News

Exclusive: Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired U.S. rights to Iervolino & Lady Bacardi Entertainment’s family film Dakota, starring Abbie Cornish, Lola Sultan (Netflix’s Yes Day), William Baldwin (Backdraft), Patrick Muldoon (The Comeback Trail) and Tim Rozon (Surreal Estate), for release in limited theaters beginning April 1, with a platformed theatrical rollout to follow.

In the action-adventure pic, recently widowed single mom Kate Sanders (Cornish) lives on her family’s farm in Georgia with her daughter Alex (Sultan). Life on the farm is a challenge and things only get more complicated when the combat dog Dakota, delivered by Sergeant Cj Malcolm (Rozon), arrives on their doorstep. Cj is fulling a promise made to Kate’s late husband, his friend and fellow Afghanistan veteran Marine Clay Sanders, to bring Dakota home to them, upon his death.

Kate spends her time between the farm and running the volunteer fire department,...

Nent Orders Icelandic Crime Drama

Nordic streamer Nordic Entertainment Group has ordered psychological crime drama Sisterhood. The six-episode series stars Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir (The Midnight Sky), Jóhanna Friðrika Sæmundsdóttir (Happily Never After) and Eddan Award winners Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir (Trapped) and Halldóra Geirharðsdóttir (Woman at War). The drama will premiere on Nent Group’s Viaplay streaming service in 2022. The series will ask who was really responsible for a young girl’s disappearance in Iceland 25 years ago. Ambitious police detective Vera (Geirharðsdóttir), dissatisfied with the original investigation, investigates an unlikely trio of successful and respectable women. Tony Todd Thriller Gets Domestic Deal Exclusive: Sp Releasing has acquired domestic rights to Andy Stapp’s directorial debut Destination Marfa starring Candy Man actor Tony Todd and Stelio Savante. ​​The film follows four lifelong friends who decide to veer off the road and venture into a small West Texas town known as Marfa, where they...

Exclusive: William Baldwin (Backdraft) and Patrick Muldoon (Days Of Our Lives) have signed on to star in the family adventure film Dakota, alongside previously announced Abbie Cornish and Lola Sultan.

The film centers on Kate (Cornish), a widow who lost her husband in the war in Afghanistan and is struggling to maintain her small-town farm with her daughter (Sultan) while also running the local volunteer fire department. Muldoon will play the local sheriff keen to take advantage of the family, and Baldwin will play a former U.S. Marine.

Filming is due to begin later this month in Italy.

Dakota is being directed by Kirk Harris for Iervolino Entertainment. Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Danielle Maloni and Marty Poole are producing. Johnny Harrington (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer) wrote the screenplay.

Baldwin is represented by Innovative Artists and Stride Management. Muldoon is repped by Mosaic.

Young U.S. model and actor Lola Sultan (“Bernie the Dolphin”) is attached to star alongside Australia’s Abbie Cornish in family action-adventure film “Dakota,” which is set to start shooting this month in Italy.

“Dakota” is being directed by Kirk Harris (“Bernie The Dolphin”) and produced by Italy’s Iervolino Entertainment, which is tapping into the Italian production tax rebate that currently allows a 40% deduction on eligible production costs.

Andrea Iervolino, Monika Bacardi, Danielle Maloni, Marty Poole, Kirk Harris and Ace Underhill are producing. Johnny Harrington (“I Still Know What You Did Last Summer”) wrote the screenplay.

“Dakota” is the name of a combat dog that belongs to Marine Clet Sanders who tragically dies in Afghanistan. Sargent Tj Malcom fulfils a promise to bring Dakota, who is Clet’s best friend, home to his family’s farm.

“Clet’s wife Kate, played by Abbie Cornish is struggling to maintain...

The Widow: "This spring, prepare yourself for one of the most vicious, chilling backwoods terrors when the new supernatural thriller The Widow, directed by Svyatoslav Podgaevsky, debuts on major VOD and digital platforms and on DVD & Blu-ray on March 30, 2021 from Shout! Studios and Scream Factory™. The DVD & Blu-ray will contain both the original Russian language audio track and an English-dubbed option. Pre-order for the physical releases are available now at ShoutFactory.com and other fine home entertainment retailers.

Movie Synopsis:

In a densely forested area north of St. Petersburg, people have been going missing for three decades. Very few corpses were ever found, and the few that were recovered were naked. On October 14, 2017, a team of volunteers went out into the woods in search of a missing teenager. Soon, all communication with them was lost. Locals believe they were taken by the same dark spirit that took the others...

