Watch the Short Film Dead Enders: "Disaffected, young gas-station clerk Maya doesn't care about much besides messing with her manager and getting her beer discount at the end of the midnight shift. But after a sinister race of mind-controlling parasites are set loose by irresponsible oil drillers, Maya realizes that there might be more to life than spending all your waking hours stacking shelves for a corporate overlord."
DeadEndersFilm.com
Crew
Directed By | Fidel Ruiz-healy & Tyler Walker Written By | Fidel Ruiz-healy & Tyler Walker And Conor Murphy & Jordan Michael Blake Produced By | Raven Jensen & Amanda Crown Co-produced By | Conor Murphy, Nico Alvo, Gregory Barns, Jordan Michael Blake, & Eduardo Ruiz-Healy Production Company | The American Standard Film Co. Executive Producer | Joe Veix Associate Producer | Katie Heim Cinematography By | Conor Murphy Production Design By | Chazz Foggie Assistant Director | Eduardo Ruiz-healy Original Score By | Chris Ruenes & Drake Tyler Creature Design | Rashaad Santiago VFX By...
DeadEndersFilm.com
Crew
Directed By | Fidel Ruiz-healy & Tyler Walker Written By | Fidel Ruiz-healy & Tyler Walker And Conor Murphy & Jordan Michael Blake Produced By | Raven Jensen & Amanda Crown Co-produced By | Conor Murphy, Nico Alvo, Gregory Barns, Jordan Michael Blake, & Eduardo Ruiz-Healy Production Company | The American Standard Film Co. Executive Producer | Joe Veix Associate Producer | Katie Heim Cinematography By | Conor Murphy Production Design By | Chazz Foggie Assistant Director | Eduardo Ruiz-healy Original Score By | Chris Ruenes & Drake Tyler Creature Design | Rashaad Santiago VFX By...
- 10/18/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
Quebec festival wrapped on August 9.
Talk To Me, the horror hit from Danny and Michael Philippou which has grossed more than $31m in North America and close to $50m worldwide, has been named best international feature in the 2023 Fantasia audience awards.
In other key awards Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean title The Roundup: No Way Out was named best Asian feature, while Shigeyoshi Tsukahara’s Japanese entry Kurayukaba earned best animated feature, and
Satan Wants You from Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor took the inaugural Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (narrative or documentary).
The full list of audience award winners appears below.
Talk To Me, the horror hit from Danny and Michael Philippou which has grossed more than $31m in North America and close to $50m worldwide, has been named best international feature in the 2023 Fantasia audience awards.
In other key awards Lee Sang-yong’s South Korean title The Roundup: No Way Out was named best Asian feature, while Shigeyoshi Tsukahara’s Japanese entry Kurayukaba earned best animated feature, and
Satan Wants You from Steve J. Adams and Sean Horlor took the inaugural Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (narrative or documentary).
The full list of audience award winners appears below.
- 8/14/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
A couple weeks ago, the Fantasia International Film Festival announced the films that won jury prizes at the 27th edition of the show, which recently came to a close. Yesterday, our own Tyler Nichols shared his list of favorite films from this year’s Fantasia festival. Now Fantasia has unveiled the list of audience award winners, with wins going to films like Talk to Me, The Roundup: No Way Out, Kurayukaba, and Satan Wants You, among others. The full list can be seen below:
Best International Feature
Gold: Talk To Me
Silver: Late Night With The Devil
Bronze: Hundreds Of Beavers
Best Asian Feature
Gold: The Roundup: No Way Out
Silver: River
Bronze: Phantom (South Korea d. Lee Hae-young)
Best Animated Feature
Gold: Kurayukaba
Silver: The Concierge
Bronze: The First Slam Dunk
The Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (Narrative or Documentary)
Satan Wants You – This year’s...
Best International Feature
Gold: Talk To Me
Silver: Late Night With The Devil
Bronze: Hundreds Of Beavers
Best Asian Feature
Gold: The Roundup: No Way Out
Silver: River
Bronze: Phantom (South Korea d. Lee Hae-young)
Best Animated Feature
Gold: Kurayukaba
Silver: The Concierge
Bronze: The First Slam Dunk
The Dgc Audience Award for Best Canadian Film (Narrative or Documentary)
Satan Wants You – This year’s...
