Canadian distributor LevelFilm has hired two executives from Sphere Films in leadership roles.
Olivier Gauthier-Mercier joins as VP, distribution and Lainie Elton as VP, sales and acquisitions. Gauthier-Mercier was previously VP, distribution at Sphere Films where he oversaw the releases of Ari Aster’s “Beau is Afraid,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up” and Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun.”
Lainie Elton returns to LevelFilm after heading up licensing and digital strategy at Sphere Films as a vice president. Elton was previously VP, sales at LevelFilm for five years shepherding “Firecrackers,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” and “The Assistant.” The executive was also instrumental in establishing LevelFilm’s relationships with Netflix and Rogers.
Upcoming LevelFilm releases include musical biopic “Dreamin’ Wild,” starring Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Messina and Walton Goggins and Ben Kingsley-led drama “Jules.’ At the Toronto International Film Festival 2023, LevelFilm has Elliot Page-produced queer cheer drama “Backspot,...
Olivier Gauthier-Mercier joins as VP, distribution and Lainie Elton as VP, sales and acquisitions. Gauthier-Mercier was previously VP, distribution at Sphere Films where he oversaw the releases of Ari Aster’s “Beau is Afraid,” Kelly Reichardt’s “Showing Up” and Charlotte Wells’ “Aftersun.”
Lainie Elton returns to LevelFilm after heading up licensing and digital strategy at Sphere Films as a vice president. Elton was previously VP, sales at LevelFilm for five years shepherding “Firecrackers,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco” and “The Assistant.” The executive was also instrumental in establishing LevelFilm’s relationships with Netflix and Rogers.
Upcoming LevelFilm releases include musical biopic “Dreamin’ Wild,” starring Casey Affleck, Zooey Deschanel, Chris Messina and Walton Goggins and Ben Kingsley-led drama “Jules.’ At the Toronto International Film Festival 2023, LevelFilm has Elliot Page-produced queer cheer drama “Backspot,...
- 8/21/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: The New York-based Visit Films has acquired world rights excluding Canada to the video store dramedy I Like Movies, which will debut as part of the Discovery program at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival.
The film was co-written and directed by first-time filmmaker Chandler Levack who negotiated the deal with Ryan Kampe of Visit Films alongside producer Lindsay Blair Goeldner and co-producer Evan Dubinsky.
Set in Burlington, Ontario, in 2003, the film follows hyper-ambitious teenage cinephile Lawrence Kweller, who dreams of attending film school at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In order to raise the hefty tuition fee, he gets his dream job at the local video store, Sequels. Wracked with anxiety about his future, Lawrence begins alienating the most important people in his life, including his best friend, Matt Macarchuck, and his single mother, Terri, all while developing a complicated friendship with his older female manager, Alana.
The film was co-written and directed by first-time filmmaker Chandler Levack who negotiated the deal with Ryan Kampe of Visit Films alongside producer Lindsay Blair Goeldner and co-producer Evan Dubinsky.
Set in Burlington, Ontario, in 2003, the film follows hyper-ambitious teenage cinephile Lawrence Kweller, who dreams of attending film school at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. In order to raise the hefty tuition fee, he gets his dream job at the local video store, Sequels. Wracked with anxiety about his future, Lawrence begins alienating the most important people in his life, including his best friend, Matt Macarchuck, and his single mother, Terri, all while developing a complicated friendship with his older female manager, Alana.
- 8/10/2022
- by Zac Ntim
- Deadline Film + TV
Tinder recently wrapped production on a secret TV series which will launch on the popular dating app as early as October. (Via Variety.) Set in a pre-apocalyptic world, the series will utilize the app’s famous swiping feature as part of a choose-your-own-adventure style narrative. Viewers will swipe left or right depending on which way they want the story to unfold, much like choosing potential matches. Production on the untitled six-episode show wrapped in Mexico City at the end of August, under the direction of rising music video director Karena Evans.
The project marks the app’s first foray into producing and distributing original content. Gay dating app Scruff recently launched an in-app game show called “Hosting,” modeled loosely after the wildly popular HQ Trivia game show.
While the show will first air on Tinder, sources close to the project told Variety that producers are eyeing a potential streaming deal after release.
The project marks the app’s first foray into producing and distributing original content. Gay dating app Scruff recently launched an in-app game show called “Hosting,” modeled loosely after the wildly popular HQ Trivia game show.
While the show will first air on Tinder, sources close to the project told Variety that producers are eyeing a potential streaming deal after release.
