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Luv and It’s A Disaster producer Datari Turner has scored a first-look deal with Codeblack Films, Lionsgate’s specialty arm geared toward black audiences. The agreement gives Codeblack all North America rights to Turner’s slate of microbudget films via his Datari Turner Productions shingle.

Since founding the company in 2010, Turner has produced Sundance pics Another Happy Day, Salvation Boulevard, and Luv, as well as the James Franco starrer About Cherry. In that short time he’s also produced indie releases It’s A Disaster starring Julia Stiles, Kilimanjaro starring Brian Geraghty, crime drama Kid Cannabis, Video Girl starring Meagan Good, and ensemble comedy Dysfunctional Friends. “Datari has quickly established himself as a prolific producer with a keen ability to make powerful films that connect with moviegoers,” said Codeblack Films president Jeff Clanagan, who founded the label in 2012. “The Codeblack family is proud to work with him as part...

Zulay Henao, who co-starred in Tyler Perry's The Single Moms Club, has signed on to portray Vanessa del Rio in an untitled biopic centering on the adult film legend. The indie will mark the feature directorial debut of Thomas Mignone, a music video director for such bands as Mudvayne and Slipknot. Mignone also wrote the script. Photos Hollywood's 100 Favorite Films Datari Turner (Kilimanjaro) and Arthur Sarkissian, best known for the Rush Hour movies, are producing the drama, which is eyeing a production start in October and will shoot in Los Angeles and New York. With the cheap, crime-

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Ryan Piers Williams currently lives in NYC and started making films when he was 12 years old in El Paso, Texas. Upon graduation he worked for Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney on several productions including "Ocean's 12," "Good Night and Good Luck," "The Good German," and "Ocean's 13." He wrote and directed "The Dry Land" (Sundance 2010), and "Kilimanjaro" (SXSW 2013). "X/Y" is his second feature.Biggest challenge in completing the film? I wrote, directed, produced, and acted in X/Y. The biggest challenge I faced in making the film was to perform all of my duties without sacrificing the integrity of the project. It required me to be extremely prepared and exercise a great deal of discipline - while at the same time being flexible and willing to embrace the imperfections in the process. I was also very fortunate to have a seasoned team of producers, crew, and actors who were very...

Title: Kilimanjaro Screened At: SXSW 2013 Directed By: Walter Strafford Starring: Brian Geraghty, Chris Marquette, Abigail Spencer, Alexia Rasmussen, Jim Gaffigan “Kilimanjaro” is very clearly labeled a romantic drama, but with a title like that, you expect at least a little suspense, even if it can only exist in the realm of relationship woes. However, Brian Geraghty’s Doug is just too meek, predictable and almost detached to spark much emotion from a viewer. Doug and Clare (Geraghty and Alexia Rasmussen) are the perfect couple. They share a nice apartment, each set of parents approves of the relationship, and they’re right on the cusp of taking that next big step – [ Read More ]

The post Kilimanjaro Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Struggling with relationship problems? Take a cue from Brian Geraghty’s character in the SXSW entry “Kilimanjaro,” say screw it, and commit to climb a mountain. When Doug’s (Geraghty) girlfriend abruptly ends their four year relationship, he steps back and realizes how desperately he needed to shake things up anyway. He was caught in the routine of merely co-existing with Clare (Alexia Rasmussen) and dragging himself to an unfulfilling job. But now that things are changing, Doug’s determined to seize the opportunity and decides the first step towards his new, exciting life is climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. “Kilimanjaro” may not literally involve Doug climbing to the summit of the mountain, but in [ Read More ]

The post SXSW 2013 Interview: Kilimanjaro’s Brian Geraghty appeared first on Shockya.com.

Kilimanjaro is the weak slogan, "Life is what happens when you're making plans," extended to an 80 minute film. It's not insightful, emotional, and confuses "real" with "bland" (watching a guy discuss his vacation schedule with his boss is rarely riveting material). Instead, writer-director Walter Strafford takes a story with potential—a desire for a fresh start by taking on a challenging task—and fails to imbue it with emotion, personality, or drama. Instead, the movie is a series of clichés masquerading as characters, and a small story that feels insignificant rather than intimate. Despite a nice supporting turn by Chris Maruqette, Kilimanjaro shares the empty ambition of its protagonist, and not in a way that comes off as intentional. Doug (Brian Geraghty) feels his life has becomes stuck in a rut, and the passion has gone out in his relationship with his longtime girlfriend, Claire (Alexia Rasmussen). After she moves out,...

