DAILY NEWS: indieWIRE: BUZZ for 08.26.02; Indican Acquires Three Titles

DAILY NEWS: indieWIRE: BUZZ for 08.26.02; Indican Acquires Three Titles

>> IndieWIRE: BUZZ for August 26, 2002

(indieWIRE: 08.26.02) -- indieWIRE presents its weekly column focusing
on recent items on the radar in the indie film community. Submit your news
items to .

INDUSTRY MOVES

Jon Fitzgerald is on board as the new executive director of the Santa
Barbara International Film Festival. Fitzgerald previously was the
director of the Slamdance and AFI film festivals. He also runs the indie
production company Marine Street Films.

NEWS CHATTER

WHAT'S IN A NAME? Jeff Hill, formerly of Falco Ink, has named his new
public relations venture the International House of Publicity, although he's
not using the four-letter abbreviation that could get him in trouble with a
certain pancake chain. Hill says he does in fact love pancakes, and the name
also honors his "midwestern background." His staff includes the charmingly
monikered Kitty Bowe Hearty, a former magazine writer, plus part-timers
Beth Binnard (ex-Good Machine) and Millys Lee, an old colleague from Hill's
Clein + White days. Currently in the House: "All or Nothing," "Far From
Heaven," "Bloody Sunday," "All the Queen's Men," "Nicholas Nickleby," and
"Morvern Callar." Now, let's bring on those pancake breakfasts!

Likewise, former Good Machine-r Ted Hope, along with partners Anthony
Bregman and Anne Carey, have found a name for their new production
company: This is That. (a.k.a. "TIT"). Just don't let these folks name
your first-born.

JERSEY GIRLS WANTED: Filmmaker Kevin Smith is using his View Askew
website to recruit extras for his next film, "Jersey Girl." Extras will share
screen time with a cast including Ben Affleck, Jennifer Lopez, Liv Tyler, and
George Carlin. Smith promises extras the opportunity to "see how a
movie (or, God forbid, a bad movie) gets made, up close!" and the chance to
"get treated like cattle at your own expense." Submissions are due August 31
-- for details visit the View Askew website.

TRAVELING AGAIN: While the indieWIRE staff was decidedly mixed about
"World Traveler," we all agree that it does star Billy Crudup. A series of
special screenings of "WT" started on Friday at the Screening Room in
downtown NYC, and they will continue through Thursday. On Wednesday and
Thursday night screenings will feature Q&As with director Bart Freundlich
and Mr. Crudup. Who knows, perhaps you'll also spy Bart's main squeeze
(and one of the stars of "WT"), Julianne Moore?

SALMA BEHIND THE CAMERA: Salma Hayek is doing her best to put schlock like
"Fools Rush In" far behind her: First, there's her excellent starring role
in "Frida," which should have everyone noticing her chops as a serious actress
(despite the gratuitous boob shots). Also, Hayek will make her directorial
debut and also executive prodcue "The Maldonado Miracle" for Showtime. The
film, based on a Theodore Taylor novel about a small town grappling with a
religious miracle, stars Peter Fonda, Mare Winningham, and Ruben Blades.

TROMA TOUR: The latest Troma party was held, appropriately enough, in
NYC's Hell's Kitchen. The Troma gang held a bash last week to welcome home
the Troma tour bus from its "Tromaville on Tour" stint on the Vans Warped
Tour. The team celebrated with a concert, and the stars of "Citizen Toxie:
The Toxic Avenger 4" were on hand.

A DATE IN BERLIN: Set your calendars, the Berlin International Film
Festival has set its 2003 dates for February 6-16. The Bear awards ceremony is
slated for February 15. Math majors will notice that this year's fest will run
11 days, one day shorter than recent fests.

GUILLEMET LANDS IN MIAMI: South Beach-ers will welcome a new Miami
immigrant, Nicole Guillemet, on Wednesday at a party at Japanese
restaurant Doraku. Guillemet, left Sundance to become the new director of the
Florida International University Miami Film Festival, has been working in
Miami since July.

SPOTTED: Director Mira Nair at Thursday's HBO screening and party for her
new film, "Hysterical Blindness." She was just in from a trip to Africa
where she said that she planted 28 trees. Joining her from the film were
the always stunning Gena Rowlands and the always interesting Juliette Lewis.
Ethan Hawke stood in for his wife Uma Thurman (star of the film) -- she was
said to be in China filming the latest Quentin Tarantino film, "Kill Bill."
Hawke later tore up the dance floor with "Hysterical" co-star Callie Thorne
during the after-party at Eugene on 24th St., as the photographers snapped
away. (Following last night's HBO premiere, the movie will air tonight on
HBO2 and through the end of September on various HBO channels, check
HBO.com for schedules.)

QUOTABLE

"Bob Evans is one of the most fascinating men who ever lived in the
20th century. Without a question. And the more time I've spent with him, the
more confident I am to make that statement."
-- Brett Morgen, co-director of "The Kid Stays in the Picture," on Robert
Evans, as quoted in the San Francisco Examiner.

ASK DR. INDIE (send questions to )

Q: "With all this buzz about "Hairspray: the Musical" being a hit on
Broadway, I was curious what other cult indie films made in the late
'80s/early '90s would indieWIRE like to see brought to the Great White
Way?"

A: What about Linklater's "Slacker" as the anti-"Rent"; layabouts in
Austin are too lazy to get up and do their own dance numbers? Or perhaps a
nice assembly-line routine from "Roger & Me" or a debutante ball spoof for
Whit Stillman's "Metropolitan"?

STAY TUNED

Later this week in indieWIRE: Jack Cocker's report from the Edinburgh Film
Festival and Joe Leydon's Insider column. [Wendy Mitchell, with a report
from Eugene Hernandez]

>> Indican Acquires "On_Line," "Young Unknowns," "Down & Out..."

(indieWIRE: 08.26.02) -- Indie distributor Indican Pictures has
acquired three films for theatrical release: "On_Line," a cybersex saga
starring Josh Hamilton; Katy Jelski's "The Young Unknowns," described as
"a 'Less than Zero' for the 2K generation" starring Leslie Bibb; and
Kurt Voss' "Down & Out With the Dolls," about an all-girl rock band.

"On_Line," which played at Sundance 2002 and Berlin 2002 among other
fests, will arrive in theaters early in 2003.

Indican also announced that it is starting a home video line, with VHS
and DVD products in stores in 2003. The first four home-video titles will
be "Hybrid," "Shaye & Kiki," "Wetonkawa Flash," and "Pariah."
[Wendy Mitchell]

>> FRIDAY's indieWIRE ALERT: Paul Speaker Exits Madstone Amidst
Restructuring, New Yorker Team To Head Distribution

(indieWIRE: 08.22.02) -- President and COO Paul Speaker has departed
Madstone, the New York-based "digital film studio" formed in 1999
by former investment banker Chip Seelig and veteran film executive
Tom Gruenberg. The move comes amidst a restructuring of several
key departments and upper-management, changes detailed by Seelig
in a conversation with indieWIRE today. The exec also addressed the
outfit's efforts in its expanding exhibition chain. [Matthew Ross]

READ THE COMPLETE STORY @ indieWIRE.com.

>> THURSDAY IN indieWIRE DAILY NEWS: IFC Closes Next Wave; Goldwyn Grabs
Controversial Mexican Hit; IFP Sets Doc Line-Up

(indieWIRE: 08.22.02) -- IFC Entertainment has shut down its finishing-funds
company, Next Wave Films.

READ THE FULL STORIES @ indieWIRE.com.