Netflix executive Lisa Nishimura backed some of the streamer’s biggest successes – Tiger King, The Tinder Swindler, The Power of the Dog, Making a Murderer, and American Factory – but in an era of corporate cost-cutting, it wasn’t enough to save her job.
Related Story Netflix Vets Lisa Nishimura & Ian Bricke Depart In Film Group Reorg Related Story Omar Epps Boards Netflix's Limited Series 'The Perfect Couple' Related Story IFC Center's John Vanco Joins Netflix To Oversee Programming For Streamer's Theaters
Her imminent departure as VP of independent film and documentary features, after a 16-year stint at Netflix, has come as a particular shock to the nonfiction film community, which saw her build Netflix into a dominant force in documentary and become, in the process, one of Netflix’s most visible execs.
(L-r) Lisa Nishimura, Taylor Swift and Ted Sarandos attend the Netflix 2019 Golden Globes After Party
“Lisa...
Related Story Netflix Vets Lisa Nishimura & Ian Bricke Depart In Film Group Reorg Related Story Omar Epps Boards Netflix's Limited Series 'The Perfect Couple' Related Story IFC Center's John Vanco Joins Netflix To Oversee Programming For Streamer's Theaters
Her imminent departure as VP of independent film and documentary features, after a 16-year stint at Netflix, has come as a particular shock to the nonfiction film community, which saw her build Netflix into a dominant force in documentary and become, in the process, one of Netflix’s most visible execs.
(L-r) Lisa Nishimura, Taylor Swift and Ted Sarandos attend the Netflix 2019 Golden Globes After Party
“Lisa...
- 3/31/2023
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Netflix is making changes in its feature documentary division.
Jason Spingarn-Koff, who was responsible for helping Netflix win its first Oscar for short doc The White Helmets, is exiting the streamer.
Spingarn-Koff has been with Netflix since 2015 as part of Lisa Nishimura’s documentary team.
His departure, along with a couple of other executives in the team, follows a couple of waves of layoffs at Netflix, which has cut around 475 staffers in the last three months. This move came as a result of the slowdown in the company’s revenue growth.
In addition to White Helmets, Spingarn-Koff has worked on Academy Awards winners Icarus, American Factory and My Octopus Teacher, Peabody Awards winners The Edge of Democracy, Chasing Coral and Audrie & Daisy and a number of Emmy winners including Strong Island. He was also involved in David Attenborough natural history series Our Planet.
He joined from The New York Times,...
Jason Spingarn-Koff, who was responsible for helping Netflix win its first Oscar for short doc The White Helmets, is exiting the streamer.
Spingarn-Koff has been with Netflix since 2015 as part of Lisa Nishimura’s documentary team.
His departure, along with a couple of other executives in the team, follows a couple of waves of layoffs at Netflix, which has cut around 475 staffers in the last three months. This move came as a result of the slowdown in the company’s revenue growth.
In addition to White Helmets, Spingarn-Koff has worked on Academy Awards winners Icarus, American Factory and My Octopus Teacher, Peabody Awards winners The Edge of Democracy, Chasing Coral and Audrie & Daisy and a number of Emmy winners including Strong Island. He was also involved in David Attenborough natural history series Our Planet.
He joined from The New York Times,...
- 7/30/2022
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The 44th annual Mountainfilm festival has announced its first wave of film titles and festival highlights. Festival-goers can look forward to more than 120 films as the festival takes over Telluride’s majestic box canyon Memorial Day weekend, May 26-30, 2022. The festival will include 31 features and nearly 100 shorts.
Mountainfilm 2022 will highlight 80+ North American, US, and Colorado premieres. Also celebrating world premieres are the highly-anticipated documentary, The Holly, based on the seven-year investigation into the high-profile shooting in Denver’s Holly neighborhood (film subject Terrance Roberts in attendance), and Chasing, a gripping tale of a 3,000-mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean (film subject Jason Caldwell in attendance).
The festival also boasts 18 world premiere short films traversing some of the most pertinent issues of the day — from the climate crisis to inclusion to border walls — while also providing film-goers with a dose of the adrenaline-packed, edge-of-your-seat excitement they crave from Mountainfilm.
Mountainfilm 2022 will highlight 80+ North American, US, and Colorado premieres. Also celebrating world premieres are the highly-anticipated documentary, The Holly, based on the seven-year investigation into the high-profile shooting in Denver’s Holly neighborhood (film subject Terrance Roberts in attendance), and Chasing, a gripping tale of a 3,000-mile rowing race across the Atlantic Ocean (film subject Jason Caldwell in attendance).
The festival also boasts 18 world premiere short films traversing some of the most pertinent issues of the day — from the climate crisis to inclusion to border walls — while also providing film-goers with a dose of the adrenaline-packed, edge-of-your-seat excitement they crave from Mountainfilm.
- 4/19/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Can storytelling help save the planet? Netflix thinks so: The company worked with the team behind the United Nations’ COP26 international climate conference to curate a collection of sustainability stories on the streaming service.
The Netflix “Together for Our Planet” collection of 30 TV shows, films and documentaries includes real-life nature documentaries like “Our Planet” and Oscar-winner “My Octopus Teacher”; climate-science docs like “Breaking Boundaries”; dramas like Norwegian TV series “Ragnorak”; sustainability travelogue series “Down to Earth With Zac Efron”; and films including Bong Joon-ho’s pro-vegetarian fantasy “Okja” (pictured above) and Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax.”
To be sure, Netflix also sees an opportunity to incrementally boost its subscriber rolls as well as burnish its brand with the eco-friendly content initiative.
Netflix customers can browse the collection at this link. The company also is making episodes from original series “Our Planet” and “Explained,” as well as feature-length documentary “Chasing Coral,” available...
The Netflix “Together for Our Planet” collection of 30 TV shows, films and documentaries includes real-life nature documentaries like “Our Planet” and Oscar-winner “My Octopus Teacher”; climate-science docs like “Breaking Boundaries”; dramas like Norwegian TV series “Ragnorak”; sustainability travelogue series “Down to Earth With Zac Efron”; and films including Bong Joon-ho’s pro-vegetarian fantasy “Okja” (pictured above) and Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax.”
To be sure, Netflix also sees an opportunity to incrementally boost its subscriber rolls as well as burnish its brand with the eco-friendly content initiative.
Netflix customers can browse the collection at this link. The company also is making episodes from original series “Our Planet” and “Explained,” as well as feature-length documentary “Chasing Coral,” available...
- 9/30/2021
- by Todd Spangler
- Variety Film + TV
Six top TV documentary directors will reveal details behind their projects when they join Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with key 2021 guild and Emmy contenders this month. Each person will participate in two video discussions to premiere on Monday, May 10, at 5:00 p.m. Pt; 8:00 p.m. Et. We’ll have a one-on-one with our senior editor Joyce Eng and a group chat with Joyce and all of the group together.
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Emmy contenders:
“Framing Britney Spears”: Samantha Stark
Stark was a News Emmy nominee for “Coming Out.” Other projects have included “They Get Brave,...
