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Seven filmmakers’ projects will each receive $45,000 as part of the inaugural Original Voices Fellowships launched by NBCU Academy and NBC News Studios.

The recipients also will receive a one-year fellowship to support their feature-length nonfiction film projects. That includes access to archive research, mentorships, story and edit consultations and distribution strategy expertise. They also will get marketing and publicity guidance and production resources.

NBCU Academy was launched as part of NBCUniversal News Group Chairman Cesar Conde’s Fifty Percent Challenge Initiative, with the goal of an employee base of 50% women and 50% people of color.

The recipients include:

Bloodthicker, directed by Zac Manuel and produced by Chris Haney: The documentary, filmed over four years, is about three childhood friends, all young musicians, navigating adulthood while living in the shadows of their famous fathers.

Hummingbirds, directed by Silvia Castaños, Estefania Contreras, Miguel Drake McLaughlin, Diane Ng, Ana Rodriguez-Falco, Jillian Schlesinger, and produced by Leslie Benavides,...

The premiere post-tiff destination (September 20-25th) in the film community and a major leg up for narrative and non-fiction films in development, the Independent Filmmaker Project (Ifp) announced a whopping 140 projects selected for the Project Forum at the upcoming Ifp Independent Film Week. Made up of several sections (Rbc’s Emerging Storytellers program, No Borders International Co-Production Market and Spotlight on Documentaries), we find latest updates from the likes of docu-helmers Doug Block (112 Weddings) and Lana Wilson (After Tiller), and among the narrative items we find headliners in Andrew Haigh (coming off the well received 45 Years), Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls and Madame Bovary), Terence Nance (An Oversimplification of Her Beauty), Lawrence Michael Levine (Wild Canaries), Jorge Michel Grau (We Are What We Are), Eleanor Burke and Ron Eyal (Stranger Things) and new faces in Sundance’s large family in Charles Poekel (Christmas, Again) and Olivia Newman (First Match). Here...

Once you’re absorbed by its terror, you can’t scream. We'll see if Samuel L. Jackson can avoid the slimy grasp of the galaxy's most feared gelatinous alien, as it's been revealed that the veteran actor will star in Goldcrest Films' remake of 1958's The Blob.

According to ScreenDaily, Jackson will star in The Blob remake as "a biochemistry professor attempting to thwart the other-worldly predator discovered deep within the earth." The film begins shooting this fall with Simon West (The Expendables 2, Con Air) in the director's chair.

Linking the upcoming remake to the original, Jack Harris, the producer of 1958's The Blob, will be one of the executive producers of the remake. Also producing the project are Richard Saperstein (Se7en, The Mist) and Brian Witten (Final Destination, 2009's Friday the 13th), both of whom have been behind strong horror genre offerings from the last two decades. They...

Exclusive: Pulp Fiction star boards in-demand thriller remake.

Samuel L. Jackson has signed on to play in Simon West’s (Con Air) remake of 1958 cult classic The Blob, which is due to shoot this fall with additional casting due to be announced shortly.

The sci-fi thriller follows the mayhem caused by an alien life form that threatens a small town.

Jackson will play a biochemistry professor attempting to thwart the other-worldly predator discovered deep within the earth.

Goldcrest, which is shopping the film in Cannes, has reportedly seen strong demand for the film in key territories.

Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten will produce along with Jack Harris, the 96-year-old producer of the original 1958 film, Judith Parker Harris, and Tae Won Chung.

Goldcrest Post will be providing picture and sound post production services and visual effects under supervisor Chris Haney (Avatar).

Director West said: “I have been waiting to work with Samuel L. Jackson my whole career. He is...

Once you’re absorbed by its terror, you can’t even scream. The slimy mass that is the Blob first thrilled audiences when it took on Steve McQueen on the big screen in 1958. It next oozed into cinemas via the 1972 sequel, Beware! The Blob, before being reborn in a 1988 remake directed by Chuck Russell and co-written by Frank Darabont. Proving that it’s still a relentless alien amoeba, 1958’s The Blob is being remade once again.

