Just saw Gravity (Warner Bros. Worldwide) in 3D at the Arclight Hollywood, having missed its Gala Premiere in Toronto where the line to see even the Press and Industry screening wound around corners on the street, up stairs and around the theater interior like a snake. So glad to have seen it in the comfort of my own favorite theater. (Though Laemmle on Santa Monica in West L.A. is beginning to feel like home again too.)
It occurred to me how similar Europa Report (Isa: Sierra Affinity, U.S. Magnolia) was, although Gravity was like a water ballet in space and Europa Report was all inside the space ship. And Gravity had A list American actors while Europa Report had A list international thespians. You can read my blog on Europa Report at LatinoBuzz: Europa Report 31 July 2013 12:30 Pm, Pdt | Sydney's Buzz on Indiewire or on IMDbPro under Europa Report/ News Releases.
You can read the earlier L.A. Times articles on Europa Report here: Comic-Con: Modest ‘Europa Report’ gets San Diego’s biggest stage published on July 19, 2013 and here: Review: 'Europa Report' gets good mileage from low-budget sci-fi by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Film Critic.
Europa Report has just been issued in the home entertainment markets today according to L.A. Times by Magnolia on DVD for $26.98 or Blu-ray for $29.98 after opening theatrically August 2, 2013 in Los Angeles at the Sundance Sunset in West Hollywood, D.C. at the E Street Cinema and New York at the Cinema Village followed by a national roll-out. See playdates here.
L.A. Times Capsule Review:
Another example of the innovative, intelligent sci-fi films that have become blessedly frequent in recent years, director Sebastián Cordero's half-mockumentary/ half-found-footage work reconstructs a doomed space mission using "news reports," "interviews" and "on-ship surveillance recordings." The result feels a little drier than the typical interstellar thriller, but "Europa Report" also achieves a rare verisimilitude with its documentary re-creations. Even though it features recognizable actors (including Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist and Embeth Davidtz), it looks like a real mission, which only adds to the drama when things start to go very wrong. The DVD and Blu-ray add deleted scenes and a featurette about the film's special effects.
Gravity opened this weekend and grossed $55,785,112 at 3,575 locations. Opening weekend for The Europa Report was $22,243 in 3 theaters. It grossed $125,475 in 9.4 weeks.
Really of interest to me however, is the genealogy of the two films. Alfonso Cuaron and Sebastian Cordero are joined like George Clooney and Sandra Bullock on these two very similar films.
Sebastián, an Ecuadorian whose two films, the 2004 Cronicas was produced by Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Isabel Dávalos, and Bertha Navarro, and Rabia, produced by Guillermo del Toro, have created their own exclusive cult fan clubs. The 2004 film Cronicas caused quite a stir among the acquisitions community and the cognoscenti of genre-art house films. It won the Sundance/ Nhk International Filmmakers Award in 2002, premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard, played Toronto, San Sebastian, Sundance and Rotterdam, sold worldwide and was picked up for U.S. by Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, thus confirming its cult status.
Rabia (Isa:Wild Bunch), a Spanish-Colombian coproduction premiered in 2009 at the Toronto Film Festival. His earlier film Ratas, Ratones, Rateros premiered in Venice in 1999, received over 12 international awards and played in more than 50 film festivals and Pescador, a Colombian-Ecuadorian coproduction won acting and directing awards at the Guadalajara Film Festival in 2012.
This was his first English language film in Hollywood. His cinematographer, Enrique Chediak, and production designer, Eugenio Caballero, have worked with him on three of his films. The production designer was excited to design a realistic space ship. Enrique liked the found footage idea which was still high tech, it did not have the degraded handheld effect you see in the current run of horror films. He liked the idea of working with limitations. He built a 360 degree set with eight cameras shooting continuously. It was very immersive. The cinematographer also liked the challenge.
The Production Designer, Eugenio Caballero, won the Academy Award for his work on Pan's Labyrinth. Enrique Chediak was named on Daily Variety's "10 Cinemagraphers to Watch" in 1999 and has not disappointed with his credits which include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours and was Cordero's cinematographer on Rabia.
As Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron mentor Sebastian Cordero, he too is exploring the No. American terrain for movie making, though not at the major studio level. Cordero is creating a larger area, a newer terrain, combining Latin American talent with European talent with his own USC Film School mentality.
Gravity was a huge art film, combining a perspective on its side, upside down, spinning, slow motion on short stop-watched time lines, everything possible going wrong and survived by only one tough woman. So too in The Europa Report everything went wrong and only one woman survived. The Europa Report was the low budget version of Gravity, or Gravity, Jr. Both were told with a quietude and calmness that defies Hollywood High Tech Special Effects.
It occurred to me how similar Europa Report (Isa: Sierra Affinity, U.S. Magnolia) was, although Gravity was like a water ballet in space and Europa Report was all inside the space ship. And Gravity had A list American actors while Europa Report had A list international thespians. You can read my blog on Europa Report at LatinoBuzz: Europa Report 31 July 2013 12:30 Pm, Pdt | Sydney's Buzz on Indiewire or on IMDbPro under Europa Report/ News Releases.
You can read the earlier L.A. Times articles on Europa Report here: Comic-Con: Modest ‘Europa Report’ gets San Diego’s biggest stage published on July 19, 2013 and here: Review: 'Europa Report' gets good mileage from low-budget sci-fi by Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times Film Critic.
Europa Report has just been issued in the home entertainment markets today according to L.A. Times by Magnolia on DVD for $26.98 or Blu-ray for $29.98 after opening theatrically August 2, 2013 in Los Angeles at the Sundance Sunset in West Hollywood, D.C. at the E Street Cinema and New York at the Cinema Village followed by a national roll-out. See playdates here.
