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In the cold, dreary outskirts of 1960s Boston, Eileen (Thomasin McKenzie) spends her days hoping for a better (or at least more sexually active) life, splitting her time working at a juvenile prison ward and caring for her ailing drunk of a father (Shea Whigham). When the elegant, mysterious Rebecca (Anne Hathaway) glides into her work as the new psychologist on staff, Eileen’s dull world is suddenly brought to life and an unspoken attraction sparks. Little does Eileen know the spark will lead to unimaginably dark consequences. Adapted by the novel’s author Ottessa Moshfegh, here working with Luke Goebel (Causeway), William Oldroyd’s Lady Macbeth follow-up Eileen is lacking in a considered formal approach but strives to make up for this misgiving with a script that offers its talented ensemble an unexpected mix of sensual longing and perverse thrills. While this clash of tones doesn’t entirely gel,...

By Abe Friedtanzer

Not all comedians can excel at drama, and those who do it best tend to achieve a middle ground that allows them to maintain some elements of their typical routines but fold them into a compelling serious turn. There are many successful examples, including Robin Williams and Mary Tyler Moore. Jim Gaffigan has dabbled in drama before, with a particularly memorable performance in Light from Light opposite the underrated Marin Ireland. It turns out he’s just the right person to anchor Linoleum, a film that mixes science fiction, family issues, and outright oddities…...

Attend enough film festivals, and you'll notice that many movies allow a variety of stand-up comics to stretch their acting muscles. While it's typically offbeat comedy that takes advantage of their humor skills, it's not uncommon to find comics showing their versatility on screen. In recent years, Jim Gaffigan has become one such comedian, stretching his acting chops in various low-key thrillers and dramas such as "Light from Light," "Above the Shadows," and "Tesla," just to name a few. But Jim Gaffigan has never been better than he is in writer/director Colin West's quirky, perplexing, and ultimately beautiful dramedy...

The post Linoleum Review: Jim Gaffigan Shines in a Perplexing But Beautiful Tapestry of Life and Love [SXSW] appeared first on /Film.

Jim Gaffigan has closed a deal to play Captain Hook’s loyal sidekick Mr. Smee in Disney’s live-action “Peter Pan & Wendy,” TheWrap has learned exclusively.

Ever Anderson is set to play Wendy while Alexander Molony will play Peter Pan, the famous boy who wouldn’t grow up. “Pete’s Dragon” director David Lowery is directing “Peter Pan & Wendy” from a script he co-wrote with Toby Halbrooks. Jim Whitaker is producing. Jude Law is playing Captain Hook, while “Black-ish” star Yara Shahidi will be spreading pixie dust in the movie, as she’s set to play Tinker Bell. Alyssa Wapanatâhk will play Tiger Lily.

Smee is Captain Hook’s loyal first mate, but due to his bubbling personality, he doesn’t always offer much help. He was previously voiced by Bill Thompson in the original film. In “Hook,” Smee was played by Bob Hoskins.

Disney adapted J.M. Barrie’s...

"What if she saw something... Out there?" Rlje Films & Shudder have released an official trailer for The Dark and The Wicked, the latest horror film from filmmaker Bryan Bertino, known for his horror films The Strangers and The Monster previously. This is premiering at the Fantasia Film Festival this month, and will be available to watch on VOD later this fall. On a secluded farm in a nondescript rural town, a man is slowly dying. His family gathers to mourn, and soon a darkness grows, marked by waking nightmares and a growing sense that something evil is taking over the family. Marin Ireland stars in this, along with Michael Abbott Jr., Xander Berkeley, Lynn Andrews, Julie Oliver-Touchstone, and Tom Nowicki. This starts out like any other small town supernatural thriller, but gets seriously scary as more is revealed. What in the hell is out there?! Here's the ...

Jim Gaffigan and Joel Courtney will star in Lionsgate and Kingdom Story Company’s “Jesus Revolution,” based on the true story of a national spiritual awakening among a group of teenaged hippies in Southern California in the early 1970s, it was announced on Friday.

In the film, Courtney will play Greg Laurie, a counterculture teen in the late 1960s who joined the Jesus revolution in Southern California and went on to start Harvest Christian Fellowship, one of the largest congregations in America. Gaffigan will star as Chuck Smith, the real-life pastor of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa. Smith served as a mentor to Laurie and famously opened his church to hippies.

