Exclusive: Citizen Ashe producer Steven Cantor and journalist David Kushner are diving further into the podcasting world.
The duo have launched podcast company Faceplant and have debuted their first audio series – Crime Waves: Cold Truth.
Faceplant has been established to launch character-driven serial podcast that are deeply reported with “stranger than fiction” stories.
Crime Waves: Cold Truth, which is produced in association with QCode, is a true-crime series about the murder of cold fusion scientist Eugene Mallove. It launches today.
No Smiling, the nascent podcast company from Sean Cannon, who was behind series including Striped: The Story of the White Stripes, Boyd Holbrook, Evan Mascagni and Heather Schoering, is also producing.
Kushner has written for publications including Rolling Stone, Wired, Outside and Vanity Fair with many of his stories in development for film and TV. He was behind the story that became A24’s Zola, while Peacock docuseries The Battle...
The duo have launched podcast company Faceplant and have debuted their first audio series – Crime Waves: Cold Truth.
Faceplant has been established to launch character-driven serial podcast that are deeply reported with “stranger than fiction” stories.
Crime Waves: Cold Truth, which is produced in association with QCode, is a true-crime series about the murder of cold fusion scientist Eugene Mallove. It launches today.
No Smiling, the nascent podcast company from Sean Cannon, who was behind series including Striped: The Story of the White Stripes, Boyd Holbrook, Evan Mascagni and Heather Schoering, is also producing.
Kushner has written for publications including Rolling Stone, Wired, Outside and Vanity Fair with many of his stories in development for film and TV. He was behind the story that became A24’s Zola, while Peacock docuseries The Battle...
- 11/6/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Dr. Eugene Mallove believed that a new form of world-changing free energy — cold fusion — was just around the corner. Even when his work was pushed to the fringes, he dreamed of a brighter future. But before Dr. Mallove could usher in that future, he was found dead in the driveway of his childhood home. Everyone had their own ideas of who killed him, and investigators were looking in all the wrong places.
From Qcode and Faceplant, in association with No Smiling, Crime Waves: Cold Truth is a story about one man's quest to expose the truth, the lengths he would go to save the world, and how his dream caught up with him.
Hosted by award-winning journalist and author David Kushner, Cold Truth is an 8-part series and the first show to be released under the Crime Waves true crime anthology. It tells the true story of the life, violent death,...
From Qcode and Faceplant, in association with No Smiling, Crime Waves: Cold Truth is a story about one man's quest to expose the truth, the lengths he would go to save the world, and how his dream caught up with him.
Hosted by award-winning journalist and author David Kushner, Cold Truth is an 8-part series and the first show to be released under the Crime Waves true crime anthology. It tells the true story of the life, violent death,...
- 11/6/2023
- Podnews.net
A feature length documentary about the 2021 fatal overdose of TV relationship expert Dr. Laura Berman’s teenage son is in production via Steven Cantor’s Stick Figure Entertainment and Rubber Ring Films.
Berman’s 16-year-old son, Sammy Chapman, died after taking a pill he bought through Snapchat that was laced with fentanyl. A synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Nih). Chapman’s February 2021 death garnered national attention.
“Nationwide, fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 45 and over 300 people die every day in America from Fentanyl poisoning,” says Sam Chapman, Berman’s husband. “The drug that killed our son Sammy was delivered to a house like a pizza.”
Filmmaker Matthew Mishory, founder of Rubber Ring Films, will direct the docu, which is currently in production.
Mishory will follow...
Berman’s 16-year-old son, Sammy Chapman, died after taking a pill he bought through Snapchat that was laced with fentanyl. A synthetic opioid that is similar to morphine, fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more potent, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse (Nih). Chapman’s February 2021 death garnered national attention.
“Nationwide, fentanyl overdoses are the leading cause of death for adults between the ages of 18 and 45 and over 300 people die every day in America from Fentanyl poisoning,” says Sam Chapman, Berman’s husband. “The drug that killed our son Sammy was delivered to a house like a pizza.”
Filmmaker Matthew Mishory, founder of Rubber Ring Films, will direct the docu, which is currently in production.
Mishory will follow...
- 8/28/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Leading Web3 entertainment company Gala Film has partnered with the producing team of “Four Down” on an innovative financing and distribution deal for a feature-length documentary helmed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Steven Cantor.
Based on The New York Times bestseller “Not Without Hope,” written by Nick Schuyler and Jere Longman, the film recounts the true story of how Schuyler survived 43 harrowing hours atop an overturned boat in the Gulf of Mexico before his rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard. The tragic boating accident claimed the lives of his best friend, former University of South Florida tight end Will Bleakley, and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith.
Gala Film will finance the documentary, and make it available to its online community. Gala Music and Gala Games are supported by similar ecosystems as a means for fans to interact with entertainment projects. In the case of “Four Down,...
Based on The New York Times bestseller “Not Without Hope,” written by Nick Schuyler and Jere Longman, the film recounts the true story of how Schuyler survived 43 harrowing hours atop an overturned boat in the Gulf of Mexico before his rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard. The tragic boating accident claimed the lives of his best friend, former University of South Florida tight end Will Bleakley, and former Tampa Bay Buccaneers teammates Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith.
Gala Film will finance the documentary, and make it available to its online community. Gala Music and Gala Games are supported by similar ecosystems as a means for fans to interact with entertainment projects. In the case of “Four Down,...
- 11/3/2022
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
With the grand in-person return of the New York Film Festival in the rearview mirror, New York’s fall festival season barrels on with Doc NYC, the largest documentary festival in the country. This year’s festival will return to in-person theatrical screenings, with virtual options and passes available as well. The 2021 lineup includes more than 120 feature-length documentaries, including 32 world premieres and 34 U.S. premieres. World premieres include films on figures such as NBA legend Kevin Garnett, recently passed rapper Dmx, rat pack crooner Dean Martin, and the late literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. They join previously announced titles on Kenny G and Dionne Warwick, as well as Matthew Heineman’s “The First Wave,” a penetrating look at the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic in New York City.
Doc NYC is also launching three new competitive sections this year: A U.S. Competition for new American nonfiction films, an International...
Doc NYC is also launching three new competitive sections this year: A U.S. Competition for new American nonfiction films, an International...
- 10/19/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Arthur Ashe film received world premiere at Telluride and will receive Oscar campaign.
Heading into its international premiere at BFI London Film Festival on Sunday (October 10) Magnolia Pictures has acquired US theatrical rights to Citizen Ashe, the documentary about pioneering tennis champion Arthur Ashe.
Rex Miller and Sam Pollard directed the feature produced by Dogwoof for CNN Films and HBO Max. The film premiered at Telluride last month and will open in cinemas in New York on December 3 and in Los Angeles on December 10 accompanied by an Oscar campaign.
Citizen Ashe reveals the private person behind the historic Grand Slam...
Heading into its international premiere at BFI London Film Festival on Sunday (October 10) Magnolia Pictures has acquired US theatrical rights to Citizen Ashe, the documentary about pioneering tennis champion Arthur Ashe.
Rex Miller and Sam Pollard directed the feature produced by Dogwoof for CNN Films and HBO Max. The film premiered at Telluride last month and will open in cinemas in New York on December 3 and in Los Angeles on December 10 accompanied by an Oscar campaign.
Citizen Ashe reveals the private person behind the historic Grand Slam...
- 10/8/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Magnolia Pictures has come aboard the documentary “Citizen Ashe” from Emmy winner Rex Miller and Academy Award nominee Sam Pollard. The nonfiction awards hopeful will be heading to theaters on Dec. 3 in New York and Dec. 10 in Los Angeles, hoping for Oscar recognition at the height of awards season.
Accompanying an Academy campaign, and produced by Dogwoof for CNN Films and HBO Max, the film explores the legacy of three-time tennis legend and humanitarian Arthur Ashe, who broke barriers in the sport and won three Grand Slams. Despite being a top athlete, Ashe struggled with health problems, suffering a heart attack at 36. He contracted HIV due to a blood transfusion that occurred when he had heart surgery, dying of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993 at the age of 49.
“Sam Pollard and Rex Miller have delivered an exquisite, moving look at the life of a true iconoclast, one who forged his own path...