L.A. Times Capsule Review:
Another example of the innovative, intelligent sci-fi films that have become blessedly frequent in recent years, director Sebastián Cordero's half-mockumentary/ half-found-footage work reconstructs a doomed space mission using "news reports," "interviews" and "on-ship surveillance recordings." The result feels a little drier than the typical interstellar thriller, but "Europa Report" also achieves a rare verisimilitude with its documentary re-creations. Even though it features recognizable actors (including Sharlto Copley, Michael Nyqvist and Embeth Davidtz), it looks like a real mission, which only adds to the drama when things start to go very wrong. The DVD and Blu-ray add deleted scenes and a featurette about the film's special effects.
Gravity opened this weekend and grossed $55,785,112 at 3,575 locations. Opening weekend for The Europa Report was $22,243 in 3 theaters. It grossed $125,475 in 9.4 weeks.
Really of interest to me however, is the genealogy of the two films. Alfonso Cuaron and Sebastian Cordero are joined like George Clooney and Sandra Bullock on these two very similar films.
Sebastián, an Ecuadorian whose two films, the 2004 Cronicas was produced by Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Isabel Dávalos, and Bertha Navarro, and Rabia, produced by Guillermo del Toro, have created their own exclusive cult fan clubs. The 2004 film Cronicas caused quite a stir among the acquisitions community and the cognoscenti of genre-art house films. It won the Sundance/ Nhk International Filmmakers Award in 2002, premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard, played Toronto, San Sebastian, Sundance and Rotterdam, sold worldwide and was picked up for U.S. by Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, thus confirming its cult status.
Rabia (Isa:Wild Bunch), a Spanish-Colombian coproduction premiered in 2009 at the Toronto Film Festival. His earlier film Ratas, Ratones, Rateros premiered in Venice in 1999, received over 12 international awards and played in more than 50 film festivals and Pescador, a Colombian-Ecuadorian coproduction won acting and directing awards at the Guadalajara Film Festival in 2012.
This was his first English language film in Hollywood. His cinematographer, Enrique Chediak, and production designer, Eugenio Caballero, have worked with him on three of his films. The production designer was excited to design a realistic space ship. Enrique liked the found footage idea which was still high tech, it did not have the degraded handheld effect you see in the current run of horror films. He liked the idea of working with limitations. He built a 360 degree set with eight cameras shooting continuously. It was very immersive. The cinematographer also liked the challenge.
The Production Designer, Eugenio Caballero, won the Academy Award for his work on Pan's Labyrinth. Enrique Chediak was named on Daily Variety's "10 Cinemagraphers to Watch" in 1999 and has not disappointed with his credits which include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours and was Cordero's cinematographer on Rabia.
As Guillermo del Toro and Alfonso Cuaron mentor Sebastian Cordero, he too is exploring the No. American terrain for movie making, though not at the major studio level. Cordero is creating a larger area, a newer terrain, combining Latin American talent with European talent with his own USC Film School mentality.
Gravity was a huge art film, combining a perspective on its side, upside down, spinning, slow motion on short stop-watched time lines, everything possible going wrong and survived by only one tough woman. So too in The Europa Report everything went wrong and only one woman survived. The Europa Report was the low budget version of Gravity, or Gravity, Jr. Both were told with a quietude and calmness that defies Hollywood High Tech Special Effects.
- 10/8/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Exclusive: The Match Factory has signed a raft of deals for Sam Garbarski’s Vijay And I and David Wnendt’s Wetlands ahead of their world premieres in Locarno.
Garbarski’s romantic comedy, starring Patricia Arquette, Moritz Bleibtreu and Danny Pudi, has been sold to the Cis and Baltic states (Project Manometr) and Taiwan (Encore Film), with negotiations currently underway for “a number of territories“, including Italy and Korea.
The world premiere of the Belgium-Luxembourg-Germany co-production is due to be held on Locarno’s Piazza Grande open-air venue on Thursday evening (Aug 8) after the presentation of a Pardo alla carriera to Italian actor-director Sergio Castellitto, who starred in Vijay And I co-producer Pandora Film’s Mostly Martha which premiered on the Piazza Grande in 2001.
In addition, sales have been finalised on Wnendt’s Wetlands to Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Filmladen) and for a pan-Scandinavian deal (Future Film), with further deals under negotiation.
The adaptation...
Garbarski’s romantic comedy, starring Patricia Arquette, Moritz Bleibtreu and Danny Pudi, has been sold to the Cis and Baltic states (Project Manometr) and Taiwan (Encore Film), with negotiations currently underway for “a number of territories“, including Italy and Korea.
The world premiere of the Belgium-Luxembourg-Germany co-production is due to be held on Locarno’s Piazza Grande open-air venue on Thursday evening (Aug 8) after the presentation of a Pardo alla carriera to Italian actor-director Sergio Castellitto, who starred in Vijay And I co-producer Pandora Film’s Mostly Martha which premiered on the Piazza Grande in 2001.
In addition, sales have been finalised on Wnendt’s Wetlands to Switzerland (Filmcoopi), Austria (Filmladen) and for a pan-Scandinavian deal (Future Film), with further deals under negotiation.
The adaptation...
- 8/7/2013
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
Europa Report, a feature film by Ecuadorian director, Sebastián Cordero, was so impressive. On a personal note (not to brag…), my niece is exploring alien life in the form of starfish at the Stanford Marine Station in Monterey as the subject of her Nasa- funded PhD program, so this movie about exploring alien life in a watery environment touches close to home for me. In addition, I am very interested in Ecuador as a filmmaking country (or a non-filmmaking country) whose revenues from homegrown cinema has grown 300% in 2012, so I did something I rarely undertake, I interviewed the filmmaker.
Sebastián Cordero was in L.A. for ten days after attending Comic-Con and stayed through last night's Kcrw Special L.A. Screening at the Landmark Theater on Pico Blvd. Today he left for NYC. Magnet Releasing will release the film theatrically on August 2 and it is available now on VOD.
Europa Report opens this Friday, August 2, 2013 in Los Angeles at the Sundance Sunset in West Hollywood, D.C. at the E Street Cinema in Washington, and New York at the Cinema Village this Friday and will be followed by a national roll-out. See playdates here.
