“Revival” is the latest of Stephen King’s successful horror novels to be getting a big screen adaptation. Variety reports that Warner Bros., which found considerable success with its two “It” films, will develop the film. Horror veteran Mike Flanagan will adapt the script with an option to direct, while Trevor Macy, who produced “Doctor Sleep,” is set to serve the same role on the upcoming film, through Intrepid Pictures. Warner Bros. executive Kevin McCormick is overseeing “Revival” for the studio. Additional details, such as casting and a potential release date, are unknown.
A Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed Variety’s report with IndieWire.
King’s “Revival,” which was released in 2014 and enjoyed favorable reviews, spans several decades and focuses on a former minister who engages in experimental healing practices — with horrifying consequences — after a tragic accident causes him to lose his family and renounce his faith.
Flanagan and Macy are...
A Warner Bros. spokesperson confirmed Variety’s report with IndieWire.
King’s “Revival,” which was released in 2014 and enjoyed favorable reviews, spans several decades and focuses on a former minister who engages in experimental healing practices — with horrifying consequences — after a tragic accident causes him to lose his family and renounce his faith.
Flanagan and Macy are...
- 5/9/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
Peter Oillataguerre has been named president of production for Spyglass Media Group, Chairman and CEO Gary Barber announced Monday.
Oillataguerre will begin his position effective immediately, and will report to Barber, running theatrical production including creative development, physical production ad post-production.
“Peter and I have worked together for nearly 20 years on a diverse slate of large-scale productions, global franchises and hit films,” Barber said in a statement. “He has a keen eye for commercial material and possesses an even temperament with a cool demeanor that keeps productions on track. Peter is the consummate producer and ideal leader to execute Spyglass’ film strategy.”
Also Read: Spyglass TV Nabs Stephen King's 'The Institute' With David E Kelley and Jack Bender Attached
Oillataguerre added: “Gary is a long-time mentor and industry leader with exceptional business acumen. I have a tremendous amount of respect and trust in him. This next phase...
Oillataguerre will begin his position effective immediately, and will report to Barber, running theatrical production including creative development, physical production ad post-production.
“Peter and I have worked together for nearly 20 years on a diverse slate of large-scale productions, global franchises and hit films,” Barber said in a statement. “He has a keen eye for commercial material and possesses an even temperament with a cool demeanor that keeps productions on track. Peter is the consummate producer and ideal leader to execute Spyglass’ film strategy.”
Also Read: Spyglass TV Nabs Stephen King's 'The Institute' With David E Kelley and Jack Bender Attached
Oillataguerre added: “Gary is a long-time mentor and industry leader with exceptional business acumen. I have a tremendous amount of respect and trust in him. This next phase...
- 4/20/2020
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Wrap
Peter Oillataguerre, who previously served as President of Physical Production for MGM, has been named President of Production for Spyglass Media Group, LLC, where he will run theatrical production including creative development, physical production, and post-production. This move brings Oillataguerre back under the Spyglass label, after working in physical production at Spyglass Entertainment. The announcement was made by Gary Barber, Spyglass’ Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, to whom Oillataguerre will be reporting to.
Oillataguerre is coming off of a 9-year stint at MGM where he was in charge of all aspects of physical production across the film and television units. Titles that he has worked on include the James Bond franchise, the Creed film, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, as well as TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Fargo,” “Vikings,” and “Get Shorty.”
More from Deadline'Ready or Not' Helmers Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett Directing The Next 'Scream' InstallmentIssa Rae To Write,...
Oillataguerre is coming off of a 9-year stint at MGM where he was in charge of all aspects of physical production across the film and television units. Titles that he has worked on include the James Bond franchise, the Creed film, Tomb Raider, The Magnificent Seven, as well as TV series “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Fargo,” “Vikings,” and “Get Shorty.”
More from Deadline'Ready or Not' Helmers Matthew Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett Directing The Next 'Scream' InstallmentIssa Rae To Write,...
- 4/20/2020
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
The most recent novel of Stephen King, horror/thriller The Institute, was only published in September, but the ridiculously prolific author already has another title on the way in the form of If It Bleeds, which has had its release date pushed forward a week to April 28th.
If It Bleeds is not a full novel, but instead a collection of four novellas, the same format as the likes of Full Dark, No Stars, Four Past Midnight and the highly popular Different Seasons. The stories are titled Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and If It Bleeds. Not much information has been provided about what we can expect from their actual content, although an excerpt released last year from presumably the titular tale reveals it to feature detectives Holly Gibney and Ralph Anderson from The Outsider, the novel on which the miniseries of the same name was based,...
