Taylor Swift debuted her “Fortnight” music video on YouTube Friday evening, along with lyric videos for both that song and the rest of her new surprise double-album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” The video features “Dead Poets Society” actors Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles in cameos, whom she joked about in social media posts where she shared the creative inspiration behind the striking, largely black-and-white clip.
“I’m still laughing from getting to work with the coolest guys on earth, Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles,” Swift wrote — perhaps also chuckling at her own self-referential cameos. She then added an explicit nod to the clear inspiration for her new album’s title: “(tortured poets, meet your colleagues from down the hall, the dead poets).”
The music video has a complex narrative, ranging from Swift being experimented on by Charles and Hawke in a Frankenstein-esque laboratory to Swift sitting across from Post Malone...
“I’m still laughing from getting to work with the coolest guys on earth, Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles,” Swift wrote — perhaps also chuckling at her own self-referential cameos. She then added an explicit nod to the clear inspiration for her new album’s title: “(tortured poets, meet your colleagues from down the hall, the dead poets).”
The music video has a complex narrative, ranging from Swift being experimented on by Charles and Hawke in a Frankenstein-esque laboratory to Swift sitting across from Post Malone...
- 4/20/2024
- by Mike Roe
- The Wrap
Taylor Swift has released the music video for her new Post Malone collaboration, “Fortnight, from her newly released album, The Tortured Poets Department. Alongside Swift and Malone, the video stars Ethan Hawke and Josh Charles, who previously appeared together in the 1989 film Dead Poets Society.
Swift wrote and directed the video herself. It opens with Swift in a wedding gown, restrained to a hospital bed in an institution. After being given a pill, she fantasizes/hallucinates various situation involving Malone’s character. Eventually, though, reality sets back in and Swift finds herself attached to a gurney, undergoing some sort of shock therapy.
Get Taylor Swift Tickets Here
“When I was writing the ‘Fortnight’ music video, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music,” Swift explained. “Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to...
Swift wrote and directed the video herself. It opens with Swift in a wedding gown, restrained to a hospital bed in an institution. After being given a pill, she fantasizes/hallucinates various situation involving Malone’s character. Eventually, though, reality sets back in and Swift finds herself attached to a gurney, undergoing some sort of shock therapy.
Get Taylor Swift Tickets Here
“When I was writing the ‘Fortnight’ music video, I wanted to show you the worlds I saw in my head that served as the backdrop for making this music,” Swift explained. “Pretty much everything in it is a metaphor or a reference to...
- 4/20/2024
- by Eddie Fu
- Consequence - Music
Erin Kapor has joined WME as an agent.
She comes to the Endeavor-owned talent agency after serving as senior vp creative at Original Creative Agency. Kapor brings with her over a decade of experience in creative representation and strategy.
Earlier in her career, she worked for Downtown Music Publishing and Red Light Management before turning to consulting work as a creative strategist.
Kapor brings to WME a client list that includes Ben Chappell (Arctic Monkeys, Niall Horan), Clare Gillen (Rihanna), Cody “Ssion” Critcheloe (Kim Petras, Robyn), Franc Fernandez (Lady Gaga, Miguel) and James “Yimmy Yayo” Bailey (Alicia Keys, Nintendo).
Her other clients, blurring the line between fashion, music, sports and art with their work, include Joe Perez (Beyoncé, Louis Vuitton), creative studio Tawbox (Drake, Boygenius) and Undercard Studio (FKA Twigs, Blur).
They join WME’s pre-existing roster of talent working in this space that includes designer KidSuper; Ethan Tobman, creative...
She comes to the Endeavor-owned talent agency after serving as senior vp creative at Original Creative Agency. Kapor brings with her over a decade of experience in creative representation and strategy.
Earlier in her career, she worked for Downtown Music Publishing and Red Light Management before turning to consulting work as a creative strategist.
Kapor brings to WME a client list that includes Ben Chappell (Arctic Monkeys, Niall Horan), Clare Gillen (Rihanna), Cody “Ssion” Critcheloe (Kim Petras, Robyn), Franc Fernandez (Lady Gaga, Miguel) and James “Yimmy Yayo” Bailey (Alicia Keys, Nintendo).
Her other clients, blurring the line between fashion, music, sports and art with their work, include Joe Perez (Beyoncé, Louis Vuitton), creative studio Tawbox (Drake, Boygenius) and Undercard Studio (FKA Twigs, Blur).
They join WME’s pre-existing roster of talent working in this space that includes designer KidSuper; Ethan Tobman, creative...
- 3/13/2024
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Oppenheimer,” “Poor Things,” “Saltburn,” and “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” have won the top feature-film awards at the 28th annual Art Directors Guild Excellence in Production Design Awards, which were held on Saturday in Hollywood.
“Oppenheimer” won for period film, “Poor Things” for fantasy, “Saltburn” for contemporary and “Spider-Man” for animated film.
“Poor Things” was considered a bit of a surprise winner given that “Barbie” was also nominated the category, and winners Shona Heath and James Price said in their acceptance speech that they were not expecting the win. The victory might put them closer to a victory at next month’s Oscars, where “Poor Things” has 11 nominations.
In the television categories, awards went to “Succession,” “The Great,” “Reservation Dogs,” “The Last of Us,” “Beef,” “Frasier,” “Squid Game: The Challenge,” and the 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. The first three titles were honored for their final seasons on TV.
Taylor Swift...
“Oppenheimer” won for period film, “Poor Things” for fantasy, “Saltburn” for contemporary and “Spider-Man” for animated film.
“Poor Things” was considered a bit of a surprise winner given that “Barbie” was also nominated the category, and winners Shona Heath and James Price said in their acceptance speech that they were not expecting the win. The victory might put them closer to a victory at next month’s Oscars, where “Poor Things” has 11 nominations.
In the television categories, awards went to “Succession,” “The Great,” “Reservation Dogs,” “The Last of Us,” “Beef,” “Frasier,” “Squid Game: The Challenge,” and the 80th Golden Globe Awards ceremony. The first three titles were honored for their final seasons on TV.
Taylor Swift...
- 2/11/2024
- by Steve Pond, Jason Clark
- The Wrap
Poor Things, Oppenheimer and Saltburn took top film honors at the 28th annual Art Directors Guild Awards tonight. The Neighborhood and New Girl actor Max Greenfield hosted the show from Ovation Hollywood’s Ray Dolby Ballroom. Check out the full winners list below.
Oppenheimer‘s Ruth De Jong and Poor Things’ James Price and Shona Heath will face off for Best Production Design at the Academy Awards next month. They’ll go up against the production designers and set decorators behind Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon.
The Art Directors Guild divides its top film prizes into Fantasy, Period and Contemporary Feature categories, which went to Poor Things, Oppenheimer and Saltburn, respectively. Since the trophy show launched in 1996, the winner of one of those has gone on to win the Art Direction/Production Design Oscar in 18 of the 27 years. It had a run of nine in a row snapped last year,...
Oppenheimer‘s Ruth De Jong and Poor Things’ James Price and Shona Heath will face off for Best Production Design at the Academy Awards next month. They’ll go up against the production designers and set decorators behind Barbie, Killers of the Flower Moon and Napoleon.
The Art Directors Guild divides its top film prizes into Fantasy, Period and Contemporary Feature categories, which went to Poor Things, Oppenheimer and Saltburn, respectively. Since the trophy show launched in 1996, the winner of one of those has gone on to win the Art Direction/Production Design Oscar in 18 of the 27 years. It had a run of nine in a row snapped last year,...
- 2/11/2024
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
When the Art Directors Guild holds its annual awards ceremony on Feb. 10, prizes will go to talented designers who created looks ranging from the nuclear-threatened whimsy of Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City,” to the apocalyptic wasteland of “The Last of Us,” to the pink-hued fantasy of a doll choosing between plastic eternity and real-world life and death (she picked the latter).
See a common thread here? In addition to the gloom lurking behind these creations, other contenders provided backdrops for the implied genocide of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the grief of a lauded composer stricken by the death of his wife in “Maestro,” the battlefield carnage of “Napoleon” and the development of an ultimate weapon that can extinguish humankind in “Oppenheimer.”
