The 4K restoration (released this month by Cohen Media and featured at the New York Film Festival) of Joan Micklin Silver’s 1975 “Hester Street” is getting deserved credit as a rare female-directed American film from its era. The black and white feature, set in the mostly Jewish immigrant community in New York’s Lower East side in the 1890s, overcame tough odds on multiple fronts to become a significant financial success.
The film grossed $5 million by the end of its run, the equivalent of over $22 million today. All this on a budget of $375,000 (about $1.7 million now). That was a significant success, even if at the time it wasn’t supplemented by home video, and as a black and white film it had limited interest for broadcast television.
Micklin Silver’s film is getting renewed credit for its quality, as well as for being the debut film that caused her to break out as a director.
The film grossed $5 million by the end of its run, the equivalent of over $22 million today. All this on a budget of $375,000 (about $1.7 million now). That was a significant success, even if at the time it wasn’t supplemented by home video, and as a black and white film it had limited interest for broadcast television.
Micklin Silver’s film is getting renewed credit for its quality, as well as for being the debut film that caused her to break out as a director.
- 10/13/2021
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Even given all the things we now know about Harvey Weinstein, few would dispute his place in movie history as the figure who put the American independent film movement on the mainstream map and kept it there. He remains a force of legend (even if he’s now an infamous accused criminal). And that’s why it’s extraordinary to consider that Weinstein’s career as a game-changing, big-tent ringmaster of cinema was, in more ways than not, a direct sequel to the career of Donald Rugoff — the irascible New York film exhibitor and distributor of the ’60s and ’70s who made smart movies into sexy addictive events the same way Weinstein did. The difference is that almost no one today has heard of Donald Rugoff.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” , was produced and directed by Ira Deutchman, the veteran film distribution and marketing executive who got his start in the mid-’70s working for Rugoff.
“Searching for Mr. Rugoff,” , was produced and directed by Ira Deutchman, the veteran film distribution and marketing executive who got his start in the mid-’70s working for Rugoff.
- 11/23/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
The history of movie culture is full of colorful characters committed to elevating the experience. Donald Rugoff’s exhibition and distribution company Cinema 5 paved the way for a second generation of companies enhancing cinematic culture like the studio (sm)art-house divisions and Landmark Theaters, and then a third wave of companies like the Alamo Drafthouse and A24, turning movie-going into an event. In Searching for Mr. Rugoff, film distribution veteran and producer Ira Deutchman goes back to an early mentor, inspired by a speech given by the great exhibitor Dan Talbot (proprietor of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and New Yorker Films) at the Ifp Gotham Awards several years ago. In the speech as told by Talbot, Rugoff moved to Marthas Vineyard after having lost his company and started showing films in an old church.
Searching for Mr. Rugoff paints a vibrant picture of a specific era of moviegoing in New York City,...
Searching for Mr. Rugoff paints a vibrant picture of a specific era of moviegoing in New York City,...
- 11/20/2019
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Manhattan’s Paris Theatre currently shows Ron Howard’s documentary “Pavarotti,” in the film’s best engagement. However, sources confirm that the Paris will likely close next month — and with it, the nation will lose its last single-screen, first-run theater dedicated to platform releases.
Next month marks the end of the lease currently held by City Cinemas, which also operates the Angelika in New York among other locations. Located across from the Plaza Hotel and near Trump Tower, alternative uses are considered likely for the street-level space at W. 58th and Fifth Avenue. Its survival over seven decades creates nostalgia, but it’s also deeply significant for the current film scene.
The Paris Is the Last Single-Screen Platform First-Run Theater in the Country
For the first half century of exhibition, virtually all movie theater complexes were single screen. Often several-hundred, even seven-thousand, seated auditoriums (the Paris has 581), each had its...
Next month marks the end of the lease currently held by City Cinemas, which also operates the Angelika in New York among other locations. Located across from the Plaza Hotel and near Trump Tower, alternative uses are considered likely for the street-level space at W. 58th and Fifth Avenue. Its survival over seven decades creates nostalgia, but it’s also deeply significant for the current film scene.
