Exclusive: Anchor Entertainment, the production company behind Discovery+’s Rebel Hearts and HBO’s Undercurrent: The Disappearance of Kim Wall, is staffing up.
The company has hired Keayr Braxton as SVP, Current Production and Dan Baglio as SVP, Development.
Braxton has previously worked with the company as showrunner of its Magnolia series The Lost Kitchen. The showrunner and director, who has also worked on A&e’s 60 Days In and ABC’s The Great Holiday Baking Show, will be responsible for managing Anchor’s production slate of series and documentaries.
Baglio was previously at Pulse Films, where he was SVP, Original Programming and Development, where he worked on series such as Vice Versa: College ports and Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11. He is tasked with developing and producing original series and feature documentaries for streamers and cable networks.
Separately, the Ethan Goldman-led company, which was previously housed within creative agency Anchor Worldwide,...
The company has hired Keayr Braxton as SVP, Current Production and Dan Baglio as SVP, Development.
Braxton has previously worked with the company as showrunner of its Magnolia series The Lost Kitchen. The showrunner and director, who has also worked on A&e’s 60 Days In and ABC’s The Great Holiday Baking Show, will be responsible for managing Anchor’s production slate of series and documentaries.
Baglio was previously at Pulse Films, where he was SVP, Original Programming and Development, where he worked on series such as Vice Versa: College ports and Too Soon: Comedy After 9/11. He is tasked with developing and producing original series and feature documentaries for streamers and cable networks.
Separately, the Ethan Goldman-led company, which was previously housed within creative agency Anchor Worldwide,...
- 9/21/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
On a sunny afternoon in L.A., Bryn Mooser, CEO of Xtr, folds his long frame into a patio chair perched above the headquarters of his growing documentary company. His green eyes scan the hilly enclaves of Silver Lake and Los Feliz, spotting landmarks: the Griffith Observatory in the distance, Hyperion Avenue below.
He points down the slope. “This is the Gelson’s right there, where Walt Disney bought that piece of land and built the first Disney studio. Mickey Mouse and Snow White were created in–what’s now a parking lot.”
His index finger inches west along the horizon, indicating bungalows with pitched roofs. “You can see the top of that house right there. It’s called the Snow White Cottages,” he says. “Snow White was based on those cottages. Anyway, I love early Disney stuff.”
Nearly a century after Disney laid the groundwork for his entertainment kingdom in the same vicinity,...
He points down the slope. “This is the Gelson’s right there, where Walt Disney bought that piece of land and built the first Disney studio. Mickey Mouse and Snow White were created in–what’s now a parking lot.”
His index finger inches west along the horizon, indicating bungalows with pitched roofs. “You can see the top of that house right there. It’s called the Snow White Cottages,” he says. “Snow White was based on those cottages. Anyway, I love early Disney stuff.”
Nearly a century after Disney laid the groundwork for his entertainment kingdom in the same vicinity,...
- 12/20/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
“And the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature goes to… My Octopus Teacher… to American Factory… to Icarus.”
The Motion Picture Academy has enveloped Netflix nonfiction features with love again and again in recent years, rewarding the streamer with three trophies since 2018, not to mention half a dozen nominations overall.
But the story this year seems less Netflix and more National Geographic.
In a typical year, Netflix might easily boast five contenders. But this time around it’s Nat Geo with a quintet of competitors: Torn, The First Wave, Playing with Sharks, The Rescue—directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin—and Becoming Cousteau, the film about celebrated French marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau directed by two-time Oscar nominee Liz Garbus.
“Nat Geo has taken the scene by storm,” Garbus concurs. “The films are really, one and all, so different and so beautiful.”
When Disney acquired most of the Fox assets...
The Motion Picture Academy has enveloped Netflix nonfiction features with love again and again in recent years, rewarding the streamer with three trophies since 2018, not to mention half a dozen nominations overall.
But the story this year seems less Netflix and more National Geographic.
In a typical year, Netflix might easily boast five contenders. But this time around it’s Nat Geo with a quintet of competitors: Torn, The First Wave, Playing with Sharks, The Rescue—directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin—and Becoming Cousteau, the film about celebrated French marine explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau directed by two-time Oscar nominee Liz Garbus.
“Nat Geo has taken the scene by storm,” Garbus concurs. “The films are really, one and all, so different and so beautiful.”
When Disney acquired most of the Fox assets...
- 12/9/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
This year’s Best Original Song category is wide open. Sure, there are songs from animated musicals such as “Encanto” and new tracks from superstars such as Beyonce, but for the most part, there are few locks when it comes to the Oscar race. One composition that is hoping to crash the party is Rufus Wainwright’s “Secret Sister” from the documentary “Rebel Hearts.”
