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Myriad Pictures has begun sales onThe Pond, a horror thriller starring Isabelle Fuhrman and Douglas Smith that the company is producing and co-financing.

Production is scheduled to take place in Northern Ontario in the summer. The story follows grieving young parents who gather friends and family for a healing getaway in a remote lake house. When one of the group becomes a vessel for parasites, it threatens to infect everybody.

Jeff Renfroe, whose credits include The Colony and Syfy’s Chucky, will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ben Brooks. Thomas Michael is producing the Fella Films production in association with Myriad Pictures,...

Myriad has begun sales on horror thriller The Pond, a horror thriller starring Isabelle Fuhrman uand Douglas Smith that the company is producing and co-financing.

Production is scheduled to take place in Northern Ontario in the summer. The story follows grieving young parents who gather friends and family for a healing getaway in a remote lake house. When one of the group becomes a vessel for parasites, it threatens to infect everybody.

Jeff Renfroe, whose credits include The Colony and Syfy’s Chucky, will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Ben Brooks. Thomas Michael and Nathalie Lichtenthaeler are producing...

Isabelle Fuhrman and Julia Stiles’ characters may have been at each other’s throats in Orphan: First Kill, but off camera, the two actors developed a bond that’s now resulted in Stiles’ feature directorial debut, Wish You Were Here. Stiles adapted Renée Carlino’s book of the same name during the making of the 2022 Orphan prequel, and in hindsight, Fuhrman can now see the ways in which Stiles was already beginning to envision her as the main character, Charlotte. The romantic drama chronicles the twentysomething woman’s storybook date with Mena Massoud’s Adam, only it ends with him ghosting her for a reason she never could’ve expected.

Fuhrman’s breakout performance at age ten in the cult hit Orphan (2009) made such a striking impression that it’s been difficult for her to shake one of the horror genre’s most indelible villains in Esther. Thus, she is...

One of the hallmarks of the fantasy genre is setting the story in a school for magic. While many popular books use this backdrop, like Harry Potter, this is far from the only narrative that touches upon what an academy of magic and mysticism might look like. Depending on the target audience, adult or young adult, these books can look very different, with some authors willing to discuss the dark and violent parts of these stories. Whether they're set in another universe or a fictionalized version of the real world, all these schools are beyond the readers' wildest dreams.

Many of the most anticipated fantasy books of 2025 are delving into the dark academia genre, as this has quickly become one of the most popular niches within literature. Schools are a great setting for any story, not just fantasy. This is because they're a microcosm of the larger world. Issues of class,...

I am starting to question if Lionsgate has an under-the-table deal with Kleenex because, after watching the studio’s Wish You Were Here trailer, I think this movie will make people cry. And not just a little; I’m talking about Niagara Falls, Frankie. Niagara Falls. Wish You Were Here offers an intimate look at Julia Stiles‘s feature directorial debut. In February, the Golden Globe-nominated actress-turned-filmmaker told Deadline she’s “been looking for years for the right story to tell” as a director, and she’s finally found it with an adaptation of Renee Carlino’s best-selling novel of the same name.

Here’s the official synopsis for Wish You Were Here courtesy of Lionsgate:

“Julia Stiles makes her directorial debut in a brilliantly warm and romantic film based on the bestselling novel, Wish You Were Here. Isabelle Fuhrman, Mena Massoud, Jennifer Grey and Kelsey Grammer star in a...

The third film in the cult “Orphan” horror franchise has been officially green lit, with Isabelle Fuhrman — recently seen in Kevin Costner’s “Horizon” — returning to play her iconic role of Esther and “Orphan: First Kill’s” writer David Coggeshall (“The Family Plan”) and director William Brent Bell (“The Boy” franchise) also back behind the camera.

The feature — of which plot details are currently being kept under wraps — was announced by production banner Dark Castle Entertainment, with Lionsgate set to launch the project at the American Film Market this week.

“Dark Castle is excited to announce another terrifying chapter in the ‘Orphan’ saga,” said Norman Golightly, Co-CEO of Dark Castle Entertainment. “With the past success of the first two movies and another thrilling storyline, we are confident that ‘Orphan 3’ will be a must-see movie for both current fans of the franchise, and new fans alike.”

Dark Castle is producing...

Exclusive: On April 18th of this year, at a parole board hearing in New Hampshire, convicted murderer James Parker was granted parole for his role in the brutal 2001 stabbing murders of Half and Suzanne Zantop, a pair of married Dartmouth professors. After acquiring rights to Judgment Ridge, a work of nonfiction detailing the chilly story of those murders, producers Randy and Steven Toll have enlisted Matthew Gentile (American Murderer) to direct a feature adaptation from his own script.

Written by Dick Lehr and Mitchell Zuckoff, Judgment Ridge evokes clear memories of Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, as it delves deeply into the inexplicable behavior that led to these ruthless murders. It was at age 16 that Parker conspired with his best friend to commit the murders of the Zantrops. He and co-conspirator Robert Tulloch came to commit the crime after plotting to put together the $10,000 they needed to move to...

