Exclusive: Sky Kids is developing children’s book Uncle Bobby’s Wedding as an animated special, as David Levine’s Lightboat Media supercharges its focus on stories with LGBTQ+ stories at their core.
Sarah S. Brannen’s story, told through the eyes of a young girl, Chloe, who learns her beloved Uncle Bobby is getting married to his boyfriend, Jamie. Initially concerned that she’ll no longer be his favorite, she realizes she’ll actually be gaining another uncle after a fun-filled day out with the couple.
The kids division of UK network Sky is developing it as a 30-minute special for June 2025, in time for Pride, with former Moonbug Entertainment and Disney exec Levine in active development on the project. Michael Vogel is attached as the writer.
Lightboat is eyeing co-production, distributor and pre-buying commissioner partners ahead of the KidScreen Summit in San Diego,...
Sarah S. Brannen’s story, told through the eyes of a young girl, Chloe, who learns her beloved Uncle Bobby is getting married to his boyfriend, Jamie. Initially concerned that she’ll no longer be his favorite, she realizes she’ll actually be gaining another uncle after a fun-filled day out with the couple.
The kids division of UK network Sky is developing it as a 30-minute special for June 2025, in time for Pride, with former Moonbug Entertainment and Disney exec Levine in active development on the project. Michael Vogel is attached as the writer.
Lightboat is eyeing co-production, distributor and pre-buying commissioner partners ahead of the KidScreen Summit in San Diego,...
- 1/30/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Ten documentary projects from eight countries have been selected as grantees of Project: Hatched, a Chicken & Egg Pictures program designed to support directors as they develop and launch strategic impact campaigns.
Many of the selected projects had prestigious premieres at film festivals, including Sundance and IDFA. But despite the high-profile debuts, the dismal docu marketplace has forced filmmakers to figure out various alternative distribution models. Project: Hatched funding can help filmmakers ensure an impact campaign around a project that in all likelihood took years to make. Even films such as this year’s Project: Hatched grantee title “Pay or Die,” which was acquired by MTV Documentary Films, are in need of funding for an impact campaign.
Each of the 10 selected film will receive $30,000, which will go towards completion funding and impact campaigns. This is the first year that the grant’s criteria were expanded to include international projects. Additionally, this...
Many of the selected projects had prestigious premieres at film festivals, including Sundance and IDFA. But despite the high-profile debuts, the dismal docu marketplace has forced filmmakers to figure out various alternative distribution models. Project: Hatched funding can help filmmakers ensure an impact campaign around a project that in all likelihood took years to make. Even films such as this year’s Project: Hatched grantee title “Pay or Die,” which was acquired by MTV Documentary Films, are in need of funding for an impact campaign.
Each of the 10 selected film will receive $30,000, which will go towards completion funding and impact campaigns. This is the first year that the grant’s criteria were expanded to include international projects. Additionally, this...
- 8/17/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The Smithsonian Museum has commissioned a series of eight forward-looking shorts exploring social justice issues facing diverse communities across the U.S. to screen as part of its major upcoming November “Futures” exhibition.
“Futures We Dream” consists of new works created over the past year by nine independent filmmakers selected via a partnership with the non-profit Alliance for Media Arts + Culture.
Musician LL Cool J and “Friends” executive producer and director Kevin Bright, both advisors to the museum, are co-chairs of the series. They helped pick the Alliance as a partner, craft the project’s call for entries, and provide feedback on rough cuts.
The exhibition exploring visions of the future will run through July 2022 at America’s oldest national museum, the Smithsonian’s historic Arts and Industries Building (Aib), which opened in 1881. Intended as a celebration of the institution’s 175th anniversary, it will feature nearly 32,000 square feet of new immersive site-specific art installations,...
“Futures We Dream” consists of new works created over the past year by nine independent filmmakers selected via a partnership with the non-profit Alliance for Media Arts + Culture.
Musician LL Cool J and “Friends” executive producer and director Kevin Bright, both advisors to the museum, are co-chairs of the series. They helped pick the Alliance as a partner, craft the project’s call for entries, and provide feedback on rough cuts.
