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Jake Gyllenhaal’s company Nine Stories Productions has hired Josh McLaughlin as its new president.

In his new role, McLaughlin will work alongside Gyllenhaal to develop a slate of projects. As recently announced, the company has closed a three-year, first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios. The pact includes theatrical, as well as streaming releases.

“We are thrilled to welcome Josh to Nine Stories as president. I greatly admire his wealth of experience and deep industry knowledge,” Gyllenhaal said in a statement. “I look forward to working together to expand our slate of dynamic projects across film, television, and stage.”

McLaughlin joins from his own production company, Wink Pictures, where he worked across television, films and podcasts. Prior to that, he spent 10 years at Focus Features, eventually serving as president of production, while working on movies such as Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman,” “The Darkest Hour” and “Phantom Thread.” He collaborated with filmmakers,...

Documentary ¡Casa Bonita Mi Amor! with Trey Parker and Matt Stone cleaned up on one screen only in Denver and Tamil-language revenge thriller The Greatest Of All Time is the latest Indian film to pop at the North American box office with over $2 million on 530 screens for the three-day weekend and a cume of $3.5 million including previews, according to Comscore, as it sets records at home.

The Alamo Denver had Beetlejuice Beetlejuice in its biggest auditoriums with Casa Bonita showing at one 115-seater and sold out all weekend except for a a dozen or so tickets over Saturday and Sunday morning shows – meaning its $21.75k gross is about the top of what’s possible. The best per screen average for a doc post-Covid is Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s Wild Life in 2023 at over $23k each on two screens.

Casa Bonita’s afternoon and evening showings were...

The Rise of a Phenomenal Actor Few actors have had as diverse a filmography as the great Paul Dano. From comedic and lighthearted films to dark and emotionally driven roles, his ability as an actor and his performances in these movies are like no other. Alongside acting, Dano is also a director as he made his directorial debut with the 2018 film ‘Wildlife’, which is an adaptation of the Richard Ford novel of the same name and stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Carey Mulligan. The talented actor first started out on Broadway at a young age and made his debut on screen for the film, ‘The Newcomers’ in 2000. Since then, Dano has appeared in many notable movies and television series and earned several awards for his performances. Here is a look back at his best roles and the films he has starred in. Things to do: Subscribe to The Hollywood Insider’s YouTube Channel,...

Exclusive: Indie film vet Justin Dipietro has been named EVP of MPI Media Group and Dark Sky Films and will oversee the relaunch of the distribution labels with an aim on expanding the company’s global footprint and identifying larger scale projects and releases.

Dipietro will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the company’s distribution operations and marketing efforts, including marketing and business development.

Previously, Dipietro led marketing, publicity and distribution efforts at Oscar-winning distributor Cohen Media Group after serving as Director of Sales and Distribution at Netflix. Dipietro managed and helped develop theatrical and Academy campaigns for several award-nominated titles, including 2023’s Best Foreign Film Academy Award nominee Io Capitano and two 2020 Best Picture Oscar nominees, Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7. Prior to Netflix, Dipietro was the Head of Distribution at IFC Films, where he oversaw theatrical and non-theatrical releasing and worked on award-winning films such as Boyhood,...

Exclusive: Following a competitive bidding, Linden Productions has acquired the rights to Alice Sadie Celine, the adult debut novel of Nyt-Bestselling author, Sarah Blakley-Cartwright. Jen Silverman will adapt the script with Linden Productions on board to develop and produce the feature film. Blakley-Cartwright will also remain on the project as an Executive Producer.

The story centers on a lauded feminist who becomes entangled with her daughter’s best friend. The novel was selected for the Indie Next List, showcasing the top nominated titles that booksellers nationwide are most excited to share with readers.

The deal was helmed by producer Riva Marker of Linden Entertainment. Marker is a known visionary for bold and provocative storytelling, shown especially in her championing of first-time directors such as Paul Dano’s Wildlife, Susanna Fogel’s Life Partners, Natalie Erika James’ Relic and most recently Tina Satter’s award-winning HBO Films crime-drama Reality starring Sydney Sweeney,...

Skydance Sports, the media company’s Jv with the NFL, has made some key appointments to its creative and production leadership across film and television, hiring Nancy Cotton and Sandino Moya-Smith as, respectively, EVP, Television, and SVP, Feature Film. Both were previously at Amazon MGM.

Danette Trosclair was promoted to EVP, Production, moving from Skydance Television to oversee all physical production for the Skydance Sports’ slate of scripted series including production, finance, and post-production.

As EVP, Television — a newly created role — Cotton will lead development and production of the sports studio’s scripted series across broadcast, cable and streaming platforms. She will be responsible for sourcing material and shepherding series through development, packaging, production and beyond.

Cotton and Trosclair will report to Jason Reed, Head of Skydance Sports.

Moya-Smith will be responsible for bringing in feature projects to the studio and overseeing the films throughout every phase from inception to release.

