Hollywood
Fabulous Independent Film Festival to celebrate LGBT community
New Delhi: A total of 15 features and short films celebrating the diversity in the LGBT community will be screened at the fourth annual Fabulous Independent Film Festival next month to be held at the Burns Court Cinemas in Sarasota, Florida in the United States.
The annual festival will be held from 22 August to 24 Augusta nd includes eight features and seven non-features.
The festival is being held in association with the Harvey Milk Festival, a nonprofit organization and is being organized by Broken Rules Productions.
Sarasota Film Society, Watermark Media, Janice & John Shelton, Embracing Our Differences, Planned Parenthood, The Jewish Federation of Sarasota, RCMoore Construction, Theodore A. Gollnick, PA, Throb, Ken Shelin, Chapter 1 Wellness, Wolfe on Demand are among the Fabulous IFF sponsors making this festival a reality. M.A.D.E., Throb and Caragiulo’s are the hosting sponsors.
The Way He Looks presented by Watermark Media will be the opening film. A warm and funny film about teenage love and friendship, it tells the story of a blind boy named Leo, his best pal Giovana and a new kid in school whom they both develop a crush on.
In the dry comedy, Appropriate Behavior by writer, director Desiree Akhavan, is a semi-closeted bisexual Persian American trying to live up to her family’s ideals and traditions while going through a breakup and navigating Brooklyn’s dating scene with both men and women while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of her life.
Born To Fly illustrates what happens when one crosses postmodern dance with Evel Knievel. It is about New York choreographer Elizabeth Streb, a Mac Arthur “genius” grant recipient whose Extreme Action Company draws on both sources to craft a unique style of high-flying, high-impact, dare-all contemporary dance.
Boy Meets Girl is a sexy, funny and provocative coming of age comedy about three persons in their twenties living in Kentucky: Robby, Francesca and Ricky, a gorgeous transgender woman. This romantic comedy vividly captures the giddy excitement, sexual heat, and inherent heartache of “non-traditional” love in a small town.
The Circle seamlessly combines a narrative with a documentary love story. The film is the astounding true tale of Switzerland’s 1940s–1960s magazine of that name—and the network of friends and lovers that formed around it, becoming one of the world’s first homophile societies, a 2014 Teddy Award winner.
Cupcakes is the latest by award winning Eytan Fox which is a campy, comic confection telling the tale of six friends who unexpectedly find themselves representing Israel in a Eurovision-style international song contest.
Queerituality is Tom Murray’s film about a boy wonder that left too soon four years ago. Gaylon Emerzian from Chicago is actively completing the editing. This last film was a labour of love for Tom who throughout his films had always been spiritually inquiring. It will be an honour to present his last film as a world premiere and to conclude his beautiful cinematographic journey which he started years ago.
To Be Takei celebrates the Star Trek legend, the marriage-equality advocate, the spokesperson for Japanese Americans imprisoned in internment camps during World War II and the Facebook phenomenon.
Each film on Saturday and Sunday will be preceded by a short film: Barrio Boy, Dinner At 40, First Clue, A Last Farewell, One Night Stand, Secrets & Toys and Who Do You Think You Are?
Hollywood
David Zaslav could net up to $887m as Warner Bros Discovery sells up
Media mogul strikes gold as Paramount Skydance deal triggers massive windfall
NEW YORK: While the average office worker might hope for a nice clock and a round of applause upon leaving, David Zaslav is looking at a slightly more substantial parting gift. The chief executive officer of Warner Bros Discovery is positioned to receive a windfall of up to $887 million following the company’s blockbuster $110 billion sale to Paramount Skydance.
In a twist of corporate fate that feels scripted for the big screen, the deal marks the finale of a high-stakes bidding war. It comes after Netflix, once the frontrunner, decided to exit stage left and abandon its pursuit of the HBO Max parent company.
While most people receive a standard final paycheck, the filing released on Monday suggests Zaslav’s exit package is built a little differently. If the deal closes as expected in the third quarter of 2026, the numbers break down like this:
The cash out: A severance package of $34.2 million, covering his salary and bonuses.
The equity: $115.8 million in vested shares he already owns.
The future fortune: A massive $517.2 million in unvested share awards, essentially “future stock” that turns into real money the moment the ink dries on the merger.
Perhaps the most eye-catching figure is the $335 million earmarked for tax reimbursements. However, this particular pot of gold has an expiration date.
The company noted that these reimbursements are tied to specific tax-code rules that significantly decline as time passes. If the deal hits a snag and drags into 2027, that tax payout drops to zero. With hundreds of millions on the line, the chief executive officer likely has every incentive to ensure the closing process moves at double-speed.
