CreativeChaos vmg, a producer of documentary films and series, has signed with CAA for representation.
The company, founded by Ilan Arboleda and Tom Donahue in 2010, bills itself as a “venture media group” (hence the “vmg” in its name) and is behind films including HBO’s Casting By and Bleed Out and Netflix’s #MeToo doc This Changes Everything, among other titles.
Casting By, directed by Donahue, was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy in 2014 and played a role in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences creating a casting directors branch — which eventually led to an Oscar category for casting, set to make its debut at the 2026 awards. This Changes Everything won several festival awards.
CreativeChaos also produced Hulu’s feature documentary Thank You for Your Service (also directed by Donahue), which investigated problems with mental health services in the U.S. military and led to federal funding to...
The company, founded by Ilan Arboleda and Tom Donahue in 2010, bills itself as a “venture media group” (hence the “vmg” in its name) and is behind films including HBO’s Casting By and Bleed Out and Netflix’s #MeToo doc This Changes Everything, among other titles.
Casting By, directed by Donahue, was nominated for a News & Documentary Emmy in 2014 and played a role in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences creating a casting directors branch — which eventually led to an Oscar category for casting, set to make its debut at the 2026 awards. This Changes Everything won several festival awards.
CreativeChaos also produced Hulu’s feature documentary Thank You for Your Service (also directed by Donahue), which investigated problems with mental health services in the U.S. military and led to federal funding to...
- 3/19/2024
- by Rick Porter
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Conference
An in conversation event with Paramount Global executives Pam Kaufman, president and CEO of international markets and global consumer products and experiences, and Lisa Kramer, president of international TV licensing, Paramount Global Content Distribution, has been added to the NATPE Global conference.
Jens Richter, Fremantle’s CEO of commercial and international and Paulo Koelle, head of Prime Video Latin America, Amazon Studios have also joined the speaker lineup. Other executives who have recently been confirmed include Jeff Sagansky, Sky’s group director of acquisitions, Katie Keenan, Acf Investment Bank’s Richard Gray, Satmohan Panesar, commissioner, factual, ITV Studios, Michael Schmidt, president, Sipur and Ilan Arboleda, co-founder and producer, CreativeChaos vmg.
Speakers also include Patricia Jasin, country manager Colombia and head of international distribution for Warner Bros. Discovery, Latin America/U.S. Hispanic, Sandra Smester, executive VP, programming and content, NBCUniversal Telemundo, Susanne Frank, director of Drama at Zdf Studios and Lindsay Stewart,...
An in conversation event with Paramount Global executives Pam Kaufman, president and CEO of international markets and global consumer products and experiences, and Lisa Kramer, president of international TV licensing, Paramount Global Content Distribution, has been added to the NATPE Global conference.
Jens Richter, Fremantle’s CEO of commercial and international and Paulo Koelle, head of Prime Video Latin America, Amazon Studios have also joined the speaker lineup. Other executives who have recently been confirmed include Jeff Sagansky, Sky’s group director of acquisitions, Katie Keenan, Acf Investment Bank’s Richard Gray, Satmohan Panesar, commissioner, factual, ITV Studios, Michael Schmidt, president, Sipur and Ilan Arboleda, co-founder and producer, CreativeChaos vmg.
Speakers also include Patricia Jasin, country manager Colombia and head of international distribution for Warner Bros. Discovery, Latin America/U.S. Hispanic, Sandra Smester, executive VP, programming and content, NBCUniversal Telemundo, Susanne Frank, director of Drama at Zdf Studios and Lindsay Stewart,...
- 12/12/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Social change doc maker CreativeChaos has acquired rights to activist and author Klementyna Suchanow’s non-fiction non-fiction book This is War: Women, Fundamentalists and the New Middle Ages.
New York-based CreativeChaos will look to turn Suchanow’s story into a four-part doc series. Suchanow will executive produce alongside the production company’s co-founders Tom Donahue and Ilan Arboleda, and project co-creator Jan Swietlik. Suchanow will write the script.
The untitled project will follow Suchanow’s transformation from author to activist on trial for actions against Poland’s ultra-conservative government. She and two other Polish women were arrested for allegedly organizing protests against new anti-abortion laws during the Covid-19 crisis.
During this period, Suchanow — a co-founder of the grassroots women’s rights movement All-Poland Women’s Strike — began working with an international network of investigative reporters and activists to expose a fundamentalist global efforts to destroy human rights and turn democracies into authoritarian regimes.
New York-based CreativeChaos will look to turn Suchanow’s story into a four-part doc series. Suchanow will executive produce alongside the production company’s co-founders Tom Donahue and Ilan Arboleda, and project co-creator Jan Swietlik. Suchanow will write the script.
The untitled project will follow Suchanow’s transformation from author to activist on trial for actions against Poland’s ultra-conservative government. She and two other Polish women were arrested for allegedly organizing protests against new anti-abortion laws during the Covid-19 crisis.
During this period, Suchanow — a co-founder of the grassroots women’s rights movement All-Poland Women’s Strike — began working with an international network of investigative reporters and activists to expose a fundamentalist global efforts to destroy human rights and turn democracies into authoritarian regimes.
- 11/20/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
NATPE, under new management after encountering turbulence during the pandemic, has appointed a new advisory board and is firming up plans for the return of its signature U.S. conference next January in Miami.
The conference organizer was rescued out of bankruptcy at the start of 2023 by Brunico, the Canadian company behind events like the Realscreen Summit and Banff World Media Festival. The flagship NATPE conference, rooted in Miami over the past decade-plus, had managed to weather massive industry disruptions over nearly six decades but couldn’t survive Covid. The 11th-hour decision to cancel the 2022 edition due to the Omicron wave left NATPE on the hook for hefty fees to hotel operators and vendors, prompting management to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October.
The retooled January conference, now called NATPE Global, is returning to Miami but not to the event’s longtime South Beach base at the Fontainebleau. Instead,...
The conference organizer was rescued out of bankruptcy at the start of 2023 by Brunico, the Canadian company behind events like the Realscreen Summit and Banff World Media Festival. The flagship NATPE conference, rooted in Miami over the past decade-plus, had managed to weather massive industry disruptions over nearly six decades but couldn’t survive Covid. The 11th-hour decision to cancel the 2022 edition due to the Omicron wave left NATPE on the hook for hefty fees to hotel operators and vendors, prompting management to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last October.
