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In a win for independent cinema and the future of filmmaking, six projects have been unveiled today as part of Antigravity Academy’s flagship incubator, the Antigravity Academy Screenwriters Camp. This program was founded with the purpose of bringing unique voices in filmmaking to the forefront and helping them develop scripts for their debut features. It consists of a five-day intensive in Lake Arrowhead, California, followed by six months of hands-on development work, all leading up to a period of industry exposure with aims of making each project a reality. Each participant will come out of the Screenwriters Camp with a new draft of their screenplays, a first-look deal from Unapologetic Projects (“Dìdi (弟弟)”), and a commitment from Antigravity Academy to assist in shepherding their projects into the market.

Fellows and projects for 2025, with descriptions provided by Antigravity Academy, are:

“Pink Casa” by Bobby Herrera – A Tejano oil worker raises his mute niece,...

Exclusive: Tubi has announced the finalists for its first of-its-kind partnership with The Black List, originally titled the “To Be Commissioned” Initiative.

Out of 2,000 submissions, five finalists were selected for further development, with the ultimate goal of getting a greenlight to production and distribution from Tubi. The Black List would executive produce the films.

“By partnering with Tubi, who understands how to intentionally reach its communities and fans through content on the platform, we’re proud to champion great, undiscovered writing that is representative of the future of storytelling,” Franklin Leonard, founder of The Black List, said in a statement.

The five finalists are:

All Things Considered by James Choi — After an overdose sends Paul to the hospital, his spirited Korean-American Mother, So-Ri, is determined to reconnect with her son and help him with his depression through an exotic South Korean ritual that promises to deliver people from their despair.

Exclusive: Across a wide swath of genres, the inaugural Desi List revealed its finalists today.

Drawing from talent such as 2020 Black List recipient and Apple TV+ Wolfboy and the Everything Factory scribe Monisha Dadlani, the12 projects made public were drawn from 346 submissions. The selections are perfectly balanced between big screen and small screen efforts – as you can see below.

As Deadline exclusively revealed last month, the successful Desi List applicants were decided from a selected group of 43 writers, showrunners, directors, actors, producers, executives, agents, and managers put together by The Salon and the Black List. Among those judges were Mindy Kaling and Riz Ahmed, and Salon co-founders Nik Dodani, Bash Naran, and Vinny Chhibber.

To that, the trio Wednesday said: “The 2024 Desi List represents a wide spectrum of stories that entertain, explore untold histories, and bring richly layered characters to the forefront. We urge the industry to stay steadfast...

Exclusive: Cosmo Jarvis (Lady Macbeth), Suki Waterhouse (The Divergent Series: Insurgent), Oscar nominee Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?) and BAFTA nominee Nikki Amuka-Bird (Nw) are among those joining Dakota Johnson and Henry Golding in Netflix and MRC’s Jane Austen movie Persuasion.

Rising Brit actor Jarvis joins as Captain Frederick Wentworth, the love interest opposite Johnson’s character, Anne Elliot. Golding will play Anne’s cousin. We understand that fittings and rehearsals are underway for an imminent UK shoot.

Also joining will be Ben Bailey Smith – aka Doc Brown (The Split), Izuka Hoyle (The Outpost), Mia McKenna-Bruce (Get Even) and Nia Towle (The Hollow).

Persuasion tells the story of Anne Elliot, an unconforming woman living with her snobby family on the brink of bankruptcy. Unmarried and 27-years-old, Anne reconnects with a man she was once persuaded to reject and faces a second chance at love.

The book...

Exclusive: Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding will play Mr. Elliot opposite Dakota Johnson’s Anne Elliot in Netflix and MRC’s modern feature take of Jane Austen’s classic novel Persuasion.

In the Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow penned script, Anne Elliot is an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities, living with her snobby family who are on the brink of bankruptcy. When Frederick Wentworth—the dashing one she once sent away—crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances. I hear what attracted Golding to the role was the opportunity to play against type; Mr. Elliot being the callous and classic Austen foil.

As previously announced, Carrie Cracknell, who directed Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge to Tony nominations in 2019 in Sea Wall/ A Life on Broadway, will make her feature directorial debut here with Persuasion.

Fifty Shades of Grey star Dakota Johnson will star in Netflix and MRC Film’s modern retelling of Jane Austin’s Persuasion.

Carrie Cracknell, who directed Jake Gyllenhall and Tom Sturridge to Tony nominations last year in Sea Wall/A Life on Broadway, will make her feature directing debut.

In this version of Persuasion, Anne Elliot is an unconforming woman with modern sensibilities, living with her snobby family who are on the brink of bankruptcy. When Frederick Wentworth — the dashing one she once sent away — crashes back into her life, Anne must choose between putting the past behind her or listening to her heart when it comes to second chances.

Ron Bass and Alice Victoria Winslow adapted the Austin novel. Andrew Lazar and Christina Weiss Lurie are producing. EPs are Elizabeth Cantillon via her untitled MRC Film Romance label, Michael Constable, David Fliegel.

Johnson recently starred in the drama Our Friend...

Exclusive: MRC Film has tapped producer Elizabeth Cantillon to lead a new label within the division focused on romance movies.

Cantillon reports to MRC Film Co-Presidents Brye Adler and Jonathan Golfman. The yet-unnamed label focuses on the romance genre with a wide berth of stories that are inclusive and expansive, traditional and modern, original and literature based, and real-life stories catering to all audiences.

The new label operates under MRC Film with an independent development budget to shepherd projects at various stages of development and production. The division has complete distribution flexibility and the ability to work in collaboration with other producers.

“There’s a great opportunity to breathe new life into this genre and support these kinds of stories; and with Elizabeth’s infectious passion and enthusiasm, we could think of no better partner with whom to build this new label,” said Adler and Golfman.

“Every person has a...

Imagine Entertainment has set its roster of participants of Impact 2, the inventive program where the company empowers outside voices, “creators,” paying the newcomers accepted to the program to develop TV series and movies under the watchful eye of “shapers,” a group of established industry writers and showrunners. The program, hatched by Imagine co-heads Brian Grazer and Ron Howard, this year got over 4000 submissions from 57 countries covering every continent but Antarctica. Tyler Mitchell runs the program.

The “shapers” in this year’s program are: Stacy Traub, Akiva Goldsman, Doug Ellin, Seth Grahame-Smith, Michele Mulroney, Kieran Mulroney and Sascha Penn.

Here are the newcomers whose work was accepted and who will be paid a stipend to create one new project during the boot camp, before all of the work gets pitched to the town. Traub will oversee:

Writer/actor and Chicago native Aris Mendoza is creating the half hour TV project Blasian...