Want more? There’s AI armageddon in “The Creator” and “A Murder at the End of the World,” Frankenstein biology in “Poor Things” and a cool-headed professional assassin in “The Killer.
See a common thread here? In addition to the gloom lurking behind these creations, other contenders provided backdrops for the implied genocide of “Killers of the Flower Moon,” the grief of a lauded composer stricken by the death of his wife in “Maestro,” the battlefield carnage of “Napoleon” and the development of an ultimate weapon that can extinguish humankind in “Oppenheimer.”
Want more? There’s AI armageddon in “The Creator” and “A Murder at the End of the World,” Frankenstein biology in “Poor Things” and a cool-headed professional assassin in “The Killer.
- 2/10/2024
- by Peter Caranicas
- Variety Film + TV
Ahead of the first-ever International Production Design Week, the Production Designers Collective has coordinated a series of interviews with directors and production designers, in which they discuss their working dynamics and mutual passion for the craft of storytelling. Ethan Tobman describes production design as the art of “visually interpreting the world of a director through emotional architecture.” Below, he and director Mark Mylod discuss their film The Menu and going from reference images on the wall to a fully realized world structured to best absorb the viewer emotionally while furthering the narrative (along with meticulously crafting a last-minute birthday cake […]
The post “450 Resin-Coated Pieces of Plastic”: Production Designer Ethan Tobman and Mark Mylod on The Menu first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “450 Resin-Coated Pieces of Plastic”: Production Designer Ethan Tobman and Mark Mylod on The Menu first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/23/2023
- by Brandon Tonner-Connolly and Inbal Weinberg
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Ahead of the first-ever International Production Design Week, the Production Designers Collective has coordinated a series of interviews with directors and production designers, in which they discuss their working dynamics and mutual passion for the craft of storytelling. Ethan Tobman describes production design as the art of “visually interpreting the world of a director through emotional architecture.” Below, he and director Mark Mylod discuss their film The Menu and going from reference images on the wall to a fully realized world structured to best absorb the viewer emotionally while furthering the narrative (along with meticulously crafting a last-minute birthday cake […]
The post “450 Resin-Coated Pieces of Plastic”: Production Designer Ethan Tobman and Mark Mylod on The Menu first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “450 Resin-Coated Pieces of Plastic”: Production Designer Ethan Tobman and Mark Mylod on The Menu first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 10/23/2023
- by Brandon Tonner-Connolly and Inbal Weinberg
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
This week will be a deluge of guild and craft organization awards announcements. The Art Directors Guild revealed their nominees for their 2023 Adg Awards and there were genuinely few surprises. In the film categories, likely Oscar nominees “Elvis,” “Everything Everywhere All At Once,” “The Batman,” and “Avatar: The Way of Water” made the cut over three different categories. On the television side, deserving recognition went to “Andor,” “Moon Knight,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power,” “House of Dragon,” “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and “Only Murders in the Building.”
Read More: What’s Hot, What’s Not in a tight Best Picture race [Contender Countdown]
Notably, Taylor Swift and production designer Ethan Tobman earned two nominations in the Short Format: Music Video or Web series category for the music videos for “Anti-Hero” and “Bejeweled.”
Notable snubs included “Thirteen Lives,” “The Menu,” “The Bear” and “The Sandman,” among others.
Continue reading ‘The Batman,...
Read More: What’s Hot, What’s Not in a tight Best Picture race [Contender Countdown]
Notably, Taylor Swift and production designer Ethan Tobman earned two nominations in the Short Format: Music Video or Web series category for the music videos for “Anti-Hero” and “Bejeweled.”
Notable snubs included “Thirteen Lives,” “The Menu,” “The Bear” and “The Sandman,” among others.
Continue reading ‘The Batman,...
- 1/9/2023
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
“Elvis,” “Babylon,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Top Gun: Maverick” are among the films nominated by the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800).
The guild announced the nominations for its 27th Excellence in Production Design Awards in motion pictures, television, commercial and music video categories.
Winners will be named at the Adg Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.
The Adg divides live-action features into three categories. “All Quiet on the Western Front, “Babylon,” “Elvis, “The Fabelmans” and “White Noise” were nominated in the period feature film category.
“The Batman,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” earned recognition in the fantasy feature film category.
Rounding out the contemporary feature film nominations were “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, “Bullet Train,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.
The guild announced the nominations for its 27th Excellence in Production Design Awards in motion pictures, television, commercial and music video categories.
Winners will be named at the Adg Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.
The Adg divides live-action features into three categories. “All Quiet on the Western Front, “Babylon,” “Elvis, “The Fabelmans” and “White Noise” were nominated in the period feature film category.
“The Batman,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” earned recognition in the fantasy feature film category.
Rounding out the contemporary feature film nominations were “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, “Bullet Train,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.
- 1/9/2023
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Films that take place predominantly in one location are, perhaps, something of an acquired taste. It’s a challenge to make a single space feel expansive and full of possibility, to avoid shots feeling repetitive or boring, and to adjust the visual landscape of the film, but not too much, so it evolves as the story progresses. “The Menu” isn’t the only film in 2022 taking place almost entirely on a private island or with a large ensemble cast working through the our deep societal rot by sitting around and talking to each other. But for the film’s story of a group of diners who travel to the extremely exclusive restaurant Hawthorne run by the celebrated Chef Slowik Aimee Carrero’s delightfully deadpan roasting of John Leguizamo’s movie star boss, each table has a slightly different rhythm and texture to it, which means that Mylod is able to...
- 11/24/2022
- by Sarah Shachat
- Indiewire
Click here to read the full article.
For Mark Mylod, the director of Searchlight Pictures’ The Menu, the biggest challenge was setting the tone for the darkly comic thriller, in which a group of diners travel to a remote island to eat at Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant run by Ralph Fiennes’ celebrity chef Julian Slowik — a dining experience that comes with some unexpected surprises (not of the gastronomical variety).
“Trying to get the tone right … was really about me and the cast just talking a lot, and then the massive benefit of being able to shoot the film almost chronologically,” says Mylod of the movie, a class satire set primarily in the single setting of the Hawthorn dining room. “Everybody’s on set all the time, and you never know quite when the camera’s on you … That was a way of working that the cast really responded to, and...
For Mark Mylod, the director of Searchlight Pictures’ The Menu, the biggest challenge was setting the tone for the darkly comic thriller, in which a group of diners travel to a remote island to eat at Hawthorn, an exclusive restaurant run by Ralph Fiennes’ celebrity chef Julian Slowik — a dining experience that comes with some unexpected surprises (not of the gastronomical variety).
“Trying to get the tone right … was really about me and the cast just talking a lot, and then the massive benefit of being able to shoot the film almost chronologically,” says Mylod of the movie, a class satire set primarily in the single setting of the Hawthorn dining room. “Everybody’s on set all the time, and you never know quite when the camera’s on you … That was a way of working that the cast really responded to, and...
- 11/20/2022
- by Beatrice Verhoeven
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
They were not prop dishes. They were curated at the level of a three-Michelin-star restaurant,” explains chef Dominique Crenn of the food served onscreen in Searchlight Pictures’ new dark comedy The Menu.
The renowned chef behind San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn was sent the screenplay for Mark Mylod’s film when the production was looking for a consultant who could help them nail the creation of Hawthorn, the film’s remote fine-dining restaurant where guests pay 1,250 a head.
Crenn, the only female chef in the United States with three Michelin stars, helped the filmmakers bring to life the dishes as described in the script as authentically as possible, while also making tweaks that would be accurate to the story’s setting of an island in the Pacific Northwest. She helped fill the screen with complicated foams and gels, as well as some tongue-in-cheek entrees,...
They were not prop dishes. They were curated at the level of a three-Michelin-star restaurant,” explains chef Dominique Crenn of the food served onscreen in Searchlight Pictures’ new dark comedy The Menu.
The renowned chef behind San Francisco’s Atelier Crenn was sent the screenplay for Mark Mylod’s film when the production was looking for a consultant who could help them nail the creation of Hawthorn, the film’s remote fine-dining restaurant where guests pay 1,250 a head.
