“The Acolyte” Costume Designer Jennifer Bryan on Dressing Jedis, Witches, Wookies & More
Note: this interview contains spoilers for the first three episodes.
In its newest Star Wars franchise, The Acolyte, Disney+ heads back in time to a century prior to the rise of the Galactic Empire. Amandla Stenberg stars as identical twins Osha and Mae, the former an ex-Jedi Padawan and the latter a vengeful warrior on the run. Both can use the Force, although the Jedi Order is neither twin’s birthright — the girls’ early childhood was spent in a coven of witches on Brendok,
“House of the Dragon” Season 2’s Most Intriguing New Power Couple
While calling them a “power couple” is certainly a stretch, in the second episode of season 2, “Rhaenyra the Cruel,” the embattled Princess Rhaenyra (Emma D’Arcy) found herself an unlikely ally in Mysaria (Sonoya Mizuno), a whisperer of the Red Keep with secrets aplenty known as the White Worm.
Rhaenyra was rocked in episode 2 by twin revelations—her desire to see Aemond Targaryen (Ewan Mitchell) executed for murdering her son Lucerys (Elliot Grihault) had been botched,
“Green Lantern” Series a Go at HBO as DC Studios Locks in First Live-Action Show
At long last, the Green Lanterns will light a path on TV.
James Gunn and Peter Safran’s DC Studios has successfully gotten their first live-action series a pick-up at HBO, which has grabbed Lanterns for a straight-to-series order for an eight-episode opener. Lanterns will be led by showrunner Chris Mundy (True Detective: Night Country, Ozark).
Lanterns also boasts Watchmen and The Leftovers creator Damon Lindelof and Tom King (Supergirl) as executive producers and co-writers alongside Mundy.
“House of the Dragon” Cast & Crew Discuss That Brutal Funeral in Episode 2
Child murder is nothing new to the world of Game of Thrones, and so it must go for House of the Dragon. The first Game of Thrones spinoff to make it to air, House of the Dragon has proven itself a satisfying slow burn that metes out its corporeal punishments judiciously, but when they come, they’re all the more brutal for it. In the season 2 premiere,
“Ahsoka” Composer Kevin Kiner on Scoring Jedis, Sith Lords, and Space Whales
There are few people alive with more Star Wars experience than composer Kevin Kiner. While Kiner would be the first to point out that the legendary John Williams has him beat, when it comes to the number of minutes—and hours—of music composed for a galaxy far, far away, Kiner is a proper Jedi. For more than a decade, Kiner has been working with George Lucas and Dave Filoni to score every season of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and has added to his endless Star Wars credits scroll Star Wars: Rebels,
Callum Turner on Accents, B-17s, and Crew Glue in “Masters of the Air”
Based on Donald L. Miller’s 2007 book of the same name, Masters of the Air on Apple TV+ has been praised as theatrical television that’s both true to history and beautiful to watch. Created by John Shiban and John Orloff, the show marries vast set builds with painstakingly correct CGI to depict the tragedies and heroics of the 100th Bomb Group, which flew over 300 combat missions and received two Distinguished Unit Citations but also suffered heavy losses of 177 aircraft during World War II.
“Silo” Creator Graham Yost Unseals the Secrets of Season 1
Graham Yost had his work cut out for him when he set out to tackle author Hugh Howey’s apocalyptic sci-fi trilogy series “Silo,” all of which are set in the titular structure (none of Howey’s books are actually titled “Silo”) and deal with the society that lives within it’s 144 heavily monitored floors. The denizens of the Silo live in a claustrophobic brutalist tower outfitted with retrofuturistic touches that include clunky computers, a large screen in the cafeteria showing what appears to be a denuded,
The “Shōgun” Sound Team on Recreating 17th-Century Japan One Katana Clash at a Time
Praised for its authenticity, beauty, and sensitive storytelling, FX’s Shōgun has just been renewed for two more seasons. Created by Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo, the show follows the plot of James Clavell’s 1975 novel, set in Japan in 1600. English pilot John Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) and his ship’s crew run aground in a Japanese fishing village, and after a brief imprisonment, Blackthorne is taken on by Lord Yoshii Toranaga (Hiroyuki Sanada, also one of the series’ producers) to share his knowledge on European warfare and the Portuguese merchants and priests insinuating themselves into Japanese society.
How “SNL” Costume Designer Tom Broecker Recreated Barbenheimer for Ryan Gosling’s Sensational Monologue
It’s the week of April 13th and on the call sheet to host the 17th episode of SNL’s 49th season is Ryan Gosling, an actor who’s been capturing the hearts of hopeless romantics since The Notebook. The Canadian’s filmography is a treasure trove of unforgettable performances, from Blue Valentine, Drive, The Big Short, La La Land,
“Silo” Director/Executive Producer Morten Tyldum on Helming Rebecca Ferguson’s Sci-Fi Mystery
Apple TV+’s Silo, created by Graham Yost, is an ingeniously constructed sci-fi series that nevertheless opens with a shot worthy of any classic western—a Sheriff’s badge—and goes on to meld elements of that genre, along with police procedural and conspiracy thriller, in 10 satisfying episodes. The series’ claustrophobic setting, the titular Silo, serves as a character almost every bit important as Rebecca Ferguson’s resourceful, remorseful Juliet, an engineer plucked from the obscurity of the Silo’s lowest levels to take over for the last lawman,
How the Latest VFX Techniques Immersed the “Masters of the Air” Actors in Battle
Masters of the Air, starring Austin Butler and Barry Keoghan, is the latest celebrated WWII epic from Band of Brothers and The Pacific executive producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman. The intense drama inspired by the 100th Bomb Group is the most detailed on-screen depiction of B-17 planes ever. The visual effects teams from DNEG studios, led by VVFX Supervisor Xavier Bernasconi and VFX Producer Abigal Everard were provided with thousands of hours of research materials about the aircrafts and battles they flew from the Production Designer Chris Seagers and his show researcher Jessica Bradbury.
