News

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is expanding its membership.

According to a press release, the organization that hands out Oscars each year at the Academy Awards has extended invitations to join the Academy to 398 artists and executives who have made notable contributions to the motion picture industry.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang in a joint statement.

Read More: The Academy Announces 2024 Oscars Date As Well As Submission Deadline

There are some big names and familiar faces among the invitees, including musicians Taylor Swift and David Byrne, and numerous actors, ranging from Selma Blair to Keke Palmer to “Elvis” Oscar nominee Austin Butler.

Those who accept will be only additions to Academy’s membership in 2023.

Vicky Krieps, Paul Mescal, Warner Bros Discovery head David Zaslav, Aftersun writer-director Charlotte Wells, She Said director Maria Schrader, and Kerry Condon are among 398 who have been invited to join the Academy.

Some 40% of the 2023 class identify as women, 34% belong to underrepresented ethnic/racial communities, and 52% are from 50 countries and territories outside the United States. There are 76 Oscar nominees including 22 winners among the invitees.

Those who accept the invitations will be the only additions to the Academy’s membership. Should they all accept, the total number of members...

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Oscar winners Ke Huy Quan, Daniel Kwan, and Daniel Scheinert, recent acting nominees Austin Butler, Paul Mescal, and Stephanie Hsu, and bold-face names for the extremely online like Taylor Swift, Abel Tesfaye (a.k.a. The Weeknd), and Warner Bros. Discovery boss David Zaslav were among the 398 people announced as new members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Wednesday.

“The academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said academy CEO Bill Kramer and academy president Janet Yang in a joint statement.

This year’s class of new members is heavy on 2022 breakouts, like the aforementioned Kwan and Scheinert – invitees in both the directors’ brand and the producers’ branch. In keeping with academy practice,...

The Academy has invited 398 artists across cinematic disciplines to join its membership, including Taylor Swift, Keke Palmer and this year’s Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership. They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide,” said Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang.

Also scoring invitations are actors Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Ram Charan, Kerry Condon, Bill Hader, Nicholas Hoult, Stephanie Hsu, Noémie Merlant, Paul Mescal, Nt Rama Rao Jr. and Paul Reiser, directors Joseph Kosinski, Maria Schrader and Michael Showalter, writers Josh Friedman, Kazuo Ishiguro and Charlotte Wells.

“Everything Everywhere All at Once” duo The Daniels (Credit: Getty Images)

Eight people were invited to join the Academy by multiple branches and must choose which...

Singer-songwriters Taylor Swift and David Byrne, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav, Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria, Everything Everywhere All at Once filmmakers Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert), Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro, former SXSW chief Janet Pierson, WME co-chairs Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, and actors including Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Bill Hader, Paul Mescal, Nicholas Hoult, Keke Palmer, Ke Huy Quan and Rrr stars Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. are among the 398 artists and executives from around the world who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year, the Oscar-dispensing organization announced Wednesday.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and president Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion...

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has released the names of its newest round of invitees, increasing the number of voting members past 10,000, should everyone accept.

With the addition of the 398 artists and executives that the Academy extended invitations to (totaling one more invite than last year), the Academy now boasts a membership that is 34 percent women, 18 percent from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities, and 20 percent from countries or territories outside of the United States. Though their invites have a rolling deadline, they must accept them and pay dues in order to vote for the Oscars and gain access to benefits like the Academy Screening Room.

Among the list of possible new members are, predictably, many of the filmmakers behind Best Picture winner “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” including Best Supporting Actor winner Ke Huy Quan, Best Supporting Actress nominee Stephanie Hsu, Best Film Editing winner Paul Rogers,...

It’s that time of year again — the break between Cannes and the fall festivals, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences makes its membership invitations. The Oscars group said today that it has extended offers to 398 artists and execs — one more than last year — who have distinguished themselves by their contributions to motion pictures.

The list includes actors, directors, writers, producers, musicians, executives, artist reps, publicists and below-the-liners such as casting directors, cinematographers, costume designers, film editors, makeup artists and hairstylists, production designers and sound pros.

“The Academy is proud to welcome these artists and professionals into our membership,” Academy CEO Bill Kramer and Academy President Janet Yang said in a statement. “They represent extraordinary global talent across cinematic disciplines and have made a vital impact on the arts and sciences of motion pictures and on movie fans worldwide.”

As usual, the invitees include newly minted Oscar winners,...

Title: ‘Lover, Beloved’ Director: Michael Tully Starring: Suzanne Vega Innovative folk singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega has long been determined to showcase the importance of women breaking traditional boundaries and championing their independence. So she decided to adapt her acclaimed one-woman stage show about the life of celebrated 20th-century American novelist […]

The post SXSW 2022 Movie Review: Lover, Beloved appeared first on Shockya.com.

Producer Billy Peterson has formed a new production company, Racing Green Pictures, and announced production on “Seacole,” his first feature with the banner.

The film will star Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“Belle”) and Sam Worthington (“Avatar”). It centers on a Mary Seacole, a pioneering Jamaican nurse who cared for wounded British soldiers during the Crimean War and found herself at odds with Florence Nightingale.

Racing Green Pictures says it is looking to back prestige films, many of which will have strong social messages. Peterson, the producer of the documentary “Shenandoah” and the dramedy “Ping Pong Summer,” also founded and led several film related entities such as Epic Match Media.

Along with Mbatha-Raw and Worthington, the cast includes Sylvia Hoeks (“Blade Runner: 2049”) and Sean Delaney (“Killing Eve”). Charlie Stratton (“In Secret”) directs from a screenplay he co-wrote with Dianne Houston (“Take the Lead”) and Marnie Dickens (“Ripper Street”). Academy Award nominee Brunson Green...

This week, IndieWire is rolling out our annual fall preview, including the very best indie movies coming out this year, all the awards contenders you need to know about, and even some blockbuster fare that will please the most discerning viewers. Check back every day for a new look at the best the season has to offer.

“Bisbee ’17” (September 5)

On July 12, 1917, nearly 2,000 striking miners — most of them Eastern European and Mexican immigrants — were rounded up by their deputized friends and neighbors, herded onto cattle cars, and abandoned in the middle of nowhere. Known as the Bisbee Deportation, this traumatic event has since benefited from an impressive act of collective forgetting, as many of the locals are descendants of those responsible and would rather ignore (or erase) that chapter of the history books. “Kate Plays Christine” filmmaker Robert Greene wasn’t going to let them do that. Greene, whose documentaries regularly...

"You might hear some strange things... don't pay any attention to it." Cranked Up Films has released an official Us trailer for an indie horror thriller titled Don't Leave Home, the latest feature from filmmaker Michael Tully. This premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and it also played at the Sarasota, Montclair, and Galway Film Festivals. Don't Leave Home is about an American artist's obsession with a disturbing urban legend that takes her to an investigation of the story's origins at the crumbling estate of a reclusive painter in Ireland. It's being called "Get Out with Catholic guilt in the Irish countryside" and a film that proves "not all mysteries should be solved." The film's cast includes Anna Margaret Hollyman, Lalor Roddy, Helena Bereen, David McSavage, and Karrie Cox. I like all the shots of the animals creepily staring at her. The film looks quite good, I will admit, and fairly creepy.