The exhibition exploring visions of the future will run through July 2022 at America’s oldest national museum, the Smithsonian’s historic Arts and Industries Building (Aib), which opened in 1881. Intended as a celebration of the institution’s 175th anniversary, it will feature nearly 32,000 square feet of new immersive site-specific art installations,...
- 7/13/2021
- by Rebecca Davis
- Variety Film + TV
From The Beverly Hillbillies to Buckwild, and from Coal Miner’s Daughter to Deliverance, the face of Appalachia has long been defined (and stereotyped and exploited) by the Hollywood eye. And in the wake of the 2016 presidential election the caricaturing continued, this time at the hands (and pens) of the press corps on the other coastal liberal side. Enter native Appalachian documentarians Sally Rubin (Deep Down) and Ashley York (Tig) to remedy historical wrongs. In their La Film Festival Best Documentary Feature winner hillbilly the duo systematically take a wrecking ball to every highly offensive yet socially acceptable white trash […]...
- 1/9/2019
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
From The Beverly Hillbillies to Buckwild, and from Coal Miner’s Daughter to Deliverance, the face of Appalachia has long been defined (and stereotyped and exploited) by the Hollywood eye. And in the wake of the 2016 presidential election the caricaturing continued, this time at the hands (and pens) of the press corps on the other coastal liberal side. Enter native Appalachian documentarians Sally Rubin (Deep Down) and Ashley York (Tig) to remedy historical wrongs. In their La Film Festival Best Documentary Feature winner hillbilly the duo systematically take a wrecking ball to every highly offensive yet socially acceptable white trash […]...
- 1/9/2019
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Since the 2016 presidential election, Americans have been urged to reach “outside the bubble.” As Donald Trump’s presidential victory made the deep divisions in this country painfully clear, the following years have only solidified the belief on both sides that half the country is completely unreachable. In the new documentary “Hillbilly,” filmmakers Ashley York and Sally Rubin posit that no group is more misunderstood than Appalachian Americans, a group that has either been totally neglected by the media or unjustly maligned with caricatures and stereotypes.
The official synopsis reads: “‘hillbilly’ goes on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American ‘hillbilly,’ and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype. Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, ‘hillbilly’ uncovers an unexpected set of artists, poets, activists, queer musicians,...
The official synopsis reads: “‘hillbilly’ goes on a personal and political journey into the heart of the Appalachian coalfields, exploring the role of media representation in the creation of the iconic American ‘hillbilly,’ and examining the social, cultural, and political underpinnings of this infamous stereotype. Filmed in Georgia, Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia, ‘hillbilly’ uncovers an unexpected set of artists, poets, activists, queer musicians,...
- 12/11/2018
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
The newest of the fall festivals wraps up today, and the Los Angeles Film Festival has announced Tom Shadyac’s powerful and inspiring true story Brian Banks as winner of its Audience Award for Fiction Feature Film and the acclaimed Stuntman as Audience Award choice winner for Best Documentary Feature. As the Toronto Film Festival annually proves, it is the Audience Award that often gets the most attention and is most representative of a particular film’s success at many of these fests.
At its world premiere screening Saturday afternoon, Brian Banks received five standing ovations by my count as the key creative team and actors were brought up on stage by Banks himself after the rousing reception to the emotionally draining film. It’s the story of a promising young football star’s fight against the justice system in trying to clear his name after serving prison time and...
At its world premiere screening Saturday afternoon, Brian Banks received five standing ovations by my count as the key creative team and actors were brought up on stage by Banks himself after the rousing reception to the emotionally draining film. It’s the story of a promising young football star’s fight against the justice system in trying to clear his name after serving prison time and...
- 9/28/2018
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The Hot Springs Documentary Film Festival has set “Hillbilly” as its opening film on Oct. 16 and “Daughters of the Sexual Revolution: The Untold Stories of the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders” to close the festival, Variety has learned exclusively.
“Hillbilly,” directed by Ashley York and Sally Rubin, will open the 27th annual festival on Oct. 16 in Hot Springs, Ar. The festival touts itself as the longest-running all-documentary film festival in North America.
“In the aftermath of the 2016 election, there has been a palpable divide between urban and rural regions of the United States. As an established festival in the South, it is our aim to close this gap by exploring our southern identity as it relates to the current political climate,” said Jennifer Gerber, executive director.
