K5 confirmed today that Vanessa Redgrave, Bruno Ganz, Mélanie Laurent, Christopher Lee, Lena Olin, Martina Gedeck and Jack Huston have joined Jeremy Irons on the film. The cast also includes August Diehll, Nicolau Breyner, Adriano Luz, Jose Wallenstein and Beatriz Batarda.

Kevin Frakes’ PalmStar Media Capital has recently signed up to co-finance the film, which starts principal photography in March 2012. PalmStar is a financial partner to K5 International.

K5 has already closed deals for Night Train To Lisbon with Concorde for Germany, Frenetic Films for Switzerland and Paradiso for Benelux. The film has received major funding from Germany through FFA, FFHSH, and MBB and from Switzerland through BAK, Zuercher Filmstiftung as well as backing from Eurimages and the US via PalmStar Media Capital, Efish Entertainment.

Scripted by Ulrich Herrman and Greg Latter, Night Train To Lisbon is based on the bestselling novel by Pascal Mercier. It tells the story of Raimund Gregorius (Irons), a Swiss Professor. After saving a beautiful Portuguese woman from leaping to her death, Gregorius stumbles on, and becomes obsessed by, a mysterious book that convinces him he should leave academia behind and travel to Lisbon. In search of the author, Gregorius acts as detective, pulling together pieces of the personal and political puzzle.

“These are some of the world’s most respected actors,” K5’s Oliver Simon and Daniel Baur said of the ensemble cast. “To have them together on screen for the first time will be electric.”

“Bille’s skill as a director makes this a delight to be involved in,” added Carl Clifton, partner in sales and marketing at K5.

Night Train is produced by Studio Hamburg FilmProduktion and C-FILMS (Switzerland) in co-production with C-Films (Germany), Cinemate SA – Portugal and TMG – Tele München Group. The film will be produced in association with K5 Media Group, PalmStar Media Capital and Efish Entertainment.

Executive Producers include K5’s Daniel Baur and Oliver Simon, PalmStar’s Kevin Frakes and Efish’s Tom Reilly. The producers are Michael Lehmann, Kerstin Ramcke, Günther Russ, Andreas Knoblauch of Studio Hamburg FilmProduktion, Peter Reichenbach of Zurich-based C-FILMS, Benjamin Seikel at C-Films (Germany) in co-production with Ana Costa and Paulo Trancoso from Cinemate SA (Portugal) and TMG – Tele München Gruppe.

Status:

Director/Producer: Jason Spingarn-Koff

Production Companies: PalmStar Entertainment, Andrew Lauren Productions

Producers: Stephan Paternot, Andrew Lauren (The Squid and the Whale)

Genre: Documentary

Completed: January 2010

World Premiere: Sundance 2010

View Cast

IMDB Profile

Summary:

This feature-length documentary follows a group of people whose lives are dramatically transformed by a virtual world called Second Life. The results are unexpected and often disturbing: reshaping relationships, identities, and ultimately the very notion of reality.

The program (most refuse to call it a game) is run by a San Francisco company, Linden Lab. However, everything in this three-dimensional computer generated world – from island beaches to urban shopping malls — is built by millions of users, dubbed “residents”, who log-in from across the globe. Each person is represented by an “avatar,” a digital alter-ego that can be dressed and sculpted to the heart’s desire – from the curve of the nose to gender and age. The world even has a real economy, with more than $1 million changing hands every day — sparking virtual jobs that pay real profits and even make a few rich. It’s been hailed as the greatest transformation of the Internet since the World Wide Web.

Yet more than an examination of a hot new technology, the film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people who look to a virtual world in search of something they are missing in their real lives. The film inter-cuts between three main story-lines, in the real world and within Second Life, each with a parallel dramatic arc. Broader context is provided by the visionary creator of Second Life and the editor of a professional Second Life newspaper, who help trace the historic rise of the virtual world and its implications for society at large.

Reviews:

“Documentaries are Sundance’s real strength… ‘Life 2.0′ brings you inside the head-spinning virtual universe that is Second Life”

Kenneth Turan, LA Times

“One of the most potent docs I’ve seen at the festival — or anywhere else in quite a while.”

– IMDB

PalmStar Entertainment is proud to announce that LIFE 2.0 is one of three films that has been acquired by OWN: THE OPRAH WINFREY NETWORK to be part of the network’s monthly documentary film club.

OWN is A joint venture between Oprah Winfrey and Discovery Communications.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE OFFICIAL RELEASE FROM OWN

Pic tells story of rebellious friends in search of the perfect party

Renee Zellweger is ready to party with “Pillage,” having acquired feature rights to former New York City nightlife impresario Brantly Martin’s novel of the same name.

Zellweger will produce “Pillage” with PalmStar Entertainment’s Kevin Frakes. John Krokidas (“Slo-Mo”), who penned the screenplay, will direct; shooting is scheduled to start during the first half of next year in New York City.

Newly minted PalmStar Media Capital will finance and handle worldwide sales.

“Pillage” centers on four best friends living in Manhattan who rebel against their dead-end lives by searching for the perfect party in the downtown nightlife scene.

Frakes established PalmStar Media Capital earlier this year — with PalmStar Entertainment, Peggy Taylor and Frank Pollifrone — to finance gap and equity investments in features.

PalmStar’s roster of projects includes “Lunar Park,” based on the Bret Easton Ellis novel and to be directed by Phil Alden Robinson; and “The Golden Suicides,” based on the Vanity Fair article about Jeremy Blake and Theresa Duncan.

Contact Dave McNary at dave.mcnary@variety.com.

