release), in 2015 "our branches have recognized a more diverse and inclusive list of filmmakers and artists than ever before, and we look forward to adding their creativity, ideas and experience to our organization." In recent years, the Academy membership has...

©Renzo Piano Building Workshop/©Studio Pali Fekete architects/©A.M.P.A.S.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this week that the Los Angeles City Council, in a unanimous vote, approved plans for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. Construction will begin this summer, and ceremonial groundbreaking festivities will occur this fall.

“I am thrilled that Los Angeles is gaining another architectural and cultural icon,” said Mayor Eric Garcetti. “My office of economic development has worked directly with the museum’s development team to ensure that the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures will create jobs, support tourism, and pay homage to the industry that helped define our identity as the creative capital of the world.”

“We are grateful to our incredible community of supporters who have helped make this museum a reality,” said Dawn Hudson, the Academy’s CEO. “Building this museum has been an Academy...

Strangely dropping a press release on a historic day where the nation's attention is elsewhere, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed their annual list of new member invitees this morning. For those who criticize the makeup of the Academy there was some good news and the stark realization the organization still has a long way to go. The Academy has spent the last eight to 10 years attempting to diversify its membership and this year's class mostly reflects that. There are significantly more invitees of Asian and African-American descent, but the male to female disparity is still depressing. Out of the 25 potential new members of the Actor's Branch only seven are women. And, no, there isn't really an acceptable way for the Academy to spin that sad fact. Additionally, It's important to realize the 322 people noted in the release have only been invited to join Hollywood's most exclusive club.

This is the first elevation of agents to the partner level since ICM Partners completed its management buyout in 2012 and brings the number of partners to 38. The promotions come from both coasts and represent the departments of talent, motion picture literary, television, publishing, theater, concerts, global branded entertainment, and motion picture production. The new partners are co-head of motion picture literary Doug MacLaren, publishing agents Kris Dahl and Jennifer Joel, Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Mann from the agency’s talent department, theater head Patrick Herold, concerts’ Mark Siegel and Chris Smith, head of global branded entertainment Carol Goll, motion picture production’s Dan Baime, and international television and media’s Lori York. “Since the formation of our partnership, we have made significant and strategic changes that have elevated our business to the benefit of our partners, associates and clients”, the agency said in a statement. “The culture of professionalism, collegiality...

Millennium Entertainment has paid in the region of $3m for Us rights to Fading Gigolo in the latest Toronto deal to emerge at the festival.

John Turturro directed and stars alongside Woody Allen, Liev Schreiber, Sofia Vergara and Sharon Stone.

Review: Fading Gigolo

ICM Partners represented Us rights in the deal and Qed International handles international sales. Bill Block produced with Jeffrey Kusama-Hinte and Paul Hanson. Executive producers are Sasha Shapiro, Anton Lessine, Bart Walker and Scott Ferguson.

Elsewhere, Relativity Media was believed to among the pack circling Michael Dowse’s Goon follow-up The F Word, which enjoyed a strong reception following Saturday’s world premiere.

Exclusive: Studio moguls often come into their jobs roaring like a lion. But then they leave like a lamb. Such was the case when a kinder and gentler Tom Rothman came back onto the Fox lot this week for his on-the-downlow swan song held at the Fox commissary. “It was very warm and cordial and packed with a ton of people,” one insider tells me about the goodbye party Monday night. An estimated 250-300 invitation-only guests ate and drank in honor of Rothman, who was ousted in that September 14th studio shakeup and left the lot on October 12th. Those there were mostly Fox film employees, but also (in random order) Ridley Scott, Aline Brosh McKenna, Bart Walker, Bryan Lourd, Dave Wirtschafter, Hutch Parker, Jim Mangold, Lili Zanuck, Mark Gordon, Peter Farrelly, Peter Chernin, Lauren Shuler Donner, Robert Newman, Simon Kinberg, John Davis, and Peter Rice. Rothman’s longtime Fox Filmed Entertainment...

