Exclusive: Ethan Embry (Grace and Frankie) and Margarita Levieva (The Deuce) are in production in Pittsburgh on The Gymnast, a new indie marking the narrative feature debut of writer-director Charlotte Glynn. Starring alongside them is newcomer Britney Wheeler, a gymnast from upstate New York, who was discovered after a nationwide casting search, and Will Mossek (Life & Beth).
Set in Pittsburgh, 1993, The Gymnast follows an aspiring Olympic gymnast and her single father who has dedicated himself to his daughter’s success. When the young athlete suffers a potentially career-ending injury, their relationship suffers as they fight to discover who they are without gymnastics.
Pic’s producer is Ricky Tollman. Max Mooney is co-producing, with Randy Manis, Luke Spears, Henry Simonds, Offer Egozy, Liesl Wilke and Kate Geller serving as executive producers. In addition to the Sundance Institute’s Catalyst program, the project has been...
Set in Pittsburgh, 1993, The Gymnast follows an aspiring Olympic gymnast and her single father who has dedicated himself to his daughter’s success. When the young athlete suffers a potentially career-ending injury, their relationship suffers as they fight to discover who they are without gymnastics.
Pic’s producer is Ricky Tollman. Max Mooney is co-producing, with Randy Manis, Luke Spears, Henry Simonds, Offer Egozy, Liesl Wilke and Kate Geller serving as executive producers. In addition to the Sundance Institute’s Catalyst program, the project has been...
- 12/20/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Update: An earlier version of this story said Twitter will stream the film on its app; that was incorrect. The tech company will be handling outreach for “Run This Town.”
Twitter is linking with Oscilloscope Laboratories to do outreach on Ricky Tollman’s feature film debut, “Run This Town,” starring Grammy and Tony award-winner Ben Platt as a precocious journalist who stumbles into a life-altering story. The film will release day-and-date on March 6.
“Run This Town” follows Bram, a young newspaper intern who desperately wants to cover hard-hitting news but is stuck writing listicles; his fortunes suddenly change when he luckily finds some salacious information on ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford and is thrust into a hasty investigation that links him with two of the mayor’s aides. The Twitter-Oscilloscope partnership comes a year after the film debuted at the SXSW Film Festival.
Joining Platt in the film are Mena Massoud...
Twitter is linking with Oscilloscope Laboratories to do outreach on Ricky Tollman’s feature film debut, “Run This Town,” starring Grammy and Tony award-winner Ben Platt as a precocious journalist who stumbles into a life-altering story. The film will release day-and-date on March 6.
“Run This Town” follows Bram, a young newspaper intern who desperately wants to cover hard-hitting news but is stuck writing listicles; his fortunes suddenly change when he luckily finds some salacious information on ex-Toronto mayor Rob Ford and is thrust into a hasty investigation that links him with two of the mayor’s aides. The Twitter-Oscilloscope partnership comes a year after the film debuted at the SXSW Film Festival.
Joining Platt in the film are Mena Massoud...
- 1/23/2020
- by Sean Burch
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Oscilloscope Laboratories is teaming with Twitter to release Ricky Tollman’s feature film debut, starring Tony, Emmy, and Grammy Award winner Ben Platt, Mena Massoud, Nina Dobrev, Scott Speedman, Gil Bellows, with two-time Tony Award winner Jennifer Ehle and Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Damian Lewis. The film will be released day-and-date on March 6 in the United States, with Quiver Distribution handling all aspects of the digital release.
This marks a new, innovative collaboration for the Adam Yauch-founded film production company and the social media platform. The partnership targets the North American release and Twitter has signed on as the exclusive content distribution platform supporting the film. Twitter users can expect...
This marks a new, innovative collaboration for the Adam Yauch-founded film production company and the social media platform. The partnership targets the North American release and Twitter has signed on as the exclusive content distribution platform supporting the film. Twitter users can expect...
- 1/23/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Well Go USA has bought North American theatrical rights to Bill Oliver’s science-fiction drama “Jonathan,” starring Ansel Elgort, Suki Waterhouse and Patricia Clarkson.
The deal was announced Tuesday, prior the Sept. 26 West Coast premiere of “Jonathan” at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Well Go plans to release the film in theaters and on demand Nov. 16.
“Jonathan” was produced by Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman and executive produced by Jim Reeve, Robert Halmi and Neal Dodson. The deal was negotiated by Doris Pfardrescher and Dylan Marchetti for Well Go USA with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers.
Elgort plays two brothers living very separate lives inside the same body. Previously content to live life in shifts with one another, their delicate balance is ruined when they become emotionally involved with the same woman, portrayed by Waterhouse. The film premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
“It took a team...
The deal was announced Tuesday, prior the Sept. 26 West Coast premiere of “Jonathan” at the Los Angeles Film Festival. Well Go plans to release the film in theaters and on demand Nov. 16.
“Jonathan” was produced by Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman and executive produced by Jim Reeve, Robert Halmi and Neal Dodson. The deal was negotiated by Doris Pfardrescher and Dylan Marchetti for Well Go USA with CAA Media Finance on behalf of the filmmakers.
Elgort plays two brothers living very separate lives inside the same body. Previously content to live life in shifts with one another, their delicate balance is ruined when they become emotionally involved with the same woman, portrayed by Waterhouse. The film premiered at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival.
“It took a team...
- 9/25/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
From TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for September 2018 including "Largo", "October Faction", "Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark" and a whole lot more:
Christmas Getaway
TV Movie
Prod.: Shane Boucher
Dir.: Megan Follows
Aug 27 - Sep 15/18
Coroner
TV Series
CBC / Muse Ent / Back Alley
Prod.: Suzanne Colvin-Goulding
Aug 20 - Nov 7/18
Crossword Mystery
TV Movie
Hallmark Channel
Prod.: David Anselmo
Dir.: Don McCutcheon
Aug 27 - Sep 14/18
Endlings
TV Series
Sinking Ship Entertainment Inc.
Exec. Prod.: Blair Powers, J.J. Johnson, Christin Simms, Matt Bishop
Dir: Various
Aug 22 - Nov 23/18
Green Harvest Season 2
TV Series
CBS Studios Inc.
Prod.: Thom Pretak
Dir: Various
Apr 16 - Nov 8/18
Hot Zone
TV Series – Mini
Fox TV
Prod.: Lena Cordina
Dir.: Michael Uppendahl
Sep 13 - Nov 16/18
In The Dark Season 1
TV Series
A G Films Canada Inc.
Producer: Ben Stiller, John Weber, Jackie Cohn...
Christmas Getaway
TV Movie
Prod.: Shane Boucher
Dir.: Megan Follows
Aug 27 - Sep 15/18
Coroner
TV Series
CBC / Muse Ent / Back Alley
Prod.: Suzanne Colvin-Goulding
Aug 20 - Nov 7/18
Crossword Mystery
TV Movie
Hallmark Channel
Prod.: David Anselmo
Dir.: Don McCutcheon
Aug 27 - Sep 14/18
Endlings
TV Series
Sinking Ship Entertainment Inc.
Exec. Prod.: Blair Powers, J.J. Johnson, Christin Simms, Matt Bishop
Dir: Various
Aug 22 - Nov 23/18
Green Harvest Season 2
TV Series
CBS Studios Inc.
Prod.: Thom Pretak
Dir: Various
Apr 16 - Nov 8/18
Hot Zone
TV Series – Mini
Fox TV
Prod.: Lena Cordina
Dir.: Michael Uppendahl
Sep 13 - Nov 16/18
In The Dark Season 1
TV Series
A G Films Canada Inc.
Producer: Ben Stiller, John Weber, Jackie Cohn...
- 8/23/2018
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Exclusive: Grey’s Anatomy’s Jesse Williams and The Fast and the Furious star Jordana Brewster have signed up to star in Jay Baruchel’s Random Acts of Violence.
Man Seeking Woman and This Is The End star Baruchel has written and directed the road-trip horror feature and will also star. Baruchel, who wrote Seann William Scott-fronted Goon, is writing with his longtime writing partner Jesse Chabot. Also starring Niamh Wilson (Maps to The Stars), production on the film has just started in Toronto and will run through September.
Based on the eponymous graphic novel, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, the film follows the story of comic book creator Todd Walkley, played by Williams, along with his girlfriend Kathy, played by Brewster, assistant Aurora, played by Wilson and best friend and Hard Calibre Comics owner Ezra, played by Baruchel as they go on a road-trip. On their...
Man Seeking Woman and This Is The End star Baruchel has written and directed the road-trip horror feature and will also star. Baruchel, who wrote Seann William Scott-fronted Goon, is writing with his longtime writing partner Jesse Chabot. Also starring Niamh Wilson (Maps to The Stars), production on the film has just started in Toronto and will run through September.
Based on the eponymous graphic novel, written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, the film follows the story of comic book creator Todd Walkley, played by Williams, along with his girlfriend Kathy, played by Brewster, assistant Aurora, played by Wilson and best friend and Hard Calibre Comics owner Ezra, played by Baruchel as they go on a road-trip. On their...
- 8/15/2018
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
From TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for May 2018 including "V Wars", "The Boys, "Titans" and a whole lot more:
V Wars
TV Series
Idw (Netflix)
Prod.: Tom Vencelides
Dir.: Brad Turner
Jun 11 – tba
Christmas By The Book
TV Movie
By The Book Productions Ltd.
