“Fahrenheit 11/9” producers and Academy Award nominees Carl Deal and Tia Lessin (“Trouble the Water”) are developing a documentary that explores the world of climate profiteering and how the planet’s wealthiest are planning to weather the uncertain century ahead.
The duo will be pitching their project during Cph:forum, the international financing and co-production event held during the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:dox), which runs March 21-April 3.
“Sink or $wim” is inspired by journalist McKenzie Funk’s bestseller “Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming,” which details how a growing legion of corporations, high-stakes gamblers and entrepreneurs are cashing in on the climate crisis.
“We’ve all seen a lot of movies about climate change. And there are a lot of movies that offer solutions,” Deal tells Variety. “We think it’s time to tell a new kind of climate story, to take an audience on a rollicking journey...
The duo will be pitching their project during Cph:forum, the international financing and co-production event held during the Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival (Cph:dox), which runs March 21-April 3.
“Sink or $wim” is inspired by journalist McKenzie Funk’s bestseller “Windfall: The Booming Business of Global Warming,” which details how a growing legion of corporations, high-stakes gamblers and entrepreneurs are cashing in on the climate crisis.
“We’ve all seen a lot of movies about climate change. And there are a lot of movies that offer solutions,” Deal tells Variety. “We think it’s time to tell a new kind of climate story, to take an audience on a rollicking journey...
- 3/24/2022
- by Christopher Vourlias
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Burgeoning documentary production company Sandbox Films has hired Patrick Hurley to fill the newly created position of Distribution Producer, also announcing today that it has launched construction on a new headquarters in New York City.
As Distribution Producer, Hurley will take the lead on distribution strategy, developing bespoke plans and campaigns for each production and working closely with release partners worldwide to maximize each film’s impact and audience. He comes to Sandbox with a decade of experience in connecting documentaries with release partners and audiences, having previously served as Industry Director at Sheffield DocFest and Distribution Manager at Dogwoof.
“Patrick uniquely understands the needs of independent filmmakers, as well as the nuances of a changing industry landscape,” said Sandbox’s Head of Production & Development, Jessica Harrop. “As an impact-minded company, we hope our films connect with large audiences to inspire critical thinking and expand minds. But this can...
As Distribution Producer, Hurley will take the lead on distribution strategy, developing bespoke plans and campaigns for each production and working closely with release partners worldwide to maximize each film’s impact and audience. He comes to Sandbox with a decade of experience in connecting documentaries with release partners and audiences, having previously served as Industry Director at Sheffield DocFest and Distribution Manager at Dogwoof.
“Patrick uniquely understands the needs of independent filmmakers, as well as the nuances of a changing industry landscape,” said Sandbox’s Head of Production & Development, Jessica Harrop. “As an impact-minded company, we hope our films connect with large audiences to inspire critical thinking and expand minds. But this can...
- 1/19/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
There have been a number of recent documentaries—Netflix’s “Knock Down the House,” featuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and “Time for Ilhan,” looking at Ilhan Omar—that are about female politicians of color who have challenged the status quo on gender and race as they vie for political office in America. But these representational battles are not just the preserve of the United States, as can be seen in Tunisian director Raja Amari’s latest work, “She Had a Dream,” a documentary world premiering in IDFA’s Frontline section that follows 25-year-old Ghofrane Binous as she runs for office during the 2019 legislative elections in Tunisia.
Director Amari, recently a member of the Short Film Documentary Jury of the El Gouna Film Festival, is better known for her two narrative feature films starring Hiam Abbas: 2002’s “Red Satin,” in which Abbas transforms from housewife to cabaret star, and 2016’s “Foreign Body,” where...
Director Amari, recently a member of the Short Film Documentary Jury of the El Gouna Film Festival, is better known for her two narrative feature films starring Hiam Abbas: 2002’s “Red Satin,” in which Abbas transforms from housewife to cabaret star, and 2016’s “Foreign Body,” where...
- 11/22/2020
- by Kaleem Aftab
- Variety Film + TV
Make way for the parade! Featuring Brian Trenchard-Smith, Eli Roth, Katt Shea, Thomas Jane, our very own Don Barrett and Blaire Bercy from the Hollywood Food Coalition.
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game Of Death (1975)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)
The Rhythm Section (2020)
Atomic Blonde (2017)
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)
The Ipcress File (1965)
Funeral In Berlin (1966)
Extraction (2020)
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
The Mermaid (2016)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Singin’ In The Rain (1953)
Nightcrawler (2014)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
Ghetto Freaks a.k.a. Sign of Aquarius (1970)
Hostel (2005)
Cabin Fever (2002)
Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)
The Movie Orgy (1968)
Gremlins (1984)
The Goonies (1985)
Hell of the Living Dead a.k.a. Night of the Zombies (1980)
Troll 2 (1990)
In The Land Of The Cannibals a.k.a. Land of...
Please support the Hollywood Food Coalition. Text “Give” to 323.402.5704 or visit https://hofoco.org/donate!
Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode
Screams of a Winter Night (1979)
Goodbye Bruce Lee: His Last Game Of Death (1975)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)
The Rhythm Section (2020)
Atomic Blonde (2017)
The Spy Who Came In From The Cold (1965)
The Ipcress File (1965)
Funeral In Berlin (1966)
Extraction (2020)
Kung Fu Hustle (2004)
The Mermaid (2016)
Oklahoma! (1955)
Singin’ In The Rain (1953)
Nightcrawler (2014)
I Think We’re Alone Now (2008)
Ghetto Freaks a.k.a. Sign of Aquarius (1970)
Hostel (2005)
Cabin Fever (2002)
Final Cut: Ladies And Gentlemen (2012)
The Movie Orgy (1968)
Gremlins (1984)
The Goonies (1985)
Hell of the Living Dead a.k.a. Night of the Zombies (1980)
Troll 2 (1990)
In The Land Of The Cannibals a.k.a. Land of...
- 5/8/2020
- by Kris Millsap
- Trailers from Hell
The documentarist uses his trademark style to make an alarmingly persuasive case that Us democracy is under threat
It had become a little too easy to dismiss documentarian Michael Moore, on the strength of his fairly scattershot recent offerings. Sicko made a persuasive case for socialised medicine in America, but rather undermined its own cause by wilfully misinterpreting the healthcare systems in other countries. The message of Where to Invade Next was partially obscured by all the grandstanding gimmickry.
But with this searing, broad-ranging account of the political trends in the Us, Moore reaffirms himself as one of the essential voices offering commentary on the world today. It’s just a shame that that voice frequently sounds so glib. It takes a while to realise that the anger and outrage that power this film are unfeigned.
It had become a little too easy to dismiss documentarian Michael Moore, on the strength of his fairly scattershot recent offerings. Sicko made a persuasive case for socialised medicine in America, but rather undermined its own cause by wilfully misinterpreting the healthcare systems in other countries. The message of Where to Invade Next was partially obscured by all the grandstanding gimmickry.
But with this searing, broad-ranging account of the political trends in the Us, Moore reaffirms himself as one of the essential voices offering commentary on the world today. It’s just a shame that that voice frequently sounds so glib. It takes a while to realise that the anger and outrage that power this film are unfeigned.
- 10/20/2018
- by Wendy Ide
- The Guardian - Film News
Each year Variety’s New Leaders feature profiles the most prominent up-and-comers in the entertainment business. To determine this year’s worthies, Variety looked across disciplines, from television, digital, music and film, to law and finance, as well as content creators. They were proposed by their bosses and peers who have worked with them and seen their rise. All are age 40 or under, and Variety has measured them by the progress of their career trajectories: do they take calculated risks? How fast have they risen in their companies? Are they innovative and employ solutions to problems that are creative? As part of the salute to the qualities that keep the town humming, filmmaker/producer Travis Knight, who founded Laika Studios and is also being honored with Variety’s Creative Leadership Award. The New Leaders, Variety’s 10 Asis finishing up the anticipated “Bumblebee” for Paramount, as well as Variety‘s 10 Assistants...
