Seymour Wishman, a longtime producer, writer, legal expert and president of First Run Features, died on Jan. 29 at a family home in Bridgewater, Conn., his daughter Samantha confirmed to Variety. He was 79.
Over the past 38 years, Wishman had served as president of First Run Features. During his time at the N.Y.-based independent film distribution company, Wishman brought Michael Apted’s “28 Up” (and later the entire “Up” series) to the United States and helped Ross McElwee finish and release “Sherman’s March” — as well as McElwee’s other films, including “Bright Leaves” and “Six O’Clock News.” Wishman also released Spike Lee’s “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads” (the director’s first feature film and his graduate school thesis), Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman,” Jan Svankmajer’s “Alice” and many other independent pictures.
On the production side, Seymour co-directed and produced “Sex & Justice,” a documentary on...
Over the past 38 years, Wishman had served as president of First Run Features. During his time at the N.Y.-based independent film distribution company, Wishman brought Michael Apted’s “28 Up” (and later the entire “Up” series) to the United States and helped Ross McElwee finish and release “Sherman’s March” — as well as McElwee’s other films, including “Bright Leaves” and “Six O’Clock News.” Wishman also released Spike Lee’s “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads” (the director’s first feature film and his graduate school thesis), Cheryl Dunye’s “The Watermelon Woman,” Jan Svankmajer’s “Alice” and many other independent pictures.
On the production side, Seymour co-directed and produced “Sex & Justice,” a documentary on...
- 2/14/2022
- by Wyatte Grantham-Philips
- Variety Film + TV
Spike Lee indicted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences during his acceptance speech for an honorary Oscar Saturday night for its apparent disregard for nominating people of color.
"Everybody here probably voted for Obama," he said at the conclusion of his 18-minute turn at the podium. "But in [Hollywood] offices, I see no black folks except for the man who's the security guard who checks my name off the list as I got into the studio. So we can talk 'Yabba yabba yabba,' but we need to have...
"Everybody here probably voted for Obama," he said at the conclusion of his 18-minute turn at the podium. "But in [Hollywood] offices, I see no black folks except for the man who's the security guard who checks my name off the list as I got into the studio. So we can talk 'Yabba yabba yabba,' but we need to have...
- 11/16/2015
- Rollingstone.com
It may come as a surprise to some that Spike Lee, despite a 30-year-long career as a filmmaker, and over 20 feature films, has never won an Academy Award (unless you count the Student Academy Award he received in 1983 for his Nyu thesis film, "Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads). Since then, he's been nominated twice: in 1990, for Best Screenplay, for "Do the Right Thing" (also Danny Aiello was nominated for Best Supporting Actor); and in 1998 for Best Documentary, for "4 Little Girls." That's it! And he didn't win either one, despite arguments that can be (and have been) made for a small handful of other films he wrote and directed that...
- 11/9/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
It may come as a surprise to some that Spike Lee, despite a 30-year-long career as a filmmaker, and over 20 feature films, has never won an Academy Award (unless you count the Student Academy Award he received in 1983 for his Nyu thesis film, "Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads). Since then, he's been nominated twice: in 1990, for Best Screenplay, for "Do the Right Thing" (also Danny Aiello was nominated for Best Supporting Actor); and in 1998 for Best Documentary, for "4 Little Girls." That's it! And he didn't win either one, despite arguments that can be (and have been) made for a small handful of other films he wrote and directed that...
- 8/27/2015
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Who Should Play Nola Darling In Spike Lee's 'She's Gotta Have It' TV Serial Adaptation For Showtime?
Announced 3 weeks ago, Spike Lee is teaming up with Showtime to develop a half-hour TV series based on his cherished, though problematic feature film debut, She's Gotta Have It - the feature film that essentially introduced Spike Lee to planet earth (Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads aside, his Nyu Master's thesis film, which won the Student Academy Award and got Spike an agent); a film that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011. It's also a film that was initially given an X-rating by the MPAA. Why? The exact quote, according to Spike, was that the MPAA said it was "saturated with...
- 5/23/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
Whoa! I definitely didn't see this coming! In short, Spike Lee is teaming up with Showtime to develop a half-hour TV series based on his cherished, though problematic feature film debut, She's Gotta Have It. This was the film that essentially introduced Spike Lee to the world (Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads aside, which won the Student Academy Award and got Spike an agent); a film that celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2011. It's also a film that was initially given an X-rating by the MPAA. Why? The exact quote, according to Spike, was that the MPAA said it was "saturated with sex." Thus Spike had to re-edit the...
- 5/6/2014
- by Tambay A. Obenson
- ShadowAndAct
I've been a Spike Lee fan since seeing She's Gotta Have It in a little theatre in Ithaca, NY, way back in 1986. I've seen his thesis film Joe's Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads. I interviewed him when I was at Ithaca College and he was visiting Cornell University. A few years later he gave me some of the best advice as a burgeoning young filmmaker, which was two words, “Shoot film.” I took those words to heart when I made my award-winning feature, Detention. (I am far from a hater.) And yet even I have to admit … Lee's recent Kickstarter campaign for his project The Newest Hottest Spike Lee Joint is a hollow shell, empty and leaving a lot of questions, trading more...
- 7/26/2013
- by Darryl Wharton-Rigby
- ShadowAndAct
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