Podcasts about lionsgate films

The FullyGeeked boys are back with episode 285 with their unique look at the world. Rockstar told us GTA VI will be delayed a year later but dropped 475 million viewed trailer in 24hrs!!!This week's trailers included The Long Walk (2025) Lionsgate Films, The Old Guard 2 (2025) Netflix, Peacemaker 2 (2025) Max and Grand Theft Auto VI (2026) Trailer 2 Rockstar. TV and Films this week: Power Book 3: Raising Kanan S4E9 (#mgmplus 42:50), Mobland S1E7 (#paramountplus 44:40), The Last of Us S2E5 (#hbo 1:09:02) among others#Podcast #TheFullyGeekedPod #Films #TV #Review #GuysThatPodcast #Like #Movies #Follow #Comment #Subscribe

The Blasters & Blades PodcastWe've got another #HorrorMovieReview episode, which we're dubbing a #StabbyMovieReview. We watched the 2007 adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist, which was named… wait for it… The Mist. We had fun discussing this, but JR wasn't as huge of a fan as Clan Stabby. This one was just the hosts, and we opened by talking about our favorite beverages! This was an awesome movie and a fun chat, so what are you waiting for? Seriously, lend us your eyes and ears, you won't be sorry!! Click the link and check out this episode. Co-Hosts: JR Handley (Author) (Grunt)Nick Garber (Comic Book Artist) (Super Grunt)Madam Stabby Stab (Uber Fan) (Horror Nerd)We work for free, so if you wanna throw a few pennies our way there is a linked Buy Me A Coffee site where you can do so. Just mention the podcast in the comments when you donate, and I'll keep the sacred bean water boiling!Support the Show: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/AuthorJRHandley Our LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/blastersandbladespodcast Today's SponsorSavage Skies by JR Handley: https://www.amazon.com/Savage-Skies-J-R-Handley-ebook/dp/B0CBGGYMBQ/ Coffee Brand Coffee Affiliate Support the Show: https://coffeebrandcoffee.com/?ref=y4GWASiVorJZDb Discount Code: PodcastGrunts Coupon Code Gets you 10% offCheck out the Movie!Movie Link: https://www.amazon.com/Mist-weinstein/dp/B003TNQEF0 Movie Trailer Link: https://youtu.be/LhCKXJNGzN8?si=3pyO4pN6EjOFOCeV Movie Wiki Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mist_(film) Check out the book: https://www.amazon.com/Mist-Stephen-King-ebook/dp/B071S65BYM/ #scifishenanigans #scifishenaniganspodcast #bbp #blastersandblades #blastersandbladespodcast #podcast #scifipodcast #fantasypodcast #scifi #fantasy #books #rpg #comics #fandom #literature #comedy #veteran #army #armyranger #ranger #scififan #redshirts #scifiworld #sciencefiction #scifidaily #scificoncept #podcastersofinstagram #scificons #podcastlife #podcastsofinstagram #scifibooks #awardwinningscifi #newepisode #podcastersofinstagram #podcastaddict #the #podcast #scifigeek #scifibook #sfv #scifivisionaries #firesidechat #chat #panel #fireside #moviereview #review #retroreview #retroreviews #moviereviews #religionquestion #CoffeeBrandCoffee #MovieReview #Review #StabbyMovieReview #HorrorMovie #HorrorMovieReview #TheMist #TheMistByStephenKing #StephenKing #Slasher #SlasherFlick #JamieLeeCurtis #Halloween #FridayThe13th #Jason #TheMask #FreddyKreuger #NightmareOnElmStreet #TheBirds #Hitchcock #PsychologicalThriller #RoomWithAView #NorthByNorthwest #Visceral #HauntedHouse #EldritchHorror #Cthulhu #ElderGods #Lovecraft #OldGods #BlairWitchProject #BradleyTank #AbramsTank #WalkingDead #PregnantPause #UncomfortablePause #RainbowSunFranks #ThePunisher #MelissaMcBride #AndyStahl #MikeHatlen #BuckTaylor #AmbroseCornell #JuanGabrielPareja #Morales #ArrowheadBase #WalterFauntleroy #Donaldson #BrandonODell #BobbyEagleton #JacksonHurst #JoeEagleton #SusanWatkins #HattieTurman #MathewGreer #Silas #KellyCollinsLintz #StephanieDrayton #RonClintonSmith #MrMackey #AminJoseph #BrianLibby #GreggBrazzel #TomSmalley #GinnieRandall #Tess #TiffanyMorgan #Denise #SonnyFranks #ThomasJane #DavidDrayton #Billy #MarciaGayHarden #MrsCarmody #LaurieHolden #AmandaDunfrey #Blondie #AndreBraugher #BrentNorton #TobyJones #OllieWeeks #ColtRevolver #WilliamSadler #JimGrondin #JeffreyDeMunn #DanMiller #FrancesSternhagen #IreneReppler #SamWitwer #PrivateWayneJessup #AlexaDavalos #Sally #NathanGamble #BillyDrayton #ChrisOwen #Norm #RobertTreveiler #BudBrown #DavidJensen #MyronLaFleur Copyright @ The Weinstein Company LLC and Lionsgate Films 2007. Any illegal reproduction of this content will result in immediate legal action by the rights holder. The clips used in this movie review were utilized under the Fair Use Doctrine and are transformative in nature.

fWotD Episode 2855: John Wick (film) Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Thursday, 27 February 2025 is John Wick (film).John Wick is a 2014 American action thriller film directed by Chad Stahelski and written by Derek Kolstad. Keanu Reeves stars as John Wick, a legendary hitman who comes out of retirement to seek revenge against the men who killed his dog, a final gift from his recently deceased wife. The film also stars Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Adrianne Palicki, Bridget Moynahan, Dean Winters, Ian McShane, John Leguizamo, and Willem Dafoe.Kolstad's script drew on his interest in action, revenge, and neo noir films. The producer Basil Iwanyk purchased the rights as his first independent film production. Reeves, whose career was declining, liked the script and recommended that the experienced stunt choreographers Stahelski and David Leitch direct the action scenes; Stahelski and Leitch successfully lobbied to co-direct the project. Principal photography began in October 2013, on a $20–$30 million budget, and concluded that December. Stahelski and Leitch focused on long, highly choreographed single takes to convey action, eschewing the rapid cuts and closeup shots of contemporary action films.Iwanyk struggled to secure theatrical distributors because industry executives were dismissive of an action film by first-time directors, and Reeves's recent films had financially underperformed. Lionsgate Films purchased the distribution rights to the film two months before its release date on October 24, 2014. Following a successful marketing campaign that changed its perception from disposable entertainment to a prestige event helmed by an affable leading actor, John Wick exceeded box-office projections and became a modest success, grossing $86 million worldwide. It received generally positive reviews for its style and its action sequences. Critics hailed John Wick as a comeback for Reeves, in a role that played to his acting strengths. The film's mythology of a criminal underworld with rituals and rules was praised as its most distinctive and interesting feature.John Wick began a successful franchise which includes three sequels (John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017), John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019), and John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)), the prequel television series The Continental (2023), and the spin-off film Ballerina (2025), as well as video games and comic books. It is seen as having revitalized the action genre and popularized long single takes with choreographed, detailed action.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:56 UTC on Thursday, 27 February 2025.For the full current version of the article, see John Wick (film) on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm generative Stephen.

Note: We like our language NSFW salty, and there be spoilers here...Face Front, True Believer! Illegal Machine, Mr. Fixit and Diabolu Frank talk about Frank Castle across all media-- comics, movie, television, animation, video games-- in one of the liveliest and most fun conversations that we've ever had for the show! Excelsior! Episode Art Gallery #MarvelSHP Friend us on Facebook Roll through our tumblr Email us at rolledspinepodcasts@gmail.com Tweet us as a group @rolledspine, or individually as Diabolu Frank & Illegal Machine. Fixit don't tweet. If The Marvel Super Heroes Podcast Blogger page isn't your bag, try the umbrella Rolled Spine Podcasts Wordpress blog. Punisher, The Punisher, Marvel Studios, New World Pictures, Lionsgate Films, Netflix, Captain America, Daredevil, Jim Lee, Whilce Portacio, Frank Miller, Spider-Man, Mike Zeck,

Welcome to Hell Fest!Hosts Elissa, Kay, and Ama are joined by horror writer Seth M. Sherwood to discuss 2018's Hell Fest and along the way, Seth chats about his journey in the film industry, the inspiration behind Hell Fest, expert writing tips and the art of crafting spine-chilling horror. Now get ready to hum your best rendition of Pop Goes the Weasel and let's get into it! Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more content! Support us on Patreon where you will find uncut episodes, bonus content, and more!Follow us on socials:InstagramTikTokLetterboxd Pillow Fright theme by Brandon Scullion

DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT “For my first feature I wanted to make something interesting, funny, and heartfelt with a real independent film sensibility similar to films I loved growing up in the 80s and 90s. I see the film as an anti-rom com of sorts and wanted it to feel timeless. The casting was crucial to create the tone of the film and the characters that drive the story. The entire cast was amazing to work with. It felt like a never-ending summer camp on set. I hope that the audience is entertained, amused, touched and most of all enjoy the ride before it's over.” Filmmaker Daniel André   FILMMAKER BIOGRAPHY Daniel André is a filmmaker, artist, and music producer born in Cuernavaca, Mexico and raised in NJ, just outside New York City. Mr. André started acting at the age of five and trained in Stanislavski at age nine, working professionally in theater, television, and film throughout his teens. Mr. André studied Film and Media Arts at the University of Arizona and Pima College in Tucson, AZ, and has a degree in Film & Digital Arts. In 2022 under his own Analog 77 Films, Mr. André wrote, produced, and directed RUNNING ON EMPTY starring Keir Gilchrist, Lucy Hale (The Hating Game), Jim Gaffigan (Linoleum), Rhys Coiro (Entourage), Francesca Eastwood (Old), Monica Potter (Parenthood), Jay Pharoah (SNL) and more. Currently, Daniel is working on his next film THE LAST WILL with GMT FILMS, a biopic based on the memoir, “CURED- The Tale of Two Imaginary Boys” by Lol Tolhurst, one of the founding members of The Cure and a biopic about the life of African American author Iceberg Slim.   SYNOPSIS Keir Gilchrist, Lucy Hale, Francesca Eastwood, and comic legend Jim Gaffigan star in a brilliantly quirky romantic comedy about celebrating life and living it to its fullest. Mortimer is an odd but clever young man living a lukewarm existence in California's San Fernando Valley until he receives some life-changing news. Determined to make the most of every day, Mort sets out on a spirited quest to find meaning in his existence and discovers the girl of his dreams along the way.   IG: Written and Directed by @daniel_andre_la Cinematography by @klammer Production Design by @ryan_kaercher3 Property Master @senorschaffer Set Dressing by @msbezu Costume Design by @2undercovertourists   Stay connected with me on socials: https://www.chonacas.com/links/ Leave a 5-star review and share this valuable episode with someone special.

Robert Winfree, Jason Teasley and Mark Radulich present their Borderlands 2024 Movie Review!Borderlands is a 2024 American science fiction action comedy film co-written and directed by Eli Roth, based on the video game series developed by Gearbox Software. It stars Cate Blanchett as Lillith, an outlaw who forms an alliance with a team of misfits to find the missing daughter of the most powerful man in the universe. The ensemble cast also features Kevin Hart, Jack Black, Édgar Ramírez, Ariana Greenblatt, Florian Munteanu, Gina Gershon and Jamie Lee Curtis.The film was announced in August 2015, with Lionsgate Films developing it with Ari and Avi Arad producing, and Leigh Whannell in talks to direct. By February 2020, Erik Feig had joined as a producer and Roth was attached to direct from a screenplay by Craig Mazin. Casting took place from May 2020 to April 2021, with Blanchett cast first and others the following year. Principal photography began in April 2021 in Budapest, Hungary, during the COVID-19 pandemic, and wrapped in June. Two weeks of reshoots took place in early 2023, directed by Tim Miller due to Roth's commitments to Thanksgiving (2023). That June, Mazin removed his name from the project and was replaced by Joe Crombie.Borderlands premiered at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Los Angeles on August 6, 2024, and was released in the United States by Lionsgate on August 9. The film was panned by critics and has grossed $10 million worldwide.Disclaimer: The following may contain offensive language, adult humor, and/or content that some viewers may find offensive – The views and opinions expressed by any one speaker does not explicitly or necessarily reflect or represent those of Mark Radulich or W2M Network.Mark Radulich and his wacky podcast on all the things:https://linktr.ee/markkind76alsohttps://www.teepublic.com/user/radulich-in-broadcasting-networkFB Messenger: Mark Radulich LCSWTiktok: @markradulichtwitter: @MarkRadulichInstagram: markkind76RIBN Album Playlist: https://suno.com/playlist/91d704c9-d1ea-45a0-9ffe-5069497bad59

Every moment is filled with danger for a man cutting timber in the Pacific Northwest, but Jack becomes the target of a brutal assault from more than the elements in this action-packed thriller. As Jack ventures deeper into the woods, he crosses paths with a criminal band of madmen from his past intent on killing him before he can fight his way back to civilization. Academy Award Nominee Alec Baldwin, Stephen Dorff and Tom Welling star in an electrifying drama about one man's treacherous journey on the road to redemption.   Cast: Clive Standen, Lucy Martin, Jesse Metcalfe, Tom Welling, Lochlyn Munro, Chelsey Reist, Tom Stevens, Mike Dopud, Stephen Dorff, Alec Baldwin Director: Brian Skiba Writer: Joe Perruccio Executive Producer: Corey Large Producers: Eric Bromberg, Ram Getz, Greg Meyer, Nick Mao, Michael Mortensen, Jordan Wayne Nott, Matthew Helderman, Luke Taylor, Tyler Gould, Kirk Shaw, Stephanie Rennie Reference  Article: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/alec-baldwin-clear-cut-trailer-1235934450/   Stay connected on my Newsletter and socials: https://www.chonacas.com/links/

Brand new @EchoChamberFP https://www.instagram.com/echochamberfp/ is ready to GO!!! This week Ascendant Fox, Bromantics, Burton Fox Films, Vertigo Releasing bring us a UK coming of age story. Toho Studios & Robot Communications bring the classic monster to 1940's Japan. We go back to Panem with Color Force, Good Universe & Lionsgate Films, while Let Me Be, Netflix take us to Paris. AND it's a fantastical journey from Frame of Reference Entertainment, Snakebyte Productions, Vision Films. Today we have: Gassed Up Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/SUwdtaogtcY BFI London Film Festival: 10th October 2023 US Theatrical Release Date: 10th October 2023 UK Theatrical Release Date: 9th February 2024 Digital Release Date: 29th March 2024 Director: George Amponsah Cast: Stephen Odubola, Rawdat Quadri, Craige Middleburg, Taz Skylar, Tobias Jowett, Mohammed Mansaray, Jelena Gavrilovic, Steve Toussaint, Mae Muller, David Monteith, Harry Pinero, Yung Filly, Ms Banks Running Time: 102 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/4nl7C2yw-xA?si=OXjqg6jnNgWjK7dh Website: Here. https://www.vertigoreleasing.com/movie/gassed-up ---------------- Godzilla Minus One Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/r3lIHrJKbIM Shinjuku Toho Building, Tokyo, World Premiere: 18th October 2023 Japan Theatrical Release Date: 3rd November 2023 US Theatrical Release Date: 1st December 2023 UK Theatrical Release Date: 15th December 2023 UK Digital Release Date: 1st June 2024 Director: Takashi Yamazaki Cast: Ryunosuke Kamiki, Minami Hamabe, Yuki Yamada, Munetaka Aoki, Hidetaka Yoshioka, Sakura Ando, Kuranosuke Sasaki, Sae Nagatani, Miou Tanaka, Yuya Endo, Darren Barnet, Ell, Khoi Dao, Greg Chun, Keong Sim, Zehra Fazal Running Time: 125 min Cert: 12a Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/r7DqccP1Q_4?si=xiIRv_u2Okoxtp_H Website: Here. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/godzilla-minus-one-release-date-news-ending ---------------- The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/9HW254kjVeA BFI IMAX, London, World Premiere: 9th November 2023 Theatrical Release Date: 17th November 2023 US Digital Release Date: December 19, 2023 UK Digital Release Date: 2nd June 2024 Director: Francis Lawrence Cast: Tom Blyth, Dexter Sol Ansell, Rachel Zegler, Josh Andrés Rivera, Viola Davis, Peter Dinklage, Jason Schwartzman, Hunter Schafer, Rosa Gotzler, Fionnula Flanagan, Burn Gorman, Max Raphael, Ayomide Adegun, Amélie Hoeferle, Lilly Cooper, Aamer Husain, Ashley Liao, Zoe Renee Running Time: 157 min Cert: 12a Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/RDE6Uz73A7g?si=s8WdTieruhBg25E5 ---------------- Under Paris (aka Sous la Seine) Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/SXENLOFf0qg Digital Release Date: 5th June 2024 Director: Xavier Gens Cast: Bérénice Bejo, Nassim Lyes, Anne Marivin, Aurélia Petit, Lea Leviant, Sandra Parfait, Aksel Ustun, Marvin Dubart, Daouda Keita, Ibrahima Ba, Anne Marivin, Stéphane Jacquot, Jean-Marc Bellu, Nagisa Morimoto, Yannick Choirat Running Time: 83 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/jnCefPQIH98?si=Tbmkpv53Cbbrq3nS Website: Here. https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/under-paris-release-date-news ---------------- Lost in Tomorrow Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/RI5YdG98gKg Hollywood, World Premiere: 23rd April 2022 Digital Release Date: 11th June 2024 Director: Kellen Gibbs Cast: Charity Rose, Richard Neil, Julia Parker, Renee Pezzotta, Zachary Ray Sherman, Anna Telfer, Jordan Knapp, Arthur Roberts, Jane Edwina Seymour, Tessa Espinola, Jessica Graham, Cynthia Yelle, Kally Khourshid, Evan Sloan, Lesley Tsina, Diego Medellin, Gar-Ye Lee, Ray Fonseca, Roland Shorter, Ka'Prise Colvin, Stuart W. Howard, Raquel Rosser, Jonas Gibbs, Brittany Benita Running Time: 82 min Cert: 12a Trailer: Here. https://vimeo.com/918003760/8d4487f77d?share=copy Website: Here. https://www.for-entertainment.com/tomorrow ---------------- *(Music) 'Da Joint' (Instrumental) by EPMD - 2020 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/eftv/message

Join BP, Coop and Justin as we discuss SAW X, the 2023 sequel and 10th instalment in the SAW franchise serving as both a direct sequel to Saw (2004) and a prequel to Saw II (2005). It stars Tobin Bell and Shawnee Smith who reprise their roles from the previous films, alongside Synnøve Macody Lund, Steven Brand, Renata Vaca, and Michael Beach. The film sees John Kramer (Bell) travelling to Mexico in hopes that an experimental procedure may cure his terminal cancer. John later discovers that the operation is a scam, prompting him to kidnap those responsible and subject them to his trademark death traps as retribution. Chapters 0:00 Get some rest Cecilia 0:07 Title Sequence 0:44 Introducing Saw X 1:58 Overall Thoughts 4:43 Favourite Parts 8:14 What We Disliked 18:35 Trivia 21:22 Ratings and Final Thoughts 23:33 Thank You 23:55 Karma Follow the Complete Guide to Horror Movies podcast on our social channels below. ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to our YouTube channel⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Shop our Store!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Tip us $5⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Linktree⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ ↪ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Letterboxd⁠⁠⁠ A tenth installment was reported to be in development with Twisted Pictures in April 2021, when Stolberg and Goldfinger, writers for the previous two entries of the series, announced that they had completed the script in December 2021. Greutert, who had directed two other installments of the series and edited six, was also confirmed as the film's director. Filming took place from October 2022 to February 2023 in Mexico City. Saw X was theatrically released by Lionsgate Films on September 29, 2023. It has grossed $111 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics, in turn becoming the best reviewed Saw film. A sequel, Saw XI, is scheduled for release in September 2025. #saw #karma #jigsaw #sawx #johnkramer #tobinbell #shawneesmith #horror #movie #death #horrorfilm #splatter #deathscene #blood #gore #scarymovie #horror #completeguidetohorror #horrormovie #scary #creepy #graphic #podcast #review #retrospective #jojosiwa

Very excited to share this electric convo with Kamala Avila-Salmon who is a very impressive lady. She is the first-ever Head of Inclusive Content for Lionsgate Films. It's fitting as innovation, uniqueness, and disruption have been hallmarks of every role she's had.  She leads a team responsible for developing and implementing diversity, equity, and inclusion strategies to ensure the Lionsgate film slate reflects inclusive stories that represent a global, diverse audience. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Business School, she has built her career across tech, music, film, television, and streaming. In our sit-down, we discuss the current state of DEI in Hollywood, how to be discerning about feedback, and what makes producers exceptional partners to studio executives. xx cg

