For over a decade, ShortsTV has proudly brought the Oscar© Nominated Short Films to audiences across the globe. This exclusive release features the year’s most spectacular short films and for a limited time is available to watch on the big screen. Each nominee is released in one of three distinct feature-length compilations according to their category of nomination: Live Action, Animation or Documentary. The films go into theaters around the world shortly after nominations are announced and are not released anywhere else until a few days before the Oscars©, when they are also made available via on demand platforms, including iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play and Vimeo on Demand. The release ensures the greatest number of viewers can see all the nominees before the ceremony, while providing short filmmakers with an unprecedented opportunity to commercialize their movies. Carter Pilcher founded Shorts International in 2000. Coming from a background in both investment banking and law, Carter has made Shorts International the world’s leading short movie Entertainment Company, functioning as distributor, broadcaster and producer. Carter has extensive experience in short movie production and short movie entertainment. He is a voting member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts and a member of the Short Film and Feature Animation Branch of The US Academy of Motion Pictures, Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) – the guys who pick the Oscars. For the last seven years Carter Pilcher has been the highlight of Oscar season here on Film School Radio. His insight, commitment and love of the short film format and the dedicated people who create them insures a lively and informative conversation on some of the best films you will see all year.

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For news and updates go to: shorts.tv/theoscarshorts

The Orange Years: The Nickelodeon Story is a deep dive into the origin story for one of the most successful cable operations in media history as well as the many reasons why millions of children and adults made the Nickelodeon Network synonymous with growing up. In just a few years, the channel grew from a small local channel to an international phenomenon that helped shape a generation. Led by trailblazing visionary Geraldine Laybourne and her commitment to putting kids first, a group of unconventional heroes turned an underdog channel into an $8 billion dollar juggernaut as the golden standard for children’s programming. The Orange Years chronicles the rise of Nickelodeon, with the actors, writers, and creators from all the golden age Nickelodeon shows that shaped your lives. It’s wild. It’s crazy. It changed the world. Co-directors Adam Sweeney and Scott Barber join us for a conversation on the unlikely history of a children’s cable network that really was about and for kids from its quirky lo-fi programming to the young at heart creators who have never lost dight of who their audience is.

For news and updates go to: theorangeyears.com

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It’s 1984 and outside a small-town nightclub, a group of 8th graders gather, grappling with a spate of recent suicides, UFO sightings, their absentee parents, and each other. 18 TO PARTY spans a single evening in the lives of these kids, but manages to transport us fully to a time when waiting for something to happen felt just as significant as the thing itself. Gorgeously atmospheric, with a pulsating sense of anticipation that steadily builds, the film pulls us into the fears, wounds, and desires of each character, ultimately revealing that hope may arrive from the last place we expect. The meticulously authentic production design, killer soundtrack, and universally excellent performances recall the spirit of classic 80s teen movies like Stand By Me and The Breakfast Club. 18 TO PARTY is a spot-on love letter to Gen X, awkward teenagers, and the transcendent power of friendship. Director Jeff Roda joins us for a conversation on the universal trials and tribulations of youth, working with a very talented group of actors and the inspiration for his insightful new film.

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For news and updates go to: 18topartymovie.com

About the filmmaker: Jeff Roda has written screenplays for DreamWorks, Universal, Paramount Pictures, New Regency, TriStar, and television pilots for HBO, CBS, and Warner Bros. Additionally, he was a producer on the Sony Pictures Classics feature, Love Liza, starring Academy Award winning actors Philip Seymour Hoffman and Kathy Bates. 18 TO PARTY marks his directorial debut. Roda is a local resident of Woodstock area and the film is set in Upstate New York.

