Christine Vachon Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

2023 ShortList Film Festival, chosen from award-winning shorts from across the world in the past year. This year’s films tell personal stories that captivate and inspire — including a film about two Chinese grandmothers, a film about scuba diving in the ruins of a tsunami and one film about the LAPD blowing up a neighborhood.The films – which include narrative, documentaries and animation - are available to watch and vote on from June 28 through July 12, exclusively on TheWrap. The award-winning short film that is chosen by TheWrap’s Industry Jury will be honored with the prestigious Industry Prize.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. actor Robin Wright will be awarded the President’s Award at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s closing ceremony. In honor of Wright, it will screen “The Princess Bride.” Wright is best known for her performance in Netflix series “House of Cards.” She earned three Golden Globe nominations and a win in 2014. She earned five Screen Actors Guild award nominations for the show, and received five consecutive Emmy nominations. In 2017, Wright played Lieutenant Joshi in “Blade Runner 2049,” and Amazon warrior General Antiope in “Justice League” and Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman.” The following year, she reprised her role as Antiope in “Wonder Woman 1984.” She will be seen this Fall starring opposite Millie Bobby Brown in the fantasy film “Damsel,” and co-starring with Tom Hanks in “HERE,” directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Actress and director Robin Wright will be the featured guest at Karlovy Vary’s closing ceremony on July 8, where she will receive the festival’s Honorary President’s Award.

Amidst a disrupted industry at the start of the Covid pandemic, the hope amongst producers Christine Vachon, Pamela Koffler and David Hinojosa was simply to stay engaged. This, they accomplished by reading the best scripts at their disposal — among them Past Lives, which would mark the feature debut of playwright Celine Song.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Netflix landed North American rights for “May December,” a soapy romantic-drama directed by Todd Haynes and starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, which debuted at Cannes Film Festival. It sold for $11 million, marking the first big sale of this year’s festival. Several bidders, including Neon, were in the mix before Netflix emerged victorious. The streamer hopes to position “May December” as an Oscar contender in the fall. A scandalous age-gap relationship plays out at the center of “May December,” which debuted on Saturday to raves and earned a six-minute standing ovation. Moore plays the “December” to Charles Melton’s much-younger “May,” who was just 13 when the two fell in love. Given their 20-year age gap, their marriage inspired a national tabloid scandal. Decades later, their relationship is put to the test as an actress (Portman) travels to Georgia to study the life of Moore’s character, whom she’s set to play in a film.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Cate Blanchett kicked off her stilettos on Friday night as she took the stage a Cannes Film Festival party hosted by Variety and the Golden Globes. Because this is Cannes, where women are mandated to wear heels on the red carpet, shoes have become a political symbol on the French Riviera. And indeed, in this case, Blanchett went barefoot to make a statement — to stand in solidarity with the women of Iran. The A-list actor, on hand to present “Holy Spider” star Zahra Amir Ebrahim with a breakthrough artists award, grabbed the trophy and joked, “This is to stab everyone who stands in the way of women’s rights. Up the vajayjay!” In her remarks, an emotional Ebrahimi called attention to her home country, which is “executing innocent people.” She said, “I always thought being an actress was a paradox: serving the emotions of your own and being a flag or mirror or light. This award celebrates this paradox.”

Vertical announced today that they have acquired the US rights to the Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway romantic comedy “She Came to Me,” which opened the Berlin Film Festival in February of this year. “She Came to Me” is written and directed by Rebecca Miller (“Maggie’s Plan”) and, per the official synopsis, “follows Steven Lauddem (Dinklage), a composer who is plagued by a creative block which leaves him unable to finish the score for his big comeback opera.

EXCLUSIVE: Vertical has nabbed U.S. rights to the romantic comedy She Came to Me, starring Emmy winner Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway (Ocean’s 8) and Academy Award winner Marisa Tomei (Spider-Man: No Way Home), with plans to release the film in theaters nationwide on a date that has yet to be determined.

