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Exclusive: UK actors Robert Bathurst, Lee Mack, and Sue Johnston, along with Johnston’s pet German Shepherd are lining up to appear in Roy Boulter’s dog-walking musical Fetch to be produced by Liverpool-based Hurricane Films.

Paul Heaton from The Beautiful South has written a song for the film and UK band The Lightning Seeds are also working on songs.

Fetch marks the feature directorial debut of Boulter, the award-winning producer of Terence Davies’ Of Time And The City and Sunset Song and of Gillies MacKinnon’s The Last Bus.

The bare bones of the plot are that a disparate...

First Look, the works-in-progress strand of the Locarno film festival’s industry section, has revealed the six titles selected for its 2023 edition.

This year First Look will highlight independent projects from the UK. The festival has described each project as a work in progress “at the cusp of completion.” The selected works-in-progress, none of which currently have sales representation, will be presented to accredited industry professionals at the Cinema Rialto during the Locarno Film Festival.

Among the titles is All At Sea by the late filmmaker Mike Hodges. Produced by Solon Papadopoulos at Hurricane Films and directed, written, and narrated by Hodges, the pic explores Hodges’ story from his start in the Navy in the 1950s, to his work for Granada in the 1960s, through to his meteoric success with hits such as Get Carter and Flash Gordon in the 1970s onwards. Reflecting from his quiet Dorset home,...

Six U.K. works-in-progress have been selected for the 12th edition of Locarno’s First Look, an international launchpad for films in post-production taking place during Locarno Pro Days.

Since its introduction in 2012, First Look has already focused on Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Brazil, Israel, Poland, the Baltic Countries, Portugal, Serbia, Switzerland and Germany

This year, the late Mike Hodges – known for “Get Carter” or “Flash Gordon” – will be celebrated in “All at Sea,” produced by Hurricane Films, a semi-autobiographical documentary depicting his life. The film was directed, written and narrated by Hodges himself.

“We have been working with Mike on this feature documentary over the past three, four years. We lost him in December, but luckily, we have a director’s cut and an even more pressing need to make sure his final film sees the light of the big screen,” says Solon Papadopoulos.

“Mike was a humble visionary and a delight to work with.

Late director’s semi-autobiographical doc will be showcased alongside five other UK films.

All At Sea, a semi-autobiographical documentary by the late and acclaimed director and scriptwriter Mike Hodges, is one of six UK films selected for Locarno Pro’s works in progress strand First Look.

Thriller 7 Keys, the feature debut of Joy Wilkinson, a 2015 Screen Star of Tomorrow, will also be showcased in First Look.

Scroll down for full list of titles

Taking place at the Locarno Film Festival between August 4- 6, the 12th edition of Locarno Pro’s First Look is presenting works-in-progress from the UK through a...

Narrative-documentary hybrid follows a man auditioning for a film while transforming his real life.

Modern Films has acquired UK-Ireland distribution rights to docu-fiction hybrid Stephen, ahead of its world premiere in international competition at Sheffield DocFest on June 16.

Melanie Manchot’s debut feature film follows Stephen Giddings, a man from an addiction-afflicted family, who auditions for and takes on a film role, while transforming his life in the real world.

Modern is setting a UK-Ireland theatrical release for the latter part of 2023, after the film has played as a video installation at the Liverpool Biennial.

Stephen is produced by Elena Hill,...

Exclusive: Prolific German actor Thomas Kretschmann, star of movies including The Pianist, King Kong and the upcoming Indiana Jones And The Dial Of Destiny, is to play seminal and controversial German composer Richard Wagner in a new English-language biopic.

The movie will chart the journey of Richard and Cosima Wagner as they arrive in Venice following the prèmiere of Parsifal in 1882. The plot will turn on an alternative history, as it will see Wagner’s father-in-law, Franz Liszt, follow the couple soon after as news of a comet headed towards earth launches Wagner into composing one final piece of music.

Marton Csokas (The Equalizer) will play fellow-composer Liszt in the project which is being sold at Berlin’s EFM by Motus Studios.

Daniel Graham (Prizefighter: The Life Of Jem Belcher) is writer-director and the team is aiming to shoot in Venice in late spring, 2023.

Emanuele Moretti (Assassin Club) is producing...

A further £502,882 has been allocated.

Enys Men, Pretty Red Dress and Quiddity Films are among the recipients of an additional 12 awards that have been issued by the UK Global Screen Fund (Gsf).

A total of £502,882 has been allocated through the £7m fund’s international distribution and international business development strands. The awards are financed through the UK government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (Dcms), and adminsterd by the BFI.

Three of the seven titles receiving international distribution awards are represented by sales agent Protagonist Pictures – Mark Jenkin’s psychological horror Enys Men, the debut feature of former...

The set of “Rust” seemed to produce an unending list of tragic circumstances, snafus, and gaffes: the camera crew quitting in protest over work conditions; the prop gun that fired a bullet, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins; the mix of 500 blanks, dummy rounds and suspected live rounds collected on the set by Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office, and even the custom T-shirts reportedly ordered by production staff mocking crew requests for hotel rooms. At this point, “Rust” producer and star Alec Baldwin may be alone in his assertion about his film with a reported budget of under $7 million: “We were a very, very well-oiled crew.”

The “Rust” reports document what might be generously described as gross mistakes and mismanagement, but “low budget does not equal unsafe. That’s not the conclusion to draw from this tragedy,” said Tom Nunan, who was an executive producer of “Crash” and “The Illusionist” and...

Celsius Entertainment is handling international sales.

