S.N.A.P. Films have unveiled their new development slate, including a film and true crime limited series about the first female mob boss Bessie Starkman.
The Canadian production company, founded by Sergio Navarretta and Alessandra Piccione, has also secured Dr. Bernie Siegel’s life rights with a view to working on a documentary and feature film about what they describe as “America’s most controversial doctor in the field of mind-body healing and patient empowerment” as well as optioning the rights to the book “Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada’s Most Notorious Bootlegger” by Antonio Nicaso, which they are also planning to adapt as a feature.
Piccione will write and produce while Navarretta will direct and produce.
They have been joined by Luna Zhang, who joins the company as a business development executive. Zhang will be based in L.A. but is taking meetings during Berlin EFM.
Distribution veterans Tony Cianciotta...
The Canadian production company, founded by Sergio Navarretta and Alessandra Piccione, has also secured Dr. Bernie Siegel’s life rights with a view to working on a documentary and feature film about what they describe as “America’s most controversial doctor in the field of mind-body healing and patient empowerment” as well as optioning the rights to the book “Rocco Perri: The Story of Canada’s Most Notorious Bootlegger” by Antonio Nicaso, which they are also planning to adapt as a feature.
Piccione will write and produce while Navarretta will direct and produce.
They have been joined by Luna Zhang, who joins the company as a business development executive. Zhang will be based in L.A. but is taking meetings during Berlin EFM.
Distribution veterans Tony Cianciotta...
- 2/21/2023
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Sergio Navarretta’s The Cuban is set to be released on VOD on October 6, 2020, following its July 31st virtual cinema release. The film was directed by Sergio Navarretta and stars Academy Award winner Louis Gossett Jr., Academy Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo, Ana Golja, Emmy winner Lauren Holly and Giacomo Gianniotti (Grey’s Anatomy). The screenplay was written by Alessandra Piccione, and the film was produced by Piccione and Navarretta of S.N.A.P. Films Inc., alongside Golja and Taras Koltun. The Afro-Cuban score was composed by legendary Grammy-nominated and Juno winning Cuban-Canadian pianist Hilario Duran and produced by Roberto Occhipinti. The sound team was led by Oscar-nominated sound editor Neslon Ferreira (The Shape of Water). The film was shot in Brantford and Paris Ontario Canada, as well as Havana, Cuba. The Cuban is a musical journey of love, friendship, and the power of the imagination. When a naïve pre-med student...
- 9/30/2020
- by Kristyn Clarke
- Age of the Nerd
Cuba is a really interesting place. I’ve actually been there, though only for a day, back a few years ago before the U.S. government again made it difficult to travel to the island. I only mention this to bring up the potential inherent in setting a story even partially in that country. The Cuban, opening today, opts to do just such a thing, though is unable to fully build upon the premise and the promise of that element, especially when it goes so far as to actually shoot in Havana (more on that in a bit). Despite a touching turn from Louis Gossett Jr. and some charming emotions, the final product sadly leaves you wanting more. The movie is a drama about an unexpected friendship that develops in a nursing home. When naive pre-med student Mina (Ana Golja) gets her first job, it’s in a nursing home, which...
- 7/31/2020
- by Joey Magidson
- Hollywoodnews.com
Music is at the heart of director Sergio Navarretta’s “The Cuban,” set for a limited theatrical release July 31. In the movie, pre-med student Mina, played by Ana Golja (“Degrassi”), is tasked with caring for Luis, portrayed by Louis Gossett Jr., who is struggling with Alzheimer’s and has retreated into himself. As she feeds him, she tells him of her dreams of being a musician and hums tunes from her childhood in Afghanistan. Luis sparks to the songs, and begins to come out of his shell.
Navarretta points to “The Mambo Kings” as an inspiration for his film, saying he was so moved by the music in that 1992 movie, about a pair of brothers who flee Havana for New York in the ’50s, that he wanted to make a picture with music as its focal point. His choice to create that sound was Grammy Award-nominated Cuban jazz artist Hilario Durán.
Navarretta points to “The Mambo Kings” as an inspiration for his film, saying he was so moved by the music in that 1992 movie, about a pair of brothers who flee Havana for New York in the ’50s, that he wanted to make a picture with music as its focal point. His choice to create that sound was Grammy Award-nominated Cuban jazz artist Hilario Durán.
- 7/31/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
There are several very mildly cautionary notes sounded in Sergio Navarretta’s “The Cuban,” . There’s the gentle exhortation not to follow someone else’s dream at the expense of your own. There’s a subtle finger-wag at ageism, at the assumption that because someone is elderly or infirm they have nothing left to give the world. And there’s a whole lot about the healing power of music. But the real learning here ought to be that if you cast two such charismatic performers as Louis Gossett Jr. and Shohreh Aghdashloo in your movie, it would be better to clear all the Life Lesson clutter away and just let them get on with it.
Gossett plays Luis Garcia, a heavily medicated Alzheimer’s patient in a care home where he spends most of his time staring into the middle distance in his room — institutionally tidy except for a poster...
Gossett plays Luis Garcia, a heavily medicated Alzheimer’s patient in a care home where he spends most of his time staring into the middle distance in his room — institutionally tidy except for a poster...
- 7/30/2020
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety 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
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