Slightly late, BUT @EchoChamberFP https://www.instagram.com/echochamberfp/ is here for your listening pleasure!!! We stumbled on an old zombie flick from 101 Films, Syfy, The Asylum, then we get some latino superhero action thanks to DC Studios & Warner Bros. Pictures. The first of our crime / thrillers is from Roxwell Films & Universal Pictures International (UPI), we have two more from Signature Entertainment. The first is via Intrinsic Value Films, Dark Dreams Entertainment, SHFT & Filmology Finance. AND we end with the other from Rubber Tree Productions, Voltage Pictures & Lionsgate Films! Today we have: Zombie Apocalypse Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/HadBVT4-LsU Theatrical Release Date: 29th October 2011 US Digital Release Date: 27th December 2011 UK Digital Release Date: 4th June 2012 Director: Nick Lyon Cast: Ving Rhames, Gary Weeks, Johnny Pacar, Robert Blanche, Anya Monzikova, Lesley-Ann Brandt, Eddie Steeples, Taryn Manning, Lilan Bowden, Gerald Webb, Running Time: 87 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/ocxLPLNazN4?si=h_kvlKRH9lYPWeW3 ---------------- Blue Beetle Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/_Bmi6VhDQ2o El Paso, Texas, World Premiere: 14th August 2023 Theatrical Release Date: 18th August 2023 US Digital Release Date: 26th September 2023 UK Digital Release Date: 24th May 2024 Director: Ángel Manuel Soto Cast: Xolo Maridueña, Adriana Barraza, Damián Alcázar, Elpidia Carrillo, Bruna Marquezine, Isabella Aparicio, Raoul Max Trujillo, Ayden Rivera, Xol Gonzalez, Susan Sarandon, George Lopez, Belissa Escobedo, Harvey Guillén, Becky G, Bobby McGruther Running Time: 127 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/4wxyy8Rcz4k?si=918PBcr5HEqasRzX Website: Here. https://www.bluebeetle.movie/ ---------------- One Day as a Lion Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/C9sXjKDfl5s US Theatrical Release Date: 4th April 2023 US Digital Release Date: 7th April 2023 UK Digital Release Date: 25th September 2023 Director: John Swab Cast: Scott Caan, Frank Grillo, Virginia Madsen, J.K. Simmons, Taryn Manning, Marianne Rendón, Slaine, Billy Blair, Bruce Davis, Dash Melrose, Gabriel Hansen, Terrance Reed, Brett Swab, Bruce Roach, Michael Pitt Running Time: 87 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/29L6A8IBZfU?si=8li6jwz1sN5BuNgE Website: Here. https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/one-day-as-a-lion ---------------- 5Lbs of Pressure Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/HIeAPdSwkII US Theatrical Release Date: 8th March 2024 US Digital Release Date: 8th March 2024 UK Digital Release Date: 22nd May 2024 Director: Phil Allocco Cast: Luke Evans, Rory Culkin, Zac Adams, Rudy Pankow, Stephanie Leonidas, Savannah Steyn, Gary McDonald, Lorraine Burroughs, Alex Pettyfer, Jazz Lintott, Jaida Standberry, Olivia Carruthers, Julee Cerda, James Oliver Wheatley, Charlie Rawes, Laura Hopper, Grahame Fox Running Time: 83 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/aeTnUONb5IU?si=mKEl-4sL3T6Es7YO Website: Here. https://www.lionsgate.com/movies/5lbs-of-pressure ---------------- You Can't Run Forever Watch Review: Here. https://youtu.be/jW2eyXA1r6Q US Theatrical Release Date: 17th May 2024 US Digital Release Date: 17th May 2024 UK Digital Release Date: 27th May 2024 Director: Michelle Schumacher Cast: J. K. Simmons, Allen Leech, Fernanda Urrejola, Isabelle Anaya, Olivia Simmons, Max Garfin, Nathan Vincenti, Kevin Quinn, Parker Fenady, Matt Flanders, Graham Patrick Martin, Andres Velez, Michael Spears, Sean Manny Manraksa, June Clemons, Mikaela Poon, Randy Gonzalez, Shannon Hemmings, Beau Linnell, Spencer Kramber, Dan Sharkey, Anna Stone, Alet Taylor, Andy Taylor Running Time: 102 min Cert: 15 Trailer: Here. https://youtu.be/DLp1U1i1BGI Website: Here. https://www.signature-entertainment.co.uk/film/you-cant-run-forever/ ---------------- *(Music) 'Da Joint' (Instrumental) by EPMD - 2020 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/eftv/message

It is a privilege to welcome actress, singer-songwriter, and model Nina Bergman to The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast. Born in Denmark, Nina is the granddaughter of Russia's most outstanding actor, Pavel Kadochnikov. She spent her early childhood traveling around Europe with her Russian Gypsy grandparents. At 14, she received a scholarship to the musical theatre Urdang Academy in London. A year later, Nina was in Moscow attending the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre. From there, she moved to New York City and was accepted at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. At that time, Nina got her first agent and began booking various jobs in commercials, films, modeling, and plays. She also started singing in underground bands. Being an adrenaline junkie, she found herself making extra money as an amateur boxer, which later helped her book films, including Universal Pictures' The Car and the DOOM movie franchise. Her other work includes the starring role of Marie in Hell Hath No Fury, a Jesse V Johnson movie, playing a French resistance fighter, and she played the lead role of GG, who was based on a 90s goth singer in the film Carpe Noctem, which Gene Blalock directed. Nina Bergman's performance in Assassin X earned her Honorable Mention Award for Best Actress from the AOF International Film Festival for her role as the notorious Trinidad. She starred as Wonder Woman, directed by Jesse V Johnson, which stars Timothy V Murphy and Marina Sirtis. She also played a cold-hearted killer in The Wayshower with Peter Stormare and Eric Roberts and starred in Know New Art, a Newport Beach Film Festival project by the Freise Brothers and Biscuit Filmworks.  Nina also starred alongside David Arquette, Jesse Metcalfe, John Malkovich, and Vivica A. Fox.She has also been featured in numerous skits on late-night shows, including The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. Nina also hosted various E! Entertainment and Fuse shows and was a Trophy Presenter at The Grammy Awards.  She also worked on soundtracks for Lionsgate Films, singing the theme songs for Catacombs, Repo the Genetic Opera, and Sharknado. She sang the end title song in Black Limousine and the voice on the soundtrack for All About Her. Additionally, she performed live for the World Series and the NCAA College Football Season. On this episode of The Jake's Take with Jacob Elyachar Podcast, Nina Bergman discussed working on three late-night talk shows: The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and The Late Late Show with James Corden. She also discussed her latest film, Cold Meat. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/jake-s-take-with-jacob-elyachar--4112003/support.

Today we are joined with the lovely Georgia Lock around her latest movie "Strictly Confidential" by Lionsgate Films. From her past on the Disney Channel to this extra spicy Rated-R drama she gives us her perspective of making the film, the art of dramatic acting, her life as a poet/spoken word artist, a teaser of what is next for her career, and leaves us with advice for any aspiring actors trying to step into the film industry.

Nina Bergman is in the newly released feature film titled "Cold Meat" that stars her and Allen Leech (The Imitation Game, Bohemian Rhapsody, Downton Abbey) The movie was available in select theaters and also premiered in February online through KINO and "Cold Meat" is now available on demand at these outlets: https://geni.us/COLDMEAT . Nina Bergman is an actress, singer, songwriter and model. She was born in Denmark and is the granddaughter of Russia's greatest actor, Pavel Kadochnikov. Nina spent her early childhood traveling around Europe with her Russian Gypsy grandparents. At 14, she received a scholarship to the musical theatre school Urdang Academy in London. A year later, she found herself in Moscow attending the world-famous Bolshoi Theatre. From there, she moved to New York City and was accepted at NYU Tisch School of the Arts. At that time, she got her first agent and began booking various jobs in plays, movies, commercials, and modeling. She also started singing in underground bands. Being an adrenaline junkie, she found herself making extra money as an amateur boxer which later on helped her book movies like "The Car," a remake by Universal Pictures, and the franchise "DOOM" movie also with Universal Pictures. Her other work includes the starring role of Marie in "Hell Hath No Fury," a Jesse V Johnson movie, playing a French resistance fighter, and she played the lead role of "GG," who was based on a 90s goth singer in the film "Carpe Noctem," which was directed by Gene Blalock. In addition to film, she also played video game characters like "Battery" from "Call Of Duty." She has two anticipated movies coming out this year; "Chief Of Station," starring Aaron Eckhard, and "Cold Meat," starring Nina and Allen Leech, which screened at Fright Fest in London and will be in theaters later this year. Her performance in "Assassin X" earned her the Honorable Mention Award for Best Actress from the AOF International Film Festival for her role as the notorious Trinidad. She starred as "Wonder Woman," directed by Jesse V Johnson, which stars Timothy V Murphy and Marina Sirtis. She also played a cold-hearted killer in "The Wayshower," with Peter Stormare and Eric Roberts, and she starred in "Know New Art," a Newport Beach Film Festival project by the Freise Brothers and Biscuit Filmworks. Her other work includes playing the lead opposite actors like John Malkovich, David Arquette, Vivica Fox, and Jesse Metcalfe. She's been featured in numerous skits on The Late Late Show with James Corden and Craig Ferguson, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and has hosted various shows like E! Entertainment, Fuse, and The Grammys as a Trophy Presenter. Her reality show credits include Battleground Earth with Tommy Lee and Ludacris and Hollywoodfruer, the Danish acclaimed TV show. A passion for the stage drew her back to her roots as she performed in various plays such as "The Cherry Orchard" with A Noise Within, and her favorite, the portrayal of Marlene Dietrich in "Garbo's Cuban Lover" with the Macha Theatre. Her theatrical agent introduced her to Paul Anka, who shortly after began managing her music career and helped her sign a six-album contract with Warner Bros. Record by their President Rob Cavallo. They called her new solo project "N.I.N.A." which led to her last band, "Letters From The Fire." Nina worked on soundtracks for Lionsgate Films, singing the theme song for "Catacombs," "Repo the Genetic Opera," and "Sharknado". She sang the end title song in "Black Limousine" and was the voice on the soundtrack for "All About Her." Additionally, she performed live for the World Series and the NCAA College Football Season. Her work in music videos includes a starring role in Gnarls Barkley's video "Gone Daddy Gone," Sick Puppies video "All the Same," and Trey Songz "Foreigner". She has been seen in over 50 commercials and hundreds of print campaigns, ranging from La Perla to Apple Computer, Sprite, Nike, and her well-known Nature Valley and Dos Equis with the Most Interesting Man in the World. Her most recent commercial campaign is the Carls Jr. Beyond Meat and her notorious "Balls Commercial" for Saxx Underwear, where she was the spokesperson. Along with her career, Nina is an avid animal rights activist with an active voice for the ethical treatment of our companions. The life-long vegan champion for animals continues to participate in numerous charities. #ColdMeatMovie #NinaBergman #AllenLeech #FeatureFilm #ActressLife #SingerSongwriter #Modeling #DenmarkBorn #RussianHeritage #BolshoiTheatre #NYUTisch #UndergroundBands #AmateurBoxer #TheCarRemake #DOOMMovie #HellHathNoFury #CarpeNoctemFilm #CallOfDutyBattery #ChiefOfStation #FrightFestLondon #AssassinXMovie #WonderWomanFilm #TheWayshower #KnowNewArt #LateLateShow #TonightShow #EEntertainment #FuseTV #GrammysPresenter #BattlegroundEarth #Hollywoodfruer #TheCherryOrchard #MarleneDietrich #NINAMusic #LettersFromTheFire #LionsgateSoundtracks #AnimalRightsActivist

Today we are joined with film director Phil Allocco to hear all about his new movie "5lbs of Pressure" that is presented by Lionsgate films. Around learning about the layers of writing that went into this amazing crime drama, we hear about how Phil finds it cathartic to take some dark real life situations and turn them into art. Also he shares some amazing advice for aspiring film directors or anyone who is trying to take big idea and bring it to life.

This episode it a little different, as it's a converation between myself and James, a student of the DocFix Program.James' background is in drama, and later as part of the marketing department of Lionsgate Films, a very large US entertainment company and film producer and distributor. James came to us with his passion project, and his first documentary, to learn how to turn his idea into a powerful, meaningful story. This, by the way, is great evidence that the success of your film comes down to the storytelling - marketing and every other aspect of the process ultimately rests on that foundation.As his background is in drama, it was a fruitful place to discuss the diffrence between the two types of storytelling that differentiate documentary and drama. We discuss that process, but also concepts such how vital it is to grasp the real meaning of your story, the power of simplicity in storytelling, the techniques of creating subtext (the incredibly important meaning that a great story always carries), clarity and more. I hope you find it useful and another way to gain insights and skill in the art and craft of documentary storytelling. And if you have any questions, please get in touch.Are you interested in joining the DocFix program and working with Nigel? Get started with our complimentary case study that shows you how the method is used in high-profile documentaries and to see if you are a good fit for what we do and how we work. Instagram: @nigel.levy.storiesFacebook: Nigel Levy - The Doc FixIncidental music composed by Birger Clausen

Today we are joined with Andy Armstrong (Writer/Director) and Danielle Burgio (Writer/Actress) to talk about how they turned this famous true crime story into a peace of fiction in their new movie Squealer. This flick is brought to you by Lionsgate Films and is currently in theatres and digital on demand!

This week we have a look at the 2023 film DEAR DAVID. This is Episode #417! Dear David is a 2023 American supernatural horror film directed by John McPhail, based on Adam Ellis' Twitter thread of the same name. It stars Augustus Prew as Ellis with Andrea Bang, René Escobar Jr., Cameron Nicoll, and Justin Long in supporting roles. The film is the third co-production between BuzzFeed Studios and Lionsgate Films. It follows Ellis (Prew) who is haunted by the spirit of a boy at the mercy of demons after retaliating against trolls.The film was released in theaters and to streaming and digital formats on October 13, 2023, by Lionsgate. It received mostly scathing reviews from critics, deriding its lack of originality and shock value; some reviewers preferred the original Twitter thread over the film.This show is part of the Spreaker Prime Network, if you are interested in advertising on this podcast, contact us at https://www.spreaker.com/show/4268760/advertisement

On the version of Hot off the Wire posted Oct. 9 at 7 a.m. CT: Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin says he's ordered the Ford carrier strike group to sail to the Eastern Mediterranean to be ready to assist Israel after the surprise attack by Hamas that has left more than 1,000 dead and thousands wounded on both sides. Meantime, a U.S. official says preliminary reports indicate that at least four American citizens were killed in the attacks and an additional seven were missing and unaccounted for. The USS Gerald R. Ford and its approximately 5,000 sailors and deck of warplanes will be accompanied by cruisers and destroyers in a show of force that is meant to be ready to respond to anything, from possibly interdicting additional weapons from reaching Hamas and conducting surveillance. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said authorities would cut electricity to Gaza and block the entry of food and fuel there as part of a “complete siege” he ordered. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has drawn a parallel between Russia's invasion of his country and the Hamas militant group's incursion into Israel, saying only “rules (and) international law” can ensure peace around the world. ISLAMABAD (AP) — A senior Taliban delegation is visiting western Afghanistan's Herat province in the aftermath of the powerful earthquake that killed at least 2,000 people and flattened entire villages. Saturday's magnitude 6.3 quake hit a densely populated area in Herat and was followed by strong aftershocks. It was one of the deadliest earthquakes to strike the country in two decades. A statement from Kabul said the Taliban-appointed deputy prime minister for economic affairs and his team will visit the quake-affected region on Monday to deliver “immediate relief assistance” and ensure “equitable and accurate distribution of aid." The quake also trapped hundreds and people have been digging with their bare hands and shovels to pull victims from under the rubble. STOCKHOLM (AP) — The Nobel economics prize has been awarded to Claudia Goldin, a professor at Harvard University, for research that has advanced the understanding of the gender gap in the labor market. Hans Ellegren, secretary-general of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced the award Monday in Stockholm. Goldin is only the third woman to win the prize. Ellegren says Goldin “was surprised and very, very glad” upon hearing she received the award. Goldin has studied 200 years of women's participation in the workplace, showing that despite continued economic growth, women's pay did not continuously catch up to men's and a divide still exists despite women gaining higher levels of education than men. In this week's entertainment update: Rapper 21 Savage can now legally travel outside the United States and plans to make his international performance in his native London. Singer Maxwell will hose a cruise in February and has another album in the works. Lucinda Williams is heading back on tour three years after suffering a stroke.  WASHINGTON (AP) — Donald Trump's decision to insert himself into the chaotic race to replace Kevin McCarthy as House Speaker will serve as a test of the former president's sway with lawmakers as he works to win a second term. Trump first volunteered to serve as an interim candidate. Then he offered Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, one of his closest allies in Washington, his “Complete & Total Endorsement!” Jordan's path to victory is complex, and he is facing at least one other candidate, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who's also on good terms with Trump. It's unclear whether anyone has enough votes to win the gavel. NECOCLI, Colombia (AP) — New York City Mayor Eric Adams has capped off a four-day trip to Latin America by calling for a “right to work” for migrants in the United States. He spoke Saturday during a visit to Necocli, the northern Colombia city where thousands of migrants start the perilous trek across the Darien Gap jungle into Panama, as they head for the U.S. Adams says countries in the region need to “come together” to find solutions to the immigration crisis being felt across the Americas as well as in cities in the United States, including his own. He is urging the U.S goverment to find pathways for migrants and asylum seekers to work legally in the United States. The NFL's two undefeated teams remain undefeated, the Chiefs shake off Travis Kelce's injury, the Rangers slam the Orioles to go up 2-0 while the Twins knot up their ALDS with the Astros, and Georgia still tops the AP poll. LOS ANGELES (AP) — “The Exorcist: Believer” took possession of the weekend box office with a North American opening of $27.2 million. According to studio estimates Sunday, the latest sequel to the 1973 horror classic was a runaway No. 1 in its opening weekend for Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions, but it still fell short of expectations with no other new releases with which to compete. Last week's top film, “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie,” was a distant second, with $11.8 million, and has earned $38.9 million after two weekends. Another horror sequel, “Saw X,” was third for Lionsgate Films, with $8.2 million. —The Associated Press About this program Host Terry Lipshetz is a senior producer for Lee Enterprises. Besides producing the daily Hot off the Wire news podcast, Terry conducts periodic interviews for this Behind the Headlines program, co-hosts the Streamed & Screened movies and television program and is the producer of Across the Sky, a podcast dedicated to weather and climate. Lee Enterprises produces many national, regional and sports podcasts. Learn more here.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

First up today, we talked with Glenn Jacobs, better known as Kane from the WWE. We talked about wrestling and transitioning into politics, and how Republicans need to approach things going forward. Next, Dan got a story about Lionsgate Films reimposing mask mandates right before the radio show started and that really set him off. Here's an epic rant about mandates. Remember…do not comply! Then, we talked with Julie Kelly, who's just about the only reporter covering the travesty that is the J6 political prosecutions and the prosecution of people protesting for life. Finally, we talked with Sean Davis of the Federalist about the Democrat playbook and how they're going to try to do what they did in 2020, among other things. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

More like Ridemaids. That's right, Joy Ride hit theaters this past weekend, and you'll never believe it. An R-rated raunchy comedy with positive reviews didn't make a ton of money at the box office. We know. Super surprising! But because we don't care about the Insidious franchise (and Jon watched Joy Ride twice for some reason), we thought it only fitting to find our cinematic Seoulmate. Well, Jon's at least. Joy Ride was directed by Adele Lim in her feature directorial debut and she developed the story with screenwriters Cherry Chevapravatdumrong and Teresa Hsiao. The film stars Ashley Park, Sherry Cola, Stephanie Hsu, and Sabrina Wu, Ronny Chieng, Meredith Hagner, David Denman, Annie Mumolo, and Timothy Simons. It opened nationwide on July 7 through Lionsgate Films and has a 95-minute runtime. Our intro music this week is “Jazz is Good” by Weiter & TheMusicalcurrent. Links: Email your feedback for the show to cinemaholicspodcast [at] gmail.com Join our Discord! We have a Cinemaholics channel here. Follow us on Twitter: Jon Negroni, Will Ashton Check out our Cinemaholics Merch! Check out our Patreon to support Cinemaholics! Connect with Cinemaholics on Facebook and Instagram. Support our show on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/cinemaholicsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On this episode we get into things I really wanted to know for myself. We unravel the importance of simplicity in sync, exploring the main differences between sync agencies and music libraries. We talk about different uses composers can have with AI. We Delve into the controversial realm of using samples and why in some cases they should be avoided. This episode is jam packed with gems! so enjoy it.   xJ will's Bio Meet Joshua Williams, a versatile and accomplished artist/composer hailing from the Midwest. Josh honed his craft through touring internationally with various indie bands and artists. His travels and experiences gave birth to a unique writing style, leading him to become a sought-after film composer. In addition to his successful career in music, Joshua is also an educator for independent music creators, sharing his knowledge and insights on sync licensing and building an audience through platforms like TikTok and Instagram. He has Placements with Lionsgate Films, Apple, Warner Brothers, and CBS, among others   Contact Josh IG: xJ_will Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@xj_will https://stan.store/xJ-Will   Michael Maas's Course (last week with %30 off) cupon code SYNCGEMS30 https://michaelmaas.krtra.com/t/WSjF90n5QLYf  

90% of Google users liked this movie Retired super-assassin John Wick's plans to resume a quiet civilian life are cut short when Italian gangster Santino D'Antonio shows up on his doorstep with a gold marker, compelling him to repay past favours. Ordered by Winston, the kingpin of secret assassin society The Continental, to respect the organisation's ancient code, Wick reluctantly accepts the assignment to travel to Rome to take out D'Antonio's sister, the ruthless capo atop the Italian Camorra crime syndicate. Release date: February 10, 2017 (USA) Director: Chad Stahelski Budget: 40 million USD Box office: 174.3 million USD Distributed by: Summit Entertainment, Lionsgate Films

Standup comic Sebastian Maniscalco wants to know Rob Lowe's beauty secrets. In this episode you'll hear about how DeNiro came to play Sebastian's dad in the new movie “About My Father,” Sebastian's past life waitering for celebrities at the Four Seasons, and his big break touring with Vince Vaughn. Got a question for Rob? Call our voicemail at (323) 570-4551. Yours could get featured on the show! “About My Father” from Lionsgate Films is in theaters May 26th. 

