Exclusive: Paramount’s Republic Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to the inspirational documentary Lift, from Academy Award-nominated filmmaker David Petersen, slating it for release via Paramount Global Content Distribution. In the U.S., the film will hit select theaters on September 15th and bow on digital on the 22nd. Pic will also soon hit the UK, debuting on digital on the 25th.
Exec produced by world-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland, who also served as Principal Advisor, Lift shines a spotlight on the transformative power of dance and the invisible story of homelessness in America through young home-insecure ballet dancers and their mentor who inspires them at New York Theatre Ballet. Guided by Steven Melendez, whose journey leads back to his childhood shelter, their path within the Lift scholarship program becomes a celebration of joy and triumph in the face of adversity.
Presented by Vulcan Productions and Beaufort 9 Films, in association...
Exec produced by world-renowned ballerina Misty Copeland, who also served as Principal Advisor, Lift shines a spotlight on the transformative power of dance and the invisible story of homelessness in America through young home-insecure ballet dancers and their mentor who inspires them at New York Theatre Ballet. Guided by Steven Melendez, whose journey leads back to his childhood shelter, their path within the Lift scholarship program becomes a celebration of joy and triumph in the face of adversity.
Presented by Vulcan Productions and Beaufort 9 Films, in association...
- 8/7/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Showtime Sports Documentary Films is set to release a documentary feature based on the life of basketball star Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, entitled “Stand.” The documentary will premiere in early 2023.
Directed by Joslyn Rose Lyons, “Stand” explores the personal and professional struggles of Abdul-Rauf, from being bullied as a child due to his Tourette’s syndrome to becoming a target of hate speech and Islamophobia during his basketball career. The documentary film features exclusive interviews with several basketball and entertainment stars including Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr, Shaquille O’Neal, Jalen Rose, Mahershala Ali and Ice Cube.
“It is an honor to be collaborating with Showtime and the production team and working with our director, Joslyn Rose Lyons,” Abdul-Rauf said in a statement. “Joslyn has brought a stellar, brilliant vision to this film. My hope is that my story will help heal and bring new perspective to the world.”
The film marks Lyons’ feature-length directorial debut.
Directed by Joslyn Rose Lyons, “Stand” explores the personal and professional struggles of Abdul-Rauf, from being bullied as a child due to his Tourette’s syndrome to becoming a target of hate speech and Islamophobia during his basketball career. The documentary film features exclusive interviews with several basketball and entertainment stars including Stephen Curry, Steve Kerr, Shaquille O’Neal, Jalen Rose, Mahershala Ali and Ice Cube.
“It is an honor to be collaborating with Showtime and the production team and working with our director, Joslyn Rose Lyons,” Abdul-Rauf said in a statement. “Joslyn has brought a stellar, brilliant vision to this film. My hope is that my story will help heal and bring new perspective to the world.”
The film marks Lyons’ feature-length directorial debut.
- 8/25/2022
- by Michaela Zee
- Variety Film + TV
HBO Documentary Films has acquired worldwide television and streaming rights to Master of Light, the SXSW award-winning film about artist George Anthony Morton, who honed his exceptional talent while serving a prison sentence.
Dutch filmmaker Rosa Ruth Boesten directed the documentary, which is produced by Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams, Ilia Roomans, and Anousha Nzume.
“I learned about George through a mutual friend who met George in New York and told me about his story,” Boesten told Deadline at SXSW, where her film premiered, winning the Grand Jury Prize for documentary. “He just had a New York Times article that came out and I read about the story and was just blown away by his artwork. And that’s when I reached out, and that’s where it started for me.”
Morton “is a classical painter who spent ten years in federal prison for dealing drugs. While incarcerated, he nurtured...
Dutch filmmaker Rosa Ruth Boesten directed the documentary, which is produced by Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams, Ilia Roomans, and Anousha Nzume.
“I learned about George through a mutual friend who met George in New York and told me about his story,” Boesten told Deadline at SXSW, where her film premiered, winning the Grand Jury Prize for documentary. “He just had a New York Times article that came out and I read about the story and was just blown away by his artwork. And that’s when I reached out, and that’s where it started for me.”
Morton “is a classical painter who spent ten years in federal prison for dealing drugs. While incarcerated, he nurtured...
- 8/25/2022
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
HBO Documentary Films announced on Thursday that it has acquired “Master of Light,” the debut documentary from filmmaker Rosa Ruth Boesten which won the Grand Jury Award at this year’s South By Southwest Festival.
“Master of Light” follows the story of George Anthony Morton, a Black painter who was sentenced to ten years in prison for dealing drugs and spent his time behind bars honing his craft as a classical artist. After returning to the outside world, he heads home to Kansas City to use his art to mend his broken relationship with his mother while trying to break into an artistic world dominated by white painters.
