GLAAD and The Black List Enlist Netflix, Ryan Murphy, and More to Support LGBTQ Writers

Photo Courtesy of GLAAD/The Black List

Submissions are now open for the 2021 GLAAD list, which highlights the best unmade LGBTQ-inclusive screenplays. The 2021 honorees will benefit from the official support of six top Hollywood studios that have signed on to support the initiative’s mission of discovering underrepresented talent and LGBTQ-inclusive content. The inaugural “Founder’s Circle” includes Berlanti Productions, Hello Sunshine, MGM/Orion Pictures, Netflix, Ryan Murphy Productions, and Village Roadshow Entertainment Group.

Now in its third year, the GLAAD list is a collaboration between GLAAD, the world’s largest LGBTQ media advocacy organization, and The Black List, the screenwriter-focused entity named for its annual list of the best unmade screenplays.

“We’re thrilled to be joined in this important work by so many of the production companies whose work I’ve admired for as long as they’ve been doing it,” said Black List founder Franklin Leonard. “It’s been an honor and a joy to work with GLAAD on an initiative that in two short years already has films in post and pre production despite the pandemic. They’re the first of many, many more.”

Read more here. 

Sundance Institute Announces 2021 Ignite x Adobe Fellows

Photo Courtesy of the Sundance Institute 

The Sundance Institute on Friday announced this year’s Sundance Ignite x Adobe Fellows, a group of 10 emerging artists chosen from a global pool of over 1,600 applicants. The fellows, who range in age from 18-25, will receive a year of mentorship and support from Sundance and Adobe.

Their year kicks off next week with the Sundance Ignite x Adobe Filmmakers Lab, which runs July 26-30 on the online Sundance Collab platform. There, they’ll focus on advancing their projects and deepening their character development skills.

“These artists are at the forefront of a rising generation of independent creatives, at a time when the world is reimagining ways to tell stories and reach audiences,” said Toby Brooks, senior manager of the program. “Such bold work is the foundation of very promising filmmakers, and I’m so excited to lift them up — and to see what comes next.”

Learn more about this program here. 

Outfest Los Angeles: Dates, Venues & Lineup Set For 39th Festival Returning To In-Person Screenings

Photo Courtesy by Outfest

Outfest has unveiled the dates, venues, and lineup for its 39th film festival, which is returning to in-person screenings more than a year and a half after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Outfest Los Angeles LGBTQ Film Festival will be held this year between August 13-22.

The 2021 edition of the nation’s leading LGBTQ festival kicks off with an opening night screening of Jonathan Butterell’s Everybody’s Talking About Jamie. The screening, which is being put on in concert with Cinespia, will mark the fest’s first-ever outdoor gala, taking place at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Screening at the Orpheum Theatre on August 22, the closing night film is Fanny: The Right to Rock, a documentary about the female rock band of the same name, which was the first to release an album with a major label.

Learn more about this event here. 

Morelia Films at Cannes Critics’ Week Highlight Violence Against Women in Mexico

Photo Courtesy of Festival De Cine De Morelia (FICM)

Mexican cinema has found an adopted home at the Cannes Film Festival. Since 2005, Critics’ Week at Cannes has organized a strand dedicated to Mexican short films by curating and screening in Cannes some of the top shorts from Mexico’s Morelia Intl. Film Festival (FICM), one of the most important film festivals in Latin America.

As it returned to Cannes in 2021 after the 2020 edition was cancelled, Cannes Critics’ Week selected four films from the 18th Morelia Film Festival to showcase the new generation of Mexican film talent. Cannes Critics’ Week is, after all, the event where Guillermo Del Toro and Alejandro Gonzalez Iñárritu were first discovered on the international stage through their award-winning first films (“Cronos” in 1993 and “Amores Perros” in 2000, respectively).

Read more about this film here. 

AMC signs deal to lease The Grove and Americana, two of Los Angeles’ top-grossing cinemas

Photo Courtesy by Mandel Ngan, AFP & Getty Images

AMC Entertainment, the worlds largest cinema chain, is adding two more Los Angeles locations to its roster.

On Monday, the company said it was taking over the leases of the 14-screen cinema at The Grove shopping complex in the Fairfax neighborhood and the 18-screen location at Americana at Brand in Glendale. Both locations were formerly operated by Pacific Theatres and are owned by real estate company Caruso.

In April, Decurion, which owned the Pacific Theatre and ArcLight Cinema chains, said it would not be reopening its 17 locations. AMC, which has collected more than $1.6 billion in cash from stock sales, had previously disclosed that it was looking at several of Decurion’s old leases, looking for locations that had strong ticket sales before the coronavirus pandemic.

Read more here.