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Phoenix Film Festival & International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival: "The Phoenix Film Festival started in 2000 by 3 local filmmakers as a way to get their films some exposure in their home town. Twenty-two years and thousands of movies later, the Phoenix Film Foundation has grown from a 3-day exhibition to an 11 day celebration of film with over 250 films, filmmaking seminars, parties and student workshops for over 20,000 attendees all at the Harkins Scottsdale 101.

The Phoenix Film Festival has been named one of The 25 Coolest Film Festivals and a Top 50 Worth the Entry Fee by MovieMaker Magazine and has been called the most filmmaker-friendly festival out there. Most recently, we've also earned a spot on MovieMaker's 20 Great Film Festivals for First-Time Moviemakers."

This year's event takes place from March 23-April 2, 2023 at Harkins Theatres Scottsdale 101 and you can learn more at: https://www.phoenixfilmfestival.com/

International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival

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Exclusive: Gersh is continuing to expand its roster of notable on-screen talent, with the signing of actress Jaimie Alexander.

Related Story Emmy-Nominated ‘House Of Cards’ Alum Molly Parker Inks With Gersh Related Story Gersh Signs 'I'm Fine (Thanks For Asking)' Filmmaker Kelley Kali Related Story Gersh Signs Jake Van Wagoner Following Sundance Bow Of His Family Film, 'Aliens Abducted My Parents And Now I Feel Kinda Left Out'

Alexander is best known for playing the lead role of Jane Doe in NBC’s popular crime drama Blindspot, which averaged 11 million viewers per episode at its peak, airing for five seasons.

She also originated the MCU role of Lady Sif, portraying the Asgardian warrior in films ranging from Kenneth Branagh’s Thor through Thor: The Dark World and the Taika Waititi-directed Thor: Love and Thunder, which hit theaters last July. The actress has also appeared as...

Exclusive: Gersh has signed in-demand Canadian actress Molly Parker for representation.

An Emmy and Independent Spirit Award nominee, Parker is perhaps best known for her turn as House Whip Jackie Sharp in Netflix’s political drama House of Cards — a pivotal series in the history of the streamer, which ran for six seasons. She also recently starred in Netflix’s Lost in Space and shared the screen with Billy Bob Thornton in the first season of the Prime Video legal drama Goliath, having prior that starred in HBO’s Emmy-winning Western series, Deadwood, and Errol Morris’ Netflix docudrama Wormwood opposite Peter Sarsgaard.

Related Story ‘John Wick’ Franchise Creator Derek Kolstad Signs With UTA Related Story Gersh Signs 'I'm Fine (Thanks For Asking)' Filmmaker Kelley Kali Related Story Gersh Signs Jake Van Wagoner Following Sundance Bow Of His Family Film, 'Aliens Abducted My Parents And Now I Feel Kinda Left Out...

Exclusive: Gersh has signed filmmaker Jake Van Wagoner out of Sundance, in a competitive situation.

Van Wagoner is the director and producer of the Amblin-esque family film Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out, which world premiered at the Park City festival on January 20 and would ultimately land an extra screening as part of its “Best of Fest” category.

The Kids Section title penned by Austin Everett follows Itsy (Emma Tremblay), who is new in town and feels like her life is over until she meets her space-obsessed neighbor Calvin (Jacob Buster), who believes his parents (Will Forte and Elizabeth Mitchell) were abducted by aliens. When the aspiring journalist decides to write an exposé on Calvin, she winds up discovering things she never could have imagined.

Van Wagoner currently serves as showrunner for Studio C, a sketch comedy series for BYUtv. He previously wrote, directed, produced...

In Jake Van Wagoner’s Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out, new kid in town Itsy (Emma Tremblay) befriends her neighbor Calvin (Jacob Buster) who harbors a strange suspicion. Obsessed with the cosmos, he constantly gazes at the stars and hopes that an alien spaceship that he believes abducted his parents will return to beam him up as well. Editor Whitney Houser discusses cutting the film, which premiered in Sundance’s Kids section. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? […]

The post “I Love To Look For Good Reactions”: Editor Whitney Houser on Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

In Jake Van Wagoner’s Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out, new kid in town Itsy (Emma Tremblay) befriends her neighbor Calvin (Jacob Buster) who harbors a strange suspicion. Obsessed with the cosmos, he constantly gazes at the stars and hopes that an alien spaceship that he believes abducted his parents will return to beam him up as well. Editor Whitney Houser discusses cutting the film, which premiered in Sundance’s Kids section. See all responses to our annual Sundance editor interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? […]