If It Bleeds is not a full novel, but instead a collection of four novellas, the same format as the likes of Full Dark, No Stars, Four Past Midnight and the highly popular Different Seasons. The stories are titled Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, The Life of Chuck, Rat, and If It Bleeds. Not much information has been provided about what we can expect from their actual content, although an excerpt released last year from presumably the titular tale reveals it to feature detectives Holly Gibney and Ralph Anderson from The Outsider, the novel on which the miniseries of the same name was based,...
- 4/1/2020
- by Andrew Marshall
- We Got This Covered
If you've never heard of the Jejune Institute before, then prepare to get your mind blown. In 2008, an alternate reality treasure-hunt game recruited thousands of participants in San Francisco, prompted by fliers that instructed people to call a phone number or visit a website, which later led them to the same office building to begin the experiment. Before the game ended its three-year run in 2011, more than 7,000 people participated, and the elaborate and mysterious experiment inspired Spencer McCall's 2013 documentary, The Institute. Now the story of the Jejune Institute is being told again, this time in an AMC anthology series produced by and starring Jason Segel. It's called Dispatches From Elsewhere, and as bizarre as the premise sounds, it's totally based on reality - or, at least, virtual reality.
Related: A Third Spinoff of The Walking Dead Is Coming - Here's What We Know So Far What Is Dispatches From Elsewhere About?...
Related: A Third Spinoff of The Walking Dead Is Coming - Here's What We Know So Far What Is Dispatches From Elsewhere About?...
- 3/12/2020
- by Corinne Sullivan
- Popsugar.com
Sundance Institute has announced the participants for its weeklong Creative Film Producing Initiative at the Sundance Resort in Utah, July 27 – August 3, including nine feature film and documentary projects for the Creative Producing Labs and more than 50 industry leaders for the Creative Producing Summit.
The Institute’s Creative Producing Initiative encompasses a year-round series of Labs, Fellowships, granting and events focusing on nurturing the next generation of independent producers and renewing the community of veteran producers who sustain the vibrancy and vitality of independent film.
The Feature Film Creative Producing Lab (July 27 – July 31) identifies emerging producers and, under the guidance of Creative Advisors, allows them to develop their creative instincts and evolve their communicating and problem-solving skills at all stages of their feature film project. This year’s Creative Advisors include producers Lindsay Doran ("Sense and Sensibility"), Lynette Howell Taylor (The Place Beyond the Pines), Gina Kwon ("Me You and Everyone We Know"), Paul Mezey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Jay Van Hoy (
"Beginners" ) and director Matthew Ross ("28 Hotel Rooms" ).
The Documentary Film Creative Producing Lab (July 27 – August 1) brings together documentarians with award-winning Advisors to focus on their current projects to explore the wide range of creative approaches to distribution, outreach and impact strategies. This year’s Creative Advisors include producers Julie Goldman ( "Best of Enemies"), Bonni Cohen ("3 1/2 Minutes," "10 Bullets"), Ryan Werner (Cinetic), Maxyne Franklin (Britdoc), and Wendy Cohen (Picture Motion).
The Creative Producing Summit takes place immediately following the Labs, July 31 – August 3. More than 50 industry leaders will participate in a series of curated panels, case studies, roundtables, and one-on-one meetings addressing critical issues producers face including financing, distribution, audience engagement, marketing and sustainability. Panelists this year include Len Amato (HBO Films),
Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics), Dori Begley (Magnolia Pictures), Josh Braun (Submarine), Dan Cogan (Impact Partners), Victoria S. Cook (Frankfurt Kurnit), Danielle Di Giacomo (The Orchard), Fred Dust (Ideo), Ted Hope (Amazon), Micah Green (CAA), John Hoffman (Discovery Channel), Marcus Hu (Strand Releasing), Charles King (MacRo), Jessica Lacy (ICM Partners), Stephanie Langhoff (Duplass Brothers), David Magdael (Tcdm Associates), Victor Moyers (Broad Green), Annie Roney (ro*co Films), John Sloss (Cinetic Media), Graham Taylor (William Morris Endeavor), and Jay Van Hoy (Parts & Labor).
The Fellows and projects selected for the 2015 Feature Film Creative Producing Lab are:
"50 Miles From Boomtown"
Producing Fellow: Alex Scharfman
After years of saving for her hard-earned dream, the only woman working on the fracking fields of North Dakota can finally quit but unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with the young man she's training to take her place. (writer/director Flo Linus Baumann).
Alex Scharfman is a New York-based producer whose past feature credits include "The Heart Machine" and "Lyle," as well as the short film "Superior," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, and the WGA Award-nominated webseries "F to 7th." He is an executive at Parts & Labor Films where he worked on films including "Keep The Lights On" and "Loitering with Intent." He has also produced content for Vice, Google, the Ford Foundation, and At&T. Alex received his BA from Cornell University, is a former Mfa candidate from Nyu’s Tisch School of the Arts, and received his Mba from Nyu’s Stern School of Business.
