Upgrade Productions Expands Team, Taps Akshay Mehta & Vanessa Saal For EVP Roles

Davy Chou’s “Return to Seoul” is a fast one for the books, a film that (contrary to so much of contemporary cinema) delivers exponentially more than it promises. It begins as a modest, observational slice-of-life drama and slowly transforms into a movie about the lies we tell ourselves — about who we are, what we feel, and what we need.

No soap operas here! Cameron Mathison and his wife, Vanessa Mathison (née Arevalo), found love while working as models in the late ‘90s — and they’re still going strong.

“Return to Seoul” is a film that played at a number of festivals in 2022, most notably TIFF and Cannes, where it earned rave reviews. However, when you look at the lineup of international films vying for Oscar glory, it doesn’t always get brought up.

Ben Affleck says his newly minted studio Artists Equity, in partnership with Matt Damon, is going for films that are commercial but smart, that acknowledge popular tastes, but that “people remember 20 years later.”

EXCLUSIVE: U.S. film finance and production company Productivity Media Inc has entered an investment and first look distribution deal with Wind Sun Sky Entertainment, the Canada-based company led by former LucasFilm executive Catherine Winder, producer on Invincible, The Angry Birds Movie 1 & 2 and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. 

EXCLUSIVE: Money Heist star Alba Flores is leading and exec producing a sci-fi thriller from Matt Brodlie and Jonathan Kier’s Upgrade Productions and Spanish outfit Morena Films.

Critics loved Nikyatu Jusu‘s “Nanny” at its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January. Now, moviegoers may see what all the fuss is about as the horror film hits limited theaters today.

EXCLUSIVE: Colman Domingo’s (Fear The Walking Dead) Edith Productions has wrapped under-the-radar sci-fi thriller It’s What’s Inside.

Fremantle has acquired a majority stake in Israeli producer Silvio Productions and Fremantle-owned Shtisel indie Abot Hameiri’s Guy Hameiri will become Chair.

Tributes are being paid to Supernatural actress Nicki Aycox, who has died at the age of 47.

In 2011, director Davy Chou was heading to South Korea for the first time when one of his best friends decided to tag along to show him around “her country.”

Newen Studios has acquired Vanessa Djian’s French production company Daï-Daï Films, in a move that continues its recent expansion.

Rupert Friend To Star In New Podcast Series From QCODEContent studio QCODE today announced a new science fiction thriller podcast series titled The Mysterious Master M, starring Rupert Friend (Anatomy of a Scandal). Friend will also act as an executive producer on the six-episode podcast series, which will debut in Spring 2023. Mike Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds) and his Storyteller Productions banner will produce with Laure Eve (Blackheart Knights) attached to write and executive produce. Tomer and Asaf Hanuka, Sammy Kattan, Automatik, and QCODE will also serve as Executive Producers on the series. “This is a gripping story that shows how messy yet beautiful it is to be human, and I truly can’t wait to share it with all of you,” Friend said of the show.

YouTube Shorts, a short-form video platformed launched after TikTok gained major traction among young digital audiences, is expanding to connected-TVs.

France’s Gaumont and Albertine Productions have announced they are developing a French feature film version of Robin Hood.

Rock documentary Meet Me In The Bathroom grossed $85,683 in four locations for a per screen average of $21,421 in week one, a milestone for the indie distributor. Two of four screenings were one night only, sold-out events at The Fonda in LA and Webster Hall in NY (live performances by The Moldy Peaches, Adam Green, Wah Together)