Indie Entertainment Media - American Film Market 2021 Special Edition

ind e // n o v e m b e r 2 0 2 1

i

ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA

ind e i

ENTERTAINMENT MEDIA

PUBLISHERS

Gotham Chandna Nicole Goesseringer Muj

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF | MANAGING EDITOR

Nicole Goesseringer Muj

CHIEF DIGITAL EDITOR

Gotham Chandna

CONTRIBUTORS

Lena Basse Scott Bayer Claude Brickell Nicole Goesseringer Muj Eric Minh Swenson

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT

Rachael Fisher

EDITORIAL DESIGN

Viktoria Bocharova

Photos Courtesy of: EMS Gallery, HFPA, Movie Stills DB, WikiCommons, Back Cover Photo by David Lafaille.

©2021 | Indie Entertainment Media No part of the Indie Entertainment Media may be reproduced in any form without written consent from the publisher. Indie Entertainment Media liability in the event of an error is limited to a printed correction.

Kultura PR International | Cloud 21 International ©2021. All Rights Reserved.

4th Annual

Ali M Aksu

Production Without Borders The event’s VIP Gift Sponsors include Celeb Luxury, Clearly Balanced Days, Dr. J’s Natural, Emmerse Candles, Gemineye Cosmetics, Momma Osa, My Power of One, Rejected Hearts Club, and Truffleist.

in Park City, and “A Salute to Akira Kurosawa” with China’s Jinke Entertainment in Cannes in 2017, plus many others. The companies have co-produced events and worked with top entertainment and technology brands, including E! Entertainment Cloud 21 PR International and Kul- Television, Eurocinema, Metan tura PR International have produced Global Entertainment Group, 8K numerous successful industry special Miles Media Group, Maverick Enevents, including the annual “Global tertainment, Sony Interactive, OcuFilm Showcase” in partnership with lus, Cinando, Euromed, ECU Film ROSKINO during the Cannes Film Festival, Creative Coalition, Davines Festival and Marché du Film, the North America, Vesilind, FanVestor, annual “Production Without Bor- plus many others. ders” event during AFM, the annual “Indie Entertainment Showcase” Photos Courtesy of Cloud 21 and Kultura PR.

4

Mahir

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Ali Mahir Aksu is an international film producer, director and entrepreneur. He is the executive producer of several groundbreaking projects, including the first-ever Hollywood feature film to cast digital media talent, that was distributed by Universal Studios.

He is the founder of FilmCapital.io, a community-focused Hollywood crowdfunding platform that was incubated at Singularity University, and Auteur Academy, an educational platform to empower independent filmmakers.

Founder/CEO FilmCapital.io & Auteur Academy

Mr. Aksu is the Southern California Young Professionals Ambassador at the United Nations Association of America. He is an MBA candidate at Chicago Booth School of Business. He holds a B.A. in economics, with a minor in film, TV and digital media from UCLA, and earned executive-level degrees from MIT, Wharton and Singularity University.

Anna Fishbeyn is an award-winning star of stage and screen, a filmmaker, director, author and actress.

Her movie Galaxy 360: A Woman’s Playground, which she wrote, directed and stars in, will have its red carpet, world premiere during AFM 2021. The pre-release version of the film screened to a packed house at the Cannes and Big Apple film festivals and was a finalist of the Sundance New Frontier Exhibition.

Anna Fishbeyn Founder and President of XOFeminist Productions and Anteriya Films

Ms. Fishbeyn’s first play Sex in Mommyville premiered in New York City and was recommended by Bloomberg News, while CBS Radio pronounced her "a comic genius.” Her second play My Stubborn Tongue played off-Broadway at NYC’s New Ohio Theatre and went on tour to the West End in London at the Soho Theatre. Her solo cabaret show at the Metropolitan Room in NYC Anna on Fire and Uncensored was recommended by CBS News New York, Jewish Week, and NiteLife NYC. Ms. Fishbeyn wrote and starred in the award-winning web series Happy Hour Feminism and directed and starred in Invisible Alice, a short musical film is currently on the festival circuit.

Pre-production has begun on her next movie How To Seduce Your Dinner Guest, as well as two optioned pilots for television, the comedy Healthy Nuts and the drama Infidelity Club.

5

INDIE ENTERTAINMENT SHOWCASE 2021

Larry Namer E! Founder & Founding Partner/CEO, Metan Global Entertainment Group An entertainment industry veteran with close to 50 years professional experience in cable television, live events and new media, Larry Namer is a founding partner of Metan Global Entertainment Group (MGEG), a venture created to develop and distribute entertainment content and media specifically for Chinese speaking audiences in China and abroad. In 2018, the company launched the MGEG Film Fund I and serves as managing partner. He is also the executive producer of the feature film EMPRESS, a new travel series for the China audience titled Explore The World, and an executive producer of the crime drama Nova Vita. He recently served as an Advisor and Chief Operating Officer of FanVestor and is a co-founder of the new lifestyle platform BeautyKween.

Mr. Namer is the co-founder of E! Entertainment Television, a company now valued at over four billion USD, and the creator of several successful companies in the United States and overseas. Among those companies are Comspan Communications that pioneered Western forms of entertainment in the former Soviet Union and Steeplechase Media that served as the primary consultant to Microsoft’s MiTV. Early on, he was named the youngest general manager of a major cable system at Valley Cable TV (VCTV) in Los Angeles. His vision and direction garnered VCTV several Emmy and Cable ACE award nominations, as well as recognition by Forbes magazine as the national model for local cable television programming. In 1989, he was awarded the prestigious President’s Award from the National Cable Television Association.

6

Sue Vicory Founder, Heartland Films & womensdocumentaryfilmmakers.com Three-time Telly Award-winning filmmaker Sue Vicory has been creating community-based films and projects within her not-for-profit production company Heartland Films, Inc. since 2003. Her works include Homelessness & the Power of One, feature documentaries One and Kansas City Jazz & Blues; Past, Present & Future and short films Absent and 1898, The W.F. Norman Story. In 2015, she founded Team XX, an all-female team of 25 filmmakers that created the award-winning film Down Stage.

She is a member of the Los Angeles-based Alliance of Women Directors and creator of the Website www.womendocumentaryfilmmakers.com, designed to increase visibility for female filmmakers. She is the creator of the non-profit brand My Power of One (MPO1). In 2015 under the MPO1 banner, she filmed a 48-state tour completing 12 Acts of Kindness. Ms. Vicory and a team of 50 created the film Panic at Park which aired on KOCT and KPBS during the San Diego Film awards.

She is currently premiering a historical documentary titled Original Jayhawker.

Ms. Vicory was named the 2020 recipient of the French Riviera Film Festival's annual Industry Excellence Award.

She was awarded a Lifetime Achievement award from Washburn University, her alma mater.

PARK CITY ISSUE | JAN 2021

Filmmaker/Actor

Angelo Reyes

Filipino/Italian American, Angelo Reyes began his professional life as a creative designer in the advertising industry. Later, he decided to explore the television industry by hosting and co-producing the motorsports show Street Vision Garage.

