TOM ROTHMAN’S GREATEST HITS

By Jason Guerrasio

This Monday night the Gotham Independent Film Awards will honor Tom Rothman, chairman and CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, with one of their annual Tribute awards.

In a career that’s spanned close to three decades, Rotham has been one of the most successful execs of our era. Along with overseeing at Fox some of the biggest blockbusters ever made, he’s also put his mark on today’s specialty films having founded Fox Searchlight in 1994.

Let’s go down memory lane and check out some of his highlights.

One of Rothman’s earliest credits was as co-producer for Jim Jarmusch‘s classic, Down By Law.

Rothman’s first film he released through Searchlight was the Sundance Grand Prize winner The Brothers McMullen. Quite a way to start.

After years of flirting with the Best Picture Oscar with nominations for The Full Monty, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno, Searchlight got the win with Danny Boyle‘s epic love story Slumdog Millionaire.

Most recently, Fox studio has had their share of tentpole success under Rothman (the X-Men films), but what he’ll be remembered most for is having the highest grossing film of all time under his watch.

… Read the rest

“MARTHA, MARCY…” PRODUCTION CO., BORDERLINE FILMS, SIGNS FIRST-LOOK DEAL WITH FOX SEARCHLIGHT

By Scott Macaulay

Just hitting the wires is the word that Borderline Films, the team of Antonio Campos, Josh Mond and Sean Durkin, have signed a first-look deal with Fox Searchlight. Searchlight is currently distributing Durkin’s Boderline pic, Martha Marcy May Marlene.

Both Campos and Durkin are Filmmaker Magazine “25 New Faces” selections, and in the current print issue Mond talks about how the company sustains itself in the independent filmmaking business. They’re a talented team and I’m glad to hear their future projects have a first-look home.

The press release follows:

LOS ANGELES, CA, November 3, 2011 – Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that Borderline Films, the creative team behind the critically acclaimed psychological thriller MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, and Fox Searchlight Pictures have signed a two-year, first-look deal. Borderline Films is the partnership of Antonio Campos, Sean Durkin and Josh Mond. Currently in theatres, MARTHA MARCY MAY MARLENE, Durkin’s feature debut, was picked up by Fox Searchlight at this year’s Sundance Film Festival and was the winner of the Dramatic Feature Directing Award. The film went on to play such key festivals as Festival de Cannes, Toronto International Film Festival and New York Film Festival just to name a few.

Says Borderline Films: “Fox Searchlight is an ideal home for our company. This partnership allows us to take the momentum we’ve built since launching Borderline in 2003 to an entirely new level. Over the years, we’ve worked very hard to create a support structure which offers us the ability, resources and independence to grow as filmmakers, both individually and collectively. We’re excited and grateful that Fox Searchlight, who recognizes our company’s dynamic model and has already been an incredible partner, will continue to be invested in Borderline’s upcoming projects.”

Utley and Gilula state: “Sean, Antonio and Josh are an exciting talent collective with unique voices and a bold vision. They are not afraid to challenge audiences with thought provoking films. We are thrilled to be in business with them and look forward to a very creative partnership.”
Borderline was represented by David Flynn at

… Read the rest

“MARGARET” — A HAMMER TO NAIL REVIEW

By Michael Tully

(Without any fanfare, Margaret was released theatrically by Fox Searchlight on Friday, September 30, 2011. Visit the film’s official website to learn more.)

Oh boy. Oh wow. If your idea of a rewarding time at the movies is a symphonic drama that aches with the blood, sweat and tears of real life while simultaneously upholding the finest traditions of opera, of theater, of poetry, of literature, look no further than Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret. Much has been written about the unfortunate legal brouhaha surrounding the film’s post-production — it was shot in 2005 while here we are twiddling our thumbs in late 2011 — and though no one seems able to definitively say whose cut of the film this 149-minute theatrical version is (for what it’s worth, the film print has a 2008 copyright), that honestly doesn’t matter. Margaret is superior cinema any way you look at it.

Lonergan kicks off his dramatic opus with an opening credits sequence that paints New York City in a somberly triumphant light: in super slow-motion, everyday New Yorkers make their way to wherever it is they are going — work, school, brunch, home — as composer Nico Muhly’s rueful theme rises. These images are captured with a grainy, bleached out beauty by cinematographer Ryszard Lenczewski, a textured, lived-in look that Lonergan and Lenczewski carry throughout the film.