Los Angeles based Fairway Film Alliance has acquired worldwide rights to the surrealist science-fiction title Destination Marfa (formerly just Marfa), which stars Tony Todd and Stelio Savante and is directed by Andy Stapp, in late news out of the American Film Market.

Destination Marfa follows four lifelong friends who decide to veer off the road and venture into a small West Texas town known as Marfa, where they encounter mysterious lights as the line between reality and fantasy become increasingly blurred.

Tony Todd (Candyman) and Stelio Savante (Infidel) play opposing forces in the town of Marfa. Todd is also starring in Jordan Peele’s upcoming Candyman. He is represented by Defining Artists and Jeff Goldberg Management. Savante was most recently seen starring opposite Jim Caviezel in the theatrically released Infidel, directed by Cyrus Nowrasteh. He is represented by SMS Talent and Opus Entertainment. Brittany Jo Alvarado, Kyle Colton, Marcus Jahn,...

Today's Horror Highlights include the trailer and release details for Deathcember, the trailer for Blood from Stone, and Destination Marfa acquisition news!

Deathcember is Now Available: "This frighteningly festive film has been scaring audiences worldwide, winning Most Shocking Film at Hexploitation Film Festival 2020 and Best Anthology Feature at South African Horrorfest 2019. Featuring films directed by Lucky McKee, Pollyanna McIntosh, Ruggero Deodato, Julian Richards, and Trent Haaga and performances by genre favorites including Sean Bridgers, Barbara Crampton, Richard Glover, Aj Bowen, Tiffany Shepis and many more, these spine-tingling tales will make you ready to deck the halls…with dread!

Deathcember is the world’s first cinematic Advent calendar. Behind its doors lurk 24 terrifying short films by directors from around the globe, turning the season of love into a season of fear, with gifts of blood and terror to unwrap for audiences everywhere. Those who makes it through this creepy calendar will be rewarded with additional segments,...

Christina Ricci, Tom Hopper, and David Dastmalchian will star together in the independent action-thriller “Can’t Stop the Dawn.”

Ambi Distribution, the worldwide sales arm of the Ambi Media Group, is handling global sales and is introducing the project to buyers at the Cannes Virtual Market. Principal photography on “Can’t Stop the Dawn” will commence this fall in New Orleans.

Marianna Palka is directing “Can’t Stop the Dawn.” Tony Armer, Marty Poole (Fairway Film Alliance), Michael E. Brown, Ramfis Myrthil and Jory Weitz are producing. Executive producers are Santosh Govindaraju and Dan Reardon.

Tony Armer wrote the screenplay, based on an original concept by Dale Pople. Ricci will portray a terminally ill single mom recruited by Hoper’s mysterious agent to assassinate Dastmalchian’s ruthless leader of a human trafficking ring for the promise of a better future for her son.

Palka said, “I am so passionate about ‘Can’t Stop the Dawn.

Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Ambi Media Group is re-teaming with Kirk Harris and Marty Poole’s Fairway Films Alliance to finance and produce a sequel to “Bernie the Dolphin.”

Lola Sultan, Patrick Muldoon, Logan Allen, Kevin Sorbo, and Dahlia Legault (“The Walking Dead”) will reprise their roles in the family dolphin adventure. Ambi Distribution, the worldwide sales arm of the Ambi Media Group, will be introducing the project to international distributors at the American Film Market, which opened Oct. 31.

“Bernie the Dolphin 2” will shoot on location at Marineland Dolphin Adventure in St. Augustine, Fla., as well as in St. Petersburg-Clearwater starting in December.

Kirk Harris will direct “Bernie the Dolphin 2” from a screenplay written by Emerson and Poole, who are also producing along with Ambi principals Iervolino and Bacardi, as well as Tony Armer, the film commissioner for St. Petersburg-Clearwater, Fla. Digital Caviar is the Florida based production partner.

In today’s film news roundup, Craig Sheffer and Fred Hechinger score movie roles and pop singer Nicole Michelle records two songs for “Bernie the Dolphin.”

Castings

Craig Sheffer has been cast as the lead in Gregory Lamberson’s feature film adaptation of “Widow’s Point,” the supernatural book co-written by Richard Chizmar and his son Billy.

Lamberson will direct the film from his own screenplay in Western New York this month, co-producing with Tamar Lamberson. Chizmar executive produces with Erin Elizabeth Heald.

