Industry

[caption id="attachment_1681" align="alignnone" width="550"]San Francisco Film Society New People Cinema[/caption]

Ten finalists made it to the sixth round of San Francisco Film Society/Kenneth Rainin Foundation Filmmaking Grants of more than $305,000, to be given to one or more feature films that through plot, character, theme or setting significantly explore human and civil rights, discrimination, gender and sexual identity and other urgent social justice issues of our time. Winners of the fall 2011 SFFS/KRF Grants will be announced in mid-December.

Finalists:

Maris Curran
Five Nights in Maine, development
Unexpected tragedy brings an African American widower face-to-face with his estranged mother-in-law in rural Maine. For more information visit fivenightsinmaine.com.

Jenny Deller, Kristin Fairweather
Future Weather, postproduction
When her single mom runs away to California, a passionate young environmentalist clings to her rural home and a carbon sequestration experiment. Her grandmother, a caustic nurse on the verge of moving in with her long-distance boyfriend, has other plans. Thrust into each other’s lives, the two relatives must learn to trust each other and leap into the unknown. For more information visit futureweathermovie.com.

Lance Edmands, Kyle Martin
Bluebird, production
In the frozen woods of an isolated Maine logging town, one woman’s tragic mistake shatters the community balance, resulting in profound and unexpected consequences.

Eric Escobar
One Good Thing, development
A jaded and bitter locksmith spends his days locking families out of their foreclosed homes. When a morning lockout turns up the abandoned children of a long-lost friend, his cynicism is put in check as he races to find the missing parents. For more information visit kontentfilms.com.

Krisy Gosney
Manhandled, development
Set in the gritty, pre-dot-com Mission District of San Francisco, a lesbian couple’s world implodes as one of them transitions to male, testing the limits of unconditional love and their new identity as a straight couple.

Ian Hendrie, Jyson McLean
Mercy Road, screenwriting
Based on true events, Mercy Road traces the political and spiritual odyssey of a small town Christian housewife as she slowly turns from a peaceful pro-life activist to an underground militant willing to commit violence and murder in the name of God.

Chris Mason Johnson
Test, production
In 1985, while lurid newspaper headlines threaten a gay quarantine and antigay graffiti appears regularly, the naïve and frequently bullied new member of San Francisco’s contemporary ballet company begins a friendship with a brilliant lead dancer with a bad-boy reputation. The friends navigate a world alternately full of risk and promise. For more information visit thenewtwentymovie.com.

Oden Roberts, Azura Skye
Rosie Got Her Gun, production
Following a series of arrests, a troubled young woman struggling to avoid prison time is visited by an opportunistic Army recruiter. For more information visit odenroberts.com.

Alex Smith, Andrew Smith
Winter in the Blood, postproduction
Virgil First Raise embarks on a surreal and comedic odyssey to retrieve his renegade wife and the treasured rifle that she stole from him. For more information visit winterintheblood.com.

Jessica Tanzer Conroy, Marianna Cherry
Read My Lips, screenwriting
In 1989 in San Francisco, as the AIDS epidemic breeds a new generation of activists, a struggling young artist on a journey of self-discovery becomes an unwitting hero of the cause.

 

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Tribeca Film has acquired the thriller Sleepless Night from director Frédéric Jardin, which had its World Premiere in the Midnight Madness section of the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival. The film will be released in 2012 on VOD and theatrically.

Sleepless Night tells the story of Vincent, a respected and dedicated police officer, or so it seems. After stealing a massive bag of cocaine from drug dealers that work for Marciano, a powerful mob boss/nightclub owner, Vincent quickly finds himself trapped in a situation that no parent would envy- his son has been kidnapped with the promise of being executed if he doesn’t immediately deliver the bag back to its rightful owner. As Vincent heads to the nightclub in the outskirts of Paris to trade the drugs for his son, he soon gets caught in an intense, claustrophobic cat-and-mouse game that quickly spirals into madness as the tables are constantly turned multiple times throughout the evening.  The night to come might not only be the longest but also the last one of his life… and his young son’s as well.

Tomer Sisley (The Burma Conspiracy, Toi et Moi) stars as Vincent. The cast also includes Joey Starr (Polisse, Authentiques), Julien Boisselier (Gardiens de  l’ordre , Hendri 4), Serge Riaboukine (Anglel A, Look at Me), Laurent Stocker (Cyprien, Hunting and Gathering) and Birol Ünel (Soul Kitchen, Head-On). Sleepless Night is written by Frédéric Jardin, Nicolas Saada, and Olivier Douyère, and produced by Marco Cherqui and Lauranne Bourrachot, who also produced the Academy Award®-nominated A Prophet (Un prophète).

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Rooftop Films is not only known for its Summer festival, they also support the filmmakers whose work they screen to help make new movies through the Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund.

