Kino Lorber has made a multi-year strategic alliance with film distributor Zeitgeist Films, founded and run by industry leaders Nancy Gerstman and Emily Russo. Going forward, Kino Lorber and Zeitgeist Films will co-acquire four to five theatrical titles per year to be marketed and released by Zeitgeist Films, which will continue to be operated and controlled by co-presidents Gerstman and Russo.
Released this month by IFC Films, Band Aid marks the directorial debut of Zoe Lister-Jones, best known for her acting roles on Life in Pieces and New Girl. The film has been earning rave reviews for its engaging story of a couple who turn to songwriting to work out their marital difficulties. It has also generated lots of buzz for Lister-Jones’s unique decision to employ women in all key production and post-production crew positions.
A young reporter and his niece discover a beautiful and enchanting creature they believe to be a real mermaid, in the 1930s period tale The Little Mermaid, a live-action film inspired by the classic Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale and co-directed by Chris Bouchard and Blake Harris. Book-ended in the present day, The Little Mermaid gave cinematographer Neil Oseman the opportunity to use Cooke S4/i lenses to their fullest, capturing the look he loves from the fantasy/adventure films of the 1980s and1990s for The Little Mermaid’s 1930s look.
Shudder has acquired North American and UK/Ireland rights to Flying Lotus’ psych-out nightmare Kuso. The film, which debuted at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, will be available on the premium thriller, suspense and horror video streaming service, and play theatrically in New York and Los Angeles from July 21.
New York Women in Film & Television invites its members, as well as members of Women in Film chapters worldwide to submit their short films for consideration for the Women Calling the Shots showcase, which will take place at the 2017 Hamptons International Film Festival October 5-9.
Hokkaido Calling, a new short film created by Sherpas Cinema for Audi, follows big mountain ski legends Sam Smoothy, Jérémie Heitz and Dane Tudor on an epic road trip in search of deep powder, undiscovered paths and the chance to stand where no one has stood before.
Short Shorts Film Festival & Asia, a qualifying film festival for the annual Academy Awards and one of Asia’s largest international short film festivals, will be held June 11 in Tokyo.
Extravaganza, a new virtual reality short film satire directed by Ethan Shaftel, leveraged Maxon Cinema 4D software and its CV-VR Cam dedicated plug-in for rendering VR content to streamline the production workflow. The film, which stars Paul Scheer (The League, 30 Rock), John Gemberling (Broad City, Santa Clarita Diet), Will Greenberg (Wrecked), and Annie Tedesco (Bella and the Bulldogs), debuted to positive acclaim at the Tribeca Film Festival’s Immersive Virtual Arcade and will make its European premiere during the Cannes Film Festival May 17-28 at the Marche du Film Next VR program.
The Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers is accepting submissions for the 2017 SMPTE-HPA Student Film Festival. Hosted by SMPTE and the Hollywood Professional Alliance, the film festival is an international competition open to full-time students from around the globe.
Post-production finishing for Parrott Heads, a new feature length documentary about dedicated fans of singer Jimmy Buffett, was completed recently at Roundabout Entertainment. The Burbank facility provided editorial conforming, color grading, sound mixing and DVD authoring services for the film, currently streaming on Amazon, iTunes and elsewhere.
