Walter E. Calmette, Sr., Film and Licensing Executive, Dies at 85

I will be sharing a few of my picks of the festival over the next few days, kicking off with the wonderful LIBERAL ARTS (pictured below), a Josh Radnor scripted and directed fare that screened to audiences for the first time on Thursday evening. The film was a fave from this year’s Sundance in Park City, and this evening Radnor turned up to the fantastic Cineworld at The O2 to introduce his film, which also stars Zac Efron, Elizabeth Olsen and Richard Jenkins.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Shudder, AMC Networks’ streaming service for horror films, thrillers and supernatural stories, has acquired “The Devil’s Bath,” the new film from Austrian horror auteurs Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. The deal comes ahead of the psychological thriller’s world premiere at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it will play in competition.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The 10th annual Variety Artisans Awards at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival hosted its biggest crowd to date at this year’s event, with 2,000 attendees packing the Arlington Theater to hear artisans behind Oscar-nominated films discuss their projects. After one-on-one conversations, honorees Stephane Ceretti, visual effects supervisor on “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3,” Billie Eilish and Finneas, songwriters on “Barbie’s” “What Was I Made For,” Ludwig Göransson, composer on “Oppenheimer,” Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, production designers on “Barbie,” Kazu Hiro, makeup artist on “Maestro,” Jennifer Lame, editor on “Oppenheimer,” Rodrigo Prieto, cinematographer on “Killers of the Flower Moon,” Michael Semanick, re-recording mixer on “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” and Holly Waddington, costume designer on “Poor Things,” gathered for a panel discussion.

K.J. Yossman A new model proposing shorter hours in the U.K. screen industry is garnering industry support.

Ethan Shanfeld SPOILER ALERT: This story contains spoilers for “Out of Darkness,” now playing in theaters. About an hour into “Out of Darkness,” an Old Stone Age monster movie from first-time feature director Andrew Cumming, comes a shocking reveal: It’s not a monster movie at all. The film, released in theaters Feb. 9, follows a tribe of people living on a desolate Scottish island 45,000 years ago who find themselves prey to a mysterious enemy that picks them off one by one.

Blur are set to release a new documentary and concert film charting their huge 2023 reunion.As Screen Daily reports, UK sales and distribution company Altitude has added the two upcoming titles to its European Film Market (EFM) slate. Both projects will be released in cinemas in the UK and Ireland later this year.The first film is a feature-length documentary detailing the Britpop band’s latest comeback, which saw Damon Albarn and co.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Bill Nighy and “Jojo Rabbit” breakout Roman Griffin Davis are lined up to star in “500 Miles,” directed by BAFTA winner Morgan Matthews. Beta Cinema has acquired international sales rights to the film, and will launch sales at next week’s European Film Market.

Margot Robbie won a best acting award while her film Barbie won for best ensemble at Saturday’s 26th AnnualFamily Film and TV Awards, hosted by The Talk‘s Akbar Gbajabiamila and Amanda Kloots.

major role in the rise of Nirvana, died on Jan. 18 at her West Seattle home after several years living with frontotemporal dementia, a progressive neurological disorder, her family confirmed.

Universal’s Oppenheimer led all nominees for the 96th Oscars on Tuesday with 13, one short of tying for the most nominations in a single year.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic More actors than ever are now stepping behind the camera to take a shot at directing. To me, they always end up falling into one of three categories. There are the ones who simply aren’t very good at it.

Michaela Zee David Gail, an actor known for his roles on “Beverly Hills, 90210” and the “General Hospital” spinoff “Port Charles,” has died. He was 58.

Rafa Sales Ross Guest Contributor Norwegian director Thea Hvistendahl’s zombie movie “Handling the Undead,” premiering at Sundance and to be released in the U.S. by Neon, sees the reunion of Renate Reinsve and Anders Danielsen Lie, the stars of Oscar-nominated “The Worst Person in the World,” in a poetic, visually-charged chronicling of a hot summer’s day in Oslo when the dead mysteriously come back to life.

Alicia Silverstone was a bright light in the otherwise maligned 1997 superhero movie “Batman & Robin,” playing Batgirl opposite George Clooney’s Batman. Although Clooney has distanced himself from the role in previous years, he showed up in 2023’s “The Flash” in a multiverse cameo. While Silverstone was at the Variety Studio presented by Audible to discuss her new Sundance film “Krazy House,” she was asked about whether or not she’d put the cape back on.

EXCLUSIVE: Fabula, the production company of internationally renowned brother filmmakers Pablo Larraín and Juan de Dios Larraín, has appointed Yira Vilaro as Vice President Of Film And Television, Deadline has learned.

lifeless “Captain Marvel,” their latest movie has, um, flecks of the supernatural heroism and urban vigilante justice that we associate with the comic book genre. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violence, language throughout including slurs, sexual content and drug use).However, unlike many of those bland caped behemoths, “Freaky Tales,” which had its world premiere Thursday night at the Sundance Film Festival, also boasts enough forceful, nerdy personality to fill the San Francisco Bay.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Film and TV Producers’ Groups Call for Government Regulation of Streamers, Protection of Indie Sector Against ‘Market Failure’ and Loss of IP Streaming platforms could be subject to tighter regulation and forced to loosen their control of intellectual property if national governments heed a call for action launched Thursday by film and TV producers’ trade organizations around the world. The “global screen producers’ statement on streaming platform regulation and intellectual property protections,” was published by some 20 groups including Australia’s Screen Producers Association, Germany’s Produzentenverband, Screen Producers Ireland, multinational Spanish-language group Federación Iberoamericana de Productores Cinematográficos y Audiovisuales and Belgium’s Union des Producteur.ices Francophones de Films & Series. They say that they, “share a commitment to securing regulation from our respective governments that will ensure that our industry continues to both be sustainable and maintains our nation’s cultural sovereignty.” Among the nine principles, that the groups want governments to follow, two stand out and would likely require regulation.

Naman Ramachandran Los Angeles-based independent film studio XYZ Films has hired Celine Lin as senior VP of international sales and distribution. Lin will spearhead the company’s distribution and licensing strategy across the Asia Pacific region and in select European markets. She will report to XYZ president of international sales and distribution, Tatyana Joffe.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor September Film has acquired all rights for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg for “In the Land of Brothers,” which has its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in the World Cinema Dramatic Competition section. The film is written and directed by Iranian filmmakers Raha Amirfazli and Alireza Ghasemi. Alpha Violet is handling world sales.

Adobe and the Adobe Foundation announced the first-ever Adobe Film & TV Fund committing $6M to support underrepresented creators and filmmakers in finding career opportunities in the film and TV industry. Through this new initiative, the company and Foundation aim to drive greater representation in the film industry by providing resources, community, and support to underrepresented creators on-screen and behind the camera.