EXCLUSIVE: Shailene Woodley (Big Little Lies), Cara Delevingne (Carnival Row) and Noémie Merlant (Portrait Of A Lady On Fire) are set to star in a genre biopic of celebrated author Patricia Highsmith, which is being produced by Carol and Past Lives outfit Killer Films.

his work as founder of The Black List has proven that the opposite is true. The best screenplay is the best business plan.“I think there is an assumption that when you work in the indie space, or you’re seeking out writers from outside the traditional system, that there’s some sort of altruistic impulse behind it.

EXCLUSIVE: Producer Greg Lauritano has today announced the launch of Adrenaline, a new below-the-line and alternative media management company that will rep clients for film, television, commercials, music videos and alternative media.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Variety has a first look at the anticipated Cannes Film Festival competition premiere “May December,” led by Oscar-winning heavyweights Julianne Moore and Natalie Portman and directed by Todd Haynes. The title, which is also for sale out of this year’s Marché du Film, represents a “Far From Heaven” reunion for Moore and Haynes and a significant breakout opportunity for “Riverdale” heartthrob Charles Melton. Moore and Melton star as married couple whose 20-year relationship inspired a national tabloid obsession at its offset. Now preparing to send their grown children off to college – as Melton reconciles with empty nest syndrome in his mid-30s – an actress (Portman) embeds with the family to study them for an upcoming film where she’ll play Moore. The couple buckles under the pressure as Portman probes as deeply as she can for an honest performance.

Carmen,” a musical starring Paul Mescal, will have its West Coast premiere March 25 at the 2023 Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF). Another debut set to take place during the five-day festival is the world premiere of “Jules,” with director Marc Turtletaub and stars Ben Kingsley and Jane Curtin planning to make an appearance for the occasion. The screening will kick off the opening night of the festival on March 22. Capping off the event are closing night films “The Eight Mountains,” which received a grand jury prize after its Cannes premiere, and Stephen Williams’ “Chevalier.”

EXCLUSIVE: Following bidding wars in multiple territories, A24 has sold Past Lives, probably the year’s most critically acclaimed new film, to a raft of key territories.

The 73rd Berlin International Film Festival will open on February 16, 2023, with the world premiere of She Came to Me, by Rebecca Miller.

This year’s International Film Festival Rotterdam (IFFR) has unveiled the 16 films selected for its flagship Tiger Competition. Scroll down for the full list.

Good afternoon Insiders, Max Goldbart here. Our crack team of reporters and editors brought you the news from Zurich to Singapore to London this week, and I’m here to help you digest. Read away.

The indie film confab Zurich Summit took place Saturday as the marquee industry event alongside the Zurich Film Festival. More than 100 film pros took part in the all-day session that drilled down into the state of the industry.

Former Lionsgate film chief Patrick Wachsberger, Carol producer Christine Vachon, Neon CEO Tom Quinn and SPC bosses Michael Barker and Tom Bernard will be among industry executives taking part in the Zurich Summit tomorrow [Saturday 24] in Switzerland.

Europe’s Big Hope: Platforms Really Embracing Cinema In the U.S., the platforms already buy big when it comes to movies. Think Sundance. Europe is another land: Platforms have largely held back much more, thwarted in France, for instance, by regulated windows.

Industry stalwarts John Sloss of Cinetic Media and Killer Films’ Christine Vachon offered a dynamic and inventive survey of contemporary film production and financing during the closing keynote of San Sebastian’s Creators Investors’ Conference Tuesday.

