See what else is happening in film & TV industries around the world.
Actor Zach Braff hits $2 million Kickstarter goal
Zach Braff (Garden State, Oz the Great and Powerful) has reached his $2 million goal in the first four days of his Kickstarter campaign to raise funds for his upcoming drama ‘Wish I Was Here’. The campaign hit the $2 million mark on Saturday afternoon with backing from over 28,000 fans. Braff is offering many exclusive rewards to his fans in return for donations, including the soundtrack and playlist if you give $20, an advanced screening and Q & A with Braff himself if you donate $100, and a signed copy of a ‘Garden State’ DVD if you donate $150. Braff plans to star and direct from a screenplay he co-wrote with his brother Adam and producers plan to shoot the film in Los Angeles this summer. Braff will star as a struggling actor at the age of 35 who winds up attempting to home school his two children when his father can no longer pay for the private education. Braff’s reasoning for funding the film through Kickstarter was due to the phenomenal success of the ‘Veronica Mars’ Kickstarter campaign, which raised a record $5.7 million for the upcoming film.
Jim Jarmusch’s upcoming film enters Cannes
The official selection of the upcoming 66th Cannes Film Festival was completed at the weekend, with independent American filmmaker Jim Jarmusch’s ‘Only Lovers Left Alive’ officially added to the 19 films initially selected in competition. A British-German co-production, the story centers on the vampire Adam (Tom Hiddleston), an underground musician who reunites with his former lover (Tilda Swinton) after he becomes depressed and tired with the direction human society has taken. A prolific independent filmmaker, Jarmusch is known for his anti-Western film ‘Dead Man’ starring Johnny Depp and ‘Broken Flowers’, starring Bill Murray. The Certain Regard section of the Cannes festival has reached a total of 18 films by adding 3 new titles: the French-German film ‘My Sweet Pepper Land’ by Kurdish director Hiner Saleem, ‘Wakolda’ by Lucía Puenzo (coproduced by Argentina, Spain, France, Germany and Norway), and ‘Tore Tanz’t by German director Katrin Gebbe.
Focus adds Marvin Gaye biopic to Cannes slate
Focus Features International has rounded off its Cannes slate by coming on to handle worldwide sales on director Julien Temple’s untitled Marvin Gaye biopic. Jesse L. Martin stars as Marvin Gaye, alongside Irish actor Brendan Gleeson, Krieps, and Dwight Henry. The film is currently shooting in Luxembourg and Belgium. Focus also announced last week that it will introduce Asif Kapadia’s untitled documentary on the late singer/songwriter Amy Winehouse at Cannes. The Focus slate at Cannes this year includes many big names: Mike Leigh’s ‘Kill the Messenger’, about painter J.M.W. Turner; Woody Allen’s ‘Blue Jasmine’; John Crowley’s ‘Closed Circuit’; Kevin Macdonald’s thriller ‘Black Sea’ with Jude Law starring; and Ruairi Robinson’s Irish produced thriller ‘The Last Days on Mars’, starring Liev Schreiber, which is world-premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight.
