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From the "Biz" Archives:
with articles by Eugene Hernandez, Brian Brooks and Jacque Lynn Schiller/indieWIRE
>> "L.I.E." Tops Spirit Award Nominations
(indieWIRE: 01.09.02) -- "L.I.E." nabbed the most nominations for the 2002
IFP/West Spirit Awards, winning six nods, including Best Feature, Best
Director (Michael Cuesta), Best Debut Performance (Paul Franklin Dano), Best
First Screenplay (Stephen M. Ryder, Michael Cuesta and Gerald Cuesta), Best
Male Lead (Brian Cox), and Best Supporting Male (Billy Kay). The Lot 47 Films
release debuted one year ago at the 2001 Sundance Film Festival.
"Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and "Memento" were runners-up in total
nominations, each nabbing five nods. The two films are competing with
"L.I.E.," "Things Behind the Sun," and "Waking Life" for the Best Feature
prize.
Nominees for the annual Someone to Watch Award, recognizing emerging
filmmakers, are Debra Eisenstadt ("Daydream Believer"), DeMane Davis and Kari
Streeter ("Lift"), Michael Gilio ("Kwik Stop"), and David Maquiling ("Too
Much Sleep"). While the DIRECTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award nominees
(honoring documentarians) are Edet Belzberg ("Children Underground"), Sandi
Simcha Dubowski ("Trembling Before G-d"), B.Z. Goldberg, Carlos Bolado, and
Justine Shapiro ("Promises"), Alix Lambert ("Mark of Cain"), and Monteith
McCollum ("Hybrid"). Competing for the Motorola Producers Award nominees are
Rene Bastian & Linda Moran ("L.I.E." and "Martin and Orloff"), Adrienne
Gruben ("Treasure Island" and "Olympia"), Jasmine Kosovic ("Just One Time"
and "The Adventures of Sebastian Cole"), and Nadia Leonelli ("Acts of
Worship," and "Perfume").
The nominations, announced last night (Tuesday) at the El Rey Theater in Los
Angeles, were selected from the more then 175 films submitted. The Spirit
Awards ceremony will be held on March 23rd in Santa Monica, with John Waters
on board as this year's M.C. (it will air on the Independent Film Channel and
Bravo). [Eugene Hernandez]
The complete list of nominees:
BEST FEATURE (Award given to the Producer)
* Executive Producers are not listed.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch Producers: Christine Vachon, Katie
Roumel &
Pamela Koffler
BEST DIRECTOR
Michael Cuesta L. I. E.
BEST SCREENPLAY
Milo Addica & Will Rokos Monster's Ball
BEST FIRST FEATURE (Award given to the Director)
* Executive Producers are not listed.
The Anniversary Party Directors: Jennifer Jason Leigh & Alan
Cumming
BEST FIRST SCREENPLAY
Ghost World Daniel Clowes & Terry Zwigoff
JOHN CASSAVETES AWARD (Given to the best feature made for under $500,000)
(Award given to the Writer, Director, and Producer)
* Executive Producers are not listed.
Acts of Worship Director/Writer: Rosemary Rodriguez
Jackpot Director: Michael Polish
Kaaterskill Falls Directors: Josh Apter & Peter Olsen
Punks Director/Writer: Patrik-Ian Polk
Virgil Bliss Director/Writer: Joe Maggio
BEST DEBUT PERFORMANCE (Actors in their first significant role in a feature
film)
Paul Franklin Dano L. I. E.
BEST SUPPORTING FEMALE
Davenia McFadden Stranger Inside
BEST SUPPORTING MALE
Steve Buscemi Ghost World
BEST FEMALE LEAD
Kim Dickens Things Behind the Sun
BEST MALE LEAD
Brian Cox L. I. E.
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Frank G. DeMarco Hedwig and the Angry Inch
BEST FOREIGN FILM (Award given to the Director)
Amélie Director: Jean-Pierre Jeunet
BEST DOCUMENTARY (Award given to the Director)
Dogtown and Z-Boys Director: Stacy Peralta
Someone to Watch Award
Debra Eisenstadt, director of Daydream Believer
Nominating Committee: Manohla Dargis (Chair), Michelle Byrd, Angela Lee,
Wesley Morris,
Lisanne Skyler,
DIRECTV/IFC Truer Than Fiction Award
Edet Belzberg for Children Underground
Nominating Committee: Brian Gordon (Chair), Elaine Charnov, Eugene
Hernandez,
Emiko Omori, Marco Williams.
