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If you follow the Twitter account Florida Man, you know a lot of unusual news comes out of the Sunshine State. However, rarely do these down-and-out tales match the unfortunate yet ultimately endearing story of Roger Daltrey the Cat, who was found on the streets by animal control officers in Naples, Florida.

Roger, who resembles a Himalayan with his blue eyes and long tan coat, was discovered immobile with no use of his back legs, no control of his bodily functions, not neutered — and with a bullet lodged in his spine. His story was first reported by The Dodo, which...

Cruel Intentions: Sitaru Aims to Provoke with Abortion Drama

Director Adrian Sitaru makes his most galling effort yet with his fourth film, Illegitimate, a social drama engaging two hot-button taboo topics all rolled up into one unsightly experience. At its core, the film is an abortion drama, which automatically places the title in an arena with the hailed juggernaut of the New Romanian Wave, 2007’s 4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days, which famously netted Cristian Mungiu the Palme d’Or. It’s perhaps an unfair comparison since this rudimentary scenario aims to convey nagging intergenerational discord by complicating the issue of abortion as the result of incest. Unfortunately, the end result is as visually putrid as its subject matter is repugnant, never necessitating the narrative extremities which it assumes will shock or unnerve.

While enjoying a family meal with his grown children, widower Victor Anghelescu (Adrien Titieni), an aging obstetrician, gets...

The 15-second spot will stream on Sports Illustrated’s website on Thursday

After a “misunderstanding” between Sports Illustrated and domestic violence advocacy group UltraViolet almost led to the rejection of a powerful advertisement highlighting domestic abuse cases haunting the National Football League, the sports website will go ahead and air it ahead of Super Bowl Xlix on Sunday.

“While this specific campaign had two components — banner and flash — only the banner ad was reviewed due to a minor technical glitch. The banner ad we felt could be mistaken for our editorial stance,” spokesman Scott Novak said in a statement to the media.

The Chicago Film Festival is sadly not New York, Cannes, Toronto, Telluride or Sundance. It doesn’t take place in a quaint mountain town but in the heart of Streeterville where the film fest has taken over a local AMC multiplex. It doesn’t get world premieres of the biggest auteur debuts or Oscar bait like Inherent Vice, Gone Girl or The Theory of Everything. Special screenings like Birdman, Wild, St. Vincent, The Imitation Game, Clouds of Sils Maria and Two Days, One Night are all leftovers that the blogs and other festivals have already absorbed and spit back out.

What that leaves are the under-the-radar gems, the local Chicago color that never makes it past the Mississippi and the early looks at darlings that didn’t get the due attention the first time around the festival circuit. Last year, Chicagoans got a look at Le Week-end, Like Father, Like Son,...

It was a photo finish at the box office this weekend between Gone Girl and Annabelle, though both movies are winners regardless of their rank.David Fincher's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's immensely popular novel took first place with $37.5 million, while the prequel to The Conjuring was a very close second with $37.1 million. The two movies were seperated by a mere $378,854.Those impressive debuts led to an overall boom at the box office: the top 12 earned $139.5 million, which is up 21 percent from the same weekend last year (when Gravity led the way with over $55 million). In fact, this is the biggest weekend ever in the month of October.Playing at 3,014 theaters, Gone Girl opened to $37.5 million this weekend. That's the biggest opening ever for director David Fincher ahead of Panic Room, and its star Ben Affleck's highest debut since Daredevil in 2003.While it couldn't quite match Shutter Island...

Coinciding with its domestic debut, Gone Girl opened to $24.5 million from 39 international markets this weekend.It opened to $6.7 million in the U.K. and $4.6 million in Australia; both marked all-time highs for director David Fincher. It also played well in Russia ($3.4 million) and Germany ($2.6 million), while it was less impressive in Mexico and Brazil (both below $1 million).Fincher's last two movies*The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)*earned $128 million and $130 million, respectively. Based on the initial results, Gone Girl will likely wind up above that level.Bang Bang, the Bollywood remake of Knight & Day, opened to $22.7 million overseas this weekend. Most of that came from India, where it tallied a massive $19.3 million (third-highest debut ever for a non-franchise title). A week ahead of its U.S. debut, Dracula Untold earned $21 million from 25 foreign markets. It had a strong $4.9 million four-day opening in Mexico, and did decent business in the U.

