News

Laura Fairrie’s family-sanctioned film praises the author’s personal courage, work ethic and feminism-lite but doesn’t delve very deep

Mega-selling author Jackie Collins enjoyed her big-haired and shoulder-padded heyday with raunchy books like Hollywood Wives, The Bitch and The Stud; now she is celebrated in this family-sanctioned fan-documentary praising her personal courage in the face of spousal abuse, her work ethic and her feminist-lite celebration of commercial success for sexually attractive women. It’s watchable, with some stinging rebukes for the male snobs – including, I’m sorry to say, Clive James, normally a great pop culture ally, shown here in a gruesome TV clip alongside Bernard Levin mocking Collins in her absence.

Collins grew up in the shadow of her more glamorous older sister Joan Collins, she had some cosmetic work done (which she was delighted with) and tried, like Joan, to crack Hollywood. When that didn’t work out,...

Jackie Collins epitomizes one of the 20th century’s favorite types of star: the celebrity novelist who gets rich and famous writing scandalous best-sellers about fictionalized scandalous celebrities. She rode in from England to Hollywood to take up her throne as the queen of the delectably trashy sex-and-shopping paperbacks, peaking in the Eighties, right around the time her real-life big sister Joan Collins starred in the prime-time soap Dynasty. Jackie turned herself into a wildly successful one-woman factory for fantasies with nuanced titles like The Bitch and The Stud. Yet...

Jackie Collins created a literary empire and attracted millions of fans with her stories of empowered women who successfully navigate the world of the “rich and famous.” They had fabulous hair, fabulous sex and fabulous lives.

Critics hated Collins’ novels, dismissing the author as “the queen of trash.” But that’s deeply unfair. Books like “Hollywood Wives,” “Lady Boss” and “The Stud” helped define a certain kind of 20th century feminism, one that saw Collins’ heroines thriving in board rooms, back lots and executive suites, spaces that had previously been dominated by men.

“Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story,” a new documentary from CNN Films, traces the author’s career and meteoric rise to the top of the best-seller lists, while also revealing the personal struggles that shaped her work. To tell that intimate story, director Laura Fairrie drew on Collins’ home videos and diaries, and interviewed her children, close friends and sister,...

Movies, movies, and more movies!

That's the reality of our summer viewing, and this week doesn't disappoint.

Vicious Fun lives up to its name on Shudder and comes highly recommended. We bet Fear Street Part 1: 1984 will, too!

Saturday, June 26

9/8c Sand Dollar Cove (Hallmark)

Stamford developer Elli works on acquiring beachfront property in Sand Dollar Cove, a quaint Connecticut beach town.

But she falls for the town's charm and property owner in the process.

Starring Chad Michael Murray, Aly Michalka, and Clare Bowen.

Sunday, June 27

7/6c A Discovery of Witches (AMC)

The second season of the thrilling romantic drama premieres on AMC after premiering on AMC+, Sundance Now, and Shudder earlier this year.

The second season finds Matthew and Diana time walking in 1590 as Peter Knox and Gerbert close in on them.

It's a stunning season with many significant developments, and we'll be rerunning our reviews so that you can follow along!

The distributor has also picked up a SXSW drama.

Eve Gabereau’s Modern Films has acquired UK and Ireland rights to three dramas set to screen at the Berlinale’s Summer Special and a title first seen at SXSW.

The London-based firm has picked up Memory Box, directed by Joana Hadjithomas and Khalil Joreige, from The Playtime Group; Anna Zohra Berrached’s Copilot from The Match Factory; and Jacqueline Lentzou’s Moon, 66 Questions from Luxbox

Modern Films has also added Leah Purcell’s The Drover’s Wife to its release slate, following its debut at SXSW, in a deal with Memento International.

Dave and Odette Annable will guest star on Fox’s “Fantasy Island,” Variety has learned exclusively. The reboot of the hit 1970s series will premiere on August 10 at 9 p.m. on Fox.

