It might be too on-the-nose to call Saved! a minor miracle of a movie, but how else would you describe Brian Dannelly’s faith-centric satire? Since it was released in arthouses and multiplexes 20 years ago this week, it’s remained one of the few teenage comedies brave enough to explore and critique the contemporary Christian high school experience without relying on broad fundamentalist humor, cheap caricatures, or treacly after-school messaging. Within modern Hollywood, it felt––and still feels––like a true outlier, a nuanced slice of religious life with a surprisingly deep roster of young indie talents that its creator still can’t believe was even made.
Set at a Christian high school, Saved! stars Jena Malone as 17-year-old Mary, a born-again believer who offers up her virginity to convert her gay boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust). The plan ultimately fails––Dean is sent to conversion therapy and Mary gets pregnant,...
Set at a Christian high school, Saved! stars Jena Malone as 17-year-old Mary, a born-again believer who offers up her virginity to convert her gay boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust). The plan ultimately fails––Dean is sent to conversion therapy and Mary gets pregnant,...
- 5/28/2024
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
Production workflow solutions provider The Rebel Fleet has appointed Stephen Ceci as managing director for Australia.
Ceci brings more than 20 years of experience in post-production to the role, joining the company from Technicolor Creative Services, where he was director of sales for post production. Prior to that, he was previously head of west coast front-end services and operations for Harbor Picture Company.
Speaking about his new role, Ceci said he was excited to “lead a talented team in opening a new market”.
“The Rebel Fleet is a nimble innovator helping productions adapt and customise their workflows with creative, flexible, and scalable solutions,” he said.
“With production services being quickly redefined right now, we’re excited to expand our capabilities to Australia to meet those challenges.”
Formed in 2015, The Rebel Fleet provides workflow solutions for productions in Australia, New Zealand, and the broader global entertainment industry.
The company has worked with Netflix,...
Ceci brings more than 20 years of experience in post-production to the role, joining the company from Technicolor Creative Services, where he was director of sales for post production. Prior to that, he was previously head of west coast front-end services and operations for Harbor Picture Company.
Speaking about his new role, Ceci said he was excited to “lead a talented team in opening a new market”.
“The Rebel Fleet is a nimble innovator helping productions adapt and customise their workflows with creative, flexible, and scalable solutions,” he said.
“With production services being quickly redefined right now, we’re excited to expand our capabilities to Australia to meet those challenges.”
Formed in 2015, The Rebel Fleet provides workflow solutions for productions in Australia, New Zealand, and the broader global entertainment industry.
The company has worked with Netflix,...
- 11/10/2021
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: Outfest has launched its annual Outfest Screenwriting Lab and selected eight scripts that advance the visibility of Lgbtqia+ storytelling. This year’s fellows include Johnny Alvarez, Courtney & Hillary Andujar, Carlton Daniel Jr., Gary Jaffe, Raul Martin, Damon Royster, Cody Stickels & Kea Trevett, and Leandro Tadashi.
The Outfest Screenwriting Lab was established as a screenwriting contest in 1997 and has since become the cornerstone of Outfest’s education and mentoring program, Outfest Forward. Because this year’s Lab will take place virtually, it provided Outfest the ability to accept their largest cohort to date and extended the time frame of the Lab to five days. Fellows will meet with top industry showrunners, executives, and writers who will offer professional development and discuss trends within the industry.
The Lab roster of Lgbtqia+ industry leaders include showrunners Latoya Morgan, Derek Simonds (The Sinner), and M Dickson, alongside...
The Outfest Screenwriting Lab was established as a screenwriting contest in 1997 and has since become the cornerstone of Outfest’s education and mentoring program, Outfest Forward. Because this year’s Lab will take place virtually, it provided Outfest the ability to accept their largest cohort to date and extended the time frame of the Lab to five days. Fellows will meet with top industry showrunners, executives, and writers who will offer professional development and discuss trends within the industry.
The Lab roster of Lgbtqia+ industry leaders include showrunners Latoya Morgan, Derek Simonds (The Sinner), and M Dickson, alongside...
- 12/2/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Bravo Media and Universal Cable Prods have announced the cast for hour-long scripted dark comedy pilots True Fiction (working title) and My So Called Wife (working title). True Fiction from Brian Dannelly and Michael Urban, centers on a once best-selling novelist turned prestigious East Coast college professor (Olivia Grant) who has been struggling with her much anticipated, and embarrassingly belated follow-up book. But the sudden death of her most arrogant and hated…...