Earlier this year news broke that Good Deed Entertainment – the distribution company behind the Oscar-nominated Loving Vincent and others – will launch a genre-oriented label called Cranked Up, which will focus on select pieces of horror and sci-fi cinema. Michael Tully’s newest horror-thriller picture Don’t Leave Home marks the inaugural release for the new company. Following its premiere at the South by Southwest Film Festival, Cranked Up has now released the first trailer for the film.

Don’t Leave Home centers on American artist Melanie Thomas who, after being contacted by legendary priest and artist Father Alistair Burke, is asked to create an “original sculpture” while she visits his Irish manor. Having obsessed with Father Burke’s body of work, Melanie of course accepts his invitation. However, as she arrives, Melanie begins to realize that things aren’t quite right, as she expresses in the trailer: “The other day,...

At the SXSW Q&A, Austin-based director Michael Tully jokingly described his latest effort Don’t Leave Home as ‘Hereditary for old people’, which may be an apt comparison but it belies the true spooky power of a more delicate horror film. With a Lynchian style that combines the lush scenery of Ireland, a 4:3 aspect ratio, older actors, and frightful visions of a dark figure, the film feels like an ancient relic of sorts, in a similar way that his last film Ping Pong Summer felt like a product of the 80s.

Lead Anna Margaret Hollyman is endlessly watchable, and she… Read the rest

Continue reading...

While the SXSW Film Festival technically stretches across two weekends, it’s drowned out by music after the first one, while many of the programming highlights remain homeless. SXSW doesn’t usually play host to marketplace activity on the level of Sundance or other big festivals, in part because the Austin gathering attracts few buyers and hosts no special industry screenings. However, the programmer showcases a wide range of titles that arrive at the festival without distribution, including many that could stand the chance of finding audiences beyond the insular festival circuit. (Previous SXSW breakouts range from “Tiny Furniture” to “Weekend”) Here are some of the top titles from this year’s lineup that deserve an audience beyond it.

Read More:sxsw 2018 Winners List: ‘Thunder Road’ and ‘People’s Republic of Desire’ Claim Top Jury and Special Awards “Don’t Leave Home”

Michael Tully has built one of the more unusual filmographies over the past decade,...

Michael Tully has built one of the more unusual filmographies over the past decade, veering from the druggy thriller “Cocaine Angel” to the documentary “Silver Jew,” the twisted family drama “Septien” and the coming-of-age comedy “Ping Pong Summer.” With “Don’t Leave Home,” he fuses many of those storytelling instincts into a fascinating whole, with a slow-burn thriller set in the Irish countryside. With a premise that suggests “Rosemary’s Baby” through the specter of Catholic guilt, and a kooky gothic setting right out of “The Addams Family,” this bizarre atmospheric horror effort hails from familiar storytelling traditions while remaining unpredictable throughout.

“Don’t Leave Home” opens with a spectacular prologue seemingly exhumed from another era. Shot in the tight box of the Academy ratio with no dialogue, the ’80s-set sequence follows a priest in the Irish countryside as he paints a young girl sitting by a tree. The light changes,...

SXSW 2018 is upon us. Here are 10 films, without Tomatometers to guide us comfortably, premiering at this year's fest that you can bet on.

Relaxer - Joel Potrykus

Dogged to deteriorate ‘til he clobbers the unclobberable, Abby can’t flee his dent in the couch til he bests his brother’s bet to beat level 256 of Pac-Man. The stakes are, in that Potrykus way, only as strong as the disillusioned hero can envisage. Sleepless, stagnating, running on processed dairy, Abby’s obstacle might be Potrykus’s most menacing yet.

Screenings.

Don’t Leave Home - Michael Tully

Michael Tully’s first feature since the low-dose nostalgia trip Ping Pong Summer leaves comfort for myth and mystery, a curiosity and obsession that leads an artist away from the hearth.

Screenings.

Field Guide To Evil - Anthology

This ”Global dark folklore anthology” features shorts from The Lure director Agniezka Smoczynska, Goodnight Mommy’s...

The annual multi-pronged South By Southwest Conferences and Festivals — SXSW, of course — is hitting Austin, Texas later this week for days and days of fresh film offerings (plus music, interactive, and a litany of exciting panels and conversations). With it comes the promise of a brand new festival-going season, along with a slew of films to get excited about finally checking out (and, because it’s Austin, lots of tasty barbecue).

From SXSW regulars like Mark Duplass and Joel Potrykus to rising stars like Carole Brandt and Suzi Yoonessi to marquee names like Wes Anderson and John Krasinski, this year’s SXSW Film Festival is offering up a robust new slate. We’ve picked out a dozen worthy new features to add to your SXSW schedule.

Check out 12 new films from this year’s SXSW that you’re going to want to see Asap.

“A Quiet Place”

The last thing...

Now in its eighth year, the American Film Festival offers a unique perspective on recent developments in U.S. indie filmmaking. That’s because it happens in Poland, staged at the stylish Kino Nowe Horyzonty film center in Wroclaw, also home to the summer New Horizons festival, which has more of a European tilt.

Although the festival, which recently concluded, surveys many favorites from Sundance and South by Southwest, the curation doesn’t merely transpose selections to a new setting. It imports a lively assortment of filmmakers, as well, and creates a cozy, engaged atmosphere more akin to the communal vibe of the Maryland Film Festival. Indeed, to rub shoulders in a crowd that included Jody Lee Lipes, Noel Wells, Dustin Guy Defa, Nathan Silver, producer Mike Ryan, Jessica Oreck and Mike Ott is to experience a deep dive into the creative bustle of current indie ferment.

That spirit is...

Horror Decor's Halloween Line continues with Cuddle Creeps, garden flags, a Franken-candle, and more. Also in today's Horror Highlights: details on Terrortory and Queer Ghost Hunters, as well as Blu-ray release info for The Id.

Horror Decor's Second Wave of Halloween Items: From Horror Decor: “At Horror Decor, the place is overflowing with Halloween products over the last few weeks! From the Vintage Halloween Masks line and Rules of Halloween Candle Set, to the new Killer Pumpkin Ale Candle and Sleepy Hollow Garden Flag, the anticipation for All Hollows Eve is ramping up. Today, Horror Decor released Part 2 of their Halloween line.

First, they partnered up, once again, with Rondal Scott III from the Strange Kids Club to create another pair of Cuddle Creeps. These limited edition designs are only available during the Halloween season and will disappear on November 1st, so get your order in early.

Next, they introduced...

A slate of 12 upcoming features seeking French and European co-producers and sales representation were presented at the event running within the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris.

Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.

“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...

A slate of 12 upcoming features seeking French and European co-producers and sales representation were presented at the event running within the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris.

Ghanaian New York-based director Frances Bodomo’s upcoming feature Afronauts, based on the real-life tale of a Zambian bid to enter the space race shortly after the country gained independence in 1964, was one of the projects drawing strong buzz at the Paris Coproduction Village running June 8-10.

“On the basis of the number meetings booked this was one of the most popular projects on the table although of course a lot will happen behind...

Us in Progress Paris, a three-day works in progress event targeted at American independent filmmakers and European buyers, will take place in the scope of Champs-Elysées Film Festival on June 07-14 2016 in Paris.

The event is looking for 5 U.S. independent films at post-production stage (rough & fine cuts). The call for entries is open till April 8th 2016.

