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The 2025 Tribeca Festival has revealed its feature-film lineup for this year’s event.

Among the highlights, this year’s festival will feature the world premiere of Miley Cyrus’ Something Beautiful film, the visual companion to her album of the same name, which drops on May 30. After the screening of the film directed by Cyrus, Jacob Bixenman and Brendan Walter will be followed by a conversation with Cyrus.

The festival, which previously revealed its opening night film would be the Billy Joel documentary And So It Goes, will close with the Leonardo DiCaprio-produced Yanuni, directed by Richard Ladkani. The documentary that serves as both a love story and call to action follows Indigenous chief Juma Xipaia as she works to defend her people’s land alongside her husband, Hugo Loss, a Special Forces Unit ranger.

“Tribeca has always been more than a festival—it’s a home for artists navigating...

Marc Maron is an incredibly funny man, but beneath that humor is an intensely relatable vulnerability. Any biography of him would need to strike this same balance to be effective. Although Are We Good? strives, like its subject, to be unabashedly authentic and unconventional, it only sometimes achieves these goals, all too often falling into a conventional rhythm.

Are We Good? Review

Are We Good? tells the story of Marc Maron, a stand-up comedian, actor, and leading podcaster who has gone through several speedbumps throughout his career but has come to be a beloved, revolutionary figure. The documentary, like Maron’s style of humor, is often bittersweet, with a strong through-line of hope even in the darkest moments.

The film primarily focuses on Maron’s bereavement in the aftermath of his partner, Lynn Shelton’s, death in 2020. It’s a very tragic story — and one that Maron has often discussed...

Being a curmudgeon is part of his persona, but it’s not that difficult to find evidence of Marc Maron being vulnerable. Just listen to the introductions on his “Wtf” podcast, in which the standup veteran monologues about whatever’s on his mind that day. And sure, some listeners fast-forward through these parts to get to the interview. But if you want to get to know the “real Marc Maron,” he is willing to bare his soul — it just has to be on his own terms.

Some of the most revealing content in the SXSW doc “Are We Good?” comes from Maron’s podcast, including a heartbreaking snippet of audio in which he announces the death of his partner Lynn Shelton to his listeners. Director Steven Feinartz does get one disarming on-camera interview with Maron about Shelton’s death, which happened suddenly in May 2020 from “some blood disease nobody knew about,...

Toward the end of his 2023 HBO comedy special From Bleak to Dark, Marc Maron tells the audience a high-wire joke he’s been working on since his partner, the director Lynn Shelton, died in 2020 from a rare blood disease.

It starts with Maron on the way to the hospital to say goodbye to Shelton after a doctor arranges for the comedian to see her body. When Maron gets there, he takes his time saying goodbye. As he’s walking out of the ICU, he stops to consider a thought: “Selfie?” he asks himself. “No,” he finally decides. Most of the audience laughs immediately, but a few gasp before succumbing to their chuckles. It’s the kind of blunt and slightly scandalous humor Maron has built his career on, but it’s also textured with something rare for the comedian: a tender emotional awareness.

There are scenes of Maron workshopping this joke in Are We Good?...

“I should have been dead at the end of that!”

Those were comedian Marc Maron’s first words following the premiere of the feature documentary about him, “Are We Good?,” at the SXSW Film & TV Festival on Tuesday. The film, directed by Steven Feinartz, covers the full breadth of Maron’s career, from his start in the 1980s as a cocaine-fueled acolyte of stand-up Sam Kinison through the rapid success of his comedy podcast “Wtf.”

“I thought, it’s amazing this guy is still alive,” Maron joked as he took to the stage of the Zach Theater in Austin following the premiere. “Because usually that’s a movie about a guy that died already.”

Death was understandably on Maron’s mind: The majority of “Are We Good?” focuses on how he’s processed his grief after his girlfriend, filmmaker Lynn Shelton, died suddenly of an undiagnosed blood disease in May 2020. Picking up a year later,...

In “Are We Good?” comedian and podcast pioneer Marc Maron works his way through life after the unexpected death of his partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton.

The 95-minute documentary is directed by Steven Feinartz, who also directed the comedian’s 2023 HBO special “Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark.” The doc captures Maron as he processes his grief on and off comedy stages. The film also chronicles Maron’s lengthy, complicated career, his struggle with addiction, his relationship with his declining father, and what the comedian is best known for – his podcast “Wtf With Marc Maron,” which launched in 2009.

Feinartz and Maron, who met 13 years ago during an episode of Wtf, started filming “Are We Good” in May 2021 – a year after Shelton died.

“The film was a three and a half year undertaking, where I spent a bulk of the production with just myself filming Marc,” says Feinartz. “My intention was to...

Entertainment tech company Gathr has announced a full Api (Application Performance Interface) integration with Artinii.Pro, a software service aimed at secure delivery and exhibition of films worldwide. Gathr and Artinii.Pro’s new collaboration combines film booking, event management, ticketing, and exhibition into a “fully automated system for non-theatrical screenings.”

“This partnership exemplifies Gathr’s mission to remove the barrier between storyteller and audience by empowering filmmakers, connecting audiences, and transforming how independent films are experienced globally,” said Gathr founder and CEO Scott Glosserman. “Our unique approach ensures that even in countries where certain web browsers and third-party video players are restricted, audiences can still host screenings and engage with impactful content.”