"This world is not kind to weak people." XYZ Films has revealed the trailer for a Canadian cheerleading film called Backspot, which plays more a serious drama or intense thriller than a sports comedy or satire. This is similar to that rowing film The Novice a few years ago. This premiered at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival last year and hits US theaters in May. Devery Jacobs (from "Reservation Dogs") stars as Riley, who is given the chance to cheer with the all-star squad, Thunderhawks. With a competition looming, Riley must navigate her crippling anxiety, her relationship with her girlfriend, and also her desperate need for approval from her new coach. One positive review states: “You may think you know your sports movie tropes, but you’ve never seen them used quite this way — that is, within a queer cheerleading drama firmly focused on complex female characters — and Waterson’s Backspot delights in skewing such expectations.

Amy Forsyth and Christian Cooke have joined the cast of “Plainclothes,” a new independent film from writer-director Carmen Emmi. They will star alongside Tom Blyth and Russell Tovey, who Variety previously reported would lead the project.

Set in the ’90s and inspired by true events, the film follows a working-class undercover officer tasked with entrapping and apprehending gay men, only to find himself drawn to one of his targets. The film is produced by Arthur Landon, Colby Cote, and Eric Podwall on behalf of Page 1 Entertainment and Lorton Entertainment. Alex Wenger and April Kelley will co-produce.

Forsyth will play Emily, ex-girlfriend and trusted confidant to Lucas (Blyth). She received an Independent Spirit Award nomination for best supporting actress for her role in the 2021 film “The Novice.” She was also seen in the Oscar-winning film “Coda” that same year. She currently stars in the recurring role of Carrie Astor on...

Exclusive: Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated actress Julia Stiles has wrapped production on her directorial debut, Wish You Were Here, based on the bestseller by Renee Carlino. The cast includes Isabelle Fuhrman (The Novice), Mena Massoud (Aladdin), Jimmie Fails (The Last Black Man in San Francisco), Gabby Kono (Magic Carpet Rides), Jennifer Grey (A Real Pain) and Kelsey Grammer (Frasier).

Adapted for the screen by Stiles, the film tells the story of Charlotte, a woman who finds herself in a rut, searching for a spark that seems just out of reach. After she has a whirlwind night of romance and imagining a future with a man named Adam, he ghosts her. But when Charlotte finally discovers that Adam is terminally ill, she helps him spend his last days living life to the fullest.

In a statement to Deadline, Stiles shared that she’s “been looking for years for the right story to tell” as director,...

Zac Efron (top) in The Iron Claw Photo: A24 What the heck is going on in Alex Garland’s Civil War trailer?They say don’t judge a book by its cover, but the point of a trailer is to help us judge movies and whether they’re worth seeing,...

The Boys In The BoatPhoto: Laurie Sparham / MGM

A refrain often heard at regattas and amongst collegiate rowers is how powerful and all-consuming the sport can be. That can, of course, be a negative thing in many ways. Rowers wake up at the crack of dawn, wear down their bodies...

The Hunger Games movies might be best remembered for launching Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth to new heights of stardom. That said, the movies are full of vivid supporting characters played by notable actors, even if not all audience members remember them.

From Isabelle Furhman of the Orphan movies to Daredevil's Elden Henson, many of these great actors rose to prominence in other popular films and series. They filled their Hunger Games characters with the same level of complexity and feeling as their most well-known roles, no matter how brief their appearances were.

Related: 9 Hunger Games Characters Who Were Cut From The Movies

Wes Bentley

In The Hunger Games, Wes Bentley brings Head Gamemaker Seneca Crane to life. Seneca conspires with President Snow throughout the movie to keep Katniss Everdeen in line and keep the Games proceeding as usual. However, Katniss proves less predictable than they thought,...

If you’re looking for recent movies about the uniquely harrowing experience of female perfectionism, there’s the Taylor Swift documentary Miss Americana, Lauren Hadaway’s gut-punching feature debut The Novice, and now Backspot, the debut feature from Canadian DJ and director D. W. Waterson. Backspot has all the trappings of an impactful story, putting capable actors like Devery Jacobs and Evan Rachel Wood in the pressure cooker of competitive cheerleading. Unfortunately, this movie is far more concerned with bassy beats and showy camerawork than it is with making a point.

Our protagonist is Riley (Jacobs), a neurotic backspot who gets recruited into an elite squad, the Thunderhawks, just before a big competition. Together with her girlfriend Amanda (Kudakwashe Rutendo) and friend Rachel (Noa Diberto), Riley tries to withstand the brutal new standards set forth by their exacting coach, Eileen (Evan Rachel Wood). Riley, who shares her home with an aggressive,...

Film and television writer-producer Joe Gayton, cocreator and executive producer of AMC’s “Hell on Wheels,” died May 14. He was 66 years old.

