David Linde Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Diane Weyermann’s impact continues to be felt throughout the documentary field, with her presence evident on some of the fall’s most talked about nonfiction films, including Laura Poitras’s All the Beauty and the Bloodshed and Steve James’s A Compassionate Spy.

Angelique Jackson Film Independent has made notable additions to its ranks with Dan Stern elected to the board of directors, while Chaz Ebert, Kasi Lemmons and Lulu Wang join the nonprofit arts organization’s advisory board. The new appointees are the first under Film Independent board chair Brenda Robinson’s tenure after her January 2022 election.

Alex Ritman The British Academy has appointed award-winning producer Joyce Pierpoline as the chair of BAFTA North America’s board of directors. Pierpoline — whose credits include DOC NYC winner “Mediha,” “Angelica” and Sundance-winning cult classic “Teeth” — succeeds Kathryn Busby, who was given the newly-created role in January 2022 after BAFTA united its New York and Los Angeles entities.

Producer Joyce Pierpoline has been appointed chair of BAFTA North America’s Board of Directors. She succeeds Kathryn Busby. 

Sony Pictures Classics has acquired North American rights to Stage 6 Films, Participant and Symbolic Exchange’s We Grown Now, which had its world premiere in the Centerpiece and Next Wave Selects section at this year’s TIFF. The movie’s writer, director, producer Minhal Baig received TIFF’s Changemaker Award which explores issues relevant to young people and is focused on themes of social change and youth empowerment.

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the newly elected Board of Governors for the 2023-2024 year. Elected to the board for the first time are acclaimed actor Lou Diamond Phillips, screenwriter Dana Stevens, executive Hannah Minghella, costume designer Daniel Orlandi and more. Among the newly elected is technology executive Wendy Aylsworth, who will represent the brand new Production and Technology Branch. Aylsworth, who also serves on the Board of Governors for the Television Academy, spent more than two decades at Warner Bros. and became the first woman president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.

A Compassionate Spy” and will release it later this year. Directed by two-time Oscar nominee Steve James (“Hoop Dreams”), “A Compassionate Spy” tells the story of Ted Hall, who at the age of 18 was the youngest physicist to work on the Manhattan Project with Robert Oppenheimer.

EXCLUSIVE: Participant has announced that it is producing Food, Inc. 2 — a sequel to its Academy Award-nominated documentary Food, Inc., to be released later this year.

Emmy-winning documentary executive Courtney Sexton is returning to the esteemed production company Participant, CEO David Linde announced today. She will oversee all of Participant’s documentary content as Executive Vice President of Documentary Film and Television from the start of 2023, having previously spent eight years as a development executive with the company.

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media Reporter Participant Media has promoted three executives to senior vice president. Elizabeth Haggard has been elevated to senior VP of narrative film; Nicole Starr has been appointed to the newly created position of senior VP of content representation and impact; and Rob Williams has been named senior VP of global sales. Haggard will continue to report to executive VPs of narrative film Anikah McLaren and Robert Kessel. As senior VP of narrative film, she will have greater oversight of the day-to-day development and production of the company’s film slate. Starr will report to CEO David Linde. In her newly formed role, Starr will engage throughout the content development process for Participant’s narrative, documentary and episodic content.

Clayton Davis With audacious directors, courageous actors and unforgettable stories that have touched the lives of cinephiles on a global scale, Focus Features has been a fixture in the Hollywood firmament for two decades.Since its inception, 14 Focus films have been nominated for best picture: “The Pianist” (2002), “Lost in Translation” (2003), “Brokeback Mountain” (2005), “Atonement” (2007), “Milk” (2008), “A Serious Man” (2009), “The Kids Are All Right” (2010), “Dallas Buyers Club” (2013), “The Theory of Everything” (2014), “Darkest Hour” (2017), “Phantom Thread” (2017), “BlacKkKlansman” (2018), “Promising Young Woman” (2020) and “Belfast” (2021).Marking the 20th anniversary of its first theatrical release, Variety is ranking the 30 best Focus Features films so far.In the summer of 2002, the arthouse studio released its first feature, “Possession,” a romantic drama with Oscar-winner Gwyneth Paltrow and Aaron Eckhart. Directed by Neil LaBute and adapted from the novel by A.S.

