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When Dolly Parton’s Welsh and English ancestors landed on American shores more than a century ago, settling in the Appalachian mountain regions of Tennessee and North Carolina, they could scarcely have imagined that generations later one of their descendants would become one of the most successful songwriters of all time. But, as it turns out, music and entertaining have always been integral to the Parton family’s genetic makeup. Smoky Mountain DNA: Family, Faith and Fables, a new 30-track collection, celebrates that gift.

Spanning five generations and including songwriting...

Dolly Parton has shared two more songs from her upcoming musical and visual project Smoky Mountain DNA – Family, Faith & Fables, as well as revealed the 37-song track list for the collection recorded by Parton and her extended family members.

First up, Parton unveiled the album’s title track, a new song she penned herself as “an overarching theme that celebrates the musical roots and heritage of her family,” a press release stated.

Additionally, Parton revived her song “A Rose Won’t Fix It” — which she wrote and recorded for 1988’s...

Rachel Brosnahan and Boyd Holbrook have something in common. Yes, they’re both actors, but they’re also both incredibly underrated. Sure, Brosnahan has received all sorts of acclaim for her role in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” but she’s just damn good in almost anything she works in. And Holbrook elevates every role. That’s why the reason a re-release of “Boomtown” caught our eye. A film from 2017 is getting a re-release, and a new trailer.

Continue reading ‘Boomtown’ Trailer: Rachel Brosnahan & Boyd Holbrook star in Sabyn Mayfield’s New Film at The Playlist.

"Have you ever been to North Dakota?" The Orchard has unveiled the first official trailer for an indie drama titled Boomtown, set in the oil fields of North Dakota. This fictional story follows John 'Jt' Turner, played by Tyler Riggs, who leaves his family and his hometown to travel up to Williston and work in the booming oil industry. His journey is filled with setbacks and great challenges as documented in this portrayal of the relentless pursuit of the American Dream (e.g. make a lot of money doing crappy hard work). The full cast includes Boyd Holbrook, Rachel Brosnahan, Dwight Yoakam, and Jocelin Donahue. This reminds me to recommend, once again, one of the best documentaries I've seen in years - The Overnighters - which was filmed in/around Williston. This looks solid, without any over-dramatized aspects, thankfully. Check it. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Sabyn Mayfield's Boomtown,...

Almost every industry over the past few years has felt the impact of the buckling economy, so when opportunities to make good money arrive, people will travel to work. North Dakota in particular has seen an influx of citizens headed to the oil fields and the new drama “Boomtown” unfolds against the backdrop of that difficult life. And today we have the exclusive trailer.

Written and directed by Sabyn Mayfield, and starring Boyd Holbrook, Dwight Yoakam, Rachel Brosnahan, Tyler Riggs, and Jocelyn Donahue, the story follows John “Jt” Turner who, struggling to make ends meet, leaves his young family behind to pursue a gruelling, yet highly coveted, job in a booming oil town.

Continue reading Exclusive ‘Boomtown’ Trailer: Oil Fields Offer A Better Life at The Playlist.

Plus: Hot Docs to recogniseRosie Dransfeld, Steve James; State Department, Film Independent launch mentorship scheme; Tyler Perry Studios starts production on Boo! A Madea Halloween; and more…

Relativity Media LLC has appointed Tamoor Shafi Chief Digital Officer, effective January 19.

Shafi, founder and former CEO of Omnia Media, will report directly to chairman and CEO Ryan Kavanaugh and will lead digital marketing and brand partnerships for the company.

The Toronto native will also oversee Relativity Digital Studios, which released its first feature, Summer Forever, last July.

Hot Docs will pay tribute to Gemini Award-winning producer and director Rosie Dransfeld with this year’s Focus On retrospective during the 23rd annual festival from April 28-May 8. Her credits include Broke, Who Cares? and Anti-Social Limited. Steve James will receive the 2016 Outstanding Achievement Award.Lionsgate and New Regency announced at the start of Natpe on Tuesday a global TV production and distribution partnership. Lionsgate will distribute via its TV pipelines such New...

