Exclusive: Crown Media Family Networks has signed Jonathan Bennett to an exclusive, multi-picture overall deal.
“Jonathan is a fantastic partner and ambassador for our brand and what we represent. We look forward to working with him on more exciting projects.” Lisa Hamilton Daly, Executive Vice President, Programming, Crown Media Family Networks.
“I am so proud of the work I have done in my Hallmark movies. Most recently with back-to-back GLAAD Media Award nominations for The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls, Bennett said. “I’m so fortunate and proud that Hallmark is a champion for representation. I can’t wait for all that is ahead.”
Best known for playing Aaron, the object of the plastics’ affection in Mean Girls, Bennett reunited with Mean Girls co-star Lacey Chabert in the Hallmark Channel original movie Elevator Girl in 2010. He...
“Jonathan is a fantastic partner and ambassador for our brand and what we represent. We look forward to working with him on more exciting projects.” Lisa Hamilton Daly, Executive Vice President, Programming, Crown Media Family Networks.
“I am so proud of the work I have done in my Hallmark movies. Most recently with back-to-back GLAAD Media Award nominations for The Christmas House and The Christmas House 2: Deck Those Halls, Bennett said. “I’m so fortunate and proud that Hallmark is a champion for representation. I can’t wait for all that is ahead.”
Best known for playing Aaron, the object of the plastics’ affection in Mean Girls, Bennett reunited with Mean Girls co-star Lacey Chabert in the Hallmark Channel original movie Elevator Girl in 2010. He...
- 4/7/2022
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Rebecca Hall’s “Passing” won the U.S. Narrative Feature Jury Award at the 33rd LGBTQ film festival NewFest in New York City.
The jury statement reads, “A chance encounter between two friends kicks off this film’s exploration of race and sexuality in 1920s America. The film’s expressive cinematography, beautiful performances, and clear directorial vision all come together in this devastating story of destabilized identity.”
The Documentary Feature Jury Award went to “Miguel’s War,” directed by Eliane Raheb. The jury described the doc “as emotionally captivating as it is visually stimulating.
“’Miguel’s War’ impressively tangles with deep human emotions and complex aspects of the human condition in its wide-ranging exploration of trauma, repression, the fallibility of memory, and the messiness of fantasy,” the statement continued. “Using fictional techniques to unearth essential truths, ‘Miguel’s War’ combines traditional interviews with staged reenactments and fanciful animation to take...
The jury statement reads, “A chance encounter between two friends kicks off this film’s exploration of race and sexuality in 1920s America. The film’s expressive cinematography, beautiful performances, and clear directorial vision all come together in this devastating story of destabilized identity.”
The Documentary Feature Jury Award went to “Miguel’s War,” directed by Eliane Raheb. The jury described the doc “as emotionally captivating as it is visually stimulating.
“’Miguel’s War’ impressively tangles with deep human emotions and complex aspects of the human condition in its wide-ranging exploration of trauma, repression, the fallibility of memory, and the messiness of fantasy,” the statement continued. “Using fictional techniques to unearth essential truths, ‘Miguel’s War’ combines traditional interviews with staged reenactments and fanciful animation to take...
- 10/25/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Warner Bros’ King Richard, the Will Smith-starring drama about Serena and Venus Williams’ father and how he raised a pair of tennis champions, will close AFI Fest this fall. Organizer American Film Institute said Wednesday that the pic, which world premiered earlier this month at the Telluride Film Festival, will wrap up the annual fest November 14 at the Tcl Chinese Theatre in Hollywood.
The gala showing comes ahead of the pic’s U.S. theaters and on HBO Max on November 19.
Alongside Smith, the film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green also stars Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, along with Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal, Andy Bean, Kevin Dunn and Craig Tate.
AFI Fest’s hybrid 2021 edition kicks off November 10 with the world premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut tick, tick…Boom! from Netflix.
***
The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival has set its lineup for its 33rd edition,...
The gala showing comes ahead of the pic’s U.S. theaters and on HBO Max on November 19.
Alongside Smith, the film directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green also stars Aunjanue Ellis, Saniyya Sidney and Demi Singleton, along with Tony Goldwyn, Jon Bernthal, Andy Bean, Kevin Dunn and Craig Tate.
AFI Fest’s hybrid 2021 edition kicks off November 10 with the world premiere of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s feature directorial debut tick, tick…Boom! from Netflix.
***
The New York LGBTQ+ Film Festival has set its lineup for its 33rd edition,...
- 9/15/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The 33rd edition of the New York LGBTQ+ film festival NewFest will kick off with the East Coast premiere of “Mayor Pete,” the Amazon Studios documentary about Pete Buttigieg run for president in 2020.
