News

The San Francisco Film Society announced today the finalists and honorable mention for the second SFFS/Hearst Screenwriting Grant. The grant of $15,000 will be awarded to a mid-career screenwriter who has been a practicing writer for at least five years and who has previously written a minimum of one feature screenplay. The grant is open to writers residing in the United States whose project expresses both a unique personal perspective and an artistic approach to the subject. Priority is given to writers whose previous short or feature screenplays have been produced as independent films. The finalists were selected from 91 applicants submitted in response to a nationwide call for entries.

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White Irish Drinkers, now has a US Spring 2011 theatrical release date, after Screen Media Films acquired North American rights. The film which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and won the Audience Award at the 2010 Woodstock Film Festival, was written and directed by John Gray,and stars Nick Thurston, Geoff Wigdor and Leslie Murphy.

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Danny Boyle’s “127 Hours” grossed $265,925 from just 4 theaters in New York and Los Angeles, the year’s second-highest per-screen average of $66,481, and the best per-theater-average, of director Danny Boyle’s career. “The Kids Are All Right” holds the record for the year’s best per-theater-average of $70,282 from 7 screens in July.

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IFC Midnight, the genre label of IFC Films, announced that the company is acquiring North American rights to two films: Manuel Carballo’s supernatural chiller EXORCISMUS and Miguel Angel Vivas’ powerful and shocking home invasion flick KIDNAPPED. Both films will be released through the IFC Midnight label theatrically and on their video on demand platform in early 2011.

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Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer filed for bankruptcy protection on Wednesday as part of a reorganization plan that would help it shed more than $4 billion in debt and hand control over to a group of hedge fund creditors.

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“Box Elder,” a movie about “dudes being dudes” and highlighting Columbia college is headed to video-on-demand, which is an excellent thing for an independent film. Starting Monday, the film will be available for at least 90 days on cable and satellite Video On Demand throughout the U.S. and Canada. The number of people who view the film during its 90-day trial will determine how long it will remain available on cable and satellite Video On Demand.

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