IndieWire launched our “Pass the Remote” FYC TV screening series, produced in partnership with Disney, with a dynamic casting directors panel April 25, two Disney Storytellers panels April 29, and a panel about “Abbott Elementary” May 20.
Next up? A “Jim Henson Idea Man” panel on May 24 celebrating the documentary about the Muppets creator, which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Like all events in the “Pass the Remote” screening series, it will take place at the Vidiots Foundation in Los Angeles’s Eagle Rock neighborhood.
Legendary director Ron Howard will be in attendance on the panel, as will composer David Fleming and editor Paul Crowder. Howard is a two-time Oscar winner. In recent vintage, he’s become a more prolific documentary director, with films such as “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week” (2016), “Pavarotti” (2019), “Rebuilding Paradise” (2020), and 2022’s profile of Jose Andres and the World Central Kitchen, “We Feed People.”
“Jim Henson...
Next up? A “Jim Henson Idea Man” panel on May 24 celebrating the documentary about the Muppets creator, which just premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. Like all events in the “Pass the Remote” screening series, it will take place at the Vidiots Foundation in Los Angeles’s Eagle Rock neighborhood.
Legendary director Ron Howard will be in attendance on the panel, as will composer David Fleming and editor Paul Crowder. Howard is a two-time Oscar winner. In recent vintage, he’s become a more prolific documentary director, with films such as “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week” (2016), “Pavarotti” (2019), “Rebuilding Paradise” (2020), and 2022’s profile of Jose Andres and the World Central Kitchen, “We Feed People.”
“Jim Henson...
- 5/22/2024
- by Christian Blauvelt
- Indiewire
Exclusive: The new docuseries Not Part of the Plan exploring the lives of four queer Mormon teens from executive producers Wilson Cruz (Visible: Out on Television), Amy Redford (The Lincoln Project), Xan Parker (Ron Howard’s Rebuilding Paradise) and Hadleigh Arnst, is currently being shopped. The six-episode project (plus one bonus episode) was directed by Stephen Frandsen (Duck Beach to Eternity).
The first season was filmed over two years following the lives of four queer teens in Utah’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Producers focused on spending extensive time getting to know them, to able to showcase their challenges, victories and the support they receive from Utah-based, non-profit organization Encircle.
“The personal stories of these young queer people, telling us who they are, will give us an opportunity to hopefully change minds and hearts while educating others so they are more informed, more open, and more caring,...
The first season was filmed over two years following the lives of four queer teens in Utah’s Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Producers focused on spending extensive time getting to know them, to able to showcase their challenges, victories and the support they receive from Utah-based, non-profit organization Encircle.
“The personal stories of these young queer people, telling us who they are, will give us an opportunity to hopefully change minds and hearts while educating others so they are more informed, more open, and more caring,...
- 4/30/2024
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Imagine Entertainment co-chairmen Brian Grazer and Ron Howard have entered into a multi-year co-financing and production partnership with Fifth Season and their co-CEOs Graham Taylor and Chris Rice.
Both companies have been busy in the docu space, and the move will give more autonomy. Imagine Documentaries president Sara Bernstein runs the division, and Justin Wilkes, who is Imagine president. Imagine will handle creative and production, while Fifth Season will handle sales and distribution. Fifth Season’s Non-Scripted division is run by EVP Mary Lisio.
The arrangement will start with feature docus on two iconic figures: Howard will direct a docu on the life of celebrated photographer Richard Avedon, and Big Chill helmer will make a docu on the life and comedy of Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short. Imagine and Fifth Season will co-finance the projects together, and they have put together a slate to follow these films.
Both companies have been busy in the docu space, and the move will give more autonomy. Imagine Documentaries president Sara Bernstein runs the division, and Justin Wilkes, who is Imagine president. Imagine will handle creative and production, while Fifth Season will handle sales and distribution. Fifth Season’s Non-Scripted division is run by EVP Mary Lisio.
The arrangement will start with feature docus on two iconic figures: Howard will direct a docu on the life of celebrated photographer Richard Avedon, and Big Chill helmer will make a docu on the life and comedy of Only Murders in the Building star Martin Short. Imagine and Fifth Season will co-finance the projects together, and they have put together a slate to follow these films.
- 1/22/2024
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
National Geographic Documentary Films has snatched up the Venice 2022 festival documentary Bobi Wine: Ghetto President and will take the film out worldwide.
The documentary, from directors Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, follows the career and life of Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Afrobeats pop star Bobi Wine, who is using his fame — and music — to shine a spotlight on corruption in his home country. Since his move into politics —Wine last year ran for president, challenging the authoritarian leadership of Ugandan leader Yoweri Kaguta Museveni — the singer has survived beatings and an assassination attempt. But he has not been bowed.
“My people, the Ugandan people, are familiar with my journey through music, politics, imprisonment and torture, but this film is a microcosm of my country’s larger struggles under an unrelenting dictatorship that has been operating with impunity for decades,” said Wine. “I...
National Geographic Documentary Films has snatched up the Venice 2022 festival documentary Bobi Wine: Ghetto President and will take the film out worldwide.
The documentary, from directors Christopher Sharp and Moses Bwayo, follows the career and life of Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Afrobeats pop star Bobi Wine, who is using his fame — and music — to shine a spotlight on corruption in his home country. Since his move into politics —Wine last year ran for president, challenging the authoritarian leadership of Ugandan leader Yoweri Kaguta Museveni — the singer has survived beatings and an assassination attempt. But he has not been bowed.
“My people, the Ugandan people, are familiar with my journey through music, politics, imprisonment and torture, but this film is a microcosm of my country’s larger struggles under an unrelenting dictatorship that has been operating with impunity for decades,” said Wine. “I...
- 9/4/2022
- by Scott Roxborough
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Over the course of an engaging (if inevitably repetitive) two and a half hours, “Thirteen Lives” reenacts the incredible rescue effort that captured the world’s attention for several weeks in the summer of 2018: Twelve boys and the assistant coach of a Thai soccer team went exploring the Tham Luang cave when an unforeseen rainstorm forced them deeper and deeper. What should have been a reasonably easy hike instead became a near-death experience, as rising waters and an early monsoon season left them stranded for days, until a handful of the world’s most experienced divers arrived on the scene.
International news coverage ensured that audiences around the globe were aware of the situation, but far fewer know just what it took to get those kids to safety — which explains why this feel-good story has inspired multiple films, from “The Rescue” to “The Cave,” with an even more “authentic...
International news coverage ensured that audiences around the globe were aware of the situation, but far fewer know just what it took to get those kids to safety — which explains why this feel-good story has inspired multiple films, from “The Rescue” to “The Cave,” with an even more “authentic...
- 7/28/2022
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
Ron Howard first heard about José Andrés‘ World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit that provides meals to areas affected by natural disasters, about seven years ago when both were speakers at a conference. The Oscar winner found the chef and humanitarian “inspiring, entertaining,” but it wasn’t until Howard was working on another documentary that the idea to document Andrés and Wck for what would become Disney+’s “We Feed People” was born.
‘When I was doing the documentary ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ [about wildfires in Paradise, Calif.], José shows up in it. I wasn’t there when we covered him, but he was there as part of the relief effort,” Howard tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: Documentary panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). “Louisa Velis, who’s one of the executive producers of both ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ and ‘We Feed People,’ she and I were looking at the cut and she said, ‘José Andrés,...
‘When I was doing the documentary ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ [about wildfires in Paradise, Calif.], José shows up in it. I wasn’t there when we covered him, but he was there as part of the relief effort,” Howard tells Gold Derby at our Meet the Experts: Documentary panel (watch the exclusive video interview above). “Louisa Velis, who’s one of the executive producers of both ‘Rebuilding Paradise’ and ‘We Feed People,’ she and I were looking at the cut and she said, ‘José Andrés,...
