Sundance winners 2018

Oscar winner and Academy member Roger Ross Williams is saying publicly what many in the documentary community have stewed over privately – that the sums of money being spent on Oscar documentary campaigns has “gotten insane.” And Williams, a former Academy Governor representing the Doc Branch, says something may be done about it. “We in the Academy, in the Doc Branch, have a campaign finance reform committee… to sort of try to work through that and figure out solutions to that. It’s gotten insane. It’s gazillions of dollars to get seen and heard,” he said, “and that’s so troubling because it should be on the merit of the films.” His remarks, less than two weeks after the Academy Awards, came in a discussion with documentary programmer and Pure Nonfiction podcaster Thom Powers at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. Powers asked the filmmaker about “the escalating attention that awards season sucks up in our industry,” and Williams didn’t hold back. “We know it’s awards, it’s the … [Read more...] about Oscar Winner Roger Ross Williams: Spending On Oscar Doc Campaigns Has “Gotten Insane” — CPH:DOX

Amazon has set the creative team for its Butch & Sundance series. The adaptation, which has Regé-Jean Page and Glen Powell in talks to star, will see Alex Metcalf serve as showrunner with Kaz Firpo and Ryan Firpo serving as co-showrunners. The project, which landed a series order last year, was created by the Firpo cousins, who wrote Marvel’s Eternals . Metcalf was previously showrunner of Showtime’s The Loudest Voice and has written on shows such as Sharp Objects and UnReal . RELATED: 2023 Prime Video Pilots & Series Orders The trio will exec produce. The series is set in an alternate version of America, where legendary outlaws Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid take on their biggest heist yet — this time with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Bridgerton star Page is expected to play Butch Cassidy and Top Gun: Maverick star Powell is set to play the Sundance Kid. The series comes from AGBO and Amazon Studios with … [Read more...] about Amazon’s ‘Butch & Sundance’ Series Sets Showrunners

EXCLUSIVE: Non-English language drama streamer Walter Presents has acquired a package of five drama titles from Beta for release on its services in Australia and New Zealand. The titles include Italian YA drama The Sea Beyond , Spanish investigative drama Rapa and German WWII miniseries The Turncoat . The Sea Beyond , revolving around young inmates in a Naples prison, has enjoyed strong ratings in Italy on Rai, RaiPlay and Netflix since its launch in late 2020. The third season is currently enjoying linear success on Rai2. Rapa , which was the most watched show on Spanish streamer Movistar Plus+ in 2022, follows a high school teacher and local police officer in the Spanish port city of Ferrol, who form an unlikely team in solving a murder case. Two-part, event mini-series The Turncoat is about a young German soldier in 1944, who is posted to a small unit in the Polish woods, where he connects with local partisans and becomes torn between a sense … [Read more...] about Walter Presents Seals Five-Title Drama Deal With Beta For Australia & New Zealand

EXCLUSIVE : Hot on the heels of their historic Oscars sweep with Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Whale , A24 has set the cast for Y2K , a dial-up disaster comedy to be directed for the studio by SNL alum Kyle Mooney . Jaeden Martell ( It ), West Side Story breakout Rachel Zegler and Julian Dennison ( Deadpool 2 ) lead a stacked ensemble that also includes Lachlan Watson ( Chilling Adventures of Sabrina ), Mason Gooding ( Scream VI ), 5x Billboard Music Award-winner The Kid Laroi, Tim Heidecker ( Us ), Eduardo Franco ( Stranger Things ), Miles Robbins ( Blockers ), Alicia Silverstone ( The Killing of a Sacred Deer ), Fred Hechinger ( Fear Street Trilogy ) and Daniel Zolghadri ( Funny Pages ). In the film penned by Evan Winter , which is set on New Year’s Eve 1999, two high school nobodies (Martell, Dennison) decide to crash the last big party before the new millennium. When the clock strikes midnight, the night … [Read more...] about A24 Sets Disaster Comedy ‘Y2K’, To Be Directed By ‘SNL’ Alum Kyle Mooney; Jaeden Martell, Rachel Zegler, Julian Dennison & More To Star

Picturestart and Picture Perfect Federation have set JC Lee to direct the English-language remake of Thai hit Bad Genius and also announced key cast members as well as a raft of international presales. Lee also takes co-writing credits for the English-language screenplay with Julius Onah, who was previously announced as the director. The pair previously collaborated on the Sundance 2019 title Luce , adapted from Lee’s original play of the same name. Up-and-coming talents Callina Liang, star of ITVX teen drama Tell Me Everything , and Jabari Banks (Bel-Air) will star with veteran UK actor Benedict Wong ( Doctor Stranger In The Multiverse Of Madness ). The English remake is billed as a high-stakes, high-octane thriller about a diverse group of young people who team up to fight the system of injustice and inequity and take down the rigged academic institutions around them. It is produced by Erik Feig and Jessica Switch at Picturestart with Patrick … [Read more...] about Picturestart & Picture Perfect Federation Set JC Lee To Direct ‘Bad Genius’; Unveil Key Cast & Int’l Deals