Films slated for global screenings and discussions under the new collaboration include Monument Releasing’s “Dinner in America,” Vanessa Hope’s “Invisible Nation,” and Stephen Maing’s “Union.”

Friday, March 7 Marc Maron Documentary ‘Are We Good?’ to...

Marc Maron has a new stand-up comedy special coming to HBO later this year.

The special, which Variety hears consists of material from his “All In” tour, will be filmed in New York City in May.

The comedy hour will be Maron’s sixth stand-up special and comes two years after his latest for HBO, “From Bleak to Dark,” in which Maron discussed the death of his partner, Lynn Shelton, who died of cancer during the pandemic.

Maron is perhaps best-known for his podcast “Wtf With Marc Maron,” which launched in 2009 and has become one of the most famous podcasts in the country, with more than 1,600 episodes. On it, he’s interviewed everyone from Barack Obama to Keith Richards to Carol Burnett. (His episode with Robin Williams became the first one-on-one podcast episode to enter America’s National Recording Registry.)

Maron is also known for his role in Netflix’s women’s wrestling dramedy “Glow,...

Marc Maron will be back on HBO with his next stand-up comedy special.

The host of Wtf with Marc Maron will film the special in New York in May and it will be released later this year. There are no details as to what Maron will opine on in the new untitled hour.

Maron’s last special – From Bleak to Dark – aired on HBO in 2023. That special, which was his first for the Warner Bros. Discovery-owned cable network, was filmed at New York City’s Town Hall and saw him tackle topics such as getting older, antisemitism and faith, and his thoughts on having children – especially during the pandemic.

He also opened up about reestablishing his complicated relationship with his father following a difficult diagnosis and the loss of partner Lynn Shelton in 2020.

“I’m not an arena act,” Maron told Deadline in 2023. “There’s no way I’ll be that guy.

For the first time since 2022, this year’s South by Southwest Film & Television Festival does not overlap with the Oscars — which seems to have given SXSW curators a richer field to pull from, as the 2025 lineup has no shortage of buzzy titles and stars. Running from March 7-15, the festival will present 111 movies and 17 series featuring the likes of Blake Lively, Anna Kendrick, Seth Rogen, Daisy Edgar-Jones, Jacob Elordi, Ben Affleck, Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, Issa Rae, Jenna Ortega, Daveed Diggs and more.

The festival will open with “Another Simple Favor,” the sequel to the 2018 comedic thriller “A Simple Favor,” once again starring Lively and Kendrick and directed by Paul Feig. The new film is set in Capri, Italy, where Stephanie (Kendrick) and Emily (Lively) travel for Emily’s wedding to a rich Italian businessman; as the logline reveals, “murder and betrayal” ensue. Andrew Rannells, Bashir Salahuddin, Henry Golding, Elizabeth Perkins,...

Coralie Fargeat bet big on herself and won, as her decision to turn down a big MCU director gig to focus on her passion project, The Substance, led her to an Academy Award nomination. Fargeat's The Substance has become one of the ultimate underdog stories of the awards season race, as the movie's original financer, Universal Pictures, dropped the project before being picked up by a smaller distributor, Mubi. The body horror film, starring Demi Moore, seemed like a tough sell on paper, but it has since gone on to gross $76 million worldwide and defied expectations. The Substance is a full-throttle gore fest that scored a Best Picture nomination at the 97th Academy Awards, with Fargeat earning a Best Director and Best Original Screenplay nomination.

Things might have gone very differently if Fargeat had considered Marvel Studios' offer. According to Variety, Fargeat was in consideration to direct Black Widow. Despite being broke at the time,...

There is no way to completely discuss “Twinless,” the latest film from writer/director/actor James Sweeney, without robbing its biggest turns of their impact. The initial premise, about two guys that meet in a twin bereavement support group and then start to grow closer, is merely a small fraction of what this film has in store as it upends expectations and runs with them as far as it can. It’s a juggling act of tones that manages to be funny, chaotic, dark and even unexpectedly poignant. The film also has Dylan O’Brien giving one of his best performances to date, bringing just the right amount of heartfelt himbo energy to his role as grieving twin Rocky and giving the film unexpected emotional weight in key moments.

The film, which premiered Thursday at Sundance, begins with a car accident occurring offscreen. Putting its darkly comedic tone on immediate display,...

The 2025 SXSW Film & TV Festival is finally here.

South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference and Festivals has unveiled the first wave of its film and TV lineup for the 32nd edition, which begins with with an Opening Night TV Premiere of the eagerly-anticipated Apple TV+ series “The Studio” starring Seth Rogen, who also serves as writer, director, and executive producer alongside Evan Goldberg.

“We are thrilled to welcome Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg back to SXSW with our Opening Night TV premiere, ‘The Studio,'” Claudette Godfrey, VP of Film & TV, said. “This brilliantly conceived series is exquisitely cast and written, capturing the fanatical love, dedication, pressure, and, yes, the hubris that defines our industry. It’s hilariously spot-on, bringing to life the stories we’ve all heard or witnessed firsthand. We can’t wait to experience the joy and energy radiating from the Paramount when we share this gem with the world.

