There’s no Summertime sadness for Carlos López Estrada…
Good Deed Entertainment has acquired the North American distribution rights from Los Angeles Media Fund to the 31-year-old Mexican-American music video, commercial, and film director’s Summertime, which was the opening film of the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
Summertime chronicles the intersecting stories of 25 young spoken-word poets over a day in Los Angeles.
Estrada directed from a script written by 27 poets from the literary organization Get Lit, who also star in the film, and playwright Dave Harris. The film marks Estrada’s follow-up to Blindspotting.
Kimberly Stuckwisch, Jeffrey Soros, Alisa Tager, Simon Horsman, Diane Luby Lane and López Estrada produced the film. In addition to producing, Los Angeles Media Fund fully financed the project.
“It’s rare these days to find something so impactful and wholly unique,” said Scott Donley, CEO and founder of Good Deed Entertainment. “But Summertime is just that. We’re beyond excited to be able to share this heartfelt viewing experience with audiences across the country.”
Lopez Estrada made his feature film directorial debut in 2018 with Blindspotting.
In 2018, he directed the music video for Billie Eilish‘s “When the Party’s Over.” He earned a Latin Grammy for directing Jesse & Joy’s “Me Voy” music video.
The 55-year-old Oscar-winning Mexican filmmaker, author, actor, and former special effects makeup artist will take part in Tribeca Enterprises and YouTube’s We Are One: A Global Film Festival.
The fest will stream exclusively on YouTubefor free and feature more than 100 films co-curated by 21 of the most renowned festivals, including the Cannes Film Festival, Berlin Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, Toronto Film Festival and the Tribeca Film Festival.
The 10-day fest kicked off on Friday, May 29 and will not only provide entertainment but also offer relief to the COVID-19 pandemic via supporting organizations.
The truly global event will feature programming from different cultures all over the world, with films representing more than 35 countries and include 23 narrative and 8 documentary features, 57 narrative and 15 documentary short films, 15 archived talks along with 4 festival exclusives and 5 VR programming pieces.
The fest will include 13 world premieres, 31 online premieres and 5 international online premieres. Each selection was handpicked to give shine and highlight each participating festival.
“We are so excited to share the combined efforts of our festival partners and YouTube with the world this week,” said Tribeca Enterprises and Tribeca Film Festival Co-Founder and CEO Jane Rosenthal. “Together, we were able to curate a compelling slate of programming that succinctly reflects the subtle variations in style that make each festival so special. We Are One: A Global Film Festival will offer audiences an opportunity to not only celebrate the art of film, but the unique qualities that make each story we watch so memorable.”
The fest will include the world premiere of Ricky Powell: The Individualist, which spotlights the titular legendary street photographer featuring interviews with Natasha Lyonne and LL Cool J.
Eeb Allay Ooo! will make its online debut and introduce a whole new audience to New Delhi’s professional “monkey repellers”. The satirical film won Mumbai Film Festival’s Golden Gateway Award.
The iconic Joan Chen will present the world premiere of Iron Hammer, a documentary about legendary, trailblazing Chinese Olympic volleyball star Jenny Lang Ping.
There will also be a lineup of specially-curated talks from past festivals as well as new discussions. Talks will feature del Toro, Francis Ford Coppola with Steven Soderbergh, Song Kang-ho and Bong Joon-ho, Jane Campion and Claire Denis.
In addition to features, audiences will be able to access over 50 narrative and documentary shorts such as the world premiere of Japanese narrative short Yalta Conference Online (wt), which was created exclusively for the fest by director Koji Fukada. The fest will also include the global premiere of the Third Eye Blind documentary short Motorcycle Drive By, as well as shorts from Dreamworks Animation, Bilby, Marooned and Bird Karma.
360 VR selections will feature Emmy-nominated documentary Traveling While Black and Alteration, a sci-fi narrative starring Bill Skarsgard, as well as titles featuring John Legend, Oprah Winfrey and Lupita Nyong’o. On top of the film goodness, Questlove from the legendary Roots crew will perform a DJ set for your listening and dancing pleasure.
On the episodic side, We Are One will host the world premiere of Losing Alice, an Israeli female-fronted neo-noir psychological TV thriller as well as the two-part docuseries She Could Be Next which chronicles the experiences of women of color running for office, including Stacey Abrams and Rashida Tlaib.
In addition to Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Sundance, Toronto and Tribeca, participating festival also include Annecy International Animation Film Festival, BFI London Film Festival, Guadalajara International Film Festival,International Film Festival & Awards Macao (IFFAM), International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR), Jerusalem Film Festival, Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI), Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Locarno Film Festival,Marrakech International Film Festival, New York Film Festival, San Sebastian International Film Festival, Sarajevo Film Festival, Sydney Film Festival and Tokyo International Film Festival.
The fest will provide COVID-19 relief through donations to the World Health Organization( WHO), UNICEF, UNHCR, Save the Children, Doctors Without Borders, Leket Israel, GO Foundation and Give2Asia, among others. Audiences will be able to donate via a link on every film page.
The official trailer has been released for We Are Freestyle Love Supreme, the documentary about the 40-year-old’s improv hip-hop project.
