Bloody Disgusting & The Collective Launch Finishing Fund
Horror website BloodyDisgusting.com and production outfit The Collective have joined on a new finishing fund initiative. Selected movies will receive up to $100,000 in funds and filmmakers will also be provided the opportunity for distribution through the Bloody Disgusting Selects brand of horror films, which includes cult favorites Rammbock: Berlin Undead, The Woman and Yellowbrickroad.
The World Before Her Wins Top Doc
North America's biggest documentary festival Hot Docs handed out its awards over the weekend with Nisha Pahuja's The World Before Her winning Best Canadian Feature while Malika Zouhali-Worrall and Katherine Fairfax Wright's Call Me Kuchu took Best International Feature. Go to Hot Docs' site for more prizes.
A Second Round of Aim High
Online series Aim High received the green light for a second season. Warner Premiere, Warner Bros. Digital Distribution, Dolphin Digital Studios, Inc., and Wonderland Sound and Vision are producing. Jackson Rathbone, best known for his role as "Jasper Hale" from the Twilight film series will return as government operative “Nick Green.”
Check Out Rooftop
If you're in NYC, this is a summer rite of passage. Rooftop Films has been around for more than a decade and a half, screening films on a roof (or not) near you. This year's lineup includes 23 features and 183 shorts with New York, U.S. and world premieres. Kicking it off are a group of short films that are "a rebellion against stale cinematic forms and status quo stories." For the full schedule of Rooftop's lineup through August, go here.
Around the 'net…
Tribeca Heads to Florence
Dubbed Tribeca Firenze, Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal and Craig Hatkoff will head to Florence, Italy with their Tribeca brand June 11 - 18. The European premiere of Tony Bennett doc The Zen of Bennett joins the lineup. Deadline reports.
His Turn: Actor Liam Hemsworth Talks Gary Ross' Exit
Liam Hemsworth is opening up about Francis Lawrence replacing Gary Ross as director of The Hunger Games followup, Catching Fire: "I'm really sad to see that Gary's not going to be part of the second one," he said. "He did such an amazing job on the first." E Online reports.
Local Biz Mulls French Election
Despite the difference in political philosophy, the change in leadership is not likely to severely impact the film and TV biz, one of the country's most economically vibrant sectors, Variety reports.
Actor George 'Goober Pyle' Lindsey Dies
Lindsey also appeared in several movies, including Cannonball Run II. And he lent his voice to animation films such as Robin Hood, The Rescuers and The Aristocats, BBC reports.
Madonna: Adam Yauch Was "One of a Kind"
The singer says the seminal hip-hop group was "integral to the musical revolution that was happening at the time." The Beastie Boys member and founder of NYC-based film distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories died Friday. AP reports.
Morgan Spurlock and Keith Calder Launch Warplant
Morgan Spurlock’s New York based production company Warrior Poets has teamed with Keith Calder’s Los Angeles based Snoot Entertainment and 16 year commercial production veteran Shannon Lords to create Warpaint, a commercial production company that "will serve as a home for innovative directors who are looking to expand their craft into more diverse and lucrative opportunities." More at Deadline.