Chris Smith: Last News

Morrisons is selling its most popular pumpkins for just 75p this year, to help families celebrate Halloween on a budget.

Naman Ramachandran Award-winning production company Ventureland has entered a first-look partnership with independent studio A24 for documentary projects. John Battsek, producer of Oscar-winning documentaries “One Day in September” and “Searching for Sugar Man,” who also serves as Ventureland’s managing director, will be both producing and executive producing as part of the deal, alongside Ventureland CEO Kerstin Emhoff, president Ali Brown, and co-founder Paul Hunter.

EXCLUSIVE: HBO is renewing 100 Foot Wave for a third season, the network’s critically acclaimed documentary series built around famed big wave surfer Garrett McNamara.

Robert Downey Jr. has named the two most important films of his recent career.The actor, who is best known for playing Tony Stark aka Iron Man in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, surprisingly didn’t name his most famous role when highlighting the most “important” films of his career over the last 25 years.Speaking to The New York Times, Downey Jr.

Owen Gleiberman Chief Film Critic Unabashed pop groups with fervid teenage followings tend to get trivialized, at least in the media. They’re dismissed as being slick and calculated and superficial. But there’s a story in “Wham!,” the new Netflix documentary about the quintessential pop duo of the 1980s, that testifies to what a chancy and audacious artist George Michael was even back in his teen-idol days. The year is 1983. Michael and Andrew Ridgeley, coming off their first album, “Fantastic” (which had a few hits, though none of them were great), have established Wham! as an effective lightweight pop machine, with its two young stars prancing around the stage in sexy sportswear. The time has come to record “Careless Whisper,” a song they’ve had in their back pocket for several years (we hear the super-early demo version of it that they recorded in 1981 in Ridgeley’s living room on a TEAC 4-track Portastudio). Michael has become enough of a powerhouse to hook up with Jerry Wexler, the legendary producer of Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. He heads down to Muscle Shoals Sound Studio to record the track, with Wexler producing. What more could a 20-year-old budding pop star want?

A fresh batch of entertainment is dropping on Netflix, as 90 titles join the streaming service this month. From steamy reality shows and fascinating adventure documentaries to cult classic films, subscribers are spoilt for choice.

Addie Morfoot Contributor Corporate consolidation, along with shrinking publicity budgets and streaming services’ willingness to bury their own content, have made film festivals and series increasingly desirable to documentary filmmakers who are not only seeking distribution, but also to those nonfiction helmers who have found a platform for their work. The rocky landscape has made the competition fierce for a slot at not only top-tier festivals, but also regional film events like New York’s Rooftop Films’ Summer Series. Over the course of the last year, Rooftop Films president Dan Nuxoll received 3,500 film submissions for the nonprofit organization’s 27th annual Summer Series, which kicks off on May 25. Only 23 feature films and seven shorts were accepted. (Not all films have been announced.)

The world premiere of ‘Wham!’ about the pop supergroup formed by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley is among the highlights of the 30th edition of the Sheffield DocFest, set for June 14-19 in north-central England.

If things had gone as originally planned, director Chris Smith’s Netflix documentary Sr. might have been called Jr. instead. He initially thought of doing a film about Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr., but the star proposed something different.

Former NFL player Chris Smith has sadly passed away at the young age of 31.

Kristen Stewart has joined the cast of her ex-partner Michael Angarano's road-trip comedy 'Sacramento'. The 'Spencer' actress will star alongside the 'This Is Us' star, who is helming the flick, Michael Cera, and Angarano's fiancée and mother of his young son Leon Frederick, Maya Erskine, 35. The motion picture "follows Rickey (Angarano), an energetic and free-spirited young man, and Glenn (Cera), his long-time friend who’s settled into domestic life.

EXCLUSIVE: Kristen Stewart (Spencer) is joining Michael Angarano (This Is Us), Michael Cera (Juno) and Maya Erskine (Pen15) in road-trip comedy Sacramento.

Kristen Stewart has landed her next big role, and it looks like she’s headed for a fun comedy!

BMG has announced plans for full-length documentary about Devo, which will also be the first-ever fully authorised film on the group.Directed by Chris Smith, the documentary is produced by Vice Studios and Library Films in association with Mutato Entertainment. Financing is shared by BMG, Fremantle Documentaries – which is also part of BMG owner Bertelsmann – and Warner Music.“Devo was a huge influence on me”, says Smith.

Devo has been announced.Titled Devo, the film will be helmed by American Movie (1999) and Fyre (2019) director Chris Smith.The first-ever fully authorised film about the group, Devo will chart the new wave group’s career, from their formation in the aftermath of the Kent State massacre to their breakout with ‘Whip It’.“Devo was a huge influence on me,” Smith said in a statement. “Their approach to music, film, video, and art was something I had never seen before and was one of the truly formative artistic influences that showed me there were entirely new ways to look at things.”The documentary will feature a mixture of interviews and never-before-seen archival footage.

Devo, the rock band best known for 1980 hit Whip It, is getting the documentary treatment.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor Fremantle’s Documentaries division has launched Undeniable, a label dedicated to producing premium feature documentaries and series, in partnership with high-profile talent and international commissioners, Mandy Chang, Fremantle’s global head of documentaries, revealed Tuesday at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. The label is already developing several international projects and partnerships with high-profile filmmakers, including Amy Berg (“Deliver Us From Evil,” “Phoenix Rising”), Chris Smith (“Tiger King,” “Bad Vegan”), and Penny Lane and Gabriel Sedgwick (“Hail Satan?,” “Listening to Kenny G”). Chang said: “The launch of Undeniable further underlines our commitment and ambition to build Fremantle’s documentary output on the premium side. Working with the very best filmmakers and emerging talent, the label will provide editorial and production expertise and support in multiple genres. Importantly, it will provide a platform and freedom for creative talent to unlock and explore important issues and stories to be told.”

Junior doctors in Scotland are getting paid the same as sandwich shop baristas with many taking on second jobs to get by, their union has warned.

Thania Garcia Following CAA’s $750 million acquisition of ICM Partners last July, APA has been tactically making changes to its own leadership teams. The music industry’s rapid growth in touring has led the agency to readjust focus — upping fresh agents in top positions and encouraging seasoned execs with illustrious rosters to take up roles as mentors to lead their live entertainment division to new heights. “As APA grows, so do the needs of our clients,” says Becca Wilson, one of the six new promotees in APA’s touring division. “The entrepreneurial spirit at APA has fostered an environment that gives young talent the opportunity to blossom and further their careers. I can confidently say this is not a place where agents get lost in the shuffle,” Wilson tells Variety.

Naman Ramachandran U.K.-based MetFilm Sales has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding the U.S., Germany and France, to Thomas von Steinaecker’s feature documentary “Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer” and is representing the project at Berlin’s European Film Market. With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into the legendary German film director’s everyday life, rare archive material and in-depth interviews with Herzog and his collaborators — including Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman and his wife Lena Herzog — the film provides a glimpse into his work process and his personal life.  The documentary is presented by Emmy-winning film studio Wavelength, produced by Spring Films and 3B-Produktion in association with Hot Docs Partners. It is produced by Andre Singer, Bernhard Von Hulsen and Maria Willer. Executive producers include Jenifer Westphal and Joe Plummer for Wavelength, Figs Jackman and Chris Smith for Spring Films and Vijay Vaidyanathan.

It’s the video everyone is talking about after the result everyone is still talking about.