HBO will bridge the gap between seasons of Euphoria with a pair of special episodes.

The premium cable outlet has ordered two extra installments of the series, which is coming of an Emmy victory for lead actress Zendaya. The first is scheduled to premiere Dec. 6, with an airdate for the second still to be determined. HBO hasn't said yet when the show's second season will debut.

The first special, titled "Trouble Don't Last Always," picks up in the aftermath of Jules (Hunter Schafer) being left at the train station and relapsing. It will follow Rue (Zendaya) as she celebrates Christmas. Colman Domingo will reprise his role as Ali in the episode, written and directed by series creator Sam Levinson.

Both episodes were shot adhering to COVID-19 safety guidelines.

In addition to Zendaya's win for outstanding lead actress in a drama, the show also won Emmys outstanding contemporary makeup (non-prosthetic) and for original music and lyrics. Euphoria proved a solid ratings performer as well, drawing 5.6 million viewers per episode across platforms during its summer 2019 run. It was HBO's youngest-skewing show, with about 40 percent of the audience made up of adults under 35.

Levinson executive produces with Ravi Nandan, Kevin Turen, Drake, Future the Prince,  Hadas Mozes Lichtenstein, Ron Leshem, Daphna Levin, Tmira Yardeni, Mirit Toovi, Yoram Mokady and Gary Lennon; Will Greenfield is co-executive producer. The series is based on an Israeli format, which was created by Leshem and Levin.

Article by: Rick Porter for the Hollywood Reporter. 

Grants will be provided to Black students in their second year of education at the non-profit conservatory.

The American Film Institute on Friday unveiled the establishment of a Black Production Fund in partnership with AMC Networks.

Funds will provide grants to Black students in their second year of education at the non-profit conservatory. This effort, along with the recently announced Thomas P. Pollock Endowed scholarship for producing fellows, is part of AFI's Equity, Diversity and Inclusion program to increase Black voices in storytelling.

"At this pivotal moment in America’s history, the revolutionary power of visual storytelling to inspire change has never been more critical — and there is no better way to support underrepresented voices than to help fund the films they make to tell their own stories," said Susan Ruskin, dean of the AFI Conservatory and evp of the American Film Institute.

"This support for our Fellows with their thesis films is transformational. We want to thank AMC Networks for their leadership in creating opportunities for Black storytellers."

Josh Sapan, CEO of AMC Networks, added, "AMC Networks is proud to support the Black Production Fund – a vehicle to break down barriers for Black artists to tell stories that build a more inclusive culture. With UMC, we are also proud to provide a home to showcase some of these outstanding projects."

AMC will also plan to distribute select AFI Conservatory films on UMC, its streaming and VOD platform dedicated to Black film and television. 2019 graduates RJ Dawson and Isabella Issa are among those whose films will be shown.

The AFI was established in 1967 and offers MFA degrees in the six disciplines of editing, cinematography, screenwriting, directing, production design and producing. Graduates include Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar), Liz Hannah (The Post) and Rachel Morrison (Black Panther), as well as David Lynch, Patty Jenkins, Matthew Libatique and many more.

Article by: Trlby Beresford for the Hollywood Reporter.

An ex-product designer for Disney Streaming Service, formerly known as BAMtech, sued claiming he was discriminated against because of his wife's pregnancy.

Disney has defeated a pregnancy discrimination complaint from a man who claimed he was shamed and harassed because of his wife's pregnancy.

Steven Van Soeren in November sued Disney Streaming Service (formerly BAMtech). He alleged HR ignored his complaints about harassment involving his procreation and he was terminated shortly after taking a two-week paternity leave. Van Soeren, who worked for the company from Aug. 2016 through May 2019, also said his colleagues referenced topics that he had either discussed only at home or viewed on his personal computer at home, leading him to believe his computer had been hacked.

Disney in June filed a motion to dismiss the complaint, arguing that pregnancy discrimination laws "only provide protection to a pregnant employee."

U.S. District Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald agreed, finding that Van Soeren can't get past the first test of a Title VII claim because he isn't a member of a protected class. "Being  new parent" isn't enough, she found, and Title VII "does not protect an employee whose spouse is pregnant."

Buchwald also found that Van Soeren's FMLA claim fails because he was able to take his paternity leave "without incident" and declined to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the remaining state law claims.

Article by: Ashley Cullins for the Hollywood Reporter.       

At a virtual press event for the August Wilson play, the Oscar winner spoke of working with Chadwick Boseman before his death: “Chadwick is my baby.”

In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Viola Davis is a fighter.

A Southern blues singer on the down side of her career in 1927 Chicago, Ma Rainey is in charge of her band and in love with a woman. Davis’s role in the new Netflix adaptation of the 1984 August Wilson play presented the Oscar winner with a powerful new challenge, she said, while speaking at a virtual press event for the film on Monday with her director, George C. Wolfe.

“A huge motivating factor with me is feeling like I’m not valued,” Davis said. “It either makes me come up like a pit bull or feel like crap. Ma… is up for the fight. I loved that fight in her, her unapologetic nature, even with her sexuality.”

The presentation included scenes of Chadwick Boseman singing and dancing as Ma Rainey’s professional and romantic rival, Levee, in the last performance the Black Panther star delivered before he died unexpectedly of colon cancer at age 43 in August.

“Chadwick is my baby,” Davis said, noting that she had played Boseman’s mother in Get On Up. “Chadwick was just an artist. For someone so young, it was incredible to watch that level of not mistaking your presence for the event.”

Produced by Denzel Washington, with a screenplay by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom will premiere on Netflix Dec. 18.

Davis found fuel in Ma Rainey’s relationship with her female lover, Dussie Mae (Taylour Paige), who has also caught Levee’s eye. “I have to get back to her sexuality,” Davis said of her character. “I felt that it was my mission to absolutely not make that a negative. When I read about Ma Rainey, Dussie May was her woman. It’s your job to approach a character without any editorial comment.”

While set during a one-day recording session in Chicago, the film tells the larger story of the Great Migration of Black southerners moving to northern cities in the first half of the 20th century, Wolfe said, during the Q&A moderated by filmmaker and journalist Nelson George, and of Ma Rainey’s fraught relationship with her white producer and agent.

“What happened when we left the south, when we left the land and came north,” Wolfe said. “How does someone with a tremendous sense of her own power deal with coming into a culture about diminishing her power?”

Davis noted the larger arc of the film, which is part of Wilson’s ten-play Pittsburgh Cycle that chronicles the 20th-century African-American experience.

“When you look at Ma Rainey as a narrative, you see our hopes and dreams… mixed with the trauma of our past,” Davis said. “People had big visions, big dreams. The past, though, became a huge obstacle in achieving that.”

Wearing gold teeth, thick black eye makeup, substantial wardrobe padding and a mist of sweat, Davis’s Ma Rainey is a striking physical presence. The actress said she channeled a family member, her Aunt Joyce, to create the singer’s indomitable figure.

“I wanted a very specific body structure,” Davis said. “A woman of a certain size. I wanted that body. There was liberation once I had that padding on, I actually felt freer and very very cute by the way. I was always swishing my hip. I felt like, look at me.”

Article by: Rebecca Keegan for the Hollywood Reporter.      

Industrial Light & Magic's Rob Bredow offered an update during the virtual VIEW confab.

Warner Bros.' The Batman, which is currently filming in the UK, is using virtual production techniques for select scenes, Industrial Light & Magic chief creative officer Rob Bredow revealed on Monday, during a featured session from this year's virtual VIEW visual effects and animation confab.

Virtual production — a term generally used to describe techniques that enable real-time visual effects production — has been steadily growing in popularity, particularly with Jon Favreau's uses on The Lion King and The Mandalorian.

