Oscar-winner Octavia Spencer is teaming with ID, discovery+ and October Films in an expansive partnership and development deal for premium unscripted true-crime content. Under the pact, Spencer and her production company, Orit Entertainment, and producer October Films will develop and produce multiple projects for ID and discovery+, with Spencer set to executive produce. Production on the deal’s first two projects is underway, with additional titles in development. The first title announced under the agreement is the three-episode one-hour series Highway 20 (w/t).
“As an avid fan of true crime, to now be partners with ID and October Films is a dream,” said Spencer. “Everyone at Orit Entertainment is committed to shedding light on the most fascinating cases and crime stories with a unique perspective. We are thrilled to launch our collaboration with Highway 20 (w/t), an incredible series of cases that took place over decades, only recently connected into...
“As an avid fan of true crime, to now be partners with ID and October Films is a dream,” said Spencer. “Everyone at Orit Entertainment is committed to shedding light on the most fascinating cases and crime stories with a unique perspective. We are thrilled to launch our collaboration with Highway 20 (w/t), an incredible series of cases that took place over decades, only recently connected into...
- 6/9/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Octavia Spencer and her production company Orit Entertainment have partnered with ID and Discovery+ as well as October Films to develop and executive produce a slate of true crime projects.
Two projects are already in production, with more in development. “Highway 20” (working title) is the first project to come out of the deal. The three-episode documentary series begins with the case of a missing 13-year-old girl and expands to examine a stretch of Oregon’s U.S. Highway 20 where many women and girls went missing or were raped or murdered between the 1970s and 1990s. As the discovery of numerous unsolved crimes sparks fear in the local community, the series focuses on the possibility that a serial killer has been roaming the highway for decades, asking poignant questions of our society’s treatment of women.
“Highway 20” is inspired by the work of journalist Noelle Crombie, videographer Dave Killen and photojournalist Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian,...
Two projects are already in production, with more in development. “Highway 20” (working title) is the first project to come out of the deal. The three-episode documentary series begins with the case of a missing 13-year-old girl and expands to examine a stretch of Oregon’s U.S. Highway 20 where many women and girls went missing or were raped or murdered between the 1970s and 1990s. As the discovery of numerous unsolved crimes sparks fear in the local community, the series focuses on the possibility that a serial killer has been roaming the highway for decades, asking poignant questions of our society’s treatment of women.
“Highway 20” is inspired by the work of journalist Noelle Crombie, videographer Dave Killen and photojournalist Beth Nakamura of The Oregonian,...
- 6/9/2022
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Brainstorm Media has acquired U.S. rights to horror film Ravage from Vmi, which is selling the pic at the virtual Cannes market.
Brit actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones (Succession), two-time Oscar-nominee Bruce Dern, and Robert Longstreet (The Old Man And The Gun) star in the film about a nature photographer (Dexter-Jones) who witnesses a violent crime while alone in the woods. After being captured by the culprits, she uses her survival skills to take them out one by one.
Brainstorm Media is planning to release the film in select theaters and VOD on August 21. The deal was negotiated by Michelle Shwarzstein and Steve Break for Brainstorm Media with J.D. Beaufils for Vmi, on behalf of the filmmakers.
Written and directed by Teddy Grennan, the film had its world premiere at the 2019 Genre Blast Film Festival and went on to win Best Feature at the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2019. Producers are Marsha Oglesby,...
Brit actress Annabelle Dexter-Jones (Succession), two-time Oscar-nominee Bruce Dern, and Robert Longstreet (The Old Man And The Gun) star in the film about a nature photographer (Dexter-Jones) who witnesses a violent crime while alone in the woods. After being captured by the culprits, she uses her survival skills to take them out one by one.
Brainstorm Media is planning to release the film in select theaters and VOD on August 21. The deal was negotiated by Michelle Shwarzstein and Steve Break for Brainstorm Media with J.D. Beaufils for Vmi, on behalf of the filmmakers.
Written and directed by Teddy Grennan, the film had its world premiere at the 2019 Genre Blast Film Festival and went on to win Best Feature at the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2019. Producers are Marsha Oglesby,...
- 6/25/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Sun Valley Film Festival founder Teddy Grennan was driving through central Virginia near his home in Charlottesville when he stumbled upon a feature news segment on NPR in which a rancher was discussing the use of pesticides and GMOs in cattle.
