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Exclusive: Anders Danielsen Lie (The Worst Person in the World), Bill Pullman (Independence Day) and Oscar nominee and Tony winner Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird) have been set to star in biopic Everybody Digs Bill Evans about the acclaimed U.S. jazz pianist and composer.

Two-time Grammy nominee Grant Gee (Joy Division) will direct from a script written by Mark O’Halloran (Viva!), based on the book Intermission by Owen Martell.

The synopsis reads: “June 1961, NYC: legendary jazz pianist Bill Evans (Danielsen Lie) has found his musical voice and created the perfect trio, including bass player Scott Lafaro, said to be his soulmate through music. A residency at New York’s Village Vanguard culminates in the live taping of two of the greatest jazz records of all time in one night. Ten days later, Lafaro dies in a car crash. Numb with grief, Evans stops playing. Everybody Digs Bill Evans is the...

18 producers will take part in the fifth edition of the Series Special programme.

European network Ace Producers has selected 18 independent producers for Ace Series Special, its workshop on the series production landscape.

Each producer attends the workshop with a series project in early stages of development. The 18 participants hail from 12 different countries, and will participate in the workshop from October 30 to November 4 this year in Riga, Latvia.

Scroll down for the full list of producers

The selected producers include Swedish producer Madeleine Ekman of Nordisk Film, with The Making Of A Terrorist, written by Leif Edlund and Emelia Hansson. Ekman...

Horror Icon Jamie Bernadette Stars in Serial Killer Film Sebastian, Now Streaming on Tubi: "Sebastian is now streaming on Tubi and we have the trailer, poster, and synopsis. The crime-driven horror film in which a serial killer ravages a city stars horror icon Jamie Bernadette (I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu), Darius McCrary (Family Matters), Torrei Hart (Hollywould), and Luca Della Valle (Distant Vision). The supporting cast includes Clifton Powell (Ray), Cocoa Brown (9-1-1), Jermaine Hopkins (Lean on Me), Jayson Warner Smith (The Walking Dead), Tracey Graves (Super Turnt), Michael Emery (Station 19), and Jermel Howard (Luke Cage). The film is written and directed by Mann Robinson (Super Turnt).

Sebastian is already climbing Tubi’s most-watched lists, having gone viral on social media the day of its release with opinion leaders in film openly praising the movie. Noted film producer Jan O’Connell (I Spit on Your Grave: Deja Vu...

Dark Sky Films has acquired North American distribution rights to Lola, the science fiction drama from writer-director Andrew Legge and starring Stefanie Martini (Prime Suspect 73, The Last Kingdom) and Emma Appleton (The Witcher, Pistol). The film will be released in early August.

Giles Edwards, head of development and acquisitions at Dark Sky Films, is currently on the ground in Cannes and negotiated the distribution agreement with Yana Georgieva, head of sales for Bankside Films.

Lola is set in 1940 in England, where enterprising sisters Thomasina “Thom” Hanbury (Appleton) and Martha “Mars” Hanbury (Martini) have built a machine, Lola, that can intercept radio and TV broadcasts from the future. The device gives them an exciting preview of the world to come, including music by the likes of David Bowie and the Kinks. But with World War II escalating, the sisters decide to use the machine as a weapon of intelligence, with world-altering consequences.

Siobhán McSweeney and Eileen Walsh are also attached.

UK sales outfit Bankside Films has acquired West The Road, the feature debut from Irish writer-director Ita Fitzgerald, set to star Imelda Staunton, Derry Girls’ Siobhán McSweeney, The Magdalene Sisters’ Eileen Walsh and Ted Lasso star Hannah Waddingham.

Production will start later this year in County Kerry, western Ireland. The feature follows a group of women brought together by the death of a childhood friend. When they discover that she was forced to give her daughter up for adoption at the age of 15, the group embarks on a journey from the west...