- 11/23/2015
- Deadline TV
Bravo Media continues its push into scripted programming, ordering pilots My So Called Wife (working title) from Adam Brooks (Definitely) and Paul Adelstein (Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce) and True Fiction from Brian Dannelly and Michael Urban (Saved). Both hail from Bravo sibling Universal Cable Prods. My So Called Wife and True Fiction will be looking to join Bravo’s first two original scripted series, Girlfriends Guide To Divorce, also from Ucp, and Odd Mom Out, both…...
- 9/22/2015
- Deadline TV
It's that time of year again -- or what used to be that time of year. NewFest is here (September 6-11). Yes, the celebration of gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and what-have-you cinema is back for its 25th anniversary. The main venue will be the Film Society of Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater, considered by some to be the best cinema in Manhattan, one that boasts a truly superior sound system.
(Anyone who ever attended NewFest when it was held at the New School with its second-rate visuals and third-rate resonance will rejoice.)
In the past, this deliciously raucous event has screened a mixed bag of semi-brilliant to much-less-so offerings, many you'll never ever get to see anywhere else on a "big" screen whether you reside in the Big Apple or in Idaho. On the plus side, watching a woefully dreadful movie with a roomful of knowing Glbtq cinephiles is often a hoot.
(Anyone who ever attended NewFest when it was held at the New School with its second-rate visuals and third-rate resonance will rejoice.)
In the past, this deliciously raucous event has screened a mixed bag of semi-brilliant to much-less-so offerings, many you'll never ever get to see anywhere else on a "big" screen whether you reside in the Big Apple or in Idaho. On the plus side, watching a woefully dreadful movie with a roomful of knowing Glbtq cinephiles is often a hoot.
- 8/26/2013
- by Brandon Judell
- www.culturecatch.com
What a Dump! – Albelo’s Feature Witty Debut Anything But a Flop
Already amassing an impressive reputation with her short films and a pair of documentaries about gay life in Havana, you can add the adjective ‘charming’ to a long list of descriptors for Cuban-American director Anna Margarita Albelo with her feature film debut, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf? Basically, a film about filmmaking, Albelo deftly transcends the possibly pretentious trappings of that behemoth Edward Albee/Mike Nichols production it’s so seriously in conversation with and blossoms into a witty, if sometimes formulaic narrative all its own. Apparently utilizing some autobiographical elements for inspiration, Albelo is clearly an exciting, endearing, and comic talent, and her delightful homage would make Eve Ensler and Virginia Woolf proud.
Opening with a Woolf quote, “For beyond the difficulty of communicating oneself there is the supreme difficulty of being oneself,” we meet Anna...
Already amassing an impressive reputation with her short films and a pair of documentaries about gay life in Havana, you can add the adjective ‘charming’ to a long list of descriptors for Cuban-American director Anna Margarita Albelo with her feature film debut, Who’s Afraid of Vagina Wolf? Basically, a film about filmmaking, Albelo deftly transcends the possibly pretentious trappings of that behemoth Edward Albee/Mike Nichols production it’s so seriously in conversation with and blossoms into a witty, if sometimes formulaic narrative all its own. Apparently utilizing some autobiographical elements for inspiration, Albelo is clearly an exciting, endearing, and comic talent, and her delightful homage would make Eve Ensler and Virginia Woolf proud.
Opening with a Woolf quote, “For beyond the difficulty of communicating oneself there is the supreme difficulty of being oneself,” we meet Anna...
- 7/9/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
I honestly didn't know much about Saved! when I sat down to watch it a couple of nights ago. I knew it had something to do with Christian kids and pregnancy, and that it had a surprisingly talented cast. Released in 2004, Saved! made a paltry $10 million worldwide (although that's still twice its budget), and promptly disappeared into obscurity. Which is a goddamn tragedy, because it's a funny, bitingly clever, scathingly snarky look at some of the extremes of Christian middle America and the pathological need of some people to not just be a better Christian, but the best Christian. Yet despite all that, it's also a charming and sweet little fable about family and love. It's like Jesus Camp mated with a Lifetime movie, and then was drugged with a heavy dose of irony.
Saved! takes place in a small town that's particularly religious -- the kids go to American Eagle Christian High School,...
Saved! takes place in a small town that's particularly religious -- the kids go to American Eagle Christian High School,...
- 7/6/2010
- by TK
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