“The reporter from NPR was trying to get this rancher to talk about how pesticides and GMOs were bad for cows,” says Grennan, “and the rancher let the [reporter] finish and then says, ‘let me tell you something. The inside of a cow is one of the most toxic environments in the world. You put anything in the world in there and it’s going to digest it.’ And I thought, what if you stuff a person in it?”
That one thought — dark and twisted as it may be — formed the basis of what would become Grennan’s directorial debut, “Swing Low,” an indie slasher movie that he wrote with...
“The reporter from NPR was trying to get this rancher to talk about how pesticides and GMOs were bad for cows,” says Grennan, “and the rancher let the [reporter] finish and then says, ‘let me tell you something. The inside of a cow is one of the most toxic environments in the world. You put anything in the world in there and it’s going to digest it.’ And I thought, what if you stuff a person in it?”
That one thought — dark and twisted as it may be — formed the basis of what would become Grennan’s directorial debut, “Swing Low,” an indie slasher movie that he wrote with...
- 10/31/2019
- by Malina Saval
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The 2019 Screamfest Horror Film Festival has taken a bite out of Eat, Brains, Love, setting the Rodman Flender-directed zombie romantic comedy as its opening-night film. The annual genre fest will run October 8-17 at the Tcl Chinese 6 Theatres in Hollywood.
Eat, Brains, Love, which world premiered last month at the UK’s Frighfest, is about Jake (Jake Cannavale) and his dream girl Amanda (Angelique Rivera). The good news is she finally knows his name — but the bad news is both contracted a mysterious sexually transmitted zombie virus and devoured the brains of half their senior class. A teen psychic (Sarah Yarkin) sent by the government’s top-secret Necrotic Control Division is sent to track them down. Patrick Fabian also stars.
Mike Herro and David Strauss wrote the script based on the novel by Jeff Hart. The pic is produced by Tommy Coriale, Tony Disanto, Brian Hoff, Van Toffler and Cody Weig.
Eat, Brains, Love, which world premiered last month at the UK’s Frighfest, is about Jake (Jake Cannavale) and his dream girl Amanda (Angelique Rivera). The good news is she finally knows his name — but the bad news is both contracted a mysterious sexually transmitted zombie virus and devoured the brains of half their senior class. A teen psychic (Sarah Yarkin) sent by the government’s top-secret Necrotic Control Division is sent to track them down. Patrick Fabian also stars.
Mike Herro and David Strauss wrote the script based on the novel by Jeff Hart. The pic is produced by Tommy Coriale, Tony Disanto, Brian Hoff, Van Toffler and Cody Weig.
- 9/9/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Time is of the essence for Al Pacino's Dr. Jack Gramm, a forensic scientist who receives a threatening call on his cell phone informing him he's got all of 88 minutes to live.
But a scant hour-and-a-half can seem like a hellish eternity when you've got a nonsensical, exposition-heavy script (by Gary Scott Thompson) and stagy directing (by Jon Avnet) to work with, not to mention an official running time that actually exceeds the American-German co-production's real-time gimmick by almost 20 minutes.
Spending a good portion of the past two years being knocked around TriStar's release schedule, this ridiculous thriller would be hard-pressed to last much longer than its title in theaters before doing time on DVD, as is already the case in many overseas territories.
When two copycat killings take place within hours of the scheduled execution of Jon Forster (Neal McDonough), who was found guilty of being the serial killer known as the The Seattle Strangler, the media is beginning to wonder if Gramm's nine-year-old testimony convicted the right guy.
While Gramm is convinced the grisly killings are the work of a copycat killer, he finds himself with more pressing problems when he receives a personal, time-sensitive death threat from somebody who would appear to be operating within his own circle of colleagues.
As the body count continues to hit ever closer to home, Gramm is required to cut through the mounting paranoia and whittle down the list of potential suspects before it's too late.
It will actually take a lot less than 88 minutes for most audience members to figure out whodunit thanks to some clunky execution that effectively tips the culprit's identity within the first half-hour.
The old built-in ticking clock is a trick that can work successfully on a show like "24" or, to a lesser extent, in a film like John Badham's 1995 thriller, Nick of Time, but it requires expert calibration from both the writing and direction to pull it off.
