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Sal Piro, who played a pivotal role in creating the audience participation routines that turned The Rocky Horror Picture Show into a multi-decade, world-wide phenomenon, died at his home in New York City Jan 21.

His death was announced by The Rocky Horror Picture Show Fan Club, which he founded in 1977 and served as its president until his death, becoming a major figure in creating the movie’s cult classic status.

Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Lloyd N. Morrisett Dies: 'Sesame Street' Co-Creator Was 93 Related Story Andrew Leynse Dies: Off Broadway Artistic Director Who Championed Works By A.R. Gurney, Terrence McNally, Theresa Rebeck Was 53

“Sal was the defacto face of Rocky Horror fandom for decades,” the fan club said in a tweeted statement. “He will be sorely missed.”

Opening to terrible reviews in 1975, The Rocky Horror Picture Show soon became a staple...

Cameron Crowe, the writer and director of “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous,” has signed with UTA.

The Oscar winner was previously at CAA. UTA will work with Crowe’s longtime manager, Irving Azoff, to represent Crowe in all areas, including film, television and other media.

Crowe won an Academy Award for writing the script for “Almost Famous,” his semi-autobiographical look at the rock scene of the 1970s. He earned Oscar nominations for penning the script for and producing “Jerry Maguire,” the story of a sports agent who rediscovers his moral compass. The movie, which starred Tom Cruise, remains Crowe’s biggest commercial success. Other notable Crowe favorites include “Vanilla Sky,” “Singles,” “Elizabethtown” and “Say Anything.” Crowe got his start as a journalist for Rolling Stone, an experience that was dramatized in “Almost Famous.” He wrote both the book and the screenplay to “Fast Times at Ridgemont High.”

Crowe scored a...

Cameron Crowe, the director behind films like “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous,” has signed with UTA.

UTA will work alongside Crowe’s longtime manager, Irving Azoff, to represent the director in all areas, including film and television.

Crowe most recently produced the documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name” and wrote “Almost Famous: The Musical,” which premiered at San Diego’s Old Globe Theatre in 2019 and is expected to transfer to Broadway.

Crowe’s most recent work as a director was his 2016 Showtime series “Roadies,” which he wrote, directed and executive produced. He also directed the 2015 film “Aloha.” Crowe won an Oscar for the screenplay for “Almost Famous” and was nominated for two additional Oscars for “Jerry Maguire” with Tom Cruise, Renee Zellweger, Regina King and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Some of his other directing credits include “Vanilla Sky,” “Singles,” “Elizabethtown” and “We Bought a Zoo,” and he also wrote the screenplays...

“Linda and the Mockingbirds,” a documentary about Linda Ronstadt making a journey to Mexico to explore her musical roots there, has been picked up for worldwide rights by Shout! Studios, the distribution and production division of the Shout! Factory home video company.

The film was originally slated to premiere at the Telluride Film Festival over Labor Day weekend. Shout! is promising that the doc will be out later in 2020 via various distribution platforms.

In a follow-up to last year’s Ronstadt documentary “The Sound of My Voice,” “Linda and the Mockingbirds” narrows in on a road trip undertaken by Ronstadt, Jackson Browne and a group of younger musicians made to the Mexican town of Banámichi in the state of Sonora, the birthplace of Ronstadt’s beloved grandfather.

It’s said to deal with border politics, racism and other personal or hot-buttontopics affecting Ronstadt’s and Browne’s companions on the...

In the opening scene of “Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind,” a companionable and highly entertaining documentary about the folk-pop troubadour of Canada, Lightfoot, now 81, sits at home with his wife, Kim, and watches clips of himself on Canadian television singing the 1965 song “For Lovin’ Me,” an ode to the arrogant adulterer he once was. Back when he wrote the song, Lightfoot was married, with a couple of kids. “At the time,” he recalls, “it just came out of my brain. I didn’t know what chauvinism was.” He chuckles, sheepishly, at his insensitivity. Yet looking at the clips, we see the brashness that made Lightfoot a star. In those early days, he resembled Ryan O’Neal with a hint of Nick Nolte; he had the kind of squinty rugged golden-god looks you’d see on the hero of a television Western. And even then, what he could do with a note was extraordinary.

The next feature-length film from BMG will be the first-ever career-spanning documentary on legendary heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio.

Widely acknowledged as one of the greatest and most influential hard rock vocalists of all time, Dio fronted Rainbow, Black Sabbath, Elf, Heaven & Hell and his own eponymous band over the course of a 40-plus year-long career. He died from cancer in 2010 at the age of 67.

