Winners include Cynthia Lowen for ‘Light Mass Energy’, abut pioneerin physicist Mileva Maric Einstein.
US not-for-profit scientific organisation the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has selected four filmmakers to receive a combined 70,000 in funding as part of the Sundance Institute’s Science-in-Film intitiative.
Writer John Lopez received the 25,000 Sloan Commissioning Grant for Incompleteness, an adaptation of Rebecca Goldstein’s book. Set in the lead up to the Second World War, the story follows Kurt Godel, a logician who falls in love and discovers two mind-bending proofs that shake mathematics and philosophy to their cores.
Previously a writing fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Episodic Lab,...
US not-for-profit scientific organisation the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has selected four filmmakers to receive a combined 70,000 in funding as part of the Sundance Institute’s Science-in-Film intitiative.
Writer John Lopez received the 25,000 Sloan Commissioning Grant for Incompleteness, an adaptation of Rebecca Goldstein’s book. Set in the lead up to the Second World War, the story follows Kurt Godel, a logician who falls in love and discovers two mind-bending proofs that shake mathematics and philosophy to their cores.
Previously a writing fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Episodic Lab,...
- 1/24/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
“The Pod Generation” has garnered the first award at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival.
Sophie Barthes directed the sci-fi film, which stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor as parents whose child is being grown in a pod. The dark comedy took home the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative top cash prize of 20,000. The prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character. The 2023 jury for Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize included Dr. Heather Berlin, Jim Gaffigan, Dr. Mandë Holford, Shalini Kantayya, and Lydia Dean Pilcher.
The jury shared that it selected “Sophie Barthes’ futuristic romantic comedy, ‘The Pod Generation,’ for its bold, visually-arresting depiction of a brave new parenthood in which AI and artificial wombs provide technological benefits...
Sophie Barthes directed the sci-fi film, which stars Emilia Clarke and Chiwetel Ejiofor as parents whose child is being grown in a pod. The dark comedy took home the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative top cash prize of 20,000. The prize is selected by a jury of film and science professionals and presented to an outstanding feature film focusing on science or technology as a theme, or depicting a scientist, engineer, or mathematician as a major character. The 2023 jury for Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize included Dr. Heather Berlin, Jim Gaffigan, Dr. Mandë Holford, Shalini Kantayya, and Lydia Dean Pilcher.
The jury shared that it selected “Sophie Barthes’ futuristic romantic comedy, ‘The Pod Generation,’ for its bold, visually-arresting depiction of a brave new parenthood in which AI and artificial wombs provide technological benefits...
- 1/24/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
The Sundance Institute Science-in-Film initiative with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation named Sophie Barthes’ The Pod Generation as this year’s Feature Film Prize winner.
In addition three artists grants went to recipients for three projects in development. The prizes were handed out at a reception following the Appetite for Construction panel at Filmmaker Lodge. The four filmmakers received a total of 70,000 in funding through the Prize and three artist grants for projects: Benjy Steinberg for The Professor and the Spy received the Sloan Episodic Fellowship, Cynthia Lowen for Light Mass Energy received the Sloan Development Fellowship, and John Lopez for Incompleteness received the Sloan Commissioning Grant.
Related Story How Emilia Clarke & Chiwetel Ejiofor Movie ‘Pod Generation’ Sprouted – Sundance Studio Related Story 'You Hurt My Feelings' Sundance Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Shines Again In Nicole Holofcener's Witty And Honest Comedy Related Story WME Signs Rashad Frett; Agency Will Help Writer-Director's...
In addition three artists grants went to recipients for three projects in development. The prizes were handed out at a reception following the Appetite for Construction panel at Filmmaker Lodge. The four filmmakers received a total of 70,000 in funding through the Prize and three artist grants for projects: Benjy Steinberg for The Professor and the Spy received the Sloan Episodic Fellowship, Cynthia Lowen for Light Mass Energy received the Sloan Development Fellowship, and John Lopez for Incompleteness received the Sloan Commissioning Grant.
Related Story How Emilia Clarke & Chiwetel Ejiofor Movie ‘Pod Generation’ Sprouted – Sundance Studio Related Story 'You Hurt My Feelings' Sundance Review: Julia Louis-Dreyfus Shines Again In Nicole Holofcener's Witty And Honest Comedy Related Story WME Signs Rashad Frett; Agency Will Help Writer-Director's...
- 1/24/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sundance Institute has named the participants and projects set for the 2023 editions of a pair of its flagship programs: the Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive.
Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).
Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...
Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).
Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...
- 1/13/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
This review originally ran June 12, 2022, for the film’s Tribeca Festival premiere.
Despite its title, Cynthia Lowen’s “Battleground” takes an unexpectedly restrained approach to the eternally volatile issue of abortion.
Indeed, were it not for the occasionally ominous notes of Gil Talmi’s score and the closing plea to “get organized” by visiting the film’s website, one could easily view Lowen’s project as entirely even-handed. This is neither a criticism nor a compliment, but the fact that it could be taken as either is just one more indication of the cavernous divide she records.
Her primary intent is to show in unambiguous terms how anti-choice activists patiently seeded and then victoriously harvested what we now know to be tremendous political success. The footage she’s assembled, which has been edited effectively by Emmy winner Nancy Novack (“When the Levees Broke”), offers a truly eye-opening glimpse into a remarkably focused movement.
Despite its title, Cynthia Lowen’s “Battleground” takes an unexpectedly restrained approach to the eternally volatile issue of abortion.
Indeed, were it not for the occasionally ominous notes of Gil Talmi’s score and the closing plea to “get organized” by visiting the film’s website, one could easily view Lowen’s project as entirely even-handed. This is neither a criticism nor a compliment, but the fact that it could be taken as either is just one more indication of the cavernous divide she records.
Her primary intent is to show in unambiguous terms how anti-choice activists patiently seeded and then victoriously harvested what we now know to be tremendous political success. The footage she’s assembled, which has been edited effectively by Emmy winner Nancy Novack (“When the Levees Broke”), offers a truly eye-opening glimpse into a remarkably focused movement.
- 10/7/2022
- by Elizabeth Weitzman
- The Wrap
Battleground Trailer — Cynthia Lowen‘s Battleground (2022) movie trailer has been released by Abramorama. Crew Cynthia Lowen wrote the screenplay for Battleground. “Produced by Rebecca Stern and Cynthia Lowen.” Poster Battleground Movie Poster Plot Synopsis Battleground‘s plot synopsis: “Who are anti-abortion people? What are they driven by, what do they believe, how do they operate and what are their goals? [...]
Continue reading: Battleground (2022) Movie Trailer: The Tumultuous Anti-abortion Fight via Cynthia Lowen’s Doc Film...
Continue reading: Battleground (2022) Movie Trailer: The Tumultuous Anti-abortion Fight via Cynthia Lowen’s Doc Film...
- 9/19/2022
- by Rollo Tomasi
- Film-Book
Abramorama and Roco Films have co-acquired U.S. distribution rights to Cynthia Lowen’s abortion documentary “Battleground.” The film premiered in the documentary competition category at the Tribeca Festival in June. The doc follows three women in charge of anti-abortion organizations devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade.
Abramorama and Roco Films will co-release “Battleground” in hundreds of theaters across the country beginning Oct. 7 for an official Academy Award qualifying run. The film will also be simultaneously released in schools, non-profit spaces and corporate board rooms, both in-person and virtually. In addition, impact agencies Together Films and Red Owl will deliver a comprehensive national impact campaign alongside the release.
The doc is timely given the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, effectively striking down the ruling that has guaranteed basic abortion rights in the U.S. since 1973.
“We are at a profound turning point in American...
Abramorama and Roco Films will co-release “Battleground” in hundreds of theaters across the country beginning Oct. 7 for an official Academy Award qualifying run. The film will also be simultaneously released in schools, non-profit spaces and corporate board rooms, both in-person and virtually. In addition, impact agencies Together Films and Red Owl will deliver a comprehensive national impact campaign alongside the release.
The doc is timely given the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade in June, effectively striking down the ruling that has guaranteed basic abortion rights in the U.S. since 1973.
“We are at a profound turning point in American...
- 8/29/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The political debate over women’s reproductive rights, particularly their freedom to choose whether to legally have an abortion, in America has become even more heated since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade on June 24. But what society often fails to remember about one of women’s most important life decisions is that there’s an […]
The post Tribeca Festival 2022: Cynthia Lowen Talks Battleground (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
The post Tribeca Festival 2022: Cynthia Lowen Talks Battleground (Exclusive) appeared first on Shockya.com.
- 7/2/2022
- by Karen Benardello
- ShockYa
Close to a decade after American Zoetrope announced that the company had acquired the screen rights to Alysia Abbott’s “Fairyland: A Memoir of My Father,” the film adaptation has finally been made with the help of Safe Space Pictures Foundation.
