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Here at Film Independent, we like our creative visions bold. We like our thinking outside-the-box. We like our filmmakers loud. That’s why we made six of them Amplifiers.

Film Independent is proud to announce and welcome the 2025 Amplifier Fellows. This cohort six of Black or African American filmmakers working as writers, directors and/or producers will each be given an unrestricted grant of $30,000, with the support of Netflix’s Fund for Creative Equity.

On top of the grants, the Amplifier Fellowship will include a twelve-month program where Fellows will receive personalized support to propel their selected projects and careers both creatively and strategically as well as customized mentorship pairings with Industry Advisors as well as a Film Independent board member.

Each Fellow will also receive professional coaching in partnership with Renee Freedman & Co, and financial and business advisement in partnership with The Jill James.

Past Amplifier Fellows include Contessa Gayles,...

The fourth annual Amplifier Fellowship from Film Independent has unveiled six Fellows receiving $180,000 in cash grants for independent film and TV series.

IndieWire exclusively announces all six, and among them is “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt” writer/director Raven Jackson for the fiction series “Scar Tissue.” Jackson made her narrative directorial debut with the 2023 Sundance feature “All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt”; the film went on to be nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award (for Best First Feature) and a Gotham Award (for Breakthrough Director) with distribution from A24.

“Reservation Dogs” writer/actor Chad Charlie; “Victim/Suspect” and “The Fire That Took Her” producer Tracy Jarrett; and J.M. Harper, who edited the Emmy-nominated Netflix docuseries “Jeen-Yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy,” are additionally among the Amplifier Fellowship grant recipients. Berlinale filmmaker Skinner Myers (“Before You Fade Away Into Nothing”) and Doc NYC “40 Under 40” participant producer Jameka Autry received grants as well.

Exclusive: Paramount’s Smile sequel is rounding out its cast with Raúl Castillo (Cassandro) and Miles Gutierrez-Riley (The Wilds). The film’s plot and character details are being kept under wraps.

The duo joins the previously announced cast: Naomi Scott, Lukas Gage, Kyle Gallner, Rosemarie DeWitt and Dylan Gelula.

Smile writer and director returns for the second installment to again direct from his own script, with Temple Hill producing. Smile 2 is currently slated for release on October 18, 2024, when it will go up against a still-unnamed title from Universal Pictures.

Going on to gross over $217M in theaters, even if it was initially set up for release on Paramount+, Smile was one of the great, unexpected box office successes of 2022. One of several original studio horror films of late to expand into a franchise, it tells the story of Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon), a psychiatrist who becomes increasingly convinced...

Exclusive: Plan B Entertainment has started a new micro budget film finance initiative to produce and finance lower cost films which will be led by newly hired Caddy Vanasirikul. The veteran film producer and acquisition and production executive will manage Plan B’s forthcoming slate in this sector.

The first film under this new initiative is Mexican filmmaker Fernando Eimbcke’s Olmo, which recently completed shooting in New Mexico under an interim agreement. Co-written with Vanesa Garnica and directed by Eimbcke, and produced with Erendira Nunez LariosEréndira Núñez Larios and Michel Franco’s Teorema, the bilingual story is about 14 year-old Olmo, who must take care of his bedridden father who has Multiple Sclerosis. But when Olmo’s goddess neighbor Nina Sandoval invites him to a party, his world is turned upside down.

Eimbcke’s feature directorial debut Temporada de patos (Duck Season) premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and won...

HBO is getting back in business with the team behind Mare of Easttown.

The premium cabler handed out a series order for new limited series with the working title Untitled Brad Ingelsby Task Force Project.

Brad Ingelsby, who brought Mare of Easttown to life, is set as executive producer and writer on the series, while I Know This Much is True's Mark Ruffalo will star and EP.

Jeremiah Zagar (We the Animals) will serve as director/executive producer.

Plot details are scarce, aside from "based on an original idea, the series follows a task force of law enforcement officers and the criminals they are trying to apprehend."

Ruffalo will play Tom, but beyond that, we're in the dark about this one.

"We are absolutely thrilled to once again join forces with Brad Ingelsby, the brilliant auteur behind 'Mare of Easttown.'"

"Brad's boundless creativity and unrivaled ability to...

HBO has ordered a new untitled limited series written and executive produced by “Mare of Easttown” creator Brad Ingelsby in association with wiip.

The series, which stars Mark Ruffalo and is directed by Jeremiah Zagar (“We the Animals”), follows a task force of law enforcement officers and the criminals they are trying to apprehend.

“We are absolutely thrilled to once again join forces with Brad Ingelsby, the brilliant auteur behind ‘Mare of Easttown.’ Brad’s boundless creativity and unrivaled ability to captivate audiences is nothing short of inspiring, and we cannot be more excited to embark on another journey together,” Executive vice president of programming and HBO Drama Series and Films head Francesca Orsi said in a statement. “When the opportunity arose to partner with Mark on another series, we all jumped at the chance to witness him once again breathe great humanity into a new role. We are also honored to collaborate with Jeremiah,...