Kylie Thompson (she/her) is a multi-disciplinary performer, creator and educator residing in Toronto, Ontario. She considers herself an ally to the BIPOC and LGBTQ2S+ communities and is committed to ongoing education, conversation and action towards equality and de-colonization of Western Dance practices. She holds an honours degree in Kinesiology from McMaster University, and has trained in classical, contemporary and street dance styles and has also developed a practice in photography. After having served on the Canadian Alliance of Dance Artists-East board of Directors for 5 years, she is passionate about arts advocacy and independent production. She has produced numerous works both in the theatre and on the screen; some of which include “Versus”, “33/33”, “Oh, Yes” and "Femmillennial"; and she is honoured to have been part of such festivals as New Blue, Dance: Made in Canada, Toronto Fringe, Choreographer's Ball, and more. Her commercial credits include Barenaked Ladies, Kiesza, TIFF, Finger Eleven, Lionsgate Films and more. A passionate educator; her teaching practice has spanned various disciplines but is currently focused on release-based floor work; having trained with and drawn inspiration from Alias Dance Project, Vim Vigor Dance, Elke Schroeder and many other influential dance theatre companies. This year she will take her self-produced production "Femmillennial" on the road to Orlando and Vancouver Fringe Festivals. kyliethompsoncreative.com Twitter: @itskyliethomps1 Instagram: @kyliethompsoncreative Support Stageworthy Donate: tips.pinecast.com/jar/stageworthy

Lionsgate Films needs “John Wick: Chapter 4” to perform well at the box office in order to attract potential buyers. Can the franchise deliver? 

The first of a two-part series on the short-lived 80s American distribution company responsible for Dirty Dancing. ----more---- The movies covered on this episode: Alpine (1987, Fredi M. Murer) Anna (1987, Yurek Bogayevicz) Billy Galvin (1986, John Grey) Blood Diner (1987, Jackie Kong) China Girl (1987, Abel Ferrera) The Dead (1987, John Huston) Dirty Dancing (1987, Emile Ardolino) Malcolm (1986, Nadia Tess) Personal Services (1987, Terry Jones) Slaughter High (1986, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten and George Dugdale) Steel Dawn (1987, Lance Hook) Street Trash (1987, Jim Muro)   TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   Have you ever thought “I should do this thing” but then you never get around to it, until something completely random happens that reminds you that you were going to do this thing a long time ago?   For this week's episode, that kick in the keister was a post on Twitter from someone I don't follow being retweeted by the great film critic and essayist Walter Chaw, someone I do follow, that showed a Blu-ray cover of the 1987 Walter Hill film Extreme Prejudice. You see, Walter Chaw has recently released a book about the life and career of Walter Hill, and this other person was showing off their new purchase. That in and of itself wasn't the kick in the butt.   That was the logo of the disc's distributor.   Vestron Video.   A company that went out of business more than thirty years before, that unbeknownst to me had been resurrected by the current owner of the trademark, Lionsgate Films, as a specialty label for a certain kind of film like Ken Russell's Gothic, Beyond Re-Animator, CHUD 2, and, for some reason, Walter Hill's Neo-Western featuring Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe and Rip Torn. For those of you from the 80s, you remember at least one of Vestron Pictures' movies. I guarantee it.   But before we get there, we, as always, must go back a little further back in time.   The year is 1981. Time Magazine is amongst the most popular magazines in the world, while their sister publication, Life, was renowned for their stunning photographs printed on glossy color paper of a larger size than most magazines. In the late 1970s, Time-Life added a video production and distribution company to ever-growing media empire that also included television stations, cable channels, book clubs, and compilation record box sets. But Time Life Home Video didn't quite take off the way the company had expected, and they decided to concentrate its lucrative cable businesses like HBO. The company would move Austin Furst, an executive from HBO, over to dismantle the assets of Time-Life Films. And while Furst would sell off the production and distribution parts of the company to Fox, and the television department to Columbia Pictures, he couldn't find a party interested in the home video department. Recognizing that home video was an emerging market that would need a visionary like himself willing to take big risks for the chance to have big rewards, Furst purchased the home video rights to the film and video library for himself, starting up his home entertainment company.   But what to call the company?   It would be his daughter that would come up with Vestron, a portmanteau of combining the name of the Roman goddess of the heart, Vesta, with Tron, the Greek word for instrument. Remember, the movie Tron would not be released for another year at this point.   At first, there were only two employees at Vestron: Furst himself, and Jon Pesinger, a fellow executive at Time-Life who, not unlike Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire, was the only person who saw Furst's long-term vision for the future.   Outside of the titles they brought with them from Time-Life, Vestron's initial release of home video titles comprised of two mid-range movie hits where they were able to snag the home video rights instead of the companies that released the movies in theatres, either because those companies did not have a home video operation yet, or did not negotiate for home video rights when making the movie deal with the producers. Fort Apache, The Bronx, a crime drama with Paul Newman and Ed Asner, and Loving Couples, a Shirley MacLaine/James Coburn romantic comedy that was neither romantic nor comedic, were Time-Life productions, while the Burt Reynolds/Dom DeLuise comedy The Cannonball Run, was a pickup from the Hong Kong production company Golden Harvest, which financed the comedy to help break their local star, Jackie Chan, into the American market. They'd also make a deal with several Canadian production companies to get the American home video rights to titles like the Jack Lemmon drama Tribute and the George C. Scott horror film The Changeling.   The advantage that Vestron had over the major studios was their outlook on the mom and pop rental stores that were popping up in every city and town in the United States. The major studios hated the idea that they could sell a videotape for, say, $99.99, and then see someone else make a major profit by renting that tape out fifty or a hundred times at $4 or $5 per night. Of course, they would eventually see the light, but in 1982, they weren't there yet.   Now, let me sidetrack for a moment, as I am wont to do, to talk about mom and pop video stores in the early 1980s. If you're younger than, say, forty, you probably only know Blockbuster and/or Hollywood Video as your local video rental store, but in the early 80s, there were no national video store chains yet. The first Blockbuster wouldn't open until October 1985, in Dallas, and your neighborhood likely didn't get one until the late 1980s or early 1990s. The first video store I ever encountered, Telford Home Video in Belmont Shores, Long Beach in 1981, was operated by Bob Telford, an actor best known for playing the Station Master in both the original 1974 version of Where the Red Fern Grows and its 2003 remake. Bob was really cool, and I don't think it was just because the space for the video store was just below my dad's office in the real estate company that had built and operated the building. He genuinely took interest in this weird thirteen year old kid who had an encyclopedic knowledge of films and wanted to learn more. I wanted to watch every movie he had in the store that I hadn't seen yet, but there was one problem: we had a VHS machine, and most of Bob's inventory was RCA SelectaVision, a disc-based playback system using a special stylus and a groove-covered disc much like an LP record. After school each day, I'd hightail it over to Telford Home Video, and Bob and I would watch a movie while we waited for customers to come rent something. It was with Bob that I would watch Ordinary People and The Magnificent Seven, The Elephant Man and The Last Waltz, Bus Stop and Rebel Without a Cause and The French Connection and The Man Who Fell to Earth and a bunch of other movies that weren't yet available on VHS, and it was great.   Like many teenagers in the early 1980s, I spent some time working at a mom and pop video store, Seacliff Home Video in Aptos, CA. I worked on the weekends, it was a third of a mile walk from home, and even though I was only 16 years old at the time, my bosses would, every week, solicit my opinion about which upcoming videos we should acquire. Because, like Telford Home Video and Village Home Video, where my friends Dick and Michelle worked about two miles away, and most every video store at the time, space was extremely limited and there was only space for so many titles. Telford Home Video was about 500 square feet and had maybe 500 titles. Seacliff was about 750 square feet and around 800 titles, including about 50 in the tiny, curtained off room created to hold the porn. And the first location for Village Home Video had only 300 square feet of space and only 250 titles. The owner, Leone Keller, confirmed to me that until they moved into a larger location across from the original store, they were able to rent out every movie in the store every night.    For many, a store owner had to be very careful about what they ordered and what they replaced. But Vestron Home Video always seemed to have some of the better movies. Because of a spat between Warner Brothers and Orion Pictures, Vestron would end up with most of Orion's 1983 through 1985 theatrical releases, including Rodney Dangerfield's Easy Money, the Nick Nolte political thriller Under Fire, the William Hurt mystery Gorky Park, and Gene Wilder's The Woman in Red. They'd also make a deal with Roger Corman's old American Independent Pictures outfit, which would reap an unexpected bounty when George Miller's second Mad Max movie, The Road Warrior, became a surprise hit in 1982, and Vestron was holding the video rights to the first Mad Max movie. And they'd also find themselves with the laserdisc rights to several Brian DePalma movies including Dressed to Kill and Blow Out. And after Polygram Films decided to leave the movie business in 1984, they would sell the home video rights to An American Werewolf in London and Endless Love to Vestron.   They were doing pretty good.   And in 1984, Vestron ended up changing the home video industry forever.   When Michael Jackson and John Landis had trouble with Jackson's record company, Epic, getting their idea for a 14 minute short film built around the title song to Jackson's monster album Thriller financed, Vestron would put up a good portion of the nearly million dollar budget in order to release the movie on home video, after it played for a few weeks on MTV. In February 1984, Vestron would release a one-hour tape, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, that included the mini-movie and a 45 minute Making of featurette. At $29.99, it would be one of the first sell-through titles released on home video.   It would become the second home videotape to sell a million copies, after Star Wars.   Suddenly, Vestron was flush with more cash than it knew what to do with.   In 1985, they would decide to expand their entertainment footprint by opening Vestron Pictures, which would finance a number of movies that could be exploited across a number of platforms, including theatrical, home video, cable and syndicated TV. In early January 1986, Vestron would announce they were pursuing projects with three producers, Steve Tisch, Larry Turman, and Gene Kirkwood, but no details on any specific titles or even a timeframe when any of those movies would be made.   Tisch, the son of Loews Entertainment co-owner Bob Tisch, had started producing films in 1977 with the Peter Fonda music drama Outlaw Blues, and had a big hit in 1983 with Risky Business. Turman, the Oscar-nominated producer of Mike Nichols' The Graduate, and Kirkwood, the producer of The Keep and The Pope of Greenwich Village, had seen better days as producers by 1986 but their names still carried a certain cache in Hollywood, and the announcement would certainly let the industry know Vestron was serious about making quality movies.   Well, maybe not all quality movies. They would also launch a sub-label for Vestron Pictures called Lightning Pictures, which would be utilized on B-movies and schlock that maybe wouldn't fit in the Vestron Pictures brand name they were trying to build.   But it costs money to build a movie production and theatrical distribution company.   Lots of money.   Thanks to the ever-growing roster of video titles and the success of releases like Thriller, Vestron would go public in the spring of 1985, selling enough shares on the first day of trading to bring in $440m to the company, $140m than they thought they would sell that day.   It would take them a while, but in 1986, they would start production on their first slate of films, as well as acquire several foreign titles for American distribution.   Vestron Pictures officially entered the theatrical distribution game on July 18th, 1986, when they released the Australian comedy Malcolm at the Cinema 2 on the Upper East Side of New York City. A modern attempt to create the Aussie version of a Jacques Tati-like absurdist comedy about modern life and our dependance on gadgetry, Malcolm follows, as one character describes him a 100 percent not there individual who is tricked into using some of his remote control inventions to pull of a bank robbery. While the film would be a minor hit in Australia, winning all eight of the Australian Film Institute Awards it was nominated for including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and three acting awards, the film would only play for five weeks in New York, grossing less than $35,000, and would not open in Los Angeles until November 5th, where in its first week at the Cineplex Beverly Center and Samuel Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas, it would gross a combined $37,000. Go figure.   Malcolm would open in a few more major markets, but Vestron would close the film at the end of the year with a gross under $200,000.   Their next film, Slaughter High, was a rather odd bird. A co-production between American and British-based production companies, the film followed a group of adults responsible for a prank gone wrong on April Fool's Day who are invited to a reunion at their defunct high school where a masked killer awaits inside.   And although the movie takes place in America, the film was shot in London and nearby Virginia Water, Surrey, in late 1984, under the title April Fool's Day. But even with Caroline Munro, the British sex symbol who had become a cult favorite with her appearances in a series of sci-fi and Hammer horror films with Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee, as well as her work in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, April Fool's Day would sit on the proverbial shelf for nearly two years, until Vestron picked it up and changed its title, since Paramount Pictures had released their own horror film called April Fools Day earlier in the year.   Vestron would open Slaughter High on nine screens in Detroit on November 14th, 1986, but Vestron would not report grosses. Then they would open it on six screen in St. Louis on February 13th, 1987. At least this time they reported a gross. $12,400. Variety would simply call that number “grim.” They'd give the film one final rush on April 24th, sending it out to 38 screens in in New York City, where it would gross $90,000. There'd be no second week, as practically every theatre would replace it with Creepshow 2.   The third and final Vestron Pictures release for 1986 was Billy Galvin, a little remembered family drama featuring Karl Malden and Lenny von Dohlen, originally produced for the PBS anthology series American Playhouse but bumped up to a feature film as part of coordinated effort to promote the show by occasionally releasing feature films bearing the American Playhouse banner.   The film would open at the Cineplex Beverly Center on December 31st, not only the last day of the calendar year but the last day a film can be released into theatres in Los Angeles to have been considered for Academy Awards. The film would not get any major awards, from the Academy or anyone else, nor much attention from audiences, grossing just $4,000 in its first five days. They'd give the film a chance in New York on February 20th, at the 23rd Street West Triplex, but a $2,000 opening weekend gross would doom the film from ever opening in another theatre again.   In early 1987, Vestron announced eighteen films they would release during the year, and a partnership with AMC Theatres and General Cinema to have their films featured in those two companies' pilot specialized film programs in major markets like Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and San Francisco.   Alpine Fire would be the first of those films, arriving at the Cinema Studio 1 in New York City on February 20th. A Swiss drama about a young deaf and mentally challenged teenager who gets his older sister pregnant, was that country's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race. While the film would win the Golden Leopard Award at the 1985 Locarno Film Festival, the Academy would not select the film for a nomination, and the film would quickly disappear from theatres after a $2,000 opening weekend gross.   Personal Services, the first film to be directed by Terry Jones outside of his services with Monty Python, would arrive in American theatres on May 15th. The only Jones-directed film to not feature any other Python in the cast, Personal Services was a thinly-disguised telling of a 1970s—era London waitress who was running a brothel in her flat in order to make ends meet, and featured a standout performance by Julie Walters as the waitress turned madame. In England, Personal Services would be the second highest-grossing film of the year, behind The Living Daylights, the first Bond film featuring new 007 Timothy Dalton. In America, the film wouldn't be quite as successful, grossing $1.75m after 33 weeks in theatres, despite never playing on more than 31 screens in any given week.   It would be another three months before Vestron would release their second movie of the year, but it would be the one they'd become famous for.   Dirty Dancing.   Based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood, the screenplay would be written after the producers of the 1980 Michael Douglas/Jill Clayburgh dramedy It's My Turn asked the writer to remove a scene from the screenplay that involved an erotic dance sequence. She would take that scene and use it as a jumping off point for a new story about a Jewish teenager in the early 1960s who participated in secret “Dirty Dancing” competitions while she vacationed with her doctor father and stay-at-home mother while they vacationed in the Catskill Mountains. Baby, the young woman at the center of the story, would not only resemble the screenwriter as a character but share her childhood nickname.   Bergstein would pitch the story to every studio in Hollywood in 1984, and only get a nibble from MGM Pictures, whose name was synonymous with big-budget musicals decades before. They would option the screenplay and assign producer Linda Gottlieb, a veteran television producer making her first major foray into feature films, to the project. With Gottlieb, Bergstein would head back to the Catskills for the first time in two decades, as research for the script. It was while on this trip that the pair would meet Michael Terrace, a former Broadway dancer who had spent summers in the early 1960s teaching tourists how to mambo in the Catskills. Terrace and Bergstein didn't remember each other if they had met way back when, but his stories would help inform the lead male character of Johnny Castle.   But, as regularly happens in Hollywood, there was a regime change at MGM in late 1985, and one of the projects the new bosses cut loose was Dirty Dancing. Once again, the script would make the rounds in Hollywood, but nobody was biting… until Vestron Pictures got their chance to read it.   They loved it, and were ready to make it their first in-house production… but they would make the movie if the budget could be cut from $10m to $4.5m. That would mean some sacrifices. They wouldn't be able to hire a major director, nor bigger name actors, but that would end up being a blessing in disguise.   To direct, Gottlieb and Bergstein looked at a lot of up and coming feature directors, but the one person they had the best feeling about was Emile Ardolino, a former actor off-Broadway in the 1960s who began his filmmaking career as a documentarian for PBS in the 1970s. In 1983, Ardolino's documentary about National Dance Institute founder Jacques d'Amboise, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin', would win both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Special.   Although Ardolino had never directed a movie, he would read the script twice in a week while serving on jury duty, and came back to Gottlieb and Bergstein with a number of ideas to help make the movie shine, even at half the budget.   For a movie about dancing, with a lot of dancing in it, they would need a creative choreographer to help train the actors and design the sequences. The filmmakers would chose Kenny Ortega, who in addition to choreographing the dance scenes in Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, had worked with Gene Kelly on the 1980 musical Xanadu. Well, more specifically, was molded by Gene Kelly to become the lead choreographer for the film. That's some good credentials.   Unlike movies like Flashdance, where the filmmakers would hire Jennifer Beals to play Alex and Marine Jahan to perform Alex's dance scenes, Emile Ardolino was insistent that the actors playing the dancers were actors who also dance. Having stand-ins would take extra time to set-up, and would suck up a portion of an already tight budget. Yet the first people he would meet for the lead role of Johnny were non-dancers Benecio del Toro, Val Kilmer, and Billy Zane. Zane would go so far as to do a screen test with one of the actresses being considered for the role of Baby, Jennifer Grey, but after screening the test, they realized Grey was right for Baby but Zane was not right for Johnny.   Someone suggested Patrick Swayze, a former dancer for the prestigious Joffrey Ballet who was making his way up the ranks of stardom thanks to his roles in The Outsiders and Grandview U.S.A. But Swayze had suffered a knee injury years before that put his dance career on hold, and there were concerns he would re-aggravate his injury, and there were concerns from Jennifer Grey because she and Swayze had not gotten along very well while working on Red Dawn. But that had been three years earlier, and when they screen tested together here, everyone was convinced this was the pairing that would bring magic to the role.   Baby's parents would be played by two Broadway veterans: Jerry Orbach, who is best known today as Detective Lenny Briscoe on Law and Order, and Kelly Bishop, who is best known today as Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls but had actually started out as a dancer, singer and actor, winning a Tony Award for her role in the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line. Although Bishop had originally been cast in a different role for the movie, another guest at the Catskills resort with the Housemans, but she would be bumped up when the original Mrs. Houseman, Lynne Lipton, would fall ill during the first week of filming.   Filming on Dirty Dancing would begin in North Carolina on September 5th, 1986, at a former Boy Scout camp that had been converted to a private residential community. This is where many of the iconic scenes from the film would be shot, including Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing her dance steps on the stairs, all the interior dance scenes, the log scene, and the golf course scene where Baby would ask her father for $250. It's also where Patrick Swayze almost ended his role in the film, when he would indeed re-injure his knee during the balancing scene on the log. He would be rushed to the hospital to have fluid drained from the swelling. Thankfully, there would be no lingering effects once he was released.   After filming in North Carolina was completed, the team would move to Virginia for two more weeks of filming, including the water lift scene, exteriors at Kellerman's Hotel and the Houseman family's cabin, before the film wrapped on October 27th.   Ardolino's first cut of the film would be completed in February 1987, and Vestron would begin the process of running a series of test screenings. At the first test screening, nearly 40% of the audience didn't realize there was an abortion subplot in the movie, even after completing the movie. A few weeks later, Vestron executives would screen the film for producer Aaron Russo, who had produced such movies as The Rose and Trading Places. His reaction to the film was to tell the executives to burn the negative and collect the insurance.   But, to be fair, one important element of the film was still not set.   The music.   Eleanor Bergstein had written into her script a number of songs that were popular in the early 1960s, when the movie was set, that she felt the final film needed. Except a number of the songs were a bit more expensive to license than Vestron would have preferred. The company was testing the film with different versions of those songs, other artists' renditions. The writer, with the support of her producer and director, fought back. She made a deal with the Vestron executives. They would play her the master tracks to ten of the songs she wanted, as well as the copycat versions. If she could identify six of the masters, she could have all ten songs in the film.   Vestron would spend another half a million dollars licensing the original recording.    The writer nailed all ten.   But even then, there was still one missing piece of the puzzle.   The closing song.   While Bergstein wanted another song to close the film, the team at Vestron were insistent on a new song that could be used to anchor a soundtrack album. The writer, producer, director and various members of the production team listened to dozens of submissions from songwriters, but none of them were right, until they got to literally the last submission left, written by Franke Previte, who had written another song that would appear on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, “Hungry Eyes.”   Everybody loved the song, called “I've Had the Time of My Life,” and it would take some time to convince Previte that Dirty Dancing was not a porno. They showed him the film and he agreed to give them the song, but the production team and Vestron wanted to get a pair of more famous singers to record the final version.   The filmmakers originally approached disco queen Donna Summer and Joe Esposito, whose song “You're the Best” appeared on the Karate Kid soundtrack, but Summer would decline, not liking the title of the movie. They would then approach Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates and Kim Carnes, but they'd both decline, citing concerns about the title of the movie. Then they approached Bill Medley, one-half of The Righteous Brothers, who had enjoyed yet another career resurgence when You Lost That Lovin' Feeling became a hit in 1986 thanks to Top Gun, but at first, he would also decline. Not that he had any concerns about the title of the film, although he did have concerns about the title, but that his wife was about to give birth to their daughter, and he had promised he would be there.   While trying to figure who to get to sing the male part of the song, the music supervisor for the film approached Jennifer Warnes, who had sung the duet “Up Where We Belong” from the An Officer and a Gentleman soundtrack, which had won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and sang the song “It Goes Like It Goes” from the Norma Rae soundtrack, which had won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Warnes wasn't thrilled with the song, but she would be persuaded to record the song for the right price… and if Bill Medley would sing the other part. Medley, flattered that Warnes asked specifically to record with him, said he would do so, after his daughter was born, and if the song was recorded in his studio in Los Angeles. A few weeks later, Medley and Warnes would have their portion of the song completed in only one hour, including additional harmonies and flourishes decided on after finishing with the main vocals.   With all the songs added to the movie, audience test scores improved considerably.   RCA Records, who had been contracted to handle the release of the soundtrack, would set a July 17th release date for the album, to coincide with the release of the movie on the same day, with the lead single, I've Had the Time of My Life, released one week earlier. But then, Vestron moved the movie back from July 17th to August 21st… and forgot to tell RCA Records about the move. No big deal. The song would quickly rise up the charts, eventually hitting #1 on the Billboard charts.   When the movie finally did open in 975 theatres in August 21st, the film would open to fourth place with $3.9m in ticket sales, behind Can't Buy Me Love in third place and in its second week of release, the Cheech Marin comedy Born in East L.A., which opened in second place, and Stakeout, which was enjoying its third week atop the charts.   The reviews were okay, but not special. Gene Siskel would give the film a begrudging Thumbs Up, citing Jennifer Grey's performance and her character's arc as the thing that tipped the scale into the positive, while Roger Ebert would give the film a Thumbs Down, due to its idiot plot and tired and relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds.   But then a funny thing happened…   Instead of appealing to the teenagers they thought would see the film, the majority of the audience ended up becoming adults. Not just twenty and thirty somethings, but people who were teenagers themselves during the movie's timeframe. They would be drawn in to the film through the newfound sense of boomer nostalgia that helped make Stand By Me an unexpected hit the year before, both as a movie and as a soundtrack.   Its second week in theatre would only see the gross drop 6%, and the film would finish in third place.   In week three, the four day Labor Day weekend, it would gross nearly $5m, and move up to second place. And it would continue to play and continue to bring audiences in, only dropping out of the top ten once in early November for one weekend, from August to December. Even with all the new movies entering the marketplace for Christmas, Dirty Dancing would be retained by most of the theatres that were playing it. In the first weekend of 1988, Dirty Dancing was still playing in 855 theaters, only 120 fewer than who opened it five months earlier. Once it did started leaving first run theatres, dollar houses were eager to pick it up, and Dirty Dancing would make another $6m in ticket sales as it continued to play until Christmas 1988 at some theatres, finishing its incredible run with $63.5m in ticket sales.   Yet, despite its ubiquitousness in American pop culture, despite the soundtrack selling more than ten million copies in its first year, despite the uptick in attendance at dance schools from coast to coast, Dirty Dancing never once was the #1 film in America on any weekend it was in theatres. There would always be at least one other movie that would do just a bit better.   When awards season came around, the movie was practically ignored by critics groups. It would pick up an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and both the movie and Jennifer Grey would be nominated for Golden Globes, but it would be that song, I've Had the Time of My Life, that would be the driver for awards love. It would win the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The song would anchor a soundtrack that would also include two other hit songs, Eric Carmen's “Hungry Eyes,” and “She's Like the Wind,” recorded for the movie by Patrick Swayze, making him the proto-Hugh Jackman of the 80s. I've seen Hugh Jackman do his one-man show at the Hollywood Bowl, and now I'm wishing Patrick Swayze could have had something like that thirty years ago.   On September 25th, they would release Abel Ferrera's Neo-noir romantic thriller China Girl. A modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written by regular Ferrera writer Nicholas St. John, the setting would be New York City's Lower East Side, when Tony, a teenager from Little Italy, falls for Tye, a teenager from Chinatown, as their older brothers vie for turf in a vicious gang war. While the stars of the film, Richard Panebianco and Sari Chang, would never become known actors, the supporting cast is as good as you'd expect from a post-Ms. .45 Ferrera film, including James Russo, Russell Wong, David Caruso and James Hong.   The $3.5m movie would open on 110 screens, including 70 in New York ti-state region and 18 in Los Angeles, grossing $531k. After a second weekend, where the gross dropped to $225k, Vestron would stop tracking the film, with a final reported gross of just $1.26m coming from a stockholder's report in early 1988.   Ironically, China Girl would open against another movie that Vestron had a hand in financing, but would not release in America: Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride. While the film would do okay in America, grossing $30m against its $15m, it wouldn't translate so easily to foreign markets.   Anna, from first time Polish filmmaker Yurek Bogayevicz, was an oddball little film from the start. The story, co-written with the legendary Polish writer/director Agnieszka Holland, was based on the real-life friendship of Polish actresses Joanna (Yo-ahn-nuh) Pacuła (Pa-tsu-wa) and Elżbieta (Elz-be-et-ah) Czyżewska (Chuh-zef-ska), and would find Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova making her feature acting debut as Krystyna, an aspiring actress from Czechoslovakia who goes to New York City to find her idol, Anna, who had been imprisoned and then deported for speaking out against the new regime after the 1968 Communist invasion. Nearly twenty years later, the middle-aged Anna struggles to land any acting parts, in films, on television, or on the stage, who relishes the attention of this beautiful young waif who reminds her of herself back then.   Sally Kirkland, an American actress who got her start as part of Andy Warhol's Factory in the early 60s but could never break out of playing supporting roles in movies like The Way We Were, The Sting, A Star is Born, and Private Benjamin, would be cast as the faded Czech star whose life seemed to unintentionally mirror the actress's. Future Snakes on a Plane director David R. Ellis would be featured in a small supporting role, as would the then sixteen year old Sofia Coppola.   The $1m movie would shoot on location in New York City during the winter of late 1986 and early 1987, and would make its world premiere at the 1987 New York Film Festival in September, before opening at the 68th Street Playhouse on the Upper East Side on October 30th. Critics such as Bruce Williamson of Playboy, Molly Haskell of Vogue and Jami Bernard of the New York Post would sing the praises of the movie, and of Paulina Porizkova, but it would be Sally Kirkland whom practically every critic would gush over. “A performance of depth and clarity and power, easily one of the strongest female roles of the year,” wrote Mike McGrady of Newsday. Janet Maslim wasn't as impressed with the film as most critics, but she would note Ms. Kirkland's immensely dignified presence in the title role.   New York audiences responded well to the critical acclaim, buying more than $22,000 worth of tickets, often playing to sell out crowds for the afternoon and evening shows. In its second week, the film would see its gross increase 12%, and another 3% increase in its third week. Meanwhile, on November 13th, the film would open in Los Angeles at the AMC Century City 14, where it would bring in an additional $10,000, thanks in part to Sheila Benson's rave in the Los Angeles Times, calling the film “the best kind of surprise — a small, frequently funny, fine-boned film set in the worlds of the theater and movies which unexpectedly becomes a consummate study of love, alienation and loss,” while praising Kirkland's performance as a “blazing comet.”   Kirkland would make the rounds on the awards circuit, winning Best Actress awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes, and the Independent Spirit Awards, culminating in an Academy Award nomination, although she would lose to Cher in Moonstruck.   But despite all these rave reviews and the early support for the film in New York and Los Angeles, the film got little traction outside these two major cities. Despite playing in theatres for nearly six months, Anna could only round up about $1.2m in ticket sales.   Vestron's penultimate new film of 1987 would be a movie that when it was shot in Namibia in late 1986 was titled Peacekeeper, then was changed to Desert Warrior when it was acquired by Jerry Weintraub's eponymously named distribution company, then saw it renamed again to Steel Dawn when Vestron overpaid to acquire the film from Weintraub, because they wanted the next film starring Patrick Swayze for themselves.   Swayze plays, and stop me if you've heard this one before, a warrior wandering through a post-apocalyptic desert who comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by the leader of a murderous gang who's after the water they control. Lisa Niemi, also known as Mrs. Patrick Swayze, would be his romantic interest in the film, which would also star AnthonY Zerbe, Brian James, and, in one of his very first acting roles, future Mummy co-star Arnold Vosloo.   The film would open to horrible reviews, and gross just $312k in 290 theatres. For comparison's sake, Dirty Dancing was in its eleventh week of release, was still playing 878 theatres, and would gross $1.7m. In its second week, Steel Dawn had lost nearly two thirds of its theatres, grossing only $60k from 107 theatres. After its third weekend, Vestron stopped reporting grosses. The film had only earned $562k in ticket sales.   And their final release for 1987 would be one of the most prestigious titles they'd ever be involved with. The Dead, based on a short story by James Joyce, would be the 37th and final film to be directed by John Huston. His son Tony would adapt the screenplay, while his daughter Anjelica, whom he had directed to a Best Supporting Actress Oscar two years earlier for Prizzi's Honor, would star as the matriarch of an Irish family circa 1904 whose husband discovers memoirs of a deceased lover of his wife's, an affair that preceded their meeting.   Originally scheduled to shoot in Dublin, Ireland, The Dead would end up being shot on soundstages in Valencia, CA, just north of Los Angeles, as the eighty year old filmmaker was in ill health. Huston, who was suffering from severe emphysema due to decades of smoking, would use video playback for the first and only time in his career in order to call the action, whirling around from set to set in a motorized wheelchair with an oxygen tank attached to it. In fact, the company insuring the film required the producers to have a backup director on set, just in case Huston was unable to continue to make the film. That stand-in was Czech-born British filmmaker Karel Reisz, who never once had to stand-in during the entire shoot.   One Huston who didn't work on the film was Danny Huston, who was supposed to shoot some second unit footage for the film in Dublin for his father, who could not make any trips overseas, as well as a documentary about the making of the film, but for whatever reason, Danny Huston would end up not doing either.   John Huston would turn in his final cut of the film to Vestron in July 1987, and would pass away in late August, a good four months before the film's scheduled release. He would live to see some of the best reviews of his entire career when the film was released on December 18th. At six theatres in Los Angeles and New York City, The Dead would earn $69k in its first three days during what was an amazing opening weekend for a number of movies. The Dead would open against exclusive runs of Broadcast News, Ironweed, Moonstruck and the newest Woody Allen film, September, as well as wide releases of Eddie Murphy: Raw, Batteries Not Included, Overboard, and the infamous Bill Cosby stinker Leonard Part 6.   The film would win the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Picture of the year, John Huston would win the Spirit Award and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director, Anjelica Huston would win a Spirit Award as well, for Best Supporting Actress, and Tony Huston would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. But the little $3.5m film would only see modest returns at the box office, grossing just $4.4m after a four month run in theatres.   Vestron would also release two movies in 1987 through their genre Lightning Pictures label.   The first, Blood Diner, from writer/director Jackie Kong, was meant to be both a tribute and an indirect sequel to the infamous 1965 Herschell Gordon Lewis movie Blood Feast, often considered to be the first splatter slasher film. Released on four screens in Baltimore on July 10th, the film would gross just $6,400 in its one tracked week. The film would get a second chance at life when it opened at the 8th Street Playhouse in New York City on September 4th, but after a $5,000 opening week gross there, the film would have to wait until it was released on home video to become a cult film.   The other Lightning Pictures release for 1987, Street Trash, would become one of the most infamous horror comedy films of the year. An expansion of a short student film by then nineteen year old Jim Muro, Street Trash told the twin stories of a Greenpoint, Brooklyn shop owner who sell a case of cheap, long-expired hooch to local hobos, who hideously melt away shortly after drinking it, while two homeless brothers try to deal with their situation as best they can while all this weirdness is going on about them.   After playing several weeks of midnight shows at the Waverly Theatre near Washington Square, Street Trash would open for a regular run at the 8th Street Playhouse on September 18th, one week after Blood Diner left the same theatre. However, Street Trash would not replace Blood Diner, which was kicked to the curb after one week, but another long forgotten movie, the Christopher Walken-starrer Deadline. Street Trash would do a bit better than Blood Diner, $9,000 in its first three days, enough to get the film a full two week run at the Playhouse. But its second week gross of $5,000 would not be enough to give it a longer playdate, or get another New York theatre to pick it up. The film would get other playdates, including one in my secondary hometown of Santa Cruz starting, ironically, on Thanksgiving Day, but the film would barely make $100k in its theatrical run.   While this would be the only film Jim Muro would direct, he would become an in demand cinematographer and Steadicam operator, working on such films as Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Sneakers, L.A. Confidential, the first Fast and Furious movie, and on The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies and Titanic for James Cameron. And should you ever watch the film and sit through the credits, yes, it's that Bryan Singer who worked as a grip and production assistant on the film. It would be his very first film credit, which he worked on during a break from going to USC film school.   People who know me know I am not the biggest fan of horror films. I may have mentioned it once or twice on this podcast. But I have a soft spot for Troma Films and Troma-like films, and Street Trash is probably the best Troma movie not made or released by Troma. There's a reason why Lloyd Kaufman is not a fan of the movie. A number of people who have seen the movie think it is a Troma movie, not helped by the fact that a number of people who did work on The Toxic Avenger went to work on Street Trash afterwards, and some even tell Lloyd at conventions that Street Trash is their favorite Troma movie. It's looks like a Troma movie. It feels like a Troma movie. And to be honest, at least to me, that's one hell of a compliment. It's one of the reasons I even went to see Street Trash, the favorable comparison to Troma. And while I, for lack of a better word, enjoyed Street Trash when I saw it, as much as one can say they enjoyed a movie where a bunch of bums playing hot potato with a man's severed Johnson is a major set piece, but I've never really felt the need to watch it again over the past thirty-five years.   Like several of the movies on this episode, Street Trash is not available for streaming on any service in the United States. And outside of Dirty Dancing, the ones you can stream, China Girl, Personal Services, Slaughter High and Steel Dawn, are mostly available for free with ads on Tubi, which made a huge splash last week with a confounding Super Bowl commercial that sent millions of people to figure what a Tubi was.   Now, if you were counting, that was only nine films released in 1987, and not the eighteen they had promised at the start of the year. Despite the fact they had a smash hit in Dirty Dancing, they decided to push most of their planned 1987 movies to 1988. Not necessarily by choice, though. Many of the films just weren't ready in time for a 1987 release, and then the unexpected long term success of Dirty Dancing kept them occupied for most of the rest of the year. But that only meant that 1988 would be a stellar year for them, right?   We'll find out next episode, when we continue the Vestron Pictures story.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again next week.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

