Bad Education - Festivals and Awards Watch

[jo]

Film distribution has not been announced, but Hugh Jackman is a long-shot contender on the site founded by Erik Anderson ( if I am not mistaken, he was a co-writer/editor in Sasha Stone's Awards website) --


awardswatch.com/2020-oscar-nomination-predictions-best-actor-june/


As the movie has not had any trailer or even an announced film distributor in the USA, is Erik's basis one of buzz from ?production sources? Also, what could be the basis of rumored possible fall festival premieres for the movie?


We'll see...


Jo



EDIT:

Festival news and awards watch have been combined in this thread because festival screenings can be indicative of awards chances.

[jo]

Clayton Davis's AWARDS CIRCUIT site provides an early profile on BAD EDUCATION as a possible awards contender ( as May 2019) --

www.awardscircuit.com/2019/05/22/awards-profile-2019-cory-finleys-bad-education/


However, Clayton Davis himself has not included BAD EDUCATION as a potential nominee for Best Picture or Hugh Jackman as potential Best Actor nominee, as of today.


hub.awardscircuit.com/predictions/Oscar/motion-picture

hub.awardscircuit.com/predictions/Oscar/lead-actor?year=2019&week=28

[jo]

This was earlier posted by Deadline, but I misunderstood the speculation about festival screenings for BAD EDUCATION.

deadline.com/2019/06/venice-film-festival-2019-predictions-joker-irishman-ad-astra-noah-baumbach-roman-polanski-1202638309/


This was the article heading and part of the writeup --

Venice Film Festival: Is ‘Joker’ On The Cards? Early Speculation Swells For 2019 Edition
By Nancy Tartaglione, Andreas Wiseman
June 26, 2019 4:11pm

EXCLUSIVE: With Cannes in the rear-view mirror, film industry attention is now turning to the autumn festivals and what titles are shaping up as the ones we’ll be talking about throughout awards season. Having steadily cemented its status as the go-to fall launchpad for awards hopefuls, including three of the last five Best Picture Oscar winners, the Venice Film Festival is currently putting together its 2019 lineup, with the highly-anticipated reveal set for July 25.

Elsewhere, Hugh Jackman-starrer Bad Education, about the Roslyn (NY) Public Schools corruption scandal of the 2000s, could go to Telluride, but could also do double duty.

Originally, I thought Deadline was referring to Telluride and possibly Toronto. In this article, they were speculating towards dual festival appearances -- at Telluride and possibly Venice!

Venice Biennale runs from August 28 to September 7, 2019. Hugh will be in Australia/NZ for his tour dates during that period.


Jo

[jo]

Because BAD EDUCATION does not have a release date yet for 2019, this site is not optimistic that the movie will have Oscar chances for the coming awards race.

www.kinetoscope.ca/blog/2019/7/9/ahtgxe2zt0taq56f0ykwzk37r6aeo4

Hugh Jackman (Bad Education)
Principal photography began in October 2018 and no release date has been set. Pushing for a fall release in 2019 would be a quick turnaround, so it’s likely that 2020 would be a far more comfortable release date. This effectively means Jackman will not be part of the Oscar race this year.

Oscar chances: N/A.

Re the quick turnaround issue -- the movie started filming on October 1 and wrapped on November 10 2018 ( which was as expected). The director Cory Finley said that the pre-production took over 2 years.

http://instagram.com/p/BqDACX7HZE2

The fall festivals, for which the movie is being rumored ( per recent article by Deadline.com) will begin in late August into mid-September. Even if it does not make it to any of the 3 festivals ( Telluride/Venice/Toronto), the film could still have a late 2019 release date.

By way of comparison, Les Miserables completed filming in June 2012 and was released December 25, 2012. For a movie of that scope, Tom Hooper completed post-production in only 6 months or so. If we were to gauge the amount of post-production work needed for a black comedy/drama like BAD EDUCATION ( which needed only 6 weeks to film) without the kind of spectacle and sound editing requirements based on the experience with Les Mis, maybe Bad Education would be a relatively simpler project to complete?

There is a fair amount of interest in the movie and its filmfest-quality type because --

*It is a Black List script (2016).
*It is directed by a fairly new director (Cory Finley), but who has impressed film buffs with his first project ("THOROUGHBREDS") and led to some excitement on his being chosen for the project.
*It does have an impressive cast, notably Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano and others. Speculations on an awards site cite that it may even be a good candidate for the Best Ensemble Award ( SAG/AFTRA?).