Jake Gyllenhaal is not bouncing from Amazon MGM Studios after “Road House.” The actor’s Nine Stories production company has closed a three-year first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios. The arrangement gives Amazon the right of first-refusal on narrative features by Nine Stories; it applies to both theatrical and streaming. It sounds exactly like the deal Amazon just signed Ryan Gosling to all of six days ago.

But this story is about Gyllenhaal. The actor presently stars in the Prime Video-exclusive “Road House” reboot, which Amazon says has drawn more than 50 million viewers worldwide over its first two weekends, Amazon said on Monday. It’s a Prime Video record.

The road to getting “Road House” on streaming was a bumpy one. Director Doug Liman says when Amazon purchased MGM, his film was quietly slated for streaming against his wishes. Liman originally planned to boycott his film’s SXSW premiere,...

Amazon MGM Studios has closed a three-year first-look film deal with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories following the rousing success of his movie Road House on Prime Video, which was the most watched original movie for the studio ever with 50 million global viewers in the pic’s first two weeks.

Under the actor’s new deal, Amazon MGM will have a first look on narrative features Nine Stories intends to produce for both theatrical and streaming.

Prior to the Doug Liman-directed Road House, Gyllenhaal made the movie Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant with Amazon MGM. The pic was released last year in theaters.

Oscar- and Tony-nominated Gyllenhaal founded Nine Stories in 2015 with Riva Marker, a fully capitalized production company dedicated to working with visionary storytellers in all fields. Most recently, Nine Stories produced Antoine Fuqua’s The Guilty, starring Gyllenhaal, which was Netflix’s No. 1 film for more than three weeks.

Fresh off the release of “Road House,” Amazon MGM Studios has closed a three-year, first-look film deal with Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories. Under the pact, Amazon MGM Studios will have first dibs on narrative features that the actor’s production company makes. The deal includes theatrical, as well as streaming releases.

Gyllenhaal most recently starred in “Road House,” a remake of the cult Patrick Swayze film, which was released on Amazon’s streaming service, Prime Video. The film debuted on March 21 and has reached over 50 million worldwide viewers on the service. Prior to that, Gyllenhaal starred in “Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant,” which the studio released theatrically last year.

Gyllenhaal founded Nine Stories in 2015 with Riva Marker. Most recently, Nine Stories produced Antoine Fuqua’s “The Guilty,” which starred Gyllenhaal and debuted on Netflix. It also produced “Wildlife,” which marked Paul Dano’s directorial debut and starred Carey Mulligan; David Gordon Green’s “Stronger,...

After the release of Road House, star Jake Gyllenhaal’s Nine Stories banner has signed a three-year, first-look film deal with Amazon MGM.

Under the pact, Amazon MGM Studios will have a first look on narrative features Nine Stories intends to produce for both theatrical and streaming.

Road House, according to Amazon MGM, is the most watched film debut for a studio-produced title. According to Amazon, Road House attracted 50 million viewers to date, though it did not clarify details on how it calculated that number (i.e., if watching just a few minutes of the movie and turning it off counts).

Gyllenhaal previously starred in Amazon MGM title Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant.

“I’ve worked with Amazon MGM on two films this past year, and they’ve been a wonderful partner both times,” said Gyllenhaal in a statement. “Their dedication to filmmaking is contagious, and I so admire their...

Exclusive: We understand that Amazon Studios MGM Senior Production & Development Executive Sandino Moya-Smith was unfortunately part of the cuts made by the streaming/theatrical studio this morning.

Moya-Smith, who was involved in development and also feature physical production, was recently working on Doug Liman’s Road House starring Jake Gyllenhaal as an ex-UFC middleweight fighter who ends up working at a rowdy bar in the Florida Keys where things are not as they seem. Moya-Smith was also overseeing Wrecking Crew, the Dave Bautista and Jason Momoa buddy action comedy from Blue Beetle director Ángel Manuel Soto. The executive was part of the film teams overseen by Courtenay Valenti and Julie Rapaport.

Moya-Smith was hired during the Jonathan Glickman-run era of the MGM Motion Picture Group, and continued to work throughout the Michael De Luca-Pamela Abdy regime into the studio’s absorption by Amazon. Prior to Amazon’s takeover over MGM,...

Everything We Know About Jake Gyllenhaal- Led Road House Remake (Picture Credit: Facebook)

Jake Gyllenhaal’s ripped physique for his upcoming film Road House has given his admirers sleepless nights! It is a remake of the 1989 classic of the same name, and the audiences are eagerly waiting for its release, but unfortunately, it won’t be coming to the theatres. Keep scrolling to learn more about the upcoming film.

Jake is one of the most talented actors of the current generation, with several remarkable movies to his credit. Films like Nightcrawler, Wildlife, Source Code, October Sky, Brokeback Mountain, and more helped establish his credibility as a versatile artiste.

