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The San Quentin Film Festival — which, last year, became the first-ever film festival held inside of a prison — has set the industry jury for its second annual event, including Vanessa Williams, Esai Morales, Jesse Williams, Celine Song and more.

These jurors will judge narrative and documentary short films from currently and formerly incarcerated filmmakers as well the pitch competitions for best screenplay and best documentary from currently incarcerated writers.

This year’s jury also features two formerly incarcerated people: actor and writer Clarence “Divine Eye” Maclin, who starred in 2024’s “Sing Sing,” as well as actor, author and poet Richard Cabral, best known for “Mayans M.C.” and “American Crime.”

Other notable jurors include Kyra Sedgwick and Claudia Weill. Last year’s industry jury included Jeffrey Wright, Billy Crudup, Mary-Louise Parker and more.

Separately during the festival, a jury of people who are currently incarcerated at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center...

Exclusive: With Wimbledon in full swing, here’s some news about one of their greats. Skydance Sports is coming aboard Ashok Amritraj’s Hyde Park Entertainment Group biopic about Wimbledon tennis champ and African American civil rights activist Arthur Ashe. The Inspection and By Any Means director Elegance Bratton is in talks to direct.

Deadline previously told you that BlacKkKlansman Oscar winner Kevin Willmott is already set to write.

In addition to Hyde Park Entertainment and Skydance Sports producing together, Warner Music Group is securing the music and providing creative guidance to the production, the pic planning to include singles of the era from such artists as Aretha Franklin, Prince, Curtis Mayfield and others.

The Ashe movie is one that’s close to Amritraj’s heart, the producer being a former Wimbledon pro himself. Hyde Park obtained the full support of the Arthur Ashe Estate in developing the project. Ashok...

Exclusive: The Gotham Film & Media Institute has named the seven fellows set for the 2025 edition of its Festival De Cannes Producers Network Program. They are Caroline Clark (The Wedding Banquet), Chester Algernal Gordon (The Inspection), Dan Kagan (Longlegs), Leslie Norville (The First Wave), Joe Pirro (We Grown Now), Ani Schroeter (This Closeness), and Daniel Tantalean (In the Summers).

As the sole U.S. Partner Organization for the Festival de Cannes Producers Network, a program taking place in person at Cannes this year from May 14-19, The Gotham annually selects U.S. fiction and nonfiction producers to participate. Running concurrently with the Cannes Film Festival and the Marche du Film, the program is specifically designed for experienced producers to build up their international networks and learn more about international production, financing, legal and packaging.

In tandem with its work on the program, The Gotham supports Gotham Edu partners Colgate University...

Some of the biggest names in nonfiction film are heading to Poland for the 22nd edition of Millennium Docs Against Gravity, one of the largest documentary festivals in the world.

The event running from this Friday until May 18 (and online from May 20-June 2) will welcome Oscar winners Asif Kapadia and Alex Gibney, Oscar nominees David France, Rémi Grellety, and Guy Davidi, and fellow award-winning filmmakers Lauren Greenfield, Mark Cousins, Andres Veiel, Alexis Bloom, Chester Algernal Gordon, Mads Brügger, Zackary Drucker, Brandon Kramer, Rachel Elizabeth Seed, among many others.

The festival, which runs simultaneously in seven cities including Warsaw, Łódź, and Gdynia, will showcase almost 180 films from around the world, a number of which are very likely to wind up in the next Oscar race.

“I think it’s going to be amazing,” says artistic director Karol Piekarczyk. “These films are absolutely incredible, and I can’t wait for people to see them.

Exclusive: The Inspection‘s Elegance Bratton has added seven to the cast of his new crime thriller, By Any Means: Emmy nominee Nicole Beharie (The Morning Show), 5x Emmy nom Giancarlo Esposito (Captain America: Brave New World), Josh Lucas (Palm Royale), Oscar nominee David Strathairn (The Luckiest Man in America), Ethan Embry (Scream 7), LisaGay Hamilton (The Dropout), and multiple Tony Award winner Lachanze (The Outsiders).

