News

When you purchase through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Puppy Love is a romantic comedy film directed by Nick Fabiano and Richard Alan Reid from a screenplay co-written by Greg Glienna, Peter Stass, and Kristen Guenther. The rom-com film stars Grant Gustin and Lucy Hale in the lead roles of Max and Nicole. Puppy Love follows the two after a horrible first date but Max’s dog gets pregnant by Nicole’s dog and this starts a cutesy and anxiety-filled love story. So, if you loved the romance, comedy, and charming characters in Puppy Love here are some similar movies you should check out next.

Rescued by Ruby (Netflix) Credit – Netflix

Rescued by Ruby is a biographical comedy-drama film directed by Katt Shea from a screenplay by Karen Janszen. Based on a true story, the 2022 film follows the story of State Trooper Daniel O’Neil who dreams of...

AI is “giving Bitcoin”, according to Swarm and She-Hulk: Attorney At Law writer Kara Brown.

Brown, speaking on a panel at the Banff Media Festival alongside This Is Us writer Elan Mastai and Crazy Rich Asians writer Adele Lim, highlighted the challenges for writers as the strike against the studios is in its second month.

But while Brown discussed the issue of artificial intelligence, which has become one of the most talked about issues during the strike, she said that there are more fundamental issues at heart, including residuals. “It sounds scary, but to me at least, I don’t think it’s close to our biggest issue,” she added.

Brown highlighted the lack of streaming residuals as one of her main concerns, having previously written shows for cable and broadcast. She said that she’ll never get another cheque for work on Disney+’s She-Hulk. “That character we built,...

As the Hollywood writers strike extends well into its second month, top screenwriters at the Banff World Media Festival declared their resolve to see the current negotiations between the Writers Guild of America and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers reach a comprehensive and uncompromising new labor contract.

“The Writers Guild means business,” Adele Lim, whose screenwriting credits include Crazy Rich Asians, told a festival panel when asked what might be the impact on the labor talks from SAG-AFTRA starting negotiations with the AMPTP, with the threat of a wider work stoppage and the possibility of a separate deal for Hollywood actors.

“We’re not going to take that as the pattern for what we need to accept with the SAG contract,” Lim insisted. The screenwriters in Banff instead talked up the benefits of being in alignment with the often fractious world of Hollywood unions, while also striving...

Organizers of the Banff World Media Festival, which annually attracts top Hollywood talent and execs, say devastating wildfires in Alberta do not pose any threat to the industry event, which gets underway Sunday.

“There are no major wildfires within or near Banff National Park and air quality is not presently an issue in Banff,” Jenn Kuzmyk, executive director of the Banff TV Festival told The Hollywood Reporter.

The festival all-clear came as top industry execs such as CBS CEO George Cheeks, Fremantle CEO Jennifer Mullin and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds actors Celia Rose Gooding and Ethan Peck are set to participate in informal conversations and panels in Banff National Park next week.

Also headed to Banff, where wilderness-bound Hollywood celebrities annually have to contend with little more than pesky mosquitoes and deer and elk sightings, are This Is Us writer Elan Mastai; Killing It star and The Office alum Craig Robinson,...

On the JoBlo Movies YouTube channel, we will be posting one full movie every other day throughout the week, giving viewers the chance to watch them entirely free of charge. The Free Movie of the Day we have for you today is the comedy Mountain Men, starring Chace Crawford and Tyler Labine. You can watch it over on the YouTube channel linked above, or you can just watch it in the embed at the top of this article.

Directed by Cameron Labine, who wrote the script with Elan Mastai, Mountain Men has the following synopsis: Mountain Men is a comedy/drama that follows two estranged brothers, Toph and Cooper, as they journey to a remote family cabin in the mountains to evict a squatter. Buried resentment and bruised egos soon derail the plan and when the smoke clears they’ve destroyed their car and burned down the cabin, leaving them...

It was an end of an era for NBC as This Is Us and the story of the Pearsons came to a close on Tuesday night. For six seasons, the family drama created by Dan Fogelman starred Mandy Moore, Milo Ventimiglia, Chrissy Metz, Sterling K. Brown and Justin Hartley as the loving members of the Pearson family.

“”The end of This Is Us has been a bittersweet but lovely march for those of us who have worked on it. We’ve had so many occassions to clink glasses, and give gifts and say sentimental things to other sentimental people at a sentimental moment in time,” Fogelman said in a social media post of Tuesday.

Like fans of This Is Us, the series creator remembered his time with the long-running drama. In his lengthy social media post, Fogelman thanked fans who followed the Pearson family, “whether you stayed from start to finish,...

Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Don’t Let Me Keep You,” Tuesday’s episode of “This Is Us.”

While there are many loose ends that “This Is Us” still has left to tie up for fans almost halfway through its sixth and final season, the fate of Milo Ventimiglia’s Jack Pearson has been a firm knot for years now. However, this week’s episode of the NBC family drama revealed one heartbreaking still-untold story about the now-deceased family patriarch: How his own mother, whom he had moved to Ohio help her escape his abusive father, died before he ever ever got to really know her.

“Looking at Jack’s arc from Season 1 to 2 to 3, there’s a lot that we’re learning about him, good and bad,” Ventimiglia told Variety ahead of Tuesday’s episode of “This Is Us,” titled “Don’t Let Me Keep You.

Seth MacFarlane has teamed up with Amy Pascal to adapt Elan Mastai’s novel All Our Wrong Todays for Peacock.

The pair are developing a series adaptation for the NBCU streamer.

Published in 2018, the book is a mind-bending time-travel love story that explores alternate versions of ourselves in dramatically surprising and often unexpected ways. It tells the story of Tom Barren’s world, set in 2016, where technology has solved all of humanity’s problems — there’s no war, no poverty, no under-ripe avocadoes. Unfortunately, Tom isn’t happy. He’s lost the girl of his dreams. And what do you do when you’re heartbroken and have a time machine? Something stupid.

Finding himself stranded in a terrible alternate reality, Tom is desperate to fix his mistake and go home. Right up until the moment he discovers wonderfully unexpected versions of his family, his career and the woman who might...

Elan Mastai is developing a series adaptation of his novel “All Our Wrong Todays” at Peacock with Seth MacFarlane onboard as an executive producer.

The project is described as a mind bending time travel love story that explores alternate versions of ourselves in dramatically surprising and often unexpected ways.

Mastai will adapt the novel for the screen. MacFarlane and Erica Huggins will executive produce via Fuzzy Door Productions, with Fuzzy Door’s Rachel Hargreaves-Heald overseeing the project. Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor of Pascal Pictures will also executive produce. UCP will serve as the studio. Fuzzy Door is currently under a rich overall deal at UCP.

Mastai currently works as a writer and supervising producer on the hit NBC drama series “This Is Us.” His feature credits include “What If” and “The Samaritan.” “All Our Wrong Todays” was originally published in 2017 and has since been translated into 24 languages.

He is...

Peacock has put into development a series adaptation of the time-travel romance novel “All Our Wrong Todays” by Elan Mastai, the streamer announced Wednesday.

Originally published in 2017, “All Our Wrong Todays” was the debut novel by Mastai, best known for his work on NBC’s “This Is Us” and the 2013 film “What If” starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan and Adam Driver.

The series is described as a “mind-bending time travel love story that explores alternate versions of ourselves in dramatically surprising and often unexpected ways.”

Mastai will adapt his own novel, with Seth MacFarlane serving as an executive producer on the adaptation under his company Fuzzy Door’s overall deal with UCP. Additional executive producers on the project include Erica Huggins of Fuzzy Door and Amy Pascal and Rachel O’Connor of Pascal Pictures.

Fuzzy Door’s pact with UCP has proved to be a fruitful one for the studio, with...

Seth MacFarlane continues to add to his increasingly prolific slate at NBCUniversal.

The Family Guy creator is teaming with This Is Us writer Elan Mastai to adapt the latter’s best-selling novel All Our Wrong Todays for Peacock. The drama, which is currently in the development stage, is based on the time-traveling love story that explores alternate versions of ourselves in dramatically surprising and unexpected ways.

Mastai will pen the script for the potential series and exec produce the drama alongside MacFarlane and his Fuzzy Door partner Erica Huggins. Fuzzy Door’s Rachel Hargreaves-Heald will oversee for the company. Amy ...

Seth MacFarlane continues to add to his increasingly prolific slate at NBCUniversal.

The Family Guy creator is teaming with This Is Us writer Elan Mastai to adapt the latter’s best-selling novel All Our Wrong Todays for Peacock. The drama, which is currently in the development stage, is based on the time-traveling love story that explores alternate versions of ourselves in dramatically surprising and unexpected ways.

Mastai will pen the script for the potential series and exec produce the drama alongside MacFarlane and his Fuzzy Door partner Erica Huggins. Fuzzy Door’s Rachel Hargreaves-Heald will oversee for the company. Amy ...

The Whistler Film Festival (November 28 — December 2) is hosting the industry’s top screenwriters at highly anticipated 7th consecutive event in Whistler.

This year’s honoured screenwriters will share their personal stories and challenges related to succeeding in today’s film industry at an afternoon conversation on December 1 as part of Wff’s Signature Series as well as receive their coveted award at Wff’s Awards Celebration on December 2.

Hosted by Canadian broadcast veteran George Stroumboulopoulos, festival goers will join this prestigious class of film scribes as they discuss tips and tricks for navigating the film landscape in 2018. The group will also share a behind the scenes look at their current and future projects during this intimate conversation.

Variety’s class of 2018 screenwriters and notable credits include:

Joe Robert Cole, Black PantherBryan Woods and Scott Beck, A Quiet PlaceAshleigh Powell, The Nutcracker And The Four RealmsJay Longino, Uncle DrewElizabeth Chomko, What They HadSofia Alvarez,...

All Our Wrong Todays

Paramount Pictures and Pascal Pictures have scored the film rights to Elan Mastai's debut novel "All Our Wrong Todays". Mastai will write the script for the adaptation while Amy Pascal is attached to produce.

The story follows a man from a utopian alternate universe who, through a time travel malfunction, winds up marooned in the real (and messy) 2015. He must decide if he wants to establish a life in this new world or head back home. [Source: Heat Vision]

Untitled Disney Sled Dog Project

Disney Pictures are developing a live-action film about Togo and Leonhard Seppala, two of the key sledding figures in the 1925 Nome Serum Run (aka. The Great Race of Mercy). Tom Flynn will pen the script.

