Exclusive: The Essential Film Group, under the chairmanship of former Sf Studios exec Rasmus Ramstad, is launching in Cannes with a newly minted international sales division Essential Films International and the Essential Film Fund.
In addition, the group has unveiled the expansion of Sarke Studios, its Tbilisi-based production facility, which it hopes will make the group a one stop shop for finance, production, post and sales.
Appointed to lead the newly formed sales agency, Essential Films International, are veteran sales executives James Norrie and Nina Kolokouri. Norrie has held leadership roles at Icon, Capitol Films and together with Kolokouri at Salt and most recently Amp. Kolokouri, in addition to her sales experience has spearheaded all business operations and financial closings for close to a decade.
Essential Film Group is also expanding its in-house production slate, together with plans for more co- production partnerships. Notable projects in development include an Ashley Miller-penned script as well as [In]Fusion, a sci-fi thriller about the future of AI; the self-funded production is currently out for casting and is due to shoot at the company’s Tbilisi studios.
Under the leadership of Irakli Chikvaidze, Head of Production at Sarke Studios, the company’s production wing has had significant upgrades to production facilities and its backlot space.
“It’s an exciting operation we’re building at Essential and a pleasure to have the experience of a sales team that includes James Norrie at the helm,” said Ramstad, Chairman at Essential Film Group. Norwegian vet Ramstad is the former Sf Studios CEO.
“With our investment board, we’ve structured a 3-5 year plan that includes establishing the Essential Film Fund, and developing our sales strategy,” said Andy Thompson, Partner & Senior Executive at Essential Film Group. “I have been consistently impressed with James and Nina’s work since our collaboration during their tenure at Salt. This partnership, together with our established production business, enables us to create additional opportunities for collaborating with talented and experienced producers at all levels of production.”
“We are thrilled to be joining the Essential family,” said Norrie. “It’s extremely rare for a sales agency to have the weight of a robust film fund, an established production company and its own studio/production base. This, together with a team with so much ambition and experience under one roof makes it feel like the sky is the limit”.
In addition, the group has unveiled the expansion of Sarke Studios, its Tbilisi-based production facility, which it hopes will make the group a one stop shop for finance, production, post and sales.
Appointed to lead the newly formed sales agency, Essential Films International, are veteran sales executives James Norrie and Nina Kolokouri. Norrie has held leadership roles at Icon, Capitol Films and together with Kolokouri at Salt and most recently Amp. Kolokouri, in addition to her sales experience has spearheaded all business operations and financial closings for close to a decade.
Essential Film Group is also expanding its in-house production slate, together with plans for more co- production partnerships. Notable projects in development include an Ashley Miller-penned script as well as [In]Fusion, a sci-fi thriller about the future of AI; the self-funded production is currently out for casting and is due to shoot at the company’s Tbilisi studios.
Under the leadership of Irakli Chikvaidze, Head of Production at Sarke Studios, the company’s production wing has had significant upgrades to production facilities and its backlot space.
“It’s an exciting operation we’re building at Essential and a pleasure to have the experience of a sales team that includes James Norrie at the helm,” said Ramstad, Chairman at Essential Film Group. Norwegian vet Ramstad is the former Sf Studios CEO.
“With our investment board, we’ve structured a 3-5 year plan that includes establishing the Essential Film Fund, and developing our sales strategy,” said Andy Thompson, Partner & Senior Executive at Essential Film Group. “I have been consistently impressed with James and Nina’s work since our collaboration during their tenure at Salt. This partnership, together with our established production business, enables us to create additional opportunities for collaborating with talented and experienced producers at all levels of production.”
“We are thrilled to be joining the Essential family,” said Norrie. “It’s extremely rare for a sales agency to have the weight of a robust film fund, an established production company and its own studio/production base. This, together with a team with so much ambition and experience under one roof makes it feel like the sky is the limit”.
- 5/14/2024
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.