Now Pres. Joe Biden’s Secretary of Transportation, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana had hoped to have been the youngest and first openly gay president of the United States.
The 2021 hybrid edition of NewFest will take place Oct. 15-26 in New York City theaters and virtually on the festival’s on-demand platform. The lineup includes 130 films and episodic series from 31 countries. There are 30 narrative features, 14 docs and 11 shorts program screenings.
“This year’s festival is all about connection. The LGBTQ+ community thrives on connecting to one another, and having spent most of the past 18 months apart, we are hungry for experiences that remind us we are a part of something bigger than ourselves,” NewFest executive director David Hatkoff tells me.
Now Pres. Joe Biden’s Secretary of Transportation, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana had hoped to have been the youngest and first openly gay president of the United States.
The 2021 hybrid edition of NewFest will take place Oct. 15-26 in New York City theaters and virtually on the festival’s on-demand platform. The lineup includes 130 films and episodic series from 31 countries. There are 30 narrative features, 14 docs and 11 shorts program screenings.
“This year’s festival is all about connection. The LGBTQ+ community thrives on connecting to one another, and having spent most of the past 18 months apart, we are hungry for experiences that remind us we are a part of something bigger than ourselves,” NewFest executive director David Hatkoff tells me.
- 9/15/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Festival also honours Elliot Page and Octavia Spencer.
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics and Lyle Kash’s Death And Bowling have been named among the award winners at the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
No Straight Lines took the documentary feature grand jury prize at the August 13-22 festival, back this year as an in-person event at several Los Angeles venues, and Death And Bowling won the narrative feature audience award.
The festival’s closing night awards ceremony also saw Elliot Page receiving the Outfest Annual Achievement Award and Octavia Spencer the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award.
Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise Of Queer Comics and Lyle Kash’s Death And Bowling have been named among the award winners at the 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
No Straight Lines took the documentary feature grand jury prize at the August 13-22 festival, back this year as an in-person event at several Los Angeles venues, and Death And Bowling won the narrative feature audience award.
The festival’s closing night awards ceremony also saw Elliot Page receiving the Outfest Annual Achievement Award and Octavia Spencer the Outfest Annual James Schamus Ally Award.
- 8/25/2021
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
Outfest announced the winners of its 2021 edition, including Vivian Kleiman’s “No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics” for documentary feature and Brielle Brilliant’s “Firstness” for U.S. narrative feature.
The Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival also honored Pooya Mohseni with the grand jury prize for best performance in a U.S. narrative feature for her performance in “See You Then,” while Wes Hurley won best screenplay for “Potato Dreams of America,” a non-traditional portrayal of a gay immigrant’s transition to America and his relationship with his mother.
Park Kun-young was awarded best international narrative feature for “A Distant Place,” and Ümit Ünal won best international screenplay for “Love, Spells, And All That.” “Sweetheart” actor Nell Barlow took home the award for best performance in an international narrative feature “for her ability to emote even under a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.”
Xavier Seron won...
The Los Angeles LGBTQ film festival also honored Pooya Mohseni with the grand jury prize for best performance in a U.S. narrative feature for her performance in “See You Then,” while Wes Hurley won best screenplay for “Potato Dreams of America,” a non-traditional portrayal of a gay immigrant’s transition to America and his relationship with his mother.
Park Kun-young was awarded best international narrative feature for “A Distant Place,” and Ümit Ünal won best international screenplay for “Love, Spells, And All That.” “Sweetheart” actor Nell Barlow took home the award for best performance in an international narrative feature “for her ability to emote even under a pair of sunglasses and a bucket hat.”
Xavier Seron won...
- 8/24/2021
- by Ethan Shanfeld
- Variety Film + TV
Outfest has announced the award winners of its 2021 Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival.
The nation’s leading LGBTQ festival ran from August 13th to August 22nd, holding its closing night at the iconic Orpheum Theatre, with Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics claiming the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize, and Brielle Brilliant’s Firstness winning the U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize.
For the first time ever, Outfest collaborated with IMDb in choosing Audience Award winners, selecting them based on IMDb ratings. Among other prizes and recognition, eligible Outfest Los Angeles winners received a one-year membership to IMDbPro.
The winners of the Grand Jury Prizes for Best U.S. Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best International Narrative Short all received a $2000 cash prize awarded in partnership with Entertainment Partners.
Also of note is the fact that the U.S. and International Narrative...
The nation’s leading LGBTQ festival ran from August 13th to August 22nd, holding its closing night at the iconic Orpheum Theatre, with Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics claiming the Documentary Feature Grand Jury Prize, and Brielle Brilliant’s Firstness winning the U.S. Narrative Feature Grand Jury Prize.