Samuel Goldwyn Films has acquired US rights to Gillies McKinnon’s The Last Bus starring Timothy Spall and Phyllis Logan from UK sales outfit Celsius Entertainment.

The film has just screened at the Bari International Film Festival, run by ex-Venice chief Felice Laudadio earlier this month. Spall picked up the international award for best leading actor at the event.

The North American premiere took place at the Mill Valley Film Festival.

Thierry Wase-Bailey’s Celsius has also closed new deals with Portugal (Films4you), Korea (Cineline World) and airlines (Horizon).

DEA Planeta released The Last Bus...

The Liverpool-based company is backed by AGC Studios founder Stuart Ford.

White Star Productions, a recently launched UK film and TV production venture based in Liverpool and backed by AGC Studios founder Stuart Ford, has announced its initial slate of projects.

Film and TV writer, author and journalist Kevin Sampson co-owns and operates the company, whose mission is to champion stories from the north of England and bring them to the screen. It has a first-look deal with Los Angeles-based AGC Studios.

White Star is currently casting the feature Giant from writer-director Rowan Athale (The Rise), based on the meteoric...

Regional fund established in response to Covid-19 crisis.

The UK’s Liverpool Film Office (Lfo) has revealed the first 15 projects to benefit from a new fund, created in response to the Covid-19 crisis.

More than £158,000 worth of funding has been awarded to a mix of established producers in the region as well as projects from burgeoning female and Bame-led companies. The money comes from the Lfo’s Film and TV Development Fund, which was set up a month into lockdown, using resources from Liverpool City Region’s (Lcr) strategic investment fund.

The projects include the first foray into TV drama for Hurricane Films,...

They include Hurricane Films’ Sid Vicious biopic ’Something Else’.

A drama about Sid Vicious and his mother is among four UK projects to receive a tranche of development funding from the European Union’s Creative Europe Media programme.

Something Else (aka Ma Vicious) will be written and directed by Justin Edgar of 104 Films and received €50,000 from Creative Europe.

The awards will be some of the last in the UK to receive support from the fund as the UK will not participate in the next Creative Europe programme, due to start in January 2021, as a result of the UK leaving...

Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan co-stars in the project, directed by Gillies MacKinnon.

Screen can reveal the first image from new Gillies MacKinnon drama, The Last Bus, starring Timothy Spall (Mr Turner) and Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan.

The film tells the story of widower Tom (Spall) who, on the recent passing of his wife Mary (Logan), uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain from John O’Groats in Scotland to Land’s End in Cornwall, their shared birthplace, using only local buses. His encounters with local people make him a media phenomenon, though Tom is...

The film, directed by Gillies MacKinnon, is produced by Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter at Hurricane Films

Thierry Wase-Bailey’s Celsius Entertainment has closed multiple pre-sales on its new Gillies MacKinnon drama, The Last Bus, starring Timothy Spall (Mr Turner) and Downton Abbey’s Phyllis Logan

The film, produced by by Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter at Hurricane Films, has gone to Australia/Nz (Roadshow), Spain (DEA Planeta), UK and Ireland (Parkland Entertainment), Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Japan (L.D.H), Greece/Cyprus (Odeon), Airlines (Jaguar), Canada (MK2 Mile End) and Gravel Road (South Africa).

The Last Bus, which starts shooting this week,...

British stars Timothy Spall and Phyllis Logan, last seen on screen together in Mike Leigh's acclaimed 1996 drama Secrets & Lies, have reunited for Hurricane Film's The Last Bus.

Directed by Gillies MacKinnon (Hideous Kinky) and produced by Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (A Prayer Before Dawn, A Quiet Passion), the film — now in production — was written by Joe Ainsworth (Holby City), and centers on widower Tom (Spall). When his wife Mary (Logan) passes away, he uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain, from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End ...

British stars Timothy Spall and Phyllis Logan, last seen on screen together in Mike Leigh's acclaimed 1996 drama Secrets & Lies, have reunited for Hurricane Film's The Last Bus.

Directed by Gillies MacKinnon (Hideous Kinky) and produced by Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (A Prayer Before Dawn, A Quiet Passion), the film — now in production — was written by Joe Ainsworth (Holby City), and centers on widower Tom (Spall). When his wife Mary (Logan) passes away, he uses his free bus pass to travel the length of Britain, from John O'Groats in Scotland to Land's End ...

Two executive producers, whose credits include the 2018 Sundance hit “The Tale,” are facing federal fraud and money laundering charges for allegedly running a scheme to bilk millions from investors who thought they were backing independent film projects. According to their indictment, the men instead used the money to spend lavishly on themselves: luxury cars, private air travel, real estate, and more.

Jason Van Eman, who heads the Oklahoma-based WeatherVane Prods., and producer Ben McConley allegedly teamed with a former Miami-based Wells Fargo Bank employee, Benjamin Rafael, who helped pull off the scam.

According to the indictment, McConley and Van Eman lured potential investors with the promise of “matching” their investments dollar for dollar, which they claimed to use to secure a loan to pay for the film’s production. The victim would transfer money to accounts controlled by the men, which they would use for their own purposes. Rafael would...

Exclusive: Blue Fox Entertainment has acquired domestic rights to the offbeat Brit comedy Sometimes Always Never, which stars Bill Nighy, after the pic opened in Australia and the UK. It will hit U.S. screens now on October 4.

