Innholdsfortegnelse for 5/31/2023 i Variety

The impact of Tina Turner can be heard in Yola’s music, but it goes far beyond any basic level of influence for the British-born, Nashville-based powerhouse. Before becoming a recording artist and Grammy nominee, she was a teacher in vocal biomechanics who would instruct singers in how to emulate Turner’s singular voice … or how to try. Yola spoke with Variety about Turner, who died May 24 at age 83. In her progression of moving through R&B, becoming known as the Queen of Rock ’n’ Roll, and then becoming this pop star, Tina was collecting these things along the way, not leaving any of them behind. Once she makes it to that point of being a pop superstar, the fact that you can hear the rock and the soul in…

Music has always been an integral part of the “Star Wars” universe, dating back to the John Williams scores for the original movie trilogy. So will Emmy voters recognize one, two or all three of the recent “Star Wars” TV series in the scoring categories? Vying for consideration: the 12-part “Andor,” with music by Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated Nicholas Britell (“Succession”); the six-part “Obi-Wan Kenobi,” with a new theme by Williams and score by English composer Natalie Holt (“Loki”); and the eight-part third season of “The Mandalorian,” with music by Joseph Shirley. All aired on Disney+. Britell spent more than two years on “Andor,” the backstory of “Rogue One” hero Cassian Andor (Diego Luna), including several months creating music that was played on the set during filming — from the Time Grappler’s…

Every composer who scores a true crime series is dealing with ghosts. Their challenge is to help make a show riveting, dramatic — even entertaining — while trying not to exploit a real tragedy with real victims. For Danielle Furst and Khari Mateen, the composers behind “Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal,” an added challenge was writing music knowing that the families and friends of victims would likely be watching. “Every time we were working on it, I was thinking about the parents,” says Furst, “listening to what was behind their testimonies and their story and wanting them to feel good about it.” At the heart of “Murdaugh” is the death of Mallory Beach, a teenager whose death in a boating accident instigates a series of other calamities and murders. “It…

Netflix’s “Entergalactic” is the brainchild of Scott Mescudi — better known as enterprising artist and actor Kid Cudi — whose 2022 album of the same name serves as the basis for the new animated special, and its synth-heavy music as its soundtrack. “Entergalactic” tells the tale of young creatives Jabari (Kid Cudi), a comic-book artist, and Meadow (voiced by Jessica Williams), a photographer — two next-door neighbors in New York City whose chemistry and ambition intertwine, setting them on a roller-coaster path toward love. “It was nice to expand upon its ideas and take it to other places, adding in characters and other storylines to see where it could go,” says Cudi, who has appeared in HBO’s “Westworld” and “How to Make It in America,” in addition to other film…

“Prey” director Dan Trachtenberg wanted his “Predator” spinoff, which is set in 1719, to be shot in a naturalistic way, so cinematographer Jeff Cutter made use of available light whenever possible — especially from fire and the moon. In the movie, Comanche warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) tracks and hunts down a killer alien through the woods. “I would use fire as much as possible and augment it if we had to,” says Cutter. A few scenes were entirely lit by fire torches, with no supplemental lighting. For those moments, the DP would advise Midthunder and other actors how to hold the torch without disrupting their performances. Throughout, Cutter wanted the moonlight to be a presence. “That was important to me because we were going to return to it for the…

With 109 narrative and documentary features, as well as a bevy of shorts, TV series, podcasts, games and live music events, the Tribeca Festival offers a wide range of media in its 22nd year. “It’s all about creating an entire festival program that harmonizes together,” says Cara Cusumano, Tribeca Festival director and VP of programming. “The idea of discovery is a touchpoint that we come back to quite a lot. Whether it’s the discovery of a specific voice, an artist or first-time creator in film, television, immersive or the discovery of the audience itself experiencing something that they had not sought out before.” The festival runs June 7-18. As always, Tribeca Festival will spotlight a number of projects directed by boldface names including Frank Marshall (“Rather”), Chelsea Peretti (“First Time…