Accompanying an Academy campaign, and produced by Dogwoof for CNN Films and HBO Max, the film explores the legacy of three-time tennis legend and humanitarian Arthur Ashe, who broke barriers in the sport and won three Grand Slams. Despite being a top athlete, Ashe struggled with health problems, suffering a heart attack at 36. He contracted HIV due to a blood transfusion that occurred when he had heart surgery, dying of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993 at the age of 49.
“Sam Pollard and Rex Miller have delivered an exquisite, moving look at the life of a true iconoclast, one who forged his own path...
- 10/8/2021
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Music Box Films has acquired the documentary library of prolific Oscar nominated producer/director Mark Mori, and has set four of the films to stream on Music Box Direct and major digital platforms later this month. The acquisition aligns with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ recent invitation to Mori to deposit his film and television master catalog in the Academy’s library.
The deal also marks the first time Mori’s most notable films will be available through a singular North American distributor and includes decades of films and series, from 1989 through to 2012.
Mori, an Oscar nominee for 1989’s Building Bombs in the Best Documentary Feature category, brings his catalog to Music Box following the company’s successful distribution of one of his recent feature docs, Bettie Page Reveals All.
The first four titles to be released are Building Bombs, which reveals realities by those who...
The deal also marks the first time Mori’s most notable films will be available through a singular North American distributor and includes decades of films and series, from 1989 through to 2012.
Mori, an Oscar nominee for 1989’s Building Bombs in the Best Documentary Feature category, brings his catalog to Music Box following the company’s successful distribution of one of his recent feature docs, Bettie Page Reveals All.
The first four titles to be released are Building Bombs, which reveals realities by those who...
- 8/20/2021
- by Nancy Tartaglione
- Deadline Film + TV
Whelm, the Great Depression-era indie written and directed by Skyler Lawson and shot on Kodak 16mm, is setting its rollout that will include a 35mm roadshow screenings that begins next month in Beverly Hills.
The news comes as Gravitas Ventures came aboard to acquired North American digital rights to the pic, which is set in the Midwest at the height of the Great Depression and follows estranged brothers (Ronan Colfer and Dylan Grunn) as they become tangled in a rivalry between a legendary bank robber and an eccentric young criminal, finding they are a part of a larger historic scheme.
Lawson’s Endrow Pictures has theatrical rights to the pic, which will screen it in 35mm format at select theaters beginning with the Fine Arts Theatre Beverly Hills from August 13-21.
Lawson is executive producer via Endrow, Lawson, Ed Herrera and Noelle Hubbell are producers, with Herrera also the cinematographer.
The news comes as Gravitas Ventures came aboard to acquired North American digital rights to the pic, which is set in the Midwest at the height of the Great Depression and follows estranged brothers (Ronan Colfer and Dylan Grunn) as they become tangled in a rivalry between a legendary bank robber and an eccentric young criminal, finding they are a part of a larger historic scheme.
Lawson’s Endrow Pictures has theatrical rights to the pic, which will screen it in 35mm format at select theaters beginning with the Fine Arts Theatre Beverly Hills from August 13-21.
Lawson is executive producer via Endrow, Lawson, Ed Herrera and Noelle Hubbell are producers, with Herrera also the cinematographer.
- 7/30/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Dogwoof co-produced the film with Rexpix, Stick Figure and Get Lifted.
CNN Films and HBO Max are partnering with UK-based documentary specialists Dogwoof to distribute Rex Miller and Sam Pollard’s Citizen Ashe, about the legacy of tennis player and humanitarian Arthur Ashe.
CNN and HBO Max will handle the US release of the completed title in 2022. Details of the release format are yet to be confirmed.
Dogwoof developed and produced the film alongside US companies Rexpix Media, Stick Figure Productions and Get Lifted Film Co.
It is co-directed by Miller and Pollard, with Beth Hubbard and Dogwoof CEO Anna Godas,...
CNN Films and HBO Max are partnering with UK-based documentary specialists Dogwoof to distribute Rex Miller and Sam Pollard’s Citizen Ashe, about the legacy of tennis player and humanitarian Arthur Ashe.
CNN and HBO Max will handle the US release of the completed title in 2022. Details of the release format are yet to be confirmed.
Dogwoof developed and produced the film alongside US companies Rexpix Media, Stick Figure Productions and Get Lifted Film Co.
It is co-directed by Miller and Pollard, with Beth Hubbard and Dogwoof CEO Anna Godas,...
- 7/15/2021
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Twyla Tharp on Zoom with Herman Cornejo and Misty Copeland in Steven Cantor’s Twyla Moves Photo: Zoom Stick Figure Films
Steven Cantor’s intimate and fierce Twyla Moves showcases the legendary Twyla Tharp working on a Zoom dance from New York during the height of the pandemic with Misty Copeland, Benjamin Buza, Herman Cornejo, Maria Khoreva, Kaitlyn Gilliland, and Charlie Neshyba-Hodges in other locations. She invites the great production designer Santo Loquasto to have a look. Twyla has collaborated with composers Philip Glass, David Byrne, David Van Tieghem, and Glenn Branca, won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Movin’ Out, featuring the songs of Billy Joel, staged dances for Miloš Forman’s Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus, and Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford’s White Nights.
Dancer, featuring Sergei Polunin, and Tyler Peck’s Ballet Now round out Steven’s trilogy of dance films.
From New York,...
Steven Cantor’s intimate and fierce Twyla Moves showcases the legendary Twyla Tharp working on a Zoom dance from New York during the height of the pandemic with Misty Copeland, Benjamin Buza, Herman Cornejo, Maria Khoreva, Kaitlyn Gilliland, and Charlie Neshyba-Hodges in other locations. She invites the great production designer Santo Loquasto to have a look. Twyla has collaborated with composers Philip Glass, David Byrne, David Van Tieghem, and Glenn Branca, won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Movin’ Out, featuring the songs of Billy Joel, staged dances for Miloš Forman’s Hair, Ragtime, and Amadeus, and Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gregory Hines in Taylor Hackford’s White Nights.
Dancer, featuring Sergei Polunin, and Tyler Peck’s Ballet Now round out Steven’s trilogy of dance films.
From New York,...
- 6/1/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
“We’re all trying to keep up with [Twyla],” says famed ballerina Misty Copeland in the opening moments of “Twyla Moves,” an absorbing documentary from PBS American Masters about the legendary American choreographer Twyla Tharp. While most mere mortals have little in common with Copeland, she hit the nail on the head there — the pace at which Tharp waxes poetic on such a vast array of topics is so impressive, even filmmaker Steven Cantor can’t seem to keep up.
In interviews, Tharp speaks quickly but deliberately, with a dry sense of humor that belies her arresting candor. She’s the perfect subject for a documentary — not just because the wealth of work is so monumental, though that certainly helps —but because she’s so quick and opinionated that she could give Fran Lebowitz a run for her money.
“Even at this stage in her life, she’s setting the standard for where dance is evolving,...
In interviews, Tharp speaks quickly but deliberately, with a dry sense of humor that belies her arresting candor. She’s the perfect subject for a documentary — not just because the wealth of work is so monumental, though that certainly helps —but because she’s so quick and opinionated that she could give Fran Lebowitz a run for her money.
“Even at this stage in her life, she’s setting the standard for where dance is evolving,...
- 3/26/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Exclusive: For successful attorney Claude Motley, a return home to Milwaukee to attend his high school reunion almost turned fatal. He had just dropped off a friend in a residential neighborhood when his vehicle was surrounded by carjackers. One of them shot him in the face.
The story of Motley’s long recuperation, and what happened to his attacker—a 15-year-old boy—is told in the new film When Claude Got Shot, premiering at SXSW in the Documentary Spotlight section. In the clip below, Claude’s friend remembers the fateful night and what transpired steps from his door.
“I was in the relative safety of my own home while Claude was a few feet away being victimized,” the friend recalls. “My friend could have died that day…He could literally not be here.”
Brad Lichtenstein directed and produced the documentary, executive produced by Snoop Dogg. The film does not fit...
The story of Motley’s long recuperation, and what happened to his attacker—a 15-year-old boy—is told in the new film When Claude Got Shot, premiering at SXSW in the Documentary Spotlight section. In the clip below, Claude’s friend remembers the fateful night and what transpired steps from his door.
“I was in the relative safety of my own home while Claude was a few feet away being victimized,” the friend recalls. “My friend could have died that day…He could literally not be here.”
