In today’s film news roundup, “Green Book” gets a festival honor, the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild names lifetime achievement winners, and indies “Tyger Tyger” and “Sons of the Cross” are heading into production.
HONORS
The Palm Springs International Film Festival will present the drama “Green Book” with the Vanguard Award at its annual film awards gala on Jan. 3.
The Vanguard Award is a group honor for a film’s cast and director in recognition of their collective work on an exceptional film project. Actors Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali as well as director Peter Farrelly are expected to attend.
“Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali are an on-camera dream team in the crowd-pleasing film ‘Green Book,’ inspired by a true friendship, about a New York City bouncer hired to drive and protect pianist Dr. Don Shirley on a concert tour in the Deep South,” said festival chairman Harold Matzner. “Director Peter Farrelly, who also co-wrote the script, delivers a heartfelt movie-going experience that is guaranteed to receive awards attention for the actors, its director and the film itself. It is our honor to present the Vanguard Award to ‘Green Book.’”
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Past recipients of the Vanguard Award include “The Shape of Water” and “La La Land.”
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Susan Cabral-Ebert and Robert Louis Stevenson have been selected to receive lifetime achievement awards from the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild.
The awards will presented at the guild’s gala at L.A. Live on Feb. 16.
Cabral-Ebert has been the president of the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild for the past 15 years. She received Primetime Emmy nominations for “ER,” “And the Beat Goes On: The Sonny and Cher Story,” and “MADtv.” Her credits include “LA Law,” “The Perfect Storm,” “Erin Brockovich,” “Pleasantville,” and “Dead Poets Society.” Her presidency of the guild, which operates as Local 706 of the Intl. Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, has lasted for an unprecedented five terms.
Stevenson’s career in motion pictures spanned 40 years and he continues to serve as a wig designer and consultant on films since his retirement. He is the first male black hair stylist in Local 706. He won a Primetime Emmy for “The Jesse Owens Story” and was nominated for “The Atlanta Child Murders” and “The Jacksons: An American Dream.” He won a Hollywood Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Award for “The Butler.”
PROJECT STARTS
Sam Quartin, Dylan Sprouse, and Craig Stark have signed on to star in the Independent feature “Tyger Tyger” for first time director Kerry Mondragon.
Shooting begins Dec. 1 in Slab City, Calif. Set during the 1990’s AIDS crisis, the story follows a woman (Quartin) and her group of selfless thieves, who rob a pharmacy, kidnap a young heroin addict (Sprouse), and hit the road to distribute AZT medication. They find themselves trapped in the fringe lands of a lawless psychedelic city of surviving outcasts.
Mondragon is producing with Salvatore Sclafini. Quartin’s credits include “Run with the Hunted,” “Let Me Make You a Martyr,” and “By the Rivers of Babylon.” Sprouse was a successful childhood actor, starring in “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” with his twin brother Cole. Stark is known for his work with Quentin Tarantino, who cast him in “Django Unchained” and “The Hateful Eight.
Quartin is repped by Jane Berliner at Authentic Talent and Literary Management. Stark is repped by Allan Mindel at Framework Entertainment and Sprouse is repped by WME and Bonnie Liedtke at Authentic Talent and Literary Management.
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Winter State Entertainment and Incorporated Productions have partnered to produce the upcoming thriller “Sons of the Cross.”
The project, based on a screenplay and story by Patrick Gallagher, is a spiritual tale of good versus evil told through the life of a New York detective thrust in the middle of a global conspiracy after investigating a series of brutal murders. Producers are Mike Reinboth and Patrick Gallagher at Incorporated Productions, and Camille and Hamid Torapbour and Mark Smith at Winter State Entertainment.
Casting is underway with plans for principal photography to commence in the first quarter in Pittsburgh and New Orleans. Winter State’s slate includes the Vans Warped tour film, “Summertime Dropouts,” “Brother’s Keeper,” starring Laurence Fishburne and Milo Gibson; and “Outbreak Z,” directed by Chris Brewster.