Indie distributors, grabbing a frame between Top Gun: Maverick and Jurassic World Dominion, are out with a handful of decently wide releases for the specialty space including Neon’s Cannes title Crimes of the Future (127 screes), IFC Midnight thriller Watcher (764) and Roadside Attractions’ WWI period piece Benediction (87). Sony Pictures Classics launches Phantom of the Open in four theaters in NY and LA.
Netflix is taking Hustle to 275 screens as the industry looks for signs that big streamers are warming to theatrical.
Yash Raj Films opens historical Bollywood epic Prithviraj in over 400 theaters as the steady flow of Indian fare remains a bulwark for U.S. cinemas.
The David Cronenberg written and directed dystopian sci-fi body-parts drama Crimes of the Future with Léa Seydoux, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart debuts fresh off a six-minute standing ovation in Cannes, As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, bodies undergoes transformations and mutation.
Netflix is taking Hustle to 275 screens as the industry looks for signs that big streamers are warming to theatrical.
Yash Raj Films opens historical Bollywood epic Prithviraj in over 400 theaters as the steady flow of Indian fare remains a bulwark for U.S. cinemas.
The David Cronenberg written and directed dystopian sci-fi body-parts drama Crimes of the Future with Léa Seydoux, Viggo Mortensen and Kristen Stewart debuts fresh off a six-minute standing ovation in Cannes, As the human species adapts to a synthetic environment, bodies undergoes transformations and mutation.
- 6/3/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Quiver Distribution has acquired North American rights to festival sensation and audience-favorite Small Town Wisconsin, it was announced today. Directed by Niels Mueller(The Assassination Of Richard Nixon)and executive produced by Academy Award-winner Alexander Payne (Sideways), Small Town Wisconsin stars David Sullivan (Sharp Objects), Bill Heck (The Ballad Of Buster Scruggs), ,Tanya Fischer (Life On Mars), and Cooper J.Friedman (9-1-1: Lone Star). Here’s the trailer:
Small Town Wisconsin has garnered more than twenty Best Picture awards at film festivals around the world.Quiver will release Small Town Wisconsin wide on digital platforms on June 10, 2022, following a star-studdedpremiere and exclusive theatrical run at the iconic movie palace, Milwaukee Film’s Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee,Wisconsin, on June 3.
After losing a custody battle, perpetual teenager Wayne Stobierski steals his son away for one last father-son weekend to the city of their dreams-Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What’s supposed to be a light-hearted adventure,...
Small Town Wisconsin has garnered more than twenty Best Picture awards at film festivals around the world.Quiver will release Small Town Wisconsin wide on digital platforms on June 10, 2022, following a star-studdedpremiere and exclusive theatrical run at the iconic movie palace, Milwaukee Film’s Oriental Theatre in Milwaukee,Wisconsin, on June 3.
After losing a custody battle, perpetual teenager Wayne Stobierski steals his son away for one last father-son weekend to the city of their dreams-Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What’s supposed to be a light-hearted adventure,...
- 5/5/2022
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
"If you care about him, you'll let him go, instead of blaming me for taking him." Quiver Distribution has unveiled the official trailer for an indie dramedy called Small Town Wisconsin, made by a Milwaukee local filmmaker named Niels Mueller. The film premiered back in 2020 at a few small film fests, and will be out on VOD to watch in June this summer. A father tries hard to be a good dad but alcoholism is his biggest deterrent. After losing a custody battle, perpetual teenager Wayne Stobierski steals his son away for one last father-son weekend to the city of their dreams - Milwaukee, Wisconsin (let's go!). What's supposed to be a light-hearted adventure, transforms into a journey of profound redemption. David Sullivan stars, joined by Bill Heck, Kristen Johnston, Tanya Fischer, Cooper J. Friedman, and Braden Andersen. This reminds me a lot of C'mon C'mon, similar vibes, but with...
- 5/5/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Quiver Distribution has acquired North American rights to the dramedy Small Town Wisconsin, starring David Sullivan (Sharp Objects), Bill Heck (The Ballad of Buster Scruggs), Kristen Johnson (3rd Rock from the Sun), Tanya Fischer (Life on Mars) and Cooper J. Friedman (9-1-1: Lone Star), slating it for wide release in theaters and on digital platforms on June 10th.
The film exec produced by Academy Award winner Alexander Payne (Sideways) watches as perpetual teenager Wayne Stobierski (Sullivan) loses a custody battle, stealing his son away for one last father-son weekend in the city of their dreams: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What’s supposed to be a light-hearted adventure transforms into a journey of profound redemption. Niels Mueller (The Assassination of Richard Nixon) directed from a script by Jason Naczek. Mueller, Liu Hongtao, Scott K. Foley and Josh Rosenberg served as the film’s producers, with Payne and Jinhua Yang exec producing.
The film exec produced by Academy Award winner Alexander Payne (Sideways) watches as perpetual teenager Wayne Stobierski (Sullivan) loses a custody battle, stealing his son away for one last father-son weekend in the city of their dreams: Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What’s supposed to be a light-hearted adventure transforms into a journey of profound redemption. Niels Mueller (The Assassination of Richard Nixon) directed from a script by Jason Naczek. Mueller, Liu Hongtao, Scott K. Foley and Josh Rosenberg served as the film’s producers, with Payne and Jinhua Yang exec producing.
- 5/3/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
The 23rd annual Scad Savannah Film Festival has announced this year’s competition award winners. Best narrative feature went to “Killing Eleanor,” while “Kusasa” won best documentary feature. “My Brother’s Keeper” won the Jury Award for exceptional storytelling.
A key stop on the festival circuit leading up to the Academy Awards, Scad screened more than 150 films ranging from narrative features to documentaries and shorts with 14 world premieres.
Thirty-three awards were announced from the 122 films selected to compete in the categories of narrative features, documentary features, professional shorts, animated shorts, student shorts, Global Shorts Forum, Shorts Spotlight and Southern Voices.
“Killing Eleanor,” directed by Rich Newey, is about a terminally ill elderly woman who convinces a self-destructive addict to help her die on her terms in exchange for clean urine. Meanwhile, “Our Side,” directed by Nicola Rinciari, won best live action short by a Scad student. The story follows an African...
A key stop on the festival circuit leading up to the Academy Awards, Scad screened more than 150 films ranging from narrative features to documentaries and shorts with 14 world premieres.
Thirty-three awards were announced from the 122 films selected to compete in the categories of narrative features, documentary features, professional shorts, animated shorts, student shorts, Global Shorts Forum, Shorts Spotlight and Southern Voices.
“Killing Eleanor,” directed by Rich Newey, is about a terminally ill elderly woman who convinces a self-destructive addict to help her die on her terms in exchange for clean urine. Meanwhile, “Our Side,” directed by Nicola Rinciari, won best live action short by a Scad student. The story follows an African...
- 10/30/2020
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- Variety Film + TV
Odds are that finding someone from Small Town Mid-West USA means finding someone with an unpleasant past. Economic strife leads to long hours. Long hours to drinking. Drinking to domestic abuse. And the cycle continues ad infinitum unless you’re lucky enough to extricate yourself from the black hole of familial history proving too heavy to bear. It’s why Alicia (Kristen Johnston) got out around the time her abusive, alcoholic father passed away. It’s why Deidra (Tanya Fischer) and her new husband Stu (David Sapiro) are looking to escape themselves. And it’s why Wayne (David Sullivan) is quite literally drowning after inevitably inheriting his and Alicia’s father’s disease. No amount of love for his son with Deidra (Cooper J. Friedman’s Tyler) can excuse the resulting anger, neglect, or self-destruction.
Director Niels Mueller and screenwriter Jason Naczek aren’t afraid of putting a humorous spin...
Director Niels Mueller and screenwriter Jason Naczek aren’t afraid of putting a humorous spin...
- 10/12/2020
- by Jared Mobarak
- The Film Stage
Festival’s Open Air lineup also includes the world premiere of Eric Tessier’s ‘You Will Remember Me’.
Sarajevo Film Festival has secured the world premieres of Niels Mueller’s Small Town Wisconsin and Eric Tessier’s You Will Remember Me, which will both debut online following the festival’s shift to a virtual event.
