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In June, two former Pulse Films creative executives, Marisa Clifford and Davud Karbassioun, officially unveiled their new Magna Studios, a production house that produced film, branded entertainment and music content, and had already quietly delivered global campaigns for Nike and Spotify.

Movie and TV watchers are used to seeing product placement, like Eleven’s Eggo fixation in “Stranger Things” or a bevy of items seen in “Love Island.” But a number of companies are taking a more active hand in how their brands are portrayed in shows and movies and getting into these productions earlier than ever.

They include Starbucks Studios, founded in 2024, Rei-Co-Op Studios, which launched 2021, and Red Bull Studios Media House, which released its first feature film in 2011. Last week, Dick’s Sporting Goods launched its in-house production studio for unscripted sports-themed TV series.

These new movie and TV backers do more than pay a fee to place a...

Exclusive: Kevin Bacon, Simon Helberg and Carrie Preston are joining Primetime Emmy winner Kyra Sedgwick’s second feature directorial Space Oddity from the 2016 Black List script.

Additionally, Rei Co-op Studios has come on board as producers of the film alongside Sedgwick and Valerie Stadler’s Big Swing Productions.

Penned by Rebecca Banner, Space Oddity tells the story of Alex (Kyle Allen) who, after giving up on Earth and deciding to leave it all behind for a one-way mission to Mars, develops an unexpected romance with Daisy (Alexandra Shipp), the enigmatic town newcomer, which forces him to choose between an uncertain journey to the stars and an even more uncertain journey of the heart.

Bacon will play Jeff, Alex’s Father; Preston is Jane, Alex’s mother; while Helberg plays Dimitri, the love interest to Alex’s sister, Liz. Production is taking place in Rhode Island.

Earlier this year, Rei, the Seattle-based specialty outdoor retailer, announced the launch of Rei Co-Op Studios, a content division that is already producing short films, features, podcasts and a magazine. One early progenitor of the new initiative was last year’s Rei partnership in the production and release of The Dark Divide, a feature directed by Filmmaker 25 New Face Tom Putnam and starring David Cross and Debra Messing. The well-reviewed film is a real-life story of a butterfly expert on a trek through the wilderness of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington, a tale that is representative of Rei’s […]

The post Rei Director of Content and Media Paolo Mottola on New Producing Division, Rei Co-Op Studios first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Earlier this year, Rei, the Seattle-based specialty outdoor retailer, announced the launch of Rei Co-Op Studios, a content division that is already producing short films, features, podcasts and a magazine. One early progenitor of the new initiative was last year’s Rei partnership in the production and release of The Dark Divide, a feature directed by Filmmaker 25 New Face Tom Putnam and starring David Cross and Debra Messing. The well-reviewed film is a real-life story of a butterfly expert on a trek through the wilderness of the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington, a tale that is representative of Rei’s […]

The post Rei Director of Content and Media Paolo Mottola on New Producing Division, Rei Co-Op Studios first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.

Vertical Entertainment has acquired North American rights to Rushed, an indie thriller directed by Vibeke Muasya that stars Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Robert Patrick, Jake Weary and Peri Gilpin. A theatrical release is planned.

Hogan penned the screenplay and stars as Barbara O’Brien, an upstate New York Irish Catholic mother who says her rosary daily, then swears profusely as she drives her kids to school. Her life is ruined when her son Jimmy (Jay Jay Warren), a college freshman, is involved in a fraternity hazing incident. Barbara resorts to extreme measures when she encounters empty promises in Washington, D.C.

Hogan also produced with Peter Hogan, Patrick Clifton, Erin Fraser and Patrick; Peter Munson Hogan, Marie Gade and Jo Haskin are co-producers. The film is a co-production of Emerald Caz Productions and Zentropa Films.

“I wrote the film because as a mother of three, I understand that Hell hath no fury like a mother scorned,...

Stars: David Cross, David Koechner, Debra Messing, Gary Farmer, Kimberly Guerrero, Cameron Esposito, Ayanna Berkshire, Olivia Ritchie | Written and Directed by Tom Putnam

Considering Bill Bryson is my favourite author and I love travel and hiking, I really haven’t watched enough movies about hiking journeys. Are there even that many of them? I’m not entirely sure to be honest but when I read about The Dark Divide, which is based on a true story, I knew I had to check it out.

The Dark Divide of the title is what people call Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This is based on the real-life story of renowned butterfly expert Robert Pyle (here played by David Cross) who embarked on a life-changing trek through one of America’s most important unprotected wildlands in the summer of 1995. We discover, in flashbacks, that part of the reason for this journey is the passing of is wife,...

David Cross discussed the real life people behind the characters in his new film The Dark Divide, in his new uInterview. The story follows the real-life story of nature writer and lepidopterist (aka someone who studies butterflies and moths) Robert Pyle who treks through the dangerous unexplored areas of Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington state. […]

The post Video Exclusive: David Cross Praises Debra Messing For Going Deep On ‘The Dark Divide’ appeared first on uInterview.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Thursday revealed the 366 feature films that are eligible for consideration at the 93rd Oscars, which are set to air April 25 live on ABC.

The total number of films is up from last year’s 344 films in contention.

