Lava for Good co-founders Jason Flom and Jeff Kempler, along with Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King, will partner with Oscar-winning film and television producer Cathy Schulman’s Welle Entertainment and Primary Wave Music to develop and produce a multi-season scripted television series inspired by Lava for Good’s award-winning podcast Bone Valley. Veteran screenwriter and TV producer Dana Stevens will adapt.
Written and hosted by King along with producer and researcher Kelsey Decker, the show chronicles the chilling story of Leo Schofield, the Central Florida man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for killing his wife, Michelle. Schofield has spent over three decades in prison — even after another incarcerated man, Jeremy Scott, confessed in detail to the crime. The attention that King and the podcast have brought to the case was cited in Schofield’s most recent parole hearing in May of 2023, which resulted in Schofield being transferred to the Everglades Re-Entry Center.
Written and hosted by King along with producer and researcher Kelsey Decker, the show chronicles the chilling story of Leo Schofield, the Central Florida man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for killing his wife, Michelle. Schofield has spent over three decades in prison — even after another incarcerated man, Jeremy Scott, confessed in detail to the crime. The attention that King and the podcast have brought to the case was cited in Schofield’s most recent parole hearing in May of 2023, which resulted in Schofield being transferred to the Everglades Re-Entry Center.
- 4/10/2024
- Podnews.net
Exclusive: Bone Valley, the podcast that explores the innocence of Leo Schofield, who has served nearly 35 years for the murder of his wife, despite another man confessing to the crime, is set to be turned into a scripted television series.
The podcast comes from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King and Lava for Good, the company founded by record executive-turned-activist Jason Flom and Jeff Kempler.
It is now being developed as a series with Cathy Schulman’s Welle Entertainment and Primary Wave Music. Dana Stevens (The Woman King) will adapt.
Written and hosted by King along with producer and researcher Kelsey Decker, the podcast chronicles the story of Schofield, the Central Florida man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for killing his wife, Michelle. Schofield has spent over three decades in prison — even after another incarcerated man, Jeremy Scott, confessed in detail to the crime.
The attention that King and the...
The podcast comes from Pulitzer Prize-winning author Gilbert King and Lava for Good, the company founded by record executive-turned-activist Jason Flom and Jeff Kempler.
It is now being developed as a series with Cathy Schulman’s Welle Entertainment and Primary Wave Music. Dana Stevens (The Woman King) will adapt.
Written and hosted by King along with producer and researcher Kelsey Decker, the podcast chronicles the story of Schofield, the Central Florida man who was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned for killing his wife, Michelle. Schofield has spent over three decades in prison — even after another incarcerated man, Jeremy Scott, confessed in detail to the crime.
The attention that King and the...
- 4/9/2024
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
The Academy has announced the five winners of the 2023 Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting who each win a $35,000 prize and mentorship from an Academy member throughout their fellowship year.
The recipients will also be featured at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read on April 25 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater (pictured), where an ensemble of actors will read selected scenes from the 2023 winning scripts.
The 2023 winners appear below listed alphabetically:
Brent Delaney, Brownie Mary
At the height of the AIDS crisis, Mary Jane Rathbun illegally distributes cannabis-infused brownies to heal thousands of gay men in...
The recipients will also be featured at the Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Awards and Live Read on April 25 at the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater (pictured), where an ensemble of actors will read selected scenes from the 2023 winning scripts.
The 2023 winners appear below listed alphabetically:
Brent Delaney, Brownie Mary
At the height of the AIDS crisis, Mary Jane Rathbun illegally distributes cannabis-infused brownies to heal thousands of gay men in...
- 3/4/2024
- ScreenDaily
As Hollywood agencies and production companies increasingly turn to artificial intelligence to evaluate screenplays, a group of writers and creatives have come together to design a so-called barrier against the incursion.
Shane Black (“Iron Man 3”), Jim Herzfeld (“Meet the Parents”) and Akela Cooper (“M3GAN”) are among two dozen industryites who collaborated on the development of a new tech platform, dubbed the Gauntlet, in an effort to keep humans assessing screenplays at the gate-keeper stage rather than AI.
ScriptHop, a Hollywood tech company founded by former UTA story department head Scott Foster and tech entrepreneur Brian Austin, is launching the Gauntlet Tuesday with 30 freelance script analysts from such high-profile companies as HBO and Lucasfilm, becoming the largest organized group of professional readers in the industry.
ScriptHop advisory board member and screenwriter Herzfeld came up with the idea that sees screenwriters pay a $380 fee to run their script through a “gauntlet” of professional story analysts.
Shane Black (“Iron Man 3”), Jim Herzfeld (“Meet the Parents”) and Akela Cooper (“M3GAN”) are among two dozen industryites who collaborated on the development of a new tech platform, dubbed the Gauntlet, in an effort to keep humans assessing screenplays at the gate-keeper stage rather than AI.
ScriptHop, a Hollywood tech company founded by former UTA story department head Scott Foster and tech entrepreneur Brian Austin, is launching the Gauntlet Tuesday with 30 freelance script analysts from such high-profile companies as HBO and Lucasfilm, becoming the largest organized group of professional readers in the industry.
ScriptHop advisory board member and screenwriter Herzfeld came up with the idea that sees screenwriters pay a $380 fee to run their script through a “gauntlet” of professional story analysts.
- 2/27/2024
- by Tatiana Siegel
- Variety Film + TV
Sherlock Jr..I don’t know what I expected. For some reason, when booking my plane ticket from Chicago to Muskegon, Michigan, I just assumed it would be a “normal,” albeit probably smaller, plane that would chariot us intrepid travelers to the neighboring state. So when I turned up at O’Hare, I thought nothing of being asked to provide my weight and having my carry-on bags weighed as well, nothing of the smaller-than-usual waiting area, nothing of taking an elevator directly to the tarmac rather than descending via the usual jet bridge. The sight of the nine-seat Cessna shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. More disconcerting was the passenger who reveled in telling the lot of us why the plane flew around Lake Michigan, not across it: in case it crashed, it could more easily be found. This seemed an appropriate way to get to the International Buster Keaton Society's 2023 Convention,...
- 2/5/2024
- MUBI
The Current Debate is a column that connects the dots between great writing about topics in the wider film conversation.Crossroads.It was early last March when, after twenty-three years and over two thousand reviews, A. O. Scott announced he would resign from his post as film critic at the New York Times, leaving his readers to wrestle with some cataclysmic prophecies. “The current apocalypse,” he wrote on his way out,… is that streaming and Covid anxiety are conspiring to kill off moviegoing as we have known it, leaving a handful of I.P.-driven blockbusters and horror movies to keep theaters in business while we mostly sit at home bingeing docuseries, dystopias and the occasional art-film guilt trip. Am I worried? Of course I’m worried. The cultural space in which the movies I care most about have flourished seems to be shrinking. The audience necessary to sustain original...
- 1/25/2024
- MUBI
Sixteen fellows with a dozen projects will be headed to the mythic bunk beds and cabin life of Utah just prior to the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. Here their words on paper will be tested, tried and nurtured with valuable input from the likes of Michelle Satter, Ilyse McKimmie, Jessie Nelson and creative advisors Ritesh Batra, Linda Yvette Chávez, Scott Frank, Phil Hay, Marielle Heller, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Kemp Powers, Dee Rees, Howard Rodman, Dana Stevens, Joan Tewkesbury, Bill Wheeler, Tyger Williams, Virgil Williams, and Doug Wright. This year’s Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab folks include: Nikesh Shukla & Himesh Patel (Brown Baby), Kaitlin Fontana & Franchesca Ramsey (Cover Girl), Sylvia Khoury (Heather), Jane Casey Modderno (Here for the Weekend), Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (High Steel), Kristine Gerolaga (Lamok), Francesca Canepa & Miguel Ángel Papalini (La Otra Orilla), Diana Peralta (No Love Lost), Christian Moldes (Quince Kings), Hanna Gray Organschi (Rubber Hut), Sara Crow...