The Paris Is the Last Single-Screen Platform First-Run Theater in the Country
For the first half century of exhibition, virtually all movie theater complexes were single screen. Often several-hundred, even seven-thousand, seated auditoriums (the Paris has 581), each had its...
- 6/28/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
When Ben Barenholtz, 83, died Wednesday at his new home in Prague, we lost one of the giants of American independent cinema. This vital and genial man has left a legacy behind few can equal. Many in the film community remember him as an entrepreneur, champion of new talent, mentor, cinephile and filmmaker. (Check out his many Facebook tributes here.) Others shared their thoughts in emails to IndieWire throughout the day.
“Ben’s passing is the end of an era,” said John Turturro. “I knew Ben first as a theater owner of the Elgin, which I used to frequent as a young man. Then I worked with him as a producer of ‘Miller’s Crossing’ and ‘Barton Fink.’ He introduced me to so many talented people. His great eye, his sense of humor and mischievous rebellious outlook masked a complicated and difficult early life. He was one of a kind and...
“Ben’s passing is the end of an era,” said John Turturro. “I knew Ben first as a theater owner of the Elgin, which I used to frequent as a young man. Then I worked with him as a producer of ‘Miller’s Crossing’ and ‘Barton Fink.’ He introduced me to so many talented people. His great eye, his sense of humor and mischievous rebellious outlook masked a complicated and difficult early life. He was one of a kind and...
- 6/28/2019
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Agnes Varda is deservedly eulogized in newspapers and on social media all over America today, but critics, programmers and audiences in the U.S. took time in recognizing her accomplishments. It took several decades for her work gain appreciation in the U.S., and during that time, I witnessed Varda’s ability to continue evolving as an artist every step of the way.
While Varda’s debut feature, “La Pointe Courte” (1955) has yet to have a theatrical release in America, her early short, “L’Opera Mouffe” (1958), was distributed by Cinema 16, an important film club run by Amos and Marcia Vogel in the 50’s and early 60’s dedicated to the showing and release of experimental and avant-garde cinema. The film won some notoriety because of its casual nudity — then still rare on American screens — and it was booked in film societies around the country seeding the bed for later Varda appreciation.
While Varda’s debut feature, “La Pointe Courte” (1955) has yet to have a theatrical release in America, her early short, “L’Opera Mouffe” (1958), was distributed by Cinema 16, an important film club run by Amos and Marcia Vogel in the 50’s and early 60’s dedicated to the showing and release of experimental and avant-garde cinema. The film won some notoriety because of its casual nudity — then still rare on American screens — and it was booked in film societies around the country seeding the bed for later Varda appreciation.
- 3/31/2019
- by Laurence Kardish
- Indiewire
Three years after successfully redrawing the cinema map of Manhattan with the opening of an influential arthouse theater on the Lower East Side, Metrograph is launching a distribution company.
Metrograph Pictures will put out both new releases and restored classics. It will be led by Head of Distribution George Schmalz, an industry vet who most recently curated AMC Networks’ Sundance Now streaming service. Schmalz will team with Jake Perlin, Artistic Director and Director of Programming of Metrograph, on acquisitions.
The distributor’s first title, The Competition (Le Concours), will open February 22. Claire Simon’s documentary portrait of the admissions process at French film school La Fémis screened in Venice as well as festivals in Vienna and London and got the True Vision award at the True/False Film Festival. After opening at the Metrograph, the film will expand nationally, the company said.
Restorations of several films are also on the release slate,...
Metrograph Pictures will put out both new releases and restored classics. It will be led by Head of Distribution George Schmalz, an industry vet who most recently curated AMC Networks’ Sundance Now streaming service. Schmalz will team with Jake Perlin, Artistic Director and Director of Programming of Metrograph, on acquisitions.
The distributor’s first title, The Competition (Le Concours), will open February 22. Claire Simon’s documentary portrait of the admissions process at French film school La Fémis screened in Venice as well as festivals in Vienna and London and got the True Vision award at the True/False Film Festival. After opening at the Metrograph, the film will expand nationally, the company said.
Restorations of several films are also on the release slate,...
