NEW YORK, NEW YORK—On Friday, April 28, Disney will take kids of all ages to Neverland once again when “Peter Pan & Wendy” debuts on Disney+. So, naturally, there was no better place to hold the movie’s premiere than on an ACTUAL pirate ship.
White Claw atmosphere
Day three of the Mammoth Film Festival kicked off with a daytime pop-up hosted by White Claw. The Après-Ski event featured lively DJ sets at the main lift, and everyone from talent to filmmakers dropped in.
Headlining Friday Fright Night, a new staple of the fest, was the thrilling spotlight film premiere of Some Other Woman, directed by Joel David Moore (Avatar, The Way of Water) and starring Amanda Crew, who walked the carpet alongside husband Dustin Milligan, Ashley Greene-Khoury, joined by husband Paul Khoury, Tom Felton, Rick Fox, and Brooke Lyons.
Olympic athletes also graced the red carpet, showing off their medals, in support of the documentary Citizen Athlete. The film reveals the challenges, both physical and mental, that these athletes went through to ultimately get where they are today.
Aja Evans, Elana Meyers, Sylvia Hoffman, Angelo Pagan, Kallie Humphries, Tiffeny Parker, Ryan March and Brandt Wille
Citizen Athlete was featured in the festival’s Action Sports category, which consisted of shorts, documentaries, and features. Being located in a well-known sporting destination for skiing, snowboarding, and more, drawing notable athletes and Olympians all year round, the category represents the festival’s roots.
Another premiere in the Friday Fright Night sect was the horror thriller Night Shift, directed and written by Benjamin China and Paul China and starring Phoebe Tonkin, Lamorne Morris, and Patrick Fischler. The thriller portrays Tonkin, a woman working her first night shift at a remote motel who begins to suspect that the property is haunted.
Michael Madsen’s documentary American Badass: A Michael Madsen Retrospective, from director Dominique Milano, made its own premiere at the event. The film features interviews with well-known names including Quentin Tarantino, John Travolta, Ron Perlman, Paul Sorvino, Mario Kassar, Angie Everhart, Donald Gladstein, William Baldwin, Chuck Zito, Mike Starr, Robert Forster, Daryl Hannah, Virginia Madsen, Charlie Sheen, and many others. Each celebrity shares their thoughts on the magic of actor/writer/director Michael Madsen.
Madsen himself addressed the theater audience, introducing his documentary as well as Danny A. Abeckaser’s crime drama based on a true Israeli story The Engineer, which premiered next, starring Abeckaser and Emile Hirsch, alongside Kyle Stefanski, Robert Davi, Omer Hazan, and Angel Bonanni.
The Mental State, a drama from director James Camali, takes place in the heart of rural Kentucky, where a high school senior and his family struggle to cope with the true identity and intentions of a dangerous town shooter. Featured talent includes Alyssa Sutherland (Vikings, Devil Wears Prada), Bryan Greenberg (Friends With Benefits, The Mindy Project), and Carly Pope (Quantum Leap, Pretty Little Liars).
Dreamer, based on a true story from the Golden Globe winning producers of Argentina 1985, was the festival’s closing night film. Starring Diego Calva (Babylon), Ari Lopez, Renata Vaca, Alfredo Castro, Paulina Gaitan, and Jason Patric, the film follows a Mexican teenager whose dreams of becoming a soccer star are disrupted when his mother dies, resulting in him being smuggled across the border with the promise of a better life but is instead sold to a sweatshop in downtown LA.
A key component to the Mammoth Film Festival experience is the Mammoth Film Summit Interactive Panels, which includes the annual ‘Her Voice’ roundtable discussion of female filmmakers. This year’s Her Voice panel was presented by Saldo Wines and Tavi apparel.
Hosted by Her Voice podcast creator and festival manager, Alexandra Chando, the panel has welcomed great minds like Jennifer Morrison (actor/director), Ngoc Nguyen (Times Up), Laura Lewis (Rebelle Media), Kat Graham (actor/producer), Shannon McIntosh (producer), and many others. The panel aims to explore the work of female filmmakers and celebrate groundbreaking women who give back.
A novel addition to this year was the panel, “The Importance of Indie Projects and Breaking It Down,” which focused on the premiere screening of Radio Telescope, a project created by members of the Mammoth Media Institute.
To stay in the loop, visit Mammoth Film Festival’s website, and follow them on Instagram.
Tanner Beard – Founder
On March 2, 2023, in Mammoth Lakes, California, the fifth year of the Mammoth Film Festival commenced. Kicking off the opening night were two noteworthy premieres. The first, a short entitled, “Lucas Needs An Agent,” featured the talents of Lucas Grabeel, Corbin Bleu, Sasha Clements, and Katie Leclerc. The premieres were presented by Wild7Films.
The festival has long championed short films as an important cinematic component to the art of filmmaking and welcomed many short films this year including The Last Bell, For Sonya, Hysterical, Jungle, A Rosary and a Diamond Ring, and others. The Shorts category is known to showcase directorial debuts from established actors looking to expand their filmmaking career. This year highlighted a variety of female directors.