Both films will be included in the festival’s pared-back Open Air lineup, which will run online this year despite the name of the strand.
Other titles in the section include Pjer Žalica’s Focus, Grandma, which will receive its world premiere as the opening...
Sarajevo Film Festival has secured the world premieres of Niels Mueller’s Small Town Wisconsin and Eric Tessier’s You Will Remember Me, which will both debut online following the festival’s shift to a virtual event.
Both films will be included in the festival’s pared-back Open Air lineup, which will run online this year despite the name of the strand.
Other titles in the section include Pjer Žalica’s Focus, Grandma, which will receive its world premiere as the opening...
- 8/10/2020
- by 1100453¦Michael Rosser¦9¦
- ScreenDaily
Roster includes crime series Merchant Of Doubt, feature America Reloaded.
Topic Studios on Wednesday (August 22) announced it has put into development a slate of film and TV projects based on articles from its First Look Studios stablemate The Intercept.
The roster includes the feature America Reloaded, based on Ryan Devereaux and Trevor Aaronson’s article that tells the story of a fake documentary devised by the FBI about the family of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, as part of a larger effort to build criminal cases against the Bundys and their supporters, who engaged in a stand-off with law enforcement at...
Topic Studios on Wednesday (August 22) announced it has put into development a slate of film and TV projects based on articles from its First Look Studios stablemate The Intercept.
The roster includes the feature America Reloaded, based on Ryan Devereaux and Trevor Aaronson’s article that tells the story of a fake documentary devised by the FBI about the family of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, as part of a larger effort to build criminal cases against the Bundys and their supporters, who engaged in a stand-off with law enforcement at...
- 8/22/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Emmanuel “Chivo” Lubezki is a brilliant cinematographer whose work has helped shape the landscape of modern cinematic photography. During his 32-year career, Lubezki has worked with such greats as Mike Nichols, Joel and Ethan Coen, Terrence Malick, and Michael Mann, as well as technology-defying directors such as Alfonso Cuarón and Alejandro González Iñárritu. He even worked alongside Martin Scorsese as a camera operator on The Rolling Stones documentary Shine a Light, alongside Robert Richardson.
Lubezki’s latest project reunites him with Iñárritu for a brooding, intense historical epic about fur trapper Hugo Glass. Although the movie itself receives a somewhat mixed reception, Lubezki’s photography alone is worth the price of admission, as we noted in our yearly cinematography wrap-up. Before checking out The Revenant when it opens wide this Friday, we’ve selected some of our favorites in his illustrious filmography, each exquisite in their own unique ways. Please enjoy below,...
Lubezki’s latest project reunites him with Iñárritu for a brooding, intense historical epic about fur trapper Hugo Glass. Although the movie itself receives a somewhat mixed reception, Lubezki’s photography alone is worth the price of admission, as we noted in our yearly cinematography wrap-up. Before checking out The Revenant when it opens wide this Friday, we’ve selected some of our favorites in his illustrious filmography, each exquisite in their own unique ways. Please enjoy below,...
- 1/6/2016
- by Tony Hinds
- The Film Stage
Sean Penn: Honorary César goes Hollywood – again (photo: Sean Penn in '21 Grams') Sean Penn, 54, will receive the 2015 Honorary César (César d'Honneur), the French Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Crafts has announced. That means the French Academy's powers-that-be are once again trying to make the Prix César ceremony relevant to the American media. Their tactic is to hand out the career award to a widely known and relatively young – i.e., media friendly – Hollywood celebrity. (Scroll down for more such examples.) In the words of the French Academy, Honorary César 2015 recipient Sean Penn is a "living legend" and "a stand-alone icon in American cinema." It has also hailed the two-time Best Actor Oscar winner as a "mythical actor, a politically active personality and an exceptional director." Penn will be honored at the César Awards ceremony on Feb. 20, 2015. Sean Penn movies Sean Penn movies range from the teen comedy...
- 1/28/2015
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
Robert De Niro Tribute: De Niro movies at the American Cinematheque in Santa Monica A Robert De Niro Tribute is being held this week at the American Cinematheque’s Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. In the next two days, four Robert De Niro movies will be presented as two double bills: Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and Mean Streets on Feb. 5, and Penny Marshall’s Awakenings and Scorsese’s Cape Fear on Feb. 6. Both double-feature programs start at 7:30 p.m. (Photo: Mental patient Robert De Niro in Awakenings, with doctor Robin Williams.) De Niro himself was on hand at the Aero on Monday afternoon to chat about David O. Russell’s Silver Linings Playbook, a comedy-drama starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, and which earned De Niro his seventh Academy Award nomination. Note: De Niro is not expected to attend either of the two double-feature screenings. Taxi Driver:...
- 2/5/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The winners of the 3rd Annual Cinema Tropical Awards were announced at a special event at the New York Times headquarters in New York City,celebrating the best of the Latin American film production of the year in five different categories:
- Best Feature Film
- Best Documentary Film
- Best Director, Feature Film
- Best Director, Documentary Film
- Best First Film
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times and 92YTribeca, with the support of the Mexican Cultural Institute. Special thanks to Lucila Moctezuma and Mario Díaz.
Best Feature Film
- O Som Ao Redor / Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- MatÍAs Meyer, Los ÚLtimos Cristeros / The Last Christeros (Mexico, 2011)
Best Documentary Film
- El Salvavidas / The Lifeguard (Maite Alberdi, Chile, 2011)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- JosÉ ÁLvarez, CanÍCula (Mexico, 2011)
Best First Film
- El Estudiante / The Student (Santiago Mitre, Argentina, 2011)
The films were selected from a list of Latin American feature films with a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012. The winners and final nominees were selected by a six-member jury panel from a list of fiction and documentary films compiled from the selections of a nominating committee composed of 14 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S. and Europe (see list below).
Fiction Jury
Dennis Lim writes about film and popular culture for various publications including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the founding editor of Moving Image Source, the online publication and research resource of the Museum of the Moving Image and was formerly the film editor of The Village Voice. His work has also appeared in The Believer, The Oxford American, Blender, Spin, Espous, Indiewire, New York Daily News, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, and the film quarterly Cinema Scope, where he is a contributing editor. A member of the National Society of Film Critics and the editor of The Village Voice Film Guide (2006), he has served as a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee and he teaches in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism graduate program a New York University.
Matías Piñeiro is a filmmaker and professor at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His first feature-length work, El hombre robado / The Stolen Man (2007), won awards at the Jeonju International Film Festival and at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. In 2009, his second feature, Todos mienten / They All Lie, premiered at Bafici (Buenos Aires Festival International de Cine Independiente), where it won two awards. It also won a prize at the Santiago Festival Internacional de Cine. In 2010, he was selected—along with James Benning and Denis Côté—to screen his third film, Rosalinda at the 11th Jeonju Digital Project. Piñeiro recently premiered his most recent film, Viola, at the Toronto Film Festival, and it's slated for a Us release in 2013. He earned a filmmaking degree from Universidad del Cine. His award-winning films have been screened around the world, including at Anthology Film Archives, Festival des 3 Continents, the Festival del film Locarno, the London Film Festival, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, the Museum of Modern Art, Rencontré Cinémas d’Amerique Latine de Toulouse, and the Viennale.
Frida Torresblanco served as a producer in Spain working on film including The Dancer Upstairs, directed by John Malkovich and starring Javier Bardem, as well as Susan Seidelman’s Gaudi Afternoon. She moved to New York City in 2002 to launch and lead Alfonso Cuaron’s film production company, Esperanto, where she served as Executive Producer and Creative On-Set Producer for The Assassination of Richard Nixon (directed by Niels Mueller, starring Sean Penn), among others. In 2006, Frida joined Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro to produce El laberinto del Fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth (Three Oscars & another three Oscar nominations; three wins & five BAFTA nominations; a nomination for the Palm d’Or and a Golden Globe). The Hollywood Reporter named Frida one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood. She also produced Rudo y Cursi (directed by Carlos Cuarón, starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna). In 2010, Frida launched her new film production company, Braven Films, with partners Eric Laufer and Giovanna Randall. Her next project, Magic Magic, produced through Braven Films, will star Michael Cera, Juno Temple and Emily Browning.
