The English-language debut of Hungarian director Kornél Mundruczó stars Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Molly Parker and Sarah Snook.

Martin Scorsese has given his seal of approval to Kornél Mundruczó's Pieces of a Woman, boarding the finished film, which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival next month, as an executive producer.

Mundruczó's English-language debut, Pieces of a Woman stars Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf as Martha and Sean Carson, a Boston couple whose lives are irrevocably disrupted when their home birth goes horribly wrong and their midwife (Molly Parker) is brought up on charges of criminal negligence. Ellen Burstyn co-stars as Martha's domineering mother. The script, from Mundruczó's collaborator and partner Kata Wéber, is based on their own personal experiences.

"Pieces of a Woman for me was a deep and uniquely moving experience," Scorsese said. "I was emotionally invested in it from the first scene, and the experience only intensified as I watched, spellbound by the filmmaking and the work of a splendid cast that includes my old colleague Ellen Burstyn. You feel as if you’ve been dropped into the vortex of a family crisis and moral conflict with all its nuances, drawn out with care and compassion but without judgement. ... It’s lucky to see a movie that takes you by surprise. It’s a privilege to help it find the wide audience it deserves." 

Scorsese has made it a habit in recent years of adding his name as an executive producer to promising indie titles as a way of boosting their profile and helping their international release. In 2016, he boarded Josh and Benny Safdie’s Uncut Gems and did the same with Alice Rohrwacher’s Happy as Lazzaro two years ago. Joanna Hogg's The Souvenir, its upcoming sequel The Souvenir: Part II, and Josephine Decker's Sundance title Shirley have also benefited from the imprimatur of a Scorsese executive producer credit.

Bron Studios, which produced Pieces of a Woman with Little Lamb in association with Creative Wealth Media Finance and Proton Cinema, brought Scorsese and Mundruczó together.

The Hungarian director has already built up an international fan base among art house aficionados with works like White God, which won Un Certain Regard in Cannes in 2014, and Jupiter's Moon (2017), which screened in Cannes' official competition. Mundruczó said "time stopped for a second" when Scorsese first contacted hi. He called the director's support of his film "a deeply appreciated validation of the risks one takes when going forward to make something truly personal."

Kevin Turen, Ashley Levinson and Aaron Ryder produced Pieces of a Woman with exec producers Sam Levinson, Stuart Manashil, Viktória Petrányi, Jason Cloth, Richard McConnell, Suraj Maraboyina, Aaron L. Gilbert, and Steven Thibault. Bron Releasing is handling world sales on the film.

Pieces of a Woman will premiere in competition in Venice before getting a gala screening in Toronto.

Article by: Scott Roxborough for the Hollywood Reporter.

A new song by Travis Scott recorded for “Tenet,” the pandemic-delayed opus from Christopher Nolan, was described by the director as the “final piece of a yearlong puzzle” in a new interview in GQ.

“His insights into the musical and narrative mechanism [composer] Ludwig Göransson and I were building were immediate, insightful, and profound,” Nolan said of the rapper, who it’s safe to say has never been praised in quite those terms before. “His voice became the final piece of a yearlong puzzle.” The song’s title has not yet been announced.

For his part, Scott said he’s seen the film and it’s “fire.”

Scott also divulged that he’s been working on the follow-up to his smash “Astroworld” album while in lockdown. “I think with this next project I’m just embodying all of the knowledge I’ve taken in and trying to make the best form of it,” he said.

He added that there’s a new project to come from him in collaboration with his “The Scotts” partner Kid Cudi, although he didn’t provide much in the way of details except to say that “some fireness” is on the way from the pair.

The official release date of “Tenet” has been a bouncing ball all summer, originally scheduled for July 17 and then the 31 st and then August 12. It is opening internationally before the U.S. — the latest Stateside release date is Sept. 3.

“Tenet,” which stars John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, is intentionally shrouded in secrecy — and a staggered rollout could raise concerns about piracy and spoilers in a way that could impact demand to see the film. However, it would be welcome news for exhibitors in Europe and Asia, two robust film markets that haven’t had a new Hollywood movie to entice audiences in months. In their blueprints to reopen, movie theater owners recently expressed concern to Variety that the global box office has all but been “forgotten” by U.S. studios. Previous films from Nolan have earned more than 50% of box office revenues from theaters overseas, and major tentpoles can generate as much as two-thirds of ticket sales from international venues.

Article by: Jem Aswad for Variety.

The Savannah College of Art and Design has announced that the 23rd edition of the SCAD Savannah Film Festival will take place in an all-virtual format this year from Oct. 24-31.

During the week-long online event, programming will include live film premieres, spotlights, competitions, events, Q&As and forums, including the Docs to Watch and Wonder Women series.

Georgia’s SCAD Savannah Film Festival is the largest university-run film festival in the U.S. and has become a well-known stop on the way to the Academy Awards, having screened more than 125 Oscar-nominated films. The festival has also been instrumental in connecting SCAD students with leading professionals in their fields of study, which include performing arts, film and television, dramatic writing, production design, sound design and visual effects.

At the 2020 Academy Awards, 230 SCAD alumni and current students were commended for their contributions to 21 nominated films such as “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” “Joker,” “Marriage Story,” “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker,” “The Irishman” and “The Lighthouse.” Over 50 SCAD alumni worked as artists and animators on “Avengers: Endgame,” and another 61 alumni worked on films nominated for best animated feature, including “How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World,” “Missing Link” and “Toy Story 4.”

This news aligns with other major film festivals that have opted to go virtual due to the coronavirus pandemic, such as the Sarajevo Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and Locarno Film Festival.

Tickets for the SCAD Savannah Film Festival and its full schedule of programming will be available Oct. 1 at 10 a.m. ET.

Article by: Ellise Shafer for Variety.

“Jurassic World: Dominion,” filming in England, is a chance for the movie industry to see if it can move past the financial woes caused by the pandemic.

Like most actors, Bryce Dallas Howard is used to showing up on film sets knowing what lines she’s supposed to say, when she’s supposed to say them and, often, not much more.

Things are very different on “Jurassic World: Dominion,” one of the first major Hollywood studio films to restart production since the coronavirus pandemic led to a global shutdown in March. Before agreeing to return to Pinewood Studios outside London, Ms. Howard and other members of the cast grilled producers and executives from the studio behind the movie, Universal, through a series of Zoom calls and emails about what precautions were being taken.

Ms. Howard now knows everything from how to attach her microphone before filming — she does it herself outside, with help from her dresser, as a boom operator wearing a mask and a shield instructs them — to the person who makes her bed at the luxury hotel Universal has rented out for 20 weeks for the cast and crew.

“Until now, actors were not really included in prep,” Ms. Howard said in a phone interview, referring to the moviemaking process as “a need-to-know-business.” “But in order to get any of us on a plane, we had to thoroughly understand the protocols, who was involved and hear second and third opinions. We are the guinea pigs who are going to take the leap.”

Hollywood has been unable to restart production on its own soundstages in California because of surging infections in the state, plodding negotiations with unions over protocols and the time it takes to get test results. So big movie studios, under pressure to get their production assembly lines running again, have focused on overseas shooting. The “Avatar” sequels are filming again in New Zealand. Sony Pictures has “Uncharted,” its adaptation of a popular video game, going in Berlin.