Jake Gyllenhaal starrer Road House was reportedly in the development phase for an extended period. While it is finally happening, a few people associated with the project are unhappy with the film’s release on the Ott platform instead of the theatres.

Carey Mulligan claimed her first Oscar nomination for her lead role in the 2009 coming-of-age saga “An Education.” Then the British actress once again collected bountiful awards nominations (and some wins) for her role as a #MeToo- era femme fatale avenger in the darkly comic thriller “Promising Young Woman.”

Like many of the directors whose names appear on her resume, first-time helmer Emerald Fennell — the Season 2 showrunner for ”Killing Eve” who also plays Camila Parker Bowles in “The Crown” — has a distinctive vision that allows the actress to inhabit abundant shades of emotion, from ballsy and badass to pastel-pink and girly.

In 2022, her great work was in “She Said,” based on the intense investigation into sexual allegations against Hollywood mega-producer Harvey Weinstein. She followed in 2023 with possibly her greatest performance yet in “Maestro” opposite Bradley Cooper.

In honor of her latest, take a photo gallery tour of Mulligan’s 13best movies,...

Maestro star Carey Mulligan will receive the International Star Award, Actress at the Palm Springs International Film Festival.

The film awards, at which the actress will be honored, will take place on Jan. 4, with the festival running through Jan. 15.

“In this historical and personal examination of famed composer Leonard Bernstein, Carey Mulligan measures both ends of true love – its extraordinary heights and intense lows – conveying a striking role as Felicia Montealegre Cohn Bernstein,” festival chairman Nachhattar Singh Chandi says. “For this performance and her remarkable stature in world cinema, we are honored to present the International Star Award, Actress to Carey Mulligan.”

Mulligan’s previous film credits include An Education, Promising Young Woman, She Said, Wildlife, Mudbound, Suffragette, The Great Gatsby, Never Let Me Go, Public Enemies, Pride & Prejudice, among many others. Her TV credits include Collateral, My Boy Jack, Doctor Who, Miss Marple and Trial & Retribution. She...

Exclusive: UK-based sales and distribution company Blue Finch Film Releasing has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding Australia and New Zealand, to Jordon Prince-Wright’s WW1 war feature Before Dawn. First-look materials will be available to view at the American Film Market, where Blue Finch will begin sales.

Based on real-life war diaries, Before Dawn is an epic retelling of one of Australia’s biggest military victories during WWI. Jim Collins (Miller), a young man from the outback, leaves his family-run sheep station to join the soldiers on the western front with hopes of making a difference. Soon, the realities of the muddy, ruthless, and entirely unforgiving war take their toll on a guilt-ridden Jim. As the men in the battalion are whittled away and hope becomes a distant memory, a final chance at redemption comes in one of Australia’s greatest battles; Jim must risk death or forever carry the...

Carey Mulligan and Marcus Mumford officially have a family of five. In her November 2023 Vogue cover story, Mulligan revealed that she gave birth to her third child; news of her third pregnancy first broke in January. At the time of the interview, Mulligan welcomed her baby six weeks prior. The "Promising Young Woman" actor and Mumford (best known for the rock band Mumford & Sons) have been married since 2012 and also share daughters Evelyn and Wilfred.

"What does motherhood change? Well, your whole life - it's undeniable - it changes everything," Mulligan told UK magazine Baby in 2018. She added, "As regards my work, I don't know if motherhood is always the first thought on my mind when I read a script, but I would suspect it's altered my attitude."

Mulligan and Mumford are quite open about their relationship, but are pretty private about their kids' lives, though they do rave about them from time to time.

Clockwise from top left: Michael B. Jordan directs Creed III, Greta Gerwig directs Lady Bird, Bradley Cooper directs A Star Is Born, Jon Favreau directs Iron Man.Graphic: AVClub

Actors venturing behind the camera to direct a movie is nothing new. The trend goes as far back as the 1910s,...

Exclusive: Longtime IFC Films and Cinetic Media PR colleagues Laura Sok and Kate McEdwards are launching new PR and strategy firm, Track Shot.

Track Shot will be based in New York City and work across independent, foreign and genre films as well as distribution strategy. The duo brings more than two decades in the publicity and communications field as well as a deep knowledge of the distribution landscape. Sok and McEdwards have built and led hundreds of film campaigns during their careers working in-house and alongside major distributors on the agency side. Previously, they led PR efforts for IFC Films, IFC Midnight, Sundance Selects, IFC Films Unlimited (streaming service) and most recently Shudder and Rlje.

Their final campaign for IFC Films was Matt Johnson’s chart-topping BlackBerry. This year they also launched Kyle Edward Ball’s breakthrough feature Skinamarink for Shudder/IFC Films.

Among their many successful campaigns at IFC...

Exclusive: Zoe Colletti (Only Murders in the Building, Boo), Regan Aliyah (Marvel’s Ironheart, Xo Kitty) and Andrew Liner have joined Michelle Dockery in Destry Allyn Spielberg’s feature directorial debut Please Don’t Feed the Children, as Altitude launches the genre film at the Cannes Market.