- 10/17/2018
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
In Fahrenheit 11/9, political activist and acclaimed documentarian Michael Moore takes on the Trump presidency in a film which asks the question many of us have asked since the 2016 Us presidential elections, what the hell happened and how can it be fixed? Launching a blistering attack on the 45th president of the United States and his shady dealings in the past as well as in the present, Moore mostly succeeds in preaching to the converted amongst us, but in the end he ultimately fails to bring anything tangible to the current discourse of why things have gone so catastrophically wrong.
Taking us all the way back to that fateful election night and the jubilance that preceded the biggest upset in the history of elections, the film attempts to come to terms with the reasons behind this upset and what to do to avoid a repeat. With clips from several public figures,...
Taking us all the way back to that fateful election night and the jubilance that preceded the biggest upset in the history of elections, the film attempts to come to terms with the reasons behind this upset and what to do to avoid a repeat. With clips from several public figures,...
- 10/13/2018
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Michael Moore, whose latest documentary Fahrenheit 11/9 just hit theaters, has been chosen to receive the Critics’ Choice Lifetime Achievement Award. The honor will be bestowed November 10 at the third annual Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards in New York.
The event, put on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, honors the year’s achievements in documentary features and nonfiction television in 13 categories. Bill Nye is the host of this year’s ceremony at Bric in Brooklyn.
Nominees will be announced October 15.
Fahrenheit 11/9 had its world premiere last month at the Toronto Film Festival and opened at the box office September 21 with $3.1 million. It has grossed $5.6 million to date. The film has been a modest performer so far especially compared with Fahrenheit 9/11, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and became the highest-grossing documentary in history.
Moore’s films include the flag-planting Roger & Me...
The event, put on by the Broadcast Film Critics Association and the Broadcast Television Journalists Association, honors the year’s achievements in documentary features and nonfiction television in 13 categories. Bill Nye is the host of this year’s ceremony at Bric in Brooklyn.
Nominees will be announced October 15.
Fahrenheit 11/9 had its world premiere last month at the Toronto Film Festival and opened at the box office September 21 with $3.1 million. It has grossed $5.6 million to date. The film has been a modest performer so far especially compared with Fahrenheit 9/11, which won the Palme d’Or at Cannes and became the highest-grossing documentary in history.
Moore’s films include the flag-planting Roger & Me...
- 10/5/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
For the second time this year, two original, non-franchise movies, “Night School” (Universal) and “Smallfoot” (Warner Bros.), opened to over $20 million. The last time two originals topped the box office was last spring, with “A Quiet Place” and “Blockers.”
This yielded the first weekend since Labor Day to improve over the same dates last year ($102 million total gross compared to $90 million in 2017). Grosses for the year continue their strong increase — just under nine percent (six percent up in ticket sales) — as weekends like this help to guarantee an uptick for the whole year.
Openers
The two new films both gained from having core appeal and adding to wider audiences — exactly what is needed to boost films that don’t derive their appeal from pre-sold elements. They differ in that modest-budget “Night School” boasts more domestic appeal, while the more expensive animated film “Smallfoot” plays better internationally. But their presence with...
This yielded the first weekend since Labor Day to improve over the same dates last year ($102 million total gross compared to $90 million in 2017). Grosses for the year continue their strong increase — just under nine percent (six percent up in ticket sales) — as weekends like this help to guarantee an uptick for the whole year.
Openers
The two new films both gained from having core appeal and adding to wider audiences — exactly what is needed to boost films that don’t derive their appeal from pre-sold elements. They differ in that modest-budget “Night School” boasts more domestic appeal, while the more expensive animated film “Smallfoot” plays better internationally. But their presence with...
- 9/30/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its seventh annual 15-film Short List of likely awards contenders along with its opening-night selection, Telluride and Toronto favorite “The Biggest Little Farm”, cinematographer John Chester’s poignant environmental portrait of life on a new California farm. The festival runs November 8 – 15.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
- 9/27/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Doc NYC, America’s largest documentary festival, has revealed its seventh annual 15-film Short List of likely awards contenders along with its opening-night selection, Telluride and Toronto favorite “The Biggest Little Farm”, cinematographer John Chester’s poignant environmental portrait of life on a new California farm. The festival runs November 8 – 15.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
Thom Powers, Doc NYC’s artistic director as well as documentary programmer for the Toronto International Film festival, oversees curation of the Short List of films that may be in the running for the Academy Award for Best Documentary feature. This year contains a spectrum of funders and distributors, including three from Netflix, three from his own Tiff selection and two from HBO.
Historically, most Doc NYC picks do land on the Academy’s official 15-film Oscar Short List. For the past five years, the Short List has had nine to 10 titles overlap, and four to five titles that were Oscar nominated.
- 9/27/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Michael Moore’s latest political documentary “Fahrenheit 11/9” (Briarcliff) opened to a little over $3 million this weekend in 1,719 theaters. That comes to about 200 people per theater, or roughly 350,000 ticket buyers. No one expected Moore’s latest effort to replicate the staggering performance of “Fahrenheit 9/11” (tickets sold estimated at over 19 million). Still, his documentary history suggested a wide opening should generate $5 million-$8 million.
Even in the best of scenarios, it’s hard to see this gross much more than $10 million domestic. Despite substantial media attention and a Toronto Film Festival premiere, it will likely end well behind “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Rbg,” and “Three Identical Strangers.” Here’s why.
Michael Moore’s Films Have Declined in Appeal
Since “Fahrenheit 9/11” grossed (all adjusted) $178 million in 2004, he directed “Sicko” (2007/$33 million) and “Capitalism: A Love Story” (2009/$17.5 million), and then “Where to Invade Next” (2016/$4.1 million). “Invade” opened to a little under $1 million in 308 theaters,...
Even in the best of scenarios, it’s hard to see this gross much more than $10 million domestic. Despite substantial media attention and a Toronto Film Festival premiere, it will likely end well behind “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Rbg,” and “Three Identical Strangers.” Here’s why.
Michael Moore’s Films Have Declined in Appeal
Since “Fahrenheit 9/11” grossed (all adjusted) $178 million in 2004, he directed “Sicko” (2007/$33 million) and “Capitalism: A Love Story” (2009/$17.5 million), and then “Where to Invade Next” (2016/$4.1 million). “Invade” opened to a little under $1 million in 308 theaters,...
- 9/25/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Chicago – You might think that “Fahrenheit 11/9,” the latest advocate documentary from provocateur Michael Moore, is all about Donald Trump and his diffident administration. But that’s not the whole thing, which is the strength of the film. Moore goes back to hometown Flint, Michigan, and other places in the USA, which exposes the symptoms rather than the Trump disease.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The impression of Michael Moore, in the 14 years since his influential “Fahrenheit 9/11” (the highest grossing documentary of all time) is that of a lost grump. His output from there has been interesting (“Sicko”) to unfocused (“Where to Invade Next”). He is still a scapegoat for the Fox News crowd, his mere name is meant to evoke anger in them. Yet his public persona had gotten as soft as his belly… he just didn’t seem to have the filmmaker’s energy that launched him as a working man’s advocate.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
The impression of Michael Moore, in the 14 years since his influential “Fahrenheit 9/11” (the highest grossing documentary of all time) is that of a lost grump. His output from there has been interesting (“Sicko”) to unfocused (“Where to Invade Next”). He is still a scapegoat for the Fox News crowd, his mere name is meant to evoke anger in them. Yet his public persona had gotten as soft as his belly… he just didn’t seem to have the filmmaker’s energy that launched him as a working man’s advocate.