- 1/14/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Distributors have several reasons to be pleased that real estate mogul Charles S. Cohen bought Landmark Theaters, the top one being: He’s not a certain red-logoed streaming site.
“He is the only real-estate mogul with a taste for art film, so I can’t think of a more perfectly tailored owner to take a major stake in exhibition,” said a specialized film executive who requested anonymity. “His other great skill is he’s not Netflix.”
Sarcasm aside, it’s a fair assessment. Cohen has the means to support specialized exhibition, and his Cohen Media Group has proven experience and no apparent interest in being a disruptor. He’s also maintaining continuity of purpose and programming by retaining Landmark president and CEO Ted Mundorff, whose team oversees the 252-screen, 27-market circuit.
“(Cohen) approaches the business almost as a philanthropic enterprise, like the brick-and-mortar version of FilmStruck,” said one distributor. “He...
“He is the only real-estate mogul with a taste for art film, so I can’t think of a more perfectly tailored owner to take a major stake in exhibition,” said a specialized film executive who requested anonymity. “His other great skill is he’s not Netflix.”
Sarcasm aside, it’s a fair assessment. Cohen has the means to support specialized exhibition, and his Cohen Media Group has proven experience and no apparent interest in being a disruptor. He’s also maintaining continuity of purpose and programming by retaining Landmark president and CEO Ted Mundorff, whose team oversees the 252-screen, 27-market circuit.
“(Cohen) approaches the business almost as a philanthropic enterprise, like the brick-and-mortar version of FilmStruck,” said one distributor. “He...
- 12/7/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Wim Wenders' The American Friend, shot by Robby Müller, and starring Bruno Ganz and Dennis Hopper with cameos by Nicholas Ray, Sam Fuller, Jean Eustache, Gérard Blain, and Peter Lilienthal, will screen in the tribute to Dan Talbot Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that it will honour Dan Talbot, founder of New Yorker Films and director of the recently closed Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, with screenings of five films and a Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet short film programme in the Retrospective section of the 56th New York Film Festival.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas closed on January 28, 2018 Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bernardo Bertolucci's Before The Revolution, starring Adriana Asti and Francesco Barilli; Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man For Himself with Jacques Dutronc, Nathalie Baye, Isabelle Huppert, and the voice of Marguerite Duras; Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Marriage Of Maria Braun, starring Hanna Schygulla; Louis Malle...
The Film Society of Lincoln Center has announced that it will honour Dan Talbot, founder of New Yorker Films and director of the recently closed Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, with screenings of five films and a Jean-Marie Straub and Danièle Huillet short film programme in the Retrospective section of the 56th New York Film Festival.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas closed on January 28, 2018 Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Bernardo Bertolucci's Before The Revolution, starring Adriana Asti and Francesco Barilli; Jean-Luc Godard's Every Man For Himself with Jacques Dutronc, Nathalie Baye, Isabelle Huppert, and the voice of Marguerite Duras; Rainer Werner Fassbinder's The Marriage Of Maria Braun, starring Hanna Schygulla; Louis Malle...
- 8/23/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Following their impressively varied Main Slate section and Projections lineup, the full slate for Retrospective and Revivals at the 56th New York Film Festival have been announced. After last year’s Robert Mitchum retrospective, this year’s edition is split into three parts, paying tributing to the late Dan Talbot and Pierre Rissient, as well as spotlighting a trio of documentaries that delve into cinema history.
“For Pierre and Dan, two genuine heroes, everything to do with cinema was urgent. This year’s retrospective section pays tribute to both men, who passed away within six months of each other,” Nyff Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said.
Talbot, founder of New Yorker Films and longtime director of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, will be honored with personal favorites from Bernardo Bertolucci, Straub-Huillet, Nagisa Oshima, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and more. Meanwhile, producer, publicist, distributor, curator, and cinema polymath Pierre Rissient...
“For Pierre and Dan, two genuine heroes, everything to do with cinema was urgent. This year’s retrospective section pays tribute to both men, who passed away within six months of each other,” Nyff Director and Selection Committee Chair Kent Jones said.
