Actor Michael Fassbender (Shame, Inglorious Basterds) has joined the YOUR FILM FESTIVAL team
Actor Michael Fassbender (Shame, Inglorious Basterds) has joined the YOUR FILM FESTIVAL team to help select the Grand Prize Winner and to co-executive produce the winner's next film. YOUR FILM FESTIVAL is a global competition to find the world's best storytellers, connect them with a global audience, and provide one deserving entrant with a career-changing opportunity. YOUR FILM FESTIVAL is a partnership between YouTube and Emirates, along with The Venice Film Festival and Scott Free. Fassbender is no stranger to Scott Free or the Venice Film Fest. His next film will be the Ridley Scott-directed Prometheus. YOUR FILM FESTIVAL will also mark Fassbender's return to the Venice Fest since winning Best Actor there for his performance in Shame, a Steve McQueen-directed film that also garnered him a Golden Globe nomination. In YOUR FILM FESTIVAL, content creators around the world are invited to submit a 15-minute, story-driven video of any format, style and genre, to Youtube.com/yourfilmfestival. After submissions are whittled down to 50 semi-finalists, YouTube users from around the world will cast their votes, choosing 10 finalists who will travel to Italy, where their work will screen at the 69th Venice International Film Festival and a Grand Prize winner will be named. Submission period is open until March 31….Advertising agency Cactus, Denver, has hired Brooke Warren as sr. broadcast producer. Previously Warren he served as sr. integrated content producer at The Integer Group, Denver….
Steve McQueen Shows Wartime London Through A Child’s Eyes In “Blitz”
It was a single photograph that started Oscar-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen on the journey to make "Blitz." As a Londoner, the German bombing raids on the city during World War II are never all that far from his mind. Reminders of it are everywhere. But the spark of inspiration came from an image of a small boy on a train platform with a large suitcase. Stories inspired by the evacuation are not rare, but this child was Black. Who was he, McQueen wondered, and what was his story? The film, in theaters Friday and streaming on Apple TV+ on Nov. 22, tells the tale of George, a 9-year-old biracial child in East London whose life with his mother, Rita ( Saoirse Ronan ), and grandfather is upended by the war. Like many children at the time, he's put on a train to the countryside for his safety. But he hops off and starts a long, dangerous journey back to his mom, encountering all sorts of people and situations that paint a revelatory and emotional picture of that moment. SEARCHING FOR GEORGE AND FINDING A STAR When McQueen finished the screenplay, he thought to himself: "Not bad." Then he started to worry: Does George exist? Is there a person out there who can play this role? Through an open casting call they found Elliott Heffernan, a 9-year-old living just outside of London whose only experience was a school play. He was the genie in "Aladdin." "There was a stillness about him, a real silent movie star quality," McQueen said. "You wanted to know what he was thinking, and you leant in. That's a movie star quality: A presence in his absence." Elliott is now 11. When he was cast, he'd not yet heard about the evacuation and imagined that a film set would be made up of "about 100 people." But he soon found his footing, cycling in and out of... Read More