RSVP today to this specific event by clicking here to book your reservation. Or click here to RSVP for our entire ongoing panel series. We’ll send you a reminder a few minutes before the start of the show.
This “Meet the Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 guild and Emmy contenders:
“Framing Britney Spears”: Samantha Stark
Stark was a News Emmy nominee for “Coming Out.” Other projects have included “They Get Brave,...
- 5/3/2021
- by Chris Beachum and Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Filmmaker Jeff Orlowski has become known for his environmental documentaries Chasing Ice and Chasing Coral. But with The Social Dilemma he turns his attention to another issue with major implications for humanity: the damaging impact of social media.
“I’ve always been curious about big systemic and societal challenges,” Orlowski says during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary event. “One of the subjects of The Social Dilemma referenced this technology as a ‘climate change of culture’ and that sort of shattered my brain—that, invisibly, a handful of designers in Silicon Valley are writing code that is shaping the lives of billions of people around the planet.”
The Netflix documentary argues there are serious costs to “free” services like Facebook, Twitter and Google: Those companies collate user data expressed through “likes,” posts and Internet searches and sell it to advertisers and marketers.
“We use this phrase...
“I’ve always been curious about big systemic and societal challenges,” Orlowski says during the film’s panel at Deadline’s Contenders Documentary event. “One of the subjects of The Social Dilemma referenced this technology as a ‘climate change of culture’ and that sort of shattered my brain—that, invisibly, a handful of designers in Silicon Valley are writing code that is shaping the lives of billions of people around the planet.”
The Netflix documentary argues there are serious costs to “free” services like Facebook, Twitter and Google: Those companies collate user data expressed through “likes,” posts and Internet searches and sell it to advertisers and marketers.
“We use this phrase...
- 1/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Utopia has acquired the North American rights to The Emoji Story, a feature documentary from Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winning documentary filmmaker Ian Cheney and Emmy-winning filmmaker Martha Shane. The docu dives deep into the creation and ever-evolving world of emoji. The Emoji Story is set to hit VOD on December 22.
It is more than likely that you come across a heart emoji, smiley emoji or even a poop emoji at least once during your daily digital conversations. The emoji, which translates to “picture character” in Japanese, has changed the way we communicate and is essentially a universal language that nearly everyone understands. The rapid rise of emoji is a global phenomenon without precedent.
Although it has become the world’s foremost digital language, it has prompted difficult questions about the creation of a language and digital communication’s...
It is more than likely that you come across a heart emoji, smiley emoji or even a poop emoji at least once during your daily digital conversations. The emoji, which translates to “picture character” in Japanese, has changed the way we communicate and is essentially a universal language that nearly everyone understands. The rapid rise of emoji is a global phenomenon without precedent.
Although it has become the world’s foremost digital language, it has prompted difficult questions about the creation of a language and digital communication’s...
- 12/10/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s an oft-quoted saying about tech companies: If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product. That idea is brought into stark reality in the new Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, in which director Jeff Orlowski weaves together deft interviews with some of the very people who designed the networks and platforms that govern so much of the everyday life of billions of people around the globe today.
Orlowski, the director of the climate change documentaries Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, hadn’t always thought of tech as pernicious. But he knew Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google and ...
Orlowski, the director of the climate change documentaries Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, hadn’t always thought of tech as pernicious. But he knew Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google and ...
- 9/12/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
There’s an oft-quoted saying about tech companies: If you aren’t paying for the product, you are the product. That idea is brought into stark reality in the new Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, in which director Jeff Orlowski weaves together deft interviews with some of the very people who designed the networks and platforms that govern so much of the everyday life of billions of people around the globe today.
Orlowski, the director of the climate change documentaries Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, hadn’t always thought of tech as pernicious. But he knew Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google and ...
Orlowski, the director of the climate change documentaries Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, hadn’t always thought of tech as pernicious. But he knew Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google and ...
- 9/12/2020
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
With a seemingly endless amount of streaming options—not only the titles at our disposal, but services themselves–each week we highlight the noteworthy titles that have recently hit platforms. Check out this week’s selections below and past round-ups here.
Bisbee’ 17, Kate Plays Christine, and Actress (Robert Greene)
Every two years or so, there comes a new Robert Greene film whose beautiful images, fascinating subjects, and thorough investigation of both immediate and surrounding concepts become overrun by the true-false question––what control Greene wields, where the spontaneous and constructed do or don’t collide. His latest, Bisbee ’17, sometimes plays like a provocation towards those assumptions, heavily relying on the reenactment of a horrific, little-known strike against working-class citizens (as our admiring review handily summarizes), parlaying the filmmaker’s strengths for documentary portrait and narrative whats-it into what may be his densest work to date. – Nick N. (full interview)
Where...
Bisbee’ 17, Kate Plays Christine, and Actress (Robert Greene)
Every two years or so, there comes a new Robert Greene film whose beautiful images, fascinating subjects, and thorough investigation of both immediate and surrounding concepts become overrun by the true-false question––what control Greene wields, where the spontaneous and constructed do or don’t collide. His latest, Bisbee ’17, sometimes plays like a provocation towards those assumptions, heavily relying on the reenactment of a horrific, little-known strike against working-class citizens (as our admiring review handily summarizes), parlaying the filmmaker’s strengths for documentary portrait and narrative whats-it into what may be his densest work to date. – Nick N. (full interview)
Where...
- 9/11/2020
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
From Arab Spring uprisings to Russian disinformation campaigns, social media platforms have swung from heralded saviors to all-purpose bogeymen with breakneck speed. So how did we get here? And can online life even be fixed? Was it all the inevitable result of a worldwide collective bargain with the Big Tech devil? With Jeff Orlowski’s The Social Dilemma, which premiered at Sundance — as did the director’s 2017 doc Chasing Coral and 2012’s Chasing Ice — these consequential questions and more get addressed through a most unusual format. The […]...
- 9/9/2020
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
From Arab Spring uprisings to Russian disinformation campaigns, social media platforms have swung from heralded saviors to all-purpose bogeymen with breakneck speed. So how did we get here? And can online life even be fixed? Was it all the inevitable result of a worldwide collective bargain with the Big Tech devil? With Jeff Orlowski’s The Social Dilemma, which premiered at Sundance — as did the director’s 2017 doc Chasing Coral and 2012’s Chasing Ice — these consequential questions and more get addressed through a most unusual format. The […]...
- 9/9/2020
- by Lauren Wissot
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
To some, social media is evil, and Netflix’s upcoming “The Social Dilemma” documentary is going to tell you why. The streaming service unveiled the trailer for its upcoming title, which premieres September 9 and promises an in-depth — and thoroughly harrowing — look at how social media platforms and algorithms manipulate individuals and contribute to issues such as viral conspiracy theories, teenage mental health issues, rampant misinformation, and political polarization.
The film’s interviewees include Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology; the co-inventor of the Facebook “Like” button, Justin Rosenstein; Tim Kendall, former President of Pinterest and former Director of Monetization at Facebook; Cathy O’Neil, author of “Weapons of Math Destruction”; and Rashida Richardson, Director of Policy at the AI Now Institute.