Leading the way is Universal, with “Jurassic World” and a 107-page safety manual that details everything from the infrared temperature scanners the cast and crew encounter upon arrival to the vacuum-sealed meals provided by masked workers standing behind plastic partitions in the takeout-only cafeteria. Its safety protocols are serving as a model for other studios, showing Marvel, for instance, how to resume shooting “Shang-Chi” two weeks ago in Australia.

Roughly 750 people are involved in the $200 million production of “Jurassic World,” which restarted on July 6, and the set would normally be a hive of activity.

But Universal has divided the production into two categories. The larger one is made up of the departments that don’t need access to the set during filming, like construction and props. The more exclusive category, called the Green Zone, includes the director, the cast and only essential crew, like camera operators and the sound department.

The result, Ms. Howard said, is comparable to a “closed set,” which in pre-pandemic times was typically used for physically intimate scenes.

Those working inside the Green Zone receive Covid-19 tests three times a week, and the sets are fogged with an antiviral mist before each use. The chairs that the actors sit in between takes are surrounded by orange cones to remind people to remain socially distant. When there is more lag time during a day, the cast can retire to a special Green Zone “living room,” complete with couches, blankets, lamps and plants. There are numerous sinks, and each time someone leaves or enters the Green Zone, he or she must wash hands.

The aim is to keep everyone healthy — and thinking less about coronavirus and more about roaming the earth with dinosaurs.

“We are able for this little moment to be in the world that we’re creating and leave the rest of the world behind,” the director, Colin Trevorrow, said in a phone interview.

“Jurassic World: Dominion,” scheduled for release next June, is more than just the sixth installment in a franchise that has collected close to $2 billion at the global box office. It is a chance for Hollywood to see if it can move past the many industry woes the pandemic has laid bare — from closed movie theaters to an audience that has become increasingly comfortable watching premium films from the couch.

Hollywood studios have kept the profits coming in recent years by focusing on potential blockbusters based on known intellectual property, largely because such films power so many ancillary businesses and are almost guaranteed to draw people to the movie theater. “Jurassic World” is a perfect example. It is a merchandising machine, and NBCUniversal is counting on it to bring life to its struggling theme parks; a tie-in “Velocicoaster” is under construction at Universal Orlando Resort in Florida.

Donna Langley, the head of Universal’s Filmed Entertainment Group, called the return to production “symbolic for the industry.”

“If a production of this magnitude can successfully manage through the uncertainties of filming amid a pandemic, and keep people working and the production pipeline moving, there is a light at the end of the tunnel for film shoots of all sizes to create safe and sustainable environments,” said Ms. Langley, who also leads the Los Angeles County economic task force’s efforts to get Hollywood back up and running.

Cases are still too high in Los Angeles County — and the number of available tests and labs to process them too low — for large productions to move ahead. A movie starring Ben Affleck was five weeks from beginning production there when the virus shut it down. The producers thought about Austin, Texas, before cases rose there.

Now, the producer, Mark Gill, is looking to London. “It is virtually impossible to shoot anywhere in the U.S. right now,” he said.

Universal chose to move forward with “Jurassic World” because, despite being a major action-adventure film, it required few real locations, a minimum of extras and only a relatively small cast. The film had also begun production in England shortly before the pandemic shut things down, making it easier to get it up and running again.

Trying to create a safe environment included procuring some 18,000 Covid tests and 150 hand sanitizer stations. The costs associated with the safety protocols total roughly $9 million and include the expenses from renting out an entire hotel, people involved with the production said.

The studio got testing guidance from Your Doctor, a private medical conglomerate in London. One general practitioner works with the production full time, along with four nurses in temperature-taking stations at the set’s entrance. There are also a handful of on-set medics.

The cast is tested every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Crew members who don’t interact with the cast as frequently and can wear protective equipment at all times are tested less often.

Renting out the hotel for the duration of the shoot — a move that Mr. Trevorrow called a “bananas idea” — was also key.

“For Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum and all our actors, they were very cautious,” he said. “But knowing that we would all be safe together is what really moved the needle. If they hadn’t been willing to come, nothing could have happened.”

Those involved with the production were each quarantined for 14 days upon arrival. After that, they were free to roam the hotel. Masks are optional, and no social distancing is required. (Every hotel staff member is tested three times a week.) People eat breakfast together, have access to the gym (and a virtual trainer) and the pool, and play Frisbee on the hotel lawn every Sunday. Some of the cast traveled with their makeup and hair people. Mr. Goldblum took his wife, two toddlers and two nannies.

“We rehearse on Sundays after Frisbee, every scene that we’re going to shoot that week,” said Mr. Trevorrow, who wrote the script with Emily Carmichael. “We work dialogue together. All of those questions that usually come up on set — ‘Why would my character say this?’ — all of that is addressed before.

One complication involved Chris Pratt, one of the film’s stars, whose wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, was about to give birth. Universal worked with the British government and the British Film Institute to secure a quarantine exemption that deemed entertainment workers essential, meaning they could fly into the country and go straight to work.

Mr. Pratt was with the production for three weeks at Pinewood, then flew home to be with his wife for their baby’s birth, and will return to England at the beginning of September. The production will then move to Malta, the Mediterranean island, for eight days before returning to Pinewood for seven more weeks. Once Mr. Pratt arrives on Malta, he will be tested three times in five days before he is cleared to rejoin the production.

Four crew members in Britain have tested positive for the coronavirus since early July. Two had yet to be on the set. They were quarantined for two weeks, and after three negative tests were permitted to return to work. The other two were similarly isolated, as was everyone they had been in contact with. No one has become seriously ill, the studio said. (Of the crew members who were sent to Malta in advance, four tested positive. They have been put into isolation.)

“After being on set, all of us actors hope that these protocols stay in place,” Ms. Howard said. “Because they are improvements. Nothing feels like a redundancy, nothing feels annoying. It is in a sense a safety reckoning that still feels like a good idea in a post-Covid-vaccine world.”

Article by: Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes for the New York Times.

Group of quarantine film buffs create viral sensation after filming chilling scenes in their own homes

It will make you jump, shriek and come up close to one of the most dreaded elements of quarantine: the group Zoom call. Now Host, the tiny British horror film conceived and made in lockdown, is being hailed as the first great film of the pandemic.

Its writers – Rob Savage, Jed Shepherd and Gemma Hurley – have fashioned a chilling 57-minute movie from a two-word text sent by Shepherd to Savage at 4.34am on 24 April. It simply read: ‘Zoom seance’. A group of six friends get together on the video conference call platform and, with the help of a medium who – of course – loses her internet connection early on, they call up the spirits.

What began as a prank borne from a WhatsApp quarantine film club with real-life friends ended up the subject of a studio bidding war. The finished result, which premiered on horror channel Shudder a fortnight ago, has created a viral sensation online. Cast and crew have been interviewed by breakfast TV in the US. A UK cinematic release is on the way. Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi has signed up to produce Savage and Shepherd’s next project.

How did it all come about? “Lockdown boredom,” says Savage over Zoom (of course), joined by Shepherd, producer Douglas Cox and cast members Haley Bishop and Radina Drandova. “Everyone who made the movie in front of and behind the camera, they were the friends that I was on Zoom with doing happy hours, quizzes, all that stuff, and I wanted to find a way to scare them.”

