Illumination Founder Chris Meledandri Receives Lifetime Honor From Pharrell Williams At Annecy Film Festival

It was a family affair for the Williams family at the 2023 Nantucket Film Festival!

This year’s Edinburgh International Film Festival (EIFF) will close with the UK premiere of British Iranian filmmaker Babak Jalali’s well-received Sundance pic Fremont.

When Pharrell Williams unveiled his first collection as Louis Vuitton’s artistic director, succeeding Virgil Abloh, he exceeded expectations. Now, the musician is maintaining momentum with his first campaign for the fashion house, starring Rihanna. 

So many stars stepped out for Kenzo‘s fashion show in Paris, France!

Pharrell Williams made a chic statement with a pair of miniature sunglasses at the Dior Homme Menswear Spring/Summer 2024 show during Paris Fashion Week on Friday (June 23) in Paris, France.

Pharrell Williams has shared a new single featuring the gospel choir Voices of Fire.Entitled ‘Joy (Unspeakable)’, the track was debuted last night (June 20) as part of Men’s Fashion Week in Paris, which saw Pharrell act as creative director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear designs.He also sported some of the designs during the ceremony at The Pont Neuf, which was watched by Jay-Z and Beyoncé, Rihanna and her partner, A$AP Rocky, Zendaya, Lewis Hamilton, Kelly Rowland, Tyler, the Creator and Kim Kardashian.You can listen to the track and watch the performance of the song from the event last night below.“Working with Pharrell is always an amazing experience that not only inspires you, but drives you to dig deep within yourself for the best you have to offer,” said Bishop Ezekiel Williams, founder of the Voices of Fire choir via a press release.“When the dream team finally came together on this song – Pharrell, Voices of Fire, Pastor Larry George, and yours truly – I knew that moment in the studio was one of destiny.”Williams was hired as the creative director of Louis Vuitton’s menswear designs back in February.

Beyoncé, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian were just some of the celebs in attendance at Pharrell Williams' Louis Vuitton fashion show in Paris, France.Jay-Z, Zendaya, A$AP Rocky, Maluma, Naomi Campbell, Jared Leto and Megan Thee Stallion were also on hand to see Williams' debut for the design house. Williams put on a night show at Paris' famed Pont Neuf, putting his line on display for Paris Fashion Week's menswear spring/summer 2024 showcase.More musicians showed up to support Williams, including Anitta, Offset, Coi Leray, Tyler, the Creator and Willow and Jaden Smith.A post shared by WWD (@wwd)He also got love from the sports world, with LeBron James, his wife Savannah and Lewis Hamilton also attending the show. Bey gave fans a closer look at her and Jay's LV duds on Instagram, as they took a break from her Renaissance World Tour to enjoy the show.A post shared by Beyoncé (@beyonce)In addition to showing off the fashion house's new line, Williams performed, taking the stage with Jay-Z to perform their 2003 hit, «Frontin.'» Williams also brought a choir from his hometown to Paris for the show.Leave it to @pharrell, @louisvuitton’s menswear artistic director, to give showgoers top-tier fashion—and a show.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor U.S. actor Robin Wright will be awarded the President’s Award at the 57th Karlovy Vary Film Festival’s closing ceremony. In honor of Wright, it will screen “The Princess Bride.” Wright is best known for her performance in Netflix series “House of Cards.” She earned three Golden Globe nominations and a win in 2014. She earned five Screen Actors Guild award nominations for the show, and received five consecutive Emmy nominations. In 2017, Wright played Lieutenant Joshi in “Blade Runner 2049,” and Amazon warrior General Antiope in “Justice League” and Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman.” The following year, she reprised her role as Antiope in “Wonder Woman 1984.” She will be seen this Fall starring opposite Millie Bobby Brown in the fantasy film “Damsel,” and co-starring with Tom Hanks in “HERE,” directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Michael Morpurgo’s 1999 children’s book comes vividly to life in Neil Boyle and Kirk Hendry’s joint feature debut, a castaway fantasy in which a young boy learns vital lessons about the natural order of things. Seasoned screenwriter Frank Cottrell Boyce is on board too, and yet this is likely one of his sparsest screenplays yet, leaning into the subtleties of the animation: traditional hand-drawn 2D with mixed-media elements for the background. Older kids will likely love it, but a beautifully stark encapsulation of the bombing of Nagasaki in 1945 may rule it out as something for the whole family.

This eye-catching, dimension-traveling adventure might be aimed at kids, but there’s plenty here for adults who grew up believing the possibilities of animation might be endless. Now that Disney has done its best to persuade us otherwise, Benoît Chieux’s fabulous Sirocco and the Kingdom of Air Streams is here as a palate-cleanser, tucking away a tender story of love and loss in an insanely imaginative psychedelic brainstorm. If Matt Groening and Miyazaki took magic mushrooms and watched The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine together, they could conceivably come up with a movie to match this.