He then studied with Lynette Sheldon at the LS Acting Studio in New York and soon relocated to Los Angeles to pursue his aspirations as an actor. He has appeared in the 2020 Netflix film Hill Billy Elegy, the 2010 comedy-crime-drama The Bill Collector, HBO’s The Outsider, the 2013 drama-thriller Killing Kennedy, and others.

After achieving success in the acting realm, he decided to explore his talent as a director. In 2015, he produced his first short film titled Heartless. In 2018, he was recognized with the Rising Star Award at Westfield International Film Festival for Groomed, a short about human trafficking that he both produced and directed.

His latest project, 21st & Colonial is based on a true story about a young Black man struggling to support his family crosses paths with an overworked police officer with PTSD. The short, which he co-wrote, directed, and stars in, won a REMI Award at the 54th Worldfest International Film Festival and has been named an official selection at several festivals. Mr. Reyes plans to develop the story into a feature film.

Deeply in touch with his Filipino and Italian roots, Mr. Reyes is dedicated to creating films that explore the intricacies of different cultures and promote tolerance, diversity and inclusion.

Colin Costello Moderator Writer/Journalist/Director WGA-East member Colin Costello is a biracial genre, comedy and horror writer and director. The former award-winning advertising creative director, has written two family feature films. 2013's, The Stream which stands at 93% on Rotten Tomatoes.

His debut short film, that he wrote and directed, 2018’s The After Party has played in 25 festivals and won five.

His other short film, 2019’s Dreamwisher has won ten awards in the United States and internationally.

After writing two episodes for the PBSKids series, Moochie Kalala Detective's Club, the educational show was nominated for a Midwest Emmy award. Mr. Costello most recently finished a comedy web series From Russia with Motive, which has won several awards on the festival circuit.

In late 2018, he was selected by The Champions’ Program supported by the WGA Committee of Black Writers and designed to obtain writers of color representation or staffed. It was based on his one-hour pilot Bad Cook about a Las Vegas sous chef and her rise to becoming a crime boss.

Mr. Costello’s writing has gotten the attention of Spike Lee (whom he helped launch an ad agency with), Michael Bay, Dr. Maya Angelou, Reginald Hudlin, Tim Burton, Jan DeBont, Marcus Nispel, Pam Thomas, Disney, ABC, Netflix and The Montecito Picture Show Company.

Born and raised in Philadelphia and a resident of Chicago, Mr. Costello is currently editor for industry news outlet, Reel 360 News, a screenwriting instructor at UCLA Extension and a volunteer for Young Storytellers.

7

The Timeless Femme Fatale

Rebecca Ferguson 8

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Just three days after the Swedish-English actress’ 38th birthday, the long-awaited epic Dune premiered, where she plays one of the leading roles as Lady Jessica.

Lena Basse Venice Film Festival 2021

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Dune was this year’s most anticipated film. Early attempts by Alejandro Jodorowsky in 1974 and by Ridley Scott in 1976 to adapt Frank Herbert’s novel for the big screen failed before they were ever completed, as both productions were overwhelmed by the richness of Hebert’s world and philosophy. These failed productions scared off other filmmakers who dared to adapt the novel, until David Lynch’s version in 1984.

Intervention by the studio that overrode Lynch’s artistic choices combined with the fact that Lynch himself was never interested in science fiction, led to commercial and critical failure. So, when it was con-

firmed in 2017 that Denis Villeneuve would direct the upcoming adaptation, longtime fans of the iconic 1965 science-fiction saga were equal parts excited and skeptical.

The production spent no expense, with a budget of over $165 million that only got steeper when the release date was pushed back a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As an ardent lover of film, Villeneuve insisted that the film be shown in theaters rather than going straight to streaming services. What the studio considered to be a risky gambit thankfully paid off, as the film opened in the USA and Canada over the weekend, collecting $41 million in ticket sales. →

9

The official world premiere happened on September 3rd at the Venice Film Festival. Although the film was not in the official competition, its premiere was one of the biggest events on Lido.

Longtime fans were especially eager to see what the Canadian director, who has specifically taken up projects such as Arrival and Blade Runner 2049 to build experience in the sci-fi genre, would present.

Would the film establish itself as an epic to the likes of The Lord of the Rings or would it crumble under the pressure of anticipation, like earlier adaptations? To everyone’s great relief, the two and a half hour odyssey was a breathtaking landmark moment of cinematic history. Villeneuve somehow found the equilibrium between appeasing fans of the Dune books while also making the film understandable and entertaining to viewers unfamiliar with the story.

Not to mention the stunning cinematography by Greig Fraser and otherworldly music score, composed by Hans Zimmer. When I left the theater, I was pleased with the idea that Hollywood was still in the lead within the international cinema community. I have no doubt in my mind that Dune Part II will be greenlit.

Unsurprisingly, onlookers flocked to the island of Lido near Venice early in the morning, in hopes to catch a glimpse of the film’s star-studded cast. In fact, the acting ensemble couldn’t be more perfectly cast. The main character, Paul, son of Duke Leto, is played by young heartthrob Timothée Chalamet. Rebecca Ferguson plays his mother, the Lady Jessica, alongside Oscar Isaac, the Duke Leto. Ferguson turned heads in her Dior dress, that ruffled in the front in a way that resembled the open mouth of the Dune worm. Rebec-

10

ca’s hair pulled back into a long braid that showed off the blonde tips, left over from the latest film she shot, Mission Impossible 7. The role she reprises in the upcoming Mission Impossible film is what made her an international success.

This international success began with her role in the ten-part BBC television series, The White Queen, which was an adaptation of the novel The Cousins’ War that examined the role of women during the War of the Roses. It was watching Ferguson as a femme fatale of the 15th century in this mini- series that Tom Cruise himself handpicked her to star alongside him as the equally competent and strong Ilsa Faust in the Mission Impossible films.

Very soon after, she realized she was in danger of being typecast as a strong woman, which is exactly why she took the role in The Greatest Showman as the singing love interest, where she sang live

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Outside of her stage persona, she gives the impression that she is quite a relaxed and confident person. Her relaxed personality is reflected even in the clothes she wears, as she dresses for comfort but still looks elegant.

ABOUT WORKING WITH THE CAST OF DUNE

Rebecca Ferguson and Oscar Isaac

alongside Hugh Jackman and Dune co-star Zendaya. It’s because of this fear of being typecast that she considered rejecting the role of Lady Jessica in Dune, a witch of the Bene Gesserit society that acts as a shadow government to guide humanity to produce a spiritual and political prophet. But Villeneuve’s passion for the project and her acting eventually won her over, and she was able to find the character’s vulnerabilities to extenuate. Besides, ignoring her small frame, her eyes pierce through you and gives a whole new meaning to the phrase “if looks could kill,” which is why she is the best choice for the part.

