The DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee (Wsc) has announced the 2023 class of its Wsc Squad Mentorship Program. The latest class, which began in September, pairs 13 mid-career directors with well-established director-mentors.
“It is always exciting to kick off another year of the Wsc Mentorship Program,” said Shaz Bennett, cochair of the DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee. “The Wsc remains inspired by our community of mentors and mentees who have come together, united by a shared purpose — to uplift and empower one another. By joining forces on this journey of guidance and encouragement, we can all accomplish more than any one of us could alone. I can’t wait to see how these talented women lift each other up.”
The Wsc Squad Mentorship Program is led by directors DeMane Davis, Ashley Eakin, Morenike Joela Evans, Marie Jamora, Jen McGowan, and Rachel Raimist. The Wsc is cochaired by directors Shaz Bennett and Valerie Weiss,...
“It is always exciting to kick off another year of the Wsc Mentorship Program,” said Shaz Bennett, cochair of the DGA’s Women’s Steering Committee. “The Wsc remains inspired by our community of mentors and mentees who have come together, united by a shared purpose — to uplift and empower one another. By joining forces on this journey of guidance and encouragement, we can all accomplish more than any one of us could alone. I can’t wait to see how these talented women lift each other up.”
The Wsc Squad Mentorship Program is led by directors DeMane Davis, Ashley Eakin, Morenike Joela Evans, Marie Jamora, Jen McGowan, and Rachel Raimist. The Wsc is cochaired by directors Shaz Bennett and Valerie Weiss,...
- 10/5/2023
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
In a sign of Hollywood’s escalating internal tensions, a prominent Directors Guild of America member openly advocated against the election of 10 writer-directors to the guild’s board earlier this month on the grounds that they were “primarily writers” and hailed from “fringe groups.”
In a leaked email that has been shared widely in the creative community, Linda Montanti, chair of the guild’s Western Ad/Upm Council, urged a bloc of DGA voters to not support the board candidacies of a number of multihyphenates who are members of both the DGA and WGA — some of whom have been outspoken about strike issues. The list includes writer-producer Boots Riley, Oscar-winning “Coda” writer-director Sian Heder, actor-filmmaker Justine Bateman, actor-writer Paul Scheer and “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin. The unorthodox move prompted DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter to contact the members affected to assure them that Montanti’s move was not condoned by top DGA leaders.
In a leaked email that has been shared widely in the creative community, Linda Montanti, chair of the guild’s Western Ad/Upm Council, urged a bloc of DGA voters to not support the board candidacies of a number of multihyphenates who are members of both the DGA and WGA — some of whom have been outspoken about strike issues. The list includes writer-producer Boots Riley, Oscar-winning “Coda” writer-director Sian Heder, actor-filmmaker Justine Bateman, actor-writer Paul Scheer and “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin. The unorthodox move prompted DGA president Lesli Linka Glatter to contact the members affected to assure them that Montanti’s move was not condoned by top DGA leaders.
- 8/31/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
The American Film Institute (AFI) has unveiled the participants list for the Dww+ Class of 2024.
IndieWire exclusively reveals that the latest cast comprises Vanessa Beletic, Chloë de Carvalho, Desdemona Chiang, Naomi Iwamoto, Huriyyah Muhammad, Joanne Mony Park, Kerry O’Neill and Roxy Toporowych. Learn more about the new class and read their bios here.
The AFI Dww+ is a year-long directing workshop that supports women and traditionally underrepresented narrative filmmakers through the production cycle of a short film, providing hands-on instruction led by industry experts. The short films completed in the workshop will premiere at the annual Dww+ Showcase in Spring 2024.
“AFI Dww+ is integral to creating a pipeline of highly trained, diverse voices who have the power to drive culture forward and shape the future of the entertainment industry. We are thrilled to welcome this new class of accomplished artists to the AFI Dww+ program and guide them on their journey as directors and storytellers,...
