News

The music documentary Takin’ Care of Business took care of business at the inaugural Round Top Film Festival in Texas.

The film about Canadian rock musician Randy Bachman – founder of the bands The Guess Who and Bachman-Turner Overdrive – earned the Audience Award at the debut event in the small town 75 miles east of Austin. The feature directed by Tyler Measom explores how Bachman searched for decades for a precious musical instrument that was stolen from him – his beloved 1957 Gretsch 6120 guitar on which he wrote the hits “American Woman,” “Takin’ Care of Business,” and “You Ain’t Seen Nothin’ Yet.”

“We are so honored to receive the Audience Award from the Round Top Film Festival!” said Russell Wayne Groves, producer of Takin’ Care of Business. “From the incredible festival founders, Shanna and Skylar Schanen, all the way to the amazing volunteers who kept things running smoothly, we are just humbled...

Guitarist Randy Bachman of the ’70s rock band Bachman-Turner Overdrive is the focus of the 2024 documentary Takin’ Care of Business. The Canadian band scored success with hits including “Takin’ Care of Business,” “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet,” “Let It Ride,” and “Roll On Down the Highway,” and hit #1 on the charts with their 1974 album Not Fragile.

Bachman left the band, which originally consisted of bassist Fred Turner, drummer Robbie Bachman, and guitarist Blair Thornton, in 1977. Since then, there have been multiple iterations of the group. In 2009, Randy Bachman and Fred Turner formed Bachman & Turner, and in the fall of 2023, Bachman-Turner Overdrive reunited for a tour.

Writer/director Tyler Measom’s new documentary, which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, focuses on Randy Bachman. Randy, along with Tal Bachman, KoKo Bachman, Lorelei Bachman, Bannatyne Bachman Matson, Takeshi Kaneda, and William Long, are featured in the behind-the-scenes look at the rocker’s life.

PodcastOne (Nasdaq: Podc), a leading podcast platform and a subsidiary of LiveOne (Nasdaq: Lvo), which owns ~80% of the Podc outstanding common stock, announced today that is has acquired the exclusive distribution and sales rights to the critically acclaimed and award winning podcast, Was I In A Cult? from hosts Liz Iacuzzi and Tyler Measom who lend their own personal cultic experiences to the pod.

Named Best Podcast by multiple publications including Vulture and Good Housekeeping, Was I In A Cult? is a documentary-style podcast showcasing individuals who have been in, and most importantly, successfully left a cult. Told first-hand by the experiencer themself, these are raw, riveting and inspirational tales of what it means to be a survivor. Using levity and info-tainment, the show humanized the cultic experience and may leave some of our listeners asking themselves... "Wait... Was I In A Cult?" Guests have included the original male supermodel...

A great swath of musicians, their music, and their fans have frequently been disparaged over the years. I'm talking about "hair metal" bands and their fans.

A new three-part series now on Paramount+ digs into several musicians and their experiences of the era, recounting their rise and when the fiery flame of the brightest period for their brand was snuffed out.

We had the chance to catch up with a couple of those musicians, and today, we're sharing our discussion with Janet Gardner, best known as the lead singer of the all-female group Vixen.

Gardner, now a dental hygenist and still making kickass music with her husband, Justin James, opened up for I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream director Tyler Measom and for us during our candid discussion.

Please see the full conversation below, which has been edited for clarity.

Hi, Janet. How are you?

I'm good, thanks.

Here is a wrap-up of all the news you need to know from Wednesday, June 28, 2023.

Paramount+ has announced an exciting new docuseries with an '80s twist.

I Wanna Rock: '80s Metal Dream will bow on the streaming service on Tuesday, July 18, 2023.

"Hairspray. Spandex. Leather pants," the streaming service teases.

"I Wanna Rock: The '80s Metal Dream follows five young dreamers chasing stardom in the cutthroat world of '80s metal. Some will succeed, some will fail, but each will make you see an entirely new side of the metal genre."

It sounds different, right?

MTV Entertainment Studios produce the series in partnership with Gunpowder & Sky. Directed and executive produced by Tyler Measom.

Produced by Van Toffler. Executive produced by David Kennedy, Nick Quested, Rick Krim, Matt Shay, Matt Weaver, Floris Bauer, Barry Barclay, and Joanna Zwickel.

Bruce Gillmer, Michael Maniaci, and Vanessa WhiteWolf executive produce for MTV Entertainment Studios,...

Have you ever been mesmerized by a magician on the big screen? Magic has always been a popular topic for movies, and there have been some great ones.