Read More: “West Side Story,” “Nightmare Alley” and “Don’t Look Up’” shake up the Best Picture Race [Contender Countdown]
The documentary chronicles The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a group of nuns who took on the Catholic Church establishment in 1960s Los Angeles.
Continue reading Watch Rufus Wainwright’s Music Video ‘Secret Sister’ From ‘Rebel Hearts’ [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
Read More: “West Side Story,” “Nightmare Alley” and “Don’t Look Up’” shake up the Best Picture Race [Contender Countdown]
The documentary chronicles The Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, a group of nuns who took on the Catholic Church establishment in 1960s Los Angeles.
Continue reading Watch Rufus Wainwright’s Music Video ‘Secret Sister’ From ‘Rebel Hearts’ [Exclusive] at The Playlist.
- 12/7/2021
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Deadline has launched the streaming site for Contenders Film: Documentary, featuring all 25 panels from our Sunday event showcasing the filmmakers behind the buzziest nonfiction feature films of the awards season.
The daylong virtual presentation featured participants including Edgar Wright, Liz Garbus, Todd Haynes, Sam Pollard, Selma Blair, Morgan Neville, Matthew Heineman, Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and R.J. Cutler among many others.
Click here to go to the streaming site.
A total of 12 studios and streamers took part in the event which spotlighted Amazon Studios’ My Name Is Pauli Murray and Val; Apple Original Films’ Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry and The Velvet Underground; CNN Films’ Citizen Ashe; Discovery+’s Francesco, Introducing, Selma Blair and Rebel Hearts; Focus Features’ Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and The Sparks Brothers; HBO’s In the Same Breath, Simple As Water and Street Gang: How We...
The daylong virtual presentation featured participants including Edgar Wright, Liz Garbus, Todd Haynes, Sam Pollard, Selma Blair, Morgan Neville, Matthew Heineman, Betsy West and Julie Cohen, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and R.J. Cutler among many others.
Click here to go to the streaming site.
A total of 12 studios and streamers took part in the event which spotlighted Amazon Studios’ My Name Is Pauli Murray and Val; Apple Original Films’ Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry and The Velvet Underground; CNN Films’ Citizen Ashe; Discovery+’s Francesco, Introducing, Selma Blair and Rebel Hearts; Focus Features’ Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain and The Sparks Brothers; HBO’s In the Same Breath, Simple As Water and Street Gang: How We...
- 11/23/2021
- by The Deadline Team
- Deadline Film + TV
The 1960s were a time of cultural upheaval for society in general, but also within the Roman Catholic Church.
The Vatican II Council, which ran from 1962-1965, enacted liberalizing reforms intended to connect the church much more closely with the contemporary world the faithful were living in. The sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order in Los Angeles took that message and ran with it—a story told in the Discovery+ documentary Rebel Hearts.
Some Ihm nuns participated in anti-Vietnam War and civil rights demonstrations. One sister, Corita Kent, became a renowned artist who depicted elements of the faith in novel ways. The order, which was made up of highly educated women, also questioned whether in the 1960s it was still necessary to wear a nun’s habit more appropriate to the Middle Ages.
“I think, to them, they were following their true calling. They were following the edicts of the Second Vatican Council,...
The Vatican II Council, which ran from 1962-1965, enacted liberalizing reforms intended to connect the church much more closely with the contemporary world the faithful were living in. The sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order in Los Angeles took that message and ran with it—a story told in the Discovery+ documentary Rebel Hearts.
Some Ihm nuns participated in anti-Vietnam War and civil rights demonstrations. One sister, Corita Kent, became a renowned artist who depicted elements of the faith in novel ways. The order, which was made up of highly educated women, also questioned whether in the 1960s it was still necessary to wear a nun’s habit more appropriate to the Middle Ages.
“I think, to them, they were following their true calling. They were following the edicts of the Second Vatican Council,...
- 11/21/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Honors were given out in more than 30 categories at Wednesday’s 12th annual Hollywood Music in Media Awards, with singer-songwriters like Billie Eilish, H.E.R., Adam Levine and Rufus Wainwright being celebrated in the live webcast as well as composers including Hans Zimmer, Rachel Portman, Alberto Iglesias and Nicholas Britell.
The HMMAs reward songwriters, composers and even performers in fields that include not just film and TV work but everything from video games to commercials to theme park music.
Film nominations are given in multiple genres, which allows for a series of short lists that members of the Academy’s music branch may end up studying as they vote for the Oscars’ much, much shorter lists.
Best score for a feature film went to Britell for his work on Adam McKay’s satirical “Don’t Look Up.” Other score prizes went to Zimmer for “Dune” (sci-fi/fantasy film), Beltrami for “A Quiet Place II...
