Leo Barraclough International Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Toronto-based sales agent Syndicado Film Sales has acquired international rights to Zara Zerny’s feature debut “Echo of You” ahead of its world premiere at Amsterdam’s doc festival IDFA. Through candid, revealing interviews, “Echo of You” presents a group of Danish men and women, all aged 80 plus. With poignant openness and honesty, they share their thoughts on their life partnerships; lost loves who, one way or another, are no longer with them.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Deckert Distribution CEO Liselot Verbrugge is to launch a new company as the German sales agency prepares to wind down its operations in 2024, with founder Heino Deckert moving fully to production. Verbrugge is attending IDFA documentary festival this week, where the Sundance awarded film “Against the Tide,” one of the agency’s bestsellers this year, is playing in the Best of Fest section. Amsterdam-based Verbrugge joined Deckert at the start of 2019 as head of sales and acquisition, starting with the roll out of double Academy Award nominated “Honeyland.” She took over the reins of the company as CEO two years ago.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jonathan Glazer’s “The Zone of Interest” and Aki Kaurismäki’s “Fallen Leaves” led the European Film Awards race after nominations for the major categories were revealed Tuesday. The films were nominated in all five major categories – European film, director, screenwriter, actor and actress. Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” was close behind with four nominations – film, director, screenwriter and actress.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor In “Familiar,” Berlinale Golden Bear-winning director Călin Peter Netzer follows Dragoş Binder, a film director, as he delves into the murky secrets of his family, and tries to exorcise the trauma of his childhood by making a film about it. Beta Cinema is handling world sales for the film, which has its world premiere this month at Black Nights Film Festival in Tallinn, Estonia. In the film, Dragoş is trying to understand how his family were able to leave Romania in the early 80s, during the most oppressive period of Nicolae Ceausescu’s rule.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Picture Tree Intl. has boarded international sales for Scandinavian period drama “Stormskerry Maja,” directed by Tiina Lymi (“Happier Times, Grump,” “Sisäilmaa”), adapted from Anni Blomqvist’s series of novels. The film chronicles the saga of Maja and her family as they embark on a journey to the desolate and remote island Stormskerry.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Elvis Lenić has picked up the coveted Opus Bonum award for Best World Documentary for his latest work “Ship” at Ji.hlava Intl. Documentary Film Festival. He also got to say goodbye to a place that has defined his life.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor A24 has forged an exclusive output deal with Happinet Phantom Studios covering the distribution in Japan of A24’s upcoming releases, including Alex Garland’s action film “Civil War,” starring Kirsten Dunst, which has a highly anticipated launch at AFM this week. Happinet and A24 have worked together on the release of a number of films in Japan, including triple Oscar winner “Moonlight,” and “Midsommar,” whose gross in the territory was the biggest outside North America.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Cornerstone has closed sales on multiple territories including North America and the U.K. for writer and director Daniel Kokotajlo’s “Starve Acre,” a brooding and atmospheric folk horror. “House of the Dragon’s” Matt Smith and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” actor Morfydd Clark star in the film, which is produced by House Productions.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The Exchange has acquired the world sales rights for romantic comedy “The Islander,” starring Grammy- and Emmy Award-winning musician and actor Harry Connick Jr. The film features two original songs by Connick. The Exchange will introduce the title to buyers at next week’s American Film Market.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Porky Pig and Daffy Duck, one of the most beloved comedic duos in showbiz history, are set to make their return to the big screen in the sci-fi comedy adventure “The Day the Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Movie.” GFM Animation will launch worldwide sales on the Warner Bros. Animation-produced theatrical feature at the American Film Market (Oct. 31 – Nov.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The first look images of “William Tell,” the epic story of the crossbow-wielding warrior, have been released. The feature film is in its last week of principal photography in Italy.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Sales agency Sola Media is set to present its new project “The Sloth Lane” to buyers at the American Film Market. The animated film, an addition to the “Tales From Sanctuary City” franchise, is described as “a story of self discovery, family and friendship.” Australia’s Like a Photon Creative is producing the film and Sola Media is handling world sales, after recently acquiring international distribution rights for the next three animated feature films in the Sanctuary City franchise.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Variety has been given exclusive access to the trailer for Una Gunjak’s debut feature “Excursion,” which is Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entry for the Oscars’ international feature film category. Salaud Morisset is handling international sales. HBO Europe has just picked up the SVOD and pay TV rights to the movie in 15 countries in Central and Eastern Europe.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor “It’s been a really buzzy and busy market,” said Lucy Smith, director of Mipcom TV market and conference, and MipJunior, the kids TV event that preceded it, in Cannes Wednesday. More than 11,000 participants from more than 100 countries had come to the event, which runs Oct. 16-19.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Canal+ Group chairman and CEO Maxime Saada, who was honored at Mipcom with the Variety Vanguard Award Monday, underscored how the experience of the past informs the company’s future strategy, which includes an emphasis on aggregation and a ramping up of in-house production. He also explained why he believes his company “owes so much to Netflix,” but fears Amazon and YouTube.