Motorola Producers Award
René Bastian and Linda Moran, producers of Martin and Orloff and L.I.E.
Nominating Committee: Matthew Greenfield (Chair), Pamela Koffler, Jeff
Sharp, Andrea Sperling,
Diana E. Williams
>> World Premieres and American Fare in First Half of 52nd Berlinale
(indieWIRE/01.08.02) -- A partial slate for the 52nd Berlin International
Film Festival includes work from U.S. directors including films currently
in release in at least some theaters stateside. Included alongside those
are seven world premieres from an international cadre of filmmakers from
Europe and Asia.
Berlinale veteran, Chinese director Zhang Yimou, will screen his latest,
"Happy Time" about an older man's journey for happiness which will show
out of competition. From Korea, gangster film, "Bad Guy" by Kim Ki-duk
will participate in competition as will Danish director Annette K.
Olesen's film centering on a family's personal tribulations, "Minor
Mishaps." Also, French director Bertrand Tavernier's look at
'Continental,' a German production company that produced French films
in World War II-occupied Paris, titled, "Laissez-Passer" will join
the competition.
As announced earlier by the festival, "Run Lola Run" director Tom Tykwer's
"Heaven" will open the Berlinale on February 6th. Fellow German filmmaker
Dominik Graf's "Der Felsen" ("A Map of the Heart") will also have its world
premiere during the fest which closes February 17th. According to a fest
press release, the film "recounts the tale of a woman who after a painful
separation loses her hold on everything...evolving into a dangerous
balancing act." Additional world premieres include the story of a French
factory worker seeking a break in routine, "Lundi Matin" by Otar
Iosseliani and Francois Ozon's murder caper, "8 Femmes" which stars
Catherine Deneuve as well as "Amen" by Constantin Costa-Gavras which
explores the concordant between the Catholic Church and Nazi Germany.
The Nazi regime is also the subject of Istvan Szabo's "Taking Sides"
which will screen out of competition.
The Americans will be heading to the German capital with "The Royal
Tenenbaums" by Wes Anderson and Swiss-born director Marc Forster's
"Monster's Ball," screening in the competition. Robert Altman's
English period film, "Gosford Park" will participate in a non-
competition event. [Brian Brooks]
>> Speaker Takes Top Job at Madstone
(indieWIRE: 01.09.02) -- Paul Speaker, former head of Shooting Gallery
Entertainment, has been named President and Chief Operating Officer of
Madstone Films. Speaker will lend his marketing savvy and vast connections to
many company efforts, such as locating unique distribution opportunities for
emerging filmmakers.
During Speaker's stay at Shooting Gallery the company produced the
award-winning film "You Can Count On Me" and distributed the sleeper hit
"Croupier," among others. In a prepared statement, Madstone CEO Tom Gruenberg
enthused, "His unique ability to bring small films to larger audiences was
perfectly illustrated in his creation and launch of the groundbreaking
Shooting Gallery Film Series." [Jacque Lynn Schiller]
>> THINKFilm Hires Sherwin and Tuckman
(indieWIRE: 01.09.02) -- With Sundance 2002 just days away, new kid on the
block THINKFilm announced the hiring of Amanda Sherwin as Vice-President of
Distribution and named and Michael Tuckman as Director of Theatrical Sales.
The company will be proffering its first three acquisitions at the festival:
Venice Lion recipient "Time Out" ("L'Emploi duTemps), Bart Freundlich's
"World Traveler" starring Billy Crudup and Julianne Moore, and "The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys."
Sherwin reunites with THINKFilm's President, Jeff Sackman, who served as
President of Lions Gate Films, and Urman who came on board there in 1998.
While employed at the film company, she oversaw successful campaigns of "Buffalo '66," and Oscar winners "Affliction," "Gods and Monsters," and "The Red Violin." Her role at THINKFilm will include the creative and budgetary aspects of marketing as well as joining Sackman, Urman, and the company's acquisitions team at Sundance.
Michael Tuckman joins THINKFilm after most recently serving as Director of
Feature Distribution for The Cinema Guild, Inc. Of the appointment Urman
stated, "Michael has the perfect sensibility and energy required to help us
grow. He's done a terrific job with some very specialized films and we
believe that he brings a completely fresh perspective to the sort of high
profile titles our company is attracting." [Jacque Lynn Schiller]
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