Another new episode of Accused airs tonight on Fox. Accused Episode 10, “Esme’s Story,” was directed by Michael Offer and written by Chip Johannessen. According to the synopsis, the eye-opening episode will follow a young woman who survives a white nationalist’s attempt to stop a peaceful protest by driving his car into the crowd. When he walks away unscathed, the protestor takes matters into her own hands. Here are all the cast members of Accused Episode 10 and where you’ve seen them before.

‘Accused’ Episode 10 cast member Abigail Breslin as Esme | Steve Wilkie/Fox Abigail Breslin as Esme

Abigail Breslin takes on the lead role in Accused Episode 10 as Esme. As TV Insider notes, Esme “ran away from a world of parochial racism” to find love with a woman named Aaliyah in the city. When a white nationalist kills one of Esme and Aaliyah’s friends during a peaceful protest,...

It is the directorial debut of Prasanna Puwanarajah and the first leading film role from Northern Irish TV presenter Patrick Kielty.

UK filmmaker Prasanna Puwanarajah’s directorial debut Ballywalter has been picked up for release in the UK and Ireland, with Break Out Pictures releasing in the Republic and Northern Ireland, and CAA-backed Elysian Film Group distributing in Great Britain.

UK sales outfit Bankside Films represents worldwide sales, and are selling the title at the European Film Market (EFM).

Screen Star of Tomorrow 2017 Seána Kerslake stars alongside Northern Irish presenter Patrick Kielty in his first leading film role, and...

Stefanie Martini, Emma Appleton star in Andrew Legge’s debut feature.

Signature Entertainment has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to Lola, a Second World War sci-fi feature from writer-director Andrew Legge and writer Angeli Macfarlane.

Having acquired the film from sales agent Bankside Films, Signature is planning a theatrical release for 2023. It will work with Robert McCann Finn and Nell Roddy of distributor Break Out Pictures on the Irish release.

Lola debuted out of competition at Locarno Film Festival in August. Set in the UK during the Second World War, the film follows two sisters, played by Stefanie Martini and Emma Appleton,...

Exclusive: Prasanna Puwanarajah as an actor has appeared in Doctor Foster: A Woman Scorned, Ten Percent and Patrick Melrose, and he’ll next pop up in two episodes of The Crown‘s upcoming fifth season portraying Martin Bashir, the controversial journalist who conducted the infamous BBC interview with Princess Diana. However, on Thursday he’ll wear a different hat when the Belfast Film Festival opens with the world premiere of Ballywalter, which marks his feature directing debut.

The film stars Northern Irish comedian and presenter Patrick Kielty — husband of So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley — in his first major acting role playing Shane who, broken after the collapse of his marriage, chooses to rehabilitate by joining a stand-up comedy course; and Seana Kerslake as Eileen, a sharp-tongued Ballywalter local who has moved back home with her mum and pregnant sister, and borrowed her ex’s battered Toyota...

Titles include Molly from British director Sally Potter (Ginger & Rosa) [pictured].Scroll down for full line-up

The 12 projects that will make up this year’s Holland Film Meeting Co-Production Platform (Sept 22-25) have been revealed and include titles from the UK, France and Germany among others.

Filmmakers this year include British filmmaker Sally Potter who will present her latest project, Molly.

Potter’s films include Oscar-nominated Orlando (1992), starring Tilda Swinton; Rage, which competed for Berlin’s Golden Bear in 2009; and her most recent feature, Ginger & Rosa (2012), which screened at Toronto and Iffr among other festivals.

Bulgaria’s Maya Vitkova is back at Hfm with upcoming project Love, following the success of her previous film Viktoria, which played in competition at Sundance and Iffr.

Serbian director Nikola Ležaić will present The Religion of Night Walks, his second feature length work after Tilva Ros, which was selected for Locarno and won the top prize at Sarajevo in 2010.

From Sweden, [link...

Left to right: Ryan Patrick McGuffey, Damon Lindelof and Des Doyle.