- 6/3/2022
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Latin American jazz fusion icon Carlos Santana will be the subject of an expansive documentary directed by Emmy winner Rudy Valdez.
Imagine Documentaries is collaborating on the project with Sony Music Entertainment, which is co-financing and handling distribution. It will follow Santana’s journey from a 14-year-old street musician to a 10-time Grammy-winning global sensation, and feature unseen archival footage and tracks.
Valdez is the director of Sundance’s U.S. documentary audience award winner “The Sentence,” about the corrosive effect of mandatory minimum sentencing on convicts and their families. That project went on to win an Emmy and was released by HBO.
Currently filming, the untitled Santana doc is produced by Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes for Imagine, with Lizz Morhaim (“Rebuilding Paradise”). Imagine co-founders and Oscar winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are executive producers.
“I am honored and grateful to have partnered with Imagine Documentaries and Sony Music...
Imagine Documentaries is collaborating on the project with Sony Music Entertainment, which is co-financing and handling distribution. It will follow Santana’s journey from a 14-year-old street musician to a 10-time Grammy-winning global sensation, and feature unseen archival footage and tracks.
Valdez is the director of Sundance’s U.S. documentary audience award winner “The Sentence,” about the corrosive effect of mandatory minimum sentencing on convicts and their families. That project went on to win an Emmy and was released by HBO.
Currently filming, the untitled Santana doc is produced by Sara Bernstein and Justin Wilkes for Imagine, with Lizz Morhaim (“Rebuilding Paradise”). Imagine co-founders and Oscar winners Brian Grazer and Ron Howard are executive producers.
“I am honored and grateful to have partnered with Imagine Documentaries and Sony Music...
- 5/20/2022
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
"We are here with a simple mission: to make sure that food is an agent of change." National Geographic has unveiled an official trailer for a documentary titled We Feed People, the latest doc feature directed by Ron Howard. The film spotlights renowned chef José Andrés and his nonprofit World Central Kitchen's mission & evolution over 12 years, from being a scrappy group of grassroots volunteers to becoming one of the most highly regarded humanitarian aid organizations in the disaster relief sector. They've been out in Ukraine since the start of the war helping feed families there, too. From Haiti to Madagascar, North Carolina to the Navajo Nation, Puerto Rico to Washington, D.C., and all around the world, the food relief Ngo World Central Kitchen has sped to crisis locations to help with the most urgent of human needs: Feeding communities with limited access to food. By starting with the...
- 5/5/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
It may sound counterintuitive at best, tone-deaf at worse, to label a documentary focused on food providers aiding people in the wake of disasters as a feel-good movie. But that’s an honest, accurate and, yes, appreciative label for “.
The movie effectively begins in media res, with the robustly gregarious Andrés and his dedicated crew years into their vocation, providing hot meals to isolated residents of Wilmington, N.C., in the wake of 2018’s Hurricane Florence — and coming perilously close to tasting their own disaster when floodwaters almost topple their delivery truck — before backing up to explain just who Andrés is and what started him on his mission.
A native of Spain, Andrés moved to the U.S. in 1990 and proceeded to become the protagonist in his very own version of the American success story, gradually and profitably establishing himself as a high-profile restaurateur with upscale eateries initially in the Washington,...
The movie effectively begins in media res, with the robustly gregarious Andrés and his dedicated crew years into their vocation, providing hot meals to isolated residents of Wilmington, N.C., in the wake of 2018’s Hurricane Florence — and coming perilously close to tasting their own disaster when floodwaters almost topple their delivery truck — before backing up to explain just who Andrés is and what started him on his mission.
A native of Spain, Andrés moved to the U.S. in 1990 and proceeded to become the protagonist in his very own version of the American success story, gradually and profitably establishing himself as a high-profile restaurateur with upscale eateries initially in the Washington,...
- 3/20/2022
- by Joe Leydon
- Variety Film + TV
Update: That didn’t take long. The deal for Fire of Love is now closed, Deadline has confirmed. Release is below our acquisitions scoop.
Exclusive: National Geographic Documentary Films is closing a mid-seven-figure worldwide rights deal for Fire of Love, the Sara Dosa-directed documentary that opened the festival and created a stampede of bidders in what is the first deal on the virtual ground here. This will be a significant theatrical release for later this year.
As Deadline reported yesterday, bidding began shortly after the film’s Thursday premiere screening. Netflix, Nat Geo, Paramount, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC, Universal and Amazon all were in the mix on this one. Submarine is brokering the deal.
The film focuses on Katia and Maurice Krafft and their love of each other, and getting as close as possible to fiery volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple was seduced by the...
Exclusive: National Geographic Documentary Films is closing a mid-seven-figure worldwide rights deal for Fire of Love, the Sara Dosa-directed documentary that opened the festival and created a stampede of bidders in what is the first deal on the virtual ground here. This will be a significant theatrical release for later this year.
As Deadline reported yesterday, bidding began shortly after the film’s Thursday premiere screening. Netflix, Nat Geo, Paramount, Sony Pictures Classics, IFC, Universal and Amazon all were in the mix on this one. Submarine is brokering the deal.
The film focuses on Katia and Maurice Krafft and their love of each other, and getting as close as possible to fiery volcanoes. For two decades, the daring French volcanologist couple was seduced by the...
- 1/23/2022
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
The Wall Street Journal has reported that Imagine Entertainment, the film and TV production company cofounded by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, is in talks to sell to a London investment firm. The report cites “people familiar” with the matter, and claims Centricus, the London firm, may pay between $600 milliion to $800 million for more than a 70 percent stake in the company. Deadline reported earlier this summer that investors and potential buyers were taking interest in Imagine Entertainment, which was founded by Howard and Grazer in 1985.
The interested parties included at that time an unnamed Middle East sovereign wealth fund, as well as international banks and a domestic private equity firm. The valuation of the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind production company was reported as north of $800M.
Imagine’s umbrella consists of NY-based indie production shingle Jax Media, a majority stake in Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions,...
The interested parties included at that time an unnamed Middle East sovereign wealth fund, as well as international banks and a domestic private equity firm. The valuation of the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind production company was reported as north of $800M.
Imagine’s umbrella consists of NY-based indie production shingle Jax Media, a majority stake in Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions,...
- 1/16/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Imagine Entertainment is in negotiations to sell a majority stake in the production banner headed by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer to London-based investment firm Centricus Asset Management Ltd.
The talks were first reported by the The Wall Street Journal. The negotiations are accelerating but a source close to the situation cautions there’s still no certainty that a deal will come to fruition. The discussions under way with Centricus are said to value Imagine Entertainment, one of Hollywood’s largest independent content producers, at about $600 million to $700 million. The company has been in the hunt for a capital infusion through an equity sale for some months.
Centricus has $35 billion in assets under management and is known for investing in financial services, technology, infrastructure, media and sports businesses. The company was co-founded in 2016 by Nizar Al-Bassam and Dalinc Ariburnu. Josh Purvis serves as CEO and COO.
Imagine Entertainment declined to comment.
The talks were first reported by the The Wall Street Journal. The negotiations are accelerating but a source close to the situation cautions there’s still no certainty that a deal will come to fruition. The discussions under way with Centricus are said to value Imagine Entertainment, one of Hollywood’s largest independent content producers, at about $600 million to $700 million. The company has been in the hunt for a capital infusion through an equity sale for some months.
Centricus has $35 billion in assets under management and is known for investing in financial services, technology, infrastructure, media and sports businesses. The company was co-founded in 2016 by Nizar Al-Bassam and Dalinc Ariburnu. Josh Purvis serves as CEO and COO.
Imagine Entertainment declined to comment.
- 1/15/2022
- by Jennifer Maas and Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
The Motion Picture Sound Editors said Thursday that Ron Howard will receive the organization’s Mpse Filmmaker Award during its annual awards ceremony in March.