Goldcrest Films is moving forward with a remake of The Blob, with Simon West (The Expendables 2, Con Air) lined up for the director’s chair and shooting slated to begin this summer. Modern-day special effects capabilities are expected to bring the Blob to life like never before, and Chris Haney (Avatar, Avengers Assemble) will oversee the VFX in post-production.

Linking the upcoming remake to the original, Jack Harris, the producer of 1958’s The Blob,...

Exclusive: It crawls! It creeps! It’s getting a remake. Goldcrest Films is set to co-produce an update of 1958 horror/sci-fi classic The Blob. Simon West (Wild Card, The Mechanic, Expendables 2) is directing with principal photography eyed for this summer. Producers are Richard Saperstein and Brian Witten (Cell). Korea’s Taewon Entertainment and A-List Corporation are co-financing with Goldcrest.

The original film, which was released by Paramount, starred a young Steve McQueen. The story sees a gelatinous alien life-form emerge from a crashed meteor and begin to ooze through Downingtown, Pa, eating the townsfolk as it goes. Check out the original trailer below.

Goldcrest is also handling international sales and distribution and will launch the film at next month’s European Film Market in Berlin. UTA is brokering U.S. distribution rights; the agency reps West.

A 1972 sequel, Beware! The Blob, was helmed by Larry Hagman, and in 1988, Chuck Russell...

After a brief hiatus due to our live coverage of Comic-Con, we’re back with a double-sized edition of the Indie Spotlight, highlighting the recent independent horror news sent our way. Today’s feature includes a new trailer for Come Back to Me and I Spill Your Guts 2, release details on Schism, Silent Retreat, and the Class of Nuke ‘Em High soundtrack, and much more:

Come Back to Me Trailer: “Sarah (Walder) and Josh McLaren (Passmore) are a young married couple living in suburban Las Vegas. Shortly after a car accident, Sarah begins to suffer a series of disturbing memory lapses and frequent blackouts that seem to be increasing in intensity. Unsure of what is happening, and feeling as though she is losing her mind, Sarah comes to learn she is pregnant. To add to her shock, she subsequently discovers that her husband is sterile. As her marriage and world begin to fall apart,...

On the heels of the 39th edition of the Toronto Int. Film Festival (Sept 4-14), Ifp’s Independent Film Week is where a plethora of fiction, non-fiction and new this year, web-based series from the likes of Desiree Akhavan and Calvin Reeder find future coin. Sectioned off as projects at the very beginning of financing to those that are nearing completion, there happens to be tons of Sundance alumni in the names below. Among those that caught our attention we have Medicine for Melancholy‘s Barry Jenkins’ sophomore feature, produced by Bad Milo!‘s Adele Romanski, Moonlight is about “two Miami boys navigate the temptations of the drug trade and their burgeoning sexuality in this triptych drama about black queer youth”. Concussion‘s Stacie Passon digs into the thriller genre with Strange Things Started Happening. Produced by vet Mary Jane Skalski (Mysterious Skin), this is about “a woman who has...

Chunkey Pandey, Malaika Arora, Amrita arora, Sajid Khan, Vikram Phadnis at a games night.

Bollywood celebs like Malaika Arora Khan, Amrita Arora, Sajid Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Rahul Khanna etc lose their beauty sleep to play Trivial Pursuit

Playing games in Bollywood was always known to people. Some celebs play board games in addition to the mind games they have to play to survive the industry politics. Malaika Arora Khan, sister Amrita, Sajid Khan, his sister Farah, Riteish Deshmukh, Kajal Anand, Rahul Khanna, designer Vikram Phadnis or Queeny Dhody are all loyal gamers of Trivial Pursuit. This game is sincerely played once every month probably to unwind from all the extra work (or none of it). Sources say that the venue is either Sajid, Farah, Riteish or Queeny?s house and the gang is called the Games Gang.

Sajid Khan confirmed, ?We have lots of fun. We have been active for nearly five years now.