Movies

“In the Heights” production designer Nelson Coates had an important task from Lin-Manuel Miranda: The bodegas for the film adaptation of the stage show needed to be located east of Broadway, “because that was a historic Puerto Rican, Dominican and Cuban neighborhood.” Anything west of that would be predominantly Irish, Russian or Jewish. The last

Christian Davin is stepping down after a short stint as a top marketing executive at Amazon Studios, insiders tell Variety. He joined the company a little over a year ago and was serving as global head of comedy marketing. His last day is Friday. He was originally hired as global head of movie marketing, but

A new series about the relationship between Hollywood fixer Sidney Korshak and the late MCA media titan Lew Wasserman is stirring up some present-day back lot drama, multiple insiders tell Variety. The issue at hand with the recently announced project “The Last Mogul,” which has attached Jonah Hill to star as Korshak and Oscar winning

If the world of film and TV has grown more global in recent years, driven in large part by the rise of streaming services such as Netflix and Amazon Prime, the past year has only sped that process up. That’s opening more doors than ever for foreign talent. “There’s a huge world out there. And

Screen Media has promoted Seth Needle to executive vice president, global acquisitions and co-productions. Needle, who has been with Screen Media for a decade, will continue to report to David Fannon, president of Screen Media and executive vice president of distribution at Chicken Soup for the Soul Entertainment. Needle oversees all acquisition efforts at Screen Media,

1091 Pictures has acquired worldwide rights to “Varginha: The Roswell of Brazil,” James Fox’s follow-up to “The Phenomenon.” The film is another exploration of potential extraterrestrial encounters, this one centered on a series of events in 1996 when citizens of Varginha, Brazil, reported seeing one or more strange creatures and a UFO crash. According to

Veteran advertising exec Mike Densmore is joining UTA Marketing, the brand consulting division of United Talent Agency, as its first-ever head of growth and innovation. In the newly created role, Densmore will be responsible for spearheading the agency’s new business efforts with brand clients globally and expanding relationships within the broader advertising industry. He will

Shameik Moore, best known for “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse,” is attached to lead “Silver Star,” opposite Sydney Sweeney. MK2 Films is handling international sales, with the U.S. rights being held by MK2 Films and the producers. Moore will play Buddy, a 20-year-old Civil War re-enactor who is fresh out of jail and struggling to root

Showtime Documentary Films has acquired the rights to “The One and Only Dick Gregory,” the directorial debut from producer Andre Gaines. The documentary, premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 19 and debuting on Showtime on July 4, explores the career of Dick Gregory, the legendary comedian and activist who was at the forefront

The Alliance of Women Film Journalists (AWFJ) has partnered with film distribution company Kino Lorber to present a new film series titled “AWFJ Presents.” Curated by esteemed female film journalists and critics under the new “AWFJ Presents” banner on Kino Lorber’s digital platform KinoMarquee, the inaugural selections include six exceptionally entertaining and relevant films by

Les Femmes s’Animent (LFA), France’s highly active women in animation organization, will launch its first international initiative at this year’s Annecy Intl. Animation Festival, Parcours de Femmes (Women’s Journey). A mentoring program, the diversity drive will help six French-speaking women writer/directors – three from France, three from Africa – produce their own animated short film.

Charades has closed major sales on Denisa Grimmova and Jan Bubenicek’s stop-motion feature “Even Mice Belong to Heaven” ahead of its world premiere at the Annecy Intl. Animation Festival. Based on Iva Procházková’s book, the feature was made in stop-motion with more than 100 puppets, 82 characters and 84 animated decors. The adventure-filled movie was

Ever since the 1960s, animators from the world over have assembled in the Alpine French city of Annecy to celebrate animated film. Initially a biannual event, the Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival switched to a once-a-year gathering back in 1998, and continued thus until last year, when the pandemic forced the festival to go online

Indie Sales has closed key international deals for “Calamity,” Rémi Chayé’s hand-drawn animated feature which won the Cristal Award at the Annecy Film Festival last year. Chayé’s follow up to “Long Way North,” “Calamity” tells the story of the 12-year-old Martha Jane who must take charge of her siblings after her father is hurt in

Before publicly revealing she was trans, actress Leyna Bloom was terrified of people finding out about her true identity. “To be trans and being a person of color and to be Asian, you have to constantly protect yourself, you have to constantly protect your voice because people hear you and they want to attack you,”

