OSCILLOSCOPE LABS PICKS UP VICTOR QUINAZ'S ('05) DEBUT FEATURE BREAKUP AT A WEDDING

It was announced in the trades on Wednesday that Colonist Victor Quinaz's ('05) debut feature BREAKUP AT A WEDDING was picked up by Oscilloscope Laboratories (WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP). The film will be released on June 18th on all VOD and Digital Platforms as well as a limited theatrical.

Full release:

April 24, 2013—Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it has acquired North American rights to Victor Quinaz’s debut feature, BREAKUP AT A WEDDING.  A co-production of Zachary Quinto, Corey Moosa, and Neal Dodson’s Before The Door Pictures (MARGIN CALL, upcoming Cannes entry ALL IS LOST) and Anonymous Content (ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND, WINTER’S BONE), the film will be released on June 18th across all cable VOD and digital platforms, with select event screenings and a college tour leading up to the release

Seen through the lens of an ambitious wedding videographer (played by the director, Victor Quinaz), BREAKUP AT A WEDDING gives us the nuptials of Alison Jones (Alison Fyhrie) and Phil Havemeyer (Philip Quinaz, the director’s real-life younger brother) in all of its sprawling, messy, and often wildly inebriated glory.  On the eve of their wedding, Alison gets cold feet and decides to break up with her fiancé Phil. But rather than face the embarrassment of calling off the ceremony, Alison suggests to Phil that they proceed with a sham wedding. Phil is more than game to try, secretly hoping that a surprise gift he has for Alison will ultimately change her mind.

BREAKUP AT A WEDDING was written and directed by Victor Quinaz. His then fiancé/now wife Anna Martemucci along with his brother Phillip Quinaz co- wrote the script and all three also appear in the cast of the ensemble feature. Quinaz and Martemucci said “We're thrilled to be associated with a company we’ve long admired. Also honored that BREAKUP AT A WEDDING will have the distinction of being the Oscilloscope movie with the highest number of on-screen chocolate fountains.”

O-Scope’s David Laub and Dan Berger said, “BREAKUP AT A WEDDING perfectly captures the insanity surrounding most weddings and then amplifies it to the absurd and hysterical, yet somehow always manages to be both poignant and relatable.  Victor and Anna are wonderfully talented and creative filmmakers and we're delighted to be dipping into their chocolate fountain.”

Producer Zachary Quinto, further added, “Victor and Anna are innovative, articulate, and passionate about their ambitions, both creatively and professionally, and we are honored to bring their work to a larger audience”

BREAKUP AT A WEDDING is a PERIODS. film, directed by Victor Quinaz and written by Anna Martemucci, Victor Quinaz and Philip Quinaz. The film was a co-production with Scott Robinson’s Robinson Films, Inc. Quinaz and Martemucci are repped by United Talent Agency and Anonymous Content.

WELCOME NEW COLONY MANAGING DIRECTOR DANA PENROD

The Screenwriter's Colony is excited to announce and welcome Dana Penrod as our new managing director and Callie Barber as our new Special Events and Development Coordinator.

Dana Penrod, new Managing Director

Dana comes from a background in both film production and non-profit program management. She has worked on several feature films including Academy Award nominee, The VisitorTrumbo, about blacklisted novelist and screenwriter, Dalton Trumbo; and the critically acclaimed Compliance, written and directed by Craig Zobel. For several years, Dana led international youth travel and educational enrichment programs with the International YMCA’s Global Teens initiative and World Learning’s Experiment in International Living. She has also worked for freeDimensional, a organization that promotes free speech and cultural democracy by mobilizing arts spaces and human rights advocates to aid artist activists persecuted for their creative expression and political activism. Dana is a master’s degree candidate with the School for International Training’s Program in Intercultural Managementwhere she has focused on exploring the intersections of art and social change, and community development and cross-cultural exchange. Dana is also a proud graduate of the School for Creative Activism, class of 2011. 

Callie, a native of Nantucket, spent 3 years studying acting in New York City. She is a graduate of the New Actors Workshop in NYC where she studied under famed director Mike Nichols and his partners Paul Sills and George Morrison. After a few more years spent working in Los Angeles, Callie decided to move home to Nantucket where she now resides full time with her husband and two small children.  Callie has worked in project management for last 6 years and in addition to her work with the Screenwriters Colony, Callie is set to begin work with Nantucket's new professional theatre company The Nantucket Theatre Institute. Callie is heavily involved with a number of Island nonprofits and seeks to keep Nantucket a culturally vibrant place all year long.

Very excited to have them both!