We’re told Esposito will play Vernon Dahmer, an NAACP leader murdered by the KKK for his work on voter recruitment, though details on the other roles haven’t been disclosed. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Mark Wahlberg lead the ensemble, as previously announced. Production kicked off in Atlanta yesterday.

Based on the Black List script CI34 by Sascha Penn, with revisions by Theodore Witcher, By Any Means tells the incredible true story of the notorious mafia hitman who was hired by Hoover’s...

Elegance Bratton, whose documentary “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” had its international premiere this week at Thessaloniki Documentary Festival, speaks to Variety about the relevance of house music’s history in Trump’s America, and his feelings as he prepares to shoot crime thriller “By Any Means,” starring Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Bratton, who first broke through with documentary “Pier Kids” and drama “The Inspection,” and was selected as one of Variety’s 10 Directors to Watch in 2023, has a personal connection to house music because of how it empowered him as a gay teenager. When he was growing up, he was bullied because of his name. “There was all this pressure on me to be less effeminate,” he says. Within his family and community, if he were “naturally flamboyant,” “they attempted to bully or beat it out of me,” he says. Then, on television, he saw...

House music typically thumps at 120-130 beats per minute, in 4/4 time.

That’s an awfully clinical description of the sound that shakes the floor and the walls at dance clubs around the world. What’s truly important — it makes you move ya body.

That, in fact, is the title of Elegance Bratton’s new documentary – Move Ya Body: The Birth of House, which screens at the Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival on Monday after holding its international premiere at TiDF on Saturday.

Bratton, director of Pier Kids and The Inspection, hails from New Jersey, but his documentary takes him to Chicago, where House Music emerged in the late 1970s. “Out of the underground dance clubs on the South Side,” notes TiDF, “a group of friends turn a new sound into a global movement.”

Vince Lawrence at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival

One of those friends, Vince Lawrence, played a key role developing the music,...

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II has been cast in By Any Means, an upcoming crime thriller directed by Elegance Bratton. He will star alongside Mark Wahlberg in a film based on real events involving a mafia hitman working with the FBI to track down those behind the killings of civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi.

The role was originally assigned to Sterling K. Brown, who exited the project due to scheduling conflicts. The film is based on CI34, a screenplay by Sascha Penn and Theodore Witcher, which appeared on the Black List, an industry-recognized collection of unproduced scripts. Witcher completed multiple revisions, with Bratton also contributing to the development process.

The project is backed by several production companies, including Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road, and Freedom Principle. International sales are being handled by North.Five.Six., which introduced the film to buyers at the American Film Market. Producers include Alex Lebovici (Hammerstone Studios), Basil Iwanyk and...

Exclusive: Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (Wonder Man) has closed a deal to star opposite Mark Wahlberg in By Any Means, the crime thriller from The Inspection‘s Elegance Bratton, on which we were first to report in October.

The actor steps into the lead role originally to have been played by Sterling K. Brown, who we’re told departed the project due to scheduling conflicts.

Based on the Black List script CI34 by Sascha Penn, By Any Means is based on the incredible true story of the notorious mafia hitman who was hired by Hoover’s FBI off-the-books and partnered with a young Black special agent to hunt down those responsible for the murders of civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi.

The project hails from Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road, Freedom Principle, and North.Five.Six., which is handling international sales, having first introduced the project to buyers at AFM last fall.

Alex Lebovici is producing for Hammerstone Studios,...

AI has become a bit of a boogeyman in film discussions, as many have grown concerned over its impact on the movie industry and the potential for generative AI to supplant real human art. However, not all AI is generative, and machine learning technology has quickly become a vital tool for many filmmakers to realize their visions.

At the IndieWire Studio at Sundance on January 24, Dropbox held a panel conversation called “How Technology Widens Our Storytelling Lens,” to discuss how technology and AI can unlock new ways to tell stories for filmmakers. Moderator Effie Brown spoke to the teams behind “Move Ya Body: The Birth of House” and “Luz,” both of which premiered at the Park City, Utah film festival. In attendance were Elegance Bratton and Chester Algernal Gordon, director and producer of “Move Ya Body,” as well as Flora Lau and Yvette Tang, director and producer of “Luz.”

