Nearly a decade after his ambitious first feature (which then became three features) and filmmaker Ned Benson is finally back on the big (and small) screen. His second film, “The Greatest Hits,” arrives ten years after his directorial debut, the 2014 breakout feature “The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.” And this time, Benson is letting his protagonist have a happily ever after … kind of.
During a recent interview, Benson told IndieWire that, in a similar twist to his “Eleanor Rigby” process, the script for “The Greatest Hits” was one he had been tinkering with for years, starting in 2008. Unlike “Eleanor Rigby,” which was eventually split into a “Him”/”Her”/”Them” mini trilogy, “The Greatest Hits” firmly centers on sole lead Harriet (Lucy Boynton), whose heartbreak leads to a music-induced time travel back to her past relationship with her late lover (David Corenswet) prior to his death.
In her present, Harriet grapples with crippling anxiety,...
During a recent interview, Benson told IndieWire that, in a similar twist to his “Eleanor Rigby” process, the script for “The Greatest Hits” was one he had been tinkering with for years, starting in 2008. Unlike “Eleanor Rigby,” which was eventually split into a “Him”/”Her”/”Them” mini trilogy, “The Greatest Hits” firmly centers on sole lead Harriet (Lucy Boynton), whose heartbreak leads to a music-induced time travel back to her past relationship with her late lover (David Corenswet) prior to his death.
In her present, Harriet grapples with crippling anxiety,...
- 4/13/2024
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
by Chad Kennerk
Behind the scenes of The Greatest Hits: writer/director Ned Benson with David Corenswet, Lucy Boynton, and Austin Crute.
Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace, All images courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Writer/director Ned Benson captivated audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and beyond in 2014 with his astute, intimate look at a relationship torn apart by tragedy. Although The Greatest Hits technically marks Benson’s sophomore feature as writer/director, in a way, it’s also his fourth.
Conceived and shot as two films simultaneously, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her were later edited into a single film; Benson’s The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them, which premiered at Cannes and opened in the U.S. in September of that year, with Him and Her later releasing together as a double feature the following month. The origin of his new film,...
Behind the scenes of The Greatest Hits: writer/director Ned Benson with David Corenswet, Lucy Boynton, and Austin Crute.
Photo by Merie Weismiller Wallace, All images courtesy of Searchlight Pictures
Writer/director Ned Benson captivated audiences at the Toronto International Film Festival, the Cannes Film Festival, and beyond in 2014 with his astute, intimate look at a relationship torn apart by tragedy. Although The Greatest Hits technically marks Benson’s sophomore feature as writer/director, in a way, it’s also his fourth.
Conceived and shot as two films simultaneously, The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Him and The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Her were later edited into a single film; Benson’s The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them, which premiered at Cannes and opened in the U.S. in September of that year, with Him and Her later releasing together as a double feature the following month. The origin of his new film,...
- 4/5/2024
- by Chad Kennerk
- Film Review Daily
Exclusive: Emmy and Tony Award-winner Donna Murphy is set to recur in the new NBC medical drama Dr. Wolf opposite Zachary Quinto.
She will portray Muriel Landon, young Oliver Wolf’s mother in flashbacks, throughout Season 1. Murial does what she does to protect her son as Oliver’s dad and her ex-husband struggles with his mental health.
From writer/executive producer Michael Grassi, Dr. Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The series also stars Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh Lathrop, Alexander MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore III and Teddy Sears.
In addition to Grassi, executive producers also include director Lee Toland Krieger,...
She will portray Muriel Landon, young Oliver Wolf’s mother in flashbacks, throughout Season 1. Murial does what she does to protect her son as Oliver’s dad and her ex-husband struggles with his mental health.
From writer/executive producer Michael Grassi, Dr. Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The series also stars Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh Lathrop, Alexander MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore III and Teddy Sears.
In addition to Grassi, executive producers also include director Lee Toland Krieger,...
- 11/28/2023
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Dr. Wolf is coming to NBC. The peacock network has ordered a new series based on the life and work of British neurologist Oliver Sacks. The show is inspired by two of his many books, The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars.
Zachary Quinto, Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh Lathrop, Alexander MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, and Teddy Sears star in the medical drama series.
Read More…...
Zachary Quinto, Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh Lathrop, Alexander MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, and Teddy Sears star in the medical drama series.
Read More…...
- 10/21/2023
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
NBC may have said goodbye to one medical drama last season (New Amsterdam), but it will be adding a new one to its lineup. The network has given a series order to Dr. Wolf (formerly known as Wolf in the pilot stage), starring Zachary Quinto and inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. The series follows revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist Oliver Wolf (Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier — the human mind — while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health. The cast also includes Tamberla Perry, Ashleigh Lathrop, Alexander MacNicoll, Aury Krebs, Spence Moore II, and Teddy Sears. Dr. Wolf is produced by Berlanti Productions, Fabel Entertainment, and The Imaginarium in association with Warner Bros. Television and Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group. Michael Gassi serves as writer and executive producer.
- 10/20/2023
- TV Insider
A long-gestating medical drama that’s inspired by the late neurologist Oliver Sacks has been handed a series order at NBC.
NBC has given a series order to Dr. Wolf, which follows revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier — the human mind — while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The project from writer/EP Michael Grassi and director/EP Lee Toland Krieger was the last 2023 pilot awaiting word of its fate from NBC.
The drama is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars,” by Sacks, who died in 2015 at 82. Dubbed by The New York Times a “poet laureate of contemporary medicine,” Sacks dove into dedicated his life to studying the strangest and most mind-boggling brain disorders in the world as a window into human consciousness,...
NBC has given a series order to Dr. Wolf, which follows revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist Oliver Wolf (Zachary Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier — the human mind — while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
The project from writer/EP Michael Grassi and director/EP Lee Toland Krieger was the last 2023 pilot awaiting word of its fate from NBC.
The drama is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars,” by Sacks, who died in 2015 at 82. Dubbed by The New York Times a “poet laureate of contemporary medicine,” Sacks dove into dedicated his life to studying the strangest and most mind-boggling brain disorders in the world as a window into human consciousness,...
- 10/20/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Alex MacNicoll, Spence Moore II, Aury Krebs and Ashleigh Lathrop have been cast opposite Zachary Quinto in the NBC medical drama pilot Wolf.
From writer/executive producer Michael Grassi, Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Teddy Sears and Tamberla Perry also star.
MacNicoll plays Dr. Van Markus, who struggles around patients in crisis because of a rare, undiagnosed condition he’s lived with his whole life. He experiences a crisis of confidence when he discovers Dr. Wolf keeps him close to study this condition.
Moore plays Dr. Jacob Nash, an ex-college football star who, after an injury,...
From writer/executive producer Michael Grassi, Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Teddy Sears and Tamberla Perry also star.
MacNicoll plays Dr. Van Markus, who struggles around patients in crisis because of a rare, undiagnosed condition he’s lived with his whole life. He experiences a crisis of confidence when he discovers Dr. Wolf keeps him close to study this condition.
Moore plays Dr. Jacob Nash, an ex-college football star who, after an injury,...
- 4/20/2023
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Teddy Sears (American Horror Stories) and Tamberla Perry (All-American: Homecoming) have landed roles in the NBC medical drama pilot Wolf starring Zachary Quinto.