IndieWire exclusively reveals that the latest cast comprises Vanessa Beletic, Chloë de Carvalho, Desdemona Chiang, Naomi Iwamoto, Huriyyah Muhammad, Joanne Mony Park, Kerry O’Neill and Roxy Toporowych. Learn more about the new class and read their bios here.
The AFI Dww+ is a year-long directing workshop that supports women and traditionally underrepresented narrative filmmakers through the production cycle of a short film, providing hands-on instruction led by industry experts. The short films completed in the workshop will premiere at the annual Dww+ Showcase in Spring 2024.
“AFI Dww+ is integral to creating a pipeline of highly trained, diverse voices who have the power to drive culture forward and shape the future of the entertainment industry. We are thrilled to welcome this new class of accomplished artists to the AFI Dww+ program and guide them on their journey as directors and storytellers,...
- 1/19/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing has acquired Ivan Herrera’s drama Bantú Mama for distribution in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. The company will be presenting the film — which has been named as the Dominican Republic’s 2023 entry for the Best International Feature Film Oscar — on select screens and on Netflix beginning November 17.
Bantú Mama follows a French woman of African descent who manages to escape after being arrested in the Dominican Republic. She finds shelter in the most dangerous district of Santo Domingo, where she is taken in by a group of children. By becoming their protégée and maternal figure, she then experiences an unimaginable change in her destiny.
“We are honored to distribute the Dominican Republic’s official Oscar submission,” said Array President Tilane Jones. “This deeply moving and vividly drawn drama, beautifully directed by Ivan Herrera and co-written with producer Clarisse Albrecht,...
Bantú Mama follows a French woman of African descent who manages to escape after being arrested in the Dominican Republic. She finds shelter in the most dangerous district of Santo Domingo, where she is taken in by a group of children. By becoming their protégée and maternal figure, she then experiences an unimaginable change in her destiny.
“We are honored to distribute the Dominican Republic’s official Oscar submission,” said Array President Tilane Jones. “This deeply moving and vividly drawn drama, beautifully directed by Ivan Herrera and co-written with producer Clarisse Albrecht,...
- 10/10/2022
- by Matt Grobar and Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Oprah Winfrey delivered an inspiring speech to close out Variety’s Power of Women dinner, presented by Lifetime. Winfrey was honored at the event alongside her “Queen Sugar” partner Ava DuVernay, both of whom turned the OWN series into a launching pad for female directors. Winfrey championed “Queen Sugar” for “defining the OWN network” and for “reflecting black families.”
“We are all looking for the same thing,” Winfrey said. “This is the one lesson I came away from doing ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ The common denominator of our experiences is that we all want to know that we matter and we want a show that reflects our values.”
Winfrey was introduced by DuVernay, who spoke about their experience creating the OWN drama series “Queen Sugar,” which made history with the duo’s decision to exclusively hire women to direct the series’ 7-season, 88-episode run. The show employed 42 women directors, seven of whom — Shaz Bennett,...
“We are all looking for the same thing,” Winfrey said. “This is the one lesson I came away from doing ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’ The common denominator of our experiences is that we all want to know that we matter and we want a show that reflects our values.”
Winfrey was introduced by DuVernay, who spoke about their experience creating the OWN drama series “Queen Sugar,” which made history with the duo’s decision to exclusively hire women to direct the series’ 7-season, 88-episode run. The show employed 42 women directors, seven of whom — Shaz Bennett,...
- 9/29/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
When “Queen Sugar” star Dawn-Lyen Gardner’s Charley Bordelon was missing from the trailer and key art for Season 7 of the OWN drama series, fans questioned where the middle Bordelon sibling had gone.
When the footage debuted, Variety reported that Gardner would not be a series regular for the final season’s 13 episodes, noting that at the end of Season 6, the character made her reconciliation with estranged husband Davis (Timon Kyle Durrett) more official, accepting his remarriage proposal and planning to move back to Los Angeles. With the primary action of Season 7 taking place in the fictional Louisiana parish of St. Josephine, Charley’s storyline would instead be tracked in a number of episodes across the season.