Attending Comic-Con was a great experience for Sebastián. He says that the L.A. Times coverage describes the experience very well and definitely gave the film a boost in fandom. The panel at Comic-Con's largest venue was unique for Sebastián, an Ecuadorian whose two films, the 2004 Cronicas produced by Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Isabel Dávalos, and Bertha Navarro, and Rabia have created their own exclusive cult fan clubs. Rabia (Isa:Wild Bunch), a Spanish-Colombian coproduction premiered in 2009 at the Toronto Film Festival. The 2004 film Cronicas caused quite a stir among the acquisitions community and the cognoscenti of genre-art house films. It won the Sundance/ Nhk International Filmmakers Award in 2002, premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard, played Toronto, San Sebastian, Sundance and Rotterdam, sold worldwide and was picked up for U.S. by Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, thus confirming its cult status. His earlier film Ratas, Ratones, Rateros premiered in Venice in 1999, received over 12 international awards and played in more than 50 film festivals and Pescador, a Colombian-Ecuadorian coproduction won acting and directing awards at the Guadalajara Film Festival in 2012.
The Europa Report team's Comic-Con presentation included scientists from Jpl which lent real-life credentials to the film as they discussed the movie in front of 6,000 interested people who knew very little about the film until then. The mythology of Europa is well known to sci–fi fans from its prominence in Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequel 2010: Odyssey Two, but the general public is not aware of it. The movie in fact seems poised somewhere between Nasa and Star Trek.
The dreamy calmness of professionals in an extraordinary mix of talents in the movie itself mirrors the mix of talents that went into the making of this piece of cinema. No wonder it was previewed at Comic-Com. It seemed incongruous to the mega-size this event has become. It would be nice to know that it was the sleeper hit of Comic-Con and of the summer season. We shall see as it opens this week. Even if it proves too intellectual for the masses, its credit to Team Sebastian Cordero will stand the test of time. It takes a filmmaker from Eucador to probe our collective curiosity about life on Europa, the moon of Jupiter most likely to contain life.
While I do not agree 100% with the review by Carlos Aguilar in Filmophilia today, I find his review the most intelligent of all I have read to date.
Europa Report could be called a Latino film which illustrates the draw Hollywood independent filmmaking holds on filmmakers from our South American continent. Reading the bios of the production team and the bios of the cast further illuminates this luminescent film, put together primarily by men but casting both the main interlocutor and the chief of the mission as women: Embeth Daviitz who plays Dr. Unger, the chief of the mission was the Jewish maid who survives both the abuse and attraction of Ralph Fiennes' sadistic commander 'Goeth' in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and costars with Gabriele Byrne in In Treatment, was in Mad Men and Californication.
How did producer Ben Browning find you after he developed the script?Ben had seen Rabia and Cronicas…both were very different from this, dealing with social issues, told as social realism, but Rabia is 90% told while the protagonist is hiding in a house, where the claustrophobia and tension might be points of reference for this film.
You usually make films about social issues, what was it about this film that attracted you? I am an actor's director. I need a good story and a good script but one major aspect of this film for me was its six characters. It was a challenge to put together a great cast and give them one space in which to act. I liked the story and the real science behind it. There have been no significant manned explorations of space since the Apollo expeditions in the 70s. I did lots of research, and we had great science advisors.
I was an unusual choice, but I felt an immediate connection to the project.
You seem to have gathered an award winning production team for casting, cinematography, production design, music and sound design.I had a great team. It is my first English language film in Hollywood. My cinematographer, Enrique Chediak, and production designer, Eugenio Caballero, have worked with me on three of my films.
The production designer was excited to design a realistic space ship. Enrique liked the found footage idea which was still high tech, it did not have the degraded handheld effect you see in the current run of horror films. I had been unsure of his reactions to such limitations in the project, but he actually liked them. He built a 360 degree set with eight cameras shooting continuously. It was very immersive. The cinematographer also liked the challenge.
(Editor: Production designer, Eugenio Caballero, won the Academy Award for his work on Pan's Labyrinth. Enrique Chediak was named on Daily Variety's "10 Cinemagraphers to Watch" in 1999 and has not disappointed with his credits which include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours.)
What about the cast of international actors?Casting international actors was also exciting. They are not not huge stars but they are the top thespians in their countries.
(Sydney, the blogger here: Wednesday's news that casting directors will get their own branch in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, puts this film's casting director, Avy Kaufman, in line for an Oscar for sure.)
Producer Tod Browning interjects here that casting actors from all over the world was also a key part of the film's financing plan. "Each of these actors brought value in territories we were able to pre-sell based on their involvement. Michael [Nyqvist] and Anamaria [Marinca] are very popular in Europe and Daniel Wu is a major star in Asia which allowed us to secure Chinese distribution up front", Browning says. (The international sales agent is Nick Meyers' Sierra Affinity.)
Back to Sebastian: When Michael Nyqvist (who played Andrei Blok) came on board, that made the project attractive to others. I wanted him, not just because of his work in the Millennium series, but because of his other work with Lukas Moodyson (Together).
Anamaria Marinca (who played Rosa Dasque), the actress from Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, (which won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival) was not an obvious choice and I was unsure of what her reaction would be, but she said, Are you kidding? She said she loved having such an offer. No one ever offered her a role in a science fiction film before.
What about you? Do you like the lure of Hollywood? Do you want to make more films here?I am torn between two worlds.
I want to continue in both places. I enjoy Hollywood but I know, during the time of Cronicas there was a moment when I was being offered projects but in the end, nothing happened, and I understand the process now. Here when a project falls apart, all the work you have put into it is for nothing - it might waste six months of intense work. In Ecuador I have confidence that any film I am working on will eventually be made.
But I am also interested in working in the U.S. There are a lot more resources here, but it must be good project. I am looking for projects here, but I generate my own material in Ecuador. Here, when a project falls apart here all the work is for nothing.
I am now working on a film to shoot early next year in Ecuador, Sin muertos, no hay carnaval, which literally means Without the Dead, There is No Carnival. However, its English language working title is Such is Life in the Tropics. It is about property management, and more specifically about a squater as told from many perspectives. Its strong script is written by the actor in Cronicas who is also a producer in another film.
