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Martin Scorsese's 1990 crime masterpiece "Goodfellas" is one of the finest gangster movies ever made and has the award shelf to prove it. Still, despite its impressive six Academy Award nominations, the most esteemed awards of the industry largely avoided the mob epic -- except for one particular golden statuette.

Joe Pesci held the fort at the 1991 Academy Awards ceremony with his Best Actor in a Supporting Role Oscar win for his amazing turn as the volatile Tommy DeVito, the wildest card in a movie full of wild cards. He became an Oscar-winning actor with his signature cool intact. However, unlike his character -- who, as his iconic "I'm funny how?" scene shows, is extremely verbose at most times -- the actor chose to keep his speech short and sweet, uttering only five words as he took the stage to receive the golden statuette. "It's my privilege. Thank you," Pesci said before exiting the stage.

Aron Arngrimsson was the last person to see the crew and passengers of the Titan submersible alive before the underwater vessel imploded on a journey to see the wreckage of the Titanic. Now after literally sealing the hatch on its five divers, Arngrimsson will tell their story on film.

Arngrimsson is set to direct and produce an untitled documentary about the Titan implosion disaster, taking audiences through his firsthand footage before and after the expedition began and examining the controversy that followed in the aftermath.

The film is being produced by Dirty Dozen Productions in collaboration with RadicalMedia (“Summer of Soul”) and is already in post-production. It aims to be released in 2025 and to make a few festival stops along the way.

On June 18, 2023, the Titan lost contact with the surface while descending to the Titanic wreckage. The submersible failed to resurface at the expected time, and the U.S. Coast Guard was notified.

RadicalMedia and Dirty Dozen Productions are partnering on a documentary film about the Titan submersible disaster. Currently in post-production, the film is being directed and produced by Aron Arngrimsson.

The disaster occurred in June 2023, when a submersible on an expedition to view the wreck of the Titanic imploded, killing all five occupants.

The producers plan to release the film next year, with festival screenings to be followed by distribution across major platforms.

Dirty Dozen director Arngrimsson was present when the Titan set out on its last voyage. Arngrimsson, Stacey Reiss, Antti Apunen and Geoff Creighton are producing the film, with Louie Psihoyos,...

A previously undisclosed documentary about the Titan submersible disaster is in post-production, with producers aiming for a 2025 debut at film festivals “and distribution across major platforms.”

Dirty Dozen Productions, working in collaboration with RadicalMedia, is behind the project, which is being directed by Aron Arngrimsson; according to a release, Arngrimsson “was the last person to see the Titan crew alive, closing the submersible hatch and waving the crew on its way.”

The OceanGate vessel piloted by company founder Stockton Rush and carrying five people including Stockton dipped below the waves of the North Atlantic in June 2023 on a mission to visit the wreckage of the Titanic. But within about 90 minutes of the dive, the submersible lost communications with the mother ship, triggering a desperate rescue mission that riveted the world’s attention. Four days later, a remotely operated underwater vehicle discovered the Titan wreckage and investigation revealed the craft had imploded on descent,...

Dirty Dozen Productions and RadicalMedia have unveiled a documentary about the June 2023 Titan submersible implosion in which five people died en route to the wreckage of the Titanic in the North Atlantic Ocean.

The film is directed by Aron Arngrimsson, who is said to be the last person to see the Titan crew alive as he closed the submersible hatch before they set off. The doc, now in post-production, will feature first-hand footage from Arngrimsson of the Titan as it began its ill-fated expedition ahead of the unfolding tragedy after its signal was lost.

“He [Arngrimsson] exclusively tells the emotional experience of five Titan crew members, revealing the family stories behind the media headlines and exposing the painful consequences of an exploration gone wrong,” a synopsis from the producers stated.

The U.S. Coast Guard, which responded to a report of the sub’s disappearance, eventually concluded the missing sub imploded during...

With support from the Nancy P. & Richard K. Robbins Family Foundation and Resonance Philanthropies, DocPitch 2024 has awarded five independent documentary filmmakers cash awards totaling $100,000 to help them complete their feature documentary film projects currently in development or post-production.

“With DocPitch 2024, we’re incredibly honored to again be in the position of supporting independent filmmakers in such a tangible way,” said DocLands Director of Programming Joni Cooper. “Thanks to our generous donors, we’re able to help move these passionate storytellers closer to the goal of seeing their projects reach the finish line — and into the public realm. Each project underscores the importance of DocPitch to bring a wide range of timely and significant topics to the public including the industry professional eye, and in turn enriches essential discussions through the process itself.”