Brad Lichtenstein directed and produced the documentary, executive produced by Snoop Dogg. The film does not fit...
- 3/12/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
28th edition of Texas festival will run online-only from March 16-20.
SXSW Online 2021 has unveiled its full film line-up of 75 features as well as shorts, episodics and special events, and announced Charli Xcx documentary Alone Together from Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler as the closing film.
The Headliners selection about quarantined pop star Charli Xcx making an album that unifies a community appears in that section alongside Mary Wharton’s documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, and previously announced SXSW opener Demi Lovato: Dancing With The Devil.
The 28th edition of SXSW will run from March 16-20. Seven films...
SXSW Online 2021 has unveiled its full film line-up of 75 features as well as shorts, episodics and special events, and announced Charli Xcx documentary Alone Together from Bradley Bell and Pablo Jones-Soler as the closing film.
The Headliners selection about quarantined pop star Charli Xcx making an album that unifies a community appears in that section alongside Mary Wharton’s documentary Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free, and previously announced SXSW opener Demi Lovato: Dancing With The Devil.
The 28th edition of SXSW will run from March 16-20. Seven films...
- 2/10/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Arguably the most important choreographer living today, Twyla Tharp continues to push herself to new creative heights even in the midst of the pandemic. The unstoppable force of modern movement will get a feature film treatment in “Twyla Moves,” which PBS is releasing in March as part of its American Masters series.
The documentary will feature interviews alongside select footage of Tharp’s more than 160 choreographed works, “including 129 dances, 12 television specials, six major Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines.” A pioneer of both modern dance and ballet, Tharp is famously prolific, hard-working, and constantly evolving. “Twyla Moves” promises a rarified glimpse into the living legend’s nimble mind and rigorous creative process.
“Talking about one’s personal history is — as everyone who’s ever interviewed me knows — not my forte, and not my chosen mode of expression,” Tharp said during a virtual panel...
The documentary will feature interviews alongside select footage of Tharp’s more than 160 choreographed works, “including 129 dances, 12 television specials, six major Hollywood movies, four full-length ballets, four Broadway shows and two figure skating routines.” A pioneer of both modern dance and ballet, Tharp is famously prolific, hard-working, and constantly evolving. “Twyla Moves” promises a rarified glimpse into the living legend’s nimble mind and rigorous creative process.
“Talking about one’s personal history is — as everyone who’s ever interviewed me knows — not my forte, and not my chosen mode of expression,” Tharp said during a virtual panel...
- 2/4/2021
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
Dwayne Johnson and Dany Garcia’s Seven Bucks Productions will co-produce the upcoming documentary “Four Down,” based on Nick Schuyler and Jere Longman’s bestselling book “Not Without Hope.”
Directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentarian Steven Cantor, the documentary tells the true story of how Schuyler was caught in a fishing trip accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009. Stuck 70 miles offshore, Schuyler had to survive for 43 hours until the Coast Guard was able to rescue him, though the accident claimed the life of his best friend, Will Bleakley and NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith.
“I followed this story in the news as it was occurring and then could not put Nick’s book down, so I’m excited to bring it to the screen in all of its harrowing detail,” said Cantor.
“This story is an incredible account of both tragedy and triumph, showing us that the...
Directed by Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentarian Steven Cantor, the documentary tells the true story of how Schuyler was caught in a fishing trip accident in the Gulf of Mexico in 2009. Stuck 70 miles offshore, Schuyler had to survive for 43 hours until the Coast Guard was able to rescue him, though the accident claimed the life of his best friend, Will Bleakley and NFL players Marquis Cooper and Corey Smith.
“I followed this story in the news as it was occurring and then could not put Nick’s book down, so I’m excited to bring it to the screen in all of its harrowing detail,” said Cantor.
“This story is an incredible account of both tragedy and triumph, showing us that the...
- 9/22/2020
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Feature documentary WeRiseUP, which includes interviews with the likes of the Dalai Lama, Moby and Richard Branson, is set to be turned into a long-form TV series.
The doc, which had its world premiere at the Aspen Film Festival in September, is directed by Michael Shaun Conaway.
Tent City USA director and producer Steven Cantor, via his Stick Figure Entertainment, and Social Construct Films are now partnering with documentary producer and entrepreneur Kate Maloney and Storyworks to produce a series titled The World is Ending: Time to Rise Up.
The World is Ending: Time to Rise Up will show organizations and communities in action, working to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, and pairs them with a team of experts, resources, and connections. The teams will look to solve local crises, while aiming to scale solutions globally. The series will also provide resources to viewers who...
The doc, which had its world premiere at the Aspen Film Festival in September, is directed by Michael Shaun Conaway.
Tent City USA director and producer Steven Cantor, via his Stick Figure Entertainment, and Social Construct Films are now partnering with documentary producer and entrepreneur Kate Maloney and Storyworks to produce a series titled The World is Ending: Time to Rise Up.
The World is Ending: Time to Rise Up will show organizations and communities in action, working to find solutions to the world’s most pressing problems, and pairs them with a team of experts, resources, and connections. The teams will look to solve local crises, while aiming to scale solutions globally. The series will also provide resources to viewers who...
- 11/14/2019
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
“Satori” will tell the latest chapter of ballet star Sergei Polunin’s story, as the enigmatic Ukrainian dance prodigy moves into choreography and attempts to rebuild his career.
The project reunites Polunin with Oscar-nominated Steven Cantor after the pair’s work on earlier feature documentary “Dancer.” The new film follows Polunin’s inauguration as a choreographer with his “Satori” project.
Polunin, once described as the “bad boy of ballet,” quit the Royal Ballet in London in 2012 after having been its youngest-ever principal dancer.
He has created Project Polunin, which creates works for stage and film, and has acted in movies including Rudolf Nureyev biopic “The White Crow” and Kenneth Branagh’s remake of “Murder on the Orient Express.”
As with “Dancer,” WestEnd Films has boarded worldwide sales on “Satori.” The London-based sales, production and finance outfit will introduce the film, which is in production, to buyers at Afm. “Dancer” sold to 25 territories,...
The project reunites Polunin with Oscar-nominated Steven Cantor after the pair’s work on earlier feature documentary “Dancer.” The new film follows Polunin’s inauguration as a choreographer with his “Satori” project.
Polunin, once described as the “bad boy of ballet,” quit the Royal Ballet in London in 2012 after having been its youngest-ever principal dancer.
He has created Project Polunin, which creates works for stage and film, and has acted in movies including Rudolf Nureyev biopic “The White Crow” and Kenneth Branagh’s remake of “Murder on the Orient Express.”
As with “Dancer,” WestEnd Films has boarded worldwide sales on “Satori.” The London-based sales, production and finance outfit will introduce the film, which is in production, to buyers at Afm. “Dancer” sold to 25 territories,...
- 11/7/2019
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Trey Anastasio doesn’t look like a rock star. With his thick rimless glasses and flop of sandy red hair, you might say he resembles John Sebastian, but really, he looks like a mashup of Mike White and Jon Cryer and the filmmaker Chris Smith. He’s an appealingly ordinary shaggy-geek dude, like some guy you might share an office with in Portland.
Yet Trey Anastasio has sustained his career as (yes) a rock star in ways that defy all expectation. The band he leads, Phish, came together in 1983, and that takes them back to the formative moment of indie rock — R.E.M., U2, and so on. Phish, of course, picked up the long-jam, psychedelic-minstrel mantle of the Grateful Dead, and it’s worth noting that Jerry Garcia didn’t look like a rock star either — he was the grinning, pie-faced hippie Muppet of rock ‘n’ roll. But that...
Yet Trey Anastasio has sustained his career as (yes) a rock star in ways that defy all expectation. The band he leads, Phish, came together in 1983, and that takes them back to the formative moment of indie rock — R.E.M., U2, and so on. Phish, of course, picked up the long-jam, psychedelic-minstrel mantle of the Grateful Dead, and it’s worth noting that Jerry Garcia didn’t look like a rock star either — he was the grinning, pie-faced hippie Muppet of rock ‘n’ roll. But that...
- 7/18/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
A new documentary about Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, Between Me and My Mind, will screen in movie theaters across North America for one night only, July 17th.
Between Me and My Mind recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and will be brought to cinema’s nationwide via Trafalgar Releasing. The documentary will reportedly screen in more than 300 theaters and fans can sign up for updates – including theater listenings and ticket information – on the film’s website.