- 8/14/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Fantastic 7 is the showcase of international genre projects at an advanced stage of production.
Carlota Pereda’s second film The Chapel, her follow-up to Sundance hit Piggy, is among the seven films selected for Fantastic 7, the showcase of international genre projects at various stages of production to be showcased at the Cannes market this year.
Fantastic 7 is a joint initiative of the Cannes Marche du Film, Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia and Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur co-director Bernardo Bergeret. Each film has been selected by a different genre-focused festival
The Chapel, which is in post, is the selection of Sitges.
Carlota Pereda’s second film The Chapel, her follow-up to Sundance hit Piggy, is among the seven films selected for Fantastic 7, the showcase of international genre projects at various stages of production to be showcased at the Cannes market this year.
Fantastic 7 is a joint initiative of the Cannes Marche du Film, Sitges’ International Fantastic Film Festival of Catalonia and Buenos Aires’ Ventana Sur co-director Bernardo Bergeret. Each film has been selected by a different genre-focused festival
The Chapel, which is in post, is the selection of Sitges.
- 4/25/2023
- by Emilio Mayorga
- ScreenDaily
If you've been following us this weekend on Daily Dead's Instagram and Twitter accounts, you'll know that we've had an incredible time at this year's Overlook Film Festival, which was packed with features, shorts, immersive experiences, and special events! After announcing that this year's Overlook had a record-breaking year in sold-out screenings, audience attendance, and filmmaker guests, the festival revealed their juried and audience winners for features and short films, and trust me when I say that you should keep all of these films on your radar!
"April 6, 2023 | New Orleans, LA – The Overlook Film Festival, the seventh annual celebration of all things horror, announced today the winners of the 2023 juried competition along with the Audience Award recipients.
The Best Short Film honor was awarded to Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead by Brooke H. Cellars. Fidel Ruiz-Healy and Tyler Walker’s Dead Enders received an honorable mention in the category.
"April 6, 2023 | New Orleans, LA – The Overlook Film Festival, the seventh annual celebration of all things horror, announced today the winners of the 2023 juried competition along with the Audience Award recipients.
The Best Short Film honor was awarded to Violet Butterfield: Makeup Artist for the Dead by Brooke H. Cellars. Fidel Ruiz-Healy and Tyler Walker’s Dead Enders received an honorable mention in the category.
- 4/6/2023
- by Jonathan James
- DailyDead
The Eva Longoria-directed Flamin’ Hot, Imran J. Khan’s Mustache and the upcoming ESPN bio-doc about NBA icon Bill Walton were among the audience award winners revealed Monday for the 31st SXSW Film & TV Festival.
Flamin’ Hot, which stars Jesse Garcia in the sometimes true tale of the man behind the “flamin’ hot”-branded chip revolution, was named the Audience Award winner in the festival’s Headliners section. The pic, from Searchlight Pictures, will debut June 9 on both Hulu and Disney+.
Related Story SXSW Film Festival Narrative Feature Competition Winners Through The Years – Photo Gallery Related Story Eva Longoria's 'Flamin' Hot' Is First Feature To Hit Both Hulu & Disney+ In Streaming Debut Related Story SXSW 2023: All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews
Mustache, written and directed by Khan, won the Narrative Feature Competition honor, and Julio Quintana’s The Long Game won for Narrative Spotlight. The Documentary Feature...
Flamin’ Hot, which stars Jesse Garcia in the sometimes true tale of the man behind the “flamin’ hot”-branded chip revolution, was named the Audience Award winner in the festival’s Headliners section. The pic, from Searchlight Pictures, will debut June 9 on both Hulu and Disney+.
Related Story SXSW Film Festival Narrative Feature Competition Winners Through The Years – Photo Gallery Related Story Eva Longoria's 'Flamin' Hot' Is First Feature To Hit Both Hulu & Disney+ In Streaming Debut Related Story SXSW 2023: All Of Deadline's Movie Reviews
Mustache, written and directed by Khan, won the Narrative Feature Competition honor, and Julio Quintana’s The Long Game won for Narrative Spotlight. The Documentary Feature...