The forthcoming film is the first documentary about Dio to be fully authorized by the artist’s estate. BMG is both financier and executive producer of the film, with all rights available worldwide.

The Dio doc is the latest project in BMG’s fast-growing line of music-related films and television projects, including the Sundance Film Festival selections “David Crosby: Remember My Name” — which was nominated for a Grammy — and the Joan Jett documentary, “Bad Reputation.” Other titles include “The Show’s the Thing,” a...

As David Crosby has proven time and time again this year with his Ask Croz column, he’s down to answer any question that readers pose to him. Nothing is too bizarre, risqué or just downright nuts for him to tackle. He’s seen it all, done it all and he loves nothing more than telling the tale. In this newest round of Ask Croz questions, he deals with a husband that prefers porn over sex with his wife, a guy that is curious to try heroin just one time,...

The International Documentary Association (Ida) has revealed the 35th Annual Ida Documentary Awards shortlists for the Best Feature and Best Short categories, culled from 785 submissions: 375 documentary features, 153 documentary shorts, 124 documentary series, 89 student films, 44 podcasts, and 48 music documentaries. After winnowing down each list to up to ten nominees to be announced on Wednesday, October 23, online screeners will be accessible for viewing as of November 4, followed by the Ida membership voting.

The 2019 Awards will be presented at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles on Saturday, December 7. The Ida will bestow awards in 16 categories. This year, the Ida has changed how craft awards are selected: cinematographers, editors, writers and composers will do the honors. And for the first time, the Ida will present an award for Best Director.

The awards categories include Best Feature, Best Short, Best Curated Series, Best Episodic Series, Best Multi-Part Documentary, Best Short Form Series, Best Audio Documentary, David L. Wolper Student Documentary Award,...

David Crosby has answered many tricky questions this past year in his new role as Rolling Stone’s advice columnist, but in this new round he put to the test like never before with queries about forgiving a heroin-addicted son, learning how to love just one woman, kicking hard drugs and living as a hippie in America circa 2019. As always, he didn’t see a single one of the questions before going in from the camera and he didn’t flinch at any of them.

Crosby has managed to fit...

Studios seemingly threw caution to the wind at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, shelling out top dollar in hopes of finding the next indie sensation. A few Hollywood companies saw those shopping sprees pay off, while most will likely be feeling buyer’s remorse.

Amazon Studios was among the big spenders, unloading nearly $41 million at the 2019 festival, a large part of which was on the comedy “Brittany Runs a Marathon.” The feel-good film, which debuted in five theaters last weekend with a solid $175,696, is the latest Sundance favorite hoping to turn rave reviews into cold hard cash.

Amazon is pacing itself with “Brittany Runs a Marathon,” allotting more than a month before taking the film nationwide in an effort to avoid the same fate as fellow festival purchase “Late Night.” Despite critical praise, the Mindy Kaling and Emma Thompson-led comedy fizzled at the box office with $15 million, only...

Byrds fans were dealt a disappointing bit of news yesterday when a representative for Roger McGuinn totally rebuffed David Crosby’s public offer to reunite the group. “Neither Roger or Chris [Hillman] entertain the idea of a Byrd’s reunion,” they wrote to Rolling Stone. “Roger was just tired of David crying about being hated. DC is not hated, but that doesn’t mean anyone wants to work with him.”

The dialogue began when Roger McGuinn took to Twitter to complain that David Crosby unfairly lumped him in with Neil Young,...

David Crosby urged his former Byrds bandmate Roger McGuinn to reunite the group over the weekend, asking the singer on Twitter, “Want to do a couple of Byrds dates? I’ll just sing harmony. No talking?”

McGuinn didn’t respond to the tweet, but a representative did when reached for a comment. “Neither Roger or Chris entertain the idea of a Byrds reunion,” McGuinn’s rep wrote. “Roger was just tired of David crying about being hated. DC is not hated but that doesn’t mean anyone wants to work with him.

Even though it appears that everyone in the world went to see “The Lion King” over the weekend, there were plenty of film fans that were embracing the new documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name.” Debuting in limited release, the documentary, which includes the musician reflecting on his life and career while speaking to producer Cameron Crowe, is a rare rock doc that focuses completely on the artist’s thoughts and feelings.

Continue reading David Bowie Turned Down Cameron Crowe’s Offer Of Doing A Memoir-Style Documentary Together at The Playlist.

