“Fresh Kills is a new crime thriller, directed by Jennifer Esposito, starring Esposito, Emily Bader, Odessa A’zion, Domenick Lombardozzi, Annabella Sciorra, Nicolas Cirillo and David Iacono, opening June 14, 2024 in select theaters:
“…late 1980’s Staten Island comes to vivid life through the eyes of ‘Rose Larusso’, an inquisitive girl who discovers her father is an emerging crime kingpin.
“Rose’s growing desire to break free from the path set before her soon threatens her existence and alienates her from her closest allies: her mother ‘Francine’, her sister ‘Connie’ and her aunt Christine’…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“…late 1980’s Staten Island comes to vivid life through the eyes of ‘Rose Larusso’, an inquisitive girl who discovers her father is an emerging crime kingpin.
“Rose’s growing desire to break free from the path set before her soon threatens her existence and alienates her from her closest allies: her mother ‘Francine’, her sister ‘Connie’ and her aunt Christine’…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 5/22/2024
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
V/H/S star Hannah Fierman, also known for her role in Chiller TV’s ‘Siren’, is featured in both the first look photos and the new look throwback inspired poster that have dropped for E.B. Hughes latest film Wrong Way Out starring SAG nominee Stelio Savante,and Randy McDowell.
Wrong Way Out’
Written and directed by former Nicholl Fellowships finalist E.B. Hughes, ‘Wrong Way Out’ was originally titled ‘24 Hours Of Mayhem’. The synopsis reads as follows: Set in a sleepy seashore town, following a gruesome murder, the crime thriller follows Max Crane (Stelio Savante), a tightly wound, grizzled detective, as he attempts to solve a crime with no leads, within 24 Hours.
Wrong Way Out’
Produced through the EBFilms banner by E.B Hughes, ‘Wrong Way Out’ is executive produced by Clementine Bentley and Michael Pagnotta. In addition to Savante, McDowell and Fierman, the rest of the cast also includes...
Wrong Way Out’
Written and directed by former Nicholl Fellowships finalist E.B. Hughes, ‘Wrong Way Out’ was originally titled ‘24 Hours Of Mayhem’. The synopsis reads as follows: Set in a sleepy seashore town, following a gruesome murder, the crime thriller follows Max Crane (Stelio Savante), a tightly wound, grizzled detective, as he attempts to solve a crime with no leads, within 24 Hours.
Wrong Way Out’
Produced through the EBFilms banner by E.B Hughes, ‘Wrong Way Out’ is executive produced by Clementine Bentley and Michael Pagnotta. In addition to Savante, McDowell and Fierman, the rest of the cast also includes...
- 5/18/2024
- by Martha O'Hara
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
"I'm trying to protect you!!" Quiver Distribution has debuted the official trailer for an emotional, intense family drama titled Fresh Kills, which is the feature directorial debut for New Yorker actress Jennifer Esposito. Esposito writes, directs, and stars in the film - a modern mafia story following the story of the loyal women of an organized crime family that dominated some of the boroughs of New York City in the late 20th century. The film is about a young woman named Rose Larusso, who learns her father is an emerging mafia kingpin. Rose’s growing desire to break free from the path set before her soon threatens her existence and alienates her from her closest allies: her mother Francine, her sister Connie, and her aunt Christine. Fresh Kills stars Emily Bader as Rose, Odessa A'zion, Jennifer Esposito, Domenick Lombardozzi, Nicholas Cirillo, and Annabella Sciorra. This played at a few film...
- 5/10/2024
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: Taron Egerton crime-thriller She Rides Shotgun quietly got underway last month with supporting cast set as Ana Sophia Heger (Life In Pieces), Rob Yang (Succession), John Carroll Lynch (Mindhunter), Odessa A’zion (Fresh Kills) and David Lyons (Truth Be Told).
Based on the novel by Jordan Harper and directed by Nick Rowland (Calm With Horses), pic is written by Harper with revisions by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (The Night House) and Rowland. Filming is expected to wrap later this month.
The production synopsis reads: “After years in prison, Nate (Egerton) has made some dangerous enemies, including the powerful criminal gang he worked for on the inside. Desperate for a fresh start, Nate cuts ties with his old crew on his release from prison, but the gang retaliates by putting a hit on his family. Nate picks up Polly, the shy eleven-year-old daughter he hardly knows and goes on the...
Based on the novel by Jordan Harper and directed by Nick Rowland (Calm With Horses), pic is written by Harper with revisions by Ben Collins and Luke Piotrowski (The Night House) and Rowland. Filming is expected to wrap later this month.
The production synopsis reads: “After years in prison, Nate (Egerton) has made some dangerous enemies, including the powerful criminal gang he worked for on the inside. Desperate for a fresh start, Nate cuts ties with his old crew on his release from prison, but the gang retaliates by putting a hit on his family. Nate picks up Polly, the shy eleven-year-old daughter he hardly knows and goes on the...
- 2/8/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Set to open on Feb. 7, the Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival enters its 39th year with high stakes. Organizers must re-create past successes while forging new paths to keep proceedings fresh, keeping their eye on a mission to education while celebrating the power of film.
This year’s edition of the coastal festival will open with the world premiere of Matt Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson’s “Madu,” a Disney documentary about a young Nigerian whose ballet performance went viral online. It concludes with the world premiere of “Chosen Family,” directed by and starring Heather Graham, who also plans to attend with the cast.
In between, Sbiff will host many noteworthy film screenings and events. There are more than 200 films in this year’s lineup and, per programming director Claudia Puig, 70% of them will celebrate their U.S. or world premieres at the festival. That amounts to more than 75 feature films and over 45 shorts,...
This year’s edition of the coastal festival will open with the world premiere of Matt Ogens and Joel Kachi Benson’s “Madu,” a Disney documentary about a young Nigerian whose ballet performance went viral online. It concludes with the world premiere of “Chosen Family,” directed by and starring Heather Graham, who also plans to attend with the cast.
In between, Sbiff will host many noteworthy film screenings and events. There are more than 200 films in this year’s lineup and, per programming director Claudia Puig, 70% of them will celebrate their U.S. or world premieres at the festival. That amounts to more than 75 feature films and over 45 shorts,...
- 2/7/2024
- by Zoe Hewitt
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Quiver Distribution announced today that they have acquired North American rights for the family crime drama Fresh Kills written and directed by Jennifer Esposito in her feature film debut. The film stars Esposito, Emily Bader, Odessa A’zion, Domenick Lombardozzi, and Annabella Sciorra. Quiver will release the film in theaters on May 17th.
Fresh Kills brings late 1980s Staten Island to vivid life through the lens of Rose Larusso (Bader), an inquisitive young girl who discovers her father (Lombardozzi) is an emerging mafia kingpin. Rose’s growing desire to break free from the path set before her soon threatens her existence and alienates her from her closest allies: her mother Francine (Esposito), her sister Connie (A’zion), and her aunt Christine (Sciorra).
“Fresh Kills is a brand new take on the classic mob movie” said Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman, who...
Fresh Kills brings late 1980s Staten Island to vivid life through the lens of Rose Larusso (Bader), an inquisitive young girl who discovers her father (Lombardozzi) is an emerging mafia kingpin. Rose’s growing desire to break free from the path set before her soon threatens her existence and alienates her from her closest allies: her mother Francine (Esposito), her sister Connie (A’zion), and her aunt Christine (Sciorra).