The newly-launched funding entity was founded by producer Nicole Shipley to champion women and underrepresented voices in the entertainment industry by providing support to issue-driven documentary and narrative projects via equity, debt, and grant funding. Safe Space is currently working on ten nonfiction and narrative projects at various stages in production. The foundation’s investments in film or television projects range between 250,000 and 2 million.
“We take risks just like other investors, but our returns are measured in lasting, positive change,” says Jeff Sobrato, the foundation’s co-founder, and board chair. “Our model gives our collaborators the latitude to tell stories no one else will.”
Shipley and Sobrato will serve as executive producers on “Fairyland,...
The newly-launched funding entity was founded by producer Nicole Shipley to champion women and underrepresented voices in the entertainment industry by providing support to issue-driven documentary and narrative projects via equity, debt, and grant funding. Safe Space is currently working on ten nonfiction and narrative projects at various stages in production. The foundation’s investments in film or television projects range between 250,000 and 2 million.
“We take risks just like other investors, but our returns are measured in lasting, positive change,” says Jeff Sobrato, the foundation’s co-founder, and board chair. “Our model gives our collaborators the latitude to tell stories no one else will.”
Shipley and Sobrato will serve as executive producers on “Fairyland,...
- 6/22/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Vicki Brown was previously director of international sales at Altitude.
UK social impact agency Together Films is branching out into sales, with the hire of former Altitude executive Vicki Brown to run Together Films Sales.
The sales division will present films that focus on social impact themes. In her new role of head of acquisitions, sales and distribution, Brown will report to Together Films CEO Sarah Mosses. The duo are looking to acquire titles at Sheffield DocFest later this week.
Brown joins from Altitude Film Sales, where she was director of international sales, working on titles including Rocks, Ali & Ava,...
UK social impact agency Together Films is branching out into sales, with the hire of former Altitude executive Vicki Brown to run Together Films Sales.
The sales division will present films that focus on social impact themes. In her new role of head of acquisitions, sales and distribution, Brown will report to Together Films CEO Sarah Mosses. The duo are looking to acquire titles at Sheffield DocFest later this week.
Brown joins from Altitude Film Sales, where she was director of international sales, working on titles including Rocks, Ali & Ava,...
- 6/20/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Click here to read the full article.
Some of the most powerful, viscerally emotional films in recent months have been pleas for abortion rights, from the 1960s-set French drama Happening to the documentary The Janes, about an underground network of illegal abortion providers.
Cynthia Lowen takes the opposite approach in her coolly cerebral pro-choice documentary, Battleground, which journeys inside the anti-abortion movement in order to show reproductive rights advocates what they’re up against today. With the subjects’ willing participation, and without any voiceover to lead viewers’ opinions, the filmmakers unobtrusively go along to rallies, listen in on strategy sessions and interview leaders of top anti-abortion groups. The results are far from cheap and easy caricatures. Lowen (director of the documentaries Bully and Netizens, about online harassment of women) does not find rabid zealots, but sincere, media-savvy, well-organized women — presented respectfully throughout — who have been playing the long game for...
Some of the most powerful, viscerally emotional films in recent months have been pleas for abortion rights, from the 1960s-set French drama Happening to the documentary The Janes, about an underground network of illegal abortion providers.
Cynthia Lowen takes the opposite approach in her coolly cerebral pro-choice documentary, Battleground, which journeys inside the anti-abortion movement in order to show reproductive rights advocates what they’re up against today. With the subjects’ willing participation, and without any voiceover to lead viewers’ opinions, the filmmakers unobtrusively go along to rallies, listen in on strategy sessions and interview leaders of top anti-abortion groups. The results are far from cheap and easy caricatures. Lowen (director of the documentaries Bully and Netizens, about online harassment of women) does not find rabid zealots, but sincere, media-savvy, well-organized women — presented respectfully throughout — who have been playing the long game for...
- 6/13/2022
- by Caryn James
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Few political debates are as messy, personal, or unwieldy as the abortion debate that continues to roil America, and so Cynthia Lowen’s “Battleground,” a film so timely that the filmmaking team presumably had to slap on a final series of title cards long after it was accepted into this year’s Tribeca Festival, attempts to cover many facets of the abortion debate, and while that’s admirable, it often comes up short on the way to better understanding.
That may well be the point, however. As the film winds on into increasingly chilling territory, the sense that it will offer no hard and fast answers, no actionable solutions starts to feel more like a feature, rather than a bug. After all, isn’t that the case when it comes to the very debate it’s chronicling?
Billed in official festival materials as “focus[ing] on three women from distinctly different...
That may well be the point, however. As the film winds on into increasingly chilling territory, the sense that it will offer no hard and fast answers, no actionable solutions starts to feel more like a feature, rather than a bug. After all, isn’t that the case when it comes to the very debate it’s chronicling?
Billed in official festival materials as “focus[ing] on three women from distinctly different...
- 6/12/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Timely topics including abortion, freedom of the press, the opioid crisis and the Boy Scouts of America bankruptcy case serve as the subject matters of four documentary features premiering at this year’s Tribeca Festival.
In “Battleground” director Cynthia Lowen follows three women in charge of anti-abortion organizations, who are devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade. While the efforts of pro-choice women determined to safeguard access to safe and legal abortions are also featured in the doc, Lowen felt it necessary to focus on “anti-choice actors.”
“In 2019 I went down to Alabama and originally was filming with several pro-choice advocates in the state about the abortion ban,” Lowen says. “But I quickly realized that to really understand what was happening at the local clinic and state level I needed to take a step back and get this bird’s eye view of the power structures that were in play that...
In “Battleground” director Cynthia Lowen follows three women in charge of anti-abortion organizations, who are devoted to overturning Roe v. Wade. While the efforts of pro-choice women determined to safeguard access to safe and legal abortions are also featured in the doc, Lowen felt it necessary to focus on “anti-choice actors.”
“In 2019 I went down to Alabama and originally was filming with several pro-choice advocates in the state about the abortion ban,” Lowen says. “But I quickly realized that to really understand what was happening at the local clinic and state level I needed to take a step back and get this bird’s eye view of the power structures that were in play that...
- 6/8/2022
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
Tribeca Festival, the event that wants to offer something for everyone, returns Wednesday with its sprawling collection of features and shorts, live music, TV, podcasts, games, and Ar/VR. The annual New York City-set fest has moved mostly back indoors this year, but will feature nods to 2021 like free outdoor screenings and an online edition, Tribeca At Home. A rich documentary slate tackles abortion, press freedom and the rise of social media. There’s a first-time award for environmental impact and a series of talks with Blackhouse Foundation centered on Poc storytelling.
“We’re an activist festival,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder with Robert De Niro and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises. “When you think back to how we founded the festival, we’ve always been political,” she added, a nod to the duo launching Tribeca after the September 11 terrorist attacks to buck up a physically and emotionally devastated neighborhood.
This year,...
“We’re an activist festival,” said Jane Rosenthal, co-founder with Robert De Niro and CEO of Tribeca Enterprises. “When you think back to how we founded the festival, we’ve always been political,” she added, a nod to the duo launching Tribeca after the September 11 terrorist attacks to buck up a physically and emotionally devastated neighborhood.
This year,...
- 6/7/2022
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
After launching a delayed hybrid version of its annual event last summer, the Tribeca Festival is back with a multi-pronged approach to its vast programming this month. Once again, the festival will host a number of in-person events, including films, talks, masterclasses, and starry events, but those looking to enjoy the event from home will still be able to participate, thanks to the Tribeca At Home platform.
This year’s festival will open with the Jennifer Lopez Netflix documentary “Halftime” on June 8. The film, directed by Oscar-nominated Tribeca alum Amanda Micheli (“Vegas Baby”), will host its world premiere at the festival before premiering on the streamer June 14. The festival will close with the Al Sharpton-centric documentary “Loudmouth” on June 18, and also host a gala screening of B.J. Novak’s “Vengeance.” In between, it will screen a variety of films from new names, rising stars, and old favorites.
The 2022 Tribeca...
This year’s festival will open with the Jennifer Lopez Netflix documentary “Halftime” on June 8. The film, directed by Oscar-nominated Tribeca alum Amanda Micheli (“Vegas Baby”), will host its world premiere at the festival before premiering on the streamer June 14. The festival will close with the Al Sharpton-centric documentary “Loudmouth” on June 18, and also host a gala screening of B.J. Novak’s “Vengeance.” In between, it will screen a variety of films from new names, rising stars, and old favorites.
The 2022 Tribeca...
- 6/2/2022
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Gretchen Carlson, the former Fox News host who sued the network for sexual harassment and won, will be the subject of a new documentary, “In Her Own Words,” which will examine the use of non-disclosure agreements to silence whistleblowers. The film will also chronicle the efforts of Carlson and Julie Roginsky to launch Lift Our Voices, a nonprofit initiative which is trying to eliminate NDAs and mandatory arbitration clauses from the workplace.
