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The year was 1996, and NBC's "Seinfeld" was firing on all cylinders. The "show about nothing" had won an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, Kramer actor Michael Richards had won two Supporting Actor in a Comedy Emmys, Julia Louis-Dreyfus was fresh off her win for Supporting Actress, and co-creator Larry David had already won his Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Comedy Series for season 4's "The Contest," where he was willing to put his job on the line to make sure the episode got made.

But it was at this point, after the seventh season had aired, when Larry David walked away from his creation. Well, that's not entirely true -- he stuck around as an actor to continue to do the occasional cameo as Yankees head honcho George Steinbrenner -- but it is true that David stopped writing and showrunning "Seinfeld" right around the time it reached its creative peak.

The level of enjoyment audience members will have with Andrew DeYoung’s Friendship is tied directly to their tolerance for the humor of Tim Robinson. The star of the meme-inspiring Netflix series I Think You Should Leave has cultivated a devoted following by creating situations of embarrassment and characters who veer wildly from absurdist rage to complete self-delusion. (See the infamous “we’re all trying to find the guy who did this” meme.) In my mind, I Think You Should Leave is the funniest series of the last decade or so. While Robinson’s full-length feature as star does not reach his show’s highs, it’s still a hysterically funny, pitch-black comedy.

That feature is Friendship, and it is exactly what Robinson fans would expect and want. Not unlike the Tim Heidecker-starrer The Comedy, or even Larry David’s underrated Sour Grapes, Friendship sees a performer embracing discomfort and frustration for 90-or-so minutes.

Welcome to The B-Side, from The Film Stage. Here we talk about movie stars! Not the movies that made them famous or kept them famous, but the ones that they made in between. But sometimes we talk to filmmakers! About filmmakers!

Today we talk to up-and-coming writer/director Andrew Adams whose debut feature American Meltdown is making a robust festival run as we speak!

He joins us to spearhead our first incarnation of “The First Frame:” a B-Side segment in which we examine the first films of legendary filmmakers. The three pictures we focus on today are My Best Friend’s Birthday by Quentin Tarantino, Sour Grapes by Larry David, and Barking Dogs Never Bite by Bong Joon-ho.

We discuss our love for these three masters, the seeds of their genius in each of their debuts (as well as each piece’s shortcomings), and the strange connection between all three of them.

Sonya Eddy was a staple of television, from her long-running stint on "General Hospital" to her unforgettable guest appearances on shows like "Malcolm in the Middle" and "Young Sheldon." But possibly Eddy's most iconic recurring role was Rebecca De Mornay on "Seinfeld." Eddy managed to make a huge impression in only two episodes, but the show made an even bigger impression on her. In fact, she said that Jerry Seinfeld ran his series so effectively that no other show compared.

Rebecca De Mornay was a no-nonsense volunteer worker at charities like the homeless shelter and housing works thrift shop. She first appeared in the season 8 episode "The Muffin Tops" and was asked to return in season 9 for "The Bookstore." Eddy's first-ever appearance on the show was meant to be short and straightforward, but it was eventually rewritten to include more lines.

"In the middle of the second day [of shooting] we took...

"Curb Your Enthusiasm" may be one of television's longest-running sitcoms, but Larry David originally just intended the show's de facto pilot, an hour-long HBO special, as a joke about his return to stand-up comedy. Structured as a mockumentary, "Larry David: Curb Your Enthusiasm" followed a similar metanarrative as season 4 of "Seinfeld" (the one in which George tries to sell his concept of "a show about nothing" to NBC) and traced Larry's attempts at creating a — you guessed it — an hour-long special for HBO.

David himself wasn't too enthused about the idea of a documentary crew tracking his stand-up career, but the format inspired the look and feel of "Curb." It turns out the material that stuck wasn't actually Larry's stand-up career, but the fictionalized plot structured around the behind-the-scenes component. Rather than his stage performance, Larry's day-to-day life turned out to be what inspired "Curb Your Enthusiasm" as an entire television show.

A petition is live on the European Documentary Network website.

UK members of the European Documentary Network (Edn) are lobbying for the UK to remain part of the Creative Europe programme after Brexit.

The campaign was launched at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest on June 9.

An online petition has been set up on the Edn website, requesting signatures for a declaration of support for the UK’s continued membership.

The declaration states, ‘Documentaries supported by the EU’s Creative Europe programme are a vital part of a free and open society and our shared cultural exchange.

The documentary industry...

