Distribution platform Gathr and documentary distribution agency Roco Films have teamed to create Roco Voices, a new speakers bureau.
Roco Voices, launching Nov. 14, will offer live speaking engagements with filmmakers and subject matter experts from Roco Film’s docu film catalog. The initial cohort of filmmakers to debut with Roco Voices include Academy Award winners and nominees Oliver Stone (“Nuclear Now”), Ross Kauffman (“Born Into Brothels”), Justine Shapiro (“Promises”), Sam Green (“The Weather Underground”), David France (“How to Survive a Plague”), Geralyn Dreyfous (“The Square”), and Roger Weisberg (“Sound and Fury”). (All Roco clients have the opportunity to opt-in.)
Powering Roco Voices is Gathr’s talent booking technology. (The company started beta-testing earlier this year.) The collaboration is a one-stop shop for Roco Films’ customers to search, discover, negotiate, and book filmmakers, doc talent and subject matter experts while also licensing impact-driven and educational film screenings.
“The shared experience of...
Roco Voices, launching Nov. 14, will offer live speaking engagements with filmmakers and subject matter experts from Roco Film’s docu film catalog. The initial cohort of filmmakers to debut with Roco Voices include Academy Award winners and nominees Oliver Stone (“Nuclear Now”), Ross Kauffman (“Born Into Brothels”), Justine Shapiro (“Promises”), Sam Green (“The Weather Underground”), David France (“How to Survive a Plague”), Geralyn Dreyfous (“The Square”), and Roger Weisberg (“Sound and Fury”). (All Roco clients have the opportunity to opt-in.)
Powering Roco Voices is Gathr’s talent booking technology. (The company started beta-testing earlier this year.) The collaboration is a one-stop shop for Roco Films’ customers to search, discover, negotiate, and book filmmakers, doc talent and subject matter experts while also licensing impact-driven and educational film screenings.
“The shared experience of...
- 11/14/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Aquaman‘s Jason Momoa narrates Deep Rising, a timely documentary that explores the connection between sustaining and preserving the deep ocean floor and battling the energy crisis. Momoa, who also serves as an executive producer, explains that 4,000 meters underwater on the ocean floor, an energy revolution is underway. The trailer then shows how corporations want to strip mine the ocean floor, disturbing the environment in pursuit of resources to be used making electric batteries.
Matthieu Rytz (Anote’s Ark) directs and produces, with Momoa, Sébastien Lépinard, Julie Lépinard, Shari Sant, Shannon O’Leary Joy, Tiffany Schauer, Jim Angell, Annie Roney, Addison Fischer, Olivia Fischer, and Dona Bertarelli executive producing.
“Ultimately, I want Deep Rising to plant seeds of hope and inspire us by making it clear that a green energy revolution is still within our reach if we are willing to radically put an end to our destructive behaviors and create...
Matthieu Rytz (Anote’s Ark) directs and produces, with Momoa, Sébastien Lépinard, Julie Lépinard, Shari Sant, Shannon O’Leary Joy, Tiffany Schauer, Jim Angell, Annie Roney, Addison Fischer, Olivia Fischer, and Dona Bertarelli executive producing.
“Ultimately, I want Deep Rising to plant seeds of hope and inspire us by making it clear that a green energy revolution is still within our reach if we are willing to radically put an end to our destructive behaviors and create...
- 9/20/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
As the SAG-AFTRA strike gets underway, documentary filmmakers are still at work. But despite the fact that the dual strike by actors and their writer counterparts in the WGA could lead to gaps in narrative content for broadcast networks and streaming companies, the doc industry isn’t holding out much hope that studios will start flooding money into documentaries.
“There’s a feeling of solidarity and support for SAG and for the WGA,” says Bryn Mooser, founder of nonfiction film and television studio Xtr. “The struggle they are facing is a struggle that doc filmmakers have also faced since the beginning of the industry on the documentary side, which is fair pay and making sure we are represented in the right way, et cetera. But if anybody thought that this would mean that (studios) will just shift resources to a different part of the industry like docs while this gets figured out,...
“There’s a feeling of solidarity and support for SAG and for the WGA,” says Bryn Mooser, founder of nonfiction film and television studio Xtr. “The struggle they are facing is a struggle that doc filmmakers have also faced since the beginning of the industry on the documentary side, which is fair pay and making sure we are represented in the right way, et cetera. But if anybody thought that this would mean that (studios) will just shift resources to a different part of the industry like docs while this gets figured out,...