In the incident, dog sleds played a major role in transporting diphtheria serum through harsh conditions over nearly 700 miles to save the city from an epidemic. The story will...

Daniel Radcliffe has been acting since the age of 9, when he played the young David Copperfield opposite Maggie Smith in the BBC’s 1999 adaptation of the classic Dickens story. But it was in 2001, when Radcliffe was cast as the titular boy wizard of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone that he became an internationally recognised movie star. Eight feature films, adapted from the seven novels by Jk Rowling, were to follow, grossing more than $7bn at the global box office.

With roles in December Boys and My Boy Jack, Radcliffe proved he was no one-trick pony. But it was his 2007 turn on stage – in Thea Sharrock’s West End revival of Peter Shaffer’s play Equus – that established Radcliffe as a serious young actor. Then 17, Radcliffe earned rave reviews for his haunting turn as Alan Strang, a role that required him to disrobe. The actor was nominated for a...

The Vancouver critics have just joined the party, always offering an interesting assortment of nominations given their practice of splitting off a whole separate section for Canadian films. "Birdman" led the way in the international list, while Xavier Dolan's "Mommy" led the way in the Canadian section (which will probably be cold comfort after his film was unceremoniously snubbed by the Academy's foreign film committee). Check out the full list of nominees below. Winners will be announced on Jan. 5. And, you know: The Circuit. International Best Film "Birdman" "Boyhood" "Whiplash" Best Director Wes Anderson, "The Grand Budapest Hotel" Alejandro González Iñárritu, "Birdman" Richard Linklater, "Boyhood" Best Actor Benedict Cumberbatch, "The Imitation Game" Jake Gyllenhaal, "Nightcrawler" Michael Keaton, "Birdman" Best Actress Marion Cotillard, "The Immigrant" Tilda Swinton, "Only Lovers Left Alive" Reese Witherspoon, "Wild" Best Supporting Actor Edward Norton, "Birdman" Mark Ruffalo, "Foxcatcher" J.K. Simmons, "Whiplash" Best Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette,...

Director: Michael Dowse; Screenwriter: Elan Mastai; Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, Rafe Spall, Megan Park Running time: 102 mins; Certificate: 15

Can men and women ever be 'just friends'? Director Rob Reiner asked the question in 1989 with When Harry Met Sally and we knew the answer then, just as we do from the very beginning of What If. After all, much of the comedy springs like the sweat of desperation from Daniel Radcliffe's brow as he tries to contain his feelings for Zoe Kazan (aka Ruby Sparks), playing the typically cute, clever but kooky heroine who keeps him dangling.

Wallace (Radcliffe) is a med school dropout, which might imply issues around commitment, except that he's split from his long-term college sweetheart and can't get over it. That is until he claps eyes on cartoonist Chantry (Kazan) at one of those cosy, dimly lit parties that only exist...

In the new romantic comedy, Broadway regulars Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan play a couple who are struggling to stay 'just friends.' In my review, I wrote, 'the chemistry between the two threatens to light the screen on fire.' In advance of the opening in select cities, including New York and Los Angeles, I spoke with director Michael Dowse and screenwriter Elan Mastai about the film.

The F Word, or What If as it’s being titled in the Us, is hitting theatres this Friday and last week, the stars, writer and director of the film stopped by Toronto for the Canadian premiere.

The romantic comedy features Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan in the lead roles, playing Wallace and Chantry, respectively. After getting out of a particularly bad relationship, Wallace is looking for love again and finds it when he meets Chantry. Hitting it off almost immediately, it’s clear that there’s a potent spark and chemistry between the two. There’s just one problem, however, and that’s that Chantry is currently living with her longtime boyfriend.

While at the Canadian premiere, we had the chance to catch up with Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, co-star Megan Park and writer Elan Mastai. They spoke about how excited they are that people are finally seeing the movie,...

The C Word: Dowse’s Latest a Joy Despite Censor Scramble

Don’t let the marketing snafu and the hopelessly generic title fool you into thinking that What If is the forgettable rom com it’s being offered up as. Directed by Canadian director Michael Dowse, the man behind the Fubar films and the equally underrated Goon (2011), the film premiered last fall at the Toronto Film Festival as The F Word and has since been retooled to meet the constrictions of the MPAA rating system and snag a PG-13 rating. While this was an ill-advised move since the film isn’t designed for the bauble headed teens hungry for more heteronormative confirmation about what adolescent romance should look like, Dowse’s final product prevails as an enjoyable jaunt through a stale genre. Ultimately ending up exactly where we think it will, the journey there is always fresh and never contrived,...

This rom-com is really an updated take on When Harry Met Sally . . . for millennials. Meaning, can a guy be friends with a babe without trying to boff her? Luckily, Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan spin sweet magic out of blah-blah-blah clichés. I like when that happens.

In this Toronto-set fable, Radcliffe plays Wallace, a med-school dropout, dumped by his Gf and – ouch! – living with his single-mom sister. Kazan, radiating smarts and seductive appeal, plays Chantry (great name), an animator Wallace sparks to at a party. She has a boyfriend, Ben (Rafe Spall). If she didn't,...

I recently spoke to the director of 'What If,' Michael Dowse, about the film's intelligent, cliche-defying approach to the familiar Rom-Com genre, and directing actors with extensive stage experience like Radcliffe, Kazan, and Driver. I also spoke to screenwriter Elan Mastai, and that conversation will be available on BroadwayWorld tomorrow, as will my review of the film, so check back with us on Friday for all the 'What If' you can handle.

Daniel Radcliffe stars in the new romantic comedy What If, opposite Zoe Kazan, as Wallace, his first non-fantasy, non-period character.

Daniel Radcliffe Stars In What If

Over the years, Radcliffe has played both fictional characters, such as the most famous boy wizard (Harry Potter series) and real people, like beat poet Allen Ginsberg (Kill Your Darlings). What If, however, may have presented him with his most challenging role yet: that of a normal, contemporary man. In an exclusive chat with uInterview, Radcliffe revealed that, despite his accomplishments, he worried about playing a character who so closely resembled himself.

“I think I’ve always been nervous about playing a character that was similar to me, because I thought, ‘Well, that’s not really acting.’ But being yourself on camera is, actually – well, there’s an act to that,” Radcliffe told uInterview at a fan screening of What If.

Daniel Radcliffe On...

Canadian director Michael Dowse is not the sort of filmmaker that seems well-suited to handle a twee romantic comedy like What If, but he is qualified for a ribald look at 20-something relationships like The F Word, which happen to be the same film. Titles, like book covers, shouldn’t be used to judge a film itself, but the name change from The F Word (which the film premiered as at the Toronto International Film Festival) to What If is indicative of the competing sensibilities at play in Dowse’s latest. Transitioning here to the friend zone from the penalty box, Dowse’s 2011 film, Goon, was a piss and vinegar-fuelled story of a lunkhead bouncer rising to minor fame as a hockey enforcer, its secret weapon being a surprising sweetness to compliment the small stakes. As implied by its original, MPAA feather-ruffling title, What If carries over Goon’s gently raunchy spirit,...

Perhaps the best thing about “What If,” the new romantic comedy from director Michael Dowse (“Goon”), is that for all of its banter and batted eyes, from its awkward introductions to its inevitable climactic declarations of love, everyone in it feels like a real human being. They make mistakes, they talk over each other, they recoil or lash out when their feelings are hurt. Adapted by Elan Mastai from a stage play by T.J. Dawe and Michael Rinaldi, “What If” doesn't follow the traditional rom-com template where our young couple holds hands in a montage set to a chiming, catchy.

What If

Directed by Michael Dowse

Written by Elan Mastai

Ireland/Canada, 2013

While the new indie rom-com, What If, has a serious aversion to conflict, it’s also inescapably charming. A strong cast delivers enough laughs and cheeky irreverence to elevate this otherwise breezy tale to more delightfully cynical heights. You probably won’t remember it in a couple of weeks, but What If is a great way to spend the evening with your future ex.

The true measure of success for any romantic comedy is how badly we want the lead characters to hook up. On that count, What If scores major points. Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) and Chantry (Zoe Kazan) are two slightly-odd ducks who “meet cute” at a friend’s party; while everyone else mingles, they abscond to the kitchen to re-arranging refrigerator magnets. Wallace hasn’t had much luck in love, a point frequently hammered home by his outgoing best friend,...

Get a behind-the-scenes look at the upcoming romantic comedy The F Word starring Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, andAdam Driver in this video featurette.

The shot-in-Toronto film is a modern love story that explores the question of whether or not men and women can be friends…especially when there’s an underlying attraction to the other person present. Directed by Michael Dowse(Goon) with a script by Elan Mastai, The F Word breaks out of the conventional rom-com box and positions itself as a unique tale of what it means to be friends in the 21st century.

Co-starring Megan Park, Mackenzie Davis, and Rafe Spall, the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and is finally hitting Cineplex screens on August 22. But you won’t be able to find The F Word in Us theatres.

The film underwent a name change in the United States where it has...

Stars: Daniel Radcliffe, Adam Driver, Zoe Kazan, Rafe Spall, Megan Park, Mackenzie Davis, Lucius Hoyos, Jemima Rooper | Written by Elan Mastai | Directed by Michael Dowse

I was lucky enough to see an advance screening of What If this week, a romantic comedy with a quirky edge to it that makes if feel somewhat fresh, like Ruby Sparks (2012) or 500 Days of Summer (2009).

Based on a play by T.J. Dawe and directed by Michael Dowse (Goon, Fubar), this indie comedy with heart is heavy on conversationalist dialogue, wears it’s heard on its sleeve and is, throughout its just-over 90 minute running time, a delightful story of boy and girl meet, girl has boyfriend, boy wants to make a move but can’t, difficulties in their friendship occur. It seems, on the surface, and on paper, a little predictable and run of the mill, but feels much more out of the ordinary in...

There are many things that can get in the way of true love, but one surefire way to put an end to a relationship before it even starts is, well, by already being involved in another relationship. That’s the idea behind What If, the upcoming romantic comedy from writer Elan Mastai and director Michael Dowse.