Exclusive: Studio moguls often come into their jobs roaring like a lion. But then they leave like a lamb. Such was the case when a kinder and gentler Tom Rothman came back onto the Fox lot this week for his on-the-downlow swan song held at the Fox commissary. “It was very warm and cordial and packed with a ton of people,” one insider tells me about the goodbye party Monday night. An estimated 250-300 invitation-only guests ate and drank in honor of Rothman, who was ousted in that September 14th studio shakeup and left the lot on October 12th. Those there were mostly Fox film employees, but also (in random order) Ridley Scott, Aline Brosh McKenna, Bart Walker, Bryan Lourd, Dave Wirtschafter, Hutch Parker, Jim Mangold, Lili Zanuck, Mark Gordon, Peter Farrelly, Peter Chernin, Lauren Shuler Donner, Robert Newman, Simon Kinberg, John Davis, and Peter Rice. Rothman’s longtime Fox Filmed Entertainment...

Breaking: In a move that gives the ICM Partners publishing division a foothold in D.C., the agency has established what it is calling a “strategic alliance” with Raphael Sagalyn’s The Sagalyn Agency. The D.C. outpost will now be called ICM/Sagalyn. The alliance melds Sagalyn’s strong non-fiction author list and ICM’s list dominated by fiction authors. Sagalyn has long run a one-man shop in D.C., where he represents over 100 authors, journalists and business and political experts. His list includes National Book Award finalists Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Steve Olson, Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright and New York Times bestselling authors Dan Pink, Claire Shipman, Katty Kay, Franklin Foer, David Ignatius, Daniel Suarez, Howard Kurtz, David Simon, Ross Douthat, Del Quentin Wilber, Ian Bremmer, NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Vanity Fair editor Cullen Murphy, MIT economist Simon Johnson, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and Harvard professor Robert Putnam.

Breaking: In a move that gives the ICM Partners publishing division a foothold in D.C., the agency has established what it is calling a “strategic alliance” with Rapahael Sagalyn’s The Sagalyn Agency. The D.C. outpost will now be called ICM/Sagalyn. The alliance melds Sagalyn’s strong non-fiction author list and ICM’s list dominated by fiction authors. Sagalyn has long run a one-man shop in D.C., where he represents over 100 authors, journalists and business and political experts. His list includes National Book Award finalists Rajiv Chandrasekaran and Steve Olson, Pulitzer Prize finalist Robert Wright and New York Times bestselling authors Dan Pink, Claire Shipman, Katty Kay, Franklin Foer, David Ignatius, Daniel Suarez, Howard Kurtz, David Simon, Ross Douthat, Del Quentin Wilber, Ian Bremmer, NPR reporter Barbara Bradley Hagerty, Vanity Fair editor Cullen Murphy, MIT economist Simon Johnson, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, and Harvard professor Robert Putnam.

ICM Partners has hired Melissa Aouate as a television literary agent. She will join the Los Angeles office of the agency after Thanksgiving. This marks Aouate’s return to ICM where she started her career as an assistant in the motion picture literary department. Aouate recently was the director of development at Robert Zemeckis’ ImageMovers, where she worked on the recently released feature, Flight, and was an executive on The Demonologist, The Charles Fort Prophecies, and How To Survive A Garden Gnome Attack. Additionally, Aouate has been involved with ImageMovers’ Showtime drama The Borgias and developed a number of projects in the works at Fox TV Studios deal where ImageMovers is under an overall deal. ICM Partners has been looking to beef up its TV lit ranks following a couple of agent departures over the past year: Mickey Berman & Josh Hornstock, who went to UTA, as well as veteran Bob Broder,...

Cinetic Media principal Bart Walker has joined ICM Partners as a partner, bringing along clients such as Sofia Coppola (below) and Jim Jarmusch, the agency announced on Thursday. Cinetic's Christina Bazdekis, who counts among her clients John Turturro and Boaz Yakin, is also joining the agency in a move that strengthens both its New York office and its film division. Walker, who began his career at ICM and has also worked at CAA, is the first partner brought in since ICM bought out private equity firm Rizvi Traverse and Jeff Berg in...