DocuMentary Jury
Ryan Harrington is the Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute where he oversees the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, the Tfi Documentary Fund, Tribeca All Access documentary program and the Latin America Media Arts Fund while developing other initiatives and programs that support non-fiction filmmaking. Recent Tfi successes include Give Up Tomorrow, If a Tree Falls, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, The Oath, Enemies of the People, Marathon Boy and Donor Unknown. Independently he is currently working on the feature doc Hungry in America, with filmmakers Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush and Participant Media, that explores why so many people in the USA go without food, and what can be done about it. Harrington managed production for A&E IndieFilms, the theatrical documentary arm of the A&E Network, for four years. Throughout his time there he championed the Oscar-nominated films Murderball and Jesus Camp, and the Sundance hits My Kid Could Paint That and American Teen.
Paula Heredia is a director and editor based in New York. She was awarded an Emmy for the HBO documentary In Memoriam, NYC 9/11/01, and an Ace Eddie Award for the acclaimed documentary Unzipped. Her directorial work includes the documentaries George Plimpton and the Paris Review, Ralph Gibson, and The Couple in the Cage. Her dramatic work includes Having a Baby, Tras La Ventana, Slings and Arrows, and La Cena de Matrimonio. Her short film La Pájara Pinta premiered at the Lincoln Center Film Society LatinBeat Film Festival. Heredia’s editorial work can be seen in the HBO feature-length documentary Addiction, which received the 2007 Emmy Governors Award, and Alive Day Memories—Home from Iraq, executive produced by James Gandolfini for HBO. Her new edit, The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale and Jacques D'Ambois in China, will air on HBO this summer. Other editorial credits include: Modulations Cinema for the Ear, The Vagina Monologues, Finding Christa and Free Tibet. Paula’s work and creative process is featured in the book: The Art of the Documentary by Megan Cunningham. With partner Larry Garvin, she co-founded Heredia Pictures, heads the international committee of New York Women in Film and Television and serves on the board of advisors of Tribeca All Access and Clementina, Inc.
Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. As a guest curator, Yang has presented film and video series at film festivals and events internationally, including MoMA's Documentary Fortnight, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (“The Age of Migration”), Seattle International Film Festival, Washington D.C. International Film Festival and Barcelona Asian Film Festival. From 2000-2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the Us. Yang is also the programmer of “Cinema Asian America,” a new On-Demand service offered by Comcast and currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute.
Nominating Committee
- Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Idfa, The Netherlands
- Hugo Chaparro, film critic, Colombia
- Lucile De Calan, programmer, Biarritz Latin American Film Festival, France
- Denis de la Roca, programmer, Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Mara Fortes, programmer, Morelia Film Festival
- Erick Gonzalez, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile
- Elías Jiménez, director, Festival Ícaro, Guatemala
- Roger Alan Koza, film critic and programmer, Filmfest Hamburg, Ficunam, Mexico
- Janneke Langelaan, Hubert Bals Fund, The Netherlands
- Diego Lerer, film critic, Argentina
- Rosa Martinez Rivero, film producer, Argentina
- Christian Sida-Valenzuela, director, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival
- Hebe Tabachnik, programmer, Los Angeles and Palm Springs Film Festivals
- Sergio Wolf, film programmer, Argentina...
- Best Feature Film
- Best Documentary Film
- Best Director, Feature Film
- Best Director, Documentary Film
- Best First Film
The Cinema Tropical Awards are presented in partnership with Voces, Latino Heritage Network of The New York Times and 92YTribeca, with the support of the Mexican Cultural Institute. Special thanks to Lucila Moctezuma and Mario Díaz.
Best Feature Film
- O Som Ao Redor / Neighboring Sounds (Kleber Mendonça Filho, Brazil, 2012)
Best Director, Feature Film
- MatÍAs Meyer, Los ÚLtimos Cristeros / The Last Christeros (Mexico, 2011)
Best Documentary Film
- El Salvavidas / The Lifeguard (Maite Alberdi, Chile, 2011)
Best Director, Documentary Film
- JosÉ ÁLvarez, CanÍCula (Mexico, 2011)
Best First Film
- El Estudiante / The Student (Santiago Mitre, Argentina, 2011)
The films were selected from a list of Latin American feature films with a minimum of 60 minutes in length that were premiered between April 1, 2011 and March 31, 2012. The winners and final nominees were selected by a six-member jury panel from a list of fiction and documentary films compiled from the selections of a nominating committee composed of 14 film professionals from Latin America, the U.S. and Europe (see list below).
Fiction Jury
Dennis Lim writes about film and popular culture for various publications including The New York Times and the Los Angeles Times. He is the founding editor of Moving Image Source, the online publication and research resource of the Museum of the Moving Image and was formerly the film editor of The Village Voice. His work has also appeared in The Believer, The Oxford American, Blender, Spin, Espous, Indiewire, New York Daily News, The Independent on Sunday, The Guardian, and the film quarterly Cinema Scope, where he is a contributing editor. A member of the National Society of Film Critics and the editor of The Village Voice Film Guide (2006), he has served as a member of the New York Film Festival selection committee and he teaches in the Cultural Reporting and Criticism graduate program a New York University.
Matías Piñeiro is a filmmaker and professor at the Universidad del Cine in Buenos Aires. His first feature-length work, El hombre robado / The Stolen Man (2007), won awards at the Jeonju International Film Festival and at Las Palmas de Gran Canaria International Film Festival. In 2009, his second feature, Todos mienten / They All Lie, premiered at Bafici (Buenos Aires Festival International de Cine Independiente), where it won two awards. It also won a prize at the Santiago Festival Internacional de Cine. In 2010, he was selected—along with James Benning and Denis Côté—to screen his third film, Rosalinda at the 11th Jeonju Digital Project. Piñeiro recently premiered his most recent film, Viola, at the Toronto Film Festival, and it's slated for a Us release in 2013. He earned a filmmaking degree from Universidad del Cine. His award-winning films have been screened around the world, including at Anthology Film Archives, Festival des 3 Continents, the Festival del film Locarno, the London Film Festival, Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, the Museum of Modern Art, Rencontré Cinémas d’Amerique Latine de Toulouse, and the Viennale.
Frida Torresblanco served as a producer in Spain working on film including The Dancer Upstairs, directed by John Malkovich and starring Javier Bardem, as well as Susan Seidelman’s Gaudi Afternoon. She moved to New York City in 2002 to launch and lead Alfonso Cuaron’s film production company, Esperanto, where she served as Executive Producer and Creative On-Set Producer for The Assassination of Richard Nixon (directed by Niels Mueller, starring Sean Penn), among others. In 2006, Frida joined Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro to produce El laberinto del Fauno / Pan’s Labyrinth (Three Oscars & another three Oscar nominations; three wins & five BAFTA nominations; a nomination for the Palm d’Or and a Golden Globe). The Hollywood Reporter named Frida one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood. She also produced Rudo y Cursi (directed by Carlos Cuarón, starring Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna). In 2010, Frida launched her new film production company, Braven Films, with partners Eric Laufer and Giovanna Randall. Her next project, Magic Magic, produced through Braven Films, will star Michael Cera, Juno Temple and Emily Browning.
DocuMentary Jury
Ryan Harrington is the Director of Documentary Programs at the Tribeca Film Institute where he oversees the Gucci Tribeca Documentary Fund, the Tfi Documentary Fund, Tribeca All Access documentary program and the Latin America Media Arts Fund while developing other initiatives and programs that support non-fiction filmmaking. Recent Tfi successes include Give Up Tomorrow, If a Tree Falls, The Redemption of General Butt Naked, The Oath, Enemies of the People, Marathon Boy and Donor Unknown. Independently he is currently working on the feature doc Hungry in America, with filmmakers Kristi Jacobson & Lori Silverbush and Participant Media, that explores why so many people in the USA go without food, and what can be done about it. Harrington managed production for A&E IndieFilms, the theatrical documentary arm of the A&E Network, for four years. Throughout his time there he championed the Oscar-nominated films Murderball and Jesus Camp, and the Sundance hits My Kid Could Paint That and American Teen.