Rooftop Films announced the recent recipients of their Filmmakers’ Fund Grantees:

Lucy Walker’s short documentary The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’11) has been named among eight shortlisted contenders for the 84th Academy Awards’ best Documentary Short Subject category, of which three to five films will earn Oscar nominations.

After premiering with great acclaim at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, Sean Durkin’s debut fiction feature Martha Marcy May Marlene (Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’10) was sold to Fox Searchlight Pictures for $2 million. The film made its New York Premiere at this year’s New York Film Festival, and will make its theatrical premiere this Friday, October, 21, 2011.

Melanie Shatzky and Brian M. Cassidy’s documentary feature The Patron Saints (Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’07) made its World Premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

Susan Youssef’s fiction feature Habibi (Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’04) made its World Premiere at the 2011 Venice Biennale, and its North American Premiere at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival.

Ian Cheney’s documentary feature The City Dark (Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’09) has begun a successful theatrical run, hitting Boston, MA, Minneapolis, MN, Bellingham, WA, and Washington, DC, with more cities to follow.

Moon Molson’s fiction short Crazy Beats Strong Every Time (Rooftop Filmmaker’s Fund Grantee ’09) premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, and played the 2011 Rooftop Films Summer Series along with many other festivals across the country.

Dustin Guy Defa’s fiction short Family Nightmare (Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’09) played the 2011 BAMCinemaFEST and the 2011 Rooftop Films Summer Series.

James M. Johnston’s fiction short Knife (Filmmakers’ Fund Grantee ’09) played at this year’s Sarasota Film Festival, Rooftop Summer Series, and many other festivals across the country.

Heidi Brandenburg and Matt Orzel’s feature documentary When Two Worlds Collide has received support from both Cinereach and the Sundance Institute.

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Bingham Ray has been appointed the new executive director of the San Francisco Film Society effective November 7, 2011.  Ray comes to the San Francisco Film Society from New York City, where he recently served as the first run programming consultant to the Film Society of Lincoln Center, executive consultant to the digital distribution company SnagFilms and adjunct professor at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts.

“This opportunity defines the phrase ‘too good to be true’ for me,” said Ray. “To be invited to head one of the world’s greatest, most prestigious film societies, in one of the world’s greatest cities, is beyond extraordinary. Stepping in behind Graham Leggat is truly a daunting task. He elevated the San Francisco Film Society and its great Festival to world-class levels and assembled an incredibly talented staff, all of which are supported by a progressive, passionate and involved board of directors. I’m thrilled to be in such great company and welcome the challenges to come in this exciting new personal and professional chapter.”

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[caption id="attachment_1660" align="alignnone" width="550"]2010 Nicholl Fellows[/caption]

Seven screenwriters have been selected as winners of the 26th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

The 2011 Nicholl Fellows are (listed alphabetically by author):

• Chris Bessounian & Tianna Langham, Los Angeles, Calif., “Guns and Saris”
• Dion Cook, Altus, Okla., “Cutter”
• John MacInnes, Los Angeles, Calif., “Outside the Wire”
• Matthew Murphy, Culver City, Calif., “Unicorn”
• Abel Vang & Burlee Vang, Fresno, Calif., “The Tiger’s Child”

Each writer (or writing team) will receive a $30,000 prize, the first installment of which will be distributed at a gala dinner in Beverly Hills on November 3.

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[caption id="attachment_1681" align="alignnone" width="550"]The exterior of the San Francisco Film Society | New People Cinema. [/caption]

Amy Rich was announced today as the winner of the 2012 Djerassi Residency Award/San Francisco Film Society Screenwriting Fellowship for her project The Insect Princess.

The Insect Princess is a feature-length, fantasy-infused family drama set in rural Yorkshire about Romilly, a lonely little girl who discovers she can communicate with insects. While she quickly accepts this odd turn of events, those around her don’t, so she learns to hide the relationship with her new friends. Gradually with the help of her fantasy friends, Romilly learns to stand up to the school bully, to accept herself and to develop friendships with her classmates.

Previous recipients are Adam Chanzit (2011) for his psychological thriller The 15th Stone and Kathryn Mockler (2010) for her project Weak People Are Fun to Torment.

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[caption id="attachment_1660" align="alignnone" width="550"]2010 Nicholl Fellows[/caption]

Ten finalists, including seven individual writers and three writing teams have been selected as finalists for the 26th annual Don and Gee Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting, presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The Academy’s Nicholl Committee may award as many as five of the prestigious $30,000 fellowships.

