End of Week Production Notes 6/18/21: Tyler Perry Studios Expands, Blacula Screams Again, and More News
It’s Friday again, and some may even be getting today off due to the just-announced Juneteenth national holiday taking place tomorrow. (Presumably, the Emancipation/Freedom Day holiday to celebrate the end of slavery will be moved to the Monday following the June 19 commemorative date in future years.) Last year, Atlanta’s Trilith Studios, the former Pinewood... »
Director Series: Zach Braff brings Heart to Ted Lasso
The unexpected phenomenon known as Ted Lasso took the 2020 pandemic-ridden year by storm as the feel good and must watch show of the year. The Apple TV+ series is created by the brilliant writing team of Bill Lawrence, Jason Sudeikis, Brendan Hunt, and Joe Kelly, who put their trust in Scrubs star and... »
The Accidental Turitz: Is It Time We Rename TV as … Something Else?
My editor and I got together in the city last week for a drink and to catch up, as it had been a while since we’d seen each other in person. Pandemic, and all. Over cocktails, we discussed the world of entertainment, all that was wrong with it and how we would fix it,... »
Director Series: Will Gluck on Taking CG Characters Further with Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway
For Director Will Gluck, making Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway may have only slightly been easier than making its 2018 predecessor, Peter Rabbit, because he and his entire cast and crew were already used to dealing with the CG animal characters that Rose Byrne and Domhnall Gleeson would be interacting with in almost every... »
Over the Weekend 6/14/21: Ned Beatty Dies, IATSE/AMPTP Talks Falter, and More News
We start the weekend wrap-up with a sad note about the passing of popular character actor Ned Beatty, who died over the weekend at the age of 83 from natural causes at his home in Los Angeles. Beatty was best known for some of his roles from the ’70s, including Deliverance(1972), Nashville (1975), and All the President’s... »
Director Series: Kari Skogland Offers Insight into The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Spoilers)
The Falcon and the Winter Soldier Creator and Head Writer Malcolm Spellman leaned on Director Kari Skogland (The Loudest Voice, The Handmaid’s Tale) to stamp that signature Marvel brand, scope, and scale for the entire six episodes of the mini-series. Skogland is a previous Emmy nominee for the work on The Handmaid’s Tale. The... »
End of Week Production Notes 6/11/21: Pattinson Rumored to be Back in Vampire Mode and More News
Thank God It’s Friday! Before we all get to our summer weekend fun, let’s look at some news from earlier in the week… Actor Robert Pattinson‘s first acclaim to fame came from playing glittery vampire Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies, and next year, he’ll be making his debut as DC Comics’ The Batman. With that in mind, it almost... »
The Accidental Turitz: Will the Emmys Be Where the MCU Finally Gets Some Awards Love?
I am a fan of Black Panther, though probably not as big a fan of it as most people seem to be. It’s a good movie. Very good, in fact, though I personally wouldn’t put it in the top three or four of Marvel Studios’ best “Marvel Cinematic Universe” outings. (For the record, number... »
Director Series: Pen15’s Sam Zvibleman on Co-Creating the Hilarious Hulu Series
For many directors, the road to directing their first feature can be a long and winding one. Fortunately, for Sam Zvibleman, he has spent the past twelve years working on a series of short films and webseries that prepared him for Pen15. Starring Maya Erskine and Anna Konkle, the show’s co-creators and co-writers, the... »
Hump Day News Update 6/9/21: First Pics from Indiana Jones 5, Interesting Netflix Data and More News
Happy Hump Day! If Monday’s “Over the Weekend” seemed a bit slim, hang onto your hats, because news has definitely picked up since then. It’s just a few days away from the 40th Anniversary of Raiders of the Lost Ark, and as mentioned last week, Director James Mangold began shooting the still-untitled Indiana Jones 5 in the... »