Jon Gunn (“The Case for Christ”) will direct from a script written by him and Jon Erwin. Kevin Downes and the Erwin Brothers are producing, while Jerilyn Esquibel is co-producing for Kingdom Story Company. Gunn and the Erwin Brothers...

Exclusive: Jim Gaffigan is returning to Amazon for his second stand-up special with the streaming channel. Jim Gaffigan: The Pale Tourist will premiere Friday, July 24 on Amazon Prime Video.

The two-part stand-up special was filmed on location in Ontario, Canada and Barcelona, Spain, as part of Gaffigan’s The Pale Tourist worldwide tour in which he traveled the world — in each country meeting people, eating the food, and learning a bit about the history. He would then transform those experiences into a stand-up set of all-new material and perform it for locals and expatriates, before heading on to another destination and doing it all over again.

Jim Gaffigan: Quality Time was Gaffigan’s first comedy special for Amazon and marked the streamer’s foray into the Netflix-dominated stand-up comedy turf in 2019.

The Grammy-nominated, Emmy-winning and New York Times bestselling author, actor and comedian Gaffigan had eight films opening in...

Jim Gaffigan is mostly know for his stand-up comedy antics and being a hilarious character actor. But he’s recently turned in some solid work in indie dramas and thrillers such as Light from Light, Them That Follow, and Chappaquiddick. Soon he’ll stretch his dramatic chops with a little bit of dark comedy by leading his […]

The post Jim Gaffigan to Play Late Toronto Mayor Rob Ford in a New AMC Limited Series appeared first on /Film.

Jim Gaffigan is preparing to play former Toronto mayor Rob Ford in a scripted series currently in the works at AMC, Variety has learned exclusively.

Jesse McKeown will write and executive produce, with Ed Helms and Mike Falbo executive producing under their Pacific Electric Picture Co. banner. Michael Dowse will executive produce and direct.

The dark comedy series would detail the rise and fall of the controversial Ford, who served as the mayor of Toronto from 2010 to 2014 after many years as a city councilor. He was infamously caught on video smoking crack cocaine during his reelection campaign and was known to suffer from other substance abuse issues.

Should the project move forward it would not be the first onscreen depiction of Ford. Damian Lewis played Ford in the film “Run This Town,” which debuted at SXSW last year.

Gaffigan is best known for his stand up comedy career, having released specials like “Beyond the Pale,...

Following our top 50 films of 2019, we’re sharing personal top 10 lists from our contributors. Check out the latest below and see our complete year-end coverage here.

The end of the decade has spurred reflection on what defined the last ten years in cinema as streaming wars commenced and the future of the theatrical experience was further questioned. It’s still too early to deduce such matters with any long-lasting clarity, so for now, I’ll take a look back at my perspective on the previous year in cinema.

Before we get to new films, my favorite few days inside a cinema in 2019 was at The Nitrate Picture Show at the George Eastman Museum and one can see my 100 favorite new-to-me films throughout the year. After the staggering first viewings of the sprawling masterpieces Berlin Alexanderplatz, Sátántangó, War and Peace, Dr. Mabuse, the Gambler, Les Vampires, and Celine and Julie Go Boating,...

Of course, it’s the film that forces us to guess its gross that holds the most curiosity this week. Martin Scorsese’s “The Irishman” opens in eight New York/Los Angeles theaters to start its theatrical play ahead of a November 27 Netflix debut — and in far fewer theaters than it should be.

While Netflix is slowly adding dates weekly after its premiere, this is not a typical platform run. For one thing, among its initial theaters, the Egyptian in Los Angeles and the Belasco in New York aren’t even first-run locations — and while venerable, they’re far removed from plush stadium seating at premium locations. Two Los Angeles dates were added last minute, post-Sunday newspaper ads.

Netflix’s website for “The Irishman” lists theaters booked that have provided showtimes and have tickets on sale, and thus is incomplete. It currently lists around 60-70 theaters scattered through North America...

