A remarkably audacious debut, Director Jessica Morris has created a surreal and dark tragicomedy with her short Round Robin, which depicts the awkward realities of a family gathering where the yearly Christmas card photo is due to be taken. Morris uses this routine familial outing as the basis from which to interrogate what it truly means to be part of a ‘happy family’ and how the build up of tensions, on a particularly hot day, can quickly lay waste to that once-strong facade. Now, as the film is due to kick off its run on the festival circuit, Dn joins Morris for an extensive discussion about the making of Round Robin, talking through the plethora of creative influences that make up the short’s style and tone, the notions of family she wanted to thematically deconstruct and the challenge of nailing the rapid-fire editing needed to bring her vision to life.
- 7/26/2023
- by James Maitre
- Directors Notes
Michael Webber’s documentary “The Conservation Game” has scored a raft of global sales.
The film explores the largely unregulated U.S. trade in exotic animals, especially big cats like lions, tigers, and leopards and their connection to celebrity conservationists. It follows retired police officer and exotic animal expert Tim Harrison and fellow animal rights activists including attorney Carney Anne Nasser — who initiated the wildlife trafficking case against “Tiger King” Joe Exotic — and Carole and Howard Baskin (founders of Big Cat Rescue).
The film tracks Harrison as he stumbles upon a bombshell discovery while undercover at an exotic animal auction and starts an investigation to track down the whereabouts of rare and endangered big cats. As his investigation unfolds, Tim wrestles with the consequences of exposing the tightly held secrets of the exotic pet trade and ultimately confronting his childhood hero, zookeeper Jack Hanna.
The documentary, which won the Santa...
The film explores the largely unregulated U.S. trade in exotic animals, especially big cats like lions, tigers, and leopards and their connection to celebrity conservationists. It follows retired police officer and exotic animal expert Tim Harrison and fellow animal rights activists including attorney Carney Anne Nasser — who initiated the wildlife trafficking case against “Tiger King” Joe Exotic — and Carole and Howard Baskin (founders of Big Cat Rescue).
The film tracks Harrison as he stumbles upon a bombshell discovery while undercover at an exotic animal auction and starts an investigation to track down the whereabouts of rare and endangered big cats. As his investigation unfolds, Tim wrestles with the consequences of exposing the tightly held secrets of the exotic pet trade and ultimately confronting his childhood hero, zookeeper Jack Hanna.
The documentary, which won the Santa...
- 12/10/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Greg Abbott is “throwing” billions of his state’s taxpayer money at securing the U.S.-Mexico border, a job usually reserved for the federal Border Patrol and Homeland Security. Meanwhile, experts are warning that the state is not fully prepared for another winter freeze like the one this past February that left an estimated 702 people dead.
“Texas is investing $3 billion of taxpayer dollars doing the federal government’s job, and what we’re doing with that money is we have now more than 6,500 troopers and officers down on the...
“Texas is investing $3 billion of taxpayer dollars doing the federal government’s job, and what we’re doing with that money is we have now more than 6,500 troopers and officers down on the...
- 11/1/2021
- by Peter Wade
- Rollingstone.com
Carole Baskin Slams ‘Tiger King 2’ Directors: ‘I Wouldn’t Call Them True Documentarians’ (Exclusive)
Carole Baskin, a major figure in Netflix’s original “Tiger King” docuseries, has lashed out about the upcoming sequel, “Tiger King 2,” and its directors.
On Thursday, Netflix announced the new “Tiger King” series with brief footage of Baskin and Joe Exotic, with the latter phoning in from jail, where he is currently serving a 17-year sentence for attempting a murder-for-hire plot aimed at Baskin.
In a phone call with Variety on Thursday afternoon, Baskin said she knew that “Tiger King” directors Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode were filming more content, but she didn’t expect it to be finished so soon, after the original docuseries premiered in March 2020 and took the world by storm.
“I know some people who have been involved in it and they were doing more filming, so I assumed at some point they would come out with a ‘Tiger King 2.’ It took them five years to put together the first one,...