Talbot, founder of New Yorker Films and longtime director of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, will be honored with personal favorites from Bernardo Bertolucci, Straub-Huillet, Nagisa Oshima, Jean-Luc Godard, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, and more. Meanwhile, producer, publicist, distributor, curator, and cinema polymath Pierre Rissient...
- 8/21/2018
- by Leonard Pearce
- The Film Stage
Dan Talbot, an exhibitor who brought arthouse films to the residents of New York’s Upper West Side, died last December at the age of 91, leaving a void in the cultural life of the neighborhood and depriving studios of one of the staunchest champions of independent fare.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, the dog-eared but much-loved basement theater he owned and operated since 1981, has been closed and left vacant since January while Milstein Properties weighs what to do with the space. In an unfortunate twist, Talbot’s death coincided with the end of the theater’s lease.
“For many of us, it was like we had lost our best friend,” said Norma Levy, an attorney and Upper West Side resident. “Lincoln Plaza played films you couldn’t see anywhere else.”
The closure has also been a blow to distributors, because Lincoln Plaza Cinemas was such a reliable source of box office for more off-beat films.
Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, the dog-eared but much-loved basement theater he owned and operated since 1981, has been closed and left vacant since January while Milstein Properties weighs what to do with the space. In an unfortunate twist, Talbot’s death coincided with the end of the theater’s lease.
“For many of us, it was like we had lost our best friend,” said Norma Levy, an attorney and Upper West Side resident. “Lincoln Plaza played films you couldn’t see anywhere else.”
The closure has also been a blow to distributors, because Lincoln Plaza Cinemas was such a reliable source of box office for more off-beat films.
- 7/9/2018
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Patrons of the former Lincoln Plaza Cinemas have banded together to create a film society, New Plaza Cinema. It will present a curated program of independent films at the 250-seat Carole Zabar Center for Film, located at the Marlene Meyerson Jcc Manhattan, about 14 blocks northwest of where Lincoln Plaza Cinemas held court from 1981 until January 28 of their year.
Although initially planned as a summer program, “We’re working to find a more-permanent venue which will offer first-run and independent films,” said Norma Levy, founder of the Coalition for the New Plaza Cinema; she is now fundraising to help it procure a permanent address. Lincoln Plaza Cinemas co-owner Dan Talbot died less than a month before his venue shuttered, and Levy passed out flyers advertising the New Plaza Cinema at his December 31 memorial service.
Talbot’s co-founder and wife of 68 years, Toby, believes her late husband “would have been heartened — as...
Although initially planned as a summer program, “We’re working to find a more-permanent venue which will offer first-run and independent films,” said Norma Levy, founder of the Coalition for the New Plaza Cinema; she is now fundraising to help it procure a permanent address. Lincoln Plaza Cinemas co-owner Dan Talbot died less than a month before his venue shuttered, and Levy passed out flyers advertising the New Plaza Cinema at his December 31 memorial service.
Talbot’s co-founder and wife of 68 years, Toby, believes her late husband “would have been heartened — as...
- 6/12/2018
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
Festival dedicates Cannes Classics title Five and the Skin to memory of late cinema world mover and shaker.
The Cannes Film Festival has paid tribute to its long-time, multi-hatted collaborator Pierre Rissient who passed away on the eve of the 71st edition which kicked off today.
“We are deeply saddened by the news that the cinephile, historian and director Pierre Rissient died this weekend, aged 81. That is why we would like to pay tribute to him, on this opening day of the 71st Cannes Film Festival,” the festival said in a statement, signed off by president Pierre Lescure, delegate general Thierry Frémaux,...
The Cannes Film Festival has paid tribute to its long-time, multi-hatted collaborator Pierre Rissient who passed away on the eve of the 71st edition which kicked off today.
“We are deeply saddened by the news that the cinephile, historian and director Pierre Rissient died this weekend, aged 81. That is why we would like to pay tribute to him, on this opening day of the 71st Cannes Film Festival,” the festival said in a statement, signed off by president Pierre Lescure, delegate general Thierry Frémaux,...
