Automatik, the production company behind “La La Land,” is merging with Range Media Players, TheWrap has confirmed.
As part of the merger, Automatik executives Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger have been named partners and co-presidents of film and production at Range.
Kavanaugh-Jones and Berger have over the last decade produced 70 films and television shows, with the likes of Damien Chazelle, Jeff Nichols, Alma Har’el, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Karyn Kusama, Nia DaCosta, Gia Coppola, Michael Pearce and Cory Finley.
Berger was nominated for an Oscar and won Golden Globe, BAFTA and PGA awards in 2017 for Damien Chazelle’s $440 million-grossing “La La Land.” Kavanaugh-Jones and Berger also won an Emmy for Corey Finley’s Hugh Jackman-starring public education-set thriller, “Bad Education.”
Automatik will bring a slew of projects over to Range Media Players, including Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy for New Regency and...
As part of the merger, Automatik executives Brian Kavanaugh-Jones and Fred Berger have been named partners and co-presidents of film and production at Range.
Kavanaugh-Jones and Berger have over the last decade produced 70 films and television shows, with the likes of Damien Chazelle, Jeff Nichols, Alma Har’el, James Wan, Leigh Whannell, Karyn Kusama, Nia DaCosta, Gia Coppola, Michael Pearce and Cory Finley.
Berger was nominated for an Oscar and won Golden Globe, BAFTA and PGA awards in 2017 for Damien Chazelle’s $440 million-grossing “La La Land.” Kavanaugh-Jones and Berger also won an Emmy for Corey Finley’s Hugh Jackman-starring public education-set thriller, “Bad Education.”
Automatik will bring a slew of projects over to Range Media Players, including Jeff Nichols’ “The Bikeriders” starring Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy for New Regency and...
- 6/20/2023
- by Scott Mendelson
- The Wrap
Exclusive: Annapurna has hired Picturestart’s former EVP, Shayne Fiske Goldner as EVP of Physical Production.
She replaces David Wolkis who is leaving the studio as their Head of Physical Production for TV and film.
Meanwhile, Skye Optican has also been promoted to Creative Director of International Development and Production.
Goldner will oversee all aspects of production management for Annapurna’s vast slate of film and television programming. Director of production Skye Caruso will continue to work for the production department, directly reporting to Goldner. Prior to joining Annapurna, Goldner worked at Picturestart, where she oversaw production on projects, including the 2022 Sundance Audience Award Winner Cha Cha Real Smooth and the Netflix Original, Luckiest Girl Alive, starring Mila Kunis.
Goldner has served in executive roles for companies such as Participant – where she worked on Academy Award Best Picture winners, Green Book and Spotlight, Oscar winner Roma and Oscar winner A Fantastic Woman,...
She replaces David Wolkis who is leaving the studio as their Head of Physical Production for TV and film.
Meanwhile, Skye Optican has also been promoted to Creative Director of International Development and Production.
Goldner will oversee all aspects of production management for Annapurna’s vast slate of film and television programming. Director of production Skye Caruso will continue to work for the production department, directly reporting to Goldner. Prior to joining Annapurna, Goldner worked at Picturestart, where she oversaw production on projects, including the 2022 Sundance Audience Award Winner Cha Cha Real Smooth and the Netflix Original, Luckiest Girl Alive, starring Mila Kunis.
Goldner has served in executive roles for companies such as Participant – where she worked on Academy Award Best Picture winners, Green Book and Spotlight, Oscar winner Roma and Oscar winner A Fantastic Woman,...
- 1/25/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Former Disney animation execs Robert Baird and Andrew Millstein have joined Megan Ellison’s Annapurna to establish and co-lead an Animation division at the independent studio.
The first film set for release via Annapurna’s new division is Nimona, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane and produced by Julie Zackary and Karen Ryan. The film set for release on Netflix next year follows Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) who is the only person that can help Knight Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) to prove his innocence, when he is framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
Baird and Millstein previously headed Fox/Disney’s Blue Sky Studios, where they led over 500 filmmakers and were responsible for the development and production of Blue Sky’s feature animation slate. Millstein also previously served as President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, with the company during his tenure releasing such blockbuster hits as Big Hero 6,...
The first film set for release via Annapurna’s new division is Nimona, directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane and produced by Julie Zackary and Karen Ryan. The film set for release on Netflix next year follows Nimona (Chloë Grace Moretz) who is the only person that can help Knight Ballister Boldheart (Riz Ahmed) to prove his innocence, when he is framed for a crime he didn’t commit.
Baird and Millstein previously headed Fox/Disney’s Blue Sky Studios, where they led over 500 filmmakers and were responsible for the development and production of Blue Sky’s feature animation slate. Millstein also previously served as President of Walt Disney Animation Studios, with the company during his tenure releasing such blockbuster hits as Big Hero 6,...