Chinese filmmaker Jing Zou, director of the narrative feature film “A Girl Unknown,” has been named as the winner of the fifth annual Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” Grant from Seattle’s Northwest Film Forum (Nwff). This grant includes an unrestricted cash award of $25,000 to support her directorial debut, which follows a girl from age six through her 30s as she’s passed between multiple families and is inspired by the true story of generations of Chinese girls who were abandoned as a result of the country’s defunct one-child policy.

“I am absolutely honored to be selected as the recipient of the 2024 Lynn Shelton ‘Of a Certain Age’ award for my first feature, ‘A Girl Unknown.’ Thank you for this recognition and for your support,” Zou said in a statement. “I am committed to making the most of this award and to creating a film that honors the spirit of Lynn Shelton.

Hulu’s adaptation of Little Fires Everywhere premiered at the very beginning of the 2020 Covid lockdown, and although it was nominated for several big Emmys that fall, the miniseries has become very fuzzy in my memory. One thing I do remember, however, is that in selecting the daughters of Reese Witherspoon’s character, the casting team found a pair of young actresses — Jade Pettyjohn and Megan Stott — who absolutely bore an uncanny resemblance to Reese Witherspoon.

Actually, I’d forgotten even that detail before sitting down to watch the new Netflix drama Penelope and immediately recognizing Stott — in large part because, if you’re going to make what is essentially an eight-part YA version of Wild, selecting a certifiable Reese Witherspoon doppelgänger as your lead makes a lot of sense.

Presumably, it isn’t wholly a coincidence. Penelope was created by Mark Duplass, who co-stars with Witherspoon on The Morning Show,...

Seven years after coming up short on their respective first and second Best TV Movie/Limited Series Directing Emmy bids against Jean-Marc Vallée (“Big Little Lies”), Steven Zaillian and Noah Hawley are involved in a rematch as helmers of the non-continuing programs “Ripley” and “Fargo.” Despite the quality of their new work and their strong Emmys resumes, they are widely expected to once again be bested by a complete first-timer: Weronika Tofilska (“Baby Reindeer”).

Tofilska is joined in this directing lineup’s category newcomer majority by Issa López (“True Detective”), Millicent Shelton (“Lessons in Chemistry”), and Gus Van Sant (“Feud”). Counting Zaillian and Hawley, Shelton is the only one in the bunch who has ever earned TV academy recognition for directing a non-limited series, as her very first bid came for “30 Rock” in 2009.

In order to determine whether this is truly Tofilska’s race to lose, let’s take...

More than four years since her passing in 2020, and filmmaker Lynn Shelton continues to leave a characteristically positive mark on the indie filmmaking community. Now in its fifth year, the Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” grant is now seeking applicants for its latest iteration.

The grant awards $25,000 to a U.S.-based woman, non-binary, or transgender filmmaker, age 39 or older, who has yet to direct a narrative feature. Similar to the previous iterations, the grant will be a national open call, and seeks to recognize a film director for their distinct vision, storytelling, and singularity. Previous recipients include Erica Tremblay, who has said the grant was integral to the development of her debut feature, the lauded “Fancy Dance,” and most recent winner, Mirta Desir, who is in active development on her own first feature now.

“The Lynn Shelton ‘Of a Certain Age’ Grant is an amazing source of support...

Exclusive: Sony Pictures International Productions and Mucho Mas Media are in development on The Pet Nup, an original rom-com to be directed by Elaine del Valle (Midnight Hustle). Cast for the pic will include Emeraude Toubia (With Love), Gregg Sulkin (Runaways), Halston Sage (Dark Phoenix) and Emmy winner Jaime Pressly (My Name Is Earl).

Scripted by Tate Hanyok (Sex Appeal), the film’s logline is as follows: While a recently divorced couple navigates new life and love apart, the arrangement in their “Pet-Nup” forces them to extremes as they fight for custody of the one thing in their life that can’t be split in two: their dog.

Javier Chapa will produce for Mucho Mas Media (The Long Game). Phillip Braun will exec produce for Mucho Mas, along with Sherrese Clarke Soares for Harbourview Equity.

Previously starring in Gloria Calderón Kellett’s Prime Video series With Love and Freeform’s Shadowhunters,...

The late Treat Williams received a posthumous nomination for best supporting actor at the 2024 Emmys for his role in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.

Williams died after a motorcycle accident on June 12, 2023. He was 71 years old. His Emmy nomination for a limited or anthology series comes after the final curtain call for his role as CBS head Bill Paley in the second season of Feud.

At the time of this death, 20th Century TV and FX said in a statement: “Treat Williams leaves behind a legacy of remarkable performances in film and television, and an indelible mark on the entire industry. All who were fortunate enough to work with Treat over his four-decade career would agree that his incredible talent was matched only by his utter kindness. He was a friend and inspiration to many, and he will be deeply missed by his colleagues. Our hearts go out to his family during this time.

Erica Tremblay, the Native American filmmaker who made her directorial debut with the Sundance title Fancy Dance, starring Lily Gladstone of Killers of the Flower Moon fame, has signed with CAA for representation.