A quickening of pace would also be a prerequisite, but in the case of 88 Minutes the accompanying action is more of the head-scratching than the pulse-pounding variety.
While Avnet is a filmmaker with a proven strength for character-driven literary drama like Fried Green Tomatoes, he seems out of his element here, especially the one provided by Gary Scott Thompson's ragingly artificial copycat of a copycat killer picture.
Pacino, sporting a wild hairdo and facial hair that seemingly channels the late Wolfman Jack, counts on his old bag of tricks to pump some credibility into his character, but this time they only take him so far.
Also squandered is a talented supporting cast including Alicia Witt, Amy Brenneman and Leelee Sobieski, among the list of possible suspects, who have all, apparently been instructed to overplay their roles on the potentially guilty side.
With something like eight executive producers on board, it's not surprising that the prevailing visual style would be best described as quick and dirty, with a barely-disguised Vancouver subbing for Seattle.
88 MINUTES
TriStar Pictures
A TriStar Pictures and Millennium Films presentation of a Randall Emmett/George Furla production for Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & KG III and Nu Image Entertainment GmbH.
Credits:
Director: Jon Avnet
Writer: Gary Scott Thompson
Producers: Jon Avnet, Randall Emmett, Gary Scott Thompson, Avi Lerner
Executive producers: Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, George Furla, Andreas Thiesmeyer, Josef Lautenschlager, Lawrence Bender, John Baldecchi
Director of photography: Denis Lenoir
Production designer: Tracey Gallacher
Music: Edward Shearmur
Co-producers: Michael Flannigan, John Thompson, Samuel Hadida, Marsha Oglesby, Jochen Kamlah, Gerd Koechlin, Manfred Heid
Costume designer: Mary McLeod
Editor: Peter Berger
Cast:
Jack Gramm: Al Pacino
Kim Cummings: Alicia Witt
Lauren Douglas: Leelee Sobieski
Shelly Barnes: Amy Brenneman
Carol Lynn Johnson: Deborah Kara Unger
Benjamin McKenzie: Mike Stempt
Jon Forster: Neal McDonough
Running time -- 106 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
But a scant hour-and-a-half can seem like a hellish eternity when you've got a nonsensical, exposition-heavy script (by Gary Scott Thompson) and stagy directing (by Jon Avnet) to work with, not to mention an official running time that actually exceeds the American-German co-production's real-time gimmick by almost 20 minutes.
Spending a good portion of the past two years being knocked around TriStar's release schedule, this ridiculous thriller would be hard-pressed to last much longer than its title in theaters before doing time on DVD, as is already the case in many overseas territories.
When two copycat killings take place within hours of the scheduled execution of Jon Forster (Neal McDonough), who was found guilty of being the serial killer known as the The Seattle Strangler, the media is beginning to wonder if Gramm's nine-year-old testimony convicted the right guy.
While Gramm is convinced the grisly killings are the work of a copycat killer, he finds himself with more pressing problems when he receives a personal, time-sensitive death threat from somebody who would appear to be operating within his own circle of colleagues.
As the body count continues to hit ever closer to home, Gramm is required to cut through the mounting paranoia and whittle down the list of potential suspects before it's too late.
It will actually take a lot less than 88 minutes for most audience members to figure out whodunit thanks to some clunky execution that effectively tips the culprit's identity within the first half-hour.
The old built-in ticking clock is a trick that can work successfully on a show like "24" or, to a lesser extent, in a film like John Badham's 1995 thriller, Nick of Time, but it requires expert calibration from both the writing and direction to pull it off.
A quickening of pace would also be a prerequisite, but in the case of 88 Minutes the accompanying action is more of the head-scratching than the pulse-pounding variety.
While Avnet is a filmmaker with a proven strength for character-driven literary drama like Fried Green Tomatoes, he seems out of his element here, especially the one provided by Gary Scott Thompson's ragingly artificial copycat of a copycat killer picture.
Pacino, sporting a wild hairdo and facial hair that seemingly channels the late Wolfman Jack, counts on his old bag of tricks to pump some credibility into his character, but this time they only take him so far.
Also squandered is a talented supporting cast including Alicia Witt, Amy Brenneman and Leelee Sobieski, among the list of possible suspects, who have all, apparently been instructed to overplay their roles on the potentially guilty side.