• ANATOMY OF A FALL Distributor: Neon One of seven women filmm›akers in competition, Justine Triet has taken a familiar genre (the courtroom drama) and turned it on its head. A frustrated writer dies of suspicious causes, leaving behind clues that implicate his wife (Sandra Hüller). But it’s the death of the marriage, not the husband, that preoccupies Triet, so that it often feels as if the movie is eavesdropping on moments too intimate to be shared. Can any couple’s relationship withstand the scrutiny this one is subjected to, as old fights and infidelities are dragged into the open? —Peter Debruge • THE ANIMAL KINGDOM Distributor: N/A A mysterious malady is sweeping France, unlocking something at a genetic level that causes people to transform into hybrid creatures. The mutations are…

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” didn’t invent multiverses, but it showed how they could be explored on-screen. The groundbreaking adventure movie featured the first Afro-Latino Spider-Man in movie history, Miles Morales (Shameik Moore), and teamed him with versions of the character drawn from different backgrounds, storytelling tones and even animation styles. A meme-re-creating end-credits scene that had multiple Spider-people pointing at one another hinted at what was yet to come from the film series. Now, in Sony Pictures’ “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (releasing in theaters on June 2), animated-superhero architects Phil Lord and Chris Miller (who co-wrote and produced the sequel) expand their cinematic web to include wall-crawlers from even more eclectic backgrounds. Here are just a few of the far-flung (swung?) Spider-people uniting alongside mainstays Miles, Gwen Stacy (Hailee Steinfeld)…

Back in April, James Gunn told me what he was looking for in the new Man of Steel for “Superman: Legacy.” “The next Superman has to be someone who has all the humanity that Superman has, but he’s also an alien,” he said. “It’s gotta be somebody who has the kindness and the compassion that Superman has and be somebody who you want to give a hug.” He added, “We have some really great choices, which I’m excited about.” Could former “The Bold and the Beautiful” star Pierson Fodé (1) be on Gunn’s list? I hear that the 31-year-old actor is in the running for the coveted role. Sources tell me that Fodé sent in a self-tape, which included a montage of footage showing his very Clark Kent-like childhood on…

Dan Rather isn’t often rendered speechless. ¶ The TV news icon is almost always quick with the charming turns of phrase. There’s even a word for them: “Ratherisms.” Anyone who has watched him anchor a livenews event knows them well; things like, “This race is tight — like a too-small bathing suit on a too-long ride home from the beach.” But on this mild March afternoon in Austin, Texas, Rather is tongue-tied. The producers and director behind the upcoming documentary “Rather” have just screened the film for the former anchor and his family and friends. Turns out it’s not easy to articulate what it’s like to witness the span and scope of your life’s work on the big screen. ¶ “It’s going to take me a while to really process…

A theme song sets the tone for a series. This is certainly the case for HBO’s awards favorite, “The White Lotus,” which won an Emmy for “Aloha” last year. The jungle sounds, exotic tones, yodels and screams laid over percussive rhythms and high-pitched flutes became instantly identifiable and an echo of the contentious characters vacationing at the Hawaii-based titular resort. Considering how iconic “Aloha” became, changing the theme for the Sicily-based second season was a bold choice. Chilean Canadian composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer drew his original musical ideas from the script and from conversations with series creator Mike White. White “wanted the music to feel like it was boiling under these characters,” de Veer says from his studio in Montréal. “I felt like native sounds were the way to…

The five-part docuseries “Dear Mama” uses Tupac’s 1995 hit — an autobiographical track that pays tribute to his mother Afeni Shakur — as its thesis statement. In the song, Tupac details the highs and lows of their relationship — from poverty and Afeni’s addiction to crack cocaine, to his admiration for her work as a leader of the Black Panther Party in the 1970s and her dedication as a mother. Likewise, the FX docuseries juxtaposes the rapper’s rise to become one of hip-hop’s most influential artists with his mother’s activism. “Dear Mama” reveals the circumstances that led to some of Tupac’s most famous tracks, including “Keep Ya Head Up,” “How Do U Want It” and “California Love,” as well as “Trapped” and “Brenda’s Got a Baby.” “Dear Mama” director Allen…