- 9/23/2018
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Between his guerrilla-style filmmaking, ironic sense of humor and explosive rhetoric, Michael Moore has come to be either a folk hero or a political pariah depending on where you sit. And yet hailing from Flint, Mich. has made him uniquely positioned to address a wide swath of America’s woes. You may not agree with any of his politics, but damn if Moore’s movies aren’t entertaining, and no one does agitprop better. This ranking of his theatrical, feature documentaries, including his latest “Fahrenheit 11/9,” will be polarizing, but then his movies are supposed to be.
10. “Slacker Uprising” (2007)
Merely a collection of footage from Michael Moore’s stadium tour ahead of the 2004 Kerry-Bush election, “Slacker Uprising” lacks much of a focus or even a strong thesis. But far worse is how Moore positions himself as a rock star, editing in endless applause breaks of his fans or even multiple...
10. “Slacker Uprising” (2007)
Merely a collection of footage from Michael Moore’s stadium tour ahead of the 2004 Kerry-Bush election, “Slacker Uprising” lacks much of a focus or even a strong thesis. But far worse is how Moore positions himself as a rock star, editing in endless applause breaks of his fans or even multiple...
- 9/20/2018
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 11/9” (Briarcliff Entertainment) opens Friday in over 1,700 theaters. The release comes in a year that has seen three documentaries gross over $10 million: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Rbg,” and “Three Identical Strangers.” But those successes pale against Moore’s: Three of his films grossed over $30 million at 2018 ticket prices, with “Fahrenheit 9/11” at a staggering $178 million.
As always, Moore is his film’s marketing campaign; he’s gambling that he can recreate the appeal of “Bowling For Columbine” and “9/11″after a decade of seeing his films face declining results. His biggest hits came in the early George W. Bush years, when he was positioned as part of the resistance. (His last two documentaries came while Obama was president.) His last film, “Where To Invade Next,” grossed just $3.8 million in February 2016 — but that was months before anyone took Donald Trump seriously.
This cycle works both ways. Moore...
As always, Moore is his film’s marketing campaign; he’s gambling that he can recreate the appeal of “Bowling For Columbine” and “9/11″after a decade of seeing his films face declining results. His biggest hits came in the early George W. Bush years, when he was positioned as part of the resistance. (His last two documentaries came while Obama was president.) His last film, “Where To Invade Next,” grossed just $3.8 million in February 2016 — but that was months before anyone took Donald Trump seriously.
This cycle works both ways. Moore...
- 9/20/2018
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
By Addie Morfoot
A little less than a decade ago, Amy Nauiokas decided it was time for a change. The former Barclays Stockbrokers CEO and managing director wanted to make the transition from a career in finance to a career in the entertainment industry. So she did.
In 2010 Nauiokas founded and launched Archer Gray, a production, media investment and venture capital company that develops and produces narrative films, television shows and documentaries. In 2013 she invited veteran indie producer Anne Carey to join the New York-based shingle as president of production. Together, the duo has backed George Tillman’s “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” Bill Condon’s “Mr. Holmes,” Michael Moore’s “Where to Invade Next” and Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women.” Archer Gray has also been involved in a handful of Broadway productions including “Seminar” and Tony-winner “Once.”
The shingle is repped at Toronto by Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,...
A little less than a decade ago, Amy Nauiokas decided it was time for a change. The former Barclays Stockbrokers CEO and managing director wanted to make the transition from a career in finance to a career in the entertainment industry. So she did.
In 2010 Nauiokas founded and launched Archer Gray, a production, media investment and venture capital company that develops and produces narrative films, television shows and documentaries. In 2013 she invited veteran indie producer Anne Carey to join the New York-based shingle as president of production. Together, the duo has backed George Tillman’s “The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete,” Bill Condon’s “Mr. Holmes,” Michael Moore’s “Where to Invade Next” and Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women.” Archer Gray has also been involved in a handful of Broadway productions including “Seminar” and Tony-winner “Once.”
The shingle is repped at Toronto by Marielle Heller’s “Can You Ever Forgive Me?,...
- 9/11/2018
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Michael Moore knows how to stage an event, especially where his star has always burned brightest. The Toronto International Film Festival welcomed him back with a standing ovation and cheers on opening night for his latest diatribe against the current political order, “Fahrenheit 11/9.” Moore pulled a surprise, bringing on stage the students from Parkland High School. “Who’s ready to save America?” asked political activist David Hogg, plugging for votes — in Canada.
“Michael for President!” yelled one fan. When Moore took the mic, he revealed that when he announced this movie, the IRS audited him for the first time. Given that he’s overpaid for years, “they have to give me the money back, with interest,” he crowed.
Always willing to embrace a marketing opportunity, Moore has commandeered a skeleton crew to release the film. They include refugees from the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” team at Open Road, led by Tom Ortenberg,...
“Michael for President!” yelled one fan. When Moore took the mic, he revealed that when he announced this movie, the IRS audited him for the first time. Given that he’s overpaid for years, “they have to give me the money back, with interest,” he crowed.
Always willing to embrace a marketing opportunity, Moore has commandeered a skeleton crew to release the film. They include refugees from the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” team at Open Road, led by Tom Ortenberg,...
- 9/7/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Michael Moore knows how to stage an event, especially where his star has always burned brightest. The Toronto International Film Festival welcomed him back with a standing ovation and cheers on opening night for his latest diatribe against the current political order, “Fahrenheit 11/9.” Moore pulled a surprise, bringing on stage the students from Parkland High School. “Who’s ready to save America?” asked political activist David Hogg, plugging for votes — in Canada.
“Michael for President!” yelled one fan. When Moore took the mic, he revealed that when he announced this movie, the IRS audited him for the first time. Given that he’s overpaid for years, “they have to give me the money back, with interest,” he crowed.
Always willing to embrace a marketing opportunity, Moore has commandeered a skeleton crew to release the film. They include refugees from the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” team at Open Road, led by Tom Ortenberg,...
“Michael for President!” yelled one fan. When Moore took the mic, he revealed that when he announced this movie, the IRS audited him for the first time. Given that he’s overpaid for years, “they have to give me the money back, with interest,” he crowed.
Always willing to embrace a marketing opportunity, Moore has commandeered a skeleton crew to release the film. They include refugees from the Oscar-winning “Spotlight” team at Open Road, led by Tom Ortenberg,...
- 9/7/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
15 Documentaries That Could Shake Up the Oscar Race at Tiff 2018, from Michael Moore to Quincy Jones
Every year for 13 years, Thom Powers leads his Tiff documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull their final selection.
This year, more of them are for sale than ever before, including new work from indie auteurs Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, at a time when not many narrative films are luring buyers. “I count at least 13 documentaries for sale represented by significant players,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “Coming off this year’s summer of blockbuster documentaries, a lot of people are coming with their checkbooks.”
While many expect those summer hits “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Rbg,” and “Three Identical Strangers” to land three Oscar nomination slots, there are at least three high-profile Oscar contenders playing Tiff — possibly several more — along with many movies about women, global politics, and advancing technology. Something overtly political could hit a nerve before the midterm elections,...
This year, more of them are for sale than ever before, including new work from indie auteurs Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, at a time when not many narrative films are luring buyers. “I count at least 13 documentaries for sale represented by significant players,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “Coming off this year’s summer of blockbuster documentaries, a lot of people are coming with their checkbooks.”
