Angelina Jolie Directs

Angelina Jolie adds director to her Hollywoodteur resume. The much chattered Angelina Jolie feature directing debut now has a title and a distributor.

Graham King and his GK Films partner Tim Headington, who financed it, have placed it with their FilmDistrict arm. FilmDistrict CEO Peter Schlessel have slot In The Land Of Blood And Honey, the Bosnia-set drama that Jolie scripted, for a December 2011 release in the US.

Set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War in the 1990s, Blood and Honey "illustrates the consequences of the lack of political will to intervene in a society stricken with conflict. The film is specific to the Bosnian War, but it's also universal," Jolie said. King offered, "The filmmaking is impeccable, and signals the arrival of a visceral and compelling storyteller.”

Jolie doesn't appear in the film. Zana Marjanovic, Goran Kostic and Rade Serbedzija star with a cast comprised of locals, many of whom were children of the war. Jolie shot the film simultaneously in English and their native language, which was called Serbo-Croatian and is now referred to as BHS.

Pure Profit - Independent Films Rock Weekend

In the continue brainless LCD (least common denominator) approach to filmmaking Hollywood is mass marketing to 12-year olds, no statistical analyzing is needed to understand the dismal trend of anemic low box office receipts - unless you are an actor, writer, director, producer who gets your $3-$15 million up front.

On the flipside, there is good news - for independents, both audiences and filmmakers. The Conspirator from Roadside Attractions and Insidious from FilmDistrict impressed at the weekend box office. Coming in at #6, legendary Hollywoodteur Robert Redford directed The Conspirator. One would think with Robert Redford at the helm everything is a set; however, Redford searched for a distributor and was eventually picked up and distributed by Roadside Attractions.

The weekend saw Insidious from director James Wan carving out a #10 spot. Insidious was made for around $1 million and will probably wind up being the most successful film this year, ratio wise, when you compare its production cost to its box office take, which currently stands at $37.2 million.

The real story here is for filmmakers to know audiences are here. Insidious is a horror film while The Conspirator is a drama -- the ending is pure box office profit.