- 5/8/2018
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- ScreenDaily
Daniel Talbot, a distributor and exhibitor of enormous influence over specialized exhibition and distribution as well as the international film world, died Friday in Manhattan. He was 91. A memorial was held Sunday, December 31 at the Riverside Memorial Chapel with a capacity audience including many leading New York specialized players. Talbot’s wife and business partner, Toby Talbot, as well as daughters Nina, Emily and Sara attended the memorial, where the family spoke fondly about Talbot’s love for the comedian W.C. Fields.
Another more public post-holiday event marking the closing of the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas is scheduled on January 28 in New York. The last few weeks have seen Talbot’s legacy celebrated with reaction to the unexpected announcement that the six-screen Upper West Side theater would close at the end of January, at the expiration of its lease. Milstein Properties, who have been the Talbots’ co-partners in the theater since...
Another more public post-holiday event marking the closing of the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas is scheduled on January 28 in New York. The last few weeks have seen Talbot’s legacy celebrated with reaction to the unexpected announcement that the six-screen Upper West Side theater would close at the end of January, at the expiration of its lease. Milstein Properties, who have been the Talbots’ co-partners in the theater since...
- 1/1/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Influential indie film distributor and exhibitor Daniel Talbot died on Friday morning in New York, his longtime manager at Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, Ewneto Admassu, announced. Talbot, who was in his early 90s, halted his routine travels to the annual Cannes and Toronto film festivals this year as his health was reported to be in decline. Talbot managed Manhattan’s New Yorker Theater in the early 1960s and in 1965 launched his own indie distribution company, New Yorker Films, to handle the U.S. release of Bernardo Bertolucci’s debut film “Before the Revolution.” Also Read: 'Darkest Hour' Fact Check:...
- 12/29/2017
- by Meriah Doty
- The Wrap
Daniel Talbot, the co-founder of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas and a giant in the field of specialized exhibition and distribution, has died. He was in his 90s and had been in declining health. His death was confirmed by Ewneto Admassu, the longtime manager of Lincoln Plaza Cinemas. The Lincoln Plaza Cinemas, a temple of the art house movie scene in New York for more than 30 years, is at the end of its lease and is scheduled to close in January. News of the closing earlier this…...
- 12/29/2017
- Deadline
Daniel Talbot, a distributor and exhibitor of near-incalculable influence over specialized exhibition and distribution as well as the international film world, died this morning in New York. His passing was confirmed by Ewneto Admassu, the longtime manager of the Lincoln Plaza Cinemas.
A memorial is scheduled for Sunday, December 31 at 9:30 am at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 180 W. 76th Street in New York City.
Read More:What Losing Lincoln Plaza Means to the Future of Subtitled Film
Talbot, who was in his early 90s, had been in declining health in recent months, with his usual trips to Cannes and Toronto suspended after decades of attendance suggested he was finally slowing down. He is survived by his wife and business partner, Toby Talbot.
Read More:The Lincoln Plaza Cinema May Open in the Future, but Questions Still Remain
The last few weeks have seen Talbot’s legacy celebrated with reaction to the unexpected...
A memorial is scheduled for Sunday, December 31 at 9:30 am at the Riverside Memorial Chapel, 180 W. 76th Street in New York City.
Read More:What Losing Lincoln Plaza Means to the Future of Subtitled Film
Talbot, who was in his early 90s, had been in declining health in recent months, with his usual trips to Cannes and Toronto suspended after decades of attendance suggested he was finally slowing down. He is survived by his wife and business partner, Toby Talbot.
Read More:The Lincoln Plaza Cinema May Open in the Future, but Questions Still Remain
The last few weeks have seen Talbot’s legacy celebrated with reaction to the unexpected...
- 12/29/2017
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
All information published in the indieWIRE Distributor Profiles is provided by the individual company. Company History For more than 40 years, New Yorker Films has been America's leading source for the films that matter on the cutting edge of world cinema. The company was founded in 1965 by Daniel Talbot as an outgrowth of his legendary movie house, the New Yorker Theater. Unable to obtain several crucial foreign titles, Talbot was ...
- 8/19/2010
- Indiewire
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