You are viewing the archive: “Nancy Utley”

OSCARS Q&A: Mike Fleming Interviews Fox Searchlight’s Steve Gilula And Nancy Utley

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday February 10, 2012 @ 7:17am PSTTags: Fox Searchlight, George Clooney, Nancy Utley, The Descendants, The Tree of Life
Mike Fleming

Even though Fox Searchlight co-presidents Steve Gilula and Nancy Utley have turned “challenging films” like Slumdog Millionaire, Black Swan, Crazy Heart, Once, Juno, and 127 Hours into awards-season successes, they are the lowest-profile indie moguls you will find. At a time when they are steering two Best Picture nominees — the Alexander Payne-directed The Descendants and the Terrence Malick-directed The Tree Of Life – they tell Deadline about the struggles, glory and disappointment that is part and parcel of the indie distributor’s mission of finding audiences for prestige films. When it works, it’s wondrous. Slumdog Millionaire, a $15 million film that was nearly relegated to a direct-to-video fate by Warner Bros, won eight Oscars including Best Picture, and grossed $141 million domestic and $378 million worldwide; Black Swan, a $13 million film that flatlined several times during the 10 years it took to get made, grossed $107 million domestic and $329 million worldwide and won Best Actress for Natalie Portman; Once, an obscure Irish film that cost $150,000 to make, won Best Song and grossed $9.4 million stateside and $20.7 million worldwide; Crazy Heart, a $9 million film about a drunk singer, won Best Actor for Jeff Bridges and grossed $39 million domestic and $47 million worldwide; the $7.5 million Juno won Best Screenplay for Diablo Cody, and grossed $143 million domestic and $231 million worldwide. Here, they lay out how it’s done and why voters should consider The Descendants and The Tree Of Life for Best Picture and other honors. 

DEADLINE: Fox Searchlight has eight nominations, with two Best Picture candidates. Make a case why Alexander Payne’s The Descendants is a worthy best picture winner.
UTLEY: The Descendants is a remarkably beautiful and accomplished film that is in the vein of Oscar movies from a little bit further back, like Kramer Vs. Kramer, Ordinary People, Terms Of Endearment, even On Golden Pond or To Kill A Mockingbird. It is in the sort of subtle character-based, humanistic, realistic story-telling tradition. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating because our movie isn’t flashy, it doesn’t have a lot of showy or bling kind of elements in it. It’s highly naturalistic. But I think those kind of movies are important to moviegoers because they reflect their lives and issues. This is a movie that is going to stand the test of time. People will be watching this movie in 10 years, 20 years, in 30 years. That’s an important part of what should be considered in Best Picture.
GILULA: It’s also a film that has really resonated all the way from the rarefied world of the film critics and journalists out to the mainstream: the public. The major studios are making almost none of those kinds of films anymore and it’s not easy for us either. But the fact is that the material is so good, and you have one of the very best directors and some of the best actors telling what on paper is a very simple story but achieves the highest level of the art. READ MORE »

Comments (3)

Fox Searchlight’s ‘Tree Of Life’ Release Branches Out To UK

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday June 7, 2011 @ 1:06pm PDTTags: Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Fox Searchlight, Jessica Chastain, Nancy Utley, Sean Penn, Stephen Gilula, Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: After opening Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life in the U.S., Fox Searchlight presidents Nancy Utley and Stephen Gilula have acquired the U.K. rights to the film from Bill Pohlad’s River Road Entertainment, which financed the film. They’ve dated … Read More »

Comments 20

Fox Searchlight Brings Back ‘Sunshine’ Gang

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday May 25, 2011 @ 6:44am PDTTags: Fox Searchlight, Jeff Bridges, Nancy Utley, Paul Dano, Ron Yerxa, Stephen Gilula
Mike Fleming