From writer/executive producer Michael Grassi, Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Sears will play Dr. Josh Nichols, a neurosurgeon who left a private practice in San Francisco to work at Bronx General. Josh is clinical, exacting and relies on technology to treat his patients — the opposite of Wolf. The two will go toe-to-toe and develop a competitive relationship full of tension.
Perry will play Dr. Carol Pierce, the head of psychology at Bronx...
From writer/executive producer Michael Grassi, Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Sears will play Dr. Josh Nichols, a neurosurgeon who left a private practice in San Francisco to work at Bronx General. Josh is clinical, exacting and relies on technology to treat his patients — the opposite of Wolf. The two will go toe-to-toe and develop a competitive relationship full of tension.
Perry will play Dr. Carol Pierce, the head of psychology at Bronx...
- 4/10/2023
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Zachary Quinto could be headed back to NBC.
The former Heroes star has joined the cast of the network's upcoming one-hour medical drama pilot, Wolf, Deadline reports.
The potential series is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks.
"It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health," the outlet's description reads.
Dr. Wolfe is described as an "obsessive genius" who is drawn to people society has deemed as "other."
His aim is to help them find hope and purpose and "embraces differences rather than suppressing them."
NBC is searching for a new medical drama after the conclusion of New Amsterdam, which wrapped its five-season-run earlier this year.
The network also has Chicago Med,...
The former Heroes star has joined the cast of the network's upcoming one-hour medical drama pilot, Wolf, Deadline reports.
The potential series is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks.
"It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health," the outlet's description reads.
Dr. Wolfe is described as an "obsessive genius" who is drawn to people society has deemed as "other."
His aim is to help them find hope and purpose and "embraces differences rather than suppressing them."
NBC is searching for a new medical drama after the conclusion of New Amsterdam, which wrapped its five-season-run earlier this year.
The network also has Chicago Med,...
- 3/1/2023
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
Star Trek actor Zachary Quinto has landed the title role in NBC‘s upcoming one-hour medical drama pilot, Wolf, inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. According to Deadline, the show follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind. At the same time, they also grapple with their own relationships and mental health. Described as an “obsessive genius,” Dr. Wolf is the head of neurology at Bronx General and is drawn to people society has deemed as “other,” helping them find hope and purpose. Instead of suppressing peoples’ differences, he embraces them. Wolf comes from writer-producer Michael Grassi (Riverdale), producer-director Lee Toland Krieger (Shadow and Bone), and executive producer Greg Berlanti (Superman & Lois). Warner Bros Television is behind the project.
- 3/1/2023
- TV Insider
Zachary Quinto has been cast in the lead role of the NBC drama pilot “Wolf,” Variety has learned.
The project was first ordered to pilot at the broadcaster back in January. It is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars” by Oliver Sacks.
Per the official logline, “Wolf” will follow “a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist (Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.”
Quinto’s character is named Dr. Oliver Wolf. He is further described as “head of neurology at Bronx General and an obsessive genius. He’s drawn to people that society has deemed “other” and helps them find hope and purpose. He embraces differences rather than suppressing them.”
The role brings Quinto back to NBC, where he originally broke out...
The project was first ordered to pilot at the broadcaster back in January. It is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars” by Oliver Sacks.
Per the official logline, “Wolf” will follow “a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist (Quinto) and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.”
Quinto’s character is named Dr. Oliver Wolf. He is further described as “head of neurology at Bronx General and an obsessive genius. He’s drawn to people that society has deemed “other” and helps them find hope and purpose. He embraces differences rather than suppressing them.”
The role brings Quinto back to NBC, where he originally broke out...
- 3/1/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Zachary Quinto is eyeing a returning to NBC.
The former Heroes star is scrubbing in as lead of the one-hour drama pilot Wolf, TVLine has learned.
More from TVLineRatings: Rookie Slips; La Brea Finale, Lone Star and Will Trent Eye LowsHoda Kotb's Today Absence Due to 'Family Health Matter'The Voice Needs to Make This Change in Season 23 -- and We Mean Immediately
Inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks, the potential drama follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier,...
The former Heroes star is scrubbing in as lead of the one-hour drama pilot Wolf, TVLine has learned.
More from TVLineRatings: Rookie Slips; La Brea Finale, Lone Star and Will Trent Eye LowsHoda Kotb's Today Absence Due to 'Family Health Matter'The Voice Needs to Make This Change in Season 23 -- and We Mean Immediately
Inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks, the potential drama follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier,...
- 3/1/2023
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
Heroes star Zachary Quinto is returning to NBC as the titular character in Wolf, a one-hour medical drama pilot from writer-producer Michael Grassi, producer-director Lee Toland Krieger and executive producer Greg Berlanti. The project comes from Warner Bros Television, where all three are under overall deals.
Related: 2023 NBC Pilots & Series Orders
Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Dr. Wolf, head of neurology at Bronx General, is an obsessive genius. He’s drawn to people society has deemed as “other” and helps them find hope and purpose. He embraces differences rather than suppressing them.
Berlanti executive produces alongside Sarah Schechter...
Related: 2023 NBC Pilots & Series Orders
Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist, Dr. Oliver Wolf (Quinto), and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Dr. Wolf, head of neurology at Bronx General, is an obsessive genius. He’s drawn to people society has deemed as “other” and helps them find hope and purpose. He embraces differences rather than suppressing them.
Berlanti executive produces alongside Sarah Schechter...
- 3/1/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Nira Burstein’s documentary focuses on the acutely troubled lives of her closest relations – and it’s not a happy picture
Like so many young artists, film-maker Nira Burstein has taken the advice to write – or in this case, film – what she knows, so for her first feature she’s turned the camera on her own family, a troubled brood from the outer suburbs of New York City. Although Nira holds the camera herself for much of the time, she edits in home movie footage from many years ago which shows how dramatically time and stress have worn the family down.
The Burstein patriarch Uri is definitely a character, either the film’s villain, comic relief or hero depending on where you stand. A former realtor and part-time guitarist, he wears a yarmulke most of the time and invokes his Jewish religious beliefs as an excuse when he doesn’t...
Like so many young artists, film-maker Nira Burstein has taken the advice to write – or in this case, film – what she knows, so for her first feature she’s turned the camera on her own family, a troubled brood from the outer suburbs of New York City. Although Nira holds the camera herself for much of the time, she edits in home movie footage from many years ago which shows how dramatically time and stress have worn the family down.
The Burstein patriarch Uri is definitely a character, either the film’s villain, comic relief or hero depending on where you stand. A former realtor and part-time guitarist, he wears a yarmulke most of the time and invokes his Jewish religious beliefs as an excuse when he doesn’t...
- 2/20/2023
- by Leslie Felperin
- The Guardian - Film News
NBC has ordered a pilot for a hospital mockumentary with “Superstore” creator Justin Spitzer, Eric Ledgin and Simon Heuer attached to executive produce.
The comedy pilot, currently titled “St. Denis Medical,” which follows a hospital in need of more resources and help to keep its employees sane, hails from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
The official logline is as follows: “A mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.”
Also Read:
Dana Walden and Alan Bergman to Run New Disney Entertainment Unit
In addition to executive producing, Spitzer and Ledgin are attached to write the pilot.