Dune is based on a complex imagined society set roughly 20,000 years in the future. The setting is the year 10191, and human beings have spread out and colonized planets throughout the universe.

In this sense, Ferguson has established herself as a queenly femme fatale in both the past and future.

It’s Denis Villeneuve, it is a grand scale. And working with Timothée Chalamet, Charlotte Rampling, the cast is insane. But that’s not to take away from what this was and something that I can combine them with and what I felt with both of these productions...I don’t know if it’s Warner Bros. or them hiring directors who do this to me, but they create a film set which makes it feel like an indie movie. It’s very collaborative, it’s very warm and cozy and fun. And then when you ask me about it, I think, my God, it was there in the desert and we did this and yet it was a close-up of a scream and a face and this and the costume...it’s a lot. Dune is a lot. I saw the previous adaptation and I thought it was so long and boring and I thought it was so intense and cool. And I remember the Harkonnen, and his face, the one who Stellan Skarsgård is playing, and the references to the old film, it’s all there coming to life.

ABOUT HER ROLE IN DUNE For me, for Jessica, it’s such a mind game and an emotional one as well, that balance of being a mother, but also having such a strong belief in something greater than just being a mother. And one isn’t better or sort of outsmarts the other, but she comes from this sisterhood, the Bene Gesserit, who are there to manipulate the outcome of the universe basically. And then conflicted with this →

11

passion and love for her belief. And her belief, we spoke a lot about true love, what happens when you fall in love and the request of creating a son versus my chores, which one do you go for? It’s a constant struggle. And you say this is her entire identity, the mind struggle, but the emotional protection of your child, of your loved ones and knowing what is right. It’s finding those lovely balances. Thankfully I had a director helping me from one emotion to the other, I was quite confused sometimes.

ABOUT CHILDHOOD I was born in Sweden, Swedish father and an English mother so I was raised bilingual and went to a music school, singing, loved dancing. I would dance everywhere all the time and was actually cast for this television series that we had in Sweden called New Times and I got the part which meant I missed a bit of school which we called gymnasium. I know we have different school systems, but it meant that I couldn’t get into university so it was a big choice that I had to make. I’ve a highly intelligent mother; my father’s also very smart. My mother is extremely intelligent, so I was raised up in a home when it came to reading books, to be articulate, to have thoughts, to question status quo, to not be scared of going against and to listen.

A B O U T H AV I N G N I C K N A M E A S A CHILD In Sweden there is a mental institution called Becko’s (Beckomberga Hospital) and that is an easy way to shorten the name Rebecca so I always learned to hate my nickname. At the same time, I get these kinds of references to Ingrid Bergman and to other names and similarities and for me that goes into noir and Hitchcock and the colorations of

12

grey and dark and blue and black. I don’t know if it’s Swedish, I don’t know if it’s noir-ian and Bergman-esque but I fit into a pocket that people usually go, Bergman, Rebecca, Ingrid, Rebecca. It’s a good pocket.

ABOUT FAVORITE WAY TO ESCAPE It’s usually a really silly rom-com. For me it’s Love Actually for 460 times. I mean quintessentially bloody English or How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days because I think it was so bloody adorable. Yeah, something like that. Or probably some series that I’ve already watched 400 million times.

ABOUT LUCK AND SUCCESS I look at people who want to become actresses or actors and they ask me questions and I kind of look at my life and I think, what happened to me? And I literally feel like it was bloody luck. It’s from one Swedish film, which went very well to meeting an incredible agent who sent me to casting, my first ever international casting. And I happened to get it on the fourth callback, which got me a Golden Globe nomination. I got nominated for a Golden Globe for best actress in a TV series

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

which is just insane. I remember being nominated next to Helen Mirren, Helena Bonham Carter, Elizabeth Moss, who won for Top of the Lake. I was in a room with the people who I looked up to.

I always felt like the Swedish girl who didn’t really belong in the big world of the extraordinary. But it definitely got me to Mission Impossible. It was kind of like ongoing but big productions. But always in collaborations with greater people. So, I was always very lucky in that. I can’t watch myself and say I’m good, I can’t walk away from a set and say that was a great day, I always criticize it and that’s my job. But I always feel very, very happy with the people I work with and that always generates more mass to the bigger picture.

ABOUT AMBITION FOR THE FUTURE I’m not entering a new chapter in relation to my birthday, I feel like it’s constantly an escalator going. And then sometimes it feels like it’s standing still. But I’d love to produce. I look at Margo Robbie, who I think has done incredibly well. I really, really highly respect her and her work. I want to be a part of things more, the collaboration of my family production. I see other things, but I don’t think it’s a new chapter, it’s just kind of an ongoing incline, I hope. But yeah, I want to produce.

I’d love to make something in Sweden. Nothing’s comes my way yet.

Photos Courtesy of HFPA

Rebecca Ferguson and Lena Basse

Venice Film Festival Dune Premiere

13

14

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Rising Star on the Indie Film Scene

Angelo Reyes Nicole Muj Managing Editor, IEM

The industry is taking notice of Filipino-Italian American actor/director Angelo Reyes, who is currently taking his short 21st & Colonial out on the festival circuit. The film, which he wrote, directed and stars in, was screened recently at the San Diego Filipino International Film Festival and is an official selection of the Asian World Film Festival, taking place this month in Los Angeles. IEM had a change to catch up with this rising star on the global indie film scene.

Nicole Muj: You are quite an accomplished actor. Why made you decide to pursue directing as well?

AR: Directing was a role that I knew eventually I was going to get to do. I wanted to train as an actor first and fulfill my goals. When I felt comfortable and had the opportunity to direct, I decided to take the challenge. I thought that having experience directing and running a production would make me a better actor as well, and vice versa. Then I wrote 21st & Colonial. I had a vision for the story and it had to be a certain way. Since we were going to make a short film concept prior to the feature film, I thought that this was a perfect time for me. →

15

What inspired you to make 21st & Colonial?

AR: I began a journey and mission when I started writing screenplays. I wanted to produce true human impact stories that ignite the heart.

Give a voice to stories of people that sometimes we don’t hear of or maybe we forget about. My last production Groomed was based on a true story about domestic human trafficking in Virginia. It went behind the scenes of what human traffickers do and what it looked like and followed the character throughout the process.

21st & Colonial was no different. I was inspired to write this story back when I was watching the news, where an African American male named Omar was shot 14 times by police while sitting in his car, unarmed at a bank drive-through. He cashed a fraudulent check, which would have been a misdemeanor if convicted.

I was introduced to the family by a close friend.

I spent the day with the family, and I was deeply moved. As I researched Omar’s death further and the details surrounding this fatal encounter, it grew to be more complex.

Angelo Reyes

16

The story plays out a 24-hour period in the characters of Omar and Carlos, both the victim and the police officer. I wanted to write an unbiased story.

You will see this in a parallel narrative as it builds up to where they have a fatal encounter. No money will ever bring back their son or heal the wound of this tragedy. Telling Omar’s story is one way we can honor him.

What has been the response to the film so far?