The first of a two-part series on the short-lived 80s American distribution company responsible for Dirty Dancing. ----more---- The movies covered on this episode: Alpine (1987, Fredi M. Murer) Anna (1987, Yurek Bogayevicz) Billy Galvin (1986, John Grey) Blood Diner (1987, Jackie Kong) China Girl (1987, Abel Ferrera) The Dead (1987, John Huston) Dirty Dancing (1987, Emile Ardolino) Malcolm (1986, Nadia Tess) Personal Services (1987, Terry Jones) Slaughter High (1986, Mark Ezra and Peter Litten and George Dugdale) Steel Dawn (1987, Lance Hook) Street Trash (1987, Jim Muro)   TRANSCRIPT From Los Angeles, California, the Entertainment Capital of the World, it's The 80s Movies Podcast. I am your host, Edward Havens. Thank you for listening today.   Have you ever thought “I should do this thing” but then you never get around to it, until something completely random happens that reminds you that you were going to do this thing a long time ago?   For this week's episode, that kick in the keister was a post on Twitter from someone I don't follow being retweeted by the great film critic and essayist Walter Chaw, someone I do follow, that showed a Blu-ray cover of the 1987 Walter Hill film Extreme Prejudice. You see, Walter Chaw has recently released a book about the life and career of Walter Hill, and this other person was showing off their new purchase. That in and of itself wasn't the kick in the butt.   That was the logo of the disc's distributor.   Vestron Video.   A company that went out of business more than thirty years before, that unbeknownst to me had been resurrected by the current owner of the trademark, Lionsgate Films, as a specialty label for a certain kind of film like Ken Russell's Gothic, Beyond Re-Animator, CHUD 2, and, for some reason, Walter Hill's Neo-Western featuring Nick Nolte, Powers Boothe and Rip Torn. For those of you from the 80s, you remember at least one of Vestron Pictures' movies. I guarantee it.   But before we get there, we, as always, must go back a little further back in time.   The year is 1981. Time Magazine is amongst the most popular magazines in the world, while their sister publication, Life, was renowned for their stunning photographs printed on glossy color paper of a larger size than most magazines. In the late 1970s, Time-Life added a video production and distribution company to ever-growing media empire that also included television stations, cable channels, book clubs, and compilation record box sets. But Time Life Home Video didn't quite take off the way the company had expected, and they decided to concentrate its lucrative cable businesses like HBO. The company would move Austin Furst, an executive from HBO, over to dismantle the assets of Time-Life Films. And while Furst would sell off the production and distribution parts of the company to Fox, and the television department to Columbia Pictures, he couldn't find a party interested in the home video department. Recognizing that home video was an emerging market that would need a visionary like himself willing to take big risks for the chance to have big rewards, Furst purchased the home video rights to the film and video library for himself, starting up his home entertainment company.   But what to call the company?   It would be his daughter that would come up with Vestron, a portmanteau of combining the name of the Roman goddess of the heart, Vesta, with Tron, the Greek word for instrument. Remember, the movie Tron would not be released for another year at this point.   At first, there were only two employees at Vestron: Furst himself, and Jon Pesinger, a fellow executive at Time-Life who, not unlike Dorothy Boyd in Jerry Maguire, was the only person who saw Furst's long-term vision for the future.   Outside of the titles they brought with them from Time-Life, Vestron's initial release of home video titles comprised of two mid-range movie hits where they were able to snag the home video rights instead of the companies that released the movies in theatres, either because those companies did not have a home video operation yet, or did not negotiate for home video rights when making the movie deal with the producers. Fort Apache, The Bronx, a crime drama with Paul Newman and Ed Asner, and Loving Couples, a Shirley MacLaine/James Coburn romantic comedy that was neither romantic nor comedic, were Time-Life productions, while the Burt Reynolds/Dom DeLuise comedy The Cannonball Run, was a pickup from the Hong Kong production company Golden Harvest, which financed the comedy to help break their local star, Jackie Chan, into the American market. They'd also make a deal with several Canadian production companies to get the American home video rights to titles like the Jack Lemmon drama Tribute and the George C. Scott horror film The Changeling.   The advantage that Vestron had over the major studios was their outlook on the mom and pop rental stores that were popping up in every city and town in the United States. The major studios hated the idea that they could sell a videotape for, say, $99.99, and then see someone else make a major profit by renting that tape out fifty or a hundred times at $4 or $5 per night. Of course, they would eventually see the light, but in 1982, they weren't there yet.   Now, let me sidetrack for a moment, as I am wont to do, to talk about mom and pop video stores in the early 1980s. If you're younger than, say, forty, you probably only know Blockbuster and/or Hollywood Video as your local video rental store, but in the early 80s, there were no national video store chains yet. The first Blockbuster wouldn't open until October 1985, in Dallas, and your neighborhood likely didn't get one until the late 1980s or early 1990s. The first video store I ever encountered, Telford Home Video in Belmont Shores, Long Beach in 1981, was operated by Bob Telford, an actor best known for playing the Station Master in both the original 1974 version of Where the Red Fern Grows and its 2003 remake. Bob was really cool, and I don't think it was just because the space for the video store was just below my dad's office in the real estate company that had built and operated the building. He genuinely took interest in this weird thirteen year old kid who had an encyclopedic knowledge of films and wanted to learn more. I wanted to watch every movie he had in the store that I hadn't seen yet, but there was one problem: we had a VHS machine, and most of Bob's inventory was RCA SelectaVision, a disc-based playback system using a special stylus and a groove-covered disc much like an LP record. After school each day, I'd hightail it over to Telford Home Video, and Bob and I would watch a movie while we waited for customers to come rent something. It was with Bob that I would watch Ordinary People and The Magnificent Seven, The Elephant Man and The Last Waltz, Bus Stop and Rebel Without a Cause and The French Connection and The Man Who Fell to Earth and a bunch of other movies that weren't yet available on VHS, and it was great.   Like many teenagers in the early 1980s, I spent some time working at a mom and pop video store, Seacliff Home Video in Aptos, CA. I worked on the weekends, it was a third of a mile walk from home, and even though I was only 16 years old at the time, my bosses would, every week, solicit my opinion about which upcoming videos we should acquire. Because, like Telford Home Video and Village Home Video, where my friends Dick and Michelle worked about two miles away, and most every video store at the time, space was extremely limited and there was only space for so many titles. Telford Home Video was about 500 square feet and had maybe 500 titles. Seacliff was about 750 square feet and around 800 titles, including about 50 in the tiny, curtained off room created to hold the porn. And the first location for Village Home Video had only 300 square feet of space and only 250 titles. The owner, Leone Keller, confirmed to me that until they moved into a larger location across from the original store, they were able to rent out every movie in the store every night.    For many, a store owner had to be very careful about what they ordered and what they replaced. But Vestron Home Video always seemed to have some of the better movies. Because of a spat between Warner Brothers and Orion Pictures, Vestron would end up with most of Orion's 1983 through 1985 theatrical releases, including Rodney Dangerfield's Easy Money, the Nick Nolte political thriller Under Fire, the William Hurt mystery Gorky Park, and Gene Wilder's The Woman in Red. They'd also make a deal with Roger Corman's old American Independent Pictures outfit, which would reap an unexpected bounty when George Miller's second Mad Max movie, The Road Warrior, became a surprise hit in 1982, and Vestron was holding the video rights to the first Mad Max movie. And they'd also find themselves with the laserdisc rights to several Brian DePalma movies including Dressed to Kill and Blow Out. And after Polygram Films decided to leave the movie business in 1984, they would sell the home video rights to An American Werewolf in London and Endless Love to Vestron.   They were doing pretty good.   And in 1984, Vestron ended up changing the home video industry forever.   When Michael Jackson and John Landis had trouble with Jackson's record company, Epic, getting their idea for a 14 minute short film built around the title song to Jackson's monster album Thriller financed, Vestron would put up a good portion of the nearly million dollar budget in order to release the movie on home video, after it played for a few weeks on MTV. In February 1984, Vestron would release a one-hour tape, The Making of Michael Jackson's Thriller, that included the mini-movie and a 45 minute Making of featurette. At $29.99, it would be one of the first sell-through titles released on home video.   It would become the second home videotape to sell a million copies, after Star Wars.   Suddenly, Vestron was flush with more cash than it knew what to do with.   In 1985, they would decide to expand their entertainment footprint by opening Vestron Pictures, which would finance a number of movies that could be exploited across a number of platforms, including theatrical, home video, cable and syndicated TV. In early January 1986, Vestron would announce they were pursuing projects with three producers, Steve Tisch, Larry Turman, and Gene Kirkwood, but no details on any specific titles or even a timeframe when any of those movies would be made.   Tisch, the son of Loews Entertainment co-owner Bob Tisch, had started producing films in 1977 with the Peter Fonda music drama Outlaw Blues, and had a big hit in 1983 with Risky Business. Turman, the Oscar-nominated producer of Mike Nichols' The Graduate, and Kirkwood, the producer of The Keep and The Pope of Greenwich Village, had seen better days as producers by 1986 but their names still carried a certain cache in Hollywood, and the announcement would certainly let the industry know Vestron was serious about making quality movies.   Well, maybe not all quality movies. They would also launch a sub-label for Vestron Pictures called Lightning Pictures, which would be utilized on B-movies and schlock that maybe wouldn't fit in the Vestron Pictures brand name they were trying to build.   But it costs money to build a movie production and theatrical distribution company.   Lots of money.   Thanks to the ever-growing roster of video titles and the success of releases like Thriller, Vestron would go public in the spring of 1985, selling enough shares on the first day of trading to bring in $440m to the company, $140m than they thought they would sell that day.   It would take them a while, but in 1986, they would start production on their first slate of films, as well as acquire several foreign titles for American distribution.   Vestron Pictures officially entered the theatrical distribution game on July 18th, 1986, when they released the Australian comedy Malcolm at the Cinema 2 on the Upper East Side of New York City. A modern attempt to create the Aussie version of a Jacques Tati-like absurdist comedy about modern life and our dependance on gadgetry, Malcolm follows, as one character describes him a 100 percent not there individual who is tricked into using some of his remote control inventions to pull of a bank robbery. While the film would be a minor hit in Australia, winning all eight of the Australian Film Institute Awards it was nominated for including Best Picture, Director, Screenplay and three acting awards, the film would only play for five weeks in New York, grossing less than $35,000, and would not open in Los Angeles until November 5th, where in its first week at the Cineplex Beverly Center and Samuel Goldwyn Pavilion Cinemas, it would gross a combined $37,000. Go figure.   Malcolm would open in a few more major markets, but Vestron would close the film at the end of the year with a gross under $200,000.   Their next film, Slaughter High, was a rather odd bird. A co-production between American and British-based production companies, the film followed a group of adults responsible for a prank gone wrong on April Fool's Day who are invited to a reunion at their defunct high school where a masked killer awaits inside.   And although the movie takes place in America, the film was shot in London and nearby Virginia Water, Surrey, in late 1984, under the title April Fool's Day. But even with Caroline Munro, the British sex symbol who had become a cult favorite with her appearances in a series of sci-fi and Hammer horror films with Peter Cushing and/or Christopher Lee, as well as her work in the Bond film The Spy Who Loved Me, April Fool's Day would sit on the proverbial shelf for nearly two years, until Vestron picked it up and changed its title, since Paramount Pictures had released their own horror film called April Fools Day earlier in the year.   Vestron would open Slaughter High on nine screens in Detroit on November 14th, 1986, but Vestron would not report grosses. Then they would open it on six screen in St. Louis on February 13th, 1987. At least this time they reported a gross. $12,400. Variety would simply call that number “grim.” They'd give the film one final rush on April 24th, sending it out to 38 screens in in New York City, where it would gross $90,000. There'd be no second week, as practically every theatre would replace it with Creepshow 2.   The third and final Vestron Pictures release for 1986 was Billy Galvin, a little remembered family drama featuring Karl Malden and Lenny von Dohlen, originally produced for the PBS anthology series American Playhouse but bumped up to a feature film as part of coordinated effort to promote the show by occasionally releasing feature films bearing the American Playhouse banner.   The film would open at the Cineplex Beverly Center on December 31st, not only the last day of the calendar year but the last day a film can be released into theatres in Los Angeles to have been considered for Academy Awards. The film would not get any major awards, from the Academy or anyone else, nor much attention from audiences, grossing just $4,000 in its first five days. They'd give the film a chance in New York on February 20th, at the 23rd Street West Triplex, but a $2,000 opening weekend gross would doom the film from ever opening in another theatre again.   In early 1987, Vestron announced eighteen films they would release during the year, and a partnership with AMC Theatres and General Cinema to have their films featured in those two companies' pilot specialized film programs in major markets like Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Houston and San Francisco.   Alpine Fire would be the first of those films, arriving at the Cinema Studio 1 in New York City on February 20th. A Swiss drama about a young deaf and mentally challenged teenager who gets his older sister pregnant, was that country's entry into the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar race. While the film would win the Golden Leopard Award at the 1985 Locarno Film Festival, the Academy would not select the film for a nomination, and the film would quickly disappear from theatres after a $2,000 opening weekend gross.   Personal Services, the first film to be directed by Terry Jones outside of his services with Monty Python, would arrive in American theatres on May 15th. The only Jones-directed film to not feature any other Python in the cast, Personal Services was a thinly-disguised telling of a 1970s—era London waitress who was running a brothel in her flat in order to make ends meet, and featured a standout performance by Julie Walters as the waitress turned madame. In England, Personal Services would be the second highest-grossing film of the year, behind The Living Daylights, the first Bond film featuring new 007 Timothy Dalton. In America, the film wouldn't be quite as successful, grossing $1.75m after 33 weeks in theatres, despite never playing on more than 31 screens in any given week.   It would be another three months before Vestron would release their second movie of the year, but it would be the one they'd become famous for.   Dirty Dancing.   Based in large part on screenwriter Eleanor Bergstein's own childhood, the screenplay would be written after the producers of the 1980 Michael Douglas/Jill Clayburgh dramedy It's My Turn asked the writer to remove a scene from the screenplay that involved an erotic dance sequence. She would take that scene and use it as a jumping off point for a new story about a Jewish teenager in the early 1960s who participated in secret “Dirty Dancing” competitions while she vacationed with her doctor father and stay-at-home mother while they vacationed in the Catskill Mountains. Baby, the young woman at the center of the story, would not only resemble the screenwriter as a character but share her childhood nickname.   Bergstein would pitch the story to every studio in Hollywood in 1984, and only get a nibble from MGM Pictures, whose name was synonymous with big-budget musicals decades before. They would option the screenplay and assign producer Linda Gottlieb, a veteran television producer making her first major foray into feature films, to the project. With Gottlieb, Bergstein would head back to the Catskills for the first time in two decades, as research for the script. It was while on this trip that the pair would meet Michael Terrace, a former Broadway dancer who had spent summers in the early 1960s teaching tourists how to mambo in the Catskills. Terrace and Bergstein didn't remember each other if they had met way back when, but his stories would help inform the lead male character of Johnny Castle.   But, as regularly happens in Hollywood, there was a regime change at MGM in late 1985, and one of the projects the new bosses cut loose was Dirty Dancing. Once again, the script would make the rounds in Hollywood, but nobody was biting… until Vestron Pictures got their chance to read it.   They loved it, and were ready to make it their first in-house production… but they would make the movie if the budget could be cut from $10m to $4.5m. That would mean some sacrifices. They wouldn't be able to hire a major director, nor bigger name actors, but that would end up being a blessing in disguise.   To direct, Gottlieb and Bergstein looked at a lot of up and coming feature directors, but the one person they had the best feeling about was Emile Ardolino, a former actor off-Broadway in the 1960s who began his filmmaking career as a documentarian for PBS in the 1970s. In 1983, Ardolino's documentary about National Dance Institute founder Jacques d'Amboise, He Makes Me Feel Like Dancin', would win both the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and the Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Entertainment Special.   Although Ardolino had never directed a movie, he would read the script twice in a week while serving on jury duty, and came back to Gottlieb and Bergstein with a number of ideas to help make the movie shine, even at half the budget.   For a movie about dancing, with a lot of dancing in it, they would need a creative choreographer to help train the actors and design the sequences. The filmmakers would chose Kenny Ortega, who in addition to choreographing the dance scenes in Pretty in Pink and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, had worked with Gene Kelly on the 1980 musical Xanadu. Well, more specifically, was molded by Gene Kelly to become the lead choreographer for the film. That's some good credentials.   Unlike movies like Flashdance, where the filmmakers would hire Jennifer Beals to play Alex and Marine Jahan to perform Alex's dance scenes, Emile Ardolino was insistent that the actors playing the dancers were actors who also dance. Having stand-ins would take extra time to set-up, and would suck up a portion of an already tight budget. Yet the first people he would meet for the lead role of Johnny were non-dancers Benecio del Toro, Val Kilmer, and Billy Zane. Zane would go so far as to do a screen test with one of the actresses being considered for the role of Baby, Jennifer Grey, but after screening the test, they realized Grey was right for Baby but Zane was not right for Johnny.   Someone suggested Patrick Swayze, a former dancer for the prestigious Joffrey Ballet who was making his way up the ranks of stardom thanks to his roles in The Outsiders and Grandview U.S.A. But Swayze had suffered a knee injury years before that put his dance career on hold, and there were concerns he would re-aggravate his injury, and there were concerns from Jennifer Grey because she and Swayze had not gotten along very well while working on Red Dawn. But that had been three years earlier, and when they screen tested together here, everyone was convinced this was the pairing that would bring magic to the role.   Baby's parents would be played by two Broadway veterans: Jerry Orbach, who is best known today as Detective Lenny Briscoe on Law and Order, and Kelly Bishop, who is best known today as Emily Gilmore from Gilmore Girls but had actually started out as a dancer, singer and actor, winning a Tony Award for her role in the original Broadway production of A Chorus Line. Although Bishop had originally been cast in a different role for the movie, another guest at the Catskills resort with the Housemans, but she would be bumped up when the original Mrs. Houseman, Lynne Lipton, would fall ill during the first week of filming.   Filming on Dirty Dancing would begin in North Carolina on September 5th, 1986, at a former Boy Scout camp that had been converted to a private residential community. This is where many of the iconic scenes from the film would be shot, including Baby carrying the watermelon and practicing her dance steps on the stairs, all the interior dance scenes, the log scene, and the golf course scene where Baby would ask her father for $250. It's also where Patrick Swayze almost ended his role in the film, when he would indeed re-injure his knee during the balancing scene on the log. He would be rushed to the hospital to have fluid drained from the swelling. Thankfully, there would be no lingering effects once he was released.   After filming in North Carolina was completed, the team would move to Virginia for two more weeks of filming, including the water lift scene, exteriors at Kellerman's Hotel and the Houseman family's cabin, before the film wrapped on October 27th.   Ardolino's first cut of the film would be completed in February 1987, and Vestron would begin the process of running a series of test screenings. At the first test screening, nearly 40% of the audience didn't realize there was an abortion subplot in the movie, even after completing the movie. A few weeks later, Vestron executives would screen the film for producer Aaron Russo, who had produced such movies as The Rose and Trading Places. His reaction to the film was to tell the executives to burn the negative and collect the insurance.   But, to be fair, one important element of the film was still not set.   The music.   Eleanor Bergstein had written into her script a number of songs that were popular in the early 1960s, when the movie was set, that she felt the final film needed. Except a number of the songs were a bit more expensive to license than Vestron would have preferred. The company was testing the film with different versions of those songs, other artists' renditions. The writer, with the support of her producer and director, fought back. She made a deal with the Vestron executives. They would play her the master tracks to ten of the songs she wanted, as well as the copycat versions. If she could identify six of the masters, she could have all ten songs in the film.   Vestron would spend another half a million dollars licensing the original recording.    The writer nailed all ten.   But even then, there was still one missing piece of the puzzle.   The closing song.   While Bergstein wanted another song to close the film, the team at Vestron were insistent on a new song that could be used to anchor a soundtrack album. The writer, producer, director and various members of the production team listened to dozens of submissions from songwriters, but none of them were right, until they got to literally the last submission left, written by Franke Previte, who had written another song that would appear on the Dirty Dancing soundtrack, “Hungry Eyes.”   Everybody loved the song, called “I've Had the Time of My Life,” and it would take some time to convince Previte that Dirty Dancing was not a porno. They showed him the film and he agreed to give them the song, but the production team and Vestron wanted to get a pair of more famous singers to record the final version.   The filmmakers originally approached disco queen Donna Summer and Joe Esposito, whose song “You're the Best” appeared on the Karate Kid soundtrack, but Summer would decline, not liking the title of the movie. They would then approach Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates and Kim Carnes, but they'd both decline, citing concerns about the title of the movie. Then they approached Bill Medley, one-half of The Righteous Brothers, who had enjoyed yet another career resurgence when You Lost That Lovin' Feeling became a hit in 1986 thanks to Top Gun, but at first, he would also decline. Not that he had any concerns about the title of the film, although he did have concerns about the title, but that his wife was about to give birth to their daughter, and he had promised he would be there.   While trying to figure who to get to sing the male part of the song, the music supervisor for the film approached Jennifer Warnes, who had sung the duet “Up Where We Belong” from the An Officer and a Gentleman soundtrack, which had won the 1983 Academy Award for Best Original Song, and sang the song “It Goes Like It Goes” from the Norma Rae soundtrack, which had won the 1980 Academy Award for Best Original Song. Warnes wasn't thrilled with the song, but she would be persuaded to record the song for the right price… and if Bill Medley would sing the other part. Medley, flattered that Warnes asked specifically to record with him, said he would do so, after his daughter was born, and if the song was recorded in his studio in Los Angeles. A few weeks later, Medley and Warnes would have their portion of the song completed in only one hour, including additional harmonies and flourishes decided on after finishing with the main vocals.   With all the songs added to the movie, audience test scores improved considerably.   RCA Records, who had been contracted to handle the release of the soundtrack, would set a July 17th release date for the album, to coincide with the release of the movie on the same day, with the lead single, I've Had the Time of My Life, released one week earlier. But then, Vestron moved the movie back from July 17th to August 21st… and forgot to tell RCA Records about the move. No big deal. The song would quickly rise up the charts, eventually hitting #1 on the Billboard charts.   When the movie finally did open in 975 theatres in August 21st, the film would open to fourth place with $3.9m in ticket sales, behind Can't Buy Me Love in third place and in its second week of release, the Cheech Marin comedy Born in East L.A., which opened in second place, and Stakeout, which was enjoying its third week atop the charts.   The reviews were okay, but not special. Gene Siskel would give the film a begrudging Thumbs Up, citing Jennifer Grey's performance and her character's arc as the thing that tipped the scale into the positive, while Roger Ebert would give the film a Thumbs Down, due to its idiot plot and tired and relentlessly predictable story of love between kids from different backgrounds.   But then a funny thing happened…   Instead of appealing to the teenagers they thought would see the film, the majority of the audience ended up becoming adults. Not just twenty and thirty somethings, but people who were teenagers themselves during the movie's timeframe. They would be drawn in to the film through the newfound sense of boomer nostalgia that helped make Stand By Me an unexpected hit the year before, both as a movie and as a soundtrack.   Its second week in theatre would only see the gross drop 6%, and the film would finish in third place.   In week three, the four day Labor Day weekend, it would gross nearly $5m, and move up to second place. And it would continue to play and continue to bring audiences in, only dropping out of the top ten once in early November for one weekend, from August to December. Even with all the new movies entering the marketplace for Christmas, Dirty Dancing would be retained by most of the theatres that were playing it. In the first weekend of 1988, Dirty Dancing was still playing in 855 theaters, only 120 fewer than who opened it five months earlier. Once it did started leaving first run theatres, dollar houses were eager to pick it up, and Dirty Dancing would make another $6m in ticket sales as it continued to play until Christmas 1988 at some theatres, finishing its incredible run with $63.5m in ticket sales.   Yet, despite its ubiquitousness in American pop culture, despite the soundtrack selling more than ten million copies in its first year, despite the uptick in attendance at dance schools from coast to coast, Dirty Dancing never once was the #1 film in America on any weekend it was in theatres. There would always be at least one other movie that would do just a bit better.   When awards season came around, the movie was practically ignored by critics groups. It would pick up an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature, and both the movie and Jennifer Grey would be nominated for Golden Globes, but it would be that song, I've Had the Time of My Life, that would be the driver for awards love. It would win the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Original Song, and a Grammy for Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. The song would anchor a soundtrack that would also include two other hit songs, Eric Carmen's “Hungry Eyes,” and “She's Like the Wind,” recorded for the movie by Patrick Swayze, making him the proto-Hugh Jackman of the 80s. I've seen Hugh Jackman do his one-man show at the Hollywood Bowl, and now I'm wishing Patrick Swayze could have had something like that thirty years ago.   On September 25th, they would release Abel Ferrera's Neo-noir romantic thriller China Girl. A modern adaptation of Romeo and Juliet written by regular Ferrera writer Nicholas St. John, the setting would be New York City's Lower East Side, when Tony, a teenager from Little Italy, falls for Tye, a teenager from Chinatown, as their older brothers vie for turf in a vicious gang war. While the stars of the film, Richard Panebianco and Sari Chang, would never become known actors, the supporting cast is as good as you'd expect from a post-Ms. .45 Ferrera film, including James Russo, Russell Wong, David Caruso and James Hong.   The $3.5m movie would open on 110 screens, including 70 in New York ti-state region and 18 in Los Angeles, grossing $531k. After a second weekend, where the gross dropped to $225k, Vestron would stop tracking the film, with a final reported gross of just $1.26m coming from a stockholder's report in early 1988.   Ironically, China Girl would open against another movie that Vestron had a hand in financing, but would not release in America: Rob Reiner's The Princess Bride. While the film would do okay in America, grossing $30m against its $15m, it wouldn't translate so easily to foreign markets.   Anna, from first time Polish filmmaker Yurek Bogayevicz, was an oddball little film from the start. The story, co-written with the legendary Polish writer/director Agnieszka Holland, was based on the real-life friendship of Polish actresses Joanna (Yo-ahn-nuh) Pacuła (Pa-tsu-wa) and Elżbieta (Elz-be-et-ah) Czyżewska (Chuh-zef-ska), and would find Czech supermodel Paulina Porizkova making her feature acting debut as Krystyna, an aspiring actress from Czechoslovakia who goes to New York City to find her idol, Anna, who had been imprisoned and then deported for speaking out against the new regime after the 1968 Communist invasion. Nearly twenty years later, the middle-aged Anna struggles to land any acting parts, in films, on television, or on the stage, who relishes the attention of this beautiful young waif who reminds her of herself back then.   Sally Kirkland, an American actress who got her start as part of Andy Warhol's Factory in the early 60s but could never break out of playing supporting roles in movies like The Way We Were, The Sting, A Star is Born, and Private Benjamin, would be cast as the faded Czech star whose life seemed to unintentionally mirror the actress's. Future Snakes on a Plane director David R. Ellis would be featured in a small supporting role, as would the then sixteen year old Sofia Coppola.   The $1m movie would shoot on location in New York City during the winter of late 1986 and early 1987, and would make its world premiere at the 1987 New York Film Festival in September, before opening at the 68th Street Playhouse on the Upper East Side on October 30th. Critics such as Bruce Williamson of Playboy, Molly Haskell of Vogue and Jami Bernard of the New York Post would sing the praises of the movie, and of Paulina Porizkova, but it would be Sally Kirkland whom practically every critic would gush over. “A performance of depth and clarity and power, easily one of the strongest female roles of the year,” wrote Mike McGrady of Newsday. Janet Maslim wasn't as impressed with the film as most critics, but she would note Ms. Kirkland's immensely dignified presence in the title role.   New York audiences responded well to the critical acclaim, buying more than $22,000 worth of tickets, often playing to sell out crowds for the afternoon and evening shows. In its second week, the film would see its gross increase 12%, and another 3% increase in its third week. Meanwhile, on November 13th, the film would open in Los Angeles at the AMC Century City 14, where it would bring in an additional $10,000, thanks in part to Sheila Benson's rave in the Los Angeles Times, calling the film “the best kind of surprise — a small, frequently funny, fine-boned film set in the worlds of the theater and movies which unexpectedly becomes a consummate study of love, alienation and loss,” while praising Kirkland's performance as a “blazing comet.”   Kirkland would make the rounds on the awards circuit, winning Best Actress awards from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, the Golden Globes, and the Independent Spirit Awards, culminating in an Academy Award nomination, although she would lose to Cher in Moonstruck.   But despite all these rave reviews and the early support for the film in New York and Los Angeles, the film got little traction outside these two major cities. Despite playing in theatres for nearly six months, Anna could only round up about $1.2m in ticket sales.   Vestron's penultimate new film of 1987 would be a movie that when it was shot in Namibia in late 1986 was titled Peacekeeper, then was changed to Desert Warrior when it was acquired by Jerry Weintraub's eponymously named distribution company, then saw it renamed again to Steel Dawn when Vestron overpaid to acquire the film from Weintraub, because they wanted the next film starring Patrick Swayze for themselves.   Swayze plays, and stop me if you've heard this one before, a warrior wandering through a post-apocalyptic desert who comes upon a group of settlers who are being menaced by the leader of a murderous gang who's after the water they control. Lisa Niemi, also known as Mrs. Patrick Swayze, would be his romantic interest in the film, which would also star AnthonY Zerbe, Brian James, and, in one of his very first acting roles, future Mummy co-star Arnold Vosloo.   The film would open to horrible reviews, and gross just $312k in 290 theatres. For comparison's sake, Dirty Dancing was in its eleventh week of release, was still playing 878 theatres, and would gross $1.7m. In its second week, Steel Dawn had lost nearly two thirds of its theatres, grossing only $60k from 107 theatres. After its third weekend, Vestron stopped reporting grosses. The film had only earned $562k in ticket sales.   And their final release for 1987 would be one of the most prestigious titles they'd ever be involved with. The Dead, based on a short story by James Joyce, would be the 37th and final film to be directed by John Huston. His son Tony would adapt the screenplay, while his daughter Anjelica, whom he had directed to a Best Supporting Actress Oscar two years earlier for Prizzi's Honor, would star as the matriarch of an Irish family circa 1904 whose husband discovers memoirs of a deceased lover of his wife's, an affair that preceded their meeting.   Originally scheduled to shoot in Dublin, Ireland, The Dead would end up being shot on soundstages in Valencia, CA, just north of Los Angeles, as the eighty year old filmmaker was in ill health. Huston, who was suffering from severe emphysema due to decades of smoking, would use video playback for the first and only time in his career in order to call the action, whirling around from set to set in a motorized wheelchair with an oxygen tank attached to it. In fact, the company insuring the film required the producers to have a backup director on set, just in case Huston was unable to continue to make the film. That stand-in was Czech-born British filmmaker Karel Reisz, who never once had to stand-in during the entire shoot.   One Huston who didn't work on the film was Danny Huston, who was supposed to shoot some second unit footage for the film in Dublin for his father, who could not make any trips overseas, as well as a documentary about the making of the film, but for whatever reason, Danny Huston would end up not doing either.   John Huston would turn in his final cut of the film to Vestron in July 1987, and would pass away in late August, a good four months before the film's scheduled release. He would live to see some of the best reviews of his entire career when the film was released on December 18th. At six theatres in Los Angeles and New York City, The Dead would earn $69k in its first three days during what was an amazing opening weekend for a number of movies. The Dead would open against exclusive runs of Broadcast News, Ironweed, Moonstruck and the newest Woody Allen film, September, as well as wide releases of Eddie Murphy: Raw, Batteries Not Included, Overboard, and the infamous Bill Cosby stinker Leonard Part 6.   The film would win the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Picture of the year, John Huston would win the Spirit Award and the London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director, Anjelica Huston would win a Spirit Award as well, for Best Supporting Actress, and Tony Huston would be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. But the little $3.5m film would only see modest returns at the box office, grossing just $4.4m after a four month run in theatres.   Vestron would also release two movies in 1987 through their genre Lightning Pictures label.   The first, Blood Diner, from writer/director Jackie Kong, was meant to be both a tribute and an indirect sequel to the infamous 1965 Herschell Gordon Lewis movie Blood Feast, often considered to be the first splatter slasher film. Released on four screens in Baltimore on July 10th, the film would gross just $6,400 in its one tracked week. The film would get a second chance at life when it opened at the 8th Street Playhouse in New York City on September 4th, but after a $5,000 opening week gross there, the film would have to wait until it was released on home video to become a cult film.   The other Lightning Pictures release for 1987, Street Trash, would become one of the most infamous horror comedy films of the year. An expansion of a short student film by then nineteen year old Jim Muro, Street Trash told the twin stories of a Greenpoint, Brooklyn shop owner who sell a case of cheap, long-expired hooch to local hobos, who hideously melt away shortly after drinking it, while two homeless brothers try to deal with their situation as best they can while all this weirdness is going on about them.   After playing several weeks of midnight shows at the Waverly Theatre near Washington Square, Street Trash would open for a regular run at the 8th Street Playhouse on September 18th, one week after Blood Diner left the same theatre. However, Street Trash would not replace Blood Diner, which was kicked to the curb after one week, but another long forgotten movie, the Christopher Walken-starrer Deadline. Street Trash would do a bit better than Blood Diner, $9,000 in its first three days, enough to get the film a full two week run at the Playhouse. But its second week gross of $5,000 would not be enough to give it a longer playdate, or get another New York theatre to pick it up. The film would get other playdates, including one in my secondary hometown of Santa Cruz starting, ironically, on Thanksgiving Day, but the film would barely make $100k in its theatrical run.   While this would be the only film Jim Muro would direct, he would become an in demand cinematographer and Steadicam operator, working on such films as Field of Dreams, Dances with Wolves, Sneakers, L.A. Confidential, the first Fast and Furious movie, and on The Abyss, Terminator 2, True Lies and Titanic for James Cameron. And should you ever watch the film and sit through the credits, yes, it's that Bryan Singer who worked as a grip and production assistant on the film. It would be his very first film credit, which he worked on during a break from going to USC film school.   People who know me know I am not the biggest fan of horror films. I may have mentioned it once or twice on this podcast. But I have a soft spot for Troma Films and Troma-like films, and Street Trash is probably the best Troma movie not made or released by Troma. There's a reason why Lloyd Kaufman is not a fan of the movie. A number of people who have seen the movie think it is a Troma movie, not helped by the fact that a number of people who did work on The Toxic Avenger went to work on Street Trash afterwards, and some even tell Lloyd at conventions that Street Trash is their favorite Troma movie. It's looks like a Troma movie. It feels like a Troma movie. And to be honest, at least to me, that's one hell of a compliment. It's one of the reasons I even went to see Street Trash, the favorable comparison to Troma. And while I, for lack of a better word, enjoyed Street Trash when I saw it, as much as one can say they enjoyed a movie where a bunch of bums playing hot potato with a man's severed Johnson is a major set piece, but I've never really felt the need to watch it again over the past thirty-five years.   Like several of the movies on this episode, Street Trash is not available for streaming on any service in the United States. And outside of Dirty Dancing, the ones you can stream, China Girl, Personal Services, Slaughter High and Steel Dawn, are mostly available for free with ads on Tubi, which made a huge splash last week with a confounding Super Bowl commercial that sent millions of people to figure what a Tubi was.   Now, if you were counting, that was only nine films released in 1987, and not the eighteen they had promised at the start of the year. Despite the fact they had a smash hit in Dirty Dancing, they decided to push most of their planned 1987 movies to 1988. Not necessarily by choice, though. Many of the films just weren't ready in time for a 1987 release, and then the unexpected long term success of Dirty Dancing kept them occupied for most of the rest of the year. But that only meant that 1988 would be a stellar year for them, right?   We'll find out next episode, when we continue the Vestron Pictures story.   Thank you for joining us. We'll talk again next week.   Remember to visit this episode's page on our website, The80sMoviePodcast.com, for extra materials about the movies we covered this episode.   The 80s Movies Podcast has been researched, written, narrated and edited by Edward Havens for Idiosyncratic Entertainment.   Thank you again.   Good night.