Hollywood has always been fascinated by the world of magic and illusion. From the early days of cinema, magicians have been appearing on the silver screen, performing their tricks for the amusement of moviegoers.

13 Movies About Twins You Can’t Miss

In recent years, there has been a renewed interest in magic in movies, with several films exploring the theme of magic and its place in the modern world.

These movies offer a unique perspective on the world of magic and provide audiences with an insight into the fascinating world of magicians.

They are also entertaining and often humorous, providing viewers with an enjoyable way to escape from the everyday world. Whether you are interested in the history of magic or want...

[This story contains spoilers from Netflix’s Murder Among the Mormons docuseries.]

Netflix’s Murder Among the Mormons has been a Hollywood story in the making since the 1985 bombings of Salt Lake City.

“This story was always in the mythology of Utah,” Tyler Measom tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Dozens of filmmakers have tried to tell it. I have a file of probably 40 to 50 production companies, large and small, that pounced as soon as the bombs went off up until just a few years ago. It’s a subject that’s always been wanting to tell, but a lot of people ...

[This story contains spoilers from Netflix’s Murder Among the Mormons docuseries.]

Netflix’s Murder Among the Mormons has been a Hollywood story in the making since the 1985 bombings of Salt Lake City.

“This story was always in the mythology of Utah,” Tyler Measom tells The Hollywood Reporter. “Dozens of filmmakers have tried to tell it. I have a file of probably 40 to 50 production companies, large and small, that pounced as soon as the bombs went off up until just a few years ago. It’s a subject that’s always been wanting to tell, but a lot of people ...

[Editor’s Note: The following interview contains spoilers for the Netflix series “Murder Among the Mormons.”]

There’s an overwhelming sense of unease right from the start of “Murder Among the Mormons.” Shannon Flynn, sitting in a chair and speaking to interviewers just off-camera, very politely asks that he not answer a particular question. It takes until the end of the three-part documentary series to find out what led to that reaction, but directors Tyler Measom and Jared Hess explained that feeling was in many ways a microcosm of how many people in the Salt Lake City area still live with the consequences of a series of deadly bombings over 35 years later.

“The first scene is usually one of the last things you put in a movie. In today’s world, in some aspects of streaming, the opening part of the documentary is so important. We want to hook the audience, but you also don’t want to give too much away,...

In today’s TV news roundup, Netflix announced the premiere date of “Jupiter’s Legacy,” and Showtime set the premiere date for Ziwe’s new variety show.

Casting

Rebbi Rosie, Keiynan Lonsdale and Enrique Murciano have joined Starz‘ “Step Up” series, while Terayle Hill was promoted to series regular, reprising his role as Marquise in the upcoming season. The new cast members join Christina Milian and Ne-Yo in the series inspired by the “Step Up” Lionsgate film franchise. It centers around Ne-Yo as Sage Odom, the legendary founder of Atlanta’s famed High Water Performing Art School, whose legacy and ventures are threatened by a dark secret. Rosie plays Angel, a Brit who ditched the underworld of London’s organized crime families to prove she belongs among the world’s best dancers; Lonsdale takes over the role of Tal, originally played by Petrice Jones, the lead dancer for Sage’s billion-dollar tour,...

Netflix has released the trailer for Murder Among the Mormons, a new documentary series that investigates the 1985 pipe bombing at Salt Lake City’s Lds Church, which killed two people and severely injured another.

The three-part series explores the history of the Mormon community in Utah and the role that the infamous White Salamander Letter played in the bombings. The injured victim of the bombing, Mark Hofmann, was a renowned collector of rare documents including the letter, worth a collective total of $1.5 million.

“The Salamander Letter gave a far different...

Netflix is adding another true-crime docuseries to its roster with a modern-day exploration on the Mormon murder mystery of 1985.

Murder Among the Mormons, a three-part documentary, will revisit the trio of bombings in Salt Lake City in 1985 that shocked the local Mormon community and threatened the historical foundations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The series is a BBC Studios Production and releases on the streaming giant March 3.

Directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Tyler Measom (An Honest Liar) — who were both raised in the Mormon faith — and executive produced by prolific ...

Netflix is adding another true-crime docuseries to its roster with a modern-day exploration on the Mormon murder mystery of 1985.

Murder Among the Mormons, a three-part documentary, will revisit the trio of bombings in Salt Lake City, 1985 that shocked the local Mormon community and threatened the historical foundations of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The series is a BBC Studios Production and releases on the streaming giant March 3.