HBO is getting back in business with Mare of Easttown creator Brad Ingelsby.

The premium cable outlet has ordered a limited series about a law enforcement task force and the criminals they’re trying to apprehend. Mark Ruffalo is set to star and will serve as an executive producer.

The series had been in the works well before the writers strike began, and casting decisions were made before then as well. No additional development has happened since the strike began in early May, and there’s no start date for production yet.

The untitled series marks a return to HBO for both Ruffalo and Ingelsby. The actor won an Emmy in 2020 for the limited series I Know This Much Is True and also starred in the outlet’s 2014 movie The Normal Heart (for which he also picked up an Emmy nomination). Ingelsby created and executive produced Mare of Easttown for HBO,...

As the WGA strike continues to unfold, one of the key issues at its center has to do with artificial intelligence. While AI may be a relatively new concern for many in Hollywood, it’s old hat to Tom Rob Smith and Joe Robert Cole, two of the executive producers behind FX’s upcoming drama “Class of ’09.” Though their new series examines the dangers of law enforcement relying too heavily on AI, Smith isn’t concerned that AI in its modern form will fully replace writers.

“I’m less worried than other people are right now on the story creation, but I could be just naive about that right now,” Smith, who previously served as an executive producer and writer for “The Assassination of Gianna Versace: American Crime Story,” told TheWrap.

“I asked AI to write lots of fairy tales for me, and I read them. They were not good,...

Exclusive: German distributor-producer Dcm, whose releases have included Spencer, Moonlight and The Artist, is teaming up with Berlin-based producer Flute Film on a film version of Édouard Louis’ acclaimed 2016 novel History Of Violence.

The autobiographical novel, translated into 30 languages, is the second by prodigious French novelist Louis. Based on a real incident, it concerns a violent rape and robbery in Paris on Christmas Eve and the subsequent recounting of events to police and family members.

The German-language film version has a script by Dan Kitrosser, best known for Sundance drama We The Animals. Igor Plischke (Metamorphosis) will direct. Liza Stutzky (System Crashers) is casting director and Saralisa Volm (Silent Forest) is associate producer.

Producers Christopher Zwickler (The Magic Flute) and Dario Suter (Kon-Tiki), who optioned the book rights, will be discussing the project with potential finance and distribution partners at next week’s EFM. Dcm will distribute in Germany and...

By now, on the eve of Oscars nominations, there are many prospective nominees that read as sure bets.

For example, given all the recognition they have received from awards bodies that include Academy voters, it would truly be a shock not to see “TÁR” star Cate Blanchett or “Everything Everywhere All at Once” star Michelle Yeoh nominated for Best Actress. Prognosticators may not be able to predict what the second half of the Best Picture nominees will be, but all feel comfortable saying “The Banshees of Inisherin” and “The Fabelmans” will get in there.

To get a better gauge on what will be nominated and likely win every category at the 95th Oscars, read IndieWire’s predictions here. However, we thought it would also be fun to anticipate some of the biggest reaches that could still come true, as far as nominations in the above the line categories go.

Best...

Bathroom stalls, showering marines and flashlights under the sheets encompass A24’s “The Inspection.” While the moving drama could catch the attention of progressive Academy members, others may find the honest subject matter too off-putting.

As Ellis French, Jeremy Pope takes the lead of Elegance Bratton’s directorial and writing debut “The Inspection,” which had its world premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Thursday. The A24 film, inspired by true events, is a showcase for Pope and full of “Oscar-clip-worthy” scenes. We’ll see how the circuit treats the film, as Pope will be battling bigger names such as Hugh Jackman and Colin Farrell for recognition.

Standing proud next to Pope is a career-best turn from Gabrielle Union as French’s mother, a homophobic prison guard that can’t accept him for who he is. She channels a bit of Mo’Nique’s Oscar-winning turn in “Precious,” and with the right backing,...

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When filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar got called to the big leagues to direct Adam Sandler in Netflix’s Hustle, he drafted a key teammate from his last film to make the leap along with him.

Noëlle Gentile, a onetime public school theater teacher in Brooklyn and upstate New York, spent months working with athletes-turned-actors Juancho Hernangomez, Anthony Edwards, Kenny Smith, Boban Marjanovic and legend Julius “Dr. J” Erving to prove their skills on and off the court. The film centers Sandler as Stanley Sugarman, a down-on-his-luck basketball scout for the Philadelphia 76ers. After discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player with a rocky past (Hernangomez), Sugarman brings the phenom to the U.S. where, against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes for the NBA.

Gentile got the shot after making her acting coach debut on his 2018 critically acclaimed indie,...

Adam Sandler really, really loves basketball, and — in his post-“Meyerowitz Stories” era — he also seems to be interested in making good movies. At the very least, he no longer seems actively opposed to the idea. With “Hustle,” those two passions come together (again) in a grounded, affecting, and immaculately made dramedy that has far more in common with “Jerry Maguire” and “The Way Back” than it does any of the other Happy Madison productions on Netflix.