“The Social Dilemma” is directed by Jeff Orlowski, who previously created hit nature documentaries such as “Chasing Ice” and “Chasing Coral.”
“The algorithms control what we see,...
The film’s interviewees include Tristan Harris of the Center for Humane Technology; the co-inventor of the Facebook “Like” button, Justin Rosenstein; Tim Kendall, former President of Pinterest and former Director of Monetization at Facebook; Cathy O’Neil, author of “Weapons of Math Destruction”; and Rashida Richardson, Director of Policy at the AI Now Institute.
“The Social Dilemma” is directed by Jeff Orlowski, who previously created hit nature documentaries such as “Chasing Ice” and “Chasing Coral.”
“The algorithms control what we see,...
- 8/28/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
"They are completely clueless." Netflix has revealed the official trailer for an important documentary titled The Social Dilemma, made by one of my favorite doc filmmakers - Jeff Orlowski (read my Sundance interview with him). This film is a spiritual sequel to The Great Hack on Netflix (here) from last year that also discusses how our data is being used against us. But it's also the logical next-step for Orlowski after he made two docs about climate change and kept encountering ignorance. This documentary sits down with former execs for tech companies and other insiders who explain exactly how they programmed social media to work like a drug, and how this is reshaping and tearing apart society. I saw this film at Sundance and it's so damn important - the honest truth about how bad social media is and how we need to quit. This doc includes a narrative story...
- 8/27/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Sundance Institute has announced its latest class of fellows, a group of 10 young filmmakers selected for the yearlong Sundance Ignite x Adobe fellowship. They’ll participate in a year of mentorship, workshops, and receive other support and will have their films screened at Sundance Film Festival: London in August.
The fellows, who hail from around the world and are between the ages of 18-25, submitted 1- to 15-minute short films as part of their applications, which totaled a record high of 1,600. The fellows kicked off their fellowship year on Monday with the Sundance Ignite Digital Filmmakers Lab on Sundance Co//ab. The week-long lab prepares the fellows for the year ahead, with focuses on presenting one’s artistic self, pitching projects, case studies, and goal-setting.
Earlier this month, Sundance announced a series of layoffs and consolidations in reaction to the financial hits endured during the pandemic. While the organization announce...
The fellows, who hail from around the world and are between the ages of 18-25, submitted 1- to 15-minute short films as part of their applications, which totaled a record high of 1,600. The fellows kicked off their fellowship year on Monday with the Sundance Ignite Digital Filmmakers Lab on Sundance Co//ab. The week-long lab prepares the fellows for the year ahead, with focuses on presenting one’s artistic self, pitching projects, case studies, and goal-setting.
Earlier this month, Sundance announced a series of layoffs and consolidations in reaction to the financial hits endured during the pandemic. While the organization announce...
- 7/15/2020
- by Chris Lindahl
- Indiewire
Netflix has released 10 of its educational documentaries on YouTube to give teachers free content to screen for their virtual classrooms.
The company’s free documentaries include the David Attenborough-narrated “Our Planet,” which explores the various wonders of the natural world, and Ava DuVeray’s “13th,” which examines the 13th Amendment, mass criminalization, and the American prison industry. Netflix is also making educational resources, including study guides and Q&As, available for each documentary.
More from IndieWire'Home': Apple TV+ Docuseries Explores the World's Most Innovative HomesStream of the Day: Yorgos Lanthimos' Puzzle-Box Debut 'Kinetta' Wrestles with Power and Control
The other free Netflix documentaries include “Abstract: The Art of Design,” which features visionary designers in the arts and sciences, “Babies,” which focuses on newborns, “Chasing Coral,” about a group that documents coral reefs, and “Explained,” which explores various topics of cultural relevance.
“Knock Down the House” centers on the 2018 U.
The company’s free documentaries include the David Attenborough-narrated “Our Planet,” which explores the various wonders of the natural world, and Ava DuVeray’s “13th,” which examines the 13th Amendment, mass criminalization, and the American prison industry. Netflix is also making educational resources, including study guides and Q&As, available for each documentary.
More from IndieWire'Home': Apple TV+ Docuseries Explores the World's Most Innovative HomesStream of the Day: Yorgos Lanthimos' Puzzle-Box Debut 'Kinetta' Wrestles with Power and Control
The other free Netflix documentaries include “Abstract: The Art of Design,” which features visionary designers in the arts and sciences, “Babies,” which focuses on newborns, “Chasing Coral,” about a group that documents coral reefs, and “Explained,” which explores various topics of cultural relevance.
“Knock Down the House” centers on the 2018 U.
- 4/17/2020
- by Tyler Hersko
- Indiewire
We're all addicted to technology - the internet, social media, messaging, news. Everything that comes with it. Documentary filmmaker Jeff Orlowski is the latest to make a film about this dilemma. His new film is literally called The Social Dilemma, and it premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. For the last 10 years, Orlowski has been making extraordinary films about climate change's effects on Earth. His first feature documentary, Chasing Ice, landed him an Oscar nomination. He then followed that up with Chasing Coral, one of my favorite films of 2017. His new film isn't about the climate this time - instead, it's about how and why climate deniers still exist. What is fueling their delusion and is technology helping spread the misinformation that encourages more denialism? Of course, the answer is yes. I'm glad I had a chance to meet up with Jeff while at Sundance and talk...
- 3/5/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
If you’ve been paying attention in this digital age, The Social Dilemma will not tell you what you already did not know. Director Jeff Orlowski, best known for his feature documentaries Chasing Coral and Chasing Ice, dives into something equally as vast for his next film: social media and the psychological effects that small nudges can have on consumers. The film itself operates primarily within two modes: interviewing social media executives who were influential in products like the Facebook like button and a narrative component that traces a family’s use (and abuse) of social media. These narrative sections bring home how social media can affect our behavior, with push notifications forcing us to pick up our phone even when we’ve committed to a lockdown. While informative, these elements don’t work quite as well as the documentary segments and seem to distract from the key information. We...
- 2/12/2020
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
, Jeff Orlowski’s “The Social Dilemma” does for Facebook what his previous documentaries “Chasing Ice” and “Chasing Coral” did for climate change (read: bring compelling new insight to a familiar topic while also scaring the absolute shit out of you). And while the film covers — and somehow manages to contain — a staggering breadth of topics and ramifications, one little sentence is all it takes to lay out the means and ends of the crisis at hand: Russia didn’t hack Facebook, Russia used Facebook.
That may not be a mind-blowing idea for anyone who’s been raised on the internet, but it would be wrong to think that Orlowski’s film is only speaking to the back of the class. While “The Social Dilemma” is relevant to every person on the planet, and should be legible enough to even the most technologically oblivious types, its target demographic is very online...
That may not be a mind-blowing idea for anyone who’s been raised on the internet, but it would be wrong to think that Orlowski’s film is only speaking to the back of the class. While “The Social Dilemma” is relevant to every person on the planet, and should be legible enough to even the most technologically oblivious types, its target demographic is very online...
