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Exclusive: Film tech firm Gathr, known for its “direct to audience” services for specialty film releases, is expanding and has hired a trio of senior executives.

The new arrivals include Neil Creque Williams, Head of Filmmaker Relations & Concierge Services; Jeffrey Abramson, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Brand Marketing; Chris Horton, Senior Strategist, Business Development & Film.

Williams previously produced the Independent Spirit Award and Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominated film Miss Juneteenth. He is an alum of the Sundance Creative Producing Lab, The Gotham Cannes Producer Fellowship and has been supported by the Austin Film Society and Cucalorus. Williams was an inaugural 2023 Blumhouse/K Period Screamwriting fellow for his horror script The Plat-Eye.

Abramson has more than 25 years of experience leading creative business teams at the intersection of storytelling, culture, technology, and brand marketing. He is Deputy Director of Bridge Entertainment Labs, a non-profit dedicated to promoting social cohesion in America. Previously,...

BFI Flare: London Lgbtqia+ Film Festival (March 19-30) has unveiled its full line-up, with 56 features across three strands, exploring subjects such as Kenya’s ballroom scene and the appeal of dating apps.

The programme has films and shorts from 41 countries, with six world premiere features. These include Kenyan filmmaker Njoroge Muthoni’s documentaryHow To Live, which explores Nairobi’s vibrant ballroom scene and celebrates queer African joy.

In Yu-jin Lee’s Manok, the owner of a South Korean lesbian bar must return to her small hometown after clashing with the city’s younger queer community.

Buenos Aires-set comedy drama Few...

Sam Raimi's next movie with him in the director's chair is officially in production. Zainab Azizi, a producer on Send Help, recently shared a behind-the-scenes image from the set of the upcoming horror thriller.

Azizi posted a BTS image from the Send Help set to her Instagram Story on Feb. 6.The image shows the director's chairs for both Azizi and Raimi, with their names and production roles emblazoned on them. The producer captioned the Instagram Story with "Day 7," revealing that filming on the hotly-anticipated movie had been underway for one week.Send Help marks Raimi's return to the horror genre for the first time since the release of Drag Me to Hell in 2009. The movie will also be his first directorial effort since helming the 2022 Marvel Cinematic Universe entry, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

RelatedSeverance Star Adam Scott to Lead New Supernatural Horror Film From Acclaimed Director...

At the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, "The Maze Runner" franchise star Dylan O'Brien made quite a splash with dual performances in a darkly comedic exploration of grief and loneliness called "Twinless." Not only did O'Brien win the US Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting, but the film also took home the Audience Award in the U.S. Dramatic section of Sundance. That's because this is the best performance of O'Brien's career, and filmmaker James Sweeney pulls off an impressive balancing act both as a filmmaker and a captivating performer himself. 

"Twinless" follows Dylan O'Brien as Roman, who is mourning the death of his twin brother Rocky (also O'Brien). Roman is a bit of a dim bulb without much of a personality, and he has a short fuse exacerbated by his grief. But most of the time, he's also a nice, quiet guy. Meanwhile, Rocky was the more outgoing brother, and he...

“The Haunting of Hill House” star Victoria Pedretti hyped fellow actor – and co-creator of Netflix’s “Anne+” – Hanna van Vliet at International Film Festival Rotterdam Sunday evening.

“You are a leader,” she told her.

“True. I’m a leader,” responded van Vliet, admitting the change in the industry starts with “diversifying the teams.”

“We made ‘Anne+’ without any money, so we had all this freedom and could cast and hire whoever we wanted. People get better at their jobs and later, they will be the ones in power. We have to start small and grow everyone into ‘the big guy.’ Girl. Person.”

While the system is “corrupt,” you have to “know it in order to infiltrate it,” added Pedretti.

“The Non-Actor”

“I remember the first dinner with the cast of ‘The Haunting of Hill House’ and everyone was talking about Harvey Weinstein. I was like: ‘Is this what I’m getting myself into?...

For years, Buzzfeed has kept the audience entertained with a section of their online portfolio titled Thirst Tweets. Celebrities enter a journey defined by the aggressive erotic awkwardness of their fans’ tweets while reading them out loud on air. 2 years ago, Dylan O’Brien happened to be one of the celebrities chosen for an episode that would go down in history.

Dylan O’Brien in The Outfit [Credit: Focus Pictures]

The star of the Maze Runner trilogy, Dylan O’Brien, rose in fame and popularity through Teen Wolf, where he stole the show as the hyperactive, loyal best friend of the lead character. As his fame grew, so did his fandom, which famously had a collective meltdown after the actor debuted a platinum blond buzz cut for the film Not Okay.

Now, as he branches out in his field, the fanbase brings back some memories from the recent past as O’Brien...