Savage, who has directed multiple award-winning horror shorts, filmed himself while on one of those Zoom calls heading into his spooky attic. He managed to splice his footage with a zombie horror movie in what seemed like real time and freak out the group, who were left stunned. Within hours of being posted on Twitter, the clip had been viewed several million times. Interest from the film industry for a developed feature was so high that the team committed to creating and delivering a proper film, made and directed virtually, all within 12 weeks.

“We didn’t waste our time in lockdown just baking sourdough and banana bread,” says Shepherd, “which is fine. People need to eat! But it’s cool for me in years to come, when you look at this crazy time in history, we can point to [Host] and say ‘this is what we did with our friends’. Something we wanted to have watched and that everyone else really liked.”

Savage and Shepherd have been taken aback at the buzz, which has transcended the genre fans they were aiming for. A review in the New York Times said the film “speaks to a moment of uncertainty… As we sit at home with the devices that promised us limitless possibilities in our hands, Host identifies the uncomfortable in-between state we exist in, operating ghostlike.”

“It’s really surprising how it’s expanded from being the horror audience embracing it,” says Savage. “It’s also weird that we started this by hanging out on Zoom in lockdown, we made a film through Zoom in lockdown, and we’ve released it in lockdown and this is still our reality. We’re not leaving the house, so it feels really disjointed and strange and not quite real yet. And I’m still spending way too much time on Zoom.”

Actors were not given full scripts so did not know what happened to one another until they saw the action unfold. They also had to make their own blood, do their own makeup and rig their own homes to accommodate the five-day shoot. Smoke pellets were tested in the local park before Drandova dared set one off at home; Bishop repurposed a bag of ropes she had previously told her boyfriend to throw away. “Luckily he didn’t, and look who’s laughing now,” she says.

It’s an extraordinary effort that has arguably shifted the language of film-making a notch. Despite its seemingly lo-fi stakes, the film is packed with scares, stunts and special effects that are the subject of countless internet threads and blogs trying to work them out.

“There is this idea of the director as the author, but this film belongs to all of us,” says Savage. “Everyone was throwing in ideas, everyone was figuring it out as we went along, doing their own stunts, being their own one-person film production. The more you can encourage that group endeavour, the better the end result. It’s definitely something I’ll take to whatever I do after this.”

Article by: Nosheen Iqbal for the Guardian.

To celebrate its limited reopening and 100th birthday, AMC is offering tickets at the 1920 price of 15 cents.

Because nothing says “social distancing” better than the cinematic equivalent of an open bar.

Not in California, where theaters remain closed due to COVID-19, but in many states, including coronavirus hotspots Georgia, Kentucky and Louisiana, 100 AMC theaters will be opening their doors on Aug. 20. The 15-cent price point is good only for that single day, but at the additional 200 or so theaters planning to open between that date and early September, the chain will be showing classic films for only $5.

The exhibitor “strongly recommends” that tickets be purchased online or through its app. But tickets will also be available in the usual way — from automated machines and at the box office. Which makes having such a remarkable sale seem like a call for crowds. And if you’re going to price things from time periods that existed before the internet (at this point, $5 seems almost as absurd as 15 cents, though easier to come by with the current coin shortage), then you’d best be prepared for online to revert to in line.

Remember when Amazon sold gas and other items at “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” prices as a one-day Emmy stunt, which gridlocked the entire Westside and nearly broke the 10? Now translate that to cineplex foot traffic. During a pandemic.

Look, no one wants to get back in a movie theater more than I do — well, OK, my 13-year-old may want it a bit more — but I don’t think a marketing stunt that appears to be an attempt to lure people into theaters with financial incentives is the best decision ever made. Historically, no one lines up faster for free stuff than rich people (see please all those PPP loan fraud prosecutions) but 15-cent movies will be very hard for low-income families to resist. You know, those same families currently getting hit hardest hit by COVID-19.

Rich people like free stuff, but not usually when it involves being part of a clinical trial.

Which this definitely is. AMC appears to be doing everything a cinema chain could do to open responsibly during a pandemic — auditoriums will be at 30% capacity or less, masks will be required (and if you forget yours, you can buy one for a buck), antibacterial gel kiosks will replace condiment displays, and refills on popcorn and beverages are canceled until further notice.

But with people getting coronavirus at outdoor gatherings and while eating al fresco at cafes, there are definitely risks involved.

Especially with the added incentive of reduced-price concession items that AMC is offering to welcome patrons back, which also seems like a good intention badly executed.

Again, I definitely miss my movie theater popcorn and extra-large beverages cooled by that groovy soda-dispenser ice, but how is this going to work with the masks, exactly? Maybe you can slip a straw up under with little or no harm done, but popcorn? That’s a messy challenge under normal circumstances, so the mask will have to come off. And, if you eat popcorn like I do, remain off for the entire movie.

Also, just imagine for a minute what happens when someone has a popcorn-induced coughing fit and everyone panics. Stampedes are rarely socially distanced events.

So maybe we should just skip the popcorn. As my mother used to say when I was young and we could not afford theater popcorn, if you need popcorn to watch a movie, you don’t really want to watch a movie. Also, Skittles and Junior Mints seem like much more mask-friendly treats.

Even without the eating issue, mask compliance will be a bit tricky. Seems like every day a young barista or cashier gets bullied or even beaten by some moron who does not believe in science or the respiratory system and appears to believe the Constitution guarantees their right to flout state requirements and endanger the lives of those around them. You might be able to stop folks like that at the door, but how are you going to keep them from removing their masks once the lights go down?

Perhaps a brief quiz on what the Constitution does and does not guarantee would help.

On planes, which also require strangers to share space and air for hours, there are flight attendants, sharp-eyed, soft-spoken and empowered by TSA, who are tasked with ensuring that everyone’s face remains covered for the duration of the flight. But how is that going to work in theaters?

Will there be roving bands of masked mask-sheriffs? Will they be trained in military tactics? Because pre-pandemic, we couldn’t even get certain people to silence their freaking cellphones at the movies, so I would advise a team of former Navy SEALs, or maybe high-school-teaching nuns.

(Oh, and to the guy freaking me out while I stood behind him in line at the pharmacy and everyone like him, the mask needs to cover your nose as well as your mouth. Why on earth do you not understand this?)

Of course there’s always the chance that patrons will be so grateful to be sitting once again in the cool, quiet comfort of the magical dark that the risk of expulsion alone will ensure they abide by AMC’s rules. We all want to get back to the movies, but not in a big wild rush. If California’s botched reopening proved nothing else, it’s that we shouldn’t be doing anything that requires physical participation in a big wild rush.

Which is why, returning to my original point, AMC does not need a big marketing campaign, and certainly not one that risks a foot-traffic frenzy by marking its reopening with big bargains. Everyone knows theater chains have taken a financial beating, just as everyone is aware that ensuring compliance with social distancing and other safety measures will require more staffing and other changes, which in turn costs money.

After years of feeling outrage over ever-rising ticket prices, this is the first time movie tickets priced in the teens makes sense. I would feel much more comfortable paying full price to ensure that there is enough staff to keep things moving safely and that said staff is compensated fairly for a job that is obviously not as safe as it was in 1920 or even 2019.