For season one of The Mandalorian, ILM worked with Favreau to configure his system using an LED wall driven by the Unreal real-time game engine. Earlier this year, the VFX company launched "StageCraft," a virtual production unit built around the Mandalorian technique.

Bredow declined to detail work on The Batman, only saying the production design team had pre-built practical sets in the UK and an LED wall was built around these sets to enable use of virtual production in those specific scenes. He added that this meant the ILM team could continue to collaborate with Batman DP Greig Fraser, who recently won an Emmy for The Mandalorian and also shot Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. The Batman, from director Matt Reeves and starring Robert Pattinson, is dated for March 4, 2022.

ILM’s StageCraft LED set at Manhattan Beach Studios was again used for season two of The Mandalorian, which debuts Oct. 30 on Disney+. Bredow related that the use of the virtual production techniques was more complex for the upcoming season, as their process was relatively new when they started work on season one.

As previously reported, a StageCraft virtual production stage will also be available at Fox Studios Australia, where it will be used during production of  Marvel's Taika Waititi-directed Thor: Love and Thunder. Waititi previously used virtual production when he helmed the final episode of The Mandalorian season one.

ILM additionally provides “pop up” virtual production configurations, as it recently did for Netflix's upcoming sci-fi movie The Midnight Sky, helmed by and starring George Clooney, "to create a location that would be very hard to get to," according to Bredow. Another StageCraft volume is being assembled at Pinewood Studios in London, which is expected to open in February.

During the session, Bredow suggested that the "Holy Grail is that our entire workflow can go real time, with less time waiting for computers to process." He added that companies including ILM and Epic Games (maker of the Unreal Engine) are making "big investments" in such development.

Article by Carolyn Giardina for the Hollywood Reporter.

The Walt Disney Company announced a broad structural reorganization of its media and entertainment businesses Monday, in a move to ramp up and streamline its direct-to-consumer strategy. That involves the creation of the new Media and Entertainment Distribution group, which will oversee all content monetization and streaming operations. Kareem Daniel, most recently president of consumer products, games and publishing at Disney, will lead the unit.

The move comes just under a year after the launch of Disney Plus, which has since surpassed the 60 million subscriber mark.

Under the new structure, the studios will continue to develop and produce originals for Disney’s streaming services — which include Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus — and legacy platforms. Distribution and commercialization will now be centralized under the Media and Entertainment Distribution group.

“Given the incredible success of Disney+ and our plans to accelerate our direct-to-consumer business, we are strategically positioning our Company to more effectively support our growth strategy and increase shareholder value,” said CEO Bob Chapek in a statement. “Managing content creation distinct from distribution will allow us to be more effective and nimble in making the content consumers want most, delivered in the way they prefer to consume it. Our creative teams will concentrate on what they do best—making world-class, franchise-based content—while our newly centralized global distribution team will focus on delivering and monetizing that content in the most optimal way across all platforms, including Disney+, Hulu, ESPN+ and the coming Star international streaming service.”

Three groups will be responsible for producing content for film, linear TV and streaming services: studios, general entertainment and sports, under the purview of Alan F. Horn and Alan Bergman, Peter Rice, and James Pitaro. The reorganization is effective immediately, and Disney’s financial reporting will switch to the new structure in Q1 of fiscal 2021.

Daniel’s division will be responsible for P&L management, distribution, operations, sales, advertising, data and technology functions globally for Disney’s content production, in addition to managing operations for Disney’s streamers and U.S. TV networks.

The reorganization means that top leadership at studios, general entertainment and sports remains the same, with Alan Horn and Alan Bergman serving as chairman of studios content, Peter Rice as chairman of general entertainment content and James Pitaro as chairman of ESPN and sports content. All five will report directly to Chapek.

The studios division will lead creation of branded theatrical and episodic content based on Disney’s franchises, and oversee creation at Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Pixar Animation Studios, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, 20th Century Studios and Searchlight Pictures. Rice’s division will focus on general entertainment episodic and original long-form content, such as those created by 20th Television, ABC Signature and Touchstone Television, ABC News, Disney Channels, Freeform, FX, and National Geographic. Pitaro will continue to oversee ESPN’s live sports programing, sports news, and original and unscripted sports content for cablers, ESPN Plus and ABC.

Disney’s parks, experiences and products unit continues to be headed up by Josh D’Amaro. Rebecca Campbell continues to chair international operations and direct-to-consumer — but those two businesses will no longer be managed together. In matters international, Campbell will report to Chapek. In matters related to the streaming space, she will report to Daniel.

Variety has additionally learned that Ricky Strauss, most recently Disney Plus’ content and marketing head, has been named head of curation for Disney Plus and Hulu.

“I’m honored to be able to lead this new organization during such a pivotal and exciting time for our Company, and I’m grateful to Bob for giving me the opportunity,” said Daniel. “It’s a tremendous privilege to work with the talented and dedicated teams that will comprise this group, and I look forward to a close collaboration with the outstanding and incredibly successful team of creative content leaders at the Company, as together we build on the success we’ve already achieved in our DTC and legacy distribution business.”

Daniel, who has been at Disney for 14 years, has a history of leadership roles across the company. Outside of consumer products, games and publishing, he has also spent time in studio distribution and Walt Disney Imagineering — prior to his most recent role, Daniel served as president of Walt Disney Imagineering operations, production creation, publishing and games. There, he oversaw the transformation of IP into parks and resorts properties such as “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge” at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, as well as Toy Story Land at Diseny World and Shanghai Disneyland.

Chapek called Daniel an “an exceptionally talented, innovative and forward-looking leader, with a strong track record for developing and implementing successful global content distribution and commercialization strategies.” He added that as the company looks to grow its direct-to-consumer businesses, “delivering and monetizing our great content in the most optimal way possible” will be of critical importance.

“His wealth of experience will enable him to effectively bring together the Company’s distribution, advertising, marketing and sales functions, thereby creating a distribution powerhouse that will serve all of Disney’s media and entertainment businesses,” said Chapek.

Look for more details on Disney’s direct-to-consumer strategies on its virtually held investor day on Dec. 10.

Article by: Elaine Low for Variety.

The Academy has taken its fair share of hits over the years, failing to recognize the very best films and performances each year, especially when it comes to people of color. #OscarsSoWhite highlights the absence of all talents that fail to get cited, despite much of Black actors and actresses’ conversation. While Black representation in the acting categories is abysmal, Latinx representation has even worse numbers.

The last Latinx actor to be rewarded in an acting category was Benicio del Toro 20 years ago for his supporting role as Javier Rodriguez in Steven Soderbergh’s “Traffic.” Only seven Latinos have been nominated on the film side of things at the Screen Actors Guild awards in its 25-year history, with del Toro being the only Latino to have ever won (Jharrel Jerome and America Ferrera are the only Latinx actors to win Emmys for television performances).

Looking back at the last 30 years, we thought it wise to point out 19 Latino/a/x performances from cinema that the Academy could have given far more consideration but did not. It is important to note that there are more performances to celebrate outside of these listed, and we want to encourage everyone to seek out them out. Only one performance is named from each movie listed.

Jennifer Lopez, “Selena” (1997)

dir. Gregory Nava

For many, the obvious go-to J. Lo performance is the recently omitted “Hustlers” from 2019. While you can be right about the egregious act, it’s always crucial to note that Lopez has shown the depth of her acting chops long before showing her stripper pole moves. As the musical icon Selena Quintanilla, the Bronx native dug deep into a woman fighting to eliminate the stereotypes of what a Latina performer is, and what she could accomplish with too little time. Lopez received a Golden Globe nomination for best actress in a comedy or musical for her turn.

