The Producers Guild of America (PGA) has set the producers and producing teams invited to join the PGA Create lab for emerging and mid-career creative producers.
“As Chairs of the One Guild initiative committed to supporting inclusive membership, employment, content, and authentic depictions, we are thrilled for this year’s PGA Create and the program’s continued evolution and growth over the years,” said Producers Guild members Tonya Lewis Lee, Lori McCreary, and Shelby Stone. “Uplifting the next generation of producers by providing them the tools, resources, and connections they need for this profession is life-changing. We are proud of PGA Create for its intentional work to ensure the next generation of producers includes diverse creators with unique perspectives.”
PGA Create, which runs from Monday, June 3 through June 6, offers fellows the opportunity to hone their pitches, attend master classes led by experienced producers, and expand their network of fellow producers.
“As Chairs of the One Guild initiative committed to supporting inclusive membership, employment, content, and authentic depictions, we are thrilled for this year’s PGA Create and the program’s continued evolution and growth over the years,” said Producers Guild members Tonya Lewis Lee, Lori McCreary, and Shelby Stone. “Uplifting the next generation of producers by providing them the tools, resources, and connections they need for this profession is life-changing. We are proud of PGA Create for its intentional work to ensure the next generation of producers includes diverse creators with unique perspectives.”
PGA Create, which runs from Monday, June 3 through June 6, offers fellows the opportunity to hone their pitches, attend master classes led by experienced producers, and expand their network of fellow producers.
- 5/8/2024
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Former Amazon executive Leo Zimbrón has been appointed senior vice president of Spanish-language features and international co-productions at Eugenio Derbez and Ben Odell’s 3Pas Studios.
“There are few executives with the levels of experience and success that Leo has garnered over the years. Eugenio and I have both worked with him previously and love what he will bring to 3pas as we continue to build and scale our business,” Odell said. “He has great creative instincts combined with a sharp business mind. I don’t want to call him a unicorn for Spanish-language content – but oops, I just did.”
Previously, Zimbrón served as head of local original movies for Latin America at Amazon Studios; he has worked on 40 projects for the company. In 2018, he held the position of director of fiction programming at EndemolShine Boomdog. Zimbrón also served as director of local production for Warner Bros. Pictures in Mexico from 2004 through 2010. Additionally,...
“There are few executives with the levels of experience and success that Leo has garnered over the years. Eugenio and I have both worked with him previously and love what he will bring to 3pas as we continue to build and scale our business,” Odell said. “He has great creative instincts combined with a sharp business mind. I don’t want to call him a unicorn for Spanish-language content – but oops, I just did.”
Previously, Zimbrón served as head of local original movies for Latin America at Amazon Studios; he has worked on 40 projects for the company. In 2018, he held the position of director of fiction programming at EndemolShine Boomdog. Zimbrón also served as director of local production for Warner Bros. Pictures in Mexico from 2004 through 2010. Additionally,...
- 10/25/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
“There’s an old Chinese curse: ‘May you live through interesting times.’ The sector is now going through very interesting times indeed,” Fremantle’s Manuel Marti reflected to Variety as Madrid’s 2nd Iberseries & Platino Industria, a TV-film forum, wound down on Friday, running Sept. 27-30.
Three large table talk topics were the fall out from the planned merger of HBO Max and Discover+ by Warner Bros. Discovery – with the removal of more than three dozen titles on HBO Max in August alone – Netflix’s reconfiguration of its business model and galloping inflation in Europe, threatening streamer subs, They also played out, if sometimes indirectly, at the Iberseries & Platino Industria panels.
Overall, the bigger picture was of a still vibrant but now challenged TV industry in Spain, Latin America and Portugal.
Iberseries’ mood was still upbeat, however. “Creators are enjoying freedoms, Americans are reading subtitles, the only stories which work...
Three large table talk topics were the fall out from the planned merger of HBO Max and Discover+ by Warner Bros. Discovery – with the removal of more than three dozen titles on HBO Max in August alone – Netflix’s reconfiguration of its business model and galloping inflation in Europe, threatening streamer subs, They also played out, if sometimes indirectly, at the Iberseries & Platino Industria panels.
Overall, the bigger picture was of a still vibrant but now challenged TV industry in Spain, Latin America and Portugal.
Iberseries’ mood was still upbeat, however. “Creators are enjoying freedoms, Americans are reading subtitles, the only stories which work...