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“As a first-time director, I am overwhelmed with excitement to work with such an acclaimed company as HBO Documentary Films,” Boesten said in a statement. “We...
“Master of Light” follows the story of George Anthony Morton, a Black painter who was sentenced to ten years in prison for dealing drugs and spent his time behind bars honing his craft as a classical artist. After returning to the outside world, he heads home to Kansas City to use his art to mend his broken relationship with his mother while trying to break into an artistic world dominated by white painters.
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“As a first-time director, I am overwhelmed with excitement to work with such an acclaimed company as HBO Documentary Films,” Boesten said in a statement. “We...
- 8/25/2022
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
“I believe that a big reason why this ambitious idea of throwing a music festival in Harlem in which somewhere between 70,000 to 90,000 people every weekend would see performances was so that there was something joyous and hopeful for people at that point were kind of at the end of their rope,” Summer of Soul (Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised) director Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson says about the importance the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival had to a Black America ravaged by violence and assassination.
“It was a healing moment, if you will,” Thompson added during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event. The Roots drummer, bestselling author, musicologist and now Oscar nominee made his feature directorial debut with the feature documentary.
Having premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival in 2021, Summer of Soul took home the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary categories in Park City.
“It was a healing moment, if you will,” Thompson added during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Film: The Nominees event. The Roots drummer, bestselling author, musicologist and now Oscar nominee made his feature directorial debut with the feature documentary.
Having premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival in 2021, Summer of Soul took home the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award in the documentary categories in Park City.
- 3/5/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
“Summer of Soul,” Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s acclaimed documentary about the 1969 Harlem Cultural Festival, has been acquired by the Disney-owned Searchlight Pictures in a deal that also will bring the film to Hulu.
The documentary, which won both the Grand Jury prize and Audience award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, served as the directorial debut for Thompson, who has been the drummer of hip-hop band The Roots for over three decades. “Summer of Soul” will have a theatrical release, will stream in the United States on Hulu, and will stream internationally on Star and Star+. Premiere dates have not been announced.
“I’m so honored to be allowed to manifest my dreams after all this time,” Thompson said in a statement. “This is truly an honor. ‘Summer Of Soul’ is a passion project and to have it resonate with so many people on so many levels has been incredibly rewarding.
The documentary, which won both the Grand Jury prize and Audience award at the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, served as the directorial debut for Thompson, who has been the drummer of hip-hop band The Roots for over three decades. “Summer of Soul” will have a theatrical release, will stream in the United States on Hulu, and will stream internationally on Star and Star+. Premiere dates have not been announced.
“I’m so honored to be allowed to manifest my dreams after all this time,” Thompson said in a statement. “This is truly an honor. ‘Summer Of Soul’ is a passion project and to have it resonate with so many people on so many levels has been incredibly rewarding.
- 2/5/2021
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Two days after picking up Sundance’s Documentary Grand Jury Prize, Summer of Soul has been picked up by Searchlight and Hulu.
The acquisition of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut is for worldwide rights, parent company Disney says, in a deal put together by Disney General Entertainment’s Bipoc Creator initiative, led by Tara Duncan and brokered by Cinetic Media.
With appearances by Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, the Staples Sisters, Stevie Wonder, Glady Knight and the Pips, Max Roach, Abby Lincoln and many more, the music-themed documentary is set for a theatrical release as well as streaming on Hulu in America and internationally on Star and Star+.
A true time capsule of then and now, Summer of Soul is packed with newly unearthed footage of the nearly forgotten but star-studded Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969. In that vein,...
The acquisition of Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s directorial debut is for worldwide rights, parent company Disney says, in a deal put together by Disney General Entertainment’s Bipoc Creator initiative, led by Tara Duncan and brokered by Cinetic Media.
With appearances by Sly and the Family Stone, Nina Simone, Mahalia Jackson, the Staples Sisters, Stevie Wonder, Glady Knight and the Pips, Max Roach, Abby Lincoln and many more, the music-themed documentary is set for a theatrical release as well as streaming on Hulu in America and internationally on Star and Star+.
A true time capsule of then and now, Summer of Soul is packed with newly unearthed footage of the nearly forgotten but star-studded Harlem Cultural Festival of 1969. In that vein,...
- 2/5/2021
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
“Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised)” has become Sundance’s next major acquisition title, selling to Searchlight Pictures and Hulu.
An individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap it’s the biggest documentary sale in history, although no specifics were given. Another individual close to the transaction pegged the sale at $15 million. Buzz has been building around the film since its premiere last Thursday, sparking a bidding war for the documentary from The Roots bandleader Questlove. It was also the winner of the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.