“Move Ya Body,...

Elegance Bratton’s documentary “Move Ya Body,” which tracks both the artistic evolution of house music and its historical and sociopolitical impact, emerged from the unlikeliest of sources: Hillary Clinton.

Bratton and “Move Ya Body” producers Roger Ross Williams and Chester Algernal Gordon visited the IndieWire Studio at Sundance, presented by Dropbox, to discuss the origins of the film. Williams was approached by the former Secretary of State, a Chicago native with a deep passion for the city’s distinct brand of joyfully repetitive dance music. He then brought Bratton, who was eager for a fun “palette cleanser” after directing “The Inspection,” on board.

“The project was brought to me by Roger, and he was like ‘I’ve got this project with Hillary Clinton, because she loves house music,” Bratton said. “I didn’t know she was a house head!”

Williams was excited by the enthusiasm he felt from Clinton,...

The annual IndieWire Studio at Sundance returns for the 2025 edition of the Park City festival. It will feature interviews with the talent behind 25 of the most anticipated films of the festival with discussions taking place in-person on Main Street.

Presented by Dropbox, the IndieWire Studio at Sundance will welcome actors, directors, producers, screenwriters, and documentary subjects for exclusive video interviews with IndieWire’s senior staff starting Friday January 24.

Among the talent we’ll be welcoming to the studio are Jennifer Lopez and Diego Luna (“Kiss of the Spiderwoman”), Josh O’Connor (“Rebuilding”), Sarah Jessica Parker (“The Librarians”), Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson (“Sly Lives!”), Marlee Matlin (“Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore”), Olivia Colman and John Lithgow (“Jimpa”), Alia Shawkat and Callum Turner (“Atropia”), Juliette Lewis (“By Design”), Rachel Sennott (“Bunnylovr”), Joel Edgerton and Kerry Condon (“Train Dreams”), Molly Gordon and Geraldine Viswanathan, Dave Franco and Alison Brie (“Together” plus Franco for “Bubble & Squeak...

The American Film Market, which runs Nov. 5 – 10, kicks off in new digs as the event relocates from its long-standing base in Santa Monica to the bright lights of Las Vegas. The move will see hundreds of exhibitors setting up shop in the Palms Casino Resort, which will also play host to the AFM’s conference series, the AFM Sessions, as well as industry screenings inside the resort’s 14-screen multiplex, the Brenden Theatres.

More than 285 companies and organizations from 80 countries are exhibiting at this year’s AFM, with the event’s organizers announcing that exhibition space in the Palms Casino Resort has sold out. Countries including China, France, Germany, Italy, Romania and Thailand will host dedicated umbrella stands showcasing national companies and producers, and a total of 34 countries will be represented by international trade organizations, film commissions and national delegations.

Here are some of the buzziest films at AFM 2024:...

Deadline is reporting that Elegance Bratton is set to make his sophomore effort with Mark Wahlberg and Sterling K. Brown in tow. Bratton made his directorial debut with the film The Inspection in 2022 and film would garner accolades from critics. Bratton’s next film is set to be By Any Means, which is a period crime thriller that’s based on a true story. The movie will be brought to us by Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road, Freedom Principle, and North.Five.Six.

Per Deadline, the movie “is based on the incredible true story of the notorious mafia hitman who was hired by Hoover’s FBI off-the-books and partnered with a young Black special agent to hunt down those responsible for the murders of civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi.” By Any Means was a formerly blacklisted script called CI34, which was written by Sascha Penn and Theodore Witcher. It was then presented to...

Exclusive: After seeing his first narrative feature The Inspection garner rave reviews in 2022, director Elegance Bratton is getting back behind the camera for By Any Means, a true-life crime thriller starring Oscar nominees Mark Wahlberg (The Fighter) and Sterling K. Brown (American Fiction) for Hammerstone Studios, Thunder Road, Freedom Principle, and North.Five.Six.