Updated, Monday, 12:47 Pm: We have all 29 films’ final totals updated so far, including this weekend’s big box office king, The Maze Runner. Updated so far (besides Maze Runner) are Universal’s The Boxtrolls and Lucy, Disney/Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, and the Fox titles Let’s Be Cops, How To Train Your Dragon 2 from DreamWorks’ Animation, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Paramount’s newly revamped franchises Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Hercules, Fox’s Ya success story The Fault In Our Stars, Universal’s horror flicks As Above/So Below and The Purge: Anarchy, Fox’s El Nino, Finding Fanny, Doktorspiele and Guten Tag, Ramon. We also just got Warner Bros. titles’ Dolphin Tale 2, Into The Storm, If I Stay, Relatos Salvajes and Rurouni Kenshin: The Legend Ends and other Uni titles The Riot Club, indie fav Boyhood and dance franchise Step Up All In.

Record breaking isn't an activity reserved for Olympians. There are a baffling number of strange, silly and amazing ways to make it into the books, and Guinness World Records is trying to collect them all. The franchise recently celebrated its 60th anniversary and released the newest edition of its popular records book. Joining the oldest living person and fastest dog on two paws is a batch of first-time record breakers. While some of the new spots are filled by celebrities, plenty of the additions are everyday people (or animals) with an unusual talent. From a high-flying cat to and an extremely tall teen,...

Update, Monday, 3:35 Pm: Overseas actuals have been logged for Lucy, Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes, Hercules, Into The Storm, Tmnt, The Fault In Their Stars, If I Stay, 22 Jump Street, Sex Tape, Deliver Us From Evil, Boyhood, How To Train Your Dragon 2, Let’s Be Cops, Step Up: All In, As Above, So Below, Transformers: Age of Extinction, and Relatos Salvajes. Meanwhile, Warner Bros.’ Adam Sandler-Drew Barrymore rom com Blended flew past $80M abroad, a bonus considering the film flatlined stateside, next to the duo’s previous outings, with $46.3M. Total global stands at $126.3M. More to come. — Anthony D’Alessandro contributing with Monday actuals.

Related: ‘Guardians’ Tops Lowest Grossing Post-Labor Day Domestic Weekend Since 2000

Previous, Sunday, 4:15 Pm Pt: This weekend domestically is projected to be the lowest grossing of 2014, off 23% from a year ago. And yet, the international frame is...

The creative team behind Red Dog is reuniting for Blue Dog, an origin story which will serve as a stand-alone film and form part of the franchise that will continue with Yellow Dog.

The canine caper was one of two features, TV drama Glitch and nine multi-platform projects that secured the final round of funding from Screen Australia in the current financial year.

The other film is Downriver, a mystery inspired by real events that will mark the feature directing debut of writer- director Grant Scicluna.

Screen Australia is investing more than $4.5 million in these 12 projects, triggering production worth more than $25 million. CEO Graeme Mason noted the value of Australian stories was reaffirmed at Cannes with Australian film sales to international territories more than doubling the volume of sales made there last year.

Nelson Woss, producer of the Dog franchise, has formed Good Dog Enterprises, a distribution company that will...

Our International Sales Agent (Isa) of the Day coverage is back again for this year's Cannes Film Festival. We will feature successful, upcoming, innovative and trailblazing agents from around the world, and cover the latest trends in sales and distribution. Beyond the numbers and deals, this segment will also share inspirational and unique stories of how these individuals have evolved and paved their way in the industry, and what they envision for the new waves in global cinema.

Isa's of the Day will be posted regularly during Cannes, but the buzz has already begun with the recent release of the festival lineup -- so expect to see Isa updates over the coming weeks.

The first Isa of the Day is Lise Romanoff, Managing Director and CEO of Worldwide Distribution at Vision Films. Based in Sherman Oaks, California, Vision Films is an independent Worldwide Sales Agent and VOD Aggregator of over 500 Feature Films, 500 Documentaries and 100 different Music Programs from some of the most prolific independent film producers in the world.