Searchlight Pictures and Disney General Entertainment’s Bipoc Creator initiative, led by Tara Duncan, acquired the worldwide rights to “Summer of Soul,” while Hulu will exclusively stream the doc domestically and Star and Star+ will stream it internationally.
“I’m so honored to be allowed to manifest my dreams after all this time,...
An individual with knowledge of the deal told TheWrap it’s the biggest documentary sale in history, although no specifics were given. Another individual close to the transaction pegged the sale at $15 million. Buzz has been building around the film since its premiere last Thursday, sparking a bidding war for the documentary from The Roots bandleader Questlove. It was also the winner of the Sundance Documentary Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.
Searchlight Pictures and Disney General Entertainment’s Bipoc Creator initiative, led by Tara Duncan, acquired the worldwide rights to “Summer of Soul,” while Hulu will exclusively stream the doc domestically and Star and Star+ will stream it internationally.
“I’m so honored to be allowed to manifest my dreams after all this time,...
- 2/5/2021
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Picturehouse Entertainment has picked up U.K. distribution rights for the Sundance prize-winning documentary “The Reason I Jump” from MetFilm Sales.
Picturehouse’s Clare Binns and Paul Ridd and MetFilm’s Vesna Cudic negotiated the deal following the film’s world premiere at last month’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award.
Directed by Jerry Rothwell (“How to Change the World”), the poetic doc tackles the experiences of non-speaking autistic people, using various formal techniques to evoke their different perspectives. The film is freely adapted from the eponymous best-selling book by Naoki Higashida that was later translated into English by novelist David Mitchell.
While the original book took the form of a questionnaire filled out by non-verbal interviewees, this film adaption evokes the participants’ lived experience via textured sound design and cinematography along with other lyrical approaches.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be releasing this remarkable and important film,...
Picturehouse’s Clare Binns and Paul Ridd and MetFilm’s Vesna Cudic negotiated the deal following the film’s world premiere at last month’s Sundance Film Festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Audience Award.
Directed by Jerry Rothwell (“How to Change the World”), the poetic doc tackles the experiences of non-speaking autistic people, using various formal techniques to evoke their different perspectives. The film is freely adapted from the eponymous best-selling book by Naoki Higashida that was later translated into English by novelist David Mitchell.
While the original book took the form of a questionnaire filled out by non-verbal interviewees, this film adaption evokes the participants’ lived experience via textured sound design and cinematography along with other lyrical approaches.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be releasing this remarkable and important film,...
- 2/24/2020
- by Ben Croll
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, the Ric Burns documentary about the famed neurologist and author that the premiered this fall at the Telluride Film Festival, has been acquired by Zeitgeist Films in association with Kino Lorber. As part of the U.S. rights deal, the pic will open theatrically in May 2020 at Film Forum in New York, followed by a national rollout.
The documentary, which counts American Masters Pictures among its producers, will have its exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere in 2021 on PBS’ American Masters series.
Burns explores Sacks’ life and work as the renowned thinker shares details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. It features exclusive interviews with Sacks done just weeks after he received a terminal cancer diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015.
“We were very impressed by the sensitivity...
The documentary, which counts American Masters Pictures among its producers, will have its exclusive U.S. broadcast premiere in 2021 on PBS’ American Masters series.
Burns explores Sacks’ life and work as the renowned thinker shares details of his battles with drug addiction, homophobia, and a medical establishment that accepted his work only decades after the fact. It features exclusive interviews with Sacks done just weeks after he received a terminal cancer diagnosis, and months prior to his death in August 2015.
“We were very impressed by the sensitivity...
- 12/6/2019
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Philharmonia Fantastique: The Making of the Orchestra is a Vulcan Productions short film that accompanies a new 25-minute concerto composed by Mason Bates (The (R)evolution of Steve Jobs) and features the talents of Oscar-winning sound designer Gary Rydstrom and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jim Capobianco.
The film combines live-action and animation to take audiences “inside” the instruments of an orchestra to see how they work and will be screened in tandem with live symphonic performances. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will present the world premiere of Philharmonia Fantastique from March 26-28, 2020, followed by the San Francisco Symphony’s interpretation on April 16-18.
The massive undertaking was co-commissioned by five of America’s top orchestras: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Performance dates in 2020 and 2021 will be announced for the other commissioning partners in the months ahead.
Philharmonia Fantastique represents the most...
The film combines live-action and animation to take audiences “inside” the instruments of an orchestra to see how they work and will be screened in tandem with live symphonic performances. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra will present the world premiere of Philharmonia Fantastique from March 26-28, 2020, followed by the San Francisco Symphony’s interpretation on April 16-18.