Before Miranda’s Tony Award-winning musicals Hamilton and In The Heights, the Mary Poppins Returns star, Christopher Jackson, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale, among others, traded off-the-cuff rhymes the way Second City actors swapped jokes in their improv hip-hop group.
Created by Miranda, Kail and Veneziale in the summer of 2005, its beginnings on sidewalks and a small performing space at New York’s Drama Book Shop, the show would make the rounds Off Broadway, ever-changing, before landing on Broadway for an acclaimed and commercial successfulrun last year.
The show’s long journey is chronicled in filmmaker Andrew Fried’s documentaryWe Are Freestyle Love Supreme, premiering on Hulu on Friday, June 5. Fried’s camera captures the group reuniting for a series of shows in New York City that led to the Broadway engagement.
Appearing in the doc, which debuted at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, are Miranda, Veneziale, Jackson, Kail, Arthur Lewis, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Chris Sullivan, Bill Sherman, James Monroe Iglehart and Andrew Bancroft.
The 40-year-old Colombian/Venezuelan American actor and NCIS co-star has renewed his first-look deal with CBS Television Studios, the studio behind the popular CBS drama series.
Valderrama stars as Special Agent Nick Torres on NCIS, which was just renewed for an 18th season. He has been on the show since Season 14, with the first-look producing pact running parallel to his acting deal for the show.
Under the first-look agreement, Valderrama has developed several series projects for CBS Television Studios through his WV Entertainment banner, including Hipster Death Rattle, a dark comedy based on the book by Richie Narvaez, with writer Rafael Agustin and Corinne Brinkerhoff; as well as the previously announced, The Turners, a half-hour single-camera autobiographical family doctors comedy from writer Naomi Ekperigin at ABC with Two Shakes Entertainment co-producing; and Patriots From the Barrio, a WWII drama about a Mexican-American unit, based on the book by Dave Gutierrez, from writer John Covarrubias.
Valderrama previously created and produced the MTV series Yo Momma, also serving as the host for all three seasons, in addition to producing other MTV series like Punk’d, Blowin’ Up and Trippin’.
On the film side, Valderrama most recently was featured in Blast Beat, a coming of age drama that premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival. He voiced the first Latino Prince Charming in the 2018 animated feature film Charming. Valderrama also voiced the main character of Disney’s popular animated children’s show Handy Manny, which introduced preschoolers to Spanish.
Aubrey Plaza’s latest project is gaining momentum…
Momentum Pictures has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to the 35-year-old half-Puerto Rican’s film Black Bear, co-starring Christopher Abbott and Sarah Gadon.
The suspenseful meta-drama was written and directed by Lawrence Michael Levine.
The film, which premiered earlier this year at theSundance Film Festival, follows an expecting couple confronted with an out of town guest. Suffering from writer’s block, the guest seeks solace in the woods but instead finds herself at the center of a twisted love triangle.
The release date will be announced at a later date.
Levin talked about the impetus of the film with Deadline.
“I wanted to do something more unusual and spontaneous,” Levin told Deadline, sharing that he was inspired by his artist sister’s spontaneous approach when it pertains to her creative process.
Lin-Manuel Miranda love supreme is headed to Hulu…
The Andrew Fried-directed documentary We Are Freestyle Love Supreme produced by the 40-year-old Hamiltoncreator and Broadway star has found a home at Hulu and will hit the streamer on June 5.
The documentary made its premiere at the Sundance Film Festivalearlier this year and highlights the 15-year journey of the hip-hop improvisational group founded by Miranda, Thomas Kail and Anthony Veneziale.
The group called Freestyle Love Supreme was formed long before Miranda’s Hamiltonand In The Heightsmusicals hit Broadway.
Fried began chronicling the group in the summer of 2005, documenting the early days of Freestyle Love Supreme beatboxing and rapping on the sidewalks.
Fast forward 14 years later and Fried brings us to a reunion with a series of shows in New York City that led to a triumphant run on Broadway.
In addition to Miranda, Kail and Veneziale, the doc features Arthur Lewis, Christopher Jackson, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Chris Sullivan, Bill Sherman,James Monroe Iglehartand Andrew Bancroft.
The 40-year-old Mexican filmmaker and visual artist has closed an exclusive first-look deal with Exile Content Studios and Endeavor Content.
Hofmann directed Tiempo Compartido, the R.J Mitte-starring feature film that won the World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Screenwriting at the Sundance Film Festivalin 2018 and airs on Netflix.
Hoffman’s first project under the deal is elevated horror series Jabalí, which chronicles the disappearance of a local activist in a forgotten village in rural Mexico in the midst of the traditional feast of the boar.
Exile is focused on developing and producing long-form content for global audiences in English and Spanish. In addition to Netflix’s El Chapo,it was behind Emmy Award-winning documentary Science Fair, which won the Sundance Audience Award in 2018, and Netflix’s Who Killed Malcolm X.
The company recently struck a partnership with Endeavor Content to finance, develop, and produce Spanish language scripted television projects, as well as to create a fund to acquire IP and pursue development deals with high-profile and emerging talent across Latin America and Spain.
