Arianna Bocco Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent “What’s the Deal With Independent Cinema?” was the theme of the Locarno Film Festival’s StepIn think tank where a select group of European and international industry players exchanged views and took part in working sessions to discuss the state of the indie film industry. The unique event, now at it 11th edition, kicked off Thursday with an “out-of-the-box” introduction by feisty U.S.

AMC Networks had made it official that Scott Shooman as been upped to Head of its Film Group which encompasses IFC Films, RLJE Films and the Shudder streaming service.  

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Scott Shooman has been named head of film at AMC Networks, a portfolio that encompasses IFC Films, RLJE Films and the streaming service Shudder. In his new role, he will lead acquisitions, theatrical film distribution, production and development for the three brands. He will also oversee IFC Center, an arthouse movie theater in New York City. He reports to Dan McDermott, president of entertainment and AMC Studios for AMC Networks. “Movies are an important focal point for our company, and we are thrilled to have Scott leading our efforts across our three distinctive, successful and well-established film brands — IFC Films, RLJE Films and Shudder,” McDermott said. “He has extensive background in the industry, but also a fresh eye and a filmmaker-first approach that aligns perfectly with our strong history of elevating independent and thought-provoking storytelling.”

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that IFC Films longtime Head of PR, Laura Sok, will be departing.

EXCLUSIVE: Distribution executive Jasper Basch is returning to Variance Films, this time as their new Head of Distribution. He will be departing IFC Films as their Director of Sales and Distribution toward the end of this week, marking the third senior staff departure for the company in two weeks.

Variety, which first reported the news. “We have full and total confidence in Scott’s ability to run the business as interim head and know that our film team will not miss a beat as it proceeds forward with a robust slate of releases and acquisitions.”“I have big news to share,” Bocco said on her Facebook page.

Arianna Bocco, IFC Films President, is out at the distributor, Deadline has confirmed.

Brent Lang Executive Editor Arianna Bocco has stepped down as president of IFC Films. She will be replaced on an interim basis by Scott Shooman, who currently serves as head of acquisitions. Bocco left the company on Thursday. IFC, which is owned by AMC Networks, will conduct a search for a permanent replacement for Bocco, a longtime executive at the company and a major force in the world of independent film, respected for her keen taste and strong relationships with top talent. Bocco took the reins at IFC in 2020 after her predecessor Lisa Schwartz stepped down. But she had been at the company for more than a decade before making that leap. “IFC Films is a vibrant and vital part of our business and we will continue to acquire, produce and distribute films across our IFC Films, Shudder and RLJE Films ecosystems,” AMC Networks said in a statement. “We have full and total confidence in Scott’s ability to run the business as interim head and know that our film team will not miss a beat as it proceeds forward with a robust slate of releases and acquisitions.”

Brent Lang Executive Editor Bleecker Street, the Oscar-nominated studio behind “Captain Fantastic” and “Trumbo,” has partnered with New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) to award three scholarships to women attending film schools in the New York City area. The grants are part of NYWIFT’s scholarship fund and will assist with educational costs associated with film production, living expenses, books, travel and tuition needs. Bleecker Street’s contribution will be officially acknowledged at NYWIFT’s upcoming Muse Awards on March 28, which recently announced a mix of film executives, actors and filmmakers — including Arianna Bocco, Danielle Brooks, Deborah Chow, Maria Hinojosa, Sandra Lee, Freida Pinto, Lauren Ridloff, Sharon Stone, and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Janet Yang — as this year’s honorees.

Katie Reul editor Frieda Pinto, Sharon Stone and Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences President Janet Yang.are among a line-up of female luminaries set to be honored at this year’s New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) Muse Awards. “What better way to celebrate Women’s History Month than to return to celebrate this incredible roster of women that are reinventing how media is made,” said NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez. “They are influencers on screen, behind the camera, in the newsroom, and in the executive suite.” In addition, Danielle Brooks, best known for recurring roles in “Orange Is the New Black” and “Peacemaker,” will receive the “Made in NY” Award, recognition of her portrayal of resilient characters who promote body positivity. Most recently, the actor-producer starred in a remake of “The Color Purple,” which is scheduled for a December 2023 release. The “Made in NY” Award will be presented to Brooks by the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.

UPDATED AFTER EXCLUSIVE: Paint will now hit theaters on April 7 in stead of April 28.