DocPitch Award Recipients and their projects:

The Co-Op: The Kids of Dorie Miller – Audience Award $45,000

Director/Producer Paulina...

In a missive sent around to 2022’s Oscar nominees, stars were told to “read the room” when delivering speeches at the Academy Awards this month. Translation: Get off the stage before the orchestra is forced to awkwardly play you out.

In 1943, Greer Garson set a Guinness World Record for Longest Oscars Acceptance Speech, with her address upon accepting her Best Actress award forMrs Miniver clocking in at five and a half minutes.

Garson isn’t the only winner guilty of indulgence though. Hilary Swank, Adrien Brody and Al Pacino have all ignored the 45-second limit and consequently found themselves at the receiving end of a passive aggressive “Will you wrap this up?” stare.

Some actors, however, know that not every story needs to be so long and that brevity is an undervalued quality. Franklin D Roosevelt’s adage – “Be sincere, be brief, be seated” – could very well be the tagline for this year’s ceremony.

In a missive sent around to 2022’s Oscar nominees, stars were told to “read the room” when delivering speeches at the Academy Awards this month. Translation: Get off the stage before the orchestra is forced to awkwardly play you out.

In 1943, Greer Garson set a Guinness World Record for Longest Oscars Acceptance Speech, with her address upon accepting her Best Actress award forMrs Miniver clocking in at five and a half minutes.

Garson isn’t the only winner guilty of indulgence though. Hilary Swank, Adrien Brody and Al Pacino have all ignored the 45-second limit and consequently found themselves at the receiving end of a passive aggressive “Will you wrap this up?” stare.

Some actors, however, know that not every story needs to be so long and that brevity is an undervalued quality. Franklin D Roosevelt’s adage – “Be sincere, be brief, be seated” – could very well be the tagline for this year’s ceremony.

In a missive sent around to last year’s Oscar nominees, stars were told to “read the room” when delivering speeches at the Academy Awards this month. Translation: Get off the stage before the orchestra is forced to awkwardly play you out.

In 1943, Greer Garson set a Guinness World Record for Longest Oscars Acceptance Speech, with her address upon accepting her Best Actress award forMrs Miniver clocking in at five and a half minutes.

Garson isn’t the only winner guilty of indulgence though. Hilary Swank, Adrien Brody and Al Pacino have all ignored the 45-second limit and consequently found themselves at the receiving end of a passive aggressive “Will you wrap this up?” stare.

Some actors, however, know that not every story needs to be so long and that brevity is an undervalued quality. Franklin D Roosevelt’s adage – “Be sincere, be brief, be seated” – could very well be...

In a missive sent around to this last year’s Oscar nominees, stars were told to “read the room” when delivering speeches at the Academy Awards this month. Translation: Get off the stage before the orchestra is forced to awkwardly play you out.

In 1943, Greer Garson set a Guinness World Record for Longest Oscars Acceptance Speech, with her address upon accepting her Best Actress award forMrs Miniver clocking in at five and a half minutes.

Garson isn’t the only winner guilty of indulgence though. Hilary Swank, Adrien Brody and Al Pacino have all ignored the 45-second limit and consequently found themselves at the receiving end of a passive aggressive “Will you wrap this up?” stare.

Some actors, however, know that not every story needs to be so long and that brevity is an undervalued quality. Franklin D Roosevelt’s adage – “Be sincere, be brief, be seated” – could very well...

When documentary filmmaker and anti-slavery activist Peggy Callahan got an invitation in from her friend Doug Abrams to shoot and co-direct Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama talking about joy in India in 2015, she didn’t hesitate to take the job.

“I knew this was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Callahan tells Deadline, who filmed the self-described “mischievous brothers” across five days at the Dalai Lama’s compound in India. Callahan co-directs with Louie Psihoyos and worked with an award-winning team including former Pixar Animation exec Darla Anderson and DreamWorks Animation exec Damien de Froberville to craft this project on the importance of positivity.

Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness In Troubled Times, premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year and has been acquired for the BBC Four and BBCiPlayer in the UK. It features special footage, some prankish anecdotes, animation depicting each man’s difficult journey in life...

In the past decade, the inclusion of streaming services in the documentary market has made it increasingly harder for smaller docus struggling with funding to break into the nonfiction feature Oscar race. But in spite of the deep pockets they are up against, a number of cash-strapped docs inevitably make it onto the shortlist every year. This year was no exception.