If it falls a bit short of those other movies by opting for easy lay-ups over more ambitious field goals, “Hustle” still drives to the net hard enough to seem like the second coming of Madison 23 Productions, the short-lived subsidiary that Sandler created for his more serious work (and then euthanized after “Reign Over Me” and “Funny People” both flopped).

It’s also the best film that LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s...

The two sides of Adam Sandler — buffoon mogul of lowest-common-denominator comedies, gifted actor for serious filmmakers — are making an attempt to bridge the gap with the basketball saga “Hustle.”

Though it’s a Happy Madison for Netflix production (where Sandler has lucratively parked his shingle for years), it’s also an attempt to capture some of the dramatically richer, indie sensibility of his why-hasn’t-he-been-nominated-for-an-Oscar-yet turns in fare like “Uncut Gems” and “The Meyerowitz Stories.”

The result, as directed by the promising Jeremiah Zagar (“We The Animals”), is an agreeable combination drill of humor, hurt, on-court action and redemptive uplift that’s closer to simply being a solidly inspiring sports movie than anything notably representative of the Sandler oeuvre.

Also Read:

‘Hustle’: Adam Sandler Is a Struggling Basketball Scout in First Trailer for Netflix Drama (Video)

At the very least, his character is one of the more appealing smart-asses...

"Being the guy who finds the guy matters in this business!" Netflix has revealed the full official trailer for a basketball drama titled Hustle, arriving on Netflix in June for the summer season. Thankfully not another zany Sandler comedy. In this, Adam Sandler stars as a down on his luck basketball scout who discovers this once-in-a-lifetime player on the streets of Barcelona in Catalonia/Spain. He brings him to the US to join the team, but without their approval, trying to build him up so he can make it into the NBA. The main cast features Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Ainhoa Pillet, Raul Castillo, Robert Duvall, with Juancho Hernangomez as the Spanish player, a real life basketball star who currently plays for the Utah Jazz. It's directed by talented indie filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar, who made a mark at Sundance with his film We the Animals. This actually looks...

Adam Sandler brings his love of basketball to the screen in the new Netflix original film “Hustle,” a trailer for which was released by Netflix on Tuesday morning.

In the film, Sandler plays Stanley Sugarman, a travel weary scout for the Philadelphia 76ers who dreams of being a coach himself one day but is stuck on the road searching for unknown talent. His search takes him to Spain where he discovers Bo Cruz (NBA player Juancho Hernangómez), an incredible streetball player with a troubled past. Together, Sugarman and Cruz aim to prove that underdogs can come out on top.

The inspirational drama is directed by Jeremiah Zagar (“We the Animals”) with a screenplay by Taylor Materne (“NBA 2K20”) and Will Fetters (“A Star Is Born”).

Netflix will release “Hustle” on the streaming service on June 8, 2022. You can watch the trailer in the player above.

Sandler stars alongside Queen Latifah, Juancho Hernangómez,...

“Ozark” fans, rejoice. The Jason Bateman and Julia Garner-starring drama series is returning to Netflix in April with a second part to its fourth season — and it’s just one of many other hotly anticipated titles coming to the streamer this month.

April will also see the long-awaited sophomore installment to “Russian Doll,” the mind-bending “Groundhog Day”-esque dramedy series starring Natasha Lyonne as a hard-partying New York City woman stuck in a brain-melting circuitous loop from hell.

For fans of capital-m mess, there’s the Spanish-language “Elite,” which traces the scandalous (and often murderous) exploits of the posh attendees of high school Las Encinas. Or, if you prefer your glamorous mess via reality series, “Selling Sunset” — about the lux real estate market in Los Angeles — is premiering its fifth season April 22.

In notable films, there’s the Judd Apatow-helmed “The Bubble,” a spoof loosely inspired by the...

A list of new streaming releases on Netflix, what a concept!

Netflix’s list of new releases for April 2022 is highlighted by the return of one of the great sci-fi comedies ever. Natasha Lyonne is set to return as the temporally displaced Nadia on Russian Doll season 2 on April 20. The first season of the show premiered in 2019 and appeared to tell a rather complete story about one Brooklyn woman’s experiences of dying over and over again. But Lyonne and fellow producers Leslye Headland and Amy Poehler still have some story to tell. Netflix is undoubtedly very happy to let them continue to tell it.

Read more TV Russian Doll, The Good Place, And How Fun TV Got Dark and Insightful By Amanda Keats TV Russian Doll: Natasha Lyonne’s Most Underappreciated Roles By Rosie Fletcher and 1 other

Another major series of note this month is the final batch of episodes for Ozark.