Howard, who won Oscars for producing and directing A Beautiful Mind in 2001, has been moving between directing documentaries and narrative features of late, with recent docs including last year’s Rebuilding Paradise and films on Pavarotti and The Beatles. On the narrative side, he most recently directed 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
As a producer with Brian Grazer for Imagine, they recently produced the Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed tick, tick…Boom! and Hillbilly Elegy. He is in post on Thirteen Lives, a film telling the story of the Thai cave rescue, an on a documentary about renowned chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen.
Howard’s executive producer credits also include NatGeo’s anthology series Genius, Fox’s Arrested Development,...
Howard, who won Oscars for producing and directing A Beautiful Mind in 2001, has been moving between directing documentaries and narrative features of late, with recent docs including last year’s Rebuilding Paradise and films on Pavarotti and The Beatles. On the narrative side, he most recently directed 2020’s Hillbilly Elegy and 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story.
As a producer with Brian Grazer for Imagine, they recently produced the Lin-Manuel Miranda-directed tick, tick…Boom! and Hillbilly Elegy. He is in post on Thirteen Lives, a film telling the story of the Thai cave rescue, an on a documentary about renowned chef José Andrés and his World Central Kitchen.
Howard’s executive producer credits also include NatGeo’s anthology series Genius, Fox’s Arrested Development,...
- 12/2/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
National Geographic is beefing up its unscripted slate with orders for three new series all focused on exploration, including a spin-off of its Emmy-winning series “Life Below Zero.”
“Life Below Zero: First Alaskans,” “The 7 Toughest Days on Earth” and “Appetite for Adventure” are “exciting additions to our stable of popular, returnable, scalable series led by charismatic personalities,” Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Content, said in a statement. “The talent at the center of each of these series have unique voices and perspectives that will undoubtedly inspire the explorer in all of us.”
The latest addition to “Life Below Zero” franchise, which includes “Life Below Zero: Next Generation,” “Life Below Zero: First Alaskans” is the first Nat Geo nonfiction series featuring a Native American cast and production team. Set to begin production this month, the series focuses on Alaskan Natives and “their right to preserve their threatened ways of life,...
“Life Below Zero: First Alaskans,” “The 7 Toughest Days on Earth” and “Appetite for Adventure” are “exciting additions to our stable of popular, returnable, scalable series led by charismatic personalities,” Courteney Monroe, president of National Geographic Content, said in a statement. “The talent at the center of each of these series have unique voices and perspectives that will undoubtedly inspire the explorer in all of us.”
The latest addition to “Life Below Zero” franchise, which includes “Life Below Zero: Next Generation,” “Life Below Zero: First Alaskans” is the first Nat Geo nonfiction series featuring a Native American cast and production team. Set to begin production this month, the series focuses on Alaskan Natives and “their right to preserve their threatened ways of life,...
- 9/7/2021
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
National Geographic scored a total of 13 Emmy nominations this year, spread out over six programs: limited series “Genius: Aretha,” documentary series “City So Real,” unstructured reality series “Life Below Zero,” nonfiction series “Rebuilding Paradise,” structured reality series “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” and documentary series “Secrets of the Whales,” which streamed on Disney+. The network knows a thing or two about winning Emmys. Just last year Nat Geo took home a total of five awards, and in 2019 “Free Solo” made headlines by claiming a whopping seven trophies.
SEEDondraico Johnson (‘Genius: Aretha’ choreographer) on Queen of Soul’s voice being ‘the heartbeat of the movement’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
How will Nat Geo fare at the 2021 Emmys? Let’s take a closer look at their baker’s dozen nominations. They are: choreography, lead actress (Cynthia Erivo) and sound mixing for “Genius: Aretha,” cinematography and doc/nonfiction series for “City So Real,” cinematography, picture editing and...
SEEDondraico Johnson (‘Genius: Aretha’ choreographer) on Queen of Soul’s voice being ‘the heartbeat of the movement’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
How will Nat Geo fare at the 2021 Emmys? Let’s take a closer look at their baker’s dozen nominations. They are: choreography, lead actress (Cynthia Erivo) and sound mixing for “Genius: Aretha,” cinematography and doc/nonfiction series for “City So Real,” cinematography, picture editing and...
- 8/19/2021
- by Marcus James Dixon
- Gold Derby
Investors and potential buyers are taking interest in Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, Deadline has confirmed.
The interested parties include an unnamed Middle East sovereign wealth fund, as well as international banks and a domestic private equity firm. The valuation of the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind production company is north of $800M.
Imagine’s umbrella consists of NY-based indie production shingle Jax Media, a majority stake in Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, a robust documentaries division including titles such as NatGeo’s Rebuilding Paradise, directed by Ron Howard, Sony Pictures Classics’ Julia and Apple’s Who Are You, Charlie Brown?
Imagine’s library includes Howard’s canon with such titles as Backdraft, Apollo 13 but also TV series such as 24, Arrested Development, Friday Night Lights and Empire. Howard is also set to direct his first animated feature movie for Paramount,...
The interested parties include an unnamed Middle East sovereign wealth fund, as well as international banks and a domestic private equity firm. The valuation of the Oscar-winning A Beautiful Mind production company is north of $800M.
Imagine’s umbrella consists of NY-based indie production shingle Jax Media, a majority stake in Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, a robust documentaries division including titles such as NatGeo’s Rebuilding Paradise, directed by Ron Howard, Sony Pictures Classics’ Julia and Apple’s Who Are You, Charlie Brown?
Imagine’s library includes Howard’s canon with such titles as Backdraft, Apollo 13 but also TV series such as 24, Arrested Development, Friday Night Lights and Empire. Howard is also set to direct his first animated feature movie for Paramount,...
- 7/21/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Imagine Entertainment, the production banner run by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer, has been the subject of renewed acquisition talks in recent weeks, multiple sources told Variety.
Investors and potential buyers include an undisclosed sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East, which has been quietly exploring American media investments of late. Also kicking the tires on Imagine are international banks and a domestic private equity firm, according to two individuals familiar with the discussions. The current valuation being floated is between $800 million and $825 million, sources added.
An Imagine Entertainment spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
The interest in Imagine comes at a time when the media sector is rife with M&a and consolidation activity. In addition to top-level transactions like the pending combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery and Amazon’s nearly $9 billion purchase of MGM, companies like Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and LeBron James’ Spring Hill Entertainment...
Investors and potential buyers include an undisclosed sovereign wealth fund from the Middle East, which has been quietly exploring American media investments of late. Also kicking the tires on Imagine are international banks and a domestic private equity firm, according to two individuals familiar with the discussions. The current valuation being floated is between $800 million and $825 million, sources added.
An Imagine Entertainment spokesperson declined to comment on the matter.
The interest in Imagine comes at a time when the media sector is rife with M&a and consolidation activity. In addition to top-level transactions like the pending combination of WarnerMedia and Discovery and Amazon’s nearly $9 billion purchase of MGM, companies like Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine and LeBron James’ Spring Hill Entertainment...
- 7/20/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
A top contender for the Primetime Emmy for Best Documentary or Nonfiction Series this year is “City So Real,” “Hoop Dreams” and “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail” filmmaker Steve James’ exploration of the 2019 mayoral race in Chicago. Below and exclusive to IndieWire, check out a conversation with Steve James as moderated by filmmaker Judd Apatow, who’s currently putting the finishing touches on his upcoming Netflix comedy film “The Bubble.”
In the five-part documentary series “City So Real,” Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Steve James delivers a complex portrait of Chicago, America’s third-largest metropolis and his longtime hometown. The series begins in the middle of summer 2018, as Mayor Rahm Emanuel, caught up in accusations of a cover-up related to the police shooting of a Black teenager, Laquan McDonald, stuns the city by announcing he won’t be seeking reelection.
Following the announcement, an unprecedented 21 candidates crowd the field, engaging in a...