"Bexar County"
Mark Silverman Honorees and Producing Fellows: Blake Pickens and Stephen Love Jr.
In sunny San Antonio, Texas, where nothing ever changes, a town is turned on its head when a delusional Texas housewife accidentally poisons her son’s fiancée, learning that killing people is an efficient way to solve her problems. (Co-writer/director Catherine Grieve, co-writer Dylan Slocum)
Blake Pickens is from the south side of Oklahoma City, from a neighborhood known as the Flats. Despite the community’s rampant drug use and gang wars, Blake found his way into storytelling with a writing position at National Lampoon. He later attended the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC where he and his producing partner, Stephen Love Jr., formed their company Bs Pictures. They are currently in pre-production on the Steven Caple Jr.’s film The Land and in development on "The Friendship Nine" with producer Nina Yang Bongiovi. Blake’s aspirations are to tell the stories that make people laugh, cry, and ultimately impact their lives.
Stephen Love Jr. grew up in the rural towns of Filbert and Bennettsville, South Carolina. During his time as a business major at Morehouse College, Love founded the Morehouse Filmmakers' Association, for which Spike Lee is the honorary advisor. He also received his Mfa from USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program and formed Bs Pictures with fellow graduate Blake Pickens. Love’s primary career goal is to produce film and television that gives "a voice to the voiceless" while challenging the confines of the business of filmmaking.
"Dolores"
Producing Fellow: Drew Houpt
A restless teenager becomes obsessed with a mysterious Colombian woman who exploits his desire and lures him into her plot for revenge. (Writer/director Mary Angélica Molina)
Drew Houpt is an independent producer based in Brooklyn. For over ten years he was the head of operations at Mike Zoss Productions, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Tribeca-based production company. During that time he worked on the Academy Award-winning "No Country For Old Men" and the Academy Award-nominated "A Serious Man" and "True Grit." He served as Associate Producer on the Coens’ Grand Prix-winning "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Academy Award-winning film "Birdman: or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance." This past year he co-produced Maris Curran’s directorial-debut "Five Nights in Maine" and produced "Every Day,' a short documentary for Espn’s 30 for 30 Shorts series that had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. He has also produced music videos for the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang and an experimental documentary, "When A Priest Marries A Witch," by Suzanne Bocanegra.
"Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist"
Producing Fellow: Deanna Barillari
When Iranian-born Rita Mahtoubian sets out to change her life from ordinary to extraordinary, she accidentally captures the attention of a homeland security agent in this satirical comedy about romance, terrorism and trying to be a better person. (Co-writers/directors Roja Gashtili & Julia Lerman)
Upon graduating Nyu Tisch, Deanna Barillari co-founded a non-profit theater company producing Off-Off-Broadway plays, including the NYC premiere of Leslye Headland's "Cinephilia" (2008), which funded in-school arts initiatives in the NYC Public School system. She then went on to work in TV on NBC's "Mercy" (2009), CBS’ "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior" (2010), ABC’s "Pan Am," 86th Oscars (Ellen DeGeneres; 2014) and in Drama Development at Universal Television. Recently, she collaborated with AFI Dww Fellows Roja Gashtili and Julia Lerman, producing their web-series K(ID) starring Caterina Scorsone ("Grey's Anatomy") and their short "Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist" starring Patrick Fugit ("Almost Famous") which made its World Premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. She also produces for the La based Ovation Award-winning Iama Theatre Company.
"The Space Between"
Producing Fellow: Angela C. Lee
A female body builder devotes her life to turning ‘pro’ when she unexpectedly falls in love, forcing her to confront her fractured past with her dying father. (Writer/director Philiane Phang)
Angela C. Lee is a Los Angeles based independent producer. She produced "Songs My Brothers Taught Me," which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and recently screened in the Directors’ Fortnight program at the Cannes Film Festival. Angela is also the Artist Development Manager at Film Independent, where she oversees the selection process and curriculum for the Filmmaker Labs program, including Screenwriting, Directing, Producing, and Documentary Labs, the Fast Track Finance Market and the Fox Writers Intensive, managed in conjunction with Fox Audience Strategy. Previously, Angela served as Director of Creative Affairs at New York based Vox3 Films. Prior to her career in film, Angela was an Associate at Goldman Sachs. A native Chicagoan, Angela graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Economics and is on the Board of Directors for the University of Chicago National Arts Alumni Network.
The Fellows and projects selected for the 2015 Documentary Film Creative Producing Lab are:
"Brick"
Co-Directors/Producers: Jessica Dimmock & Christopher Lamarca
"Brick" reveals the raw emotional and physical experience of being a middle aged to senior transgender woman coming out for the first time in the Pacific Northwest. The film follows three intersecting stories of individuals who have lived their whole lives as men and decided this burdensome secret is one they can no longer keep.
