HBO Max, the new direct to consumer offering from WarnerMedia, has agreed to a two year first-look deal with actress, executive producer, and Academy Award® nominee Salma Hayek, founder and CEO of Ventanarosa.
As part of the collaboration, Hayek will first bring projects to HBO Max for potential development. Jose Tamez, president of Ventanarosa, serves as her producing partner and Siobhan Flynn is its head of production & development.
Nominated for an Academy Award®, Golden Globe, Screen Actors Guild and a BAFTA Award for her leading role in Julie Taymor’s Frida, she has also appeared in the award-nominated Beatriz at Dinner, As Luck Would Have It, Americano and Lonely Hearts. Behind the camera, she has won an Emmy® for Best Direction of a Family Movie for the TV film The Maldonado Miracle and a Golden Globe for Best Musical or Comedy TV Series for her work as a producer of Ugly Betty. Other producing credits include the recently announced Santa Evita at Fox Latin America, Annie Award nominated film The Prophet, Netflix’s Monarca, This Is Cristina, Septembers of Shiraz, and In the Time of the Butterflies. Other past acting credits include The Roads Not Taken, Like A Boss, The Hitman’s Bodyguard, How to Be a Latin Lover, Tale of Tales, Emmy winning 30 Rock, Americano, Academy® Award nominated Across the Universe, Academy Award® winning Traffic, and Desperado. Hayek will next appear in Marvel’s The Eternals, Lionsgate’s The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard and Amazon’s Bliss.
Over the last 20 years, Tamez and Hayek have worked together on films such as Frida (six Academy Awards® nominations), Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet (Annie Awards nomination for Best Animated Film), and Beatriz at Dinner. Together, they produced the Emmy®, Golden Globe and Peabody Award winning TV show Ugly Betty, as well as the TV movie In The Time Of The Butterflies.
Hayek is represented by CAA, Management 360, and Edelstein, Laird & Sobel.
“Heretic” and “Maria” Set As Red Carpet Premieres At AFI Fest
The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Heretic, the psychological thriller starring Hugh Grant, and Maria, based on the life of opera singer Maria Callas starring Angelina Jolie, will round out the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Heretic Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 24, and the Maria Gala Screening will be held on Saturday, October 26. The complete Red Carpet Premieres section includes the world premieres of Music By John Williams, Robert Zemeckis’ Here, Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl and Clint Eastwood’s Juror #2. All Red Carpet Premieres will take place at the historic TCL Chinese Theatre. The full lineup for AFI Fest 2024 will be unveiled on October 1.
“At the heart of AFI Fest is an unwavering dedication to celebrating the best in global cinema--together,” said Bob Gazzale, AFI president and CEO. “We look forward to uniting artists and audiences once again to be inspired by the art form in a powerful sense of community.”
Heretic follows two young missionaries (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are forced to prove their faith when they knock on the wrong door and are greeted by a diabolical Mr. Reed (portrayed by Grant), becoming ensnared in his deadly game of cat-and-mouse. The film is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods and produced by Stacey Sher, Beck, Woods, Julia Glausi and Jeanette Volturno. The film will be released nationwide by A24 on November 8.
Directed by Pablo Larraín, Maria presents a tumultuous and beautiful depiction of one of the world’s most renowned artists and reimagines the legendary soprano in her final days in Paris, as Callas (Jolie)... Read More