“In Her Own Words” will be made with Carlson’s full participation and collaboration, but in a sad bit of irony, the newscaster can’t address certain parts of her time at Fox News as she remains bound by the NDA that accompanied her settlement.
“It is time to tell my story,” said Carlson. “One-third of American workers are bound by NDAs. They cannot tell their own truths, they cannot tell their own stories. I hope that collaborating...
“In Her Own Words” will be made with Carlson’s full participation and collaboration, but in a sad bit of irony, the newscaster can’t address certain parts of her time at Fox News as she remains bound by the NDA that accompanied her settlement.
“It is time to tell my story,” said Carlson. “One-third of American workers are bound by NDAs. They cannot tell their own truths, they cannot tell their own stories. I hope that collaborating...
- 6/2/2021
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
The story of Fox News whistleblower Gretchen Carlson is to be told in a feature documentary from Xtr.
The non-fiction studio is putting together In Her Own Words, which will tell the story of how Carlson and her Lift Our Voices co-founder Julie Roginsky started a movement to end the use of NDAs after her battle with the news network.
Directed by Cynthia Lowen (Bully), the film dives into the consequences of forced arbitration and NDAs, and how it can impact every facet of your life, from personal relationships to your future, with many victims forced to forever pay the price of a system that protects perpetrators. In addition to subjects Carlson and Roginsky, the film will explore the issue by following multiple subjects grappling with forced arbitration and NDAs.
In 2016, Carlson revealed on social media that he had left Fox News and filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court against Roger Ailes.
The non-fiction studio is putting together In Her Own Words, which will tell the story of how Carlson and her Lift Our Voices co-founder Julie Roginsky started a movement to end the use of NDAs after her battle with the news network.
Directed by Cynthia Lowen (Bully), the film dives into the consequences of forced arbitration and NDAs, and how it can impact every facet of your life, from personal relationships to your future, with many victims forced to forever pay the price of a system that protects perpetrators. In addition to subjects Carlson and Roginsky, the film will explore the issue by following multiple subjects grappling with forced arbitration and NDAs.
In 2016, Carlson revealed on social media that he had left Fox News and filed a lawsuit in New Jersey Superior Court against Roger Ailes.
- 6/2/2021
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Former Fox News anchor Gretchen Carlson will discuss her fight against Roger Ailes in a new documentary feature, as well as her ongoing effort to end the use of nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, in the workplace.
Though she remains bound by her own NDA, Carlson is fully participating and collaborating with the filmmakers of the documentary, which depicts her own activism along with the goal of reclaiming the narrative of her battle with Ailes. In 2016, Carlson’s allegations of sexual harassment resulted in her exit from Fox News and a settlement package in exchange for signing an NDA to not speak about Ailes or Fox News again.
The film, titled “In Her Own Words,” is directed by Emmy nominee Cynthia Lowen. The doc will dive into the consequences of forced arbitration and NDAs, examining how it can impact every facet of a person’s life, with many victims forced to...
Though she remains bound by her own NDA, Carlson is fully participating and collaborating with the filmmakers of the documentary, which depicts her own activism along with the goal of reclaiming the narrative of her battle with Ailes. In 2016, Carlson’s allegations of sexual harassment resulted in her exit from Fox News and a settlement package in exchange for signing an NDA to not speak about Ailes or Fox News again.
The film, titled “In Her Own Words,” is directed by Emmy nominee Cynthia Lowen. The doc will dive into the consequences of forced arbitration and NDAs, examining how it can impact every facet of a person’s life, with many victims forced to...
- 6/2/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Indie doc studio Xtr is at work on In Her Own Words, a feature documentary about Fox News Channel alums Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky and their campaign against Roger Ailes and the use of nondisclosure agreements.
The premium nonfiction producer has tapped Cynthia Lowen to direct the doc set to feature Carlson and Roginsky. The duo launched Lift Our Voices to stop companies from using NDAs to cover up incidents of workplace harassment and discrimination. In Her Own Words will be produced by Rebekah Shufelt, while Kathryn Everett, Bryn Mooser and Justin Lacob executive produce for Xtr.
Carlson’s allegations against Ailes led to his exit ...
The premium nonfiction producer has tapped Cynthia Lowen to direct the doc set to feature Carlson and Roginsky. The duo launched Lift Our Voices to stop companies from using NDAs to cover up incidents of workplace harassment and discrimination. In Her Own Words will be produced by Rebekah Shufelt, while Kathryn Everett, Bryn Mooser and Justin Lacob executive produce for Xtr.
Carlson’s allegations against Ailes led to his exit ...
Indie doc studio Xtr is at work on In Her Own Words, a feature documentary about Fox News Channel alums Gretchen Carlson and Julie Roginsky and their campaign against Roger Ailes and the use of nondisclosure agreements.
The premium nonfiction producer has tapped Cynthia Lowen to direct the doc set to feature Carlson and Roginsky. They launched Lift Our Voices to stop companies from using NDAs to cover up incidents of workplace harassment and discrimination. In Her Own Words will be produced by Rebekah Shufelt, while Kathryn Everett, Bryn Mooser, and Justin Lacob executive producing for Xtr.
Carlson’s allegations against Ailes led to his exit from ...
The premium nonfiction producer has tapped Cynthia Lowen to direct the doc set to feature Carlson and Roginsky. They launched Lift Our Voices to stop companies from using NDAs to cover up incidents of workplace harassment and discrimination. In Her Own Words will be produced by Rebekah Shufelt, while Kathryn Everett, Bryn Mooser, and Justin Lacob executive producing for Xtr.
Carlson’s allegations against Ailes led to his exit from ...
A showcase for four women fighting back against online physical and emotional harassment, Netizens is a film of undeniable power. Directed by Bully writer and co-producer Cynthia Lowen, the documentary explores everything from trolls launching grotesque personal attacks to the costs of revenge porn on its victims. Centering on a media critic, a lawyer, and two victims striking back against the patriarchy, the film takes aim at judgmental institutions and the simple-minded men with too much time on their hands and too much access to information.
The film first introduces us to up-and-coming New York attorney Carrie Goldberg, who takes the film crew to the scene of a recent case: a video has gone viral of a 13-year-old girl being raped by her classmate. The solution of the victim’s school focuses on the video–confiscating students’ phones, erasing videos–but they’re ignoring the needs of the victim in the process.
The film first introduces us to up-and-coming New York attorney Carrie Goldberg, who takes the film crew to the scene of a recent case: a video has gone viral of a 13-year-old girl being raped by her classmate. The solution of the victim’s school focuses on the video–confiscating students’ phones, erasing videos–but they’re ignoring the needs of the victim in the process.
- 4/29/2018
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
The kind of stories gathered by Cynthia Lowen for her documentary “Netizens”—having its world premiere at the 2018 Tribeca Film Festival—should have been told so often in print and on screen by this point that we should be able to predict their basics by heart. But that isn’t the case. Even though the Internet remains a near-perfect tool for predators to wage war on the women they target, frequently with impunity, there hasn’t been much appetite in the media for extended dives into the topic.
- 4/28/2018
- by Chris Barsanti
- The Playlist
Here’s your daily dose of an indie film, web series, TV pilot, what-have-you in progress, as presented by the creators themselves. At the end of the week, you’ll have the chance to vote for your favorite.
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Netizens
Logline: “Netizens,” directed by “Bully” co-creator/producer Cynthia Lowen, follows targets of cyber harassment, along with lawyers, advocates, and policymakers, as they confront digital abuse and strive for equality and justice online. These powerful stories show how harassment presents significant barriers to women’s equal access to education, employment and expression.
Elevator Pitch:
“Netizens” follows women targeted by cyber harassment, along with lawyers, advocates, and policymakers, as they confront digital abuse and strive for equality and justice online. The documentary exposes how digital abuse impacts women’s equal access to education, employment, expression and opportunity,...
In the meantime: Is this a project you’d want to see? Tell us in the comments.
Netizens
Logline: “Netizens,” directed by “Bully” co-creator/producer Cynthia Lowen, follows targets of cyber harassment, along with lawyers, advocates, and policymakers, as they confront digital abuse and strive for equality and justice online. These powerful stories show how harassment presents significant barriers to women’s equal access to education, employment and expression.
Elevator Pitch:
“Netizens” follows women targeted by cyber harassment, along with lawyers, advocates, and policymakers, as they confront digital abuse and strive for equality and justice online. The documentary exposes how digital abuse impacts women’s equal access to education, employment, expression and opportunity,...
- 12/1/2016
- by Steve Greene
- Indiewire
The Producers Guild Awards were awarded on Saturday (Jan. 26). Often considered the precursor to the Academy Awards, both the television and movie producing awards were handed out at the Beverly Hilton.