The retooled January conference, now called NATPE Global, is returning to Miami but not to the event’s longtime South Beach base at the Fontainebleau. Instead,...
- 8/17/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: CreativeChaos, the production company behind Paramount+’s The Murder of God’s Banker, and Above the Clouds, which produced Harvey Keitel and Sam Worthington feature film Lansky, have teamed up for a feature documentary about a group of youth climate activists.
This Is Planet Z follows a group of mostly young women of color who conceptualized, organized and mobilized youth across the United States to speak up and incite change. Their actions culminated in 7.5 million people striking on September 20, 2019, encouraging young voter turnout that influenced the 2020 presidential election and key races across the U.S.
The doc followed adolescents who were spurred into action when former President Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, effectively making the U.S. the only nation that abandoned its promises to curtail emissions.
CreativeChaos and Above the Clouds are planning a year-long effort of social action motivated around getting out the vote in...
This Is Planet Z follows a group of mostly young women of color who conceptualized, organized and mobilized youth across the United States to speak up and incite change. Their actions culminated in 7.5 million people striking on September 20, 2019, encouraging young voter turnout that influenced the 2020 presidential election and key races across the U.S.
The doc followed adolescents who were spurred into action when former President Trump withdrew from the Paris Climate Agreement, effectively making the U.S. the only nation that abandoned its promises to curtail emissions.
CreativeChaos and Above the Clouds are planning a year-long effort of social action motivated around getting out the vote in...
- 6/26/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Paramount+ International is investigating Mafia Spies.
The streamer has ordered a six-part premium doc series, based on Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro by Thomas Maier, who wrote the book that Showtime’s Masters of Sex was based on.
The series comes from CreativeChaos, Danny Strong Productions and Jackson Pictures.
Based on never-before-released JFK files, the series tells the shocking connections between the CIA, the mob, and Sinatra’s Rat Pack from Vegas to Miami to Havana. It explores America’s most remarkable espionage plots ever—with CIA agents, mob hitmen, “kompromat” sex, presidential indiscretion, and James Bond-like killing devices together in a top-secret mystery full of surprise twists and deadly intrigue.
In the early 1960s, two top gangsters, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, were hired by the CIA to kill Cuba’s Communist leader, Fidel Castro, only to wind up murdered themselves...
The streamer has ordered a six-part premium doc series, based on Mafia Spies: The Inside Story of the CIA, Gangsters, JFK, and Castro by Thomas Maier, who wrote the book that Showtime’s Masters of Sex was based on.
The series comes from CreativeChaos, Danny Strong Productions and Jackson Pictures.
Based on never-before-released JFK files, the series tells the shocking connections between the CIA, the mob, and Sinatra’s Rat Pack from Vegas to Miami to Havana. It explores America’s most remarkable espionage plots ever—with CIA agents, mob hitmen, “kompromat” sex, presidential indiscretion, and James Bond-like killing devices together in a top-secret mystery full of surprise twists and deadly intrigue.
In the early 1960s, two top gangsters, Johnny Roselli and Sam Giancana, were hired by the CIA to kill Cuba’s Communist leader, Fidel Castro, only to wind up murdered themselves...
- 5/4/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Streaming
Four-part documentary series “Murder of God’s Banker” is set for an international debut on streamer Paramount+.
In 1982, Roberto Calvi, a fugitive financier known as “God’s Banker,” was found hanging from London’s Blackfriars Bridge. What starts as an investigation surrounding one man’s death, quickly expands into a story of international intrigue, as it’s revealed that Calvi was in business with the Vatican, the Mafia, as well as neo-fascist groups in Italy. The documentary uses archival footage, stylized dramatizations and interviews with notable journalists and historians to uncover the truth behind Calvi’s murder while delving into the layers of corruption at the root of global money and power.
The series is produced by Paramount, in partnership with Creative Chaos vmg. It is written and directed by Tom Donahue. Executive producers include Ilan Arboleda, Donahue and Mike Holz, with Jessicya Materano and Jordan Bogdonavage as co-executive producers.
Four-part documentary series “Murder of God’s Banker” is set for an international debut on streamer Paramount+.
In 1982, Roberto Calvi, a fugitive financier known as “God’s Banker,” was found hanging from London’s Blackfriars Bridge. What starts as an investigation surrounding one man’s death, quickly expands into a story of international intrigue, as it’s revealed that Calvi was in business with the Vatican, the Mafia, as well as neo-fascist groups in Italy. The documentary uses archival footage, stylized dramatizations and interviews with notable journalists and historians to uncover the truth behind Calvi’s murder while delving into the layers of corruption at the root of global money and power.
The series is produced by Paramount, in partnership with Creative Chaos vmg. It is written and directed by Tom Donahue. Executive producers include Ilan Arboleda, Donahue and Mike Holz, with Jessicya Materano and Jordan Bogdonavage as co-executive producers.
- 2/2/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Dean Martin in "The Silencers" (1966), the first of the Matt Helm spy spoofs.
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Turner Classic Movies (TCM), now in its 27th year as a leading authority in classic film, will present the U.S. broadcast premiere of the documentary Dean Martin: King of Cool on Nov. 19, 2021. Director Tom Donahue and producer Ilan Arboleda will appear alongside TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz to introduce the documentary and four of Dean Martin’s most iconic films, including Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Caddy (1959).
Dean Martin epitomized cool. A founding member of the Rat Pack, Dean was a multi-talented performer who was part of the number one comedy act in America, a chart-topping singer for over half a century and one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and on TV. He was the consummate charmer on stage and off. Yet for all his celebrity, fame, and adoration,...
Cinema Retro has received the following press release:
Turner Classic Movies (TCM), now in its 27th year as a leading authority in classic film, will present the U.S. broadcast premiere of the documentary Dean Martin: King of Cool on Nov. 19, 2021. Director Tom Donahue and producer Ilan Arboleda will appear alongside TCM Host Ben Mankiewicz to introduce the documentary and four of Dean Martin’s most iconic films, including Ocean’s 11 (1960) and The Caddy (1959).