Hell, to get my kids out of the house for a couple of hours, I’ll even pay a bit extra.

Article by: Mary McNamara for the LA Times.

Warner Bros. asks for 63 percent of Tenet's box office from theaters for the highly-anticipated film's entire run, a higher figure than usual.

Warner Bros. is asking for a whopping 63 percent of Tenet's box office from theaters. After being delayed multiple times due to the coronavirus pandemic, Christopher Nolan's latest is finally poised for its debut. Tenet is scheduled to open internationally on August 26 and in select U.S. cities on September 3. While it won't be the first new movie to play in theaters amidst the health crisis, Tenet is undoubtedly the most high-profile release since March.

Theater owners have been looking forward to Tenet for a long time, counting on Nolan's clout to be a boost for a business hit exceptionally hard during the pandemic. Especially with Disney opting to release Mulan on Disney+, Tenet is an even more important event for exhibitors looking to rebound. And while theaters will certainly be grateful for Tenet's arrival, they're going to have to share a substantial amount of ticket sales with WB.

According to IndieWire, WB mentioned in an email to theater owners they want "63 percent for all weeks of engagement" during Tenet's run. That figure is significant because it is much higher than usual. Typically, the theater/studio split is closer to 50/50 by the end of a movie's run, with the studio taking a larger percentage in the first few weekends. Here, WB is asking for more all the way through.

From WB's perspective, this is understandable. Tenet's production budget is $200 million, and the film needs to earn a considerable amount just to break even. As theaters reopen, there will be a number of health protocols in place, including capped attendance. Many auditoriums will limit capacity to 30 percent or less, which will obviously impact the amount of money a movie grosses. WB is attempting to make up for that lost money by recouping more of Tenet's ticket sales, and theater owners unfortunately have no choice but to agree to these terms. Exhibitors are in a desperate position after the lockdowns and don't have any leverage to negotiate a fairer deal for theaters. They'll be banking on concession sales and other revenue sources to make up the difference.

Still, it'll be interesting to see how much this helps WB in the long run. It remains to be seen how many people will feel safe going back to the theater, as the pandemic remains a very serious issue. Given the current circumstances, Tenet faces an uphill climb to profitability, and 63 percent of all ticket sales may not be enough to get it to that point. Theaters in major markets like New York and Los Angeles are closed indefinitely, which makes things even more difficult for Tenet. Its performance may determine how other blockbuster movies are distributed in 2020; WB said it's possible their other upcoming theatrical releases will be delayed again. If Tenet comes up short by "new normal" standards, theaters could be in trouble again.

Article by: Chris Agar for ScreenRant.

Netflix's 'Gray Man' and Universal's next Jordan Peele project are among nine new films that will take advantage of the state's tax incentives.

As COVID-19 continues to complicate current filming ambitions, Hollywood is also busy mapping out its future production hopes. As part of those plans, nine new features are planning to shoot in California.

The California film commission has announced its latest round of film projects that have been selected to receive tax credits from the state's incentives program. Among the four studio and five indie titles are Joe and Anthony Russo action-thriller Gray Man, Jessica Chastain drama Losing Clementine, Octavia Spencer sci-fi thriller Invasion and an untitled Jordan Peele movie, one of the two films announced as part of his first-look deal with Universal.

The slate of films — which also includes Universal's untitled Phil Lord and Chris Miller horror-comedy, sports drama Sweetwater about the first African American player in the NBA and Dan Gilroy's Faster, Cheaper, Better — are the first feature projects to qualify for tax credits since the program's third iteration launched at the start of the new fiscal year on July 1. It's unclear the projects are beginning production.

Gray Man, a big-budget Netflix movie starring Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans, represents a major win for the state, which has long lost out on major studio features to other more incentives-friendly filming locales like Georgia and the U.K. The pic, which will be produced under the Russo Bros.' AGBO production banner, is expected to bring in an estimated $102 million in below-the-line wages and other qualified expenditures, trailing behind only Captain Marvel in terms of spend within the state. Of course, overall in-state spending will be significantly more when above-the-line wages and other expenditures that do not qualify for incentives are factored in.

In total, the nine films are on track to generate a total of nearly $284 million in qualified in-state expenditures. They're expected to employ an estimated 1,340 crew, 342 cast and 14,397 background actors and stand ins over a combined 374 filming days in California. And that doesn't even include the post-production jobs and revenue they'll bring in for in-state VFX artists, sound editors, sound mixers, musicians and other workers.

Three of the five independent projects (Losing Clementine, Nightfall and Sweetwater) were accepted into the program's new $10 million-and-under qualified spending category, which reserves funds specifically for lower-budget independent films. And together six of the projects plan a significant amount of production outside the Los Angeles 30-mile studio zone, a key objective of the film incentives program. In fact, nearly 40 percent (142 out of 374) of the filming days planned by the projects will occur in counties outside Los Angeles, including Inyo, Kern, Mono, Riverside and San Bernardino.

“After announcing two relocating TV series earlier this month, our new tax credit program continues to get off to a great start with today’s list of film projects,” said California film commission executive director Colleen Bell. “Production activity is ramping back up in California amid COVID-19 with safety remaining a top priority, and Program 3.0 is attracting the kind of big budget films that will generate a considerable amount of jobs and in-state spending.”

Article by: Bryn Elise Sandberg for the Hollywood Reporter.

Leaders of the Art Directors Guild are blaming management’s AMPTP for the delay in finalizing procedures for a safe return to work amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On July 24, the Art Directors Guild – IATSE Local 800 – released its own protocols “in the absence of an industry-wide agreement” with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and in a letter to his members last week, Chuck Parker, the guild’s national executive director, said that “there is still no agreement.”

“We, the united joint-union side of this negotiation, are not slowing this process down,” he told his members. “There are critically important details that the Employer must take responsibility for: testing, supplying the necessary PPE, safe travel and scouting protocols, provisions for paid sick leave that incentivizes not coming to work when ill and symptomatic, everything that is involved in providing a safe working environment. It is you, the members of the IATSE, along with your brothers and sisters in the DGA, SAG-AFTRA, the Teamsters and the Basic Crafts that are going to be risking their health, and the health of their families, by returning to work.

“The shareholders of the major conglomerates that own the studios sure won’t be on the set doing the work,” he added. “I am writing this because I am hearing some spin out there that it is, we, the unions, who are causing the delay. I am here to say that NOTHING could be further from the truth.”

In an accompanying letter, guild president Nelson Coates wrote: “The plain fact of the matter is the AMPTP as a body has a different concept of what constitutes ‘appropriate’ safety and testing. The AMPTP has tried to frame this as though all these other groups were the cause of the delay. Truth be told, the DGA/IATSE/SAG-AFTRA/Teamsters/Basic Crafts/ NYC Unions have never been so united on an issue and are holding fast to the need for frequently scheduled testing. We all are hoping for a resolution in the next few days.”

On Sunday, Teamsters Local 399 told its members that the companies and the unions “At this time we are still trying to finalize some of the remaining issues, however we are getting closer and hope to conclude soon.”

The ongoing discussions, it should be noted, are in addition to protocols contained in a “white paper” issued on June 1, by the Industry-Wide Labor Management Safety Committee Task Force, and the “Safe Way Forward” guidelines issued jointly by the unions on June 12.