Jessica Dimmock is the recipient of the 2013 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest as the director and cinematographer of the online feature, "Too Young to Wed." In 2010, Dimmock won Kodak's Best Cinematography Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival for "Without." The film premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, received an Independent Spirit Award, and was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award. Dimmock contributed two short films to Doctors Without Borders' Emmy-nominated campaign, “Starved for Attention.” Her first photojournalism project, “The Ninth Floor” was published as a monograph. Most recently, she worked as photographer and videographer for Emmy-nominated HBO series, "The Weight of the Nation." She is represented by VII agency.
Christopher Lamarca is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker and based in Portland, Oregon. Lamarca has recently entered post-production on his first feature length film, "Boone." In 2012, it was chosen as one of eight films for Film Independent's Documentary Film lab. Lamarca's monograph, “Forest Defenders: The Confrontational American Landscape ” was published by PowerHouse Books in 2008. He was chosen to participate in the International Center of Photography’s triennial exhibition (2007), New York Photo festival (2009) and Lishui photo festival in China (2010). He reported on environmental and energy issues for magazines such as Rolling Stone, GQ, Fortune, and Newsweek.
"The Island and the Whales" (working title)
Directore/Producer: Mike Day
The pilot whale hunters of the Faroe Islands believe that hunting is vital to their way of life, but when a local professor makes a grim discovery about the effects of marine pollution, and the seabirds populations collapse, environmental changes threaten to change the community and their way of life forever.
Mike Day is a Scottish director and producer. Formerly a lawyer in London and the Middle East he founded Intrepid Cinema in 2009 before heading out into the North Atlantic to make his previous film. His debut documentary "The Guga Hunters of Ness" broadcast on the BBC in 2011 and screened at festivals internationally to critical acclaim. It was while at sea in the Atlantic that he met a group of Faroese sailors, leading to his next film. Mike was listed as one of '10 Filmmakers to Watch' by Filmmaker Magazine, he was one of Edn's ’12 for the Future 2012’, and is supported by the Scottish Documentary Institute's Docscene programme. Intrepid Cinema also has two other feature documentaries in development.
"The Road From Hainan"
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
State surveillance. Harassment. Imprisonment. Human rights activist Ye Haiyan, Aka Sparrow, knew she faced these risks when she went to Hainan Province to seek justice for six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. But the scale and intensity of the government's reaction surprised even the most seasoned activists across China.
"The Road From Hainan" follows Sparrow as she was chased from town to town by local governments, national secret police, and even her own neighbors. Nanfu Wang is a documentary filmmaker based in New York. Originally from a remote village in China, Wang overcame poverty and lack of access to formal secondary education and went on to earn graduate degrees in communications and documentary film from universities in China and the United States. Her work often features the stories of marginalized or mistreated people, from Chinese blood donors stricken with HIV after being issued used needles by the government to the left-behind children of migrant laborers. During the production of her first full-length documentary, Wang lived on the streets of Miami with a homeless former drug dealer who relied on the kindness of strangers for his survival. Wang’s short films have been distributed on many platforms and translated into several languages, and she continues to seek out and tell the stories of people who have been ignored by their societies.
"Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four"
Director/Producer: Deborah Esquenazi
"Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four" excavates the nightmarish persecution of Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquez — four Latina lesbians wrongfully convicted of allegedly gang-raping two little girls in San Antonio, Texas. The film also unravels the sinister interplay of mythology, homophobia and prosecutorial fervor which led to this modern day witch hunt during the 'Satanic Sexual Abuse Panic' of the late-80's and early-90's in the United States.
Deborah S. Esquenazi is an Austin, Texas-based documentary film and radio producer, instructor, and journalist. Her in-progress documentary feature, "Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four," has received international attention for its investigation into this controversial criminal case, and has been mentioned in Forbes Magazine, New York Times, Texas Observer, Vice Magazine, among others. Her film and radio documentaries have been funded by Chicken & Egg Pictures, Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Initiative, Humanities Texas, Astraea Global Arts Fund, and many others.
The Institute’s Creative Producing Initiative encompasses a year-round series of Labs, Fellowships, granting and events focusing on nurturing the next generation of independent producers and renewing the community of veteran producers who sustain the vibrancy and vitality of independent film.
The Feature Film Creative Producing Lab (July 27 – July 31) identifies emerging producers and, under the guidance of Creative Advisors, allows them to develop their creative instincts and evolve their communicating and problem-solving skills at all stages of their feature film project. This year’s Creative Advisors include producers Lindsay Doran ("Sense and Sensibility"), Lynette Howell Taylor (The Place Beyond the Pines), Gina Kwon ("Me You and Everyone We Know"), Paul Mezey ("Beasts of the Southern Wild"), Jay Van Hoy (
"Beginners" ) and director Matthew Ross ("28 Hotel Rooms" ).