Prod.: Shane Boucher, Curtis Crawford
Dir.: Letia Clouston
Apr 30 - May 18/18
Dino Dana The Movie
Feature
Sinking Ship Entertainment
Line Prod.: Eric Beldowski
May 22 - Jun 27/18
Frankie Drake Mysteries Season 2
TV Series
Shaftesbury
Prod.: Teresa Ho
Dir.: Ruba Nadda
May 9 - Aug 28/18
Shazam! (Aka Franklin)
Feature
New Line Productions Inc. / Jellystone Films Inc.
Prod.: Peter Safran
Dir.: David F. Sandberg
Feb 5 - May 8/18
Titans (Aka Freebirds)
TV Series
Warner Bros. TV / Berlanti Entertainment
Prod.: Robert Ortiz
Dir.: John Fawcett, Brad Anderson
Nov 14/17 - May 11/18
Green Harvest Season 2
TV Series
CBS Studios Inc.
V Wars
TV Series
Idw (Netflix)
Prod.: Tom Vencelides
Dir.: Brad Turner
Jun 11 – tba
Christmas By The Book
TV Movie
By The Book Productions Ltd.
Prod.: Shane Boucher, Curtis Crawford
Dir.: Letia Clouston
Apr 30 - May 18/18
Dino Dana The Movie
Feature
Sinking Ship Entertainment
Line Prod.: Eric Beldowski
May 22 - Jun 27/18
Frankie Drake Mysteries Season 2
TV Series
Shaftesbury
Prod.: Teresa Ho
Dir.: Ruba Nadda
May 9 - Aug 28/18
Shazam! (Aka Franklin)
Feature
New Line Productions Inc. / Jellystone Films Inc.
Prod.: Peter Safran
Dir.: David F. Sandberg
Feb 5 - May 8/18
Titans (Aka Freebirds)
TV Series
Warner Bros. TV / Berlanti Entertainment
Prod.: Robert Ortiz
Dir.: John Fawcett, Brad Anderson
Nov 14/17 - May 11/18
Green Harvest Season 2
TV Series
CBS Studios Inc.
- 5/1/2018
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty), Scott Speedman (Animal Kingdom) and Gil Bellows (Eyewitness) have been cast in the policial drama Run This Town. They join previously announced Ben Platt, Mena Massoud, Nina Dobrev and Damian Lewis, with production is underway in Canada.
Written and directed by Ricky Tollman, the story follows a young journalist (Platt) who is desperate to prove himself and catches wind of a scandal involving a flashy, unpredictable politician with no filter (Lewis). Political aides (Massoud and Dobrev) attempt to keep their boss in check – and the story under wraps – in order to save their jobs.
Producers are Randy Manis and Jonathan Bronfman for JoBro Productions, and Ariella Naymark, while Aqute Media’s Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman and CounterNarrative Films serve as exec producers. Aqute is financing the film with Telefilm Canada.
Ehle is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group in the UK. Speedman is...
Written and directed by Ricky Tollman, the story follows a young journalist (Platt) who is desperate to prove himself and catches wind of a scandal involving a flashy, unpredictable politician with no filter (Lewis). Political aides (Massoud and Dobrev) attempt to keep their boss in check – and the story under wraps – in order to save their jobs.
Producers are Randy Manis and Jonathan Bronfman for JoBro Productions, and Ariella Naymark, while Aqute Media’s Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman and CounterNarrative Films serve as exec producers. Aqute is financing the film with Telefilm Canada.
Ehle is repped by UTA and Independent Talent Group in the UK. Speedman is...
- 4/4/2018
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Ansel Elgort is going to be pulling double duty on his next film. The “Divergent” actor will be portraying twin brothers in Bill Oliver’s independent film, “Jonathan.”
Per Deadline, who first reported the news, the movie tells the story of Jonathan, a successful architect who lives a normal life dictated by a strict routine. Jonathan’s twin brother John, on the other hand, sleeps all day and spends the night secretly socializing. When Jonathan discovers that John has a secret girlfriend, Elena, he forces John to end things and then starts a new relationship with her out of curiosity and jealousy. The brother soon finds out of his sibling’s betrayal and things spiral out of control.
Read More: Ansel Elgort May Star In ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ But What of Vin Diesel?
The film is written by Oliver and Peter Nickowitz. Producers include Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman, with Neal Dodson executive producing.
Per Deadline, who first reported the news, the movie tells the story of Jonathan, a successful architect who lives a normal life dictated by a strict routine. Jonathan’s twin brother John, on the other hand, sleeps all day and spends the night secretly socializing. When Jonathan discovers that John has a secret girlfriend, Elena, he forces John to end things and then starts a new relationship with her out of curiosity and jealousy. The brother soon finds out of his sibling’s betrayal and things spiral out of control.
Read More: Ansel Elgort May Star In ‘Dungeons & Dragons,’ But What of Vin Diesel?
The film is written by Oliver and Peter Nickowitz. Producers include Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman, with Neal Dodson executive producing.
- 8/3/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Ansel Elgort is a star on the rise. Still fresh from his breakout turn in indie tearjerker The Fault in Our Stars, the up-and-comer has already teed up roles in both Billionaire Boys Club and Edgar Wright’s ensemble drama Baby Driver. Now, Elgort has been tapped to headline Bill Oliver’s new feature Jonathan.
Deadline has the scoop, revealing that Oliver will direct from a script he penned alongside Peter Nickowitz. Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman, meanwhile, are attached to produce with Neal Dodson executive producing.
But perhaps the most intriguing facet of Jonathan is that, in the vein of the Tom Hardy-fronted Legend, it presents a dual role for Ansel Elgort, who will portray two wildly different twin brothers. That means Bill Oliver’s feature will tell the story of “a successful architect who lives a normal life dictated by a strict routine. Jonathan’s twin brother John,...
Deadline has the scoop, revealing that Oliver will direct from a script he penned alongside Peter Nickowitz. Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman, meanwhile, are attached to produce with Neal Dodson executive producing.
But perhaps the most intriguing facet of Jonathan is that, in the vein of the Tom Hardy-fronted Legend, it presents a dual role for Ansel Elgort, who will portray two wildly different twin brothers. That means Bill Oliver’s feature will tell the story of “a successful architect who lives a normal life dictated by a strict routine. Jonathan’s twin brother John,...
- 8/3/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Exclusive: Ansel Elgort is set to star in Jonathan, a fast-mobilizing independent film. It will be directed by Bill Oliver (Guilt), who wrote the script with Peter Nickowitz. Randy Manis and Ricky Tollman are producing and Neal Dodson is exec producing. Elgort, who broke through in The Fault in Our Stars and next stars in Billionaire Boys Club and Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver, will play both male lead roles here. The film tells the story of Jonathan, a successful architect…...
- 8/3/2016
- Deadline
The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) has announced the entirety of its 2016 Film Week lineup. 120 feature-length works will join the 45 previously announced titles for a total of 165 projects on display. Both documentary and narrative features from over 25 countries will take part in the International Co-Production Market — the Ifp Project Forum. Film Week offers a unique opportunity for filmmakers to connect with resources at every stage of production to fulfill their creative vision.
“We’re excited by this year’s slate and look forward to the reaction from the industry,” said Ifp Executive Director Joana Vicente. “After helping to foster many young talents who went on to become indie powerhouses, we’re eager to see what is in store for this new ‘class,’ especially one that is comprised of such a diverse and exciting group of filmmakers.”
Read More: Attention, Filmmakers: 10 Reasons You Should Apply to the Ifp Filmmaker Lab
This year,...
“We’re excited by this year’s slate and look forward to the reaction from the industry,” said Ifp Executive Director Joana Vicente. “After helping to foster many young talents who went on to become indie powerhouses, we’re eager to see what is in store for this new ‘class,’ especially one that is comprised of such a diverse and exciting group of filmmakers.”
Read More: Attention, Filmmakers: 10 Reasons You Should Apply to the Ifp Filmmaker Lab
This year,...
- 7/27/2016
- by Sarah Colvin
- Indiewire
After touring the paranormal-plagued Collingwood Psychiatric Hospital, Colin Minihan and Stuart Ortiz, the writing/directing duo known as The Vicious Brothers, step out of the asylum’s haunted halls and into the woods for their latest film, Extraterrestrial. This spring, keep one eye on the skies and the other on store shelves, because on May 12th, Scream Factory is releasing Extraterrestrial on Blu-ray and DVD with a batch of bonus features:
Press Release - “From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a pulse-pounding encounter of the deadly kind. On May 12th, 2015, the sinister alien abduction thriller Extraterrestrial makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut from Scream Factory, in partnership with IFC Midnight. Filled with dread and suspense, Extraterrestrial is a hair-raising homage in the tradition of classic alien abduction movies, with impressive visual effects that bring a visceral energy to the film. Scream Factory’s Blu-ray and DVD...
Press Release - “From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a pulse-pounding encounter of the deadly kind. On May 12th, 2015, the sinister alien abduction thriller Extraterrestrial makes its Blu-ray and DVD debut from Scream Factory, in partnership with IFC Midnight. Filled with dread and suspense, Extraterrestrial is a hair-raising homage in the tradition of classic alien abduction movies, with impressive visual effects that bring a visceral energy to the film. Scream Factory’s Blu-ray and DVD...
