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Exclusive: Liam Neeson action chase film The Mongoose is underway in Australia with Oscar winner Marisa Tomei, Mission Impossible star Ving Rhames, and Emmy winner Michael Chiklis (The Shield) joining the cast.

Oscar nominee Neeson (Schindler’s List) will star as Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, a war hero who, accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose, leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase.

Tomei will play Tara, Fang’s ex-wife, who asks Fang for help when she finds herself in trouble. Rhames will play Tanker, Fang’s loyal right hand who was the second-in-command of Fang’s Special Forces squad when they were captured in Afghanistan. Chiklis will play Pope, the violent and reckless head of the Texas Highway Patrol who is convinced of Fang’s guilt.

Pic will be directed by Mark Vanselow, whose career as an action sequence director, action designer,...

Exclusive: Liam Neeson is set to lead police on an epic televised cross-country car chase in action-thriller Mongoose, which was an under-the-radar project at the Cannes market.

Amazon Prime Video has pre-bought most of international on the movie in a deal we understand closed this week at around $20M (with all of international pegged in the mid-20s).

Taken and Non-Stop star Neeson, who is currently in production on Naked Gun, will topline as Ryan “Fang” Flanagan, a war hero who, accused of a crime he didn’t commit and with nothing to lose, leads police on an epic televised cross-country car chase, helped by members of his former Special Forces Army battalion and closely monitored by a fascinated public rooting for his safe getaway.

The movie reunites Neeson with producers Code Entertainment who were behind both Ice Road movies. Production is set to start in January 2025 in Australia. Additional casting is ongoing.

The shocking news that Participant, a leading producer of specialized/independent features with a socially relevant interest as well many top documentaries, is shutting down immediately hit the industry hard Tuesday. With a profile of co-produced films over the last 20 years that rivals any other company’s slate, this was devastating news.

Founder and owner Jeff Skoll’s decision to shut down his company will impact the production of a certain kind of specialized film, particularly in the documentary field. Never a distributor, and most often collaborating with other production companies, Participant was still a significant force for most of its two decades.

But what’s the real impact of this move? Jonathan Dana, a veteran distribution executive and producer, commented, “It didn’t fail. It just ran its course.” That typifies much of the insider reaction, which relates to the specific purpose and goals of the company.

‘Spotlight’ © Open...

Former Brainstorm Media CEO Meyer Shwarzstein has revealed several projects being developed at his new Los Angeles-based development, financing and production company Another Brainy Idea.

In development as a feature is Landfillharmonic, based on a 2015 documentary that won awards at festivals including SXSW. The film, written by José Rivera and directed by Marcos Bernstein, will centre on a teacher who leads an orchestra of children using instruments made from landfill refuse. Producers are Rodolfo Madero, Michael Richter and Shwarzstein. Executive producers include Alejandra Amarilla, Rick Berg and Jonathan Dana.

In development as a drama series is an adaptation of The Talented Ribkins,...

Exclusive: Chinese megastar Fan Bingbing (The 355) has been tapped to star opposite Liam Neeson in Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky, the sequel to Jonathan Hensleigh’s 2021 actioner The Ice Road.

Currently in production, the film sees Neeson returns as ‘big-rig’ ice road driver Mike McCann who, honoring his late brother’s last wish, travels to Nepal to scatter his ashes on Mt. Everest. While on a packed tour bus traversing the deadly 12,000 ft. terrain of the infamous Road to the Sky, McCann and his mountain guide encounter a group of Nepalese mercenaries and must fight not only to save themselves and the busload of innocent travelers, but also the local villagers’ homeland.

Fan portrays Dhani, a veteran Mt. Everest guide with multiple ascents whose indigenous knowledge and extraordinary yet unlikely fighting skills add a unique bend to Mike’s survival and unexpected quest for justice.

Following the original film’s sale,...

Liam Neeson is to reprise his role as a truck driver turned rescue worker from 2021 indie hit “The Ice Road.”

With director Jonathan Hensleigh again on board, “The Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky” relocates its story from Canada in the original to Nepal in the sequel. Film production is set to shift from North America to Australia’s Victoria State.

Filming will begin this month using Gippsland town of Walhalla as the backdrop for some of the picture’s action scenes. It will also shoot in and around Melbourne and make use of virtual production, volume screens and technology at NantStudios @ Docklands Studios Melbourne.

“The Ice Road 2: Road to the Sky” is a Code Entertainment, ShivHans Pictures, Ema production. Its producers are Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso, along with Shivani Rawat of ShivHans and Hensleigh, as well as Lee Nelson and David Tish...

The Hollywood Reporter thanks the following 322 members of the global film community — listed alphabetically — for taking the time to cast a ballot to help us determine the 100 greatest film books of all time.

Seth Abramovitch

The Hollywood Reporter journalist/It Happened in Hollywood podcast host

Jo Addy

Soho House group film and entertainment director

Casey Affleck

Oscar-winning actor

Rutanya Alda

Author/actress

Stephanie Allain

Filmmaker

Victoria Alonso

Filmmaker/executive

Tony Angellotti

Publicist

Bonnie Arnold

Filmmaker/executive

Miguel Arteta

Filmmaker

Chris Auer

Filmmaker/film professor

John Badham

Filmmaker/film professor

Amy Baer

Executive

Matt Baer

Filmmaker

Lindsey Bahr

Journalist

Ramin Bahrani

Oscar-nominated filmmaker

Cameron Bailey

Toronto International Film Festival CEO/former film critic

John Bailey

Cinematographer/former Academy president

Bela Bajaria

Executive

Sean Baker

Filmmaker

Alec Baldwin

Oscar-nominated actor/author

Tino Balio

Author/film professor

Jeffrey Barbakow

Executive

Michael Barker

Executive

Mike Barnes

The Hollywood Reporter journalist

Jeanine Basinger

Author/film...

Liam Neeson isn’t done with the action game just yet. The star who found a second career in his twilight years as a man with particular sets of skills is getting the most out of his time while his body allows him. Neeson recently starred in the Netflix action film, The Ice Road, from the writer of Die Hard with a Vengeance and writer/director of Thomas Jane’s 2004 Marvel adaptation, The Punisher, Jonathan Hensleigh. The Ice Road saw Neeson and Laurence Fishburne trekking across a frozen highway in semi-trucks as the ice perpetually cracks below them. There are now reports that a sequel is on the way and heading to Amazon thanks to a huge deal made at this year’s Cannes market. According to Deadline, the “biggest deal thrashed out so far at this year’s Cannes market is nearing completion with Amazon Prime Video set to...

Exclusive: The biggest deal thrashed out so far at this year’s Cannes market is nearing completion with Amazon Prime Video set to pre-buy international rights — excluding Germany — to Liam Neeson action sequel Ice Road 2: Road To The Sky in a pact pegged around $17M.

Deal isn’t done but is heading that way, we understand from market sources. Germany has sold in a separate multi-million dollar pact to a different buyer.

The project will see the evergreen Neeson headed back to treacherous and frozen terrain, this time swapping out The Ice Road‘s harsh climbs of Northern Canada for the similarly inhospitable mountains of Nepal.