AR: It has been interesting. After screenings, the audience were quiet, which was worrisome at the time. But when the theatre lights came on and it was time for the Q&A sessions, I had a tremendous number of compliments. I had touched on subjects in the short concept that I didn’t even mean to, such as trauma, PTSD, etc. I then realized this film became much bigger and tells a much larger story. This was good to know as I get ready to turn this concept into a feature film.

You star in 21st & Colonial as well as directed (and wrote) the film. What were the challenges you faced having to wear so many hats?

AR: This was a big task but with the right team it made my job a lot easier. I was more prepared with 21st & Colonial because my last film, Groomed, as I had the same roles to fill. I believe that was my trial run. I learned a lot from that production. Even though 21st & Colonial was a short film concept, my team and I spent six months prepping every scene. I worked closely with my Director of Photography, Leah Anova. I learned that the DP is my best friend. If I was going to pull this off being in front and behind the camera, we both needed to have the same vision and chemistry.

In the end it worked out. It prepared me for the feature film.

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

How have your international roots helped you in your career in the entertainment industry?

AR: Absolutely! Being able to speak other languages fluently gave me an upper hand. I can immerse myself in many characters and backgrounds. It’s very challenging but that’s what acting is all about. I love learning about different cultures, languages, and people’s stories. This has helped me a lot throughout my career.

Who was been the greatest mentor to you (in the industry)?

I have a bigger purpose now. I want to be able to return the favor and help other artists, especially in the Asian and Filipino communities. So, thank you Michael!

What's next on the horizon for you?

AR: Next up is the 21st & Colonial feature.

I am hoping to have everything ready to film in 2022. I’m still working as an actor and training constantly. I have written four scripts, so once 21st & Colonial is done, I have others ready right behind it. I can’t wait to show you what I have in store.

AR: The one person that really helped me and especially getting 21st & Colonial off the ground is Mr. Michael Goi. He gave me advice with my acting career choices and introduced me to people. He introduced me to who is now my ‘Ate’ (means older sister in Tagalog), Leah Anova, a talented and amazing cinematographer. He told me to just do the work and get this film under my belt, and everything else will fall in place. He has been a great mentor to me and I’m grateful for him. The little things he has done for me has made me a better artist and human being. Passing down his knowledge and expertise has made me realize 21st & Colonial

Into The Night Offical Poster

Telling Omar’s story is one way we can honor him.

17

NEW YORK FILM ACADEMY

Black Wiidow

Claude Brickell Writer/Filmmaker

What Ever Happened to

Indie Film?

18

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

How often do you hear…why don’t they make movies like they used to?

Or… it’s hard to find a movie I want to see anymore. The Hollywood market for films has changed drastically over the years, and that change affects what movies are now available.

Congress has had a long history of legislation preventing monopolies and other unfair business practices.

What this antitrust legislation lays down is that you cannot manufacture a product and sell it‒or distribute it‒ yourself. That would be a monopoly.

Before the 1950s, all of the major studios owned their own movie theaters across the country where they distributed their own product, their films. Many of these theatres actually carried studio names like Warner Bros., Fox and Paramount Theatres. But, in 1948, the Democratic administration of Harry S. Truman concluded that studios were making their movies and distributing them, as well. So, it sued against the practice and won. The Supreme Court’s ‘the United States vs. Paramount Pictures, Inc.’ antitrust case disallowed studio distri-

bution chains altogether. So, the studios were then forced to sell off their theaters to independent distribution entities. This legislation brought about a new era in film distribution resulting in a heyday for independents (producers making films outside the studio system), as theaters were no longer exclusive to just studio-made product.

This change landed a crushing blow, however, to the studio system, and, with the advent of television in the 1950s, that made a further dent in the studios’ box office returns, nearly bankrupting them. To save the studios from going under (which were incurring massive overheads from script development, contract player salaries, and set and costume departments, not to mention sprawling back lots), it was decided that studio pictures had to be bigger and better to compete. As a result, we witnessed a string of studio projection gimmicks to lure the public back, including Cinemascope (wide screen projection), 3-D (dimension projection) and Cinerama (threescreen mega-wide projection), even smell-o-vision. → 19

The government’s legislation, though, only affected theaters stateside. In major cities across the globe, the studios still maintained theaters for foreign distribution. Warner Theater in Havana, Cuba is today, the Yara Cinema. But the bulk of studio profits, as today, still came from the domestic market.

Fast forward to the Reagan years and the Republican administration changed overnight to being pro-business. With an ease in legislation, corporations began buying up other corporations right and left, creating Wall Street mergers. For example, publishing giant Time, Inc. acquired Warner Bros.

Studios creating Time Warner. And, within a short period of time, other movie studios were being bought up by additional Wall Street conglomerates.

Then, by chance, a Wall Street entity, owning one of the movie studios, happened to buy a movie distribution chain and everyone in the industry went into shock. What was the government going to do about that? Curiously, however, the government looked the other way. And, if one corporation could get away with that, why not others? In no time, most of the conglomerates owning movie studios had also purchased movie distribution chains that made it possible for studios to exercise control over their distribution, again. This practice resulted in exclusivity, all over, again, and it spelled the end of the independents.

The years before mergers had seen a boom for independent film production with studio-level, star-driven, pictures like Oliver Stone feature Platoon, produced by financier Arnold Kopelson at Inter-Ocean Films, Ltd. and a host of other independents, producers such as John Daly at Hemdale and Menahem Golan at Cannon Films,

20

thrived. However, shut out of major theater distribution, the major independents soon died out.

They could no longer compete cost-wise with no way to recoup their exorbitant investments. A couple of smaller chains (with about 200 screens across the country, each) have sprung up to distribute smaller-budget, non-star, digital-only films, such as The Help, My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the recently released Tango Shalom).

With Wall Street now owning studios, their pictures had to be highly profitable. And what do Wall Street corporations do at the end of each month? They go down their list of companies to check what gains the companies are making.

‘This one is in the black, this one, too.’ Then, they would come to their movie studio and, eek!

‘This one is in the red!’ That is just not acceptable to Wall Street. So, they then called in their junior executives, graduates of Harvard, Yale, MIT, etc… and said, “Guess what, boys, you’re going out to Hollywood to run a movie studio.” No more Jack Warners or Louis B. Meyers who made movies from the heart. Studio CEOs would now be Wall Street junior executives who had no clue about making movies, only about making money.

Who cared if the movies were not up to everyone’s tastes, so long as they made profits - mega profits?

And what do Wall Street corporations do when they have a product that is not selling? They do market research. These corporations then sent marketing researchers across the country to every major movie theater to see who was actually going to the movies. And what did these researchers find? Sixty-five percent of the movie-going public was between the ages of 12 and 29, and sixty-five

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Karina Smirnoff in Tango Shalom

Casablanca The Curious Case of Benjamin

percent of that group was between the ages of 16 and 24. And, they were male. Seems the guy chooses the movie, not his date.