NBC recently ordered a pilot pickup for Murder By the Book,” a new crime drama series starring “Good Girls” and “Parks and Recreation” star Retta, who will also executive produce.
The network also announced it...
The comedy pilot, currently titled “St. Denis Medical,” which follows a hospital in need of more resources and help to keep its employees sane, hails from Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group.
The official logline is as follows: “A mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.”
Also Read:
Dana Walden and Alan Bergman to Run New Disney Entertainment Unit
In addition to executive producing, Spitzer and Ledgin are attached to write the pilot.
NBC recently ordered a pilot pickup for Murder By the Book,” a new crime drama series starring “Good Girls” and “Parks and Recreation” star Retta, who will also executive produce.
The network also announced it...
- 2/8/2023
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
NBC has given a pilot order to St. Denis Medical, a half-hour mockumentary-style workplace comedy from the Superstore and American Auto duo of Justin Spitzer and Eric Ledgin. The pilot is produced by Universal Television, a division of Universal Studio Group, where both Spitzer and Ledgin have overall deals.
Related Story ‘Wolf’ Medical Drama Inspired By Oliver Sacks From Michael Grassi, Lee Toland Krieger & Greg Berlanti Lands NBC Pilot Order Related Story 'SNL's Weekend Update Takes Swipes At George Santos' "New Lie" About 'Spider-Man' Musical & Donald Trump Related Story 'Saturday Night Live': Sarah Paulson & Pedro Pascal Play Teachers In Love In Sketch Poking Fun At TikTok Fan Edits
Written by Spitzer and Ledgin, St. Denis Medical is a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.
Ledgin will also executive produce,...
Related Story ‘Wolf’ Medical Drama Inspired By Oliver Sacks From Michael Grassi, Lee Toland Krieger & Greg Berlanti Lands NBC Pilot Order Related Story 'SNL's Weekend Update Takes Swipes At George Santos' "New Lie" About 'Spider-Man' Musical & Donald Trump Related Story 'Saturday Night Live': Sarah Paulson & Pedro Pascal Play Teachers In Love In Sketch Poking Fun At TikTok Fan Edits
Written by Spitzer and Ledgin, St. Denis Medical is a mockumentary about an underfunded, understaffed Oregon hospital where the dedicated doctors and nurses try their best to treat patients while maintaining their own sanity.
Ledgin will also executive produce,...
- 2/8/2023
- by Katie Campione
- Deadline Film + TV
NBC has given out a pilot order for a medical drama titled “Wolf,” Variety has learned.
The potential series is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars” by Oliver Sacks. Per the official logline, the show “follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.”
Michael Grassi is attached to write and executive produce the pilot, with Lee Toland Krieger onboard to direct and executive produce. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman executive produce via Berlanti Productions. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate of Fabel Entertainment also executive produce along with Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis, and Will Tennant of The Imaginarium. Warner Bros. Television is the studio. Berlanti Productions, Grassi and Krieger are all under overall deals at Wbtv.
The potential series is inspired by the books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” and “An Anthropologist on Mars” by Oliver Sacks. Per the official logline, the show “follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.”
Michael Grassi is attached to write and executive produce the pilot, with Lee Toland Krieger onboard to direct and executive produce. Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, and Leigh London Redman executive produce via Berlanti Productions. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate of Fabel Entertainment also executive produce along with Jonathan Cavendish, Andy Serkis, and Will Tennant of The Imaginarium. Warner Bros. Television is the studio. Berlanti Productions, Grassi and Krieger are all under overall deals at Wbtv.
- 1/24/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
NBC is moving forward with a pilot order for the one-hour drama “Wolf,” hailing from “Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” executive producer Michael Grassi and Berlanti Productions. The project, from Warner Bros. Television, is inspired by the life and works of British neurologist Oliver Sacks.
Specifically, the series draws from Sacks’ books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” (1985) and “An Anthropologist on Mars” (1995). The logline is as follows: “Inspired by Oliver Sacks’ extraordinary life and work, ‘Wolf’ follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.”
Also Read:
‘Chicago Fire’ Star Taylor Kinney to Take Hiatus From NBC Drama Series
Grassi serves as writer and executive producer, while Lee Toland Krieger serves as EP and director. Additional executive producers are Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman...
Specifically, the series draws from Sacks’ books “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat” (1985) and “An Anthropologist on Mars” (1995). The logline is as follows: “Inspired by Oliver Sacks’ extraordinary life and work, ‘Wolf’ follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.”
Also Read:
‘Chicago Fire’ Star Taylor Kinney to Take Hiatus From NBC Drama Series
Grassi serves as writer and executive producer, while Lee Toland Krieger serves as EP and director. Additional executive producers are Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman...
- 1/24/2023
- by Natalie Oganesyan
- The Wrap
How’s this for an unlikely pairing: Andy Serkis and Greg Berlanti are teaming to bring the life and work of famed neurologist Oliver Sacks to NBC.
The broadcast network has handed out a pilot order for Wolf, a drama that is inspired by Sacks’ life and books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars.
Michael Grassi, who previously worked on Berlanti Productions’ Riverdale, Katy Keene and Supergirl, will pen the script for the drama pilot and exec produce alongside Lee Toland Krieger. The latter will direct the pilot. Berlanti Productions partner Sarah Schechter and head of TV Leigh London Redman will exec produce for the company. Fabel Entertainment’s Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate will exec produce. Serkis and his The Imaginarium banner’s Jonathan Cavendish and Will Tennant will also exec produce for the company.
The project had been in the...
The broadcast network has handed out a pilot order for Wolf, a drama that is inspired by Sacks’ life and books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars.
Michael Grassi, who previously worked on Berlanti Productions’ Riverdale, Katy Keene and Supergirl, will pen the script for the drama pilot and exec produce alongside Lee Toland Krieger. The latter will direct the pilot. Berlanti Productions partner Sarah Schechter and head of TV Leigh London Redman will exec produce for the company. Fabel Entertainment’s Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate will exec produce. Serkis and his The Imaginarium banner’s Jonathan Cavendish and Will Tennant will also exec produce for the company.
The project had been in the...
- 1/24/2023
- by Lesley Goldberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NBC has ordered the pilot for Wolf, a one-hour medical drama from writer-producer Michael Grassi, producer-director Lee Toland Krieger and executive producer Greg Berlanti. The project comes from Warner Bros Television, where all three are under overall deals.
This is the project’s third incarnation, after previously receiving a put pilot commitment at Fox in 2019 with Alex Berger to write. Krieger remains with the project from its previous iteration, and he will direct the pilot.
Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Berlanti will executive produce alongside Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman for Berlanti Productions. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate will executive produce via Fabel Entertainment,...
This is the project’s third incarnation, after previously receiving a put pilot commitment at Fox in 2019 with Alex Berger to write. Krieger remains with the project from its previous iteration, and he will direct the pilot.
Wolf is inspired by the books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars by Oliver Sacks. It follows a revolutionary, larger-than-life neurologist and his team of interns as they explore the last great frontier, the human mind, while also grappling with their own relationships and mental health.
