News

All the News.

Sundance Institute Selects 6 Projects for 2018 New Frontier Story Lab

[caption id="attachment_28747" align="aligncenter" width="1227"] Sundance Institute Announces 2018 New Frontier Story Lab Fellows. Nitzan Bartov | Charlotte Simpson | Michèle Stephenson | Joe Brewster | Raqi Syed | Areito Echevarria | Stephanie Dinkins |Sadé Dinkins | Shariffa Chelimo Ali | Yetunde Dada | Kevin Cornish | Seyward Darby[/caption] Sundance Institute has selected six projects for the annual New Frontier Story Lab, which supports independent artists working at the cutting-edge convergence of film, art, media, live performance and technology. The New Frontier Story Lab is a week-long immersive experience that empowers creatives with individual story sessions, conversations about key artistic, design and technology issues and case study presentations from experts in multiple disciplines. Past participants include Roger Ross Williams, Josephine Decker, Silas Howard, Tracy Fullerton, Yung Jake, Chris Milk, Hasan Minhaj, Tommy Pallotta, Amelia Winger-Bearskin, Hank Willis Thomas, Jillian Mayer, Heather Dewey-Hagborg, Navid and Vassiliki Khonsari, A Dandy Punk, Nicolas Peufaillit, and Yasmin Elayat. The Lab takes place May 16-21 at the Sundance Resort in Utah, under the guidance of Sundance Institute Feature Film Program Founding Director Michelle Satter and Kamal Sinclair, Director of New Frontier Lab Programs. Sinclair said, “The intersection of artists and technologists at New Frontier Story Lab this year is going to create a unique experience where the Fellows are able to challenge each other to take risks and interact with stories in different ways. Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors will come together to explore the convergence of art and technology and engage in ground-breaking work in the full spectrum of immersive media, connected environments and machine learning.” Creative Advisors and Industry Mentors for the Lab include: Reggie Watts (Creator, Spatial), Nick Fortugno (Co-Creator, Frankenstein AI), Rashida Bumbray (Curator, Funk, God, Jazz and Medicine: Black Radical Brooklyn), Katerina Cizek (Creator, HIGHRISE), Toby Coffey (Head of Digital Development, National Theatre in London), Kirsten Johnson (Director, Cameraperson), Lauren McCarthy (Creative Coder, p5.js), Mark Monroe (Writer, The Cove), Arnaud Colinart (Co-Founder, AtlasV), Dr.Joy DeGruy (Author, Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome), Katherine Dieckmann (Writer/Director, Strange Weather), Sylvio Drouin (Vice President Research Labs, Unity Technologies) , Moira Griffin (Executive Director of Production, Creative Labs at Fox Networks Group), Scott Norville (Vice President, Digital Audience Development at Fox), Torfi Frans Ólafsson (Design Director, Minecraft at Microsoft), Opeyemi Olukemi (Vice President, POV’s Digital Production and Innovation), Melissa Painter (Creator, HEROS), Joan Tewkesbury (Writer, Nashville), Saschka Unseld (Director, The Blue Umbrella), Diana Williams (Executive Vice President of Creative at Madison Wells Media) and Anthony Sparks (Co-Executive Producer, Queen Sugar). The Creative teams and Projects Selected for The 2018 Sundance Institute New Frontier Story Lab: Alexa, Call Mom! Nitzan Bartov and Charlotte Simpson Alexa, Call Mom! is a connected environment installation featuring Alexa and other interactive devices working as a conduit between the living and the dead. It is the seance experience of the future! Nitzan Bartov is a game designer and architect based in Brooklyn. In VR, interactive and spatial media, her work mixes pop culture and sci-fi with computational design and sculptural elements, exploring representations of time and beauty in the flaws of the digital world. Charlotte Simpson writes interactive fiction and designs narrative formulas for gamified texts, VR, and immersive experiences. Her focus is stories that encourage an extranoematic interaction between the reader and text. Changing Same: The Untitled Racial Justice Project Michèle Stephenson and Joe Brewster Changing Same: The Untitled Racial Justice Project is a magical-realist journey through the uninterrupted cycle of white racial oppression from slavery to now to an afro-futurist world of freedom, liberation and equity. Michèle Stephenson pulls from her Panamanian and Haitian roots to tell provocative stories that are created by, for and about communities of color. Stephenson’s most recent feature documentary, American Promise, was nominated for three Emmys, garnered a Sundance Film Festival Jury Award, and won a Britdoc Puma Award for Impact. Her collaborative short-film series with New York Times Op-Docs, Conversations on Race, won an Online Journalism Award for Commentary. Joe Brewster is a physician who uses his psychiatrist training to inform the social issues he tackles as a filmmaker. Brewster has created stories using a variety of mediums that have garnered support from critics and audiences internationally. Brewster is a Guggenheim Fellow and Spirit Award and three-time Emmy Award nominee. His recent documentary, American Promise, won the Jury Prize at Sundance Film Festival. Brewster’s outreach accomplishments include a NAACP Image Award for his book Promises Kept, and a BritDoc Prize for developing one of the most innovative outreach campaigns. Minimum Mass Raqi Syed and Areito Echevarria After a series of miscarriages, a young woman is convinced her children were born into another dimension. Through immersive media, this story of loss, fear and reunion penetrates the unseen portal between worlds. Raqi Syed is a writer and artist who has worked on films such as Tangled, District 9, Avatar, Dawn of The Planet of the Apes, and The Hobbit Trilogy. In 2017, The Los Angeles Times pegged Syed for its list of 100 Industry professionals who can help fix Hollywood’s diversity problem. Syed’s writing focuses on film and gender, film technology, the historiography of visual effects, and the business of visual effects. Her essays have appeared in TechCrunch, Vice, Salon, Quartz, and The Los Angeles Review of Books. Areito Echevarria is an Academy Award winning artist and researcher, specializing in computational creativity and design. His feature film experience includes work on films such as War for the Planet of the Apes, Godzilla, The Hobbit Trilogy, Avatar and Black Hawk Down. In 2014, Echevarria was awarded the Scientific and Technical Academy Award for his work developing Deep Compositing, an imaging technology that fundamentally changed the nature of compositing workflows in the feature film industry. Not The Only One Stephanie Dinkins and Sadé Dinkins Not the Only One is the multigenerational memoir of one black American family told from the mind of an artificial intelligence of evolving intellect. Stephanie Dinkins is a transdisciplinary artist interested in creating platforms for ongoing dialog about artificial intelligence as it intersects race, gender, aging, the proliferation of knowledge(s) and our future histories. She is particularly driven to work with communities of color to develop deep-rooted AI literacy and co-create more equitable artificial intelligence. Sadé Dinkins is passionate about social justice and the need for a future that reflects us, as representation has growing effect on the human psyche, public policy. She has an external drive to seek and establish representation for blackness and women in media as well as in the technological sector as it increasingly intersects our lives. Evolve | Revolve Shariffa Chelimo Ali and Yetunde Dada Circle the Mugumo tree seven times and transform from masculine to feminine or feminine to masculine; and live in your new identity forever. This is the ritual of the Kikuyu ancestors that no contemporary person has experienced until now. Shariffa Chelimo Ali is an Afropolitan creative leader committed to working with an open-heart at the intersection of the performing arts and humanitarianism. Ali works as a Community Coordinator at the Public Theater in New York. Selected directing credits include: Detroit 67 (Brooklyn College, NY), We are Proud to Present…(Yale Dramatic Society, Yale University, CT), Eclipsed (Lewis Center for the Arts, Princeton University, NJ), The Year of the Bicycle (C.M.O.R.E Festival, The Cell Theatre, NY) and Evolve | Revolve (formerly known as Round Round, VR film), winner of the Digital Lab Africa Competition. Yetunde Dada’s background is in photography, design and technology and she is currently completing her MBA at the Said Business School, University of Oxford. She passionate about using art and technology for social change and founded a social impact art, design and music magazine called Our Friends. True Crime Kevin Cornish and Seyward Darby Unearth stories by speaking with the witnesses, family members, detectives and towns people who lived the nightmares of this True Crime series. These conversational documentaries put the viewer face to face with the subjects and let’s them ask the questions to discover the multifaceted truth. Kevin Cornish, director of cinematic immersive experiences, is the CEO and Co-Founder of Conversive, an immersive conversation engine, and the founder of Moth+Flame agency. Cornish has created immersive experiences for AMC’s The Walking Dead and Pandas AR for IMAX, which allows kids to have conversations with a talking panda in augmented reality. He’s also the creator of Fall in Love, an AI-powered VR experience inspired by The New York Times article “36 Questions to Fall in Love,” which was shortlisted for an Innovation Lion at Cannes and uses natural language processing to enhance first-person storytelling. Seyward Darby is a magazine editor who specializes in longform narrative nonfiction. Currently, she is the executive editor of The Atavist Magazine, an award-winning publication that delivers cinematic true stories featuring in-depth reporting, compelling writing and the most elegant design on the web. She is also a writer and is currently working on a book about how women have shaped white nationalism in America (Little, Brown, 2020).
Read more
Cameron Bailey Promoted to Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF

The Board of Directors of TIFF this week promoted Cameron Bailey to the newly created position of Artistic Director and Co-Head of TIFF. The role is a promotion and expansion of Bailey’s current position of Artistic Director, which he has held since 2012. Prior to that, Bailey held the role of Festival Co-Director from 2008-2012. Bailey will report directly to the Board of Directors effective October 1, 2018. Since CEO Piers Handling’s announcement last July that the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival would be his last, the TIFF Board engaged in a process for CEO transition, including a review of the organization’s current structure. After their assessment, the Board decided on a two-headed structure for TIFF, with one position (Bailey’s) focused on the artistic direction of the organization, and the other, Managing Director & Co-Head, focused on the business and revenue optimization. These two positions will work closely together to set the tone and lead the organization, bringing the new strategic plan to life. They will both report directly to the Board of Directors. “With a five year strategic plan for TIFF launched this year, and more changes on the horizon for our industry, we believe a two-headed structure is right for the future success of TIFF,” explained Jennifer Tory. “Cameron is a film industry veteran who has earned a reputation for discerning, expansive curation since joining TIFF as a programmer in 1990. Combined with his accomplishments as TIFF’s Artistic Director, we have full confidence in his vision for the direction of the organization.” “Piers has done a remarkable job during his tenure as Director & CEO and Artistic Director before that,” continued Tory. “We are indebted to him for the vision and strategy – and the elegance he brought to the role.” “I have tremendous respect for Cameron and his longstanding contribution to TIFF’s success,” said Piers Handling. “His passion and vision for the future of the organization underlines his deep leadership skills. It gives me great comfort to know TIFF is in such good hands.” “I’ve been fortunate to work alongside Piers for so many years. We programmed Canadian films together, we made our first programming trip to Burkina Faso together and we’ve spent countless hours working out how best to engage audiences with the power of film,” said Cameron Bailey. “I am honoured to be entrusted with guiding the future of TIFF.” A search committee of the Board of Directors has been working with Caldwell Partners to identify candidates for the Managing Director & Co-Head role. The search is international in scope and is expected to result in an announcement prior to this September’s Festival.
Read more
9 Documentaries Win Peabody Awards, ‘America ReFramed: Deej’ ‘Chasing Coral’ ‘Indivisible’

[caption id="attachment_28139" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] America ReFramed: Deej[/caption] The Peabody Awards Board of Jurors has selected nine winners in the Documentary category for programs released in 2017. The honorees, part of the annual Peabody 30, include stories that give insight to the lingering grief of communities after mass shootings, the impact of climate change on Earth’s oceans, and young activists fighting for a path to citizenship. The Peabody Awards are based at the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia. Peabody Award winners, including Carol Burnett, recipient of the first-ever Peabody Career Achievement Award presented by Mercedes-Benz, will be celebrated on Saturday, May 19 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York. Hasan Minhaj, comedian, writer and senior correspondent on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah,” will serve as host. The presenting sponsor is Mercedes-Benz, the official automobile of the 77th Annual Peabody Awards Ceremony. Supporting sponsor is The Coca-Cola Co. Variety is the exclusive media partner.
2017 Documentary Winners
America ReFramed: Deej A bold step forward in inclusive filmmaking that allows David James (Deej) Savarese, a nonspeaking young man with autism, to tell his own story, focusing on accomplishment and possibility, not limits and barriers. Chasing Coral This surprisingly emotional film expertly documents, through time-lapse underwater photographs, the effects of climate change on the rapid decimation of the world’s coral reefs, events known as coral bleaching that affected 29 percent of the shallow-water coral in the Great Barrier Reef in 2016 alone. Indivisible An urgent, intimate portrait of heartbreak and determination, disappointment and victory as three young Dreamers navigate confusing immigration policy, bad faith on the part of politicians, and the emotional trauma of family separation. Last Men in Aleppo Masterful storytelling by civilian filmmakers at the heart of the Syrian crisis as they follow the volunteer group the White Helmets, who provide emergency services to traumatized residents in the rebel-occupied areas of the city of Aleppo. Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise A vivid portrait of Maya Angelou, who, while best known as one of America’s leading writers, also blazed a brave and original life as a performer, actress, and activist integral to the civil rights movement and the celebration of African-American experience. Newtown Testimonials from survivors of the deadliest mass shooting of schoolchildren in American history document a traumatized community fractured by grief but driven toward a sense of purpose. Oklahoma City Essential viewing that draws a line from armed standoffs at Ruby Ridge and Waco to the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995, to tell the story of both the worst act of domestic terrorism in U.S. history and the rise of anti-government hatred and white militancy. The Islands and the Whales An exquisitely photographed documentary that explores the inextricable links between oceans poisoned by coal burning power plants and the direct impact they have on people of the remote Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic Ocean, who struggle between maintaining their traditional way of life and the long-term health repercussions of mercury poisoning. TIME: The Kalief Browder Story Powerful miniseries illuminating the greatest flaws of our criminal justice system through the tragic events and death of a young African-American who spent three years on Rikers Island without being convicted of a crime.
Read more
RIP: Yaser Murtaja, Photojournalist/Cameraman Killed Wearing ‘PRESS’ Vest Covering Gaza Protest

Yaser Murtaja, a 31-year-old Gaza photojournalist, who worked as a cameraman for Ai Weiwei’s documentary, Human Flow, which covered the global refugee crisis, was shot by the Israeli military during demonstrations on the Israeli-Gazan border and died in hospital on Friday, April 6th, 2018. The Washington Post reports: The young journalist shot drone images and video for Ain Media, a small Gaza-based news agency he started five years ago. Murtaja, who was married and had a 2-year-old son, died Saturday after being shot the day before while covering protests at the edge of the Gaza Strip. Murtaja was laid to rest Saturday in the land he never left. His body was carried through the streets of Gaza City draped in a Palestinian flag and the blue-and-white vest marked “PRESS” that he was wearing when he was shot. Ai Weiwei posted photos of Murtaja on his Instagram account over the weekend. https://www.instagram.com/p/BhRWZ-5gxhN/?hl=en&taken-by=aiww https://www.instagram.com/p/BhR24QFABNn/?hl=en&taken-by=aiww Image via Facebook
Read more
9 Indie Filmmakers with 6 Documentary Films Selected for Film Independent’s 2018 Documentary Lab

