VFX Studio Saffronic Names Skyler Mattson As First CEO

EXCLUSIVE: There was a lot of noise surrounding the right state-beloved, $163M-grossing summer surprise hit, Sound of Freedom, this morning with Newsweek reporting that one of the pic’s 6,678 crowdfunders was arrested for child kidnapping by the St. Louis Metropolitan Police.

Jon Hamm and Anna Osceola are enjoying a romantic night out!

Sophia Sun Intern Hayao Miyazaki is back! It’s been 10 years since the release of his last film, “The Wind Rises,” and now the acclaimed Studio Ghibli director returns with his supposedly final film, “The Boy and the Heron.” Released in Japan on July 14 under the title “How Do You Live?,” the latest film takes its name from a best-selling novel of the same name penned by Japanese author Genzaburo Yoshino. The film, which released with little promotional material, follows the journey of a 12-year-old boy named Mahito Maki as he stumbles upon a fantasy world with a talking grey heron.

EXCLUSIVE: LA-based VFX studio Saffronic has hired an Executive Creative Director, soon after Skyler Mattson was named CEO.

Abu Dhabi-based outfit twofour54 has revealed ambitious plans to build a large-scale production studio by 2025.

Earlier this month, legendary Studio Ghibli co-founder Hayao Miyazaki saw his first feature film in 10 years, “The Boy And The Heron,” hit Japanese theaters. Now North American audiences know when they’ll have their first chance to see the film before it releases theatrically on this continent: the 48th Toronto International Film Festival will be the Opening Night Gala Presentation.

Patrick Frater Asia Bureau Chief Sound of Freedom, the indie action-drama film that has already earned over $125 million at the North American box office, will begin to move into international distribution from next month.Angel Studios, the crowd-funded, Utah-based production and distribution firm behind the picture, says it has set releases in territories including the U.K., Australia and Latin America. The company explained that it has arranged direct-to-theater distribution deals in Latin America, the U.K, and Ireland. In other territories it will take the more conventional route of partnering with distributors.

Sophia Scorziello editor Exceptional Minds, the California-based non-profit training academy that works to bring young adults on the autism spectrum into digital arts roles, has promoted internal leaders Mike Schmueck and Steff Farrar to helm their in-house studios. Schmueck and Farrar were promoted to director of studio programs in VFX and animation, respectively. Together, they will manage the graduate artists of Exceptional Minds who provide production and post-production services.

Warner Bros Discovery has announced the first ever localized version of the Tom And Jerry series, featuring the famous cat and mouse duo as they take their rivalry to Singapore.

Gemma Atkinson has given fans a much-anticipated glimpse of her newborn after giving birth earlier this week. The Hits Radio host has welcomed her second child with Strictly Come Dancing star Gorka Marquez, who she met on the BBC dance contest back in 2017.

Refresh for more …The first Indian film, Project K, to make its grand debut in Hall H made a lot of noise –a lot — today with a grand musical number that rivaled Amazon Prime Video’s Lord of the Rings orchestra and choral last year.

Korean content accounted for 50% of SVOD viewership and 42% of freemium viewership across Asia in the first half of 2023, according to a report released by Media Partners Asia (MPA). 

J. Kim Murphy Bron Studios, the Canadian finance and production company that emerged as a media force in 2017 and has backed awards favorites like “Joker,” “Judas and the Black Messiah” and “Licorice Pizza” and commercial plays like “Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “The Mule” and “65,” has filed for bankruptcy. Co-founder and CEO Aaron L. Gilbert disclosed the news in a statement on Wednesday, penning a letter to the banner’s “friends, partners, team members and backers.” “Having explored many options for many months, BRON had no choice but to take this step in light of its financial circumstances. The last few years have been incredibly difficult for BRON, and things have only gotten more complicated over these past months,” Gilbert shared, citing the COVID pandemic and both the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes as insurmountable headwinds for the company’s continued operations. The exec also stated that the company would not be doing press.

EXCLUSIVE: Freestyle Digital Media has picked up North American rights to the sports documentary Big Crow from director Kris Kaczor, slating it for release on VOD platforms on August 1. 

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor OnlyFans announced that Keily Blair, the company’s chief strategy and operations officer, has been promoted to CEO of the porn-friendly creator-subscription platform that has been trying to branch out into conventional entertainment sectors. Blair will succeed Amrapali “Ami” Gan, who is stepping down to pursue new endeavors, according to OnlyFans. During Gan’s tenure as CEO, from December 2021 to June 2023, the U.K.-based company saw its global user base increase to more than 220 million fans and over 3 million creators and reach the milestone of $10 billion paid to creators. Gan had assumed the role after the resignation of OnlyFans founder Tim Stokely.

The Boy And The Heron have landed – and critics have hailed the latest Studio Ghibli outing a masterpiece.Touted as the Studio Ghibli co-founder and animator Hayao Miyazaki’s final film, The Boy And The Heron (titled How Do You Live? in Japan) tells the story of a teenage boy who enters a magical world with a talking heron after discovering an abandoned tower in his new town.The film is named after the 1937 novel of the same name by Genzaburo Yoshino, although it isn’t connected to the book. It was released in Japan on Friday (July 14) and is set for a US theatrical release later this year (no date currently set).Miyazaki, 82, who is recognised as the father of Japanese anime, has said that the film is his last.

Naman Ramachandran BBC Studios will produce adaptations of All3Media scripted dramas “Shameless” and “Strangers” for the Indian market. Comedy drama “Shameless,” created originally by Paul Abbot and Company Pictures for Channel 4, is set in a dilapidated housing estate and revolves around an unemployed and perpetually drunken father who is consistently expanding his lineage amidst the challenges of adolescence and the allure of first love. Two Brothers Pictures’ crime drama “Strangers” AKA “White Dragon,” originally created for ITV in the U.K. and written by Mark Denton, Jonny Stockwood, Marston Bloom and Harry & Jack Williams, follows professor Jonah Mulray, whose wife dies in a car accident in Hong Kong, where she frequently visited for work. He decides to visit the city, where he stumbles upon a startling revelation about his wife, plunging him into a labyrinth of conspiracy.

EXCLUSIVE: The UK has a new South Asian-focused film talk show.

Acclaimed anime director Hayao Miyazaki’s latest film, The Boy And The Heron (aka How Do You Live?), hit Japanese theatres on Friday, July 14 with no advance publicity apart from a title and a poster. 

Naman Ramachandran Bollywood A-lister Alia Bhatt will become the first woman to headline a film in leading Indian studio Yash Raj Films’ spy universe, Variety has learned. The film, where Bhatt is due to play a “super agent,” will commence production in 2024, Variety understands. Bhatt is one of India’s top actors who had a stellar 2022. “Gangubai Kathiawadi,” in which she played the central, title role, had its world premiere as a Berlinale gala screening, was a box office success and was the #1 non-English film and the #1 film in 25 countries on Netflix globally. “RRR,” in which she was one of the leads, was one of the biggest Indian hits of the year and went on to win an Oscar and a Golden Globe.