Dean Martin epitomized cool. A founding member of the Rat Pack, Dean was a multi-talented performer who was part of the number one comedy act in America, a chart-topping singer for over half a century and one of the biggest stars in Hollywood and on TV. He was the consummate charmer on stage and off. Yet for all his celebrity, fame, and adoration,...
- 11/19/2021
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Exclusive: Move over, Steve McQueen, there is a new “king of cool” in town. You might recall the excellent 1998 documentary titled Steve McQueen: The King of Cool. Well, now a similar name has been awarded to none other than Dean Martin, the subject of a comprehensive and compelling new docu premiering November 19 on Turner Classic Movies, preceded by its world premiere November 14 as part of the program for Doc NYC at the Sva Theatre in New York City. “Cool” defines Martin in every sense of the word.
TCM will not only be hosting the broadcast premiere of Dean Martin: King of Cool but also a film retrospective as a companion to this long-in-the-works look at the talent and mystery of the legendary entertainer, who died at age 78 on Christmas Day 1995 but has never really gone away thanks to an iconic career that covered uncanny success in movies, TV, music, nightclubs...
TCM will not only be hosting the broadcast premiere of Dean Martin: King of Cool but also a film retrospective as a companion to this long-in-the-works look at the talent and mystery of the legendary entertainer, who died at age 78 on Christmas Day 1995 but has never really gone away thanks to an iconic career that covered uncanny success in movies, TV, music, nightclubs...
- 11/2/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
The film has sold to Sky Cinema in UK & Ireland among others
London-based WestEnd Films has closed a raft of deals on the Hollywood gender-disparity documentary directed by Tom Donahue (Thank You For Your Service) and executive-produced by Geena Davis.
The film has sold to the UK and Ireland (Sky Cinema), South Korea (Mano Entertainment), Taiwan (Benchmark Films), Australia (Nine Network), France (Alba Films), Italy (Lilium Distribution), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais), Globosat/Telecine (Brazil) and Encore Inflight (airlines).
Alba will release This Changes Everything theatrically in France in early January and Sky Cinema will broadcast the film in March. Fathom...
London-based WestEnd Films has closed a raft of deals on the Hollywood gender-disparity documentary directed by Tom Donahue (Thank You For Your Service) and executive-produced by Geena Davis.
The film has sold to the UK and Ireland (Sky Cinema), South Korea (Mano Entertainment), Taiwan (Benchmark Films), Australia (Nine Network), France (Alba Films), Italy (Lilium Distribution), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo Audiovisuais), Globosat/Telecine (Brazil) and Encore Inflight (airlines).
Alba will release This Changes Everything theatrically in France in early January and Sky Cinema will broadcast the film in March. Fathom...
- 10/6/2019
- by 134¦Jean Noh¦516¦
- ScreenDaily
With gender equality and pay equity in Hollywood exploding in a newly urgent way during the #MeToo era and in the wake of the Sony hack, new feature documentary This Changes Everything dives deep into the topic. Its own production and financing back story also offers a novel business model for issue-oriented projects.
The majority of the $1M-2M budget for the project, which had its world premiere last September in Toronto and opens theatrically this weekend, came from corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Certainly, brands fronting major features isn’t a completely new concept, especially in the categories of lifestyle, music or sports. But the willingness of Google, David Yurman, Lyft Entertainment, Bloomberg and The Artemis Foundation is noteworthy for a film that takes the Hollywood establishment to task. (Check out the trailer above.)
Geena Davis, long a pioneer in emphasizing the need to look closely at gender, also is...
The majority of the $1M-2M budget for the project, which had its world premiere last September in Toronto and opens theatrically this weekend, came from corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Certainly, brands fronting major features isn’t a completely new concept, especially in the categories of lifestyle, music or sports. But the willingness of Google, David Yurman, Lyft Entertainment, Bloomberg and The Artemis Foundation is noteworthy for a film that takes the Hollywood establishment to task. (Check out the trailer above.)
Geena Davis, long a pioneer in emphasizing the need to look closely at gender, also is...
- 8/8/2019
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Film features Meryl Streep, Sandra Oh, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman and more.
London-based WestEnd Films has boarded international sales on Tom Donahue’s documentary This Changes Everything, which premiered at Toronto last year, where it was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award.
The film, about gender disparity in Hollywood, features an A-list roster of female Hollywood stars including Meryl Streep, Sandra Oh, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Chloë Grace Moretz, Taraji P. Henson, Yara Shahidi, plus further ambassadors of the #TimesUp movement.
Good Deed Entertainment previously picked up North American rights and...
London-based WestEnd Films has boarded international sales on Tom Donahue’s documentary This Changes Everything, which premiered at Toronto last year, where it was runner-up for the People’s Choice Award.
The film, about gender disparity in Hollywood, features an A-list roster of female Hollywood stars including Meryl Streep, Sandra Oh, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, Natalie Portman, Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Chloë Grace Moretz, Taraji P. Henson, Yara Shahidi, plus further ambassadors of the #TimesUp movement.
Good Deed Entertainment previously picked up North American rights and...
- 2/8/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Good Deed Entertainment has picked up the North American distribution rights to Tom Donahue’s feature documentary This Changes Everything which spotlights decades of discrimination against women in Hollywood, behind and in front of the camera.
The doc features first-hand accounts by several of Hollywood’s leading voices, including Meryl Steep, Shonda Rhimes, Sandra Oh, Reese Witherspoon, Taraji P. Henson, Natalie Portman, Amandla Stenberg, Matt McGorry and FX Network CEO John Landgraf, who was responsible for transforming FX from the network with the worst record on diversity to the best in less than a year. This Changes Everything premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and will receive an early summer release in theaters and on demand.
Speaking on the impetus behind the film, Oscar winning actor and This Changes Everything Executive Producer Geena Davis explains, “For years women in our industry have hoped that with every successful female-driven film,...
The doc features first-hand accounts by several of Hollywood’s leading voices, including Meryl Steep, Shonda Rhimes, Sandra Oh, Reese Witherspoon, Taraji P. Henson, Natalie Portman, Amandla Stenberg, Matt McGorry and FX Network CEO John Landgraf, who was responsible for transforming FX from the network with the worst record on diversity to the best in less than a year. This Changes Everything premiered at the Toronto Film Festival and will receive an early summer release in theaters and on demand.