The pic, written by 24-Hour Party People scribe Frank Contrell Boyce based on his own short story and directed by first-time feature director and Boyce collaborator Carl Hunter, centers on Alan (Nighy), a stylish tailor with moves as sharp as his suits. He has spent years searching tirelessly for his missing son Michael, who stormed out over a game of Scrabble. With a body to identify and his family torn apart, Alan must repair the relationship with his youngest son Peter and solve the mystery of an online player who he thinks could be Michael, so he can finally move on and reunite his family.

Sam Riley, Jenny Agutter, Tim McInnerny and Alice Lowe also star.

Sam Riley, Alice Lowe also in the cast.

Recently launched distributor Parkland Entertainment has acquired all UK rights to Hurricane Films’ Sometimes Always Never, the directorial debut of Carl Hunter starring Bill Nighy.

The film will receive a nationwide theatrical release in all major cities from Friday 14 June this year. Parkland’s Tom Stewart negotiated the deal with Jason Moring of Double Dutch International representing the producers.

The film follows Alan (Nighy), a tailor who has spent years searching for his missing son Michael, who stormed out over a game of Scrabble. Alan looks to repair his relationship with his...

Adam Randall is directing thriller from producers Hurricane Films.

Ben Hardy, who recently portrayed Queen drummer Roger Taylor in box office hit Bohemian Rhapsody, has joined the cast of Adam Randall’s UK thriller Recovery.

Hardy will star alongside Tim Roth in the three-hander, with further casting now underway.

Production is set to begin in March in the UK’s West Midlands and then Belgium. Roy Boulter and Sol Papadopoulos of Liverpool-based Hurricane Films are producing. Executive producers are Stephen Kelliher of Bankside Films, Tim Roth and Bastien Sirodot of UMedia.

Bankside Films is launching sales on the project at...

Adam Randall directing feature; Bankside handling sales.

Tim Roth will lead the cast of thriller Recovery, which is being directed by iBoy and I See You filmmaker Adam Randall.

The screenplay, by A Prayer Before Dawn writer Nick Saltrese, is a claustrophobic story of three men travelling from London to Birmingham in a truck, one of whom is a terrorist.

Producers are Roy Boulter and Sol Papadopoulos for Liverpool-based Hurricane Films. The film is a UK-Belgium co-production with Umedia. Backers also include Creative England’s West Midlands Fund.

Bankside Films has boarded the project for world sales. The company...

On Sunday agents and producers discuss what feature film offers talent in the boom era of high-end TV.

The line-up for the UK Film Centre at this year’s Cannes Film Festival (May 18-27) includes a talent talk with the producers of Yorgos Lanthimos’ The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, a discussion about Brexit and a panel on attracting world-class talent (hosted by Screen International editor Matt Mueller).

The UK Film Centre is run by We Are UK Film, whose partners include the British Film Institute (BFI), the British Film Commission (Bfc), British Council, Creative Scotland, Film London and Northern Ireland Screen.

The UK Film Centre will be in Cannes from May 17-26 at Pavilion 119 of the International Village Riviera and is open for international and UK delegates from 9am – 6pm.

The full events line-up is below:

Monday 22Nd

The Practical Guide to Closing your Film (In association with European Film Bonds): 10.00 - 11.00

Experts including [link=nm...

Exclusive: Cannes Midnight Screenings title gets UK deal.

Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars 2011 Screen Star of Tomorrow Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).

The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.

Screenplay is by Jonathan Hirschbein and Nick Saltrese and is from Billy Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences.

This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.

The UK-France co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher’s Senorita Films along with Nicholas Simon, Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter.

Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.

HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal...

Exclusive: Altittude moves for Cannes Midnight Screenings title.

Altitude Film Distribution has acquired UK distribution rights to A Prayer Before Dawn, Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Muay Thai boxing thriller that stars Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).

The film is set to premiere at Cannes Film Festival next month as part of the Midnight Screenings programme.

Nick Saltrese adapted the screenplay from Bobby Moore’s book, which is based on his own experiences. This is director Sauvaire’s second feature after Johnny Mad Dog, which premiered at Cannes in 2008.

The British-French co-pro was produced by Rita Dagher, Sol Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter and Nicholas Simon. Three-time Oscar nominee James Schamus was an executive producer and helped to close finance through his company Symbolic Exchange’s production deal with China’s Meridian Entertainment.

HanWay Films is handling sales on the title. The UK deal was stuck between Altitude’s Will Clarke and HanWay Films’ Gabrielle Stewart.

A24 previously...

Exclusive: Ddi to launch sales on feature from The Railway Man screen-writer Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Double Dutch International has boarded worldwide sales rights to UK comedy Triple World Score starring Golden Globe winner Bill Nighy (Love Actually).

Carl Hunter’s directorial debut is being produced by Sunset Song and A Quiet Passion duo Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter under their Hurricane Films banners along with Sarada McDermott.

Andrea Gibson and Mary McLeod from Gibson & MacLeod serve as executive producers.

The original screenplay, which comes from The Railway Man and Millions screen-writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, follows Alan (Nighy), a tailor who closes up shop to move in with his surly son Peter and grandson Jack. There is distance between Alan and Peter as he blames his father for the disappearance of his brother Michael.

Meanwhile, Alan and Jack begin to bond over their favourite game. Conflict builds to a tipping point when Alan is convinced that an online...

The distributor has picked up Us rights to Terence Davies’ Emily Dickinson biopic following its North American premiere in the Masters section at Toronto on Monday.

Cynthia Dixon plays the 19th century American poet as she struggled against religion and social mores and a lack of reputation, culminating in her illness and death.