- 2/10/2015
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
He had made name for himself with the Cannes debut We Are What We Are in 2010, and the remake of his film actually premiered at the fest not that much time afterwards. With production commencing late in 2013, we’re surprised that Jorge Michel Grau’s English language debut didn’t drop in 2014 — but only means a little more time in post for the shot in Albuquerque, New Mexico thriller. Featuring Bella Thorne in the lead, Big Sky sees Grau reteam with cinematographer Santiago Sanchez.
Gist: This is about Hazel (Bella Thorne), a teenage girl who suffers a mortal fear of open spaces. She never leaves her bedroom, which has put a strain on the relationship with her strung-out mom, Dee (Kyra Sedgwick), and is starting to take its toll on both of them. In a last ditch attempt to cure her daughter, Dee enrolls Hazel in a high-end treatment facility in the desert,...
Gist: This is about Hazel (Bella Thorne), a teenage girl who suffers a mortal fear of open spaces. She never leaves her bedroom, which has put a strain on the relationship with her strung-out mom, Dee (Kyra Sedgwick), and is starting to take its toll on both of them. In a last ditch attempt to cure her daughter, Dee enrolls Hazel in a high-end treatment facility in the desert,...
- 11/11/2014
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
IFC Midnight has announced that the sci-fi/horror flick Extraterrestrial, directed by Colin Minihan and written by The Vicious Brothers, will be available on VOD October 17th and in limited theatres on November 21st. Right now we have the trailer for you courtesy of Yahoo! Movies.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
Freddie Stroma and Brittany Allen star in the indie feature produced by Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher.
Synopsis
From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a different kind of encounter, one of Extraterrestrial origin. Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner Brittany Allen) is...
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
Freddie Stroma and Brittany Allen star in the indie feature produced by Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher.
Synopsis
From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a different kind of encounter, one of Extraterrestrial origin. Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner Brittany Allen) is...
- 9/10/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
IFC Midnight has announced that the sci-fi/horror flick Extraterrestrial, directed by Colin Minihan and written by The Vicious Brothers, will be available on VOD October 17th and in limited theatres on November 21st. Right now we have the one-sheet for you.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
Freddie Stroma and Brittany Allen star in the indie feature produced by Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher.
Synopsis
From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a different kind of encounter, one of Extraterrestrial origin. Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner Brittany Allen) is dragged back to the...
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
Freddie Stroma and Brittany Allen star in the indie feature produced by Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher.
Synopsis
From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a different kind of encounter, one of Extraterrestrial origin. Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner Brittany Allen) is dragged back to the...
- 9/8/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
IFC Midnight has announced that the sci-fi/horror flick Extraterrestrial, directed by Colin Minihan and written by The Vicious Brothers, will be available on VOD October 17th and in limited theatres on November 21st.
Freddie Stroma and Brittany Allen star in the indie feature. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher produced. The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying.
As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
Synopsis
From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a different kind of encounter, one of Extraterrestrial origin. Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner Brittany Allen) is dragged back to the vacation cabin she spent fond summers at as a...
Freddie Stroma and Brittany Allen star in the indie feature. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher produced. The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying.
As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
Synopsis
From The Vicious Brothers, the creators of Grave Encounters, comes a different kind of encounter, one of Extraterrestrial origin. Still reeling from her parents’ divorce, April (Daytime Emmy winner Brittany Allen) is dragged back to the vacation cabin she spent fond summers at as a...
- 9/4/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
On tap right now is the trailer and poster premiere for the new serial killer thriller The Calling, which is home to a pretty impressive cast that includes Susan Sarandon and Topher Grace. Read on for the goods.
Joining Sarandon and Grace are Gil Bellows (House at the End of the Street, The Shawshank Redemption), Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream), Christopher Heyerdahl (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, "True Blood"), and Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
The Calling was written by Scott Abramovitch and is directed by Jason Stone. Christine Vachon, Killer Films, and Randy Manis are producing.
Look for it in limited release on August 29th.
Synopsis
Despite a bad back, a reliance on painkillers, and the occasional drink to take the edge off, Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) leads a tranquil existence sharing a home with her elderly mother, Emily (Burstyn), in Fort Dundas,...
Joining Sarandon and Grace are Gil Bellows (House at the End of the Street, The Shawshank Redemption), Ellen Burstyn (The Exorcist, Requiem for a Dream), Christopher Heyerdahl (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, "True Blood"), and Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
The Calling was written by Scott Abramovitch and is directed by Jason Stone. Christine Vachon, Killer Films, and Randy Manis are producing.
Look for it in limited release on August 29th.
Synopsis
Despite a bad back, a reliance on painkillers, and the occasional drink to take the edge off, Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) leads a tranquil existence sharing a home with her elderly mother, Emily (Burstyn), in Fort Dundas,...
- 8/5/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
Updated: As political tensions escalate, a number of film festival guests have cancelled their trips to Jerusalem.
Austrian director Ulrich Seidl and his collaborator Maria Hofstaetter, who were due to get a tribute and have a public talk, have cancelled their travel to the 2014 Jerusalem Film Festival. Seidl’s films Dog Days and Import/Export will screen as scheduled.
Beki Probst of Berlin’s European Film Market, who was also due for a festival tribute, has also cancelled.
Other directors who are no longer planning to attend the festival include Dietrich Brüggemann (Stations of the Cross), Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders),Johannes Holzhausen (The Great Museum), Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis (Swim Little Fish Swim), Marcelo Gomes (The Man of The Crowd), Lloyd Handwerker (Famous Nathan), and Georges Gachot (O Samba).
Industry attendees who cancelled their visits include Serge Toubiana, Michel Zana, Felix Moller, Leslie Siegel, Bruce Goldstein, Roberto Olla, Marie-Pierre Valle, Andreas Eicher, [link...
Austrian director Ulrich Seidl and his collaborator Maria Hofstaetter, who were due to get a tribute and have a public talk, have cancelled their travel to the 2014 Jerusalem Film Festival. Seidl’s films Dog Days and Import/Export will screen as scheduled.
Beki Probst of Berlin’s European Film Market, who was also due for a festival tribute, has also cancelled.
Other directors who are no longer planning to attend the festival include Dietrich Brüggemann (Stations of the Cross), Alice Rohrwacher (The Wonders),Johannes Holzhausen (The Great Museum), Ruben Amar and Lola Bessis (Swim Little Fish Swim), Marcelo Gomes (The Man of The Crowd), Lloyd Handwerker (Famous Nathan), and Georges Gachot (O Samba).
Industry attendees who cancelled their visits include Serge Toubiana, Michel Zana, Felix Moller, Leslie Siegel, Bruce Goldstein, Roberto Olla, Marie-Pierre Valle, Andreas Eicher, [link...
- 7/12/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Directed by Colin Minihan, and written by The Vicious Brothers, IFC Midnight has acquired U.S. distribution rights to the sci-fi horror flick Extraterrestrial. The film will open on VOD and in limited theaters later this year.
Freddie Stroma stars in the indie feature. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher produced.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
We'll have more on this one as it comes.
Synopsis
Five friends set out to a cabin in the woods for a fun weekend getaway—that is, until extraterrestrial visitors turn it into a fight for their lives. The group is pulled from their reverie when...
Freddie Stroma stars in the indie feature. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher produced.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
We'll have more on this one as it comes.
Synopsis
Five friends set out to a cabin in the woods for a fun weekend getaway—that is, until extraterrestrial visitors turn it into a fight for their lives. The group is pulled from their reverie when...
- 5/19/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
IFC Midnight has acquired Us rights to The Vicious Brothers’ Tribeca sci-fi horror Extraterrestrial from Vicarious Entertainment, Twin Engine Films and Buffalo Films. Separately, Film Movement has picked up Belle And Sebastian.
CAA arranged financing and brokered the deal. Cargo Entertainment handles foreign sales.
Shawn Angelski and Martin Fisher produced with Twin Engine Films and Pink Buffalo Films.
Vicarious Entertainment’s Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis and Terry Dougas financed and serve as executive producers along with Randy Manis through his ManisFilm.
Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Jesse Moss, Melanie Papalia, Gill Bellows and Michael Ironside star.
Film Movement has acquired Us rights from Gaumont to Belle And Sebastian.
CAA arranged financing and brokered the deal. Cargo Entertainment handles foreign sales.
Shawn Angelski and Martin Fisher produced with Twin Engine Films and Pink Buffalo Films.
Vicarious Entertainment’s Paris Kasidokostas-Latsis and Terry Dougas financed and serve as executive producers along with Randy Manis through his ManisFilm.
Brittany Allen, Freddie Stroma, Jesse Moss, Melanie Papalia, Gill Bellows and Michael Ironside star.
Film Movement has acquired Us rights from Gaumont to Belle And Sebastian.
- 5/18/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
With the film's premiere at Tribeca just a few days away, Entertainment Weekly scored a new still from the latest offering from The Vicious Brothers (Grave Encounters) entitled Extraterrestrial (formerly The Visitors), and we have every pixel of it right here for your perusal.
Freddie Stroma stars in the indie feature written and directed by The Vicious Brothers. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher produced.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
We'll have more on this one as it comes.
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Get probed in the comments section below!
Freddie Stroma stars in the indie feature written and directed by The Vicious Brothers. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher produced.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
We'll have more on this one as it comes.