The Solution Entertainment Group is handling international sales. CAA Media Finance is repping U.S. rights. The Solution, CAA and Amazon all declined to comment.

In the sequel Neeson returns as ‘big-rig’ ice road driver Mike McCann who, honoring his late brother’s last wish,...

Exclusive: The Ice Road and The Grey star Liam Neeson is headed back to treacherous and frozen terrain in action sequel Ice Road 2: Road To The Sky.

This time, the evergreen action man will swap out The Ice Road‘s harsh climbs of Northern Canada for the similarly inhospitable mountains of Nepal.

The sequel will see Neeson return as ‘big-rig’ ice road driver Mike McCann who, honoring his late brother’s last wish, travels to Nepal to scatter his ashes on Mt. Everest. While on a packed tour bus traversing the deadly 12,000 ft. terrain of the infamous Road to the Sky, Mike and his mountain guide encounter a group of Nepalese mercenaries and must fight not only to save themselves and the busload of innocent travelers, but also the local villagers’ homeland.

Writer-director Jonathan Hensleigh, writer of Die Hard with a Vengeance, Armageddon and Jumanji, is also back in the saddle with Code Entertainment,...

Dan Geller on Leonard Cohen: ‘Leonard is a very very clever writer. I believe someone had asked James Joyce about Ulysses, which is, you know, famously impenetrable …” Photo: Cohen Estate

The 21st edition of the Tribeca Film Festival hosted a special New York première screening of Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s poetically keen Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, with an original score by John Lissauer at the Beacon Theatre, followed by a Leonard Cohen tribute concert with Judy Collins, Amanda Shires, Sharon Robinson and Daniel Seavey. The documentary is dedicated to the distinguished music producer Hal Willner (recently Ethan Silverman’s Angelheaded Hipster: The Songs of Marc Bolan & T. Rex and the Lou Reed: Caught Between The Twisted Stars exhibition).

Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine with Anne-Katrin Titze: “The Beacon Theatre, which is historically so important, not only in terms of Hallelujah the song, where John Cale...

Film to receive North American theatrical release in 2022

Sony Pictures Classics announced today has acquired all worldwide rights from Dogwoof to Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song following its launch at Venice and Telluride.

The film will receive a North American theatrical release in 2022 and explores the legendary poet and singer-songwriter through the lens of arguably his most famous work, ‘Hallelujah’. Cohen approved production before his 80th birthday in 2014. He died in 2016.

Geller and Goldfine also produced the project, inspired by Alan Light’s book ‘The Holy Or The Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff...

Sony Pictures Classics has taken global rights sans France and Germany, to Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s documentary Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song.

The docu made its premiere at Venice and Telluride, with SPC eyeing a theatrical release for 2022.

Inspired by the book The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley & the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah by Alan Light, the documentary was produced and directed by Emmy Award winners Geller and Goldfine and executive produced by longtime Geller/Goldfine collaborator Jonathan Dana and Oscar winner Morgan Neville, along with Michael Drews and Robin Sagon. The late Hal Willner served as music producer, with John Lissauer providing an original score.

Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song explores the legendary poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen through the lens of arguably his most famous and certainly most covered work, the hymn “Hallelujah”.

Approved for production by Cohen just...

A new Venice-bound documentary on singer Leonard Cohen will be shopped internationally by doc specialists Dogwoof.

Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s latest feature “Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song” is executive produced by Oscar winner Morgan Neville and Jonathan Dana, a long-time collaborator of directors Geller and Goldfine (“The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden”). The film explores the poet and singer-songwriter’s life through the lens of what’s arguably his most famous work, the hymn “Hallelujah,” which has been covered countless times by other artists over the years.

“Hallelujah” will world premiere Out of Competition at the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 2.

“With Leonard Cohen’s worldwide reputation and ‘Hallelujah’s’ standing as one of the most recognized and covered songs from any artist, Dogwoof’s abilities as a global partner create a perfect fit for representing our documentary. We are delighted to work with their excellent team,...

Exclusive: In what we hear is a mid six-figure deal, Code Entertainment has acquired the spec script The Vampire Asset by Jonathan Stokes, which they’ll fast track toward production.

Vampire Asset is a franchise action story about a reluctant vampire recruited by the CIA to hunt down his former lover, the woman who turned him into an immortal killer, before she unleashes a global catastrophe.

Code’s most recent release The Ice Road, written and directed by Jonathan Hensleigh, starring Liam Neeson and Lawrence Fishburne, ranked No. 1 on Netflix during its debut day of June 25.

Code’s Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt will produce. Scott Carr, Jonathan Stokes, and Jonathan Dana will executive produce with Code Management’s Rich Freeman.

“Jonathan Stokes has created marvelous characters and a highly commercial tale, in the vein of Deadpool meets John Wick. We think the story will resonate worldwide and we look...

The coming-of-age film Paper Spiders will open a virtual version of the Dances With Films Festival, the producers announced today.

Dwf:la’s 2020 lineup has more than 200 titles, including narrative features, documentaries, pilots, web series, music videos, short films, and films by young people. The entire festival, running Thursday August 27 through Sunday September 6, will be in real time, allowing interactive experiences, including a virtual red carpet, lounges with trivia nights and signature cocktails, panel discussions, and Q&a sessions.

Ticket prices will be lowered this year, owing to the virtual setup. Pre-sale tickets start at $11 through August 26 and then will go to $15. Tickets will be available on the website, http://dwfla.com

Paper Spiders stars Lili Taylor, Stefania Lavie Owen, Peyton List and Max Casella. The film is directed by Inon Shampanier and written by Shampanier and Natalie Shampanier. The story is a bittersweet coming of age mother/daughter tale that...

Exclusive: Laurence Fishburne is set to join Liam Neeson to star in the upcoming action adventure film The Ice Road, which Jonathan Hensleigh will direct from his screenplay. Shivani Rawat’s ShivHans Pictures is boarding the action film as producer and co-financier alongside producer/financier Code Entertainment. Pic is underway in Winnipeg, Canada.

Starring with Fishburne and Neeson will be Ray McKinnon (Ford V Ferrari) Marcus Thomas (The Forger), Benjamin Walker (Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter), and Amber Midthunder (Hell Or High Water).

The film tells the story of a rescue mission over a frozen ocean to save trapped miners in a collapsed diamond mine in the far northern regions of Canada. Fishburne will plays Goldenrod, the trucking company owner who hires driver Mike (Neeson), and accompanies him on the dangerous mission.

Hensleigh’s credits as a writer include Die Hard with A Vengeance, Armageddon and Jumanji, and he directed The Punisher and Kill The Irishman.

Principal photography set to commence in Winnipeg, Canada, on January 27, 2020.

The Solution Entertainment Group has reported brisk pre-sales business at Afm on Code Entertainment’s Liam Neeson thriller Ice Road.

Rights have gone in France (Metropolitan), German-speaking Europe ,and Italy (Wild Bunch), Spain (Key 2 Media), Japan (Gaga), Latin America (California Filmes), Scandinavia and Iceland (Scanbox), and South Korea (JoynCinema).