Paula Heredia is a director and editor based in New York. She was awarded an Emmy for the HBO documentary In Memoriam, NYC 9/11/01, and an Ace Eddie Award for the acclaimed documentary Unzipped. Her directorial work includes the documentaries George Plimpton and the Paris Review, Ralph Gibson, and The Couple in the Cage. Her dramatic work includes Having a Baby, Tras La Ventana, Slings and Arrows, and La Cena de Matrimonio. Her short film La Pájara Pinta premiered at the Lincoln Center Film Society LatinBeat Film Festival. Heredia’s editorial work can be seen in the HBO feature-length documentary Addiction, which received the 2007 Emmy Governors Award, and Alive Day Memories—Home from Iraq, executive produced by James Gandolfini for HBO. Her new edit, The Art of Failure: Chuck Connelly Not for Sale and Jacques D'Ambois in China, will air on HBO this summer. Other editorial credits include: Modulations Cinema for the Ear, The Vagina Monologues, Finding Christa and Free Tibet. Paula’s work and creative process is featured in the book: The Art of the Documentary by Megan Cunningham. With partner Larry Garvin, she co-founded Heredia Pictures, heads the international committee of New York Women in Film and Television and serves on the board of advisors of Tribeca All Access and Clementina, Inc.
Chi-hui Yang is a film programmer, lecturer and writer based in New York. As a guest curator, Yang has presented film and video series at film festivals and events internationally, including MoMA's Documentary Fortnight, Robert Flaherty Film Seminar (“The Age of Migration”), Seattle International Film Festival, Washington D.C. International Film Festival and Barcelona Asian Film Festival. From 2000-2010 he was the Director and Programmer of the San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, the largest showcase of its kind in the Us. Yang is also the programmer of “Cinema Asian America,” a new On-Demand service offered by Comcast and currently a Visiting Scholar at New York University’s Asian/Pacific/American Institute.
Nominating Committee
- Isabel Arrate Fernandez, Idfa, The Netherlands
- Hugo Chaparro, film critic, Colombia
- Lucile De Calan, programmer, Biarritz Latin American Film Festival, France
- Denis de la Roca, programmer, Abu Dhabi Film Festival
- Mara Fortes, programmer, Morelia Film Festival
- Erick Gonzalez, programmer, Valdivia Film Festival, Chile
- Elías Jiménez, director, Festival Ícaro, Guatemala
- Roger Alan Koza, film critic and programmer, Filmfest Hamburg, Ficunam, Mexico
- Janneke Langelaan, Hubert Bals Fund, The Netherlands
- Diego Lerer, film critic, Argentina
- Rosa Martinez Rivero, film producer, Argentina
- Christian Sida-Valenzuela, director, Vancouver Latin American Film Festival
- Hebe Tabachnik, programmer, Los Angeles and Palm Springs Film Festivals
- Sergio Wolf, film programmer, Argentina...
- 1/23/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Foxcatcher
Director: Bennett Miller
Writer(s): Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye
Producer(s): Miller, Likely Story’s Anthony Bregman, Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Cast: Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Michael Hall, Vanessa Redgrave, Tara Subkoff
Continuing in the tradition of the psychology behind the oddballs who break away from the rest of societal chain (Andrew Jarecki’s All Good Things, Niels Mueller The Assassination of Richard Nixon, J.P. Schaefer’s Chapter 27, Linklater’s Bernie), Bennett Miller (Capote and Moneyball) guides us through a you’ll have to see it to believe it type plotting based on a mid-ranking Black List script from 2008.
Gist: Based on the true story of John du Pont, a paranoid schizophrenic who was heir to the du Pont fortune. After building a wrestling training facility named Team Foxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate,...
Director: Bennett Miller
Writer(s): Dan Futterman and E. Max Frye
Producer(s): Miller, Likely Story’s Anthony Bregman, Annapurna Pictures’ Megan Ellison, Jon Kilik
U.S. Distributor: Columbia Pictures
Cast: Channing Tatum, Sienna Miller, Steve Carell, Mark Ruffalo, Anthony Michael Hall, Vanessa Redgrave, Tara Subkoff
Continuing in the tradition of the psychology behind the oddballs who break away from the rest of societal chain (Andrew Jarecki’s All Good Things, Niels Mueller The Assassination of Richard Nixon, J.P. Schaefer’s Chapter 27, Linklater’s Bernie), Bennett Miller (Capote and Moneyball) guides us through a you’ll have to see it to believe it type plotting based on a mid-ranking Black List script from 2008.
Gist: Based on the true story of John du Pont, a paranoid schizophrenic who was heir to the du Pont fortune. After building a wrestling training facility named Team Foxcatcher on his Pennsylvania estate,...
- 1/15/2013
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Director who blazed a digital trail but had mainstream hits with Letters to Juliet and Charlotte's Web has died of a brain tumour
The Us director Gary Winick, a pioneer in the field of digital film-making who found commercial success with movies such as 13 Going on 30, Charlotte's Web and last year's Letters to Juliet, has died of a brain tumour. He was 49.
Winick's Hollywood calling card was the 2002 Sundance film festival hit Tadpole, a $150,000 film shot entirely using digital video cameras that won him the event's directing award. A subsequent career directing more mainstream movies left him with less time to pursue his work with InDigEnt – or Independent Digital Entertainment – a company he founded in 1999 to help independent film-makers use the new technology.
Winick always insisted that digital cameras helped bring the best out of actors. "You really don't feel the presence of that big mechanism of film," he told the Washington Post in 2002. "Instead,...
The Us director Gary Winick, a pioneer in the field of digital film-making who found commercial success with movies such as 13 Going on 30, Charlotte's Web and last year's Letters to Juliet, has died of a brain tumour. He was 49.
Winick's Hollywood calling card was the 2002 Sundance film festival hit Tadpole, a $150,000 film shot entirely using digital video cameras that won him the event's directing award. A subsequent career directing more mainstream movies left him with less time to pursue his work with InDigEnt – or Independent Digital Entertainment – a company he founded in 1999 to help independent film-makers use the new technology.
Winick always insisted that digital cameras helped bring the best out of actors. "You really don't feel the presence of that big mechanism of film," he told the Washington Post in 2002. "Instead,...
- 3/1/2011
- by Ben Child
- The Guardian - Film News
The executive producer of new CBS legal drama The Defenders has revealed that the show's main focus will be the relationship between the two lead characters. Greg Walker told TV Guide that the series will explore the "bromance" between Pete Kaczmarek (Jerry O'Connell) and Nick Morelli (Jim Belushi). "Very few shows explore male friendship and this show does it openly and with a lot of fun," he said. "They gave each other a hard time [and] they ride each other. It's a real relationship." Co-producer Niels Mueller added: "I knew we had two great actors, but I didn't know if (more)...
- 9/22/2010
- by By Morgan Jeffery
- Digital Spy
Sneak Peek new key art supporting the upcoming 'serio-comedic' legal drama, "The Defenders", set to air on CBS during the 2010-11 television season.
Set in Las Vegas, Nevada, the show "...involves a pair of defense attorneys who go all out to help their clients, while keeping their personal lives in order..."
Created by Kevin Kennedy and Niels Mueller, the pilot episode was directed by Davis Guggenheim, starring Gillian Vigman, Jerry O'Connell, Jim Belushi, Jurnee Smollett and Tanya Fischer.
Executive producers are Harry Gantz, Joe Gantz, Kevin Kennedy, Niels Mueller and Carol Mendelsohn.
Produced by CBS Television Studios, "The Defenders" debuts Wednesday, September 22, 2010.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Defenders"...
Set in Las Vegas, Nevada, the show "...involves a pair of defense attorneys who go all out to help their clients, while keeping their personal lives in order..."
Created by Kevin Kennedy and Niels Mueller, the pilot episode was directed by Davis Guggenheim, starring Gillian Vigman, Jerry O'Connell, Jim Belushi, Jurnee Smollett and Tanya Fischer.
Executive producers are Harry Gantz, Joe Gantz, Kevin Kennedy, Niels Mueller and Carol Mendelsohn.