On Thursday, Netflix announced the new “Tiger King” series with brief footage of Baskin and Joe Exotic, with the latter phoning in from jail, where he is currently serving a 17-year sentence for attempting a murder-for-hire plot aimed at Baskin.
In a phone call with Variety on Thursday afternoon, Baskin said she knew that “Tiger King” directors Rebecca Chaiklin and Eric Goode were filming more content, but she didn’t expect it to be finished so soon, after the original docuseries premiered in March 2020 and took the world by storm.
“I know some people who have been involved in it and they were doing more filming, so I assumed at some point they would come out with a ‘Tiger King 2.’ It took them five years to put together the first one,...
- 9/23/2021
- by Selome Hailu and Jordan Moreau
- Variety Film + TV
Together, the lockdown drama from Bleecker Street, opens on 250 screens this weekend in a specialty market treading water and with little visibility on box office amid daily Covid headlines.
The trend continues of specialty films going wider faster and narrowing the window from theatrical to VOD in a nod to the chunk of its audience, mainly older, that feels more comfortable watching at home. The market is looking to a stream of fall product ahead of awards season, hoping the virus is more contained by then. Some good news offset the march of the Delta Variant this week as the Fda granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine – shots in arms being key to an accelerated theatrical revival.
Together is directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Dennis Kelly. It stars James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan as a couple forced to...
The trend continues of specialty films going wider faster and narrowing the window from theatrical to VOD in a nod to the chunk of its audience, mainly older, that feels more comfortable watching at home. The market is looking to a stream of fall product ahead of awards season, hoping the virus is more contained by then. Some good news offset the march of the Delta Variant this week as the Fda granted full approval to the Pfizer vaccine – shots in arms being key to an accelerated theatrical revival.
Together is directed by Stephen Daldry and written by Dennis Kelly. It stars James McAvoy and Sharon Horgan as a couple forced to...
- 8/27/2021
- by Jill Goldsmith
- Deadline Film + TV
Cargo Film & Releasing has revealed the trailer for documentary “The Conservation Game,” directed and produced by Michael Webber (“The Elephant in the Living Room”) via his Nightfly Entertainment banner.
The film explores the largely unregulated U.S. trade in exotic animals, especially big cats like lions, tigers, and leopards and their connection to celebrity conservationists. It follows retired police officer and exotic animal expert Tim Harrison and fellow animal rights activists including attorney Carney Anne Nasser — who initiated the wildlife trafficking case against “Tiger King” Joe Exotic — and Carole and Howard Baskin (founders of Big Cat Rescue).
The film tracks Harrison as he stumbles upon a bombshell discovery while undercover at an exotic animal auction and starts an investigation to track down the whereabouts of rare and endangered big cats. As his investigation unfolds, Tim wrestles with the consequences of exposing the tightly held secrets of the exotic pet trade...
The film explores the largely unregulated U.S. trade in exotic animals, especially big cats like lions, tigers, and leopards and their connection to celebrity conservationists. It follows retired police officer and exotic animal expert Tim Harrison and fellow animal rights activists including attorney Carney Anne Nasser — who initiated the wildlife trafficking case against “Tiger King” Joe Exotic — and Carole and Howard Baskin (founders of Big Cat Rescue).
The film tracks Harrison as he stumbles upon a bombshell discovery while undercover at an exotic animal auction and starts an investigation to track down the whereabouts of rare and endangered big cats. As his investigation unfolds, Tim wrestles with the consequences of exposing the tightly held secrets of the exotic pet trade...
- 8/11/2021
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Alaskan Nets, a documentary executive produced by Chris Pratt that centers on confluence of high school boys basketball and the culture of fishing on a Native reserve in remote Southeast Alaska, has won the audience award at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.
The 36th annual festival, which ran a hybrid in-person/virtual event that began March 31, wraps today with the unveiling of its juried awards. Alaskan Nets, directed by Jeff Harasimowicz, won the Audience Choice Award among a total of 11 categories that were represented.