Crenn, the only female chef in the United States with three Michelin stars, helped the filmmakers bring to life the dishes as described in the script as authentically as possible, while also making tweaks that would be accurate to the story’s setting of an island in the Pacific Northwest. She helped fill the screen with complicated foams and gels, as well as some tongue-in-cheek entrees,...
- 11/19/2022
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Click here to read the full article.
Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Disenchanted, Glass Onion, Wednesday, Devotion and The Menu.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story premiere
Netflix hosted the U.S. premiere of the Knives Out sequel on Monday at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, with writer-director Rian Johnson, producer Ram Bergman and stars Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline and Kate Hudson. Original Knives Out castmembers Jamie Lee Curtis, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell also made an appearance.
(Back) Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Leslie Odom Jr., Noah Segan, (front) Netflix chief marketing officer content acquisition Marian Lee, Kate Hudson, Netflix global film content acquisition vp Scott Stuber, Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, Netflix studio film content acquisition director Nick Nesbitt,...
Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including red carpets for Disenchanted, Glass Onion, Wednesday, Devotion and The Menu.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Story premiere
Netflix hosted the U.S. premiere of the Knives Out sequel on Monday at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles, with writer-director Rian Johnson, producer Ram Bergman and stars Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick, Madelyn Cline and Kate Hudson. Original Knives Out castmembers Jamie Lee Curtis, Katherine Langford and Jaeden Martell also made an appearance.
(Back) Madelyn Cline, Jessica Henwick, Kathryn Hahn, Edward Norton, Leslie Odom Jr., Noah Segan, (front) Netflix chief marketing officer content acquisition Marian Lee, Kate Hudson, Netflix global film content acquisition vp Scott Stuber, Rian Johnson, Ram Bergman, Netflix studio film content acquisition director Nick Nesbitt,...
- 11/18/2022
- by Kirsten Chuba
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“The Menu” is one of the rare movies, along with classics like “Big Night” and “Babette’s Feast,” that revolves almost completely around a singular meal. But unlike those odes to pleasure, “The Menu” starts out as a deluxe culinary experience for the 1, but then devolves into something much darker — and far less appetizing. Ralph Fiennes stars as the renowned Chef Slowik, whose relentless pursuit of the perfect experience threatens to drive him to madness. Anya Taylor-Joy is an unexpected dinner guest at Hawthorn, the 1250-a-head-restaurant situated on a lonely island, while Nicholas Hoult is her chef-worshipping foodie date and Hong Chau is the exacting maître d’.
With the entire film revolving around one momentous meal, consulting chef Dominque Crenn, production designer Ethan Tobman and the culinary team played just as important a role in bringing the film to life as the cast members. Director Mark Mylod, who helmed numerous “Succession” episodes,...
With the entire film revolving around one momentous meal, consulting chef Dominque Crenn, production designer Ethan Tobman and the culinary team played just as important a role in bringing the film to life as the cast members. Director Mark Mylod, who helmed numerous “Succession” episodes,...
- 11/18/2022
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
During filming of “The Menu,” food stylist Kendall Gensler occasionally found herself on foam duty. “The foams were, of course, very difficult, because they just die so quickly,” she told IndieWire. “We would foam, they would shoot, die, and then we’d re-foam again.” Gensler would be stage left with a huge bin of sauce and an immersion blender to create new foam for the next take. Thus is the peril of recreating a fine dining experience for the camera.
“The Menu,” directed by Mark Mylod, takes place entirely over a multicourse meal at an exclusive fine dining establishment called Hawthorne, located on a sequestered island that’s ruled over by the exacting and, it turns out, unraveling Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). The dishes are exquisite. There’s “The Island,” which evokes the setting with raw diver scallop, pickled local seaweeds, and algae. “Memory” features marinated grilled chicken thigh (speared...
“The Menu,” directed by Mark Mylod, takes place entirely over a multicourse meal at an exclusive fine dining establishment called Hawthorne, located on a sequestered island that’s ruled over by the exacting and, it turns out, unraveling Chef Slowik (Ralph Fiennes). The dishes are exquisite. There’s “The Island,” which evokes the setting with raw diver scallop, pickled local seaweeds, and algae. “Memory” features marinated grilled chicken thigh (speared...
- 11/18/2022
- by Esther Zuckerman
- Indiewire
You’ll find many mysteries in Mark Mylod’s gourmet horror comedy “The Menu,” not the least of which is the impenetrable enigma of whether or not Mylod even likes gourmet food. The film is full of mouth-watering images of tasty morsels, but the cast is almost exclusively populated by foodies who, according to the screenplay, don’t deserve to live, let alone eat fancy things.
So what’s the point of showing all these yummy comestibles if the movie is going to judge us harshly for wanting them? The biggest joke seems to be on us, the audience for any art. We are consumers, we are fans, and we are arguably unworthy of the enormous talents and unfathomable sacrifices made by the people who serve us. “The Menu” may serve up dark humor and memorable violence, but the daily special is you and me; we’re already in a boiling pot,...
So what’s the point of showing all these yummy comestibles if the movie is going to judge us harshly for wanting them? The biggest joke seems to be on us, the audience for any art. We are consumers, we are fans, and we are arguably unworthy of the enormous talents and unfathomable sacrifices made by the people who serve us. “The Menu” may serve up dark humor and memorable violence, but the daily special is you and me; we’re already in a boiling pot,...
- 11/17/2022
- by William Bibbiani
- The Wrap
It’s rare for sequels to make a big splash on the awards circuit; only two have ever won best picture — “The Godfather: Part II” and “Lord of the Rings: Return of the King.” But director Rian Johnson’s star-studded feature “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” is proving to be an exception, with the filmmaker taking home the Visionary Award for his work on the upcoming whodunnit movie at this year’s 12th annual Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards.
“I’m very lucky that I have the family around me that I’ve worked with for years and years,” Johnson said during his acceptance speech, crediting his co-collaborators with helping him to achieve his cinematic vision. “My producer Ram Bergman — we’ve been working together since my first film ‘Brick,’ my cinematographer Steve Yedlin — we met freshman year in the dorms at USC, my composer Nathan Johnson — he’s my cousin,...
“I’m very lucky that I have the family around me that I’ve worked with for years and years,” Johnson said during his acceptance speech, crediting his co-collaborators with helping him to achieve his cinematic vision. “My producer Ram Bergman — we’ve been working together since my first film ‘Brick,’ my cinematographer Steve Yedlin — we met freshman year in the dorms at USC, my composer Nathan Johnson — he’s my cousin,...
- 11/7/2022
- by Katie Reul
- Variety Film + TV
Viola Davis and Rian Johnson are among those being honored at the 12th annual Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards.
The awards will be held on Nov. 5 at Avalon Hollywood on Vine and writer, actor and comedian Fortune Feimster will host the ceremony, which pays tribute to the brilliant behind-the-camera talent of the year’s most acclaimed films.
Honorees and presenters are selected from films released during the year and/or that qualified and presented at the Cannes, Toronto or Venice film festivals.
Films and creatives to be awarded this year include writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz for “She Said,” presented by Carey Mulligan; “The Woman King ” producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will receive their honors from the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and actor Thuso Mbedu; Taylor Russell will present the award to director Luca Guadagnino for “Bones and All;” set decorator Karen O’Hara for “The Fabelmans,” presented by...
The awards will be held on Nov. 5 at Avalon Hollywood on Vine and writer, actor and comedian Fortune Feimster will host the ceremony, which pays tribute to the brilliant behind-the-camera talent of the year’s most acclaimed films.
Honorees and presenters are selected from films released during the year and/or that qualified and presented at the Cannes, Toronto or Venice film festivals.
Films and creatives to be awarded this year include writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz for “She Said,” presented by Carey Mulligan; “The Woman King ” producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will receive their honors from the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and actor Thuso Mbedu; Taylor Russell will present the award to director Luca Guadagnino for “Bones and All;” set decorator Karen O’Hara for “The Fabelmans,” presented by...
- 10/24/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
The Hamilton watches team is finalizing the honorees and presenters program for the upcoming 12th Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards presented by Los Angeles Confidential magazine.
Set for Nov. 5 at the Avalon Hollywood and hosted by comedian Fortune Feimster, the ceremony will honor creatives and talent from such films as The Woman King, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, She Said and Women Talking, among others.