“Scoring comedy, in general, is really difficult,” says English composer Tom Howe, and he should know: He’s responsible for the music of “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking,” two of the year’s most talked-about comedies, both airing on Apple TV+. “You can’t take away from the picture and the script,” he says. “From my point of view,” he adds, speaking about “Ted Lasso,” “the music is just honest. Generally, I’ll play the overall mood of the scene rather than specific action.” Howe and his co-writer, Marcus Mumford, were Emmy-nominated for their theme during the first season of “Ted Lasso,” and Howe has continued to write and record all of the music for the second and third seasons. He plays all of the guitars, drums and keyboards on the score. But third-season episodes…

Transforming actors into well-known figures such as Tammy Wynette and Princess Diana was a challenge for artisans, who experimented with techniques to come up with hair and makeup that would look authentic to viewers. Cate Hall spent hours with Elizabeth Debicki while recreating Princess Diana’s sophisticated coiffure from the early 1990s for Season 5 of “The Crown.” Through a series of incremental adjustments to the wig — and plenty of patience from Debicki – Hall got the look she desired. “You hold one another’s hand as you keep slicing the wig with a razor and inching towards a shape that feels recognizable,” she recalls of her collaboration with Debicki. Hall admits that in her first attempt at the wig, Debicki looked more like a “lady called Brenda from 1983” than…

The detail in costume design can define a character — especially for Amazon Prime’s epic “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and its retro “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Whether creating costumes for sea guards and Harfoots, “LOTR” costume designer Kate Hawley created over 2,000 outfits for the series. Hawley used blue rather extensively in stones and costumes to reflect the regal presence of Morfydd Clark’s elf, Galadriel, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Míriel, Queen-Regent of Númenor. She created garments for the nomadic Harfoots that would shield them at night. The idea was that, like wild animals, they avoid detection from perceived enemies by just sitting still and blending into their environment. While she drew on author J.R.R. Tolkien’s books for inspiration, Hawley also looked at 1920s Expressionist films…

AWARDS CIRCUIT The official 2022-23 TV season ended on May 24, according to Nielsen, and as you can see a few pages back in this issue, we’ve got the wrap on this year’s winners and losers in the good ol’ fashioned linear TV world. Football, “Yellowstone” and procedurals, oh my! But we’re not living in a good ol’ fashioned linear TV world anymore. Television didn’t grind to a halt on May 24, and the Memorial Day gantlet of finales and premieres(!) was a fine reminder that TV no longer plays by the rules of a Nielsen calendar. Three of the biggest on-screen events of the year took place on Sunday night: The series finales of HBO’s “Succession” and “Barry,” and the mind-blowing Season 2 ender for “Yellowjackets,” which hit Showtime’s…

The impact of “Renaissance,” the main title theme for the second season of “The White Lotus,” is felt far beyond the screen. Since the season’s premiere in fall 2022, “Renaissance” has ushered in the Killers as they arrived on stage and Dominic Fike has closed his sets with it. But where the song has really hit is on the dance floor. Grammy-winning DJ/producer Tiësto, a huge fan of the series, began including it in his sets toward the end of 2022. His “Renaissance” remix got its official release, with HBO’s blessing. The remix has Tiësto’s signature fluttering builds and tension-releasing drops while retaining the source material’s infectious nature. “I wanted to create something that highlights the beauty of the original track but takes it to another level energy-wise for the dance…

