Costume Designer Sandy Powell’s Magic Touch on Mary Poppins Returns

Three-time Oscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell came to the production of Mary Poppins Returns with fond memories of the 1964 original, which was the first film she ever saw as a child. She was excited to be a part of creating the look of this new incarnation of the beloved nanny, especially the iconic arrival costume. She spoke to The Credits about the challenges and joys of working on one of the most anticipated films of the year.

Singing Camels & Talking Ceramics: Inside Mary Poppins Returns‘ Sound Design

There is a special type of person who could tell you what it sounds like to dance inside of a ceramic bowl. They could also describe what a singing camel sounds like under a big top circus tent. These people would just as readily know the kind of musical rhythm attributed to a bicyclist dashing through the streets of London. Those who are endowed with this ability are the master sound artists crafting the musical fantasy event of the year.

Filmmakers Bring Personal Stakes to Movies About Teen Addicts

Heroin kills and meth destroys, now more than ever. Hollywood has long dramatized the perils of adult drug addiction in films like Frank Sinatra’s The Man With the Golden Arm, Al Pacino’s breakout The Panic in Needle Park, Gus VanSant’s bleak Drug Store Cowboy, and the gonzo Trainspotting. But in the face of a 10 percent uptick in drug-related suicides in America last year according to a recent study,

Director Anne Fletcher on Bringing Dumplin’ From Book to Screen

Shot outside of Atlanta over 30 days, with superstars Jennifer Aniston and Dolly Parton lending their respective acting and musical talents, director Anne Fletcher’s Dumplin’ mists your eyes and makes you laugh in equal, heartfelt measure. The independent movie, based on the YA novel of the same name, follows plus-size teenager Willowdean (Danielle Macdonald) as she signs up for her small Texas town’s beauty pageant, ostensibly to make a statement. What ensues is a life-changing experience for “Will” as well as many of her fellow contestants,

Off With Their Wigs! Mary Queen of Scots‘s Hair & Makeup Genius Jenny Shircore

This holiday season we’ve been graced with not one but two incredible examples of hair and makeup mastery. The first came in Yorgos Lanthimos’ hilarious The Favourite, which captures the lunacy at court (and in the bedroom) of Queen Anne (a sensational Olivia Colman), who close friend Lady Sarah (Rachel Weisz) goes to war, so to speak, with a new servant Abigail (Emma Stone) over the queen’s affection.

Exclusive: Anime Auteur Talks About the Child Heroes of Mirai

GKIDS has produced six Oscar-nominated animated pictures since 2015 and its latest effort, Mirai, is shaping up to be another Academy contender. Created by Japanese auteur Mamoru Hosoda for Studio Chizu, the anime feature follows adorable four-year-old Kum, who resents the arrival of his equally adorable baby sister. Time traveling adventures ensue when Kum magically meets up with a future version of his sister after she’s become a fun-loving teenager.

How Head Full of Honey Production Designer Isabel von Forster Creates a Beautiful Trip

A grandfather is losing his memory to Alzheimer’s, and the family member with the most patience and understanding for his gentle if frustrated, increasingly addled ways, is a child. It was the premise of actor-turned-director Til Schweiger’s 2014 German hit, Honig im Kopf, and four years later, he revisits the universal concept for Anglophone audiences in the homonymous Head Full of Honey.

Nick Nolte revives the role of Amadeus (in the original: Amandus,

Black Lightning Star Cress Williams on TV’s Most Human Superhero

The CW has been delivering the superhero goods on the small screen for years now, but things have gotten really interesting since 2014. That was the year the network began airing a yearly crossover event that involved many of the stars from their live-action series.  The event, called the “Arrowverse,” connects the superheroes from Arrow, The Flash, and Supergirl, while including folks like Superman, John Constantine and more.

Going Deep With ABC’s A Million Little Things‘ Rising Star Christina Ochoa

A few short years ago, A Million Little Things star Christina Ochoa was driving for Uber in Los Angeles, wondering whether or not she should go back to Spain. The grand-niece of the 1959 Noble Prize winner Severo Ochoa (a physician and biochemist who secured the prize for his work on the synthesis of RNA) and the daughter of acclaimed Spanish sculptor Victor Ochoa, Ochoa has many other passions. She has a deep,

How Russell Hornsby Prepared for Emotional Role of Starr’s Dad in The Hate U Give

The Hate U Give takes no time to build up to the powerful message it delivers. The film opens on one of its most important and intimate scenes. A father, tough and terrified, lectures his seemingly too young kids on how to interact with police officers. Their mother tries to temper his tone, but he knows his children are entering a world where he is running out of time to protect them. Russell Hornsby offers a raw portrayal of a private moment every parent wishes they didn’t have to have.

Writer/Director Jason Reitman & Screenwriter Jay Carson on Raising Questions in The Front Runner

Three-time Academy Award-nominated filmmaker Jason Reitman makes “discussion” movies  —  movies that prompt questions people talk about after watching.