The application requirements for the films are the following:

* Narrative feature projects in post-production are eligible.

* Production Company needs to be Us based.

* Films looking for completion money, services and sales agent or European distribution should apply.

* Films in post-production when applying, with at least 30 min of the film edited and to reach feature format by June 1st 2016. If selected, the feature length version of the rough/fine cut will be presented on June 08-10. No excerpts or trailers will be accepted.

* Films with no Us or international premiere nor European sales representation prior to June 10th 2016 are eligible.

Us in Progress is a joint initiative between New Horizons Association (American Film Festival), Sophie Dulac’s Champs-Elysées Film Festival and Black Rabbit Film. It presents independent Us films in final production stages to European buyers, post-production houses and festivals in order to help them achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe. Us in Progress involves two yearly get-togethers at two different festivals (Paris in June and Wroclaw in October). The next event will take form of two days of exclusive screenings of the 5 selected films (behind closed doors, for registered guests only) and one-to-one meetings on June 10th 2016.

As a bonus to contracts resulting from the presentations and meetings, a jury made of professionals (Europa Distribution, Producer’s Network, Ciné +, Commune Image, Eaux Vives Productions, Firefly, Titra-Tvs, Kickstarter, Centre Phi) will award one of the selected works in progress. The awarded movie will get post-production and promotion services in kind.

The last Paris and Wroclaw editions attracted more than 40 buyers and producers. Alumni of the workshop were selected in Sundance 2013 ("I Used to Be Darker," "Milkshake," "A Teacher"), Berlinale 2013 ("Hide Your Smiling Faces," "I Used to Be Darker"), SXSW 2013 ("A Teacher"), Tribeca 2013 ("Hide Your Smiling Faces," "Bluebird"), Karlovy Vary 2013 ("Bluebird"), Toronto International Film Festival 2013 ("1982"), Sundance 2014 ("Ping Pong Summer"), SXSW 2015 ("Creative Control"), Rotterdam 2016 ("Actor Martinez"), Berlinale 2016 ("Nakom").

The fifth edition of Champs-Elysées Film Festival is to take place in Paris on June 07th to 14th 2016.

Apply now: Entry Form...

Exclusive: Bella Thorne, Rupert Grint, Jerry Ferrara titles among deal.

UK distribution outfits Icon Film Distribution (Ifd) and Alarm Pictures have struck a deal for Ifd to represent all future Alarm Pictures titles for digital, TV and other home entertainment exploitation.

The first titles scheduled for a Q1, 2016 release through Ifd’s digital partners include SXSW comedy Moonwalkers, starring Rupert Grint, Ron Perlman and Robert Sheehan, thriller Big Sky with Bella Thorne, and drama Club Life, featuring Jerry Ferrara, Jessica Szohr and Busta Rhymes.

Also on the slate are Dead Within, The Nymphets, Jamie Marks Is Dead, After The Fall and Enter The Dangerous Mind.

Alex Mandell, former Paramount and Wrekin Hill executive, and founder of Alarm Pictures, said: “I am incredibly excited to being working with the Icon team on my growing and rapidly expanding slate of content. 2016 is due to be a very busy year for Alarm and I am delighted that Icon are my...

Us in Progress, developed in the framework of Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, is the first and only industry event devoted to U.S. indies in Europe. Its aim is to foster the circulation and distribution of films between U.S. and Europe.

The event takes place twice yearly: November at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland and June here in Paris.

Usually five or six films are selected, all in post production stag, and a jury then decides which will be given further support to finish the film. Sponsors give needed technical support to the winner.

The European trade publication Cineuropa conducted interviews with the co-Founder and Head of Us In Progress, Adeline Monzier, and with Jury Member and Cannes Marche du Film Executive, Julie Bergeron.

The winning film this year was "Diverge".

The team from runner up film here "Queen of Glory" is also interviewed below.

“Most American producers have no idea how to reach the European market”, Adeline Monzier , Founder and organizer, Us in Progress

by Claire La Combe

Cineuropa sat down with Adeline Monzier at Us in Progress Paris to discuss various aspects of both American and European indie film circulation.

Four years ago, when she was head of the Europa Distribution network, Adeline Monzier created Us in Progress, a program dedicated to low-budget U.S. indie films. Today, she is also in charge of the Unifrance office in New York and runs a production company, Black Rabbit Film. In Paris, Cineuropa took the opportunity to discuss various aspects of both American and European indie film circulation with her.

Cineuropa: Why set up a U..S indie event in Europe?

Adeline Monzier: I realized that most American producers had no idea how to reach the European market. Usually, they lack a distribution strategy, not doing the right things at the right time. Films weren’t able to have the run that they could have had. Us in Progress is based on that idea: we show a selection of films to European professionals before they hit the festival circuit. It is about raising awareness. We are focusing on very few films that we think can have a career in Europe or that are worth discovering.

Do you have any success stories?

We have a few success stories. For example, two years ago, we had "Ping Pong Summer" by Michael Tully: Films Boutique discovered the film here and picked up the rights; they knew it would be a niche film with a specific audience, but they sold it in a lot of territories… Not always theatrically… But in terms of revenues for the filmmaker, it was a very interesting deal.

What’s your opinion of the circulation of indie films?

American indies in Europe have a tough time because there are no subsidies to support the distribution of these movies. The European markets are so overwhelmed by American movies that for national bodies, it doesn’t make sense to support their circulation. When faced with a very good European film and a very good U.S. film, distributors will always pick the European one because they can get subsidies. That said, for the audience, American films still have an appeal. The English language will always be easier to sell… So there is ambivalence.

What about the European indies on the U.S. market?

European film is a very small market in the U.S… Foreign movies represent around 2% of the market share, and between 0.5% and 1% are French films. That means there is less space for non-French, non-American movies.

Why?

The American market is very strong and concentrated as well, as in Europe, and blockbusters draw in most of the audience. Plus, Americans are not at all used to subtitled films, and there is no dubbing, because it is too expensive[sic], except for animated films sometimes . (Editor, Sydney here: because Americans do not like dubbed films!)

Do you see any differences in terms of financing practices between Europe and the U.S.?

They are two very different systems. The entire system in the U.S. is based on private equity. You need to have the right connections. Also, the average production budget for an indie film is very low compared to a European film. But Americans are very resourceful; they can usually play several different roles in their films, from editing to producing, just because they want to achieve economies of scale, whereas in Europe, it is much rarer to have a director juggling different positions.

Do you think digitization has had an impact on film circulation?

It is definitely easier for indie filmmakers to distribute their films nowadays. They have access to platforms and VOD. A lot of independent directors now use the day-and-date release because theaters enable you to raise awareness about the film and to help the audience to go and see the film on VOD. Still, income from VOD is very low for independent films. With digital, the problem remains the same! You have to market a film; if you don’t have the money to promote the film, then it is going to be lost within the platform.

Can we predict that digital will foster a common system between the Us and Europe in terms of producing?

No; the markets are too diverse. A lot of European filmmakers go to the Us to shoot because they want to enjoy the freedom of not having the old subsidy system schemes. On the other hand, you have American filmmakers looking for European producers in order to benefit from the whole funding system. So today, there are a lot more cross-connections, but the systems are very different, and I don’t think they will merge, even with digital.