“Fresh Kills is a brand new take on the classic mob movie” said Quiver Distribution Co-Presidents Berry Meyerowitz and Jeff Sackman, who...
- 2/6/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Matt McCauley’s feature directorial debut, Undefiled, will only be released in theaters for two nights, starting on February 4th and February 10th at the Route 66 Theater in Webb City, Missouri.
Undefiled stars former MLB player Bradford Haynes (Stranger Things, Paradise City), Stelio Savante (Fresh Kills, Nefarious), Cory Kays (Looking For Andrew, Lily Is Here), Kalyn Wood (Wrath and Rituals), Sharonne Lanier (Pursuit Of Freedom, Son of The South), and Zach Sale (Ambitions, Miracles From Heaven).
In the film, “Struggling with an endless cycle of addiction, an aging Mitch Jennings finally gets his shot at professional baseball. But, taking that chance will mean turning his back on a team secret that may cost a young sex-trafficked victim her life.”
The screenings will include a meet and greet with the producers, director, and selective cast followed by a live Q&a session after the screening.
Tickets are available for direct purchase Here.
Undefiled stars former MLB player Bradford Haynes (Stranger Things, Paradise City), Stelio Savante (Fresh Kills, Nefarious), Cory Kays (Looking For Andrew, Lily Is Here), Kalyn Wood (Wrath and Rituals), Sharonne Lanier (Pursuit Of Freedom, Son of The South), and Zach Sale (Ambitions, Miracles From Heaven).
In the film, “Struggling with an endless cycle of addiction, an aging Mitch Jennings finally gets his shot at professional baseball. But, taking that chance will mean turning his back on a team secret that may cost a young sex-trafficked victim her life.”
The screenings will include a meet and greet with the producers, director, and selective cast followed by a live Q&a session after the screening.
Tickets are available for direct purchase Here.
- 1/14/2024
- by Kulwant Singh
- Cinema Blind
Following years of delays and pandemic restrictions, and now celebrating a post-strike awards season, what better way to kick off the 35th annual Palm Springs Intl. Film Festival than with a “fun and naughty film,” says festival director Lili Rodriguez.
Thea Sharrock’s “Wicked Little Letters” will enjoy its U.S. premiere Jan. 5 at the desert fest, followed by 179 films from 74 countries including 47 premieres, while showcasing a lineup of 40 international feature film Oscar submissions.
“The real excitement is that we’re back to a full-on festival with all pre-pandemic offerings, and 100% venue capacity. The moment we saw ‘Wicked Little Letters,’ we knew we needed it as our opener,” says Rodriguez.
Among films earning attention at Psiff include the world premieres of “A Look Through His Lens,” which details the life of Oscar-winning cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, and “All About the Levkoviches,” from debuting director Adam Breier. The event closes with “Ex-Husbands,...
Thea Sharrock’s “Wicked Little Letters” will enjoy its U.S. premiere Jan. 5 at the desert fest, followed by 179 films from 74 countries including 47 premieres, while showcasing a lineup of 40 international feature film Oscar submissions.
“The real excitement is that we’re back to a full-on festival with all pre-pandemic offerings, and 100% venue capacity. The moment we saw ‘Wicked Little Letters,’ we knew we needed it as our opener,” says Rodriguez.
Among films earning attention at Psiff include the world premieres of “A Look Through His Lens,” which details the life of Oscar-winning cinematographer Philippe Rousselot, and “All About the Levkoviches,” from debuting director Adam Breier. The event closes with “Ex-Husbands,...
- 1/2/2024
- by Nick Clement
- Variety Film + TV
In a cinematic landscape filled with talent, certain performances stand out. From the quiet intensity of Greta Lee in Past Lives to the commanding presence of Taraji P. Henson in The Color Purple, this collection of actors make up some of my favorite performances of the year of films I saw. Each actor brings a unique energy and emotional depth to their roles to not only define their characters but elevate them.
These are not in any particular order.
Greta Lee & Teo Yoo, Past Lives
Lee beautifully navigates the delicate emotional journey put forth in Celine Song’s script. She embodies Nora’s quiet longing with a subtlety, her expressive eyes and gentle smile hinting at the depths of unsaid feelings. When faced with the ghosts of the yesterday, Lee unleashes a rawness that both devastates and resonates, reminding us of the vulnerability it takes to confront the paths not taken.
These are not in any particular order.
Greta Lee & Teo Yoo, Past Lives
Lee beautifully navigates the delicate emotional journey put forth in Celine Song’s script. She embodies Nora’s quiet longing with a subtlety, her expressive eyes and gentle smile hinting at the depths of unsaid feelings. When faced with the ghosts of the yesterday, Lee unleashes a rawness that both devastates and resonates, reminding us of the vulnerability it takes to confront the paths not taken.
- 12/31/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Mob narratives seldom place women front and center, unless it’s in a flat-out comedy or campy TV movies like “Mafia Princess” and “Bella Mafia.” No stranger to the genre as an actress, Jennifer Esposito attempts to balance that ledger with her debut as writer-director, “Fresh Kills.”
This solid drama centers on a family not unlike “The Sopranos,” but with its patriarch mostly pushed to the background. The focus here is on wives and daughters, who must turn a blind eye to criminal doings from which they both benefit and suffer the consequences. Originally a Tribeca premiere, “Fresh Kills” has been traveling the festival circuit and should prove a viable item for streaming platforms and broadcasters.
After a framing sequence that fast-forwards to a later moment of crisis, we meet the Larussos in 1987 as they’re moving on up to a “better life” from their old Brooklyn one, taking over...
This solid drama centers on a family not unlike “The Sopranos,” but with its patriarch mostly pushed to the background. The focus here is on wives and daughters, who must turn a blind eye to criminal doings from which they both benefit and suffer the consequences. Originally a Tribeca premiere, “Fresh Kills” has been traveling the festival circuit and should prove a viable item for streaming platforms and broadcasters.
After a framing sequence that fast-forwards to a later moment of crisis, we meet the Larussos in 1987 as they’re moving on up to a “better life” from their old Brooklyn one, taking over...
- 12/10/2023
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene to Seen Podcast!
I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode, we’re talking to director, writer, producers, and actress Jennifer Esposito, where we talk about her career and her directorial debut Fresh Kills.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Jennifer Esposito is a Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice and Hollywood Foreign Press award recipient. She has appeared in over 60 films and television productions. She’s appeared in Crash by Paul Haggis, Summer of Sam by Spike Lee and Welcome To Collinwood, directed by The Russo Brothers. Her television work includes Spin City, Samantha Who, Blue Bloods, The Affair, The Boys, and Nora From Queens.
Jennifer makes her writing and directing debut with Fresh Kills, in which she also produced and plays a supporting role. She was also the first to incorporate NFTs as a fundraising tool for independent films.
I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode, we’re talking to director, writer, producers, and actress Jennifer Esposito, where we talk about her career and her directorial debut Fresh Kills.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Jennifer Esposito is a Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice and Hollywood Foreign Press award recipient. She has appeared in over 60 films and television productions. She’s appeared in Crash by Paul Haggis, Summer of Sam by Spike Lee and Welcome To Collinwood, directed by The Russo Brothers. Her television work includes Spin City, Samantha Who, Blue Bloods, The Affair, The Boys, and Nora From Queens.