With something like eight executive producers on board, it's not surprising that the prevailing visual style would be best described as quick and dirty, with a barely-disguised Vancouver subbing for Seattle.
88 MINUTES
TriStar Pictures
A TriStar Pictures and Millennium Films presentation of a Randall Emmett/George Furla production for Equity Pictures Medienfonds GmbH & KG III and Nu Image Entertainment GmbH.
Credits:
Director: Jon Avnet
Writer: Gary Scott Thompson
Producers: Jon Avnet, Randall Emmett, Gary Scott Thompson, Avi Lerner
Executive producers: Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short, Boaz Davidson, George Furla, Andreas Thiesmeyer, Josef Lautenschlager, Lawrence Bender, John Baldecchi
Director of photography: Denis Lenoir
Production designer: Tracey Gallacher
Music: Edward Shearmur
Co-producers: Michael Flannigan, John Thompson, Samuel Hadida, Marsha Oglesby, Jochen Kamlah, Gerd Koechlin, Manfred Heid
Costume designer: Mary McLeod
Editor: Peter Berger
Cast:
Jack Gramm: Al Pacino
Kim Cummings: Alicia Witt
Lauren Douglas: Leelee Sobieski
Shelly Barnes: Amy Brenneman
Carol Lynn Johnson: Deborah Kara Unger
Benjamin McKenzie: Mike Stempt
Jon Forster: Neal McDonough
Running time -- 106 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/14/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The PGA on Monday announced producers attached to previously announced nominees in feature film and TV categories.
The names had been withheld pending completion of the the PGA's accreditation process.
The accrediting review and a related appeal process is aimed at determining which producers "performed a majority of the producing functions from development through production and post production," officials said.
Winners will be announced at the 19th annual PGA awards, set for Feb. 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
A complete list of nominees follows:
The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:
The Diving Bell and the Butterly (Miramax)
Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Kilik
Juno (Fox Searchlight)
Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, Russell Smith
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent, Sydney Pollack
No Country for Old Men (Miramax/Paramount Vantage)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage/Miramax)
Joanne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Bee Movie (DreamWorks Animation)
Jerry Seinfeld, Christina Steinberg
Ratatouille (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation)
Brad Lewis
The Simpsons Movie (20th Century Fox)
James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Richard Sakai, Mike Scully
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
Body of War (Phil Donahue Productions/Mobilus Media)
Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro
Hear and Now (HBO)
Irene Taylor Brodsky
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (The Weinstein Company)
Jim Brown, Michael Cohl, William Eigen
Sicko (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Moore, Meghan O'Hara
White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (HBO)
Steven Okazaki
The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television
The Bronx is Burning (ESPN)
Joe Davola, Gordon Greisman, Bill Johnson, Mike Tollin
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (HBO)
Clara George, Tom Thayer, Dick Wolf
High School Musical 2 (Disney Channel)
Bill Borden, Barry Rosenbush
Jane Eyre (PBS/BBC)
Phillippa Giles, Diederick Santer
The Starter Wife (USA Network)
Jon Avnet, Josann McGibbon, Marsha Oglesby, Sara Parriott
The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award In Episodic Television - Comedy
Entourage (HBO)
Doug Ellin, Stephen Levinson, Julian Farino, Wayne Carmona, Rob Weiss, Denis Biggs, Lori Jo Nemhauser
Extras (HBO)
Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Charles Hanson
The Office (NBC)
Greg Daniels, Kent Zbornak, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, Jeff Richmond
30 Rock (NBC)
Robert Carlock, Tina Fey
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Salma Hayek, James Hayman, Silvio Horta, James Parriott, Marco Pennette, Ben Silverman, Jose Tamez, Teri Weinberg, Alice West
The Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television - Drama
Dexter (Showtime)
Michael Cuesta, Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Robert Lloyd Lewis, Clyde Phillips
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Peter Horton, Rob Corn
Heroes (NBC)
Allan Arkush, Greg Beeman, Jim Chory, Dennis Hammer Gerrit van der Meer, Tim Kring
House (Fox)
David Shore, Katie Jacobs, Daniel Sackheim
Lost (ABC)
Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Jack Bender, Liz Sarnoff, Drew Goddard
The Sopranos (HBO)
David Chase, Brad Grey, Ilene S.
