Mise-En-Scène Company acquired worldwide sales rights to Alec Griffen Roth’s directorial debut, with Al Pacino in a meta drama positioning the film as a major prestige addition to MSC’s slate ahead of AFM.
BAFTA has ruled that films made with generative AI are eligible for awards, prompting industry debate over how transparent studios should be about AI use. Paul Yates was quoted as spokesperson for Human Provenance in Film and CEO of MSC, positioning HPF as the open disclosure standard the industry can use to say on the record how AI was and was not involved in a film’s production. Paywall applies.
Read on The TelegraphMSC is launching international rights to Nick Corirossi’s ensemble comedy ‘The Napa Boys’ at the Cannes Film Market, acquired through Sunset Rose Pictures. The film premiered in Toronto’s Midnight Madness program and features a deep cast including Armen Weitzman, Sarah Ramos, Kevin Smith, Jason Mewes, DJ Qualls, Ray Wise, and David Wain. Jerrod Carmichael serves as executive producer.
Read on VarietyMSC has acquired worldwide sales rights to Grafton Doyle’s ‘Dope Queens’ and will introduce the title to buyers at the Cannes Film Market. Based on true events, the film follows three friends hustling through one night in San Francisco’s Tenderloin and played at the Palm Springs International Film Festival earlier this year.
Read on VarietyThe head of the Cannes Film Festival calls for films to carry AI labels, joining a growing industry push for transparency around the use of AI in filmmaking. The remarks reinforce the case for a shared disclosure standard like the one MSC introduced at EFM Berlin in February 2026.
Read on The TelegraphThe BBC reports on a global race to establish a universally recognised logo certifying that films, books, and other creative works are AI-free. Multiple competing labelling initiatives have emerged, though experts warn consumers risk confusion without a single agreed standard like those for fair-trade or organic products.
Read on BBCBAFTA has adopted ‘human creativity’ as a core guiding principle for its awards amid the film and TV industry’s grappling with AI adoption. The organisation has banned AI from performance categories while implementing transparency requirements for AI disclosure, particularly in special visual effects.
Read on Financial TimesThe Mise En Scène Company has become the first film distributor to market new releases with a ‘No AI Used’ disclaimer, promoting titles like David Krumholtz’s Forelock and Al Pacino’s Billy Knight with billboards at Berlin’s European Film Market. CEO Paul Yates positions the effort as protecting human authorship rather than rejecting technology.
Read on The TelegraphUK sales firm MSC debuted ‘No AI Used’ certification across its EFM slate and called for an industry-wide global standard for human-made works modelled on organic and fair-trade labelling. The company has begun discussions with international partners about expanding the certification into publishing, music, and visual arts.
Read on DeadlineLondon-based MSC labelled its entire EFM slate with a ‘No AI Used’ certification and is advocating for a unified global verification framework for human-created works. The company emphasizes the distinction between AI-generated and human content, with CEO Paul Yates framing the initiative as protecting human authorship amid the surge of AI-generated material.
Read on VarietyMSC picked up Kelly Marie Tran’s art-forgery thriller Forge and Shannon Tripplett’s time-loop drama Desert Road for international sales at EFM. Forge marks director Jing Ai Ng’s feature debut and is scheduled for U.S. release in May 2026, while Desert Road follows a photographer trapped in a time loop on a remote desert road.
Read on VarietyThe Mise En Scène Company boarded international sales for Time Travel Is Dangerous, a sci-fi comedy narrated by Stephen Fry and featuring Brian Blessed, Johnny Vegas, and Jane Horrocks. The film, directed by Chris Reading in his feature debut, follows two vintage shop owners who discover a working time machine.
Read on Screen DailyMise-En-Scène Company acquired worldwide sales rights to Billy Knight, an Al Pacino meta drama marking the directorial debut of Alec Griffen Roth. The film follows aspiring filmmakers who discover their late father’s unfinished scripts, with Pacino playing an enigmatic muse figure, positioning the film as a major prestige addition to MSC’s slate.
Read on VarietyMise En Scene nabbed worldwide sales rights to Forelock, a dark comedy starring David Krumholtz and directed by and co-starring Caleb Alexander Smith. The Los Angeles-set film features Krumholtz as a Hollywood Boulevard con artist whose encounter with a wannabe fitness trainer resembles a major movie star drives the plot.
Read on VarietyMSC boarded Real, True, 100 Percent Love, a romantic spy comedy written by and starring Jillie Simon about an activist singer whose boyfriend vanishes, leading to an international adventure involving Russian agents and the CIA. Production, split between Bucharest and New York, is scheduled to complete post-production in time for festival runs in 2026.
