EXCLUSIVE : The Gotham Film & Media Institute has unveiled the winners of its fourth annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase. The five filmmakers chosen are Saleem Gondal ( Post Term , Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema), Yingtong Li ( The Silent Whistle , Emerson College), Taylor Mannsman ( Obscura , University of Texas at Austin), Shannon M. Sutherland ( They Flew Like Blackbirds , Florida State University) and Cheryl Wong ( Stigma, Style , NYU). The Gotham’s Short Film Showcase aims to discover and empower a diverse group of emerging filmmakers, and to foster multi-platform distribution of their work. Winners of this year’s showcase, supported by returning partners JetBlue and Focus Features, as well as new partner Soho House, had their works selected by a jury of filmmakers, curators and critics, with shorts from 23 graduate schools having been submitted. Each was recognized during the 2022 Gotham Awards Ceremony on November 28, received … [Read more...] about The Gotham Names Winners Of 4th Annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase
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Godard Is Gone: A Remembrance Of The Stubborn & Iconoclastic Film Director
Stubborn and iconoclastic as always, Jean-Luc Godard has passed to another realm –and by his own choice–at age 91. Ever impudent and exasperating, forever pushing boundaries but remaining elusive, and an artist in every fiber of his being, Godard always did exactly what he wanted to do; for a few years many followed him ardently, and for lots of us in the 1960s he led the way into a vastly exciting and personal form of cinema. Thereafter he went entirely his own way, losing most of his audience but remaining at the forefront of exploring what cinema is, could be, and, sometimes, what it absolutely shouldn’t be. The official obituaries and tributes will certainly convey Godard’s importance and influence through the 1960s, the way he helped liberate cinema from its literary and orderly appearance to something far more energized, unexpected, jarring and often exhilarating. Although Godard consumed and brilliantly wrote about the existing cinema as a young critic, he … [Read more...] about Godard Is Gone: A Remembrance Of The Stubborn & Iconoclastic Film Director
Noah Cowan Dies: Former Toronto Film Festival Co-Director, Indie Distributor & SFFILM Exec Was 55
Noah Cowan , former co-director of the Toronto Film Festival and executive director of SFFILM in San Francisco, died Wednesday of cancer in Los Angeles, Deadline has confirmed. He was 55. Cowan died of glioblastoma multiforme, an aggressive form of brain cancer he was diagnosed with in December 2021. Born on July 22, 1967, in Hamilton, Ontario, he joined TIFF in 1984 as a box office staffer after volunteering with the fest in summer 1981. He later ran its print traffic department before becoming one of the programmers of TIFF’s Midnight Madness program in 1989. He was promoted to Program Administrator in 1992, and co-ran Midnight Madness with Colin Geddes in 1997. Cowan served as TIFF’s international programmer from 1997-2001, during which time he was promoted to associate director of programming and then associate director. He left the festival in 2001 but returned three years later as co-director, serving in the role until 2008. From 2008-14, he was artistic … [Read more...] about Noah Cowan Dies: Former Toronto Film Festival Co-Director, Indie Distributor & SFFILM Exec Was 55
David Dastmalchian Launches Production Company Good Fiend Films
EXCLUSIVE : Prolific character actor David Dastmalchian has today announced the launch of his genre-focused production company, Good Fiend Films , which will look to produce character-driven projects across horror, sci-fi and fantasy for film, television, audio and publishing. Dastmalchian, who has recently been seen in such blockbusters as Dune and The Suicide Squad , envisions his shingle as a home for stories about complex characters from all walks of life. Good Fiend Films will aim to generate nostalgic, entertaining content that captivates audiences while reminding them they’re not alone in this scary world. First up on the docket for the company is the horror Late Night with the Devil , starring Dastmalchian as the 1970s late-night talk show host Jack Delroy, on which both the actor and his company hold contributing production credits. The film from writer-directors Colin and Cameron Cairnes, Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Spooky Pictures will make its world … [Read more...] about David Dastmalchian Launches Production Company Good Fiend Films
Wales Hopes To Lure Next ‘Doctor Who’ And ‘Sex Education’ With New Film & TV Studio
EXCLUSIVE: Aria Studios , a new two-stage £1.6M ($2M) facility that boasts 20,000 sqft of filming space, has officially opened for business in Anglesey, North Wales . The facility, located near the popular Welsh region of Eryri, has been established by indie production company Rondo Media and Welsh broadcaster S4C’s commercial arm S4C Digital Media Limited, with the support of the Welsh Government through Creative Wales. The studio has two fully-soundproofed stages and is located amongst acres of unspoiled grounds in the Eryri region. Rondo Media is currently filming the drama series Rownd a Rownd for S4C for 27 weeks in stage 2 at Aria. The studio has said they expect further bookings from drama and film producers commissioned by S4C. However, the studio has said its principal target clients are high-end film and television productions from the UK and the US. Wales has long been the shooting location of productions like Doctor Who , and more recently, HBO’s … [Read more...] about Wales Hopes To Lure Next ‘Doctor Who’ And ‘Sex Education’ With New Film & TV Studio
