Interview

Producer

Hardcore Henry Producer Timur Bekmambetov on the Groundbreaking POV Film

When an action film is at its best, it becomes easy to imagine yourself at the center of the action, jumping building to building, bolting down busy streets and going mano a mano with your attackers. But in the case of Hardcore Henry, the world’s first feature-length action film shot entirely in POV, that feeling of immersion is simply part of the deal.

The premise is simple: a nameless protagonist – you,

By  |  March 21, 2016

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

SXSW 2016: Writer/Director Sophie Goodhart on her Hilarious My Blind Brother

In the opening sequence of My Blind Brother, you meet Robbie (Adam Scott), physically fit save for the dark shades and the sweaty, anguished man he's pulling along via a tether that suggests his titular affliction. That man is his brother Bill (Nick Kroll), who Robbie has just dragged through an entire Marathon. And although he needs Bill, once they cross the finish line Robbie all but forgets Bill exists, thanking the person who was with him "every step of the way,"…God.

By  |  March 18, 2016

Interview

Actor

Alexander Skarsgård Reveals his Wild Side in The Legend of Tarzan Trailer

Still probably best known for playing the hunky bloodsucker Eric on True Blood, Alexander Skarsgård will likely get a few more fans once  The Legend of Tarzan bows. 

Based on the iconic Edgar Rice Burroughs character, director David Yates (a Harry Potter maestro) has Skarsgård's jungle's prince now going as a man named John Clayton III, Lord Greystoke, who's enjoying a life of civility with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) in 1880s London.

By  |  March 17, 2016

Interview

Director, Producer

SXSW 2016: Director Todd Bieber & Legendary Sketch Comedians Matt Walsh & Matt Besser on Thank You Del

You've probably never heard of Del Close, but you’ve definitely heard of the people he’s taught, inspired, and helped turn into legends—Bill Murray, Amy Poehler, and Chris Farley to name a few. Director Todd Bieber, who has directed for Comedy Central, Vice, IFC, and more, was approached by legendary sketch performers, actors and co-founders of The Upright Citizen’s Brigade, Matt Walsh (Veep, Step Brothers) and Matt Besser (The UCB Show,

By  |  March 17, 2016

Interview

Actor, Director

Join Jack Huston for a Deadly Chariot Race in 1st Ben-Hur Trailer

Hoo-boy! Director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Night Watch), a man who knows his way around an action film, sure looks like he had some fun filming Ben-Hur Paramount Pictures just released the first trailer for the film, which opens on August 12, and appears to be a visceral remake of the 1959 classic. Ben-Hur is a legendary tale of betrayal and redemption,

By  |  March 16, 2016

Interview

Actor, Director, Screenwriter

SXSW 2016: Writer/Director Joey Klein, Tatiana Maslany & Tom Cullen on The Other Half

Joey Klein’s The Other Half manages to be both a beautifully shot tone poem about grief and loss, and a deftly written drama about two people at loose ends who find in each other a glimmer of hope. The lead performances from Tom Cullen and Tatiana Maslany are outstanding, and writer/director Klein allows them plenty of room to experiment with the varieties of grief, hope and regret that each character struggles with throughout.

By  |  March 16, 2016

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

Writer/Director Emmanuelle Bercot on Standing Tall

French actress and director Emmanuelle Bercot took the Cannes Film Festival by storm in 2015. She starred in Maiwenn’s Mon roi (My King) which garnered Bercot the festival’s Best Actress prize. Meanwhile, La Tete haute (Standing Tall), which Bercot cowrote and directed, kicked off the prestigious festival, making Bercot the first female director to open Cannes since 1987.

Bercot says that as an actress and a viewer,

By  |  March 16, 2016

Interview

Actor, Director, Producer

Steven Spielberg & Harrison Ford to Reunite for Indiana Jones

Disney just broke the big news—Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford are reuniting for Indiana Jones, with The Force Awakens super producer Kathleen Kennedy on board to produce. This is pretty major news. Here's the full presser:

SPIELBERG AND FORD REUNITE AS INDIANA JONES RETURNS TO THEATERS JULY 19, 2019

Indiana Jones will return to the big screen on July 19, 2019, for a fifth epic adventure in the blockbuster series. Steven Spielberg,

By  |  March 15, 2016

Interview

Art Director

Check out This Gorgeous Star Wars: The Force Awakens Concept Art

Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) has just released a bunch of concept art from Star Wars: The Force Awakensall of which is totally mind-blowing. Some of these pieces were more or less exactly what eventually appeared in the film (like the shot of the TIE Fighters advancing against the backdrop of a huge setting sun), while others depict what could have been a totally different version of the story.

By  |  March 15, 2016

Interview

Actor

SXSW Alumni: Ed Helms’ Start in Austin

Ed Helms is yet another actor who can credibly claim his career started at SXSW. The star of The Office and The Hangover movies made his acting debut in Blackballed: The Bobby Dukes Story, which was released at the 2004 South by Southwest Film Festival and won the Audience Award. The film is an improvisational comedy set in the world of paintball.

