The Distributors: Cohen Media Group / Circuit Breaker Fall Film Guesses #2 / Telluride History: TFF #23

THE DISTRIBUTORS: COHEN MEDIA GROUP

One of the recent hard chargers at Telluride in terms of distribution firms that have made a splash is the Cohen Media Group.

CMG's history at Telluride:

2012-The Attack
2014-Magician
2015-Hitchcock/Truffaut, Marguerite, Rams
2016-Journey Through French Cinema

And CMG has a number of possible players for the 2017 edition of the Telluride Film Festival:

Francois Ozon's L'amant Double
Michel Hazanavicius' Redoubtable
Christian Carion's Mon Garcon
and even Pappi Corsicato's Julian Schnabel: A Private Portrait.

Of the four, the chances for L'amant Double and Redoubtable are virtually indistinguishable.  Both played Cannes with modset-to-good reviews.  Redoubtable's metascore-67, L'amant Double's 64.  Both directors have made a splash at previuos Tellurides.  Hazanavicius being more notable with Oscar Best Picture winner The Artist in 2011.  Ozon was at Telluride last year with Frantz.

I'm givng Redoubtable a slight edge with a 50% chance to SHOW.  L'Amant Double goes in at 45%.

As to Carion's Mon Garcon, I include it here as CMG is calling it a 2017 release and Carion's 2009 TFF film, Farewell, is enough to make me think it should be considered.  Give it a 30% chance.

FInally, despite the fact that Cosicato's Julian Schnabel documentary has played in the U.S. at Tribeca, it might end up at Telluride anyway.  The inclusion of Tribeca films in the T-ride lineup isn't frequent  but has happened more than once: Peggy Guggenheim in 2015, Keep On Keepin' On in 2014 and My Dior in 2013.

Schnabel's poster for TFF #29

Additionally, Schnabel has had a TFF history as poster artist in 2002 and presenting his fantastic The Diving Bell and the Butterfly in 2007.  So I wouldn't rule this film out even though it played Tribeca.




CIRCUIT BREAKER FALL FILM GUESSES #2

A week ago (June 19) I posted the link to Awards Circuit's Circuit Breaker podcast because they included a rundown of some guesses about where films might be headed to film festivals.

This week;s podcast includes another segment about the same topic.  The nearly half hour segment includes mentions of a couple of dozen films and those that are mentioned as having some possibility for Telluride (by at least one of the participants) are:

The Darkest Hour
Suburbicon
Downsizing
Battle of the Sexes
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri
The Snowman
Stronger

The complete podcast can be heard here.  The discussion of fall film fest plays begins approximately at the 47:20 mark.


TELLURIDE HISTORY: TFF #23

Here's another installment of my on-going and fairly sporadic review of the history of the Telluride Film Festival.  Today a look at #23 which occurred  from Aug.30-Sept. 2, 1996.

Guest Director: B. Ruby Rich

Tributes: Shirley MacLaine, Mike Leigh, Alain Cavalier

SHOWS:

Actress
Ayn Rand: A Sense of Life
Beautiful Thing
Ben Johnson: Third Cowboy on the Right

Breaking the Waves
Cardiogram
Carmen's Pure Love
The Cloud Capped Star
Daisies
Drifting Clouds
Fly Away Home
Forgotten Silver
Gabbeh

Irma Vep
Kolya
La Recontre
Le Ciel est a Vous
Le Samuorai
Le Trou
Lillian's Story
Message to Love
Microcosmos
Riot
Secrets and Lies
Self Made Hero

Sling Blade
Swingers
Therese
Twelfth Night
Two Eyes, Twelve Hands
The Unknown

Guests:

Olivier Assasyas
Jacques Audiard
Carroll Ballard
Harry Carey, Jr.
Maggie Cheung
Jon Favreau
Don Hertzfeldt
Werner Herzog
Mike Leigh
Doug Liman
Leonard Maltin
Shirley MacLaine
Trevor Nunn
John Ritter
Stellan Skarsgaard
Billy Bob Thornton
Warwick Thornton
Vince Vaughn
Emily Watson


Of particular note were the short films from Warwick Thornton (Payback, now called From Sand to Celluloid: Payback) and Julie Delpy (Blah Blah Blah) both making their directing debuts and Don Hertzfeldt with his second short (Genre).

That's your Thursday from MTFB.

Come back tomorrow for 2017's first Ten Bets.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

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The Distributors: Sundance Selects and IFC Films / Battle of the Sexes New Trailer / Trailer for Stronger Also Raises T-ride Speculation

Welcome back from your weekend.  Mine was spent in the land of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul...


THE DISTRIBUTORS: SUNDANCE SELECTS AND IFC FILMS

Among the more ubiquitous set of distribution firms at Telluride over the past several years has been the combination of Sundance Selects and IFC Films.