The news was confirmed to TheWrap by brother and longtime collaborator Tony Gayton, who said Joe’s death came following a four-year battle with prostate cancer.

“Joe was one of a kind. He was passionate, creative, loud, boisterous, argumentative, unfiltered, soft-hearted, hilarious and terrible at the politics of this cutthroat business,” he said in a statement. “He was a big brother, mentor, writing partner and best friend to me. Our hearts are shattered at his passing and we will miss him forever.”

Also Read:

Jessie Maple, Trailblazing Black Director and Cinematographer, Dies at 76

Tony also revealed that his brother was working on a new television show before his death.

“This sums up Joe’s passion for this work: He loved writing and creating so much that he wrote...

Joe Gayton, a film and television writer-producer who co-created and executive produced the hit AMC series Hell on Wheels, died May 14 after a four-year battle with prostate cancer. He was 66.

Gayton got off to a fast start in Hollywood with Uncommon Valor, which he wrote when he was 23. The script was made into a movie starring Gene Hackman. Gayton also co-wrote with Lewis Colick the 1996 action comedy feature Bulletproof starring Damon Wayans and Adam Sandler.

For most of his career, Gayton collaborated with his brother, fellow writer-producer Tony Gayton. The duo created and executive produced the popular Western drama series Hell on Wheels, which ran on AMC for five seasons.

The Gaytons also developed together a number of TV projects, with several, including Southern Comfort for Fox and The Novice for USA, going to pilot. They also co-wrote the 2010 feature Faster, starring Dwayne Johnson.

“Joe was one of a kind.

Many of the actors in The Hunger Games are well-established in their careers, including Isabelle Fuhrman. She is known for her role as the diabolic Esther in the horror movies Orphan and Orphan: First Kill. She also starred in the psychological sports drama The Novice and appeared in the extended cut of Escape Room: Tournament of Champions.

Fuhrman also made an appearance as Clove in The Hunger Games. According to the Movie Web, Fuhrman originally auditioned for Katniss Everdeen, but she was deemed too young for the role as she was only 14 years old at the time. Her role as Esther in the Orphan movies, however, proved that Fuhrman is a master at portraying the villain, which led to her landing the part of Clove. Although Fuhrman is much smaller than Suzanne Collins' description of Clove, she nevertheless brings an intensity to the role, coming across as downright menacing and creepy.

Why do so many child actors struggle? To be a good actor, you need self-awareness and empathy, and those are traits many children don't have. This makes Isabelle Fuhrman's performance in Jaume Collet-Serra's "Orphan" all the more exceptional.

In "Orphan," a Connecticut couple -- Kate (Vera Farmiga) and John (Peter Sarsgaard) -- is still reeling from the miscarriage of their third child. So, they decide to adopt. They're instantly charmed by a young Estonian girl named Esther (Fuhrman) and welcome her into their home. But Esther shows increasing sadism, culminating in the horrible truth: she's actually a 33-year-old serial killer, afflicted with hypopituitarism that prevented her body from aging with her mind.

"Orphan" -- released in 2009 -- was shot in late 2007 when Fuhrman was only 10 years old. In what was her second film appearance, she was a child playing the part of an adult who is playing the part of a child.

Exclusive: Mary-Louise Parker (Weeds), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix franchise), Isabelle Fuhrman (The Novice) and Liana Liberato (To the Bone) have signed on to star in Justine Bateman’s upcoming feature Face, based on her 2021 bestseller, Face: One Square Foot of Skin.

The film penned by Bateman consists of 14 vignettes, both comedic and dramatic, which look at women’s faces getting older, and why that makes people angry. While much of society appears to assume that women’s faces are somehow broken and need to be fixed, Face reveals some of the many ways in which women, and those around them, allow this idea to take root at all.

Parker will play Tanya, an actress balancing her need to use her face for her job and the pressure to not move it at all, with Moss as Mrs. Foster, a kindergarten teacher whose young students remind her of the magical functionality of the face.

Exclusive: The Orphan franchise actress is boarding Kevin Costner’s western epic Horizon from Warner Bros/New Line. Isabelle Fuhrman will star opposite the Dances With Wolves 2x Oscar winner, Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jamie Campbell Bower, Luke Wilson, Thomas Haden Church, Jena Malone, Alejandro Edda, Tatanka Means and Michael Rooker.

With Horizon, Costner revisits Civil War-era America, which he originally dove into with 1990’s Dances With Wolves. The pic chronicles a multi-faceted 15-year span of pre-and post-Civil War expansion and settlement of the American West. Experienced through the eyes of many, the epic journey is fraught with peril and intrigue from the constant onslaught of natural elements to the interactions with the indigenous peoples who lived on the land, and the determination and at many times ruthlessness of those who sought to settle it.

Coming off her critically acclaimed and Film Independent Spirit Award nominated and Tribeca Film Festival...

