Archives for January 2016

CONTENT TAKES WORLDWIDE SALES RIGHTS TO UPCOMING FEATURE DOCUMENTARY DIRECTED BY MICHAEL ROBERTS

Los Angeles, CA – January 28, 2016 – It is being revealed today that Manolo Blahnik, one of the most influential and talked-about icons in contemporary fashion, will be the subject of a documentary feature film MANOLO (The boy who made shoes for lizards), directed by Michael Roberts.

The film is being produced by Nevision Studios One Limited. Executive Producers are James Cabourne, Tiggy Maconochie and Anne Morrison.

Roberts said: “Having known Manolo for over 30 years, I can say he is a multifaceted intellectual and romantic whose engaging mind and ingenious work is made for entertaining cinema.”

Content Media has acquired worldwide sales rights to the documentary and will immediately begin introducing the film to distributors in Berlin during the EFM.

James Cabourne says: “Manolo Blahnik is an icon who continues to inspire people around the globe. We are genuinely excited to be producing this exclusive documentary showcasing his incredible lifetime of work.”

Content’s President of Film Jamie Carmichael said: “Manolo Blahnik is fashion royalty and the King of his craft. He also happens to be a wonderfully colourful and fascinating man, with a unique world view. Michael Roberts is a director with unparalleled access and understanding of the fashion world and the combination of both these golden elements will make for fabulous and fascinating cinema.”

MANOLO (The boy who made shoes for lizards) is an in-depth portrait of the man who is regarded as a genius by some of the most revered figures in fashion; A behind-the-scenes peek into his world; And a must see for any person who has ever looked longingly at a pair of his shoes – famously known on a first name basis as ‘Manolos’. This thanks to the globally successful TV series ‘Sex and The City’ which turned Manolo Blahnik’s shoes into a cultural sensation.

The film will feature a ‘who’s who’ list of some of the most notable figures in the fashion and entertainment worlds including Anna Wintour, Andre Leon Talley, Paloma Picasso, Candace Bushnell, Charlotte Olympia, Iman, Jamie Preto, Rihanna, Naomi Campbell, David Bailey, Isaac Mizrahi, Joan Burnstein, Mary Beard, Colin McDowell, Penelope Tree, Prince of Lampedusa, Rupert Everett and of course Manolo Blahnik himself.

Production on the documentary is currently underway.

The documentary comes at a pivotal time for Manolo Blahnik, whose label continues to grow. The Couture Council Artistry of Fashion honored Blahnik with an award at the Lincoln Center in New York City last September ahead of the Fall Fashion Week. Blahnik received the award as a result of his longstanding dedication to superior craftsmanship and innovative design. For more than 40 years, he has been meticulously designing his shoe line, which has attracted a cult following including the likes of Nicole Kidman, Rihanna, and The Duchess of Cambridge.

Also in September, the first comprehensive and lavishly illustrated volume to document the influences and life work of Blahnik, was published by Rizzoli. Featuring over 40 years of shoe design, this is the definitive monograph of the work of Blahnik, one of the titans of contemporary fashion. The book is a comprehensive survey of Blahnik’s work and provides access to never-before-seen photography of his designs with insightful chapters devoted to Blahnik’s most powerful relationships and inspirations.

Director Michael Roberts is an award-winning filmmaker, photographer, stylist, illustrator, author and journalist. He received the MTV best breakthrough video award for Bryan Ferry’s “Limbo.” His multidisciplinary fashion career commenced at London’s Sunday Times newspaper. For three decades, Roberts worked for Conde Nast in London, Paris, New York, initially as style director and art director of Tatler, next as British Vogue’s design director, Paris editor of Vanity Fair, and contributing editor of Conde Nast Traveller. Appointed to be the New Yorker’s first fashion director in 1997, he served in the role for nine years until 2006, when Graydon Carter conceived the position of fashion and style director for Roberts at Vanity Fair. Since 2010, he has contributed to Vanity Fair as style editor-at-large.

