Exclusive: Germany’s Gebrueder Beetz Filmproduktion is gearing up for Sundance Film Festival by changing its corporate identity to Beetz Brothers Film Production, and unveiling new projects on Boney M and the Titan Disaster as part of an international push.
The Leonine Studios-owned producer’s new name reflects the relationship of its co-founders, brothers Christian and Reinhardt Beetz, and comes as the company lines up a series of new projects that form part of its push into international premium docs. It also comes ahead of Beetz Brothers’ latest doc, Eternal You, competing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance in Utah, as announced earlier this week.
Christian Beetz told Deadline the company will is also co-developing a feature-length doc about the Germany cult music group Boney M alongside the Twilight saga producer Temple Hill. Beetz Brothers senior producer Kerstin Meyer-Beetz is developing the project alongside Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen,...
The Leonine Studios-owned producer’s new name reflects the relationship of its co-founders, brothers Christian and Reinhardt Beetz, and comes as the company lines up a series of new projects that form part of its push into international premium docs. It also comes ahead of Beetz Brothers’ latest doc, Eternal You, competing in the World Cinema Documentary Competition at Sundance in Utah, as announced earlier this week.
Christian Beetz told Deadline the company will is also co-developing a feature-length doc about the Germany cult music group Boney M alongside the Twilight saga producer Temple Hill. Beetz Brothers senior producer Kerstin Meyer-Beetz is developing the project alongside Temple Hill’s Marty Bowen,...
- 1/12/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
The unimaginable — a modern U.S. civil war — gains considerable clarity and alarming proximity in the documentary “Against All Enemies,” about the continuing rise of far-right extremist groups. Various talking heads here stress that the January 6 insurrection was no aberration but part of a fast-evolving pattern that poses a serious threat to our democracy. Charlie Sadoff’s film focuses largely on the role of military veterans in groups that one way or another seem to be agitating for violent government overthrow, though it also casts a wider net. This densely packed, sobering overview of hitherto subterranean political trends feels tooled for broadcast, where in any case it would have the most impact.
While one would think adherence to their Oath of Enlistment would prevent veterans from joining any such cause, the siren call of online propaganda and individuals’ societal alienation post-service actually make them particularly susceptible. Paranoid rhetoric convinces many...
While one would think adherence to their Oath of Enlistment would prevent veterans from joining any such cause, the siren call of online propaganda and individuals’ societal alienation post-service actually make them particularly susceptible. Paranoid rhetoric convinces many...
- 6/10/2023
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
City Drive Films proudly announced that they have acquired Us rights to the multiple-award winning documentary, "The Mind of Mark DeFriest." Directed by Gabriel London, the critically acclaimed film chronicles the life of erstwhile Florida prison escape artist Mark DeFriest, as well as the terrifying abuse he experienced during his decades in Florida’s prison system.
"The Mind of Mark DeFriest" will open theatrically in select cities beginning on March 6, 2015, and will air on Showtime® on March 19.
The film follows is the true story of a brilliant young man’s descent into an unforgiving and brutal prison system that sought to break him. Originally found ‘incompetent to be sentenced’ by five of six psychiatrists, DeFriest, like many prisoners with mental illness, spent an incredible amount of time in solitary confinement – 27 of the last 34 years. His crimes? Taking the tools his father, who was recently deceased, had willed to him before the will was probated – and a string of ‘Houdini’ escapes in the early 1980s that earned him the unending ire of the system.
As the film screened at festivals in 2014, audiences began to rally around the injustice in DeFriest’s case and members of the Florida Commission on Offender Review were compelled to see the film and the story in a new light.
"The Mind of Mark DeFriest" is a testament to how powerful a film can be in righting social justice. “For me, the dream has always been that both the film and the man would see the light of day,” said director London. “With the support of City Drive and the platform Showtime offers, we will reach a wide audience with the power to write a happier ending for Mark and the thousands of others like him in our prison system.”
“We are beyond excited to be associated with and working on such an important Film. Gabriel dedicated many years of his life to bring to light this fascinating story and help secure Mark’s freedom. People need to see this Film and help reform our prison system. ” said City Drive’s Founder/ President Daniel E Catullo III.
The film was produced by London, Daniel J. Chalfen and Charlie Sadoff. It premiered internationally at Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival in 2014 and in the Us at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival. It has continued to play multiple festivals nationwide and winning awards including Best Documentary Feature Award at the Lone Star Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Naples International Film Festival, and best Florida feature at the Key West International Film Festival.
For more information visit Here...
"The Mind of Mark DeFriest" will open theatrically in select cities beginning on March 6, 2015, and will air on Showtime® on March 19.
The film follows is the true story of a brilliant young man’s descent into an unforgiving and brutal prison system that sought to break him. Originally found ‘incompetent to be sentenced’ by five of six psychiatrists, DeFriest, like many prisoners with mental illness, spent an incredible amount of time in solitary confinement – 27 of the last 34 years. His crimes? Taking the tools his father, who was recently deceased, had willed to him before the will was probated – and a string of ‘Houdini’ escapes in the early 1980s that earned him the unending ire of the system.
As the film screened at festivals in 2014, audiences began to rally around the injustice in DeFriest’s case and members of the Florida Commission on Offender Review were compelled to see the film and the story in a new light.
"The Mind of Mark DeFriest" is a testament to how powerful a film can be in righting social justice. “For me, the dream has always been that both the film and the man would see the light of day,” said director London. “With the support of City Drive and the platform Showtime offers, we will reach a wide audience with the power to write a happier ending for Mark and the thousands of others like him in our prison system.”
“We are beyond excited to be associated with and working on such an important Film. Gabriel dedicated many years of his life to bring to light this fascinating story and help secure Mark’s freedom. People need to see this Film and help reform our prison system. ” said City Drive’s Founder/ President Daniel E Catullo III.
The film was produced by London, Daniel J. Chalfen and Charlie Sadoff. It premiered internationally at Toronto’s Hot Docs Film Festival in 2014 and in the Us at the 2014 Los Angeles Film Festival. It has continued to play multiple festivals nationwide and winning awards including Best Documentary Feature Award at the Lone Star Film Festival, the Audience Award at the Naples International Film Festival, and best Florida feature at the Key West International Film Festival.
For more information visit Here...
- 2/11/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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