Latest news with #TomQuinn
BBC News
a day ago
- Business
- BBC News
Tech Life Data and me
What happens when a company we trust with our most personal data gets into financial trouble ? We hear from a woman who trusted a US company with her genetic information. Also on Tech Life this week, will there be enough electricity for the demands of artificial intelligence ? The International Energy Agency tells us about the challenges of powering the AI boom. And we find out how to grow an island in The Maldives. The tech involved could protect low-lying territories from erosion and rising sea levels. We enjoy reading your messages about the one item of tech you simply can't do without. If you want to tell us about your must-have piece of tech, please get in touch by emailing techlife@ or send us a Whatsapp message or voice memo on +44 330 1230 320. Presenter: Chris Vallance Producer: Tom Quinn Editor: Monica Soriano Image: A scientist holds a DNA sample with the results on a computer screen in a laboratory. Credit: Westend61/Getty Images
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
The princess who 'regularly set fire' to her room in Buckingham Palace, according to a royal insider
There have been several fires at the Royal palaces in recent memory. The Royals were left devastated when Windsor Castle was seriously damaged by a fire in 1992, contributing to what the late Queen referred to as her annus horribilis. Then in 2002 a number of artworks were damaged in Buckingham Palace after a small fire broke out in the East Gallery. But one elderly member of the Royal Family gained a reputation for regularly (and accidentally) causing the blazes in the late 1960s. According to royal biographer Tom Quinn in his book Yes Ma'am – which lifts the curtain on the life of the men and women who serve the Royal Family – Prince Philip 's mother Princess Alice 'regularly' set fire to her own apartment in Buckingham Palace. Agnes Cooke, who worked in the royal kitchen for a number of years, told Quinn that Alice's love of cigarettes was behind her fiery habit. She said: 'Well, there was a lady in waiting who was very friendly with Philip's mother, Princess Alice of Battenberg, when Alice was living at Buckingham Palace, and they used to smoke cigarettes together in Alice's apartment – so much so that they regularly set fire to it. 'And despite being very grand indeed – a member of one of Britain's oldest and most aristocratic families – this particular lady in waiting used to wander about with a cigarette stuck behind her ear, like a coal miner or a carpenter.' Princess Alice's life is one of the most remarkable in the history of the Royal Family. She was born Victoria Alice Elizabeth Julia Mary on 25 February 1885 at Windsor Castle in the presence of her great-grandmother, Queen Victoria. Shortly after her birth it was discovered that Alice was congenitally deaf but could speak clearly and lip read in several languages. While at the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, she met and fell in love with Prince Andrew, a younger son of the King of Greece – a year later the couple were wed. Alice married into the Greek Royal Family at a tumultuous time with the family exiled from the country in 1921, the same year Prince Philip was born. By 1930 she was hearing voices and believed she was having intimate relationships with Jesus and other religious figures. She was diagnosed as schizophrenic before being treated by Sigmund Freud at a clinic in Berlin. When Charles' grandmother was released from the the sanatorium in 1932, she drifted between modest German B&Bs before she eventually returned to Athens following the restoration of the Greek monarchy. Alice then found herself stranded in Nazi-occupied Greece throughout WW2. Princess Alice with her husband Prince Andrew of Greece. While at the Coronation of King Edward VII in 1902, she met and fell in love with Andrew, a younger son of the King of Greece – a year later the couple were wed Due to her links to Germany, with her cousin serving as German ambassador to Greece until the start of the occupation, the Nazi soldiers wrongly assumed Alice was sympathetic to their cause. Instead when a general asked Alice if there was anything he could do for her, she bravely responded: 'You can take your troops out of my country.' During the war, she was instrumental in aiding the escape from Greece of several Jews. Alice even hid the Cohen's, Jewish family, on the top floor of her home, just yards away from Gestapo headquarters. When the Gestapo became suspicious and questioned the Princess, she used her deafness as an excuse not to answer their questions and prevented them from entering her property. Following the war, diamonds were used from Alice's tiara so Philip could present a ring to Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen. Alice sold the rest of her jewels to create her own religious order, the Christian Sisterhood of Martha and Mary, in 1949, becoming a nun. When the future King Charles III was born in 1948, Alice was living on the remote Greek island of Tinos. She went on to build a convent and orphanage in a poor suburb of Athens. The royal remained in Greece until 1967, when there was a Greek military coup. Alice refused to leave the country until Prince Philip sent a plane and a special request from the Queen to bring her home. She spent the final years of her life living at Buckingham Palace with her son and daughter-in-law before she died in December 1969, aged 84. She is buried in a crypt at Gethsemane on the Mount of Olives.
