Descendants of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney have weighed in on the bid by two activist investment firms to win seats on the board of the Walt Disney Co. — and they’re in Bob Iger’s corner in the fight.
Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who runs hedge fund Trian Partners, is waging a proxy-fight battle to install himself and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo as directors; Peltz’s stated aim is to drive up the price of Disney’s stock. Another investment firm, Blackwells Capital, supports the leadership of CEO Bob Iger and the current board but is urging Disney shareholders to vote for its own three candidates instead of Disney’s or Trian’s nominees.
Disney opposes the candidates put forward by Trian and Blackwells as lacking “the appropriate range of talent, skill, perspective and/or expertise,” and is urging shareholders to vote for its own 12 nominees.
Nelson Peltz, the activist investor who runs hedge fund Trian Partners, is waging a proxy-fight battle to install himself and ex-Disney CFO Jay Rasulo as directors; Peltz’s stated aim is to drive up the price of Disney’s stock. Another investment firm, Blackwells Capital, supports the leadership of CEO Bob Iger and the current board but is urging Disney shareholders to vote for its own three candidates instead of Disney’s or Trian’s nominees.
Disney opposes the candidates put forward by Trian and Blackwells as lacking “the appropriate range of talent, skill, perspective and/or expertise,” and is urging shareholders to vote for its own 12 nominees.
- 3/1/2024
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
In two open letters to shareholders of the Walt Disney Company, grandchildren of Walt Disney and his brother Roy O. Disney came out in support of CEO Bob Iger and current management, which is being assailed by two investment firms trying to change the makeup of the company’s board.
“From Mickey and Minnie, to Snow White and Mary Poppins, Disney is not a company that makes widgets – it makes magic,” wrote Roy P. Disney Susan Disney Lord, Tim Disney and Abigail Disney, who has been outspokenly critical of the company in the past. “And it takes a special group of leaders with a deep respect and understanding for this tradition to develop the kinds of incredible experiences – whether in a theme park, at a movie theatre, or in your own home – that touch people’s hearts. Bob Iger, his management team, and the Board of Directors are faithful to this magic.
“From Mickey and Minnie, to Snow White and Mary Poppins, Disney is not a company that makes widgets – it makes magic,” wrote Roy P. Disney Susan Disney Lord, Tim Disney and Abigail Disney, who has been outspokenly critical of the company in the past. “And it takes a special group of leaders with a deep respect and understanding for this tradition to develop the kinds of incredible experiences – whether in a theme park, at a movie theatre, or in your own home – that touch people’s hearts. Bob Iger, his management team, and the Board of Directors are faithful to this magic.
- 2/29/2024
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Margaret Riley, the respected agent, manager and Lighthouse Management & Media partner who served as a producer on the Fox News drama Bombshell, has died. She was 58.
Riley died Tuesday at her home in Brentwood after a private battle with ovarian cancer, her friends Lainie Becky and Matthew Weinberg told The Hollywood Reporter.
Riley was a talent/literary manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners from October 2006 through March 2016, when she joined Lighthouse Management & Media, which had just been launched by founder and CEO Aleen Keshishian.
“We are devastated by the loss of our colleague and friend Margaret Riley, who was a passionate advocate and champion for artists,” Keshishian said. “We share our deepest condolences and love with her family, friends and clients.”
Riley’s current and former clients over the years have included actors Mark Ruffalo and Bridget Moynahan; CSI creator Anthony Zuiker; directors Susanna Fogel, Stella Meghie and Rj Cutler...
Riley died Tuesday at her home in Brentwood after a private battle with ovarian cancer, her friends Lainie Becky and Matthew Weinberg told The Hollywood Reporter.
Riley was a talent/literary manager at Brillstein Entertainment Partners from October 2006 through March 2016, when she joined Lighthouse Management & Media, which had just been launched by founder and CEO Aleen Keshishian.
“We are devastated by the loss of our colleague and friend Margaret Riley, who was a passionate advocate and champion for artists,” Keshishian said. “We share our deepest condolences and love with her family, friends and clients.”
Riley’s current and former clients over the years have included actors Mark Ruffalo and Bridget Moynahan; CSI creator Anthony Zuiker; directors Susanna Fogel, Stella Meghie and Rj Cutler...
- 1/24/2024
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
For 50 years, it’s been a safe place for storytellers – musicians, animators, directors, writers, artists of all kinds – to learn, grow and thrive. As CalArts celebrates its golden anniversary, it also faces the future head-on.
Broad trustee emeritus Tim Disney, whose great-grandfather, Walt Disney, laid the foundation for what is now a world-class arts school, says that CalArts was founded with very large-scale, utopian ideas by Walt Disney. “Disneyland and CalArts were very grand things,” Disney says, adding that Walt died before the school opened and that his grandfather, Roy Disney, “had the very hard job” seeing the plans through. “His commitment was a very beautiful thing.”
It’s not a coincidence that Tim Disney spearheaded the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (RedCat) in Downtown L.A., which hosts cutting-edge performances.
“Walt Disney was inspired by CalTech. He had radical ideas about education, and wanted to create a kind...
Broad trustee emeritus Tim Disney, whose great-grandfather, Walt Disney, laid the foundation for what is now a world-class arts school, says that CalArts was founded with very large-scale, utopian ideas by Walt Disney. “Disneyland and CalArts were very grand things,” Disney says, adding that Walt died before the school opened and that his grandfather, Roy Disney, “had the very hard job” seeing the plans through. “His commitment was a very beautiful thing.”