And what do males between the ages of 16 and 24 want to see? Sex, action, violence and goofball comedies. Overnight, every studio changed the kind of movies they were making. If the movie didn’t appeal to the core group of 16 to 24, at least it had to appeal to the prime group of 12 to 29.

And this gave birth to blockbusters, the new ‘bigger and better’ geared specifically to 12 to 29s (Star Wars). The studios will make films that appeal to a 30-plus crowd, but rarely, as those tend to be films a particular star wants to make or films that might get an Oscar nomination (The Iron Lady or The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

Studios adore Oscars. Winning them gives them credibility and they can interest more star-power names into making films with them.

They never make a profit, though, and often run heavily in the red. The blockbusters pay the bills and films like the Black Widow franchises with stars such as Scarlett Johansson just break even simply keeping the studios afloat.

So, as far as independent film goes, it was a brief blip in the industry’s overall history. And that is not likely to change much in the future with talent agencies now in total control forcing salaries into oblivion. Today, if you want to see a really endearing, thought-provoking film, you have to watch old movies like Casablanca on Turner Classic Movies or search your cable channels for anything that’s not 16 to 24 fare.

21

Lake Tahoe Risen From The Ashes Eric Minh Swenson Photojournalist | Filmmaker Founder, EMS.ART.SCENE

I visited South Lake Tahoe in late October in the cold and rain in the wake of the hell and fury of the Caldor fire that threatened the area for months. Its vengeance scorched over 347 square miles and destroyed 782 structures. Brave firefighters and first responders held the line and spared the city despite evacuations of homeowners 22

and businesses. When I showed up the fire was 100% contained and it was cold and wet. I visited artists who found inspiration from the fire that were in the path of the flaming front but lived to make art of the burnt wood and ash. Ultimately, the Lake Tahoe community was spared with zero deaths, yet scarred from the fire beast wrath.

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

23

24

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

25

26

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

27

28

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

29

Ali Mahir Aksu Breaks from Tradition With FilmCapital.io 30

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Nicole Muj Managing Editor, IEM

IEM first featured Ali Mahir Aksu in 2019 at the annual Production Without Borders showcase. In 2021, we met with the young entrepreneur once again to learn about his latest projects and the evolution of FilmCapital.io.

You launched FilmCapital.io during AFM 2019.

How has the company progressed since launch?

What makes FilmCapital.io so important to the film industry at this time in the industry?

AMA: The two major milestones ahead of us after the initial soft launch were proving our minimum viable product and registering with SEC as a funding portal. Both of these events happened in 2020 and 2021 and now we are ready to go to market full speed. We couldn't be more excited to provide this unique opportunity to our audience. We have also secured key strategic partnerships recently, which I will announce soon.

AMA: Crowdfunding as a technology is one of the top 10 upcoming mainstream technologies in the world. Without a doubt, it has a huge potential of disrupting the entertainment industry as well.

We are leading this change with an all-star team to revolutionize the process of content production.

We have created the ultimate user-friendly crowdfunding platform. I have to give credits to our design and development team who are extraordinary individuals.

I know you have some exciting new additions to FilmCapital.io's executive team? Can you tell us about them?

AMA: Larry Namer joined us to serve as the president. Monique Giggy and Phil Goldfine also joined as board advisors in 2021.

What is the biggest lesson you have learned since launching FilmCapital.io?

AMA: Audience first. We build everything with as little bias as possible to make it easy for our audience to go through the whole experience on →

31

our platform, whether they are producers or investors. As a fintech company, we prioritize "trust" and "transparency" in an industry that needs it the most for investors who are looking to diversify their portfolios with eventful products like movies.

What sort of projects are you looking for?

AMA: We are scouting at award-winning filmmakers for development fundraise and studio-backed producers for all types of content, including features or TV shows.

What are some of your success stories since launch?

You also launched Auteur Academy. Can you tell us about it?

AMA: I launched Auteur Academy in an attempt to fill a huge gap in the independent filmmaking world. Many up-and-coming filmmakers lack crucial knowledge in the business of filmmaking.

Here, I always make a comparison to the world of entrepreneurship. Without having the right exit strategy, your production plan is flawed big time.

In order to avoid this frustration and friction in production, we centralized the right knowledge in one source to educate and inspire the independent filmmaker community all around the world.

AMA: We have raised more than 1M+ for the first two productions we worked on through our intimate circle of family offices, institutional investors and high-net worth individuals.

Do you have any new projects that you wish to highlight?

AMA: We treat each production equally and give equal opportunities to all producers with whom we work. Our job is to make sure the entire experience of both producers and investors is smooth and transparent.

As a fintech company, we prioritize "trust" and "transparency" 32

Ali Mahir Aksu

CANNES BERLIN TIFF AFM SUNDANCE & MORE...

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

STRATEGIC PR & MARKETING SOLUTIONS FOR THE GLOBAL INDEPENDENT FILM COMMUNITY

INFO@CLOUD21.COM

present

The 4th annual

EARLYB IR D DEAD LINE DE CE MBER 15

FRENCH RIVIERA FILM FESTIVAL 2022 - Virtual / CANNES Celebrating short form content!

FRENCHRIVIERAFILMFESTIVAL.COM

33

34

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Exclusive Interview by H. Scott Bayer

Marc Levin's New Documentary "I Promise" Does LeBron James Proud Marc Levin is a New York City filmmaking legend whose cred in the realm of social justice has reverberated throughout the world just as strongly. In a prestigious and prolific career stretching over three decades, this year he has attained the rare milestones of 50 projects as producer and 40 directorial credits, among them such films as Slam (1998) which won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival, Brooklyn Babylon (2001), Protocols of Zion (2005), Hard Times: Lost on Long Island (2012) winner of the Audience Award at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Class Divide (2015) that earned the Metropolis Grand Jury Prize at DOC NYC, Rikers (2016), Baltimore Rising (2017) and I Am

Evidence (2017), an EMMY for Best Documentary.

This year, Levin's I Promise opened commercially on September 28th on YouTube Originals. The film, available free to watch, was initially presented as a series on Jeffrey Katzenberg’s Quibi before the channel's untimely demise. I Promise was recently acquired as a 102-minute feature film by YouTube. The release blurb goes like this: The work provides an in-depth look at the first academic year inside LeBron James' special I Promise school, which takes a STEM-focused approach emphasizing social emotional learning and the LeBron James Family Foundation’s “We Are Family” philosophy. → 35

H. Scott Bayer: Marc, it's always great when an NYC filmmaker has their world premiere in New York and it was particularly special this year.

communicating with the younger ones there.

And so how do you feel? I mean, you didn't really know him before.

Marc Levin: Yeah, the I Promise feature documentary premiered at the Tribeca Festival in June, which was the first live major fest since the pandemic closed things down. Screenings were out of doors. That was new and actually very exciting.

ML: I have to agree with you but I would say it like this: When I met LeBron, I had to say, you know, I'm a basketball fan. I played basketball in high school. I was co-captain of my team. So, it's one of the passions in my life. But I said I followed your career since you were in high school at St. Vincent. But I'm going to admit, LeBron, you were always on the wrong team and I'm from New York.

