Interview

Director

Jennifer Morrison On How Acting Prepared Her for Her Moving Directorial Debut Sun Dogs

Jennifer Morrison has created some of the most lovable characters on film. Dr. Allison Cameron in House, Emma Swan in Once Upon a Time, and Winona Kirk in Star Trek are all strong and captivating women we love to watch on screen. Now, Morrison is shaping compelling new characters from behind the lens in her feature film directorial debut Sun Dogs.

Now on Netflix,

By Kelle Long  |  July 6, 2018

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

Writer/Director Boots Riley on his Staggeringly Original Sorry to Bother You

Sorry To Bother You is coming to a theater near you, courtesy of Annapurna Pictures, after being one of the most buzzed about films shown at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

The directorial debut from Boots Riley, articulate troublemaker and frontman for the band The Coup, has had a bumpy but fascinating road making it to the screen. This satiric, decidedly trippy film is about a young, seemingly malleable telemarketer named Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield) and his girlfriend,

By Leslie Combemale  |  July 5, 2018

Interview

Composer

Jimi Hendrix-Style Cello Hybrid Defines Sicario: Day of the Soldado‘s Brooding Score

Icelandic musician Hildur Guðnadóttir was all over the first Sicario movie: She played the cello throughout the Oscar-nominated score written by her longtime collaborator Jóhann Jóhannsson. He died suddenly this winter. For the sequel Sicario: Day of the Soldado, Guðnadóttir scored the picture herself, but this time around, she cranked up the sense of menace by playing a one-of-a-kind instrument dubbed the “dorophone.” “It’s based on a cello,

By Hugh Hart  |  July 5, 2018

Interview

Director

How Director Kevin Macdonald Uncovered Bombshell Allegations in his Whitney Houston Doc

Before he shot Whitney, Scottish documentarian Kevin Macdonald did not consider himself a particularly avid Whitney Houston fan. The Oscar-winning director (One Day in September) preferred The Clash back in the day when Houston dominated pop music with her unmatched vocal power. “I was not into that kind of mainstream poppiness,” he says. “At the time you couldn’t avoid her music, but it was kind of unhip to like Whitney Houston.”

By Hugh Hart  |  July 5, 2018

Interview

Hair/Makeup

Good Skin and the ‘Western Squint’ Give Godless a Natural Look

Since the dawn of cinema, and on radio before it, lawless battles of good and evil on a new frontier have captured audiences. Then, Godless offered something entirely new in the grief-stricken community of La Belle, New Mexico. A town with a nearly all-female population, following a town tragedy, becomes caught in the crossfire of rival outlaws and they prove to be even stronger than their male aggressors. Godless makeup designer Tarra Day has worked on all manner of Westerns including Appaloosa,

By Kelle Long  |  July 3, 2018

Interview

Costume Designer

Costume Designer Stephanie Maslansky on Bringing Harlem Style to Luke Cage

In the first season of Netflix’s adaption of the Marvel superhero comic Luke Cage, Luke, née Carl Lucas (Mike Colter) emerges from a quiet Harlem existence to fight his neighborhood’s most nefarious criminals. With inhuman strength and unbreakable skin, Luke is in a unique position to go head-to-head, or body-to-bullets, with local gangster Cornell “Cottonmouth” Stokes (Mahershala Ali) and his lackeys, and later in the season, Willis “Diamondback” Stryker (Erik LaRay Harvey).

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  July 2, 2018

Interview

Actor

Skyscraper‘s Byron Mann Talks Dwayne Johnson, Action Pics and TV

Byron Mann is a remarkably versatile actor who appears opposite Dwayne Johnson in the upcoming action thriller Skyscraper, which looks like a combination of Die Hard and Towering Inferno. In an interview, the star of Arrow, The Big Short, Hell on Wheels, and Street Fighter, talks about the challenges of the green screen, getting fit for shirts-off action scenes,

By Nell Minow  |  July 2, 2018

Interview

Director

Pose Guest director Tina Mabry On the Groundbreaking Show

Though the month of June is Pride month, Hollywood should ideally be celebrating the LGBTQIA experience year-round, in the name of diversity.

Luckily, a new show on FX, Pose, has premiered to great acclaim, and week by week is gathering an appropriately rabid fanbase.  Creator/writers Steven Canals, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy (Murphy also directs two episodes) have built a story which takes place in 1987,

By Leslie Combemale  |  June 29, 2018

Interview

Sound Designer

Sound Designer Gives Voice to the Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Dinosaurs

The roaring reptiles of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom sound simply terrifying but in fact, each CGI dinosaur required a complex blend of custom audio elements to achieve maximum impact. To create vocalizations that would distinguish one creature from the next, Skywalker Sound artisans pulled from an arsenal of elements ranging from Styrofoam and dental drills to snarling Chihuahuas. Supervising Sound Designer Al Nelson says “All the dinosaurs wind up in the same field running away from a volcano,

By Hugh Hart  |  June 29, 2018

Interview

Composer

How Ryan Lofty Helps Make Every Day Sound Like Saturday on Harvey Street

Ryan Lofty comes from humble beginnings in Robins, Iowa, raised in a log cabin his parents built. With his insanely sweet, talented piano-and-organ-playing mother, he grew up in a household that appreciated music in all its forms. “I went through all the phases… played trumpet in high school band, went to college on a jazz scholarship, toured the country with a rock group, and ended up in California as a DJ… turns out, experience with a lot of genres really helps with producing music for TV.

By Macey Sevcik  |  June 28, 2018

Interview

Actor

Mj Rodriguez on Breaking Out as Blanca on Ryan Murphy’s Pose

For many actresses, playing a lead role in a television show is a personal accomplishment. For Mj Rodriguez, who stars in the new FX series Pose, it’s so much more than that.

