MTV Documentary Films executives are likely dancing the salsa — and perhaps dipping chips in it — over the early returns from their new documentary “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!”
“¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” opened last night with just one showing on a single screen at a single Alamo Drafthouse location in Denver, but combined with pre-sales, the film already has a per-theater-average (PTA) of $19,296, IndieWire can reveal exclusively. The pre-sales figure alone, which by Thursday reached $15,600, was itself enough to have the best PTA of 2024 for a documentary, surpassing “War Game” and “Eno”.
If the numbers persist throughout the weekend, “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” could have the largest PTA for any documentary since Covid. Since 2020, the only film that comes close to the numbers “Casa Bonita” projects to hit is 2023’s “Anselm,” which had a PTA of $21,000 across two theaters.
“¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” follows “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone...
“¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” opened last night with just one showing on a single screen at a single Alamo Drafthouse location in Denver, but combined with pre-sales, the film already has a per-theater-average (PTA) of $19,296, IndieWire can reveal exclusively. The pre-sales figure alone, which by Thursday reached $15,600, was itself enough to have the best PTA of 2024 for a documentary, surpassing “War Game” and “Eno”.
If the numbers persist throughout the weekend, “¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” could have the largest PTA for any documentary since Covid. Since 2020, the only film that comes close to the numbers “Casa Bonita” projects to hit is 2023’s “Anselm,” which had a PTA of $21,000 across two theaters.
“¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor!” follows “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone...
- 9/6/2024
- by Brian Welk
- Indiewire
The 20th edition of the Camden Intl. Film Festival, kicking off Sept. 12, features a lineup full of political, hot button documentaries fresh off showings at Toronto, Venice and Telluride. The Maine-based film festival will unfold in a hybrid format, with both in-person events over a four-day period concluding Sept. 15, and online screenings available from Sept. 16 to Sept. 30 for audiences across the U.S.
This year’s Ciff highlights include: Steve Pink’s “The Last Republican,” about former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger during his last year in office when he attempted to hold his own party accountable through his work on the Jan. 6 Committee. The docu will have its world premiere at TIFF. Also screening is Michael Premo’s “Homegrown,” which follows a group of right-wing activists from the 2020 campaign trail all the way to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The film will debut in the Venice Film...
This year’s Ciff highlights include: Steve Pink’s “The Last Republican,” about former U.S. Representative Adam Kinzinger during his last year in office when he attempted to hold his own party accountable through his work on the Jan. 6 Committee. The docu will have its world premiere at TIFF. Also screening is Michael Premo’s “Homegrown,” which follows a group of right-wing activists from the 2020 campaign trail all the way to the attack on the U.S. Capitol. The film will debut in the Venice Film...
- 8/19/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
When Gary Hustwit took his latest documentary “Eno” to Sundance in January 2024, he wasn’t riddled with anxiety about whether or not the doc about musician Brian Eno would find distribution.
The odds were undeniably against him: Scoring a big studio deal as an independent filmmaker is, these days, like winning the lottery. And Hustwit’s decision to forgo a conventional chronological doc about Eno’s career in favor of creating generative software that creates a different version of the movie every time you see it, made it a particularly hard sell.
But despite factors, Hustwit and “Eno” producer Jessica Edwards fielded offers from several distributors in Park City.
Still, the filmmaker wasn’t convinced they were ready to distribute it the way he intended. “I don’t think many of the distributors were ready to take on something like ‘Eno,'” he says. “I am also still innovating the...
The odds were undeniably against him: Scoring a big studio deal as an independent filmmaker is, these days, like winning the lottery. And Hustwit’s decision to forgo a conventional chronological doc about Eno’s career in favor of creating generative software that creates a different version of the movie every time you see it, made it a particularly hard sell.
But despite factors, Hustwit and “Eno” producer Jessica Edwards fielded offers from several distributors in Park City.
Still, the filmmaker wasn’t convinced they were ready to distribute it the way he intended. “I don’t think many of the distributors were ready to take on something like ‘Eno,'” he says. “I am also still innovating the...
- 7/23/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
This weekend was projected to be a breather in between massive openings for “Despicable Me 4” (Universal) and “Twisters” (Universal)/“Deadpool and Wolverine” (Disney) the following two weeks. It sort of worked out that way, but not the way it was expected.