Deals also closed in Middle East (Eagle), Taiwan (Applause), Greece, India and Turkey (Tanweer), Indonesia (P.T. Prima), Israel (Forum), Philippines (Pioneer), Portugal (Nos Lusomundo), South Africa (Empire Entertainment), Thailand (Sahamongkol), Vietnam (Noori), West Indies (Atm), Benelux (Dfw), China (EStars), Cis...

Exclusive: Jane Fleming, a producer and president emeritus of Women In Film, and Dear White People and Real Women Have Curves producer Effie Brown have joined the board of advisors at Dwf-la, the new name of the annual Los Angeles-based film festival Dances With Films.

The additions, which also include bringing aboard Fine Line Films acquisitions executive Jackie Tepper as Dwf-la’s first producing partner, will bolster the group’s plan to grow as a destination for filmmakers and buyers (a void partially left in the city by the shuttering of the Los Angeles Film Festival after last year).

“Jane and Effie have both been leaders for many years where they have both been recognized for their achievements while breaking the glass ceiling,” festival co-founder Leslee Scallon said. “They are not only exceptional and successful producers, but leaders in their field. With Jane and Effie joining our advisory board, this...

Exclusive: Liam Neeson has been set to star in The Ice Road, an action adventure film written and to be directed by Jonathan Hensleigh. Code Entertainment and Envision Media Arts are backing the production.Production is set to start mid-January.

Neeson will play a ‘big-rig’ ice road driver who, after a remote diamond mine collapses in the far northern regions of Canada, must lead an impossible rescue mission over a frozen ocean to save the trapped miners. Contending with thawing waters and a massive storm, they discover the real threat is one they never saw coming.

Hensleigh’s work as a screenwriter includes Die Hard with a Vengeance, Armageddon, and Jumanji, and he previously directed The Punisher and Kill the Irishman.

Code Entertainment will fully finance the movie. Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce, along with Lee Nelson and David Tish of Envision Media Arts.

"That is a season highlight," Jonathan Dana, a veteran member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' executives branch, told me at the end of a reception on Friday night celebrating Rob Marshall's Mary Poppins Returns that was hosted by the legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren. "I feel like I'm 25 again," added a beaming Gary Shapiro of the public relations branch, who, like many others, gushed about how gorgeous the 84-year-old hostess looks.

As Oscar nomination voting entered its final weekend, Dana and Shapiro were among more than 100 Los Angeles-based Academy members who showed up ...

"That is a season highlight," Jonathan Dana, a veteran member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' executives branch, told me at the end of a reception on Friday night celebrating Rob Marshall's Mary Poppins Returns that was hosted by the legendary Italian actress Sophia Loren. "I feel like I'm 25 again," added a beaming Gary Shapiro of the public relations branch, who, like many others, gushed about how gorgeous the 84-year-old hostess looks.

As Oscar nomination voting entered its final weekend, Dana and Shapiro were among more than 100 Los Angeles-based Academy members who showed up ...

Vera Farmiga will join Jamie Bell in the drama Skin.

Based on the life of Bryon “Pitbull” Widner (Bell), Skin follows a member of a Neo-Nazi gang who faces deadly consequences when he makes the decision to change his life. Farmiga will play the maternal leader of the notorious and violent skinhead gang from which Widner removes himself.

Guy Nattiv is set to direct the drama that also stars Patti Cake$ breakout Danielle Macdonald.

Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso are producing for Code Entertainment, along with Oren Moverman, Jaime Ray Newman and Nattiv. Jonathan Dana and Item 7’s Marie-Claude Poulin and Pierre Even will executive produce.

Farmiga,...

George A. Romero's Night of the Living Dead will be featured at the Salem Horror Fest, and we have info on the special screening. Also in today's Horror Highlights is an excerpt from Nicholas Forristal's Domitianus, stills from Midnighters, Dances with Films 2017 details, and the trailer for A24's Good Time.

Salem Horror Fest: Press Release: "Salem, Ma. - Salem Horror Fest, in partnership with the Peabody Essex Museum and CinemaSalem, today announced four weeks of screenings, parties, concerts, panels and exhibits that explore societal themes of fear and anxiety in horror at the Halloween capital of the world; Salem, Massachusetts

Amidst the notorious backdrop of the 1692 Witch Trials, the festival will feature a city-wide program set to kick off at the Peabody Essex Museum on Thursday, September 21 as part of the Pem/Pm evening party series in conjunction with their upcoming exhibit “It’s Alive” Classic Horror and Sci-Fi...

Exclusive: Patti Cake$ breakout star Macdonald on board Seville International Cannes sales title.

Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.

Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.

Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.

As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.

Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...

Exclusive: Patti Cake$ breakout star Macdonald on board Seville International Cannes sales title.

Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.

Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.

Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.

As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.

Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...

Exclusive: Patti Cake$ breakout Danielle Macdonald on board Seville International Cannes sales title.

Seville International will launch pre-sales in Cannes on prestige drama Skin, a true story about the redemption of a Neo-Nazi that pairs Jamie Bell with Danielle Macdonald from Sundance breakout and Directors’ Fortnight entry Patti Cake$.

Guy Nattiv will direct the true story based on the life of Bryon ‘Pitbull’ Widner, a violent gang enforcer who is decorated in facial tattoos for committing hate crimes.

Skin will recount how Widner falls in love with a mother of three daughters outside the gang and turns his back on the gang, resulting in the arrest of its leaders.

As he embarks on his new life, the former gang member receives a $70,000 gift from a Holocaust survivor to pay for painful surgery to remove his facial tattoos.

Skin marks the fourth feature from Nattiv, whose The Flood (Mabul) won the Generation Kplus – Best Feature Film at the...

True to independent films, Dances with Films film festival will be celebrating its 19th year and sharing the festival week with the Los Angeles Films Festival in June.

Over 100 independent films will be shown from June 2nd through June 12th at the family Hollywood’s Tcl Chinese Theaters.

The festival based solely on merit and discoverability and mandating that all competitive films have no known actors, writers, directors or producers.

Legendary producer Steve Tisch joined the Dwf esteemed Advisory Board last festival season. One of the most successful producers in the motion picture industry, Steve has produced such films as Risky Business, The Pursuit of Happyness, The Weather Man, Seven Pounds, Knowing, The Taking of Pelham 123, The Back-Up Plan, and Hope Springs. A pantheon of industry heavyweights, Dwf’s Advisory Board also includes: Cindy Cowan, Jonathan Dana, Steve Elzer, Kevin Kasha, Eriq La Salle, Michael Lehmann, Mike Macari, Valerie McCaffrey,...

Haim Saban, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Saban Capital Group, Inc., announced today that Saban Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Philip Martin's thriller The Forger starring John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan and Abigail Spencer, Marcus Thomas and Jennifer Ehle. With a screenplay by Richard D'Ovidio, the film will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Friday, September 12th

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This marks Saban Films second acquisition of Toronto following the action thriller Tracers starring Taylor Lautner and Marie Avgeropoulos from Temple Hill Entertainment.