Rodriguez, a native of New Jersey who got her start in musical theater and has appeared on Nurse Jackie and Luke Cage, speaks of her casting as a triumph not only for herself but for all transgender women.

By Christine Champagne  |  June 28, 2018

Interview

Actor

Chloë Grace Moretz on Why She Had to Have The Miseducation of Cameron Post

It’s hard to believe that Chloë Grace Moretz is just 21. Besides her poise, sophistication and groundedness, the Georgia native has amassed a diverse body of work, ranging from genre fare like Kick-Ass and Let Me In to acclaimed indies with renowned directors. She played Isabelle in Martin Scorsese’s Hugo when she was 14, and faced off with Juliette Binoche, as one actress manipulating another on- and offscreen, in Olivier Assayas’ Clouds of Sils Maria.

By Loren King  |  June 27, 2018

Interview

Composer

Bringing the Music of the Muppets to a New Generation of Muppet Babies

There are few American icons that have been more places, done more things, and spread more joy than the Muppets. Miss Piggy, Animal, Fozzie, Gonzo, and of course, Kermit, are always game for an adventure. Music has always been an integral part of their career as entertainers. Andy Bean pens catchy tunes while composer Keith Horn writes the score for a younger generation of Muppets fans. And also, a younger generation of Muppets. Disney Junior relaunched Muppet Babies in March featuring the puppet heroes in toddler form.

By Kelle Long  |  June 26, 2018

Interview

Production Designer

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom’s Production Designer Takes on the Indoraptor

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom boasts more dinosaurs than any previous film in the Jurassic franchise—combined. While prehistoric mayhem set in the present is precisely what Jurassic fans expect, it’s a major challenge for the film crew. This was especially true for production designer Andy Nicholson, who was tasked with creating a literal house of horrors for director J.A. Bayona. With the action in Fallen Kingdom moving from Isla Nublar to the mainland,

By Bryan Abrams  |  June 22, 2018

Interview

Showrunner

Preacher Showrunner Sam Catlin on Grandma Driving Season 3’s Insane Misadventures

It had to happen eventually, according to showrunner Sam Catlin, so Preacher Season 3 begins this Sunday, June 24, at the creepy Angelville plantation ruled by the terrifying spell-caster known as “Grandma.” Fans of the comic book source material figured the matriarch would show up at some point, but they didn’t expect her to be portrayed by Betty Buckley, the Broadway musical icon. “Betty‘s got this great authority and her audition was incredible,”

By Hugh Hart  |  June 22, 2018

Interview

Screenwriter

Screenwriter Olivia Milch on Penning the Perfect Crime in Ocean’s 8

Ocean’s 8, Warner Bros.’ all-female crime caper headlined by Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Sarah Paulson, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Helena Bonham Carter, Rihanna and Awkwafina, has arguably been one of the most anticipated films of summer 2018. What’s undeniable is the soaring success of the film’s co-writer Olivia Milch, touted by Variety as one of “10 Screenwriters to Watch” in 2016.

Milch collaborated with Ocean’s 8 director Gary Ross on the script,

By Julie Jacobs  |  June 21, 2018

Interview

Actor

Merritt Wever Transitions From Loopy Nurse to Frontier Toughie in Godless

Merritt Wever has no idea why she was picked to play a tough frontier woman in Netflix western Godless, but the New York actress wasn’t about to ask questions when writer-director-creator Scott Frank came calling. “I don’t go nosing around like that,” says Wever, who won a 2013 Emmy co-starring in Nurse Jackie as Edie Falco’s sly, exuberant sidekick Zoey Barkow.

Standing in extreme contrast to Zoey, Wever’s Emmy-buzzed portrayal of Mary Agnes McNue celebrates a gun-wielding bisexual badass who defends the frontier town of LaBelle in 1884 after all the menfolk get killed in a catastrophic mining accident.

By Hugh Hart  |  June 21, 2018

Interview

Art Director

Incredibles 2‘s Shading Art Director Reveals the Film’s Insane Level of Detail

Like production designer Ralph Eggleston, with whom we spoke about putting together the look of Incredibles 2, shading art director Bryn Imagire is a longtime Pixar collaborator. Since working as a computer graphics painter on 1998’s A Bug’s Life, Imagire has been a member of the visual effects or art departments of Coco, Ratatouille, UP,

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  June 18, 2018

Interview

Production Designer

Production Designer Ralph Eggleston on Creating the World of Incredibles 2 – Part 2

After a fourteen year interlude, director Brad Bird’s second installment starrring Pixar’s beloved animated superhero family, Incredibles 2, came out this week. As Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson), Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), and their children Violet (Sarah Vowell), Dashiell (Huck Milner), and baby Jack-Jack attempt to navigate a comeback, a first love, math, and a wild array of newfound superpowers (respectively), the audience is treated to a seamless retro-futuristic setting for the endeavors.

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  June 18, 2018

Interview

Production Designer

Production Designer Ralph Eggleston on Creating the World of Incredibles 2 – Part I

Fourteen years after Pixar’s The Incredibles anticipated Hollywood’s wave of superhero titles with the charming, animated, crime-fighting Parr family, director Brad Bird revisits the Parrs right where he left them — undercover, in a 1950s-era strip motel. At the beginning of Incredibles 2, Mr. Incredible (Craig T. Nelson) and Elastigirl (Holly Hunter), Mom and Dad Parr, have messily and unsuccessfully taken on a bank villain, and their superhero program is getting the axe.

By Susannah Edelbaum  |  June 18, 2018