- 7/14/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Donald Glover, Jason Momoa, Laura Dern, Woody Harrelson, Ian Somerhalder and Rosario Dawson pen letters to a future generation about climate concerns in the above clip from the documentary Common Ground, which The Hollywood Reporter is debuting exclusively.
The film, written, directed and produced by Kiss the Ground helmers Josh and Rebecca Tickell and premiering at the Tribeca Festival on Thursday, explores the connections between farming, politics and illness as well as the Regenerative Agriculture movement. Glover, Momoa, Dern, Harrelson, Dawson and Somerhalder narrate. In addition to warning the next generation, the famous narrators provide hope for ways to fix broken systems.
“As parents of two young children, Common Ground is not only a love letter to kids, but all of the co-narrators of the film are also writing the letter to their children,” Rebecca Tickell tells THR. “The film, and the letter it depicts, are a commitment that we...
The film, written, directed and produced by Kiss the Ground helmers Josh and Rebecca Tickell and premiering at the Tribeca Festival on Thursday, explores the connections between farming, politics and illness as well as the Regenerative Agriculture movement. Glover, Momoa, Dern, Harrelson, Dawson and Somerhalder narrate. In addition to warning the next generation, the famous narrators provide hope for ways to fix broken systems.
“As parents of two young children, Common Ground is not only a love letter to kids, but all of the co-narrators of the film are also writing the letter to their children,” Rebecca Tickell tells THR. “The film, and the letter it depicts, are a commitment that we...
- 6/8/2023
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For documentary filmmakers seeking distribution for independently made projects, Sundance is the golden ticket. It’s where a few lucky doc directors can nail down seven-figure deals with major distributors including Netflix, Amazon or Apple TV+ every year. But this year, with streamers not only tightening their purse strings but also increasingly commissioning their own content, and even shunning more provocative political-leaning fare, the Park City market for indie nonfiction features will be more competitive and likely less lucrative.
Last January at Sundance 2022, which was an online-only event, the doc market got off to a strong start. Several Sundance nonfiction titles sold, including “Aftershock” (Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News), “All That Breathes” (HBO), “Descendant” (Netflix), “Last Flight Home” (MTV Documentary Films), “Fire of Love” (National Geographic), “Mija” (Disney+), “Nothing Compares” (Showtime) and “The Territory” (National Geographic). But as the year wore on, economic unease and the merger of...
Last January at Sundance 2022, which was an online-only event, the doc market got off to a strong start. Several Sundance nonfiction titles sold, including “Aftershock” (Disney’s Onyx Collective and ABC News), “All That Breathes” (HBO), “Descendant” (Netflix), “Last Flight Home” (MTV Documentary Films), “Fire of Love” (National Geographic), “Mija” (Disney+), “Nothing Compares” (Showtime) and “The Territory” (National Geographic). But as the year wore on, economic unease and the merger of...
- 1/18/2023
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Abramorama and Roco Films have co-acquired U.S. distribution rights to Cynthia Lowen’s abortion documentary “Battleground.” The film premiered in the documentary competition category at the Tribeca Festival in June. The doc follows three women in charge of anti-abortion organizations devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade.
Abramorama and Roco Films will co-release “Battleground” in hundreds of theaters across the country beginning Oct. 7 for an official Academy Award qualifying run. The film will also be simultaneously released in schools, non-profit spaces and corporate board rooms, both in-person and virtually. In addition, impact agencies Together Films and Red Owl will deliver a comprehensive national impact campaign alongside the release.
The doc is timely given the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, effectively striking down the ruling that has guaranteed basic abortion rights in the U.S. since 1973.
“We are at a profound turning point in American...
Abramorama and Roco Films will co-release “Battleground” in hundreds of theaters across the country beginning Oct. 7 for an official Academy Award qualifying run. The film will also be simultaneously released in schools, non-profit spaces and corporate board rooms, both in-person and virtually. In addition, impact agencies Together Films and Red Owl will deliver a comprehensive national impact campaign alongside the release.
The doc is timely given the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, effectively striking down the ruling that has guaranteed basic abortion rights in the U.S. since 1973.
“We are at a profound turning point in American...