The roster of honorees and presenters includes She Said writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz who will be feted by the film’s star Carey Mulligan; The Woman King producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will be singled out for their work by the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Thuso Mbedu; Bones and All helmer Luca Guadagnino will be given an award by star Taylor Russell; The Fabelmans set decorator Karen O’Hara...
The Hamilton watches team is finalizing the honorees and presenters program for the upcoming 12th Hamilton Behind the Camera Awards presented by Los Angeles Confidential magazine.
Set for Nov. 5 at the Avalon Hollywood and hosted by comedian Fortune Feimster, the ceremony will honor creatives and talent from such films as The Woman King, The Fabelmans, Top Gun: Maverick, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, She Said and Women Talking, among others.
The roster of honorees and presenters includes She Said writer Rebecca Lenkiewicz who will be feted by the film’s star Carey Mulligan; The Woman King producers Cathy Schulman, Viola Davis and Julius Tennon will be singled out for their work by the film’s director Gina Prince-Bythewood and star Thuso Mbedu; Bones and All helmer Luca Guadagnino will be given an award by star Taylor Russell; The Fabelmans set decorator Karen O’Hara...
- 10/24/2022
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Variety has named its inaugural 10 Artisans to Watch.
The honorees will be feted at the Scad Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 27. With the event, Variety is looking to spotlight the behind-the-scenes artists that are invaluable to this year’s best films and shows and are rising stars in their fields.
The 10 artisans selected are cinematographer Todd Banhazl (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) , make-up head Michelle Chung (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”), composer Amie Doherty, sound designer Mike James Gallagher (“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”), VFX artist and Scad alumnus Jessica Love (“Thor: Love and Thunder”), hair department head Deaundra Metzger (“Till”), editor Scott Morris (“Armageddon Time”), costume designer Gersha Phillips (“The Woman King”), supervising sound editor Mac Smith (“Moon Knight) and production designer Ethan Tobman (“The Menu”).
“One of the foundations of the Scad Savannah Film Festival has always been celebrating the artisans at the center of...
The honorees will be feted at the Scad Savannah Film Festival on Oct. 27. With the event, Variety is looking to spotlight the behind-the-scenes artists that are invaluable to this year’s best films and shows and are rising stars in their fields.
The 10 artisans selected are cinematographer Todd Banhazl (“Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) , make-up head Michelle Chung (“Everything Everywhere All At Once”), composer Amie Doherty, sound designer Mike James Gallagher (“Weird: The Al Yankovic Story”), VFX artist and Scad alumnus Jessica Love (“Thor: Love and Thunder”), hair department head Deaundra Metzger (“Till”), editor Scott Morris (“Armageddon Time”), costume designer Gersha Phillips (“The Woman King”), supervising sound editor Mac Smith (“Moon Knight) and production designer Ethan Tobman (“The Menu”).
“One of the foundations of the Scad Savannah Film Festival has always been celebrating the artisans at the center of...
- 9/22/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
Hawthorn is an epicurean’s wet dream. To dine at this restaurant, around which Mark Mylod’s stylishly directed feature The Menu revolves, one must make a reservation several months in advance and fork over 1,250 per person. The eatery is run by stern, world-renowned Chef Slowik (played with quiet severity by Ralph Fiennes) and is located on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Their tasting menu changes seasonally, based on both the whims of its progenitor and the land. The restaurant only seats a dozen people. There are no cellphones allowed. They do not take solo diners.
What kind of person wants — or more accurately can afford — to dine at this fine establishment? The filthy rich, of course — the self-absorbed and ghoulish figures for whom it’s impossible to summon an ounce of good will. The Menu gorges on the blunders...
Hawthorn is an epicurean’s wet dream. To dine at this restaurant, around which Mark Mylod’s stylishly directed feature The Menu revolves, one must make a reservation several months in advance and fork over 1,250 per person. The eatery is run by stern, world-renowned Chef Slowik (played with quiet severity by Ralph Fiennes) and is located on a remote island somewhere in the Pacific Northwest. Their tasting menu changes seasonally, based on both the whims of its progenitor and the land. The restaurant only seats a dozen people. There are no cellphones allowed. They do not take solo diners.
What kind of person wants — or more accurately can afford — to dine at this fine establishment? The filthy rich, of course — the self-absorbed and ghoulish figures for whom it’s impossible to summon an ounce of good will. The Menu gorges on the blunders...
- 9/11/2022
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“I was vaguely familiar, with the same misconceptions that a lot of people had,” reveals Craig Gillespie, the executive producer and director of Hulu’s limited series “Pam and Tommy.” Based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape” by Amanda Chicago Lewis, the Hulu series follows the turbulent marriage of actress Pamela Anderson (played by Lily James) and Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee (played by Sebastian Stan) after their honeymoon sex tape is stolen and eventually launched on the internet for millions to see. Watch the exclusive video interview with Gillespie above.
“I assumed somehow that maybe they were complicit with it,” Gillespie reveals about the famous couple and the tape’s release. “It was so enlightening to read the scripts… and to see just how heinous this was and what victims they were. Also, just how society...
“I assumed somehow that maybe they were complicit with it,” Gillespie reveals about the famous couple and the tape’s release. “It was so enlightening to read the scripts… and to see just how heinous this was and what victims they were. Also, just how society...
- 6/8/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” takes audiences back to sex, drugs and rock ’n’ roll in 1990s Los Angeles. It was a pre-9/11 world, when “the internet hasn’t robbed us of our privacy,” points out production designer Ethan Tobman. “The rest of the world adores us and wants to be us. This was also a time where being famous meant you were famous, and a billion people watched ‘Baywatch’ every week.”
That fame belonged to Pamela Anderson Lee (Lily James), whose star ascends as husband Tommy Lee’s (Sebastian Stan) wanes post-sex tape. “This all plays out in their house,” says Tobman, who was tasked with building their world and their home.
That home, a sprawling mansion, serves as a character within itself. “There’s not a strong sense of feminine identity and family” inside it, Tobman says of the house — and the duo’s relationship — when audiences are introduced to them.
That fame belonged to Pamela Anderson Lee (Lily James), whose star ascends as husband Tommy Lee’s (Sebastian Stan) wanes post-sex tape. “This all plays out in their house,” says Tobman, who was tasked with building their world and their home.
That home, a sprawling mansion, serves as a character within itself. “There’s not a strong sense of feminine identity and family” inside it, Tobman says of the house — and the duo’s relationship — when audiences are introduced to them.
- 6/3/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
“The bedroom was a set that just kept on giving,” says Ethan Tobman, the production designer for Hulu’s limited series “Pam & Tommy.” “Very early on I found a suite inside a luxury yacht. Something about the fact that these lives came undone on a boat, and the excess of the 90s, and the nouveau riche of Hollywood stardom that this couple experienced just brought me to this excessive bedroom on the water. I can’t believe I got to build a bed that was 24 feet wide and 16 feet deep.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
See ‘Pam and Tommy’ showrunner Rob Siegel on the infamous sex tape and ‘wanting to do right by’ Pamela Anderson
Based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape” by Amanda Chicago Lewis, the Hulu series follows the turbulent marriage of actress...
See ‘Pam and Tommy’ showrunner Rob Siegel on the infamous sex tape and ‘wanting to do right by’ Pamela Anderson
Based on the 2014 Rolling Stone article “Pam and Tommy: The Untold Story of the World’s Most Infamous Sex Tape” by Amanda Chicago Lewis, the Hulu series follows the turbulent marriage of actress...
- 5/29/2022
- by Denton Davidson
- Gold Derby
Mark Mylod’s dark comedy The Menu will be available for moviegoer consumption on November 18 in theaters, Searchlight said Tuesday.
In the Seth Reiss and Will Tracy scripted movie, a couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travel to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises. Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Aimee Carrero, Arturo Castto, Mart St. Cyr, Rob Yan and John Leguizamo also star.
Mylod recently won the PGA Award and an Emmy for his work on HBO’s Succession.
The below-the-line team includes production designer Ethan Tobman (Free Guy; Room); director of photography Peter Deming (Mulholland Drive; Twin Peaks), costume designer Amy Westcott (Black Swan; The Many Saints of Newark); Oscar-nominated editor Christopher Tellefsen (Moneyball; A Quiet Place), and casting director Mary Vernieu (Knives Out; The Starling). Michael Sledd...