We can safely assume Cillian Murphy will (deservedly) receive his first acting Oscar nod and perhaps his first win for "Oppenheimer." As the "father of the atomic bomb," Murphy is tasked with playing someone haunted by his every waking moment. Whether he is a young scientist fixated on unraveling the secrets of the universe or an older man tormented by the horrors that his creation has inflicted, J. Robert "Oppie" Oppenheimer is a figure who always carries the weight of the world on his shoulders in the film. That's not necessarily simple to communicate without resorting to histrionics, so it's a credit to Murphy that he often does so with little more than a harrowed expression.
Perhaps the only thing more intimidating than pretending to be someone who is relentlessly tormented by their inner demons is (gasp) pretending to be...
We can safely assume Cillian Murphy will (deservedly) receive his first acting Oscar nod and perhaps his first win for "Oppenheimer." As the "father of the atomic bomb," Murphy is tasked with playing someone haunted by his every waking moment. Whether he is a young scientist fixated on unraveling the secrets of the universe or an older man tormented by the horrors that his creation has inflicted, J. Robert "Oppie" Oppenheimer is a figure who always carries the weight of the world on his shoulders in the film. That's not necessarily simple to communicate without resorting to histrionics, so it's a credit to Murphy that he often does so with little more than a harrowed expression.
Perhaps the only thing more intimidating than pretending to be someone who is relentlessly tormented by their inner demons is (gasp) pretending to be...
- 10/24/2023
- by Sandy Schaefer
- Slash Film
Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for Oppenheimer and Haunted Mansion.
Haunted Mansion premiere
On Saturday, Disney held the first major red carpet since SAG-AFTRA went on strike, debuting Haunted Mansion at Disneyland with director Justin Simien and the film’s producers.
Phillip J. Bartell, Dan Lin, Kris Bowers, Jonathan Eirich, Nick Reynolds, Justin Simien and Jeffrey Waldron Justin Simien
Oppenheimer New York premiere
Though the New York red carpet was scrapped amid the actors strike, Oppenheimer still debuted in the city on Monday alongside director Christopher Nolan and his filmmaking team.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas Andy Thompson, John Papsidera, Nilo Otero, Thomas Hayslip, Ludwig Göransson, Ruth De Jong, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Jennifer Lame, Ellen Mirojnick, Charles Roven, Kai Bird and Willie D. Burton
Armani Beauty celebration
Chase Stokes, Jonathan Daviss, Lukas Gage,...
Haunted Mansion premiere
On Saturday, Disney held the first major red carpet since SAG-AFTRA went on strike, debuting Haunted Mansion at Disneyland with director Justin Simien and the film’s producers.
Phillip J. Bartell, Dan Lin, Kris Bowers, Jonathan Eirich, Nick Reynolds, Justin Simien and Jeffrey Waldron Justin Simien
Oppenheimer New York premiere
Though the New York red carpet was scrapped amid the actors strike, Oppenheimer still debuted in the city on Monday alongside director Christopher Nolan and his filmmaking team.
Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas Andy Thompson, John Papsidera, Nilo Otero, Thomas Hayslip, Ludwig Göransson, Ruth De Jong, Emma Thomas, Christopher Nolan, Jennifer Lame, Ellen Mirojnick, Charles Roven, Kai Bird and Willie D. Burton
Armani Beauty celebration
Chase Stokes, Jonathan Daviss, Lukas Gage,...
- 7/21/2023
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Antlers Review — Antlers (2021) Film Review, a movie directed by Scott Cooper and starring Keri Russell, Jesse Plemons, Jeremy T. Thomas, Graham Greene, Scott Haze, Rory Cochrane, Amy Madigan, Sawyer Jones, Cody Davis, Lyla Marlow, Jesse Downs, Arlo Hajdu, Dorian Kingi, Ken Kramer, Dendrie Taylor, Andy Thompson, Jake T. Roberts and Glynis Davies. Antlers [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Antlers (2021): Keri Russell Returns To The Screen With A So-So Creature Feature...