Literary representatives Bart Walker and Christina Bazdekis of entertainment advisory company Cinetic Media are joining ICM Partners and will work out of the Century City-based agency's New York office. Walker is joining the agency as a partner, boosting ICM's film group. He and Bazdekis are expected to begin working at ICM in the next week. Both reps previously had stints at the agency. Together they represent Sofia Coppola, John Turturro, Lisa Cholodenko, Jim Jarmusch, Lee Daniels and Julian Schnabel, among others.  Walker has been a principal and partner at Cinetic with founder John Sloss; he also co-founded Producers Distribution Agency in

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A24 has acquired Ginger & Rosa, the Sally Potter-directed film that stars Elle Fanning. A story about friendship and betrayal, the film premiered at Telluride and Toronto and plays the New York Film Festival on October 8. Alice Englert, Alessandro Nivola, Christina Hendricks, Timothy Spall, Oliver Platt, and Annette Bening also star. A24 plans on a qualifying run of the film in 2012 for awards consideration followed by a theatrical release in early 2013. A24 said in a statement: “We fell in love with Ginger & Rosa. We’ve been fans of Sally’s for a long time. She has crafted a touching, heartfelt, and extraordinary work anchored by an absolutely incredible performance by Elle Fanning which already has a tremendous amount of love from audiences and journalists alike. We look forward to bringing the film to a wide audience and showing the world one of the best performances of the year.” Ginger & Rosa...

Frank Darabont, Michael Shamberg, Pietro Scalia Set For Zurich Master Classes

The Zurich Film Festival today announced this year’s headliners for its Master Class series. Instructors will include writer-director Frank Darabont; producer Michael Shamberg; editor Pietro Scalia, producer Greg Shapiro (The Hurt Locker), screenwriter Asghar Farhadi; director Daniel Espinosa, director Benh Zeitlin (Beasts Of The Southern Wild) and UTA’s David Flynn. Additionally producer Jerry Weintraub will lead a session as well as receive a career achievement award. Espinosa, Shamberg and Scalia also will be on the fest’s fiction jury of which Darabont will serve as president. Richard Gere will receive the fest’s Golden Icon award and John Travolta will be honored with the Golden Eye award at the...

Mira Nair's political thriller The Reluctant Fundamentalist will open the Venice Film Festival's 69th edition which is poised to announce its full slimmed-down line-up of potentially strong titles on July 26. Nair's adaptation of Mohsin Hamid's bestseller about a young Pakistani who goes from working on Wall Street to becoming deeply embroiled in conflict in his homeland stars Riz Ahmed, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber, Martin Donovan, Om Puri and Shabana Azmi, all of whom are expected on the Lido's red carpet on August 29 when Fundamentalist will bow out of competition. Pic produced by Lydia Dean Pilcher is association with Doha Film Institute is being sold internationally by K5 International with Hal Sadoff for Dfi and Bart Walker of Cinetic handling North America. Nair is a Venice aficionado who won the 2001 Golden Lion for Monsoon Wedding. New Venice artistic director Alberto Barbera in a statement praised Nair's...

Exclusive: Producers Distribution Agency has signed on to release the SXSW Audience Award-winning documentary Brooklyn Castle. Pda is the releasing arm hatched by Cinetic Media’s John Sloss and Bart Walker that selectively takes on art house fare. Brooklyn Castle marks its fourth release, after the successful docus Senna and Exit Through The Gift Shop and the Emilio Estevez-directed drama The Way. Brooklyn Castle will be released October 19, and once again, Abramorama’s Richard Abramowitz and Bond Strategy’s Marc Schiller will guide the marketing and distribution of the Katie Dallamaggiore-directed film. Her film tells the inspiring story of chess dominance at Brooklyn’s I.S. 318, an intermediate school where 65% of the students live below the federal poverty line. The school has become a chess powerhouse, the highest ranked junior high chess team in the nation and the focus here is on the students and their challenges and goals,...