Creating a Brand & Making Killer Films with Elijah Wood and the SpectreVision TeamSPECIAL SUNDANCE EDITION of the Indie Film Hustle PodcastI wanted to do something special for the Indie Film Hustle Tribe this year. I'm in Park City, UT interview some AMAZING filmmakers, producers, agents and actors. In celebration of Sundance I'll be releasing a podcast a day during the week.I wanted to launch this special Sundance Film Festival series with a bang. In this episode I speak to indie film favorite and all around amazing human being Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings, Sin City) and his remarkable partners Josh Waller, Daniel Noah and Lisa Whalen (Company X) over at their company SpectreVision.I have to say that this is by far one of my favorite interviews I've ever done. It was part filmmaking masterclass, branding lesson, James Lipton interview and party. I learned a ton from the gang and really felt the passion these friends and partners have for making the kind of films they want to see.All of these Sundance Series episodes will be co-hosted by Sebastian Twardosz from Circus Road Films.Right click here to download the MP3Download on iTunes DirectHere's a bit about SpectreVision:Founded in 2010 by partners Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller, SpectreVision was created to tell character-driven stories tackling emotional and human experiences that test the boundaries of the genre space.The SpectreVision productions of Cooties and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night made their premieres at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Cooties was acquired by Lionsgate Films at Sundance. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night was acquired by Kino-Lorber. It has been the recipient of numerous awards from film festivals throughout the world, and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. SpectreVision has also served as Executive Producer on such critically acclaimed films including Toad Road, LFO:The Movie and Open Windows. Their production of The Boy, premiered at the 2015 South By Southwest film festival. It opened in the U.S. in August 2015, and continued to play at festivals worldwide throughout the year. In the five years since its inception, SpectreVision has expanded its focus, with new and exciting forays into the worlds of music, television, gaming and digital media.Wood, Noah and Waller were honored with the Visionary Award at the 2014 Stanley Film Festival for their contribution to independent film. They also delivered the Keynote Address for the Fantastic Market in Austin, leading into the 2015 Fantastic Fest. In January of 2016, SpectreVision announced a new partnership with gaming giant Ubisoft, to create, develop and produce original content for their virtual reality platform. The SV production of The Greasy Strangler made its world premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival to wide acclaim and controversy, making it one of the most talked-about titles at the festival.LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODESpectreVisionSpectreVision - FacebookSpectreVision - TwitterCompany XSebastian TwardoszCircus Road FilmsSPONSORS