Directed by Steven Cantor, Between Me and My Mind offers an in-depth look at Anastasio’s life,...
Between Me and My Mind recently premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and will be brought to cinema’s nationwide via Trafalgar Releasing. The documentary will reportedly screen in more than 300 theaters and fans can sign up for updates – including theater listenings and ticket information – on the film’s website.
Directed by Steven Cantor, Between Me and My Mind offers an in-depth look at Anastasio’s life,...
- 5/13/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
While the Tribeca Film Festival usually has strong music entries, this year has such a bounty that narrowing our top picks down to 10 was a challenge. This year’s offerings range from documentaries on the legendary Apollo Theater, the Wu-Tang Clan and Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman to music-adjacent films like Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday” (about a world with no Beatles), and anniversary editions of ‘90s classics “Say Anything,” “Reality Bites” and “This Is Spinal Tap” — all three of which have special Q&As with castmembers after the screenings. Covering Tribeca’s 2019 music offerings alone, it’s possible to spend upwards of 30 hours in movie theaters over the next few days — be sure to check back for Variety’s reviews of many of these films.
All I Can Say [Shannon Hoon documentary]. The unofficial chief cinematographer for this documentary about the late Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon is: Shannon Hoon.
All I Can Say [Shannon Hoon documentary]. The unofficial chief cinematographer for this documentary about the late Blind Melon singer Shannon Hoon is: Shannon Hoon.
- 4/24/2019
- by Jem Aswad and Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker Cameron Crowe and the cast of Say Anything… will reunite for a special 30th anniversary screening and discussion at the Tribeca Film Festival.
The festival also announced it would host the premieres of a new documentary about Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, Between Me and My Mind, as well as Danny Boyle’s new Beatles-inspired film, Yesterday.
The Say Anything… anniversary gala screening will take place April 30th at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (tickets go on sale March 26th at 11 a.m. ET). After the screening, Crowe...
The festival also announced it would host the premieres of a new documentary about Phish frontman Trey Anastasio, Between Me and My Mind, as well as Danny Boyle’s new Beatles-inspired film, Yesterday.
The Say Anything… anniversary gala screening will take place April 30th at the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center (tickets go on sale March 26th at 11 a.m. ET). After the screening, Crowe...
- 3/15/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
The 2019 Tribeca Film Festival has announced a number of additions to this year’s lineup, including its Closing Night title, a Trey Anastasio-centric documentary, and new films and new details in a particularly stacked Anniversaries section. This year’s festival will close with the world premiere of Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday,” which imagines a world in which everyone — save for one budding musician — suddenly forgets about The Beatles. Universal Pictures will release the film later this summer. As was previously announced, the festival will open at New York’s iconic Apollo Theater with the world premiere of Academy Award-winning director Roger Ross Williams’ documentary, “The Apollo” from HBO Documentary Films.
The festival has also announced that it will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” as a Gala presentation at the Beacon Theatre. For the first time ever, audiences will see “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut,...
The festival has also announced that it will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now” as a Gala presentation at the Beacon Theatre. For the first time ever, audiences will see “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut,...
- 3/14/2019
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Danny Boyle’s “Yesterday,” a jukebox musical featuring the songs of The Beatles, will be the closing night film as it makes its World Premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival, the fest announced Thursday.
“Between Me and My Mind,” a documentary about the lead singer of classic rock band Phish, Trey Anastasio, will be one of the festival’s Gala screenings and will be followed by a live performance from the Trey Anastasio Band.
“The Good, The Bad, The Hungry” is a documentary about the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and it will be the opening film for the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Gala.
Also Read: Jared Leto, Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz Movies Lead Full Tribeca Film Festival Slate
And finally, Tribeca will also host several anniversary screenings this year, including a first look at a 4K restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut,” a...
“Between Me and My Mind,” a documentary about the lead singer of classic rock band Phish, Trey Anastasio, will be one of the festival’s Gala screenings and will be followed by a live performance from the Trey Anastasio Band.
“The Good, The Bad, The Hungry” is a documentary about the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest, and it will be the opening film for the Tribeca/ESPN Sports Film Gala.
Also Read: Jared Leto, Margot Robbie and Christoph Waltz Movies Lead Full Tribeca Film Festival Slate
And finally, Tribeca will also host several anniversary screenings this year, including a first look at a 4K restoration of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Apocalypse Now: Final Cut,” a...
- 3/14/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated producer Steven Cantor’s Stick Figure Studios is producing a documentary about Venezuelan rebel helicopter pilot and former police officer Oscar Perez.
On Jan. 15, 2018, Venezuelan government forces killed the renegade pilot and his team after cornering him at his hideout. A former police officer with movie-star looks, Perez has since become a symbol of Venezuela’s opposition to the beleaguered administration led by President Nicolas Maduro, recently sworn in for another six-year term.
The feature-length documentary will focus on the untold story about Perez, who gained worldwide attention last June when he dropped stun grenades on Venezuela’s Supreme Court from a helicopter, and later raided a military police outpost to make off with dozens of rifles.
The doc will feature never-before-seen videos, photos, and audio recordings left behind by Perez, as well as exclusive interviews with his mother, his former girlfriend, and their three sons, along...
On Jan. 15, 2018, Venezuelan government forces killed the renegade pilot and his team after cornering him at his hideout. A former police officer with movie-star looks, Perez has since become a symbol of Venezuela’s opposition to the beleaguered administration led by President Nicolas Maduro, recently sworn in for another six-year term.
The feature-length documentary will focus on the untold story about Perez, who gained worldwide attention last June when he dropped stun grenades on Venezuela’s Supreme Court from a helicopter, and later raided a military police outpost to make off with dozens of rifles.
The doc will feature never-before-seen videos, photos, and audio recordings left behind by Perez, as well as exclusive interviews with his mother, his former girlfriend, and their three sons, along...
- 1/15/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The festival will open on September 26 with Marialy Rivas’ ‘Princesita’.
The UK’s Raindance Film Festival has revealed the line-up for its 2018 edition (September 26-October 7), with over 80 features and 99 shorts screening at the festival.
The programme includes 31 world premieres, 28 international premieres, 21 European and 81 UK premieres.
The festival will open with the UK premiere of Marialy Rivas’ Chilean drama Princesita about a girl growing up in a cult. It premiered at Tiff in 2017 and is produced by Juan de Dios Larrain’s Fabula.
According to the festival, it received a record 8,929 submissions from 118 countries.
The programme includes a director’s cut...
The UK’s Raindance Film Festival has revealed the line-up for its 2018 edition (September 26-October 7), with over 80 features and 99 shorts screening at the festival.
The programme includes 31 world premieres, 28 international premieres, 21 European and 81 UK premieres.
The festival will open with the UK premiere of Marialy Rivas’ Chilean drama Princesita about a girl growing up in a cult. It premiered at Tiff in 2017 and is produced by Juan de Dios Larrain’s Fabula.
According to the festival, it received a record 8,929 submissions from 118 countries.
The programme includes a director’s cut...
- 8/22/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
With her first foray into documentaries, “The Handmaid’s Tale” star and executive producer Elisabeth Moss extends her partnership with Hulu. Moss — who won a pair of 2017 Emmys for her work on the series — assumed the Ep role for “Ballet Now,” her first producing credit for a project in which she does not appear. The film stars her friend and fellow Broadway veteran, New York City Ballet Prima Ballerina Tiler Peck, and was directed by Oscar nominee Steven Cantor (“Blood Ties: The Life and Work of Sally Mann”).
“Ballet Now” takes its name from BalletNOW, a three-night series of performances staged at Los Angeles’ The Music Center in July 2015 and 2017. To curate the second edition, Peck assembled around her an international company of dancers skilled in tap, hip-hop, ballet, and clown artistry. For the doc — which screened at last month’s Seattle International Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival — Cantor...
“Ballet Now” takes its name from BalletNOW, a three-night series of performances staged at Los Angeles’ The Music Center in July 2015 and 2017. To curate the second edition, Peck assembled around her an international company of dancers skilled in tap, hip-hop, ballet, and clown artistry. For the doc — which screened at last month’s Seattle International Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival — Cantor...
