Sean Baker: Last News

Brent Lang Executive Editor Pan Distribution has acquired French rights to Joanna Arnow’s dark comedy “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed” following its Cannes Film Festival debut. Loco Films is handling international sales on the title.  The film is a major breakthrough for Arnow, who not only makes her narrative feature directing debut, but also wrote, edited and stars in the picture. Critics liked her vision, with Variety‘s Catherine Bray praising “The Feeling That the Time for Doing Something Has Passed” as “brilliantly sardonic” and adding that “you would hope that this is the kind of film that would lead to fame and fortune for Arnow.” The film follows the life of a thirtysomething woman named Ann, as she engages in a casual BDSM relationship, grapples with her low-level corporate job, and deals with her bickering family.  

Catherine Bray Festival reviews just love to hype a breakout performance, to the extent that one worries about becoming the little critic that cried breakout. But here goes: Talia Ryder, lead actor in “The Sweet East,” is a star. There’s something of Kristen Stewart about her, not merely in terms of physical resemblance, but more in her gift for not just acting but reacting. That’s fortunate, because her character is generally surrounded by extremely chatty blowhards, most of them interested only in the role she might play for them in their own lives. She lies constantly about her identity and where she’s from, and these lies go down easy because nobody is particularly invested in who she might actually be — they’re too keen to fit her into their own mythology.

Film Independent has announced the presenters for the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic Saruul is studying to be an engineer when she agrees to take the last job her cosmopolitan but still relatively conservative Mongolian parents would ever imagine their daughter doing: selling intimacy aids (of the vibrating, silicone and inflatable variety) in a basement-level sex shop. Technically, Saruul’s just filling in for a shy friend at school who trusts her to be discreet, but this temporary gig has a subtle yet life-changing impact on the title character, who looks like she could be 14 years old at first, but blossoms into a more self-aware young woman over “The Sales Girl’s” slightly overlong running time. The top prize winner of the New York Asian Film Festival, veteran director Sengedorj Janchivdorj’s umpteenth feature takes a frank, sex-positive approach to the titillating world in which it’s set. But that doesn’t make this an erotic film. Instead, “The Sales Girl” focuses mostly on the unlikely friendship between Saruul (Bayartsetseg Bayangerel) and her Russian-speaking boss Katya (Enkhtuul Oidovjamts), a surly ex-dancer who takes a linking to her naive new employee. In a funny way, the film shares the slightly edgy but ultimately sentimental vibe of certain underground comics (“Ghost World” comes to mind) or the work of American indie director Sean Baker, whose last four features (dating back to “Starlet,” the film this most resembles) have had the honesty to acknowledge the role sexuality plays in modern life and commerce.

Every Tuesday, discriminating viewers are confronted with a flurry of choices: new releases on disc and on demand, vintage and original movies on any number of streaming platforms, catalogue titles making a splash on Blu-ray or 4K. This twice-monthly column sifts through all of those choices to pluck out the movies most worth your time, no matter how you’re watching.

J. Kim Murphy Clu Gulager, a veteran actor known for his roles in the NBC series “The Virginian” and the 1985 horror-comedy “The Return of the Living Dead,” has died of natural causes. He was 93 years old.Gulager’s son, John, shared a photo of his father on his Facebook as a tribute.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaFusion Entertainment has signed filmmaker Ira Sachs, actor Mya Taylor and writer-director-actor Jude Dry. The management company, which was founded this year by Chris Evans and Adam Kersh, hails the signings as an important step in bolstering their roster of LGBTQ+ talent.Kersh and Sachs have had a long association, having worked together for a decade. Kersh helped spearhead the publicity campaigns for the Sachs’ queer-positive NYC triptych “Keep the Lights On” (2012), “Love Is Strange” (2014), and “Little Men” (2016).

EXCLUSIVE: Soo Joo Park (Sense8), Brock O’Hurn (The Righteous Gemstones), Bella Thorne (Measure of Revenge), Laird Hamilton (Point Break) and Duke Nicholson (Us) are the latest additions to the cast of the dark comedy The Trainer, which Tony Kaye (American History X) is directing from a script by star Vito Schnabel and Jeff Solomon.