In November 2019, Isabelle Fuhrman began receiving a barrage of text messages from friends, family members and random acquaintances about an episode of “Dr. Phil.” The episode garnered publicity at the time for its bizarre interview with Natalia Grace, a Ukrainian orphan who was adopted by the Barnett family, before being abandoned by them after they claimed she was an adult sociopath masquerading as a child.

“Anybody that I had ever met, people came out of the woodwork messaging me being like, ‘have you seen this?'” Fuhrman tells Variety.

As the interview itself referenced, the situation bore a close resemblance to the plot of “Orphan,” the 2009 Jaume Collet-Serra thriller that featured an 11-year old Fuhrman as Esther, a 9 year-old Russian girl adopted by Kate and John Coleman (Vera Farmiga and Peter Saarsgard). Initially seeming like a polite, adorable and well-mannered child, Esther quickly begins displaying disturbing and violent behavior, as well as knowledge of culture,...

You know the story (or maybe you don’t): A grown woman who looks like a child due to “proportional dwarfism” scams her way into being adopted by a loving family, only to terrorize them and attempt to seduce the husband. So goes the plot of “Orphan,” a middling-yet-gonzo horror flick from 2009.

Now, Paramount is taking that bizarre premise and extending it even further for the prequel “Orphan: First Kill,” directed by William Brent Bell and written by David Coggeshall.

“First Kill” takes the best part of its predecessor — its camp value — and dials things up to 11, delivering a movie that demands to be seen at rowdy theaters and sleepovers worldwide.

Also Read:

‘Orphan: First Kill': Esther Terrorizes Another Family in Trailer for Horror Prequel (Video)

The film takes place in 2007, before the events of “Orphan.” If you’ve seen the original film, the first half of “First...

French writer-director Elie Grappe’s debut feature, “Olga,” co-written with Raphaëlle Desplechin, uses a unique lens to examine the 2014 Euromaidan Revolution, the protests that rocked Kyiv and sent President Victor Yanukovych into exile.

The “Revolution of Dignity” was a powerful statement of nationality by the Ukrainian people, and while they ousted their corrupt Putin-crony president, the protests also sparked the invasion of Crimea and the Donbas by Russia, and continue to linger politically as the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine this year has shocked the globe.

With almost surgical precision, Grappe’s film poses the question, “Are sports political?” through the point of view of a Ukrainian teenage gymnast who must flee to Switzerland in order to continue her training.

Also Read:

Vitali Klitschko to Be Honored With Espys’ Arthur Ashe Award for Courage

Former Ukrainian national gymnastics team member Anastasiia Budiashkina takes on the title role in her first film performance,...

Exclusive: Isabelle Fuhrman (The Novice) has signed on to star in the thriller Unit 234 from director Andy Tennant, which is currently in production in the Cayman Islands.

In the film penned by Derek Steiner, Laurie Saltair (Fuhrman) discovers the comatose man, Clayton, in Unit 234 of her family’s storage facility, while working the night shift alone. What transpires is a thrill ride of a cat-and-mouse game for Laurie and Clayton to survive the night.

Unit 234 is being fully financed by Productivity Media. Blythe Frank, Hadeel Reda and Lee Dreyfus are producing alongside Productivity Media’s William G. Santor & Doug Murray, with Colleen Camp serving as executive producer.

Fuhrman recently landed an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Female Lead, for her turn in Lauren Hadaway’s critically acclaimed IFC drama, The Novice. She found her breakout role in Jaume Collet-Serra’s psychological horror film Orphan, and will soon appear alongside...

Hello, everyone! We’re back with another rundown of this week’s horror and sci-fi home media releases. If you haven’t had a chance to check out Don Mancini’s Chucky TV series, you can finally catch up with it as of this Tuesday. Arrow Video is giving Kenneth Branagh’s Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein the 4K treatment, and Kino Lorber is keeping busy with an assortment of releases on the 12th as well, including New Year’s Evil, Tentacles, and a Dr. Phibes Double Feature. IFC Films is also set to release their psychological thriller The Novice on Tuesday, too (and it’s great).

Chucky: Season One

The notorious Chucky slashes his way to television in a killer new series written and executive produced by creator Don Mancini, who penned the iconic film franchise. After teenage loner Jake Wheeler (Zackary Arthur) discovers a vintage 'Good Guy' doll at a suburban yard sale,...

‘Morbius’, ‘The Bad Guys’ also make wide debuts.

Twelve films make their debut in UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, with sequel Sonic The Hedgehog 2 one of three wide releases looking to revive a flagging box office.

Paramount is opening Sonic 2 in 651 locations – a five percent increase on the 620 locations of 2020’s Sonic The Hedgehog.

That film opened to a substantial £4.7m in February 2020, topping the charts for two weeks. It played in cinemas for five weekends, reaching £19.3m; before its run was cut short by the closure of all UK-Ireland cinemas due to the pandemic.