Directed by Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and Tyler Measom (An Honest Liar) — who were each raised in the Mormon faith — and executive produced by prolific true-crime ...

The first thing you want from a history of MTV is to get dunked in the hot-but-cool nostalgia of it, and the fast, fleet documentary “I Want My MTV” delivers those 1980s goods about as good as you can get. Here’s “Video Killed the Radio Star,” the novelty single by the Buggles that launched the channel on Aug. 1, 1981 — a tune that, in hindsight, sounds as sing-song catchy in its percolating bliss as a Divertimento by Mozart. Here are the five original VJs — shaggy Mark Goodman, earnest Alan Hunter, snarky Martha Quinn, jovial J.J. Jackson, and hipstery Nina Blackwood — fumbling around against a set that looks more like Wayne Campbell’s basement than a television studio, tossing off we’re-making-this-up-on-the-spot-and-we-know-it patter that became the casual formative version of “attitude.”

Here are those primitive early days when for every music video that was made with flair, like the S&M-flavored Old...

The 18th Tribeca Film Festival will host big screen world premieres of major new small screen shows such as The Boys, Chernobyl, Tuca & Bertie and The Hot Zone. There will also be a special Tribeca Talks Farewell Conversation with the cast and creator of Mr. Robot and the creative team behind The Simpsons will celebrate the 30th anniversary of the longest-running animated series in television history.

James Kleinmann takes a look at some of the TV highlights at this year’s Tribeca, for the full lineup and to purchase tickets head to the official Tribeca website.

The Simpsons – 30th Anniversary The Simpsons – 30th Anniversary. Image courtesy of Fox

Following a screening of the episodes Marge vs the Monorail and The Day the Earth Stood Cool, the creative team behind The Simpsons will celebrate the show’s incredible thirty year run, and counting. Executive producers James L. Brooks, Matt Groening, Al Jean and Matt Selman,...

This is definitely the time of year when film critic types (I’m sure you know who I mean) spend an inordinate amount of time leading up to awards season—and it all leads up to awards season, don’t it?—compiling lists and trying to convince anyone who will listen that it was a shitty year at the movies for anyone who liked something other than what they saw and liked. And ‘tis the season, or at least ‘thas (?) been in the recent past, for that most beloved of academic parlor games, bemoaning the death of cinema, which, if the sackcloth-and-ashes-clad among us are to be believed, is an increasingly detached and irrelevant art form in the process of being smothered under the wet, steaming blanket of American blockbuster-it is. And it’s going all malnourished from the siphoning off of all the talent back to TV, which, as everyone knows,...

So here we are, smack dab in the middle of the dog days of summer (and if you don’t get that little saying, try lying out on the sidewalk in 100-degree heat for 15 minutes or so, like Fido does, and see if a light bulb doesn’t go off). The dogs are often howling in movie theaters too—at times it seems as though August has replaced January in the hearts of moviegoers as the dumping ground for pictures not really worthy of our attention (or a serious investment in the marketing department). Movies like Pixels and Fantastic Four have their perverse fascination—just how bad can they possibly be? Both were greeted with reviews so scathing and unyielding in their acidity that studio heads can only pray nothing in October, November or December will be perceived as worse, and I have to admit a certain curiosity. But that...

It should come as no surprise that Cannes Film Festival will play host to Kent Jones’s doc on the touchstone of filmmaking interview tomes, Hitchcock/Truffaut (see photo above). The film has been floating near the top of this list since it was announced last year as in development, while Jones himself has a history with the festival, having co-written both Arnaud Desplechin’s Jimmy P. and Martin Scorsese’s My Voyage To Italy, both of which premiered in Cannes. The film is scheduled to screen as part of the Cannes Classics sidebar alongside the likes of Stig Björkman’s Ingrid Bergman, in Her Own Words, which will play as part of the festival’s tribute to the late starlet, and Gabriel Clarke and John McKenna’s Steve McQueen: The Man & Le Mans (see trailer below). As someone who grew up watching road races with my dad in Watkins Glen,...

Films include a collaboration between Sing Sing prison inmates and a leading contemporary dance company from Turner Prize nominated visual artist Phil Collins.

Scroll down for full list of projects

Sheffield Doc/Fest (June 5-10) has revealed the titles that will pitch for funding at its MeetMarket initiative, celebrating 10 years in 2015.

A total of 64 filmmaker teams from 19 countries will pitch to international and UK decision makers for research, development and production funding

At Crossover Market, which includes digital titles, a further 26 interactive projects from 12 countries will pitch in one-to-one meetings to a range of specialist decision makers.