The Sundance Film Festival returns in-person beginning Thursday after being sidelined by Covid for two editions, and three years of struggle to climb out of an abyss. The indies have emerged from a time warp into a strange new place, one that’s still evolving.

A24’s The Whale crossed the $11-million mark in week six as it jumped to 1,500 screens from 835 as the Brendan Fraser-starrer and other contenders continue to tweak theatrical runs through awards season.

New Yorkers braved the cold this weekend for Corsage at two theaters ( IFC Center, Film at Lincoln Center) as Marie Kreutzer’s biopic of Empress Elisabeth of Austria starring Vicky Krieps grossed an estimated $32,000 over the three-day weekend for a robust $16k per screen average.

EXCLUSIVE: IFC Films has snapped up North American rights to the new Owen Wilson comedy Paint from writer and director Brit McAdams.

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to the sci-fi pic Biosphere, marking the feature directorial debut of award-winning producer Mel Eslyn (The One I Love). The film is slated for release in 2023, and will stream exclusively on AMC+ following its debut in theaters.

IFC Films has acquired North American rights to “Biosphere,” the directorial debut of award-winning producer Mel Eslyn, which stars Sterling K. Brown and Mark Duplass, the company announced on Monday.Set in the not-too-distant future, Duplass and Brown play the last two men on earth who must adapt and evolve to save humanity.“Biosphere” premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in September to a strong audience response and enthusiastic reviews.The film was produced by Eslyn, artist/filmmaker Zackary Drucker—who previously co-directed the Duplass Brothers-produced docuseries “The Lady and the Dale”—and Duplass Brothers Productions’ Shuli Harel and Maddie Buis.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline has learned that IFC Films has snapped up the North American rights to Amy Redford’s What Comes Around, which made its world premiere at TIFF under the title Roost. The movie will hit select theatres and VOD in February and stream exclusively on AMC+ in May 2023.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent IFC Films has acquired North American rights to Cecilia Miniucchi’s “Life Upside Down” which stars Emmy-award winning actor Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”), Radha Mitchell (“Pitch Black) and Danny Huston (“21 Grams”). The movie world premiered at Venice in the Giornate degli Autori sidebar. IFC Films will release the film in select theaters and VOD on Jan. 27 and will stream exclusively on AMC+ in April 2023. “‘Life Upside Down’ is a romantic comedy following three couples, connected by friendship, love and work, who are each stuck in their respective homes in Los Angeles during the beginning of lockdown. Finally forced to face their spouses, friends, lovers, and eventually themselves head on, their lives turn slowly but surely upside-down.

Elsa Keslassy International Correspondent IFC Films has bought North American rights to Sebastien Marnier’s thriller “The Origin of Evil” starring “Call My Agent!” star Laure Calamy. The film world premiered at the Venice Film Festival and had its North American premiere at Toronto. The suspense-filled ensemble film also stars Doria Tillier (“La belle époque”), Suzanne Clément (“Mommy”), Dominique Blanc (“Indochine”) and Jacques Weber (“En thérapie”). Marnier’s follow up to “Faultless”and “School’s Out,” “The Origin of Evil” was produced by Caroline Bonmarchand with Kim McCraw and Luc Déry of mirco_scope with Avenue B Productions executive producing. IFC Films will release the film in 2023.

Manori Ravindran International Editor IFC Films has acquired the U.S. rights to “Operation Avalanche” director Matt Johnson’s new movie, “BlackBerry,” about the ill-fated smartphone that took the world by storm in the early 2000s. The highly anticipated film, which was first revealed by Variety last month, tells the story of the meteoric rise and catastrophic demise of the BlackBerry, and stars an ensemble cast including Jay Baruchel (“This Is the End”), Glenn Howerton (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) and Cary Elwes (“Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning”). The pic will detail the operations of BlackBerry’s Canadian parent company Research in Motion, which was one of the country’s most illustrious and well-known tech companies before it floundered in legal disputes and eventually lost its market advantage to competitors such as Apple and Samsung. At the heart of the story is the business relationship between co-founders Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and Media IFC Films has acquired North American rights to “Four Samosas,” a romantic comedy set in the Little India neighborhood of Los Angeles. The film premiered at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. IFC will release “Four Samosas” in theaters and on demand on Dec. 2, 2022.  Ravi Kapoor directs and Venk Potula (“Veep”) leads an ensemble cast that includes Sonal Shah, Sharmita Bhattacharya, Nirvan Patnaik, Karan Soni, Summer Bishil, and Meera Simhan. The film centers on wanna-be South Asian American rapper, Vinny (Potula), who along with three friends — all of them first-time thieves — plans to rob a grocery store owned by his ex-girlfriend’s father, in order to steal her wedding diamonds and disrupt her pending engagement. 