“Hillbilly” examines the iconic hillbilly image in media and culture and explores more than 100 years of media representation of mountain and rural people. York, a liberal feminist living in Los Angeles,...
“Hillbilly,” directed by Ashley York and Sally Rubin, will open the 27th annual festival on Oct. 16 in Hot Springs, Ar. The festival touts itself as the longest-running all-documentary film festival in North America.
“In the aftermath of the 2016 election, there has been a palpable divide between urban and rural regions of the United States. As an established festival in the South, it is our aim to close this gap by exploring our southern identity as it relates to the current political climate,” said Jennifer Gerber, executive director.
“Hillbilly” examines the iconic hillbilly image in media and culture and explores more than 100 years of media representation of mountain and rural people. York, a liberal feminist living in Los Angeles,...
- 9/4/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Film Independent’s Los Angeles event boasts 42% female-directed entries.
Film Independent’s La Film Festival has unveiled the line-ups for five of its sections, with Gregory Dixon’s Olympia, Alex Moratto’s Socrates and Linda Midgett’s Same God among the world premieres.
The festival, which runs from September 20 to 28 this year in Los Angeles, announced 40 features, 41 shorts and 10 episodic shorts from a total of 26 countries.
In competition categories, 42% of the festival titles are directed by women and 39% by people of colour, said Film Independent, the non-profit that also produces the Spirit Awards.
Scroll down for full line-up
Jennifer Cochis,...
Film Independent’s La Film Festival has unveiled the line-ups for five of its sections, with Gregory Dixon’s Olympia, Alex Moratto’s Socrates and Linda Midgett’s Same God among the world premieres.
The festival, which runs from September 20 to 28 this year in Los Angeles, announced 40 features, 41 shorts and 10 episodic shorts from a total of 26 countries.
In competition categories, 42% of the festival titles are directed by women and 39% by people of colour, said Film Independent, the non-profit that also produces the Spirit Awards.
Scroll down for full line-up
Jennifer Cochis,...
- 8/1/2018
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
The La Film Festival has placed a heavy emphasis on diversity in its competition film slate, with 42% of the films directed by women and 39% helmed by people of color.
The 24th edition of the festival is also positioning itself as an event for unveiling lesser-known talent. It will take place Sept. 20-28 as it moves from its traditional June slot to the fall awards season.
The Los Angeles event follow the Venice International Film Festival, which begins in late August; the Telluride Film Festival, which runs over Labor Day; and the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, which starts on Sept. 6. The festival will end just as the New York Film Festival begins.
“Our mission of finding fresh new voices from different geographical and cultural axes remains true,” said L Film Festival director Jennifer Cochis. “These storytellers are united by their ability to transport, impact and inspire audiences with the power of their craft.
The 24th edition of the festival is also positioning itself as an event for unveiling lesser-known talent. It will take place Sept. 20-28 as it moves from its traditional June slot to the fall awards season.
The Los Angeles event follow the Venice International Film Festival, which begins in late August; the Telluride Film Festival, which runs over Labor Day; and the Toronto Intl. Film Festival, which starts on Sept. 6. The festival will end just as the New York Film Festival begins.
“Our mission of finding fresh new voices from different geographical and cultural axes remains true,” said L Film Festival director Jennifer Cochis. “These storytellers are united by their ability to transport, impact and inspire audiences with the power of their craft.
- 7/31/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Forty feature films including 24 world premieres highlight the official La Film Festival competition lineup in the fest’s move into the crowded fall festival corridor, away from their previous early-summer perch.
Among the movies in competition is the highly regarded Swedish film Border (Grans) from director Ali Abbasi, a Neon pickup out of Cannes that took the top prize in that festival’s No. 2 competition, Un Certain Regard. It is listed as a “California Premiere,” which means it likely will show up first in Telluride, Toronto or both before Laff, which runs September 20-28. It will play in the World Fiction Competition across a field of categories that also include U.S. Fiction, Documentary, La Muse, Nightfall. Short Films, and Episodes: Indie Series from the web.
“Our mission of finding fresh new voices from different geographical and cultural axes remains true,” Laff Director Jennifer Cochis said. “These storytellers are united by their ability to transport,...
