Motion Sound Picture Sound Editors Re-elect Mark Lanza
The Motion Sound Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) announced the reelection of Mark Lanza to a two-year term as president, with David Barber elected to a two-year term as secretary — which he held on an interim basis for the past year.
Lanza and Barber will join continuing board officers Steve Urban, Jeremy Gordon and Christopher Reeves.
“I am proud to be an MPSE member and grateful to my fellow members for entrusting me with another term as president,” said Lanza.
Lanza’s previous sound work includes “Glory,” an Academy award-winner for best sound, “Born on the Fourth of July” and “JFK,” both of which received Oscar nominations for sound.
Barber’s previous work as a sound editor and re-recording mixer includes being a three-time winner of MPSE Golden Reel awards, most recently in 2018 for “In Search of Fellini.”
MPSE’s 69th annual Golden Reel Awards is scheduled for March 13.
‘King Richard’ Wins 2021 Audience Award at the Miami Film Festival
“King Richard” was announced the winner of the Miami Gems 2021 Audience award at the Miami Film Festival with its Centerpiece screening for the festival that took place from Nov. 4-10.
Starring Will Smith and directed by Reinaldo Marcus Green, “King Richard” chronicles the life of Richard Williams (Smith), the confident father and coach of tennis legends Serena and Venus Williams.
Festival audiences chose a pair of documentaries as runners up. Julie Cohen’s “Julia” was announced as first runner-up, and Jonas Poher Rasmussen’s “Flee: was nominated for second runner-up. All three films are major award contenders.
The 39th edition of the Miami Dade College’s Miami Film Festival will be held March 4-13 of next year. The festival will partner with Variety’s Streaming Room on an international feature film nominees roundtable before final voting begins on March. 17.
2AM Adds On Julia Oh as a Producer
2AM, the full-service production and management company, announced the addition of Julia Oh as a producer.
Oh will join 2AM from Film4, where she previously served as a senior commissioning executive in London. She will be based in New York with the 2AM production team alongside David Hinojosa and Zach Nutman.
While at Film4, Oh ran a slate of features including projects from Julia Ducournau, Steve McQueen, Michael Pearce, Will Sharpe, Sarah Gavron and Ben Sharrock, among others.
2AM’s full scale film and TV production division, overseen by Hinojosa, is in post-production of Halina Reijn’s English-language debut, “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies,” starring Amandla Stenberg, Billy Porter’s directorial debut of “What If” and Celine Strong’s “Past Lives.”
2AM was founded by Christine D’Souza Gelb, Hinojosa and Kevin Rowe. The company launched early this year by Gelb with backing from A24.
Gotham Film & Media Institute Announces Winning Filmmakers
The Gotham Film & Media Institute announced the five winning filmmakers of the third annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase, who will be recognized during the 2021 Gotham Awards ceremony on Nov. 29.
The winners include Evan Bode, Jorge G. Camarena, Akanksha Chawla, Jun Hee Han and J. Sean Smith, who will receive a $10,000 grant and have their films shown for a year on JetBlue’s seatback entertainment systems under the “Gotham Selects” movie category and on Focus Features digital streaming platforms. Throughout 2022, winning filmmakers will also receive ongoing mentorship and workshopping opportunities from The Gotham.
“The Short Film Showcase has introduced us to an incredible array of talent, and we’re delighted to be working with even more universities this year. As we operate this program year over year, it’s thrilling to witness the continued success of the young filmmakers we support – for example UCLA’s Kristi Hoi, whose short No Law, No Heaven was one of last year’s Showcase winners and a recent winner of a 2021 Student Academy Award,” said Jeffrey Sharp, Executive Director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute.
Game Theory Films Acquires U.S Rights to Igor Drljača’s ‘The White Fortress’
Game Theory Films has acquired the U.S. distribution rights to Igor Drljača’s “The White Fortress.”The film, created and produced by Drljača, follows an orphan (Pavle Cemerkic) who meets a timid teen girl (Pavle Čemerikić) from an affluent family. The two form a relationship as she explores his life of foraging and petty crimes as means of escaping her toxic home life.
“We are thrilled to be bringing this deeply moving film to audiences across the U.S. and Canada,” said Game Theory’s director of acquisitions and distribution Hilary Hart.
“The White Fortress” had its world premiere at the Berlin Intl. Film Festival as part of its Generation 14 plus section, and was recently announced as Bosnia and Herzegovina’s selection to represent them at the 94th Academy Awards.
Media Access Awards Partners With Extra to Air Virtually
Media Access Awards announced their media partnership with Extra, and for the first time, the annual ceremony will air virtually here and here on Nov. 17 at 6 p.m.
Media Access Awards honors those in film and TV who include characters, actors and behind-the-camera talent with disabilities in their work. The awards ceremony will be hosted by Millicent Simmonds and will feature appearances from Lauren Ridloff, Jimmy Kimmel, Russell Crowe, Jim Parsons, Zac Efron, Meredith Scott Lynn and more. This year’s honorees include John Krasinski, Selma Blair, Keah Brown, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur, Zeno Mountain Farm, Andrea Warren, Deborah Aquila, Lisa Zagoria, Tricia Wood, Ryan O’Connell and Jamie Nieto.
“The Media Access Awards have been hailed as the premiere showcase for the celebration of disability-centered stories and disabled performers in Hollywood for years. With Extra’s involvement, we can now reach a much bigger national audience. We are thrilled,” said Deborah Calla and Allen Rucker, CEOs of the Media Access Awards.
The ceremony will also feature a performance by Rex & Friends, a group of autistic and blind musicians and singers led by Rex Lewis Clack. The show is a Calla Productions, executive produced by Calla and written by Rucker.