Watch the trailer for the Matthew Shepard documentary, MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE, winner of the Audience Choice Award For Best Film at the 38th Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF).  MATT SHEPARD IS A FRIEND OF MINE follows director Michele Josue, a close friend of Matt’s, as she travels to pivotal locations in Shepard’s life, interviewing other friends and family members, and gaining insight into the beautiful life and devastating loss of Matthew Shepard.

Fifteen years ago, on the night of October 6, 1998, two men lured Matthew Shepard, a gay freshman at the University of Wyoming, from a bar in Laramie, WY. He was kidnapped and driven to a field where he was tortured and tethered to a fence and left to die. Never regaining consciousness, Matthew succumbed to the severe injuries from the attack and died on October 12, 1998.

The murder of Matthew Shepard was a devastating tragedy that made countless headlines around the world. As people denounced the hatred and senseless violence that caused Matthew’s death, a much-needed dialogue about hate crimes and intolerance against the LGBT community began and continues to this day. His tragic story brought the reality of inequality and vicious, irrational contempt into the public consciousness and set the stage for the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, which President Barack Obama signed into law in 2009. via official film site

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Netflix has acquired the rights to 3D printing film “Print The Legend,” that premiered at the 2014 SXSW Film Festival and won the Special Jury Recognition Award for Editing & Storytelling in the Documentary Feature Competition. The Netflix original documentary goes behind-the-scenes of the top American 3D printing brands as they fight for dominance in the rapidly developing, groundbreaking field of 3D printing. The film will premiere exclusively on Netflix in 2014 and will be available to stream in all territories where Netflix is available.

3D printing is changing the world – from printing human organs to guns, to dismantling the world’s industrial infrastructure by enabling home manufacturing. It’s “the next Industrial Revolution.” “Print the Legend” follows the people racing to bring 3D printing to your desktop and into your life. For the winners, there are fortunes – and history – to be made. “Print the Legend” is both a 3D Printing Documentary, capturing a tech in the midst of its “Macintosh Moment,” and, even more so, a compelling tale about what it takes to live the American Dream.

“It’s so rare for a film to capture history in the making, and Luis Lopez and Clay Tweel have done just that in their skillful presentation of the elation and betrayals experienced by young entrepreneurs detailing the groundbreaking technology of 3D printing,” said Lisa Nishimura, Netflix VP of Original Documentary and Comedy. “This is a compelling glimpse into a game changing technology as it nears an inflection point going from the fantasy world of a few obsessed visionaries to a must-have technology that may enter every home.”

“From the day we knew the 3D printing world would be our focus, we set our sights on a SXSW premiere,” said Luis Lopez, Clay Tweel, and producer Steven Klein. “To premiere in front of the most tech savvy and entrepreneurial festival crowd in the world and partner with the Netflix documentary team – who work brilliantly at the cutting edge of distribution – is truly a dream come true.”

The film delves into the people behind the machines and asks tough questions about the industry’s creative drive to enable consumers to produce anything from trinkets to handguns, including being there with provocateur Cody Wilson as he uploads his printable-gun files to the internet, setting off a worldwide media firestorm. The film roots its core story in the rise and challenges of start-ups MakerBot and Formlabs as they vie to release consumer models and control the narrative of their market to compete with established industrial players Stratasys and 3D Systems.

“Print the Legend” was directed, shot, and edited by Luis Lopez & Clay Tweel (“Make Believe” and “The King of Kong”) and produced by Steven Klein (“Make Believe”). The project was developed, produced, and financed by Chad Troutwine (“Freakonomics”) and Audax Films, led by Co-Producer Andrew Kortschak (“Gore Vidal: The United States of Amnesia”) and Executive Producer Walter Kortschak. The film was also produced by Dan O’Meara (“By The People: The Election of Barack Obama”). Exhibit A Films, including producer Seth Gordon (“Undefeated,” “Mitt,” “The King of Kong”) and Executive Producer Mary Rohlich (“Make Believe”), led the filmmaking team throughout and brought on longtime collaborators Clay, Luis, and Steven.

http://youtu.be/V7uht6MUvOc

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Academy Award nominated director Joe Berlinger’s “WHITEY: The United States of America V. James J Bulger,” the documentary about the notorious Irish gangster James “Whitey” Bulger, that premiered earlier this year at Sundance Film Festival, has been acquired by Magnolia Pictures for release in the US. Magnolia will be giving the film a day and date theatrical and on demand release this June, followed by a broadcast on CNN later this year. 