It’s not a coincidence that Tim Disney spearheaded the Roy and Edna Disney CalArts Theater (RedCat) in Downtown L.A., which hosts cutting-edge performances.
“Walt Disney was inspired by CalTech. He had radical ideas about education, and wanted to create a kind...
- 4/26/2023
- by Carole Horst
- Variety Film + TV
Independent filmmaker Nina Menkes can hardly believe that her new documentary “Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power” about the gendered politics of shot design is causing a stir.
The film is being released in theaters starting Friday via Kino Lorber at the Laemmle in the Los Angeles area and at Dctv’s Firehouse Cinema in New York City, with a national rollout to follow.
“We’ve had a lot of rave reviews, but we’ve also been attacked and it’s unbelievable to me that women would attack this film,” Menkes, who also teaches film production at California Institute of the Arts, told The Wrap. “It’s just like the whole way of cinema being based on these kinds of beautiful, fragmented female bodies seems to be like something people are dying to defend.”
The documentary’s premise is that male and female actors are often shot in very different ways regardless of the context,...
The film is being released in theaters starting Friday via Kino Lorber at the Laemmle in the Los Angeles area and at Dctv’s Firehouse Cinema in New York City, with a national rollout to follow.
“We’ve had a lot of rave reviews, but we’ve also been attacked and it’s unbelievable to me that women would attack this film,” Menkes, who also teaches film production at California Institute of the Arts, told The Wrap. “It’s just like the whole way of cinema being based on these kinds of beautiful, fragmented female bodies seems to be like something people are dying to defend.”
The documentary’s premise is that male and female actors are often shot in very different ways regardless of the context,...
- 10/21/2022
- by Brenda Gazzar
- The Wrap
Click here to read the full article.
How do you prepare students for an entertainment industry in a constant state of flux? For some, the answer is LED walls. Schools ranging from Chapman to Cal State Northridge are doubling down on digital production in an effort to prepare their students for industry. And while rising tuition costs have would-be filmmakers worried, schools are increasing scholarships or offering fully funded MFAs.
These 25(ish) programs offer students the best chance at navigating Hollywood’s changing terrain.
1. American Film Institute
Los Angeles
The prestigious graduate program consistently churns out Oscar winners, including Coda director and 2022 Oscar winner Sian Heder, and blockbuster directors, and has made an effort to diversify its student body. Over half of the incoming students are women, and nearly half are filmmakers of color — all are eligible for new funds like the Halyna Hutchins Memorial Scholarship. This year, AFI’s...
How do you prepare students for an entertainment industry in a constant state of flux? For some, the answer is LED walls. Schools ranging from Chapman to Cal State Northridge are doubling down on digital production in an effort to prepare their students for industry. And while rising tuition costs have would-be filmmakers worried, schools are increasing scholarships or offering fully funded MFAs.
These 25(ish) programs offer students the best chance at navigating Hollywood’s changing terrain.
1. American Film Institute
Los Angeles
The prestigious graduate program consistently churns out Oscar winners, including Coda director and 2022 Oscar winner Sian Heder, and blockbuster directors, and has made an effort to diversify its student body. Over half of the incoming students are women, and nearly half are filmmakers of color — all are eligible for new funds like the Halyna Hutchins Memorial Scholarship. This year, AFI’s...
- 8/5/2022
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The documentary, which premiered at Sundance, has also scored international deals.
Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Nina Menkes documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power and is teaming with library streaming platform Kanopy to release the film.
Billed as an “interrogation of the male gaze in cinema,” Brainwashed will be released theatrically in the US and Canada this autumn, with an educational streaming launch exclusively on Kanopy to follow.
Cinephil is handling international sales at the Cannes Marche and has secured deals for UK/Ireland with the BFI, for the Nordics and Baltics with Non Stop Entertainment, for Poland with New Horizons,...
Kino Lorber has acquired North American distribution rights to Nina Menkes documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power and is teaming with library streaming platform Kanopy to release the film.
Billed as an “interrogation of the male gaze in cinema,” Brainwashed will be released theatrically in the US and Canada this autumn, with an educational streaming launch exclusively on Kanopy to follow.
Cinephil is handling international sales at the Cannes Marche and has secured deals for UK/Ireland with the BFI, for the Nordics and Baltics with Non Stop Entertainment, for Poland with New Horizons,...
- 5/19/2022
- by John Hazelton
- ScreenDaily
As the #MeToo movement continues to resonate, filmmaker Nina Menkes has unveiled details about her forthcoming documentary Brainwashed and the all-female team behind it. The feature docu exposes common cinematic techniques that disempower women and girls. Produced, conceived and directed by Menkes, the film is slated for completion in mid-2021 and will be entered for festival consideration.
The docu gives incisive commentary on films from the 1940s through the present. Using key scenes from A-list directors, Menkes spotlights how filmmakers employ framing, lighting, visual effects and camera angles to disempower women while appearing to glamorize them. These cinematic techniques for disempowerment have been dubbed “The Menkes List.”
Maria Giese and Summer Xinlei Yang have boarded the project as co-producers. Giese is the DGA member who instigated the groundbreaking 2015 industry-wide federal investigation of sex discrimination in Hollywood. Yang is an independent producer and founder of Summary Productions. Giese is also featured...