EXCLUSIVE : Gersh on Thursday announced their signing of James Wolk , the always-busy actor who most recently led NBC’s drama series Ordinary Joe , exec produced by Matt Reeves . Wolk in that show played Joe Kimbreau, a character followed on multiple timelines after making a pivotal, life-changing decision at his college graduation. He previously led CBS’ sci-fi thriller series Zoo , based on the bestselling novel by James Patterson and Michael Ledwidge, which ran for three seasons, also starring opposite Robin Williams and Sarah Michelle Gellar in CBS’ sitcom The Crazy Ones . The actor appeared alongside Regina King, Don Johnson, and Tim Blake Nelson in HBO’s Emmy-winning smash Watchmen , and has also been seen in prominent roles on such series as Tell Me A Story (CBS All Access), Goliath (Prime Video), Billions (Showtime) and Mad Men (AMC). Notable feature credits for Wolk include Chris Sparling’s Netflix thriller Mercy , the dramedy This Is … [Read more...] about Gersh Signs ‘The Boys In The Boat’ And ‘Ordinary Joe’ Actor James Wolk

EXCLUSIVE: Fox has put in development The Perfect Couple , a one-hour mystery drama based on Elin Hilderbrand ’s bestselling novel, from Fox Entertainment ’s SideCar Content Accelerator . Search is underway for a writer to pen the adaptation. Based on Hilderbrand’s book, The Perfect Couple centers around wedding season on Nantucket. The beautiful island is overrun with summer people – an annual source of aggravation for year-round residents. When one lavish wedding ends in disaster before it can even begin – with a body discovered in Nantucket Harbor just hours before the ceremony – everyone in the wedding party is suddenly a suspect. As Chief of Police Ed Kapenash digs into the bride, the groom, the groom’s famous mystery novelist mother, and even a member of his own family, the chief discovers that every wedding is a minefield – and no couple is perfect. The Perfect Couple was published by Little, Brown & Company in 2018. Hilderbrand executive produces … [Read more...] about ‘The Perfect Couple’ Drama Based On Elin Hilderbrand Book In The Works At Fox From SideCar

EXCLUSIVE : Actor-filmmaker Zach Braff has signed with Range Media Partners ahead of the MGM theatrical release of his newest directorial effort A Good Person , starring Florence Pugh and Morgan Freeman. The film hitting screens this Friday, March 24th, which Braff also wrote and produced, tells the story of Allison (Pugh), whose life falls apart after her involvement in a fatal accident. In the following years, it is the unlikely relationship she forms with her would-be father-in-law (Freeman) that helps her inevitably live a life worth living. Braff landed Emmy and DGA Award nominations for his directing on Ted Lasso Season 1 and also recently reteamed with that series’ co-creator Bill Lawrence as a director on his Apple series Shrinking , with Jason Segel and Harrison Ford, which has been renewed for a second season . He kicked off his career behind the camera with 2004’s Garden State — a drama that had him starring opposite Natalie Portman which … [Read more...] about ‘A Good Person’ Filmmaker Zach Braff Inks With Range Media Partners

A.O. Scott this week ends his 23-year run as film critic for the New York Times and most movie people are glad to see him go. So is he. “If the film world is to become relevant again, it needs critics whose work reflects passion and advocacy, and that’s the opposite of Scott,” observes one important filmmaker who fears being quoted. Besides, he notes, Scott didn’t leave the movies; the movies left Scott. When cinema was “hot,” a critic like Pauline Kael could stir anger or applause in Hollywood simply by walking into a restaurant. Contentious reviews of movies like Midnight Cowboy or Bonnie & Clyde stirred as much noise as did the movies themselves. Quentin Tarantino tells friends he’s even making a film titled The Movie Critic about a Kael-like presence. That would likely be the final movie from the filmmaker, who believes that directors should “hang ‘em up” at the age of 60 (his 60th birthday is this month). So should critics follow suit? Kael’s … [Read more...] about Peter Bart: Quentin Tarantino’s Movie About A Film Critic May Be A Parting Shot To A Fading Species

EXCLUSIVE : Sons of Anarchy alum Tommy Flanagan has signed on to star alongside Academy Award winner Russell Crowe, Karen Gillan, Marton Csokas and more in the crime thriller Sleeping Dogs from Nickel City Pictures. Pic reunites Flanagan with Crowe following their work together on Ridley Scott’s Oscar-winning classic, Gladiator . The film currently in production in Australia adapts the E.O. Chirovici novel, The Book of Mirrors . Its protagonist is former homicide detective Roy Freeman (Crowe), who in the wake of a cutting-edge Alzheimer’s treatment, is tasked with re-examining a brutal murder case from his past — the grisly murder of a college professor (Csokas). Intrigued and fighting to regain his memory, Roy enlists his former partner to help him revive the investigation. This time though, things unfold very differently when they encounter a magnetic and mysterious woman (Gillan): as he uncovers a tangled web of contradictions and secrets, Roy is forced to face a … [Read more...] about ‘Sons Of Anarchy’s Tommy Flanagan Joins Russell Crowe In Crime Thriller ‘Sleeping Dogs’