In early 2013, Vision Films expanded into the world of domestic distribution with the creation of their own DVD/ VOD label, releasing films day-and-date on DVD and VOD through all cable and digital platforms such as Comcast, Directv, Dish, At&T, iTunes and Amazon, and retailers including RedBox, Walmart, Best Buy and Target. It is one of the few independent companies with a worldwide presence to also have a domestic division. Vision Films works directly with all its platforms and has no middlemen, releasing at least 2 - 3 titles on DVD and 3 - 4 titles on VOD every month.

Since opening their doors as a DVD/ VOD label, Vision Films has released an array of independent feature films including Hamlet And Hutch with Burt Reynolds; Wreckers, a coming-of-age story starring Benedict Cumberbatch; The Employer, an intense thriller starring Malcolm McDowell; Contract Killers is a non-stop martial arts action picture; and Sunset Strip, a music and pop culture documentary that chronicles Strip from its origins in the 1920s through today featuring Slash, Johnny Depp, Mickey Rourke, Dan Aykroyd, Keanu Reeves, Ozzy Osbourne, Hugh Hefner, and music from Jane’s Addiction, Smashing Pumpkins, and more.

The Vision Films catalog also has stories of global consciousness, including Comedy Warriors, a documentary where Zach Galifianakis, Lewis Black and Bob Saget help disabled soldiers heal through humor by teaching them stand-up comedy; Finding Happiness by Ted Nicholaou, a spiritual journey starring Elisabeth Röhm; Femme: Women Healing The World with Sharon Stone by Emmanuel Itier; and Shirin In Love, a romantic comedy starring Nazanin Boniadi by Ramin Niami about a quirky Iranian-American young woman who goes against tradition to follow her heart.

Lise Romanoff recently took the time to speak with SydneysBuzz:

What are buyers looking for?

2014 has been a vibrant year! Buyers are looking for product that can play across all channels of distribution: Theatrical, Home Video, VOD and Television. VOD has opened up a lot of doors for “niche” product because the Internet is the best way to find a specific fan base. We are offering star-studded feature films and top-notch documentaries that entertain and inspire. We attend all of the film markets, as well as the TV markets, and even the specialty territory-specific regional markets.

Where are the strongest markets?

U.S., Canada, U.K., Australia, Germany, France, Italy and Japan are the strongest countries, but for the most part, sales are evenly spread around the world.

How are sales going?

Sales are up about 30% this year, but we are working harder than ever. Many of the films that we started pre-selling last year are now completed.

What are your intentions for Cannes?

We're looking to sell the films we are bringing to Cannes, and we're looking to acquire new family, action and animated features.

What is your line-up for Cannes?

Vision Films’ Cannes line-up includes God Loves Caviar, the journey of Ioannis Varvakis from humble Greek pirate to international caviar millionaire with Catherine Deneuve and John Cleese; The Identical, earmarked for a wide screen theatrical release this fall in the U.S. stars Ashley Judd, Seth Green and Ray Liotta and introduces Blake Rayne as the identical twin of the biggest rock star in the world; As Dreamers Do, a bio pic about the early years of Mr. Walt Disney; 10 Things I Hate About You is the sequel to Gil Junger’s 10 Things I Hate About Life starring Evan Rachel Wood and Thomas McDonell; Fear Clinic with Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) will bring a new meaning to phobias this fall; and Mantervention, a sexy comedy with Chloe Bridges, where Travis Van Winkle shows Nick Roux how to get over his ex and #ontothenext.

Why include globally conscious films in your catalog?

A lot of documentaries make you think. It's important to take a few minutes and look at the world around us. Documentaries traditionally don’t garner as much revenue as feature films, but it makes me feel very good to have them in our catalog. I also feel that if I have this type of product, I'll attract other companies that have the same mission to release films that give back to the world.

We'll always continue to sell good horror or action films, but selling films with good messages makes me very happy at this point in my career.

As far as distribution is concerned, VOD is a good type of niche for this programming. On the long-term view... as the Internet develops, and people have go-to sites for these types of films, it will work. We will be able to develop these channels, bring like-minded communities together, and generate more money for the filmmakers so they can continue to produce these kinds of films.

How did Vision Films start?

