News

Exclusive: Eric Appel has been tapped by TriStar Pictures to direct The Breadwinner, starring comedian Nate Bargatze. TriStar preemptively acquired the comedy pitch written by Bargatze and Dan Lagana.

Bargatze, the world’s top touring comedian, will make his feature film acting debut in the film and serve as a producer alongside Lagana. Jeremy Latcham will produce the film through Wonder Project. Shary Shirazi will oversee for the studio.

Bargatze and Lagana are co-writing the script. Plot details for the comedy remain under wraps.

After working on several hit TV series for almost two decades, Appel made a big splash in the feature world with Weird: The Al Yankovic Story. Appel co-wrote, directed and produced the Roku Channel pic that starred Daniel Radcliffe as the iconic singer-songwriter. The film premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival and won the People’s Choice Midnight Madness Award, eventually winning the Emmy for Outstanding TV Movie.

Peacock has announced the lineup of movies, TV shows, and live sports that will be available on the streaming service in March. The Peacock March 2025 schedule includes The Traitors Season 3 finale and reunion, Long Bright River, Yellowstone Season 5 Part 2, The Office 20th Anniversary, Wicked and more.

Calling all Traitors and Faithfuls, the ultimate game of deception comes to a dramatic close when The Traitors Season 3 finale and reunion premieres on March 6! Will the Faithful uncover the Traitors in time, or will treachery reign supreme? Find out as the Emmy Award-winning reality series wraps up another jaw-dropping season. The third season of the UK version will also be available to stream!

Wicked

From deception in the Scottish Highlands to secrets lurking in the streets of Philadelphia, prepare for a different kind of mystery with Long Bright River, premiering March 13. This gripping Peacock Original stars Amanda Seyfried as a Philadelphia cop whose...

Exclusive: Veteran Philippine actress Hilda Koronel, known for her collaborations with Lino Brocka and other leading filmmakers, is returning to the big screen in Jun Robles Lana’s historical thriller Sisa, which started shooting in the Philippines this week.

The exclusive first look image above shows Koronel in the role of Sisa – a woman who wanders the land as a madwoman after surviving a brutal massacre of her village and family during the Philippine-American War. But her madness is a disguise, concealing her true identity as a spy driven by a burning desire for vengeance.

Lana said: “This story elevates the voices and experiences of marginalized women, challenging traditional gender roles and highlighting their crucial role in resistance movements. Despite the brutality and oppression they face, the characters in the story demonstrate the resilience and unwavering spirit of the Filipino people in their struggle for freedom and self-determination.”

The film...

Exclusive: Wonder Project, the recently launched faith-based indie studio from Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten and Jon Erwin, has launched development on The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion, an adaptation of the New York Times bestselling novel by Fannie Flagg, to be produced by and star Country Music Hall of Fame member Reba McEntire.

Oscar winner Callie Khouri (Thelma & Louise) will direct from a script by Tony-nominated playwright and screenwriter Bekah Brunstetter (Maid), with McEntire being joined as producer by Jeremy Latcham for Wonder Project, as well as Khouri. Ben Howard and Erin Mae Miller will exec produce for Third Coast Content, with VP of Film Michael Musgrave overseeing the film for Wonder Project.

Published in November 2013, The All-Girl Filling Station’s Last Reunion tells the story of Mrs. Sookie Poole of Point Clear, Alabama, who has just married off her daughter and is looking forward to relaxing. The only thing...

Vice Ganda is a cultural phenomenon in the Philippines. A TV host fronting daily variety show It’s Showtime, which has been pulling in top ratings for 15 years. A film star whose comedies have been topping the Christmas box office annually since 2010. A performer whose concerts pack out venues in the Philippines and North America. And an openly gay star in a Roman Catholic majority country that has not legalized same-sex marriage or heterosexual divorce.

And yet, with great fame comes great responsibility, not to mention high expectations, and like many artists during the pandemic, Vice decided to take a break and figure out what to do next. That pause led to a pairing with writer-director Jun Robles Lana to make And The Breadwinner Is…, a family drama produced by Star Cinema and Lana’s The IdeaFirst Company, which is also a comedy, but one with a lot more depth and...

Appearing on Jimmy Fallon’s Tonight Show a record 13 times certainly boosted Nate Bargatze’s profile ­­­­— as did his quick succession of stand-up specials, the majority of them via Netflix. Nothing, however, compares to a visibility bump from hosting Saturday Night Live, which he did for the first time in the fall of 2023. “It changed everything in my life,” he says now, “or just sped it up to where we shot out of a rocket and now we’re just trying to keep our feet on the ground.”

In the year or so since, Bargatze, a married father of one, solidified his status as the No. 1 earning comedian in the world, according to Pollstar, and was invited back to SNL this fall. The Tennessee native, who followed his magician dad into the entertainment business, also founded a family-friendly content company, Nateland Entertainment, and over the course of a single week...

Exclusive: Amazon MGM Studios has landed the pitch Stand-In, with Rudy Mancuso attached to direct and compose the film’s original soundtrack.