Most of her roughly 1,800 poems were unpublished during her lifetime, however she is now regarded as one of the great American literary artists.

A Quiet Passion received its world premiere at the Berlinale last February. It screens again in Toronto in Sunday.

Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine and Duncan Duff also star. Roy Boulter and Sol Papadopoulos of Liverpool-based Hurricane Films produced alongside Belgium’s Potemkino.

Gibson & MacLeod and Double Dutch International are among the executive producers and the latter handles international sales.

“We feel very lucky to be entrusted with Terence’s latest. He is a singular filmmaker and A Quiet Passion shows him working...

The U.S. rights to Cynthia Nixon‘s “A Quiet Passion” have been acquired by Music Box Films following the film’s North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Terence Davies, the film is about the famous 19th century American poet Emily Dickinson, who wrote almost 1800 poems, most of which were unpublished during her lifetime. “A Quiet Passion” had its international premiere at the 2016 Berlinale. The cast also includes Jennifer Ehle, Keith Carradine and Duncan Duff. “A Quiet Passion” was produced by Roy Boulter and Sol Papadopoulos of Hurricane Films (who had previously produced Davies’ “Sunset Song” and.

Terence Davies’s drama has sold to France and Japan, while Soda has taken over the UK release from Metrodome.

Double Dutch International has closed further deals on Terence Davies’s A Quiet Passion, which debuted at the Berlin Film Festival this year and had its international premiere last week at Toronto International Film Festival.

Paname Distribution has taken for France, Mimosa Films will distribute in Japan, and Soda Pictures has taken over UK from Metrodome, which went into administration in August.

Telling the story of American poet Emily Dickinson, the film stars Cynthia Nixon (Stockholm) and Jennifer Ehle (Zero Dark Thirty).

Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter produced for UK outfit Hurricane Films with Belgium-based Potemkino co-producing. Executive producers include Andrea Gibson of Gibson & MacLeod, as well as Jason Moring of Ddi.

The latest round of deals means that Ddi is now closing to selling out on the film.

Exclusive: Comedy-drama scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce.

Bill Nighy, one of Britain’s best loved character actors, is to star in Hurricane Films’ Triple Word Score, a new feature scripted by Frank Cottrell Boyce (Hilary and Jackie, 24 Hour Party People).

The film is in the growing slate of features to be executive produced by Gibson & MacLeod - the outfit behind Hurricane Films’ Emily Dickinson biopic, A Quiet Passion.

Triple Word Score will mark the directorial debut of Carl Hunter who has collaborated extensively with Cottrell Boyce on various other ventures including an award winning children’s book and an online narrative project.

The supernatural comedy-drama follows the story of a father (Nighy) searching for his missing son, with whom he shared a passion for the board game Scrabble. The film is a journey of mystery, self-discovery and hope.

Shooting will take place this summer in the UK - in Liverpool and West Lancashire.

Liverpool-based [link=co...

Exclusive: Terence Davies’ latest has sold to multiple territories including Germany, Spain and Scandinavia.

Double Dutch International president Jason Moring has announced a slew of sales on Terence Davies’ Berlinale premiere A Quiet Passion starring Cynthia Nixon.

Moring and his team licensed rights before Cannes to Gulf Films for Middle East, Rc Releasing for Germany, Golem for Spain, and Palace Films for Australia/New Zealand.

In further deals Lemon Tree acquired rights for China, Entermode for South Korea, McF for former Yugoslavia, Non-Stop Entertainment for Scandinavia, and Encore Inflight for airlines.

As previously announced, Metrodome acquired UK rights.

A Quiet Passion tells the story of American poet Emily Dickinson, from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive artist whose work earned recognition years after her death. Jennifer Ehle also stars.

Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter of Hurricane Films produced with Belgium-based Potemkino on board as co-producer. Jason Van Eman, [link...

Exclusive: Finance secured for Thai boxing feature starring Joe Cole; first-look image.

Chinese financier Meridian Entertainment, through its production deal with James Schamus’ Symbolic Exchange, has boarded finance on action film A Prayer Before Dawn, starring rising actor Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room).

Principal photography got underway in Thailand last week on the sophomore feature from director Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire, whose debut Johnny Mad Dog premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2008.

Former Wild Bunch exec Rita Dagher (Soy Nero), Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter (Sunset Song) and Nicholas Simon are producing. HanWay handles international sales, CAA reps the Us.

Former Focus CEO Schamus (Brokeback Mountain) will executive produce with Meridian’s Jennifer Dong and Woody Mu, along with Hanway’s Thorsten Schmuacher. Writer is Jonathan Hirschbein (Bad Country), based on a prior draft by Nick Saltrese.

Cole will star as Billy Moore, whose autobiography is the basis for the film, which tells the...

Exclusive: A Quiet Passion producer is working on an Emily Dickinson documentary.

Hurricane Films, the UK production company behind Terence Davies’ Emily Dickinson biopic A Quiet Passion, which is premiering in Berlin today (Feb 14), has revealed details of its forthcoming slate.

To accompany A Quiet Passion, Hurricane is now preparing Phosphorescence, a documentary about Dickinson to be directed by Solon Papadopoulos, the co-owner and founder of Hurricane Films.

Another Hurricane project is The Route, the first feature project from TV writer Joe Ainsworth, which is in advanced development.

The film is about an elderly man who makes an epic journey from John O’Groats, the most northerly point of mainland Britain, to Land’s End, the most westerly point.

The man travels by public buses all the way, using his old age pensioner pass. “It’s a beautifully observed piece about old age but also about the country,” observed Hurricane’s other co-founder Roy Boulter.