Jennifer makes her writing and directing debut with Fresh Kills, in which she also produced and plays a supporting role. She was also the first to incorporate NFTs as a fundraising tool for independent films.
- 12/8/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Though the Red Sea Film Festival will feature a slew of films from the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region – including 11 feature films from Saudi Arabia – there is a rich roster of international fare set to launch locally from Jeddah.
Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition. He is particularly proud of the presence in competition of Indian-born auteur Tarsem Singh’s romancer “Dear Jassi,” the first film set in India by the flamboyant director of “The Cell,” and of Japanese master Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Venice prizewinner “Evil Does Not Exist.”
Peppered through various Red Sea sections are the Mena region premieres of other high-profile titles such as Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”; Belgian-based Moroccan duo Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah flashy third feature “Gangsta”; British director James Marsh’s biographical film about Irish playwright Samuel Beckett...
Kaleem Aftab, the festival’s director of international programming, says they received lots more submissions for this year’s third edition. He is particularly proud of the presence in competition of Indian-born auteur Tarsem Singh’s romancer “Dear Jassi,” the first film set in India by the flamboyant director of “The Cell,” and of Japanese master Ryusuke Hamaguchi’s Venice prizewinner “Evil Does Not Exist.”
Peppered through various Red Sea sections are the Mena region premieres of other high-profile titles such as Sofia Coppola’s “Priscilla”; Belgian-based Moroccan duo Adil El Arbi & Bilall Fallah flashy third feature “Gangsta”; British director James Marsh’s biographical film about Irish playwright Samuel Beckett...
- 11/30/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea Film Festival has announced a new batch of mostly international titles set to launch in its Festival Favorites and Treasures strands, including the international premiere of U.S. actor-turned-director Jennifer Esposito’s New York City mob drama “Fresh Kills.”
Inspired by Esposito’s upbringing in Staten Island, “Fresh Kills” – in which Esposito co-stars with Annabella Sciorra – bowed stateside at the Tribeca Festival in June.
Other international talents peppered throughout the Red Sea sections likely to be making the trek to Saudi include Anna Kendrick with her period crime drama “Woman of the Hour”; David Oyelowo, producer of high-profile soccer doc “Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story”; Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn for Swedish director Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch”; Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers of “Copa 71,” the story of the groundbreaking 1971 Women’s World Cup; and French writer-director Laetitia Colombani with her drama “The Braid.
Inspired by Esposito’s upbringing in Staten Island, “Fresh Kills” – in which Esposito co-stars with Annabella Sciorra – bowed stateside at the Tribeca Festival in June.
Other international talents peppered throughout the Red Sea sections likely to be making the trek to Saudi include Anna Kendrick with her period crime drama “Woman of the Hour”; David Oyelowo, producer of high-profile soccer doc “Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story”; Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn for Swedish director Niclas Larsson’s “Mother, Couch”; Serena and Venus Williams as executive producers of “Copa 71,” the story of the groundbreaking 1971 Women’s World Cup; and French writer-director Laetitia Colombani with her drama “The Braid.
- 11/9/2023
- by Nick Vivarelli
- Variety Film + TV
Anna Kendrick’s directorial debut Woman Of The Hour and family drama Mother Couch, starring Ewan McGregor and Ellen Burstyn, are headed to the third edition of Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea International Film Festival, running from November 30 to December 9 in the port city of Jeddah.
The titles will play in the Festival Favorites sidebar which was announced on Thursday alongside the event’s Red Sea: Treasures strand.
Kendrick directs and stars in Netflix-acquired drama Woman Of The Hour as a woman whose path crosses notorious serial killer Rodney Alcala, whilst in Niclas Larsson’s first film Mother Couch, McGregor plays a man whose mother squats the family furniture store.
Further films in the line-up – showcasing 21 buzzy festival titles from the last 12 months – include the David Oyelowo produced documentary Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story; Women’s World Cup doc Copa 71, executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills,...
The titles will play in the Festival Favorites sidebar which was announced on Thursday alongside the event’s Red Sea: Treasures strand.
Kendrick directs and stars in Netflix-acquired drama Woman Of The Hour as a woman whose path crosses notorious serial killer Rodney Alcala, whilst in Niclas Larsson’s first film Mother Couch, McGregor plays a man whose mother squats the family furniture store.
Further films in the line-up – showcasing 21 buzzy festival titles from the last 12 months – include the David Oyelowo produced documentary Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story; Women’s World Cup doc Copa 71, executive produced by Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Esposito’s Fresh Kills,...
- 11/9/2023
- by Melanie Goodfellow
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Writer, director Todd Turner’s film The December Cross starring Jennifer Esposito (Fresh Kills), Kellan Lutz (Twilight), Judd Hirsch (The Fablemans), Grace Van Dien (Stranger Things), Neal McDonough (Minority Report), Mila Harris (No Exit), and Stelio Savante (Infidel), has landed a SAG-AFTRA interim agreement to start principal photography in Kentucky.
The film is set in a town called Bethlehem, where border agents have just intercepted a coyote smuggling in a group of tired, desperate, and frightened refugees. There, an 11-year-old girl runs into a 7-year-old boy, Yosef, seeking refuge. Maya and Yosef become fast friends, and their ensuing adventure nearly kills them both but ends up warming the hearts of the townspeople with life lessons stretching far beyond their own borders.
Archstone Entertainment is securing world sales rights with Joshua Harris of Gala Media Capital Financing. Turner also serves as producer through Wonderstruck, alongside Gabrielle Almagor for...
The film is set in a town called Bethlehem, where border agents have just intercepted a coyote smuggling in a group of tired, desperate, and frightened refugees. There, an 11-year-old girl runs into a 7-year-old boy, Yosef, seeking refuge. Maya and Yosef become fast friends, and their ensuing adventure nearly kills them both but ends up warming the hearts of the townspeople with life lessons stretching far beyond their own borders.
Archstone Entertainment is securing world sales rights with Joshua Harris of Gala Media Capital Financing. Turner also serves as producer through Wonderstruck, alongside Gabrielle Almagor for...
- 11/3/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Jennifer Esposito, who accumulated around 70 credits as an actress in movies and series before making her debut as writer and director of Fresh Kills, has signed with Echo Lake Entertainment. The management company is tasked with helping her forge a new career path. When you have mortgaged your house to make her first film as Esposito did, it stands to reason you would not be happy thinking you got that out of your system, and go back to waiting for the phone to ring with acting jobs.
Echo Lake will work with WME, which reps her for writing and directing, and attorney Chris Tricarico, while Authentic continues to rep her for acting.
When most of us think of the wives of mobsters in the movies, we visualize those frumps who raised the kids and kept up those gaudy homes in Goodfellas. Esposito, who grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island...
Echo Lake will work with WME, which reps her for writing and directing, and attorney Chris Tricarico, while Authentic continues to rep her for acting.
When most of us think of the wives of mobsters in the movies, we visualize those frumps who raised the kids and kept up those gaudy homes in Goodfellas. Esposito, who grew up in Brooklyn and Staten Island...
- 10/31/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Michael C. Hall (Dexter) and Grace Caroline Currey (Fall) have joined Vera Farmiga (The Conjuring), Tim Blake Nelson (Captain America: Brave New World) and Simon Rex (Red Rocket) in true-crime biopic feature The Leader, based on the 1997 mass suicide of the religious group known as Heaven’s Gate.