On the surface, their characters, Zev and Daphne, have a great marriage, great jobs and a child-free life. However, as they settle into their routines and habits, they’re just not connecting the way they used to. In an attempt to rekindle their spark, they travel to the titular Fantasy Island to seek out the “ultimate adventure.” As usual, the island gives more than what’s expected.

“Fantasy Island” takes place at a luxury resort, where literally any fantasy requested by guests is fulfilled, although they rarely turn out as expected. Each episode will tell emotional, provocative stories about people who arrive with dreams and desires and depart enlightened and transformed through the magical realism of Fantasy Island.

In today’s Global Bulletin, BAFTA prepares online sessions for several top 2021 TV nominees; Modern Films picks up global rights to “Lady Boss”; Mise En Scéne Company adds “Anchorage” to its Marché du Film slate; Abacus Media Rights will distribute “The Masked Dancer U.K.” abroad; Amazon launches miniTV in India and sets “Sherni” premiere date; Head Gear and Big Wave Productions make key hires in the U.K.; Kaiser Chiefs frontman Ricky Wilson gets animated in Sky Kids’ “Dodo”; Strawberry Blond opens offices in Glasgow; and MTV U.K. partners with The Open University on a digital series for promising alumni.

Awards

Jodie Comer, Steve McQueen, Hayley Squires and Waleed Zuaiter are a few of the stars headlining BAFTA’s The Television Sessions 2021, an annual event series — held online for the second year in a row — featuring BAFTA-nominated shows and talent. Taking place May 18 through June 4, the five panels...

Titles include ‘Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story’ and Mark Cousins’ ‘The Story of Looking’.

Eve Gabereau’s Modern Films has secured UK and Ireland rights to a raft of documentaries set to premiere at Tribeca Film Festival and Sheffield Doc/Fest.

The acquisitions are led by Laura Fairrie’s Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story in a deal with AGC International, the sales and distribution arm of Stuart Ford’s AGC Studios. Following its world premiere at Tribeca next month, Modern Films is planning event preview screenings of the documentary in late June followed by a wider theatrical release...

Netflix, Sky Team For Writing Fellowship

Netflix and Sky have joined forces with Sex Education writer Bisha K Ali to launch a UK screenwriting fellowship for people from under-represented backgrounds. The scheme offers up to six successful applicants the chance to join a year-long program, during which they will receive £22,568 to write a spec script for an original idea, as well take on a placement in a Sky or Netflix writers’ room. “We’ve worked to design a programme that not only tries to remove some of the barriers to entering our industry, but provides the space, time and financial security to help writers develop their craft,” said Anne Mensah, Netflix UK’s VP of original series. You can apply here.

Modern Films Snags ‘Lady Boss’

London-based Modern Films has acquired Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story and is planning a July 2 UK/Ireland theatrical release. The feature documentary will...

Selection presents 56 world premieres, focuses on comedic, music-centered, socially-conscious films.

Tribeca Festival 2021 has announced 66 films in the line-up of the upcoming outdoor 20th anniversary edition that runs June 9-20, including documentaries on the late food and travel broadcaster Anthony Bourdain and Norwegian pop icons A-ha.

The selection will present 56 world premieres and focuses on comedic, music-centered, and socially-conscious films. Many of the films will also be available for US audiences to view online the day after they premiere in person through the Tribeca at Home virtual hub.

Curated Juneteenth programming throughout the festival will celebrate voices from the African Diaspora,...

”At AGC we’re cognisant that we are one of the cornerstone suppliers to the international marketplace.”

AGC Studios will screen its newly titled Neill Blomkamp supernatural thriller Demonic and Jackie Collins documentary Lady Boss to worldwide buyers at the upcoming EFM.

Demonic shot in secret in British Columbia last summer and features an up-and-coming cast.

AGC Studios fully financed the project, which Screen was the first to report last autumn. AGC head Stuart Ford was keeping mum about plot details although he did say, “Typically for Neill’s films it has a highly original visual component as well as some great scares.