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“If John Hughes and Richard Linklater had a love child, it would be 18 to Party.” – Sean Boelman. WORLD FILM GEEK

“A riveting meditation on Gen X cynicism.” – Ken Scrudato, BLACKBOOK

“No film captures the purgatory of adolescence better than 18 to Party which gets its premiere today at the Woodstock Film Festival. Writer/Director Jeff Roda so perfectly captures the tension of this time period I found myself having middle school flashbacks.” – Tyler Unsell, SIGNAL HORIZON

“18 to Party feels like dropping in on an episode of Stranger Things that takes place between seasons.” – Dan Metz, DOWNTOWN MAGAZINE

“18 TO PARTY was an instant time machine back to a time when social media was science fiction, and friendships were flesh and bone instead of 2D digital snaps.” – Matt Mungle, MUNGLE SHOW

In her exasperating new documentary, THE STATE OF TEXAS VS. MELISSA, Sabrina Van Tassel explores the life journey of Melissa Lucio, the first Hispanic woman to be sentenced to death in the state of Texas. For over ten years she has been awaiting her fate, and now faces her last appeal. No one had ever seen Melissa be violent towards her children, yet she was blamed for the daily abuse and subsequent death of her two-year-old daughter, who died from blunt head trauma. Set in the heart of the Latino community of South Texas, the film takes a look at Melissa’s broken childhood, her adult life plagued by poverty and prejudice, and the miscarriage of justice Melissa faced, from the court appointed attorney who willingly set aside evidence, to the District attorney who used her case to help his re-election. THE STATE OF TEXAS VS. MELISSA is the portrait of a woman’s fight against an entire system. Director Sabrina Van Tassel joins us for a conversation on the draconian nature of justice in the state of Texas and how the chance to prove that the accused can pass a point of no return.

For news, updates and screenings go to: the-state-of-texas-vs-melissa

Official Selection of the 2020 Tribeca Film Festival

About the filmmaker – Director Sabrina Van Tassel is a French American film director and a journalist. As an investigative reporter she has directed over 45 documentary films for the last 15 years for major television programs. Focusing mainly on social and politically motivated matters such as women forced into marriage, underage sex trafficking, post-traumatic stress, children in the white nationalist movement, women in prison and the holocaust. THE SILENCED WALLS (2015) was her first documentary theatrically released. Critically acclaimed by the French press, it told her journey to discover the history of the Drancy camp, the biggest internment camp, turned into a social housing building at the end of the war. 

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“Though it’s a gut-wrenching story, The State of Texas vs. Melissa, works hard to offer viewers the smallest semblance of hope.” – Sarah Marloff, Austin Chronicle

“Director Sabrina Van Tassel does an excellent job of drawing in the audience to the labyrinthian case of Melissa Lucio.” – Lorry Kikta,Film Threat

“That Sabrina Van Tassel is able to convey the bafflingly wide array of information available in a fairly calm and reasonable manner is an accomplishment in itself.” – Andrea Thompson, A Reel of One’s Own

“The State of Texas vs. Melissa unfolds slowly, meticulously, and with intent. Every question you find arising will be answered – but in time.” – Stephanie Archer, Film Inquiry

ACCIDENTAL CLIMBER tells the story of Jim Geiger, a retired forest-ranger and amateur mountaineer from Sacramento, CA who at 68 years old, attempts to become the oldest American and first great grandfather to summit Mt. Everest. The world’s highest mountain is known to torture the mind, body, and soul of those who dare to do what few have ever achieved. ACCIDENTAL CLIMBER follows Jim as he embarks on a journey to transform from a weekend hiker to attempting one of the most extreme and physically demanding feats known to man. Driven by a desire to prove that age is just a number, Jim pushes his body to the limits in the quest to summit the world’s tallest mountain. What ensued however, was the worst disaster in mountaineering history, leaving sixteen climbers dead in a tragic avalanche and forever changing Jim’s life. Director Steven Oritt joins us to talk about getting to know Jim Geiger, working through the multiple challenges of shooting in high altitude and Jim Geiger talks about the rigors of climbing in the Himalayans and the emotionally wrenching experience he witnessed during his journey to conquer the world’s highest peak.