The project has secured an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA.
Michael Gallagher (The Thinning) is directing from his original screenplay. The pic is produced by Cinemand Films (Funny Story) and Balcony 9 Productions (Bride Hard).
The Leader will chart the memorable true story of the 39 members of the UFO cult known as Heaven’s Gate who committed the largest mass suicide ever on American soil. The film tracks Nettles (Farmiga) and Applewhite (Nelson) as they develop the religion, build a devout following and face unforeseen conflict when the spaceship fails to arrive.
Hall will play a key devotee: a wealthy addict who...
The project has secured an interim agreement with SAG-AFTRA.
Michael Gallagher (The Thinning) is directing from his original screenplay. The pic is produced by Cinemand Films (Funny Story) and Balcony 9 Productions (Bride Hard).
The Leader will chart the memorable true story of the 39 members of the UFO cult known as Heaven’s Gate who committed the largest mass suicide ever on American soil. The film tracks Nettles (Farmiga) and Applewhite (Nelson) as they develop the religion, build a devout following and face unforeseen conflict when the spaceship fails to arrive.
Hall will play a key devotee: a wealthy addict who...
- 10/31/2023
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Kristian Mercado (Nuevo Rico) directed from a screenplay by Angela Bourassa (A Little Distracted).
The Exchange has boarded international sales rights to the romantic comedy If You Were The Last starring Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao and will launch AFM sales this week.
Kristian Mercado (Nuevo Rico) directed from a screenplay by Angela Bourassa (A Little Distracted) about a male and female astronaut stranded in their broken-down spaceship who argue over whether they should spend their remaining days as friends or something more.
The film just debuted in the US on the Peacock streaming platform and is produced by The Promise,...
The Exchange has boarded international sales rights to the romantic comedy If You Were The Last starring Anthony Mackie and Zoe Chao and will launch AFM sales this week.
Kristian Mercado (Nuevo Rico) directed from a screenplay by Angela Bourassa (A Little Distracted) about a male and female astronaut stranded in their broken-down spaceship who argue over whether they should spend their remaining days as friends or something more.
The film just debuted in the US on the Peacock streaming platform and is produced by The Promise,...
- 10/30/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Gritty drama premiered at Tribeca Festival.
The Exchange has boarded international sales to Jennifer Esposito’s debut feature Fresh Kills and will launch sales at AFM on the female-driven family story set in the world of organised crime.
The gritty drama, also written by, starring and co-produced by Esposito, premiered at 2023 Tribeca Festival and has had a strong run on the US festival circuit since.
It won the audience award for best narrative feature and an honorary prize for Excellence in Directing a Narrative Film from NY Women in Film & Television at Hamptons International Festival, in addition to the Best...
The Exchange has boarded international sales to Jennifer Esposito’s debut feature Fresh Kills and will launch sales at AFM on the female-driven family story set in the world of organised crime.
The gritty drama, also written by, starring and co-produced by Esposito, premiered at 2023 Tribeca Festival and has had a strong run on the US festival circuit since.
It won the audience award for best narrative feature and an honorary prize for Excellence in Directing a Narrative Film from NY Women in Film & Television at Hamptons International Festival, in addition to the Best...
- 10/24/2023
- by Rebecca Leffler
- ScreenDaily
Tonya Mantooth, CEO and artistic director of the San Diego International Film Festival, is keenly aware that film is a uniquely immersive medium with the power to connect people — even strangers. And that power will be evident at Sdiff’s 22nd edition, which will run in person Oct.18-22, with screenings at various venues in the San Diego area. The event will also feature panels, Q and A’s, filmmaker happy hours and more special programming.
The fest will open with Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” (pictured above), a comedy-drama starring Paul Giamatti, Domonic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as an unlikely trio bonding at a New England prep school over winter break.
“Alexander Payne really peels back the layers of the characters,” Mantooth says. “As each one unfolds, he does it in such a way that you laugh – it touches your heart, it makes you cry. But what...
The fest will open with Alexander Payne’s “The Holdovers” (pictured above), a comedy-drama starring Paul Giamatti, Domonic Sessa and Da’Vine Joy Randolph as an unlikely trio bonding at a New England prep school over winter break.
“Alexander Payne really peels back the layers of the characters,” Mantooth says. “As each one unfolds, he does it in such a way that you laugh – it touches your heart, it makes you cry. But what...
- 10/20/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
The 2023 Hamptons International Film Festival has unveiled the jury and audience awards for this year’s festival.
The lineup included opening night’s “Nyad” and Alex Gibney’s documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.” Todd Haynes, who received the Achievement in Directing Award, was in attendance for a Spotlight screening of “May December.”
The official Hiff Award for Best Narrative Feature was given to Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s “20,000 Species of Bees,” per the jury’s selection. The feature follows an eight-year-old girl and her grandmother over the course of a summer spent in a village known for beekeeping.
Joanna Arnow’s “The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed” was also recognized in the Best Narrative Feature category with a special mention.
Meanwhile, the Hiff Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to “Fresh Kills,” directed by Jennifer Esposito. The film, which premiered at 2023 Tribeca,...
The lineup included opening night’s “Nyad” and Alex Gibney’s documentary “In Restless Dreams: The Music of Paul Simon.” Todd Haynes, who received the Achievement in Directing Award, was in attendance for a Spotlight screening of “May December.”
The official Hiff Award for Best Narrative Feature was given to Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren’s “20,000 Species of Bees,” per the jury’s selection. The feature follows an eight-year-old girl and her grandmother over the course of a summer spent in a village known for beekeeping.
Joanna Arnow’s “The Feeling That the Time For Doing Something Has Passed” was also recognized in the Best Narrative Feature category with a special mention.
Meanwhile, the Hiff Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature went to “Fresh Kills,” directed by Jennifer Esposito. The film, which premiered at 2023 Tribeca,...
- 10/16/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
There were no clear Oscar signals coming out of the 31st Hamptons International Film Festival. Still, there were some admirable stats for the eastern Long Island event that’s a favorite with filmmakers and locals. This year Hiff screened a lineup of films that were 49% female-directed and represented 42 countries from around the world. The festival had a record number of submissions this year and screened 72 features and 46 shorts with eight world premieres, three North American premieres, 12 US premieres, 13 East Coast premieres, and seven New York premieres.
SEEJennifer Esposito (‘Fresh Kills’): First-time director brings feminist mob movie to 31st Hamptons Film Festival
Best Narrative Film went to “20,000 Species Of Bees,” directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (watch the trailer above). “Tell Them You Love Me,” directed by Nick August-Perna, nabbed the Award for Best Documentary Feature. Hiff audiences selected narrative feature “Fresh Kills,” by first time director Jennifer Esposito, and documentary feature “Angel Applicant,...
SEEJennifer Esposito (‘Fresh Kills’): First-time director brings feminist mob movie to 31st Hamptons Film Festival
Best Narrative Film went to “20,000 Species Of Bees,” directed by Estibaliz Urresola Solaguren (watch the trailer above). “Tell Them You Love Me,” directed by Nick August-Perna, nabbed the Award for Best Documentary Feature. Hiff audiences selected narrative feature “Fresh Kills,” by first time director Jennifer Esposito, and documentary feature “Angel Applicant,...