Among the Crossover projects being pitched are the latest from Oscar Raby who won last year’s Interactive Audience Award with Assent; and Ram Devineni who attracted funding at last year’s Crossover Market and Tribeca New Media Fund for Priya’s Shakti.

New pitch opportunities this year include a BBC Radio 1 and 1Xtra Stories commission for young filmmakers, the Guardian...

Chicago – Magician James Randi, or “The Amazing Randi,” has a made a legacy in using his love of magic to show audiences how they’re being tricked by evangelists, spoon-benders, psychics, etc. A ruthlessly charming Houdini-wannabe with instant showman charisma, he exists as the humbling gravity to a world that can convince itself that unattainable answers are to be found in ideas beyond science.

When someone claims that they’re able to talk to spirits from over 35,000 years ago, or can push a pen with extreme focus and the wave of their hand, Randi shows up at the scene, and throws down with logic at his side. It often happens on the stage of talk shows, whether it’s Johnny Carson or Larry King, and it’s glorious. He never loses. In a world where a sucker is indeed born every minute, he’s a hero as much as he is a necessity.

Jurassic World

The official Twitter account for Universal Pictures' "Jurassic World" has released two new photos featuring Chris Pratt as dinosaur trainer Owen Grady in the film to celebrate its release approximately three months from now on June 12th. Check out the first photo here and the second photo here.

Emmys

"Brooklyn Nine-Nine" star Andy Samberg has been announced as host of this year's Emmy awards, his first time hosting a major television event. Said awards are slated to air on September 20th. [Source: The Live Feed]

Disney

During yesterday's Disney annual shareholders meeting, the company's CEO Bob Iger not only made those big "Frozen 2" and "Star Wars" announcements, he also confirmed a new policy the studio has put in place.

That policy? Unless the film needs to be historically accurate, Disney has "absolutely prohibited" smoking in all films aimed at kids. Iger said the decision was made this week and that "I...

Film is based on James ‘The Amazing’ Randi’s real-life hoax orchestrated with two fake psychics.

Barry Sonnenfeld will direct a film based on real-life hoax Project Alpha.

Orchestrated by James ‘The Amazing’ Randi and two fake psychics, Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards, Project Alpha lasted over two years and saw them participate in a paranormal research project led by researchers who thought the fake psychics had genuine powers.

The hoax is explored in current documentary An Honest Liar directed by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, distributed in the Us through Abramorama. The directing duo will serve as producers on the new film.

Sonnenfeld commented: “Not only did I love An Honest Liar, but I knew there was an excellent narrative film to be made out of this story, with James Randi playing the ‘behind the curtain’ puppeteer.”...

Director Barry Sonnenfeld ("Get Shorty," "Men in Black") has a new project in the works, based on an elaborate 1979 hoax mounted by enigmatic magician and skeptic James "The Amazing" Randi. Known as "Project Alpha," the deception employed two fake psychics to fool paranormal researchers into believing they could bend spoons, blow fuses, and move objects inside sealed, transparent containers. Producers Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom recounted the two-year ruse in their documentary "An Honest Liar." The 86-year-old Randi, subject of a fascinating profile in the New York Times Magazine last fall, is known as an illusionist who's deeply invested in scientific investigations, a "debunker," as he's sometimes called, of "everything from fairies to telekinesis." For his part, Sonnenfeld, who cut his teeth as director of photography on Coen brothers' classics like "Blood Simple" (1984) and "Miller's...

Barry Sonnenfeld has signed on to direct a feature adaptation based on James “The Amazing' Randi's” Project Alpha, a real-life story that appeared in the feature documentary An Honest Liar. The project is currently in development. Justin Weinstein's and Tyler Measom's An Honest Liar is based on the life of psychic fake and debunker The Amazing Randi. Project Alpha was a ruse done by “Randi” along with Steve Shaw (known as Banachek) and Michael Edwards who auditioned for…...

After jumping back into the fantastical world of the Men In Black series and pondering making Kevin Spacey swap bodies with a family cat in the still-developing Nine Lives, Barry Sonnenfeld is looking for a little dose of reality. Well, we say reality, because a potential future film is based on a hoax. Sonnenfeld is aboard to direct a film based on magician James “The Amazing” Randi’s Project Alpha idea, which ran in the late 1970s and early ‘80s and saw him and two fake psychics pull a fast one on paranormal researchers. The hoaxers, including Steve Shaw and Michael Edwards, made the scientific team believe they had legitimate psychic powers not for an hour or an afternoon, but for two bloomin’ years. The fraud was eventually revealed publicly in Discover magazine.The hoax is also covered in Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s documentary of Randi, An Honest Liar,...

