News

Monday, November 3, 2014

Telling Pictures team produces tribute piece for Academy's Governor's Awards



Rob Epstein is currently directing a tribute piece to actress Maureen O'Hara, who was selected by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to receive an Honorary Academy Award. The video tribute will be screened prior to her accepting the Oscar at the Governor's Awards on November 8th in Los Angeles.  

Nicole Kidman on set

The piece will include interviews with Steven Spielberg, whose admiration for O'Hara has not ceased since his childhood, Nicole Kidman, who has found inspiration in O'Hara's strong female characters, and Patrick Wayne, who starred in 5 films alongside Maureen. The video will be narrated by Martin Scorsese, another lifelong admirer of Ms. O'Hara

The tribute will be available for streaming online on the Academy's website, www.oscars.org, after November 8th.


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Thursday, January 30, 2014

Deadline Hollywood on "And the Oscar Goes to…"

"Fans of the Oscars should be in hog heaven over TCM's terrific new 95-minute documentary chronicling the Academy Awards from their inception 86 years ago to the present…."

So begins Pete Hammond's feature in Deadline Hollywood about our new documentary And the Oscar Goes to…



And the Oscar Goes To was produced and directed by Rob Epstein & Jeffrey Friedman, and features interviews with Jane Fonda, George Clooney, Whoopi Goldberg, Billy Crystal, Helen Mirren, Sir Ben Kingsley, Tom Hanks, Annette Bening, Liza Minnelli, Cher, Ellen Burstyn, Steven Spielberg, and many others. The film includes gems from vintage and recent ceremonies, as well as never-before-seen backstage footage.

And the Oscar Goes To premieres this Saturday, February 1st on Turner Classic Movies (5pm PT / 8pm ET), kicking off TCM's annual cinematic feast 31 Days of Oscar.


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Tuesday, January 21, 2014

And the Oscar Goes To...

Turner Classic Movies' 31 Days of Oscar kicks off Saturday Feb. 1 with the newest documentary from Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman, And the Oscar Goes To...


A history of the Oscars featuring interviews with such Oscar nominees and winners as George Clooney, Tom Hanks, Cher, Liza Minnelli, and Steven Spielberg, And the Oscar Goes To… is a celebration of the art and craft of movie making.


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Monday, December 2, 2013

The Battle of amfAR Premieres on HBO


Dr. Mathilde Krim

Viewers got a sneak peek of Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's latest short film The Battle of amfAR yesterday afternoon (World AIDS Day) on HBO2 and reviews are already popping up. Queerty assures readers that amfAR "isn't another stuffy history lesson," with Liz Taylor candidly sharing her thoughts and opinions from the start of the film. Vogue calls the film "enlightening," listing it as a documentary "you can't miss." Pop Matters' Film and TV Editor Cynthia Fuchs offers a positive analysis of the film, commenting on Krim's "infectious smile" and Taylor's ability to "wield her celebrity like a weapon."

Elizabeth Taylor

The Battle of amfAR premieres on HBO and HBOgo tonight at 9pm PT and ET.


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Thursday, October 3, 2013

Sundance Institute Announces Rob Epstein as New Board Member


The Sundance Institute announced the inclusion of four new members to their Board of Trustees last week. Rob Epstein will be joining the board alongside Ava DuVernay, Nadine Schiff and Liesl Tommy. The Sundance Board consists of 22 members who oversee the governances of the Sundance Institute, a non-profit organization committed to advancing the work of filmmakers and storytellers worldwide. Check out Indie Wire's coverage of the announcement here.

The Sundance Institute's official press release can be read below.

                                                                                                               Photo: Don Holtz


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 26, 2013
Media Contact:
Casey De La Rosa
310.360.1981


Sundance Institute Adds Four New Trustees

Nadine Schiff | Ava DuVernay | Rob Epstein | Liesl Tommy

Los Angeles, CA — Sundance Institute today announced four new members of the Institute’s Board of Trustees: Nadine Schiff, Ava DuVernay, Rob Epstein and Liesl Tommy.

