News

Panic Fest 2025 has come to a close but you know we couldn’t say goodbye without taking the time to check out a new Canadian Found Footage flick set on Halloween night! The mysterious Cops inspired creeper The Lost Episode is a showcase for true independent creativity and a brilliant twist on an already perfect subgenre (and I’m not only saying that because it was shot in my hometown…but surely my love for this lo-fi creeper was a teensy bit tainted by countless Leo Pointing at my television).

IMDb says The Lost Episode is directed by Nick Wernham from a screenplay by “Abbadon Night” but it’s way more fun to suspend your disbelief and thank the real people responsible for unearthing this buried footage: The Dark Web. And to the filmmakers’ credit, The Lost Episode goes the extra step that few Found Footage movies can, completely scrubbing...

In today’s film news roundup, “Whitney” filmmaker Kevin Macdonald is partnering with Docsville, “Marfa Girl 2” is getting distribution, and a Dave Gurney mystery series is heading into development.

Partnerships

Documentary streaming service Docsville has signed a partnership with “Whitney” filmmaker Kevin Macdonald, Variety has learned exclusively.

Macdonald’s credits include “Touching the Void,” “One Day in September,” “The Last King of Scotland,” the thriller “State of Play,” “How I Live Now,” and the upcoming Whitney Houston documentary “Whitney,” which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival this year.

He won an Academy Award for best documentary in 2000 for “One Day in September,” working with Docsville co-founder Nick Fraser on the film.

“It’s been a joy to work with Kevin over many years, from our collaboration on ‘One Day in September’ up until our most recent efforts with Docsville,” Fraser said. “Having such a talented director on board will surely...

Exclusive: Toronto-based production company Innis Lake Entertainment has optioned the film and television rights to John Verdon’s “Dave Gurney” mystery book series. Richard Wernham has been tapped to pen a screenplay for the film adaptation, which will center on the events on the first book, Think of a Number. Nick Wernham, who is currently in post-production on Innis Lake’s film Business Ethics is attached to direct.

Published by Crown/Random House and Counterpoint Publishing, the first book centered on a mysterious serial killing spree in upstate New York, and the detective, Dave Gurney, who comes out of retirement in an attempt to solve the case. The series currently contains five books with a sixth due out this week.

“I’m delighted at the prospect of seeing Dave Gurney come to life on the screen, and I suspect that thousands of readers of the Gurney series will share my feeling,...

Thanks to TorontoFilm.Net here is the Toronto Film Production Update for November 2016, including "Designated Survivor", "12 Monkeys" "The Handmaid's Tale" and a whole lot more:

Register As An Extra For Toronto Film Productions Here

12 Monkeys Season 3

TV Series

Gep 12 Monkeys B Inc.

Prod.: Michael Wray

Exec. Prod.: David Grossman, Terry Matalas

Oct 17 - Feb 17/17

Alias Grace

Mini Series

Halfire Entertainment

Prod.: Sarah Polley, DJ Carson

Dir.: Mary Harron

Aug 15 - Nov 15/16

Anne

TV Series

CBC/Netflix

Prod.: Susan Murdoch

Exec. Prod.: Miranda de Pencier, Moira Walley-Beckett

Sep 22/16 - Feb 03/17

Anne Of Green Gables

TV Movie

Gables 23 Productions Inc.

Prod.: Jim Corston

Exec. Prod.: Joan Lambur, Peter Williamson

Dir.: John Kent Harrison

Sep 12 - Nov 4/16

Black Mirror

TV Series (one episode)

T5 Mirror Productions Inc.

Exec. Prod.: Annabelle Jones, Charlie Brooker

Dir.: Jodie Foster

Nov 7 – Nov 30/16

Business Ethics

Feature

Business Ethic Film Inc.

Carolina Bartczak, most recently seen in X-Men: Apocalypse as Erik Lehnsherr/ Magneto’s wife Magda, has been cast in the Nick Wernham-directed comedy Business Ethics. From Innis Lake Entertainment and Know Rules Media, Bartczak will play the hard-edged Amanda Dean, Zachery Cranston's (Larenz Tate) business nemesis. The pic is based on Wernham’s short about a man who sets out to run a Ponzi scheme. Sanzhar Sultan will produce, with Tate, Richard Wernham, Loudon Owen, Jai…...

Exclusive: Sarah Carter has signed on as the female lead opposite Larenz Tate in Business Ethics, the indie dark comedy from Innis Lake Entertainment and Skylight Picture Works. Jessica Parker Kennedy, Laysla De Oliveira have also joined the cast, as has Gil Bellows, who starred in the original short film. Nick Wernham is directing the pic from his short, about a man who sets out to run a Ponzi scheme. Kurtwood Smith, Lance Reddick & Angus Macfadyen have already joined…...

Exclusive: Business Ethics, the dark comedy from Innis Lake Entertainment and Know Rules Media, has set Kurtwood Smith, Lance Reddick and Angus Macfadyen for supporting roles in the Nick Wernham-directed pic. Starring Larenz Tate, the film is based on a short from Wernham of the same name about a man who sets out to run a Ponzi scheme. Shooting will commence in October. Smith will play Magnus Hardcastle, a rich, greedy, self-confident, and self-made businessman, who works…...

Exclusive: Larenz Tate has been set to topline Business Ethics, an indie dark comedy from Innis Lake Entertainment and Know Rules Media. The pic, to be directed by Nick Wernham (No Stranger Than Love), is based on his short film of the same name about a man who sets out to run a Ponzi scheme. The production is eyeing an October shooting start in Toronto. Tate plays Zachery Cranston, an ambitious and unethical financial tycoon who will stop at nothing to climb the ladder…...