Speaking on the impetus behind the film, Oscar winning actor and This Changes Everything Executive Producer Geena Davis explains, “For years women in our industry have hoped that with every successful female-driven film,...
- 1/17/2019
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The 2016 Illuminate Film Festival, which will take place June 1 – 5, 2016 in Sedona, Arizona has announced the official line up of films for the 3rd annual event. The only film festival of its kind, the Illuminate Film Festival offers a collection of over 20 feature length and short films from around the world, exploring the year’s best in conscious cinema, as well as eye opening and thought provoking panels and conversations that will expand minds and inspire dialogue.
“We are proud to be the world’s premier film festival for conscious cinema” said the festival’s Executive Director Danette Wolpert, “and continue to attract movie-lovers, spiritual seekers and conscious lifestyle enthusiasts from over 25 states and 8 countries. In our third year, we will offer audiences the opportunity to enjoy the world’s best life-affirming, mind-body-spirit focused films, experience radical transformation together and meet trailblazers in the emerging genre of conscious cinema.”
Illuminate will begin on June 1st, 2016 with a pre-Festival Launch Party and Free Outdoor Screening of work-in-progress "Be More," a stirring documentary film narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, about seven activists who make it their mission to create a more compassionate world. Their goal: To transform the lives of seventeen teenagers in seven days. Filmmaker Justin Haulbrook will be in attendance.
Opening Film on June 2nd, 2016 will be "Maya Angelou and Still I Rise," which portrays the vibrant spirit of an American Legend - author, poet, Grammy-winner, civil rights activist and shining example of what it is to be empowered moment by moment in one’s life. Directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack, the film features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, Alice Walker and Hillary Clinton. Filmmaker Rita Coburn Whack will be in attendance.
The Festival’s Spotlight will be the emotional tour de force "Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru," directed by Academy Award® nominated Joe Berlinger. This film pulls back the curtain on the internationally renowned life and business strategist and his mammoth annual seminar, capturing the life changing transformations of the participants in real time. The Closing Film event will be a Sneak Peek of "Mantra: Sounds Into Silence," a film about the revolution underway in world Kirtan, yoga's call-and-response form of devotional music. Sneak peek clips of the film will be followed by a Q&A and live concert with world-renowned Kirtan sensation Jai Uttal. Filmmaker Georgia Wyss will be in attendance.
The Illuminate Film Festival will introduce the inaugural Conscious Visionary Award, an award honoring a pioneer in the world of conscious cinema, spirituality, and life achievement as a teacher and facilitator of human transformation. The award will be presented to the Hon. Dr. Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith for his unparalleled record of bringing hope, love and encouragement to millions of spiritual seekers, creating the Agape worldwide community of faithful parishioners, students, healers and teachers who carry his message forward, and his complete dedication to uplifting and inspiring humanity through his church, books, audio recordings and numerous film appearances.
Chaz Ebert has signed on as the keynote speaker for the Conscious Film Convergence and will speak on the role of transformational entertainment and its potential impact on humanity. Chaz, wife of the late Roger Ebert, is the CEO of several Ebert enterprises, including President of Ebert Productions and Chairman of the Board of The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, and Co-Founder and Producer of Ebertfest, the film festival now in its 18th year.
Other films in the lineup include:
"A New High" (2015), directed by Samuel Miron and Stephen Scott Scarpulla - Everyone defines their mountain. For the residents of a Seattle homeless shelter, it’s homelessness, addiction, abuse.... and the 14,400-foot Mt Rainier.
"The Connected Universe" (2016), directed by Malcom Carter – Returning after its sold out Sneak Peek at Illuminate 2015, this documentary featuring Nassim Haramein discovers the science behind the interconnection of all things in a magnificent, groundbreaking union of science and spirituality. (Private screening)
"From This Day Forward" (2015), directed by Sharon Shattuck – Filmmaker Sharon Shattuck examines the mystery at the heart of her upbringing – How her transgender father Trisha and her straight-identified mother Marcia stayed together against all odds – depicting a love that survived the most intimate of transformations.
More information Here
"Home Care" (2015), directed by Slávek Horák – The official 2016 Oscar entry for the Czech Republic, this appealing humanist tale follows Vlasta, a dedicated home nurse whose entire life is devoted to saving others, as she reluctantly ventures into spirituality and alternative medicine to find salvation for herself.
More information Here
"Icaros: A Visions" (2016), directed by Leonor Caraballo and Matteo Norzi - A film shaped like a shamanic journey utilizing the unique qualities of plant medicine, steeped in a psychoactive brew exploring fear and destiny in the jungle of the mind and the Amazon. (Southwest Premiere)
More information Here
"Love, Sweat & Tears" (2016), directed by Scott Jacobs – Dr. Pamela Dee Gaudry is on a mission to “Save The Menopausal Vaginas of America!” In this documentary, Gaudry marries medical facts with profound insights from some of today’s influential spiritual leaders such as Hon. Dr. Rev. Michael Beckwith and Rev June Gatlin, as well as riotous comedians Joan Rivers and Jenny McCarthy. (World Premiere)
More information Here
"Teal" The Making of a Spiritual Teacher" (2016), directed by Paola Marino – Referred to as “The Spiritual Catalyst” and dubbed the next Wayne Dyer, Teal Swan’s extrasensory gifts and connection to the spiritual realm are a light in the perpetual darkness of the modern age. (Work-In-Progress World Premiere)
More information Here
"Orange Sunshine" (2016), directed by William A. Kirkley – During the early 1960’s, a group of family, friends, and surfers formed a church centered around psychedelics. For The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the mission was to enlighten the world, and the law was but a mere interference. (Arizona Premiere)
More information Here
"Planting Seeds of Mindfulness" (2016), directed by Gregory Kennedy-Salemi and Stuary Jolley –Based on the teachings of world renowned Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, and featuring riveting music by Tina Turner, this live action-animated film about a teenager’s mindful journey is a powerful tool to help children, parents, teachers and communities develop the skills to promote peace within themselves and in the world around them. (World Premiere)
More information Here
"Pursuing Happiness" (2015), directed by Adam Shell – The desire to be happy is so intense that we spend an immeasurable amount of time and money in an effort to obtain it. This enchanting, revelatory documentary explores the happiest people in America and uncovers the secrets to their happiness.