“The biggest challenge is to make a film that will circulate and find an audience”

Julie Bergeron, Cannes Film Market, member of the Us in Progress jury

by Claire La Combe

Cineuropa sat down with Julie Bergeron at Us in Progress Paris to discuss support for independent film and its future prospects

On Wednesday night, the American film "Diverge" by James Morrison was awarded the Us in Progress Award. Just after the ceremony, Cineuropa met up with one of the jury members, Julie Bergeron, head of industry programs at the Cannes Film Market. She elaborated on her views on the topic of support for independent film and its future prospects.

Cineuropa: Why are you part of the Us in Progress jury?

Julie Bergeron: There is a lot of interest in seeing films from Us independents; it is always interesting to look out for films that are made on a low budget and with strong stories. We support the winning producers by offering an accreditation for the Producers’ Network at Cannes to help them to pursue meetings and networking, and hopefully find distribution for their films.

Have you seen any kind of evolution in the selections?

Yes. It seems that they are receiving more and more projects. It is an event that is now well known in the U.S. and Europe. With the link to Poland and the event happening twice a year, we saw an evolution in the diversity of the projects. This year, the diversity was very strong, with a horror-comedy film, a sci-fi movie and an Lgbt romance.

Do you think all of this diversity has a place in the next Producers’ Network?

Yes, of course! We welcome 200 producers at the Breakfast Meetings every morning in Cannes, and they come from all over the world. It is a place where they wish to connect with sales agents, financiers and potential partners to network and discuss their projects. The idea is specifically to support producers who want to connect with the international market. That is the biggest challenge for every filmmaker: to make a movie that will attract a larger audience than in its own country.

Do you see any similarities between American and European independent films?

They are different because in Europe, there is a lot of public support for films, and there is a strong tradition of the author-driven movie. In the U.S., the independents have to find private financing for the films. Plus, they don’t have access to any co-production, because there are no co-production treaties in the Us, whereas in Europe, the movies can access funding from many territories. The Us independents are very much on their own when it comes to financing their films.

What kind of qualities was the jury looking for in the winning film?

We had a lot of discussions; the stages of the presented films were not the same. "Diverge" is the one we found to be the most advanced: it is a low-budget film, and the story – while there is some work still to be done – is really there. There are a lot of genre-film festivals, and hopefully the movie will travel. And also, I think that a young audience driven by sci-fi and genre would like it.

Do you think such an event should be created for European films in America?

I’m not sure; it would be difficult… If a European film does not find a sales agent in Europe, it might be difficult to find one in the USA. The movie would need to have a strong “American” sensibility… There are some work-in-progress (Wip) experiences in Latin America, and they work well. But in Latin America, they don’t have a lot of sales agents; they have to show their films anyway to break through, as they have no alternative. Europeans are more reluctant to show a film that is not yet finished, especially those who are in countries with a strong production capacity. Now the market goes really fast, the windows for the films are getting smaller and smaller, and you have to be sure whenever you show the film that it is the best way to present it to professionals… But wait… I’m not saying that such an event shouldn’t exist!

How do you see the future of the independent film industry?

I think there will always be filmmakers making films independently because it’s a strong medium for expression. In fact, it’s the strongest: you have the sound, the image, the music, the story… You have everything!

Who will be financing them?

Well, you still have strong companies! My hope is that companies that own the distribution platforms, like VoD players, Netflix and all these people, will start investing in the creation process. Canal+ in France takes part in the financing, so if we can bring these “pipes” to invest in the content, then we have a chance, and they are starting to do so, slowly. But it is going to be increasingly driven by big audiences. The pressure there for the kind of independent films that we saw at Us in Progress is enormous. If these small films are not picked up by a big festival and noticed by the industry, their chances of finding distribution are tiny.

"European audiences are more film-educated"

Us in Progress Filmmakers Speak Up

by Claire La Combe

Cineuropa sat down with Jamund Washington ("Queen of Glory"), Nana Mensah ("Queen of Glory"), Baff Akoto ("Queen of Glory") and Gabe Klinger ("Porto, Mon Amour") at Us in Progress Paris to chat about the current and future independent film environment

The four young filmmakers, all living and working in New York City but hailing from diverse backgrounds ranging from Ghana to Brazil, via London, exchanged their opinions on the current and future independent film environment during a chat characterized by idealization and a smidgen of pessimism.

Cineuropa: What is your opinion of film festivals? What role do they play?

Jamund Washington: Anything that gets people to go and sit and watch your story is great.

Nana Mensah: At this point, in the way the game has been shaped, it would not be possible to make independent films without festivals; they are great entry points for films outside the system. There is a sort of renaissance that allows people like me to make films now – the barriers are lower.

Why come here to Paris, to Europe?

Nm: In Paris, I can put my fingers on the pulse of European culture. I think "Queen of Glory" has more meaning here than perhaps in an American market. With its visual aspects and its African topic, our film has links with Europe. We have already received such a warm reception here in France, so I’m hoping that will continue.

Jw: European audiences are more film-educated. We feel like the audience will better understand the stage that we are now at. Not that there are no places where you can find that audience in the United States… I’m just generalising.

Gabe Klinger: Parisian moviegoers are the most sophisticated in the world, and that’s a fact! No one can contest that.

Baff Akoto: The French would contest that (laughs). But seriously, film is culture here, as opposed to predominantly entertainment, which is the case in the Us.

Jw: Yes, culture in the Us is like a small subculture of big entertainment.

Do you have an opinion on the European film-financing system?

BA: I know that the co-production financing system is good. And the soft money in Europe attracts everybody in America from big studio productions to small indie films because it allows a lot of projects to get made that would not necessarily find money. And it provides a framework, too, alternatives that are available for films that would never get financed in America.

How do you feel about digitisation?

BA: In England, a lot of films only get the chance to break out because of digital prints. Anything that helps smaller films to become more visible is good.

Gk: I’m going to be the contrarian. Because digital is not an archival medium, and so we are risking losing all the digital information in 25 years, all these files and DCPs can be corrupted and become inaccessible. In terms of circulation, digital is going to be your best friend, but still… For Porto Mon Amour, we will use digital distribution and on-film copies. It is a luxury; a lot of producers would spend the money on something else. It is the way I want to engage with an audience that still appreciates watching a movie on film. It’s just more expensive.

How do you see the future for independent films?

Jw: I wish I knew – it would make my life a lot easier.

BA: Netflix!

Jw: I don’t know; I think a lot of stuff is going to happen… We should just keep telling stories.

Gk: It is exciting because there is a lot of demand for content right now, and that’s because of the new platform for distribution. Unfortunately, most of it is not in theaters… We will see… The pessimist in me says that the content we are producing now is not going to live very long in cinemas.

BA: Cinema is not going to die, though. No one goes to church, and people still go to the cinema; it is the one place where we still commune.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive overview of the not so distant future in American indie film, a reliable sampling is usually found in the bi-annual Sffs / Krf Filmmaking Grants finalist (and future winners) lists. Grants will be awarded next month, but this finalists’ list overviews a look into the 2016-17 pool of talent and feature films. Among the trio of items that are in various stages of production and we’re keeping tabs on, we have Ian Olds (docu helmer of Fixer: The Taking of Ajmal Naqshbandi) who moved into fiction feature filmmaking with The Fixer. Produced by Caroline von Kuhn (Camden Int. Film Fest Managing Director and docu field expert), this is said to include supporting players in the shape of Melissa Leo and James Franco. And speaking of Franco…, Travis Mathews from Interior. Leather Bar. fame has Oscillate Wildly next in line. Beasts of the Southern Wild...