Jo

[jo]

Also posting this on this thread --

Jul 13, 2019 13:49:44 GMT -5 jo said:

It looks like the link provided by hughmanity of a discussion board continues to update on developments --

From the link on the tweet re the film scoring --

Michael Abels (Get Out, Us, See You Yesterday) has been tapped to score the upcoming comedy drama Bad Education. The film is directed by Cory Finley (Thoroughbreds) and stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Rafael Casal, Ray Romano, Geraldine Viswanathan and Alex Wolff. The movie follows a superintendent of the school district who works for the betterment of the student’s education while embezzling public funds to live the life he wants. Mike Makowsky (I Think We’re Alone Now) wrote the screenplay. Fred Berger (La La Land, Destroyer) and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones (Sinister, Midnight Special) are producing the project for Automatik, alongside Eddie Vaisman (In a World…), Julia Lebedev (Dear White People) and Oren Moverman (The Messenger, Rampart) for Sight Unseen. Bad Education is currently in post-production and is expected to premiere at one of the major film festivals later this year.

[jo]

Yay!!!!!!!!!!!!!


BAD EDUCATION is going to the TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL - the largest one on the Western Hemisphere ( and in North America in particular!)!!

[jo]

On the Official Site --

tiff.net/events/bad-education-finley

The screening will represent the World Premiere of the movie.


The film is supposed to be 103 minutes long ( 1 hour and 43 minutes).

It will be part of SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS.

Festival Details on the movie screening out on August 20.

The 2019 TIFF --

2019 Toronto International Film Festival will begin on
Thursday, 5 September
and ends on
Sunday, 15 September

Hugh's Tour Schedule -- Au/NZ leg ends on September 7 and the 2nd Leg of the North American tour starts on October 1!

So, there is an excellent chance he will be in Toronto for the World Premiere!


Jo

[jo]

Can you believe I did not recognize Hugh immediately


This is going to be such an awards-bait!!

Wait till you hear the full story and about his character

[jo]

deadline.com/2019/07/toronto-film-festival-2019-tom-hanks-christian-bale-matt-damon-joaquin-phoenix-the-joker-meryl-streep-eddie-murphy-dolemite-daniel-craig-knives-out-1202650850/

Excerpts --

The 2019 Toronto International Film Festival has unveiled an early list of Gala Premieres and Special Presentations for the festival that runs September 5-15, and there will be no shortage of star power. Among the highlights: Tom Hanks in A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, Christian Bale and Matt Damon in Ford V Ferrari, Eddie Murphy in Dolemite Is My Name, Jennifer Lopez in Hustlers, Bruce Springsteen and Western Stars, Daniel Craig and Knives Out, Joaquin Phoenix in Joker, Nicole Kidman in The Goldfinch, Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman in Steven Soderbergh’s Netflix Panama Papers drama The Laundromat, Hugh Jackman in Bad Education and the Edward Norton-directed Motherless Brooklyn. There is also a splashy slate here that will answer many questions about the upcoming Oscar race.

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS 2019

REX/Shutterstock
A Herdade, Portugal. Director, Tiago Guedes. A Portuguese family that owns one of the largest estates in Europe, on the south bank of the River Tagus. The Domain delves deeply into the secrets of their homestead.

Bad Education, USA. Director: Cory Finley; Cast: Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Alex Wolff, Jimmy Tatro, Kathrine Narducci, Geraldine Viswanathan, Ray Romano. Based on the single largest public school embezzlement scandal in history.

[jo]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/tom-hanks-mr-rogers-film-joaquin-phoenixs-joker-tiff-2019-1226243

The Special Presentations sidebar is filled with flashy Hollywood titles likely to debut in either Venice or Telluride, before heading to Canada. Also booked into the prestigious sidebar are world bows for Rian Johnson's murder mystery Knives Out, featuring Daniel Craig, Chris Evans, Lakeith Stanfield and Michael Shannon; Michael Winterbottom's Greed; Cory Finley's family drama Bad Education, starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney; and Craig Brewer's Dolemite Is My Name, toplined by Keegan-Michael Key and Eddie Murphy and also bound for Netflix.