- 10/3/2022
- by John Hopewell and Pablo Sandoval
- Variety Film + TV
Festival
Ana de Armas will be honored with the Hollywood Rising-Star Award at the Deauville American Film Festival (Sept. 2-11). After it debuts at Venice, her latest film “Blonde,” where she plays Marilyn Monroe, will have its French premiere at the festival, with her and director Andrew Dominik in attendance.
Cuban born actor de Armas’s star has been in the ascendant and she has worked with several noted filmmakers including Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”), Rian Johnson (“Knives Out”), Olivier Assayas (“Wasp Network), Cary Joji Fukunaga (“No Time to Die”) and the Russo Brothers (“The Gray Man”).
Past winners of the award include Ryan Gosling (2011), Jessica Chastain (2011), Paul Dano (2012), Robert Pattinson (2015), Elizabeth Olsen (2015), Chloé Grace Moretz (2016), Daniel Radcliffe (2016), Shailene Woodley (2018), Elle Fanning (2018), Sophie Turner (2019) and Dylan Penn (2021).
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh International Film Festival has added Cannes titles, Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages” and Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot’s...
Ana de Armas will be honored with the Hollywood Rising-Star Award at the Deauville American Film Festival (Sept. 2-11). After it debuts at Venice, her latest film “Blonde,” where she plays Marilyn Monroe, will have its French premiere at the festival, with her and director Andrew Dominik in attendance.
Cuban born actor de Armas’s star has been in the ascendant and she has worked with several noted filmmakers including Denis Villeneuve (“Blade Runner 2049”), Rian Johnson (“Knives Out”), Olivier Assayas (“Wasp Network), Cary Joji Fukunaga (“No Time to Die”) and the Russo Brothers (“The Gray Man”).
Past winners of the award include Ryan Gosling (2011), Jessica Chastain (2011), Paul Dano (2012), Robert Pattinson (2015), Elizabeth Olsen (2015), Chloé Grace Moretz (2016), Daniel Radcliffe (2016), Shailene Woodley (2018), Elle Fanning (2018), Sophie Turner (2019) and Dylan Penn (2021).
Meanwhile, the Edinburgh International Film Festival has added Cannes titles, Owen Kline’s “Funny Pages” and Annie Ernaux and David Ernaux-Briot’s...
- 8/2/2022
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Amazon Prime Video has appointed seasoned Mexican film and TV producer Leonardo Zimbron for the newly created position of head of film for Spanish-speaking Latin America, effective January.
Zimbron was most recently with Endemol Shine Boomdog where he led its scripted unit since 2018. He has moved to Miami where he will report to Javiera Balmaceda, head of local originals for Spanish-speaking Latin America at Amazon Studios.
With this new role, Zimbron fulfills his long-time ambition to expand his purview from Mexico to the rest of the region. It is unclear who will oversee Portuguese-speaking Brazil.
Zimbron’s film credits include some of the biggest box office hits in Mexico, taking in 2013 comedy “We are the Nobles” (“Nosotros los Nobles”) Gary Alazraki’s debut feature, which has been or will be remade in various territories, including the U.S.
Aside from founding his own production company, Traziende Films, Zimbron ran Warner Bros.
Zimbron was most recently with Endemol Shine Boomdog where he led its scripted unit since 2018. He has moved to Miami where he will report to Javiera Balmaceda, head of local originals for Spanish-speaking Latin America at Amazon Studios.
With this new role, Zimbron fulfills his long-time ambition to expand his purview from Mexico to the rest of the region. It is unclear who will oversee Portuguese-speaking Brazil.
Zimbron’s film credits include some of the biggest box office hits in Mexico, taking in 2013 comedy “We are the Nobles” (“Nosotros los Nobles”) Gary Alazraki’s debut feature, which has been or will be remade in various territories, including the U.S.
Aside from founding his own production company, Traziende Films, Zimbron ran Warner Bros.
- 1/7/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
Like most countries around the world, in Mexico the entertainment industry has been heavily affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. With production halted, movie theaters closed, and no federal plan in sight for business to reignite, thousands of talented technicians and craftspeople are out of work. According to the country’s National Chamber of the Film Industry (Canacine), around 30,000 Mexican families depend on the film and television fields as their main source of income.
To alleviate some of the economic burden, the Mexican film community has launched Sifonóforo, Fondo de Emergencia Audiovisual, a new emergency fund for audiovisual workers that will provide affected below-the-line crew members with financial assistance. Born out of the solidarity within the industry and independent from any governmental aid, the initiative currently has accumulated 10 million pesos, which will be distributed based on need.