WGA Awards Film Nominations: ‘Everything Everywhere’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘The Menu’, ‘Nope’ & More
The WGA has written out the film nominations for its 2023 Writers Guild Awards , spanning original, adapted and documentary screenplays. See the full list below. Up for Original Screenplay are the scripts for Everything Everywhere All at Once, The Fabelmans, The Menu, Nope and Tár . Vying for Adapted Screenplay are Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, She Said, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking . Of the 10 nominees in the non-doc feature races, four are different from the Oscar nominations revealed Tuesday : The Menu and Nope in Original, and Wakanda Forever and She Said in Adapted. Deadline’s Awards Columnist Pete Hammond noted this month that the now-Oscar-nominated Original scripts for The Banshees of Inisherin and Triangle of Sadness are ineligible for WGA consideration , as are the Academy’s Adapted nominees All Quiet on the Western Front and Living . Such exclusions happen every year because … [Read more...] about WGA Awards Film Nominations: ‘Everything Everywhere’, ‘Top Gun: Maverick’, ‘The Menu’, ‘Nope’ & More
A24 In Talks To Acquire Hot Sundance Title ‘Talk To Me’
Another hot Sundance title looks to be off the table as Deadline has confirmed that A24 is in exclusive talks for the supernatural horror thriller Talk to Me , from directing duo Danny & Michael Philippou. While a deal has not closed, sources say it is in the high-seven-figure range for the buzzy title that gained momentum following its Saturday night Midnight premiere. Produced by Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton of Causeway Films, who produced horror hit The Babadook, with Bankside Films handling worldwide sales, the pic is set in the world where conjuring spirits has become the latest party craze. The film follows Mia (Sophie Wilde), who is determined to get a piece of the otherworldly action in order to be distracted on the eve of her mother’s death. When her group of friends gathers for another unruly séance with the mysterious embalmed hand that promises a direct line to the spirits, they’re unprepared for the consequences of bending the rules … [Read more...] about A24 In Talks To Acquire Hot Sundance Title ‘Talk To Me’
Amy Ryan Joins George Clooney & Brad Pitt In Apple Thriller From Jon Watts
EXCLUSIVE: Amy Ryan is set to star alongside George Clooney and Brad Pitt in an Apple Original Films ’ upcoming feature film written, directed and produced by Jon Watts. Hailing from Apple Studios, the thriller follows two lone-wolf fixers assigned to the same job. Clooney produces alongside Grant Heslov through Smokehouse Pictures. Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment and Dianne McGunigle also serve as producers. Ryan, an Oscar nominee and SAG Award winner, already has strong ties with Apple as she is set to co-star in Apple’s Sugar , a new, genre-bending series starring Colin Farrell from creator and executive producer Mark Protosevich. On top of that, she was also recently seen in Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building. Ryan is repped by Gersh and David Feldman from Brecheen, Feldman, Breimer, Silver & Thompson. Apple Original Films set to premiere several anticipated film this year including Sharper, a new thriller starring starring Julianne Moore, premiering … [Read more...] about Amy Ryan Joins George Clooney & Brad Pitt In Apple Thriller From Jon Watts
Willem Dafoe And Robert Eggers Eye Reunion On The Director’s New ‘Nosferatu’ Film At Focus Features
EXCLUSIVE: Robert Eggers and his Lighthouse star Willem Dafoe have found their next project to collaborate on as Dafoe is in talks to join Eggers’ Nosferatu movie at Focus Features. Lily Rose-Depp, Bill Skarsgard and Nicholas Hoult are already on board with Eggers writing and directing. Jeff Robinov, John Graham, Robert Eggers , Chris Columbus and Eleanor Columbus are producing. In the new reimagining, Nosferatu is a gothic tale of obsession between a haunted young woman (Depp) in 19th century Germany and the ancient Transylvanian vampire (Skarsgard) who stalks her, bringing untold horror with him. Focus had no comment on the project. It is unknown who Dafoe will be playing. Not only does the project reunite Eggers and Dafoe, who worked together on The Lighthouse and The Northman, the project is a full circle moment for Dafoe who earned an Oscar nomination playing the Nosferatu creature in Shadow of a Vampire. Dafoe’s upcoming projects include Yorgos … [Read more...] about Willem Dafoe And Robert Eggers Eye Reunion On The Director’s New ‘Nosferatu’ Film At Focus Features
Sundance Review: Cynthia Erivo & Alia Shawkat In Anthony Chen’s ‘Drift’
Anyone who has traveled to seaside resort areas around the world will recognize them, the obvious foreigners who spend their days approaching tourists with assorted trinkets to sell and are most often ignored or shooed away by Westerners. Precious few films have put such figures centerstage, but Drift does that and quite a bit more as it examines a young woman whose currently forlorn position in the world masks the very different sort of life to which she was once accustomed. Tragedy and bereavement are dealt with an exceptionally acute and insightful manner in Drift . Working from a 2013 novel by Alexander Maksik, the full title of which is A Marker to Measure Drift , the author and his co-writer Susanne Farrell tackled a challenging narrative that many filmgoers would readily avoid, a personal tragedy of staggering magnitude. But not only has Singapore director Anthony Chen set himself a tough task in this ambitious adaptation, he has also notably succeeded in making … [Read more...] about Sundance Review: Cynthia Erivo & Alia Shawkat In Anthony Chen’s ‘Drift’