A simple listing, duplicated from the dvd + vod Us and Canada page, of new releases and other stuff currently available, for the benefit of those playing along by RSS or keeping up via the Daily Digest emails (sign up here).

new dvd+vod After the Storm Certain Women Going in Style I’m planning to watch… Gifted Norman: The Moderate Rise and Tragic Fall of a New York Fixer A Quiet Passion Spark: A Space Tail

2017’s films, ranked by maryann (subscribers only until the end of the year)

get all reviews since 1997 here

recent releases Finding Kim A Good American John Wick 2 Kong: Skull Island The Lost City of Z Personal Shopper The Promise Raw Sour Grapes Their Finest T2 Trainspotting A United Kingdom The Zookeeper’s Wife Aaron’s Blood The Bad Batch Beauty and the Beast Dough The Sense of an Ending Xx Aftermath The Autopsy of Jane Doe...

Bafta-nominated filmmaker updates on next project, which will chronicle the sex trade in Paris.

Dionne Walker is riding high this year after receiving a Bafta nomination in the Outstanding British Debut category for documentary The Hard Stop.

The film told the story of the 2011 London riots, which were sparked by the death of Mark Duggan at the hands of armed police.

Walker produced that doc with director George Amponsah and she is now plotting her own feature debut as a director, Invisible Woman 2.0 (on which Amponsah is a co-producer), which is participating in the MeetMarket at this year’s Sheffield Doc/Fest.

Speaking to Screen from Paris, where she is researching the new film, Walker says that while the Bafta recognition was “amazing” and will hopefully ramp up interest in her projects, she sees Invisible Woman 2.0 as a “different beast” because she is directing.

Invisible Woman 2.0

Walker’s approach to filmmaking is guerrilla in nature, and she favours...

Exclusive: Oliver Parker is directing the synchronised swimming comedy.

Screen can reveal the first look at Dad’s Army director Oliver Parker’s comedy Swimming With Men, produced by Stewart le Maréchal and Anna Mohr-Pietsch (The Infidel) of Met Film and Maggie Monteith of Dignity Film Finance (Brotherhood), in association with Amp Film.

Aschlin Ditta wrote the screenplay.

Exec producers include Paul Webster (Atonement) and Guy Heeley (Locke) of Shoebox Films and Al Morrow (Sour Grapes) and Jonny Persey (Little Ashes) of Met Film. Umedia are also on board as co-producers and financiers

The picture depicts (from left) Thomas Turgoose (This is England), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), Daniel Mays (Rogue One), Adeel Akhtar (The Night Manager), Rob Brydon (The Trip) and Rupert Graves (Sherlock).

Also starring are Charlotte Riley (Edge Of Tomorrow) and Jane Horrocks (Little Voice).

HanWay handles sales on the movie, currently in production, about a man (Brydon) who finds new meaning in his life...

“Where is the hope?”

That was the question was posed last week at one of the world’s most prominent launch pads for nonfiction films in development — Hot Docs Pitch Forum — and it reflected the general mood in the room.

As 20 filmmaking teams pitched their projects to dozens of top decision-makers, funders, and broadcasters sitting around the long wooden table in the Gothic-designed Hart House at the University of Toronto, there was a particular excitement for new documentaries that were “fresh,” “optimistic” and “fun”—to use some of the words spoken publically over the two-day pitch-a-thon.

See MoreHow Hot Docs, North America’s Smartest Festival, Could Anoint an Oscar Winner

On the opposite end of the spectrum, you could see those same powerbrokers struggling over what to do with still essential, but tough issue-driven films having to do with post-revolutionary countries in the Middle East or the global refugee crisis.

Exclusive: Vesna Cudic to head up new outfit; company’s debut sales slate revealed.

UK outfit Met Film has launched a new boutique international sales arm, Met Film Sales, which will offer a slate of high-end documentaries and TV series.

The company is being headed up by Vesna Cudic [pictured], previously head of acquisitions and sales at Dogwoof.

“I am really excited about this move to Met Film,” Vesna told Screen. “I was attracted by the prospect of being involved in the projects from the start, helping with the finance and then selling them worldwide.

“We already have a slate of Met Film documentaries and series in varying stages of development and finance, and I’m also currently developing relationships with producers who can create content for us to sell, including fiction titles.”

Vesna will be in Cannes this month launching the company’s initial slate.

In further news, the company has also launched Met Studio, a new content...

04.27.17: This list is now final. While I may in the future see additional films that were released in the awards year of 2016, no more films will be added to this list. (I may add links to reviews of films listed here.)

