Will Billy Joel's Shea Stadium concert film get a theatrical release?

Well, The Hollywood Reporter seems to think so, and as a huge fan of Billy and the Mets, this is fantastic news to me. Here's the story:

Given today’s rough marketplace for indie films, obtaining a theatrical release for even a big-name rockumentary is far from a sure bet. But Billy Joel’s new feature “Last Play at Shea,” which bowed at the Tribeca Film Festival this past weekend, looks like it is poised to beat the odds and could become one of the fest’s first big acquistion titles.

Of course, it helps that Joel and several other musicians featured in the film are long-time Sony recording artists. Jon Small, who directed the concert footage in “Shea,” which was helmed by Paul Crowder, said after an appearance at the fest’s “Docs Doing It Right” panel that it’s looking like Sony Pictures Classics may give “Shea” a limited theatrical rollout later this year, followed by a home video release.

Steve Cohen of Joel’s Maritime Motion Pictures (who produced the film with Nigel Sinclar) added that the filmmakers are in negotiations with Sony for a theatrical release, but there have been conversations with more than one Sony division about its distribution. “It all boils down to finances,” said Cohen, who emphasized that the right marketing budget would be the key to any deal. “As one of the producers, my main concern is the proper promotion of the film.”

“We have a great relationship with Sony Music [Entertainment],” said SPC co-president Michael Barker. “We’ve talked to them about a lot of films involving their artists and this was one of them, [but] there’s no deal.”

Not yet, anyway. The film was completed only four days prior to its Sunday world premiere at Tribeca, and Small says Joel (who financed the low-seven-figure budget himself) was willing to shelve the 95-minute feature if it didn’t turn out to his satisfaction. But the movie, which captures the final two concerts held in New York’s legendary Shea Stadium before its demolition in 2009, met with a warm response to at the fest, thanks to its performances by Paul McCartney, Roger Daltrey, Steven Tyler, Garth Brooks and Tony Bennett, along with tales of the stadium’s baseball players and longtime workers. And that should make its prospects for a theatrical run more likely.

Small is now working on a version for television solely composed of concert footage. No plans for a soundtrack have been finalized.

Exclusive Media is repping sales for producers Spitfire Pictures and Maritime Motion Pictures.

-I know I'd see it...thoughts?

The Tribeca Film Festival doles out some Awards!

Behold:

2010 World Narrative Competition

• The Founders Award for Best Narrative Feature – When We Leave (Die Fremde), directed and written by Feo Aladag. (Germany).

• Best New Narrative Filmmaker – Kim Chapiron for Dog Pound, written by Kim Chapiron and Jeremie Delon. (France).

• Best Actor in a Narrative Feature Film – Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg, Je t’Aime…Moi Non Plus, directed and written by Joann Sfar. (France).

• Best Actress in a Narrative Feature Film – Sibel Kekilli as Umay in When We Leave (Die Fremde),directed and written by Feo Aladag. (Germany).

The 2010 World Documentary Competition

• Best Documentary Feature – Monica & David, directed by Alexandra Codina. (USA).

• Best New Documentary Filmmaker – Clio Barnard for The Arbor (UK).

New York Competition Categories:

2010 Best New York Narrative Competition

• Best New York Narrative – Monogamy, directed by Dana Adam Shapiro, written by Dana Adam Shapiro and Evan M. Weiner. (USA).

2010 Best New York Documentary Competition

• Best New York Documentary – The Woodmans, directed by C. Scott Willis. (USA, Italy, China).

Short Film Competition Categories:

2010 Best Narrative Short Competition

• Best Narrative Short – Father Christmas Doesn’t Come Here, directed by Bekhi Sibiya, written by Sibongile Nkosana, Bongi Ndaba. (South Africa).

2010 Best Documentary and Student Short Competition

• Best Documentary Short – White Lines & The Fever: The Death of DJ Junebug, directed and written by Travis Senger. (USA).

• Student Visionary Award – some boys don’t leave, directed by Maggie Kiley, written by Matthew Mullen, Maggie Kiley. (USA).

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL VIRTUAL CATEGORIES:

The 2010 Tribeca Film Festival Virtual winners were voted on by the TFF Virtual premiumpassholders.

• Tribeca Film Festival VIRTUAL Best Feature Film: Spork, directed and written by J. B. Ghuman, Jr. (USA).

• Tribeca Film Festival VIRTUAL Best Short Film: Delilah, Before, directed Melanie Schiele.

-Thoughts?

The Tribeca Film Festival announces some of the films that will be playing there...

...via this in The Hollywood Reporter:

Tribeca is getting its freak on.

The Manhattan-set fest, which launches April 21 and runs through May 2, announced Monday that the omnibus documentary “Freakonomics” will have its world premiere April 30 as the festival’s closing-night film. Summit Entertainment’s “Letters to Juliet” will also have its world premiere during the fest, and Olivier Dahan’s “My Own Love Song” will screen.