Oscar Isaac, “Inside Llewyn Davis” (2013)

dir. Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

Over the past decade, Oscar Isaac has grown into one of our most gifted actors working today. Showing his bankability as a movie star in the “Star Wars” franchise and the ill-fated Standard in “Drive,” it would be his vocals that would hypnotize viewers in the Coen Brothers folk story. Battling one of the deepest best actor races of the decade, he continued to miss out on the gold statuette despite his harness of power in “A Most Violent Year” and the hips that do not lie in “Ex Machina.”

Tessa Thompson, “Creed II” (2018)

dir. Steven Caple, Jr.

Afro-Latinas are constantly passed over in this industry, and not just for awards, but even when a role calls for Latina. Thompson arrived in 2014 for “Dear White People” before making stops in the historical “Selma” and the firework emerging “Thor: Ragnarok.” One of the underrated and ignored turns of her career yet was in the sequel to Ryan Coogler’s “Creed,” which reinvented the woman by her boxing boy’s side. If you don’t believe it, watch the scene in which she waits to see if her baby can hear, and dare to say she’s not ripping your heart into pieces. Héctor Elizondo, “Pretty Woman” (1990)

dir. Garry Marshall

Time to travel back to a simpler time when you could walk down Rodeo Drive and be rejected by a sales associate, and you could walk into the Regent Beverly Wilshire and be given life guidance by the hotel manager, portrayed by the incredible Héctor Elizondo. Nominated for a Golden Globe, the veteran continues to work, and will next be partnering with Grammy award winner Sia on her directorial debut “Music.”

Ana de Armas, “Knives Out” (2019)

dir. Rian Johnson

A recent Golden Globe nominee for “Knives Out,” Ana de Armas is taking off in Hollywood, and there’s no stopping her at the moment. Her work as the honest and lovable Marta, who can’t seem to hold down her beans, is a lively turn and utterly worthy of inclusion last awards year. With “No Time to Die,” the latest Bond movie ahead, co-starring with her new beau Ben Affleck in “Deep Water” and then taking on Marilyn Monroe with Netflix, she could be headed toward an Oscar nomination soon.

Michael Peña, “End of Watch” (2012)

dir. David Ayer

One of the more underutilized Latino actors working in Hollywood, the very talented Michael Peña, was one of the more memorable parts of “Crash,” yet received no attention. He wasn’t even among the eligible awarded cast members when the film won the SAG award for best cast ensemble. He was nominated for a SAG along with the ensemble for 2013’s “American Hustle,” but it was one year before that he was passed over for his work as Police Officer Mike Zavala opposite Jake Gyllenhaal. Bringing a soulful interpretation, he could only muster an Independent Spirit nomination.

Ivana Baquero, “Pan’s Labyrinth” (2006)

dir. Guillermo del Toro

There have only been two child performers nominated for best actress in Oscar history, both by actresses of color, Quvenzhané Wallis for “Beasts of the Southern Wild” (Black) and Keisha Castle-Hughes in “Whale Rider” (Polynesian). The beautiful and majestic Ofelia in “Pan’s Labyrinth” should have easily placed Baquero among the shortlist.

Freddy Rodriguez, “Bobby” (2006)

dir. Emilio Estevez

The story of the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy takes cues from multi-character-driven pictures like “Short Cuts” and “Crash,” so when an actor can stand out from the pack, it’s worth noting. As the busboy José Rojas, who places a rosary in Bobby’s hands after he’s shot, Rodriguez navigates the themes of the American dream for immigrants with dignity. A terrific turn helmed by Hispanic director Emilio Estevez.

Melonie Diaz, “Fruitvale Station” (2013)

dir. Ryan Coogler

The world may have discovered Diaz as Sophina, the girlfriend and mother of Oscar Grant’s daughter in Coogler’s outstanding debut. While she presents an audacious turn, it’s always good to remind the world that she arrived years prior in “Raising Victor Vargas” and “A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints.” Also worth a point, her last film was in 2018’s “The First Purge.” Let’s correct this, Hollywood, shall we?

Bobby Cannavale, “Blue Jasmine” (2013)

dir. Woody Allen

One of those dependable, skilled actors often gets ignored because he makes it look so damn effortless. He’s also one of those actors that many forget (or don’t realize) belong to the Latino community. His work as the loud and misguided boyfriend Chili in Woody Allen’s movie wasn’t able to stay above the conversation surrounding co-stars Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins. Pity, but it’s also worth noting that Cannavale, to date, is the only Cuban to ever win an acting Emmy for his work in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”

Michelle Rodriguez, “Girlfight” (2000)

dir. Karyn Kusama

Michelle Rodriguez’s knocked it out of the park in her first leading role in “Girlfight” as Diana Guzman, the high school senior, who showed us all how to throw and take a punch. An outstanding debut that led her becoming a box office sensation with “The Fast and the Furious” and “Avatar,” Rodriguez is still a compelling talent to watch with “the one” just a film or two away.

Tony Revolori, “The Grand Budapest Hotel” (2014)

dir. Wes Anderson

The sensational Revolori charmed us all as Zero in Wes Anderson’s Oscar-nominated film but couldn’t get the awards campaign off the ground mostly due to a scene-stealing counterpart in Ralph Fiennes (who also missed Oscar attention). With only the St. Louis Film Critics recognizing his turn, his big breakout in 2014 led the Guatemalan actor to the role of Peter Parker’s high school bully Flash in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” The casting also led him to receive death threats from angered comic book fans due to Flash’s ethnicity being reimagined from white to Latino. Just another hurdle that darker Latinos face both in and out of Hollywood.

Sônia Braga, “Aquarius” (2016)

dir. Kleber Mendonça Filho

OG Academy voters may remember the gorgeous Brazilian actress as playing the three roles of Leni Lamaison, Marta, and the quintessential Spider Woman in the Oscar-nominated “Kiss of the Spider Woman,” co-starring the legendary Raul Julia, who also should have scored a nomination. Her strongest role yet came in 2016 in the underseen “Aquarius,” showing that she’s still a cinematic force.

Raúl Castillo, “We the Animals” (2018)

dir. Jeremiah Zagar

Independent Spirit nominee Raúl Castillo is impressive and commanding in Jeremiah Zagar’s debut film, and this entry could swap Castillo out for his young co-star Evan Rosado, who is equally as affecting. The Mexican actor is one of the great discoveries of 2018 and showcases his acting arsenal as Paps in the LGBTQ picture. If you haven’t made time for it yet, please do.

Érica Rivas, “Wild Tales” (2014)

dir. Damián Szifron

The Oscar-nominated submission from Argentina for best foreign language film is courageously inventive with its six short stories. Still, it’s the “Hasta que la muerte nos separe” portion in which Rivas’ bride Romina exercises her talents in a profound style. The Academy has difficulty being compelled to look outside the foreign category often. This film should have been checked in many categories.

Gael García Bernal, “Y Tu Mamá También” (2001)

dir. Alfonso Cuarón

We’ll always be grateful to Alfonso Cuarón for his eternal contribution to the medium, with his history-making “Roma” that delivered Yalitiza Aparicio and Marina de Tavira to the acting categories; however, he should have cracked the acting categories nearly two decades prior with Gael García Bernal’s Julio in his Oscar-nominated masterpiece. Equally gripping by his co-stars Diego Luna and Maribel Verdú, it’s just one of Bernal’s many worthy career highlights that were followed by “The Motorcycle Diaries,” “The Science of Sleep” and “No.”

Adriana Barraza, “Cake” (2014)

dir. Daniel Barnz

Gear up for one of the saddest statistics to share. No Latina woman that has ever been nominated for an acting Oscar has ever returned for a second nomination. Once that truth sets in, you can look to Adriana Barraza, who first nabbed Academy attention for 2006’s “Babel.” As Silvana, the devoted housekeeper (unfortunately one of the overused tropes for Latinx characters), she balances and elevates everything achieved by co-star Jennifer Aniston, who came up short in her own best actress lineup.

