Innholdsfortegnelse for 11/9/2022 i Variety

THE MYSTERIOUS BENEDICT SOCIETY (Disney+/20th Television/Disney Branded Television) Outstanding Young Teen Series Outstanding Writing For A Young Teen Program Outstanding Directing For A Single Camera Program Outstanding Music Direction And Composition For A Live Action Program Outstanding Cinematography For A Live Action Single Camera Program Outstanding Editing For A Single Camera Program Outstanding Sound Mixing And Sound Editing For A Live Action Program Outstanding Visual Effects For A Live Action Program Outstanding Main Title And Graphics Outstanding Art Direction/Set Decoration/Scenic Design Outstanding Costume Design/Styling SNEAKERELLA (Disney+/Disney Branded Television) Outstanding Fiction Special Outstanding Directing For A Single Camera Program Outstanding Music Direction And Composition For A Live Action Program Outstanding Original Song – “In Your Shoes” Outstanding Original Song – “Kicks” Outstanding Cinematography For A Live Action Single Camera Program Outstanding…

A week into owning Twitter, billionaire tech titan Elon Musk fired half the company’s employees, leaving the task of carrying out his aggressive plan to milk verified account holders for subscription revenue to the remaining 3,700 or so Tweeps. And that’s while advertisers have frozen spending on Twitter over concerns about exactly what kinds of “free speech” Musk is going to allow. Media and entertainment companies with a presence on Twitter — which is to say, the entire industry — are watching Musk’s unpredictable moves carefully, with many uncertain how they’ll proceed. Some digital marketing experts counsel erring on the side of caution. “As we’ve seen with prior pauses on other platforms, there is more upside to reinforcing brand position than downside in missing out on short-term performance,” says…

After taking over a fourth hour of MSNBC’s morning schedule, Joe Scarborough, Mika Brzezinski and Willie Geist are eyeing real estate in primetime. Should “Morning Joe” fans get ready for an occasional jolt of “Evening Joe” as well? The anchors and network are discussing the idea as rival CNN attempts to jump-start its own faltering morning programming. Scarborough says he would like to launch a series of quarterly — potentially even monthly — hourlong primetime specials that could take viewers on deep dives into topics like voting rights or into some of the challenges facing American cities. “It would be an opportunity to branch out and do some different things,” says Scarborough. MSNBC viewers have seen “Morning Joe” specials in primetime before, points out Rashida Jones, president of MSNBC. “I…

Is Chloe Bailey (1) campaigning to play X-Men’s Storm? After the singer dressed as the superhero for Halloween, she earned all sorts of support on social media, including a message on Twitter from the original Storm, Halle Berry, exclaiming, “She’s taking it.” “I’ve always wanted to be a superhero, and she’s my favorite one, so you can fill in the blanks,” Bailey tells me. “She is just so fierce and sexy and strong — all of the things I want to be — and she’s beautiful at the same time. And she doesn’t take any shit.” Funnily enough, Bailey’s sister, Halle, told me in September at D23 that she’d also love to play Storm. … Steven Spielberg (2) promised himself he wouldn’t get verklempt while making “The Fabelmans,” his semi-autobiographical…

RYAN COOGLER CAN’T SIT STILL. When the 36-year-old filmmaker first joins Variety to talk about his latest movie, Marvel Studios’ “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” — the $250 million sequel to “Black Panther” — it’s at the end of an exhausting day of press interviews in late October. He ambles into a hotel suite that’s been mostly emptied out for this conversation, and as he sinks into a couch that’s much lower than any of the other chairs in the room, his puzzled expression makes clear that he’s not happy with the ad hoc surroundings. “It’s a little weird,” he says. “Is there another place we could do this? Could we sit at a table or something?” A table is quickly wheeled in as Coogler pulls the curtains back along a…

Hollywood movies transition from silents to talkies in Damien Chazelle’s “Babylon,” as decadence and extravagance are all the rage in the 1920s showbiz milieu embodied by Margot Robbie, Brad Pitt and Tobey Maguire. “Babylon” production designer Florencia Martin is no stranger to recreating a certain period in Los Angeles. For Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” it was the 1970s: “I’m telling the story of the story of the suburbs of America, of the San Fernando Valley and Ventura Boulevard,” he said then. For the Netflix film “Blonde,” based on Marilyn Monroe’s life, Martin used locations that were “cookie-cutter” America, symbolizing the perfect wife and perfect house as Monroe seemed to crave that type of post-war stereotype in her marriages while continuing her career as an actor. “The locations are simple…