The filmmaker, from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation, worked on FX series Reservation Dogs as a writer and director. Tremblay saw Fancy Dance, after a year’s delay, get picked up by Apple Original Films after its Sundance premiere and ahead of a release in theaters and on Apple TV+ later this year.

Set in northeastern Oklahoma’s Indian Country, Fancy Dance is based on Tremblay’s original screenplay co-written with Miciana Alise and centers on a young woman’s disappearance from a reservation and her family’s urgent attempts to locate her.

In Nov. 2023, Tremblay and Alise co-wrote a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter talking about the film’s struggle to find distribution. “Our film premiered in...

With Penelope, Mel Eslyn, director of last year’s Biosphere and a producer who has worked with the Duplass brothers and Lynn Shelton, enters the world of episodic series. The series follows a 16-year-old girl who, feeling out of place in the world, ventures into the wilderness. Penelope will screen as part of Sundance’s Episodic Pilot Showcase. Below, editor Celia Beasley discusses the importance of Washington state’s indie film community and how the series reignited her love of the outdoors. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? […]

The post “I Hope Watching Her Will Spark That Curiosity in All of Us”: Editor Celia Beasley on Penelope first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

With Penelope, Mel Eslyn, director of last year’s Biosphere and a producer who has worked with the Duplass brothers and Lynn Shelton, enters the world of episodic series. The series follows a 16-year-old girl who, feeling out of place in the world, ventures into the wilderness. Penelope will screen as part of Sundance’s Episodic Pilot Showcase. Below, editor Celia Beasley discusses the importance of Washington state’s indie film community and how the series reignited her love of the outdoors. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor questionnaire here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? […]

The post “I Hope Watching Her Will Spark That Curiosity in All of Us”: Editor Celia Beasley on Penelope first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

The symbiotic relationship between Mel Eslyn and Mark Duplass is akin to the dynamic between Mario and Luigi – each vital to the other’s existence. This comedic duo, along with other members of their closely-knit extended family, notably the iconic Lynn Shelton (whom we lost in 2020), has been a cornerstone of the American indie scene for over a decade. With a prolific output, they have collectively shaped the landscape. Now, the cheerleader pom-poms have shifted into Mark’s hands, as it was Mel Eslyn’s turn to step behind the camera for her feature film debut. Notably, Biosphere was made a surprise, last-minute addition at TIFF, and the decision to keep the details of its unraveling a secret only adds to its intrigue.…...

The Northwest Film Forum has announced Mirta Desir as the awardee of its fourth annual Lynn Shelton “Of a Certain Age” grant.

Desir, a Haitian American, is producing her first narrative feature film “Angie.” She will receive an unrestricted award of $25,000 to support the making of her film, which she describes as a “love letter to Latin American artists and Haitians’ oral history — a marriage of human drama and the power of Voudou.” For Desir, the grant was “an amazing source of support for women filmmakers.”

“‘Angie’ is a story that I am compelled to tell. It is based on two things: Haiti’s historical interconnectedness with Voudou and my love for my younger sister, who died too young,” Desir said. “Through the lens of magical realism, ‘Angie’ explores the bond between sisters and its power to overcome the worst of circumstances. This grant is appreciated during this development phase...

Ray Liotta’s performances live on, as the late actor received a posthumous 2023 Emmy nomination for his role in Apple TV+’s Black Bird drama.

Liotta, best known for his turn as hustler-turned-mob rat Henry Hill in Martin Scorsese’s Goodfellas, died on May 26, 2022. He was 67 years old at the time.

On Wednesday, Liotta received his posthumous Emmy nomination in the best supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie category for one of his final roles in the limited TV series for Apple Studios, where he played ex-cop Big Jim Keene.

Liotta’s daughter, Karsen, in a statement welcomed the posthumous recognition of her late father for one of his final roles. “I am so grateful to the members of the Television Academy for honoring my Dad with this nomination. He was so incredibly proud of his performance in Black Bird, and it would mean the world...

Marc Maron’s recent HBO standup special “From Bleak to Dark,” yes, touches on subjects that might be considered bleak and dark. But of course, it’s much more than that. Sure, Maron opens the special by pointing out that society seems to be on a collision course with disaster, and there’s little that can be done about it. But, as the comedian, actor and podcaster tells Variety‘s Awards Circuit Podcast, he’s just being a realist.

“There’s a truth to it,” he says. “And I think that the first 15 or 20 minutes of that special addresses a lot of things in in a fairly broad way, because I wanted it to have some longevity. The negative things I talk about aren’t going anywhere. But also framing the special like that, like ‘I don’t want to be negative, I don’t think anything’s ever gonna get better ever again,...

The road to HBO’s Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark began during the pandemic, when the comedian began to share his grief with fans via instagram. The longtime comedian and podcaster was broadsided with the sudden death of his girlfriend, Lynn Shelton, and he needed a place to vent.

“It was a way to stay in touch with some sort of audience or community,” Maron recalled during Saturday’s Contenders TV event. “One hundred to 1,000 would watch every day as I moved through breakfast and grief. It was crazy.”

