An authorized documentary about Hollywood legend Sidney Poitier is among the diverse slate of projects in the works at the downtown L.A.-based Studio Sidecar Productions, the company announced Tuesday.
Michael Dunaway (“21 Years: Richard Linklater”) is directing and producing the untitled Poitier doc, which is sanctioned by the star’s family and co-produced by Studio Sidecar founder and president Glenn Kalison.
Reginald Poitier, Jeffrey Poitier, The Mass Appeal, Barbara Kopple and Danny Glover are also producing. The film, about the first black performer to win the Academy Award for Best Actor (for 1963’s “Lilies of the Field”), is currently in production and is expected to be released in 2019.
Studio Sidecar is an offshoot of Studio School Los Angeles, which leverages strategic partnerships, production infrastructure and emerging talent via its training programs to develop and produce innovative content.
“Our production capabilities and industry reach is vast, which lends itself to interesting partnering opportunities and great entry-level opportunities for Studio School students and recent graduates,” Kalison said.
In addition to the Poitier doc, other titles on the production company’s slate include:
• Director Jenni Gold’s “Aaah Roach,” a horror film now in postproduction about flesh eating killer cockroaches that attack a college campus that stars Jason Mewes, Barry Bostwick, Casper Van Dien, Grace Van Dien and Robert David Hall. 21 Rivers and Gold Pictures teamed up with Studio Sidecar Productions to produce.
• Director William Kirkley’s untitled doc about Questa, New Mexico, a town on the brink of extinction after the closing of Chevron mine three years ago. The story follows a group of former miners as they train to become below-the-line film technicians.
• “ESL,” a fact-based thriller developed with Matt Taylor and Ikumi Yoshimatsu’s RIM Entertainment. Set in an international boarding school in Pennsylvania, it follows a group of students who uncover urban legend and expose dark local lore still alive underneath the small town that unleashes a dark evil.
• A multi-digital platform hip-hop dance series from Cameron McLeod, a Radio Disney host known on social media sites as CamdogFX.