While many expect those summer hits “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “Rbg,” and “Three Identical Strangers” to land three Oscar nomination slots, there are at least three high-profile Oscar contenders playing Tiff — possibly several more — along with many movies about women, global politics, and advancing technology. Something overtly political could hit a nerve before the midterm elections,...
- 8/10/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
15 Documentaries That Could Shake Up the Oscar Race at TIFF 2018, from Michael Moore to Quincy Jones
Every year for 13 years, Thom Powers leads his TIFF documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull their final selection.
This year, more of them are for sale than ever before, including new work from indie auteurs Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, at a time when not many narrative films are luring buyers. “I count at least 13 documentaries for sale represented by significant players,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “Coming off this year’s summer of blockbuster documentaries, a lot of people are coming with their checkbooks.”
While many expect those summer hits “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “RBG,” and “Three Identical Strangers” to land three Oscar nomination slots, there are at least three high-profile Oscar contenders playing Tiff — possibly several more — along with many movies about women, global politics, and advancing technology. Something overtly political could hit a nerve before the midterm elections,...
This year, more of them are for sale than ever before, including new work from indie auteurs Werner Herzog and Errol Morris, at a time when not many narrative films are luring buyers. “I count at least 13 documentaries for sale represented by significant players,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “Coming off this year’s summer of blockbuster documentaries, a lot of people are coming with their checkbooks.”
While many expect those summer hits “Won’t You Be My Neighbor,” “RBG,” and “Three Identical Strangers” to land three Oscar nomination slots, there are at least three high-profile Oscar contenders playing Tiff — possibly several more — along with many movies about women, global politics, and advancing technology. Something overtly political could hit a nerve before the midterm elections,...
- 8/10/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: What does Where to Invade Next, Fruitvale Station, The Zookeeper’s Wife, Leonardo DiCaprio’s doc Before the Flood, Lion and The Hunting Ground all have in common? It’s Picture Motion, a New York-based company that develops social impact and grassroots marketing campaigns for films. The company was founded in 2012 by Christie Marchese and joined one year later by Wendy Cohen. Both are former marketing executives from Jeff Skoll’s Participant Media. Since opening…...
- 8/9/2017
- Deadline
According to a lecture given early in “Creepy,” serial killers are broken down into three categories: organized, disorganized, and mixed characteristic. The first two are relatively easy to define, and thus simpler to track down. Mixed-characteristic killers, meanwhile, exhibit no discernible patterns. They’re puzzles, anomalies. You can probably guess which class of killer this detective story from Kiyoshi Kurosawa follows.
The director, whose genre mastery is most evident in the likes of “Pulse” and “Cure,” more recently delved into this territory in “Daguerreotype.” That old-fashioned haunt took him outside Japan with the help of Tahar Rahim, Olivier Gourmet, and Mathieu Amalric; “Creepy” is both a return home and a return to form. Here he’s woven a procedural yarn from a novel by Yutaka Maekawa that was either loosely adapted or strikingly aligned with the director’s long-established sensibilities.
Read MoreNew Films By Terence Davies & Kiyoshi Kurosawa Set Berlin Premieres,...
The director, whose genre mastery is most evident in the likes of “Pulse” and “Cure,” more recently delved into this territory in “Daguerreotype.” That old-fashioned haunt took him outside Japan with the help of Tahar Rahim, Olivier Gourmet, and Mathieu Amalric; “Creepy” is both a return home and a return to form. Here he’s woven a procedural yarn from a novel by Yutaka Maekawa that was either loosely adapted or strikingly aligned with the director’s long-established sensibilities.
Read MoreNew Films By Terence Davies & Kiyoshi Kurosawa Set Berlin Premieres,...
- 8/3/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The race always begins at Sundance, but the Toronto International Film Festival documentary lineup will impact the list of Oscar contenders — and this year, without clear frontrunners, Tiff’s influence will be greater than ever.
Every year, Thom Powers leads the Tiff documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull 22 selections. “It never gets any easier to make those decisions,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “This year we’re going to see a greater range of different documentaries spread across the fall festivals, instead of a cluster of films that moves from festival to festival. More films will get more opportunities at the festivals this fall.”
Here’s a list of 10 must-sees for Tiff 2017 with potential to shake up the awards race.
1. “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!”: Morgan Spurlock’s under-the-radar sequel to his 2005 Oscar nominee focuses on the new craze...
Every year, Thom Powers leads the Tiff documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull 22 selections. “It never gets any easier to make those decisions,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “This year we’re going to see a greater range of different documentaries spread across the fall festivals, instead of a cluster of films that moves from festival to festival. More films will get more opportunities at the festivals this fall.”
Here’s a list of 10 must-sees for Tiff 2017 with potential to shake up the awards race.
1. “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!”: Morgan Spurlock’s under-the-radar sequel to his 2005 Oscar nominee focuses on the new craze...
- 8/1/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The race always begins at Sundance, but the Toronto International Film Festival documentary lineup will impact the list of Oscar contenders — and this year, without clear frontrunners, Tiff’s influence will be greater than ever.
Every year, Thom Powers leads the Tiff documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull 22 selections. “It never gets any easier to make those decisions,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “This year we’re going to see a greater range of different documentaries spread across the fall festivals, instead of a cluster of films that moves from festival to festival. More films will get more opportunities at the festivals this fall.”
Here’s a list of 10 must-sees for Tiff 2017 with potential to shake up the awards race.
1. “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!”: Morgan Spurlock’s under-the-radar sequel to his 2005 Oscar nominee focuses on the new craze...
Every year, Thom Powers leads the Tiff documentary programmers through an enormous number of submissions to cull 22 selections. “It never gets any easier to make those decisions,” said Powers, who also programs influential November festival Doc NYC. “This year we’re going to see a greater range of different documentaries spread across the fall festivals, instead of a cluster of films that moves from festival to festival. More films will get more opportunities at the festivals this fall.”
Here’s a list of 10 must-sees for Tiff 2017 with potential to shake up the awards race.
1. “Super Size Me 2: Holy Chicken!”: Morgan Spurlock’s under-the-radar sequel to his 2005 Oscar nominee focuses on the new craze...
- 8/1/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
This is the third and final part of coverage of Doc NYC’s Marketing Boot Camp. (Read parts one and two here at the links.) Christie Marchese of Picture Motion, a marketing and advocacy firm for issue-driven films (Leonardo DiCaprio’s Before the Flood, Ava DuVernay’s 13th, and Michael Moore’s Where to Invade Next), gave a presentation on developing social action and grassroots marketing campaigns. She made the point that grassroots marketing and impact campaigns are two different things: grassroots marketing targets audiences who are pre-disposed to be interested in your film. Impact campaigns are geared toward those who aren’t organically interested. […]...
- 4/24/2017
- by Audrey Ewell
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
No one will forget the Best Picture award ceremony at the 2017 Academy Awards, but there’s a detail lost in the shock and recriminations: It was the moment that announced A24 as an industry gamechanger. Five years after the distributor supported unorthodox indies like Harmony Korine’s “Spring Breakers” and Jonathan Glazer’s “Under The Skin,” A24 saw its $1.5 million poetic drama “Moonlight” pull off a surprise best-picture win — one that led to a stunning $2.5 million box-office take in the film’s 20th week of release.
In less than five years, A24 has galvanized a young cinephile audience that seemed so elusive, some doubted its existence. A24 certainly wasn’t the first to identify this demo; predecessors such as Magnolia, RADiUS, and Oscilloscope saw the same potential, and created some of the marketing tactics that now have become playbook. However, A24 had the advantage of a business strategy, and backing,...