Among the movies in competition is the highly regarded Swedish film Border (Grans) from director Ali Abbasi, a Neon pickup out of Cannes that took the top prize in that festival’s No. 2 competition, Un Certain Regard. It is listed as a “California Premiere,” which means it likely will show up first in Telluride, Toronto or both before Laff, which runs September 20-28. It will play in the World Fiction Competition across a field of categories that also include U.S. Fiction, Documentary, La Muse, Nightfall. Short Films, and Episodes: Indie Series from the web.
“Our mission of finding fresh new voices from different geographical and cultural axes remains true,” Laff Director Jennifer Cochis said. “These storytellers are united by their ability to transport,...
- 7/31/2018
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
For its 24th edition, Film Independent’s newly configured Los Angeles Film Festival has revealed its first fall lineup (September 20 – 28), the second under the leadership of Festival Director Jennifer Cochis. The date moves Laff into awards season and direct competition with AFI Fest (November 8 – 15), the last of the fall festivals. This year’s Laff program includes 40 feature films, 41 short films, and 10 short episodic works representing 26 countries. Across the competition categories 42 percent of the films are directed by women and 39 percent are directed by people of color.
The festival remains committed to a diverse lineup of feature films, shorts and episodic series for its U.S. Fiction (“original voices with distinct visions from emerging and established American independent filmmakers”), Documentary (“character-driven non-fiction films from the U.S. and around the world”), World Fiction (“unique fiction films from around the world by emerging and established filmmakers”), La Muse (“fiction and documentary films...
The festival remains committed to a diverse lineup of feature films, shorts and episodic series for its U.S. Fiction (“original voices with distinct visions from emerging and established American independent filmmakers”), Documentary (“character-driven non-fiction films from the U.S. and around the world”), World Fiction (“unique fiction films from around the world by emerging and established filmmakers”), La Muse (“fiction and documentary films...
- 7/31/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
For its 24th edition, Film Independent’s newly configured Los Angeles Film Festival has revealed its first fall lineup (September 20 – 28), the second under the leadership of Festival Director Jennifer Cochis. The date moves Laff into awards season and direct competition with AFI Fest (November 8 – 15), the last of the fall festivals. This year’s Laff program includes 40 feature films, 41 short films, and 10 short episodic works representing 26 countries. Across the competition categories 42 percent of the films are directed by women and 39 percent are directed by people of color.
The festival remains committed to a diverse lineup of feature films, shorts and episodic series for its U.S. Fiction (“original voices with distinct visions from emerging and established American independent filmmakers”), Documentary (“character-driven non-fiction films from the U.S. and around the world”), World Fiction (“unique fiction films from around the world by emerging and established filmmakers”), La Muse (“fiction and documentary films...
The festival remains committed to a diverse lineup of feature films, shorts and episodic series for its U.S. Fiction (“original voices with distinct visions from emerging and established American independent filmmakers”), Documentary (“character-driven non-fiction films from the U.S. and around the world”), World Fiction (“unique fiction films from around the world by emerging and established filmmakers”), La Muse (“fiction and documentary films...
- 7/31/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Traverse City Film Festival is celebrating its 14th year in 2018 by bringing together some of the year’s best indies and documentaries, plus classics from Jonathan Demme, Hal Ashby, and more. The Michigan-set festival, backed by Michael Moore, is being run in 2018 by directors Susan Fisher and Meg Weichman, who have worked on the festival for nearly a decade and have been at the helm since December.
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.
The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.
Opening Night: “Rbg”
Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”
Closing Night: “Burden”
Open Space
“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich
“Black Panther,...
Tickets for this year’s edition will go on sale to the public on Saturday, July 21 (click here for the official festival website). Friends of the Film Festival will be able to get early access to tickets with advance sales starting Sunday, July 15.
The full lineup for the 2018 Traverse City Film Festival is below.
Opening Night: “Rbg”
Centerpiece: “Hearts Beat Loud”
Closing Night: “Burden”
Open Space
“Stop Making Sense,” Jonathan Demme
“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle,” Jake Kasdan
“Coco,” Lee Unkrich
“Black Panther,...
- 6/29/2018
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.