After his twin brother dies, Roman (Dylan O’Brien), an irascible young man living in Portland, becomes emotionally unmoored. What is life without his other half? So far not great. The funeral for Rocky is an awkward affair. Mourners line up to offer Roman and his mother (Lauren Graham) condolences only to start crying the moment they come face to face with the living twin. He looks so much like his brother, they say, it’s weird and a little uncanny.

Premiering at Sundance, James Sweeney’s sly dark comedy Twinless might inspire similar sentiments. The film boasts an off-kilter tone — think the absurdity of Problemista meets the wry sensibility of The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed — that shocks before it settles. Like Julio Torres and Joanna Arnow, Sweeney walks a tightrope, shifting between dry humor, gutting devastation and emotional poignancy with varying degrees of success. But even when Twinless falters,...

The 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival unspooled in Park City on Thursday with a packed schedule of red carpet premieres and Main Street-set parties. The night’s centerpiece showing came courtesy of Sundance newbie James Sweeney, who presented the world premiere of his sophomore feature, Twinless, in which he co-stars opposite Dylan O’Brien.

Sundance Director Eugene Hernandez was first to the stage inside the Eccles Center Theatre as he kicked off the festivities with some official announcements and thank-yous before welcoming Sweeney and O’Brien to the stage to introduce their years-in-the-making collaboration. And their comments telegraphed that while the film offered a seemingly dark premise — two young men meet in a twin bereavement support group and form an unlikely bromance — Thursday night proved to be anything but a downer.

“We are James and Dylan,” O’Brien stated from the podium. “We are not twins in real life, so...

“I’m egregiously picky,” insists Dylan O’Brien, reflecting on a burst of productivity that, in the last 12 months, includes the films “Ponyboi,” “Saturday Night,” “Caddo Lake,” the Max comedy series “Fantasmas” and James Sweeney’s “Twinless,” which screens at Sundance. “I’m going to get skewered for this type of quote being out there … but I would have a much different career, I think, if I was a ‘yes to everything’ person.”

After launching his career more than a decade ago as a heartthrob on MTV’s “Teen Wolf” and in the “Maze Runner” films, each of those recent projects earned the actor praise for his versatility; no two roles are the same. But according to O’Brien, his recent slate reflects not just one year of work but more than five — a period that also encompasses guest spots (as “himself”) on “Curb Your Enthusiasm” and “The Other Two,” four...

Exclusive: Ponyboi, the first film produced under Fox Entertainment Studios’ new indie label, Tideline, is set to hit theaters June 27, as Pride Month celebrations unfold across the U.S.

In addition to a traditional platform release, the film will utilize a Direct To Audience theatrical distribution strategy developed by event management platform Gathr, looking to expand its audience by way of community-driven screenings, coalition-building campaigns, and tailored outreach programs.

World premiering to critical acclaim at last year’s Sundance Film Festival, Ponyboi is an adaptation of River Gallo’s award-winning 2019 short of the same name. Written by and starring Gallo, the film unfolds over the course of a single day, as a young sex worker named Ponyboi (Gallo) is thrown into chaos when a drug deal goes wrong, forcing him to go on the run from the mob and his abusive pimp (Dylan O’Brien). With the help of a mysterious cowboy,...

Dylan O’Brien has snatched up another movie role!

The 33-year-old actor has been cast to star in a new horror thriller, Send Help, according to Deadline.

Dylan will be starring opposite Rachel McAdams in the movie, from director and producer Sam Raimi.

Keep reading to find out more…

The upcoming movie centers on “two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.”

Rachel was first attached to the project back in October, and it is said to be “somewhere between” the classic movies Misery and Castaway.

Dylan is heading back to the upcoming 2025 Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off This Thursday (January 23) in Utah.

He is premiering his other new film Twinless, which is premiering...

Rachel McAdams finally has a co-star. The Maze Runner lead Dylan O'Brien is set to star opposite McAdams in Send Help, a new horror thriller from filmmaker Sam Raimi.

According to Deadline, Send Help is "a survival horror thriller about two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive." Raimi is directing and producing Send Help, which is based on an original script by Baywatch scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. A theatrical release is being eyed for the movie by 20th Century Studios.

Related 'A Life-Changing Incident': Dylan O'Brien Says Safety Concerns on Maze Runner Set Were Ignored Before Near-Fatal Accident

Dylan O'Brien notes he was concerned about his safety on the set of...

Exclusive: Dylan O’Brien is set to star opposite Rachel McAdams in Send Help, the horror thriller from 20th Century Studios that Sam Raimi is producing and directing.

The film is a survival horror thriller about two colleagues who become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. On the island, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, but ultimately, it’s a battle of wills and wits to make it out alive.

Send Help is based on an original script by Baywatch scribes Damian Shannon and Mark Swift. Zainab Azizi will also produce under the Raimi Productions banner, and the film is expected to nab a theatrical release.

O’Brien is coming off a banner 2024 with a diverse slate of projects. He is one of the stars of Jason Reitman’s acclaimed Saturday Night, which chronicles the behind-the-scenes drama leading up to the...