How’s this for an eclectic cast? Woody Allen, Sofia Vergara, Sharon Stone, Liev Schreiber and Vanessa Paradis are set to star in the comedy “Fading Gigolo,” which John Turturro has written and will direct and star in. Qed International has just come aboard to produce and finance the project, according to Variety. “Gigolo” has Allen as a book store proprietor who convinces his friend, played by Turturro, that he should become a gigolo. Antidote Films' Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Cinetic Media's Bart Walker are producing along with Qed’s Bill Block, Paul Hanson, Sasha Shapiro and Anton Lessine. Production is scheduled for October in New York. Qed also is financing and producing the Arnold Schwarzenegger actioner "Ten” for Open Road and Neil Blomkamp's “District 9” follow-up "Elysium” for Sony. Full story at Variety.

SPAAmart project Wake Up Dead, to be directed by Joel Kohn, and an adaptation of a stage play by former Sydneysider Jack Feldstein, are among the features being developed under Garry Charny.s new production company, Spotted Turquoise Films.

Charny has kept a low film profile since his former company, April Films, produced Ray Lawrence.s Jindabyne, which was in official selection at Cannes in 2006. He has been keen to re-enter the business, however, and has appointed Vca graduate and short film producer Josh Butt to work with him on development and packaging.

.I want to do films with heart," Charny told If Magazine. "I will never make Snowtown or even Animal Kingdom, not because they are not good -- or bad -- but because they are just not what I want to make....

The film noir detective story Wake Up Dead was in Butt.s portfolio and had already...

Oscilloscope has acquired Us rights to Matteo Garrone's "Reality," which screened in competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival. "'Reality' makes the case that society renders everyone impossibly small," Indiewire's Eric Kohn wrote in his recent review. "The first and last shots of Matteo Garrone's drama take place from extreme heights that make their focal point blend with their surroundings. Everything in frame takes on the dimensions of a dollhouse, as if the Italian filmmaker has assumed a godlike awareness. The compositions suggest that people are inherently trapped by their surroundings and never fully capable of realizing it." The deal was negotiated by Dan Berger and David Laub of Oscilloscope with Janine Gold of Fandango Portobello assisted by Garrone’s Us representatives, Bart Walker of Cinetic Media and Jeff Berg of ICM. Full press release below. New York, New York (May 26, 2012)--...

Alejandro Brugues' Juan of the Dead comedy lands at Focus Features Focus World, the digital distribution arm of Focus Features will distribute the Cuban Zombie comedy which premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The film tells of a new zombie revolution which starts 50 years after the Cuban Revolution. John Sloss and Bart Walker's Cinetic Media negotiated the sale. Focus World launches in February, starting with Black Lightning premiering on VOD, iTunes, Xbox 360, Playstation and YouTube...

Alejandro Brugues' Juan of the Dead comedy lands at Focus Features Focus World, the digital distribution arm of Focus Features will distribute the Cuban Zombie comedy which premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The film tells of a new zombie revolution which starts 50 years after the Cuban Revolution. John Sloss and Bart Walker's Cinetic Media negotiated the sale. Focus World launches in February, starting with Black Lightning premiering on VOD, iTunes, Xbox 360, Playstation and YouTube...

Alejandro Brugues' Juan of the Dead comedy lands at Focus Features Focus World, the digital distribution arm of Focus Features will distribute the Cuban Zombie comedy which premiered at this year's Toronto International Film Festival. The film tells of a new zombie revolution which starts 50 years after the Cuban Revolution. John Sloss and Bart Walker's Cinetic Media negotiated the sale. Focus World launches in February, starting with Black Lightning premiering on VOD, iTunes, Xbox 360, Playstation and YouTube...

The Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) have announced the line up of film executives attending SPAAmart.

Held during the annual Spaa Conference (14-15 November), six international and 12 local companies will attend the feature film market to meet with seven pre-selected filmmakers regarding specific feature projects.

International production companies include:

Mark Horowitz, Partner, H2O Motion Pictures, USA Matt Baker, Director of Acquisitions, Hanway Films, UK. Roxy Kohan, Acquisitions Manager for English language films, Film Sharks International, Argentina/USA. Carey FitzGerald, Managing Director, High Point Media Group, UK. Antonio Salas, Sales Manager, Bankside Films, UK. Bart Walker, Partner, Cinetic Media,  USA.