In less than five years, A24 has galvanized a young cinephile audience that seemed so elusive, some doubted its existence. A24 certainly wasn’t the first to identify this demo; predecessors such as Magnolia, RADiUS, and Oscilloscope saw the same potential, and created some of the marketing tactics that now have become playbook. However, A24 had the advantage of a business strategy, and backing,...
- 3/8/2017
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Tim League and Tom Quinn’s young distribution company Neon has pre-bought the North American rights to the French-language romantic thriller “Racer and the Jailbird” ahead of the Berlin Film Festival. The film is directed by Michaël R. Roskam, and stars Matthias Schoenaerts and Adèle Exarchopoulos (“Blue is the Warmest Color”).
Read More: Neon Acquires ‘Ingrid Goes West’ Starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen — Sundance 2017
“Racer” reunites Roskam with Schoenaerts, who starred in the director’s 2011 drama “Bullhead,” which earned an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. “Racer” tells the story of a romance between a gangster (Schoenaerts) and a wealthy racing driver (Exarchopoulos). The film was written by Roskam, Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré, and produced by Pierre-Ange Le Pogam and Bart Van Langendonck.
“Michaël and I are very excited to team up again with Tim League who had a big hand in the the launch of our first film ‘Bullhead,...
Read More: Neon Acquires ‘Ingrid Goes West’ Starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen — Sundance 2017
“Racer” reunites Roskam with Schoenaerts, who starred in the director’s 2011 drama “Bullhead,” which earned an Oscar nomination for best foreign language film. “Racer” tells the story of a romance between a gangster (Schoenaerts) and a wealthy racing driver (Exarchopoulos). The film was written by Roskam, Thomas Bidegain and Noé Debré, and produced by Pierre-Ange Le Pogam and Bart Van Langendonck.
“Michaël and I are very excited to team up again with Tim League who had a big hand in the the launch of our first film ‘Bullhead,...
- 2/8/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Neon has acquired the North American rights to “Roxanne Roxanne,” which premiered last Sunday in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S Dramatic section. The deal was worth nearly $3 million, Deadline reported, and came following a bidding war between Amazon, Lionsgate and Miramax.
The film tells the story of Lolita “Roxanne Shanté” Gooden, a Queens teenager and feared battle Mc in the early 1980s. On her way to becoming a hip-hop legend, Gooden provides for her family and defends herself from the dangers of New York City’s streets.
“Roxanne Roxanne” earned actress Chanté Adams Sundance’s Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance on Saturday. The film was written and directed by Michael Larnell, whose debut feature “Cronies” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to “Roxanne Roxanne” Neon acquired the dramatic comedy “Ingrid Goes West,” starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, and the teen drama “Beach Rats,” both...
The film tells the story of Lolita “Roxanne Shanté” Gooden, a Queens teenager and feared battle Mc in the early 1980s. On her way to becoming a hip-hop legend, Gooden provides for her family and defends herself from the dangers of New York City’s streets.
“Roxanne Roxanne” earned actress Chanté Adams Sundance’s Special Jury Award for Breakthrough Performance on Saturday. The film was written and directed by Michael Larnell, whose debut feature “Cronies” premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to “Roxanne Roxanne” Neon acquired the dramatic comedy “Ingrid Goes West,” starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, and the teen drama “Beach Rats,” both...
- 1/29/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Neon has acquired the North American rights to “Beach Rats,” which premiered last Monday in the Sundance Film Festival’s U.S Dramatic section. The film earned writer-director Eliza Hittman the directing award at Sundance on Saturday.
“Beach Rats” stars newcomer Harris Dickinson as Frankie, an aimless teen in the middle of a sexual awakening. As he tries to escape his bleak home life, Frankie spends time with his delinquent friends, a potential new girlfriend, and older men he meets online. The movie marks Dickinson’s feature film debut.
“Beach Rats” is Hittman’s second feature film, and follows her debut “It Felt Like Love,” which premiered at Sundance in 2013.
The acquisition is Neon’s third at Sundance, following the dramatic comedy “Ingrid Goes West,” starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, and the hip-hop drama “Roxanne Roxanne.”
Neon founders Tom Quinn and Tim League first announced the name of their distribution shingle earlier this month.
“Beach Rats” stars newcomer Harris Dickinson as Frankie, an aimless teen in the middle of a sexual awakening. As he tries to escape his bleak home life, Frankie spends time with his delinquent friends, a potential new girlfriend, and older men he meets online. The movie marks Dickinson’s feature film debut.
“Beach Rats” is Hittman’s second feature film, and follows her debut “It Felt Like Love,” which premiered at Sundance in 2013.
The acquisition is Neon’s third at Sundance, following the dramatic comedy “Ingrid Goes West,” starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen, and the hip-hop drama “Roxanne Roxanne.”
Neon founders Tom Quinn and Tim League first announced the name of their distribution shingle earlier this month.
- 1/29/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options — not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves — we’ve taken it upon ourselves to highlight the titles that have recently hit platforms. Every week, one will be able to see the cream of the crop (or perhaps some simply interesting picks) of streaming titles (new and old) across platforms such as Netflix, iTunes, Amazon, and more (note: U.S. only). Check out our rundown for this week’s selections below.
American Pastoral (Ewan McGregor)
If my limited experience with Philip Roth adaptations is any indication, his novels deal in emotion. There are existential crises concerning identity involved, each a character study about life’s impact beyond the surface experiences propelling them forward. This isn’t something easily translated from page to screen when so much consists of internalized motivation. You must really look into the text, ignoring plot to...
American Pastoral (Ewan McGregor)
If my limited experience with Philip Roth adaptations is any indication, his novels deal in emotion. There are existential crises concerning identity involved, each a character study about life’s impact beyond the surface experiences propelling them forward. This isn’t something easily translated from page to screen when so much consists of internalized motivation. You must really look into the text, ignoring plot to...
- 1/27/2017
- by The Film Stage
- The Film Stage
Tim League and Tom Quinn’s distribution shingle Neon has acquired the North American rights to the dramatic comedy “Ingrid Goes West,” starring Aubrey Plaza and Elizabeth Olsen. Neon beat out A24 and Netflix, who were also bidding on the film, Variety reports. The acquisition came two days after the film’s premiere at the Sundance Film Festival.
Read More: Michael Showalter’s Second Act: How the ‘The Big Sick’ Filmmaker Reinvented His Career — Sundance 2017
Directed by first-time feature director Matt Spicer, who co-wrote the film with David Branson Smith, “Ingrid Goes West” is a dark, dramatic comedy that follows a troubled young woman named Ingrid (Plaza) who becomes obsessed with the Instagram account of a social media influencer named Taylor (Olsen). Ingrid then moves across the country and manages to befriend Taylor, before subjecting to her to some disturbing and even dangerous behavior. The film also stars Wyatt Russell and Billy Magnussen.
Read More: Michael Showalter’s Second Act: How the ‘The Big Sick’ Filmmaker Reinvented His Career — Sundance 2017
Directed by first-time feature director Matt Spicer, who co-wrote the film with David Branson Smith, “Ingrid Goes West” is a dark, dramatic comedy that follows a troubled young woman named Ingrid (Plaza) who becomes obsessed with the Instagram account of a social media influencer named Taylor (Olsen). Ingrid then moves across the country and manages to befriend Taylor, before subjecting to her to some disturbing and even dangerous behavior. The film also stars Wyatt Russell and Billy Magnussen.