I’ve been a fan of Tyler Measom’s work ever since I wandered into a screening of his and Jennilyn Merten’s nail-biting portrait of teen exiles from the Flds Church, Sons of Perdition, at Tribeca five years back. (The doc ultimately went on to be picked up by the Oprah Winfrey Network for broadcast the following year.) Now Measom has teamed up with producer Justin Weinstein (a scientist turned filmmaker and both executive producer of Ryan Murdoch’s Bronx Obama and writer/editor of Constance Marks’s Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey) to craft another festival success story. An Honest Liar is an up […]...

I’ve been a fan of Tyler Measom’s work ever since I wandered into a screening of his and Jennilyn Merten’s nail-biting portrait of teen exiles from the Flds Church, Sons of Perdition, at Tribeca five years back. (The doc ultimately went on to be picked up by the Oprah Winfrey Network for broadcast the following year.) Now Measom has teamed up with producer Justin Weinstein (a scientist turned filmmaker and both executive producer of Ryan Murdoch’s Bronx Obama and writer/editor of Constance Marks’s Being Elmo: A Puppeteer’s Journey) to craft another festival success story. An Honest Liar is an up […]...

Hot projects new to Screenbase include Nicolas Winding Refn feature The Neon Demon, Pope Francis biopic Francisco, Brady Corbet’s directorial debut The Childhood Of A Leader and a new adaptation by Wim Wenders.Nicolas Winding Refn’s The Neon Demon

Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves, Christina Hendricks, Abbey Lee, Bella Heathcote and Jena Malone have signed on to co-star in Nicolas Winding Refn’s next feature.

“After making Drive and falling madly in love with the electricity of Los Angeles, I knew I had to return to tell the story of The Neon Demon,” Winding Refn said.

Principal photography will begin in Los Angeles on March 30. Gaumont and Wild Bunch are co-selling the title.

Wim Wenders’ Les Beaux Jours D’Aranjuez

This adaptation of the play by Peter Handke was announced by Alfama’s Paulo Branco during the Efm. It will star Reda Kateb and Sophie Semin. Wenders is expected to shoot in June.

Brady Corbet’s [link...

Richard Abramowitz will guide the nationwide release of the documentary through his company.

Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s documentary trains its sights on James ‘The Amazing’ Randi, the magician, escapologist and debunker of the paranormal.

Barry Sonnenfeld and Nick Fraser of BBC Storyville are among the executive producers.

Abramowitz is partnering with the film team using his film-makers’ participation model that provides for equitable participation without a transfer of rights.

In keeping with the business plan Abramowitz established under his Abramorama banner more than 15 years ago, the film-makers will maintain active involvement in the marketing and distribution.

“A big part of what I’ve done all these years is to empower the film-makers and work side-by-side with them so that they have a real voice in the way their films are presented,” said Abramowitz.

“An Honest Liar is a smart, insightful film and I feel privileged to be able to help Justin, Tyler and executive...

Further reminding us that the Academy Awards are irrelevant in year-end discussions for the best in documentary film, according to the experts at the Cinema Eye Honors’ voting committee, Laura Poitras’ Citizenfour, Steve James’ Life Itself and Iain Forsyth and Jane Pollard’s 20,000 Days on Earth would be among the best docu films of the year, leading the pack in almost all categories. Not to be overlooked, Jesse Moss’ The Overnighters and Robert Greene’s Actress received kudos in Outstanding Achievement in Nonfiction Feature Filmmaking and Outstanding Achievement in Direction while the major surprise of the noms belongs to Orlando von Einsiedel’s Virunga (presented at the Tribeca and Hot Docs Film Fests) grabbing a total of three. Left completely off the scorecard, Manakamana failed to produce a single nom. The Cinema Eye Honors winners will be announced on Wednesday, January 7 at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image.

Our “Hidden Treats” series continues with a chat with Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, whose documentary An Honest Liar examines influential – and controversial – magician and activist skeptic James “The Amazing” Randi. Randi himself was also in attendance at… Continue Reading →

The post Hidden Treats Day 2: The Amazing Randi, Justin Weinstein & Tyler Measom Talk An Honest Liar appeared first on Dread Central.