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Germany’s RTL has acquired royal drama “Maxima” from Beta Film. The show follows the life of Argentinian born Maxima Zorreguieta, who later became Queen Maxima of the Netherlands. The first six-hour season of the show has just wrapped shooting.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor All3Media Intl. has revealed that three of its lifestyle FAST/live TV channels have launched on Amazon Freevee in the U.S.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Distributor All3Media Intl. has sold “The Long Shadow,” written by “Lupin” creator George Kay, to Sundance Now, which has taken exclusive rights in the U.S. and Canada.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor The second season of the tropical noir crime drama “Troppo” has completed production in Queensland, Australia, with Thomas Jane (“Boogie Nights”) and Nicole Chamoun (“Safe Harbour,” “On the Ropes”) reprising their roles as private investigators Ted Conkaffey and Amanda Pharrell. A director known for “The Expanse” and “Dark Country,” Jane also serves as a director for two episodes of Season 2.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Beta Film’s Channel4/Starz drama series “The Couple Next Door” is moving across European neighborhoods, being sold ahead of Mipcom to Movistar Plus+ in Spain and throughout the Nordics. Public broadcasters NRK for Norway, YLE for Finland, SVT for Sweden, DR for Denmark and RUV for Iceland snagged the thriller, starring Sam Heughan (“Outlander,” “Suspect”) and Eleonor Tomlinson (“Poldark,” “The War of the Worlds”). The show explores the stultifying claustrophobia of suburbia and the fallout of chasing one’s darkest desires.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Tallinn Black Nights, one of the biggest film festivals in Northern Europe, has revealed the full lineup of its Official Selection Competition, with films by Emma Dante, Călin Peter Netzer, Gust Van den Berghe and Rezo Gigineishvili in the running. There are seven international premieres and 13 world premieres. The festival’s 27th edition runs Nov.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor French sales powerhouse Charades Films, which is attending MIA Market in Rome this week, has acquired international rights to Emma Dante’s third feature “Misericordia.” The film will premiere in competition at the Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival on Nov. 11, and will hit theaters via Teodora on Nov. 16 in Italy.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Philippe Bober’s Coproduction Office, whose recent films include Jessica Hausner’s Cannes Competition title “Club Zero” and Ruben Östlund’s Palme d’Or winner “Triangle of Sadness,” has kicked off international sales on Gust Van den Berghe‘s “The Magnet Man.” The Paris and Berlin based production and sales outfit is attending this week’s MIA Market in Rome. Van den Berghe’s previous films, “Blue Bird” (2011) and “Little Baby Jesus of Flandr” (2010), have both premiered in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight. “The Magnet Man,” which is in post-production, tells the tragicomic tale of how our greatest talents can become our greatest flaws, and how unpredictable our lives can be.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Berlin-based sales agency M-Appeal has closed multiple deals for Cannes Film Festival titles “Power Alley” by Lillah Halla, and “Let Me Go” by Maxime Rappaz, which are both female-led films. Cannes Critics’ Week title “Power Alley,” set in Brazil, follows talented volleyball player Sofia who discovers she is pregnant on the eve of a career-defining game. Seeking an abortion, which is illegal in Brazil, she is confronted by a fundamentalist group who become fixated on stopping her.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Studiocanal has teamed with Mercis and Superprod Animation to produce a CGI series adaptation of the children’s animation classic “Miffy.” The series will launch on French pay TV platform Canal+ in 2025. The Miffy character, a bunny, was created by Dick Bruna in 1955, and featured in more than 30 books.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor New State Pictures has joined forces with Curiosity Rights to secure the life rights of scientist Susan Solomon, who led pioneering research into the destruction of the ozone layer in the 1980s. The partners plan to produce a film that will place a spotlight on how the work undertaken by Solomon and her team led to global awareness of the issue and action to resolve the crisis. Solomon, then only 30, along with her team, unearthed findings that have shaped our approach to environmental preservation.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Munich-based Beta Film, one of Europe’s leading television companies, and seasoned executive Danny Goldman have joined forces to form London-based Omega Global Media, a distribution business focusing on a selection of high-end English-language TV series. The new entity’s first project is the Canadian crime series “Something Undone,” starring Billy Campbell (“Cardinal”) and Amanda Brugel (“The Handmaid’s Tale”).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Neo Sora’s concert documentary “Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus,” a standout at the Venice Film Festival, has sold for theatrical distribution in North America to Janus Films ahead of its North American premiere at the New York Film Festival. The theatrical release will be followed by a Blu-ray Disc release on the “Janus Contemporaries” label. This is the latest deal inked by London and Paris-based production, finance and sales outfit Film Constellation, following a slew of sales to Spain (Filmin), Portugal (Midas Filmes), Germany and Austria (Rapid Eye), Scandinavia (NjutaFilms), Baltics (Kino Pavasaris), South Korea (Media Castle), China (JL Vision Films), Hong Kong and Macau (Edko Films), Taiwan (Cai Chang) and Singapore (Anticipate Pictures).

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Jochen Koestler will take up the position of executive vice president non-fiction at German media company LEONINE Studios on Jan. 1, 2024. Together with CEO Fred Kogel, he will head the group’s non-fiction production division, which includes production banners gebrueder beetz Filmproduktion, hyperbole Medien, i&u TV, Madame Zheng Production and SEO Entertainment.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor European pay TV platform Sky has released the trailer for Sky Original film “Dance First,” ahead of its world premiere at San Sebastian Film Festival on Sept. 30. The film is directed by BAFTA and Academy Award winner James Marsh (“The Theory of Everything”) and written by BAFTA winner Neil Forsyth (“Guilt”).