Archives for 2015

BVI & F0X ACQUIRES EL REY DEL ONCE – THE TENTH MAN

In an increasingly customary moves on top – flight Argentine titles, 2 studios, Disney & Fox, have moved to acquire Latin American rights of El Rey Del Once – The Tenth Man, from Daniel Burman. Buena Vista International has secured theatrical rights for Latin America, Fox Plus, one of the region’s most powerful cable / satellite operations, premium pay TV / SVOD. One of the most anticipated of titles from Argentina, where it is expected to see box office traction, “El Rey” is tipped for a major festival berth. Sold by Guido Rud’s FilmSharks International and ready for delivery in the 1st quarter of 2016, it also reps the latest movie from Burman whose 2004 Lost Embrace swept Berlin’s Grand Jury Prize and a “Best Actor” Silver Bear for Daniel Hendler.

NEW YORK’S MOMA TO FETE ITALY’S RAI CINEMA

New York’s Museum of Modern Art will celebrate Italy’s Rai Cinema with a screening series set to kick off on 4th Dec, 2015 with the US bow of Matteo Garrone’s English language fantasy / horror film Tale of Tales segued by 9 other high profile Italo titles co – produced by the powerhouse film production & distribution unit of Italian pubcaster RAI. Garrone will be making the trek to New York for the US launch of his freaky “Tales,” which is based on folk myths collected & published by the 16th century Neapolitan poet & scholar Giambattista Basile. Pic, which made a splash in Cannes, stars Salma Hayek, Vincent Cassel, Toby Jones & John C Reilly.

WOLF HALL BAGS JUDGES’ AWARD AT UK’S ROYAL TELEVISION SOCIETY

Company Pictures & Playground Entertainment’s Wolf Hall was honored with the Judges’ Award at the craft & design awards of the Royal Television Society, which is an organization that represents senior executives in UK television industry. The costume drama, which chronicles the life of Thomas Cromwell and is based on the books by Hilary Mantel, was praised by the judges for its overall devotion to craft skills. “Director Peter Kosminsky & director of photography Gavin Finny embraced the darkness of the times and with unerring confidence slowly unfurled this captivating political intrigue in a series of beautiful & bejewelled scenes reminiscent of Vermeer & Rembrandt,”

AMAZON CONFIRMS GREENLIGHT FOR TRIAL

Amazon has confirmed that it has greenlit David E. Kelley’s series Trial, which will star Billy Bob Thornton & William Hurt. The series will debut exclusively on Amazon’s streaming service Prime Video in UK, Germany, Austria, Japan & US next year. Trial is written by Kelley & Jonathan Shapiro; executive produced by Kelley, Shapiro & Ross Fineman & directed by David Semel. The series also stars Olivia Thirlby, Maria Bello & Molly Parker. “Billy Bob Thornton, William Hurt & David E. Kelley are world – class talents who have achieved longstanding success in captivating storytelling,” said Roy Price, VP, Amazon Studios.

VIRGIN ACQUIRES ASH VS EVIL DEAD

UK pay TV platform Virgin Media has licensed the Starz series Ash Vs Evil Dead’. The series is available from 1st Dec, 2014 for Virgin Media TV customers to watch through its TV on demand service. The 1st 5 episodes will be available to watch from this date, followed by a new episode released each week, bringing the series in – line with the US broadcast air dates. David Bouchier, chief digital entertainment officer at Virgin Media, said: “This long awaited & much anticipated series marks a step – change in our TV programming strategy & demonstrates the true potential for video on demand.

JAMES BOND & STAR WARS HELP PINEWOOD BOOST PROFIT

James Bond & Star Wars helped drive half year profit after tax at Pinewood Group to £4.3 million ($6.49 million), up 13.2% year – on – year. Group revenue slipped 0.7% to £38.2 million ($57.7 million) for the 6 months up to 30th Sept, 2015. Film revenues for the period were £26.8 million ($40.5 million), a 19% increase due to high – stage utilization. Stage occupancy for the period was 87%. The largest film productions based at Pinewood Studios was Spectre (Eon / MGM) & Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens” (Lucasfilm) and the largest production at Shepperton Studios was Beauty And The Beast (Disney).

3 MOVIES TO BE PITCHED AT BEYOND THE WINDOW

Julian Vazquez’s REM Javier Araguz’s Savant & Eugeni Guillem’s Children of Saturn are the 3 selected projects in a mini Catalan genre pic focus at Beyond the Window, a project pitching forum at Ventana Sur, which will take place on 3rd Dec, 2015. Regional promotion board Catalan Films & TV will make a more general industry presentation of the Catalan presence at large at Ventana Sur at the Puerto Madero Cinemark multiplex on 1st Dec, 2015. Driven by the local film industry, think Filmax & Rodar y Rodar, the Sitges Film Festival & Barcelona’s ESCAC Film School, Catalan genre production flowered last decade.