AGC Studios CEO Stuart Ford has a number of UK film and TV projects in development.

As AGC Studios kicks off talks at AFM 2020 Online this week on Dave Bautista sci-fi Universe’s Most Wanted and updates buyers on Doug Liman’s recent London production Lockdown, first details have emerged of the company’s ambitious UK slate.

Since founder and CEO Stuart Ford launched the company two years ago, he and his European team have been quietly assembling a robust film and TV production and development roster alongside the US titles.

The burgeoning pipeline features a rare directorial outing from Richard E. Grant,...

Magnolia Pictures distributed in Us.

BBC Storyville has acquired UK rights from Agc International to Scandalous, the documentary about notorious tabloid the National Enquirer.

BBC Storyville will broadcast the film on BBC Four in June.

Mark Landsman’s film explores the publication’s impact on journalism, and the business, cultural and political landscapes.

Generoso Pope Jr. bought the sports newspaper then known as the New York Enquirer in the 1950s with funds from his godfather and reputed mob boss Frank Costello.

Scandalous looks at how Pope Jr. transformed it into a magazine dedicated to scandal, medical oddities, conspiracy theories, celebrity...

BBC documentary strand ‘Storyville’ has picked up U.K. rights to a film on tabloid The National Enquirer from Agc International.

Co-produced by CNN Films, Agc Studios and This is Just a Test, “Scandalous” traces the National Enquirer’s evolution from when it was first founded by Generoso Pope Jr. — who bought racing and sports newspaper New York Enquirer in the 1950s and rebranded the publication as the National Enquirer — to its current status as one of the world’s most sensational tabloid brands.

Directed by Mark Landsman, “Scandalous” explores how Pope Jr. grew the publication into a mass-market tabloid chock full of various scandals, medical oddities and conspiracy theories, celebrity gossip and paparazzi photos. The doc features interviews with former staff and other media observers, who discuss the tabloid’s success, the impact of its segue into partisan politics, and why the National Enquirer began catching and killing stories...

Jackie Collins' life will be getting the documentary treatment from John Battsek, the Oscar-winning producer behind Searching For Sugar Man and One Day In September, and Lizzie Gillett.

Laura Fairrie will direct Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story that will chronicle the life of the best-selling novelist — a life that oftentimes rivaled the plots of her novels. Collins, who also held court as a screenwriter, producer and general Hollywood fixture, passed away in 2015.

Stuart Ford's Agc Studios will handle global distribution rights on behalf of Battsek and Gillett's Passion Pictures.

CNN Films, with recent doc work ...

Jackie Collins' life will be getting the documentary treatment from John Battsek, the Oscar-winning producer behind Searching For Sugar Man and One Day In September, and Lizzie Gillett.

Laura Fairrie will direct Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story that will chronicle the life of the best-selling novelist — a life that oftentimes rivaled the plots of her novels. Collins, who also held court as a screenwriter, producer and general Hollywood fixture, passed away in 2015.

Stuart Ford's Agc Studios will handle global distribution rights on behalf of Battsek and Gillett's Passion Pictures.

CNN Films, with recent doc work ...

Agc Studios, CNN Films, and BBC Arts are co-financing documentary Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story about the eponymous English romance novelist.

Laura Fairrie is directing the doc biopic which is being produced by John Battsek and Lizzie Gillet of Searching For Sugar Man and One Day In September outfit Passion Pictures. The movie will chart the journey of one of the world’s best-selling novelists whose turbulent life sometimes rivaled the spicy plots she dreamed up for her books. Hollywood Wives scribe Collins (née Jacqueline but known as Jackie), also also an actress, screenwriter and producer, passed away in 2015 after spending the latter decades of her life in La.

Agc International will handle global distribution rights on behalf of Passion Pictures and will introduce the film to U.S. domestic and international buyers in the fall upon the film’s completion. CNN Films (Three Identical Strangers) will retain broadcast TV rights in North America.