“Widow’s Point” depicts the tale of an author who spends a weekend locked in a haunted lighthouse as a publicity stunt to promote his next book. Cut off from the outside world, he finds himself targeted by sinister forces. The film takes place in four different time periods.

Sheffer’s credits include Robert Redford’s “A River Runs Through It,” “Some Kind of Wonderful,” and the TV series “One Tree Hill.

Filmmaker Mike Smith’s B&E Productions has obtained the film and television rights to Big Law, a legal thriller novel from Ron Leibman. The book, which was released January of last year via Penguin Group LLC, centers on a Carney Blake, a young lawyer at one of NY’s most prestigious law firms, and his discovery that things aren’t what they seem in the business of big New York City law. Smith, an NY native, will write and direct the film which will shoot on location. Smith has directed on a number of legal dramas like Law and Order Svu, Criminal Intent, Suits, and How To Get Away With Murder. He’s repped by Gersh.

Composer Joshua R. Mosley will score the film Bernie the Dolphin, starring Lola Sultan (In Dubious Battle), Kevin Sorbo (Hercules) and Patrick Muldoon (Melrose Place). Kirk Harris is directing the film which follows a...

The granddaddy of all film fests and markets, Cannes 2013, kicks off on the 15th, running to the 26th. Rising indie film maven Jennifer Blanc-Biehn is attending the event, and we'll be tracking her progress with the projects she's taking to the show as an actress, producer, and first-time director.

From the Press Release:

Jennifer Blanc-Biehn will be in attendance this year at the 66th Cannes International Film Festival from May 15-21 to support several upcoming projects: her eerie directorial debut, The Night Visitor, Wrong Cops (which just premiered at Sundance), horror/comedy Among Friends, and Treachery, starring her husband, Michael Biehn (it will be for sale in the Cannes Marché du Film by Fairway Films). She and Biehn, under their Blanc/Biehn Productions imprint, currently have seven films in production coming out this year or next.

One of those films officially launching at the fest is Hidden in the Woods,...

Indie Film Distribution/Production Company Rogue Arts has just signed a partnership agreement with Fairway Film Alliance to distribute films globally.   The partnership began at Afm where three of Rogue Arts new titles were launched successfully.   "We are creating these kind of relationships in order to be completely transparent with both our investors and our filmmakers.    It is a great time of growth in our company", stated company founder, Kirk Harris.   "Our goal is a new type of company where partnership with the filmmaker really means both the filmmaker and the distributor benefit from the proceeds and know step by step what is occurring with the films," stated Don Franken, also a Principal at Rogue Arts.  

Rogue Arts has produced 8 films and Rogue Arts and Fairway Films Alliance has handled the distribution of more than 50 titles.   Founded as a production company in 2004 by Actor/Filmmaker Kirk Harris, company executives now include Celebrity sports talent and marketing agent Don Franken, Retired Navy Special Forces Swcc Vernon Mortensen and Fairway Films Alliance's Marty Poole.  "With over 20 years working film in film sales, and also as a filmmaker, I felt it was time to create a company by, with, and for the filmmaker" stated Fairway Films Alliance founder, Marty Poole.  Another feature of the Rogue Arts and Fairway Film Alliance partnership is the unique blend of world sales, theatrical booking, digital content knowledge and PR and Marketing experience the principles have.  

Recent produced titles include: The Kid: Chamaco, directed by celebrated Mexican producer Miguel Necoechea starring Martin Sheen, Kirk Harris and Gustavo Sanchez Parra.   They also include the freshly completed Western Thriller The Sorrow,  directed by Rogue Arts' Vernon Mortensen and starring Harris, John Savage and Michael Madsen.  

Noted distribution titles include:  "Flickering Lights" from Academy Award Winning Anders Thomas Jensen and starring Ulrich Thomsen and Mads Mikkelsen.  Wim Wenders presents Michael Meredith's "Three Days of Rain" starring Peter Falk, Blythe Danner and Lyle Lovett and last but not least,  "Spooky House" from director William Sachs starring Ben Kingsley and Mercedes Ruehl.  

Rogue Arts titles have screened at the Sundance, Berlin, Toronto, Slamdance and Venice Film Festivals.  

Recent titles that premiered at Afm were the FX action film "Time Warrior", Terrorist subway thriller "Red Line" and "The Sorrow".   "Time Warrior" and "Red Line" were acquired through a new strategic alliance with the San Diego Film Festival to provide distribution for some of their premiere entries. 

Additionally, Rogue Arts has two TV series in development as well as several feature projects of varying budgets in the pipeline.  ...