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Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World, a compelling new documentary short directed by Julio Palacio, chronicles the extraordinary story of Makayla, a teenage girl living with a rare form of autism that has rendered her essentially nonverbal. 

Her parents, driven by an unwavering belief in her potential, embarked on a remarkable journey to uncover and understand the true depth of her inner world. Premiering Dec. 11 on Netflix, the film, which wonBest Documentary Short at Tribeca Film Festival 2024,captures their dedication and the profound experiences that have defined Makayla's life.

Executive produced by Academy Award winner Roger Ross Williams, Khari Cain, Mañana Cain, Rostam Zafari, and Dylan Mulick, and produced by Sam Hanson, Sasha Levinson, and Julio Palacio, Makayla's Voice: A Letter to the World, is crafted with sensitivity and respect for the complexities surrounding autism. With a uniquely in-depth perspective, the film...

Exclusive: Netflix has lined up a blockbuster slate of short documentaries heading into Oscar season, including the latest from two-time Academy Award winner Ben Proudfoot in collaboration with the Obamas’ production company.

The streamer announced four acquisitions today, beginning with The Turnaround, directed by Kyle Thrash and Proudfoot, a documentary that “tells the story of Philadelphia Phillies’ superfan Jon McCann, who helped inspire an unlikely 2023 standing ovation for Phillies shortstop Trea Turner, which helped turn the team around after hitting a major roadblock.”.

As Deadline reported in late August, Higher Ground, the production company founded by former Pres. Barack Obama and former First Lady Michelle Obama, came aboard The Turnaround. Higher Ground produces, along with Proudfoot’s Breakwater Studios, Cookie Jar & A...

Exclusive: Alex Creasia has joined management and production company Navigation Media Group as a Literary Manager.

Coming aboard after a little over three years at Sugar23, Creasia has spent over a decade working in literary management and production. He often works with on-the-rise multi-hyphenates from diverse backgrounds, helping them build careers in film and TV, and has a passion for discovering and helping to expose out-of-the-box IP. Creasia also works with artists and producers in unscripted, often in the arena of sports.

In the past, Creasia has helped produce and sell such indies as Still starring Madeline Brewer, and Only starring Leslie Odam Jr and Frieda Pinto, both of which were written and directed by client Takashi Doscher. Other clients he brings with him to Navigation Media Group include Marcus Stokes, Spencer Paysinger, Mercedes Bryce Morgan, Mary Pilon, Alex Ebel, Spenser Starke, Daniel Brown, Hannah Mescon & Dreux Moreland, Sterling Brown,...

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival announced plans Wednesday for 52 world premieres and 78 U.S. premieres spanning a total of 43 countries throughout the 11-day event.

“At a time where there’s a dwindling of movie theater attendance, the role of film festivals has never been more important,” said Sbiff executive director Roger Durling. “At Sbiff, with the 38th edition, our marching orders are clear, to celebrate movies and to nurture and exalt the film community, the artists as well as the cinephiles. It’s a great slate with 43 countries represented.”

The festival starts Feb. 8 with the world premiere of “Miranda’s Victim” from director-producer Michelle Danner. The period piece is set in the year 1963 and documents the true story of Patricia “Trish” Weir (Abigal Breslin), who attempts to put her abuser behind bars after being kidnapped and sexually assaulted at 18 years old.

Director Chandler Levack’s “I Like Movies” will...

The 38th edition of the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, which will run Feb. 8-18, will open with Miranda’s Victim, one of 52 world premieres in this year’s lineup, and will close with the U.S. premiere of I Like Movies, one of 78 U.S. premieres, the fest announced Wednesday.

These are, of course, in addition to a slew of the career-retrospective tributes for which the fest is famous, which this year will celebrate the likes of Cate Blanchett, Brendan Fraser, Angela Bassett, Jamie Lee Curtis, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, as well as panels with breakthrough artists, artisans, directors, writers, producers, female creatives and international filmmakers.

The fest will also offer a variety of free educational programs, including Mike’s Field Trip to the Movies (for 4,000-plus fourth through sixth grade students from low-income schools throughout Santa Barbara County), which this year will feature a screening of Guillermo del Toro...

The Santa Barbara Film Festival has today unveiled the lineup for its 38th edition, taking place in-person from February 8-18.

The festival will open with the world premiere of the courtroom drama Miranda’s Victim, from director Michelle Danner. Pic tells the true story of Trish Weir (Abigail Breslin), who in 1963 was kidnapped and brutally raped by Ernesto Miranda. Committed to putting her assailant in prison, Trish’s life is destroyed by America’s legal system as she triggers a law that transforms the nation. Ryan Phillippe, Luke Wilson, Donald Sutherland, Mireille Enos, Andy Garcia and more also star.

Closing out Sbiff 2023 is the Chandler Levack-directed I Like Movies, which makes its U.S. premiere. The film starring Isaiah Lehtinen, Romina D’Ugo, Krista Bridges and Percy Hynes White follows the socially inept, 17-year-old cinephile Lawrence (Lehtinen) as he gets a job at a video store, there forming a complicated...

Exclusive: Chris Pratt is getting back into the ring with a documentary about World Champion wrestler Helen Maroulis.

The Marvel star has teamed up with Religion of Sports, the venture founded by Gotham Chopra, Michael Strahan, and Tom Brady, and Reserve Entertainment on Helen | Believe.

Pratt will produce via his Indivisible Productions banner.

The documentary, directed by Dylan Mulick, follows Olympic champion Helen Maroulis. At just 23 years old, she was competing in her first Olympic Games in Rio against Saori Yoshida, a 13x World Champion and the most decorated wrestler of all time. Yoshida was undefeated for over four straight years – until she stepped onto the mat with Maroulis, who shocked the world and defeated Yoshida to become the first, and only, American woman to win a Gold Medal in wrestling.

Following Rio, Helen went on a winning streak, asserting herself as the best pound for pound wrestler in the world.

The coronavirus has shut down film and TV production, so horror filmmakers Matt Leslie (“Summer of ’84”) and Dylan Mulick (“Nvrlnd”) decided to take matters into their own hands and film a horror short, titled “Zoom Cloud Hack – #91784 – The Tribe Murders,” in the confines of their own home.

“We got together for coffee one day, socially distanced of course, and Dylan said, ‘dude I’m climbing walls, I need to do something,’ and I said, ‘well what we can do?'” Leslie told TheWrap. “We started talking about making a horror short and Dylan came up with the Zoom idea and then we started riffing.”

A day later, the duo had a script, Mulick said. And a day and a half after that, they were fully cast with actors they felt confident in to pull together a film that wasn’t going to be pieced together on a set.

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The Belgian film Cub validates the fear some of us have of spending the night in the woods. Cub on Blu-ray and DVD will hit stores on August 18th. Also: theatrical and digital release details for The Diabolical, HollyShorts Film Festival 2015 lineup, and Manos: The Hands of Fate soundtrack on vinyl.

Cub: Artsploitation Films will release Cub on Blu-ray and DVD on August 18th. Directed by Jonas Govaerts from a screenplay he wrote with Roel Mondelaers, Cub stars Maurice Luijten, Titus De Voogdt, Stef Aerts, Evelien Bosmans, and Jan Hammenecker.

"This dark, bloody, imaginative fairy tale about a camping trip that turns into deadly carnage draws on such influences as Lord of the Rings, Friday the 13th, and The Devil’s Backbone. The story follows 12-year-old outcast Sam who, along with his troop of cub scouts and their teenage supervisors, camp in woods rumored to house a mysterious and deadly werewolf.