Production Designer Mark Ricker on Creating the Sumptuous “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”

During the course of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, based on the 1982 play by August Wilson, blues star Ma Rainey (Viola Davis) reveals the lengths it takes to counter the racial economic exploitation of the 1920s, while down in the practice room, her band members recount the horrors of Jim Crow. The film, directed by George C. Wolfe (The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks), which debuted on Netflix on December 18th,

Jo Ellen Pellman & Ariana DeBose on Finding Love & Acceptance in Ryan Murphy’s “The Prom”

Helmed by Ryan Murphy, the ebullient musical dramedy The Prom is bringing some much-needed holiday cheer to our December. Meryl Streep, James Corden, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Rannells play four fading Broadway performers who reach for relevance again by championing a newsworthy cause in small-town Indiana. Queer teen Emma (newcomer Jo Ellen Pellman) wants to take her girlfriend Alyssa Greene (Ariana DeBose) to the high school prom,

Elliot Page’s Powerful Open Letter About Coming Out as Transgender, Non-Binary

“I can’t begin to express how remarkable it feels to finally love who I am enough to pursue my authentic self,” Elliot Page wrote in a statement heard around the entertainment industry and the world on Tuesday. The Oscar-nominated actor and one of the stars of Netflix’s current hit series The Umbrella Academy announced he is transgender. Formerly known as Ellen Page, Elliot shared this news via a moving Instagram post.

Moses Ingram on her Debut role as Jolene in “The Queen’s Gambit”

Moses Ingram stepped off the stage at Yale and immediately onto the set of The Queen’s Gambit. The acting newcomer had only two weeks between graduating from the Yale School of Drama in May of last year and flying to Toronto to begin filming. 

“The first scene I filmed was a little snippet of the car pulling up and [me] stepping out of the car,” Ingram said. “I definitely overthought it though because I’m like driving in this old-school,

Welcome to Studio Babelsberg’s Rainbow Stage—A Tribute to Lana and Lilly Wachowski

“I’ll show these people what you don’t want them to see. A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible.” Neo (Keanu Reeves), The Matrix, 1999

To honor the groundbreaking filmmakers Lana and Lilly Wachowski and simultaneously promote a message of tolerance, respect, and diversity, Germany’s Studio Babelsberg in Potsdam recently renamed its largest sound stage the Rainbow Stage (its previous title was number 20 of 21).

“Run” Cinematographer Hillary Spera on Creating Hulu’s Breathless Thriller

Co-writer and director Aneesh Chaganty’s Run moves like a thoroughbred thriller thanks to all its constituent parts working in perfect unison. The stellar cast, led by Sarah Paulson and newcomer Kiera Allen, Chagnaty’s lean script, co-written with Sev Ohanian, and Chagnaty and his crew’s exacting execution. The film is centered on the too-close-for-comfort relationship between a mother in daughter—Diane (Paulson) is a zealously devoted guardian of her daughter Chloe (Allen), who is paralyzed from the waist down and also deals with a variety of other ailments,

“His House” Writer/Director Remi Weekes on his Gut Punch Feature Debut

Back another lifetime ago, writer/director Remi Weekes‘ His House celebrated its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival this past January. Netflix quickly acquired it, and the future was looking bright for the talented filmmaker and his debut feature. You know what happened next.

Yet here we are, months later and living in our nightmarish world, with Weekes’ stunning horror film set to debut on October 30. “I’m excited,” Weekes said from London when I asked him what it felt like to finally see his film released into the wild,

“One Night In Miami” DP Tami Reiker on Regina King’s Stunning Directorial Debut

Tami Reiker has had a very busy year. She was the cinematographer on Gina Prince-Bythewood‘s The Old Guard, one of the most-viewed movies ever on Netflix, and just finished work on One Night in Miami, Regina King’s feature debut as a director. The fact-based story is about the night four friends, Malcolm X, Jim Brown, Cassius Clay, and Sam Cooke spent together on February 25th,

“A New York Christmas Wedding” Writer/Director Otoja Abit on His Debut Feature

When we attended the Savannah Film Festival in 2018, one of the filmmakers we covered was Otoja Abit, an actor who had roles in television series (The Defenders, The Night Of) and film (Stonewall), who was in Savannah to screen his short, Jitters. The 12-minute film centered on Abit’s central character, a man undergoing some last-second concerns in the moments before his wedding.

Screenwriter Madhuri Shekar on Adapting Her Own Audio Play for Blumhouse’s “Evil Eye”

This month, Blumhouse Productions has released a collection of unsettling thrillers in partnership with Amazon Prime, just in time for Halloween. One of these films is Evil Eye, in which a romance turns dark when a mother becomes convinced her daughter’s ‘perfect’ new boyfriend has supernatural connections to her own past. The story is centered in Indian and Indian-American culture, with a cast of actors that are of Indian descent,

“Selena: The Series” Harnesses a Bevy of Latinx Talent to Tell a Legend’s Story

At a time when voices denouncing the lack of diversity in media representation resound clear across the American cultural landscape, it will be beyond thrilling to watch Netflix’s Selena: The Series. The new series is a Latinx production celebrating the life of the legendary Mexican-American singer, and its production will also put the spotlight on a bounty of talented Latinx creatives.