The company...

Sunset Song producer Hurricane Films and Duck Soup Films, set up last year by two UK producers with ties to Warp Films, are also on the list.Scroll down for the full list

Film-maker Andrew Haigh (45 Years, Weekend) has been named as part of Creative England’s Future Leaders 2016, a list of ten individuals and companies selected for their “game-changing potential” in the UK’s creative industries.

Haigh’s latest film, 45 Years, premiered at last year’s Berlinale where it won Silver Bears for lead actors Tom Courtenay and Charlotte Rampling (since nominated for an Oscar) and went on to win the award for Best British Film at Edinburgh before receiving nominations at the BIFAs and European Film Awards.

Director and screenwriter Haigh began his career as an apprentice editor on Ridley Scott’s 2000 blockbuster Gladiator before progressing to the role of assistant editor on the likes of Black Hawk Down, Kingdom Of Heaven and [link...

Exclusive: Metrodome reteams with Sunset Song director on Emily Dickinson biopic.

Metrodome Distribution has acquired Terence Davies’ drama biopic A Quiet Passion from Double Dutch International.

The Hurricane Films production stars Sex and the City’s Cynthia Nixon as the celebrated American poet Emily Dickinson.

Jennifer Ehle (Fifty Shades Of Grey) and Keith Carradine (Nashville) co-star.

Shot in studio in Belgium and on location in and around the poet’s town of Amherst, Massachusetts, the film is in post-production with Metrodome due to release theatrically in Q3/Q4, 2016.

The biopic will chart the poet’s life from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive artist.

Dickinson wrote more than 2,000 poems in her lifetime but saw only seven published before her premature death in 1886. She never married and became increasingly reclusive as she got older.

The deal was negotiated between Jason Moring for Double Dutch International and Giles Edwards, head of acquisitions...

HanWay Films to sell A Prayer Before Dawn at Afm; shoot to begin April 2016.

Peaky Blinders star Joe Cole is to replace Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim) in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn.

Cole is a former Screen Star of Tomorrow and has recently completed filming independent feature Woodshock, alongside Kirsten Dunst. Currently filming season three of Peaky Blinders, Cole will next be seen in Jeremy Saulnier’s Green Room and Billy Ray’s The Secret In Their Eyes with Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

A Prayer Before Dawn, produced by the UK’s Hurricane Films, is directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog) and was first announced ahead of last year’s American Film Market (Afm).

HanWay Films will return with the film at this year’s Afm (Nov 4-11) to sell international rights.

Creative Artists Agency (CAA) will co-represent the film’s domestic distribution rights with HanWay.

Sauvaire has found...

Fortissimo Films’ sells Spanish rights to the Toronto-bound period drama.

Bilbao-based Festival Films has picked up the Spanish distribution rights to Terence Davies’ Sunset Song from Fortissimo Films.

The period drama, starring Peter Mullan (Tyrannosaur), Agyness Deyn (Pusher) and Kevin Guthrie (The Legend Of Barney Thomson), will receive its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 10-20) in Special Presentations.

Davies’ long-gestating passion project is an adaptation of the 1932 classic Scottish novel by Lewis Grassic Gibbon, about a farmer’s daughter in early 20th-century Scotland facing a series of hardships.

Davies has frequently played in Toronto, starting with Distant Voices, Still Lives in 1988 and most recently with The Deep Blue Sea in 2011, which Festival Films previously released in Spain.

Sunset Song is also playing in competition at San Sebastian (Sept 18-26).

Metrodome previously picked up UK and Irish rights (excluding TV, which area owned by the BBC) and is planning to release in Q4 2015.

The...

Fortissimo locks UK deal with Metrodome for Toronto title; BBC boards TV rights.

Fortissimo has secured a deal with Metrodome for UK and Irish rights to Terence Davies’ anticipated drama, Sunset Song, ahead of the film’s world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival next month.

Metrodome has all rights excluding TV – which belong to BBC – and will release in Q4, 2015.

Agyness Deyn (Pusher), Peter Mullan (Tyrannosaur) and Kevin Guthrie (The Legend of Barney Thomson), star in the early 1900s coming-of-age story in which the daughter of a Scottish farmer draws strength from the land in order to cope with her harsh reality.

Based on the novel by Scottish writer Lewis Grassic Gibbon, the film will also feature in competition at the San Sebastian Film Festival.

The deal was negotiated between Fortissimo Films’ Nicole Mackey, evp of international sales, and Metrodome’s head of acquisitions Giles Edwards and MD Jezz Vernon.

Sunset Song marks the...

The fall festival rush is upon us. Locarno is currently ramping up. Venice has released their line-up and Thom Powers and the Toronto International Film Festival team have dropped a bomb with a previously unannounced new feature from powerhouse docu-provocateur Michael Moore. It is truly a miracle that the production of a film such as Moore’s upcoming Where To Invade Next (see still above) managed to go completely undetected by the filmmaking community until it was literally announced to world premiere at one of the largest film festivals in the world. Programmed as a one of the key films in the Special Presentations section at Tiff, the film sees Moore telling “the Pentagon to ‘stand down’ — he will do the invading for America from now on.” Also announced to premiere at Tiff was Avi Lewis’ This Changes Everything, which has slowly been rising up this list, as well as...

