Rome -- Three-year-old online video site Babelgum says it is becoming a destination for original productions, as studios look for low-cost ways to promote new projects.
The site, which hosts the online Babelgum Film festival directed by Spike Lee, featured the debut of Ceri Levy's film documentary "Bananaz" -- which examines the cryptic cartoon band Gorillaz, which has sold nearly 20 million albums. It also premiered the wildlife television series "Extinction Sucks" and the environmental documentary "Downstream."
Babelgum said it agreed to a multi-year partnership with Cinelan films, with other similar deals in the works.
The changes come as the site unveiled an updated interface in March that it said attracted 1 million viewers each on the web and on iPhones and iPods in its first month.
The site, which started out as a destination for independent filmmakers to showcase their work, continues to provide access to non-studio projects.
The company...
The site, which hosts the online Babelgum Film festival directed by Spike Lee, featured the debut of Ceri Levy's film documentary "Bananaz" -- which examines the cryptic cartoon band Gorillaz, which has sold nearly 20 million albums. It also premiered the wildlife television series "Extinction Sucks" and the environmental documentary "Downstream."
Babelgum said it agreed to a multi-year partnership with Cinelan films, with other similar deals in the works.
The changes come as the site unveiled an updated interface in March that it said attracted 1 million viewers each on the web and on iPhones and iPods in its first month.
The site, which started out as a destination for independent filmmakers to showcase their work, continues to provide access to non-studio projects.
The company...
- 5/11/2009
- by By Eric J. Lyman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
London -- Free, interactive Web platform Babelgum said Monday that it is peeling back Ceri Levy's feature doc "Bananaz," as its first ever global, online premiere.
Babelgum, which boasts TV-quality images, said the documentary about virtual cartoon band Gorillaz will roll out April 20, ahead of the movie's subsequent theatrical release via Emi.
"As an independent filmmaker it's exciting to be partnering with Babelgum and Emi, two companies who are able to connect and mobilize audiences on both a local and global level, allowing us to maximize revenue in an incredibly difficult distribution environment," "Bananaz" producer Rachel Connors said.
The movie is billed as an un-sanitized, freewheeling and intimate account of the working relationship between Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the team behind Gorillaz.
The movie has previously unspooled on the festival circuit including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
Babelgum, which boasts TV-quality images, said the documentary about virtual cartoon band Gorillaz will roll out April 20, ahead of the movie's subsequent theatrical release via Emi.
"As an independent filmmaker it's exciting to be partnering with Babelgum and Emi, two companies who are able to connect and mobilize audiences on both a local and global level, allowing us to maximize revenue in an incredibly difficult distribution environment," "Bananaz" producer Rachel Connors said.
The movie is billed as an un-sanitized, freewheeling and intimate account of the working relationship between Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett, the team behind Gorillaz.
The movie has previously unspooled on the festival circuit including the Berlin International Film Festival and the Edinburgh International Film Festival.
- 3/23/2009
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bananaz
South by Southwest
AUSTIN -- Once upon a time, the painted rock demons of Kiss took off their makeup. The unmasking offered in Bananaz might be less iconic, but it has its pleasures, especially for the dedicated fans of Gorillaz, a platinum-selling rock/hip-hop group whose members are cartoon characters.
Theatrical prospects are limited, but a DVD release -- ideally in a package containing all the band's videos and assorted promo ephemera -- should do very well.
Not only does the documentary show fans the faces of the real musicians who voice the cartoon hitmakers (and of the many guests who have peppered their records, from De La Soul to Buena Vista Social Club singer Ibrahim Ferrer), it charts the combo's evolution almost from the moment of conception through the arrival of their second record release.
We watch amusedly as the artists squabble, for instance, over how they should handle phone interviews with reporters -- do them entirely in character? Is that too big an acting challenge to pull off? -- and as they suffer through the publicity demands that come with the first album's surprising success.
The film's focus is on the two men most responsible for Gorillaz: Damon Albarn of the Brit pop group Blur and nonmusician Jamie Hewlett, who supplies the cartoons. Viewers who don't arrive with a built-in devotion to the band might find the duo more than a little off-putting: Their humor is juvenile, the men are narcissistic, and their occasional stabs at real-world political relevance border on the laughable.
Director Ceri Levy, seemingly a buddy of his subjects, takes a fly-on-the-wall approach and never worries about explaining things to newcomers; he's laissez faire enough to let mumbled bits of speech zip by unintelligibly. But if the behind-the-scenes component doesn't work hard to win outsiders over, the subject has its own built-in appeal.
We see enough of Hewlett's flashy animation work -- music videos with a fresh look and an entertaining grab bag of pop culture influences (from zombie movies to Japanese animation) -- to keep us from getting bored and to explain how a fictional band scaled the pop charts.
BANANAZ
Head Film
Sales agent: HanWay Films
Credits:
Director: Ceri Levy
Producers: Rachel Connors, Ceri Levy
Director of photography: Ceri Levy
Music: Gorillaz
Editor: Seb Monk
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
AUSTIN -- Once upon a time, the painted rock demons of Kiss took off their makeup. The unmasking offered in Bananaz might be less iconic, but it has its pleasures, especially for the dedicated fans of Gorillaz, a platinum-selling rock/hip-hop group whose members are cartoon characters.