- 10/14/2023
- by Bill McCuddy
- Gold Derby
Three filmmakers assessing the impact of 2023’s dual strikes took a less-than-upbeat tone, citing uncertainty about the state of SAG-AFTRA negotiations with the AMPTP and the ongoing threat posed by artificial intelligence.
While the WGA’s gains from its 146-day strike are noteworthy, producer Sam Bisbee acknowledged during a Hamptons International Film Festival panel, SAG-AFTRA “is an even bigger part of the equation.”
Bisbee, a producer of documentary Rule of Two Walls, was joined on the panel by Jennifer Esposito and Tonje Hessen Schei. Esposito, best known for her acting credits on The Affair, The Boys and many other series and movies, wrote, directed and stars in fest selection Fresh Kills. Hessen Schei directed current fest title Praying for Armageddon.
“The writers have been underpaid and really absent from the conversation for a very long time,” Esposito said. “The powers that be are making all of the money off the backs of these people.
While the WGA’s gains from its 146-day strike are noteworthy, producer Sam Bisbee acknowledged during a Hamptons International Film Festival panel, SAG-AFTRA “is an even bigger part of the equation.”
Bisbee, a producer of documentary Rule of Two Walls, was joined on the panel by Jennifer Esposito and Tonje Hessen Schei. Esposito, best known for her acting credits on The Affair, The Boys and many other series and movies, wrote, directed and stars in fest selection Fresh Kills. Hessen Schei directed current fest title Praying for Armageddon.
“The writers have been underpaid and really absent from the conversation for a very long time,” Esposito said. “The powers that be are making all of the money off the backs of these people.
- 10/11/2023
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Before Jane Campion, Kathryn Bigelow, Greta Gerwig, Ava DuVernay or Chloe Zhao, Jennifer Esposito thought about being a director. “I wanted to go to NYU film school. I couldn’t afford it but also back then there were no role models,” the actress-turned-first-time director told me. “No brilliant female directors or filmmakers, or so few it’s embarrassing,” she continued. “So I became an actress.” That decision didn’t hurt her. After debuting on a “Law and Order” she went on to a regular role on “Spin City” and then films like Spike Lee‘s “Summer of Sam” and Oscar-winning Best Picture “Crash.”
SEEExperts slugfest: Is ‘Maestro’ Bradley Cooper’s ticket to Oscar gold?
But a nagging story about growing up around gangster families in Staten Island kept haunting her. So she wrote and directed the mob drama “Fresh Kills” and is bringing it to the 31st Hamptons International Film Festival,...
SEEExperts slugfest: Is ‘Maestro’ Bradley Cooper’s ticket to Oscar gold?
But a nagging story about growing up around gangster families in Staten Island kept haunting her. So she wrote and directed the mob drama “Fresh Kills” and is bringing it to the 31st Hamptons International Film Festival,...
- 10/5/2023
- by Bill McCuddy
- Gold Derby
The feature directorial debut of Anna Zlokovic, the body horror film Appendage made its world debut at the SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, and now it’s set to receive a wider release through the Hulu streaming service on October 2nd. With that date less than a week away, we have the trailer embedded above to help you decide whether or not Appendage is a movie you’ll be watching this Halloween season. Check it out!
Scripted by Zlokovic, who also produced the film alongside Alex Familian and Katrina Kudlick, Appendage tells the following story: Hannah, a young fashion designer, seems fine on the surface, but secretly struggles with debilitating self-doubt. Soon these buried feelings begin to make Hannah physically sick and sprout into a ferocious growth on her body: The Appendage. As her health continues to decline, The Appendage begins to fuel her anxieties – her perceived lack of talent at work,...
Scripted by Zlokovic, who also produced the film alongside Alex Familian and Katrina Kudlick, Appendage tells the following story: Hannah, a young fashion designer, seems fine on the surface, but secretly struggles with debilitating self-doubt. Soon these buried feelings begin to make Hannah physically sick and sprout into a ferocious growth on her body: The Appendage. As her health continues to decline, The Appendage begins to fuel her anxieties – her perceived lack of talent at work,...
- 9/27/2023
- by Cody Hamman
- JoBlo.com
Black Women Animate studios has partnered with non-profit the Titmouse Foundation to help further the animation house’s goal of hiring 200 diverse animation professional by the end of 2025. Together, the organization and studio will launch Bwa’s Equity Excelerator program, which offers event series, online practicums and networking opportunities.
“Our Equity Excelerator is a tested, multi-pronged approach at solving for the lack of inclusion of Black and diverse talent in animation,” said Taylor K. Shaw, Bwa founder & CEO. “We remain at the forefront of creating access, and we’re excited for the continued innovation and opportunity our commitment to championing new voices will bring with the Equity Excelerator and the Titmouse Foundation.”
Since its inception five years ago, the female-owned Bwa has offered its services to Hulu, Netflix, Mattel, A&e, Warner Bros., Paramount and others. “It’s about time to start helping more Black women get in the door within the animation industry,...
“Our Equity Excelerator is a tested, multi-pronged approach at solving for the lack of inclusion of Black and diverse talent in animation,” said Taylor K. Shaw, Bwa founder & CEO. “We remain at the forefront of creating access, and we’re excited for the continued innovation and opportunity our commitment to championing new voices will bring with the Equity Excelerator and the Titmouse Foundation.”
Since its inception five years ago, the female-owned Bwa has offered its services to Hulu, Netflix, Mattel, A&e, Warner Bros., Paramount and others. “It’s about time to start helping more Black women get in the door within the animation industry,...
- 8/31/2023
- by McKinley Franklin, Jazz Tangcay and Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
Husslup, the talent discovery platform founded by industry executive and producer exec H Schuster, has established a number of initiatives designed to help writers and freelance creatives during the writers and actors strikes.
These include script development workshops, a trans creatives working group and a new AI hiring tool.
The Hussulp Script Development Workshops will help diverse writers develop spec scripts. Launching in September, it will see actors read the scripts to a small audience of members who will provide feedback. The first two scripts that will be read are Quick, Quick, Slow, a queer, two-step romantic comedy in the vein of Footloose-meets-Priscilla Queen of the Desert, by Jett Garrison and The Big Coconut, a feature by Mexican-American writer Randy Gordon-Gatica.
The readings will be executive produced by Samantha Sprecher, who spent 20 years at Billy Crystal’s production company and produced Jennifer Esposito’s debut feature Fresh Kills,...
These include script development workshops, a trans creatives working group and a new AI hiring tool.
The Hussulp Script Development Workshops will help diverse writers develop spec scripts. Launching in September, it will see actors read the scripts to a small audience of members who will provide feedback. The first two scripts that will be read are Quick, Quick, Slow, a queer, two-step romantic comedy in the vein of Footloose-meets-Priscilla Queen of the Desert, by Jett Garrison and The Big Coconut, a feature by Mexican-American writer Randy Gordon-Gatica.
The readings will be executive produced by Samantha Sprecher, who spent 20 years at Billy Crystal’s production company and produced Jennifer Esposito’s debut feature Fresh Kills,...
- 8/22/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Blue Bloods alum Jennifer Esposito has signed with WME.
The veteran Hollywood actor made her writing and directing debut this year with her 1980s-set mafia drama Fresh Kills, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Esposito wrote, produced and stars in the film, which features Annabella Sciorra and Domenick Lombardozzi.