When director Jason Reitman and casting director John Papsidera put together the large ensemble cast for “Saturday Night,” Reitman’s film about the first-ever episode of the legendary sketch comedy series “Saturday Night Live,” they ran into one spot of trouble. “Dan Aykroyd was almost impossible,” Reitman told Entertainment Weekly of the casting process.

But when Dylan O’Brien auditioned, the part just clicked into place. “That was a big moment,” the filmmaker said, noting that O’Brien was the last of seven actors cast to play the Not Ready for Primetime Players from that first season of “Saturday Night Live.”

See‘Saturday Night’ editors interview

O’Brien didn’t know any of this at the time. As far as he was concerned, “Saturday Night” seemed like a project he wouldn’t book anyway, and so the “Teen Wolf” and “The Maze Runner” actor didn’t even bother to send in...

Alicia Vikander will lead Rachel Rose’s debut film “The Last Day” alongside Victoria Pedretti and Wagner Moura.

The film, which wrapped production in New York in October, follows a writer and mother who confronts her lack of creative purpose and embarks on a journey of rediscovering herself after encountering figures from her past.

“The Last Day” is produced by Lucie Elwes, Rose, Mason Plotts, Pamela Koffler and Christine Vachon of Killer Films — the production company behind last year’s “Past Lives” and “May December” — as well as David Kaplan of Kaplan Morrison (“The Brutalist”). Maja Hoffmann and Lucas Hoffmann of Luma Projects serve as executive producers.

CAA Media Finance and UTA Independent Film Group co-represent North American rights on “The Last Day.”

Vikander is an Oscar-winning actor whose credits include “The Danish Girl,” “Ex Machina” and “Tomb Raider.” This year she starred alongside Cate Blanchett and Charles Dance in the political satire “Rumours,...

NewFest, the annual New York-based LGBTQ+ film festival, has officially unveiled its 2024 award winners.

The 36th annual festival hosted a Filmmaker & Awards Brunch at the Nitehawk Cinema in Brooklyn to announce the honorees selected by both the festival jury and 2024 audiences. The jury was composed of leading LGBTQ+ creatives, allies, filmmakers, artists, activists, journalists, and entertainment professionals.

The top honor of the Grand Jury Award for U.S. Narrative Feature was awarded to trans neo-noir thriller “Ponyboi,” which was written and produced by NewFest alum River Gallo, who also stars alongside Dylan O’Brien, Victoria Pedretti, Murray Bartlett, and Indya Moore. Gallo’s 2019 short film on which the feature is based won the New York Short jury grand prize at NewFest31. Esteban Arango directed the feature.

“This is a film that, we felt, bridged the space of humanistic storytelling at its highest level,” the U.S. Narrative Feature category jurors of creative executive Sarah Flores,...

Queer filmmakers, mediamakers and activists — alongside political commentators, influencers and public servants — addressed how present challenges in politics and the film industry have converged and how independent storytelling and social media can help respond to anti-lgbtq+ backlash as part of an hourlong panel at NewFest36’s second annual Industry + Filmmaker Day.

Nick McCarthy, director of programming at NewFest, kicked off the Friday event, held at the LGBT Center in Manhattan, which centered on the convergence of film, media and political activism. Kickstarter, Neon and The Hollywood Reporter served as event partners.

The candid discussion featured the voices of political and cultural commentary creator Matt Bernstein; drag artist, political activist and former city council candidate Marti Cummings; filmmaker, performer and culture critic Jude Dry; filmmaker and Ponyboi star River Gallo; New York City council member for Brooklyn’s District 35 Crystal Hudson; and Rajendra Roy, chief curator of film at the Museum of Modern Art.

The 14th GuadaLAjara Film Festival (Glaff) in Los Angeles running November 1-3 will open with Mexican Oscar submission Sujo.

The Forge holds North American rights to the Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner from Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez about a youngster growing up under the shadow of the murder of his cartel hitman father.

The festival will close with Prime Video’s post-#MeToo series La Liberación from Alejandra Marquez Abella, about three women who team up to persuade a young actress to drop an allegation of sexual harassment against a film director.

The Dia de los Muertos centerpiece gala...

The GuadaLAjara Film Festival (Glaff) will return to Los Angeles for its 14th edition, running from November 1-3, 2024. This year’s event promises a dynamic blend of films and events featuring a stellar lineup of talent, including Zoe Saldaña, Rooney Mara, Raúl Briones, Dylan O’Brien and Nava Mau.

The festival will open with “Sujo,” a Spanish-language drama from directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez. Selected as Mexico’s official submission for the Oscars’ best international feature category, “Sujo” delves into the life of a young man growing up amid the violence that looms over rural Mexico. The film is set for a U.S. theatrical release in Dec. by indie distributor The Forge.

Glaff’s short film selections will include standout projects such as “All the Words but the One,” directed and starring recent Emmy nominee Nava Mau (“Baby Reindeer”), and “Dovecote,” produced by and starring Zoe Saldaña, who is...