Andy Garcia, “When a Man Loves a Woman” (1994)

dir. Luis Mandoki

File this one under movies that don’t come up enough in cinematic conversations. Andy Garcia, who nabbed himself an Oscar nomination for “The Godfather Part III,” has managed a career full of significant and consistently strong turns. In Mexican director Luis Mandoki’s film about a man standing by his alcoholic wife, Garcia’s Michael Green is one of the few pictures of the 1990s that dared take a look from another angle. From the script that was co-written by former Senator Al Franken, Garcia shines so brightly, in what should have landed him in an Oscar lineup (same for Meg Ryan). 

Rosie Perez, “White Men Can’t Jump” (1992)

dir. Ron Shelton

With all respect for Anna Paquin’s Oscar-winning turn in “The Piano,” I’ve long believed that Rosie Perez was neglected grossly for her immaculate work in “Fearless.” While that Oscar nomination is magnificent, it should have been her second as one year prior, the Academy found themselves in a very rare comedic mood (proven by Marisa Tomei’s win for “My Cousin Vinny”) but failed to cite the spunky Gloria Clemente. Coming up on its 30th anniversary, I still remember what to do when my wife says, “she’s thirsty,” the foods that start with the letter “Q” and why you when “you win, you really lose.”

Article by: Clayton Davis for Variety.

Tom Burke, best known to global audiences as the restrained, husky private detective Cormoran Strike of BBC’s adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s Robert Galbraith novels, is hanging up his hat in British indie film “The Show” to play… another detective. But one, he hastens to add, dreamt up by fantastical “Watchmen” creator Alan Moore. There’s a difference.

“I was worried it would be a little repetitive,” says a thoughtful Burke, the first to acknowledge the optics. “But in the end, the whole world of it was so kind of upside down, and through some weird lens, that it was a contrast in a really interesting way. And I’m a huge Moore fan and have been for a very long time.”

“The Show,” which is being shopped by the U.K.’s Protagonist Pictures and premieres at the Sitges Film Festival , marks a rare project for Moore that isn’t based on graphic novel source material. The iconic English writer behind “V For Vendetta” and “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen” also stars in the film, which is produced by EMU Films and backed by the BFI. A phantasmagorical effort set in the East Midlands town of Northampton, “The Show” finds Burke’s Fletcher Dennis on a mission to locate a stolen artefact for a client, but soon ensconced in a bizarre world of vampires, sleeping beauties and Voodoo gangsters.

“It was a no brainer, really,” says Burke, who says he appreciates a “complicity” with a filmmaker, as he shared with Joanna Hogg in arthouse darling “The Souvenir,” where he starred as one half of a troubled couple opposite Honor Swinton Byrne.

“That character was occupying the screen in a very particular way. [You could] sense him being almost on the periphery and obscured in the shadow of his dark suit,” says the London-born actor. “With [‘The Show’], it is a totally different thing, because there was a sense of constantly messing around with the equilibrium of the landscape we were in.”

Recently, Burke has been filming “True Things” — a film adaptation of Deborah Kay Davies’ novel “True Things About Me” — with Ruth Wilson on the East Coast of England. “We were filming before lockdown and then it all went on hold,” he explains. “We picked it up a few weeks ago.” After England, production will move to Spain, says Burke.

Next up, the actor will be seen in David Fincher’s “Mank,” in which he plays Orson Welles. (Incidentally, Hogg first clocked the physical resemblance between the two in 2019). Read on for Burke’s full interview with Variety:

Were you part of the original shorts that “The Show” was based on?

No, but funny enough, I nearly was. I was asked, and I couldn’t, and then I ended up doing the voiceover on one of them.

What was it like working with Alan and director Mitch Jenkins on the feature-length version?

[There was a] sense of disorientation, which I think we all needed to feed into. So the camera would be in some angle and we’d be kind of doing anything we could to meet it halfway, even if that meant spinning around in a circle just before “action.” Everything was kind of off center, which sounds a bit random and a weird thing to be doing, but with [every film] you sort of make it up as you go along. There’s no set way of doing things. I find them very, very experimental — in a good way.

How did you find the experience of actually acting alongside Moore? Not many people have those bragging rights

He’s an extraordinary human being and would make an extraordinary actor if it was something he particularly wanted to do. He’s just got something about him; he was great to work with.

In our London-centric industry, it’s brilliant to see Northampton featured as a proper character in this film. Was that any kind of draw for you?

Yeah, definitely, and I really felt the difference of that. Sometimes, one feels like the film people arrive in some town and just grab the bits they need. In this instance, it felt very grassroots, at least because Mitch and Alan live there, but also in the way they involved so many people with all kinds of skills. They had a respect for the town and buildings and how we were using them. It’d be great if the industry went in a bit more of a grassroots direction.

 We’ll next see you in David Fincher’s “Mank,” about “Citizen Kane” screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, for Netflix. The scale of these two films is so different. What draws you to such roles as an actor?

If I don’t feel an immediate curiosity about the character, let alone how brilliant a script it is, I sort of feel like I don’t know how to do my job in it. I’m lucky to be in a position where I can choose a bit more than in the past. If there’s that curiosity there, then I’m on to a good thing, and I know how to use my energy.

How did you dig into your role as Orson Welles?

Playing people who exist on film can start to feel very outside one’s process, and it can be three times more intimidating than playing historical figures, where we don’t know what they sounded like, or looked like, or moved. So, you feel you’re spinning a lot more plates than normal. But I’d always wanted to play him and I heard the film was being made, and I immediately phoned my agent. There was a problem with the dates, but suddenly things shifted, and then I was talking to David [Fincher] himself over Zoom and going through the [scripts]. Then, I was told he wanted me to do the job and it was just a question of working out the dates. The first time I’d worked in America, I was in theater. This was the first time I’d really spent any time in Los Angeles, and it was quite intimidating, playing somebody who is so much a part of that landscape.

For one of the earliest rehearsal periods, I remember walking around one of those big studios and I had to sort of gather myself and just try not to feel intimidated. But everybody was incredibly nice to me, and David is very hands-on in terms of giving notes and I think one can only take confidence in that. It was a bit of a whirlwind. I was there right at the end of the shoot, and it was two weeks. And suddenly it was all over.

During the lockdown period, what kind of work were you involved in?

I did a lot of voice stuff. There was another thing I was trying to fit in, but [there was an issue] that’s happened a lot, where it’s not that the filming dates necessarily overlap but the self-isolating periods overlap, or there isn’t time to do it. There was slightly less work than I was maybe hoping for, but I’ve been fairly busy with filming “True Things” and doing post production work on some things. I also made a little short film. I kept busy.

Any plans to return as Cormoran Strike for a fifth season of the show for the BBC? Rowling just released the fifth book, “Troubled Blood,” at the end of September.

There are conversations about that. I think it would be filming not necessarily next year but the beginning of [2022], just to give it time and to get it right. I don’t mind waiting, although I do love doing those, so it would be nice to get back to them.

Article by: Manori Ravindran for Variety.

Neon has snatched the domestic theatrical rights to Justin Simien’s new horror film “Bad Hair.”

The Oscar-winning distributor behind “Parasite” will take the film out to drive-in theaters nationwide before it debuts on Hulu on Oct. 23, Variety has learned.

Markets will include New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Atlanta, New Orleans, Detroit, Austin, Sacramento and Las Vegas. “Bad Hair” was acquired for millions out of Sundance this year, where it was received as an energetic American take on hair horror and a probe of Black female identity.

Hulu is Neon’s streaming video partner, and the companies have enjoyed fruitful partnerships on titles like “Palm Springs,” the Sundance sale record-breaker from Andy Samberg that premiered this summer.