This year’s finalists are (listed alphabetically by author):

Chris Bessounian & Tianna Langham, Los Angeles, Calif., “Guns and Saris”
Dion Cook, Altus, Oklahoma, “Cutter”
K.E. Greenberg, Los Angeles, Calif., “Blood Bound”
Ehud Lavski, Tel Aviv, Israel, “Parasite”
John MacInnes, Los Angeles, Calif., “Outside the Wire”
Aaron Marshall, West Hollywood, Calif., “Fig Hunt: The Quest for Battle Armor Star Captain”
Khurram Mozaffar, Lisle, Illinois, “A Man of Clay”
Matthew Murphy, Culver City, Calif., “Unicorn”
Abel Vang & Burlee Vang, Fresno, Calif., “The Tiger’s Child”
Paul Vicknair & Chris Shafer, Los Angeles & Hermosa Beach, Calif., “A Many Splintered Thing”

The finalists were selected from a record 6,730 scripts submitted for this year’s competition. The competition is open to any individual who has not sold or optioned a screenplay or teleplay for more than $5,000, or received a fellowship or prize that includes a “first look” clause, an option, or any other quid pro quo involving the writer’s work.

The 2011 Nicholl Fellowships will be presented on Thursday, November 3, at a ceremony held at the Beverly Wilshire.

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Rooftop Films announced the recipients of the 2011 Rooftop Filmmakers’ Fund Grants. Grants were made to two feature films and five short films.

The 2011 grantees are:

ROOFTOP FILMS & EDGEWORX POST-PRODUCTION GRANT:
AIN’T THEM BODIES SAINTS (David Lowery)

ROOFTOP FILMS & EASTERN EFFECTS EQUIPMENT GRANT:
OBVIOUS CHILD (Gillian Robespierre)

ROOFTOP FILMS & ADRIENNE SHELLY FOUNDATION SHORT FILM GRANT FOR WOMEN:
A LIGHT IN THE NIGHT (Sarah Daggar-Nickson)

ROOFTOP FILMMAKERS’ FUND SHORT FILM GRANTS:
MAN ON MARS (Anna Farrell)
TSUNAMI / SAKURA [TIDAL WAVE / CHERRY BLOSSOM] (Lucy Walker)
I’M NOT NOTHING (Zachary Volker)
THE SEEDS (Todd Chandler & Jeff Stark)

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The San Francisco Film Society announced the three winners of the inaugural SFFS Documentary Film Fund grants. The Fund was created to support the postproduction of singular feature-length nonfiction film work that is distinguished by compelling stories, intriguing characters and an innovative visual approach.

2011 Winners

Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson, An American Promise, $25,000

In 1999, filmmakers Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson began documenting the experiences of two African American boys — their son and his best friend — as they started kindergarten at the prestigious, private, predominantly white Dalton School on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, just as the school began to actively cultivate a diverse student body. This unprecedented longitudinal documentary reveals the life-changing experiences of the boys and their families as they navigate the challenges of academic achievement further complicated by issues of race and class.

Priya Desai and Ann Kim, Match +, $25,000

How do you find love and marriage when you are HIV-positive? And how do you do that in India, where marriage is a must but HIV/AIDS is unspeakable? Shame led some people to marry without disclosing their diagnosis and others to remain single. Twenty-five years ago the doctor who discovered the first cases of HIV in India could do little more than console her patients. Now she also acts as their matchmaker, helping HIV-positive people fulfill their familial duty as well as their own wish to marry.

Zachary Heinzerling, Cutie & the Boxer, $50,000

Cutie & the Boxer chronicles a unique love story between two Japanese artists and reveals the roots of their relationship. Ushio Shinohara achieved notoriety in postwar Japan with his avant-garde boxing paintings, and in 1969 moved to New York City in search of international recognition. Three years later, at age 19, Noriko left Japan to study art in New York and was instantly captivated by the middle-aged Shinohara. She abandoned her education and became the wife of an unruly, alcoholic husband. Forty years into their marriage the Shinoharas’ art and personalities are the basis for a deep and challenging symbiosis. Cutie & the Boxer reveals painful, universal truths about the lives of artists and examines how the creative process intersects with reality, identity and marriage.

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Tribeca Film has acquired Newlyweds, actor/writer/director Edward Burns’ comedic relationship drama that had its world premiere as the Closing Night selection at the 2011 Tribeca Film Festival, and plans a late 2011 release date.

Newlyweds is the 10th film written and directed by Burns. Shot in a fast paced 12 days exclusively in New York City’s Tribeca neighborhood, the film is a chronicle of modern marriage complete with the crackling humor and sharp insights into contemporary relationships that Burns fans have come to love.   The film tracks a newly wedded couple whose honeymoon period is upended by the arrival of the husband’s wild-child baby sister and the crumbling marriage of the wife’s meddlesome sister.  A 21st Century Manhattan love story, Newlyweds highlights the unarguable truth that when you get married, you’re not just getting a husband or wife, you’re getting the family, the friends, and even the exes.

The cast includes Burns, Caitlin FitzGerald (It’s Complicated), Max Baker, Marsha Dietlein Bennett and Kerry Bishé (Nice Guy Johnny, Scrubs). Burns produced Newlyweds with producing partner Aaron Lubin and William Rexer. Mike Harrop served as executive producer.

 

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