“Longlegs” (Neon) and “Fly Me to the Moon” (Sony) were projected to come in second and third this weekend with a combined $30 million-$35 million. That part happened. But Apple’s rom-com with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum was expected to take second, perhaps at least $15 million (earlier projections higher), while Oz Perkins’ distinctive horror-thriller starring Nicolas Cage was felt to be $10 million or more.
Instead, “Longlegs” took second with $22.6 million, while “Fly” is initially placed at $10 million (others have it lower), and only in fifth place. Both are striking results.
With a budget including marketing under $10 million, “Longlegs” has grossed more in only one weekend than all but...
“Longlegs” (Neon) and “Fly Me to the Moon” (Sony) were projected to come in second and third this weekend with a combined $30 million-$35 million. That part happened. But Apple’s rom-com with Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum was expected to take second, perhaps at least $15 million (earlier projections higher), while Oz Perkins’ distinctive horror-thriller starring Nicolas Cage was felt to be $10 million or more.
Instead, “Longlegs” took second with $22.6 million, while “Fly” is initially placed at $10 million (others have it lower), and only in fifth place. Both are striking results.
With a budget including marketing under $10 million, “Longlegs” has grossed more in only one weekend than all but...
- 7/14/2024
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
What used to be known, literally, as “the cutting room floor,” now exists as a digital bin, an assortment of deleted scenes, unused footage — material that, through its absence, haunts any finished audiovisual work. Often when this material is revealed, on a Blu-ray supplemental features disc, for example, the director’s elisions affirm the strength of their initial creative editorial decisions. Other times, particularly in biographical documentaries, the unused material becomes a kind of lacuna, suggesting not only paths unexplored but a failure to engage with all that’s messy, […]
The post “I Could Do a Dynamite Directors Cut, Because I Know Where All the Best Stuff is, But That Would Defeat the Whole Purpose of the Project”: Gary Hustwit on Eno first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Could Do a Dynamite Directors Cut, Because I Know Where All the Best Stuff is, But That Would Defeat the Whole Purpose of the Project”: Gary Hustwit on Eno first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 7/12/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
What used to be known, literally, as “the cutting room floor,” now exists as a digital bin, an assortment of deleted scenes, unused footage — material that, through its absence, haunts any finished audiovisual work. Often when this material is revealed, on a Blu-ray supplemental features disc, for example, the director’s elisions affirm the strength of their initial creative editorial decisions. Other times, particularly in biographical documentaries, the unused material becomes a kind of lacuna, suggesting not only paths unexplored but a failure to engage with all that’s messy, […]
The post “I Could Do a Dynamite Directors Cut, Because I Know Where All the Best Stuff is, But That Would Defeat the Whole Purpose of the Project”: Gary Hustwit on Eno first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “I Could Do a Dynamite Directors Cut, Because I Know Where All the Best Stuff is, But That Would Defeat the Whole Purpose of the Project”: Gary Hustwit on Eno first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 7/12/2024
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Disney blockbuster “Inside Out 2” led the U.K. and Ireland box office for the fourth consecutive weekend with £5.1 million ($6.5 million). It now has a running total of £40 million, taking it past Warner Bros.’ “Dune: Part Two” to become the year’s highest-grossing film in the region. It also surpassed the lifetime box office of 2015’s “Inside Out.”
Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” held onto second place in its sophomore frame, earning £1.6 million and bringing its cumulative total to £6.1 million. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” from Sony rounded out the top three in its fifth week, adding £446,578 to reach a total of £11 million.
Universal’s horror entry “MaXXXine” debuted at No. 4 with £388,043, while the studio’s “The Bikeriders” dropped to fifth place in its third week, collecting £374,066 for a total of £3.1 million.
Indian sci-fi epic “Kalki 2898 Ad” from Dreamz Entertainment landed at sixth with £187,610 in its second week,...
Paramount’s “A Quiet Place: Day One” held onto second place in its sophomore frame, earning £1.6 million and bringing its cumulative total to £6.1 million. “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” from Sony rounded out the top three in its fifth week, adding £446,578 to reach a total of £11 million.
Universal’s horror entry “MaXXXine” debuted at No. 4 with £388,043, while the studio’s “The Bikeriders” dropped to fifth place in its third week, collecting £374,066 for a total of £3.1 million.
Indian sci-fi epic “Kalki 2898 Ad” from Dreamz Entertainment landed at sixth with £187,610 in its second week,...