 

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For news and updates go to:facebook.com/accidentalclimber

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“Succinct but affecting, Accidental Climber serves as a gentle reminder that age really is just a number, and sometimes it’s not about achieving your dreams, it’s about the pursuit of them.” – Alex Saveliev, Film Threat

The 2008 financial crisis seemed to hit the American landscape out of nowhere. But in reality, it was both the inevitable conclusion to 40 years of Wall Street misconduct, and a warning for the meltdown that threatens to engulf us now. In the gripping original five-part docu-series THE CON, filmmaker Patrick Lovell investigates what happened, beginning with personal stories — including the foreclosure of his own Utah home, and the suicide of a 91-year-old African American widow in Akron, Ohio — before zooming out to examine the corrupt systems that doomed the United States to government funded bailouts that would only perpetuate a predatory system. Lovell also looks back to when the government properly functioned for the people it represented by holding banks accountable during the Great Depression and rescuing the country from the S&L Crisis of the late 1980s. Through interviews with those inside the 2008 crisis — regulators, former officials, foreclosure victims, industry whistleblowers, and journalists — Lovell and writer-director Eric Vaughan connect the dots to what America used to be, and most crucially, where we’re going in 2020, as nearly 40 million Americans are claiming unemployment by summer 2020. Amongst the many heartbreaks and horrors of the COVID-19 pandemic, the cracks that it exposed in the fragile financial tapestry of the world’s biggest economy are more evidence that THE CON is still on. Producer Patrick Lovell joins us to talk about THE CON’s sweeping inquiry into the blatant criminality perpetrated by the country’s most powerful financial and real estate interests colluding to bilk millions of Americans out of trillions of dollars, robbing them of their most important assets, pensions and housing.

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For news, screenings and updates go to: thecon.tv

The Con is being released through Abramorama.com

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THE CUBAN tells the story of nineteen-year-old Mina Ayoub, (Ana Golja) a pre-med student who has given up her dream of becoming a singer. Orphaned as a baby in Afghanistan, Mina’s grandfather sent her to Canada at the age of eight to live with a lone aunt, Bano (Shohreh Agdashloo). Mina longs to return to a better time when, as a child, she and her grandfather would sing and play music together. Thanks to Bano, Mina has a part-time job in a long-term care home. It’s there that Mina meets the withdrawn and enigmatic resident Luis (Louis Gossett Jr.). Luis spends his time in a wheelchair in a quiet corner of the room, retreated inside his own mind. Mina brings a record player into his room. Luis reacts, reminisces, dances, reveals his incredible life as a famous musician in Cuba, and talks about the one great love who was left behind. THE CUBAN is a celebration and exploration of the power of music to connect and reset people’s outlook on life. Director, Producer and Co-screenwriter Sergio Navarretta joins us to talk about his warm-hearted tale of people in search of place and end up on a musical journey of love, friendship and the power of imagination.

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For news, screenings and updates go to: thecubanmovie.com

About the filmmaker: Sergio Navarretta made his directorial debut with LOOKING FOR ANGELINA, a true crime feature that tells the story of one of the most sensational murder cases in North American history. LOOKING FOR ANGELINA won numerous awards, was showcased at festivals around the world, played to sold-out theatres in fifteen Canadian cities, and ranked amongst the top five in box office revenues for Canadian films at the time. Navarretta’s follow-up feature, THE COLOSSAL FAILURE OF THE MODERN RELATIONSHIP, starring Enrico Colantoni (“Just Shoot Me”). Between features, Navarretta has directed a number of award-winning short films, including THE FORTUNE COOKIE, OVER A SMALL CUP OF COFFEE and EN PLEIN AIR, an homage to the Group of Seven.  He also worked as a producer, service producer and executive producer under his own company banner, S.N.A.P. Films Inc., as well as for various international clients.  He executive produced (for Canada) the sci-fi movie, ANDRON starring Danny Glover and Alec Baldwin.  He is an executive producer of the biopic LAMBORGHINI, starring Alec Baldwin and Antonio Banderas, and was a consulting producer on TRADING PAINT, starring John Travolta.  Navarretta is proud to have executive produced and overseen all aspects of production and casting for the star-studded animated theatrical feature ARCTIC DOGS, now on Netflix, featuring Jeremy Renner, James Franco, Anjelica Huston, Alec Baldwin, John Cleese and Heidi Klum. 

