Plum pictures

EXCLUSIVE: In a competitive situation, Sony Pictures has acquired feature rights to Gnomes , based on Dutch filmmakers Richard Raaphorst and Ruwan Heggelman’s breakout horror short film. The project is currently in early development with 21 Laps’ Shawn Levy, Dan Cohen & Dan Levine producing with Raaphorst. Emily Feher overseeeing for 21 Laps.  Heggelman will direct the feature. Plot details are under wraps. The short film had its North American premiere at the 2022 Fantastic Fest as well as featured in the official selection of the 2022 Frontières Platform at the Marché du Film at Cannes. Gnomes is written by Heggelman, Jasper ten Hoor, and Richard Raaphorst and produced by art department master Raaphorst ( Frankenstein’s Army ). Next up for 21 Laps is the 20th Century adaptation of Stephen King’s The Boogeyman , which they are producing. That film bows this June in theaters. Heggelman and Raaphorst are repped by 3 Arts Entertainment and Ziffren … [Read more...] about Sony Pictures Lands Rights To Richard Raaphorst and Ruwan Heggelman Short Film ‘Gnomes’ With 21 Laps Producing

The Only Way is Essex indie Lime Pictures has unveiled UK entertainment vet Mirella Breda as its Chief Creative Officer, Unscripted. Breda, Escape to the Chateau indie Two Rivers Media’s Head of Entertainment, joins in the newly-created role, which was revealed last month following the departure of Lime’s Sarah Tyekiff and decision by the All3Media -backed indie to forge popular factual division with All3Media stablemates Lion Television and Wise Owl Films. Lime produces reality hits such as The Only Way is Essex and Geordie Shore and scripted shows including Hollyoaks and Free Rein. Breda, whose past credits include Big Brother , Stars in Their Eyes and Tenable and is a former MD of Big Brother producer Initial, will oversee the division that will forge popular factual shows for the domestic and global market. Tyekiff is departing soon to launch her own production company while Rebecca Kenny-Smith was recently promoted to Director of … [Read more...] about ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ Indie Lime Pictures Unveils Chief Creative Officer For Unscripted

EXCLUSIVE: Picture Tree Int’l (PTI) has boarded sales on German Sophie Scholls – The Final Days Oscar-nominee and hitmaker Marc Rothemund ’s heart-warming family drama Weekend Rebels , inspired by the true story of a father who forged a special bond with his autistic son through the search for a perfect soccer club. The film, currently in post-production, is produced by Justyna Muesch, Quirin Berg and Max Wiedemann. Their Oscar-winning banner Wiedemann & Berg Film company has delivered a slew of award-winning pictures over the years including The Lives Of Others , Never Look Away and Who Am I . SevenPictures Film co-produces. Leonine Studios is also on board and will release the film in Germany on September 28, 2023. Florian David Fitz ( Welcome to Germany , Vincent Wants To Sea ) leads the German cast as a father who gets closer to his 10-year-old autistic son through a quest to find a soccer club they can support together, in return for the boy … [Read more...] about Picture Tree Int’l To Launch Marc Rothemund’s Father & Son, Autism, Soccer Club Comedy-Drama ‘Weekend Rebels’ At EFM; Unveils First Image

Sony Pictures Classics has taken North American on Maryam Keshavarz’s The Persian Version which won the Audience Award (U.S. Dramatic Competition) and The Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award (U.S. Dramatic Competition) at this year’s Sundance. Keshavarz is the first filmmaker to have two films win the Sundance Audience Award in the Dramatic Competition category. This is the second title that SPC has snapped out of Sundance, Deadline first telling you about their acquisition of A Little Prayer, which they took global rights on. Logline: Coming from two countries at odds with each other, Iranian-American Leila (Layla Mohammadi) strives to find balance and embrace her opposing cultures, while boldly challenging the labels society is so quick to project upon her. When her family reunites in New York City for her father’s heart transplant, Leila navigates her relationships from arm’s length in an effort to keep her “real” life separate from her family life. However, when her secret … [Read more...] about Sony Pictures Classics Picks Up Sundance Winner ‘The Persian Version’

EXCLUSIVE: Which guild will go first at the bargaining table – the DGA , the WGA or SAG-AFTRA – remains undetermined for the upcoming cycle of film and TV contract talks with the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. If history is any judge, who goes first could foreshadow whether there will be a strike – or more than one strike – this year. In the end, it will be up to each guild, working in consultation with the AMPTP , to decide when, and in what order, they start bargaining. The DGA has gone first in each of the past three three-year bargaining cycles, even though its contracts expire at the same time as SAG-AFTRA’s – on June 30 – and two months after the WGA’s contract on May 1. The DGA often begins its negotiations many months in advance of the expiration of its contracts. “When it comes to making the decision about when to start negotiations,” the DGA said recently, “we are guided by one simple principle: We will only begin bargaining … [Read more...] about Going First At Bargaining Table Means A Lot, But No Word Yet If It Will Be DGA, WGA or SAG-AFTRA