Produced by CBS Television Studios, "The Defenders" debuts Wednesday, September 22, 2010.
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "The Defenders"...
- 9/4/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Exclusive: Marketer and producer Krishnan Menon has inked a first-look deal with Fox TV Studios. Under the pact, FtvS will have first crack at Menon's TV and Internet projects, which Menon intends to develop with appropriate brands attached. Menon, who worked for top marketing agencies such as Ddb and Digitas West before launching his own marketing consulting firm Phenomenon, has been involved in such campaigns as the launch and marketing of the iMac and iPod for Apple, the xBox for Microsoft, Williams-Sonoma’s eCommerce business and American Express’ Blue Card. Since venturing into TV in 2006, he created and executive produced ABC Family's reality series America’s Prom Queen and sold two scripted projects, Heir Apparent at FX written by Kevin Kennedy and Niels Mueller and exec produced by Menon and Jonathan Prince, and Genius Bar at CBS from writers Josh Sternin and Jeff Ventimilia, which didn't go to pilot.
- 8/31/2010
- by NELLIE ANDREEVA
- Deadline TV
CBS network recently gave the green light go-ahead to four hour-long dramas and two comedies for the 2010 season. It isn’t clear yet if everything will start this fall or if some shows may be mid season replacements, as the great “Eye” will have to do some reshuffling of the deck with its schedule. Hawaii Five-o (TV) starring the fan-favorite Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Cahn and Daniel Dae Kim (formally of Lost (TV)) was the sure-bet. This remake of the 1970s drama is produced by Fringe (TV)’s dynamic duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. You can bet with the casting and the location shots, this show will be overflowing with "pretty." Next up to bat will be Defenders (TV), a legal drama about some hot-shot Las Vegas defense attorneys, starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell. The pilot was penned by Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy, and will have executive...
- 5/19/2010
- by mbijeaux@corp.popstar.com (Melissa Bijeaux)
- TVStar
CBS network recently gave the green light go-ahead to four hour-long dramas and two comedies for the 2010 season. It isn’t clear yet if everything will start this fall or if some shows may be mid season replacements, as the great “Eye” will have to do some reshuffling of the deck with its schedule. Hawaii Five-o (TV) starring the fan-favorite Alex O’Loughlin, Scott Cahn and Daniel Dae Kim (formally of Lost (TV)) was the sure-bet. This remake of the 1970s drama is produced by Fringe (TV)’s dynamic duo Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. You can bet with the casting and the location shots, this show will be overflowing with "pretty." Next up to bat will be Defenders (TV), a legal drama about some hot-shot Las Vegas defense attorneys, starring Jim Belushi and Jerry O'Connell. The pilot was penned by Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy, and will have executive...
- 5/19/2010
- by mbijeaux@corp.popstar.com (Melissa Bijeaux)
- TVStar
Chicago – CBS announced their fall schedule today. While fans of canceled “Accidentally on Purpose,” “Cold Case,” “Gary Unmarried,” “Numb3rs,” “The Ghost Whisperer,” and “The New Adventures of Old Christine” may disagree, the big TV news of the week is that several of the top network’s biggest shows are moving. “Survivor” jumps to Wednesday nights, “The Big Bang Theory” moves to Thursdays, “CSI: NY” slides to Fridays, and “CSI: Miami” now goes down on Sundays.
As far as on-the-bubble renewals are concerned, CBS saved “Rules of Engagement” and “Medium”. The rest of their renewals were pretty obvious choices as the network continues to air many of the biggest hits on TV including the #1 drama (“NCIS”), #1 comedy (“Two and a Half Men”), #1 new series (“Undercover Boss”), #1 news magazine (“60 Minutes”), #1 new drama (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), and #1 scripted series for the 18-49 and 25-54 demos (“The Big Bang Theory”).
Of course, all of those shows are returning,...
As far as on-the-bubble renewals are concerned, CBS saved “Rules of Engagement” and “Medium”. The rest of their renewals were pretty obvious choices as the network continues to air many of the biggest hits on TV including the #1 drama (“NCIS”), #1 comedy (“Two and a Half Men”), #1 new series (“Undercover Boss”), #1 news magazine (“60 Minutes”), #1 new drama (“NCIS: Los Angeles”), and #1 scripted series for the 18-49 and 25-54 demos (“The Big Bang Theory”).
Of course, all of those shows are returning,...
- 5/19/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Welcome to the third installment of the ongoing series of articles showing of the future fruits of network television labor. We’ve already covered ABC and NBC, and in this article we’ll be focusing on pilots coming out of the CBS network. So kick back and visualize yourself reading a “3-D Television” guide in the year 2011; the year best known for affordable jetpacks… Hopefully.
Hawaii Five-o (Drama)
Executive Producer: Peter Lenkov, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Cast Includes: Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Taryn Manning
Synopsis: An updated take on the original series centered around an elite branch of the Hawaiian Police Department’s crime unit.
Chaos (Drama)
Executive Producer: Tom Spezialy, Brett Ratner
Cast Includes: Freddy Rodriguez
Synopsis: Ragtag group of CIA operatives ensnared by backstabbing and beaucratic snafus.
The Odds (Drama/Comedy)
Executive Producer: Jeff Wadlow
Cast Includes: To Be Announced
Synopsis: A buddy cop show in...
Hawaii Five-o (Drama)
Executive Producer: Peter Lenkov, Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman
Cast Includes: Alex O’Loughlin, Daniel Dae Kim, Taryn Manning
Synopsis: An updated take on the original series centered around an elite branch of the Hawaiian Police Department’s crime unit.
Chaos (Drama)
Executive Producer: Tom Spezialy, Brett Ratner
Cast Includes: Freddy Rodriguez
Synopsis: Ragtag group of CIA operatives ensnared by backstabbing and beaucratic snafus.
The Odds (Drama/Comedy)
Executive Producer: Jeff Wadlow
Cast Includes: To Be Announced
Synopsis: A buddy cop show in...
- 4/1/2010
- by Aaron M.K.
- Nerdly
The corpse of "According to Jim" hasn't even been in the ground for a year, but Jim Belushi is reportedly ready to return to series television. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Belushi has landed one of the lead roles in "Defenders," an hour-long drama pilot for CBS. Written by Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy, "Defenders" focuses on a pair of Las Vegas defense attorneys, with Belushi set to play Nick Mancini, an alcoholic with marital problems. David Guggenheim ("Melrose Place") will direct the "Defenders" pilot. Belushi's most recent television credit is the 181 episode run of "According...
- 2/23/2010
- by HitFix Staff
- Hitfix
Pilot season may have had its busiest casting day yet on Monday (Feb. 22), with actors ranging from Emmy winner Jane Kaczmarek to Jim Belushi to Olivia Munn landing roles.
Among the other names on the casting sheets: Adam Arkin, Leah Remini, Zeljko Ivanek, Romany Malco and Wayne Knight. Here's a rundown:
- Former "According to Jim" star Belushi is switching to drama in the CBS pilot "Defenders." He'll play one of a pair of larger-than-life defense attorneys in Las Vegas, the showbiz trade papers report. Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy ("The Assassination of Richard Nixon") wrote the script and will executive produce with director Davis Guggenheim, "CSI" exec producer Carol Mendelsohn and Joe and Harry Gantz.
- Kaczmarek ("Raising the Bar," "Malcolm in the Middle") and Arkin, late of "Sons of Anarchy," will star in ABC's comedy "Who Gets the Parents?," according to The Hollywood Reporter. They'll play a long-married couple who decide to split,...
Among the other names on the casting sheets: Adam Arkin, Leah Remini, Zeljko Ivanek, Romany Malco and Wayne Knight. Here's a rundown:
- Former "According to Jim" star Belushi is switching to drama in the CBS pilot "Defenders." He'll play one of a pair of larger-than-life defense attorneys in Las Vegas, the showbiz trade papers report. Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy ("The Assassination of Richard Nixon") wrote the script and will executive produce with director Davis Guggenheim, "CSI" exec producer Carol Mendelsohn and Joe and Harry Gantz.
- Kaczmarek ("Raising the Bar," "Malcolm in the Middle") and Arkin, late of "Sons of Anarchy," will star in ABC's comedy "Who Gets the Parents?," according to The Hollywood Reporter. They'll play a long-married couple who decide to split,...