J.J. Abrams (Lost, Fringe), Joss Whedon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire), Shawn Ryan (The Shield), Damon Lindelof (Lost) and countless others shift from behind the scenes to become the focus of a new documentary, Showrunners: The Art Of Running A TV Show. The doc offers numerous first-hand accounts of what it takes to get a TV show on the air and features a backstory that is almost as equally fascinating. Director Des Doyle and Co-Producer Ryan Patrick McGuffey, both natives of Ireland, sat down recently to discuss the arduous journey of bringing this film to life. "For anyone who has ever truly pursued the dream of making a film, they know it comes with costs attached. “The lucky thing about being a first-time director is that naiveté can make you unaware of just how big a challenge you've set yourself,...

Exclusive: Distributor picks up films with Maisie Williams, Jessica Paré and Killian Scott.

Irish outfit Wildcard Distribution has picked up a slew of titles to bolster its slate including Galway Film Fleadh features Gold and Get Up and Go.

Also among the haul are rom-com Standby starring Jessica Paré and Ian Power’s The Guarantee.

Game of Thrones star and 2014 Screen International Star of Tomorrow Maisie Williams stars in Niall Heery’s Gold alongside David Wilmot, Kerry Condon and James Nesbitt.

Written by Niall and his brother Brendan Heery and produced by Tristan Orpen Lynch and Aoife O’Sullivan for Subotica Films, the film is scheduled for a cinema release this year.

The offbeat comedy is about an estranged father who returns to his hometown after an absence of ten years in order to reconnect with his daughter and ex-wife.

Irish/UK rights have been acquired from Magnolia Pictures International for the romantic comedy Standby starring [link=nm...

Exclusive: Christina Rogers and her team will commence sales in Cannes on the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself, announced in the Cannes Classics line-up this week, as well as Irish rom-com Standby.

Steve James directed Life Itself, which premiered at Sundance and will receive its international premiere on the Croisette. The film chronicles the life and times of the late film critic Roger Ebert.

Magnolia svp of acquisitions Dori Begley brokered the world rights deal with Cinetic Media on behalf of Kartemquin, Film Rites, KatLei and CNN Films. Zak Piper produced for Kartemquin and Garrett Basch for Film Rites.

Magnolia International will also represent the bulk of the world excluding France and Benelux on Standby. Mad Men’s Jessica Paré and Brian Gleeson star in the tale of an American stranded in Dublin Airport who reacquaints herself with an old flame.

Rob and Ronan Burke direct from a screenplay by Pierce Ryan. John Wallace of Black...

Exclusive: Christina Rogers and her team will commence sales in Cannes on the Roger Ebert documentary Life Itself, announced in the Cannes Classics line-up earlier on Wednesday (30), as well as Irish rom-com Standby.

Steve James directed Life Itself, which premiered at Sundance and will receive its international premiere on the Croisette. The film chronicles the life and times of the late film critic Roger Ebert.

Magnolia svp of acquisitions Dori Begley brokered the world rights deal with Cinetic Media on behalf of Kartemquin, Film Rites, KatLei and CNN Films. Zak Piper produced for Kartemquin and Garrett Basch for Film Rites.

Magnolia International will also represent the bulk of the world excluding France and Benelux on Standby. Mad Men’s Jessica Paré and Brian Gleeson star in the tale of an American stranded in Dublin Airport who reacquaints herself with an old flame.

Rob and Ronan Burke direct from a screenplay by Pierce Ryan. John Wallace of Black...

Filmbase has been open for 25 years and Irish talent that have cut their teeth at the Temple Bar based centre include Kristen Sheridan (Disco Pigs, August Rush), John Wallace (co-producer Rewind, Runners), Thomas Heffernan (Writer, The Pool), Martina Niland (Snap, Sarah & Steve) and John Moore (Max Payne). With an ample scope of training subjects and wide range of course formats, Iftn takes a closer look at the upcoming training programme at Filmbase.