Over the last 25 years, Roberts’ photographs and illustrations have appeared regularly in the international editions of GQ, Vanity Fair and Vogue, as well as i-D, Interview, L’Uomo Vogue, V Magazine, the Independent on Sunday and the Sunday Times. Shot in Sicily (Steidl, 2007), presents images of the people, traditions and landscape of the Italian island which Roberts captured over twenty years. Roberts has also published six books featuring his critically acclaimed fashion illustrations. He art directed and edited the 2002 Steidl illustrated tome, Grace, Thirty Years of Fashion at Vogue, which American Vogue’s creative director, Grace Coddington described as “her life in pictures.” He also co-authored Grace, Coddington’s best-selling memoir, which Random House published in 2012.

“Manolo” is the most recent high-profile addition to Content Media’s impressive international sales slate, which includes Lorenzo di Bonaventura’s produced sci-fi “Higher Power”; Joel David Moore’s dramedy “Youth in Oregon” starring Christina Applegate, Josh Lucas, Billy Crudup, Frank Langella and Nicola Peltz; Dennis Hauck’s neo-noir detective thriller “Too Late,” starring Academy Award®-nominee John Hawkes; the supernatural horror “Don’t Knock Twice,” from ‘The Machine’ team starring Katee Sackhoff, Lucy Boynton and Nick Moran; the Maria Callas biopic “Callas,” starring Noomi Rapace with Niki Caro directing; the uplifting emotional drama “Life at these Speeds” starring Billy Crudup, Graham Rogers and Tim Roth; the star-studded romantic drama “The Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” starring Jason Sudeikis, Maisie Williams, Jessica Biel, Orlando Jones, with Paul Reiser and Mary Steenburgen; Amy Berg’s “Janis: Little Girl Blue” selected at the Venice and Toronto Film Festivals; the supernatural heist thriller “The Trust”; the smash hit HBO documentary “Going Clear: Scientology and The Prison of Belief” from Academy Award® winning director Alex Gibney, which was the network’s most watched documentary premiere in a decade; and Oscar Wilde’s “The Canterville Ghost” voiced by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie.

About Manolo Blahnik

With a career spanning over 40 years as an independent label, Manolo Blahnik has become one of the world’s most influential footwear designers. His shoes have spellbound an international set of adoring and loyal devotees across the globe. Born in the Canary Islands to a Spanish mother and a Czech father, he studied languages and art in Geneva before moving to Paris in 1965 where he decided to become a set designer. On a visit to New York in 1970, he showed his theater designs to Diana Vreeland, then editor-in-chief of American Vogue, who honed in on his shoes and encouraged him to concentrate on them. Blahnik learned the art of making shoes by visiting factories where he talked to machine operators, pattern cutters, and technicians. By 1971, he was in London making shoes. A year later, Ossie Clark, then the most famous designer in London, used his shoes and from there his career blossomed. In 1973 he opened his first shop in London’s Chelsea. Blahnik is a craftsman. The exquisitely shaped lasts and heels he creates for his shoes are still perfected with his very own hands. The lines and silhouette of his distinctive handwriting, however, remain instantly recognizable as unique, inimitable exercises in precision and balance, exquisite workmanship and luxury. “Shoes,” he says, “help transform a woman.” From the flagship store in London, the label has expanded worldwide. He has also received many international awards throughout his career including an Honorary CBE in November 2007.

About Nevision Studios

Nevision Studios is a creative hub, rooted in the production and financing of quality television and theatrical content for the global market. Nevision’s board boasts some of the UK’s leading creative and business executives including James Cabourne, Neil Zeiger, Tim Buxton, Nigel Pickard and Sharon Bloom with a string of globally renowned drama credits to their names. Through a forward thinking, concept-to-screen initiative, Nevision works as a co-producer forming creative relationships with other like-minded producers, accelerating production and enabling access to international markets; and as an executive producer providing a transparent and fast route to deficit finance.

About Content Media Corporation

Content Media Corporation Ltd is a London and LA-based private company that owns and distributes a significant library of film, television, and digital assets. The Company’s library of rights includes over 5,000 hours of television programming, 200 hours of digital programming and 275 feature films.

Content Media recently closed a multi-faceted deal with Bruno Wu’s Beijing-based Seven Stars Entertainment and Media, Ltd., in which Content acquired the Alive Group of companies allowing Content to distribute its extensive library of film and television rights through the Alive Group to the Chinese market, as well as a direct equity investment by Seven Stars into Content

The film sales division launched in 2002 and represents high profile, commercial feature films with great artistic and theatrical ambition. In addition to handling worldwide sales, marketing, and publicity, the company assists film producers in securing financing.

 

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