Exclusive: Byron Allen’s Freestyle Digital Media has picked up the North American VOD rights to Emmy winning filmmaker Kern Konwiser’s documentary, Still a Black Star about Japanese artist and environmental activist Mago Nagasaka.
The pic will debut on VOD platforms and on DVD on Nov. 7 before a theatrical premiere at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on Oct. 16 and Consolidated Theatres Kahala in Hawaii on Oct. 27.
Still a Black Star captures the rise of one of Japan’s most celebrated artists who aims to change the world by starting in its most forgotten corner. The film follows Mago as he traces the flow of waste & recycling from the world’s wealthiest nations to its final destination, a fiery e-waste graveyard in Ghana, Africa where electronics are burned to recover the precious metals they contain while poisoning the people and devastating the land. Embedding in the settlement known as Agbogbloshie,...
The pic will debut on VOD platforms and on DVD on Nov. 7 before a theatrical premiere at Laemmle Theaters in Los Angeles on Oct. 16 and Consolidated Theatres Kahala in Hawaii on Oct. 27.
Still a Black Star captures the rise of one of Japan’s most celebrated artists who aims to change the world by starting in its most forgotten corner. The film follows Mago as he traces the flow of waste & recycling from the world’s wealthiest nations to its final destination, a fiery e-waste graveyard in Ghana, Africa where electronics are burned to recover the precious metals they contain while poisoning the people and devastating the land. Embedding in the settlement known as Agbogbloshie,...
- 10/13/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Stuart Waldman and his wife Nicole paid a premium when they bought their highly filmed Midvale Estates home in the San Fernando Valley. That’s largely because they knew brands like Toyota, Chipotle and Dr. Pepper would help foot the bill. The previous owner even showed the couple tax forms with the income they generated from mostly commercial filming at their Langdon Avenue home in Van Nuys as a bargaining chip.
“We knew that that was going to be an added income stream,” said Waldman, whose picture-perfect home with a wood-paneled living room and huge backyard averages about eight filming days a year. “The asking price was definitely a little higher than market value and we went above that as well.”
The Waldmans are among the countless L.A.-area families who have rented out their homes to film crews, trading some inconvenience and loss of privacy for financial rewards...
“We knew that that was going to be an added income stream,” said Waldman, whose picture-perfect home with a wood-paneled living room and huge backyard averages about eight filming days a year. “The asking price was definitely a little higher than market value and we went above that as well.”
The Waldmans are among the countless L.A.-area families who have rented out their homes to film crews, trading some inconvenience and loss of privacy for financial rewards...
- 3/16/2023
- by Brenda Gazzar
- The Wrap
Diversity has historically been slow to come to the highly filmed stretch of Orion Avenue in Los Angeles’ San Fernando Valley known as Cameron Woods. But the same throwback suburban qualities that have long brought film crews to its spacious ranch-style homes and Cape Cods — it’s called “The Leave It to Beaver Street” for a reason — are drawing new residents who look more like the surrounding city.
Cameron Woods residents are still mostly white, a contrast to the rest of Van Nuys where it’s situated and heavily Latino. Traditionally, the 30 or so homes on this upscale stretch of Orion Avenue between Victory Boulevard and Erwin Street rarely came up for sale, instead passing to family members or the children of neighbors. But as more of those homeowners have been “aging out” or otherwise moving on, the increased turnover is bringing greater diversity.
While there are still few if any Latino residents here,...
Cameron Woods residents are still mostly white, a contrast to the rest of Van Nuys where it’s situated and heavily Latino. Traditionally, the 30 or so homes on this upscale stretch of Orion Avenue between Victory Boulevard and Erwin Street rarely came up for sale, instead passing to family members or the children of neighbors. But as more of those homeowners have been “aging out” or otherwise moving on, the increased turnover is bringing greater diversity.
While there are still few if any Latino residents here,...
- 3/2/2023
- by Brenda Gazzar
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Konwiser Brothers Media has landed the rights to the documentary The World’s Most Dangerous Radio Station, which tells the story of the first Hip-Hop radio station, 1580 Kday, and its founder and legendary Music Director/Assistant Program Director Greg Mack.
The doc recounts the dawn of Hip Hop when an obscure Los Angeles Am radio station and its maverick programmer were instrumental in the early careers of Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Run Dmc, Queen Latifah, Ice-t and many others. Additionally, beginning with Dr. Dre as his first On Air Mixer, Mack went on to form the most powerful group of Radio Mix DJs’ ever assembled the “Mack Attack” Mixmasters.
“I never think of this as ‘my story,’ rather one that changed an industry and gave voice to so many talented artists with whom I’m honored to reconnect via this film,” Mack said. “I know that through...
The doc recounts the dawn of Hip Hop when an obscure Los Angeles Am radio station and its maverick programmer were instrumental in the early careers of Jay Z, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Run Dmc, Queen Latifah, Ice-t and many others. Additionally, beginning with Dr. Dre as his first On Air Mixer, Mack went on to form the most powerful group of Radio Mix DJs’ ever assembled the “Mack Attack” Mixmasters.
“I never think of this as ‘my story,’ rather one that changed an industry and gave voice to so many talented artists with whom I’m honored to reconnect via this film,” Mack said. “I know that through...
- 8/6/2020
- by Justin Kroll
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s been a surprisingly interesting month of moving and shaking in terms of doc development. Just a month after making his first public funding pitch at Toronto’s Hot Docs Forum, legendary doc filmmaker Frederick Wiseman took to Kickstarter to help cover the remaining expenses for his 40th feature film In Jackson Heights (see the film’s first trailer below). Unrelentingly rigorous in his determination to capture the American institutional landscape on film, his latest continues down this thematic rabbit hole, taking on the immensely diverse New York City neighborhood of Jackson Heights as his latest subject. According to the Kickstarter page, Wiseman is currently editing the 120 hours of rushes he shot with hopes of having the film ready for a fall festival premiere (my guess would be Tiff, where both National Gallery and At Berkeley made their North American debut), though he’s currently quite a ways away from his $75,000 goal.
- 7/6/2015
- by Jordan M. Smith
- IONCINEMA.com
Legendary is set to produce a feature-length documentary with the aim of inspiring American youth to become passionate about math and science. The film, to be written and directed by Emmy winners Kip and Kern Konwiser, will show how the two disciplines impact all areas of our lives from sports, pop-culture, academia, to government, health care, technology and entertainment. Currently, the U.S. ranks 30th out of 65 developed nations in math and 23rd in science, Legendary…...
- 6/10/2015
- Deadline
GigaPix Studios has secured financing for five kid-friendly movies. The budgets will range from the $6 million to $10 million mark. Media 8 will be handling foreign distribution and sales. The first film will be the fantasy adventure "Blackbeard" directed by Kern Konwiser . Filming is said to start some time in April next year. GigaPix boss David Pritchard also produced "Captain Abu Raed," the Oscar contender from Jordan in the foreign-language category. He additionally served as an executive producer for "King of the Hill," "Family Guy" and "The Simpsons."...
- 11/25/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
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