In Please Don’t Feed the Children, after a viral outbreak ravages the country’s adult population, a group of orphans heads south in search of a new life, only to find themselves at the mercy of a deranged woman harboring a dangerous secret.

Jason Dubin is producing through his Perry Street Films imprint, along with Josh Kesselman and Michael Hagerty (Old Henry). Principal photography begins in Santa Fe, Nm, next month on a script from Paul Bertino.

Related: Cannes Film Festival Full Coverage

In March, we brought you news of Dockery’s casting as the lead,...

Paul Dano is sharing his support for the WGA strike even while abroad.

The actor, writer, and director revealed during the 2023 Cannes Film Festival press conference that he is ready to join wife and fellow filmmaker Zoe Kazan “on the picket line” after serving on the Cannes jury.

“My wife is currently picketing with my six-month-old, strapped to her chest,” Dano said. “I will be there on the picket line when I get home.”

The Writers Guild of America strike began May 2 after six weeks of unsuccessful negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, representing the likes of Netflix, Disney, Apple, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros., Paramount, Amazon, and more. Writers are demanding better pay, residuals structures, and protection against AI as a replacement tool for their work, among other concerns. Multiple productions have halted in solidarity with the demonstrations.

Dano wrote and directed indie film “Wildlife” alongside co-writer Kazan,...

Ostlund and his Cannes jury discussed writers strike, Cannes protests.

Cannes Competition jury president Ruben Ostlund made a bold celebration of the festival at the 2023 opening jury press conference, stating that he would “rather have another Palme d’Or than an Oscar.”

Swedish director Ostlund has two Palme d’Ors to his name already, for The Square in 2017 and Triangle Of Sadness in 2022.

“The Golden Palme is the greatest film prize in the world,” said Ostlund. “For me, if I can choose between an Oscar or a Palme d’Or, it’s an easy choice. I’d rather have another Palme than an Oscar.

Amid all the noise here at the Cannes Film Festival about sexual predators, Johnny Depp’s return in Jeanne du Barry tonight and the admitted assaulting history of that movie’s director Maïwenn; the WGA strike is not forgotten.

Fielding questions Tuesday about striking writers back in Hollywood who’ve been beaten down by streaming, the big-screen Cannes Film Festival jurors had something to say at their opening press conference.

In a response winning him applause from the journalists in the room, Paul Dano said, “My wife is currently picketing with my 6-month-old, strapped to her chest,” said the actor. “I will be there on the picket line when I get back home.”

Dano is also a director and writer, having helmed and co-wrote Wildlife which played Cannes Critics Week back in 2018. The SAG-AFTRA contract expires at the end of June, together the DGA contract.

Cannes Jury boss...

Paul Dano, Maryam Touzani, Denis Menochet, Rungano Nyoni, Atiq Rahimi round out jurors.

Cannes Film Festival has unveiled the eight global talents set for jury duty alongside president Ruben Östlund at the 76th annual event running May 16-27.

Joining the two-time Palme d’Or-winning Swedish filmmaker will be 2021’s Palme d’Or-winning French director-screenwriter Julia Ducournau, Moroccan director-screenwriter Maryam Touzani, French actor Denis Menochet, Zambian-uk writer-director Rungano Nyoni, American actress, director and producer Brie Larson, US actor-writer-director Paul Dano, Afghani writer-filmmaker Atiq Rahimi, and Argentinian writer-director Damian Szifron.

The jury is packed with familiar festival faces. Touzani’s first feature...

The Batman and The Fabelmans star Paul Dano, Titane-directing Palme d’Or winner Julia Ducournau, I Am Not a Witch breakout filmmaker Rungano Nyoni, and Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson will help make up the superstar competition jury for this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Together with French actor Denis Ménochet, of Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds and Ari Aster’s Beau is Afraid; Argentinian director Damián Szifron (Wild Tales, To Catch a Killer); Afghani-born, French-based filmmaker Atig Ranimi (Earth and Ashes, The Patience Stone); and Moroccan director Maryam Touzani (The Blue Caftan, Adam), they will join jury president Ruben Östlund, director of last year’s Cannes winner The Triangle of Sadness, in judging the Palme d’Or winners at the 76th Cannes International Film Festival.

Together, the jury will screen the 21 films picked for Cannes competition this year —among them Todd Haynes’ May December, Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City,...

Toronto’s Hot Docs film festival has decided that Canadian media producer Bonnie Thompson will be the recipient of this year’s prestigious Don Haig Award. Thompson is the producer behind Cam Christiansen’s “Echo of Everything,” a feature length documentary exploring the power of music, which will have its world premiere at Hot Docs’ 30th-anniversary festival, on now until May 7.