With Murder Mystery 2 now filming, Adam Sandler is brilliantly still letting Netflix pay for his on-location vacations, but in a post-Uncut Gems world the star is also branching out a bit. This summer he’ll be seen in a Hustle, a new drama from director Jeremiah Zagar, whose latest film, the Sundance winner We the Animals, was released in 2018 and led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations.

The script by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters follows an American basketball scout (Sandler) who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. The scout decides to bring the player to America to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA. Ahead of a June 10 release from Netflix, the first teaser has now arrived for the film also starring Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Juancho Hernangómez, Ainhoa Pillet, Raul Castillo, Jordan Elizabeth Hull, Maria Botto,...

Netflix released a teaser trailer for Adam Sandler’s basketball movie “Hustle,” premiering on the streamer on June 10.

Produced by LeBron James, the film follows a washed up basketball scout (Sandler) as he discovers a star athlete (Juancho Hernangómez) with a rocky past on the street ball courts of Spain. Back in the U.S., the pair struggle against all odds to prove that they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

“Hustle” also stars Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Ainhoa Pillet, Raul Castillo, Jordan Elizabeth Hull, Maria Botto, Heidi Gardner and Robert Duvall. Hernangómez, a Spanish-born NBA player on the Utah Jazz, makes his acting debut.

“We the Animals” director Jeremiah Zagar helms, while Taylor Materne and Will Fetters wrote the script.

Producers include Sandler and Allen Covert through Happy Madison Productions; Joe Roth, Zack Roth and Jeffrey Kirschenbaum through Roth/Kirschenbaum Films; and James...

"I love this game, I Live this game! There's a thousand other guys waiting in the wings who are obsessed with this game." Netflix has unveiled a teaser trailer for a new basketball drama titled Hustle, arriving on Netflix this June during the summer. This is the next film directed by talented indie filmmaker Jeremiah Zagar, who made a mark at Sundance with his film We the Animals. In this one, Adam Sandler stars as a down on his luck basketball scout who discovers this once-in-a-lifetime player on the streets of Barcelona in Catalonia/Spain. He brings him to the US to join the team, but without their approval, trying to build him up so he can make it into the NBA. The ensemble cast has Queen Latifah, Ben Foster, Kenny Smith, Ainhoa Pillet, Raul Castillo, and Robert Duvall. Plus Juancho Hernangomez as the Spanish player, a real life basketball...

FX’s upcoming limited series “Class of ’09” has added Sepideh Moafi, Brian J. Smith, Jon Jon Briones, Brooke Smith, Jake McDorman, Rosalind Eleazar and Raúl Castillo to the cast. Additionally, Sunu Gonera is set to direct the first two episodes.

The eight-episode series is a suspense thriller that spans three decades and is told across three distinct but interweaving timelines in order to examine the nature of justice, humanity and the choices people make that define their lives and legacy. One of these timelines will be the near future when the U.S. criminal justice system has been transformed by artificial intelligence.

The show follows a class of FBI agents, including previously announced stars Kate Mara as Poet, a woman who never thought she’d join the world of law enforcement and yet is at the center of a pivotal moment of transformation, and Brian Tyree Henry as Tayo,...

Exclusive: Gravitas Ventures has acquired North American rights to iGilbert, the feature directorial debut of actor Adrian Martinez, in which he also stars alongside Dascha Polanco and Raùl Castillo. The indie distributor will release the drama in theaters and on demand on December 31.

iGilbert centers on Gilbert Gonzalez (Martinez), who feels isolated from the world. He is 39, a virgin, obese and lives with his sarcastic, overprotective mother, who owns the Manhattan brownstone. Fearful of life and people, yet starving for human connection, Gilbert takes photos of women secretly, wherever and whenever he can. Enter Jana (Polanco), a tenant in the building and the source of innumerable fantasies.

Jana is a contradiction – beautiful but haunted by her own insecurities that inhibit her from standing up to her ex-boyfriend Tony (Castillo), an Iraq war vet with Ptsd.

Adam Sandler’s next Netflix original movie is “Hustle,” a basketball comedy that pairs the actor with acclaimed “We the Animals” helmer Jeremiah Zagar. The film casts Sandler as a basketball recruiter who travels overseas to try and convince an international basketball star to come to the U.S. and play in the NBA. During a recent appearance on “The Dan Patrick Show,” Sandler revealed that Netflix altered the movie’s original concept that saw his character traveling to China to find a basketball star.

“It was written originally that I find a player in China and somehow, Netflix is not in China,” Sandler said. “So they were like, ‘Would you guys please make it so we find someone in Latin America or Europe?’ So the next thing you know, I’m in Majorca [Spain]…[but] it was originally, ‘Find a player in China.’”

Netflix does not operate in China, thus it...

The Dakota Johnson indie “Cha Cha Real Smooth” has added seven stars to its supporting cast, as production kicks off Thursday in Pittsburgh.

Leslie Mann, Brad Garrett, Raúl Castillo, Odeya Rush, Vanessa Burghardt, Evan Assante and Colton Osorio have all joined the film project from writer-director-star Cooper Raiff.