- 3/20/2023
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Mustache, Geoff McFetridge: Drawing A Life, Ek Jagah Apni also honoured.
Eva Longoria’s feature directing debut Flamin’ Hot has won the 2023 SXSW Headliners Audience Award, among other winners announced on Monday.
‘Flamin’ Hot’: SXSW Review
Flamin’ Hot recounts the story of Richard Montañez as the Frito-Lay janitor who turned Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a global pop culture phenomenon. It was announced earlier today the film will get an unprecedented debut on Hulu and Disney+ on June 9, 2023, becoming the first scripted release to stream simultaneously on both platforms in the US. It will be available on Disney+ internationally.
Eva Longoria’s feature directing debut Flamin’ Hot has won the 2023 SXSW Headliners Audience Award, among other winners announced on Monday.
‘Flamin’ Hot’: SXSW Review
Flamin’ Hot recounts the story of Richard Montañez as the Frito-Lay janitor who turned Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a global pop culture phenomenon. It was announced earlier today the film will get an unprecedented debut on Hulu and Disney+ on June 9, 2023, becoming the first scripted release to stream simultaneously on both platforms in the US. It will be available on Disney+ internationally.
- 3/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Mustache, Geoff McFetridge: Drawing A Life, Ek Jagah Apni also honoured.
Eva Longoria’s feature directing debut Flamin’ Hot has won the 2023 SXSW Headliners Audience Award, among other winners announced on Monday.
‘Flamin’ Hot’: SXSW Review
Flamin’ Hot recounts the story of Richard Montañez as the Frito-Lay janitor who turned Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a global pop culture phenomenon. It was announced earlier today the film will get an unprecedented debut on Hulu and Disney+ on June 9, 2023, becoming the first scripted release to stream simultaneously on both platforms in the US. It will be available on Disney+ internationally.
Eva Longoria’s feature directing debut Flamin’ Hot has won the 2023 SXSW Headliners Audience Award, among other winners announced on Monday.
‘Flamin’ Hot’: SXSW Review
Flamin’ Hot recounts the story of Richard Montañez as the Frito-Lay janitor who turned Flamin’ Hot Cheetos into a global pop culture phenomenon. It was announced earlier today the film will get an unprecedented debut on Hulu and Disney+ on June 9, 2023, becoming the first scripted release to stream simultaneously on both platforms in the US. It will be available on Disney+ internationally.
- 3/20/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The fifth edition of the Us in Progress co-production forum will be held on October 22-23rd, 2015, as a part of the 6th American Film Festival in Wrocław (October 20-25th).
Us in Progress aims to facilitate professional networking among European film professionals and emerging independent filmmakers from the United States. A biannual event, Us in Progress is also held in June during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival in Paris.
Invite-only screenings will feature six projects selected from fifty American independent feature-length submissions, all in final editing stages. Congratulations to the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Actor Martinez" by Mike Ott & Nathan Silver "Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett "Americana" by Zachary Shedd "It Had to Be You" by Sasha Gordon "The Alchemist Cookbook" by Joel Potrykus "The Loner" by Daniel Grove Invited to Wroclaw, the filmmakers and/or their producers will present the projects to top European buyers and festival programmers (Locarno, Edinburgh, Versatile, Memento and Trust Nordisk among others) and attend one-to-one meetings and network.
The 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław partners provide in-kind awards of post-production service packages of combined value amounting to $40,000. Partners from the leading Polish sound and image studios include:
-Soundflower Studio and Maciej Zieliński
-Chimney Poland
-Fixafilms
-Toya Studios .
Prizes are also being offered by Producers' Network at Cannes and Ale kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2014, the top prize was awarded to the producers/directors of "Homefront" (by Tyler Walker and Fidel Ruiz-Healy). They recently color-graded in Warsaw's Chimney.
Selections from last year's slate "God Bless the Child" and "Take Me to the River" had World Premieres at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and the 2015 Sundance Film festivals, respectively. Both films will screen this year in the Spectrum competition at the American Film Festival.
To learn more or contact Us in Progress please email: aff[At]snh.org.pl...