The audience awards at this year's AFI Docs went to two films that cover vastly different subjects, yet, at the the same time share the same, core premise. Both "An Honest Liar" and "Beyond Recognition: The Incredible Story of a Face Transplant" -- this year's audience award winners for Best Feature and Best Short, respectively -- share a contemplative concern for notions of appearance. "An Honest Liar" follows a passionate illusionist names James "The Amazing" Randi. As a magician, Randi not only performs, but also has made it his life's mission to expose fraudulent healers and psychics who use magic tricks to con people out of money. "Beyond Recognition," on the other hand, chronicles the journey of a burn victim who elects to undergo experimental face transplant surgery. Co-directed by Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom, "An Honest Liar" premiered at Tribeca earlier this year. Sam Thonis' "Beyond...

Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom’s film earned the festival’s audience award for best feature at the weekend.

The audience award for best short went To Beyond Recoginition: The Incredible Story Of A Face Transplant by Sam Thonis.

“Congratulations to An Honest Liar [pictured] and Beyond Recognition for winning over audiences with their remarkable stories,” said festival director Christine O’Malley. “We would like to thank all of the filmmakers who traveled from far and wide for making this year’s AFI Docs an extraordinary one.”

Several policymakers participated in festival events including Senate majority leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Senator Barbara Boxer of California, Senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

They were joined by South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool and Francois Rivasseau, deputy-head of the EU Delegation to the Us.

More than 100 filmmakers from 29 countries attended including Alex Gibney, Ross Kauffman, Joe Berlinger, Marshall Curry and Steve...

And Tribeca Film Festival 2014 is a wrap! While we put together our interview footage and write up some full reviews, let's dive back into our mini reviews so you'll know what movies to watch for as they nab distribution.

Preservation - directed by Christopher Denham (USA)

A disgruntled vet, his work-obsessed brother and his somewhat timid wife trek into an off limits nature preserve to live off the land, hunt with their dog... and fight for their lives!! And that's pretty much the whole plot.

The film takes a great deal of time at the front end setting up every little thing that unfolds in the back end but fails to flesh out likable characters you'll not want to see killed or present villains that elicit any emotion from the viewer whatsoever. Offering nothing new to a sub-genre that has plenty of titles to choose from, Preservation should be left out to rot.

With a life and occupation not unlike Harry Houdini's, "The Amazing" Randi set out to shame fakers and sub-par psychics with his performances. But going beyond his bewitching story, the investigative documentary, "An Honest Liar," takes a closer look at the deceptive escapade that became his life-long career. Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom's documentary is coming to 2014 Tribeca Film Festival. Watch the trailer to see footage of real tricks, escape artistry, bending spoons, and bits of interviews with Alice Cooper, Richard Dawkins, Bill Nye, Penn & Teller, and Adam Savage weighing in on the hoodwinking wonder. The film world premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 18.

Documentaries are prone to exposing surprising truths, which makes Tyler Measom and Justin Weinstein's film "An Honest Liar" all the more complex given the nature of its subject: the art of deception. Measom and Weinstein chronicle the life of famed magician James "The Amazing" Randi and his attempt to expose the numerous frauds who use their tricks to con people out of money, which ultimately proves to be quite the trick itself. Tell us about yourself. Tyler Measom: I am but a humble chimney sweep and documentary filmmaker laboring to put bread on the table. "An Honest Liar" is my third feature to premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. The others: "Take" (2008) starring Minnie Driver and Jeremy Renner and the documentary "Sons of Perdition" (2010). I live and work under the shade of a large oak tree in the lovely town of Salt Lake City. And no, I'm not a Mormon.

By the looks of it, the Tribeca Film Festival might finally be growing out of their awkward teenage phase and moving into a new era where the nab more than just Sundance and SXSW festival rejects. Artistic Director Frederic Boyer has managed to nab some noteworthy American indie projects such as Lou Howe’s Gabriel (see pic above), Keith Miller’s Five Star, Adam Rapp’s Loitering with Intent, and Tristan Patterson’s Electric Slide.

On the docu front, we’ve got the latest from the likes of notable documentarians Marshall Curry and Jessica Yu. Think Ewan McGregor’s Long Way Round meets child solider movie for Curry’s awesomely titled Point and Shoot — where the Libyan rebel army take hold of Curry’s subject. Yu moves from water shortage in Last Call at the Oasis (read our review) to the biggest pandemic of all; Misconception looks at the consequences...