The docu gives incisive commentary on films from the 1940s through the present. Using key scenes from A-list directors, Menkes spotlights how filmmakers employ framing, lighting, visual effects and camera angles to disempower women while appearing to glamorize them. These cinematic techniques for disempowerment have been dubbed “The Menkes List.”
Maria Giese and Summer Xinlei Yang have boarded the project as co-producers. Giese is the DGA member who instigated the groundbreaking 2015 industry-wide federal investigation of sex discrimination in Hollywood. Yang is an independent producer and founder of Summary Productions. Giese is also featured...
- 10/9/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
A fundraiser for Joe Biden organized by Haim Saban raised $4.5 million on Monday, marking the media mogul’s first event for the 2020 presidential race.
Saban and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-ca) cohosted the event, with 22 people in the crowd, according to a pool report. Tickets were priced at $500,000 per person (meaning not everyone was a donor), and the other guests included Cheryl Saban, Tim Disney, Frank Gehry and Susan Disney Lord.
Saban, a longtime donor and bundler for Democrats, did not endorse during the primary, unlike 2016, when he was an early backer of Hillary Clinton.
He introduced Biden for the virtual event, and after a bit of a glitch in which Biden could not be heard, the former vice president echoed comments he made earlier in the day about California’s devastating wildfires and the connection to climate change.
“This crisis demands action,...
Saban and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-ca) cohosted the event, with 22 people in the crowd, according to a pool report. Tickets were priced at $500,000 per person (meaning not everyone was a donor), and the other guests included Cheryl Saban, Tim Disney, Frank Gehry and Susan Disney Lord.
Saban, a longtime donor and bundler for Democrats, did not endorse during the primary, unlike 2016, when he was an early backer of Hillary Clinton.
He introduced Biden for the virtual event, and after a bit of a glitch in which Biden could not be heard, the former vice president echoed comments he made earlier in the day about California’s devastating wildfires and the connection to climate change.
“This crisis demands action,...
- 9/14/2020
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
The Los Angeles filmmaker Nina Menkes, a recipient of the lifetime achievement award at Mar del Plata film festival, reveals who she trusts with film recommendations.
Since my job is teaching film at California Institute of the Arts, that’s the only thing we talk about. I trust my colleagues for recommendations — they are usually right. Bérénice Reynaud, James Benning, Pia Borg, Lee Anne Schmitt as well as UCLA Film & Television programmer Kj Relth and Academy Film Archive preservationist Mark Toscano, to name a few. I also listen to my students for film tips as they are sometimes more up...
Since my job is teaching film at California Institute of the Arts, that’s the only thing we talk about. I trust my colleagues for recommendations — they are usually right. Bérénice Reynaud, James Benning, Pia Borg, Lee Anne Schmitt as well as UCLA Film & Television programmer Kj Relth and Academy Film Archive preservationist Mark Toscano, to name a few. I also listen to my students for film tips as they are sometimes more up...
- 1/8/2020
- by ¬0¦Nina Menkes¦0¦
- ScreenDaily
Production has begun in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Jim Sturgess will play an architect who can see people’s true motives in mystery The Other Me, which Cinema Management Group has launched in Cannes with David Lynch on board as executive producer.
Production has begun in Tbilisi, Georgia, on the project from writer-director Giga Agladze about an aspiring architect who is diagnosed with a debilitating eye disease that enables him to enter a surreal version of reality in which he can see people’s true motives.
As the visions become intolerable, the man falls for a mysterious woman and confronts the truth about his own identity.
Jim Sturgess will play an architect who can see people’s true motives in mystery The Other Me, which Cinema Management Group has launched in Cannes with David Lynch on board as executive producer.
Production has begun in Tbilisi, Georgia, on the project from writer-director Giga Agladze about an aspiring architect who is diagnosed with a debilitating eye disease that enables him to enter a surreal version of reality in which he can see people’s true motives.
As the visions become intolerable, the man falls for a mysterious woman and confronts the truth about his own identity.
- 5/15/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Nobody was particularly happy that Joan Crawford’s final big-screen performance was in 1970’s “Trog,” probably least of all the actress herself. But that very silly movie about a troglodyte found living in the modern age is at least more fun than “William,” in which a Neanderthal is cloned from an ancient caveman’s DNA. Instead of cheesy sci-fi horror, this is an earnest teen drama of a “Mom and Dad, why am I different from the others?” variety, one that ekes amazingly little excitement from its protagonist’s status as an evolutionary anomaly.
Tim Disney’s film strikes a bland compromise between science-fantasy, suspense-melodrama and family entertainment, developing no element to a level that generates more than mild interest. It’s a polished but dull enterprise that leaves one wondering just what the filmmakers had in mind. “William” opens on one screen each in Los Angeles and New York...
Tim Disney’s film strikes a bland compromise between science-fantasy, suspense-melodrama and family entertainment, developing no element to a level that generates more than mild interest. It’s a polished but dull enterprise that leaves one wondering just what the filmmakers had in mind. “William” opens on one screen each in Los Angeles and New York...
- 4/12/2019
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Pixar’s Pete Docter reminisced about his days as a student at CalArts on Saturday night at the 2019 CalArts Redcat Gala, where he received the Distinguished Alumni Award.