In the five-part documentary series “City So Real,” Oscar-nominated documentary filmmaker Steve James delivers a complex portrait of Chicago, America’s third-largest metropolis and his longtime hometown. The series begins in the middle of summer 2018, as Mayor Rahm Emanuel, caught up in accusations of a cover-up related to the police shooting of a Black teenager, Laquan McDonald, stuns the city by announcing he won’t be seeking reelection.
Following the announcement, an unprecedented 21 candidates crowd the field, engaging in a...
- 6/27/2021
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Cue the creepy tuba music. Just when you thought is was safe to go back in the water, HBO Documentary Films and director Ivy Meeropol have begun work on a documentary about the rise of great white sharks off Cape Cod.
The untitled feature will look at how the serene waters off southern Massachusetts have become one of the world’s hotspots for the giant predators during the past decade. Explosive growth in the seal population and shifting climate patterns are drawing sharks to this part of the northwest Atlantic.
The film is a portrait of how local residents – and the thousands of vacationers who flock to Cape Cod every summer — grapple with this alarming new reality while following the science to investigate what marine life can tell us about the health of the ocean. Meeropol, who helmed HBO’s 2019 docu Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, directs...
The untitled feature will look at how the serene waters off southern Massachusetts have become one of the world’s hotspots for the giant predators during the past decade. Explosive growth in the seal population and shifting climate patterns are drawing sharks to this part of the northwest Atlantic.
The film is a portrait of how local residents – and the thousands of vacationers who flock to Cape Cod every summer — grapple with this alarming new reality while following the science to investigate what marine life can tell us about the health of the ocean. Meeropol, who helmed HBO’s 2019 docu Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn, directs...
- 5/27/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
First film under arrangement will immerse viewers on Martian colony 60 years in the future.
IMAX Corporation and Imagine Documentaries have signed a five-film deal that launches with Mars 2080.
The large-format event film will immerse viewers inside a colony on Mars set 60 years in the future and is directed by Eliza McNitt (Spheres), who co-writes with Lynn Renee Maxcy.
The film is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, science writer and author of How We’ll Live on Mars. The original concept follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change who make the journey to Mars, adjust...
IMAX Corporation and Imagine Documentaries have signed a five-film deal that launches with Mars 2080.
The large-format event film will immerse viewers inside a colony on Mars set 60 years in the future and is directed by Eliza McNitt (Spheres), who co-writes with Lynn Renee Maxcy.
The film is based on a concept by Stephen Petranek, science writer and author of How We’ll Live on Mars. The original concept follows a mother and daughter displaced from Earth by climate change who make the journey to Mars, adjust...
- 4/21/2021
- by Jeremy Kay
- ScreenDaily
Two of the five Oscar nominees for Best Sound won at the Golden Reel Awards bestowed by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) on April 16 .”Greyhound” ran off with sound effects and foley while “Soul” took the animation prize. Two of the other Oscar contenders — “News of the World” and “Sound of Metal” — were shut out here despite a leading three nominations while the fifth nominee, “Mank,” had but one bid.
The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There can be up to six nominees from a film: one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three re-recording mixers.
In 2020 the war film “1917” won Best Sound Mixing while the auto racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” claimed the Best Sound Editing honor. Over the past decade, the two categories matched a half dozen times: “Inception” (2010), “Hugo...
The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There can be up to six nominees from a film: one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three re-recording mixers.
In 2020 the war film “1917” won Best Sound Mixing while the auto racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” claimed the Best Sound Editing honor. Over the past decade, the two categories matched a half dozen times: “Inception” (2010), “Hugo...
- 4/17/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
All five of our predicted Oscar nominees for Best Sound number among the contenders for the Golden Reel Awards bestowed by the Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse). Oscar frontrunner “Sound of Metal” reaped three bids across the seven film categories as did one of its closest Oscar rivals, “News of the World.” Two of the other expected Oscar nominees — “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Tenet” are double nominees while the fifth predicted contender, “Mank,” had to make do with one nomination from the Mpse.
The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There can be up to six nominees from a film: one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three re-recording mixers.
In 2020 the war film “1917” won Best Sound Mixing while the auto racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” claimed the Best Sound Editing honor. Over the past decade,...
The upcoming Oscars mark the introduction of the Best Sound category, which combines Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing. There can be up to six nominees from a film: one production sound mixer, two supervising sound editors and three re-recording mixers.
In 2020 the war film “1917” won Best Sound Mixing while the auto racing drama “Ford v Ferrari” claimed the Best Sound Editing honor. Over the past decade,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Paul Sheehan
- Gold Derby
The Motion Picture Sound Editors are out with nominations for the 68th annual Golden Reel Awards, which recognize sound artists in 22 categories spanning film, TV, toons, computer entertainment and student productions.
Eight films will vie in the marquee Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Underscore category: The Invisible Man, The Midnight Sky, News of the World, Sound of Metal, Tenet, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Wonder Woman 1984.
Winners will be announced during an international virtual trophy ceremony on Friday, April 16.
The Golden Reels also will honor Mad Max franchise director George Miller with the 2021 Mpse Filmmaker Award.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards,” Mpse president Mark Lanza said. “It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate. We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises.
Eight films will vie in the marquee Outstanding Achievement in Sound Editing – Feature Underscore category: The Invisible Man, The Midnight Sky, News of the World, Sound of Metal, Tenet, The Trial of the Chicago 7 and Wonder Woman 1984.
Winners will be announced during an international virtual trophy ceremony on Friday, April 16.
The Golden Reels also will honor Mad Max franchise director George Miller with the 2021 Mpse Filmmaker Award.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards,” Mpse president Mark Lanza said. “It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate. We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises.
- 3/1/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Darius Marder’s innovative “Sound of Metal” and Paul Greengrass’ “News of the World” western each grabbed three sound editing nominations at the 68th annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards (which will be held virtually on April 16). “Sound of Metal,” the frontrunner, captures Riz Ahmed’s heavy-metal drummer slowly losing his hearing, while “News of the World” creates the shootouts, sandstorms, and rainstorms that assault Tom Hanks on his journey in post-Civil War Texas. The Academy has consolidated sound editing and mixing onto a single category for the first time this season.
Several features scored two nominations: “Tenet,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Greyhound.” Also making the cut were “Mank,” “The Midnight Sky,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Nomadland,””Wonder Woman 1984,” “Emperor,” and “Cherry.”
Feature musical nominees included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” The Prom,” “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of the Fire Saga,” “The High Note,...
Several features scored two nominations: “Tenet,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” and “Greyhound.” Also making the cut were “Mank,” “The Midnight Sky,” “The Invisible Woman,” “Nomadland,””Wonder Woman 1984,” “Emperor,” and “Cherry.”
Feature musical nominees included “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” The Prom,” “Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of the Fire Saga,” “The High Note,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
“News of the World” and “Sound of Metal” led all films in nominations for the Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards, the Mpse announced on Monday. The two films each received three nominations in the seven Golden Reel film categories, including in the Feature Effects/Foley category, the Mpse category that most closely corresponded to the Oscars’ Best Sound Editing category.
(This year, the Academy has merged what were two sound categories, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, into a single Best Sound category.)
Other nominees in the effect/foley category were “Cherry,” “Greyhound,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Tenet” and “Wonder Woman 84.” Films with two nominations include “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Tenet,” “Wonder Woman 84” and “Greyhound.”
In the television categories, “Snowpiercer,” “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark” and “The Queen’s Gambit” led all programs with three nominations each, while “The Umbrella Academy,...
(This year, the Academy has merged what were two sound categories, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, into a single Best Sound category.)
Other nominees in the effect/foley category were “Cherry,” “Greyhound,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Tenet” and “Wonder Woman 84.” Films with two nominations include “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “The Midnight Sky,” “Tenet,” “Wonder Woman 84” and “Greyhound.”
In the television categories, “Snowpiercer,” “Better Call Saul,” “Ozark” and “The Queen’s Gambit” led all programs with three nominations each, while “The Umbrella Academy,...
