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,
Meet the Caricaturist who Created Once Upon a Time in…Hollywood‘s Classic MAD Magazine Cover
Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood takes place in 1969 and it is filled with meticulously researched and re-created period detail. Leonardo DiCaprio plays television star Rick Dalton, whose western series was once a big hit but whose career has faded. How bad is it for Rick? He’s relegated to doing guest shots on other shows. One indication of his former success is the magazine covers he appeared on,
Bringing the Beautiful Beasts of Crawl to Life
It didn’t take much to convince Adrien Morot to sign on for the new feature Crawl. The producers had him at “alligator.”
When the makeup effects artist heard that the thriller involved a family of deadly reptiles terrorizing a small Florida town flooded by a hurricane, he immediately wanted in.
“I was like, ‘Holy crap, Yes,’” says Morot. “I was five years old when Jaws came out.
How I Am Mother‘s Editor Cut Netflix’s Chilling Sci-Fi Thriller
Humankind has all but gone extinct, but Mother (Rose Byrne) is on the case. The fact that Mother is a dulcet-voiced robot shouldn’t alarm you—at least, not yet. Her mission is to repopulate the earth, and she begins her work with a little girl (whom she simply calls daughter) who is all but perfect. Daughter grows up (played as a teenager by Clara Rugaard) loving Mother, learning from her, dutifully studying for her tests and essentially excelling at everything Mother throws at her.
Deconstructing Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’s With his Cinematographer Robert Richardson
When you dig past the humorous and unnerving storylines of Quentin Tarantino’s ninth film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, you’ll find a serious tale about friendship.
Set in 1969, Rick Dalton (Leonardo DiCaprio), a fading Western star trying to stay relevant in Tinseltown has one sure thing—his stunt double Cliff Booth (Brad Pitt). Booth’s past includes being a war hero and some domestic trouble,
Digging Doom Patrol‘s Signature Look With Costume Designer Laura Jean Shannon
The members of the Costume Designers Guild who joined the panel at San Diego Comic-Con hope you watch their shows multiple times in hi-def and that you hit the pause button now and then. They have always been obsessed with detail and they have always enjoyed putting little in-jokes and Easter eggs into those details for their own satisfaction and amusement, but for the first time, new technologies have made it possible for the audience to see and appreciate those details as well.
Meet the Sound Team That Helped The Lion King Roar
After a massive worldwide opening weekend, it’s safe to say the iconic songs from 1994 Disney animated classic The Lion King are still infectious.
In the retelling of the story, not only did director Jon Favreau bring back the original Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer and songs from Elton John and Tim Rice, but he added icons Pharrell Williams as a producer and Beyoncé singing “Spirit” and “Can You Feel the Love Tonight” as Nala.
How the Spider-Man: Far From Home Writers Crafted a Swinging Summer Hit
They first worked together on TV satire American Dad, then mastered the dysfunctional dark comedy of Community before breaking into features by subverting superhero conventions with their neurotic title character in The Lego Batman Movie. Now, screenwriters Erik Sommers and Chris McKenna are riding high as the team who scripted Spider-Man: Far From Home. The rare summer hit that’s won over critics as well as audiences,
Shahadi Wright Joseph on Becoming the Young Nala in The Lion King
Young Nala in Disney’s new remake of The Lion King (which opens today) might be a lioness cub, but she’s nothing less than a princess. After all, Nala grows up to be Queen, at which she’s played by none other than Beyoncé. But the young Nala, voiced by 14-year-old Shahadi Wright Joseph, is very much in the tradition of feisty young Disney heroines from Mulan to Frozen’s Elsa to Brave’s Merida.
Spider-Man: Far From Home—A Tale Told on Three Bridges
Peter Parker’s summertime journey through Europe in Spider-Man: Far From Home is an American teenager’s dream. His science class trip hits Venice, Prague, Austria, and London, with Peter (Tom Holland) making Spider-Man work detours to Berlin and the Netherlands. In reality, the majority of the production relied on locations in Italy and the Czech Republic, with sets built on a backlot in the UK’s Leavesden Studios providing a backdrop for the film’s stunts and visual effects.
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,
Meet the Managing Director of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library
Mary Walsh says she has the best job in the Walt Disney Company, but she might just have the best job in the world – she is the managing director of the Walt Disney Animation Research Library and she oversees the Walt Disney Studios Ink & Paint Department, which was instrumental in the early days of animation. Those are the artists who actually translate the animated drawings to create and the images that as a moviegoer you would see on the screen.
Toy Story 4‘s Story Supervisor Valerie LaPointe on Bo Peep, Gabby Gabby & More
The trilogy of the first three Toy Story installments may have seemed complete, but Woody, Buzz, and the rest of the gang are back for another round in director Josh Cooley’s addition to the franchise, and they’ve got a new set of responsibilities to the child in their life, Bonnie. The story gets going with the tyke’s reluctant entry to pre-school, a topic of much debate among her playthings. Woody (Tom Hanks) is no longer top toy,
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,
How a Global VFX Effort Animated the Lovable, Lunatic Aliens in Men in Black: International
From Sony Pictures Imageworks headquarters in Culver City, California, visual effects supervisor Dan Kramer helped coordinate a worldwide array of CGI artists to produce some 2000 VFX shots for the aptly named Men In Black: International. Kramer, who previously animated Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Hotel Transylvania before switching to live action on Tom Cruise thriller Edge of Tomorrow, joined forces with visual effects supervisor Jerome Chen to manage the massive CGI pipeline feeding MIB: International.
How Yesterday’s Producer Made the Beatles-Themed Film Come Together
The nobody-knows-who-the-Beatles-are high concept driving Yesterday (opening Friday) may not have originated with producer Tim Bevan, but the Working Title co-chairman responsible for five Oscar-nominated movies knew exactly how to take the idea and run with it. American humorist Jack Barth created the fantastical scenario about a busker who wakes up from a bike crash and discovers that he’s the only one in the world who remembers the music created by John,
Marwan Kenzari on Becoming Jafar in Aladdin
There’s a lot more to Dutch actor Marwan Kenzari’s than even his highest profile role to date, the villain Jafar in Disney’s live-action musical Aladdin, might indicate.
A classically trained stage actor in his native the Netherlands, Kenzari auditioned for the role of sinister Jafar by singing; the character’s song never made it into the movie.
“I was talking to Alan Menken, the amazing writer of [the film’s] songs,
Los Espookys Co-Creator & Breakout Star Ana Fabrega on her new HBO Series
On June 30, New York City will celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which catalyzed the contemporary gay rights movement as we know it. As a gay filmmaker and comedic performer who was born the year Stonewall took place, I’m thrilled that, especially in the last few years, mainstream entertainment has embraced a new unashamed and unfiltered breed of LGBTQ comedian. Case in point: The superb new HBO comedy Los Espookys.
How Mood & Lighting Established Tone in The Last Black Man in San Francisco
The Last Black Man in San Francisco marks the feature debut for director Joe Talbot, an allegory that puts a spotlight on the childhood dream and the effects of gentrification.
Inspired by the real-life story of Jimmie Fails, who plays a fictionalized version of himself, Fails, with the help of his best friend Mont (Jonathan Majors), go on a journey to take back the family home his grandfather built but lost ownership of when he was a young child.
Laura Dern on Finding Renata in Big Little Lies
When Laura Dern took on the character of Renata Klein for HBO’s mammoth hit Big Little Lies three years ago, she knew exploring the emotional life of this alpha female wasn’t going to be her focal point. The character is tough, all business, and doesn’t have a lot of friends – not the least of which her co-stars’ characters, played by Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz (and,