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The most obvious point of comparison for “Suzi Q,” a new documentary about the pioneering 1970s rocker Suzi Quatro, is “Bad Reputation,” a two-year-old doc about Joan Jett. That’s not least of all because Jett is a frequent on-camera presence in the new movie, and comes off as such an acolyte of the woman who broke glass ceilings slightly before her, that you can almost imagine there’s some kind of “All About Eve” story in the wings. There doesn’t seem to be, although Quatro does mention with a hint of rue that when the other singer’s smash “I Love Rock ’n’ Roll” came out, people mistakenly congratulated her. In some sense, Quatro was Jett before Jett was really Jett — laying down the leather law when no female rocker had yet managed the combination of sex appeal and pure machisma.

Ultimately, though, Quatro comes off quite differently...

The shorthand summary of the story of Suzi Quatro story is simple: a pioneering female rock ‘n’ roll musician from Detroit who became a big star overseas in the 1970s but couldn’t find the same appreciation at home. And “Suzi Q,” a film by Liam Firmager that premieres on VOD this week, tries to right that imbalance, trotting out an array of female musicians to testify about Quatro’s importance in helping establish the very idea that it was Ok for women to pick up instruments and play rock alongside the guys.

That’s a worthy goal for the film, given Quatro’s influence on people like Joan Jett, Debbie Harry, the Talking Heads’ Tina Weymouth and the Go-Go’s Kathy Valentine, among others. Valentine, for one, said she’d never even thought of women playing instruments — and then she saw Quatro on the British TV show “Top of the Pops,...

“Suzi Q,” a documentary about Suzi Quatro, who preceded Joan Jett onto the scene in the early ’70s as a leather-clad rock pioneer, has been picked up for North America by Utopia. The company will give the rock doc a one-night theatrical release July 1, followed by digital and DVD distribution two days later.

A U.S. premiere has been set for the Sonoma International Film Festival on March 29, where Quatro will make an appearance. The film already opened last fall in the UK and Australia, two territories where Quatro, a Detroit native, had her biggest chart successes.

Besides interviewing Quatro herself, filmmakers Liam Firmager and Tait Brady also sought out contemporaries like Alice Cooper and female musicians who felt Quatro’s impact, including Deborah Harry, Joan Jett and Cherie Currie of the Runaways, Kathy Valentine of the Go-Go’s, Tina Weymouth of Talking Heads and Donita Sparks of L7.

“Over...

Perth, Australia-based production company Legend Media is preparing a slate of three feature films to be produced with partners in China.

The company styles itself as one that recognizes the opportunities for Asian engagement that have fallen to Australia, through geography, trade and culture. The company aims to make use of the bilateral film co-production treaty that came into effect in December 2008 between Australia and China and has been used on average by nearly one film per year.

Operations are headed by Camille Chen, a writer-director-producer with relevant co-production (“Little Sparrows”). The company is backed by mining executive Bronwen Barnes, property developer Paul Lakey, and banking and property executive Darren Cooper.

First up, and aiming to shoot from late January 2020, is “Outback Dragon,” an action-adventure-comedy in the vein of “Lost In Thailand” and “Chinatown Detective,” that is set in gold mining territory around Kalgoorlie, and in Chinese mega-city Shenzhen. Lead...

Exclusive: Projects involving Damian Jones and Versailles breakout star George Blagden also pitched at Edinburgh’s first works in progress event.

The Edinburgh International Film Festival (June 15-26) hosted its first works in progress event on Sunday, presenting seven British features still in production.

Films were looking for a combination of sales company representation, festival interest and final finance.

Between pitches were meetings and networking with industry representatives from Protagonist, Metrodome, Carnaby, Stray Dogs, Film4, Studiocanal, Lionsgate, Soda and Creative England.

Festival representatives attended from Tallinn Black Nights and International Film Festival Rotterdam.

Holly Daniel, Edinburgh’s head of industry and talent development, told Screen: “It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a while now. There’s a gap across the UK for films looking for the final piece of the puzzle…Given all our work with emerging talent already, that put us in a good position to provide that platform.”

“We are very...