[jo]

[jo]

Deadline's Pete Hammond thinks the awards word on Hugh's BAD EDUCATION portrayal is very strong!


deadline.com/2019/07/oscars-toronto-film-festival-contenders-1202651270/?fbclid=IwAR2EK31tRM8nRKHRP57U8FCiu5h69Ih2C5tvbZSklisFu8rFKwMtP5hvcNY

Awardsline
Festivals
Oscars: Toronto Film Festival Gives Big Clues To This Year’s Race – Who Is Out Front?

By Pete Hammond

Pete Hammond
Awards Columnist/Chief Film Critic

@deadlinepete
More Stories By Pete

July 23, 2019 11:31am


With today’s initial announcement of Gala and Special Presentations at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, we get the first major burst of clues to the race for the 92nd annual Academy Awards. On paper, and mostly sight unseen, I spot at least 20 films that might be considered hopefuls for the Oscar race among the many world premieres, international, Canadian, and North American premieres in TIFF’s lineup — always the biggest of any festival. Inevitably there will more added, but this is the bulk of it.

Some will be seen first at Venice (which announces its schedule on Thursday), with likely titles such as Todd Phillip’s Joker, with what looks like a ripe performance from Joaquin Phoenix; Steven Soderbergh’s politically charged dark comedy Laundromat; and Noah Baumbach’s highly personal Marriage Story, At least one of those (if you go by the designations on TIFF’s press release, which give obvious clues) also will be at Telluride, but a hefty 15 or so will be world premieres — making this TIFF a particularly fertile field for Oscar watchers beyond the other two early fall fests.



TIFF often is a must-stop on the way to the Dolby and currently has bragging rights for this year’s Best Picture Oscar winner. Green Book, which snuck in on the fest’s sixth day last fall (a particularly late berth for a major Oscar contender at TIFF), won huge ovations and then took the very important and often Oscar-predictive People’s Choice prize. It rode it all the way to glory. Is there something like that on tap this year? Who knows

There is plenty of room in the race at this point, since awards-level films (other than animation and documentaries) have been pretty scarce. Just two, both from A24, are in that league in my opinion: The Last Black Man in San Francisco, which should figure heavily in some critics’ awards and Indie Spirits (read my review here), and The Farewell, which is getting the kind of early critical and audience reception that suggests a real shot at a Best Picture nomination (review here). Disney/Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame obviously will get a push, especially since it just became the all-time box office champ over the weekend, but the Academy has not shown a lot of love for Avengers: Anygame in the past. Quentin Tarantino’s Friday opener Once Upon a Time in Hollywood has the potential to be a real Oscar juggernaut, in my opinion, but again it is only July so it has to have staying power. It was even better the second time for me at last night’s rollicking Hollywood premiere. The main event, though, starts in about five weeks when the Fall Festival Trifecta gets underway.




Among the TIFF world premieres that seem to have some awards potential would be Sony’s A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood, particularly for Tom Hanks’ turn as children’s host Mister Rogers. It could be in either the lead or supporting category, depending on how much screen time he actually has in the story that focuses on Matthew Rhys’ journalist character, from what I hear. Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Foxx would appear to be contenders in Warner Bros Christmas Day release Just Mercy, a true story set in the criminal justice system, which the studio recently moved into the season following successful test screenings. Warners will be unveiling the film adaptation of best seller The Goldfinch at TIFF, also as a world premiere, so all eyes will be on that too if only for its pedigree.



Considering its director, Armando Iannucci’s The Personal History of David Copperfield, with Ben Whishaw and Dev Patel among others, would seem to have potential, especially since it also will open the London Film Festival a month after TIFF. Focus Features’ Harriet, starring Tony winning Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman, the heroic woman who led a charge to free slaves in the Civil War era, is directed by Kasi Lemmons and looks to be a potential powerhouse right up Oscar’s alley. Hugh Jackman is said to be very strong in a role against type in Bad Education, a school embezzlement story in which he co-stars with recent Oscar winner Allison Janney.

Eddie Murphy has a role tailor made for his talents as comedian Rudy Ray Moore in the true story Dolemite Is My Name. The longtime passion project for Murphy is one of a whopping four Netflix titles (also Marriage Story, Two Popes, Laundromat) announced for TIFF so far but the only one that actually will premiere there. The 800-pound gorilla in the Netflix lineup, Martin Scorsese’s much-awaited The Irishman, looks to be AWOL at the Fall Festival Trifecta, however (look for a NYFF debut?)