[caption id="attachment_27705" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Unapologetic[/caption] Nine filmmakers and six projects have been selected for Film Independent’s 2018 Documentary Lab, an intensive five-week program designed to help filmmakers who are currently in post-production on their feature-length documentary films. This year’s projects span the globe – from a film about undocumented youth in the US, to an indigenous family in the Andes standing up to one of the largest gold producers in the world, to an unexpected environmental film about invisible elves, the free market and the surprising power of belief told through an Icelandic grandmother’s quest to save a threatened landscape. “We’re delighted to welcome this talented group of filmmakers who will be joining us for the eighth year of the Documentary Lab from diverse regions across the US and as far away as Egypt,” said Jennifer Kushner, Director of Artist Development. “Through mentorship, career development and a lively collaborative work environment, the Lab provides support to filmmakers as they work to bring these meaningful nonfiction stories to audiences.” Through a series of meetings and workshops, the Documentary Lab provides creative feedback and story notes to participating filmmakers, while helping them strategize for the completion, distribution and marketing of their films. Additionally, the program serves to advance the careers of its Fellows by making introductions to film professionals who can advise on both the craft and business of documentary filmmaking. Lab Fellows attend multiple guest speaker and workshopping sessions with established documentary directors, institutional funders, legal professionals, festival programmers and distributors, and each is paired with an experienced Creative Advisor who provides one-on-one support and insight as the Fellows ready their projects for release. This year’s Documentary Lab Advisors and Guest Speakers include Ramona S. Diaz (Motherland), Greg Finton (Editor, A River Runs Through It, Dazed and Confused), Amy Halpin of the International Documentary Association, Alexandra Johnes (The Square), Senain Kheshgi of Majority Film, Jeff Malmberg (Spettacolo, Marwencol), Marjan Safinia (But You Speak Such Good English), Chris Shellen (Spettacolo, Marwencol) and Rahdi Taylor of Concordia Films (Blue Note). Notable past Documentary Lab projects include Tracy Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palmero’s Rich Hill; Marah Strauch’s Sunshine Superman; Sarita Khurana and Smriti Mundhra’s A Suitable Girl; Dustin Nakao Haider, Daniel Dewes and Derek Doneen’s Shot in the Dark; and Bing Liu and Diane Quon’s Minding the Gap, winner of the 2018 US Documentary Competition Award for Breakthrough Filmmaking at Sundance. Film Independent Artist Development promotes unique independent voices by helping filmmakers create and advance new work through its Filmmaker Labs (Directing, Documentary, Episodic, Producing and Screenwriting), Grants Program which awards over $800K annually to filmmakers, the Fast Track finance market, Fiscal Sponsorship and Project Involve, celebrating 25 years of mentoring the next generation of visual storytellers and working toward an inclusive industry. The 2018 Documentary Lab projects and Fellows are: Title: I am a Script Girl Director/Producer: Mina Nabil Logline: I Am a Script Girl is an up close and personal examination of the life, challenges and career of the unstoppable Sylvette Baudrot who at 89-years old recounts her journey from Egypt to Paris where she became a trusted confidant to the great auteurs of 20th century cinema. Title: Pathways Director: Florencia Krochik Logline: Pathways tells the stories of six “DACA-mented” & undocumented youth and the struggles they face pursuing higher education. The film weaves together their captivating stories and explores the crippled US immigration policies that have led to the hardships they and their families face. Title: Sage Country Director: Yuri Chicovsky Producer: Lauren Blair Logline: A Colorado sheep rancher who inherits a beloved piece of land and way of life must come to terms with his legacy and his life’s dream. Title: The Seer and the Unseen Director/Producer: Sara Dosa Producer: Shane Boris Logline: The Seer and the Unseen is an unexpected environmental film about invisible elves, the free market and the surprising power of belief told through an Icelandic grandmother’s quest to save a threatened landscape – and the beloved home her family has lived in for generations. Title: Unapologetic Director: Ashley O’Shay Logline: After two Black Chicagoans are murdered by the police, young Black citizens begin challenging the city’s corrupt policies while redefining the meaning of community organizing. Unapologetic goes behind the veil with two Black, queer women, providing an intimate peek into the personal lives that sustain a movement. Title: Untitled Claudia Sparrow Documentary Director: Claudia Sparrow Producer: Ryan Schwartz Logline: An indigenous family from the Andes stands up to one of the largest gold producers in the world defending their right to live off their land and protect natural resources from devastating corporate greed.
Read more
6 Indie Filmmakers to Compete in Seattle International Film Festival’s 2018 Fly Filmmaking Challenge

[caption id="attachment_27596" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] 2018 SIFF Fly Filmmakers are (top row: l – r) Jeff Barehand (Olympia), Graham Bourque (Ellensburg), Myisa Plancq-Graham (Seattle), (bottom row: l – r) Elliat Graney-Saucke (Seattle), Kendra Ann Sherrill (Spokane), Masahiro Sugano (Tacoma)[/caption] The Fly Filmmaking Challenge organized in partnership with Washington Filmworks, returns to the 2018 Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) after a three year hiatus. For the first time ever, the Fly Filmmaking Challenge hit the road and invited filmmakers from cities across the state to participate. “As a statewide entity that works closely with creative industries, Washington Filmworks knows first hand how creativity and creative professionals transform communities both culturally and economically,” said Amy Lillard, Executive Director of Washington Filmworks. “The six filmmakers selected for this year’s Challenge have chosen to showcase a diverse group of people and places from their community which make a delightful, inspired, and unforgettable program for SIFF audiences.” Each filmmaker chose a creative professional living in their community as the subject of their documentary film. From a fashion professional to a creative technologist, from a woodworker to a literary artist, SIFF audiences will experience an intimate look inside each artisan’s creative process and understand how their work benefits the quality of life in the city which they live and work. Given only 10 weeks to plan, produce, and complete a short 5-7 minute documentary short within the creative challenges, filmmakers must think on their feet to present the most compelling film. “Documentary projects often afford months to years of production but this year’s team said they are up to the challenge.” said Dustin Kaspar, SIFF’s Education Programs Manager. “The abbreviated production timeline engages their creative instincts and provides a showcase of their visionary talent through another artist’s process. The final program features six short films by filmmakers from across the state, intended to shine a light on Washington’s far-reaching and inspired creative industries. The 2018 Fly Filmmakers are Jeff Barehand (Olympia), Graham Bourque (Ellensburg), Myisa Plancq-Graham (Seattle), Elliat Graney-Saucke (Seattle), Kendra Ann Sherrill (Spokane), Masahiro Sugano (Tacoma). The Fly Filmmaking Challenge is scheduled to premiere on Monday, May 28 and will screen again on Wednesday, June 6.
The Filmmakers

