>> Tom Ford Already Working on New Movie —Now that Tom Ford has A Single Man nicely squared away in a distribution deal with The Weinstein Company, he's already looking forward: although Ford's business partner Domenico De Sole declined comment on reports that they were looking for funding to launch a signature womenswear line, sources say the plan is to have the first collection for the Fall 2011 season.  And he's already writing a new film project, "very different" from A Single Man: “I don’t want to talk about it yet. I want to live through the rest of this experience. I just finished editing two weeks ago, so it’s not out of my system yet.” [WWD, Times UK]

>> It's just been a matter of time.  The first murmurs of Tom Ford expanding into womenswear came way back in February, and today come reports that in the wake of his directorial debut A Single Man being picked up last week by The Weinstein Company (who will likely put it into play for the Oscars with a limited December release), Ford is seeking funding for a foray into a women's line.

The amount sought is to the tune of $50 million or more, according to a report from two unnamed sources by private equity site peHUB, and the search just began in the last two weeks. The original rumor from February had Alessandra Facchinetti, who was top womenswear designer under Ford at Gucci, heading up the new line for Ford; she still hasn't publicly popped up anywhere else, so it's still a possibility . . . 

>> A Single Man, which Tom Ford directed, coproduced, cowrote and called "the most personal thing" he's ever done, premiered today at the Venice Film Festival.  The first trailer for the movie — which features a cameo by Ford's favorite ad model, Jon Kortajarena, as hustler Carlos — has also hit YouTube: see below; the colors and work of Mad Men's production designer Dan Bishop, who filled the same role for A Single Man, is instantly recognizable, and apparently the show's star Jon Hamm does an uncredited voiceover in the film.

The movie is already receiving good reviews — the Times UK called it "a thing of heart-stopping beauty . . . There will be critics who will be unable to get past the director’s background, but rest assured: Tom Ford is the real deal." Variety's verdict: "Luminous and treasurable, despite its imperfections. An impressive helming debut for fashion designer Tom Ford."

And Ford himself is finally talking about the film:  “People who don’t know me well will be very surprised by the film. It shows a different side of me."  Despite Ford's fascination with sex in the fashion arena, the film contains no sex scenes.  

He just finished editing A Single Man two weeks ago, and hopes this is the "the beginning of a parallel career alongside fashion," he tells WWD. "The process seems really natural to me, and I'd ideally like to make a film every three to four years."  But he's trying to keep his two careers separate: "I didn’t want to be perceived as some fashion designer who’s come to Venice and decided to make a film . . . I wanted to avoid anything to do with fashion, and I wanted the film to speak for itself."

Video: the trailer! »

>> Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man — and the first project from his newly-minted production company, Fade to Black — premieres in competition at the Venice Film Festival tomorrow; Variety notes that he's been super secretive of the movie those far, "forgoing interviews, press screenings and, perhaps most notable of all, advance sales."  

Stuart Ford, who is handling the film's sales, says that interest is "huge," but they "made a decision not to do pre-sales, the principal reason being that we want the film's eventual distributor to make a decision based on the film itself, after seeing it. Even though Tom is an unproven quantity as a director, the film will play for itself — it's a high-class piece of filmmaking."

>> Tom Ford's A Single Man to Premiere Sept. 11 at Venice Film Festival —After much anticipation, Tom Ford's directorial debut, A Single Man, has received a big vote of confidence; it was chosen to compete at the Venice Film Festival, where it will simultaneously have its world premiere on Sept. 11.  The film's costumes were done by Arianne Phillips and its production design by the same group that does Mad Men; Ford called the film's selection to the festival "a great honor." [WWD]

>> Tom Ford just finished editing his first feature film, A Single Man, with Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, and Matthew Goode — still no release date for this year — and although he's not supposed to be talking about the movie, he slips a few details to the Times UK.

When he told Julianne Moore she was sweet to do his film, "She said, ‘I’m not doing it to be sweet. I like the script’. I’m sure she called her agent though to check it wouldn’t be career death.”  And despite his reputation for sexing things up in fashion, there's very little overt sex in A Single Man. Ford would like to do a film every three years — he finds it compatible with designing because it's so slow. “And a lot of the processes are the same.”

The man seems to be in the midst of changing sensibilities: instead of his usually stringent diet, he admits that he's currently five pounds overweight because he ate a lot of doughnuts during filming.  The Botox is down to a minimum, and sex is not so much his thing anymore: “I hate talking about sex. Thing is, people look much better naked. They’re all the same colour and they can’t screw up. You see someone at the gym and they look great. Then they put on their clothes.”

No more runway shows, either »

>> INSIDER WIRE —Tom Ford doesn't have a release date set yet for his directorial debut, A Single Man, but according to Grazia's Cannes mole, he's still planning on a 2009 premiere.  Tom's widely known for his marketing acumen, but apparently he's being very secretive about the movie — treating it less like a film and more like a collection.  Only a handful of people have seen it, and he doesn't plan on releasing any set pictures, clips, or other information to spoil the "elegant" big reveal it sounds like he wants. [Grazia]

>> INSIDER WIRE —Tom Ford has added two more to the Julianne Moore, Colin Firth and Matthew Goode trifecta for his directorial debut A Single Man — Ginnifer Goodwin will play Mrs. Strunk, a suburban mom who doesn't share her husband's dislike of their gay professor neighbor (Firth), and Nicholas Hoult will play Kenny, a sexually ambiguous grad student who shows an unusual interest in Firth's character.  Ford, meanwhile, will not be doing the movies' costumes: Arianne Phillips, Madonna's stylist and Oscar nominee for Walk the Line, will take care of that. [Reuters, Fashionista]
*image: source

>> INSIDER WIRE —Starting Monday, Tom Ford will officially be a director — that's when he starts filming his debut movie in LA.  Colin Firth and Julianne Moore are confirmed for A Single Man, he as a gay professor and she as his longtime friend, while Matthew Goode is picking up the student's role that Jamie Bell was originally in talks for.  The movie is set in 1962 — which explains why Tom's asked Mad Men's production designers for their help.  [E! Online]
*image: source