Donations came from notable individuals such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Salma Hayek,...
To alleviate some of the economic burden, the Mexican film community has launched Sifonóforo, Fondo de Emergencia Audiovisual, a new emergency fund for audiovisual workers that will provide affected below-the-line crew members with financial assistance. Born out of the solidarity within the industry and independent from any governmental aid, the initiative currently has accumulated 10 million pesos, which will be distributed based on need.
Donations came from notable individuals such as Alejandro González Iñárritu, Guillermo del Toro, Salma Hayek,...
- 6/11/2020
- by Carlos Aguilar
- Indiewire
Cancun, Mexico — Graced by the showrunners of “Narcos,” “Sr. Avila” and “Hernán” and multiple senior industry figures, MipCancun boasts a distribution market, co-production forum and powerful conference line-up – and for once the possibility for delegates to attend at least some of the presentations.
Based on 18 sessions, from Erik Barmack’s keynote to plenary and insight sessions, and on-stage conversations and presentations and other events, here are 20 takeaways from a robust 8th MipCancun, the first under new director Benedicte Touchard de Morant, with attendance up 20% on a first count, which caught Spain’s and Latin America’s scripted production sectors in an growth vortex:
1.Spanish Language: Production Builds
The big debating point at this year’s MipCancun was not if Spanish-language scripted production would grow. It was by how much. The answer came in various fashions: Prognostications by panelists, led by keynote speaker Erik Barmack, Netflix’s former head of international originals,...
Based on 18 sessions, from Erik Barmack’s keynote to plenary and insight sessions, and on-stage conversations and presentations and other events, here are 20 takeaways from a robust 8th MipCancun, the first under new director Benedicte Touchard de Morant, with attendance up 20% on a first count, which caught Spain’s and Latin America’s scripted production sectors in an growth vortex:
1.Spanish Language: Production Builds
The big debating point at this year’s MipCancun was not if Spanish-language scripted production would grow. It was by how much. The answer came in various fashions: Prognostications by panelists, led by keynote speaker Erik Barmack, Netflix’s former head of international originals,...
- 11/25/2019
- by John Hopewell
- Variety Film + TV
In a much-anticipated move, giant streaming service Netflix has confirmed the launch of a Mexico City office this year. Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos was in Mexico City at a Netflix forum to also announce that the company had more than 50 projects in different stages of production in Mexico, some original content, others co-productions.
“The richness of talent in front of and behind the camera in Mexico was key in our decision to begin our local production strategy with ‘Club de Cuervos’ four years ago,” Sarandos said. “Since then, we have continued to expand our local investment and continue providing a platform for Mexican talent to be recognized around the world,” he added.
Four local films in the pipeline are destined for Netflix’s slate over the next two years. These include “Como Caído del Cielo,” a musical comedy inspired by the songs of Mexican legend Pedro Infante, starring...
“The richness of talent in front of and behind the camera in Mexico was key in our decision to begin our local production strategy with ‘Club de Cuervos’ four years ago,” Sarandos said. “Since then, we have continued to expand our local investment and continue providing a platform for Mexican talent to be recognized around the world,” he added.
Four local films in the pipeline are destined for Netflix’s slate over the next two years. These include “Como Caído del Cielo,” a musical comedy inspired by the songs of Mexican legend Pedro Infante, starring...
- 2/12/2019
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The festival, set to run in Mexico from November 11-15, has unveiled the selections in its After Dark, American Specials and Green programmes.
Entries in the After Dark genre section feature films that have garnered acclaim at other festivals and include Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales and the Latin American premieres of Robert Eggers’ The Witch (pictured) and Bo Mikkelsen’s What We Become.
The American Specials selections present Mexican permieres of Scott Cooper’s Black Mass and Marielle Heller’s The Diary of A Teenage Girl.
The Green strand presented by Discovery Channel showcases the Latin American premiere of Cyril Barbançon and Andy Byatt’s Hurricane 3D and the Mexican premieres of Louie Psihoyos’s Racing Extinction and Luc Jacqyet’s La Glace Et Le Ciel.
Festival top brass have also announced entries in the Cabos In Progress initiative for films in post that are made in or being produced with Mexico.
The selections...
Entries in the After Dark genre section feature films that have garnered acclaim at other festivals and include Matteo Garrone’s Tale Of Tales and the Latin American premieres of Robert Eggers’ The Witch (pictured) and Bo Mikkelsen’s What We Become.