Jeff Barehand
Jeff is an enrolled citizen of the Gila River Indian Community of Arizona. He studied at the Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory in Washington, D.C. and filmmaking at the American Indian Arts Institute’s intensive filmmaking workshop sponsored by ABC/Disney. He is a founding member of the non-profit, the Olympia Film Collective, a South Sound premiere filmmaking hub. He is co-owner of Sky Bear Media, a video production company specializing in producing media for Tribes, Native organizations, and Tribal youth programs. He is a Sundance Native Lab fellow and also the current Board Chair of Red Eagle Soaring, Seattle’s only Native youth theatre program.
Graham Bourque
Graham is a filmmaker living in Ellensburg, Washington. He graduated from Central Washington University in 2017 with a degree in Film Production, and has produced a number of short films, documentaries, and commercials. During his senior year, he produced Todd’s Vlog which won 1st place in the narrative short film category at the BEA Festival of Media Arts 2017.
Elliat Graney-Saucke
Elliat is a documentary filmmaker focused on equity and cultural knowledge exchange. Currently acting President of the Seattle Documentary Association, Elliat is completing her second feature documentary Boys on the Inside, about ‘boy’ culture in women’s prisons. She is also completing the documentary Art Heart: Children of Riot Grrrl with Celeste Chan, about coming of age in riot grrrl, queercore culture. After seven years in Berlin producing content in eight countries, she is back in Seattle as an organizer and teacher at Northwest Film Forum and Director of Elliat Creative, LLC.
Myisa Plancq-Graham
San Francisco native, Myisa, began her photography career exploring the streets of Atlanta in 2011. Her growing appreciation for photography and videography culminated in the creation of Annie Graham Imagery. Creating content by, about and for Black people is her primary filmmaking incentive. Myisa serves as lead director, videographer, and editor for documentary short series UNCODE, highlighting people and stories of the African Diaspora.
Kendra Ann Sherrill
Kendra Ann is an award-winning filmmaker from Spokane, WA. Many of her short films have screened at local film festivals such as the National Film Festival for Talented Youth, Seattle Shorts Film Festival, Local Sightings Film Festival, and Reel NW. She is a graduate of the Eastern Washington University’s Film Program, where she received the Best Director and Best Screenplay awards, and was a finalist for the the DGA Student Film Awards. Kendra also serves as the Assistant Director for the Spokane International Film Festival and works full time as an editor and producer for the Emmy award-winning television series Washington Grown.
Masahiro Sugano
Masahiro, a Sundance Film Festival alumnus, is an award winning filmmaker whose accolades stretch from a Student Academy Award nomination in 1997 to his most recent 2016 Documentary Award given by the National Asian American Journalists Association. In 2013 he received the Center for Asian American Media’s Innovation Fund for his series “Verses in Exile,” currently hosted on PBS.org. Masahiro’s second feature, Cambodian Son is winner of several awards including the Best Documentary Award at CAAMFEST 2014 and the Audience Choice Award at Bali International Film Festival 2015. As co-founder of artist-ran media lab Studio Revolt, Masahiro creates short films on a variety of societal issues such as deportation. He’s also a pioneering force in the art of spoken word videos. Earning a B.A. in Philosophy from California State University, Northridge, Masahiro went on to earn an M.F.A. in Film from University of Illinois, Chicago. Masahiro currently resides in Tacoma, WA and serves as an Artist-in-Residence at the University of Washington, Bothell.
Read more
Complete List of Winners of 90th Academy Awards – “The Shape of Water” Wins Best Picture

[caption id="attachment_25167" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER.[/caption] “The Shape of Water” won the top honors – the Oscar for best picture, along with the Oscar for best director for Guillermo del Toro at the 90th Academy Awards. “Icarus” won the Oscar for best documentary and “A Fantastic Woman” from Chile, won for best foreign language film.
Complete List of Winners of 90th Academy Awards

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
WINNER GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour NOMINEES TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out DENZEL WASHINGTON Roman J. Israel, Esq.
ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WINNER SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri NOMINEES WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri RICHARD JENKINS The Shape of Water CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World
ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
WINNER FRANCES MCDORMAND Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri NOMINEES SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird MERYL STREEP The Post
ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
WINNER ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya NOMINEES MARY J. BLIGE Mudbound LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water
ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
WINNER COCO Lee Unkrich and Darla K. Anderson NOMINEES THE BOSS BABY Tom McGrath and Ramsey Naito THE BREADWINNER Nora Twomey and Anthony Leo FERDINAND Carlos Saldanha and Lori Forte LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman and Ivan Mactaggart
CINEMATOGRAPHY
WINNER BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger A. Deakins NOMINEES DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema MUDBOUND Rachel Morrison THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen
COSTUME DESIGN
WINNER PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges NOMINEES BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira VICTORIA & ABDUL Consolata Boyle DIRECTING WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro NOMINEES DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan GET OUT Jordan Peele LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig PHANTOM THREAD Paul Thomas Anderson
DOCUMENTARY (FEATURE)
WINNER ICARUS Bryan Fogel and Dan Cogan NOMINEES ABACUS: SMALL ENOUGH TO JAIL Steve James, Mark Mitten and Julie Goldman FACES PLACES Agnès Varda, JR and Rosalie Varda LAST MEN IN ALEPPO Feras Fayyad, Kareem Abeed and Søren Steen Jespersen STRONG ISLAND Yance Ford and Joslyn Barnes
DOCUMENTARY (SHORT SUBJECT)
WINNER HEAVEN IS A TRAFFIC JAM ON THE 405 Frank Stiefel NOMINEES EDITH+EDDIE Laura Checkoway and Thomas Lee Wright HEROIN(E) Elaine McMillion Sheldon and Kerrin Sheldon KNIFE SKILLS Thomas Lennon TRAFFIC STOP Kate Davis and David Heilbroner
FILM EDITING
WINNER DUNKIRK Lee Smith NOMINEES BABY DRIVER Paul Machliss and Jonathan Amos I, TONYA Tatiana S. Riegel THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory
FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
WINNER A FANTASTIC WOMAN Chile NOMINEES THE INSULT Lebanon LOVELESS Russia ON BODY AND SOUL Hungary THE SQUARE Sweden
MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
WINNER DARKEST HOUR Kazuhiro Tsuji, David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick NOMINEES VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips and Lou Sheppard WONDER Arjen Tuiten
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SCORE)
WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat NOMINEES DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI John Williams THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Carter Burwell
MUSIC (ORIGINAL SONG)
WINNER REMEMBER ME from Coco; Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez NOMINEES MIGHTY RIVER from Mudbound; Music and Lyric by Mary J. Blige, Raphael Saadiq and Taura Stinson MYSTERY OF LOVE from Call Me by Your Name; Music and Lyric by Sufjan Stevens STAND UP FOR SOMETHING from Marshall; Music by Diane Warren; Lyric by Lonnie R. Lynn and Diane Warren THIS IS ME from The Greatest Showman; Music and Lyric by Benj Pasek and Justin Paul
BEST PICTURE
WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro and J. Miles Dale, Producers NOMINEES CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Peter Spears, Luca Guadagnino, Emilie Georges and Marco Morabito, Producers DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce, Anthony McCarten and Douglas Urbanski, Producers DUNKIRK Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers GET OUT Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr. and Jordan Peele, Producers LADY BIRD Scott Rudin, Eli Bush and Evelyn O’Neill, Producers PHANTOM THREAD JoAnne Sellar, Paul Thomas Anderson, Megan Ellison and Daniel Lupi, Producers THE POST Amy Pascal, Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger, Producers THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin and Martin McDonagh, Producers
PRODUCTION DESIGN
WINNER THE SHAPE OF WATER Production Design: Paul Denham Austerberry; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau and Jeffrey A. Melvin NOMINEES BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer BLADE RUNNER 2049 Production Design: Dennis Gassner; Set Decoration: Alessandra Querzola DARKEST HOUR Production Design: Sarah Greenwood; Set Decoration: Katie Spencer DUNKIRK Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Gary Fettis
SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)
WINNER DEAR BASKETBALL Glen Keane and Kobe Bryant NOMINEES GARDEN PARTY Victor Caire and Gabriel Grapperon LOU Dave Mullins and Dana Murray NEGATIVE SPACE Max Porter and Ru Kuwahata REVOLTING RHYMES Jakob Schuh and Jan Lachauer
SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)
WINNER THE SILENT CHILD Chris Overton and Rachel Shenton NOMINEES DEKALB ELEMENTARY Reed Van Dyk THE ELEVEN O’CLOCK Derin Seale and Josh Lawson MY NEPHEW EMMETT Kevin Wilson, Jr. WATU WOTE/ALL OF US Katja Benrath and Tobias Rosen
SOUND EDITING
WINNER DUNKIRK Richard King and Alex Gibson NOMINEES BABY DRIVER Julian Slater BLADE RUNNER 2049 Mark Mangini and Theo Green THE SHAPE OF WATER Nathan Robitaille and Nelson Ferreira STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Matthew Wood and Ren Klyce
SOUND MIXING
WINNER DUNKIRK Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo and Mark Weingarten NOMINEES BABY DRIVER Julian Slater, Tim Cavagin and Mary H. Ellis BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Doug Hemphill and Mac Ruth THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Brad Zoern and Glen Gauthier STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI David Parker, Michael Semanick, Ren Klyce and Stuart Wilson
VISUAL EFFECTS
WINNER BLADE RUNNER 2049 John Nelson, Gerd Nefzer, Paul Lambert and Richard R. Hoover NOMINEES GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY VOL. 2 Christopher Townsend, Guy Williams, Jonathan Fawkner and Dan Sudick KONG: SKULL ISLAND Stephen Rosenbaum, Jeff White, Scott Benza and Mike Meinardus STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ben Morris, Mike Mulholland, Neal Scanlan and Chris Corbould WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Joe Letteri, Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon and Joel Whist
WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)
WINNER CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Screenplay by James Ivory NOMINEES THE DISASTER ARTIST Screenplay by Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber LOGAN Screenplay by Scott Frank & James Mangold and Michael Green; Story by James Mangold MOLLY’S GAME Written for the screen by Aaron Sorkin MUDBOUND Screenplay by Virgil Williams and Dee Rees
WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)
WINNER GET OUT Written by Jordan Peele NOMINEES THE BIG SICK Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani LADY BIRD Written by Greta Gerwig THE SHAPE OF WATER Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Written by Martin McDonagh
Read more
Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, I, Tonya Among Winners of 2018 Spirit Awards | Complete List