- 1/12/2024
- by Eric Lavallée
- IONCINEMA.com
This Barbie is now getting ready for a Best Adapted Screenplay Oscar campaign.
Despite Warner Bros.’ campaign for the IP summer box office juggernaut to land in this year’s Best Original Screenplay race, Greta Gerwig and her husband Noah Baumbach’s “Barbie” screenplay will now compete as adapted. Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 23. Voting runs January 11 through 16 this year.
Variety first reported news of the category shake-up, with IndieWire confirmed independently and with the Academy. The Writers Branch executive committee — led by Academy governors Howard A. Rodman, Eric Roth, and Dana Stevens — ultimately deemed “Barbie” an adapted screenplay. Eligible voting members of the branch can now only vie for the film in that category.
“Barbie” was previously deemed an original script by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), whose own awards will take place on April 14 due to the since-ended strikes. That’s over a month after the Oscars,...
Despite Warner Bros.’ campaign for the IP summer box office juggernaut to land in this year’s Best Original Screenplay race, Greta Gerwig and her husband Noah Baumbach’s “Barbie” screenplay will now compete as adapted. Oscar nominations will be announced on Tuesday, January 23. Voting runs January 11 through 16 this year.
Variety first reported news of the category shake-up, with IndieWire confirmed independently and with the Academy. The Writers Branch executive committee — led by Academy governors Howard A. Rodman, Eric Roth, and Dana Stevens — ultimately deemed “Barbie” an adapted screenplay. Eligible voting members of the branch can now only vie for the film in that category.
“Barbie” was previously deemed an original script by the Writers Guild of America (WGA), whose own awards will take place on April 14 due to the since-ended strikes. That’s over a month after the Oscars,...
- 1/3/2024
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
You Hurt My Feelings.At a Friday-night showing of Nicole Holofcener’s latest film You Hurt My Feelings (2023), I noticed several people who had come with their moms. Holofcener makes great films to watch with your mom, if her definition of a great film is something that will make her laugh but won't treat her like an idiot. Holofcener’s stories are smart, funny and heartwarming, a little bit sad in the right places, sophisticated but palatable. Invariably, a great actress plays the lead—Catherine Keener, for the most part, though Julia Louis-Dreyfus stars both in Enough Said (2013) and You Hurt My Feelings. In the film, Beth (Louis-Dreyfus), a writer, overhears Don (Tobias Menzies) telling her brother-in-law that he doesn't like her latest novel. It hurts her feelings. She dry retches on the sidewalk, sobs to her sister, and swears she will never look at her husband the same way again.
- 10/3/2023
- MUBI
Summer Of Soul producer David Dinerstein among new intake.
Bad Robot president of film Hannah Minghella, marketing executive and Summer Of Soul producer David Dinerstein, and actor Lou Diamond Phillips are among the new intake of governors announced on Thursday.
Also elected to the board for the first time are: Wendy Aylsworth, production and technology branch; Richard Gibbs, music branch; Jinko Gotoh, short films and feature animation branch; Kalina Ivanov, production design branch; Simon Kilmurry, documentary branch; Daniel Orlandi, costume designers branch; Dana Stevens, writers branch; and Mark P. Stoeckinger, sound branch.
Minghella belongs to the executives branch, Dinerstein to marketing and public relations,...
Bad Robot president of film Hannah Minghella, marketing executive and Summer Of Soul producer David Dinerstein, and actor Lou Diamond Phillips are among the new intake of governors announced on Thursday.
Also elected to the board for the first time are: Wendy Aylsworth, production and technology branch; Richard Gibbs, music branch; Jinko Gotoh, short films and feature animation branch; Kalina Ivanov, production design branch; Simon Kilmurry, documentary branch; Daniel Orlandi, costume designers branch; Dana Stevens, writers branch; and Mark P. Stoeckinger, sound branch.
Minghella belongs to the executives branch, Dinerstein to marketing and public relations,...
- 6/22/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
There will be a lot of new faces in the room at the next meeting of the Board Of Governors of the Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences including actor Lou Diamond Phillips. Eleven first timers have been elected in the organizations annual election to select one third of the Board as eleven other members have termed off including Actors Branch Governor Whoopi Goldberg and Writers Branch Governor Larry Karaszewski. With AMPAS’ more stringent guidelines for service in place now two longtime Board members, Charles Bernstein (Music) and Jon Bloom (shorts and feature animation) are permanently off the Board, while others termed out can run again in two years.
Incumbent governors reelected to the Board:
Rob Bredow, Visual Effects Branch
Ava DuVernay, Directors Branch
Linda Flowers, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch
Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers Branch
Stephen Rivkin, Film Editors Branch
Debra Zane, Casting Directors Branch
Elected to the Board...
Incumbent governors reelected to the Board:
Rob Bredow, Visual Effects Branch
Ava DuVernay, Directors Branch
Linda Flowers, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch
Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers Branch
Stephen Rivkin, Film Editors Branch
Debra Zane, Casting Directors Branch
Elected to the Board...
- 6/22/2023
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
As a result of elections that took place this year from June 5-9, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ 55-person board of governors convenes in July, more than one-fifth of its seats will be occupied by people who were not a part of it in June.
This is the result not of a repudiation of incumbents — in fact, no incumbent who could have sought reelection opted not to, and no incumbent who sought reelection lost — but rather of stricter term limits that the board imposed upon itself in recent years.
For the 2023-24 term, the board — which is composed of three governors representing each of the Academy’s 18 branches except for the newly created production/technology branch, which has just one, plus three “governors at large” — will be joined by 11 rookie governors: Wendy Aylsworth (production/technology branch), David I. Dinerstein (marketing/public relations), Richard Gibbs (music), Jinko Gotoh...
This is the result not of a repudiation of incumbents — in fact, no incumbent who could have sought reelection opted not to, and no incumbent who sought reelection lost — but rather of stricter term limits that the board imposed upon itself in recent years.
For the 2023-24 term, the board — which is composed of three governors representing each of the Academy’s 18 branches except for the newly created production/technology branch, which has just one, plus three “governors at large” — will be joined by 11 rookie governors: Wendy Aylsworth (production/technology branch), David I. Dinerstein (marketing/public relations), Richard Gibbs (music), Jinko Gotoh...
- 6/22/2023
- by Scott Feinberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Actor Lou Diamond Phillips, documentary filmmaker Simon Kilmurry and writer Dana Stevens are among the 11 film professionals who have been elected to the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the Academy announced on Thursday.
Those new governors are part of a wholesale makeover of the AMPAS board prompted by new term limits imposed last year. In 10 of the 11 branches where first-time governors were elected, the incumbent governors were unable to run again because of those new limits, which restrict governors to two consecutive three-year terms. Last year, when those limits were instituted, 10 governors were termed off the board and 12 first-time governors were elected.
This year’s election means that 23 of the 55 members of the board will be in their first or second term.
In the Academy’s 18 branches, all six incumbent governors who were eligible to run again were re-elected. Those are Debra Zane...
Those new governors are part of a wholesale makeover of the AMPAS board prompted by new term limits imposed last year. In 10 of the 11 branches where first-time governors were elected, the incumbent governors were unable to run again because of those new limits, which restrict governors to two consecutive three-year terms. Last year, when those limits were instituted, 10 governors were termed off the board and 12 first-time governors were elected.
