Screening Gotham: Meistrich's Esh-ellent Adventure

Some of today's movie news of note from around New York:

--Former distribution wunderkind Larry Meistrich is back in business, and this time, as indieWIRE reports, he's etymological: "Nehst Media, pronounced 'next' (from the old English spelling of Next), is aimed at producing everything from feature films and television to Web content and other 'unique spin off products and services.' " The, ahem, ehs-Shooting Gallery and Film Movement boss (pictured at right) is teaming with Ari Friedman and other indie vets effective immediately, apparently headed to Cannes for a little shopping ehs-cursion. As Chaucer always said to his own upstart contemporaries, "Mazel tov!"

--Time Out New York sent a pair of readers with press passes into the celluloid mass that was Tribeca. What did they get out of it? One guy who went AWOL and a top-10 list thrown together during its author's lunch hour. Maybe next year.

--Variety has the latest (and on video) on the upcoming James Toback project -- a feature-length doc about the rise and fall of Mike Tyson. The filmmaker, who cast the ear-chomping ex-champ in a cameo in his last movie, When Will I Be Loved, has recently accrued more than 30 hours of interviews and other footage; "The point is not to polish his image or make a cinematic apology, but rather to get a firsthand look at a very complex and epic story," Toback told Michael Fleming. Look for something close to finished in the fall.

Posted at May 15, 2007 12:07 PM