The Sonic franchise is...

When it comes to preparing for roles, actors have historically gone to extreme lengths. Commonly called "the method," actors often find themselves diving so deep into a role that it comes at a physical or emotional cost. Brad Pitt chipped his front teeth for his role in "Fight Club," Robert Pattinson channeled his inner-chiropterologist (that's someone who studies bats) to become Batman, and Isabelle Fuhrman trained until her hands bled for the role of Alex in "The Novice." Some actors say the process changes them forever.

But where does one begin to prepare to play the leader of a Nazi concentration...

The post Ralph Fiennes Paid a Big Price While Preparing For His Schindler's List Role appeared first on /Film.

Warner Bros.’ “The Batman” dominated the U.K. and Ireland box office for the fourth weekend in a row with £1.66 million ($2.1 million), according to numbers released by Comscore. The film now has a total of £35.6 million.

Dreamz Entertainment release “Rrr,” directed by S.S. Rajamouli and starring Ntr Jr, Ram Charan, Ajay Devgn and Alia Bhatt, released wide in the Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Hindi languages, and debuted in second position with £650,204.

Universal release, Michael Bay’s “Ambulance,” starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza González, debuted in third place with £521,049.

In fourth position, Sony’s “Uncharted” collected £349,457 and now has a total of £23.2 million after seven weekends.

Rounding off the top five was Warner Bros.’ “The Nan Movie” with £289,731 and now has £1.1 million after two weekends.

EOne’s “The Phantom of the Open” took £218,626 in sixth place in its second weekend and has a total of £1.06 million.

Mubi release,...

"Your mistake is that you always stick to what you're good at." Vertigo Releasing in the UK has debuted a new trailer for The Novice, a rowing thriller marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Lauren Hadaway. It was nominated multiple times at the Indie Spirit Awards and already opened in the US back in December. A queer college freshman joins her university's rowing team and soon undertakes an obsessive physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat, no matter the cost. "This unapologetic debut from Hadaway, based on her own personal experience as a competitive collegiate rower, heralds a bold new voice in storytelling. If you liked Whiplash, this one's for you." Isabelle Fuhrman stars as Alex, with a cast including Dilone, Amy Forsyth, Jonathan Cherry, Kate Drummond, Charlotte Ubben, Sage Irvine, Chantelle Bishop, Jeni Ross, and Nikki Duval. This is pretty much just a...

The Independent Spirit Awards are an annual award given in the name of independent film, featuring all of the indie films which deserve honor and recognition - celebrating their 37th year. The 2022 winners of the Spirit Awards were announced Sunday evening, in their usual spot just a few weeks before the Oscar ceremony. The biggest winner this year: Maggie Gyllenhaal's The Lost Daughter (now on Netflix), taking home the three top prizes: Best Film, Best Director, and Best Screenplay. Zola also ended up with one key win - Taylour Paige for Best Actress. Questlove's Summer of Soul picked up Best Doc, and Japanese drama Drive My Car won Best International Film. The other nominations from all the 2021 releases included many excellent indie films many critics have been talking up all year, deserving of some extra time in the spotlight - gems like Wild Indian, Swan Song, The Novice,...

Updated: Netflix reigned supreme at the Film Independent Spirit Awards in the ceremony’s return to the Santa Monica Beach given the pandemic’s ease, with the streamer collecting three wins for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter including Best Feature.

The Endeavor Content produced movie is up for three Oscar noms, including Gyllenhaal for Best Adapted Screenplay, Olivia Colman for Best Actress, and Jessie Buckley for Best Supporting Actress, who was passed over at the Spirits today for Ruth Negga, star of Neflix’s Passing. Gyllenhaal took home both Best Screenplay and Director at the Spirits. Netflix also saw wins for Passing in Best Cinematography and Lee Jung-jae for Best Male Performance in a New Scripted series, that being for the mega-hit, Squid Game.

Shifting from its traditional immediate pre-Oscars perch, the Film Independent Spirit Awards returned today with a live and in-person ceremony near the Santa Monica pier.

The 37th Annual Independent Spirit Awards took place on Sunday, returning to an in-person format following last year’s virtual ceremony. Many of the biggest names in the independent film community made the trek out to the beach in Santa Monica with the hopes of taking home the most coveted prizes in indie film. While the Spirit Awards typically take place the week before the Oscars, this year’s unique Covid-influenced awards season calendar meant that they were held nearly a month in advance. Hollywood couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally served as emcees of the proceedings.

This year’s class of nominees draws from films largely shut out from the Oscars, with indie hits like Oscar nominee “The Lost Daughter,” “C’mon C’mon,” and “Zola” racking up the most nominations. “The Lost Daughter” cleaned up, with three wins for Netflix including Best Feature and Best Director Maggie Gyllenhaal. Oscar no-show...

