Veteran UTA talent agent reps varied roster

Veteran UTA talent agent Darren Statt will be moving to CAA and taking with him his biggest clients, Dwayne Johnson and Ryan Reynolds.

The Scottish-born agent, who has been in the UTA talent department for seven years, reps a diverse roster of actors who also include Irish actors Ciaran Hinds and Cillian Murphy; Australian thesp Rhys Wakefield, who just landed a lead role in the James Cameron-produced 3D drama “Sanctum”; Jeremy Davies (“Lost”); “Breaking Bad” star Bryan Cranston; Emmanuelle Chriqui (“Entourage”); and producers Mark Ciardi and Gordon Gray of Mayhem Pictures. Statt isn’t Cranston’s primary rep, and the actor is expected to stay at UTA.

Statt’s under contract until year’s end, so it was unclear whether he would ride out his contract or leave sooner.

Statt has agented Johnson since he transitioned from his wrestling persona “the Rock” into action films. He then broadened into adult dramas and family comedies and dropped the Rock, except for a “Saturday Night Live” appearances as “The Rock Obama.” Johnson next stars in the George Tillman-directed CBS drama “Faster.”

Reynolds followed his summer success in “The Proposal” and “Wolverine” by winning the title role in “Green Lantern,” the Martin Campbell-directed film based on the DC Comics character that begins production next year. Reynolds was also the centerpiece of an Allan Loeb-scripted romantic comedy that sold to Working Title in a high-six- against seven-figure deal last week.

Source: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118010237.html?categoryid=13&cs=1

Rhys has been cast as a lead role in in James Camerons newest project, Sanctum. Here’s some snippets of info I found about the film.

Based on true events, producer James Cameron presents this adventure drama concerning a father and son who are trapped in an underwater cave with a team of divers as the group strives to stay alive against all hope. Kokoda’s Alister Grierson directs from a script by Andrew Wight and John Garvin. “

Rogue Pictures has pacted with James Cameron to co-write and produce “James Cameron’s Sanctum,” a live-action drama to be shot next spring in high-definition 3-D reports Variety.

Gary Johnstone will direct the pic revolving around a deep-sea diving team headed by a father and son. When the team heads to uncharted depths, a life-threatening crisis occurs. Cameron is rewriting the script with John Garvin.

Despite the ambitious technology and undersea storyline, the film will be budgeted in the low $20 millions. While Cameron is preparing to direct the lavish 3-D drama “Avatar”, he’ll be actively involved in “Sanctum”.

Sorry for my absent, I will make a post explaining the situation soon… :)

The Broken Hill premiere was held on August 24th in Melbourne, Australia. There doesn’t seem to be much information online, and I’m not all that sure if Rhys attended, but I do hope he did. As of yet, I haven’t found any pictures, but we will hopefully have some online soon! Also, don’t forget, The Broken Hill premieres in the U.S. on September 11!

If you are interested in seeing Rhys in the new short film, Clearing The Air, you may do so if you happen to be traveling somewhere whilst flying with Qantas on their in-flight entertainment throughout August 2009. If you manage to catch it, tell us what you thought!

I just got a update on Broken Hill from it’s production company, Audience Alliance. Here’s what they’re saying :)

TO THE MEMBERS OF AUDIENCE ALLIANCE

NEWS UPDATE

Thank you for being part of this alliance to change the world of
motion pictures for good.

Two years ago we selected Broken Hill, with your help, as the first
production in our program for developing young filmmakers. This
project ranked well above all the others in online polling. Broken
Hill is now complete and ready for distribution to a worldwide audience.

Being an Australian production, the world premiere of Broken Hill will
be held in Melbourne, Australia, on the 24th of August 2009. It will
then commence its theatrical run in the USA on September 11, 2009 and
will be back in theaters in Australia in early 2010. The opening dates
for other markets are yet to be finalized but it will progressively
roll out during the remainder of 2009 and throughout 2010.

The trailer for the film can be viewed at the new Broken Hill website:
www.brokenhillthemovie.com

We launched Audience Alliance with a commitment to trust the audience
and serve the audience. The release of the feature film Broken Hill is
a kind of a down payment on that promise. It was selected by our
audience; it is consistent with the values and virtues statement on
our website; we believe it is the kind of inspiring film the majority
of moviegoers want to see. Now is the time to help us get the word out
to the widest possible audience. As part of our world promotion for
Broken Hill we will soon be holding a poster competition. The posters
will be available on the website where you can vote for your favorite
and invite others to do the same.

Broken Hill is now on Facebook, so become a fan at
www.facebook.com/brokenhill and also on Twitter. Follow us on
http://twitter.com/brokenhillmovie. Help spread the word! This is the
first in what we expect will be a long line of quality films made with
the audience in mind.

Kind Regards,

The Audience Alliance Team

Aussie star earns Mel Gibson comparisons
12th August 2009, 13:00 WST
Source: The West Australian

With his rugged Aussie good looks and charm, actor Luke Arnold has been compared to Heath Ledger and a young Mel Gibson.

His first feature film, Broken Hill, is a joint Australian/American production about a teenager who dreams of being a classical composer while he’s busy working on his dad’s sheep station in western NSW.

The film was a hit at the recent Giffoni Film Festival in Italy, Europe’s largest youth film festival, where it won three awards including best film in its age category.

The young jury and audiences likened Arnold to the two iconic Australian stars – comparisons the 25-year-old brushes off modestly.

“They’re both two big favourite actors of mine, and legends and people I look up to, so while comparisons are great and flattering really it’s about the work you do,” said Arnold, who trained at the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts.

After a few guest appearances in TV shows like McLeod’s Daughters and The Strip, Arnold said he was doing the “struggling unpaid actor thing” in Melbourne when he got the Broken Hill audition.

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