Based on the Black List script CI34 from Sascha Penn and Theodore Witcher, By Any Means is being introduced to buyers at the upcoming AFM by Michael Rothstein and Samuel Hall’s North.Five.Six., which is handling international sales. Witcher completed multiple revisions of the script, with Bratton also taking part in the process.

Pic is based on the incredible true story of the notorious mafia hitman who was hired by Hoover’s FBI off-the-books and partnered with a young Black special agent to hunt down those responsible for the murders of civil rights leaders in 1966 Mississippi.

We at Film Independent have always been proud of our producing lab fellows. They’ve gone on to make some big hits and some big careers. But that was all in the world of scripted.

“Producers are the backbone behind every great film and supporting their work in these turbulent times is all the more vital.” said Angela C. Lee, Director of Artist Development. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to expand our programming to include documentary Producers and welcome this incredibly talented and tenacious cohort of fiction and non-fiction Producers in this year’s Producing Labs.”

In its 24th year, the Producing Labs have a strong track record of pushing exciting talent and diverse (and award winning) stories. The Film Independent Producing Lab has supported films such as In the Summers produced by Daniel Tantalean which was awarded the 2024 Sundance Grand Jury Prize, The Inspection,produced by Chester Algernal Gordon,...

Ask any independent producer and they’ll tell you: making movies is a piece of cake. Scouring the Earth for viable, quality material? Wrangling, gracefully, volatile talent egos? Raising stupid amounts of capital and wearily securing every stray element of physical production? Delegating responsibility, absorbing crew complaints and mallet-flattening nonstop whack-a-mole near-disasters? Shrewdly navigating distribution in a broken marketplace and finally—if you’re very lucky!—appropriately proportioning revenue shares under perpetual threat of litigation for the duration of your fleeting mortal existence? Like we said. Easy.

Just kidding. This is some of the hardest goddamn shit you’ll ever try to do. But for 30 years Film Independent has been doing all it can to support filmmakers across every discipline and career level. In theory, of course, producers are everyone else’s best resource—the adult in the room solving problems and providing steady leadership. But who watches the watchmen produces the producers?...

2023 edition of international finance forum adds episodic content to line-up.

Canadian 2Slgbtq+ film festival Inside Out has unveiled 11 projects to participate in this weekend’s seventh annual international finance forum, which is moving ahead after the end of the Hollywood strikes.

The two-day forum had been scheduled to run during Inside Out’s flagship festival in Toronto in May and now takes place from November 17-18.

The agenda includes in-person conversations and interactive panel discussions with queer filmmakers and producers, as well as one-on-one meetings with executives, and roundtable sessions on co-producing with Canada, and entertainment law and music rights.

Hillary Clinton’s HiddenLight Productions has partnered with Roger Ross Williams and “The Inspection” director Elegance Bratton on a feature documentary about 1979’s Disco Demolition Night in Chicago.

Known as one of the darkest days in American music history, the incident saw 50,000 white teenagers descend on Chicago’s Comiskey Park to blow up records made by mostly Black artists.

The doc, which is called “The Night Disco Died,” is a co-production between HiddenLight and One Story Up, and will be presented by Impact Partners and Los Angeles Media Fund (Lamf).

The film will be directed and produced by Bratton, produced by Chester Algernal Gordon (“The Inspection”) and executive produced by Oscar winner and One Story Up’s Williams (“Life Animated”), Geoff Martz, and HiddenLight Productions’ Siobhan Sinnerton, Johnny Webb and Brenda Robinson.

Executive producers include: Andrew Blau, Morgan Earnest, Nina and David Fialkow, Bill and Ruth Ann Harnisch, Melony and Adam Lewis,...

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Air, Renfield, Beef, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves and Murder Mystery 2.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves premiere

Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Hugh Grant, Daisy Head and co-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley walked the carpet at Sunday’s L.A. premiere of their Dungeons & Dragons flick.