Berlanti will executive produce alongside Sarah Schechter and Leigh London Redman for Berlanti Productions. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate will executive produce via Fabel Entertainment,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Katie Campione
- Deadline Film + TV
Thanks to the one-two punch of 1987's "Good Morning, Vietnam" and 1989's "Dead Poets Society," Robin Williams had proven he was not just a skilled character actor but could tackle roles far removed from the bouncing-off-the-walls persona he embodied in his stand-up comedy. Yet, each film came with an asterisk. After all, "Good Morning, Vietnam" was written specifically for Williams, while there were still glimpses of his zestful comedic mannerisms ill-suited to the rest of his performance in "Dead Poets Society."
Enter "Awakenings," the film that served as the next logical step in Williams' evolution as an actor. The movie was loosely based on the 1973 non-fiction book of the same name, in which renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks details how, in the late 1960s, he was able to treat patients who had survived an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica (aka "sleeping sickness") from 1917 to 1928. Williams stars in the film as Sacks' fictitious surrogate Malcolm Sayer,...
Enter "Awakenings," the film that served as the next logical step in Williams' evolution as an actor. The movie was loosely based on the 1973 non-fiction book of the same name, in which renowned neurologist Oliver Sacks details how, in the late 1960s, he was able to treat patients who had survived an epidemic of encephalitis lethargica (aka "sleeping sickness") from 1917 to 1928. Williams stars in the film as Sacks' fictitious surrogate Malcolm Sayer,...
- 9/14/2022
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Fremantle has acquired a 25% stake in Henrik Bastin’s Fabel Entertainment, the international development and production outfit behind the upcoming Bosch spinoff, Bosch: Legacy. on Amazon’s IMDb TV ad-supported platform.
The original Prime Video series, which is based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling books, was developed and produced by Bastin and his team at his previous company, Fabrik, and recently concluded production on the seventh and final season. It was Prime Video’s longest-running original and a partnership between LA-based Swedish producer Bastin and the production arm of German broadcaster ProSiebeSat.1.
Fremantle’s stake in Fabel is the company’s latest investment following a series of acquisitions across the past year including acquiring 12 production labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark from Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group), scripted Italian production company Lux Vide, Australian-American television production company Eureka Productions (Finding Magic Mike) and UK factual production company...
The original Prime Video series, which is based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling books, was developed and produced by Bastin and his team at his previous company, Fabrik, and recently concluded production on the seventh and final season. It was Prime Video’s longest-running original and a partnership between LA-based Swedish producer Bastin and the production arm of German broadcaster ProSiebeSat.1.
Fremantle’s stake in Fabel is the company’s latest investment following a series of acquisitions across the past year including acquiring 12 production labels in Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark from Nordic Entertainment Group (Nent Group), scripted Italian production company Lux Vide, Australian-American television production company Eureka Productions (Finding Magic Mike) and UK factual production company...
- 3/10/2022
- by Diana Lodderhose
- Deadline Film + TV
Fremantle has bought a minority stake in “Bosch” producer Fabel Entertainment.
The Rtl Group-owned production powerhouse has acquired a 25% stake in Henrik Bastin’s Fabel, which was set up last year following the executive’s exit from his former production company, Fabrik Entertainment. (Fabrik was backed by German’s Red Arrow.)
Bastin is best known for the Bosch franchise and has now set up spin-off series “Bosch: Legacy” at IMDb TV via new label Fabel. The company is also in the works on a scripted show based on neurologist Oliver Sacks and an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s “Invisible Monsters.”
Based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling books, the original “Bosch” series recently concluded production on its seventh and final season. Variety understands the spin-off deal with IMDb TV was secured by Bastin prior to Fremantle coming on board.
The deal is the latest investment for Fremantle following a number...
The Rtl Group-owned production powerhouse has acquired a 25% stake in Henrik Bastin’s Fabel, which was set up last year following the executive’s exit from his former production company, Fabrik Entertainment. (Fabrik was backed by German’s Red Arrow.)
Bastin is best known for the Bosch franchise and has now set up spin-off series “Bosch: Legacy” at IMDb TV via new label Fabel. The company is also in the works on a scripted show based on neurologist Oliver Sacks and an adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk’s “Invisible Monsters.”
Based on Michael Connelly’s bestselling books, the original “Bosch” series recently concluded production on its seventh and final season. Variety understands the spin-off deal with IMDb TV was secured by Bastin prior to Fremantle coming on board.
The deal is the latest investment for Fremantle following a number...
- 3/10/2022
- by Manori Ravindran
- Variety Film + TV
Species dysphoria. That’s what the professionals call the condition troubling Jakob (George MacKay) in “Wolf,” a shockingly dull look at a fascinating disorder affecting humans who believe they were born into the wrong species. Jakob is convinced he’s a wolf in human clothing, and except for the first and last scenes, he spends practically the entire film trying to fight that impression at the True You rehab center, where crackpot doctors (led by Paddy Considine) use a troubling assortment of treatments to “cure” Jakob and his fellow patients.
As presented, True You feels like a cross between a zoo and a gay conversion therapy clinic, where Jakob finds himself surrounded by a menagerie of other frustrated young people: a shy, awkward young woman (Elsa Fionur) who whinnies like a horse; another (Lola Petticrew) who wears a false beak and feather headdress of sorts and repeats others’ words; and an eager,...
As presented, True You feels like a cross between a zoo and a gay conversion therapy clinic, where Jakob finds himself surrounded by a menagerie of other frustrated young people: a shy, awkward young woman (Elsa Fionur) who whinnies like a horse; another (Lola Petticrew) who wears a false beak and feather headdress of sorts and repeats others’ words; and an eager,...
- 12/2/2021
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Disney release “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” has retained pole position at the U.K. and Ireland box office with a weekend gross of £1.5 million ($2.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore.
The Marvel Cinematic Universe film now has a total of £18.2 million in its fourth week of release.
“The Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints Of Newark,” released by Warner, proved to be popular, bowing with £945,319 in its opening weekend.
Another Disney release, “Free Guy,” slipped one position to third, collecting £551,195 in its seventh weekend. The Shawn Levy film starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer and Taika Waititi, now has a total of £16.1 million.
In its second weekend, concert film “Oasis Knebworth 1996,” released by Trafalgar, collected £344,833 in fourth place and has a total of £634,278.
Rounding off the top five was Universal release “Respect,” which collected £250,050 in its third weekend and has a total of £1.7 million.
The other debutant,...
The Marvel Cinematic Universe film now has a total of £18.2 million in its fourth week of release.
“The Sopranos” prequel “The Many Saints Of Newark,” released by Warner, proved to be popular, bowing with £945,319 in its opening weekend.
Another Disney release, “Free Guy,” slipped one position to third, collecting £551,195 in its seventh weekend. The Shawn Levy film starring Ryan Reynolds, Jodie Comer and Taika Waititi, now has a total of £16.1 million.
In its second weekend, concert film “Oasis Knebworth 1996,” released by Trafalgar, collected £344,833 in fourth place and has a total of £634,278.
Rounding off the top five was Universal release “Respect,” which collected £250,050 in its third weekend and has a total of £1.7 million.
The other debutant,...
- 9/28/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Altitude Films has debuted a new trailer for Ric Burns’ documentary ‘Oliver Sacks: His Own Life.’
Oliver Sacks was a man of extremes. In his youth, he was a self-destructive rebel who fled London for San Francisco to reinvent himself as a bodybuilding biker, struggling with drug addiction and his own sexuality. In his maturity, he became a pioneering neurologist and the author of best-sellers such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. Filmed just weeks after receiving a terminal diagnosis with full access to the man himself and those closest to him.