Mancuso will also write the script alongside Dan Lagana, from a story by Andy Muschietti. Andy and Barbara Muschietti will produce the film, which follows a Hollywood-obsessed stand-in who seizes his chance to shine after a series of events leads to the disappearance of the actor he’s standing in for. Exec producers include Rudy Mancuso, Marianna Mancuso, and Lagana.

Mancuso and Lagana came to partner with Amazon here after collaborating on Música, the studio’s coming-of-age romantic comedy, starring Mancuso and Camila Mendes, which debuted on Prime Video in April. That film follows a young man (Mancuso), plagued by the music in his head, who has to come to terms with an uncertain future while balancing love, family and Brazilian culture in Newark, New Jersey. Mancuso directed...

Film executive Tristen Tuckfield has been named chief commercial officer at upstart studio Wonder Project, Variety has exclusively learned.

The global skewing “faith and values” content shop will task Tuckfield with developing and managing deals on behalf of the firm’s film and TV slate. Reporting to Wonder Project CEO Kelly Merryman Hoogstraten, Tuckfield will also lead distribution, co-production and co-financing, acquisitions and create alternate revenue streams in categories like merchandise.

“Tristen is a respected leader who brings deep passion and expertise, and I am so excited to welcome her to Wonder Project. With Tristen on our team we can move with both speed and quality to bring more courageous stories to life for a global audience,” Merryman Hoogstraten said in a statement.

Tuckfield joins Wonder Project from Village Roadshow Pictures, where she served as executive vice president in film. There she developed, packaged, financed and oversaw distribution strategies on five features.

Exclusive: Stephen King short story Autopsy Room Four, about a man trapped in an autopsy room, is being made into a feature film with British director Ranjeet S. Marwa and veteran Hollywood exec Jon Levin, the former CAA agent turned producer and manager whose exec producer credits include Netflix’s King adaptation In The Tall Grass.

Horror maestro King has given the greenlight for the adaptation, which is to be written and directed by Marwa, who has been prolific in low-budget U.S. and UK genre fare to date. It is currently in development.

Autopsy Room Four delves into the mind of a man who, after a life-threatening accident, wakes up to find himself trapped in an autopsy room. As he confronts his own mortality, the story navigates themes of fear, survival, and the unknown.

The story was first published in King’s limited-edition collection Six Stories in 1997 and appeared...

The historic tale of the Wright Brothers and the invention of flying is getting the movie treatment via Wonder Project, the nascent independent studio that is creating films and series for the global faith and values audience.

Jon Gunn, a name in the faith field who helmed Ordinary Angels starring Hilary Swank and Alan Ritchson and is now the company’s head of story, will direct the feature, titled Flyer, which will be produced by Jeremy Latcham, the former Marvel executive who last produced Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.

Wilbur and Orville Wright were the brothers that are credited with inventing the flying machine at the turn of the 20th century and the project will focus on how the two bicycle mechanics headed to the windy hills of Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in pursuit of their dream of becoming the first in flight.

“Wilbur and Orville changed the course of human history,...

It’s been a banner year for animated movies, with artists using the medium to tell stories about robots, cats, snails and the full spectrum of human emotion. These films are just as bold and boundary pushing as the dramas, musicals and historical epics that are seen as top contenders for Oscars. Yet they aren’t getting the same level of attention from the pundit crowd.

Well, if there was ever a time for things to change, it’s now. Heavyweights DreamWorks Animation and Pixar have launched awards campaigns for “The Wild Robot” and “Inside Out 2,” which are virtual locks to nab best animated feature nominations. But, these movies also aim to break into major categories, notably best picture. And you know what? It shouldn’t be an either/ or scenario. Why not both?

Notably, “The Wild Robot” just won the Scad Savannah Film Festival Audience Award, beating out 122 narrative feature films,...

After crafting the best film of 2023 with The Beast, Bertrand Bonello is prepping his next feature. While he was tight-lipped on details, he tells Variety, “It’s a little early to talk about it. It’s going to be very different. It’s going to be completely different. The writing is finished, and we’re going to start the casting process. I’m going to announce it once the casting is done. I hope to start shooting next September.” Speaking about how cinema is changing, he added, “This mutation is freaky and fascinating. If you don’t involve it in your creation, you’re out. It’s always an equilibrium. You must protect the past and welcome the future. If you just welcome the future, you’re lost in the movement. If you protect the past, you’re out now.”

The ever-prolific Takashi Miike has unveiled his next film, Sham,...

Exclusive: TriStar Pictures has pre-emptively acquired comedy pitch The Breadwinner from stand-up comedian Nate Bargatze and Dan Lagana, with Bargatze attached to star. This will mark Bargatze’s first starring role in a feature film. He will also produce alongside Lagana. Jeremy Latcham is producing via Wonder Project.

The project is in early development, with Bargatze and Lagana currently writing the script. The comedy plot is being kept under wraps.

Bargatze, widely known for his clean and relatable comedy for all ages, is the No. 1-earning comedian in the world according to Pollstar and currently selling out shows on his global The Be Funny tour. His Netflix specials The Tennessee Kid and Greatest Average American premiered to rave reviews in 2019 and 2021, respectively, with the latter receiving a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album.

His latest hourlong special on Prime Video, Nate Bargatze: Hello World, currently holds the record as Prime...

