Half Nelson, starring Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps, was acquired by ThinkFilm on the last day of the Sundance Film Festival. For just under $1 million, ThinkFilm purchased worldwide rights to director Ryan Fleck's first feature, on which TEC alum Chad Beck was Associate Editor and TEC alum Cindy Lee was Assistant Editor.
How to Eat Your Watermelon in White Company (And Enjoy It) , written and directed by Joe Angio, opens at Film Forum this week to rave reviews. Mr. Angio will be talking about the film to six-week students this week at The Edit Center. How to Eat Your Watermelon was onlined at Final Frame by Will Cox, who was assisted by TEC alum Matt Jacobs.
Edit Center alum David Kausch just finished editing the season premiere of the Court TV series, "Dominick Dunner's Power, Privilege and Justice." The episode is entitled "Mystery in the Mountains," and it premieres this week on Court TV's cable channel.
Red Doors, the project of the July/August 2004 six-week class, has been purchased for distribution by Polychrome Pictures, in association with Warner Bros. Home Video. Additionally, CBS and Paramount Network TV have commissioned a one-hour pilot script based on Red Doors to be written by TEC alum Jane Chen with Geogia Lee and Mia Riverton.
Room, the project of the May/June 2004 six-week class, has been nominated this week for two prestigious Independent Spirit Awards: The John Cassavetes Award, given to the best feature made under $500K, as well as the award for Best Female Lead. Room was edited by TEC Instructor Pete Beaudreau, who was assisted by TEC alum Riva Marker.
Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt, opens at the Angelika theater this week. Edited by TEC alum Michael Taylor, the film has been described as "a tender, impressionistic film biography" by The New York Times. Taylor also has another film opening in theaters this week, Exist: Not a Protest Film, his first editing gig after taking the six-week course in 2001.
Swimmers, the project of the January 2004 Edit Center class, has been purchased for distribution by Skouras Films. Swimmers will be released in theaters next year and will then air on the Sundance Channel. This follows the film's recent win at the Seattle Film Festival, where it was awarded the Grand Jury Prize for Best New American Film. Swimmers was directed by Doug Sadler and edited by Edit Center alum Lilah Bankier and Edit Center instructor Affonso Goncalves.
The IFP has announced its nominees for the 2005 Gotham Awards, and both Saving Face and Murderball are on the list. Edit Center alum Alice Wu has been nominated as a "Breakthrough Director" for Saving Face, which was distributed by Sony Classics earlier this year. Murderball, edited by Edit Center teacher Geoff Richman, is nominated for Best Documentary.
Alchemy, a feature film edited by Edit Center alum Allison Zell, will air on ABC Family this week. The film was directed by Evan Oppenheimer and stars Thomas Cavanagh (NBC's Ed).
The pilot episode of Restaurant Revamp is set to air on Food Network this week. The show, which was edited by Edit Center alum David Kausch, follows celebrity chef Bobby Flay as he attempts to rescue failing restaurants.