Outfest screenwriting lab

EXCLUSIVE : WME has signed director and screenwriter Rashad Frett , whose short film Ricky is part of the Short Film program of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Frett was recently named a Sundance Fellow in the 2023 Screenwriters Lab and Intensive alongside Lin Que Ayoung, where the two will be developing the Ricky script into a feature-length film. “To have WME as an accomplice on my journey deeper into film will undoubtedly make a phenomenal impact on the trajectory.” Frett said. “I’m really enthusiastic about what WME and I will do together.” Frett is a Caribbean-American filmmaker based in Manhattan, and he pursued a career in the arts seriously after experiencing 9/11 as a combat medic in the U.S. Army. At that time, creating a positive social impact through the power of media became his passion. He graduated MFA from the NYU Tisch Graduate Film Program. He has earned a BAFTA-HBO scholarship and a Martin Scorsese Young Filmmakers scholarship, and he’s a … [Read more...] about WME Signs Rashad Frett; Agency Will Help Writer-Director’s Sundance Short ‘Ricky’ To Become A Feature

EXCLUSIVE: Nick and Jon Hamm’s Free Turn Entertainment has hired Robbie Ashcroft as Managing Partner. Ashcroft will join London and Los Angeles-based Free Turn’s management team. He’s joining from The Story Lab and will work on its audio slate and new TV and film slate partnerships among other tasks. Ashcroft was most recently International Development Partner at The Story Lab, where he established a new development and production fund for “original audio projects with multiplatform potential” in partnership with Global Media and Entertainment. This led to the greenlight of podcasts such as John Sweeney’s Hunting Ghislaine . While at The Story Lab, which is the content arm of Japanese ad giant Dentsu, Ashcroft also managed a strategic partnership between the parent company and Yahoo to created mixed reality TV formats from an XR smartstage in Holborn, London. Interstellar used that partnership for its show All Star Dance Off on ITV2 in 2021. “Robbie is a rare … [Read more...] about Nick Hamm’s Free Turn Entertainment Hires The Story Lab Exec Robbie Ashcroft

TMZ.com Tyler Perry isn't just concerned with including more Black people in TV/film, he's also worried about pollution in Black neighborhoods ... and he's willing to drop several million for a federal building to prove it. The media mogul says he's considering buying the Forces Command building, a former U.S. military training complex adjacent to Tyler Perry Studios in Atlanta. The building's currently tagged to become an FDA laboratory, but TP's seen the proposed plan and has deep concerns about potential fumes ... according to ATL news blog, Saporta Report. The building was reportedly approved to be sold to Easterly Government Properties in 2019 for $17M -- and the current plan is to lease to the FDA, which would have it up and running by 2025. Tyler already offered to buy it for the same $17 mil, but the feds sold it to Easterly, instead. US Army He's not giving up that easily, because Tyler says he's willing to pay … [Read more...] about Tyler Perry Offers to Buy Future FDA Lab Near Studios to Prevent Pollution

The Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named Sophie Barthes’ The Pod Generation as this year’s Feature Film Prize winner. In addition three artists grants went to recipients for three projects in development. The prizes were handed out at a reception following the Appetite for Construction panel at Filmmaker Lodge. The four filmmakers received a total of $70,000 in funding through the Prize and three artist grants for projects: Benjy Steinberg for The Professor and the Spy received the Sloan Episodic Fellowship, Cynthia Lowen for Light Mass Energy received the Sloan Development Fellowship, and John Lopez for Incompleteness received the Sloan Commissioning Grant. “We are in a global moment where arts institutions must recognize in actionable ways the importance of science in media and entertainment, and Sundance Institute is deeply appreciative that the Sloan Foundation has partnered with us over two decades to … [Read more...] about Alfred P. Sloan Foundation & Sundance Institute Name ‘Pod Generation’ Best Feature Film

E! is celebrating love with three new rom-coms premiering on the cable network in the coming weeks: Why Can’t My Life Be a Rom-Com?, Royal Rendezvous and Married by Mistake. Watch a preview of the movies in the video posted above. Premiering on Sunday, February 19 at 9 p.m., Why Can’t My Life Be a Rom-Com? stars Em Haine, Cecilia Deacon, Wern Lee, Markian Tarasiuk, Aren Buchholz and Roraigh Falkner. The logline reads as follows: “Eliza is smart and independent, but after years of bad boyfriends she finds herself newly single, jobless and questioning all of her decisions. Throwing caution to the wind, Eliza follows best friend Sofia to the Hamptons and decides to change her approach to romance. They’re going to follow the rules of dating from a 50-year-old self-help book. The book seemingly works and Eliza finds herself in the center of a love triangle between Rich, a perfect doctor, and Doug, the towel boy at a Hampton’s hotel. Torn between two very different but equally viable … [Read more...] about E! Sets Premiere Dates For 3 Rom-Com Movies: ‘Why Can’t My Life Be A Rom-Com,’ ‘Royal Rendezvous’ & ‘Married By Mistake’