This year’s election means that 23 of the 55 members of the board will be in their first or second term.
In the Academy’s 18 branches, all six incumbent governors who were eligible to run again were re-elected. Those are Debra Zane...
- 6/22/2023
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences has announced its newly elected Board of Governors. The governors, who set the Academy’s strategic vision and watch out for the organization’s financial health, will take office at the first scheduled board meeting of the new term. Wednesday the board voted to expand theatrical release requirements in order to qualify for Best Picture eligibility.
Directors branch member Ava DuVernay is back on the 55-member 2023-2024 Academy Board of Governors. So is producer Lynette Howell Taylor. The incumbents stay, while the ones who have served their three-year term move on, to be replaced by someone else. And, after three terms, like those served by Charles Bernstein and Jon Bloom, they are permanently termed off.
The Academy’s 18 branches are each represented by three governors, except for the recently established Production and Technology Branch, which is represented by a single governor. As a result of this election,...
Directors branch member Ava DuVernay is back on the 55-member 2023-2024 Academy Board of Governors. So is producer Lynette Howell Taylor. The incumbents stay, while the ones who have served their three-year term move on, to be replaced by someone else. And, after three terms, like those served by Charles Bernstein and Jon Bloom, they are permanently termed off.
The Academy’s 18 branches are each represented by three governors, except for the recently established Production and Technology Branch, which is represented by a single governor. As a result of this election,...
- 6/22/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the newly elected Board of Governors for the 2023-2024 year.
Elected to the board for the first time are acclaimed actor Lou Diamond Phillips, screenwriter Dana Stevens, executive Hannah Minghella, costume designer Daniel Orlandi and more. Among the newly elected is technology executive Wendy Aylsworth, who will represent the brand new Production and Technology Branch. Aylsworth, who also serves on the Board of Governors for the Television Academy, spent more than two decades at Warner Bros. and became the first woman president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
In addition, six incumbents were re-elected to the board — Rob Bredow (visual effects), Ava DuVernay (directors), Linda Flowers (makeup artists and hairstylists), Lynette Howell Taylor (producers), Stephen Rivkin (film editors) and Debra Zane (casting directors). Also, cinematographer Ellen Kuras returns after a hiatus.
They will join returning governors Pam Abdy,...
Elected to the board for the first time are acclaimed actor Lou Diamond Phillips, screenwriter Dana Stevens, executive Hannah Minghella, costume designer Daniel Orlandi and more. Among the newly elected is technology executive Wendy Aylsworth, who will represent the brand new Production and Technology Branch. Aylsworth, who also serves on the Board of Governors for the Television Academy, spent more than two decades at Warner Bros. and became the first woman president of the Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers.
In addition, six incumbents were re-elected to the board — Rob Bredow (visual effects), Ava DuVernay (directors), Linda Flowers (makeup artists and hairstylists), Lynette Howell Taylor (producers), Stephen Rivkin (film editors) and Debra Zane (casting directors). Also, cinematographer Ellen Kuras returns after a hiatus.
They will join returning governors Pam Abdy,...
- 6/22/2023
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
TriStar Pictures film “The Woman King” has been given official permission to release in cinemas in mainland China. It is expected to debut on April 14.
The Viola Davis-starring fantasy action film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year and went into U.S. and international commercial release shortly after.
The film has grossed $97.2 million worldwide, with $29.9 million coming from international markets and $67.3 million in North America.
While the China release is significantly later than the rest of the world, potentially opening the film to online piracy, the launch date was communicated by Chinese authorities with some five weeks of advanced notice. That is more than many Hollywood films have received in China and gives the local marketing teams a reasonable chance to promote the film’s theatrical launch.
Hollywood films have begun to trickle back into mainland Chinese cinemas after a near...
The Viola Davis-starring fantasy action film had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September last year and went into U.S. and international commercial release shortly after.
The film has grossed $97.2 million worldwide, with $29.9 million coming from international markets and $67.3 million in North America.
While the China release is significantly later than the rest of the world, potentially opening the film to online piracy, the launch date was communicated by Chinese authorities with some five weeks of advanced notice. That is more than many Hollywood films have received in China and gives the local marketing teams a reasonable chance to promote the film’s theatrical launch.
Hollywood films have begun to trickle back into mainland Chinese cinemas after a near...
- 3/7/2023
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
Action drama stands at 97.2m worldwide.
TriStar Pictures’ The Woman King has got the greenlight for a China release on April 14, the studio said on Monday (March 6).
Gina Prince-Bythewood directed the film, based on the all-female Agojie warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s.
It has grossed $97.2m worldwide, with $29.9m coming from international arena and $67.3m from North America.
The Woman King stars Viola Davis as General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against a fearsome enemy. The cast includes Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin...
TriStar Pictures’ The Woman King has got the greenlight for a China release on April 14, the studio said on Monday (March 6).
Gina Prince-Bythewood directed the film, based on the all-female Agojie warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey in the 1800s.
It has grossed $97.2m worldwide, with $29.9m coming from international arena and $67.3m from North America.
The Woman King stars Viola Davis as General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against a fearsome enemy. The cast includes Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, Hero Fiennes Tiffin...
- 3/6/2023
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
The 12th annual Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) International Awards were handed out in Los Angeles on Feb. 23. “Avatar: The Way of Water,” which was filmed primarily in neighboring New Zealand, won Best Picture. “The Banshees of Inisherin” claimed both supporting acting awards plus the screenplay prize for director Martin McDonagh.
“Elvis,” which had won a whopping 11 awards at the domestic awards in December plus the people’s choice prize, repeated with wins for helmer Baz Luhrmann and lead actor Austin Butler. And Australian leading lady Cate Blanchett claimed a third Best Actress trophy for “Tár” (she previously prevailed for “Blue Jasmine” and “Carol”)
On the TV side, “Mystery Road: Origin,” which had taken home a lucky seven awards in December, repeated with wins for Best Drama Series and lead actor Mark Coles Smith. “The White Lotus: Sicily” won both Best Comedy Series and the TV actress...
“Elvis,” which had won a whopping 11 awards at the domestic awards in December plus the people’s choice prize, repeated with wins for helmer Baz Luhrmann and lead actor Austin Butler. And Australian leading lady Cate Blanchett claimed a third Best Actress trophy for “Tár” (she previously prevailed for “Blue Jasmine” and “Carol”)
On the TV side, “Mystery Road: Origin,” which had taken home a lucky seven awards in December, repeated with wins for Best Drama Series and lead actor Mark Coles Smith. “The White Lotus: Sicily” won both Best Comedy Series and the TV actress...
- 2/24/2023
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
AARP Movies for Grownups Awards winners: ‘Top Gun: Maverick,’ Michelle Yeoh, Brendan Fraser and more
“Top Gun” Maverick” was named Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups at the 21st annual AARP Movies for Grownups Awards on Saturday night. Michelle Yeoh won Best Actress for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and Brendan Fraser was honored as Best Actor for “The Whale.” The event was held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills and were hosted by Tony winner and four-time Emmy nominee Alan Cumming.
“Maverick” won out for the year’s top film over “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “The Woman King” and “Women Talking,” while Yeoh was chosen over Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), Viola Davis (“The Woman King”), Lesley Manville (“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”) and Emma Thompson. Fraser received the nod as lead actor over Tom Cruise (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Tom Hanks (“A Man Called Otto”), Bill Nighy (“Living”) and Adam Sandler (“Hustle”).
SEEOscars Best Actress battle rages on after...