The doc celebrates Sacks’ incredible life and reminds us of his most important teaching: that our ability to connect with others is what truly makes us human.
Directed by documentary filmmaker Ric Burns, the film features exclusive interviews with Jonathan Miller, Robert Silvers, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Robert Krulwich, Lawrence Weschler, Roberto Calasso,...
Oliver Sacks was a man of extremes. In his youth, he was a self-destructive rebel who fled London for San Francisco to reinvent himself as a bodybuilding biker, struggling with drug addiction and his own sexuality. In his maturity, he became a pioneering neurologist and the author of best-sellers such as Awakenings and The Man Who Mistook His Wife For A Hat. Filmed just weeks after receiving a terminal diagnosis with full access to the man himself and those closest to him.
The doc celebrates Sacks’ incredible life and reminds us of his most important teaching: that our ability to connect with others is what truly makes us human.
Directed by documentary filmmaker Ric Burns, the film features exclusive interviews with Jonathan Miller, Robert Silvers, Temple Grandin, Christof Koch, Robert Krulwich, Lawrence Weschler, Roberto Calasso,...
- 8/12/2021
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Exclusive: Kai Yu Wu, The Flash and Hannibal writer, has teamed up with author and screenwriter Cherie Dimaline to adapt the latter’s horror novel Empire of Wild.
The pair are working with Fabel Entertainment, the company behind IMDb TV’s Bosch spin-off, on the series adaptation.
Dimaline’s novel, which was published in 2019, is grounded in indigenous folklore and follows Joan a year after her husband’s disappearance as she desperately tries to bring him back from the nefarious religious organization and supernatural forces that have claimed him.
Dimaline, who is indigenous, is best known for her YA novel The Marrow Thieves. She is currently writing on FX series Retreat.
Wu is a Taiwanese-American writer who recently created Netflix series The Ghost Bride and wrote on Amazon’s Paper Girls.
It marks Fabel Entertainment’s first move into the horror and fantasy genre. The company launched earlier this year by CEO Henrik Bastin,...
The pair are working with Fabel Entertainment, the company behind IMDb TV’s Bosch spin-off, on the series adaptation.
Dimaline’s novel, which was published in 2019, is grounded in indigenous folklore and follows Joan a year after her husband’s disappearance as she desperately tries to bring him back from the nefarious religious organization and supernatural forces that have claimed him.
Dimaline, who is indigenous, is best known for her YA novel The Marrow Thieves. She is currently writing on FX series Retreat.
Wu is a Taiwanese-American writer who recently created Netflix series The Ghost Bride and wrote on Amazon’s Paper Girls.
It marks Fabel Entertainment’s first move into the horror and fantasy genre. The company launched earlier this year by CEO Henrik Bastin,...
- 7/26/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Hopscotch Features’ Troy Lum and Andrew Mason have joined forces with UK producer Gabrielle Tana to form a new production house, Brouhaha Entertainment.
The company combines their respective slates, with upcoming projects including Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, starring Michelle Williams; Kate Dennis’ All That I Am, based on the novel by Anna Funder; Lee Tamahori’s The Convert; Richard E. Grant’s Majesty and Patrick Dickinson’s Cottontail.
To be based across Sydney and London, the company has received investment via the Calculus Creative Content Eis Fund, which was launched in June 2019 in association with the British Film Institute (BFI).
The fund aims to support the growth of dynamic and ambitious UK companies, and has also backed the likes of Wonderhood Studios, Raindog Films, Maze Theory and Maven Screen Media.
Tana is the producer of the Oscar-nominated Philomena, The Invisible Woman and most recently, Netflix’s The Dig, from Australian director Simon Stone.
The company combines their respective slates, with upcoming projects including Karim Aïnouz’s Firebrand, starring Michelle Williams; Kate Dennis’ All That I Am, based on the novel by Anna Funder; Lee Tamahori’s The Convert; Richard E. Grant’s Majesty and Patrick Dickinson’s Cottontail.
To be based across Sydney and London, the company has received investment via the Calculus Creative Content Eis Fund, which was launched in June 2019 in association with the British Film Institute (BFI).
The fund aims to support the growth of dynamic and ambitious UK companies, and has also backed the likes of Wonderhood Studios, Raindog Films, Maze Theory and Maven Screen Media.
Tana is the producer of the Oscar-nominated Philomena, The Invisible Woman and most recently, Netflix’s The Dig, from Australian director Simon Stone.
- 7/21/2021
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Oliver Sacks is the kind of subject for whom any portrait has an extremely high floor. There’s a patience and an accessibility in his written work that, if mirrored in the approach of any kind of biography, offers a welcome kind of clarity.
“Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” uses conversations with Sacks himself as a kind of rudder, a personal guide through the many of the chapters of his own story. Beginning with an overview of Sacks’ early years spent adrift and following through to an unexpected second act as a bestselling writer, Ric Burns’ documentary offers a calm and measured look at Sacks’ legacy.
One of the other built-in benefits of profiling Sacks is the wealth of written accounts he left during his life, not just in the published works that have become standard entry points into accessible understandings of the neurological field. A refrain that comes through...
“Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” uses conversations with Sacks himself as a kind of rudder, a personal guide through the many of the chapters of his own story. Beginning with an overview of Sacks’ early years spent adrift and following through to an unexpected second act as a bestselling writer, Ric Burns’ documentary offers a calm and measured look at Sacks’ legacy.
One of the other built-in benefits of profiling Sacks is the wealth of written accounts he left during his life, not just in the published works that have become standard entry points into accessible understandings of the neurological field. A refrain that comes through...
- 4/9/2021
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Even if you are meant to be the one interviewing Ric and Ken Burns, it will inevitably end up as a back-and-forth between the two brothers. Something Dante wrote reminds them of a passage from Ecclesiastes, and then come Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Eugene O’Neill and the lyrics from a B-side Beatles track, at which point they have traversed about seven centuries and three continents away from the original question, whatever it was.
The referential well runs deep, but it’s never without some self-analysis (“I wish I wasn’t so long-winded,” laments Ric with a kind laugh.) and the culmination ...
The referential well runs deep, but it’s never without some self-analysis (“I wish I wasn’t so long-winded,” laments Ric with a kind laugh.) and the culmination ...
Exclusive: Henrik Bastin, the driving force behind Amazon’s cop drama series Bosch, is launching a new production company after exiting Red Arrow Studios joint venture Fabrik Entertainment.
Fabrik, which produced seven seasons of the Titus Welliver-fronted procedural, the streamer’s longest-running original, was a partnership between LA-based Swedish producer Bastin and the production arm of German broadcaster ProSiebeSat.1.
The new company will retain its development slate, including a series based on neurologist Oliver Sacks at Fox and adaptations of Chuck Palahniuk’s Invisible Monsters and Stephen King’s The Ten O’Clock People, and will continue with Melissa Aouate as President.
Bastin told Deadline that he was excited to move into new genres, including sci-fi, as well as step back into comedy, a genre that Fabrik dabbled in with FX’s The Comedians starring Billy Crystal and Josh Gad and based on Swedish show Ulveson Och Herngren.
“I’m super excited.