- 7/9/2024
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
As you catch up on our list of the best 20 films from the first half of the year, it’s also time to look at what the latter half brings. While July may be a bit lighter in worthwhile cinematic offerings, it does provide a few promising wide releases, some of the year’s best documentaries, and a few TIFF and Sundance favorites finally arriving.
13. Eno (Gary Hustwit; July 12)
One of the most curious experiments to premiere out of Sundance this year was Gary Hustwit’s Eno, which uses generative technology to produce an entirely new movie every single time it’s screened. That experiment’s now being put to a major test as it opens at Film Forum with new versions every day. John Fink said in his review, “So what we’re left with is a random series of threads, some organized quite well (by Hustiwit and editors...
13. Eno (Gary Hustwit; July 12)
One of the most curious experiments to premiere out of Sundance this year was Gary Hustwit’s Eno, which uses generative technology to produce an entirely new movie every single time it’s screened. That experiment’s now being put to a major test as it opens at Film Forum with new versions every day. John Fink said in his review, “So what we’re left with is a random series of threads, some organized quite well (by Hustiwit and editors...
- 7/2/2024
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
The Nantucket Film Festival has set the lineup for its 2024 edition and will honor Emmy-nominated writer-producer Kerry Ehrin, Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams and Girls5Eva showrunner Meredith Scardino.
The 29th edition of the festival will open with Josh Margolin’s June Squibb-starrer Thelma, close with Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s Christopher Reeve documentary Super/Man and Jeff Zimbalist’s documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, about a daredevil couple who secretly filmed themselves climbing the world’s last super skyscraper. The festival will also continue its tradition of screening a Disney or Pixar film on its opening day, with a festival screening of Inside Out 2.
The festival also announced several honorees: Ehrin will receive the Excellence in Television Writing Award; Williams will receive the Career Achievement in Filmmaking Award and his latest feature Stamped From the Beginning, based on the book of the same name by Ibram X. Kendi,...
The 29th edition of the festival will open with Josh Margolin’s June Squibb-starrer Thelma, close with Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui’s Christopher Reeve documentary Super/Man and Jeff Zimbalist’s documentary Skywalkers: A Love Story, about a daredevil couple who secretly filmed themselves climbing the world’s last super skyscraper. The festival will also continue its tradition of screening a Disney or Pixar film on its opening day, with a festival screening of Inside Out 2.
The festival also announced several honorees: Ehrin will receive the Excellence in Television Writing Award; Williams will receive the Career Achievement in Filmmaking Award and his latest feature Stamped From the Beginning, based on the book of the same name by Ibram X. Kendi,...
- 4/23/2024
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has selected 168 films for its 2024 edition, including world premieres of Red Fever, American Cats: The Good, the Bad and the Cuddly and The Ride Ahead.
The festival is pushing ahead with its 2024 event from April 25 to May 5, despite the resignation of 10 programmers this past weekend; and the departure of artistic director Hussain Currimbhoy on March 20.
The 51 world premieres in the festival include Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond’s Red Fever, in which he travels North America and Europe investigating the world’s fascination with Native Americans; Amy Hoggart’s American Cats: The Good, the Bad and the Cuddly,...
The festival is pushing ahead with its 2024 event from April 25 to May 5, despite the resignation of 10 programmers this past weekend; and the departure of artistic director Hussain Currimbhoy on March 20.
The 51 world premieres in the festival include Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond’s Red Fever, in which he travels North America and Europe investigating the world’s fascination with Native Americans; Amy Hoggart’s American Cats: The Good, the Bad and the Cuddly,...
- 3/26/2024
- ScreenDaily
After a year-long hiatus the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival has unveiled the lineup for its 26th edition, which will take place in Durham, N.C., from April 4-7. The festival will kick things off with “Girls State,” the Apple Original docu that premiered at Sundance earlier this year.
It’s been five years since Full Frame, often referred to as “a filmmaker’s festival,” was held as an in-person event. Full Frame was held entirely online for the 2020–22 festivals due to Covid-19. Then in 2023 the festival was put on hold last year due to financial struggles and leadership turnover at Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies (Cds), a nonprofit affiliate of the university that puts on the fest. Notably, Cds executive director Opeyemi Olukemi resigned last year. As reported by The Assembly, Olukemi, who took the role in 2021, was criticized as the Cds staff shrank and a bulk of...