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Got news? Click here to submit it!
Subscribe to the Dread Central YouTube Channel!
Get probed in the comments section below!
- 4/17/2014
- by Steve Barton
- DreadCentral.com
The Vicious Brothers (Grave Encounters) are back with an alien-based flick known as The Visitors, and we have a set of new stills that are just out of this world. Well, sort of!
Freddie Stroma stars in The Visitors, the indie feature written and directed by The Vicious Brothers. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
More on this one as it comes.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Get probed in the comments section below!
Freddie Stroma stars in The Visitors, the indie feature written and directed by The Vicious Brothers. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
More on this one as it comes.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Get probed in the comments section below!
- 10/21/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
The Vicious Brothers (Grave Encounters) are back with a new alien-based flick known as The Visitors and we have some early sales art for you right here. Dig it!
Freddie Stroma will star in The Visitors, the indie feature written and to be directed by The Vicious Brothers. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
More on this one as it comes.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Get probed in the comments section below!
Freddie Stroma will star in The Visitors, the indie feature written and to be directed by The Vicious Brothers. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing.
The film centers around a group of college friends who travel to a secluded cabin in the woods for a weekend of partying. As the night is winding down, they notice something strange in the sky: a ball of fire descending through the air, crash landing in the nearby forest...
More on this one as it comes.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Get probed in the comments section below!
- 10/16/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Bella Thorne ("Shake It Up!") and Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer") have signed on for the lead roles in Jorge Michel Grau's thriller "Big Sky".
The pair play a mother and daughter on their way to a desert facility to help the teen deal with her paralysing agoraphobia.
They soon find themselves attacked by gunmen, with the teen having to fight her own demons for the duo to survive.
Frank Grillo and Aaron Tveit also star. Randy Manis, Matthew Salloway and Christina Papagjika are producing.
Evan M. Wiener penned the script, and filming begins this week in Albuquerque.
Source: Deadline...
The pair play a mother and daughter on their way to a desert facility to help the teen deal with her paralysing agoraphobia.
They soon find themselves attacked by gunmen, with the teen having to fight her own demons for the duo to survive.
Frank Grillo and Aaron Tveit also star. Randy Manis, Matthew Salloway and Christina Papagjika are producing.
Evan M. Wiener penned the script, and filming begins this week in Albuquerque.
Source: Deadline...
- 10/11/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
Manis Film announced today that production has started on Big Sky , the English-language debut of Mexican helmer Jorge Michel Grau ( We Are What We Are ). The film will star Bella Thorne ("Shake It Up," The Familymoon , Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day ), Kyra Sedgwick ("The Closer," "The Possession"), Frank Grillo ( The Grey Captain America: The Winter Soldier ), and Aaron Tveit ( Les Miserables , Howl ). Principal photography commenced this week in Albuquerque, New Mexico. .'Big Sky' is a suspenseful and thrilling story that will have audiences on the edge of their seats as our troubled characters tumble further into peril,. says Randy Manis of Manis Film. .We are very excited to share the talent of our skilled...
- 10/11/2013
- Comingsoon.net
The Vicious Brothers made a name for themselves with their ghosthouse gone completely crazed film Grave Encounters, and now the duo are ready to move on to different kinds of unearthly beings. Read on for the first word on The Visitors.
According to Deadline, Freddie Stroma (pictured) will star in The Visitors, the indie feature written and to be directed by The Vicious Brothers. The film is said to be a dark and edgy sci-fi thriller that revolves around a group of friends on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods. There, they are terrorized by alien visitors who definitely have not come in peace.
Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing; and filming is set to start up at the end of June. Stroma most recently was seen in Pitch Perfect, and up next is The Philosophers alongside James D’Arcy and Rhys Wakefield.
According to Deadline, Freddie Stroma (pictured) will star in The Visitors, the indie feature written and to be directed by The Vicious Brothers. The film is said to be a dark and edgy sci-fi thriller that revolves around a group of friends on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods. There, they are terrorized by alien visitors who definitely have not come in peace.
Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing; and filming is set to start up at the end of June. Stroma most recently was seen in Pitch Perfect, and up next is The Philosophers alongside James D’Arcy and Rhys Wakefield.
- 6/21/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Exclusive: Freddie Stroma will star in The Visitors, the indie feature written and to be directed by The Vicious Brothers (Grave Encounters). The film is a dark and edgy sci-fi thriller that revolves around a group of friends on a weekend trip to a cabin in the woods. There, they are terrorized by alien visitors who definitely have not come in peace. Randy Manis, Kim Arnott, Shawn Angelski, and Martin Fisher are producing and filming is set to start up at the end of June. Stroma most recently was seen in Pitch Perfect and up next is The Philosophers, alongside James D’Arcy and Rhys Wakefield. Stroma is repped by Kim Callahan at Industry Entertainment, Gersh and Waring and McKenna in the UK.
- 6/20/2013
- by MIKE FLEMING JR
- Deadline
Things sure have picked up since last week's announcement that Susan Sarandon and Topher Grace had been cast in the new serial killer thriller The Calling. On tap for you right now we have a myriad of casting news and the newly revealed synopsis.
Joining Sarandon and Grace will be Gil Bellows (House at the End of the Street, The Shawshank Redemption), Ellen Burstyn (pictured; The Exorcist, Requiem For A Dream), Christopher Heyerdahl (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, "True Blood"), and Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
The Calling was written by Scott Abramovitch and will be directed by Jason Stone. Christine Vachon, Killer Films, and Randy Manis are producing.
Synopsis
Despite a bad back, a reliance on painkillers, and the occasional drink to take the edge off, Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) leads a tranquil existence sharing a home with her elderly mother, Emily (Burstyn), in Fort Dundas,...
Joining Sarandon and Grace will be Gil Bellows (House at the End of the Street, The Shawshank Redemption), Ellen Burstyn (pictured; The Exorcist, Requiem For A Dream), Christopher Heyerdahl (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn, "True Blood"), and Donald Sutherland (The Hunger Games, Invasion of the Body Snatchers).
The Calling was written by Scott Abramovitch and will be directed by Jason Stone. Christine Vachon, Killer Films, and Randy Manis are producing.
Synopsis
Despite a bad back, a reliance on painkillers, and the occasional drink to take the edge off, Detective Inspector Hazel Micallef (Susan Sarandon) leads a tranquil existence sharing a home with her elderly mother, Emily (Burstyn), in Fort Dundas,...
- 4/8/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Yes, in some theatres right now a movie called The Call is currently playing, but that's not stopping the makers of the indie thriller The Calling from using a similar title.
In The Calling, which we expect to be renamed The Hive shortly, Susan Sarandon will play a small-town Canadian detective who tracks down a serial killer targeting the terminally ill to use as disciples in his own planned resurrection. Topher Grace will also star as an ambitious police officer recently transferred from Toronto who becomes the detective’s right-hand man.
The Calling was written by Scott Abramovitch and will be directed by Jason Stone, with production getting under way this week. Christine Vachon, Killer Films, and Randy Manis are producing.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Answer the call in the comments section below!
In The Calling, which we expect to be renamed The Hive shortly, Susan Sarandon will play a small-town Canadian detective who tracks down a serial killer targeting the terminally ill to use as disciples in his own planned resurrection. Topher Grace will also star as an ambitious police officer recently transferred from Toronto who becomes the detective’s right-hand man.
The Calling was written by Scott Abramovitch and will be directed by Jason Stone, with production getting under way this week. Christine Vachon, Killer Films, and Randy Manis are producing.
Visit The Evilshop @ Amazon!
Got news? Click here to submit it!
Answer the call in the comments section below!
- 4/6/2013
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Tribeca Film has acquired North American rights to "The Comedy," which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Directed by Rick Alverson, the film also played South by Southwest and is set for BAMcinemaFEST this June, and will be released in October 2012. The deal was negotiated for Tribeca Film by acquisitions consultant Randy Manis and Nick Savva, Director of Acquisitions, and on behalf of the filmmakers by Josh Braun and David Koh of Submarine. Go Here for Indiewire's glowing review out of Sundance. Full press release below. New York, NY – May 14, 2012 – Tribeca Film announced today that it has acquired all North American rights to The Comedy, director Rick Alverson’s provocative character study, which is already one of the most talked about films since it bowed at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. The film, which Variety called “compulsively fascinating,” and Film Threat noted as “one of...
- 5/14/2012
- by Peter Knegt
- Indiewire
Tribeca Film has recently announced their Us acquisition of Tony Kaye’s Detachment. Detachment tells the story of Henry Barthes (Adrien Brody), a gifted yet distant teacher who avoids emotional connections with students by never staying anywhere for too long. Once placed on a new assignment helping a school of apathetic youths, Henry finds himself attached to a student body he never thought he would fall for. Read below for the official press release.
Provocative Drama Features A Stellar Lead Performance From Adrien Brody, Anchoring An Ensemble Cast That Includes James Caan, Bryan Cranston, Blythe Danner, Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, William Peterson, Betty Kaye and Sami Gayle
“Brody delivers his finest performance since ‘The Pianist’… an award-caliber turn.” -The Hollywood Reporter
“A wrenching and powerful achievement… tremendous cast … I was swept along by the spectacular visual journey.” -Salon.com
New York, NY – Tribeca Film announced that it...