The HMMAs reward songwriters, composers and even performers in fields that include not just film and TV work but everything from video games to commercials to theme park music.
Film nominations are given in multiple genres, which allows for a series of short lists that members of the Academy’s music branch may end up studying as they vote for the Oscars’ much, much shorter lists.
Best score for a feature film went to Britell for his work on Adam McKay’s satirical “Don’t Look Up.” Other score prizes went to Zimmer for “Dune” (sci-fi/fantasy film), Beltrami for “A Quiet Place II...
- 11/19/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
The International Documentary Association came out with its shortlist of the year’s best documentaries today, a list as notable for what was left out as what made it in.
A total of 29 feature films earned a spot on the IDA shortlist, including some considered Oscar frontrunners: Summer of Soul, Ascension, and Flee—each of which earned nominations last week for both the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards. But several other films making a strong bid for Oscar attention were snubbed, among them The Rescue, Becoming Cousteau, Attica, Procession, and My Name Is Pauli Murray.
The IDA gave recognition to several documentaries with an international dimension, like Faya Dayi, from Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Bashir, Chinese-born filmmaker Nanfu Wang’s Covid-19-related doc In The Same Breath, and Miguel’s War, the story of a gay Lebanese man who exiles himself to Spain. The IDA-shortlisted President focuses on...
A total of 29 feature films earned a spot on the IDA shortlist, including some considered Oscar frontrunners: Summer of Soul, Ascension, and Flee—each of which earned nominations last week for both the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards and the Gotham Awards. But several other films making a strong bid for Oscar attention were snubbed, among them The Rescue, Becoming Cousteau, Attica, Procession, and My Name Is Pauli Murray.
The IDA gave recognition to several documentaries with an international dimension, like Faya Dayi, from Mexican-Ethiopian director Jessica Bashir, Chinese-born filmmaker Nanfu Wang’s Covid-19-related doc In The Same Breath, and Miguel’s War, the story of a gay Lebanese man who exiles himself to Spain. The IDA-shortlisted President focuses on...
- 10/25/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Out of 314 documentary feature submissions hailing from 58 countries, Neon and Participant’s Flee and Searchlight’s Summer of Soul were the highest-profile titles that made the International Documentary Association’s shortlist, which was announced on Monday. But a considerable number of other much-discussed Oscar hopefuls were shockingly Mia, including Apple’s The Velvet Underground, Nat Geo’s The Rescue and Netflix’s Procession, bounced by the likes of Janus Films’ Faya Dayi, Hulu’s Jacinta and Discovery+’s Rebel Hearts.
The IDA’s shortlists of documentary features (29 titles) and shorts (17 titles) were selected by independent committees of 228 documentary makers, curators, critics and industry ...
The IDA’s shortlists of documentary features (29 titles) and shorts (17 titles) were selected by independent committees of 228 documentary makers, curators, critics and industry ...
- 10/25/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Out of 314 documentary feature submissions hailing from 58 countries, Neon and Participant’s Flee and Searchlight’s Summer of Soul were the highest-profile titles that made the International Documentary Association’s shortlist, which was announced on Monday. But a considerable number of other much-discussed Oscar hopefuls were shockingly Mia, including Apple’s The Velvet Underground, Nat Geo’s The Rescue and Netflix’s Procession, bounced by the likes of Janus Films’ Faya Dayi, Hulu’s Jacinta and Discovery+’s Rebel Hearts.
The IDA’s shortlists of documentary features (29 titles) and shorts (17 titles) were selected by independent committees of 228 documentary makers, curators, critics and industry ...
The IDA’s shortlists of documentary features (29 titles) and shorts (17 titles) were selected by independent committees of 228 documentary makers, curators, critics and industry ...
- 10/25/2021
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
(Editor’s Note: IndieWire’s coverage of the 2021 IDA Documentary Screening Series is presented by the Amazon Original Documentaries “Val” and “My Name is Pauli Murray.“)
IndieWire and International Documentary Association have again partnered for the organization’s annual Screening Series, which will take place virtually, in addition to select screenings in various venues in Los Angeles including the Hollywood Legion Theater and the Landmark Theatre in West LA. Following the screenings, IndieWire will be posting written and video coverage of moderated Q&As featuring filmmakers and subjects.
“IDA is proud to present a thoughtful selection of films that represent a multiplicity of voices, perspectives, and styles,” said IDA Director Rick Perez. “Our inclusive curatorial approach reflects our values and commitment to recognizing the role that the documentary form plays in helping audiences better understand the world around them.”
Theatrical screenings are as follows.
“The Rescue” (Hollywood Legion Theater), Monday,...