Dwight Yoakam has joined the cast of Sabyn Mayfield's directorial debut Boomtown. He joins the previously announced Tyler Riggs, Boyd Holbrook (Narcos), Rachel Brosnahan (House Of Cards) and Jocelin Donahue (Knight Of Cups). The project is currently shooting in Los Angeles. Boomtown follows one man’s journey, John "Jt" Turner (Riggs) to Williston, Nd, home of the modern-day Gold Rush. In an effort to make ends meet, he leaves his family behind to pursue a grueling, yet…...

“Tracking Shot” is a top of month featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at the projects that are moments away from lensing. This November, we’ve got a fivesome of projects that we feel are worth signaling out, but before we put the focus on those, the previous month was a rather fruitful one for mostly indiewood film productions. Films that we’ll be seeing in 2016 and which are for the most part still filming include: Mark Williams‘ workplace drama The Headhunter’s Calling (with Alison Brie, Gretchen Mol, Gerard Butler, Willem Dafoe, Alfred Molina), Philippe Falardeau‘s bio boxing drama The Bleeder (with Liev Schreiber, Naomi Watts, Elisabeth Moss), Taron Lexton’s coming-of-ager In Search of Fellini (with Ksenia Solo, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Maria Bello), Kevin Tent‘s Black List scripted rom-com (with Domhnall Gleeson, Christina Applegate, Thomas Haden Church, Nina Dobrev), Sophie Brooks‘ NYC set Euro-fizzled comedy,...

Before the North Dakota oil boom (as witnessed in Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters), a good century back, there was the another type of boom. Commonly associated with the West, North Dakota was home to a short lived gold rush. Sabyn Mayfield will tap into the reserves of two up-and-comer players for what will be his directorial debut as THR reports that Boyd Holbrook and Rachel Brosnahan will topline Boomtown alongside Jocelin Donahue and newcomer Tyler Riggs. Holbrook is set to play Jt’s childhood best friend and Brosnahan plays a local bartender in the oil town.

Gist: Co-written by Mayfield and David Newbert, this follows Jt Turner’s (Riggs) journey across the country to Williston, North Dakota, home of the modern day Gold Rush. In an effort to make ends meet, the main character leaves his family behind to pursue a grueling, yet highly coveted, job in a now booming oil industry.

Plus… Film Indpendent announces 2015 Producing Lab filmmakers, Rowish launches Kickstarter campaign and more.The Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) announced on Tuesday the Breakthrough Series nominees for the 25th Gothams on November 20 in New York. This marks the first time the awards will honour serialised TV and web content. Click here for full details.

Film Independent has unveiled its 2015 Producing Lab filmmakers and their projects: The Dust by Sarah Dorman; Farewell Tour by Frederick Thornton; Give Me Liberty by Drew Houpt; Manuscript by Alejandro De Leon; Moxie by Christina Sibul; Wannabe by John Ramos; and You And Me Both by Carolyn Mao. Click here for more information.

Dan Stevens has joined the cast of Colossal starring Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudeikis. Principal photography continues this week in Vancouver via Brightlight Pictures. Voltage Pictures handles international sales.

Rowish Productions is to launch a Kickstarter campaign to support the November 20 theatrical and day-and-date release of Altered Minds, distributed worldwide...

The sci-fi thriller After, from writer/director Ryan Smith, tells the story of two bus crash survivors, Freddy (Steven Strait) and Ana (Karolina Wydra), who awake to discover that they are the only people left in their small town. As strange events begin to unfold, they form an unlikely alliance and start to question whether the town they know so well is really what it seems, or if there is something else behind what is happening to them. During this recent exclusive phone interview with Collider, actor Steven Strait talked about how he came to be involved with the film, what drew him to the story and character, the experience of collaborating with both his director and co-star, and how fun and liberating it is to work with green screen. He also talked about what fans can expect from Season 2 of his Starz drama series Magic City, and how much...