It's a joyous day for lit buffs as not one, but two Emily Dickinson projects are coming up. While director Terence Davies beavers away at his long-awaited Dickinson biopic "A Quiet Passion" starring Cynthia Nixon—and readies another film, "Sunset Song," for Tiff this September—the film's team is working on a doc about the poet. UK production company, Hurricane Films is looking to release "Phosphorescence: Words Into Shining Light" by 2016 through the help of a new Kickstarter campaign. Starting today, and ending August 28, the crowdfunding effort hopes to raise enough money to cover both the feature's production and post-production costs. It's directed by Davies' longtime producer Sol Papadopoulos, and set to be narrated by Nixon. Meanwhile, Terence Davies' highly anticipated Dickinson biopic, "A Quiet Passion," starring Nixon as the reclusive American poet opposite Jennifer Ehle, has wrapped filming in Belgium. Produced by Papadopoulos, the...

Jason Moring, Ddi president, has announced a deal to sell international rights to the feature "A Quiet Passion," which has added Jennifer Ehle ("Zero Dark Thirty," "Fifty Shades of Grey") to support Cynthia Nixon ("Stockholm, Pennsylvania," "Sex and the City"), the lead of the movie.

Ddi will be selling the picture during the 2015 Cannes Film Market in May. UTA with Indomitable Entertainment holds domestic sales rights.

"A Quiet Passion" is written and directed by award-winning and acclaimed director Terence Davies ("The House of Mirth," "The Deep Blue Sea"), starring Cynthia Nixon, Jennifer Ehle. Production kicks off May 4 in Belgium with Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter producing for Hurricane Films and Potemkino co-producing. Executive producers include Jason Van Eman and Ben McConley from Weathervane Productions, Dominic Ianno ("Soul Surfer") and Stuart Pollok from Indomitable Entertainment, alongside Moring.

Nixon is represented by UTA, as is Ehle, who is also represented by Independent Talent Group in the UK.

"A Quiet Passion" is the story of America's foremost poet Emily Dickinson (Nixon) from her early days as a young schoolgirl to her later years as a reclusive, unrecognized artist; she left the world a huge body of emotional and powerful literary work, sadly discovered only after she was gone.

"Terence has shared great success in many of the biggest festivals throughout his career, including Cannes, and we couldn't be more excited to announce his next project at the festival," says Moring.

Davie states, "Emily Dickinson was one of the world's greatest poets, she distilled the terror and beauty of the world down to the quintessence of meaning and expression - I feel privileged to tell her story."...

Company president Jason Moring announced his Double Dutch International team has added the Emily Dickinson project to its Cannes sales roster.

Jennifer Ehle has joined the cast alongside lead Cynthia Nixon on the Hurricane Films, Potemkino, Weathervane Productions and Indomitable Entertainment.

A Quiet Passion centres on the life of the 19th century American poet from her early days to her later years as a recluse whose recognition would only come after her death.

Production kicked off May 4 in Belgium and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter produce for Hurricane Films and Potemkino co-produces.

UTA represents Us rights with Indomitable Entertainment.

Executive producers include Jason Van Eman and Ben McConley of Weathervane Productions and Dominic Ianno and Stuart Pollok of Indomitable Entertainment alongside Moring.

Colleagues including Elizabeth Karlsen, Adrian Wootton, Hugo Heppell and Amma Asante pay tribute to the late BFI Film Fund executive

I first met Chris at the Dinard FIlm Festival. I’d just watched Sarah Gavron’s beautiful rendition of Brick Lane, which Chris had produced. After the screening he, Sarah and I sat at small table outdoors in the brilliant sunshine talking about films, the pressures of being an independent producer, our daughters and how much I loved Brick Lane. I hope he knew that I was speaking from the heart. I was struck then by his quiet intelligence, his gracious and kind nature and his absolute devotion to and passion for independent film making. I could see that Sarah had enjoyed tremendous commitment from him as a producer on her first film. I was lucky enough, with my partner Stephen Woolley, to work with him consistently over the next eight years. He was unfailingly...

Exclusive: HanWay to sell Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Thai boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn at Afm.

Charlie Hunnam is attached to star in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog).

Hunnam, whose credits include Sons Of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is in training now for the Muay Thai sequences of the film, set to shoot in summer 2015.

HanWay Films will launch sales on the film at Afm.

The film is described as being crossover genre fare in the vein of Drive and The Raid.

Sauvaire is also casting former prisoners who were Muay Thai champions in Thailand.

Producers are Senorita Films, the new outfit from former Wild Bunch executive Rita Dagher; and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter’s UK outfit Hurricane Films, which optioned the material. The screenplay is by Nick Saltrese based on the book by Billy Moore.

The film is based on the true-life story of...

Exclusive: HanWay to sell Jean-Stephane Sauvaire’s Thai boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn at Afm.

Charlie Hunnam is attached to star in true-life Thai kick-boxing prison thriller A Prayer Before Dawn, directed by Jean-Stephane Sauvaire (Johnny Mad Dog).

Hunnam, whose credits include Sons Of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is in training now for the Muay Thai sequences of the film, set to shoot in summer 2015.

HanWay Films will launch sales on the film at Afm.

The film is described as being crossover genre fare in the vein of Drive and The Raid.

Sauvaire is also casting former prisoners who were Muay Thai champions in Thailand.

Producers are Senorita Films, the new outfit from former Wild Bunch executive Rita Dagher; and Sol Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter’s UK outfit Hurricane Films, which optioned the material. The screenplay is by Nick Saltrese based on the book by Billy Moore.

The film is based on the true-life story of...

