Tapping into Morocco’s recently launched tax rebate, Karim Debbagh’s leading Tangier-based line producer Kasbah Films already has three major international productions in the pipeline for 2020. These include “Cherry” with Tom Holland, “The Forgiven” with Ralph Fiennes, a big-budget South Korean film “Kidnapped.” “Cherry” is an American crime drama film directed by Anthony and Joe
For his debut feature “Karnawal,” Juan Pablo Félix and his Bikini Films partner and executive producer Edson Sidonie recruited around the world for help in bringing to the big screen an original story about a young dancer, screening this week in Ventana Sur’s Primer Corte. Joining Argentina’s Bikini Films, Brazil’s 3 Moinhos Produçoes, Chile’s Picardía
The Annecy Intl. Animation Film Festival will be part of Amigos de la Liga (Friends of the League), a new partnership initiative set up by La Liga, the animation alliance created to promote the Ibero-American animation sector worldwide, comprising Spain’s Quirino Awards, Argentina’s Animation! and Mexico’s Pixelatl Festival. The announcement was made at a panel
Joan Gomez’s “El Arbol Rojo” (“The Red Tree”) is playing at Ventana Sur’s Films in Progress as it approaches the finish line of a years-long, international marathon of labs, markets and festivals which have gone a long way to establishing the film as one of the Argentine market’s most talked about in-progress titles. As a
Leading Argentine sales agent Meikincine has signed on to sell David Albala’s highly anticipated fiction debut “Jailbreak Pact,” (“Pacto de fuga”) on the international market. Chile’s Storyboard Media produces the feature, with co-founders Carlos Núnez and Gabriela Sandoval executive producing and Calibre 71 and Enlazo Capital Films co-producing. Fox will distribute theatrically in Chile starting
Memento Films Intl. has picked up world sales rights for “This Is Not a Burial, It’s a Resurrection,” director Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese’s fiction feature debut, which will have its international premiere in Sundance next month. Memento acquired the film through Artscope, its world cinema arthouse label. “This Is Not a Burial” is the story of
Mediawan has come on board two English-language premium scripted series, Mauro Aragoni and Brian O’Malley’s steampunk spaghetti Western show “That Dirty Black Bag” and Gilles de Maistre’s “Big Five.” Aimed at family audiences, “Big Five” will be set in South Africa, and will follow the adventures of Daniah de Villiers, the young actress in “Mia
BUENOS AIRES — Paul Hudson’s Outsider Pictures has acquired distribution rights to North America on “The August Virgin,” from Jonas Trueba, one of Spain’s most prominent young writer-directors who has broken through to big festival selection – “The Reconquest,” his fourth feature, played San Sebastian competition — and now prizes. Luis Renart, at new
Italy’s 39 Films and Argentina-México-U.S.-based Jaque Content are joining forces with Buenos Aires’ Brava Cine to co-produce Mercedes Cordova’s ethno-gastronomy doc series “Masa madre” (“Mother Dough”). Developed at Brava Cine, “Mother Dough” has been selected for pitching sessions and business meetings at Ventana Sur Market’s Fiction Factory sidebar, after winning last year a development contest
BUENOS AIRES — For much of this century, Argentina’s Axel Kuschevatzky led a double life. On one hand, he served as a hugely hard-working movie producer for Telefe, then Telefonica Studios, then Viacom Intl. Media Networks, bringing their much-needed finance and promotion clout to some of the finest South American titles of the last decade:
Sales agent Ilaria Gomarasca is stepping down from Paris-based Pyramide International to become head of First Cut Plus, a program to assist filmmakers from Central and Eastern Europe. First Cut Plus, which is touted as the only initiative of this type supported by Europe’s MEDIA program this year, is being launched in tandem with the Karlovy Vary fest’s Industry
December 5, 2019 12:18AM PT U.K. based Passion Distribution, and London- and Los Angeles-headquartered Motion Content Group has licensed magic based show “Dynamo Beyond Belief” to AETN18 Media in India. The three-part special, featuring award-winning British magician Dynamo, will air on the History TV18 channel. The deals were announced this week at the Asia Television
Even Spider-Man gets a little star-struck around Will Smith. Though Tom Holland has co-starred with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, meeting his “Spies in Disguise” co-star for the first time was a pretty special experience for the 23-year-old star — partially because of the venue. “It was kind of crazy, you know, because
Confrontational revenge drama “The Nightingale” was the big winner in the feature film category of the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Awards. “Lambs of God” was dominant in the TV section. “The Nightingale” was named as best film. Jennifer Kent additionally won the best director and best screenplay awards. Giving her a night