Dylan O'Brien recalls bombing his audition to join Frozen 2, the massively successful Disney sequel. O'Brien is returning to promote his role as comedy legend Dan Akroyd in the SNL biopic Saturday Night from director Jason Reitman, which releases in the U.S. on October 11. It's one of several projects that the Teen Wolf and Maze Runner star has in the works. But there is one gig that he readily admits he wasn't right for.

In an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers to discuss his role in Saturday Night, O'Brien talked about bombing his audition for Frozen 2. The star of The Maze Runner was candid about the fact that he was probably a bad fit for the Disney sequel, which went on to gross more than $1.4 billion at the worldwide box office. In the quote below, although O'Brien jokes that his poor performance might have upset a...

NewFest has announced the full lineup for the 36th edition of the New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival.

The largest queer film festival in the U.S., it will include more than 140 new features, shorts and episodic projects from 31 countries in addition to legacy screenings.

The festival runs Oct. 10 to Oct. 20 in theaters in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as on NewFest’s on-demand platform until Oct. 22, with venues including the Sva Theatre, The LGBT Community Center, Brooklyn Academy of Music and Nitehawk Prospect Park.

The opening film on Oct. 10 is the N.Y. City premiere of Roshan Sethi’s “A Nice Indian Boy,” which had its world premiere at SXSW. The closing night selection is Jacques Audiard’s musical drama “Emilia Pérez,” which won the Cannes Jury Prize and the best actress award for Karla Sofía Gascón, Zoe Saldaña, Selena Gomez, and Adriana Paz.

Erin Carr’s “Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara...

Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett are set to lead the ABC Signature comedy pilot Downforce for Hulu.

Downforce follows Victoria (Hewson), the estranged daughter of a storied racing team’s owner, Sir Trevor (Bartlett), who is thrust back into the family business, leaving the pair to find common ground or risk destroying the team’s legacy.

Sir Trevor is described as the team’s “larger-than-life founder and owner.” Victoria is “a shrewd and ruthless investment banker who finds her way back into the front office. She knows business, he knows racing, and together they have to figure out the business of racing after years apart.”

Alec Berg will direct the pilot and executive produce alongside Adam Countee, both of who have overall deals at ABC Signature. EPs also include Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey for Temple Hill, Daniel Ricciardo,...

Music Box Films has acquired U.S. distribution rights to Carson Lund’s comedy drama “Eephus,” which premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. The film was recently announced as an Official Selection of New York Film Festival, where it will have its North American premiere.

Music Box plans for a theatrical release nationwide followed by home entertainment. London- and Paris-based sales and production house Film Constellation handles worldwide sales and negotiated the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.

“Eephus” is set on a small-town New England baseball field called Soldiers Field. As an imminent construction project looms over their beloved baseball field, a pair of Sunday league teams face off for the last time over the course of a day. Tensions flare up and ceremonial laughs are shared as an era of camaraderie and escapism fades into an uncertain future.

Variety highlighted “Eephus” as one of the must-see films of the...

Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! I am your host Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I’m chatting with author and intimacy coordinator Brooke M. Haney, one of the first 50 intimacy coordinators recognized as qualified by SAG-AFTRA.

Haney has worked all over the world in theater, film, TV and academia. They are the creator of The Actor’s Warm Down, a 20-minute closure practice for actors working on difficult material, and the editor of The Intimacy Coordinator’s Guidebook: Specialties for Stage and Screen.

Haney has worked across TV with the likes of CBS, Paramount+, Warner Bros, Disney, Prime Video, HBO, 20th Century Fox and more. They also love working in film; some of their favorites include Birder, She’s Clean, Herd, Ponyboi and Irish Exit. Haney has taught workshops at Vassar College,...

Exclusive: Tideline, the recently launched production label of Fox Entertainment, and Mountain Top Pictures have greenlighted Slanted, a satirical drama from writer-director Amy Wang (Crazy Rich Asians 2).

Cast for the pic, due to begin production in Atlanta next month, includes Shirley Chen (Dìdi), Emmy nominee McKenna Grace (The Handmaid’s Tale), Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (Never Have I Ever), Amelie Zilber (Grown-ish), Vivian Wu (The Afterparty) and Fang Du (The Haves and the Have Nots).

Slanted centers on Joan Huang (Chen), a desperate to fit in, insecure Chinese American teenager who undergoes experimental trans-racial surgery to become white and secure her chances of being named Prom Queen and winning the acceptance of her peers. Wang, Mark Ankner and Trevor Wall (Ponyboi) will produce, with Fernando Szew, Pillemer, Tony Vassiliadis and Ani Kevork serving as executive producers.

“I am so excited to be able to bring this movie to life with the...

Exclusive: Comedy troupe The Dress Up Gang are in production on their first feature film, The Dress Up Gang Movie with Tideline Entertainment and Mountain Top Pictures producing.