What If stars Zoe Kazan and Daniel Radcliffe as Chantry and Wallace, two people who seem more or less destined to fall in love—if only it weren’t for Chantry’s boyfriend. So now that the couple is forced into friendship, where will their journey take them?...

The romantic comedy genre has a bad reputation. For every Barefoot In The Park, there are dozens of Runaway Brides. For every When Harry Met Sally, there are swarms of Giglis. Nobody sets out to make a bad movie, of course, but it seems that there is, generally, a disproportionate number of them in this particular film category. The question is, will What If be a rare quality entry, or will it end up in the bargain bin with The Holiday? Today, we are one step closer to finding out, with the release of two new clips.

Starring Daniel Radcliffe (Kill Your Darlings) and Zoe Kazan (It’s Complicated), the story muses on the well-worn possibility that the love of your life could actually be your best friend. Based on a play by T.J Dawe and Michael Rinaldi, and adapted by Elan Mastai, the story centres on a young...

What If has released a new clip.

The video shows Daniel Radcliffe and Adam Driver discussing whether honesty is always the best policy (via Vulture).

Radcliffe has the lead role in director Michael Dowse's new romantic comedy as Wallace, a young man who finds himself infatuated with a woman (Zoe Kazan) who is already in a committed relationship.

Wallace forms a friendship with the woman, but only finds his love for her growing as they get closer.

Driver plays Wallace's best friend, while Rafe Spall, Megan Park and Jemima Rooper have supporting roles.

Elan Mastai wrote What If's screenplay. The film features music from AC Newman of The New Pornographers.

What If will open on August 1 in the Us and August 22 in the UK.

What If gives a slightly different spin on romantic comedies, and more importantly, it gives Zoe Kazan a chance to get the exposure she deserves.

More than just your typical rom-com, What If spins the “friendship” question into new nooks and crannies of the relationship world, and does so from the perspective of some excessively quirky characters. Daniel Radcliffe, who to me has had varying levels of success attempting a wide array of characters, looks to have this role nailed down… possibly because there is a bit of Harry Potter about Wallace.

The new clip below expands on the “friendship bargain” you get in the trailer above, and is a pretty clever moment for the film.

Check it out, and make sure you have August 8th on your calendar.

What If Clip – The Girl With a Boyfriend

What If is the story of medical school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), who...

Watch Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan become friends in the new clip, ‘The Girl with the Boyfriend,’ from their upcoming film, ‘What If.’ The film, which marks the ‘Harry Potter’ star’s first romantic comedy-drama, is set to be released in theaters on August 8. Besides Radcliffe and Kazan, ‘What If’ also stars Adam Driver, Megan Park, Mackenzie Davis and Rafe Spall. The film was written by ‘Alone in the Dark’ scribe Elan Mastai and directed by ‘Goon’ helmer Michael Dowse. The following synopsis for ‘What If’ has been released: ‘What If’ is the story of medical school dropout Wallace (Radcliffe), who’s been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone [ Read More ]

The post Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan Become Friends In New What If Clip appeared first on Shockya.com.

The rom com is dead, The Hollywood Reporter boldly asserted last September.  And yet...?  The trailer for the new Daniel Radcliffe starrer "What If" has landed, and it's hard to describe it as anything other than, well, really rom com-y. Radcliffe plays Wallace, an unlucky-in-love Toronto twenty-something who is introduced to the beautiful (if unusually-named) Chantry (Zoe Kazan) by his buddy Allen (Adam Driver).  Wallace falls fast and hard, but at the end of the night, Chantry drops the I-have-a-boyfriend bombshell, and the two agree with a handshake to be friends and nothing more.  Uh-huh. The new trailer's full of beautiful shots of the Toronto skyline, boyfriends being unexpectedly pushed out of windows, jobs in far-off locales that refuse to comply with the heady winds of new love and, of course, a desperate sprint to the airport to stop the beloved from flying away. Helmed by Canadian director Michael Dowse...

It’s a story we’ve heard plenty of times before. An adorable guy (Daniel Radcliffe) has been skanking around with his well-intentioned bro friends for far too long without getting action, so one of them (Adam Driver) takes the initiative to get him back in the game. He meets an equally adorable gal, the woman of his dreams, even (Zoe Kazan), but it’s just not meant to be – sister already has a boyfriend (Rafe Spall) back at home. So what’s a ruffled-hair kid to do when he’s met the love of his life and she’s under the impression that they’re best friends? He pines, that’s what he does. The trailer for What If – the romantic comedy that will surely break all rom-coms if the hit list of tropes packed into just a few minutes are any indication – paints a neat and tidy picture of Wallace and Chantry’s inevitable romance...

With the Harry Potter franchise ending its eight film run in 2011, fans of the film series were interested to see what the participants would do next, particularly lead actor Daniel Radcliffe. Following a turn in television with the series A Young Doctor’s Notebook and horror with The Woman in Black, many were intrigued to see the actor’s next turn in a romantic comedy. Titled What If (formerly The F Word), the film is directed by Michael Dowse, working with a screenplay adapted by Elan Mastai from a play. Radcliffe stars alongside Zoe Kazan, Mackenzie Davis, Adam Driver, Rafe Spall, and Oona Chaplin, and the first trailer for the film has now been released. The trailer can be seen below.

The post ‘What If’, starring Daniel Radcliffe, releases its first trailer appeared first on Sound On Sight.

A full-length trailer for Daniel Radcliffe's new movie What If has been released.

Radcliffe has the lead role in director Michael Dowse's new romantic comedy as Wallace, a young man who finds himself infatuated with a woman (Zoe Kazan) who is already in a committed relationship.

Daniel Radcliffe, Adam Driver in first What If clip

Wallace forms a friendship with the woman, but only finds his love for her growing as they get closer.

Adam Driver provides comic relief as Wallace's best friend, while Rafe Spall, Megan Park and Jemima Rooper have supporting roles.

Elan Mastai has written the What If screenplay, while AC Newman of The New Pornographers is providing music.

What If opens on August 1 in the Us and August 22 in the UK.

Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan navigate the travails of love & friendship in the sweet new trailer from CBS Films’ upcoming comedy What If.

The film opens in theaters this August.

What If is the story of medical school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), who’s been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan (Adam Driver) seems to be finding the perfect partner (Mackenzie Davis), Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan) an animator who lives with her longtime boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall).

Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. Still, there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder, what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?

Click Here to read a new interview with Daniel Radcliffe where he talks about messy relationships,...

In the upcoming modern rom-com What If (Aug. 1), Daniel Radcliffe trades his wizard robes for jeans — and a bit of nudity.

But prepping for his first romantic lead required more than just dropping his drawers. In the film, from director Michael Dowse (Goon, Take Me Home Tonight), Radcliffe, 24, had to get comfortable acting in modern times. After Harry Potter and period films such as The Woman in Black, What If — about a med-school dropout (Radcliffe) who falls for an already attached art director (Ruby Sparks’ Zoe Kazan) — is Radcliffe’s “first foray into the 21st century,” he notes. To prep,...

Check out Daniel Radcliffe & Zoe Kazan in the new poster from CBS Films’ upcoming comedy What If - opening in theaters this August.

What If is the story of medical school dropout Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe), who’s been repeatedly burned by bad relationships. So while everyone around him, including his roommate Allan (Adam Driver) seems to be finding the perfect partner (Mackenzie Davis), Wallace decides to put his love life on hold. It is then that he meets Chantry (Zoe Kazan) an animator who lives with her longtime boyfriend Ben (Rafe Spall).

Wallace and Chantry form an instant connection, striking up a close friendship. Still, there is no denying the chemistry between them, leading the pair to wonder, what if the love of your life is actually your best friend?

The ensemble romantic comedy costars Megan Park and Oona Chaplin.

From director Michael Dowse and writer Elan Mastai, the new...

Briefly: We got a first look at the indie romantic comedy The F Word last summer with Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan looking pretty friendly. But since then, the title has been changed to the generic What If, and CBS Films has given the film a release date of August 1st this year in NY and La before expanding elsewhere in the weeks following. The film is directed by Michael Dowse (Goon) and written by Elan Mastai (The Samaritan) and tells the story of a young man recovering from a failed relationship and trying to navigate a new friendship with an alluring girl (Zoe Kazan of Ruby Sparks) that seems to be developing into a romance until he discovers that she has a boyfriend. Radcliffe in a romantic comedy? We're interested.

Despite not being nominated for Best Director, Louise Archambault’s Gabrielle managed to pull off what we thought was the impossible (our Leora Heilbronn has pegged the drama as the film that should win, but favored Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy as the best bet) winning Best Motion Picture at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards (a.k.a Canadian Oscars). If the out of synch supposed “live” telecast wasn’t bad enough (all awards including the winning film were announced almost one hour prior to on twittersphere), the show’s producers gave Gabrielle winning producers Luc Déry and Kim McCraw the equivalent of end of toilette paper roll in terms of time.

The voters also choose Gabrielle‘s Gabrielle Marion-Rivard as Best Actress in a Leading Role, while the heavily favored Enemy grabbed five awards, Best Direction for Villeneuve, Best Original Score for the excellent Danny Bensi/Saunder Jurriaans pairing , Best Editing,...

Producers Kim MCraw and Luc Déry collected the best motion picture prize at the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards (9) and Gabrielle Marion-Rivard was named best lead actress. Louise Archambault directed Gabrielle.

On a big night for Enemy, Denis Villeneuve was named best director and Sarah Gadon best supporting actress.

The psychothriller also won awards for editing, original score and cinematography.

Gabriel Arcand was named best lead actor for The Auction (Le Démantelement) while Gordon Pinsent claimed the best supporting actor prize for The Grand Seduction.

The F-Word writer Elan Mastai won best adapted screenplay and The Ted Rogers Best Feature Length Documentary prize was awarded to Watermark.

“Tonight we gather in the company of our country’s brightest and most glamorous talent to celebrate the best in Canadian film and television,” said Academy chair Martin Katz.

“I am honoured to celebrate and applaud this year’s outstanding nominees and winners. Their work brings us together, around screens...

The Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television has announced the Canadian Screen Awards nominees.

“We are exceedingly proud today to reveal the nominees for the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards,” said Academy chair Martin Katz.

“This was a year marked by a record-breaking number of submissions, reflecting a robust level of activity in the screen-based industries in Canada which we will celebrate during Canadian Screen Week, March 3-9. Congratulations to all.”