Get in touch to send in cinephile news and discoveries. For daily updates follow us @NotebookMUBI.NEWSAvant-garde filmmaker Peter Tscherkassky has provided a new ident for Mubi that displays his "sensory and tactile view on cinema." The ident features strips of film negative overlapping and whirring to the sounds of a passing train. Recommended VIEWINGThe official trailer for Clint Eastwood's Richard Jewell, based on the true story of a security guard falsely accused of planting a bomb at the 1996 Olympics. An investigation into the "real fake cameras" used to create Toy Story 4, which emulates a variety of camera lenses, from anamorphic to spherical. The elusive Roger Avary, co-writer of Pulp Fiction and director of The Rules of Attraction, returns from a long hiatus with what looks to be a delightful crime romp complete with Crispin Glover as a fake Frenchman-assassin.Mati Diop's Atlantics, which follows a woman...

If the jump scares and horror set pieces of Paranormal Activity or The Conjuring franchises were exchanged for an authentic reckoning of the tangled emotions the departed may leave behind, you have something close to Light From Light. There’s a palpable tension to this story of paranormal investigating, but rather than injecting the expected terror, the film’s power lies in never seeing ghost hunting depicted so grounded and character-driven before. Following its Sundance premiere, Grasshopper Film has released the first trailer ahead of a theatrical release next month.

I said in my review, “This is the kind of film where the minutiae of insurance policies are discussed before any haunting may begin. Those going into Paul Harrill’s second feature looking for frights will be rewarded with something more substantial: an experience rich with atmosphere and humanity, and drama ultimately more enlightening than the cheap thrills that pervade...

"People think ghosts are scary... I think it would be wonderful if they were real." Sure, that would be nice. Grasshopper Film has debuted an official trailer for an indie drama title Light From Light, which initially premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. It also went on to play at the Sarasota, Montclair, Oak Cliff, and San Diego Film Festivals throughout the year. This is the film that is being described as the "unscary" ghost story film, about a man who recently lost his wife who feels like her presence is still around in his house. He hires a single mother and local part-time paranormal investigator to determine whether there really is a ghost or not. It's one of the few dramatic supernatural films that have ever been made, and it's very good, a tender look at the emotional struggles of still-alive human beings. Starring Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan,...

Sometimes you go into the viewing of a film with a certain idea in mind about what to expect. If you hear about a film that features a plot that revolves around the potential haunting at a farmhouse in Tennessee, you’re likely thinking that a horror film is to follow. However, with “Light from Light,” the haunted premise gives way to something less supernatural and much more human.

As you can see in the new trailer for “Light from Light,” there is definitely a supernatural premise at play, where a widower invites some paranormal investigators to his farm to find out if he’s being haunted by his deceased wife.

Continue reading ‘Light From Light’ Trailer: Marin Ireland & Jim Gaffigan Star In A Humanist, Supernatural Drama at The Playlist.

Paranormal investigations have long enjoyed their fair share of spins onscreen, from horror franchises like the wildly popular “Paranormal Activity” series to small screen reality TV takes like “Ghost Hunters” and “Paranormal State,” but recent iterations of the horror subgenre haven’t always utilized such stories as dramatic deep dives into the existence of the living. Paul Harrill’s Sundance premiere “Light From Light” offers a deep-thinking corrective and a push away from jump-scare-heavy entries, using timeless horror concepts like “ghosts!” and “haunted houses!” and “paranormal inspections!” to explore other facets of the human condition. In short, the most fascinating beings in the film aren’t necessarily the dead ones.

Per the film’s official synopsis: “Gifted with sometimes-prophetic dreams and a lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Marin Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. It’s there she meets Richard (Jim Gaffigan), a...

In “American Dreamer,” Jim Gaffigan plays a struggling rideshare driver who gets roped up in a bad situation because he’s trying to provide for his family. And the actor says the movie speaks a lot about society and the American Dream.

“I play a rideshare driver, a guy who is down on his luck, is not doing well even in the rideshare game, so he ends up driving around a drug dealer and then there are a lot of questionable bad decisions,” Gaffigan told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven.

It’s about “capitalism, the gig economy — is it realistic? His approach to fixing things is a very kind of a quick fix, American kind of thing,” he added. “He thinks he’s entitled for things and doesn’t want to take accountability for things. I think every man struggles with that because we’re gorillas — we’re just animals. I...

