Behind-the-Scenes With Five Female Singaporean Creators

“The last three years were an eye-opener because of the pandemic,” said Michelle Chang, managing partner at Singapore-based Mochai Chai Laboratories. “We are the post-production house at the tail end. If the producers stop producing, we are dead. The good thing was my business partner Chai Yee Wei has the foresight of not putting all our eggs in one basket. He has built a digital restoration lab. As luck would have it, a lot of distributors came to us because streaming platforms were buying catalog content and they need to up-convert into a compatible format for the streamers.

Getting Intentional With Jeanne Mau, SVP of TV Programming Diversity, Equity & Inclusion at NBCUniversal

Jeanne Mau joined NBCUniversal only seven months ago, in a new position that was tailor-made for her skill set and experience. The former Senior Vice President of Global Inclusion at ViacomCBS is now NBCUniversal’s Senior Vice President of TV Programming Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. Mau’s position has her overseeing diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives across NBCU’s vast television and streaming brands. It’s a thrilling opportunity for someone who has been doing the work for 20-years. 

Chatting With WarnerMedia’s Senior Vice President of Equity & Inclusion Karen Horne

Karen Horne has been working to amplify the voices of underrepresented communities for more or less her entire career. WarnerMedia’s Senior Vice President of Equity and Inclusion Programs has been creating results-oriented programs across a wide swath of the entertainment, sports, and news divisions for more than two decades. “I’ve always wanted to work in this field,” Horne says of her work. “Also, I’ve never had a plan B.”

The pipeline programs Horne has implemented at WarnerMedia since 2020 alone have been crucial,

Leading Lawmakers Celebrate the Motion Picture Association’s Centennial

“We are a nation of visionaries,” Vice President Kamala Harris says at the top of her remarks about the Motion Picture Association’s centennial. The Vice President was one of nine leading lawmakers to speak about the centennial and the importance of the MPA’s work advocating on behalf of the film and television industry. “Members of the Motion Picture Association, for a century you have written the lines we will never stop quoting. You have created the images we will never forget.

“Turning Red” Co-Writer Julia Cho on Writing Pixar’s Tender New Film

Pixar’s new movie Turning Red follows straight-A student Meilin, whose perfect 13-year-old life implodes when she starts turning into a giant panda every time her emotions get out of control. Heir to a fierce ancestral spirit that’s affected women in her family for generations, Mei (voiced by Rosalie Chiang) defies her domineering mother Ming (Sandra Oh) and joins her friends to see Four Town, a boyband that sounds very much like NSYNC thanks to the period-perfect pop songs crafted by Billie Eilish and her brother Finneas O’Connell. 

MPA Creator Award Recipient Writer/Director Nikyatu Jusu on her Stunning Debut Feature “Nanny”

Deploying West African folklore to interrogate the myth of the American dream, writer/director Nikyatu Jusu‘s debut feature Nanny is a remarkably assured genre-melding experience. Nanny also gives viewers something that’s sadly still quite rare—it evocatively places us inside the head, heart, and aching soul of Aisha (Anna Diop), an undocumented Senegalese immigrant trying to navigate the mystifying codes of the United States to create a stable place to bring her son,

Telling Stories With Singapore-Based Producer Si En Tan

Singapore-based producer Si En Tan already has an impressive resume in a relatively short career. After working as an assistant producer on Kirsten Tan’s Thai-Singapore co-production Pop Aye (2017), she went on to produce Anthony Chen’s Wet Season (2019), which won a string of awards at film festivals and the Golden Horse Awards held annually in Taiwan. Her producing credits also include Chen’s segment of the seven-part anthology film The Year Of The Everlasting Storm,

Smiely Khurana is Leading the Sustainability Charge in Canada With Reel Green

Smiely Khurana is the face of the sustainability movement in Hollywood North. As Creative BC’s in-house Sustainability Lead with Reel Green™, she’s cutting a singular path for the industry in Canada; one that is quickly being modeled in production hubs across the country. Through Reel Green™, Khurana is accelerating knowledge sharing and working to deepen local industry expertise. She’s leading the charge on training and developing new tools to help Canada’s film community green its story and transition to a circular economy. 

“Winning Time” Writer Rodney Barnes on Scripting HBO’s Fast-Breaking Lakers Series

It’s pretty much a slam dunk that Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty will appeal to basketball fans. After all, it tells the story of one of the most pivotal moments in NBA history and features some of the game’s most notable figures — Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Jerry West, and Pat Riley. 

But Rodney Barnes, who shares scripting duties with Max Borenstein and Jim Hecht, and serves as an Executive Producer on the 10-episode HBO series that debuted March 6,

Writer/Director Jared Frieder’s Long Journey to Make “Three Months” Starring Troye Sivan

Imagine what you would do if, at one of the most pivotal moments in your life, you find out you’re at risk for a life-threatening disease? Jared Frieder turned the experience into a movie. That movie, Three Months, is out today on Paramount+.

Three Months, a funny and touching coming-of-age story, tells the story of Caleb (Troye Sivan), an unruly, gay high school senior who is days away from graduation and ready to pursue his dream of becoming a photographer.