- 7/5/2018
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
Author: Guest
Few careers require the same sacrifices as that of a ballet dancer. To reach the top, dancers must start training in their pre-teens, an age at which it is difficult to be making a decision of this magnitude. Then, if they last through the punishing schooling, they enter a rhythm of rehearsals and performances that is demanding and exhausting, for a comparatively modest salary. These issues lie at the heart of Dancer, a documentary about ballet prodigy Sergei Polunin, directed by Steven Cantor.
Trained in Kiev and at the British Royal Ballet School, Sergei Polunin became, at the age of twenty, the youngest ever principal at the Royal Ballet. The dancer subsequently earned a controversial reputation after quitting abruptly two years into his career. Struggling to find work, Polunin had to move to Russia to start from scratch, competing in a ballet reality TV competition. He also became...
Few careers require the same sacrifices as that of a ballet dancer. To reach the top, dancers must start training in their pre-teens, an age at which it is difficult to be making a decision of this magnitude. Then, if they last through the punishing schooling, they enter a rhythm of rehearsals and performances that is demanding and exhausting, for a comparatively modest salary. These issues lie at the heart of Dancer, a documentary about ballet prodigy Sergei Polunin, directed by Steven Cantor.
Trained in Kiev and at the British Royal Ballet School, Sergei Polunin became, at the age of twenty, the youngest ever principal at the Royal Ballet. The dancer subsequently earned a controversial reputation after quitting abruptly two years into his career. Struggling to find work, Polunin had to move to Russia to start from scratch, competing in a ballet reality TV competition. He also became...
- 3/8/2017
- by Guest
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Fox Searchlight has acquired the worldwide rights to the documentary “Step,” which premiered last Saturday in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S. Documentary Competition section. The price tag for the deal was more than $4 million, Deadline reports.
The directorial debut for Tony Award–winning producer Amanda Lipitz, “Step” follows three high school seniors in inner-city Baltimore and their step dance team, “Lethal Ladies.” Members of the founding class of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, the dancers are determined to live up to their school’s founding mandate of sending every graduate to college.
Fox Searchlight also bought the remake rights to the movie, which is a co-production between Stick Figure Productions, in association with Impact Partners, Vulcan Productions and Scott Rudin Productions. The film was produced by Steven Cantor and Lipitz and executive produced by Dan Cogan, Geralyn Dreyfous, Jeny Raskin, Scott Rudin, Paul G. Allen, Carole Tomko,...
The directorial debut for Tony Award–winning producer Amanda Lipitz, “Step” follows three high school seniors in inner-city Baltimore and their step dance team, “Lethal Ladies.” Members of the founding class of the Baltimore Leadership School for Young Women, the dancers are determined to live up to their school’s founding mandate of sending every graduate to college.
Fox Searchlight also bought the remake rights to the movie, which is a co-production between Stick Figure Productions, in association with Impact Partners, Vulcan Productions and Scott Rudin Productions. The film was produced by Steven Cantor and Lipitz and executive produced by Dan Cogan, Geralyn Dreyfous, Jeny Raskin, Scott Rudin, Paul G. Allen, Carole Tomko,...
- 1/25/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
“American Honey” took the top prize at the 2016 British Independent Film Awards, which was held on Sunday at London’s Old Billingsgate.
“American Honey” was named Best British Independent Film, and also scored three additional awards (including Best Director for Andrea Arnold). Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” was the night’s only non-uk winner, picking up honors for Best International Independent Film.
The 19th annual Bifa ceremony, hosted by Jennifer Saunders, also presented Clare Binns with the Special Jury Prize for her “unstinting efforts in bringing independent film to new audiences.”
Naomie Harris was also presented the Variety Award by Danny Boyle, in recognition of the global impact she made this year in helping to focus the international film spotlight on the UK.
Read More: La Film Critics Association Name the Best Films and Performances of 2016
The Richard Harris Award was given to Alison Steadman by Richard Harris’ granddaughter Ella Harris and...
“American Honey” was named Best British Independent Film, and also scored three additional awards (including Best Director for Andrea Arnold). Barry Jenkins’ “Moonlight” was the night’s only non-uk winner, picking up honors for Best International Independent Film.
The 19th annual Bifa ceremony, hosted by Jennifer Saunders, also presented Clare Binns with the Special Jury Prize for her “unstinting efforts in bringing independent film to new audiences.”
Naomie Harris was also presented the Variety Award by Danny Boyle, in recognition of the global impact she made this year in helping to focus the international film spotlight on the UK.
Read More: La Film Critics Association Name the Best Films and Performances of 2016
The Richard Harris Award was given to Alison Steadman by Richard Harris’ granddaughter Ella Harris and...
- 12/4/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Andrea Arnold’s American Honey was the big winner on the night.
The 2016 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) were held at Old Billingsgate Market in London on December 4. Andrea Arnold’s American Honey won four awards, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake won two.
*winners indicated in bold.
BIFAs 2016Best British Independent FilmAMERICAN Honey Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg, Thomas Benski, Lucas OchoaCOUPLE In A Hole Tom Geens, Zorana PiggottI, Daniel Blake Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Rebecca O’BrienNOTES On Blindness Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Alex UsborneUNDER The Shadow Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan TohBest International Independent FilmHUNT For The Wilderpeople Taika Waititi, Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan, Leanne SaundersMANCHESTER By The Sea Kenneth Lonergan, Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. WalshMOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy KleinerMUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour, Charles...
The 2016 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) were held at Old Billingsgate Market in London on December 4. Andrea Arnold’s American Honey won four awards, Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake won two.
*winners indicated in bold.
BIFAs 2016Best British Independent FilmAMERICAN Honey Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg, Thomas Benski, Lucas OchoaCOUPLE In A Hole Tom Geens, Zorana PiggottI, Daniel Blake Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Rebecca O’BrienNOTES On Blindness Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Alex UsborneUNDER The Shadow Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan TohBest International Independent FilmHUNT For The Wilderpeople Taika Waititi, Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan, Leanne SaundersMANCHESTER By The Sea Kenneth Lonergan, Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. WalshMOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy KleinerMUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour, Charles...
- 12/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
Follow the 2016 British Independent Film Awards live.
The 2016 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) are being held at Old Billingsgate Market in London today (Dec 4). Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake leads the nominations with seven, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey is up for six awards.
*winners indicated in bold.
BIFAs 2016Best British Independent FilmAMERICAN Honey Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg, Thomas Benski, Lucas OchoaCOUPLE In A Hole Tom Geens, Zorana PiggottI, Daniel Blake Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Rebecca O’BrienNOTES On Blindness Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Alex UsborneUNDER The Shadow Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan TohBest International Independent FilmHUNT For The Wilderpeople Taika Waititi, Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan, Leanne SaundersMANCHESTER By The Sea Kenneth Lonergan, Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. WalshMOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy KleinerMUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour, Charles...
The 2016 British Independent Film Awards (BIFAs) are being held at Old Billingsgate Market in London today (Dec 4). Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake leads the nominations with seven, Andrea Arnold’s American Honey is up for six awards.
*winners indicated in bold.
BIFAs 2016Best British Independent FilmAMERICAN Honey Andrea Arnold, Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Pouya Shahbazian, Alice Weinberg, Thomas Benski, Lucas OchoaCOUPLE In A Hole Tom Geens, Zorana PiggottI, Daniel Blake Ken Loach, Paul Laverty, Rebecca O’BrienNOTES On Blindness Peter Middleton, James Spinney, Mike Brett, Jo-Jo Ellison, Steve Jamison, Alex UsborneUNDER The Shadow Babak Anvari, Emily Leo, Oliver Roskill, Lucan TohBest International Independent FilmHUNT For The Wilderpeople Taika Waititi, Carthew Neal, Matt Noonan, Leanne SaundersMANCHESTER By The Sea Kenneth Lonergan, Kimberly Steward, Matt Damon, Chris Moore, Lauren Beck, Kevin J. WalshMOONLIGHT Barry Jenkins, Adele Romanski, Dede Gardner, Jeremy KleinerMUSTANG Deniz Gamze Ergüven, Alice Winocour, Charles...
- 12/4/2016
- ScreenDaily
The Costa Rica International Film Festival (Crfic) has announced its complete lineup for its fifth edition. This year, 72 films have been chosen to represent the world’s best in independent cinema, with four world premieres and three Latin American premieres taking place, and over 60 features to be presented for the first time in the region.