Check out the trailer for Walter Strafford's comedy "Kilimanjaro," premiering at SXSW on March 9 in the fest's Narrative Spotlight section. The film centers on Doug (Brian Geraghty, "The Hurt Locker"), who decides to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in the wake of a bad breakup and his grandfather's declining health. Not-so-spoiler alert: Getting to the summit is more of an uphill battle than Doug bargained for. Alexia Rasmussen ("Our Idiot Brother"), Abigail Spencer ("Oz the Great and Powerful," "Mad Men") and Chris Marquette ("The Girl Next Door") also star. Here's the SXSW programming notes: For years, Doug Collins has been wading through a routine unsatisfying job and an increasingly miserable relationship. After his girlfriend moves out, Doug pushes himself to live a more fulfilling life starting with a trek to the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. Life pushes back. In the face of challenges from every direction, Doug struggles to make his way to the mountaintop.

The exclusive SXSW poster for "Kilimanjaro' is here and it highlights the notable names featured in this film debuting in the Narrative Spotlight category at the upcoming festival which launches March 8. The film features a range of stars like Brian Geraghty of "The Hurt Locker," Alexia Rasmussen of "Listen to Your Heart," Chris Marquette of" The Girl Next Door," Abigal Spencer of "Cowboys and Aliens" and comedian Jim Gaffigan. Written and directed by Walter Strafford, "Kiliminjaro" is a story that will probably resonate with quite a few members of the SXSW audience. The drama follows Doug Collins (Geraghty) who, as he approaches thirty, begins to believe that the best years of his life are flying by and he needs to make a few changes. Some of those changes include leaving his long-term girlfriend who he no longer loves as well as the job he hates. Sensing a new freedom with no attachments,...

South by Southwest (SXSW) is just one of many film festivals, we here at Sound On Sight cover yearly. The fest, which takes place every spring in Austin, Texas, began in 1987, and has continued to grow in size every year. The fest announced the first wave of films back in early January, and the lineup included some highly anticipated films such as The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, Evil Dead, Downloaded and Spring Breakers. Now the full lineup has been announced, and it just might be one of the best lineups the festival has ever programmed.

SXSW takes place March 8-16 in Austin Texas. Here are just some of the films we are excited about.

Narrative Feature Competition – This year’s 8 films were selected from 1,191 submissions. Each film is a World Premiere.

Awful Nice

Director/Screenwriter: Todd Sklar, Screenwriter: Alex Rennie

Estranged brothers Jim and Dave must travel to Branson together when...

Some of the best films of the 2012/2013 calender year from Richard Linklater, Harmony Korine, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Andrew Bujalski, Jeff Nichols, David Gordon Green, Shane Carruth and Joshua Oppenheimer are among the headliner names for the 2013 edition of the South by Southwest Film Festival. With a little over 100 plus film line-up (a whopping 2000+ titles were submitted), almost 70 are world premieres: there is the highly anticipated sophomore film (that has been on our radar since it first went into production) with M. Blash’s (The Wait), Joe Swanberg who makes SXSW his second home will premiere Drinking Buddies, veteran indie filmmaker John Sayles saddles in with Go For Sisters, and rounding out the Narrative Spotlight section we’ve got The Bounceback from Bryan Poyser, Loves Her Gun from Geoff Marslett along with titles we thought might break into Park City, but found an Austin home instead with Jacob Vaughan’s Milo and...

The spring issue of Disney twenty-three, the flagship magazine of D23: The Official Disney Fan Club, hits stands February 12, loaded with articles to delight both Disney fans and the general public. The cover story, "A Great and Powerful Odyssey," gives readers an exclusive tour of the land at the end of the road of yellow bricks in Disney's Oz Oz: The Great and Powerful releasing in theaters this March. We have an exclusive sneak peek at this dazzling issue, which also celebrates the 15th anniversary of Disney's Animal Kingdom, and offers never-before-seen concept art from Walt Disney Animation Studios' Frozen.

"A Great and Powerful Odyssey" features interviews with Oz: The Great and Powerful stars Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Zach Braff. In addition, there's a sneak peek of 2014's Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie, which offers a new take on the legendary Sleeping Beauty story.

The Emerald City theme continues...