“Cha Cha Real Smooth” follows a directionless college grad embarking on a relationship with a young mom and her teenage daughter, all while learning the boundaries of his new gig as a bar mitzvah hype man. Erik Feig’s Picturestart, Endeavor Content, and Johnson and Ro Donnelly’s TeaTime Pictures are producing. Financing is from Picturestart and Endeavor Content, and the latter is co-repping worldwide distribution rights with ICM Partners.

The feature comes on the heels of Raiff’s debut “Shithouse,” which won the 2020 SXSW Grand Jury Prize.

“We are thrilled to begin production on this heartwarming, heartbreaking, heart-pumping and unique film of Cooper Raiff’s,...

Following his breakout film, the affecting character study This is Martin Bonner, and his follow-up, the vibrant fish out of water tale Morris In America, director Chad Hartigan had a prescient, ambitious vision for his next feature. Set during a global pandemic in which a growing portion of the population is affiliated with memory loss, Little Fish tenderly follows the relationship between a couple (Olivia Cooke and Jack O’Connell) as they must face this scary new world and the personal strife they are forced to reckon with. As Hartigan elegantly jumps between the past and the present to show all facets of the bond at the film’s center, he contends with the universal fear of having those closest to you drift away.

Written by Mattson Tomlin, based on Aja Gabel’s short story, the logline of tackling a global pandemic may seem it could be conveyed with immense scope,...

Alex Marzano-Lesnevich’s memoir The Fact Of A Body is heading for the small screen after HBO put an adaptation in development.

Jeremiah Zagar, whose film We The Animals premiered at Sundance in 2018, is co-writing and directing the limited series adaptation.

The series is centered around a young lawyer, whose opposition to the death penalty is shaken when she’s assigned the case of a child murderer whose complicated life story parallels the long-suppressed trauma of her past.

The book won a slew of awards when it was published by Macmillan in 2018 including the Lambda Literary Award, the Chautauqua Prize, the Grand Prix des Lectrices Elle, the Prix des libraires du Quebec, and the Prix France Inter-jdd.

It tells the story of a Ricky Langley, a pedophile and child murderer in Louisiana, who killed and likely molested a six-year-old boy in 1992, and Marzano-Lesnevich, who as a 25-year old intern at...

1091 Pictures and the technology platform Streamwise have hired Greg Scott, a former marketing executive with both Netflix and HBO, as its SVP of marketing.

Scott will oversee and lead all marketing efforts for the new technology startup Streamwise while holding a dual role as the marketing head for the distribution label behind films like “We the Animals,” “The Hero” and “Hunt for the Wilderpeople.”

Scott joins Streamwise and 1091 Pictures from Netflix’s global creative marketing team, where he led the development and launch of marketing campaigns for series such as “13 Reasons Why,” “The Haunting of Hill House” and “Mindhunter” over the last four years.

Prior to Netflix, Scott served as the director of consumer marketing and marketing strategy at HBO, playing a key role in the development and implementation of marketing plans for HBO Originals both domestically and internationally, including shows such as “Game of Thrones,” “True Blood,...

It’s a new era for Adam Sandler. Following up his highly acclaimed performance in last year’s Uncut Gems, the actor is returning to dramatic work in an upcoming film based on the novel The Spaceman of Bohemia by Jarsolav Kalfar.

Directed by Johan Renck, Sandler will play an astronaut who is on a mission to collect ancient dust. When his personal life begins to fall apart, he seeks out the advice of a creature on the ship, Deadline reports. See the Amazon synopsis of the novel below.

Orphaned as a boy, raised in the Czech countryside by his doting grandparents, Jakub Prochv°zka has risen from small-time scientist to become the country’s first astronaut. When a dangerous solo mission to Venus offers him both the chance at heroism he’s dreamt of, and a way to atone for his father’s sins as a Communist informer, he...

Queen Latifah, Robert Duvall and Ben Foster are set to join the cast of “Hustle,” a basketball film set up at Netflix that stars Adam Sandler and is being produced by LeBron James’ SpringHill Company, an individual with knowledge of the project told TheWrap.

Also joining “Hustle” are NBA player Juancho Hernangomez, Jordan Hull, Maria Botto, Ainhoa Pillet and sports commentator Kenny Smith in the film that’s directed by Jeremiah Zagar (“We the Animals”).

“Hustle” stars Sandler as a down-on-his-luck basketball scout who discovers a once-in-a-lifetime player and tries to bring him to the States without his team’s approval. Against the odds, they have one final shot to prove they have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Oscar nominee Will Fetters wrote the screenplay for “Hustle” alongside Taylor Materne.

Sandler’s Happy Madison and James’ SpringHill are producing the film with Roth/Kirschenbaum Films.

Sandler’s...

