Latest news with #StevenSchneider
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The Horror Buffs at Image Nation Abu Dhabi, Spooky Pictures Love 'Cool Shit' and Have Unleashed ‘The Plague' at Cannes
High concept, low budget, straight-forward creative lens – that is how Emirati studio Image Nation Abu Dhabi and Los Angeles-based genre label Spooky Pictures target movies under their partnership that is bringing one of its features to the Cannes Film Festival for the first time. No need to mince words either. 'The creative mandate is: cool shit,' producer and Spooky co-founder Steven Schneider (Pet Sematary, Paranormal Activity, Insidious) tells THR. 'We also always just look for things that are original and will surprise us,' adds producer and Spooky co-founder Roy Lee (It, The Ring, A Minecraft Movie). 'The guiding light when we start out is that we want to make a movie that somebody thinks is their favorite movie of that year or of all time.' More from The Hollywood Reporter 'Highest 2 Lowest': Spike Lee on Trump, Cannes Scandals and the Knicks' Championship Chances: "We're Going to Win!" UTA's Rich Klubeck Is Juggling Wes Anderson, Kelly Reichardt and Ethan Coen at Cannes Jafar Panahi: The World's Most Acclaimed Dissident Filmmaker The duo found a partner in crime in Image Nation CEO Ben Ross, bringing together what Schneider calls three 'historical horror buffs' on a mission. 'Steven and I had been threatening to do this for probably 15-plus years, and the three of us have known each other for a really long time,' recalls Ross. 'So when the two of them discussed launching something together, it was pretty easy just to go and do it, because we know genre films and like the business.' This year, the dynamic trio for the first time ever hit the Croisette with a movie premiering in the Cannes selection, namely New York-based Charlie Polinger's debut feature The Plague, which debuted in the Un Certain Regard section on Friday. Its cast features an ensemble of new faces, including Everett Blunck, Kayo Martin and Kenny Rasmussen, and Joel Edgerton (Boy Erased, Black Mass, Loving), who also has a producer credit on the film via his banner Five Henrys Productions, along with additional producers Hellcat and The Space Program. 'At an all-boys water polo camp, a socially anxious 12-year-old is pulled into a cruel tradition targeting an outcast with an illness they call 'The Plague',' reads the ominous synopsis. 'But as the lines between game and reality blur, he fears the joke might be hiding something real.' Edgerton was already attached to the project when the partners boarded it. His involvement as a producer mirrors the starring and producing roles that David Dastmalchian had on the Cameron Cairnes and Colin Cairnes-directed Image Nation-Spooky horror box office hit Late Night With the Devil, which in its prologue is framed as a documentary investigating an unexplained event that occurred on Halloween night 1977 during a live broadcast of a late-night talk show, and which delivered IFC Films' highest-grossing opening weekend ever. Dastmalchian and the companies are now replicating his double duty on their recently unveiled new feature, The Shepherd. 'That dual role is incentivizing,' explains Schneider. 'Nobody's getting rich up front on these movies. We are, I think, more than fair for low-budget movies in terms of what we are prepared to pay people. But we are trying desperately to keep the above the line as minimal as possible.' Adds Ross: 'We also try to make all the actors feel like they are real partners. They are doing these things for significantly less of a payday than they can normally get. Everything goes on screen when we design the financial plans for our films. We treat the actors as partners, so they are significant stakeholders in the back end. We all win together, or nobody wins.' How else does The Plague fit into the partnership's business model? 'The model is basically $5 million net budgets or below, big concept, well executed, directors that we believe in and want to bet on – whether they are first-timers or established, and not cast contingent in the usual way,' summarizes Schneider. The three veterans trust their taste and instincts and all use words such as 'different,' 'fresh,' 'original,' and 'fun' when discussing what kind of projects they look for. Explains Lee: 'If we read the first act of a script and could predict everything that is going to happen, it's actually a movie we don't want to do. We want the movies that veer in different directions.' The content can originate from anywhere. 'As far as the business perspective, we operate under the premise that content is global,' Ross tells THR. 'So we make it for a global audience, whether it's in Arabic, which a lot of Image Nation stuff is, or in English or Spanish,' like one project currently in the works. One fundamental thought the partners all share is that creative, artistic, and financial considerations are not mutually exclusive. 