David Cronenberg will receive the lifetime achievement award. For the full list of winners invcluding television, digital and special awards click here.

The feature nominees in full:

Best Motion Picture

The Dismantlement (Le Démantèlement) – Bernadette Payeur, Marc Daigle

Empire Of Dirt – Jennifer Podemski

Enemy – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Miguel A Faura, Niv Fichman, Sari Friedland

The F-Word – Andre Rouleau, David Gross, Macdara Kelleher

Gabrielle – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry

The Grand Seduction – Barbara Doran, Roger Frappier

Maïna – Karine Martin, Michel Poulette, Yves Fortin

Tom At The Farm (Tom À La Ferme) – [link...

The Academy Of Canadian Cinema & Television has announced its nominees.

“We are exceedingly proud today to reveal the nominees for the 2014 Canadian Screen Awards,” said Academy chair Martin Katz. “This was a year marked by a record-breaking number of submissions, reflecting a robust level of activity in the screen-based industries in Canada which we will celebrate during Canadian Screen Week, March 3-9. Congratulations to all.”

David Cronenberg will receive the lifetime achievement award. For the full list of winners invcluding television, digital and special awards click here.

The fearure nominees in full:

Best Motion Picture

The Dismantlement (Le Démantèlement) – Bernadette Payeur, Marc Daigle

Empire Of Dirt (pictured) – Jennifer Podemski

Enemy – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry, Miguel A Faura, Niv Fichman, Sari Friedland

The F-Word – Andre Rouleau, David Gross, Macdara Kelleher

Gabrielle – Kim McCraw, Luc Déry

The Grand Seduction – Barbara Doran, Roger Frappier

Maïna – Karine Martin, Michel Poulette, Yves Fortin

Tom At The Farm (Tom À La Ferme) – [link...

Fubar. It’s All Gone Pete Tong. Fubar: Balls to the Wall. Goon.

While those film titles may sound foreign to some, Canadian cult moviegoers have really come to embrace the work of Michael Dowse. While he branched off into American cinema with the little seen Topher Grace vehicle Take Me Home Tonight, his work remains very much Canadian. And that is why it is so odd to see him directing a romantic comedy like The F Word. It sounded interesting enough, but could the guy who gave us Fubar really deliver something that needs to be sweet and cheerful? Especially after the casual brutality of Goon? Well, the answer may surprise you.

Wallace (Daniel Radcliffe) is a bit of a shut-in. He broke up with his girlfriend over a year ago, he dropped out of med school, and now he lives in the attic of his sister’s home in suburban Toronto.

I have just returned from a lovely and instructive time, my third year in a row, at Whistler.

It was 'cool' in all meanings of that term. Whistler itself is a cozy, comfortable BC Canadian town, a few hours drive up from Vancouver.

It is high in the mountains so it is frigid, but with the right clothes and knowing where one is going then no damage is done. I survived and treasure the memories of this year's event.

I bonded with longtime biz pals Kirk D'Amico of Myriad, Steve Gaydos of Variety and Jon Gerrans of Us distributor Strand Releasing. Shauna Hardy Mishaw, founder and Fest Head was, as always gracious and it was great fun to see her again.

The films were good and the 'film biz' panels relevant. I moderated one on New Distribution featuring Canadian companies discussing their outlook in the new digital cinema age.

There were some stars there and very comfortable presentations and panel discussions.

The Festival supplied the following items: BC-bred talent Jason Priestley discussed his directorial debut Cas & Dylan during a special In Conversation hosted by George Stroumboulopoulos.

Oscar winning actor Richard Dreyfuss joined Priestley for the Opening Gala presentation of Cas & Dylan, and discussed his starring role in the film and career highlights during a special Tribute event with Variety’s VP and Executive Editor, Steven Gaydos.

Oscar winner and star of this year’s box office hit Prisoners, Melissa Leo graced the Festival’s red carpets as Wff’s Luminary honoree.

Actresses Ali Liebert and Emily Hampshire were both honored as Wff’s Stars to Watch awards at this year’s Spotlight On event presented by Elle Canada.

I particularly enjoyed Gaydos' panel on screenwriting. Seven out of the Variety 10 Screenwriters To Watch were in Whistler to receive recognition and chat to Variety’s VP Steven Gaydos’s. Screenwriters included Andrew Dodge (Bad Words); Kieran Fitzgerald (Bambi); Morgan David Foehl (The Asset); Barbara Marshall (The Exorcism Diaries); Michael Mitnick (The Giver); Jonathan Tropper (One Last Thing Before I Go); and Canadian Elan Mastai (The F Word).

The Wff Audience Award went to Jason Priestley’s charming road movie Cas & Dylan, one of six contenders in the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature which features a heart-warming turn by movie icon Richard Dreyfuss and another scene-stealing performance by Tatiana Maslany, who won Best Performance in a Borsos Competition film for the second year running.

The Wff Audience Award runner up went to The Grand Seduction, a Canadian comedy directed by Don McKellar and written by Ken Scott. The Wff Audience Award is a non-cash prize presented to the highest-rated film as voted by the audience.

"This was a transformative year for the Whistler Film Festival, audiences and critics alike responded extremely well to our industry Summit and incredible line-up of films - half of which were Canadian,” says Paul Gratton, Wff’s Director of Programming. “Audiences were more enthusiastic than ever before, cross border business was done, and the caliber of celebrities that graced our presence was incredible. Our two Academy Award winners, Richard Dreyfuss and Melissa Leo were beyond inspiring, and Jason Priestley’s directorial debut with Cas & Dylan was a hit among industry executives and the public. We are very excited to carry this success forward for Wff 2014.”

The Whistler Film Festival celebrated its 13th edition as one of Canada's leading festivals from December 4 to December 8 with an intimate five-day program of screenings, tributes, special events and industry initiatives. Wff showcased 84 films consisting of 42 features and 42 shorts on five screens in four theatres over five amazing days including 19 World Premieres, 19 Canadian Premieres, 1 English Canadian Premiere, 34 Western Canadian Premieres, 3 British Columbian Premieres, and 7 Whistler Premieres. 51% of the features and 60% of the short films were Canadian. Films from 14 countries were screened including Canada, USA, UK, China, Austria, France, Denmark, Iceland, Iran, Ireland, Brazil, Sweden, Latvia and Mexico. Total attendance, including industry insiders, was on par with 2012 despite venue changes at 9,494 attendees (9,964 in 2012), including 628 delegates (a 13% increase compared to 556 in 2012).

The Festival continued to support cinematic excellence and awarded $31,500 in cash prizes and commissions. The Husband, by director Bruce McDonald, won the coveted $15,000 Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature. The $1,000 Canadian ShortWork Award went to Anxious Oswald Greene, directed by Marshall Axani. The $500 ShortWork Student Award went to Backward Fall by Ubc student Andrew Pollins. The Mppia Short Film Award presented by Mppia and Creative BC was won by Nick Citton for The Future Perfect, and consists of a $15,000 cash prize plus up to $100,000 in production services.

Designed to facilitate international alliances and financial partnerships, Wff’s industry Summit program presented 20 interactive sessions that addressed a range of issues affecting the film, television and digital media industry including the second consecutive China Canada Gateway for Film® Script Competition, and Wff’s new Feature Project Lab and Aboriginal Filmmaker Fellowship. Sessions were complimented by networking opportunities including one-on-one meetings, roundtable sessions and receptions. Overall, Summit attendance was at 78% capacity with 1,331 attendees, representing a 20% increase over 2012 (1,112 in 2012). In addition to the scheduled meetings that took place during the Summit, there was again a notable increase in unscheduled meetings that took place outside of scheduled blocks proving the festival remains an important place for the industry to meet and do business. Industry guests came from Canada, the USA and China to participate, and included some of the top talent and executives in the business. Wff announced three Canadian film projects that will move into development with Chinese production financing. There were several other deal discussions that began at the Festival both with China and other international investors.

The Whistler Film Festival is supported by Telefilm Canada, the Province of British Columbia and the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Bell Media (CTV, Etalk, E!) is Wff’s lead partner. Wff is sponsored by Variety, Transcontinental Media (Elle Canada), the Directors Guild of Canada - British Columbia, Creative BC, American Airlines, Sorel, Christie, Zoom Audio Visual Networks, Promosa Management, Tourism Whistler, Whistler Blackcomb and the Westin Resort & Spa Whistler.

The Whistler Film Festival Society (Wffs) is a cultural charitable organization dedicated to furthering the art of film by providing programs that focus on the discovery, development and promotion of new talent culminating with a must attend festival for artists, the industry and audiences in Whistler. Wffs produces one of Canada’s leading film festivals and plays a leadership role in offering professional and project development programs for filmmakers.

I have been attending Whistler Film Festival in recent years and am always excited by the films and the program.

Following is a lineup of some of the industry events that will be happening there next week the 13th annual Whistler Film Festival (December 4 – 8, 2013) will host Variety’s 10 Screenwriters To Watch for the second consecutive year. This year’s honored screenwriters will share their personal stories and challenges related to succeeding in today’s film industry at an afternoon discussion on December 7th, hosted by Variety’s Vice President and Executive Editor Steven Gaydos. Variety will also present the screenwriters with an award at Wff’s Awards Brunch on December 8th.

Variety’s class of 2013 screenwriters and notable credits include American screenwriters Ned Benson (The Disappearance of Eleonora Rigby), Lucinda Coxon (Crimson Peak), Andrew Dodge (Bad Words); Kieran Fitzgerald (Bambi), Morgan David Foehl (The Asset), Jennifer Lee (Frozen), Barbara Marshall (The Exorcism Diaries) , Michael Mitnick (The Giver), Jonathan Tropper (One Last Thing Before I Go), ; and Canadian screenwriter Elan Mastai (The F Word) whose lead actor Daniel Radcliffe was one of Wff’s 2012 honorees. Eight of the ten screenwriters are attending this year’s Festival. Absent are Jennifer Lee who is on press tour for a film, and Ned Benson who is filming.

Variety’s 10 To Watch series spotlights emerging writers, actors, producers, directors, comics and cinematographers. A team of Variety editors, critics and reporters selects the honorees.