Winner – Audience Favorite Award – Pan African Film Festival 2020

Winner – Special Programmers’ Award – Pan African Film Festival 2020

Winner – Best Cinematography in a Borsos Competition Film – Whistler Film Festival 2019

Runner up – Audience Award – Whistler Film Festival 2019

Official Selection – Sonoma Film Fesstival 2020

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“The Cuban does not develop everything in its screenplay to complete satisfaction. But what’s there is very good and believable.” – Bobby LePire, Film Threat

“Perhaps sensing that the rest of his story – mostly focusing around the earnest do-goodery of Golja’s aide – falls emotionally flat, Navarretta lavishes attention on his two marquee players, creating tiny moments of poignancy.” – Barry Hertz, Globe and Mail

THE CURRENT OCCUPANT drops us into a mysterious psychiatric ward, where a man named Henry Cameron, with  no memory comes to learn that he is the President of the United States and the subject of a diabolical political conspiracy. As the asylum’s soul-crushing forces bear down on him, he fights to preserve his sanity and escape so that he can return to power. THE CURRENT OCCUPANT is part of the Blumhouse anthology, INTO THE DARK, currently airing on HULU with each episode tied to the relevant holiday. The film is loosely tied to 4^th of July. The story is a timely, edge-of-your-seat-until-the-very-end thriller that is part SHUTTER ISLAND meets BLACK MIRROR. THE CURRENT OCCUPANT features a number of terrific performances anchored by Barry Watson as “President” Henry Cameron, as well as Sonita Henry, Marvin Jones III, and Lilli Birdsell. Director Julius Ramsay stops by to talk about his creative process and how his background as a film editor informs his eye for filmmaking as well as the cinematic influences that echo throughout this taut thriller.

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For news and updates go to: hulu.com/movie/the-current-occupant

About the filmmakers: Julius Ramsay is a critically acclaimed film and television director. His latest feature, THE CURRENT OCCUPANT, is a mind-bending, psychedelic horror film about a man trapped in a mysterious psychiatric ward with no memory who comes to believe that he’s the President of the United States and the subject of a diabolical political conspiracy. Produced by Blumhouse as a Hulu Original, it was released on Hulu in July 2020. Julius made his directorial debut with MIDNIGHTERS, a taut psychological thriller centered on a troubled marriage that explodes in an emotional bloodbath over the course of a single night.  The film won numerous accolades, including the top prize at the Ravenna Film Festival, and garnered rave reviews at the Los Angeles Film Festival.  In 2018, MIDNIGHTERS was distributed by IFC and is currently available on Hulu.Julius spent five years working as an editor and director on THE WALKING DEAD, the highest rated series in the history of cable television. His directorial work for television ranges from the science fiction series KRYPTON for David Goyer’s Phantom Four and Warner Horizon, to the adaptation of the blockbuster franchise THE PURGE for Blumhouse/NBCUniversal. His additional directorial credits include OUTCAST for Cinemax and SCREAM for The Weinstein Co & MTV. Prior to his career as a director, Julius was nominated for three Primetime Emmy awards for his work as an editor on such groundbreaking series as ALIAS and BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.  For more on the filmmaker: juliusramsay.com

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“Owing more than a little to the old Twilight Zone, “The Current Occupant” executes a balancing act with considerable aplomb.” – John Anderson, Wall Street Journal

“While the latest Into The Dark installment is bleak and will crush your hopes, it’ll have you wondering about conspiracies, reality, and what really happens when the institutions that are established to help us actually end up harming us instead.’ – Sarah Musnicky, Nightmarish Conjurings

In her searingly insightful latest documentary, All That I Am, Director Tone Grøttjord-Glenne drops us into the life of eighteen year old Emilie Andrea. After five years in the foster system, she is returning to her family home to rebuild a fractured relationship with her mother and younger half-siblings. Over the next two years a determined Emilie begins to heal the trauma that haunts her, learns to speak her truth aloud, and takes her first steps towards a self-determined future. Now Emilie must gather the courage to reveal to her half-siblings the reason their father was imprisoned and their sister went away. Told with a commitment to emotional insight and dedication to Emilie’s subjective experience, this is the story of an extraordinarily courageous young woman on the cusp of adulthood finding the voice that was long denied to her. Director Tone Grøttjord-Glenne joins us for conversation on embedding herself into the lives of Emilie and her family, how a well intentioned Norwegian justice and welfare system can sometimes do more harm than good and the reception her remarkably intimate look at trauma, struggle and healing has received in her native country of Norway and the recent North American premiere at the HotDocs film festival. 