Released from prison so that he can spend time with his dying son (Tye Sheridan), an expert art forger (John Travolta) is coerced into participating in a major museum heist.

Said Saban Films President Bill Bromiley:

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"John Travolta was brilliant as a criminal who would go to any means to protect his son. We look forward to...

"Sandstone" is a thought-provoking window into the heart of the sexual revolution in Southern California in the 1970’s. This legendary mountain top retreat was a fantasy playground for adults and an important social experiment rolled into one. Sandstone is relevant today because it facilitates an open dialogue about the pressure many people still feel from traditional societal expectations about sexuality and what is ‘normal’.

About the film:

Filmed in the 1970’s, famed producer, Jonathan Dana’s "Sandstone" has been re-mastered and is making its exclusive worldwide digital premiere on IndieFlix this week. The company's goal is to entertain and engage their viewers with a socially relevant conversation about group marriage, relationships and sexuality.

The Cultural Connection:

When "Sandstone" was filmed, the ‘sexual revolution’ was a reaction to the pressure to be ‘normal’ as defined by mainstream society. It was a backlash against the traditional 1950’s lifestyle in which appearances, perfection and convention were prized above emotional fulfillment, freedom or growth.

While the term ‘sexual revolution’ generally implies the period from the 1960’s to the late 1970’s, in many ways our society is in the midst of a second wave of sexual liberation and equality. There is an increased acceptance and even celebration of sexual identity, the Lgbtq community and nontraditional relationship dynamics such as polyamory.

The release of Sandstone is a timely and important contribution to the global conversation about what comprises ‘relationship’, and IndieFlix seems to be the right company to present this exclusive film.

Alex Comfort, author of The Joy of Sex, said of the film, "Anyone in search of the joy of sex should see this film."...

You hear it all the time: Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News. But Americans were buying all the same, and to quote Screen International: “The current market is focused on smart money and smart deals, not volume of product”. Business at Afm was also solid though unspectacular. Moreover, the pre-buying of projects may be below the radar of this $3 billion business of international film buying and selling. TrustNordisk’s CEO Rikke Ennis says that 70% of their films are pre-sold. As you look at the upcoming Winter Rights Roundup due out in two weeks from SydneysBuzz.com/Reports, you will notice many of the films have been pre-buys this market and many films screening were already pre-sold during Afm in November.

And for all the complaints about Berlin, many sales agents set up private screenings before the market kicked off. What is that about?

Beki Probst, who has run the Efm since 1988, responded to the many media reports of a quieter market in an interview with ScreenDaily which sounds almost the same as the one she gave in 2009.

Quoting her current statement which I take the liberty of quoting here as it appears in Screen:

“I think that there was a good movement of business this year,” she said. In the opinion of Probst, there had been a muddying of the distinction between the Efm and the more general term of the ‘market’.

“Daphné Kapfer of Europa International representing 35 sales agents said that it was a very good Berlin, and Glen Basner of FilmNation commented that it was ‘the best Berlin’.

“Even Harvey Weinstein came just for 24 hours to sign a $7m check, and Aloft was bought by Sony Pictures Classics.

“It’s the players, and not the market, that is important. The players come here if they have the right line-up. All we can do is provide the best infrastructure, but what happens after that is up to them.”

"Sales agents were not sitting idle at their stands if one takes the example of one company in the Martin Gropius Bau: the CEO met with 90 buyers and the members of staff responsible for marketing had no less than 180 meetings in addition to ad-hoc discussions at events in the evenings."

Coproductions are the engine driving the business these days.

This year’s Berlinale Co-Production Market ended after two-and-a-half days with awards handed out to projects from Kazakhstan and Belgium.

The €6,000 Arte International Prize went to Kazakh film-maker Emir Baigazin’s planned second feature The Wounded Angel, the second part of a trilogy after his Silver Bear-winning Harmony Lessons. The €1.2m Almaty-based Kazakhfilm Jsc production has already attracted France’s Capricci Production as a co-producer and has backing in place from the Doha Film Institute and the Hubert Bals Fund.

The €10,000 Vff Talent Highlight Pitch Award was presented to Belgian director Bavo Defurne for his romantic dramedy Souvenir. The €2m co-production by Oostende-based Indeed Films with Belgium’s Frakas Productions and Germany’s Karibufilm already has backing from Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Cinefinance and public broadcaster Vrt/ Een.

India-Norway’s $55 million film to be directed by Hans Petter Moland (In Order of Disappearance)’s The Indian Bride is an exciting example of an unusual pairing of countries.

Bavaria and Senator’s joint venture Bavaria Pictures’ The Postcard Killers to be directed by Mexican director Everardo Gout shows the international expansion of talent.

The Hungary-Austria-Germany co-production of Stefan Zweig’s Beware of Pity, or U.K.-Lithuania action comedy Redirected being sold by Content brings unusual European partners together.

U.S. born Damian John Harper’s coproduction with the German producers, brothers Jakob and Jonas Weydemann, on Los Angeles will be followed by In the Middle of the River now being developed with Zdf’s Das Kleine Fernsehspiel unit.

Shoreline’s The Infinite Man produced with Australia’s Hedone Productions in association with Bonsai Films with investment from South Australia Film Corporation through its Filmlab funding initiative, development assistance from Screen Australia is also a new sort of pairing.

Film and Music Entertainment (F&Me), Bac Films, 20 Steps Productions and Bruemmer & Herzog’s The President is shooting in Tbilisi, Georgia and is being directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf.

Italian-Canadian producer Andrea Iervolino and Monika Bacardi’s Sights of Death starring Danny Glover, Daryl Hannah, Rutger Hauer, Stephen Baldwin and Michael Madsen is directed by Allessandro Capone in Rome.

The Spain-u.K. co-production Second Origin is based on the best selling Catalan novel Mecanoscrit Del Segon Orgen.

The Golden Bear Winner Black Coal, Thin Ice is a Boneyard Entertainment (New York & Hong Kong) co-production with Boneyard Entertainment China (Bec), Omnijoi Media (Jiangsu, China), China Film co-production.

A sign of the times is the Swedish Film in Berlin advertisement which lists all Swedish co-productions:

In Competition: In Order of DisappearanceOut of Competition: NymphomaniacBerlinale Special: Someone You Love Generation Kplus: A Christmoose StoryPerspektive Deutsches Kino: Lamento

All are with European co-producers as is Antboy a Danish-German co-production.

One of my favorites is Gallows Hill, being sold by Im Global and already picked up by IFC for U.S. Starring Twilight actor Peter Facinelli, U.K. actress Sophia Myles, Nathalia Ramos and Colombian model and actress Carolina Guerra, it was entirely financed from within Colombia by television network Rcn’s affiliate Five 7 Media which produced with Peter Block's A Bigger Boat, David Higgins and Angelique Higgins' Launchpad Productions and Andrea Chung. The screenplay was written by Rich D’Ovidio ( The Call, Thir13en Ghosts) about a widower who takes his children on a trip to their mother’s Colombian hometown.