IndieWire and International Documentary Association have again partnered for the organization’s annual Screening Series, which will take place virtually, in addition to select screenings in various venues in Los Angeles including the Hollywood Legion Theater and the Landmark Theatre in West LA. Following the screenings, IndieWire will be posting written and video coverage of moderated Q&As featuring filmmakers and subjects.
“IDA is proud to present a thoughtful selection of films that represent a multiplicity of voices, perspectives, and styles,” said IDA Director Rick Perez. “Our inclusive curatorial approach reflects our values and commitment to recognizing the role that the documentary form plays in helping audiences better understand the world around them.”
Theatrical screenings are as follows.
“The Rescue” (Hollywood Legion Theater), Monday,...
- 9/7/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
A feature-length documentary about the legacy of “Reading Rainbow,” the beloved children’s show featuring LeVar Burton, is in production now from non-fiction studio Xtr called “Butterfly in the Sky.”
The “Reading Rainbow” film is named for the iconic theme song for the series, which ran for 26 years beginning in 1983 and picked up 26 Emmys and a Peabody Award throughout its run.
LeVar Burton himself, who hosted the program during its run and helped make it a classroom staple, sat down for new interviews with the filmmakers to discuss the show’s legacy. And in the vein of recent nostalgia-driven documentaries such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” “Butterfly in the Sky” will also cobble together archival footage and new interviews with broadcasters, educators and filmmakers who have all been involved with “Reading Rainbow” over the past 30 years.
“Reading Rainbow” has...
The “Reading Rainbow” film is named for the iconic theme song for the series, which ran for 26 years beginning in 1983 and picked up 26 Emmys and a Peabody Award throughout its run.
LeVar Burton himself, who hosted the program during its run and helped make it a classroom staple, sat down for new interviews with the filmmakers to discuss the show’s legacy. And in the vein of recent nostalgia-driven documentaries such as “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “I Am Big Bird: The Caroll Spinney Story,” “Butterfly in the Sky” will also cobble together archival footage and new interviews with broadcasters, educators and filmmakers who have all been involved with “Reading Rainbow” over the past 30 years.
“Reading Rainbow” has...
- 9/2/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
When Rufus Wainwright was asked to write a closing theme song for “Rebel Hearts,” a documentary about a renegade order of socially activist nuns that opens this weekend, he didn’t require the preamble that virtually any other singer-songwriter would have. It was intergenerationally personal for him, as he was already intimately familiar with the subject matter, thanks to his grandfather’s girlfriend having been part of the order of nuns that got in trouble with the Catholic church in the 1960s, and having heard her story over the years.
The result is “Secret Sister,” a compelling song that evokes both spiritual mysteries and calls to concrete action, and which appears on the “Rebel Hearts” soundtrack along with another original song, Sharon Van Etten’s opening “Conjunction.” Variety has the premiere of an excerpt from Wainwright’s song (below), along with some of the historic and modern footage and animation from director Pedros Kos’ film,...
The result is “Secret Sister,” a compelling song that evokes both spiritual mysteries and calls to concrete action, and which appears on the “Rebel Hearts” soundtrack along with another original song, Sharon Van Etten’s opening “Conjunction.” Variety has the premiere of an excerpt from Wainwright’s song (below), along with some of the historic and modern footage and animation from director Pedros Kos’ film,...
- 6/24/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
Back in 1968, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary got into trouble with the Bishop of Los Angeles. Rather than submit to the authority of the Catholic Church, these women, who took vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience when they married Jesus Christ, fought for their autonomy as educators at Immaculate Heart College and defied the powerful patriarchy that tried to keep them in their place. The nuns had more college degrees than the priests who sought to dominate them, branding them as blasphemers.
During the turbulent upheavals of the anti-war and feminist movements, the rebel nuns fought for their college, freedom, equality, and their own livelihoods. They joined the movements protesting for social justice, earned support from political activists like Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, and won their independence from the Catholic Church. The Immaculate Heart community survives to this day.
Documentary editor-turned-filmmaker Pedro Kos (“Bending the Arc”) artfully blends animation,...
During the turbulent upheavals of the anti-war and feminist movements, the rebel nuns fought for their college, freedom, equality, and their own livelihoods. They joined the movements protesting for social justice, earned support from political activists like Jane Fonda and Tom Hayden, and won their independence from the Catholic Church. The Immaculate Heart community survives to this day.
Documentary editor-turned-filmmaker Pedro Kos (“Bending the Arc”) artfully blends animation,...