The post “I Love To Look For Good Reactions”: Editor Whitney Houser on Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When high schooler Itsy (Emma Tremblay) moves to Pebble Falls with her family, she befriends the neighbor kid Calvin (Jacob Buster) who has a strange obsession with outer space. Soon, he reveals the true root of his fascination: Calvin believes that his parents have been abducted by aliens, and he desperate watches the skies for an opportunity to join them among the stars. Jake Van Wagoner weaves a tale of adolescent anxiety and adjustment in Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out. Cinematographer Jeremy Prusso discusses the process of shooting the film, which premiered in Sundance’s […]

The post “Shoot Wide and Close!”: Dp Jeremy Prusso on Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

When high schooler Itsy (Emma Tremblay) moves to Pebble Falls with her family, she befriends the neighbor kid Calvin (Jacob Buster) who has a strange obsession with outer space. Soon, he reveals the true root of his fascination: Calvin believes that his parents have been abducted by aliens, and he desperate watches the skies for an opportunity to join them among the stars. Jake Van Wagoner weaves a tale of adolescent anxiety and adjustment in Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out. Cinematographer Jeremy Prusso discusses the process of shooting the film, which premiered in Sundance’s […]

The post “Shoot Wide and Close!”: Dp Jeremy Prusso on Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

No one in director Jake Van Wagoner and writer Austin Everett’s creative community were left out in the making of this heartwarming Sundance film.

You know how you can’t just call some people by their first name, you have to say their full names? “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” is a movie title so good, it’s practically mandatory to say all 11 words.

Set in fictional small town Pebble Falls, Utah, “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” (see?) tells the story of two teenagers who are outsiders for different reasons. Itsy (Emma Tremblay) is a native New Yorker and aspiring journalist mad at her oddball parents for moving the entire family to the sticks to flip a teardown. And Calvin (Jacob Buster), her neighbor and classmate, is certain his parents (comedian Will Forte and Elizabeth Mitchell of...

Jake Van Wagoner’s second feature film, Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Kinda Feel Left Out, made its debut at Sundance this year, and introduced festival-goers to Itsy (played by Emma Tremblay), a teen girl starting the school year in a new town. Harboring big dreams to one day work for the New York Times, Itsy believes this new start in a small town may be the end of her world as she knows it. When a friend suggests she enter a writing contest, Itsy's world does change, but for the better.

Will Forte is one of the most reliable names in comedy. Whether it's leading the absurd action of "MacGruber," lending his voice to animated comedy in the likes of "Rick and Morty" and "The Simpsons," or bringing to life various incarnations of Abraham Lincoln in "Clone High," "The Lego Movie," and "America: The Motion Picture," you can always count on Forte to inspire plenty of hilarity. But there's also a gentle charm to his presence when he's not driving the comedy bus. That's what makes him the perfect choice to play a father in the Sundance-selected family comedy "Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out."

Directed by Jake Van Wagoner, the film follows teen girl Itsy Levan, who finds herself suddenly stuck in the middle of nowhere after her home-flipping parents move their family out of the big city. At her new school, Itsy meets the quirky but intelligent Calvin Kipler,...

Sci-fi stories may feel a dime a dozen at times, but it's rare to come across one with as much unmitigated joy and heart as Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out. Directed by Jake Van Wagoner (Studio C) from a screenplay by Austin Everett (Secondhand Hearts), the funny but tender film just saw its Sundance premiere last week and will have a repeat screening on January 28. Aliens Abducted My Parents stars Emma Tremblay (who left a big impression as Ruby on Supergirl) as Itsy, an aspiring journalist who gets transplanted to a nowhere town and meets the strangest boy in the world.

The boy's name is Calvin (played by Let The Right One In star Jacob Buster), and his story is at the heart of Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out. As the longwinded but incredibly accurate title suggests, Calvin...

Reviewing the trade traffic yesterday it seems that the premiere of Jake Van Wagoner and Austin Everett's sci-fi coming-of-age comedy Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out should be a hit at Sundance. The general consensus is that it is a heart-warming and funny, if not familiar film for the whole family. That's nice. Visit Films are handling world sales for the flick and they came to Earth with a new trailer yesterday, in time for the premiere. Check it out below. Itsy Levan is devastated by her parents’ decision to leave the city and buy a fixer upper in the middle of nowhere. Her life seems over until she meets her space-obsessed neighbor Calvin Kipler. Calvin has spent most...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

“Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” is one of those great long titles that rarely ends up connected to a great movie, long or otherwise. For every “The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain” (genuinely good) there’s always a handful of “The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies” (genuinely bad) ruining the loquacious fun for everybody.

“Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out” is the latest film from director Jake Van Wagoner, starring Emma Tremblay (“Supergirl”) as Itsy Levan, one of those teenagers in movies who moves from the big city to the small town while wearing headphones in the backseat of her parents car because, like, “life,” you know? Dang it.