“The writer's critical role in the filmmaking process is a primary reason why Variety's 10 Screenwriters To Watch has become a sought-after event at the Whistler Film Festival,” says Whistler Film Festival’s Executive Director, Shauna Hardy Mishaw. “With Variety showcasing the brightest and most promising new writers, the chance to meet and hear their stories firsthand makes this a must-attend discussion for both casual fans and aspiring filmmakers.”

Gabrielle (see our review Here), Canada's submission for the Academy Award Nomination for Best Foreign Language Film, is one of Wff’s Special Presentations. Delightfully offbeat, the truly moving love story looks at a young woman's search for love and independence in the face of a genetic condition. Director Louise Archambault (read our interview with her Here) and producers Luc Déry and Kim McCraw will join Wff Director of Programming Paul Gratton for a brief In Conversation on December 7 after the screening which begins at 4:00pm.

From December 4th to 8th, the Whistler Film Festival will celebrate its 13th edition in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, North America’s premiere mountain resort. The Festival will host filmmaking luminaries for an intimate five-day program of screenings, tributes, special events and industry initiatives. Recognized by filmmakers and film lovers alike as one of Canada’s most important showcases for film, the Whistler Film Festival is where artists are celebrated, audiences are inspired, new ideas are discussed, and business opportunities are solidified.

Wff’s film lineup and schedule, and industry Summit schedule are available at www.whistlerfilmfestival.com .

Here is some information about the Festival -

The Whistler Film Festival is supported by Telefilm Canada, the Province of British Columbia and the Resort Municipality of Whistler. Bell Media (CTV, Etalk, E!) is Wff’s lead partner. Wff is sponsored by Variety, Transcontinental Media (Elle Canada), the Directors Guild of Canada - British Columbia, American Airlines, Sorel, Christie, Zoom Audio Visual Networks, Promosa Management, Tourism Whistler, Whistler Blackcomb and the Westin Resort & Spa Whistler.

The Whistler Film Festival Society (Wffs) is a cultural charitable organization dedicated to furthering the art of film by providing programs that focus on the discovery, development and promotion of new talent culminating with a must attend festival for artists, the industry and audiences in Whistler. Wffs produces one of Canada’s leading film festivals and plays a leadership role in offering professional and project development programs for filmmakers.

The title of this panel was Financing and Packaging: From Indie to Studio, but in fact, the most studio-like film, Rush , by the major director, Ron Howard, and produced by Brit indie production company Revolution (Andrew Eaton) and Hollywood-based Cross Creek (Brian Oliver), is actually quite independent.

Rush (U.S. Universal, International Sales by Exclusive)

Ron Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer whose imagine Entertainment have had an overall deal at Universal for 27 years, however, this mid-budget range film of some $50,000,000 was considered not "big enough" for the majors.

To read more about this complex and fascinating film and its international film business background, read the following articles which are quoted throughout this article with thanks and acknowledgement to:

· Variety September 13, 2013 (reprinted at the end of this blog) · Wall Street Journal, September 5, 2013 · The Hollywood Reporter September 28, 2011

Aside from major director Ron Howard himself, the second “major” element of the film is that Universal is the North American distributor of the film. This happens through the three year minimum-6-picture distribution deal Brian Oliver’s Cross Creek has with Universal in which Cross Creek produces and finances either its own films or films chosen from Universal’s development slate. Cross Creek is set up to generate up to four films per year, with Universal to distribute at least two of them with a wide-release commitment.

Isa (International Sales Agent) Exclusive Media is also an independent. This too is the result of Oliver’s deal with Exclusive to jointly finance two projects per year.

Cross Creek, putting its own cash into the project, split the cost of the picture with Exclusive who financed it through a bank loan made against pre-sales generated in 2011 at the Afm. With Howard there to promote the project to buyers, Exclusive secured around $33 million in foreign pre-sales. See Cinando’s list of distributors .

Additionally, Oliver and Eaton structured the project as a U.K.- German co-production, enabling them to secure about $12 million in soft money from Germany (Egoli Tossell) in accordance with U.K.’s co-production treaty. As a result, U.K. rights ended up with Studiocanal.

Brian Oliver is a “one of Hollywood’s biggest and more unusual financiers of risky films, with coin coming mostly from oil and real estate investments in Texas”. This major Hollywood financier/ producer takes chances which prove his astute, if askew, view of what makes a “Hollywood” picture an indie at the same time, as shown by his credits, The Ides of March and Black Swan.

Andrew Eaton is a British producer with deep Hollywood connections through the British community here, e.g., Eric Fellner of Working Title, the British production company currently owned by Universal. (Parenthetically, I bought U.S. rights to Working Title’s first film, My Beautiful Laundrette for Lorimar along with Orion Classics and so I was quite thrilled to have a chance to be in touch with the talented Brits once again).

Working Title had worked with Andrew Easton on Frost/Nixon. Eric Fellner loved the script and offered it to Universal for funding. However, as said, Universal passed on it because it was too small.

“It is going to be easy for people to think this is a Hollywood movie, and it just is not,” quotes Variety from the film’s British screenwriter, Peter Morgan, who penned Frost/Nixon which was also directed by Howard. “It is a British independent film directed by a Hollywood director.”

Eaton and Oliver spoke of how they put this film together.

“We must champion the fact that this is basically 80% a British film in terms of the people who worked on it, the way it was structured and the way we ran it,” says Eaton, who was behind such indie films as 24 Hour Party People and the Red Riding TV series.

Can a Song Save Your Life? (U.S. UTA, Isa: Exclusive)

Exclusive has another film here, Can a Song Save Your Life? which is also repped by Rena Ronson, Co-Head of the Independent Film Group of UTA. Directed by John Carney who came to the public’s attention with his micro-budgeted Once which plays on stage here in Toronto at the moment, in New York and elsewhere regularly. The Weinstein Company picked it up in Toronto, reportedly paying around a $7 million minimum guarantee for U.S. rights with a P&A commitment of at least $20 million.

UTA as an agency also packages both large (studio) and smaller indie films. Rena Ronson, the co-head of UTA Indie explained how her own indie roots -- first at indie distributor Fox-Lorber and continuing into international sales before becoming the “indie agent” at Wma, succeeding the “indie” founder, Bobbi Thompson, have taught her to speak the language of the international as well as the independent film business. She knows the major modes of operating as well as she knows the independent style of business. She further explained that the successes of the larger films permit the “smaller”, i.e., “indie” films to be made.

UTA repped films in Toronto are listed below. For a full report of rights sold, before, during and after Toronto, watch SydneysBuzz.com for the Fall 2013 Rights Roundup.

Can A Song Save Your Life?

Writer/Director: John Carney Starring: Mark Ruffalo, Keira Knightley, Hailee Steinfeld, Adam Levine, Catherine Keener, Mos Def, Cee-Lo Green Publicity: Falco / Shannon Treusch, Monica Delameter U.S. Producer Rep: UTA / CAA . Isa: Exclusive Media Group

U.S. rights were acquired at Tiff 13 by TWC for a record breaking $7 million.

Since first announcing it in Cannes 2012, Exclusive has made other deals as well for Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan (Tanweer), Germany (Studiocanal), Japan (Pony Canyon Inc), Philippines (Solar Entertainment), Russia (A Company), So. Korea ( Pancinema), Switzerland ( Ascot Elite Entertainment Group ), Taiwan ( Serenity Entertainment International ), Turkey (D Productions), the Middle East ( Front Row Filmed Entertainment).

Tiff Special Presentations:

Hateship, Loveship

Director: Liza Johnson Writer: Mark Poirier Writer (Novel): Alice Munro Starring: Kristen Wiig, Guy Pearce, Hailee Steinfeld, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nick Nolte Publicity: Prodigy PR, Erik Bright

North American Sale: UTA / Cassian Elwes. Isa: The Weinstein Co. Sena has rights for Iceland.

The F Word

Director: Michael Dowse Writer: Elan Mastai Writers (Play): Michael Rinaldi & T.J. Dawe Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Zoe Kazan, Rafe Spall, Adam Driver, Mackenzie Davis, Amanda Crew Publicity: Strategy PR / Cynthia Schwartz, Michael Kupferberg Us Sale: UTA / Lichter, Grossman, Nichols, Adler & Feldman. Isa: eOne

After UTA sold the The F Word to CBS Films for the U.S. for around $3 million in Toronto, Entertainment One Films International completed other international sales. Besides Canada and the U.K., eOne itself will release the film in Australia/New Zealand, Benelux and Spain feeding its own international distribution pipeline. Other sales include Germany to Senator Entertainment, Middle East to Front Row Entertainment, Nigeria toRed Mist, Russia to Carmen Film Group, Turkey to Mars Entertainment Group

Night Moves

Writer/Director: Kelly Reichart Writer: Jonathan Raymond Starring: Dakota Fanning, Jesse Eisenberg, Peter Sarsgaard, Alia Shawkat Publicity: Ginsberg/Libby, Chris Libby North American Sale: UTA Isa: The Match Factory

Tiff Vanguard

The Sacrament

Writer/Director: Ti West Starring: Joe Swanberg, Aj Bowen, Amy Seimetz, Kate Lyn Sheil, Gene Jones Publicity: Dda, Dana Archer, Alice Zhou North American Sale: UTA / CAA Isa: Im Global sold to Pegasus Motion Pictures Distribution Ltd . For China

As of this writing, rather 1 hour ago, Magnolia Pictures, which lost on an earlier bidding war here for Joe, is finalizing a deal for the picture reportedly for seven figures.

Coincidentallywith the beginning of the Toronto Film Festival, the front page of L.A. Times quoted Rena Ronson in an article called "Making history as cameras roll" (print edition) or "Wadjda' director makes her mark in Saudi cinema" (online edition) about Wadjda , (Isa: The Match Factory) last year’s Venice and Telluride film which Rena had spotted at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, where it won a script award. It was written and directed by a woman which is notable in such a male-dominated part of the world. She met the writer-director, Haifaa Mansour, and that led to working with her for the next two years to finance the film. Its $2.5m budget was backed in part by the Rotana Group, the largest media company in the Middle East, owned primarily by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. The German production company Razor Film owned and operated by Gerhard Meixner and Roman Paul whose first coproduction in 2005, Paradise Now brought them into international prominence and who also picked up last year’s Tiff groundbreaking film from Afghanistan,The Patience Stone, and previously coproduced Waltz With Bashir, came on board and brought German broadcast deals and German film funds as well.