Over the run of more than a dozen years, the two partnered firms have racked up an impressive number of films that have screened at Telluride:

2003: Touching the Void, Intermission

2004: Nobody Knows

2005: Three Times

2006: Deep Water, Indigenes, Day Night Day Night

2007: Secret Sunshine, 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, Jar City

2008: Hunger, Gomorrah, Flame and Citron, Everlasting Moments, The Good, the Bad and the Weird

2009: Fish Tank, Red Riding Trilogy, Life During Wartime, Vincere

2010: The Princess of Montpensier, Carlos, Tabloid

2011: Into the Abyss, Pina, The Forgiveness of Blood, The Kid with a Bike, Goodbye First Love

2012: Frances Ha, The Central Park Five, Everyday

2013: Blue is the Warmest Color

2014: Two Days, One Night, Seymour: An Introduction

2015: 45 Years

2016: Things to Come, Graduation, Wakefield

This year, between the two companies there appear to be four films that might be in play:

Perhaps the most likely is Jonas Capignano's A Ciambra.  The film played Cannes in the Director's Fortnight section and was, in part, executive produced by Martin Scorsese who has frequently been represented at T-ride in recent years as an executive producer.  Chances: 45%.

Also in play is Claire Denis' Bright Sunshine In which also played Cannes' Director's Fortnight. Denis, to the best of my knowledge has never played in the San Juans.  That could change this year. Chances: 40%.

The Death of Stalin from Veep and Into the Loop creator Armando Iannucci.  I'd love this as an addition to the TFF #44 lineup because of Iannucci and the potential for this crazy good cast (Steve Buscemi, Olga Kurylenko, Andrea Riseborough, Jeffrey Tambor, Michael Palin) to do something hilarious and magical.

Chances 35%.

Viceroy's House.  Played Berlin which usually has a couple of films make the TFF lineup.

Chances: 25%.

BATTLE OF THE SEXES NEW TRAILER

Fresh off of last week's speculation by Deadline's Pete Hammond that he was in the neighborhood of 99% convinced that the Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris film, Battle of the Sexes would play at The SHOW over Labor Day weekend came the news that a new trailer for the film had been released.


That's the second trailer for the film.  Here it is via YouTube:

After Hammond's assessment and my own take last week as I began to look at what we can expect from various distributors, in the case of Battle of the Sexes that's Fox Searchlight, it's possible that the film may show up at the end of this week on 2017's first "Ten Bets" for TFF #44. There's your tease for Friday's post.

Links to posts from Friday with coverage of the trailer's release.

From First Showing

From SlashFilm



TRAILER FOR STRONGER ALSO RAISES T-RIDE SPECULATION 

Just like the above story, David Gordon Green's Stronger dropped a trailer on Friday.  Paul Sheehan, writing at Gold Derby, suggested that the film would likely play fall film fests with Telluride mentioned alongside Venice and Toronto.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

I had Green's Our Brand is Crisis as a possible fest selection back in 2015.

Here are stories about the trailer and the film from the weekend:

Gold Derby

The Film Stage

The Film Experience


There's your MTFB for Monday, June 26, 2017.  More tomorrow...

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

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The Distributors: Lionsgate Roadside and Saban / New Looks at Blade Runner 2049 / Marshall Has a Trailer

Good first Friday of summer 2017.


THE DISTRIBUTORS: LIONSGATE, ROADSIDE AND SABAN

Lionsgate, Roadside Attractions and Saban Films are an affiliated group of companies that have had an interesting and steadily successful run at Telluride over the past few years.  Their list of films that have played have featured the following films:

2010: Biutiful
2011: Albert Nobbs
2012: Stories We Tell
2013: All is Lost, Gloria
2014: '71, The Homesman, Mommy
2015:
2016: La La Land

Lionsgate has Stephen Chbosky's Wonder starring Julia Roberts and David Gordon Green's Stronger with Jake Gyllenhaal which could both be looking at fall film fest slots.

Wonder is based on the novel by R.J. Placio and also features young actor Jacob Tremblay who charmed Telluride in Room in 2015.  Stronger is the true life tale of one of the survivors of the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.

At the moment neither Roadside Attractions or Saban appear to independently have a film that would seem to be a Telluride possible.

Chances:

Wonder 35%
Stronger 30%.



NEW LOOKS AT BLADE RUNNER 2049

We got new glimpses yesterday of Denis Villenueve's Blade Runner 2049.  The film still seems like a stretch to me for TFF #44 but not a complete impossibility.

Here's the featurette via YouTube:

I've also linked some coverage from FirstShowing as well as from Indiewire.

MARSHALL HAS A TRAILER

I haven't gotten to a review of distributor Open Road Films yet (and I will eventually) but they made news this week with the release of a trailer for the biopic Marshall.  The film follows a crucial event in the life of a young Thurgood Marshall.  Chadwick Boseman stars as the young lawyer who would one day sit as a member of the Supreme Court.

Here's the trailer from YouTube:

The film is directed by Reginald Hudlin and is set to open on Oct. 13th.

I have linked stories related to the release of the trailer below:

Indiewire

The Hollywood Reporter

The Film Stage.

That's your Friday.

More to come on Monday.

EMAIL:  mpgort@gmail.com OR michael_speech@hotmail.com

TWITTER @Gort2 (and follow me there as well)

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