2021 – Below the Line

Artist Profile: In the Heights Production Designer Nelson Coates Tackles His Dream Musical on the Streets of New York City

December 30, 2021 Edward Douglas Comments Off

Every once in a while it happens where a great interview you’ve done just gets away from you. Some may remember that back in July, we ran a piece with Production Designer Nelson Coates, talking us through a specific scene and musical number in Jon M. Chu’s In the Heights, and how that was done. At the time, we promised to share the rest of that interview… and then, we […]

Filmmaker Allan Arkush on the Resurrection of Get Crazy on Home Video

December 29, 2021 Max Evry Comments Off

Nearly four decades ago, director Allan Arkush followed up his punk rock hit Rock ‘n’ Roll High School with another zany music-fueled comedy titled Get Crazy. Inspired by 1941’s Hellzapoppin and the movies of Frank Tashlin, Arkush sought to compress his early 1970’s experience at New York’s famed rock club The Fillmore East working as an usher and stage crew member into a one-crazy-night odyssey led by his virtual doppelganger […]

Nightmare Alley Production Designer Tamara Deverell Dives Headfirst into Guillermo del Toro’s Period Vision

December 28, 2021 Edward Douglas Comments Off

Guillermo del Toro’s noir thriller Nightmare Alley may have its DNA in the ‘40s and the original novel by William Lindsay Gresham, but it’s just as much a del Toro movie, and that means that every scene just looks absolutely fantastic with many unique locations that just pull you into the story. The movie follows Bradley Cooper’s Stan Carlisle, a drifter who arrives at the carnival run by Clem (Willem […]

Film Spotlight: Director Clint Bentley on Jockey and Giving Actor Clifton Collins Jr. a Chance to Shine

December 28, 2021 Edward Douglas Comments Off

As 2021 comes to an end, audiences will finally have a chance to see a movie that received quite a few accolades out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival back in January. Clint Bentley’s Jockey stars the always-busy “character actor” Clifton Collins Jr., who you may know from any one of the dozens of TV series he’s appeared on, including Westworld and the Veronica Mars reboot from a few years […]

Being the Ricardos DP Jeff Cronenweth ASC on Shooting Sorkin’s Period Drama

December 27, 2021 Daniel Eagan Comments Off

Some 60 million viewers watched I Love Lucy at the height of the sitcom’s run. That extraordinary success forced personal sacrifices that altered the lives of its stars Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. In Being the Ricardos, writer and director Aaron Sorkin uses one critical week in the show’s production to probe into the lives of Ball (played by Nicole Kidman) and Arnaz (Javier Bardem). At the same time, the […]

The Tender Bar: Check Out an Exclusive “Making Of” Video on George Clooney’s Film

December 27, 2021 Staff Comments Off

George Clooney‘s latest film as a director, The Tender Bar, is an adaptation of J.R. Moehringer‘s period memoir ab0ut how he was raised on Long Island mostly by his single mother (Lily Rabe) but with regular life advice from his Uncle Charlie (played by Ben Affleck) and Grandpa (Christopher Lloyd). The young J.R. is played by Daniel Ranieri, making his big screen debut, while the older J.R., as he heads off to Yale and to […]

Over the Weekend: Spider-man Becomes First Movie to Hit $1B During Pandemic, Filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée Dies

December 27, 2021 Edward Douglas Comments Off

This being my last “Over the Weekend” and it being a weekend where most of the industry is on holiday break, I thought this would be a far more compact version where I just focused on the news that Sony Pictures‘ Spider-Man: No Way Home became the first movie to hit a billion worldwide since the pandemic struck. Unfortunately, we got the news late Sunday night that filmmaker Jean-Marc Vallée, probably best-known for […]

West Side Story: Justin Peck Discusses Choreographing Iconic Dance Numbers

December 24, 2021 J. Don Birnam Comments Off

Among the many technical achievements of Steven Spielberg’s take on West Side Story is undoubtedly its showstopping choreography. Originally designed by legendary choreographer Jerome Robbins—for the stage and the screen—the tragic musical is well-known for revolutionizing how dance was presented, and how it was presented on screen. Living up to the majesty of that original without simply rehashing it was no easy task, but Spielberg’s 2021 movie pulls it off […]

Belfast Production Designer Jim Clay Helps Recreate Kenneth Branagh’s Childhood

December 24, 2021 Danielle Solzman Comments Off

Two-time BAFTA-winning Production Designer Jim Clay teamed up for the fourth time in his career with Kenneth Branagh on the filmmaker’s passion project, Belfast. He previously had been nominated by the Art Directors Guild for his work on Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express, as well as another nomination for Alfonso Cuaron’s Children of Men. Belfast is one of a number of black and white films being released in the […]

3rd Annual Society of Composers & Lyricists Awards to take Place Feb. 1, 2022

December 24, 2021 Staff Comments Off

The Society of Composers & Lyricists (SCL) will present the 3rd Annual SCL AWARDS for score and songs in visual media on February 1st, 2022 at the Skirball Cultural Center. The nominations will be announced on Jan. 4, 2022. The evening, hosted by Darren Criss, will include musical performances from CODA lead actress/singer Emilia Jones and the film’s co-songwriter Nick Baxter, Grammy-nominated singers/songwriters of Bridgerton: The Unofficial Musical Abigail Barlow […]