- 1/29/2020
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The climate crisis is a frequent visitor to the plot of Hollywood movies, sometimes as a catalyst in disaster pics such as “The Day After Tomorrow,” sometimes as part of an allegory about Mother Earth, as Jennifer Lawrence and Darren Aronofsky have said is the case in “Mother!” The bombastic depictions of global warming and the havoc it portends have typically been more limited to fiction than documentary, save for the theatrical impact of “An Inconvenient Truth” in 2006.
“I think it’ll be interesting to watch those films in the future with some hindsight; we can read them as a reflection of our anxiety rather than a tackling of an issue,” says “The Hottest August” filmmaker Brett Story, whose doc asks people how they feel about the future. “How can we exist on a planet and oversee its destruction — a destruction that threatens our very existence — and seem to be...
“I think it’ll be interesting to watch those films in the future with some hindsight; we can read them as a reflection of our anxiety rather than a tackling of an issue,” says “The Hottest August” filmmaker Brett Story, whose doc asks people how they feel about the future. “How can we exist on a planet and oversee its destruction — a destruction that threatens our very existence — and seem to be...
- 9/11/2019
- by Elaine Low
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: New York Times bestseller The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu is getting a documentary adaptation with director Otto Bell (The Eagle Huntress) and producers Argent Pictures (Chasing Coral), Idil Ibrahim (Fishing Without Nets) and fledgling UK outfit Cove Pictures.
Written by Joshua Hammer, the book, released in April 2017, follows the true story of a group of librarians who undertook a daring cultural evacuation to save ancient texts from Al Qaeda.
The documentary, which due to security concerns has been shot secretly over more than a year in Mali, Africa, focuses on the 300 days of jihadi occupation – from April 2012 to January 2013 – when the infamous Saharan city fell under Al Qaeda’s control. It hones in on a small group of scholars, led by Abdel Kader Haidara, who fearing for the future of their precious manuscripts, transformed themselves into a gang of world-class smugglers. Amid life-and-death stakes, they sneak thousands of books...
Written by Joshua Hammer, the book, released in April 2017, follows the true story of a group of librarians who undertook a daring cultural evacuation to save ancient texts from Al Qaeda.
The documentary, which due to security concerns has been shot secretly over more than a year in Mali, Africa, focuses on the 300 days of jihadi occupation – from April 2012 to January 2013 – when the infamous Saharan city fell under Al Qaeda’s control. It hones in on a small group of scholars, led by Abdel Kader Haidara, who fearing for the future of their precious manuscripts, transformed themselves into a gang of world-class smugglers. Amid life-and-death stakes, they sneak thousands of books...
- 8/27/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Execs talking on Sunny Side of the Doc panel spoke of a crisis at the cinema.
Leading European executives have expressed fears for the future of documentaries in the cinema at this week’s Sunny Side of the Doc.
In a session devoted to documentaries on cinema, television and platforms, German executives spoke of a crisis in terms of documentary theatrical releasing and said they believed the future of many feature documentaries was on streaming platforms such as Netflix.
Christian Beetz, executive director at Beetz Brothers Film Production, whose credits include Open Heart and The Wagner Files, said theatrical releasing...
Leading European executives have expressed fears for the future of documentaries in the cinema at this week’s Sunny Side of the Doc.
In a session devoted to documentaries on cinema, television and platforms, German executives spoke of a crisis in terms of documentary theatrical releasing and said they believed the future of many feature documentaries was on streaming platforms such as Netflix.
Christian Beetz, executive director at Beetz Brothers Film Production, whose credits include Open Heart and The Wagner Files, said theatrical releasing...
- 6/26/2019
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
”Our goal is not to compete with the broadcasters, but to give something different.”
Diego Bunuel, director of original documentaries at Netflix, has spelt out the content he is looking for, emphasising the streaming platform is in the market for feature documentaries and that he wants to commission more non-English language projects from European talent.
Delivering a wide-ranging keynote at a packed session at Sunny Side of the Doc in La Rochelle, France, today (June 25), Bunuel set the scene by stressing the global scale of Netflix, which is available in 190 countries, has 155 million subscribers and around 400 million viewers (as each...
Diego Bunuel, director of original documentaries at Netflix, has spelt out the content he is looking for, emphasising the streaming platform is in the market for feature documentaries and that he wants to commission more non-English language projects from European talent.
Delivering a wide-ranging keynote at a packed session at Sunny Side of the Doc in La Rochelle, France, today (June 25), Bunuel set the scene by stressing the global scale of Netflix, which is available in 190 countries, has 155 million subscribers and around 400 million viewers (as each...
- 6/25/2019
- by Tim Dams
- ScreenDaily
In today’s film news roundup, Marcia Gay Harden joins “Pink Skies Ahead,” Jack Mulhern stars in a Europe-set hockey movie, Oceana Studio opens its financing division and Participant hires a social impact veteran.
Castings
Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden has been added to the cast of the drama “Pink Skies Ahead,” the first feature film from Greg Silverman’s Stampede.
The Kelly Oxford film, which will begin production later this month in Los Angeles, tells the story of a wild young woman — played by Jessica Barden — whose life unravels after dropping out of college, moving in with her parents and being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. It’s based on the essay “No Real Danger” from Oxford’s second book, “When You Find Out the World Is Against You.”
Henry Winkler, Rosa Salazar, Devon Bostick and Lewis Pullman also star. Silverman and Lisa Zambri are producing alongside Divide...
Castings
Academy Award winner Marcia Gay Harden has been added to the cast of the drama “Pink Skies Ahead,” the first feature film from Greg Silverman’s Stampede.
The Kelly Oxford film, which will begin production later this month in Los Angeles, tells the story of a wild young woman — played by Jessica Barden — whose life unravels after dropping out of college, moving in with her parents and being diagnosed with an anxiety disorder. It’s based on the essay “No Real Danger” from Oxford’s second book, “When You Find Out the World Is Against You.”
Henry Winkler, Rosa Salazar, Devon Bostick and Lewis Pullman also star. Silverman and Lisa Zambri are producing alongside Divide...
- 6/15/2019
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
After inverting the backwoods horror sub-genre in Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (which might be followed up with a sequel) and exploring the terrors of parenthood in Little Evil, filmmaker Eli Craig will next focus on the scary side of weddings in Argent Pictures' new horror comedy Bride and Doom:
Press Release: May 1, 2019 – Los Angeles, CA – Argent Pictures, the film production and financing outfit run by Jill Ahrens, Ryan Ahrens and Ben Renzo are partnering with Jason Michael Berman at Mandalay Pictures on an original horror comedy titled Bride And Doom and have tapped Eli Craig to direct and co-write along with Josh Parkinson.
Argent’s Jill Ahrens, Ryan Ahrens and Ben Renzo, and Mandalay’s Jason Michael Berman will produce the film. Executive Producers are Argent partners Drew Brees, Tony Parker, Michael Finley, and Derrick Brooks.
Cloverfield meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding in Bride And Doom – a...