Doha and Film Financing

The fourth panelist was Paul Miller, Head of Film Financing, from the Doha Film Institute , Qatar's first international organization dedicated to film financing, production, education and two film festivals. Doha encourages submission for financing film financing opportunities from anywhere in the world. The Dfi Grants program supports first- and second-time filmmakers in producing and developing their own stories. There are two funding rounds per year. Applications are considered from three regions (basically divided into the Middle East, developing nations and the rest of the world – with some exceptions -- each with different eligibility criteria.

Consideration for funding is open to feature-length films in development, production and post-production, as well as short films in production and post-production. Since 2010, Dfi has provided funding to more than 138 filmmakers.

Beyond the regional grants program, Dfi also invests in a diverse slate of international productions to encourage greater collaboration, mentorship and co‑production opportunities between Gulf countries and the rest of the world. Co-financing applications apply to both Middle Eastern and international feature films, television and web series. Submissions are accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Four films at Tiff that Doha has helped finance:

Mohammed Malas’s Ladder to Damacus, screening in Tiff’s Contemporary World Cinema section; Jasmila Žbanic’s For Those Who Can Tell No Tales in the Special Presentation section. Both films were co-financed by Dfi. Dfi grant recipients Néjib Belkadhi’s Bastardo and Mais Darwazah’s My Love Awaits Me by the Sea screening in the Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery sections, respectively.

The fifth panelist, Ted Hope, Director of the San Francisco Film Society, a non-profit training, festival, and funding operation is known to everyone from his history with Good Machine (which was acquired by Universal and renamed Focus Features), and from his blog Hope for Film/ Truly Free Film . In his always-inimitable fashion, Ted proposed a new sort of financing, called "staged financing", based on a progressive meeting of certain criterion from development through distribution. This way of financing is similar to the venture capital models of financing. His broad ideas on what has to change with the industry's funding and packaging methods brought the panelists and the audience to heel at attention. I reprint his blog after this because this idea goes against the current grain of financing an entire film which may or may not prove to be the final box office bingo winner it always purports to be when securing full financing.

The Sffs provided some funding to Thomas Oliver's 1982 which is in Tiff this year. Aside from winning Us in Progress’ $60,000 in post-production services at this year’s Champs Elysees Film Festival, 1982 also received Sffs’s $85,000 post production grant and participated in the Sffs’s A2E labs. The film is being represented by Kevin Iwashina’s Preferred Content.

The panel became very animated as Ted Hope and Rena Ronson faced off about whether a film is made for a broad audience or whether, if targeted correctly, it could actually make money with niche audiences. As always, the two of them, both equally astute, brought much to bear on both sides of the argument. And, I, as the panel’s moderator, hereby declare, They are both right.

The broader the audience the more potential for making money.

However, as Ted points out, with crowd sourcing, crowd funding and crowd theatrical exhibition, there are many other ways beyond ticket purchases that filmmakers can offer in order to make money with their targeted audience.

This, as well as the great contributions made by Doha’s Paul Miller and Revolution’s Andrew Eaton could have extended the panel into a full day. Paul Oliver of Cross Creek was the quietest, perhaps most reticent, of the speakers, but he amply demonstrated that he is one who puts his money where his mouth is. His acumen and taste make us all grateful for his existence as he is a pivotal point person in creating works of art that create substantial revenues for a sustainable art house film business.

The audience as well was most enthusiastic with their questions and post panel discussions with panelists who stayed to talk.

Articles Reprinted Here:

Truly Free Film

Staged Financing Must Become Film Biz’s Immediate Goal

Posted: 06 Sep 2013 05:15 Am Pdt

Each day I become more and more convinced that staged financing could be a cure to much of the Film Biz’s ills. Staged financing? What? Is the phrase not exactly center of your conversations right now? Why not?!! Whatsamattawidyou? Don’t you know a good solution when you see one?

Although it already exists in many fields, and even in a few small patches of our own yard, I recognize that a staged financing strategy is not yet the force behind Indieland’s own gardening. I am however growing convinced it could yield a far more fruitful harvest than our current methods. A staged-financing ecosystem can’t be built in a one-off manner though. Although it also does not need to the rule of the realm, it needs a permanent eco-system to support it.

Staged financing is part of a much bigger solution that we urgently need to bring to our industry: a sustainable investor class . We need smart money and need to stop seeking, encouraging, and propagating dumb money. Most film investors get out, win or lose, by their third film (I have been told this and don’t have the stats to back it up now, but if you do, please share — otherwise just trust that is what my experience has shown). The value of most independent money in the film biz is the money itself, and that is not good for anyone.

Staged financing is exactly what it says to be. I know in this world such literalness is a strange thing, but there is it. Staged financing is a funding process that is there for each distinct stage. In comparison, it is the opposite of up-front financing — the type that monopolizes the narrative feature world. I am proposing that we institutionalize the staged-financing process and make it easier to finance your film in drips and drabs. Why am I so bullish on what probably sounds like hell to many? Why do I think it will save indie film? Let’s count the ways.

Staged financing increases the predictability of success. Investors can base their continued commitment on a proof of prinicipal instead of just a pitch. The longer one waits the more they know — of course the longer one waits the lower the chance for their to be the opportunity for investment, so there. The more investors can project or even predict their success, the longer they will stay in the game, and the more that will gather to pay — i.e. more capital at play! Staged financing allows filmmakers and their supporters to pivot based on real world data. The old way had very little it could do when new information hit. Your film (and investment) could be rendered obsolete over night. But that does not have to be a done deal is this new world. This is just one of the many reasons for #1 above of course. Staged financing diversifies the creative class. Wouldn’t it be great if the film biz was actually a meritocracy? Well, if people had to make good movies to complete their financing, wouldn’t that be a bit closer to the case? Staged financing gives all people the opportunity to prove they have a good idea, whether that idea is completed or not. It is not about who you know, but about what you’ve done and can do. Documentary film — compared to the narrative world — already has a great deal of staged financing institutionalized — and benefits from gender proportional representation among directors. Need I say more?Staged financing allows ambitious artistic work to flourish. Instead of just having “commercial elements”, unique and inspiring work can be recognized for the potential it truly has. Instead of being rewarded for being able to earn trust or arrogantly claim to know what one is doing, staged financing allows good work to be rewarded for being good work. Currently, we mistake confidence for capability and those that boast to be able to predict what the end product will be (where there is no way that they will actually know what the 100+ decisions each day will yield), get to play — not the work that delivers something new and wonderful. Staged financing rewards quality over risk mitigation. Staged financing is actually a better form of risk mitigation than the present form that is only based on regurgitating what has already proven successful. When we limit risk by mimicking what has worked in the past, all we are doing is guessing and covering our ass — and this leads to a film culture of movie titles overrun with numerals. We live in an era of abundance, and as comforting as the familiar may be, we have more access to it than ever before. We rarely need the new version of it. We will however need truly original work more and more as time goes on as we will drowning in the repetitive. How will we prove what works? Staged financing, my friend, staged financing. Staged financing creates a better project as it incentivizes the creators every step of the way. Not that you truly need to incentivize those that are in the passion industries for the right reason, but it never hurts to weed out those that are in it for the wrong reason. When your financing is based on your work and not your connections or investors’ fears, you will do all you can to make each stage of financing shine, justify itself, and be truly competitive. Staged financing requires you to walk a series of steps, proving you have earned the right with every advance — and you better do your homework if you don’t want to get left behind. Staged financing requires you choose your initial partners wisely. It’s not just about the terms of the deal that should determine whom your investors are — but that is how we generally act nowadays. Everyone should instead seek value-add investors. You should get more than just money from your investors. You should benefit from their expertise. Filmmakers, agents, lawyers, and managers, often are willing to leap into bed with anyone who offers the most cash — there’s a name for that practice and it should not be film investment. Staged financing means the creators will have “skin in the game”. When it is an up-front finance model, the creators are not working for a payout in success but working just for the upfornt fees (or some semblance thereof); they may have “profit participation” but basically the only anticipated earnings are what is in the budget. It becomes increasingly difficult to motivate the creative team to be engaged in the needed work after the film premieres. Investors have long recognized that this is not the most beneficial arrangement, yet what can they do? The answer my friend, is… yup, you know the song I am singing: everyone loves that staged financing! Staged financing is a time-tested process that has already been adopted by many industries . Staged financing is the modus operandi of Silicon Valley and all the Vc firms. Other industries, from mining onwards, have seen real benefits from the process. Why do we limit our success and not apply proven models to our field? Could it be that somewhere someone is desperately clutching on to what ever paltry power they perceive themselves to possess? Hmmm… If they don’t offer the model you want at the store, build a new model — or maybe even a chain of stores. Staged financing gives producers of quality work more power. The main objection to staged financing is that it gives financiers more power. That is only true if you are making crap. Or mediocre work. If you are making something wonderfully astounding you will never struggle to progress to the next round — and in fact you will be able to improve your terms. And investors won’t complain either, because they now can have to know a good thing when they see one.

So if Staged Financing is this marvelous thing, why have our leaders not yet delivered it to you? Well, they don’t care about you; didn’t you know that?

And if Staged Financing could really save Indie Film, why has the community not constructed this marvelous ecosystem yet? Well, we’ve all been too busy chasing shiny objects and marveling at the reflections fed back of us.

But change is here. We have hope. We can build it better together. And I have already started. The San Francisco Film Society is committed to it. We have others who want to be part of. We are have spots for more to join in. And we are going to help a few select projects really rock this world.

Watch this space. Let’s do it together and truly astonish the world with your awe inspiring work. Just don’t be slack, okay?

Variety, August 21, 2013:

“Rush,” the high-octane car racing film about the public rivalry between legendary Formula One drivers Niki Lauda and James Hunt during the 1970s, has all the markings of tinseltown’s latest flashy biopic, withRon Howard at the wheel, Chris Hemsworth as its star, and Universal Pictures releasing the film Sept. 27. But that assumption couldn’t be further from the truth.

“It is going to be easy for people to think this is a Hollywood movie, and it just is not,” says the upcoming film’s British screenwriter, Peter Morgan, who penned “Frost/Nixon,” also directed by Howard. “It is a British independent film directed by a Hollywood director.” Get Weekly Online News and alerts free to your inbox

As the majors focus more on putting their money behind mega-budgeted projects with built-in brand awareness — sequels, reboots, films based on toys, videogames and comicbooks — filmmakers are finding Hollywood’s studio system rapidly shifting under their feet.