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Neon's Tom Quinn Reveals His Oscar-Whisperer Secrets Ahead of the Cannes Awards
At IndieWire's annual 'Screen Talk' live podcast at the American Pavilion in Cannes, Neon CEO Tom Quinn returned to share his Oscar whisperer secrets after his victory lap on 'Anora,' which won the Palme d'Or last year followed by five Oscars including Best Picture, Director, Actress, Editing, and Original Screenplay. Quinn is the talk of Cannes because, as anticipated, the movie he acquired at last year's festival, Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value,' starring Stellan Skarsgård and Renate Reinsve, is the frontrunner for the Palme. While Quinn talked about the four films he brought to the festival (listen below), after our podcast, he acquired three Competition titles: Jafar Panahi's family drama 'It Was Just an Accident,' Brazil's popular entry 'The Secret Agent,' from Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Oliver Laxe's tragic French-Spanish production 'Sirât,' which polarized many Cannes watchers. Even if these four Neon titles don't win Cannes prizes — several will, we guarantee it — they should wind up submitted for the Best International Feature Oscar. More from IndieWire These Cannes 2025 Prize Winners Will Inspire Oscar Campaigns Cowboys vs. Accountants: The Real World of International Production Financing | Future of Filmmaking Summit at Cannes Quinn is at the top of his game and has the confidence to make bold moves and the experience to know how to make the most of them. And he calls it like he sees it. There's no corporate overlord telling him to watch his mouth. (Hear his no-holds-barred interview below or via your preferred podcast platform.) And check the podcast for Ryan Lattanzio and Anne Thompson's candid assessment of the Cannes selection mid-festival: top of class is Spike Lee's Oscar-worthy Akira Kurosawa update 'Highest 2 Lowest' (A24/Apple TV+), which should have been in Competition. We were less wowed by Ari Aster's neo-Western 'Eddington' (A24), which is carried by the exemplary Joaquin Phoenix but wastes Pedro Pascal and Emma Stone. Same goes for Wes Anderson's B-tier 'The Phoenician Scheme' (Focus), carried by Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton (scion of Kate Winslet) while underutilizing its sprawling ensemble. Then, there's the grief-addiction drama 'Alpha' (Neon), Julia Ducournau's less-than-stellar follow-up to Palme d'Or winner and French Oscar submission 'Titane,' which inspired Anne and Ryan to debate the plot without coming to any clear conclusions. Not good. Anne was over the moon about 'Nouvelle Vague,' Richard Linklater's breezy black-and-white love letter to Paris in 1959; he recreates the making of Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless' with a cast of unknowns who look like the critics and filmmakers who were there at the time. Ryan calls it 'shallow enjoyment' and compares it to Woody Allen's 'Midnight in Paris.' 'It's good as a New Wave hangout movie where you see people like Bresson and Rivette and Rohmer and all these people you know running around Paris. I did like Zoey Deutch. She nails Jean Seberg's terrible French accent,' he said. We also disagree on Kristen Stewart's debut feature and sales title 'The Chronology of Water' (Un Certain Regard), which eschews a standard three-act narrative for five free-flowing chapters. Anne thinks British actress Imogen Poots anchors the audacious film, while Ryan dismisses it as 'navel-gazing at female misery.' We agree it could use some time in the editing room, but Stewart told me she wasn't going back. On a more positive note, we both admired body-horror flick 'The Plague' (Un Certain Regard), an assured debut from Charlie Pollinger that is for sale. A24 is developing a movie with him, 'The Masque of the Red Death,' with Sydney Sweeney. Ryan admired Lynne Ramsay's 'Die My Love' more than Anne, who does predict an Oscar nomination for Jennifer Lawrence's slow descent into madness. MUBI won a bidding war and paid $23 million. Will they make their money back with the combined star power of Lawrence and Robert Pattinson? MUBI did a great job with 'The Substance,' and they obviously think they can work with this cast and this subject to create some interest from audiences. But will it play? We doubt this film is as entertaining as 'The Substance.' Anne and Ryan both love rising actor Harris Dickinson's directing debut 'Urchin,' which breaks out [eventual Un Certain Regard Best Actor winner] Frank Dillane as an unhoused Londoner who can't ditch his addictions. Ryan compared it to Mike Leigh's 'Naked.' Hopefully, the movie will land a buyer who will make the most of it. When Tom Quinn took the stage, he explained how 'Anora' scored 'the largest theatrical bump post- Oscar win since 'Oppenheimer,'' he said. 