- 3/1/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Motion Picture Sound Editors (Mpse) have announced the nominations for the 68th Annual Mpse Golden Reel Awards.
“Sound of Metal,” “News of the World” and “Wonder Woman 1984” are among the nominees. “Sound of Metal,” a frontrunner in the Oscar race for best sound, leads the way with three nominations for outstanding achievement in sound editing including feature effects/foley, feature dialogue/Adr and feature underscore.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s “Better Call Saul” landed three nominations, and freshman shows “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Ted Lasso” also scored nominations.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards. It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate,” said Mpse president Mark Lanza. “We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises. Most importantly, this will be an opportunity to celebrate...
“Sound of Metal,” “News of the World” and “Wonder Woman 1984” are among the nominees. “Sound of Metal,” a frontrunner in the Oscar race for best sound, leads the way with three nominations for outstanding achievement in sound editing including feature effects/foley, feature dialogue/Adr and feature underscore.
Elsewhere, Netflix’s “Better Call Saul” landed three nominations, and freshman shows “The Queen’s Gambit” and “Ted Lasso” also scored nominations.
“We’re very excited about this year’s Mpse Golden Reel Awards. It will feature a dynamic, virtual format that will be great fun and allow people from around the world to participate,” said Mpse president Mark Lanza. “We will have presenters from every part of the globe along with many other surprises. Most importantly, this will be an opportunity to celebrate...
- 3/1/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Netflix has dominated the Oscar documentary race the last few years, winning Documentary Feature in 2020 and 2018, but the release of the Academy shortlists Tuesday confirms it faces a battle this time around, from a rival streamer.
Amazon Studios landed two films on the feature shortlist—Time, directed by Garrett Bradley, and All In: The Fight for Democracy, directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés. Time, which touches on mass incarceration through the experience of one Black family in Louisiana, must be considered a solid favorite in the Oscar race, having tied for the Gotham Award and amassing multiple critics’ prizes.
Netflix made the Oscar shortlist, as expected, with its top two contenders—Crip Camp, directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, and Dick Johnson Is Dead, from director Kirsten Johnson. It also muscled in with mollusk-themed My Octopus Teacher, ensnaring in its tentacles a fifth of the 15 shortlist slots. But...
Amazon Studios landed two films on the feature shortlist—Time, directed by Garrett Bradley, and All In: The Fight for Democracy, directed by Liz Garbus and Lisa Cortés. Time, which touches on mass incarceration through the experience of one Black family in Louisiana, must be considered a solid favorite in the Oscar race, having tied for the Gotham Award and amassing multiple critics’ prizes.
Netflix made the Oscar shortlist, as expected, with its top two contenders—Crip Camp, directed by Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, and Dick Johnson Is Dead, from director Kirsten Johnson. It also muscled in with mollusk-themed My Octopus Teacher, ensnaring in its tentacles a fifth of the 15 shortlist slots. But...
- 2/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The largest field of documentaries in Oscar history has been narrowed down to 15 semifinalists, with almost all of the films that were expected to advance to the shortlist doing so.
Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” Alexander Nanau’s “Collective,” Viktor Kosakovskiy’s “Gunda,” James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham’s “Crip Camp” and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya,” which led all of the year’s nonfiction films in previous nominations and wins, were among the films that advanced from the record field of 238 qualifying docs. That number shattered the previous record of 170 eligible documentaries, which was set in 2017.
Other films that made the shortlist included “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” “Boys State,” “MLK/FBI,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “The Painter and the Thief,” “76 Days” and “The Truffle Hunters.” Two documentaries that were also entered in the Oscars’ international race, Chile’s “The Mole Agent” and Italy’s “Notturno,...
Kirsten Johnson’s “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” Garrett Bradley’s “Time,” Alexander Nanau’s “Collective,” Viktor Kosakovskiy’s “Gunda,” James Lebrecht and Nicole Newnham’s “Crip Camp” and David France’s “Welcome to Chechnya,” which led all of the year’s nonfiction films in previous nominations and wins, were among the films that advanced from the record field of 238 qualifying docs. That number shattered the previous record of 170 eligible documentaries, which was set in 2017.
Other films that made the shortlist included “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” “Boys State,” “MLK/FBI,” “My Octopus Teacher,” “The Painter and the Thief,” “76 Days” and “The Truffle Hunters.” Two documentaries that were also entered in the Oscars’ international race, Chile’s “The Mole Agent” and Italy’s “Notturno,...
- 2/9/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
National Geographic Documentary Films said Tuesday that it has acquired Playing with Sharks, the feature documentary about Australian icon, conservationist and filmmaker Valerie Taylor that had its world premiere last week at the Sundance Film Festival. The pic is written and directed by Sally Aitken and is produced by WildBear Entertainment and Dogwoof. No release date plans or deal details were announced.
Playing with Sharks is created and produced by Bettina Dalton and WildBear Alan Erson for WildBear, Anna Godas and Oli Harbottle for TDog and Paul Wiegard for Madman Entertainment are executive producers.
Nat Geo Doc Films previously acquired the Science Fair at Sundance 2018, and is behind the Oscar-winning doc Free Solo and this year’s Rebuilding Paradise from Ron Howard.
Playing with Sharks is created and produced by Bettina Dalton and WildBear Alan Erson for WildBear, Anna Godas and Oli Harbottle for TDog and Paul Wiegard for Madman Entertainment are executive producers.
Nat Geo Doc Films previously acquired the Science Fair at Sundance 2018, and is behind the Oscar-winning doc Free Solo and this year’s Rebuilding Paradise from Ron Howard.
- 2/2/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Bring Your Own Brigade isn’t the first cinematic report on the Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise, California, in 2018, or even the first one to screen at Sundance (Ron Howard’s Rebuilding Paradise played at the festival in 2020). It almost certainly won’t be the last film about the devastation wrought by uncontrolled wildfires, particularly in California, by a long shot.
But it’s probably the smartest, most interesting documentary so far on the subject as it adroitly balances views of survivors, first responders and observers while sifting in an accessible way through the complex science that causes such ...
But it’s probably the smartest, most interesting documentary so far on the subject as it adroitly balances views of survivors, first responders and observers while sifting in an accessible way through the complex science that causes such ...
Bring Your Own Brigade isn’t the first cinematic report on the Camp Fire that destroyed Paradise, California, in 2018, or even the first one to screen at Sundance (Ron Howard’s Rebuilding Paradise played at the festival in 2020). It almost certainly won’t be the last film about the devastation wrought by uncontrolled wildfires, particularly in California, by a long shot.
But it’s probably the smartest, most interesting documentary so far on the subject as it adroitly balances views of survivors, first responders and observers while sifting in an accessible way through the complex science that causes such ...
But it’s probably the smartest, most interesting documentary so far on the subject as it adroitly balances views of survivors, first responders and observers while sifting in an accessible way through the complex science that causes such ...
Monday is the start of five days of voting to determine shortlists in the nine Oscar categories that narrow down the field before the start of nomination balloting. In the Best Documentary Feature and Best International Feature Film categories, 238 and 93 films, respectively, will be reduced to 15 semifinalists.
In each of those categories, voters must see a minimum number of entries, drawn from a “required viewing” list sent to each member, in order to vote. Documentary voters must see more than 30 films, international voters must see 12. Shortlists in all categories will be announced on Feb. 9.
Here are our thoughts on these contests; on Tuesday, we’ll look at the below-the-line categories that also use shortlists.
‘Time’ / Amazon Studios
Best Documentary Feature
Ever since the Documentary Branch rules were changed to do away with the small committees that previously viewed films in the preliminary round of voting, the documentary shortlists have invariably...
In each of those categories, voters must see a minimum number of entries, drawn from a “required viewing” list sent to each member, in order to vote. Documentary voters must see more than 30 films, international voters must see 12. Shortlists in all categories will be announced on Feb. 9.