Fox Searchlight, which always is a steady presence on the fest circuit, says it specifically chose TIFF for Taika Waititi’s Jojo Rabbit, a satire involving Hitler (!) starring Scarlett Johansson (also in Marriage Story) and Sam Rockwell. The distributor wanted to launch it at a large festival in a “more urban cosmopolitan city” to reach a “global audience of film lovers” for what Searchlight believes will be a big crowd pleaser, I was told by a source at the company. Whether it is an Academy pleaser remains to be seen. I am particularly intrigued by Lionsgate’s Thanksgiving release, an Agatha Christie-style all-star mystery called Knives Out from director Rian Johnson. I hear great things on this TIFF world premiere (watch the trailer here). And using a Toronto world premiere to thrust itself into the Animated Feature Oscar race is DreamWorks and Pearl Studios Abominable, a tactic tried by Universal (which now distributes DWA films) a couple of years ago for its Illumination movie Sing, though it failed to get the nomination it so deserved.


Other Oscar-y titles I spotted on this list that aren’t world premieres include the increasingly buzzed about drama from Fox/Disney James Mangold’s Ford v Ferrari pitting Matt Damon v Christian Bale and looking like it will head first to the Rockies; Judy, with Renee Zellweger in a juicy role as Judy Garland that deals with the final months of the great star’s life, as well as Josh Sadfie’s and Benny Sadfie’s Uncut Gems, which offers Adam Sandler an offbeat role outside of the comfort zone of his dumb commercial comedies.


As usual TIFF will be offering some highlights from previous fests such as a trio of award winners from Cannes including Palme d’Or winner Parasite from South Korea’s Boon Joon-ho; Pedro Almodovar’s Pain and Glory, with Cannes Best Actor Antonio Banderas; and Celine Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire, the Cannes Screenplay winner that’s just one of the entries from female directors at TIFF, who constitute a record-breaking 50% of the whole selection to date. Those three will likely figure mightily in Oscar’s Best International (formerly known as Foreign) Film race, among other categories.
Also hot from Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes is the North American premiere of much-acclaimed Robert Eggers film The Lighthouse, with two Oscar-buzzed performances from Robert Pattinson and Academy perennial Willem Dafoe. Out of Sundance, Canadian audiences will get to see Alfre Woodard’s highly acclaimed work in Clemency, as well as Amazon’s The Report, which features Annette Bening and Adam Driver — the latter a recent Tony and Oscar nominee who is also starring in Netflix’s Marriage Story suggesting this could be another very big year for him. The wheels already are in motion to make his Oscar streams come true. Look for a tribute to AD at one of these fests, and then of course another reminder of his versatility at Christmas time as Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.


The season is starting to shape up with TIFF and the other early fall fests proving more important than ever this year since the Oscar show itself has been moved up two weeks earlier than normal to February 9. Voting for nominations happens the earliest ever with a short window from January 2-7, making it imperative to get as many contenders as possible in front of Academy eyes as early as possible. That’s a real problem for December releases such as Universal’s Cats and its Sam Mendes epic 1917, which apparently both won’t be ready until end of November and rely heavily on being seen in a theatrical setting. That would make them last-minute views for early critics groups and the Golden Globe nominations, not to mention Academy voters who don’t have enough time in a normal year, much less this one. Of course the AFI Fest, which runs November 7-14 this year, is a good place for stragglers to land. It might be a destination to find a December release like Jay Roach’s Roger Ailes film, which is said to have killer turns from Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie and John Lithgow.



The early fall festivals set the table, but there’s still more to come in a race that is just getting underway.
Venice Expected To Host World Premieres Of Crime Series Epic ‘ZeroZeroZero’ & Paolo Sorrentino Drama ‘The New Pope’ With Jude Law

[jo]

Okay, Guys -- if you're wondering if Pete Hammond is just making small talk about the seeming "very strong" chances for Hugh Jackman in this year's awards race --

You may want to refresh a previous post which heavily outlines the plotline and the character development on the role that Hugh plays in the movie, in this script review than by ScriptShadow a few years back when Hugh has not even accepted to do the movie.


You may not want to read it if you are wary of SPOILERS!