Press Release: May 1, 2019 – Los Angeles, CA – Argent Pictures, the film production and financing outfit run by Jill Ahrens, Ryan Ahrens and Ben Renzo are partnering with Jason Michael Berman at Mandalay Pictures on an original horror comedy titled Bride And Doom and have tapped Eli Craig to direct and co-write along with Josh Parkinson.
Argent’s Jill Ahrens, Ryan Ahrens and Ben Renzo, and Mandalay’s Jason Michael Berman will produce the film. Executive Producers are Argent partners Drew Brees, Tony Parker, Michael Finley, and Derrick Brooks.
Cloverfield meets My Big Fat Greek Wedding in Bride And Doom – a...
- 5/1/2019
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Exclusive: U.S. soccer star Hope Solo is to be the subject of a movie biopic produced by Hacksaw Ridge backers Argent Pictures.
The currently untitled narrative feature about the World Cup winner and Olympic champion will be written and directed by Christine Crokos (Pimp) after Argent optioned the goalkeeper’s life story rights.
Jill Ahrens (American Made), Ryan Ahrens (Chasing Coral) and Ben Renzo (The Birth Of A Nation) will produce for Malibu-based Argent. Executive producers are Argent partners and fellow sports stars Drew Brees, Tony Parker, Michael Finley, and Derrick Brooks. That’s a combined haul on the project of a World Cup, Olympic gold medal, two Super Bowls and five NBA Championships.
From humble beginnings, Solo was heavily recruited by several colleges around the country. She excelled at the University of Washington, breaking numerous records on her way to becoming one of the best women’s goalkeepers in Pac-10 history.
The currently untitled narrative feature about the World Cup winner and Olympic champion will be written and directed by Christine Crokos (Pimp) after Argent optioned the goalkeeper’s life story rights.
Jill Ahrens (American Made), Ryan Ahrens (Chasing Coral) and Ben Renzo (The Birth Of A Nation) will produce for Malibu-based Argent. Executive producers are Argent partners and fellow sports stars Drew Brees, Tony Parker, Michael Finley, and Derrick Brooks. That’s a combined haul on the project of a World Cup, Olympic gold medal, two Super Bowls and five NBA Championships.
From humble beginnings, Solo was heavily recruited by several colleges around the country. She excelled at the University of Washington, breaking numerous records on her way to becoming one of the best women’s goalkeepers in Pac-10 history.
- 4/9/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Sundance Film Festival is launching a new program to offer industry mentoring to under-represented and indie creators, the festival announced Tuesday.
Based out of Park City, Utah’s Kimball Art Center, the program will include focused mentoring for filmmakers, writers, producers, and beyond, as well as keynote events with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler and a conversation with top nonfiction filmmakers about a banner 2018 for docs.
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” said the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco, and John Nein in a joint statement.
The forum is an expansion of programming at the nonprofit institute. Members of the group’s signature artist development labs and fellowships will showcase new work to industry attendees,...
Based out of Park City, Utah’s Kimball Art Center, the program will include focused mentoring for filmmakers, writers, producers, and beyond, as well as keynote events with “Black Panther” director Ryan Coogler and a conversation with top nonfiction filmmakers about a banner 2018 for docs.
“We’re eager to unfold this first edition and convene our vibrant community. While the Institute continues to encourage artists to find their voices, it takes the dedicated support of our industry colleagues to carry those voices out into the world,” said the Sundance Institute’s Anne Lai, Caroline Libresco, and John Nein in a joint statement.
The forum is an expansion of programming at the nonprofit institute. Members of the group’s signature artist development labs and fellowships will showcase new work to industry attendees,...
- 1/15/2019
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
“Black Panther” filmmaker Ryan Coogler will lead a keynote conversation as part of a new program to be held at Sundance called the Talent Forum, the Sundance Institute announced Tuesday.
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” director Morgan Neville is also among some of the speakers who will participate at a keynote panel discussion.
The Talent Forum is a new event for creators and industry professionals at the Sundance Film Festival in which emerging talent from the Institute’s Labs and Fellowships will gather, present new work, attend screenings, keynote conversations and seminars, and engage in one-on-one meetings with other talent and professionals designed to support the artist.
Also Read: Jordan Peele, Rosamund Pike, Steven Soderbergh Projects Announced for 2019 Sundance Indie Episodic, Shorts Slate
The new program kicks off Jan. 29-31 at the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah.
Coogler will sit down with New York Times journalist and...
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” director Morgan Neville is also among some of the speakers who will participate at a keynote panel discussion.
The Talent Forum is a new event for creators and industry professionals at the Sundance Film Festival in which emerging talent from the Institute’s Labs and Fellowships will gather, present new work, attend screenings, keynote conversations and seminars, and engage in one-on-one meetings with other talent and professionals designed to support the artist.
Also Read: Jordan Peele, Rosamund Pike, Steven Soderbergh Projects Announced for 2019 Sundance Indie Episodic, Shorts Slate
The new program kicks off Jan. 29-31 at the Kimball Art Center in Park City, Utah.
Coogler will sit down with New York Times journalist and...
- 1/15/2019
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
The Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced the seven nominees for Best Documentary on Tuesday. The winner will be revealed at the 30th Annual PGA Awards on Jan. 29 in Los Angeles. The remaining PGA Awards nominations, including those for the Oscar bellwether Best Picture, will be unveiled on Jan. 4, 2019. The lucky seven documentary features in the running are:
“The Dawn Wall”
“Free Solo”
“Hal”
“Into the Okavango”
“Rbg”
“Three Identical Strangers”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Three of these films have already picked up major precursor nominations. “Free Solo,” which follows Alex Honnold as he strives to be the first person to free solo climb El Capitan in Yosemite, was nominated by the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda) and International Documentary Association (Ida). “Three Identical Strangers,” which tells the tale of triplets separated at birth and adopted into different families, was also nominated by the Ccda. While it was snubbed by the Ida,...
“The Dawn Wall”
“Free Solo”
“Hal”
“Into the Okavango”
“Rbg”
“Three Identical Strangers”
“Won’t You Be My Neighbor?”
Three of these films have already picked up major precursor nominations. “Free Solo,” which follows Alex Honnold as he strives to be the first person to free solo climb El Capitan in Yosemite, was nominated by the Critics Choice Documentary Awards (Ccda) and International Documentary Association (Ida). “Three Identical Strangers,” which tells the tale of triplets separated at birth and adopted into different families, was also nominated by the Ccda. While it was snubbed by the Ida,...
- 11/20/2018
- by John Benutty
- Gold Derby
Exclusive: American Made and Hacksaw Ridge backer Argent Pictures, whose partners include sports stars Drew Brees and Tony Parker, and Amateur producer Mandalay Pictures begin shoot next week in Vermont on female buddy comedy Soulmates.
Pic focuses on two friends who are trying to maintain the balance of their friendship just as their community rallies against the corporate takeover of the local maple sugar industry. Stephanie Lynn (Castle) and Alexandra Case (Fishes ‘n Loaves: Heaven Sent) wrote the script and will star alongside Mark Famiglietti (Aquarius). Tim Armstrong (Dakota’s Summer) is on board to direct.