Infamous gangster James “Whitey” Bulger wielded a mystique as the Robin Hood of South Boston. Fabricated in his hometown, Bulger’s legend captured the imagination of the entire country. Separating the man from the myth, this riveting documentary challenges conventional wisdom by detailing shocking new allegations. 

With unprecedented access, filmmaker Joe Berlinger utilizes this past summer’s sensational trial against Bulger as a springboard to explore corruption within the highest levels of law enforcement. Embedded for months with retired FBI agents, Massachusetts state police, victims, lawyers, gangsters, journalists, and federal prosecutors, Berlinger scrutinizes Bulger’s relationship with the FBI and Department of Justice—an interaction that allowed him to reign over a criminal empire for decades.Sundance Film Festival

“The filmmaking team worked very hard to gain unprecedented access, including to Bulger himself who has never before agreed to appear in any media, so we are especially delighted to be partnering with the two companies — Magnolia and CNN — that know how to reach the widest possible audience,” said filmmaker Joe Berlinger.

Joe Berlinger interviews Pat Donahue in “WHITEY: The United States of America V. James J Bulger”

Bulger extortion victim Stephen Rakes in “WHITEY: The United States of America V. James J Bulger”

Joe Berlinger and Hank Brennan in “WHITEY: The United States of America V. James J Bulger”

Steve Davis brother of murder victim Debra Davis in “WHITEY: The United States of America V. James J Bulger”

Joe Berlinger and Robert Fitzpatrick in “WHITEY: The United States of America V. James J Bulger”

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 Mark Landis at home, showing off recent works in ART AND CRAFT

ART AND CRAFT, Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman’s “deft, richly entertaining art caper doc” which will have its world premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival next month has already been snapped up by Oscilloscope Laboratories for release in the US. O-scope is planning a theatrical release in late summer/early fall.

Mark Landis at home and at work on a “Picasso” in ART AND CRAFT

ART AND CRAFT is the story of the charismatic, complex Mark Landis, perhaps the most prolific art forger in US history. For over 30 years, he’s duped curators throughout the country with precise imitations of a vast range of works, from fifteenth century masterpieces to Picasso. His actions are mysterious to many — while he could fetch millions on the open market, he donates his counterfeits for free, going so far as to pose in such guises as a Jesuit priest or a philanthropic donor. Enter Matthew Leininger, a registrar from Cincinnati who was conned by Landis years ago and who has been pursuing him obsessively ever since. What begins as a game of cat-and-mouse between Leininger and Landis eventually turns into something more surprising and complicated, proving once again that truth can be stranger than fiction.

Mark Landis on a “philanthropic” visit in ART AND CRAFT

About the acquisition, O-scope’s Dan Berger and David Laub said, “We’ve been discussing Art and Craft for some time and as excited as we were to see it, nothing could have prepared us for how blown away we’d be. Sam and Jennifer, along with co-director Mark Becker, capture these amazing characters with the perfect mixture of humor and heart, resulting in one of the most entertaining and moving documentaries we’ve seen in years. We’re honored that they have chosen to work with us on it.”

Jennifer Grausman

Filmmakers Sam Cullman and Jennifer Grausman said, “We couldn’t have dreamed of a better home for this film. O-Scope embodies the perfect mix of mensch and mischievous; like our main subject — they are art and craft.”

Sam Cullman

Cullman previously co-directed the Academy Award® nominated documentary If A Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front, which was also released by O-Scope. Grausman is the director of the acclaimed documentary Pressure Cooker, which won awards at several film festivals and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. Rounding out the filmmaking team is co-director Mark Becker, the director of Romantico (nominated for two independent Spirit Awards), Executive Producers Lisa Kleiner Chanoff and Bonni Cohen of Catapult Film Fund and Christopher Clements, Julie Goldman and Carolyn Hepburn of Motto Pictures. Marc H. 

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