Casey Affleck & Anna Pniowsky on Finding Truth in Light of My Life

Set amid the natural splendor of British Columbia, Light of My Life (opening August 9 in theaters, digital and On Demand) follows writer-director-star Casey Affleck as a father shepherding his daughter through the wilderness. Shot by cinematographer Adam Arkapaw (True Detective), the gorgeous backdrop belies an ugly collective psychosis that has taken hold of a near-future society beset by a mysterious “female plague.” Eleven-year-old “Rag,” played by Anna Pniowsky,

Director AJ Eaton on his Lyrical new Doc David Crosby: Remember My Name

This past weekend, a new documentary played into theaters spotlighting musician David Crosby, called David Crosby: Remember My Name. He is most famous for his role in The Byrds and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and most infamous for his troubles with drugs and the law. In this film, however, audiences get a raw, brutally honest look at the man from his own perspective. Crosby’s challenges, his solo work, and his insights as someone with multiple health issues and a desire to leave a legacy of love and kindness behind,

Greg Kinnear on his Directorial Debut Phil

For his first time helming a feature film, actor Greg Kinnear picked a dark comedy centered on a depressed dentist experiencing a mid-life crisis. Phil is also struggling to understand why one of his patients, seemingly with everything to live for, takes his own life.

It was an especially demanding undertaking, given that Kinnear also played the lead role. But armed with his vast experience on screen, lessons learned watching the many renowned directors he’s worked with,

Director Alex Holmes & Subject Tracy Edwards on Their Thrilling Sailing Doc Maiden

The thrilling documentary Maiden, the story of 24-year-old Tracy Edwards skippering the first ever all-female crew in the Whitbread Round the World Race in 1989, is coming to theaters. The film chronicles the challenges, victories, and overt sexism Tracy and her crew faced in sailing in the famed race around the world. Though it’s filled with messages of female empowerment, it is a film everyone will find inspiring and compelling. The Credits spoke to director Alex Holmes and subject Tracy Edwards about her achievements in the historic race,

Mindy Kaling & Nancy Meyers on Writing, Producing & More

With a history just over a decade old, the “Produced By” conference in L.A. is a gathering that promises, if not exactly unfettered access, at least a chance to be in the same room with many accomplished producers, and hyphenates: producer-actors, producer-directors, etcetera.

Run by the Producers Guild, and currently hosted on the Warner Brothers backlot (an “above the line” analog to the Cine Gear show held at Paramount, the week before),

Here’s How Younger Star Miriam Shor Became a Director

It was during season three of Younger when Miriam Shor, a scene-stealer in the role of Empirical marketing executive Diana Trout, started thinking about directing.

“I’d never been on a show that went more than half a season, so to be a regular on a show that goes and goes and goes was a new experience for me. As it was happening, I thought, well, this is a pretty unique opportunity,” Shor tells The Credits.

Longtime X-Men Scribe Simon Kinberg on Directing Dark Phoenix

He wrote Sherlock Holmes, produced The Martian and guided six X-Men movies to fruition from his vantage point as a writer and producer. But Simon Kinberg never actually directed anything until he took the reins of Dark Phoenix. Opening Friday, June 7, the movie reunites X-Men fixtures Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender along Sophie Turner (Game of Thrones),

Tolkien Director on Tracing Iconic Author’s Life From War to Middle Earth

The Finnish director Dome Karukoski’s biopic Tolkien traces the future of the “Lord of the Rings” author’s path from his peripatetic tween years through his Oxford attendance, intercut with his nightmarish experience fighting in the Battle of the Somme during World War I. Throughout, Karukoski offers a poetic depiction of the author’s fomenting imagination, seen through Tolkien’s eyes in the shadows of a child’s spinning light globe or marauding in the battlefield as Tolkien,

Qualified Director Jenna Ricker on Indy’s Pioneer Janet Guthrie

“This is my first documentary,” says producer/director Jenna Ricker, of Qualified, a look at the life of Janet Guthrie, the first woman—in that pre-Danica Patrick/Pippa Mann era—to ever drive a car at the Indianapolis 500.

The doc is part of ESPN’s 30 For 30 series, in celebration of the cable pioneer’s 30th anniversary. But you have to go farther back than that, to 1977, to find Guthrie in the cockpit of a racer at Indianapolis.

Director Olivia Wilde & Screenwriter Katie Silberman on the Hilarious Booksmart

The creative team behind Booksmart wanted to showcase women being funny. Not one or two women, but many women.

“That’s how it is in our lives. All my female friends are as funny as my male friends. They’re not comedians; they don’t think of themselves as funny,” said screenwriter Katie Silberman, who shares writing credit with Susanna Fogel, Emily Halpern, and Sarah Haskins.