Founded in 1997 and based in Sherman Oaks, California, Vision Films started in the garage of it founder, and now has grown to become an independent Worldwide Distributor and VOD Aggregator of thousands of feature films, documentaries and music Programs. Vision Films manages all available rights from Theatrical, Video, Television and VOD/ Digital Media in both the International and domestic marketplaces. Vision works closely with producers to develop a special marketing plan as well as a strategy to license their film(s) to the right distributors around the world through relationships cultivated over nearly 24 years.

*Additional Information for Vision Films

Mission Statement

Vision Films’ mission is to provide top-notch independent feature films, documentaries and music programming that entertain, inspire, and informs audiences. Vision Films invests time and effort to keep on top of the latest cutting-edge technological innovations of the rapidly growing digital domain. We treat each release as special and unique. We respect our filmmakers and involve them in the release of their films, as today it’s all about reaching the core audience and we believe producers know how to do just that.

Principles

Lise Romanoff is the Managing Director/ CEO of Worldwide Distribution and has been in the feature film and television distribution business for more then 20 years. Lise specializes in North America (U.S. and Canada), U.K., France, Italy, Australia/ N.Z., and Africa markets, focuses on the company’s expansion into domestic DVD and Video On Demand (VOD) distribution. Lise also serves as a Chairperson/ Secretary to Ifta’s Executive Committee and Board of Directors. Adam Wright is the Executive Vice President/ International Sales and Acquisitions who specializes in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America markets. Adam was formerly President of Regent Worldwide Sales and a sales executive at Porchlight and Turner. Alexandra Sparer is a Sales Associate who specializes in Eastern and Central Europe including Russia, as well as Scandinavia, India, Turkey, Greece markets. Alex Saveliev is the Director of Domestic Distribution for Vision Films’ DVD/ VOD label. Nathan Ross is the Director of Servicing and Digital Operations.Jasmine Abrams is the Contracts Manager.Monique Green is the Director of Finance.Jennifer Schultz is the Sales and Marketing Coordinator.

Hans Petter Moland’s Berlin Competition entry [pictured] sells to France and Turkey, among others.

TrustNordisk has recorded further sales for In Order of Disappearance.

Hans Petter Moland’s action-comedy has now been sold to France and Andorra (Chrysalis Films), Benelux (Wildbunch), Turkey and Cyprus (Umut Sanat Filmcilik), Hungary (Vertigo), Poland (M2 Films), Romania (Independenta Film ´97) and Estonia (Estin Film).

The film has its world premiere in Competition at Berlin on Feb 10 and had previously sold to the likes of Germany, the UK and South Korea.

Rikki Ennis, CEO at TrustNordisk, commented: “The high demand for Hans Petter Moland’s In Order of Disappearance underlines his position as a star director. This film proves again that Moland is a masterful film-maker who excels in creating quirky and dark Nordic comedies with great sales potential both locally and internationally.”

In Order of Disappearance marks Moland’s third time in Competition at Berlin and stars Stellan Skarsgård as Nils, a...

Last week, the Slamdance Film Festival, now entering their 20th year, laid bare their competition slate of films for 2014. Today brings us the rest of their program. Rounding it out we have the always eclectic and well worth catching now expanded series of shorts, the special screenings which features Bill Plympton's latest Cheatin'. And then we have the Beyond program, which features second and third features from indie directors. Last year's Beyond slate proved to be rather fantastic with Adrian Sitaru's humorous metapysical ponderer Domestic and J.R. Hughto's romantic thriller Diamond On Vinyl leading the pack. At this point it is anyone's guess as to how this year's five films in Beyond will play, but it's great to get a clue. So get one...

[Read the whole post on twitchfilm.com...]...

Creature Discomfort: Sitaru Returns to Familial Unrest

For his third feature film, Domestic, Romanian director Adrian Sitaru returns to the blackly comedic potential of familial discord that made his successful sophomore feature, Best Intentions, unspool like a jocular slice of Cristi Puiu. While that film had autobiographical roots for Sitaru in its examination of one family’s grappling with matriarchal medical issues, here we get a triptych of nuclear families, all living in the same apartment complex and all suffering various ramifications brought upon by the consequences of interacting with domesticated animals, some of whom have rather murky roles as either an item of entertainment or consumption. What results is a sometimes droll tragicomedy that veers between the maudlin and mundane.