Among the big award winners of the night were "Argo," "Homeland," "Wreck-It Ralph," "Modern Family" and "The Colbert Report."
Check out the full listing of winners here.
Special awards
Norman Lear Achievement Award
J.J. Abrams, presented by Jennifer Garner
Stanley Kramer Award
"Bully," producers Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen, presented by Bradley Cooper
David O. Selznick Achievement Award
Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title, presented by Anne Hathaway
Visionary Award
Russell Simmons, presented by LL Cool J
TV awards
The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama
"Homeland" (Showtime)
Producers: Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Michael Cuesta, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick, Meredith Stiehm
The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television,...
Among the big award winners of the night were "Argo," "Homeland," "Wreck-It Ralph," "Modern Family" and "The Colbert Report."
Check out the full listing of winners here.
Special awards
Norman Lear Achievement Award
J.J. Abrams, presented by Jennifer Garner
Stanley Kramer Award
"Bully," producers Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen, presented by Bradley Cooper
David O. Selznick Achievement Award
Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title, presented by Anne Hathaway
Visionary Award
Russell Simmons, presented by LL Cool J
TV awards
The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama
"Homeland" (Showtime)
Producers: Henry Bromell, Alexander Cary, Michael Cuesta, Alex Gansa, Howard Gordon, Chip Johannessen, Michael Klick, Meredith Stiehm
The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television,...
- 1/27/2013
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Vol. I Issue 5
Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.
Two Short Listed Documentary Features
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, directed by Alison Klayman
Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and whose actions blur the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait of Weiwei’s life and work allows us to follow Weiwei’s journey and his transformation of his life and works are perceived. Few artists have been able to use their public stature to help cause political change. Clearly this is the story of a giant killer. Regrettably the story continues and China continues to repress its people.
What’s special about Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is that the filmmaker was able to follow Ai Weiwei over several years. We are able to see a Chinese dissident whose home is watched by 1984-like cameras hung from telephone and power poles. We can only assume his home is bugged, his cell phone is bugged and all of his computers are bugged. The power of this work is seeing an artist functioning in this environment. Shocking. His spirit is best shown in his defiant art, his raised middle finger in the foreground of many still images of iconic monuments to the Chinese peoples’ struggles. He dares to challenge America’s biggest trading partner, debt holder and, by the end of the film, he is shown silenced, unable to comment because he was released from detention. The irony of this powerful work is that we and the world are shown to be complicit.
While the film lacks the slickness of many of the Academy’s short listed docs, its power flows from the subject. Clearly an artist whose work reflects his life experiences and struggle is a difficult subject. Weiwei constantly tweaks the authorities who clearly fear its citizens being free to express themselves and their feelings about their government globally. Yet the world is silent about this repressive government that spies on, beats up and terrorizes its citizens. This is another film that should be nominated. Its construction, score, shooting suggests that Ms. Klayman can, with some more experience, become an extraordinary filmmaker.
The Filmmakers
Alison Klayman, Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorryis Alison Klayman's debut feature documentary, which she directed, produced, filmed and co-edited. She is a 2011 Sundance Documentary Fellow and one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film". She has been a guest on The Colbert Report, as well as CNN and NPR. Klayman lived in China from 2006 to 2010, working as a freelance journalist. She speaks Mandarin and Hebrew, and graduated from Brown University in 2006.
Adam Schlesinger, Producer
Adam Schlesinger is an award-winning independent film producer based in New York. He produced the Sundance Film Festival selections: Smash His Camera, which won for Best Director; Page One- Inside the New York Times; and God Grew Tired of Us, winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.
Credits:
Director/Producer/Writer/Camera: Alison Klayman
Producer: Adam Schlesinger
Contributing Producer: Colin
Executive Producers: Andrew Cohen, Julie Goldman, Karl
Music: Ilan Isakov
Editor: Jen Fineran
Production Companies: Expressions United Media, Muse Film and Television, Never Sorry
Distribution: Sundance Selects, Artificial Eye
Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch A Case Study: How to be Short Listed and Gross $3Million
Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch
A Case Study: How to be Short Listed and Gross $3Million
Bully is a character-driven documentary that looks at how bullying has touched five children and their families. The five stories each represent a different facet of bullying. Filmed over the course of the 2009/2010 school year, Bully opens a window onto the lives of bullied kids, revealing a problem that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic borders. It documents the responses of teachers and administrators to aggressive behaviors that defy “kids will be kids” clichés, and it captures a growing movement among parents and youths to change how bullying is handled in schools, in communities and in society as a whole.
Bully is a case study of how The Weinstein Company can take what would be a traditional non-theatrical documentary feature and turn it into both a cause and a theatrical event and, because of the rule changes at the Academy, have it come to be short listed for an Oscar.
Bully is an excellent film, it is well made, directed, edited and scored. Its characters and stories are well done. It’s just not in the same league as many of the documentary films short listed for this year’s Academy Award nomination.
When the film was released with an “R” rating, appropriate and consistent with the MPAA guidelines because of language and violence, the Weinsteins used the R rating to create a controversy which enabled the film to become a box office success and was the basis of a brilliant Academy campaign for a documentary nomination. This is one of the best examples (since Michael Moore and Roger and Menot being nominated for an Oscar) of creating a box-office success with a documentary. (Roger and Mewas distributed by Warners.) As of December 30, 2012 Bully had grossed over $3.5 million. (Box Office Mojo)
The MPAA gives an automatic “R” rating to films that use the “F” word. It has done this since its inception. This makes sense. The “F” word is inappropriate for children. But wait, Bullyis for middle and high school students! These schools can’t (or should not) show “R” rated films.
The MPAA rating system has never been particularly clear to Americans. Developed by the Motion Picture Association to prevent local and/or regional ratings it has always been “advisory”; however, some media outlets will not accept advertising or promote films with some of the harder ratings. The Weinsteins knew that this film would get an “R” rating because of the “F” word. No surprise. Yet how could this “important” film for school children to see be blocked from its audience?
“Bully's R ratingsparks a nationwide protest. ...stars, theater owners, and Members of Congress have joined forces to protest the film's R rating as a result of the film having six swear words.” This is in the industry press. (Deadline)
The Weinsteins, of course with great fanfare, appealed the rating decision which got the film more press. They decided to release the film in just two markets to qualify for the documentary Academy award, without a rating, but continue the press-push to have the rating changed.
On April 5, The Weinstein Company announced that their doc, Bully, was to receive a PG-13 from the MPAA, with some minor cuts. After removing three uses of the F-word it was re-released in the new PG-13 version on April 13 and shortly after the run was expanded to 55 theatrical markets.
Deadline reported, “The big victory, even though they had to remove three F-words, was that they could keep the controversial school bus bullying scene unedited and uncut, which (the director) Hirsch continuously refused to edit, "since it is too important to the truth and integrity behind the film." Hirsch states: "I feel completely vindicated with this resolution. While I retain my belief that PG-13 has always been the appropriate rating for this film, as reinforced by Canada's rating of a PG, we have today scored a victory from the MPAA. The support and guidance we have received throughout this process has been incredible."
Let’s note that the MPAA is an industry trade association. The Weinsteins are members. It’s not exactly a group that battles. The ratings are advisory only.
The Weinstein press release continued the illusion, This decision by the MPAA is a huge victory for the parents, educators, lawmakers, and most importantly, children, everywhere who have been fighting for months for the appropriate PG-13 rating without cutting some of the most sensitive moments. Three uses of the 'F word' were removed from other scenes, which ultimately persuaded the MPAA to lower the rating. Hirsch made the documentary with the intent to give an uncensored, real-life portrayal of what 13 million children suffer through every year. The new rating, which came about with the great support from MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd, grants the schools, organizations and cities all around the country who are lined up and ready to screen Bully, including the National Education Association and the Cincinnati School District, the opportunity to share this educational tool with their children.”
It needs to be pointed out that this controversy was a set up. When The Weinstein Company released Bully "unrated" in theaters in New York and Los Angeles it barely earned $150,000. The film might be seen by a few hundred thousand people in theaters which is a theatrical success but not the millions of kids the filmmakers are on record to reach. (A $3.5 mil gross suggests at a $6 admission fee perhaps a half-million tickets were sold.) Millions of people don’t usually go to theaters to see docs. So a $3.5 mil theatrical gross makes this film a major theatrical success. It puts this film in the top 50 or so theatrical documentaries of all time.
But all along, the Weinsteins knew that the film can easily be provided in DVD and in video-on-demand to schools, teachers, students and families in an “Educational” version without the R rated language being included. The use of an educational version would totally serve the school market. This version could be provided for “free” or even for a modest fee if the Weinsteins were really interested in this aspect of marketing the film. The Bullybook is available now for sale and soon the Blu Ray and DVD. Seeing the film in a classroom and then talking about it is what educators do with films. There are over 100,000 school, church and other groups (like Girls Scouts) that can show this film to groups of kids.