Josh hosts this topical episode about arms dealing. Lord of War! Pappy and Kylo hang out. Brett does great research! ******* The 20-year arms dealing career of Queens, N.Y., outcast Yuri Orlov (Nicolas Cage) serves as a window onto the end of the Cold War and the emergence of worldwide terrorism. He finds himself reassuring his more ethically challenged younger brother, Vitaly (Jared Leto), while adeptly sidestepping the pursuit of federal agent Jack Lawrence (Ethan Hawke). The globetrotting arms dealer also pursues the woman of his dreams, supermodel Ava Fontaine (Bridget Moynahan). Release date: September 16, 2005 (USA) Director: Andrew Niccol Screenplay: Andrew Niccol Music composed by: Antonio Pinto Box office: $72.6 million Distributed by: 20th Century Studios, Lionsgate, Lionsgate Films

Robert Winfree and Mark Radulich present their Plane 2023 Movie Review! Mlane is a 2023 American action-thriller film directed by Jean-François Richet, P written by Charles Cumming and J. P. Davis, and starring Gerard Butler, Mike Colter, Yoson An, and Tony Goldwyn. The films centers around a pilot (Butler) allying with a prisoner (Colter) to save his passengers from a hostile territory they landed in for an emergency landing. The film was announced in 2016, acquired by Lionsgate Films in 2019, sold to Solstice Studios in 2020, and re-acquired by Lionsgate in 2021. It was shot in Puerto Rico. Plane was released in the United States on January 13, 2023. It received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $12 million worldwide. Disclaimer: The following may contain offensive language, adult humor, and/or content that some viewers may find offensive – The views and opinions expressed by any one speaker does not explicitly or necessarily reflect or represent those of Mark Radulich or W2M Network. Mark Radulich and his wacky podcast on all the things: https://linktr.ee/markkind76 also snapchat: markkind76 FB Messenger: Mark Radulich LCSW Tiktok: @markradulich twitter: @MarkRadulich

Creating a Brand & Making Killer Films with Elijah Wood and the SpectreVision TeamSPECIAL SUNDANCE EDITION of the Indie Film Hustle PodcastI wanted to do something special for the Indie Film Hustle Tribe this year. I'm in Park City, UT interview some AMAZING filmmakers, producers, agents and actors. In celebration of Sundance I'll be releasing a podcast a day during the week.I wanted to launch this special Sundance Film Festival series with a bang. In this episode I speak to indie film favorite and all around amazing human being Elijah Wood (Lord of the Rings, Sin City) and his remarkable partners Josh Waller, Daniel Noah and Lisa Whalen (Company X) over at their company SpectreVision.I have to say that this is by far one of my favorite interviews I've ever done. It was part filmmaking masterclass, branding lesson, James Lipton interview and party. I learned a ton from the gang and really felt the passion these friends and partners have for making the kind of films they want to see.All of these Sundance Series episodes will be co-hosted by Sebastian Twardosz from Circus Road Films.Right click here to download the MP3Download on iTunes DirectHere's a bit about SpectreVision:Founded in 2010 by partners Elijah Wood, Daniel Noah and Josh C. Waller, SpectreVision was created to tell character-driven stories tackling emotional and human experiences that test the boundaries of the genre space.The SpectreVision productions of Cooties and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night made their premieres at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Cooties was acquired by Lionsgate Films at Sundance. A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night was acquired by Kino-Lorber. It has been the recipient of numerous awards from film festivals throughout the world, and was nominated for three Independent Spirit Awards. SpectreVision has also served as Executive Producer on such critically acclaimed films including Toad Road, LFO:The Movie and Open Windows. Their production of The Boy, premiered at the 2015 South By Southwest film festival. It opened in the U.S. in August 2015, and continued to play at festivals worldwide throughout the year. In the five years since its inception, SpectreVision has expanded its focus, with new and exciting forays into the worlds of music, television, gaming and digital media.Wood, Noah and Waller were honored with the Visionary Award at the 2014 Stanley Film Festival for their contribution to independent film. They also delivered the Keynote Address for the Fantastic Market in Austin, leading into the 2015 Fantastic Fest. In January of 2016, SpectreVision announced a new partnership with gaming giant Ubisoft, to create, develop and produce original content for their virtual reality platform. The SV production of The Greasy Strangler made its world premiere at this year's Sundance Film Festival to wide acclaim and controversy, making it one of the most talked-about titles at the festival.LINKS AND RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODESpectreVisionSpectreVision - FacebookSpectreVision - TwitterCompany XSebastian TwardoszCircus Road Films

Joshua Stamper has been a composer and collaborator for nearly thirty years. Equally at home in the jazz, classical, avant-garde, and indie/alternative worlds, and working with filmmakers, dancers, visual artists, poets and architects, his work reflects a deep commitment to transdisciplinary collaboration. Joshua has worked as an orchestral arranger, a studio conductor, and session musician for Columbia / Sony BMG and Concord Records, Lionsgate Films, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Legendary Entertainment, and for independent labels Domino, Dead Oceans, Important Records, Sounds Familyre, Smalltown Supersound, Joyful Noise Recordings, and Mason Jar Music.Joshua's work has been commissioned by the Daedalus Quartet, Mantra Percussion, and the Grammy-winning chamber choir, The Crossing. He is a MacDowell Composition Fellow, and is also the recipient of the Lincoln City Fellowship and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship. His work has been supported by the American Composers Forum, the Lilly Endowment, the Anne M. and Philip H. Glatfelter III Family Foundation, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, the Eric Stokes Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.The Bass Shed

Joshua Stamper has been a composer and collaborator for nearly thirty years. Equally at home in the jazz, classical, avant-garde, and indie/alternative worlds, and working with filmmakers, dancers, visual artists, poets and architects, his work reflects a deep commitment to transdisciplinary collaboration. Joshua has worked as an orchestral arranger, a studio conductor, and session musician for Columbia / Sony BMG and Concord Records, Lionsgate Films, Warner Bros. Pictures, and Legendary Entertainment, and for independent labels Domino, Dead Oceans, Important Records, Sounds Familyre, Smalltown Supersound, Joyful Noise Recordings, and Mason Jar Music.Joshua's work has been commissioned by the Daedalus Quartet, Mantra Percussion, and the Grammy-winning chamber choir, The Crossing. He is a MacDowell Composition Fellow, and is also the recipient of the Lincoln City Fellowship and the New Jersey State Council on the Arts Fellowship. His work has been supported by the American Composers Forum, the Lilly Endowment, the Anne M. and Philip H. Glatfelter III Family Foundation, the Musical Fund Society of Philadelphia, the Eric Stokes Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts.The Bass Shed on IG / The Bass Shed on Twitter / View More Episodes

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Michael B. Chait is the director and producer for the World War II "What If" action-epic-drama "Wolf Hound." On this episode of Open Dialogue, he shares behind the scene stories of the making of this film. He offers which actor may have benefitted from Dramamine, why his dad served as a technical advisor, and the challenges of shooting aerial footage and period films - all this and more with host Noel T. Manning II. All footage is used by permission from Lionsgate Films.

The Movie Bar, Episode 4: From the Hip Walks Into the Bar! The Diad and Bedroth brave some Stormy Weathers in the 1987 comedy/drama(/thriller?) - as always, from the dual standpoints of casual moviegoer and legal expert. The film, directed by Bob Clark from a screenplay by Clark and David E. Kelley, stars Judd Nelson as a fresh-faced, up-and-coming lawyer named Robin "Stormy" Weathers. After insinuating himself into a relatively minor assault case on behalf of the storied law firm where he works, Weathers displays an impressive (if unconventional) courtroom manner, ultimately winning what was thought to be an unwinnable case. This catapults the young lawyer to national acclaim and, somewhat begrudgingly to his superiors, to a role as partner in his firm. But when he is assigned his second case - one so impossible, representing a client so unsavory that his firm had initially turned it down - Robin begins to wonder if this is a storm he will be able to weather. The film also features Ray Walston, Darren McGaven, Elizabeth Perkins, and, in the standout role as a prickly professor of English literature accused of murdering his mistress, John Hurt. Does the film, like its protagonist, strike a unique and impressive tone, or does it end up biting off more than it can chew? Will it be found guilty of misrepresenting the legal profession? Join us at the bar and find out! Bedroth on Twitter: https://twitter.com/VGMPod The Diad on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thediad Find us on Discord: https://discord.gg/3w8EfU4mJM Theme Song "Cross Examination" by Skeletroy (https://www.patreon.com/skeletroy/posts) The Movie Bar is proudly affiliated with RPGEra.com (https://rpgera.com/)! Check them out for lots of great content, including articles, videos, and podcasts covering a variety of pop culture topics! Sound bytes from From the Hip are TM and Copyright (c) Lionsgate Films.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Joshua Williams was formerly trained at the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Kansas City Missouri. After touring internationally with different Jazz Legends such as Bobby Watson and others, Josh developed his own writing style and became a film composer infusing a multitude of genres to create his own unique sound. xJ-Will has worked with various different companies such as Lionsgate Films, Ford, Verizon, Redbull and NASA in adding music to their mixed media projects customizing each individual story being told through sound. He shares his story of how touring the world and playing live opened his eyes to the real music industry. That revelation then propelled him into the music licensing world. There are a ton of practical tips and tools of the trade for musicians looking to make some legit money with their original music. Xj_will - info for training instagram.com/xj_willhttps://stan.store/xJ-WillTo contact Miguel Antonio for feedback or inquiries about the show - email booking@JustTheMiguel.comCheck out Miguel's band Run With ItRunwithitband.net#liveandcreate podcast is where the host Miguel Antonio (Singer Song-Writer and Entrepreneur) talks to artists and entrepreneurs about what it means to live a great life and create great things. Live and Create Conversations dive into guests' personal stories and inspiration. They often touch on the practicalities of either business or creation and then build into a philosophical discussion about life and creating art, music, and a better world. Miguel Antonio is the frontman for the band Run With It, and the host of #liveandcreate podcast.