Red Rocket, has died, aged 60. Brenda Deiss in ‘Red Rocket’The news was confirmed by the film’s director, Sean Baker, who wrote on Twitter on Wednesday (16 February): “I have some very sad news to report. Brenda Deiss, who played Lil in Red Rocket, passed away on Monday after suffering a stroke.

Brenda Deiss, the former secretary who was cast by Red Rocket writer-director Sean Baker to play the mother-in-law of Simon Rex’s lead character Mikey Saber, died Monday at Clear Lake Hospital in Clear Lake, Texas, from complications suffered in a stroke last month. She was 60.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaBrenda Deiss, a former NASA secretary who became an unexpected movie star with her role as a tough-talking matriarch in “Red Rocket,” died Monday in Clear Lake, Tex., from complications following a stroke she suffered in January. She was 60. A spokesperson for “Red Rocket” confirmed Deiss’ death to Variety.Deiss came to acting late in life.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaChris Evans and Adam Kersh have launched Fusion Management, an artist-driven management company that will focus on actors, filmmakers and creators.Their initial management roster features a number of notable clients with a particular focus on indie multi-hyphenates and auteurs. The list includes Sean Baker, who earned raves for “Red Rocket”; filmmaker and actor Amy Seimetz, the co-creator of “The Girlfriend Experience” on Starz and the star of “No Sudden Move”; Cooper Raiff, a writer, director, producer and actor whose film “Cha Cha Real Smooth” premiered at Sundance this week to critical acclaim; and Kelly O’Sullivan, the writer and star of the award-winning “Saint Frances.”Evans, formerly a manager at One Entertainment, and Kersh, co-founder of Brigade Marketing, bring more than two decades of combined experience within the entertainment industry.

Simon Rex, Bree Elrod and Suzanna Son pose together at the premiere of their new film Red Rocket at TCL Chinese 6 Theatres on Friday (November 12) in Hollywood, Calif.

Tilda Swinton and Sean Baker were among the human co-conspirators present to accept awards on behalf of the canine scene-stealers in their Cannes films at the irreverent Palm Dog Awards on the Croisette this afternoon. Masterminded by journalist Toby Rose in 2001, inspired by his own French fox terrier Muttley, the Palm Dog Awards show has become an annual treat on the penultimate day of the Cannes Film Festival, and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year.

Simon Rex is making a big comeback to the entertainment world!

Simon Rex is making a big comeback to the entertainment world!

Red Rocket director Sean Baker is prepared to receive hate mail, he said at a press conference in Cannes on Thursday.

If you love independent cinema, you’re almost certainly a fan of Sean Baker. Along with his partner in crime and writer Chris Bergoch, Bake has been making beloved indies that even manage to be elevated towards Oscar contention. The Florida Project was cited with an Academy Award nomination, but Tangerine was a close miss, while other work of theirs like Starlet is top notch as well. Yesterday, some news came down the pike about their next project. That alone would be exciting, but add in that Baker and Bergoch not only have penned the flick, but it’s almost finished shooting. Read on for a bit more about this development…

Bella Thorne on a film about OnlyFans, following criticism from sex workers. Bella, 22, joined the platform last week and made a whopping $2 million (£1.5m) in just one week as fans clamoured to see what content the actress was selling.The former Disney star claimed that she had joined OnlyFans as ‘research’ for a feature film she was working on with Tangerine director Baker.However, the filmmaker has denied being involved, and claims that he instructed Thorne not to hurt the sex work community should she proceed with a documentary.The 49-year-old tweeted a statement reading: ‘I would like to make it clear that the news of me making a film (documentary or fiction narrative) about OnlyFans and using Bella Thorne as research is false.

Sean Baker, the acclaimed director of the movie The Florida Project, has denied that he is working with Bella Thorne on a movie about her time on OnlyFans.

Bella Thorne said she's taken in more than $2 million from her page on the X-rated subscription site OnlyFans, and is focused on bringing a story about it to film.The always-daring actress/author/entrepreneur, 22, said she's focused on a collaboration with filmmaker Sean Baker about the site and entertainers showcased on it.'It's a feature we are researching as I'm living it currently,' Thorne told the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.