More information Here
"Thank You For Your Service" (2016), directed by Tom Donahue – This gripping documentary about four Iraq War veterans struggling with Ptsd explores the healing aspects of meditation, native ceremony and equine therapy. Impactful interviews include former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, General David Petraeus and Mayor Rudy Guiliani. (Southwest Premiere)
More information Here
"The C Word" (2016), directed by Meghan O’Hara – Cancer is no laughing matter – but the archaic way we are battling it is. Executive produced and narrated by Morgan Freeman, this film explores hidden science, the absurdity of the status quo, and introduces a vibrant cast of characters changing the cancer game. (Southwest Premiere)
More information Here
"The Highest Past" (2011), directed by Jon Fitzgerald – Seven motorcycle riders share the journey of a lifetime along some of the most dangerous roads in the world, guided by a modern yogi and guru. (Cinema Revisited)
More information Here
"Tree Story" (2015), directed by Ward Serrill – A series of short documentary films that explore the relationship between humans and trees from every conceivable angle: the scientific, the mythical, the practical, the cultural, and the spiritual. (Festival World Premiere)
"Vegan" Everyday Stories" (2016), directed by Glenn Scott Lacey – Explore the lives of four remarkably different people who share a common thread – they’re all vegan. Follow an ultramarthon runner, a cattle rancher’s wife and an 8 year-old girl through their profound transformations. Featuring interviews with Moby, Russell Simmons and Ed Begley Jr. (World Premiere)
More information Here
Short Films:
"The Avadhut" directed by Jonathan Dubsky, Fenulla Jiwan, Zottomer Kenatarac (World Premiere)
"Catching Fire" directed by Ward Serrill (World Premiere)
"Forgotten Ritual" directed by Mirjam Hlastan (Us Premiere)
"Holistic Life Foundation" directed by Chris Farina (Southwest Premiere)
"Sister Jaguar's Journey" directed by Sande Zeig
"Today I Acknowledge" directed by Jessica Hahner (Arizona Premiere)
Conscious Film Convergence Panels and Workshops:
Spotlight Conversation: Norman Seeff On Creativity: The Power of A Dream
As a photographer for the most prolific artists of our time - Tina Turner, Johnny Cash, Jim Henson, Steve Jobs, Martin Scorsese and Will.I.Am, to name a few, Norman Seeff knows something about the creative process. Through his innovative methodology, he has developed a body of content exploring the roots of creativity, innovation and optimal performance and has identified schematics describing the archetypes of the creative process that function across all creative disciplines.
Behind The ‘Seen’ – Investing In Transformational Entertainment
Through this intimate dialogue on film finance moderated by Simon Kilmurry (Executive Director, International Documentary Association), hear from three savvy individuals who are committed to bringing transformational entertainment to mainstream audiences about the art and science of financing conscious and cause-based cinema. Guests include Geralyn Dreyfous of Impact Partners/Gamechangers, and producers Jane Charles of Greater Good Entertainment ("Sold") and Ilan Arboleda of CreativeChaos (Thank You For Your Service).
Conscious Media & The Mainstream: Finding Your Audience
Media, industry outlets and tastemakers play an essential role in building buzz and excitement around new cinema titles as they seek to find their audiences, often defining their position in the marketplace. Join Corrine Bourdeau, President of 360 Degree Communications, Bill Goodykoontz, Film Critic Az Republic & Gannett News Service, Maya Zuckerman, Huffington Post writer, and Mark DeNicola of Collective Evolution as they reveal how to best leverage the media and how conscious cinema can be branded, marketed and presented to engage audiences and maximize box office.
Act of Transformation - A Screenwriter's Workshop
Emmy Award winning screenwriter Dev Ross conducts a workshop focused on the act of transforming a conscious concept into an engaging screenplay. First, Dev will discuss how a screenplay that sets out to raise consciousness can face inherent story problems, using Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” as a reference on how to avoid this mistake. Then, by using the model discussed in the first half, the audience will have the opportunity to participate in the creation of a three-act story outline based on audience-contributed ideas.
Distribution Therapy
Disabuse yourself from assumptions about what it’s like to tie the knot with a distributor! Get a rare chance to observe a series of conversations between filmmakers and their distributors. Join facilitator Shaeri Richards as she helps distributor-filmmaker pairs share their feelings in an entertaining format that will provide abundant wisdom on setting expectations, keeping the flame alive and when to call it quits with your distributor. Panelists: Nancy Gerstman, Co-founder/Co-president of Zeitgeist Films & filmmaker Jeremy Frindel ("One Track Heart"); Richard Lorber, CEO of Kino Lorber & producer Peter Rader ("Awake: The Life of Yogananda"); Richard Cohn, President of Beyond Words & filmmaker Patrick Solomon ("Finding Joe").
**New workshop announced!
Tools of Immersive Cinema – Virtual Reality Workshop with Sandy Smolan
Virtual Reality workshop by filmmaker Sandy Smolan entitled "Going Deep: Diving into Virtual Reality Content Creation." It will be an overview and demonstration of the technology used to create The Click Effect (Sundance 2016), a live-action, immersive Vr experience that follows two renegade marine science researchers as they attempt to free-dive a hundred feet below the ocean’s surface in a single breath to capture the “click” communication of dolphins and sperm whales.
The Launch Party and Free Outdoor Screening will take place at The Collective in the Village of Oak Creek. Festival screenings will take place at the Sedona Performing Arts Center and the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Festival parties will be hosted by Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village, the Lodge at Sedona and Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen.
Illuminate Film Festival Major Sponsors
Principal: Science of Mind Magazine, ChocolaTree Organic Oasis & Sedona Chamber of Commerce
Producing: The Collective, The Lodge at Sedona, Sedona Real Inn & Suites, International Documentary Association, Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen & Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village
Supporting: Sedona Elite Properties, Javelina Leap Vineyard & Winery,
Alive Mind Cinema, and Centers for Spiritual Living
Media Sponsors: Spirituality & Health Magazine, Om Times, Conscious Life News,
Collective Evolution and Sedona Now TV.