WASABI FILMS PRESENTS NEW FEMME SLATE

Elena Trape’s Waiting For Time To Stand Still, Julia Solomonoff’s Nobody’s Watching & Liliana Torres’ What Have We Done Wrong? are some of the titles in the lineup of Miss Wasabi Films, the Barcelona based production shingle of Spanish helmer Isabel Coixet. While co – production of Argentine Solomonoff’s Nobody’s Watching has already been revealed, the now announced confirms a far broader support for a new generation of national & international female helmers. “We’re in a time of speeches demanding equal rights, gender quotas and so on. I feel I am at a different level – the level of action, the best way I’ve found to allow women’s voices to be listened to,” Coixet told.

SPANISH AFFAIR 2 PUNCHES BEST 2015 1ST WEEKEND IN SPAIN

Distributed by Universal Pictures International Spain, Spanish Affair 2, the sequel to the highest grossing Spanish film of all time on native soil, rang up the biggest opening weekend of 2015 in Spain over 20th Nov, 2015 – 22nd Nov, 2015, punching a massive €7.9 million ($8.4 million) at Spanish theaters. Made off 755 screens, the BO gross beat out the former 2015 best opener, 50 Shades Of Gray ($7.5 million). Spain’s best ever bow bar is still set at €9.2 million ($9.75 million), notched up by The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Only 2 Spanish movies have improved on Spanish Affair 2: Juan Antonio Bayona’s The Impossible ($9.0 million) & Torrente 4 ($8.9 million), both released by Warner Bros. Pictures España.

POPE FRANCIS BIOPIC BOWS AT VATICAN AMID TIGHT SECURITY

It was a far cry from a Hollywood world premiere and it reflected the film’s subject. Pope Francis biopic Call Me Francesco world premiered amid tight security at the Vatican’s 7,000 seat Paul VI Audience Hall for an audience comprising Rome’s homeless, faithful from the Eternal City’s parishes ranging in age from babies to octogenarians and nuns & priests from many different Catholic orders. There was no red carpet. Screening of the film by Italian director Daniele Luchetti tracing Jorge Maria Bergoglio’s path from Jesuit priest to groundbreaking pontiff was preceded by a brief concert performed by the Swiss Guard marching band which rarely performs in public. After warm protracted applause as the end credits rolled, the needy filing out of the show had dinners packed in paper bags waiting for them just outside the venue.

ROMA LAZIO FUND TO BE UNVEILED

Italy’s Roma Lazio Film Commission will unveil its new Euros 10 million ($11.3 million) co – production fund for film & TV during the Ventana Sur mart in a move that aims to foster even closer ties between the film & TV industries in Italy & Latin America. While relatively modest, the Lazio Cinema International Fund marks the biggest single injection of regional soft money in Italy and is designed to work nicely for international producers in tandem with the country’s competitive tax breaks. It is also expected to more than quadruple its pot going forward. Roma Lazio Film Commission topper Luciano Sovena has made the trek to Buenos Aires to tub thump the fund, which was 1st announced in October during the Mia mart in Rome. It allocates Euros 5 million for feature films with the other half going for TV productions. Documentaries are included, and also animation productions, though toons must be more than 40 minutes long. Italy & Argentina already have a film & TV co – prod development fund in place as of 2012 as well as a co – prod treaty inked in 2007.

UTSIDER / TODO CINE LATINO ACQUIRES SILENCIO

Un Minuto De Silencio from Italian director director Ferdinando Vicentini Orgnani has been acquired for US distribution by Outsider Pictures’ Latin label Todo Cine Latino. An inevitably polemical docu – feature, it adds to one of the richest Latino lineups among US distributors. Recent Outsider / Todocinelatino US pickups include Cesar Acevedo’s Camera d’Or winner Land And Shade & Los Cabos winner All Of Me, a Mexican docu – feature. It recently picked up Israeli Nitzan Gilady’s Wedding Doll with Strand Releasing, the 1st buy in a potentially significant US upscale acquisition alliance. Silencio highlights the last 25 years of politics in Bolivia, concentrating in particular on the 2002 political campaigns to elect Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada aka Goni, which most recently came to prominence (albeit fictionally) in the Sandra Bullock film Our Brand Is Crisis’, and the more recent government of Evo Morales. I

2 MOVIES MAKE VENTANA CARIBE CUT

Kiki Alvarez’s Sharing Stella & Maria Govan’s Play The Devil are 2 out of 4 features in post production highlighted by Ventana Caribe, a new industry event at Ventana Sur, Latin America’s largest movie market. Sharing Stella turns on a director seeking an actress for the role of Stella in a A Streetcar Named Desire’. “In Sharing Stella, youth which no longer believes in politics meets Cuba on the verge of a transcendental shift in its relationship with US.” Characters include “a YouTuber without Internet, a director who looks for desire & an actress who is a beast in the jungle of the Caribbean’s post – socialism,” Nicolas Ordonez at Bogota’s Lapopular told. The Ventana Caribe event features not only 4 pix – in – post but also one – to – one co -production meetings, a video library selection available for potential industry buyers & partners and a presentation offered by Jonathan Ali, at the Trinidad & Tobago Film Festival (TTFF).