- 6/4/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The 2021 summer film festival season is continuing forward, slightly off-kilter, with Tribeca in June and Cannes in July, before the fall season takes off with in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York. The American Film Institute’s AFI Docs 2021 (June 22-27), which is skewed toward the virtual, (much like the lockdown iteration of 2020), will screen 77 Films from 23 countries, opening with Garrett Bradley’s “Naomi Osaka”, a world premiere of the upcoming mini-series about the tennis champion, and closing with Isabel Bethencourt and Parker Hill’s Sundance 2021 premiere “Cusp.” Morgan Neville’s Tribeca 2021 debut “Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” as the centerpiece gala.
Like last year, all the films will be available to view online at Docs.AFI.com, plus in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. 52 percent of the films are directed by women,...
Like last year, all the films will be available to view online at Docs.AFI.com, plus in-person screenings at the AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring, Maryland. Select films will be available with closed captioning and descriptive audio. 52 percent of the films are directed by women,...
- 5/26/2021
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Discovery+ has acquired the worldwide rights to “Citizen Penn,” a documentary about actor Sean Penn’s humanitarian work in Haiti following the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that devastated the region in 2010.
The film is written and directed by Don Hardy (“Pick of the Litter”) and followed Penn over the course of 10 years as he and a team of volunteers set up a long base to bring aid to Haitians, including through his non-profit organization called Core. Discovery+ plans to release “Citizen Penn” on its streaming service beginning May 6.
The documentary also features an original score by songwriter Linda Perry, as well as an original song called “Eden (To Find Love)” performed by Bono and co-written by Bono and Perry.
“Citizen Penn” chronicles the moment Penn and his team of volunteers landed in Haiti, just days after the earthquake struck, and the ten years since. The film offers viewers an intimate, honest, and...
The film is written and directed by Don Hardy (“Pick of the Litter”) and followed Penn over the course of 10 years as he and a team of volunteers set up a long base to bring aid to Haitians, including through his non-profit organization called Core. Discovery+ plans to release “Citizen Penn” on its streaming service beginning May 6.
The documentary also features an original score by songwriter Linda Perry, as well as an original song called “Eden (To Find Love)” performed by Bono and co-written by Bono and Perry.
“Citizen Penn” chronicles the moment Penn and his team of volunteers landed in Haiti, just days after the earthquake struck, and the ten years since. The film offers viewers an intimate, honest, and...
- 4/2/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Discovery Plus has acquired “Citizen Penn,” a look at the humanitarian efforts of Sean Penn and a team of volunteers to help Haitians in the wake of the devastating 2010 earthquake.
The documentary will premiere on the subscription streaming service on May 6. “Citizen Penn” was written and directed by Don Hardy and produced by Hardy and Shawn Dailey. It boasts up close and personal footage of Penn’s work on the frontlines in the days after a 7.0 earthquake left 250,000 people dead and displaced some 5 million others. Haiti changed Penn’s life. The Oscar-winning star of “Mystic River” and “Milk” went there for what he thought was a two-week aid mission to drop off supplies, help doctors provide immediate medical care, and then get out and get back to his normal life. Instead, he stayed and created an organization called J/P Hro (now Core) that took over management duties for the...
The documentary will premiere on the subscription streaming service on May 6. “Citizen Penn” was written and directed by Don Hardy and produced by Hardy and Shawn Dailey. It boasts up close and personal footage of Penn’s work on the frontlines in the days after a 7.0 earthquake left 250,000 people dead and displaced some 5 million others. Haiti changed Penn’s life. The Oscar-winning star of “Mystic River” and “Milk” went there for what he thought was a two-week aid mission to drop off supplies, help doctors provide immediate medical care, and then get out and get back to his normal life. Instead, he stayed and created an organization called J/P Hro (now Core) that took over management duties for the...
- 4/2/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan’s Aggregate Films is beefing up its television ranks, upping Roxie Rodriguez to VP Television and bringing in Emma Ho as Director of Development for Unscripted as the company is looking to expand its business beyond scripted programming.
“It will come as no surprise to anyone who has worked with Roxie that she deserves this promotion and has become such a valuable member of our growing team,” said Bateman and Costigan. “With her excellent taste and ability to both identify and build shows around unique voices, Roxie has been instrumental in developing our television slate with several new series that we are excited to launch in 2021 and 2022.”
Rodriguez began her career in Austin, Texas where she worked in independent film, serving as Associate Producer on the films The Skeleton Twins and Rock The Kasbah. She also had a run as a programmer for the Marfa Film Festival.
“It will come as no surprise to anyone who has worked with Roxie that she deserves this promotion and has become such a valuable member of our growing team,” said Bateman and Costigan. “With her excellent taste and ability to both identify and build shows around unique voices, Roxie has been instrumental in developing our television slate with several new series that we are excited to launch in 2021 and 2022.”