“Bad Hair” has played the Essence Festival, CurlFest, UrbanWorld — where Simien received the 2020 festival ambassador award — Chicago Film Festival, New York Comic Con, Beyond Fest and One Music Festival. Simien wrote and directed the movie, and produced alongside Sight Unseen’s Julia Lebedev, Angel Lopez and Eddie Vaisman.

The film follows Anna, an aspiring music television personality grinding as an assistant at a beleaguered network. When a new boss (Vanessa Williams) reformats the station in step with a glossier, commercial aesthetic, Anna is pressured to conform to the uniform of the day — one that strays from natural black hair in favor of sleek weaves. As she bathes in the attention of a new look, Anna realizes with increasing alarm that her new hair has a mind of its own.

The pic also stars Elle Lorraine, Lena Waithe, Laverne Cox, Jay Pharoah, Kelly Rowland, Blair Underwood, James Van Der Beek and Usher Raymond. Executive producers include Leonid Lebedev, Oren Moverman and Alex G. Scott. The film is produced by Sight Unseen in association with Culture Machine.

Simien has previously collaborated with the Sight Unseen team on the Sundance hit “Dear White People,” with Lebedev serving as executive producer on the series of the same name, which is now in its fourth season on Netflix. Sight Unseen is also behind Cory Finley’s “Bad Education” starring Hugh Jackman, which won the Emmy for outstanding television movie following its debut on HBO.

Article by: Matt Donnelly for Variety.

When Universal and AMC in July unveiled a new deal enabling the studio to release movies on demand within weeks of their theatrical debut, rival theater owners publicly and privately decried the change. They feared the agreement would be detrimental to their businesses.

In the pandemic era, it may ironically end up being a saving grace.

Exhibitors initially were concerned that audiences wouldn’t pay to see a movie in theaters if they could wait just 17 days to watch it at home. Traditionally, films play on the big screen for 75 to 90 days before landing on digital rental platforms. Theater operators were particularly cantankerous because the pandemic had already been ruinous to the film industry, and they worried that shattering the theatrical window — the term for the amount of time a movie exclusively plays in theaters — could push struggling multiplexes over the edge.

That was before plans for a grand moviegoing revival failed to take off. The hope, after prolonged cinema closures, was that the debut of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” in September would give studios the confidence to continue ushering out potential blockbusters. Instead, it helped spur a mass exodus on the release calendar, leaving movie theater operators desperate for something, anything fresh to offer customers. As a result of the carnage, Robert De Niro’s poorly reviewed “War With Grandpa” and rereleases of the 1993 Halloween classic “Hocus Pocus” and “Star Wars” have been atop box office charts in recent weeks.

“New product helps bring in repeat business. Smaller titles are going to put up small numbers, but they get people thinking about coming back to theaters,” said Eric Handler, an exhibition industry analyst with MKM Partners. “At this point, theater operators are trying to break even. They’re willing to take just about any movie that can help bring in an audience.”

When it comes to major studios, Universal is one of the only to have any movies left for 2020 with (an arguably weaker than usual) lineup that includes animated family film “The Croods: A New Age” on Nov. 25, slasher comedy “Freaky” on Nov. 13 and the Tom Hanks-led Western “News of the World” on Dec. 25. “Promising Young Woman,” from Universal-owned specialty label Focus Features, is also slated for Christmas Day.

Warner Bros.’ comic book sequel “Wonder Woman 1984” is still scheduled for Dec. 25, but unless movie theaters in major U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles reopen, it’s highly unlikely that will hold. Before the year ends, Ryan Reynolds’ action comedy “Free Guy,” Kenneth Branagh’s whodunit “Death on the Nile” (both from Disney) and Paramount’s “Coming 2 America” with Eddie Murphy are slated for December. Meanwhile, independent studios are continuing to debut smaller titles like Liam Neeson’s “Honest Thief,” romance drama “2 Hearts” and “After We Collided,” a sequel to the 2019 YA film “After.”

Though release dates have been rapidly shifting, often on a weekly basis, the crop of titles from Universal are the rare few expected to stick. That’s because the deal between AMC provides something of a safety net until studios feel comfortable unveiling major tentpoles. If audiences don’t turn out in large numbers, Universal can put movies on home entertainment after three weekends without having to sweat additional marketing costs. Plus, the movies slated to premiere have smaller price tags, making them less of a risk for the studio. (There’s a reason why “Croods 2” and “Freaky” are still on track to open, while mega-budgeted franchise fare like “Fast and Furious 9” and “Jurassic World: Dominion” moved to 2021).

Granted, nobody expects “The Croods” sequel, “Freaky” or “News of the World” to reach blockbuster status or save the movie business, but exhibitors aren’t picky these days when it comes to filling screens. AMC might be the only company that gets a cut of Universal’s digital profits, but rival cinemas don’t have the leverage they once did to refuse new product.

Universal is still considering how long to wait before putting upcoming titles on-demand, though sources say “Freaky” is eyeing 21 days of big-screen exclusivity and “The Croods” sequel is planning 24 days, putting the animated adventure on home entertainment ahead of the Christmas Day debut of Pixar’s “Soul” on Disney Plus. Per the agreement with AMC, Universal movies have to be priced at $20 or higher until the film reaches its traditional home entertainment window.

As it stands, Universal is the only studio and AMC is the lone theater chain to engage in a PVOD agreement, though others have begun exploring the option. Robert Fishman, an analyst at research film MoffettNathanson, recommends theater owners explore similar agreements “as a lifeline to get more product on movie screens.”

“Studios are in a very difficult position themselves of figuring out when the right time will be to release their new movies,” Fishman said in a report last week. “Having additional flexibility to move their product to other windows could help to reduce some of the extra risk involved to commit to a specific release date.”

The future could be here faster than theaters want to acknowledge. Just yesterday, Disney reorganized its corporate structure with an emphasize on providing more content for its streaming services. And Warner Bros. has been encouraged to make more movies for HBO Max, a signal that strengthening digital video output is critically important.

Some analysts are skeptical that the upcoming movies set to populate movie theater marquees will be enough to keep smaller cinemas in business. Already, exhibitors have struggled to recover after the industry attempted a large-scale reopening in early September. Regal, one of the biggest theater chains in the country, closed down over 500 U.S. venues after only a few months back open. Alamo Drafthouse, a specialty circuit, shuttered some venues in Dallas and Omaha. Ticket sales hadn’t been strong enough to justify keeping the lights on at those venues, particularly without many new theatrical releases on the horizon. According to Comscore, only 48% of U.S. cinemas are currently open. During the time surrounding “Tenet’s” release, nearly 70% of theaters were open.

“The lifeblood of theaters is blockbuster films, and there aren’t any,” said Jeff Bock, a box office analyst with Exhibitor Relations. “Theaters are losing money because they can’t show top-tier blockbusters.”

Article by: Rebecca Rubin for Variety.

The movie is eyeing a January start in Los Angeles.

John David Washington is set to join Margot Robbie and Christian Bale in David O. Russell's next feature effort.

The New Regency project, which is set up under Regency's deal with Fox/Disney, will see Russell direct from his own script. Plot details are being kept under wraps on the movie, which will be Russell's return to the director's seat for the first time since 2015's Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence.

An April start of production was planned for the feature prior to the COVID-19 production shutdown. The movie is now eyeing a January start in Los Angeles. Russell is producing with Matthew Budman.

Washington is one of the few actors with a project currently in theaters, with Christopher Nolan's Tenet. He will next be seen opposite Zendaya in drama Malcolm & Marie, which was filmed during the pandemic and picked up by Netflix.

Article by:Mia Galuppo for the Hollywood Reporter.