Provocative Drama Features A Stellar Lead Performance From Adrien Brody, Anchoring An Ensemble Cast That Includes James Caan, Bryan Cranston, Blythe Danner, Marcia Gay Harden, Christina Hendricks, Lucy Liu, William Peterson, Betty Kaye and Sami Gayle
“Brody delivers his finest performance since ‘The Pianist’… an award-caliber turn.” -The Hollywood Reporter
“A wrenching and powerful achievement… tremendous cast … I was swept along by the spectacular visual journey.” -Salon.com
New York, NY – Tribeca Film announced that it...
- 9/19/2011
- by Christopher Clemente
- SoundOnSight
Tribeca Film has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Tony Kaye’s ensemble drama Detachment and plans a 2012 theatrical release that will run day-and-date with VOD and digital distribution. Adrien Brody stars as a substitute teacher who finds his purpose when he’s assigned to a public school, becoming a role model to the disaffected youth. Christina Hendricks, James Caan, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu, Blythe Danner, Tim Blake Nelson, Bryan Cranston and William Petersen also star in the film, which premiered this year at the Tribeca fest. Detachment is produced by Paper Street Films’ Austin Stark, Benji Kohn, Chris Papavasiliou and Bingo Gubelmann; Kingsgate Films’ Greg Shapiro; and Carl Lund, who wrote the screenplay. It is executive produced by Brody, Peter Sterling and Andre Laport. Marco Frigeri is co-executive producer. The film from Kaye, the director of American History X, was sold by ICM, which also reps Kaye; ICM...
- 9/8/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Margin Call Trailer. J.C. Chandor‘s Margin Call (2011) movie trailer stars Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, and Penn Badgley. Margin Call‘s plot synopsis: “Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster.”
This film looks far better than Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. It would be nice to see a business movie where the business people do not talk down to the audience.
On the film:
Margin Call is written and directed by J.C. Chandor, and produced by actor...
This film looks far better than Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps. It would be nice to see a business movie where the business people do not talk down to the audience.
On the film:
Margin Call is written and directed by J.C. Chandor, and produced by actor...
- 7/26/2011
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
The first trailer from J.C. Chandor-directed financial drama film “Margin Call” has been released via Yahoo! Movies. Starring Zachary Quinto, Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Stanley Tucci, Demi Moore, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell and Aasif Mandvi, the film offers a fictionalized take on modern economics.
The movie was first premiered at the 2011 Sundace Film Festival, and also played during the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Bear.
Jeremy Irons in Margin Call
Here’s the official plot synopsis for Margin Call:
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues...
The movie was first premiered at the 2011 Sundace Film Festival, and also played during the 61st Berlin International Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Golden Bear.
Jeremy Irons in Margin Call
Here’s the official plot synopsis for Margin Call:
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues...
- 7/26/2011
- by Allan Ford
- Filmofilia
By Christopher Stipp
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Monogamy - DVD Review
Color me surprised at how much I liked this film.
At first glance you could see a movie about a photographer who takes clandestine pictures of clients who pay to be shot in the wild, an odd subset of humans who need to see what it’s like to be shown in their natural territory, as something Hitchcock would cook up when one of the clients takes it up a notch and gets a little freaky deekey, having a penchant for voyeurism.
Purposely antagonizing the guy, the sexualized client and photog share in a relationship that isn’t so much physical as it is cerebral. As, you see, the guy is getting married to Rashida Jones, a woman...
The Archives, Right Here
Check out my other column, This Week In Trailers, at SlashFilm.com and follow me on Twitter under the name: Stipp
Monogamy - DVD Review
Color me surprised at how much I liked this film.
At first glance you could see a movie about a photographer who takes clandestine pictures of clients who pay to be shot in the wild, an odd subset of humans who need to see what it’s like to be shown in their natural territory, as something Hitchcock would cook up when one of the clients takes it up a notch and gets a little freaky deekey, having a penchant for voyeurism.
Purposely antagonizing the guy, the sexualized client and photog share in a relationship that isn’t so much physical as it is cerebral. As, you see, the guy is getting married to Rashida Jones, a woman...
- 6/18/2011
- by Christopher Stipp
Cohen Media’s burgeoning selection of distribution titles is starting to look shrewder all the time. Amidst their current catalogue of films include My Afternoon with Margueritte, Outside the Law (both French language productions), Oranges and Sunshine (Jim Loach’s directorial debut) and forthcoming World War II drama, Operation Mincemeat. Plainly, the company is seeking to invest in slightly smaller and more cerebral fare than that which typically dominates the multiplexes; however, Cohen’s latest project is likely to have considerable commercial appeal, particularly in the United States as it depicts the business life of one of the recent financial meltdowns greatest villains, Bernard Madoff.
Madoff, for those who aren’t aware of him was and investment banker gaoled for over a hundred years for his part in the defrauding and embezzlement of clients and investor’s money to a sum of well over $17 billion in 2009. The documentary entitled Chasing...
Madoff, for those who aren’t aware of him was and investment banker gaoled for over a hundred years for his part in the defrauding and embezzlement of clients and investor’s money to a sum of well over $17 billion in 2009. The documentary entitled Chasing...
- 4/19/2011
- by Ben Szwediuk
- Obsessed with Film
Today it was announced by Steve Beeks of Lionsgate and Howard Cohen of Roadside Attractions that they have teamed to acquire and release J.C. Chandor's thriller, Margin Call for a 2011 release.
The deal came together after an all night negotiation between Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson of UTA on behalf of Margin Call producers. The film will have it's world premiere on Tuesday night at the Eccles Theater, and a 2011 theatrical release is planned.
The film boasts an amazing cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. Chandor wrote and directed the film which was produced by Michael Benaroya and Barnum of Benaroya Pictures. Quinto, Dodson, and Corey Moosa of Before the Door Pictures and Joe Jenckes. Elwes, Laura Rister, Randy Manis, and Joshua Blum serve as executive producers.
Here's the official synopsis from Sundance:...
The deal came together after an all night negotiation between Cassian Elwes and Rena Ronson of UTA on behalf of Margin Call producers. The film will have it's world premiere on Tuesday night at the Eccles Theater, and a 2011 theatrical release is planned.
The film boasts an amazing cast that includes Kevin Spacey, Paul Bettany, Jeremy Irons, Zachary Quinto, Penn Badgley, Simon Baker, Mary McDonnell, Demi Moore, and Stanley Tucci. Chandor wrote and directed the film which was produced by Michael Benaroya and Barnum of Benaroya Pictures. Quinto, Dodson, and Corey Moosa of Before the Door Pictures and Joe Jenckes. Elwes, Laura Rister, Randy Manis, and Joshua Blum serve as executive producers.
Here's the official synopsis from Sundance:...
- 1/23/2011
- by Tiberius
- GeekTyrant
Margin Call, a thrilling new film starring Kevin Spacey, will make it’s debut at the Sundance Film Festival on Tuesday, January 25th. And hey… guess what? We have the poster for you to take a gander at below. The trailer isn’t even out yet!
Just by the synopsis and cast what do you guys think?
Synopsis: Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a...
Just by the synopsis and cast what do you guys think?
Synopsis: Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a...
- 1/10/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Margin Call is a docudrama about the beginnings of America’s 2008 financial crisis, which will screen at Sundance this month. While the cast includes a number of intriguing actors the poster is an utter snoozefest.
Image via (Collider)
Margin Call’s official synopsis:
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.
Propelled by a stellar cast that includes Kevin Spacey,...
Image via (Collider)
Margin Call’s official synopsis:
Set in the high-stakes world of the financial industry, Margin Call is a thriller entangling the key players at an investment firm during one perilous 24-hour period in the early stages of the 2008 financial crisis. When entry-level analyst Peter Sullivan (Zachary Quinto) unlocks information that could prove to be the downfall of the firm, a roller-coaster ride ensues as decisions both financial and moral catapult the lives of all involved to the brink of disaster. Expanding the parameters of genre, Margin Call is a riveting examination of the human components of a subject too often relegated to partisan issues of black and white.
Propelled by a stellar cast that includes Kevin Spacey,...
- 1/10/2011
- by Kristy Puchko
- The Film Stage
Stanley Tucci and Carla Gugino have signed on to "Margin Call" from writer and director J.C. Chandor. They join stars Kevin Spacey and Zachary Quinto. The film is set in an investment bank in a 24 hour period during the financial collapse of 2008. Quinto produces alongside Neal Dodson and Corey Moosa via their Before the Doors Pictures. Also producing are Joe Jenckes and Benaroya Pictures' Michael Benaroya and Robert Ogden Barnum. Myriad CEO Kirk D'Amico serves as an executive producer with Laura Rister, Randy Manis and Joshua Blum of Washington Square Films.
- 5/14/2010
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Toronto -- E1 Entertainment has picked up the Canadian and foreign sales rights to the Bernie Madoff whistleblower documentary "The Foxhounds," from director/producer Jeff Prosserman.
The picture, executive produced by former ThinkFilm execs Jeff Sackman and Randy Manis, along with Anton Nadler, is based on financial investigator Harry Markopolos' book "No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller."
The film will include interviews with Markopolos and fellow investigators Frank Casey, Neil Chelo, Michael Ocrant, and Gaytri Kachroo over how they pursued and exposed Bernie Madoff and his elaborate ponzi scheme for bilking investors out of $50 billion.