Thank you Sebastian. I wish you great success with this film and with your career. And I thank Ben Browning for undertaking this exciting project and bringing it to life.
Sebastian Cordero spent his childhood in Ecuador where he was born, his teenage years in Paris and his college years in Los Angeles, where he studied at USC's Filmic Writing program. He seems to be building a team much the way Clint Eastwood has. And like Clint Eastwood, the lure of Hollywood with its ease of procuring resources and the necessary filmmaking tools is tempered by the continuous lower budgeted filmmaking using international Iberoamerican coproductions to finance the films.
About Wayfare Entertainment:
In May 2013 New York-based Wayfare Entertainment announced its rebranding as Start Motion Pictures. Parent company Start Media LLC is unifying its branding and operations as its portfolio of entertainment and media holdings grows. Wayfare Entertainment was set up five years ago by Ben Browning and Start Media CEO Michael Maher and has produced and fully financed films that have grossed over $130 million worldwide. Wayfare’s past films include Universal’s Sanctum produced with James Cameron, the Focus Features’ drama It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Neil Jordan’s Ondine, and Sebastian Cordero's space thriller Europa Report to be released by Magnolia Pictures in summer 2013 and being sold internationally by Nicolas Meyer's Sierra Affinity.
Upcoming Wayfare projects include an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book for Disney; the recently announced Passengers, to star Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon; and a development slate including Josh Zetumer’s Villain, an adaptation of Matt Westrup’s award winning creature short The Gate and the Princess Diana conspiracy thriller Inquest. With a slate like this, it is no wonder Comic-Con was interested in showcasing Europa Report.
Start Media is a privately held media company with interests in exhibition, publishing, and technology. Start Media is acquiring and building content-driven companies well positioned to capitalize on value dislocations emerging from the rapid evolution of media and media consumption. In late 2012 Start Media partnered with exhibitor Digiplex Destinations, an industry pioneer and champion of digital conversion and alternative cinema content, to aggressively grow the Digiplex footprint to 1000 screens in the top 100 markets. The acquisition of UltraStar Cinemas earlier this year was the first acquisition of the partnership. Wayfare’s staff, upcoming film slate and film library will be folded into Start Motion Pictures, which will continue normal business operations producing and financing feature films. Browning will be the President of Start Motion Pictures.
Sebastián Cordero was in L.A. for ten days after attending Comic-Con and stayed through last night's Kcrw Special L.A. Screening at the Landmark Theater on Pico Blvd. Today he left for NYC. Magnet Releasing will release the film theatrically on August 2 and it is available now on VOD.
Europa Report opens this Friday, August 2, 2013 in Los Angeles at the Sundance Sunset in West Hollywood, D.C. at the E Street Cinema in Washington, and New York at the Cinema Village this Friday and will be followed by a national roll-out. See playdates here.
Attending Comic-Con was a great experience for Sebastián. He says that the L.A. Times coverage describes the experience very well and definitely gave the film a boost in fandom. The panel at Comic-Con's largest venue was unique for Sebastián, an Ecuadorian whose two films, the 2004 Cronicas produced by Alfonso Cuarón, Guillermo del Toro, Isabel Dávalos, and Bertha Navarro, and Rabia have created their own exclusive cult fan clubs. Rabia (Isa:Wild Bunch), a Spanish-Colombian coproduction premiered in 2009 at the Toronto Film Festival. The 2004 film Cronicas caused quite a stir among the acquisitions community and the cognoscenti of genre-art house films. It won the Sundance/ Nhk International Filmmakers Award in 2002, premiered in Cannes' Un Certain Regard, played Toronto, San Sebastian, Sundance and Rotterdam, sold worldwide and was picked up for U.S. by Chris Blackwell's Palm Pictures, thus confirming its cult status. His earlier film Ratas, Ratones, Rateros premiered in Venice in 1999, received over 12 international awards and played in more than 50 film festivals and Pescador, a Colombian-Ecuadorian coproduction won acting and directing awards at the Guadalajara Film Festival in 2012.
The Europa Report team's Comic-Con presentation included scientists from Jpl which lent real-life credentials to the film as they discussed the movie in front of 6,000 interested people who knew very little about the film until then. The mythology of Europa is well known to sci–fi fans from its prominence in Stanley Kubrick's classic 2001: A Space Odyssey and its sequel 2010: Odyssey Two, but the general public is not aware of it. The movie in fact seems poised somewhere between Nasa and Star Trek.
The dreamy calmness of professionals in an extraordinary mix of talents in the movie itself mirrors the mix of talents that went into the making of this piece of cinema. No wonder it was previewed at Comic-Com. It seemed incongruous to the mega-size this event has become. It would be nice to know that it was the sleeper hit of Comic-Con and of the summer season. We shall see as it opens this week. Even if it proves too intellectual for the masses, its credit to Team Sebastian Cordero will stand the test of time. It takes a filmmaker from Eucador to probe our collective curiosity about life on Europa, the moon of Jupiter most likely to contain life.
While I do not agree 100% with the review by Carlos Aguilar in Filmophilia today, I find his review the most intelligent of all I have read to date.
Europa Report could be called a Latino film which illustrates the draw Hollywood independent filmmaking holds on filmmakers from our South American continent. Reading the bios of the production team and the bios of the cast further illuminates this luminescent film, put together primarily by men but casting both the main interlocutor and the chief of the mission as women: Embeth Daviitz who plays Dr. Unger, the chief of the mission was the Jewish maid who survives both the abuse and attraction of Ralph Fiennes' sadistic commander 'Goeth' in Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List and costars with Gabriele Byrne in In Treatment, was in Mad Men and Californication.
How did producer Ben Browning find you after he developed the script?Ben had seen Rabia and Cronicas…both were very different from this, dealing with social issues, told as social realism, but Rabia is 90% told while the protagonist is hiding in a house, where the claustrophobia and tension might be points of reference for this film.
