Production and distribution company Cactus Three has formed a new film-finishing fund for documentaries and independent pics.
As part of its mission to finance movies that focus on social issues, Cactus Three will identify five to seven films per year in need of capital and resources to be completed. Accepted projects, especially those with an eye on the festival circuit, can receive up to $100,000 for postproduction work.
The fund is a collaboration between C3 co-founders and executive producers Caroline Stevens and Krysanne Katsoolis and Canadian film financier John Margetis of Liquid Prods.
"As executive producers, we understand the importance of a fund to help those creating the best in their genre to realize their creative visions," Stevens said. "Too often even the best filmmakers are crippled by the inability to complete production financing, and this fund is specifically aimed to redress this situation."
In the past few years, Cactus Three...
As part of its mission to finance movies that focus on social issues, Cactus Three will identify five to seven films per year in need of capital and resources to be completed. Accepted projects, especially those with an eye on the festival circuit, can receive up to $100,000 for postproduction work.
The fund is a collaboration between C3 co-founders and executive producers Caroline Stevens and Krysanne Katsoolis and Canadian film financier John Margetis of Liquid Prods.
"As executive producers, we understand the importance of a fund to help those creating the best in their genre to realize their creative visions," Stevens said. "Too often even the best filmmakers are crippled by the inability to complete production financing, and this fund is specifically aimed to redress this situation."
In the past few years, Cactus Three...
- 10/14/2010
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Today, Ubisoft announced the return of the popular Might & Magic franchise with the development of Might & Magic Heroes VI, which will be available worldwide on Windows PC in 2011.
Developed by Black Hole, Might & Magic Heroes VI will include all the characters and features that have made the brand a worldwide success, in addition to a wealth of new innovations. Says Caroline Stevens, brand director at Ubisoft Emea:
Might & Magic is a powerful franchise with an amazing 20-year legacy. Players will be able to enjoy the Heroes experience like never before. The amazing creative teams at Black Hole are keeping the original Heroes spirit, while enhancing the RPG elements of the game.
The Might & Magic Heroes VI adventure begins 400 years before the events in Heroes V, showcasing a family of heroes in a thrilling, epic story where Angels plot to revive an unfinished war. A legendary Archangel general who was killed...
Developed by Black Hole, Might & Magic Heroes VI will include all the characters and features that have made the brand a worldwide success, in addition to a wealth of new innovations. Says Caroline Stevens, brand director at Ubisoft Emea:
Might & Magic is a powerful franchise with an amazing 20-year legacy. Players will be able to enjoy the Heroes experience like never before. The amazing creative teams at Black Hole are keeping the original Heroes spirit, while enhancing the RPG elements of the game.
The Might & Magic Heroes VI adventure begins 400 years before the events in Heroes V, showcasing a family of heroes in a thrilling, epic story where Angels plot to revive an unfinished war. A legendary Archangel general who was killed...
- 8/19/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Yvonne Stevens, the matriarch of the George Stevens filmmaking family, died May 27 in Hollywood. She was 104.
Stevens met George Stevens at comedian Oliver Hardy's house in 1928, and she was married to the two-time Oscar-winning director from 1930 until they divorced in 1947. Their son is George Stevens Jr., the Emmy-winning producer who founded the American Film Institute.
Yvonne Stevens' mother was Alice Howell, a prominent silent screen comedienne and producer who left vaudeville back east to join Mack Sennett's film company in Hollywood.
Stevens, a classmate of actor Joel McCrea at Hollywood High School, also was a Sennett "bathing beauty." She had small roles in several films in the late 1920s and early '30s.
In addition to George Jr., Stevens is survived by daughter-in-law Elizabeth Stevens; three grandchildren -- Michael Stevens, a film and TV producer, director and writer; documentary producer Caroline Stevens; and David Stevens; and six great grandchildren.
Stevens met George Stevens at comedian Oliver Hardy's house in 1928, and she was married to the two-time Oscar-winning director from 1930 until they divorced in 1947. Their son is George Stevens Jr., the Emmy-winning producer who founded the American Film Institute.