For the wide-eyed boy from Minnesota, where life was more routine, attending CalArts “was a free-for-all. It was eye-opening in a lot of ways,” he recalled. “But it was also a place to play around and see what you could do.”
Docter, who is now chief creative officer at Pixar and the director and/or writer of some of its biggest hits, has come a long way from those days and this award has touched him deeply because his time at CalArts meant so much.
“Growing up, the land of Disney and Warner Bros. and all the movies seemed so far away,” he said. “Coming to CalArts was like being adopted by the animation family. It was a place where we got exposed to all this information.
For the wide-eyed boy from Minnesota, where life was more routine, attending CalArts “was a free-for-all. It was eye-opening in a lot of ways,” he recalled. “But it was also a place to play around and see what you could do.”
Docter, who is now chief creative officer at Pixar and the director and/or writer of some of its biggest hits, has come a long way from those days and this award has touched him deeply because his time at CalArts meant so much.
“Growing up, the land of Disney and Warner Bros. and all the movies seemed so far away,” he said. “Coming to CalArts was like being adopted by the animation family. It was a place where we got exposed to all this information.
- 3/17/2019
- by Terry Flores
- Variety Film + TV
"You're holding him back!" Dada Films has debuted the first trailer for a peculiar indie film titled William, about the modern Neanderthal man. Two scientists decide to (re)create a Neanderthal human using ancient DNA from a Neanderthal bog body. And so we meet: William. He must learn to exist in a world where he is the ultimate outsider, the only Neanderthal on the planet. Will Brittain plays William, with a cast including Waleed Zuaiter, Maria Dizzia, Beth Grant, Christian Convery, and Kevin Dzah. I recall that someone was trying to make a film (or series) based on those cave man commercials. Looks like something similar, or at least one version of that idea. This take on the modern Neanderthal concept actually looks quite good, lead by a strong lead performance. I'm intrigued. Here's the first full-length trailer for Tim Disney's William, direct from YouTube (found via Tmb):...
- 3/17/2019
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Exclusive: In a time when cynicism and skeptics run rampant, Breakthrough looks to offer a moment of comfort and hope via the story of Jim Allison. Making its world premiere at SXSW on March 9, the documentary tells the tale of a stubborn man’s visionary quest to find a cure for cancer.
Directed by Bill Haney, the doc follows Allison from his days in Texas to Stockholm where, in December of 2018, he accepted the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The harmonica-playing immunologist discovered the immune system’s role in defeating cancer. Having lost his mother to lymphoma and his brother to prostate cancer, he, a survivor of cancer as well, was determined to fight and find a cure. But as seen in the trailer above, he was worked on his own against the skepticism of the medical establishment and the resistance of Big Pharma to make his groundbreaking discovery in medicine...
Directed by Bill Haney, the doc follows Allison from his days in Texas to Stockholm where, in December of 2018, he accepted the Nobel Prize in Medicine. The harmonica-playing immunologist discovered the immune system’s role in defeating cancer. Having lost his mother to lymphoma and his brother to prostate cancer, he, a survivor of cancer as well, was determined to fight and find a cure. But as seen in the trailer above, he was worked on his own against the skepticism of the medical establishment and the resistance of Big Pharma to make his groundbreaking discovery in medicine...
- 3/1/2019
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Cmg sales slate includes animation Dia De Muertos, horror-thriller The Shed.
Uncommon Pictures has teamed up with Edward Noeltner’s La-based Cinema Management Group (Cmg) on Tim Disney’s sci-fi feature William ahead of the Efm next week.
Disney, the great-nephew of Walt Disney, directed and co-wrote the feature about two star academics, Dr Julian Reed, played by Waleed Zuaiter and Dr. Barbara Sullivan played by Maria Dizzia (Orange Is The New Black) who fall in love after discovering the body of a previously frozen Neanderthal man.
Against the directive of university administrators, they take the controversial move of creating...
Uncommon Pictures has teamed up with Edward Noeltner’s La-based Cinema Management Group (Cmg) on Tim Disney’s sci-fi feature William ahead of the Efm next week.
Disney, the great-nephew of Walt Disney, directed and co-wrote the feature about two star academics, Dr Julian Reed, played by Waleed Zuaiter and Dr. Barbara Sullivan played by Maria Dizzia (Orange Is The New Black) who fall in love after discovering the body of a previously frozen Neanderthal man.
Against the directive of university administrators, they take the controversial move of creating...
- 1/31/2019
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Patricio Guzmán's "Nostalgia for the Light" was the big winner at the 2011 International Documentary Association (Ida) Awards receiving the Best Feature trophy. Here's the full list of winners:
Career Achievement Award
Les Blank
Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award
Danfung Dennis
Best Feature Award
"Nostalgia For The Light"
Director/Writer: Patricio Guzmán
Producer: Renate Sachse
Atacama Productions (France), Blinker Filmproduction GmbH and Wdr (Germany), and Cronomedia Ltda. (Chile), Icarus Films
Best Short Award
"Poster Girl"
Director/Producer: Sara Nesson
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)
Producer: Mitchell Block
Supervising Producer: Sara Bernstein (HBO)
Consulting Producer: Ross Kauffman
Portrayal Films, Inc. in association with HBO Documentary Films
Best Limited Series Award
"Boomtown"
Executive Producer/Director: Rachel Libert
Executive Producers: Josh Braun, Ken Druckerman, Susannah Ludwig, Banks Tarver
Co-Executive Producer: Matthew Galkin
Producer: Kevin Vargas
Left/Right Inc., Discovery Channel- Planet Green
Best Continuing Series Award
"Pov"
Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry
Co-Executive...