Sundance Institute has today announced the 11 artists selected for its first-ever Women at Sundance | Adobe Fellowship, “designed to meaningfully support women artists creating bold new work in film and media, with a priority on filmmakers from historically underrepresented communities.” The brand-new fellowship includes a $5,000 cash grant, skill-building workshops, and year-round mentorship from Sundance Institute staff and Adobe executives. Fellows were selected by Adobe from Sundance Institute’s community of supported artists across program disciplines.

Earlier this summer, Sundance announced a series of layoffs and consolidations in reaction to the financial hits endured during the pandemic. While the organization announced it would be restructuring some of its labs and associated programs, the creation of a brand-new fellowship is especially exciting.

Last month, the organization also announced its latest group of 10 young filmmakers selected for the yearlong Sundance Ignite x Adobe fellowship, of which Adobe is also a founding supporter.

Beginning this summer,...

“The Florida Project” excelled at showing how a child’s imagination can provide the mental armor necessary to endure impoverished circumstances, but it never had a monopoly on the concept. “Los Lobos,” the bittersweet new feature from director Samuel Kishi, plays like a thematic variation on the same beguiling premise in the context of the American immigrant experience. The result is .

That means eight-year-old Max (Maximiliano Nájar Márquez) and five-year-old Leo (Leonardo Nájar Márquez) guide the story through a series of drab environments using the only tools at their disposal. Promised by single mom Lucía (Martha Reyes Arias) that their move from Mexico to Albuquerque will result in a trip to Disneyland, they instead find themselves locked in a squalid apartment all day while she juggles a pair of low-income jobs. The line she feeds her Spanish-speaking children to get them hyped — “I want to go Disney!” — embodies the tragicomic...

Netflix, fresh on the heels of grabbing a new project from Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt, Ball and Chain last week, have found another new star vehicle, this time for Adam Sandler. Sandler will star in Hustle, directed by We the Animals director, Jeremiah Zagar. The project will be produced by LeBron James via SpringHill Entertainment, with James' producing partner, Maverick Carter.

In a storyline that sounds something like Jerry Maguire, Adam Sandler is a basketball scout who is fired, but goes on to discover a rising star hooper overseas. Sandler's character brings his find back to the U.S. to show that they both should be NBA 'stars'. Legendary originally bought the pitch from Materne, Roth/Kirshenbaum and SpringHill in 2018. Netflix acquired the rights from Legendary and pitched it to Sandler. Taylor Materne and Will Fetters wrote the script, which they had to polish-up after Netflix landed Sandler in the starring role.

With so many digital outlets vying for our attention, it seems we’re never too far away from the next streaming sensation.

In 2020 alone, we’ve had season 2 of Sex Education, the so-bizarre-you-must-see-it-with-your-own-eyes Tiger King and, more recently, The Last Dance, the definitive new docuseries on the rise and rise of Michael Jordan.

Even if you’re not a basketball fan, it’s an incredible account of Jordan and the Chicago Bulls, and has since earned rave reviews across the board. And so, hoping to strike while the iron is still piping hot, Netflix is moving forward with a basketball-themed feature film entitled Hustle.

Per Collider, Adam Sandler will headline the new drama, which has the backing of producer and all-around NBA superstar LeBron James. The logline reads as so:

The story follows an American basketball scout (Sandler) who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. The scout...

“If I don’t get it, I’m going to f—ing come back and do one again that is so bad on purpose just to make you all pay,” Adam Sandler said last year, speaking of hopeful Oscar glory with Uncut Gems and what the consequence may be if he was left out of the conversation. Well, he didn’t get a deserved nomination, however his next project still holds some strong promise.

Sandler will star in Hustle, a new drama from director Jeremiah Zagar, whose latest film, the Sundance winner We the Animals, was released in 2018 and led the Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations. Set up at Netflix, the script by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters follows an American basketball scout (Sandler) who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. The scout decides to bring the player to America to prove that they both have what...

Adam Sandler and Netflix have found their next project, with indie breakout director Jeremiah Zagar at the helm. As announced by Netflix on Monday, “Hustle” will unite Sandler with the “We the Animals” filmmaker, with a script from Taylor Materne and Will Fetters, who was a screenwriter on 2018’s “A Star Is Born.” IndieWire has reached out to Netflix, which has confirmed that “Hustle” will be a comedy.

The film stars Sandler as an American basketball scout who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad, the scout decides to bring him to the States to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA. The film is the latest entry in Sandler’s ongoing pact with Netflix, both in front of and behind the camera, which has yielded such comedies as “Murder Mystery,” “The Ridiculous 6,” “The Do-Over,” and more, as well as...

Netflix and Adam Sandler have found their next film.

Sources tell Variety that Sandler will star in “Hustle” from “We the Animals” director Jeremiah Zagar.

Taylor Materne and Will Fetters penned the script. Sandler’s Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, and LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment are producing the pic.