Fabrik, which produced seven seasons of the Titus Welliver-fronted procedural, the streamer’s longest-running original, was a partnership between LA-based Swedish producer Bastin and the production arm of German broadcaster ProSiebeSat.1.
The new company will retain its development slate, including a series based on neurologist Oliver Sacks at Fox and adaptations of Chuck Palahniuk’s Invisible Monsters and Stephen King’s The Ten O’Clock People, and will continue with Melissa Aouate as President.
Bastin told Deadline that he was excited to move into new genres, including sci-fi, as well as step back into comedy, a genre that Fabrik dabbled in with FX’s The Comedians starring Billy Crystal and Josh Gad and based on Swedish show Ulveson Och Herngren.
“I’m super excited.
- 2/16/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Bill & Ted Face the Music
Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) aren’t exactly on track to fulfill their duty of writing the song that will unite the world. For starters, they each have marriages that need fixing, and their idea of joint couples therapy doesn’t seem very promising. Plus, their band, Wyld Stallyns, receives more grimaces than applause. With no world-uniting material on their hands, they resort back to time travel to steal the song from their future selves. This time, they aren’t the only ones...
Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted (Keanu Reeves) aren’t exactly on track to fulfill their duty of writing the song that will unite the world. For starters, they each have marriages that need fixing, and their idea of joint couples therapy doesn’t seem very promising. Plus, their band, Wyld Stallyns, receives more grimaces than applause. With no world-uniting material on their hands, they resort back to time travel to steal the song from their future selves. This time, they aren’t the only ones...
- 7/25/2020
- by Natalli Amato
- Rollingstone.com
Oliver Sacks lived a lot of life, putting primacy on the brain throughout his career as a neurologist as the most incredible thing in the universe. But during that life, which ended in 2015, he also battled drug addiction, cancer, homophobia, and a medical establishment that wouldn’t take him seriously for decades. His towering achievements and personal struggles are chronicled in the new documentary “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” directed by Ric Burns and coming later this summer. IndieWire shares the exclusive first trailer below.
Sacks, perhaps best known for his literary works “Awakenings” and “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” was an intrepid explorer of cognitive worlds who helped us redefine how the brain and mind work. The film features exclusive interviews conducted with Sacks just weeks after his terminal diagnosis, leading up to his death, along with nearly two dozen testimonials from family, colleagues, patients,...
Sacks, perhaps best known for his literary works “Awakenings” and “The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat,” was an intrepid explorer of cognitive worlds who helped us redefine how the brain and mind work. The film features exclusive interviews conducted with Sacks just weeks after his terminal diagnosis, leading up to his death, along with nearly two dozen testimonials from family, colleagues, patients,...
- 7/22/2020
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
During his many years observing and studying people with mental and behavioral disorders, neurologist and author Oliver Sacks was able to tell amazing stories about the unique view on the world his many patients had. For instance, while many would watch a politician’s speech unable to see through the truth hidden behind rhetoric decorum and euphemisms, many of his patients diagnosed with various disorders would look past the words, concentrating on aspects such as body language and emphasis finally coming to the conclusion that the words and the behavior of the speaker do not add up. Even for those without medical training, talking to people with developmental disorders can prove to be quite eye-opening for they often reveal a unique view on the world, although their surroundings mostly reduce them to them being “not normal”.
“What Can You Do About It?” is screening at Nippon Connection 2020
In his documentary...
“What Can You Do About It?” is screening at Nippon Connection 2020
In his documentary...
- 6/15/2020
- by Rouven Linnarz
- AsianMoviePulse
Juries will watch online and deliberate remotely.
Copenhagen’s Cph:dox is launching its first digital festival today (March 16), after the physical festival was cancelled on March 11 due to the Danish government’s Covid-19 national shutdown.
Festival organisers are working with digital platform Festival Scope and will offer at least 40 films for public viewing. The films, of which nearly all will have a director pre-recorded Q&a at the end of them, are being offered only to viewers with a Danish IP address.
Tine Fischer, director of Cph:dox, told Screen that the films will be on offer for 10 days, and the...
Copenhagen’s Cph:dox is launching its first digital festival today (March 16), after the physical festival was cancelled on March 11 due to the Danish government’s Covid-19 national shutdown.
Festival organisers are working with digital platform Festival Scope and will offer at least 40 films for public viewing. The films, of which nearly all will have a director pre-recorded Q&a at the end of them, are being offered only to viewers with a Danish IP address.
Tine Fischer, director of Cph:dox, told Screen that the films will be on offer for 10 days, and the...
- 3/16/2020
- by 1100142¦Wendy Mitchell¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Oliver Sacks: His Own Life Photo: Glasgow Film Festival
Ric Burns is well known for his historical documentaries and explorations of the lives of famous figures. This year's Glasgow Film Festival was fortunate enough to feature the UK première of his latest film, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, a moving portrait of the neurologist and author made during the final few months of Sacks' life and completed after he passed away from complications of liver cancer. Ric agreed to answer some questions about the film and I began by asking him how he first became involved with the project.
Ric Burns: In early January 2015, I got a call from Oliver’s wonderful editor and chief collaborator, Kate Edgar, through a mutual friend. I had never met Oliver, though of course knew his work, and didn’t know Kate, either. She said Oliver had just received a mortal diagnosis, had perhaps six months to live,...
Ric Burns is well known for his historical documentaries and explorations of the lives of famous figures. This year's Glasgow Film Festival was fortunate enough to feature the UK première of his latest film, Oliver Sacks: His Own Life, a moving portrait of the neurologist and author made during the final few months of Sacks' life and completed after he passed away from complications of liver cancer. Ric agreed to answer some questions about the film and I began by asking him how he first became involved with the project.
Ric Burns: In early January 2015, I got a call from Oliver’s wonderful editor and chief collaborator, Kate Edgar, through a mutual friend. I had never met Oliver, though of course knew his work, and didn’t know Kate, either. She said Oliver had just received a mortal diagnosis, had perhaps six months to live,...
- 3/12/2020
- by Jennie Kermode
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There have been so many riffs on the “Groundhog Day” formula that it can sometimes feel like the movies themselves are stuck in an endless time loop, but each subsequent iteration has tweaked the original in some way. “50 First Dates” stripped away the unexplainable metaphysics of it all for a romantic comedy that was equal parts Adam Sandler and Oliver Sacks. “Edge of Tomorrow” added aliens, Tom Cruise, and “Gears of War” cosplay to the mix. “Before I Fall” applied Harold Ramis’ concept to teen anxieties, “Happy Death Day” added a horror twist, “Russian Doll” revitalized it with an episodic approach (what a concept!), etcetera etcetera ad infinitum.
And yet, despite “Groundhog Day” becoming a genre unto itself, Max Barbakow’s “Palm Springs” is the first movie that doesn’t just apply that old formula to a new problem, but also fundamentally alters the basics of the equation. It’s a simple adjustment,...
And yet, despite “Groundhog Day” becoming a genre unto itself, Max Barbakow’s “Palm Springs” is the first movie that doesn’t just apply that old formula to a new problem, but also fundamentally alters the basics of the equation. It’s a simple adjustment,...
- 1/27/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Oscar-winning producer John Battsek (One Day In September) is exiting Passion Pictures after a stellar 20-year run to launch La and London-based company Ventureland with Kerstin Emhoff, Ali Brown, and director Paul Hunter of U.S. production and commercials firm Prettybird.