Asghar Farhadi will preside over the jury for the International Feature Film Competition at this year’s Zurich Film Festival.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Iran’s Asghar Farhadi, who directed the Oscar winners “A Separation” and “The Salesman,” U.S. producer Christine Vachon, whose credits includes Oscar winner “Boys Don’t Cry,” and Oscar nominees “Far from Heaven” and “Carol,” and Romania’s Alexander Nanau, the director of the Oscar nominated “Collective,” are among the jury members at the 18th edition of the Zurich Film Festival, which takes place from Sept. 22 to Oct. 2.  Farhadi will head the jury for the International Feature Film Competition. He is joined by the U.K.’s Clio Barnard, who directed the BAFTA nominated “The Arbor,” “The Selfish Giant” and “Ali & Ava”; L.A.-based Brazilian Daniel Dreifuss, a producer on the Oscar nominated “No” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” Germany’s Oscar entry; Swiss/Italian screenwriter and director Petra Volpe, whose credits include Tribeca prizewinner “The Divine Order”; and  Sweden’s Peter “Piodor” Gustafsson, the producer of Ali Abbassi’s “Border,” which won the main award in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent Co-organized with CAA Media Finance, a new San Sebastian Festival Creative Investors’ Conference will see many of the good and great of the international film business descend on September’s fest edition to be pitched 10 higher-budget Spanish movies by their producers.  The Conference will run Sept.19-20. In a cosmopolitan lineup, titles pitched include international co-productions such as “Whalemen (At the Ends of the Earth)” from “Everest” director Baltasar Kormákur as well as the latest from “Amama” helmer Asier Altuna and “Raqa,” from Gerardo Herrero, an Academy Award wining producer for “The Secret in Their Eyes.”  

Locarno Film Festival artistic director Giona A. Nazzaro is gearing up for the lakeside event’s 75th-anniversary edition from August 3 to 13. In his second year in the job, he has pulled together an eclectic programme spanning mainstream Hollywood and experimental filmmaking.

Zack Sharf Behold Sebastian Stan like you’ve never seen him before. The actor debuted a shocking first look photo on Instagram from his upcoming indie drama “A Different Man.” Stan plays a man who undergoes facial reconstructive surgery, only to become obsessed with an actor starring as him in a play based on his life.

Julianne Moore goes casual in jeans and a black tee at the Far From Heaven screening during 2022 Outfest held at DGA Theater Complex on Sunday (July 17) in Los Angeles.

.A 20th Anniversary screening of Todd Haynes’ “Far from Heaven” will take place, with Haynes, Julianne Moore, and producer Christine Vachon in person.“I’m incredibly proud of the work our programming team has done to craft a lineup that celebrates the history of the LGBTQIA+ community and the art we create, and that also spotlights innovative new work that will pave the way for 40 more years of spectacular, groundbreaking queer cinema,” said Outfest’s Director of Festival Programming, Mike Dougherty. The 11-day festival will host the Los Angeles premiere of Sundance Audience Award winner “Girl Picture,” as well as Sundance favorites “Sirens,” about a female thrash metal band from Lebanon; “Mars One,” a family drama from Brazil that centers a love story between two women; and Chae Joynt’s “Framing Agnes,” starring Zackary Drucker, Angelica Ross, Silas Howard.World premieres include “Stay on Board: The Leo Baker Story,” a doc from Drew Barrymore’s Flower Films and Pulse Films that tells the story of competitive skating icon Leo Baker, who in 2020 resigned from the U.S.

A24 is financing and producing “A Different Man,” a new thriller from writer/director Aaron Schimberg that is set to star Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson, TheWrap has confirmed.The official logline for the new film from the “Chained for Life” director: “Edward is an outcast seeking a new life and fresh start. After he undergoes facial reconstructive surgery, he becomes fixated on a man starring as him in a stage production based on his former life.”Alongside A24, Christine Vachon and Gabriel Mayers of Killer Films, Vanessa McDonnell of Grand Motel Films and Jason Reif will produce.

EXCLUSIVE: Sebastian Stan, Renate Reinsve and Adam Pearson are set to star in the A24 psychological thriller A Different Man from filmmaker Aaron Schimberg. A24 is financing and producing the pic, which will be written and directed by Schimberg.