The Don Haig Award is presented to an outstanding Canadian independent producer with a feature-length film at the festival, with the recipient being selected by a jury of independent filmmakers. The award recognizes creative vision and entrepreneurship, as reflected in the recipient’s body of work, as well as a track record of mentoring emerging Canadian filmmakers. Thompson will be presented with a $5,000 cash prize, courtesy of the Don Haig Foundation.

Thompson said: “As a producer, it’s been a privilege to experience incredibly diverse worlds and communities and...

April is international Earth Month, and to commemorate the planet that sustains us Xumo Play is adding a new free ad-supported TV (Fast) channel. The Xumo Free Nature and Wildlife TV channel is available to all Xumo users now, at no cost.

Watch Now $0 / month play.xumo.com

Channel highlights include two docuseries: “Butterflies: Superheroes of Nature” and “Nature’s Ultimate Survivors,” both of which are debuting in the United States for the first time. These series come from the production house Off the Fence, a United Kingdom-based studio that won an Oscar for its documentary “My Octopus Teacher.” Xumo’s engineers will curate the channel into themed programming blocks such as Big Cats, Safari, Wildest Places and more.

“Our new Nature and Wildlife TV channel will offer Xumo Play viewers a wide array of engaging and high-quality nature programming, including two new exclusive documentaries from the Academy Award-winning production house,...

There are two subtle Bob Dylan references in Paul McCartney‘s “Junior’s Farm.” However, they complete the Wings tune. Here’s what Paul had to say about them.

Paul McCartney and Wings | Michael Putland/Getty Images Years before Bob Dylan inspired Paul McCartney’s ‘Junior’s Farm,’ they smoked pot together

The first time Paul met Dylan was with The Beatles. He introduced the group to marijuana. In The Lyrics: 1956 to the Present, Paul said it blew their “tiny little minds.”

Dylan and his roadie turned up at The Beatles’ hotel room in New York City in the summer of 1964. The singer-songwriter had recently released Another Side of Bob Dylan, and The Beatles were starstruck. They’d admired each other from afar for years.

A little party commenced in the band’s hotel room. Then, Dylan disappeared into the back. The band thought he’d gone to the toilet.

Paul McCartney has written hundreds of songs throughout his career, but not every single one is a hit. There are a few that McCartney regrets writing or wishes he could have made better. He hates one song he wrote for his second band, Wings, and said the ‘lyrics are f***ing awful.’

Paul McCartney’s first album with Wings didn’t receive great reviews Paul McCartney | Jack Kay/Daily Express/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

1971’s Wild Life was the debut album for Wings, the band Paul McCartney formed shortly after leaving The Beatles. While many were ecstatic to hear a new record with McCartney leading a band, it wasn’t what many fans or critics expected. Reviews for the first album were mixed, with many unsure what to make of McCartney’s new sound.

In an interview for his website. McCartney believed the bad reviews stemmed from people expecting something...

Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely and Jimmy Chin won an Oscar for Best Documentary Feature, a BAFTA, and seven Emmy awards for their 2018 film “Free Solo,” about rock climber Alex Honnold. Now the pair are back with a new National Geographic documentary, “Wild Life.” Fresh off its surprise screening at the Telluride Film Festival last September, the doc gets another one at SXSW this weekend before hitting theaters and streaming this Spring.

Continue reading ‘Wild Life’ Trailer: New Doc From ‘Free Solo’ Directors Elizabeth Chai Vasarhely & Jimmy Chin Debuts Disney+ On May 26 at The Playlist.

"I desire to preserve this place - I think that is as strong a bond as any two people can have." NatGeo has revealed an official trailer for a documentary film called Wild Life, the latest from acclaimed filmmakers Jimmy Chin & Chai Vasarhelyi. This first premiered at the 2022 Telluride Film Festival last year, and is also playing at SXSW this month before it opens in theaters this spring. Wild Life is a sweeping portrait of conservationists Kris & Doug Tompkins chronicling their fight to preserve one of the last truly wild places on earth. After falling in love, Kris and the outdoorsman and entrepreneur Doug Tompkins left behind the world of the massively successful outdoor brands they'd helped pioneer like Patagonia & The North Face, and turned their attention to a visionary effort to create National Parks in Chile and Argentina. The film spans decades of entrepreneurial and conservation work and serves...

Accused Episode 7 is all about a comedian, but her story is no laughing matter. “Brenda’s Story,” directed by Julie Herbert and written by Sonay Hoffman, follows “an acerbic female stand-up comic.” When Brenda gets assaulted by one of her peers, she turns to her platform to “try the case in the court of public opinion,” per the synopsis. Check out the star-studded cast of Accused Episode 7 below as you watch Brenda’s story unfold on Fox tonight.

Baron Vaughn as Chad and Whitney Cummings as Brenda in ‘Accused’ Episode 7 | Steve Wilkie/Fox Whitney Cummings as Brenda

Taking on the lead role of Brenda is stand-up comedian Whitney Cummings. As Cummings told People, her character reaches a point of desperation as she finds that few people support her when she accuses another comedian of sexual assault.