Ventureland will produce a range of content across the documentary and scripted spaces but will also work in branded content, technology, music and original IP.
Battsek and Emhoff have previously teamed up to produce Emmy-winning projects Manhunt: The Inside Story Of The Hunt For Bin Laden and The Tillman Story, as well as The Final Year, Sergio and Legion Of Brothers. The duo have worked together on-and-off for more than a decade and the majority of Passion’s U.S. productions have been based out of Prettybird’s La facilities.
Battsek co-founded Passion Pictures Films in 1999 with Andrew Ruhemann and won the company’s first Oscar with One Day In September,...
Ventureland will produce a range of content across the documentary and scripted spaces but will also work in branded content, technology, music and original IP.
Battsek and Emhoff have previously teamed up to produce Emmy-winning projects Manhunt: The Inside Story Of The Hunt For Bin Laden and The Tillman Story, as well as The Final Year, Sergio and Legion Of Brothers. The duo have worked together on-and-off for more than a decade and the majority of Passion’s U.S. productions have been based out of Prettybird’s La facilities.
Battsek co-founded Passion Pictures Films in 1999 with Andrew Ruhemann and won the company’s first Oscar with One Day In September,...
- 1/21/2020
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2020 Palm Springs International Film Festival will open with the Italian comedy An Almost Ordinary Summer and screen 51 submissions for best international feature film Oscar consideration, among many other titles, the festival announced Tuesday.
The event, which is set to run Jan. 3-12, will close with the Peter Cattaneo dramedy Military Wives; feature a special sidebar for Italian film; and play host to authors whose books were adapted into the films Hustlers, JoJo Rabbit and Motherless Brooklyn (it will also screen those films). One-hundred eighty-eight films in total will play across the festival from 81 countries. The fest will include seven world ...
The event, which is set to run Jan. 3-12, will close with the Peter Cattaneo dramedy Military Wives; feature a special sidebar for Italian film; and play host to authors whose books were adapted into the films Hustlers, JoJo Rabbit and Motherless Brooklyn (it will also screen those films). One-hundred eighty-eight films in total will play across the festival from 81 countries. The fest will include seven world ...
- 12/10/2019
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
In today’s film news roundup, Leonardo DiCaprio will present Robert De Niro with his SAG Life Achievement Award, the Oliver Sacks documentary finds a home and UCLA’s School of Theater, Film and Television gets a new dean.
Award Presentation
Leonardo DiCaprio has been selected to present Robert De Niro the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 26th annual SAG Awards on Jan. 19.
DiCaprio co-starred with De Niro in “This Boy’s Life” as the only son of a single mother in the 1950s with De Niro as his abusive stepfather. The actors later starred in “Marvin’s Room.”
DiCaprio won an Academy Award for Best Actor in “The Revenant” and has been nominated for five additional Oscars. He was most recently seen in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
De Niro is a seven-time Academy Award nominee, winning for “The Godfather II” and “Raging Bull.” He’s currently starring in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.
Award Presentation
Leonardo DiCaprio has been selected to present Robert De Niro the SAG Life Achievement Award at the 26th annual SAG Awards on Jan. 19.
DiCaprio co-starred with De Niro in “This Boy’s Life” as the only son of a single mother in the 1950s with De Niro as his abusive stepfather. The actors later starred in “Marvin’s Room.”
DiCaprio won an Academy Award for Best Actor in “The Revenant” and has been nominated for five additional Oscars. He was most recently seen in “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.”
De Niro is a seven-time Academy Award nominee, winning for “The Godfather II” and “Raging Bull.” He’s currently starring in Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman.
- 12/7/2019
- by Dave McNary
- 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: Fox has given a put pilot commitment to a hourlong medical drama inspired by world-renowned neurologist and bestselling author Oliver Sacks, from Blindspot executive producer Alex Berger, director-producer Lee Toland Krieger, Fabrik Entertainment, The Imaginarium and Warner Bros. TV, where Berger and Krieger are both under deals.
Written by Berger and to be directed by Krieger, the Untitled Oliver Sacks Medical Project is inspired by Sacks’ books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars. The fictional, character-driven medical drama explores the magic and wonder of the human brain. Part medical mystery, part character study, the project is a hopeful story about the power of empathy as a tool for healing.
Berger executive produces with Krieger. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate executive produce for Fabrik, a Red Arrow Studios company, along with Jonathan Cavendish for Imaginarium.
Written by Berger and to be directed by Krieger, the Untitled Oliver Sacks Medical Project is inspired by Sacks’ books The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and An Anthropologist on Mars. The fictional, character-driven medical drama explores the magic and wonder of the human brain. Part medical mystery, part character study, the project is a hopeful story about the power of empathy as a tool for healing.
Berger executive produces with Krieger. Henrik Bastin and Melissa Aouate executive produce for Fabrik, a Red Arrow Studios company, along with Jonathan Cavendish for Imaginarium.
- 11/22/2019
- by Nellie Andreeva and Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
The bizarre odyssey of how Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen came to co-write the euphoric power-ballad that Jessie Buckley performs at the end of Wild Rose — easily the year’s best original movie song — began 10 years ago, when the Melvin and Howard star woke up after a minor arm surgery feeling like her mind was on fire.
“I felt strange as soon as the anesthesia started to wear off,” Steenburgen said. “The best way I can describe it is that it just felt like my brain was only music, and that...
“I felt strange as soon as the anesthesia started to wear off,” Steenburgen said. “The best way I can describe it is that it just felt like my brain was only music, and that...
- 11/14/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Rollingstone.com
The bizarre odyssey of how Oscar-winning actress Mary Steenburgen came to co-write the euphoric power-ballad that Jessie Buckley performs at the end of “Wild Rose” — easily the year’s best original movie song — began 10 years ago, when the “Melvin and Howard” star woke up after a minor arm surgery feeling like her mind was on fire.
“I felt strange as soon as the anesthesia started to wear off,” Steenburgen said. “The best way I can describe it is that it just felt like my brain was only music, and that everything anybody said to me became musical. All of my thoughts became musical. Every street sign became musical. I couldn’t get my mind into any other mode.”
Fun as that might sound in an Oliver Sacks kind of way — the late neurologist wrote about similar, potentially stroke-inspired symptoms in his book “Musicophilia” — Steenburgen wasn’t thrilled about the sudden mental shift.
“I felt strange as soon as the anesthesia started to wear off,” Steenburgen said. “The best way I can describe it is that it just felt like my brain was only music, and that everything anybody said to me became musical. All of my thoughts became musical. Every street sign became musical. I couldn’t get my mind into any other mode.”
Fun as that might sound in an Oliver Sacks kind of way — the late neurologist wrote about similar, potentially stroke-inspired symptoms in his book “Musicophilia” — Steenburgen wasn’t thrilled about the sudden mental shift.
- 11/13/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
There have been any number of films about the invention of self-identity — about how, as Kurt Vonnegut might put it, people are who they pretend to be. It was a universal phenomenon long before the likes of Jay Gatsby turned it into an American pastime, or the internet made us all into avatars of ourselves; the ability to refract one’s own image is an intrinsic part of the human experience, even (or especially) when it’s expressed through subconscious forces like denial, repression, and personal bias.