“To say we are thrilled to win the audience choice award would be a vast understatement,” Harasimowicz said. “To see this film resonate with audiences is a deeply humbling experience. We are so honored to have had this special opportunity to share Alaskan Nets in Santa Barbara and I know it’s an experience my team, our families and the entire community of Metlakatla will never forget.
The 36th annual festival, which ran a hybrid in-person/virtual event that began March 31, wraps today with the unveiling of its juried awards. Alaskan Nets, directed by Jeff Harasimowicz, won the Audience Choice Award among a total of 11 categories that were represented.
“To say we are thrilled to win the audience choice award would be a vast understatement,” Harasimowicz said. “To see this film resonate with audiences is a deeply humbling experience. We are so honored to have had this special opportunity to share Alaskan Nets in Santa Barbara and I know it’s an experience my team, our families and the entire community of Metlakatla will never forget.
- 4/10/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
The documentary “Alaskan Nets,” set on a remote island where the Tsimshian Indians are focused on fishing and basketball, has won the Audience Choice Award at the 2021 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Sbiff organizers announced on Saturday.
The festival ran from March 31 through April 10 with a combination of virtual presentations and drive-in screenings in the coastal town north of Los Angeles. Audience members who viewed films both online and in drive-ins were eligible to vote for the Audience Choice Award.
The festival also announced an array of jury awards that were chosen by jurors Tony Anselmo, Antwone Fisher, David Freid, Li Cheng, Geoffrey Cowper, Patricia Rosema, Siqi Song, Mark Stafford, Rita Taggart, Paul Walter Hauser, Anthony and Arnette Zerbe. The Sbiff Best Documentary Award went to Nina Stefanka’s “Mirage” (“Miraggio”), a chronicle of West African refugees in Rome, while the award for the best international feature was given to...
The festival ran from March 31 through April 10 with a combination of virtual presentations and drive-in screenings in the coastal town north of Los Angeles. Audience members who viewed films both online and in drive-ins were eligible to vote for the Audience Choice Award.
The festival also announced an array of jury awards that were chosen by jurors Tony Anselmo, Antwone Fisher, David Freid, Li Cheng, Geoffrey Cowper, Patricia Rosema, Siqi Song, Mark Stafford, Rita Taggart, Paul Walter Hauser, Anthony and Arnette Zerbe. The Sbiff Best Documentary Award went to Nina Stefanka’s “Mirage” (“Miraggio”), a chronicle of West African refugees in Rome, while the award for the best international feature was given to...
- 4/10/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Radar Pictures has announced from Sundance that the company will produce "Origins" from writer/director Cameron Romero, a prequel origin story to his father George Romero's seminal low-budget horror "Night of the Living Dead." That black-and-white genre benchmark grossed over $30 million worldwide upon its 1968 release, and spawned five more "Living Dead" entires. Slated to begin production later this year, "Origins," which is currently out to cast, is centered at the height of the 1960s Cold War, where one scientist's military-funded attempt to save the world from itself unleashes its worst nightmare. From a screenplay by Cameron Romero, Darrin Reed and Bryce C. Campbell, the partly crowdfunded "Origins" will be produced by Radar’s Ted Field along with Aldo Lapietra, Bryce C. Campbell, Darrin Reed, and Romero. Executive producing for Radar is Mike Webber and Thomas van Dell. Producer Reed's tough-looking drama "Lila...
- 1/26/2015
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
Ted Field will produce writer-director Cameron Romero’s zombie origins story.
Ted Field will produce writer-director Cameron Romero’s zombie origins story.
Romero will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Darrin Reed and Bryce C Campbell based on a story by Romero.
Field will produce along with Aldo Lapietra, Campbell, Reed and Romero. Mike Webber and Thomas van Dell serve as executive producers.
Production has been earmarked for later this year on the Cold War story about a science experiment that goes wrong.
“I’m a longtime fan of Night Of The Living Dead,” said Field. “I have tremendous belief in Cameron.”
“Origins is a great opportunity for me to continue the family tradition of creating haunting and ever-evolving depictions of the undead,and a great opportunity for Romero fans to see a story of zombie inception never portrayed before,” said Romero.
