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Pressman Film, the indie producer founded by the late Edward Pressman and behind classics from Wall Street to American Psycho, has broken new ground in film financing with the first slate listed on popular investment platform Republic.

The offering launched Sept. 5 with a goal of $1.5 million to develop a minimum of six new projects. It’s raised over $1.7 million and could see additional coin by the time it closes on Friday.

This is not crowdfunding but equity investment from — so far — 295 investors with Pressman offering rather generous returns if a project does make it into production as the indie seeks to create a brand and attract a pool of followers and potential financiers going forward. Investors can also reap premiums at other milestones including a portion of Pressman Film’s producing fee and a portion of their share of the net profits.

“We’re the first slate they [Republic] offered in this way,...

Exclusive Updated: Private equity firm Tpg has revealed the name of the talent management-centric company it launched in June in conjunction with acquiring a majority stake in Untitled Entertainment. Named Initial Group, the subsidiary has made a second investment, completing the long-rumored acquisition of literary management firm Grandview. It will be combined under the banner of the larger, actor-focused Untitled, significantly bolstering its lit representation capabilities.

Jeff Silver and Matt Rosen, who co-founded Grandview, have been named Managing Partners of the combined company, joining Untitled’s founding partners Jason Weinberg and Stephanie Simon.

Additionally, Grandview’s Merideth Bajana, Jeremy Platt, and Ben Rowe will be joining the Untitled partner ranks that include Evan Hainey, Elise Konialian, Jennifer Levine, Jason Newman, recently promoted Steven Nossokoff, and Alissa Vradenburg.

Tpg, which a year ago sold its majority stake in CAA, in June acquired the Untitled majority stake from Canada-based Boat Rocker and...

Stephen King's It miniseries was one of the great horror releases of the 90s, and still terrifies audiences more than 30 years after release. Featured within In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, we have an exclusive clip with director Tommy Lee Wallace, who talks about the world's fear of clowns, and bringing Pennywise to life with Tim Curry!

Ready to explore the best of ‘90s horror films and TV? In Search of Darkness 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with the greatest line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. Audiences will have their last chance to have their names alongside their favorite horror icons in the credits!

From Creatorvc, the creative minds behind the In Search of Darkness ‘80s horror trilogy and Aliens Expanded documentary, In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 delves into an...

From the producers of the hit In Search of Darkness documentary franchise comes In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, an all-new epic documentary that aims to be the ultimate celebration of the wacky world of 1990s horror. Horror icons John Carpenter, Heather Langenkamp, and Mike Flanagan lead the line-up of 40+ genre favorites who were interviewed for this in-depth re-assessment of the decade, and we’re debuting the official trailer this morning!

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994, a five-plus-hour documentary featuring brand-new interviews with an incredible line-up of horror icons and experts, is now available to pre-order exclusively at 90sHorrorDoc.com until Midnight Halloween (Pacific Time) on October 31st, 2024. This is your last chance to have Your name alongside your favorite horror icons in the credits.

In Search of Darkness: 1990-1994 Purchase Options:

Isod: 1990-94 Blu-ray Package (including Blu-ray w/slipcase; 2 posters; sew-on patch; membership card; name in credits; digital...

Exclusive: Pressman Film is set to produce Toronto-based shy kids’ first scripted feature film, AUTOBiOGRAPHY.

Alexander Weinstein, the author and writer whose short story was adapted into A24’s critically acclaimed film After Yang, is writing the screenplay for AUTOBiOGRAPHY in collaboration with shy kids. Pressman Film has also teamed with EP Jack Masterson, a UK-based tech entrepreneur and investor.

AUTOBiOGRAPHY is a coming of consciousness technological drama told from the inside of a computer looking out at the human world. When this compassionate AI connects with the internet the exponential expansion of its cognition leads to an existential crisis that propels it on a spiritual journey of self-discovery.

Toronto-based collective, shy kids, are known for their style-blending technology, innovation, humor and rhythm. They have produced animation and titles for Matt Johnson’s Blackberry, Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman’s Nerve and The CW’s The Originals, as well as...

Donna Berwick, a costume designer who worked on films including Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods,” “Donnie Darko” and more died, July 14 of breast cancer. She was 66.

Berwick was nominated for best contemporary film by the Costume Designers Guild for her work on “Da 5 Bloods,” a Vietnam War veterans drama starring Delroy Lindo, Chadwick Boseman, Jonathan Majors and Clarke Peters. The 2020 Netflix original film follows four veterans that return to Vietnam searching for the remains of their squad leader and the fortune he helped them hide.

She also designed the costumes for Lee’s “Inside Man,” starring Denzel Washington and Clive Owens as well as Ernest Dickerson’s “Juice,” starring Tupac Shakur.

The late costume designer April Ferry and Berwick worked together on costuming films and TV shows including “Donnie Darko,” “U571” and “Game of Thrones.”

