News

American singer and actor Trini Lopez played a significant role in the 1967 action movie The Dirty Dozen, but his character mysteriously vanished midway through the story. Based on the 1965 novel by E.M. Nathanson, The Dirty Dozen is set in 1944, during World War II, and depicts 12 soldiers being trained for a military mission ahead of the Normandy landings. The movie was a critical and commercial success and inspired three television sequels in the 1980s. A Dirty Dozen remake was announced in 2019, with David Ayer set to serve as director.

The Dirty Dozen received praise for its depiction of military combat during World War II and received four Oscar nominations in 1968, winning one for Best Sound Editing. The movie contained a talented ensemble cast featuring Lee Marvin, Ernest Borgnine, Jim Brown, and George Kennedy, who all served in the military in real life, during the war. One member of the cast ensemble,...

Visionary fashion designer Pierre Cardin died Tuesday at age 98. After a career that spanned more than 70 years and began with costume design on Jean Cocteau’s 1946 Beauty and the Beast, the Italy-born, naturalized Frenchman passed away at the American Hospital outside Paris.

Cardin’s family called this “a day of great sadness” and noted, “across a century, the great couturier that he was left France and the world an artistic heritage unique to fashion, but not only that.”

Cardin was a savvy businessman who became the first fashion designer to mass produce haute couture while also successfully licensing his brand and owning the Maxim’s chain of restaurants along with his own fashion house.

Born to French parents on July 2, 1922, near Venice, Cardin moved to France at the age of 2. He first worked as an accountant, then did uncredited work on Beauty and the Beast before taking an apprenticeship with Christian Dior.

Joe Mantello, the “Hollywood” actor and director of “The Boys in the Band,” is the model for one of four magazine covers for the Out100, Out magazine’s annual list of today’s most influential LGBTQ+ figures, TheWrap can exclusively share.

Mantello fronts the film edition of the magazine, which will also profile other creators and performers like actress Brigette Lundy-Paine, actress and writer Jen Richards, documentary filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes, animator Steven Clay Hunter and “Antebellum” filmmakers Gerard Bush and Christopher Renz.

“Joe Mantello’s breathtaking performance in ‘Hollywood’ moved me unlike any performance I’ve seen this year,” Out’s editor in chief David Artavia said in a statement. “A man of many hats, Joe’s work in theater as both an actor and a director is timeless and continues to exist at the pulse point of many generations. Beloved by many in the entertainment industry,...

New Foreign

“Parasite” is an often-brutal examination of wealth inequality, and yet its Best Picture win still counts as one of the few universally uplifting moments that 2020 had to offer. This Blu-ray release from The Criterion Collection arrives fully-loaded with extras, including director Bong Joon Ho’s black-and-white rendering of the film — anything but an afterthought, it’s a version that he and cinematographer Kyung-pyo Hong had in mind all along — commentaries, interviews, and a new essay from onetime TheWrap film critic Inkoo Kang.

Also available: Cameroonian college students get pulled into the dark web to pull a “Scam République” (IndiePix); anime saga “Digimon Adventure: Last Evolution Kizuna” (Shout/Toei) celebrates the franchise’s 20th anniversary; “Three Comrades” (IndiePix) go out to unwind on a Friday night and wind up on an unexpected spree.

Chilean stop-motion feature “The Wolf House” (KimStim) uses unsettling visuals to spin a fable about the...

Why does the fashion workroom provide such rich fodder for cinematic storytellers? “Fashion touches everyone, but we still look at an atelier as a place that’s both glamorous and a bit mysterious. It’s really fun to pull back that curtain,” says P. David Ebersole, who, with Todd Hughes, co-directed House of Cardin. It chronicles the life of Italian designer Pierre Cardin, now 98, known for dressing everyone from The Beatles to Dionne Warwick and for his pioneering push to license his name.

Out theatrically Aug. 28, House of Cardin is among a trio of new fashion docs. Martin Margiela: In His ...