Ted Field will produce writer-director Cameron Romero’s zombie origins story.
Romero will direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with Darrin Reed and Bryce C Campbell based on a story by Romero.
Field will produce along with Aldo Lapietra, Campbell, Reed and Romero. Mike Webber and Thomas van Dell serve as executive producers.
Production has been earmarked for later this year on the Cold War story about a science experiment that goes wrong.
“I’m a longtime fan of Night Of The Living Dead,” said Field. “I have tremendous belief in Cameron.”
“Origins is a great opportunity for me to continue the family tradition of creating haunting and ever-evolving depictions of the undead,and a great opportunity for Romero fans to see a story of zombie inception never portrayed before,” said Romero.
- 1/26/2015
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
Too bad the critical symposium in the new, Winter 2012 issue of Cineaste isn't online. Participants evidently include Gianni Amelio, Olivier Assayas, Costa-Gavras, Robert Greenwald, and Sally Potter, "among others," but until we get our hands on the print edition, we'll have to make do with what is online, which, after all, is plenty: Patrick Z McGavin on Dave Kehr's When Movies Mattered: Reviews from a Transformative Decade, Richard James Havis on Kyung Hyun Kim's Virtual Hallyu: Korean Cinema of the Global Era, Andrew Horton on New Zealand Film: An Illustrated History and Henry K Miller on Brutal Intimacy: Analyzing Contemporary French Cinema and The New Extremism in Cinema: From France to Europe. And that's just the book reviews.
Besides the interviews with Mona Achache and Charlotte Rampling and festival reports (Locarno, Toronto and Montreal), the 15 reviews include David Sterritt on Kubrick's The Killing (1956), Joseph Luzzi on Raffaello Matarazzo,...
Besides the interviews with Mona Achache and Charlotte Rampling and festival reports (Locarno, Toronto and Montreal), the 15 reviews include David Sterritt on Kubrick's The Killing (1956), Joseph Luzzi on Raffaello Matarazzo,...
- 12/13/2011
- MUBI
Trailers are an under-appreciated art form insofar that many times they’re seen as vehicles for showing footage, explaining films away, or showing their hand about what moviegoers can expect. Foreign, domestic, independent, big budget: I celebrate all levels of trailers and hopefully this column will satisfactorily give you a baseline of what beta wave I’m operating on, because what better way to hone your skills as a thoughtful moviegoer than by deconstructing these little pieces of advertising? Some of the best authors will tell you that writing a short story is a lot harder than writing a long one, that you have to weigh every sentence. What better medium to see how this theory plays itself out beyond that than with movie trailers? The Legend Of The Mighty Soap Trailer When I was a kid I watched HBO relentlessly. Whenever there wasn't reairings of Fraggle Rock, Braingames, Heartbeeps,...
- 5/6/2011
- by Christopher Stipp
- Slash Film
In one sad moment among many in Michael Webber’s The Elephant In The Living Room, exotic-animal rescuer/advocate Tim Harrison comes to a realization that nearly makes him weep: “If you think about it, I don’t have any happy endings.” And he really doesn’t: Harrison’s job entails wrangling exotic pets—huge pythons, jungle cats, alligators—that have gotten loose, mostly abandoned by people who couldn’t take care of them properly. Sometimes he’s able to place them with zoos or shelters; more often, they end up being “put down,” to use the euphemism most common ...
- 4/14/2011
- avclub.com
Chicago – You will not soon forget Lambert the lion. His story is as tragic to this viewer as any seen in documentary filmmaking in recent years for he never should have been in the situation chronicled in the excellent “The Elephant in the Living Room,” opening this Saturday at the Siskel Film Center in Chicago and playing in other major markets already. This fascinating documentary shines a light into an underreported corner of America, the backyards and living rooms that currently house deadly exotic animals that, in this critic’s opinion, should never have found themselves in captivity at all, much less as pets.