Born in Queens, New York, Berwick earned a Bfa from the School of Visual Arts...

Exclusive: Pressman Film, the company behind hit movies such as American Psycho, Wall Street and The Crow, is eyeing the small screen.

The company, which founded by Edward R. Pressman and is now run by his son Sam Pressman, is developing a swathe of television projects with writers, directors and producers behind series such as The Wire, Bosch, Tehran and Legion as part of this new push.

It comes as the business is preparing for the release of its reboot of The Crow, starring Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs and Danny Huston, this summer.

Pressman has signed development deals with the likes of Ernest Dickerson and Eric Overmyer, who both worked on Bosch and The Wire, Omri Shenhar, writer of Apple’s Tehran, Yona Rozenkier, one of the creators of Israeli drama The Commune, and Joseph Quesada, exec producer of series including Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Legion.

Overmyer and Dickerson are...

After a frenzied day of covert organizing and internal discussions, members of the Precarious Film Festival Workers Collective (Le Collectif des précaires des festivals de cinéma) staged an impromptu rooftop protest at Tuesday’s Cannes Film Festival opening-night gala.

Members of the group snuck onto the roof of the Palais where they dropped a sign with their motto Sous les écrans la dèche. At the same time, another group of demonstrators from the collective began a second protest on the ground. They held a sign with the same message and began chanting and blowing whistles to draw attention.

Local armed police immediately descended on the ground protesters and snatched the banner away after a brief tussle with the protestors. There were around a dozen protesters on the roof and a dozen more on the ground. You can see footage from the dramatic tug between the protesters and police below.

A growing list of at least 300 international industry professionals, including John Landis, Louis Garrel, Ernest Dickerson, and Ariane Labed have lent their names to a petition in support of a planned strike action by Cannes Film Festival workers during this year’s edition.

The petition was launched this week by the Precarious Film Festival Workers Collective (Le Collectif des précaires des festivals de cinéma), the unofficial workers union behind the strike action. The names of signatories had initially been kept private but the group made them public this afternoon on their official website.

Other signatories on the petition include Thomas Hakim, the producer behind 2024 Cannes competition title All We Imagine As Light, Belgian filmmaker and two-time Palme d’Or winner Jean-Pierre Dardenne, and veteran French cinematographer Agnès Godard.

The extent of the petition comes as we revealed this morning that France’s main union for people employed in the entertainment...

Hoyte Van Hoytema has taken top honors at the 38th annual American Society of Cinematographers Awards for his work on “Oppenheimer.”

Van Hoytema topped a field that included Edward Lachman for “El Conde, Matthew Libatique for “Maestro,” Rodrigo Prieto for “Killers of the Flower Moon” and Robbie Ryan for “Poor Things.”

The awards were handed out Sunday night at the Beverly Hilton Hotel with Ed Helms hosting the festivities.

All five theatrical feature film nominees are also nominated for best cinematography at the Oscars.

In its 38-year history, only 17 have gone on to win the Oscar. Last year, Mandy Walker made history when she became the first woman to win an ASC award for her work on “Elvis.” The Academy Award ultimately went to James Friend for “All Quiet on the Western Front.”

On the TV side, winners included Carl Herse for “Barry” and Ben Kutchins for “Boston Strangler.”

Van...

Spike Lee’s masterwork Do the Right Thing is an incendiary look at racial tension, an empathetic portrait of a community...and one of the flyest-ever distillations of street style as the ’80s gave way to the ’90s.Host Rico Gagliano learns how double Oscar-winner Ruth E. Carter (Black Panther) used bright color, afro-consciousness, and a whole lot of Nike sneakers to build a look as complex and political as the story. Guests include Carter, Spike Lee’s longtime cinematographer Ernest Dickerson...and a flashback with Spike himself.Season 5, titled "Tailor Made," dives deep into the worlds of film and fashion. Each episode tackles a landmark movie that captured a major fashion look of an era, and then decodes what that look meant—to the culture that spawned it, the people who wore it, and the audiences who watched it on screen.Listen to episode 3 below or wherever you get...

The worlds of fashion and film are tailor-made for each other in Season 5 of the critically acclaimed “Mubi Podcast.”

The new season of the global streaming platform, production company, and film distributor’s ongoing audio series debuts January 25, and IndieWire announces this year’s slate of guests and topics below. Titled “Tailor Made” and hosted by arts and travel reporter Rico Gagliano, the documentary podcast’s newest installment is available on all major platforms and via Mubi’s publication, “Notebook.”

Each episode of the season “tackles a landmark movie that captured a major fashion look of an era, and then decodes what that look meant — to the culture that spawned it, the people who wore it, and the audiences who watched it on screen,” per Mubi.

From Jean Seberg’s inimitable style in Jean-Luc Godard’s “Breathless” to a two-part exploration of how fashion folds into Sofia Coppola’s entire career,...