Why does the fashion workroom provide such rich fodder for cinematic storytellers? “Fashion touches everyone, but we still look at an atelier as a place that’s both glamorous and a bit mysterious. It’s really fun to pull back that curtain,” says P. David Ebersole, who, with Todd Hughes, co-directed House of Cardin. It chronicles the life of Italian designer Pierre Cardin, now 98, known for dressing everyone from The Beatles to Dionne Warwick and for his pioneering push to license his name.

Out theatrically Aug. 28, House of Cardin is among a trio of new fashion docs. Martin Margiela: In His ...

Trini Lopez, the guitarist and singer whose renditions of “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree” climbed the charts in the 1960s and an actor who appeared in films including The Dirty Dozen, has died of complications from Covid-19, the Hollywood Reporter reports. He was 83.

The news was confirmed to THR via Lopez’s songwriting and business partner Joe Chavira. The pair had recently finished a song called “If By Now,” which was intended to benefit food banks during the pandemic. “And here he is dying of something he was trying to fight,...

Trini Lopez, a singer and guitarist who performed a cover of the song “If I Had a Hammer” and also appeared in “The Dirty Dozen,” has died due to complications of Covid-19. He was 83.

Trinidad “Trini” Lopez III died on August 11, according to the Palm Springs Life Magazine, where he had been a resident since the 1960s.

Some of his other hits included “Lemon Tree,” “I’m Comin’ Home, Cindy” and “Sally Was a Good Old Girl.”

A documentary film called “My Name Is Lopez” had just been completed on Lopez’s life from filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes, and the filmmakers had just shown a cut of the film to Lopez as recently as last week. The directors hope to premiere it in 2021.

Also Read: Smash Mouth Frontman Steve Harwell Tells Mask-Free Sturgis Rally Crowd, 'F- That Covid S-!'

Lopez’s debut album in 1963, “Trini Lopez at PJs,...

Trini Lopez, an actor and singer-guitarist who co-starred The Dirty Dozen actor and had hits with “If I Had a Hammer” and “Lemon Tree” — which was referenced in a popular Seinfeld episode — died today in Palm Springs. He was 83. Palm Springs Life magazine reported the news but didn’t give a cause of death. A source tells Deadline it was from Covid-19.

Lopez already was a recording star when he was cast as Pedro Jiminez — aka Number 10 — in The Dirty Dozen, the star-studded 1967 World War II drama directed by Robert Aldrich. It followed the story of a rebellious U.S. Army Major (Lee Marvin) who is assigned a dozen convicted murderers to train and lead them into a mass assassination mission of German officers. Its ensemble cast includes Ernest Borgnine, Charles Bronson, Jim Brown, John Cassavetes, George Kennedy, Telly Savalas and Donald Sutherland.

Lopez also appeared in the Frank Sinatra...

Trini Lopez, the pop singer and guitarist who also acted in Robert Aldrich’s “The Dirty Dozen,” died Tuesday of complications from Covid-19.

Palm Springs Life magazine first reported his death; he was a longtime resident of the desert enclave. Filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes had recently completed a documentary about his life, which was featured in the magazine.

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Trini Lopez, who has lived in Palm Springs since the 1960s, passed away Aug. 11. One of the well-known songs from his hit 1963 album was "If I Had A Hammer".⁠ ⁠ His passing comes just after a documentary on his life had wrapped shooting and editing by @pdavidebersole and cohort @airport1975 (Todd Hughes), also Palm Springs residents who created the @houseofcardindoc on @pierrecardinofficiel.⁠ ⁠ They had just shown Trini a cut for approval last week. For more on the film, visit our #linkinbio.⁠ ⁠...

Outfest Los Angeles is going virtual this year and they have unveiled their stacked lineup for the 11-day festival which kicks off August 20.