The 37th Annual Indie Spirit Awards were at California’s Santa Monica Pier on Sunday, March 6, honoring the best American films made for less than $20 million (foreign films get their own International Feature category). Nominations were selected by film industry insiders and critics, while winners were voted on by the wider Film Independent membership. The organization includes industry professionals but also any movie aficionados who pay for membership starting at $95 per year. So who won? Scroll down for our live blog breaking down all the winners as they’re announced and their significance in this awards season.

SEEOscars 2022: 1st 6 presenters announced are Lady Gaga, Kevin Costner, Zoe Kravitz, Chris Rock, Rosie Perez, Yuh-Jung Youn

The Spirit Awards have often been a preview of the Oscars in recent years as the Oscars have more regularly honored lower-budget films like “Birdman,” “Spotlight,” “Moonlight,” and “Nomadland,” all of which won top honors at both awards.

Who were the big winners at the 37th Independent Spirit Awards, presented on Sunday, March 6, at the Santa Monica Pier in Santa Monica, California? Scroll down for the complete list of results in all categories, updated throughout the ceremony as the awards were handed out.

SEE2022 Oscars guild awards scorecard: ‘King Richard’ reigns over SAG and Ace Eddies to grab early lead

These awards are unique in that they are limited to American films made for under $20 million; films made outside the United States are eligible for Best International Feature. And the awards are decided in two stages. In the first round, committees of film professionals, experts, and critics choose the nominees. In the second round, the entire Film Independent membership gets to vote for the winners. Members include industry insiders, but also anyone in the general public who wish to pay yearly dues starting at $95 per year.

The Oscars...

The 37th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards were handed out Sunday at the Santa Monica Pier, with comedy power couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally serving as hosts.

There weren’t too many surprises throughout the night. Troy Kotsur won the first award of the evening, Best Supporting Male Actor for “Coda,” very much as predicted. Taylour Paige took home Best Female Lead Actor, for “Zola,” while Simon Rex, of “Red Rocket,” walked away with Best Male Lead. Ruth Negga won Best Supporting Female Actor for “Passing,” beating out Jessie Buckley from “The Lost Daughter.”

But Maggie Gyllenhaal’s adaptation of the Elena Ferrante book won the three other categories in which it was nominated — Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Feature — and was the night’s biggest victor. Gyllenhaal gave three effusive thank you speeches, spreading her appreciation around to her cast, crew, financiers, publicist, husband and mother. “Women in film!

The stars came out in full glam to celebrate the 2022 Independent Film Spirit Awards.

Co-hosted by married comedy duo Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman, the latest awards show leading up to the 97th Academy Awards kicked off on Sunday, March 6, marking a return to pre-covid red carpet proceedings in Santa Monica, Calif.

Nominees Maggie Gyllenhaal, Simon Rex, Taylour Paige, Jessie Buckley, Ruth Negga, and Troy Kotsur stunned on the red carpet, as distributor A24 marked its big night with 13 total nominations for films including “C’mon, C’mon,” “Zola,” “The Humans,” and “Red Rocket.” Notably, four women were featured in the Best Director category this year, including Gyllenhaal for “The Lost Daughter,” Janicza Bravo for “Zola,” Lauren Hadaway for “The Novice,” and Ninja Thyberg for “Pleasure.”

Hosts Mullally and Offerman promised to be a “little rowdy” during the ceremony, while assuring “it’ll mainly be legitimate cinematic discourse,” per a press statement.

In 2021, the Film Independent Spirit Awards went online in reaction to a then-still-raging pandemic, forcing nominees, guests, Film Independent members and even host Melissa Villaseñor to celebrate remotely. In 2022, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman have taken over hosting duties from Villaseñor, but the rest of those people will be back in the ceremony’s traditional venue, a tent near the Santa Monica beach.

To Film Independent president Josh Welsh, the return feels like a relief, especially after the Omicron variant wreaked havoc on in-person gatherings in December and January, risking another season of socially-distanced events. But despite his excitement, Welsh insists that the annual celebration of independent cinema has still not quite returned to normal. “It definitely does not feel like business as usual, and everything feels very different,” he tells Variety.

If you’ve been following awards-season pundits as they herald prospective winners, looking at Film Independent’s nominees...

The Film Independent Spirit Awards are set to take place Sunday at 5 p.m. Et/2 p.m. Pt at the Baker Hanger in Santa Monica. The annual shindig honoring the best in indie film will air live on IFC and stream for subscribers on AMC+.

This year’s show is also available for the first time at select AMC Theatres via the AMC Stubs program. In Canada, it will stream exclusively at hollywoodsuite.ca. On social media, live updates and content will be available via Film Independent (@filmindependent) and IFC (@ifc).

The ceremony is being hosted this year by Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally, who will preside over a show that will see winners announced in 16 competitive film categories and five in TV.

Presenters expected today include honorary chair Kristen Stewart, recenlty nominated for an Oscar for Spencer, who will be joined by Dianna Agron, Javier Bardem, Murray Bartlett, Jennifer Beals,...