Strategic Partners, a presentation of the Atlantic Film Festival, has announced the producers selected to participate as part of the inaugural project exchange with Mexico’s Los Cabos International Film Festival and Brazil’s RioContentMarket, in addition to an incredible line-up of producers and projects. As part of a two year spotlight on Latin America, one Mexican producer with a feature film in development and one Brazilian producer with a television project in development have been invited to participate at Strategic Partners 2014, September 11 - 14 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. A Canadian feature film in development will then be selected from this year’s Strategic Partners to participate at Los Cabos International Film Festival, November 11 - 14, 2014. Additionally, a Canadian television project in development looking for Brazilian co-production partners will be chosen to attend RioContentMarket, February 2015. This initiative is sponsored by the Canadian Media Production Association.

Producer and co-founder of the Mexican production company Agrupación Caramelo Cinematografica, April Shannon, has been selected to participate in this year’s Strategic Partners from Los Cabos International Film Festival. Shannon’s impressive career includes working as producer on Bernardo Arellano’s "Between Night and Day" as well as production manager on James Franco’s "The Broken Tower." Shannon recently produced Arellano’s second feature "The Beginning of Time," now in post-production, to be released in late 2014. Shannon will bring the dark thriller "Franco’s Night" to Strategic Partners with production slated for 2015 in Mexico.

Brazilian producer Marcelo Galvão has been selected from RioContentMarket’s esteemed alumni of 2014. Galvão established production company Gatacine in 2001 and has since directed six features including "Farewell," "La Rina and Bellini"and the "Devil." He has won over 50 renowned awards including Best Film at the Gramado Film Festival, Best Director at the Los Angeles Brazilian Film Festival and Best Screenwriter at Paulína Film Festival (Brazil) among many others. Galvão will bring the highly anticipated television miniseries, The Gardener, to this year’s Strategic Partners.

“Ushering in the very first project exchange with producers April Shannon and Marcelo Galvão sets the bar incredibly high and truly complements the illustrious roster of delegates we will have at this year’s events,” says Strategic Partners Director, Laura Mackenzie. “The results couldn’t have been more ideal and I look forward to continuing our newly founded relationships with Los Cabos International Film Festival and RioContentMarket.”

A snapshot of the producers and 108 projects slated for Strategic Partners 2014:

"Prisoner’s Dilemma," (Feature Film, Sci-Fi Noir Thriller): Rebecca Knapp, The Content Providers/Dark Engine (UK), Director: Mark Anthony Galluzzo (RSVP), Attached: Lynn Collins ("X-Men Origins: Wolverine")

"Give Me Your Hand" (Feature Film, Romantic Comedy): Mariela Besuievsky, Tornasol Films (Spain), Director: Maria de Medeiros ("April Captains", "Je t’aime, moi non plus"), screenplay by Alicia Luna and Maria de Medicos

"Las Elegidas," (Feature Film, Drama): Marta Núñez Puerto, Canana (Mx), Director: David Pablos, ("The Life After")

"Dreamland,"(Feature Film, Fantasy): Amber Ripley, Foundation Features (Cad), Director: Bruce McDonald ("The Tracey Fragments," "Pontypool"), Attached: Stephen McHattie ("Watchmen," "300")

"Buzz Me," (Feature Film, Comedy): Raj Panikkar, Fifth Ground Entertainment (Cad), Director: Ken Girotti ("Vikings," "Orphan Black")

"A Prayer Before Dawn," (Feature Film, Action): Sol Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter, Hurricane Films (UK), Attached: Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy)

"The Sandman" (Feature Film, Horror): Daniela Tully, Shivertown Road (USA/Germany), Director: Dario Argento ("Philomena," "Opera"), Attached: Iggy Pop ("Trainspotting")

"The Portal," (TV Fiction, Fantasy): Andrew Nicholas McCann Smith, First Love Films (Canada). Director: Jonathan Williams ("The Portal"), Attached: Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica, Bomb Girls, Supernatural), Erin Karpluk (Being Erica)

"Are We A Bus" (TV Fiction, Comedy Drama): Mark Montefiore, New Metric Media (Canada), Show-runner: Daegan Fryklind (Bitten)

"Orovida" (TV Fiction, Romance): Mariela Besuievsky, Tornasol Films (Spain) - based on the novel by Yael Guiladi (portraying a passionate story of forbidden love at a time when an interracial liaison could result in death)

"Guardian Council" (TV Fiction, Procedural Drama): Carlos Andrade, Visom Digital (Brazil). Director: Rudi Lagemann ("Angels of The Sun")

A stellar line-up of some of the world’s most influential production companies will descend upon Halifax this fall including:

Sepia Films ("A Shine of Rainbows") - Canada

Blue Ice Pictures ("Nebraska") - Canada

Sienna Films ("Titanic") - Canada

Amaze Film + TV ("Call Me Fitz") - Canada

10x2y inc. ("The Samaritan") - Canada

Alazraki Entertainment ("Nosotros Los Nobles") - Mexico

Axman Productions ("Corn Island") - Czech Republic

Easy There Tiger ("Julie & Juila") - USA

Pampa Films ("The Games Maker") - Argentina

Utopia Group ("The Dead Man and Being Happy") - Argentina

Sikhya Entertainment ("The Lunchbox") - India

Each year, top Canadian and international industry players, including producers, investors, sales agents, funding agencies, broadcasters and distributors are selected to attend Strategic Partners. Offering over 1,000 pre-scheduled 1-2-1 meetings, co-production focused roundtable sessions, cutting edge panels, visionary keynote speakers, and screenings and receptions – Strategic Partners is a convergence of talent and innovation, producing tangible results.