Jul 12, 2018 8:16:41 GMT -5 jo said:

Reposted from the BARE thread on the film project --

Here are also more details that can be gleaned on a 2017 script review by SCRIPTSHADOW --

Okay, folks -- it is a top script...made it to the Black List of 2016.

But here's what I was able to unearth -- I follow a screenwriting blog and it has reviewed the script itself!



SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT******SPOILER ALERT******SPOILER ALERT
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SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT******SPOILER ALERT******SPOILER ALERT
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SPOILER ALERT*****SPOILER ALERT******SPOILER ALERT******SPOILER ALERT




scriptshadow.net/screenplay-review-bad-eduction-new-top-15-script/







Screenplay Review – Bad Education (NEW TOP 15 SCRIPT!!!)


Posted on June 6, 2017| by admin

Genre: Drama (True Story)

Premise: (from Black List) The unfolding of the single largest public school embezzlement scandal in United States history – an incredible true story that pits corrupt educators against dogged student journalists against the back-group of a cutthroat Long Island suburb.

About: This one finished low on last year’s Black List. To be honest, it sounded a little dry and I originally had no plans to read it. But then I saw it was written by Mike Makowsky, who wrote the script, I Think We’re Alone Now, a spec sale from a couple of years ago about a man who attempts to keep order in a small suburb after the apocalypse. I liked that script a lot so decided to give this one a chance. Holy moses I’m glad I did!

Writer: Mike Makowsky
Details: 122 pages


I wish I had more time to go into all the ways this script is amazing. But it’s a long day so, unfortunately, I’ll only be able to focus on the highlights.

Bad Education introduces us to 50-something Frank Tassone, the Long Island school chief for the 4th best public high school in the country, Roslyn. Frank is the single nicest and most caring man you’ll ever meet. From the outset, we see that he genuinely cares about the students and the school, going so far as to keep his doors open all day to any student, teacher, or parent who wants to talk.

Frank’s right-hand woman is district business manager Pam Gluckin. Pam is trying to help Frank fulfill his ultimate dream – make Roslyn the number 1 public school in the country. And to do that, you need money. You have to make the school great so that families want to move to the community and raise their kids here. So Frank and Pam aren’t afraid to, say, build a bridge walkway between two wings if it cuts a minute off the time for students to get from one class to another – even if it cost 12 million dollars.

Rachel Kellog is a curious nerdy student who works for the school paper and who seems miffed by the school’s excessive spending and wants to write an article about it. She interviews Pam about some of the odd budget items, and finds a string of charges the school has made which don’t make sense.

But it’s the parents in the community who notice that Pam recently bought a prime piece of real estate in one of the most expensive getaway spots in the nation – The Hamptons. Something isn’t adding up. When the board confronts Pam about this, they find that she’s basically using the school credit card to buy… everything.

The board wants to call the police but Frank talks them through what that means. If Roslyn is seen as a school that’s allowed this to happen, what happens when the annual budget renewal comes up and they’re penalized? The school loses its prestigious national ranking, kids from Roslyn no longer get priority looks from the best colleges, families start moving out of the district to better schools, property values in the city go down – everything could fall apart.

So the board agrees to fire Pam and keep the matter quiet.



But what they don’t know is that there’s someone way way worse than Pam. And it’s the man who’s guiding them through this mess. Frank has many secrets, and when it’s all said and done, he very well may have stolen 10 million dollars from the town’s taxpayers. It’s going to take a curious nerdy student who won’t take no for an answer, however, to expose that scam to both the board, and the community.

Let’s deal with the elephant in the room. This isn’t exactly sexy subject matter. This is why I tell you guys to be wary of pursuing dry concepts. Even when you achieve the impossible and write one of the best scripts of the year, it’s STILL going to struggle to get noticed and made.

I have no doubt that the only reason this script didn’t finish in the top 3 of last year’s Black List is because people saw the subject matter and said, “That sounds boring as shit,” then didn’t read it.


However, Bad Education is anything but boring. This is screenwriting at its best. Outside of the concept, it did everything right, taking chances, giving us a fascinating main character, keeping things unpredictable, and pulling off some of the best setups and payoffs I’ve seen in years.



