Memories of the Venice Film Festival and Hotel Des Bains

 

As the Venice Film Festival is going on I was reminded of a funny thing that happened while I was at Independent Pictures, Cary Woods’ company, we had two films in the Festival, they were Mark Hanlon’s Buddy Boy and Harmony Korine’s Julien Donkey-Boy.  We travelled there with a group which included Harmony Korine and Chloe Sevigny (who also had Boy’s Don’t Cry at the festival). This was the year that Eyes Wide Shut was opening the festival and Stanley Kubrick had just passed away.   We arrived in Venice and all of our luggage was missing.  It had not made the connecting flight from Rome so it seemed that the only sensible thing to do while in Venice was to buy all new clothes.  We took a car to our hotel, Hotel Des Bains on the Lido (this is the hotel that Death in Venice was shot in) and as we walked up the entrance were greeted by Bernardo Bertolucci, Jean Labadie and Emmanuelle Seigner and Roman Polanski who were all having Bellini’s on the terrace.   My job as head of acquisitions was to look for new films to acquire for the US market (we had a deal with New Line), my colleague and good friend Gina Mingacci was head of production and had produced Buddy Boy.  We went to check into our rooms (which were enormous) and I went over to Gina’s room so we could figure out what to do about our missing luggage.  Her phone rang and she answered it “hello”.  The voice on the other line said in an Italian accent “hello this is Bernardo Bertolucci, is Stan Kubrick there”, Gina was of course surprised and confused as we had just seen Bertolucci downstairs and he seemed perfectly sane and everyone knew that Kubrick had died.  She answered “i’m sorry he is no longer with us” the voice paused and said “Ah he checked out?” Gina answered “Yes he is no longer with us” and the call was concluded.  We were both sure that Cary Woods (our boss) had played a trick on us and so the rest of our trip we kept asking him if he did it, made jokes about it etc but he kept denying it and it became a running joke.   We had a great week there and it was amazing to spend time with Roman and Emmanuelle. Roman had been to the Biennale and could tell us about every artwork and its artist.  We also had dinners at Harry’s Bar and Delmonico’s with people like Tony Shafrazi, Gianni Nunnari and others.   Then it became time to leave and we had to get up at 4am to get to the airport.  As we were standing in line for he front desk with our crew and publicists we all clearly heard the front desk answering a call and saying “No Sir Stan Kubrick has checked out”.  We couldn’t believe what we heard – who was this Stan Kubrick?  Was there another one?  I guess we may never find out …. 

Food Trend in Television not translating to Film

Television is inundated with shows about food, aside from The Food Channel, Food Network, The Cooking Channel, the regular channels are also full of culinary themed shows such as Bravo’s Top Chef,  Fox’ Hell’s Kitchen, ABC’s The Chew and PBS’ American Test Kitchen just to name a few.  However we are not seeing this same trend in film.  Aside from the film Chef by Jon Favreau there have been a handful of notable films dealing with the subject of food and cooking over the last 20 years such as Ang Lee’s The Wedding Banquet, Babette’s Feast, The Cook The Thief His Wife and Her Lover, Like Water For Chocolate and he more recent Julie and Julia about Julia Childs.  You will also notice that most of these films are foreign.  So why is this?  Do people not like to watch films about food outside of the privacy of their own home?  I remember Paramount Pictures had a great script about a chef many years ago and Keanu Reeves was attached to star at the time, clearly it never got made.  I would love to hear some opinions, please let me know your thoughts on this subject …..

to be continued….

Irish tax credit for film production in Ireland

As of January 2014 the tax credit in Ireland will increase to 32%. This in combination with the Irish Film Board is a huge incentive to shoot films there.  As the indie market and thereby financing is shrinking it is imperative to look into alternative ways of financing.  There are some great production companies in Ireland who are happy to partner with US companies and not only arrange the tax credit but also connect to Irish talent.  If you would like any referrals please feel free to ask on this site or at sofiasondervan.com

Sofia Sondervan Is Passionate about Film

Everyone has interests whether they are big or small, and one major interest of Sofia Sondervan’s is film. She has always been excited by the film industry – so much that, as a student, she studied film and graduated New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts with a BFA in Film and Television. After graduating from film in New York, she decided to stay, and work, in NY. The blusterous city offered many opportunities in her chosen career field.

Sofia Sondervan really likes producing films.  She is also motivated to show the success that women can achieve in the film industry. In fact, Sofia Sondervan is an example of this type of success – she is a member of the Producer’s Guild but also services on other professional committees.  Additionally, Sofia Sondervan coaches students who pursue filmmaking and film studies.  She teaches a graduate film directing and producing course at the School of Visual Arts in New York and sometimes guest lectures at NYU. She is passionate about education, and it’s essential to her that she works with others who share her passions.

Sofia Sondervan has no regrets about the career path she has chosen. She really enjoys and believes in what she does, and she is proud of the work so far. Her most recent theatrical release is Famke Janssen’s Bringing Up Bobby, starring Milla Jovovich, Marcia Cross and Bill Pullman. As a producer, Sofia Sondervan shoulders a lot of responsibility. Each movie presents a different learning curve and different challenges to be overcome.