The 13th Tribeca Film Festival has announced half its slate for next month’s New York celebration, which runs April 16-27. Culled from more than 6,000 submissions, Tribeca 2014 includes 55 world premieres, 37 first-time filmmakers, and 22 female directors. “Variously inspired by individual interests and experience and driven by an intense sensibility of style, the array of new filmmaking voices in this year’s competition is especially impressive and I think memorable,” said Frederic Boyer, Tribeca’s artistic director. “The range of American subcultures and international genres represented here are both eclectic and wide reaching.”

On April 17, Gabriel will open the World Narrative competition,...

Tribeca Film Festival top brass have announced (4) the World Narrative and Documentary Competition film selections and Viewpoints titles, comprising 47 of the 89 features that will screen at the festival over April 16-27.

The World Narrative Feature Competition will open with the world premiere of Lou Howe’s Gabriel starring Rory Culkin, while the corresponding documentary category kicks off with the world premiere of Frédéric Tcheng’s Dior And I (pictured).

Viewpoints opens with the world premiere of Onur Tukel’s Summer Of Blood and the section includes the North American premiere of Diao Yinan’s Berlin Golden Bear winner Black Coal, Thin Ice as well as the Us premiere of David Mackenzie’s Starred Up.

All three sections will commence on April 17. As previously announced, the 2014 Tribeca Film Festival will open with documentary Time Is Illmatic a day earlier.

Overall the festival will screen features from 32 countries including 55 world premieres, six international premieres, 12 North American...

Congratulations to "An Honest Liar: The Amazing Randi Story" directors Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom! The project received the most votes to win January's Project of the Month. The prize is a creative consultation from the Tribeca Film Institute. Here's a look at the film's pitch: An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of famed magician-turned-skeptic and enemy of deception, James “The Amazing” Randi. The film brings to life his elaborate schemes and investigations that famously exposed psychics, faith healers and con artists. Yet after recently coming out of the closet as a gay man, Randi himself now faces the price of a very personal deception that might result in the deportation of his partner of 26 years. For more information on this project, visit its Project of the Day page. If you’re a filmmaker (or know one) and you want us to...

When looking for crowd-funding campaigns to spotlight each week, I often think about our readers. Documentaries about geeky subject matter and/or the failure of a certain comic book movie. Maybe a narrative film that might appeal to genre fans. But this week I’m going with something that I personally really, really want to see and hope that you’ll agree is deserving of a few of your pre-purchase dollars, too. It’s a doc about a famous stage magician called The Amazing Randi. After making a name for himself as an illusionist, including a special gig on tour with Alice Cooper, he became more well known for debunking other people’s tricks. Not magicians but “spiritualist” and “psychic” con men who pass off illusion as miracle or paranormal activity. Obviously he became rather controversial. The film is called An Honest Liar: The Amazing Randi Story and is co-directed by Justin Weinstein, who...

Thanks to your votes, the film about the magician who comes out as gay, "An Honest Liar," won this weekend’s Project of the Week contest! Congratulations to "An Honest Liar" directors Justin Weinstein and Tyler Measom. The filmmakers will receive a digital distribution consultation from SnagFilms and the film is now officially a candidate for Project of the Month. That winner will be awarded with a consultation from the Tribeca Film Institute. Here's what the project's about: An Honest Liar tells the incredible story of famed magician-turned-skeptic and enemy of deception, James “The Amazing” Randi. The film brings to life his elaborate schemes and investigations that famously exposed psychics, faith healers and con artists. Yet after recently coming out of the closet as a gay man, Randi himself now faces the price of a very...

Sons of Perdition, the powerful second installment of Oprah Winfrey’s Documentary Club on Own, is a candid, up-close account of several teenage boys who escaped from a fundamentalist-Mormon polygamist compound. As the title says, their upbringing has taught them that defying the sect's rigid control will damn them forever, and like Huck Finn declaring, ”All right, then I’ll go to hell,” they land on their own with no money but with a determined sense of freedom. As the cameras follow them, we see that they have fewer survival skills than Huck. Directors Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Mertens spent more than…...

Co-directed by Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten, Sons Of Perdition is a documentary that delves into a taboo subject many Americans probably don.t even realize still exists. While HBO.s hit series Big Love paints an intriguing, if not disturbing, image of the fringe religious culture, this film draws upon the true accounts of teens exiled from their families and community.

Polygamy is a term most readily associated with a past era, but there are still group of people tucked away, out of sight from the larger population, that subscribe to the most fundamental teachings of Mormonism, or he Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, even if the film rarely touches on that direct association. The faith has been making a widespread PR-campaign, but to be fair they.re just trying (in my opinion) to separate themselves from the extreme fundamentalists, like those the teens portrayed in this film have been removed.