Jonathan Goldstein, John Francis Daley, Sophia Lillis, Justice Smith, Daisy Head, Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Hugh Grant, Regé-Jean Page and Jeremy Latcham Chris Pine, Paramount Pictures president and CEO Brian Robbins, John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein

Air premiere

After first debuting at SXSW, Ben Affleck and his cast of Matt Damon, Viola Davis, Jason Bateman, Chris Messina and Chris Tucker brought their Nike film to Los Angeles on Monday.

Marlon Wayans,...

Everything Everywhere All at Once cleaned up at the 38th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards, winning seven awards, including best feature.

Stars Michelle Yeoh and Ke Huy Quan each collected another award to add to their hauls, taking home best lead performance and best supporting performance, respectively, while Stephanie Hsu won best breakthrough performance. The film’s writer-directors, Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, won the Spirit Award for best director and best screenplay, and Paul Rogers won for his editing work.

Heading into the show, Everything Everywhere All at Once led the film nominations with eight nods, winning every category in which it was nominated. Jamie Lee Curtis also was nominated but lost to her Eeao co-star Quan for best supporting performance.

On the TV side, The Bear was named best new scripted series, with Ayo Edebiri taking home the award for best supporting performance in a new scripted series.

This year’s Sundance Film Festival will see the inclusion of Outfest Outpost at Acura Festival Village.

The on-site and digital hub for queer films and artists selected at Sundance and Slamdance will also feature three panel discussions Jan. 21, presented by Acura and aimed at gathering LGBTQ filmmakers and performers.

“Since 1996, Outfest has shared a very special relationship with Sundance and the community of artists, industry and fans that descend on Park City every year,” said Damien S. Navarro, executive director of Outfest. “To have historical partners like Warner Bros. Discovery — a long-time supporter of the Outfest Queer Brunch —and new partners like Acura — returning for the second year, we are excited to bring the expansion of powerful programming that we began in 2020 to in-person and virtual audiences.”

The first panel, titled “The Road To Abundance: From Sundance and Outfest To the Oscars,” brings together Chester Algernal Gordon, producer of “The Inspection,...

Exclusive: Signature Entertainment has made one of its highest-profile acquisitions to date with UK & Irish rights to Elegance Bratton’s well-received military drama The Inspection from A24.

Inspired by Bratton’s own story, the TIFF, New York and Lff title follows a young, gay, Black man, rejected by his mother and with few options for his future, who decides to join the Marines, doing whatever it takes to succeed in an unforgiving system. As he battles deep-seated prejudice and the gruelling routines of basic training, he finds unexpected camaraderie, strength, and support in his new community, giving him a hard-earned sense of belonging that will shape his identity and change his life.

Written and directed by Bratton (Pier Kids) and produced by Effie T. Brown (Dear White People) and Chester Algernal Gordon (Port Authority), the film stars Jeremy Pope (One Night in Miami), Bokeem Woodbine (Halo), Gabrielle Union (Bring It On...

Celebrating its 38th edition, the Film Independent Spirit Awards have unveiled their 2023 nominations, with the Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once leading the pack with eight nominations while Todd Field’s TÁR secured seven. Along with those two, rounding out the Best Feature nominations were Bones and All, Our Father, the Devil, and Women Talking. Elsewhere, some of our favorites of the year––including Aftersun, Murina, The African Desperate, The Cathedral, After Yang, All That Breathes, Saint Omer, and All the Beauty and the Bloodshed––were recognized.

Check out the nominations below ahead of the March 4 ceremony.

Best Feature (Award given to the producer)

Bones and All

Producers: Timothée Chalamet, Francesco Melzi d’Eril, Luca Guadagnino, David Kajganich, Lorenzo Mieli, Marco Morabito, Gabriele Moratti, Theresa Park, Peter Spears

Everything Everywhere All At Once

Producers: Daniel Kwan, Mike Larocca, Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, Daniel Scheinert, Jonathan Wang

Our Father, the Devil

Producers: Ellie Foumbi,...

Click here to read the full article.