Here are our thoughts on these contests; on Tuesday, we’ll look at the below-the-line categories that also use shortlists.
‘Time’ / Amazon Studios
Best Documentary Feature
Ever since the Documentary Branch rules were changed to do away with the small committees that previously viewed films in the preliminary round of voting, the documentary shortlists have invariably...
- 2/1/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Anthony Fauci, the longtime director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease who became the top U.S. medical official addressing the coronavirus pandemic, is getting the feature documentary treatment.
National Geographic Documentary Films said Monday that Emmy winners John Hoffman and Janet Tobias will direct Fauci, which through exclusive access promises to offer a glimpse into the career and life of the public servant who has advised seven U.S. presidents beginning with the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and through Sars, Ebola and now Covid-19.
The film will be produced by Alexandra Moss. For Story Syndicate, executive producers are Icarus Oscar winner Dan Cogan, What Happened, Miss Simone?‘s Liz Garbus and All In: The Fight for Democracy’s Jon Bardin.
Fauci is the longest-serving public health leader in Washington, DC, and has testified before Congress more than any other single person in U.S. history.
National Geographic Documentary Films said Monday that Emmy winners John Hoffman and Janet Tobias will direct Fauci, which through exclusive access promises to offer a glimpse into the career and life of the public servant who has advised seven U.S. presidents beginning with the AIDS pandemic in the 1980s and through Sars, Ebola and now Covid-19.
The film will be produced by Alexandra Moss. For Story Syndicate, executive producers are Icarus Oscar winner Dan Cogan, What Happened, Miss Simone?‘s Liz Garbus and All In: The Fight for Democracy’s Jon Bardin.
Fauci is the longest-serving public health leader in Washington, DC, and has testified before Congress more than any other single person in U.S. history.
- 2/1/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment has promoted Justin Wilkes, who heads the company’s documentary division, to be its chief creative officer.
Currently the head of Imagine Documentaries, Wilkes will now take on an expanded role and work closely with the heads of the film, TV, docs, branded entertainment, kids & family and international divisions, as well as Jax Media and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, in creating opportunities across the company. Wilkes will help the company focus towards a cohesive creative vision that will link to and guide Imagine’s strategic and business goals.
“We are thrilled to have Justin expand his role at Imagine. Over the years, he has shown he is creatively ambitious, has a keen eye for talent and story and has the ability to masterfully execute his productions. He is a powerful producer and collaborator, and incredibly talent-friendly, engaging with storytellers in a...
Currently the head of Imagine Documentaries, Wilkes will now take on an expanded role and work closely with the heads of the film, TV, docs, branded entertainment, kids & family and international divisions, as well as Jax Media and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, in creating opportunities across the company. Wilkes will help the company focus towards a cohesive creative vision that will link to and guide Imagine’s strategic and business goals.
“We are thrilled to have Justin expand his role at Imagine. Over the years, he has shown he is creatively ambitious, has a keen eye for talent and story and has the ability to masterfully execute his productions. He is a powerful producer and collaborator, and incredibly talent-friendly, engaging with storytellers in a...
- 1/25/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Brian Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment has promoted Justin Wilkes to chief creative officer.
Currently the head of the prolific Imagine Documentaries division, Wilkes’ expanded role was announced internally on Monday by Howard and Grazer. He will now work closely with film, TV, docs, branded entertainment, kids and family, and international programming. Wilkes will also advise on Imagine’s stake in Tony Hernandez’s Jax Media and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.
“We are thrilled to have Justin expand his role at Imagine. Over the years, he has shown he is creatively ambitious, has a keen eye for talent and story, and has the ability to masterfully execute his productions. He is a powerful producer and collaborator, and incredibly talent-friendly, engaging with storytellers in a way that allows them to actualize their vision and maximize their abilities,” Grazer and Howard said.
Wilkes joined Imagine in 2018 as co-founder of...
Currently the head of the prolific Imagine Documentaries division, Wilkes’ expanded role was announced internally on Monday by Howard and Grazer. He will now work closely with film, TV, docs, branded entertainment, kids and family, and international programming. Wilkes will also advise on Imagine’s stake in Tony Hernandez’s Jax Media and Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions.
“We are thrilled to have Justin expand his role at Imagine. Over the years, he has shown he is creatively ambitious, has a keen eye for talent and story, and has the ability to masterfully execute his productions. He is a powerful producer and collaborator, and incredibly talent-friendly, engaging with storytellers in a way that allows them to actualize their vision and maximize their abilities,” Grazer and Howard said.
Wilkes joined Imagine in 2018 as co-founder of...
- 1/25/2021
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
In November 2018, more than 50,000 residents in Paradise, California were displaced after the Camp wildfire destroyed the entire town. Now, Ron Howard’s latest documentary “Rebuilding Paradise” tells the story of how the town’s leaders, including superintendent Michelle John, fought to pick up the pieces.
John, along with producers Xan Parker and Justin Wilkes, discussed the making of the National Geographic film with TheWrap Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman as part of TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series. She says that in the nearly two years since rebuilding began, about 4,000 residents have returned to Paradise with 500 homes rebuilt.
“Every day is a struggle. The school district is struggling to stay afloat and everyday brings some new challenges but also some new building,” John said. “There’s hope. It’s just very slow going right now.”
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Wilkes, who serves as the head of the documentary division of Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, said...
John, along with producers Xan Parker and Justin Wilkes, discussed the making of the National Geographic film with TheWrap Editor-in-Chief Sharon Waxman as part of TheWrap’s Awards Screening Series. She says that in the nearly two years since rebuilding began, about 4,000 residents have returned to Paradise with 500 homes rebuilt.
“Every day is a struggle. The school district is struggling to stay afloat and everyday brings some new challenges but also some new building,” John said. “There’s hope. It’s just very slow going right now.”
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Wilkes, who serves as the head of the documentary division of Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment, said...
- 1/22/2021
- by Jeremy Fuster
- The Wrap
Updated with video: The California town of Paradise was home to about 26,000 people in November 2018 when a catastrophic wildfire reduced most of the town to ash. Ron Howard’s National Geographic documentary Rebuilding Paradise begins with footage of the community in flames.
“That opening sequence is far more harrowing than anything I’ve ever staged as a director of scripted movies,” Howard says during Deadline’s Contenders Documentary awards-season event. “Suddenly this beautiful town is destroyed…in a matter of three hours.”
As the title suggests, Rebuilding Paradise focuses not so much on the fire but the aftermath—the succession of challenges the community faced.
“There was one surprise after another for everyone in Paradise—all of the burnt trees that then had to be cut down because it wasn’t safe…There was benzine that had leaked into the water when the pipes heated up,” producer Xan Parker notes.
“That opening sequence is far more harrowing than anything I’ve ever staged as a director of scripted movies,” Howard says during Deadline’s Contenders Documentary awards-season event. “Suddenly this beautiful town is destroyed…in a matter of three hours.”
As the title suggests, Rebuilding Paradise focuses not so much on the fire but the aftermath—the succession of challenges the community faced.
“There was one surprise after another for everyone in Paradise—all of the burnt trees that then had to be cut down because it wasn’t safe…There was benzine that had leaked into the water when the pipes heated up,” producer Xan Parker notes.
- 1/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The coronavirus pandemic pushed the release of a slew of narrative films into 2021, reducing the number of Best Picture contenders this Oscar season. But it’s a completely different story with documentary. Streaming platforms and other players didn’t hold back their nonfiction slate, and with the Academy relaxing qualification rules, the record for films in contention for Best Documentary is about to be shattered this year.
That makes this the perfect time to launch Deadline’s first Contenders Documentary, a virtual showcase of top nonfiction films this awards season. The event kicks off today at 8 a.m. Pt. Click here to register and join the livestream, and follow along for the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @Deadline and #DeadlineContenders. See the full schedule of panels below.
The Contenders Documentary program, featuring conversations with a raft of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmakers including Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Ron Howard,...
