News

New team members include VP publicity Eugene O’Connor.

Black Bear UK, the distribution arm of US-based independent studio Black Bear, has appointed three staff to further establish its core distribution team.

Eugene O’Connor joins as VP publicity; Nick Smith as VP digital; and Bosco Tench as marketing director.

O’Connor, Smith and Tench join existing executives Vicky Hine, SVP marketing; Scott Sargeant, VP distribution; and Frank Ayaoge, VP technical. The team is led by president John Friedberg, who joined Black Bear as a partner in May last year from STX Entertainment to oversee the international expansion, and managing director Llewellyn Radley.

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) today shared the timeline for its 2024 awards cycle, with its 2024 Film Awards set for Sunday, February 18.

The ceremony will unspool a full three weeks before the Oscars, which are set for March 10, and will once again take place during the Berlin Film Festival, which runs February 15-25.

“First held in 1949, the BAFTA Film Awards have grown to become one of the biggest events in the global film calendar,” BAFTA said. “2024 will mark the arts charity’s 75th awards dedicated to film. The 2023 edition was watched by a peak of 3.8 million people nationally via BBC One – the show’s highest ratings since 2019, and over nine million views of BAFTA social content from the night, alongside broadcasting internationally.”

BAFTA also shared the key dates and timeline for the 2024 awards:

w/c 10 July 2023 – Awards Rulebook Published

Friday 8 December 2023 – Round One voting opens

Friday 5 January...

Welcome to the latest instalment of a brand-new feature here on Nerdly, where one of our comic gurus, Ian Wells, delves into comics history and dissects Comics Interview, the long-running journal of interviews and criticism from David Anthony Kraft.

Up Front & Credits

Joining the ranks this issue we have Klaus Janson, Lou Mougin, Bob Saland, Charlie Santino and Barry Kleggerman. A very short Up Front from Dak this month as he uses the space to outline one of two new features debuting in Comics Interview this issue. The first is ‘Out of Context’ which is to ask several interview subjects the same question to get a varied response. The question for the first instalment is “People are very concerned about the recent spate of deaths of superheroes – Why do you suppose that is?” This time round the responses come from Steve Oliff, Steve Gerber and Terry Austin. I thought it...

Ag Kino clamed there is ”an increasing lack of direction in the German Film Academy as far as German cinema concerned”.

The German Film Academy’s procedure for nominating this year’s German Film Awards has come under fire from the arthouse cinemas association Ag Kino - Gilde deutscher Filmkunsttheater.

In an unprecedented open letter, published just days ahead of the gala awards ceremony on May 12, Ag Kino claimed this year’s shortlist and nomination procedure showed “an increasing lack of direction in the German Film Academy as far as German cinema concerned”.

The cinema owners were particularly critical of...

Apple’s comedy series Bad Sisters and Martin McDonagh’s latest feature, The Banshees of Inisherin, took the top honors at this year’s Irish Film & TV Awards (IFTAs). Scroll down for the complete list of winners.

Sharon Horgan’s Bad Sisters was the biggest winner on the eve, taking four gongs, including Best Drama plus Best Director Drama for Dearbhla Walsh and Actress in a Supporting Role – Drama for Ann Marie Duff. Banshees clocked three wins: the coveted Best Film award alongside Actor in a Supporting Role – Film was awarded to Brendan Gleeson.

Elsewhere, Paul Mescal clocked his first IFTAs win in the Best Actor category for his leading performance in Charlotte Wells’ acclaimed debut Aftersun and filmmaker Frank Berry won two awards on the night, Best Director and Best Script Award for his refugee drama Aisha, starring Letitia Wright.

Edward Berger’s All Quiet on the Western Front...

In 1982, the same year Sir Ben Kingsley won his Best Actor Oscar for Gandhi, the year’s other big movie was Steven Spielberg’s E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial. Now, 40 years later, Kingsley has found his own E.T., a sort of combination of that classic with a bit of Cocoon, and perhaps The Father. But Jules, the new dramedy having its world premiere on opening night of the Sonoma Film Festival, marches to its own sweet beat, and represents yet another game attempt to bring that older adult audience back to theaters. A smart distributor should take a close look.

Directed by industry veteran producer and director Marc Turtletaub and written by Gavin Steckler, this slight but engaging, even quirky little film, is a crowd-pleaser that presents Kingsley with a role that fits like a glove, and one we haven’t seen him often do, especially with a full head of hair.