“Maverick” won out for the year’s top film over “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “The Fabelmans,” “Tár,” “The Woman King” and “Women Talking,” while Yeoh was chosen over Cate Blanchett (“Tár”), Viola Davis (“The Woman King”), Lesley Manville (“Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris”) and Emma Thompson. Fraser received the nod as lead actor over Tom Cruise (“Top Gun: Maverick”), Tom Hanks (“A Man Called Otto”), Bill Nighy (“Living”) and Adam Sandler (“Hustle”).
SEEOscars Best Actress battle rages on after...
- 1/29/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
With all the chatter about the 2022 movies that are already well on their way to Oscar night, it’s time to shine one last spotlight on Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historical epic “The Woman King.” Released last September, the movie stars Oscar winner Viola Davis in another unforgettable role as Nanisca, the general of the Agojie, an all-woman army protecting the African kingdom of Dahomey during the 1800s.
If that idea sounds familiar, that’s because the Agojie were the inspiration for “Black Panther” comic book writer Christopher Priest to create the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s woman army that would play a huge role in both 2018’s “Black Panther” and 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
Despite the similarities, “The Woman King” is a very different movie, based more on historical knowledge of the Agojie while telling an original story about Nanisca and the Agojie’s newest young recruit, Nawi, as played by Thuso Mbedu.
If that idea sounds familiar, that’s because the Agojie were the inspiration for “Black Panther” comic book writer Christopher Priest to create the Dora Milaje, Wakanda’s woman army that would play a huge role in both 2018’s “Black Panther” and 2022’s “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”
Despite the similarities, “The Woman King” is a very different movie, based more on historical knowledge of the Agojie while telling an original story about Nanisca and the Agojie’s newest young recruit, Nawi, as played by Thuso Mbedu.
- 1/13/2023
- by Edward Douglas
- Gold Derby
The Sundance Institute has named the participants and projects set for the 2023 editions of a pair of its flagship programs: the Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive.
Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).
Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...
Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).
Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...
- 1/13/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
In the opening sequence of Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King,” there is a moment in which Nanisca (Viola Davis) slings her machete over her shoulder and stares down the small encampment of men she and her coterie of female soldiers are about to attack. Not an ounce of fear pierces through her steely eyes nor flashes across her stone face, since, clearly, she has fought many battles, both emotional and physical, and walked away from each one a bit more hardened than when she marched into it. Yet her icy demeanor is caked in a thick enough layer of weariness for you to know that with every one, she has been forced to leave behind a small part of herself on the battlefield. From the second she is introduced, you have a firm grasp on who Nanisca is, thanks to Davis’ lived-in performance — one that would make her a worthy Best Actress Oscar nominee.
- 1/12/2023
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson in ‘The Banshees of Inisherin’ (Photo Courtesy of Searchlight Pictures © 2022 20th Century Studios)
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists* spread the wealth, awarding The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Women Talking three wins each. The AWFJ Eda Awards recognize the best in films overall, as well as films driven by women.
“We are particularly proud that this year’s member-determined roster of nominees included a goodly number of female contenders in non-gender specific categories. and that we have female winners in those categories, as well, including Sarah Polley who receives the Eda Award for Best Director for the multi-nominated and awarded Women Talking,” said Jennifer Merin, President of the 95 members AWFJ. “We hope to see similar results at this year’s Oscars and various guild awards. as well as with other critics awards groups.”
In 2022, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists...
The Alliance of Women Film Journalists* spread the wealth, awarding The Banshees of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Women Talking three wins each. The AWFJ Eda Awards recognize the best in films overall, as well as films driven by women.
“We are particularly proud that this year’s member-determined roster of nominees included a goodly number of female contenders in non-gender specific categories. and that we have female winners in those categories, as well, including Sarah Polley who receives the Eda Award for Best Director for the multi-nominated and awarded Women Talking,” said Jennifer Merin, President of the 95 members AWFJ. “We hope to see similar results at this year’s Oscars and various guild awards. as well as with other critics awards groups.”
In 2022, the Alliance of Women Film Journalists...
- 1/5/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Campaigning for Oscar love this season are two movies with strong feminist themes, but Sarah Polley’s”Women Talking” and Gina Prince-Bythewood’s “The Woman King” hardly qualify as “women’s pictures.” (Remember those?) Women crafted these movies in hopes of finding a wider audience, with mixed results: Prince-Bythewood grossed 94 million worldwide, but Polley’s just-released film is off to a slow start.
Now they face another numbers game, at the Academy. Despite Herculean efforts to diversify and expand its ranks since 2015, the Academy voting pool is still 66 percent male and 81 percent white. That means the Steak Eaters, the rank-and-file males who vote for movies like “Unforgiven,” “Braveheart,” and “Gladiator” (as well as “Crash” over “Brokeback Mountain”) are not necessarily rallying to their sides.
These films could gain slots among the top 10 Best Picture contenders, as well as the more intense Best Director race, which could wind up all-male with the likes of James Cameron,...
Now they face another numbers game, at the Academy. Despite Herculean efforts to diversify and expand its ranks since 2015, the Academy voting pool is still 66 percent male and 81 percent white. That means the Steak Eaters, the rank-and-file males who vote for movies like “Unforgiven,” “Braveheart,” and “Gladiator” (as well as “Crash” over “Brokeback Mountain”) are not necessarily rallying to their sides.
These films could gain slots among the top 10 Best Picture contenders, as well as the more intense Best Director race, which could wind up all-male with the likes of James Cameron,...
- 1/3/2023
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
What was most important to production designer Akin McKenzie when it came to his work on Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s new film “The Woman King” was that every single design he selected and crafted for the historical epic had a specific purpose.
“Every glyph that you see has a meaning; every fabric tells a story; every pattern has a ritual behind it,” underlines the production designer during his recent webchat with Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video interview above). “So, that was a fun exploration — how do we continue to make things visually interesting but do not, under any [circumstances], rely on decoration for decoration purposes? If we need more texture, let’s be patient enough to observe and understand the purpose behind it.”
See How ‘The Woman King’ costume designer Gersha Phillips turned Viola Davis into the leader of the Agojie [Exclusive Video Interview]
Written by Dana Stevens and inspired by real events, “The Woman King...
“Every glyph that you see has a meaning; every fabric tells a story; every pattern has a ritual behind it,” underlines the production designer during his recent webchat with Gold Derby (watch the exclusive video interview above). “So, that was a fun exploration — how do we continue to make things visually interesting but do not, under any [circumstances], rely on decoration for decoration purposes? If we need more texture, let’s be patient enough to observe and understand the purpose behind it.”
See How ‘The Woman King’ costume designer Gersha Phillips turned Viola Davis into the leader of the Agojie [Exclusive Video Interview]
Written by Dana Stevens and inspired by real events, “The Woman King...
- 1/3/2023
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
For director Gina Prince-Bythewood, making the historical epic The Woman King was a dream come true. Despite dealing with a seven-year-long development process, Prince-Bythewood was determined to prove that Hollywood stories centering on powerful Black women deserve to be seen. Based on a real all-female faction of West African soldiers known as the Agojie, the film follows its leader Nanisca (Viola Davis), and her fierce tribe of warriors as they defend the kingdom of Dahomey from a violent neighboring empire and Europeans capitalizing on the slave trade. Here, Prince-Bythewood talks about creating a sisterhood of warriors, world-building, and the importance of seeing yourself on screen.
Related Story ‘The Woman King’: Read The Screenplay Dana Stevens Forged For The Viola Davis-Starring West African War Epic Related Story Valerie Complex's Best Films Of 2022 Related Story 'All Quiet On The Western Front' Director Edward Berger On Re-Creating The Hell...