It’s been five years since Full Frame, often referred to as “a filmmaker’s festival,” was held as an in-person event. Full Frame was held entirely online for the 2020–22 festivals due to Covid-19. Then in 2023 the festival was put on hold last year due to financial struggles and leadership turnover at Duke’s Center for Documentary Studies (Cds), a nonprofit affiliate of the university that puts on the fest. Notably, Cds executive director Opeyemi Olukemi resigned last year. As reported by The Assembly, Olukemi, who took the role in 2021, was criticized as the Cds staff shrank and a bulk of...
- 3/14/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Last month, Brian Eno’s Gary Hustwit-directed documentary, Eno, premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival. Now, Eno has announced the documentary’s corresponding soundtrack, which will arrive on April 19th via Umr. Along with the announcement, he shared the previously-unreleased song, “Lighthouse #429.”
Spanning 17 tracks from 14 albums — plus three previously-unreleased songs — the Eno soundtrack will show off Eno’s 50-year, including collaborations with artists like Daniel Lanois, Fred again.., David Byrne, John Cale, Roger Eno, and more.
After arriving on April 19th, the Eno soundtrack will be available on CD and vinyl formats, including a limited-edition colored vinyl option with eco-packaging. Physical copies will drop in North America on June 7th, pre-orders are ongoing.
In the release announcing the soundtrack, Eno offered a statement on his creative process: “Picasso once said: ‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.’ I don’t wait to be inspired: I start working...
Spanning 17 tracks from 14 albums — plus three previously-unreleased songs — the Eno soundtrack will show off Eno’s 50-year, including collaborations with artists like Daniel Lanois, Fred again.., David Byrne, John Cale, Roger Eno, and more.
After arriving on April 19th, the Eno soundtrack will be available on CD and vinyl formats, including a limited-edition colored vinyl option with eco-packaging. Physical copies will drop in North America on June 7th, pre-orders are ongoing.
In the release announcing the soundtrack, Eno offered a statement on his creative process: “Picasso once said: ‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.’ I don’t wait to be inspired: I start working...
- 2/19/2024
- by Jo Vito
- Consequence - Music
Editor’s note: Following the publishing of our review, we received word from Brenden Dawes, who developed the generative system used by the filmmakers of Eno, that while the film teases the possibilities of AI and generative technology in an art practice, the film itself consists entirely of filmed new and archival materials with no AI-generated content.
A film of infinite possibilities thanks in part to a generative AI hook, Gary Hustwit’s Eno is partially a straightforward biopic featuring interviews and archival footage with composer Brian Eno, the experiential musician and artist whose credits include playing the synthesizer in Roxy Music to creating the start-up sound for Windows PCs. The film is assembled at random, with a set beginning and ending, inspired seemingly by a deck of “Oblique Strategies” cards that Eno and David Bowie used to create tension and contractions within their collaborations.
Of course, Eno is not...
A film of infinite possibilities thanks in part to a generative AI hook, Gary Hustwit’s Eno is partially a straightforward biopic featuring interviews and archival footage with composer Brian Eno, the experiential musician and artist whose credits include playing the synthesizer in Roxy Music to creating the start-up sound for Windows PCs. The film is assembled at random, with a set beginning and ending, inspired seemingly by a deck of “Oblique Strategies” cards that Eno and David Bowie used to create tension and contractions within their collaborations.
Of course, Eno is not...
- 1/25/2024
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
There’s a reason music legend Brian Eno has never been the subject of a music documentary: He thinks they’re rubbish.
“I always find them frustrating,” said Eno, zooming into the post-screening Q&a at the January 18 premiere of “Eno,” which is, in fact, a documentary about the musician. “Any documentary I’ve ever seen about anybody I know, I thought has missed out [on] most of the interesting things about them.”
Eno’s larger problem with biography, whether it’s a movie or book, is that even the good ones “trace a sort of single chronological path through and make everything follow from each other.”
Veteran documentary director and producer Gary Hustwit shared Eno’s concerns. So this was his pitch: The documentary would be a different film every time it screened. Rather than the filmmaker making the connections between different aspects of Eno’s life, art, and ideas, digital...
“I always find them frustrating,” said Eno, zooming into the post-screening Q&a at the January 18 premiere of “Eno,” which is, in fact, a documentary about the musician. “Any documentary I’ve ever seen about anybody I know, I thought has missed out [on] most of the interesting things about them.”