Anchor Bay Entertainment (Abe), a leading distributor of independent feature films and home entertainment product, recently announced a new three-year agreement with Gravitas Ventures, a leading distributor of independent cinema.

The output deal gives Abe North American Blu-ray and DVD distribution rights to 36 titles, 12 per year, from Gravitas Ventures through 2017. Among the first releases included in the agreement are acclaimed films "Manny," a Manny Pacquiao documentary, "Always Woodstock," starring Ryan Guzman, Brittany Snow and Katey Sagal, and "Lovesick," starring Matt LeBlanc, Ali Larter and Chevy Chase.

“Gravitas Ventures is an extraordinarily innovative company with an outstanding array of independent content,” said Bill Clark, President of Anchor Bay Entertainment. “This is a very exciting partnership and we are committed to expanding the audience for their films in the home entertainment marketplace.”

“Anchor Bay Entertainment’s first-rate relationships with retailers, as well as their inventive and customized marketing programs make them an ideal partner for us,” said Nolan Gallagher, CEO and Founder of Gravitas Ventures. “We look forward to a long and productive relationship.”

More on Gravitas Ventures

Gravitas Ventures is a leading all rights distributor of independent cinema. Founded in 2006, Gravitas connects independent filmmakers and producers with distribution opportunities across the globe. Recent releases include "Ping Pong Summer" with Susan Sarandon, "The Longest Week" starring Jason Bateman and Olivia Wilde, "Felony" starring Joel Edgerton, "Backstreet Boys: Show'Em What You're Made Of" and Spike Lee’s "Da Sweet Blood of Jesus." For more information, please check out www.gravitasventures.com

More on Anchor Bay Entertainment

Anchor Bay Entertainment is a leading independent home entertainment company celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2015. Anchor Bay acquires and releases a wide array of filmed entertainment in the theatrical and home entertainment markets, including Starz Original series, children's entertainment, fitness (Anchor Bay Fitness), sports and specialty films on Blu-ray™ and DVD formats. The company has long-term distribution agreements in place for select programming with The Weinstein Company, AMC Networks and RADiUS, among others. Headquartered in Beverly Hills, CA, Anchor Bay Entertainment ( www.anchorbayentertainment.com) is a full service distributor in the North American market. Anchor Bay Entertainment is a Starz (Nasdaq: Strza, Strzb) business, www.starz.com.

Rodney Ascher took us on a tour of the secluded and ominous Overlook Hotel like never before in Room 237, a documentary about various theories on what hidden messages or themes could exist in Stanley Kubrick's film adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining. With The Nightmare, Ascher returns to the big screen with another documentary on a scary subject, one that's all too familiar for some folks: sleep paralysis. Tormented by "shadow people" and other eerie entities while unable to move their bodies, people plagued by sleep paralysis have their stories recreated in Ascher's The Nightmare (showing tonight at the SXSW Film Festival), and North American audiences can see these nighttime terrors brought to life onscreen soon, as Gravitas Ventures has acquired The Nightmare and will release it in theaters and on VOD early this summer:

"El Segundo, CA (March 13, 2015) – The Nightmare, the unique horror documentary from director...

At a panel in Rotterdam, the ‘next wave’ of festival programmers from across the globe debated topics such as how much to programme audience-friendly films while championing more challenging work.

As Thure Munkholm from Copenhagen’s Cph:pix asked succinctly: “How do we get the audience to take a chance with us to screen what is new? That is getting harder and harder.”

He said it’s important to develop with an audience, not just impose a festivals ideas on them. “There is an actual audience that we want to evolve with. In order to push the boundaries, you have to communicate with the audience. “

Michelle Carey of the Melbourne Film Festival said: “I don’t believe in looking down on the audience and pandering down to the lowest common denominator.”

She paid tribute to Iffr for programming medium-length films, something that’s hard for more traditional festivals to find homes for. “If you ask...

Eric Lavallee: Name me three of your favorite “2014 discoveries”…

Ryan Zacarias: 1. Thomas Dinger‘s Fur Mich (album), Manabu Yamanaka (photographer), Ricardo Silva’s Navajazo (film).

Lavallee: I Used to Be Darker, Ping Pong Summer, and now Entertainment — you’ve had a trio of films featured in the Next section. Using this cross-section of films, could you describe what kind of DNA is needed for you to throw your weight behind a given film as a producer.

Zacarias: I think I gravitate towards projects (and filmmakers) that have a bit of a skewed sensibility. I tend to find stuff that focuses heavily on image, whether its observing a character, the atmosphere of the location, or photographic movements (or stillness). I’d rather you tell me your story through imagery and tone, than force your way through with a bunch of nonsensical dialogue to make me understand. I kinda of lose interest at that point.

CreativeLive, an online learning platform founded in 2010, has signed Michael Gottwald to teach their first live-streamed course as a part of their new education channel. Gottwald's course, "Producing An Indie Film From The Grassroots, Up" aims to teach its students how to produce with optimum proficiency, and it will to cover everything from source material, to modes of fundraising, to careful production planning, all the way to distribution and marketing. Read More: What the Obama Campaign Can Tell Us About Grassroots Film Outreach Gottwald has considerable experience and great success in the area: "Beasts of the Southern Wild," which he produced, won the Camera d'Or at the 2012 Cannes Film Festival and was nominated for four Academy Awards. He also produced "Ping Pong Summer," which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, and is currently producing new cycles of the hit web series "High Maintenance." His latest project,...

It might still be too early to mention the brothers in the same breath as Frederick Wiseman, but the Ross brothers’ filmography to date in 2009′s 45365, 2010′s Tchoupitoulas and perhaps 2013′s River is awe-worthy and awe-inspiring in an observational mode type of manner. A non-secret to SXSW programmers, the brothers who’ve given us Americana portraits set in suburban, dryland and floating bodies of water get some sand in their face with Western. By the looks of it (see pic above), this is in the last stages of being readied with a recent trip to the Sundance Institute and Skywalker Sound Select Independent Filmmakers and Film Composers for September Music and Sound Design Lab for Documentary. It is currently among the finalists for the San Francisco Film Society’s Documentary Film Fund.

Gist: Eagle Pass, Texas and Piedras Negras, Mexico are border towns and the vision of the modern frontier.

It may be too early to call him an American cousin akin to the quasi-dark humor of Roy Andersson and Aki Kaurismäki, but is third film showcased a unique, well-developed, wry-tinged funny-bone. When you throw in his previous dramatic pair of films in The Builder (2010) and New Jerusalem (2011), it makes for an early filmography that would surely receive an unflattering grade of next to no bags of popcorn from the On Cinema at the Cinema critic duo. This is a good thing. Filmmaker by day, musician by night, Rick Alverson’s third feature film The Comedy, was among the best items of 2012′s Sundance Film Festival, suffice it to say that his fourth film, Entertainment, which was shot midway in the year, might contain more of that DNA. Gregg Turkington who co-wrote with Alverson toplines the pic which was photographed by cinematographer Lorenzo Hagerman (look for his stylistic flourishes in...

