Matthew Greenfield, David Greenbaum to jointly run the company as co-presidents
By Lindsey Bahr, AP Film Writer
Veteran film executives Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula who in their two decades at Searchlight Pictures oversaw the releases of major hits including "Juno," "Slumdog Millionaire," "Little Miss Sunshine" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel" are retiring.
Disney Studios Content said Tuesday that Searchlight's longtime heads of production Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum will now jointly run the company as co-presidents. It's the latest leadership shakeup in the old Fox ranks since The Walt Disney Co.'s $71.3 billion acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets in March 2019.
"Thanks to the stewardship and pitch-perfect creative instincts of Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley, Searchlight has cemented itself as one of the finest film studios in history, and we commend and thank them for their incredible leadership, especially throughout the integration of Searchlight at Disney," said Disney Studios Content leaders Alan Bergman and Alan Horn in a joint statement.
"They are leaving the studio in the talented hands of Matthew Greenfield and David Greenbaum, who have been a critical part of Searchlight's success over many years and we're confident they will continue to set a course that keeps Searchlight on the industry's leading edge."
Having served in leadership roles at Fox Searchlight since 1999, Utley and Gilula were named co-presidents of the studio in 2009 and co-chairmen in 2018. They then made the transition to Disney, both as chairmen of the renamed Searchlight Studios.
Under their lead, Searchlight Pictures became a powerhouse at the Oscars. Since 2009, the company's films have received 40 Academy Awards and four best picture wins for "Slumdog Millionaire," "12 Years a Slave," "Birdman" and "The Shape of Water."
This year was to be no different for Searchlight, whose "Nomandland" is heavily favored to win the top prizes at the Oscars Sunday night.
"Our time at Searchlight has been the kind of career highlight one can only dream of in this business," said Utley and Gilula in a statement. "Over the past 21 years, we've had the privilege to build and lead an incredible team, and work with brilliant artists, to take creative risks, champion stories we're passionate about, and, along the way, make iconic films that will stand the test of time. We're so proud of how this studio has grown and evolved over the years, and we're ready to pass the torch to carry on the Searchlight legacy."
Review: Writer-Director Coralie Fargeat’s “The Substance”
In its first two hours, "The Substance" is a well-made, entertaining movie. Writer-director Coralie Fargeat treats audiences to a heavy dose of biting social commentary on ageism and sexism in Hollywood, with a spoonful of sugar- and sparkle-doused body horror.
But the film's deliciously unhinged, blood-soaked and inevitably polarizing third act is what makes it unforgettable.
What begins as a dread-inducing but still relatively palatable sci-fi flick spirals deeper into absurdism and violence, eventually erupting — quite literally — into a full-blown monster movie. Let the viewer decide who the monster is.
Fargeat — who won best screenplay at this year's Cannes Film Festival — has been vocal about her reverence for "The Fly" director David Cronenberg, and fans of the godfather of body horror will see his unmistakable influence. But "The Substance" is also wholly unique and benefits from Fargeat's perspective, which, according to the French filmmaker, has involved extensive grappling with her own relationship to her body and society's scrutiny.
"The Substance" tells the story of Elisabeth Sparkle, a famed aerobics instructor with a televised show, played by a powerfully vulnerable Demi Moore. Sparkle is fired on her 50th birthday by a ruthless executive — a perfectly cast Dennis Quaid, who nails sleazy and gross.
Feeling rejected by a town that once loved her and despairing over her bygone star power, Sparkle learns from a handsome young nurse about a black-market drug that promises to create a "younger, more beautiful, more perfect" version of its user. Though she initially tosses the phone number in the trash, she soon fishes it out in a desperate panic and places an order.
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