- 8/29/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Greenwich Entertainment announced today the acquisition of North American distribution rights to The Revolution Generation directed by Sundance Award Winning eco film team Josh and Rebecca Tickell.
The film was Executive Produced by Mark Sims, Andrea van Beuren of Sustainable Films (Won’t You Be My Neighbor) and Zak Kilberg of Social Construct (The Mauritanian). The Revolution Generation is Tickell’s latest environmental themed documentary which premiered at Doc LA and won three awards. Greenwich will release the film theatrically alongside a robust nationwide college and impact campaign on April 22 to coincide with Earth Day.
Narrated by Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious franchise) and featuring interviews with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Shailene Woodley, The Revolution Generation is a pivotal film that chronicles the lead up to today’s global youth movements. The film explores the culminating global environmental crisis and its connections to social,...
The film was Executive Produced by Mark Sims, Andrea van Beuren of Sustainable Films (Won’t You Be My Neighbor) and Zak Kilberg of Social Construct (The Mauritanian). The Revolution Generation is Tickell’s latest environmental themed documentary which premiered at Doc LA and won three awards. Greenwich will release the film theatrically alongside a robust nationwide college and impact campaign on April 22 to coincide with Earth Day.
Narrated by Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious franchise) and featuring interviews with Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Shailene Woodley, The Revolution Generation is a pivotal film that chronicles the lead up to today’s global youth movements. The film explores the culminating global environmental crisis and its connections to social,...
- 1/28/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
A Way of Life in Peril
Film Festival Distribution in the Age of Covid-19An Ongoing Series by Jeffrey Winter, Co-Executive Director of The Film Collaborative (Tfc)Part Six: Our Virtual Vicissitudes: A Pivotal Journey AheadReprinted with the permission of The Film Collaborative. This is an ongoing series, initiated on March 20, 2020, on the fate of film festivals and non-theatrical exhibition in the age of Covid-19. Scroll down for the entire series and a running list of canceled/postponed festivals.Please email comments and questions to festivals@thefilmcollaborative.org.
Tech Note: There are three pop-up videos in this installment. If you are seeing large white spaces in between paragraphs, may we suggest that you clear the cache on your browser? Instructions for: Safari • Firefox • Google Chrome • Microsoft Internet Explorer • Microsoft Edge.
Six feet of social distance, 25% of venue capacity, navigating conversations through glitchy FaceTime and muffled Face Masks… it’s clear...
Film Festival Distribution in the Age of Covid-19An Ongoing Series by Jeffrey Winter, Co-Executive Director of The Film Collaborative (Tfc)Part Six: Our Virtual Vicissitudes: A Pivotal Journey AheadReprinted with the permission of The Film Collaborative. This is an ongoing series, initiated on March 20, 2020, on the fate of film festivals and non-theatrical exhibition in the age of Covid-19. Scroll down for the entire series and a running list of canceled/postponed festivals.Please email comments and questions to festivals@thefilmcollaborative.org.
Tech Note: There are three pop-up videos in this installment. If you are seeing large white spaces in between paragraphs, may we suggest that you clear the cache on your browser? Instructions for: Safari • Firefox • Google Chrome • Microsoft Internet Explorer • Microsoft Edge.
Six feet of social distance, 25% of venue capacity, navigating conversations through glitchy FaceTime and muffled Face Masks… it’s clear...
- 5/5/2020
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: PBS has acquired North American distribution rights to Charm City, the documentary directed by Marilyn Ness that premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The pic, a portrait of the citizens, police, community advocates and government officials working for positive change on the front lines of the escalating violence in Baltimore over the past three years, will get a theatrical release from PBS Distribution in the fall and premiere exclusively on the pubcaster’s Independent Lens in spring 2019.
PBSd plans a festival and community screening campaign for the film, which already has played at AFI Docs and the Human Rights Film Festival. The pubcaster’s distribution arm will handle all home entertainment, digital, educational/non-theatrical and Canadian rights. It’s the second tie-up between Charm City producer Big Mouth Productions, run by Ness and Kathy Chevigny, and Independent Lens, which aired the company’s FBI whistleblower docu 1971 in...
PBSd plans a festival and community screening campaign for the film, which already has played at AFI Docs and the Human Rights Film Festival. The pubcaster’s distribution arm will handle all home entertainment, digital, educational/non-theatrical and Canadian rights. It’s the second tie-up between Charm City producer Big Mouth Productions, run by Ness and Kathy Chevigny, and Independent Lens, which aired the company’s FBI whistleblower docu 1971 in...