A handful of directors, producers and sales agents gathered for an introductory panel at the fifth American Film Festival (Oct 21-26) in Wroclaw, Poland as part of the festival’s Us in Progress event.

Us in Progress, the first industry event in Europe devoted entirely to Us indies, focuses on the completion and European distribution of American indie feature films at the post-production stage.

Similarities and differences between the European film market and the American system were debated, with discussion focusing on the link between sales and festivals.

“It’s really hard to raise awareness about your film,” said BlackRabbit Films’ Adeline Monzier [pictured], a creator of the event. “That’s why we created this programme, to raise awareness before the festivals because it’s important to meet the right people.”

Monzier continued on the importance of sales agents at European festivals, saying: “If you go to a European festival without a sales agent, you’ll just...

The festival’s 25th edition will feature a contribution from Ai Weiwei and competition titles including Whiplash, Nightcrawler and Foxcatcher.

The Stockholm International Film Festival (Nov 5-16) is to present its Achievement Award to Us actress Uma Thurman.

The Kill Bill star will will visit Stockholm to receive the prestigious Bronze Horse and meet the audience during an exclusive “Face2Face”.

Thurman will also take part in the inauguration ceremony, which will include the unveiling of an ice sculpture by Chinese artist Ai Weiwei.

Weiwei was a Stockholm jury member last year but since he wasn’t allowed to leave China, he sent an empty chair named ”The Chair for Non-attendance” as symbol of his absence.

He is still not allowed to leave China so will send a design that will be portrayed in the form of a large ice sculpture symbolising this years’ Spotlight theme - Hope.

Brazil

The festival will focus this year on Brazil...

Busy Signals: Stone’s Aptly Named Thriller Phones It In

There is not anything innately offensive about a really decent made-for-tv thriller, especially the type based on those ceaseless examples of books once referred to as dime store pulp fiction, juicy, hard boiled or even illogical. These types of mildly entertaining whodunits aren’t without a certain sense of craftsmanship either. But half their charm is that they’re on television, so they may seem a bit irritating if you had to pay to see them in the theater—and that’s concerning the really decent ones. It’s hard to say why writer/producer Jason Stone chose to adapt The Calling, the first in a series of mystery novels by Michael Redhill, published under the pseudonym of Inger Ash Wolfe. Adapted by screenwriter Scott Abramovitch, who has only written films for television previously, it’s a lukewarm endeavor a...

Guardians of the Galaxy has everyone talking about Howard the Duck again, and we have a new exclusive clip featuring one of the original stars of that 1986 Marvel adaptation, Lea Thompson. She appears in the new coming-of-age comedy Ping Pong Summer as Mrs. Miracle, the mom of a hip hop obsessed 13-year-old boy who spends his annual summer vacation in Ocean City Maryland. This summer is going to be different though, as he experiences his first crush, becomes the target of rich bullies and even plays a little bit of his most beloved sport, Ping Pong. Check out this scene, which finds Lea Thompson and John Hannah, who plays Mr. Miracle, having a nice walk on the boardwalk that is rudely interrupted by their kids. Then be sure to pick up the movie on Blu-ray and DVD this weekend.

The year is 1985. Rad Miracle is a shy 13-year-old white kid...

This week’s new Blu-ray releases include a trio of films that opened earlier in the year, an 80s-set indie, and more. Briefly: Divergent [Blu-ray] - $18.96 (53% off) Oculus [Blu-ray] - $19.96 (50% off) Need for Speed [Blu-ray] - $19.99 (50% off) Ping Pong Summer [Blu-ray] - $18.99 (37% off) Phantom Of The Paradise (Collector's Edition) [Bluray/DVD Combo] [Blu-ray] - $24.99 (17% off) Full Monty [Blu-ray] - $16.18 (19% off)

The post New to Blu-ray: Divergent, Oculus, Need For Speed, and More appeared first on Collider.

“Tracking Shot” is a monthly featurette here on Ioncinema.com that looks at a dozen or so projects that are moments away from lensing (or in a couple of titles below have been shooting since July). This August we’ve got a good number of projects that will start surfacing as early as next year’s Sundance, Rotterdam and Berlin Film Fests. With Dakota Johnson having been just announced, we’ve got Luca Guadagnino’s long awaited (remake) A Bigger Splash, getting ready for a poolside shoot. Gus Van Sant comes out of the woodworks to move into the woods for Sea of Trees. Sundance alumni Rick Alverson is wrapping up Entertainment, Reed Morano is set to make her directorial debut this mid-August with Meadowland, while Douchebag, Like Crazy, Breathe In‘s Drake Doremus is stationed in Japan for a weighty cast and futuristic tale in Equals. Here are some...

Moviefone's Top Blu-ray of the Week

"Phantom of the Paradise"

What's It About? This is a freaky '70s take on "Faust" and "Phantom of the Opera," by way of Brian De Palma. Sure, we know that music producers are evil, but Swan (Paul Williams) really takes the cake.

Why We're In: Shout! Factory's two-disc set has some pretty great goodies for fans of this cult flick.

New on DVD & Blu-ray

"12 O'Clock Boys"

What's It About? Baltimore teens take to the streets on their dirt bikes, and young Pug wants to be one of them. A short but satisfying doc that's part extreme sports action and part personal drama.

In or Out: In.

"Around the Block"

What's It About? Christine Ricci stars as a cool American teacher in Australia who puts on a performance of "Hamlet" with her students. Unfortunately for the play's star, an Aboriginal teen named Liam, his...

Not alike the world chess player superstars or the pool cue strutting creation of The Color of Money’s Fast Eddie Felson, eccentric legends are indeed born and bred in the unlikeliest of sports and settings. After releasing Michael Tully’s ode to the 80′s and the racket sport in Ping Pong Summer, the Gravitas Ventures are serving auds with a second match of table tennis personas with Leo Leigh’s Fact or Fiction: The Life and Times of a Ping Pong Hustler – the last stages of his life portrait of one Marty Reisman, who appears to have parlayed a passion for a plastic ball into a way to make some dollars on the side. The docu preems on VOD on August 1st, and is available for preorder on iTunes. Here is an exclusive look.

Brooke Bernard, Ryan Zacarias, and Ryan Lough’s Nomadic Independence announced that Rick Alverson’s Entertainment is officially in greenlight mode and cast alongside the already pegged Gregg Turkington and Tim Heidecker we have now have Michael Cera, Tye Sheridan and veteran Dean Stockwell filling out the supporting cast with Angeliki Papoulia rejoining her The Lobster co-star John C. Reilly. Jagjaguwar’s Chris & Ben Swanson, Electric Dynamite’s Jack Black (yes the actor) will Executive Produce while George Rush (Ping Pong Summer), and Epic Pictures Group’ Patrick Ewald and Shaked Berenson will co-Executive Produce.

Gist: Written by Rick Alverson, Gregg Turkington and Tim Heidecker, this is set in the Mojave Desert, the film follows a broken-down comedian (Turkington) playing clubs across the Southwest, working his way to Los Angeles to meet his estranged daughter (Kalia Prescott). Along the way, his identity begins to deteriorate amid a series of encounters with...