Jessica Beshir’s “Faya Dayi”, Camilla Nielsson’s “President” (Greenwich Entertainment) and Sushmit Ghosh and Rintu Thomas’ “Writing with Fire” (Music Box Films) are three films on this year’s feature doc shortlist that are up against competitors with multi-million-dollar campaign budgets being paid by media and tech conglomerates including Apple, Netflix, ViacomCBS, the Walt Disney Co. and WarnerMedia.

As the field narrows and lobbying and marketing takeover, it’s clear that money and brand recognition are key factors in the race for Oscar gold, which makes “Faya Dayi,...

Mexico’s Oscar-shortlisted Prayers For the Stolen directed by Tatiana Huezo won the Fipresci Prize for Best International Feature Film at the Palm Springs Film Festival, which revealed its juried winners Wednesday despite being forced to cancel its 2022 edition.

The festival, which had been scheduled to run January 6-17 before being scrapped amid the latest Covid surge, is considered a must-stop for International Feature Oscar contenders, with 36 of the 93 official submissions this year slated for the lineup.

The Fipresci jury also awarded Asghar Farhadi’s Iranian Oscar hopeful A Hero two prizes, for Farhadi’s screenplay and best actor for Amir Jadidi. It won three prizes overall, also taking a Mozaik Bridging the Borders Award.

Agathe Roussell, the star of France’s Palme d’Or winner Titane, was named best actress by Fipresci jurors.

Huezo’s Prayers for the Stolen, which was released by Netflix in theaters and on the streaming platform in November,...

Alan Brain’s 2021 award-winning “The Rumba Kings” and Jace Panebianco’s “Broken Molds” will be among the films showcased at the Maui Film Festival, which will accommodate guests in an open-air, pod-style seating, from Nov. 17-21 at the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului. There are 13 premieres among the features in the lineup.

Even though the festival has arranged for guests to show proof of vaccination, for those who wish to participate virtually, 90 feature films and shorts are available to stream. These include Nov. 17 screenings: Emily Sky’s “River,” which explores space and time throughout six continents; Panebianco’s “Broken Molds,” which follows the origin story of windsurfing, and Isaac Halasima’s “Waterman,” a documentary narrated by Jason Mamoa, that tells the story of five-time Olympic Gold medalist Paoa Kahanamoku.

Peggy Callahan and Louie Psihoyos “Mission Joy,” explores the friendship between Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama, and Frauke Sandig’s documentary,...

The newly formed social impact film division of the Minderoo Foundation will “most likely” have a core diet of feature documentaries but is also open to other genres that facilitate social impact storytelling, according to executive producer Richard Harris.

Minderoo Pictures has been established with an initial commitment of $10 million to support screen projects that address the global challenges championed by the Perth-based philanthropic organisation.

The first four projects include a feature film collaboration between Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Louie Psihoyos and Josh Murphy, Robert Connolly’s feature Blueback, Michael Cordell and Emily-Anyupa Butcher’s Honey Ant Dreamers, and First Born, produced by Workshop TV.

Established by Andrew and Nicola Forrest in 2001, the Minderoo Foundation has since gone on to commit $2 billion to a range of global initiatives, ranging from ocean research and ending slavery, to collaboration in cancer and arts and culture projects.

Harris said the organisation’s activity...

Minderoo Pictures, which pitches itself as “a social impact film enterprise” is being launched by the Minderoo Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic organizations in the Asia-Pacific.

The new company starts life with a commitment of A$10 million ($7.7 million) from the foundation and a mission to develop, produce and assist in the release of screen projects that inspire change.

The first four projects in development will span themes of ocean conservation, plastics and human health and early childhood development in Indigenous communities.

Louie Psihoyos, director of “The Cove,” the controversial 2009 documentary about dolphin slaughter in Japan, is among the first to be backed by Minderoo Pictures. He will work Josh Murphy (“Artifishal”) on an untitled feature film.

Australian director Robert Connolly (“The Dry”) is receiving backing for his “Blueback” film which shot in West Australai between March and May this year. It stars Radha Mitchell, Mia Wasikowska and “Star Trek...

Exclusive: One of Asia-Pacific’s largest philanthropic organizations, the Minderoo Foundation, is launching a social impact film division with a $7.5M ($10M Aud) fund to support screen projects tackling the global challenges championed by the Perth-based org.

Former Screen Australia senior executive, Richard Harris, will spearhead the division, Minderoo Pictures, as Executive Producer. There are four projects already underway as part of the initiative:

An unnamed feature film from Oscar winner Louie Psihoyos (The Cove) and Josh Murphy (Artifishal); Blueback helmed by Robert Connolly (The Dry); Honey Ant Dreamers directed by Michael Cordell (Year of the Dogs) and Emily-Anyupa Butcher; and First Born, produced by Workshop TV.