This ranking includes only new theatrical releases viewed for the awards year of 2016 (for eligibility for the Academy Awards and the Ofcs and Awfj awards); some films released in the UK without Us releases (and so ineligible for those awards this year) may also be included, for my own bookkeeping purposes. Links go to my review. Numbers after each entry are Date First Viewed/NYC Release Date/London Release Date; year is 2016 unless otherwise noted.

worth paying multiplex prices for

[5 stars]

Arrival (10.10/11.11/11.10)

La La Land (10.07/12.09/01.13.17)

A Monster Calls (10.06/12.23/01.01.17)

The Lobster (07.16.15/05.13/10.16.15)

Zootropolis (aka Zootopia) (02.22/03.04/03.25)

A Bigger Splash (10.08.15/05.04/02.12)

Miss Sloane (11.20/11.25/05.12.17)

London Road (06.03.15/09.09/06.12.15)

The Girl with All the Gifts (07.26/02.24.17/09.23)

I, Daniel Blake...

In December 2013, the Justice Department concluded its first successful prosecution of a wine fraud case when Rudy Kurniawan, an Indonesian national, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for counterfeiting rare and very expensive wines. The conviction was the conclusion of a series of incidents that rocked the world of fine-wine collecting to its foundations, but which went largely unnoticed otherwise, even though it fundamentally shifted the perspective of an entire industry.

In Sour Grapes, filmmakers Reuben Atlas and Jerry Rothwell thoroughly and concisely detail the progression of Kurniawan’s wide-ranging fraud in a style that merges an Antiques Roadshow-style...

The 5th Annual Key West Film Festival has announced its official 2016 lineup, including the opening night film, “20th Century Women,” directed by Mike Mills and starring Annette Bening, Elle Fanning, Greta Gerwig and Billy Crudup. As part of the festival’s signature Critics Focus program, MTV’s Chief Film Critic Amy Nicholson will present and lead a conversation around the film, alongside David Fear, Senior Film/TV Editor of Rolling Stone.

Director of Programming Michael Tuckman said of Nicholson’s pick, “I could not be more thrilled with Amy Nicholson’s choice of ’20th Century Women’ to kick off our 5th Anniversary edition of festival. Annette Bening’s performance is Oscar-deserving and the rich depth of the balance of the leading cast is Altman-esque in its quality. Amy’s discussion after the film will bring a cunning critic’s eye to this fabulous film for audiences.”

Read More: ’20th Century...

Exclusive: Ken Loach biographical doc has sold to five territories.

UK-based documentary specialists Dogwoof has inked a series of sales on three of its titles at Toronto International Film Festival (Sept 8-18).

Louise Osmond’s biographical film Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach [pictured] has gone to Australia and New Zealand (Transmission), Portugal (Mida Films), Turkey (Filmarti), Hong Kong (Edko) and Captive (airlines).

Produced by long-term Loach collaborator Rebecca O’Brien, the film chronicles Loach’s 50-year career in the film industry.

Lorna Tucker’s portrait of fashion designer Vivienne Westwood, Vivienne Westwood: Get A Life, has sold to Germany, Australia and Switzerland (Nfp) and Japan (Kadokawa). Dogwoof is also in discussions with buyers for the Us, Australia and New Zealand on the title.

The company has also scored sales on Jerry Rothwell and Reuben Atlas’s wine-fraud doc Sour Grapes, which has gone to Blue Ice Docs (Canada) and Rialto (Australia and New Zealand).

The Sheffield Doc/Fest is one of the world’s premiere non-fiction film festivals, celebrating both the art and business of documentary film. The business part is a key component, as Sheffield’s MeetMarket has unlocked over $53 million of deals for documentarians since its inception in 2006. It’s for this reason that the filmmakers at Sheffield, while in addition to being top-of-their-field artists, are also experts at how to pitch their projects and getting investors onboard.

To tap into some of that knowledge, IndieWire reached out to six of these experienced filmmakers who have had success pitching and are participating in this year’s MeetMarket, to get their advice about what does and does not work when presenting your project to investors.

Read More: How Field Of Vision’s Quick Production Turnaround Is Changing The Way Documentaries Are Made And Seen

What Works

Maya Gallus, “A Female Gaze”: “This is a film about women filmmakers and how their ‘gaze’ reveals itself in the work. The topic is urgent right now as there is much in the news about the paucity of women at the helm in film and television and why we need to correct this gender disparity. It’s really a film about how the stories we tell reveal who we are as a society. So the timing is excellent. Funders are open and ready to listen. And there is no other contemporary film on the subject.”