Rodriguez began her career in Austin, Texas where she worked in independent film, serving as Associate Producer on the films The Skeleton Twins and Rock The Kasbah. She also had a run as a programmer for the Marfa Film Festival.
- 3/10/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
“The Queen’s Gambit” is being adapted as a musical for the theater stage, as the company Level Forward has acquired the rights to Walter Tevis’ book.
The acclaimed Netflix miniseries about the story of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon has become wildly popular.
But with no writer of director attached yet, Level Forward’s plans don’t appear to have the involvement of “The Queen’s Gambit” showrunners Scott Frank and Allan Scott or of star Anya Taylor-Joy
“It is a privilege for Level Forward to lead the charge of bringing The Queen’s Gambit to the stage through the beloved and enduring craft of musical theater,” Level Forward CEO Adrienne Becker and producer Julia Dunetz said in a statement. “Told through a brave and fresh point of view, audiences are already sharing in the friendship and fortitude of the story’s inspiring women who energize and sustain Beth Harmon’s journey and ultimate triumph.
The acclaimed Netflix miniseries about the story of fictional chess prodigy Beth Harmon has become wildly popular.
But with no writer of director attached yet, Level Forward’s plans don’t appear to have the involvement of “The Queen’s Gambit” showrunners Scott Frank and Allan Scott or of star Anya Taylor-Joy
“It is a privilege for Level Forward to lead the charge of bringing The Queen’s Gambit to the stage through the beloved and enduring craft of musical theater,” Level Forward CEO Adrienne Becker and producer Julia Dunetz said in a statement. “Told through a brave and fresh point of view, audiences are already sharing in the friendship and fortitude of the story’s inspiring women who energize and sustain Beth Harmon’s journey and ultimate triumph.
- 3/8/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
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Documentary filmmaking is often a scrappy enterprise — at its core, all you really need is a camera and a desire to tell a story. In the case of at least eight of the filmmakers whose documentaries were a part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s one camera in particular.
Their gear of choice? The Canon Eos C300 Mark II, which was used for the U.S. Documentary Competition entries “Ailey,” “At the Ready,” “Cusp,” and “Rebel Hearts,” World Cinema Documentary Competition entry “Sabaya”; Next entry “Searchers”; and premieres “Philly D.A.” and “My Name Is Pauli Murray.” Of course, the camera body you use is only one part of the equation — the lenses...
Documentary filmmaking is often a scrappy enterprise — at its core, all you really need is a camera and a desire to tell a story. In the case of at least eight of the filmmakers whose documentaries were a part of the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, it’s one camera in particular.
Their gear of choice? The Canon Eos C300 Mark II, which was used for the U.S. Documentary Competition entries “Ailey,” “At the Ready,” “Cusp,” and “Rebel Hearts,” World Cinema Documentary Competition entry “Sabaya”; Next entry “Searchers”; and premieres “Philly D.A.” and “My Name Is Pauli Murray.” Of course, the camera body you use is only one part of the equation — the lenses...
- 2/5/2021
- by Jean Bentley
- Indiewire
Nearly 60 years ago, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart dramatically redefined what it means to be a nun in the Catholic Church. Now their story is being told in “Rebel Hearts,” a documentary premiering at Sundance that shows the part these nuns played in the second wave of feminism.
Director Pedro Kos, writer-producer Shawnee Isaac-Smith, and Immaculate Heart Sisters Lenore Navarro Dowling and Rosa Manriquez joined TheWrap’s Sundance Studio sponsored by Nfp and National Geographic to discuss the new film, which recounts how Anita Caspary, Mother General of Ihm back in the 1960s, fought against the conservative cardinal of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, James McIntyre, to establish their own college and high school, even dispensing their vows and creating a new organization outside the Catholic Church to continue their mission.
The Ihm nuns would continue to break the mold of cloistered life long held as the only form...
Director Pedro Kos, writer-producer Shawnee Isaac-Smith, and Immaculate Heart Sisters Lenore Navarro Dowling and Rosa Manriquez joined TheWrap’s Sundance Studio sponsored by Nfp and National Geographic to discuss the new film, which recounts how Anita Caspary, Mother General of Ihm back in the 1960s, fought against the conservative cardinal of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, James McIntyre, to establish their own college and high school, even dispensing their vows and creating a new organization outside the Catholic Church to continue their mission.
The Ihm nuns would continue to break the mold of cloistered life long held as the only form...
- 2/5/2021
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
IFC Films has acquired the North American rights to “Holler,” a coming-of-age drama starring Jessica Barden (“End of the F***ing World”) that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2020.
Nicole Riegel made her directorial debut on “Holler,” which also stars Gus Halper, Pamela Adlon, Becky Ann Baker and Austin Amelio and is executive produced by Paul Feig.