Eventually, Maron developed two years of material that addressed aging, antisemitism and, most important, grief. “It’s not talked about enough,” he said of grief, which he began to talk about in small venues. “Everybody is going to experience it at some point. Grief is always going to be there.”

And now, Maron calls From Bleak to Dark — his ​first HBO comedy special,...

There are lots of ways to pitch If You Were the Last. How about “Michel Gondry remakes When Harry Met Sally — in space!” Who wouldn’t want to see that? But for all the ingenious hot takes one can dream up for Kristian Mercado’s ambitious feature-length debut, there’s no escaping the fact that it’s less than the sum of its parts. To be brutal, although it does, for an hour at least, cast a spell, raise interesting metaphysical questions, and center on an odd couple who, for once, actually don’t seem like they’ll get together and then totally convince us when they do — it doesn’t really pass muster as a movie at all.

Which is surprising, because character-based, low-budget sci-fi indies set in the howling existential wilderness of deep space do have a history of working against the odds, like John Carpenter’s blackly...

The special: "Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark"

Where you can stream it: HBO Max

The pitch: Many people use comedy as a means of survival, a way of relating the absurdity of life to help keep from falling prey to despair. There's been a lot to despair about the past few years, from a pandemic to rising antisemitism, transphobia, and racial violence, and the ever-present threat of climate change, but comedian Marc Maron has the answers. He doesn't want to sell you anything, and he doesn't really ask for much, just a bit of critical thinking, basic empathy, and the ability to laugh at some seriously dark jokes. Maron's humor has always been pretty dark but "From Bleak to Dark" takes him to new heights (or depths, I suppose).

"From Bleak to Dark" sees the stand-up comedian tackle topics like dealing with his father's dementia, "anti-woke" comedians, and grieving...

Welcome back to my very irregularly scheduled podcast Deep Focus, where I, Playlist.net Editor-in-Chief Rodrigo Perez, talk long or long-ish with different filmmakers, directors, writers, and actors. Today, my guest is none other than comedian/actor and podcaster extraordinaire Marc Maron. Maron has a new HBO special out, available now on HBO Max, called “Marc Maron: From Bleak To Dark.”

I’ve been deeply under the weather, so let me apologize upfront for this pod being so delayed.

Continue reading Marc Maron Talks HBO Special From ‘Bleak To Dark,’ Lynn Shelton & “The Evolving Capacity For Empathy” at The Playlist.

Marc Maron might be one of the most famous podcasters in the world, but let’s not forget he cut his teeth and made his career in stand-up. His terrific new HBO Original stand-up comedy special “Marc Maron: From Bleak To Dark” debuted this past weekend and is now available to stream on HBO Max. The special is funny, insightful, and empathetic, and also cuts to the core of today’s political discourse—Maron has had it with the conspiracy theorists, the Qanon heads, the wackos, and the galaxy brain thinkers, and he takes them all to task.

Continue reading Marc Maron Shares Details On The “Bleak” Script He Co-Wrote With Lynn Shelton & Says He’s Still Considering Making It at The Playlist.

Sundance 2023: ‘Fancy Dance’ Directed by Erica Tremblay

U.S. Dramatic Competition

This is a perfect Sundance film. Regional, authentically true to its roots, it also sounds great, from the Cherokee conversation spoken with total ease and subtitled for English speaking non-Cherokees to the beat of the drum and the music accompanying our two protagonists as they seek their sister and mother.

Since her sister’s disappearance, Jax (Lily Gladstone) has cared for her niece Roki (the luminous Isabel Deroy-Olson) by scraping by on the Seneca-Cayuga Reservation in Oklahoma. Every spare minute goes into finding her missing sister while also helping Roki prepare for an upcoming powwow. At the risk of losing custody to Jax’s father, Frank (Shea Whigham), the pair hit the road and scour the backcountry to track down Roki’s mother in time for the powwow. What begins as a search gradually turns into a far deeper investigation into the complexities and contradictions of Indigenous women moving through a colonized world and at the mercy of a failed justice system.

Jax (Lily Gladstone) and Roki (Isabel Deroy-Olson)

This debut fiction feature demonstrates the talent of Erica Tremblay, an American writer and director from the Seneca-Cayuga Nation. We cast a new eye upon the land and the characters who make up the Cherokee nation. (It was filmed and supported by the Cherokee nation. Erica Tremblay recently worked as an executive story editor on Reservation Dogs at FX, where she directed her 1st TV episode. Together with Sterlin Harjo, she developed a series adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize finalist Yellowbird (2014) for Paramount+. She was an executive story editor on Dark Winds (2022), produced by George R.R. Martin and Robert Redford. Her feature project Fancy Dance (2023) was accepted into the 2021 Sundance Directors and Screenwriters Labs. In 2021, she was awarded the Walter Bernstein Screenwriting Fellowship, the Maja Kristin Directing Fellowship, the Sffilm Rainin Grant and the Lynn Shelton of a Certain Age Grant. Her short film Little Chief (2020) premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and was included on IndieWire’s top-10 list of must-see short films at the festival. In addition to writing and directing, she’s also studying her indigenous language.

