directors - Blog 2.0 - California Film Foundation2024-03-29T08:15:53Zhttps://californiafilm.net/profiles/news/feed/tag/directorsFemale Directors Win Big at NYFCC Awards. What Does It Mean for the Oscars?https://californiafilm.net/profiles/news/female-directors-win-big-at-nyfcc-awards-what-does-it-mean-for-th2020-12-19T00:26:34.000Z2020-12-19T00:26:34.000ZElla Christiansenhttps://californiafilm.net/members/EllaChristiansen<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}8305431472,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}8305431472,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="450" alt="8305431472?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a></p><h1>A24’s “First Cow” was the big winner at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, taking home best film. In predicting the Academy Awards, the top prize from NYFCC has an astounding correlation to the Oscars. Since 1935, the NYFCC winner for best film has never failed to receive at least one Oscar nomination. More importantly, every film that has won the top prize from NYFCC has been nominated in a major Oscar category including picture, director, acting and screenplay.</h1><p></p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1>A slower burn for the average cinema-goer, “First Cow” has Oscar potential in categories like best adapted screenplay, which director Kelly Reichardt co-wrote with author Jonathan Raymond. Reichardt herself, a runner-up at Boston Film Critics last weekend, could be vying for one of the five spots for best director, which may present an interesting scenario down the line. Could we be in store for a directing lineup where the women outnumber the men? With Emerald Fennell (“Promising Young Woman”), Regina King (“One Night in Miami”) and Chloé Zhao (“Nomadland”), who also won at NYFCC, the “year of the female director” is a growing award season narrative, despite many women-directed films being postponed due to the pandemic. Only five women have been nominated for best director in the 92-year history of AMPAS.</h1><p></p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1>The best director lineup could also have one or two filmmakers of color. Spike Lee’s “Da 5 Bloods” won honors for Delroy Lindo in best actor and the late Chadwick Boseman in supporting actor. Lee was honored with a special award for his short film “New York New York.” “Da 5 Bloods” could be getting a second wind from its June release, resulting in Lee becoming the first Black director to be nominated a second time at the Oscars. To date, only six Black men (and no Black women) have been nominated for best director, none of which have been selected again following their first nod.</h1><p></p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1>Then there’s “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” from Focus Features, which is building momentum for its debut star Sidney Flanigan. Also a winner at Boston, Flanigan could become a critical darling, but the question is, how far does that take her? For two consecutive years, the NYFCC winner for best actress has not received an Oscar nomination (Lupita Nyong’o for “Us” and Regina Hall for “Support the Girls”). With the film also winning screenplay earlier on Friday, this indie drama can only add to the female filmmaker’s narrative.</h1><p></p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1>Maria Bakalova’s win for “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm” is just what her awards campaign needed, in a category that has been very friendly to comedic performances (examples: Marisa Tomei in “My Cousin Vinny” and Melissa McCarthy in “Bridesmaids”). The supporting actress is wide open at the moment with no established frontrunner.</h1><p></p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1>In this unconventional awards year, will the group have the same impact? NYFCC along with the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, which announces on Sunday, typically have the most influence of the critics’ groups. Normally, Oscar voters would be grabbing DVDs from their screener pile and packing them up for their holiday binge. This year, not as many physical copies have gone out, though many are available on the Academy streaming platform.</h1><p></p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1></h1><p> </p><h1>Article by: <a href="https://variety.com/2020/film/awards/nyfcc-winners-first-cow-oscars-1234866516/" target="_blank">Clayton Davis</a> for Variety.</h1><p></p><p> </p></div>How Karena Evans Went From Directing Music Videos for Drake to a Pilot for Starzhttps://californiafilm.net/profiles/news/how-karena-evans-went-from-directing-music-videos-for-drake-to-a-2020-07-21T19:52:05.000Z2020-07-21T19:52:05.000ZMaria Fernanda M.https://californiafilm.net/members/MariaFernandaMerayo<div><p><a href="{{#staticFileLink}}7082337473,original{{/staticFileLink}}"><img class="align-full" src="{{#staticFileLink}}7082337473,RESIZE_584x{{/staticFileLink}}" width="450" alt="7082337473?profile=RESIZE_584x" /></a></p><p>Karena Evans is a woman with a plan—but even she is surprised at how quickly and precisely her career has gone according to it.</p><p>“I got into music videos so that I could figure out the technical communication of the story, because I love stories so much and had more of an intuitive understanding of story, but I needed to understand the best way in which I could communicate that knowledge,” says the director. “I can be honest with you: I did not expect it, the rate at which I have been able to transition to film and TV, but I’m very grateful for it.”</p><p>Evans had already made a name for herself helming a number of music videos for Coldplay and Drake. But that she’d be able to jump right to directing the pilot episode of Starz’s new series “P-Valley” was a straight shot from intent to outcome that is generally unheard of in showbiz. Oh, another thing: Evans is 24.</p><div class="pullquote left"> <p>“I do feel, in a way, it was a bit of manifesting that I receive the script,” she says of the drama about a small-town strip club, which is adapted by <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/tina-turner-broadway-musical-katori-hall-playwright-interview-69263/" target="_blank">Katori Hall</a> from her play “Pussy Valley”; it premiered July 12. “And as soon as I read it, I just fell in love with this world and these characters. I had been in search of stories [to which] I could offer my inherent feminist perspective. I had a personal goal to, if I could in some way, change the way in which women and Black women and people of color are represented.”</p><div id="ads__container_article_0" class="section section--ad"> </div><p>Though she had her music video experience and has subsequently added an episode of “Snowfall” to her directing résumé, “P-Valley” was Evans’ first experience in television—and that’s to say nothing of the feat that is directing the pilot of a brand-new series, a league of its own considering that you’re defining the tone of every episode to come.</p><p>Evans handled that with cool-headed preparedness, too. “It was a blessing to be able to have that sort of control as a pilot director, to envision what the world looks like and create that sandbox for the directors who follow to play within,” she says. “I think it would have been a different sort of challenge for me, in my first time in television, to come in as an episodic director and understand that dynamic.”</p><p>And though there was tons of learning on the job, there was ample learning before it, too. In Evans’ case, that means her experience as an actor, which she credits wholly for teaching her how to collaborate. “I learned how to direct through acting, and by that I mean the communication with actors,” she explains. “My philosophy as a director is to hire actors who are good at their job and then let them do their job. I know how difficult a craft it is, and I want to push the actors I work with to exercise autonomy over their characters and their choices, because I feel they intrinsically know them better than I do as the director.”</p><p>Obviously, at the start of what’s already poised to be a prolific career, Evans will continue to learn and grow and improve. But it’s still important—for her and for any creative finding their way through uncharted territory—to remember: You don’t know what you don’t know, and that’s just fine.</p><div id="ads__container_article_1" class="section section--ad"> </div><p>“Coming from music videos, where you really do have control from beginning to end, I had to adapt to the world of TV and understand the bigger players that I serve,” she says. “I asked a lot of questions and was very lucky to have mentors who allowed for me to do some shadowing and examine and talk about mistakes I’ve made. It’s a director’s job to win the trust of his or her crew and collaborators and producers and actors and so on. I just remind myself to admit when I don’t know something—and then ask the questions.”</p><p>Article written by Casey Mink for <a href="https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/karena-evans-p-valley-starz-71162/" target="_blank">Backstage Magazine.</a></p></div></div>