After last year’s re-telling of “West Side Story,” Steven Spielberg turns the camera on his life in “The Fabelmans,” for which he turned to frequent collaborators including composer John Williams, cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and editors Sarah Broshar and Michael Kahn to help bring his vision to the big screen. Michelle Williams stars as Mitzi Fabelman, who takes her young son Sammy (Gabrielle LaBelle) to see Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth.” It’s a life-changing moment for Sammy, who becomes so obsessed with the film’s rail crash scene that he feels the need to recreate it with his toy trains at home, and eventually follow his dreams to become a moviemaker. His mother encourages her son’s aspirations much to the detriment of her husband, Burt, a practical thinker played…

Transformation is the key element for this year’s makeup contenders. Prosthetic makeup designer Adrien Morot transformed Brendan Fraser into a 600-pound house-bound teacher in “The Whale,” which may land Morot his first makeup Oscar. This was also his first character prosthetic. Another striking transformation was Colin Farrell’s Penguin in “The Batman” — look for that team to be competitive for an Oscar nomination. Shane Thomas, the hair and makeup designer on “Elvis,” worked with helmer Baz Luhr-mann to turn Austin Butler into the King. “One of the main aims of all the makeup and hair designs was, in a very Baz way, heighten everything without making anyone look over-designed or [like] an impersonation. Crossing multiple periods from the ’40s to the ’70s, every actor had multiple wigs and [we used]…

Prior to the advent of streaming, documentaries had a reputation for being, as Jerry Seinfeld put it at the 2007 Oscars, “incredibly depressing.” Politics, the environment, warfare, and the farming industry were all topics routinely explored by documentary filmmakers for several decades. But Netflix, Amazon, Hulu, Apple, and Disney have effectively altered the nonfiction landscape by seeking out documentaries that have mass appeal, which has in turn helped them build their respective audiences. Netflix has a knack for determining what will appeal to viewers. “Tiger King,” “The Last Dance” and “The Tinder Swindler” were all released on the streaming service. Given the ongoing worldwide pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, America’s school shooting crisis, the yearly uptick in extreme weather events, it’s not exactly a surprise that viewers are attracted to…

Maybe the culture of Hollywood is changing. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a great uncovering of bad behavior such as sexual harassment and abusive conduct. Now, as a new generation — more diverse, more female and more multicultural — assume positions of leadership, the question becomes: Will it be possible to enact positive change? Here, three new leaders from this year’s class weigh in. Jeanell English, exec VP of impact and inclusion at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences, believes that supporting the new guard of entertainment industry leaders is not only key in terms of promoting careers, but also in creating compassion, closeness and connection within communities. “I have a feeling that so many of us that are being recognized as new leaders have been leaders…

The third annual “Variety Salute to Service” special will air at 8 p.m. Nov. 11, Veterans Day, on the History channel. The special will focus on the many contributions made by America’s veterans and military families, profiling extraordinary individuals who are giving back to their local communities and supporting other veterans through numerous initiatives. The one-hour program, which will be hosted by Seth Meyers, will also showcase various companies and nonprofit organizations that help veterans transition to meaningful careers in their civilian lives. “Since our founding, the History channel has been devoted to supporting veterans and military families, and to spotlighting the many ways they serve our communities even after they are no longer in uniform,” says Paul Buccieri, president a chairman, A+E Networks group. “Together with Variety, we are…

A bad sense of déjà vu is settling over the industry as the year winds down. Hollywood is in the throes of transition, and an economic downturn is on the horizon. The business is full of Under New Management signs after an M&A spree. Big Media earnings and stock prices are in the tank because of all the uncertainty. And Hollywood’s scribe tribe is restless. The outlook for the next six months is starting to look a lot like it did in the summer and fall of 2007, the last time the entertainment industry’s biggest employers faced a work stoppage with the Writers Guild of America. There is no doubt that the guild is bracing for a battle. The studios are hastily starting to get there as well. The dreaded…