“[Brenda] … is trying so hard to make it that she gets in a dangerous situation and is assaulted,...

Disney has churned out many classic animated hits. However, at the turn of the century, the studio was experiencing a slump and needed something that would revive it. So they decided to take a risk with a movie about an elephant in a nightclub. The movie was in the works for several years, but it eventually got scrapped.

The proposed Disney movie ‘Wild Life’

Production art from Wild Life, an abandoned Disney movie project from the late 1990's. Loosely based on Pygmalion, the movie was the story of an elephant who became a hit on the New York club circuit. pic.twitter.com/sLwdRJAwjF

— Paul Tobin (@PaulTobin) June 3, 2019

During the early 2000s, Disney was not experiencing the incredible success the company was used to. Following hits like The Lion King, the House of Mouse’s releases were not catching on like they used to. And the studio was desperate to...

The four members of The Beatles remained close, even after the band split up in 1970. Tensions between a few members were high, leading to some public feuds, but they all made amends at some point. A few of Paul McCartney’s songs are directed at John Lennon, even if the lyrics don’t directly reference him.

Here are 5 Paul McCartney songs that are about John Lennon ‘Dear Friend’ John Lennon and Paul McCartney | Bettmann / Contributor

“Dear Friend” is the closing track of Wings’ 1971 album Wild Life. Paul McCartney wrote the song in response to John Lennon, who had previously called him out in songs and other public messages. This was McCartney’s attempt to call a truce and return to being friends. In an interview with his website, the “Let it Be” singer says the song makes him emotional since it was his way of speaking with Lennon.

“And then with ‘Dear Friend,...

In December 1917, two ships collided in Halifax Harbor, triggering the biggest non-nuclear explosion ever caused by human beings. One vessel was a French cargo ship, packed to the gills with explosives. The other was a Norwegian merchant steamship sailing empty to pick up WWI relief supplies in New York. When the ships bumped into each other, the blast triggered a tsunami and wiped out nearly all structures in a two-mile radius. Some 9,000 people were injured and 1,782 died.

Amid the devastation, one sailor survived with an extraordinary story to tell. After being thrown into the air and traveling 1.2 miles, Charles Mayers landed, naked and alive. The story so fascinated Canadian filmmakers Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby that they decided to make it the premise of their latest work, “The Flying Sailor,” which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short. “It’s such an unbelievable tale,” Forbis said. “And we thought: Well,...

Disney has a long and illustrious history, spanning 99 years and inspiring people all over the globe with its classic tales, innovative animation, and catchy tunes. Since Walt Disney, talented animators have been creating moving and thought-provoking stories for audiences of all ages, from the big screen to the living room TV.

Unfortunately, the studio abandoned some of these excellent concepts after they were just sketched. Fraidy Cat, a lost Disney Hitchcock-style mystery, was deemed too niche for kids.

What was the inspiration and the plot for ‘Fraidy Cat’?

Details on Disney Animation's Unproduced Alfred Hitchcock-Inspired Film Fraidy Cat

Link: https://t.co/lAabFjryv0 pic.twitter.com/8JlGu6hU2t

— GeekTyrant (@GeekTyrant) December 30, 2022

As animation has evolved, it has branched out into many various types of media. Disney has made everything from a laugh-out-loud comedy (The Emperor’s New Groove) to a Western (Home on the Range) to a superhero...

Paul McCartney has a history of making subtle references to drugs in his music. Many songs from his solo career and The Beatles contain lyrics that are euphemisms for marijuana or psychedelics. One song from McCartney’s Band on the Run album was about the enjoyment of “rolling a joint.”

Paul McCartney wrote a love song for pot for The Beatles Linda McCartney and Paul McCartney | Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The Beatles had a knack for sneaking drug references into their music. An example of this is “Got to Get You into My Life” from their 1966 album Revolver. Written by Paul McCartney, the song seems like any other love song, but he later revealed the song was an “ode to pot.”

In Barry Miles’ biography Many Years From Now, McCartney discussed how he had developed a hobby of smoking weed during his time with The Beatles. He found...

Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby didn’t know it then, but a little blurb in a museum would serve as the inspiration for “The Flying Sailor,” which would net them an Oscar nomination for Best Animated Short Film. “It came up on our radar over 20 years ago when we happened to be in Halifax and visited the maritime museum and there was a whole section devoted to the Halifax explosion which was a huge event in Halifax,” Tilby tells Gold Derby during our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above).

Amidst the section about the 1917 explosion was a small description of Charlie Mayers who was flung over a mile by the explosion and managed to survive the experience. “We thought it was pretty rich stuff for an animated film and we were interested in his trip. What was it like? It was, in essence, a near-death experience and so...

Imagine you are walking to classes, and you suddenly see Paul McCartney. That’s what many college students experienced in the 1970s when Paul McCartney and Wings did a tour of universities in England. The band would often show up unannounced, giving the school some time to set up for what McCartney called “instant gigs.”