More than ever, rock stars were TV stars in 2023 — in the form of subjects for television documentaries — and so were their brethren in pop, hip-hop, K-pop and Latin music. Some of these TV films or docuseries were vanity projects used to promote new albums, of course; others started off as “making of” projects and ended up catching a star in a moment of real psychological crisis. It wasn’t all cinema verité; historical overviews capturing the full breadth of an artist’s career or even a genre still had their place in the pop-doc landscape. Four films or limited series stand out in the subgenre of docs that were initially commissioned to capture an album or tour and, through circumstances, evolved into something deeper or darker. “Selena Gomez: My…

The Peabody Awards had its plan in place: A return to an in-person celebration for the first time since 2019, pre-COVID pandemic. And to mark the occasion, a big move to Southern California for the first time, with a West Coast ceremony that would highlight the talent behind some of TV’s most groundbreaking storytelling. The breakdown between the Writers Guild and the networks/studios/streamers, however, means that many of the creative minds behind those honorees are now on the picket line. “As an organization dedicated to honoring the most compelling and empowering stories in broad-casting and streaming media, we recognize and respect the position that many of this year’s Peabody Award winners find themselves in,” the org said in a statement two weeks into the strike. Indeed, there will be no…

Production designers had their hands full the past year, re-creating everything from an 18th century palace large enough for indoor badminton games to retro kitchens that looked like they were straight out of the 1970s. To achieve their period-accurate sets, they consulted books, photos and guild archives. For the third season of “The Great,” production designer Francesca Di Mottola a built a “gigantic games room where anything could happen and served many different purposes,” horse breeding among them. The production designer began scouting locations in the U.K., where the black comedy about Catherine the Great is filmed, but none quite fit what she was looking for, so she built the room on a soundstage. The room, which first appeared in episode 3 of the Hulu series, had high ceilings and…

When legendary Western hatter John B. Stetson invented the first commercially manufactured cowboy hat in 1865, he probably didn’t expect it would become a fashion accessory more than 150 years later. And yet around the world, cowboy hats are more popular than ever, and much of the credit for that goes to the costume designers of “Yellowstone” and “1923,” and to the shows’ creator, Taylor Sheridan. Emmy-winning costume designer Janie Bryant created the looks for “1923,” and she believes the timeless appeal of cowboy hats is due to their symbolic associations. “It’s about the American spirit,” she says. “There’s a wildness and a sense of freedom that we identify with the cowboy hat. It’s iconically American, and people relate with it globally.” Bryant’s initial foray into designing Western costumes came…

TV REVIEW Drama: HBO (5 episodes; 2 reviewed); June 4 Starring: Abel “the Weeknd” Tesfaye, Lily-Rose Depp, Troye Sivan What the Weeknd wants, the Weeknd gets in “The Idol,” a skintastic, dark-side-of-showbiz fable that perpetuates the myth that pop stars are corporate puppets with no say in their own image-making, even as it allows hitmaker the Weeknd to call the shots (and reshoots, apparently, since the five-part HBO series was overhauled late in production to suit him). Picture “Blonde” as Joe Eszterhas might have written it, but with better music. After making a toe-dip cameo as himself in A24’s “Uncut Gems,” the R&B phenom-turned-TV producer plunges headfirst into acting here, teaming with “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson to imagine a shady super-predator just looking to corrupt an unsuspecting young pop singer.…

Arlo Parks’ sophomore album is, in some ways, accidental. “I started listening to everything I’d collected, and I was like, ‘Whoa! I pretty much got the raw material for an album here,’” she tells Variety. “I tricked myself somehow.” This helped the 22-year-old London native avoid some of the pressure that often accompanies an artist’s second LP — especially if they’ve had an ascent like Parks’. After building a loyal fan base in the U.K., she released her debut album, “Collapsed in Sunbeams,” in January 2021. It went on to win the prestigious Mercury Prize and earn Parks best new artist and alternative album nominations at the 2022 Grammys. But all of that success didn’t come without a cost: After opening for Harry Styles, Clairo and Billie Eilish in the…