For program updates and information on all things co-production, you can now follow the newly developed Strategic Partners presence on social media:

Twitter: [At]SPcopromarket Facebook: www.facebook.com/atlanticfilmfestivalstrategicpartners Youtube: www.youtube.com/atlanticfilmdotcom

About Strategic Partners: An International Film, Television and Digital Co-Production Market The Atlantic Film Festival’s Strategic Partners is one of the world’s preeminent co-production/co-financing markets focusing on feature film, TV and web based fiction. Strategic Partners offers an intimate, organized forum for projects looking for financing as well as those still at an early stage, looking for the right partner.

Over the past 17 years, Strategic Partners has established itself not only as a one of a kind co-production market, but also as a cutting edge, intimate environment that delivers solutions to existing and foreseeable industry challenges. The intelligence and program offered at Strategic Partners is developed over many months of research into current global issues. However, this information is only a complement to Strategic Partners’ primary function – to build, establish and nurture relationships between producers and their partners. Strategic Partners is a part of the Atlantic Film Festival family of programs. Today’s Atlantic Film Festival is now a year-round celebration, growing beyond our eight-day cornerstone event in September to include: ViewFinders: Atlantic Film Festival for Youth, the Aff Outdoor Film Experience, and Strategic Partners. Learn more Here...

First look at stars Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan and Kevin Guthrie filming on location.

Director Terence Davies has begun principal photography in Scotload on Sunset Song, a film adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 classic novel.

The feature, produced by Hurricane Films, Iris Productions and SellOutPictures, stars Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan and Kevin Guthrie.

Fortissimo Films is handling the international distribution rights for the film.

The shoot began in New Zealand, to capture the March harvest season, followed by interior work at Filmland in Luxembourg. The UK-Luxembourg co-production is now completing a key period of production in Scotland.

The story is set in the early 20th Century in north-east Scotland, where Agyness Deyn plays a young woman coming of age as her family is beset by tragedy, all during a time of great social upheaval and unrest. The effects of the First World War brings the modern world to bear on the community in the harshest of ways...

First look at stars Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan and Kevin Guthrie filming on location.

Director Terence Davies has begun principal photography in Scotload on Sunset Song, a film adaptation of Lewis Grassic Gibbon’s 1932 classic novel.

The feature, produced by Hurricane Films, Iris Productions and SellOutPictures, stars Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan and Kevin Guthrie.

Fortissimo Films is handling the international distribution rights for the film.

The shoot began in New Zealand, to capture the March harvest season, followed by interior work at Filmland in Luxembourg. The UK-Luxembourg co-production is now completing a key period of production in Scotland.

The story is set in the early 20th Century in north-east Scotland, where Agyness Deyn plays a young woman coming of age as her family is beset by tragedy, all during a time of great social upheaval and unrest. The effects of the First World War brings the modern world to bear on the community in the harshest of ways...

Sunset Song

Director: Terence Davies

Writer: Terence Davies

Producers: Sol Papadopoulos, Roy Boulter

U.S. Distributor: Rights Available

Cast: Agyness Deyn, Peter Mullan

The bad news is that there are needle in a haystack chances that we’ll see a Terence Davies project released this year. The good news is that the Liverpool filmmaker behind quintessential classics Distant Voices, Still Lives, The House of Mirth, and the lush The Deep Blue Sea has a total of three projects in development.

Gist: Set in the early 20th century, Chris Guthrie, a farmer’s daughter in north-eastern Scotland struggles for love amid hardship and family misfortune. After her mother, a poverty-stricken woman broken by repeated childbirths, poisons herself and her baby twins the resilient young Chris must manage the farm in her absence. When her father has a stroke and becomes bedridden, though also eager for an incestuous relationship, she is left...

Projects from Terence Davies and Peter Greenaway among the titles being pitched at the Netherlands Production Platform (Npp).

The Holland Film Meeting (Sept 26-29), the Utrecht-based event dedicated to funding independent cinema, begins today.

Projects from Terence Davies (A Quiet Passion) and from Peter Greenaway (Eisenstein In Guanajuato) are among the titles being pitched at this year’s 15th anniversary Netherlands Production Platform (Npp).

The coproduction market includes both international and Dutch projects. 23 projects from 15 countries are at the Npp.

Acclaimed British director Davies has now delivered a final draft of the screenplay for A Quiet Passion, his biopic of reclusive New England poet Emily Dickinson.

The €4.6m project is being produced through Hurricane Films, run by Solon Papadopoulos and Roy Boulter. The company also produced Davies’ feature doc Of Time And The City and is working on his new feature Sunset Song, expected to shoot in early 2014. Boulter is due in Utrecht to present A Quiet Passion.

Boulter...

Mads Matthiesen’s Emma and Bavo Defurne’s Souvenirs among other hot projects.

Terence Davies upcoming biopic devoted to the life of American poet Emily Dickinson A Quiet Passion was one of the hot projects at this year’s edition of the Paris Project co-production market.

The event, which ran from June 30 to July 3 within the capital’s public-focused Paris Cinema film festival, is aimed at connecting international filmmakers with French producers, sales agents and distributors.

“We’ve had 36 scheduled meetings in three days and fitted a few more in between,” said Roy Boulter, who is producing the picture alongside Solon Papadopoulos through their Liverpool-based Hurricane Films.

“We’re in the fortunate position that there is an appreciation of both Dickinson and Terence in France,” commented Boulter. “Terence is like Ken Loach in that he has as many fans across the Channel as at home. Even if we don’t secure a co-producer here, we’ve had...