'The significant bump was on home entertainment, which it had been on since Christmas, and that was seismic. The end result of that is probably somewhere around 125-to-150% of our original expectation, which is great. But coming up with our plans, post-winning the Palme d'Or, we intentionally built a large, wide release film. While we platformed it, we knew that we would move into a wide release, that we'd try to reach an audience that wasn't paying attention to the review-driven specialized independent sector, and possibly this would be the first Sean Baker film that they'd ever seen. But all in all, we kept to our guns.' On Oscar night, Quinn was moved by the overwhelming warmth in the room. 'I always liken the Oscars to the high school cafeteria,' said Quinn, 'because you're sitting there with people who may or may not like you, who want to stick you in the back, and so you're sitting next to Warner Bros. and all the other studios. Sitting in front of us was A24, and they were exceptionally gracious. Sitting behind us was MUBI, and I can't say that it was the same feeling.' When Quinn arrives in Cannes, he always has next year in mind. 'We came here with two films under our belt ['Alpha' and 'Sentimental Value'], and two other films that are playing here: Raoul Peck's 'Orwell: 2+2=5,' as well as Kyle Marvin and Mike Covino's 'Splitsville.' The only thing that outdid the screening was that party. It's the greatest party that Cannes has ever witnessed, the amount of dancing that was happening. Mike Covino said, 'We're bringing back comedies to the theater, folks.'' Of course, Quinn was in the hunt for more buys. 'There's always room for more,' he said. 'I have a voracious appetite for incredible cinema, and I hate saying no to stuff, but we also want to do right by films… We've seen a lot here this year, and it reminds me of years past, where it's a ton of challenging cinema, and you can fall on either side of what you think of these movies. We've had some fierce conversations internally. We don't always agree, and when we all agree, maybe that's the movie you don't buy.' Neon did get in the bidding for 'Die My Love,' even though Quinn didn't love it. 'We certainly fought for it, but at a reasonable level,' he said. As for MUBI's $23-million winning bid: 'That's a press release, right? That's not buying movies. And good for them.' Winning the Palme d'Or this year would be Neon's sixth in a row. Last year, before 'Anora' won, they acquired 'The Seed of the Sacred Fig' at the last minute, too. 'The truth is, and I know no one believes us,' said Quinn, 'we've never been that cynical, and while we are extremely competitive, we adore our filmmakers. We're desperate to work with them. We never get over losing movies. It's always an open wound. But I've never felt any pressure. I came here for 20 years and didn't win a thing.' Quinn said, though, that the 'year that I thought we might win something,' when he was SVP of Magnolia Pictures, 'it fell apart miraculously at the press conference for 'Melancholia.' We stayed up all night celebrating. I was, 'Man, we're going to go all the way, look at this.' And then the car just went off and veered off the cliff. [Director Lars von Trier made a comment about Hitler that led to him being exiled from Cannes.] Lars von Trier was quite apologetic about it.' Quinn values the granddaddy of festivals: 'We feel fully ensconced in Cannes. It means a lot to film, it means a lot to us as a company, but I feel no pressure. And the reality is, I feel that there might be more pressure on the selection committee, because four of the last five Palme d'Or winners have been Best Picture nominees, and two of those have won. That's extraordinary.' Why has this shift occurred? 'It's operating from a place of confidence and platforming these movies,' he said. 'And taking your time and knowing that we can sustain a campaign for a quality film (like the ones that have won the Palme d'Or) over the course of six months, and everybody else is burning hot and bright and quick. That jury represents the Academy. They are an eclectic group of talent: actors, directors from all over the world.' Quinn added, 'And while they are not the entire 9,000-plus body, it's a great sample size. And so the triangle of the selection committee here in France, the birthplace of cinema, an incredible festival, a selection of all kinds of movies, 20-plus, it's the best representation of cinema. These wins across the Academy are merit-based. The nominations may not be. I'm not going to call out any single film or any single company who does it very well every single year, but I do think the wins are merit-based, and that Palme d'Or and the other selections, whether it's director, screenplay, actor, actress, we've enjoyed the benefit.' Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value' played late in the festival, like 'Anora.' 'Well, someone said to me that most of the Palme d'Or winners of late have premiered in the second week,' said Quinn. 'So I'm excited to go to its premiere on Wednesday.' (We recorded on Tuesday). The rest is history. We will find out at the awards on of IndieWire Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear' Quentin Tarantino's Favorite Movies: 65 Films the Director Wants You to See The 19 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from 'Fair Play' to 'Emily the Criminal'
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
These Cannes 2025 Prize Winners Will Inspire Oscar Campaigns
Neon CEO Tom Quinn took no chances this year en route to winning the company's sixth Cannes Palme d'Or in a row, for Iranian dissident Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just an Accident.' He acquired the film just two days before Saturday's award ceremony. Neon also collected the festival Jury Prize for 'Sirât' (shared with MUBI's recent buy 'Sound of Falling'), and two awards for Brazil's 'The Secret Agent' — Best Director (Kleber Mendonça Filho) and Actor (Wagner Moura ). Neon came out ahead on the acquisitions derby, as MUBI's starry $23-million pick-up 'Die My Love,' from Scottish/British filmmaker Lynne Ramsay, came up empty-handed. A Cannes Actress win for Jennifer Lawrence could have fueled an Oscar campaign, but that loss won't stop MUBI from pursuing that goal. Similarly, although Oliver Hermanus' muted American drama 'History of Sound' won nothing, Focus may still pursue acting campaigns for Paul Mescal and Josh O'Connor. And Sony Pictures Classics will likely try to sell Academy voters on the virtues of June Squibb, the brilliant nonagenarian star of Scarlett Johansson's directing debut 'Eleanor the Great' (Un Certain Regard). More from IndieWire Cowboys vs. Accountants: The Real World of International Production Financing | Future of Filmmaking Summit at Cannes Richard Linklater Explains Why You Need to Be a 'Cheap Hustler' to Make Indie Films | Future of Filmmaking Summit at Cannes All the American Competition entries whiffed at the Cannes awards, including Ari Aster's political western 'Eddington' (A24), Julia Reichardt's 'The Mastermind' (Mubi), and Wes Anderson's sketchy 'The Phoenician Scheme' (Focus). One of the popular films at Cannes was Spike Lee's Out of Competition 'Highest 2 Lowest' (Apple TV+/A24, August 22) starring the mighty Denzel Washington. The intense New York family drama, adapted from Akira Kurosawa's 'High and Low,' wasn't in Competition because the festival wasn't sure they'd get Washington on the red carpet. To their surprise and delight, the 70-year-old made the trip on his one day off from Broadway's 'Othello,' Monday May 19, and accepted a surprise Honorary Palme d'Or from Lee. That kind of publicity fuels an Oscar campaign. All the Cannes awards winners are here. Neon came into the festival with its pre-production acquisition from Cannes 2024, Norwegian director Joachim Trier's 'Sentimental Value,' which took home the festival's second prize, the Grand Prix. Quinn clearly knows how to pick them. (Check out our candid Screen Talk conversation with him here.) What will happen with the award-winners at the Oscars? Only Norway's family drama 'Sentimental Value' has the right stuff to win major Oscars beyond Best International Feature Film. Neon is sure to push in the acting categories Swedish veteran Stellan Skarsgård ('Breaking the Waves,' 'Andor,' 'Chernobyl'), who earned raves for his wily role as an aging filmmaker trying to make a comeback, and 2021 Cannes actress winner Renate Reinsve ('The Worst Person in the World') as his estranged, neurotic actress daughter. Last year, Reinsve's 'Armand' was submitted by Norway. Another movie Neon could score an Oscar nomination for is Ugo Bienvenu's charming French animated feature 'Arco,' which, like 'Flow,' has an eco-message. Neon previously released 'Flee' and 'Robot Dreams' to Oscar nominations. All the Cannes winners now will have a better shot at being submitted by their home country. Jafar Panahi could benefit from the Academy's new asylum rule: 'The submitting country must confirm that creative control of the film was largely in the hands of citizens, residents, or individuals with refugee or asylum status in the submitting country.' While Panahi and Iran have been at odds for decades for his