Us in Progress aims to facilitate professional networking among European film professionals and emerging independent filmmakers from the United States. A biannual event, Us in Progress is also held in June during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival in Paris.
Invite-only screenings will feature six projects selected from fifty American independent feature-length submissions, all in final editing stages. Congratulations to the 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Actor Martinez" by Mike Ott & Nathan Silver "Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett "Americana" by Zachary Shedd "It Had to Be You" by Sasha Gordon "The Alchemist Cookbook" by Joel Potrykus "The Loner" by Daniel Grove Invited to Wroclaw, the filmmakers and/or their producers will present the projects to top European buyers and festival programmers (Locarno, Edinburgh, Versatile, Memento and Trust Nordisk among others) and attend one-to-one meetings and network.
The 2015 Us in Progress Wrocław partners provide in-kind awards of post-production service packages of combined value amounting to $40,000. Partners from the leading Polish sound and image studios include:
-Soundflower Studio and Maciej Zieliński
-Chimney Poland
-Fixafilms
-Toya Studios .
Prizes are also being offered by Producers' Network at Cannes and Ale kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2014, the top prize was awarded to the producers/directors of "Homefront" (by Tyler Walker and Fidel Ruiz-Healy). They recently color-graded in Warsaw's Chimney.
Selections from last year's slate "God Bless the Child" and "Take Me to the River" had World Premieres at the 2015 SXSW Film Festival and the 2015 Sundance Film festivals, respectively. Both films will screen this year in the Spectrum competition at the American Film Festival.
To learn more or contact Us in Progress please email: aff[At]snh.org.pl...
- 10/1/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Us in Progress Wrocław is one of the most important networking events in Europe for U.S filmmakers! There are only a few days left to submit your project. Deadline is August 3. More info can be found Here
Last year’s winner of the 2014 Us in Progress Wrocław, Fidel R. Ruiz-Healy - the co-director/producer of “The Homefront” - worked in Warsaw on post-production.
In October 2014, during the American Film Festival's Us in Progress program, “The Homefront” was awarded free color-correction services from one of the leading post-production houses - international group Chimney.
“The Homefront” (co-directed/produced by Tyler Walker) is a stylish dark-comedy, a parody of an American nuclear family forced under occupation in a dystopian world. With support from Film Commission Poland, Fidel worked in Chimney's Warsaw studio with world-recognized colorist Wiktor Sasim.
This is how Fidel described his experience:
"After working with Chimney-Poland, it's going to be hard to work with anyone else. Wiktor and the Chimney staff took 'The Homefront' and made it part of their family. From day one, they were committed to creating a unique and appropriate look that captured the tone of our film. Using Nucoda, Wiktor would meticulously make sure that not a single color value was out of place, re-watching the film to ensure that our look worked, not only consistently through each scene, but thematically through the narrative arch of the film. I arrived with a film shot in difficult circumstances that was rough around the edges. I came home with a film as bleak and sardonic as the script. I expected professional technicians, but also found friends and collaborators that I expect to work with again in the near future. Ula Sniegowska of the American Ff and Wojtek Kabarowski of The Chimney, believed in our offbeat film and, through U.S in Progress, created an opportunity for us as independent American Filmmakers that would seem like a pipe dream in the U.S. I would encourage anyone with a film ready for post to submit for consideration."
American producers are welcome to send 30 minutes of their rough-cut through www.usinprogress.pl or usinprogress.com with no submission fee.
U.S. in Progress is organized in the frame of the American Film Festival and offers:
*exposure to top European buyers
*awards of post-production services from top Polish post companies
*networking in a safe and professional environment.
Last year’s winner of the 2014 Us in Progress Wrocław, Fidel R. Ruiz-Healy - the co-director/producer of “The Homefront” - worked in Warsaw on post-production.
In October 2014, during the American Film Festival's Us in Progress program, “The Homefront” was awarded free color-correction services from one of the leading post-production houses - international group Chimney.
“The Homefront” (co-directed/produced by Tyler Walker) is a stylish dark-comedy, a parody of an American nuclear family forced under occupation in a dystopian world. With support from Film Commission Poland, Fidel worked in Chimney's Warsaw studio with world-recognized colorist Wiktor Sasim.
