Interview

Actor

“Film is Forever”: How Maria Gabriela de Faría Embraced the Pain of Playing “Superman” Villain The Engineer

Maria Gabriela de Faría doesn’t pull her punches—or her spinning blades, for that matter. In Superman, the actress makes Angela Spica (aka The Engineer) fight like an animal, throwing raw punches with unwavering belief in Lex Luthor’s (Nicolas Hoult) idea that no individual should be trusted with superpowers. Whether the Engineer is slicing robots in the Fortress of Solitude or going toe-to-toe with Superman (David Corenswet) in the Cleveland Guardians’ ballpark (outfitted to look like the DC Meteors’

By Jack Giroux  |  11 hours ago

Interview

Art Director

From Bismuth Crystal Rivers to Real Neon Signs: Supervising Art Director David Scott on Designing James Gunn’s “Superman”

David Scott admits that growing up, he was more of a Batman and Spider-Man fan, but after listening to writer-director James Gunn’s pitch for Superman, which has now grossed over $550 million globally, he was excited to support the vision. “It’s infectious when you sit and listen to him talk. I loved everything about it,” says the supervising art director, who has built worlds for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol.

By Daron James  |  August 11, 2025

Interview

Composer

Composing Chaos: How Amie Doherty Scored Disney’s Four-Way Body Swap in “Freakier Friday”

There are already two generations of hardcore fans who love Freaky Friday. Gen-Xers and their parents flocked to see Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster for the 1976 release, and in 2003, Disney struck gold again with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan playing the body-switching mother/daughter duo, bringing millennials into the fandom fold. More than 30 years later, those Gen-X grandparents and Millennial moms and dads are poised to make fans of the youngest among us with a long-awaited sequel to the 2003 film,

By Leslie Combemale  |  August 7, 2025

Interview

Composer

“Superman” Composer John Murphy on Electrifying John Williams’ Iconic Score

John Murphy is a composer known for scoring films with dark undertones, whether they’re kinetic and terrifying or haunting and ethereal. To this day, his theme for Danny Boyle’s electric 2002 gamechanger, 28 Days Later, remains a deservedly beloved earworm, while his music for Boyle’s bittersweet 2007 sci-fi stunner, Sunshine, is at turns heartbreaking and inspiring. Now, he’s scored one of pop culture’s sunniest, noblest characters (Zack Snyder’s darker take notwithstanding),

By Jack Giroux  |  August 6, 2025

Interview

Director

How Director Nisha Ganatra Captured the Real Magic of LA for Lindsay Lohan & Jamie Lee Curtis in “Freakier Friday”

Freakier Friday director Nisha Ganatra is no stranger to showcasing Los Angeles in her work for both the big and small screen. Having helmed episodes of such iconic shows as Transparent, Welcome to Chippendales, and the 2020 feature The High Note, she has a knack for capturing the many faces of the city that is home to Hollywood.

This legacy sequel to the 2003 Disney classic Freaky Friday sees Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan reunite as mother-daughter duo Tess and Anna.

By Simon Thompson  |  August 5, 2025

Interview

Director

Director Gareth Edwards on Why “Jurassic World: Rebirth” Needed Real Locations & Film Stock to Capture Its Magic

Having already directed Godzilla, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, and The Creator, Gareth Edwards is used to fantastical storytelling on an epic scale, as well as handling some of the biggest and best-loved IPs in the history of cinema.

Jurassic World: Rebirth, the seventh installment in the multibillion-dollar Jurassic film franchise, is one of the year’s biggest box office hits both globally and domestically.

By Simon Thompson  |  August 5, 2025

Interview

Production Designer

Crystal Vision: How “Superman” Production Designer Beth Mickle Built the Fortress of Solitude

Director James Gunn started small with his 2010 micro-budgeted indie film Super, followed by his acclaimed Guardians of the Galaxy films for Marvel. Now, he’s made a crowd-pleasing new version of Superman that’s raked in more than half a billion in global box office since its release earlier this summer. DC Comics’ original superhero returns in a big way, as Gunn’s universe-corraling reboot pits the title character (David Corenswet),

By Hugh Hart  |  August 4, 2025

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

“The Naked Gun” Writer/Director Akiva Schaffer’s Dead Serious Mission to Resurrect the Spoof Comedy

The Naked Gun director Akiva Schaffer is on a quest to bring people back to the movie theaters to laugh—hysterically, if he’s done his job right—and, while he’s at it, to bring the filmmaking process back to Los Angeles as much as possible.

His franchise revival stars Liam Neeson as Detective Frank Drebin Jr., the son of Leslie Nielsen’s iconic Police Squad cop, tasked with solving a murder and saving his department from shutting down.

By Simon Thompson  |  August 1, 2025

Interview

Cinematographer

Flying at 125 MPH to Keep Up With “F1” Cars: Aerial Cinematographer Phil Arntz on the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Sequence

It was especially fun for aerial cinematographer Phil Arntz to return to Abu Dhabi with his camera pilot, Will Banks, for the climactic racing sequence in Joseph Kosinski’s pedal-to-the-metal epic F1. “I used to live in Dubai around 2012 or 2013, when I did a lot of filming for extreme sports. So, it was nice coming back because many of the crew, like the Shotover technician and the team with the helicopter,

By Su Fang Tham  |  July 30, 2025

Interview

Director

“Paradise” Lost: Directors Glenn Ficarra & John Requa on Crafting the Series’ Most Devastating Episode

In the first part of our conversation with Paradise directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, we talked about how California’s tax incentive program made it easier for series creator Dan Fogelman to shoot both seasons in Los Angeles. Now, let’s get to the most revealing episode, where Secret Service agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) finally confronts President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) about the day his life—and the entire world—fell apart.