Note: Full disclosure, I started a Move-on Campaign and petitioned the Weinsteins to offer
Bully for a Buck! after I saw the film. More than 480 people have signed the petition to date. No match for the hundreds of thousands who signed the rating controversy petition but I did not do any publicity. As a parent of two teens, I felt this was a far more logical thing to do to get the film out to children without the strong language. This petition continues on Change.org.
Bully Short Listed for an Academy Award
With the rule change at the Academy this year, the documentary branch is working as a committee of the whole to do both the short listing and the nomination. The committee members were sent 125 documentary features, mostly arriving at the tail end of the deadline, to review. The committee was made up of both documentary branch members and Academy members who have been nominated or won documentary Oscars. Obviously, few members saw all 125 documentaries. The short list of 15 films was made from tallying the results of each member’s list of their 15 top docs. I think the publicity for Bully insured it would make this list.
The Weinsteins also had it screened at the Academy as part of the Academy members screening program, one of the handful of documentaries that were screened as part of the weekend program. This also will likely help the film get on members’ radar. Smart. Last year, The Weinsteins’ film The Undefeatedwon the Documentary Oscar. They do a great job getting their films out.
Credits:
Directed by: Lee Hirsch
Produced by: Lee Hirsch, Cynthia Lowen
Written by: Lee Hirsch, Cynthia Lowen
Executive Producer: Cindy Waitt
Cinematography: Lee Hirsch
Edited by: Lindsay Utz, Jenny Golden
Original Score by: Ion Furjanic, Justin Rice/Christian Rudder
Consulting Editors: Enat Sidi, Cynthia Lowen
Music Supervisor: Brooke Wentz
Running Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some language
Short Notes and Update:
WGA Announces Nominees for Documentary Screenplay Award
The WGA announced six nominees for its documentary screenplay award: War, Mea Culpa and Sugar Man also are on the Academy shortlist of feature docs hoping to score an Oscar nomination.
Winners will be honored by the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) at the 2013 Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 17 during simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.
Documentary Screenplay
The Central Park Five, written by Sarah Burns and David McMahon and Ken Burns; Sundance Selects
The Invisible War, written by Kirby Dick; Cinedigm Entertainment Group
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
Searching for Sugar Man, written by Malik Bendejelloul; Sony Pictures Classics
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists, written by Brian Knappenberger; Cinetic Media
West of Memphis, written by Amy Berg & Billy McMillin; Sony Pictures Classics
Sundance Announces 2013 Documentary Competition:
U.S. Documentary Competition
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Krstic) The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.
American Promise/ U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.
Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own.
Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
Gideon's Army/ U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
Life According to Sam/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from a rare and fatal aging disease for which there is no cure. Their work may one day unlock the key to aging in all of us.
Manhunt / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.
Narco Cultura/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film
Valentine Road/ U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
________________________________________________________________________
Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz
________________________________________________________________________
Block Doc Workshops in Los Angeles February 2013
The International Documentary Association will be hosting Documentary Funding and Documentary Tune-Up Workshops with Block on February 9/10. http://www.eventbrite.com/org/169037034
Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).
Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program. ______________________________________________________________________
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Join us twice weekly. Send us links to your sizzle reels and film sites.
Two Short Listed Documentary Features
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry, directed by Alison Klayman
Ai Weiwei is China's most famous international artist, and its most outspoken domestic critic. Against a backdrop of strict censorship and an unresponsive legal system, Ai expresses himself and organizes people through art and social media. In response, Chinese authorities have shut down his blog, beat him up, bulldozed his newly built studio, and held him in secret detention.
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is the inside story of a dissident for the digital age who inspires global audiences and whose actions blur the boundaries of art and politics. First-time director Alison Klayman gained unprecedented access to Ai while working as a journalist in China. Her detailed portrait of Weiwei’s life and work allows us to follow Weiwei’s journey and his transformation of his life and works are perceived. Few artists have been able to use their public stature to help cause political change. Clearly this is the story of a giant killer. Regrettably the story continues and China continues to repress its people.
What’s special about Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry is that the filmmaker was able to follow Ai Weiwei over several years. We are able to see a Chinese dissident whose home is watched by 1984-like cameras hung from telephone and power poles. We can only assume his home is bugged, his cell phone is bugged and all of his computers are bugged. The power of this work is seeing an artist functioning in this environment. Shocking. His spirit is best shown in his defiant art, his raised middle finger in the foreground of many still images of iconic monuments to the Chinese peoples’ struggles. He dares to challenge America’s biggest trading partner, debt holder and, by the end of the film, he is shown silenced, unable to comment because he was released from detention. The irony of this powerful work is that we and the world are shown to be complicit.
While the film lacks the slickness of many of the Academy’s short listed docs, its power flows from the subject. Clearly an artist whose work reflects his life experiences and struggle is a difficult subject. Weiwei constantly tweaks the authorities who clearly fear its citizens being free to express themselves and their feelings about their government globally. Yet the world is silent about this repressive government that spies on, beats up and terrorizes its citizens. This is another film that should be nominated. Its construction, score, shooting suggests that Ms. Klayman can, with some more experience, become an extraordinary filmmaker.
The Filmmakers
Alison Klayman, Director, Producer, Cinematographer
Ai Weiwei: Never Sorryis Alison Klayman's debut feature documentary, which she directed, produced, filmed and co-edited. She is a 2011 Sundance Documentary Fellow and one of Filmmaker Magazine's "25 New Faces of Independent Film". She has been a guest on The Colbert Report, as well as CNN and NPR. Klayman lived in China from 2006 to 2010, working as a freelance journalist. She speaks Mandarin and Hebrew, and graduated from Brown University in 2006.
Adam Schlesinger, Producer
Adam Schlesinger is an award-winning independent film producer based in New York. He produced the Sundance Film Festival selections: Smash His Camera, which won for Best Director; Page One- Inside the New York Times; and God Grew Tired of Us, winner of the Grand Jury Prize and Audience Award.
Credits:
Director/Producer/Writer/Camera: Alison Klayman
Producer: Adam Schlesinger
Contributing Producer: Colin
Executive Producers: Andrew Cohen, Julie Goldman, Karl
Music: Ilan Isakov
Editor: Jen Fineran
Production Companies: Expressions United Media, Muse Film and Television, Never Sorry
Distribution: Sundance Selects, Artificial Eye
Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch A Case Study: How to be Short Listed and Gross $3Million
Bully, directed by Lee Hirsch
A Case Study: How to be Short Listed and Gross $3Million
Bully is a character-driven documentary that looks at how bullying has touched five children and their families. The five stories each represent a different facet of bullying. Filmed over the course of the 2009/2010 school year, Bully opens a window onto the lives of bullied kids, revealing a problem that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic borders. It documents the responses of teachers and administrators to aggressive behaviors that defy “kids will be kids” clichés, and it captures a growing movement among parents and youths to change how bullying is handled in schools, in communities and in society as a whole.
Bully is a case study of how The Weinstein Company can take what would be a traditional non-theatrical documentary feature and turn it into both a cause and a theatrical event and, because of the rule changes at the Academy, have it come to be short listed for an Oscar.
Bully is an excellent film, it is well made, directed, edited and scored. Its characters and stories are well done. It’s just not in the same league as many of the documentary films short listed for this year’s Academy Award nomination.
When the film was released with an “R” rating, appropriate and consistent with the MPAA guidelines because of language and violence, the Weinsteins used the R rating to create a controversy which enabled the film to become a box office success and was the basis of a brilliant Academy campaign for a documentary nomination. This is one of the best examples (since Michael Moore and Roger and Menot being nominated for an Oscar) of creating a box-office success with a documentary. (Roger and Mewas distributed by Warners.) As of December 30, 2012 Bully had grossed over $3.5 million. (Box Office Mojo)
The MPAA gives an automatic “R” rating to films that use the “F” word. It has done this since its inception. This makes sense. The “F” word is inappropriate for children. But wait, Bullyis for middle and high school students! These schools can’t (or should not) show “R” rated films.
The MPAA rating system has never been particularly clear to Americans. Developed by the Motion Picture Association to prevent local and/or regional ratings it has always been “advisory”; however, some media outlets will not accept advertising or promote films with some of the harder ratings. The Weinsteins knew that this film would get an “R” rating because of the “F” word. No surprise. Yet how could this “important” film for school children to see be blocked from its audience?
“Bully's R ratingsparks a nationwide protest. ...stars, theater owners, and Members of Congress have joined forces to protest the film's R rating as a result of the film having six swear words.” This is in the industry press. (Deadline)
The Weinsteins, of course with great fanfare, appealed the rating decision which got the film more press. They decided to release the film in just two markets to qualify for the documentary Academy award, without a rating, but continue the press-push to have the rating changed.