Esposito, who played detective Jackie Curatola and Donnie Wahlberg’s partner for three seasons of CBS’ cop drama Blue Bloods, arrives at WME as she focused more on the writing and directing space by developing a slate of film and TV projects.
On NCIS, she played NCIS special agent Alexandra “Alex” Quinn, an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center before being lured back into the field as a federal agent.
As an actor, Jennifer is a SAG, Critics Choice, and Hollywood Foreign Press award winner. She has appeared in over 60 film and TV series,...
The veteran Hollywood actor made her writing and directing debut this year with her 1980s-set mafia drama Fresh Kills, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. Esposito wrote, produced and stars in the film, which features Annabella Sciorra and Domenick Lombardozzi.
Esposito, who played detective Jackie Curatola and Donnie Wahlberg’s partner for three seasons of CBS’ cop drama Blue Bloods, arrives at WME as she focused more on the writing and directing space by developing a slate of film and TV projects.
On NCIS, she played NCIS special agent Alexandra “Alex” Quinn, an experienced agent who left field work and became an instructor at the Law Enforcement Training Center before being lured back into the field as a federal agent.
As an actor, Jennifer is a SAG, Critics Choice, and Hollywood Foreign Press award winner. She has appeared in over 60 film and TV series,...
- 8/8/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Stars: Odessa A’zion, Michael Cooper Jr., Lizze Broadway, Dermot Mulroney, Mary Buss, Kenneisha Thompson, Ryan Francis | Written by Kevin Bachar | Directed by Jerren Lauder
The Inhabitant opens with a series of title cards, some over photos of the victims, telling the viewer the story of Lizzy Borden and allegations of possession and a family curse that seems to persist to the present day passed down among her female descendants.
Tara is stressed out. Her boyfriend Carl is planning on attending college at Stanford. Even worse, her home life is a mess, something not even her best friend Suzy can help her deal with. She’s had past issues with depression which has her parents Ben and Emily concerned. That’s not entirely her fault though, she has a newborn brother, and her mother’s sister Diane was committed to an institution for smothering a newborn and burying the body, and...
The Inhabitant opens with a series of title cards, some over photos of the victims, telling the viewer the story of Lizzy Borden and allegations of possession and a family curse that seems to persist to the present day passed down among her female descendants.
Tara is stressed out. Her boyfriend Carl is planning on attending college at Stanford. Even worse, her home life is a mess, something not even her best friend Suzy can help her deal with. She’s had past issues with depression which has her parents Ben and Emily concerned. That’s not entirely her fault though, she has a newborn brother, and her mother’s sister Diane was committed to an institution for smothering a newborn and burying the body, and...
- 8/4/2023
- by Jim Morazzini
- Nerdly
Casting director Russell Boast, producer Annabelle K. Frost, producer Nana Greenwald, writer-director Tamar Halpern, animator David Kuhn, producer-director Sheldon Larry and broadcast journalist May Lee have been hired as full-time faculty at Chapman University’s Dodge College of Film and Media Arts.
The new faculty members have worked on some of the most prominent film and television projects of the past 30 years, including the Harrison Ford starrer The Fugitive, David Fincher’s Seven and Disney’s Pocahontas. They will assume their new roles on Monday, Aug. 28, at the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
“This is an awe-inspiring group of teachers, whose range of experience adds a wealth of valuable knowledge to our already-impressive faculty,” said Stephen Galloway, dean of Dodge College. “I can only wish I’d had professors like this when I was in film school.”
Russell Boast, CSA, head of casting and co-head of the Screen Acting program at Dodge College,...
The new faculty members have worked on some of the most prominent film and television projects of the past 30 years, including the Harrison Ford starrer The Fugitive, David Fincher’s Seven and Disney’s Pocahontas. They will assume their new roles on Monday, Aug. 28, at the start of the 2023-24 academic year.
“This is an awe-inspiring group of teachers, whose range of experience adds a wealth of valuable knowledge to our already-impressive faculty,” said Stephen Galloway, dean of Dodge College. “I can only wish I’d had professors like this when I was in film school.”
Russell Boast, CSA, head of casting and co-head of the Screen Acting program at Dodge College,...
- 8/3/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for No Hard Feelings, I’m a Virgo and Downey’s Dream Cars.
Downey’s Dream Cars premiere
Robert Downey Jr. made a rare red carpet appearance to debut his new Max series at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on June 16.
Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey
No Hard Feelings premiere
Jennifer Lawrence joined director Gene Stupnitsky and co-stars Andrew Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Hasan Minhaj, Kyle Mooney, Scott MacArthur, Zach McClarnon, Jordan Mendoza, Matthew Nozska, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Amalia Yoo at the New York premiere of their new comedy on Tuesday.
John Phillips, Laura Benanti, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Gene Stupnitsky, Natalie Morales, Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Feldman and Matthew Broderick Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Feldman
I’m a Virgo premiere
Stars Jharrel Jerome, Brett Gray,...
Downey’s Dream Cars premiere
Robert Downey Jr. made a rare red carpet appearance to debut his new Max series at the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles on June 16.
Robert Downey Jr. and Susan Downey
No Hard Feelings premiere
Jennifer Lawrence joined director Gene Stupnitsky and co-stars Andrew Feldman, Matthew Broderick, Laura Benanti, Natalie Morales, Hasan Minhaj, Kyle Mooney, Scott MacArthur, Zach McClarnon, Jordan Mendoza, Matthew Nozska, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Amalia Yoo at the New York premiere of their new comedy on Tuesday.
John Phillips, Laura Benanti, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Gene Stupnitsky, Natalie Morales, Jennifer Lawrence, Andrew Feldman and Matthew Broderick Jennifer Lawrence and Andrew Feldman
I’m a Virgo premiere
Stars Jharrel Jerome, Brett Gray,...
- 6/23/2023
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Robert Evans claims to have told Francis Ford Coppola, after an initial private screening of The Godfather, “You shot a saga, but you turned in a trailer.” Unfortunately, Jennifer Esposito’s directorial debut Fresh Kills suffers the same fate, cramming a series’ worth of material into a sweeping feature film. In Fresh Kills, Staten Island, a beautiful suburb that stands just across the water from the city and not far from the infamous landfill, the Larusso family is about living the good life and moving to safety. Patriarch Joe (Domenick Lombardozzi) and wife Francine (Esposito) attempt to shield their daughters Rose and Connie from the family business. There are always little tells, and on moving day the girls discover a box of white powder in the moving van––leading Joe to discipline a foot soldier who later turns up dead.
Like Meadow Soprano before her, Connie (played in later passages...
Like Meadow Soprano before her, Connie (played in later passages...
- 6/20/2023
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
New York based actor, producer, filmmaker and former Capetonian – Stelio Savante – has joined thousands of South Africans in celebrating the South African Supreme Court’s ruling on citizenship. The court summary declared that it was constitutionally invalid for South Africans to lose their citizenship when acquiring those from other nations. The ruling comes after the Democratic Alliance (Da) appealed a high court order that originally dismissed the party’s application that the legislation was inconsistent with the South African constitution. However this new ruling reinstated Sa citizenship for all those who lost it.
Stelio Savante B – Photo Credit – Gene Silvers
Savante – who has 135 international credits to his name – described the elation that he and other South Africans were experiencing – “I gratefully wake to celebrate with the tens of thousands of fellow South Africans who’d unnecessarily and inadvertently been deprived of their citizenship courtesy of a flawed and contradictory law that violated international human rights.