- 9/17/2019
- by Jude Dry
- Indiewire
If you go to film festivals long enough, you end up getting cynical about a few things. For example, it becomes clear that for political reasons, programmers are often pressured to support filmmakers from the country where the fests take place. Instead of getting first dibs on the best of what’s created in their own backyards, they wind up making room for local movies that got turned down by other festivals. That means, when in Berlin, you’re better off skipping the Perspektive Deutsches Kino section. Venice is the wrong place to see Italian films. And when it comes to Toronto, don’t waste your time on Canadian fare.
Now, if you’re not a film-festival burnout, you might (rightly) ask: But isn’t that a little harsh? Surely there are some treasures stashed away among all those homemade movies? And to that, I would offer up Jasmin Mozaffari’s “Firecrackers,...
Now, if you’re not a film-festival burnout, you might (rightly) ask: But isn’t that a little harsh? Surely there are some treasures stashed away among all those homemade movies? And to that, I would offer up Jasmin Mozaffari’s “Firecrackers,...
- 7/14/2019
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Growing Canadian distributor levelFILM, whose 2018 slate included faith-based box office hit I Can Only Imagine, Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 11/9, and Ike Barenholtz’s The Oath, has bolstered its board of directors with the appointment of music video producer and manager Taj Critchlow (SuperFly).
Toronto-based indie levelFILM now plans to develop and package film and TV projects with Critchlow’s production outfit Popp Rok, whose management clients include music video directors Director X and Karena Evans, who recently signed with Wme. The new partnership will bring with it a first-look deal for Canadian rights.
Critchlow, co-founder of Popp Rok and an executive producer on Drake music videos including Hotline Bling, God’s Plan and In My Feelings, was an executive producer on Sony’s 2018 remake of blackploitation pic SuperFly and associate producer on 2015 pic Across The Line. Both films were directed by Critchlow client Director X.
As the first title...
Toronto-based indie levelFILM now plans to develop and package film and TV projects with Critchlow’s production outfit Popp Rok, whose management clients include music video directors Director X and Karena Evans, who recently signed with Wme. The new partnership will bring with it a first-look deal for Canadian rights.
Critchlow, co-founder of Popp Rok and an executive producer on Drake music videos including Hotline Bling, God’s Plan and In My Feelings, was an executive producer on Sony’s 2018 remake of blackploitation pic SuperFly and associate producer on 2015 pic Across The Line. Both films were directed by Critchlow client Director X.
As the first title...
- 12/5/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
“Firecrackers” director Jasmin Mozaffari and “Skate Kitchen” helmer Crystal Moselle, who won Stockholm Film Festival’s best film and debut, respectively, sat with Variety after the awards ceremony on Friday to discuss their next projects.
Moselle is an up-and-coming filmmaker who already boasts an impressive track record, having won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize with her 2015 documentary “The Wolfpack,” and this year’s Sundance Audience Prize with her narrative debut “Skate Kitchen,” a vibrant, naturalistic portrait of an all-female, multiracial skater crew in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
After “The Wolfpack” which revolved around six brothers who lived confined in a New York housing project, Moselle continued to work with non-professionals for “Skate Kitchen,” leading them to deliver performances that felt completely authentic. “I’m obsessed with authentic realism and when I work with non-actors I feel that I can make them virgins of themselves,” said Moselle, who is based in New York.
Moselle is an up-and-coming filmmaker who already boasts an impressive track record, having won Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize with her 2015 documentary “The Wolfpack,” and this year’s Sundance Audience Prize with her narrative debut “Skate Kitchen,” a vibrant, naturalistic portrait of an all-female, multiracial skater crew in Manhattan’s Lower East Side.
After “The Wolfpack” which revolved around six brothers who lived confined in a New York housing project, Moselle continued to work with non-professionals for “Skate Kitchen,” leading them to deliver performances that felt completely authentic. “I’m obsessed with authentic realism and when I work with non-actors I feel that I can make them virgins of themselves,” said Moselle, who is based in New York.
- 11/17/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
Jasmin Mozaffari’s “Firecrackers” and Crystal Moselle’s “Skate Kitchen,” a pair of bold and timely North American features, won best film and best debut at the 29th edition of the Stockholm Film Festival, whose awards were almost entirely scooped by female talents.
“Firecrackers,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, marks the feature debut of Canadian helmer Mozaffari. The drama follows two best friends who plot a revenge against an abusing ex who violated one of them. But things spin out of control beyond a point of no return.
The festival praised “Firecrackers” for “its originality in portraying the love between two friends, in its urge for freedom, autonomy, loyalty in a violent world, and bringing us to situations in a way that we have never seen before.”
It’s “a perfectly directed film where all elements come together in a unique universe of its own,” the festival added.
“Firecrackers,” which world premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, marks the feature debut of Canadian helmer Mozaffari. The drama follows two best friends who plot a revenge against an abusing ex who violated one of them. But things spin out of control beyond a point of no return.