Director Sacha Jenkins on Confronting Racism in “everything’s gonna be all white”

Midway through Black History Month, Sacha Jenkins‘ documentary series everything’s gonna be all white debuted on Feb. 11 on Showtime. Introducing itself as “A tale of two Americas, one white, one not,” the three-part show offers a sprawling group portrait of Black, Native American, Korean-American, Puerto Rican, Afro-Peruvian, South Asian, and other citizens of color who go before the camera to offer their unvarnished views on racism in the United States,

“Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America” Directors & Writer/Producer on Relearning American History

The documentary Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America has won numerous awards at fests across the country, including the Audience Award at the 2021 SXSW Film Festival, and boasts a 98% score on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is based on criminal defense and civil rights lawyer Jeffery Robinson’s work relearning American history and sharing knowledge that includes events and episodes either erased from in history books or never included in the first place.

“Batgirl” Movie Cast Ivory Aquino to Play DC’s First Trans Character

The Batgirl movie keeps getting more intriguing. Ivory Aquino has joined the cast to play Alysia Yeoh, Barbara Gordon/Batgirl’s best friend (to be played by Leslie Grace). This is a historic piece of casting, as Aquino, who is transgender, will play the first openly trans character in a live-action DC movie. Alysia Yeoh was created by writer Gail Simone and first appeared in “Batgirl #1, Volume 4” in 2011. She was the first major transgender character written in a contemporary context for a mainstream comic book.

“Drive My Car” Director Ryûsuke Hamaguchi on His Moving Portrait of Life’s Twists & Turns

One of the most intriguing cinematic journeys of 2021 emanates from Japan and is aptly named Drive My Car.

A mesmerizing sojourn that exactingly unfolds over a three-hour running time, the film follows acclaimed actor and theatre director Yûsuke Kafuku (Hidetoshi Nishijima), beginning with his unorthodox marriage to Oto (Reika Kirishima), before segueing to a stage production he is directing of Anton Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. The latter brings him together with Misaki Watari (Tôko Miura),

Costume Designer Justine Seymour on Subtle Power on Display in “Women of the Movement”

After his 1955 murder, Emmett Till’s death became a galvanizing event for the burgeoning Civil Rights movement. The mutilated 14-year-old was given an open casket funeral at the behest of his mother, Mamie Till-Mobley, who wished the world to see what Roy Bryant and J.W. Milam had done to her son. Lynched while on holiday to visit family in Money, Mississippi, after being falsely accused of whistling at a white woman, Carolyn Bryant, (Emmett had a stutter,

“Batgirl” HBO Max Movie Adds More Stars to Join Lead Leslie Grace

The population of Batgirl‘s Gotham is rising. The upcoming HBO Max movie starring Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon just added three new cast members. Rebecca Front, Ethan Kai, and Corey Johnson have joined the cast in unspecified roles. They’ll be dropping into a Gotham already inhabited by some big names. Along with Grace, Batgirl includes Michael Keaton reprising his role as Bruce Wayne, marking the second big project that Keaton will be donning the cape and cowl for.

“No Time To Die” Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Dressing Bond’s Allies & Adversaries

In part one of our conversation with No Time To Die costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb, we focused on the tall order of outfitting Daniel Craig for his fifth and final assignment as James Bond. In part two, we turn our attention to the allies and adversaries that populate Bond’s world, including two new agents, the love of his life, and a scarred sociopath who has designed a weapon that—spoiler alert—forces Bond to make the ultimate sacrifice. 

“No Time To Die” Costume Designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb on Building the Apex Tuxedo

“Before Daniel, the Bond style, which was always very definitive, was being worn by someone who was more of a superhero character,” says No Time To Die costume designer Suttirat Anne Larlarb about the tall order of outfitting Daniel Craig for his fifth and final assignment as James Bond. “We didn’t really get the emotional landscape. We got the look, we got the icon, but we didn’t delve that much deeper. Daniel is a consummate actor and I really felt this responsibly to be able to costume him in a way that would live up to that Bond stratosphere,

The Legendary Sidney Poitier Has Passed Away at 94

The iconic Bahamian-American actor Sidney Poitier has passed away at 94, Bahamian news outlets reported Friday. His death was confirmed by Eugene Torchon-Newry, the acting director general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Bahamas. No other details have been provided yet.

Poitier broke a slew of barriers in Hollywood during his long, legendary career, including, in 1964, becoming the first Black man to win the Oscar for best actor. Poitier’s career was filled with many such firsts and his impact on both Hollywood and the culture at large was seismic.

“Station Eleven” Costume Designer Helen Huang on a Post-Pandemic World Filled with Art & Humanity

In times of fear, great loss, and regression in civilized society, creativity and culture will still blossom. This is not only the hopeful message of Station Eleven but also a truth about our world, proven by the fact that the show exists at all. The production team for HBO’s post-pandemic miniseries was a few episodes in when life began to imitate art, and art began springing up everywhere.

“You think about our pandemic,