That makes this the perfect time to launch Deadline’s first Contenders Documentary, a virtual showcase of top nonfiction films this awards season. The event kicks off today at 8 a.m. Pt. Click here to register and join the livestream, and follow along for the day on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram via @Deadline and #DeadlineContenders. See the full schedule of panels below.
The Contenders Documentary program, featuring conversations with a raft of Oscar-winning and Oscar-nominated filmmakers including Alex Gibney, Liz Garbus, Ron Howard,...
- 1/10/2021
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
Following the continuing success of its long-running Contenders events during Oscar and Emmy seasons, Deadline is making new additions to the franchise with Contenders Documentary, focusing on the year’s most noteworthy non-fiction films, and Contenders International, with its eye on a great lineup of foreign-language entries. Both of these events, designed to put the spotlight on worthy movies that don’t always get the attention they deserve, will be presented virtually due to the pandemic — as we did for the Emmys — in their inaugural year over the course of one weekend, with International taking place on Saturday, January 9, and Documentary on Sunday, January 10. Both will be starting their livestreams at 8 a.m. Pt.
Fifteen studios, streamers and distributors will be participating in the kickoff for Contenders International, with an impressive and varied presentation involving clips and filmmaker/talent Q&As from a total of 23 films from around the world...
Fifteen studios, streamers and distributors will be participating in the kickoff for Contenders International, with an impressive and varied presentation involving clips and filmmaker/talent Q&As from a total of 23 films from around the world...
- 1/1/2021
- by Pete Hammond
- Deadline Film + TV
Gold Derby senior editor Joyce Eng recently conducted fascinating, in-depth discussions with the directors and/or producers of eight of the leading contenders for Best Documentary at many major awards in 2021, including the Oscars. Watch her one-on-one chats with each creator plus group roundtable talks about the creative challenges they all faced while making their films.
Discussions include “Rebuilding Paradise” Nat Geo; “Miss Americana” Netflix; “Boys State” Apple TV+; “40 Years a Prisoner” HBO; “All In: The Fight for Democracy” Amazon Prime Video; “On the Record” HBO; “Kingdom of Silence” Showtime; and “A Most Beautiful Thing” 50 Egg Films.
Discussions include “Rebuilding Paradise” Nat Geo; “Miss Americana” Netflix; “Boys State” Apple TV+; “40 Years a Prisoner” HBO; “All In: The Fight for Democracy” Amazon Prime Video; “On the Record” HBO; “Kingdom of Silence” Showtime; and “A Most Beautiful Thing” 50 Egg Films.
- 12/26/2020
- by Tom O'Neil
- Gold Derby
A version of this story about Ron Howard and Bryce Dallas Howard first appeared in the Documentaries issue of TheWrap’s Oscar magazine.
Ron Howard had already spent about 35 years making scripted narrative films by the time he moved into documentaries in 2013 with “Made in America,” the first of three music-related docs that he would direct before turning to the aftermath of a deadly California wildfire in this year’s “Rebuilding Paradise.” His daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, meanwhile, worked as an actress for almost 15 years before recently turning to directing with episodes of “The Mandalorian” and with her “feature debut,” the documentary “Dads.”
With “Rebuilding Paradise” and “Dads” both in the running for this year’s awards, we got the two of them “together” — him in Connecticut, her in New York City — for some doc talk.
What is the appeal of the documentary form for both of you?
Bryce Dallas Howard For me,...
Ron Howard had already spent about 35 years making scripted narrative films by the time he moved into documentaries in 2013 with “Made in America,” the first of three music-related docs that he would direct before turning to the aftermath of a deadly California wildfire in this year’s “Rebuilding Paradise.” His daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, meanwhile, worked as an actress for almost 15 years before recently turning to directing with episodes of “The Mandalorian” and with her “feature debut,” the documentary “Dads.”
With “Rebuilding Paradise” and “Dads” both in the running for this year’s awards, we got the two of them “together” — him in Connecticut, her in New York City — for some doc talk.
What is the appeal of the documentary form for both of you?
Bryce Dallas Howard For me,...
- 12/22/2020
- by Ron Howard
- The Wrap
Documentary and docuseries creators have found themselves amidst a rapidly expanding market for their work.
During the FYC Fest documentary roundtable, Variety‘s Matt Donnelley discussed the state of documentary filmmaking with panelists including “Time” director Garrett Bradley, “Boys State” director Amanda McBaine, “Rebuilding Paradise” director Ron Howard, “The Dissident” director Bryan Fogle, “Welcome to Chechnya” director David France and “Crip Camp” director Nicole Newnham.
“So much of filmmaking, regardless of the genre, is about us understanding ourselves as human beings and as a culture,” Bradley said. “Filmmaking and the camera is an investigation of what happens when that occurs. And so it feels like a natural inclination that documentary filmmaking is doing the same thing, but in a more direct way.”
This storytelling aspect of documentary filmmaking, much like in any other medium, allows viewers to invest in the information being relayed to them. And though many successful documentaries...
During the FYC Fest documentary roundtable, Variety‘s Matt Donnelley discussed the state of documentary filmmaking with panelists including “Time” director Garrett Bradley, “Boys State” director Amanda McBaine, “Rebuilding Paradise” director Ron Howard, “The Dissident” director Bryan Fogle, “Welcome to Chechnya” director David France and “Crip Camp” director Nicole Newnham.
“So much of filmmaking, regardless of the genre, is about us understanding ourselves as human beings and as a culture,” Bradley said. “Filmmaking and the camera is an investigation of what happens when that occurs. And so it feels like a natural inclination that documentary filmmaking is doing the same thing, but in a more direct way.”
This storytelling aspect of documentary filmmaking, much like in any other medium, allows viewers to invest in the information being relayed to them. And though many successful documentaries...
- 12/17/2020
- by Eli Countryman
- Variety Film + TV
Director Ron Howard has made four documentaries in the last seven years, but he’s a relative newcomer to the nonfiction format. By the time he made his first doc, he had directed 21 narrative features and had been acting, increasingly intermittently, for more than 50 years.
His first three docs were all focused on music: 2013’s “Made in America,” about Jay-Z’s music festival of the same name; 2016’s “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” about the Beatles’ days as a touring band; and 2019’s “Pavarotti,” about the operatic tenor. But his latest one, “Rebuilding Paradise,” isn’t showbizzy at all. Instead, it chronicles the Northern California town of Paradise as it tries to rebuild after the devastating 2018 California wildfires that destroyed most of the town.
The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and had its TV debut on the National Geographic Channel in November, follows a...
His first three docs were all focused on music: 2013’s “Made in America,” about Jay-Z’s music festival of the same name; 2016’s “The Beatles: Eight Days a Week,” about the Beatles’ days as a touring band; and 2019’s “Pavarotti,” about the operatic tenor. But his latest one, “Rebuilding Paradise,” isn’t showbizzy at all. Instead, it chronicles the Northern California town of Paradise as it tries to rebuild after the devastating 2018 California wildfires that destroyed most of the town.
The film, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and had its TV debut on the National Geographic Channel in November, follows a...
- 12/15/2020
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
When it comes to picking projects or choosing subjects for documentaries, the first thing is to make sure it’s personal somehow — at least for the four panelists on our Meet the Btl Experts: Film Documentary panel, Lisa Cortés (“All In: The Fight for Democracy”), Amanda McBaine (“Boys State”), Lana Wilson (“Miss Americana”) and Sara Bernstein (“Rebuilding Paradise”). Click each name above to watch their individual interviews separate from this group panel.
“[‘Boys State’] was an article we read randomly just in ‘The Washington Post.’ You read a lot of articles and they pique your interest and … this was one that kept bugging us,” McBaine said (watch above). “That speaks to whatever I’m trying to work out in myself. I had questions about our divided country and I needed to spend some time — spent a lot of time — filming and editing around those questions and this happened to offer that for me.