Those who missed January’s Sundance Film Festival but followed news and reviews out of the indie-film showcase can now see a number of the movies they read about. At least eight buzzy titles that premiered at the festival have hit theaters this summer, with many still on the big screen or the small screen, via VOD or HBO. List The Hollywood Reporter Reveals Hollywood's Favorite Films Take a look at which Sundance movies you can now see (and how) as well as highlights from The Hollywood Reporter’s coverage of their Park City premieres: Ping Pong Summer (Available for download

read more...

The Champs Elysees Film Festival's in partnership with U.S. in Progress awarded the U.S. in Progress Prize to "Creative Control" Director and the film's star, Benjamin Dickinson, and Producers Craig Shilowich, Melody Roscher, Zachary Mortensen and Mark de Pace. Dickenson's first feature film "First Winter" premiered at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival.

"Creative Control", a dark sci-fi comedy is the near-future story of four Brooklynites whose tech-obsessed lifestyles get the better of them.  Anxious, ambitious ad executive starts a chain reaction of destruction when he becomes obsessed with his best friend's free-spirited girlfriend while working on a campaign for a new generation of Augmented Reality Glasses.  The life-like avatar he creates of her becomes too life-like as the blurred boundary between reality and fantasy spreads into an out-of-control space where everyone's public, private and imaginary lives implode.

Benjamin Dickenson grew up in Wheaton, Illinois and moved to New York in 1999 to attend Nyu's undergraduate film program.  After graduation he and some friends from school started Waverly Films in a warehouse in Bushwick, Brooklyn.  Benjamin started directing music videos for Dfa record artists such as LCD Soundsystem, The Rapture and the Juan Maclean.  He has since made videos for Q-Tip and Reggie Watts, the "disinformationist" who c is currently appearing on the IFC television series "Comedy Bang! Bang" which began airing on June 8, 2012 and was renewed for a third season which will premiere in 2014.  He has also directed commercials for Google, The Ford Motor Corporation, BMW, MTV and Guitar Hero. 

Producer Marc de Pace is a partner at Ghost Robot, another Bushwick production company.  In 2011 Mark produced Benjamin's "First Winter"released by Film Movement.  He exec produced Michael Cera's short film "Brazzaville Teen-Ager" and Joey Garfield's feature film "A Love Letter for You".  HIs producing credits also include music videos for Bjork, The Rapture and Grizzly Bear and ads for Google, Toshiba and At&T.

U.S. in Progress Paris took place during the third edition of the Champs Elysées Film Festival in Paris, on June 11-12 2014. The program presented 4 U.S. indie films in post-production to European sales agents, distributors and festival programmers in order to achieve completion and to foster the circulation and distribution of American indie films in Europe.  The event has doubled the amount of submissions this year and is quickly achieving a winning track record. 

The trajectories of the directing/ writing/ producing/ acting teams of the other three contenders are all trending distinctively upward:

Writer/director Matthew Lessner and producer David Henry Gerson presented "Automatic at Sea". Their short film "Chapel Perilous" previously won the 2014 Audience Award at Sundance.  Matthew's previous feature "The Woods", distributed by Film Movement, premiered in the New Frontier Program at the Sundance Film Festival in 2011 and was shortlisted for Independent Spirit and Gotham Awards.  The San Francisco Film Society has awarded him two grants for his upcoming feature "Terror Tuesday".  Producer David Henry Gerson also starred and to my eye and in my opinion is one of the few mature (adult vs. boy-type) male leads in this new generation of actors.  Manly, threatening and aloof in his role, in life he is also smart (a graduate of Colombia University with a bachelor's degree in English Literature and currently attending the American Film Institute) and engaged, as shown in the shorts he wrote and directed "Broken Badge" about a NYPD officer and  American Standard about a veteran returning home from Afghanistan to his illegal immigrant girlfriend.

"Eugenia and John" directed by Hossein Keshavarz whose film "Dog Sweat" was released by Indiepix to critical acclaim in 2011 and which the New York Times called "polished; the young actors warmly believable" and NPR called "astonishingly gutsy" screened his second film, "Eugenia and John", produced by Mryam Azadi, Chad Burris and Amy Durning, stars  Wesley Tunison and Venecia Troncoso who has the distinction of having starred in the Sundance hit, "Mosquita y Mari".  

"Winning Dad" was written, directed and produced by Arthur Allen with producers Julia Bruk and Case Barden.   This Lgbt romance is the debut feature of a young man whose career path after graduating St. John's College in Maryland, is as entertaining as his film.  After supporting himself for several years in the Seattle Theater Community (and washing windows at the Space Needle), in 2008 he joined the United States Merchant Marines where he wrote "winning Dad" aboard the Usns Gilliland.  On leaving, he was recruited by the Washington United for Marriage Coalition as part of its Speaker's Bureau to campaign for marriage equality in Washington State.  In 2012 he began working for an Arabic translation company and represented the United States at the second Baghdad International Translation conference in Baghdad, Iraq.

If these four films are not quality enough to show the success of U.S. in Progress, the paths of the other films they have shown over the three years included Sundance film 2013's winning film "Ping Pong Summer" directed by Michael Tully and starring  Susan Sarandon, Amy Sedaris, John Hannah, Judah Friedlander, and Lea Thompson was picked up for domestic distribution by Millennium and Gravitas and is currently in release theatrically in U.S. The premium international sales agent, Films Boutique, has sold it to France, Germany and Russia.

The former U.S. in Progress films, "Ping Pong Summer", "Sun Belt Express", Summer of Blood" by Onur Tukel whose film "Richard's Wedding" also showed in U.S. in Progress, are also showing at the Champs-Elysees Film Festival, the only film festival in Paris.  This year Ceff is also hosting The Paris Coproduction Village with 12 feature films in development from Italy, U.S., Israel, The Philippines, Romania, Sri Lanka and U.S., Germany, Chile and Argentina, Thailand, Turkey, Italy and Canada, and Australia.  It is also hosting the four-month Paris residents of the Cannes Film Festival's Cinefondation, a dozen young directors whose selection is based on the quality of their shorts or first feature film and on the merits of their project currenlty in development their motivation.

The Champs Elysees is alive with the energy infused by the top level of fresh new talent, meeting for cocktails if not over dinner and lunch every evening in the terrace of Publicis at the top the the Champs Elysees, overlooking the Arc de Triumph.  ...

Some Sundance titles take their sweet time making a deal — just this week we’ve had two other 2014 Sundance title announcements. Unlike, say Michael Tully’s Ping Pong Summer, which Gravitas Ventures picked up when there was still snow in Park City, it is now Carter Smith’s long-awaited sophomore pic that has been snapped up by the day & date label. Indiewire reports that Jamie Marks Is Dead will receive a theatrical/VOD release on August 29th.

Gist: Based on the novel One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak, in a wintry small town, the body of a teenager named Jamie Marks is found by the river. Adam, the star of his cross-country team, becomes fascinated with Jamie—a boy nobody really knew or interacted with, except occasionally to bully him.

Worth Noting: Judy Greer and Liv Tyler are among the supporting cast.

Do We Care?: A hard sell for...