- 2/23/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Jim Belushi is returning to series television, this time on the drama side.
Belushi has been tapped to star in CBS' hourlong pilot "Defenders."
The project, from CBS Studios, centers on two charismatic and fiery Las Vegas defense attorneys who go to the mat for their clients.
Belushi will play one of them, Nick Mancini, who has marital troubles and loves to drink his sorrows away.
"Saturday Night Live" alum Belushi most recently toplined ABC's family sitcom "According to Jim."
He has ventured into dramatic series before, most recently on the ABC series "Total Security," created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee and David Milch.
Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy wrote the script for "Defenders" and are executive producing with Joe and Harry Gantz, "CSI" maven Carol Mendelsohn and the pilot's director Davis Guggenheim.
Belushi has been tapped to star in CBS' hourlong pilot "Defenders."
The project, from CBS Studios, centers on two charismatic and fiery Las Vegas defense attorneys who go to the mat for their clients.
Belushi will play one of them, Nick Mancini, who has marital troubles and loves to drink his sorrows away.
"Saturday Night Live" alum Belushi most recently toplined ABC's family sitcom "According to Jim."
He has ventured into dramatic series before, most recently on the ABC series "Total Security," created by Steven Bochco, Charles H. Eglee and David Milch.
Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy wrote the script for "Defenders" and are executive producing with Joe and Harry Gantz, "CSI" maven Carol Mendelsohn and the pilot's director Davis Guggenheim.
- 2/22/2010
- by By Nellie Andreeva
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Jim Belushi ("According to Jim," "Saturday Night Live") has been cast in CBS' hour-long drama pilot, "Defenders." The CBS Studios project centers on two charismatic and fiery Las Vegas defense attorneys who go to the mat for their clients. Belushi will play one of them, Nick Mancini, who has marital troubles and loves to drink his sorrows away. Niels Mueller and Kevin Kennedy wrote the script and are executive producing with Joe and Harry Gantz, Carol Mendelsohn ("CSI") and the pilot's director Davis Guggenheim.
- 2/22/2010
- Comingsoon.net
It’s no secret we love TV. We watch it, talk about it, review it and generally spend a lot of time with it. So, it should come as no surprise we’re very interested in what new shows may potentially be coming to the networks in the near future.
Fortunately, we don’t have to do a lot of work to find out, and you have to do even less, because the guys and gals at EW have gathered together lists of all of the 2010-2011 season pilot orders for ABC, CBS and NBC. Wasn’t that nice of them? Yes, yes it was.
Just between these three networks (we’ll bring you Fox and the others, including cable, later), 31 dramas and 29 comedies are being considered. What shows will make it to the Fall schedule is still anyone’s guess, and we’ll have to wait until May to find out,...
Fortunately, we don’t have to do a lot of work to find out, and you have to do even less, because the guys and gals at EW have gathered together lists of all of the 2010-2011 season pilot orders for ABC, CBS and NBC. Wasn’t that nice of them? Yes, yes it was.
Just between these three networks (we’ll bring you Fox and the others, including cable, later), 31 dramas and 29 comedies are being considered. What shows will make it to the Fall schedule is still anyone’s guess, and we’ll have to wait until May to find out,...
- 2/19/2010
- by Chris Ullrich
- The Flickcast
CBS may have created two of the most popular new series this season - NCIS: La and The Good Wife - but the network still has some bare spots to contend with (we hardly knew ye, Three Rivers!) Not one to stray from its bread and butter shows, the network's got a Criminal Minds spinoff in the works plus a new project from CSI honcho Carol Mendelsohn, but all eyes are on its redux of Hawaii Five-o starring Lost's Daniel Dae Kim. And don't think CBS is resting on its laurels with the (unfathomable) success of Gary, Unmarried...
- 2/19/2010
- by Lynette Rice
- EW - Inside Movies
Gary Winick is set to direct Summit Entertainment’s upcoming comedy “Rat Bastard,” according to Variety.
The trade says the film follows a conman who plots revenge when his old partner steals the loot from their latest grift and hides out by posing as a chef for a family on New York's Upper East Side.
Heather McGowan penned an early version of the script, which Niels Mueller (“The Assassination of Richard Nixon”) is rewriting. Ellen Barkin and Caroline Kaplan are on board to produce.
Winick’s credits include “13 Going on 30” and “Charlotte’s Web.” He recently wrapped shooting for “Bride Wars,” a comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson.
The trade says the film follows a conman who plots revenge when his old partner steals the loot from their latest grift and hides out by posing as a chef for a family on New York's Upper East Side.
Heather McGowan penned an early version of the script, which Niels Mueller (“The Assassination of Richard Nixon”) is rewriting. Ellen Barkin and Caroline Kaplan are on board to produce.
Winick’s credits include “13 Going on 30” and “Charlotte’s Web.” He recently wrapped shooting for “Bride Wars,” a comedy starring Anne Hathaway and Kate Hudson.
- 10/14/2008
- by Franck Tabouring
- screeninglog.com
MEXICO CITY -- Organizers of the 20th annual Guadalajara International Film Festival on Monday said 217 pictures will unspool at Mexico's top movie showcase. However, notably scarce this year are the number of Mexican features. As the festival shifts its focus toward international fare, only six pictures will compete in the official section for Mexican features, compared with 17 Iberoamerican full-length features that will vie for top prize in the foreign film category. In all, 97 features and 120 shorts will be screened at the filmfest, which runs from March 11-18. The festival opens with John Waters' A Dirty Shame and closes with Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon.
AFI Fest 2004 has rolled out an eclectic roster for its 18th annual Los Angeles International Film Festival, ranging from The Assassination of Richard Nixon, directed by Niels Mueller and starring Sean Penn, to Yesterday, directed by Darrell James Roodt. In addition to Assassination, this year's special screenings include Tim Daly's Bereft, Christophe Barratier's Les Choristes, Ray McKinnon's Chrystal, Robert Lepage's Far Side of the Moon, Asia Argento's The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things, Terry George's Hotel Rwanda, Daniel Anker's Imaginary Witness: Hollywood and the Holocaust, Ariel Vroman's Rx, Mark Wexler's Tell Them Who You Are, Nicole Kassell's The Woodsman and Yesterday.
- 10/7/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
OTTAWA -- Looking to promote rising independent film talent, the Montreal Festival of New Media and New Cinema on Tuesday unveiled a lineup filled with movies by women filmmakers and first- and second-time directors. The festival, which will unspool 208 films from 42 countries, opens Oct. 14 with a screening of Olivier Assayas' Clean, a France/United States/Canada co-production that bowed at Cannes. Closing out the festival Oct. 24 will be Memoires Affectives, from Canadian filmmaker Francis Leclerc. U.S. films booked into the Montreal festival include Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon, Annie Sprinkle and Sheila Malone's Annie Sprinkle's Amazing World of Orgasm, Gregg Araki's Mysterious Skin, Spike Lee's She Hate Me and Ken Jacobs' Star Spangled to Death.
- 9/29/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- Indie distributor ThinkFilm sealed a deal Monday to acquire the Sean Penn-Naomi Watts starrer The Assassination of Richard Nixon two weeks before the film is slated to make its North American premiere Sept. 13 at the Toronto International Film Festival. Also starring Don Cheadle and Jack Thompson, Nixon is based on the true story of Samuel Bicke (Penn), a bitter man who blames the president for the unraveling of his own American dream and hatches a terrorist plot. Nixon was directed by Niels Mueller, who co-wrote the screenplay with Kevin Kennedy. Alfonso Cuaron and Jorge Vergara produced through their Anhelo Prods. Leonardo DiCaprio, Alexander Payne, Frida Torresblanco and Kennedy executive produced.
- 8/31/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
TORONTO -- Guaranteeing strong star wattage this year, the Toronto International Film Festival said Tuesday that the festival will feature world premieres for David O. Russell's I Heart Huckabees, Bill Condon's Kinsey, Dan Harris' Imaginary Heroes and Vadim Jean's Jiminy Glick in Lalawood, which was chosen for the closing-night gala. The 29th Toronto International Film Festival is set to run Sept. 9-18. Other Hollywood draws this year include world premieres for Paul Haggis' Crash, John Duigan's Head in the Clouds, Frank Flowers' Haven, Alexander Payne's Sideways and James Toback's When Will I Be Loved, as well as a North American premiere for Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon, which bowed at the Festival de Cannes.
