Director Series: Profile Filmmaker Timur Bekmambetov Explains Using Screenlife to Create Cinema
From his early days making epic (yet fairly low-budget) Russian blockbusters, such as Night Watch and its sequel, Day Watch, Director Timur Bekmambetov has constantly tried to push technological boundaries through his filmmaking. Although he has made numerous ventures into Hollywood with films like Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Bekmambetov never ventured far... »
Animation Showcase: Kevin Nolting Talks about Pixar Short 22 vs. the Earth
These days, it’s pretty difficult for anyone to get anything out to the general public in secret, because there are so many people involved in every aspect of production that something eventually leaks. That’s not the case with 22 vs. The Earth, a Pixar Animation short that ties into and acts as a pseudo-prequel... »
Director Stefano Sollima Teams with Michael B. Jordan for Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse
Director Stefano Sollima directed television in his native Italy for almost a decade, including the popular Gomorrah TV series. He directed two Italian movies that maybe didn’t get released in the States, but his work definitely caught the eye of the right producers, who hired him to direct the 2018 crime sequel, Sicario: Day... »
Below the Line’s 93rd Academy Awards Preview and Predictions – Part 2
Hopefully, you’ve already read Part 1, which includes most of the below-the-line crafts, but now, we’ll get to some of the other categories we haven’t covered yet, which are mostly above the line but also includes a few odds and ends that we just didn’t get to. The short film categories tend to be... »
Director Series: Ben Wheatley Goes In the Earth For Latest Eco-Thriller
Director Ben Wheatley might be seen either as Britain’s most prolific indie filmmaker or possibly the most eccentric, depending on who you ask and whether they appreciate his frequent forays into the odder side of genre filmmaking. His latest, In the Earth, begins with two rangers, played by Joel Fry and Ellora Torchia, venturing... »
Crafts Spotlight: Art Direction on the New Series The Right Stuff
For Appian Way’s producer Jennifer Davisson, among the many properties offered to the company she and overall proprietor Leonardo DiCaprio were analyzing for production potential was pilot Chuck Yeager’s autobiography, with regards to adapting it into a feature film. While that project did not move forward into the development phase, another Appian Way executive... »
Director Series: Natalie Krinsky’s The Broken Hearts Gallery
Natalie Krinsky‘s The Broken Hearts Gallery follows 20-something art gallery assistant Lucy Gulliver (Geraldine Viswanathan) living in New York City as she is suddenly fired from her job and dumped by her most recent boyfriend Max Vora (Utkarsh Ambudkar). Through the years, Lucy has become an emotional hoarder and has kept various keepsake items from... »
Filmmaker Spotlight: Ghosts of War Director Eric Bress
Unsurprisingly, the co-creator of The Butterfly Effect was bound to deliver a unique, non-traditional film with his new offering, Ghosts of War. As its title suggests, Eric Bress’s new project concerns the conventional war movie; however, Bress merged that familiar cinematic category with a wholly unexpected element. “I knew when I first started out... »
Volition Filmmakers Tony & Ryan Smith
For brothers Tony Dean Smith and Ryan W. Smith, their new science-fiction feature Volition was a fully collaborative endeavor in every respect with them sharing writing and producing duties and Tony installed as director. A story with many nuances and turns, Volition represented the first feature for the Smith Brothers. “The kernel of the idea came... »
Carl Laemmle Doc Reveals the Heroism of Universal Pictures’ Founder
When Carl Laemmle founded Universal Pictures in 1912, one of Hollywood’s longest running and most powerful studios was launched, with their land, Universal City, being dedicated three years later in the San Fernando Valley. Laemmle presided over the studio and facilities until 1936 when he lost everything—the production, distribution, and exhibition enterprise, plus the... »