News

Morgana Studios, ReachStar and ReDefine Originals are partnering on the animated feature “Diamante,” set on the lush Caribbean Island of the Dominican Republic.

The film will be directed by Mathieu Ratthé with the screenplay written by Ratthé and Leticia Tonos Paniagua from an original idea by Claudio Lluberes.

Animation will be handled by ReDefine Originals, which is part of Dneg. The producers are casting.

“Diamante” follows young Luisito’s dream of becoming a pro baseball player. He is crushed by his fear of people until he discovers a mysterious power, leading him on a journey alongside an unlikely companion, to learn the true value of friendship, family, and resilience.

Producing are Ratthé, Caroline Desmarais and Steven Thibault for Reachstar, and Miguel Cabañas, Verónica Buide, Claudio Lluberes and Daysi Cruz for Morgana Studios. Executive producing for ReDefine Originals are Greg Gavanski, John Harvey and Daniel Krech.

“‘Diamante’ aims to highlight the...

Miami-based production powerhouse Btf Media has announced new appointments and promotions to expand its management team and position in Spanish-speaking markets.

Company founders Ricardo Coeto and Francisco Cordero will now serve as co-CEOs of the company. Cordero will lead business affairs and Ricardo creative affairs.

The film-tv company, whose recent projects include a Frida Kahlo TV series co-produced with the Frida Kahlo estate, has appointed industry veteran Yoselín Pérez Valdez as SVP of sales.

In her new position, she will head up Btf’s front office, helping secure new deals with clients. Pérez Valdez has more than 20 years of experience within the advertising and sales industry.

Ivonne Vela, former Cms manager at Btf, has been promoted to SVP of business affairs. Vela will oversee the operations of the management and back office team, as well as working with future stakeholders and managing projects.

“We are very proud to announce the new leadership for the company,...

Festival adds seven world, five international and one European premiere.

Estonia’s Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (Nov 15-Dec 1) has completed the line-up for its official selection, the festival’s main competition strand.

These include seven world premieres, five international and one European premiere, adding to the previously announced eight films.

Titles include Muscle, a psychological thriller from UK director Gerard Johnson, known for previous features Hyena and Tony. His latest film follows a man who attempts to get his life back on track by getting physically into shape but encounters unexpected consequences after meeting an intimidating gym teacher. West End Films...

Panama City — Fueled by one of the strongest film tax incentive schemes in the world – with a 100% break for national productions, 25% break for international productions, and 1.5% withholding tax – the Dominican Republic has seen a surge in film production since the new film law was enacted in 2010.

This phenomenon has been further leveraged by the creation of the Pinewood Dominican Republic Studios, operated by Lantica Media, as part of a partnership with the Pinewood Studios Group.

The favorable fiscal climate has attracted a rising number of English-language shoots including Netflix’s series “The I-Land,” the BBC-NBC three-part series “The Long Song,” and Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk.”

The Dominican Republic’s film industry, with around 25 films produced per year and average budgets close to $1 million, stands out in the Central American and Caribbean region, where filmmakers are often forced to resort to guerrilla filmmaking techniques to get their films made.

Panama City — Five films from Central America and the Caribbean are screening at the 5th Primera Mirada, Iff Panama’s pix-in-post sidebar, which has become a major springboard for upcoming films from the region.

The sidebar is particularly important for the region’s filmmakers who often desperately require post-production completion finance and mentoring advice.

The winning film receives a $15,000 cash prize from the Inter-American Development Bank and will be screened at the 2019 Cannes Film Market.

The pics in competition this year are Ana Elena Tejera’s “Panquiaco”, Sofía Quirós’ debut feature “Ceniza Negra”, Héctor Valdez’s “Malpaso” (Dominican Republic), Anaïs Taracena’s documentary “The Silence of the Mole” (Guatemala) and Fernando Blanco’s documentary “Por eso vengo al río” (Dominican Republic).

Variety spoke with the representatives from each project – who answered the following questions: 1) What is the background to this project?; 2) What are your expectations from attending Primera Mirada?; 3) Will...

Dominican filmmaker Héctor Valdez has a new time-travel romantic comedy film coming out called Peaches, which channels the same kind of fun that Nacho Vigalondo has playing around and mixing genres as with Timecrimes or Extraterrestrial.

The cast includes Peter Vives as Diego, Joaquín Ferreira as Sandro, María Guinea as Laura, with Frank Perozo and Ramón Langa.

Synopsis:

Somewhere in the Caribbean, in a future that never was: Diego and Laura go out on a weekend getaway in the hopes of rekindling their relationship. Upon their arrival...

Dominican Republic drama wins Yellow Robin Award at festival.

The Watchman (El hombre que cuida) by Alejandro Andújar (Dominican Republic) won the Yellow Robin Award at the Curaçao International Film Festival Rotterdam, which wrapped its sixth edition yesterday (April 9).

Andujar’s debut feature is about a young man, recently separated from his wife, who is a watchman at a rich man’s villa; his peace is interrupted when the rich man’s son arrives with his spoiled friends.

The international jury praised the film for tackling “universal issues of race and class, of youth, loyalty and sex in a Caribbean setting”.

They said: “Atmosphere and pace are strong, and the jury was particularly impressed by the brooding lead actor who radiates both the captivity of his personal struggles and that of his confined place in society, in this case the luxury villa he has to take care of when the owner’s spoiled son brings friends and trouble...