Silberman credited Olivia Wilde, the actress who makes her feature directorial debut on Booksmart,

John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum Director on the Film’s Epic Stunts & Real Dogs

Chad Stahelski started out as a kick-boxer, served as Keanu Reeve‘s stunt double in The Matrix and rose through the ranks as a stunt choreographer with his own 87eleven Action Design before co-launching the John Wick franchise in 2014. Directing Reeves as an indomitable assassin, Stahelski has staged most of the 54-year-old actor’s action sequences “in camera,” minimizing digital effects in favor of physical performance. The old school approach has wowed fans to the tune of $261 million in world wide box office,

Trial by Fire Director Edward Zwick on Revisiting a Heartbreaking Story

Cameron Todd Willingham, who’s played by British actor Jack O’Connell in director Edward Zwick‘s Trial by Fire, was not an exemplary character. But he almost certainly didn’t set the 1991 blaze that killed his three young daughters, an alleged crime for which he was executed by the state of Texas in 2004. The fire was likely accidental, as was demonstrated by the evidence presented in David Grann’s 2009 New Yorker piece and Incendiary: The Willingham Case,

Finding the Funny With Long Shot Director Jonathan Levine & Actress June Diane Raphael

Long Shot stars Charlize Theron as Charlotte, an elegant, poised, hyper-competent Secretary of State who wants to run for President and Seth Rogen as Fred, an awkward, shlumpy, but principled journalist. Charlotte hires Fred to help write speeches that will reveal her warmer, more accessible side. It is romantic, it is funny, and it is surprisingly sweet. In an interview with The Credits, director Jonathan Levine and June Diane Raphael,

Knock Down the House Director Rachel Lears Captures History in the Making

One of the big success stories of Sundance 2019 has been the documentary Knock Down the House, which was snapped up by Netflix for ten million. The festival screening got a standing ovation and a subsequent Festival Favorite Award. Streaming on Netflix starting May 1st, Knock Down the House, which is directed and co-produced by Rachel Lears, follows four female candidates as they run for office for the first time,

Taraji P. Henson & the Team Behind The Best of Enemies on Crafting History

The Best of Enemies is based on the true story of an African-American activist named Ann Atwater and a KKK official named C.P. Ellis who were forced to work together in a fight over school desegregation in 1971. In an interview with The Credits, star Taraji P. Henson, who plays Ann, writer/director Robin Bissell, and producer Dominique Telson talked about bringing this potent true story to the screen.

Taraji,

The Gilligan Manifesto‘s Director on Revisiting a Radical Show

I had two reasons to be eager to see The Gilligan Manifesto, the new documentary about the 1960’s television series Gilligan’s Island, now available on Amazon. First, writer/director Cevin Soling’s film is a thoughtful, serious (really!) exploration of the way a silly, slapstick comedy reflected and examined the issues of its era, the midst of the Atomic Age. The seven very different characters did not choose or expect to have to spend more than three hours together but ended up having to build a society.

Gloria Bell Director Sebastián Lelio on Julianne Moore’s Greatness

It was Julianne Moore who persuaded writer-director Sebastián Lelio to revisit his 2013 Chilean film Gloria for an English-language version.

“It was quite moving to listen to her talking so passionately about the story and the characters. She had a deep understanding of everything so I was quite moved by that,” says Lelio, whose 2017 film A Fantastic Woman won the best foreign language film Oscar,

Writer/Director Anthony Maras on his Harrowing Debut Hotel Mumbai

For his debut feature, Hotel Mumbai, out March 22, Anthony Maras wore many hats: director, executive producer, and co-writer. The film chronicles the siege by terrorists at the upscale Taj Hotel in Mumbai in 2008 that took the lives of more than 160 people and injured countless others.

Maras conducted months of research to pen the script, which weaves a tapestry of stories set throughout the hotel. He also assembled an outstanding ensemble cast led by Dev Patel,

Greta Director Neil Jordan on the Twisted Consequences of Loneliness

It’s somewhat of a cinephilic fantasy to be terrorized by Isabelle Huppert, who has made a career out of sadomasochistic affairs (The Piano Teacher), psychopathic matriarchy (Merci Pour le Chocolat), and unconventional rape revenge (Elle). It’s eerily perfect, then, that the French actress’ latest role is that of a stalker—a seemingly genial old lady named Greta who becomes increasingly attached to,

Director Karyn Kusama Goes her Own Way

Director Karyn Kusama is one of Hollywood’s boldest voices. Her films are visually arresting, emotionally taxing and riveting to the last frame. Whether it’s a pugilist drama like Girlfight or a horror film like The Invitation, Kusama’s gifts bend genres to her will.

Her most recent film, Destroyer, was the year’s most unsettling crime thriller—by a mile. Starring Nicole Kidman in another impressive,