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David Barber has been elected president of the Motion Picture Sound Editors for a four-year term. He takes over for termed-out Mpse leader Mark Lanza.

Elsewhere, the group re-elected Miguel Araujo was as Secretary, and Eric Marks was appointed to fill Barber’s previous post as Vice President until the next board election in October. Timothy Muirhead and Brian Armstrong were elected as general board members, joining returning members Lanza, Eric Marks, Stuart Morton, Baylon Fonseca, Christina Horgan, Korey Pereira and Kevin Howard.

Barber is a supervising sound editor and re-recording mixer with more than 200-plus film and TV credits spanning nearly two decades. He is a three-time Mpse Golden Reel Award winner, most recently for his work on In Search of Fellini and The Duel. He’s been nominated for Golden Reels 15 other times since 2013.

“Stepping into Mark’s shoes presents a considerable challenge given his exceptional leadership through the trying times of Covid,...

Production has wrapped on Txl Films’ “Nomad,” featuring Leo Woodall, breakout star of HBO’s Emmy-winning series “The White Lotus,” and Sana’a Shaik (“2067”).

The film tells the story of a mysterious loner (Woodall) with a bizarre condition that takes him inexplicably to the ends of the earth. When he crosses paths with a stifled city girl (Shaik), they are plunged into a fight for survival that takes them across every continent.

“Nomad” is from writer-director Taron Lexton, known for “In Search of Fellini” (2017). The film is unique in that it is one of the few films that shot across all seven continents, like Jacques Perrin, Jacques Cluzaud and Michel Debats’ Oscar nominated documentary “Winged Migration” (2001).

Lexton filmed “Nomad” entirely on location across 26 countries, with its two lead actors and a traveling crew of just eight. The project was filmed in Imax on Arri cameras and lenses with no green screen,...

Motion Sound Picture Sound Editors Re-election Mark Lanza

The Motion Sound Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) announced the reelection of Mark Lanza to a two-year term as president, with David Barber elected to a two-year term as secretary — which he held on an interim basis for the past year.

Lanza and Barber will join continuing board officers Steve Urban, Jeremy Gordon and Christopher Reeves.

“I am proud to be an Mpse member and grateful to my fellow members for entrusting me with another term as president,” said Lanza.

Lanza’s previous sound work includes “Glory,” an Academy award-winner for best sound, “Born on the Fourth of July” and “JFK,” both of which received Oscar nominations for sound.

Barber’s previous work as a sound editor and re-recording mixer includes being a three-time winner of Mpse Golden Reel awards, most recently in 2018 for “In Search of Fellini.”

Mpse’s 69th annual Golden...

Exclusive: The Simpsons’ Nancy Cartwright is launching TV and film production co-venture CRE84U Entertainment with producing partner Monica Gil-Rodriguez, and Jaime and Carolina Aymerich.

Emmy winner Cartwright, the voice of Bart Simpson and other characters in The Simpsons for more than 30 years as well as characters in hit kids shows such as Rugrats and Kim Possible, is teaming with her Spotted Cow Entertainment partner Gil-Rodriguez on the new development and production firm which will look to acquire established IP from around the world and produce them for the American market alongside U.S. content creators.

The LA-based outfit has amassed twelve projects at launch, including U.S. rights to an Untitled Mark Brazill Project which has the co-creator of That 70s Show at the helm, and a live action musical series on which they have partnered with José “Pepe” Bastón, former President and current board member of Latin America media giant Televisa.

Nancy Cartwright has spent more than three decades immersed in the world of “The Simpsons” — first with “The Tracey Ullman Show” shorts, and then with the spinoff to its own franchise in 1989, as the voice of forever-10-year-old prankster Bart Simpson and a gaggle of other supporting characters. But it took Cartwright co-writing the 2017 independent film “In Search of Fellini,” which was loosely based on her own life, for the actress to consider penning an episode of the animated series.

“I never saw myself as a writer on the show, to be honest with you,” Cartwright tells Variety. “I wrote a book in 2000, [‘My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy,’] but that was a memoir. To me, that was so easy to do, because that was my life. It’s not the same thing, with the structure of a three-act sitcom.”