Exclusive: Serendipity Point Films (Eastern Promises) and January Media, along with their Greek partner Filmiki Productions, are underway in Athens, Greece, on feature Maya & Samar.

Directed by Anita Doron, best known for scripting Oscar-nominated The Breadwinner, and written by Tamara Faith Berger (Lie With Me), the film stars Nicolette Pearse (Maybe It’s You) and Amanda Babaei Vieira (Störung).

Pic is produced by Serendipity’s Robert Lantos, known for movies including Sunshine, Barney’s Version and Eastern Promises, and January’s Julia Rosenberg (Charlotte). Laura Lanktree (Crimes Of The Future), Steve Solomos (The Shrouds) and Filmiki’s Nikolas Alavanos (When We Were Sisters) are co-producers.

Distant Horizon’s Anant Singh (Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom) is an executive producer. Vvs’s Harry Grivakis, Ernie Grivakis, Javi Hernandez, and Claire Peace-McConnell are co-executive producers.

The film shoots in Athens, Greece, and Toronto, Canada, with production set to wrap in October 2024. Vvs will release...

Zack Snyder's adult animated Norse mythology series, Twilight of the Gods, is set to premiere on Netflix on September 19, and the streamer has now released an action-packed final trailer.

This full-length promo spotlights plenty of bloody battles, as a mortal warrior named Sigrid enlists the aid of Loki (probably not a great idea) to wage war against Thor after the vengeful God of Thunder murders her entire family.

"In a mythical world of great battles, great deeds, and great despair, Leif (Stuart Martin), a mortal king, is saved on the battlefield by Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks), an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love," reads the updated synopsis. "On their wedding night, Sigrid and Leif survive a wrath of terror from Thor (Pilou Asbæk), which sets them — and a crew of crusaders — on a merciless mission for vengeance, against all odds. This heroic story of love, loss, and revenge,...

Academy Award–winning actor-turned-filmmaker Angelina Jolie is set to receive the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media at this year’s Toronto Film Festival, TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey announced on Tuesday.

Jolie will receive the award at the 2024 TIFF Tribute Awards, taking place at Fairmont Royal York Hotel on Sunday, September 8, while in town for the world premiere of her latest directorial effort, Without Blood, a war drama based on the book of the same name by Alessandro Baricco, which stars Salma Hayek and Demián Bechir.

Previously bestowed upon the likes of Pedro Almodóvar, Mira Nair, and Alanis Obomsawin, the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media is presented by Anne-Marie Canning and recognizes leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Other honorees set for the TIFF fundraising gala, for which Sandra Oh is serving as the inaugural Honorary Chair, include Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett, Durga Chew-Bose, David Cronenberg,...

Angelina Jolie will receive Toronto International Film Festival’s TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media at the festival’s awards fundraiser on September 8.

The Impact Award recognises leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema. Prior recipients include Pedro Almodóvar, Mira Nair and Alanis Obomsawin.

TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said Jolie was “a multifaceted talent whose unwavering commitment to positive change” cemented her reputation as “a veritable humanitarian and global force to be reckoned with”.

Jolie will attend the world premiere of her latest film as director, Without Blood, on September 8. She previously attended the 2017 festival as director...

Angelina Jolie is being honored for her humanitarian work at TIFF.

The Academy Award–winning actor, Tony Award–winning producer, writer, and director will receive the 2024 TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media. The award recognizes leadership in creating a union between social impact and cinema, per the festival. Previous recipients have included Pedro Almodóvar, Mira Nair, and Alanis Obomsawin.

“Angelina Jolie is a multifaceted talent who has entertained audiences for decades while consistently using her platform to champion important causes,” TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey said in a press statement. “We’re honored to present her with the 2024 TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media. This award recognizes her exceptional achievements in filmmaking, and her unwavering commitment for positive change, solidifying her status as a veritable humanitarian and global force to be reckoned with.”

Jolie will debut her latest film “Without Blood,” starring Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir, at the festival.

Angelina Jolie is set to receive the TIFF Tribute Award in Impact Media at the upcoming Toronto Film Festival.

The Oscar-winning actress will be honored on Sept. 8 at the TIFF fundraiser, while also bringing her latest film, Without Blood, to Toronto for a world premiere. Written, directed and produced by Jolie, Without Blood is a war drama based on the Alessandro Baricco novel of the same name and tells the story of a girl’s quest for revenge and healing during a time of conflict. Salma Hayek Pinault and Demián Bichir have lead roles.

Jolie will be feted alongside fellow trophy winners Amy Adams, Jharrel Jerome, Cate Blanchett, Mike Leigh, Durga Chew-Bose, David Cronenberg, Clément Ducol and Camille, and Zhao Tao. TIFF Tribute Award honorees tend to have films in Toronto’s official lineup.

Jolie also brought her earlier films First They Killed My Father and The Breadwinner, which she executive produced,...

The owners of Geek Girl co-producer Aircraft Pictures have bought back their shares from troubled Canadian media outfit Corus Entertainment.

For an undisclosed fee, Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen have returned themselves via binding agreement as sole shareholders of the company, coming more than two years after Corus took a majority stake.

Aircraft is an Oscar and Emmy-nominated film and TV-maker with credits including animated movie The Breadwinner, which was EP’d by Angelina Jolie, Apple TV+’s Circuit Breakers and long-running Canadian series Holly Hobbie.