Cameras will roll in LA.

Founded in 2008, The Dress Up Gang is comprised of Robb Boardman, DeMorge Brown, Kevin Camia, Donny Divanian, Christian Duguay, Kirk Fox, Cory Loykasek, Frankie Quinones and Brent Weinbach.

The pic written by the group’s Loykasek, Boardman and Divanian is a comedy adventure about our connection to houseplants, nature, and each other. Blurb: Cory spends his days isolated and working from home until he becomes entangled with a mysterious figure known only as “the Plantman,” a vigilante who breaks into people’s homes to rescue plants that aren’t being watered. Cory is suddenly thrust outdoors, into an underground world of plant-lovers, secret greenhouses, and rogue hardware store employees who will stop at nothing to save the dying plants of the city.

When climate protesters disrupted a performance of the An Enemy of the People earlier this month, Victoria Pedretti seesawed between siding with the activists or the agitated audience members. The play had reached a crescendo: The town’s doctor, Dr. Stockmann, prepared to discuss a potential pathogen in the town’s ground water before a dissenting crowd, when Extinction Rebellion NYC members captured the audience’s attention crying “no theater on a dead planet.”

Everyone stayed in character: The town’s mayor (Michael Imperioli) shooed the activist out, whereas Dr.

The film American Assassin with Michael Keaton is becoming a hit on streaming after seven years.

In 2017, American Assassin premiered in theaters, and it wasn't a major success at the box office. It grossed $67 million, which was considered to be a disappointment with the film's $33 million budget (and additional marketing costs) in mind. Critics were also a bit mixed on the film, giving American Assassin a Rotten Tomatoes score of 34%, though its audience score is considerably higher at 60%. Per Screen Rant, the film has also just seen a resurgence on Netflix, finding a new audience for the action-thriller seven years after it underwhelmed with its theatrical run.

Related 'He Looks the Same': Beetlejuice 2 Star Teases 'Crazy' Reunion With Michael Keaton Beetlejuice 2 actor Catherine O'Hara plugs her on-screen reunion with lead star Michael Keaton in the anticipated upcoming sequel.

Currently, American Assassin is sitting at the top of the list for...

"Ponyboi" is a highly anticipated film from the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, featuring an intersex sex worker caught in a dangerous situation. The film explores themes of love, vulnerability, and the search for acceptance, resonating with both trans and intersex individuals and a broader audience. The cast members praise the talent and passion of writer and star River Gallo, highlighting the film's unique vision and impact.

Few movies have come out of 2024's Sundance Film Festival with as much ground-floor buzz as Ponyboi, a project that has been years in the making for writer and star River Gallo. What began life as a short in 2019 has finally become a feature-length film directed by Esteban Arango. Gallo plays the titular Ponyboi, an intersex sex worker whose job at a laundromat is a front for pimp Vinny (Dylan O'Brien) to deal drugs as well as love.

Taking place around Valentine's Day, the movie...

Dylan O'Brien has been announced as a part of the starring cast of SNL 1975.

From Sony Pictures, SNL 1975 comes from director Jason Reitman and co-writer Gil Kenan, the filmmaking duo behind Ghostbusters: Afterlife and its upcoming sequel. Per Deadline, the film will feature Dylan O'Brien as Dan Aykroyd, the original Saturday Night Live star also known for his roles in movies like Ghostbusters and Blues Brothers. SNL 1975 will also star Cory Michael Smith (Gotham) as Chevy Chase, Lamorne Morris (New Girl) as Garrett Morris, and Matt Wood (Law & Order: Svu) as John Belushi.

Related Dan Aykroyd Teases Emotional and Scary Ghostbusters Sequel Dan Aykroyd teases how Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire does something new with the franchise.

Focusing on the very first broadcast of Saturday Night Live, the reported synopsis for SNL 1975 reads, "On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever.

Hold onto your sides and prepare yourself for stitches because the SNL 1975 cast is ready to welcome four new players to the stage. Lamorne Morris, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Micheal Smith, and Matt Wood will play Garrett Morris, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase, and John Belushi, respectively. They join previously announced cast members Ella Hunt as Gilda Radner, Emily Fairn as Laraine Newman, and Kim Matula as Jane Curtin.

Jason Reitman will direct SNL 1975 and co-write the screenplay with Gil Keenan. SNL 1975 explores the evening of October 11, 1975, when “a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s Saturday Night Live. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real-time to the infamous words,...

Lamorne Morris and Dylan O’Brien are among those who are set to play original Saturday Night Live castmembers in Jason Reitman’s feature SNL 1975, about the debut night for the venerable comedy series.

Morris is set to portray Garrett Morris, while O’Brien has landed the role of Dan Aykroyd. Additionally, Cory Michael Smith will play Chevy Chase in the film, while Matt Wood is joining the cast as John Belushi.