Career Achievement Award
Les Blank
Jacqueline Donnet Emerging Filmmaker Award
Danfung Dennis
Best Feature Award
"Nostalgia For The Light"
Director/Writer: Patricio Guzmán
Producer: Renate Sachse
Atacama Productions (France), Blinker Filmproduction GmbH and Wdr (Germany), and Cronomedia Ltda. (Chile), Icarus Films
Best Short Award
"Poster Girl"
Director/Producer: Sara Nesson
Executive Producer: Sheila Nevins (HBO)
Producer: Mitchell Block
Supervising Producer: Sara Bernstein (HBO)
Consulting Producer: Ross Kauffman
Portrayal Films, Inc. in association with HBO Documentary Films
Best Limited Series Award
"Boomtown"
Executive Producer/Director: Rachel Libert
Executive Producers: Josh Braun, Ken Druckerman, Susannah Ludwig, Banks Tarver
Co-Executive Producer: Matthew Galkin
Producer: Kevin Vargas
Left/Right Inc., Discovery Channel- Planet Green
Best Continuing Series Award
"Pov"
Executive Producer: Simon Kilmurry
Co-Executive...
- 12/11/2011
- by Manny
- Manny the Movie Guy
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious (Anne Marie Fox / Lionsgate) (top); Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie in American Violet (Scott Saltzman / Samuel Goldwyn Films) (bottom) According to The Hollywood Reporter’s Roger Friedman, Precious‘ Gabourey Sidibe may have been cheated out of a best actress award. This past Dec. 14, the African-American Film Critics Association gave Precious awards for Best Picture, Best Director (Lee Daniels), Best Supporting Actress (Mo’Nique) and Best Screenplay (Geoffrey Fletcher). The Best Actress, however, was Nicole Beharie for American Violet, a little-seen socially conscious drama directed by Tim Disney (great-nephew of Walt Disney) and written by Bill Haney, who also produced it. Some within the Aafca now assert that Sidibe was the actual winner. "According to the final [...]...
- 12/23/2009
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
It's our sad duty to report that Roy E. Disney, the nephew of Walt Disney former executive for the Walt Disney Company has passed away at the age of 79 after a year-long battle with stomach cancer.
A stalwart fixture at Disney - his personal office was situated inside the magic hat atop Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California - he oversaw many of the company's greatest successes over the past few decades. The company released the following statement:
Roy Edward Disney, son of Disney Studios co-founder Roy O. Disney, and nephew of Walt Disney, passed away today (12/16/09) at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California, following a year-long battle with stomach cancer. He was 79 years old.
Disney was a successful businessman, philanthropist, filmmaker and award-winning sailor, who played a key role in the revitalization of The Walt Disney Company and Disney's animation legacy. He was associated with the Company over a 56-year period,...
A stalwart fixture at Disney - his personal office was situated inside the magic hat atop Disney Animation Studios in Burbank, California - he oversaw many of the company's greatest successes over the past few decades. The company released the following statement:
Roy Edward Disney, son of Disney Studios co-founder Roy O. Disney, and nephew of Walt Disney, passed away today (12/16/09) at Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian in Newport Beach, California, following a year-long battle with stomach cancer. He was 79 years old.
Disney was a successful businessman, philanthropist, filmmaker and award-winning sailor, who played a key role in the revitalization of The Walt Disney Company and Disney's animation legacy. He was associated with the Company over a 56-year period,...
- 12/17/2009
- Screenrush
Roy E. Disney, whose efforts to instill his will on the company co-founded by his father and uncle included the ousting of two CEOs and a renewed commitment to animation, died Wednesday, one month shy of his 80th birthday.
The nephew of Walt Disney and only child of Roy O. Disney died after a yearlong battle with stomach cancer at a hospital in Newport Beach, Calif. Funeral services will be private; plans for a "life celebration" will be announced.
HIs body will be cremated and ashes scattered at sea, a fitting tribute to a man with a passion for racing sailboats. In fact, the latest entry in a long list of movie and television credits dating to 1952 when he was an assistant editor on the "Dragnet" TV series, ends with "Morning Light," a documentary about sailing that he exec produced in 2008.
But Disney is best known as the primary agitator who,...
The nephew of Walt Disney and only child of Roy O. Disney died after a yearlong battle with stomach cancer at a hospital in Newport Beach, Calif. Funeral services will be private; plans for a "life celebration" will be announced.
HIs body will be cremated and ashes scattered at sea, a fitting tribute to a man with a passion for racing sailboats. In fact, the latest entry in a long list of movie and television credits dating to 1952 when he was an assistant editor on the "Dragnet" TV series, ends with "Morning Light," a documentary about sailing that he exec produced in 2008.
But Disney is best known as the primary agitator who,...
- 12/16/2009
- by By Paul Bond
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – In a previous interview, director Tim Disney of the new film ‘American Violet’ called his film one where “change begins, and change is possible, when individuals make choices and stand behind them.”