“Because studios are less interested in the midbudget area, there is a massive opportunity for independents to step into that (area) at the moment,” says “Rush” producer Andrew Eaton of London-based Revolution Films.

Indeed, it’s getting harder to set up a midbudget range original project at a studio, even for veteran filmmakers like Howard and his producing partner Brian Grazer, whose Imagine Entertainment has had an overall deal at Universal for 27 years (the longest standing deal U has had in its 100-year history with a production company). That’s forced directors to look elsewhere to tackle the kinds of films now considered too risky to make or the ones that won’t fill retail shelves with merchandise.

Another Hollywood vet, producer Marc Platt, who’s had a production deal at Universal since 1998 after stepping down as its production head, similarly had to find indie financing for his film “2 Guns” after Universal said it would not bankroll the picture but simply distribute it.

With “Rush,” Howard found himself in an entirely new role as the director of a $50 million film that was his first to be independently financed — through a series of bonds, contingencies and pre-sales. He also was a director for hire, replacing Paul Greengrass, who was originally set to bring the showy personalities of Hunt (Hemsworth), a British playboy; and the more serious Austrian champion Lauda (Daniel Bruhl) to the big screen.

“We must champion the fact that this is basically 80% a British film in terms of the people who worked on it, the way it was structured and the way we ran it,” says Eaton. The exec, who was behind such indie films as “24 Hour Party People” and the “Red Riding” series, is modest, and like most Brits politely shies away from the spotlight, tending not to grab credit even when its due.

But he believes “Rush” shows off Blighty’s mettle.

“These are the kinds of films we should be making in the U.K. because we can do it, and we can do it for better value of money,” he says.

Morgan began writing the story of Lauda, a friend of his wife’s, on spec some years ago, intrigued by the driver’s courageous comeback just 40 days after a devastating crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix that severely burned his face and saw him lapse into a coma, and how that might play against Hunt’s notorious womanizing and party lifestyle that gained him rock-star status.

Eager to work with Eaton again after Fernando Meirelles’ “360,” Morgan showed the producer the first draft of “Rush,” and Eaton was hooked.

“Andrew was always going to be a great fit for this project,” Morgan says. “If (the) responsibility was to make this at a price, Andrew could do this. He could make a $50 million film feel like a $150 million film.”

With Greengrass, another Brit, attached to direct, Morgan showed the script to close friend Eric Fellner at his Universal-owned British production outfit Working Title. Fellner, who had worked with him on “Frost/Nixon,” loved the new script and offered it to Universal for funding.

But the studio passed, considering it risky subject matter, given the biopic elements and low profile of F1 racing in the U.S. Universal also didn’t believe the film could be made for the right price. Still Fellner stayed onboard, and his contacts in the F1 arena proved invaluable. His relationships with Ferrari and McLaren thanks to his work on documentary “Senna” enabled “Rush” to enlist the brands in the pic without losing editorial control.

“Ron (Howard) jokes that my major contribution was engine noise,” Fellner says. “Maybe I can take credit for a bit of that.”

Soon after Universal passed, Cross Creek Pictures topper Brian Oliver reached out to Eaton to finance the project — so eager that he offered to put up $2 million before he even signed the deal so that Eaton could order replicas of the 1970s cars to be ready in time for the shoot. He also was instrumental in steering Hemsworth toward the project.

“Typically we don’t spend that kind of money without knowing the movie is going and the budget is done,” Oliver says. “But I was passionate about the script, and I really thought it was a film with a lot of heart, not just a race car movie.”

Cross Creek, also behind “The Ides of March” and “Black Swan,” has quickly become one of Hollywood’s biggest and more unusual financiers of risky films, with coin coming mostly from oil and real estate investments in Texas.

“He’s an unusual maverick in Hollywood because he really fought to get the budget to the highest level he could,” says Eaton of Oliver. “There’s no bullshit with him — he gets stuff done.” Adds Fellner: “Without Brian, the film wouldn’t have gotten off of the ground. He put his money where his mouth is.”

Shortly after funding started coming together, Greengrass dropped off the project due, ironically, to his issues with the budget. Within 24 hours, Morgan and Fellner enticed Howard to come onboard. The financing arrangement intrigued him, but what really attracted Howard was the ability to re-create the world of Formula One in the 1970s “when sex was safe and driving was dangerous,” as he has said in past interviews.

“Ron was incredibly gracious in trusting us to deliver,” Eaton says. “He was very smart about knowing we needed to make this film in a different way. He’d never made a film with a bond before, and never made a film with a contingency before, but he rolled up his sleeves and was ready to learn.” Some of that indie spirit has already rubbed off on Howard, who is now sticking with a mostly British crew on his next project, “In the Heart of the Sea,” including “Rush” cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle and costume designer Julian Day. “Heart” lenses in London.

Exclusive Media came in as the final partner on “Rush,” brought in by Oliver under his deal with Exclusive to jointly finance two projects per year.

Cross Creek split the cost of the pic with Exclusive, with the former putting its own cash in to the pic and the latter financing through a bank loan made against pre-sales generated in 2011 at the Afm, where Howard helped shop the project to buyers. The move proved a success, as Exclusive secured $33 million in foreign pre-sales.

Additionally, Oliver and Eaton structured the project as a U.K.-German co-production, enabling them to secure about $12 million in soft money.

As a result, U.K. rights ended up going to Studiocanal. Universal agreed to distribute “Rush” in the U.S. through its output deal with Cross Creek.

Eaton pressed to put all of the money raised on the screen. “Rush” became the highest-budget film he had ever worked with after 2000’s “The Claim,” which cost $18 million to produce.

“(‘Rush’) was financed in exactly the same way we finance every independent film, and we approached shooting in the same way as we do everything — you try to put as much money as you can onscreen,” Eaton says. “It’s about not wasting money on things you don’t need, like private jets and extravagances.”

Hollywood has tried to bring to life the world of Formula One before.

Sylvester Stallone directed “Driven,” which originally was set in the world of F1, before he changed course and based it on rival Cart racing, instead.

The reason? To gain access to F1, filmmakers must first get the greenlight from the often polarizing Bernie Ecclestone, the 82-year-old billionaire who holds a tight grip on the racing league that has long counted the elite as fans, including Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, and celebs including Michael Fassbender, Patrick Dempsey, Gordon Ramsey, George Lucas, and Cirque de Soleil founder Guy Laliberte.

Although Stallone tried to gain Ecclestone’s approval, “I apologize to fans of Formula 1, but there is a certain individual there who runs the sport that has his own agenda,” Stallone said in 2000. “F1 is very formal, and it’s very hard to get to know people.”

David Cronenberg also planned to direct a tentpole around F1 for Paramount, in 1986, with the director scouting the project by attending Grand Prix races in Australia and Mexico. The film, “Red Cars,” would have revolved around American driver Phil Hill winning the world championship for Ferrari in 1961. Plans were shelved when Ecclestone decided not to support the project. Instead, Cronenberg published a limited edition art book based on the screenplay in 2005.

One of the few cinematic standouts so far is Asif Kapadia’s documentary “Senna,” about the charismatic Brazilian driver Ayrton Senna, killed in a race in 1994 that’s show in the docu. “Senna” went on to earn $8.2 million, and helped educate viewers of the sport by focusing not on the races but Senna’s iconic presence and his impact on pop culture.

“Rush” is looking to put a spotlight on the personalities behind the wheel and the often riveting rivalries between drivers — what many consider the real draw to the sport. Bruhl has compared them to “modern knights constantly facing death.”

As the film races toward its September release — it will be shown at the Toronto Film Festival out of competition — Howard has screened it for not only racing fans but Formula One, itself.

He recently showed the film to a group of F1 drivers (including Lauda, Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Felipe Massa) at Germany’s Grand Prix, calling that audience the toughest test so far, and comparing the experience to screening “Apollo 13” to Nasa’s astronauts and mission controllers in 1995.

In his efforts to promote the film, Howard has called the Hunt-Lauda rivalry one of the greatest in all of sports. “Their story is so remarkable, you (could) only do it if it was true, because people wouldn’t quite believe it. They were willing to risk their lives to attain this elite status. They paid a price for it, but they defined themselves.”

Morgan also has been doing his part to reassure F1 fans that the film is authentic, stressing that it’s about the people in the cars, and not the sport itself.

Any way the wheel’s spun, it’s clear the film’s overall success will largely be driven by how it plays overseas. “Rush” will need to appeal to an international audience that’s more familiar with F1 — a sport second in popularity only to soccer — than to those in the U.S.

But Howard needs to hook moviegoers closer to home — making the American director’s job a much tougher sell.

It’s not really that surprising that there’s nothing all that American about “Rush.”

Formula One is still struggling to find an audience in the U.S. It’s looking to change that through a new $3 million broadcasting deal with NBC Sports that airs 13 races on the cable channel, two on CNBC, and four on NBC. The Monaco Grand Prix was the first of four F1 races to air live on NBC this year, with the final race taking place Nov. 24 from Brazil.

Ratings have averaged a 0.3 rating, although the Monaco race was watched by 1.5 million viewers, making it the most-watched Formula One race on U.S. television in six years, and up 40% over last year’s race when it aired on Speed TV, Nielsen said.

Promos have emphasized the speed of F1’s jetfighter cars, its international appeal and Olympics-like profiles of the drivers.

Formula One also is looking to rev up new fans in the U.S. through the opening of its first permanent track in Austin, Texas, last year, known as the Circuit of the Americas. Howard attended its first race, where Lauda also roamed the track’s garages.

What’s ironic is that Howard isn’t a very good driver. He proved that recently racing around the track of BBC’s hit show “Top Gear” to promote “Rush,” ending up in second to last place on the series’ celebrity leader board — behind Genesis’ Mike Rutherford.

Host Jeremy Clarkson was quick to mock him, saying “We finally found something you can’t do. Good at directing, brilliant in ‘Happy Days,’ a charming human being — but utterly crap at driving.”

Ron Howard's Risky Formula One Movie, 'Rush'

Can this Euro-centric car racing film play in the U.S.?