“This trio of films embodies the spirit of diversity that has defined Tribeca through the years,” said Nancy Schafer, executive director of the festival. “Audiences will be charmed by ‘Letters to Juliet,’ moved by Jane’s emotional journey to redemption in ‘My Own Love Song’ and glued to their seats during the riveting ‘Freakonomics,’ which marks the return of some of today’s best documentary filmmakers to Tribeca.”

Based on the bestseller “Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Exposes the Hidden Side of Everything” by Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, “Freakonomics” features segments directed by Morgan Spurlock (“Super Size Me”), Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side”), Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing (“Jesus Camp”), Eugene Jarecki (“Why We Fight”) and Seth Gordon (“The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters”). Chad Troutwine and Green Film Company’s Chris Romano and Dan O’Meara produced the film, with financial services by Cold Fusion Media.

Directed by Gary Winick, “Letter to Juliet” is a romantic drama starring Amanda Seyfried and Vanessa Redgrave. “My Own Love Song,” a road movie starring Renée Zellweger, Forest Whitaker, Nick Nolte and Elias Koteas, is the first English-language film from Dahan (“La Vie en Rose”).

-Thoughts?

Our first glimpse at Woody Allen's latest!

Until we get a poster or a trailer (probably shortly after it debuts at the Tribeca Film Festival later this month), this is all we have to go on about the film Whatever Works, but it certainly looks to be a little different than the normal Woody Allen flick...welcome back to New York.

Lineup for the Tribeca Film Festival

Here's the article in Variety:

The Tribeca Film Festival has unveiled a dramatically smaller lineup for its eighth edition, with its 86 feature films repping a 28% decline from last year's fest.
The two main competition sections, World Narrative and Documentary, are holding steady with 12 films each. On Monday, organizers unveiled full lineups for both, plus the 14 titles in the Discovery section.
The remainder of the fest lineup will be announced in the coming days.
Tribeca kicks off with Woody Allen's "Whatever Works" on April 22 and runs through May 3.
The World Narrative category includes a mix of familiar and newer names from a diverse roster of countries. Highlights include:
"About Elly," from Iranian helmer Asghar Farhadi, who took best director honors at Berlin
"The Eclipse," written and directed by Tony-nommed playwright Conor McPherson, an atmospheric drama starring Aidan Quinn, Ciaran Hinds ("Munich") and Iben Hjejle ("High Fidelity")
"The Fish Child (El nino pez)," Lucia Puenzo's followup to her Cannes prize-winner "XXY"
"Stay Cool," a comedy from the Polish Bros. starring Winona Ryder and Hilary Duff.
The Documentary list, long a strong suit of Tribeca, this year includes the following notables:
"Outrage," the world premiere of Kirby Dick's expose of closeted gay and lesbian politicians who actively campaign against gay rights
"Shadow Billionaire," from first-time director Alexis Spraic, about the 1995 disappearance of DHL founder Larry Hillblom and the resulting legal battle over the eccentric billionaire's estate
"Garapa," from Golden Bear-winning director Jose Padilha ("Elite Squad"), about chronic hunger among three Brazilian families.
The Discovery section includes docs about famed Gotham punk-rock haunt CBGB ("Burning Down the House"); the subprime mortgage mess ("American Casino"); and human trafficking ("Playground"). The last of the trio is exec produced by George Clooney, Grant Heslov and Steven Soderbergh.
Narrative entries in Discovery include "Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench," a stylized relationship drama from tyro helmer Damien Chazelle, and "A Matter of Size (Sipur Gadol)," a film in Hebrew about four friends who ditch their weight-loss efforts in favor of sumo wrestling.
The fest overall includes films from 33 countries. There are 48 world premieres, five international premieres, 14 North American premieres, three U.S. premieres and 11 New York City premieres.
Tribeca has stayed in the news even during the off-season, launching a new fest in Qatar, luring Geoff Gilmore away from Sundance and announcing the exit of longtime top programmer Peter Scarlet.
Like other major fests, however, Tribeca has had to confront a decidedly tougher financial landscape given the global economic crisis.
Sponsorship in particular has been difficult to secure and the decision to scale back the number of films stems in part from those struggles.
Cadillac, a unit of deeply troubled General Motors, has exited as a top-level sponsor, as has Target. Heineken and DirecTV have stepped in and Snapple and American Express are returning. Last year, AmEx inked a new five-year sponsorship pact.
Ticket sales, the fest's other main revenue source, have come under scrutiny in recent years. Last year, prices were reined in and they will remain at 2008 levels this year -- $15 for evening and weekend screenings and $8 for daytime weekday and late night screenings.
Family-friendly mainstays from past years such as drive-in movies and street fair remain as free events.
"Especially in these times, we recognize that people need that kind of outlet and that's a big part of our mission," said exec director Nancy Schafer.

-Which films are you looking forward to here?