You usually make films about social issues, what was it about this film that attracted you? I am an actor's director. I need a good story and a good script but one major aspect of this film for me was its six characters. It was a challenge to put together a great cast and give them one space in which to act. I liked the story and the real science behind it. There have been no significant manned explorations of space since the Apollo expeditions in the 70s. I did lots of research, and we had great science advisors.
I was an unusual choice, but I felt an immediate connection to the project.
You seem to have gathered an award winning production team for casting, cinematography, production design, music and sound design.I had a great team. It is my first English language film in Hollywood. My cinematographer, Enrique Chediak, and production designer, Eugenio Caballero, have worked with me on three of my films.
The production designer was excited to design a realistic space ship. Enrique liked the found footage idea which was still high tech, it did not have the degraded handheld effect you see in the current run of horror films. I had been unsure of his reactions to such limitations in the project, but he actually liked them. He built a 360 degree set with eight cameras shooting continuously. It was very immersive. The cinematographer also liked the challenge.
(Editor: Production designer, Eugenio Caballero, won the Academy Award for his work on Pan's Labyrinth. Enrique Chediak was named on Daily Variety's "10 Cinemagraphers to Watch" in 1999 and has not disappointed with his credits which include Danny Boyle's 127 Hours.)
What about the cast of international actors?Casting international actors was also exciting. They are not not huge stars but they are the top thespians in their countries.
(Sydney, the blogger here: Wednesday's news that casting directors will get their own branch in the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, puts this film's casting director, Avy Kaufman, in line for an Oscar for sure.)
Producer Tod Browning interjects here that casting actors from all over the world was also a key part of the film's financing plan. "Each of these actors brought value in territories we were able to pre-sell based on their involvement. Michael [Nyqvist] and Anamaria [Marinca] are very popular in Europe and Daniel Wu is a major star in Asia which allowed us to secure Chinese distribution up front", Browning says. (The international sales agent is Nick Meyers' Sierra Affinity.)
Back to Sebastian: When Michael Nyqvist (who played Andrei Blok) came on board, that made the project attractive to others. I wanted him, not just because of his work in the Millennium series, but because of his other work with Lukas Moodyson (Together).
Anamaria Marinca (who played Rosa Dasque), the actress from Romania's 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days, (which won the Palme d'Or at the 2007 Cannes Film Festival) was not an obvious choice and I was unsure of what her reaction would be, but she said, Are you kidding? She said she loved having such an offer. No one ever offered her a role in a science fiction film before.
What about you? Do you like the lure of Hollywood? Do you want to make more films here?I am torn between two worlds.
I want to continue in both places. I enjoy Hollywood but I know, during the time of Cronicas there was a moment when I was being offered projects but in the end, nothing happened, and I understand the process now. Here when a project falls apart, all the work you have put into it is for nothing - it might waste six months of intense work. In Ecuador I have confidence that any film I am working on will eventually be made.
But I am also interested in working in the U.S. There are a lot more resources here, but it must be good project. I am looking for projects here, but I generate my own material in Ecuador. Here, when a project falls apart here all the work is for nothing.
I am now working on a film to shoot early next year in Ecuador, Sin muertos, no hay carnaval, which literally means Without the Dead, There is No Carnival. However, its English language working title is Such is Life in the Tropics. It is about property management, and more specifically about a squater as told from many perspectives. Its strong script is written by the actor in Cronicas who is also a producer in another film.
Thank you Sebastian. I wish you great success with this film and with your career. And I thank Ben Browning for undertaking this exciting project and bringing it to life.
Sebastian Cordero spent his childhood in Ecuador where he was born, his teenage years in Paris and his college years in Los Angeles, where he studied at USC's Filmic Writing program. He seems to be building a team much the way Clint Eastwood has. And like Clint Eastwood, the lure of Hollywood with its ease of procuring resources and the necessary filmmaking tools is tempered by the continuous lower budgeted filmmaking using international Iberoamerican coproductions to finance the films.
About Wayfare Entertainment:
In May 2013 New York-based Wayfare Entertainment announced its rebranding as Start Motion Pictures. Parent company Start Media LLC is unifying its branding and operations as its portfolio of entertainment and media holdings grows. Wayfare Entertainment was set up five years ago by Ben Browning and Start Media CEO Michael Maher and has produced and fully financed films that have grossed over $130 million worldwide. Wayfare’s past films include Universal’s Sanctum produced with James Cameron, the Focus Features’ drama It's Kind Of A Funny Story, Neil Jordan’s Ondine, and Sebastian Cordero's space thriller Europa Report to be released by Magnolia Pictures in summer 2013 and being sold internationally by Nicolas Meyer's Sierra Affinity.
Upcoming Wayfare projects include an adaptation of Neil Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book for Disney; the recently announced Passengers, to star Keanu Reeves and Reese Witherspoon; and a development slate including Josh Zetumer’s Villain, an adaptation of Matt Westrup’s award winning creature short The Gate and the Princess Diana conspiracy thriller Inquest. With a slate like this, it is no wonder Comic-Con was interested in showcasing Europa Report.
Start Media is a privately held media company with interests in exhibition, publishing, and technology. Start Media is acquiring and building content-driven companies well positioned to capitalize on value dislocations emerging from the rapid evolution of media and media consumption. In late 2012 Start Media partnered with exhibitor Digiplex Destinations, an industry pioneer and champion of digital conversion and alternative cinema content, to aggressively grow the Digiplex footprint to 1000 screens in the top 100 markets. The acquisition of UltraStar Cinemas earlier this year was the first acquisition of the partnership. Wayfare’s staff, upcoming film slate and film library will be folded into Start Motion Pictures, which will continue normal business operations producing and financing feature films. Browning will be the President of Start Motion Pictures.