The LGBTQ film fest fest will include over 160 films with 35 world premieres, 10 North American premieres and 4 U.S. premieres to Los Angeles for 2020. The fest will live on http://www.outfestla2020.com and there will also be “Outfest LA Under the Stars”, a drive-in experience will take place at the stunning Calamigos Ranch in Malibu, where for two extended weekends the Festival will be hosting a series of drive-in screenings across six-nights on two lots, including both kick-off and closing events. The drive-in screenings will start with the Sundance pic The Nowhere Inn starring musicians Annie Clark and Carrie Brownstein. Other screenings will be announced in the upcoming weeks.

Over 70% of films at Outfest LA directed by female, trans, and Poc filmmakers. The Breakthrough Centerpiece will be...

‘Babyteeth.’

Universal Pictures’ dramedy The King of Staten Island continued its reign at Australian cinemas last weekend as ticket sales slumped, starved of new releases.

Given the depressed state of the market, Shannon Murphy’s Babyteeth, the bittersweet comedy adapted by Rita Kalnejais from her play, launched reasonably well on 46 screens, making $65,000.

The Universal release starring Eliza Scanlen, Toby Wallace, Ben Mendelsohn and Essie Davis registered the second highest per-screen average – $1,419 – among the top 10 titles, behind the market leader’s $1,766.

With 33 per cent of the nation’s cinemas closed and most that are still operating charging half price, the top 20 titles generated a mere $1.7 million, down 27 per cent on the previous frame, according to Numero.

The weekend takings were down 90 per cent on the same weekend last year, when The Lion King, Spider-Man: Far From Home, André Rieu’s Maastricht Concert and Toy Story 4 were raking in millions.

Sony Pictures launched The Burnt Orange Heresy,...

In today’s film news roundup, the documentary “House of Cardin” and crime thriller “Devil’s Night” find distributors and “Lucky Grandma” is raising funds for New York Chinatown.

Acquisitions

Utopia has acquired the North American rights to the fashion documentary “House of Cardin” by filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes.

The film, centering on the life and work of designer and entrepreneur Pierre Cardin, held its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival and was set for a North American tour at the San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, and Seattle Film Festivals before the widespread Covid-19 cancellations and postponements.

Ebersole and Hughes produced under their banner, The Ebersole Hughes Company, alongside Cori Coppola. Utopia will release the film in August ahead of September’s New York Fashion Week and a subsequent Paris premiere hosted by Cardin himself.

“’House of Cardin’ brings a fresh understanding of just how incredibly groundbreaking...

Utopia has secured North American rights to House of Cardin, a documentary about the life and work of legendary fashion designer and entrepreneur Pierre Cardin. Directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes, the doc had its premiere at last year’s Venice International Film Festival and will be released in August ahead of September’s New York Fashion Week. It’ll also have a subsequent Paris premiere hosted by Cardin.

Here is the synopsis: Millions know the iconic logo and ubiquitous signature but few know the man behind the larger than life label. House of Cardin is a rare peek into the mind of a genius. As an authorized feature documentary, Mr. Cardin has granted exclusive access to his archives and professional empire and provided unprecedented interviews as he reflects on the many facets of his groundbreaking career. House of Cardin also features the likes of Naomi Campbell, Sharon Stone,...

The Party Film Sales handles international rights.

Utopia has picked up North American rights to House Of Cardin, the Venice Film Festival 2019 selection directed by Room 237 executive producers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes.

The documentary chronicles the life and work of the celebrated fashion designer and entrepreneur Pierre Cardin and was set for a prolonged North American festival tour ecnompassing San Francisco, Dallas, Boston, and Seattle Film Festivals, among others, before the coronavirus pandemic erupted.

Ebersole and Hughes produced through their The Ebersole Hughes Company, alongside Cori Coppola. The film screened in Venice Days.

Utopia plans an August release...