Director Erica Tremblay

As the sister and her niece make their way through their journey, the harshness of Jax and the kleptomania of Roki transform into understandable traits, especially for Roki who sees shoplifting as a normal adaptation to being constantly short of money. As for Jax, her dykish behavior which elicits disrespect from some men is a shield for her which hides her totally unconditional dedication to family, except when calling her brother, the sheriff, negligent and uncaring about tracking down their sister who has gone missing.

Tremblay’s unflinching exploration of marginalization uses a mystery narrative as a springboard for an oblique coming-of-age story, lovingly and luminously enacted by Gladstone and Deroy-Olson. Tremblay’s juxtaposition of settler violence against the strength of Indigenous communities offers a nuanced account of the human costs of the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women epidemic and the possibilities of healing for those left behind.

Fancy Dance was produced by four deeply engaged producers: Tommy Oliverwhose film 1982 premiered at Sundance in 2013 and who is here this year with three films, Fancy Dance, Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project andYoung. Wild. Free.; longtime programmer for indigenous programming since Sundance first championed the genre N. Bird Runningwater; Forest Whitaker producer of 34 films including this year’s Sundance film To Live and Die and Live and 2013 Sundance great Fruitvale Station; and Heather Rae, born on October 1, 1966 in Venice, California, USA and already producer of 42 films including Mosquito y Mari (Sundance 2012) and Tommy Oliver’s 1982(Sundance 2013). Others are Deidre Backs recipient of the 2021 Sundance Institute Mark Silverman honor as a Sundance Creative Producing Lab fellow and a 2022 Women at Sundance fellow; Nina Yang Bongiovi (30 producer credits), Dylan Brodie (18 credits), two relative newcomers Charlotte Koh, Robert Grigsby Wilson and the writer director herself Erica Tremblay.

While Sundance has morphed over its nearly 40 years from a showcase of small indie regional Americana into a Hollywood hunting ground and showcase of those whose arcs began there but have now made it to the heights, from budgets of $1 million and less to the $30–50 million dollar range, this film is a tribute to all that Robert Redford strove to achieve. It is a classic.

MoviesIndigenousFilm FestivalsWomenInternational Film...

“From Bleak to Dark,” the title of Marc Maron’s latest comedy special, perfectly encapsulates his prickly worldview. Those looking for benign reflections on the sunny side of life should just… move along. But it also hints at the comedian’s ability to find a ray of humor in even the most tragic circumstances.

“That’s what I do in my comedy,” Maron says. “I lighten up darkness.”

And “Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,” which premieres on HBO on Feb. 11, delves into some pitch-black terrain, notably the 2020 death of his girlfriend, indie film director Lynn Shelton, at only 54. Maron’s grief forms the spine of the moving, deeply personal and always hilarious show, one that finds him talking about processing Shelton’s loss during peak Covid. For good measure, Maron also delves into global warming, his father’s dementia and even the Holocaust, making it clear that the HBO...

It's possible that comedian Marc Maron is busier than he's ever been. Wtf with Marc Maron, his hugely successful podcast where he interviews notable figures from entertainment while also publicly wrestling with his own personal demons, is still dropping new episodes every single week. Meanwhile, his late-blooming acting career continues to gain momentum, with Maron picking up more and more film work, including a key role in last year's Oscar-nominated To Leslie. And, this Saturday, he'll debut his first full-length HBO comedy special, Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark, which features material he honed while out on the road last year. From Bleak to Dark finds Maron tackling recent personal tragedies -- including the sudden death of his girlfriend, director Lynn Shelton -- to perform the kind of darkly introspective (yet still very funny) comedy that he's most known for.

Marc Maron is revealing he dodged a bullet with failed streamer CNN+.

The “Wtf” podcast host revealed that he was approached by the short-lived streaming platform to host his own show for a “lot of money,” but he turned it down due to the timing of the offer.

Maron’s partner, filmmaker Lynn Shelton, died suddenly in 2020 of undiagnosed acute myeloid leukemia. Maron noted he “started doing Instagram Lives compulsorily on a daily basis” as part of the grieving process.

“It was me just kind of mumbling around and doing stuff around my house and ranting and raving about this or that, experiencing grief, and people were watching it and a lot of people got a lot out of it,” Maron told Vulture. “I got a lot of peculiar fans from that.”

The social media appearances caught the attention of the budding Warner Bros. Discovery flagship streamer.

“But it did...

Mel Eslyn’s feature directorial debut stars Sterling K. Brown, Mark Duplass.

Blue Fox Entertainment will kick off international sales at EFM next week on Mel Eslyn’s TIFF 2022 sci-fi comedy Biosphere starring Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass.

Eslyn and Duplass wrote the screenplay set in not-too-distant future where the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity.

Producers are Zackary Drucker, Eslyn, Maddie Buis, and Shuli Harel. Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass serve as executive producers through their Duplass Brothers Productions.

Blue Fox Entertainment is screening Biosphere in the market. Head of international Lisa Gutberlet...

Marc Maron’s first HBO Original comedy special, “Marc Maron: From Bleak to Dark,” will debut on the network Feb. 11 at 10 p.m. Et/Pt and be made available to stream on HBO Max.

