Coco Francini Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Cate Blanchett is ready for new oppourtinies.

Cate Blanchett, center, Stacy L. Smith, left, and Coco Francini, have taken action against the long-standing lack of representation in the film and television industry. Proof of Concept will provide funding and mentorship to filmmakers whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and nonbinary people. Photo: John Phillips/Getty Images for Stacy Smith, USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative

Cate Blanchett and Emmy Award-nominee Coco Francini, who are partners in Dirty Films, along with Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, have launched the Proof of Concept Accelerator Program. Supported by Netflix, the program’s goal is to identify the next generation of filmmaking talent whose stories promote the perspectives of women, trans, and nonbinary people.

Jaden Thompson Cate Blanchett and Coco Francini, who are business partners behind Dirty Films, are collaborating with Dr. Stacy L. Smith and the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative to launch the Proof of Concept Accelerator Program.

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Fingernails, the Apple Original Films sci-fi love story of sorts that marks the English-language debut of Greek writer-director Christos Nikou. It came off the success of his debut pic Apples, which was Greece’s submission to last year’s Oscar race.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent Cate Blanchett debuted her latest acting role in “The New Boy” at the Cannes Film Festival this week, but the Oscar-winner wouldn’t mind staying behind the camera a bit more. “I’m always trying to get out of acting,” Blanchett said. “I’ve been trying to stop acting my entire professional life.” Speaking at her Kering Women in Motion talk at Cannes, in conversation with her producing partner, Coco Francini, Blanchett said that her recent producing work behind the camera “feels an extension, for me, of my work as an actor.” “I remember an Australian film director saying to me really early on in my career that I had to stop taking small roles,” Blanchett recalled. “And I said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘That was the most interesting role.’ I didn’t want to play the lead. I want that one.”

William Earl Variety has announced the initial lineup for the Kering Women in Motion talks at the Cannes Film Festival. Moderated by Variety’s Senior Correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister, this year’s talks include some of the most important women working in cinema and offers a mix between up-and-coming talent and iconic figures such as Cate Blanchett and Michelle Yeoh. On Thursday, May 18, playwright, actor and philanthropist Jeremy O. Harris, who stars in Directors’ Fortnight premiere “The Sweet East,” will kick off the Women in Motion series to discuss female representation in his work. Following Harris’ talk, actress and director Katie Holmes will speak about her work as a director and how the industry has changed in its approach to female directors since she first began working in television.

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar nominee Carey Mulligan is set to star in Fingernails, the English-language feature film debut for Greek filmmaker Christos Nikou, whose current movie Apples premiered at the 2020 Venice Film Festival and is Greece’s submission in the International Feature Oscar race. The new pic reteams Nikou and Dirty Films and partners Cate Blanchett, Coco Francini and Andrew Upton, all executive producers on Apples.

Denise Petski Senior Managing EditorMrs. America‘s Cate Blanchett is expanding her relationship with FX Productions, signing a first-look TV production deal with the studio behind the critically praised limited series via her Dirty Films, an independent film and TV production company co-founded by Blanchett and Andrew Upton.