The 2023 Film Independent Spirit Awards nominations in film categories were revealed Tuesday morning.

Taylour Paige and Raúl Castillo announced this year’s movie nominees in a livestream on Film Independent’s YouTube channel.

A24’s Everything Everywhere All at Once leads the nominations with eight nods including best feature, directing and screenplay (for filmmaking duo Daniels). Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan, Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu were also honored for their performances. Other leading Oscar contenders landing Spirit Awards nods include Focus Features’ Tàr (which earned seven nominations, among them for Todd Field’s direction and writing, as well as performances from Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss), United Artists’ Bones and All (recognized with three nods including for its performances from Taylor Russell and Mark Rylance) and A24’s The Inspection (earning nods for actors Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union, in addition...

“Bones and All,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Our Father, the Devil,” “Tár” and “Women Talking” have have been nominated as the best independent films of 2022 at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which announced its nominations on Tuesday morning by Taylour Paige and Raúl Castillo.

Acting nominees in the gender-neutral categories include Brian Tyree Henry for “Causeway,” Cate Blanchett and Nina Hoss for “Tár,” Regina King for “Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul” and Michelle Yeoh, Ke Huy Quan and Jamie Lee Curtis for “Everything Everywhere All at Once.”

Those three acting nominations for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” along with a Breakthrough Performance nom for Stephanie Hsu, pushed that film to eight nominations, the most of any film. “Tár” finished second with seven nominations, followed by “Aftersun” with five and “Palm Trees and Power Lines,” “Women Talking” and “Emily the Criminal” with four each.

Also Read:

‘Everything Everywhere All at Once...

Exclusive: Film Independent has set Lexi Tannenholtz (Booger), Robert Colom (Mountains), Aya Hamdan (Out of Water), Shao Min Chew Chia (The Plutonians), Sabrina Stoll (Tiny Birds with Broken Brains) and Pin-Chun Liu (Wonderland) as the participants and projects for its annual Producing Lab, now in its 22nd year.

Film Independent’s Producing Lab is an intensive that looks to help creative, independent producers develop their skills and further their careers by introducing them to professionals who can advise them on both the craft and business of independent producing. This year’s roster of creative advisors and guest speakers includes Carly Hugo, Sarah Kim, Amy Lo, Amanda Marshall, Lena Vurma, Mollye Asher, Liz Cardenas, Dr. Nicole Friedman, Christine Hsu, Lauren Mann, Diego Najera, Ross Putman, Lizzie Shapiro, Anita Surendran, Sheila Hanahan Taylor and Elliott Whitton.

Related Story Stowe Story Labs Sets 2022 Launch Fellows; Filmmakers Receive Creative Development Funds And Mentorship Related...

Exclusive: Writer-director Elegance Bratton and producer Chester Algernal Gordon have signed with WME.

The filmmaking duo, who co-run production company Freedom Principle, are the filmmakers behind A24’s The Inspection which made its world premiere at TIFF and stars Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union.

The drama, which serves as Bratton’s feature directorial debut and stars Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and is based on the director-writer’s own life.

The Inspection centers around a young homeless gay man who joins the Marine Corps to win back his mother’s love, but learns how to respect himself at bootcamp.

The pic is the closing film at the New York Film Festival and will follow up with a European premiere at the London Film Festival.

Deadline Film Critic Valerie Complex beamed about the movie “The Inspection is a strong first outing for the writer-director.

The Inspection Trailer 2 — A24 has released the second movie trailer for The Inspection (2022). Crew Elegance Bratton‘s The Inspection stars Jeremy Pope, Gabrielle Union, Bokeem Woodbine, Raúl Castillo, McCaul Lombardi, Aaron Dominguez, and Nicholas Logan. Elegance Bratton wrote the screenplay for The Inspection. Produced by Chester Algernal Gordon and Effie Brown. Plot Synopsis The Inspection‘s plot [...]

Continue reading: The Inspection (2022) Movie Trailer 2: Jeremy Pope enlists in the U.S. Marines in A24’s Drama Film...