The Documentary Film Creative Producing Lab (July 27 – August 1) brings together documentarians with award-winning Advisors to focus on their current projects to explore the wide range of creative approaches to distribution, outreach and impact strategies. This year’s Creative Advisors include producers Julie Goldman ( "Best of Enemies"), Bonni Cohen ("3 1/2 Minutes," "10 Bullets"), Ryan Werner (Cinetic), Maxyne Franklin (Britdoc), and Wendy Cohen (Picture Motion).
The Creative Producing Summit takes place immediately following the Labs, July 31 – August 3. More than 50 industry leaders will participate in a series of curated panels, case studies, roundtables, and one-on-one meetings addressing critical issues producers face including financing, distribution, audience engagement, marketing and sustainability. Panelists this year include Len Amato (HBO Films),
Michael Barker (Sony Pictures Classics), Dori Begley (Magnolia Pictures), Josh Braun (Submarine), Dan Cogan (Impact Partners), Victoria S. Cook (Frankfurt Kurnit), Danielle Di Giacomo (The Orchard), Fred Dust (Ideo), Ted Hope (Amazon), Micah Green (CAA), John Hoffman (Discovery Channel), Marcus Hu (Strand Releasing), Charles King (MacRo), Jessica Lacy (ICM Partners), Stephanie Langhoff (Duplass Brothers), David Magdael (Tcdm Associates), Victor Moyers (Broad Green), Annie Roney (ro*co Films), John Sloss (Cinetic Media), Graham Taylor (William Morris Endeavor), and Jay Van Hoy (Parts & Labor).
The Fellows and projects selected for the 2015 Feature Film Creative Producing Lab are:
"50 Miles From Boomtown"
Producing Fellow: Alex Scharfman
After years of saving for her hard-earned dream, the only woman working on the fracking fields of North Dakota can finally quit but unexpectedly finds herself falling in love with the young man she's training to take her place. (writer/director Flo Linus Baumann).
Alex Scharfman is a New York-based producer whose past feature credits include "The Heart Machine" and "Lyle," as well as the short film "Superior," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015, and the WGA Award-nominated webseries "F to 7th." He is an executive at Parts & Labor Films where he worked on films including "Keep The Lights On" and "Loitering with Intent." He has also produced content for Vice, Google, the Ford Foundation, and At&T. Alex received his BA from Cornell University, is a former Mfa candidate from Nyu’s Tisch School of the Arts, and received his Mba from Nyu’s Stern School of Business.
"Bexar County"
Mark Silverman Honorees and Producing Fellows: Blake Pickens and Stephen Love Jr.
In sunny San Antonio, Texas, where nothing ever changes, a town is turned on its head when a delusional Texas housewife accidentally poisons her son’s fiancée, learning that killing people is an efficient way to solve her problems. (Co-writer/director Catherine Grieve, co-writer Dylan Slocum)
Blake Pickens is from the south side of Oklahoma City, from a neighborhood known as the Flats. Despite the community’s rampant drug use and gang wars, Blake found his way into storytelling with a writing position at National Lampoon. He later attended the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC where he and his producing partner, Stephen Love Jr., formed their company Bs Pictures. They are currently in pre-production on the Steven Caple Jr.’s film The Land and in development on "The Friendship Nine" with producer Nina Yang Bongiovi. Blake’s aspirations are to tell the stories that make people laugh, cry, and ultimately impact their lives.
Stephen Love Jr. grew up in the rural towns of Filbert and Bennettsville, South Carolina. During his time as a business major at Morehouse College, Love founded the Morehouse Filmmakers' Association, for which Spike Lee is the honorary advisor. He also received his Mfa from USC’s Peter Stark Producing Program and formed Bs Pictures with fellow graduate Blake Pickens. Love’s primary career goal is to produce film and television that gives "a voice to the voiceless" while challenging the confines of the business of filmmaking.
"Dolores"
Producing Fellow: Drew Houpt
A restless teenager becomes obsessed with a mysterious Colombian woman who exploits his desire and lures him into her plot for revenge. (Writer/director Mary Angélica Molina)
Drew Houpt is an independent producer based in Brooklyn. For over ten years he was the head of operations at Mike Zoss Productions, Joel and Ethan Coen’s Tribeca-based production company. During that time he worked on the Academy Award-winning "No Country For Old Men" and the Academy Award-nominated "A Serious Man" and "True Grit." He served as Associate Producer on the Coens’ Grand Prix-winning "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Academy Award-winning film "Birdman: or The Unexpected Virtue Of Ignorance." This past year he co-produced Maris Curran’s directorial-debut "Five Nights in Maine" and produced "Every Day,' a short documentary for Espn’s 30 for 30 Shorts series that had its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2015. He has also produced music videos for the Pulitzer Prize-winning composer David Lang and an experimental documentary, "When A Priest Marries A Witch," by Suzanne Bocanegra.
"Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist"
Producing Fellow: Deanna Barillari
When Iranian-born Rita Mahtoubian sets out to change her life from ordinary to extraordinary, she accidentally captures the attention of a homeland security agent in this satirical comedy about romance, terrorism and trying to be a better person. (Co-writers/directors Roja Gashtili & Julia Lerman)
Upon graduating Nyu Tisch, Deanna Barillari co-founded a non-profit theater company producing Off-Off-Broadway plays, including the NYC premiere of Leslye Headland's "Cinephilia" (2008), which funded in-school arts initiatives in the NYC Public School system. She then went on to work in TV on NBC's "Mercy" (2009), CBS’ "Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior" (2010), ABC’s "Pan Am," 86th Oscars (Ellen DeGeneres; 2014) and in Drama Development at Universal Television. Recently, she collaborated with AFI Dww Fellows Roja Gashtili and Julia Lerman, producing their web-series K(ID) starring Caterina Scorsone ("Grey's Anatomy") and their short "Rita Mahtoubian Is Not A Terrorist" starring Patrick Fugit ("Almost Famous") which made its World Premiere at the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. She also produces for the La based Ovation Award-winning Iama Theatre Company.
"The Space Between"
Producing Fellow: Angela C. Lee
A female body builder devotes her life to turning ‘pro’ when she unexpectedly falls in love, forcing her to confront her fractured past with her dying father. (Writer/director Philiane Phang)
Angela C. Lee is a Los Angeles based independent producer. She produced "Songs My Brothers Taught Me," which premiered in competition at the Sundance Film Festival and recently screened in the Directors’ Fortnight program at the Cannes Film Festival. Angela is also the Artist Development Manager at Film Independent, where she oversees the selection process and curriculum for the Filmmaker Labs program, including Screenwriting, Directing, Producing, and Documentary Labs, the Fast Track Finance Market and the Fox Writers Intensive, managed in conjunction with Fox Audience Strategy. Previously, Angela served as Director of Creative Affairs at New York based Vox3 Films. Prior to her career in film, Angela was an Associate at Goldman Sachs. A native Chicagoan, Angela graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in Economics and is on the Board of Directors for the University of Chicago National Arts Alumni Network.
The Fellows and projects selected for the 2015 Documentary Film Creative Producing Lab are:
"Brick"
Co-Directors/Producers: Jessica Dimmock & Christopher Lamarca
"Brick" reveals the raw emotional and physical experience of being a middle aged to senior transgender woman coming out for the first time in the Pacific Northwest. The film follows three intersecting stories of individuals who have lived their whole lives as men and decided this burdensome secret is one they can no longer keep.
Jessica Dimmock is the recipient of the 2013 World Press Photo Multimedia Contest as the director and cinematographer of the online feature, "Too Young to Wed." In 2010, Dimmock won Kodak's Best Cinematography Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival for "Without." The film premiered at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, received an Independent Spirit Award, and was nominated for a Gotham Independent Film Award. Dimmock contributed two short films to Doctors Without Borders' Emmy-nominated campaign, “Starved for Attention.” Her first photojournalism project, “The Ninth Floor” was published as a monograph. Most recently, she worked as photographer and videographer for Emmy-nominated HBO series, "The Weight of the Nation." She is represented by VII agency.
Christopher Lamarca is an award-winning photographer and filmmaker and based in Portland, Oregon. Lamarca has recently entered post-production on his first feature length film, "Boone." In 2012, it was chosen as one of eight films for Film Independent's Documentary Film lab. Lamarca's monograph, “Forest Defenders: The Confrontational American Landscape ” was published by PowerHouse Books in 2008. He was chosen to participate in the International Center of Photography’s triennial exhibition (2007), New York Photo festival (2009) and Lishui photo festival in China (2010). He reported on environmental and energy issues for magazines such as Rolling Stone, GQ, Fortune, and Newsweek.
"The Island and the Whales" (working title)
Directore/Producer: Mike Day
The pilot whale hunters of the Faroe Islands believe that hunting is vital to their way of life, but when a local professor makes a grim discovery about the effects of marine pollution, and the seabirds populations collapse, environmental changes threaten to change the community and their way of life forever.
Mike Day is a Scottish director and producer. Formerly a lawyer in London and the Middle East he founded Intrepid Cinema in 2009 before heading out into the North Atlantic to make his previous film. His debut documentary "The Guga Hunters of Ness" broadcast on the BBC in 2011 and screened at festivals internationally to critical acclaim. It was while at sea in the Atlantic that he met a group of Faroese sailors, leading to his next film. Mike was listed as one of '10 Filmmakers to Watch' by Filmmaker Magazine, he was one of Edn's ’12 for the Future 2012’, and is supported by the Scottish Documentary Institute's Docscene programme. Intrepid Cinema also has two other feature documentaries in development.
