EXCLUSIVE: A deep-pocketed effort to send members of the addled and reform-promising Hollywood Foreign Press Association to the Venice Film Festival this year has been kiboshed due to a resurgence of the coronavirus. Expected to cost tens of thousands of dollars out of diminishing HFPA coffers, the Golden Globes group’s decision to not fork out travel for what one insider called “a vacation by any other name” was made in the past 24 hours, I’ve learned. Unlikely to change, the verdict comes as voting results on further bylaw and board changes by the fractured HFPA are expected to be made public today. (UPDATE: The bylaws passed; read the story here .) Before events seemingly shut down the trips, the HFPA was intent on paying up to $5,000 apiece for around at least a dozen members accredited at the September 1-11 festival to attend screenings and have sit-downs with participants. Providing some cover for the HFPA, the plan was actually signed off on by …
Festival In Focus: Why Sarajevo Is Shining The Spotlight On Local TV Drama
One of the major highlights of this year’s edition of the Sarajevo Film Festival is the launch of its new TV awards. The festival aims to elevate the visibility of drama series emerging from the former Yugoslavia region with these new Heart of Sarajevo TV Awards and will dish out awards across several categories in the TV arena including Best Drama Series, Best Comedy, Best Series Creator(s), Best Actress, Best Actor and Rising Star. Sixteen series from region that premiered between September 2019 and May 2021 have been nominated and the winners will be judged by a jury of several hundred film and television professionals across the region. Awards will be given out at the beginning of the festival this year, so as not to clash with its film awards. The jury will form the nucleus for a professional academy, which will make decisions regarding future awards. It’s a big step for the fest, but a natural one, says Sarajevo Film Festival co-director Jovan Marjanović, who …
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Netflix Acquires Maggie Gyllenhaal’s Venice-Bound ‘The Lost Daughter’ In Deal With Endeavor Content
EXCLUSIVE: Netflix has taken remaining worldwide territories including in the U.S. on Maggie Gyllenhaal ’s directorial debut The Lost Daughter . Starring Olivia Colman , Jessie Buckley, Dakota Johnson , Peter Sarsgaard and Paul Mescal, the drama is set to world premiere in competition at the Venice Film Festival next month. The deal was negotiated by Endeavor Content and includes most major markets. Oscar nominee Gyllenhaal also produced the project and adapted the script that’s based on the eponymous 2006 novel by Elena Ferrante. The story follows a woman whose beach vacation takes a dark turn when she begins to confront the troubles of her past. Rounding out the cast are Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Ed Harris and Dagmara Domińczyk. The film was shot in Greece in 2020. Gyllenhaal says, “I’m thrilled to be working with Netflix again. They have supported so much of the work I am most proud of, and this is no exception. Netflix has consistently championed …
‘Cherish The Day’: Richard Roundtree & Terri J. Vaughn Join Season 2 Of OWN Anthology Drama Series
EXCLUSIVE: Richard Roundtree ( Family Reunion ) and Terri J. Vaughn (The Steve Harvey Show) have been tapped for recurring roles opposite Henry Simmons and Joy Bryant in season 2 of OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network ’s and Ava DuVernay’s anthology drama series Cherish the Day . Additionally, Angel Kristi Williams (Really Love), Sheldon Candis (Baltimore Boys) and Merawi Gerima ( Residue ) will direct episodes this season. Cherish the Day, from DuVernay, ARRAY Filmworks and Warner Bros. Television, is an anthology series that chronicles the relationship of one couple, with each episode spanning a single day. In season two, the rekindling of a romance is told — the love story of Ellis Moran (Simmons) and Sunday St. James (Bryant), who fell in love in high school but find themselves reunited in beautiful New Orleans. Ellis is a former basketball player who is now a single father of two, and Sunday is a vegetarian celebrity chef on the cusp of fame. Each episode of the …
Mark Hamill Defends Star Wars Prequels and Star Jake Lloyd
Many consider George Lucas ' Star Wars prequel trilogy as a dark time in the franchise's long history, with everything from Jar Jar Binks to the digitally-created backdrops to the performances by Jake Lloyd and Hayden Christensen coming under intense scrutiny by fans. Now that the sci-fi series is more popular than ever, thanks to the massive success of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , one of the saga's biggest icons, Mark Hamill , is defending the prequels and its once young star Jake Lloyd . The actor also revealed in a recent interview that he was scared to return as Luke Skywalker, saying that he almost appeared in the 2010 anti-Star Wars documentary The People Vs. George Lucas . Defending the Star Wars prequels seems to be en vogue as of late, with Star Wars 8 director Rian Johnson defending the trilogy on Twitter in December, stating that all three movies combine into a "7 hour long kids movie about how fear of loss turns …
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Peter Bart: Women In Media Still Struggling To Reshape The Rules Despite Recent Milestones