Sandler plays an American basketball scout who, after being unjustly fired, discovers a talented player abroad and decides to bring him to the U.S. to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Legendary originally landed the pitch from Materne, Roth/Kirschenbaum and Springhill in 2018. Netflix acquired the rights from Legendary and quickly pitched it to Sandler as a starring vehicle. Fetters did a polish on the script. Zagar’s recent attachment led Sandler to sign on, putting the film in prime position as his next movie. It is still...

Adam Sandler is set to star in Hustle, a basketball-themed Netflix movie involving the NBA that hails from producer LeBron James, Collider has learned. Jeremiah Zagar, who helmed the acclaimed indie drama We the Animals, will direct from a script by Taylor Materne and Will Fetters that Netflix acquired out of turnaround from Legendary. James and Maverick Carter are set to produce under their Springhill Entertainment banner along with Joe Roth, Jeff Kirschenbaum and Zack Roth of Roth/Kirschenbaum Films, as well as Sandler and his Happy Madison banner. Jamal Henderson and Spencer Beighley of Springhill will serve as …...

Adam Sandler is set to star in the Netflix film Hustle, with We the Animals director Jeremiah Zagar on board to helm and NBA superstar LeBron James set to produce.

In the drama, Sandler will play an American basketball scout who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. He then decides to bring the player to the U.S. to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Taylor Materne and Will Fetters penned the script. Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films and James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment will produce the pic.

The latest ...

Adam Sandler is set to star in the Netflix film Hustle, with We the Animals director Jeremiah Zagar on board to helm and NBA superstar LeBron James set to produce.

In the drama, Sandler will play an American basketball scout who is unjustly fired after discovering a once-in-a-lifetime player abroad. He then decides to bring the player to the U.S. to prove that they both have what it takes to make it in the NBA.

Taylor Materne and Will Fetters penned the script. Happy Madison, Roth/Kirschenbaum Films and James and Maverick Carter’s SpringHill Entertainment will produce the pic.

The latest ...

The 2020 Film Independent Spirit Awards is set to honor the best in independent cinema, from Oscar contenders like Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” to beloved indie darlings such as Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell,” the Safdie brothers’ “Uncut Gems,” Robert Eggers’ “The Lighthouse,” and Joe Talbot’s “The Last Black Man in San Francisco.” A24 leads all studios at the Indie Spirit Awards this year with 18 nominations, which differs from tomorrow’s Academy Awards where Netflix is the most-nominated studio. The Spirit Awards have become known over the last decade for showcasing nominees that are a mix of underdog films and higher-profile awards contenders, and the 2020 ceremony will be no exception. The Spirit Awards are a welcome opportunity for great films overlooked by the Oscars to have a moment in the awards season spotlight.

This year’s Indie Spirit Award nominees for Best Picture include only one movie that landed...

Exclusive: Jorge Lendeborg Jr. is starring in the Adam Randall-directed Night Teeth, the Netflix thriller film that is just getting underway in New Orleans. He stars with Debby Ryan (Insatiable) Lucy Fry (Bright), Alfie Allen and Raúl Castillo.

Scripted by Brent Dillon (Black Tide Beach), the youth-driven thriller with a genre twist focuses on one evening in L.A. Lendeborg Jr (Bumble Bee and Spider-Man: Homecoming) stars as a young chauffeur who drives two beautiful young women to five different parties and finds himself fighting for his life after he discovers they’re not who they claim to be. This is a film about three young people stuck together for the night. Within the confines of this vehicle, it’s the changing relationships; the suspicion, attraction and threat are all part of it.

The film is produced...

The International Documentary Association (Ida) will present awards to its honorees for the 35th Annual Ida Documentary Awards at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 7. The Ida 2019 Shortlists for Best Feature and Best Short categories will be announced on Thursday, October 10.

This year, the Ida will give the Career Achievement Award to Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock; the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award to Emmy nominee Rachel Lears; and the Amicus Award to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which provides pro bono legal representation and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the news-gathering rights of journalists.

Additionally, the Pioneer Award will go to New York’s film foundation and production company Cinereach, which since 2006 has developed, produced, co-produced, and/or financed over 15 films including “Shirkers,” “We The Animals,” “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” “Sorry to Bother You,” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild,...

The International Documentary Association (Ida) will present awards to its honorees for the 35th Annual Ida Documentary Awards at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 7. The Ida 2019 Shortlists for Best Feature and Best Short categories will be announced on Thursday, October 10.

This year, the Ida will give the Career Achievement Award to Oscar and Emmy-winning filmmaker Freida Lee Mock; the Emerging Documentary Filmmaker Award to Emmy nominee Rachel Lears; and the Amicus Award to Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, which provides pro bono legal representation and other legal resources to protect First Amendment freedoms and the news-gathering rights of journalists.

Additionally, the Pioneer Award will go to New York’s film foundation and production company Cinereach, which since 2006 has developed, produced, co-produced, and/or financed over 15 films including “Shirkers,” “We The Animals,” “Matangi/Maya/M.I.A.,” “Sorry to Bother You,” and “Beasts of the Southern Wild,...