Three awards ceremonies are taking place the weekend of March 5. On Saturday, a double dose of the Art Directors Guild (Adg) and American Cinema Editors Awards (Ace Eddies), and on Sunday, the Film Independent Spirit Awards, airing on IFC.

Paying special attention to Adg and Ace Eddies since there’s Oscar crossover, we’re expecting a couple of surprises at both. On the Adg side, “Dune” and “Nightmare Alley” should reign triumphant, but “Don’t Look Up” may overcome fellow Netflix property “The Lost Daughter.”

At Ace Eddies, there’s a possible upset on the drama side in the favor of “King Richard’s” Pamela Martin, besting Joe Walker for “Dune.” On the other hand, “Tick, Tick … Boom!” is expected to sneak past “Licorice Pizza.”

What’s most interesting is that there is very little to no presence of the presumed Oscar frontrunners this weekend, including Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,...

Almost 2,000 Gold Derby readers have made their Indie Spirit predictions in advance of Sunday’s ceremony. Scroll down to see our official odds in all 13 movie categories based on those combined predictions. Our projected winners are highlighted in gold.

SEEOscars 2022: 20 movie reunions we would love to see happen on the ceremony, including ‘The Godfather,’ ‘Titanic,’ ‘Harry Potter’ and more

The Indie Spirit Awards winners are voted on by members of Film Independent. Membership is open to any movie fans who pay $95 in yearly dues, which often leads to the highest-profile Oscar contenders winning top prizes against less widely publicized films. But this year Film Independent snubbed many of the Oscar front-runners; this is only the second time in the last 13 years that there are no Best Picture Oscar nominees among the Spirit contenders for Best Feature.

The black comedy “Zola” led the nominations with seven including Best Feature, Best...

Editor’s note: The Deadline Watchlist is a feature spotlighting small-screen specials, events and can’t-miss episodes of ongoing series each week.

1. The Afterparty Season Finale: Through the first seven episodes of the Christopher Miller created and Phil Lord EP’d murder mystery, Tiffany Haddish’s Detective Danner has been trying to find out who killed the annoying pop hack Xavier (Dave Franco) at the high school reunion shindig. With The Afterparty renewed today for a second season, this case looks to be ending, one way or the other. The thing is the Sam Richardson, Zoë Chao, Ben Schwartz, Ike Barinholtz, Ilana Glazer, Jamie Demetriou co-staring multi-perspective comedy’s “Maggie” eighth episode could see a true blast from the past provide the damning evidence, one way or the other. – Dominic Patten

March 4, AppleTV+

2. Our Flag Means Death Series Premiere: HBO Max reunites former What We Do In The Shadows collaborators...

Mary J. Blige, fresh off her performance at the Super Bowl halftime show, will hit the stage to perform at the 53rd annual NAACP Image Awards, which airs live Saturday, February 26 on BET.

Anthony Anderson is hosting the ceremony, which will honor the year’s best across the fields of film, TV, music and publishing. Winners will be announced in four virtual ceremonies running daily Monday-Friday on naacpimageawards.net and the NAACP Image Awards YouTube channel, leading into the marquee televised show.

Presenters on the BET telecast will include Issa Rae, Kerry Washington, LL Cool J, Michael Strahan, Morgan Freeman, Paula Patton, Questlove, Simu Liu, Tiffany Haddish, Zendaya, NAACP president Derrick Johnson and NAACP board chairman Leon W. Russell, organizers said Thursday.

Also on the main broadcast, Samuel L. Jackson will receive the NAACP Chairman’s Award and Nikole Hannah-Jones, the Pulitzer Prize-winning creator of the 1619 Project, will be presented...

The film comes from the team behind web series ‘#martyisdead’.

Netherlands-based sales firm Dutch Features has acquired world rights on Emil Krizka’s Czech horror Repulse at this week’s online European Film Market (EFM).

The film is writer-director Krizka’s feature debut, and is a dark drama about two dysfunctional families: one raising their daughter in a luxurious villa, the other an adult son and his mother sharing a remote semi-dilapidated house.

Repulse has its world premiere at Febiofest in Prague in September 2021, followed by a limited release in the Czech Republic; the full release will come in spring of this year.

The film is up for five Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Vertigo Releasing has acquired UK-Ireland rights to Tribeca award-winning US feature The Novice, which it will release in cinemas and on digital platforms on April 1, 2022.

The film is the directorial debut of US writer-director Lauren Hadaway, and is based on her personal experience as a competitive collegiate rower.

Isabelle Fuhrman stars as an obsessive college freshman who joins her university’s rowing team and undertakes an extreme physical and psychological journey to make it to the top varsity boat.

The film debuted at the 2021 Tribeca Film Festival, winning three awards: best US narrative feature film,...

The 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards is returning to an in-person ceremony this year, and now the show has its hosts. Comedy power couple Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman will front the ceremony on March 6 at Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica Airport.