Born in Texas into a working-class family of Mexican and Native American heritage,

Co-Director Lisa Cortés on Voting Rights Past & Present in “All In: The Fight for Democracy”

Amazon’s recent documentary about voting rights and voter suppression, All In: The Fight for Democracy, opens to newscast audio from November 6, 2018, covering the Georgia governor’s race between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp. That election, which would have seen Abrams become the country’s first African-American woman governor had she been elected, became a flashpoint for a nationwide recognizance of contemporary issues surrounding the closure of polling stations, deliberate under-training of poll monitors,

Why Radha Blank’s “The Forty-Year-Old Version” Resonates

For people in their 40s, life can often feel like it’s still waiting to start. Some are struggling to figure out what’s next for them professionally, others are contemplating starting a family — and for many (especially now), the uncertainty can feel overwhelming. For Radha Blank, her 40th year was supposed to mark her arrival as a successful playwright, but life has a way of not delivering the way we want it to.

Director Angel Manuel Soto on His High-Octane HBO Max Feature “Charm City Kings”

In some ways, it’s a story that director Angel Manuel Soto knows little about. But it’s also one he knows only too well. Centered around the urban dirt bike culture in Baltimore, Maryland, Charm City Kings, making its debut on HBO Max, is a raw, coming-of-age drama based in a culture where respect is earned through stunt riding.

Take the bikes out of the equation, and it is remarkably similar to how Soto felt growing up in Puerto Rico.

“The Boys in The Band” Director Joe Mantello on Adapting Broadway’s Groundbreaking Play

Mart Crowley’s 1968 play The Boys in the Band is an undisputed milestone in gay history. Produced a year before the Stonewall rebellion, this story of an Upper East Side birthday gathering was groundbreaking, with gay men overtly representing themselves onstage, and asked to be seen as themselves, nothing more or less. This was a first. It was also a massive hit. For its 50th anniversary, producer Ryan Murphy revived the play on Broadway,

“Lovecraft Country” DP Michael Watson on Lensing HBO’s Multi-Genre Hit Series

If you’ve been watching Lovecraft Country on HBO, you’ve seen one of the most sublimely ambitious series on TV this year. Stripping the legendary horror writer H.P. Lovecraft for parts (the man was a seething racist and anti-Semite), creator Misha Green’s 9-episode series is equal parts horror, drama, sci-fi, and social commentary. Lovecraft Country is the show 2020 needed but probably didn’t deserve.

Cinematographer Michael Watson lensed four of Lovecraft‘s episodes,

HBO Max Reveals Trailer For 4-Part Docu-Series “Equal”

HBO Max has released the official trailer for Equal, their four-part docu-series chronicling the untold events leading up to the Stonewall Uprising in New York City that began on June 28, 1969, and marked a massive shift in the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. The series is narrated by Emmy, Tony, and Grammy-winning performer Billy Porter (Pose, American Horror Story: Apocalypse), and will likely introduce viewers to a wide range of LGBTQ+ leaders and visionaries for the first time—portrayed by an incredible cast.

“Lovecraft Country” Director Cheryl Dunye on Shapeshifting & More in Episode 5

HBO’s Lovecraft Country, created by Executive Producer Misha Green, is being celebrated by viewers and critics alike. The story of two families that come together in the Jim Crow South to battle monsters and white racists in power has horrors both real and imagined, but there are many elements in the storytelling and many challenges to the characters that speak to the state of American race relations today. The misadventures of Atticus Freeman (Jonathan Majors),

Costume Designer Analucia McGorty on Creating the Looks for the Groundbreaking “POSE”

Set in the Eighties and Nineties, POSE is a dance musical that juxtaposes several versions of life and society in New York: the downtown social and literary scene, the ball culture world, and the rise of the luxury Trump-era universe. So when it comes to what everyone in the show is wearing, Costume Designer Analucia McGorty—recently Emmy-nominated for Outstanding Period Costumes—has some challenging, and extremely fun, work to do. 

Director Dime Davis on Making Emmy History With “A Black Lady Sketch Show”

Last year, director Dime Davis visited California desert retreat Joshua Tree to take a break from her burgeoning career as director of Showtime drama The Chi and BET rom-com Boomerang. “I’d been trying to get my head together so I wasn’t getting back to people,” Davis recalls. But Robin Thede kept calling. The comedian had created a new sketch series for HBO and wanted Davis to direct the whole thing.