Agc Studios, CNN Films, and the BBC Arts are co-financing Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story.

Agc Studios, CNN Films, and the BBC Arts are co-financing Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story from Passion Pictures.

Laura Fairrie directs the documentary about the late, bestselling British author and unlikely feminist Jackie Collins, the former B-movie actress who moved from London to Los Angeles in the 1980s, published dozens of bestsellers and lost the two loves of her lives, before ultimately succumbing to cancer in 2015.

John Battsek and Lizzie Gillett of Passion are producing Lady Boss: The Jackie Collins Story, which Agc International...

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Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

Bryce Dallas Howard costars as a dinosaur expert tasked with rescuing the animals from their island. Also costarring Daniella Pineda, Geraldine Chaplin, and Isabella Sermon. (male writers and director)

my review | find cinemas

limited

Boundaries

Shana Feste writes and directs this family dramedy about a woman (Vera Farmiga) and her teen son who take a road trip with her criminal father.

my review | find cinemas

Never Steady, Never Still [pictured]

Shirley Henderson costars in this domestic drama about a woman suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Written and directed by Kathleen Hepburn.

find cinemas

Spiral

Laura Fairrie directs this documentary about the rise of anti-Semitism in contemporary France.

find cinemas

Lobster Cop

Xinyun Li writes and directs this Chinese crime comedy about cops who open a restaurant to entrap bad guys.

find cinemas

Marlina the Murderer in Four Acts

Mouly Surya cowrites and directs this Indonesian dramatic...

In France, a man known as Dieudonné appears before crowds who shout out their approval when he claims that the Holocaust has become an engine of “profit.” He then brings an actor onstage in ragged clothes who pretends to be a Jew being deported. Dieudonné is no historical denier; his point is that the Holocaust happened, but that we don’t have to pretend to give a damn. The most shocking thing about him, though, is that Dieudonné isn’t a far-right politician. He’s a comedian. In France, the new wave of anti-Semitic fervor is more than ideology — it’s entertainment. In the 21st century, that’s how you know that it’s working.

Dieudonné is one of a dozen or so figures featured in “Spiral,” a documentary about the new rise of anti-Semitism in Europe. It’s a disquieting movie, because it attaches faces and attitudes and a...

"How can we learn to live together?" Cohen Media Group has debuted an official trailer for a documentary titled Spiral, made by director Laura Fairrie (The Battle for Barking). This premiered at Doc NYC and a few other festivals last year, and it's a look at the rise of anti-Semitism and assaults against Jews in France. "With anti-Semitic movements on the rise across Europe, particularly in France, many members of the Jewish community are faced with a difficult choice: stay in France and face down the bigotry that seems to be gaining cultural and social acceptance through popular cultural figures like the comedian Dieudonné, known for his signature inverted Nazi salute, or leave the country to seek refuge in Israel and beyond." This looks like a sad and infuriating examination of the rise of modern anti-Semitism, from a caring filmmaker. Here's the official trailer (+ poster) for Laura Fairrie's documentary Spiral,...

According to Laura Fairrie’s forthcoming documentary “Spiral,” French Jews today face the same dilemma as their World War II-era ancestors: whether to flee over religious persecution. Like the United States, France has seen a normalizing of anti-Semitism. The alarming new trailer for this 2017 Doc NYC selection shows not only comedian Dieudonne M’bala M’bala mocking Hitler’s victims with dancing and cartoons, but also a teenage girl who vlogs, “There is no race that is as destructive as the Jew.”

France is home to Europe’s biggest Jewish population, comprised of 500,000 individuals whose synagogues have been attacked in response to political tensions between Israelis and Palestinians. In March, thousands of Parisians marched to condemn anti-Semitism, prompted by the recent, brutal killings of a 67-year-old Jewish woman and an 85-year-old Holocaust survivor. Much of “Spiral” focuses on France’s young Jewish community, burdened by increasing intolerance.

The producing team...