EXCLUSIVE: Marking the end of a remarkable four decade run at its parent company, IFC Films co-president Jonathan Sehring is stepping down at year end. The decision is his, and he will take some time for himself, but retains the right to do other things in the indie film space where he has been an important figure for…

EXCLUSIVE: Boyhood helmer Richard Linklater is the frontrunner for the job of directing Jennifer Lawrence in The Rosie Project, I hear. That is the Sony Pictures adaptation of the Graeme Simison novel that Phil Lord & Christopher Miller just exited to helm the young Han Solo Star Wars movie. The film's being produced…

First the Boyhood director saw a career's worth of film prints, annotated scripts, unseen footage, PR material, props and other material destroyed in a massive 2011 fire that also ravaged more than 1,600 homes and killed two people. Today Richard Linklater saw his hopes of getting compensated by his insurance company…

Showtime Networks has built a slate of indie distributors since its distribution deals expired with the three big studios that launched Epix in 2009. Today the company extended its existing deal with one of its new batch of distributors, IFC Films, re-upping their theatrical output deal for five years through 2021.

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The actress, who just won an Oscar for her role as the mom in Boyhood, will write about her unconventional family, being a single mother at age 20 and her experience as a woman in Hollywood, according to a statement released by Random House. Susan Kamil, Publisher of Random House, will edit the book. Kamil announced…

The European film festivals, notably Cannes, have often played a role in launching what go on to be Oscar nominees and winners across varying categories come the following February. But Venice and Berlin showed increasing muscle this year. And right about now, Venice Film Festival chief Alberto Barbera has to be…

Ever since the Richard Linklater directed film debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2014, there has been talk of the actress who plays mother Olivia Evans and the Academy Awards. Tonight that talk became reality as Patricia Arquette won Best Supporting Actress at the 87th Oscars. The Boyhood actress thanked the…

The 87th Academy Awards wrapped up this evening with Fox Searchlight’s Birdman taking the Best Picture prize. Alejandro G. Inarritu’s backstage drama had a total of four wins, including for Director, Original Screenplay and Emmanuel Lubezki’s cinematography — a second consecutive Oscar for the DP. Wes Anderson’s The Gr…

It’s all over but for the opening of 24 envelopes later tonight. The long, winding road to the 87th annual Academy Awards ends in a few hours at the Dolby Theatre and I think host Neil Patrick Harris will have his work cut out for him in warming up this audience.

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If Birdman or even Boyhood wins best picture at the Oscars tonight, don't look for a big uptick in their domestic box office. During the past 10 years, an Oscar Best Picture win has translated into a 20% increase in a film's total cume following the ceremony, but achieving that hike depends on whether the distributor…

UPDATED with details: Birdman snagged Best Feature today at the 30th annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. The win in the final category gave it <img class="alignleft wp-image-1201378582" src="https://s0.wp.com/wp-content/themes/vip/plugins/lazy-load-0.7/images/1x1.trans.gif" alt="Julianne Moore Spirit Awards"…

Rallying for two of the final three wins of the afternoon, Fox Searchlight’s Birdman won a leading three times at the Film Independent Spirit Awards on the beach in Santa Monica. It added wins for Best Actor Michael Keaton and cinematography for Emmanuel Lubezki. Three other films had two wins: Boyhood, including for…