Layering archive footage and soundbites with the kind of quickfire verve suited to a catwalk backdrop, the introductory montage to “House of Cardin” presents us with a number of words to describe Pierre Cardin: “Genius” is the overriding one, uttered by multiple luminaries in his thrall, with other flattering variations rounding it out. Buried in the mix, however, with no identified source, is a somewhat contrasting statement: “a little bit of a sellout.” It portends a note of critical balance in Todd Hughes and P. David Ebersole’s documentary portrait of the Paris couturier turned global one-man brand, though the ensuing film — bright and glitzily entertaining as it is — never quite bears out that promise. Lively as an overview of Cardin’s creative and commercial achievements, “House of Cardin” is considerably vaguer when it comes to his personal life and legacy.

It is Cardin himself, via a decades-old interview clip,...

Thom Powers on Daniel Roher’s Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and the Band; Eva Orner’s Bikram: Yogi, Guru, Predator, and Ebs Burnough’s The Capote Tapes on Truman Capote via George Plimpton: “The films that we choose for Opening Night, Centerpiece, and Closing Night, are films that we want to give a big bright spotlight to.” Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze

In the second part of my conversation at Cinépolis Chelsea with Doc NYC Artistic Director Thom Powers, we discussed juxtapositions such as Reiner Holzemer’s Martin Margiela: In His Own Words, Todd Hughes and P David Ebersole’s House of Cardin with the Pierre Cardin: Future Fashion exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum; nature in the Short List programme with John Chester’s The Biggest Little Farm, Ljubomir Stefanov and Tamara Kotevska’s Honeyland, and Mark Deebles and Victoria Stone’s The Elephant Queen; identity with Elegance Bratton...

It’s been a decade since R.J. Cutler’s “The September Issue” and Matt Tyrnauer’s “Valentino: The Last Emperor” proved fashion documentaries could be big moneymakers at the box office. The years following brought the release of many glamorous entries into the genre, including “Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has to Travel,” “Bill Cunningham New York,” “The Gospel According to Andre,” and “McQueen.” Hoping to make a similar splash is “House of Cardin,” an authorized documentary about the legendary Italian-born French designer, Pierre Cardin. IndieWire is premiering this exclusive first-look trailer ahead of the film’s New York debut at Doc NYC.

Known for his geometric shapes and avant-garde styles, Cardin has amassed many celebrity fans over the years, many of whom appear in the film wearing their favorite of his designs. They include Naomi Campbell, Sharon Stone, Jenny Shimizu, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Alice Cooper, and even Dionne Warwick, among others.

The best documentaries about haute-couture icons, like Valentino: The Last Emperor or last year’s McQueen, combine breathtaking footage of the portrayed designer’s work with a keen sense of who they were as an individual and how they changed their industry. On those terms, House of Cardin, from U.S. directorial duo P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes (Mansfield 66/67), is a success. It premiered in the independent Giornate degli Autori section of the recent Venice fest and should see interest from festivals, broadcasters and VOD platforms.

Pierre Cardin, born Pietro Cardin in the countryside near Venice in 1922,...

The best documentaries about haute-couture icons, like Valentino: The Last Emperor or last year’s McQueen, combine breathtaking footage of the portrayed designer’s work with a keen sense of who they were as an individual and how they changed their industry. On those terms, House of Cardin, from U.S. directorial duo P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes (Mansfield 66/67), is a success. It premiered in the independent Giornate degli Autori section of the recent Venice fest and should see interest from festivals, broadcasters and VOD platforms.

Pierre Cardin, born Pietro Cardin in the countryside near Venice in 1922,...

Cardin, 95, has granted exclusive access to his archives for the film.

Paris-based Doc & Film has acquired worldwide rights to House Of Cardin, the authorised documentary chronicling the life and design of fashion icon Pierre Cardin.

Directors P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes of The Ebersole Hughes Company will debut a work-in-progress teaser at an American Pavilion panel today [May 10].

Cardin, 95, has granted exclusive access to his archives and his couture empire and promises unprecedented interviews.

The Ebersole Hughes Company is producing with Marc Smolowitz of 13th Gen Films.