“[‘Boys State’] was an article we read randomly just in ‘The Washington Post.’ You read a lot of articles and they pique your interest and … this was one that kept bugging us,” McBaine said (watch above). “That speaks to whatever I’m trying to work out in myself. I had questions about our divided country and I needed to spend some time — spent a lot of time — filming and editing around those questions and this happened to offer that for me.
- 11/30/2020
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
Imagine Documentaries, the documentary division of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s Imagine Entertainment, had recently launched when producer Sara Bernstein got a call from Howard in November 2018. The California wildfires had decimated the northern part of the state, including a town called Paradise, where the Oscar winner’s mother-in-law once lived.
“Justin Wilkes, who’s also my producing partner and one of the producers on the film, and I were in our office and we got a call from Ron Howard, basically saying, ‘I’ve been watching the news. I’m so concerned about what’s happening there,’” Bernsten recalled during Gold Derby’s Meet the Btl Experts: Film Documentary panel (watch above). “He was like to us, ‘What do you think? Do you think there’s something here? Is there something we can do for this town and on this town?’ And that’s when we mobilized.”
The...
“Justin Wilkes, who’s also my producing partner and one of the producers on the film, and I were in our office and we got a call from Ron Howard, basically saying, ‘I’ve been watching the news. I’m so concerned about what’s happening there,’” Bernsten recalled during Gold Derby’s Meet the Btl Experts: Film Documentary panel (watch above). “He was like to us, ‘What do you think? Do you think there’s something here? Is there something we can do for this town and on this town?’ And that’s when we mobilized.”
The...
- 11/30/2020
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
On Nov. 23, Gold Derby will debut a major new video series featuring lively discussions with filmmakers competing in the same awards race. First up: Best Documentary. Our senior editor Joyce Eng will conduct one-on-one interviews with each contender, followed by a group discussion involving all participants in a lively chat about their differing views of what makes a documentary great and how these filmmakers cope with the gravest challenges of their careers.
RSVP today by clicking here to reserve your booking for the premiere of our special new video series. . This one-hour event will debut on Monday, November 23, at 5:00 p.m. Pt. 8:00 p.m. Et. Sign up now and we will reserve your reservation and then follow up later by sending you a reminder a few hours before the show begins.
This “Meet the Btl Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 Oscar contenders:
“All In: The Fight for Democracy...
RSVP today by clicking here to reserve your booking for the premiere of our special new video series. . This one-hour event will debut on Monday, November 23, at 5:00 p.m. Pt. 8:00 p.m. Et. Sign up now and we will reserve your reservation and then follow up later by sending you a reminder a few hours before the show begins.
This “Meet the Btl Experts” panel welcomes the following 2021 Oscar contenders:
“All In: The Fight for Democracy...
- 11/18/2020
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Adapted by Oscar nominee Vanessa Taylor (“The Shape of Water”) from J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy” is exactly the sort of mainstream heart-tugger that many moviegoers and Oscar voters embrace. Ron Howard knows what he is doing. He’s been to the Oscar party many times, from “Apollo 13” to “Frost/Nixon” and “A Beautiful Mind,” which all featured actors in top form.
Howard’s stock-in-trade studio drama is harder to come by these days. Always a canny Hollywood player (with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer), Howard pivoted over the past decade to more indie-minded projects such as “Rush” and documentaries like “Rebuilding Paradise.”
Netflix backed “Hillbilly Elegy,” a resonant family story that will likely lure far more viewers than the movie might have generated in theaters, Covid or no. In fact, it’s likely that no studio would have backed this, even with two of the great...
Howard’s stock-in-trade studio drama is harder to come by these days. Always a canny Hollywood player (with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer), Howard pivoted over the past decade to more indie-minded projects such as “Rush” and documentaries like “Rebuilding Paradise.”
Netflix backed “Hillbilly Elegy,” a resonant family story that will likely lure far more viewers than the movie might have generated in theaters, Covid or no. In fact, it’s likely that no studio would have backed this, even with two of the great...
- 11/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Adapted by Oscar nominee Vanessa Taylor (“The Shape of Water”) from J.D. Vance’s bestselling memoir, “Hillbilly Elegy” is exactly the sort of mainstream heart-tugger that many moviegoers and Oscar voters embrace. Ron Howard knows what he is doing. He’s been to the Oscar party many times, from “Apollo 13” to “Frost/Nixon” and “A Beautiful Mind,” which all featured actors in top form.
Howard’s stock-in-trade studio drama is harder to come by these days. Always a canny Hollywood player (with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer), Howard pivoted over the past decade to more indie-minded projects such as “Rush” and documentaries like “Rebuilding Paradise.”
Netflix backed “Hillbilly Elegy,” a resonant family story that will likely lure far more viewers than the movie might have generated in theaters, Covid or no. In fact, it’s likely that no studio would have backed this, even with two of the great...
Howard’s stock-in-trade studio drama is harder to come by these days. Always a canny Hollywood player (with his Imagine Entertainment partner Brian Grazer), Howard pivoted over the past decade to more indie-minded projects such as “Rush” and documentaries like “Rebuilding Paradise.”
Netflix backed “Hillbilly Elegy,” a resonant family story that will likely lure far more viewers than the movie might have generated in theaters, Covid or no. In fact, it’s likely that no studio would have backed this, even with two of the great...
- 11/10/2020
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
In a time where the world is as polarized as ever, there seems to be a yearning to show oppression in all cultures. With Black Lives Matter gaining significant traction, a film about a Caucasian venture capitalist’s upbringing doesn’t feel exactly well-timed in our climate. Despite two magnificent actresses like Amy Adams and Glenn Close at the helm, director Ron Howard’s “Hillbilly Elegy” may face trouble on the awards circuit.
With a collective 13 Oscar nominations and zero wins shared between them, Adams and Close have long been considered as overdue as any actresses working today. Close is currently the most nominated woman in Oscar history without a win at seven, with Adams tied for second with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter with six. Adams, whose significant nominations have included “Junebug” and “The Fighter” in supporting actress, has only been able to nab one lead nomination for 2013’s “American Hustle.
With a collective 13 Oscar nominations and zero wins shared between them, Adams and Close have long been considered as overdue as any actresses working today. Close is currently the most nominated woman in Oscar history without a win at seven, with Adams tied for second with Deborah Kerr and Thelma Ritter with six. Adams, whose significant nominations have included “Junebug” and “The Fighter” in supporting actress, has only been able to nab one lead nomination for 2013’s “American Hustle.
- 11/10/2020
- by Clayton Davis
- Variety Film + TV
Oscar-winning director Ron Howard (“A Beautiful Mind”) is a strong contender at this year’s Academy Awards over in Best Documentary Feature for his well-received film “Rebuilding Paradise.” After premiering in January at Sundance, it was released theatrically in July, and will debut ad-free on National Geographic on November 8.
That is the second anniversary of the devastating Camp Fire that destroyed almost all of the picturesque town of Paradise, California and surrounding areas killing 85 people, destroying some 95% of the town’s structures including hospitals and schools, with losses of upwards of $16 billion.
Paradise, which is located in Northern California in Butte County, had a population of 26,500 before the Camp Fire, but only 2,900 lived there a year after firestorm. For Howard, “the year we spent watching what happened in Paradise was sort of a reminder that community adds up to something. We live in an increasingly complicated global society that challenges...
That is the second anniversary of the devastating Camp Fire that destroyed almost all of the picturesque town of Paradise, California and surrounding areas killing 85 people, destroying some 95% of the town’s structures including hospitals and schools, with losses of upwards of $16 billion.
Paradise, which is located in Northern California in Butte County, had a population of 26,500 before the Camp Fire, but only 2,900 lived there a year after firestorm. For Howard, “the year we spent watching what happened in Paradise was sort of a reminder that community adds up to something. We live in an increasingly complicated global society that challenges...
- 11/8/2020
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
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