[caption id="attachment_27337" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] SANTA MONICA, CA – MARCH 03: Actor Frances McDormand accepts Best Female Lead for ‘Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’ onstage during the 2018 Film Independent Spirit Awards on March 3, 2018 in Santa Monica, California. (Photo by Tommaso Boddi/Getty Images)[/caption] Call Me by Your Name, Get Out, I, Tonya, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, The Big Sick, Ingrid Goes West and Lady Bird, all snagged awards at this afternoon’s 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards. Life and Nothing More, Faces Places and A Fantastic Woman also received awards at the ceremony, which was held on the beach in Santa Monica. This year’s major winners were Get Out, which won Best Feature and Best Director; Call Me by Your Name, which won Best Male Lead and Best Cinematography; I, Tonya, which won Best Supporting Female and Best Editing; Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, which won Best Female Lead and Best Supporting Male; Lady Bird, which won Best Screenplay; Ingrid Goes West, which won Best First Feature; The Big Sick, which won Best First Screenplay; Life and Nothing More, which won the John Cassavetes Award; Faces Places which won Best Documentary and A Fantastic Woman, which won Best International Film. The 11th annual Robert Altman Award was given to one film’s director, casting director and ensemble cast. Mudbound director Dee Rees received this award, along with casting directors Billy Hopkins and Ashley Ingram as well as cast members Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan and Carey Mulligan. The 2018 Roger and Chaz Ebert Foundation Fellowship annually selects an outstanding filmmaker and participant in Project Involve, Film Independent’s longest running diversity and mentorship program, now in its 25th year. The fellowship includes an unrestricted cash grant of $10,000 and was awarded to writer/director Faren Humes, a distinct and bold new voice.
Complete list of the winners of 33rd Film Independent Spirit Awards
Best Feature: Get Out (Universal Pictures) Producers: Jason Blum, Edward H. Hamm Jr., Sean McKittrick, Jordan Peele Best Director: Jordan Peele, Get Out (Universal Pictures) Best Screenplay: Greta Gerwig, Lady Bird (A24) Best First Feature: Ingrid Goes West (NEON) Director: Matt Spicer Producers: Jared Ian Goldman, Adam Mirels, Robert Mirels, Aubrey Plaza,Tim White, Trevor White Best First Screenplay: Emily V. Gordon, Kumail Nanjiani, The Big Sick (Amazon Studios) John Cassavetes Award (For best feature made under $500,000): Life and Nothing More (CFI Releasing) Writer/Director: Antonio Méndez Esparza Producers: Amadeo Hernández Bueno, Alvaro Portanet Hernández, Pedro Hernández Santos Best Supporting Female: Allison Janney, I, Tonya (NEON) Best Supporting Male: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Best Female Lead: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Best Male Lead: Timothée Chalamet, Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Robert Altman Award: Mudbound (Netflix) Director: Dee Rees Casting Directors: Billy Hopkins, Ashley Ingram Ensemble Cast: Jonathan Banks, Mary J. Blige, Jason Clarke, Garrett Hedlund, Jason Mitchell, Rob Morgan, Carey Mulligan Best Cinematography: Sayombhu Mukdeeprom, Call Me by Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Best Editing: Tatiana S. Riegel, I, Tonya (NEON) Best International Film: A Fantastic Woman (Chile – Sony Pictures Classics) Director: Sebastián Lelio Best Documentary: Faces Places (Cohen Media Group) Directors: Agnés Varda, JR Producer: Rosalie Varda
Read more
RIP: Multi-Talented Actress Nanette Fabray Died at 97

[caption id="attachment_27225" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Nanette Fabray accepts the 23rd Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award in 1986. Photo: SAG-AFTRA[/caption] Nanette Fabray, the Tony Award and Emmy Award-winning actress, died on Thursday at her home in Palos Verdes, Calif. She was 97. Ms. Fabray started out in film with her first movie role as a lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth I (Bette Davis) in “The Private Lives of Elizabeth and Essex” (1939). Her one notable film success was the Comden and Green musical “The Band Wagon” (1953), directed by Vincente Minnelli. SAG-AFTRA issued a statement, “SAG-AFTRA mourns the passing of performer Nanette Fabray, who died Feb. 22 at the age of 97. The multi-talented Fabray, who joined the union in 1937, was the 1986 recipient of the Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award, the union’s highest honor. Fabray began her acting career at the age of 5, appearing as Baby Nan in vaudeville. She became a leading lady in radio, moving successfully to stage and film in such features as Elizabeth and Essex, A Child is Born, The Band Wagon and Harper Valley P.T.A. Her television credits included One Day at a Time, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Coach, which starred Fabray’s niece Shelley Fabares, a former SAG National Board member. Her work garnered her numerous accolades, including a Tony and three Emmys. Fabray, who was herself hearing impaired, was an advocate for education and assistance of the deaf and hearing impaired. She traveled and lobbied extensively to implement sign language interpretation and on television. At the time she received the award, she had been appointed by then-House Speaker Tip O’Neill to the U.S. Senate Commission on Education and the Deaf. “A true performer and star of Hollywood’s Golden Age, Nanette Fabray had limitless exuberance and an expert sense of comic timing,” said SAG-AFTRA President Gabrielle Carteris. “Her dedication to her art was equaled only by her generosity and willingness to help others.” “
Read more
2018 BAFTA Awards: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ” Wins Top Awards