The 20-year-old company most recently co-produced Netflix and Corus’ StackTV’s Geek Girl adaptation with Nelvana and RubyRock. The series has rocketed into Netflix top-10s around the world.

“Our team at Aircraft Pictures has been truly fortunate to work with our colleagues at Corus over the past two and half years,” said Leo. “This partnership has allowed Aircraft to take advantage of additional...

The great Japanese animator and co-founder of Studio Ghibli, whose 1988 masterpiece My Neighbour Totoro is back in UK and Irish cinemas, embraces the universe yet never shies away from life’s grittier elements

Is Japanese film-maker Hayao Miyazaki “the greatest family entertainer of our time”? That was the conclusion I reached about the writer-director behind such animated wonders as Kiki’s Delivery Service (1989), Spirited Away (2001) and Howl’s Moving Castle (2004) when reviewing Miyazaki’s 2008 charmer Ponyo in this paper. A few years later, while compiling a list of the 25 best films for children – a list that ranged from Chaplin’s 1921 classic The Kid to Nora Twomey’s 2017 beauty The Breadwinner – I wrote that “it’s hard to decide which of Hayao Miyazaki’s matchless animations to include in this list”.

Born in Tokyo in 1941, Miyazaki joined Toei Animation in 1963 and co-founded Studio Ghibli in 1985, creating a stream of world-beating animations, any one...

The seventh edition of Animation is Film (Aif), a Los Angeles-based sister event to France’s prestigious Annecy Animation Festival, will run October 18-20 at the Tcl Chinese 6 Theaters in Hollywood this fall.

Launched in 2017, “The Festival embraces the highest aspirations of animation as a cinematic art form on par with live action and is a vocal advocate for filmmakers who push the boundaries of their work to the fullest range of expression that the medium is capable of,” reads the Aif mission statement.

The festival’s executive director, Matt Kaszanek, put it more succinctly during last year’s event: “Animation Is Film is not just the name of our festival; it is its mission.”

Animation is Film fills a gap in the U.S. market, which has no dedicated animation festivals on par with those in Europe, Asia, and Canada. The annual autumn event is also becoming something of an Oscar-season bellwether.

"The gods started this war, now it's time to fight."

Netflix has released an exciting - and fairly gruesome - first teaser for Zack Snyder's adult animated Norse mythology series, Twilight of the Gods, which is set to premiere on the streaming service on September 19.

The promo is less than 40 second long, but it crams in quite a bit of bloody action, as a mortal warrior named Sigrid wages war against Thor and all of his fellow Asgardian gods.

"In a mythical world of great battles, great deeds, and great despair, Leif (Stuart Martin), a mortal king, is saved on the battlefield by Sigrid (Sylvia Hoeks), an iron-willed warrior with whom he falls in love," reads the new synopsis. "On their wedding night, Sigrid and Leif survive a wrath of terror from Thor (Pilou Asbæk), which sets them — and a crew of crusaders — on a merciless mission for vengeance,...

Netflix unveiled first looks at a whole host of its upcoming animated shows and features during an event on Thursday, and Rebel Moon director Zack Snyder was on hand to introduce the first footage from his Norse Mythology series, Twilight of the Gods.

“I love mythology,” said the filmmaker. "On a scale like this, I feel like animation was the greatest way to tell the story.”

First announced way back in 2019, it's taken quite a while to find its way to our screens, but we recently learned that the show will finally premiere on Netflix this Fall.

The project has been described as "Anime-influenced," but judging by these clips, we'd say the animation style has more in common with the Academy Award-nominated Cartoon Saloon studio.

“When most people think about animation, they think about Saturday morning cartoons, or G-rated movies,” said the presentation’s host, Christopher Sean. “But animation is...

Interested in independent Asian animation, but not sure where to start? Well, we could give you a list of anime, but we've already got (three parts!) to an anime tribute already. Instead, here's a list of 15 animated indies from the last few years that fall outside of mainstream animation studios like Disney, Pixar and Ghibli.

This list is in no way prescriptive nor comprehensive, and is merely organized by date of release. Some of these filmmakers are more established; others are just beginning their careers. Some of these are shorts, others are features, a few are even series. Regardless, with each of these animated indies, prepare to laugh, cry, and have your mind blown by the unbridled joy of animation.

1. Your Name (2016) by Makoto Shinkai (Japan)

While Makoto Shinkai had been churning out his own shorts and mid-length films for almost a decade preceding “Your Name,” he doesn't really nail...

When Hayao Miyazaki’s long-awaited and supposed swansong The Boy and the Heron opened at No. 1 at the North American box office last December with a record-breaking $12.8 million tally, it was not only the first original anime title to achieve such a feat, but it was the biggest ever opening for U.S. distributor Gkids. It kickstarted what would be a whirlwind few months for the now 16-year-old company as it took the Studio Ghibli film, (which had opened the Toronto Film Festival in September) to an enormous $46.7 million box office gross (more than double their initial projections) in North America and, later a Best Animation win at the Oscars.

“It was the right film for the right time,” says Gkids president Dave Jesteadt. “The Boy and the Heron was Miyazaki’s first film in 10 years, and I think that a normal concern would have been if audiences had forgotten him,...