Jill Ahrens, Ryan Ahrens and Ben Renzo of Argent, Caroline Connor, Patrick Raymond of Mandalay Pictures, and Alexandra Renzo are producing. Executive producers are Argent’s Brees, Parker, Michael Finley and Derrick Brooks, and Mandalay Pictures’ Jason Michael Berman. Lisa Nitti negotiated the deal on behalf of Argent Pictures and will serve as production counsel.
Pic focuses on two friends who are trying to maintain the balance of their friendship just as their community rallies against the corporate takeover of the local maple sugar industry. Stephanie Lynn (Castle) and Alexandra Case (Fishes ‘n Loaves: Heaven Sent) wrote the script and will star alongside Mark Famiglietti (Aquarius). Tim Armstrong (Dakota’s Summer) is on board to direct.
Jill Ahrens, Ryan Ahrens and Ben Renzo of Argent, Caroline Connor, Patrick Raymond of Mandalay Pictures, and Alexandra Renzo are producing. Executive producers are Argent’s Brees, Parker, Michael Finley and Derrick Brooks, and Mandalay Pictures’ Jason Michael Berman. Lisa Nitti negotiated the deal on behalf of Argent Pictures and will serve as production counsel.
- 9/20/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
NewportFILM will screen documentaries by Morgan Neville, Matt Tyrnauer, Nathanel Kahn, and Andrew Solomon as part of its annual summer series.
The festival has become something of an institution in the posh seaside community — Newport, Rhode Island is an old world resort, with Gilded Age mansions that are straight out of an Edith Wharton novel. Part of the attraction is that the sunset screenings are hosted in several different historic venues, including Rosecliff, a mansion featured in the 1974 version of “The Great Gatsby” with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, the Eisenhower House, which was the “Summer White House” for President Dwight D. Eisenhower or his Mar a Lago, and the Newport International Polo Grounds.
The screenings kicked off Thursday with Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a look at the enduring legacy of Fred Rogers, and runs through September 6th. Past films that have played at newportFILM include Brett Morgan’s “Jane,...
The festival has become something of an institution in the posh seaside community — Newport, Rhode Island is an old world resort, with Gilded Age mansions that are straight out of an Edith Wharton novel. Part of the attraction is that the sunset screenings are hosted in several different historic venues, including Rosecliff, a mansion featured in the 1974 version of “The Great Gatsby” with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, the Eisenhower House, which was the “Summer White House” for President Dwight D. Eisenhower or his Mar a Lago, and the Newport International Polo Grounds.
The screenings kicked off Thursday with Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a look at the enduring legacy of Fred Rogers, and runs through September 6th. Past films that have played at newportFILM include Brett Morgan’s “Jane,...
- 6/22/2018
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Hacksaw Ridge backer Argent Pictures has joined upcoming action-comedy Kung Fury 2 as a financier and producer, with shoot due to get underway in September.
Michael Fassbender stars in the previously announced pic alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eiza Gonzales, David Hasselhoff and writer-director David Sandberg who is adapting his popular YouTube short. Tyler Burton Smith is co-writer.
This is a wild one. According to the production, “the feature is set in 1985, the best year ever. Miami is kept safe under the watchful eye of Kung Fury, the greatest damn cop of all time. His Thundercops are the ultimate police force assembled from across history to defeat the villainous Kung Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. After the tragic death of one of their members causes the group to disband, a mysterious villain emerges from the shadows to aid in the Fuhrer’s quest to attain the ultimate weapon. Kung Fury must travel through space...
Michael Fassbender stars in the previously announced pic alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger, Eiza Gonzales, David Hasselhoff and writer-director David Sandberg who is adapting his popular YouTube short. Tyler Burton Smith is co-writer.
This is a wild one. According to the production, “the feature is set in 1985, the best year ever. Miami is kept safe under the watchful eye of Kung Fury, the greatest damn cop of all time. His Thundercops are the ultimate police force assembled from across history to defeat the villainous Kung Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler. After the tragic death of one of their members causes the group to disband, a mysterious villain emerges from the shadows to aid in the Fuhrer’s quest to attain the ultimate weapon. Kung Fury must travel through space...
- 5/14/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
The Peabody Awards board of jurors announced Monday the nine documentary winners selected for the annual Peabody 30.
The documentaries being honored include stories that tackle current global issues such as the effects of climate change on the world’s coral reefs in “Chasing Coral” and how young Dreamers navigate immigration policy in “Indivisible.” Other topics addressed in the documentaries are gun violence, the crisis in Syria, and the life of Maya Angelou.
Past Peabody Award winners, including Carol Burnett who is the first recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award, will be honored at the 77th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony on May 19 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. The event will be hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj, writer and senior correspondent on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.” Variety is the exclusive media partner for the event.
The Peabody Awards recognize 30 stories each year in television, radio, and digital...
The documentaries being honored include stories that tackle current global issues such as the effects of climate change on the world’s coral reefs in “Chasing Coral” and how young Dreamers navigate immigration policy in “Indivisible.” Other topics addressed in the documentaries are gun violence, the crisis in Syria, and the life of Maya Angelou.
Past Peabody Award winners, including Carol Burnett who is the first recipient of the Peabody Career Achievement Award, will be honored at the 77th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony on May 19 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. The event will be hosted by comedian Hasan Minhaj, writer and senior correspondent on “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah.” Variety is the exclusive media partner for the event.
The Peabody Awards recognize 30 stories each year in television, radio, and digital...
- 4/16/2018
- by Ariana Brockington
- Variety Film + TV
The nominees for the 2018 Peabody Awards were announced this morning and a number of standout television series made the cut. FX’s “Legion,” Hulu’s “The Handmaid’s Tale,” HBO’s “Insecure,” CBS’ “Star Trek: Discovery” and NBC’s “The Good Place” were all included in the Entertainment category while familiar award season docs “Stronger Island,” “Chasing Coral” and “City of Ghosts” also are up for honors in the Documentary category.
- 4/10/2018
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
The success of Mudbound and a string of fine documentaries must surely convince the Academy that the streaming giant deserves a little love
Oscar nominations are unveiled next week, and away from the fluffier speculation over who will win what, many in the industry will be perusing the list with a longer-term question in mind: will this be the year that Netflix finally breaks through? The streaming giant has been buzzing around the awards race for a couple of years now, though the Academy has hitherto mostly swatted it away – loth to give its blessing to films uploaded directly online, give or take a minor cinema release for the sake of form. Two years ago, their complete shut-out of Beasts of No Nation – Netflix’s first narrative original, scooped fresh from an acclaimed festival run – seemed a pointed vote in favour of traditional distribution models, notwithstanding the film’s recognition...
Oscar nominations are unveiled next week, and away from the fluffier speculation over who will win what, many in the industry will be perusing the list with a longer-term question in mind: will this be the year that Netflix finally breaks through? The streaming giant has been buzzing around the awards race for a couple of years now, though the Academy has hitherto mostly swatted it away – loth to give its blessing to films uploaded directly online, give or take a minor cinema release for the sake of form. Two years ago, their complete shut-out of Beasts of No Nation – Netflix’s first narrative original, scooped fresh from an acclaimed festival run – seemed a pointed vote in favour of traditional distribution models, notwithstanding the film’s recognition...