Paul McCartney and Wings would make surprise appearances at colleges Paul McCartney | Richard E. Aaron/Redferns

In 1972, McCartney and Wings went on a university tour following the release of their debut album Wild Life. McCartney urged the band to do an impromptu tour as a basic test trial for his second band following The Beatles. This involved arriving at universities unannounced and giving them the surprise of a lifetime.

“We didn’t book ’em! We literally went up the M1, which is the big central motorway, and we said, ‘Let’s go north,’” McCartney shared in an interview with Billboard.

A second wave of film and television programming has been announced for this year’s South by Southwest Conference and Festivals, with highlights including the series debuts of “Swarm” and Steven Yeun starring “Beef” on opening and closing night, respectively.

A full list of honorees in the visions, global presented by Mubi, 24 beats and festival favorites categories was also unveiled in tandem with additions to previously announced sections.

“The second wave of our lineup signals that the countdown to SXSW is on! The hype train is officially leaving the station, baby!” said Claudette Godfrey, V.P. of film and TV at SXSW. “From thought-provoking documentaries and thrilling television series, to hotly anticipated studio tentpoles and micro-budget dramas, we strive to showcase the best of a diverse range of work, and couldn’t be more proud of this year’s lineup.”

From co-creators Donald Glover and Janine Nabers comes the March 10 world premiere of “Swarm,...

Paul McCartney has used several pseudonyms throughout his career, including Paul Ramon and Percy Thrillington. McCartney introduced another fake name for the album Wild Life by Wings when he penned the sleeve notes.

Paul McCartney used a few pseudonyms throughout his career Paul McCartney | Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Desert Trip

The world knows McCartney by his real name, but there have been several incidents of the former Beatle using a stage name to create more privacy. In the early days of The Beatles, the entire band experimented with stage names while on tour with Johnny Gentle. McCartney went under the name Paul Ramon, and the name eventually became the inspiration for The Ramones.

McCartney also used a fake name on Thrillington, an instrumental version of his second solo album Ram. The album was produced by McCartney and arranged by Richard Hewson, but Paul released it using the pseudonym Percy Thrillington.

We now have our five nominees for Best Animated Short at the 2023 Oscars. While these pieces may not be as widely seen, we here at Gold Derby want to make sure you have the most information on them as you make your predictions. In that spirit, we are listing what each nominee is about as well as where you can watch some of them right now. Be sure to bookmark this page as it will be updated as more places to screen the nominees becomes available. Make sure to log your predictions in all 23 categories in our Oscar predictions center which is live now.

As a refresher, the last four winners of this category were “The Windshield Wiper” (2021), “If Anything Happens I Love You” (2020), “Hair Love” (2019) and “Bao” (2018).

See 2023 Oscar nominations: Full list of nominees in all 23 categories

Best Animated Short Oscar 2023: Where to watch the nominees

“The Boy,...

Of all the categories at the Oscars, the three that are probably the most difficult to predict year after year are the short film categories. Not just the winners, but the nominees, too. But Derbyites, you need not fear as we are here to help you! With the shortlist for these categories having just been announced on December 21, we are giving you the best chances possible to make the correct selections in our predictions center for the Best Animated Short Film race.

Don’t forget, the four most recent Oscar victors in the Best Animated Short Film category were “The Windshield Wiper” (2021), “If Anything Happens I Love You” (2020), “Hair Love” (2019) and “Bao” (2018). What will join the list this year? Read on to see the all-important details on the 15 finalists for Best Animated Short Film at the 2023 Oscars.

See 2023 Oscars shortlists in 10 categories: Documentary Feature, International Feature Film …

“Black Slide” – A...

By the time Paul Dano made his directorial debut on the 2018 film “Wildlife,” he had already worked with legendary filmmakers such as Paul Thomas Anderson, Bong Joon Ho, and Steve McQueen. But when reflecting on the acting experiences that shaped his directing style, one movie comes to mind for him: “Knight and Day.”

Dano starred alongside Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz in James Mangold’s 2010 action comedy about a runaway spy who befriends a classic car restorer while on the lam. And in a new interview with GQ, he explained that watching Cruise’s meticulous approach to doing stunts for that film was an educational experience for him. Cruise’s ability to consider how every aspect of the production would be affected by his work shaped the way that Dano approached directing “Wildlife.”

“I know when I was directing I wanted it to feel like when my actor steps on set everything changes,...

Eight years ago, Edward Snowden became the centerpiece of the Oscar race for Best Documentary as the subject of director Laura Poitras’ eventual winner “Citizenfour.” This time, that centerpiece slot goes to Nan Goldin, the photographer and activist hero of Poitras’ “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.”

The movie launched to rave reviews at Venice over the weekend and sneaked into a morning Tba slot on the last day of the Telluride Film Festival, where many audience members emerged in tears. That response is likely to continue as the movie travels to the Toronto International Film Festival and later New York, where it will be — appropriately enough — the festival’s centerpiece selection.