Paul Harrill’s Sundance ghost story “Light From Light,” starring Jim Gaffigan and Marin Ireland, has been acquired by Grasshopper Film, the distribution company said on Tuesday.

Grasshopper picked up U.S. distribution rights to the film from writer and director Harrill, and they plan to release the film in theaters across the country this fall.

“Light From Light” is described as an achingly beautiful film about two strangers who find solace in one another while investigating a mysterious incident.

Following her lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. There she meets Richard (Gaffigan), a widower who thinks his recently departed wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually includes Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to reckon with the direction their lives have taken.

Also Read: Sundance Festival Director John...

Exclusive: Grasshopper Film has obtained the distribution rights to writer-director Paul Harrill’s, Light from Light, the ghost story drama that premiered at Sundance earlier this year. Planned for a theatrical release across the country this fall, the film stars Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan as two strangers who find solace in one another while investigating a mysterious incident.

Elisabeth Moss produced the pic with Sailor Bear, James M. Johnston, Toby Halbrooks as well as Ten Acre Films’ Kelly Williams and Ley Line Entertainment’s Tim Headington and Theresa Steele.

The synopsis: Following her lifelong interest in the paranormal, Sheila (Ireland) is asked to investigate a potential haunting at a Tennessee farmhouse. There she meets Richard (Gaffigan), a widower who thinks his recently departed wife may still be with him. The investigation that ensues — which eventually includes Shelia’s son, Owen and his classmate Lucy — forces them to reckon with...

Chicago – Comedian Jim Gaffigan is one of the funniest persons on earth, basically by being himself (Score!). In the last five years, he has been immersing himself into the waters of character acting in the movies, doing some serious supporting roles in films like “Chuck” and “Chappaquiddick.”

Lately, he has been on an indie film streak, with lead roles this year in “Light from Light” – which closed this year’s Chicago Critics Festival – and the recently released “Being Frank,” in which he portrays the title character.

Directed by Miranda Bailey, “Being Frank” has Jim G. as a father, which he also famously is in real life, but this Dad has a twist. Somehow, someway Frank has managed to maintain two families, and take them to maturation. This jig is slowly coming apart as the film begins, as Phillip (Logan Miller), the son of the Mom portrayed by Anna Gunn, begins...

Miranda Bailey’s narrative directorial debut “Being Frank” is a comedy about male hypocrisy set in 1992 that dives into many intriguing ideas and issues and gives us a lot to consider. This is commendable — given that many commercial comedies give us nothing to consider at all — but there is a tug-of-war here between her attempt to explore her characters in a very serious way with a consistent emotional basis and the demands of the material as written by Glen Lakin, which is clearly meant to be played as farce most of the time, particularly towards the end.

The first moments of “Being Frank” show high school senior Philip (Logan Miller) doing a practice job interview with his father Frank (Jim Gaffigan), and the way the shots are composed makes us feel Frank’s bullying control over his son; the effect is oppressive and even alienating at first, but to a point.

The Chicago Critics Film Festival Runs May 17th – 23rd. Stephen Tronicek is covering the event for We Are Movie Geeeks

After a week and (checks schedule) 23 programs, all of this had to come to an end. Tonight, it did and while there is a bit of sadness in watching the Chicago Critics Film Festival go, there is also adulation at the movies that screened tonight.

Piranhas, directed by Claudio Giovannesi, is a marvelous little gangster film that captures the misadventures of an Italian gang of fifteen-year-olds, out to face the world. What’s surprising is how restrained the ride actually is. The filmmaking is mostly handheld but the storytelling isn’t explosive and that’s perfect. We observe, through the workman lens, the lives of these young men and women. We observe them as they struggle, succeed, die, and party and it goes by in a rush of 105 minutes. Definitely...

Chicago – It has been a week of spectacular cinema treats at the 7th Chicago Critics Film Festival, and tonight it wraps up with “Light from Light,” a 2019 multi-festival recognized film. Write/director Paul Harrill and lead actor (and comedian) Jim Gaffigan will appear on behalf of the film, at 8:30pm on Thursday, May 23rd, 2019 at Chicago’s Music Box Theatre. For more details and tickets, click here.