Daniela Elstner of Doc & Film negotiated the deal with Smolowitz on behalf of the filmmakers.

Iconic Hollywood starlet Jayne Mansfield packed a fair amount of living in her relatively short life. A brief A-lister while under contract at 20th Century Fox, she was a sex symbol in the Monroe mould, married three times and was known for the ‘wardrobe malfunction’ decades before the puritanical outrage that greeted Janet Jackson’s slip at the Super Bowl. She met her untimely end in a horrendous car pile-up, but not before flirting with the then burgeoning interest in Satanism within the Hollywood hipster set. She was seemingly the queen of the column inch during most of her career, but P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes’ film attempts to shed some light on the salacious gossip and reach beyond the blond bombshell persona.

The directing duo have huddled together an impressive array of interviewees for their film. Alongside the various Hollywood historians and social/psychological commentators, we have the...

P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes

As we are staying in the beautiful home of P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes during the Film Festival, this homage to them, published in Palm Springs Desert Outlook means a lot to us.

Even their superb 50s neighborhood bears stamp of their personality.

Palm Springs filmmakers and couple P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes recently released Mansfield 66/67, a documentary about Hollywood sensation Jayne Mansfield and are now in Paris interviewing Pierre Cardin whose 50 years as a trailblazing brand creator is being celebrated by Sotheby’s non selling exhibition of his iconic utilitarian sculptures from 1970 to 1975.

Sotheby “says,

Pierre Cardin’s universe is protean. Whether in the act of creation or in his creations, he has always pursued a concept of ‘line’. In furniture, he makes it a rule to create triumphant two-sided pieces of furniture: utilitarian sculptures. In perpetual motion, and constantly in search of signs,...

Halloween is upon us, and there’s nothing spookier than a true, scary story. However, the tale presented in the documentary “Mansfield 66/67” has a further twist as it’s ripped from the pages of Hollywood legend, and today we have an exclusive clip from the fascinating, fun film.

Directed by P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes, “Mansfield 66/67” takes a look at the unlikely relationship that blossomed between big screen star Jayne Mansfield, and the charismatic Church Of Satan leader, Anton Lavey.

Continue reading ‘Mansfield 66/67’ Nsfw Clip: An Absurd Relationship Revealed [Exclusive] at The Playlist.

The Splathouse podcast team heads to Haddonfield with their new episode on Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers, and you can listen to it in today's Horror Highlights. We also have a Q&A with the writer/director of Sightings, a new prize pack contest from our friends at Comet TV, a trailer for Aliens: Zone of Silence, release details and a trailer for the stranger than fiction documentary Mansfield 66/67, a look at Line Webtoon's horror anthology comic series, and details on the Kickstarter campaign for the Zombie Doctor tabletop game.

Listen to a New Episode of the Splathouse Podcast: From Splathouse: "One, two, Chucky’s coming for you, pinhead!

This week the goobs at Splathouse watched Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers (1995) and just barely survived! Pervy Paul (Don’t Call Me Stephen) Rudd, culty runes/ruins/ruse, miraculous household appliances, and the lack of any coherency: This movie has it all!

P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes, producers of Rodney Ascher’s documentary Room 237, about Kubrick’s movie The Shining, delve once again into cult cinema and culture. In their own documentary Mansfield 66/67 they explore the relationship between one of Hollywood’s most famous blonde bombshells, Jayne Mansfield, and one of the world’s most infamous Satanists, Anton Lavey. Throughout 1966 and 1967 Mansfield would spend a lot of time with Lavey and after her untimely death on June 28th, 1967 rumors surfaced that Lavey had put a curse on her which resulted her death. Mansfield 66/67 explores this curious relationship that ended tragically one dark night on a road between Biloxi and New Orleans. The structure of Mansfield 66/67 is a story told in seven parts...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Exclusive: Film focuses on a bizarre episode of Mansfield’s personal life.