On April 5, The Weinstein Company announced that their doc, Bully, was to receive a PG-13 from the MPAA, with some minor cuts. After removing three uses of the F-word it was re-released in the new PG-13 version on April 13 and shortly after the run was expanded to 55 theatrical markets.
Deadline reported, “The big victory, even though they had to remove three F-words, was that they could keep the controversial school bus bullying scene unedited and uncut, which (the director) Hirsch continuously refused to edit, "since it is too important to the truth and integrity behind the film." Hirsch states: "I feel completely vindicated with this resolution. While I retain my belief that PG-13 has always been the appropriate rating for this film, as reinforced by Canada's rating of a PG, we have today scored a victory from the MPAA. The support and guidance we have received throughout this process has been incredible."
Let’s note that the MPAA is an industry trade association. The Weinsteins are members. It’s not exactly a group that battles. The ratings are advisory only.
The Weinstein press release continued the illusion, This decision by the MPAA is a huge victory for the parents, educators, lawmakers, and most importantly, children, everywhere who have been fighting for months for the appropriate PG-13 rating without cutting some of the most sensitive moments. Three uses of the 'F word' were removed from other scenes, which ultimately persuaded the MPAA to lower the rating. Hirsch made the documentary with the intent to give an uncensored, real-life portrayal of what 13 million children suffer through every year. The new rating, which came about with the great support from MPAA Chairman Chris Dodd, grants the schools, organizations and cities all around the country who are lined up and ready to screen Bully, including the National Education Association and the Cincinnati School District, the opportunity to share this educational tool with their children.”
It needs to be pointed out that this controversy was a set up. When The Weinstein Company released Bully "unrated" in theaters in New York and Los Angeles it barely earned $150,000. The film might be seen by a few hundred thousand people in theaters which is a theatrical success but not the millions of kids the filmmakers are on record to reach. (A $3.5 mil gross suggests at a $6 admission fee perhaps a half-million tickets were sold.) Millions of people don’t usually go to theaters to see docs. So a $3.5 mil theatrical gross makes this film a major theatrical success. It puts this film in the top 50 or so theatrical documentaries of all time.
But all along, the Weinsteins knew that the film can easily be provided in DVD and in video-on-demand to schools, teachers, students and families in an “Educational” version without the R rated language being included. The use of an educational version would totally serve the school market. This version could be provided for “free” or even for a modest fee if the Weinsteins were really interested in this aspect of marketing the film. The Bullybook is available now for sale and soon the Blu Ray and DVD. Seeing the film in a classroom and then talking about it is what educators do with films. There are over 100,000 school, church and other groups (like Girls Scouts) that can show this film to groups of kids.
Note: Full disclosure, I started a Move-on Campaign and petitioned the Weinsteins to offer
Bully for a Buck! after I saw the film. More than 480 people have signed the petition to date. No match for the hundreds of thousands who signed the rating controversy petition but I did not do any publicity. As a parent of two teens, I felt this was a far more logical thing to do to get the film out to children without the strong language. This petition continues on Change.org.
Bully Short Listed for an Academy Award
With the rule change at the Academy this year, the documentary branch is working as a committee of the whole to do both the short listing and the nomination. The committee members were sent 125 documentary features, mostly arriving at the tail end of the deadline, to review. The committee was made up of both documentary branch members and Academy members who have been nominated or won documentary Oscars. Obviously, few members saw all 125 documentaries. The short list of 15 films was made from tallying the results of each member’s list of their 15 top docs. I think the publicity for Bully insured it would make this list.
The Weinsteins also had it screened at the Academy as part of the Academy members screening program, one of the handful of documentaries that were screened as part of the weekend program. This also will likely help the film get on members’ radar. Smart. Last year, The Weinsteins’ film The Undefeatedwon the Documentary Oscar. They do a great job getting their films out.
Credits:
Directed by: Lee Hirsch
Produced by: Lee Hirsch, Cynthia Lowen
Written by: Lee Hirsch, Cynthia Lowen
Executive Producer: Cindy Waitt
Cinematography: Lee Hirsch
Edited by: Lindsay Utz, Jenny Golden
Original Score by: Ion Furjanic, Justin Rice/Christian Rudder
Consulting Editors: Enat Sidi, Cynthia Lowen
Music Supervisor: Brooke Wentz
Running Time: 94 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for some language
Short Notes and Update:
WGA Announces Nominees for Documentary Screenplay Award
The WGA announced six nominees for its documentary screenplay award: War, Mea Culpa and Sugar Man also are on the Academy shortlist of feature docs hoping to score an Oscar nomination.
Winners will be honored by the Writers Guild of America, West (Wgaw) and the Writers Guild of America, East (Wgae) at the 2013 Writers Guild Awards on Feb. 17 during simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York.
Documentary Screenplay
The Central Park Five, written by Sarah Burns and David McMahon and Ken Burns; Sundance Selects
The Invisible War, written by Kirby Dick; Cinedigm Entertainment Group
Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films
Searching for Sugar Man, written by Malik Bendejelloul; Sony Pictures Classics
We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists, written by Brian Knappenberger; Cinetic Media
West of Memphis, written by Amy Berg & Billy McMillin; Sony Pictures Classics
Sundance Announces 2013 Documentary Competition:
U.S. Documentary Competition
The world premieres of 16 American documentary films.
99% - The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film/ U.S.A. (Directors: Audrey Ewell, Aaron Aites, Lucian Read, Nina Krstic) The Occupy movement erupted in September 2011, propelling economic inequality into the spotlight. In an unprecedented collaboration, filmmakers across America tell its story, digging into big picture issues as organizers, analysts, participants and critics reveal how it happened and why.
After Tiller/ U.S.A. (Directors: Martha Shane, Lana Wilson) — Since the assassination of Dr. George Tiller in 2009, only four doctors in the country provide late-term abortions. With unprecedented access, After Tiller goes inside the lives of these physicians working at the center of the storm.
American Promise/ U.S.A. (Directors: Joe Brewster, Michèle Stephenson) — This intimate documentary follows the 12-year journey of two African-American families pursuing the promise of opportunity through the education of their sons.
Blackfish/ U.S.A. (Director: Gabriela Cowperthwaite) — Notorious killer whale Tilikum is responsible for the deaths of three individuals, including a top killer whale trainer. Blackfish shows the sometimes devastating consequences of keeping such intelligent and sentient creatures in captivity.
Blood Brother/ U.S.A. (Director: Steve Hoover) — Rocky went to India as a disillusioned tourist. When he met a group of children with HIV, he decided to stay. He never could have imagined the obstacles he would face, or the love he would find.
Citizen Koch / U.S.A. (Directors: Carl Deal, Tia Lessin) — Wisconsin – birthplace of the Republican Party, government unions, “cheeseheads” and Paul Ryan – becomes a test market in the campaign to buy Democracy, and ground zero in the battle for the future of the Gop.
Cutie and the Boxer/ U.S.A. (Director: Zachary Heinzerling) — This candid New York love story explores the chaotic 40-year marriage of famed boxing painter Ushio Shinohara and his wife, Noriko. Anxious to shed her role of assistant to her overbearing husband, Noriko seeks an identity of her own.
Dirty Wars/ U.S.A. (Director: Richard Rowley) — Investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill chases down the truth behind America’s covert wars.
Gideon's Army/ U.S.A. (Director: Dawn Porter) — Gideon’s Army follows three young, committed Public Defenders who are dedicated to working for the people society would rather forget. Long hours, low pay and staggering caseloads are so common that even the most committed often give up.
God Loves Uganda/ U.S.A. (Director: Roger Ross Williams) — A powerful exploration of the evangelical campaign to infuse African culture with values imported from America’s Christian Right. The film follows American and Ugandan religious leaders fighting “sexual immorality” and missionaries trying to convince Ugandans to follow biblical law.
Inequality for All/ U.S.A. (Director: Jacob Kornbluth) — In this timely and entertaining documentary, noted economic-policy expert Robert Reich distills the topic of widening income inequality, and addresses the question of what effects this increasing gap has on our economy and our democracy.
Life According to Sam/ U.S.A. (Directors: Sean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine) — Dr. Leslie Gordon and Dr. Scott Berns fight to save their only son from a rare and fatal aging disease for which there is no cure. Their work may one day unlock the key to aging in all of us.
Manhunt / U.S.A., United Kingdom (Director: Greg Barker) — This espionage tale goes inside the CIA’s long conflict against Al Qaeda, as revealed by the remarkable women and men whose secret war against Osama bin Laden started nearly a decade before most of us even knew his name.