This is how Fidel described his experience:
"After working with Chimney-Poland, it's going to be hard to work with anyone else. Wiktor and the Chimney staff took 'The Homefront' and made it part of their family. From day one, they were committed to creating a unique and appropriate look that captured the tone of our film. Using Nucoda, Wiktor would meticulously make sure that not a single color value was out of place, re-watching the film to ensure that our look worked, not only consistently through each scene, but thematically through the narrative arch of the film. I arrived with a film shot in difficult circumstances that was rough around the edges. I came home with a film as bleak and sardonic as the script. I expected professional technicians, but also found friends and collaborators that I expect to work with again in the near future. Ula Sniegowska of the American Ff and Wojtek Kabarowski of The Chimney, believed in our offbeat film and, through U.S in Progress, created an opportunity for us as independent American Filmmakers that would seem like a pipe dream in the U.S. I would encourage anyone with a film ready for post to submit for consideration."
American producers are welcome to send 30 minutes of their rough-cut through www.usinprogress.pl or usinprogress.com with no submission fee.
U.S. in Progress is organized in the frame of the American Film Festival and offers:
*exposure to top European buyers
*awards of post-production services from top Polish post companies
*networking in a safe and professional environment.
- 8/23/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
I have just returned from Wroclaw, Poland where U.S. in Progress, the American Film Festival's works-in-progress event just wrapped. Held October 22-25, 2014, during the 5th American Film Festival (October 21-26), this was the best selection of filmmakers and films I have seen here to date, and I have been attending this event and its sister event in Paris every year since its inception (except for last October which I missed).
Earnest, attentive and professionally engaged, seeking answers about the best ways to complete the films in order to appeal strategically to festivals and international sales agents, the filmmakers discussed how best to further the success of their present and future films as well as their careers as international filmmakers. These six teams of filmmakers undoubtedly benefited enormously from the Polish and European film professionals who shared their knowledge as everyone watched the six chosen films, networking, sharing meals and drinking and who knows what till all hours in three fully packed days and nights.
Debuting filmmakers from the United States. in the only event of its kind in Europe (except for its sister event held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris) were invited (all expenses paid) to this great European city where the only multiplex for arthouse cinema of its kind is flourishing.
Roman Gutek, founder of this festival and the larger summertime Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, owner of Gutek Distribution, an entrepreneur who loves creating new events and projects, took over the giant theater in the middle of this middle-European, formerly Prussian city a few years ago and has introduced more than cinema to a well-educated (top univerisity here is one of the oldest in Europe) young populace. Other successful events include opera, ballet and monthly film events for 35,000 school children. He is now preparing the cinema component for the upcoming celebration of Wroclaw as the European Capital of Culture 2016.
One of his sons is working with the American Film Festival with its artistic director Ula Śniegowska. The other son is a chef and quite active in the gastronomic success of the city. Polish food is what our grandmothers used to make; one of the finest if not the finest cuisine in Central and Eastern Europe. This year pumpkin held center stage, with delicious dumplings and soups. Coincidentally, that other great culinary and cinema city, San Sebastian, also the inventor of the cinema "works-in-progress" industry model, has instituted a gastronomic exchange through the Polish-Basque Cultural Association Arrano Zuria. The project is promoted by the Donostia San Sebastian 2016 Foundation in charge of the European Capital of Culture 2016 in which chefs from both countries exchange and share recipes of both countries for public feasts.
But I digress...the 2014 U.S. in Progress, Wrocław participants:
Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian of "God Bless the Child" were articulate and full of anecdotes about how their book-ended story featured Robert's own five children in their own home. The first book-end shows the car being driven away by the mother early in the morning thus leaving the 13 year old daughter in charge of four brothers aged 18 months to seven or eight years. The closing book-end is for you, the viewer, to see as it caps off an almost perfect film. Between book-ends, this family, held together by the sweet and loving older sister, spends an almost real-life day together. Genre-defying, docu-like, so loving and so sad, this is not an easy-to-sell film for sales agents because it fits no preset marketing formula. However, I would venture to guess that If an audience were lucky enough to see it, word would spread about how lovingly effective and how unique it is. Rodrigo and Robert have more films in mind as well which are of the type that you want them to succeed in making. The jury unanimously awarded prizes for the completion to this worthy film. It is not "like" it, but still it put me in mind of Whit Stillman's "Boyhood" because the players are real people basically playing themselves.