VIP All-Access passes offer unlimited access to all events, including opening and closing night gala presentations, spotlight screenings, Reel Healing “View & Do” screenings, VIP parties and receptions, and Conscious Film Convergence panels and conversations, and provide priority ticketing access into theaters. Early Bird passes on sale now! Cost until April 20 is $349 and $444 after. Conscious Film Convergence passes are $249.
To purchase passes, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com. Starting May 6, individual tickets can be purchased on a space-available basis. The full schedule of films exhibiting at the 2016 Illuminate Film Festival will be posted April 19. For more information, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com...
“We are proud to be the world’s premier film festival for conscious cinema” said the festival’s Executive Director Danette Wolpert, “and continue to attract movie-lovers, spiritual seekers and conscious lifestyle enthusiasts from over 25 states and 8 countries. In our third year, we will offer audiences the opportunity to enjoy the world’s best life-affirming, mind-body-spirit focused films, experience radical transformation together and meet trailblazers in the emerging genre of conscious cinema.”
Illuminate will begin on June 1st, 2016 with a pre-Festival Launch Party and Free Outdoor Screening of work-in-progress "Be More," a stirring documentary film narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, about seven activists who make it their mission to create a more compassionate world. Their goal: To transform the lives of seventeen teenagers in seven days. Filmmaker Justin Haulbrook will be in attendance.
Opening Film on June 2nd, 2016 will be "Maya Angelou and Still I Rise," which portrays the vibrant spirit of an American Legend - author, poet, Grammy-winner, civil rights activist and shining example of what it is to be empowered moment by moment in one’s life. Directed by Bob Hercules and Rita Coburn Whack, the film features interviews with Oprah Winfrey, James Earl Jones, Alice Walker and Hillary Clinton. Filmmaker Rita Coburn Whack will be in attendance.
The Festival’s Spotlight will be the emotional tour de force "Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru," directed by Academy Award® nominated Joe Berlinger. This film pulls back the curtain on the internationally renowned life and business strategist and his mammoth annual seminar, capturing the life changing transformations of the participants in real time. The Closing Film event will be a Sneak Peek of "Mantra: Sounds Into Silence," a film about the revolution underway in world Kirtan, yoga's call-and-response form of devotional music. Sneak peek clips of the film will be followed by a Q&A and live concert with world-renowned Kirtan sensation Jai Uttal. Filmmaker Georgia Wyss will be in attendance.
The Illuminate Film Festival will introduce the inaugural Conscious Visionary Award, an award honoring a pioneer in the world of conscious cinema, spirituality, and life achievement as a teacher and facilitator of human transformation. The award will be presented to the Hon. Dr. Rev. Michael Bernard Beckwith for his unparalleled record of bringing hope, love and encouragement to millions of spiritual seekers, creating the Agape worldwide community of faithful parishioners, students, healers and teachers who carry his message forward, and his complete dedication to uplifting and inspiring humanity through his church, books, audio recordings and numerous film appearances.
Chaz Ebert has signed on as the keynote speaker for the Conscious Film Convergence and will speak on the role of transformational entertainment and its potential impact on humanity. Chaz, wife of the late Roger Ebert, is the CEO of several Ebert enterprises, including President of Ebert Productions and Chairman of the Board of The Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation, and Co-Founder and Producer of Ebertfest, the film festival now in its 18th year.
Other films in the lineup include:
"A New High" (2015), directed by Samuel Miron and Stephen Scott Scarpulla - Everyone defines their mountain. For the residents of a Seattle homeless shelter, it’s homelessness, addiction, abuse.... and the 14,400-foot Mt Rainier.
"The Connected Universe" (2016), directed by Malcom Carter – Returning after its sold out Sneak Peek at Illuminate 2015, this documentary featuring Nassim Haramein discovers the science behind the interconnection of all things in a magnificent, groundbreaking union of science and spirituality. (Private screening)
"From This Day Forward" (2015), directed by Sharon Shattuck – Filmmaker Sharon Shattuck examines the mystery at the heart of her upbringing – How her transgender father Trisha and her straight-identified mother Marcia stayed together against all odds – depicting a love that survived the most intimate of transformations.
More information Here
"Home Care" (2015), directed by Slávek Horák – The official 2016 Oscar entry for the Czech Republic, this appealing humanist tale follows Vlasta, a dedicated home nurse whose entire life is devoted to saving others, as she reluctantly ventures into spirituality and alternative medicine to find salvation for herself.
More information Here
"Icaros: A Visions" (2016), directed by Leonor Caraballo and Matteo Norzi - A film shaped like a shamanic journey utilizing the unique qualities of plant medicine, steeped in a psychoactive brew exploring fear and destiny in the jungle of the mind and the Amazon. (Southwest Premiere)
More information Here
"Love, Sweat & Tears" (2016), directed by Scott Jacobs – Dr. Pamela Dee Gaudry is on a mission to “Save The Menopausal Vaginas of America!” In this documentary, Gaudry marries medical facts with profound insights from some of today’s influential spiritual leaders such as Hon. Dr. Rev. Michael Beckwith and Rev June Gatlin, as well as riotous comedians Joan Rivers and Jenny McCarthy. (World Premiere)
More information Here
"Teal" The Making of a Spiritual Teacher" (2016), directed by Paola Marino – Referred to as “The Spiritual Catalyst” and dubbed the next Wayne Dyer, Teal Swan’s extrasensory gifts and connection to the spiritual realm are a light in the perpetual darkness of the modern age. (Work-In-Progress World Premiere)
More information Here
"Orange Sunshine" (2016), directed by William A. Kirkley – During the early 1960’s, a group of family, friends, and surfers formed a church centered around psychedelics. For The Brotherhood of Eternal Love, the mission was to enlighten the world, and the law was but a mere interference. (Arizona Premiere)
More information Here
"Planting Seeds of Mindfulness" (2016), directed by Gregory Kennedy-Salemi and Stuary Jolley –Based on the teachings of world renowned Zen Master, Thich Nhat Hanh, and featuring riveting music by Tina Turner, this live action-animated film about a teenager’s mindful journey is a powerful tool to help children, parents, teachers and communities develop the skills to promote peace within themselves and in the world around them. (World Premiere)
More information Here
"Pursuing Happiness" (2015), directed by Adam Shell – The desire to be happy is so intense that we spend an immeasurable amount of time and money in an effort to obtain it. This enchanting, revelatory documentary explores the happiest people in America and uncovers the secrets to their happiness.