Jim Gaffigan (right) Will Appear on Behalf of ‘Light from Light’

Photo credit: ChicagoCriticsFilmFestival.com

Single mom Shelia (Marin Ireland), gifted with sometimes prophetic dreams, moonlights as a paranormal investigator while working at a car-rental service counter and raising her teenage son, Owen (Josh Wiggins). After her appearance on a local radio program, she’s contacted by Richard (Jim Gaffigan), a recent widower who thinks his departed wife may be “haunting” his East Tennessee farmhouse. Agreeing to help, Shelia brings along Owen...

The Chicago Critics Film Festival Runs May 17th – 23rd. Stephen Tronicek is covering the event for We Are Movie Geeeks

The penultimate day of Ccff proved to be one of the most affecting this year, given the continuing quality of the films provided. Three new films were shown, each capturing a different kind of excitement, whether that be that of holding a rattlesnake, listening to Bruce Springsteen, or attempting to wrap your brain around a decade old conspiracy.

Them That Follow, directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage, is a terrifying reckoning of a movie about coming to terms with the fact that your world is broken and myopic. Mara (Alice Englert) is part of a small church sect who show their allegiance to God by holding venomous rattlesnakes. As tensions boil between her and her father and extenuating circumstances push her further and further from the community, Mara...

Exclusive: Marin Ireland, Michael Abbott Jr., and Xander Berkeley have been tapped as the leads in The Dark & The Wicked, a horror film written and directed by Bryan Bertino. It follows two siblings who are summoned back to the family farm to await the inevitability of their father’s death. What initially appears to be a timeless ritual of loss and remembrance turns out to be something very different.

Lynn Andrews, Julie Oliver-Touchstone, Tom Nowicki, and Ella Ballentine co-star in the film which is shooting in Texas.

The pic marks Bertino’s third feature following his debut pic The Strangers, with Liv Tyler and Scott Speedman, and The Monster, starring Zoe Kazan, which was released by A24 last year. He’s repped by UTA and Grandview.

Adrienne Biddle and Bertino are producing The Dark & The Wicked under their Unbroken Pictures banner along with Sonny Mallhi and Kevin Matusow for The Traveling Picture Show Company.

“Light from Light” is about a paranormal investigator who comes to the aid of a grieving widower possibly receiving messages from his late wife. Supernatural horror and bloodshed inevitably ensue — or would, in just about any other movie with that premise. In this movie, however, there are no jump scares, in fact no scares whatsoever, and the quiet “buildup” leads to an equally quiet resolution.

Neither thriller nor sentimental whimsy, Paul Harrill’s second feature is a quietly matter-of-fact drama that utilizes a “haunting” story hook for non-religious yet affirming ends. Its micro-budget modesty of look and tone abet an ultimately quite moving impact, even if they may also limit commercial exposure.

Though probably not yet 35, Sheila (Marin Ireland) already has the wariness of someone who’s been disappointed enough in life to expect the remainder will be disappointing, too. She’s a single mom to a nice teenager, Owen...

Jim Gaffigan is ready for his Lost in Translation moment. The actor is known for his comedy but he’s been trying to break into dramatic roles for a while. He thought the break might come in 2005 with The Great New Wonderful. Just last spring he had a substantial part in Chappaquiddick and this year he brought two dramas and one comedy to Sundance Film Festival 2019. We sat down with Gaffigan to discuss this new territory in his career and specifically Light from Light.

Throughout our talk, Gaffigan showed tempered expectations about his career and personal life. When asked about the sexual abuse crisis in Roman Catholicism (he’s openly religious), you can trace the logic of his faith to a belief in human fallibility matched with divine forgiveness, regardless of who’s in charge of the institution. Similarly, Light from Light asks what’s the point of going on,...

“Light From Light” star Marin Ireland says we see a different Jim Gaffigan in the drama that just premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, a film that gives us the usually comedic actor in a more dramatic role.

“It’s a story about a woman who is a single mom in east Tennessee but she moonlights as a paranormal investigator and she’s asked to investigate a possible haunting in a widower’s farmhouse,” writer and director Paul Harrill told TheWrap’s Beatrice Verhoeven at TheWrap’s interview studio.