- 6/25/2018
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
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
Public can host screenings of documentaries using new site.
Annie Roney’s ro*co films has launched a new international documentary distribution portal, Simple Cinema.
The site’s aim is to allow the general public to exhibit films direct through the distributor - making community and educational screenings easily available for documentaries. ro*co says it has “made the film licensing and materials process very simple by giving individuals from any international territory the ability to buy rights to screen a film at their local school, theatre, bar or church.”
More information is available at www.simplecinemafilms.com.
Roney [pictured] said: “Simple Cinema was created in response to an increasing demand for our films to be screened in communities outside of a commercial theatrical release. Our documentary films are being licensed for semi-theatrical screenings by museums, libraries, universities, non-profits, corporations, cafes and churches around the world. We wanted to make the licensing process simple for anyone to host...
Annie Roney’s ro*co films has launched a new international documentary distribution portal, Simple Cinema.
The site’s aim is to allow the general public to exhibit films direct through the distributor - making community and educational screenings easily available for documentaries. ro*co says it has “made the film licensing and materials process very simple by giving individuals from any international territory the ability to buy rights to screen a film at their local school, theatre, bar or church.”
More information is available at www.simplecinemafilms.com.
Roney [pictured] said: “Simple Cinema was created in response to an increasing demand for our films to be screened in communities outside of a commercial theatrical release. Our documentary films are being licensed for semi-theatrical screenings by museums, libraries, universities, non-profits, corporations, cafes and churches around the world. We wanted to make the licensing process simple for anyone to host...
- 10/9/2014
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
What happens after you’ve finally finished that amazing film you worked on for years? You want to sell it, of course. You want to find a way to get it out there and earn what you know it’s worth. But where do you start? Who do you take it to?
With Preferred Content's Managing Partner Kevin Iwashina at the helm, we brought together an expert panel including top sales agents Josh Braun of Submarine (Us sales) and Annie Roney of ro*co (international sales), as well as David Magdael (publicist), ...
With Preferred Content's Managing Partner Kevin Iwashina at the helm, we brought together an expert panel including top sales agents Josh Braun of Submarine (Us sales) and Annie Roney of ro*co (international sales), as well as David Magdael (publicist), ...
- 3/4/2014
- by Nayantara Roy
- International Documentary Association
Exclusive: Andrew Herwitz and his team at The Film Sales Company head to Sundance this week with four films confirmed on the sales roster.
Road trip comedy Land Ho! from Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens follows a pair of retirees as they bid to reclaim their youth on a trip to Iceland.
The film marks the first production from Gamechanger Films, whose head Mynette Louie produces alongside Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings. David Gordon Green is the executive producer and The Film Sales Company represents worldwide rights.
Ross Kauffman returns to Sundance with E-Team after winning the 2005 Oscar for Born Into Brothels, the film he co-directed with Zana Briski.
Kauffman co-directed E-Team with Kate Chevigny and the film tracks a crack unit of human rights investigators. Herwitz represents North American rights and Annie Roney of ro*co films handles international sales.
Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters follows hordes of unemployed men in search of fortune who flock...
Road trip comedy Land Ho! from Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens follows a pair of retirees as they bid to reclaim their youth on a trip to Iceland.
The film marks the first production from Gamechanger Films, whose head Mynette Louie produces alongside Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings. David Gordon Green is the executive producer and The Film Sales Company represents worldwide rights.
Ross Kauffman returns to Sundance with E-Team after winning the 2005 Oscar for Born Into Brothels, the film he co-directed with Zana Briski.
Kauffman co-directed E-Team with Kate Chevigny and the film tracks a crack unit of human rights investigators. Herwitz represents North American rights and Annie Roney of ro*co films handles international sales.
Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters follows hordes of unemployed men in search of fortune who flock...
- 1/13/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Andrew Herwitz and his team at The Film Sales Company head to Sundance this week with four films confirmed on the sales roster.
Road trip comedy Land Ho! from Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens follows a pair of retirees as they bid to reclaim their youth on a trip to Iceland.
The film marks the first production from Gamechanger Films, whose head Mynette Louie produces alongside Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings. David Gordon Green is the executive producer and The Film Sales Company represents worldwide rights.