And so, I found myself rooting against you most of your career. But this endeavor that he's undertaking, he himself described as maybe the greatest challenge of his career to create a school and make it work. I was moved and I am a tremendous LeBron fan now. And what he's done in this school, with his production company, Spring Hill, in the entertainment industry, how he's gotten involved in social justice issues and spoken out and become such a leader - it's moving. And like you said, it's authentic. He loves interacting with these kids.

That scene in the film, which still cracks me up when he sits down with little Vincent, you know, who was a horror freak fanatic at age nine.

You've had films at Tribeca before of course?

ML: I've had a number of films at Tribeca.

(Notably - Triangle: Remembering the Fire (2011), Schmatta: Rags to Riches to Rags (2009), Stockton On My Mind (2020) I have always been a supporter. I was on the jury at one point, a while back.

I think it's a great thing what DeNiro and Jane Rosenthal put together after 9/11.

How did you get involved with this project?

ML: I Promise opened 3 years ago and is the public school for at risk kids in Akron, Ohio that LeBron James and his foundation have helped create. I met with some of the people involved in Spring Hill, which is Lebron's Company, and another production company was involved – Ryot, which was familiar with and liked my 2015 film Class Divide that was on HBO, which was shown through the eyes of kids. I pitched I Promise to also be told through the eyes of the kids and that appealed to them. I then went out and met the LeBron James Family Foundation - the people behind creating the school - and I guess they all put their heads together and decided to go with me and my company Blowback and I did it with my son Dan, who was the DP and executive producer.

So that's how it happened.

LeBron seemed very authentic. It looked like he really loved when he was getting results and 36

Halloween every day...

ML: Exactly, his father says, kind of ruefully, “it's Halloween every day around here.” But when he and LeBron start talking about Halloween, Friday the 13th, it's just remarkable how real that conversation is, how authentic it is and how he cracks up at this little kid that knows all this stuff. And I didn't know at that point, that LeBron himself is something of a horror film aficionado, you know, that he's into that genre.

So, it's, for real, what he's done there is inspiring. And they're not done. They're expanding,

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

the school's expanding. They're creating possibly a high school. They're creating housing for some of the families that are homeless as LeBron and his mother were at a time in his youth. So, it's quite something.

So, your father was a great documentarian and now you're going into the third generation.

ML: You're absolutely right about that. I was very lucky to work with my dad all those years.

My father Al Levin was not only a documentary filmmaker and a journalist, but he was an extraordinary person. And he and I worked together for a good 20, 25 years. And now carrying on that tradition, I've been working with my son and it's a rare thing to be able to work with your father and then to work with your son. And my son just had a son - Asher Levin. So, we'll see where he's at in 20/21 years.

Usually it's medical families that do this, I guess you're a doctor of docs.

Dan Levin and Marc Levin

... it's a rare thing to be able to work with your father and then to work with your son.

ML: I like that. But both of my parents, my father and my mom, Hanna Alexander, they were activists. They were radicals in the fifties when I was just a little kid. In the sixties, they were in the middle of a lot of the civil rights movement and the anti-war movement. So, they both had a profound influence on kind of the way I see the world.

What was the most important thing you think you learned from your dad about making good documentaries?

ML: I think my father had an almost saintly rapport with people. He was the most open person, the most encouraging. He used to call himself a hopeaholic. And I think it was being open to all people's stories genuinely and to care and his level of compassion. In the documentary world, → 37

so much of the work comes down to trust - building trust between people you're working with in specialty subjects that are difficult and touching.

This project that we're talking about, I Promise, you had to gain the trust of kids. First of all, kids who have been kind of labeled as at-risk kids. A lot of them, it's not an intelligence issue, not even necessarily a learning disability issue. It's the world they grow up in and the turbulent family life. And some are even homeless, its poverty, its violence, it's all of that. Drugs...

Kids bring all the social problems that we face to school every day. So, establishing trust, being open and then getting their families to sign on knowing that for the film to work, you're not going to just be able to show good stuff. You got to show the good, the bad and the ugly. And some of the ugly is painful. Sometimes when these kids are acting out and going off it's tough to watch and it's certainly asking a lot of them and their families to allow that to be captured and then to allow it to be used in the film. And so going back to what you asked about my father, my father was a man who built trust with people. People came to him seeking advice, seeking guidance and he had this aura really.

So, whatever I took from that, it allows me to open up to people, allows me to be curious about other human beings, even if I don't agree with them or they're coming from other worlds.

I carried it into this world. And I would say finally, you asked, both my parents really, but my father - he had the Peter Pan Syndrome, which I certainly have. You never want to grow up. You want to be a kid forever. You want to be curious forever. You want your life to be new and adventurous forever. You want to play, then in play find the creative moment. You want to play with people 38

but not play on them, play with them in a real dialogue. So, all those things came into play in this project. And that, I think, as I tried to explain it to both administrators and family members and the kids was: look, if you don't show some of the losses, some of the hurts and some of the setbacks, then when you win, when there's a triumph, it doesn't ring true. It doesn't have the power.

So, if we're going to believe that hopefully this was going to prove a point. And the point being: that compassionate love and care, dealing with kids - what they call the social emotional learning, meaning - before you can teach 1 + 1 and reading, you've got to get these kids past the traumas in their lives. And so that takes a holistic approach.

You've got to deal with the families. You've got to have a food bank. You have to have places where you can house them. You have to have legal aid. If they're in trouble. You have the GED courses. All of these, what they call wrap around services, are part of giving these kids a chance. And then, you need to prove to the world that it works. And so, I admit that when I went out there, I was a bit of a New York, you know, cynic - like, is this going to really work?

You know, just hugging these kids, loving these kids, these wraparound services... is that enough for kids that, you know, are, are barely reading, you know, in third and fourth grade and then have had all these academic challenges? I don't want to give away the whole film, but obviously you saw that the emotion and the power of what happens in the spring, when these kids finally face the moment of truth, was so moving that when it was happening and we were filming it - I remember turning to my son and saying, is this a Disney film?

Way much love here.

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

MC: Yeah, this is hard to believe. And yet it was happening right in front of our eyes. So that's the magic of this film that we were able to capture in I Promise. I hope the lessons are shared. That's why we want the film to be seen by educators across this country, by families...

Well, that begs a question - hugging. It seems to really work. In a public school, generally, that's like an open invitation to some nasty lawyer to take you down. So, the question is, what will they do in the future? If they liked the concept, will they have like a release of liability or something?

ML: That's a great question because, in the film, a number of the teachers talk about how in their other public schools, they were told they can't touch the kids, especially because of issues of abuse and harassment in the past. But at this school, since it was a special public school, they were allowed.

How they'll negotiate rolling this kind of program out is a great question. How it can be adopted on a mass level by school boards, all across the country that is a very key question that I think they're wrestling with now. I don't know the answer to that.