Record Intake

The European Film Academy has added a record 709 new members in its 2024 annual intake. New members include Cate Blanchett (Australia/U.K.), Jovan Marjanović (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Maria Bakalova (Bulgaria), Juraj Lerotić (Croatia), Anna Hints (Estonia), Ariane Toscan du Plantier (France), Stéphan Castang (France), David Thion (France), Marie-Ange Luciani (France), Latifa Saïd (France), Rebecca Houzel (France), Thomas Hakim (France), Sami Mustafa (France/Kosovo), Mohamed Siam (France), Hanna Bergholm (Finland), Hamze Bytyçi (Germany) and Christian M. Goldbeck (Germany).

The intake also includes Behrooz Karamizade (Germany), Jerry Hoffmann (Germany), Aylin Tezel (Germany), Jasmin Tabatabai (Germany), Sofia Exarchou (Greece), Phedon Papamichael (Greece), Kate McCullough (Ireland), Matteo Garrone (Italy), Enzo d’Alò (Italy), Francesco Montagner (Italy), Uljana Kim (Lithuania), Cindy Jansen (Netherlands), Fatih Rağbet (Netherlands), Cristi Puiu (Romania), Anca Puiu (Romania), Elene Naveriani (Switzerland), Selahattin Paşalı (Turkey), Molly Manning Walker (U.K.), Melanie Hoyes (U.K.), Lizzie Francke (U.K.), Charles Newland (UK), Jad Salfiti (U.

Exclusive: Doctor Who director Jamie Magnus Stone is helming a sci-fi series adaptation of Brian W. Aldiss’ debut Non-Stop for Aircraft Pictures.

Set in a distant future, Non-Stop tells the tale of Roy Complain, a man born into a primitive society only to discover his tribe is one of many aboard a colossal spaceship. This knowledge sets Complain and his band of intrepid explorers on a perilous journey through uncharted territories to find the ship’s bridge, as they unravel the mysteries of their new world and confront the looming threat of their own annihilation.

Casting is yet to be announced and Aircraft will begin shopping the project at Series Mania next week.

“We’re excited to bring this science-fiction classic to the screen as part of Aircraft’s continued expansion into scripted drama,” said Anthony Leo and Andrew Rosen, co-founders of Aircraft. “We’re fortunate to be working with...

The omission of “My Father’s Dragon” from the 2023 Oscar nominations list for best animated feature sparked murmurings of disapproval from within the industry. The Netflix film — directed by Nora Twomey and a gorgeously hand-drawn adaptation of Ruth Stiles Gannett’s beloved children’s fantasy novel — had been lapped up by critics, many of whom assumed it would easily make the cut.

But the disquiet only served to showcase the astonishing track record of “My Father’s Dragon’s” Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon, which had earned an incredible four Oscar nominations from its first four features, starting with “The Secret of Kells” in 2009 and followed by “Song of the Sea,” “The Breadwinner” and “Wolfwalkers.”

For Tomm Moore, the lack of a nomination for “My Father’s Dragon” also highlighted just how far animation had come since he co-founded Cartoon Saloon in Kilkenny alongside Twomey and Paul Young back in 1999.

“It showed...

In just a few weeks, the 18th recipient of the Golden Globe Award for Best Animated Feature will be revealed. While it is highly likely that the new winner will share a 3D visual style in common with nearly all of its predecessors, voters may instead decide to finally honor a fully hand-drawn movie for the first time. Fittingly, this monumental distinction would be credited to the legendary Studio Ghibli and its esteemed cofounder, Hayao Miyazaki, who suspended his brief retirement in order to make his dozenth film, “The Boy and the Heron.”

With an original plot that pointedly references the classic Japanese novel “How Do You Live?,” “The Boy and the Heron” is the 25th entry in Studio Ghibli’s animated canon and the company’s 10th film released after the creation of this Golden Globe category. Although four of its post-2005 productions earned Oscar notices for Best Animated Feature,...

“Chicken for Linda!” (GKids), the French/Italian 2D comedy from the husband-and-wife animation team of Sébastien Laudenbach and Chiara Malta, won the Grand Jury Prize at the sixth annual Animation Is Film Festival. “Robot Dreams” (Neon), the bittersweet Spanish/French hand-drawn dramedy from Pablo Berger, earned the Special Jury Prize.

For the Shorts section, Tal Kantor’s “Letter to a Pig,” a mixed media short about a Holocaust survivor who writes a thank-you letter to a pig that saved his life, won the Grand Prize, and the Special Jury Prize went to “Wild Summon” (from Saul Freed and Karni Arieli), which follows the dramatic life cycle of the wild salmon in human form.

The Aif win for “Chicken for Linda!” comes on the heels of taking the Annecy Cristal top prize. The film combines an imaginative hand-drawn style (color-coded characters with watercolor backgrounds) with a wacky premise concerning a frustrated...

The trailer marking the sixth edition of the Animation Is Film Festival in Hollywood (October 18-22) dropped Monday morning, highlighting the opening night premiere of Hayao Miyazaki’s acclaimed “The Boy and the Heron” (Studio Ghibli/GKids) at the Tcl Chinese Theater IMAX. This marks an IMAX first for the festival, produced by GKids in partnership with the Annecy International Animation Festival.