David Crosby may or may not have stuck a joint in Cameron Crowe’s mouth the first time he ever met the future filmmaker, when Crosby was peaking with Crosby Stills Nash & Young and his interviewer was a precocious 15-year-old Rolling Stone correspondent. As Crowe said to Jimmy Kimmel the other night, “I remember it different.” But if nothing else, Croz certainly implanted a part of himself into Crowe’s brain that he hasn’t been able to shake for 45 years, culminating in the just-released documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name.”

The “Almost Famous” director is a producer and interviewer on the project, not director; that duty belonged to A.J. Eaton, who worked on the film for quite a while before Crowe officially came on deck. But after he initially agreed just to do an interview or two to get more candor out of Crosby on Eaton’s behalf, his...

Word of mouth continues to spread well for A24’s “The Farewell,” which began its expansion at the indie box office this weekend and grossed $1.17 million from 35 screens for a strong second weekend average of $33,743.

With a 100% Rotten Tomatoes score, “The Farewell” earned sellout screenings in some major cities this weekend after it drew the top per screen average of the year in its Los Angeles/New York rollout a week ago. With a total of $1.67 million now grossed, Lulu Wang’s film will expand again to additional top markets next weekend before going wide on Aug. 2, hoping to turn three weeks worth of buzz among arthouse moviegoers into a reputation as a quieter alternative to “Hobbs & Shaw.”

Last week’s other big indie release, Bleecker Street’s “The Art of Self Defense,” expanded wider to 550 screens, grossing $1 million for a per screen average of $1,919.

Neon also expanded their documentary...

After five consecutive weeks wherein the weekend domestic box office failed to top the same weekend from a year prior, this weekend will easily buck the trend. Leading the charge, Disney's latest release, the "live-action" adaptation of The Lion King, is likely to outperform the combined top twelve from the same weekend last year all on its own as it is ushered into over 4,700 domestic locations and all over the world. With what has been a summer box office season that has seen plenty of films under-perform and miss expectations, Disney is hoping their CGI adaptation of the studio's beloved animated feature The Lion King delivers not only at the domestic box office, but all around the world. The film will launch in a record 4,725 domestic locations this weekend and industry expectations have it pegged for a debut around $175-180 million, which would be enough to top the current...

While appearing on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to discuss the new documentary David Crosby: Remember My Name, Cameron Crowe and Jimmy Fallon reminisced about Almost Famous, Crowe’s semi-autobiographical 2000 film that Fallon had a role in.

Fallon played big-time Stillwater manager Doug Hope, who was brought in to replace the meager Dick Roswell (Noah Taylor). Fallon, wearing comically large aviator eyeglasses and a brown leather jacket, boasts about his qualifications to the band while sharing a pretty insane outlook on the future. “If you think Mick Jagger will...

"Do you ever wonder why you are still alive?" Sony Pictures Classics has debuted an official trailer for an indie documentary titled David Crosby: Remember My Name, which first premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. This unconventional rock doc profiles the life and times and music of David Crosby. Sundance explains: "From frame one, David Crosby—of The Byrds and Crosby, Stills & Nash (and sometimes Young) fame—ushers us into depths of brutal honesty and self-examination that are almost never revealed on-screen... Crosby's willingness to bare shattering personal struggles powerfully combines with producer Cameron Crowe's disarming interview style to unlock profound truths about our human ego and imperfection." This is, essentially, the film telling the story of what inspired Cameron Crowe to make Almost Famous, and the rest is (pretty much) history. This doc looks very fascinating and insightful - check it out. First trailer (+ poster...

Cameron Crowe jokes that David Crosby is following his career path. The star’s frankness and tell-it-like-it-is demeanor has resulted in Rolling Stone magazine’s invitation to set up the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer’s next act as a rock Dear Abby of sorts with his new column: “Ask Croz.”

“Isn’t that great?” says Crowe, the Oscar-winning filmmaker who almost-famously began his career at Rolling Stone as a teen. “I felt like I should get a solo band together and learn how to play guitar real quick, because we’re switching careers at this point. I need to be out there with the band, while he’s the Rolling Stone journalist.”

All the candor that Crosby will be putting into his magazine column is on massive display in the new documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” in which the Crosby, Stills and Nash icon doesn’t shy...

In today’s film news roundup, Aaron Paul is honored, Bruce Berman is re-upped at Village Roadshow, and Paola Mendoza and Abby Sher get a book deal.