Rating: 3.5/5.0 The second set of interviews for the film is with screenwriter Bill Haney, and the real-life inspiration for the Dee Roberts character in ‘American Violet’, Regina Kelly. Through the six year odyssey to get this story to screen, Haney chronicled Kelly’s struggle and the struggle of many of the victims of America’s “War on Drugs”, replete with laws that sometimes are designed to unfairly incarcerate large groups of poor minorities and African American citizens.
Alfre Woodard as Alma Roberts and Nicole Beharie as Dee Roberts in ‘American Violet’
Photo credit: Scott Saltzman, Samuel Goldwyn Films Effecting all Americans, the story of Dee Roberts in the film symbolizes the unfairness inherent in the system. It...
Rating: 3.5/5.0 The second set of interviews for the film is with screenwriter Bill Haney, and the real-life inspiration for the Dee Roberts character in ‘American Violet’, Regina Kelly. Through the six year odyssey to get this story to screen, Haney chronicled Kelly’s struggle and the struggle of many of the victims of America’s “War on Drugs”, replete with laws that sometimes are designed to unfairly incarcerate large groups of poor minorities and African American citizens.
Alfre Woodard as Alma Roberts and Nicole Beharie as Dee Roberts in ‘American Violet’
Photo credit: Scott Saltzman, Samuel Goldwyn Films Effecting all Americans, the story of Dee Roberts in the film symbolizes the unfairness inherent in the system. It...
- 4/17/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Apr 17, 2009 Tim Disney's American Violet is a film of which I don’t enjoy being overly critical. It’s easy and kind of fun to rip into worthless junk like Death Race, but this drama has such a righteous and respectable goal that gives me no pleasure in pointing out its shortcomings. Everyone's heart is in the right place and the way that drug laws are ridiculously enforced in this country should definitely be brought to the forefront of more people's minds. Minimum sentences, rushed plea bargains, and over-the-top drug enforcement tactics that claim innocent bystanders on ...Read more at MovieRetriever.com...
- 4/17/2009
- CinemaNerdz
American Violet tries so hard to establish its topical inclinations that it plays them up at the expense of the personalized drama. Through constant allusions to the film’s setting of Texas in the waning days of George W.’s governorship director Tim Disney never stops reminding you that he wants the story of the false imprisonment of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie) to emblemize the plight of all minorities victimized by racially tinged abuses of power. Instead of telling the intimate story of one woman’s steadfast perseverance against impossible, imposing forces Disney opts for the bland inspirational triumph template. As the picture opens the police arrest Dee, a hardworking single mother of four, and baselessly charge her with selling drugs. It’s soon apparent that the arrest is part of a sweeping attempt by Calvin Beckett (Michael O’Keefe), the vile, racist district attorney of Melody, Texas, to “clean up” the town’s public housing, in...
- 4/17/2009
- by Robert Levin
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
Chicago – In his third film, “American Violet,” director Tim Disney tackles the subject of unfair incarceration laws involving a poor African-American housing project in a rural Texas town. The uplifting drama is based on a true story and begins during the presidential election of 2000.
Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie) is a single mother of four children, barely getting by on a meager waitress job and help from her mother (Alfre Woodard). When her housing unit is raided by country drug law enforcement, Roberts is arrested as a drug dealer suspect, accused unfairly by a police informant.
Alfre Woodard as Alma Roberts and Nicole Beharie as Dee Roberts in ‘American Violet’
Photo credit: Scott Saltzman, Samuel Goldwyn Films When an Aclu lawyer (Tim Blake Nelson) comes to town to take on the unjust laws that sweeps out and jails poor African Americans, it is Dee Roberts that steps up to take on...
Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie) is a single mother of four children, barely getting by on a meager waitress job and help from her mother (Alfre Woodard). When her housing unit is raided by country drug law enforcement, Roberts is arrested as a drug dealer suspect, accused unfairly by a police informant.
Alfre Woodard as Alma Roberts and Nicole Beharie as Dee Roberts in ‘American Violet’
Photo credit: Scott Saltzman, Samuel Goldwyn Films When an Aclu lawyer (Tim Blake Nelson) comes to town to take on the unjust laws that sweeps out and jails poor African Americans, it is Dee Roberts that steps up to take on...
- 4/16/2009
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
The message comes before the medium in Tim Disney’s American Violet, a fact-based melodrama that tackles the issue of institutional racism with maximum TV-movie earnestness. Though it never surprises, much less transcends, in exposing the vile underbelly of Texas justice, the film is more affecting than it ought to be, thanks to a loaded cast that includes Alfre Woodard, Tim Blake Nelson, Will Patton, Charles Dutton, and the rapper and sometime actor Xzibit. Beyond his extensive Rolodex—he’s Walt’s grandnephew and son of former Walt Disney Company executive Roy—Disney hasn’t advanced much as a director ...
- 4/16/2009
- avclub.com
This week brings a bumper crop of indie and arthouse releases with something to suit all tastes, even if their added box office is outdone by "Crank: High Voltage."
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"American Violet"
In our politically expedient, hyper-add times, director Tim Disney reminds us African-Americans had it tough in the post-civil rights era long before Katrina with this Texas-set drama based on true story. As much a legal thriller as anything else, "American Violet" stars Alfre Woodward as the steely mother of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a woman wrongly scooped up from the projects amidst a mass drug raid and harassed into a plea bargain. With the help of an Aclu attorney (Tim Blake Nelson) and an ex-cop (Will Patton), she must go up against a callous district attorney (Michael O'Keefe), who's playing a numbers game in pursuit of federal money,...