In the Seth Reiss and Will Tracy scripted movie, a couple (Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult) travel to a coastal island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where the chef (Ralph Fiennes) has prepared a lavish menu, with some shocking surprises. Hong Chau, Janet McTeer, Judith Light, Reed Birney, Paul Adelstein, Aimee Carrero, Arturo Castto, Mart St. Cyr, Rob Yan and John Leguizamo also star.
Mylod recently won the PGA Award and an Emmy for his work on HBO’s Succession.
The below-the-line team includes production designer Ethan Tobman (Free Guy; Room); director of photography Peter Deming (Mulholland Drive; Twin Peaks), costume designer Amy Westcott (Black Swan; The Many Saints of Newark); Oscar-nominated editor Christopher Tellefsen (Moneyball; A Quiet Place), and casting director Mary Vernieu (Knives Out; The Starling). Michael Sledd...
- 4/19/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
While Hulu’s “Pam & Tommy” chronicled the events behind Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee’s infamous stolen sex tape, Anderson announced last week that she is preparing to tell her side of the story in a new Netflix documentary. Lily James, who plays Anderson in “Pam & Tommy,” says she looks forward to watching it.
At the series finale premiere for “Pam & Tommy” at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles Tuesday night, the Hulu series’ cast and creatives stressed the importance of spotlighting Pamela Anderson’s story in today’s world.
“I think these violations of privacy happen way too often — and the way that the media responds and us, as a society, respond is often so awful, particularly toward women,” James told Variety on the red carpet. “There are these huge double standards, women are torn down and reduced… So I think we really need to look at that.
At the series finale premiere for “Pam & Tommy” at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles Tuesday night, the Hulu series’ cast and creatives stressed the importance of spotlighting Pamela Anderson’s story in today’s world.
“I think these violations of privacy happen way too often — and the way that the media responds and us, as a society, respond is often so awful, particularly toward women,” James told Variety on the red carpet. “There are these huge double standards, women are torn down and reduced… So I think we really need to look at that.
- 3/9/2022
- by Wyatte Grantham-Philips
- Variety Film + TV
The 26th Annual Art Director’s Guild Awards took place tonight as an in-person show at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown, with “Nightmare Alley,” “No Time to Die” and “Encanto” taking home top film honors.
Hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, the event celebrated outstanding production design in theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, animated features and music videos.
As previously announced, director Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”) was honored with the William Cameron Menzies award.
Jane Campion “(The Power of the Dog”) was bestowed with the cinematic imagery award. The Oscar-nominated director was unable to accept her award in person due to having Covid. Campion took a moment to publicly speak out on the Academy’s recent decision to weave eight categories including Production Design into the live telecast, recording the wins ahead of time. She said, “I would definitely have included design in the main body of the awards because the designer...
Hosted by Yvette Nicole Brown, the event celebrated outstanding production design in theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, animated features and music videos.
As previously announced, director Denis Villeneuve (“Dune”) was honored with the William Cameron Menzies award.
Jane Campion “(The Power of the Dog”) was bestowed with the cinematic imagery award. The Oscar-nominated director was unable to accept her award in person due to having Covid. Campion took a moment to publicly speak out on the Academy’s recent decision to weave eight categories including Production Design into the live telecast, recording the wins ahead of time. She said, “I would definitely have included design in the main body of the awards because the designer...
- 3/6/2022
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
“Nightmare Alley,” “Dune” and “No Time to Die” have won the top feature-film prizes at the 26th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards, which were held by the Art Directors Guild on Saturday evening in Los Angeles.
“Nightmare Alley” won in the Period Feature Film category, where the other finalists included “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “West Side Story,” both of which were nominated for the Oscar for Best Production Design.
“Dune” won in the Fantasy Feature Film category, where it was the only Oscar nominee in the running. And “No Time to Die” won in the Contemporary Feature Film category, in which none of the nominees had been recognized by Oscar voters.
“Encanto” took the award in the Animated Feature category.
In the 15 years since the current Adg categories were established, one of the Adg winners has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Production Design 12 times. In that stretch,...
“Nightmare Alley” won in the Period Feature Film category, where the other finalists included “The Tragedy of Macbeth” and “West Side Story,” both of which were nominated for the Oscar for Best Production Design.
“Dune” won in the Fantasy Feature Film category, where it was the only Oscar nominee in the running. And “No Time to Die” won in the Contemporary Feature Film category, in which none of the nominees had been recognized by Oscar voters.
“Encanto” took the award in the Animated Feature category.
In the 15 years since the current Adg categories were established, one of the Adg winners has gone on to take the Oscar for Best Production Design 12 times. In that stretch,...
- 3/6/2022
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
Who’d have thought the 26th annual Art Directors Guild Awards would be such a good party?
Community alum and host Yvette Nicole Brown kicked things off with great energy and a few genuinely funny jokes. There followed two genuinely engaging acceptance speeches from Ethan Tobman and François Audouy and then a genuinely emotional — and funny — introduction from Kevin Costner for his longtime collaborator, production designer Ida Ransom, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I’m so impressed how many production designers are not freaked out by talking up here,” said a visibly nervous Costner. “It’s freaking me out.”
The guild also awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards to Donna Cline, Anne Harris and Denise & Michael Okuda.
Oscar-nominated Dune director Denis Villeneuve received the William Cameron Menzies Award, for which he credited all the production designers he has worked with, especially frequent collaborator Patrice Vermette. Vermette, it turns out, won the gong for Fantasy Feature Film.
Community alum and host Yvette Nicole Brown kicked things off with great energy and a few genuinely funny jokes. There followed two genuinely engaging acceptance speeches from Ethan Tobman and François Audouy and then a genuinely emotional — and funny — introduction from Kevin Costner for his longtime collaborator, production designer Ida Ransom, who received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
“I’m so impressed how many production designers are not freaked out by talking up here,” said a visibly nervous Costner. “It’s freaking me out.”
The guild also awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards to Donna Cline, Anne Harris and Denise & Michael Okuda.
Oscar-nominated Dune director Denis Villeneuve received the William Cameron Menzies Award, for which he credited all the production designers he has worked with, especially frequent collaborator Patrice Vermette. Vermette, it turns out, won the gong for Fantasy Feature Film.
- 3/6/2022
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
As usual, the Art Directors Guild spread the love among numerous films, programs, commercials, and music videos with the announcement of the 2022 Adg Awards nominations. “The French Dispatch,” “Cruella,” “Nightmare Alley,” “Licorice Pizza,” “West Side Story” and “Dune” were among the films nominated. “Foundation,” “Loki,” “Squid Game,” “Only Murders in the Building,” “Yellowstone” and “The White Lotus” made the cut among the television categories.
Read More: Ethan Tobman: Designing for “Free Guy,” Taylor Swift and “Pam & Tommy” [Interview]
There were no obvious snubs on the TV side, but it was somewhat eyebrow-raising that neither “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog,” the two Best Picture frontrunners, were not among the nominees.
Continue reading ‘French Dispatch,’ ‘Cruella,’ ‘Foundation’ Among 2022 Adg Awards Nominees at The Playlist.
Read More: Ethan Tobman: Designing for “Free Guy,” Taylor Swift and “Pam & Tommy” [Interview]
There were no obvious snubs on the TV side, but it was somewhat eyebrow-raising that neither “Belfast” and “The Power of the Dog,” the two Best Picture frontrunners, were not among the nominees.
Continue reading ‘French Dispatch,’ ‘Cruella,’ ‘Foundation’ Among 2022 Adg Awards Nominees at The Playlist.
- 1/24/2022
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
Ethan Tobman may be the hardest working Production Designer in show business. If he’s not, he’s certainly one of the most talented. Over the past year his real-world versions of a virtual video game world grounded Shawn Levy’s “Free Guy,” he collaborated with Taylor Swift on her 10-minute “All Too Well” short film and a live “SNL” performance. He also recreated the ’90s for the highly anticipated mini-series “Pam & Tommy,” a love story that sparks with the infamous Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee sex tape, and designed a set that will be the center of Mark Mylod’s “The Menu,” a fall prestige drama starring Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes, among others.