Some of the global challenges that Minderoo engages with include plastic pollution, modern slavery and cancer research. In addition to the films themselves, Minderoo Pictures said it is also working to produce high profile, cross-platform impact campaigns, to reach diverse audiences across policy makers,...

Presented by the California Film Institute, the 44th Mill Valley Film Festival runs October 7-17, 2021. The Mvff is an acclaimed eleven-day cinema event celebrating the best in American independent and world cinema. Located just north of San Francisco, it’s known as a filmmakers’ festival, and the West Coast launch pad for many Academy Award®-winning films, annually showcasing 200+ films from over 50 countries. The Mvff creates a community that celebrates the best in international film as well as Tributes and Spotlights with major film talents. Below, we’ve got the whole roster of their Asian / Asian American film slate.

Features

Anima (Mo Er Dao Ga) A tale of tested fraternal bonds and ecological catastrophe shot on location in Mongolia’s national parklands, writer-director Cao Jinling’s gorgeous, thrilling drama forces viewers to ask themselves: What happens when we disrupt the harmony of our world? And how can we restore the balance?...

This year’s batch of Emmy nominated filmmakers for both documentary and nonfiction encompass a wide spectrum that include veterans who have greatly influenced the genre and younger creatives getting their first dose of wide exposure. In getting to talk with them, it was incredible to hear them not only talk about the works that influenced their decision to go into nonfiction storytelling, but also the nonfiction works that have stood out to them in more recent years. Gold Derby recently had these discussions with Kirby Dick (“Allen v. Farrow”), Amanda McBaine (“Boys State”), Steve James (“City So Real”), Tom Campbell (“RuPaul’s Drag Race: Untucked”) and Jeff Orlowski (“The Social Dilemma”) during our recent “Meet the Experts” panel.

You can watch the documentary and nonfiction group panel above with these five creative helmers. Click on each person’s name above to be taken to their individual interview.

See Watch...

Despite hailing from different backgrounds and faiths, His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Desmond Tutu are linked by their kindred fights for justice and self-determination for all. Their unique friendship is the crux of “Mission: Joy – Finding Happiness in Troubled Times,” Academy Award-winner Louie Psihoyos (“The Cove”) and co-director Peggy Callahan’s nonfiction portrait of their relationship and shared ethos about the importance of positivity in individual, familial and communal life. Premiering at the Tribeca Film Festival, it’s an uplifting look at two revolutionary forces for good, although

Inspired by its subjects’ prior bestseller “The Book of Joy,” “Mission: Joy” revolves around a sit-down between Tutu and the Dalai Lama, during which their coauthor Doug Abrams questions them about their philosophies regarding the concept of joy. Their insights turn out to be thoughtful but bland: Joy comes from within, rather than from materialistic items and ambitions; joy is beneficial for the mind,...

Discovery has announced its lineup of programming to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, and it’s lead by an hourlong environmental special featuring Zac Efron and hosted by Vine and Tik Tok star Zach King, TheWrap has learned exclusively.

Titled “The Great Global Clean Up,” Efron and King will be joined by celebrities inc luding Lil Dicky, Liza Koshy, and Cody Simpson to talk about the efforts being made to clean up our planet. The special will travel to different locations around the world, including a beach cleanup in Efron’s hometown in California. Efron will also interview Denis Hayes, who founded Earth Day in 1970.

“The Great Global Cleanup” will air April 22 at 9 p.m. Et/Pt immediately following a special one-hour episode of “Josh Gates Tonight” in which Gates will interview a list of celebrity guests and environmental experts about their commitment to preserving planet Earth.

Also Read: Investigation...

It’s been said time and again that the Academy’s documentary branch is a consistently unpredictable bunch. But are they?

Given their Oscar nomination track record, it certainly doesn’t seem like it. The group has made their likes and dislikes perfectly clear in recent years. They enjoy recognizing international productions as well as newcomers. In the past two decades alone, 12 directors have taken home the Academy Award for their very first documentary theatrical feature. They include Bryan Fogel (“Icarus”), Ezra Edelman (“O.J.: Made in America”), Louie Psihoyos (“The Cove”) and Malik Bendjelloul (“Searching for Sugarman”). Big box office numbers also don’t impress this nonfiction crowd. Examples include snubbing “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” ($22.8 million) “Three Identical Strangers” ($13.4 million) and this year’s “Apollo 11” ($15.3 million). They also aren’t awed by archival footage. (Again: “Won’t You Be My Neighbor” and “Apollo 11”.) And they especially...