[caption id="attachment_23572" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri[/caption] Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri was the big winner at 2018 EE British Academy Film Awards, winning five BAFTAs including Best Film and Outstanding British Film, with Martin McDonagh winning Original Screenplay, Sam Rockwell taking Supporting Actor, and Frances McDormand receiving the BAFTA for Leading Actress. The Shape of Water won three awards: Guillermo del Toro won for Director and composer Alexandre Desplat collected the Original Music award, his third BAFTA win; the film also won Production Design. Gary Oldman won Leading Actor for Darkest Hour, and Supporting Actress went to Allison Janney for her role as Tonya Harding’s mother in I, Tonya. Raoul Peck won the Documentary award for I Am Not Your Negro. Film Not in the English Language was won by South Korean drama The Handmaiden and Coco took the BAFTA for Animated Film. Writer/director Rungano Nyoni and producer Emily Morgan received the award for Outstanding Debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer for I Am Not a Witch. James Ivory won for Adapted Screenplay for Call Me by Your Name and Dunkirk for Sound. Cowboy Dave won the British Short Film award. The Special Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema was presented to the National Film and Television School (NFTS). The school has trained generations of BAFTA-nominated film talent; this year’s British Short Animation award was won by Poles Apart, which is the 13th NFTS graduation film to win a BAFTA. The Fellowship, the highest honor the Academy can bestow was presented to director and producer Sir Ridley Scott by HRH The Duke of Cambridge, President of BAFTA, and Sir Kenneth Branagh. The EE Rising Star Award, voted for by the public, went to Daniel Kaluuya.
Winners of the EE British Academy Film Awards in 2018
FELLOWSHIP SIR RIDLEY SCOTT OUTSTANDING BRITISH CONTRIBUTION TO CINEMA NATIONAL FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL (NFTS) BEST FILM CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Emilie Georges, Luca Guadagnino, Marco Morabito, Peter Spears DARKEST HOUR Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan, Emma Thomas THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, J. Miles Dale THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin, Martin McDonagh OUTSTANDING BRITISH FILM DARKEST HOUR Joe Wright, Tim Bevan, Lisa Bruce, Eric Fellner, Anthony McCarten, Douglas Urbanski THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Kevin Loader, Laurent Zeitoun, Yann Zenou, Ian Martin, David Schneider GOD’S OWN COUNTRY Francis Lee, Manon Ardisson, Jack Tarling LADY MACBETH William Oldroyd, Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly, Alice Birch PADDINGTON 2 Paul King, David Heyman, Simon Farnaby THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh, Graham Broadbent, Pete Czernin OUTSTANDING DEBUT BY A BRITISH WRITER, DIRECTOR OR PRODUCER THE GHOUL Gareth Tunley (Writer/Director/Producer), Jack Healy Guttmann & Tom Meeten (Producers) I AM NOT A WITCH Rungano Nyoni (Writer/Director), Emily Morgan (Producer) JAWBONE Johnny Harris (Writer/Producer), Thomas Napper (Director) KINGDOM OF US Lucy Cohen (Director) LADY MACBETH Alice Birch (Writer), William Oldroyd (Director), Fodhla Cronin O’Reilly (Producer) FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE ELLE Paul Verhoeven, Saïd Ben Saïd FIRST THEY KILLED MY FATHER Angelina Jolie, Rithy Panh THE HANDMAIDEN Park Chan-wook, Syd Lim LOVELESS Andrey Zvyagintsev, Alexander Rodnyansky THE SALESMAN Asghar Farhadi, Alexandre Mallet-Guy DOCUMENTARY CITY OF GHOSTS Matthew Heineman I AM NOT YOUR NEGRO Raoul Peck ICARUS Bryan Fogel, Dan Cogan AN INCONVENIENT SEQUEL Bonni Cohen, Jon Shenk JANE Brett Morgen, Bryan Burk ANIMATED FILM COCO Lee Unkrich, Darla K. Anderson LOVING VINCENT Dorota Kobiela, Hugh Welchman, Ivan Mactaggart MY LIFE AS A COURGETTE Claude Barras, Max Karli DIRECTOR BLADE RUNNER 2049 Denis Villeneuve CALL ME BY YOUR NAME Luca Guadagnino DUNKIRK Christopher Nolan THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY GET OUT Jordan Peele I, TONYA Steven Rogers LADY BIRD Greta Gerwig THE SHAPE OF WATER Guillermo del Toro, Vanessa Taylor THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Martin McDonagh ADAPTED SCREENPLAY CALL ME BY YOUR NAME James Ivory THE DEATH OF STALIN Armando Iannucci, Ian Martin, David Schneider FILM STARS DON’T DIE IN LIVERPOOL Matt Greenhalgh MOLLY’S GAME Aaron Sorkin PADDINGTON 2 Simon Farnaby, Paul King LEADING ACTRESS ANNETTE BENING Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool FRANCES McDORMAND Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri MARGOT ROBBIE I, Tonya SALLY HAWKINS The Shape of Water SAOIRSE RONAN Lady Bird LEADING ACTOR DANIEL DAY-LEWIS Phantom Thread DANIEL KALUUYA Get Out GARY OLDMAN Darkest Hour JAMIE BELL Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET Call Me by Your Name SUPPORTING ACTRESS ALLISON JANNEY I, Tonya KRISTIN SCOTT THOMAS Darkest Hour LAURIE METCALF Lady Bird LESLEY MANVILLE Phantom Thread OCTAVIA SPENCER The Shape of Water SUPPORTING ACTOR CHRISTOPHER PLUMMER All the Money in the World HUGH GRANT Paddington 2 SAM ROCKWELL Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri WILLEM DAFOE The Florida Project WOODY HARRELSON Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri ORIGINAL MUSIC BLADE RUNNER 2049 Benjamin Wallfisch, Hans Zimmer DARKEST HOUR Dario Marianelli DUNKIRK Hans Zimmer PHANTOM THREAD Jonny Greenwood THE SHAPE OF WATER Alexandre Desplat CINEMATOGRAPHY BLADE RUNNER 2049 Roger Deakins DARKEST HOUR Bruno Delbonnel DUNKIRK Hoyte van Hoytema THE SHAPE OF WATER Dan Laustsen THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Ben Davis EDITING BABY DRIVER Jonathan Amos, Paul Machliss BLADE RUNNER 2049 Joe Walker DUNKIRK Lee Smith THE SHAPE OF WATER Sidney Wolinsky THREE BILLBOARDS OUTSIDE EBBING, MISSOURI Jon Gregory PRODUCTION DESIGN BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer BLADE RUNNER 2049 Dennis Gassner, Alessandra Querzola DARKEST HOUR Sarah Greenwood, Katie Spencer DUNKIRK Nathan Crowley, Gary Fettis THE SHAPE OF WATER Paul Austerberry, Jeff Melvin, Shane Vieau COSTUME DESIGN BEAUTY AND THE BEAST Jacqueline Durran DARKEST HOUR Jacqueline Durran I, TONYA Jennifer Johnson PHANTOM THREAD Mark Bridges THE SHAPE OF WATER Luis Sequeira MAKE UP & HAIR BLADE RUNNER 2049 Donald Mowat, Kerry Warn DARKEST HOUR David Malinowski, Ivana Primorac, Lucy Sibbick, Kazuhiro Tsuji I, TONYA Deborah La Mia Denaver, Adruitha Lee VICTORIA & ABDUL Daniel Phillips, Lou Sheppard WONDER Naomi Bakstad, Robert A. Pandini, Arjen Tuiten SOUND BABY DRIVER Tim Cavagin, Mary H. Ellis, Dan Morgan, Jeremy Price, Julian Slater BLADE RUNNER 2049 Ron Bartlett, Theo Green, Doug Hemphill, Mark Mangini, Mac Ruth DUNKIRK Alex Gibson, Richard King, Gregg Landaker, Gary A. Rizzo, Mark Weingarten THE SHAPE OF WATER Christian Cooke, Nelson Ferreira, Glen Gauthier, Nathan Robitaille, Brad Zoern STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick, Stuart Wilson, Matthew Wood SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS BLADE RUNNER 2049 Richard R. Hoover, Paul Lambert, Gerd Nefzer, John Nelson DUNKIRK Paul Corbould, Scott Fisher, Andrew Jackson, Andrew Lockley THE SHAPE OF WATER Dennis Berardi, Trey Harrell, Mike Hill, Kevin Scott STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI Stephen Aplin, Chris Corbould, Ben Morris, Neal Scanlan WAR FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES Daniel Barrett, Dan Lemmon, Joe Letteri, Joel Whist BRITISH SHORT ANIMATION HAVE HEART Will Anderson MAMOON Ben Steer POLES APART Paloma Baeza, Ser En Low BRITISH SHORT FILM AAMIR Vika Evdokimenko, Emma Stone, Oliver Shuster COWBOY DAVE Colin O’Toole, Jonas Mortensen A DROWNING MAN Mahdi Fleifel, Signe Byrge Sørensen, Patrick Campbell WORK Aneil Karia, Scott O’Donnell WREN BOYS Harry Lighton, Sorcha Bacon, John Fitzpatrick EE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public) DANIEL KALUUYA FLORENCE PUGH JOSH O’CONNOR TESSA THOMPSON TIMOTHÉE CHALAMET
Read more
“Call Me by Your Name” and “Jane” Win 2018 Writers Guild Awards