But ahead of the debut of Tuesday’s season premiere, Gardner took to social media to explain that she “did not participate” in the making of the show’s final hours.
“I will...
When the footage debuted, Variety reported that Gardner would not be a series regular for the final season’s 13 episodes, noting that at the end of Season 6, the character made her reconciliation with estranged husband Davis (Timon Kyle Durrett) more official, accepting his remarriage proposal and planning to move back to Los Angeles. With the primary action of Season 7 taking place in the fictional Louisiana parish of St. Josephine, Charley’s storyline would instead be tracked in a number of episodes across the season.
But ahead of the debut of Tuesday’s season premiere, Gardner took to social media to explain that she “did not participate” in the making of the show’s final hours.
“I will...
- 9/7/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
It’s nearly time for “Queen Sugar” fans to “take flight” one last time, as we prepare to say goodbye to the Bordelon family.
OWN has released the official trailer for the seventh and final season of the critically acclaimed drama, created by Ava DuVernay and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 6.
“If we do not honor our past, we dishonor our future. Listen,” says Rutina Wesley’s Nova, the eldest Bordelon sibling, as the clip begins, previewing the tense and tender scenes that will play out over the next 13 episodes.
The first look, set to Al Green’s “Love and Happiness,” tees up the latest developments in the lives of Bordelons: Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) have welcomed their second child, a daughter, and they continue to fight for their family’s future by exorcising their personal demons — namely, his deal with the...
OWN has released the official trailer for the seventh and final season of the critically acclaimed drama, created by Ava DuVernay and executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, which begins Tuesday, Sept. 6.
“If we do not honor our past, we dishonor our future. Listen,” says Rutina Wesley’s Nova, the eldest Bordelon sibling, as the clip begins, previewing the tense and tender scenes that will play out over the next 13 episodes.
The first look, set to Al Green’s “Love and Happiness,” tees up the latest developments in the lives of Bordelons: Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) have welcomed their second child, a daughter, and they continue to fight for their family’s future by exorcising their personal demons — namely, his deal with the...
- 8/29/2022
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Buzzfeed announced that Paul Ricci will join the company to lead unscripted television for BuzzFeed Studios. In the role, Ricci will oversee all unscripted television programming for the company’s Hollywood arm and entire portfolio of brands including BuzzFeed, Complex, Tasty and HuffPost. Ricci will report directly to the head of studios, Richard Alan Reid.
Ricci has more than 20 years of television experience within the entertainment industry, most recently co-founding development company BoomTown Content Co. In addition to Ricci’s hiring, BuzzFeed Studios will enter into a strategic development partnership with BoomTown Content Co. to develop new unscripted television projects. Recent projects include “The Kids Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on Peacock, “Who Wants To Be An Astronaut?” on Discovery and other projects in varying stages. BoomTown Content Co. will continue to be helmed by co-founder Mark Efman.
At Viacom — now Paramount Global — Ricci served as Head of Alternative Series for MTV and VH1,...
Ricci has more than 20 years of television experience within the entertainment industry, most recently co-founding development company BoomTown Content Co. In addition to Ricci’s hiring, BuzzFeed Studios will enter into a strategic development partnership with BoomTown Content Co. to develop new unscripted television projects. Recent projects include “The Kids Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon” on Peacock, “Who Wants To Be An Astronaut?” on Discovery and other projects in varying stages. BoomTown Content Co. will continue to be helmed by co-founder Mark Efman.
At Viacom — now Paramount Global — Ricci served as Head of Alternative Series for MTV and VH1,...
- 8/9/2022
- by EJ Panaligan
- Variety Film + TV
OWN has set the premiere date for the seventh and final season of Queen Sugar. The series created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay will return on Tuesday, September 6 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt.
DuVernay will return to direct the series finale, wrapping up seven seasons of the all-women directorial team that she envisioned when directing the pilot. As previously reported, directors attached to Season 7 include Kat Candler, Stacey Muhammad, showrunner Shaz Bennett, Patricia Cardoso, Aurora Guerrero, and DeMane Davis.