Aardman/Netflix’s “Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget,” the long-awaited sequel to the most successful stop-motion feature in history, will close Aif, followed by a Q&a with director Sam Fell and executive producer Peter Lord.

Aif programming from the previous two years boasted nine of the eventual animated feature Oscar nominees. This season they’ve scheduled several Oscar contenders: “The Boy and the Heron,” “Dawn of the Nugget,” DreamWorks’ “Trolls Band Together” (special screening), and Neon’s Annecy award-winning “Robot Dreams” (in feature competition). Plus, early...

Exclusive: The Europe-based Pop Up Film Residency Visegrad mentorship program has unveiled the filmmakers and mentors who will participate in its 2023 edition.

The program, which is among several feature development initiatives spearheaded by former TorinoFilmLab artistic director Matthieu Darras, consists of three-week residencies focused on mentoring filmmakers through the development of a feature project. Darras works together with Polish producers Iza Igel and Marta Lewandowska. This year the residency will be mounted in Warsaw and Wroclaw, Poland, from July 4 — 25.

Mentors for the upcoming edition include Polish director Anna Jadowska, Ukrainian director Dmytro Sukholytkyy-Sobchuk, Polish director Aleksandra Terpinska, Hungarian—Canadian writer/director Anita Doron, Script consultants Michaela Sabo and Aleksandra Swierk, and Lithuanian producer Marija Razgute.

Five feature directors will join the program, including Polish filmmaker Katarzyna Trzaska, whose last feature, Nauka Latania, screened at the Warsaw Film Festival.

It’s time to finally “humanize” the workplace, argued Oscar-nominated director Nora Twomey at Annecy. And women are leading the way.

“There was a point when I wanted to prove myself and would spend long hours immersed in animation. It took me until I had kids to start working smarter,” she said.

“Then I got sick in the middle of making ‘The Breadwinner’ and that also made me think about working in a way that could empower people around me. Now, I really don’t give a fuck anymore,” she added to thunderous applause.

During her “fireside chat” with Ramsey Naito at the Women in Animation (Wia) World Summit, Twomey – co-founder and creative director at Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon – also underlined the importance of representation.

“If you don’t see someone [like you] doing the job you would like to do in five years, you don’t think it’s open to you.

Variety will host a panel at the Annecy Animation Festival, Breaking the Borders of Animation, focusing on one of the key – and most exciting – talking points in the medium: How animation is currently being revolutionized and reimagined by new waves of creativity and technology.

The panel has been organised with Nickelodeon as its official partner.

On Tuesday June13, Variety’s chief film critic Peter Debruge will encourage his guests to wonder about the future of the art form, starting with Latifa Ouaou, EVP of Paramount and Nickelodeon Animation, who also executive produced “The Grinch” and “Minions: The Rise of Gru.”

“Breaking the boundaries of animation is such a great topic to speak about because it’s a very exciting time in animation,” she notes.

“[‘Spider-Man: Across the] Spider-Verse’ was the beginning of a new wave in animation. It gave us the freedom to move away from conventional realism and into bold and abstract expressions of realities.

The Irish animation industry has become increasingly robust over the last 10 years, despite the pandemic and other challenges thrown at the entertainment business. It reflects an overall passion in the country for animation and storytelling as well as a commitment by the Irish government to support the business through economic incentives.

Much of those incentives have come through Enterprise Ireland. Established in 1998 by the Industrial Development Act, Enterprise Ireland is a state-sponsored economic development agency that works with Irish businesses to help them grow and develop. It’s been instrumental in working with the Irish animation industry, helping shops grow through a series of loans, grants and other initiatives.

This has made it possible for studios like Kilkenny-based Cartoon Saloon, which has made some of the most notable 2D animated films recently released such as “The Secret of Kells” and “Wolfwalkers,” to create the kind of hand-crafted animation used to...

When Lucasfilm first approached acclaimed 2D Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon to be part of the global expansion for “Volume 2” of the Emmy-nominated “Star Wars: Visions” anthology (currently streaming on Disney+), little did they realize that CEO and co-founder Paul Young was already thinking about directing his first film — and sci-fi at that.

All Young needed was a little encouragement from his Cartoon Saloon co-founders and Oscar-nominated directors Tomm Moore and Nora Twomey (“The Breadwinner”) to say yes. The result is the 13-minute “Screecher’s Reach.” A comfortable fit for Cartoon Saloon, the short draws on its familiar folktale sensibility and hand-drawn prowess with a surprisingly dark and subversive twist.

It’s about a young girl named Daal (Eva Whitaker) who seeks adventure beyond the bleakness of her rural workhouse existence by exploring the titular haunted cave with her friends, where she encounters the legendary shrieking ghost. The frightening, hallucinatory...

Gkids has snapped up North American rights to Toei Animation’s film The First Slam Dunk, an adaptation of the hugely popular Takehiko Inoue manga, which Inoue wrote and directed for the screen. The film which has already proven a smash hit in other territories, grossing over $212M globally, will hit theaters in the U.S. and Canada in both its original Japanese language and an all-new English-language dub later this summer.