Exclusive: Production gets underway next week in the U.S. on feature drama A Mouthful Of Air, starring Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia!), Finn Wittrock (American Horror Story), Amy Irving (Yentl), Jennifer Carpenter (Dexter) and Paul Giamatti (Sideways).

Written and directed by Amy Koppelman (I Smile Back) and based on Koppelman’s novel of the same name, the script is a character piece examining the relationship between the creative process and mental illness. Seyfried will star as Julie, a new mom and children’s book author, who escapes into the bright Crayola colored world of her creation in order to leave behind the darkness caused by her post partum depression.

Wittrock will play Ethan, Julie’s husband. Irving will play Julie’s mother, Carpenter will play her sister in law and Giamatti will play her doctor.

The film is being produced by Mike Harrop, Koppelman, Seyfried, Lee Cohen MD and Maven Pictures...

In a shuffling of the publicity decks just as the awards season is about to get underway in a few weeks, two PR vets are on the move.

Longtime Screen Actors Guild Awards publicity chief Rosalind Jarrett Sepulveda has decided to leave her post after 20 years in the job, and a 50 year career in the entertainment industry. Publicity Director Tarrah Curtis will now take over day to day management as the new Executive In charge of Publicity for the SAG Awards. Jarrett retires to emeritus status.

“It’s been quite the ride at SAG Awards. I came aboard in 1999 when we were still the little awards show that could and am proud to have played a part in our growth to one of the premier events of the awards season,” Jarrett Sepulveda says in a letter to colleagues announcing the changes. “As we celebrated this year’s 25th anniversary, I...

Zack Snyder has officially begun filming Army of the Dead, his upcoming zombie heist movie for Netflix. The streaming service has also announced the full cast for the project, which already included Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers: Endgame star Dave Bautista. Garret Dillahunt, Chris D'Elia and more will be getting in on the zombie mayhem alongside Bautista in what could be the most exciting thing Snyder has done in a very long time.

Netflix has managed to turn this into quite the ensemble piece. Newly announced cast members include Omari Hardwick (Sorry to Bother You), Chris D'Elia (Man on Fire), Hiroyuki Sanada (Avengers: Endgame), Garret Dillahunt (No Country For Old Men) , Matthias Schweighofer (You Are Wanted), Raul Castillo (We The Animals), Nora Arnezeder (Mozart in the Jungle), Samantha Win (Justice League) and Rich Cetrone (Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice). In addition to Dave Bautista, they join the likes...

The Disney live-action feature has held the number one position for four weeks.

Today’s Gbp to Usd conversion rate: 1.26

RankFilm (Distributor)Three-day gross (June 14-June 16)Total gross to date Week 1 Aladdin (Disney) £2.9m £30.4m 4 2 Men In Black: International (Sony Pictures) £2.8m £2.8m 1 3 Rocketman (Paramount) £1.6m £19.3m 4 4 The Secret Life Of Pets 2 (Universal) £1.5m £16.9m 4 5 X-Men: Dark Phoenix (20th Century Fox) £1m £5.9m 2 Disney

Live-action remake Aladdin held off the challenge of Men In Black: International to take the top spot for the fourth weekend in a row, with a £2.9m Friday-Sunday.

This marks the longest run at the top...

Following his acclaimed debut drama Spa Night, director Andrew Ahn has expanded his circle of collaboration on his newest film Driveways, including: James Schamus, Hannah Bos, Paul Thureen, Avy Kaufman, Ki Jin Kim, Hong Chau, Brian Dennehy, and Christine Ebersole. With Driveways, Ahn is poised to grow his audience beyond industry admirers to include audiences who long for soulful filmmaking.

Driveways debuted in February at the Berlin International Film Festival where it was nominated for Best Feature Film Teddy Award. Written by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, Ahn directs Hong Chau as Kathy, a woman who learns her late sister was a pack rat when cleaning out her home. While Kathy cleans and works remotely as a medical transcriptionist, her eight-year-old son Cody (Lucas Jaye) befriends Del (Brian Dennehy), a retired man who lives next door and watches each day pass from the loneliness of his empty home.

Ahn’s...

A gritty Los Angeles crime drama that (very) slowly becomes a kind of “Batman in the barrio,” Ben Hernandez Bray’s “El Chicano” seldom amounts to anything more than a crude prototype for the kind of Latinx-driven superhero movies that Marvel and DC should already be making by now. Maybe, if Hollywood didn’t so consistently underrepresent the country’s most significant audience of non-white moviegoers, Bray would have been able to scrounge up more than $7 million for his chintzy-looking debut. Maybe, if backwards industry logic didn’t require people of color to substantiate their own existence, this cheesy (but ultra-violent) vigilante saga might’ve been more than a proof-of-concept for an idea that never should have needed one in the first place (Bray and producer Joe Carnahan were forced to finance the film with Canadian oil money after local investors large and small balked at the idea of an all-Latinx cast).

As it stands,...