“At Crfic we are interested in approaching the idea of artistic diversity; covering a broad spectrum of styles and proposals found in contemporary national and international cinema,” said Marcelo Quesada, Artistic Director for the Festival. “Our identity and our program is built around a free, coherent and risky cinema that moves away from the usual places and bring us closer to different voices and world visions from over 30 countries.”
Read More: Costa Rica Selects Esteban Ramirez’ ‘Presos’ as Oscar Submission
Taking place at the capital city of San José, the festival will run from December...
“At Crfic we are interested in approaching the idea of artistic diversity; covering a broad spectrum of styles and proposals found in contemporary national and international cinema,” said Marcelo Quesada, Artistic Director for the Festival. “Our identity and our program is built around a free, coherent and risky cinema that moves away from the usual places and bring us closer to different voices and world visions from over 30 countries.”
Read More: Costa Rica Selects Esteban Ramirez’ ‘Presos’ as Oscar Submission
Taking place at the capital city of San José, the festival will run from December...
- 11/30/2016
- by Liz Calvario
- Indiewire
Unsurprising surprises dominated this morning’s Producers Guild of America documentary nominees. While the PGA’s feature nominees often align with Oscar contenders, that’s often untrue for the documentaries. In 2014, the PGA nominated “The Green Prince,” “Life Itself,” “Merchants of Doubt,” “Virunga, and “Particle Fever;” only “Virunga made the final Oscar five. (The winner was Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour.)
Last year, the PGA did select eventual Oscar nominees “Amy” (which won the Oscar) and “The Look of Silence,” but also chose “The Hunting Ground” and “Meru,” both of which made the Oscar shortlist of 15; PGA selection”Something Better to Come” didn’t even make that cut.
Today, the committee of some 30 or more PGA documentary producers nominated two anticipated films in Roger Ross Williams’ “Life, Animated” (The Orchard/A & E) and Ezra Edelman’s “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn Films). Both were much-lauded Sundance hits and made the Doc NYC Shortlist.
Last year, the PGA did select eventual Oscar nominees “Amy” (which won the Oscar) and “The Look of Silence,” but also chose “The Hunting Ground” and “Meru,” both of which made the Oscar shortlist of 15; PGA selection”Something Better to Come” didn’t even make that cut.
Today, the committee of some 30 or more PGA documentary producers nominated two anticipated films in Roger Ross Williams’ “Life, Animated” (The Orchard/A & E) and Ezra Edelman’s “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn Films). Both were much-lauded Sundance hits and made the Doc NYC Shortlist.
- 11/22/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Unsurprising surprises dominated this morning’s Producers Guild of America documentary nominees. While the PGA’s feature nominees often align with Oscar contenders, that’s often untrue for the documentaries. In 2014, the PGA nominated “The Green Prince,” “Life Itself,” “Merchants of Doubt,” “Virunga, and “Particle Fever;” only “Virunga made the final Oscar five. (The winner was Laura Poitras’ “Citizenfour.)
Last year, the PGA did select eventual Oscar nominees “Amy” (which won the Oscar) and “The Look of Silence,” but also chose “The Hunting Ground” and “Meru,” both of which made the Oscar shortlist of 15; PGA selection”Something Better to Come” didn’t even make that cut.
Today, the committee of 30 PGA documentary producers nominated two anticipated films in Roger Ross Williams’ “Life, Animated” (The Orchard/A & E) and Ezra Edelman’s “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn Films). Both were much-lauded Sundance hits and made the Doc NYC Shortlist.
However, the...
Last year, the PGA did select eventual Oscar nominees “Amy” (which won the Oscar) and “The Look of Silence,” but also chose “The Hunting Ground” and “Meru,” both of which made the Oscar shortlist of 15; PGA selection”Something Better to Come” didn’t even make that cut.
Today, the committee of 30 PGA documentary producers nominated two anticipated films in Roger Ross Williams’ “Life, Animated” (The Orchard/A & E) and Ezra Edelman’s “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn Films). Both were much-lauded Sundance hits and made the Doc NYC Shortlist.
However, the...
- 11/22/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Today, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced its Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures nominees for the 28th Annual Producers Guild Awards. The five nominees are listed below.
“O.J.: Made in America” (Ezra Edelman) “Tower” (Keith Maitland) “Life, Animated” (Roger Ross Williams) “Dancer” (Steven Cantor) “The Eagle Huntress” (Otto Bell)
Read More: Producers Guild Picks 2017 PGA Awards Date
The winners will be revealed at the 28th annual Producers Guild Awards, which will take place on January 28 at the Beverly Hilton. The ceremony will honor James L. Brooks with the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television, Tom Rothman with the Milestone Award and Irwin Winkler with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award. This year’s awards co-chairs are Donald De Line and Amy Pascal.
Nominations for the Television Series/Specials and Children’s Programs, Long Form Television and Sports and Digital Series will be announced on January 5, while nominations for Theatrical Motion...
“O.J.: Made in America” (Ezra Edelman) “Tower” (Keith Maitland) “Life, Animated” (Roger Ross Williams) “Dancer” (Steven Cantor) “The Eagle Huntress” (Otto Bell)
Read More: Producers Guild Picks 2017 PGA Awards Date
The winners will be revealed at the 28th annual Producers Guild Awards, which will take place on January 28 at the Beverly Hilton. The ceremony will honor James L. Brooks with the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television, Tom Rothman with the Milestone Award and Irwin Winkler with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award. This year’s awards co-chairs are Donald De Line and Amy Pascal.
Nominations for the Television Series/Specials and Children’s Programs, Long Form Television and Sports and Digital Series will be announced on January 5, while nominations for Theatrical Motion...
- 11/22/2016
- by Vikram Murthi
- Indiewire
The Producers Guild of America on Tuesday announced its documentary film nominees, including Dancer; The Eagle Huntress; Life, Animated; O.J.: Made in America; and Tower.
Steven Cantor's Dancer is a portrait of the ballet dancer Sergei Polunin. Otto Bell's The Eagle Huntress follows a young Kazakh girl as she attempts to become an eagle hunter. Roger Ross Williams' Life, Animated tells the story of a young man with autism who learns to communicate with the help of Disney animated movies. Ezra Edelman's O.J.: Made in America is the five-part study of O.J. Simpson and his life and times. And Keith Maitland's Tower uses...
Steven Cantor's Dancer is a portrait of the ballet dancer Sergei Polunin. Otto Bell's The Eagle Huntress follows a young Kazakh girl as she attempts to become an eagle hunter. Roger Ross Williams' Life, Animated tells the story of a young man with autism who learns to communicate with the help of Disney animated movies. Ezra Edelman's O.J.: Made in America is the five-part study of O.J. Simpson and his life and times. And Keith Maitland's Tower uses...
- 11/22/2016
- by Ashley Lee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Tower co-executive producers Amy Rapp and Meredith Vieira (also with Steve Eckelman, Pamela Colloff, Luke Wilson, Sally Jo Fifer, Lois Vossen) Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Keith Maitland's Tower joins Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson's The Ivory Game, Barbara Kopple's Miss Sharon Jones!; Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky's Defying The Nazis: The Sharps’ War; Ava Duvernay's 13th; Dawn Porter's Trapped; Andrew Rossi's The First Monday In May; Roger Ross Williams' Life, Animated; Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare); Jim Jarmusch's Gimme Danger; Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley's Landfill Harmonic; Steven Cantor's Dancer; Morgan Neville's The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble; Ron Howard's The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years as a key contender for the 89th Academy Awards Oscar shortlist.
University of Texas Austin tower: "We are really immersing you in that day.
Keith Maitland's Tower joins Richard Ladkani and Kief Davidson's The Ivory Game, Barbara Kopple's Miss Sharon Jones!; Ken Burns and Artemis Joukowsky's Defying The Nazis: The Sharps’ War; Ava Duvernay's 13th; Dawn Porter's Trapped; Andrew Rossi's The First Monday In May; Roger Ross Williams' Life, Animated; Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare); Jim Jarmusch's Gimme Danger; Brad Allgood and Graham Townsley's Landfill Harmonic; Steven Cantor's Dancer; Morgan Neville's The Music of Strangers: Yo-Yo Ma And The Silk Road Ensemble; Ron Howard's The Beatles: Eight Days A Week – The Touring Years as a key contender for the 89th Academy Awards Oscar shortlist.
University of Texas Austin tower: "We are really immersing you in that day.