Sackman and Manis control the U.S. rights to the documentary, now in production.
The documentary is slated for a fall 2010 release.
The picture, executive produced by former ThinkFilm execs Jeff Sackman and Randy Manis, along with Anton Nadler, is based on financial investigator Harry Markopolos' book "No One Would Listen: A True Financial Thriller."
The film will include interviews with Markopolos and fellow investigators Frank Casey, Neil Chelo, Michael Ocrant, and Gaytri Kachroo over how they pursued and exposed Bernie Madoff and his elaborate ponzi scheme for bilking investors out of $50 billion.
Sackman and Manis control the U.S. rights to the documentary, now in production.
The documentary is slated for a fall 2010 release.
- 4/28/2010
- by By Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rashida Jones and Chris Messina are getting monogamous.
The emerging stars will topline "Monogamy," an indie romantic comedy that marks the scripted-feature debut of "Murderball" co-director Dana Adam Shapiro.
Described by filmmakers as a "cautionary tale about sex, photography and fear of marriage," the film will center on a young couple's relationship and its trials. Shapiro wrote the script with Evan Wiener.
The movie is expected to unspool on the fest circuit in early 2010.
Shapiro is producing with Jeff Mandel, who also produced "Murderball," as well as Randy Manis, the former ThinkFilm exec who helped release and exec-produced the doc. Tom Heller ("Precious") is also producing. Production on "Monogamy" started this summer in New York.
Shapiro earned acclaim for "Murderball," his story of wheelchair-bound athletes training to compete in the summer Olympics; the pic, which he directed with Henry Alex Rubin, won several prizes at the Sundance Film Festival and...
The emerging stars will topline "Monogamy," an indie romantic comedy that marks the scripted-feature debut of "Murderball" co-director Dana Adam Shapiro.
Described by filmmakers as a "cautionary tale about sex, photography and fear of marriage," the film will center on a young couple's relationship and its trials. Shapiro wrote the script with Evan Wiener.
The movie is expected to unspool on the fest circuit in early 2010.
Shapiro is producing with Jeff Mandel, who also produced "Murderball," as well as Randy Manis, the former ThinkFilm exec who helped release and exec-produced the doc. Tom Heller ("Precious") is also producing. Production on "Monogamy" started this summer in New York.
Shapiro earned acclaim for "Murderball," his story of wheelchair-bound athletes training to compete in the summer Olympics; the pic, which he directed with Henry Alex Rubin, won several prizes at the Sundance Film Festival and...
- 9/1/2009
- by By Steven Zeitchik
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
He's been called an unabashed Hollywood hustler. Sordid tales of unpaid vendors, lawsuits, layoffs and movie shutdowns have dogged him in the year and a half since he took over specialty distributor ThinkFilm and foreign sales agent Capitol Film.
Yet David Bergstein is unperturbed.
"There is always an adjective that precedes us: 'Beleaguered,' 'financially distressed,' " Bergstein said recently from his plush new offices in the Fox Plaza in Century City, with a hint of an accent from his native New York. "And none of these people know anything."
What is known is that after a summer in which ThinkFilm has been battered by bad press -- especially during the repeated shutdowns of the Jake Gyllenhaal political satire "Nailed," financed by a Bergstein-backed entity -- he is actively looking for cash.
Whether that will be enough to repair the executive's strained relationships with Hollywood and allow his company to stay in business remains to be seen.
But Bergstein is adamant that he is on the right track.
"Our business plan is not so much about the movie business," he said, noting that he controls about a thousand films. "It's really to build a global digital distribution business. It's based on the expectation that in the not too distant future most content will be delivered digitally and on-demand."
Bergstein began to make a mark in Hollywood just 18 months ago, when he and construction magnate Ron Tutor bought ThinkFilm and London-based Capitol.
Yet after releasing 20-odd pictures in 2006 and 2007, only nine ThinkFilm movies have opened this year. Bergstein apparently has sold off some films, canceled others and has refused to commit to release dates for the only other two films originally scheduled for 2008: January's Sundance Film Festival pickups "Phoebe in Wonderland" and "The Escapist."
At the same time, at least four separate lawsuits have been filed against ThinkFilm this year by vendors and others claiming they were short shifted.
"Some of what is out there is true," Bergstein said. "The vast majority is not true. And for the stuff that is true, my answer is, 'So what? So what if X, Y or Z might be owed money?' "
That attitude has some in the creative community fuming.
"He's the biggest disgrace in the film business," said producer Albie Hecht, formerly president of Nickelodeon, who produced the Oscar-nominated ThinkFilm documentary "War/Dance" and claims he still has not seen the small advance ThinkFilm promised. An arbitration is pending.
"This is someone who goes around making deals and looks like he has no intention of fulfilling his obligation to filmmakers and artists," Hecht added. "Not only is it disgusting, but downright immoral."
Alex Gibney, director of the Oscar-winning ThinkFilm documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side," charges in a lawsuit that ThinkFilm did not have the financial resources to properly release his film and "fraudulently concealed this fact from the film's creative team, its investors and the film's sales agent, Cinetic Media."
Bergstein said Gibney was paid everything he was owed, including a $50,000 Oscar bonus. Bergstein also downplayed lawsuits by Allied Advertising seeking $4.2 million for ads it placed and Brooklyn-based Mammoth Advertising, which said it has nearly $430,00 in unpaid bills.
Lawsuits are just part of doing business, said Bergstein, 46, whose office is stacked with boxes of files and a framed photo of John Lennon flashing a peace sign.
He made a small fortune acquiring depreciated assets, cutting costs and selling for a profit, then dived into the film business in 2003 via his acquisition of Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures library.
"He is used to going in, buying something that's normally four cents for two cents and then saying to everyone, 'It's a distressed asset. I'm only going to pay you half of what you deserve,' " said a veteran talent manager and producer who has worked with Bergstein. "It's just a whole mindset that is antithetical to the movie business."
Bergstein acknowledged he's had problems paying such creditors as PR companies and production services, but he said those issues were caused by the move of ThinkFilm's headquarters from Canada to the U.S., which required new accounting and tracking systems.
A spokesman for Investment bank Db Zwirn & Co. says it has about $100 million in loans to ThinkFilm’s umbrella company. Zwirn was forced to liquidate a hedge fund this year but Bergstein said he has been able to find additional funds from Comerica Bank and others.
He said he has brought ThinkFilm’s debts from $30 million to $8 million and is pumping in another $25 million to market ThinkFilm releases on top of a total investment of $400 million for all his entertainment businesses, which include a postproduction facility and music publisher in London. He declined to say where that new money will come from.
Bergstein said he has image problems because nobody in Hollywood really knows him. He grew up in New York and attended Polytechnic Institute (now part of New York University), studying engineering and pre-med. In the late 1970s he became an investment banker, seeking undervalued stocks.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and worked for a mortgage broker, then began buying real estate. He operated Metropolis Publishing for a time and acquired Express Inc., an online DVD seller that had gone bankrupt in 2001, losing a reported $240 million.
Bergstein and Tutor, a friend who headed two major construction companies that merged this year in a deal valued at $862 million, began investing in Los Angeles restaurants, including Le Dome. There they met Samaha, who was flying high with Franchise Pictures. When Franchise began struggling, Bergstein and Tutor loaned Samaha $14 million, secured by Franchise's film library. When Franchise went under, Bergstein ended up with most of the library.
Armed with product, Bergstein and Tutor acquired ThinkFilm in November 2006 for a reported $18 million in cash and $5 million in debt. The distributor, founded in September 2001 by veteran execs Jeff Sackman, Randy Manis and Marc Hirshberg, as well as Mark Urman from Lionsgate, fielded a string of such Oscar-worthy films as "Half Nelson," which earned Ryan Gosling a best actor nod in 2007, and "Born Into Brothels," 2005's winner for best documentary.
Bergstein said ThinkFilm was insolvent when he bought it. Sackman, who quit the company in anger in April, said it was profitable for four of its first five years but looked for a buyer two years ago when art-house attendance dipped.
"We were very cooperative at first," Sackman said of Bergstein.
At Bergstein's urging they went on a buying spree, acquiring films like "In the Shadow of the Moon," which ThinkFilm bought for $2.5 million at Sundance in 2007 but which grossed only $1.1 million in theaters that November.
Indeed, only four films out of more than 30 releases during the past two years have grossed more than $1 million, including Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," which grossed $7 million last fall, and Helen Hunt's "Then She Found Me," which grossed $3.6 million in April despite advertising money being pulled, sources said.
Many planned ThinkFilm releases are now in limbo. The dark comic drama "Momma's Man" was announced in March as a ThinkFilm acquisition and August release. But the deal never happened and it went to Kino International instead.
"Battle in Seattle," "A Stone's Throw" and "A Happy Death" have been taken off the calendar and the drama "Blue Valentine" was never made because the promised funding fell through.
ThinkFilm doesn't list "The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams" as having been released but producer Julian Adams said it was released briefly last August. Since then he said he has been unable to get a financial statement from Bergstein. "I can't even describe the heartache," Adams said. "I'm beyond frustrated with it."
Bergstein's highest-profile production is the $30 million "Nailed," directed by David O. Russell, which was shut down by SAG, the DGA and Iatse four times this summer over money woes.