Coates told his members that, in the days since those agreements were reached, “We all have had to reckon with the realization that the pandemic is not going away any time soon,” and that “we also have had to deal with the fact that negotiating with producers during a pandemic is in some ways building the plane as we are flying. And in the process, all who are not ‘in the room’ are more and more frustrated.”

In the meantime, he wrote, “many members have started back to work – some remotely, others with safety protocols which have been vetted by the IATSE. I am compelled to stress the importance of reporting your work and making sure the (guild’s) office can verify that safety protocols have been approved. Some members have already started work in areas where they have had to be travelled. Each instance has been vetted and approved by the IATSE. As production gears up in LA County, PLEASE take personal responsibility on and off the job to stay safe and follow protocols. We all need to be mindful of safety in the workplace, but especially now need to be mindful in the evenings and weekends. Our actions can impact the ability for lots of our friends and colleagues to work. Again, please report your work and stay safe.”

Article by: David Robb for Deadline.

More than 11,400 people have asked trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan to overturn recently announced changes that will cut eligibility for the plan on Jan. 1.

The petition at change.org — titled “Overturn the changes made to the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan” — noted that the changes are being imposed amid the pandemic and characterized them as “unconscionable.”

The health plan announced in an email it sent to members on Aug. 12 that it would raise the earnings floor for eligibility from those earning $18,040 a year to $25,950, effective Jan. 1. Trustees said that without restructuring, the plan is projecting a deficit of $141 million this year and $83 million in 2021.

“The trustees of the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan have taken a difficult but necessary action to address financial deficits facing the plan,” the plan said. “By 2024, the Health Plan is projected to run out of reserves. We must prevent this from happening.”

“We understand that no one welcomes the disruption of changing health coverage — even if similar, less costly alternatives are available — but it’s important to note that those participants who lose Plan coverage may still have good, affordable health insurance options,” the email also said.

But the changes to the plan also come with many of SAG-AFTRA’s 160,000 members unable to generate earnings since the COVID-19 pandemic hit in mid-March and caused virtually all productions to halt. The health plan is administered by a board comprised of equal numbers of trustees of the union and the employers.

The petition said that in addition to the increase in the earnings threshold, premiums will see a “huge” increase — doubled for most.

It also said the changes will force retirees to give up their health insurance because residuals will no longer count toward the $25,950 needed for insurance if they are retired and taking pension. Additionally, insurance will no longer be available to spouses if their employers offer any kind of plan.

“These are just a few of the horrendous changes being made with barely FIVE MONTHS notice in the middle of a global pandemic when there is no work to be had,” the petition concluded. “This is putting SAG/AFTRA members and their families lives in danger. We must put pressure on the health plan union and producer trustees to overturn these changes immediately.”

Article by: Dave McNary for Variety.

The British Film Institute (BFI) launched a new £630,000 ($825,000) Film Audience Network exhibition fund on Monday in order to “support dynamic cultural programming and activities to engage diverse audiences.”

Exhibitors around the U.K. will be able to apply for up to £10,000 ($13,100) in order to reengage with audiences who are now slowly returning to cinemas after a coronavirus-enforced lockdown that lasted months. The fund is part of a larger U.K. government support package for the arts that was announced in July that includes a £30 million ($39.2 million) recovery fund for independent cinemas.

The exhibition fund is designed to enable film organizations across the U.K. to deliver a broad range of programming and also incentivizing exhibitors to embed inclusion and environmental sustainability into their approach to reopening, post shut down. The fund is open till Sept. 30.

The Institute’s flagship venue BFI Southbank is set for a Sept. 1 reopening with stringent safety measures.

“We know the best place to watch film is on the big screen, but the U.K.’s many indie venues and smaller exhibitors also serve as vital cultural spaces where audiences can connect with their local community, make new and surprising discoveries and be inspired by this most accessible art form in a communal setting,” Ben Luxford, BFI’s head of U.K. Audiences, said. “Our wealth of film exhibitors can be in a position to restart activity, and this funding is there to support them – to continue being brave with their programming choices and to best serve audiences wherever they live in the U.K.”

In April, the BFI launched a £1.3 million ($1.7 million) resilience fund for exhibitors in critical need as they faced months of closures. Some 130 exhibitors were given grants ranging from £415 ($543) to £23,000 ($30,076) each.

The BFI Film Audience Network (FAN) was established in 2012 to build wider and more diverse U.K. cinema audiences for British and international film. It comprises eight hubs managed by leading film organizations and venues around the country.

Article by: Naman Ramachandranfor Variety.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo Monday gave gyms a green light to reopen August 24 following recent nods to bowling allies, museums and malls but is still leaving movie theaters, which he called less essential and higher risk, in the dark.

That’s both literally and figuratively. Cuomo gave no indication of a reopening timetable for the key market, which is making theater owners increasingly hot under the collar. “I am unsure where the governor is getting his information,” said Joseph Masher, chief operating officer of Bow Tie Cinemas and president of the National Association of Theatre Owners of New York.

Governor Cuomo said the decision was based on a calculation of relative risk. “It’s the level of risk. If you look at our metrics, we started [reopening] with the most essential business that posed the least risk. And then it was the gradation to the least essential businesses that posed the most risk,” he said in response to a question at his daily briefing about the kinds of operations allowed to reopen across the state and why.

Opening New York cinemas is not a conversation with purely local ramifications. Access to the nation’s second-largest movie market after Los Angeles is a big factor in whether studios will release tent poles, which are needed to drive interest in going to the movies. “It’s a chicken and egg situation,” Masher said. “It has a gigantic ripple effect on the industry if New York doesn’t get open.”

Masher said he knows of no instances of coronavirus spread from U.S. cinemas, which are now open in 41 states. Recent renovations like stadium seating automatically distance patrons, he noted, and with capacity further reduced by COVID guidelines “that’s like 30 people in a cinema,” he said. “We would like to engage in a dialogue.”

“We need to get theaters open by Labor Day so we can show Tenet.”

All regions in the state have passed Phase 4, the last one, but the Governor had held back a handful of businesses for further study and hadn’t commented in some time on his rationale for movie theaters continuing to stay closed, along with live performances and, in New York City, indoor dining.

“I am sure there is a whole group people who say, ‘I cannot live without going to the movies.’ But on a relative risk scale, a movie theater is less essential and poses a high risk. It is congregant. It is one ventilation system. You are seated there for a long period of time,” said Cuomo. “Even if you are at 50% capacity with one or two seats between the two of you, this is a risk situation and … movie theaters are not that high on the list of essentials.”

“Who has the bible of essentials? Nobody. You can’t go to the bible to figure it out [but] we are saying, ‘Yes, gyms for more New Yorkers are more essential than movie theaters.’”

Cuomo, credited with turning New York back from the brink after it was crushed by the COVID-19 pandemic last spring, also prefaced a speech he will deliver tonight for the virtual Democratic National Convention.

“I am going to speak about the national crisis that we are in, because I believe that this nation is in crisis. The illness showed us how weak were and how under-prepared we were, and how divided we were. I say in the speech it takes a strong body to resist the virus, because it’s a great metaphor. The virus wreaks havoc when the body is weak, and our body politic was weak.”

Article by: Jill Goldsmith for Deadline.

