Exec Producer & Writer on FX’s Tyrant Talks About Groundbreaking Show
FX's new show Tyrant is unlike anything currently on television. Showcasing Arab characters and cultures, set in the Middle East, the 10-episode first season is a bold step towards showing American audiences people and situations rarely depicted. While Netflix's Orange is the New Black is deservedly lauded for filling the frame with three dimensional female characters who are black, brown, gay and transgendered, Tyrant will put faces on our screen who have too often been portrayed as villains or marginal characters at best.
Watch How to Train Your Dragon 2‘s Dean DeBlois Take Kids’ Questions
We learned a lot from talking to writer/director Dean DeBlois. One is, he must be one of the most calm, even tempered and laid back individuals helming a major film franchise in the business. Two, a lot of work, and risk, went into making How to Train Your Dragon 2, a sequel that is being heralded as one of the best in animated history. And three, the man is committed to creating an animated trilogy that’ll live on and inspire kids and adults alike for years to come.
The Grand Seduction: A Look at Canada Behind the Camera
During preproduction of the Canadian film The Grand Seduction, the crew realized a major set piece had yet to be built— Joe’s Place, a local bar and restaurant that was vital to the film. Joe's Place was, in short order, built from scratch in Newfoundland’s fishing community Trinity Bright, where much of the film was shot. Emblematic of the relationship between Canadian and U.S. filmmakers, once production left town, the producers left Joe’s Place standing,
Highlights from the 2nd Annual Creativity Conference
The second annual Creativity Conference (check out the link for photos and more here) was a celebration of the impact, and necessity, of the creative community on the economic stability and cultural legacy of America. “Year after year, audiences go to their local cinemas or sign up for streaming services to see what our industry has to offer,” Senator Dodd, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America said. “Our industries are far more than just creators of entertainment…the creative community contributes 3.2% to our GDP.”
Check out the Live Stream of the 2nd Annual Creativity Conference
The second annual Creativity Conference begins today in The Newseum in Washington, DC, drawing leaders from the entertainment, media, business, technology and political communities to talk about the role creativity plays in the global economy. The Creativity Conference is presented by the Motion Picture Association of America in partnership with Microsoft and ABC News. For roughly the next four and a half hours, speakers and panelists will engage one another in discussions ranging from the shifting definitions of the creative process to innovation’s impact on the personal,
Missing 87-Year old John Ford Film Upstream Found, Screened With Live Score
This past Monday, composer Michael Mortilla and Nicole Garcia brought a slew of instruments (a piano, violin, kazoo, handbell, even a bag filled with aluminum cans) and performed a live score accompanying a screening of the 1927 John Ford film Upstream. “My basic role is to provide a soundtrack for a film that never had a soundtrack,” Mortilla says. He and Garcia performed their Upstream score in front of a live audience in the screening room at the Motion Picture of Association’s headquarters on Eye Street in Washington D.C.
Celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Right Stuff With Writer/Director Philip Kaufman
“There’s a demon that lives in the air. They say that whoever challenged him would die.” –Levon Helm’s narration at the beginning of The Right Stuff.
Test pilots attempting to break the sound barrier at Muroc Army Air Field in California, where that demon lived, often died. It’s at Muroc where Philip Kaufman’s seminal film begins. Chuck Yeager (Sam Shepard) has been given the opportunity to try and break the sound barrier in the X-1,
An Evening With Haifaa Al Mansour, Writer/Director of the Historic Wadjda
There have been many objects of fascination that have been a crucial part of great films. Think of the Red Ryder BB gun in A Christmas Story, or, to use an even more famous example, Rosebud from Citizen Kane. In Haifaa Al Mansour’s fantastic, ground-breaking Wadjda (the first feature length film to be shot entirely in the Kingdom), the object is a beautiful green bicycle.
An Evening With Filmmaking Icon Norman Jewison
Lauded filmmaker Norman Jewison may be as entertaining a storyteller in person as he is through film. Rocking New Balance sneakers, sunglasses and youthful exuberance at a July 22 event at the MPAA in Washington, D.C., the 87-year-old filmmaker regaled a delighted audience with tales from his more than four decades of historic success in the industry.
Jewison boasts a repertoire of films that have amassed a remarkable total of 46 Oscar nominations and 12 Oscar Awards.
An Evening With Fruitvale Station Writer/Director Ryan Coogler
Few directors fresh out of film school can boast their first feature-length movie is a likely Oscar contender, but Ryan Coogler could be one of the few with Fruitvale Station. The movie, which Coogler wrote and directed, won the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Feature and Audience Award for U.S. Dramatic Film at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival, and also won the Avenir Prize – Un Certain Regard at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival.
An Insider Discussion on Film Scoring
Remembering the director is boss is key to working in the movie industry, according to music professionals.
“You have to yield to the director. You can only have one vision,” long-time movie music editor Dan Carlin told The Credits after a panel discussion on film scoring hosted by the MPAA in Washington, D.C. “That’s what unites a crew that’s putting together a movie.”
Carlin, whose four decades of movie credits as a music editor include The Last of the Mohicans (1992) and Bruce Almighty (2003),
An Evening With Geena Davis
Geena Davis has worked in the movie business for more than 30 years, with a career that includes an Academy Award® for Best Supporting Actress for 1988’s The Accidental Tourist and another nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role for 1991’s Thelma & Louise. Now, Davis is working full-time to help improve the industry she’s made a career in.
“What we see on screen is so important because it makes it normal,”
An Evening With Adrian Grenier and Peter Glatzer on Creating SHFT
The MPAA speaks with actor/director/producer Adrian Grenier and producer Peter Glatzer on creating SHFT, their eco-conscious business that creates content in an effort to empower people to think, and act, on behalf of the environment.
Looking to change the popular narrative surrounding the environmental movement, Glatzer and Grenier co-founded SHFT in 2009. The multi-media platform, pronounced “shift,” distinguishes itself by going beyond the basic awareness and educational campaigns; instead, SHFT aims to incorporate sustainability in all aspects of our lives and ultimately make it a permanent part of our culture.