Continue reading Ethan Tobman: Designing For ‘Free Guy,’ Taylor Swift & ‘Pam & Tommy’ [Interview] at The Playlist.
Continue reading Ethan Tobman: Designing For ‘Free Guy,’ Taylor Swift & ‘Pam & Tommy’ [Interview] at The Playlist.
- 1/18/2022
- by Gregory Ellwood
- The Playlist
The world of "Free Guy" is familiar to anyone who's played or ever seen a video game. The attention to detail, the pace of action, characters and life in a game, it's striking how close Shawn Levy's movie is to the experience of gameplay. Free City sticks close to the rules of a role-playing game, even when its lead character is breaking those rules. Production designer Ethan Tobman, who worked on "Lemonade" and the "All the Stars" video, is one of the artists responsible for bringing the original environment to life.
Before Tobman even got the job, he was letting his imagination...
The post Free Guy Producer Designer Ethan Tobman Couldn't Avoid Grand Theft Auto [Interview] appeared first on /Film.
Before Tobman even got the job, he was letting his imagination...
The post Free Guy Producer Designer Ethan Tobman Couldn't Avoid Grand Theft Auto [Interview] appeared first on /Film.
- 10/26/2021
- by Jack Giroux
- Slash Film
‘The Menu’: Paul Adelstein, Rob Yang, Arturo Castro & Others Are Searchlight Pic’s Final Ingredients
Exclusive: Searchlight Pictures’ gourmet dark satire The Menu, which is currently filming in Savannah, Ga, has rounded out its cast with Paul Adelstein (Intolerable Cruelty), Rob Yang (Succession), Arturo Castro (Mr. Corman), Mark St. Cyr (High School Musical: The Musical – The Series), Rebecca Koon (Sharp Objects), Peter Grosz (At Home with Amy Sedaris) and Christina Brucato.
They join the previously announced line-up of the Mark Mylod-directed feature: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau (Elsa), Janet McTeer (Lillian Bloom), John Leguizamo (as Movie Star), Aimee Carrero (Felicity), Reed Birney (Richard) and Judith Light (Anne).
Based on an original screenplay by Seth Reiss (Late Night With Seth Meyers) and Will Tracy (Succession), The Menu follows a young couple, Margot and Tyler (Taylor-Joy and Hoult), who travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where Chef...
They join the previously announced line-up of the Mark Mylod-directed feature: Anya Taylor-Joy, Ralph Fiennes, Nicholas Hoult, Hong Chau (Elsa), Janet McTeer (Lillian Bloom), John Leguizamo (as Movie Star), Aimee Carrero (Felicity), Reed Birney (Richard) and Judith Light (Anne).
Based on an original screenplay by Seth Reiss (Late Night With Seth Meyers) and Will Tracy (Succession), The Menu follows a young couple, Margot and Tyler (Taylor-Joy and Hoult), who travel to a remote island to eat at an exclusive restaurant where Chef...
- 10/5/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Production designer Ethan Tobman (“Room”) considers himself an “emotional architect” when it comes to world building. And, with “Free Guy,” in which Ryan Reynolds portrays Guy, an Npc (non-player character) in the video game, “Free City” (“Grand Theft Auto” on steroids), who unlocks his sentient AI super powers, Tobman was able to construct a unique virtual world around his character arc.
“I related to the concept and the satire of someone who feels he’s an afterthought,” Tobman said. “He’s a half-developed, background character who’s destined for something more but can’t figure out why he feels like a cog in a machine. That’s something a lot of us feel, and the idea of creating a world around that concept was such an enormous intellectual and creatively juicy challenge.”
The Fox fantasy adventure, directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum”) and produced by Reynolds (but greenlit...
“I related to the concept and the satire of someone who feels he’s an afterthought,” Tobman said. “He’s a half-developed, background character who’s destined for something more but can’t figure out why he feels like a cog in a machine. That’s something a lot of us feel, and the idea of creating a world around that concept was such an enormous intellectual and creatively juicy challenge.”
The Fox fantasy adventure, directed by Shawn Levy (“Night at the Museum”) and produced by Reynolds (but greenlit...
- 8/18/2021
- by Bill Desowitz
- Indiewire
Taika Waititi as a villain, Jodie Comer singing and a triple whammy of universes are all part of Shawn Levy’s new film, “Free Guy,” out Friday in theaters.
Levy directs Ryan Reynolds, who plays Guy, a bank teller, who one day discovers he is actually an Npc (a non-player character) in a video game. Upon learning this, and with the help of Jodie Comer’s character, Molotov Girl, he decides to break free and save the world.
With an original screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, the “Stranger Things” director took the script and ran with it, paying homage where necessary and working with production designer Ethan Tobman to fill the world of the film with Easter eggs and references. His greatest achievement was getting three yes answers from Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm to agree to using their most iconic IP for the film.
Levy also unlocked Comer...
Levy directs Ryan Reynolds, who plays Guy, a bank teller, who one day discovers he is actually an Npc (a non-player character) in a video game. Upon learning this, and with the help of Jodie Comer’s character, Molotov Girl, he decides to break free and save the world.
With an original screenplay by Matt Lieberman and Zak Penn, the “Stranger Things” director took the script and ran with it, paying homage where necessary and working with production designer Ethan Tobman to fill the world of the film with Easter eggs and references. His greatest achievement was getting three yes answers from Disney, Marvel and Lucasfilm to agree to using their most iconic IP for the film.
Levy also unlocked Comer...
- 8/15/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
“Free Guy,” in theaters Aug. 13, revolves around a world within a world — the video game “Free City.” Ryan Reynolds plays Guy, a background character in the game drawn into the action by Jodie Comer’s Molotov Girl, who is trying to keep “Free City” from being destroyed by its creator (Taika Waititi). Once Molotov Girl gets Guy to put on special glasses that allow him to see the game, the action takes off.
Production designer Ethan Tobman steps into his biggest project to date, working alongside director Shawn Levy to bring the video game to life. Levy and Tobman collaborated closely, the director says. “We needed to create a video game that doesn’t exist, that has its inspirations, but has an entirely singular aesthetic, and an aesthetic that is immediately and consistently different than the way we portray the real world.” He adds, “Ethan and I laid out a...
Production designer Ethan Tobman steps into his biggest project to date, working alongside director Shawn Levy to bring the video game to life. Levy and Tobman collaborated closely, the director says. “We needed to create a video game that doesn’t exist, that has its inspirations, but has an entirely singular aesthetic, and an aesthetic that is immediately and consistently different than the way we portray the real world.” He adds, “Ethan and I laid out a...
- 8/14/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Why do movies never seem to “get” video games? While movies based on video games is a whole other story, most films about video games are stuck in the ’80s as though every game still asks players to rack up points or collect gold coins as they hunt for an extra life or evade pew-pew laser sound effects. The team behind Ryan Reynolds’ “Free Guy” wanted to change that.
Ethan Tobman, the production designer on “Free Guy,” was specifically tasked with capturing the look of the in-game “levels” and design of the film’s video game world. And Tobman says he and the “Free Guy” team were well aware of the “long history of poorly made movies about video games.”
“The reason so many in my opinion have failed is they’re trying to turn video games into movies by imposing movie rules onto the video game,” Tobman told TheWrap.
Ethan Tobman, the production designer on “Free Guy,” was specifically tasked with capturing the look of the in-game “levels” and design of the film’s video game world. And Tobman says he and the “Free Guy” team were well aware of the “long history of poorly made movies about video games.”
“The reason so many in my opinion have failed is they’re trying to turn video games into movies by imposing movie rules onto the video game,” Tobman told TheWrap.
- 8/13/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
David Fincher’s “Mank” and Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” were among the winners at the Art Directors Guild Awards on Saturday night — both are also Oscar nominees for best production design.
In a hybrid ceremony, the Adg (IATSE Local 800) awarded 11 categories across television, film, music videos and commercials.
Other winners included, “Da 5 Bloods” (Wynn Thomas), and “Soul” (Steve Pilcher).
In the television category, “The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” and “What We Do in the Shadows: Resurrection” were all recognized.
Comedian Jb Smoove, co-star of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” served as the evening’s host, entertaining a global audience. Nelson Coates, Adg president, and Mark Worthington, art directors council chair, presided over the awards ceremony.
“I’m grateful we were able to share our open awards event with all of our members, their families, friends, and coworkers this year,” producer Scott Moses said. “The show...
In a hybrid ceremony, the Adg (IATSE Local 800) awarded 11 categories across television, film, music videos and commercials.
Other winners included, “Da 5 Bloods” (Wynn Thomas), and “Soul” (Steve Pilcher).
In the television category, “The Mandalorian: Chapter 13: The Jedi,” “The Queen’s Gambit,” and “What We Do in the Shadows: Resurrection” were all recognized.
Comedian Jb Smoove, co-star of HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” served as the evening’s host, entertaining a global audience. Nelson Coates, Adg president, and Mark Worthington, art directors council chair, presided over the awards ceremony.
“I’m grateful we were able to share our open awards event with all of our members, their families, friends, and coworkers this year,” producer Scott Moses said. “The show...
- 4/11/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
“Mank,” “Tenet,” “Da 5 Bloods” and “Soul” have won the feature-film awards at the 25th annual Art Directors Guild Awards, which were handed out in a virtual ceremony on Saturday.
“Mank” won in the period-film category, the Adg category that most closely corresponds to the Oscar for Best Production Design. “Tenet” won in the fantasy category, “Da 5 Bloods” in the contemporary category and “Soul” in the animated category.
In the 14 years since the current Adg categories were established, the winner in the period category has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Production Design six times, the fantasy winner has taken the Oscar four times, and the contemporary winner has won the Oscar once. In all but three of those years, the Oscar has gone to one of the Adg winners.
“Mank” and “Tenet” are both nominated for the Best Production Design Oscar; “Da 5 Bloods” and “Soul” are not.
“Mank” won in the period-film category, the Adg category that most closely corresponds to the Oscar for Best Production Design. “Tenet” won in the fantasy category, “Da 5 Bloods” in the contemporary category and “Soul” in the animated category.
In the 14 years since the current Adg categories were established, the winner in the period category has gone on to win the Oscar for Best Production Design six times, the fantasy winner has taken the Oscar four times, and the contemporary winner has won the Oscar once. In all but three of those years, the Oscar has gone to one of the Adg winners.
“Mank” and “Tenet” are both nominated for the Best Production Design Oscar; “Da 5 Bloods” and “Soul” are not.
- 4/11/2021
- by Steve Pond
- The Wrap
The Art Directors Guild has unveiled nominations for its 25th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards, which celebrate the year’s best achievements in theatrical motion pictures, TV, commercials, music videos and animated features. Winners will be announced April 10 during a virtual ceremony.
Last year, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Avengers: Endgame and Parasite were the big film winners in the Period, Fantasy and Contemporary categories, respectively, with Hollywood going on to take the Production Design Oscar. TV winners included The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Cherrnobyl, The Big Bang Theory, Russian Doll, The Umbrella Academy and Drunk History.
As previously announced, Ryan Murphy will receive the group’s Cinematic Imagery Award. The Adg Lifetime Achievement Awards, annually presented to outstanding individuals in each of the guild’s four crafts, and will be announced shortly.
With today’s nominations out, online balloting will now be held March 11-April 7.
Here’ the list...
Last year, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, Avengers: Endgame and Parasite were the big film winners in the Period, Fantasy and Contemporary categories, respectively, with Hollywood going on to take the Production Design Oscar. TV winners included The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Cherrnobyl, The Big Bang Theory, Russian Doll, The Umbrella Academy and Drunk History.
As previously announced, Ryan Murphy will receive the group’s Cinematic Imagery Award. The Adg Lifetime Achievement Awards, annually presented to outstanding individuals in each of the guild’s four crafts, and will be announced shortly.
With today’s nominations out, online balloting will now be held March 11-April 7.
Here’ the list...
- 2/25/2021
- by Patrick Hipes
- Deadline Film + TV
“Mank, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Tenet” are among the top films recognized for excellence in production design in the 25th annual Art Directors Guild nominations.
On Thursday, the Adg announced nominations for this year’s awards show, which will be held April 10 in a virtual ceremony, breaking with tradition in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Mank,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Mulan” landed nominations in the Period Feature Film category, and “Birds of Prey,” “Pinocchio” and “Wonder Woman 1984” earned recognition in Fantasy Feature Film.
Missing out were Oscar contenders “Emma,” “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and “One Night in Miami.”
As previously announced, multiple award-winning writer-director-producer Ryan Murphy, whose film and television shows have consistently reflected the highest quality of production design, will receive the esteemed Cinematic Imagery Award.
See the full list of nominations for film and TV below.
Period Feature Film
“Mank” ( Donald Graham Burt...
On Thursday, the Adg announced nominations for this year’s awards show, which will be held April 10 in a virtual ceremony, breaking with tradition in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Mank,” “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Mulan” landed nominations in the Period Feature Film category, and “Birds of Prey,” “Pinocchio” and “Wonder Woman 1984” earned recognition in Fantasy Feature Film.
Missing out were Oscar contenders “Emma,” “The Personal History of David Copperfield” and “One Night in Miami.”
As previously announced, multiple award-winning writer-director-producer Ryan Murphy, whose film and television shows have consistently reflected the highest quality of production design, will receive the esteemed Cinematic Imagery Award.
See the full list of nominations for film and TV below.
Period Feature Film
“Mank” ( Donald Graham Burt...
- 2/25/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
Beyoncé’s “Black Is King” earned nine Grammy nominations Tuesday, including song of the year and record of the year. The singer, who led the nominations, also received a nomination for Best Music Film. It was the fourth time she has been nominated in that category after winning for Netflix’s “Homecoming” and getting nominations for “Lemonade” and “Beyoncé & Jay-Z: On the Run Tour.”
“Black Is King,” now streaming on Disney Plus, was executive produced by Beyoncé as a visual companion to her 2019 release, “The Lion King: The Gift.”
Cinematographer Santiago Gonzalez talked with Variety about how the visuals for the Grammy-nominated music film came together and collaborating with Beyoncé.
What conversations did you have with Beyoncé regarding the visuals for “Black is King?”
The project evolved as we shot. Most of the conversations about the look of the different sections I shot were discussed more with each specific director.
“Black Is King,” now streaming on Disney Plus, was executive produced by Beyoncé as a visual companion to her 2019 release, “The Lion King: The Gift.”
Cinematographer Santiago Gonzalez talked with Variety about how the visuals for the Grammy-nominated music film came together and collaborating with Beyoncé.
What conversations did you have with Beyoncé regarding the visuals for “Black is King?”
The project evolved as we shot. Most of the conversations about the look of the different sections I shot were discussed more with each specific director.
- 11/24/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
On Sunday, coveted Moon Person trophies were handed out at the socially distanced and Covid-compliant 2020 MTV Video Music Awards ceremony with The Weeknd winning Video of the year as well as Best R&b. Meanwhile, Lady Gaga — in endless costume and mask changes — tallied the most wins including Artist of the Year and the first-ever Tricon Award.
Airing live on MTV and simulcast on The CW and other ViacomCBS brands, the 37th annual ceremony was hosted by Keke Palmer with performances by Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and others. Shot in the various boroughs of New York City, the ceremony was an homage to the city and its resilience.
BTS scored numerous trophies including Best Pop, Best K-pop and Best Group while Megan Thee Stallion won for Best Hip Hop and H.E.R. won Video For Good. Taylor Swift took a Moon Person home for directing her video...
Airing live on MTV and simulcast on The CW and other ViacomCBS brands, the 37th annual ceremony was hosted by Keke Palmer with performances by Lady Gaga, Ariana Grande, The Weeknd and others. Shot in the various boroughs of New York City, the ceremony was an homage to the city and its resilience.
BTS scored numerous trophies including Best Pop, Best K-pop and Best Group while Megan Thee Stallion won for Best Hip Hop and H.E.R. won Video For Good. Taylor Swift took a Moon Person home for directing her video...