With pickleball all the rage and the demand for sports programming growing fiercer by the day, CBS has teamed up with Stephen Colbert and Funny or Die to produce a celebrity tournament airing Nov. 17. The two-hour event might seem like a goof — and remind viewers old enough of “Battle of the Network Stars” in the ’70s — but it carries serious ramifications for an industry increasingly reliant on sports in all its forms. In “Pickled,” Colbert joins with sportscasters Bill Raftery and Cari Championtocommenton pickleball antics featuring everyone from Sugar Ray Leonard to Will Ferrell and Emma Watson. According to Colbert, who began playing the racket sport in January, the rivalries in the taped tournament are intense: “You don’t get to be fully employed in Hollywood unless you…

In a remarkably rapid growth surge, YouTube’s Music and Premium services now have more than 80 million paying subscribers combined, the company tells Variety, up a whopping 30 million from the 50 million the company announced last year. It’s a dramatic leap, especially for a platform where so much can be had for free, and would seem to place YouTube — which is the No. 1 overall streaming platform for music worldwide — as the world’s third-or fourth-largest paid music-streaming service, behind Spotify, Apple Music and China-only Tencent, although such rankings are always piled with asterisks. (The element that is most likely to make YouTube’s competitors cry foul is the fact that it includes free trials in its tally, which not all services do, if they break out such numbers…

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” not only gives the on-screen women central roles, director Ryan Coogler had women playing major roles behind the camera too. “Black Panther’s” costume designer Ruth E. Carter and production designer Hannah Beachler both returned for the sequel. And for the film’s cinematography, Coogler called in Autumn Arkapaw — who is no stranger to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, having worked on “Loki” — to help deliver his vision. A good chunk of the film involves the underwater city of Talocan, where the franchise’s new character Namor [Tenoch Huerta] rules off the coast of Mexico; thus, lots of Mayan art and cultural influences. “We continue to push the artistic elements. We were exploring the deep ocean and looked at different inspirations in Mayan culture, as well as the…

One of the biggest cinematic action-adventures of the year is Telugu-language “RRR,” which follows real-life 1920s Indian freedom fighters Komaram Bheem (N.T. Rama Rao Jr.) and Alluri Sitarama Raju (Ram Charan). Directed by S.S. Rajamouli, the three-hour-plus filled is stuffed end-to-end with action choreography, stunt work, pyrotechxnics and VFX. One standout sequence unfolds in the middle of the film when Bheem unleashes wild animals from a truck to attack the British in a wild scene with tigers, leopards and other assorted beasts flying through the air, leaping on soldiers and creating havoc. Rajamouli knew the sequence would be one of the most important moments in the film. “He wanted something out of this world,” cinematographer K.K. Senthil Kumar says. To pull it off, Kumar collaborated closely with production designer Sabu…

At the core of Sarah Polley’s “Women Talking” are the titular women, who, as cinematographer Luc Montpellier says, are “in the process of dismantling an old world that has been part of their lives their entire life.” In the film, an ensemble of actors led by Rooney Mara, Claire Foy and Jessie Buckley, discuss the sexual and physical trauma inflicted upon all the women of their isolated religious community and the difficult decisions and choices it would take to build a new life outside that community. It all unfolds while their husbands are away in town. It unfolds mostly in a barn loft. “It was important for the imagery in the film to mirror the weight of this seemingly impossible decision, all the decisions that we made, needed to mirror…

In just 13 years DOC NYC has become America’s most influential documentary festival. The nine-day affair, which runs Nov. 9-17, will feature more than 124 short docus and 112 feature-length nonfiction films that will screen at New York City’s IFC Center, SVA Theater and Cinépolis Chelsea. (The 2022 version will be both in person in New York and accessible online across the U.S.) One key factor in the festival’s success has to do with where it falls on the calendar — one month before the AMPAS documentary branch begins voting to determine the Oscar documentary shortlist. Then there’s DOC NYC’s 15-feature film shortlist, which has become famous for including docus that eventually earn Oscar nominations and/or wins. “Summer of Soul,” “American Factory,” “Free Solo,” “Icarus,” “O.J.: Made in America,” “Amy,”…