Sofia Sondervan has produced a number of films. She has worked for a number of well-recognized companies such as Miramax Films and ContentFilm. Climbing up from an acquisition position into production (and eventually producing) was a real challenge. It is very gratifying once you get to say “I produced this” says Sofia Sondervan.

Industry Experience for Sofia Sondervan

Sofia Sondervan is well aware of all the work that goes on behind the scenes of some of the major films that people love. There are different companies that produce movies every year and Sofia Sondervan has been happy to gain experience working at several recognizable companies. Sofia Sondervan not only loves the industry that she is in, but has worked hard for each of the positions she has been responsible for.

Sofia Sondervan had many responsibilities even in the early part of her career. She knew it was here that she would have to work the hardest to prove herself as confident and capable within the industry. One of her first positions was serving as Senior Vice President of Acquisitions for POP.com, which was a project between DreamWorks SKG and Imagine Entertainment. She also worked as Director of Business Affairs for Miramax Films and was Head of Acquisitions for Cary Woods’ Independent Pictures.

Eventually, Sofia Sondervan became Head of East Coast Production for ContentFilm. It was while working with ContentFilm that Sofia Sondervan produced three movies in 2002. She produced Party Monster, The Hebrew Hammer, and Rick. In 2005, Sofia Sondervan produced The King. She also worked on a number of other films as well including The Cooler and Thank You for Smoking.

Sofia Sondervan also had experience creating a division within a company specifically for pictures. Sofia Sondervan’s previous work experience included heading Sony Music Film, which she created in 2005 as a division of Sony Music. Through Sony Music Film Sofia Sondervan produced the Golden Globe nominated film Cadillac Records. The film starred Adrien Brody, Jeffrey Wright and Beyonce Knowles. It won NAACP’s award for Best Supporting Actor in a Motion picture.

Sofia Sondervan is very proud of her past accomplishments. Her experience producing films has not been limited to these few titles. Sofia Sondervan has a number of other projects underway and she works diligently to further her career in the film industry.

Film Festivals Attended by Sofia Sondervan

Sofia Sondervan knows that for some people, going out to the movies is an occasional hobby or treat. They may enjoy the environment and the junk food that is associated with seeing a new film in theatres. Sofia Sondervan is also aware of all the work and hours that go into creating a film that may take only a few hours of a person’s evening to watch.

Sofia Sondervan had the drive to get into the film industry. Sofia Sondervan’s goal, however, was in directing. She attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. She worked hard to demonstrate her skills as a talented young professional. Her hard work was rewarded when she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Television.

When she graduated NYU Film School, she got a job at Miramax working in delivery administration/business affairs.  She was lucky to have a great boss and mentor, Whitney Wilson, who showed her the ropes.  From there she was eager to learn and meet whoever she could.  When she decided that acquisitions was the next thing she wanted to do, she was lucky that she had a friend who happened to know about the job at Independent Pictures and who made an introduction. After this came sales, then more acquisitions, finally leading to a production job at Content Film.

Thereafter, Sofia Sondervan produced a number of films. The one that stands out the most so far in her career is Cadillac Records, which was released in 2008. The film was not only nominated for a Golden Globe, but also for eight NAACP awards as well. Sofia Sondervan has been going to all the major film festivals throughout her career: Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, Rotterdam, SXSW just to name a few.  This is a crucial way to keep up with the new films, trends and talent out there.

Sofia Sondervan not only has been in attendance, but she appears on panels at the various festivals. However, living in New York, there are a number of film festivals that Sofia Sondervan attends that she does not have to travel far for. Two of the closest film festivals that she attends are The Tribeca Film Festival and The Hamptons International Film Festival.

Sofia Sondervan, a New York Based Producer

When people think of movies they probably think of California. However, there are a number of individuals active in the film industry all around the country. As many people are aware, there are many films that shoot and take place in New York, and New York is the home of many talented people. Sofia Sondervan is just one film professional who enjoys calling New York home.

Sofia Sondervan earned her degree in film as a student in New York. She attended New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts whose campus is mainly centered around Washington Square Park. She put a lot of work into her studies and class projects. After she made her senior thesis film, she graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Film and Television.

Sofia Sondervan loves her work. As a producer and dedicated film industry professional, Sofia Sondervan has had to leave New York on occasion. However, it is in New York that Sofia Sondervan still calls home today. She teaches in the graduate film department at the School of Visual Arts as well.

While Sofia Sondervan is glad to make New York her home, she has traveled to many places around the world to serve on industry panels. Sofia Sondervan has even served on juries for film festivals including the short film jury for the Toronto International Film Festival as well as on the jury of The Hamptons International Film Festival, The Mont Tremblant Film Festival in Montreal, and the School of Visual Arts Film Festival.

As a location of so many artists and sources of inspiration, many moviemakers are drawn to New York. This is why there are many film festivals that take place in New York. For Sofia Sondervan, this means she doesn’t have to go very far to stay in touch with others involved in the film industry.