More information Here
"Thank You For Your Service" (2016), directed by Tom Donahue – This gripping documentary about four Iraq War veterans struggling with Ptsd explores the healing aspects of meditation, native ceremony and equine therapy. Impactful interviews include former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, General David Petraeus and Mayor Rudy Guiliani. (Southwest Premiere)
More information Here
"The C Word" (2016), directed by Meghan O’Hara – Cancer is no laughing matter – but the archaic way we are battling it is. Executive produced and narrated by Morgan Freeman, this film explores hidden science, the absurdity of the status quo, and introduces a vibrant cast of characters changing the cancer game. (Southwest Premiere)
More information Here
"The Highest Past" (2011), directed by Jon Fitzgerald – Seven motorcycle riders share the journey of a lifetime along some of the most dangerous roads in the world, guided by a modern yogi and guru. (Cinema Revisited)
More information Here
"Tree Story" (2015), directed by Ward Serrill – A series of short documentary films that explore the relationship between humans and trees from every conceivable angle: the scientific, the mythical, the practical, the cultural, and the spiritual. (Festival World Premiere)
"Vegan" Everyday Stories" (2016), directed by Glenn Scott Lacey – Explore the lives of four remarkably different people who share a common thread – they’re all vegan. Follow an ultramarthon runner, a cattle rancher’s wife and an 8 year-old girl through their profound transformations. Featuring interviews with Moby, Russell Simmons and Ed Begley Jr. (World Premiere)
More information Here
Short Films:
"The Avadhut" directed by Jonathan Dubsky, Fenulla Jiwan, Zottomer Kenatarac (World Premiere)
"Catching Fire" directed by Ward Serrill (World Premiere)
"Forgotten Ritual" directed by Mirjam Hlastan (Us Premiere)
"Holistic Life Foundation" directed by Chris Farina (Southwest Premiere)
"Sister Jaguar's Journey" directed by Sande Zeig
"Today I Acknowledge" directed by Jessica Hahner (Arizona Premiere)
Conscious Film Convergence Panels and Workshops:
Spotlight Conversation: Norman Seeff On Creativity: The Power of A Dream
As a photographer for the most prolific artists of our time - Tina Turner, Johnny Cash, Jim Henson, Steve Jobs, Martin Scorsese and Will.I.Am, to name a few, Norman Seeff knows something about the creative process. Through his innovative methodology, he has developed a body of content exploring the roots of creativity, innovation and optimal performance and has identified schematics describing the archetypes of the creative process that function across all creative disciplines.
Behind The ‘Seen’ – Investing In Transformational Entertainment
Through this intimate dialogue on film finance moderated by Simon Kilmurry (Executive Director, International Documentary Association), hear from three savvy individuals who are committed to bringing transformational entertainment to mainstream audiences about the art and science of financing conscious and cause-based cinema. Guests include Geralyn Dreyfous of Impact Partners/Gamechangers, and producers Jane Charles of Greater Good Entertainment ("Sold") and Ilan Arboleda of CreativeChaos (Thank You For Your Service).
Conscious Media & The Mainstream: Finding Your Audience
Media, industry outlets and tastemakers play an essential role in building buzz and excitement around new cinema titles as they seek to find their audiences, often defining their position in the marketplace. Join Corrine Bourdeau, President of 360 Degree Communications, Bill Goodykoontz, Film Critic Az Republic & Gannett News Service, Maya Zuckerman, Huffington Post writer, and Mark DeNicola of Collective Evolution as they reveal how to best leverage the media and how conscious cinema can be branded, marketed and presented to engage audiences and maximize box office.
Act of Transformation - A Screenwriter's Workshop
Emmy Award winning screenwriter Dev Ross conducts a workshop focused on the act of transforming a conscious concept into an engaging screenplay. First, Dev will discuss how a screenplay that sets out to raise consciousness can face inherent story problems, using Joseph Campbell’s “Hero’s Journey” as a reference on how to avoid this mistake. Then, by using the model discussed in the first half, the audience will have the opportunity to participate in the creation of a three-act story outline based on audience-contributed ideas.
Distribution Therapy
Disabuse yourself from assumptions about what it’s like to tie the knot with a distributor! Get a rare chance to observe a series of conversations between filmmakers and their distributors. Join facilitator Shaeri Richards as she helps distributor-filmmaker pairs share their feelings in an entertaining format that will provide abundant wisdom on setting expectations, keeping the flame alive and when to call it quits with your distributor. Panelists: Nancy Gerstman, Co-founder/Co-president of Zeitgeist Films & filmmaker Jeremy Frindel ("One Track Heart"); Richard Lorber, CEO of Kino Lorber & producer Peter Rader ("Awake: The Life of Yogananda"); Richard Cohn, President of Beyond Words & filmmaker Patrick Solomon ("Finding Joe").
**New workshop announced!
Tools of Immersive Cinema – Virtual Reality Workshop with Sandy Smolan
Virtual Reality workshop by filmmaker Sandy Smolan entitled "Going Deep: Diving into Virtual Reality Content Creation." It will be an overview and demonstration of the technology used to create The Click Effect (Sundance 2016), a live-action, immersive Vr experience that follows two renegade marine science researchers as they attempt to free-dive a hundred feet below the ocean’s surface in a single breath to capture the “click” communication of dolphins and sperm whales.
The Launch Party and Free Outdoor Screening will take place at The Collective in the Village of Oak Creek. Festival screenings will take place at the Sedona Performing Arts Center and the Mary D. Fisher Theatre. Festival parties will be hosted by Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village, the Lodge at Sedona and Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen.
Illuminate Film Festival Major Sponsors
Principal: Science of Mind Magazine, ChocolaTree Organic Oasis & Sedona Chamber of Commerce
Producing: The Collective, The Lodge at Sedona, Sedona Real Inn & Suites, International Documentary Association, Picazzo’s Organic Italian Kitchen & Tlaquepaque Arts & Crafts Village
Supporting: Sedona Elite Properties, Javelina Leap Vineyard & Winery,
Alive Mind Cinema, and Centers for Spiritual Living
Media Sponsors: Spirituality & Health Magazine, Om Times, Conscious Life News,
Collective Evolution and Sedona Now TV.