Representation William Brown Television Agent, CAA Look at Brown’s client list: Cedric the Entertainer, Damon Wayans Sr., Ego Nwodim, Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, Lena Dunham, Octavia Spencer, Stephan James, Tituss Burgess, Blitz Bazawule, Jeymes Samuel, Julie Dash, Lenny Abrahamson, RZA, Victoria Mahoney, Charles Randolph, Dave Flebotte, David Manson, Glen Mazzara, Lynn Nottage and Reggie Bythewood. In addition to handling that roster, Brown, 34, helped construct companies for Dwyane Wade (59th & Prairie) and Misty Copeland (Life in Motion). With his former experience at Morgan Stanley, he also guided the media finance efforts for CAA’s TV department. Learn to listen: “[Being a good agent] really is listening,” says Brown. “Listening and understanding what the client’s needs are — centering on that first and foremost. It’s also understanding what the challenges are…

I started my path to become a Marine in 1962 when I signed on to the Platoon Leaders Class program as I entered Fordham College in New York. At Fordham, the Jesuits drilled me on the importance of ethics and integrity. The Marine drill was all about discipline, leadership and, indeed, legacy. Combined, these foundation values set a stage for who I’ve become. My Marine active duty was from 1966-69 with a tour in Vietnam spanning 1968 and 1969. It was a time I was quite thankful for being part of the best of the best. I often describe my Marine experience akin to getting a master’s degree in personnel management. Learning and practicing leadership was an invaluable exercise. But what was really the greatest take-away in becoming a Marine?…

FILM REVIEW Director: Ryan Coogler Starring: Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o When Chadwick Boseman died in August 2020, the tragedy of his death felt wrenchingly multilayered. We had lost an actor who, after “Get On Up” and “42” and “Da 5 Bloods,” was arguably on his way to becoming the greatest of his generation. We’d lost the rare sublime screen star who was also a culture hero — his slyly playful and forceful performance as T’Challa, the Wakanda king-turned-leonine superhero of “Black Panther,” made Boseman a mythic presence in pop culture, revered around the globe as a larger-than-life figure who was also a winningly down-toearth icon of Black fortitude and nobility. And, of course, we’d lost the anchor of the rare comic book franchise that really meant something. “Black…

Charlie Collier surprised the industry in September when he exited his perch as CEO of Fox Entertainment for something a bit more unconventional: president of Roku Media. But anyone who knows Collier, or has followed his career, knows the move jibes with the exec’s longtime entrepreneurial spirit: At AMC, he helped turn what was American Movie Classics into a programming powerhouse, and he spurred Fox’s independent evolution through the acquisition of building blocks like Tubi, Bento Box and TMZ. Now, at Roku, Collier is focusing his attention on the future of streaming. “I loved my job at Fox. I’m so proud of what we did collectively and all we accomplished,” he says in his first interview since officially starting his new job last week. Roku and its founder-CEO, Anthony Wood,…

Almost one year ago, Reneé Rapp went through a nasty breakup — in a “really shitty way,” as she puts it. But instead of falling into despair, the “Sex Lives of College Girls” star immediately called her manager. “I explained it to him like, ‘I feel it in my fingers that this is going to be the year that everything I have ever wanted to happen can happen,’” Rapp tells Variety over lattes in a cozy Toluca Lake coffee shop. “It was like getting out of that relationship made me confident.” At first glance, it’s hard to imagine a 22-year-old with as impressive a résumé as Rapp could harbor any insecurities: The North Carolina native took over the role of Regina George in Broadway’s “Mean Girls” at the ripe age…

AWARDS CIRCUIT Ke Huy Quan, who played Harrison Ford’s young sidekick Short Round in 1984’s “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom,” is all grown up now and ready to be an Oscar contender. Quan, 51, has received rousing reviews for his turn as Waymond Wang, the delightfully goofy husband in Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert’s whimsical multiverse comedy “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” Along the lines of past hardworking actors who received their big Oscar breaks later in their careers — such as Paul Raci for “Sound of Metal” (2020) and Troy Kotsur for “CODA” (2021) — Quan’s comeback story is one of the season’s bright spots. Also known for playing Data in “The Goonies” (1985), Quan quit acting in the late 1990s. Now, the Vietnamese-born actor’s career resurgence,…

Judging by the films of 2022, Oscar voters will have a vast array of choices as they mark their ballots in the crafts races. While “Avatar: The Way of Water” looks set to dominate at this point in the race — the 2009 “Avatar” bagged nine nominations and changed the game for VFX — it will face off against sequel “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.” The 2018 “Black Panther” garnered an historic win for costume designer Ruth E. Carter when she became the first African American woman to win in that category. Production designer Hannah Beachler was the first African American to be nominated for the award — and the first to win it. They are both back for “Wakanda Forever.” In score, prior Oscar-winners Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (“Bones…