- 7/31/2013
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Fourteen films have been competing in iber.film.america, the first-ever Latin American film festival online, organized by VoD platform filmotech.com. “The aim is to bring Hispanic cinema closer to Latin American communities from both continents, America and Europe, through new distribution channels,” said festival and platform director Juan Alía. “Internet is the ideal venue for the general public to have access to these types of films, that are of great quality but have not been released either in cinemas or as DVDs.” Until April 16, the platform’s Latin American visitors will be able to see the films for free, with up to 10,000 viewings possible for each film. The selected films, produced in Latin American countries between 2009 and 2011, will vie for the Critics Award, decided on by a jury made up of five journalists and with a prize of $3,000, and for the Audience Award. Fifteen countries, from Argentina to Mexico via Spain, Nicaragua, and Colombia, are represented in a selection that includes:
Ticket to Paradise (Isa: Icaic) by Gerardo Chijona Valdés
Undertow (Isa: Greenburg Taurig) by Javier Fuentes León
Des-autorizados by Elia Schneider
García (Isa: Bogeydom Liscensing) by José Luis Rugeles
Guest (Isa: Roxbury) by José Luis Guerín
Jean Gentil (Isa: Aurora Dominicana) by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas
The Colors of the Mountain (Isa: Urban Distribution Int.) by Carlos César Arbeláez
La mala verdad (lit. “The bad truth”) by Miguel Ángel Rocca
Half of Oscar (Isa: FiGa FIlms) by Manuel Martín Cuenca
La Yuma (Isa: All Rights Ent.) by Florence Jauguey
Medianeras by Gustavo Taretto
Norberto’s Deadline (Isa: Outsider Pictures) by Daniel Hendler
Pescador (Isa: Latinofusion) (lit. “Fisherman”) by Sebastián Cordero
Transeúnte by Eryck Rocha
iber.film.america is supported by the Icaa, the Latin American Federation of Cinema and Audiovisual Producers (Fipca), and the Cervantes Institute.
Ticket to Paradise (Isa: Icaic) by Gerardo Chijona Valdés
Undertow (Isa: Greenburg Taurig) by Javier Fuentes León
Des-autorizados by Elia Schneider
García (Isa: Bogeydom Liscensing) by José Luis Rugeles
Guest (Isa: Roxbury) by José Luis Guerín
Jean Gentil (Isa: Aurora Dominicana) by Laura Amelia Guzmán and Israel Cárdenas
The Colors of the Mountain (Isa: Urban Distribution Int.) by Carlos César Arbeláez
La mala verdad (lit. “The bad truth”) by Miguel Ángel Rocca
Half of Oscar (Isa: FiGa FIlms) by Manuel Martín Cuenca
La Yuma (Isa: All Rights Ent.) by Florence Jauguey
Medianeras by Gustavo Taretto
Norberto’s Deadline (Isa: Outsider Pictures) by Daniel Hendler
Pescador (Isa: Latinofusion) (lit. “Fisherman”) by Sebastián Cordero
Transeúnte by Eryck Rocha
iber.film.america is supported by the Icaa, the Latin American Federation of Cinema and Audiovisual Producers (Fipca), and the Cervantes Institute.
- 5/23/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Guadalajara Wraps and a New Fest Begins
Ficg (pronounced FeeSeeg and standing for the Festival International de Cine in Guadalajara), displayed a new vibrancy. Besides some great films, great attendance and great organization, several Latin American countries are entering the international film business for the first time (Peru and Ecuador) with subsidies from their government pointing to an optimism for film production as an economic factor in their country's growth. I blogged about the Dominican Republic but not about the new Law 226 in Mexico which encourages businesses to invest up to 20 million pesos (U.S.$2 million) or 10% of the taxes they owed the previous year (whichever is higher) into Mexican film production, or Brazilian access to subsidies.
In addition, Guadalajara is becoming known as the Silicon Valley of Mexico as its economy is based especially on information technology with a large number of international firms having facilities there. It is also considered to be the home of Mariachi music. The city is named after the Spanish city of Guadalajara with the name originating from the Arabic word meaning "Valley of Stones". It is the highest ranking major Mexican city and has the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city. Only Chicago scores more highly for sheer economic potential (Per a 2007 report in fDi magazine, an English-language news and foreign direct investment publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd and edited in London). The same research calls Guadalajara the "city of the future" due to its youthful population, low unemployment and large number of recent foreign investment deals. It was also ranked the third most business friendly city in North America.
A new digital film studio is going up. The University is an important center of culture and learning.
And sadly, violence over drugs is not far away. This past Friday, Narco gangs appropriated 25 vehicles in 16 separate incidents – 11 of them in the Guadalajara metropolitan zone where they set fire to them in retaliation for action taken against them in a military action to capture two Mexican drug cartel members. At the Centro Magno festival venue, festival transport staff stopped filmgoers leaving a screening of Andres Wood's Violeta Went to Heaven as they sought to return to the festival's central Expo Center venue, acknowledging concerns for safety. A truck was set on fire not far (but not too close either: at Calzada Lázaro Cárdenas and Mezquite, at la Colonia de El Fresno) from the Expo where the festival was still being held, but there was no disruption of the festival.
Our friend, Hebe Tabachnik, Iberoamerican programmer for the Palm Springs Film Festival is on the jury and writes from there:
Dear friends, in spite of the disruptive and unfortunately deadly incidents in Guadalajara today, all the attendees to the Ficg Guadalajara are Ok. We are sorry this beautiful city and specially its amazing people have to experience this kind of criminal acts. The festival is going ahead with its schedule events, as it should be. Celebrating the arts and show no fear is the best way to manifest against the non sense violence. Viva Guadalajara. Viva Mexico!!!!
The activities of the industry, with meetings about Iberoamerican coproductions with its well presented professional projects, the film market itself with films available to watch up to 2 weeks after the closing, the Cannes Marche Producers Network, Works in Progress, Berlinale's Talent Campus and Doculab, and of course, the festival itself with galas every night, a Focus on U.K. and Mike Leigh, Homages, Mexican and Iberoamerican Competition, Sounds of Cinema, Children's Cinema, Lgbt prizes, Open Air Screenings - all defy easy decision making on how best to spend one's time there.