Theatrical prospects are limited, but a DVD release -- ideally in a package containing all the band's videos and assorted promo ephemera -- should do very well.
Not only does the documentary show fans the faces of the real musicians who voice the cartoon hitmakers (and of the many guests who have peppered their records, from De La Soul to Buena Vista Social Club singer Ibrahim Ferrer), it charts the combo's evolution almost from the moment of conception through the arrival of their second record release.
We watch amusedly as the artists squabble, for instance, over how they should handle phone interviews with reporters -- do them entirely in character? Is that too big an acting challenge to pull off? -- and as they suffer through the publicity demands that come with the first album's surprising success.
The film's focus is on the two men most responsible for Gorillaz: Damon Albarn of the Brit pop group Blur and nonmusician Jamie Hewlett, who supplies the cartoons. Viewers who don't arrive with a built-in devotion to the band might find the duo more than a little off-putting: Their humor is juvenile, the men are narcissistic, and their occasional stabs at real-world political relevance border on the laughable.
Director Ceri Levy, seemingly a buddy of his subjects, takes a fly-on-the-wall approach and never worries about explaining things to newcomers; he's laissez faire enough to let mumbled bits of speech zip by unintelligibly. But if the behind-the-scenes component doesn't work hard to win outsiders over, the subject has its own built-in appeal.
We see enough of Hewlett's flashy animation work -- music videos with a fresh look and an entertaining grab bag of pop culture influences (from zombie movies to Japanese animation) -- to keep us from getting bored and to explain how a fictional band scaled the pop charts.
BANANAZ
Head Film
Sales agent: HanWay Films
Credits:
Director: Ceri Levy
Producers: Rachel Connors, Ceri Levy
Director of photography: Ceri Levy
Music: Gorillaz
Editor: Seb Monk
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/20/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sex, politics rife in Berlin fest Panorama
COLOGNE, Germany -- Sex, politics and rock 'n' roll are the themes running through this year's Panorama, the Berlin International Film Festival's main sidebar.
Parvez Sharma's A Jihad For Love, which will open Panorama's documentary section, Dokumente, looks at the conflict between sexuality and religion by examining the lives of devout Muslims who are homosexual. The film was produced by Sandi Dubowski, who looked at similar issues among gay orthodox Jews in Trembling Before G-d. That film debuted in Panorama in 2001 and won Berlin's Teddy award for the best film with a homosexual theme.
Sexual politics are at the core of several Dokumente entries including Dondu Kilic's The Other Istanbul, Suddenly, Last Winter from Italian directors Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, Jochen Hick's East/West and "Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians" by Berlin's own Rosa von Praunheim.
Middle East politics is the focus of Eran Riklis' Lemon Tree, the drama that opens the Panorama Special section. The film looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian woman who inherits a lemon grove bordering on Israeli territory.
Other high-profile Panorama Special screenings include Brad Anderson's Transsiberian, featuring Woody Harrelson, Thomas Kretschmann and Ben Kingsley, and the world premiere of Madonna's directorial debut, Filth & Wisdom starring Richard E. Grant.
Madonna won't be the only pop star featured on this year's Panorama. Legendary punk princess Patti Smith will give a concert in the German capital to support the Panorama debut of Steven Sebring's documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life. Ceri Levy's Bananaz follows Britpop regulars Damon Alban and Jamie Hewlett, creators of the virtual band Gorillaz.
Parvez Sharma's A Jihad For Love, which will open Panorama's documentary section, Dokumente, looks at the conflict between sexuality and religion by examining the lives of devout Muslims who are homosexual. The film was produced by Sandi Dubowski, who looked at similar issues among gay orthodox Jews in Trembling Before G-d. That film debuted in Panorama in 2001 and won Berlin's Teddy award for the best film with a homosexual theme.
Sexual politics are at the core of several Dokumente entries including Dondu Kilic's The Other Istanbul, Suddenly, Last Winter from Italian directors Gustav Hofer and Luca Ragazzi, Jochen Hick's East/West and "Dead Gay Men and Living Lesbians" by Berlin's own Rosa von Praunheim.
Middle East politics is the focus of Eran Riklis' Lemon Tree, the drama that opens the Panorama Special section. The film looks at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through the eyes of a Palestinian woman who inherits a lemon grove bordering on Israeli territory.
Other high-profile Panorama Special screenings include Brad Anderson's Transsiberian, featuring Woody Harrelson, Thomas Kretschmann and Ben Kingsley, and the world premiere of Madonna's directorial debut, Filth & Wisdom starring Richard E. Grant.
Madonna won't be the only pop star featured on this year's Panorama. Legendary punk princess Patti Smith will give a concert in the German capital to support the Panorama debut of Steven Sebring's documentary Patti Smith: Dream of Life. Ceri Levy's Bananaz follows Britpop regulars Damon Alban and Jamie Hewlett, creators of the virtual band Gorillaz.
- 1/24/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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