I was happy enough to see Willem Dafoe and Matt Dillon come together on The Whiskey Bay, yet the crime thriller is still managing to cohere rather nicely. According to Deadline, Tom Berenger, Neal McDonoguh, Amy Smart, Frederick Weller (In Plain Sight), and Christopher Marquette (Kilimanjaro, Life During Wartime) will also star for debut director Chris Brinker.

We had previously been told that his debut, penned by Jonny Hirschbein, would follow “a veteran cop (Dafoe)” who uses “estranged white supremacist and ex-con, Jesse Wheeler (Dillon)” as an undercover agent against the man’s former Aryan Brotherhood brethren; this is reflected in the casting, as Berenger is coming on to appear as the group’s “amoral architect,” as Amy Smart has been signed for the role of Jesse‘s wife.

Should things work out, Whiskey Bay will end up being, in Brinker‘s words, “a movie which is reminiscent of my...

Twelve Years A Slave

Garret Dillahunt ("Raising Hope," "Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles") has joined the cast of Steve McQueen's "Twelve Years A Slave" which is about to shoot in New Orleans.

Dillahunt will portray Armsby, a fellow field hand who works alongside Solomon Northup (Chiwitel Ejifior), a free black man who’s brought South against his will and sold into slavery. [Source: Deadline]

A Promise

Rebecca Hall ("Vicky Cristina Barcelona") will headline Patrice Leconte's English-language romantic drama "A Promise" which is based on Stefan Zweig's novella "Journey into the Past".

Set in Germany just before Wwi, Hall would play they wife of a wealthy older man who falls hopelessly in love with a young and ambitious engineer from a modest background. Separated by the wr, they promise to go on loving each other. [Source: Variety]

Standby Lovers

Paz Vega will reunite with her "Talk to Her" director Pedro Almodovar on...

Those working on Cbgb have wasted no time in compiling their supporting players. We’ve seen the main actors (Alan Rickman, Rupert Grint, Malin Akerman, Joel David Moore, and Stana Katic) jump into the fray over these past two and a half weeks, but today has brought seven (seven!) new performers into the historical music scene fray. First, THR informs us that Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins will take on the legendary Iggy Pop; Deadline says Johnny Galecki (The Big Bang Theory) is appearing as manager Terry Ork; and Variety reports that Mickey Sumner (The Borgias, Imogene) will play singer Patti Smith.

Additionally, Steven Schub (24, Chicago) will play DeeDee Ramone; Evan Alex Cole (She’s Out of My League) is appearing as Richard Hell; Kerry Bische (Red State) has been cast in the part of Mary Harron (some research indicates that this is, in fact, the American Psycho director); and...

We have casting news for two holidays, a mountain, and a last name---or at least four movies that are titled as such. Susan Sarandon and daughter Eva Amurri Martino will star in Mother's Day, a drama about the mother/daughter relationship. Clark Gregg will follow up The Avengers with a role in Jason Reitman's Labor Day Alexia Rasmussen signed on to star opposite Brian Geraghty in Kilimanjaro Revenge star Gabriel Mann will spend his summer hiatus filming the Cesar Chavez biopic Chavez Hit the jump for details on each project. Mother's Day According to THR, Paul Duddrige will write and direct Mother's Day, which follows twelve pairs of mothers and their daughters over the course of a Mother's Day.  It's definitely a workable premise, though 24 co-leads sounds like a big ensemble to juggle.  I'd like to see Duddridge try to round up eleven other Hollywood mother/daughter pairs.  Goldie Hawn...

Baggage Claim

Paula Patton ("Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol") will star in David Talbert's comedy "Baggage Claim" at Fox Searchlight which begins shooting in September.

Based on Talbert's own 2003 novel, Patton will play a flight attendant who is the oldest woman in her family not married. Her fellow flight attendants become determined to find her a husband in 30 days. [Source: Deadline]

Chavez

"Revenge" scene stealer Gabriel Mann will shoot Diego Luna's indie drama "Chavez" over his Summer hiatus from the show.

Mann will play John Giumarra Jr., who, along with his farm-owning father, opposed famed labor organizer Cesar E. Chavez's United Farm Workers Organizing Committee which aimed to obtain basic human rights for more than 50,000 farm workers in California. [Source: Variety]

Blood Ties

Jamie Hector ("The Wire") has joined Guillaume Canet's English-language crime thriller "Blood Ties" which is currently shooting in New York.

An adaptation of French novel "Les liens du sang...