- 8/11/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- American comedian Chris Rock had a great routine about O.J. Simpson following the killing of his wife that had the punch line, "I'm not saying he should have done it, but I understand."
As we know, Richard Nixon was not assassinated, but after a couple of hours listening to unrelenting tapes of the late, unlamented U.S. president telling public lies about Watergate in 1974, when sad sack Sam Bicke decides to hijack a plane and blow up the White House, you don't think he should do it, but you understand.
It's much more difficult, however, to grasp what kind of audience will respond to this film, beyond fans of Sean Penn. He turns in as fine a performance as you would expect, but the movie, based on a real incident in Baltimore, is missing key information and treads a thoroughly downbeat path to its bloody conclusion.
Bicke (Penn) is an earnest but care-worn man unhappily separated from his attractive wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), and their two children. He works as a salesman in an office furniture store, a job he is ill-suited for as he lacks such seeming essentials as drive, smarts and a winning personality. His blowhard boss Jack Jones (Jack Thompson) believes in a traditional form of salesmanship that relies heavily on the tenets of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." There's a funny scene in which Jones claims that "belief" is the key to successful selling and points to Nixon as being the greatest salesman as he sold himself to the American public in two presidential elections on the promise of ending the war in Vietnam.
Sam, who pines for success in order to win back his wife and has plans for a mobile tire shop in partnership with a hardworking but struggling mechanic named Bonny (Don Cheadle), is counting on a Nixon promise too. He's applied for financial assistance through a small-business aid plan that Nixon hopes will provide a distraction from his desperate political woes.
But Sam is the kind of doofus who thinks a trimmed mustache makes him look sharp and who loiters at the bar of the restaurant where his estranged wife works, whining about her skimpy skirts and the blithe way she suffers the groping of customers. He stares at the world and sees wealth all around him and can't understand why none of it comes his way.
Penn is expert at getting under the skin of characters like this, and it's not his fault that we never learn who he might have been before becoming such an apparent loser. His wife is attractive and resourceful and soon finds a polite and well-dressed man who drives a Cadillac Eldorado. What did she see in Sam? His only friend is an industrious black man who is willing to enter into a business partnership with him when Sam clearly lacks entrepreneurial skills. How did they become pals?
First-time director Niels Mueller and his co-screenwriter Kevin Kennedy depict Sam's disintegration expertly, and they have fashioned a well-made picture with much to like. The constant barrage of Nixon speaking on television throughout the film becomes an incessant chatter that could easily drive someone insane. If only there was more detail and more delightful touches such as the scene in which Sam goes to an office of the Black Panthers to donate money. He suggests they could double their support by recruiting white folks if they called themselves the Black Zebras instead.
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON
Presented by Anhelo Productions; Worldwide sales by Senator International
Credits:
Director: Niels Mueller
Screenwriters: Niels Muller, Kevin Kennedy
Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara
Director of photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editor: Jay Cassidy
Production designer: Lester Cohen
Music: Steven Stern
Cast:
Sam Bicke: Sean Penn
Marie Bicke: Naomi Watts
Bonny: Don Cheadle
Jack Jones: Jack Thompson
Martin Jones: Brad Henke
Tom Ford: Nick Searcy
Julius Bicke: Michael Wincott
Harold Mann: Mykelti Williamson
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 103 minutes...
As we know, Richard Nixon was not assassinated, but after a couple of hours listening to unrelenting tapes of the late, unlamented U.S. president telling public lies about Watergate in 1974, when sad sack Sam Bicke decides to hijack a plane and blow up the White House, you don't think he should do it, but you understand.
It's much more difficult, however, to grasp what kind of audience will respond to this film, beyond fans of Sean Penn. He turns in as fine a performance as you would expect, but the movie, based on a real incident in Baltimore, is missing key information and treads a thoroughly downbeat path to its bloody conclusion.
Bicke (Penn) is an earnest but care-worn man unhappily separated from his attractive wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), and their two children. He works as a salesman in an office furniture store, a job he is ill-suited for as he lacks such seeming essentials as drive, smarts and a winning personality. His blowhard boss Jack Jones (Jack Thompson) believes in a traditional form of salesmanship that relies heavily on the tenets of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." There's a funny scene in which Jones claims that "belief" is the key to successful selling and points to Nixon as being the greatest salesman as he sold himself to the American public in two presidential elections on the promise of ending the war in Vietnam.
Sam, who pines for success in order to win back his wife and has plans for a mobile tire shop in partnership with a hardworking but struggling mechanic named Bonny (Don Cheadle), is counting on a Nixon promise too. He's applied for financial assistance through a small-business aid plan that Nixon hopes will provide a distraction from his desperate political woes.
But Sam is the kind of doofus who thinks a trimmed mustache makes him look sharp and who loiters at the bar of the restaurant where his estranged wife works, whining about her skimpy skirts and the blithe way she suffers the groping of customers. He stares at the world and sees wealth all around him and can't understand why none of it comes his way.
Penn is expert at getting under the skin of characters like this, and it's not his fault that we never learn who he might have been before becoming such an apparent loser. His wife is attractive and resourceful and soon finds a polite and well-dressed man who drives a Cadillac Eldorado. What did she see in Sam? His only friend is an industrious black man who is willing to enter into a business partnership with him when Sam clearly lacks entrepreneurial skills. How did they become pals?
First-time director Niels Mueller and his co-screenwriter Kevin Kennedy depict Sam's disintegration expertly, and they have fashioned a well-made picture with much to like. The constant barrage of Nixon speaking on television throughout the film becomes an incessant chatter that could easily drive someone insane. If only there was more detail and more delightful touches such as the scene in which Sam goes to an office of the Black Panthers to donate money. He suggests they could double their support by recruiting white folks if they called themselves the Black Zebras instead.
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON
Presented by Anhelo Productions; Worldwide sales by Senator International
Credits:
Director: Niels Mueller
Screenwriters: Niels Muller, Kevin Kennedy
Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara
Director of photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editor: Jay Cassidy
Production designer: Lester Cohen
Music: Steven Stern
Cast:
Sam Bicke: Sean Penn
Marie Bicke: Naomi Watts
Bonny: Don Cheadle
Jack Jones: Jack Thompson
Martin Jones: Brad Henke
Tom Ford: Nick Searcy
Julius Bicke: Michael Wincott
Harold Mann: Mykelti Williamson
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 103 minutes...
CANNES -- American comedian Chris Rock had a great routine about O.J. Simpson following the killing of his wife that had the punch line, "I'm not saying he should have done it, but I understand."
As we know, Richard Nixon was not assassinated, but after a couple of hours listening to unrelenting tapes of the late, unlamented U.S. president telling public lies about Watergate in 1974, when sad sack Sam Bicke decides to hijack a plane and blow up the White House, you don't think he should do it, but you understand.
It's much more difficult, however, to grasp what kind of audience will respond to this film, beyond fans of Sean Penn. He turns in as fine a performance as you would expect, but the movie, based on a real incident in Baltimore, is missing key information and treads a thoroughly downbeat path to its bloody conclusion.
Bicke (Penn) is an earnest but care-worn man unhappily separated from his attractive wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), and their two children. He works as a salesman in an office furniture store, a job he is ill-suited for as he lacks such seeming essentials as drive, smarts and a winning personality. His blowhard boss Jack Jones (Jack Thompson) believes in a traditional form of salesmanship that relies heavily on the tenets of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." There's a funny scene in which Jones claims that "belief" is the key to successful selling and points to Nixon as being the greatest salesman as he sold himself to the American public in two presidential elections on the promise of ending the war in Vietnam.
Sam, who pines for success in order to win back his wife and has plans for a mobile tire shop in partnership with a hardworking but struggling mechanic named Bonny (Don Cheadle), is counting on a Nixon promise too. He's applied for financial assistance through a small-business aid plan that Nixon hopes will provide a distraction from his desperate political woes.