Yvonne Stevens' mother was Alice Howell, a prominent silent screen comedienne and producer who left vaudeville back east to join Mack Sennett's film company in Hollywood.
Stevens, a classmate of actor Joel McCrea at Hollywood High School, also was a Sennett "bathing beauty." She had small roles in several films in the late 1920s and early '30s.
In addition to George Jr., Stevens is survived by daughter-in-law Elizabeth Stevens; three grandchildren -- Michael Stevens, a film and TV producer, director and writer; documentary producer Caroline Stevens; and David Stevens; and six great grandchildren.
Los Angeles Film Festival
This seems to be the season for documentaries that chronicle mind-boggling true romances.
Audiences recently gaped at "Crazy Love", the story of the 50-year-long relationship of a couple that stayed together even after the man deliberately blinded the woman he loved. And now "Cat Dancers" zeroes in on a bizarre menage a trois that ended in tragedy. This HBO docu will stir up conversation when it airs on the cable network, but it also has a shot to generate healthy boxoffice business in theaters.
Ron and Joy Holiday met in 1954 and eventually married. They began as ballet dancers, but when their dance careers dried up, they started an act performing with exotic animals, primarily such large cats as tigers and leopards.
In one of the film's fascinating footnotes, we learn that it was William Holden who helped launch their second careers by offering them a baby leopard as pet. The Holidays' act thrived, and in 1988 they decided to expand by bringing into the show a handsome young circus performer, Chuck Lizza. Before long Chuck, a couple of decades their junior, became the lover of both Ron and Joy, and so their lives were even more intimately intertwined. But in 1998, Chuck was killed by a white tiger in their menagerie. Soon after that, a despondent Joy also was killed by the same tiger, under circumstances that have never been fully explained.
Much of the film is told by Ron, who still is going strong and training young performers. There also is a good deal of home movie footage, along with TV news broadcasts showing the trio at various points in their lives.
The film provokes a great many questions. Like Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man", "Cat Dancers" asks us to ponder what drives people to spend their lives in close proximity to dangerous animals. This was not simply a job for Ron and Joy but a consuming passion. There are, of course, many animal lovers, but they generally stick to more domesticated pets. As well trained as jungle beasts may be, they are never entirely predictable, so the people who work with them knowingly assume a huge risk.
Another question that the film stirs concerns the dynamic of the romantic relationships. Because Ron is the only person around to describe this three-way love affair, we wonder if we are getting the whole story. Would Chuck or Joy offer a different perspective? We have no reason to doubt Ron's veracity, but we do miss hearing from the other two parties to the triangle.
Given the sensational nature of the subject, the film was bound to be riveting. But it happens also to be skillfully executed by director Harris Fishman and his editor, Alexis Spraic, who does wonders weaving together the preexisting footage and brand new material. Another asset is the haunting musical score by String Theory and Peter Salett. This story of various forms of crazy -- or at least unconventional -- love might leave us with more questions than answers, but it tantalizes long after the lights come on.
CAT DANCERS
HBO Documentary Films in association with Cactus Three and Submarine
Credits:
Director: Harris Fishman
Producers: Amanda Micheli, Harris Fishman
Executive producers: Josh Braun, Julie Goldman, Krysanne Katsoolis, Caroline Stevens, Silas Weir Mitchell
Co-executive producers: Chris Keenan, Michael Cash
Director of photography: Amanda Micheli
Music: String Theory, Peter Salett
Co-producers: Alexis Spraic, Christina Ferreira, Scott Kaplan
Editor: Alexis Spraic
Running time -- 75 minutes
No MPAA rating...
This seems to be the season for documentaries that chronicle mind-boggling true romances.
Audiences recently gaped at "Crazy Love", the story of the 50-year-long relationship of a couple that stayed together even after the man deliberately blinded the woman he loved. And now "Cat Dancers" zeroes in on a bizarre menage a trois that ended in tragedy. This HBO docu will stir up conversation when it airs on the cable network, but it also has a shot to generate healthy boxoffice business in theaters.