- 1/23/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
Tom Quinn and Tim League’s young distribution shingle officially has a name: Neon. The company will be hunting for acquisitions next week at the Sundance Film Festival, Deadline reports. Quinn and League were not immediately available for comment.
Read More: Tiff 2016: Anne Hathaway Made Monster Movie ‘Colossal’ For Her 16-Year-Old Self
Quinn, the former co-founder of RADiUS, and League, co-founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, had already acquired two films under their new venture, but had not released any details about the company itself. The pair purchased the Anne Hathaway monster movie “Colossal” at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and previously released Michael Moore’s “Where To Invade Next” in 2015, to indifferent box office results.
“Colossal” will screen as a part of the Sundance Spotlight sidebar. The movie hits theaters on April 7.
Neon will distribute films of various sizes, from wide theatrical releases to digital and VOD-focused titles.
Read More: Tiff 2016: Anne Hathaway Made Monster Movie ‘Colossal’ For Her 16-Year-Old Self
Quinn, the former co-founder of RADiUS, and League, co-founder and CEO of Alamo Drafthouse, had already acquired two films under their new venture, but had not released any details about the company itself. The pair purchased the Anne Hathaway monster movie “Colossal” at the Toronto International Film Festival in September and previously released Michael Moore’s “Where To Invade Next” in 2015, to indifferent box office results.
“Colossal” will screen as a part of the Sundance Spotlight sidebar. The movie hits theaters on April 7.
Neon will distribute films of various sizes, from wide theatrical releases to digital and VOD-focused titles.
- 1/13/2017
- by Graham Winfrey
- Indiewire
As the year comes to a close, there is one group we’ve yet to hear from about the Best of 2016: The Directors.
Filmmakers are busy folks, and some were instantly wary about making a list, with “I haven’t seen enough movies to make a top ten list” a common reply. So we decided to keep it loose. Including TV and other forms of entertainment was encouraged, how they chose to frame their list was totally flexible, and even if they only had a handful of projects they wanted to highlight, IndieWire made it clear we wanted to know what inspired them this year.
The most exciting thing, beyond how many great directors replied, is the time and energy they put into their lists. Be it Kirsten Johnson’s tribute to Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Feig’s surprise message to “Ghostbuster” trolls, Jennifer Kent teasing the start of her new film,...
Filmmakers are busy folks, and some were instantly wary about making a list, with “I haven’t seen enough movies to make a top ten list” a common reply. So we decided to keep it loose. Including TV and other forms of entertainment was encouraged, how they chose to frame their list was totally flexible, and even if they only had a handful of projects they wanted to highlight, IndieWire made it clear we wanted to know what inspired them this year.
The most exciting thing, beyond how many great directors replied, is the time and energy they put into their lists. Be it Kirsten Johnson’s tribute to Abbas Kiarostami, Paul Feig’s surprise message to “Ghostbuster” trolls, Jennifer Kent teasing the start of her new film,...
- 12/28/2016
- by Chris O'Falt
- Indiewire
From Us indie hits to British social realist drama, Screen charts the BFI’s biggest grants in 2016.1= High-Rise (£300,000)
Ben Wheatley’s smart and striking adaptation of Jg Ballard’s seminal novel High-Rise, starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015, before being screened at festivals including San Sebastian, London and Turin. The film enjoyed a wide release through Studiocanal, opening on March 18 in 153 sites and going on to achieve a UK box-office gross of £2m.
1= I, Daniel Blake (£300,000)
Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner about the oppressive bureaucracy of the welfare system has proven the veteran director’s most commercially successful film since his 2006 historical drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley. eOne opened the film on October 21 and soon increased its screen count to 273, nudging the film up to a £3m local haul.
2. Moonlight (£175,000)
Barry Jenkins’ critically praised character drama about the struggles of a gay...
Ben Wheatley’s smart and striking adaptation of Jg Ballard’s seminal novel High-Rise, starring Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irons and Sienna Miller, premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2015, before being screened at festivals including San Sebastian, London and Turin. The film enjoyed a wide release through Studiocanal, opening on March 18 in 153 sites and going on to achieve a UK box-office gross of £2m.
1= I, Daniel Blake (£300,000)
Ken Loach’s Palme d’Or winner about the oppressive bureaucracy of the welfare system has proven the veteran director’s most commercially successful film since his 2006 historical drama The Wind That Shakes The Barley. eOne opened the film on October 21 and soon increased its screen count to 273, nudging the film up to a £3m local haul.
2. Moonlight (£175,000)
Barry Jenkins’ critically praised character drama about the struggles of a gay...
- 12/26/2016
- ScreenDaily
If it were only about the numbers, the top specialized movies of 2016 would be a simple story: “Hell Or High Water” earned the most at $27 million, but “La La Land” will wind up making a magnitude more. Both are released by Lionsgate. The end.
However, if 2016 taught us anything it’s that the landscape for specialized releases is incredibly complex. Is Lionsgate a specialty distributor or minimajor? Should we only look at those films that were independently made? (Then we can fight over what that means.) Is it only for films that opened in limited release, then expanded slowly? Should we only consider theatrical releases? Do all documentaries qualify? What about subtitled films?
The top-grossing documentary was “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party,” released by the faith-and-family label Quality Flix; it took in $13 million, more than triple Michael Moore’s “Where to Invade Next.” The short...
However, if 2016 taught us anything it’s that the landscape for specialized releases is incredibly complex. Is Lionsgate a specialty distributor or minimajor? Should we only look at those films that were independently made? (Then we can fight over what that means.) Is it only for films that opened in limited release, then expanded slowly? Should we only consider theatrical releases? Do all documentaries qualify? What about subtitled films?
The top-grossing documentary was “Hillary’s America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party,” released by the faith-and-family label Quality Flix; it took in $13 million, more than triple Michael Moore’s “Where to Invade Next.” The short...
- 12/23/2016
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
Former Dogwoof executive joins the documentary festival taking over from Anna Parker.
Patrick Hurley has been appointed head of marketplace at Sheffield Doc/Fest, taking over from Anna Parker beginning January 2017.
Karolina Lidin remains executive producer of the documentary festival.
As the current distribution manager at Dogwoof, Hurley has worked on documentary releases The Act Of Killing, Blackfish, Ken Loach’s The Spirit Of ’45 and Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next.
“I have no doubt Patrick will build on this terrific track record,” said Liz McIntyre, CEO and festival director. She added, “His significant experience in distribution, sales, marketing, his nurturing of new and emerging filmmakers and their ideas, along with audience engagement and a deep knowledge of the international non-fiction film market makes Patrick brilliantly equipped to lead on Doc/Fest’s industry activities.”
Hurley cites the programming of the Sheffield Doc/Fest as one of the factors that originally drew him to the UK...
Patrick Hurley has been appointed head of marketplace at Sheffield Doc/Fest, taking over from Anna Parker beginning January 2017.
Karolina Lidin remains executive producer of the documentary festival.
As the current distribution manager at Dogwoof, Hurley has worked on documentary releases The Act Of Killing, Blackfish, Ken Loach’s The Spirit Of ’45 and Michael Moore’s Where To Invade Next.
“I have no doubt Patrick will build on this terrific track record,” said Liz McIntyre, CEO and festival director. She added, “His significant experience in distribution, sales, marketing, his nurturing of new and emerging filmmakers and their ideas, along with audience engagement and a deep knowledge of the international non-fiction film market makes Patrick brilliantly equipped to lead on Doc/Fest’s industry activities.”
Hurley cites the programming of the Sheffield Doc/Fest as one of the factors that originally drew him to the UK...