Another interesting combo is the Australian-Singapore co-production Canopy being sold by Odin’s Eye which was acquired by Kaleidoscope for U.K., by Kinosmith for Canada and Odin’s Eye itself for Australia. After its Tiff 2013 premiere, Monterrey acquired U.S. rights.

Cathedrals of Culture, was produced by Wim Wenders’ production company: Neue Road Movies in Germany and co-produced by Final Cut For Real (Denmark), Lotus Film (Austria), Mer Film (Norway), Les Films d'Ici 2 (France), Sundance Productions / RadicalMedia (U.S.), Rundfunk Berlin-Brandenburg In collaboration with Arte (Germany and France) and Wowow (Japan).

Grand Budapest Hotel is a co-production of Scott Rudin in U.S. and Studio Babelsburg in Germany.

Wouldn't you say there had to be an awful lot of business going on? If only the media knew where to look for it. Instead, they moan the same old tired tune, "Quality a bit soft. Not a lot of Big Titles. Not a lot of Big News". Oh well...

Efm Coproduction Market

Asian producer Raymond Phathanavirangoon, who was pitching the Hong Kong comedy Grooms by writer-director Arvin Chen at the Berlin Coproduction Market, announced that Germany’s augenschein filmproduktion will be a coproducer on Singaporean director Boo Junfeng’s second feature Apprentice. The film has already received backing from France’s World Cinema Support, the Film- und Medienstiftung Nrw of Germany and Germany's second network, Zdf’s Das kleine fernsehspiel unit. It also has Cinema Defacto as its French co-producer. Junfeng’s first film, Sandcastle, was screened at the Critics’ Week in Cannes in 2010.

Cologne-based augenschein, who produced Maximilian Leo’s My Brother’s Keeper, the opening film of this year’s Perspektive Deutsches Kino and is handled internationally by Media Luna, is currently in post-production on Romanian filmmaker Florin Serban’s Box, his second feature after the 2010 Berlinale Competition film If I Want To Whistle, I Whistle.

Argentinian filmmaker Santiago Mitre whose debut The Student established him as one of the brightest and most courted young directors in Latin America was in the Co-production Market with his untitled second feature which France’s Full House connected to along with Argentina’s Union de los Rio, Argentine broadcast network Telefe, Ignacio Viale and the ubiquitous Lita Stantic.

Full House was also at the Coproduction Market with Peter Webber’s Fresh about a young thief learning the art of pickpocketing in Bogota, Colombia. It will be co-produced with Rcn affiliate Five 7 Media and 4Direcciones in Colombia and by Webber himself.

Raymond van der Kaaij, the producer of Tamar van den Dop’s Panorama title Supernova, is now financing Sundance winner Ernesto Contreras’ next feature I Dream In Another Language. The Spanish-English language project will be produced with Mexico-based Agencia Sha, and it is now casting the American lead according to producer van der Kaaij of Revolver Amsterdam. Developed at the Sundance Screenwriters Lab and the winner of the Sundance-Mahindra Global Filmmaking Award, I Dream has already received support from Imcine in Mexico. Shooting is scheduled in Mexico for the end of 2014.

Revolver is now editing Bodkin Ras, the debut film of Iranian-Dutch director Kaweh Modiri, an English-language documentary-thriller set in North Scotland. The Dutch-Belgian-u.K. coproduction is set for release at the end of 2014.

Finnish film-maker Jukka-Pekka Valkeapaa’s is editing his latest feature They Have Escaped, which Revolver coproduced with Helsinki Film.

Trend of smart art genres

Another continuing trend, which began with Xyz and Celluloid Nightmares and continued with Memento, is the character-driven art genre films with tight budgets, like the Danish coming-of-age-werewolf-romance, When Animals Dream, directed by first timer Jonas Arnby, sold by Gaumont to Radius-twc for No. Americ. The Scandinavians, formerly making a mark with "Nordic Noir" are now making what they call "Nordic Twilight".

Trend of remake rights

Another trend is that of remake rights. Film Sharks reports it makes more from selling remake rights than from licensing distribution rights.

The Intouchables is selling remake rights to more countries than only India as is the sale of Other Angle’s Babysitting remake rights. Negotiations are underway with Russia, Italy and Germany.

Fruit Chan is considering an English language remake of his 2004 cult horror film Dumplings.

The market is bit too calm?…Then let us look at Cannes…

Usually by Afm you can begin the Tipped for Cannes List (which Gilles Jacob detested), but even that is a little on the quiet side. I begin to question whether all media fueled news is accurate: the slow sales being reported, the lack of pre-Cannes buzz… Is the media really investigating deeply?

Of all the trades, while Screen has the most international news and deepest analyses, Variety reports things no other trade is covering. But…still the non-news of a quiet market persists as if it were headline news. We always hear this and we are still in an economic slump, so what we wish for is not apparent, but this is not news.

Tipped for Cannes

Tipped for Cannes are Zhang Yimou’s Coming Home staring Gong Li and to be sold by Wild Bunch, Stealth’s First Law starring Mads Mikkelsen (Cannes 2012 Best Actor Award for The Hunt); Self Made (Boreg) by Shira Geffen and to be sold by Westend, shot in Hebrew and Arabic by the production and sales team behind Oscar nominated 2011 drama Footnote, the second film after Geffen’s 2007 debut Jellyfish which won the Cannes Camera d’Or. MK2’s Clouds of Sils Maria by Olivier Assayas and starring Juliette Binoche, Chloe Grace Moretz and Kristen Stewart, and Naomi Kawase’s Still the Water will be delivered in time for Cannes. Pyramide International is plannng for Leviathan, a modern retelling of the biblical story which deals with some of Russia’s most important social issues to be ready for Cannes. It is directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev and produced by Alexander Rodnyansky (Stalingrad) as their followup to Elena. Gaumont-cj co-production, The Target, the Korean remake of Fred Cavaye’s action thriller Point Blank will be ready in time for Cannes.

Rumors and truths about people changing positions

Rumors about Dieter Kosslick replacing Berlin’s Culture Secretary who resigned after a tax evasion scandal in which he admitted to stashing $575,000 in a Swiss bank account…Charlotte Mickie has left eOne and knowing her, she is bound to find something good elsewhere as she's too good to lose...StudioCanals Harold van Lier now leads eOne’s newly ramped international sales team and Montreal based Anick Poirier leads its subsidiary label, Seville International. Jeff Nuyts is leaving Intramovies. Nigel Sinclair and Guy East seem to be leaving Exclusive Media the company they founded as discussions with partners from Dasym Investment Strategies Bv move forward. Kevin Hoiseth from Voltage Pictures has joined International Film Trust as their director of international sales...and of course, Nadine de Barros has founded her own company, Fortitude, and was holding court at the Ritz Carlton the buzziest spot outside of the Martin Gropius Bau.

What I Saw and What I Thought

For what it's worth, here is my limited list of screenings of films seen only in the last 3 days of the festival when I was no longer "working". I am including some I actually saw at Sundance.