Los Angeles, CA, United States (Ahn Entertainment) - The Oprah Winfrey Network has released the air dates of the three newest films to be added to the Own Documentary Club.

The three films, "Sons of Perdition," "Serving Life" and "Life 2.0," will be broadcast this summer following the release of the first film in the series, "Becoming Chaz," airs Tuesday.

"Sons of Perdition" follows three teenage boys as they escape from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound, the oldest polygamy compound in the United States. Without resources or knowledge of life outside their compound, they struggle to adapt to life in mainstream America while having only the support of fellow castaways to provide structure in this unfamiliar territory.

The documentary has been seen at more than 30 film festivals, with Filmmaker magazine calling it "an emotional rollercoaster" and the Huffington Post referring to it as "a penetrating, insightful and riveting documentary." Produced...

Los Angeles, CA, United States (Ahn Entertainment) - The Oprah Winfrey Network has released the air dates of the three newest films to be added to the Own Documentary Club.

The three films, "Sons of Perdition," "Serving Life" and "Life 2.0," will be broadcast this summer following the release of the first film in the series, "Becoming Chaz," airs Tuesday.

"Sons of Perdition" follows three teenage boys as they escape from the Fundamentalist Latter Day Saints compound, the oldest polygamy compound in the United States. Without resources or knowledge of life outside their compound, they struggle to adapt to life in mainstream America while having only the support of fellow castaways to provide structure in this unfamiliar territory.

The documentary has been seen at more than 30 film festivals, with Filmmaker magazine calling it "an emotional rollercoaster" and the Huffington Post referring to it as "a penetrating, insightful and riveting documentary." Produced...

The Independent Film Festival of Boston (IFFBoston) kicks off this Wednesday, and has a number of impressive films in its line-up. The festival will take place at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, the Brattle Theatre in Harvard Square, the Coolidge Corner Theatre in Brookline, and the Stuart Street Playhouse in downtown Boston. The festival, complete with over 110 film screenings, filmmaker Q&A sessions, panel discussions, visiting filmmakers, parties and events will showcase the best in current American and International cinema.

The opening night film of the festival is Being Elmo directed by Constance Marks will open the 9th annual festival on April 27th at the Somerville Theatre. This marks the first time the festival will open with a documentary. The film follows Kevin Clash, from humble upbringings as he follows his dream to become a puppeteer and one day work with his idol, Jim Henson, to the present day...

The Independent Film Festival of Boston [1] recently released their full line-up and it's a doozy. Sundance favorites such as The Future [2] and Submarine [3] will be there, along with awesome documentaries like Being Elmo [4] (With Elmo In Attendance!!!) and Page One: A Year Inside the New York Times [5]. I'm looking forward to films I wasn't able to catch at Sundance and SXSW, such as the legal documentary Hot Coffee, the heartbreaking How to Die in Oregon, and the new fascinating Conan O'Brien film. Takashi Miike's 13 Assassins [6] also looks like it will rock the house. The full line-up is below. The festival is April 27th through May 4th, and it's one of my favorite movie events of the year. If you live anywhere in New England, I invite you to come and check it out. You can follow IFFBoston on Facebook for updates [7] or buy your passes now [8]! Narrative Features 13 Assassins...

I hope Sons of Perdition is given wide distribution because directors Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten have done a great service to all Americans by making this documentary. Everyone must be made more aware of the extent to which innocent people are being persecuted by leaders of religious cults in this country. The movie follows a group of young Mormons who have been raised in the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Flds) and who choose to risk going to hell, something they really fear, by running away from the tyranny to gain freedom of thought. What greater intellectual and emotional journey can even be imagined? I have read and seen films about cults before, but this movie really brings home the degree of psychological abuse that a manipulative power-hungry religious fanatic can wreak on the people that...

The heartbreaking story at the center of Sons of Perdition is one that frequently appeared on the fringes of news stories about polygamist leader Warren Jeffs, whose 2007 conviction on charges of being an accomplice to child rape shed light on the strange world of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A conservative fringe branch of the Mormon faith, the Flds community mandates polygamy and absolute adherence to the commands of "prophet" Jeffs, meaning that young girls can be married off to men twice their age, or that families can be broken up because Jeffs took an interest in one of the wives, or a man "misbehaved" and was punished by having a wife taken away. Any dissenters in this strict society, particularly male ones, are banished outside of the community and dubbed "sons of perdition," as filmmakers Tyler Measom and Jennilyn Merten explore in their fascinating documentary.