The festival praised “Firecrackers” for “its originality in portraying the love between two friends, in its urge for freedom, autonomy, loyalty in a violent world, and bringing us to situations in a way that we have never seen before.”
It’s “a perfectly directed film where all elements come together in a unique universe of its own,” the festival added.
- 11/16/2018
- by Elsa Keslassy
- Variety Film + TV
This year’s Canadian feature slate — 25 in all — can be seen in six Tiff sections including Discovery, Tiff Docs and Wavelengths.
Among the selected features are highly anticipated films from fest alumni including Denys Arcand, Barry Avrich and the late Rob Stewart.
Arcand’s “The Fall of the American Empire” stars Alexandre Landry as Pierre-Paul Daoust, who faces a moral dilemma after discovering two bags of money. Sony Classics bought the North American rights to the film during the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film, which will play in Tiff’s special presentations section, is a thematic cousin to Arcand’s Oscar-nominated “The Decline of the American Empire” and the Oscar-winning “The Barbarian Invasions” (2003).
Avrich returns to Tiff’s docu section with “Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz,” a portrait of the United States’ chief prosecutor during the Nuremberg trial. Stewart’s final film, “Sharkwater Extinction” will...
Among the selected features are highly anticipated films from fest alumni including Denys Arcand, Barry Avrich and the late Rob Stewart.
Arcand’s “The Fall of the American Empire” stars Alexandre Landry as Pierre-Paul Daoust, who faces a moral dilemma after discovering two bags of money. Sony Classics bought the North American rights to the film during the Cannes Film Festival in May. The film, which will play in Tiff’s special presentations section, is a thematic cousin to Arcand’s Oscar-nominated “The Decline of the American Empire” and the Oscar-winning “The Barbarian Invasions” (2003).
Avrich returns to Tiff’s docu section with “Prosecuting Evil: The Extraordinary World of Ben Ferencz,” a portrait of the United States’ chief prosecutor during the Nuremberg trial. Stewart’s final film, “Sharkwater Extinction” will...
- 9/7/2018
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Launched in 2011 as a four-day intensive mentorship that spotlights four homegrown actors on the brink of global breakout, Tiff Rising Stars this year not only expands its scope — officially adding four international thesps — but also embodies the festival’s increasingly proactive commitment to industry change (also reflected in its new Share Her Journey initiative). The eight 2018 stars all appear in Toronto films — including some of the hottest titles.
“Rising Stars not only celebrates achievements in the actors’ careers so far, but also helps them see the bigger picture of their lives as entrepreneurs and collaborative artists,” says its producer Natalie Semotiuk.
Canada is repped by Devery Jacobs (Veenda Sud’s “The Lie”), Lamar Johnson, pictured above, (George Tillman’s “The Hate U Give”), Michaela Kurimsky (Jasmin Mozaffari’s “Firecrackers”) and Jess Salgueiro (Patricia Rozema’s “Mouthpiece”); the international contingent is Ahmed Malek (Patricia Chica’s “Montreal Girls”), Stephane Bak (Joel Karekezi...
“Rising Stars not only celebrates achievements in the actors’ careers so far, but also helps them see the bigger picture of their lives as entrepreneurs and collaborative artists,” says its producer Natalie Semotiuk.
Canada is repped by Devery Jacobs (Veenda Sud’s “The Lie”), Lamar Johnson, pictured above, (George Tillman’s “The Hate U Give”), Michaela Kurimsky (Jasmin Mozaffari’s “Firecrackers”) and Jess Salgueiro (Patricia Rozema’s “Mouthpiece”); the international contingent is Ahmed Malek (Patricia Chica’s “Montreal Girls”), Stephane Bak (Joel Karekezi...
- 9/6/2018
- by Jennie Punter
- Variety Film + TV
Other titles on slate include Firecrackers, and Toronto world premiere The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.
Anick Poirier’s Montreal-based Seville International arrives in Toronto with a sales roster comprising the previously unannounced The Great Darkened Days and Broken Mirrors, as well as Firecrackers, and Toronto world premiere The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.
The world premiere of Maxime Giroux’s The Great Darkened Days receives its first public screening on September 10 and hails from the director of former Canadian Oscar submission Felix And Meira. The P+I screening is set for September 8.
Martin Dubreuil, Sara Gadon,...
Anick Poirier’s Montreal-based Seville International arrives in Toronto with a sales roster comprising the previously unannounced The Great Darkened Days and Broken Mirrors, as well as Firecrackers, and Toronto world premiere The Death And Life Of John F. Donovan.
The world premiere of Maxime Giroux’s The Great Darkened Days receives its first public screening on September 10 and hails from the director of former Canadian Oscar submission Felix And Meira. The P+I screening is set for September 8.
Martin Dubreuil, Sara Gadon,...
- 9/6/2018
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
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