- 1/21/2018
- by Guy Lodge
- The Guardian - Film News
The 2018 Producers Guild Awards were handed out on Saturday night, January 20. These awards celebrate the best producing achievements in film and television, and the big-screen winners often give us an idea of who will take top honors at the Oscars. Scroll down for our live updating report on the night’s winners and what it means for the awards season to come. Check out the complete list of winners in all 12 categories here.
The very first Best Picture winner at the PGA Awards was “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1990. That film went on to win the top Oscar, and in total 19 out of the PGA’s 28 previous picks have gone on to claim Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards (68%). And in the last 10 years the correlation has been even stronger, with the two groups agreeing eight times (80%). However, the last two years have been anomalies. In 2016 “The Big Short” won...
The very first Best Picture winner at the PGA Awards was “Driving Miss Daisy” in 1990. That film went on to win the top Oscar, and in total 19 out of the PGA’s 28 previous picks have gone on to claim Best Picture honors at the Academy Awards (68%). And in the last 10 years the correlation has been even stronger, with the two groups agreeing eight times (80%). However, the last two years have been anomalies. In 2016 “The Big Short” won...
- 1/21/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The 2018 Producers Guild Awards were presented on Saturday night, January 20. These are the 29th annual kudos celebrating the best producers in film and television. Historically they have been known as an especially strong predictor of the Oscars, with 19 out of the 28 previous PGA winners going on to claim Best Picture from the motion picture academy, which is a 68% rate of agreement between the two industry organizations. Scroll down for the complete list of winners in all 12 categories.
The Producers Guild has had an even stronger track record forecasting the Oscars in recent years. Eight of the last 10 PGA champs have matched the Oscar choice (80%), and since 2010 both the motion picture academy and the PGA have used a preferential ballot to determine the winners. That unique voting method prioritizes consensus choices over passionate picks. That makes the PGA Awards the first industry event where we get to see what Hollywood can...
The Producers Guild has had an even stronger track record forecasting the Oscars in recent years. Eight of the last 10 PGA champs have matched the Oscar choice (80%), and since 2010 both the motion picture academy and the PGA have used a preferential ballot to determine the winners. That unique voting method prioritizes consensus choices over passionate picks. That makes the PGA Awards the first industry event where we get to see what Hollywood can...
- 1/21/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
The Producers Guild Awards have been one of the most closely watched races in the run-up to Oscars because they have presaged the academy’s choice for Best Picture eight times in the last 10 years. However, the two times they disagreed were the last two years in a row, despite the fact that the PGA uses the same preferential ballot that decides the Oscars. Are they still a reliable bellwether? Scroll down for our complete predictions in eight categories for film as well as TV. The nominees are ranked in order of their racetrack odds, with the projected winners highlighted in gold.
There are 11 nominees for Best Picture at this event, and chances are good most of the eventual Oscar nominees for Best Picture — if not all of them — are on the PGA’s list. We’re currently predicting a victory for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” but this is...
There are 11 nominees for Best Picture at this event, and chances are good most of the eventual Oscar nominees for Best Picture — if not all of them — are on the PGA’s list. We’re currently predicting a victory for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,” but this is...
- 1/19/2018
- by Daniel Montgomery
- Gold Derby
Nominees for the Producers Guild of America Awards have been revealed, capping off a busy award season week that has already included the Palm Springs Film Festival’s awards gala, the New York Film Critics Circle Awards, and the Art Directors and Writers Guild nominations, and the makeup and hairstyling Oscar shortlist — all leading up to Sunday’s Golden Globes.
For the first time, as the result of a tie among the 8,200 PGA voters, not 10 but 11 films will vie for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer, including “Call Me by Your Name,” “Dunkirk,” “Get Out,” “The Post,” and “Wonder Woman.” Winning this PGA Award typically bodes well for a film’s Best Picture Oscar chances, although last year that was not the case (“La La Land” won at the PGAs, “Moonlight” prevailed at the Academy Awards).
Read More:Producers Guild Awards: ‘La La Land’ Wins Best Motion Picture at...
For the first time, as the result of a tie among the 8,200 PGA voters, not 10 but 11 films will vie for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer, including “Call Me by Your Name,” “Dunkirk,” “Get Out,” “The Post,” and “Wonder Woman.” Winning this PGA Award typically bodes well for a film’s Best Picture Oscar chances, although last year that was not the case (“La La Land” won at the PGAs, “Moonlight” prevailed at the Academy Awards).
Read More:Producers Guild Awards: ‘La La Land’ Wins Best Motion Picture at...
- 1/5/2018
- by Jenna Marotta
- Indiewire
I've got a wonderful video here for you to watch from No Film School, which highlights the best cinematography that we've seen in film throughout the course of 2017. There were some seriously beautiful looking films this year. A couple of my favorites that were featured in this video supercut include Blade Runner 2049 and Dunkirk. The other films listed include Chasing Coral, Casting JonBenét, Kedi, Mudbound, Wonder Wheel, Good Time, The Florida Project, and Columbus. Some of the other best Cinematography from this past year includes Wonderstruck, The Shape of Water, Darkest Hour, War For The Planet of the Apes, Goodbye Christopher Robin, and more that weren't included in the video. Are there any other films that you think should be added to the list?...
- 12/28/2017
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
With the year coming to an end, it's time to look back at the movies that defined the year in cinema. One of our favorite websites, No Film School, has put together a superb video to highlight & discuss their picks for the Best Cinematography of 2017. Not only is the video mesmerizing to watch with all of this lovely cinematography, but they completely nailed the selection - picking out, really, all the best cinematography, including from excellent documentaries like Chasing Coral (one of my favorites), Casting JonBenét, and Kedi. (The only big film missing, to me, is Call Me By Your Name...) Of course they feature Blade Runner 2049 (go, Roger Deakins, go!) and Dunkirk, along with Mudbound, Wonder Wheel, Good Time, The Florida Project, and Columbus. Yep, all the best films right there. This year end movie recap video is a must watch. Description direct from YouTube: "To compile...
- 12/26/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
The Academy Awards shortlist for Best Original Song contains 70 different tunes, which a pedant might say isn’t very short at all. Frontrunners have emerged, like “Remember Me” from the “Coco” soundtrack and Sufjan Stevens’ two contributions to “Call Me by Your Name,” but there’s a variety that may not be reflected when the five nominees are announced January 23. Until then, avail yourself of this playlist.
Read More:Oscars 2018: Listen to Selections from 141 Scores Eligible for This Year’s Academy Award
Read More:Oscars 2018: How the ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Phantom Thread’ Original Scores Dodged Disqualification
And here’s the not-that-shortlist:
“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never...
Read More:Oscars 2018: Listen to Selections from 141 Scores Eligible for This Year’s Academy Award
Read More:Oscars 2018: How the ‘Dunkirk’ and ‘Phantom Thread’ Original Scores Dodged Disqualification
And here’s the not-that-shortlist:
“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never...