Let’s start with the main character, Frank Tassone. This is how you write a great character, folks. This man is our villain. He is a terrible human being. Yet through the first half of the script? We love him. He lives to help students become the best they can be. He helps friends get their kids into the best schools. He runs book clubs to enrich the minds of people in the community. He was so convincing as a great person, I started to think that the real villain would be introduced later in the script. Cause it couldn’t possibly be him.

This is how you construct a great villains, guys. You make them complex. If they’re on-the-nose and obvious, they’re boring. But if the guy who’s eventually going to steal 10 million dollars from people is sweet and helpful, you’re confused, and you have to keep reading to find out how this man could possibly end up being a bad guy.

But Makowsky doesn’t stop there. Frank is widowed for 30 years. Frank is living in the closet. He’s a gay man who has a secret partner, Steve, who he’s afraid to tell others about less they judge him. On top of THAT (spoiler) he has an affair with another man, one of his former students.


There’s just so much going on with this guy. Every 40 to 50 something actor in town should be breaking down doors to get this part. It’s the kind of role every actor dreams of.


The next thing Makowsky did was one of the harder things to do in screenwriting – introduce a lot of characters and give those characters an equal amount of screen time so we get to know and care about their storylines, and do all this without spreading himself too thin. Because that’s the danger when you write in a lot of characters. You spread yourself thin and the reader gets bored cause there’s no one to focus on. I’ve seen many a script die out because of this problem.

We get to know Frank, we get to know Rachel, we get to know Pam, we get to know Big Bill, Frank’s friend on the board. We get to know faculty at the school, board members, students, parents, the children of some of the key parents. You have to remember that you only get 55 scenes in a script. So do the math. If you give, say, six characters 5 of their own scenes each, that’s 30 scenes right there. Which means you now only have 25 scenes left for your main character. So it’s really hard to manage that many characters and, at the same time, get to know all of them.

But where this script really shines is in its setups and payoffs, which Makowsky could teach a course in. For example, Frank is friends with Big Bill, a guy on the board. Early on, we learn that Frank got Big Bill’s less-than-academically-inclined son into Penn State. Bill’s got another bad student who’s about to graduate high school, and Frank assures Big Bill he’ll help him get into the best school possible.

So later, when the Pam thing is caught by the board and Big Bill is the primary member who wants to call the cops, Frank explains what that means. If they’re outed for corruption, Roslyn High now wears a scarlet letter as far as the colleges are concerned. When that happens, they’ll stay away from accepting Roslyn kids. This realization pays off that earlier discussion that if Bill calls the cops, his son will go to a shitty college. Since Bill is the ringleader of the board, this is a major turning point in the story, since he now rallies the group to cover up Pam’s activity and move on.

But my favorite payoff was one of the final scenes. And, actually, this was probably my favorite scene of the year. Earlier in the script, there’s a delusional parent who is convinced her dumb son should be in the advanced classes, and she keeps coming to the school and pestering Frank about it. Frank politely engages the woman, and politically massages the explanation for why the boy “isn’t quite there yet.”

Towards the end of the script, Frank’s secrets are rapidly being exposed. The Feds are moving in. The board members, his closest allies, are turning on him. He begins to realize that he might be going to prison. And right as that’s happening, the same mother and her boy come into his office and she asks if her son can read a letter he’d written to Frank. Frank, his life imploding exponentially with each additional minute, begrudgingly accepts and the educationally-challenged kid can’t even properly read his own letter, mispronouncing a key word in the middle (he keeps pronouncing “accepting” “assepting”) and going back over to try it again.

And again.
And again.
And again.
And again.



I want to see an actor’s interpretation of this reaction so badly, that that alone is reason enough to make this film.

On top of all this, when you read the final title of the movie, it will infuriate you, as it represents everything that’s wrong with our government these days.

Man, I wish I could say this was a slam dunk green light but the lack of a hook severely limits it. I mean, yeah, you have scandal. But it’s not like it’s Bernie Madoff scandal. It’s some obscure school principal guy in Long Island. I just don’t know if people would care. Or, more importantly, I don’t think producers would think people would care.

Maybe this needs a Netflix to take a shot at it. The good news is, if they get this into the right actor’s hands, a big actor WILL want to play this part. And if there’s any takeaway lesson from this script, that’d be it. If you’re going to write something that doesn’t have an easy hook, make sure it has a great role for an actor. Cause once you get one of those guys on your film, you get financed and you get made.