18TH NANTUCKET FILM FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES LINEUP

Another year, another roster of amazing films recently announced for the 18th Annual Nantucket Film Festival (June 26th - 30th)

The Nantucket Film Festival is one of the only film festivals dedicated to the craft of screenwriting. This year they spotlight a number of new voices and celebrate some familiar ones. Starting with a tribute to David O. Russell, a Special Achievement in Documentary Storytelling Award to Barbara Kopple, and honoring actress turned screenwriter/director Lake Bell with a New Voices in Screenwriting Award.

The festival opens on June 26th with MONSTERS UNIVERSITY as well as the opening night film, the doc TWENTY FEET FROM STARDOM. A number of films are having special screenings after playing other noteworthy festS including Lake Bell's IN A WORLD..., DRINKING BUDDIES, and Kristen Wiig in GIRL MOST LIKELY. All in all a terrific lineup that ends with the closing night film, and Sundance sensation, AIN'T THEM BODIES SAINTS.

For more information and tickets head on over to NFF's website.

A LITTLE WEEKEND PROVOCATION: COME OUT AND PLAY

Happy Friday everyone!

Here's a little provocation for the weekend -- the manifesto of masked Belarussian director Makinov (that's right -- just Makinov) whose murderous feral children feature, COME OUT AND PLAY opens in limited release today. Think the movies should be fun? Not Makinov -- "Cinema should teach us about pain."



(Post by Ben Robbins)

SHORT: LIL WOMEN

FUTURE WEATHER OPENS IN NYC

Jenny Deller's ('09) FUTURE WEATHER begins its rollout this week. 

The movie opens in New York at the reRun theater on Friday. Steven Holden of the NY Times called Perla Haney-Jardine's performance "a striking breakout." You can read the full review here. 

To get tickets go here.

CHRIS GALLETA'S TOY'S HOUSE SELLS TO CBS FILMS & GETS GREAT REVIEWS

Colony alum Chris Galleta's ('10) film, TOY'S HOUSE, premiered Tuesday night at Sundance and was quickly picked up for distribution by CBS Films.

From the official press release, director Jordan Vogt-Roberts had this to say:

“TOY’S HOUSE couldn’t have found a better home than with CBS Films. We set out to make a comedy that was hilarious and full of heart – but most importantly we set out to make a comedy that was engaging. CBS Films is so passionate about this movie and share my thoughts that comedy can be poignant and beautiful. The response at Sundance has been overwhelming and I can’t wait for CBS Films to share TOY’S HOUSE with audiences everywhere.”

The film has been getting great reviews in the Hollywood Reporter and other online news outlets, with Indiewire calling it, "Idiosyncratic & Hilarious, Toy’s House’ Heralds The Arrival Of A Fresh New Comic Voice." Here is another at /Film. No word yet on a release date.

To see the full press release visit the link here at Deadline.com.

TRAILER: JENNY DELLER'S FUTURE WEATHER

The official trailer for Jenny Deller's ('09) FUTURE WEATHER is here and on iTunes!

The film opens in theaters February 22nd. Check the official website for tickets and showtimes.

JOHN SUMMEROUR ('06) TALKS ABOUT THE MOMENT THAT CHANGED IT ALL

John Henry Summerour's ('06) first feature film, SAHKANAGA, opens in New York City and Atlanta this Friday (December 7th) John recounts here the moment he got the news that he'd be heading to Nantucket to develop the script for SAHKANAGA.

"Six years ago I was leaving my shift at a coffee shop in NYC and waiting in line at a CVS when my phone rang. At the coffee shop (and I imagine at all coffee shops, all over the world) it is incredibly dismissive, demeaning and impractical to stand in line chatting with your mother (people are always talking to their mothers) while the exhausted and deeply depressed employee tries in vain to get your attention and extract an order so that the line can keep moving, others can get served, and we can all go home, where we invariably think about how horrible our lives are and cling to the tiny hope that tomorrow, maybe, people won't be so awful. 

(John Henry Summerour directing Trevor Neuhoff and Kristin Rievley in SAHKANAGA)

So I'm at CVS, and my phone rings. I don't recognize the number and for some reason that always intrigues me enough that I have to answer, but I don't want to be that self-involved prick blabbing in line and giving the perfectly innocent CVS employee The Finger (you know, when you ask, "How can I help you?" and the blabberer erects his index finger, thrusting it at you like an exaggerated shush, in case you're dumber than you look). I swiftly calculate the number of people ahead of me, how many items they appear to be buying, plus the speed and efficiency of the CVS staff. The odds look favorable that I can answer the phone and deal with the call in time to hang up and interact with the consideration of human decency. 

It should also be noted that I hate talking on the phone. Either I don't hear very well from years of aural abuse (screaming family members + loud music), or I have a severe, undiagnosed learning disability which causes my brain to ingest sound and morph it into new information that defies the rules of sense and logic. A ringing phone signals the terror of imminent communication meltdown. In the best of times, my confusion results in bemused wonder from the person I'm mishearing. Sometimes it gets ugly. 