A strong representation of local production companies will also be present:

Harry Avramidis, Director of Marketing and Acquisitions, Arclight Films. Janine Pearce and David Brewster, Company Directors, Chesterfield Offset Finance Company (Cofc). Michael Wrenn, Manager of Development and Distribution, Curious Film Distribution. Alex Fernandez, Head of Alliance and Product and Vivianne Arnold,...

One flick we're really looking forward to around these parts is the first horror film to come out of Cuba, Juan of the Dead, and if you need to ask yourselves why, look no further than the hilarious new trailer. And then start looking forward to a domestic release!

According to Variety John Sloss and Bart Walker's Cinetic Media has boarded Cuban Alejandro Brugues' zombie comedy Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead). Cinetic Media will represent Dead for its North American sale along with nm3017198 autoAlfredo Calvino[/link]'s Mexico-based Latinofusion.

Juan de los Muertos, as it's known in its homeland, is a co-production among Spain, Mexico, and Cuba budgeted at 1.3 million Euros.

Synopsis

Juan is a typical forty-year-old slacker. One day Havana begins to fill up with zombies. Juan decides that the best way to cope with it is to prosper. "Juan of the dead killed their loved ones" is his slogan,...

Cinetic get U.S. and Canadian rights to Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead) Makes you feel like shouting "I Am Muerte!" doesn't it? No, Stanley Tucci is not on board the Alejandro Brugues' Cuban zombie flick. Variety reports that Cinetic Media's John Sloss and Bart Walker have landed Canadian and U.S. distribution rights to the comedy horror which stars Blanca Rosa Blanco, Elsa Camp and Alexis Diaz de Villegas. The film can be seen at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, where it made its world premiere. The film's premise is that 50 years after the Cuban Revolution, a new zombie revolution is about to begin. Check out the poster below. Shaun of the Dead really has started an international zombie revolution...except this time it's not a cricket bats, but a Nunchuka!

Cinetic get U.S. and Canadian rights to Juan de los Muertos (Juan of the Dead) Makes you feel like shouting "I Am Muerte!" doesn't it? No, Stanley Tucci is not on board the Alejandro Brugues' Cuban zombie flick. Variety reports that Cinetic Media's John Sloss and Bart Walker have landed Canadian and U.S. distribution rights to the comedy horror which stars Blanca Rosa Blanco, Elsa Camp and Alexis Diaz de Villegas. The film can be seen at this year's Toronto International Film Festival, where it made its world premiere. The film's premise is that 50 years after the Cuban Revolution, a new zombie revolution is about to begin. Check out the poster below. Shaun of the Dead really has started an international zombie revolution...except this time it's not a cricket bats, but a Nunchuka!

The Screen Producers Association of Australia (Spaa) has announced their first two international speakers in Joe Matukewicz and Bart Walker for the annual Spaa Conference (13-16 November) at the Hilton in Sydney.

Joe Matukewicz is Vice President of World Acquisitions, Relativity Media, leading Us independent film production and investment company, to evaluate projects for acquisitions and production for the progressive studio. He formerly worked at Vantage Pictures, Paramount Worldwide Acquisitions Group and began at Mandalay Pictures.

The second announcement, Bart Walker is a partner at Cinetic Media who has partnered with founders John Sloss and Robert Nathan on a new talent management division. An agent who represents film writers, directors and financiers with an indie film financing and distribution vision, Walker’s talent when at CAA included Sofia Coppola, John Turturro and Jim Jarmusch.

The annual Spaa Conference attracts up to 700 industry representatives from both Australia and overseas, from producers,...