First and foremost -- and to be written about further in a "thought piece" as I term the articles I think long about before writing and to include my interview with the director Goran Hugo Olsson's (The Black Power Mixtapes winner of Sundance 2011 World Cinema Documentary Film Editing Award) -- Concerning Violence (Isa: Films Boutique, U.S.: Cinetic), based on Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth and seen at Sundance this year next to Stanley Nelson's outstanding Freedom Summer (PBS) and Greg Barker's We Are The Giant (Submarine), is a call to action for new societal models ringing out loud and clear.

Golden Bear Winner, Black Coal, Thin Ice by Diao Yinan, a Chinese noir, lacked the momentum and substance I would have expected in a winning film, though it was a fascinating way to see today's urban China. Had I been on the jury, I would have chosen the Best Director Award winning Boyhood (Isa: IFC) by Richard Linklater. But perhaps because James Schamus, an American who loves Chinese films, was President of the Jury, there might have arisen a question of disinterested objectivity. I would have to hear what jurists Barbara Broccoli, Trine Dyrhom, Chistoph Waltz, Tony Leung, Greta Gerwig, Mitra Farahani and Michel Gondry would have to say about the deliberations.

Speaking of jury prizes, it was a surprise the much acclaimed '71 (Isa: Protagonist, now headed by our dear Mike Goodridge) won nothing, and good Alain Renais' Life of Riley (Isa: Le Pacte) received recognition. I found Christophe Gans' La belle et la bete (Beauty and the Beast) (Isa: Pathe) an overproduced unwieldy special effects-ridden mess, even though it was exec-produced by Jérôme Seydoux who also produced the masterpiece La Grande Belleza (The Great Beauty), and starred his granddaughter Lea Seydoux. I'll stand by Cocteau's versoin. I heard Claudia Llosa (Milk of Sorrow)'s Aloft was also not widely admired.

About the best actress winning film The Little House (Isa: Shochiku could have marketed it more widely), I heard nothing at all, though it sounds really good. Kreuzweg (Stations of the Cross) (Isa: Beta) by brother and sister team Anna and Dietrich Brueggemann (any relation to our own Tom Brueggeman?) had a satisfying denouement and was quite engrossing with moments of humor lightening the heavy weight of the cross carried by 14 year old Maria played by Lea van Acken, a picture face out of a George de la Tour painting (Magdeline with a Smoking Flame or A Piece of Art). Macondo (Isa: Films Boutique - again! ) by Sudabeh Mortezai of Austria was a window on a world never seen before and very engrossing although the coming of age story was one we have seen before.

Not sorry to say I missed The Monuments Men and Nymphomaniac Volume I, but sorry that I missed Beloved Sisters (Isa: Global Screen) of Dominik Graf, The Grand Budapest Hotel (will see it in U.S.), Argentinian Benjamin Naishat's History of Fear (Isa: Visit) -- I'll catch it in Carthegena, Guadalajara or San Sebastian I'm sure, Jack, In Order of Disappearance which sounds like the sleeper hit of the festival, Argentinan (again!) La tercera orilla (The Third Side of the River), Lou Ye's Tui Na (Blind Massage) and Rachid Bouchareb's Two Men in Town (Isa: Pathe - again!), which I heard was rather flat which is not surprising, for when non-Americans try to make an American genre, it usually misses a certain verve, but still is such an interesting subject for him to tackle, Zwischen Welten (Inbetween Worlds) (Isa: The Match Factory) from Germany, another "American" subject, but here about a German soldier in Afghanistan, not an American one.

Among the Berlinale Specials, I wish I had seen Nancy Buirski's Afternoon of a Faun which everyone said was good (Isa: Cactus Three the doc production company of Krysanne Katsoolis and Caroline Stevens) and Volker Schloendorff's 1969 Brecht piece Baal starring Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Margarethe von Trotta. I did see his Diplomacy (Isa: Gaumont) which was a great treat, erudite, intimate and reminiscent of the novels of Sandor Marai (Embers and Casanova in Bolzano). Wish I could have seen Wim Wenders' Cathedrals of Culture (Isa: Cinephil), Diego Luna's Cesar Chavez (Isa: Mundial) and In the Courtyard aka Dans la cours (Isa: Wild Bunch) starring Catherine Deneuve and The Kidnapping of Michel Houllebecq (Isa: Le Pacte - again!!). I will see The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came to Eden (Isa: The Film Sales Company) by Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller, produced by Jonathan Dana, Dayna Goldfine, Dan Geller and Celeste Schaefer Snyder (Ballets Russes), back home. The Turning (Isa: Level K), an experimental omnibus produced by my favorite Australian producer, Robert Connelly who also directed in part and Maggie Myles, is also a must-see as is Errol Morris' companion piece to The Fog of War, The Unknown Known (Isa: HanWay) and Houssein Amini's Two Faces of January (Isa: StudioCanal) starring my favorites Viggo Mortenson and Kirsten Dunst. We Come as Friends (Isa: Le Pacte), by Hubert Sauper whose earlier film Darwin's Destiny astounded me, was worth watching although so often his films plunge one into a hopeless helplessness. Fresh from Sundance, it was raising controversy and the story of the Sudan is worth knowing. His particular and peculiar Pov is valuable. Watermark (Isa: Entertainment One), another social issue worth knowing about will have to wait for a more propitious time. Personally I'm hoping Israel's current venture into desalination of water will lead the world into peace and that I will rejoice watching the doc about that.

Difret (Isa: Films Boutique - again!), fresh from Sundance where I saw it was really good and it sold well. I got to hang out with the team at the Panorama party. Gueros (Isa: Mundial - again!), was a disappointment -- too like The Year of the Nail (though different) in tone. But what a great company Canana is!

Panorama's Finding Vivian Maier (Isa: HanWay - again!) is brilliantly interesting. It is about to be released in U.S. by IFC. I highly recommend seeing this documentary about an eccentric, unknown photographer. It premiered at Tiff 2013. Fresh from Sundance where it won a Special Jury Prize, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (Isa: Submarine) was a treasure; Velvet Terrorists was about the oddest piece I have ever seen. About three former opponents of the Czechoslovakian Soviet Regime, each has continued to enjoy blowing up things. One is still training the next generation in urban guerilla warfare. They are otherwise unremarkable, sweet even, but twisted. What an odd documentary.

A quick look at the Market Films I have seen: of the 400+ premieres: Zero -- no I did see German Academy Award nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, Two Lives (Isa: Beta), and I will soon be home to celebrate its nomination at the famous Villa Aurora, the former home of German expatriate writer Leon Feuchtwanger. So many more films look sooooo attractive! A pity I may never get to see them. I would need all the time in the world, and I have so little. I have so much and yet I want more!

As acquisitions and sales at the Berlin Film Festival continue, the first image and synopsis have been released for Philip Martin's The Forger. According to the synopsis, the movie" tells the story of a former child art prodigy and second generation petty thief, Ray Cutter (John Travolta) who arranges to buy his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son, Will Cutter (Tye Sheridan). Ray and his father, Joseph Cutter (Christopher Plummer), must come together to carry out one last big job for the syndicate who financed his early release." I'm a bit confused by this synopsis. If you were an art prodigy, then wouldn't you commit counterfeiting instead of petty thievery? That's like being a guitar prodigy and deciding to play the slide whistle. Hit the jump for the image and press release. Here's the press release: Genre: Heist Status: Post-production Producers: Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt,...