Related Story ‘The Woman King’: Read The Screenplay Dana Stevens Forged For The Viola Davis-Starring West African War Epic Related Story Valerie Complex's Best Films Of 2022 Related Story 'All Quiet On The Western Front' Director Edward Berger On Re-Creating The Hell...
- 12/27/2022
- by Destiny Jackson
- Deadline Film + TV
[Warning: The article and above interview contain spoilers about “The Woman King.” Read and watch at your own risk.]
When cinematographer Polly Morgan was in the process of conceiving the overall look for Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s new film “The Woman King,” she used English broadcaster, writer and naturalist David Attenborough‘s documentaries as a jumping-off point.
“I sort of grew up watching the amazing BBC documentaries that David Attenborough has done in his career, and I just always felt the color palette was so evocative,” Morgan tells Gold Derby in a recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). “It really excited me to sort of be thrown into the worlds in which he was investigating. So, I kind of wanted the audience of this movie to feel the same way. I wanted to do justice to the environment, I wanted it to be rich and beautiful, and I wanted to honor the legacy of these characters.”
Written by...
When cinematographer Polly Morgan was in the process of conceiving the overall look for Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s new film “The Woman King,” she used English broadcaster, writer and naturalist David Attenborough‘s documentaries as a jumping-off point.
“I sort of grew up watching the amazing BBC documentaries that David Attenborough has done in his career, and I just always felt the color palette was so evocative,” Morgan tells Gold Derby in a recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). “It really excited me to sort of be thrown into the worlds in which he was investigating. So, I kind of wanted the audience of this movie to feel the same way. I wanted to do justice to the environment, I wanted it to be rich and beautiful, and I wanted to honor the legacy of these characters.”
Written by...
- 12/19/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
Editors note: Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series debuts and celebrates the scripts of films that will be factors in this year’s movie awards race.
The battle to make the historical action film The Woman King started as early as 2015 when producer Cathy Schulman and actress-producer Maria Bello approached Viola Davis about starring in an all-Black female warrior tale. With Davis attached and Sony’s TriStar Pictures onboard, the team offered screenwriter Dana Stevens the chance of a lifetime she couldn’t refuse.
The Woman King, based on a real faction of Beninese female soldiers known as the Agoije, follows its leader Nanisca (Davis) and her fierce tribe of warriors as they defend the kingdom of Dahomey from a violent neighboring clan and Europeans capitalizing on the slave trade. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega and Sheila Atim.
In creating the screenplay, Stevens and the...
The battle to make the historical action film The Woman King started as early as 2015 when producer Cathy Schulman and actress-producer Maria Bello approached Viola Davis about starring in an all-Black female warrior tale. With Davis attached and Sony’s TriStar Pictures onboard, the team offered screenwriter Dana Stevens the chance of a lifetime she couldn’t refuse.
The Woman King, based on a real faction of Beninese female soldiers known as the Agoije, follows its leader Nanisca (Davis) and her fierce tribe of warriors as they defend the kingdom of Dahomey from a violent neighboring clan and Europeans capitalizing on the slave trade. The film also stars Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, John Boyega and Sheila Atim.
In creating the screenplay, Stevens and the...
- 12/16/2022
- by Destiny Jackson
- Deadline Film + TV
Recreating 1820s Kingdom of Dahomey, the setting of Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s new film “The Woman King,” was no easy task for visual effects supervisor Sara Bennett. But when it came to the preparation process for the historical epic, she received a lot of help from particularly the movie’s production designer, Akin McKenzie, and his collaborators.
“[They] gathered a lot of information… a lot of imagery, which was hard to get,” Bennett — an Oscar winner for “Ex Machina” (2014) — tells Gold Derby in a recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). “We also looked at locations that still exist — and actually, there was a show on Netflix called ‘High on the Hog,’ which gave you a little insight, as well, of the world that we were looking at.”
See How ‘The Woman King’s’ sound team created the dynamic sonic landscape of 1820s Kingdom of Dahomey [Exclusive Video Interview]
Written by Dana Stevens and inspired by real events,...
“[They] gathered a lot of information… a lot of imagery, which was hard to get,” Bennett — an Oscar winner for “Ex Machina” (2014) — tells Gold Derby in a recent webchat (watch the exclusive video interview above). “We also looked at locations that still exist — and actually, there was a show on Netflix called ‘High on the Hog,’ which gave you a little insight, as well, of the world that we were looking at.”
See How ‘The Woman King’s’ sound team created the dynamic sonic landscape of 1820s Kingdom of Dahomey [Exclusive Video Interview]
Written by Dana Stevens and inspired by real events,...
- 12/16/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
“The Banshees of Inisherin” and “Everything Everywhere All at Once” have reaped a leading six nominations each for the 2023 Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) International Awards. Both films were nominated for Best Picture alongside “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Elvis” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”
This is the second year that these kudos include four TV categories. The Aussie hits “Heartbreak High” and “Mystery Road: Origin” reaped Best Drama Series bids alongside Emmy faves “Severance” and “Stranger Things” and newcomer FX’s “The Bear.” Defending champ “The White Lotus” is up for Best Comedy Series for season 2 set in Sicily against “Hacks,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Wednesday.”
See Australian Academy Awards: ‘Elvis’ wins 11 including Best Picture at local Aussie kudosfest
Aacta introduced its international film awards a decade ago to give Australian filmmakers and artists a voice in the lead up to the Oscars.
This is the second year that these kudos include four TV categories. The Aussie hits “Heartbreak High” and “Mystery Road: Origin” reaped Best Drama Series bids alongside Emmy faves “Severance” and “Stranger Things” and newcomer FX’s “The Bear.” Defending champ “The White Lotus” is up for Best Comedy Series for season 2 set in Sicily against “Hacks,” “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “Only Murders in the Building” and “Wednesday.”
See Australian Academy Awards: ‘Elvis’ wins 11 including Best Picture at local Aussie kudosfest
Aacta introduced its international film awards a decade ago to give Australian filmmakers and artists a voice in the lead up to the Oscars.
- 12/16/2022
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
The story of the real-life female warriors who protected an African kingdom is now a major box-office hit
The fight to bring The Woman King to the big screen started long before Gina Prince-Bythewood came on board, yet it chimes with the director’s career-long struggle to champion women of colour in her work.
Star and producer Viola Davis and fellow producer Cathy Schulman got the ball rolling seven years ago on what would become TriStar Pictures’ action epic. Schulman had piqued Davis’s interest after she shared a French book given to her by actress Maria Bello that...
The fight to bring The Woman King to the big screen started long before Gina Prince-Bythewood came on board, yet it chimes with the director’s career-long struggle to champion women of colour in her work.
Star and producer Viola Davis and fellow producer Cathy Schulman got the ball rolling seven years ago on what would become TriStar Pictures’ action epic. Schulman had piqued Davis’s interest after she shared a French book given to her by actress Maria Bello that...
- 12/16/2022
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
AARP is out with the nominees for its 21st annual Movies for Grownups Awards for the best films, TV and filmmakers of 2022. Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans leads with the way with six noms, followed by fellow awards-season favorites Everything Everywhere All at Once and The Woman King are next with five each, and Tár and She Said with four apiece.
Related Story 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Golden Globes, Guilds & More Related Story 'Everything Everywhere', 'Fabelmans', 'Babylon' Lead Critics Choice Award Nominees For Film Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Star Stephanie Hsu Relishes Success That Came "By Following People That I Love Working With"
All of those pics except She Said also will vie for Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups along with Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking. Spielberg also is up for Best Director alongside James Cameron...