IFC Films plans to release “Holler” in June 2021. Here’s the synopsis:
Riegel also wrote the film, which centers on Barden as a young woman from a small Southern Ohio town where manufacturing and opportunities have tried up. After winning acceptance to college, she joins her older brother on a dangerous scrap metal crew seeking to pay her tuition. Together, they spend one brutal winter working the scrap yards during the day and stealing valuable metal from the aging factories at night.
The producers are Katie McNeill and Jamie Patricof of Hunting Lane Films,...
Nicole Riegel made her directorial debut on “Holler,” which also stars Gus Halper, Pamela Adlon, Becky Ann Baker and Austin Amelio and is executive produced by Paul Feig.
IFC Films plans to release “Holler” in June 2021. Here’s the synopsis:
Riegel also wrote the film, which centers on Barden as a young woman from a small Southern Ohio town where manufacturing and opportunities have tried up. After winning acceptance to college, she joins her older brother on a dangerous scrap metal crew seeking to pay her tuition. Together, they spend one brutal winter working the scrap yards during the day and stealing valuable metal from the aging factories at night.
The producers are Katie McNeill and Jamie Patricof of Hunting Lane Films,...
- 2/4/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
On its website, Xtr describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in Xtr; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
On its website, Xtr describes itself as “a premium nonfiction film and television studio serving the booming documentary film space.” The company is attached to eight feature titles at this year’s Sundance, all but one of which (Faya Dayi) credit the late Tony Hsieh’s name as an executive producer. The Zappos CEO died in November, nearly two months after investing $17.5 million in Xtr; his name unites Ailey, At the Ready, Bring Your Own Brigade, Homeroom, Try Harder!, Rebel Hearts and Natalia Almada’s Users—the last sporting an end credits dedication in Hsieh’s memory. I haven’t seen Almada’s previous work, so can’t speak to how Users’s often enjoyably giganticist […]
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post Sundance 2021 Critic’s Notebook 4 (Vadim Rizov): Users, At the Ready first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 2/2/2021
- by Vadim Rizov
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the 2021 Sundance Film Festival, which was forced to take place largely online, with scattered outdoor screenings and socially-distanced events in cities around the country. But the pandemic has also impacted Sundance creatively, leading to an opening four days in which filmmakers have used a variety of techniques and genres to grapple with the issues of a virus that was just beginning to surface when the last in-person Sundance took place in Park City a year ago.
The most obvious example is the opening-night documentary “In the Same Breath” from Chinese-born director Nanfu Wang, who came to Park City straight from China in January 2020, and then found she couldn’t rejoin her husband and son there because of the pandemic lockdown. Her film includes wrenching footage from Wuhan in the early days of the virus but expands to look at the Chinese...
The most obvious example is the opening-night documentary “In the Same Breath” from Chinese-born director Nanfu Wang, who came to Park City straight from China in January 2020, and then found she couldn’t rejoin her husband and son there because of the pandemic lockdown. Her film includes wrenching footage from Wuhan in the early days of the virus but expands to look at the Chinese...
- 2/1/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
In 1965, the world’s idea of a problematic nun was Maria von Trapp: a black sheep in a white wimple who was booted from her convent for taking the odd hillside hike, enjoying a bit of a sing-along and ultimately getting jiggy with a handsome navy captain. By 1968, life had got a bit more complicated for misfit sisters, while a conflicted Catholic church struggled to contend with a decade of seismic social unrest. As civil rights and gender politics evolved, many brides of Christ found themselves torn between the advances of the outside world and the rigid patriarchy of the their church. Tracing the story of one particularly independent-minded group of Los Angeles nuns, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Pedro Kos’ accessible, moist-eyed doc “Rebel Hearts” neatly threads a global feminist awakening through the very specific experience of a few defiant, no-longer-cloistered women.
Premiering in Sundance’s U.
Premiering in Sundance’s U.
- 1/31/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
It makes perfect sense that there’s now a documentary about the long-running children’s television series “Sesame Street.” After all, there’s already been a doc about the puppeteer who played the characters of Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch on that show (“I Am Big Bird: The Carroll Spinney Story”), and one about the man who played Elmo (“Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey”) — while “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” Morgan Neville’s 2018 film about another children’s TV icon, Mister Rogers, recently became the 12th highest-grossing nonfiction film of all time.
So what took so long to make “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street?” Marilyn Agrelo’s film premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival on Saturday morning, joining this year’s Sundance docs “Summer of Soul” and “Rebel Hearts” and last year’s “Crip Camp” as a celebration of revolutionary work that came out...