Gunpowder & Sky have acquired Us rights for Jayne Mansfield doc Mansfield 66/67 fromStray Dogs.

The film, directed by Todd Hughes and P. David Ebersole, follows the last two years of the movie star’s life and her association with notorious Hollywood satanist Anton Lavey, with whom she was rumoured to have had an affair.

Kenneth Anger, John Waters and Marilyn feature.

The Ebersole Hughes Company produced. Jake Hanly negotiated the deal on behalf of Gunpowder & Sky.

Read more:

The latest Cannes news, reviews and features...

Exclusive: Film focuses on a bizarre episode of Mansfield’s personal life.

Gunpowder & Sky have acquired Us rights for Jane Mansfield doc Mansfield 66/67 fromStray Dogs.

The film, directed by Todd Hughes and P. David Ebersole, follows the last two years of the movie star’s life and her association with notorious Hollywood satanist Anton Lavey, with whom she was rumoured to have had an affair.

Kenneth Anger, John Waters and Marilyn feature.

The Ebersole Hughes Company produced. Jake Hanly negotiated the deal on behalf of Gunpowder & Sky.

Read more:

The latest Cannes news, reviews and features...

A bright and bouncy primer on the short, chaotic life of ill-fated sex-bomb Jayne Mansfield, P David Ebersole and Todd Hughes' Mansfield 66/67 seeks to channel the effervescent fizz of its subject with entertaining but haphazard results. Featuring predictably incisive contributions from John Waters, Mary Woronov, Kenneth Anger (who famously stuck Mansfield on the cover of his best-selling gossip-tome Holllywood Babylon) among a slew of talking heads, the UK/Us co-production is a natural for camp-friendly festivals and certainly won't be diminished by small-screen exposure.

It's the first feature to be co-directed by marrieds Ebersole and Hughes, who co-wrote 2011's well-received Hit So Hard, profiling Hole drummer...

International sales agent Stray Dogs acquired “Mansfied 66/67” and the Spanish drama “Sister of Mine” ahead of the Efm.

Among the most striking acquisitions is the Rotterdam Film Fest’s “Mansfield 66/67”, the experimental feature documentary about the last two years in the life of screen siren and Hollywood sex symbol, Jayne Mansfield.

In the film, which features cult director Kenneth Anger and actress Tippi Hedren, Mansfield is portrayed by Ann Magnuson. It combines archive footage and interviews blended with experimental dance numbers and animations.

Todd Hughes and P. David Ebersole directed the documentary, which premiered in Rotterdam.

Todd Hughes and P. David Ebersole

2017 marks the 50th anniversary of Mansfield’s death in a car crash.

Paris-based International sales outfit Stray Dogs is ramping up its slate ahead of next month’s European Film Market in Berlin (Feb 9–17). The company, founded by Nathan Fischer in 2015, has two new pick-ups at International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress, singer and entertainer who was one of Hollywood’s biggest sex symbols of the ‘50s and ‘60s. She was known for her hunger for publicity, her questionable affair with Anton Lavey, head of the Church of Satan, and her fatal car crash in 1967.

Now 50 years after her legendary accident, filmmakers P. David Ebersole and Todd Hughes have created “Mansfield 66/67,” a documentary about the last two years of Mansfield’s life and the speculation that her untimely death was caused by her alleged affair with Lavey and a curse that was placed on her.

The film is based on rumor and hearsay and asks the questions: “Was her life spinning out of control in the last two years of her life, or…did the devil make her do it?”

Read More: ‘Catfight’ Trailer: Watch Sandra Oh & Anne Heche Beat the Sh*t Out of Each...