"The Road From Hainan"
Director/Producer: Nanfu Wang
State surveillance. Harassment. Imprisonment. Human rights activist Ye Haiyan, Aka Sparrow, knew she faced these risks when she went to Hainan Province to seek justice for six elementary school girls who were sexually abused by their principal. But the scale and intensity of the government's reaction surprised even the most seasoned activists across China.
"The Road From Hainan" follows Sparrow as she was chased from town to town by local governments, national secret police, and even her own neighbors. Nanfu Wang is a documentary filmmaker based in New York. Originally from a remote village in China, Wang overcame poverty and lack of access to formal secondary education and went on to earn graduate degrees in communications and documentary film from universities in China and the United States. Her work often features the stories of marginalized or mistreated people, from Chinese blood donors stricken with HIV after being issued used needles by the government to the left-behind children of migrant laborers. During the production of her first full-length documentary, Wang lived on the streets of Miami with a homeless former drug dealer who relied on the kindness of strangers for his survival. Wang’s short films have been distributed on many platforms and translated into several languages, and she continues to seek out and tell the stories of people who have been ignored by their societies.
"Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four"
Director/Producer: Deborah Esquenazi
"Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four" excavates the nightmarish persecution of Elizabeth Ramirez, Cassandra Rivera, Kristie Mayhugh, and Anna Vasquez — four Latina lesbians wrongfully convicted of allegedly gang-raping two little girls in San Antonio, Texas. The film also unravels the sinister interplay of mythology, homophobia and prosecutorial fervor which led to this modern day witch hunt during the 'Satanic Sexual Abuse Panic' of the late-80's and early-90's in the United States.
Deborah S. Esquenazi is an Austin, Texas-based documentary film and radio producer, instructor, and journalist. Her in-progress documentary feature, "Southwest of Salem: The Story of the San Antonio Four," has received international attention for its investigation into this controversial criminal case, and has been mentioned in Forbes Magazine, New York Times, Texas Observer, Vice Magazine, among others. Her film and radio documentaries have been funded by Chicken & Egg Pictures, Paul Robeson Fund for Independent Media, Sundance Institute Documentary Film Program | John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Initiative, Humanities Texas, Astraea Global Arts Fund, and many others.
- 7/20/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Institute screens as part of Austin Film Society's monthly Avant Cinema series this Wednesday, October 30 (tickets) at 7:30 pm in the Afs Screening Room (1901 E. 51st St).
Around 15 years ago, a friend and I saw a flyer about some performance art experience that would take place in a building on E. 6th Street. We followed the directions, which took us up to the second floor of some 19th-century building. Tacked onto the locked door of the designated room was a hand-printed note that thanked us for participating in the performance by finding the building, walking up the stairs, and reading the note. At first we felt duped and wondered if "they" were watching us and laughing. But when we got back down to the street, we started laughing ourselves at the realization that we really had been part of a performance, not a hoax of some sort.
Watching The Institute (Spencer McCall,...
Around 15 years ago, a friend and I saw a flyer about some performance art experience that would take place in a building on E. 6th Street. We followed the directions, which took us up to the second floor of some 19th-century building. Tacked onto the locked door of the designated room was a hand-printed note that thanked us for participating in the performance by finding the building, walking up the stairs, and reading the note. At first we felt duped and wondered if "they" were watching us and laughing. But when we got back down to the street, we started laughing ourselves at the realization that we really had been part of a performance, not a hoax of some sort.
Watching The Institute (Spencer McCall,...
- 10/29/2013
- by Chale Nafus
- Slackerwood
Just what the hell was the Jejune Institute? After watching Spencer McCall’s fascinating and intentionally puzzling documentary The Institute, I’m still not quite sure. An interactive, multimedia, experiential game, based in a nondescript building in San Francisco’s central business district that thrives of]n the memory of a woman who disappeared into the Bay Area night a quarter century ago and never returned? Perhaps, I guess. A scripted experience surely, an alternate-reality game involving participants in events both spooky and merely bizarre, including scavenger hunts to fairly ominous locales, mock public protests and sundry hijinks that would feel right at home […]...
- 10/11/2013
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Just what the hell was the Jejune Institute? After watching Spencer McCall’s fascinating and intentionally puzzling documentary The Institute, I’m still not quite sure. An interactive, multimedia, experiential game, based in a nondescript building in San Francisco’s central business district that thrives of]n the memory of a woman who disappeared into the Bay Area night a quarter century ago and never returned? Perhaps, I guess. A scripted experience surely, an alternate-reality game involving participants in events both spooky and merely bizarre, including scavenger hunts to fairly ominous locales, mock public protests and sundry hijinks that would feel right at home […]...