Los Angeles event runs October 24-27.

Everything Everywhere All at Once writer-directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert will present the Filmmaker Keynote at next month’s 2022 Film Independent Forum in Los Angeles.

The duo, Aka The Daniels, are one of numerous A-list participants in the hybrid event set to run October 24-27 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre.

The line-up includes a screening of A24’s awards hopeful The Inspection followed by a Q&a with director Elegance Bratton, Gamechanger CEO-producer Effie T. Brown, and producer Chester Algernal Gordon.

On the agenda are screenings, workshops, one-on-one meetings and panels addressing financing,...

This year’s fall festival circuit has been everything, everywhere, all at once, it seems.

The 2022 Film Independent Forum announced that “Everything Everywhere All at Once” writer/directors Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, also known as Daniels, will kick off the conference with a keynote.

Opening night on October 24 will also include a screening of A24’s “The Inspection,” followed by a Q&a with director Elegance Bratton, Gamechanger’s CEO/producer Effie T. Brown, and producer Chester Algernal Gordon.

The Film Independent Forum event starts October 24 at the Directors Guild of America Theatre in Los Angeles. The conference will continue with virtual sessions and panels to be enjoyed by global audiences October 25 through 27. The full program will take place over the course of four days, October 24 through 27.

The Film Independent Forum hosts independent filmmakers and content creators, with the 2022 lineup returning in a hybrid format of both in-person and virtual events.

“The Inspection” tells a heartbreaking story about surviving intense military training as a closeted gay man.

Tony and Emmy-nominated actor Jeremy Pope (“One Night in Miami”) stars as Ellis French, a homeless youth who joins the Marine Corps after his mother (Gabrielle Union) disowns him for being gay. Yet during training, Ellis falls for his superior (Raúl Castillo) while enduring the wrath of his sergeant (Bokeem Woodbine) after his sexual orientation is exposed.

Written and directed by Elegance Bratton, the A24 film “The Inspection” premieres at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival and is set to close the New York Film Festival.

Bratton’s semi-autobiographical film was part of the Tribeca Film Institute project, with Bratton’s bio listing him as being thrown out of his mother’s house in New Jersey at age 16, leading him to be homeless for a decade prior to joining the U.S. Marine Corps as a combat cameraman.

Weeks before its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, military drama film “The Inspection” has received a first trailer from A24. The distributor has also set a Nov. 18 theatrical release date.

“The Inspection” is the narrative debut for writer-director Elegance Bratton, who previously helmed the feature documentary “Pier Kids,” which followed homeless queer youth in New York, and the Vice docuseries “My House,” which followed competitive ballroom dancing.

Bratton pulled from his own experiences as a gay man in Marine Corps basic training during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era for “The Inspection.” The drama stars Jeremy Pope as Ellis French, a troubled man who enlists after being rejected by his mother (Gabrielle Union). While in training, Ellis receives brutal abuse from his training sergeant (Bokeem Woodbine) and develops an attraction to one of his superiors (Raúl Castillo). The film’s cast also includes McCaul Lombardi and Aaron Dominguez.

Other Parties, a new U.K. distribution company set up by three Black and Brown creatives, has launched with the acquisition of its first film, “Pier Kids.”

Other Parties was set up by Aneet Nijjar, director of distribution, Aduke King, executive for acquisition and development and Amanpreet Dosanjh, who is in charge of digital and partnerships.

All three are graduates of the Film Distributors Association and Independent Cinema Office’s Film Exhibition, Distribution and Sales Trainee scheme and have experience in distribution, exhibition, festivals, film sales and publicity. Nijjar trained at Protagonist Pictures before going on to freelance in marketing and publicity for a variety of distributors such as Dogwoof and Parkland Entertainment, while King trained at Vertigo Releasing before becoming a program advisor for the BFI London Film Festival.

Dosanjh trained at Soda Pictures before moving into a compliance officer role at the British Board of Film Classification.

The...