Marking Inoue’s directorial debut, The First Slam Dunk follows Shohoku High School’s “speedster” point guard, Ryota Miyagi, who always plays with brains and lightning speed, running circles around his opponents while feigning composure. Born and raised in Okinawa, Ryota had a brother who was three years older. And following in the footsteps of his older brother, who was a famous local player from a young age, Ryota also became addicted to basketball.

In his second year of high school,...

Anime legends, producer Masao Maruyama and director Gisaburō Sugii, as well as U.S. animation producer and distributor Gkids, have joined global multimedia company N Lite and N Lite Japan to produce “Mfinda,” a first Afro-anime film which will be the subject of an in-depth first look at June’s Annecy Int’l Animation Film Festival.

Selected amongst the pitches this year at Annecy’s MIFA market in the feature film category, the N Lite original was created by Congolese-American artist Patience Lekien and Christiano Terry, founder-ceo of N Lite.

“Mfinda” follows a 12-year-old Congolese girl who is taken to the mfinda, a primordial forest teeming with spirits, gods and ancestors. There she meets up with another young girl from a different time and together they set out to find the magical Nkisi, vessels that hold ancestral spirits as well as empowering materials or medicines, that will help her find her way home.

Gkids has snapped up North American rights to Keiichi Hara’s Lonely Castle in the Mirror, after serving as the distributor in the territory for his past animated features Summer Days with Coo and Miss Hokusai. The film based on the bestselling novel of the same name by Mizuki Tsujimura, featuring animation from A-1 Pictures, is slated for a theatrical release in both its original Japanese language and an all-new English dub this summer.

Reuniting Hara with collaborators including screenwriter Miho Maruo, composer Harumi Fuuki and artist Ilya Kuvshinov, Lonely Castle in the Mirror follows shy outcast Kokoro, who has been avoiding school for weeks when she discovers a portal in her bedroom mirror. She reaches through and finds herself transported to an enchanting castle where she is joined by six other students. And when a girl in a wolf mask explains that they have been invited to play a game,...

Cartoon Movie, the European animation sector’s flagship co-production and pitch forum, closed out its 25th edition besting pre-pandemic attendance numbers, welcoming just below 900 industry participant and noting a 40% increase in buyers. Overall, 58 feature projects were presented (and 16 countries encompassed), and — in a testament to France’s robust animation ecosystem — Gallic outfits had a hand in nearly half of them. The forum also reflected the enduring strength of the family market, with 59% of all projects aimed at that demographic.

Here are four takeaways from this year’s session, which ran from March 7 – 9 in Bordeaux.

A Marquee Event

No film drew greater buzz than “Julián” (pictured above). Led by Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon and listing Sun Creature (Denmark), Folivari (France), Aircraft Pictures (Canada) and Wychwood Media (U.K.) as co-producers, the family title benefits from the accrued pedigree of titles like “Flee,” “The Breadwinner” and “Ernest and Celestine.” Throw in Wychwood...

Gkids has snapped up U.S. rights to Ernest & Celestine: A Trip To Gibberitia — the sequel to the acclaimed Ernest & Celestine, which landed a Best Animated Feature Oscar nom in 2014. The decorated producer and distributor of animation, celebrating its 15th anniversary, will put both the original French-language version of Gibberitia and a new English dub in theaters this year.

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Both Ernest & Celestine films are based on the children’s book series by Belgian author-illustrator Gabrielle Vincent. The original helmed by Stéphane Aubier, Vincent Patar and Benjamin Renner examines the unlikely friendship between a bear, Ernest (Lambert Wilson...

Horror delights, rom-coms and a new sci-fi series starring Christoph Waltz are just a few of the highlights arriving on Amazon Prime Video in February. This month sees the debut of the second and final season of “Carnival Row” on Feb. 17, while Feb. 24 is when “The Consultant” – a “Severance”-like thriller series starring Waltz and directed by “WandaVision’s” Matt Shakman – drops.

In terms of new original Prime Video movies, on Feb. 10 there’s “Somebody I Used to Know,” a romantic comedy starring Alison Brie who co-wrote the script with her husband Dave Franco (who serves as director).

And you’ll find last year’s buzzy horror hit “Smile” on the streaming service on Feb. 21, while “Mad Max: Fury Road” filmmaker George Miller’s “Three Thousand Years of Longing” arrives on Feb. 17.

That’s not to mention noteworthy library additions like “A.I.,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley” and “Almost Famous.

Sales

Chris O’Dowd (“Puffin Rock”), Amy Huberman (“Derry Girls”), Beth McCafferty and Eva Whittaker (“Wolfwalkers”) lead the voice cast of “Puffin Rock and the New Friends,” the film based on the TV series “Puffin Rock.”

Following their collaboration on Oscar nominees “Song of the Sea” and “The Breadwinner,” WestEnd Films is teaming again with Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon and Northern Ireland’s Dog Ears on the film and is launching sales at Berlin’s European Film Market (EFM), where first footage will be shown to buyers.

“Puffin Rock and the New Friends” sees Oona, Baba, May and Mossy joined by a new characters Isabelle, Phoenix and Marvin. When the last Little Egg of the season disappears under mysterious circumstances, Oona and her new friends race against time to bring the Little Egg home before a big storm hits Puffin Rock and puts the entire island in danger.