But Sam is the kind of doofus who thinks a trimmed mustache makes him look sharp and who loiters at the bar of the restaurant where his estranged wife works, whining about her skimpy skirts and the blithe way she suffers the groping of customers. He stares at the world and sees wealth all around him and can't understand why none of it comes his way.
Penn is expert at getting under the skin of characters like this, and it's not his fault that we never learn who he might have been before becoming such an apparent loser. His wife is attractive and resourceful and soon finds a polite and well-dressed man who drives a Cadillac Eldorado. What did she see in Sam? His only friend is an industrious black man who is willing to enter into a business partnership with him when Sam clearly lacks entrepreneurial skills. How did they become pals?
First-time director Niels Mueller and his co-screenwriter Kevin Kennedy depict Sam's disintegration expertly, and they have fashioned a well-made picture with much to like. The constant barrage of Nixon speaking on television throughout the film becomes an incessant chatter that could easily drive someone insane. If only there was more detail and more delightful touches such as the scene in which Sam goes to an office of the Black Panthers to donate money. He suggests they could double their support by recruiting white folks if they called themselves the Black Zebras instead.
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON
Presented by Anhelo Productions; Worldwide sales by Senator International
Credits:
Director: Niels Mueller
Screenwriters: Niels Muller, Kevin Kennedy
Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara
Director of photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editor: Jay Cassidy
Production designer: Lester Cohen
Music: Steven Stern
Cast:
Sam Bicke: Sean Penn
Marie Bicke: Naomi Watts
Bonny: Don Cheadle
Jack Jones: Jack Thompson
Martin Jones: Brad Henke
Tom Ford: Nick Searcy
Julius Bicke: Michael Wincott
Harold Mann: Mykelti Williamson
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 103 minutes...
As we know, Richard Nixon was not assassinated, but after a couple of hours listening to unrelenting tapes of the late, unlamented U.S. president telling public lies about Watergate in 1974, when sad sack Sam Bicke decides to hijack a plane and blow up the White House, you don't think he should do it, but you understand.
It's much more difficult, however, to grasp what kind of audience will respond to this film, beyond fans of Sean Penn. He turns in as fine a performance as you would expect, but the movie, based on a real incident in Baltimore, is missing key information and treads a thoroughly downbeat path to its bloody conclusion.
Bicke (Penn) is an earnest but care-worn man unhappily separated from his attractive wife, Marie (Naomi Watts), and their two children. He works as a salesman in an office furniture store, a job he is ill-suited for as he lacks such seeming essentials as drive, smarts and a winning personality. His blowhard boss Jack Jones (Jack Thompson) believes in a traditional form of salesmanship that relies heavily on the tenets of Dale Carnegie's "How to Win Friends and Influence People." There's a funny scene in which Jones claims that "belief" is the key to successful selling and points to Nixon as being the greatest salesman as he sold himself to the American public in two presidential elections on the promise of ending the war in Vietnam.
Sam, who pines for success in order to win back his wife and has plans for a mobile tire shop in partnership with a hardworking but struggling mechanic named Bonny (Don Cheadle), is counting on a Nixon promise too. He's applied for financial assistance through a small-business aid plan that Nixon hopes will provide a distraction from his desperate political woes.
But Sam is the kind of doofus who thinks a trimmed mustache makes him look sharp and who loiters at the bar of the restaurant where his estranged wife works, whining about her skimpy skirts and the blithe way she suffers the groping of customers. He stares at the world and sees wealth all around him and can't understand why none of it comes his way.
Penn is expert at getting under the skin of characters like this, and it's not his fault that we never learn who he might have been before becoming such an apparent loser. His wife is attractive and resourceful and soon finds a polite and well-dressed man who drives a Cadillac Eldorado. What did she see in Sam? His only friend is an industrious black man who is willing to enter into a business partnership with him when Sam clearly lacks entrepreneurial skills. How did they become pals?
First-time director Niels Mueller and his co-screenwriter Kevin Kennedy depict Sam's disintegration expertly, and they have fashioned a well-made picture with much to like. The constant barrage of Nixon speaking on television throughout the film becomes an incessant chatter that could easily drive someone insane. If only there was more detail and more delightful touches such as the scene in which Sam goes to an office of the Black Panthers to donate money. He suggests they could double their support by recruiting white folks if they called themselves the Black Zebras instead.
THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON
Presented by Anhelo Productions; Worldwide sales by Senator International
Credits:
Director: Niels Mueller
Screenwriters: Niels Muller, Kevin Kennedy
Producers: Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara
Director of photography: Emmanuel Lubezki
Editor: Jay Cassidy
Production designer: Lester Cohen
Music: Steven Stern
Cast:
Sam Bicke: Sean Penn
Marie Bicke: Naomi Watts
Bonny: Don Cheadle
Jack Jones: Jack Thompson
Martin Jones: Brad Henke
Tom Ford: Nick Searcy
Julius Bicke: Michael Wincott
Harold Mann: Mykelti Williamson
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 103 minutes...
- 5/18/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Veteran actor Michael Wincott has been added to the cast of the indie drama The Assassination of Richard Nixon for director Niels Mueller. Set during the 1970s, Nixon centers on the true story of Philadelphia furniture salesman Sam Byck (Sean Penn), who hatches a plot to kill Richard Nixon after Byck's attempts to live out the American dream are dashed. Byck had planned to hijack a commuter flight in Atlanta and crash the airliner into the White House. Wincott will star as the older brother of Penn's character. Naomi Watts and Don Cheadle round out the cast. Mueller and Kevin Kennedy penned the screenplay. The project is being produced through Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente's New York-based Open City Films banner, with Monsoon Entertainment -- headed by Alfonso Cuaron, Jorge Vergara and Arnaud Duteil -- financing. Wincott is repped by Brillstein-Grey's Danny Sussman and Jai Khanna. His other credits include The Count of Monte Cristo, Along Came a Spider, Before Night Falls, Hidden Agenda and Alien: Resurrection.
- 7/11/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
She is not a crook! Variety reports that Naomi Watts has joined Sean Penn and Don Cheadle in Niels Mueller's The Assassination of Richard Nixon for Monsoon Entertainment. Based on real life events, Assassination is set in 1974 and centers on a businessman (Penn) who decides to take extreme measures to achieve his American dream. Kevin Kennedy wrote the script, which is being produced by Jason Kliot and Joana Vicente.
- 4/23/2003
- IMDbPro News
NEW YORK -- Don Cheadle has set his sights on The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Sources said Cheadle is negotiating to star opposite Sean Penn in the indie feature for writer-director Niels Mueller. Set during the '70s, Nixon centers on the true story of Philadelphia furniture salesman Sam Byck (Penn), who hatches a plot to kill Richard Nixon after Byck's attempts to live out the American dream are dashed. Byck had planned to hijack a commuter flight in Atlanta and crash the airliner into the White House. Cheadle will play Byck's only friend, Bonny, a mechanic with whom Byck wanted to start up a business.
NEW YORK -- Don Cheadle has set his sights on The Assassination of Richard Nixon. Sources said Cheadle is negotiating to star opposite Sean Penn in the indie feature for writer-director Niels Mueller. Set during the '70s, Nixon centers on the true story of Philadelphia furniture salesman Sam Byck (Penn), who hatches a plot to kill Richard Nixon after Byck's attempts to live out the American dream are dashed. Byck had planned to hijack a commuter flight in Atlanta and crash the airliner into the White House. Cheadle will play Byck's only friend, Bonny, a mechanic with whom Byck wanted to start up a business.
Oscar-nominated Hollywood star Sean Penn is set to star in a movie based on an assassination attempt on former U.S. president Richard Nixon. The film, The Assassination Of Richard Nixon, is based on Philadelphia furniture salesman Samuel Byck's attempt to kill the 37th President of the United States back in February 1974. I Am Sam star Penn will play Byck in the flick which is due to begin filming next April. It will be directed by Niels Mueller and funded by Harry Potter3 director Alfonso Cuaron's Monsoon Entertainment.
- 7/30/2002
- WENN
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