The second screening of opening night brought the highly anticipated film Padre Pio, a feature starring Shia LaBeouf and directed by Abel Ferrara. The cast and crew, unable to attend the event due to weather conditions, surprised attendees with a recorded video introduction.
After debuting internationally at the Venice Film Festival and receiving accolades from said festival along with Rio de Janeiro and Lisbon Film Festivals, Padre Pio made its North American Festival debut at the Mammoth Film Festival.
The film by Abel Ferrara tells the story of Roman Catholic Saint Padre Pio’s early years and features a talented cast of Italian actors. Ferrara has been recognized in the industry for his cult reputation with gritty studio films starring iconic talent such as Christopher Walken, Willem Dafoe, Harvey Keitel, and others.
Atmosphere
The opening night’s red carpet took place at Minaret Cinemas and was followed by the opening night gala at Canyon Lodge. Located at the peak of Mammoth Mountains, attendees took gondolas to the mountaintop for a party nestled in the snowy hilltops where they were treated to Saldo Wines and El Cristiano Tequila cocktails.
Dylan Sprouse
Jamie Chung
Bryan Greenberg
Peter Winther
Peter Facinelli
Corbin Bleu - Lucas Needs An Agent
Notable names that walked the carpet included festival judge and actor Jamie Chung; The Mental State star, Bryan Greenberg; The Duel stars, Dylan Sprouse and Hart Denton, alongside girlfriends Barbara Palvin and Elysee Sanville, Callan McAuliffe, Rachel Matthews, and Patrick Warburton; On Fire director, producer, and actors including Peter Facinelli, Peter Winther, and Ross McCall. Other high-profile attendees included festival judges Rob Weiss, Luke Watson, and many more.
To stay in the loop, visit Mammoth Film Festival’s website, and follow them on Instagram.
Netflix partnered with Michael Kors to celebrate the launch of Bling Empire New York, releasing on January 20th.
As the awards shows start to heat up as hot as the red carpet light, the lines between youth and middle-age are becoming blurred and perhaps disappearing altogether.
May 25 marked the 2022 Reel Works ChangeMaker(s) Gala. The event honored producer and MACRO founder and CEO, Charles D. King, who received the organizations Reel Works ChangeMaker award; and The Best Man and Little actor, Regina Hall, who received Variety’s Voice of Inspiration Award.
Cinema Village NYC hosted the premiere of the Pusha T and Keep Lock produced drama, Respect the Jux, on May 6. The star studded event brought celebrity trainer Don Saladino, reggae music producer JKlassic, the cast and more to the red carpet.
Respect the Jux focuses on how the “American Dream,” for some, is only a dream; especially for those with few resources. Jux Producer Anothony Jacobs sums it up, “This movie is about the choices life sometimes leaves us with.” The film portrays the infamous struggle of migrating to the U.S. from Jamaica. A cycle that often starts with a parent leaving their child(ren) behind to start a life in “the land of opportunity;” before sending for them so they can grow up in a better place.
The film, however, is just the beginning of a larger story. Years in the making, the novel based plot is the first of many urban stories Keep Lock will produce, according to director and writer G.H. Goba. “This is our job. To produce consistent urban content,” he reassured on the red carpet. “No longer would you have to wait five years for your next movie. From here on out, every year you’re going to see us standing on somebody’s red carpet; presenting to you something great.”
In addition to releasing more content, including Respect the Jux 2, a big part of Keep Lock’s mission is to employ black creatives and non-creatives to keep them off the street. Goba noted, “We’re not about the limelight. We’re actually about the network (…) let’s build. We’re looking for writers, producers, directors, leads(…) we can provide opportunities.”
Respect the Jux is now available on Hulu, Prime, Apple TV and more. Get updates for Respect the Jux 2 and more Keep lock films by following @juxmovie and @keeplockfilms on Instagram.
The Kentucky Derby is always a starry affair and this year was no different.
The Knockturnal was on the scene of the New York City screening of Showtime’s newest sci-fi series The Man Who Fell Earth.
It’s hard to believe but it seems the pandemic may be finally coming to a close, at least in the world of cinema. Nothing indicated this more so than the New York Premiere of “The Batman”. In all my years writing about film, I’ve yet to experience a red carpet with this much excitement, fanfare, and scale. Walking down Broadway to Lincoln center was an exercise in anticipation. You could see and hear thousands of people crowding the streets, just waiting for a glimpse of the A-list cast of “The Batman”. And whenever a star made their big appearance, the roar those fans made could be heard for miles. The red carpet itself was another beast in and of itself. It was a sprawling complex of tents which featured the actual bat mobile from the film, the costumes of all of the heroes and villains, and a series of artwork reminding you that this was going to be the biggest premiere of the year.
It was a pleasure getting to cover this event and interview Robert Pattison, Paul Dano, Andy Serkis, and more. Check out our coverage below:
We also spoke with ALESSO, who composed an original song for the film!
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