Variety 9/22/2021

HBO ORIGINAL LOVECRAFT COUNTRY Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series “Whitey’s on the Moon” Courtney B. Vance as George Freeman Outstanding Sound Editing for a Comedy Series or Drama Series (One Hour),“Sundown” Tim Kimmel, MPSE, Sound Supervisor John Matter, Dialogue Editor Paula fairfield, Sound Designer Bradley Katona, Sound Effects Editor Brett Voss, Foley Editor Jeff Wilhoit, Dylan Tuomy-Wilhoit, Foley Artists MARE OF EASTTOWN Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Kate Winslet as Mare Sheehan Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Julianne Nicholson as Lori Ross Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie Evan Peters as Detective Colin Zabel Outstanding Production Design for a Narrative Contemporary Program (One Hour or More) Keith P. Cunningham, Production Designer…

It is such welcoming news that television veteran Lesli Linka Glatter has been elected president of the Directors Guild of America. For years, Glatter has mentored and advocated for women directors and has been a force within the union fighting for members’ rights. Presumably her position will give her an even bigger platform to continue pushing for more parity in Hollywood’s male-dominated director ranks. Recent studies from “The Celluloid Ceiling” and “Boxed In,” two reports from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University, show us just how egregiously wide the gap in the business still is: Women comprised just 16% of directors working on the top 100 (domestic) grossing films of 2020; women accounted for 31% of directors working on U.S.…

The disappearance of beloved and sometimes controversial actor Zhao Wei epitomizes many aspects of the Chinese government’s campaign to tear down fandom, celebrity and the driving forces behind them. Zhao attained major stardom in the late 1990s with TV series “My Fair Princess,” starred as the leading lady in John Woo’s epic “Red Cliff” and directed 2013 hit YA film “So Young.” Along the way, she shook off a scandal about wearing a dress that looked like a Japanese flag, became unfeasibly wealthy and got banned for five years by China’s securities regulator — none of which, incredibly, fazed her meteoric rise. Now, suddenly, the star, who had accumulated 86 million Weibo followers, hasn’t just disappeared from public view (supposedly glimpsed only this week via unverified photos in her hometown),…

When the New York Film Festival opens on Sept. 24, it will not only signal another key stop on the awards season circuit — it will be a key marker in New York City’s long, painful reemergence from COVID-19. “People are so hungry for communal experiences,” says Eugene Hernandez, the festival’s director. “It’s been heartening to go on Instagram or social media and see people posting pictures from the audience of Broadway shows or concerts. We have this opportunity to be part of bringing culture back to the city.” Once again, the 17-day event will play host to new works from auteurs like Pedro Almodóvar (“Parallel Mothers”), Joel Coen (“The Tragedy of Macbeth”), and Jane Campion (“The Power of the Dog”), all of which are expected to be contenders in…

AWARDS CIRCUIT And yes, it all starts with the Roy family. “Succession,” which became a phenom during its second-season run, won the 2020 Emmys for drama series, writing, directing, lead actor (Jeremy Strong) and guest actress (Cherry Jones), among other prizes. The HBO juggernaut, debuting its new season in October, enters the 2022 Emmy season as the likely front-runner for another drama series Emmy. But trying to guess much beyond that is a bit foolhardy, given how unpredictable scheduling has become lately; it’s tough to handicap when shows might return versus take an extended hiatus in this conjoined era of COVID-19 and Peak TV. Pandemic production delays pushed many of TV’s biggest Emmy contenders into next year — but others have been delayed because, in this epoch of multi-hyphenate, multi-platform…

The total TV audience for NFL games on kickoff weekend notched a fiveyear high with 116.7 million viewers. Considering this comes on the heels of a 2020 featuring both a lower-than-usual kickoff audience (103.2 million) and the lowest Super Bowl audience since 2007 (96.4 million), this is joyous news for the league. Alas, the increase does come with a caveat: Airing games late Sunday afternoon on both CBS and Fox instead of the typical Fox-only opening Sunday slot added 8 million more viewers, and simulcasting “Monday Night Football” on ABC brought in another 4.5 million. Still, this is a positive start for the newly expanded season, and the extra eyeballs are proof that the NFL remains massively popular. For more data from VIP+, visit variety.com/vip. TOTAL WATCHING LIVE OR WITHIN…