- 12/24/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences revealed 70 songs that qualify for the Best Original Song Oscar this afternoon. Films with more than one submission include “Beauty and the Beast,” “Call Me By Your Name,” “Cars 3,” “Elizabeth Blue” and “Pulimurugan.” It’s worth noting that “The Greatest Showman,” a musical featuring original songs from last year’s winners Benj Pasek and Justin Paul, only submitted one song, “This Is Me.”
Dierks Bentley enters the Best Song fire with ‘Only The Brave’
The full list of qualifying songs is as follows:
“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never”
“She” from “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story...
Dierks Bentley enters the Best Song fire with ‘Only The Brave’
The full list of qualifying songs is as follows:
“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never”
“She” from “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story...
- 12/18/2017
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the 70 original songs still in contention for the Oscar this year. Five of the shortlisted songs will earn nominations, which are set to be revealed on January 23. Original songs from “Call Me By Your Name,” “Battle of the Sexes,” “Beauty and the Beast,” and more all made the shortlist this year. “City of Stars” from “La La Land” took home the prize last year.
The following tracks have been included on the Oscars shortlist for Best Original Song:
“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never”
“She” from “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story”
“Your Hand I Will...
The following tracks have been included on the Oscars shortlist for Best Original Song:
“U.N.I (You And I)” from “And the Winner Isn’t”
“Love And Lies” from “Band Aid”
“If I Dare” from “Battle of the Sexes”
“Evermore” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“How Does A Moment Last Forever” from “Beauty and the Beast”
“Now Or Never” from “Bloodline: Now or Never”
“She” from “Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story”
“Your Hand I Will...
- 12/18/2017
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Oscar-Shortlisted Director Jeff Orlowski On ‘Chasing Coral’ & Threat Posed By Coral Reef Destruction
Director Jeff Orlowski logged some serious miles for his latest documentary, Chasing Coral, about the threat facing the ocean's corals and what that portends for humankind. "I think the word ‘chasing’ in the title is very appropriate. We started off in Florida and the Caribbean and we were documenting everything there, and then it took us to Hawaii, American Samoa; ultimately Australia is where we got a lot of the main footage in the film," he tells Deadline. "We also…...
- 12/18/2017
- Deadline
Jane Goodall with Jane director Brett Morgen Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, directed by Steve James; Jeff Orlowski's Chasing Coral; Matthew Heineman's City Of Ghosts; Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: New York Public Library; Agnès Varda and Jr's Faces Places; Ai Weiwei's Human Flow; Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk's An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power; Brett Morgen's Jane; Daniel Lindsay and Tj Martin's La 92; Firas Fayyad and Steen Johannessen's Last Men In Aleppo; Amir Bar-Lev's Long Strange Trip; Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's One Of Us; Yance Ford's Strong Island, and Jennifer Brea's Unrest are another step closer to garnering a Best Documentary Oscar nomination.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Documentary Branch determined the shortlist in a preliminary round of voting on the 170 submitted titles. Documentary Branch members will now select...
Abacus: Small Enough To Jail, directed by Steve James; Jeff Orlowski's Chasing Coral; Matthew Heineman's City Of Ghosts; Frederick Wiseman's Ex Libris: New York Public Library; Agnès Varda and Jr's Faces Places; Ai Weiwei's Human Flow; Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk's An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth To Power; Brett Morgen's Jane; Daniel Lindsay and Tj Martin's La 92; Firas Fayyad and Steen Johannessen's Last Men In Aleppo; Amir Bar-Lev's Long Strange Trip; Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady's One Of Us; Yance Ford's Strong Island, and Jennifer Brea's Unrest are another step closer to garnering a Best Documentary Oscar nomination.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Documentary Branch determined the shortlist in a preliminary round of voting on the 170 submitted titles. Documentary Branch members will now select...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 90th Academy Awards®. One hundred seventy films were originally submitted in the category.
The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Educational Films and Wgbh/Frontline.
Director Steve James
A small financial institution called Abacus becomes the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States’ 2008 mortgage crisis.
Chasing Coral, Exposure Labs in partnership with The Ocean Agency & View Into the Blue in association with Argent Pictures & The Kendeda Fund. Directed by Jeff Orlowski
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
The 15 films are listed below in alphabetical order by title, with their production companies:
Abacus: Small Enough to Jail, Mitten Media, Motto Pictures, Kartemquin Educational Films and Wgbh/Frontline.
Director Steve James
A small financial institution called Abacus becomes the only company criminally indicted in the wake of the United States’ 2008 mortgage crisis.
Chasing Coral, Exposure Labs in partnership with The Ocean Agency & View Into the Blue in association with Argent Pictures & The Kendeda Fund. Directed by Jeff Orlowski
Coral reefs around the world are vanishing at an unprecedented rate. A team of divers, photographers and scientists set out on a thrilling ocean adventure to discover why and to reveal the underwater mystery to the world.
- 12/8/2017
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the 15 films selected for the Documentary Oscar shortlist this evening. Documentary branch members will now select the five nominees from these 15 finalists that will vie for this honor at the 90th Oscars in March.
Expected titles such as “Chasing Coral,” “City of Ghosts,” “Faces Places,” “Jane,” “Icarus,” and “Last Men in Aleppo” made the cut while potential contenders such as “Step,” “Risk,” “Kedi,” “The Force,” “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” “Casting Jonbenet” and “Nobody Speak” did not.
Continue reading ‘Jane,’ ‘Icarus’ & ‘Faces Places’ Among 15 Documentary Oscar Finalists at The Playlist.
Expected titles such as “Chasing Coral,” “City of Ghosts,” “Faces Places,” “Jane,” “Icarus,” and “Last Men in Aleppo” made the cut while potential contenders such as “Step,” “Risk,” “Kedi,” “The Force,” “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” “Casting Jonbenet” and “Nobody Speak” did not.
Continue reading ‘Jane,’ ‘Icarus’ & ‘Faces Places’ Among 15 Documentary Oscar Finalists at The Playlist.
- 12/8/2017
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch has advanced 15 films out of 170 submissions to vie for the final five Documentary Feature nominations.
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ documentary branch has advanced 15 films out of 170 submissions to vie for the final five Documentary Feature nominations.
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
As expected, Brett Morgan’s “Jane,” Agnes Varda and Jr’s “Faces Places,” two Syria non-fiction features, “Last Men in Aleppo” and “City of Ghosts,” two social action environmental documentaries, “An Inconvenient Sequel” and “Chasing Coral,” and timely Russian doping expose “Icarus” made the shortlist.
Read More:2018 Oscar Predictions: Best Documentary Feature
Netflix landed four films, including “Chasing Coral,” “Icarus,” “One of Us” and transgender filmmaker’s Yance Ford’s black lives matter documentary “Strong Island.” Amazon delivered Grateful Dead movie “Long Strange Trip,” which qualified even at four hours long, as well as “City of Ghosts” and Ai Weiwei’s immigration feature “Human Flow,” which was backed by Participant Media along with Paramount’s “An Inconvenient Sequel.”
Four features were directed or co-directed by women,...
- 12/8/2017
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
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