"Take Me to the River" the debut feature of Matt Sobel was extraordinarily accomplished for a first-timer. A story about middle-America, a brother and sister find themselves at odds at their large family reunion at the family farm, when their two children are involved in an incident. The "big-city" (not) teenaged boy, the only child of the sister and her city-bred husband, finds his integrity tested in the events that follow. When the professional audience watching this film pointed out similarities to Thomas Vinterberg, Matt was aware and pointed out that his editor, Jacob Secher Schulsinger, was Danish and edited "Nymphomaniac" 1 and 2 as well as this year's Swedish Academy contender, "Force Majeure". On a personal note, we have known Matt for the six years it has taken to complete this film and have watched him as he attended Binger Institute as a post-grad whose college education did not include filmmaking, as he grew personally and professionally. We feel very proud of him and this film which we hope will make it to the top festivals and will be picked up by a top international sales agent to sell to top distributors. Its authenticity is a result of conscious decisions made in the creation of the drama by Matt. A strong and unique film.
"The Homefront" co-directed by Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy is another totally unique, stand-alone feature, though it might be put into a genre category of post-apocalyptic, family drama. Only the apocalypse has not yet happened. War is still at a distance while this self-survivalist family of parents and their son and daughter wait it out in their large family house somewhere in Texas. The team of Tyler and Fidel started this when they were 19 years old. Today they are 23 and have more stories in them. It could actually be remade on a grander scale and would attract an audience, given some marketing dollars to get it into play. This is an unexpected story, acclaimed by the jury and awarded post-production prizes including sound and soundtrack composition. Additional links: https://vimeo.com/ruizhealy, http://www.theamericanstandardfilmco.com/
"Nakom" co-directed by Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris is another of the several co-directed films here attesting to a new generation of filmmakers who work in teams. This team-building is not just in U.S.; I have also seen it in Latin America and the Caribbean that young filmmakers meet in film school or at festivals and go on to create working teams which I think will continue to make films together. In this case Travis and Kelly met in film school and this is their second film together. The first, "Ombras de Azul" is just beginning to make the rounds. They shot it in Cuba. This one they shot in Ghana, in a village in the African plains where Travis spent two years in Peace Corps. It is enacted in the native language with a professionalism that belies the filmmakers' youth. It put me in mind of Tommy Oliver's "Kinyarwanda" which played in Sundance 2011 and whose second film "1982" was also in U.S. in Progress a year or two ago. Tommy has since made three more films.
"Flycatcher" changed its name to "Pangea" as a result of "Foxcatcher". Director Malcolm Murray wrote this with his wife, Liz Tran. HIs previous film, "Bad Posture", completed in 2011, has been written about in New York Times, Village Voice, Filmmaker Magazine, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine, Local Iq, Hammer To Nail: Top Ten Films of 2011. It showed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and he was named in Ten To Watch: Best of Iffr.
"Stinking Heaven", directed by Nathan Silver, reminded me to Lars von Trier's "The Idiots". It stars up-and-coming Keith Poulson who just played in "Listen Up Philip" and is to be seen in several other pictures.
The 2013 U.S. in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S. and screened this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 U.S. in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
Earnest, attentive and professionally engaged, seeking answers about the best ways to complete the films in order to appeal strategically to festivals and international sales agents, the filmmakers discussed how best to further the success of their present and future films as well as their careers as international filmmakers. These six teams of filmmakers undoubtedly benefited enormously from the Polish and European film professionals who shared their knowledge as everyone watched the six chosen films, networking, sharing meals and drinking and who knows what till all hours in three fully packed days and nights.
Debuting filmmakers from the United States. in the only event of its kind in Europe (except for its sister event held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris) were invited (all expenses paid) to this great European city where the only multiplex for arthouse cinema of its kind is flourishing.