But with “Fellini” under her belt, Cartwright decided to take the leap,...

Exclusive: Ksenia Solo, whose credits include the Syfy series Lost Girl and AMC’s Turn: Washington’s Spies, has been set as the lead in Sweet Harmony, an indie psychological thriller to be directed by Jeff Beesley. Shooting is set to start this summer in Winnipeg.

The script from Kerry Douglas Dye is mostly under wraps, but the story takes place in a rent-controlled New York apartment building in a gentrifying neighborhood that has gone condo. Conflict arises between the newer upscale residents and one of the original tenants. Scary Good Films’ Kevin Niu and Shane Snoke are producing, and Lynwood Spinks and Casey Wolfe are executive producers.

Solo, whose credits also include Orphan Black, recently starred in Tulipani: Love, Honour, and a Bicycle for director Mike Van Diem, which premiered at Toronto, and In Search of Fellini opposite Maria Bello. Up next is a starring role in Robert Zemeckis’ Blue Book,...

Michael Harney (Orange is the New Black) and Ksenia Solo (Turn: Washington’s Spies, In Search of Fellini) have joined the series regular cast of History's scripted drama series Blue Book, executive produced by Oscar winner Robert Zemeckis. Created and written on spec by David O'Leary, the 10-episode Blue Book chronicles the true top secret U.S. Air Force-sponsored investigations into UFO-related phenomena in the 1950s and '60s, known as "Project Blue Book." The series…...

In Search of Fellini...

An idealized coming-of-age memoir in which a young woman's disability-grade innocence doesn't keep her from making the most of a solo sojourn across Italy, Taron Lexton's In Search of Fellini speaks to and for women raised on cinematic fairy tales. Inspired by the experiences of The Simpsons star Nancy Cartwright, who before creating the voice of Bart went off hunting the auteur of La Dolce Vita, it marks the thesp's first screenplay (co-written by another newbie, Peter Kjenaas). But however much its sentimentalized innocence stretches credulity, the overall production remains polished, and young dreamers who come across it in limited...

Sneak Peek footage, plus images from the new adventure drama "In Search Of Fellini", directed by Taron Lexton, starring Maria Bello, Ksenia Solo, and Mary Lynn Rajskub, opening September 15, 2017:

"...a shy small-town Ohio girl who loves movies but dislikes reality, discovers the delightfully bizarre films of 'Federico Fellini' and sets off on a strange, beautiful journey across Italy to find him..."

Federico Fellini was an Italian film director, screenwriter noted for his distinct style "...that blends fantasy and baroque images with earthiness..."

In a career spanning almost fifty years, Fellini won the 'Palme d'Or' for the feature "La Dolce Vita", was nominated for twelve Academy Awards, and directed four motion pictures that won Oscars in the category of 'Best Foreign Language Film'. In 1993, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for Lifetime Achievement.

Besides "La Dolce Vita" and "8½", his other well-known films include "La Strada", "Nights of Cabiria...

It’s been a big year for “The Simpsons,” but an even bigger one for the voice of Bart Simpson.

Bart, Homer and the rest of the family first appeared on “The Tracey Ullman Show” 30 years ago, and the series is about to break another record with the most episodes of any scripted series in history (surpassing “Gunsmoke”).

Nancy Cartwright has also hit personal milestones, including her second Emmy nomination for voicing Bart Simpson. But over the course of the past year, she also became a grandmother – and a first-time filmmaker.

“The Simpsons” has already been picked up for Seasons 29 and 30, guaranteeing Cartwright’s role as Bart until at least 2019 – and likely beyond. “Look what we’ve done. It’s unbelievable. It’s unfathomable,” she recently told IndieWire. “At 10 years they were saying, ‘Did you have any idea?’ and then 20 years, ‘Did you know?’ And now, another decade has gone...