For seven seasons and 88 episodes, the contemporary drama has been directed by women filmmakers, an initiative set forth by DuVernay at the outset of production in 2016. With nearly three dozen filmmakers making their directorial debut on Queen Sugar, the series marked a shift in industry hiring standards for women and people of color behind the camera.
Ahead of the Season 6 premiere of Queen Sugar in 2021, DuVernay expressed how satisfying it...
DuVernay will return to direct the series finale, wrapping up seven seasons of the all-women directorial team that she envisioned when directing the pilot. As previously reported, directors attached to Season 7 include Kat Candler, Stacey Muhammad, showrunner Shaz Bennett, Patricia Cardoso, Aurora Guerrero, and DeMane Davis.
For seven seasons and 88 episodes, the contemporary drama has been directed by women filmmakers, an initiative set forth by DuVernay at the outset of production in 2016. With nearly three dozen filmmakers making their directorial debut on Queen Sugar, the series marked a shift in industry hiring standards for women and people of color behind the camera.
Ahead of the Season 6 premiere of Queen Sugar in 2021, DuVernay expressed how satisfying it...
- 8/6/2022
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
The seventh and final season of “Queen Sugar” is set to premiere Sept. 6 on the Oprah Winfrey Network.
Created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay, the Season 7 premiere will air at 8 pm Et/Pt.
“Queen Sugar” is about the life of the Bordelon siblings, Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), Nova (Rutina Wesley) and Ralph (Kofi Siriboe). When their father tragically passes away, they must come together to decide what to do with the 800-acre sugar cane farm in Louisiana that is their inheritance.
Also Read:
Starz Developing Romantic Drama From Ava DuVernay, Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff
Totaling at 88 episodes, the show is exclusively directed by women as part of an initiative DuVernay created in 2016. Nearly three dozen women have made their directorial debuts on the series, according to OWN.
Among other honors, the series won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2017 and 2022.
“Queen Sugar” is produced for OWN...
Created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay, the Season 7 premiere will air at 8 pm Et/Pt.
“Queen Sugar” is about the life of the Bordelon siblings, Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), Nova (Rutina Wesley) and Ralph (Kofi Siriboe). When their father tragically passes away, they must come together to decide what to do with the 800-acre sugar cane farm in Louisiana that is their inheritance.
Also Read:
Starz Developing Romantic Drama From Ava DuVernay, Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff
Totaling at 88 episodes, the show is exclusively directed by women as part of an initiative DuVernay created in 2016. Nearly three dozen women have made their directorial debuts on the series, according to OWN.
Among other honors, the series won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Drama Series in 2017 and 2022.
“Queen Sugar” is produced for OWN...
- 8/6/2022
- by Harper Lambert
- The Wrap
Array Releasing, the distribution arm of Ava DuVernay’s Peabody Award-winning narrative change collective, has picked up rights to the feature drama Learn to Swim for the U.S., the UK, Australia and New Zealand, slating it for release on select screens and on Netflix on August 15.
The first feature from director Thyrone Tommy dives into the world of contemporary jazz with a musical meditation on love and loss, following the doggedly private and talented saxophone player Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and a vivacious, but less experienced singer named Selma (Emma Ferreira). When the two meet, sparks fly, but their respective emotional baggage and temperaments make the road to romance bumpy at best.
An official selection of the 2021 Toronto Film Festival, Learn to Swim was written by Tommy and Marni Van Dyk, with Alona Metzer producing.
“With Array Releasing’s summer acquisition of Learn To Swim, we are thrilled to...
The first feature from director Thyrone Tommy dives into the world of contemporary jazz with a musical meditation on love and loss, following the doggedly private and talented saxophone player Dezi (Thomas Antony Olajide) and a vivacious, but less experienced singer named Selma (Emma Ferreira). When the two meet, sparks fly, but their respective emotional baggage and temperaments make the road to romance bumpy at best.