Gaffigan added, “I play the widower — he’s obviously a very good-looking widower. I live in a farmhouse and someone recommends I hire this lady to see if there are some ghost-os in the farm-o.”

Also Read: 'Light From Light' Film Review: Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan Connect in Quiet Indie Drama

“I do want to say that one...

Filmmaker Paul Harrill from Light From Light is among the voices, faces and creative folks that are a part of the ten films selected for our favourite section at the Sundance Film Festival. Added to the fest at the beginning of the decade, over time, the Next section (formerly referred to as “<=>”) has unearthed some of the best voices in micro American indie film projects with the likes of Sebastian Silva, Josh Mond, Rick Alverson, Anna Rose Holmer, Andrew Dosunmu, Craig Zobel, David Lowery and Janicza Bravo. We return with Sundance Trading Card Series focusing on the 2019 Next section selected films and personalities.…...

If doing standup is like a conversation with the audience, as Jim Gaffigan describes, he’s had quite a few of them.

But while he rose to prominence as one of the country’s most popular comedians on stage, he’s been quietly amassing a collection of film roles that flex some distinctly different muscles. All of that came to a head at Sundance 2019, where Gaffigan is a part of three different films, each occupying a different corner of the indie film world.

“I love standup and the process of developing material, and there’s a certain authority that you have as the writer. Whereas, it’s definitely a collaboration in an acting world. You feel a responsibility not only to the director and the writer, but to the character,” Gaffigan told IndieWire.

In the “Light from Light,” he plays a widower who thinks he might be seeing proof of his deceased wife’s spirit.

Deadline’s studio at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival kicked off Day 4 at Hotel Park City by hosting fest-goers including Pete Davidson of Big Time Adolescence, Demi Moore of Corporate Animals, Jim Gaffigan of Light From Light, Blythe Danner of The Tomorrow Man and many more.

Click on the photo above to launch the gallery.

Stay tuned for more galleries and video interviews from the Deadline Studio at Sundance 2019.

The festival continues through February 3.

The Deadline Studio is presented by Hyundai. Thanks to our sponsor Inkbox and partners West Elm & Calii Love.

Launch Gallery: Deadline Studio at Sundance 2019 – Day 4 – Pete Davidson, Demi Moore, Jim Gaffigan, Blythe Danner & More...

Hell hath no fury like disappointed horror fans, so please don’t go to “Light from Light” expecting a horror movie, which it most certainly isn’t. Rather, the film is a gentle, humanist drama that uses the idea of a haunted house to explore themes of doubt, wonder, and the search for meaning in the modern world.

Read More: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2019

Sheila (Marin Ireland) might get called a “ghost hunter,” but she’s really a searcher and a listener in a broader sense, trying to reach beyond the noise and clamor of the everyday to hear something deeper speak to her, whether that’s God, the universe, or someone from beyond the grave.

Continue reading ‘Light From Light’: A Haunted House Premise Gives Way To A Gentle, Humanist Drama [Sundance Review] at The Playlist.

The first weekend of Sundance 2019 closed with some big name films and stars all across town in Park City. Jake Gyllenhaal’s newest film Velvet Buzzsaw was one of the hottest tickets of the festival, while the crowds buzzed about the Ted Bundy film Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile. Ty and Nathan caught several films and are ready to give you their Take 3 for Sundance Day 4.

Nathan’s Best Thing He Saw Today:

Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile was one of my most anticipated films of the festival but my expectations were not high. The dramatization of one of the most monstrous men to ever walk this planet was something that could easily be mishandled and I wasn’t sure if it could be original. I was wrong. I absolutely loved this film. The story structure of being told by Ted Bundy’s longtime girlfriend creates a fresh...

If the jump scares and horror set pieces of Paranormal Activity or The Conjuring franchises were exchanged for an authentic reckoning of the tangled emotions the departed may leave behind, you have something close to Light From Light. There’s a palpable tension to this story of paranormal investigating, but rather than injecting the expected terror, the film’s power lies in never seeing ghost hunting depicted so grounded and character-driven before. This is the kind of film where the minutiae of insurance policies are discussed before any haunting may begin. Those going into Paul Harrill’s second feature looking for frights will be rewarded with something more substantial: an experience rich with atmosphere and humanity, and drama ultimately more enlightening than the cheap thrills that pervade the dime-a-dozen ghost stories we’ve seen before.