So what took so long to make “Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street?” Marilyn Agrelo’s film premiered at the virtual Sundance Film Festival on Saturday morning, joining this year’s Sundance docs “Summer of Soul” and “Rebel Hearts” and last year’s “Crip Camp” as a celebration of revolutionary work that came out...
- 1/30/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The last few months have seen a lot of revolutionary groups from the 1960s depicted on screen: the Yippies and the Students for a Democratic Society in “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” the Black Panthers in “Judas and the Black Messiah,” the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in “MLK/FBI” and now the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in “Rebel Hearts.”
And if you don’t think a group of Roman Catholic nuns quite belong on that roster of rabble-rousers, maybe Pedro Kos’ documentary will set you straight. The film, which premiered on the second day of this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival, finds revolution in the strangest of places — a Catholic college for women and home for nuns in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, part of which now serves as the headquarters of the American Film Institute, and part of which ended up in...
And if you don’t think a group of Roman Catholic nuns quite belong on that roster of rabble-rousers, maybe Pedro Kos’ documentary will set you straight. The film, which premiered on the second day of this year’s virtual Sundance Film Festival, finds revolution in the strangest of places — a Catholic college for women and home for nuns in the Los Feliz district of Los Angeles, part of which now serves as the headquarters of the American Film Institute, and part of which ended up in...
- 1/30/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
This year’s Sundance is shorter, virtual, is not local to just Park City and has a new director for the first time in years. But what has not changed is that Sundance remains one of the best marketplaces for independent films. This year’s lineup for the festival set for Jan. 28-Feb. 3 even has some hopeful Oscar contenders such as Robin Wright’s “Land” and “Judas and the Black Messiah” from Warner Bros., and we’ve already seen a few titles such as “Together Together,” “The World to Come” and “The Most Beautiful Boy in the World” find homes. But while there may be fewer films overall and without the in-person wheeling and dealing, the market figures to be just as robust with some exciting movies up for sale.
“Passing”
Actress Rebecca Hall is making her directorial debut on “Passing,” a psychological thriller set in 1920s New York and...
“Passing”
Actress Rebecca Hall is making her directorial debut on “Passing,” a psychological thriller set in 1920s New York and...
- 1/28/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
If you’re looking for sure bets at the Sundance Film Festival, the smart money says you should look to the documentary programming. The festival’s lineup of narrative films, after all, is always hit-or-miss: For every “Minari” or “The Farewell” or “Beasts of the Southern Wild” that comes out of Park City to become a hit in theaters or on the awards circuit, there are dozens of movies that disappear, or that find that the rapturous reaction they received at 7,000 feet is considerably more tepid at sea level.
But Sundance’s documentaries rarely disappoint. Almost every year, more than half the nonfiction films that make the shortlist in the Oscars Best Documentary Feature category are films that premiered at Sundance — and when this year’s shortlist is announced on Feb. 9, there’s no question that it will be filled with Sundance’s Class of 2020.
Among the docs that premiered...
But Sundance’s documentaries rarely disappoint. Almost every year, more than half the nonfiction films that make the shortlist in the Oscars Best Documentary Feature category are films that premiered at Sundance — and when this year’s shortlist is announced on Feb. 9, there’s no question that it will be filled with Sundance’s Class of 2020.
Among the docs that premiered...
- 1/26/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Sundance Film Festival’s 2021 virtual Main Street will play host to a series of conversations about music and the movies, hosted by first-time festival partner Film Music House, with Mary J. Blige, Rufus Wainwright and Colin Stetson (pictured above) among those taking part in the streamed chats Jan. 28 through Feb. 3.
Blige will join Nova Wav and DJ Camper in a conversation on songwriting for films. Wainwright will participate in a panel on the music of the film “Rebel Hearts” with veteran music supervisor Tracy McKnight and Ariel Marx. A panel about music auteurs will feature Stetson as well as Bryce Dessner of the National and Alex Somers.
The confab’s keynote conversations will spotlight Mychael Danna, Jeff Beal, Dan Romer, Miriam Cuter and Rob Simonsen.
The full lineup of names and times for Film Music House programs can be found on Sundance’s Village site, here.
Other programs include...
Blige will join Nova Wav and DJ Camper in a conversation on songwriting for films. Wainwright will participate in a panel on the music of the film “Rebel Hearts” with veteran music supervisor Tracy McKnight and Ariel Marx. A panel about music auteurs will feature Stetson as well as Bryce Dessner of the National and Alex Somers.
The confab’s keynote conversations will spotlight Mychael Danna, Jeff Beal, Dan Romer, Miriam Cuter and Rob Simonsen.
The full lineup of names and times for Film Music House programs can be found on Sundance’s Village site, here.
Other programs include...
- 1/14/2021
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
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