The Academy has chosen its film scholars this year and is not letting the coronavirus pandemic get in the way of one of AMPAS’ most important programs, at least in terms of serious studies relating to the film industry. Fittingly, considering Oscar’s drive toward greater diversity, both projects involve issues revolving around movies and their depictions of the Black community.

Racquel Gates and Rebecca Prime have been chosen as 2020 Academy Film Scholars by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Their respective book projects, Hollywood Style and the Invention of Blackness and Uptight!: Race, Revolution, and the Struggle to Make the Most Dangerous Film of 1968, explore in depth the topic of race in Hollywood. The Academy’s Educational Grants Committee will award Gates and Prime $25,000 each on the basis of their proposals.

Established in 1999, the Academy Film Scholars program is designed to support significant new works of film scholarship. The Academy’s cultural and educational wing – the Academy Foundation – annually awards grants to film scholars, cultural organizations and film festivals throughout the U.S. and abroad.

“Gates’ and Prime’s unique assessment of film history will shed invaluable insight,” said Marcus Hu, chair of the Academy’s Grants Committee. “The Academy and our committee are incredibly proud to award grants to two deserving female scholars for the second year in a row, both of whose book projects address vital subjects that are more relevant than ever.”

Gates is an associate professor of Cinema and Media Studies at the College of Staten Island, CUNY.  She is the author of Double Negative: The Black Image and Popular Culture and has also published essays about Black film and media in Film Quarterly, the New York Times and the Los Angeles Review of Books. Her book project, Hollywood Style and the Invention of Blackness, will argue that the formal conventions of the Classical Hollywood era defined the stylistic terms for blackness on screen and continue to impact how cinematic blackness gets represented, understood and reimagined today.

She holds a Ph.D. in Screen Cultures from Northwestern University, an M.A. in Humanities from the University of Chicago, and a B.S. in Foreign Service from Georgetown.

“My project takes a critical look at the relationship between film aesthetics and blackness and also highlights the brilliance and ingenuity of Black creatives who have appropriated these elements of film style to envision new horizons for the Black image in film and television,” said Gates. “I am immensely grateful and honored to receive the support of the Academy to embark on this project, which is especially meaningful in this cultural moment and in light of the Academy’s own diversity initiatives.”

Prime is the associate editor of Film Quarterly, and her film and book reviews have appeared in the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post. She holds a Ph.D. in Cinema and Media Studies from UCLA, an M.A. from NYU’s Program in Culture and Media, and a B.A. in English and French from Columbia University. Her book project will reveal the unusually troubled production of Uptight, the Jules Dassin film that was reputedly the first to address the Black Power movement.

The project also serves as an extension of Prime’s previous work on both Dassin (whose other films include classics like Never on Sunday, Topkapi, Night and the City, and Rififi) and Black cinema. She is the author of Hollywood Exiles in Europe: The Blacklist and Cold War Film Culture, which explored the untold story of the community of blacklisted American filmmakers, including Dassin, who restarted their careers in Europe in the 1950s and 1960s. The book received the Best First Book Award from the Society of Cinema and Media Studies in 2015.

“The intense emotions and tensions that drove the production of Uptight resulted in a movie that still has much to tell us about race and representation in Hollywood,” said Prime. “As an independent scholar, I’m especially gratified by the Academy’s recognition and support, which will provide the opportunity to turn this project – long dear to my heart and charged with a new immediacy by current events – into a reality.”

Gates and Prime join 16 Academy Film Scholars who are currently working on projects and 20 other scholars whose works have already been published.

Academy film scholars with projects in progress include Charles Musser, Emily Thompson, Stuart Liebman, John Belton, Cari Beauchamp, Dan Streible, Thomas Schatz, Laurence Kardish, James O. Naremore, Ellen Scott, Donna Kornhaber, Ross Melnick, James Andrew Tweedie, Keri Walsh, Allyson Nadia Field and Melinda “Mindy” Johnson.

Article by: Pete Hammond for Deadline.

AMC Theatres aims to open 100 theaters in late August, with strict new cleaning procedures and ticket specials in an effort to entice audiences back.

AMC Theatres aims to open 100 theaters in late August, with strict new cleaning procedures and ticket specials in an effort to entice audiences back. The cinema chain, which has more screens in the USA than any other, was forced to shut down all of its theaters in March, and as a result has suffered massive losses. The situation was so bad for the chain that in June the chain admitted in public filings that it had doubt over the long-term viability of the business.

AMC has threatened to reopen a number of times during the pandemic, initially aiming for a mid-July date, and saying at the time that it wouldn't require cinemagoers to wear masks. After a swift backlash against that pronouncement, the chain reversed its decision saying that both employees and patrons would be required to wear masks at all times. However, the initial reopening plans did not pan out, as the major releases scheduled for July at the time were all delayed or, in the case of Disney's Mulan, shifted to streaming. As a result, AMC has yet to reopen any cinemas in the USA.

But now, in an email to AMC Stubs Premiere members yesterday, the theater chain has officially announced that it will begin opening screens in late August. The chain says that after reopening most of its screens in the Middle East and Europe, it has decided to go ahead with its plans to reopen in the USA, starting with 100 screens in late August, and moving on to have two-thirds of its screens open by September 3. Not coincidentally, that's the date Christopher Nolan's much-anticipated blockbuster Tenet opens.
The chain also detailed its cleaning plans for the reopening, which includes longer gaps between show times in order to deep clean properly, social distancing in theaters, mask enforcement for both patrons and employees, and online mobile ordering of food and beverages to limit interaction between staff and guests. The chain also announced that in addition to showing new releases like The New Mutants, Tenet and Unhinged, they will be screening a number of classic movies, including Back To The Future, Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back and Ghostbusters, at $5 a ticket. This is in contrast to the news last week that the chain may be forced to raise prices in order to make up for the five-month closure and the new coronavirus safety measures.

The news might be positive for the theater chain, but the question remains: In a country which is still deep in the grip of a global pandemic, just how safe will it be to attend a movie at a theater. No matter how much AMC cleans and sanitizes its theaters and enforces social distancing, it will still struggle to convince audiences to turn out in large numbers to watch movies if the risk of doing so involves potentially contracting a life-threatening virus.

On the other hand, there is clearly a section of the population who is willing to take the risk in order to have the traditional movie-watching experience. AMC will be banking on those patrons to turn up in their numbers, especially once Tenet opens in early September. If they don't, though, the theater chain could be in even more financial trouble than it was before.

Article by: Daniel Gillespie for ScreenRant.

AMC Theatres has just endured one of the most traumatic periods in its hundred-year history. As the theater chain looks to reopen 100 of its locations on Aug. 20 after shutting them down last spring during the coronavirus pandemic, it has hit on a novel way to bring back audiences while paying tribute to its past. For one day only, tickets at the theaters will sell for 15 cents, roughly the equivalent of what it cost to watch a movie in 1920. That’s the year that the company’s founders, the Dubinsky Brothers, began operations with a single movie screen in Kansas City, Missouri. Of course, the movies that people will be able to buy tickets to see won’t be new blockbusters. They will be legacy titles such as “Black Panther” and “The Empire Strikes Back.”