The film...

Today, Disney+ and Lucasfilm announced that the second volume of the animated anthology series “Star Wars: Visions” will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on May 4, 2023. Following on the Emmy Award®-nominated success of “Star Wars: Visions,” the newest volume will continue to push the boundaries of “Star Wars” storytelling, with nine new shorts from 9 studios from around the globe. Employing the most captivating animation styles from a variety of countries and cultures, the second volume offers a dynamic new perspective on the storied mythos of Star Wars.

Title Treatment Available Here: https://wdsprod.box.com/s/iu695c3glvbmhije79ik0zudas4rcqm0

The shorts included in “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 2 were created by the following international animation studios: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea) Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D’art Shtajio (Japan), and Triggerfish (South Africa). D’Art Shtajio’s...

The animated world of “Star Wars” is growing.

On Thursday, Disney+ announced “Star Wars: Visions” volume 2 will debut on Star Wars Day, May 4, and shared the incredible lineup of animated shorts in store for fans.

Read More: Christian Bale Still Wants To Do A ‘Star Wars’ Movie: ‘What A Delight That Would Be’

Films for volume 2 are being produced by acclaimed filmmakers and studios from around the world, including Aardman, best known for the “Wallace & Gromit” series, as well as Ireland’s Cartoon Saloon, South Africa’s Triggerfish, Japan’s D’art Shtajio, India’s 88 Pictures and more.

“The reaction to the first volume of ‘Star Wars: Visions’ blew us away. We were delighted that this project inspired and resonated with so many people,” said James Waugh, “Star Wars: Visions” executive producer.

“We always saw ‘Star Wars: Visions’ as a framework for celebratory expressions of the franchise from some of the best creators working today.

Ready your lightsabers because Disney+ and Lucasfilm announced the release date, animation studios, filmmakers, and episode descriptions for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2! The animated anthology will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on May 4, 2023. The newest volume presents a masterclass in animation, with stories prepped to push the boundaries of Star Wars storytelling and more shorts from nine studios around the globe. Featuring animation styles inspired by various countries and cultures, Star Wars: Visions Volume 2 takes the beloved franchise beyond the stars and back again.

Per the official press release for Star Wars: Visions Volume 2:

The shorts included in “Star Wars: Visions” Volume 2 were created by the following international animation studios: El Guiri (Spain), Cartoon Saloon (Ireland), Punkrobot (Chile), Aardman (United Kingdom), Studio Mir (South Korea) Studio La Cachette (France), 88 Pictures (India), D’art Shtajio (Japan), and Triggerfish (South Africa). D’Art Shtajio’s short was created in collaboration with Lucasfilm Ltd.

February is the shortest month of the year but Prime Video is paying that no mind with its jam-packed list of new releases for February 2023.

This really is an uncommonly stuffed month on the Amazon streamer and it all starts with a handful of Amazon Originals. Amazon’s original offerings kick off with the release of Dave Franco-directed romcom Somebody I Used to Know on Feb. 10. That is followed by Carnival Row season 2 – a gritty fantasy crime drama is set in a world of steampunky fairies. The show stars Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevigne and this batch of episodes will be its swan song. Meanwhile The Consultant on Feb. 24 is a dark comedy workplace thriller starring Christoph Waltz.

The biggest hits this month, however, might just be some recent cinema faves. If February is for lovers, Amazon didn’t get the memo as there are quite a few horror movies of note here.

Photo: Annie Awards 2023

To honor creators of animated Cinema, the International Animation Society presents the Annie Awards, the award show created to give the best-animated projects of the season with an award granted by Asifa-Hollywood (the Los Angeles division of the International Animation Society). Originating in 1972, the Annie Awards will see its 50th award show in February of 2023. Annie Awards 2023 Best Feature ‘Guillermo del Toro’s Pinnochio’ leads the Annie Awards nominations with nine nominations, including a nomination for Best Feature. The dark and twisted take on the century-old tale received critical acclaim and many awards for Guillermo and Netflix including a Golden Globe for Animated Feature, so it acts as a front-runner in the Best Feature category. Alongside ‘Pinocchio’, Disney and Pixar’s ‘Turning Red’, ‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ from DreamWorks Animation, Netflix’s ‘The Sea Beast’, and Netflix, A Monkeypaw Production, and A Gotham Group Production...

Gkids has acquired North American rights to Unicorn Wars — the latest genre-bending animated feature from Goya and Annecy Cristal-winning director Alberto Vázquez (Birdboy: The Forgotten Children) — ahead of its U.S. premiere at Fantastic Fest. The horror-comedy will be released in theaters by Gkids in early 2023, following its domestic release in Spain this fall.

Billed as Bambi meets Apocalypse Now, Unicorn Wars‘ logline is as follows:

For ages, teddy bears have been locked in an ancestral war against their sworn enemy, the unicorns, with the promise that victory will complete the prophecy and usher in a new era. Aggressive, confident teddy bear Bluet and his sensitive, withdrawn brother Tubby could not be more different. As the rigors and humiliation of teddy bear bootcamp turn to the psychedelic horrors of a combat tour in the Magic Forest, their complicated history and increasingly strained relationship will come to determine the fate of the entire war.