VIP All-Access passes offer unlimited access to all events, including opening and closing night gala presentations, spotlight screenings, Reel Healing “View & Do” screenings, VIP parties and receptions, and Conscious Film Convergence panels and conversations, and provide priority ticketing access into theaters. Early Bird passes on sale now! Cost until April 20 is $349 and $444 after. Conscious Film Convergence passes are $249.
To purchase passes, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com. Starting May 6, individual tickets can be purchased on a space-available basis. The full schedule of films exhibiting at the 2016 Illuminate Film Festival will be posted April 19. For more information, visit www.illuminatefilmfestival.com...
- 4/18/2016
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
"Casting By," the new documentary by "Guest of Cindy Sherman" director Tom Donahue, has been acquired for TV by HBO. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival Monday and next screens at the New York Film Festival October 12. Produced by Kate Lacey, Donahue, Ilan Arboleda and Joanna Colbert, "Casting By" looks at the last fifty years in Hollywood by way of casting directors, profiling pioneers in the field like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster, whose ability to spot screen potential helped shape the New Hollywood era with films such as “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Graduate,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Bonnie and Clyde.” These casting directors helped steer cinema away from traditional conceptions of leading men and women, finding places for actors such as James Dean, Dustin Hoffman, Bette Midler, Robert Duvall and Gene Hackman. ...
- 9/13/2012
- by Alison Willmore
- Indiewire
Toronto, Sept. 13, 2012 – HBO Documentary Films has acquired the U.S. television rights to Tom Donahue’s feature documentary film Casting By, it was announced today. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday evening to an enthusiastic crowd and will next be screened at the New York Film Festival. Produced by Kate Lacey, Tom Donahue, Ilan Arboleda & Joanna Colbert, Casting By puts the spotlight on filmmaking’s unsung heroes – the casting director – and takes us on a fast-paced journey through the last half-century of Hollywood history from an entirely new perspective. Casting pioneers like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster were iconoclasts whose exquisite taste and gut instincts helped change the old studio system and usher in the New Hollywood with movies like “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Graduate,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Bonnie and Clyde.” Afforded the unprecedented freedom and power of the new medium of television,...
- 9/13/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline TV
Toronto, Sept. 13, 2012 – HBO Documentary Films has acquired the U.S. television rights to Tom Donahue’s feature documentary film Casting By, it was announced today. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday evening to an enthusiastic crowd and will next be screened at the New York Film Festival. Produced by Kate Lacey, Tom Donahue, Ilan Arboleda & Joanna Colbert, Casting By puts the spotlight on filmmaking’s unsung heroes – the casting director – and takes us on a fast-paced journey through the last half-century of Hollywood history from an entirely new perspective. Casting pioneers like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster were iconoclasts whose exquisite taste and gut instincts helped change the old studio system and usher in the New Hollywood with movies like “Midnight Cowboy,” “The Graduate,” “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” and “Bonnie and Clyde.” Afforded the unprecedented freedom and power of the new medium of television,...
- 9/13/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
HBO Documentary Films has acquired the U.S. television rights to Tom Donahue.s feature documentary film Casting By, it was announced today. The film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday evening to an enthusiastic crowd and will next be screened at the New York Film Festival. From HBO Produced by Kate Lacey, Tom Donahue, Ilan Arboleda & Joanna Colbert, Casting By puts the spotlight on filmmaking.s unsung heroes . the casting director . and takes us on a fast-paced journey through the last half-century of Hollywood history from an entirely new perspective. Casting pioneers like Marion Dougherty and Lynn Stalmaster were iconoclasts whose exquisite taste and gut instincts helped change the old...
- 9/13/2012
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Indie distributor Variance Films is launching with the theatrical release of the dark comedy "Smother" starring Diane Keaton, Dax Shepard and Liv Tyler and exec producer Terry Bradshaw's Hurricane Katrina football documentary "Walking on Dead Fish."
Former ThinkFilm distribution and marketing director Dylan Marchetti wants Variance to bridge the gap between producers self-releasing features and traditional distributors, avoiding the direct-to-video trap that many indies encounter.
Part of Marchetti's strategy is to avoid conventional New York/Los Angeles platform releases, instead looking to rollouts tailored to each film's target audience. He will be scouting for more Variance projects at next month's Toronto International Film Festival.
Vince Di Meglio's "Smother" centers on an overbearing mother who worms her way into her son's life. The film will receive a Sept. 26 release in the top five markets.
Franklin Martin's "Fish", a co-release with Dutchmen Films, follows New Orleans high school students who overcome natural disaster to form a winning football team. The film, narrated by Fox NFL studio analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Bradshaw, opens there Sept. 5, followed by a regional expansion Sept. 19.
Marchetti negotiated the "Smother" deal with Vincent Reppert and Johnson Chan of Germie & Bucky Prods. and did the "Fish" deal with Nguyen Tran and Ilan Arboleda of the Institution.
Former ThinkFilm distribution and marketing director Dylan Marchetti wants Variance to bridge the gap between producers self-releasing features and traditional distributors, avoiding the direct-to-video trap that many indies encounter.
Part of Marchetti's strategy is to avoid conventional New York/Los Angeles platform releases, instead looking to rollouts tailored to each film's target audience. He will be scouting for more Variance projects at next month's Toronto International Film Festival.
Vince Di Meglio's "Smother" centers on an overbearing mother who worms her way into her son's life. The film will receive a Sept. 26 release in the top five markets.
Franklin Martin's "Fish", a co-release with Dutchmen Films, follows New Orleans high school students who overcome natural disaster to form a winning football team. The film, narrated by Fox NFL studio analyst and former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Bradshaw, opens there Sept. 5, followed by a regional expansion Sept. 19.
Marchetti negotiated the "Smother" deal with Vincent Reppert and Johnson Chan of Germie & Bucky Prods. and did the "Fish" deal with Nguyen Tran and Ilan Arboleda of the Institution.
- 8/17/2008
- by By Gregg Goldstein
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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