THE CLAN SELLS OUT WORLDWIDE

Adding another achievement to its blockbuster Argentine box office bow, Venice Fest “Best Director” win, upbeat critical reception & selection by Argentina as its Oscar entry, Pablo Trapero’s true life crime thriller The Clan has now sold out worldwide. Doing so in just 3 months after its Venice international premiere, The Clan, a bracing indictment of Argentine state collusion in the Puccio’s family’s true life abduction & murder of multiple victims under & after Argentina’s military dictatorship, has recorded an exceptional performance for a Latin American, and indeed foreign-language movie. Closed by Vicente Canales’ Film Factory, the Barcelona based sales company that also licensed Damian Szifron’s Wild Tales, in unannounced deals.

PUENZOS & DEMENTE BACK GUILLERMO HELO’S FILM DEBUT

Chilean companies Altirosapiens & Demente Producciones are teaming with Argentina’s Historias Cinematograficas, the shingle run by the Puenzo family, to co – produce social comedy Spider Thieves’, the feature directorial debut of Chile’s Guillermo Helo. Preceded by good buzz, Spider Thieves screens 1st Dec, 2015 at Ventana Sur’s 7th Primer Corte pix – in – post competition, which took place 30th Nov, 2015 – 3rd Dec, 2015 in Buenos Aires. The humor laced “Thieves” follows 3 dirt poor adolescent girls who dream of having the material wealth they see in TV commercials. To fulfill their dreams, they decide to climb buildings & plunder expensive apartments. They become media celebs, heroines for some. The film is based on real events that happened in 2005, in Santiago.

THE CLUB’ TOPS 2ND FENIX AWARDS

Chilean Pablo Larrain’s Catholic Church abuse drama The Club swept key prizes at the 2nd edition of the Ibero – American film Fenix Awards, including “Best Picture & “Best Director” (ex – aequo with Ciro Guerra’s Embrace Of The Serpent), “Best Actor” (Alfredo Castro) & “Best Screenplay”. The Fenix awards, whose 2nd edition took place on 25th Nov, 2015 in Mexico City, is an initiative of Mexico based promotion org Cinema23 to celebrate the films & industry professionals of Latin America, Spain & Portugal. At the ceremony, Colombian Ciro Guerra’s adventure drama Embrace Of The Serpent snagged 4 kudos in all, including ‘Best Cinematography”, “Best Sound” & “Best Music’. Sold by Germany’s Films Boutique, “Embrace” already scooped the biggest prize at Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and more recently the top Golden Astor at Argentina’s Mar Del Plata.

JAYRO BUSTAMANTE, PREPPING TEMBLORES

Jayro Bustamante finds inspiration at home but applies the filmmaking skills he learned in Paris & Rome. His feature debut Ixcanul (Volcano) is only the 2nd Guatemalan pic to vie for a Foreign Language Oscar and has been reaping awards across key festivals including the 2015 Berlinale Silver Bear Alfred Bauer Prize. Film school studies in Paris & Rome have informed Bustamante’s work, which includes his Cannes winning short Cuando Sea Grande. “I knew its ending 1st and worked my way backwards,” says Bustamente of penning Ixcanul.” Now shuttling between Paris & Guatemala, Bustamante credits his multilingual skills to his early Montessori education in Guatemala where he lived in the highlands populated by the Kaqchikel (Mayan) tribe until age 14. Between the ages 17 to 19, he was an in – house commercials director at Ogilvy & Mather where he saved to fund his European film education.

5 MOVIES Play AT 2ND CANNES FESTIVAL FILM WEEK

Jacques Audiard’s Dheepan, Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Lobster, Todd Haynes’ Carol, Stephane Brize’s The Measure Of A Man & Gaspar Noe’s Love (3D), 5 of the biggest standouts, and very often winners, at 2015’s Cannes Film Festival feature in the Thierry Fremaux presented 2nd Cannes Festival Film Week, which unspools this week in Buenos Aires. Film Week is designed to boost audiences for the films: “As the Festival works up to its 70th anniversary in 2017, we have to think about our jobs. One of our jobs is to give films to audiences,” Cannes topper Fremaux told in Argentina.

TEAMTO OPENS NEW CGI STUDIO

Leading French animation shingle TeamTO is to open a brand new production facility in Bourg – les – Valence, in France’s Rhone – Alpes region, situated between Lyon & Marseille. Covering some 11,000 sq ft, new facilities will double Paris based TeamTO’s studio capacity; by the end of the year, it will accommodate 60% of the company’s entire 380 person staff. New studio will be located at La Cartoucherie, a complex that already houses France’s Folimage animation studios, producer of the Oscar nominated A Cat In Paris, prestigious animation school La Poudriere, where co – founder TeamTO Corinne Kouper taught and offices from other filmmaking & animation sectors such as Les Films Du Nord, an animated short film house & toon lobby L’Equipee. With the new TeamTO studio, La Cartoucherie will consolidate all the more as a key animation hub in France.