Itsy’s got the prerequisite annoying brother, Evan, who farts and loves maps, and the pre-requisite dippy parents (Matt Biedel...

Sundance is kicking into high gear in Park City, Utah this week, and as it does, the rest of the world is getting a first look at the lineup as trailers for a few of the films included in the festival begin to drop. Among them is "Aliens Abducted My Parents And Now I Feel Kinda Left Out," a family-friendly movie with a title that's both a total mouthful and immediately intriguing.

"Aliens Abducted My Parents And Now I Feel Kinda Left Out" is set to premiere at the festival as one of a small handful of films in the kid-friendly section, but it doesn't look so much like a kids' movie as it does like a sweet coming-of-age indie film with a sci-fi twist. The trailer opens with a bespectacled boy stargazing with his dad (Will Forte), who tells him that an alien family could be out there looking at them right now.

In a coming-of-age story, two unlikely teenagers encourage each other to pursue their separate passions.

That’s a pretty standard description of a lot of movies and shows, but this one is offering a twist on the genre, one that’s revealed by its unusual title — “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out.” The off-beat movie will make its world premiere at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, first premiering in person on Friday Jan. 20 at 5 p.m. Pst and online Tuesday Jan. 24 from 7 a.m. to Sunday Jan. 29 at 10:55 p.m.

Shattered by her parents’ decision to leave the city and move to the middle of nowhere, Itsy Levan (Emma Tremblay) believes her life is over until she meets her space-obsessed neighbor Calvin Kipler (Jacob Buster). Calvin has spent most of his life awaiting the next arrival of Jesper’s Comet— partly because of his obsession with astronomy,...

Visit Films has picked up worldwide sales rights for Sundance title “Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now I Feel Kinda Left Out.”

The sci-fi comedy will world premiere in Park City, and then be presented to international buyers at the European Film Market. The film’s cast includes Emma Tremblay, Jacob Buster, Will Forte, Elizabeth Michell, Kenneth Cummins and Matt Biedel.

The film centers on Itsy Levan, who is devastated by her parents’ decision to leave the city and buy a fixer upper in the middle of nowhere. Her life seems over until she meets her space-obsessed neighbor Calvin Kipler, who has spent most of his life awaiting the next arrival of Jesper’s Comet— partly because of his obsession with astronomy, but mostly because the last time it came, aliens abducted his parents. Calvin is now preparing to finally get abducted with them.

“Aliens Abducted My Parents and Now...

"How long are you going to keep protecting them, Sam?" Samuel Goldwyn Films has debuted an official trailer for a western titled Out of Liberty, which hasn't played at any film festivals but is opening in a few select theaters starting this September. Set in winter in 1839 in the town of Liberty, Missouri (now a suburb of Kansas City), the film is about a local jailer who is tasked with watching Missouri's most wanted men as they await their upcoming hearing. Caught between the local Missourians' increased effort to remove the prisoners, and the prisoners' desperate efforts to survive, Sam Tillery is pushed beyond what any lawman can endure. The full cast includes Jasen Wade, Brandon Ray Olive, Corbin Allred, Adam Johnson, Larry Bagby, Shawn Stevens, Jake Van Wagoner, and Brock Roberts. It's described as an "intense, evocative western, with an outcome you have to see to believe." This seems like a solid thriller.

When the powerful wizard Lord Tensley (James Marsters) is jilted by Princess Ennogard (Kaitlin Doubleday), he vows to rid the land of love. He commands his fire-breathing dragon to destroy any sign of affection seen throughout the kingdom. As the death toll rises, Camilan, a brave but arrogant warrior seeks to marry his true love, Larec, despite the curse upon the land. In order to fulfill his destiny, he must seek the help of his estranged brother, Ramicus, a bounty hunter with no desire to tangle with the evil Lord Tensley and his deadly dragon. However, an enchanted distress message and the promise of a great reward from the beautiful Princess Ennogard is enough to lure Ramicus to join the quest to defeat the wizard and his terrible beast. We have an exclusive look at Dragon Warriors with a new clip, along with the trailer, poster and some behind-the-scenes photos.

Saratov Films, Three Coin Productions and Purdie Distribution announced on December 10 they will expand the limited run of the thriller.

The Saratov Approach opened on October 9 through Purdie Distribution and has grossed more than $1.4m after four weeks on an average of 33 screens.

It is currently playing across Utah and Idaho and will receive a nationwide platform release commencing on January 10 2014

Garrett Batty wrote and directed and also produced alongside Jake Van Wagoner.

Corbin Allred, Maclain Nelson, Nikita Bogolyubov and Alex Veadov star in the story of missionaries in Russia whose abduction sets in motion a chain of events nobody could have expected.