[caption id="attachment_25916" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Call Me By Your Name[/caption] The Writers Guild of America West (WGAW) and the Writers Guild of America, East (WGAE) held the ceremony for the 2018 Writers Guild Awards for outstanding achievement in writing for film, television, new media, videogames, news, radio/audio, promotional, and graphic animation categories at concurrent ceremonies at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles and the Edison Ballroom in New York City. Emmy and Grammy-winning actor-writer-comedian Patton Oswalt (Happy!, A.P. Bio, Annihilation) hosted the WGAW’s West Coast ceremony and the WGAE’s East Coast Ceremony was hosted by writer and comic Amber Ruffin (Late Night with Seth Meyers). Call Me by Your Name, Screenplay by James Ivory won the award for Adapted Screenplay, Jane, Written by Brett Morgen won the award for Documentary Screenplay, and Get Out, Written by Jordan Peele won the award for Original Screenplay. In addition, the WGAW presented several honorary awards during its West Coast ceremony: Emmy-winning Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story star Glenn Close presented the WGAW’s Paddy Chayefsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement to Emmy-winning writer-producer Alison Cross (Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story, Roe vs. Wade, S.W.A.T.); Doug Wick & Lucy Fisher presented the WGAW’s Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement to Writers Guild and Academy Award-winning screenwriter-director-producer James L. Brooks (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News, As Good As It Gets); When We Rise co-star Ivory Aquino presented the WGAW’s Valentine Davies Award to Writers Guild and Academy Award-winning screenwriter and LGBTQ rights activist Dustin Lance Black (Milk, When We Rise) for his social activism which has positively impacted the LGBTQ community; Washington Post Executive Editor Martin “Marty” Baron presented the WGAW’s Paul Selvin Award to The Post screenwriters Liz Hannah and Josh Singer, whose Post screenplay embodies the spirit of constitutional and civil rights and liberties, including the First Amendment and freedom of the press. The WGAE presented three honorary awards at the East Coast ceremony. It was a reunion for Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock alums as Tracy Morgan and Rachel Dratch presented Tina Fey and Robert Carlock with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence and Mentorship. Ken Burns presented the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement to his long-time collaborator Geoffrey C. Ward (The Vietnam War, The Roosevelts, The Civil War). Courtney Simon (As the World Turns) presented the Richard B. Jablow Award for Devoted Service to the Guild to Hamilton Nolan (Splinter News/Gizmodo Media Group).
FILM WINNERS
ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY Get Out, Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Call Me by Your Name, Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman; Sony Pictures Classics DOCUMENTARY SCREENPLAY Jane, Written by Brett Morgen; National Geographic
TELEVISION AND NEW MEDIA WINNERS
DRAMA SERIES The Handmaid’s Tale, Written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman; Hulu COMEDY SERIES Veep, Written by Gabrielle Allan, Rachel Axler, Ted Cohen, Jennifer Crittenden, Alex Gregory, Steve Hely, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Dan Mintz, Lew Morton, Georgia Pritchett, Will Smith; HBO NEW SERIES The Handmaid’s Tale, Written by Ilene Chaiken, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Leila Gerstein, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Wendy Straker Hauser, Eric Tuchman; Hulu ORIGINAL LONG FORM Flint, Written by Barbara Stepansky; Lifetime ADAPTED LONG FORM Big Little Lies, Teleplay by David E. Kelley, Based on the Novel by Liane Moriarty; HBO ADAPTED SHORT FORM NEW MEDIA “Starboy” (Zac & Mia), Teleplay by Allen Clary and Andrew Rothschild, Based on the novel Zac & Mia by A.J. Betts; go90.com ANIMATION “Time’s Arrow” (BoJack Horseman), Written by Kate Purdy; Netflix EPISODIC DRAMA “Chicanery” (Better Call Saul), Written by Gordon Smith; AMC EPISODIC COMEDY “Rosario’s Quinceanera” (Will & Grace), Written by Tracy Poust & Jon Kinnally; NBC COMEDY/VARIETY TALK SERIES Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, Writers: Tim Carvell, Josh Gondelman, Dan Gurewitch, Geoff Haggerty, Jeff Maurer, John Oliver, Scott Sherman, Will Tracy, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO COMEDY/VARIETY SKETCH SERIES Saturday Night Live, Head Writers: Chris Kelly, Sarah Schneider, Bryan Tucker, Writers: James Anderson, Kristen Bartlett, Jeremy Beiler, Neal Brennan, Zack Bornstein, Joanna Bradley, Megan Callahan, Michael Che, Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Steve Higgins, Colin Jost, Erik Kenward, Rob Klein, Nick Kocher, Michael Koman, Dave McCary, Brian McElhaney, Dennis McNicholas, Drew Michael, Lorne Michaels, Josh Patten, Katie Rich, Pete Schultz, Streeter Seidell, Will Stephen, Kent Sublette, Julio Torres; NBC Universal COMEDY/VARIETY SPECIALS 39th Annual Kennedy Center Honors, Written by Dave Boone; CBS QUIZ AND AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION Hollywood Game Night, Head Writer: Grant Taylor; Writers: Michael Agbabian, Alex Chauvin, Ann Slichter, Dwight D. Smith; NBC DAYTIME DRAMA General Hospital, Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Jean Passanante; Writers: Anna Theresa Cascio, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Daniel James O’Connor, Dave Rupel, Katherine Schock, Scott Sickles, Christopher Van Etten, Christopher Whitesell; ABC CHILDREN’S EPISODIC AND SPECIALS “An American Girl Story – Ivy & Julie 1976: A Happy Balance” (American Girl), Written by May Chan; Amazon DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – CURRENT EVENTS “Confronting ISIS” (Frontline), Written by Martin Smith; PBS DOCUMENTARY SCRIPT – OTHER THAN CURRENT EVENTS “The Great War, Part II” (American Experience), Written by Stephen Ives; PBS NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT “White Helmets” (60 Minutes), Written by Scott Pelley, Nicole Young, Katie Kerbstat; CBS News NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY “Chief of Chobani” (60 Minutes), Written by Steve Kroft, Oriana Zill de Granados; CBS News DIGITAL NEWS “The Super Predators,” Written by Melissa Jeltsen, Dana Liebelson; Huffingtonpost.com
RADIO/AUDIO WINNERS
RADIO/AUDIO DOCUMENTARY “CBS Radio 90th Anniversary,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – REGULARLY SCHEDULED, BULLETIN, OR BREAKING REPORT “World News This Week: June 9, 2017,” Written by Tara Gimbel Tanis; ABC News Radio RADIO/AUDIO NEWS SCRIPT – ANALYSIS, FEATURE, OR COMMENTARY “Dishin’ Digital on WCBS-AM,” Written by Robert Hawley; WCBS
PROMOTIONAL WINNERS
ON-AIR PROMOTION (RADIO OR TELEVISION) “CBS Comedy,” Written by Dan Greenberger; CBS Television
VIDEOGAME WINNER
OUTSTANDING ACHIEVEMENT IN VIDEOGAME WRITING Horizon Zero Dawn, Narrative Director John Gonzalez; Lead Writer Benjamin McCaw; Writing by Ben Schroder, Anne Toole; Additional Writing by Dee Warrick, Meg Jayanth; Guerrilla Games
Read more
“The Shape of Water” and “City of Ghosts” Among Winners of 70th DGA Awards