Will Smith has spoken out in support of his “Aladdin” co-star Mena Massoud, who said in an interview that he hasn’t had a single audition since he starred in the Disney live-action remake, which hit theaters back in May. When told about Massoud’s claim on the red carpet for his upcoming animated film “Spies in
Apple TV Plus is nearing a deal to acquire a yet-untitled Billie Eilish documentary, directed by R.J. Cutler and produced by Interscope Films, a source close to the situation confirmed to Variety. While reports have that said that film is part of a $25 million deal and has a budget between $1-2 million, a source
December 4, 2019 6:42PM PT Stylist Micaela Erlanger nodded to horror film “Us” with Lupita Nyong’o’s press tour wardrobe: “It was just the right amount of spooky, but we kept it fashion-forward.” March 8 “With Lupita, we always like to have a narrative and tell a story through the fashion choices,” Erlanger says. “‘Us’ is
CMC Pictures has acquired rights in North America to “The Rescue,” the Chinese big-budget action film that is expected to dominate Chinese New Year. The distributor will release the film in theaters on Jan. 25, 2020 in the U.S. and Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the U.K. The film is directed by Dante Lam (“Operation
Play video content Exclusive TMZ.com R. Kelly‘s girlfriend is officially breaking her silence with a video that refutes the abuse claims attributed to her on a Patreon account … claims she calls total BS. Joycelyn Savage says she wants to clear her name following reports she’d turned on Kelly by posting dirty deets about their
Audiences may think they understand how the women at Fox News ended the 20-year reign of Roger Ailes in 2016, but Lionsgate’s “Bombshell” shows that the situation was much more complex and nuanced than the headlines. “I always want to get past the obvious,” says director Jay Roach. “I want to know what’s really going
In today’s film news roundup, the Big Screen Classics series lineup is unveiled, surfing documentary “And Two If by Sea” finds a home and Austin Studios gets a director. EVENTS Fathom Events and Turner Classic Movies have unveiled the fourth annual TCM Big Screen Classics series, highlighted by the 60th anniversary release of Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.”
Todd Decker is a music historian who chairs the music department at Washington University in St. Louis. A few years ago, a local attorney called the department looking for help on a case. The lawyer represented Flame, a little-known Christian rapper who claimed that Katy Perry had ripped off his song in her 2014 smash
December 4, 2019 4:38PM PT Animation companies, Singapore’s Robot Playground Media and Malaysia’s The R&D Studio are co-producing original animated anthology “Spectrum.” The anthology will consist of seven short films inspired by the heritage and shared culture of Singapore and Malaysia. The project enjoys the support of Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) and the
December 4, 2019 4:21PM PT In addition to producing content, Tonko House has an eye on what comes next, creating a series of educational efforts that are extensive for a company still in its relative infancy. The company’s first project as a fully formed studio was an online computer-painting course designed to share skills its
Singapore cinema will claim a share of the spotlight at the ongoing Asia TV Forum & Market, where some 80 local media companies are promoting their wares at the Singapore Pavilion. The crop of local movies for 2020 looks substantial. Local powerhouse mm2 Entertainment leads the way with a line-up from several genres. Ong Kuo
Five years ago, art directors Robert Kondo and Daisuke “Dice” Tsutsumi traded in stability at Pixar for the unknown as they launched Tonko House, a Berkeley-based multimedia production company. Since then, they’ve developed a range of projects and educational initiatives to support their mission of telling stories that inspire curiosity and increase social awareness. Mere
December 4, 2019 4:12PM PT In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix revealed the first look at “AJ and the Queen.” Also, Jean Smart and Jason Alexander will guest star in an episode of “Mad About You.” CASTINGS Jason Alexander and Jean Smart will guest star in an episode of “Mad About You,“ Spectrum announced. Smart will
December 4, 2019 4:01PM PT Sky Studios has boarded “Das Boot.” The content arm of the pay-TV giant will invest in and take the international rights to the series, which plays as an original on Sky in Germany as well as in Italy and the U.K. The second season of the well-received drama is in
Exclusive TMZ.com Tekashi 6ix9ine deserves a much lighter prison sentence due to his cooperation — AKA snitching — according to federal prosecutors who are officially asking the judge for leniency. In legal docs, obtained by TMZ … the U.S. Attorney in the Southern District of New York lays out the reasons for a reduced sentence
NBC is launching a deeper investigation into its reality competition series “America’s Got Talent,” eight days after Variety exclusively reported that judge Gabrielle Union would not return to the series amid complaints of toxic culture on set. Union and the network sat for five hours in a fact-finding meeting on Tuesday evening, both parties said,