Born and raised in the Midwest, Joshua Williams was formerly trained at the Conservatory of Music and Dance in Kansas City Missouri. After touring internationally with different Jazz Legends such as Bobby Watson and others, Josh developed his own writing style and became a film composer infusing a multitude of genres to create his own unique sound. xJ-Will has worked with various different companies such as Lionsgate Films, Ford, Verizon, Redbull and NASA in adding music to their mixed media projects customizing each individual story being told through sound. He shares his story of how touring the world and playing live opened his eyes to the real music industry. That revelation then propelled him into the music licensing world. There are a ton of practical tips and tools of the trade for musicians looking to make some legit money with their original music. Xj_will - info for training instagram.com/xj_willhttps://stan.store/xJ-WillTo contact Miguel Antonio for feedback or inquiries about the show - email booking@JustTheMiguel.comCheck out Miguel's band Run With ItRunwithitband.net#liveandcreate podcast is where the host Miguel Antonio (Singer Song-Writer and Entrepreneur) talks to artists and entrepreneurs about what it means to live a great life and create great things. Live and Create Conversations dive into guests' personal stories and inspiration. They often touch on the practicalities of either business or creation and then build into a philosophical discussion about life and creating art, music, and a better world. Miguel Antonio is the frontman for the band Run With It, and the host of #liveandcreate podcast.

In this episode, we talk with filmmaker and endangered animal activist Kerry David. She is the founder of Over and Above Africa - a non-profit organization she launched in 2014 that has been instrumental in helping countries in Africa have an upper hand in the war against illegal, criminal animal poaching. We also talk about the magic that occurred when she followed her passion for living outside of the chaos of Hollywood and what happened next. ONLINE AUCTION: June 1st - 13th, 2022: https://www.overandaboveafrica.com/#auction-2022 Social Media: @OverAboveAfrica Website: https://www.overandaboveafrica.com/ Kerry has been working in the film and television industry for over 25 years. She began her career at Paramount Pictures in Business Affairs learning the contract side of filmmaking, followed by three years working exclusively for Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman honing her physical production knowledge. Films with TC & NK include; Mission Impossible 2, Without Limits, Portrait of a Lady, Peacemaker, Practical Magic, The Blue Room, and Eyes Wide Shut with legendary director Stanley Kubrick. Armed with this experience, Kerry started her own production company. She co-produced the award-winning DVD Deposing the Usual Suspects, followed by Agent Cody Banks and Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London. She subsequently produced Perfect Romance for Lifetime Television, followed by the critically acclaimed, feature documentary; My Date with Drew. MDWD won multiple awards around the world, including the Audience Award for Best Feature at the HBO Comedy Arts Festival, Best Feature at the NY Gen Art Film Festival, and the Audience Award at The Locarno International Film Festival and attained a worldwide, theatrical release. Next, she produced Expert Insight: Short Game Golf with Jim Furyk & Fred Funk, which won a Telly Award for Outstanding Instructional Content and Cinematic Excellence. Kerry's next feature was adapted from the New York Times bestseller Like Dandelion Dust by Karen Kingsbury. Friend and Oscar nominee, Stephen J. Rivele (Ali, Nixon) adapted the book, and the film was released by 20th Century Fox, starring Mira Sorvino, Barry Pepper and Cole Hauser. Like Dandelion Dust premiered at the prestigious Deauville Film Festival in France with a 10-minute, standing ovation and won the Premiere Audience Award for Best Feature. It went on to accrue 35 other film festival accolades. She produced her fourth documentary, Making Miles - The Miles Davis Story and followed that up by producing, writing and co-directing Seeking Happily Ever After, which was one of only 25 films accepted into the Sundance Film Lab. It was also used by Stanford University's law department as a case study for fair use practices and was distributed by Lionsgate Films. From 2010-2013 Kerry took a leave of absence from Hollywood to build an orphanage in Ghana, West Africa. She worked with a talented team in Ghana to build a Musical Village for Orphans, which launched in 2013. Of her time in Ghana, Kerry said; "Working with the kind people in Ghana will remain a highlight of her life." In 2014, at the forefront of the crowdfunding campaign phase, she raised over $500,000 for various non-profits, productions and artists. She was pulled away after learning the silent war on endangered species due to commercial poaching and human/wildlife conflict. Moved to action, she launched her Non-Profit; OverandAboveAfrica.com. In 2017, she wrote, directed & produced the multiple award-winning feature documentary, "Bill Coors: The Will to Live" followed by a request to create a 40-minute, educational version for two University curricula in Denver. In 2019 she completed writing, directing and producing her passion project, the feature documentary; "Breaking Their Silence: Women on the Frontline of the Poaching War". BTS won seventeen film festivals, including Jury Award & Audience Award for Best Documentary at San Diego International Film Festival and the Durango Film Festival. www.BreakingTheirSilence.com. In 2020 - She started filming the feature documentary, "Open Secret,". OS is a shocking story detailing corruption and collusion among key individuals who covered up systemic racism and child sexual, emotional and physical abuse throughout an entire school district. The history of this abuse dates back decades. The very people tasked with protecting these children abandoned them at every turn, allowing some sexual predators to remain in their positions for years. Now in editing. Her feature film, "The Road Ahead," will air on Hallmark in August 2022. In addition to her award-winning film work, Kerry gave a TEDx Talk about her experience filming Breaking Their Silence. She's been a guest speaker, panelist, and moderator at artist's groups and schools such as University of Southern California, University of California at Los Angeles, Pepperdine University, ROTC, and the New York Film Academy.

This week the BeWBs welcome back Erin Marlow from It's A Fandom Thing Podcast (https://itsafandomthingpod.com/) to play Bed Wed Or Behead with three Christian Bale characters! Plus, if you're a fan of the Bale content on Fandom Thing, you know Christian "himself" will inevitably make an appearance here (wiiiiiink).In this episode, we take on Dan Evans from 3:10 To Yuma (2007, Lionsgate Films), John Preston from Equilibrium (2002, Dimension Films), and Melvin Purvis from Public Enemies (2009, Universal Pictures). The roles may be serious but your hosts are decidedly not! So who gets the ring, the fling, or the guillotine? Press play and find out!

72% of Google users liked this movie The world stands on the brink of annihilation when a mysterious force knocks the moon from its orbit and sends it hurtling toward a collision course with Earth. With only weeks before impact, NASA executive Jocinda "Jo" Fowler teams up with a man from her past and a conspiracy theorist for an impossible mission into space to save humanity. Release date: February 4, 2022 (USA) Director: Roland Emmerich Starring: Halle Berry; Patrick Wilson; John Bradley; Michael Peña; Charlie Plummer; Kelly Yu; Donald Sutherland Box office: $42 million Music by: Thomas Wander; Harald Kloser Distributed by: Lionsgate Films, Tencent Pictures, Huayi Brothers, Centropolis Entertainment

Award winning restaurants and bars to filmmaker and mindful drinks creator Mike Green is a serial entrepreneur, amongst his many ventures are award-winning restaurants and bars, he produced and directed a feature film released by Lionsgate Films, and now uses his years in the hospitality industry and brand building experience to launch hilo. AND A PERFECT GUEST FOR THE POD!! hilo was an idea that came to Mike during the first Australian lockdown he like many of us was finding himself drinking too much. Trying to juggle a newborn, family life and working from home the hangovers weren't helping… He started to make his wine into spritzers. Mindful Drinking brand hilo was launched. Their mission is to make Mindful Drinking easy for everyone. They've squished the calories, added bubbles and canned half a glass of wine (2.5% abv) into three crazy refreshing, insanely delicious wine spritzers - Sav Blanc, Rosé and Shiraz! Cheers to a blissfully clear head and no hangover. @hilo.drinkswww.hilodrinks.com See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Producer – Phillip B. Goldfine is a film, television and broadway producer. He won the Academy Award as executive producer in 2014 for best documentary (Short Subject) for the film The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life and the Emmy in 2011 for writing for a variety show for El Vacilon.He began his career as a development and production executive at companies including FBC (Fox Broadcasting Corp), New Line Cinema and Trimark Pictures. Goldfine's credits include an eclectic library of over 100 other motion pictures.As a development executive he orchestrated such motion pictures as The Mask, and Jim Carrey's first dramatic role, Doing Time on Maple Drive. As a producer he has worked with such stars as Wesley Snipes, Jack Black, Hilary Swank, Shirley MacLaine, Denise Richards, Mark Ruffalo and many others. Goldfine has produced films for all the major studios including MGM, Universal Studios, Paramount, Sony, Disney, Warner Bros. and Lionsgate Films.Mr. Goldfine has also produced for many of the major networks and streaming sites including Netflix, A&E, CBS, Reelz Channel, National Geographic and the SyFy Channel.This year Mr. Goldfine has The Hard Way premiering on Netflix March 5, 2019 and a Christmas film for Universal Studios. In addition, he debuts his first Broadway Play TOOTSIE THE MUSICAL which opens April 23, 2019 at the Marquis Theatre.In his spare time Phil Goldfine's latest endeavor is to break the world record in the 50 Meter Men's Freestyle swimming event and become the only human being to have ever won an Oscar, an Emmy and a swimming world record.

After “Scream” revived the teen slasher movie in the late 90s, the genre was on life support again by the early 2000s. But after 9/11 changed the tone of the country, a new wave of horror was ushered in: one that was meaner, grittier, and far more violent than any of the previous decades. Instead of looking for a light escape, Americans seemed angrier and more bloodthirsty than ever. Horror in the new millennium began to reflect that as a new era of franchises satisfied audience's appetites with films like “Saw” and “Hostel.” For the next five weeks, we'll be looking back at what horror looked like as it transitioned from campy slasher flicks to brutal remakes of 70s classics. For our first entry, we're joined by writer Jaime Bolker to dissect the first installments in two of the most profitable and prolific franchises of the decade: “Final Destination” and “Saw.” Both films came from first time directors, and inspired a slew of copycats in the years to come, kickstarting lucrative careers and putting Lionsgate Films on the map. We'll be discussing the antiquated charm of “Final Destination” and its WB slate of 20-something actors like Devon Sawa, Ali Larter and Seann William Scott, before diving into the birth of torture porn with “Saw.” And just a warning to our listeners, this episode does contain something unspeakably terrifying: Cary Elwes' American accent. You've been warned. The entire “Final Destination” franchise is streaming on HBOMax. “Saw” is available to rent wherever you rent movies.

Ian talks with co-directors Andrew and Jon Erwin about their new film, The Jesus Music!This lively and thorough documentary traces the history of Contemporary Christian Music from its surprising roots in the hippie movement of the 1960s to its global 21st Century diversification. Packed with interviews, rare footage, and, yes, lots of inspirational songs, the movie adds many fascinating dimensions to art and artists that some (including Ian) may have easily dismissed.In this brief but revelatory conversation, the sibling filmmakers talk about the challenges of coordinating a documentary during the pandemic; the tough decisions in shaping hundreds of interviews into a comprehensive history of the music they love; and the importance of highlighting institutional hypocrisy in a genre that ostensibly promotes tolerance and love.The Jesus Music opens exclusively in theatres this Friday, October 1st, from Lionsgate Films.***The opening title card erroneously reads "September 24th"***Show LinksWatch The Jesus Music trailer.And check out the trailer for the Erwin Bros' upcoming December film, American Underdog (referenced in our conversation).Subscribe to, like, and comment on the Kicking the Seat YouTube channel!

It's always way fun to have a guest who is also a fan of the show. This week's guest is definitely a member of the tribe. We chatted up pre-interview about some of his favorite IFH podcast episodes like Ed Burns and Joe Carnahan and I knew front hen on we were on for a treat. My guest today is award-winning writer, director, and producer, Chris Sparling.Chris has written some of Hollywood's most original and fascinating screenplays like Buried, Greenland, Mercy, Down A Dark Hall, Reincarnate (featuring Leonardo DiCaprio), The Sea of Trees with Matthew McConaughey, etc.One of his latest films, Greenland, which premiered in 2020 started streaming on Amazon prime this February.The disaster thriller film starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin follows a family who must fight for survival as planet-destroying comet races to Earth. Butler's family struggles for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster as the planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary.Amid terrifying news accounts of cities around the world being leveled by the comet's fragments, the Garrity's experience the best and worst in humanity while they battle the increasing panic and lawlessness surrounding them. As the countdown to global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.With its reception and regardless of the COVID 19 Pandemic, the film grossed $52.3 million at the Box Office and was announced that the sequel, Greenland: Migration is already in the works. The continuation of the story will center around the Garritys' journey across a frozen European wasteland to find a new home. STX has already acquired the worldwide distribution rights for the film at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for the sequel with a $65 million budget.Chris's path to becoming a renowned Hollywood blockbuster writer begun on the actor's path. He was inspired to take up writing after the 1997 hit psychological drama film, Goodwill Hunting which was directed by Gus Van Sant and starred Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and others.He left Los Angeles on a home (Rhodes Island) bound to recalibrate and focus on completing college and writing because it was a challenge juggling that and acting auditions. After completing college, Sparling returned to Los Angeles. With no connections or leads, he returned to Rhodes Island with the plan to make a movie of one of the many scripts he had written by then. Though he had no formal film production experience at this point, Sparling wrote, directed, and produced An Uzi at the Alamo which is about a young writer in search of his identity, pledges to his dysfunctional family that he will commit suicide on his 25th birthday. As the fateful day approaches, he stumbles upon love and a new sense of self. Fearing family humiliation if he backs out of his pledge, he prepares for his last birthday with the feigned support of his family.Of course, the film did not do well, but this is when things became interesting for Chris's writing career. He dusted up and sent out about one hundred specs to studios, managers, producers, literally anyone he could contact. He received back, only three responses and one of which was from a manager who became his manager and still is till this day. That was his first open door.When I saw the trailer for Chris's 2010 film, Buried, and the success of it, as an independent filmmaker, I was in awe and slightly jealous of how easy (cost, and production-wise), revolutionary the film is. Buried is a brilliantly twisted suspense and original screenplay that is a nightmare for claustrophobes. Sparling found mainstream success when his feature-length screenplay Buried was purchased by producer Peter Safran starring Ryan Reynolds.Ryan plays Paul, an Iraq-based American civilian truck drive. After an attack by a group of Iraqis, he Wakes up groggy in pitch darkness, to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter, flask, flashlight, knife, glowsticks, pen, pencil, and a mobile phone.It's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap. He is left to rely on his cell phone to contact the outside world. But the outside world proves not to be very helpful at finding a man buried in a box in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Paul must rely on his best resource--himself.The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was sold to Lionsgate Films. Buried was shown at several major European and North American film festivals. It was nominated for and won a plethora of European films awards because it was produced in Barcelona by Barcelona-based Versus Entertainment, in association with The Safran Company and Dark Trick Films.Some of the awards included the Goya Award, for Best Original Screenplay, a Gaudi Award in the same category, and the best European feature film of the year award at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival in September 2010. This $2 million budget indie film made a gross splash of $21.3 million worldwide. Sparling had an immediate success from Buried; between the script going out in March of 2009 and the movie premiering at Sundance in 2010, and he suddenly needed an agent, an attorney, and everything legit in between. Intrusion, Sparling's latest film will be streaming on Netflix in just one week (September 22, 2021), starring Freida Pinto and Logan Marshall-Green. It is about a husband and wife who move to a small town. A deadly home invasion leaves the wife traumatized and suspicious that those around her might not be who they seem. Even though it was self-defense, it was still a homicide. However, it turns out that the home invasion was not a one-off, and there are many other missing person cases in which the invaders may be involved. Meera falls into a rabbit hole as she takes it upon herself to find out the truth.Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Chris Sparling.

This fall we're focused on hot-button topics. If you remember, we kicked off the fall with a conversation about the census and representation, which then moved into representation in the media and movies with Kamala Avila-Salmon, the head of inclusive content at Lionsgate Films. Today, we're here to talk about another hot button topic that we've all heard about the last couple of years but we've never touched yet on the show: QAnon. This conversation we're about to share gave us some perspective on what really was happening with the development of the conspiracy theory, what risks we face as a country if we let this fester (it's not good), and what we can each do differently that we weren't doing beforehand.   ALSO - we have one month until our book launch! For those of you who are at all interested in joining our book launch team, email us at hello@dearwhitewomen.com for details on what's involved. We'd love to have you be a part of our book community! What to listen for: The basic beliefs of QAnon, and what our guests think the harm is from letting the reported 17% of the US adult population who believes in this (baseless) conspiracy theory continue The influence of women - White women - in the growth and depth of QAnon What psychological needs QAnon fills for those who have fallen down the rabbit hole Importantly - what can each of us say or do for those people in our lives who believe in QAnon?   About the authors:  Mia Bloom is the International Security Fellow at New America, professor at Georgia State University, and member of the Evidence-Based Cybersecurity Research Group. She has authored several books on violent extremism including Small Arms: Children and Terrorism (2019), Bombshell: Women and Terrorism (2011), and Dying to Kill: The Allure of Suicide Terror (2005).  Sophia Moskalenko is a psychologist studying mass identity, inter-group conflict, and conspiracy theories. She has written several books, including the award-winning Friction: How Conflict Radicalizes Them and Us (2011) and The Marvel of Martyrdom: The Power of Self-Sacrifice in the Selfish World (2019). Where to pre-order Dear White Women: Let's Get (Un)comfortable Talking About Racism: https://thecollectivebook.studio/dear-white-women Like what you hear?  Don't miss another episode and subscribe! Catch up on more commentary between episodes by following us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter – and even more opinions and resources if you join our email list.    

It's always way fun to have a guest who is also a fan of the show. This week's guest is definitely a member of the tribe. We chatted up pre-interview about some of his favorite IFH podcast episodes and I knew front hen on we were on for a treat. My guest today is award-winning writer, director, and producer, Chris Sparling.Chris has written some of Hollywood's most original and fascinating screenplays like Buried, Greenland, Mercy, Down A Dark Hall, Reincarnate (featuring Leonardo DiCaprio), The Sea of Trees with Matthew McConaughey, etc.One of his latest films, Greenland, which premiered in 2020 started streaming on Amazon prime this February.The disaster thriller film starring Gerard Butler and Morena Baccarin follows a family who must fight for survival as planet-destroying comet races to Earth. Butler's family struggles for survival in the face of a cataclysmic natural disaster as the planet-killing comet races to Earth. John Garrity (Gerard Butler), his estranged wife Allison (Morena Baccarin), and young son Nathan make a perilous journey to their only hope for sanctuary. Amid terrifying news accounts of cities around the world being leveled by the comet's fragments, the Garrity's experience the best and worst in humanity while they battle the increasing panic and lawlessness surrounding them. As the countdown to global apocalypse approaches zero, their incredible trek culminates in a desperate and last-minute flight to a possible safe haven.With its reception and regardless of the COVID 19 Pandemic, the film grossed $52.3 million at the Box Office and was announced that the sequel, Greenland: Migration is already in the works. The continuation of the story will center around the Garritys' journey across a frozen European wasteland to find a new home. STX has already acquired the worldwide distribution rights for the film at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival for the sequel with a $65 million budget.Chris's path to becoming a renowned Hollywood blockbuster writer begun on the actor's path. He was inspired to take up writing after the 1997 hit psychological drama film, Goodwill Hunting which was directed by Gus Van Sant and starred Robin Williams, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, and others.He left Los Angeles on a home (Rhodes Island) bound to recalibrate and focus on completing college and writing because it was a challenge juggling that and acting auditions. After completing college, Sparling returned to Los Angeles. With no connections or leads, he returned to Rhodes Island with the plan to make a movie of one of the many scripts he had written by then. Though he had no formal film production experience at this point, Sparling wrote, directed, and produced An Uzi at the Alamo which is about a young writer in search of his identity, pledges to his dysfunctional family that he will commit suicide on his 25th birthday. As the fateful day approaches, he stumbles upon love and a new sense of self. Fearing family humiliation if he backs out of his pledge, he prepares for his last birthday with the feigned support of his family.Of course, the film did not do well, but this is when things became interesting for Chris's writing career. He dusted up and sent out about one hundred specs to studios, managers, producers, literally anyone he could contact. He received back, only three responses and one of which was from a manager who became his manager and still is till this day. That was his first open door.When I saw the trailer for Chris's 2010 film, Buried, and the success of it, as an independent filmmaker, I was in awe and slightly jealous of how easy (cost, and production-wise), revolutionary the film is. Buried is a brilliantly twisted suspense and original screenplay that is a nightmare for claustrophobes. Sparling found mainstream success when his feature-length screenplay Buried was purchased by producer Peter Safran starring Ryan Reynolds. Ryan plays Paul, an Iraq-based American civilian truck drive. After an attack by a group of Iraqis, he Wakes up groggy in pitch darkness, to find he is buried alive inside a coffin. With only a lighter, flask, flashlight, knife, glowsticks, pen, pencil, and a mobile phone. It's a race against time to escape this claustrophobic death trap. He is left to rely on his cell phone to contact the outside world. But the outside world proves not to be very helpful at finding a man buried in a box in the middle of the Iraqi desert. Paul must rely on his best resource--himself.The film premiered at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival and was sold to Lionsgate Films. Buried was shown at several major European and North American film festivals. It was nominated for and won a plethora of European films awards because it was produced in Barcelona by Barcelona-based Versus Entertainment, in association with The Safran Company and Dark Trick Films. Some of the awards included the Goya Award, for Best Original Screenplay, a Gaudi Award in the same category, and the best European feature film of the year award at the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival in September 2010. This $2 million budget indie film made a gross splash of $21.3 million worldwide. Sparling had an immediate success from Buried; between the script going out in March of 2009 and the movie premiering at Sundance in 2010, and he suddenly needed an agent, an attorney, and everything legit in between. Intrusion, Sparling's latest film will be streaming on Netflix in just one week (September 22, 2021), starring Freida Pinto and Logan Marshall-Green. It is about a husband and wife who move to a small town. A deadly home invasion leaves the wife traumatized and suspicious that those around her might not be who they seem. Even though it was self-defense, it was still a homicide. However, it turns out that the home invasion was not a one-off, and there are many other missing person cases in which the invaders may be involved. Meera falls into a rabbit hole as she takes it upon herself to find out the truth.Enjoy my entertaining conversation with Chris Sparling.