Reitman is directing the film for Sony Pictures from a script he co-wrote with Gil Kenan. Based on the screenwriters’ interviews with the show’s living cast, scribes and crew, the film is set to focus on the formative moment in October 1975 for the NBC sketch show that is currently airing its 49th season.

The movie’s previously announced castmembers include Gabriel Labelle (The Fabelmans) as SNL creator Lorne Michaels, Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza) as former NBC executive Dick Ebersol,...

Progressive take on sex work, challenging stereotypes in LGBTQ+ cinema. Offers a nuanced and empowering perspective on queer bodies, sex, and intimacy. Beautiful portrayal of a heartfelt and tender relationship between older and younger gay men.

Finnish filmmaker Mikko Mäkelä proved himself a promising gay movie director when his debut film, A Moment in the Reeds, first premiered at the London Film Festival in 2017. A subtle, yet no less sensual, queer romance about a Finnish university student, who spends one summer renovating his father's lakehouse, and a Syrian refugee hired to help out. A Moment in the Reeds foremost demonstrated Mäkelä's intentionality as a director. Between casting gay actors to play gay characters and examining Finland's political landscape at the time, there was a desire for honesty in his film that, in hindsight, would be a defining feature of late-2010s LGBTQ+ cinema.

Sebastian is Mäkelä's sophomore feature, which had...

Exclusive: Lamorne Morris, Dylan O’Brien, Cory Michael Smith and Matt Wood have joined the cast of Sony Pictures’ SNL 1975 that will be directed by Jason Reitman and based on the real-life behind the scenes accounts of the opening night of Saturday Night Live. Morris will play Garrett Morris, O’Brien will play Dan Aykroyd, Smith will play Chevy Chase, and Wood will play Belushi. The original screenplay is written by Reitman and Gil Kenan.

On October 11, 1975, a ferocious troupe of young comedians and writers changed television forever. SNL 1975 is the true story of what happened behind the scenes that night in the moments leading up to the first broadcast of NBC’s SNL. It depicts the chaos and magic of a revolution that almost wasn’t, counting down the minutes in real time to the infamous words, “Live from New York, it’s Saturday Night!”

The screenplay is...

Unlike other film festivals around the globe, Sundance has been ahead of the curve when it comes to telling Lgbtqia+ stories whether in narrative or documentary form. That was once again evident in 2024 with the festival selecting films such as “Layla,” “Sebastian,” “My Old Ass,” “Stress Positions” and “Ponyboi.” One Next slate selection that attempted to cross the lines of both documentary and drama is Jules Rosskam’s “Desire Lines.” Sadly, like many world premieres in its genre this year, it comes up disappointingly short.

Continue reading ‘Desire Lines’ Review: A Messy Drama-Documentary Hybrid On Trans Male History at The Playlist.

River Gallo impresses with a powerful performance and brings depth to the character of Ponyboi. The film goes beyond clichés often seen in crime movies, offering a fresh perspective on familiar narratives. Ponyboi showcases the importance of queer stories and their ability to add new layers to storytelling.

In Esteban Arango's dreamy crime drama Ponyboi, it all starts with a drug deal gone wrong. Ponyboi (River Gallo), an intersex sex worker employed at a 24-hour laundromat, ends up with a briefcase full of cash and his violent pimp Vinny (Dylan O'Brien) after him on Valentine's Day. On top of that, Ponyboi has just found out that his conservative Salvadoran father, who kicked him out of the house some years ago, is on his deathbed.

Throughout one dark New Jersey night, Ponyboi searches for safety, forgiveness, and connection, as he and a slew of other low-level criminals stumble through a mounting pile of mishaps.

The winner of the World Dramatic competition at Sundance, co-directors Astrid Rondero and Fernanda Valadez’s understated and essential Mexican drama “Sujo” is one of two films in this year’s lineup (the other being “Ponyboi”) in which children who were given distinctive names by doomed macho dads spend years wondering what those monikers mean. In both cases, the eventual reveal puts a poignant coda on stories of young Latinos struggling to escape the cycle of ignorance and unhealthy behavior that threatens to pull them under.

An optimistic entry in a traditionally brutal genre, “Sujo” is a story about defying gravity. Like Sleeping Beauty — who manages to prick her finger, even after all of the spinning wheels in the kingdom were thought destroyed — or tragic figures from Greek mythology whose fates are dictated by the gods, the title character seems doomed to follow in the footsteps of his father, Josue...

Despite the increased awareness of gender identities, there is one classification that has been around for over 100 years or 30 years (it’s debatable) that rarely enjoys the spotlight, intersex. An intersex person can be a broad definition for someone who is born without a number of different sexual characteristics. The U.N. has defined it as someone who does “not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies.” And yet, despite the minimal increase in trans or nonbinary characters on film and television, you rarely hear anyone who refers to themselves as intersexed.

Continue reading ‘Ponyboi’ Review: A Unique Hero In A Very Familiar Story [Sundance] at The Playlist.