Far less common, however, are films that explore the nature and ethics of inventing an identity for someone else; from “Gaslight” to “Memento,” most of the more obvious examples hinge on clear sociopathy or the sort of memory failures that you only tend to see in the movies. And yet, this is something we do to each other all the time in real life,...
Far less common, however, are films that explore the nature and ethics of inventing an identity for someone else; from “Gaslight” to “Memento,” most of the more obvious examples hinge on clear sociopathy or the sort of memory failures that you only tend to see in the movies. And yet, this is something we do to each other all the time in real life,...
- 10/18/2019
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Jonathan Pryce and Anthony Hopkins got more than divine intervention at the 27th Hamptons Film Festival, they got the audience’s blessing.
Netflix’s “The Two Popes” took top honors as the Hiff Audience winner at the festival, which ran from October 10-14. It was joined by two docs as fan faves over the long holiday weekend. “Popes” star Pryce even made a surprise appearance at a screening Sunday night, telling the sold-out crowd, “It’s pretty cool to play the pope. I was nervous at first. I wanted to be honest to the man. I look a bit like him. The uncanny thing is I walk like him anyway. He has a dodgy hip and I have a dodgy knee.”
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Pryce said he was in awe of his co-star and fellow countryman Hopkins, who played Pope Benedict XVI. And...
Netflix’s “The Two Popes” took top honors as the Hiff Audience winner at the festival, which ran from October 10-14. It was joined by two docs as fan faves over the long holiday weekend. “Popes” star Pryce even made a surprise appearance at a screening Sunday night, telling the sold-out crowd, “It’s pretty cool to play the pope. I was nervous at first. I wanted to be honest to the man. I look a bit like him. The uncanny thing is I walk like him anyway. He has a dodgy hip and I have a dodgy knee.”
Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions
Pryce said he was in awe of his co-star and fellow countryman Hopkins, who played Pope Benedict XVI. And...
- 10/16/2019
- by Bill McCuddy
- Gold Derby
In today’s film news roundup, rescue drama “Not Without Hope” is back in development, a “Galaxy Quest” documentary is set for release, “The Two Popes” wins another award, and Ella Joyce gets cast.
Project Revived
U.K.-based financing-production outfit Goldfinch has bought feature film rights to Nick Schuyler’s “Not Without Hope” and signed “The Fog” director Rupert Wainwright.
The project had been set up at Relativity in 2013 with Dwayne Johnson attached but fell apart when Relativity collapsed.
Goldfinch will put the film into production in early 2020. Chief operating officer Phil McKenzie is overseeing the project on behalf of the indie studio. Rick French of Prix Productions (“The True Don Quixote”) will produce, in association with Wainwright’s Adore Creative Content.
Schuyler’s story recounts his dramatic 2009 rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard 70 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico following a boating accident that left three friends dead,...
Project Revived
U.K.-based financing-production outfit Goldfinch has bought feature film rights to Nick Schuyler’s “Not Without Hope” and signed “The Fog” director Rupert Wainwright.
The project had been set up at Relativity in 2013 with Dwayne Johnson attached but fell apart when Relativity collapsed.
Goldfinch will put the film into production in early 2020. Chief operating officer Phil McKenzie is overseeing the project on behalf of the indie studio. Rick French of Prix Productions (“The True Don Quixote”) will produce, in association with Wainwright’s Adore Creative Content.
Schuyler’s story recounts his dramatic 2009 rescue by the U.S. Coast Guard 70 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico following a boating accident that left three friends dead,...
- 10/16/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Festival to run November 14-21; full line-up due later this month.
International feature film Oscar submissions The Traitor from Italy’s Marco Bellocchio and Antigone from Canada’s Sophie Deraspe will join Alice Winocour’s Proxima and Alex Gibney’s Citizen K at AFI Fest in the world cinema and documentary selections, announced on Tuesday (15).
World cinema entries include Academy Award submissions Corpus Christi from Poland, Sweden’s And Then We Danced, and Romania’s The Whistlers, playing alongside the Los Angeles premiere of Terrence Malik’s A Hidden Life.
Documentary entries include Alex Gibney’s Citizen K, Barbara Kopple’s Desert One,...
International feature film Oscar submissions The Traitor from Italy’s Marco Bellocchio and Antigone from Canada’s Sophie Deraspe will join Alice Winocour’s Proxima and Alex Gibney’s Citizen K at AFI Fest in the world cinema and documentary selections, announced on Tuesday (15).
World cinema entries include Academy Award submissions Corpus Christi from Poland, Sweden’s And Then We Danced, and Romania’s The Whistlers, playing alongside the Los Angeles premiere of Terrence Malik’s A Hidden Life.
Documentary entries include Alex Gibney’s Citizen K, Barbara Kopple’s Desert One,...
- 10/15/2019
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Update, with Audience Awards The Hamptons Film Festival announced its Audience Award winners today, with Fernando Meirelles’ The Two Popes taking the Narrative Feature trophy and Ric Burns’ Oliver Sacks: His Own Life chosen by audiences as best Documentary Feature.
Fire in Paradise, directed by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
Also announced today, Trey Edward Shults, writer and director of the festival’s closing night film Waves, received the inaugural Zicherman Family Foundation Screenwriting Award, a $10,000 award presented to an early-career screenwriter “who has demonstrated singular vision and dedication to their craft.”
Previous, Monday Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day and the Sung-a Yoon documentary Overseas were awarded top honors today at the the 27th Hamptons Film Festival, the fest has announced.
Pálmason’s film won the Award for Best Narrative Feature, while Overseas received the Award for Best Documentary Feature.
Fire in Paradise, directed by Drea Cooper & Zackary Canepari, won the Audience Award for Best Short Film.
Also announced today, Trey Edward Shults, writer and director of the festival’s closing night film Waves, received the inaugural Zicherman Family Foundation Screenwriting Award, a $10,000 award presented to an early-career screenwriter “who has demonstrated singular vision and dedication to their craft.”
Previous, Monday Hlynur Pálmason’s A White, White Day and the Sung-a Yoon documentary Overseas were awarded top honors today at the the 27th Hamptons Film Festival, the fest has announced.
Pálmason’s film won the Award for Best Narrative Feature, while Overseas received the Award for Best Documentary Feature.
- 10/15/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
The title of the new documentary “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life” bounces off the title of the essay that Sacks published in The New York Times on Feb. 19, 2015 (“My Own Life”), days after he’d received a diagnosis of terminal cancer. It‘s a deceptively plain title. For Sacks, in his impish way, was suggesting that his own life, if you looked at it closely enough, might bear more than a passing resemblance to the idiosyncratic and richly freakish lives he chronicled in his case-study portraits that were really a form of wide-eyed literary biography.
Sacks wrote about people in extreme states — of sensory and neurological damage, of awareness and sheer being. And “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” directed by the redoubtable Ric Burns (“Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film”), is a portrait at once tender and thrilling, a movie that presents us with a man who led an eccentrically defiant,...
Sacks wrote about people in extreme states — of sensory and neurological damage, of awareness and sheer being. And “Oliver Sacks: His Own Life,” directed by the redoubtable Ric Burns (“Andy Warhol: A Documentary Film”), is a portrait at once tender and thrilling, a movie that presents us with a man who led an eccentrically defiant,...
- 10/2/2019
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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