'Our movies can be artistic and commercial at the same time,' emphasized Schneider. 'They just have to be scary. They have to be spooky.' Is there a slate goal, such as a certain number of movies the three target per year? 'We don't have a set goal. We just judge things as they come in,' emphasizes Lee. 'When we love something, we want to try and make it.' That has meant that, in contrast to most studios' operations, the partnership has made all movies it has decided to develop. One thing that makes The Plague different is that it will be the partnership's first film to be sold upfront, with that process starting at the Cannes market, where UTA and Cinetic will be co-selling the U.S. rights and AGC International handling the rest of the world. Chloe Okuno's psychological thriller Watcher was the team's first feature. Among their upcoming films are Oddity director Damian McCarthy's supernatural horror movie Hokum, starring Adam Scott (Severance), which is currently in post, Randall Okita's Menace, starring Isabel May (1883), and Archangel, written and directed by Bryan Edward Hill and starring Conor Leslie (Titans, Man in the High Castle) Greg Hovanessian (Cardinal), and Alyshia Ochse (True Detective). Given the entertainment industry's various issues, what is a key hurdle for the Image Nation-Spooky team? 'The biggest challenge is finding great projects,' highlights Lee. 'Because there are so many things out there in the marketplace and there is a lot of competition, you just have to be able to discern the ones that will rise above the others and that will be great.' One promise that can make a difference is trust in the creatives and their vision. 'We really try to be completely collaborative with our filmmakers,' says Ross. 'We want to show them that we believe in them. We really don't dictate a lot. We are all going to work together.' Best of The Hollywood Reporter 'The Goonies' Cast, Then and Now "A Nutless Monkey Could Do Your Job": From Abusive to Angst-Ridden, 16 Memorable Studio Exec Portrayals in Film and TV The 10 Best Baseball Movies of All Time, Ranked
Yahoo
04-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Artist Steven Schneider draws inspiration from daily living, nature
TUPELO – Ringed by trees on the 10-acre property he shares with his wife, Steven Schneider can simply take a peek from the studio he built next to their Colorado-inspired stone-and-wood home for inspiration. Stepping out onto the back porch with a commanding view overlooking the vast agricultural fields stretching below and into the horizon, the clear turquoise of the pool is inviting, albeit it's still a bit too cool to take a dip. "It's beautiful out here, isn't it?" he says. "See that cedar over there? I think I'll paint that soon." The setting is ideal for Schneider, who is in his element. At 70, he has an infectious enthusiasm. His eyes sparkle while describing some of his acrylic canvases. "I've been through an evolution ... mostly based on nature references," he said "I tend to go back to landscapes. It's a familiar thing. Growing up in south Louisiana, I'm greatly in love with nature. It feels good." A pre-med major with a fine art minor while in college, Schneider had a revelation while going through the rigors of his studies. While his 3.5 GPA was good, he didn't have the passion for medicine. And his art was as constant companion. "I piddled in watercolor and this and that ... and I realized I wasn't going to medical school," he said. "The art people were so much more fun, and I blame music, too, since I play a little." After graduating from the University of Louisiana, he was associated with a gallery in Lafayette, and it didn't take long for one off his paintings to capture the interest of a buyer. "The gallery called and said, 'Somebody's really interested in your painting and wants to meet you and talk about it,'" he said with a sigh. That wasn't something he was exactly thrilled to do. "My initial thought this would be easy. I could stay at home, do these pictures and these paintings and just send then to galleries, and they sell and they send me a check," he said. "It never really worked out that way." Eventually, he overcame his own hesitation to meet and greet his potential buyers. 