Bergstein said the guild problems have been resolved and that the movie only needs two days of pickup shots; others said scenes crucial to the film are missing. In any case, additional days were funded and the film will apparently arrive on schedule in early 2009.
Producer-director Taylor Hackford, who is finishing postproduction on ThinkFilm's "Love Ranch," starring his wife Helen Mirren, said funding came through "just in time."
"The fact is he stayed with us," Hackford said of Bergstein. "We never shut down for a day. Everybody got paid."
Other Bergstein-backed movies nearing completion include the road comedy "Five Dollars a Day," the romantic comedy "My Sexiest Year" and the $30 million crime drama "Black Water Transit."
It's unclear what effect, if any, ThinkFilm's apparent money woes will have on Bergstein's current productions. But his credibility, per various sources, is at an all-time low.
One agent said he feels sorry for Urman, who must field calls from angry filmmakers and skeptical reporters. "(Bergstein) over-committed," the agent said. "He didn't care about the budgets of movies. He just did them. It was like almost a three-card Monte game. Monies were moving in all different places to meet the latest fire drill, and at some point the cards stop and there is no money."
Urman declined repeated requests for an interview, but Bergstein angrily denied rumors that the company is firing employees, withholding paychecks and stiffing profit participants.
When he bought ThinkFilm, he said, he agreed with Canadian regulators to close its Toronto office, which resulted in layoffs. He also put pressure on Urman and Sackman to trim the staff, and he outsourced home video to Image Entertainment, which Bergstein was to acquire. The Image deal later fell apart, with Bergstein blaming Image for backing out and Image claiming Bergstein did not come through with funding. A separate deal to acquire Im Global as a second sales agent also unraveled, and Bergstein recently divested his majority interest in the company.
Bergstein dismissed as "complete nonsense" allegations that he has not paid DVD royalties. "We're the same as any other studio," he said. "We recoup what we're due. We get our distribution fee and the rest goes out. Sometimes reporting by ThinkFilm was in fact late, just like studios report to me late sometimes."
Bergstein said his plans for ThinkFilm are much larger than anyone realizes. Theatrical distribution and foreign sales platforms are only a means in which to gather content before the industry transitions to selling directly to consumers digitally. Then the key will be to own the most content, so despite all the naysayers, he plans to acquire even more movie and TV libraries.
In the meantime, Bergstein said ThinkFilm's finances are solid and it will continue to release films.
But Sackman said what has happened at the company he co-founded breaks his heart.
"I am very proud of what we built and accomplished at ThinkFilm," Sackman said. "And very sad to see how in the past 16 months the company and its reputation have been diminished."...
Yet David Bergstein is unperturbed.
"There is always an adjective that precedes us: 'Beleaguered,' 'financially distressed,' " Bergstein said recently from his plush new offices in the Fox Plaza in Century City, with a hint of an accent from his native New York. "And none of these people know anything."
What is known is that after a summer in which ThinkFilm has been battered by bad press -- especially during the repeated shutdowns of the Jake Gyllenhaal political satire "Nailed," financed by a Bergstein-backed entity -- he is actively looking for cash.
Whether that will be enough to repair the executive's strained relationships with Hollywood and allow his company to stay in business remains to be seen.
But Bergstein is adamant that he is on the right track.
"Our business plan is not so much about the movie business," he said, noting that he controls about a thousand films. "It's really to build a global digital distribution business. It's based on the expectation that in the not too distant future most content will be delivered digitally and on-demand."
Bergstein began to make a mark in Hollywood just 18 months ago, when he and construction magnate Ron Tutor bought ThinkFilm and London-based Capitol.
Yet after releasing 20-odd pictures in 2006 and 2007, only nine ThinkFilm movies have opened this year. Bergstein apparently has sold off some films, canceled others and has refused to commit to release dates for the only other two films originally scheduled for 2008: January's Sundance Film Festival pickups "Phoebe in Wonderland" and "The Escapist."
At the same time, at least four separate lawsuits have been filed against ThinkFilm this year by vendors and others claiming they were short shifted.
"Some of what is out there is true," Bergstein said. "The vast majority is not true. And for the stuff that is true, my answer is, 'So what? So what if X, Y or Z might be owed money?' "
That attitude has some in the creative community fuming.
"He's the biggest disgrace in the film business," said producer Albie Hecht, formerly president of Nickelodeon, who produced the Oscar-nominated ThinkFilm documentary "War/Dance" and claims he still has not seen the small advance ThinkFilm promised. An arbitration is pending.
"This is someone who goes around making deals and looks like he has no intention of fulfilling his obligation to filmmakers and artists," Hecht added. "Not only is it disgusting, but downright immoral."
Alex Gibney, director of the Oscar-winning ThinkFilm documentary "Taxi to the Dark Side," charges in a lawsuit that ThinkFilm did not have the financial resources to properly release his film and "fraudulently concealed this fact from the film's creative team, its investors and the film's sales agent, Cinetic Media."
Bergstein said Gibney was paid everything he was owed, including a $50,000 Oscar bonus. Bergstein also downplayed lawsuits by Allied Advertising seeking $4.2 million for ads it placed and Brooklyn-based Mammoth Advertising, which said it has nearly $430,00 in unpaid bills.
Lawsuits are just part of doing business, said Bergstein, 46, whose office is stacked with boxes of files and a framed photo of John Lennon flashing a peace sign.
He made a small fortune acquiring depreciated assets, cutting costs and selling for a profit, then dived into the film business in 2003 via his acquisition of Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures library.
"He is used to going in, buying something that's normally four cents for two cents and then saying to everyone, 'It's a distressed asset. I'm only going to pay you half of what you deserve,' " said a veteran talent manager and producer who has worked with Bergstein. "It's just a whole mindset that is antithetical to the movie business."
Bergstein acknowledged he's had problems paying such creditors as PR companies and production services, but he said those issues were caused by the move of ThinkFilm's headquarters from Canada to the U.S., which required new accounting and tracking systems.
A spokesman for Investment bank Db Zwirn & Co. says it has about $100 million in loans to ThinkFilm’s umbrella company. Zwirn was forced to liquidate a hedge fund this year but Bergstein said he has been able to find additional funds from Comerica Bank and others.
He said he has brought ThinkFilm’s debts from $30 million to $8 million and is pumping in another $25 million to market ThinkFilm releases on top of a total investment of $400 million for all his entertainment businesses, which include a postproduction facility and music publisher in London. He declined to say where that new money will come from.
Bergstein said he has image problems because nobody in Hollywood really knows him. He grew up in New York and attended Polytechnic Institute (now part of New York University), studying engineering and pre-med. In the late 1970s he became an investment banker, seeking undervalued stocks.
He moved to Los Angeles in 1983 and worked for a mortgage broker, then began buying real estate. He operated Metropolis Publishing for a time and acquired Express Inc., an online DVD seller that had gone bankrupt in 2001, losing a reported $240 million.
Bergstein and Tutor, a friend who headed two major construction companies that merged this year in a deal valued at $862 million, began investing in Los Angeles restaurants, including Le Dome. There they met Samaha, who was flying high with Franchise Pictures. When Franchise began struggling, Bergstein and Tutor loaned Samaha $14 million, secured by Franchise's film library. When Franchise went under, Bergstein ended up with most of the library.
Armed with product, Bergstein and Tutor acquired ThinkFilm in November 2006 for a reported $18 million in cash and $5 million in debt. The distributor, founded in September 2001 by veteran execs Jeff Sackman, Randy Manis and Marc Hirshberg, as well as Mark Urman from Lionsgate, fielded a string of such Oscar-worthy films as "Half Nelson," which earned Ryan Gosling a best actor nod in 2007, and "Born Into Brothels," 2005's winner for best documentary.
Bergstein said ThinkFilm was insolvent when he bought it. Sackman, who quit the company in anger in April, said it was profitable for four of its first five years but looked for a buyer two years ago when art-house attendance dipped.
"We were very cooperative at first," Sackman said of Bergstein.
At Bergstein's urging they went on a buying spree, acquiring films like "In the Shadow of the Moon," which ThinkFilm bought for $2.5 million at Sundance in 2007 but which grossed only $1.1 million in theaters that November.
Indeed, only four films out of more than 30 releases during the past two years have grossed more than $1 million, including Sidney Lumet's "Before the Devil Knows You're Dead," which grossed $7 million last fall, and Helen Hunt's "Then She Found Me," which grossed $3.6 million in April despite advertising money being pulled, sources said.
Many planned ThinkFilm releases are now in limbo. The dark comic drama "Momma's Man" was announced in March as a ThinkFilm acquisition and August release. But the deal never happened and it went to Kino International instead.
"Battle in Seattle," "A Stone's Throw" and "A Happy Death" have been taken off the calendar and the drama "Blue Valentine" was never made because the promised funding fell through.
ThinkFilm doesn't list "The Last Confederate: The Story of Robert Adams" as having been released but producer Julian Adams said it was released briefly last August. Since then he said he has been unable to get a financial statement from Bergstein. "I can't even describe the heartache," Adams said. "I'm beyond frustrated with it."
Bergstein's highest-profile production is the $30 million "Nailed," directed by David O. Russell, which was shut down by SAG, the DGA and Iatse four times this summer over money woes.