The story is centered around Anna Paquin’s Lisa, an Upper West Side teenager whose life is privileged, though far from perfect. An idealistic, hypersensitive girl who is coming to terms with her budding sexual power, Lisa can’t seem to have a conversation with her mother Joan (J. Smith-Cameron) — an especially busy Off Broadway actress — without getting into an argument. After school one day — a private school she attends on a half-scholarship — Lisa accidentally plays a role in a freak bus accident that takes a woman’s life (this scene is played out in what feels like real time and nails the strange blend of horror, drama, and humor that is specific to tragedies such as these). In a moment of perceived … Read the rest

FOX SEARCHLIGHT BUYS MCQUEEN’S “SHAME”

By Jason Guerrasio

Last night Fox Searchlight announced from Toronto it has bought the U.S. rights to Steve McQueen‘s latest, Shame.

Starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan, the drama, which is screening at the fest, follows New Yorker Brandon (Fassbender) who shuns intimacy with women but feeds his desires with a compulsive addiction to sex. However, when his wayward younger sister (Carey Mulligan) moves into his apartment stirring memories of their shared painful past, Brandon’s insular life spirals out of control.

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival and according to the release Searchlight plans to open Shame before the year ends. This likely adds to the distributor’s award season contenders that are also screening at TIFF this week, Martha Marcy May Marlene and The Descendants.… Read the rest

FIVE QUESTIONS FOR “JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME” WRITER-DIRECTORS MARK AND JAY DUPLASS

Last year Mark and Jay Duplass ventured into the world of studio filmmaking when they made the dramedy Cyrus for Fox Searchlight. At this year’s TIFF the Duplass brothers and Searchlight will premiere their next effort, Jeff, Who Lives at Home, starring Jason Segel, Ed Helms and Susan Sarandon.

Filmmaker: Tell us a little about what your film is about?

Duplass Bros: It’s about a 30 year-old guy named Jeff (Jason Segel) who believes, heavily, in fate. He bides his time in his mom’s basement, eagerly awaiting the day that the universe will deliver his destiny upon him. When his mom sends him out one morning to get some wood glue, Jeff starts getting some signs that today might be his big day.

Filmmaker: What were the motivations behind telling this story?

Duplass Bros: We’ve always loved the idea of what we call the “epically small” in movies… that there are big, funny, beautiful things happening in the most boring and unexpected of places. In many ways, Jeff is a grand, sweeping adventure story about two brothers (Segel and Ed Helms) finding themselves and their place in the world. It just happens to be set in the banal strip malls of middle america instead of in space (or Narnia).

Filmmaker: Did you always have Jason Segel in mind to play Jeff?

Duplass Bros: Jason came to mind very early on. The character of Jeff is very unique. Yes, he’s a stoner. But he’s a believer, and he’s sad, but he also needed to be inherently funny to watch. Jason is such a complex and wonderful person. He really got that combination of “funny sad” that was required for this character.

Filmmaker: What do you hope audiences will take away from your film?

Duplass Bros: Life can be awesome. It may suck and disappoint most of the time, but sometimes it’s fucking awesome and full of incredible surprises.

Filmmaker: What’s the biggest lesson you learned from making Cyrus and how did it help you with making Jeff, Who Lives at Home?

Duplass Bros: Our movies are about the people … Read the rest

Industry Beat: Veteran Producers Rethink the Indie Model

By Anthony Kaufman

THE DUPLASS BROTHERS TALK STUDIOS AND SNUGGLING

Alica Van Couvering’s interview with Mark and Jay Duplass in the current issue of Filmmaker was conducted at the Sundance Film Festival, where their latest film, Cyrus, premiered. Starring John C. Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill, the film is a comedy/drama about mid-life romance and the borderline aggro-child that stands in its way. Alicia’s interview was filmed by Zak Forsman, Kevin Shah and the Sabi Pictures team, and here’s an edit of their conversation. See more videos on our YouTube channel. The film opens Friday, June 18.

… Read the rest

ALEXANDER PAYNE’S “THE DESCENDANTS” BEGINS SHOOTING

By Jason Guerrasio

Six years after making the cross-over hit Sideways, Alexander Payne has begun production on his next film, The Descendants.

Announced by Fox Searchlight, the film, based on Kaui Hart Hemmings‘s novel, started principal photography today in Hawaii. The film stars George Clooney as, according to the release, an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki.

Also starting are Judy Greer, Beau Bridges, Matthew Lillard, Robert Forster, Shailene Woodley, Mary Birdsong, Nick Krause and Amara Miller.

Surprisingly, Taylor is not co-writing the script with Payne (the two have shared screenwriting credit on all of Payne’s features since 1996′s Citizen Ruth and took home an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Sideways) but will be on as a producer. This time around Payne has writing credit with actors Nat Faxon and Jim Rash.

Since Sideways, Payne directed one of the shorts in 2006′s Paris, je t’aime (the great finale to the film starring Margo Martindale as a tourist) and directed the pilot to HBO’s Hung, which he also executive produced. He also executive produced Tamara Jenkins‘s The Savages.… Read the rest