Exclusive: Film Sales Company also completes deal with Kinosmith for Canada.

The Galapagos Affair: Satan Came To Eden has worked its charms on international buyers as Diane Kruger and Sebastian Koch prepare to attend Monday’s (Feb 10) international premiere at the Berlinale.

According to buyers, Hopscotch has picked up Australia / New Zealand rights while Kinosmith will distribute in Canada.

Daniel Geller and Dayna Goldfine directed the documentary about sexual intrigue and murder on the remote island.

Kruger and Koch are among an illustrious voice-over cast alongside Oscar nominee Cate Blanchett and Thomas Kretschmann.

Geller and Goldfine produced with Celeste Schaefer Snyder and Jonathan Dana served as executive producer. The producers are in talks with companies over fictional remake rights.

Zeitgeist Films will release in the Us in April and Film Sales Company represents international sales.

Jean-Francois Richet (the French helmer whose services were called upon form U.S actioneer Assault on Precinct 13 and the shot in Quebec-France Mesrine films) is set (according to Deadline) to get behind the director’s chair for what might be considered quality item of its genre in the recently Black List mentioned (number ten on the poll) Pox Americana. Code Entertainment’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso are producing – we imagine this will nab some A-grade talent down the line for a 2014 shoot. The prod company is also set to begin production on Mission: Blacklist featuring the skillset of one of our favorite Swedish auteurs in Jesper Ganslandt. Pilothouse Pictures’ Erik Jendresen and Jonathan Dana will executive produce.

Gist: Written by Frank John Hughes, set in the Old West, a group of soldiers go on a mission to slaughter a peaceful tribe in retaliation for another tribe...

Exclusive: The Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has acquired international sales rights to Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s documentary The Galapagos Affair: When Satan Came To Eden.

The murder mystery story received its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival and investigates through archival footage and home movies the mystery surrounding the fate of three groups of settlers in the 1930s.

Goldfine and Geller produced with Celeste Schaefer Snyder while Jonathan Dana served as executive director.

The film features the voice performances of Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Kretschmann, Gustaf Skarsgård and Josh Radnor.

As previously announced, Zeitgeist Films acquired Us rights after watching a sneak preview at Telluride and plans a spring 2014 theatrical roll out.

“The film is an extraordinary and voyeuristically fascinating thriller, proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction,” said Herwitz.

“Dayna and Dan perform an amazing service by bringing to light this tale, which...

Exclusive: The Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has acquired international sales rights to Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s documentary The Galapagos Affair: When Satan Came To Eden.

The murder mystery story received its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival and investigates through archival footage and home movies the mystery surrounding the fate of three groups of settlers in the 1930s.

Goldfine and Geller produced with Celeste Schaefer Snyder while Jonathan Dana served as executive director.

The film features the voice performances of Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Kretschmann, Gustaf Skarsgård and Josh Radnor.

As previously announced, Zeitgeist Films acquired Us rights after watching a sneak preview at Telluride and plans a spring 2014 theatrical roll out.

“The film is an extraordinary and voyeuristically fascinating thriller, proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction,” said Herwitz.

“Dayna and Dan perform an amazing service by bringing to light this tale, which...

Exclusive: The Film Sales Company president Andrew Herwitz has acquired international sales rights to Dayna Goldfine and Dan Geller’s documentary The Galapagos Affair: When Satan Came To Eden.

The murder mystery story received its world premiere at the Hamptons International Film Festival and investigates through archival footage and home movies the mystery surrounding the fate of three groups of settlers in the 1930s.

Goldfine and Geller produced with Celeste Schaefer Snyder while Jonathan Dana served as executive director.

The film features the voice performances of Cate Blanchett, Diane Kruger, Connie Nielsen, Sebastian Koch, Thomas Kretschmann, Gustaf Skarsgård and Josh Radnor.

As previously announced, Zeitgeist Films acquired Us rights after watching a sneak preview at Telluride and plans a spring 2014 theatrical roll out.

“The film is an extraordinary and voyeuristically fascinating thriller, proving once again that truth is stranger than fiction,” said Herwitz.

“Dayna and Dan perform an amazing service by bringing to light this tale, which...

BAFTA TV Award and Tony Award winning actress Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty, Contagion), Anson Mount (AMC's Hell on Wheels, Safe), Abigail Spencer (Sundance Channel's Rectify, Oz: The Great and Powerful) and Marcus Thomas (You Kill Me, Drowning Mona) join the cast of heist film The Forger, starring alongside two-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner John Travolta, Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Last Station) and Venice Film Festival Award winner for Best New Young Actor Tye Sheridan (Joe, Mud, The Tree of Life), it was announced today by producers and co-financiers Code Entertainment's ("Code") Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt and Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution Entertainment Group ("The Solution").

The film started shooting today, October 7th on location in Boston, Massachusetts.

BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director Philip Martin (BBC's Wallander) is directing from a script by Richard D'Ovidio (The Call).

Code's Al Corley,...

BAFTA TV Award and Tony Award winning actress Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty, Contagion), Anson Mount (AMC’s “Hell on Wheels,” Safe), Abigail Spencer (Sundance Channel’s “Rectify,” Oz The Great And The Powerful) and Marcus Thomas (You Kill Me, Drowning Mona) join the cast of heist film The Forger.

The four will star alongside two-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner John Travolta, Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Last Station) and Venice Film Festival Award winner for Best New Young Actor Tye Sheridan (Joe, Mud, The Tree Of Life).

The film started shooting today, October 7th on location in Boston, Massachusetts.

BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director Philip Martin (BBC’s “Wallander”) is directing from a script by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call).

The Forger tells the story of a former child art prodigy and second generation petty thief, Ray Cutter (Travolta) who arranges to buy his...

BAFTA TV Award and Tony Award winning actress Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty, Contagion), Anson Mount (Safe), Abigail Spencer (Oz the Great and Powerful) and Marcus Thomas (You Kill Me, Drowning Mona) join the cast of heist film The Forger, starring alongside two-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner John Travolta, Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Last Station) and Venice Film Festival Award winner for Best New Young Actor Tye Sheridan (Joe, Mud, The Tree of Life), it was announced today by producers and co-financiers Code Entertainment’s Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt and Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution Entertainment Group.

The film started shooting today, October 7th on location in Boston, Massachusetts.

BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director Philip Martin (BBC’s “Wallander”) is directing from a script by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call).

Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will...

Jennifer Ehle (“Zero Dark Thirty”), Anson Mount (AMC’s “Hell on Wheels”), Abigail Spencer (“Oz the Great and Powerful”) and Belgian-born actor Marcus Thomas have joined John Travolta in “The Forger,” a heist film being produced and co-financed by Code Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group. Philip Martin is directing the film, which also stars Tye Sheridan (“Mud”) and Oscar winner Christopher Plummer. Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso are producing along with Prospect Park’s Rob Carliner. Jonathan Dana and Randi Michel will executive produce alongside The Solution’s Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel. Anson Downes...