The prize winners:
PalmarÉS FICG27
Premio Maguey
Mención Especial
“Todo el mundo tiene alguien menos yo” (México) Dir. Raúl Fuentes
Premio Maguey
“Mía“ (Argentina) Dir. Javier van de Couter
Premio del Público Milenio
“Espacio Interior“ (México) Dir. Kai Parlange
Premio Mezcal
“Un mundo secreto“ (México) Dir. Gabriel Mariño
Premio Cinecolor
“Un mundo secreto“ (México) Dir. Gabriel Mariño
Mejor Cortometraje de Animación - Premio Rigo Mora
“Un ojo” (México) Dir. Lorenza Manrique
Mejor Cortometraje Iberoamericano
“Minuto 200” (Colombia) Dir. Frank Benítez
Mejor Cortometraje Mexicano
“Lucy vs. los límites de la voz” (México) Dir. Mónica Herrera
Largometraje Iberoamericano Documental
Mención Especial
“El salvavidas“ (Chile) Dir. Maite Alberdi
Mejor Documental Iberoamericano
“ ¡Vivan las antípodas! “(Argentina - Chile - Alemania - Holanda) Dir. Víctor Kossakovsky
Largometraje Mexicano Documental
Mención Especial
“Carrière, 250 metros” Dir. Juan Carlos Rulfo y Natalia Gil
Mención Especial
“El paciente interno” Dir. Alejandro Solar
Mejor Documental Mexicano
“Cuates de Australia” Everardo González
Largometraje de Ficción Iberoamericana
Mejor Guion
Jaime Osorio por “El páramo” (Colombia)
Mejor Fotografía
Mauro Pinheiro Jr. por “Sudoeste” (Brasil)
Mejor Actriz
Francisca Gavilán por “Violeta se fue a los cielos” (Chile)
Mejor Actor
Andrés Crespo por “Pescador” (Ecuador)
Premio Especial del Jurado
“Los pasos dobles” (España - Suiza) Dir. Isaki Lacuesta
Mejor Opera Prima
“Transeunte” (Brasil) Dir. Eryk Rocha
Mejor Director
Sebastián Cordero por “Pescador” (Ecuador)
Mejor Película Iberoamericana
"Abrir puertas y ventanas" (Argentina) "Dir. Milagros Mumenthaler
Largometraje de Ficción Mexicana
Mención Especial
Música Original de "Días de gracia"
Mejor Guion
Miguel Bonilla por “Diente por diente”
Mejor Fotografía
Jerónimo Rodríguez por “Todo el mundo tiene a alguien menos yo”
Mejor Actriz
Martha Higareda por “Mariachi Gringo”
Mejor Actor
Kuno Becker por “Espacio Interior”
Mejor Opera Prima
"El fantástico mundo de Juan Orol" Dir. Sebastián del Amo
Mejor Director
Everardo Gout por “Días de gracia”.
Mejor Película
“Mariachi Gringo” Dir. Tom Gustafson
alt=premios-paralelos>
Premio de los Niños
“El secreto del medallón de jade” (México) Dir. Rodolfo Guzmán y Leopoldo Aguilar
Premio Feisal
Mención Especial
“No hay lugar lejano” (México) Dir. Michelle Ibaven
Mención Especial
“Oro Colombiano: 400 años de música del alma” (Colombia) Dir. Sanjay Agarwal e Iván Higa
Premio Feisal
“75 habitantes, 20 casas, 300 vacas” (Argentina) Dir. Fernando Domínguez
Premio Fipresci
“Violeta se fue a los cielos” (Chile) Dir. Andrés Wood
Guerrero de la Prensa
Mejor largometraje de ficción “Días de gracia” (México) Dir. Everardo Gout Mejor largometraje documental “El paciente interno” (México) Dir. Alejandro Solar
Academia Jalisciense de Cinematografía
Mejor cortometraje jalisciense “La noria” Dir. Karla Castañeda Mejor largometraje jalisciense “Fecha de caducidad” Dir. Kenya Márquez
No sooner does this festival and market wrap when a new Mexican festival, the Riviera Maya Film Festival, begins March 20 - 25 which will play in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cozumel and Holbox. The industry component Rivieralab, a coproduction event will take place in Quintana Roo March 22-25 and will host 158 projects from Latin America and Europe. 10 projects will be showcased to financiers, fund representatives, producers and sales agents, 3 will receive 200,000 pesos or approximately Us$15,500. 8 international works in progress at post-production stage from a pool of 40 will be selected to receive support.
Ficg (pronounced FeeSeeg and standing for the Festival International de Cine in Guadalajara), displayed a new vibrancy. Besides some great films, great attendance and great organization, several Latin American countries are entering the international film business for the first time (Peru and Ecuador) with subsidies from their government pointing to an optimism for film production as an economic factor in their country's growth. I blogged about the Dominican Republic but not about the new Law 226 in Mexico which encourages businesses to invest up to 20 million pesos (U.S.$2 million) or 10% of the taxes they owed the previous year (whichever is higher) into Mexican film production, or Brazilian access to subsidies.
In addition, Guadalajara is becoming known as the Silicon Valley of Mexico as its economy is based especially on information technology with a large number of international firms having facilities there. It is also considered to be the home of Mariachi music. The city is named after the Spanish city of Guadalajara with the name originating from the Arabic word meaning "Valley of Stones". It is the highest ranking major Mexican city and has the second strongest economic potential of any major North American city. Only Chicago scores more highly for sheer economic potential (Per a 2007 report in fDi magazine, an English-language news and foreign direct investment publication owned by The Financial Times Ltd and edited in London). The same research calls Guadalajara the "city of the future" due to its youthful population, low unemployment and large number of recent foreign investment deals. It was also ranked the third most business friendly city in North America.
A new digital film studio is going up. The University is an important center of culture and learning.
