Best of 2024: MPA Creator Award Recipient Writer/Director JA Bayona’s Epic Journey
J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow, a reimagining of the real-life 1972 Uruguayan plane crash in the Andes Mountains that caught the world’s attention, is a viscerally astonishing feat of empathetic filmmaking. It was nominated for two Oscars: Best International Feature for Spain and Best Makeup and Hairstyling (Ana López-Puigcerver, David Martí, and Montse Ribé), a sweet coda for a filmmaker who returned to his home country of Spain for the majority of the film’s production.
Best of 2024: “Wicked” Director Jon M. Chu Takes Us Behind the Curtain of His Gravity-Defying Adaptation
This interview was selected by measures having nothing to do with science as one of our standouts from 2024. This was one of the easier selections—Chu’s sensational adaptation managed to delight mega-fans of the Broadway juggernaut as well as newbies freshly dazzled by the story of Elphaba, Glinda, and the ramifications of their epic friendship.
Spoilers aplenty!
Black hat seated atop her head, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) peers around the corner of the Ozdust ballroom,
Best of 2024: “My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself
In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip.
When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,
The Shared DNA Between Writer/Director Jean de Meuron’s “Edge of Space” and “Top Gun: Maverick”
A visually lavish and emotionally captivating short film about the early days of manned spaceflight exploration, writer/director/producer Jean de Meuron’s directorial debut, Edge of Space, is set in 1961. The 18-minute film follows U.S. Air Force test pilot Glen Ford (played by the Sniper film series’ Chad Michael Collins), who risks it all for a suborbital test flight in the X-15 hypersonic rocket-powered aircraft. The film provides a refreshing glimpse into the decade leading to the Apollo missions,
“Maria” Costume Designer Massimo Cantini Parrini on Designing Angelina Jolie as a Legendary Diva
“I am happy with the theater behind my eyes,” utters legendary American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas (portrayed by Angelina Jolie after seven months of intense vocal lessons) at the film’s beginning. Drenched in the melancholy of a woman well aware that her days are numbered, the stunning film traverses between the heights of La Callas’ massive successes in the 1950s and 1960s and present day in her extravagant Parisian apartment, where she reflects on the triumphs,
“Wicked” Director Jon M. Chu Takes us Behind the Curtain of His Gravity Defying Adaptation
Spoilers aplenty!
Black hat seated atop her head, Elphaba (Cynthia Erivo) peers around the corner of the Ozdust ballroom, excited to attend her first party ever.
She tentatively takes her first steps down the stairs, silhouette illuminated by the spotlight, when the music suddenly halts and her peers begin to laugh.
The excitement quickly drains from her face as she realizes that the acceptance she so desperately craved did not come.
“Smile 2” Horror Auteur Parker Finn on Crafting a Sequel About a Haunted Pop Star in New York
Writer/director Parker Finn has been enjoying a whirlwind victory lap in the days since his Smile 2 opened number one at the box office to become the year’s top-grossing horror film. “It’s been very surreal and exciting,” Finn told The Credits, speaking from his Los Angeles home. In fact, the past four years have unspooled for Finn with the kind of momentum young filmmakers dream about, thanks to his mastery of nightmarish scenarios.
Cardinal Sins: “Conclave” Star Isabella Rossellini and Director Edward Berger on Their Thrilling New Film
Hot off Audience Award wins at both the Mill Valley and Middleburg Film Festivals, the film Conclave enjoyed phenomenal word of mouth on its way into theaters on October 25. Based on Robert Harris’ bestselling 2016 thriller, Conclave goes behind the sequestered doors of the Vatican to show the inner workings of selecting a new pope.
The story follows Cardinal Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes), who must run the conclave after his beloved friend,
“On Swift Horses” Director Daniel Minahan & DP Luc Montpellier on Love in the Shadows in the 1950s
On Swift Horses director Daniel Minahan has long admired the work of cinematographer Luc Montpellier. “He shot Tales From the Loop, which is one of the best series I’ve ever seen. And [the 2022 film] Women Talking is just a feat of design and performance. So I said to him, ‘Your work is so beautiful and so controlled; I really want to mess it up.’”
Minahan was determined that from the music to the set design to the photography,
Max Minghella on Reuniting With Elisabeth Moss for his Horror/Comedy “Shell”
One expects Max Minghella to cite the influence of his father, the late director Anthony Minghella (The English Patient, The Talented Mr. Ripley), on his acting and directing career. But it’s Minghella’s mother, Carolyn Choa, who gets the shout-out for her impact on his new film, the body horror comedy Shell, starring Elisabeth Moss and Kate Hudson.