The Focus Features thriller is written and directed by Emerald Fennell and co-stars comedian Bo Burnham.

Promising Young Woman — starring Carey Mulligan — will open in theaters nationwide on Christmas Day, Focus Features announced Friday.

The acclaimed thriller is written and directed by Emerald Fennell (Killing Eve) in her feature directorial debut. The specialty film, which hopes to be a player in the upcoming awards race, made its debut in January at the Sundance Film Festival. Comedian and Eighth Grade director Bo Burnham co-stars.

Fennell's unique tale of revenge stars Mulligan as Cassie, a young woman whose promising future was derailed by a mysterious event. But nothing in Cassie’s life is what it appears to be: she’s wickedly smart, tantalizingly cunning, and she’s living a secret double life by night. Now, an unexpected encounter is about to give her a chance to right the wrongs of the past.

The film's cast also includes Laverne Cox, Alison Brie, Connie Britton, Jennifer Coolidge, Max Greenfield, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chris Lowell, Sam Richardson, Molly Shannon and Clancy Brown.

Fennell produced Promising Young Woman alongside Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley, and Josey McNamara for LuckyChap Entertainment and Ben Browning and Ashley Fox for FilmNation Entertainment.

Article by: Pamela McClintock for the Hollywood Reporter.                 

Endeavor Content has set a three-film development deal with producer Heather Rae, committing to movie scripts from Indigenous filmmakers. The new pact was announced on Oct. 12, Indigenous Peoples’ Day.

Along with Rae, Crystal EchoHawk of IllumiNative and Bird Runningwater of Sundance Institute are advising on the projects. Research from IllumiNative — a woman-led racial justice organization that amplifies Native voices — found that Native people are vastly underrepresented on screen. They make up anywhere from 0% to .04% of representation in American film and television. There are even fewer Native writers and directors. The partnership with Endeavor Content aims to grow those numbers by providing a platform for Indigenous filmmakers.

“Heather is an incredible producer, elegant person, and a fierce advocate for Native American and Indigenous storytelling,” Endeavor Content co-presidents Graham Taylor and Chris Rice said. “Pairing her exceptional vision with Crystal and Bird as Impact Partners will allow us to enable and ennoble these important voices in film, which have been underrepresented for too long.”

Rae’s producing credits include the Oscar-nominated crime drama “Frozen River,” indie rom-com “I Believe in Unicorns” and war film “The Dry Land.” She recently worked on “Bull,” which premiered to strong reviews at Cannes Film Festival.

“In these times the world is looking for vision, and Indigenous voices bring that power and authenticity to the screen. I am honored to work in tandem with Bird Runningwater and his visionary curation of talent, and Crystal Echohawk and her groundbreaking organization to energize representation and Native inclusion,” Rae said. “We are thrilled by this partnership with Endeavor Content to bring three incredible stories to life and ensure many more to come.”

EchoHawk is the founder and executive director of IllumiNative. She is a member of the Pawnee Nation and has 20 years of experience in philanthropy and social justice work with Indian Country.

Runningwater, who belongs to the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache peoples, has worked with the Sundance Institute since 2001. He has helped 140 different Indigenous filmmakers through Sundance labs, grants and fellowships.

Article by: Rebecca Rubin for Variety.

More than 200,000 people are dead. People are suffering in all the ways that life can provide: medically, economically, systemically, racially — and all of us are navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in the best ways we know. So when Washington Post columnist Alyssa Rosenberg penned an op-ed headlined It’s time to face reality, and to cancel the 2021 Oscars  the eye-rolls were in full force.

By her measure, because films like “Bios,” “Black Widow,” “Bob’s Burgers,” “Candyman,” “Cruella,” “Deep Water,” “Dune,” “Eternals,” “F9,” “The French Dispatch,” ‘Ghostbusters: Afterlife,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Halloween Kills,” “In the Heights,” “Jungle Cruise,” “King Richard,” “The Last Duel,” “The Many Saints of Newark,” “Minions: Rise of Gru,” “Morbius,” “The Nightingale,” “No Time to Die,” “Raya and the Last Dragon,” “Spiral: The Book of Saw,” “Tom & Jerry,” “Top Gun: Maverick,” “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” “West Side Story” and “The Woman in the Window” have exited the eligibility period, there should be no cause for celebration. The lack of these 29 films should cancel a ceremony that celebrates an entire calendar year of cinema? As film critic and AAFCA member Robert Daniels eloquently stated on Twitter, “Could you imagine telling an actor like Delroy Lindo, who’s spent years on the outside looking in, it’s best to cancel the Oscars?”

The coronavirus is ravaging our country at the same time as a contentious election, civil protests and tension-driven battle for the Supreme Court. Oscar contenders capture those feelings, and the selection shows where “we” are at as a country, and what is being grotesquely omitted or overlooked.

After the Pearl Harbor bombing on Dec. 7, 1941, almost three months later on Feb. 26, 1942, the Academy gave the top prize to “How Green Was My Valley” from John Ford. More famous for being the movie that edged out “Citizen Kane” for the best picture, the film depicts a family wanting their youngest son to find a better life, likely feeding into the country’s yearning for hope for the future as World War II threatened the world. The nominations were announced on Feb. 6, nearly two months to the day that over 2,400 soldiers and civilians were killed, with 11 nominations for Howard Hawks’ “Sergeant York,” which at the time tied as the second most nominated film in Academy history. Gary Cooper won the best actor award for his portrayal of Alvin C. York, one of the most decorated soldiers in World War I. The country was feeling patriotic and appreciative or our servicemen and women.

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated Nov. 22, 1963, while the Vietnam War was raging and civil unrest flooded the streets of America. Tony Richardson’s “Tom Jones” was the big winner but Sidney Poitier became the first Black actor to win best actor for his performance as Homer Smith in “Lilies in the Field.” He’s also still the youngest black actor to ever win the prize at 37. Can you imagine if the Academy decided to “hold off” on the ceremony?

During the years of the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War beginning in March 1965 until April 30, 1975, the controversy and anxiety of a nation grappling with the deaths of over 50,000 soldiers was channeled through cinema. Musicals like “The Sound of Music” and “Oliver!” reigned in their respective years while pictures like “Patton” became demonstrations of the kind of leadership that the American people yearned for. “Midnight Cowboy,” the first X-rated film to win best picture, is a film that challenges small-town kids who yearn for life in the big city — and tries relentlessly to dissuade them from chasing it.

The year that Vietnam ended, Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford in the 1976 presidential election. The soul of America was on the line, looking at the burning question, “Where do we go from here?” Three weeks after Carter’s victory, one of the great underdog stories of all time, “Rocky” was released, putting the country on its feet and ready to take on the next challenge. The gruesome years of Vietnam were not forgotten. They were catalysts to cinema’s perennial devotion to illuminating the human condition.

And then there are the unforgettable September 11 attacks. The Emmys famously delayed the ceremony twice during that time. Initially scheduled for September 16, three days after the Creative Arts Emmys were held, the ceremony was moved to October 7 before the start of the war in Afghanistan began. At the eventual Nov. 4, 2001 ceremony, the country mourned and the arts allowed us to grieve and focus on something together. When the Oscars came around in March 2002, we were far from “over it” and yet, the Academy came through with lots to honor. With Ron Howard’s “A Beautiful Mind” taking home the best picture prize, we saw Denzel Washington (“Training Day”) and Halle Berry (“Monster’s Ball”) accept the lead prizes, the first time two Black actors took home the awards on the same night. Berry, to date, is still the only Black woman to win that award. Coincidentally, Sidney Poitier was awarded an honorary Oscar the same evening.