Jennifer Ehle, Anson Mount, Abigail Spencer (pictured) and Marcus Thomas have joined the cast of Code Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group’s thriller.

Philip Martin kicked off production on The Forger in Boston on October 7 from a screenplay by Richard D’Ovidio.

As previously announced, John Travolta, Christopher Plummer and Tye Sheridan also star in the story about a petty thief who buys his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son. The criminal must team up with his father to carry out one last job for the syndicate that got him out of jail.

Wme Global and ICM Partners represent Us rights and The Solution Entertainment Group will continue pre-sales at the Afm.

Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce with Rob Carliner. Jonathan Dana and Randi Michel serve as executive producers alongside The Solution’s Myles Nestel and Lisa Wilson.

Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Last Station) joins the cast of heist film, The Forger, starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner John Travolta and recent Venice Film Festival Award winner for Best New Young Actor Tye Sheridan (Joe, Mud), it was announced today by producers and co-financiers Code Entertainment's ("Code") Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt and Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution Entertainment Group ("The Solution").

The film, to be directed by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director, Philip Martin (BBC's Wallander), will begin shooting in Boston in October.

Starring as Travolta's father and Sheridan's grandfather, Plummer will play Joseph Cutter, the patriarch of the family that spans three generations in the film.

Written by Richard D'Ovidio (The Call), The Forger tells the story of a formerchild art prodigy and second generation petty thief, Ray Cutter (Travolta) who arranges to buy his...

Christopher Plummer has joined the cast of Code Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group’s thriller The Forger. Wme Global and ICM Partners represent Us rights.

John Travolta and Tye Sheridan, who stars opposite Nicolas Cage in Toronto entry Joe, were previously announced.

Philip Martin is scheduled to begin the Boston shoot in October from a screenplay by Richard D’Ovidio.

The Forger centres on a petty thief who buys his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son.

The criminal must team up with his father to carry out one last job for the syndicate that got him out of jail.

Plummer will play Joseph Cutter, the patriarch of the family that spans three generations in the film.

Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce with Rob Carliner. Jonathan Dana and Randi Michel serve as executive producers alongside The Solution’s Myles Nestel and Lisa Wilson.

Christopher Plummer has joined the cast of Code Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group’s thriller The Forger. Wme Global and ICM Partners represent Us rights.

John Travolta and Tye Sheridan, who stars opposite Nicolas Cage in Toronto entry Joe, were previously announced.

Philip Martin is scheduled to begin the Boston shoot in October from a screenplay by Richard D’Ovidio.

The Forger centres on a petty thief who buys his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son.

The criminal must team up with his father to carry out one last job for the syndicate that got him out of jail.

Plummer will play Joseph Cutter, the patriarch of the family that spans three generations in the film.

Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce with Rob Carliner. Jonathan Dana and Randi Michel serve as executive producers alongside The Solution’s Myles Nestel and Lisa Wilson.

Oscar winner Christopher Plummer (Beginners, The Last Station) joins the cast of heist film, The Forger, starring opposite two-time Academy Award nominee and two-time Golden Globe winner John Travolta and recent Venice Film Festival Award winner for Best New Young Actor Tye Sheridan (Joe, Mud), it was announced today by producers and co-financiers Code Entertainment’s (“Code”) Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt and Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution Entertainment Group (“The Solution”).

The film, to be directed by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director, Philip Martin (BBC’s “Wallander”), will begin shooting in Boston in October.

Starring as Travolta’s father and Sheridan’s grandfather, Plummer will play Joseph Cutter, the patriarch of the family that spans three generations in the film.

Written by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call), The Forger tells the story of a former child art prodigy and second generation petty thief, Ray Cutter (Travolta...

Oscar winner Christopher Plummer is set to join John Travolta and Tye Sheridan in heist film “The Forger,” which is being produced and co-financed by Code Entertainment and The Solution Entertainment Group. Philip Martin is directing the film, which will be produced by Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt and Eugene Musso, along with Prospect Park’s Rob Carliner. Jonathan Dana and Randi Michel will executive produce alongside The Solution’s Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel. Anson Downes and Linda Favila will serve as co-executive producers. Written by Richard D’Ovidio (“The Call”), “The Forger” follows former child art prodigy...

Twenty-seven new features will screen over the extended five-day anniversary event and there will be tributes to Robert Redford, T-Bone Burnett, the Coen Brothers and Mohammad Rasoulof - and there has already been a Us acquisition.

While observers do not expect much buyer activity at the festival, Zeitgeist announced it had made a preemptive Us buy on Dan Geller and Dayna Goldfine’s The Galapagos Affair (see below).

The Sony Pictures Classics team, RADiUS-twc, IFC, Fox Searchlight’s production head Claudia Lewis and president of Paramount Film Group Adam Goodman are among those expected to attend the Colorado event, which runs from Aug 29 through the additional day of programming on Sept 2.

The main programme features are:

All Is Lost, Robert RedfordBefore The Winter Chill (France) Philippe ClaudelBethlehem (Israel) Yuval AdlerBlue Is The Warmest Color (France) Abdellatif KechicheBurning Bush (Czech Republic) Agnieszka HollandDeath Row: Blaine Milam + Robert Fratta, Werner HerzogFifi Howls From Happiness, Mitra FarahaniThe...

Rising young actor Tye Sheridan (Mud, The Tree of Life) is set to star opposite two-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner John Travolta (Get Shorty) in heist film The Forger, to be directed by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director, Philip Martin, it was announced today by producers and co-financiers Code Entertainment’s (“Code”) Al Corley and Bart Rosenblatt and Lisa Wilson and Myles Nestel of The Solution Entertainment Group (“The Solution”).

The Forger, currently in pre-production, will start principal photography in Boston in October.

Code’s Al Corley, Bart Rosenblatt, and Eugene Musso will produce the film along with Prospect Park’s Rob Carliner. Jonathan Dana and Randi Michel will executive produce alongside The Solution’s Myles Nestel and Lisa Wilson. Anson Downes and Linda Favila will serve as co-executive producers.

Written by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call), The Forger tells the story of a former child art prodigy and second generation petty thief,...

Tye Sheridan (Mud, The Tree Of Life) is set to star opposite two-time Oscar nominee and Golden Globe winner John Travolta (Get Shorty) in heist film The Forger, to be directed by BAFTA and Emmy Award-winning director, Philip Martin.

Written by Richard D’Ovidio (The Call), The Forger tells the story of a former child art prodigy and second generation petty thief, Ray Cutter (Travolta) who arranges to buy his way out of prison to spend time with his ailing son, Will Cutter (Sheridan), only to be forced to change his plans and commit one last big job for the syndicate who financed his early release.

The Forger, currently in pre-production, will start principal photography in Boston in October.

Sheridan made his feature film debut in Terrence Malick’s The Tree Of Life co-starring Sean Penn and Brad Pitt. He was most recently seen in Roadside Attractions’ breakout hit earlier this year,...