Eno’s larger problem with biography, whether it’s a movie or book, is that even the good ones “trace a sort of single chronological path through and make everything follow from each other.”
Veteran documentary director and producer Gary Hustwit shared Eno’s concerns. So this was his pitch: The documentary would be a different film every time it screened. Rather than the filmmaker making the connections between different aspects of Eno’s life, art, and ideas, digital...
- 1/19/2024
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
‘Eno’ Review: A Compelling Portrait of Music Visionary Brian Eno Is Different Each Time You Watch It
Even next to David Bowie, with his alien regalia and mutating persona, it was Brian Eno who always seemed like the supreme spaceman of the pop-music universe. In 1972, when he first came onto the scene as the 24-year-old synthesizer wizard of Roxy Music, he sported a look that was pure glam, except that he somehow appeared even more baroque than the gender-bending rock stars of the time. They were Dionysian pansexual strutters, whereas Eno was his own unique thing: a delicate sci-fi gamine, a geek in thrift-shop drag. He wore light blue eye shadow and pinkish lipstick and jackets with huge shoulder pads that sprouted shiny black feathers, but his hair was thinning on top and long and wispy on the sides, and his pout gave him the look of a passionflower extraterrestrial.
As Eno began to create his solo albums of “ambient music”, he held onto his image as pop’s surreal harlequin eccentric.
As Eno began to create his solo albums of “ambient music”, he held onto his image as pop’s surreal harlequin eccentric.
- 1/19/2024
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Eugene Hernandez has reached the top of the mountain.
The journalist turned nonprofit executive has spent decades rising through the ranks of the American independent film scene. This January he assumes his seat at its apex: as the director of the Sundance Film Festival.
Hernandez, the co-founder of IndieWire and longtime leader of Film at Lincoln Center, got the coveted job in late 2022. But his official duties begin with this year’s festival, the 40th edition of the annual celebration of film that kicks off Jan. 18. He still remembers his first time in the luxury ski town of Park City, Utah, watching Robert Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi” in 1993.
“It all feels full circle,” Hernandez tells Variety, adding that he shed tears when Sundance CEO Joana Vicente called to offer the job.
Sundance remains the preeminent film festival for spotlighting new talent. This year, the group received 17,000 submissions, many of them...
The journalist turned nonprofit executive has spent decades rising through the ranks of the American independent film scene. This January he assumes his seat at its apex: as the director of the Sundance Film Festival.
Hernandez, the co-founder of IndieWire and longtime leader of Film at Lincoln Center, got the coveted job in late 2022. But his official duties begin with this year’s festival, the 40th edition of the annual celebration of film that kicks off Jan. 18. He still remembers his first time in the luxury ski town of Park City, Utah, watching Robert Rodriguez’s “El Mariachi” in 1993.
“It all feels full circle,” Hernandez tells Variety, adding that he shed tears when Sundance CEO Joana Vicente called to offer the job.
Sundance remains the preeminent film festival for spotlighting new talent. This year, the group received 17,000 submissions, many of them...
- 1/15/2024
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Writers and actors aren’t the only people in Hollywood grappling with the impact generative artificial intelligence will have on the entertainment industry. Documentarians are also concerned about AI and what it means for the ethical standards and practices of nonfiction filmmaking.
Many have used AI to transcribe interviews in the past few years and in recent months generative-ai models including ChatGPT and Midjourney have helped docu assistant editors create spreadsheets and visual placeholders as well as extract and catalogue metadata. But recent advancements in AI, such as the ability to generate fake photographs and only needing three seconds of someone’s voice to create synthesized audio of that person saying anything, have filmmakers like Dawn Porter (“The ‘Lady Bird Diaries”) worried.
“We are supposed to be the truth, and it might be the truth as we see it, but we are also supposed to be transparent,” says Porter. “I...
Many have used AI to transcribe interviews in the past few years and in recent months generative-ai models including ChatGPT and Midjourney have helped docu assistant editors create spreadsheets and visual placeholders as well as extract and catalogue metadata. But recent advancements in AI, such as the ability to generate fake photographs and only needing three seconds of someone’s voice to create synthesized audio of that person saying anything, have filmmakers like Dawn Porter (“The ‘Lady Bird Diaries”) worried.
“We are supposed to be the truth, and it might be the truth as we see it, but we are also supposed to be transparent,” says Porter. “I...
- 8/1/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
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