But certainly, you put your finger on one of the real challenges. Okay, LeBron James, his foundation teamed up - this was a public private partnership they teamed up with a public school. LeBron was advised, when he first discussed wanting to do a school, in Akron, for kids that were like him - he was advised to do an academy, a private academy.

There, you don't worry. You set your rules. You can touch kids. You can help kids. You don't have to deal with the board of education. You don't have to deal with the teachers, but he said, “I didn't go to private academy. I went to public school.” So, then they said, he was advised, well do a charter school.

You know, we have a little more freedom. He said,

On Set of I Promise

“I didn't go to charter school. I went to the regular elementary public school.”

And it demonstrates better that way.

ML: And that, you know, in terms of the majority of kids in this country, that's what they go to. So how you scale up an idea like this, that is the next step. But first, in that step, everybody's got to see this film. So, people will be asking their school boards and their communities: Why can't we do something like that? Now, of course, not every community has a LeBron James, but it doesn't take just a LeBron James. Every community has successful business people, successful entrepreneurs that can help out and help work out a deal between the private sector and the public sector. Every community has got leaders.

You weren't getting bureaucratic pushback in Ohio, from like government officials or educational union powers or something?

ML: I had to negotiate with the board of education and the head of the board of education.

And look at first, it was interesting there. One of their concerns, their main concerns, was that they didn't want it to appear that their school system was hurting so bad that LeBron had to come save them. That was a big concern, you know that → 39

...they didn't want it to appear that their school system was hurting so bad that LeBron had to come save them.

I Promise

they were trying innovations - it's actually a very innovative school district. So that was a major concern, obviously. Also, as we discussed earlier, seeing kids act out is a touchy thing and you know there are moments, in the film, where you do see kids acting out and misbehaving and they were concerned about that. But I tried and was lucky enough to succeed. I told them, look, I've worked in the public schools in New York City, in Newark, New Jersey and Chicago. So, I mean, we understand these problems and we can work with you on them. And I think they're very happy that they eventually decided - let's go for it.

How did you pick the four kids?

ML: Casting was interesting. I went around to every classroom and tried to explain what are we doing - you see this small crew running around 40

you, what are we doing? It's not a news show. Have you heard of a documentary? Do you know what a documentary is? And then started explaining and saying, we don't want to force anyone to be in this film. It's all voluntary. But if you would like to come to, we set up a classroom, like a small studio, like a freestyle studio. And so, we said, anybody that wants to come there can come. And you don't, there's nothing you can do that's wrong. You could sit there and make faces. You can tell jokes, you can dance, you can sing, you can do whatever you want. And you know, we'll take it. So, you know, not everybody came, but obviously there were kids that were ready, like Vincent, the kid that is obsessed with horror films.

From that set up where you had them, how many were you interested in possibly?

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

ML: We met, I would say two of them that way. Nate, who is a main character in the film Dan and Jackson were on the bus with him on day one, first day of school. They were on a bus and we were following another kid, but the camera just somehow kind of drifted to him. And then once he was on camera, the camera stayed there and they knew this kid had a spark that he had something.

And then Scout, the young girl that you know, refused to read in front of us and was insecure about kind of her mom's health and everything that was happening - I met her through her grandmother, who I met on my first trip out there. They introduced me to some of the parents and the guardians and she invited me into their home, got to know the daughter Scout. So, I was with her on day one.

And Dan and Jackson were on the bus with another young man, a young student or a young scholar, as they say. But then they saw Nate and they said, you know, you need to meet this kid Marc. And as soon as I met him, I agreed. Yeah. You know, let's follow him. Now we also have two other young scholars that we follow that, you know, just in making the film and in the demands of time, we had to cut back on. Just to make it work, four was enough.

We see that when LeBron comes there, like little trips or pilgrimages, and the kids love to see him.

Was there a system involved? Did they know, did anybody know when he was going to come? Or did he surprise them?

ML: He surprised them. We didn't often know. I mean when the Lakers had a game in Cleveland, obviously that was: is LeBron going to be able to make it by here? But sometimes it was a surprise. Some of the teachers may have known, I mean, I want to say one thing about the teachers also, because this whole idea of scaling up and how

do you do this? You know, I come from a family of educators. My mom was a teacher, a professor and two of my sisters. One is a professor at city college now. And one is in early childhood education up in Westchester. And I don't think I've ever appreciated really what they and what teachers do. The first day of school, we were filming and it was exciting.

And we came back to the hotel and we'd said, you know, let's all clean up and meet for dinner and discuss what we're going to do on day two. Well, we all collapsed. We all just collapsed. We were so exhausted. And then the morning after at breakfast, we all looked at each other and it's like, how did these teachers do this every day?

I think they gave you their trust. You could tell that when they let you come to that beef session.

ML: That's true. You're referring to the scene where the teachers themselves had kind of an encounter session, because I think all of them had taught in inner city schools in Akron but none of them had ever dealt with the challenges they face at the beginning of I Promise and they were overwhelmed. They did allow us; and you know, I have so much respect for teachers and what they do, you know, what they give and you know, what's interesting is: the pandemic, I guess, made us all aware when so many parents were home and the kids had to do virtual learning. And, you know, you were reading about, you know, fathers who work on Wall Street and lawyers, and them going: “Wow! I never knew this is what it takes to teach - teachers should be making more.” Yeah. Hello, wake up. Yes. Teachers deserve a lot more respect, a lot more rewards than we, as a culture, provide them. And that was one thing that came out of this, is realizing how much they give, how much they sacrifice.→ 41

Vinnie and Marc

So how much did you go through, I mean, what were the adjustments you had to make to function during the pandemic as a filmmaker?

ML: Well, we shot the film before the pandemic, but in general, like everybody we closed down - we were out of the office for a year till March this year. But we were lucky - we had this project. We had another film that Sonja Sohn directed called The Slow Hustle (2021), that premiered at the American Film Institute Doc Festival. We've got the Kevin Garnett Anything Is Possible documentary that will be on Showtime this fall. And we have another HBO film that we're doing. So, we had a lot of material in post-production. The other film is called Adrienne which is about actress/writer/director Adrienne Shelly. And that'll be coming out hopefully later this year. So, we had all these films in post-production and we were able to work remotely, our editors were able to work remotely. So, we lucked out in the sense that we had all this post-production work that we had to do. Production was really 42

hard. The K.G. Project, the Kevin Garnett project, that was tricky. Protocols, COVID protocols, the whole thing. But the fact that we had so much post-production work saved us.

Which leads to technical questions: did you shoot 4K? ML: Yes, we shot 4K on the Sony FS-7. We edited on Avid. We have a Terrablock you know, so it also allows us to edit remotely and I think just for I Promise that the main technical strategy was small. Keep the crew small, intimate. There were times it was almost like a one-man band, like what you're doing right now, because if you're with kids and you want them to interact naturally, you don't want a 10-person crew, lights all over the place, stands, gobos. So, it was trying to strip down to get to the basics.