Roman Gutek, founder of this festival and the larger summertime Mobile New Horizons Film Festival, owner of Gutek Distribution, an entrepreneur who loves creating new events and projects, took over the giant theater in the middle of this middle-European, formerly Prussian city a few years ago and has introduced more than cinema to a well-educated (top univerisity here is one of the oldest in Europe) young populace. Other successful events include opera, ballet and monthly film events for 35,000 school children. He is now preparing the cinema component for the upcoming celebration of Wroclaw as the European Capital of Culture 2016.
One of his sons is working with the American Film Festival with its artistic director Ula Śniegowska. The other son is a chef and quite active in the gastronomic success of the city. Polish food is what our grandmothers used to make; one of the finest if not the finest cuisine in Central and Eastern Europe. This year pumpkin held center stage, with delicious dumplings and soups. Coincidentally, that other great culinary and cinema city, San Sebastian, also the inventor of the cinema "works-in-progress" industry model, has instituted a gastronomic exchange through the Polish-Basque Cultural Association Arrano Zuria. The project is promoted by the Donostia San Sebastian 2016 Foundation in charge of the European Capital of Culture 2016 in which chefs from both countries exchange and share recipes of both countries for public feasts.
But I digress...the 2014 U.S. in Progress, Wrocław participants:
Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck and Robert Machoian of "God Bless the Child" were articulate and full of anecdotes about how their book-ended story featured Robert's own five children in their own home. The first book-end shows the car being driven away by the mother early in the morning thus leaving the 13 year old daughter in charge of four brothers aged 18 months to seven or eight years. The closing book-end is for you, the viewer, to see as it caps off an almost perfect film. Between book-ends, this family, held together by the sweet and loving older sister, spends an almost real-life day together. Genre-defying, docu-like, so loving and so sad, this is not an easy-to-sell film for sales agents because it fits no preset marketing formula. However, I would venture to guess that If an audience were lucky enough to see it, word would spread about how lovingly effective and how unique it is. Rodrigo and Robert have more films in mind as well which are of the type that you want them to succeed in making. The jury unanimously awarded prizes for the completion to this worthy film. It is not "like" it, but still it put me in mind of Whit Stillman's "Boyhood" because the players are real people basically playing themselves.
"Take Me to the River" the debut feature of Matt Sobel was extraordinarily accomplished for a first-timer. A story about middle-America, a brother and sister find themselves at odds at their large family reunion at the family farm, when their two children are involved in an incident. The "big-city" (not) teenaged boy, the only child of the sister and her city-bred husband, finds his integrity tested in the events that follow. When the professional audience watching this film pointed out similarities to Thomas Vinterberg, Matt was aware and pointed out that his editor, Jacob Secher Schulsinger, was Danish and edited "Nymphomaniac" 1 and 2 as well as this year's Swedish Academy contender, "Force Majeure". On a personal note, we have known Matt for the six years it has taken to complete this film and have watched him as he attended Binger Institute as a post-grad whose college education did not include filmmaking, as he grew personally and professionally. We feel very proud of him and this film which we hope will make it to the top festivals and will be picked up by a top international sales agent to sell to top distributors. Its authenticity is a result of conscious decisions made in the creation of the drama by Matt. A strong and unique film.
"The Homefront" co-directed by Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy is another totally unique, stand-alone feature, though it might be put into a genre category of post-apocalyptic, family drama. Only the apocalypse has not yet happened. War is still at a distance while this self-survivalist family of parents and their son and daughter wait it out in their large family house somewhere in Texas. The team of Tyler and Fidel started this when they were 19 years old. Today they are 23 and have more stories in them. It could actually be remade on a grander scale and would attract an audience, given some marketing dollars to get it into play. This is an unexpected story, acclaimed by the jury and awarded post-production prizes including sound and soundtrack composition. Additional links: https://vimeo.com/ruizhealy, http://www.theamericanstandardfilmco.com/
"Nakom" co-directed by Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris is another of the several co-directed films here attesting to a new generation of filmmakers who work in teams. This team-building is not just in U.S.; I have also seen it in Latin America and the Caribbean that young filmmakers meet in film school or at festivals and go on to create working teams which I think will continue to make films together. In this case Travis and Kelly met in film school and this is their second film together. The first, "Ombras de Azul" is just beginning to make the rounds. They shot it in Cuba. This one they shot in Ghana, in a village in the African plains where Travis spent two years in Peace Corps. It is enacted in the native language with a professionalism that belies the filmmakers' youth. It put me in mind of Tommy Oliver's "Kinyarwanda" which played in Sundance 2011 and whose second film "1982" was also in U.S. in Progress a year or two ago. Tommy has since made three more films.