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For news and updates go to: allthatiammovie.com

About the filmmaker – Tone Grøttjord-Glenne has a master’s degree in direction from the National Film and Television School in England, and both her graduation film Brother (2003) and her debut film Prirechnyy won numerous awards, both in Norway and internationally. In 2005 she founded Sant & Usant with a vision of creating an environment for documentary film that had room to discuss both images and visual storytelling. Sant & Usant has produced several award-winning documentaries since then. Together with co-owner and producer Anita Rehoff Larsen, she has produced Bravehearts (2012), When the Boys Return (2012 ), I Am Kuba (2014),Maiko – Dancing Child (2015) and 69 Minutes of 86 Days (2017), among others. Currently she is directing Norway’s first Netflix Original, Sisters on Track, and is executive director on Gunda, which premiered at the Berlinale earlier this year, as well as working on the impact project for a cinematic release of ALL THAT I AM. 

“Gorgeously shot, expertly paced, and overwhelmingly emotional documentary All That I Am is the kind of film you hope everyone sees because it might make the world a more understanding and empathetic place.” – The Gate

“Tone Grottjord-Glenne directs this emotionally touching Norwegian documentary with a powerful appreciation of the lasting damage of sexual abuse on children and those closest to them.” – Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat. Spirituality and Practice

FERAL tells the story of Yasmine (Annapurna Sriram), a homeless woman living in the tunnels underneath Manhattan’s West Side. Surviving on her own terms while trying to build a new life alone, she is reeling from the loss of her mother, who was deported when she was 16. Older now, Yasmine, struggles to rise from poverty as the perils of the underground fill her with despair. Along her journey, Yasmine meets a cast of characters and real New York personalities, each living in their own form of exile: a lonely piano player who’s never played his music out loud; a mother who regrets the birth of her six-year-old; a lonely grandmother nostalgic for her salsa music past and the Mission who is there to help, but only if she’s willing to play by their rules. Based on actual stories of living underground and working with former homeless individuals, FERAL peers deep into Yasmine’s emotional reality, staring this bold young woman directly in the eyes as she struggles to carry on. Lead actor Annapurna Sriram stops by to talk about her theatre background, adapting to working in a cramped, underground setting and collaborating with director and writer Andrew Wonder.

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For news and updates go to: feralfilmproject.com

About – Annapurna Sriram, (Yasmine) Nashville-born actor, writer, and director, landed her first agent at thirteen in Nashville, Tennessee.  After turning eighteen, Annapurna left Nashville and headed to Rutgers’ Mason Gross School of the Arts, where she studied for a year at London at Shakespeare’s Globe Theater, and was chosen to perform as part of the Sam Wanamaker Festival. Recent stage credits include the origination of “Reshma” in Jesse Eisenberg’s “The Spoils,” which was directed by Scott Elliot for The New Group and later reprising that role on the West End in London and Wallace Shawn’s United States premiere of “Evening at the Talkhouse.” 2019 has been a banner year for Annapurna, as two of her projects have been getting international attention. Her performance in the 2019 film Feral was her first lead role in a narrative feature film, and after its premiere at the Sarasota Film Festival, the film has been featured at the Sidewalk Film Festival, Bushwick Festival (where she won the Best Actor Award), and The Montreal Festival du Nouveau Cinema World Film Festival garnering excellent accolades from critics for her work. Her short film, Dom, won the Sidewalk Film Festival as “Best Narrative Short,” and has been programmed at the Brooklyn Film Festival, LES Film Festival, Indie Memphis, and the Cucalorus Film Festival. Annapurna resides in New York City, where she is currently working on films as writer, director and actor. 