Read on VarietyMSC signed world rights to Driven, a scripted series starring Rebecca Henderson (Star Wars: The Acolyte) and Liza Colón-Zayas (The Bear). The comedy-drama centres on Theodora Fischer, a struggling post-modern novelist turned Uber driver, whose ride request from a deaf Puerto Rican yodeler redirects her life.
Read on VarietyThe LA Times review describes Anchorage as a drug-addled eulogy for the decaying American dream, following two brothers transporting opioid-stuffed teddy bears across California toward Alaska. The film is praised as a scrappy puppy with persuasive intentions despite falling short of its destination.
Read on LA TimesScreen Media acquired North American rights to Anchorage, a drug-fuelled road-trip thriller marking Scott Monahan’s directorial debut and co-written by star Dakota Loesch. The film follows two brothers attempting to transport stolen opioids from Florida to Alaska in a narrative drawn from the opioid crisis.
Read on The Hollywood ReporterVariety’s Global Bulletin notes that MSC secured global sales rights to Anchorage, Scott Monahan’s directorial debut, and brought the film to Cannes’ Marché du Film. The opioid-crisis thriller starring Monahan and Dakota Loesch was part of MSC’s slate at the market.
Read on VarietyMSC took global rights to The Magnificent Meyersons, a New York-set sci-fi family drama directed by Evan Oppenheimer, as part of its EFM slate. The ensemble cast includes Kate Mulgrew, Lauren Ridloff, Daniel Eric Gold and Richard Kind in a story about how a major scientific discovery impacts each family member differently.
Read on VarietyMusic comedy American Reject, starring Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone, secured U.S. distribution with 1091 Pictures. Directed by Marlo Hunter and inspired by Monteleone’s experience on NBC’s Grease: You’re the One That I Want, the film follows a reality singing competition reject forced to participate in post-elimination filming.
Read on VarietyDirector Scott Monahan’s feature debut Anchorage explores the opioid crisis through the story of two brothers attempting to transport stolen opioids from Florida to Alaska. Made with a budget under $10,000, the film won 11 awards at 17 festivals worldwide and was influenced by the personal impact of the opioid crisis on the filmmakers and their communities.
Read on The Business of FilmMSC announced it had secured worldwide rights to American Reject, a music comedy about a contestant eliminated from reality singing competition Pop Star Now. Directed by Marlo Hunter and starring Kathleen Elizabeth Monteleone alongside Keala Settle and Billy Ray Cyrus, the film later secured U.S. distribution through 1091 Pictures.
Read on DeadlineMSC added Anchorage, Scott Monahan’s directorial debut, to its inaugural Marché du Film slate at Cannes, securing global sales rights to the opioid-crisis drama. The film was one of several titles MSC brought to the market as the company launched its sales operations.
Read on VarietySignature Entertainment secured U.K. distribution rights to The True Don Quixote from MSC, with the film released in the U.K. in Q3 2021. Directed by Chris Poché in his feature debut and starring Tim Blake Nelson, the modern adaptation sets Cervantes’ classic novel in Louisiana with the titular character riding a rusty Vespa.
Read on VarietyMSC added two titles to its inaugural European Film Market slate: The True Don Quixote, a Louisiana-set adaptation of the classic novel starring Tim Blake Nelson, and Triple Threat, a musical drama about three Broadway-bound friends. This was part of MSC’s expansion into the digital EFM in early 2021.
Read on DeadlineMSC launched its inaugural EFM slate with pickups of The True Don Quixote and Triple Threat, marking the nascent UK sales firm’s first European Film Market participation. Prior to EFM, the company had secured a distribution agreement with SPI International covering all six titles on its initial slate.
Read on Screen DailyLondon-based Mise En Scène set a distribution deal with SPI International covering six titles from its inaugural slate, announced in January 2021. The non-exclusive acquisitions included What Lies Ahead, I Wrote This For You, Eating Cars, Super November, Synchronicity, and Reach.
Read on DeadlineMSC signed a distribution agreement with New York and European distributor SPI International for its inaugural slate of six films. The non-exclusive acquisitions included thrillers, dramas and other titles, marking an early partnership for the newly launched London-based sales firm.
Read on Filmfestivals.comUK-based Mise En Scène launched ahead of AFM 2020 with a slate including thriller What Lies Ahead starring Rumer Willis and Emma Dumont. Co-founded by Paul S.L. Yates and Netto Fernandes, the company focuses on low to mid-budget films from established and emerging filmmakers.
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