When I met with Fox Searchlight presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley at the Cannes Film Festival, it seemed clear that they were not going to take part in one of the most aggressive acquisitions market that Cannes has seen in years. But not only did they walk away with the Palme d’Or prestige badge that will help Terrence Malick’s visionary The Tree of Life find its way when Searchlight releases it in theaters beginning Friday, they also greenlit the first film by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris since Little Miss Sunshine. The new film, He Loves Me, is a reunion. Besides being back in the Searchlight fold, they’ve set as star Paul Dano, whose career was launched by Sunshine. Dano will be paired alongside his girlfriend, Zoe Kazan, who wrote the script. The film also reunites Dayton and Faris with Sunshine producers Albert Berger and Ron Yerxa. Jeff Bridges is being courted to play another role. After Little Miss Sunshine won two Oscars and was a Best Picture nominee, Dayton and Faris were courted like crazy by studios and became attached to a number of projects that didn’t pan. It has been five years since the release of that film, but they start production in July. Read More »

Comments (3)

Fox Searchlight Buys ‘Sound Of My Voice’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday April 20, 2011 @ 4:15pm PDTTags: Fox Searchlight, Nancy Utley, Stephen Gilula
Mike Fleming

LOS ANGELES, CA April 20, 2011 – Fox Searchlight Pictures Presidents Stephen Gilula and Nancy Utley announced today that the company has acquired rights to English speaking territories, including North America, United Kingdom and Australia, for the suspenseful drama SOUND OF MY VOICE theatrical release. Directed by Zal Batmanglij and written by Batmanglij and Brit Marling, SOUND OF MY VOICE stars Brit Marling, Christopher Denham, Nicole Vicius and Avery Pohl. The film was produced by Hans Ritter, Shelley Surpin and Brit Marling.

“Zal Batmanglij’s first feature offers a truly unique voice in filmmaking with a tense and compelling tale. Brit Marling amazed us once again with her stunningly deft performance,” said Utley and Gilula. “We are thrilled to be working with such exceptional talent.”

“‘Sound of My Voice’ could not have found a better home than at Fox Searchlight. I’m inspired by their brave choices and unwavering support of filmmakers. I’m excited to be part of the family,” said Batmanglij

In SOUND OF MY VOICE, Peter (Denham) and Lorna (Vicius), a young Los Angeles couple, infiltrate the underworld of a cult led by an enigmatic young woman named Maggie (Marling). Intent on exposing her as a charlatan and freeing the group members from her spell, Peter and Lorna start to question their objective as they unravel the mysteries of Maggie’s past.

Read More »

Comments (5)

Fox Searchlight & UK’s Ingenious Commit To Financing and Distributing British Films

By TIM ADLER in London | Monday January 31, 2011 @ 5:26am PSTTags: 127 Hours, Fox Searchlight, Ingenious Media, Movie Deals, Movies, Nancy Utley, Never Let Me Go, UK Film Funding

London-based Ingenious Media, the private equity fund which backed Twentieth Century Fox’s Avatar, has struck a deal with Fox Searchlight to make between 2 to 3 movies in the $10M-15M range. Ingenious could inject up to $14 million annually into … Read More »

Comments (2)

BREAKING: Fox Searchlight Buys Terrence Malick’s ‘Tree of Life’ And Sets 2011 Release

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 9, 2010 @ 9:24am PDTTags: Bill Pohlad, Bill Pohlad Apparition, Bob Berney, Brad Pitt, Fox Searchlight, Nancy Utley, River Road Entertainment, Sean Penn, Stephen Gilula, Terrence Malick, The Tree of Life, Tom Ortenberg Consultant
Mike Fleming

Fox Searchlight has acquired the Terrence Malick-directed The Tree of Life from Bill Pohlad’s River Road Entertainment. Though the film might be an awards season magnet with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn starring, the distributor is flush with those kinds of films already, and will release in 2011. At the Toronto International Film Festival, Searchlight will fete 127 Hours, Black Swan, Conviction and Never Let Me Go. Read More »

Comments (15)