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Exclusive: Netflix’s The Kissing Booth producer iGeneration Studios has struck a partnership deal with Square Zero Films to develop scripted features based on Square Zero’s socially relevant documentaries, and the pair have set first three projects.

The first three films to come from the partnership are Scrum, Soufra and Waiting for Mamu. The former tells the story of a Black rugby coach at a predominantly white university in south U.S., Soufra follows the lifelong resident of a Palestinian refugee camp as she rallies women around her to become entrepreneurs and Waiting for Mamu focuses on a social worker and her efforts to champion the rights of children of incarcerated parents. The likes of Erica C. Sutherlin, Francois Caillard and Dan Chen are attached.

iGeneration said the service programs profiled in the docs will benefit financially in the production and distribution of the narrative adaptations, with Square Zero...

Exclusive: USC Originals has scored its first theatrical release, in association with Warner Bros., following Lightyear Entertainment’s acquisition of its film, Voodoo Macbeth. The company behind the Oscar-nominated Australian feature Tanna has slated the pic for release across the U.S. and Canada in October.

Based on a true story, Voodoo Macbeth follows a young Orson Welles (Jewell Wilson Bridges) and a group of committed artists as they set out to create what is now considered a landmark event in African-American theater history—the Negro Theatre Unit’s revolutionary 1936 production of Macbeth.

With Fdr’s New Deal providing funding for the Federal Theatre Project, director Rose McClendon (Inger Tudor) convinces co-director John Houseman (Daniel Kuhlman) to help her bring Shakespeare’s Macbeth to the Harlem community at the Lafayette Theater — with an all-Black cast. Well before Citizen Kane and War of the Worlds, they choose for their groundbreaking production...

Exclusive: Village Roadshow is teaming with the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts to develop a film based on New York Times bestselling-author Don Yaeger’s Turning of the Tide: How One Game Changed the South as a USC Original Film, a new initiative designed to support emerging and diverse filmmakers. This partnership supports Village Roadshow’s aim to consistently source fresh voices, and to support the next generation of innovators.

“We could not be more thrilled to partner with USC and Dean Daley to tell this unbelievable true story. Our ongoing initiatives at Village Roadshow Pictures align with the strong social message of this project and allow us to foster a creative environment for the future of filmmakers,” said Village Roadshow CEO Steve Mosko.

Under the guidance of veteran producer and USC professor John Watson, Vrp has assembled a small group of recent USC alumni to collaborate...

Dreamseeker Media Releases ‘Ferguson Rises’ Trailer

Dreamseeker Media, in association with Films With a Purpose, Yoruba Saxon and PhilmCo, released a trailer for “Ferguson Rises,” opening Sept. 17 at Laemmle Monica, with a national rollout following.

Directed by Mobolaji Olambiwonnu, the film explores the aftermath of the protests in Ferguson after the police killing of 18-year-old Michael Brown Jr. Highlighting diverse voices of community members, from residents to police officers to business owners, “Ferguson Rises” chronicles the 400-day protests and rise of Black Lives Matter.

Sandra Evers-Manly, Tj Martin, Gigi Pritzker, Kai Bowe, and RZA executive produce, with David Oyelewo and Jessica Oyelowo serving as producers.

Watch the trailer below.

The Redford Center Awards Additional Grant Funding to Six Environmental Impact Documentary Projects

The Redford Center announced that six environmentalist documentary features in the current Redford Center Grants cohort will receive a total of $295,000 in second-year funding. “Demon Mineral,” “Impossible Town,...