Film News Roundup: IATSE Leaders Unanimously Endorse Joe Biden for President

By Dave McNary

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – In today’s film news roundup, IATSE backs Joe Biden, “Toy Story 4” director Josh Cooley is attached to Sony’s “Malamander,” electric car racing documentary “And We Go Green” is going to Hulu and the inaugural OUTstream Film Fest sets its lineup.

BIDEN ENDORSEMENT

The general executive board of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees has voted unanimously to endorse presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden for president of the United States.

The below-the-line union, which has about 150,000 members in North America, cited his “extensive record and history of fighting for workers’ rights and working families” in a statement Tuesday.

“Labor unions are under assault, with policies under the current administration and across the country undermining workers’ collective bargaining rights and stripping union workers of the wages, benefits, and retirement security they deserve,” IATSE said. “Joe Biden has consistently lifted up and prioritized issues affecting IATSE members and their families –- from protecting workers’ rights to organizing a union and bargaining for higher wages and better benefits, to defending our earned pension checks and health care.

IATSE endorsed Hillary Clinton in 2016 and President Barack Obama in 2008 and in 2012. IATSE international president Matthew Loeb had disclosed during a May 6 news conference that the union would commit resources to supporting the election of Biden as president.

IATSE’s statement did not mention President Donald Trump by name and concluded by saying, “Joe Biden presents a stark and undeniable contrast from the current administration with regard to leadership and support for working people.”

PROJECT LAUNCH

“Toy Story 4” director Josh Cooley will write and make his live-action directorial debut with an adaptation of the children’s book “Malamander.”

Written by Thomas Taylor, “Malamander” is the first story in a series about the “Legends of Eerie-on-Sea” following the adventures of Herbert Lemon and his friend Violet Parma. Peter Kang will oversee the project on behalf of Sony Pictures.

Cooley won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature for “Toy Story 4” and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for “Inside Out.”

He’s repped by Grandview and Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Taylor is represented by Kirsty McLachlan at David Godwin Associates.

‘GREEN’ DOCUMENTARY

Electric car racing documentary “And We Go Green” will stream exclusively in the U.S. on Hulu with the film set to premiere on the service on June 4.

The film is produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, Fisher Stevens, Christopher St. John, Jennifer Davisson, and Zara Duffy and executive produced by Jon Kamen, Dave Sirulnick, Justin Wilkes, Alejandro Agag and Rick Yorn.

“And We Go Green” screened at the 2019 Cannes and Toronto International Film Festivals. It’s directed by Fisher Stevens  and Malcolm Venville. Stevens and DiCaprio previously collaborated on “Before the Flood,” a 2016 documentary about climate change.

“Originally, we thought we were making a film about the environment,” Stevens and Venville said. “We realized the best way to get the world to pay attention to climate change is to make a film about people — in this case, race car drivers and an upstart with a vision to disrupt racing series forever. The life of sportsmen, the ups and downs, the excitement of racing and the innovative, life-affirming electric technology coupled with racing through the hearts of the biggest cities in the world. This was an incredible, inspiring and thrilling film to make.”

FILM FESTIVAL

The inaugural OUTstream Film Fest, which will make its debut June 1-7, has scheduled Michael Barnett’s “Changing the Game” as its opening film and David Charles Rodrigues’ “Gay Chorus Deep South” as its closing night film.

The LGBTQIA+ focused film festival is offering a selection of films to stream that celebrate queer cinema from around the world with its initial 11 titles from 10 countries.

OUTstream co-founder and co-director Ben McCarthy, said, “We are thrilled to announce these first 11 films, which come to us from all over the world, to bring people together all across the country, of any sexual identity, to be entertained, touched, enlightened, and affected — as one.”

Other titles include Leon Le’s Vietnamese drama “Song Lang,” Audrey Jean-Baptiste’s documentary “Fabulous,” Santiago Loza’s sci-fi film “Brief Story From the Green Planet” and Ruth Caudeli’s Colombian magical realism film “Second Star on the Right.”