Dentler, Levin Join Austin Film Society Board

South by Southwest Film Conference and Festival Producer Matt Dentler and producer Jordan Levin have joined the Austin Film Society's board of directors. Entertainment lawyer Rick Triplett, who joined the board in 2000, has been elected to succeed filmmaker Marcy Garriott as board president. Dentler oversees programming and coordination for the annual SXSW festival. He has also participated on panels, served on film festival juries, given lectures and currently appears on TV as host of the PBS series "SXSW Presents." Levin joined The WB network prior to its launch and helped to develop some of its most popular shows. When Levin was 33, he was promoted to entertainment president of the network, thereby becoming the youngest CEO in broadcast TV history. Levin is a member of the Directors Guild of America, recently completed his term as president of the Hollywood Radio and Television Society and serves on two councils at his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin. The Austin Film Society promotes the appreciation and creation of independent film through public screenings and grant giving. [M.L. Liu] 
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Balcony Releasing Gets "39 Pounds of Love" and "Trudell"

Balcony Releasing has acquired two new feature films for release in the United States and Canada. Dani Menkin's "39 Pounds of Love" is about a 34-year-old man who was born with a rare form of muscular dystrophy and given six years to live. The film recently received the 2005 Ophir for Best Documentary, the Israeli equivalent of an Academy Award. "39 Pounds of Love" will open in New York City on Dec. 23. In "Trudell," which premiered at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival, filmmaker Heather Rae presents the story of Native-American activist and poet John Trudell. The film is expected to open in New York City and Los Angeles in January. Connie White and Greg Kendall formed Balcony Releasing in 2002 to distribute "Daughter from Danang," which was awarded the 2002 Sundance Grand Jury Prize for Best Documentary. [M.L. Liu] 
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Finalists Chosen for Nicholl Fellowships

Ten finalists have been chosen from among the 5,879 submissions to this year's competition for Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting. The Nicholl Committee will now judge the 10 scripts. The committee may award up to five of these $30,000 fellowships, which are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The finalists and their scripts are Weiko Lin (Los Angeles) for "Chalk"; Morgan Read-Davidson (Downey, Calif.) for "The Days Between"; Robert Zameroski (Stevenson Ranch, Calif.) for "Dogwoods"; Seth Resnik (West Hollywood) and Ron Moskovitz (Los Angeles) for "Fire in a Coal Mine"; Lauren Sheppard (Austin, Texas) for "The Last Wish Girl" ; Shannon Elizabeth Slater (Somerset, U.K.) for "Masterpiece"; Michael D. Zungalo (Philadelphia) for "No Country"; Colleen Cooper De Maio (Los Angeles) for "Pirates of Lesser Providence"; Gian Marco Masoni (Santa Monica) for "Ring of Fire" and Robin Brown (Santa Monica) for "Sane." This is the first time a writer in the U.K. has reached the final round. Fellowship recipients will be announced later this month. [M.L. Liu] 
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INDUSTRY MOVES: Collins Joins Focus

Timothy Collins has joined Focus Features as VP of business affairs. He will report to Focus SVP of business affairs Howard Meyer. He recently worked for MGM and has also worked for Warner Bros. Pictures. 
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BBC: BAFTA Launches new stars' award

The 2006 BAFTA Film Awards will feature a new prize given to the year's "most promising young star." The 'Orange Rising Star Award,' said a Bafta spokesman, would "honour a young actor or actress who has demonstrated exceptional talent and ambition." A panel including Ewan McGregor, Cate Blanchett and Sir Alan Parker will select a shortlist of five nominees, to be revealed on 9 January next year. 
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AP: 'Constant Gardener' Opens London Festival

Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

London's Leicester Square was getting a dose of Hollywood glamor Wednesday with the opening of the 49th London Film Festival. Stars Ralph Fiennes and Rachel Weisz and master spy writer John Le Carre were due to walk the red carpet before the opening-night screening of "The Constant Gardener," Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles' adaptation of Le Carre's novel of international diplomacy and betrayal. AP reports. 
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Filmmakers, Producers Join The Global Film Initiative's Film Board

The Global Film Initiative, which specializes in the promotion and distribution of independent films from developing countries, recently announced the 16 charter members of its film board. Comprising the film board are Pedro Almodovar (Spain), Mira Nair (India), Lucy Barreto (Brazil), Carlos Reygadas (Mexico), Jean-Pierre Bekolo (Cameroon), Pierre Rissient (France), Noah Cowan (Canada), Lita Stantic (Argentina), Sandra den Hamer (The Netherlands), Bela Tarr (Hungary), Christopher Doyle (China), Djamshed Usmonov (Tajikistan), Adoor Gopalakrishnan (India), Lars von Trier (Denmark), Rashid Masharawi (Palestine) and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (Thailand). Through these filmmakers and producers -- chosen for their passion for independent films and their leadership in the industry -- The Global Film Initiative will reach out to independent filmmakers around the world. [M.L. Liu] 
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INDUSTRY MOVES: Farnel Joins Hot Docs

Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has named Sean Farnel is new director of programming, a newly created post. Farnel is joining the festival from his job as staff programmer at the Toronto International Film Festival, serving as the first dedicated documentary programmer at the organization. The 13th edition of the event will take place April 28 - May 7, 2006. 
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Los Angeles Film Festival Awarded Funding by the Academy Foundation

Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

The Los Angeles Film Festival recently received a total of $150,000 from the Academy Foundation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The festival will get $50,000 in 2006 and another $50,000 per year for the next two years afterward. The L.A. Film Festival is the second one to receive this award, with Colorado's Telluride Film Festival having been the first to receive it last year. The idea behind the grant is to encourage festivals to be more daring in their choices. [Aileen Torres] 
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New Hampshire Film Expo Winners

Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

The New Hampshire Film Expo finished up on October 16 after kicking off on October 14. In its fifth year, the festival screened more than 50 films. The winner for Best Documentary was Ron Wyman's "Tunde," about a West African kora/harp player. Ken Tipton's "Heart of the Beholder," about the demise of a family's video rental business, won for Best Feature. Diego Velasco's "Day Shift," a film about what happenes when the hierarchy of whites and Latinos shift, won for Best Short Comedy. Michael Gillies and Lars Trodson's "The Listeners," about two unhappy people who fail to listen to each other, won for Best Short Drama. Out of Our Mind Studios' Joyride, about a man who gets everything he wants, won for Best Animation. Rock Shaink, Jr. and Tim Anderson's "The Winter's Edge," about an FBI analyst on the hunt for a serial killer he's encountered before, won for Best Screenplay. [Aileen Torres]  
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Atom Egoyan's "Where the Truth Lies" Invokes Dean Martin and Jerry Lee Lewis 1950s Duo

Atom Egoyan's "Where the Truth Lies" brings back the seamy underbelly view of the 1950s, a decade that tends to be remembered as the halcyon days of suburban America. The film is a thinly veiled account of the partnership between Dean Martin, played by Colin Firth, and Jerry Lee Lewis, played by Kevin Bacon, who were a formidable duo in Hollywood during the '50s. A dead woman is found in their hotel room one night during their heyday, and a reporter comes on the scene to dig up the case two decades later. Separate from the film, but adding to the legend of Martin and Lewis, is Lewis' soon-to-be-released memoir about their relationship - and subsequent harsh parting of ways - "Dean and Me (A Love Story)." The New York Times' Caryn James reports. 
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Sharon Kahn to Handle Communications for VOOM HD Networks

The VOOM HD Networks, comprising the largest number of high definition channels in the U.S., has recently named Sharon J. Kahn as Vice President of Communications for the company. Kahn will be responsible for media strategy and public relations for VOOM's 10 HD services, which are currently carried by Echostar Communications' Dish Network, as well as additional channels to come in 2006. Prior to joinging VOOM, Kahn was a founding partner in Kahn & Jacobs Public Relations and Marketing, where her clients included Lions Gate, HBO, PBS, Atlantic Records, the IFP/NY and the New York Film Critics Circle. She has also served as the senior vice president of publicity and promotions for Fox Searchlight. [Aileen Torres] 
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SF Chronicle: Cronenberg's View of Real "Violence"

It is not too surprising that even in a mainstream non-horror feature such as "A History of Violence," David Cronenberg offers a subplot that harks back to his earlier works. And it is pure Cronenberg. Cronenberg, 63, agreed, then disagreed, in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "Yes, I understand what you're saying, but (screenwriter) Josh Olson had already written that subplot into the film before I read the first draft. So although I had nothing to do with its creation, it was one of the elements that most appealed to me." John Stanley speaks to Cronenberg about the film. 
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The Guardian: Directors' Choices at London Film Festival

Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

The London Film Festival, which begins October 19, will screen 280 films over 15 days. The Guardian asked nine directors with new work screening at the event to pick out their favorites. 
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H'wood Reporter: 'Live' earns top honor at Vancouver fest

The Israeli-French film "Live and Become" captured the audience award for most popular film at the Vancouver International Film Festival, which wrapped Friday. Rahu Mihaileanu's drama, centering on an Ethiopian child who is sent to Israel passing as a Jew to save himself from famine, earned the best film award in August at the Copenhagen International Film Festival. Other award winners in Vancouver included the best Canadian feature award for Vancouver-based Julia Kwan's "Eve & the Fire Horse," a period piece about the spiritual journey of a 9-year-old girl in the 1970s. Adele Weder reports. 
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NY Times: The Hidden Costs of Documentaries

