The IPC feature documentary currently sits at 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with positive reviews from several outlets. Read reviews from WSJ – CBS News – Paste Magazine – TV Insider – Seat 42f – Reason – The Daily Beast – Hammer to Nail – Solzy at the Movies – The Film Stage
Not many filmmakers would embed themselves into a prison, let alone a Panamanian prison notorious for human rights violations, to hear a story. But when a DEA agent told Tiller Russell that it was one of the best stories he’d ever heard in his career, Russell knew he had to take his chances. Russell’s journey ended up taking seven years, but eventually the filmmaker was able to tell the story of how three hustlers schemed to sell a Soviet submarine to a Colombian drug cartel for $35 million in “Operation Odessa.” The cartel wanted the submarine to transport drugs to the U.S. and Canada.
Real full review via CBS News
A crime story too insane not to be true, “Operation Odessa” is a nonfiction comedy built around a caper that might have been dreamed up by Adnan Khashoggi and Mel Brooks: the $35 million sale of a Soviet submarine to the Cali cocaine cartel by a Russian mob enforcer, a dicey Miami car dealer and a Cuban drug smuggler who came to the U.S. on the Mariel boatlift. As wild as the scam might be, it’s still not quite as impressive as the fact that the principals in the film are still alive, much less out of prison.
Read full review at The Wall Street Journal
IPC/YouTube Red’s MInd Field has been nominated for a 2018 Daytime Emmy Award in the category of Outstanding Education or Informational Series.
Read more via – E! News – TubeFilter – Realscreen – Hollywood Reporter – Variety – Worldscreen – Deadline
The newest addition to the Showtime Documentary Films slate, OPERATION ODESSA will make its world premiere at the 2018 SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The documentary will premiere on SHOWTIME on Saturday, March 31 at 9 PM ET/PT on-air, on demand and over the internet. From the director and producers of The Seven Five, OPERATION ODESSA is a true crime documentary about a Russian mobster, a Miami playboy and a Cuban spy who sold a Soviet submarine to a Colombian drug cartel for $35 million. An early ’90s gangster epic that hopscotches from Brooklyn to Miami and Cali to Moscow, the film tells the true story of three friends who set out to hustle the Russian mob, the Cali cartel and the DEA for the score of a lifetime. What really happened to the sub, the money and the three amigos has remained a shadowy underworld myth until now.
OPERATION ODESSA is directed by Tiller Russell and produced by Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman for The Intellectual Property Corporation along with Sheldon Yellen of Belfor Entertainment.
To watch and share a first look from OPERATION ODESSA, click here
Read more via – SXSW – Broadway World – LA Times
Sony Pictures has tapped “I, Tonya” director Craig Gillespie to helm the police corruption drama “The Seven Five.”
The producers on “The Seven Five” are Eli Holzman, John Lesher, and Annapurna Pictures. Lauren Abrahams is overseeing for the studio.
“The Seven Five” project has been in development at Sony since 2014. It’s based on the 2014 documentary that was produced by Holzman and directed by Tiller Russell about police corruption in New York City’s 75th Precinct during the 1980s when the precinct was one of the most violent in the nation.
Read more via – Variety – Joe
“Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath” won the the award for non-fiction television. Remini won the award as a producer along with Eli Holzman, Aaron Saidman, Myles Reiff, Adam Saltzberg, Erin Gamble, Lisa Rosen, Grainne Byrne, Taylor Levin, Alex Weresow and Rachelle Mendez. “Leah Remini” topped “30 for 30,” “60 Minutes, “Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown” and “Spielberg.”
Read more via Variety – PGA – Realscreen
The Producers Guild on Friday revealed its nominations for motion pictures and TV series. Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath has been nominated for The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television for Season 1 and Season 2.
See the complete list of nominees via The Hollywood Reporter
NBC News New York celebrated the app and its origins with founder Daniel Holzman, calling Project Foodie “The Future of the Cookbook.” Watch the segment via NBC New York
Michael Stevens‘ return to YouTube Red will consist of dramatic science experiments. The man behind the Vsauce YouTube channel has shared a trailer for the second season of Mind Field, which will premiere on YouTube’s $9.99-per-month subscription platform on December 6.
Click here to read full article
Michael Stevens‘ return to YouTube Red will consist of dramatic science experiments. The man behind the Vsauce YouTube channel has shared a trailer for the second season of Mind Field, which will premiere on YouTube’s $9.99-per-month subscription platform on December 6.
Click here to read full article