Ron and Joy Holiday met in 1954 and eventually married. They began as ballet dancers, but when their dance careers dried up, they started an act performing with exotic animals, primarily such large cats as tigers and leopards.
In one of the film's fascinating footnotes, we learn that it was William Holden who helped launch their second careers by offering them a baby leopard as pet. The Holidays' act thrived, and in 1988 they decided to expand by bringing into the show a handsome young circus performer, Chuck Lizza. Before long Chuck, a couple of decades their junior, became the lover of both Ron and Joy, and so their lives were even more intimately intertwined. But in 1998, Chuck was killed by a white tiger in their menagerie. Soon after that, a despondent Joy also was killed by the same tiger, under circumstances that have never been fully explained.
Much of the film is told by Ron, who still is going strong and training young performers. There also is a good deal of home movie footage, along with TV news broadcasts showing the trio at various points in their lives.
The film provokes a great many questions. Like Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man", "Cat Dancers" asks us to ponder what drives people to spend their lives in close proximity to dangerous animals. This was not simply a job for Ron and Joy but a consuming passion. There are, of course, many animal lovers, but they generally stick to more domesticated pets. As well trained as jungle beasts may be, they are never entirely predictable, so the people who work with them knowingly assume a huge risk.
Another question that the film stirs concerns the dynamic of the romantic relationships. Because Ron is the only person around to describe this three-way love affair, we wonder if we are getting the whole story. Would Chuck or Joy offer a different perspective? We have no reason to doubt Ron's veracity, but we do miss hearing from the other two parties to the triangle.
Given the sensational nature of the subject, the film was bound to be riveting. But it happens also to be skillfully executed by director Harris Fishman and his editor, Alexis Spraic, who does wonders weaving together the preexisting footage and brand new material. Another asset is the haunting musical score by String Theory and Peter Salett. This story of various forms of crazy -- or at least unconventional -- love might leave us with more questions than answers, but it tantalizes long after the lights come on.
CAT DANCERS
HBO Documentary Films in association with Cactus Three and Submarine
Credits:
Director: Harris Fishman
Producers: Amanda Micheli, Harris Fishman
Executive producers: Josh Braun, Julie Goldman, Krysanne Katsoolis, Caroline Stevens, Silas Weir Mitchell
Co-executive producers: Chris Keenan, Michael Cash
Director of photography: Amanda Micheli
Music: String Theory, Peter Salett
Co-producers: Alexis Spraic, Christina Ferreira, Scott Kaplan
Editor: Alexis Spraic
Running time -- 75 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 6/29/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
NEW YORK -- GreeneStreet Films -- the indie banner whose credits include Swimfan and In the Bedroom -- is embarking on its first nonfiction feature, Once in a Lifetime, to be produced by Oscar winner John Battsek. To be financed by GreeneStreet and the BBC, Lifetime will follow the rise and fall of 1970s pro soccer team the New York Cosmos. The film also will explore New York in that famously decadent and creative era and the culture of American celebrity. Lifetime is being executive produced by Passion Pictures' Andrew Ruhemann and Michael Davies. The Cactus Three shingle's Krysanne Katsoolis, Julie Goldman and Caroline Stevens are co-executive producing. "It's exciting to be working with a company of the caliber of GreeneStreet," said Battsek (One Day in September). "Their enthusiasm shows that the currency of feature docs is continuing to appreciate." GreeneStreet Films International, the sales arm of GreeneStreet headed by Cedric Jeanson, will be handling rights to the film at the upcoming AFM. GreeneStreet's upcoming slate includes Sally Potter's Yes, starring Joan Allen and Sam Neill; the thriller Slow Burn, starring Ray Liotta, LL Cool J, Mekhi Phifer and Taye Diggs; and the Killer Films co-production Positively Fifth Street.
- 2/16/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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