Ross Kauffman returns to Sundance with E-Team (pictured) after winning the 2005 Oscar for Born Into Brothels, the film he co-directed with Zana Briski.
Kauffman co-directed E-Team with Kate Chevigny and the film tracks a crack unit of human rights investigators. Herwitz represents North American rights and Annie Roney of ro*co films handles international sales.
Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters follows hordes of unemployed men in search of fortune who flock...
Road trip comedy Land Ho! from Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens follows a pair of retirees as they bid to reclaim their youth on a trip to Iceland.
The film marks the first production from Gamechanger Films, whose head Mynette Louie produces alongside Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings. David Gordon Green is the executive producer and The Film Sales Company represents worldwide rights.
Ross Kauffman returns to Sundance with E-Team (pictured) after winning the 2005 Oscar for Born Into Brothels, the film he co-directed with Zana Briski.
Kauffman co-directed E-Team with Kate Chevigny and the film tracks a crack unit of human rights investigators. Herwitz represents North American rights and Annie Roney of ro*co films handles international sales.
Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters follows hordes of unemployed men in search of fortune who flock...
- 1/13/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Andrew Herwitz and his team at The Film Sales Company head to Park City this week with four films confirmed on the sales roster.
Road trip comedy Land Ho! from Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens follows a pair of retirees as they bid to reclaim their youth on a trip to Iceland.
The film marks the first production from Gamechanger Films, whose head Mynette Louie produces alongside Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings. David Gordon Green is the executive producer and The Film Sales Company represents worldwide rights.
Ross Kauffman returns to Sundance with E-Team (pictured) after winning the 2005 Oscar for Born Into Brothels, the film he co-directed with Zana Briski.
Kauffman co-directed E-Team with Kate Chevigny and the film tracks a crack unit of human rights investigators. Herwitz represents North American rights and Annie Roney of ro*co films handles international sales.
Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters follows hordes of unemployed men in search of fortune...
Road trip comedy Land Ho! from Aaron Katz and Martha Stephens follows a pair of retirees as they bid to reclaim their youth on a trip to Iceland.
The film marks the first production from Gamechanger Films, whose head Mynette Louie produces alongside Sara Murphy and Christina Jennings. David Gordon Green is the executive producer and The Film Sales Company represents worldwide rights.
Ross Kauffman returns to Sundance with E-Team (pictured) after winning the 2005 Oscar for Born Into Brothels, the film he co-directed with Zana Briski.
Kauffman co-directed E-Team with Kate Chevigny and the film tracks a crack unit of human rights investigators. Herwitz represents North American rights and Annie Roney of ro*co films handles international sales.
Jesse Moss’s The Overnighters follows hordes of unemployed men in search of fortune...
- 1/13/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Kevin Iwashina’s Preferred Content has boarded Us rights to Sarah McCarthy’s Toronto-bound documentary The Dark Matter of Love.
Annie Roney’s ro*co handles international sales.
The film documents the science behind parent-child love in the context of an American family adopting Russian orphans. The film has become especially topical due to Putin’s current ban on Russian children being adopted by Us families.
Producers are Double Bounce in association with Front Row Partners and Met Film and in co-production with Vpro and The Wellcome Trust. Grace Hughes-Hallett produces alongside writer/director McCarthy.
Iwashina said: “Sarah’s prescience in subject matter could not make for a more relevant documentary given all of the Human Rights controversies currently surrounding Russia.”
The Dark Matter of Love has its North American premiere in Toronto on Sept 7. The director previously came to Tiff with 2010’s The Sound of Mumbai.
For more on the film click here http://www.screendaily...
Annie Roney’s ro*co handles international sales.
The film documents the science behind parent-child love in the context of an American family adopting Russian orphans. The film has become especially topical due to Putin’s current ban on Russian children being adopted by Us families.
Producers are Double Bounce in association with Front Row Partners and Met Film and in co-production with Vpro and The Wellcome Trust. Grace Hughes-Hallett produces alongside writer/director McCarthy.
Iwashina said: “Sarah’s prescience in subject matter could not make for a more relevant documentary given all of the Human Rights controversies currently surrounding Russia.”
The Dark Matter of Love has its North American premiere in Toronto on Sept 7. The director previously came to Tiff with 2010’s The Sound of Mumbai.
For more on the film click here http://www.screendaily...