After taking a look back at House II: The Second Story (a favorite of mine since childhood) and House of 1000 Corpses (which celebrates its 20th anniversary this year), JoBlo’s own Lance Vlcek continues his The Best Scene video series by digging into what he feels is the best scene from the 1995 classic Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight (watch it Here). Lance’s choice for the best scene in this one is the scene where Billy Zane’s character The Collector gives up his cowboy disguise and reveals his true nature. You can hear all about it in the video embedded above!

Directed by Ernest Dickerson from a screenplay written by Mark Bishop, Ethan Reiff, and Cyrus Voris, Tales from the Crypt: Demon Knight has the following synopsis: Ex-soldier Frank Brayker is the guardian of an ancient key that can unlock tremendous evil; the sinister but charming...

In early 1991, 20-year-old Tupac Shakur was torn between ambitions of acting and rapping, and struggling to catch a break on both fronts. He had studied theater at the Baltimore School for the Arts and toured with the west coast hip-hop collective Digital Underground, but acting opportunities were scarce and he had yet to finish the demo tape that would launch him to stardom. His luck would turn when Digital Underground’s road manager, Sleuth, received a call from Cara Lewis, the group’s booking agent at William Morris. A film director named Ernest Dickerson was looking for actors for a movie called Juice and they invited Money-b, a fellow member of the collective, to audition. Dickerson had earned acclaim for his work as Spike Lee’s director of photography on a run of films, including She’s Gotta Have It, School Daze, Do the Right Thing, Mo’ Better Blues, and Jungle Fever.

Toronto — Cameron Bailey, CEO, TIFF, is delighted to announce the first honourees of this year’s Tribute Awards: Academy Award®–winning directors and legends Pedro Almodóvar and Spike Lee. One of the world’s foremost filmmakers and provocative storytellers, Almodóvar will receive the Jeff Skoll Award in Impact Media presented by Participant, and Lee, a cultural icon who has influenced generations of filmmakers, will receive the TIFF Ebert Director Award. The 2023 Tribute Awards presented by Bulgari will take place on Sunday, September 10, during the 48th edition of the Toronto International Film Festival at Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Now in its fifth year, the TIFF Tribute Awards have served as an awards-season bellwether, with past honourees Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser, Jessica Chastain, Roger Deakins, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Joaquin Phoenix, Taika Waititi, and Chloé Zhao going on to win awards on the international stage.

“It’s a true thrill to acknowledge Pedro...

Narrated by Morgan Freeman, Specials Feature Over 60 Interviews With Renowned Actors, Executives, And Legendary Filmmakers

From Academy Award®-Nominated Filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, 2023 Official Cannes Classics Selection To Premiere At Festival de Cannes On May 24

100 Years Of Warner Bros., four Max Original documentary specials narrated by Morgan Freeman and directed by Academy Award® and Emmy®-nominated filmmaker Leslie Iwerks, debut Thursday, May 25 with the first two specials. The third and fourth specials will stream June 1 on Max.

The first two specials will premiere at the Festival de Cannes on May 24 as a 2023 Official Cannes Classics Selection.

Logline: Exploring the impact of Warner Bros. on art, commerce and culture, 100 Years Of Warner Bros. tells the unprecedented story of the fabled entertainment studio on its 100th anniversary. Featuring insights and first-person stories from directors, actors, executives, journalists and historians, the four specials trace Warner Bros.’ underdog origins – from its founding in the early...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Godzilla & Godzilla Raids Again Novelizations from University of Minnesota Press

First published in Japan in 1955, the original novelizations of Godzilla and Godzilla Raids Again will be released in English for the first time on October 3 via University of Minnesota Press.

Jeffrey Angles, professor of Japanese at Western Michigan University, has newly translated the original material written by Shigeru Kayama, who conceived the initial story for Godzilla.

The two young adult novellas are being published together in one 256-page book, which is available to pre-order in paperback for $17.41 and and e-book for $9.99.

Scooby-Doo Play Set from Mezco Toyz

Mezco Toyz has announced a Scooby-Doo Friends & Foes box set as part of its 5 Points line of retro-style 3.75” scale action figures.

Naming a young Black man’s story after a transport stop gives off strong Fruitvale vibes, but Aristotle Torres’ feature debut reaches back further to the hip-hop morality tales of the early ’90s, like Boaz Yakin’s Fresh or Ernest Dickerson’s Juice — the wave that immediately followed John Singleton’s influential Boyz n the Hood. Surprisingly, given Torres’ history of videos for the likes of Ludacris and Nas, the soundtrack is light on rap, using unexpected needle drops like Pavarotti’s version of “La Donna e Mobile” to score scenes of spray-can anarchy on the New York subway.

In all other ways, however, Story Ave is very much a ’hood movie, in the sense that its young protagonist is both constrained and defined by the place where he lives, in this case the Bronx. That person is Kadir (Asante Blackk), a talented young artist tormented by the recent death of his disabled little brother.