The names had been withheld pending completion of the the PGA's accreditation process.
The accrediting review and a related appeal process is aimed at determining which producers "performed a majority of the producing functions from development through production and post production," officials said.
Winners will be announced at the 19th annual PGA awards, set for Feb. 2 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
A complete list of nominees follows:
The Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures:
The Diving Bell and the Butterly (Miramax)
Kathleen Kennedy, Jon Kilik
Juno (Fox Searchlight)
Lianne Halfon, Mason Novick, Russell Smith
Michael Clayton (Warner Bros.)
Jennifer Fox, Kerry Orent, Sydney Pollack
No Country for Old Men (Miramax/Paramount Vantage)
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Scott Rudin
There Will Be Blood (Paramount Vantage/Miramax)
Joanne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Daniel Lupi
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures
Bee Movie (DreamWorks Animation)
Jerry Seinfeld, Christina Steinberg
Ratatouille (Walt Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation)
Brad Lewis
The Simpsons Movie (20th Century Fox)
James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean, Richard Sakai, Mike Scully
The Producers Guild of America Producer of the Year Award in Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures
Body of War (Phil Donahue Productions/Mobilus Media)
Phil Donahue, Ellen Spiro
Hear and Now (HBO)
Irene Taylor Brodsky
Pete Seeger: The Power of Song (The Weinstein Company)
Jim Brown, Michael Cohl, William Eigen
Sicko (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Moore, Meghan O'Hara
White Light/Black Rain: The Destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (HBO)
Steven Okazaki
The David L. Wolper Producer of the Year Award in Long-Form Television
The Bronx is Burning (ESPN)
Joe Davola, Gordon Greisman, Bill Johnson, Mike Tollin
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee (HBO)
Clara George, Tom Thayer, Dick Wolf
High School Musical 2 (Disney Channel)
Bill Borden, Barry Rosenbush
Jane Eyre (PBS/BBC)
Phillippa Giles, Diederick Santer
The Starter Wife (USA Network)
Jon Avnet, Josann McGibbon, Marsha Oglesby, Sara Parriott
The Danny Thomas Producer of the Year Award In Episodic Television - Comedy
Entourage (HBO)
Doug Ellin, Stephen Levinson, Julian Farino, Wayne Carmona, Rob Weiss, Denis Biggs, Lori Jo Nemhauser
Extras (HBO)
Ricky Gervais, Stephen Merchant, Charles Hanson
The Office (NBC)
Greg Daniels, Kent Zbornak, Marci Klein, Jerry Kupfer, Lorne Michaels, Jeff Richmond
30 Rock (NBC)
Robert Carlock, Tina Fey
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Salma Hayek, James Hayman, Silvio Horta, James Parriott, Marco Pennette, Ben Silverman, Jose Tamez, Teri Weinberg, Alice West
The Norman Felton Producer of the Year Award in Episodic Television - Drama
Dexter (Showtime)
Michael Cuesta, Sara Colleton, John Goldwyn, Robert Lloyd Lewis, Clyde Phillips
Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
Shonda Rhimes, Betsy Beers, Mark Gordon, Peter Horton, Rob Corn
Heroes (NBC)
Allan Arkush, Greg Beeman, Jim Chory, Dennis Hammer Gerrit van der Meer, Tim Kring
House (Fox)
David Shore, Katie Jacobs, Daniel Sackheim
Lost (ABC)
Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse, Jack Bender, Liz Sarnoff, Drew Goddard
The Sopranos (HBO)
David Chase, Brad Grey, Ilene S.
- 1/21/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jude Law and Gwyneth Paltrow will topline the big-budget science fiction thriller The World of Tomorrow from first-time writer-director Kerry Conran. The film aims to go into production in late February in London. Jon Avnet and Marsha Oglesby, who developed the project, are producing through their Brooklyn Films along with Law and his wife, Sadie Frost. Italian-based producer Aurelio De Laurentiis, who is financing the film, is executive producing with cousin Raffaella De Laurentiis and Bill Haber. The project is described by the producers as "retro sci-fi" in the vein of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Set at the turn of the 20th century, it follows a reporter (Paltrow) and pilot (Law) who team up on an adventure.
- 12/9/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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