Related Story 2022-23 Awards Season Calendar – Dates For The Oscars, Golden Globes, Guilds & More Related Story 'Everything Everywhere', 'Fabelmans', 'Babylon' Lead Critics Choice Award Nominees For Film Related Story 'Everything Everywhere All At Once' Star Stephanie Hsu Relishes Success That Came "By Following People That I Love Working With"
All of those pics except She Said also will vie for Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups along with Elvis, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking. Spielberg also is up for Best Director alongside James Cameron...
- 12/15/2022
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Baz Luhrmann’s ‘Elvis’ also secured multiple nods.
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) has announced the nominations for its annual Aacta International Awards, which are this year led by The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once with six nods apiece.
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis also secured multiple nominations, with nods in four categories. The awards are a companion to the Australian-focused AACTAs, which took place earlier this month.
A total of 15 feature films will compete across seven film categories, with the best film award a race between The Banshees Of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once,...
The Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta) has announced the nominations for its annual Aacta International Awards, which are this year led by The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once with six nods apiece.
Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis also secured multiple nominations, with nods in four categories. The awards are a companion to the Australian-focused AACTAs, which took place earlier this month.
A total of 15 feature films will compete across seven film categories, with the best film award a race between The Banshees Of Inisherin, Everything Everywhere All At Once,...
- 12/15/2022
- by Michael Rosser
- ScreenDaily
The Banshees Of Inisherin and Everything Everywhere All At Once head the nominations for the 12th edition of the Aacta International Awards, with six nods apiece. They were followed by Elvis with four nominations.
The awards, presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta), are focused on content made worldwide in 2022, as determined by Australia’s leading filmmakers and content creators. The ceremony will take place virtually on February 24, 2023.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is nominated for Best Film, Best Direction for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and also scored big in the acting categories with Best Lead Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan and Best Supporting Actress nods for Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu.
The Banshees Of Inisherin was also nominated for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay (both Martin McDonagh), along with Best Lead Actor for Colin Farrell,...
The awards, presented by the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts (Aacta), are focused on content made worldwide in 2022, as determined by Australia’s leading filmmakers and content creators. The ceremony will take place virtually on February 24, 2023.
Everything Everywhere All At Once is nominated for Best Film, Best Direction for Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, and also scored big in the acting categories with Best Lead Actress for Michelle Yeoh, Best Supporting Actor for Ke Huy Quan and Best Supporting Actress nods for Jamie Lee Curtis and Stephanie Hsu.
The Banshees Of Inisherin was also nominated for Best Film, Best Direction and Best Screenplay (both Martin McDonagh), along with Best Lead Actor for Colin Farrell,...
- 12/15/2022
- by Liz Shackleton
- Deadline Film + TV
Steven Spielberg’s “The Fabelmans” led all films in nominations for AARP The Magazine’s annual Movies for Grownups Awards, which were announced on Thursday morning.
The semi-autobiographical film based on Spielberg’s childhood received six nominations, one more than “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Woman King,” which received five.
Those three films are competing in the Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups category alongside “Elvis,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Women Talking.”
Acting nominees included Cate Blanchett for “Tár,” Emma Thompson for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Tom Cruise for “Top Gun: Maverick,” Brendan Fraser for “The Whale” and Bill Nighy for “Living.”
Also Read:
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Leads Critics Choice Nominations – But ‘Rrr’ Crashes the Party, Too
Judging by the nominations, grownups like the same movies as almost every other body of voters this year,...
The semi-autobiographical film based on Spielberg’s childhood received six nominations, one more than “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “The Woman King,” which received five.
Those three films are competing in the Best Picture/Best Movie for Grownups category alongside “Elvis,” “Tár,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Women Talking.”
Acting nominees included Cate Blanchett for “Tár,” Emma Thompson for “Good Luck to You, Leo Grande,” Michelle Yeoh for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” Tom Cruise for “Top Gun: Maverick,” Brendan Fraser for “The Whale” and Bill Nighy for “Living.”
Also Read:
‘Everything Everywhere All at Once’ Leads Critics Choice Nominations – But ‘Rrr’ Crashes the Party, Too
Judging by the nominations, grownups like the same movies as almost every other body of voters this year,...
- 12/15/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
For the sound team behind Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s “The Woman King” — including Oscar-nominated re-recording mixer Tony Lamberti and supervising sound editor Becky Sullivan, as well as production sound mixer Derek Mansvelt — one of the biggest challenges was recreating the time and place in which the film is set. This group, which also included dialogue and music re-recording mixer Kevin O’Connell, was tasked with turning modern-day South Africa, which is where filming for the historical epic took place in late 2021 and early 2022, into 1820s Kingdom of Dahomey.
“Our set there, in modern day, was a city. And even though [the cast and crew] are on the set of the kingdom, in my dialogue tracks… I’m hearing traffic, helicopters, sirens; [when] we go to different locations, I’m hearing — as Derek [Mansvelt] will always point out — the smoke machines, the compressors, fans, a lot of bugs, cicadas, a lot of things that were just on the production tracks,...
“Our set there, in modern day, was a city. And even though [the cast and crew] are on the set of the kingdom, in my dialogue tracks… I’m hearing traffic, helicopters, sirens; [when] we go to different locations, I’m hearing — as Derek [Mansvelt] will always point out — the smoke machines, the compressors, fans, a lot of bugs, cicadas, a lot of things that were just on the production tracks,...
- 12/13/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
During the 2022 Power Women Summit panel “Inside the Writer’s Room: Telling Stories That Matter” on Tuesday, moderator Carla Renata asked the group about their advice for breaking into film and television screenwriting.
“Ozark” screenwriter Ning Zhou emphasized that “everyone has a different path,” citing herself as an example. She knows many screenwriters who studied the craft and business in college, but she had a less traditional start in the field by switching gears mid-career.
"Watching someone like Laura Linney take a scene that you've written and carve her own path with that scene is an experience that every writer should have," says Ning Zhou the screenwriter of "Ozark" in our #PowerWomenSummit panel https://t.co/eMIrwguNzw pic.twitter.com/P9sckMDNRe
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) December 13, 2022
“The good news is that I think there’s many different ways to to get into it,” she said. “The bad news is you kind...
“Ozark” screenwriter Ning Zhou emphasized that “everyone has a different path,” citing herself as an example. She knows many screenwriters who studied the craft and business in college, but she had a less traditional start in the field by switching gears mid-career.
"Watching someone like Laura Linney take a scene that you've written and carve her own path with that scene is an experience that every writer should have," says Ning Zhou the screenwriter of "Ozark" in our #PowerWomenSummit panel https://t.co/eMIrwguNzw pic.twitter.com/P9sckMDNRe
— TheWrap (@TheWrap) December 13, 2022
“The good news is that I think there’s many different ways to to get into it,” she said. “The bad news is you kind...
- 12/13/2022
- by Lucas Manfredi
- The Wrap
“Write what you know” — the age-old advice to aspiring writers has long been debated by distinguished wordsmiths and creative minds. Kazuo Ishiguro, writer of the 2022 British drama “Living,” has said the phrase “is the most stupid thing I’ve heard. … It’s the reverse of firing the imagination and potential of writers.” Does similar thinking still govern the studio heads who greenlight movies, the consumers who watch them and especially the awards voters who nominate them?
Maybe that explains why, in an industry dominated by white men, women are struggling to be recognized in the Oscars’ screenplay categories. While the Academy continues its pursuit of inclusion, women artists and filmmakers are still fighting to have their contributions seen. Multiple women may land in the directing race this year, but the screenplay categories are in dire need of improvement. In 2014, the year #OscarsSoWhite was born, none of the writing nominees in either category was a woman.
