Composer John Paesano on Scoring A Hero’s Journey in “Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes”

Editor’s note: This article contains light spoilers for Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes.

“What’s interesting about this film, and it played into our favor, is you couldn’t score it like you could a normal film that’s been done the last ten years,” says composer John Paesano about director Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. “A lot of it wasn’t conceived by the time we started working on it because it was so visual effects heavy.”

What that meant for the composer was coming up with ideas that were emotionally connected to the characters rather than composing for pictures on a screen.

How the Animation in John Krasinski’s “IF” Came to Live Seamlessly Among Live-Action

Written and directed by John Krasinski, IF is a fantastical inverse of Krasinski’s A Quiet Place and A Quiet Place Part II. A contemporary fairy-tale journey inspired by Krasinski’s own daughters, IF pairs live action and animation to bring us Bea (Cailey Fleming), a tween who learns she can see everyone else’s imaginary friends, and teams up with Cal (Ryan Reynolds), the only adult around who shares her superpower,

“Thelma the Unicorn” Director Lynn Wang on Marshaling the Magic of Brittany Howard’s Voice

When director Lynn Wang and her co-director Jared Hess set out to adapt Aaron Blabey’s popular 2015 book about a plain-Jane barn pony who dreams of being a unicorn, Wang brought to bear years of animation experience to this sure-hoofed, very funny adaptation. Thelma the Unicorn hits its high notes but also manages to work in sly humor that adults will particularly savor.

What Wang and Hess both have in spades is a deep appreciation for music (the film is chock full of tunes,

“Under the Bridge” EP/Director Quinn Shephard on Lily Gladstone & Riley Keough’s Twisty Murder Mystery

In 1997, fourteen-year-old Reena Virk went to a party and never came home, then became front page news around the world when a tight-knit circle of girls and one troubled teenage boy were implicated in her murder. Journalist Rebecca Godfrey wrote about the crime in her acclaimed book “Under the Bridge”, and now Hulu’s narrative series of the same name delves into the life of the victim, as well as those involved in her death.

Dressing a Spy in Plain Sight and Many Robert Downey Jrs. in “The Sympathizer”

Viet Thanh Nguyen’s 2015 novel “The Sympathizer” won the Pulitzer Prize and was subsequently adapted into a miniseries by showrunners Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar, a historical black comedy now airing on HBO. The show follows the journey of the Captain (Hoa Xuande), a communist operative working as a mole in South Vietnam’s army who winds up fleeing to the U.S. alongside the General (Toan Le) he putatively works for. Ultimately landing in California, the Captain remains embedded in a South Vietnamese refugee community whom he monitors and reports on to the Viet Cong.

“Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes” VFX Team on Bringing a New Generation of Primates to Life

The events in Wes Ball’s Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes take place 300 years after the death of Caesar (Andy Serkis), the focus of the previous Apes trilogy kickstarted by director Rupert Wyatt in 2011 and then led by director Matt Reeves for the final two films. Apes have now evolved into a fully talking species while humans tread backward. It would seem like a win for the apes,

Writer/Director Jane Schoenbrun on Their Stunning New Film “I Saw the TV Glow”

While a student at Boston University, writer/director Jane Schoenbrun enjoyed “many formative movie experiences” at the nearby  Coolidge Corner Theater. “A fond memory is of a zombie movie and me and all my friends dressing in zombie makeup,” says Schoenbrun. “It was one of the happiest memories of my college experience, and it probably says something about me.”

So it’s a fitting, full circle moment for Schoenbrun when they returned to the historic Boston theater on May 11 as the 2024 recipient of the Coolidge Breakthrough Artist Award.

Taiwan Based Producer Sam Yuan on His Netflix Series “Shards of Her” & More

In a career that spans over two decades, Taiwan-based producer Sam Yuan has been involved in a variety of productions, from critically acclaimed GF*BF and box office megahit Our Times in his early days to the more recent, Golden Horse-winning My Missing Valentine and Netflix hit series Shards of Her.

He is currently the secretary general of the Taiwanese industry organization, New Media Entertainment Association (NMEA),

“Challengers” Production Designer Merissa Lombardo Sets the Stage on Court & Off

Director Luca Guadagnino’s sexy new tennis romance, Challengers, layers a years-long love triangle of three millennial-era players over the highs and lows of their careers. At the center is talented, driven, and stunning Tashi (Zendaya). She first dates Patrick (Josh O’Connor), who plays as well as she does, but doesn’t take his career or their relationship seriously enough for either to work out. After getting knocked out of the circuit with a knee injury,

“The Fall Guy” Stunt Designer Chris O’Hara on Helping Create Ryan Gosling’s Gonzo Performance

Hollywood couldn’t have found a more perfect director for Ryan Gosling’s stuntman rom-com The Fall Guy (in theaters now) than David Leitch. A body double-turned-stunt supervisor on dozens of movies, including John Wick, he understood the stunt world firsthand before moving into the director’s chair for Deadpool 2 and Bullet Train. To oversee stunts on The Fall Guy, co-starring Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson,

“The Fall Guy” Sound Designer Mark Stoeckinger on Capturing Ryan Gosling’s Wild Ride

A three-time Oscar nominee, Mark Stoeckinger has worked on five of the six features by stuntman-turned-director David Leitch, starting with 2017’s action thriller Atomic Blonde. No stranger to actioners, the veteran sound editor also led the sound team on all four John Wick films (which Leitch also produced). The Fall Guy is a cinematic love letter to the unsung heroes of the filmmaking business,

“Shōgun” Stunt Coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle on Lady Mariko’s Last Stand

In part one of our conversation with Shōgun’s stunt coordinator and second unit director, Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle, he shared details about the extensive choreography training for the cast and what made Lord Toranaga’s (Hiroyuki Sanada) fighting style distinctive. Now, we turn toward Toranaga’s two allies, the “Anjin,” English sailor John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis), and the woman Toranaga tasks with acting as Blackthorne’s translator, Lady Mariko (Anna Sawai).

When an assassin breaks into Blackthorne’s house to kill him in episode 2,

The Samurai Sword and the Flaming Arrow: Inside the Stunts of “Shōgun” – Part One

It has been a very busy year for stunt coordinator Lauro David Chartrand-DelValle. Not only is he on one of this season’s most-watched scripted series on broadcast—Tracker on CBS—he is also the second unit director on FX’s critically acclaimed hit, Shōgun. Still maintaining its 99% Rotten Tomatoes score after a 10-week run, the historical saga based on James Clavell’s bestselling novel is shaping up to be a frontrunner at the upcoming Emmy Awards.

From Feudal Japan to Tokyo’s Neon Underworld: “Shōgun” & “Tokyo Vice” Director Takeshi Fukunaga Unmasks Japan

Japan is enjoying a moment. Godzilla Minus One landed a Best Visual Effects Oscar and a record U.S. box office for a Japanese live-action film; Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron scored a Golden Globe for best-animated feature, while Shōgun (将軍) and Tokyo Vice have won fans and plaudits around the globe.

As the only local director on both those acclaimed series set in Japan,

“Challengers” Screenwriter Justin Kuritzkes on Acing his Zendaya-led Tennis Scorcher

Spoiler Alert: The following article contains spoilers for Challengers.

Back in 2018, playwright and author Justin Kuritzkes was obsessively consuming the world of elite tennis. As the first-time screenwriter conveyed to The Credits, it was better than anything in theaters or on the small screen — tennis was really just that good.

During that year’s U.S. Open match between Naomi Osaka and Serena Williams,

Game On: Zendaya & Co. Reveal Why “Challengers” Will Be Your New Obsession

From the warm embrace of Call Me By Your Name to the eerie thrill of Bones and All, Luca Guadagnino’s latest film, Challengers, is a culmination of the better parts of all of his earlier work, ending in an explosive (and sweaty) finale.

The film centers on a love triangle, set in the world of high-stakes tennis matches, with three characters who once,

“Monkey Man” Mask Designer Eddie Yang Gives Dev Patel a Primal Facelift

Dev Patel’s directorial debut, Monkey Man, is a kinetic, deeply felt revenge story set in Mumbai, a world that is rarely depicted with such punishing, propulsive energy and passion. Patel stars as the Kid, an anonymous young man nursing a wound so deep it becomes a source of inexhaustible rage and, ultimately, power. The Kid’s mother was murdered by the ruthless, heartless leaders who prey on the poor and powerless in Mumbai,

Capturing Cavill & More With “The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” Cinematographer Ed Wild

In Part One of our conversation with cinematographer Ed Wild, we discussed how his documentary filmmaking background worked very well with director Guy Ritchie’s pragmatic and responsive approach. We continue the discussion with the throughline in Ritchie’s latest films, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare and The Covenant, both of which were lensed by Wild.

To create a lavish ballroom for the extravagant costume party in the third act,

“The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare” DP Ed Wild Captures the Chaos of Guy Ritchie’s Crackling Action-Comedy

Following last year’s contemplative war thriller The Covenant, director Guy Ritchie is back with a propulsive military actioner with his go-to cinematographer in recent years, Ed Wild (London Has Fallen and Ritchie’s Netflix adaptation of his own film, The Gentlemen). On his fifth collaboration with Ritchie in two years, Wild is very comfortable with the director’s fluid shooting style. “We’ve got a real rhythm for how to do things quickly.

Composer and Virtuoso Guitarist Byeong Woo Lee on Scoring Films For Bong Joon Ho

Byeong Woo Lee is a man of many talents. He’s a virtuoso guitarist and guitar designer, a successful pop musician, a graphic designer, and an educator. As a classical guitarist, he’s performed with the Peabody Symphony Orchestra, Brussels Philharmonic, Korean Symphony, and more. After stints in Vienna and Seoul, he moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he continued his ongoing study into musical traditions at Johns Hopkins’ Peabody Conservatory. It was there that he broadened his musical aperture to include film composing.