Stelio Savante B – Photo Credit – Gene Silvers
Savante – who has 135 international credits to his name – described the elation that he and other South Africans were experiencing – “I gratefully wake to celebrate with the tens of thousands of fellow South Africans who’d unnecessarily and inadvertently been deprived of their citizenship courtesy of a flawed and contradictory law that violated international human rights.
- 6/18/2023
- by Movies Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid Magazine - Movies
Watch the canon of classic American mob movies, and you’ll be constantly reminded that families — both kinds of them — stick together. The Vito Corleones and Tony Sopranos of the world are quick to justify the formation of their crime organizations by saying that Italians had to look out for each other when they immigrated to this country with nothing. And they’ll defend their continued shady dealings by saying that they do it all for their wives and children. Crime might be the lifeblood of their communities, but what really matters (in their view) is that mob families always take care of each other.
Of course, the stories never end as happily as they begin. The sacred bonds of family rarely survive the stresses posed by greed, law enforcement, and the massive egos this line of work attracts. Sometimes, all it takes is a guy named Big Sam making...
Of course, the stories never end as happily as they begin. The sacred bonds of family rarely survive the stresses posed by greed, law enforcement, and the massive egos this line of work attracts. Sometimes, all it takes is a guy named Big Sam making...
- 6/17/2023
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Jennifer Esposito discussed her new movie Fresh Kills, which she wrote and directed, in her new exclusive uInterview. The film is set to premiere this week at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
The movie features a crime family living in Staten Island, New York, and the two daughters of the family, Connie and Rose, and how the area they live in affects them seen through a feminist viewpoint. Esposito not only created the movie herself but also stars in it as Francine, who is the mother of the two girls.
She explained to uInterview Founder Erik Meers, how her childhood connects to the film.
“I grew up around some very tough young women and it stayed with me, it just stayed with me and I didn’t know anything else really,” she said. “But there was something more about the women that seemed more rageful and, like I said,...
The movie features a crime family living in Staten Island, New York, and the two daughters of the family, Connie and Rose, and how the area they live in affects them seen through a feminist viewpoint. Esposito not only created the movie herself but also stars in it as Francine, who is the mother of the two girls.
She explained to uInterview Founder Erik Meers, how her childhood connects to the film.
“I grew up around some very tough young women and it stayed with me, it just stayed with me and I didn’t know anything else really,” she said. “But there was something more about the women that seemed more rageful and, like I said,...
- 6/12/2023
- by Nina Hauswirth
- Uinterview
Jennifer Esposito remembers being asked to audition for “The Sopranos” more than once. She declined each time.
“I chose to not go up for it when they would call me in because it was like, ‘I can’t relive this,’” Esposito recalls. “The only thing that used to make me crazy about the show when I did watch it was the character of Meadow because she was very nice. The girls I grew up around wanted to kill me, wanted to kill me every day. So it was Ptsd.”
Esposito grew up among organized crime on Staten Island. “Staten Island is the same Staten Island from when I left when I was 18 years old,” says the 50-year-old actor, whose credits span from television’s “Spin City” and “Blue Bloods” to the Oscar-winning “Crash.” “It’s still the same place. You need to understand that nothing leaves this island. It’s...
“I chose to not go up for it when they would call me in because it was like, ‘I can’t relive this,’” Esposito recalls. “The only thing that used to make me crazy about the show when I did watch it was the character of Meadow because she was very nice. The girls I grew up around wanted to kill me, wanted to kill me every day. So it was Ptsd.”
Esposito grew up among organized crime on Staten Island. “Staten Island is the same Staten Island from when I left when I was 18 years old,” says the 50-year-old actor, whose credits span from television’s “Spin City” and “Blue Bloods” to the Oscar-winning “Crash.” “It’s still the same place. You need to understand that nothing leaves this island. It’s...
- 6/5/2023
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
For more than 20 years, the Tribeca Festival has given up-and-coming directors a star-studded New York City showcase. This year, though, the fest is offering well-known actors a chance to show up as directors. Michael Shannon, David Duchovny, Chelsea Peretti, Jennifer Esposito, John Slattery, and partners Lily Rabe and Hamish Linklater all directed movies that will world premiere there, with Rabe and Linklater, Shannon, Peretti and Esposito making their feature directorial debuts.
In addition to those selections, Tribeca will feature the North American and New York premieres, respectively, of Steve Buscemi’s The Listener, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and Randall Park’s Shortcomings, which debuted at Sundance. And the festival will close with a 30th anniversary screening of A Bronx Tale, the directorial debut of Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro.
While Tribeca didn’t set out to showcase all these actor-directed films, festival director and...
In addition to those selections, Tribeca will feature the North American and New York premieres, respectively, of Steve Buscemi’s The Listener, which had its world premiere at the 2022 Venice Film Festival, and Randall Park’s Shortcomings, which debuted at Sundance. And the festival will close with a 30th anniversary screening of A Bronx Tale, the directorial debut of Tribeca co-founder Robert De Niro.
While Tribeca didn’t set out to showcase all these actor-directed films, festival director and...
- 6/5/2023
- by Hilary Lewis
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A Great Divide, a anti-Asian racism drama that stars Ken Jeong, Jae Suh Park and Emerson Min, is set to open the competitive program for Geena Davis’ Bentonville Film Festival, running June 13-18.
The feature directorial debut of Emmy-winning commercial and short film director Jean Shim, which also star Miya Cech in a lead role, will get a world premiere during the ninth edition of the Bentonville, Arkansas festival. A Great Divide follows a Korean-American family that leaves the Bay Area for a fresh start in rural Wyoming after experiencing a devastating loss.
Also getting a first look at Bentonville is director R. J. Daniel Hanna’s Hard Miles, which dramatizes the true story of a youth prison social worker who took a cycling team comprising teenage inmates on a transformative 1,000-mile ride. The film, written by Hanna and Christian Sander, stars Matthew Modine, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, Jahking Guillory, Jackson Kelly,...
The feature directorial debut of Emmy-winning commercial and short film director Jean Shim, which also star Miya Cech in a lead role, will get a world premiere during the ninth edition of the Bentonville, Arkansas festival. A Great Divide follows a Korean-American family that leaves the Bay Area for a fresh start in rural Wyoming after experiencing a devastating loss.
Also getting a first look at Bentonville is director R. J. Daniel Hanna’s Hard Miles, which dramatizes the true story of a youth prison social worker who took a cycling team comprising teenage inmates on a transformative 1,000-mile ride. The film, written by Hanna and Christian Sander, stars Matthew Modine, Cynthia Kaye McWilliams, Jahking Guillory, Jackson Kelly,...
- 5/9/2023
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Clockwise from top left: Downtown Owl, Bucky F*cking Dent, First Time Female Director and Eric Larue Photo: Courtesy of Tribeca Film Festival Tribeca Film Festival has announced its feature film line-up for this year's festival, which will run from June 7 to 18.
The programme includes 109 features from 36 countries, including 93 world premieres. There are 43 first-time directors, 41% have been directed by women and 36% are by Bipoc filmmakers.