Early on in No Stranger Than Love, something immediately seems off about the town inhabited by small-town schoolteacher Lucy Sherrington (Alison Brie). In a dynamic reminiscent of There’s Something About Mary, everyone in town seems to be in love with girl-next-door Lucy, and director Nick Wernham’s film — which marks his directorial feature debut — clearly establishes a whimsical, offbeat tone right from the start.

As it turns out, the squeaky-clean Lucy is on the verge of having an affair with fellow teacher (and married man) Clint Coburn (Colin Hanks). However, that rendezvous is cut short when a bottomless hole suddenly appears in Lucy’s living room, trapping Clint deep within the abyss. Making matters worse, a mysterious stranger (Justin Chatwin) arrives in town soon thereafter on a potentially dangerous mission to find Clint. Hilarity ensues, as Lucy must find a way to rescue Clint and keep both their reputations intact.

Everyone wants Lucy Sherrington. Well, every man wants Lucy Sherrington, and in the world where Nick Wernham’s “No Stranger Than Love” takes place, that’s enough to create an entire character (and drive a good chunk of a film’s narrative). From her teenage art students to her bosses, from a local cop to the old man at the hardware store (who snarls, “You make a man growl, that’s all there is to it!”), everyone wants Lucy Sherrington, and damn if they don’t feel like it’s a-okay to say so.

Read More: Alison Brie Is Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places in Exclusive ‘No Stranger Than Love’ Poster

While most of Lucy’s (Alison Brie) wannabe suitors are respectful – garbage collectors attempt to woo her through feats of strength, all done at a reasonable distance – some couldn’t care less about what she wants...

To help sift through the increasing number of new releases (independent or otherwise), the Weekly Film Guide is here! Below you’ll find basic plot, personnel and cinema information for all of this week’s fresh offerings.

Starting this month, we’ve also put together a list for the entire month. We’ve included this week’s list here, complete with information on screening locations for films in limited release.

See More: Here Are All the Upcoming Movies in Theaters for June 2016

Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, June 17. All synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.

Wide

Central Intelligence

Director: Rawson Marshall Thurber

Cast: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Ed Helms, Aaron Paul, Amy Ryan, Danielle Nicolet, Ryan Hansen, Bobby Brown, Megan Park, Timothy John Smith

Synopsis: “After he reunites with an old pal through Facebook, a mild-mannered accountant is lured into the world of international espionage.

Exclusive: Daniel Bort heads to the Croisette with an inaugural slate as president of the rebranded boutique international sales and distribution company.

Expression Entertainment is an expanded reconfiguration of Continental Media, the sales company that launched three years ago and is solely owned by real estate and music industry entrepreneur Neil Harrington.

The Los Angeles-based outfit, which soft-launched at the Efm in Berlin, will work with filmmakers to establish long-lasting relationships and will board projects at development phase where possible.

Bort and his team will guide content providers to the appropriate platform and distribution strategy, a service the executive told Screen was more vital than ever in a rapidly evolving marketplace. To this end Expression is planning to establish a Us distribution arm.

Harrington and Bort have brought on Boris Isaac as operations and development manager, while Chris Goodman will work in worldwide licensing.

Bort, who served as vice-president of sales at Cinema Management Group, commences talks with...

Exclusive: Daniel Bort heads to the Croisette with an inaugural slate as president of the rebranded boutique international sales and distribution company.

Expression Entertainment is an expanded reconfiguration of Continental Media, the sales company that launched three years ago and is solely owned by real estate and music industry entrepreneur Neil Harrington.

The Los Angeles-based outfit, which soft-launched at the Efm in Berlin, will work with filmmakers to establish long-lasting relationships and will board projects at development phase where possible. To this end Expression is planning to establish a Us distribution arm.

Bort and his team will guide content providers to the appropriate platform and distribution strategy, a service the executive told Screen was more vital than ever in a rapidly evolving marketplace.

Harrington and Bort have brought on Boris Isaac as operations and development manager, while Chris Goodman will work in worldwide licensing.

Bort, who served as vice-president of sales at Cinema Management Group, commences talks with...

The Leftovers

Liv Tyler is set to co-star with Justin Theroux in the Damon Lindelof-produced, Peter Berg-directed HBO drama pilot "The Leftovers". The story takes place after the Rapture happens and follows those people who didn’t make the cut.

Tyler plays a young woman on the verge of getting married, but needing an escape. As a result, she becomes a target for recruitment by members of an enigmatic cult. [Source: Deadline]

No Stranger Than Love

Alison Brie, Justin Chatwin and Colin Hanks have been announced as the stars of Nick Wernham's currently filming rom-com "No Stranger Than Love" from Wernham Entertainment.

Brieplays an attractive and kind high school art teacher in the small village of Spot Valley, filled with men secretly or openly in love with her. [Source: THR]

Quarry

Mary Elizabeth Winstead ("Live Free or Die Hard," "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World") has been cast in the John Hillcoat...

Production has begun in Toronto on Wernham Entertainment’s rom-com No Stranger Than Love starring Alison Brie, Justin Chatwin and Colin Hanks.

Nick Wernham directs from a screenplay by Steve Adams about an attractive high school teacher who follows her suitor down a time portal in a bid to save his life.

Paul Fler produces and Fred Roos, Richard Wernham and Simon Wernham of Wernham Entertainment serve as executive producers alongside Jeff Latimer.