Continue reading: Film Review: Antlers (2021): Keri Russell Returns To The Screen With A So-So Creature Feature...
- 11/2/2021
- by Thomas Duffy
- Film-Book
There’s likely a significant group of people tuning into “The Last Dance” hoping for a glimpse of the “real” Michael Jordan. In some ways, the 10-part documentary series from ESPN and director Jason Hehir shows how that distinction may be difficult to make. Try as Jordan may have during the height of his cultural ascension to put forward a version of himself to a hungry public, “The Last Dance” shows many of the ways that the idea of “Michael Jordan” was cultivated beyond his control.
Still, as Hehir told IndieWire earlier this month, the hours he spent with Jordan over the course of three separate interview sessions helped shine a light on a side of the global superstar that few others get the chance to see.
More from IndieWire'The Last Dance' Review: Enthralling ESPN Series Captures the Magnitude of Michael Jordan and the '98 Bulls'Vick' Review: Latest '...
Still, as Hehir told IndieWire earlier this month, the hours he spent with Jordan over the course of three separate interview sessions helped shine a light on a side of the global superstar that few others get the chance to see.
More from IndieWire'The Last Dance' Review: Enthralling ESPN Series Captures the Magnitude of Michael Jordan and the '98 Bulls'Vick' Review: Latest '...
- 4/26/2020
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Sports fans are in a pandemic moment when we have no choice but to watch old game replays, videogame tournaments with NBA player/gamers, even a Dodgeball callback resurrection of ESPN’s The Ocho, a daylong marathon of obscure sports including cherry pit spitting, slippery stairs, stone skipping and cup stacking contests that seem funny but are an excruciating watch.
Like a cold drink in the desert, along comes the 10-part Chicago Bulls dynasty series The Last Dance, about arguably the greatest NBA team but really a Citizen Kane rendering of the sport’s indisputable Goat, Michael Jordan. Every aerial accomplishment, and career high and low is captured on full display, most of it never before seen. The first two parts of the series debut Sunday. Exec producer Mike Tollin, whose sports-themed films include Radio, Coach Carter and Varsity Blues with docus on Allen Iverson, Hank Aaron and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,...
Like a cold drink in the desert, along comes the 10-part Chicago Bulls dynasty series The Last Dance, about arguably the greatest NBA team but really a Citizen Kane rendering of the sport’s indisputable Goat, Michael Jordan. Every aerial accomplishment, and career high and low is captured on full display, most of it never before seen. The first two parts of the series debut Sunday. Exec producer Mike Tollin, whose sports-themed films include Radio, Coach Carter and Varsity Blues with docus on Allen Iverson, Hank Aaron and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,...
- 4/18/2020
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Good Deed Entertainment has ac today that they have acquired the North American distribution rights tthe World War II drama Enemy Lines starring Ed Westwick, John Hannah, Tom Wisdom, Corey Johnson, Pawel Delag, Vladimir Epifantsev and Kirill Pletnyov. The deal came out of Afm and the film is set to open in select theaters as well as on-demand on April 24. This year also marks the 75th anniversary of the end of WWII.
Anders Banke directed the film from a script written by Michael Wright. Enemy Lines marks the first English-language feature for Banke. Tom George, Andy Thompson, Nadzeya Huselnikava and Aleksandr Kushaev produced.
Inspired by true events, the film follows a 1943 British commando squad that is teamed with an American officer on a covert mission into Poland, deep behind enemy lines. Working with the resistance they cross the harsh wilderness intent on kidnapping and extracting a sought-after Polish scientist,...
Anders Banke directed the film from a script written by Michael Wright. Enemy Lines marks the first English-language feature for Banke. Tom George, Andy Thompson, Nadzeya Huselnikava and Aleksandr Kushaev produced.
Inspired by true events, the film follows a 1943 British commando squad that is teamed with an American officer on a covert mission into Poland, deep behind enemy lines. Working with the resistance they cross the harsh wilderness intent on kidnapping and extracting a sought-after Polish scientist,...