AMC is embarking on a phased reopening of its theaters in the United States, with the goal of having approximately two thirds of its more than 600 locations operational in time for the Sept. 3 release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” That does not include venues in major markets such as New York and Los Angeles, where officials have not approved reopening cinemas due to public health concerns.

Starting August 21, the chain will show a number of older films, such as a tenth anniversary edition of “Inception,” as well as “Back to the Future,” “Ghostbusters,” and “Grease” for $5 a ticket.

The few new movies that are opening in advance of “Tenet,” such as the Russell Crowe thriller “Unhinged” and “The New Mutants,” will carry 2020 prices of roughly $10, depending on the market.

The theater chain is also offering incentives to members of its subscription program, AMC Stubs A-List, by giving them a $10 credit to use through the end of October. It is also pledging not to increase prices on the subscription service through June 2021. The program enables users to see up to three movies a month for between $20 and $25.

AMC has also instituted new cleaning measures, and is keeping its venues at limited capacity so guests can social distance. Both employees and audience members will be required to wear masks.

The first round of openings includes theaters in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Las Vegas, St. Louis, and other markets.

Article by: Brent Lang for Variety.

Companies are aiming to "limit the number of actors and on-set crew required" by increasingly turning to VFX techniques.

As Hollywood aims to figure out how to safely resume film and TV shoots amid the pandemic, virtual production techniques — which broadly refer to visual effects work done in real time on set — are becoming more widespread. Reflecting the convergence of gaming with the entertainment industry, these pipelines are generally built around a real-time game engine such as Unreal, from Fortnite developer Epic Games, which on Aug. 6 unveiled a $1.78 billion round of funding.

Among the Hollywood companies exploring this potential, Netflix has quietly established a virtual production initiative dubbed NLAB. The company doesn't exclusively work with one tool or workflow, but one of its tools is Unreal Engine, in use on several productions including the upcoming Christmas movie Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey.

Girish Balakrishnan, Netflix's director of virtual production, says the workflow using Unreal offers "the ability to connect a DP in New York with VFX artists in London, a director in Los Angeles with an art department in Japan, and performance-capture talent with in-house animation supervisors." The goal is to streamline production across continents "while talent safely works from home."

The notion of "virtual production" grew out of the idea to do computer-generated previsualization on set. For many, James Cameron's 2009 Avatar was the first title to put the process on the Hollywood map, and technical advancement has led to more recent applications in productions such as Jon Favreau's The Lion King and The Mandalorian.

In July, Bron Media Corp. unveiled Bron Digital, an animation-focused virtual production company launched with production finance partner Creative Wealth Media. "Animation has been the only area of Bron capable of being in production during this pandemic, as our production team is set up remotely," says Bron CEO Aaron L. Gilbert. The new firm is producing an animated series, Fables, directed by Azazel Jacobs, with more on the way.

Also in July, a trio of companies based in Well­ing­ton, New Zealand — VFX powerhouse Weta Digital (which is working on the Avatar sequels), technical production services provider Streamliner and Avalon Studios — formed a new virtual production services offering. "We're all focused on providing the safest work environment possible as productions look to ramp back up," says Avalon CEO Gary Watkins. "This new setup allows producers to think very strategically about what they shoot and limit the number of actors and on-set crew required."

“It’s opening up the creative sandbox,” says Miles Perkins, who heads business development for Unreal Engine’s film and TV team. “Also, this may be a more efficient and quicker way of getting to your story as demand for content increases from streaming services.”

Industry efforts to explore this subject include the Joint Committee on Virtual Production, which operates within the American Society of Cinematographers’ Motion Imaging Technology Council, though its participants also include the Art Directors Guild, International Cinematographers Guild, Producers Guild and Visual Effects Society.

Meanwhile, ASC associate member and imaging science professional Joachim “JZ” Zell recently led a "camera to cloud” test for the Hollywood Professional Association that incorporated various tools and methods of virtual production provided by companies such as Stargate Studios and Lux Machina. Zell says there are still technical aspects that would need to be ironed out in areas such as color management and frame rates to expand the creative capabilities, but overall, “it will save us time, and we can get final results right there, so there’s no guesswork."

Another principal player in the space is the Unity game engine, which was used in 2019's The Lion King. Adam Myhill, Unity's creative director, labs, notes: "Imagine a world where everyone has access to the same script and it has a visual component and metadata. That's where I see it going."

Article by: Carolyn Giardina for the Hollywood Reporter.

The major studio will screen 'Ghostbusters,' 'The Karate Kid,' 'Men in Black' and other library titles on its Culver City parking lot starting this weekend.

With cinemas shut down or operating with reduced capacity during the coronavirus pandemic, Sony Pictures plans to host socially distant drive-in screenings of classic titles like Ghostbusters and The Karate Kid on its studio lot in Culver City.

The makeshift drive-in will be erected in the Thalberg parking lot on the historic studio lot, and will start showcasing library titles on Aug. 14. 

And though it is forgoing a theatrical release, Tristar Pictures/Stage 6 Films romantic comedy The Broken Hearts Gallery, executive produced by Selena Gomez, will also get the drive-in treatment on the studio lot.

Sony bought The Broken Hearts Gallery for less than $10 million after the pandemic had begun and had planned to release it theatrically on Aug. 7.

Sony Pictures' drive-in movies will screen on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights, and the outdoor theater will host around 75 cars. The price of admission will be $30 per car, and tickets will be bought via Atom Tickets.

Other Sony Pictures titles to screen outdoors on the studio lot include Baby Driver, Jumanji: The Next Level, Don't Breathe, Bloodshot and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.

Article by: Etan Vlessing for the Hollywood Reporter.

Lulu Wang has set her follow up to “The Farewell” with a reimagining of Hirokazu Kore-eda’s acclaimed Japanese family drama, “Like Father, Like Son.”

Variety has learned that Wang is attached to direct the project, which is currently in development stages at Focus Features, and will also produce the film with Josh McLaughlin of Wink Productions. The screenplay comes from playwright Sarah Ruhl. Wang addressed reports about the project on Twitter, emphasizing that the film is not “a remake.”

“Leaks on projects are really obnoxious because it lacks total context and all relevant perspective,” Wang wrote. “If people wanted to know what a filmmaker is working on, perhaps they could actually ask the filmmakers involved? I’ve always been very transparent about my passions.”

The new project is adapted from Kore-eda’s Japanese language film, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, going on to win the jury prize and the prize of the ecumenical jury – special mention for the filmmaker. Kore-ada’s film — which starred drama Fukuyama Masaharu, Ono Machiko, Maki Yoko and Lily Franky — centers on two families who discover their 6-year-old sons were switched at birth.

Last year, Wang’s “The Farewell” was an award season standout, earning the best feature prize at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, a spot on AFI’s Top 10 list, and a Golden Globe win for the film’s star Awkwafina.

News of the “Like Father, Like Son” adaptation adds to an increasingly busy slate for filmmaker, who is also set to write, direct and executive produce “The Expatriates” with Nicole Kidman at Amazon.

Wang is represented by UTA, Circle of Confusion and Morris Yorn Barnes Levine Krintzman Rubinstein Kohner & Gellman law firm.

Article by Angelique Jackson for Variety.

A new report from Kansas City weekly The Pitch alleges that the theater chain has continued to ignore a litany of abuse allegations, which company brass have offered a new response to.