Depending on how you look at it, “Ponyboi” is either a Trojan horse for exploring nonbinary gender identity or a hackneyed crime movie with a radically unorthodox queer protagonist. Either way, it’s a sordid yet stylish showcase for intersex actor (and activist) River Gallo, who uses “they/them” pronouns and sees the project as an opportunity to educate audiences about the social and psychological aspects of exhibiting both male and female traits in a world that classifies people in one box or the other.

It’s ironic therefore that, apart from Gallo’s category-defying title character, the rest of the ensemble is populated by such familiar stereotypes. Sparkling like a rhinestone in the rough, Ponyboi stands out amid a lineup of cartoon gangsters, tough-guy dealers and gum-smacking prostitutes — lowlifes recycled from a hundred late-night cable movies with superficially similar plots.

Still, cinema history is short on anyone remotely like Gallo,...

Melissa Barrera and Indya Moore were among the several husband protestors in support of Palestine chanting “Free Palestine” and “stop the genocide” at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

The 29-year-old Pose actress is in town for the festival premiere of Ponyboi, and took the mic to say: “I’m gay as — God forgive me — f-ck. I love everybody. I love people. I have Israeli friends. I have Jewish friends. I have Palestinian friends. Everybody sees what’s happening. They all agree. There needs to be a ceasefire.”

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“Stop telling us to hate each other. Stop telling us they hate each other. They also know that the Palestinian children that have been murdered are not responsible for freeing the hostages right now. That’s just the truth, right? The children are innocent,” she continued, with the former 33-year-old Scream star, who was...

Over 100 protestors gathered on Main Street during the Sundance Film Festival on January 21 to show solidarity for Palestine and protest Israel, U.S. president Joe Biden, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the media they see as complicit, and attendees of Sundance for remaining silent about Israel’s war inside the Gaza Strip.

The “Let Gaza Live” protest kicked off shortly before 1 p.m. Mt on Sunday, with demonstrators gathering at Kimball Junction bus station before marching on Main Street and settling just in front of the “Pizza and Noodle” restaurant. Protestors carried Palestinian flags, signs, and banners with expressions like “Ceasefire Now,” “Deplatform Zionism,” and “Let Gaza Live,” among many others.

The group was led in a series of chants for 15 minutes before leaders of the group paused to deliver speeches through a megaphone, all while a handful of other counter-protesting passersby began shouting from across the street in defense...

Bathed in the soft glow of neon lights, “Ponyboi” reminds us that the point of view from which a story is told can drastically alter the outcome, even if founded on familiar tropes The second feature from Colombian-born director Esteban Arango (Sundance 2020’s “Blast Beat”) is actor and screenwriter River Gallo’s self-conceived star-making project expanded from a 2019 short film of the same title that Gallo also starred in and co-directed themselves. Grounded on Gallo’s Intersex identity, the unapologetic crime saga with flourishes of comedy and romance often comes across as excitingly undefinable.

Few sights can place some of us back in the 2000s with more immediacy than a bedazzled Motorola Razr flip phone, an emblem of Millennial youth. Holding precisely one of those is how we first see Ponyboi (Gallo) in the daylight as he enters Fluff n’ Stuff, a New Jersey laundromat where he is employed both...

An moved and moving River Gallo thanked a full and cheering house for turning out to the premiere of Ponyboi. The intersex actor starred in film, which is both a crime thriller and exploration of gender and identity. Gallo is non-binary and uses they/them pronouns.

Gallo also wrote the screenplay based on a theater piece they had developed at at NYU. Estaban Arango directed.

Unfolding over the course of Valentine’s Day in a seedy area of New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker must run from gangsters after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past. Gallo is the heart of the gritty crime drama that’s also an exploration of masculinity, femininity and judgmental hierarchies that exist inside the queer world as well as out. Being Intersex is medical/anatomical — when a person generally appears to be one sex but has the dominant anatomy of the other.

Dylan O’Brien has returned to the red carpet to promote his new movie Ponyboi at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

The 32-year-old Teen Wolf alum attended the movie’s premiere at the Library Center Theatre on Saturday (January 20) in Park City, Utah.

This marks the first premiere Dylan has attended since July 2022 when he promoted his movie Not Okay with Zoey Deutch!

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Dylan kept his look casual but stylish. He wore black pants with a matching shirt and jacket. The actor finished off his look with a burgundy beanie and bright white shoes.

He was joined on the red carpet by costars Victoria Pedretti, Indya Moore, River Gallo, Annie Henk, Moises Acevedo, Aphrodite Armstrong, Miles Coreas, Kevin Matthew McDonald, NaTonia Monet and Keith William Richards.

Director Esteban Arango, producer Mark Ankner and co-producers Sade Clacken and Kristen Laffey were also present. We’ve got pics...