By Su Fang Tham  |  July 29, 2025

Interview

Director

“Paradise” Directors Glenn Ficarra & John Requa on Crafting the California-Made Emmy-Nominated Thriller

One of only seven TV projects approved for California’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program during the 2022-2023 cycle, Dan Fogelman’s latest offering is an intense amalgamation of a murder mystery, political thriller, and post-apocalyptic survival drama all in one. True to his signature style a la This Is Us, a jaw-dropping twist at the end of the pilot uncovers a multitude of tragic truths and secrets alike.

By Su Fang Tham  |  July 28, 2025

Interview

Director

“The Fantastic Four: First Steps” Director Matt Shakman on Re-Building Marvel’s First Family

While there have been numerous cinematic adaptations of the superheroes known as The First Family of Marvel, The Fantastic Four: First Steps has been lauded by audiences and critics alike as having the team most true to its Marvel origins. The new film takes place in a retrofuturistic version of New York, set in a 1960s-inspired era influenced by the creative genius of the smartest man in the universe. That would be Mister Fantastic,

By Leslie Combemale  |  July 28, 2025

Interview

Special/Visual Effects

The Willem Dafoe of Dinosaurs: How “Jurassic World: Rebirth” VFX Supervisor Charmaine Chan Created the Distortus Rex

Charmaine Chan began working at Industrial Light & Magic 18 years ago—it was her first gig out of college, starting off as an assistant technical director and contributing to Michael Bay’s Transformers. Chan stayed on at ILM and continued to work on some of the biggest franchises there are, becoming a digital compositor on Star Wars, Mission: Impossible, and films within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. As her talent sustained her and her capacities grew,

By Jack Giroux  |  July 25, 2025

Interview

Costume Designer

Designer Easter Eggs: “Jurassic World: Rebirth” Costume Designer Sammy Sheldon Differ Reveals the Wardrobe’s Hidden Details

Jurassic World: Rebirth isn’t costume designer Sammy Sheldon Differ‘s first time at the dino rodeo. Having previously worked on Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom, the British artisan relished the opportunity to return to one of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time.

Set five years after Jurassic World: Dominion, Rebirth sees Scarlett Johansson’s Zora Bennett lead an expedition into a no-go zone to extract DNA from three prehistoric creatures in the hopes of manifesting a groundbreaking medical breakthrough.

By Simon Thompson  |  July 24, 2025

Interview

Sound Designer

Death Metal Vocals & Brutalized Cabbages: How Sound Designer Johnnie Burn Crafted “28 Years Later” Sonic Terror

Sound designer Johnnie Burn had just won the Academy Award for his dread-inducing contributions to The Zone of Interest when he got a late-night phone call from 28 Years Later director Danny Boyle. “I was drunk at the Vanity Fair party after the Oscar win when someone called from my office in London and handed the phone to Danny Boyle, who was standing in the reception,” Burn recalls.

By Hugh Hart  |  July 24, 2025

Interview

Production Designer

Decoding Deceptive Design With “Presumed Innocent” Production Designer John Paino & Set Decorator Amy Wells

In part one of our conversation about David E. Kelley’s rigorously intense and captivating courtroom drama, Presumed Innocent, production designer John Paino and set decorator Amy Wells talked about the elaborate courtroom set and what it was like to shoot the Chicago-set series entirely in Southern California.

Thanks to Jake Gyllenhaal’s nuanced, Emmy-nominated performance, Rusty’s culpability on the grisly murder of his fellow prosecutor and lover,

By Su Fang Tham  |  July 23, 2025

Interview

Production Designer

“Jurassic World: Rebirth” Production Designer James Clyne on Creating Killer Labs and Animalistic Architecture

Production designer James Clyne recreates and modernizes the dinosaur playground gone wrong that first blew our minds in Steven Spielberg‘s 1993 classic Jurassic Park. Back then, that playground—or theme park, to be more accurate—was the brainchild of John Hammond (Richard Attenborough), and like all children, it had a mind and personality of its own, determined to become something other than its parents’ fervent wish. In Jurassic World: Rebirth,

By Jack Giroux  |  July 23, 2025

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

“Minted” Director Nicholas Bruckman on Spending Two Years Following Digital Artists Through NFT Heaven & Hell

Nicholas Bruckman has built a distinctive career that bridges documentary filmmaking with commercial storytelling, following his instincts and his passions on projects big and small. The New York-based director has participated in prestigious labs, including the Rotterdam Producers Lab and the IFP Cannes Producers Fellowship, and the Sloan Foundation, Cinereach, and other notable organizations support his work. Through his company People’s Television, he regularly produces branded films for major clients including Airbnb,

By Bryan Abrams  |  July 22, 2025

Interview

Production Designer

How “Presumed Innocent” Production Designer John Paino & Set Decorator Amy Wells Brought Chicago to Los Angeles

Shot mostly in Pasadena and around Los Angeles, Presumed Innocent, showrunner David E. Kelley’s twisty and riveting courtroom psychological thriller, was able to do so largely thanks to the $12 million in California tax incentives allocated to the prestige drama from Apple TV+. “The crew we have here is the best I’ve worked with all over the world. They’re an incredible bunch of people; you’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with,” production designer John Paino says,

By Su Fang Tham  |  July 22, 2025

Interview

Director, Screenwriter

“Eddington” Writer/Director Ari Aster on Bringing His Pandemic-Era Neo-Western Thriller Home to New Mexico

Writer/director Ari Aster broke new ground with Eddington in that it’s the first of his films to be shot where it was intended to be set. Both happen to be in his native state of New Mexico, where production created over 300 jobs.

Set in 2020 at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the neo-Western satirical black comedy reunites him with his Beau Is Afraid lead,

By Simon Thompson  |  July 21, 2025