- 2/19/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Gossip Girl alum Ed Westwick will star in Enemy Lines, a World War II action drama based on a 1943 true story that took place behind enemy lines into occupied Poland where an elite team of allied soldiers are sent to extract a rocket scientist from the hands of the Nazis. Anders Banke is directing the film, which is his first English-language feature. John Hannah (The Mummy), Tom Wisdom (300), Corey Johnson (Captain Phillips), Pawel Delag (Schindler’s List), Vladimir Epifantsev (Alive), and Kirill Pletnev (Viking) co-star. UK based producers Andy Thompson and Tom George are producing the pic along with Nadzeya Huselnikava.
Actor David Gyasi has been tapped to star in Wes Miller’s Hell on the Border, joining Ron Perlman and Frank Grillo in the biopic based on the true story of Bass Reeves (Gyasi), the first black Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. Curtis Nichouls,...
Actor David Gyasi has been tapped to star in Wes Miller’s Hell on the Border, joining Ron Perlman and Frank Grillo in the biopic based on the true story of Bass Reeves (Gyasi), the first black Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River. Curtis Nichouls,...
- 2/6/2019
- by Amanda N'Duka
- Deadline Film + TV
Young’s second feature will be action thriller Stolen, a UK-South Africa co-production.
Netflix has acquired SVoD rights for all English-speaking territories for Gary Young’s British thriller Two Graves, which it will launch on the service in May 2019. Front Row has acquired Mena rights. Moviehouse Entertainment handles international sales.
Young wrote and directed Two Graves as his feature directorial debut; he previously wrote the Michael Caine-starring Harry Brown. The revenge thriller stars Katie Jarvis, Cathy Tyson, Dave Johns, David Hayman, Josh Herdman and Danielle Harold. Tyson (Mona Lisa) plays a mother trying to uncover the circumstances behind her son’s brutal death.
Netflix has acquired SVoD rights for all English-speaking territories for Gary Young’s British thriller Two Graves, which it will launch on the service in May 2019. Front Row has acquired Mena rights. Moviehouse Entertainment handles international sales.
Young wrote and directed Two Graves as his feature directorial debut; he previously wrote the Michael Caine-starring Harry Brown. The revenge thriller stars Katie Jarvis, Cathy Tyson, Dave Johns, David Hayman, Josh Herdman and Danielle Harold. Tyson (Mona Lisa) plays a mother trying to uncover the circumstances behind her son’s brutal death.
- 11/1/2018
- by Wendy Mitchell
- ScreenDaily
When Birdie is sent to a dying convent for a new lease on life, she befriends the groundskeeper's daughter and just when things to start to look up, everything comes crashing down. The Book of Birdie, Elizabeth E. Schuch's feature-length directorial debut, will be released on VOD on October 2nd.
"Introverted Birdie is sent to live in a quaint and isolated convent by her concerned grandmother, in an attempt to change her sobering outlook on life. But left to her own devices she develops a heightened obsession with blood, which seems all too willing to flow from her body, and reoccurring visions and hallucinations that pull her in every direction. Sometimes whimsical and sometimes gory, Birdie passively questions - is she a saint or is she cursed?
Escaping the watchful eye of Mother Superior and the other nuns Birdie begins an intimate friendship with Julia, the groundskeeper's daughter, but...
"Introverted Birdie is sent to live in a quaint and isolated convent by her concerned grandmother, in an attempt to change her sobering outlook on life. But left to her own devices she develops a heightened obsession with blood, which seems all too willing to flow from her body, and reoccurring visions and hallucinations that pull her in every direction. Sometimes whimsical and sometimes gory, Birdie passively questions - is she a saint or is she cursed?
Escaping the watchful eye of Mother Superior and the other nuns Birdie begins an intimate friendship with Julia, the groundskeeper's daughter, but...
- 9/27/2018
- by Tamika Jones
- DailyDead
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.