Spring is Here: New Launches, Acquisitions, and Nominees, oh my
Plus: More Diverse Films Delivered Higher ROI in 2023
Happy Thursday, friends. Spring is here, and with it, new launches and partnerships are afoot:
Portrait Members Lela-Meadow-Conner and Barbara Twist are launching The Popcorn List, a survey of independently produced features that do not have theatrical or digital distribution recommended by festival programmers.
Neon is partnering with Everything Everywhere All at Once producers to bolster its production arm. Jon Read and Allison Rose Carter, producers.
Why Kanopy may be uniquely positioned to survive the great streaming consolidation (Hint: Libraries). Jason Tyrrell, GM, Kanopy.
We’ve got another packed week of new work and news to share. Let’s dive in.
Roll of Honor
Premieres, Awards, and More. Say hello to featured members on the app.
What to Watch This Week: Life on The Edge
Playing Unexpected Games
Late Night With The Devil. “An occult-obsessed nation is nimbly captured in this found-footage horror film about a late night show gone horribly wrong” (NYT). Emma Bortignon, Sound Editor. IFC Cinema and Shudder.
The Beautiful Game. The feel-good soccer film starring Bill Nighy “serves first and foremost as an awareness campaign for its real-life inspiration, the annual Homeless World Cup” (Variety). Fernando Stutz, Editor. Netflix.
Life Back in Crime, Life Out of Prison
Parish. “There might come a time when we grow tired of watching Giancarlo Esposito playing cool badasses… but we aren’t there just yet” (Paste). Danielle L. Statuto, Matthew Colonna, Andy Crosby, Editors; Ting-Ying Liao, Compositor; Lauren Chemin, Makeup Artist; Rob Gore, Special Effects. Sunday on AMC.
Commuted. “The film traces the journey in confronting the wounds of incarceration” (PBS). Darcy Mckinnon, Producer; Denise Greene, Leslie Fields-Cruz, EPs; Paavo Hanninen, Camera; Rubin Daniels, Tim Tsai, Editorial; Jalea Jackson, Assistant Editor. Monday on PBS.
Testing the Bounds of Gender
Transition. “Tests the limits of gender constructs in the most conservative milieu imaginable” (Variety). Jordan Bryon, Monica Villamizar, Directors; Juan Manuel Betancourt, BJ Levin, Sebastian Hernandez, Executive Producers; Farzad Fetrat, Cinematographer; Neil Brandvold, Director of Photography; Toby Muse, Producer. Amazon Prime.
Beyond the Aggressives: 25 Years Later. The subjects of a queer classic “remain as authentic as ever in Daniel Peddle’s powerful and tender sequel” (Variety). Taylor Rowley, Music Supervisor. Premieres Saturday on Showtime and Paramount+.
What We’re Reading: The Dividends of Diversity
Movies with proportionate racial representation notched highest median ROI in 2023. Shout out to Joy Ride - Paul Yee, Cinematographer; Insidious: The Red Door - Autumn Eakin, Cinematographer; Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - Alex Sutherland, Executive Producer.
Cate Blanchett says her diversity grant program is different because it’s ‘intensely practical’.
On the Acquisitions & Distribution Beat
Never Look Away, about CNN Combat Camerawoman Margaret Moth, sells to North America & UK. Karl Sölve Steven, Composer; Zac Sprague, Camera Operator; Danielle Bryant, Camera/DIT.
Hellboy Doc Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters acquired by Nacelle. Ariel Baska, Producer; Kyle Scott Wilson, Composer.
#LookAtMe denied exhibition in Singapore, lands U.S. distribution with Buffalo 8. Ken Kwek, Director; Olly Stothert, editor.
Spotlight on Editing and Post-Production
I liked to play drums when I was a kid and I wasn’t very good but I understood rhythm and pace. That helped me dramatically with editing especially cutting music videos.
Meet Dean Gonzalez | Film Editor, Shoutout LA
I think with thrillers… there is a lot of value in the tension of holding a shot because then when you cut, it’s like dynamite.
Kristi Shimek on Editing Arcadian, Fresh Fiction
On the Festival + Awards Circuit
CPH:DOX winners announced. Congrats to Portrait member films:
F:ACT AWARD: Black Snow. Kirstine Barford, Producer.
HUMAN:RIGHTS AWARD: Black Box Diaries. Ema Ryan Yamazaki, Editor.
Hot Docs & San Francisco Film Festivals announced this week. Let others know you’re attending and connect with the teams behind the films in the app.
Canadian Screen nominees announced. Congrats to Alysha Brilla, nominated for The Queen of My Dreams score.
Screen Producers Australia winners announced. Congrats to Best Film winner Shayda. Keiran Watson Bonnice, Associate Producer; Elika Rezaee, Editor.
Window of Opportunity
aka The Discover Tab 🔍
Check out the Discover Tab on Portrait for grants, programs, festivals, and jobs.
Closing Soon: Programs + Grants
Have an opportunity to share? Post it on the app or fill out our form.
The Writers Lab (3/28 deadline + discount)
Flaherty Seminar Fellowship (3/29 deadline)
MENA - SWANA Lab (3/30 deadline)
Gertrude Conference TV Pilot Competition (3/30 deadline)
Kickstarter Long Story Short (3/31 deadline)
Roy Dean Spring Grant (3/31 deadline + waivers)
Humanitas New Voices Fellowship (4/1 deadline)
Ford Foundation JustFilms Grants (4/1 deadline)
Commercial Directors Diversity Program (4/1 deadline)
Chicken&Egg Project: Hatched (4/1 deadline)
The Humanitas Prizes (4/1 deadline + discount)
Creative Capital Award (4/4 deadline)
The Writers Lab (4/4 deadline + discount)
Union Docs Summer Documentary Labs (4/7 deadline)
See more spring + rolling deadlines in our interactive database in the app.
Jobs/Gigs Roundup
Have a job to share? Share it on the app or fill out our form.
Nightside Executive Producer, Hearst.
Director, Audience Strategy & Growth, Hearst.
Senior Producer, Tech - Unannounced Game, Blizzard Entertainment.
Vice President, Creative Director, Publicis Groupe.
Consulting Director, Bento Box Entertainment.
Producer, NBC Nightly News, NBCUniversal.
Specialist, Clearance & Licensing, Sony Pictures.
Camera Operator, Studios (Temporary), Warner Bros. Discovery.
Digital Content Publishing & Optimization, Editorial Team, Rotten Tomatoes.
Supervisor, Media Operations, NBCUniversal.
Motion Graphics - Freelance, Revolt Media & TV.
Senior Supervising Producer in London, The Wall Street Journal.
Senior Producer (Contract), Bloomberg.
Video Producer, IndieWire.
Showrunner Producer, Bloomberg Originals Docs.
See more jobs/gigs in our interactive, filterable database in the app.
End Credits: Portrait Post of the Week
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