The American Specials selections present Mexican permieres of Scott Cooper’s Black Mass and Marielle Heller’s The Diary of A Teenage Girl.
The Green strand presented by Discovery Channel showcases the Latin American premiere of Cyril Barbançon and Andy Byatt’s Hurricane 3D and the Mexican premieres of Louie Psihoyos’s Racing Extinction and Luc Jacqyet’s La Glace Et Le Ciel.
Festival top brass have also announced entries in the Cabos In Progress initiative for films in post that are made in or being produced with Mexico.
The selections...
- 10/20/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Having just finished with the Berlinale, the Talent Campus project manager Christine Trostrum and I were surprised to see each other on this side of the world! But here we were sitting next to each other at the Talent Campus in Guadalajara.
In collaboration with the Berlinale Talent Campus of the International Film Festival of Berlin and the Goethe-Institut Mexico, Ficg is currently presenting the fourth edition of Talent Campus Guadalajara (Tcg.04), from 1 to 5 March 2012. The fourth edition of Stc focuses on promoting the quest for a true narrative of the emerging American filmmakers. This year's motto: Emerging Narratives: Facing the reality . This theme is guiding the campus activities.
For 27 years Ficg (Festival de Cine de Guadalajara) has sought to build a solid film industry in Mexico and Ibero America. For this purpose, the Festival created a section to serve as platform for learning and enhancing young filmmakers' abilities regarding different aspects of audiovisual creation. The Education section strives to promote and provoke the development of young filmmakers by bringing future talents the experience and knowledge of international film experts. Dialogue, teaching, collaboration and the sharing of concepts, ideas and methods contribute to the professional instruction of future audiovisual creators.
I went to a panel that my friend Christine Davila (Associate Programmer for Sundance, former mentor at The Literacy Project and all around film festival activist) was participating in called Stories on Everyone's Lips: Dialogue about distribution and the new ways to take advantage of social networks and new technologies in order to distribute films. Along with Christine Davila on the panel were Cynthia Kane of Itvs which is a part of Public Broadcasting System providing funding for 10 international documentaries a year out of around 500 submissions. She stressed that Latin American submissions were low and they were seeking more submissions. They fund up to $100,000 a film as a co-producer (the money is not a grant), assist in finding the best international documentary broadcasters, digital platforms and community outreach. Also on the panel were Leonardo Zimbrón, an independent producer from Mexico who has also worked with major studios and as a result has some experience of how Mexican films travel abroad, Patrice Vivancos from Media in Brussel and Frances-Anne Solomon from Caribbean Tales in Toronto and Barbados. The moderator was Claas Danielsen the Artistic Director of Dok Leipzig, Europe's oldest documentary film festival.
Panels are delicate events which need to offer realism but not the sort of realism that so often warns young filmmakers "Don't go here, it's not possible, etc." The social networking aspect, as always, creates the most dynamic discussions because the fact is, very few know its actual monetary results and everyone has a hope and an opinion. This panel skirted the dangerous area of discouragement when the dialogue between the panelists and the audience began. The big question, as always, was how to make money through new digital media. There was too little talk about the crowd sourcing methods now in vogue and too little knowledge from the participants to give accurate accounts of films that did make money on the internet such as Margin Call which grossed $4 million at the box office and another $4 million on digital platforms. And the contrast between U.S. and Mexico with their New World optimism and Europe with its Old World stance was marked by the 4 to 1 participation, the 1 being European Patrice Vivancos from Media who repeatedly referred to his age as a factor in his own negative reaction to new media platforms.
One of the most interesting topics was brought up by Frances-Anne Solomon when she told of iTunes searching the Caribbean for films so it could make a brand similar to the very one she is building of Caribbean Tales, voices from the diaspora and from the islands themselves. They pulled the typical major co-option option on her. I often write of the indie successes being co-opted by majors. iTunes warned her that they were bigger than she was, so she should give up hope. However, when they go to the Caribbean (and other places I'm sure) looking for films, they do not have the ability to make a film stand out by creating brands that fit below their iTune moniker. Nor do they take on individual films. Rather, they advise the filmmakers to go to aggregators such as Cinetic, New Video, Imagination or The Film Collaborative. No Caribbean brand exists with these aggregators and yet Frances-Anne was unkindly told she was too small to become an iTunes aggregator. Those are fighting words, especially since she and her company's films serve a much larger and more diverse audience than individual consumers who may or may not be searching for Caribbean culture. Caribbean Voices creates larger educational projects for schools, universities, libraries and community groups. iTunes is even eyeing the educational world. Caribbean Tales serves as an object lesson for what is happening today in the new media world for new voices which have been so separated from the possibility of being heard until this digital era.