“I don’t trust any filmmaker that says they have all the answers. I make movies because I have questions,” the writer/director told The Credits at a screening of his new film The Front Runner at the Denver Film Festival.

“All my movies have questions and they leave open-ended because I want the audience to walk out and view the rest of their life through the lens of the movie,” he said.

Ralph Breaks the Internet Co-Directors on Harnessing Disney Princess Power

Ralph Breaks the Internet goes viral in theaters Thanksgiving weekend, one of the most coveted times of the year for Hollywood releases. 2012’s Wreck-It Ralph gleaned an Oscar nomination for director Rich Moore and became a huge hit. We spoke to Moore and his co-director, Phil Johnston, who co-wrote the screenplay for Ralph Breaks the Internet with Pamela Ribon, about building a Disney sequel with both hard edges and sentimentality.

Costume Designer Betsy Heimann Savors a Vintage Look in Green Book

Charming characters in beautiful clothes battle ugly Jim Crow racism in the opposites-attract period piece Green Book. Inspired by a true story, the movie follows sophisticated black pianist Don Shirley (Oscar-winner Mahershala Ali) and his earthy driver/valet/bodyguard Tony Lip (Viggo Mortensen) as they forge a friendship traveling through the segregationist south on a concert tour in 1962. Costume designer Betsy Heimann envisioned Shirley as a man who uses clothes to make a statement.

Beautiful Boy‘s Production Designer Builds a World of Heartbreak & Hope

A desire for anonymity may be rare in the movie business, but production designer Ethan Tobman, whose credits include Room and most recently Beautiful Boy, doesn’t want audiences to notice his work.

“Whenever you’re designing contemporary drama, especially anything that’s inspired by real events, you want to support and create a unique world with an instant sense of intellectual and emotional empathy. And you want to do it subtly,” he says.

The Favourite‘s DP on Creating one of the Year’s Most Ravishing (and Funny) Films

Before The Favourite came his way, Robbie Ryan had never worked with Yorgos Lanthimos, but he did admire the Greek director’s offbeat art house films Dogtooth and Killing of a Sacred Deer. So when Lanthimos invited Ryan to shoot his 18th-century black comedy about Queen Anne (Olivia Colman) and rival courtiers (Rachel Weisz and Emma Stone), the Irish cinematographer, fresh off indie film triumph American Honey,

Rosamund Pike & Director Matthew Heineman on Their Riveting Biopic A Private War

A Private War is the story of the intrepid journalist Marie Colvin, who endured terrible trauma including the loss of an eye and post-traumatic stress disorder before being killed in Syria during the siege of Homs. Rosamund Pike, who plays Colvin, and director Matthew Heineman talked to The Credits about blending documentary and narrative and about Colvin’s contradictions and convictions.

Tell me about how you created the physicality Marie Colvin,

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs Production Designer on How the West Was Built

Joel and Ethan Coen‘s new anthology western The Ballad of Buster Scruggs offers six darkly comic 19th-century vignettes designed by the brothers’ longtime collaborator Jess Gonchor. Oscar-nominated for his contributions to the Coens’ True Grit and Hail, Caesar!, Gonchor initially thought the movie, which launches Friday on Netflix, would be a snap. “When the guys gave me the script and I read it top to bottom,

Instant Family Writer/Director Sean Anders Plumbs his Personal Life for Foster Care Film

All films scripts have some degree of personal connection to the writer. But for Sean Anders, the writer-director best known for comedies like Sex Drive (2008),  That’s My Boy (2012) and Daddy’s Home (2015), his latest, Instant Family, mixes heartfelt drama with laughs as it mirrors Anders’s own experiences adopting three kids through the foster care system seven years ago.

Instant Family is about a couple,

Maria by Callas Writer/Director Tom Volf on Revealing the Person Behind the Legend

Maria by Callas writer/director Tom Volf discovered opera only 7 years ago, yet he very quickly found a passion for the fascinating artistic and personal life of Greek-American opera legend Maria Callas. Delving into copious research, he unearthed never-before-seen footage, photographs, recordings, and interviews. The result is a film created entirely from Callas’s own words. It is a fascinating look at art, fame, and the life of a woman of her time. We spoke to Volf about the complications of building a film in that way,

The Girl in the Spider’s Web‘s Location Manager Shares Secrets of Swapping Cities

Later this fall, Stieg Larsson’s Lisbeth Salander, defender of women, computer hacker, and iconic pale Swede, returns to American cinema via Sony Pictures’ The Girl in the Spider’s Web. Claire Foy succeeds Rooney Mara and Noomi Rapace in the role, and Fede Alvarez replaces David Fincher in directing the sequel to the American adaptation of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. The story itself is the fourth in Larsson’s Millennium crime thriller series,