And sadly, violence over drugs is not far away. This past Friday, Narco gangs appropriated 25 vehicles in 16 separate incidents – 11 of them in the Guadalajara metropolitan zone where they set fire to them in retaliation for action taken against them in a military action to capture two Mexican drug cartel members. At the Centro Magno festival venue, festival transport staff stopped filmgoers leaving a screening of Andres Wood's Violeta Went to Heaven as they sought to return to the festival's central Expo Center venue, acknowledging concerns for safety. A truck was set on fire not far (but not too close either: at Calzada Lázaro Cárdenas and Mezquite, at la Colonia de El Fresno) from the Expo where the festival was still being held, but there was no disruption of the festival.
Our friend, Hebe Tabachnik, Iberoamerican programmer for the Palm Springs Film Festival is on the jury and writes from there:
Dear friends, in spite of the disruptive and unfortunately deadly incidents in Guadalajara today, all the attendees to the Ficg Guadalajara are Ok. We are sorry this beautiful city and specially its amazing people have to experience this kind of criminal acts. The festival is going ahead with its schedule events, as it should be. Celebrating the arts and show no fear is the best way to manifest against the non sense violence. Viva Guadalajara. Viva Mexico!!!!
The activities of the industry, with meetings about Iberoamerican coproductions with its well presented professional projects, the film market itself with films available to watch up to 2 weeks after the closing, the Cannes Marche Producers Network, Works in Progress, Berlinale's Talent Campus and Doculab, and of course, the festival itself with galas every night, a Focus on U.K. and Mike Leigh, Homages, Mexican and Iberoamerican Competition, Sounds of Cinema, Children's Cinema, Lgbt prizes, Open Air Screenings - all defy easy decision making on how best to spend one's time there.
The prize winners:
PalmarÉS FICG27
Premio Maguey
Mención Especial
“Todo el mundo tiene alguien menos yo” (México) Dir. Raúl Fuentes
Premio Maguey
“Mía“ (Argentina) Dir. Javier van de Couter
Premio del Público Milenio
“Espacio Interior“ (México) Dir. Kai Parlange
Premio Mezcal
“Un mundo secreto“ (México) Dir. Gabriel Mariño
Premio Cinecolor
“Un mundo secreto“ (México) Dir. Gabriel Mariño
Mejor Cortometraje de Animación - Premio Rigo Mora
“Un ojo” (México) Dir. Lorenza Manrique
Mejor Cortometraje Iberoamericano
“Minuto 200” (Colombia) Dir. Frank Benítez
Mejor Cortometraje Mexicano
“Lucy vs. los límites de la voz” (México) Dir. Mónica Herrera
Largometraje Iberoamericano Documental
Mención Especial
“El salvavidas“ (Chile) Dir. Maite Alberdi
Mejor Documental Iberoamericano
“ ¡Vivan las antípodas! “(Argentina - Chile - Alemania - Holanda) Dir. Víctor Kossakovsky
Largometraje Mexicano Documental
Mención Especial
“Carrière, 250 metros” Dir. Juan Carlos Rulfo y Natalia Gil
Mención Especial
“El paciente interno” Dir. Alejandro Solar
Mejor Documental Mexicano
“Cuates de Australia” Everardo González
Largometraje de Ficción Iberoamericana
Mejor Guion
Jaime Osorio por “El páramo” (Colombia)
Mejor Fotografía
Mauro Pinheiro Jr. por “Sudoeste” (Brasil)
Mejor Actriz
Francisca Gavilán por “Violeta se fue a los cielos” (Chile)
Mejor Actor
Andrés Crespo por “Pescador” (Ecuador)
Premio Especial del Jurado
“Los pasos dobles” (España - Suiza) Dir. Isaki Lacuesta
Mejor Opera Prima
“Transeunte” (Brasil) Dir. Eryk Rocha
Mejor Director
Sebastián Cordero por “Pescador” (Ecuador)
Mejor Película Iberoamericana
"Abrir puertas y ventanas" (Argentina) "Dir. Milagros Mumenthaler
Largometraje de Ficción Mexicana
Mención Especial
Música Original de "Días de gracia"
Mejor Guion
Miguel Bonilla por “Diente por diente”
Mejor Fotografía
Jerónimo Rodríguez por “Todo el mundo tiene a alguien menos yo”
Mejor Actriz
Martha Higareda por “Mariachi Gringo”
Mejor Actor
Kuno Becker por “Espacio Interior”
Mejor Opera Prima
"El fantástico mundo de Juan Orol" Dir. Sebastián del Amo
Mejor Director
Everardo Gout por “Días de gracia”.
Mejor Película
“Mariachi Gringo” Dir. Tom Gustafson
alt=premios-paralelos>
Premio de los Niños
“El secreto del medallón de jade” (México) Dir. Rodolfo Guzmán y Leopoldo Aguilar
Premio Feisal
Mención Especial
“No hay lugar lejano” (México) Dir. Michelle Ibaven
Mención Especial
“Oro Colombiano: 400 años de música del alma” (Colombia) Dir. Sanjay Agarwal e Iván Higa
Premio Feisal
“75 habitantes, 20 casas, 300 vacas” (Argentina) Dir. Fernando Domínguez
Premio Fipresci
“Violeta se fue a los cielos” (Chile) Dir. Andrés Wood
Guerrero de la Prensa
Mejor largometraje de ficción “Días de gracia” (México) Dir. Everardo Gout Mejor largometraje documental “El paciente interno” (México) Dir. Alejandro Solar
Academia Jalisciense de Cinematografía
Mejor cortometraje jalisciense “La noria” Dir. Karla Castañeda Mejor largometraje jalisciense “Fecha de caducidad” Dir. Kenya Márquez
No sooner does this festival and market wrap when a new Mexican festival, the Riviera Maya Film Festival, begins March 20 - 25 which will play in Cancun, Playa del Carmen, Tulum, Cozumel and Holbox. The industry component Rivieralab, a coproduction event will take place in Quintana Roo March 22-25 and will host 158 projects from Latin America and Europe. 10 projects will be showcased to financiers, fund representatives, producers and sales agents, 3 will receive 200,000 pesos or approximately Us$15,500. 8 international works in progress at post-production stage from a pool of 40 will be selected to receive support.
- 3/12/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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