“My mother worked for the British Board of Film Classification from 1984 to 1994,
“The Wild Robot” Writer/Director Chris Sanders on Kindness as a Survival Skill
With three Oscar nominations under his belt, animation auteur Chris Sanders knew a good story when he saw it the minute his daughter brought home Peter Brown’s children’s book “The Wild Robot” back in 2016. Sanders, who’d worked on The Lion King and later helmed How to Train Your Dragon, Lilo & Stitch, and The Croods, appreciated the tragi-comic tale centered on robot Roz (voiced in the film by Lupita Nyong’o) after she washes up on the shore of a remote island populated with wild animals.
“My Old Ass” Writer/Director Megan Park on Magic, Mushrooms, and Meeting Yourself
In Megan Park’s wide-eyed, warm-as-the-waning-summer-evenings sophomore feature, My Old Ass, time itself is a trip.
When Elliott (Maisy Stella) ushers in her 18th birthday with a camping excursion à la psilocybin-laced mushrooms, the last thing she expects is her psyche to conjure up an “old ass” version of herself (at 39 years old), portrayed by Aubrey Plaza. With her last summer in the picturesque lakeside town of Muskoka, Canada, before she heads off to the University of Toronto,
“Transformers One” Director Josh Cooley on Humanizing the Origin of Optimus Prime and Megatron’s Ancient Feud
Transformers One isn’t the first animated Transformers film, but it has achieved multiple firsts for the iconic franchise.
The science fiction action film is an origin story that focuses on the early relationship of Orion Pax and D-16, how they changed the fate of their home planet of Cybertron, and how they became Optimus Prime and Megatron, respectively. Directed by Josh Cooley, best known for helming Oscar-nominated Toy Story 4,
“Merchant Ivory” Director Stephen Soucy on His Must-See Doc for Film Lovers
The name Merchant Ivory is so synonymous with lustrous period films, particularly literary adaptations of the works of E. M. Forster and Henry James, that even some astute filmgoers assumed it was a studio or a brand. It was both those things, but it was foremost the names of two men—US-born director James Ivory and India-born producer Ismail Merchant—who together formed a partnership that changed modern moviemaking.
That’s the major takeaway from Stephen Soucy’s illuminating and entertaining documentary Merchant Ivory.
Eye on the Emmys: “True Detective: Night Country” Writer/Director Issa López Delivers a Chilling New Season
*Ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards on September 15, we’re looking back at our interviews with some of this year’s nominees. Issa Lopez notched three nominations this year—for Outstanding Limited or Anthology Series, Outstanding Directing, and Outstanding Writing (for episode 6.)
Issa López loves to challenge herself. The writer/director, best known for the mystical 2017 feature Tigers Are Not Afraid, believes your comfort zone is the last place to find stories worth telling.
How “Afraid” Writer/Director Chris Weitz Cracked the Artificial Intelligence Code in His First Horror Film
What happens when a charming AI device makes itself indispensable to an unsuspecting family of five? In Chris Weitz‘s new horror film Afraid, the smooth-talking “AIA” aims for nothing short of total domination. The film stars John Cho, who caught his first acting break when Weitz and his brother Paul cast him in their directorial debut, American Pie. Katherine Waterston co-stars as Cho’s wife, with Lukita Maxwell, Wyatt Lindner, and Isaac Bae portraying their kids.
“Deadpool & Wolverine” Second Unit Director & Stunt Coordinator George Cottle on Capturing Those Cameos
In the last installment of our conversation with Deadpool & Wolverine’s second unit director and stunt coordinator George Cottle, we covered the hysterical dance/action opening sequence and what it took to shoot the bone-crunching brawl inside a real Honda Odyssey minivan. Smashing box office records on every level—the first R-rated movie to open domestically over $200 million, the sixth biggest domestic opening of all time—the film joined the billion-dollar club just 23 days after opening in theaters,
A Symphony of Success: Emmy Nominees Talk VFX, Composing, and Editing
We had the pleasure of hosting two panels this year—check out our first panel here— ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards, which will be held live on ABC on Sunday, September 15, from 8-11 ET. For our second panel, our Emmy nominees came from a wide-ranging group of shows—Lessons in Chemistry‘s ace director Millicent Shelton, nominated for directing episode 6, “Poirot,” Shōgun‘
All the World’s a Stage: The Team Behind “Sing Sing” on Crafting a Powerful Human Drama
Sing Sing screenwriters Greg Kwedar and Clint Bentley are unusual, even in the world of indies. They immerse themselves in the world of the story they want to tell for years, in this case a drama program in a maximum-security prison. They surround professional performers like Colman Domingo in the case of Sing Sing, with real-life inhabitants of that world, with a seamless naturalism that straddles documentary and narrative filmmaking.
Twin Forces: “The Acolyte” Director Hanelle M. Culpepper on Crafting Amandla Stenberg’s Dual Roles
When she helmed the first episode of Star Trek: Picard in 2020, director Hanelle M. Culpepper made history as the first woman to launch a Star Trek series. She went on to win the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Directing in a Drama Series for that project. This, along with her work on shows like Westworld, The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, Kung Fu,