God, was this good. An awesome early week surprise.
[ ] What the hell did I just read?
[ ] wasn’t for me
[ ] worth the read
[x] impressive (TOP 15 SCRIPT!!)
[ ] genius


What I learned: Wanna make your script look smart? Look clever? Create a physical symbol that represents the crux of the story’s conflict. Then, keep repeating that symbol throughout the script. When Rachel first shows up to ask Frank questions, she wants to know why they’re spending 12 million dollars on a pointless elevated bridge walkway when the school can’t even fix its rampant water leakage problem. This water leakage is then repeatedly referenced in scenes. And in a great payoff, when Frank finally squares off with Rachel in the school hallways, guess what’s happening? The ceiling is leaking.

[jo]

The scriptwriter Mike Makowsky posted this on his Instagram account --

they were at the Hollywood Bowl!

http://instagram.com/p/B0MI-enpTV7

[jo]

Hugh with Bad Education co-star Rafael Casal and actress Helen Hunt.

[jo]

BBC assesses buzz on the films bound for the TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL --

www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49088484

Bad Education

Image copyright
TIFF
What you need to know: It's a high school comedy drama starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney.

The buzz: The script featured on 2016's The Black List which highlights some of Hollywood's best unproduced screenplays.

Festival appearances: The film will have its world premiere at Toronto.

Oscar hopes: If it can connect in the same way 1999's Election did, it could do well.

BBC obviously does not much about the forthcoming film, other than public knowledge info. Many have actually cited not just the script quality but also the quality of the cast ( Jackman/Janney/Romano/etc).


Jo

[jo]

And from Playlist --

theplaylist.net/tiff-2019-lineup-20190723/

Other highlights include Hugh Jackman, who is set to star in “Bad Education,” which is the sophomore film from director Cory Finley. The filmmaker turned heads in 2017 thanks to his film “Thoroughbreds.” Now, all eyes are on Finley and Jackman, as well as co-stars Allison Janney, Geraldine Viswanathan, and Ray Romano.

Script
Direction
Cast

All perceived to be strong!

[jo]

Hugh is Peter Allen... and now Frank Tassone) - he delves into the characters via acting.

www.newsday.com/entertainment/movies/bad-education-toronto-film-festival-1.34301973

[jo]

At the moment, Hugh is NOT on the list of confirmed actor attendees to the Toronto International Festival --

His last show on the tour before TIFF is a matinee ( 2:00 pm) in Auckland, New Zealand, on September 7, 2019. BAD EDUCATION is due for its premiere at TIFF on September 8, 2019 (at 6:15 pm). If he takes a flight to Canada and flies eastward immediately, maybe he can make it because he gains a day when the flight crosses the International Date Line on the Pacific. Depends on whether an immediate flight can be worked out?


Jo

[jo]

BAD EDUCATION will be part of the LONDON FILM FESTIVAL 2019! The Festival runs from October 2 -13, 2019.


www.mirror.co.uk/film/bfi-london-film-festival-2019-19026985

Special Presentation in association with Empire Magazine - Bad Education (dir. Cory Finlay)

The tie-up with Empire Magazine ( the most widely read movie magazine) will likely ensure excellent media coverage. And since EMPIRE is acknowledged for the quality of its publication, this will be good for BAD EDUCATION publicity.

[jo]

[jo]

Details on the SPECIAL PRESENTATION of BAD EDUCATION at the London Film Festival, including screening times and synopsis --


whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::permalink=badeducationlff19

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Special Presentation in association with Empire

Bad Education

A deliciously piquant pairing of Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney powers Cory Finley’s eagerly awaited follow-up to his explosive debut Thoroughbreds (LFF 2017).

Monday 07 October 2019 21:15

ODEON Luxe Leicester Square
On sale
12-09-2019 10:00 am
Tuesday 08 October 2019 12:45

ODEON Luxe Leicester Square
On sale
12-09-2019 10:00 am
Wednesday 09 October 2019 15:00

Vue West End, Screen 7
On sale
12-09-2019 10:00 am




Dir Cory Finley
Prod Fred Berger, Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Oren Moverman, Mike Makowsky
Scr Mike Makowsky
With Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney, Ray Romano, Geraldine Viswanathan, Alex Wolff

