Plane around the world

EXCLUSIVE: The Telluride Film Festival was expected to start next week on September 3 and play, as usual, all through the Labor Day weekend. Sadly, the coronavirus pandemic curtailed those plans and the festival was forced to cancel this year’s edition . However, Telluride did put out the schedule of films that had been selected, and on September 11 will host a “drive-in” screening at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena of the new Fox Searchlight film, Nomadland starring Frances McDormand directed by Chloe Zhao. And they actively hope that some of the other films on their list find an audience, and in some cases even distribution in order to find that audience. I caught one of those films, the fascinating new documentary Dear Mr. Brody , which was to have had its world premiere at Telluride and was planning to use that showcase to entice buyers. Cinetic is selling it and is just beginning to show it to prospective distributors this week. The hope is one will bite and … [Read more...] about Remarkable Docu ‘Dear Mr. Brody’ Hopes For New Cinematic Life Past Cancellation Of Telluride Film Festival World Premiere

Sony Pictures Classics is set to release awards contender The Father in select New York and Los Angeles theaters today before expanding nationwide March 12 before landing on PVOD on March 26. That’s quite a theater-to-digital journey for the Florian Zeller-directed drama starring Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Colman. The film, which premiered at Sundance in 2020, is adapted from Zeller’s 2014 play which starred Frank Langella, who won a Tony Award his performance. Zeller and Christopher Hampton adapted the play which follows Anthony (Hopkins), a defiant 80-year-old man who lives alone and refuses the carers that his daughter, Anne (Colman), encouragingly introduces — and she needs the help. She can’t make daily visits to her father and his grip on reality is unraveling. Related Story 'Cherry': Read The Screenplay For The Indie Drama That Is Close To Home For The Russo Brothers The Father marks Zeller feature directorial debut — and what a debut it is. The … [Read more...] about ‘The Father’ And ‘Cherry’ Open in Theaters; Billie Holiday And Billie Eilish Hit Streaming – Specialty Preview

Paramount Pictures is celebrating John Hughes in a big way this month. Available this week, the studio is releasing the John Hughes 5-Movie Collection on Blu-Ray. It contains some of Hughes' biggest comedies of all time. Included in the set are Ferris Bueller's Day Off , Pretty in Pink , She's Having a Baby , Planes, Trains and Automobiles and Some King of Wonderful . We caught up with the director behind two of these all-time classics, speaking with Howard Deutch about his time working alongside John Hughes and what it means to be a part of this legacy. Only three of the films included in this new set were actually directed by the coming-of-age maestro, with the other two only being written by John Hughes . The man is responsible for giving us some of the biggest hits of the '80s. And he wasn't always available to helm some of those scripts himself. Enter acclaimed filmmaker Howard Deutch, who took the reins on Pretty in Pink in 1986 while Hughes himself was … [Read more...] about Pretty in Pink & Some Kind of Wonderful Director Howard Deutch Celebrates the Legacy of John Hughes [Exclusive]

USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative released a study today examining the diversity of Netflix ’s original content. If anything the study could be summarized by Dr. Stacy L. Smith who said in a video: “Inclusion happens when women are given the keys to the kingdom.” “I rarely have anything positive to say,” said Dr. Smith said during a symposium for the unveiling of the Netflix study. “This report was a bit of a reprieve from my typical rollout of information.” Dr. Smith was joined on the virtual panel by Netflix’s Bela Bajaria , Vice President, Global Series; Scott Stuber Vice President, Global Film; as well as Tigertail director Alan Yang and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom director George C. Wolfe . The USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative studies diversity in entertainment and has released numerous studies and reports when it comes to representation . Netflix commissioned Smith and initiative to study for its original, English-language series and film … [Read more...] about USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative Releases Netflix Diversity Study, Finds Women Of Color Are Critical Component Of Inclusion

Netflix ’s two top film and TV executives said the streaming service still has plenty of room for progress with diversity , but predicted results in 2020 will likely show improvement over 2019 when all of the numbers are tallied. “I think we are definitely going to improve,” TV chief Bela Bajaria said. “If you think about last year, with Bridgerton and Gentefied and Never Have I Ever — and this is scripted, it’s not including non-fiction — I think we have a lot of titles and we have a commitment to improve every year.” Film boss Scott Stuber said staffers in his group “definitely feel like we’re improving,” citing releases like Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey , Da Five Bloods , The Old Guard and Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom . “But the point of this benchmark is to constantly be held accountable. … The whole auspice here is not to pat ourselves on the back. It’s to say publicly, ‘Here’s what we’re trying to accomplish.'” Related Story USC … [Read more...] about Netflix Film And TV Chiefs Talk Diversity Strides And Goals, ‘Bridgerton’, ‘Jingle Jangle’ Breakthroughs