The legendary stand-up comedian, actor and podcaster takes the stage in front of a live audience at New York City’s Town Hall. Over the course of a hilarious and deeply personal hour, he explores topics like getting older, antisemitism and faith, and the superiority of having cats over children — especially during the pandemic. The comedian also opens up about the loss of his girlfriend, the filmmaker Lynn Shelton, in 2020 and reestablishing his complicated relationship with his father.

Watch the trailer for the special at the top of this post.

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Previously, Maron has had four hit stand-up...

Mubi has announced its lineup of streaming offerings for next month, including a series on first films featuring David Cronenberg’s Stereo, Kelly Reichardt’s River of Grass, Jerzy Skolimowski’s Identification Marks: None, Fatih Akın’s Short Sharp Shock, Panos Cosmatos’ Beyond the Black Rainbow, and, with Mubi’s theatrical release of her new film Alcarràs, Carla Simón’s Summer 1993.

Additional highlights include Mathieu Amalric’s Hold Me Tight starring Vicky Krieps, Sundance favorites with films from Sean Baker, Lynn Shelton, Tom Noonan, and Andrew Bujalski, plus works from Nicolas Roeg, Claude Chabrol, and Aftersun director Charlotte Wells.

Check out the lineup below and get 30 days free here.

January 1 – Stereo, directed by David Cronenberg | First Films First

January 2 – Short Sharp Shock, directed by Fatih Akın | First Films First

January 3 – River of Grass, directed by Kelly Reichardt | First Films First

January 4 – Identification Marks: None, directed by Jerzy Skolimowski | First Films...

Support the Girls, Andrew Bujalski’s previous feature, was a far cry from his usual subgenre of mumblecore, with which he made his mark and was the primary focus of subsequent output over the last two decades. As one of the leaders of the movement––the likes of which also saw an emergence of Greta Gerwig, Lynn Shelton, and the Duplass brothers––his newest film There There returns the American director to the style and DIY nature of his earlier work.

There There follows several somewhat connected conversations in everyday scenarios. A slew of great actors lead this slight comedy that clearly avoided large casts and crews due to the Covid pandemic. These actors are paired off, in rooms by themselves or talking over video chat, isolated from the rest of the world even as they’re seemingly in a public space. Bujalski skirts the pandemic with this choice, wisely...

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to the sci-fi pic Biosphere, marking the feature directorial debut of award-winning producer Mel Eslyn (The One I Love). The film is slated for release in 2023, and will stream exclusively on AMC+ following its debut in theaters.

World premiering at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, Biosphere is set in the not-too-distant future, watching as the last two men on earth must adapt and evolve to save humanity. Emmy winners Mark Duplass (The Morning Show) and Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) star.

Best known as the long-time president of Duplass Brothers Productions, Eslyn directed from her script written with Mark Duplass. She also produced alongside Zackary Drucker, Maddie Buis and Shuli Harel, with Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass serving as executive producers.

“We are thrilled to work with producer Mel Eslyn again to bring her extraordinary feature directing debut out into the...

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to “Biosphere,” the directorial debut of award-winning producer Mel Eslyn, which stars Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass, the company announced on Monday.

Set in the not-too-distant future, Duplass and Brown play the last two men on earth who must adapt and evolve to save humanity.

“Biosphere” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September to a strong audience response and enthusiastic reviews.

Also Read:

Where Are the Sales? Why This Year’s Toronto Film Festival Market Slowed to a Crawl

The film was produced by Eslyn, artist/filmmaker Zackary Drucker—who previously co-directed the Duplass Brothers-produced docuseries “The Lady and the Dale”—and Duplass Brothers Productions’ Shuli Harel and Maddie Buis. Mark and Jay Duplass executive produced.

“We are thrilled to work with producer Mel Eslyn again to bring her extraordinary feature directing debut out into the world and could not be...

Early 2023 followed by exclusive streaming run on AMC+

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Mel Eslyn’s TIFF world premiere and feature directorial debut Biosphere starring Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown.

The sci-fi takes place in the not-too-distant future as the last two men on earth who must adapt and evolve to save humanity.

Eslyn – whose producing credits include The One I Love, Language Lessons co-starring Mark Duplass, and The Intervention – served as producer with Zackary Drucker, who co-directed docuseries The Lady And The Dale produced by the Duplass Brothers.

The producers roster includes Shuli Harel and...

IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to “Biosphere,” a sci-fi film from Mel Eslyn starring Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass. The film, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September, will be released in 2023 before streaming on AMC+.

“Biosphere” is set in the not-too-distant future where Duplass and Brown play the last two men on earth and must adapt and evolve to save humanity. The film is the debut feature directed by veteran producer Mel Eslyn, who produced alongside Zackary Drucker and Duplass Brothers Productions’ Shuli Harel and Maddie Buis. Mark and Jay Duplass serve as executive producers.

Eslyn’s film producing credits include Charlie McDowell’s “The One I Love,” Clea DuVall’s “The Intervention,” Lynn Shelton’s “Outside In,” Natalie Morales’ “Language Lessons” and Roshan Sethi’s “7 Days.” In 2016, she won the Independent Spirit Producer’s Award. On TV, she’s produced HBO’s...

Click here to read the full article.

IFC Films has picked up the North American rights to Biosphere, veteran producer Mel Eslyn’s debut directorial feature that stars Mark Duplass and Sterling K. Brown.