- 10/11/2013
- by Brandon Harris
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
A thrilling, absorbing, absurdist real-world alternate-reality game played out on the streets of San Francisco and Oakland gets souvenir-doc treatment in Spencer McCall's The Institute—but complaints that there's too little here about how the Jejune Institute was hatched or what it all may have meant matter little in the face of the one great thing The Institute does offer: a record of the mad invention of the game's masterminds. A typical participant in the game (created by Jeff Hull) reports his experience: A flyer advertising force fields in San Francisco's financial district led him to call a phone number that directed him to an office suite, where a woman gave him a key to a room where a lounger was positioned before a TV upon which a cult-leader-like g...
- 10/9/2013
- Village Voice
The 5th annual Oakland Underground Film Festival, which runs this year on Sept. 25-29, features their usual mix of socially and politically relevant films, challenging genre fare and loads of short films.
The fest opens on the 25th with two provocative documentaries. First up is Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Citizen Koch, which shines a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes machinations of the billionaire Koch brothers who have greatly influenced modern politics. (Citizen Koch is also screening for free, which you can RSVP for on the Oakuff website.) Also on the 25th is a profile of Riot Grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna in The Punk Singer, directed by Sini Anderson.
Other films in the fest include the martial arts action romp Death Grip by Eric Jacobius; the anti-bullying drama The Dirties by Matt Johnson; the quirky family shenanigans of Toastmaster by Eric Boadella; and the Closing Night lyrical documentary about life on the U.
The fest opens on the 25th with two provocative documentaries. First up is Tia Lessin and Carl Deal’s Citizen Koch, which shines a spotlight on the behind-the-scenes machinations of the billionaire Koch brothers who have greatly influenced modern politics. (Citizen Koch is also screening for free, which you can RSVP for on the Oakuff website.) Also on the 25th is a profile of Riot Grrrl icon Kathleen Hanna in The Punk Singer, directed by Sini Anderson.
Other films in the fest include the martial arts action romp Death Grip by Eric Jacobius; the anti-bullying drama The Dirties by Matt Johnson; the quirky family shenanigans of Toastmaster by Eric Boadella; and the Closing Night lyrical documentary about life on the U.
- 9/24/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
The 7th annual Sydney Underground Film Festival, which runs this year on September 5-8 at the Factory Theatre, opens with a real bang when they will screen cult filmmaker Alejandro Jodorowsky’s latest cinematic odyssey, The Dance of Reality. This is Jodorowsky’s first film in over twenty years and is an imaginative and playful quasi-autobiography.
The rest of the four-day celebration is packed with more film oddities and excursions into surreal and transgressive territory. One particular highlight that is not to be missed is Don Swaynos’ incredibly crowd-pleasing comedy Pictures of Superheroes, about a slacker cleaning woman’s descent into an absurd world she can’t escape. Read the Underground Film Journal’s review of Pictures of Superheroes here.
Other twisted fiction films screening include Drew Tobias’s sick and twisted See You Next Tuesday, Cody Calahan’s apocalyptic Antisocial and Lloyd Kaufman’s highly-anticipated sequel Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Vol.
The rest of the four-day celebration is packed with more film oddities and excursions into surreal and transgressive territory. One particular highlight that is not to be missed is Don Swaynos’ incredibly crowd-pleasing comedy Pictures of Superheroes, about a slacker cleaning woman’s descent into an absurd world she can’t escape. Read the Underground Film Journal’s review of Pictures of Superheroes here.
Other twisted fiction films screening include Drew Tobias’s sick and twisted See You Next Tuesday, Cody Calahan’s apocalyptic Antisocial and Lloyd Kaufman’s highly-anticipated sequel Return to Nuke ‘Em High: Vol.
- 8/15/2013
- by Mike Everleth
- Underground Film Journal
Chicago – “To those dark horses with the spirit to look up and see, a recondite family awaits.” While the Sundance Film Festival goes on all through Park City, a select group of truly independent films is unspooling up on Main Street under the banner of Slamdance. One of the more interesting Slamdance selections this year was the great “The Institute,” a quasi-documentary about an “Alternate Reality Game” that took place in San Francisco from 2008 to 2011.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Playing not unlike “Exit Through the Gift Shop” or “Resurrect Dead,” “The Institute” is a mindf**k. How much of it is real? How much is staged? What’s the purpose of the real-life role-playing game in the first place? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions but I thoroughly enjoyed “The Institute” nonetheless or, to be honest, more so because of the willingness on the part of the filmmakers...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Playing not unlike “Exit Through the Gift Shop” or “Resurrect Dead,” “The Institute” is a mindf**k. How much of it is real? How much is staged? What’s the purpose of the real-life role-playing game in the first place? I don’t know the answers to any of these questions but I thoroughly enjoyed “The Institute” nonetheless or, to be honest, more so because of the willingness on the part of the filmmakers...
- 1/28/2013
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
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