Known for its award-winning comedy commercials, World War Seven has diversified with the formation of WW7 Entertainment, led by producers Peter Kline and Alex Needles. The new venture has a full slate of films, episodic offerings, and podcasts set to debut this year, starting with its first feature film, Pavements, which rolls out this week at the 2024 Venice Film Festival.
Pavements, a prismatic doc-musical hybrid from director Alex Ross Perry, is a cinematic deep dive into the enigmatic world of the iconic ‘90s band Pavement and features a cast including Jason Schwartzman, Tim Heidecker, Joe Keery, Zoe Lister-Jones, Nat Wolff, and Fred Hechinger. Pavements was produced in collaboration with Vice Films, Rick Yorn, and Matador Records.
The new WW7 Entertainment shingle is emerging with a full slate of titles to be announced shortly, including a documentary on an iconic musician with Sony Pictures Classics, and a true crime podcast series with Wondery. In addition to the unscripted projects, WW7 Entertainment is actively developing a slate of scripted comedy projects, a natural evolution of the work WW7 has long been doing on the commercial side.
With the launch of WW7 Entertainment, the company is building on 14 years of producing captivating commercials, and Kline and Needles are well positioned to help translate this legacy into long-form. With backgrounds straddling features and advertising, Kline and Needles have the ability to bridge traditional entertainment with brand storytelling, which has led to successful partnerships with clients like Lyft, Pepsi, and Coinbase.
“This is a big moment for WW7, “ said David Shafei who’s partnered in the overall company with Josh Ferrazzano and Sloane Skala. “Peter and Alex are incredibly talented, and their experience in both branded work and entertainment is exactly what we wanted for this new venture. I’m eager to share what we’ve been working on, but we’ll let the work speak for itself–you’ll see. We’re all really excited about this new chapter.”
Kline said, “We feel very fortunate to be joining David, Josh, and Sloane who have built a really special company. We look forward to growing with them, making stories that break boundaries, and ask questions, which surprise, delight, amuse, and challenge. Our evolution into feature films and comedy projects is a natural extension of WW7’s exceptional commercial work. We have a lot to share in the coming year and beyond, and we can’t wait!”
After Documentaries About Taylor Swift and Brooke Shields, Director Lana Wilson Turns Her Camera To NYC Psychics
Filmmaker Lana Wilson had never thought much about psychics. But the morning after Election Day in 2016, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, she found herself drawn towards a sign that promised "$5 psychic readings" and wandered in.
Much to her surprise, she found it to be a rather profound experience. She can barely even remember what was said, but it was emotional and comforting. And it would set her on a seven-year journey to make a documentary about this strange and misunderstood tradition, "Look Into My Eyes," which expands in theaters this week.
"I think I had totally misjudged the whole psychic tradition," Wilson said. "I had trivialized it and seen it as this silly thing, despite the fact that millions of people around the world engage in it… I'd had this personal experience where I, as a lifelong skeptic, found comfort in a psychic one day. So part of my initial perspective was what if it doesn't matter if it's real or not?
In the years since that fateful encounter, Wilson's own profile has raised significantly for her documentaries about Taylor Swift, " Miss Americana," and Brooke Shields, " Pretty Baby." But the idea of the psychics lingered. The film, unjudgmental, funny and poignant, takes viewers inside the homes, and sessions, of several New York City psychics
Wilson spoke about her process, her revelations and why she decided to not take Shields up on her offer to be one of the subjects in this one. Remarks have been edited for clarity and brevity.
Q: Did you find many of your friends shared your own assumptions about psychics?
WILSON: One of my closest friends is a therapist and she immediately got it. She was like, "This is totally different than therapy. But, also,... Read More