Bergstein said the guild problems have been resolved and that the movie only needs two days of pickup shots; others said scenes crucial to the film are missing. In any case, additional days were funded and the film will apparently arrive on schedule in early 2009.
Producer-director Taylor Hackford, who is finishing postproduction on ThinkFilm's "Love Ranch," starring his wife Helen Mirren, said funding came through "just in time."
"The fact is he stayed with us," Hackford said of Bergstein. "We never shut down for a day. Everybody got paid."
Other Bergstein-backed movies nearing completion include the road comedy "Five Dollars a Day," the romantic comedy "My Sexiest Year" and the $30 million crime drama "Black Water Transit."
It's unclear what effect, if any, ThinkFilm's apparent money woes will have on Bergstein's current productions. But his credibility, per various sources, is at an all-time low.
One agent said he feels sorry for Urman, who must field calls from angry filmmakers and skeptical reporters. "(Bergstein) over-committed," the agent said. "He didn't care about the budgets of movies. He just did them. It was like almost a three-card Monte game. Monies were moving in all different places to meet the latest fire drill, and at some point the cards stop and there is no money."
Urman declined repeated requests for an interview, but Bergstein angrily denied rumors that the company is firing employees, withholding paychecks and stiffing profit participants.
When he bought ThinkFilm, he said, he agreed with Canadian regulators to close its Toronto office, which resulted in layoffs. He also put pressure on Urman and Sackman to trim the staff, and he outsourced home video to Image Entertainment, which Bergstein was to acquire. The Image deal later fell apart, with Bergstein blaming Image for backing out and Image claiming Bergstein did not come through with funding. A separate deal to acquire Im Global as a second sales agent also unraveled, and Bergstein recently divested his majority interest in the company.
Bergstein dismissed as "complete nonsense" allegations that he has not paid DVD royalties. "We're the same as any other studio," he said. "We recoup what we're due. We get our distribution fee and the rest goes out. Sometimes reporting by ThinkFilm was in fact late, just like studios report to me late sometimes."
Bergstein said his plans for ThinkFilm are much larger than anyone realizes. Theatrical distribution and foreign sales platforms are only a means in which to gather content before the industry transitions to selling directly to consumers digitally. Then the key will be to own the most content, so despite all the naysayers, he plans to acquire even more movie and TV libraries.
In the meantime, Bergstein said ThinkFilm's finances are solid and it will continue to release films.
But Sackman said what has happened at the company he co-founded breaks his heart.
"I am very proud of what we built and accomplished at ThinkFilm," Sackman said. "And very sad to see how in the past 16 months the company and its reputation have been diminished."...
- 8/6/2008
- by By Alex Ben Block
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- ThinkFilm has acquired North American rights to one of the more offbeat films from January's Sundance Film Festival, the darkly comic drama Momma's Man.
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' feature centers on a Los Angeles father (Matt Boren) who visits his parents on a New York business trip and decides to stay, leaving his wife and child behind. He quickly reverts to his childhood ways.
The director cast his real-life parents, noted avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs and Flo Jacobs, as the fictional parents.
The acquisition reunites ThinkFilm with Half Nelson and "Man" producers Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray and exec producer Paul Mezey.
The Sundance Spectrum section premiere will be featured in the Film Society of Lincoln Center/Museum of Modern Art's New Directors/New Films series on March 28, with a theatrical release to follow.
ThinkFilm's Mark Urman, Randy Manis and Ben Stambler negotiated the deal, with Cinetic Media repping the filmmakers.
Writer-director Azazel Jacobs' feature centers on a Los Angeles father (Matt Boren) who visits his parents on a New York business trip and decides to stay, leaving his wife and child behind. He quickly reverts to his childhood ways.
The director cast his real-life parents, noted avant-garde filmmaker Ken Jacobs and Flo Jacobs, as the fictional parents.
The acquisition reunites ThinkFilm with Half Nelson and "Man" producers Alex Orlovsky and Hunter Gray and exec producer Paul Mezey.
The Sundance Spectrum section premiere will be featured in the Film Society of Lincoln Center/Museum of Modern Art's New Directors/New Films series on March 28, with a theatrical release to follow.
ThinkFilm's Mark Urman, Randy Manis and Ben Stambler negotiated the deal, with Cinetic Media repping the filmmakers.
NEW YORK -- Ben Stambler has been appointed director of acquisitions at ThinkFilm. The indie studio also promoted Michael Baker to vp and David Laub to manager of acquisitions.
Stambler, who arrives at the company after serving for three years as Magnolia Pictures' manager of acquisitions, will report to head of U.S. theatrical Mark Urman and senior vp acquisitions and business affairs Randy Manis. He replaces ThinkFilm founding exec Daniel Katz, who left the company to run financial service firm Guggenheim Partners' new film financing initiative.
"As our company elevates to the next level, it is crucial to fortify the ranks with smart and aggressive executives," Manis said. "Stambler's background and training -- and the fact that he doesn't own a suit -- make him a perfect fit for us as we begin to acquire bigger films and to co-finance and produce a portion of our slate."
Five-year ThinkFilm veteran Baker has been promoted from director of acquisitions and development.
Stambler, who arrives at the company after serving for three years as Magnolia Pictures' manager of acquisitions, will report to head of U.S. theatrical Mark Urman and senior vp acquisitions and business affairs Randy Manis. He replaces ThinkFilm founding exec Daniel Katz, who left the company to run financial service firm Guggenheim Partners' new film financing initiative.
"As our company elevates to the next level, it is crucial to fortify the ranks with smart and aggressive executives," Manis said. "Stambler's background and training -- and the fact that he doesn't own a suit -- make him a perfect fit for us as we begin to acquire bigger films and to co-finance and produce a portion of our slate."
Five-year ThinkFilm veteran Baker has been promoted from director of acquisitions and development.
- 3/30/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Indie distributor ThinkFilm has signed a first-look pact with Killer Films. The agreement, which includes a six-figure overhead deal, will see ThinkFilm finance and distribute films developed with the New York-based producer.
The nonexclusive one-year contract with a one-year option is designed to emulate the structure of a studio specialty division, calling for a minimum of two to four joint projects a year.
Budgets for features from the companies are expected to range from $1 million-$10 million but might go higher with certain talent attached. ThinkFilm will retain a financial cut of all Killer features developed while the deal is active regardless of whether it bankrolls or distributes them.
Killer also will continue to receive overhead financing from its open-ended deal with John Wells Prods., and Wells will retain executive producer credit on all features along with ThinkFilm.
"This alliance allows us to more strategically plan our release schedule, get involved in projects at the earliest stage of development and not depend on film festivals to fill our slate," said ThinkFilm executive vp acquisitions and business affairs Randy Manis, who negotiated the arrangement with CAA and John Sloss and Dan Steinman of Sloss Law.
The nonexclusive one-year contract with a one-year option is designed to emulate the structure of a studio specialty division, calling for a minimum of two to four joint projects a year.
Budgets for features from the companies are expected to range from $1 million-$10 million but might go higher with certain talent attached. ThinkFilm will retain a financial cut of all Killer features developed while the deal is active regardless of whether it bankrolls or distributes them.
Killer also will continue to receive overhead financing from its open-ended deal with John Wells Prods., and Wells will retain executive producer credit on all features along with ThinkFilm.
"This alliance allows us to more strategically plan our release schedule, get involved in projects at the earliest stage of development and not depend on film festivals to fill our slate," said ThinkFilm executive vp acquisitions and business affairs Randy Manis, who negotiated the arrangement with CAA and John Sloss and Dan Steinman of Sloss Law.
- 2/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- ThinkFilm acquired all North American rights except for TV to David Sington's Apollo space mission docu In The Shadow of the Moon for around $2 million. The film will be released in conjunction with Discovery Films in 2007, with a TV premiere on cable's Discovery Channel to follow.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
- 1/23/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
PARK CITY -- ThinkFilm acquired all North American rights except for TV to David Sington's Apollo space mission docu In The Shadow of the Moon for around $2 million. The film will be released in conjunction with Discovery Films in 2007, with a TV premiere on cable's Discovery Channel to follow.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
A number of interested parties (including Samuel Goldwyn Films) placed bids on the $1.4 million film over the weekend. The film is screening in the Sundance festival's World Documentary Competition.
One stumbling block for several distributors was that Discovery Films picked up North American television rights and branding rights to the film at the start of the fest, along with an equity interest in North American theatrical distribution.
Moon was produced by DOX Productions in association with Passion Pictures. The film's producer is Duncan Copp with co-producer Chris Riley and executive producers Simon Andreae, John Battsek and Julie Goldman. The deal was negotiated by CAA, Simon Andreae and Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers with ThinkFilm's Mark Urman and Randy Manis.
- 1/22/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- ThinkFilm executive David Fenkel has been assigned to head the indie distributor's international sales division. Fenkel has been promoted from vp marketing to vp international sales by president and CEO Jeff Sackman. Reporting to Sackman and senior vp Randy Manis, he will present the company at all markets and festivals and help handle all international acquisitions. "We thought it was logical to have someone with such great experience in domestic films communicate what these films are with our international buyers," Manis said. ThinkFilm launched the division at last year's Festival de Cannes under the direction of Alliance Atlantis Pictures International president Mark Horowitz. Fenkel assumes Horowitz's role in his new post.
- 10/19/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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