For the first time ever, Outfest collaborated with IMDb in choosing Audience Award winners, selecting them based on IMDb ratings. Among other prizes and recognition, eligible Outfest Los Angeles winners received a one-year membership to IMDbPro.
The winners of the Grand Jury Prizes for Best U.S. Narrative Short, Best Documentary Short, and Best International Narrative Short all received a $2000 cash prize awarded in partnership with Entertainment Partners.
Also of note is the fact that the U.S. and International Narrative...
- 8/24/2021
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Dark Star Pictures has acquired North American rights to Potato Dreams of America, writer-director Wes Hurley’s autobiographical dark comedy that had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW. The pic will get a U.S. theatrical release in Q1 2022 followed by a digital bow, and the deal comes as the pic readies for Los Angeles premiere tonight at Outfest LA where it is in the official lineup. The full cast is expected to be in attendance.
Hurley’s queer coming-of-age tale tells the story of a gay boy growing up in the collapsing Ussr, his mail-order bride mother and their eventual escape to America. The film is an immigrant’s take on the American Dream and the power of cinema. Marya Sea Kaminksi, Tyler Bocock, Jonathan Bennett, Lea DeLaria, Sera Barbieri, Hersh Powers, Dan Lauria and Sophia Mitri Schloss lead the ensemble cast.
The pic was produced by Mischa Jakupcak and Hurley,...
Hurley’s queer coming-of-age tale tells the story of a gay boy growing up in the collapsing Ussr, his mail-order bride mother and their eventual escape to America. The film is an immigrant’s take on the American Dream and the power of cinema. Marya Sea Kaminksi, Tyler Bocock, Jonathan Bennett, Lea DeLaria, Sera Barbieri, Hersh Powers, Dan Lauria and Sophia Mitri Schloss lead the ensemble cast.
The pic was produced by Mischa Jakupcak and Hurley,...
- 8/18/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The Deauville American Film Festival has unveiled the competition lineup of its 2021 edition, which includes Sean Baker’s “Red Rocket” and Michael Sarnoski’s “Pig.”
Under the leadership of artistic director Bruno Barde, the festival’s competition will also showcase Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole,” David Bruckner’s “The Night House,” Justin Chon’s “Blue Bayou,” Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Catch The Fair One,” Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” Wes Hurley’s “Potato Dreams of America,” Tim Sutton’s “The Last Son,” Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice,” Antonio Tibaldi’s “We Are Living Things,” and Alana Waksman’s “We Burn Like This.”
Several films in the Deauville roster world premiered at Cannes, notably the competition title “Red Rocket,” about a former porn star who moves back to Texas City to get a fresh start and falls back into old habits; and “Blue Bayou,” a heart-wrenching drama with Justin Chon...
Under the leadership of artistic director Bruno Barde, the festival’s competition will also showcase Pascual Sisto’s John and the Hole,” David Bruckner’s “The Night House,” Justin Chon’s “Blue Bayou,” Josef Kubota Wladyka’s “Catch The Fair One,” Ninja Thyberg’s “Pleasure,” Wes Hurley’s “Potato Dreams of America,” Tim Sutton’s “The Last Son,” Lauren Hadaway’s “The Novice,” Antonio Tibaldi’s “We Are Living Things,” and Alana Waksman’s “We Burn Like This.”
Several films in the Deauville roster world premiered at Cannes, notably the competition title “Red Rocket,” about a former porn star who moves back to Texas City to get a fresh start and falls back into old habits; and “Blue Bayou,” a heart-wrenching drama with Justin Chon...
- 8/10/2021
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Outfest Los Angeles features two films with "RuPaul's Drag Race" winners BeBe Zahara Benet and Bianca del Rio in its lineup for its 39th Film Festival.
Season 6 winner Bianca del Rio will join the main cast members of "Everybody’s Talking About Jamie," Max Harwood and Lauren Patel, in the festival's opening event. Del Rio plays art teacher Miss Haywood in the feature adaptation of the musical.
Season 1 winner BeBe Zahara Benet will perform live before the premiere of "Being Bebe," which follows the Cameroonian-American immigrant's struggle to embrace being an LGBTQ performer against discriminatory cultural forces.
Named after the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization Outfest, the 10-day festival will celebrate LGBTQ+ stories and voices in film and television and will return to in-person screenings.
Outfest will also host the 5th Annual Trans and NonBinary Summit on August 21 with a panel featuring established and emerging trans and nonbinary creators, Zackary Drucker and Our Lady J.
