Documentary ‘Who Are the Marcuses’ Will Look at Mysterious Israel Donor Couple — Film News in Brief

Jazz Tangcay
·4 min read
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Stone Canyon Entertainment has announced the start of production on “Who Are the Marcuses,” a feature documentary about a mysterious couple who donated half a billion dollars to Israel, the largest single gift in the history of the state.

Matthew Mishory is directing, with Stone Canyon’s Bradford Schlei and Alvaro Fernandez producing, and executive producers Marc Bennett and Rhino Films’ Stephen Nemeth. Filming is set to begin in Israel and in Austin, Texas in the first quarter of the year for a 2022 release. The film pieces together the lives of Holocaust refugees Lottie and Howard Marcus (pictured), who lived in a modest San Diego apartment and bequeathed half a billion dollars to Ben-Gurion University of the Negev to study water management.

The couple hoped their gift would help bring about regional conflict resolution in Israel and peace through water. The film will explore how they invested their nest egg after meeting Warren Buffett when he was a grad student. Mishory has also made documentaries about Derek Jarman, James Dean, Artur Schnabel and Alexander Mosolove.

“What could be more compelling than a mystery story that explores our generation’s most timely issues: climate change and wealth accumulation? This is that story,” said Stone Canyon’s Schlei. “I was big fan of Matthew’s previous films and am thrilled to be working with him on this one.”

Company 3 Adds Internationally-Acclaimed Yvan Lucas to Colorist Roster

Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese’s go-to colorist Yvan Lucas has been added to Company 3’s colorist roster.

Lucas has colored a highly impressive number of major award-winning feature films, including “The Irishman,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Django Unchained,” and “Inglorious Basterds.”

“I am very excited about coming to Company 3,” Lucas says. “I look forward to joining Stefan and such a creative team and being a part of this robust company with so many excellent projects to its credit.”

Lucas has worked at a variety of facilities, most notably EFILM (now part of Company 3), and as an always-in-demand freelance colorist in the US and his native France. “Yvan has colored some of my favorite films,” says Company 3 President Stefan Sonnenfeld. “I love his work and I’m beyond thrilled to have him part of our team.”

Before embarking on his digital color grading career with France’s first digitally-graded feature, Amélie, for director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel, Lucas was among the busiest photochemical color timers in the country, timing such internationally-praised films as Delicatessen and City of Lost Children for Jeunet and cinematographer Darrius Khondji.

Cinedigm Acquires North American Rights To Sinister Fairytale ‘My Beautiful Bride’

Cinedigm Corp announced today its acquisition of all U.S. and Canadian rights to “My Beautiful Bride.”

The film follows a disappearance, a mysterious radio call, and a dangerous game of cat and mouse that lead viewers through a twisted new take on a well-known fairy tale, in which a man goes on a quest to find his fiancé’s killers only to find himself being lured deeper into their web.

Marc Cubelli (“Kids vs Monsters”), Jaime Zevallos (Marvel’s “Cloak & Dagger”), Peter MacNeill (“A History of Violence”), Danielle Burgess (HBO’s “The Deuce”), Michael J. Burg (“BlacKkKlansman”) and Leila Almas Rose (“The Summoning”) all star in the film.

The deal was negotiated by Josh Thomashow, Director of Acquisitions, on behalf of Cinedigm, with Jared Safier, Chief Executive Officer, on behalf of Safier Entertainment.

“My Beautiful Bride” will be released on April 20 on digital.

Participant and ro*co Expand Partnership

Participant is expanding its partnership with ro*co to distribute more of Participant’s award-winning documentaries to U.S. universities through ro*co’s extensive network of educational institutions. This includes the documentary “John Lewis: Good Trouble” which will be available to these universities during Black History Month.

The documentary was directed by Dawn Porter and uses recent interviews with the late Rep. Lewis, among others, to chronicle his 60-plus years of social activism and legislative action on civil rights, voting rights, gun control, health-care reform and immigration.

“With a shared mission of showcasing content that educates, entertains and inspires, we are excited to expand our relationship with ro*co films to bring these thought-provoking films to educational institutions at a time that couldn’t be more in need of them,” said Participant CEO David Linde.

Ro*co has developed a brand presence on campuses across North America by producing impact campaigns, special screenings and live events for their highly-curated documentaries, elevating awareness and classroom usage of films like Participant’s “An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power” and “Human Flow.”

Other Participant titles already available through ro*co, including “America To Me,” “Far From the Tree” and “Slay the Dragon,” also co-distributed by Magnolia Pictures.

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