Women have owned the Hollywood headlines lately by defying “the rules” – all sorts of rules. Scarlett Johansson has challenged Disney’s dealmaking prowess by filing high-profile litigation . Meanwhile, Reese Witherspoon has sold her media business to two former top Disney dealmakers for $900 million insisting that she and her female creatives will still run the show at Hello Sunshine . At the same time, Olympic athletes like Alexi Pappas and Allyson Felix are spurning rich Nike deals to pursue both equity and influence in new fashion brands. “The culture of the American workplace still conspires against professional women,” insists the feminist writer Hanna Rosin. In sports and Hollywood, however, her thesis seems to be history (her book was titled The End of Men ). Women have been scoring a succession of power jobs in the #MeToo media marketplace, as recent headlines reflect. “A decision to select a male candidate over a woman today is like joining a suicide …
Gotham Awards Eliminates Gendered Acting Categories
The Gotham Awards will no longer separate acting categories by gender, the Gotham Film & Media Institute announced today. Instead of best actor and best actress races, the trophy awards will be handed out for outstanding lead performance and outstanding supporting performance. “The move to introduce gender neutral lead and supporting acting awards builds on the legacy of the now 24-year-old Gotham Breakthrough Actor Award (to be renamed ‘Gotham Breakthrough Performer Award’ as of this year), which has been gender neutral since its inception, and has previously been awarded to performers including Amy Adams, Elliot Page, Michael B. Jordan, Tessa Thompson and Anya Taylor-Joy,” the Institute said in a statement. The lead and supporting categories will allow up to 10 nominees each, chosen by film critics, festival programmers and film curators. Separate juries made up of writers, directors, actors, producers and other film professionals will determine the final …
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‘Irma Vep’: Byron Bowers & Tom Sturridge Join HBO’s TV Adaptation Of Olivier Assayas’ Feature Film
Byron Bowers ( Concrete Cowboy ) and Tom Sturridge ( Sweetbitter ), in a recasting, have joined Alicia Vikander in HBO ’s Irma Vep , a limited series based on Olivier Assayas’ 1996 feature film. The series, loosely based on the film, will be written and directed by Assayas and produced by the team behind HBO’s Euphoria : A24, Sam Levinson and Kevin Turen. Feature film Irma Vep starred Maggie Cheung as herself and Jean-Pierre Leaud as a middle-aged French film director. It screened in the Un Certain Regard section of the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. The series, which is set against the backdrop of a lurid crime thriller, follows Vikander’s Mira, an American movie star disillusioned by her career and a recent breakup who comes to France to star as Irma Vep in a remake of the French silent film classic, Les Vampires . Mira struggles as the distinctions between herself and the character she plays begin to blur and merge. Irma Vep reveals the uncertain ground that …
Spike Lee To Receive Chaplin Award At In-Person Lincoln Center Gala
EXCLUSIVE: Fresh off presiding over the Cannes Film Festival jury, Spike Lee will receive the 46th annual Chaplin Award from Film at Lincoln Center during an in-person gala next month. The event on September 9 will be held at Alice Tully Hall, the main venue for FLC’s New York Film Festival, which will be back there next month for its 59th edition. It will adhere to “a comprehensive series of health and safety policies in coordination with state and city medical experts,” according to a press release. New York City this week became the first U.S. city to implement a Covid -19 vaccine mandate, though it won’t take full effect until September 13. Much like Lee’s appointment as head of the Cannes jury in 2020, which was postponed until 2021 due to the pandemic, his Chaplin honor was also previously announced. The evening is the most important fundraiser of the year for Film at Lincoln Center, which has been hit hard by Covid, as have all arts and culture …
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‘Westworld’ Writer Christina Ham Strikes Overall Deal With UCP
Christina Ham , who was recently a supervising producer on HBO’s Westworld , has struck an overall deal with UCP . The playwright and writer will develop and produce projects across platforms for the Universal Studio Group division. It comes after she worked with UCP on Rosa Salazar-fronted horror thriller Brand New Cherry Flavor for Netflix. She also served as a co-producer on Warner Bros-produced comic series Sweet Tooth for Netflix, was a writer on Amazon’s Them and Netflix’s Chilling Adventures of Sabrina. Her plays, which include Four Little Girls: Birmingham: 1963 and Ruby!: The Story of Ruby Bridges , have been developed and produced the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage and the Tokyo International Arts Festival among others and she is a two-time recipient of a McKnight Fellowship in Playwriting and a Jerome Fellowship from the Playwrights’ Center in Minneapolis. “The deal with Christina is a perfect collaboration because she embodies everything we …
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