Season 6 winner Bianca del Rio will join the main cast members of "Everybody’s Talking About Jamie," Max Harwood and Lauren Patel, in the festival's opening event. Del Rio plays art teacher Miss Haywood in the feature adaptation of the musical.
Season 1 winner BeBe Zahara Benet will perform live before the premiere of "Being Bebe," which follows the Cameroonian-American immigrant's struggle to embrace being an LGBTQ performer against discriminatory cultural forces.
Named after the Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization Outfest, the 10-day festival will celebrate LGBTQ+ stories and voices in film and television and will return to in-person screenings.
Outfest will also host the 5th Annual Trans and NonBinary Summit on August 21 with a panel featuring established and emerging trans and nonbinary creators, Zackary Drucker and Our Lady J.
- 7/26/2021
- by Loree Seitz
- The Wrap
Fest runs entrely online from May 27-June 6.
Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons will open the 31st annual Inside Out Toronto 2Slgbtq+ Film Festival running entirely online from May 27-June 6.
The festival will showcase 143 films including 33 feature films and five episodic series, as well as the fifth edition of the annual 2Slgbtq+ Film Finance Forum.
Closing the festival will be the Charli Xcx documentary Alone Together – a SXSW selection like the opening film, which premiered in Berlin. Both films will stream live in the evening.
For all films in Premieres, the films will be available at a specific indicated date and time,...
Natalie Morales’ Language Lessons will open the 31st annual Inside Out Toronto 2Slgbtq+ Film Festival running entirely online from May 27-June 6.
The festival will showcase 143 films including 33 feature films and five episodic series, as well as the fifth edition of the annual 2Slgbtq+ Film Finance Forum.
Closing the festival will be the Charli Xcx documentary Alone Together – a SXSW selection like the opening film, which premiered in Berlin. Both films will stream live in the evening.
For all films in Premieres, the films will be available at a specific indicated date and time,...
- 5/3/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The Sunset Tower is getting ready for Oscar night. Owner Jeff Klein tells me that freshly minted winners will be treated to dinner if they come in after the show with their statuettes. The public can also book a meal at the hotel, and rooms are available for private Covid-safe viewing parties. Options range from four people in a deluxe king suite with Champagne, popcorn and movie candy to a sit-down dinner for 15 in a townhouse or penthouse. Plus, Klein is doing away with the hotel’s no-photo policy for the night so guests can share their evening in social media if they’d like. And it looks like swag suites are back. The Gbk Brand Bar & eOn Hand Sanitizing Mist lounge just sent out a release that it will be handing out freebies on April 21 in West Hollywood. Attendees will have to take a rapid Covid test before entering the suite.
- 4/8/2021
- by Marc Malkin
- Variety Film + TV
Potato Dreams of America Review — Potato Dreams of America (2021) Film Review from the 28th Annual South By Southwest Film Festival, a movie directed by Wes Hurley, and featuring Marya Sea Kaminski, Dan Lauria, Tyler Bocock, Lea DeLaria, Sera Barbieri, Hersh Powers, Jonathan Bennett, Sophia Mitri Schloss, Lauren Tewes, [...]
Continue reading: Film Review: Potato Dreams Of America: A Campy Gay Auto-Biopic That Can’t Quite Connect Its Dots [SXSW 2021]...
Continue reading: Film Review: Potato Dreams Of America: A Campy Gay Auto-Biopic That Can’t Quite Connect Its Dots [SXSW 2021]...
- 3/18/2021
- by Jacob Mouradian
- Film-Book
The question of how to convey characters speaking a language other than English in a fully English-language production is one that many a director of an exotically-set Hollywood production or lumpy Europudding has faced over the years. For those who simply cannot resort to subtitles, the artifice of heavily accented English dialogue is a stilted standby. “Potato Dreams of America” finds an unusual way around the problem, though it takes some time for its cleverness to emerge.
Wes Hurley’s autobiographical comedy of a gay Russian teen and his plucky single mother seeking a new life in 1980s America begins in unexpected fashion: A title card tells us we’re in Gorbachev-era Vladivostok, yet the unhappy family tableau we’re plunged into is performed in broad, brash American speech. “Our lives are like Russian movies, nothing good ever happens,” observes young Vasili (Hersh Powers). That is as may be; to us,...
Wes Hurley’s autobiographical comedy of a gay Russian teen and his plucky single mother seeking a new life in 1980s America begins in unexpected fashion: A title card tells us we’re in Gorbachev-era Vladivostok, yet the unhappy family tableau we’re plunged into is performed in broad, brash American speech. “Our lives are like Russian movies, nothing good ever happens,” observes young Vasili (Hersh Powers). That is as may be; to us,...
- 3/17/2021
- by Guy Lodge
- Variety Film + TV
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