This year’s list was compiled based on tweaked eligibility rules implemented because of the coronavirus pandemic, which has pushed the ceremony to its latest date ever. For this year, feature films had to open by February 28 in a commercial motion picture theater for a seven-day qualifying run in at least one of six metro areas: Los Angeles County, New York City, the Bay Area, Chicago, Miami and Atlanta. Drive-in theaters open nightly were included as qualifying venues, as were films intended for theatrical release but because of the lockdown made available first via streaming, VOD service or other broadcast.

Today’s news comes...

The Red Nation Film Festival has announced the winners of the 2020 Red Nation Film Festival Awards, and Loretta Todd’s “Monkey Beach” swept with Best Picture, Lead Actress, Lead Actor and Best Director.

The festival, which pivoted to virtual this year due to the coronavirus pandemic, also handed out prizes to “Gather” in the Best Documentary race and “Blackwater” in the animated short race.

Festival director and curator Joanelle Romero said, “Thank you to everyone who joined us at this year’s 25th Rnci Red Nation Awards presented by Red Nation Television Network and Red Nation Celebration Institute. With attendees and filmmakers across the United States and around the world, we came to you virtually, from everywhere, we reached Indigenous nations globally. The success of the festival this year was beyond anything we’ve experienced in previous years. The challenge now is making the impossible possible, in hiring Native talent...

Exclusive: Industry veteran Noor Ahmed has been named president of the recently formed Strike Back Studios, the team-up of Realization Films, Public House Films and Hideout Pictures that recently released The Dark Divide and the noir thriller Disrupted.

With 15 years of experience in film sales, entertainment business and legal affairs, Ahmed has been instrumental behind a number of independent and marquee including Thank You For Smoking, Brick, the Twilight movies, Looper, Don Jon, The Big Sick, Get Out and most recently Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes, which received three Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.

“I’m excited to bring my experience working with some of the most successful & acclaimed production companies and distributors in the industry to Strike Back Studios,” said Ahmed, who arrives from legal firm Reder & Feig, Llp. “With all the change in 2020 we have seen, I realized how important it is to work with a group...

The 29th Annual Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival (Sliff), an annual presentation of the nonprofit Cinema St. Louis (Csl), continues to provide the opportunity for St. Louis filmgoers to view the finest in world cinema — international films, documentaries, American indies, and shorts that can only be seen at the festival.

To browse the film listings, go Here

Because of the Covid-19 health crisis, Sliff will be presented virtually in 2020. To provide maximum access, the fest is extending its run by a week to 18 days: Nov. 5-22. Csl is partnering with Eventive, which also handles our ticketing, to present the virtual festival.

This year’s festival kicks off with a free opening-night special event featuring the documentary short “8:46” — which records a powerful performance by comedian Dave Chappelle in response to the killing of George Floyd — and a livestreamed conversation with Dave Chappelle and the film’s Oscar-winning directors, Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert.

"The only dangerous animals I've run into are your men." Rei Co-op Studios has released an official trailer for their first feature film, titled The Dark Divide. The film tells the story of Dr. Robert Pyle, a shy nature lover and butterfly expert who spent 6 weeks on a life-changing expedition in 1995 through Washington's Gifford Pinchot National Forest in search of new species of butterflies. A story about the outdoors and about life, and dealing with all the good and the bad that comes our way. David Cross stars as Dr. Pyle, joined by Debra Messing playing his sick wife, and a cast including David Koechner, Cameron Esposito, Gary Farmer, and Patterson Hood. Featuring music by The Avett Brothers, The National Reserve, Samantha Crain, Bombadil, Giants in the Trees, and a few more. A portion of the film's profits will be donated to the National Wildlife Federation’s mission to protect wildlife and wild places.

For a movie about a lepidopterist, The Dark Divide is awfully entertaining.

(There will now be a brief pause while you look up the word “lepidopterist.”)

Now that you know the term refers to people who study butterflies and moths, we can continue this review of this film based on nature writer Robert Pyle’s book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide. It chronicles his dangerous 1995 marathon trek through Washington’s mountainous Gifford Pinchot National Forest, one of America’s largest undeveloped wildlife areas. As the book’s title indicates, Pyle traveled through the region in search of Bigfoot,...

For a movie about a lepidopterist, The Dark Divide is awfully entertaining.

(There will now be a brief pause while you look up the word “lepidopterist.”)

Now that you know the term refers to people who study butterflies and moths, we can continue this review of this film based on nature writer Robert Pyle’s book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide. It chronicles his dangerous 1995 marathon trek through Washington’s mountainous Gifford Pinchot National Forest, one of America’s largest undeveloped wildlife areas. As the book’s title indicates, Pyle traveled through the region in search of Bigfoot,...

Exclusive: Nature-loving cinephiles can catch David Cross and Debra Messing in their Robert Pyle-inspired The Dark Divide next month thanks to Strike Back Studios, Rei Co-op and the National Wildlife Federation.

The Public House and Tbve film, helmed by Spirit Award-winning Marwencol producer and Burn director Tom Putnam, will make its virtual theatrical release on Sept. 18. Inspired by Dr. Robert Pyle’s personal life and his 1995 book Where Bigfoot Walks: Crossing the Dark Divide, the film sees Cross embark on a six-week journey through Washington’s Gifford Pinchot National Forest as the butterfly expert himself. Messing stars as Dr. Pyle’s ailing wife Thea.

“This film depicts the adventure, self-discovery and healing that nature can provide,” said Paolo Mottola, Rei Co-op director of content and media. “We’re excited to share it with Rei members and audiences who are eager to reconnect in the outdoors.”

The Dark Divide, the...