Among the notable names this year is Mad Men star John Slattery, who will bring Maggie Moore(s) - his first feature as a director since 2014's God's Pocket. David Duchovny's Bucky F*cking Dent will also have its world premiere along with Michael Shannon's directorial debut Eric Larue. Other actors stepping behind the camera, include Parks and Recreation's Chelsea Peretti with the aptly named First Time Female Director and Jennifer Esposito, who makes her debut with organised crime-oriented Fresh Kills. Dowtown Owl,...
The programme includes 109 features from 36 countries, including 93 world premieres. There are 43 first-time directors, 41% have been directed by women and 36% are by Bipoc filmmakers.
Among the notable names this year is Mad Men star John Slattery, who will bring Maggie Moore(s) - his first feature as a director since 2014's God's Pocket. David Duchovny's Bucky F*cking Dent will also have its world premiere along with Michael Shannon's directorial debut Eric Larue. Other actors stepping behind the camera, include Parks and Recreation's Chelsea Peretti with the aptly named First Time Female Director and Jennifer Esposito, who makes her debut with organised crime-oriented Fresh Kills. Dowtown Owl,...
- 4/18/2023
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The 2023 Tribeca Festival feature film lineup has been unveiled.
This year’s festival takes place June 7 — 18 and includes a range of feature narrative, documentary, and animated films. The 2023 Tribeca Festival launches 109 feature films from 127 filmmakers across 36 countries, with 93 world premieres, one international premiere, eight North American premieres, one U.S. premiere, and six New York premieres.
There are 43 first-time directors and 29 directors returning to Tribeca with their latest projects. A total of 41 percent of all feature films are directed by women and, for the first time, more than half of competition feature films are directed by women at 68 percent. Additionally, 36 percent of feature films are directed by Bipoc filmmakers, including two Indigenous filmmakers.
This season, it’s all about the actor-director, with films from a slew of A-list stars behind the camera. Highlights include the world premieres of Chelsea Peretti’s meta-comedy “First Time Female Director” and John Slattery’s...
This year’s festival takes place June 7 — 18 and includes a range of feature narrative, documentary, and animated films. The 2023 Tribeca Festival launches 109 feature films from 127 filmmakers across 36 countries, with 93 world premieres, one international premiere, eight North American premieres, one U.S. premiere, and six New York premieres.
There are 43 first-time directors and 29 directors returning to Tribeca with their latest projects. A total of 41 percent of all feature films are directed by women and, for the first time, more than half of competition feature films are directed by women at 68 percent. Additionally, 36 percent of feature films are directed by Bipoc filmmakers, including two Indigenous filmmakers.
This season, it’s all about the actor-director, with films from a slew of A-list stars behind the camera. Highlights include the world premieres of Chelsea Peretti’s meta-comedy “First Time Female Director” and John Slattery’s...
- 4/18/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Alice Troughton’s The Lesson screening in Spotlight.
For the first time more than half of Tribeca Festival’s competition selections have been directed by women, the festival said as it announced the entire line-up on Tuesday.
Some 19 films or 68% of the 28-strong competition line-up hail from women, while 39 or 36% are directed by Bipoc filmmakers, including two Indigenous filmmakers. Overall 109 features will screen at the New York festival from June 7-18.
US Narrative Competition selections include world premieres of Shelly Yo’s Smoking Tigers, about a Korean American girl navigating an elite high school, and Monica Sorelle’s portrait of...
For the first time more than half of Tribeca Festival’s competition selections have been directed by women, the festival said as it announced the entire line-up on Tuesday.
Some 19 films or 68% of the 28-strong competition line-up hail from women, while 39 or 36% are directed by Bipoc filmmakers, including two Indigenous filmmakers. Overall 109 features will screen at the New York festival from June 7-18.
US Narrative Competition selections include world premieres of Shelly Yo’s Smoking Tigers, about a Korean American girl navigating an elite high school, and Monica Sorelle’s portrait of...
- 4/18/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Exclusive: Annabella Sciorra (The Sopranos) has joined the cast of the Paramount+ series Tulsa King from executive producers Taylor Sheridan and Terence Winter, who also serves as writer and showrunner.
She will play Joanne, Dwight’s (Sylvester Stallone) younger sister who lives in Brooklyn. Sciorra and Stallone previously co-starred in the James Mangold film Cop Land released in 1997.
Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone) after he is released from prison after 25 years and is unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, Jay Will, A.C. Peterson with Garrett Hedlund,...
She will play Joanne, Dwight’s (Sylvester Stallone) younger sister who lives in Brooklyn. Sciorra and Stallone previously co-starred in the James Mangold film Cop Land released in 1997.
Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone) after he is released from prison after 25 years and is unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Okla. Realizing that his mob family may not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a crew from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
Andrea Savage, Martin Starr, Max Casella, Domenick Lombardozzi, Vincent Piazza, Jay Will, A.C. Peterson with Garrett Hedlund,...
- 8/15/2022
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Max Casella (The Tender Bar), Domenick Lombardozzi (The Irishman), Vincent Piazza (Boardwalk Empire), and newcomer Jay Will (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) have been cast opposite lead Sylvester Stallone in Tulsa King (working title), Paramount+’s new series created by Yellowstone‘s Taylor Sheridan, with The Sopranos alum Terence Winter at the helm as executive producer, writer and showrunner.
Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), who, as he’s released from prison after 25 years, is unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Ok. Realizing that his mob family might not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
2022 Paramount+ Pilots & Series Orders
Casella will play Armand Truisi,...
Produced by MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios, Tulsa King follows New York mafia capo Dwight “The General” Manfredi (Stallone), who, as he’s released from prison after 25 years, is unceremoniously exiled by his boss to set up shop in Tulsa, Ok. Realizing that his mob family might not have his best interests in mind, Dwight slowly builds a “crew” from a group of unlikely characters to help him establish a new criminal empire in a place that to him might as well be another planet.
2022 Paramount+ Pilots & Series Orders
Casella will play Armand Truisi,...
- 3/24/2022
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Odessa A’zion (Grand Army) and Emily Bader (Paranormal Activity) will star in Fresh Kills along with Annabella Sciorra (Blue Bloods). Fresh Kills is the upcoming feature film written, directed, and also starring actress Jennifer Esposito (Summer of Sam).
In a groundbreaking departure from traditional film financing, the Fresh Kills production will be financed by an offering on the Upstream Exchange, which today announced a $3.5 million Initial Public Offering “IPO” of securities by Fresh Kills, Inc. Fresh Kills intends to be the first feature film financed and traded by a global group of fan investors via this first-of-its kind IPO on Upstream – the revolutionary Ethereum-powered digital stock exchange powered by Horizon Fintex (Horizon) and Merj Exchange Limited (Merj).
Fresh Kills is a gripping drama that tells the story of the loyal women of an organized crime family that dominated some of the boroughs of New York City in the late 20th century.
In a groundbreaking departure from traditional film financing, the Fresh Kills production will be financed by an offering on the Upstream Exchange, which today announced a $3.5 million Initial Public Offering “IPO” of securities by Fresh Kills, Inc. Fresh Kills intends to be the first feature film financed and traded by a global group of fan investors via this first-of-its kind IPO on Upstream – the revolutionary Ethereum-powered digital stock exchange powered by Horizon Fintex (Horizon) and Merj Exchange Limited (Merj).
Fresh Kills is a gripping drama that tells the story of the loyal women of an organized crime family that dominated some of the boroughs of New York City in the late 20th century.
- 12/13/2021
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
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