IFC Films will release Biosphere in 2023, with streaming to follow exclusively on AMC+. In the film, set in the not-too-distant future, Duplass and Brown play the last two men on Earth, who must adapt and evolve to save humanity.

Biosphere was produced by Eslyn, Zackary Drucker, Shuli Harel and Maddie Buis, with Mark and Jay Duplass executive producing.

“We are thrilled to work with producer Mel Eslyn again to bring her extraordinary feature directing debut out into the world and could not be more excited to work with her partners, Mark and Jay Duplass. Mark and Jay are exactly the kind of partners you dream of working with in this business as they are committed to...

The Northwest Film Forum has selected filmmaker Izabel Acevedo will be the 2022 recipient of the Lynn Shelton “Of A Certain Age” Grant. Acevedo will receive an unrestricted cash award of 20,000 to financially support her first narrative feature film.

“Today is such a joyful day,” Acevedo said. “I feel seen as a filmmaker, and I’m thrilled and thankful to see now that this project has suddenly taken over my schedule.”

The grant honors late film and television director Lynn Shelton, who died from acute myeloid leukemia in 2020. Shelton found inspiration in the fact that acclaimed filmmaker Claire Denis once spoke at the Nwff disclosing that she did not make her first feature film until she was 40, which influenced Shelton to direct her own, “We Go Way Back,” at age 39.

Co-founded by Duplass Brothers Productions, founded by brothers Jay and Mark Duplass, and Nwff, and with support from a number of community members,...

Click here to read the full article.

Post-apocalyptic survival meets the anxious buddy humor of Humpday in Biosphere, a mysterious and hilarious pic that really can’t be discussed much without saying things a prospective viewer would be better off not hearing. (No spoilers here.) What can be said is that this directing debut from Mel Eslyn, collaborator with the Duplass brothers and frequent producer for the late Lynn Shelton, is a one-location two-hander in which excellent performances are matched by hand-in-glove chemistry, directed with an assured sense of comic timing and storytelling economy. Sure to make some viewers very uncomfortable, it uses its more out-there elements to cheerfully highlight (maybe unintentionally) the absurdity of hope for humanity in our current, pre-apocalyptic reality.

Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass play lifelong friends who find themselves living in a geodesic-dome shelter with the world seemingly dead outside (read: total blackness, not...

Fest runs September 8-18.

An on-stage conversation with Taylor Swift and the feature Biosphere produced by the Duplass Brothers have been added to TIFF programming.

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey will interview pop icon Swift under the In Conversation With… Industry Conference banner on September 9.

The star will discuss filmmaking and the visual aspects of her music following the first screening of All Too Well: The Short Film on 35mm which she wrote, directed and produced.

Biosphere will play in Special Presentations on September 10 and marks the feature directing debut of Mel Eslyn, the long-time president of Duplass Brothers Productions whose producing credits include Room 104,...

Veteran producer Mel Eslyn’s feature directorial debut Biosphere, starring Emmy winners Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) and Mark Duplass (The Morning Show), will be making its world premiere as a surprise Special Presentation at the 47th edition of the Toronto Film Festival. The film will make its festival bow in the Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre at 2:30 p.m. on September 10th.

Set in the not-too-distant future, the latest feature from Duplass Brothers Productions follows the last two men on Earth as they adapt and evolve to save humanity. Eslyn directed from her script written with Mark Duplass. She also produced alongside Zackary Drucker, Maddie Buis and Shuli Harel, with Mark Duplass and Jay Duplass serving as executive producers.

Take Two: The Fall Film Festivals’ Must-See Movies From Venice To Telluride To Toronto To New York

“I can’t wait for Toronto audiences...

David Yates’ Netflix film The Pain Hustlers has begun rounding out its cast, with Andy Garcia (Father of the Bride), Catherine O’Hara (Schitt’s Creek), Jay Duplass (Industry), Brian d’Arcy James (West Side Story) and Chloe Coleman (My Spy) signing on to star alongside Emily Blunt and Chris Evans.

The film billed as tonally similar to The Big Short, American Hustle and The Wolf of Wall Street follows Liza Drake (Blunt), a high-school dropout dreaming of a better life for her and her young daughter. Liza lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical startup in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. Her charm, guts and drive then catapult the company and her into the high life, where she soon finds herself at the center of a criminal conspiracy with deadly consequences.

Netflix acquired global rights to the film written by Wells Tower for 50M out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival,...

Exclusive: Alex Essoe (Midnight Mass) and Daniel Zovatto (Station Eleven) will join Academy Award winner Russell Crowe in the Julius Avery-directed supernatural thriller The Pope’s Exorcist for Screen Gems.

The film will have Crowe play Father Gabriele Amorth, the legendary Italian priest who performed over 100,000 exorcisms for the Vatican—drawing on his international bestselling memoirs An Exorcist Tells His Story and An Exorcist: More Stories. Details as to the roles Essoe and Zovatto will be playing have not been disclosed.

The Pope’s Exorcist has been gestating at Screen Gems for a number of years, with Ángel Gómez having previously been attached to direct as of 2020. Evan Spiliotopoulos wrote...