I pick up and a tiny voice speaks to me from the world beyond. It's a cheerful voice. I try to sound pleased and surprised. We chirp pleasantries at each other, and the first 30 seconds of any call is key. It gives me time to adjust to the sound and start interpreting. The words Hey, Yeah and Oh can be used to effectively stall a conversation for at least 30 seconds when applied with an overly positive tone. During this time the line at CVS is moving forward and I'm trying to use my best library voice while figuring out who is on the other line. I hear "Nantucket" and "script" and the picture slowly comes together. It's Chase Palmer from the Screenwriters Colony, and he's calling to tell me that I have been accepted, and can I fly to the Nantucket Film Festival in two weeks... or something. At this point I just start squawking Hey, Yeah and Oh repeatedly, trying to play with the order so there's some convincing variation. 

And suddenly I'm standing in front of the CVS employee who is looking at me like I'm one of "those people" and I want to jump over the counter and hug her and say, "No! I'm one of you, and I'm flying to Nantucket, and you can too! We can all fly away and become our best selves and escape the monotony of serving people who compulsively call their mothers because they're so lost and sad and they spend their empty days trolling the CVS and the coffee shop, searching for a line to stand in that will give their spineless existence some structure, hoping that someone will serve them and subsequently pay attention to them so that they don't feel so desperately alone." But the happy Chase Palmer voice is singing to me and I'm filled with extreme elation and crushing guilt while making a phone sandwich between my skull and right shoulder, and my hands flail around, digging through pockets, picking at dollar bills, and I'm sure at some point I make the absolutely insane decision to count out exact change from a coin purse, which is the definitive move of "those people," so I have to just own it and keep smiling. Luckily the CVS employee can tell I'm not practiced at this sort of horrifying behavior, or at least I'm hoping she can see that I'm on her team and the look on her face falls into the "bemused wonder" category of social interaction. I grab whatever forgettable item I was there to purchase and do a goofy sidestep out the automated doors and into the exhilarating, bruising NYC summertime heat. 

That was the seed of hope the Screenwriters Colony planted in 2006, the moment when I transformed from a guy who sits at home in the dark typing out his obsessions in screenplay form to a real, live screenwriter. That was the moment I began taking my future as a filmmaker seriously. The Colony launched me on this journey, and six years later I have a finished feature-length script, a short film, a feature film, fellowships, awards, distribution deals, new friends, incredible collaborators, world travels, and the images in my head projected onto movie screens before hundreds of strangers. 

I still work at the coffee shop, but now when I try to take someone's order and he gives me The Finger, I can hand him a postcard advertising the theatrical opening of my debut feature film, and then I can move on.

Next please!"

For tickets go here or to the film's event page on Facebook. And here is a link to the official website.

John Henry Summerour grew up in Chickamauga, GA, the son of a Methodist minister. He attended NYU's Tisch School of the Arts and the British American Drama Academy in London. His first short film, CHICKAMAUGA, was co-produced by Chase Palmer of the Screenwriters Colony, and his first feature, SAHKANAGA, was developed at the Colony and went on to play multiple festivals, receiving theatrical distribution in 2012. John is the recipient of the IFP Narrative Lab Fellowship in NYC and TheFilmSchool's Great American Storyteller Prize in Seattle.

COLONIST JOHN HENRY SUMMEROUR'S ('06) SAHKANAGA OPENS DEC. 7TH

After an extraordinary year traveling to festivals worldwide, SAHKANAGA is opening on Dec. 7th at Brooklyn's reRun Theater and Atlanta's historic Plaza Theatre, presented by IFP, Filmmaker Magazine, & Filmwax. 

The writer and director, John Henry Summerour ('06), will be in Brooklyn for opening night (12/7) and in Atlanta for screenings on Dec. 8th & 9th and again in New York for the remaining screenings Monday through Thursday.

John wrote and developed the script at the Colony back in 2006 and went on to direct and produce the film with Miky Wolf. Since completion the film has played at countless international film festivals including its premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival and Rome International and winning several awards 

"In 2002, over 300 bodies were discovered on the property of the Tri-State Crematory in the Appalachian foothills of northwest Georgia, thrusting an unassuming, tight-knit community into the international spotlight. SAHKANAGA (meaning “Great Blue Hills of God” in Cherokee, pronounced “sock-uh-nogga”) imagines this event from the perspective of Paul, a teenager who stumbles upon the first body."

For tickets to the event in Brooklyn on the 7th go here or to the film's event page on Facebook.

And here is a link to the official website.