'I realized later on that more and more people want to engage with you, the process, what you're all about, and in most cases it's a personal thing if they're going to purchase," he said. "I'm OK with that after 40 years of doing that." Planting the seed Schneider tapped into his affinity for the creative process starting at an early age. "I drew like so many artists, and started drawing as a kid, and discovered I had an aptitude," he said. "I remember in the fourth grade, I was out on the playground drawing, and the teacher put my piece up and asked, 'Who did this?'" That drawing, a house, planted a seed that has blossomed into a career that now finds his artwork viewed and purchased from Oxford Treehouse Gallery in Oxford, Fischer Galleries in Ridgeland, Justus Fine Art in Hot Springs, and Greg Thompson Fine Art in Little Rock. He has been inspired by a range of artists — Georges Braque, the founder of Cubism; Van Gogh and his colorful impressionism; surrealists like Salvador Dali, Max Ernst and Marcel Duchamp; the abstract expressionism of Han Hofmann and the graphic styles of Andy Warhol and Franz Klein; and others. After earning a fine arts degree, Schneider studied advertising design and went into business with his brother. He later opened an ad agency, but after two years, his urge to paint was greater than ever. He wanted to be seen. "All along I was doing my art and painting, and so what I would do was keep contacting galleries and do my art," he said. "So, when I left the ad agency, it was just me. I would do an advertising piece get some money to get some chickens to throw in the freezer, buy some canvases go paint, have an art show, sell a few pieces and go back and forth between graphic design and painting. So, I guess I've been doing that since the age of 25." And he was no starving artist. "I always managed to eat. Advertising paid the steady money," he said. One person who took interest in Schneider was his wife, Cynthia, who he met at a charity event in Lafayette, some 22 years ago. She was intrigued when she first heard about him. "I'd always heard about this very elusive, hidden away artist, a total man of mystery," she said. Cynthia owned a restaurant at the time, and the couple later moved to Donaldsonville, Louisiana, in 2004, where they opened the Schneider Art Gallery and Grapevine Cafe and Gallery and often held events together. "It was really neat," Steven Schneider said. "Have a little wine, a little art. It really paired well." Schneider's style Schneider's art can't be put in a single box, given his various influences. He describes himself as being "compelled to observe and document daily living." He said he draws inspiration from both the "natural and spiritual realms." His interest in plein air forms a base for his landscapes, with planar shapes combined with realistic impressions. "I did plein air painting for a while, and it's something I really enjoyed I have a lot of plein air friends but realize there are thousands of them, and I'm just OK," he said. "Within the past four years, I've tried to push a little more unique and personal." A painting he's working on is inspired by the natural beauty of the Ozarks in northwest Arkansas, where the Schneiders lived for a decade before moving to Tupelo last year. This particular piece is an homage to the Lost Valley Trial in the Buffalo National Forest, the most popular hike in the Ozarks. With sheer rock faces, flowing water and a forested landscape, the trail is being interpreted by Schneider with the blue of the sky, the brown shadowed rock and the green trees playing off each other. Some of his paintings are referenced by photographs, and with his graphic designer skills, he's learned to manipulate the shapes and colors in order to get it to where he wants to be with his paintbrush. "I've done oil, watercolor, 3-D assemblies. Acrylic works for me. I've gotten to the point where I can develop colorizations that mimic texture and depth," he said. Another landscape — called simply, Trace — is inspired by the Natchez Trace. It recently hung at the GumTree Museum of Art in Tupelo, and it speaks to his use of light and shadow. "The colors just sizzle off each other," Schneider said. "After years of studying art theory and plein air outdoor painting, no longer are all the shadows dark and there's just not much light ... now the shadows are luminous. "I like the light and focusing on an area where everything else sort of contributes to the lit areas," he added. "You want people to look at a painting and go, 'Wow, that's cool.' I keep wanting to get to that point where people are compelled to look at it and say, 'Wow, for some reason, I really enjoy looking at it.'" Schneider also has surrealistic paintings like a fireworks stand that caught his eye after a wedding, or a series of paintings of antique vehicles from a junkyard. What he paints is what he would want to hang in his own home, "Things that are cool and intrigue me." For example, there is a 60-by-60 painting of his Martin guitar which he admits is for a very specific audience. Retirement is just a word, not a vocation, but he is trying to be "sort of retired." However, he also feels like he has a lot more time to devote to painting. "My focus for image making is to interpret and communicate more effectively, while my goal is to reveal some truth that initiates interaction and conversations," he said.