USA
2019
104min
Prod Co Automatik

In the early 2000s, Frank Tassone (Hugh Jackman) was Roslyn, New York’s star school superintendent, hugely charismatic and delivering stellar academic results that helped property prices skyrocket with a housing boom fuelled by parents’ desperation to move into his school’s catchment area. Along with his trusty, salty dog of a deputy, Pam Gluckin (Allison Janney), he could do no wrong. But then a plucky student reporter uncovered some shocking secrets about the school’s finances. This taut and hugely entertaining second directorial effort from Finley comes from a script – which made the 2016 Black List – written by Roslyn native Mike Makowsky, based on the true story of an embezzlement scandal that rocked the New York school system. Collaborating with a gifted production team that includes composer Michael Abels (Us, Get Out) and shot on film by Lyle Vincent (A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night, Thoroughbreds), Finley crafts a compulsive school-set political thriller. Crisply capturing the early 2000s, the film recalls Election and Half Nelson in presenting a high school environment that isn’t what it initially seems. And amongst a brilliant ensemble, Janney and Jackman fizz as the wildly entertaining double act – gobsmacking in their duplicity, charm and audacity.

Tricia Tuttle

Btw --

The BFI London Film Festival 2019 will take place from October 2-13, the festival has confirmed today. It will be led for the second time by festival director Tricia Tuttle, who took over from Clare Stewart last year. Submissions for the 2019 event are open now through the festival website.Feb 11, 2019

[jo]

Screening days/times for BAD EDUCATION at the TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL --

Show Press & Industry
Sun, Sep 08
Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre
Premium
6:15pm


Mon, Sep 09
Visa Screening Room at the Princess of Wales Theatre

3:00pm


Fri, Sep 13
Scotiabank Theatre

7:00pm


Sat, Sep 14
Winter Garden Theatre

1:00pm

[jo]

BAD EDUCATION among 10 titles expected to heat up the Toronto (TIFF) Indie Marketplace -- re film rights distribution!

www.hollywoodreporter.com/lists/toronto-fest-best-films-10-titles-set-heat-up-festival-1236243/item/toronto-hot-list-bad-education-1236233

Toronto Hot List: 10 Titles Set to Heat Up the Festival Market

5:00 AM 9/4/2019 by Scott Roxborough and Tatiana Siegel

With Sundance hits fizzling at the box office, buyers heading to TIFF are cautious as they grapple with how indie distribution models are changing in a world of streamers and tentpoles: "What’s theatrical in today’s market?"

Sundance sizzled. But the box office of the films sold in that market largely fizzled over the past few months. That has buyers, and even sellers, expecting a market correction this Toronto, with little evidence to support the astronomical price tags in Park City (think eight-figure acquisitions like Late Night and Blinded by the Light). In a sign of the anxiety felt by sales agents, most are pre-screening their bigger titles for distributors ahead of the market. But ICM Partners' Oliver Wheeler says his team is bucking that trend. "I still think premiering at a festival, in a competitive environment with the good old-fashioned audience, is usually the best way to go about selling a film," he says.

Most dealmakers expect Netflix to strike for films with name casts or foreign-language titles to build its international slate. Cornerstone Films' Mark Gooder asks the question vexing both buyers and sellers: "What's theatrical in today's market?" he says. "Is it just tentpoles and horror films?" Gooder notes that "the indie film model was born out of nothing. It built up into this huge business model. But now it's returning to where it was." Still, these 10 projects are among the top contenders hoping to reverse the cooling trend.

'Bad Education'
CAA/Endeavor


Courtesy of TIFF
Stars Hugh Jackman, Allison Janney
Director Cory Finley
Buzz Based-on-a-true-story movies, with their built-in marketing hooks, are in demand in the indie space, and this comedic tale of Long Island school superintendents (Jackman and Janney) caught up in an embezzlement scandal, could play to the I, Tonya crowd.

"I,Tonya Crowd" appeal - methinks the reporters have no real clue on the storyline and characters
Not sure either why it is called a comedic tale? There could be some humor in the telling of the story, but it is a serious tale - after all, the real life person did go to prison!

Jo

[mamaleh]

I think I understand what they mean by the "I, Tonya" appeal. Although it is essentially a serious story, the characters are so larger than life as to be comical, even while planning nasty deeds. Finley could be directing Hugh to find the out-there, self-delusional aspects of Tassone, which I could see as being played to comic effect at times.

Ellen