David Seidler, the London-born playwright and screenwriter best known for “The King’s Speech,” has died while on a fly-fishing vacation in New Zealand, as per a report in The Guardian. His spokesperson said he was in the location he most revered, doing the activity he most loved when he passed: “It is exactly as he would have scripted it.” The winner of the Academy Award and BAFTA for Best Original Screenplay for the Colin Firth-led film was 86 years old.
Seidler’s career began in Australian television in the late 1960s. He came to the United States in the early 1980s, working for the soap opera “Another World,” then writing television movies like “Malice in Wonderland,” something of an early version of the series “Feud” as it concerned Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons starring Jane Alexander and Elizabeth Taylor. He also wrote “Onassis: The Richest Man in the World” starring...
Seidler’s career began in Australian television in the late 1960s. He came to the United States in the early 1980s, working for the soap opera “Another World,” then writing television movies like “Malice in Wonderland,” something of an early version of the series “Feud” as it concerned Hedda Hopper and Louella Parsons starring Jane Alexander and Elizabeth Taylor. He also wrote “Onassis: The Richest Man in the World” starring...
- 3/18/2024
- by Jordan Hoffman
- Gold Derby
The Mark Gordon Company and The Koch Company are partnering with Chinese studio Pegasus Media Group and China Film Group on the English-language Edge Of The World.
David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather wrote the action-filled transcontinental love story based on events from the 1930s when New York socialite Ruth Harkness went to China in search of her missing fiancé.
Seidler won the Oscar in 2011 for writing The King’s Speech.
Pegasus and China Film Group will finance the project and Gordon, Hawk Koch, and Jianjun “Jay” Sun will serve as producers.
Jeff Aghassi is on board as executive producer. Production is anticipated to start in China later this year.
CAA’s Jonah Greenberg brokered the project.
David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather wrote the action-filled transcontinental love story based on events from the 1930s when New York socialite Ruth Harkness went to China in search of her missing fiancé.
Seidler won the Oscar in 2011 for writing The King’s Speech.
Pegasus and China Film Group will finance the project and Gordon, Hawk Koch, and Jianjun “Jay” Sun will serve as producers.
Jeff Aghassi is on board as executive producer. Production is anticipated to start in China later this year.
CAA’s Jonah Greenberg brokered the project.
- 4/6/2016
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The Mark Gordon Company, Koch Company, China’s Pegasus Media Group and the China Film Group are teaming with The King’s Speech scribe David Seidler and Jacqueline Feather on English-language feature Edge of the World. Pegasus and China Film Group will finance the action-filled transcontinental love story, which will be produced by Mark Gordon, Hawk Koch and Jianjun "Jay" Sun. Jeff Aghassi will serve as an exec producer. The project will shoot in China later this year. The…...
- 4/6/2016
- Deadline
After successfully launching its feature animation division with 1996's "Space Jam", Warner Bros. has taken the fully animated feature plunge with "Quest for Camelot", an obvious effort to take on you-know-who at its own unrivaled game.
But while it has the requisite enchanted vistas, wide-eyed protagonists, a snarling villain, comic animal cut-ups and sweeping ballads, the picture emerges as an uninspired facsimile.
Slavishly formulaic, there's a mechanical "by committee" feel to the proceedings, which sorely lack any spark of invention. The result may still make for a harmless, mild distraction for the kiddies, but this quest won't be sufficiently realized until it reaches the video shelves.
A sequel of sorts to "The Sword in the Stone", the story concerns young Kayley (voiced by Jessalyn Gilsig, sung by Andrea Corr), the spirited daughter of a knight of the Round Table (Gabriel Byrne) who wants to be just like her dad when she grows up -- even though he's killed defending King Arthur Pierce Brosnan) from the evil, power-hungry Ruber (Gary Oldman).
Soon, Kayley is all grown up and gets a chance to save Camelot when Ruber's trusty Griffin (Bronson Pinchot) snatches Excalibur (miraculously, the magical sword doesn't have its own personality) and kidnaps her mom (Jane Seymour).
Setting out on her quest for Excalibur, Kayley soon joins forces with Garrett, a blind loner (voiced by Cary Elwes, sung by Bryan White), and Devon & Cornwall, a bickering, two-headed dragon (Eric Idle, Don Rickles). Ultimately, the day is saved.
Based on "The King's Damosel" by British author Vera Chapman, a pioneer in the feminist Arthurian fantasy genre, "Quest for Camelot" is big on exposition at the expense of bland characterization. Even Devon & Cornwall, while entertaining, are all-too-reminiscent of a scene-stealing animated feature twosome whose credo was "Hakuna Matata".
At least the voicework is rich, with colorful contributions from all concerned, also including John Gielgud as Merlin and Jaleel White as Bladebeak, a transformed chicken.
The animation, meanwhile, is serviceable but falls short of the state-of-the-art mark. The computer-generated sequences, while often impressive, never blend in satisfyingly with the traditional stuff.