Today, anyone armed with a video camera and movie-editing software can make a documentary. But can everyone afford to make it legally? Clearance costs - licensing fees paid to copyright holders for permission to use material like music, archival photographs and film and news clips - can send expenses for filmmakers soaring into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. Nancy Ramsey reports. 
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Meadowbrook Formed For "Lobster" Release

Kevin Jordan's "Brooklyn Lobster," kicking off the release on November 4th in New York theaters and then a national rollout, will be distributed by Meadowbrook Pictures, formed by the filmmaker and his brother. The film, which recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, stars Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin in the story of a patriarch facing the closure of his Brooklyn lobster shop and a separation from his wife. It was inspired by filmmaker Jordan's own family lobster business and the film is being presented by Martin Scorsese. Jordan and his brother formed Meadowbrooks Picture to handle the "Lobster" release and are working with Richard Abramowitz and Steve Fagan on the release, with private investors and foreign sales providing capital for the theatrical release. [Eugene Hernandez]  
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions, Toronto ]

Amazon.com and Tribeca Film Festival Name Five Finalists of Short Film Competition

Amazon.com, Inc. and the Tribeca Film Festival have announced five finalists for the second Amazon Theater/Tribeca Film Festival Short-Film Competition. The group includes Owen Smith's "Battaglia," a tribute to writer Jeff Rose's grandfather and other Americans in the 88th Infantry Division of World War II; Greg Benson's Woody Allen/Spike Jonze/Monty Python-inspired "Coming Home"; Jack Paccione, Jr's action/comedy/horror film centered on table tennis, "Duel at Red Table"; Joseph Garner's "Meter Maids," a comedy set amidst the "cutthroat" world of parking enforcement officers; and Paul Matusheski's "Richter's Agenda," a thriller inspired by Alfred Hitchcock in which a student is terrorized by a computer hacker. The finalists were determined by Amazon.com customers, who submitted ratings and viewed films between August 26 - September 23. The grand-prize winner will be announced at a gala coctail event in New York next month, and will receive $50,000 from American Express towards his or her next film project. [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under People, Shorts ]

IFC Films Executes U.S. Rights to "Pierrepoint"

IFC Films has picked up U.S. rights to Adrian Shergold's "Pierrepoint" (formally titled "The Last Hangman"), which premiered at the recently concluded Toronto International Film Festival, IFC Entertainment president Jonathan Sehring announced Monday. The deal was negotiated by IFC VP of acquisitions Sarah Lash and Sehring with Jane Barclay of Capital Films represented by Ronna Wallace. A release date has not been set, but a 2006 roll out is planned. The film follows the story of Britain's most prolific hangman, Albert Pierrepoint, portrayed by Timothy Spall ("Topsy Turvy," "Nicholas Nickleby"), who single handedly performed 450 hangings before his sudden resignation in 1956. Living a double life as a master craftsman hangman, and as a grocery deliveryman and loyal husband, Pierrepoint's obsession to become the 'Number One' executioner in the country resulted in him executing some of Britain's most infamous murderers and Nazi war criminals. But Pierrepoint's jealously guarded anonymity was also a victim of his work, turning him into a minor celebrity. As his two lives collide, and 1950's public opinion turns against capital punishment, Pierrepoint troubled by his notoriety, is ready to give it all up, but fate has other plans in store for him. "Adrian Shergold has made a remarkable and bold statement," commented Sehring in a statement. "It may be an English film, but challenges what is one of the seminal conflicts in the U.S. today." [Brian Brooks] 
[permalink]   [ filed under Acquisitions ]

Chicago Honors "Nikifor" and "Baraka" at '05 Fest

The Chicago International Film Festival has announced its jury award winners with the Gold Hugo for best film going to for the Polish film, "My Nikifor" (Moj Nikifor). Meanwhile, Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's "The Boys of Baraka" won two top prizes, the Gold Hugo for best documentary and the Aquafina Pure Vision Award. [Eugene Hernandez] 
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Awards Season and the Hollywood Film Festival

Festival coverage sponsored by Stella Artois.

In today's LA Times, Robert W. Welkos looks at the upcoming Hollywood Film Festival and its role in launching awards season in Los Angeles:

Since its inception nine years ago, the Hollywood Film Festival has emerged as one of the signature events in the Oscar award season. It wasn't completely by chance: Carlos de Abreu, the festival's founder and executive director, positioned the festival — this year it will run Tuesday through Oct. 24 — so that it would be held near the start of the campaigning for the awards season, which gets its unofficial start just after Labor Day. The Hollywood awards dinner got a boost, though, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences decided to move up the Oscars by a month, adding new intensity to the abbreviated awards season.

 
[permalink]   [ filed under Awards Watch, Festivals ]