Beginning with a group of apartment complex residents complaining to the building administrator, Mr. Lazar (Adrian Titieni, also appearing in this year’s Child’s Pose) about the annoyances...

With a strong marketing effort*and a boost from 3D ticket pricing*Gravity blasted off to a fantastic $55.8 million this weekend. Meanwhile, Runner Runner couldn't find its footing, and overall business wound up down 13 percent from the same weekend last year.At 3,575 locations, Gravity's $55.8 million debut is a new opening weekend record for the month of October ahead of 2011's Paranormal Activity 3 ($52.6 million). It's also the highest start ever for stars Sandra Bullock and George Clooney ahead of The Heat and Batman and Robin, respectively. Recognizing that Gravity had huge commercial potential, Warner Bros. rolled out a blockbuster-level marketing effort in the past month. Advertisements played up the movie's unique setting and stunning visuals, and also positioned it as a thrilling, action-packed adventure. Leading up to the release, Warner Bros. started emphasizing the movie's critical reception, which was nothing short of fantastic (it currently has a 98 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Also,...

Sarajevo Film Festival’s industry days include CineLink Co-production Market, Work In Progress, Regional Forum and Industry Terrace

From Aug 21 to 24 at the Sarajevo Film Festival, the international film industry will hit the town for four days of meetings and networking.

The industry section of the festival has established itself as the main hub for regional film-makers, but since last year projects from the Caucasus region and the North African and Middle Eastern countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea are also eligible for CineLink, the co-production market which is a backbone of this festival strand.

From this year, there is also a new initiative, the Industry Terrace.

CineLink

CineLink is a development and financing platform for regional feature-length fiction films destined for European co-production.

From Aug 22 to 24, over 500 professionals from the region and the rest of Europe will gather in search of talented film-makers and promising projects. For the representatives of projects at the Co-Production Market and Work...

During this year's Transylvania International Film Festival in Cluj-Napoca, Romania, Twitch had the chance to meet the producer of Adrian Sitaru´s films, Monica Lazurean-Gorgan. Although he has made "just" three feature films so far (also several TV productions and shorts), his style is unmistakable. The progressive Romanian director came into notoriety through his signature storytelling style, built upon the most common daily situations, yet handled with remarkable suspense, while leaving out all the action. Hooked presents a fresh spin on the love triangle and accidental murder, Best Intentions squeezes a spine-chilling escalation of events from one unexpected and awkward hospitalization and Domestic follows in their footsteps. Absurd and surreal humor became one of the director´s trademarks. Sitaru is concerned with ordinary life, however still piling up...

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The latest movie adaptation of a Meyer novel will likely not lead to a movie franchise Directed and adapted by Andrew Niccol, Stephenie Meyer's sci-fi book The Host debuted at no. 6 on the Us / Canada box-office chart this Easter weekend, earning an anemic $10.6 million at 3,202 North American venues, as per actuals found on the web site Box Office Mojo. Many pundits had been predicting The Host to debut in the mid-to-high teens. What that means (and considering the film's budget; see below), the romantic sci-fier featuring Saoirse Ronan, Max Irons, and Jake Abel is this year's most recent big box-office disappointment. (Pictured above: Abel as one of the men in Ronan's in The Host) It may seem mean-spirited to compare The Host to either Twilight or The Hunger Games; but then again, both of those movies were also adaptations of popular novels geared to young adults, and featured a...

Adrian Sitaru's third feature Domestic begins with the residents of an apartment building in modern Romania gathering in the lobby to discuss with their building president Mr. Lazar (Adrian Titieni) the pesky presence of one mangy mutt whose been hanging out in their hallways and stairwells instead of sitting safe and sound inside its owner's apartment. Some residents want to take the dog to a humane and EU-certified animal shelter where it will be warm and well fed. Mr. Lazar caught in the middle of this blustery crowd stumbles his way into writing a notice that is drafted by at least half a dozen people yelling and babbling at the top of their lungs. This is all done in one impeccably composed wide shot. The...

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