continuing criticism of the government, and he filmed the movie in secret, he has not yet requested asylum from another country. That could change. But Iran will not submit the film. Cinetic Media, which marketed seven of the winners on Saturday, suggested that Luxembourg might wind up able to submit 'It was Just an Accident.' France may also be a possibility as the film's post was completed there. Belgium could choose as its Oscar entry 'Young Mothers,' which won Best Screenplay for the Dardenne brothers, who have won many prizes, including two Palmes over the years. Belgium sometimes submits them for the Oscars, sometimes not. Here are the likely country submissions for Cannes award-winners for Best International Feature Film, in alphabetical order: 'The Secret Agent' (Brazil)'Sentimental Value' (Norway)'Sirât' (France or Spain)'Sound of Falling' (Germany)'Young Mothers' (Belgium) Other films that did not win prizes could also wind up in the International race, including 'Eagles of the Republic' (Competition, Sweden) and 'The Love That Remains' (Cannes Premiere, Iceland). Sidebar award-winners also get a leg up. (Un Certain Regard award winners are here.) Distributors will take note that Frank Dillane won Best Actor in Un Certain Regard for his moving and funny portrait of an unhoused man in British actor Harris Dickinson's debut feature 'Urchin.' With the right push, he could wind up in the Best Actor race. Un Certain Regard Special Jury Prize-winner 'Un Poeta' could be submitted by Colombia. Also in Un Certain Regard but not winning a prize is Nigerian-set 'My Father's Shadow,' which could be submitted by the United Kingdom. Not winning an award makes 'Nouvelle Vague,' American director Richard Linklater's French-produced homage to Jean-Luc Godard's 'Breathless,' a less likely French entry. The film is seeking distribution. Hafsia Herzi's sales title 'The Little Sister,' which took Best Actress for Nadia Melliti, could be the French submission instead. Best of IndieWire 2023 Emmy Predictions: Who Will Win at the Primetime Emmy Awards? 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
NEON Shines Brightly With Six For Six Palme d'Or Winners After Jafar Panahi's ‘It Was Just An Accident'
Call them a barometer, clairvoyant, or just god damn shrewd when it comes to choosing award-winning movies, but NEON has just scored its sixth Cannes Palme d'Or in a row with It Was Just an Accident. Deadline's Andreas Wiseman first reported two days ago that NEON scooped up North American rights to the movie. More from Deadline Cannes Film Festival Winners Announced: Palme D'Or Goes To Jafar Panahi's 'It Was Just An Accident' Grand Prize To 'Sentimental Value'; 'The Secret Agent's Wagner Moura Best Actor, Kleber Mendonça Filho Best Director - Updating Live Neon Taking North American Rights To Natalie Portman Cannes Animation 'Arco' 'Imago' Director Déni Oumar Pitsaev On Winning Two Prizes In Cannes: "I Didn't Expect It At All" This comes after last year's Cannes top prize winner Anora, Justine Triet's 2023 title Anatomy of a Fall, 2022's Triangle of Sadness, 2021's Titane and 2019's Parasite. Out of that bunch, Anora and Parasite went on to win Best Picture at the Oscars, which is whole other level of award campaigning genius on behalf of the Tom Quinn run distribution label. It Was Just an Accident blurb reads 'What begins as a minor accident sets in motion a series of escalating consequences.' The pic was one of the best-reviewed movies at the festival, deals in a fictional way with past wrongfully incarcerated working-class people seeking revenge against the guard who tortured and berated them. Interesting, NEON had all bases covered in regards to who might spring up as a Palme d'Or winner with their other acquisitions coming up with alotta gold tonight. Last year, Deadline exclusively reported that NEON took domestic on Joachim Trier's Sentimental Value which was buzzed to take the top prize as well, but settled with the Grand Prix. NEON's Un Poeta from Simon Mesa Soto won the Jury Prize. In addition, NEON took Brazil's buzzy 1977 political thriller The Secret Agent earlier this week, that Kleber Mendonca Filho directed movie walking away with Best Director tonight as well as Best Actor for Wagner Moura. No theatrical release dates have been set yet for these titles by NEON. October has been a prized timeframe for the distributor to launch Cannes titles, read, that's when Anora, Parasite and Triangle of Sadness opened. Best of Deadline 'Poker Face' Season 2 Guest Stars: From Katie Holmes To Simon Hellberg Everything We Know About Amazon's 'Verity' Movie So Far Everything We Know About 'The Testaments,' Sequel Series To 'The Handmaid's Tale' So Far