So when you’re saying something like “there are no movies this year” or “cancel everything,” you are spitting in the artistic face of all the important films that were released this year (or early next year). Last year, 344 films were submitted for the Oscars. This year, we’re likely to see right around 300. In the early days of the Academy, barely 100 films would be eligible. We struggle to get members to see as many films as possible. Perhaps with less, they will be able to discover more than usual.

It’s a year with 30 women in contention for a best director nomination. A year that includes veterans like Delroy Lindo, Michelle Pfeiffer, Bill Murray and Glenn Close in the running. A year that provides an opportunity for a documentary to enter the best picture conversation because they’ve been seen more widely than in other years. These are the things that you would be canceling. The movie theaters are important, and we want them back. But art is not gone.

Article by: Clayton Davis for Variety.

David Fincher’s new movie “Mank” released its first trailer on Thursday. Along with the footage, Netflix also announced that the film is headed to theatres in November and will be available on their streaming platform on Dec. 4. It marks Fincher’s first movie since 2014’s “Gone Girl.”

The black-and-white biopic follows the life of screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz and his battle with director Orson Welles over the screenplay credit of “Citizen Kane.” 

Gary Oldman stars as Mankiewicz, Tom Burke plays Orson Welles, and Amanda Seyfried plays Marion Davies, a Broadway actress who was a mistress to newspaper tycoon William Randolph Hearst, whose life was the basis of Welles’ debut feature. Lily Collins, Arliss Howard, Tom Pelphrey, Sam Troughton, Ferdinand Kingsley, Tuppence Middleton, Tom Burke and Charles Dance round out the cast.

“Mank” is based on a 2003 script by Fincher’s late father Jack Fincher. 

“Gone Girl,” Fincher’s last film, was a critical and commercial success, earning $369.3 million at the global box office. Rosamund Pike received an Academy Award nomination for best actress for her turn as the mysterious Amy Elliott Dunne.

Fincher has not directed a film since then, with some projects failing to come to fruition. The filmmaker was set to helm the sequel to “World War Z” with star Brad Pitt returning, but the film was placed on hold by Paramount in February 2019. Fincher has moved to television in the interim, directing and producing for the Netflix series “Mindhunter” and “Love, Death & Robots” since 2016.

Watch the retro, dreamlike trailer here.

Article by: J. Kim Murphy to Variety.

WarnerMedia is expected to enact a new round of layoffs amid the AT&T-owned company’s ongoing restructuring.

According to the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news, the company is looking to cut costs by as much as 20% and lay off thousands in the coming weeks.

That would follow the hundreds of layoffs made in early August that saw Warner Bros. and HBO hardest hit.

“Like the rest of the entertainment industry, we have not been immune to the significant impact of the pandemic,” said WarnerMedia in a statement shared with Variety. “That includes an acceleration in shifting consumer behavior, especially in the way content is being viewed. We shared with our employees recently that the organization will be restructured to respond to those changes and prioritize growth opportunities, with an emphasis on direct-to-consumer. We are in the midst of that process and it will involve increased investments in priority areas and, unfortunately, reductions in others.”

The move comes under the leadership of new WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who stepped into the top spot in the spring. Since then, a wave of executive changes have been made, including the ouster of HBO Max’s Bob Greenblatt and Kevin Reilly, the merging of the company’s production operations, and the positioning of Warner Bros. chief Ann Sarnoff to oversee all content for the HBO Max streaming service as well as basic cablers TNT, TBS and truTV.

Article by: Elaine Low for Variety.

Directors could have the smallest amount of films made on average while the acting races could bring the oldest ever in history.

The year continues to provide plenty more surprises — and flies on the heads of politicians — and over the last week we saw “Dune” from Warner Bros. exit the calendar year, something that was very much expected around these parts. While many on the internet want to decry “the end of cinema” and that the film year is “canceled,” it’s time to start expanding your cinematic palates.

In terms of what it means to awards, an interesting observation is how young and “novice” the best director field seems this year. Traditional Oscar years have always had a good amount of the “OG masters” of cinema in the mix like Martin Scorsese or Steven Spielberg, which brought the average age of the nomination pool up considerably. In the current contenders for best director, Aaron Sorkin would be the oldest of the top five predicted lineup, at 59, for “The Trial of the Chicago 7.” David Fincher would be close behind at 58 for helming “Mank.” Regina King will be fabulous 50 by the time of nominations while “The Father” director Florian Zeller, 41, would add to the representation for their first feature debuts. “Nomadland” director Chloé Zhao would be the youngest of the group at 38 (at the time of nomination and then 39 by Oscar night). None of them would rank among the top 10 youngest nominees or winners when nominated but as an average, the group would be in the top 10 youngest directing lineups ever at 49.2.

The youngest average group occurred at the ceremony that celebrated 1999 in movies. Lasse Halstrom (53) Spike Jonze (30), Michael Mann (57), Sam Mendes (34), and M. Night Shyamalan (29) at the 2000 ceremony had an average age of 40.6. The 1995 film year celebration had the smallest career body of work among the nominees. Mike Figgis of “Leaving Las Vegas” (6), Mel Gibson from “Braveheart” (2), Chris Noonan of “Babe” (1), Michael Radford (4) and Tim Robbins of “Dead Man Walking” (2) had an average of three films made prior to their nominations. With Fincher’s robust 12-feature career, the average of the predicted five currently sits at 3.8. If someone like Shaka King (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Lee Isaac Chung (“Minari”) or Liesl Tommy (“Respect”) wiggle their way past him, we could have an average of two films made by the Oscar nominees. At this time of writing, George C. Wolfe (“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”) is the oldest director in contention for a nomination at 66.

While youth and a fresh perspective are in the directors’ favor, the acting side has the potential to break a record held by the 1981 film year. During that ceremony Henry Fonda (77), Katharine Hepburn (76), John Gielgud (74) and Maureen Stapleton (56) set an average age record of 70.8 years old. Fonda also became the oldest best actor winner in history, a title he still holds. This year, the veterans are in full force and receiving standout notices and a high amount of buzz for their upcoming turns.

Some of those veteran frontrunners include Anthony Hopkins from “The Father” (83 on nomination day), Michelle Pfeiffer from ‘French Exit” (62), David Strathairn of “Nomadland” (72 on nomination day) and Glenn Close of “Hillbilly Elegy” (74 on nomination day). If this quartet were to win their respective categories, the average age would be 72.8, another record. Even other contenders like Delroy Lindo (68 on nomination day), Frances McDormand (63), Bill Murray (70) and Meryl Streep (71) keep that average number considerably high.

If Hopkins manages to win his second statuette 29 years after “The Silence of the Lambs,” he would become the oldest acting winner in any category. Christopher Plummer won best supporting actor for “Beginners” at the age of 82 and holds the record for oldest nominee ever at 88 for 2017’s “All the Money in the World.” If just nominated, Hopkins becomes the oldest nominee of the best actor surpassing Richard Farnsworth from “The Straight Story,” who was 79 at the 1999 ceremony. Close would be the third-oldest winner of the supporting actress category but if she comes up short, she would not place in the top 10 of the oldest nominees. Ellen Burstyn, who delivers a noteworthy performance in “Pieces of a Woman,” could also take the mantle from Plummer as the oldest nominee ever, as she would be 88 and 139 days old, edging out Plummer by 98 days.

All this can change and be irrelevant if Daniel Kaluuya (“Judas and the Black Messiah”), Vanessa Kirby (“Pieces of a Woman”), Leslie Odom, Jr. (“One Night in Miami”) or Saoirse Ronan (“Ammonite”) gain ground. Ronan would break a record held by her co-star Kate Winslet as the youngest actress to receive five nominations, at 26. Winslet was 31 at the time of her nomination for 2006’s “Little Children.”

And then there’s Chadwick Boseman’s work in the upcoming “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” Lots more to consider.