Narco Cultura/ U.S.A. (Director: Shaul Schwarz) — An examination of Mexican drug cartels’ influence in pop culture on both sides of the border as experienced by an La narcocorrido singer dreaming of stardom and a Juarez crime scene investigator on the front line of Mexico’s Drug War.
Twenty Feet From Stardom/ U.S.A. (Director: Morgan Neville) — Backup singers live in a world that lies just beyond the spotlight. Their voices bring harmony to the biggest bands in popular music, but we've had no idea who these singers are or what lives they lead – until now. Day One Film
Valentine Road/ U.S.A. (Director: Marta Cunningham) — In 2008, eighth-grader Brandon McInerney shot classmate Larry King at point blank range. Unraveling this tragedy from point of impact, the film reveals the heartbreaking circumstances that led to the shocking crime as well as its startling aftermath.
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Credits: Editing by Jessica Just for SydneysBuzz
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Block Doc Workshops in Los Angeles February 2013
The International Documentary Association will be hosting Documentary Funding and Documentary Tune-Up Workshops with Block on February 9/10. http://www.eventbrite.com/org/169037034
Mitchell Block specializes in conceiving, producing, marketing & distributing independent features & consulting. He is an expert in placing both completed works into distribution & working with producers to make projects fundable. He conducts regular workshops in film producing in Los Angeles and most recently in Maine, Russia and in Myanmar (Burma).
Poster Girl, produced by Block was nominated for a Documentary Academy Award and selected by the Ida as the Best Doc Short 2011. It was also nominated for two Emmy Awards and aired on HBO. He is an executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning PBS series Carrier, a 10-hour series that he conceived & co-created. Block is a graduate of Tisch School and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Business. He is a member of Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the Television Academy, a founding member of BAFTA-la and has been teaching at USC School of Cinematic Arts since 1979. Currently Block teaches a required class in the USC Peter Stark Producing Program. ______________________________________________________________________
©2013Mwb All Rights Reserved All Rights Reserved. All information and designs on the Sites are copyrighted material owned by Block. Reproduction, dissemination, or transmission of any part of the material here without the express written consent of the owner is strictly prohibited.All other product names and marks on Block Direct, whether trademarks, service marks, or other type, and whether registered or unregistered, is the property of Block.
- 1/8/2013
- by Mitchell Block
- Sydney's Buzz
By Mark Johnson
Hollywood News
***
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today that critically acclaimed documentary feature Bully will be honored with the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award at the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony. Director Lee Hirsch and producer Cynthia Lowen will accept the award on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Read the rest of this entry…...
Hollywood News
***
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced today that critically acclaimed documentary feature Bully will be honored with the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award at the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony. Director Lee Hirsch and producer Cynthia Lowen will accept the award on Saturday, Jan. 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
Read the rest of this entry…...
- 12/18/2012
- by Melissa Buckman
- Scott Feinberg
The Producers Guild of America (PGA), announced today that critically acclaimed documentary feature Bully will be honored with the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award at the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony. Director Lee Hirsch and producer Cynthia Lowen will accept the award on Saturday, January 26 at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles. The Stanley Kramer Award was established in 2002 to honor a production, producer or other individual whose achievement or contribution illuminates and raises public awareness of important social issues. Stanley Kramer created some of the most powerful and acclaimed works in the history of American motion pictures, including such classics as Inherit The Wind, On The Beach, The Defiant Ones, and Guess Who’S Coming To Dinner. Previous recipients of the Stanley Kramer Award include such films as The Great Debaters, An Inconvenient Truth, Hotel Rwanda, In America, Antwone Fisher, Precious and the 2012 honoree In The Land Of Blood And Honey.
- 12/18/2012
- by mjblog@hollywoodnews.com (Mark Johnson)
- Hollywoodnews.com
Bully will be honored by the Producers Guild of America at its annual awards show in January. The 2011 documentary directed by Lee Hirsch, which tracks the tragic impact that bullying has had on five students throughout the nation, will be given the Stanley Kramer Award, which honors productions and individuals that "illuminate and raise public awareness of important social issues." Hirsch and producer Cynthia Lowen will accept the award. "The social action campaign for Bully raised significant funding that allowed for over 250,000 students nationwide to take field trips within an educational framework to see the film,
read more...
read more...
- 12/18/2012
- by Jordan Zakarin
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Producers Guild of America will honor the documentary "Bully" with the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award at its January awards ceremony, the organization said Tuesday. Director Lee Hirsch and producer Cynthia Lowen will accept the award. "Bully" follows five high school students as they are subjected to taunts and ridicule and examines the impact their mistreatment has on their lives and their families. "'Bully' is a powerful and inspiring film that brought much-needed attention to an issue that just about everyone can relate to at one point or another in their life,"...
- 12/18/2012
- by Brent Lang
- The Wrap
The Producers Guild of America (PGA), announced today that critically acclaimed documentary feature Bully will be honored with the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award at the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony.
- 12/18/2012
- by Sasha Stone
- AwardsDaily.com
The MPAA certainly gave the documentary Bully a hard time with its rating, but the Producers Guild of America is showing the anti-bullying documentary some love: It has awarded the film its Stanley Kramer Award, bestowed on a film which raises public awareness on an important issue. The film, which initially received an R rating until filmmakers cut a few cuss words to get the PG-13, is shortlisted for Best Documentary in the Oscar race. This comes months after The Weinstein Company‘s Harvey and Bob Weinstein were selected to receive the PGA’s Milestone Award, which will be presented at the same event January 26. Here is the PGA’s official announcement: Los Angeles, CA (December 18, 2012) – The Producers Guild of America (PGA), announced today that critically acclaimed documentary feature Bully will be honored with the 2013 Stanley Kramer Award at the 24th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony. Director Lee Hirsch and...
- 12/18/2012
- by MIKE FLEMING JR.
- Deadline
Chicago – The age-old problem of bullying has reached epidemic proportions. Or is it simply more openly discussed? It seems that for once a light is being pointed at the dark corners of this punishing coercion, and the perpetrators and enablers involved – the bully, his parents, school administrators – are scurrying from that light. The new film “Bully” is an illumination.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Hardly a complete documentary, the film projects a point-of-view by telling stories around the country about school kids in the middle of a bully situation, and families who have been affected by the actions of bullies. At the same time, these stories also showcase the underlying issues surrounding the bully situations – blind mice school systems, frustrated parents, the crueler outside world and a justice-system-by-way-of-no-justice. The stories are fraught with sadness and suffering, and have a emotional gut kick. The question after watching this is, who will be most affected by it?...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
Hardly a complete documentary, the film projects a point-of-view by telling stories around the country about school kids in the middle of a bully situation, and families who have been affected by the actions of bullies. At the same time, these stories also showcase the underlying issues surrounding the bully situations – blind mice school systems, frustrated parents, the crueler outside world and a justice-system-by-way-of-no-justice. The stories are fraught with sadness and suffering, and have a emotional gut kick. The question after watching this is, who will be most affected by it?...
- 4/14/2012
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Bully Directed by: Lee Hirsch Written by: Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen This year over 13 million kids will be subjected to bullying in one form or another. The problem has increased in magnitude with the advent of social media, allowing kids to attack one another from behind a keyboard or phone. Lee Hirsch tackles the hot button issue in his new documentary, Bully. It follows the stories of five families who have been directly impacted by bullying. No doubt Hirsch knows the best way to engage viewers in this type of issue is to put a face on it. Hirsch and producer Cynthia Lowen “embedded” themselves at a middle school in Sioux City, Iowa in order to chronicle the life of Alex, who is relentlessly bullied at school. He suffers physical and mental abuse from schoolmates, and is essentially ostracized by the entire student body. Alex was born prematurely and...
- 4/13/2012
- by Shannon
- FilmJunk
Critics everywhere have hailed Bully as an important, engaging documentary. EW’s Owen Gleiberman calls it “sensitive and eye-opening”; the film has also earned a near-perfect 93 percent “Fresh” rating from the reviews aggregated by Rotten Tomatoes. But in an article posted late last week, Slate’s Emily Bazelon alleged that some crucial parts of Bully are “utterly one-sided” and “factually questionable.” Her piece focused on Tyler Long, one of the doc’s featured subjects; when he was just 17, Long took his own life, apparently because he was bullied by his classmates.
But according to Bazelon, that isn’t the whole story.
But according to Bazelon, that isn’t the whole story.
- 4/3/2012
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside Movies
Let's all agree up-front: Nobody likes a bully, and that's the easiest connection with the new buzzed-about documentary, "Bully," out today in New York and Los Angeles. I wasn't happy when Bobby Dreyfus told me I was flat-chested in the seventh grade when I was walking the halls between algebra and Spanish, and I didn't believe adults who told me it was his way of saying he liked me. It's still embarrassing to admit, and there wasn't any violence attached. Oh, and Bobby, I have boobs now. Hah! Most of us have been on the receiving end of some level of bullying, and if we are still alive to talk about it when we have our own adolescent children, then we're not like the unfortunate extreme cases, also chronicled in the movie, in which children have taken their own lives rather than get on the bus one more time.