Writer-director Emilio Estevez launched his indie film The Way, starring his father Martin Sheen, at last year's Toronto Film Fest. And now, like so many other indie filmmakers these days, he's releasing it himself by cobbling together his own distribution and marketing team. After Toronto, Estevez and Elixir Films producer David Alexanian met with a number of distributors, says Alexanian, who selected John Sloss and Bart Walker’s Producers Distribution Agency (Pda) and Trevor Drinkwater’s Arc Entertainment to release The Way. Pda and Arc will release the film on Friday, October 7 in 15 markets in the first week, exclusively in AMC Theatres. Then The Way will expand to another 15 markets on October 14 and broaden to 500 screens across the country on October 21. ...

When Emilio Estevez launched The Way at the 2010 Toronto Film Festival, reaction was encouraging for the film he directed and which stars his father, Martin Sheen, as a grieving dad who walks The Camino de Santiago to honor his dead son. The movie's good, but it is also the kind of well-intentioned picture that often slips through the cracks. Estevez has found a way to  escape the straight-to-dvd fate that befalls many such films. He and Elixir Films' David Alexanian have partnered with John Sloss and Bart Walker's Producers Distribution Agency and Trevor Drinkwater's Arc Entertainment to open the film exclusively in AMC Theaters in 15 markets on Oct. 7 for its first week, before broadening to 15 markets the following week and then expanding to 500 screens across the country. The release will be overseen by a team of distribution vets that includes Dennis Rice, Richard Abramowitz and Cynthia Swartz. Appropriate...

Oscilloscope Laboratories has acquired North American distribution rights to We Need to Talk About Kevin, the Lynne Ramsay-directed pic that was a competition film at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival. Oscilloscope will release the film in the winter, with an awards campaign. The acquisition was made from Luc Roeg's Independent Film Company. The film got mixed reaction at the festival, not surprising considering its subject matter. Basically, it is a thriller revolving around parents (John C. Reilly and Tilda Swinton) who have to grapple the with ramifications of a heinous act committed by their evil 15-year-old son (Ezra Miller). Oscilloscope head Adam Yauch called the film "the most intense thriller I've seen since Polanski's Rosemary's Baby." Deal was brokered by Cinetic's Bart Walker and John Sloss. Ramsay wrote the script with Rory Stewart Kinnear from the Lionel Shriver novel.

Exclusive: Focus Features has closed an acquisition deal for worldwide rights for Pariah, the Dee Rees-directed coming of age story of a 17-year old African American teen from Brooklyn trying to find her place in the world, and coming to terms with her identity as a lesbian. Besides the acquisition, Focus has also engaged Rees to write another script with an eye for her to direct. The deal was in the seven figure range. The film, which stars Adepero Oduye, Pernell Walker, Kim Wayans, Charles Parnell and Aasha Davis, created much buzz since its premiere last Thursday at the Eccles Theatre. It is a handle-with-care first film, but it showed enough promise that Rees has been courted by agents since the film's premiere and many feel she will be an emerging artistic voice. The picture was exec produced by indie icon Spike Lee, and produced by Nekisa Cooper. John Sloss...

At Sundance this year, more than usual activity immediately kicked in among the international buyers and the international sales agents bulking up in preparation for the Berlinale's Efm even as the Us distributors were slow to show much energy in acquisitions. First out of the gate for the Americans was Lionsgate's acquisition of Buried . Next came extended discussions with CAA and Apparition and its ancillary distributor partner Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquistions for Splice for what is rumored $2.5 million while an independent source supplies $20 million P & A. Next came Newmarket's $1 million acquisition of Hesher. The Oprah Winfrey Network acquired Family Affair. Own's documentary film club is being done in partnership with doc film distributor Ro*co Films International. Own, a co-venture between Winfrey's Harpo Prods. and Discovery Communications slated for a January 2011 launch, is planning to create communities nationwide that can screen the films together and participate in a live, moderated panel discussion.

Confirming reports that it was acquiring rights to “The Kids Are All Right,” Focus Features said Thursday afternoon it picked up U.S. rights as well as rights for the U.K., Germany and South Africa, the distributor’s head James Schamus announced Thursday. Bart Walker and John Sloss of Cinetic Media negotiated the North American rights deal on behalf of the filmmakers and collaborated with Inferno Entertainment on the international aspects of the …...