EXCLUSIVE: The Woodstock Film Festival will give honorary awards to Ethan Hawke, Awkwafina, Leave No Trace director Debra Granik and IFC Films president Arianna Bocco this fall.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterIFC Films nabbed North American rights to “The Lost King,” which will have its world premiere at the 47th Toronto International Film Festival.Directed by Stephen Frears, the feel-good true story stars Sally Hawkins as Philippa Langley, an amateur historian who uncovered the remains of King Richard the III after they had been lost for 500 years. Langley spent years researching — and searching — for the remnants, even when family, friends and academics openly doubted her.Steve Coogan (who also co-wrote the screenplay with Jeff Pope) is playing Philippa’s husband, John Langley.

King Richard III’s remains in 2012 after the monarch had been lost for 500 years. TIFF, which runs between Sept. 8-18, will screen “The Lost King” in its World Premiere as part of a special presentation.

IFC Films opened Official Competition starring Penélope Cruz, Antonio Banderas and Oscar Martínez at four theaters in NYC and LA for an estimated three-day gross of $34,000 and per-theater-averages of $8,500 for the comedy directed by Mariano Cohn and Gastón Duprat following it U.S. premiere at the Tribeca Festival last week.

Chloe Okuno’s feature debut Watcher recorded the biggest opening weekend grosses ever for IFC Films and its IFC Midnight/Shudder label on 764 U.S. screens — also one of the distributor’s widest ever releases.

The 2022 Tribeca Festival has named its jury totaling more than five dozen members across 18 categories with Alan Zweibel, Aidan Quinn, Anne Archer, Rose Troche and Oge Egbuonu judging the U.S. Narrative Feature Competition.

EXCLUSIVE:  IFC Films and AMC+ have snapped up the U.S rights to Freegard from directors Adam Patterson and Declan Lawn.

Audrey Diwan’s opened to an estimated $34k on four screens in NY and LA this weekend for a PTA of $8,500. The locations on both coasts — IFC Center/AMC Lincoln Square and The Landmark/AMC The Grove — while limited showed the abortion drama set in 1968 France competing successfully in commercial crossover multiplexes as well as arthouses.

Audrey Diwan’s Happening launched New Directors/New Films in April, mesmerizing viewers with the story of a brilliant literature student from a working-class background seeking an abortion to keep her life from derailing. In 1963 France the procedure was illegal. The suspense builds with each week a new chapter title as she seeks help from doctors, friends, the boy she slept with, and her body continue to change. Everyone backs away, judgmental, terrified of being thrown in prison for helping, or both.

EXCLUSIVE: Jeff Baena’s Spin Me Round, which made its world premiere at SXSW last month, has seen its North American rights get scooped up by IFC Films and AMC+. The pic will hit theatres and VOD and stream exclusively on AMC+ this summer.

IFC Films has taken worldwide rights (excluding Nordics) Bad Axe, a documentary directed by David Siev in his feature debut. In it, the filmmaker returns home to rural Michigan for an intimate look at his Asian-American family’s quest to keep their local restaurant and American dream alive amidst the pandemic and Trump-era political and racial tensions.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaIFC Films has acquired worldwide rights to the SXSW award-winning documentary “Bad Axe.” The deeply personal film is directed by David Siev, and follows the director as he returns home to rural Michigan. There, he captures his Asian-American family’s quest to keep their local restaurant alive, amidst the backdrop of pandemic and Trump-era political and racial tensions. It’s Siev’s feature debut.

EXCLUSIVE: Kestrin Pantera’s satirical takedown of the rich elite, Pretty Problems, has been acquired by IFC Films following the pic’s Narrative Spotlight Audience Award win at SXSW. The pic will hit theaters and VOD this year.

“I don’t want to be that person who lives in a town and says, ‘I used to remember when that was a movie theater,’ ” Arianna Bocco tells Deadline as the IFC Films president and New Jersey native formally joins Bradley Lab — a subsidiary of theater developer/manager Cinema Lab.