The premiere post-tiff destination (September 20-25th) in the film community and a major leg up for narrative and non-fiction films in development, the Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) announced a whopping 140 projects selected for the Project Forum at the upcoming Ifp Independent Film Week. Made up of several sections (Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers program, No Borders International Co-Production Market and Spotlight on Documentaries), we find latest updates from the likes of docu-helmers Doug Block (112 Weddings) and Lana Wilson (After Tiller), and among the narrative items we find headliners in Andrew Haigh (coming off the well received 45 Years), Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls and Madame Bovary), Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty), Lawrence Michael Levine (Wild Canaries), Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are), Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal (Stranger Things) and new faces in Sundance’s large family in Charles Poekel (Christmas, Again) and Olivia Newman (First Match). Here...

Long considered one of the greatest shows ever to grace television, David Lynch's Twin Peaks is often approached and understood in a sort of bubble, a vacuum. Which is appropriate, on a certain level, given that it was totally unlike anything that had ever come before and exists without obvious, conventional frames of reference but it overlooks the impact that the show had on the actual, flesh and blood people who found this dark, strange, wonderful world deeply personal. People such as Travis Blue, an outcast growing up in the actual town where Twin Peaks was shot. Northwest Passage is a unique, visually-stunning documentary from director Adam Baran (Jackpot), executive producers P. David Ebersole & Todd Hughes (Room 237, Hit So Hard) and executive producer...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

"Dear Mom, Love Cher," an hour-long documentary produced by Todd Hughes ("The New Women") and written and directed by P. David Ebersole ("Hit So Hard"), will premiere on Lifetime on Monday, May 6, in honor of Mother's Day. The special, which Cher executive produced, will focus on the actress and singer's mother Georgia Holt, who was born in rural Arkansas and headed to Los Angeles to pursue a career in show business. She weathered six marriages and through difficult times raised her two daughters, one of whom "would live out the dream Holt could never fulfill for herself and go on to become one of the world's biggest stars." (Take that, mom.) "Dear Mom, Love Cher" will feature interviews with Holt, her daughters Cher and Georganne Lapiere Bartylak, and her grandchildren Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman, as well as a never-before-heard duet performance with Holt and Cher. "This project started...

Dear Mom, Love Cher chronicles the life of the iconic singer’s mother, Georgia Holt, as she came to Hollywood with dreams of stardom and raised two daughters amid adversity. Cher executive produced and appears in the hourlong docu written and directed by P. David Ebersole and executive produced by Todd Hughes, Ebersole, Risa Shapiro and Lifetime’s Tanya Lopez. Cher, half sister Georganne Lapiere Bartylak, and Holt’s grandchildren Chaz Bono and Elijah Blue Allman also appear in the film. The special airs May 6 at 10 Pm Pt/Et on Lifetime and is produced by The Ebersole Hughes Company and Apis Productions.

Join us this afternoon for a liveblog of WilSon and Gack from Days of Our Lives with our very own snicks.

Also, be sure to join me on Twitter Sunday night for all the goings on at the Grammy Awards. It might be interesting, even with all the wardrobe rules that CBS rolled out at the last minute.

James Wolk will pit his furry chest against Robin Williams' furry back in Crazy Ones, the new CBS comedy pilot.

Out power producer/director/writer Bryan Singer has donated $5 million to the USC School of Film and had one of their six programs named after him.

Indiana lawmakers have postponed a vote to place a constitutional amendment against marriage equality on the ballot until next year, citing the pending Supreme Court decisions.

Chace Crawford says that while he hasn't read Fifty Shades of Grey, he'd be up for playing the title role.

"Hit So Hard: The Life and Near Death Story of Patty Schemel," P. David Ebersole's documentary about the life of Patty Schemel, the drummer of Courtney Love's seminal rock band Hole, opens in New York today after playing at festivals worldwide, including SXSW and Sheffield Doc/Fest. The film expands to Los Angeles on April 20. To mark the occasion, Indiewire asked Ebersole and producing partner Todd Hughes to share with us their top ten music documentaries of all time. Check out their picks below: "The Decline of Western Civilization" (1981 Dir: Penelope Spheris) The ultimate Diy punk rock documentary. From the stark black-and-white interviews with teenage punkers against a bare light bulb to the gritty and hilarious “at home” interviews with superstars of the then exploding Los Angeles music scene (like Exene of X and Darby Crash of The Germs), Penelope Spheris’ effortless filmmaking wove together a vivid portrait.