Under the guidance of President & Founder Robert Redford and in close collaboration with Executive Director Keri Putnam, the 22-person Board is responsible for the governance of Sundance Institute. Wally Weisman continues as Chairman of the Board.

As a Trustee, Schiff will draw on her experience as a television journalist and film producer to actively advance Sundance Institute’s creative and financial support for independent artists. DuVernay, Epstein and Tommy join the Board as Artist Trustees, who are participants from Institute programs, including the Sundance Film Festival, artistic Labs and direct granting, who share with the Board their perspectives and act as liaisons to other Institute alumni.

The other business, cultural and philanthropic leaders on the Institute’s Board are: Robert Redford, President & Founder; Wally Weisman, Chairman of the Board; Pat Mitchell, Vice Chairman; Jeanne Donovan Fisher, Secretary; Jack Ferraro, Treasurer; Sean Bailey; Kenneth Cole; Robert J. Frankenberg; Mellody Hobson; Cindy Harrell Horn; Sheila Johnson; Christine Lahti; Lyn Davis Lear; Anand Mahindra; Geoffrey K. Sands; Jim Swartz; John E. Warnock; and Jacki Zehner. In addition, Emeritus Trustees are: Glenn Close; Jake Eberts; Sally Field; Steven Haft; Thomas E. Rothman; and George White.

NEW TRUSTEES

Nadine Schiff began her career as a television journalist, becoming a national reporter for the Dan Rather CBS Evening News. Prior to that, she hosted her own Toronto talk show, Take 30, and reported for The Journal, the flagship newsmagazine show for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. In the early 1990s, Nadine was hired as VP of Michael Douglas' Sony-based Stonebridge Entertainment and produced films such as Made in America, Flatliners, The Wedding Dress and Live From Baghdad. For seven years, Nadine served on the Board of the Women's Conference headed by Maria Shriver and currently also serves on the Board of The HELP Group. Nadine has a Master's Degree in Clinical Psychology and an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University. She is married to Fred Rosen, former Chairman of Ticketmaster Inc., and has one son.

Ava DuVernay (Artist Trustee) is a writer, producer, director and distributor of independent film. Winner of the Best Director Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and the 2013 John Cassavetes Spirit Award for her second feature film Middle of Nowhere, DuVernay’s directorial work also includes the critically-acclaimed dramatic feature I Will Follow, as well as the documentaries Venus vs, This is the Life and My Mic Sounds Nice. She is currently prepping for directorial duties on the Dr. Martin Luther King film, Selma, for Pathe. DuVernay is founder of AFFRM, a film distribution collective dedicated to African-American cinema. Based in Los Angeles, she is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as well as the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences.

Rob Epstein (Artist Trustee) is a film director, producer, writer and editor. He has won two Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature for the films The Times of Harvey Milk, which premiered at the 1985 Sundance Film Festival, and Common Threads: Stories from the Quilt. He recently transitioned from non-fiction documentaries into scripted narratives, producing the biopics HOWL (2010) and Lovelace (2013), both of which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Rob was a Fellow at the Sundance Institute January Screenwriters Lab with the film HOWL and participated as a Creative Advisor at the 2012 Composers + Documentary Lab. He has received numerous awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship and the Outfest Achievement Award. He is a member of the Directors Guild of America and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, where he currently serves on the Board of Governors. He is based in San Francisco and is a professor of film at California College of the Arts.

Liesl Tommy (Artist Trustee) is a theatre actor and director whose productions have won numerous awards for directing, acting and design. She has directed Lynn Nottage’s Ruined, August Wilson’s Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Lorraine Hansberry’s Raisin in the Sun and David Mamet’s American Buffalo, among many others. She has also taught master classes in acting, directing and new play development at The Julliard School, Trinity Rep/Brown University, The Strasberg Institute and NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. Liesl’s production of The Good Negro went through Sundance Institute’s Theatre Lab and Liesl served as Creative Advisor to the Theatre Program Lab on Manda (East Africa) and Stage Director’s Workshop in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Liesl is a native of Cape Town, South Africa and is based in New York.


Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a global, nonprofit cultural organization dedicated to nurturing artistic expression in film and theater, and to supporting intercultural dialogue between artists and audiences. The Institute promotes independent storytelling to unite, inform and inspire, regardless of geo-political, social, religious or cultural differences. Internationally recognized for its annual Sundance Film Festival and its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute has nurtured such projects as Born into Brothels, Trouble the Water, Beasts of the Southern Wild, Fruitvale Station, Sin Nombre, An Inconvenient Truth, Spring Awakening, Light in the Piazza and Angels in America. Join Sundance Institute on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

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Thursday, August 8, 2013

LOVELACE Q&A at The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences


photo: Matt Petit / ©A.M.P.A.S 


This past Sunday Lovelace screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Watch directors Rob and Jeffrey and stars Amanda Seyfried and Sharon Stone in their post-screening Q&A discussing the making of the film.




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Friday, August 2, 2013

LOVELACE PREMIERES IN NEW YORK




This past Tuesday marked the New York premiere of Lovelace at the Museum of Modern Art. The premiere (and after party) was attended by a spectrum of guests from  Gloria Steinem to Lou Reed and members of the cast. For photos and a description of the event, check out the article published in The New York Times Fashion & Style section this week.


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Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Check out the British Lovelace trailer





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Wednesday, July 3, 2013

more Portrait of Jason

Nice "All Things Considered" piece on Shirley Clarke's groundbreaking classic, featuring interviews with Jeffrey Friedman and Gay New York author George Chauncey.




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Thursday, May 2, 2013

How playing "Deep Throat" star Linda Lovelace prepared Amanda Seyfried to sing in Les Mis


An actor prepares...  read more.
Amanda Seyfried as Linda Lovelace and Adam Brody as Harry Reems, foreground; 
Chris Noth, Hank Azaria, and Bobby Cannavale (partially obscured), background.
(photo: Dale Robinette)

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Thursday, April 25, 2013

Battle of amfAR TriBeCa premiere

Great screening, great party!


Jeffrey and Rob on the red carpet


Dr. Mathilde Krim and Richard Berkowitz
(Photos by Michael Palmieri)









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Thursday, April 18, 2013

Vogue online features The Battle of amfAR

Check out Vogue's recommendations for the Tribeca Film Festival.

Elizabeth Taylor, AIDS lobbyist (Photo courtesy of HBO)


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Friday, March 22, 2013

Battle of amfAR invited to Tribeca

Our new short documentary The Battle of amfAR will have its New York premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 24th, 5:30pm at the SVA Theater 2 in Chelsea. Rob and Jeffrey will be there along with some special guests.




When a mysterious new disease starts killing gay men in the early 1980s, two  powerful women from very different backgrounds respond. Hollywood icon Elizabeth Taylor and research scientist Mathilde Krim join forces to create the first national AIDS research foundation and change the course of the epidemic. Thanks to amfAR's support of groundbreaking research, today we are closer than ever to finding a cure.




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Thursday, March 21, 2013

Harry Reems 1947 - 2013

Sad to hear the news. From our research, Harry was possibly the only porn-related acquaintance that Linda had good things to say about.



NY Times obit
Variety obit
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Friday, February 15, 2013

The Selling of Lovelace

Lovelace screenwriter Andy Bellin wrote this article for the New York Observer about the world premiere of Lovelace at Sundance last week.



Eccles Center in Park City, Utah—known to Sundance veterans as “The Big House”—is so massive that my first thought was that the Rolling Stones would have had a tough time selling this joint out at 10 p.m. on a Tuesday night in the middle of a frigid January... read more.

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