Maybe that explains why, in an industry dominated by white men, women are struggling to be recognized in the Oscars’ screenplay categories. While the Academy continues its pursuit of inclusion, women artists and filmmakers are still fighting to have their contributions seen. Multiple women may land in the directing race this year, but the screenplay categories are in dire need of improvement. In 2014, the year #OscarsSoWhite was born, none of the writing nominees in either category was a woman.
- 12/9/2022
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
[Warning: The article and above interview contain spoilers about “The Woman King.” Read and watch at your own risk.]
Terilyn A. Shropshire was in the editing room for the 2020 Netflix superhero film “The Old Guard” when Gina Prince-Bythewood, the movie’s director and the editor’s creative partner of 20-plus years, told her that she had found their next project. That was “The Woman King,” a historical epic that opened in U.S. theaters on September 16 and marks the fifth collaboration on a feature film between Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire, for whom one of the biggest advantages to have arisen out of her close relationship with the director is that the latter already brings her into the filmmaking process during the early stages of production.
“I have the benefit of being able to read the script early because [Prince-Bythewood] brings me into that process. And even at that point, we start discussing everything about it: I’ll give her my thoughts,...
Terilyn A. Shropshire was in the editing room for the 2020 Netflix superhero film “The Old Guard” when Gina Prince-Bythewood, the movie’s director and the editor’s creative partner of 20-plus years, told her that she had found their next project. That was “The Woman King,” a historical epic that opened in U.S. theaters on September 16 and marks the fifth collaboration on a feature film between Prince-Bythewood and Shropshire, for whom one of the biggest advantages to have arisen out of her close relationship with the director is that the latter already brings her into the filmmaking process during the early stages of production.
“I have the benefit of being able to read the script early because [Prince-Bythewood] brings me into that process. And even at that point, we start discussing everything about it: I’ll give her my thoughts,...
- 12/6/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
As the leaves crunch underfoot and the wintry chill intensifies, you may realize: it’s time to think of a good gift for that friend of yours who’s already packed their shelves to the gills with Blu-rays and back issues of Cahiers du Cinéma. Have no fear. Covering books, home video, music, posters, and apparel, here are some gift ideas for the dearest cinephiles in your life.Books And MAGAZINESFireflies Press recently published Pier Paolo Pasolini: Writing on Burning Paper: a beautiful set of two complementary volumes to honor the filmmaker’s centenary. The smaller book includes a revised translation of his poem “Poet of the Ashes,” while the larger volume includes tributes from 20 contemporary artists and critics, including Catherine Breillat, Jia Zhangke, Luc Moullet, Angela Schanelec, and Mike Leigh.Written by Karen Han, Bong Joon Ho: Dissident Cinema is a mid-career monograph covering the Korean auteur’s features,...
- 11/29/2022
- MUBI
[Warning: The following story contains spoilers about “The Woman King.” Read at your own risk.]
If there is any Oscar category that’s still seemingly unsettled, it’s Best Supporting Actress. Michelle Williams‘ decision to upgrade to lead for “The Fabelmans” has not only made the race anyone’s game but also provided even more opportunity for first-time hopefuls — who dominate the field — to break through. It’s for that reason that you shouldn’t count out Thuso Mbedu, whose electrifying breakthrough turn in “The Woman King” — her film debut — could (and definitely should) make the South African native a formidable contender in this wide-open category.
Written by Dana Stevens and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, “The Woman King” is about an elite military unit of all-female warriors called the Agojie that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey, which was located within present-day Benin, in the 18th and 19th centuries. While Oscar winner Viola Davis (“Fences”) headlines...
If there is any Oscar category that’s still seemingly unsettled, it’s Best Supporting Actress. Michelle Williams‘ decision to upgrade to lead for “The Fabelmans” has not only made the race anyone’s game but also provided even more opportunity for first-time hopefuls — who dominate the field — to break through. It’s for that reason that you shouldn’t count out Thuso Mbedu, whose electrifying breakthrough turn in “The Woman King” — her film debut — could (and definitely should) make the South African native a formidable contender in this wide-open category.
Written by Dana Stevens and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood, “The Woman King” is about an elite military unit of all-female warriors called the Agojie that protected the West African kingdom of Dahomey, which was located within present-day Benin, in the 18th and 19th centuries. While Oscar winner Viola Davis (“Fences”) headlines...
- 11/18/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
“The Woman King” star Thuso Mbedu will be the keynote speaker for WrapWomen’s 2022 Power Women Summit, the largest annual gathering of women in media and entertainment at the iconic Fairmont Miramar in Santa Monica, California on Wednesday, Dec. 14.
The theme, “A Time to Unite,” will be highlighted throughout the day via panels, stirring dialogues, networking, a luncheon and a cocktail party to close out the day.
Mbedu’s career continues to astonish the world of entertainment. In 2021, she won an Independent Spirit Award, Gotham Award and Hollywood Critics Association Award for her starring role as “Cora” in Barry Jenkins’ “The Underground Railroad,” which her the first South African leading woman of a U.S. television series. Mbedu continues her remarkable run as the co-lead in the historical epic feature “The Woman King,” opposite Viola Davis.
Also Read:
‘The Woman King’ Director Gina Prince-Bythewood Doesn’t Take No for an Answer
“The Woman King,...
The theme, “A Time to Unite,” will be highlighted throughout the day via panels, stirring dialogues, networking, a luncheon and a cocktail party to close out the day.
Mbedu’s career continues to astonish the world of entertainment. In 2021, she won an Independent Spirit Award, Gotham Award and Hollywood Critics Association Award for her starring role as “Cora” in Barry Jenkins’ “The Underground Railroad,” which her the first South African leading woman of a U.S. television series. Mbedu continues her remarkable run as the co-lead in the historical epic feature “The Woman King,” opposite Viola Davis.
Also Read:
‘The Woman King’ Director Gina Prince-Bythewood Doesn’t Take No for an Answer
“The Woman King,...
- 11/14/2022
- by Emily Vogel
- The Wrap
The nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture are among the most difficult to predict. That’s largely because the five contestants are determined by a committee made up of about 2,500 randomly selected SAG-AFTRA cardholders, rather than the guild’s entire membership Despite that, I am confident “The Woman King” cast will receive a Best Film Ensemble nomination at the SAG Awards. Read on for my five reasons why.
In recent years, a number of high-profile films with large and well-known casts have notably been snubbed by the guild’s nominating committee. That includes everything from “The Post,” “The Shape of Water,” “The Favourite” and “Vice” to “Little Women,” “Marriage Story,” “Mank” and “West Side Story.” Meanwhile, voters have surprised us by nominating the likes of “Beasts of No Nation,” “Captain Fantastic,” “The Big Sick,” “Mudbound” and “Parasite...
In recent years, a number of high-profile films with large and well-known casts have notably been snubbed by the guild’s nominating committee. That includes everything from “The Post,” “The Shape of Water,” “The Favourite” and “Vice” to “Little Women,” “Marriage Story,” “Mank” and “West Side Story.” Meanwhile, voters have surprised us by nominating the likes of “Beasts of No Nation,” “Captain Fantastic,” “The Big Sick,” “Mudbound” and “Parasite...
- 11/7/2022
- by Tariq Khan
- Gold Derby
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Just two months after hitting theaters, “The Woman King” will be available to purchase digitally on Nov. 22, and on Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 13. The digital release includes over an hour of bonus content, featuring interviews with the star-studded cast, a behind-the-scenes look at their intense training regimen and footage from the South Africa set.