"Hit So Hard" producer Todd Hughes (left) and director P. David Ebersole (right) hit up the NewFest closing night screening of "Gun Hill Road" with NewFest's director of programming (and indieWIRE contributor) Bryce J. Renninger last night at the Walter Reade Theater. Ebersole's documentary takes an in-depth look at the life of Patty Schemel, the drummer of the band Hole. The film screened at the festival. [Photo by Brian Brooks]...

The Provincetown International Film Festival hosted a little bash at an art gallery in town amidst a rain storm which played a little havoc with people's hair Friday night - but who cares! It's P-Town. Among the people hanging out were producer Christine Vachon, John Waters, Hole doc ("Hit So Hard") producer Todd Hughes and director P. David Ebersole and Provincetown fest Director of Programming Andrew Peterson.

It’s stories like this that really make my day! As a teen, Hole was one of my favorite bands… Heck, I still break out their CD’s to jam! Now, there is a new documentary that follows Patty Schemel, former drummer of Hole, and her journey between the rock-n-roll world and a much darker side. Well, keep reading son!

The Museum of Modern Art and Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today that the members of Hole will reunite to celebrate the first of two New Directors/New Films screenings of P. David Ebersole.s documentary, Hit So Hard at MoMA on Monday, March 28 at 6:00Pm.

The reunion will mark the first time Love, Erlandson, der Maur and Schemel have been together at a public event in 13 years.

Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson and Melissa auf der Maur will join former bandmate Patty Schemel for the New York debut of Ebersole.s rockumentary.

Rating: 2.5/5

Writers: P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes

Director: P. David Ebersole

For fans of the band Hole, Hit So Hard is nothing short of required watching. Tracing the ups and downs of drummer Patty Schemel, P. David Ebersole’s documentary cobbles together informative interviews over a number of years with incredibly intimate home movie footage to craft a portrait of a woman, and a band, constantly on the edge of collapse.

Read more on SXSW 2011 Review: Hit So Hard…...

Director: P. David Ebersole Writers: P. David Ebersole, Todd Hughes Featuring: Courtney Love, Eric Erlandson, Gina Schock, Kate Schellenbach, Kurt Cobain, Melissa Auf Der Maur, Nina Gordon, Patty Schemel, Phranc, Sarah Vowell Some of you might be asking the same question I asked myself when I first received the press release for Hit So Hard: The Life & Near‐Death Story of Drummer Patty Schemel -- why would I want to watch a documentary about the drummer of Hole? Nothing personal about Schemel, but she is not the first person who comes to mind when I think of Hole. Knowing absolutely nothing about Schemel, I figured that it would not hurt anything for me to give Hit So Hard a chance. Full Disclosure: I am not a fan of Hole (I am more of an early Nirvana -- Bleach and Nevermind -- man myself), so I am probably coming...

Screening Times: Tuesday March 15th, 9:15pm (Alamo Ritz 1), Friday march 18th, 7:00pm (Vimeo Theater)

A veteran director and producer of cable television (Wicked Wicked Games, Desire), P. David Ebersole’s rock doc Hit So Hard is a typical booze-and-drug-filled profile of his friend and collaborator Patty Schemel, the original drummer for the seminal grunge band Hole, who fell on hard times after the always controversial rock band’s heyday.

Filmmaker: How did you first conceive of Hit So Hard?

Ebersole: My friend Patty Schemel brought me a gold box, filled with 40-plus hours of never-before-seen video footage from when she was on tour with her band Hole. She shot the tape on Hi-8 and was afraid it would disintegrate soon, so she came asking for advice about how to best preserve it. Soon, the two of us were transferring the tapes and watching the footage together. Patty, a great raconteur,...