The Sundance Film Festival prides itself on being a place of innovation and discovery, and this year’s 40th anniversary celebration has an entry that could well check both boxes – “Ponyboi,” a genre-blending road movie featuring writer and star River Gallo.

Gallo plays the titular Ponyboi, an intersex sex worker hustling to survive in New Jersey. His days are spent with pregnant best friend Angel (Victoria Pedretti) working a strip mall laundromat; his nights with his secret lover and aspiring pimp, Angel’s baby’s father Vinnie (Dylan O’Brien). As it often happens on the turnpike, things go south when some tainted crystal meth and a dead mafioso spin Ponyboi’s fragile world into chaos, forcing him to confront his demons.

Gallo is writer and star on the project. A pedigreed artist who came up through USC and the Sundance labs, they are intersex and identify as non-binary and trans fem using they/them pronouns.

Justice Smith’s career has taken him to the forefront of major Hollywood tentpoles such as “Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” and “Pokémon: Detective Pikachu,” but it has never taken him to the Sundance Film Festival until now. The 28-year-old actor was one of five honorees at the Variety & Golden Globes Breakthrough Artists Party presented by Adobe, and earning a breakthrough artist award was “a really warm welcome” to the annual Park City event. Smith has two films world premiering at Sundance: A24’s “I Saw the TV Glow” and Focus Features’ “The American Society of Magical Negroes.”

“I have a note in here to ask if this award shows up on my IMDb, because all that is there is a Razzie nomination,” Smith told the audience to much laughter. “So I would really appreciate if that could make it on there. This is the...

Exclusive: Fox Entertainment and its in-house studio division MarVista Entertainment are launching Tideline Entertainment, a production label that will focus on creating impactful and meaningful content with unique perspectives from differentiated storytellers, voices and creators worldwide.

Under the leadership of Hannah Pillemer, MarVista’s EVP and Head of Creative & Production, Tideline projects will range from movies and indie films to limited series, made-for-platform content and other cross-genre formats based on what best supports each creative vision.

The first project under Tideline is the Esteban Arango-directed Ponyboi, which is being produced and sold by Mark Ankner in partnership with 30Kft out of Sundance; the pic premieres Saturday in the fest’s U.S. Dramatic Competition section. The movie, written by River Gallo and starring Teen Wolf‘s Dylan O’Brien, follows a young intersex sex worker forced to confront their past while running from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways.

Not even Gwyneth Paltrow’s ski instructor could predict the terrain on the slopes of Park City, Utah — and so it goes for the crop of independent movies seeking splashy distribution deals at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.

Buzzy titles with notable names — Kristen Stewart, Pedro Pascal, Kieran Culkin and Steven Yeun are just a few of the stars popping up in festival movies — will vie for release slots from major studios and streamers. But the evergreen questions remain: Which films will win over audiences on the ground, and how much cash are distributors willing to cough up for these crowd-pleasers?

There are indicators that this year is shaping up to be a seller’s market, according to more than half a dozen sales agents and industry players who spoke with Variety. The first sign is a key victory agents and filmmakers claimed when they convinced Sundance to overhaul its virtual program.

Variety is returning to the Sundance Film Festival this year with its annual Interview Studio, presented by Audible, the leading creator and provider of premium audio storytelling. Throughout the festival, videos from the interview studio will be distributed across Variety.com as well as Variety and Audible’s social media channels.

Beginning Friday, January 19, running through Sunday, January 21, the Variety Studio, presented by Audible, will feature interviews with industry-leading directors and top talent from the films premiering at the Sundance Film Festival. Confirmed talent includes Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin (“A Real Pain”); Jodie Foster, Alex Hedison, Alok Vaid-Menon (“Alok”); Lionel Richie, Bao Nguyen, Julia Nottingham (“The Greatest Night in Pop”); Kerry Washington, Angela Patton, Natalie Rae (“Daughters”); June Squibb, Fred Hechinger, Clark Gregg, Josh Margolin (“Thelma”); Anna Fleck, Ryan Boden, Pedro Pascal, Jay Ellis, Normani, Dominique Thorn, Ji-Young Yoo, Jack Champion (“Freaky Tales”); Richard Linklater, Glen Powell (“Hit Man”); Susanna Fogel,...

The annual IndieWire Studio at Sundance returns for the 2024 season to honor the 40th anniversary of the iconic festival.

The IndieWire Studio at Sundance will feature interviews with the talent behind the most anticipated films of the festival with discussions taking place in-person on Main Street in historic Park City, Utah.

Presented by Dropbox, and with supporting partners ACLU and Cotopaxi, the IndieWire Studio at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival will serve as a hub for video interviews with the top attending talent from the hottest indie films presented at the fest. Actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, and documentary subjects will be interviewed by IndieWire’s senior staff for exclusive video and social media content.

Dropbox is the perfect partner for IndieWire — and for Sundance — because it’s a brand that recognizes the power of collaborative effort. Their tools keep creative teams on the same page, whether sharing dailies, shooting schedules, costume specs,...