It's...
It's...
- 4/3/2012
- icelebz.com
Never has failure been so successful: While Harvey Weinstein was unable to get "Bully" a PG-13 rating, his attempts resulted in massive public awareness, celebrity rallies and even free advertising in support of the film and its cause. However, it's a PR coup that the filmmakers never saw coming. In this first-person feature, exclusive to Indiewire, "Bully" writer-producer Cynthia Lowen opens up about why she teamed with director Lee Hirsch to make the film, why they chose not to intervene while witnessing the bullying, and what it's been like to go through this experience with Weinstein at the helm. __________________________________________________ When director Lee Hirsch and I teamed up to make "Bully," starting in the spring of 2009, we sensed a “tipping point” moment was occurring in our society and a nation around the issue of bullying. On YouTube, we discovered kids making videos about the terrible...
- 3/30/2012
- by Indiewire Staff
- Indiewire
Bully, Lee Hirsch’s documentary following several children dealing with bullying, has been in the media spotlight due to The Weinstein Company’s decision to release the film unrated rather than with the R rating from the MPAA. At the film’s premiere, producer Cynthia Lowen talked to The Hollywood Reporter about the decision to release the film unrated. The documentary hits theaters in Los Angeles and New York on March 30, before a wider release. Story: Weinstein Co. to Release Unrated 'Bully' in Protest of 'R' “We wanted to depict honestly what bullying sounds like, how pervasive it is and this language --
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read more...
- 3/29/2012
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Bully
Directed by Lee Hirsch
Written by Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen
U.S.A., 2011
*Preface: The following review does not partake in the debate surrounding the film’s controversial ‘R’ rating in the United States.
The elementary and high school levels of a child’s academic journey make up some of their most formative years. This is true of course because of a young one’s performance in class but also for the types of interactions he or she engages in with others their age. Be a part of a supportive, inclusive group of trustworthy friends and chances are the developing child will turn out reasonably well. The flip side of the coin is the sad reality that some youngsters are never ‘part of a group’. These are the unfortunate children and teenagers whom the majority chooses to scorn, to shun, to frown upon, to intimidate, sometimes physically, to...
Directed by Lee Hirsch
Written by Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen
U.S.A., 2011
*Preface: The following review does not partake in the debate surrounding the film’s controversial ‘R’ rating in the United States.
The elementary and high school levels of a child’s academic journey make up some of their most formative years. This is true of course because of a young one’s performance in class but also for the types of interactions he or she engages in with others their age. Be a part of a supportive, inclusive group of trustworthy friends and chances are the developing child will turn out reasonably well. The flip side of the coin is the sad reality that some youngsters are never ‘part of a group’. These are the unfortunate children and teenagers whom the majority chooses to scorn, to shun, to frown upon, to intimidate, sometimes physically, to...
- 3/29/2012
- by Edgar Chaput
- SoundOnSight
Harvey Weinstein (ironically, a bullyboy himself) is having a field day with the fact that The Hunger Games, with its kid-on-kid carnage, is rated PG-13, while the MPAA has branded the do-gooder documentary Bully with an R for a few four-letter words hurled at a juvenile object of derision. Weinstein is so right it hurts. Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen’s* painfully earnest plea on behalf of persecuted children should be seen by kids above all. The directors accompany a Sioux City boy, Alex, dubbed “Fish Face,” on an agonizing bus ride; interview an Oklahoma girl, Kelby, who’s ostracized after coming out as gay; and tell the frightening story of Ja’Meya, an accomplished student driven to wave a gun at her persecutors on a school bus and facing 45 felony charges. We hear about children who killed themselves in despair and families who want to call teachers who looked...
- 3/23/2012
- by David Edelstein
- Vulture
HollywoodNews.com: Last night at The Paley Center for Media legal powerhouses David Boies and Ted Olson spoke out against the MPAA’s R rating of the documentary film Bully, at a special screening. In front of a high-profile audience including cohost Meryl Streep and legendary activist Billie Jean King, Boies stated, “How ridiculous and unfair and damaging it is to have a film of this power and importance that is being censored by a rating system that has got simply no rational basis. You can kill kids, you can maim them, you can torture them and still get a PG13 rating, but if they say a couple of bad words you blame them. I hope, for heaven’s sake, that they find some rational basis before we have to sue them to revise the rating system.”
Olson, who served as President George W. Bush’s Solicitor General, followed Boies in agreement and stated,...
Olson, who served as President George W. Bush’s Solicitor General, followed Boies in agreement and stated,...
- 3/21/2012
- by Josh Abraham
- Hollywoodnews.com
Bully Trailer, Bully Poster. Lee Hirsch‘s Bully (2011) movie trailer, movie poster is for a documentary written by Cynthia Lowen that showcases how “The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Safe and Drug-Free Schools estimates that over 13 million American kids will be bullied this year, making it the most common form of violence experienced by young people in the nation. In the new documentary Bully, award-winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch (Amandla! A Revolution In Four-part Harmony) brings human scale to this startling statistic, offering an intimate, unflinching look at how bullying has touched five kids and their families.
Filmed over the course of the 2009/2010 school year, Bully opens a window onto the pained and often endangered lives of bullied kids, revealing a problem that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic borders. It documents the responses of teachers and administrators to aggressive behaviors that defy “kids will be kids” clichés,...
Filmed over the course of the 2009/2010 school year, Bully opens a window onto the pained and often endangered lives of bullied kids, revealing a problem that transcends geographic, racial, ethnic and economic borders. It documents the responses of teachers and administrators to aggressive behaviors that defy “kids will be kids” clichés,...
- 2/23/2012
- by filmbook
- Film-Book
Update: The Weinsterin Company just made it official. Release is below Deadline's original break. Breaking: The Weinstein Company has just closed a deal to acquired all rights to the Lee Hirsch-directed documentary The Bully Project. The film got a rousing response at its Saturday premiere in downtown Manhattan, which recognized families of children who harmed themselves after being bullied. The documentary chronicles the journey of several teens dealing with the repercussions of being bullied in school. It's an epidemic in society and the film makes a powerful statement. Deal was brokered by Submarine's Josh Braun and TWC's acquisitions head Peter Lawson. Hirsch previously directed the documentary Amandla! New York, NY, April 25, 2011 – The Weinstein Company (TWC) announced today that it has acquired from Submarine Entertainment all rights to The Bully Project, the acclaimed new documentary from Emmy and Sundance award-winning filmmaker Lee Hirsch (Amandla! A Revolution In Four Part Harmony...
- 4/25/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up its first half and one of its titles landed with a buyer. The Weinstein Company acquired U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and Germany distribution rights to the documentary The Bully Project. For producer and director Lee Hirsch and co-producer Cynthia Lowen, the news was a fantastic follow-up to the Saturday premiere of their film. “As filmmakers, we are overjoyed to be working with The Weinstein Company,” Hirsch and Lowen said in a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Their significant commitment towards this film will ensure it reaches the national stage and will certainly amplify its capacity to effect change.”...
- 4/25/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up its first half and one of its titles landed with a buyer. The Weinstein Company acquired U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and Germany distribution rights to the documentary The Bully Project. For producer and director Lee Hirsch and co-producer Cynthia Lowen, the news was a fantastic follow-up to the Saturday premiere of their film. “As filmmakers, we are overjoyed to be working with The Weinstein Company,” Hirsch and Lowen said in a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Their significant commitment towards this film will ensure it reaches the national stage and will certainly amplify its capacity to effect change.”...
- 4/25/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up its first half and one of its titles landed with a buyer. The Weinstein Company acquired U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and Germany distribution rights to the documentary The Bully Project. For producer and director Lee Hirsch and co-producer Cynthia Lowen, the news was a fantastic follow-up to the Saturday premiere of their film. “As filmmakers, we are overjoyed to be working with The Weinstein Company,” Hirsch and Lowen said in a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Their significant commitment towards this film will ensure it reaches the national stage and will certainly amplify its capacity to effect change.”...
- 4/25/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
The 2011 Tribeca Film Festival wrapped up its first half and one of its titles landed with a buyer. The Weinstein Company acquired U.S., U.K., New Zealand, Australia, and South Africa and Germany distribution rights to the documentary The Bully Project. For producer and director Lee Hirsch and co-producer Cynthia Lowen, the news was a fantastic follow-up to the Saturday premiere of their film. “As filmmakers, we are overjoyed to be working with The Weinstein Company,” Hirsch and Lowen said in a joint statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “Their significant commitment towards this film will ensure it reaches the national stage and will certainly amplify its capacity to effect change.”...
- 4/25/2011
- Upcoming-Movies.com
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