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From the "Biz" Archives:
with articles by Eugene Hernandez, Brian Brooks, Wendy Mitchell and Jacque Lynn Schiller/indieWIRE
>> New Yorker Films Acquired by Madstone; Talbot Talks About the Future
(indieWIRE: 04.24.02) -- Three-year-old Madstone has acquired the landmark
independent, specialty, and foreign film distributor New Yorker Films,
Madstone confirmed yesterday.
Dan Talbot will continue to head New Yorker Films, according to the
announcement yesterday, along with the full New Yorker staff. The company is
known as a stalwart indie distribution outfit, having released films from
Godard's "Breathless" to Sandi Dubowski's "Trembling Before G-d."
The seeds of the deal were planted when Madstone VP of acquisitions Susan
Wrubel, who used to work with Talbot at New Yorker, introduced him to the
leadership team at Madstone. After an informal meeting and a few subsequent
discussions that lasted a few months, the pact emerged.
Madstone is actually a family of three distinct companies: Madstone Films is
a production company working with first-time feature directors; Madstone
Theaters is developing new screening venues; and Madstone DDN (Digital
Distribution Network) is creating programming for a network of digital
projection venues. The company was founded by Tom Gruenberg and Chip Seelig in 1999.
Expressing his admiration for Madstone's Seelig, New Yorker's Dan
Talbot told indieWIRE yesterday that many companies have pursued similar
relationships with New Yorker over the years, but that it was never a right
fit. "This is the first time that I felt really good about it," he
explained.
"The independent film world is a complicated place to exist," Madstone
President and COO Paul Speaker told indieWIRE yesterday. "We want to take
the next step." He emphasized that the New Yorker deal is a move to offer
solid marketing opportunities to the indie distributor.
In the conversation with indieWIRE yesterday, Speaker said that an outgrowth
of the deal with New Yorker will include an increase in DVD and video
opportunities. "Dan will continue to do what he has done," Speaker
explained, "We hope increase some of the exposure (for New Yorker Films),
through DVD and video."
Created in 1965, New Yorker Films was formed by Talbot, who owned the
New Yorker Theater in Manhattan. His company was born with a deal to
distribute Bernardo Bertolucci's "Before the Revolution." Since then, the
company has worked with such notable filmmakers as Fassbinder, Godard,
Herzog, Bresson, Oshima, Ozu, Errol Morris, Wayne Wang, and Zhang
Yimou. Its library of more than 500 titles includes "Nights Of Cabiria,"
"Happiness," "Antonia's Line," and films by Fellini, Kurosawa, Kieslowski,
Rivette, Denis, Wajda, Bresson, Rohmer, Malle, Spike Lee, Pedro Almodovar,
Jane Campion, Jim Jarmusch, Wim Wenders, and John Sayles.
Calling film distribution a "pretty scary business," Talbot offered that he
has always run New Yorker Films out of his back pocket, without investors or
outside money. While he remain active and continue to lead the outfit, he
explained that he is looking ahead at the future security of the company.
"I've been in the business a long time and I am not a spring chicken,"
Talbot continued in the conversation with indieWIRE, "I happen to be in good
shape both physically and upstairs, but I have to think about the future of
New Yorker Films."
"I am operating autonomously," Talbot reinforced at the conclusion of the
conversation with indieWIRE, "The day that I don't operate autonomously, I
walk off the set." [Eugene Hernandez]
>> LA Film Fest Recruits Alfonso Cuaron As Guest Director
(indieWIRE: 04.24.02) -- Alfonso Cuaron, riding high on the surprising smash
success of his film "Y Tu Mama Tambien," will serve as the guest director
for the 2002 IFP Los Angeles Film Festival. In that capacity, a newly
created role at the fest, Cuaron will host a two-day filmmaker retreat,
program a sidebar of films that have inspired him, and attend the opening
night festivities on June 20.
ŅAlfonso embodies the uniqueness of vision and independent spirit we
champion in our organization," said Dawn Hudson, executive director of
IFP/Los Angeles, in a prepared statement.
"Y Tu Mama Tambien," an unrated Spanish-language film about two teenagers
and a sexy older woman on a road trip through Mexico, has grossed nearly
$6 million in the U.S. since it opened on March 15. Mexican-born Cuaron also
directed the English-language films "A Little Princess" and "Great
Expectations."
This festival, now produced by the IFP/Los Angeles, will expand to include
international films; the IFP will announce the full lineup in May for the
eighth annual event, which will run June 20-29. [Wendy Mitchell]
>> Method Fest Presents Honors as 4th Annual Event Closes
(indieWIRE: 04.24.02) -- The fourth Method Fest closed Friday in Pasadena
after awarding statuettes at the Travis Auditorium at Fuller College with
veteran actor Rod Steiger receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award. Wife
and actress Joan Benedict introduced Steiger, who received an Academy Award for his performance in "The Heat of the Night" as well as Oscar nominations for "The Pawnbroker" and "On the Waterfront."
The event honored casting director Mali Finn with its first "Heart of
Performance" award, presented by Katy Wallin of the Casting Society of
America. Finn's career includes casting for giants like "Titanic" and "The
Matrix" as well as non-blockbusters like "The King is Alive," "Tigerland," and "Manic." Charles McDougall's "Sunday," and Darien Sills-Evans' "X-Patriots" were the big winners at the evening ceremony. "Sunday," which received the best picture and best director awards, is based on the events
of the 1972 Bloody Sunday massacre in Londonderry, Northern Ireland.
"X-Patriots," about a black writer living in The Netherlands, won the best
screenplay, best ensemble cast and maverick awards. Kenneth Lui's dark
fairytale short "Falsehood" won the best student film, best writer/director
Awards, as well as a best actress award for Anne Welles.
In other honors, Vahe Babaian took the CFI Audience Award for Best Feature
for "After Freedom" and director Straw Weisman received the Festival
Director's Award for Excellence for "Man of the Year." Hosts Steve Huntsman
and Susan Davis presented the jury and audience awards to the winners.
[Brian Brooks]
>> "C.H.O." To Open New Festival in NYC
(indieWIRE: 04.24.02) -- New Festival has revealed that the opening night
feature of the 14th annual NY Lesbian & Gay Film Festival, taking place June 6
to June 16, will be "Notorious C.H.O," directed by Lorene Machado and starring funny girl Margaret Cho. Chinese director Stanley Kwan's "Lan Yu" will close the event.
"The New Festival is proud to present Wellspring's crowd-pleasing 'Notorious
C.H.O.' and Strand Releasing's gritty love story 'Lan Yu,'" commented
New Fest director Basil Tsiokos. "With our mix of enthusiastic audiences,
downtown flair and entertainment professionals, The New Festival has become
a great place to launch films, where filmmakers can fully express themselves
and share their stories."
Hosted at the New School's Tishman Auditorium, New York University's Cantor Film Center, and Anthology Film Archives, a number of films will again be co-presented with The Human Rights Watch International Film Festival and the New York International Latino Film Festival. Special categories in the 2002 New York Lesbian and Gay Film Festival will include "Asian Cinema," "Drag,
Fathers and Mothers," "20 Years with AIDS," and "Conversion Films."
Filmmaker awards will be presented at the closing night gala screening, as
will the winners of The Vito Russo Award for a promising New York-based film
project and The Peter S. Reed Achievement Award for an established body of
work. [Jacque Lynn Schiller]
[For more information, visit www.newfestival.org.]
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