- 8/31/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Rodrigo Prieto is not exactly the guy you call for an easy shoot – whether that’s a four-hour mob epic for Martin Scorsese, a post-9/11 meditation on New York for Spike Lee or a triptych ensemble drama for Alejandro González Iñárritu. More recently, the renowned cinematographer was faced with a challenge of a different kind: taking on his second top-secret music video for Taylor Swift during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Swift unveiled her self-directed “Cardigan” video last Friday alongside Folklore, her indie-rock quarantine opus cobbled together over the past three months.
Swift unveiled her self-directed “Cardigan” video last Friday alongside Folklore, her indie-rock quarantine opus cobbled together over the past three months.
- 7/31/2020
- by Claire Shaffer
- Rollingstone.com
You are invited to attend our Q&a discussion with four of film’s top production designers who now compete for Oscars and more. Our event is on Thursday, November 14, at 7:00 p.m. at the Landmark Theater at 10850 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. Admission and parking are free. Academy and guild members will get priority seating.
To RSVP, make your reservation here: https://goldderbyproductiondesignpanel.splashthat.com/
Gold Derby managing editor Joyce Eng will moderate this “Meet the Film Experts” panel with the following contenders for 2019/2020 awards consideration:
Francois Auduoy represents 20th Century Fox for “Ford v Ferrari”
Auduoy won at the Art Directors Guild Awards for his work on “Logan” and was also nominated for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Other films have included “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” “The Wolverine,” “Avatar” and “The Greatest Showman.”
Ruth De Jong represents Universal for “Us”
De Jong was nominated at the...
To RSVP, make your reservation here: https://goldderbyproductiondesignpanel.splashthat.com/
Gold Derby managing editor Joyce Eng will moderate this “Meet the Film Experts” panel with the following contenders for 2019/2020 awards consideration:
Francois Auduoy represents 20th Century Fox for “Ford v Ferrari”
Auduoy won at the Art Directors Guild Awards for his work on “Logan” and was also nominated for “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Other films have included “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” “The Wolverine,” “Avatar” and “The Greatest Showman.”
Ruth De Jong represents Universal for “Us”
De Jong was nominated at the...
- 11/5/2019
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
Production has commenced on Free Guy, an adventure-comedy from 20th Century Fox starring Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool, POKÉMON Detective Pikachu) and directed by Shawn Levy (the Night At The Museum trilogy, Stranger Things).
Shooting in Boston, the film co-stars Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Lil Rel Howery (Get Out), Taika Waititi (Avengers: Endgame, What We Do In The Shadows), Joe Keery (Stranger Things), and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Mulan).’
Free Guy tells the story of a lonely bank teller who discovers he is actually a background character in the open-world videogame Free City.
Free Guy is produced by Levy, Reynolds, Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon, Riverdale), Sarah Schechter (Riverdale, Doom Patrol), and Adam Kolbrenner (Prisoners). Dan Levine(Arrival), Mary McLaglen (Red Sparrow), Josh McLaglen (Logan), George Dewey and Mike McGrath are executive producers.
Levy’s creative team includes director of photography George Richmond (Rocketman, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Emmy Award winning editor Dean Zimmerman (Stranger Things,...
Shooting in Boston, the film co-stars Jodie Comer (Killing Eve), Lil Rel Howery (Get Out), Taika Waititi (Avengers: Endgame, What We Do In The Shadows), Joe Keery (Stranger Things), and Utkarsh Ambudkar (Mulan).’
Free Guy tells the story of a lonely bank teller who discovers he is actually a background character in the open-world videogame Free City.
Free Guy is produced by Levy, Reynolds, Greg Berlanti (Love, Simon, Riverdale), Sarah Schechter (Riverdale, Doom Patrol), and Adam Kolbrenner (Prisoners). Dan Levine(Arrival), Mary McLaglen (Red Sparrow), Josh McLaglen (Logan), George Dewey and Mike McGrath are executive producers.
Levy’s creative team includes director of photography George Richmond (Rocketman, Kingsman: The Secret Service), Emmy Award winning editor Dean Zimmerman (Stranger Things,...
- 5/14/2019
- by Michelle Hannett
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
‘Buster Scruggs,’ ‘Black Panther,’ ‘Haunting of Hill House’ Nominated for Art Directors Guild Awards
The Art Directors Guild has announced nominees for excellence in production design in feature film and television for 2018.
Among the film nominees in three categories — period, fantasy, and contemporary — were the Coen brothers’ Western anthology “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” hit Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther,” and Tom Cruise spectacle “Mission: Impossible — Fallout.”
On the television side, nominees included Netflix’s latter-year smash “The Haunting of Hill House,” Hulu’s Stephen King-inspired “Castle Rock,” HBO’s “Sharp Objects” with Amy Adams, and FX’s acclaimed episode of “Atlanta,” “Teddy Perkins.”
Previously announced, “Mary Poppins Returns” director Rob Marshall will receive the Adg’s cinematic imagery award. Slated for Hall of Fame inductions are British production designer and set decorator Anthony Masters (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) and Benjamin Carre. Lifetime achievement awards will also be presented to production designer Jeannine Oppewall, senior illustrator and production designer Ed Verreaux,...
Among the film nominees in three categories — period, fantasy, and contemporary — were the Coen brothers’ Western anthology “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs,” hit Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” Marvel blockbuster “Black Panther,” and Tom Cruise spectacle “Mission: Impossible — Fallout.”
On the television side, nominees included Netflix’s latter-year smash “The Haunting of Hill House,” Hulu’s Stephen King-inspired “Castle Rock,” HBO’s “Sharp Objects” with Amy Adams, and FX’s acclaimed episode of “Atlanta,” “Teddy Perkins.”
Previously announced, “Mary Poppins Returns” director Rob Marshall will receive the Adg’s cinematic imagery award. Slated for Hall of Fame inductions are British production designer and set decorator Anthony Masters (“2001: A Space Odyssey”) and Benjamin Carre. Lifetime achievement awards will also be presented to production designer Jeannine Oppewall, senior illustrator and production designer Ed Verreaux,...
- 1/7/2019
- by Kristopher Tapley
- Variety Film + TV
Production designers spend months and months creating authentic, immersive worlds for the characters of their films, but the last thing they want is for anybody to immediately notice their work.
“I think if you’re doing it properly, it’s in support of the story and the characters and works subliminally on the audience,” “BlacKkKlansman” production designer Curt Beech said at Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Production Designers panel, moderated by this author (watch the exclusive video above). “And hopefully [it] does not draw attention to itself unless there’s a scripted moment where there’s something very specific that will happen scenically that is a ‘wow’ moment or something.”
“Destroyer” production designer Kay Lee said she’d be “mortified” if her work ever unintentionally distracted moviegoers from the action onscreen. “I would never want my work to take away from the story itself,” she said. “What I try to...
“I think if you’re doing it properly, it’s in support of the story and the characters and works subliminally on the audience,” “BlacKkKlansman” production designer Curt Beech said at Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Production Designers panel, moderated by this author (watch the exclusive video above). “And hopefully [it] does not draw attention to itself unless there’s a scripted moment where there’s something very specific that will happen scenically that is a ‘wow’ moment or something.”
“Destroyer” production designer Kay Lee said she’d be “mortified” if her work ever unintentionally distracted moviegoers from the action onscreen. “I would never want my work to take away from the story itself,” she said. “What I try to...
- 12/11/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
One of the most striking aspects about “Beautiful Boy” is how natural it looks, from its picturesque scenery to its inviting home. So it might be surprising to learn that most of the film was shot on a stage. “I would say 65 percent of it was built,” production designer Ethan Tobman revealed at Gold Derby’s Meet the Experts: Production Designers panel, moderated by this author (watch the exclusive video above). “The house interior is a build. It is very naturalistic and embraces the landscape and has enormous windows, it invites light and trees into the interior, but it is not on location.”
Tobman’s goal was to create a naturalistic environment with director Felix Van Groeningen — who had never worked with a production designer before in his native Belgium — especially since the addiction drama is a true story, based on David and Nic Sheff’s respective memoirs. Tobman, whose...
Tobman’s goal was to create a naturalistic environment with director Felix Van Groeningen — who had never worked with a production designer before in his native Belgium — especially since the addiction drama is a true story, based on David and Nic Sheff’s respective memoirs. Tobman, whose...
- 12/11/2018
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
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