On the musical front, composer Patrick Doyle, a frequent Kenneth Branagh collaborator, has crafted an evocative, soul-stirring score (credit those "Lion King-esque" drumbeats) that doesn't exactly gibe with the generic David Foster-Carole Bayer Sager ballads that are less concerned with being character-specific than being intended hits for the likes of LeAnn Rimes and Celine Dion -- both of whom happen to sing on the soundtrack.
QUEST FOR CAMELOT
Warner Bros.
Director:Frederik Du Chau
Producer:Dalisa Cooper Cohen
Screenwriters:Kirk De Micco, William Schifrin, Jacqueline Feather & David Seidler
Based on the novel "The King's Damosel" by:Vera Chapman Production designer:Steve Pilcher
Editor:Stanford C. Allen
Music:Patrick Doyle
Original songs:David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager
Color/stereo
Voices:
Kayley (speaking):Jessalyn Gilsig
Kayley (singing):Andrea Corr
Garrett (speaking):Cary Elwes
Garrett (singing):Bryan White
Cornwall:Don Rickles
Devon:Eric Idle
Ruber:Gary Oldman
Lady Juliana:Jane Seymour
King Arthur:Pierce Brosnan
Merlin: John Gielgud
The Griffin:Bronson Pinchot
Bladebeak:Jaleel White
Sir Lionel:Gabriel Byrne
Running time -- 80 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
But while it has the requisite enchanted vistas, wide-eyed protagonists, a snarling villain, comic animal cut-ups and sweeping ballads, the picture emerges as an uninspired facsimile.
Slavishly formulaic, there's a mechanical "by committee" feel to the proceedings, which sorely lack any spark of invention. The result may still make for a harmless, mild distraction for the kiddies, but this quest won't be sufficiently realized until it reaches the video shelves.
A sequel of sorts to "The Sword in the Stone", the story concerns young Kayley (voiced by Jessalyn Gilsig, sung by Andrea Corr), the spirited daughter of a knight of the Round Table (Gabriel Byrne) who wants to be just like her dad when she grows up -- even though he's killed defending King Arthur Pierce Brosnan) from the evil, power-hungry Ruber (Gary Oldman).
Soon, Kayley is all grown up and gets a chance to save Camelot when Ruber's trusty Griffin (Bronson Pinchot) snatches Excalibur (miraculously, the magical sword doesn't have its own personality) and kidnaps her mom (Jane Seymour).
Setting out on her quest for Excalibur, Kayley soon joins forces with Garrett, a blind loner (voiced by Cary Elwes, sung by Bryan White), and Devon & Cornwall, a bickering, two-headed dragon (Eric Idle, Don Rickles). Ultimately, the day is saved.
Based on "The King's Damosel" by British author Vera Chapman, a pioneer in the feminist Arthurian fantasy genre, "Quest for Camelot" is big on exposition at the expense of bland characterization. Even Devon & Cornwall, while entertaining, are all-too-reminiscent of a scene-stealing animated feature twosome whose credo was "Hakuna Matata".
At least the voicework is rich, with colorful contributions from all concerned, also including John Gielgud as Merlin and Jaleel White as Bladebeak, a transformed chicken.
The animation, meanwhile, is serviceable but falls short of the state-of-the-art mark. The computer-generated sequences, while often impressive, never blend in satisfyingly with the traditional stuff.
On the musical front, composer Patrick Doyle, a frequent Kenneth Branagh collaborator, has crafted an evocative, soul-stirring score (credit those "Lion King-esque" drumbeats) that doesn't exactly gibe with the generic David Foster-Carole Bayer Sager ballads that are less concerned with being character-specific than being intended hits for the likes of LeAnn Rimes and Celine Dion -- both of whom happen to sing on the soundtrack.
QUEST FOR CAMELOT
Warner Bros.
Director:Frederik Du Chau
Producer:Dalisa Cooper Cohen
Screenwriters:Kirk De Micco, William Schifrin, Jacqueline Feather & David Seidler
Based on the novel "The King's Damosel" by:Vera Chapman Production designer:Steve Pilcher
Editor:Stanford C. Allen
Music:Patrick Doyle
Original songs:David Foster, Carole Bayer Sager
Color/stereo
Voices:
Kayley (speaking):Jessalyn Gilsig
Kayley (singing):Andrea Corr
Garrett (speaking):Cary Elwes
Garrett (singing):Bryan White
Cornwall:Don Rickles
Devon:Eric Idle
Ruber:Gary Oldman
Lady Juliana:Jane Seymour
King Arthur:Pierce Brosnan
Merlin: John Gielgud
The Griffin:Bronson Pinchot
Bladebeak:Jaleel White
Sir Lionel:Gabriel Byrne
Running time -- 80 minutes
MPAA rating: G...
- 5/11/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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