“To be given the opportunity to develop an auteur-driven series is a dream come true for any filmmaker. Exile and Endeavor Content are creating a strong new platform for contemporary Latin American voices. I am proud and grateful to be a part of it,” said Hofmann.
“Sebastian is truly masterful at creating some of the most sophisticated horror films in Latin America, and we want to invest in introducing his voice to the global scripted series market,” said Exile’s Head of Development Alonso Aguilar.
“Sebastian’s ear for gripping horror stories, his eye for compelling visuals, and his unique storytelling style all make him a world-class showrunner, writer, and director, and we’re looking forward to seeing all that he will create through this partnership,” said Endeavor Content’s VP, International Strategy Kelly Miller.
The 50-year-old Guatemalan American actor, playwright and television/stage director has signed a first-look deal with AMC Studios, the studio behind Domingo’s zombie drama series Fear the Walking Dead.
Domingo made his debut as Victor Strand in a two-episode guest arc during the first season of Fear the Walking Dead, a spinoff from The Walking Dead.
He was made a series regular at the start of Season 2. He made his directorial debut on the show and has directed two episodes to date.
“From the moment AMC viewers first saw Colman Domingo as the mysterious and dynamic Victor Strand in season one of Fear The Walking Dead,they haven’t been able to look away, and neither have we,” said Sarah Barnett, President of AMC Networks Entertainment Group & AMC Studios. “He has become a core character of the series and, as anyone who knows him knows, his talents go far beyond that one character in that one show. He is a writer, producer and performer who can move effortlessly between film, television and the stage and we are thrilled to be expanding our relationship with this extraordinary talent and individual through this first-look deal with AMC Studios.”
Domingo is currently in production on the upcoming sixth season of Fear the Walking Dead and stars in A24’s Zola, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. He’s also had a recurring role on HBO’s Euphoria and will be seen in Jordan Peele’s spiritual sequel to the 1992 gothic horror film CandyMan, as well as opposite Viola Davis and Chadwick Boseman in the Netflix film adaption of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,produced by Denzel Washington.
Domingo, 20-year veteran theater director, co-wrote the book for the Broadway musical Summer: The Donna Summer Musical and for the Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole musical.
At AMC, he developed a series based on his play Dottwo years ago.
Domingo’s film acting credits also include Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, Selma, Lee Daniels’ The Butler, Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln, First Match, and Spike Lee’s Miracle At St. Ana, Red Hook Summerand Passing Strange.
Fernanda Valadezis bringing her award-winning new project to the Big Apple.
Film at Lincoln Center and The Museum of Modern Art have announced the complete lineup for the 49th annual New Directors/New Films, which includes the Mexican filmmaker’s Identifying Features.
Valadez’s film, which won two awards at the Sundance Film Festival,tells the story of Magdalena, a mother who embarks on a journey in search of her son who disappeared en route to the US border. Traveling through the foreboding towns and landscapes of northern Mexico, she meets Miguel, a young man recently deported from the United States who is making his way home. The two accompany one another: Magdalena looking for her son, and Miguel eager to see his mother again in a territory where victims and aggressors ramble together.
Other films in the lineup include Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss’ Boys State; Maite Alberdi’s The Mole Agent; Zheng Lu Xinyuan’s debut feature The Cloud in Her Room; Janis Rafa’s Kala azar; Arun Karthick’s Nasir;Valentyn Vasyanovych’s Atlantis; Brazilian filmmaker Maya Da-Rin’s The Fever;Mamadou Dia’s Nafi’s Father; and Aneil Karia’s Surge.
In all, the iconic series will screen 27 features and 10 short films from 35 countries, with 13 North American premieres and 4 U.S. premieres, 15 films directed or co-directed by women and 15 works by first-time feature filmmakers
“The New Directors/New Films selection is always international in scope, but I’m particularly struck by the sheer breadth of this year’s lineup,” said Dennis Lim, Film at Lincoln Center Director of Programming and 2020 New Directors/New Films co-chair.
“We have everything from speculative war films to intimate dramas, unnerving works of science fiction to political documentaries, hailing from countries often represented on screen as well as some less commonly seen ones. Collectively these films speak to the continued vibrancy and daring of world cinema in an age of political uncertainty and cultural sameness. They prove that cinema still has what it takes to reflect and enhance the moment we live in,” said Lim, who was just named Director of Programming for Film at Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival.
This year’s New Directors/New Filmsseries will run from March 25 – April 5.
United Talent Agency (UTA) has signed the 29-year-old Mexican actor in all areas.
Espitia most recently starred in Heidi Ewing’s drama I Carry You With Me, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and won the Audience Awardand Grand Jury Awardin the Next!categories.
Espitia first came to prominence with his leading role in Amat Escalante’s Cannes Film Festival title Heli and also starred as the lead in Nuestras Madres, which opened at Cannes in Critics’ Weekwhere it picked up the Caméra d’Or.
Additionally, he has appeared in several features including Ayúdame A Pasar La Noche,and Open Cage.
On the television side, his credits include Amazon’s Diablo Guardián, Telemundo’s El Recluso as well as History Channel’s Texas Rising.
He also founded the theater company Conejo Con Prisa.
