Casting
Cold War thriller “Whispers of Freedom” has set its principal cast, Variety has learned. “Masters of the Air” alum Cameron Ashplant will play the film’s lead, young East German Chris Gueffroy, while Darragh Cowley (who also appeared in “Masters of the Air”) co-stars as his close friend Christian Gaudian.
Set in 1980s East Germany, the film is written and directed by Brandon Ashplant. It follows Chris and Christian as they try to escape the isolated Eastern bloc state. Wendy Makkena (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”) joins as Chris’s mother Karin and Paul Freeman (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”) as East German leader Erich Honecker. Wolf Kahler (“The Great Escaper”) joins in a supporting role as Bruno Kabát.
“Whispers of Freedom” goes into production next month. It is produced by Jonathan Tammuz and Golden Goat Films.
Documentary
BBC Storyville has acquired documentary “We Will Dance Again” (working...
Cold War thriller “Whispers of Freedom” has set its principal cast, Variety has learned. “Masters of the Air” alum Cameron Ashplant will play the film’s lead, young East German Chris Gueffroy, while Darragh Cowley (who also appeared in “Masters of the Air”) co-stars as his close friend Christian Gaudian.
Set in 1980s East Germany, the film is written and directed by Brandon Ashplant. It follows Chris and Christian as they try to escape the isolated Eastern bloc state. Wendy Makkena (“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood”) joins as Chris’s mother Karin and Paul Freeman (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”) as East German leader Erich Honecker. Wolf Kahler (“The Great Escaper”) joins in a supporting role as Bruno Kabát.
“Whispers of Freedom” goes into production next month. It is produced by Jonathan Tammuz and Golden Goat Films.
Documentary
BBC Storyville has acquired documentary “We Will Dance Again” (working...
- 3/5/2024
- by K.J. Yossman
- Variety Film + TV
Other new appointments include former BFI London Film Festival director Clare Stewart.
Bafta has announced a raft of new appointments to its film committee, including Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia and actor Riz Ahmed.
Kapadia, the filmmaker behind documentaries Amy and Senna, has been elected to the committee alongside Clare Stewart, a former director of the BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare: London Lgbtqi+ Film Festival.
Ahmed, the Emmy award-winning star of The Night Of, Rogue One and Mogul Mowgli, has been appointed as a co-opted member, which are selected by the committee and approved by Bafta’s board.
Other...
Bafta has announced a raft of new appointments to its film committee, including Oscar-winning director Asif Kapadia and actor Riz Ahmed.
Kapadia, the filmmaker behind documentaries Amy and Senna, has been elected to the committee alongside Clare Stewart, a former director of the BFI London Film Festival and BFI Flare: London Lgbtqi+ Film Festival.
Ahmed, the Emmy award-winning star of The Night Of, Rogue One and Mogul Mowgli, has been appointed as a co-opted member, which are selected by the committee and approved by Bafta’s board.
Other...
- 10/28/2020
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
London -- BBC Films, the BBC's movie-making division, rang the changes Monday by revamping the unit's management structure.
Jane Wright, currently BBC Films commercial affairs and Gm, is moving fully into an editorial role as Gm and executive producer.
She will continue to chair the BBC Films editorial board and oversee the marketing activity within BBC Films. But she also will now develop and drive her own slate of projects.
All four edit board members -- Wright, Christine Langan, Jamie Laurenson and Joe Oppenheimer -- continue to report to the BBC controller of fiction Jane Tranter.
As a result of this change, Isabel Begg has been appointed senior commercial and business affairs executive across BBC Fiction and will now take on responsibility for all business affairs and commercial dealings for BBC Films. Begg reports to Fiction head of operations and business affairs Claire Evans.
"(Wright's) impressive experience of British film...
Jane Wright, currently BBC Films commercial affairs and Gm, is moving fully into an editorial role as Gm and executive producer.
She will continue to chair the BBC Films editorial board and oversee the marketing activity within BBC Films. But she also will now develop and drive her own slate of projects.