- 11/20/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Director Steven Cantor turns his attention to ballet prodigy Sergei Polunin in his latest documentary, Dancer. Having already taken the stage at the 60th BFI London Film Festival, and now returning for an encore at Tallinn's Doc@Poff strand, this feature-length piece follows Polunin's journey from a small Ukrainian town to become the Royal Ballet's youngest ever principal dancer. Now much adored in Britain, Russia and much of the rest of the world, Polunin certainly attracts a lot of public attention; particularly seeing as he once grew to have a reputation for being a bit of an enfant terrible. But this "bad boy of ballet" really has helped to raise the profile and quality of ballet internationally, and following this class act was by no means...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/14/2016
- Screen Anarchy
If there's one thing everybody needs to know about, it's Tallin Black Nights (or PÖFF as it is rather fantastically named in Estonian). Having gained A-list status back in 2014, it's now officially one of the top fifteen film festivals in the world; except I reckon it's probably much higher on the coolness scale. Opening it's eclectic 20th edition tonight, there's already been a black-tie showing of Tran Anh Hung's visually lavish Eternity, outings for Steven Cantor's fantastic Dancer in neighbouring Tartu, and more mainstream offerings like A Monster Calls. Always passionate but not pretentious, PÖFF has achieved it's meteoric rise by adopting a different philosophy to it's bigger brothers and sisters. Coming near the end of the festival calendar, PÖFF concentrates on just scooping...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...
- 11/13/2016
- Screen Anarchy
American Honey, Notes On Blindness, Adult Life Skills, Under The Shadow also score multiple noms.
Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake leads this year’s British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) nominations, which were announced this morning by British actors Ophelia Lovibond and Douglas Booth in London.
Loach’s timely social drama - which won Cannes’ Palme d’Or earlier this year - was nominated in seven categories including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Co-stars Hayley Squires and Dave Johns are each nominated twice – for Best Actress and Best Actor and will also go head to head in the Most Promising Newcomer category.
The other nominees in the Best British Independent Film category are American Honey (six nominations), Couple in a Hole (two nominations), Notes on Blindness (six nominations) and the Under The Shadow (six nominations).
Other titles with receiving multiple nominations but in other categories included Adult Life Skills (six nominations) and zombie...
Ken Loach’s I, Daniel Blake leads this year’s British Independent Film Awards (Bifa) nominations, which were announced this morning by British actors Ophelia Lovibond and Douglas Booth in London.
Loach’s timely social drama - which won Cannes’ Palme d’Or earlier this year - was nominated in seven categories including Best British Independent Film, Best Director and Best Screenplay.
Co-stars Hayley Squires and Dave Johns are each nominated twice – for Best Actress and Best Actor and will also go head to head in the Most Promising Newcomer category.
The other nominees in the Best British Independent Film category are American Honey (six nominations), Couple in a Hole (two nominations), Notes on Blindness (six nominations) and the Under The Shadow (six nominations).
Other titles with receiving multiple nominations but in other categories included Adult Life Skills (six nominations) and zombie...
- 11/1/2016
- ScreenDaily
Sergei Polunin: "David Lachapelle - it was always the idea of a dance piece at the core of the documentary." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Producer Gabrielle Tana (Stephen Frears's Philomena), joined with Baby Cow Productions partners Steve Coogan and Henry Normal as she connected photographer David Lachapelle, the director of Rise, to Dancer director Steven Cantor and Sergei Polunin. Lachapelle brought on Hozier's Take Me To Church. In the continuation of my conversation with the director and star we discuss the layers behind the dance, tattoo memories, family and Project Polunin.
"When Take Me to Church was released, people started to listen. We started this project called Project Polunin."
Dancer, with a score by Ilan Eshkeri, takes us on an emotional journey of a young man thrust into the limelight at lightning speed where he eventually loses his balance with work, family and colleagues. Sergei Polunin, the youngest ever...
Producer Gabrielle Tana (Stephen Frears's Philomena), joined with Baby Cow Productions partners Steve Coogan and Henry Normal as she connected photographer David Lachapelle, the director of Rise, to Dancer director Steven Cantor and Sergei Polunin. Lachapelle brought on Hozier's Take Me To Church. In the continuation of my conversation with the director and star we discuss the layers behind the dance, tattoo memories, family and Project Polunin.
"When Take Me to Church was released, people started to listen. We started this project called Project Polunin."
Dancer, with a score by Ilan Eshkeri, takes us on an emotional journey of a young man thrust into the limelight at lightning speed where he eventually loses his balance with work, family and colleagues. Sergei Polunin, the youngest ever...
- 10/5/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Sergei Polunin with Steven Cantor on David Lachapelle, Jade Hale-Christofi with Hozier's Take Me To Church, and Ilan Eshkeri: "Yes! I want to unite artists." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
In Steven Cantor's Dancer, Sergei Polunin burns bright with a ferocious energy. British Royal Ballet's youngest ever male principal dancer, Polunin, has been compared to Nureyev and dismissed as party boy by the media. The documentary, executive produced by Steve Coogan, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Christine Langan, Henry Normal, Jamie Schutz, and Nichola Martin, with producer Gabrielle Tana, creatively avoids neither side, and, with extensive access to the Polunin family and archival footage, paints a far more complex picture of the young man and his journey.
Sergei Polunin: "You cannot create more steps for ballet. Everything is already developed but you can freshen it up ..."
Growing up in Kherson, Southern Ukraine, where "everybody was poor," Sergei says, "you don't feel the difference.
In Steven Cantor's Dancer, Sergei Polunin burns bright with a ferocious energy. British Royal Ballet's youngest ever male principal dancer, Polunin, has been compared to Nureyev and dismissed as party boy by the media. The documentary, executive produced by Steve Coogan, Carolyn Marks Blackwood, Christine Langan, Henry Normal, Jamie Schutz, and Nichola Martin, with producer Gabrielle Tana, creatively avoids neither side, and, with extensive access to the Polunin family and archival footage, paints a far more complex picture of the young man and his journey.
Sergei Polunin: "You cannot create more steps for ballet. Everything is already developed but you can freshen it up ..."
Growing up in Kherson, Southern Ukraine, where "everybody was poor," Sergei says, "you don't feel the difference.
- 9/26/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Juan Antonio Bayona, David Mackenzie and John Michael McDonagh among directors with films in Gala strand.
Zurich Film Festival (Sept 22-Oct 2) has unveiled the titles that will make up its Gala section.
In addition to previously announced titles Snowden, Florence Foster Jenkins and Deepwater Horizon, Zff will screen the latest films from directors including Juan Antonio Bayona, David Mackenzie and John Michael McDonagh.
American Honey
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Sasha Lane, Riley Keough, Shia Labeouf
Star (Sasha Lane) is trapped in a life far from perfect. Then she falls head over heels in love with Jake (Shia Labeouf), before embarking with him and a band of misfits who live by their own rules on an adventurous journey to freedom. The start of a quest to find the boundaries of a powerful young love and a road trip into the heart of America.
A Monster Calls (Sieben Minuten Nach Mitternacht)
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast: Felicity Jones, [link...
Zurich Film Festival (Sept 22-Oct 2) has unveiled the titles that will make up its Gala section.
In addition to previously announced titles Snowden, Florence Foster Jenkins and Deepwater Horizon, Zff will screen the latest films from directors including Juan Antonio Bayona, David Mackenzie and John Michael McDonagh.
American Honey
Director: Andrea Arnold
Cast: Sasha Lane, Riley Keough, Shia Labeouf
Star (Sasha Lane) is trapped in a life far from perfect. Then she falls head over heels in love with Jake (Shia Labeouf), before embarking with him and a band of misfits who live by their own rules on an adventurous journey to freedom. The start of a quest to find the boundaries of a powerful young love and a road trip into the heart of America.
A Monster Calls (Sieben Minuten Nach Mitternacht)
Director: Juan Antonio Bayona
Cast: Felicity Jones, [link...
- 8/25/2016
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Sergei Polunin ballet dancer doc is directed by Oscar-nominated Steven Cantor.
UK distribution outfit Dogwoof has pounced on Dancer, the documentary about ballet dancer Sergei Polunin from Oscar-nominated director Steve Cantor.
Referred to as ‘the James Dean of ballet’ Polunin is known as one of the most gifted dancers of his generation and was the youngest principal dancer ever at the British Royal Ballet. His performance in Hozier’s 2015 music video Take Me To Church earned him mainstream fame.
