The Sweet Shop has signed director Gudmundur Arnar Gudmundsson for international representation. He will be available for scripts coming into The Sweet Shop’s seven offices in London, Los Angeles, Bangkok, Shanghai, Sydney, Melbourne and Auckland.
The Sweet Shop is the first commercialmaking/branded content production house roost for Gudmundsson. After graduating from Icelandic Art Academy in Fine Art, he moved to Denmark and studied screenwriting. His short films and feature debuts have been selected for more than 200 festivals and have won over 100 international awards.
His hauntingly beautiful short Whale Valley (2013) about the bond of two brothers received a Cannes Film Festival Special Mention and a nomination for the European Film Awards. During Cannes Cinefoundation, a Paris residency program, Gudmundsson developed and wrote his first feature Heartstone (2017) a very personal story about two boys coming of age in a small Icelandic fishing village.
Paul Prince, CEO and founding partner of The Sweet Shop, said, “Gudmundur is a very real talent, who is known to be among Iceland’s next generation of filmmakers. He shows a very strong voice in his work—it affects the heart and its vulnerability leaves a lasting impression. I’m so excited to see what we will create together.”
Gudmundsson added, “The body of work coming out of The Sweet Shop is breathtaking. It’s work with real soul. The international nature of the company is a huge draw. I really believe that commercial filmmaking is built on collaboration, and having the opportunity to work alongside creative agencies based in different countries and cultures is incredibly exciting for me.”
Director Mike Flanagan’s “The Life of Chuck” Wins People’s Choice Award At The Toronto Film Fest
The Toronto International Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award went to “The Life of Chuck,” handing director-writer Mike Flanagan’s Stephen King adaptation one of the most-watched prizes of the fall film festival circuit.
The award for “The Life of Chuck” was announced Sunday (9/15) as North American’s largest film festival drew to a close. “The Life of Chuck,” based on King’s 2020 novella of the same name, stars Tom Hiddleston as Charles “Chuck” Krantz, an ordinary man living through apocalyptic cataclysms. Mark Hamill, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Karen Gillan and Jacob Tremblay co-star.
TIFF’s People’s Choice Award is regarded as a reliable Oscar harbinger. Since 2012, every winner of the festival’s top prize has gone on to be nominated for best picture at the Academy Awards. Last year, Cord Jefferson’s “American Fiction” won, and went on to be a major awards contender.
But “The Life of Chuck” could test that track record. The film is up for sale and doesn’t yet have distribution. It could be acquired and quickly readied for release this fall, or it might end up a 2025 release. “The Life of Chuck” drew mixed — though mostly positive reviews — out of Toronto, though audiences were clearly charmed by the uplifting drama.
Runners-up for the People’s Choice Award, which is voted on by festival attendees, were both films that first premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May. The first was Jacques Audiard’s “Emilia Pérez.” The second runner-up was Sean Baker’s “Anora,” the Palme d’Or winner at Cannes.
The audience award for top documentary went to Mike Downie’s “The Tragically Hip: No Dress Rehearsal.” In the festival’s Midnight Madness section, the prize went to... Read More