Stars: Marcello Conte, Judah Friedlander, Amy Sedaris, Lea Thompson, Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Quinn McColgan, Emmi Shockley, Robert Longstreet, Maddie Howard, Joseph McCaughtry, Andy Riddle, Helena May Seabrook | Written and Directed by Michael Tully

Writer and director Michael Tully’s latest film Ping Pong Summer has such a strong personal connection a more apt title may be “How I Spent My Summer Vacation—in 1985”. Tully is clearly a product of the 80’s and Ping Pong Summer is a radical reflection of that. This eighties-sploitation encapsulates what made the 1980’s such an infamous decade—including homages of everything from Karate Kid to Fast Time at Ridgemont High to everyone’s favorite Rad. While the references are intriguing and varied, not enough is done to forge its own legacy.

In the film Marcello Conte plays Rad Miracle, a teenager obsessed with hip hop and ping-pong. He brings his obsession on his annual family vacation to Ocean City,...

Alien objects by today’s standards such as cassettes or boom boxes are imbued with an indelible sense of nostalgia. Those who remember how irritating it was to have to rewind a mix-tape with a pencil or running out of quarters at the neighborhood arcade understand that - though current technology facilitates most needs - there was a wonderful physicality to those dilemmas. Who hasn’t yearned to return to their simpler, younger years and relive those peculiarities that made them so special? For those growing up in the 80’s there is now hope to go back in the form of a film. Finding magic in the obsolete, Michael Tully’s “Ping Pong Summer” is a cinematic time machine that embraces the visual aesthetics of the time, while unafraid of being a bit messy and over the top.

It’s the summer of 1985 and awkward teen Rad Miracle (Marcello Conte) is headed to Ocean City, Maryland for a family vacation on a budget. His sister, a few years older than him, is a rebellious too-cool-for-cool girl with a fondness for dark make-up. Their parents surely love them, but they are also great at enhancing the weird emotions that go along with being an adolescent.

Friendless and with not much to do in town besides getting some Cherry+Cola Icee, Rad is not looking forward to his time there. Luckily, he crosses paths with Teddy Fryy ( Myles Massey), a quirky African American boy who sports an awesome fro. His new best pal introduces him to a mythical arcade known as “Fun Hub.” While playing some friendly ping pong games, Rad must face his nemesis for the summer, rich kid Lyle (Joseph McCaughtry) and his overly devoted sidekick Dale (Andy Riddle).

Indispensable in every coming-of-age tale, Rad’s love interested is Stacy Summers (Emmi Shockley). A classic teenage beauty, she obviously likes to hang around with the wrong crowd. Stacy drinks a mysterious beverage referred to as “funk punch,” which legend has is composed of soda and a hefty serving of Pixy Stix - others believe it may be cocaine. The young hero is too shy to make a move, but when he challenges Lyle to an epic ping pong game, he sees it as a chance to prove himself worthy of her love and defeat his bully. Encouraged by Teddy and Randi Jammer (Susan Sarandon), a hermit ex-ping pong champion who becomes his sensei à la Mr. Miyagi, Rad is ready to become an arcade legend.

Perfectly designed to bring back a specific vintage look, the film uses a sort of fabricated cheesiness that replicates the mood of those films that may now seem dated. The cynicism moviegoers are used to these days is deflected here with fantastic warmth. It is “The Way Way Back” filtered through a retro lens and sparkled with synthesizers, hip hop beats, colorful pants, and break dancing. Fresh-faced Conte as the self-conscious, innocent, and quiet Rad is endearing and sincerely portrays a nerdy guy from a bygone era trying to find his individuality. Similarly, the supporting cast helps create an atmosphere of corny goodness necessary to buy into the world the film attempts to recreate.

Stylistically Tully grabbed details and distinct visual aspects directly from the media of the time. From the transitions and letter fonts to the wardrobe choices, all serve as an elaborate homage to the fun qualities of 80’s movies. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, and it really doesn’t offer much uniqueness in terms of story, but undoubtedly works in often hilarious ways. “Ping Pong Summer” is a satisfyingly predictable feel-good bonanza realized with such careful and loving passion for the past that is hard not to fall for its charm. Perhaps the most hilarious period piece (yes, period piece) you’ll see this year.

"Ping Pong Summer" was part of the Champs Elysees Film Festival's Us in Progress initiative while in post-production. It then premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Isa: Film Boutique/U.S. Distribution: Gavitas Ventures (Theatrical), Millennium Entertainment (Home Entertainment)...

Gotta love the 80s.

“Ping Pong Summer” is a good tribute movie to those moviegoers who remember growing up in the 80s. It’s about a teenager who spends a summer at the beach in Ocean City in 1985. It combines the tributes of arcade games, young teen love, hip hop and of course—ping pong.

The film has great veteran actors like Susan Sarandon, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris and John Hannah. It also features the young actors of Marcello Conte, Myles Massey and Emmi Shockley.

Latino-Review had an extended exclusive phone interview with director Michael Tully. We discussed in significant detail about the production, the actors, the music and the love of the 1980s.

“Ping Pong Summer” is currently in limited release in certain theaters and also available on VOD.

Read the interview below.

Latino-Review: First of all, I want to thank you for doing this type of movie. I...

Looking for a little throwback flavor to your summer movie viewing? Something a little retro, perhaps a bit lo-fi, but with its heart in the right place? Well, "Ping Pong Summer" could fit the bill. The Sundance comedy is coming to theatres today, and if the movie doesn't grab you, perhaps the soundtrack will. Comprised largely of '80s jams, "Ping Pong Summer" is mixtape ready, so grab your Nikes and a boombox and check it out. From hip-hop novelty act The Fat Boys to the earnest crooning of Mr. Mister, to the snazzy troupe New Edition to the we-barely-remember-you Mary Jane Girls, this one feels like it needs to be put on cassette. Either way, it feels perfect for the 1985-set coming-of-age story that brings together the cast of Susan Sarandon, John Hannah, Lea Thompson, Amy Sedaris, Robert Longstreet and newcomer Marcello Conte. "Ping Pong Summer" opens today is on VOD.

Any movie that is set in the eighties is going to, at least to some degree, depend on the honeyed glow of nostalgia to get it through the finish line. After all, it was a decade that most of us still remember and one that seems to have taken on a kind of rose colored tint in the years since, especially considering how few pieces of pop culture that are set in the period address how genuinely awful it all was (AIDS, Ronald Reagan, hair metal). What’s fascinating and kind of fun about Michael Tully’s charmingly low rent “Ping Pong Summer” is that it is a movie set in the Me Decade that is based almost exclusively on nostalgia. It doesn’t just help the movie get past the finish line; it props it up and holds it together. Without such a heavy emphasis on heart-shaped nostalgia, “Ping Pong Summer” would be nothing.

Even when they’re good, many coming-of-age movies these days seem to be of the noxiously self-congratulatory kind. They’re not that interested in offering insights into lives other than the audience’s own. Instead, they offer reassuring nostalgia trips, usually into the '80s, reassuring all us 30- and 40-something viewers that the lives we once led were, in fact, the most interesting ones. But it’s useless to resist; collective memory is now the genre’s currency.But then there’s Michael Tully’s 1985-set Ping Pong Summer, which seems at first like it’s going to be a similar sort of wallow in the artifacts of our collective past. And it is, I suppose. But whereas other movies use nostalgia to coax their stories along, Ping Pong Summer is about that very wallow in a more fundamental way. It’s so dedicated to the odd textures of...