"This is your life - what do you want to do?" Ambi Media Group and Spotted Cow Entertainment debuted an official trailer for an indie coming-of-age film called In Search of Fellini, which is indeed about a young woman's search for Fellini. Ksenia Solo stars as a shy small-town Ohio girl who discovers Federico Fellini's "delightfully bizarre films" (see IMDb) and sets off on a journey across Italy to find him. Along the way, she discovers herself and romance and tasty Italian candy and much more. The cast includes Maria Bello, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Beth Riesgraf, Andrea Osvárt, and David O'Donnell. This looks quite adorable, and cute, very much a film-lovers adventure, though it does seem a bit cliche with its story. Enjoy. Here's the first official trailer (+ poster) for Taron Lexton's In Search of Fellini, direct from YouTube: In this coming-of-age adventure, Lucy (Ksenia Solo), a shy...

Actress Maria Bello will be honored at the 12th annual L.A. Italia Film Fest with the fest’s Excellence Award in recognition of her long acting career and work as a human rights activist.

The world premiere of Bello’s new film, Ambi's In Search of Fellini, will close out the festival. The coming-of-age-drama directed by Taron Lexton is about a small-town Ohio girl who after discovering the films of Federico Fellini, sets off on a bizarre journey across Italy to find him. Ksenia Solo and Mary Lynn Rajskub also star.

Nancy Cartwright, most famously the voice of Bart Simpson, penned the script, based...

Exclusive: Nancy Cartwright’s company has come on to produce and co-finance the comedy, which Myriad Pictures is selling worldwide.

Production is scheduled to kick off this summer in Toronto on the tale of a high school student struggling to take care of her family after her mother’s death.

When a freak occurrence grants her her wish of becoming part of her neighbour’s seemingly ideal family she learns things don’t turn out the way she had hoped they would.

Bailee Madison (pictured) will star and Myriad chief Kirk D’Amico makes his feature directorial debut from a screenplay by Holly Goldberg Sloan.

Freeform, part of the Disney|ABC Television Group, holds Us television rights and will broadcast Different Folks (working title) in the holiday season later this year.

Spotted Cow Entertainment’s Cartwright will produce with D’Amico and JoBro Productions’ Jonathan Bronfman and Jay Deverett.

Peter Kjenaas, Monica Gil and [link...

Plus: FilmBuff take world rights on Thank You For Playing; Arlcight sells Dog Eat Dog; Nancy Cartwright launches Spotted Cow

Magnolia’s genre arm made the The Eyes Of My Mother deal after Nicolas Pesce’s directorial debut premiered in Sundance. The film stars Kika Magalhaes as a sheltered young woman whose dark desires are awakened by a family tragedy. Magnolia International has added the title to its Efm sales slate after Magnolia brokered the deal with UTA Independent Film Group.

FilmBuff has picked up the documentary Thank You For Playing, which follows independent video game developer Ryan Green during the creation of his acclaimed game That Dragon, Cancer based on his youngest son’s battle with terminal cancer.The game was officially released in January. Thank You For Playing will be released in select theatres nationwide on March 18 followed by VOD platforms starting on March 29. The documentary was an official selection of Tribeca, Idfa, and the...

Exclusive: On the eve of the Efm, Ambi Distribution led by Julie Sultan has secured worldwide rights to the coming-of-age adventure starring Maria Bello.

The film is based on a screenplay by Nancy Cartwright, who famously voices Bart Simpson in The Simpsons, and Peter Kjenaas.

Taron Lexton directs In Search Of Fellini, about a sheltered 20-year-old who becomes obsessed with meeting Federico Fellini after she watches his 1954 classic La Strada at a film festival while on a job interview in Ohio.

Ksenia Solo from Orphan Black plays the lead in the Spotted Cow Studio production. Bello is cast as her mother, who hides a terminal illness, and Mary Lynn Rajskub (24, Julie & Julia) is the no-nonsense neighbour who urges Bello’s character to reveal her condition.

Kjenaas and Lexton produce alongside Nathan Lorch, Milena Ferreira, Monica Padro, and Michael Doven of United Pictures Group.

Executive producers are Cartwright, Kevin Burke, and Ambi Group co-founders Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi...