VARIETY.com

Michigan moves from cars to stars

Source: Variety.com - August 27, 2009
By JACK EGAN
With its once-vaunted automobile industry on the brink, Michigan these days is less about cars and more about stars. In a move to diversify its beleaguered economy, it has embraced the entertainment biz and joined the multitude of states offering lucrative tax incentives to attract film and TV productions.

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Rape: a love story

Trio set for 'Rape' drama
Bello, Breslin, Jackson to star in indie pic

Source: Variety.com - March 1, 2009
By TATIANA SIEGEL
Maria Bello, Abigail Breslin and Samuel L. Jackson will star in the indie drama "Rape: A Love Story." Harold Becker ("Domestic Disturbance") will helm. Michael Mendelsohn is producing and financing through his Patriot Pictures banner, with lensing skedded to start in June.

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New Arclight man in L.A. Deckter on deck for 'Wretched' gig

Source: Variety.com - March 28, 2008
By DON GROVES
SYDNEY -- Arclight Films has named Jonathan Deckter prexy of international sales, based in Los Angeles. One of Deckter's first assignments is selling "The Wretched," a Western/horror project starring Chow Yun-Fat as a bounty hunter whose quarry is zombies. Produced by Patriot Pictures and the U.K.'s Sheerfilms, pic penned by Joanne Reay will be directed by Andrew Goth.

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David Slade to direct 'Unthinkable' Momentum Pictures recently acquired film

Source: Variety.com - Febuary 7, 2008
By PATRICK FRATER
"30 Days of Night" helmer David Slade has signed on to direct topical thriller "Unthinkable" for Michael Mendelsohn and Caldecott Chubb.

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Clooney to narrate HBO documentary

Source: Variety.com - August 7, 2007
By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER
"Sand and Sorrow" follows the history of the strife in Sudan's Darfur region, where the Arab-controlled government has killed and displaced much of the indigenous African population. It also looks at the international community's slow reaction to the crisis.

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Sand and Sorrow

Source: Variety.com - June 22, 2007
By JAY WEISSBERG
Perhaps it will take a Michael Moore to ignite appropriate public outrage over the genocide in Darfur, but until then, docu helmer Paul Freedman's "Sand and Sorrow" will help fill the bill.

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Velvet Octopus picks up 'Sand' Darfur documentary to close Monte Carlo fest

Source: Variety.com - May 8, 2007
By ADAM DAWTREY
LONDON — "Sand and Sorrow," the Darfur documentary narrated and exec produced by George Clooney, has been picked up for international sales by Simon Crowe's Velvet Octopus.

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Never has so much money from Wall Street been flowing into studio coffers, mixing two storied worlds. Are firms like Merrill Lynch and JP Morgan Chase changing what we see on screen?

Source: Variety.com - January 9, 2006
By DANIEL GROSS
One day early last year, Marvel Entertainment CEO Avi Arad, the Harley-Davidson-riding former toy designer, stood at the front of Paramount's 200-plus seat Sherry Lansing Theater and pitched a group of executives who had little to do with traditional studio life -- and little interest in its trappings

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Duffs are 'Material' girls Hilary, Haylie team for laffer

Source: Variety.com - April 6, 2005
By DANA HARRIS
Sibling thesps Hilary Duff and Haylie Duff will team for the first time in "Material Girls," with Martha CoolidgeMartha Coolidge directing. Maverick FilmsMaverick Films and Patriot Pictures co-finance the project, with Arclight Films repping the pic's foreign sales. Production begins in Los Angeles April 18.

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