- 8/29/2013
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
Chris Dorr : You've been distributing documentary films for a number of years. How did you get into the distribution business and what led you to concentrate on documentaries? Annie Roney: I had a spiritual crisis when after a few post-college jobs, I was unfulfilled and disconnected from my core. I took some time off to reflect on what I wanted out of my life and what made me tick. My mom is a journalist and when I was a kid she produced a radio documentary series and hosted a weekly radio talk show on social issues. I loved waiting in the news room for her to finish -- watching and waiting for the "On Air" sign to go off indicating I had my mom back. While waiting, I marveled at the energy of the newsroom. I really wanted to be a part of it -- to be on...
- 3/30/2013
- by Chris Dorr
- Thompson on Hollywood
I’ve expressed a strong, unwavering distaste for remaking documentaries as narrative features for some time now — but, as it is, here we are. 1492 and ro*co (ro star co? ro asterisk co?) productions have announced (via press release) that they’ll be combining forces to do just this, with their first effort being Crime After Crime.
Based on Yoav Potash‘s documentary of the same name — which premiered at Sundance last year — Crime tells the story of Debbie Peagler, a domestic violence victim who was “incarcerated for her connection to the murder of her abuser.” The story then focuses on how, two decades later, “a pair of rookie land-use attorneys cut their teeth on her case, attracting global attention to the troubled intersection of domestic violence and criminal justice.”
So, with all the acclaim and awards showered upon Crime during its various runs and debuts, you’d think the story works fine as is,...
Based on Yoav Potash‘s documentary of the same name — which premiered at Sundance last year — Crime tells the story of Debbie Peagler, a domestic violence victim who was “incarcerated for her connection to the murder of her abuser.” The story then focuses on how, two decades later, “a pair of rookie land-use attorneys cut their teeth on her case, attracting global attention to the troubled intersection of domestic violence and criminal justice.”
So, with all the acclaim and awards showered upon Crime during its various runs and debuts, you’d think the story works fine as is,...
- 1/22/2012
- by jpraup@gmail.com (thefilmstage.com)
- The Film Stage
Some smaller indie film deals were made today. There was an international pact for Sundance documentary competition entry Connected: An Autoblogography about Love, Death & Technology, Tiffany Shlain’s timely meditation on the interconnectedness of humankind. Doc licensing specialist Ro*co Films International took on the film's foreign distribution. Ro*co’s Annie Roney said the pic “embodies the very reason our company exists: to connect global audiences to each other around the issues of our time, through an emotional connection to real people.” And, off the Sundance radar, director Bernard Rose's festival circuit veteran Mr. Nice, starring Rhys Ifans and Chloe Sevigny, found an American home with Chicago-based Mpi Media Group. The distributor picked up all U.S. rights to the British dramedybased on the life of drug dealer Howard Marks. Produced by Luc Roeg's London-based Independent shingle, Mr. Nice made the festival rounds starting at South by Southwest last year,...
- 1/22/2011
- by NIKKI FINKE
- Deadline Hollywood
PARK CITY -- Palm Pictures picked up North American theatrical and home video rights Wednesday to the documentary We Are Together, the story of a South African AIDS orphanage.
Paul Taylor's film follows the orphans as they train for a London concert while struggling with their loss. The film won audience awards at this year's Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.
Taylor and Teddy Leifer produced through RISE Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and the Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundation. Alicia Keys and Leigh Blake's Keep A Child Alive Foundation and Bono's ONE campaign will support the release.
Palm plans a May theatrical release, followed by a DVD release shortly thereafter.
The deal was negotiated by Palm managing partner Jan Korbelin with Ro*co Films International president Annie Roney.
Paul Taylor's film follows the orphans as they train for a London concert while struggling with their loss. The film won audience awards at this year's Tribeca Film Festival Audience Award, the Edinburgh International Film Festival and the Amsterdam International Documentary Film Festival.
Taylor and Teddy Leifer produced through RISE Films in association with HBO Documentary Films and the Channel 4 British Documentary Film Foundation. Alicia Keys and Leigh Blake's Keep A Child Alive Foundation and Bono's ONE campaign will support the release.
Palm plans a May theatrical release, followed by a DVD release shortly thereafter.
The deal was negotiated by Palm managing partner Jan Korbelin with Ro*co Films International president Annie Roney.
- 1/24/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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