DOCUMENTARY In a recent study conducted by Sky marking the one-year anniversary Sky Documentaries, two in five Brits admit to watching more documentaries over the last 12 months than ever before. With those numbers in mind, the broadcaster has unveiled five new original commissions and released a first trailer for its highly anticipated upcoming docuseries

IFC Films has acquired rights to the millennial romantic comedy “Dating & New York” ahead of its premiere at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. The movie, written and directed by Jonah Feingold in his feature filmmaking debut, stars Jaboukie Young-White and Francesca Reale. IFC Films plans to release “Dating & New York” in theaters and

France Televisions Distribution has scored a raft of sales on Juliette Binoche starrer “Between Two Worlds” ahead of its world premiere on opening night of Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. “Between Two Worlds” (Ouistreham), adapted from Florence Aubenas’ bestseller “Le Quai de Ouistreham,” stars Binoche as Marianne Winckler, a well-known author who decides to write a book

Brussels-based company Best Friend Forever has acquired “Medusa,” a timely drama directed by rising Brazilian helmer Anita Rocha da Silveira. The film will world premiere at Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. “Medusa” marks Da Silveira’s follow up to her critically acclaimed feature debut “Kill me Please” which premiered at Venice in 2015 and went on to play

Rising star Shaina West will take the title role in “Jade,” an upcoming action-thriller that sets Mickey Rourke as an adversary and Mark Dacascos as a former FBI ally. The film is the feature debut of stuntman-turned producer and director James Bamford. Hong Kong-, Paris- and Los Angeles-based All Rights Entertainment will handle rights sales

Pan Nalin’s “The Last Film Show,” (aka “Chhello Show”) which opens Tribeca’s Spotlight section on June 10, has attracted buyers around the world, ahead of its world premiere. Neue Visionen has acquired the film for Germany, Karma Films for Spain, Shochiku for Japan, Red Cape and Nachson for Israel and Nos Lusomundo for Portugal. Nalin

Canada’s leader in animated pre-production is teaming up with one of France’s premier animation studios in a bid to address the chronic shortage of storyboard artists on the market. House of Cool (“Ferdinand,” “Trollhunters”) is lending its expertise to France’s Ecole Cartoucherie Animation Solider (ECAS), a free-of-charge non-profit CG animation school established by TeamTO (“Mighty

The line between mercy killing and plain old murder is uncomfortably drawn in Argentine “La Dosis.” Writer-director Martin Kraut’s debut feature sets up an intriguing cat-and-mouse conflict between one male hospital nurse whose early-terminus interventions are of the compassionate kind, while a new staffer’s seem motivated by pure malice. Not quite as suspenseful or twisty

After a COVID hiatus, the Tribeca Festival is back, hosting panels and film premieres in the heart of New York City. At the same time, it is demonstrating that the city’s arteries stretch far beyond a radius of a few blocks. This edition, which runs from June 9 through June 20, will look a little

The coronavirus pandemic wreaked havoc on cinema chains across the globe, with protracted lockdowns, limited seating capacity, and delayed releases of Hollywood blockbusters sending the likes of Alamo Drafthouse into—and out of—bankruptcy and pushing giants like Cineworld and AMC to the brink. Yet for Russia’s Karo Cinemas, the past year has hardly slowed pre-pandemic growth;

“Gossip Girl” actor Leighton Meester is set to star in Netflix’s twisty thriller “The Weekend Away,” an adaptation of the novel by Sarah Alderson. The psychological thriller takes place amid weekend getaway to Croatia that goes awry when a woman is accused of killing her best friend. As she attempts to clear her name and

Rock Films, the production house founded by veteran Russian director Alexey Uchitel, has shared the first teaser for its forthcoming Syrian war drama “Palmyra” with Variety. The company is presenting the film this week during the Key Buyers Event. [embedded content] “Palmyra” follows a Syrian Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team targeted by ISIS militants, while

The lush and storied wineries of Lafite Rothschild will be the subject of a new original documentary from Somm TV, the streaming service dedicated to wine, food, travel and hospitality. “Verticals: Lafite Rothschild” will premiere on June 18, and mark the first time cameras have been invited to capture the properties owned by the famous

The Sundance Institute has unveiled the latest recipients of grants for documentary projects spanning the globe. The 18 projects, all in various stages of development, will split a total of $590,000 in unrestricted grant support, provided by the Open Society Foundations, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation and Luminate. This year’s projects represent

Taking place across outdoor venues in all five boroughs of New York City, the Tribeca Film Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary June 9-20, screening a bevy of features, shorts, TV series, podcasts and games in what is being billed as the first major in-person film festival to take place in North America since the