Self Timer, Inc., the parent company of R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe's Single Cell Pictures and C Hundred Film Corp., has entered into a three-year first look deal with United Artists Films, the recently revived subsidiary of MGM.
"I've always been attracted to UA's artist-driven history," Stipe said in a statement about the company, which was founded by film luminaries Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith in 1919. "I couldn't be happier than to have Self Timer be a part of that legacy."
Formed in April when Single Cell and C-Hundred merged with digital entertainment company RSUB, Self Timer has several projects in the works. The first film under the new deal may be the Jill Sprecher-directed "13 Conversations About One Thing," although it is only one possibility, according to an MGM/UA spokesperson. Sprecher previously directed the film "Clockwatchers."
Single Cell Pictures, in which Stipe is partnered with producer Sandy Stern, produced the critically lauded 1999 Spike Jonze-directed comedy "Being John Malkovich," which was nominated for three Academy Awards.
C-Hundred, in which Stipe is partnered with filmmaker Jim McKay, was formed in the late '80s, and initially produced a series of highly stylized public service announcements featuring rapper KRS-One, singer Natalie Merchant, and Stipe himself, among others. More recently, C-Hundred co-produced the documentary "American Movie," the recipient of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
In other Stipe news, R.E.M. is at work on a new studio album in Vancouver. No release date has been set for the album, which will be R.E.M.'s second since the departure of original drummer Bill Berry.
Meanwhile, Stipe will have five pieces of art (four photographs and one installation) on display at the Lydon House Arts Center's Rock Art Show in R.E.M.'s hometown of Athens, Ga. The exhibit opens Saturday (June 24) and will run through July 29. Among the other area musicians with work in display include Vic Chesnutt, Will Hart (Olivia Tremor Control), Jack Logan, and Michael Lachowski (Pylon).
"I've always been attracted to UA's artist-driven history," Stipe said in a statement about the company, which was founded by film luminaries Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith in 1919. "I couldn't be happier than to have Self Timer be a part of that legacy."
Formed in April when Single Cell and C-Hundred merged with digital entertainment company RSUB, Self Timer has several projects in the works. The first film under the new deal may be the Jill Sprecher-directed "13 Conversations About One Thing," although it is only one possibility, according to an MGM/UA spokesperson. Sprecher previously directed the film "Clockwatchers."
Single Cell Pictures, in which Stipe is partnered with producer Sandy Stern, produced the critically lauded 1999 Spike Jonze-directed comedy "Being John Malkovich," which was nominated for three Academy Awards.
C-Hundred, in which Stipe is partnered with filmmaker Jim McKay, was formed in the late '80s, and initially produced a series of highly stylized public service announcements featuring rapper KRS-One, singer Natalie Merchant, and Stipe himself, among others. More recently, C-Hundred co-produced the documentary "American Movie," the recipient of the Grand Jury Prize at the 1999 Sundance Film Festival.
In other Stipe news, R.E.M. is at work on a new studio album in Vancouver. No release date has been set for the album, which will be R.E.M.'s second since the departure of original drummer Bill Berry.
Meanwhile, Stipe will have five pieces of art (four photographs and one installation) on display at the Lydon House Arts Center's Rock Art Show in R.E.M.'s hometown of Athens, Ga. The exhibit opens Saturday (June 24) and will run through July 29. Among the other area musicians with work in display include Vic Chesnutt, Will Hart (Olivia Tremor Control), Jack Logan, and Michael Lachowski (Pylon).
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