Rating: 4.0/5.0
This is only my interpretation, but what I take away from “The Elephant in the Living Room” is a story about two things – one man’s mental illness and how it manifested itself in a tragic story of man controlling nature and the general story...
Rating: 4.0/5.0
This is only my interpretation, but what I take away from “The Elephant in the Living Room” is a story about two things – one man’s mental illness and how it manifested itself in a tragic story of man controlling nature and the general story...
- 4/13/2011
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Produced and directed by filmmaker Michael Webber, The Elephant In The Living Room documents a hard and sometimes disturbing look at what happens when people decide it’s a good idea to keep wild, “exotic” animals as pets.
Centered around the efforts of one Ohio Public Safety Officer, Tim Harrison, the film explores his life’s mission to not only remove such animals from private owners, but to rehabilitate these animals back to being with others of their kind in a safe and healthy environment, such as a sanctuary.
One such owner is Terry Brumfield, a man who after surviving a truck accident takes refuge from his depression by hand raising 2 African lion cubs – which, by the way, are perfectly legal to own in Ohio and 30 other states in the Us.
Terry, like so many others, starts out raising the lions with the best of intentions and has a deep love for his “pets,...
Centered around the efforts of one Ohio Public Safety Officer, Tim Harrison, the film explores his life’s mission to not only remove such animals from private owners, but to rehabilitate these animals back to being with others of their kind in a safe and healthy environment, such as a sanctuary.
One such owner is Terry Brumfield, a man who after surviving a truck accident takes refuge from his depression by hand raising 2 African lion cubs – which, by the way, are perfectly legal to own in Ohio and 30 other states in the Us.
Terry, like so many others, starts out raising the lions with the best of intentions and has a deep love for his “pets,...
- 4/8/2011
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Elephant in the Living Room is now making its rounds in the theaters. Being one of the first ones to see this award winning documentary over a month ago I must say it's one of the best I've seen and all exotic or domestic animal owners/lovers should take notice!
Director Michael Webber shot this following around Tim Harrison who goes all over the country rescuing animals and helping out of control situations concerning the naimlas nad their owners. You see what a "day in the life" is like for Harrison as we get to witness first hand, the good and the bad that goes along owning these pets.
We get to watch Harrison deal with gators, lots of snakes (I don't like snakes!) and an African lion and its owner, Terry Brumfield, who is dealing with the reality that he might have to give his exotic pets up.
Director Michael Webber shot this following around Tim Harrison who goes all over the country rescuing animals and helping out of control situations concerning the naimlas nad their owners. You see what a "day in the life" is like for Harrison as we get to witness first hand, the good and the bad that goes along owning these pets.
We get to watch Harrison deal with gators, lots of snakes (I don't like snakes!) and an African lion and its owner, Terry Brumfield, who is dealing with the reality that he might have to give his exotic pets up.
- 4/3/2011
- by brians
- GeekTyrant
The Elephant in the Living Room begins with its heroic subject Tim Harrison, a police officer turned animal expert in Ohio, cruising in his patrol car, rattling off his accomplishments and experiences in dealing with exotic animals on the loose in America to a passenger seat cam, intercut with local news reports of these crazy animal attacks. At that stage, it’s hard to know what’s special about this feature documentary on exotic animal ownership in the Us that sets it apart from an Animal Planet program (which Tim Harrison has been on before—not to mention Discovery, National geographic, etc.). Several scenes in, we find out.
An ER doctor, looking annoyed from having to save the lives of many dumb bastards who were nearly killed by their own dangerous pets over the years, preaches directly through the screen to the idle Americans who have had the wrong idea...
An ER doctor, looking annoyed from having to save the lives of many dumb bastards who were nearly killed by their own dangerous pets over the years, preaches directly through the screen to the idle Americans who have had the wrong idea...
- 4/2/2011
- by Arya Ponto
- JustPressPlay.net
Nothing makes a better documentary subject than crazy. Whether they're about socialite shut-ins or deranged cult leaders or just some guy who decides to eat nothing but fast food for a month, documentaries are a great home for the insane. Best of all is when a documentary invites us inside the madness to experience it for ourselves, then forces to reconsider whether that perspective is really all that crazy after all. "The Elephant in the Living Room," about the danger, and also the appeal, of keeping wild animals as pets, is such a documentary.