How are the Davids of the world (the 99%) going to bring the 1% Goliaths to account for their well-being?...
In collaboration with the Berlinale Talent Campus of the International Film Festival of Berlin and the Goethe-Institut Mexico, Ficg is currently presenting the fourth edition of Talent Campus Guadalajara (Tcg.04), from 1 to 5 March 2012. The fourth edition of Stc focuses on promoting the quest for a true narrative of the emerging American filmmakers. This year's motto: Emerging Narratives: Facing the reality . This theme is guiding the campus activities.
For 27 years Ficg (Festival de Cine de Guadalajara) has sought to build a solid film industry in Mexico and Ibero America. For this purpose, the Festival created a section to serve as platform for learning and enhancing young filmmakers' abilities regarding different aspects of audiovisual creation. The Education section strives to promote and provoke the development of young filmmakers by bringing future talents the experience and knowledge of international film experts. Dialogue, teaching, collaboration and the sharing of concepts, ideas and methods contribute to the professional instruction of future audiovisual creators.
I went to a panel that my friend Christine Davila (Associate Programmer for Sundance, former mentor at The Literacy Project and all around film festival activist) was participating in called Stories on Everyone's Lips: Dialogue about distribution and the new ways to take advantage of social networks and new technologies in order to distribute films. Along with Christine Davila on the panel were Cynthia Kane of Itvs which is a part of Public Broadcasting System providing funding for 10 international documentaries a year out of around 500 submissions. She stressed that Latin American submissions were low and they were seeking more submissions. They fund up to $100,000 a film as a co-producer (the money is not a grant), assist in finding the best international documentary broadcasters, digital platforms and community outreach. Also on the panel were Leonardo Zimbrón, an independent producer from Mexico who has also worked with major studios and as a result has some experience of how Mexican films travel abroad, Patrice Vivancos from Media in Brussel and Frances-Anne Solomon from Caribbean Tales in Toronto and Barbados. The moderator was Claas Danielsen the Artistic Director of Dok Leipzig, Europe's oldest documentary film festival.
Panels are delicate events which need to offer realism but not the sort of realism that so often warns young filmmakers "Don't go here, it's not possible, etc." The social networking aspect, as always, creates the most dynamic discussions because the fact is, very few know its actual monetary results and everyone has a hope and an opinion. This panel skirted the dangerous area of discouragement when the dialogue between the panelists and the audience began. The big question, as always, was how to make money through new digital media. There was too little talk about the crowd sourcing methods now in vogue and too little knowledge from the participants to give accurate accounts of films that did make money on the internet such as Margin Call which grossed $4 million at the box office and another $4 million on digital platforms. And the contrast between U.S. and Mexico with their New World optimism and Europe with its Old World stance was marked by the 4 to 1 participation, the 1 being European Patrice Vivancos from Media who repeatedly referred to his age as a factor in his own negative reaction to new media platforms.
One of the most interesting topics was brought up by Frances-Anne Solomon when she told of iTunes searching the Caribbean for films so it could make a brand similar to the very one she is building of Caribbean Tales, voices from the diaspora and from the islands themselves. They pulled the typical major co-option option on her. I often write of the indie successes being co-opted by majors. iTunes warned her that they were bigger than she was, so she should give up hope. However, when they go to the Caribbean (and other places I'm sure) looking for films, they do not have the ability to make a film stand out by creating brands that fit below their iTune moniker. Nor do they take on individual films. Rather, they advise the filmmakers to go to aggregators such as Cinetic, New Video, Imagination or The Film Collaborative. No Caribbean brand exists with these aggregators and yet Frances-Anne was unkindly told she was too small to become an iTunes aggregator. Those are fighting words, especially since she and her company's films serve a much larger and more diverse audience than individual consumers who may or may not be searching for Caribbean culture. Caribbean Voices creates larger educational projects for schools, universities, libraries and community groups. iTunes is even eyeing the educational world. Caribbean Tales serves as an object lesson for what is happening today in the new media world for new voices which have been so separated from the possibility of being heard until this digital era.
How are the Davids of the world (the 99%) going to bring the 1% Goliaths to account for their well-being?...
- 3/6/2012
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
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