IOTG at Sundance 2012: Director Michael Mohan Explains 'Save the Date' (Video)

January, 23, 2012 12:28 pm | Comments On #filmmakers, itsonthegrid, itsonthegrid video, jordan horowitz, Lizzy Caplan, michael mohan, michael roiff, movie video, Movies, save the date, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, sundance video

TheWrap's sister site ItsontheGrid.com has  launched "The Sundance Project 2012," a series of fireside chats with some of the festival's filmmakers. The series explores how films evolved from idea to production to a showcase on one of the greatest stages for independent film.

The series kicks off with a chat with the filmmakers from "Save the Date," which premiered Sunday afternoon. Director/co-writer Michael Mohan and producers Jordan Horowitz and...

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Spike Lee's Sundance Tirade: Hollywood Execs 'Know Nothing About Black People'

January, 23, 2012 12:43 am | Comments On #film festival, independent film, indies, Movies, Red Hook Summer, spike lee, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival

Spike Lee opted not to introduce his film "Red Hook Summer" before its Sundance premiere on Sunday, but he sure knew how to finish the screening with a bang.

In an expletive-laced Q&A, the veteran filmmaker said that Hollywood executives know nothing about black people and that he wanted the audience to spread the word that the film "is not a motherfucking sequel to 'Do the Right Thing.'"

(It is set in the same Brooklyn neighborhood as that film, and...

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Tracy Morgan Collapses at Sundance, Rushed to Hospital

January, 23, 2012 12:40 am | Comments On #Creative Coalition, Movies, people, Sundance, Television, Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan was rushed to a Park City hospital on Sunday night after collapsing outside a charity event, TheWrap has confirmed.

The “30 Rock” star, who media reports said was acting inebriated at the Creative Coalition Spotlight Awards, collapsed just after the  ceremony and was taken to Park City Medical Center.

But Morgan's publicist Lewis Kay told TheWrap: "From a combination of exhaustion and altitude, Tracy is seeking medical attention," adding, "He is with his fiance and grateful to the Park City Medical Center for their care. Any reports of Tracy consuming alcohol are 100% false."

A spokeswoman for the hospital would not release any further information...

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The New Normal at Sundance -– Strong Films, Cautious But Steady Buying

January, 22, 2012 6:58 pm | Comments On #Arbitrage, Beasts of the Southern Wild, black rock, liberal arts, Movies, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival, the words

The Sundance action got underway over the weekend with numerous films sold or about to be sold, and indie buyers impressed by a crop of what they called intelligent and thoughtful films.

It seems that the independent film world has finally gotten used to the new normal of the challenged marketplace, and are responding in kind.

“There’s a sense of seriousness about the movies this year and in the meetings that we're having with agents and filmmakers,” said Michael Barker, the co-chairman of Sony Pictures Classics, in an interview with TheWrap.

He added: “There's a loss of the huckster veneer that we've come to expect from this place. The feeling among us and the filmmakers and...

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Cinedigm and New Video Team Up to Buy Indie Films

January, 22, 2012 2:22 pm | Comments On #Cinedigm, Movies, New Video, Sundance

Cinedigm Entertainment Group is teaming up with New Video to buy and distribute independent films, the two companies announced at the Sundance Film Festival on Sunday.

As part of the joint venture, Cinedigm will handle the theatrical release of the movies. New Video will oversee the video-on-demand, digital distribution and home entertainment portion.

The move allows both companies to be a one-stop shop for moviemakers -- overseeing everything from their theatrical debuts to their digital streaming pacts. 

"Theatrical continues to be the holy grail for filmmakers," Steve Savage, co-president of New Video, told TheWrap....

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'Beasts of the Southern Wild' Wins Sundance Producer's Award

January, 22, 2012 2:13 pm | Comments On #Beasts of the Southern Wild, film festivals, independent film, indies, Movies, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival

"Beasts of the Southern Wild," the narrative film that has stirred up the most attention at Sundance to date, was awarded the $10,000 Sundance Institute Indian Paintbrush Producer's Award at a luncheon on Sunday.

Producer Josh Penn and Dan Janvey accepted the award for "Beasts," a raucous drama set in an isolated Southern Louisiana community. Since its premiere on Friday, the film has been one of the most talked-about narrative features at the festival, with a number of exhibitors circling the film but admitting that it could be a tough sell in the marketplace.

Also read:...

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Boy Meets Girl and Grandpa Meets Robot in Quirky New Sundance Comedies

January, 21, 2012 10:16 pm | Comments On #Alonso Duralde, Britt Robertson, Dylan O'Brien, Frank Langella, Jake Schreier, James Marsden, Jonathan Kasdan, Liv Tyler, Movies, Robot and Frank, Sundance 2012, Susan Sarandon, The First Time

Saturday's substantial snowfall may have slown down the Park City shuttle buses that take Sundance audiences from screening to screening, but the film festival kept on keeping on, with two afternoon world premieres that — like previous Sundance hits "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Kids Are All Right" — tweak genre conventions while still remaining exceedingly audience-friendly.

Frank Langella...

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'West of Memphis' Filmmakers Accuse Stepfather of Murder -- Would Welcome a Lawsuit (Updated)

January, 21, 2012 3:27 pm | Comments On #Amy Berg, Damien Echols, film festivals, Fran Walsh, independent film, indies, Movies, Peter Jackson, Sundance Film Festival, West Memphis Three, West of Memphis

Updated Sat. 8:30 PT

At a news conference on Saturday, the filmmakers and legal team behind "West of Memphis" made it clear that they'd be delighted to be sued by Terry Hobbs, the man they strongly suggest  is responsible for the triple murder for which three young men spent nearly 20 years in prison.

"Let him have at it," said Dennis Riordan, an attorney who led the legal battle of Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelly, the "West Memphis Three," to regain their freedom.

Hobbs has sued before and lost. But the filmmakers go out on a limb, almost inviting a new lawsuit in implicating him in the murder of his stepson and two eight-year-old playmates in 1993.

...

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'Invisible War' Exposes Widespread Rape, Cover-Up in U.S. Military

January, 21, 2012 2:39 pm | Comments On #army, coast guard, Invisible War, Kirby Dick, marine, military, Movies, navy, rape, Sundance, Sundance 2012

Rape in the American armed forces is an issue that has quietly been gathering attention over the past decade. But it exploded with the power of suppressed fury at the screening on Friday afternoon of the documentary “The Invisible War,” a devastating indictment of the government’s inaction on the issue.

Director Kirby Dick brought a powerful weapon to his film: victim after eloquent victim of rape by Navy, Marine, Coast Guard, Army, Air Force veterans assaulted by fellow officers, supervisors, recruits.

They tell their stories in courageous detail, and it quickly becomes clear that these are not   isolated incidents but a pattern reflective of a widespread rot within America’s military institution, one that betrays its essential values.

...

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Bingham Ray, Indie Film Veteran, Has a Stroke While at Sundance

January, 21, 2012 1:09 pm | Comments On #Bingham Ray, Movies, people, San Francisco Film Society, stroke, Sundance, Sundance Film Festival

 

Indie film veteran Bingham Ray has had a stroke while at the Sundance Film Festival and is recovering in a Provo Hospital, a family member confirmed to TheWrap.

Reached by TheWrap, Ray’s daughter said that her father had a mild stroke this week and gone to the hospital, but on Friday morning had a second stroke that was more serious.

She said he was stable and in a Provo hospital, having been transferred there from a Park City facility. She said he was  “getting very good care.”

The Sundance Institute issued a statement sending Ray "our best wishes for a speedy recovery." 

The...

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