Mason McNulty is a talented actor who can be seen in the upcoming Lionsgate Film "Catch the Bullet" alongside Jay Pickett and Peter Facinelli. The intense Western is coming to streaming services and select theaters this Friday, September 10, 2021. McNulty's talent is limitless, and it is only the beginning for this rising star.*25% of all income made by Confessional Magazine via donations and elsewhere goes directly towards Felicia Merritt's journey with Multiple Sclerosis. Support the Magazine: https://paypal.com/ConfessionalMagazinehttps://confessionalmagazine.com#masonmcnulty #catchthebullet #lionsgate #lionsgatefilms #lionsgatefilm #western #jaypickett #peterfacinelli #moretothestory #confessionalmagazine #taylorharrington #upandcoming #talentedactorSupport the show (https://paypal.com/ConfessionalMagazine)

Hi podcast listeners, I'm Barbara Morgan and you're listening to Austin Film Festival's On Story. This week on On Story we'll hear from screenwriter and director Doug Atchison. Atchison is a writer-director best known for the 2006 film, Akeelah and the Bee which stars Keke Palmer and Laurence Fishburne. In 2000 the Atchison's script won a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and the film later earned him a win at the 2007 Image Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Feature Film. Atchison went on to pen the screenplay for the 2018 biopic Brian Banks for which he won a Humanitas award. Moderator Alex Mitchell spoke with Atchison after a screening of Akeelah and the Bee at the Austin Film Festival. Clips of Akeelah and the Bee courtesy of LionsGate Films Hi podcast listeners, I'm Barbara Morgan and you're listening to Austin Film Festival's On Story. This week on On Story we'll hear from screenwriter and director Doug Atchison. Atchison is a writer-director best known for the 2006 film, Akeelah and the Bee which stars Keke Palmer and Laurence Fishburne. In 2000 the Atchison's script won a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and the film later earned him a win at the 2007 Image Awards for Outstanding Writing in a Feature Film. Atchison went on to pen the screenplay for the 2018 biopic Brian Banks for which he won a Humanitas award. Moderator Alex Mitchell spoke with Atchison after a screening of Akeelah and the Bee at the Austin Film Festival. Clips of Akeelah and the Bee courtesy of LionsGate Films

https://bit.ly/Go_BelowtheLine Michael Burns is an Entertainment Executive and Vice Chairman of Lionsgate. He is an Original Co-Founder of Lionsgate when it was first started in 1999. Michael is also James' neighbor and was his first friend when James moved to Los Angeles. On today's episode, Michael talks about how the short squeeze in AMC has helped the movie industry profit as a whole. Michael and James also speak about the process of creating a film from beginning to end. They also speak about the library of films Lionsgate has produce over the past 20 years. To conclude the episode, Michael outlines the Pros and Cons of the modern day streaming service industry and how it has changed the way we view content. Find out more information about Lionsgate Films: https://www.lionsgate.com/ 00:23 Introduction 03:03 “Meme” Stocks 12:31 Streaming Services 18:15 Lionsgate's Background 29:33 Movie Making 101 42:53 TV vs Movies 48:23 Attachments to failing shows 58:16 Lionsgate's early struggles 1:04:30 Modern Day Lionsgate 1:09:54 Stories that have shaped Michael Burns 1:19:36 What takes up Michaels mindscape Hit the show hotline and leave a question or comment for the show at 424-272-6640, email James questions directly at askbelowtheline@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline Support Our Sponsor Magic Mind https://magicmind.co(Use code BTL at checkout for 20% off) About your host, James: James Beshara is a founder, investor, advisor, author, podcaster, and encourager based in Los Angeles, California. James has created startups for the last 12 years, selling one (Tilt, acquired by Airbnb), and invested in a few multi-billion dollar startups to date. He has spoken at places such as Y-Combinator, Harvard Business School, Stanford University, TechCrunch Disrupt, and has been featured in outlets like the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune Magazine, and Time Magazine. He's been featured in Forbes, Time, and Inc Magazine's “30 Under 30” lists and advises startups all around the world. All of this is his “above the line” version of his background. Hear the other 90% of the story in the intro episode of Below The Line. “Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Another Podcast Network.

流媒体竞争愈发白热化。 不久前，亚马逊宣布将以 84.5 亿美元的价格收购好莱坞老牌电影制作公司米高梅（MGM）。尽管面临 FTC 审查，但交易一旦完成，将成为亚马逊继全食超市之后的第二大收购案。 虽然财力丰厚，亚马逊的 Prime Video 并未取得像 Disney+ 或 Netflix 的出色成绩，为了突出重围，将拥有 007 等经典电影 IP 的 MGM 收入囊中是其重策之一。而对米高梅来说，单枪匹马显然也打不赢这场流媒体战，不如早些找好下家，资本们也乐得有了良好的退出路径，皆大欢喜。 几乎同期，AT＆T 宣布将旗下华纳（Warner Media）拆分，并与 Discovery 合并成立一家新的独立媒体公司，交易规模达到 430 亿美元。更多流媒体服务商进入美国市场，奈飞和亚马逊 Prime Video 也失去了对当地市场份额的部分控制权。分析公司 Ampere 的数据显示，就在去年，流媒体「龙头」奈飞在当地流媒体市场的占有率已从 29% 缩减至 20%。 在内容为王的时代，贝索斯对「重新开发」米高梅抱有何种期待？这笔收购，又会如何改写流媒体竞争的格局？这期节目中，董璠以好莱坞从业人士的角度，和我们讨论了这些问题。欢迎收听！ 【主播】 丁教，声动活泼联合创始人 【嘉宾】 董璠（Jasmine），Joy Planet Pictures CEO 【主要话题】 [03:25] 命运多舛的米高梅，84.5 亿美元的收购价值不值？ [06:58] 奈飞自制剧祛魅 [10:43] 影视作品首选大荧幕 or 流媒体？ [13:06] 流媒体反对者斯皮尔伯格却选择和奈飞合作 [21:54] 异军突起，奈飞、亚马逊流媒体市场份额下跌 [22:48] 时代华纳牵手 Discovery [31:27] 亚马逊收购米高梅后旧 IP 能否焕新 [36:01] 韩国、日本本土内容成功出海 【延伸阅读】 - 米高梅（MGM）：成立于 1924 年，是好莱坞最负盛名的电影公司之一，曾推出「沉默的羔羊」、「猫和老鼠」、007 系列电影、「乱世佳人」等经典作品。公司共制作发行 4000 多部电影、17000 个电视节目。 - Mass distribution 和 The Long Tail (https://www.wired.com/2004/10/tail/) ：流媒体平台想要将内容分发到更多的受众渠道，产生长尾效应，这些销量小但种类多的产品和服务由于总量巨大，累积起来的总收益也会超过主流产品。 - 派拉蒙法案 (https://www.justice.gov/atr/paramount-decree-review)：美国于 1948 年开始推行的法案，该法案判定大制片厂垂直垄断为非法，好莱坞各大制片公司被迫将电影发行和电影院放映业务分离，对好莱坞的发展和走向产生了深远的影响。2020 年 8 月，该法案被废止。 - 狮门影视公司：即 Lionsgate Films，加拿大和美国地区的一家电影生产/销售工作室，属于狮门娱乐子公司。北美最大和最成功的电影制片厂，其发行的电影系列例如「暮光之城」系列（部分）、「饥饿游戏」系列等等。 - 提及电影 摘金奇缘 (https://movie.douban.com/subject/26786642/) - 绿灯委员会 Greenlight Committee (https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/new-power-yes-who-actually-has-greenlight-authority-at-movie-studios-976236/)：大型电影公司都会有一个绿灯委员会，只有一个项目通过绿灯委员会的审核，才能够正式立项。电影公司现在不愿将权力放到一个人手中，所以绿灯委员会中有时包含少数几个高管，有时涉及十几个。 - 迪士尼前 CEO 罗伯特·艾格的书：一生的旅程 (https://book.douban.com/subject/35009826/) - Eon 制片公司 Eon Productions (https://www.eon.co.uk/james-bond/)：一家英国电影制作公司，主要制作詹姆斯·邦德系列电影。Eon Productions 和 Danjaq LLC 由 Wilson/Broccoli 家族全资拥有和控制，Danjaq 是一家美国公司，与米高梅共同拥有詹姆斯·邦德系列电影的版权，并控制着未来该系列电影的制作权。 【Staff】 后期：Luke、郭可特 监制：荻青 运营：Yao 封面设计：饭团 【音乐】 - I Think I Was There-Emil Axelsson 【关于我们】 网站：shengfm.cn 社交媒体：声动活泼 邮件：ting@sheng.fm 打赏支持：https://www.shengfm.cn/donation Special Guest: 董璠（Jasmine）.

Florian Zeller's play The Father was hailed as a masterpiece. Zeller made his debut as a director with his film of it, and Sir Anthony Hopkins won an Oscar for his performance as the patriarch sliding into dementia. Zeller tells Kirsty Lang how he was determined to make a film, rather a film version of a play, and how he makes the audience experience the disorientation of a man as his mind crumbles. The author and teacher Jeffrey Boakye has made a playlist with a difference – it's A Musical History of Modern Black Britain in 28 Songs - but if that title runs too long for you, he talks to Kirsty about why he's called his new book Musical Truth. And three years ago Ita O'Brien joined us on Front Row to talk about how intimacy co-ordinators were beginning to be used in film and television to ensure the comfort and wellbeing of actors during the shooting of sex scenes. Last night, Michaela Coel dedicated her Bafta win for I May Destroy You to Ita, who joins us now to talk about how the landscape has changed since she was last spoke on Front Row, and what progress has been made. Presenter: Kirsty Lang Producer: Julian May Studio Manager: Giles Aspen Main image: Sir Anthony Hopkins in Florian Zeller's film The Father Image credit: courtesy Lionsgate Films

Perché io, scusa? La clip è tratta da "American Psycho" (regia Mary Harron-dal romanzo di Bret Easton Ellis-con Christian Bale-produzione Lionsgate Films,Edward R. Pressman Productions, Muse Productions-2000 all rights reserved)

In Prentisstown, Todd has been brought up to believe that the Spackle released a germ that killed all the women and unleashed Noise on the remaining men. After discovering a patch of silence out in the swamp, his surrogate parents immediately tell him that he has to run, leaving him with only a map of New World, a message, and many unanswered questions. He soon discovers the source of the silence: a girl, named Viola. Release date: March 5, 2021 (USA) Director: Doug Liman Box office: $17.7 million Screenplay: Gary Spinelli, Lindsey Beer, Patrick Ness, Christopher Ford Production companies: 3 Arts Entertainment, Lionsgate Films, Bron Studios, ImageMovers, Allison Shearmur Productions

We had the pleasure of interviewing Andrew Adkins over Zoom video! Across the Cumberland River from Music City, the burgeoning neighborhood of East Nashville has become a haven for artists, songwriters, and other creatives. One such songwriter is Andrew Adkins, who has been a part of the Nashville community for over a decade. As the city expands and modernizes while preserving its heritage, so too does Andrew’s music. Early in his career, Adkins co-founded two dynamic groups which served as introductions to the music business. He toured with his blues-infused power trio, Mellow Down Easy (Dualtone Records), for eight years. His gritty-rock band, Lions for Real, made waves amongst the music industry before catching the attention of Werewolf Heart Records, the indie-label fronted by actor Ryan Gosling. The band imploded almost as quickly as it surfaced, leaving Adkins uncertain of his musical future. After years of collaborating in bands, Andrew decided to step away and develop his own distinct sound -- a unique blend of roots-influenced, neo-psychedelic rock. Since 2013, he has released several critically acclaimed solo albums. His songs have been featured in television and film (CBS, Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime, History, MTV, Oxygen, and Lionsgate Films). Andrew has shared the stage with artists including Sturgill Simpson, Cage the Elephant, Little Big Town, A Thousand Horses, Dum Dum Girls, David "Honeyboy" Edwards, Billy Joe Shaver, and Wayne "The Train" Hancock among others. Check out Andrew Adkins' new album, "The Echoist" (Elephant Seed Records). The record is a neo-psychedelic, soul-drenched collection of sounds, shades, and moods, showcasing Andrew's ability to blur the lines between multiple genres and styles. We want to hear from you! Please email Tera@BringinitBackwards.com. www.BringinitBackwards.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bringinbackpod/support

My next guests are Benny Boom - directed episodes of NCIS-LA, Black Lightning and All American, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox and Executive produced Tazmanian Devil, which earned director Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival. Benny Boom is the Executive Producer of Tazmanian Devil, and Solomon Onita Jr. is the writer and Director of Tazmanian Devil. Here is a little history on Benny Boom; he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Benny directed the much-anticipated Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, which has grossed over $70M worldwide for Lionsgate Films. Also dominating the television and streaming platforms, Boom has directed NCIS-LA (CBS) episodes, Black Lightning and All American, The Quad and Tales at BET, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox. In August 2020, Tazmanian Devil earned Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival. Tazmanian Devil will be streaming is Steaming on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Benny Boom and Solomon Onita Jr.https://www.moneymakingconversations.comhttps://www.youtube.com/MoneyMakingConversationshttps://www.facebook.com/MoneyMakingConversations/https://twitter.com/moneymakingconvhttps://www.instagram.com/moneymakingconversations/Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSupport the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guests are Benny Boom - directed episodes of NCIS-LA, Black Lightning and All American, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox and Executive produced Tazmanian Devil, which earned director Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival. Benny Boom is the Executive Producer of Tazmanian Devil, and Solomon Onita Jr. is the writer and Director of Tazmanian Devil. Here is a little history on Benny Boom; he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Benny directed the much-anticipated Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, which has grossed over $70M worldwide for Lionsgate Films. Also dominating the television and streaming platforms, Boom has directed NCIS-LA (CBS) episodes, Black Lightning and All American, The Quad and Tales at BET, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox. In August 2020, Tazmanian Devil earned Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival. Tazmanian Devil will be streaming is Steaming on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Benny Boom and Solomon Onita Jr.https://www.moneymakingconversations.comhttps://www.youtube.com/MoneyMakingConversationshttps://www.facebook.com/MoneyMakingConversations/https://twitter.com/moneymakingconvhttps://www.instagram.com/moneymakingconversations/ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

My next guest is Laurieann Gibson. She is a creative Visionary, Choreographer for Mary J. Blige, Lady Gaga, P Diddy, The Jonas Brothers, and author of "Dance Your Dance: 8 Steps to Unleash Your Passion and Live Your Dream." Laurieann Gibson is an Emmy-nominated creative visionary, choreographer, director, producer, and entrepreneur. Her new book is packed with personal anecdotes and messages of empowerment; Dance Your Dance highlights Gibson's evolution from a young dancer training in New York City to a well-respected, in-demand industry leader with an eye for cultivating music artists from the ground up. The book unveils the ultimate blueprint to achieving your dreams—a blueprint she's implemented to develop some of the world's greatest superstars, including Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry, among others. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Laurieann Gibson. My next guest is Ryan Serhant. He is costar on Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing," New York Times Bestselling Author, and new book BME, "Big Money Energy, How to rule at work, Dominate at Life and make Millions." My next guest is Ryan Serhant. He is a costar on Bravo's hit show Million Dollar Listing New York and the author of the national bestseller, Sell It Like Serhant. Ryan made just $9,000 his first year in the business. We will be discussing his new book, BME, "Big Money Energy, How to rule at work, Dominate at Life and make Millions." People who possess Big Money Energy get that way because they are 100% committed to making their vision for themselves a reality and their vision is BIG. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Ryan Serhant. My next guests are Benny Boom - directed episodes of NCIS-LA, Black Lightning and All American, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox and Executive produced Tazmanian Devil, which earned director Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival.  Benny Boom is the Executive Producer of Tazmanian Devil, and Solomon Onita Jr. is the writer and Director of Tazmanian Devil. Here is a little history on Benny Boom; he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Benny directed the much-anticipated Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, which has grossed over $70M worldwide for Lionsgate Films. Also dominating the television and streaming platforms, Boom has directed NCIS-LA (CBS) episodes, Black Lightning and All American, The Quad and Tales at BET, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox. In August 2020, Tazmanian Devil earned Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival. Tazmanian Devil will be streaming is Steaming on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Benny Boom and Solomon Onita Jr. My next guest is Brittany Pickens. She is a Food Blogger and Creator of "The Juice Girl," a variety of Organic Natural Juices, and "RUB," the perfect everyday seasoning. The Juice Girl definition is "when life gives you lemons; you make lemonade." Or, in this case, "you get juicing!" She is a Food Blogger and created Eating Anonymous to review restaurants, and is a serial entrepreneur.  The Juice Girl business offers various products that energize you, boost your immune system, reduce the risk of sickness, and increase your fruit and vegetable intake. All-natural ingredients are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Brittany Pickens.https://www.moneymakingconversations.comhttps://www.youtube.com/MoneyMakingConversationshttps://www.facebook.com/MoneyMakingConversations/https://twitter.com/moneymakingconvhttps://www.instagram.com/moneymakingconversations/Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.comSupport the show: https://www.steveharveyfm.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

My next guest is Laurieann Gibson. She is a creative Visionary, Choreographer for Mary J. Blige, Lady Gaga, P Diddy, The Jonas Brothers, and author of "Dance Your Dance: 8 Steps to Unleash Your Passion and Live Your Dream." Laurieann Gibson is an Emmy-nominated creative visionary, choreographer, director, producer, and entrepreneur. Her new book is packed with personal anecdotes and messages of empowerment; Dance Your Dance highlights Gibson's evolution from a young dancer training in New York City to a well-respected, in-demand industry leader with an eye for cultivating music artists from the ground up. The book unveils the ultimate blueprint to achieving your dreams—a blueprint she's implemented to develop some of the world's greatest superstars, including Nicki Minaj, and Katy Perry, among others. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Laurieann Gibson. My next guest is Ryan Serhant. He is costar on Bravo's "Million Dollar Listing," New York Times Bestselling Author, and new book BME, "Big Money Energy, How to rule at work, Dominate at Life and make Millions." My next guest is Ryan Serhant. He is a costar on Bravo's hit show Million Dollar Listing New York and the author of the national bestseller, Sell It Like Serhant. Ryan made just $9,000 his first year in the business. We will be discussing his new book, BME, "Big Money Energy, How to rule at work, Dominate at Life and make Millions." People who possess Big Money Energy get that way because they are 100% committed to making their vision for themselves a reality and their vision is BIG. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Ryan Serhant. My next guests are Benny Boom - directed episodes of NCIS-LA, Black Lightning and All American, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox and Executive produced Tazmanian Devil, which earned director Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival.  Benny Boom is the Executive Producer of Tazmanian Devil, and Solomon Onita Jr. is the writer and Director of Tazmanian Devil. Here is a little history on Benny Boom; he is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity. Benny directed the much-anticipated Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez On Me, which has grossed over $70M worldwide for Lionsgate Films. Also dominating the television and streaming platforms, Boom has directed NCIS-LA (CBS) episodes, Black Lightning and All American, The Quad and Tales at BET, and Lee Daniel's Empire on Fox. In August 2020, Tazmanian Devil earned Solomon Onita Jr. the inaugural John Singleton Director Award for Best First Feature at the 2020 American Black Film Festival. Tazmanian Devil will be streaming is Steaming on Amazon, iTunes, and Fandango. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Benny Boom and Solomon Onita Jr. My next guest is Brittany Pickens. She is a Food Blogger and Creator of "The Juice Girl," a variety of Organic Natural Juices, and "RUB," the perfect everyday seasoning. The Juice Girl definition is "when life gives you lemons; you make lemonade." Or, in this case, "you get juicing!" She is a Food Blogger and created Eating Anonymous to review restaurants, and is a serial entrepreneur.  The Juice Girl business offers various products that energize you, boost your immune system, reduce the risk of sickness, and increase your fruit and vegetable intake. All-natural ingredients are rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Please welcome to Money Making Conversations Brittany Pickens.https://www.moneymakingconversations.comhttps://www.youtube.com/MoneyMakingConversationshttps://www.facebook.com/MoneyMakingConversations/https://twitter.com/moneymakingconvhttps://www.instagram.com/moneymakingconversations/ Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com