Generally, I'm of the opinion that anyone who willingly keeps a deadly animal in their home is kind of nuts. And if said animal escapes and kills them, that's not a tragedy; that's fodder for The Darwin Awards. But sometimes these animals get loose and harm others, and that is a tragedy, one that's happening with...
Generally, I'm of the opinion that anyone who willingly keeps a deadly animal in their home is kind of nuts. And if said animal escapes and kills them, that's not a tragedy; that's fodder for The Darwin Awards. But sometimes these animals get loose and harm others, and that is a tragedy, one that's happening with...
- 3/30/2011
- by Matt Singer
- ifc.com
There are more tigers in Texas than there are in the wild in India. In 2005, there were more emergency calls for nuisance alligators in Ohio than most areas of Florida. In many parts of the country, the law requires a license to own a dog, but absolutely nothing to own a pet lion or tiger or venomous snake, and the owners of these baby animals, are soon trying to give them away free to the general public as full grown predators. Sightings of lions and primates and the most deadly reptiles in the world are reported everywhere. In recent years, the encounters have reached epidemic proportions as seen in the new documentary The Elephant In The Living Room.
WeAreMovieGeeks will be attending the premiere and a Q&A with filmmakers Michael Webber and Tim Harrison and we’ll bring you our review soon.
Visit the film’s official site Here...
WeAreMovieGeeks will be attending the premiere and a Q&A with filmmakers Michael Webber and Tim Harrison and we’ll bring you our review soon.
Visit the film’s official site Here...
- 3/30/2011
- by Melissa Thompson
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Tonight marks the opening of the 2010 Burbank International Film Festival. The nine-day event is filled with shorts, features, music videos, and seminars by and for filmmakers from all over the world.
The festivities kick off at 5:30 Pm with a red carpet event and opening reception at the Burbank AMC 6 movie theater. Following the get-together is the first screening of the week, a feature length documentary called The Elephant in the Living Room by Michael Webber. The film dives into the world of exotic pets in the U.S. suburbs.
More screenings continue through the week at four locations. In addition to the AMC 6, films are scheduled to be shown at Video Symphony, Burbank High School, and Barney's Beanery.
During the week, seminars on sound, editing, stunts, music, and other topics of interest will be conducted by industry leaders. Among these are Tom Holman from LucasFilm, retired Paramount Studios sound director CeCe Hall,...
The festivities kick off at 5:30 Pm with a red carpet event and opening reception at the Burbank AMC 6 movie theater. Following the get-together is the first screening of the week, a feature length documentary called The Elephant in the Living Room by Michael Webber. The film dives into the world of exotic pets in the U.S. suburbs.
More screenings continue through the week at four locations. In addition to the AMC 6, films are scheduled to be shown at Video Symphony, Burbank High School, and Barney's Beanery.
During the week, seminars on sound, editing, stunts, music, and other topics of interest will be conducted by industry leaders. Among these are Tom Holman from LucasFilm, retired Paramount Studios sound director CeCe Hall,...
- 9/10/2010
- by Pop Culture Passionistas
- popculturepassionistas
At one point or another, we've probably all thought about the possibility of owning an exotic pet. How awesome would it be to terrorize your enemies with a 20-foot boa constrictor, or have a lion ready to back you up when a thief breaks in in the middle of the night? For most of us, those thoughts remain simply thoughts. But for thousands of Americans around the country, exotic pets are a frightening reality. Director Michael Webber's film, The Elephant in the Living Room, explores the implications of exotic pet ownership through the eyes of the man that pet owners call when things go wrong. It recently screened at the Independent Film Festival of Boston. Hit the jump for my thoughts on his film, and my interview with Webber. When a puma shows up in your backyard while you're taking out the garbage, Tim Harrison is the man you...
- 5/2/2010
- by David Chen
- Slash Film
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