- 11/16/2016
- ScreenDaily
MaryAnn’s quick take…
The filmmaker presents a standup-comedy case for Hillary Clinton for president, not as a fan of Clinton but as a patriot worried about the state of America. I’m “biast” (pro): love Michael Moore
I’m “biast” (con): hate Donald Trump
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
It’s not quite a documentary; it’s more of a concert movie. Michael Moore in TrumpLand is just a recording of a one-man standup political-comedy routine. It’s not even polished, either as a performance or as a presentation. But that was never intended to be the point. This is simply 75 minutes of Moore — a filmmaker who has long been both passionately patriotic about America and passionately angry about the state of the nation — presenting his case for Hillary Clinton for president. Not as a fan of Clinton — as Moore says, he’s...
The filmmaker presents a standup-comedy case for Hillary Clinton for president, not as a fan of Clinton but as a patriot worried about the state of America. I’m “biast” (pro): love Michael Moore
I’m “biast” (con): hate Donald Trump
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto)
It’s not quite a documentary; it’s more of a concert movie. Michael Moore in TrumpLand is just a recording of a one-man standup political-comedy routine. It’s not even polished, either as a performance or as a presentation. But that was never intended to be the point. This is simply 75 minutes of Moore — a filmmaker who has long been both passionately patriotic about America and passionately angry about the state of the nation — presenting his case for Hillary Clinton for president. Not as a fan of Clinton — as Moore says, he’s...
- 10/31/2016
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
The Suskind family of Life, Animated Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Last year's Doc NYC had ten films in its Short List program make the Oscar Best Documentary shortlist, including Oscar winner Amy, Asif Kapadia's Amy Winehouse doc, and nominees Matthew Heineman's Cartel Land; Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look Of Silence; Nina Simone in Liz Garbus's What Happened, Miss Simone? and Evgeny Afineevsky's Winter On Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom.
Liz Garbus, Morgan Neville and Asif Kapadia Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon's Best Of Enemies; Alex Gibney's Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief; Davis Guggenheim's He Named Me Malala; Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, and Michael Moore's Where To Invade Next round out the list.
Barbara Kopple's Miss Sharon Jones!; Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare); Life, Animated by Roger Ross Williams from the Short List,...
Last year's Doc NYC had ten films in its Short List program make the Oscar Best Documentary shortlist, including Oscar winner Amy, Asif Kapadia's Amy Winehouse doc, and nominees Matthew Heineman's Cartel Land; Joshua Oppenheimer's The Look Of Silence; Nina Simone in Liz Garbus's What Happened, Miss Simone? and Evgeny Afineevsky's Winter On Fire: Ukraine's Fight For Freedom.
Liz Garbus, Morgan Neville and Asif Kapadia Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Morgan Neville and Robert Gordon's Best Of Enemies; Alex Gibney's Going Clear: Scientology And The Prison Of Belief; Davis Guggenheim's He Named Me Malala; Kirby Dick's The Hunting Ground, and Michael Moore's Where To Invade Next round out the list.
Barbara Kopple's Miss Sharon Jones!; Gianfranco Rosi's Fire At Sea (Fuocoammare); Life, Animated by Roger Ross Williams from the Short List,...
- 10/27/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
What does a PG-13 movie look like? What does an R-rated movie look like? Can you guess, perhaps, which one has more guns and violence? Or which one is more likely to contain “thematic elements” or, clutch your pearls, “some sexuality”? Even the most cursory read of this weekend’s big movie releases highlights the increasingly irrational divide between what the MPAA considers a PG-13 movie — as in, totally cool for the 13 and older set — and what is more likely to require some serious parental hand-holding.
Barry Jenkins’ emotionally resonant “Moonlight” was saddled with an R rating for “some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and language throughout,” while “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” picked up a PG-13 rating for “sequences of violence and action, some bloody images, language and thematic elements.” You can probably guess which movie features more guns.
Read More: Women Make Up Half the Movie Audience and...
Barry Jenkins’ emotionally resonant “Moonlight” was saddled with an R rating for “some sexuality, drug use, brief violence, and language throughout,” while “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” picked up a PG-13 rating for “sequences of violence and action, some bloody images, language and thematic elements.” You can probably guess which movie features more guns.
Read More: Women Make Up Half the Movie Audience and...
- 10/24/2016
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Michael Moore tapped the media zeitgeist with his surprise announcement earlier this week of a new film that would have a sneak screening at IFC Center in New York just a day later. Michael Moore in TrumpLand, a one-man show shot in Ohio, began runs in Manhattan and Encino ahead of a planned internet release. It is Moore's second release of 2016 following Where to Invade Next, which grossed over $3.8 million theatrically, and it joins a very crowded field of Specialties…...
- 10/21/2016
- Deadline
Michael Moore: "Don't trust these polls!" Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
On the morning of the final presidential debate between Donald J Trump and Hillary Clinton, a press screening was held at the IFC Center of Michael Moore In TrumpLand, before the film opened in New York on Wednesday afternoon. After the screening, the director of Where To Invade Next expressed his concerns about the upcoming voter turnout.
Michael Moore: "If people could just vote at home from their remote control or their Xbox Hillary would win in a landslide." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michael Moore In TrumpLand is a film about his one-man show on October 6 and 7. 2016 at the Murphy Theater in Wilmington, Ohio, in Clinton County, which decidedly is not Clinton country. There he at first jokes and is self-deprecating, and then launches into a fresh approach to explain why voting for Hillary Clinton is an exciting choice and...
On the morning of the final presidential debate between Donald J Trump and Hillary Clinton, a press screening was held at the IFC Center of Michael Moore In TrumpLand, before the film opened in New York on Wednesday afternoon. After the screening, the director of Where To Invade Next expressed his concerns about the upcoming voter turnout.
Michael Moore: "If people could just vote at home from their remote control or their Xbox Hillary would win in a landslide." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Michael Moore In TrumpLand is a film about his one-man show on October 6 and 7. 2016 at the Murphy Theater in Wilmington, Ohio, in Clinton County, which decidedly is not Clinton country. There he at first jokes and is self-deprecating, and then launches into a fresh approach to explain why voting for Hillary Clinton is an exciting choice and...
- 10/20/2016
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
It is an odd thing to critique a movie that is more like an extended electioneering commercial than anything else, and challenging to do so without writing political commentary as opposed to cinematic constructivism. But such is the situation we face with the newly-released documentary Michael Moore in TrumpLand, which dropped yesterday as a sort of Moore’s election “October surprise” contribution.
The crisp seventy-six minute runtime from the well-known documentarian is not even really a documentary. Instead, it is the recording of a live one-man show delivered by Moore in the middle of Trump Country—a place ironically called Clinton County, Ohio—as he provides a sort of closing argument in this bitterly divisive election campaign to an audience consisting mostly of Hillary supporting women and their Trump supporting husbands or boyfriends.
But for all the controversy that Moore has embroiled himself in in the past (he will never...
The crisp seventy-six minute runtime from the well-known documentarian is not even really a documentary. Instead, it is the recording of a live one-man show delivered by Moore in the middle of Trump Country—a place ironically called Clinton County, Ohio—as he provides a sort of closing argument in this bitterly divisive election campaign to an audience consisting mostly of Hillary supporting women and their Trump supporting husbands or boyfriends.
But for all the controversy that Moore has embroiled himself in in the past (he will never...