Teri E. Dorman, Vice President (chair, Membership Committee)Donna Gigliotti, Vice President/Secretary (chair, Governance Committee)Lynette Howell Taylor, Vice President (chair, Awards Committee)Larry Karaszewski, Vice President (chair, History and Preservation Committee)David Linde, Vice President/Treasurer (chair, Finance Committee)Isis Mussenden, Vice President (chair, Museum Committee)Kim Taylor-Coleman, Vice President (chair, Equity and Inclusion Committee)Wynn P. Thomas, Vice President (chair, Education and Outreach Committee)Tightened term limits helped made this year’s presidential election an unpredictable one.

Producer Janet Yang has been elected president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences by the organization’s Board of Governors at a meeting held today.

Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin, and past Oscar nominees producer Jason Blum and director Jason Reitman are among first-time members elected to the Board Of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as AMPAS announced its new 2022-2023 Board today.

Clayton Davis The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the newly elected Board of Governors for the 2022-2023 year.Elected to the board for the first time are Oscar-winning actor Marlee Matlin, cinematographer Dion Beebe, director Jason Reitman, producer Jason Blum, casting director Richard Hicks and more. In addition, four incumbents were re-elected to the board, including Ruth E. Carter (costume designers), Donna Gigliotti (executives), Howard Berger (makeup artists and hairstylists) and Eric Roth (writers).

Participant Media CEO David Linde has said he is “energized” by the number of production and distribution companies who are now committed to social change.

This year’s Banff World Media Festival is set to be one of the most international yet and will go beyond TV trends to address some of the globe’s biggest topics, according to Executive Director Jenn Kuzmyk.

Laurence Fishburne (John Wick: Chapter 4) and Clifton Collins Jr. (Nightmare Alley) have signed on to star in the upcoming film Frank & Louis, which Petra Volpe is directing for Participant, Zodiac Pictures and Tyler Perry’s Peachtree & Vine Productions.

Angelique Jackson Participant, Zodiac Pictures and Tyler Perry’s Peachtree & Vine Productions have teamed up to produce “Frank & Louis,” starring Laurence Fishburne and Clifton Collins Jr.Directed by Petra Volpe, the film follows a man serving a life sentence who takes an in-prison job caring for aging and infirm prisoners suffering from memory loss diseases. As the project’s official logline explains, “What starts as a self-serving mission for parole turns into a deep emotional and transformative relationship, offering a glimmer of redemption in an otherwise unforgiving place.”Participant, whose company mission is dedicated to entertainment that stands at the intersection of art and activism, is producing the film with Zodiac Pictures’ Reto Schaerli and Lukas Hobi, and Perry and Tim Palen of Peachtree & Vine Productions.

“To work with Laurence Fishburne and Clifton Collins, Jr. on this intimate and emotional story is an absolute dream come true,” said Volpe in a statement.

EXCLUSIVE:  Verve has inked 3x Oscar-nominated filmmaker, producer and former Focus Features Features CEO James Schamus in all areas.

Back as an in-person gathering in the Canadian Rookies after a pandemic induced absence of two years, the Banff World Media Festival is bringing in some heavy hitters this summer.

Nick Clement The American Cinematheque will be honoring Participant with its inaugural Power of Cinema Award. Led by CEO David Linde, Participant is celebrating 17 years since its founding, and has a body of work that speaks for itself, from the Oscar-winning productions of “Spotlight” and “An Inconvenient Truth,” to say nothing of the 100-plus projects that have marked the company with supreme class and distinction.

DeVon Franklin, Vice President (chair, Equity and Inclusion Committee)• Donna Gigliotti, Vice President/Secretary (chair, Governance Committee)• Larry Karaszewski, Vice President (chair, History and Preservation Committee)• David Linde, Vice President/Treasurer (chair, Finance Committee)• Isis Mussenden, Vice President (chair, Museum Committee)• Wynn P. Thomas, Vice President (chair, Education and Outreach Committee)• Jennifer Todd, Vice President (chair, Awards Committee)• Janet Yang, Vice

There were no major shakeups among elected officials at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, as David Rubin has been re-elected for his third and final term as president of the Oscars organization.