By Rachel Dodes Conn

Ron Howard's films, like "Apollo 13" and "Frost/Nixon," typically deal with issues very familiar to American audiences. His latest project, Mr. Howard's first independently financed film, is a bit of a departure: "Rush" chronicles the rivalry between Austrian Formula One racer Niki Lauda and his nemesis, the British driver James Hunt, over the course of the historic 1976 season. While competing in Nürburg, Germany during treacherous weather conditions, Mr. Lauda (Daniel Brühl, right) crashed his Ferrari and sustained severe burns to his face and lungs. Yet, fueled by a desire to beat Mr. Hunt (Chris Hemsworth, above), a playboy type whose wife (Olivia Wilde) ran off with Richard Burton, Mr. Lauda was back in his car just six weeks later—still wearing his bandages—to race against him in the Italian Grand Prix.

When Mr. Howard received the script on spec from screenwriter Peter Morgan ("Frost/Nixon," "The Last King of Scotland"), he wasn't a Formula One fan and didn't know who Messrs. Hunt and Lauda were. "I looked them up on Wikipedia," he admits. But as he read about the racers' personalities, he started to see broader themes that would appeal to U.S. moviegoers. "Maybe this is the American in me identifying this," he says, "but both these guys are utterly and entirely individuals—there was no Yoda telling them to seek their higher self."

For Mr. Howard, the process of researching "Rush" was surprisingly similar to learning about space travel for his "Apollo 13," because he found himself having to make arcane automotive engineering terms accessible to viewers. "It was really fun to understand a sport that combines cutting-edge technology with very dangerous competition," he says. "The visceral, cool and sexy element offered a kind of cinematic experience that nowadays exists only with sci-fi."

Formula One isn't nearly as popular in the U.S. as Nascar, and the subject matter is likelier to play well overseas, where the film's financing came from. It premiered Monday, in London, a few weeks before its U.S. opening. The filmmakers say it's more than just a sports picture, and they expect it to appeal to women as well as men.

Saudi Female Filmmaker Succeeds In Making A Movie About A Girl Who Wants A Bicycle

Los Angeles Times

By Rebecca Keegan

Sept. 6, 2013

In a country where women can't freely move around, Haifaa Mansour covertly films the story of a girl's quest for a bicycle.

The production lost two days to sandstorms. The crew faced a last-minute scramble when the nervous owner of a mall changed his mind about allowing filming there. Some days locals chased the cameras away; other days they brought platters of lamb and rice to the set, and asked to be extras.

Meanwhile, the director hid in a van, speaking to her cast via walkie-talkie. In Saudi Arabia, where driving a car is a subversive act for a woman, a 39-year-old mother of two has done something remarkable: written and directed what her distributor believes is the first feature film shot entirely in the ultraconservative kingdom.

Haifaa Mansour is the director of "Wadjda," a drama about a plucky 10-year-old girl who enrolls in a Koran recitation competition in order to win money for a bicycle she's forbidden by law to ride.

Like her young protagonist, Mansour's own story is one of feminine moxie.

In a sly protest of the country's ban on women behind the wheel, she drove herself to her wedding in a golf cart. Because women in Saudi Arabia can't mingle publicly with men outside their families, she shot her movie covertly on the streets of the capital, Riyadh. With movie theaters banned, she screened "Wadjda" in two foreign embassies and a cultural center.

Petite, self-assured, wearing white high-tops and blue nail polish, Mansour is modern in both her fashion and bearing. She speaks English quickly and colloquially, dropping frequent "you knows" into conversation. And she isn't afraid to counter misperceptions about her homeland, as when she gently corrected Bill Maher for calling Mecca the Saudi capital during a recent appearance on his HBO show.

Laced with empathy and humor, "Wadjda" is a quietly provocative portrait of a culture that straddles the centuries, where men wear the ancient white thobe but carry the latest iPads and women hold important jobs as doctors and news anchors but have yet to vote in an election.

"I didn't want to make a movie about women being raped or stoned," Mansour said in an interview in Beverly Hills in June. "For me it is the everyday life, how it's hard. For me, it was hard sometimes to go to work because I cannot find transportation. Things like that build up and break a woman."

The eighth of 12 children of a poet, Mansour grew up in a small town in a home that she describes as nurturing for a little girl.

"My family is very traditional, but my parents are very supportive, very kind," she said. "I never felt I can't do things because I'm a woman."

When Mansour was a teen, her mother removed the light veil she wore while picking her daughter up from school, a gesture that mortified the young woman at the time, but empowers her when she reflects on it now.

Though movie theaters have been shuttered in Saudi Arabia for decades for religious reasons, Mansour said her father, like others, often rented VHS tapes at Blockbuster for the family to watch -- she grew up on Jackie Chan movies, Bollywood productions, Egyptian cinema and Disney animated films. "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" was a particular favorite.

"In small-town Saudi, there is nothing to do. You don't get to exercise your emotions because nothing much is happening, you know?" she said. "So to see people falling in love and fighting, it's so powerful, you see beyond your small town."

After earning her bachelor's degree in comparative literature at the American University in Cairo, she returned to Saudi Arabia but quickly felt stymied.

"Going back to Saudi as a young woman, trying to assert yourself in the workplace, you have all those ideas … and all of a sudden you realize because you are a woman you are not heard," she said. "It was such a frustrating moment in my life. It was as if you are screaming in a vacuum."

The idea of women holding jobs still unnerves some Saudi men -- writer Abdullah Mohammed Daoud recently encouraged his more than 97,000 Twitter followers to sexually harass female grocery store clerks to intimidate women from working.

Recalling the freedom she found in movies, Mansour decided to make a short film with her siblings serving as cast and crew, a thriller about a male serial killer who hides under the black abaya worn by Muslim women. Her work -- two more shorts, a documentary and a stint hosting a talk show for a Lebanese network -- focused largely on the untold stories of Saudi women.

In 2005, at a U.S. embassy screening of her documentary, "Women Without Shadows," Mansour met her future husband, American diplomat Bradley Neimann. They now have two children, 2 and 5, and live in Bahrain, where Neimann works for the State Department.

When her husband was posted in Australia, Mansour pursued a master's in film studies at the University of Sydney, and wrote the script that became "Wadjda."

The story was inspired by her now teenage niece, who has tamped down her rambunctious personality to fit into Saudi norms.

"I thought, 'Wow, a woman writer from Saudi Arabia won?'" Rena Ronson said. "I had to meet her. She was so open and tenacious and smart."When Mansour's script for "Wadjda" won an award at the Abu Dhabi Film Festival, it caught the eye of the co-head of the independent film group at United Talent Agency.

Over the next two years Ronson helped Mansour secure financing for her film, which cost a little less than $2.5 million. The primary obstacle, as far as many potential Middle Eastern producers were concerned, was Mansour's desire to shoot in Saudi Arabia, which she felt lent her story authenticity.

The production finally won the tacit approval of the Saudi government -- one of its backers is Rotana Group, an entertainment company primarily owned by Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal. Another major financier is the German company Razor Film.

Finding actors was another hurdle. Mansour and her producers recruited child performers through small companies that hire folkloric dancers for the Eid holidays. Many of their parents were uncomfortable with a movie about empowering women.

A week before she was scheduled to start shooting, Mansour still hadn't cast her title character when 12-year-old Waad Mohammed entered the room in blue jeans, with headphones clapped over her ears. Singing along to Justin Bieber, she won over Mansour with her sweet singing voice and tomboyish style.

The movie's half-German, half-Saudi crew worked around the rhythms of Saudi life, using cellphone apps that alerted them of the five daily prayer calls. The Germans carried notebooks; the Saudis relied on oral planning.

On the first day of shooting, a start time of 7:20 a.m. came and went. "I don't know what we were thinking," said German producer Roman Paul. "I don't think 7:20 exists in Saudi time. We Germans learned to relax, and the Saudis learned that there is a benefit to doing things at a certain time."

Despite tension on the set -- both from disapproving observers and from the German and Saudi crews learning to work together -- Mansour was buoyant, Paul said.

"She's very fast in overcoming new difficulties, and in an upbeat spirit," Paul said.

Last summer "Wadjda" premiered at the Venice and Telluride film festivals, earning praise for Mansour's subtle direction and a U.S. release from Sony Pictures Classics, which handled the Oscar-winning 2011 Iranian drama "A Separation," about the dissolution of a marriage.

"'A Separation' was such an eye-opener to me in the sense that there were people questioning whether the film went too specific into the Iranian culture," said Michael Barker, co-president and co-founder of the Sony unit. "But if the overall story has a universal appeal, in 'Wadjda' it's about parents and kids and restrictions and freedom, that's something we can all relate to."

Sony Classics has been showing the film to noted feminists -- Gloria Steinem and Queen Noor of Jordan both attended screenings -- and will release it in the U.S. slowly over the fall, starting Sept. 13. (The movie premiered in multiple European countries this summer.)

Mansour said she plans to work in Saudi Arabia again. For her, screening her movie in the kingdom was a high.

"Film is about uplifting, embracing the love of life, it's about moving ahead, it's about victory," she said. "It's not about defeat."

One victory has already been won. This spring, a new law went into effect: With some restrictions, Saudi women are now allowed to ride bicycles.

eOne Films International has reported a roaring trade in Toronto on No Trace Camping’s Michael Dowse rom-com The F Word starring Daniel Radcliffe and Zoe Kazan.

eOne financed the film and entered the festival with Canadian and UK rights. It will now distribute directly in Australia and New Zealand, Benelux and Spain.

Rights have gone to German-speaking Europe (Telepool), France (Snd), Cis and Baltics (Carmen), Latin America (Sun Distribution), Scandinavia (Scanbox), Portugal (Lusomundo), Turkey (Mars Sinema), Middle East (Front Row), Thailand (Mono Film Company), China (Hgc Entertainment), former Yugoslavia (Discovery Film), Hong Kong (Gold Scene), Iceland (Scanbox), India (Pictureworks), Israel (Shani), Nigeria (Red Mist), South Africa (Nu Metro) and Airlines (Cinesky).

The sales agent is in active negotiations for Japan, Australia, South Korea and Taiwan. CBS Films acquired Us rights earlier in the week.

The F Word charts the course of a relationship between two best friends who enjoy strong chemistry. Adam Driver and [link...