The historical epic, based on a story by Mario Bello and Dana Stevens, stars Viola Davis in a role unlike anything the Academy Award-winning actor had taken on before. The film centers around the true events of the West African Kingdom of the Dahomey Amazons and their all-female warriors called the Agojie. As the general of this seemingly invincible army, Davis’s character trains the women of the clan to fight off European invaders.
Just two months after hitting theaters, “The Woman King” will be available to purchase digitally on Nov. 22, and on Blu-ray and DVD on Dec. 13. The digital release includes over an hour of bonus content, featuring interviews with the star-studded cast, a behind-the-scenes look at their intense training regimen and footage from the South Africa set.
The historical epic, based on a story by Mario Bello and Dana Stevens, stars Viola Davis in a role unlike anything the Academy Award-winning actor had taken on before. The film centers around the true events of the West African Kingdom of the Dahomey Amazons and their all-female warriors called the Agojie. As the general of this seemingly invincible army, Davis’s character trains the women of the clan to fight off European invaders.
- 10/27/2022
- by Anna Tingley
- Variety Film + TV
We're lucky to live in a time where Viola Davis is on our screens. The extraordinary actress made another triumphant turn this year in "The Woman King," and now you can experience the historical epic for yourself at home with the movie's digital and physical releases. Beginning on November 22, 2022, "The Woman King" will be available for rent and purchase on participating digital platforms where movies are available for purchase.
The movie recounts the "true story" of "an all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey" led by "General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life," according to a Sony press release.
In this day and age, all movies make it to streaming services at some point, but the path for "The Woman King" is a little less clear. The film is distributed by Sony,...
The movie recounts the "true story" of "an all-female unit of warriors who protected the African Kingdom of Dahomey" led by "General Nanisca as she trains the next generation of recruits and readies them for battle against an enemy determined to destroy their way of life," according to a Sony press release.
In this day and age, all movies make it to streaming services at some point, but the path for "The Woman King" is a little less clear. The film is distributed by Sony,...
- 10/27/2022
- by Lex Briscuso
- Slash Film
[Warning: The above interview contains spoilers about “The Woman King.”]
There are several reasons Dana Stevens was enticed into writing the screenplay for “The Woman King,” the new historical epic that opened in U.S. theaters on September 16. But chief among them was that Oscar winner Viola Davis (“Fences”), who stars in and co-produced the film, was already attached to the project before the writer came on board.
“I am a gigantic Viola fan to the point where, when she was first nominated for the Oscar, I really wanted her to win, and I was a voter. It was Presidents’ Day or something, and I was worried that my ballot would not be counted, that it would not make it to the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]. So, I drove it to the Academy and put it in a box, because I just think Viola is the most dynamic actress working in film right now,” recalls Stevens during her recent webchat...
There are several reasons Dana Stevens was enticed into writing the screenplay for “The Woman King,” the new historical epic that opened in U.S. theaters on September 16. But chief among them was that Oscar winner Viola Davis (“Fences”), who stars in and co-produced the film, was already attached to the project before the writer came on board.
“I am a gigantic Viola fan to the point where, when she was first nominated for the Oscar, I really wanted her to win, and I was a voter. It was Presidents’ Day or something, and I was worried that my ballot would not be counted, that it would not make it to the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences]. So, I drove it to the Academy and put it in a box, because I just think Viola is the most dynamic actress working in film right now,” recalls Stevens during her recent webchat...
- 10/25/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
The real events on which “The Woman King” is based were rather new to Cathy Schulman, one of the producers behind the historical epic that opened in U.S. theaters on September 16, when she first learned of them in detail. That was thanks to actor/screenwriter Maria Bello, who, after returning home from the West African nation of Benin in 2015, reached out to the then-head of the organization Women in Film, convinced there was a film in a specific part of the country’s history of which she had become aware on her trip.
“What I learned from [Bello], and then from a lot more research, is that there had been this amazing 500-year history in Dahomey, of these female warriors who had not only been uniquely identified as female warriors, but they also were victorious time and time again, against men and without guns,” divulges Schulman during her recent webchat...
“What I learned from [Bello], and then from a lot more research, is that there had been this amazing 500-year history in Dahomey, of these female warriors who had not only been uniquely identified as female warriors, but they also were victorious time and time again, against men and without guns,” divulges Schulman during her recent webchat...
- 10/18/2022
- by Luca Giliberti
- Gold Derby
You’d be forgiven for mistaking Andrew Dominik’s Blonde for a kind of religious ritual—“the Passion of the Marilyn,” as Leslie Felperin aptly describes it over at The Guardian. Based on Joyce Carol Oates’s 2000 novel of the same name, Dominik’s take on Monroe’s life puts its subject’s suffering front and center. An elliptical chronicle of the actress’s rise to planetary stardom and tragic fall, the film captures Monroe’s life as an endless slideshow of humiliations and traumas. Played by Ana de Armas, Dominik’s Marilyn saunters into Blonde as a sort of martyr, first wrestling with a schizophrenic mother and a miserable childhood, and then with a cannibalistic industry and throngs of brutalizing men who paved the way to her death by overdose at the age of 36. Rated Nc-17 for its graphic scenes of sexualized violence—featuring rapes, forced abortions, and degrading oral sex—the film,...
- 10/10/2022
- MUBI
‘Amsterdam’ also opening wide for Disney.
A pair of monarchs are striding into UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, as Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King and Stephen Frears’ The Lost King look to reign.
eOne’s The Woman King is starting in 577 cinemas, including 50 iMax screens plus 4Dx and Dolby Vision venues. The historical epic is inspired by events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of Africa’s most powerful states in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was protected by an all-female warrior unit known as the Agojie.
Viola Davis stars in the film and has...
A pair of monarchs are striding into UK-Ireland cinemas this weekend, as Gina Prince-Bythewood’s The Woman King and Stephen Frears’ The Lost King look to reign.
eOne’s The Woman King is starting in 577 cinemas, including 50 iMax screens plus 4Dx and Dolby Vision venues. The historical epic is inspired by events that took place in The Kingdom of Dahomey, one of Africa’s most powerful states in the 18th and 19th centuries, when it was protected by an all-female warrior unit known as the Agojie.
Viola Davis stars in the film and has...
- 10/7/2022
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
Dir: Gina Prince-Bythewood. Starring: Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, Lashana Lynch, Sheila Atim, John Boyega. 15, 135 minutes.
Gina Prince-Bythewood is exactly the kind of filmmaker Hollywood needs. Whether in the intimacy of her dramas Love & Basketball (2000) and Beyond the Lights (2014), the propulsion of her comic book adaptation The Old Guard (2020), or, now, the rousing spirit of her historical epic The Woman King, the core strengths of her work remain unaltered, whatever the scale of the project. There is always the same heart, the same integrity, and the same genuine investment in representing the world as it is, even if it puts her at odds with what white Hollywood execs want it to be.
So far, she’s been proven right in her instincts. The Old Guard already has a sequel in the works. The Woman King, which was bounced around studios for three years after being deemed unprofitable, climbed straight...
Gina Prince-Bythewood is exactly the kind of filmmaker Hollywood needs. Whether in the intimacy of her dramas Love & Basketball (2000) and Beyond the Lights (2014), the propulsion of her comic book adaptation The Old Guard (2020), or, now, the rousing spirit of her historical epic The Woman King, the core strengths of her work remain unaltered, whatever the scale of the project. There is always the same heart, the same integrity, and the same genuine investment in representing the world as it is, even if it puts her at odds with what white Hollywood execs want it to be.
So far, she’s been proven right in her instincts. The Old Guard already has a sequel in the works. The Woman King, which was bounced around studios for three years after being deemed unprofitable, climbed straight...
- 10/5/2022
- by Clarisse Loughrey
- The Independent - Film
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