Zellweger ready for Pillage (Variety 6.01.10)
VIEW THE ANNOUNCEMENT

December 3, 2009, PalmStar Entertainment and Andrew Lauren Productions are pleased to announce that “Life 2.0” (life2movie.com), directed by Jason Spingarn-Koff, has just been accepted into the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. Produced by PalmStar’s Stephan Paternot, Andrew Lauren (“The Squid and the Whale”) and Jason Spingarn-Koff, this film is the first of a kind feature length documentary about the impact that the virtual community Second Life has had on the world. Paternot, who founded theglobe.com back in 1994, one of the internet’s first online communities, says of the film: “It tells a powerful story of the evolution of virtual communities and how such an immersive virtual world like Second Life has transformed millions of real people’s lives around the world, giving the audience a visionary glimpse of the future.” Andrew Lauren adds, “It’s a film about personal connection that illuminates a poetic hope in the strength of human interaction.”

This feature-length documentary follows a group of people whose lives are dramatically transformed by the virtual world Second Life, which as of this year boasts over one billion US dollars in cumulative transactions amongst its residents, and over one billion hours of total usage time. More than an examination of a hot new technology, the film is foremost an intimate, character-based drama about people who look to a virtual world in search of something they are missing in their real lives. The results are unexpected and often disturbing: reshaping relationships, identities, and ultimately the very notion of reality. A young black woman in Detroit becomes a star designer of virtual clothes and buildings, turning virtual business into a lucrative full time job – while spending 20 hours a day online in her parent’s basement. An American and a Canadian fall in love inside Second Life, yet each is married in real life — cheating on their spouses, they struggle to build a real life together that can match their virtual bliss. A man creates the avatar of an 11-year-old girl who he believes is an expression of his subconscious; to the dismay of his fiancé, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that unearths shattering hidden memories. They are a cross-section of the millions of users who have been lured into the virtual world phenomenon. Mixing high drama and quirky humor, the film uniquely explores the promise, perils, and implications of virtual worlds for society at large.

Spingarn-Koff says: “I joined Second Life more than three years ago and found it endlessly fascinating – something that until now seemed largely science fiction. There was clearly a story that needed to be told, though it often seemed impossible because many people within SL are extremely guarded about their real identities. It took more than six months to find the main characters, exploring the world while my avatar carried around a virtual movie camera. I’m enormously grateful for my subjects who opened up their lives, real and virtual, to share their stories. The film had humble beginnings — we raised the first $100 from other avatars at a virtual fundraiser – and it’s been a true labor of love. To now to have a chance to premier at Sundance is a dream come true.”

Jason Spingarn-Koff is a New York-based documentary filmmaker who specializes in science and technology. “Life 2.0” is his first feature, following a decade of work in television documentaries and journalism. He created and co-produced NOVA’s “The Great Robot Race” (PBS/BBC), about a dramatic competition to build robotic vehicles and race them across the Mojave desert for a $2 million prize. Other projects include: Development Producer for the Emmy- winning PBS mini-series “Rx for Survival”; producing/directing the first-person “Heart of Berlin” for FRONTLINE/World; producing/directing the lead story for the PBS/NOVA science pilot “Science Investigators”; and producing/directing two 1-hour documentaries for MSNBC, hosted by Forrest Sawyer (“Natureʼs Weapon: The Hidden Plague” and “The Next War”). His Masters thesis documentary “Robofly,” about the quest to build the worldʼs first robotic fly, aired on PBS and won a national Student Emmy. His journalism has appeared in national publications such as Time Magazine and Wired.com, and his experimental short films have shown in festivals and galleries. He is a graduate of Brown University and the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.

Stephan Paternot is the co-founder and Chairman of PalmStar Entertainment, an independent film production company focused on literary and biographical adaptations, including a Gus Van Sant developed story called the “Golden Suicides”, and “Lunar Park” by Bret Easton Ellis. Stephan also sits on the board of the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP.org), the largest national non-for profit organization dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers. He is also general partner of the Actarus Funds. Founded in 2001, these angel investor funds provide seed capital to Internet 2.0 start-ups. Prior to this he cofounded one of the first Internet community sites, theglobe.com in 1994. The company set stock market history when it went public in 1998 with a record setting IPO pushing the company valuation to over $1 Billion. Over a six-year span the website became one of the top thirty sites in the world with over 17 million users. In 1999 Stephan won the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award and in 2001 published “A Very Public Offering”, a non-fiction business book detailing his experience at theglobe.com. Before founding the company Stephan attended Cornell University where he earned a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science. Stephan currently resides in New York City.

Andrew Lauren began his film career as an actor, and has performed roles in several movies including Sweet and Lowdown directed by Woody Allen and Conspiracy Theory starring Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts. Lauren moved to producing in 1998, establishing ALP’s first office in Los Angeles. Lauren conceived of the story behind ALP’s second feature G which premiered at the inaugural TriBeCa Film Festival in May of 2002. Andrew then went on to executive produce the critically acclaimed film The Squid and the Whale. The film was nominated for an Oscar and went on to receive six Independent Spirit Award nominations in addition to three Golden Globe nominations. Most recently ALP produced the documentary This Is Not A Robbery which premiered at the 2008 TriBeCa Film Festival. Andrew currently resides in New York.

Film Credits:
Presented by Andrew Lauren Productions and PalmStar Entertainment
Produced, Directed, and Edited by Jason Spingarn-Koff
Producers: Andrew Lauren and Stephan Paternot
Co-Producer: Jonathan Shukat
Director of Photography and Consulting Producer: Dan Krauss
Music by Justin Melland
Additional Editor: Shannon Kennedy