Alamo Drafthouse, the Texas-based theater chain that has been long besieged by claims of impropriety, is now the subject of a new, wide-ranging expose at the Kansas City weekly The Pitch. The story alleges a litany of abuses perpetrated by both the management at the chain’s Kansas City locations and corporate brass across the business. These include sexual harassment and abuse, racist attitudes toward customers, unsafe (and often illegal) work environments, and even stories about ticket sales being shorted to add to Drafthouse’s own coffers.

Alamo has 41 locations in 10 states. Theater amenities include in-theater eating and drinking, specialized programming to supplement studio wide releases, and its signature audience-control rules (i.e. no talking during films). The Kansas City location is one of Alamo’s company-owned core cinemas, rather than a franchisee.

In September of 2017, IndieWire reported on allegations of sexual assault and harrassment from five women against former Alamo Drafthouse associate and Ain’t It Cool News founder Harry Knowles. Further reports, including a 2018 deep-dive report from Splinter shared more stories of a company that allegedly minimized a variety of sexual assault and harassment allegations, made against both patrons and employees, for many years.

The Pitch reports that despite promises from co-founder Tim League, who embarked on a listening tour of various locations in the wake of the 2017 allegations, little has changed within the company. More than 30 current and former Alamo Drafthouse employees, from the KC location and from Alamo Drafthouse corporate, contributed to the story, which includes allegations both before and after 2017.

The new story focuses on the experiences at Kansas City’s Mainstreet location and in a number of instances alleged victims say that corporate was alerted to issues. These allegations include claims that managers sexually and physically abused employees and were never disciplined; employees who were injured on the job and were never properly accommodated; and reports that managers targeted predominantly Black audiences when enforcing its “no talking” rule.

The Pitch story also alleges that the location would participate in “voiding ticket sales to shorten certain films’ engagements at their theater (ensuring a better release for a new movie the following week), and to keep the money from that film in the company’s pockets.”

In late April, the company announced the hire of a new CEO in former Starbucks executive Shelli Taylor, who most recently served as president of United Planet Fitness Partners. Former CEO League became the chain’s executive chairman. An Alamo Drafthouse employee confirmed to IndieWire that as part of the ongoing process to deal with the issues of culture at the company, Taylor was tapped as CEO and is restructuring the management and executive teams.

The Pitch article shares portions of an email that the new CEO sent to the chain’s staff on July 24, which promised increased support for employees through a variety of means; Alamo Drafthouse provided the email to IndieWire and we’re sharing it in full below.

The uncertainty of the past four months has led to reckonings and difficult discussions within industries, organizations, and companies all over the world. As many of you are aware, that includes the cinema industry, and it also includes our company.

At the same time, over the past few weeks we’ve seen some current, furloughed, and former teammates discussing their experiences at the company publicly, via social media, and it is deeply disturbing and troubling. We don’t know the details or timeline of many of these allegations – some appear to be recent, while others seem to date back many years. Regardless, they are painful stories of disappointment, frustration, and failings within our culture. We may have been unaware of some of these accounts, some of them may not have been handled properly, but regardless, we want to hear your story and urge you to come forward and report any misconduct to the People department by emailing people@drafthouse.com or calling (877) 892-2193.

I wanted to take this opportunity to make it absolutely clear – there is no place for abuse or harassment of any kind at Alamo Drafthouse.

To anyone victimized while they’ve worked for Alamo Drafthouse – I am very sorry, and I promise that things are going to change. People who violate our Code of Conduct and engage in this kind of behavior must and will be held accountable.

I’m aware that we made strides in dealing with workplace behavior since after 2017, but we must do even more. Investing in our people and fostering a safe, healthy environment is my number one priority. I spent 20 years of my career at companies like Starbucks and Disney and they have helped to shape my leadership priorities in this area. If we can evolve our culture we can do extraordinary things together and Alamo Drafthouse will re-emerge from this pandemic stronger and with even greater purpose.

Although most of us are sheltering in place at our homes, my number one priority for when we return to work is to ensure that you are all going back to a safe and hospitable working environment. An environment similar to what our guests experience and love about Alamo Drafthouse, and what got me excited about becoming CEO a few months ago.

I wanted to outline additional concrete actions we’re undertaking to restore our culture and ensure we all return to work in the best possible working environment:

• For the past 90 days, I have engaged in one-on-one meetings and roundtables, as well as reviewing Workday pulse surveys and individual Workify comments to hear everyone’s stories, hopes, and expectations of Alamo Drafthouse with the intention of synthesizing feedback into a comprehensive workplace culture strategy moving forward. I am excited to continue these surveys and discussions when our venues are able to reopen and incorporate all of your feedback. These findings will then inform how we can strengthen and improve reporting structures.
• We are partnering with a leading workplace culture consultant who specializes in organizational development and change to develop a rollout plan for our concern resolution process designed to enhance venue level communications that will also include training on manager coaching and concern resolution at the local level.
• At the same time, we are setting up a one-stop helpline that brings all of our communication channels to one helpline that will also help us track data, and learn from trends.

Alamo Drafthouse will have to enact its changes with significantly less staff. On March 16, Alamo announced that it would furlough 80 percent of its corporate staff and virtually all theater staff members as it closed 40 locations. In early July, the chain moved into full-scale layoffs, with one source estimating that more than 80 employees were let go on the corporate side alone, not including personnel such as projectionists, event managers, or local theater managers. Today’s story alleges that many Kansas City employees were offered a $500 severance and an NDA that many declined to sign.

Article by Kate Erbland for IndieWire.

The waivers exempt employers from liability for an employee contracting the novel coronavirus or incurring medical bills as a result of the work they perform for them.

The Writers Guild of America West is making its position clear on COVID-19 liability waivers.

In an email sent to members on Monday, the guild told members unequivocally not to sign these waivers, which exempt employers from liability for an employee contracting COVID-19 or incurring medical bills as a result of work they perform while employed by them. "Your employer is required by law to provide a safe and healthy workplace both in the room and on set," the guild wrote. "The WGAW has collected studio guidelines so we can better advise you. Please do not sign a waiver of liability that seeks to shift responsibility onto your shoulders."

If members are asked to sign any of these waivers, the guild advised them to contact representative Jennifer Barbee directly or email the union's legal department.

The Editors Guild, Art Directors Guild and Cinematographers Guild has previously warned members away from signing COVID-19 liability waivers, while the labor group the Nonfiction Professionals "Union" also recently held a legal seminar for members regarding these waivers. In its health and safety guidelines, the Editors Guild wrote that "Employers are prohibited from asking or otherwise requiring any crew to sign liability waivers."

In the same communication on Monday, the Writers Guild of America West additionally emphasized that employers are required to offer a safe and healthy workplace under federal and state occupational safety and health law. Writers should still be working remotely given that "California and many other state and local guidelines currently require employees who can, to work remotely." If members are asked to visit a set, they should ask the production for their safety protocols first.

Finally, the guild exhorted members to contact them with concerns: "The political and entertainment industry responses to the virus are continually evolving, so we appreciate information members are providing about their real-life specific experiences," the union added. "These reports allow the Guild to continue to adjust our own guidance and advocacy for members’ well-being on the job. Please let us know what your employer is doing and if you feel safe."

Article by: Katie Kilkenny for the Hollywood Reporter.