Ben Croll With “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” riding high to the tune of $1.3 billion in global receipts, and as Pharrell Williams lay in the wings to offer the producer a lifetime achievement award, Illumination CEO Chris Meledandri made sure to direct the lion’s share of attention to “Migration” director Benjamin Renner as the pair sat before a packed auditorium at the Annecy Animation Festival on Wednesday. Taking the stage after premiering 25 minutes of “Migration” footage, Meledandri stepped (quite adeptly) into the role of interviewer, putting Renner in the spotlight and peppering the French filmmaker with questions about inspiration and artistry. If the interest was genuine, it was also no doubt strategic, as Meledandri inferred to Variety in an interview following the presentation.

Chris Hemsworth is a big sports fan. Following a press tour that took him to various continents, Hemsworth took a brief break to enjoy a Mets baseball game in New York City.

Chris Hemsworth is speaking out.

After “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” made over $1.3 billion at the global box office, it’s safe to say that Illumination is pretty pleased with its partnership with Nintendo.

Naman Ramachandran The world premiere of Scottish writer-director Johnny Barrington‘s debut feature “Silent Roar” will open the 2023 Edinburgh International Film Festival on Aug. 18. Billed as a “teenage tale of surfing, sex and hellfire” set in Scotland’s Outer Hebrides, the film stars emerging actor Louis McCartney as Dondo, a young surfer struggling to accept his father’s recent disappearance at sea. Caught up in grief, he is brought to his senses by rebellious crush Sas (Ella Lily Hyland), a high achiever who dreams of escaping the island. When an oddly-behaved new minister arrives on the island, Dondo begins to have cosmic visions. The film is produced by Scottish producer Chris Young (“The Inbetweeners Movie”) and was made with the participation of Screen Scotland, BBC Films and BFI. MK2 Films is handling sales.

Ben Croll Before Pharrell Williams put in a surprise appearance to honor Chris Meledandri with Annecy’s Golden Ticket lifetime achievement award, the Illumination CEO joined “Migration” director Benjamin Renner for a wide-ranging conversation and to present the first 25 minutes of the film.  Though the duo made sure to mention that the excerpt was not quite locked, the opening salvo was nevertheless polished and sure-footed, giving Annecy attendees a good impression of the final form. Set for release on Dec. 22, “Migration” seems like another crowd-pleaser – at least if auditorium’s laughs and applause offered any indication.

Illumination founder Chris Meledandri has confirmed he is working on new projects with Pharrell Williams and Pierre Coffin at the Annecy International Film Festival.

Naman Ramachandran Illumination founder and CEO Chris Meledandri was presented with the Annecy International Film Festival’s lifetime accreditation Golden Ticket on Wednesday. In a surprise appearance, two-time Oscar nominee and Grammy-winning global superstar Pharrell Williams presented Meledandri with the festival’s honor. Meledandri is the creative producer behind “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” the Despicable Me, Minions, Sing and The Secret Life of Pets franchises, and the upcoming action comedy, “Migration.” Williams, a longtime creative partner with Illumination, earned his first Academy Award nomination for his blockbuster song “Happy” from the studio’s “Despicable Me 2.”

Chris Pratt is mourning two former co-stars' deaths. The 43-year-old actor took to Instagram on Tuesday to speak out following two deaths: John Beasley's on May 30 and Treat Williams' on June 12.Pratt co-starred with both men on all four seasons of ; he played Bright Abbott, Beasley portrayed Irv Harper, and Williams starred as Dr. Andrew Brown.«It's an incredibly sad season for the cast and crew of ,» Pratt acknowledged in his post. «We're still reeling from the loss of John Beasley and yesterday we lost Treat Williams as well.»Pratt continued by calling both men «exceptional actors, wonderful husbands, fathers and friends.»«They will be missed tremendously.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia is the latest high-net-worth individual to get involved in the documentary business. As a producer on Waad Al-Kateab’s “We Dare to Dream,” about the refugee Olympic team at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Gebbia not only helped fund the project, he also played an active role in the film’s pre-production, production, and edit. “We Dare to Dream” is Al-Kateab’s second feature docu. In her first film, “For Sama,” which was nominated for an Academy Award, the Syrian director used her camera to capture her daily life during the siege of Aleppo.Gebbia produced “We Dare to Dream” alongside Violet Films’ Joanna Natasegara (“Virunga”) and Abigail Anketell-Jones (“The Edge of Democracy”) and XTR’s Bryn Mooser and Kathryn Everett. Angelina Jolie recently signed on as an executive producer on the project. Gebbia joins fellow philanthropists Laurene Powell Jobs (Concordia Studio), Jeff Skoll (Participant Media) and Jim Swartz (Impact Partners) in the docu investment business.