Al Morrow, “Sour Grapes”:“Humor always helps in a pitch no matter what the subject or overall tone of the film. I always try and bring out the lighter moments in a story.”

Lindsey Dryden, “Canary In A Coal Mine”: “Successful pitches for me and my teams have been the ones where we’re clear about our story and how we’re going to tell it, succinct, and obviously really excited about the film. That enthusiasm is infectious, especially when it comes from a strong, skilled team.”

Jessica Wolfson, “Did It! From Yippie To Yuppie: Jerry Rubin, An American Revolutionary”:Sometimes you get wrapped up in the pitch and forget to read the reaction of the person you are talking to. Having a partner at the table is great because it allows you to take a moment and assess the situation while the other person is talking. At the Ifp Film Week, [co-director] Paul [Lovelace] and I were able to do that. This helped us make the pitch more engaging for the other end of the table.”

Jeanie Finlay, “Luxury Bitches”: “Being accepted to pitch is not the be all and end all and money will not just appear from sky. It’s worth seeing if people have time to meet outside of the official timetable. A pitch is essentially just a meeting. The most important thing is following up with commissioners and financiers afterwards. Lots of people give ‘great meeting’ and you can have a lot of exciting discussions, but if that isn’t followed up afterwards it was just a lovely meeting.”

Read More: Why Documentary Filmmakers Must Take Care of Legal Business Early and Often

What Doesn’t Work

Lindsey Dryden, “Canary In A Coal Mine”: “I think filmmakers often make a couple of key mistakes (and we’re all guilty of them from time to time). The first is pitching too hard: talking endlessly, lecturing whoever they’re meeting until their eyes glaze over, and not listening. Secondly, filmmakers often don’t tell the actual story: they describe their subject or theme or context, but don’t tell you what’s actually going to happen, how the story will unfold, and how they’re going to tell this story in a unique way. These are things documentary filmmakers can’t know for certain – and films like ‘Call Me Kuchu’ and ‘The Overnighters’ are brilliant examples of completely unexpected twists – but we should be damn good at imagining how our stories might play out.”

Sara Stockmann, Producer of Bobbi Jene”: “It is understandable that pitch teams want to give a 360 degree understanding of their project and in doing so they often get lost in too many details and factual information.”

Maya Gallus, “A Female Gaze”: “Too much extraneous talk. Get to the point: what is the story, who is going to be in it, do you have special or unique access, and what will the audience see. Show a clip. Then let them ask questions.”

Read More: The Critical Role Non-Profits Played in Getting This Year’s Tribeca Film Festival Docs Made

Advice To Filmmakers Get Ready To Pitch

Al Morrow, “Sour Grapes”: “The trailer is everything. If you have a strong trailer that works as a three minute experience and shows the potential and scale of the story you’re most of the way there. It needs to look like your film will look. You can’t say, ‘here’s a trailer, but the film will be different/better.'”

Sara Stockmann, “Bobbi Jene”: “Know whom you are talking to. Do your research on the decision makers. It doesn’t make sense to pitch a project to a decision maker who is not open to the kind of story you are presenting. If you have a great project you will find funding, but don’t waste your energy on 50 meetings. Instead select the five top on your list and save your energy for these. Financing is building a dialogue. Try to collect information from the person you are pitching to. It will come in handy on a future project.”

Lindsey Dryden, “Canary In A Coal Mine”: “A pitch doesn’t have to be formal: it’s the opportunity to have a conversation about the amazing thing you want to make, so keep it conversational, know how to describe your film in a few bullet points, let your passion for the story shine through, and remember to listen. The people you’re pitching to are usually interesting and talented folk who want to discover the ways that you’re interesting and talented, so keep it informal and enjoy the exchange.”

Jessica Wolfson, “Did It! From Yippie To Yuppie: Jerry Rubin, An American Revolutionary”: “[T]ake some time to think of questions you think someone might ask about your film, particularly the more challenging aspects. Because they will ask these questions. Being confident in your answers and in the vision of your film, this will help make a successful pitch.”

Maya Gallus, “A Female Gaze”: “Establish why this film needs to be made now, and why you are the one to make it. Emphasize your passion about the story or access to the subjects – anything to differentiate yourself from the pack.”

Jeanie Finlay, “Luxury Bitches”: “Lastly, do not attempt to pitch to people after 9pm. I saw a funder being accosted on the dance floor last year at about midnight being given proposals and DVDs by an eager filmmaker. I would put money on it that it didn’t result in a commission. Just go to the parties and have fun and let other people do the same.”

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