An official selection of the 2021 Toronto Film Festival, Learn to Swim was written by Tommy and Marni Van Dyk, with Alona Metzer producing.
“With Array Releasing’s summer acquisition of Learn To Swim, we are thrilled to...
- 8/2/2022
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
More than 400 prominent female writers and showrunners sent a letter today to the heads of the major studios expressing their “grave concerns” about the companies’ “lack of specific production protocols” to protect their workers in anti-abortion states.
The letters, which state that “it is unacceptable to ask any person to choose between their human rights and their employment,” also demanded that the companies “pledge to discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.”
Deadline has obtained a copy of the letter to Netflix, which organizers say was sent to top executives at Amazon Studios, AMC Networks, Apple, Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Global, , and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The letters, whose signers include Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rhimes, Amy Schumer, Marta Kauffman, Callie Khouri, WGA West vice president Michele Mulroney and WGA West secretary-treasurer Betsy Thomas, said that “this situation raises basic matters of equality, health, and safety in the workplace.
The letters, which state that “it is unacceptable to ask any person to choose between their human rights and their employment,” also demanded that the companies “pledge to discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates and political action committees immediately.”
Deadline has obtained a copy of the letter to Netflix, which organizers say was sent to top executives at Amazon Studios, AMC Networks, Apple, Disney, Lionsgate, NBCUniversal, Netflix, Paramount Global, , and Warner Bros. Discovery.
The letters, whose signers include Ava DuVernay, Shonda Rhimes, Amy Schumer, Marta Kauffman, Callie Khouri, WGA West vice president Michele Mulroney and WGA West secretary-treasurer Betsy Thomas, said that “this situation raises basic matters of equality, health, and safety in the workplace.
- 7/28/2022
- by David Robb
- Deadline Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
When Queen Sugar was first announced in 2016, creator Ava DuVernay revealed a commitment to hiring exclusively female directors. Now, as the OWN family drama preps its seventh and final season, it’s making good on that promise.
The series, from DuVernay’s Array Filmworks, Harpo Films and studio Warner Bros. TV, is currently filming in and around New Orleans with a lineup of seven directors from previous seasons, all of them female. Over the course of seven seasons, the show has employed 42 female directors in all, 39 of them first-time scripted TV directors in the U.S. Per OWN, the initiative has proven a successful pipeline, with every first-time director parlaying the Queen Sugar opportunity into directorial gigs on other shows and films.
Earlier in Queen Sugar’s run, DuVernay caught wind of a few male members of the Directors Guild of America who...
When Queen Sugar was first announced in 2016, creator Ava DuVernay revealed a commitment to hiring exclusively female directors. Now, as the OWN family drama preps its seventh and final season, it’s making good on that promise.
The series, from DuVernay’s Array Filmworks, Harpo Films and studio Warner Bros. TV, is currently filming in and around New Orleans with a lineup of seven directors from previous seasons, all of them female. Over the course of seven seasons, the show has employed 42 female directors in all, 39 of them first-time scripted TV directors in the U.S. Per OWN, the initiative has proven a successful pipeline, with every first-time director parlaying the Queen Sugar opportunity into directorial gigs on other shows and films.
Earlier in Queen Sugar’s run, DuVernay caught wind of a few male members of the Directors Guild of America who...
- 7/11/2022
- by Lacey Rose
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Ava DuVernay will direct the series finale of “Queen Sugar,” OWN has announced.
DuVernay, created the drama series an executive produces, returns to the director’s chair of the show for the first time since Season 1, when she helmed the first two episodes. Since the first season, DuVernay has written for the series a handful of times, with her last credit being as one of four writers on the penultimate episode of Season 6, which aired last fall. Production for the final episode has already begun in New Orleans.
In addition, OWN also announced the rest of directors for the seventh and final season of the show. The series notably has exclusively featured female directors over the course of its run, with 39 of the 42 directors hire to helm episodes being first time scripted television directors. Showrunner Shaz Bennett will direct an episode this coming season, along with returning directors Kat Candler,...