Festival Honors

The Sun Valley Film Festival has selected Idaho native and three-time Emmy winner Aaron Paul as the winner of its Pioneer Award, presented by Variety for his work in television and film on March 15.

He will attend the world premiere screening of Christopher Cantwell’s “The Parts You Lose,” in which Paul stars and also serves as a producer, and will participate in a moderated discussion about his career.

Alex Ross Perry will receive the Rising Star Award for Directing on March 16, and attend a screening of his latest film “Her Smell,” which stars Elisabeth Moss, and Fisher Stevens will receive the Snow Angel Award on March 16 and screen his film “Tigerland.” Meg Ryan will receive the festival’s Vision Award.

IndieWire’s First-Time Filmmakers Dinner at the Sundance Film Festival, presented by Rimowa, took place on January 28 and introduced a new crop of talent you can expect to see more of in the years to come. “We know that being a first-time filmmaker is something very personal to you, and you’re in the middle of this journey,” IndieWire’s Eric Kohn said at the event. “We get excited to tell the world about it, so we expect to hear more from you down the line. One of the most gratifying things about going to Sundance is coming back and seeing people back here and seeing what you do next.”

Countless filmmakers have gotten their start at the festival, from Quentin Tarantino and Nicole Holofcener to Ryan Coogler and Steven Soderbergh, making it an especially fitting venue for such an occasion.

This year’s dinner began a new tradition in...

They came. They saw. They bought a lot.

That’s more or less the story of the 2019 edition of the Sundance Film Festival. It was a return to the free-spending days of a couple of years ago, as buyers decided to ignore the cautionary tales and write checks as if “Patti Cake$” and “The Birth of a Nation” never happened. “Late Night,” Mindy Kaling’s look at diversity in writer’s rooms, picked up a massive $13 million domestic distribution deal, a record price for stateside rights. The political thriller “The Report” and heart-warming comedy “Brittany Runs A Marathon” nabbed $14 million global pacts. And “Blinded by the Light,” an ode to all things Bruce Springsteen, scored a $15 million worldwide sale to New Line, the biggest of the festival.

Distributors and agents insist that all the money sloshing around Park City isn’t attributable to festival fever, the dreaded virus that encourages...

Legendary rocker David Crosby has never been one to mince words, but in A.J. Eaton’s startlingly intimate documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” the singer and guitarist finally uses his words to tap into something long-necessary: genuine self-reflection. Eaton’s film goes deep with the musician, and quickly. Within the first five minutes of “Remember My Name,” Crosby has already confessed twice how fervently he does not want to die and how deeply he regrets some of the wildness of his earlier years.

“Yeah, I got a huge regret about the time I wasted, smashed,” Crosby says straight to the camera, and that’s putting it mildly. A compelling mix of literal walking tour — “Remember My Name” features Crosby ambling straight up to Joni Mitchell’s old house in its first act, and good luck not feeling chills with that one — and interviews with Crosby and his contemporaries, the effect is a full-bodied one.

Big stars – and lots of those not-so-famous actors hoping to ride the Sundance Film Festival train to that same spot in the Hollywood firmament – descended on Park City for Sundance 2019 as the fest’s first weekend unfolded from January 24 to 27. Happily, the weather cooperated (cold but clear) and there were parties, premieres, brunches, dinners and dances all day and all night. The most popular game became a contest: how many gatherings could you hit in one day? And how many outfit changes could you pull off? Awkwafina and Naomi Watts played that one like bosses.

Sundance 2019 is all about diversity and inclusiveness, as women are making bold moves on both sides of the camera and the stories being told encompass the rainbow of human experiences. And there was even a bona fide second line, straight from the heart of New Orleans onto snowy Main Street. It’s been a time to celebrate change,...

Sony Pictures Classics has bought the North American rights to the documentary “David Crosby: Remember My Name” in a deal in the low seven figures.

The film, which premiered on Jan. 26 at the Sundance Film Festival, is produced by Cameron Crowe and directed by A.J. Eaton in his feature directing debut. It includes interviews by Eaton and Crowe (“Almost Famous”) with Crosby about his career, which dates back to the Byrds in the 1960s and the formation of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, along with archival footage.

“Remember My Name” also includes Crosby’s discussion of his health issues, which have included at least two heart attacks and a liver transplant. “Addiction takes you over, like fire takes over a burning building,” he observes at one point.

Crosby, 77, has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame twice as a member of the Byrds and of Csny. He...