More about Annapurna Sriram go to: annapurnasriram.com

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“Sriram is extraordinary in her role as Yazmine and carries the film on her own.” – Deirdre Crimmins, High Def Digest

“Sriram gives an amazing, empathic, and heartfelt performance. ” – Tim Murr, Biff Bam Pop 

“Annapurna Sriram is truly captivating as Yasmine. Her striking beauty is juxtaposed with her fierce attitude, but as the film progresses she also exhibits a serene spirituality coupled with a heartbreaking vulnerability. Like a force of nature in her own right, she flows and crashes into other denizens of the city. ” – Alec I. Gillis, Lewton Bus

“Sriram’s performance is exceptional; she completely embodies Yazmine, in her moments of loneliness, self-entertainment, brutality, pain, and brief moments of joy. We never doubt her completeness as a character, even if our view of her ranges from sympathy to anger to laughter. ” – Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Screen Anarchy

The Ghost of Peter Sellers is a comic-tragic feature doc about what it takes to be a film director and survive your biggest disaster. After 43 years the wounds have barely healed for Director Peter Medak (The Ruling Class, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, Romeo is Bleeding) and this is his opportunity to tell the story and finally release the weight associated with its failure. At its core lies the story of an unraveling production but also the tale of a young Director firmly on a path to greatness. Medak had made 3 back-to-back successes; most notably ‘The Ruling Class’ in 1972 with Peter O’Toole. This film changed his career forever. In September 1973 Peter Sellers embarked on the production of a 17th Century pirate comedy in Cyprus for Columbia Pictures (Ghost in the Noonday Sun). Structured around the original director Peter Medak and his journey back to the island 42 years later, The Ghost of Peter Sellers is a timeline of events supported by eye-opening and heart-felt interviews with remaining cast members, production staff, Cypriot locals and others from the world of filmmaking. From Los Angeles to New York, from London to Cyprus, Medak recaptures what it was like to work with the genius talents of Sellers and Milligan whilst explaining the saga of the Pirate film and how such a brilliant and funny idea could go so terribly wrong and become a total disaster. Director Peter Medak joins us for a candid conversation on the toll the making of his star-crossed film took on him professionally, personally and psychologically and where he is today.

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For news and updates go to: theghostofpetersellers.com

Watch now on Virtual Theatre: theghostofpetersellers.com

About the Director – Peter Medak is an award-winning international Film Director. Born in Budapest, Hungary in 1937. In 1956 he fled to England at the age of 18 during the famous uprising against the communist regime. He studied and worked his way through by being an assistant editor, assistant cameraman and eventually a 3rd, 2nd and 1st assistant Director on some of the most remarkable British Films of the late 50’s and early 60’s. He was fortunate enough to work with some of the most legendary British film Directors such as Sir Carol Reed, Anthony Asquith, Fred Zimmerman and many others. In 1967 he went under contract with Paramount Studios where he directed his first feature film called Negatives with Glenda Jackson in her first ever film. He then proceeded making two highly acclaimed black comedies: A day in the death of Joe Egg (starring Alan Bates and Janet Suzman) and The Ruling Class (Starring Peter O’ Toole) for which he received an Academy Award Nomination. Since that time he has Directed a great number of feature films on both sides of the Atlantic starring Peter Sellers, Alan Bates, George C Scott, Richard Harris, Gary Oldman, Ted Danson and many more. In recent years Peter has made The Krays which won him The Evening Standard  Award for “Best Director in England”. Then he made Let Him Have It, Romeo is Bleeding, The Men’s Club etc. In addition, he has directed a great number of television plays, mini-series, films for television, operas and stage productions over the past 50 years of his directing career and continues today.

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“The director has made a documentary that’s both a mea culpa for his role in a botched enterprise that left no one looking good and an affecting attempt to define a life’s turning point.” – Todd McCarthy. Hollywood Reporter

“Deeply entertaining and profoundly moving, The Ghost of Peter Sellers offers a slice of forgotten movie history that, it turns out, is well worth remembering.” – Christopher Llewellyn Reed, Hammer to Nail

“Many times throughout the documentary, Medak’s friends and associated ask him why he’s making this film. Like those tragic moments in our lives, we have to re-live it and confront it in order to move on with life.” – Alan Ng, Film Threat

“The Ghost of Peter Sellers beautifully allows the guilt-ridden director to exorcise his demons; against himself, against Sellers and against the film itself, within this surprisingly eloquent contemplation of a well-intentioned misfire.” – Alex Lines, Film Inquiry