"Flycatcher" changed its name to "Pangea" as a result of "Foxcatcher". Director Malcolm Murray wrote this with his wife, Liz Tran. HIs previous film, "Bad Posture", completed in 2011, has been written about in New York Times, Village Voice, Filmmaker Magazine, Indiewire, Filmmaker Magazine, Local Iq, Hammer To Nail: Top Ten Films of 2011. It showed at the International Film Festival Rotterdam and he was named in Ten To Watch: Best of Iffr.
"Stinking Heaven", directed by Nathan Silver, reminded me to Lars von Trier's "The Idiots". It stars up-and-coming Keith Poulson who just played in "Listen Up Philip" and is to be seen in several other pictures.
The 2013 U.S. in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S. and screened this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 U.S. in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
- 11/5/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Us in Progress 4th annual Coproduction Forum (October 22-25, 2014) held during the 5th American Film Festival in Wrocław (October 21-26) targets Polish and European film professionals to facilitate professional networking with young, independent filmmakers from the United States. It is the only event of its kind in Europe (except for its sister event held in July at the Champs Elysees Film Festival in Paris. Invitation-only screenings are screening six independent American feature-length films in the final editing stages, selected out of 40 submissions.
The 2014 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Flycatcher," dir. Malcolm Murray
"God Bless the Child," dir. Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck & Robert Machoian
"The Homefront," dir. Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy
"Nakom," dir. Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris
"Stinking Heaven," dir. Nathan Silver
"Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel
All will attend the 3-day event in Wrocław.
The 2013 Us in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
Polish post-production studios are welcomed to take part in the program, offer their services or expand their network of potential international clients.In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S.A and will screen this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 Us in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
The 2014 Us in Progress Wrocław participants:
"Flycatcher," dir. Malcolm Murray
"God Bless the Child," dir. Rodrigo Ojeda-Beck & Robert Machoian
"The Homefront," dir. Tyler Walker & Fidel Ruiz Healy
"Nakom," dir. Travis Pittman & Kelly Daniela Norris
"Stinking Heaven," dir. Nathan Silver
"Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel
All will attend the 3-day event in Wrocław.
The 2013 Us in Progress partners (who also provided the prizes - post-production service packages) include Platige Image, Di Factory, Alvernia and Soundflower Studio. This year, Chimney has joined the ranks, while prizes are also being offered by Producer's Network at Cannes and Ale Kino+ (TV rights acquisition offer).
Polish post-production studios are welcomed to take part in the program, offer their services or expand their network of potential international clients.In 2013, top prizes went to the producers of the film "Sun Belt Express" (dir. Evan Wolf Buxbaum) and "Lake Los Angeles" (dir. Mike Ott). Both films had their world premieres in the U.S.A and will screen this year in competition as part of the Spectrum section at the American Film Festival.
The best films from the last Paris (during the Champs-Elysees Film Festival) and Wrocław editions constitute the core of Aff repertoire and, after their world premieres, will compete in the Festival's Spectrum section. These include Onur Turkel's "Summer of Blood," Leah Meyerhoff's "I Believe in Unicorns" as well as "Sun Belt Express" and "Lake Los Angeles."
Importantly, reps of the top European distributors and sales agents can see unfinished projects and offer feedback and deals at the early stages of production (before screenings at Sundance or Berlinale) enabling the films to break through to the European market.
The 2014 Us in Progress formula is expanded to include a location scouting tour in Lower Silesia (in partnership with the Wrocław Film Commission), as well as a presentation of Polish projects looking for American co-producers. Polish filmmakers are increasingly seeking North American partners and are interested in learning more about new and alternative ways to produce and finance films outside the mainstream system.
For more information about Us in Progress visit Here...
- 9/15/2014
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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