“Baby Reindeer” Cinematographer Krzysztof Trojnar on Lensing Loneliness
Amidst an epidemic of loneliness and isolation, audiences united in crowning Baby Reindeer the breakout hit TV series of the year. Series creator and star Richard Gadd mined his real-life trauma to create Donny Dunn, who yearns for adoration to catastrophic results. The aspiring comedian discovers that meaning well doesn’t always end well. In a time when there’s immense societal pressure for everyone to have rigid, binary opinions on every issue, and mistakes are often condemned while ignoring intention,
Ke Huy Quan Talks Drawing from Personal Experience to Play “Loki” Season 2 Standout Ouroboros
Ke Huy Quan was driving when he got a call from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige two years ago. Having just seen Quan’s (eventually Oscar-winning) turn in the record-breaking A24 epic Everything Everywhere All At Once, Feige — with whom Quan had crossed paths on 2000’s X-Men, working as assistant action choreographer in his first job out of college — offered him the role of the quirky,
“3 Body Problem” Production Designer Deborah Riley on Melding Sci-Fi & Period Perfect History
Netflix’s adaption of the first book in Liu Cixin’s hit Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy, 3 Body Problem, is more than science fiction. Facing a slew of inexplicable suicides, a group of scientists and friends begin to uncover the future arrival of an alien race, the San-Ti, and learn of the Cultural Revolution-era events in China that set this gradual but hostile takeover in motion.
The series is primarily set in contemporary London and the English countryside,
“Shōgun” Editors Aika Miyake and Maria Gonzales on Cutting Mariko’s Heroic Path
The first season of Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo’s masterful Shōgun was an expertly paced slow-burn drama that plunged viewers into 17th-century Japan with a passionate obsession with the rigors and wonders of the period and location. The new Shōgun shifts its center of balance from the swashbuckling but woefully out of his depth British pirate Blackthorne (Cosmo Jarvis) to his Japanese captors. Blackthorne has washed ashore on a land in the midst of a tectonic power shift,
“House of the Dragon” Renewed for Season 3 Ahead of Season 2 Premiere
House of the Dragons season 2 hasn’t premiered yet—that happens on June 16—but that didn’t stop HBO from topping up the successful Game of Thrones spinoff for another season. Showrunner Ryan Condal and his co-creator, author George R. R. Martin, have no doubt been plotting and planning for a third (and fourth, and fifth?) season already.
The drama centered on the scheming Tagaryen family has been renewed for season 3,
How the “Bridgerton” Costume Designers Dialed up the Romantic Fantasy in Season 3
In the Bridgerton universe, imagination is key. One of the reasons the show skyrocketed in popularity since its season one debut is that it’s a romance and a period drama reimagined. It’s a romance set in a royal world with diverse characters, whimsical clothing, and orchestral covers of modern-day pop hits that give the period trappings a modern sensibility.
And what better way to sell a romantic, fantastical world than through the detailed costuming created by Bridgerton costume designers John Glaser,
“Knuckles” Composer Tom Howe on Scoring the Speedy Warrior’s Paramount+ Debut
Composer Tom Howe constructed the score for Paramount+’s superpowered new series Knuckles, putting the warrior Knuckles the Echidna from the Sonic the Hedgehog universe at the center of the action.
“He’s like Sonic, but more fun, more attitude, and probably more fun to have a beer with or go out for dinner with,” Howe says of the titular character. Howe also benefited from an added element that made the sound of Knuckles so appealing—the voice of Knuckles himself,
“Shakespeare but with football”: Director Matthew Hamachek Unpacks “The Dynasty: New England Patriots”
Director and executive producer Matthew Hamachek calls The Dynasty, the 10-part docu-series now streaming on Apple TV+, “Shakespeare but with football.”
He’s not overstating it. As Dynasty charts the rise and fall of the six-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots over the course of 20 years, dazzling on-field highlights are deftly layered with the documentary’s themes of male ego, betrayal, the price of success, and the corporatization of sports at the expense of players.
Giving the “Abbott Elementary” Teachers a Glow Up With the Hair & Makeup Maestros Moira Frazier and Constance Foe
As summer shimmers just ahead and another school year wraps up, we take time now to reflect on the fire looks our teachers were serving. The educators at Abbott Elementary gave it their all through two semesters of change. As they navigated celebrations and setbacks, this season was filled with transformations guided by Hair Department Head Moira Frazier and Makeup Department Head Constance Foe.
Janine Teagues’ (Quinta Brunson) relentless optimism and dedication to her students saw a major payoff when her big ideas caught the attention of the school district.