Article by: Clayton Davis for Variety.

The actress explains why it was hard for her as a private person to be outspoken about her sexual orientation.

Kristen Stewart opened up about why she remained so private about her dating life and sexuality in the earlier days of her career, as well as the impact she felt her preference for privacy had on those around her and in the LGBTQ community in a new InStyle interview.

While promoting her upcoming project Happiest Season, Stewart spoke to the film's director Clea DuVall for the magazine's November issue about how her personal journey with her sexual orientation spilled over into the public eye due to her fame. Stewart revealed that she felt overwhelmed the first time her relationship with a woman became publicized.

“The first time I ever dated a girl, I was immediately being asked if I was a lesbian," Steward said. "And it's like, 'God, I'm 21 years old.'"

The notoriously private actress went on to explain that her reluctance to entertain the public and media's questions about her sexual orientation and love life may have had an unintended impact on those around her.

"I felt like maybe there were things that have hurt people I've been with. Not because I felt ashamed of being openly gay, but because I didn't like giving myself to the public, in a way," Stewart explained. "It felt like such thievery. This was a period of time when I was sort of cagey."

Stewart, who identifies as bisexual, shared that she was equally private about her previous relationships with men and "did everything we could to not be photographed doing things — things that would become not ours." The actress went on to say that because of this,  "the added pressure of representing a group of people, of representing queerness wasn't something I understood then."

Reflecting on that time, Stewart said that she's since been able to see how being open about her relationships with women hold a different significance than her relationships with men.

"Only now can I see it. Retrospectively, I can tell you I have experience with this story. But back then, I would have been like, 'No, I'm fine. My parents are fine with it. Everything's fine,'" the Happiest Season star said. "That's bull—. It's been hard. It's been weird. It's that way for everyone."

When asked by DuVall about whether she now feels like she has to be a representative for the LGBTQ community because of her platform, Stewart shared that she did when she was younger and "being hounded about labeling myself." However, she clarified that the pressure wasn't coming from members of the LGBTQ community who were simply looking for visibility.

"I was a kid, and I felt personally affronted," Stewart explained. "Now I relish it. I love the idea that anything I do with ease rubs off on somebody who is struggling. That shit's dope! When I see a little kid clearly feeling themselves in a way that they wouldn't have when I grew up, it makes me skip."

Article by: Abbey White for the Hollywood Reporter.

After March’s coronavirus pandemic shutdown, Oscar-nominated cinematographer Greig Fraser did some commercial work in the U.S. before returning to the U.K. to resume production on Warner Bros.’ The Batman. During one of these commercial shoots, a crewmember tested positive for COVID-19. “When he tested positive, we shut down,” Fraser says, noting that everyone on set immediately began to quarantine. “Nobody [else] tested positive; we were all following the correct PPE procedures, washing our hands and wiping the equipment down. We went back after we all had tested negative a few times.” While Fraser declined to discuss Batman, that film also temporarily hit the pause button after star Robert Pattinson tested positive. (It has since resumed production.)

Fraser, who also wrapped work on Legendary’s upcoming sci-fi epic Dune, is among multiple cinematographers who say they feel there’s a low risk in going back to work because everyone is taking safety protocols very seriously. “We all have a responsibility to each other as well as ourselves,” Fraser says. “My approach is, assume the people around you have it. You have to be confident that you have taken every precaution. … I think there’s a greater danger going to the local supermarket than being on a film set.

“We all want to get back to work — cinematographers, directors, crew, actors,” he adds. “That four or five months not shooting really put the wind up everyone, to be frank. So everyone is being smart about it, if we have to do this to get back to work, let’s do it.”

Oscar-nominated DP Phedon Papamichael, who filmed Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 for Netflix, agrees with the sentiment. “I went to Germany [to shoot commercials] and now Greece,” says Papamichael, who is serving as director and cinematographer (sharing DP duties with Akis Konstantakopoulos) on the thriller Light Falls, an Albanian-Greek-Georgian co-production. The crew is shooting mostly outdoors and limiting people on set to a total of 10 castmembers and a lean 35-member crew. “Everyone is repeatedly tested,” he says. “We get our temperature measured, and then we get wristbands. We wear masks.” He adds that colleagues in the U.S. have cited use of gear such as Technocranes in order to get the camera’s lens — but not the camera operator — close to the actors.

Meanwhile, Dan Laustsen, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer of Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water, is in Toronto shooting del Toro’s latest, Nightmare Alley. “The studio is taking care of us very well,” he says. Filming had shut down in March and restarted with the same crew in September, after those who returned to Canada, including Laustsen, spent two weeks in quarantine. The filmmakers are using standard protocols, including testing, social distancing, working in zones, cleaning equipment and wearing masks (he wears both a mask and a face shield).

Laustsen also wears a headset to make onset communication easier from a distance and while wearing PPE — something numerous DPs have commented about. “The communication is less personal, but it’s not the end of the world,” he says, explaining that, importantly, they have not made any creative compromises.

DP John Brawley (The Great) just wrapped Phillip Noyce’s indie movie Lakewood, starring Naomi Watts, which was shot with a small crew in northern Ontario. Cinematographers note that during a shoot, their eyeglasses tend to fog up while wearing PPE, so they do need to clean them to improve visibility, though they are taking it in stride. Brawley came up with an alternative. He sometimes wore a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR), which he said reduced the amount of fog developing on his glasses. “It's a little bit noisy so it’s not good if I’m operating [the camera] up close, but if I’m behind a monitor or a little bit off set its fine,” he says.

Cinematographers like Markus Forderer, who is working on Netflix’s Red Notice in Atlanta, have used remote working procedures, which he described during a recent virtual panel discussion about getting back to work. He lensed the feature Tides, which needed additional photography in Munich at a time when director Tim Fehlbaum was in Germany and Forderer was in L.A., as was one of the actors. “Because we couldn’t travel, we had a small setup in my apartment with a live feed so that the director could participate from Munich. The director could see the livestream from his computer’s camera and talk to the actor,” says Forderer.

For the Munich shoot, he communicated with the team using "iPads on set connected to a password protected Zoom meeting. And got a live feed from the Red camera with Blackmagic Web Presenter. [I had] all of the camera settings and data so I could give notes to my camera assistant and gaffer and it worked quite well."

Reshoots and additional photography “are always difficult to schedule,” adds Forderer. “Going forward, this is something that allows the core creative team to work together even if you’re not in the same spot.”

Article by: Carolyn Giardina for the Hollywood Reporter.

The job losses come during the latest round of cost-cutting at the Canadian pubcaster as it deals with lower advertising and higher operating costs.

The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. is to cut 130 jobs as part of a "resizing" of the country's public broadcaster amid the global pandemic.

The CBC said a number of positions will be eliminated through "attrition, collapsed vacancies and retirement," but that around 40 jobs, mostly based in Toronto, would be cut. The cost cutting will fall on unionized members associated with the Canadian Media Guild and the Association of Professionals and Supervisors union. 

CBC vp of English services Barb Williams in an internal email obtained by THR explained the job cuts were the result of falling advertising and subscription revenues, made worse by the COVID-19 crisis. "Every year, our costs go up as revenue generation in traditional media goes in the other direction and, not surprisingly, we have seen that more acutely this fiscal (year) with the global pandemic," Williams told CBC employees. 

The CBC developed homegrown series like the Emmy-winning Schitt's Creek and Kim's Convenience comedies that are sold into the U.S. and other international markets.

The pubcaster, like rival Canadian TV networks, has also been impacted by Canadians increasingly embracing Netflix and other online TV platforms.

The CBC and Radio-Canada, the French-speaking pubcaster based in Quebec, have around 7500 workers.

Article by: the Hollywood Reporter.