Negotiators for a new SAG-AFTRA film and TV contract have wrapped their second week of bargaining with six weeks to go before the current pact expires and no sign of an early deal. This is the first film and TV contract the union has negotiated since SAG and AFTRA merged in 2012, and one of its key goals is to bring their old contracts into alignment. “That’s what everyone has been talking about,” said a SAG-AFTRA official. “We’ve got to combine the contracts.” Related: SAG-AFTRA Talks: What To Expect The union actually is negotiating two separate TV contracts with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers – one SAG’s and the other AFTRA’s, whose basic rates are 3.5% higher than SAG’s. “We want to bring the SAG contract up to AFTRA’s,” said the SAG-AFTRA official. “We certainly don’t want to lower AFTRA’s to SAG’s.” And that may just prove to be the toughest sticking point in these negotiations. Beyond that, most of the heavy lifting for a new actors … [Read more...] about Guild Official: Merging SAG And AFTRA TV Deals Key Goal Of Ongoing Contract Talks

EXCLUSIVE: It’s a happy Fourth of July in Hollywood. After nearly two months of talks and three last-minute 24-hour extensions, a tentative agreement has been reached on a new three-year SAG-AFTRA film and television contract. Terms were not announced. Here is the sides’ verbose joint statement: “Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) today reached tentative agreement for motion picture production. Negotiations, which began on May 5th, resulted in a new 2014 Producers-SAG-AFTRA Codified Basic Agreement and an industry-wide 2014 SAG-AFTRA Television Agreement as the successor agreement to Screen Actors Guild Television Agreement, Exhibit A of the AFTRA National Code of Fair Practice for Network Television Broadcasting, The CW Supplement, and the basic cable agreements. The terms of the new agreements will be presented to the SAG-AFTRA National Board of Directors at its … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA, Producers Reach Tentative Agreement On New Film & TV Contract

UPDATE: 5:57 PM: Neither embracing nor directly rebuffing the WGA West’s new Late Pay Initiative, the AMPTP today said it will “pledge our cooperation” to the move. The parsed statement comes just weeks before the WGA and AMPTP are expected to sit down to start talks on a new contract — where money will be doing most of the talking. Here’s the statement: “We agree with the Writers Guild of America that writers should be paid on time. We pledge our cooperation to address compliance in this important area. We encourage the Guild to advise us of instances when writers have not received timely payments in accordance with the terms of the collective bargaining agreement.” PREVIOUS 4:13 PM Tuesday: Representatives of the Writers Guild of America West haven’t sat down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and TV Producers yet to negotiate a new master contract, but it’s starting to look for more money for its members – money they’re owed. Today the guild started a new … [Read more...] about UPDATE: AMPTP Responds To WGA West Plan To Go After Deadbeat Producers For Scribes’ Pay

EXCLUSIVE : Eon Productions and MGM have set distribution plans for James Bond 25 . The most hotly sought after film franchise in recent memory has been won by Universal Pictures for international as well as for home entertainment, sources said. Domestic distribution will be handled by MGM and Annapurna through the joint venture they signed last year. The 25th installment of James Bond will first be released in the UK on October 25, 2019, and in the U.S. on November 8, 2019. Production begins December 3. The deal was just closed by EON’s Michael G Wilson and Barbara Broccoli , MGM chairman of the board of directors Kevin Ulrich , MGM Motion Pictures Group president Jon Glickman and Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley. It puts the MGM logo front and center as distributor on a Bond film for the first time in nearly two decades. As expected, Daniel Craig is back for his fifth film as 007, and Oscar-winner Danny Boyle is now set to direct a film that his … [Read more...] about James Bond 25 Sets Distribution: Universal Wins International, MGM Releases Domestic Through Annapurna Joint Venture

The Motion Picture Association is upgrading a platform and services that assess content security safeguards of producers and their suppliers. The Trusted Partner Network , in which members’ content security is measured against a set of best practices, will now include software and cloud security assessments, adding to those of physical locations and home workplaces. The intent of the Trusted Partner Network , being relaunched as the TPN+ platform, is to have a set of standards for vendors as a way to prevent instances like the pre-release leaks of footage from major blockbusters. The new platform is designed to help members manage and communicate their content security status, including with non-TPN security certificates such as ISO and Soc2, along with conforming to a set of updated MPA best practices. The Trusted Partner Network includes smaller firms and large pre- and post-production companies, as well as content owners. The MPA launched the Alliance for … [Read more...] about MPA Upgrades Trusted Partner Network To Boost Security In Studio Supply Chains