Roman Coppola And W Hotels Release Four Travel-Inspired Films


With the help of filmmaker Roman Coppola, son of director Francis Ford Coppola, W Hotels and Intel recently held a travel-inspired screenplay competition. Out of more than 1,000 online entries, four scripts were chosen by Coppola, who then used his production company, The Directors Bureau, to match the winning scripts with emerging directors and actors.

The result are the short films below, each of which takes place at a W Hotel around the world: in Doha, Qatar; Mexico City, Mexico; Washington, DC; and the Maldives. The only other stipulation for screenwriters was that the films had to feature an Intel Ultrabook – kind of like the secret ingredient in an Iron Chef competition. The results are quirky, touching, and sometimes eerie, but most of all great ways to inspire travel and help emerging talent get their feet off the ground.


Modern/Love: Two 20-somethings take the next step in their long-distance cyber romance, meeting in person for the first time during an exotic vacation in Doha, Qatar. Will their tech-enabled feelings hold true in real life?
Screenplay by Amy Jacobowitz
Directed by Lee Toland Krieger
Featuring Robert Schwartzman and Naomi Scott

¡El Tonto!: A socially challenged vacationer in Mexico City, Mexico, strikes up an unlikely friendship with one of the country’s best-known luchadores.
Screenplay by Ben Sayeg
Directed by Lake Bell
Featuring Kyle Mooney and Kyle Mooney


Eugene: A traveler in Washington, DC, gets a mysterious gift: an Ultrabook that grants all his wishes. How will he wield his unexpected powers?
Screenplay by Adam Blampied
Directed by Spencer Susser
Featuring Michael Govier and Karolina Wydra


The Mirror Between Us: Two young women embark on a dream-like adventure through the islands of the Maldives after an event turned both their worlds upside down.
Screenplay by Nicole Beharie
Directed by Kahlil Joseph
Featuring Dan’ee Doty

Now open: Francis Ford Coppola’s new hotel in Italy




Francis Ford Coppola has been a hotelier for almost 20 years with properties in Belize, Guatemala and New Orleans. Now, the filmmaker and winemaker best known for his Godfather trilogy has finally opened a hotel in Italy. Palazzo Margherita, located in Coppola’s ancestral home of Bernalda in the region of Basilicata, opened for business on March 1.

Set in a 19th century palazzo with interiors revamped with chandeliers, frescoes and tilework by Jacques Grange, Palazzo Margherita has just nine rooms, six in the building and three by the gardens in the palazzo’s erstwhile stables. Amenities include a secluded pool, free Wi-Fi and a private theater with a library of 300 classic Italian films, Coppola’s films excluded. The palazzo also has, according to the Financial Times, “the rights to open its own beach club on an as-yet undeveloped stretch, to which it will run a shuttle.”

As one would expect with a Coppola-directed property in Italy, food plays a very important part of the Palazzo Margherita experience. Guests are encouraged to dine in the eat-in kitchen, which is outfitted with a table that seats 12, and to join the chefs in daily hands-on classes as they prepare the evening meal with locally grown ingredients. The hotel’s wine list contains selections from Coppola’s vineyards, Château Thuerry (Sofia Coppola’s in-laws’ estate in Provence) and other vintages from Basilicata and Puglia.

Rates at Palazzo Margherita range from pricy to pricier. We saw rates from €880 for two nights in a garden suite to €3,100 for the same time period in a palazzo suite. All rates include in-room beverages, breakfast and cooking lessons.

Daily Candy Everywhere Weekend Guides

There are some new
things happening over at Daily Candy so take note. For starters the free daily insider’s guide to what’s hot, new and
undiscovered most recently added Atlanta to
its roster of cities, so rush over Atlanta and see what they’ve got in store for you. Not in Atlanta? Not in any major
city, but still want to do what’s considered ‘cool’ for the weekend? To our advantage the good writers are now serving
Everywhere Weekend Guides to the
masses.

In this latest edition
they suggest we travel to one of the most comfortable places known to man in all the world – the couch. They call it a
FCC marathon night and it doesn’t even involve the sweat. Celebrate Francis Ford Coppola’s birthday and rent a few
movies like the Outsiders and the Godfather Triology.
Everywhere Weekend Guide also suggests you trade in the
strawberries and opt for raspberries on your shortcake instead as well some Sunday afternoon reading on young love in
Panama. All of which may not be as awesome as jetting it to Tokyo this weekend, but hey it’s better than nothing.