- 10/20/2016
- by J Don Birnam
- LRMonline.com
Filmmaker Michael Moore (Where to Invade Next, above) has announced his latest project, titled Michael Moore in TrumpLand. If you've followed Moore at all since Roger & Me, his first documentary that debuted in 1989, it's no surprise that he would want to explore the controversial and polarizing presidential candidate. What is surprising, however, is the timing. After teasing via social media that an "October surprise" was on its way, Moore announced the project on Monday evening, offering free tickets on a first come, first served basis to the world premiere screening, which was held barely 24 hours later. Michael Moore in TrumpLand is also different from Moore's previous movies, according to Variety, because it's a film version of his one-man...
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- 10/19/2016
- by Peter Martin
- Movies.com
Left-wing filmmaker Michael Moore has never been one to shy away from sticky situations, be it the War on Terror or Bowling for Columbine, which placed a laser focus on the heinous Columbine High School massacre more than a decade ago. Now, Moore has turned his sights on the ongoing Us presidential election, and has unveiled his “October surprise” to be Michael Moore in TrumpLand.
First teased late last week via the director’s Twitter page, the feature is based on Moore’s own one-man play, and will have its premiere tonight in New York City’s IFC Center before beginning its limited theatrical run tomorrow, October 19. Cinemas in Los Angeles and NYC will host the political feature.
Moore, who recently launched Where to Invade Next, has been campaigning against Donald Trump from the get-go, which is a stark U-turn after the director swore he would never cast his vote...
First teased late last week via the director’s Twitter page, the feature is based on Moore’s own one-man play, and will have its premiere tonight in New York City’s IFC Center before beginning its limited theatrical run tomorrow, October 19. Cinemas in Los Angeles and NYC will host the political feature.
Moore, who recently launched Where to Invade Next, has been campaigning against Donald Trump from the get-go, which is a stark U-turn after the director swore he would never cast his vote...
- 10/19/2016
- by Michael Briers
- We Got This Covered
Michael Moore typically takes five to seven years between his films, presumably because his feature-length essays take a while to conceive, shoot, and assemble. So it’s especially surprising to see a Moore film hitting theaters and the internet less than a year after his last project. Michael Moore In TrumpLand was completed and surprise-released just this week, and rather than sending Moore all over the country (or world, as in his recent Where To Invade Next), it plants him in a single location: Wilmington, Ohio, a Trump-supporting town in a swing state. This is essentially a concert film, compiled from two nights of appearances at the Murphy Theatre in Wilmington, where Moore brought in a mixture of Hillary Clinton supporters, disgruntled Bernie Sanders fans willing to vote third party or not at all, and (supposed) potential Donald Trump voters to fill out the audience. The diverse crowds then listened...
- 10/19/2016
- by Jesse Hassenger
- avclub.com
Michael Moore will be showing a documentary tonight in New York that has been kept under wraps this whole year. He started out the year with his film Where to Invade Next,...
- 10/18/2016
- by Sasha Stone
- AwardsDaily.com
With just over three weeks to go before Election Day, Michael Moore is throwing his hat into the political ring by announcing an “October surprise” that will see him return to movie theaters. The outspoken filmmaker has been making his political views very clear over the course of this Presidential race (he correctly predicted Trump would get the Gop nomination, while refusing to give Clinton support due to her vote for the Iraq War), but now he’s taking his thoughts to the big screen for what is bound to be a polarizing new project.
Read More: Michael Moore Thinks Donald Trump Is Losing the Election on Purpose
The director confirmed his new film on Twitter last night:
What’s this? Something is cooking! Final night in the “kitchen.” #OctoberSurprise pic.twitter.com/eNX7LwxK5p
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) October 18, 2016
Hey NYC- Who wants a peek @ what I’ve been up 2? Tues,...
Read More: Michael Moore Thinks Donald Trump Is Losing the Election on Purpose
The director confirmed his new film on Twitter last night:
What’s this? Something is cooking! Final night in the “kitchen.” #OctoberSurprise pic.twitter.com/eNX7LwxK5p
— Michael Moore (@MMFlint) October 18, 2016
Hey NYC- Who wants a peek @ what I’ve been up 2? Tues,...
- 10/18/2016
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
The word “genre” suggests cheap thrills: Horror, science fiction, thrillers. But Fantastic Fest, the Austin genre film festival now entering its 16th year, has worked against that assumption since its inception. Based at the Alamo Drafthouse’s South Lamar location and co-founded by the independent theater chain’s funky CEO, Tim League, Fantastic Fest represents a broader agenda — championing foreign language cinema often underserved by the marketplace.
“In the early years, people said we were a horror festival or a genre festival and it meant certain things,” League said in a recent phone conversation. “But the programmers who gave the festival its identity like films that don’t necessarily fit in.”
See MoreAlamo Drafthouse Comes to Brooklyn: The Long Road Is Almost Over
League likes to cite the example of “Bullhead,” the Belgian criminal drama about a cattle farmer that picked up steam at the festival and eventually landed an...
“In the early years, people said we were a horror festival or a genre festival and it meant certain things,” League said in a recent phone conversation. “But the programmers who gave the festival its identity like films that don’t necessarily fit in.”
See MoreAlamo Drafthouse Comes to Brooklyn: The Long Road Is Almost Over
League likes to cite the example of “Bullhead,” the Belgian criminal drama about a cattle farmer that picked up steam at the festival and eventually landed an...
- 9/22/2016
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Three weeks of film festivals and hundreds of movies later, one stands as the clear winner. Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” won a prize for Emma Stone in Venice, wowed Telluride, and walked away with the Audience Award in Toronto —and by the end of that festival, people paid “Hamilton”-premiums for tickets to the last screening,
Now, that’s word of mouth.
Of course, “La La Land” isn’t alone in its accolades. Here’s how the players came out at the end of the three festivals.
Winners
A24
Established studio players like Sony Pictures Classics aim their sights at the loyal theatergoers who tend to be older; getting younger cinephiles to come to a theater is harder than ever. Nevertheless, A24 seems to have figured out a way. They acquire movies like excoriated Cannes entry “The Sea of Trees” to go out via their deal with DirectTV and iTunes,...
Now, that’s word of mouth.
Of course, “La La Land” isn’t alone in its accolades. Here’s how the players came out at the end of the three festivals.
Winners
A24
Established studio players like Sony Pictures Classics aim their sights at the loyal theatergoers who tend to be older; getting younger cinephiles to come to a theater is harder than ever. Nevertheless, A24 seems to have figured out a way. They acquire movies like excoriated Cannes entry “The Sea of Trees” to go out via their deal with DirectTV and iTunes,...
- 9/20/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Three weeks of film festivals and hundreds of movies later, one stands as the clear winner. Damien Chazelle’s “La La Land” won a prize for Emma Stone in Venice, wowed Telluride, and walked away with the Audience Award in Toronto —and by the end of that festival, people paid “Hamilton”-premiums for tickets to the last screening,
Now, that’s word of mouth.
Of course, “La La Land” isn’t alone in its accolades. Here’s how the players came out at the end of the three festivals.
Winners
A24
Established studio players like Sony Pictures Classics aim their sights at the loyal theatergoers who tend to be older; getting younger cinephiles to come to a theater is harder than ever. Nevertheless, A24 seems to have figured out a way. They acquire movies like excoriated Cannes entry “The Sea of Trees” to go out via their deal with DirectTV and iTunes,...
Now, that’s word of mouth.
Of course, “La La Land” isn’t alone in its accolades. Here’s how the players came out at the end of the three festivals.
Winners
A24
Established studio players like Sony Pictures Classics aim their sights at the loyal theatergoers who tend to be older; getting younger cinephiles to come to a theater is harder than ever. Nevertheless, A24 seems to have figured out a way. They acquire movies like excoriated Cannes entry “The Sea of Trees” to go out via their deal with DirectTV and iTunes,...
- 9/20/2016
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
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