The Spirits will stream live at 5 p.m. Pt via AMC+ and air on IFC.

“The dream team. Why have just one host when you can have two?” Film Independent President Josh Welsh said. “We’re delighted to have Megan and Nick onboard to bring the magic back to the beach. I can’t wait to see what they have in store for us.”

Mullally is an Emmy winner for Will & Grace and has appeared on Party Down and voices characters on Bob’s Burgers and The Great North. She also has played on Broadway. Offerman was a regular for the entire run of NBC’s Parks and Recreation...

“Making It” work! After last year’s virtual Film Independent Spirit Awards ceremony, Megan Mullally and Nick Offerman are slated to co-host the 2022 awards show in-person in Santa Monica on Sunday, March 6.

“We are sincerely excited to be hosting the 2022 Film Independent Spirit Awards. We hope to get a little rowdy, but it’ll mainly be legitimate cinematic discourse,” the comedy power couple said in a press statement. “Although, with the two of us involved, it’s more likely to be intercourse. Either way it’ll be legit.”

Emmy winner Mullally and “Pam & Tommy” star Offerman have toured the U.S. and the U.K. with joint comedy show, “Summer of 69: No Apostrophe,” and released The New York Times bestselling book, “The Greatest Love Story Ever Told.”

Film Independent President Josh Welsh called Mullally and Offerman the “dream team” to host. “Why have just one host when you can have two?...

“Belfast,” “Coda,” “King Richard,” “House of Gucci,” “West Side Story” and “The Power of the Dog” are among the films nominated for the 37th Annual Artios Awards, presented by the Casting Society of America.

The awards honor casting directors’ contribution to film, television and theatre. Winners will be revealed on March 17 via a virtual ceremony.

Among the animated features nominated are “Encanto,” “Luca,” “The Mitchells Vs. The Machines,” “Raya and the Last Dragon” and “Vivo.”

Lucy Bevan, Avy Kaufman, Carmen Cuba, Nina Gold and Cindy Tolan are just some of the casting directors who landed nominations. While the Academy has had a casting branch for the past eight years, it has yet to establish an Oscar for casting.

View the nominations in full below:

Animation

“Encanto” – Jamie Sparer Roberts, Grace C. Kim (Associate)

“Luca” – Kevin Reher, Natalie Lyon, Kate Hansen-birnbaum (Associate)

“The Mitchells Vs The Machines” – Tamara Hunter

“Raya And The Last Dragon...

The 2021 auditions are over, and the Casting Society of America has unveiled the feature nominees for its 37th annual Artios Awards.

Music plays a huge role in several of this year’s hopefuls in the marquee categories including the musicals West Side Story and In the Heights, along with making-of-a-musical pic tick, tick…Boom! Also in the Artios mix are tune-filled toons Luca, Encanto and Vivo.

Winners will be announced during a virtual ceremony on March 17. See the full list of Artios Awards nominations below, and check out the TV, theater and short-film nominees here.

The casting crews for House of Gucci, King Richard, The Power of the Dog, Tick, Tick…Boom! and West Side Story will vie in the marquee Big Budget – Drama category. In the running for Big Budget – Comedy are Cruella, Don’t Look Up, The French Dispatch, In the Heights and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the...

The casting branch of the academy is only eight years old and doesn’t have an Oscar category of its own. However, the Casting Society of America has been handing out the Artios Awards for 37 years (“Artios” is from the ancient Greek meaning “perfectly fitted.”).

Nominees for feature films were announced on February 1 (the last day of Oscar nominations voting). Many of the leading Academy Awards contenders reaped bids across the various categories according to production cost. Winners will be revealed a virtual ceremony on March 17, which is the first day of final Oscar voting.

Last year’s big budget winners were the comedy “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” and the drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7 ” while “The Forty-Year-Old Version” and “One Night in Miami” took the equivalent prizes in the independent division. “Minari” won the low budget and “The Surrogate” the micro budget prizes while “Soul” claimed the animation award.

The Casting Society of America has nominated 100 casting directors for 39 different films for the 37th annual Artios Awards, which honor the work of casting directors in eight different feature categories.

“Don’t Look Up” and “The French Dispatch” were among the nominees in the Big Budget Comedy category, “King Richard” and “The Power of the Dog” for Big Budget Drama, “”The Tender Bar,” “Belfast” and “Coda” in the Studio or Independent categories and “The Humans” and “Shiva Baby” in Low Budget and Micro Budget.

With categories covering every genre and budget level, most of the top contenders for this year’s film awards were included, with the exception of “Dune,” “Licorice Pizza,” “Nightmare Alley,” “Being the Ricardos” and “The Tragedy of Macbeth.”

Winners will be announced on March 17, though the planned in-person ceremony has been canceled because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The nominees:

Animation

Encanto - Jamie Sparer Roberts, Grace C. Kim...