By  |  March 15, 2016

Interview

Director

Talking to Eye in the Sky Director Gavin Hood

Entering a conference room in a downtown Washington hotel, South African director Gavin Hood is carrying a book about drones, which are central to his new film, Eye in the Sky. He's clearly fascinated by the technology, as well as the policy questions they raise. Hood mentions his pleasure in visiting D.C., where drone warfare is a matter of widespread professional interest. His previous movies include Rendition,

By  |  March 15, 2016

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

SXSW 2016: The Duplass Brothers, A Journey that Began in Austin

The Duplass Brothers (Mark and Jay) were back at SXSW on Saturday to discuss their successful careers and provide some words of wisdom to filmmakers who are just starting off. Austin is where is all started for the New Orleans natives; they filmed their first feature film, The Puffy Chair, in Austin.

Their talk had the generous feel of a commencement address—here were two successful alums, grateful and humble, ready to share their hard-earned wisdom.

By  |  March 14, 2016

Interview

Actor

SXSW 2016: Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele’s Keanu Brings Down the House

If fans had it their way, Key & Peele would have probably never ended. Yet when it did, after five seasons, all you could do was applaud; here were two guys going out on top after creating one of the best comedy sketch shows of all time. Before their feature film debut, Keanuplayed here as a work-in-progress, a great documentary called Thank you Del: The Story of the Del Close Marathon 

By  |  March 13, 2016

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

SXSW 2016: Ilana Glazer & Abbi Jacobson Talk Hillary Clinton, Broad City & More

YAS QUEEN! Ilana Glazer and Abbi Jacobson of Comedy Central’s Broad City brought their special brand of irreverence and humor to SXSW on Saturday. Featured on a panel hosted by Maria Clare’s editor-in-chief, Anne Fulenwider, the friends chatted about their hilarious comedy and so much more.

Starting as a web series, Broad City made its television premiere in January 2014. The third season, which began on February 17, 2016,

By  |  March 13, 2016

Interview

Director

SXSW Alumni: Bryan Singer’s Start in Austin

We've already looked at Trey Parker and Matt Stone's SXSW debut, as well as Lena Dunham's. Now we turn our attention to one of the most prolific director's working today. The first edition of SXSW’s film festival hosted the regional premiere of Public Access, the debut feature by Bryan Singer and his screenwriting partner Christopher McQuarrie. Their follow-up, The Usual Suspects,

By  |  March 13, 2016

Interview

Director

SXSW 2016: Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some a Perfect Festival Opener

There are few filmmakers out there who have had as big of an impact on their city as Richard Linklater has had on Austin. Festival director Janet Pierson introduced Everybody Wants Some, saying that Linklater was the reason she moved to Austin in the first place. She then handed the reigns over to Lewis Black, founder of the Austin Chronicle and cofounder of Austin's SXSW festival, as well as the director of the documentary Richard Linklater: dream is destiny

By  |  March 12, 2016

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

SXSW Alumni: Lena Dunham’s Start in Austin

Girls creator Lena Dunham can credibly say that her career officially began at the SXSW Film Festival. It started with the rejection of her short film Creative Nonfiction. Instead of giving up on it, Dunham kept working on it and re-submitted the film. The determination paid off— Creative Nonfiction was accepted. When she came to Austin with the film, she not only had what she called "the best week of her life"

By  |  March 12, 2016

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

The Hilarious Writer/Director Michael Showalter Discusses Hello, My Name Is Doris

Hello, My Name is Doris, the latest comedy from Wet Hot American Summer co-creator Michael Showalter, stars Sally Field as a woman falling in love for the first time. We talk to the writer/director about creating a new type of comic protagonist, landing Sally Field and having to be the bad guy on set.

Hello, My Name is Doris started as a short film.

By  |  March 11, 2016

Interview

Screenwriter

SXSW Alumni: Trey Parker & Matt Stone’s Start in Austin

As we settle into Austin and prepare for SXSW 2016, we're also looking back at some of the great careers that were launched here. We begin with longtime creative partners Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who brought their animated short, The Spirit of X-Mas and its' cadre of soon-to-be-infamous characters—Cartman, Stan, Kyle and Kenny—to South by Southwest in 1997. Yet their road to SXSW began years earlier, in 1992,  when Parker and Stone, then students at the University of Colorado,

By  |  March 11, 2016

Interview

Actor

Hilarious NSFW Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping Trailer Debuts

Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping is the 10 Cloverfield Lane of comedies; it came out of nowhere and now it feels like an absolute must see. We're not saying this is the most hilarious trailer ever, but, it sure looks like one of the most hilarious of this young year, which is not surprising considering it's coming from The Lonely Island comedy troupe (Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer,

By  |  March 10, 2016