Download this in audio form (MP3: 12:38 minutes, 17.3 Mb) Subscribe to the In Theaters podcast: [Xml] [iTunes]
"American Violet"
In our politically expedient, hyper-add times, director Tim Disney reminds us African-Americans had it tough in the post-civil rights era long before Katrina with this Texas-set drama based on true story. As much a legal thriller as anything else, "American Violet" stars Alfre Woodward as the steely mother of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a woman wrongly scooped up from the projects amidst a mass drug raid and harassed into a plea bargain. With the help of an Aclu attorney (Tim Blake Nelson) and an ex-cop (Will Patton), she must go up against a callous district attorney (Michael O'Keefe), who's playing a numbers game in pursuit of federal money,...
- 4/15/2009
- by Neil Pedley
- ifc.com
We have seven new clips in from Samuel Goldwyn Films' drama "American Violet," starring Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. Release is set for April 17th in limited locations. Tim Disney ("Blessed Art Thou") directs the film from the writing by Bill Haney. What's "American Violet" about? Set in the midst of the 2000 presidential election, American Violet tells the story of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four, living in a small Texas town (based after Hearne, Texas where the real incident took place). One day, while Dee is working a shift at the local diner, the powerful local district attorney (Michael O'Keefe) leads a drug bust, sweeping Dee’s housing project. Police drag Dee from work in handcuffs, dumping her in the women’s county prison. Indicted based on the uncorroborated word of a single and dubious police...
- 4/2/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
We have seven new clips in from Samuel Goldwyn Films' drama "American Violet," starring Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. Release is set for April 17th in limited locations. Tim Disney ("Blessed Art Thou") directs the film from the writing by Bill Haney. Set in the midst of the 2000 presidential election, American Violet tells the story of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four, living in a small Texas town (based after Hearne, Texas where the real incident took place). One day, while Dee is working a shift at the local diner, the powerful local district attorney (Michael O'Keefe) leads a drug bust, sweeping Dee’s housing project. Police drag Dee from work in handcuffs...
- 4/2/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
We have seven new clips in from Samuel Goldwyn Films' drama "American Violet," starring Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. Release is set for April 17th in limited locations. Tim Disney ("Blessed Art Thou") directs the film from the writing by Bill Haney. Set in the midst of the 2000 presidential election, American Violet tells the story of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a 24 year-old African-American single mother of four, living in a small Texas town (based after Hearne, Texas where the real incident took place). One day, while Dee is working a shift at the local diner, the powerful local district attorney (Michael O'Keefe) leads a drug bust, sweeping Dee’s housing project. Police drag Dee from work in handcuffs...
- 4/2/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
See the poster, images and the trailer from Samuel Goldwyn Films "American Violet" from Samuel Goldwyn Films "American Violet." "American Violet" opens on April 17th this year and stars Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. Tim Disney directs the drama from the screenplay by Bill Haney. See all the images in the gallery for "American Violet" and the trailer below: The film based is on true events in the midst of the 2000 election. American Violet tells the astonishing story of Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old African American single mother of four young girls barely making ends meet while living in a small Texas town. Dee soon finds herself charged as a drug dealer after the powerful local district attorney (Academy Award® nominee Michael O’Keefe) leads an extensive drug bust, sweeping her Arlington Springs housing project. Even though Dee has no prior drug record...
- 2/20/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
See the poster, images and the trailer from Samuel Goldwyn Films "American Violet" from Samuel Goldwyn Films "American Violet." "American Violet" opens on April 17th this year and stars Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. Tim Disney directs the drama from the screenplay by Bill Haney. The film based is on true events in the midst of the 2000 election. American Violet tells the astonishing story of Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old African American single mother of four young girls barely making ends meet while living in a small Texas town...
- 2/20/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
See the poster, images and the trailer from Samuel Goldwyn Films "American Violet" from Samuel Goldwyn Films "American Violet." "American Violet" opens on April 17th this year and stars Alfre Woodard, Nicole Beharie, Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. Tim Disney directs the drama from the screenplay by Bill Haney. The film based is on true events in the midst of the 2000 election. American Violet tells the astonishing story of Dee Roberts, a 24 year-old African American single mother of four young girls barely making ends meet while living in a small Texas town...
- 2/20/2009
- Upcoming-Movies.com
After premiering at Telluride and showing as part of the Lone Star States section of the upcoming SXSW, Tim Disney’s topical drama American Violet hits theaters April 17th. Set during the buildup to the 2000 election, the film chronicles a violent raid of a low income housing project in Texas ...
- 2/14/2009
- by Robert Levin
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
SXSW is one of my favorite festivals of the year as it showcases some of the best and most innovative real independent films, and with this host of world premiers, it's also playing alot of Sundance material as well as genre fare from all over the world, many of which we've covered heavily in these pages.
From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.
For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.
I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..
Lineup after the break.
Narrative Features Competition
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...
From the Sundance lineup, we have films like Moon, The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle, You Won't Miss Me, Grace, and Humpday, among others.
For the world genre material we've covered, there's Lake Mungo, The Square, Zift, and Awaydays.
I think you get the point that lots of great looking film will be playing. I'll leave a bit of the exploration to you..
Lineup after the break.
Narrative Features Competition
Artois the Goat
Director: Kyle Bogart. Writer: Cliff and Kyle Bogart
Lab technician Virgil Gurdies embarks on an epic quest to craft the greatest...