DuVernay, created the drama series an executive produces, returns to the director’s chair of the show for the first time since Season 1, when she helmed the first two episodes. Since the first season, DuVernay has written for the series a handful of times, with her last credit being as one of four writers on the penultimate episode of Season 6, which aired last fall. Production for the final episode has already begun in New Orleans.
In addition, OWN also announced the rest of directors for the seventh and final season of the show. The series notably has exclusively featured female directors over the course of its run, with 39 of the 42 directors hire to helm episodes being first time scripted television directors. Showrunner Shaz Bennett will direct an episode this coming season, along with returning directors Kat Candler,...
- 7/11/2022
- by Wilson Chapman
- Variety Film + TV
Queen Sugar creator and executive producer Ava DuVernay, who directed the pilot, will return to direct the series’ final episode. Production on the seventh and final season has begun in and around New Orleans.
DuVernay will wrap up seven seasons of an all-women directorial team for OWN’s award-winning drama series. In addition to DuVernay, season 7 directors include Kat Candler, Stacey Muhammad, showrunner Shaz Bennett, Patricia Cardoso, Aurora Guerrero and DeMane Davis.
When Queen Sugar first began production in 2016, DuVernay made a commitment to exclusively hire women as directors, and kept that promise through the entire series run. Over the course of its seven seasons, Queen Sugar has employed 42 women to direct episodes of the show, with 39 of those being first-time scripted television directors in the United States.
Guest stars for the final season include the return of Glynn Turman, the late father of the Bordelon siblings; Tracie Thoms, as...
DuVernay will wrap up seven seasons of an all-women directorial team for OWN’s award-winning drama series. In addition to DuVernay, season 7 directors include Kat Candler, Stacey Muhammad, showrunner Shaz Bennett, Patricia Cardoso, Aurora Guerrero and DeMane Davis.
When Queen Sugar first began production in 2016, DuVernay made a commitment to exclusively hire women as directors, and kept that promise through the entire series run. Over the course of its seven seasons, Queen Sugar has employed 42 women to direct episodes of the show, with 39 of those being first-time scripted television directors in the United States.
Guest stars for the final season include the return of Glynn Turman, the late father of the Bordelon siblings; Tracie Thoms, as...
- 7/11/2022
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Kaci Walfall will reunite with Naomi co-creator Ava DuVernay by way of a guest-starring role during the farewell run of the prolific producer’s Queen Sugar.
The OWN family drama’s end point was announced back in November, when it was renewed for a seventh and final season. “To everything, there is a season,” series creator DuVernay said at the time in a statement. “And my producing partner Paul Garnes and I have had seven gorgeous seasons making Queen Sugar with a remarkable cast and crew, alongside our partners at OWN and Warner Bros. Television.”
More from TVLineAll Rise Preview:...
The OWN family drama’s end point was announced back in November, when it was renewed for a seventh and final season. “To everything, there is a season,” series creator DuVernay said at the time in a statement. “And my producing partner Paul Garnes and I have had seven gorgeous seasons making Queen Sugar with a remarkable cast and crew, alongside our partners at OWN and Warner Bros. Television.”
More from TVLineAll Rise Preview:...
- 7/11/2022
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
When it comes to Shonda Rhimes’ success, there is no “Grey” area.
The “Grey’s Anatomy” creator redefined the network TV landscape before moving on to Netflix in an unprecedented first-look deal for the streamer. There, Rhimes has produced the record-breaking “Bridgerton” and created viral true crime sensation “Inventing Anna,” all while paving the way for other Black female showrunners, according to SXSW virtual panel “Female Showrunners Breaking the Mold.”
At the event, select OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and The CW filmmakers discussed the “Shonda effect” on modern television, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Produced by Warner Bros Television and Ava DuVernay’s Array, the “Breaking the Mold” panel included Dee Harris-Lawrence (“All Rise”), Jill Blankenship (“Naomi”), Shaz Bennett (“Queen Sugar”), