American History Through Film: What to Watch the Week of the Fourth
Whether today sees you at the end of your long weekend, already looking to wind down from too much barbecue and rosé, or you hardly got a break at all, supplement your Fourth festivities with an all-American film roster. In lieu of titles touting their patriotism right in the name (Captain America, Independence Day, and ...
Oscar Watch: Why Ted Melfi Passed on Spider-Man: Homecoming to direct Hidden Figures
Before he became an award-winning TV commercial director, before he lured Bill Murray out of semi-retirement to star in his St. Vincent film, before he earned Oscar nominations for co-writing and producing this year's most popular Best Picture nominee Hidden Figures, Ted Melfi launched his creative journey in unlikely fashion by serving as child sports ...
Oscar Nominee Allison Schroeder on Adapting Hidden Figures
It’s an exciting and extraordinary time for screenwriter Allison Schroeder. The Hidden Figures scribe has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay, is a finalist for a Humanitas Prize, and also received WGA, BAFTA and Critic’s Choice nods — all this after being named one of Variety’s “10 Screenwriters to Watch” this past ...
Hidden Figures Production Designer’s Subliminal Storytelling
Hidden Figures tells a quintessentially American story—a true story, no less—that has gone more or less untold until now. The film, based on Margot Lee Shetterly's book of the same name, tells the true story of three brilliant African-American women who helped NASA change the course of the Space Race between America and the Soviet Union. Those women ...
Costume Designer Evokes Vintage NASA Look for Hidden Figures
Costume designer Renee Ehrlich Kalfus had just heard about the death of astronaut John Glenn when she got on the phone last week to talk about NASA period piece Hidden Figures (opening limited Dec. 25). “I'm so upset," she said. "These guys were so brave and cocky and well-trained, they were like cowboys — the ...
Breakout Star Janelle Monáe on Moonlight and Hidden Figures
The multi-talented Janelle Monáe is having one of the most remarkable starts to a film career in recent memory. The iconic musician has moved into acting with two roles in films that will likely vie for Oscars, and her performances in both have been earning plaudits from critics far and wide. As Teresa in Barry Jenkins' ...
Cinematographer Mandy Walker Frames History in Hidden Figures
Mandy Walker knows a thing or two about defying expectations. One of the movie industry's very few female cinematographers, she decided at age 13 to become a DP. "My dad made me a little dark room in the back yard and I loved going to movies, so I decided to join those two things together," ...
Real Life Genius on Cosmic Inspiration in new Hidden Figures Promo
Hidden Figures, the upcoming biographical drama from 20th Century Fox, has unveiled a video segment called Modern Figures. In a video interview, Tracy Drain, a Systems Engineer for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says “I used to spend nights lying awake trying to imagine the stars…to try and feel your place in the universe.” She recalls ...
Watch Hidden Figures Lyric Video “I See a Victory”
Yesterday we had the opportunity to interview Hidden Figures (and Moonlight star) Janelle Monáe—we'll be publishing that early next week. What we learned talking to the talented musician, actress and writer is that the sisterhood you see and feel on screen in Hidden Figures is real. The three leads, Monáe, Taraji P. Henson and Octavia Spencer, became very close on set. ...
Hidden Figures Reveals Official Trailer
On Sept. 10 at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), the festival held a preview of 20th Century Fox’s much-anticipated drama Hidden Figures, about the black female mathematicians who had pivotal roles in the NASA space program during the late ‘50s/early 60s. This was a 20-minute clip that screened for the press and public from the then still-unfinished ...
Hidden Figures Featurette Goes Behind the Numbers
20th Century Fox's Hidden Figures exposes at a little known piece of American history; the black female NASA mathematicians who were critical to lauching astronaut John Glenn into space. Director Theodore Melfi's film follows the exploits of Katherine Johnson (Taraji P. Henson), Dorothy Vaughan (Octavia Spencer) and Mary Jackson (Janelle Monáe) as they penetrate the all male, all white ...