[caption id="attachment_25167" align="aligncenter" width="1200"] Sally Hawkins and Octavia Spencer in the film THE SHAPE OF WATER.[/caption] The winners of the Directors Guild of America Outstanding Directorial Achievement Awards for 2017 were announced on Saturday night during the 70th Annual DGA Awards at the Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills hosted byJudd Apatow. Guillermo del Toro won the DGA’s Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The Shape of Water, and Matthew Heineman won the Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary for City of Ghosts.
70th Annual DGA Awards Winners
Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film GUILLERMO del TORO The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight Pictures) Mr. del Toro’s Directorial Team: Unit Production Manager: J. Miles Dale Production Manager: Dennis Chapman First Assistant Director: Pierre Henry Second Assistant Director: Tyler Delben This is Mr. del Toro’s first DGA Award nomination. Outstanding Directorial Achievement in First-Time Feature Film JORDAN PEELE Get Out (Universal Pictures) Mr. Peele’s Directorial Team: Unit Production Managers: Marcei A. Brown, Rick A. Osako (Fairhope Unit) First Assistant Director: Gerard DiNardi Second Assistant Directors: Ram Paul Silbey, Marc Newland (Fairhope Unit), Jack McKenna (New York Unit) Second Second Assistant Director: Maggie Ballard Location Manager: Kurt Enger (New York Unit) This was one of two DGA Award nominations this year for Mr. Peele. He was also nominated in the Feature Film category for Get Out. Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary MATTHEW HEINEMAN City of Ghosts (Amazon) This is Mr. Heineman’s second DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Documentary in 2015 for Cartel Land. Outstanding Directorial Achievement inDramatic Series REED MORANO The Handmaid’s Tale, “Offred” (Hulu) Ms. Morano’s Directorial Team: Unit Production Manager: Joe Boccia This is Ms. Morano’s first DGA Award nomination Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series BETH McCARTHY-MILLER Veep, “Chicklet” (HBO) Ms. McCarthy-Miller’s Directorial Team: Unit Production Manager: David Hyman First Assistant Director: Dale Stern Second Assistant Director: Jeff Rosenberg Second Second Assistant Director: Yarden Levo Additional Second Assistant Director: Chalis Romero This is Ms. McCarthy-Miller’s twelfth DGA Award nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Comedy Series in 2013 for the 30 Rock episode “Hogcock!/Last Lunch.” She was also nominated that year, together with Rob Ashford, in the Movies for Television and Mini-Series category for The Sound of Music Live! She was previously nominated in the Comedy Series category for 30 Rock episodes “Live from Studio 6H” in 2012, “Live Show” in 2010, “The Reunion Episode #304” in 2008 and “Somebody to Love” in 2007. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Musical Variety twice, in 2001 for America: A Tribute to Heroes (co-directed with Joel Gallen) and in 2000 for the “Val Kilmer and U2” episode of Saturday Night Live. She was also twice nominated in that category for Saturday Night Live episodes “Christopher Walken and The Foo Fighters” in 2003 and the 25th Anniversary episode in 1999. She was also nominated in 2015 in the Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials category for Adele Live in New York City. Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series JEAN-MARC VALLÉE Big Little Lies (HBO) Mr. Vallée’s Directorial Team: Unit Production Managers: Barbara A. Hall, G.D. Fienberg First Assistant Director: David Ticotin Second Assistant Director: Christine Danahy Second Second Assistant Director: Bob Riley Additional Second Assistant Directors: Bryan Landrine, Rob Burgess, Allison Rushton, Mallory Squeo This is Mr. Vallée’s first DGA Award nomination. Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming DON ROY KING Saturday Night Live, “Host: Jimmy Fallon” (NBC) Mr. King’s Directorial Team: Associate Directors: Michael Mancini, Michael Poole, Bob Caminiti Stage Managers: Gena Rositano, Chris Kelly This is Mr. King’s twelfth DGA Award nomination. He previously won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in this category for Saturday Night Live, “Host: Dave Chappelle” in 2016 and for Saturday Night Live “Host: Justin Timberlake” in 2013. Mr King also won the DGA Award for Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials for Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special in 2015. He was previously nominated for Saturday Night Live episodes in 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014, and in 2015 in the Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Regularly Scheduled Programming category for the Saturday Night Live episode, “Host: Tracy Morgan/Musical Guest: Demi Lovato.” Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials GLENN WEISS The 89th Annual Academy Awards (ABC) Mr. Weiss’s Directorial Team: Associate Directors: Ken Diego, Eve Adair, Susan Kopensky, Lori Margules, Robin Mishkin Abrams, Michael Polito Stage Managers: Gary Natoli, Rita Cossette, Dave Cove, John Esposito, Valdez Flagg, Chris Hines, Alissa Levisohn Hoyo, Arthur Lewis, Roxanne Lozano, Ron Paul, Tammy Raab, Jason Seligman, Jackie Stathis, Cheryl Teetzel-Moore, Debbie Williams, Ari Woog This is Mr. Weiss’s fourteenth DGA Award nomination. He previously won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Variety/Talk/News/Sports – Specials in 2013, 2014 and 2016 for the 67th, 68th and 70th Annual Tony Awards and in the Musical Variety category in 2007, 2010, 2011 and 2012 for the 61st, 64th, 65th, and 66th Annual Tony Awards. He was also nominated in the Musical Variety category in 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2008 for the 55th, 56th, 59th, 60th, and 62nd Annual Tony Awards. Additionally, Mr. Weiss was nominated in 2015 for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television and Mini-Series, together with Rob Ashford, for Peter Pan Live! Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs BRIAN SMITH MasterChef, “Vegas Deluxe & Oyster Shucks” (FOX) Mr. Smith’s Directorial Team: Associate Director: Anna Moulaison Stage Managers: Drew Lewandowski, Brady Hess This is Mr. Smith’s fifth DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Reality Programs in 2012 for MasterChef, “Episode #305.” He was previously nominated in this category for episodes of MasterChef in 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013, and in 2016 for S.T.R.O.N.G., “Welcome to Strong.” Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Children’s Programs NIKI CARO Anne with an E, “Your Will Shall Decide Your Destiny” (Netflix) This is Ms. Caro’s first DGA Award nomination Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials MARTIN de THURAH (Epoch Films) Festival, StubHub – Goodby Silverstein First Assistant Director: Charles Conner Machines, StubHub – Goodby Silverstein First Assistant Director: Charles Conner Mad World, WealthSimple – WealthSimple In House First Assistant Directors: Jey Wada Second Assistant Director: Custis Smith This is Mr. de Thurah’s second DGA Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials in 2013 for The Man Who Couldn’t Slow Down (Hennessy VS) and Human Race (Acura MDX 2014). Lifetime Achievement & Service Award Recipients MICHAEL APTED Honorary Life Member Award Given in recognition of leadership in the industry, contribution to the Guild and the profession of directing, and outstanding career achievement. DWIGHT WILLIAMS Frank Capra Achievement Award This award is given to an Assistant Director or Unit Production Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America. JIM TANKER Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award This award is given to an Associate Director or Stage Manager in recognition of career achievement in the industry and service to the Directors Guild of America.
Read more