Legal docudrama Saint Omer was voted Best Picture at the 34 th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival, which announced this year’s juried award winners today. Saint Omer wins for its ability “to expertly interrogate issues of society, culture, race, and gender,” the festival release stated. “Alice Diop, as screenwriter and director, delivers a film that explores different dynamics of Black women in contemporary France, drawing empathetic lead performances from Kayije Kagame and Guslagie Malanga (whose characters never interact, save for one momentous glance). By harnessing the skills of her technical team, Diop turns Saint Omer into a shrewd, cogent, ambitious, and overwhelming film which teases a metafictional awareness while remaining clear-eyed and unsentimental.” The Palm Springs festival took place from January 5-16 and screened 134 films from 64 countries, including 27 premieres. The lineup includes 35 of the International Feature Film Oscar … [Read more...] about ‘Saint Omer’ Takes Top Honors At 34th Palm Springs Film Festival

Seven premiering productions will compete for the Berlinale Series Award next month, with one further world exclusive launch screening out of competition. The winner of the Berlinale Series Award , which was created in cooperation with Deadline, will be chosen on at a presentation ceremony taking place on Wednesday, February 22, by an international jury consisting of actor André Holland ( The Eddy ; Bones and All; Moonlight ); international exec Dana Stern, who founded Shtisel, and Your Honor firm Yes Studios; and screenwriter Mette Heeno, who created Splitting Up Together and Snow Angels . In its ninth edition, the Berlin Film Festival TV screenings will in total present eight world and international premieres, with projects from India, China, Italy and Romania included from the likes of Disney+ and HBO Max. Among those fronting these shows are Silver Bear winner Zhang Dalei, who returns to Berlin after winning for his short Day is Done in 2020, and … [Read more...] about Berlinale Series Unveils Eight World Premieres & TV Jury

Three unrealized Stanley Kubrick screenplay ideas have been unearthed in the UK. The previously unknown collection of notes and typed script date from between 1954 and 1956 and have a heavy focus on marriage, jealousy and adultery, according to the Guardian, which was alerted to the documents. Married Man comprises 35 pages of typed script with handwritten annotations and pages of handwritten notes. The Perfect Marriage has handwritten notes and seven pages of scenes while the third unfinished project, Jealousy , has 13 pages of typed and handwritten material for a story about resentment between a married couple. At the time, the revered filmmaker was having marital problems with his second wife, Ruth Sobotka, but it was also a productive period that spawned movies Killer’s Kiss (1955), The Killing (1956) and Paths Of Glory (1957). According to the Guardian, the opening lines of Married Man read: “Marriage is like a long meal with dessert served at … [Read more...] about Stanley Kubrick Screenplay Ideas Unearthed With Focus On Marriage, Jealousy & Adultery

EXCLUSIVE : Byron Allen ’s Allen Media Group Motion Pictures has tapped screenwriter Evan Daugherty ( Divergent ) to pen the sci-fi action feature, The Ultimate Weapon . The film based on a story by Allen will be financed by AMGMP, with exec producers to include Allen, Carolyn Folks, Jennifer Lucas and Matthew Signer. The Ultimate Weapon takes place in a version of the present day where World War II is not over. In fact, history has shown us that the Nazis were actually researching a weapon far greater than the atomic bomb, investing heavily in the ability to achieve time travel. Pic sees them use that ability to travel to the present to bring back technology that they can use in the past to win the war. Countering the Nazis is a NATO-backed team with the technology to determine when they will break into the present time. The team has formed an elite group of super agents to stop the Nazis from taking the technology back to the past, its only goal being to make sure … [Read more...] about Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group Motion Pictures Taps Evan Daugherty To Script Sci-Fi Actioner ‘The Ultimate Weapon’

EXCLUSIVE : Archer Gray has today announced the promotion of Rebecca Choi to Vice President of Narrative Film and the addition of Kelsey Jackson in the newly established role of Vice President of Narrative Television. The news follows the recent announcement of Vinay Singh being upped to CEO, as well as the company’s expansion into unscripted content with the hire of Liza Keckler, and the launch of its Co-Lab division headed by former Disney and Fox exec Jim Fielding. It also precedes the bow of The Persian Version — a dramedy from writer-director Maryam Keshavarz, which will this week become Archer Gray’s sixth project to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Both new VPs will help grow the company’s narrative slate under Archer Gray Partner and President of Narrative Production, Anne Carey — collaborating with a team now spanning unscripted content, live experiences, and brand and retail strategy. “Archer Gray strives to shine a light on distinctive … [Read more...] about Archer Gray Ups Rebecca Choi, Adds Kelsey Jackson As It Expands Narrative Division