The massive undertaking was co-commissioned by five of America’s top orchestras: Chicago Symphony Orchestra, San Francisco Symphony, National Symphony Orchestra, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, and Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. Performance dates in 2020 and 2021 will be announced for the other commissioning partners in the months ahead.
Philharmonia Fantastique represents the most...
- 11/20/2019
- by Geoff Boucher
- Deadline Film + TV
Fathom Events has teamed with Spencer Proffer’s Meteor 17 to bring acclaimed filmmaker Erik Nelson‘s new documentary The Cold Blue, chronicling the heroic struggles of the U.S. Eighth Air Force during World War II, to the big screen on May 23 only. The new film, from Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions and Creative Differences, was constructed using recently discovered and meticulously restored raw color footage from the WWII-era documentary Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress, directed by the legendary director William Wyler and filmed aboard B17s during combat air missions. A meditation on youth, war and trauma, The Cold Blue is a tribute to one of the world’s greatest filmmakers, his cameraman Harold Tannenbaum – who perished in combat while filming – and the men of the Eighth Air Force, who flew mission after lethal mission during the Air War.
Fathom Events will exclusively premiere The...
Fathom Events will exclusively premiere The...
- 4/3/2019
- by Andrew Wendowski
- Age of the Nerd
HBO Documentary Films has taken U.S. TV rights to Erik Nelson’s The Cold Blue which tells the story of the Eighth Air Force who flew multiple deadly missions during WWII. The doc will air in June 2019.
The doc, from Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions and Creative Differences, features newly restored 4K footage and outtakes, shot by Oscar-winning director William Wyler during the summer of 1943 for his 1944 documentary The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. Wyler went to Europe to document the air war in progress and flew actual combat missions on B-17s, during which one of his DPs was killed. All of this raw color footage was recently discovered in the vaults of the National Archives.
“We’re thrilled HBO Documentary Films is giving this breathtaking footage and powerful new documentary a platform,” says Rocky Collins of Vulcan Productions.
The doc, from Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions and Creative Differences, features newly restored 4K footage and outtakes, shot by Oscar-winning director William Wyler during the summer of 1943 for his 1944 documentary The Memphis Belle: A Story of a Flying Fortress. Wyler went to Europe to document the air war in progress and flew actual combat missions on B-17s, during which one of his DPs was killed. All of this raw color footage was recently discovered in the vaults of the National Archives.
“We’re thrilled HBO Documentary Films is giving this breathtaking footage and powerful new documentary a platform,” says Rocky Collins of Vulcan Productions.
- 9/27/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Paul G. Allen’s Vulcan Productions is producing Naoki Higashida’s bestseller “The Reason I Jump” as a documentary about autism, Variety has learned exclusively.
The book was written in 2005 by Higashida, who was 13 at the time, and published in Japan in 2007. The English translation was published in 2013. Higashida wrote the book to help communicate his own needs and thoughts to his family, and shine a light for other autistic individuals around the world. Most of the memoir is told through 58 questions Higashida and other people dealing with autism are commonly asked.
The film is presented by Vulcan Productions, the British Film Institute, the Idea Room, MetFilm Production, and Runaway Fridge. The producers include Stevie Lee, Jeremy Dear, and Al Morrow. Allen is an executive producer along with Carole Tomko, Jannat Gargi, and Rocky Collins.
The film, announced on Wednesday, is in production and part of a larger effort from...
The book was written in 2005 by Higashida, who was 13 at the time, and published in Japan in 2007. The English translation was published in 2013. Higashida wrote the book to help communicate his own needs and thoughts to his family, and shine a light for other autistic individuals around the world. Most of the memoir is told through 58 questions Higashida and other people dealing with autism are commonly asked.
The film is presented by Vulcan Productions, the British Film Institute, the Idea Room, MetFilm Production, and Runaway Fridge. The producers include Stevie Lee, Jeremy Dear, and Al Morrow. Allen is an executive producer along with Carole Tomko, Jannat Gargi, and Rocky Collins.
The film, announced on Wednesday, is in production and part of a larger effort from...
- 9/19/2018
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Today’s film is the 2009 short Lovebot. The film is written and directed by Giordany Orellana, and stars Adrian Zaw, Rocky Collins, Mary Kate Wiles, and Briga Heelan. Despite her short career, Heelan has left a mark on television, with supporting turns on Cougar Town and Jane by Design, as well as guest appearances on Man Up and Happy Endings. She is now the co-lead on Ground Floor, co-created by Bill Lawrence, which made its series debut last week.
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The post Saturday Shorts: ‘Lovebot’, starring Briga Heelan appeared first on Sound On Sight.
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The post Saturday Shorts: ‘Lovebot’, starring Briga Heelan appeared first on Sound On Sight.
- 11/16/2013
- by Deepayan Sengupta
- SoundOnSight
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