- 2/2/2009
- QuietEarth.us
- Tons of activity to report from the Afm and the most recent announcement comes via Samuel Goldwyn Films who have cleared the cobwebs and added some local U.S independent fair to their 2009 slate. Variety reports that the featherweight distribution co. have claimed the rights on a drama which was first unveiled at the Telluride film festival. A march date has been pegged. I'm curious though - with a name like Disney must we expect an happy ending with resolve? Featuring a mostly African American cast of familiar faces and taken directly from the newspaper headlines, Tim Disney's American Violet is set in small town Texas in the year 2000, American Violet tells the story of Dee Roberts (Nicole Beharie), a 24 year old African-American mother of four who is swept up in a drug raid and falsely accused based on the uncorroborated testimony of a single informant. Despite the
- 11/7/2008
- IONCINEMA.com
Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the drama "American Violet" which Tim Disney helms. Written by Bill Haney ("The Price of Sugar"), the film is based on true events and tells of a mother in Texas who's mistakenly swept up during a drug raid. Alfre Woodard and newcomer Nicole Beharie star. Also in the cast are Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. This is apparently due for release by Samuel Goldwyn Films in March next year.
- 11/7/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the drama "American Violet" which Tim Disney helms. Written by Bill Haney ("The Price of Sugar"), the film is based on true events and tells of a mother in Texas who's mistakenly swept up during a drug raid. Alfre Woodard and newcomer Nicole Beharie star. Also in the cast are Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. This is apparently due for release by Samuel Goldwyn Films in March next year.
- 11/7/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the drama "American Violet" which Tim Disney helms. Written by Bill Haney ("The Price of Sugar"), the film is based on true events and tells of a mother in Texas who's mistakenly swept up during a drug raid. Alfre Woodard and newcomer Nicole Beharie star. Also in the cast are Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. This is apparently due for release by Samuel Goldwyn Films in March next year. The studio has a strong reputation with some indie gems on offer, the most recent including "Trumbo," "2 Days in Paris," "Fugitive Pieces," "Goya's Ghosts" and the recent box office surprise "Fireproof" starring Kirk Cameron which is still enjoying the fruits of its labor.
- 11/7/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Samuel Goldwyn Films has picked up U.S. distribution rights to the drama "American Violet" which Tim Disney helms. Written by Bill Haney ("The Price of Sugar"), the film is based on true events and tells of a mother in Texas who's mistakenly swept up during a drug raid. Alfre Woodard and newcomer Nicole Beharie star. Also in the cast are Tim Blake Nelson, Michael O'Keefe and Charles S. Dutton. This is apparently due for release by Samuel Goldwyn Films in March next year.
- 11/7/2008
- Upcoming-Movies.com
Last year was great for American independent cinema; this year, not so much. The lineup for the 35th annual Telluride Film Festival has been announced, and only two U.S. filmmakers made the cut -- Paul Schrader (Adam Resurrected) and Tim Disney (American Violet). In addition, David Fincher will be there to screen his cut of Zodiac and to accept the festival's Silver Medallion.
According to Michael Jones at Variety's festival blog, the scarcity of U.S. films is simply the result of not very many homegrown films being submitted. Some likely candidates, like Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler and the Coens' Burn After Reading, chose to focus on other festivals. Other contenders, like Revolutionary Road, Milk, and W., aren't done yet. The writers' strike and the big studios' ongoing financial problems with their art house divisions also contributed to the dearth of American product.
It looks like a fantastic foreign lineup,...
According to Michael Jones at Variety's festival blog, the scarcity of U.S. films is simply the result of not very many homegrown films being submitted. Some likely candidates, like Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler and the Coens' Burn After Reading, chose to focus on other festivals. Other contenders, like Revolutionary Road, Milk, and W., aren't done yet. The writers' strike and the big studios' ongoing financial problems with their art house divisions also contributed to the dearth of American product.
It looks like a fantastic foreign lineup,...
- 8/28/2008
- by Eric D. Snider
- Cinematical
Directors David Fincher and Jan Troell and actress Jean Simmons will trek this weekend to the Rockies, where each will be feted with a tribute at the 35th Telluride Film Festival.
The pocket-size festival, which traditionally doesn't reveal its lineup until the last minute, gets under way today in the Colorado mountain town and runs through Monday. Despite the all-American locale, this year's event will have an especially international feel.
"Internationally, this has been another terrific year," Gary Meyer, who serves as fest director along with Tom Luddy, said of the lineup the two have assembled.
The only soft spot might be the U.S. component.
"The trend that all the fall festivals are facing," Meyer said, "is that because of the writers strike, a lot of high-profile American films that might have been available just aren't going to be ready in time."
That, in turn, could affect the way...
The pocket-size festival, which traditionally doesn't reveal its lineup until the last minute, gets under way today in the Colorado mountain town and runs through Monday. Despite the all-American locale, this year's event will have an especially international feel.
"Internationally, this has been another terrific year," Gary Meyer, who serves as fest director along with Tom Luddy, said of the lineup the two have assembled.
The only soft spot might be the U.S. component.
"The trend that all the fall festivals are facing," Meyer said, "is that because of the writers strike, a lot of high-profile American films that might have been available just aren't going to be ready in time."
That, in turn, could affect the way...
- 8/28/2008
- by By Gregg Kilday
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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