ARAB TIMES, FRIDAY-SATURDAY, JANUARY 29-30, 2021 NEWS/FEATURES 13 People & Places Film Hungry for content Sundance robust market heats up By Lindsey Bahr hree years ago, filmmakers Julie Cohen and Betsy TWest got a dream Sundance debut. They pre- miered their film “RBG” to a sold-out crowd with Jus- tice Ruth Bader Ginsburg not only in attendance but seeing it for the first time. There was a standing ova- tion, a bidding war and a big sale. It also went on to be a major awards contender. It’s the kind of Sundance experience most filmmakers fantasize about. This year they’re returning to the festival with their follow-up, “My Name is Pauli Murray” about the somewhat obscure legal trail- blazer, and while their excite- ment remains high, the festival itself will be quite different. Like so many in the past year, Sundance has had to reinvent itself as a mostly virtual expe- rience. Still, the 2021 Festival which kicks off Thursday is shaping up to be a robust mar- ket for companies looking for Wilde content. More than 72 feature fi lms are debuting over the sev- en days. It’s slimmed-down lineup from the previous years’ 118 and some already have ways to get to audi- ences, like Robin Wright’s “Land” and “Judas and the Black Messiah,” which will both be available to the masses in the coming weeks. But many this year are acquisition titles seeking distribution deals. “Buyers and sellers have found a rhythm for con- ducting business at virtual markets, to great success. And consumers are continuing to ask for more con- tent,” said Deb McIntosh, an SVP at Endeavor Con- tent. “I’m confi dent that we’ll fi nd distribution part- ners for all of our fi lms.” Julie Dansker, an executive at Shout! Studios, is Actress Cloris Leachman gestures to honoree Mel Brooks in the audience during the American Film Institute’s 41st Lifetime Achievement Award Gala on June 6, coming to the virtual festival looking for fi lms to buy 2013, in Los Angeles. Leachman, a character actor whose depth of talent brought her an Oscar for the ‘The Last Picture Show’ and Emmys for her comedic work in and Sundance, she said, always offers a variety of ‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ and other TV series, has died. She was 94. (AP) fi lms from established and emerging talents. Projects This year there are high profi le projects from well- Obituary known names like actor Rebecca Hall’s directorial de- but “Passing,” starring Ruth Negga and Tessa Thomp- son as two light-skinned Black women who choose to live on opposite sides of the color line in 1929 New York. Jerrod Carmichael is making his debut with the ‘Irreplaceable’ actor of extraordinary range dark satire “On the Count of Three” with Christopher Abbott and Tiffany Haddish. Questlove is too with his opening night documentary “Summer Of Soul (…Or, When The Revolution Could Not Be Televised).” Zoe Legendary actress Leachman dies Lister-Jones also reunites with her “Craft: Legacy” star Cailee Spaeny for “How It Ends,” co-starring Ol- LOS ANGELES, Jan 28, (AP): Clo- of contestants in “Dancing With the Morgenstern (Valerie Harper). Phyl- ivia Wilde and Fred Armisen. And “CODA,” a day one fi lm from Sian Heder about a child of deaf adults, ris Leachman, an Oscar-winner for Stars,” not lasting long in the com- lis was so unexpectedly engaging that is expected to be one of the breakouts. her portrayal of a lonely housewife petition but pleasing the crowds with Leachman starred in a spinoff series As always, the documentary sections are fertile in “The Last Picture Show” and a her sparkly dance costumes, perching of her own, “Phyllis,” which ran on ground for buyers. Cohen and West’s “My Name is comedic delight as the fearsome Frau herself on judges’ laps and cussing CBS from 1975 to 1977. Pauli Murray” is among the sales titles as is Mariem Blücher in “Young Frankenstein” and during the live broadcast. With “Young Frankenstein,” Pérez Riera’s “Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided self-absorbed neighbor Phyllis on She started out as Miss Chicago in Leachman became a member of “the to Go For It,” which examines how the entertainer “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” has the Miss America Pageant and will- Mel Brooks stock company,” also ap- battled racism to become one of the few performers died. She was 94. ingly accepted unglamorous screen pearing in “High Anxiety” and “His- to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Lucy Leachman died in her sleep of nat- roles. tory of the World, Part I.” Her other Walker has a documentary about the history of wild- ural causes at her home in Encinitas, “Basically I don’t care how I look, fi lms included Bogdanovich’s “Daisy fi res, “Bring Your Own Brigade” and Jonas Poher California, publicist Monique Moss ugly or beautiful,” she told an inter- Miller,” and “Texasville,” repeating Rasmussen will debut his animated refugee documen- Daryl Wein, (left), and his wife Zoe said Wednesday. Her daughter Dinah viewer in 1973. “I don’t think that’s her role in “The Last Picture Show.” tary “Flee.” Lister-Jones, the co-directors, co- Englund was at her side, Moss said. what beauty is. On a single day, any In 2009, she released her autobiog- And then there’s the more unconventional efforts writers and co-producers of ‘How It A character actor of extraordinary of us is ugly or beautiful. I’m heart- raphy, “Cloris,” which made tab- like animator Dash Shaw’s psychedelic “Cryptozoo,” Ends,’ pose together for a portrait to range, Leachman defi ed typecasting. broken I can’t be the witch in ‘The loid headlines for her recounting of featuring the voices of Lake Bell, Michael Cera and promote the film for the Sundance In her early television career, she Wizard of Oz.’ But I’d also like to a “wild” one-night stand with Gene Grace Zabriskie. Or Nattawut Poonpiriya’s Wong Film Festival, Jan 27, in Los Angeles. appeared as Timmy’s mother on the be the good witch. Phyllis combines Hackman. Kar-Wai produced drama “One for the Road” and the Lister-Jones is also a cast member in the film. (AP) “Lassie” series. She played a frontier them both. Cloris Leachman grew up on the Timur Bekmambetov-produced social media age Ro- prostitute in “Butch Cassidy and the “I’m kind of like that in life. outskirts of Des Moines, Iowa, where meo and Juliet riff “R#J.” Sundance Kid,” a crime spree fam- I’m magic, and I believe in magic. she was born in 1926. The large fam- There are boundless “discovery” opportunities for ily member in “Crazy Mama,” and There’s supposed to be a point in life ily lived in an isolated wooden house parties looking beyond the fl ashy names who might Variety Blücher in Mel Brooks’ “Young when you aren’t supposed to stay be- with no running water, but the mother just stumble upon the next Ryan Coogler or Damien Frankenstein,” in which the very lieving that. I haven’t reached it yet.” had ambitious ideas for her children. Chazelle. mention of her name drew equine Cloris took piano lessons at the age As Sundance programmer Kim Yutani said, “You During the 1950s, Leachman be- don’t really know what these fi lms are until you see NEW YORK: Halsey has something new commentary. came busy in live TV drama, demon- of 5; since the family could not afford them.” to sing about: motherhood. “Every time I hear a horse whinny I strating her versatility, including in a piano, she practiced on a cardboard Audience enthusiasm for a particular fi lm might be The pop star announced on Instagram will forever think of Cloris’ unforget- roles that represented casting stand- drawing of the keys. harder to judge virtually, though. on Wednesday that she is expecting her table Frau Blücher,” Brooks tweeted, ards of that era. “I’m going to be a concert pia- fi rst child. The 26-year-old posted photos calling Leachman “insanely talented” nist,” the girl announced, and her “There’s all this energy that happens at a festival Triumph when you’re in person that is hard to translate to a vir- of her baby bump with the caption: and “irreplaceable.” mother encouraged her with book- “surprise!” Salutes from other admiring col- “One week I’d be on as a Chinese ings at churches and civic clubs. She tual environment,” said Jordan Fields, head of acquisi- A representative for the singer didn’t tions for Shout! Studios. “But on the upside, it gives leagues poured in on social me- girl, the next as a blond cockney and arranged for Cloris to ride on a coal immediately reply to an email seeking weeks later as a dark-haired someone us the ability to judge movies a little more objectively comment or additional information. dia. Steve Martin said Leachman truck to Des Moines for an audition because we’re not necessarily infl uenced by a crowd Halsey has released three platinum al- “brought comedy’s mysteries to the else,” she recalled. In 1955, she made for a Drake University student play. who stands up to cheer it at the end.” bums and is known for hits like “Without big and small screen.” “Nothing I her fi lm debut in a hard-boiled Mick- She was given the role and appeared Me,” “Bad at Love” and “Closer” with could say would top the enormity of ey Spillane saga, “Kiss Me Deadly” in other plays at a local theater.