Well, you seem to like the subject so much and its potential, that you mentioned before we had the interview that you were considering following the footsteps of Michael Apted, and his

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Seven up! in which they went back every seven years of these young people, they were following since youth. So, in this case, what would it be like? Five up! and you'd count LeBron? - see where he's at in five years too...

Levin: You're right. I mean, from the moment I first went out to Akron and met some of the kids. I definitely had the idea that, wow, wouldn't it be amazing to do what Michael Apted and the British did in the Seven up! series, which was really a landmark series in the second half of the 20th century, following these kids from when they were seven and then every seven years through their lives. Wouldn't it be amazing to do a 21st century version of that? Because one of the things that got me was the diversity of the student body and of Akron, that I didn't expect it to have. It's a refugee center. So, it's got people from Southeast Asia, from Latin America, from all over the world. It was much more of a mix of the student body – it was like the new America. And so, I'm still pushing for I guess it would be more like Four up! You know every four years checking in with some of, you know, we had four kids in the beginning and there would be new kids too, but it would also be how a community changes, how families changed and the pace of change...

You can't just go like that - We need you!

ML: Laughs - LeBron is only 35 or 36. And obviously these kids, when he started, they were in the third and fourth grade. So yeah, you know, I want to see Nate. I want to see Deshana. I want to see Scout. I want to see Vince. I want to see where they're at when they hit eighth grade and they're about to then move on to high school. I want to re-engage with them. I want to reconnect with them. I want to go back to Akron. I want to do I Promise 2.

Photos Courtesy of Marc Levin.

LeBron James

Right.

ML: ...that we're living through now, just think about it, that we've all witnessed as you know, it just accelerated. So, I'm still hoping that as I Promise goes out, this documentary, this feature documentary that maybe not this year, but next year, we could go back to Akron and start this process of what they call the longitudinal documentary over time. And even when I'm gone, that my son and Jackson, who's a key producer...

43

Market Programming Spotlight: The Women Nicole Muj Managing Editor, IEM

Female content creators are making a major impression on this year’s film market. Following are some of the groundbreaking projects by women filmmakers from United States, Germany and United Kingdom – definitely not to be overlooked.

 GALAXY 360: A Woman’s Playground Runtime: 118 min Genre: Sci-Fi Comedy Feature Director, Producer, Writer: Anna Fishbeyn Executive Producer: Anteriya Films

GALAXY 360: A Woman’s Playground - Women rule the world, men dream of getting married, and you’re invited to attend Victor’s Angels Mr. World Beauty Pageant, the most watched reality TV show of the future! This is a comic Sci-Fi satire with a great message! Set in the year 2195, all gender stereotypes are reversed, and men are treated as objects and playthings, under the wealth and power of women. The pageant features The Great Media Personality Illumina, who whips the men into shape through drama, tears and insecurities, as they dream of winning the Golden Phallickorn Crown - a prize that will raise the men's social and economic status.

Galaxy 360: A Woman's Palyyground

44

Ja

IEM / NOVEMBER 2021

Original Jayhawker

 Original Jayhawker Runtime: 55:15 Genre: Historical Documentary Director: Sue Vicory Executive Producer: Heartland Films, Inc. Writer: Angela Holt Editor: Taylor Snyder

Original Jayhawker is a documentary centered around the quaint town of Mound City, Kansas.

Located in Eastern Kansas, not far from the Missouri border, Mound City is nestled among hills filled with Sugar Maples. The film captures the spirit and history of Mound City and its inhabitants.

Spanning nearly 200 years of history, Original Jayhawker highlights the historical significance and its small town culture through the generations.  Mercy Runtime: 82 mins Genre: Documentary Drama Director/writer/producer: Wendy Morgan Cast: Maria Austin, Mark Wingett, Annette Badland, Catherine Shipton, Wendy Morgan, David Streames, Christopher Guard, John Pickering.

Mercy Official Poster

Mercy - In her hidden world, those who Mercy encounters, on her journey from factory farm to slaughterhouse, are changed forever. Teetering on the verge of ecological destruction our world is now confronted by a global zoonotic pandemic.

Empathizing with all on Mercy's journey, a warning siren sounds on our uncertain times, calling for universal change. Mercy is the directorial debut by award-winning actress of the stage and screen Wendy Morgan, who has worked alongside some of the greats in the global film/TV industry, including Vanessa Redgrave, Anthony Hopkins, Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and Richard Gere, to name a few.

45

M A R K E T P R O G R A M M I N G S P O T L I G H T: T H E W O M E N

AND COMING SOON...

 Wonder Women Runtime: 6x50 min Genre: Documentary Series Director: Christina Rose Writers: Dorian Hess, Christina Rose Producer: MirrorWater Entertainment

 The Abraham Accords Change History: Women in the Middle East

Wonder Women is a docuseries about young women making a major impact serving in leadership positions in underrepresented industries. We are defining underrepresented where 15% or less of a M A given R K E T Pprofession ROGRAMMIN G Swomen P O Thas in key positions. We are featuring a fisher woman out of Alaska (Marie Rose), an Astronaut trainee from Germany (SuL I Gzanna H T: T H ERandall), W O M E N a race car driver from Hungary (Vivien Keszthelyi), a Puerto Rican Baseball player (Diamilette Quiles Alicea), a musical conductor from China/New Zealand (Tianyi Lu) and a Boing 777 pilot from India (Anny Divya). Each episode focuses on one of the women -- their journey, their hardships, their impact and what they hope to achieve for future generations.

Wonder Women

Runtime: 30 min Genre: documentary Director: Eva Lanska Producers: Yves Freidman, Oren Rosenfeld

The film's narrators express their thoughts about the horizons that The Abraham Accords have opened to the participating countries and the effects they have on the women of the Middle East.

The film includes conversations with outstanding representatives of cultural, religious and business organizations in the Middle East. Narrators of this compelling documentary include Senior Rabbi, Jewish Council of the Emirates, Chief Rabbi, Association of Gulf Jewish Communities Dr. Elie Abadie; Dr. Eng. Suaad Alshamsi, senior manager and technical advisor for one of the biggest aviation projects in UAE; Michigan Supreme Court Justice Richard Bernstein; Dr. Jennifer Camulli; Fleur Hassan-Nahoum, Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem for Foreign Relations Economic Development and Tourism at Municipality of Jerusalem; Emirati artist Mohammed Kazem; H.E. Ahmed Obaid Al Mansoori, Founder of the Strategists Center, Al Mansoori Consultancy and Crossroads of Civilizations Museums; Israel's first Head of Mission, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Ambassador Eitan Na'eh; Emirati businesswoman Sara Al Nuaimi; Humanitarian Rania Abu Shabaan; and Israeli Diplomat Ruth Wasserman Lande.

Eva Lanska with Dr. Eng. Suaad Alshamsi and Rabbi Dr. Elie Abadie

46

PARK CITY ISSUE | JAN 2021

47

www.indieentertainmentmedia.com