Emmy-nominated director Cantor is most noted for his 1994 Oscar-nominated documentary short Blood Ties. His other work includes documentaries chronicling a James Blunt concert in Kosovo (James Blunt: Return To Kosovo) and a feature about indie band The Pixies (loudQUIETloud).
Dancer was produced by Oscar-nominee Gabrielle Tana (Philomena). Executive producers include Christine Langan from BBC Films (The Queen), Carolyn Marks Blackwood from Magnolia Mae Films (The Duchess) and Henry Normal and Steve Coogan from Baby Cow (Philomena).
The...
UK distribution outfit Dogwoof has pounced on Dancer, the documentary about ballet dancer Sergei Polunin from Oscar-nominated director Steve Cantor.
Referred to as ‘the James Dean of ballet’ Polunin is known as one of the most gifted dancers of his generation and was the youngest principal dancer ever at the British Royal Ballet. His performance in Hozier’s 2015 music video Take Me To Church earned him mainstream fame.
Emmy-nominated director Cantor is most noted for his 1994 Oscar-nominated documentary short Blood Ties. His other work includes documentaries chronicling a James Blunt concert in Kosovo (James Blunt: Return To Kosovo) and a feature about indie band The Pixies (loudQUIETloud).
Dancer was produced by Oscar-nominee Gabrielle Tana (Philomena). Executive producers include Christine Langan from BBC Films (The Queen), Carolyn Marks Blackwood from Magnolia Mae Films (The Duchess) and Henry Normal and Steve Coogan from Baby Cow (Philomena).
The...
- 7/5/2016
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: First trailer for film from Philomena producer, BBC Films and Steve Coogan.
Screen can reveal the stirring first trailer for Sergei Polunin bio-doc Dancer, produced by Oscar-nominee Gaby Tana (Philomena).
The “immersive personal portrait” charts the story of the prodigal dancer who took the ballet world by storm and became the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal.
However, at the peak of his success, aged 25, Polunin walked away, driven to the brink of self-destruction by stardom.
The film, currently in post-production, includes the clip Take Me To Church, directed by David Lachapelle, which clocked more than 14 million views.
Steven Cantor, Oscar-nominated for short Blood Ties: The Life And Work Of Sally Mann, directs.
Executive producers are Christine Langan from BBC Films (The Queen), Carolyn Marks Blackwood from Magnolia Mae Films (The Duchess) and Henry Normal and Steve Coogan from Baby Cow (Philomena).
WestEnd is handling world sales and is showing the film to buyers at the...
Screen can reveal the stirring first trailer for Sergei Polunin bio-doc Dancer, produced by Oscar-nominee Gaby Tana (Philomena).
The “immersive personal portrait” charts the story of the prodigal dancer who took the ballet world by storm and became the Royal Ballet’s youngest ever principal.
However, at the peak of his success, aged 25, Polunin walked away, driven to the brink of self-destruction by stardom.
The film, currently in post-production, includes the clip Take Me To Church, directed by David Lachapelle, which clocked more than 14 million views.
Steven Cantor, Oscar-nominated for short Blood Ties: The Life And Work Of Sally Mann, directs.
Executive producers are Christine Langan from BBC Films (The Queen), Carolyn Marks Blackwood from Magnolia Mae Films (The Duchess) and Henry Normal and Steve Coogan from Baby Cow (Philomena).
WestEnd is handling world sales and is showing the film to buyers at the...
- 5/10/2016
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: The distributor has secured Us rights from WestEnd Films to Steven Cantor’s upcoming documentary.
Sundance Selects will release Dancer this summer after Arianna Bocco agreed terms with WestEnd managing director Eve Schoukroun.
Dancer chronicles the life and work of Sergei Polunin, the youngest principal dancer ever to perform for the British Royal Ballet who wrestled with fame and eventually resigned to pursue his artistic voice.
Gabrielle Tana produced the film.
“A dancer of Sergei’s calibre is extremely rare, and Steven has beautifully captured not only his power and poise but also the burden that comes with having such an incredible gift,” said Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring.
“We are thrilled to be working with Steven and Gabrielle to release their film in the Us.”
Cantor added: “Sergei Polunin is a complex, enigmatic personality and a rare dancing talent. His creative brilliance and turbulent life have been documented on camera ever since he was...
Sundance Selects will release Dancer this summer after Arianna Bocco agreed terms with WestEnd managing director Eve Schoukroun.
Dancer chronicles the life and work of Sergei Polunin, the youngest principal dancer ever to perform for the British Royal Ballet who wrestled with fame and eventually resigned to pursue his artistic voice.
Gabrielle Tana produced the film.
“A dancer of Sergei’s calibre is extremely rare, and Steven has beautifully captured not only his power and poise but also the burden that comes with having such an incredible gift,” said Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring.
“We are thrilled to be working with Steven and Gabrielle to release their film in the Us.”
Cantor added: “Sergei Polunin is a complex, enigmatic personality and a rare dancing talent. His creative brilliance and turbulent life have been documented on camera ever since he was...
- 3/7/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The next documentary from Espn Films’ Peabody and Emmy Award-winning "30 for 30" series will be “Chasing Tyson,” premiering tonight, Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. Et on Espn. Directed by the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Steven Cantor, the film examines why so many years went by before Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson finally met in the ring. Holyfield was a journeyman boxer who had earned respect with victorious bouts against greats like Buster Douglas, Riddick Bowe and George Foreman. He won the heavyweight championship belt four times. But it was Mike Tyson’s outsized personality and ferocious punches that cast a commanding shadow over boxing in the 1980s and...
- 11/10/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
The next documentary from Espn Films’ Peabody and Emmy Award-winning "30 for 30" series will be “Chasing Tyson,” premiering on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 8 p.m. Et on Espn. Directed by the Oscar- and Emmy-nominated filmmaker Steven Cantor, the film examines why so many years went by before Evander Holyfield and Mike Tyson finally met in the ring. Holyfield was a journeyman boxer who had earned respect with victorious bouts against greats like Buster Douglas, Riddick Bowe and George Foreman. He won the heavyweight championship belt four times. But it was Mike Tyson’s outsized personality and ferocious punches that cast a commanding shadow over boxing in the 1980s and...
- 11/4/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Exclusive: WestEnd heads to Cannes with doc about controversial ballet star. First look still released.
Acclaimed photographer and director David Lachapelle, Oscar-nominated producer Gabrielle Tana and Philomena star Steve Coogan are among the team collaborating on a documentary about controversial ballet dancer Sergei Polunin.
Dancer, currently in post-production, will offer an immersive and personal portrait of Polunin, the 25-year-old Ukrainian star, described by critics as “the James Dean of the ballet world” and “the most naturally gifted male ballet dancer of his generation”.
Directed by Emmy-nominated Steven Cantor (Devil’s Playground, 2002), with exclusively choreographed clips from Lachapelle and Emmy-award winning director Ross MacGibbon, the film is produced by Philomena and The Duchess producer Tana.
Executive producers are Christine Langan for BBC Films, Carolyn Marks Blackwood from Magnolia Mae Films (Philomena), and Henry Normal and Steve Coogan from Baby Cow (Philomena).
WestEnd Films will be touting the documentary to buyers at the Cannes Marche next month.
The prodigiously...
Acclaimed photographer and director David Lachapelle, Oscar-nominated producer Gabrielle Tana and Philomena star Steve Coogan are among the team collaborating on a documentary about controversial ballet dancer Sergei Polunin.
Dancer, currently in post-production, will offer an immersive and personal portrait of Polunin, the 25-year-old Ukrainian star, described by critics as “the James Dean of the ballet world” and “the most naturally gifted male ballet dancer of his generation”.
Directed by Emmy-nominated Steven Cantor (Devil’s Playground, 2002), with exclusively choreographed clips from Lachapelle and Emmy-award winning director Ross MacGibbon, the film is produced by Philomena and The Duchess producer Tana.
Executive producers are Christine Langan for BBC Films, Carolyn Marks Blackwood from Magnolia Mae Films (Philomena), and Henry Normal and Steve Coogan from Baby Cow (Philomena).
WestEnd Films will be touting the documentary to buyers at the Cannes Marche next month.
The prodigiously...
- 4/22/2015
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
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