All four edit board members -- Wright, Christine Langan, Jamie Laurenson and Joe Oppenheimer -- continue to report to the BBC controller of fiction Jane Tranter.
As a result of this change, Isabel Begg has been appointed senior commercial and business affairs executive across BBC Fiction and will now take on responsibility for all business affairs and commercial dealings for BBC Films. Begg reports to Fiction head of operations and business affairs Claire Evans.
"(Wright's) impressive experience of British film...
- 12/15/2008
- by By Stuart Kemp
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- BBC Films, the standalone film arm of British pubcaster BBC, said Tuesday that it has appointed Geraldine Atlee as its legal and business affairs manager. Most recently head of legal and business affairs at London-based Qwerty Films ("Sin Eater"), Atlee joins BBC Films' rights and business affairs team headed by Jane Wright and will report to legal and business affairs chief Isabel Begg. Her previous experience includes legal roles at BBC Worldwide, PolyGram Filmed Entertainment and Universal Pictures International.
- 10/7/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
CANNES -- Miramax Films is heading for BBC Films' "Eastern Promises". The mini-major has acquired worldwide distribution rights to "Promises" -- the follow up to writer Steven Knight's "Dirty Pretty Things -- excluding free TV rights in the United Kingdom. A contemporary thriller set in an immigrant community, "Promises" is set to begin shooting before the end of the year. The project will be executive produced by BBC Films head David Thompson, and produced through the BBC banner. The pact was negotiated for the mini-major by Stuart Ford, executive vp and department head of Miramax International, and Elizabeth Macfarlane, vp of U.K. business and legal affairs. BBC was repped by Jane Wright and Isabel Begg. Miramax and BBC previously teamed on Knight's "Things", a gritty drama set against the backdrop of London's East End. The film will be rolled out this summer in the United States.
- 5/17/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
LONDON -- Icon Film Distribution has snapped up U.K. rights for an undisclosed amount to a project about poets Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes from BBC Films, the BBC said Wednesday. The project, which stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Daniel Craig, has been known as Ted and Sylvia but is expected to be retitled. Icon has taken all U.K. rights to the Christine Jeffs-directed project -- which is in postproduction -- leaving the BBC with free-to-air rights. The deal was brokered for BBC Films by Isabel Begg and Jane Wright and for Icon by Icon Film Distribution U.K. CEO Nick Hill. Icon previously had snapped up Australian rights to the title from U.K. sales, financing and production company Capitol Films. Financing for the project comes from BBC Films, the Film Council's Premiere Fund -- which pumped £2.45 million ($3.92 million) into the production -- and Capitol Films. Alison Owen developed John Brownlow's screenplay for Ruby Films with Tracey Scoffield and Jamie Laurenson for BBC Films. The film is being produced by Owen's Ruby Films banner, which she heads with partner Neris Thomas. Capitol is selling remaining international rights, with Focus Features having already snapped up North American distribution rights at the Festival de Cannes last year.
WELLINGTON, New Zealand -- The prospect of more New Zealand-European co-productions will be high on the agenda of the annual Screen Production and Development Assn. conference, Small Country, Big Picture, which runs Nov. 15-17 in Auckland. Nine leading European producers are attending to discuss co-production opportunities with local filmmakers, invited by the New Zealand Film Commission and government agency Investment NZ. The lineup includes several with a New Zealand film track record: Chris Auty, chief executive of the Film Consortium, whose sales division, the Works, is handling Niki Caro's Whale Rider; Karl Baumgartner, co-founder of German distributor Pandora, which released Jane Campion's An Angel at My Table and The Piano; Isabel Begg, head of business and legal affairs for BBC Films, which is producing New Zealand director Christine Jeffs' first film since Rain, Ted and Sylvia; Nik Powell of Scala Prods., which is developing Harry Sinclair's fourth feature, Surprising New Zealand; and Max Saidel who, before becoming director of feature film co-production and acquisition at TF1 in Paris, helped to acquire Peter Jackson's Braindead (known in the U.S. under the title Dead Alive) for release in Italy.
- 10/29/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.