Shelia (Marin Ireland) is a single mom living in rural Tennessee, working at a car...

At most film festivals — and especially at Sundance — attendees trip over themselves to get into the most buzzed-about (and often overhyped) screenings. Happily, this leaves more space for film fans hoping to find some under-the-radar discoveries. “Light from Light” feels like a familiar festival indie in its quirky setup and modest production values. But it also boasts a rare, quiet honesty, and a lead performance from Marin Ireland that’ll haunt you for days.

Haunting is, in fact, the name of the game here, since Ireland’s Shelia is a bit of a ghost hunter. She’s ambivalent about it, as she seems to be about a lot of things. But her uncertainty is reasonable, given how overwhelmed she is as a single mom trying to raise a teenage son while working full-time at a soul-crushing car rental service.

Still, when she gets a call from the recently-widowed Richard (Jim Gaffigan), she’s intrigued.

David Lowery’s The Green Knight, Hugo Cabret stage musical in the pipeline.

Dallas-based oil billionaire and film financier-producer Tim Headington and music industry and advertising veteran Theresa Steele Page have launched film, TV and theatre production and financing company Ley Line Entertainment.

Notable upcoming projects include David Lowery’s The Green Knight, a documentary about Beach Boys co-founder Brian Wilson, and Sundance 2019 selection Light From Light.

The roster includes a West End theatrical adaptation of The Invention Of Hugo Cabret, the film version of which, Hugo, Headington financed and produced alongside former business partner Graham King. His financing and...

Producers Tim Headington and Theresa Steele Page have teamed up to open Ley Line Entertainment, a content development, production and financing company with projects spanning film, TV and stage.

Among the first projects are two stage productions: a musical based on the chart-topping catalog of Swedish hit-maker Max Martin that’s bound for London’s West End in November 2019. Martin first rose to prominence in the late 1990s with songs for Britney Spears (“…Baby One More Time”), The Backstreet Boys (“I Want It That Way”) and Bon Jovi (“It’s My Life”).

Headington and Page are also working on a stage musical based on Brian Selznick’s illustrated children’s novel “The Invention of Hugo Cabret,” which was previously adapted into the 2011 Martin Scorsese film “Hugo” (which Headington produced).

Selznick is writing the libretto, though no composer is yet attached.

Also Read: Jordan Peele, Rosamund Pike, Steven Soderbergh Projects Announced for 2019 Sundance Indie Episodic,...

Producers Tim Headington and Theresa Steele Page have unveiled Ley Line Entertainment with a Brian Wilson documentary and a “Hugo Cabret” musical in the works.

Ley Line said it’s a content development, production, and financing company with projects spanning film, television, stage, and music. Headington financed and produced “The Young Victoria,” “Argo,” “Hugo,” and “World War Z,” while Page, a former music industry and advertising executive, was involved in the careers of Britney Spears, Nsync, Justin Timberlake, and Backstreet Boys.

The duo produced Paul Harrill’s upcoming Sundance Next entry “Light from Light,” starring Marin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan. Ley Line is also co-financing and co-producing David Lowery’s “The Green Knight,” a re-telling of “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” along with A24 and Bron.

“We started this company in order to foster both new and established talent while telling unique and meaningful stories across a broad range of mediums,...

Argo and World War Z producer Tim Headington and former music industry exec Theresa Steele Page have launched Ley Line Entertainment, a development, production and financing company that already has a slate of projects across film, TV, theater and music.

In the pipeline at launch is a musical based on Brian Selznick’s 2007 novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was turned into the 2011 Martin Scorsese film that Headington produced and which won five Oscars. Selznick is writing the libretto now, with a 2011 West End bow planned. Ley Line is also working on a musical based on the music of Max Martin to bow in London in November 2019.

On the film side, the company co-produced Light From Light, Paul Harrill’s pic starring Martin Ireland and Jim Gaffigan that will world premiere in the Next section at Sundance in January. It also is co-financing and co-producing David Lowery’s recently announced The Green Knight,...