EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominee Eric Roberts (The Righteous Gemstones) is reteaming with his Runaway Train co-star Danny Trejo as part of the cast of Alone Today, an upcoming crime drama from director Wendy Wilkins, which will also star Shannon Elizabeth and Frank Whaley.
The film tells the story of a woman (Elizabeth) in an abusive relationship with a dirty detective (Roberts) who is helping move sex trafficked girls coming over the Mexican Border. When attempting to save just one truckload before “disappearing forever,” everything goes horribly wrong and she decides to take a different path.
The project hails from Different Duck Films founder Rob Margolies (Bobcat Moretti), who will produce alongside Errol Sack and Julia Verdin. Production is underway in Los Angeles. Roberts is repped by Sovereign Talent Group, Imperial Artists Agency and Miles Anthony Associates in London, manager Eliza Roberts, Empire Agency in Germany and Scott Carlson Entertainment in Canada.
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EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures has acquired worldwide rights writer-director Theresa Rebeck’s thriller Glimpse and writer-director LazRael Lison’s mystery-thriller #Unknown. The Anthem Sports & Entertainment Company plans to release the former title in theaters and on demand on May 6, bringing the latter to VOD platforms on June 28.
Glimpse explores a sinister world where corporate espionage reaches into the homes and minds of its employees. Panic rises as lives are compromised and controlled by a ruthless oligarch who manipulates reality with unsettling pleasure. What is the price of loyalty? And what is the price of freedom? Janet McTeer, Raul Esparza, Erin Darke, Carrie Preston, Jonathan Preston, Michael Emerson, Alysia Reiner, David Alan Basche, Ashley Nicole Black, Krysta Rodriguez, Van Hughes and Joseph Collins star.
Rebeck and Andrew Carlberg (Skin, Feeling Through) produced, with Reiner and Basche exec producing. Roxanne Donovan, Mêlisa Annis and Peter Tadros served as co-producers.
#Unknown picks up years after a series of random murders, as book author Michael Lane (Hal Ozsan) suddenly begins receiving haunting calls from the unknown. Instead of focusing on the encore to his successful debut book, he becomes obsessed with this mystery and spirals out of control as he unravels each victim caught in the web of a dangerous killer.
The film also stars Judd Nelson, Denise Boutte, Master P, Nicholle Tom and Tom Sizemore. Lison produced for Summer House Pictures, alongside Tatiana Chekhova, Master P and Romeo Miller, with High Rolling Entertainment’s Antonio Trotter exec producing.
Brett Rogalsky negotiated the deal for Glimpse on behalf of Gravitas Ventures, with ICM Partners on behalf of the filmmakers. Gravitas negotiated the deal for #Unknown with Newman Thomas Management and Summer House Pictures.
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EXCLUSIVE: 1091 Pictures has taken North American rights to the action drama Free Dead or Alive, with Cinema Black claiming South Korean rights via sales agent Iuvit Media Sales.
The film takes audiences on a deadly road trip where a young girl (Edy Ganem) makes a perilous journey from South/Central America to the United States, unaware of the real dangers ahead, including human trafficking. Its cast also includes Alejandro De Hoyos, Robert Avellanet, Patricia Velazquez, Seth Michaels, Robert LaSardo, Dyana Ortelli, Marcus DeAnda, Juan Pablo Olyslager, Al Coronel, Thomas Hennessy, Christiana Leucas and Anna Carvalho.
Free Dead or Alive recently won all five top categories at the California Women’s Film Festival. Erik Bernard directed from his script and produced alongside Marco-Angela La Porta. Ganem, Michaels, Courtney Le Marco, Grady Craig, Matthew Helderman and Luke Taylor exec produced, with Tracey Bradley associate producing, and John Hoernschemeyer serving as a production exec on the project. Bernard is represented by Espada PR & Entertainment.
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EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has acquired North American rights to the autobiographical true crime docudrama Untold: This Is My Story, written, directed and produced by Gina M. Garcia. The digital film distribution division of Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group/Entertainment Studios plans to release the film across VOD platforms on April 19.
Garcia’s feature directorial debut focuses on the hate crime that triggered disturbing flashbacks to her childhood abduction, causing her to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder within the Veterans Affairs hospital. Gina’s autobiographical journey for the truth implodes her family and nearly takes her life.
Pic’s ensemble cast features Terri Ivens, Melody Butiu, Carlos Gomez, Jennifer Rubin and civil rights attorney Gloria Allred. Freestyle Digital Media negotiated the deal to acquire Untold: This Is My Story directly with Garcia.
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EXCLUSIVE: Writer-producers Alexandra Boylan and Andrea Polnaszek (also known as The Boylan Sisters) have wrapped production on their latest feature, the teen comedy Identity Crisis.
Pic centers on Madison (Scout Lepore), a brilliant college student who lacks confidence. While working in the university library, she discovers a long-ago discarded cloning machine. Madison’s desire to become more confident and outgoing then leads to cloning herself, creating a new “Madison” (played by Scout’s twin sister, Sophia Lepore) that is willing to do things she’s always been afraid to try. But now with two Madisons on campus, pressure mounts on the original to keep her life together.
While Identity Crisis is Polnaszek and Boylan’s sixth feature together, on the heels of titles including Switched and Catching Faith, it’s their first production as The Boylan Sisters. Actress Shari Rigby directed in her feature debut, from a script by The Boylan Sisters, with Ben Howard and Erin Mae Miller producing. Pic’s ensemble also includes Finn Roberts, Maria Canals-Barrera and Laura Leigh Turner.
Boylan is repped by Mitchell & Associates Talent; Rigby by Houghton Talent in Georgia and Treasure Coast Talent Agency; Scout Lepore by DDO Artists Agency, Players Talent Agency, AFA Prime Talent Media; and Sophia Lepore by AFA Prime Talent Media
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EXCLUSIVE: Actress and director Katie Cassidy (Arrow) is gearing up to helm the comedy Daddy ISSUES from her original script.
Her feature directorial debut backed by Boston’s Marina Studios is a coming-of-age story set in Los Angeles about three adult women who should have already grown the f**k up, but can’t seem to escape the relationship dysfunction they learned from their fathers.
Cassidy will also produce and star in Daddy ISSUES. Maria Betrand and Meg McCaig co-wrote the script, with Marina Cappi’s Marina Studios boarding the project following a presentation from Cassidy at the 2022 Mammoth Film Festival. Production will take place in Boston and Los Angeles this fall.
Cassidy is represented by APA and Authentic Talent and Literary Management; Bertrand by HRI Talent and Octagon Entertainment; and McCaig by CESD.
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SFFILM announced this week that that Everything Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh and actor-comedian Jenny Slate will be honored with special tributes during the 65th San Francisco International Film Festival. Slate will be feted at the Castro Theatre on April 22 at 7:30 PM, followed by a screening of her anticipated A24 film Marcel the Shell with Shoes On, with Yeoh to be celebrated at the Castro on April 29 at 6 p.m.
Creatives honored with past SFFILM tributes include Steve Coogan, Claire Denis, Laura Dern, Ethan Hawke, James Ivory, Shah Rukh Khan, Vanessa Kirby, Laura Linney, Sienna Miller, John C. Reilly, Charlize Theron, Wayne Wang and John Ridley, among others. This year’s festival is taking place from April 21–May 1, with its full film program to be announced on March 30. Tickets for the tributes to Yeoh and Slate are $30 for SFFILM members, and $35 for the general public. The box office is open to members now at this link, and opens for the general public on March 23.
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