“All the Beauty and the Bloodshed” is in good hands. Participant Media produced the project and will release it October 7 with Neon, which previously distributed her Julian Assange documentary “Risk.” Neon CEO Tom Quinn also spearheaded the successful “Citizenfour” campaign at Radius-twc.

Paul Dano has been a professional actor since age 12 when he appeared in a 1996 Broadway revival of "Inherit the Wind" with Charles Durning and George C. Scott. In film, Dano broke out in 2001 playing the lead role in Michael Cuesta's hard-hitting sexual drama "L.I.E." opposite Brian Cox in a career-best performance. Since then, Dano has made a career playing intense outsiders and occasional weirdos in a long string of highly acclaimed dramas. His appearance as a mute, Nietzsche-obsessed teen in 2006's "Little Miss Sunshine" was a highlight in a film full of them, and his oddball turn as a not-so-timid preacher in Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" was gloriously off-center. As an actor, he has worked with Ang Lee, Spike Jonze, Kelly Reichardt, Paolo Sorrentino, Denis Villeneuve, Steve McQueen, and Bong Joon-ho.

To date, Dano has directed one feature film: 2018's "Wildlife," based on the 1990 novel...

Netflix is developing a miniseries based on John Steinbeck’s massive 700-page novel “East of Eden,” as reported on Tuesday. Florence Pugh is the first cast member announced, though it is unclear who she’ll be playing. (Will a modern spin change the story—a California tale loosely based on the Biblical trope of Cain and Abel—into the story of two sisters? Crazier things have happened!)

The most exciting news, however, is how this production is “keeping it in the family,” so to speak. Zoe Kazan has been announced as writer and executive producer. Her grandfather, the legendary Elia Kazan, directed the 1955 adaptation starring James Dean, Raymond Massey, Julie Harris, Burl Ives, and Jo Van Fleet, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Kazan was nominated for Best Director, Paul Osborn was nominated for Best Screenplay, and Dean was nominated for Best Actor, posthumously.

Zoe Kazan’s last...

“Don’t Worry Darling,” there will be plenty more of Florence Pugh on screens soon.

The “Dune: Part Two” star is confirmed to lead a Netflix limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s novel “East of Eden,” with Zoe Kazan writing and executive producing. Netflix landed the limited series after a competitive bidding war.

Kazan’s grandfather Elia Kazan first adapted “East of Eden” for Warner Bros. in 1955, with James Dean starring in his first major screen role. The Netflix limited series will explore themes of trauma and repair, love and betrayal, duty and free will, as did the original novel and screen adaptation. Pugh will play antiheroine Cathy Ames, portrayed by Jo Van Fleet in the 1955 film. Van Fleet won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her turn in the role; Jane Seymour later took on the part for an ABC miniseries adaptation in 1982 and received a Best Actress Golden Globe.

Exclusive: Netflix is developing a limited series adaptation of John Steinbeck’s classic novel East of Eden, with Zoe Kazan writing and exec producing and Florence Pugh attached to star and co-produce.

Sources told Deadline that the streamer landed the package following a competitive bidding war. Anonymous Content and Endeavor Content are co-producing the series as part of a partnership unveiled in March.

Netflix had no comment and insiders said the series is still in early development.

The novel was previously adapted as a film in 1955 with Zoe’s grandfather, Elia Kazan, directing for Warner Bros. The film was also notable for being James Dean’s first major screen role.

The limited series adaptation will explore the novel’s themes of trauma and repair; love and betrayal; duty and free will. The series will sketch an intimate portrait of the Trask family against the backdrop of huge historical forces — or,...

Exclusive: Award-winning producer and co-founder of independent production company Nine Stories, Riva Marker, has joined Nicole King and Stacy O’Neil’s Linden Entertainment as their CEO of Productions.

In her new role, Marker will oversee and expand the company’s upcoming production slate across both film and television. She will operate out of the company’s New York office and will start her position effective immediately.

Producer Marker founded Nine Stories, the independent production company, with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2015. Her recent producing credits include Antoine Fuqua’s The Guilty which premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival and was acquired by Netflix; as well as Joe Bell directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green starring Mark Wahlberg; Relic, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival and Paul Dano’s directorial debut Wildlife nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards, starring Carey Mulligan and Gyllenhaal. Prior to Nine Stories, Marker produced Cary Fukunaga’s...

Cahen discusses love of American indie cinema, choice of Korean police thriller Next Sohee as closing film and being section’s youngest-ever artistic director.

Cannes Critics’ Week’s new artistic director Ava Cahen unveiled her inaugural selection earlier this week, for the 61st edition of the parallel section running May 18-26.

It will showcase an eclectic French and international line-up of 11 features, seven of them in competition, and another 13 shorts, kicking off with US actor Jesse Eisenberg’s directorial debut When You Finish Saving The World and closing with Korean female police detective thriller Next Sohee.

At 36, Cahen is the...