Exclusive: Bokeem Woodbine and Raúl Castillo are set to join Elegance Bratton’s The Inspection starring Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union from A24 and Gamechanger Films.

The film, written by Bratton and based on his own life, will begin shooting later this summer. Bratton just won an Independent Spirit Award for his documentary Pier Kids.

Effie T. Brown will produce and co-finance on behalf of Gamechanger Films. A24 will co-finance and handle worldwide distribution on the film. Chester Algernal Gordon will produce via their Freedom Principle shingle.

Woodbine was most recently seen in Netflix’s Spenser Confidential and has Ghostbusters: Afterlife bowing this November. He also has the new live-action Halo series for Paramount+.

Castillo was most recently seen in Netflix’s Army of the Dead and Wrath of Man, which is still in theaters and also has Mother/Android coming up on Hulu as well as Night Teeth on Netflix.

Gabrielle Union and Jeremy Pope have been cast in the A24 movie “The Inspection,” based on the life of filmmaker and Marine Corps veteran Elegance Bratton.

Bratton is writing the screenplay and directing the film in his feature debut. It will begin shooting later this summer.

Pope, who received Tony Award nominations for “Ain’t Too Proud” and “Choir Boy,” as well as Emmy recognition for Ryan Murphy’s miniseries “Hollywood,” has landed the leading role in “The Inspection.” He will portray a young gay man who enlists in the Marines. Union will play the mother whose approval he seeks.

Bratton began making films as a U.S. Marine after spending a decade homeless because he was kicked out of his house for being gay. He recently won an Independent Spirit Award for his documentary “Pier Kids,” and has previously directed the short films “Walk for Me” and “Buck.”

A...

Gabrielle Union and Jeremy Pope are set to star in “The Inspection” for A24, a film about a gay man who enlists in the Marines.

“The Inspection” is the narrative debut feature of Elegance Bratton, who last year directed the documentary “Pier Kids” about homeless trans youth, tracking their journey across years as they worked to find homes and stable relationships. The film earned Bratton an Independent Spirit Award.

Bratton wrote and will direct “The Inspection,” and the story is based on his own life experience. Pope will star as the young man enlisting in the Marines, while Union will star as Pope’s mother, whose approval he’s desperate to win.

Effie T. Brown will produce and co-finance on behalf of Gamechanger Films. A24 will co-finance and is handling worldwide distribution. Chester Algernal Gordon will also produce via their Freedom Principle banner.

“Elegance brings authenticity, heart and a fresh...

Exclusive: PBS’ documentary series Pov has acquired U.S. broadcast rights to Pier Kids, Elegance Bratton’s LGBTQ documentary that premiered at Doc NYC and won awards for its director Elegance Bratton at Outfest and the Spirit Awards among its film festival accolades. With the deal, the pic will be part of Pov‘s upcoming season that launches in June.

Pier Kids explores the lives of the Black, homeless queer and trans youth who call the Christopher Street Pier in New York City their home, forging friendships and chosen families. The doc focuses the kids as they navigate their lives, withstanding homophobia and discrimination while working to carve out autonomy and security. It is a subject close to Bratton: he lived in the Christopher Street Pier for a decade after leaving home at age 16.

The film is the first from Bratton and Chester Algernal Gordon’s production company Freedom Principle...

Filmmaker Elegance Bratton, a Marine Corps veteran and Sundance Film Festival alum, is set to direct the documentary “Hellfighters.” The film chronicles the life of James Reese Europe, an African American jazz pioneer who served as a lieutenant during World War I in the Black military unit known as the Harlem Hellfighters.

“As a veteran and artist like James Reese Europe, I immediately knew I wanted to tell his story,” Bratton said. “WWI was driven by Europe’s desire for control of Africa — there is a cruel irony in that the Hellfighters believed the only way to gain full meaning of U.S. citizenship was to sacrifice their lives for an America consumed with their own degradation.”

“Hellfighters” explores the legacies of Europe and his fellow bandmate and collaborator, composer Noble Sissle. Europe’s father was a formerly enslaved man and employee of the IRS; his mother was a teacher.