- 12/1/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“’Bad Education’ is a tragedy that takes place on a really small stage,” says composer Michael Abels about the HBO film. In our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above), he continues, “We think of schools as being smaller than they actually are. The director Corey Finley was not afraid to play a scene dry. But when there is music, the music really tells the story. There are a lot of sequences in the film where there isn’t much dialogue. It’s just visuals and music telling the story.”
The TV movie stars Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney as the corrupt educators. Abels explains, “The film is based on a true story of a pretty large school embezzlement scandal that took place in 2003 on Long Island. It doesn’t sound like your first choice of a story for a film, but watching the way the story unravels is what makes the film so amazing.
The TV movie stars Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney as the corrupt educators. Abels explains, “The film is based on a true story of a pretty large school embezzlement scandal that took place in 2003 on Long Island. It doesn’t sound like your first choice of a story for a film, but watching the way the story unravels is what makes the film so amazing.
- 7/1/2020
- by Matt Noble
- Gold Derby
Corey Finley had the Sundance experience that indie filmmakers dream of when his feature debut, Thoroughbreds, sold to Focus Features for a $5 million price tag. As a part of Finley's search for a sophomore effort, his agent sent him Bad Education, Mike Makowsky's Black List script about the fall of a Long Island school superintendent, Frank Tassone, at the center of the largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history.
The jump from indie teen thriller to a white-collar true crime might not seem logical, but reading the script, Finley saw it as the right fit. "I know ...
The jump from indie teen thriller to a white-collar true crime might not seem logical, but reading the script, Finley saw it as the right fit. "I know ...
- 6/24/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Corey Finley had the Sundance experience that indie filmmakers dream of when his feature debut, Thoroughbreds, sold to Focus Features for a $5 million price tag. As a part of Finley's search for a sophomore effort, his agent sent him Bad Education, Mike Makowsky's Black List script about the fall of a Long Island school superintendent, Frank Tassone, at the center of the largest public school embezzlement scandal in American history.
The jump from indie teen thriller to a white-collar true crime might not seem logical, but reading the script, Finley saw it as the right fit. "I know ...
The jump from indie teen thriller to a white-collar true crime might not seem logical, but reading the script, Finley saw it as the right fit. "I know ...
- 6/24/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to paralyze New York City, the future of Broadway remains unknown.
The Broadway League announced earlier this month that theaters would remain closed at least through June 7.
If they stick with that date, it looks like the producers of the upcoming revival of “The Music Man” plan to start rehearsals three weeks later.
“I speak with [producer] Scott Rudin every other day and we’re due to start rehearsals on June 29 and that hasn’t changed,” Hugh Jackman, who is set to star in the production with Sutton Foster, says on Wednesday’s episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast “The Big Ticket.” “Our first preview is September 15. But of course, we’ll have to see what happens. But at present, that’s still the plan.”
Jackman, who has won two Tonys and hosted Broadway’s biggest night four times, notes that 16 productions were supposed to...
The Broadway League announced earlier this month that theaters would remain closed at least through June 7.
If they stick with that date, it looks like the producers of the upcoming revival of “The Music Man” plan to start rehearsals three weeks later.
“I speak with [producer] Scott Rudin every other day and we’re due to start rehearsals on June 29 and that hasn’t changed,” Hugh Jackman, who is set to star in the production with Sutton Foster, says on Wednesday’s episode of the Variety and iHeart podcast “The Big Ticket.” “Our first preview is September 15. But of course, we’ll have to see what happens. But at present, that’s still the plan.”
Jackman, who has won two Tonys and hosted Broadway’s biggest night four times, notes that 16 productions were supposed to...
- 4/22/2020
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
The Cannes Film Festival competition began today with the premiere of Jim Jarmusch’s “The Dead Don’t Die,” but top North American distributors can’t afford to be distracted. They serve a market in which only the most carefully calibrated selections will thrive — and those who hesitate will almost certainly lose to the streaming buyers. With some of the best stuff already bought, theatrical distributors are forced to to look toward films that have yet to be shot.
Before the festival, HBO Sports scooped up “Diego Maradona,” British documentarian Asif Kapadia’s follow-up to Oscar-winning Cannes hit “Amy.” And after a 20-year symbiotic relationship, Spc acquired Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain & Glory” at the script stage two years ago, which now looks like an early contender for top prizes. Spc now has rights to all his films, and will book repertory Almodovar tributes in many cities around the film’s October opening.
Before the festival, HBO Sports scooped up “Diego Maradona,” British documentarian Asif Kapadia’s follow-up to Oscar-winning Cannes hit “Amy.” And after a 20-year symbiotic relationship, Spc acquired Spanish auteur Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain & Glory” at the script stage two years ago, which now looks like an early contender for top prizes. Spc now has rights to all his films, and will book repertory Almodovar tributes in many cities around the film’s October opening.
- 5/14/2019
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
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