D.C. Comics new superhero Black Adam (Dwayne Johnson) calls on the Egyptian gods for his superpowers in “Black Adam.” One sequence sees Black Adam in a stand-off with the Justice Society of America — Hawkman, Doctor Fate, Cyclone and Atom Smasher — in a street battle scene. Weta FX stepped in for the first of many sequences to combine CG environments with practical ones. “Our CG environment was derived from two practical locations — the lower pit was partly built on a soundstage, and the second street level set was set up in a backlot location,” says Sheldon Stopsack, VFX supervisor. “We combined these sets and extended them into a full digital environment, which allowed us to be flexible with our shot design.” Facing Black Adam and his superior abilities,…

Cinematographer James Friend was a fan of the 1930 version of “All Quiet on the Western Front,” so when director Edward Berger called on him to work on a new adaptation of the Erich Maria Remarque classic, he deliberately did not go back to watch the film, but he did read the book. “We were adapting the novel, not reimagining the movie,” Friend says, and that was how they would keep the vision fresh. One of the first things Friend did, in a move influenced by influenced by Roger Deakins, was to find naturalism in his shots. That meant “testing the actors and their skin tones, in their costumes and posing against an environment because we knew that fundamentally we were going to be working with daylight or nighttime.” Friend…

Thirteen years ago, composer Simon Franglen worked with James Cameron and composer James Horner on “Avatar.” But Horner’s 2015 death left a big hole for the music team to fill for the upcoming sequel “Avatar: The Way of Water.” “In the gaping absence that Horner left, we kept the core of his ‘Avatar’ music team together, completing James’ work on Disney’s Pandora — The World of Avatar [themed area Walt Disney World’s Animal Kingdom] and so, I was more than ready in late 2017 when Jim [Cameron] asked me to read the scripts for the sequels,” Franglen says. Bringing the composer into the production early allowed the score to evolve with the films. “One of the unexpected delights was being able to design unique Pandoran musical instruments for the film,…

GRAY’S GOLD After its big Oscar wins with “CODA,” Apple TV+ is in the race and will get a lot of attention with “Emancipation,” Will Smith’s first movie since the Slap. But Apple has several other possible contenders, including “The Greatest Beer Run Ever,” a comedy-drama from Peter Farrelly, his followup to Oscar winner “Green Book.” “Beer Run” was written by Farrelly, Brian Hayes Currie and Pete Jones. It’s based on true events in 1967-68, when John (Chickie) Donohue decides to support his friends in Vietnam by delivering beer to them. The comedy comes from Chickie (an excellent Zac Efron) doing foolish things in dire circumstances; as one character observes, Donohue is “too dumb to get killed.” The drama comes from his slow realization that the boosterism he picked up…

There are plenty of in-person and virtual commemorations from Broadway and beyond planned to celebrate and honor veterans. One of the highlights is Nov. 10’s NYC Marine Corps Birthday Gala, aboard the USS Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. Benefitting Semper Fi and America’s Fund, event honored TV host and motivational speaker Montel Williams, who served in the Marine Corps and as a lieutenant colonel in the Naval Reserve; actor-comedian Rob Riggle, who served as lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps; and Gen. David H. Berger. Williams receives the David Dinkins Vanguard Honor, and Riggle received the Cpl. l Allen J. Striffler USMC Marine for Life Award at the event, which will also be streamed virtually. “It’s an honor to be recognized by such a wonderful group of veterans,”…

This year’s Asian World Film Festival will again showcase the very best of Asian cinema, all in an effort to draw greater recognition to the region’s wealth of filmmakers and talent while strengthening ties between the film industries of Hollywood and the continent. During the pandemic, the 2020 edition was delayed to spring 2021. The festival will highlight pictures from more than 50 countries across Asia. It is unique in that it predominantly screens works that have been submitted to the Oscars and Golden Globes for international feature film and motion picture — non-English language, respectively. “We started AWFF in 2018, and we’re very proud of what we’ve achieved,” says executive and program director Georges Chamchoum, who co-founded the event with Sadyk Sher Niyaz, the former minister of culture of…