Inspired by actual crime. Set in the streets of Las Vegas, away from the strip, PUNCHING AND STEALING is an action comedy vigilante film about Sam Bransby (Ryan Churchill), a young man that becomes jaded and uses violence to get back his dad’s stolen pension money from corporate suits under the direction of his hitman boss (Melvin Rodriguez) in their organization, “Pension Recovery Force”. As fate would have it, as he turns to the dark side (with humor) in his vigilante faction, he meets the love of his life, Jen (Jenny Vilim). As hard as he tries to keep it a secret from her, his vigilante world and love life collide. He attempts to convince her to be his wing-woman but her moral code prohibits her from joining Sam’s underground faction of “beating people until they’re unrecognizable.” A modern day indie caper taking place over 13 years both in plot and film. Co-director, co-producer and lead actor Ryan Churchill stops by to talk about a personal connection to the origin story for his oft-kilter, high-energy comedy and how he pulled together a terrific supporting cast that pushed PUNCHING AND STEALING into a higher trajectory.

 

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For news and updates go to: PunchingAndStealingMovie.com

For more on the filmmaker go to: ryanchurchill.com

Available now on:

iTunes: apple.co/2LdAs0A

Amazon: tinyurl.com/yd385kfxhttps://youtu.be/9JOgvWY0T3o

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Set centuries apart but in the same place, OVID AND THE ART OF LOVE tellsthe story of the renowned Roman poet Ovid, whose comic verses and permissive lifestyle provoked the brutal Emperor Augustus’s ire. As Ovid and the emperor’s granddaughter – thrown together by fate – race to escape execution, Ovid’s story asks: In a world of unrest, is love the most radical act of all? Bringing together togas, high-tops, oration, poetry slams and hip-hop, this film tells a timely story about power, pleasure and politics. Strong women characters clamor for respect and a better place in society. All is set amongst the faded beauty of modern Detroit’s neoclassical architecture. Corbin Bleu (High School Musical) masterfully transforms into the poet Ovid, whose work has been cherished for over 2,000 years, while John Savage (The Deer Hunter) gives an electrifying performance as Augustus, Ovid’s conflicted nemesis. Tara Summers (Mercy Street, Boston Legal) plays Julia, Augustus’s tough, rebellious daughter, and Tamara Feldman (Gossip Girl, Hatchet) is the emperor’s activist granddaughter. Also starring Joseph McKenna (Shutter Island, 12 Monkeys) and Lailani Ledesma (Comedy Central’s Detroiters). Director and writer Esmé von Hoffman joins us to talk about her decision to recast this tale of a free-thinking Roman artist speaking truth to power as a modern parable. 

For news and updates go to: ovidandtheartoflove.com

About the filmmaker – Esmé von Hoffman: With a background in theater, journalism and visual arts, Esmé von Hoffman brings a fresh aesthetic to film to create a unique and topical world. An American-German dual citizen, born and raised in the U.S., Esmé has directed several shorts and has worked as a film editor on Alex Ross Perry’s Listen Up Philip, and Desiree Akhavan’s Appropriate Behavior and as a producer. She received a Sudler Fund for the Arts grant for her 16 mm film “Oblivion” and was commissioned to produce and direct a series of short documentaries, including one profiling three editors at The New York Times. Esmé was president of the Yale Film Society, where she oversaw visits of industry leaders including David Lynch, Alexander Payne and Doug Wick. She recently served as Director of the Filmmaking Program at The Edit Center in New York City.

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“Though Detroit may seem like an unusual backdrop for a classic story of government intrigue, politicking, and romance, the urban setting works … attracting an aware, woke audience who are almost certainly overdue for discovery of the charms of a 2000 year old poet.” – Picture This Post

“Corbin Bleu masterfully transforms into the poet Ovid, whose work has been cherished for over 2,000 years, while John Savage gives an electrifying performance as Augustus, Ovid’s conflicted nemesis.”– Vimooz

“Such a novel film … extremely entertaining and enlightening… ”– Debbie Elias, Behind the Lens, Adrenaline Radio

“Writer/director Esme von Hoffman has taken the risk of trying to blend the customs and costumes of Ancient Rome with the vibe of 21st century America … giving viewers a sometimes quirky, sometimes humorous, and sometimes brutal film that is unlike most of the fare on today’s big screens.” – Theatre Byte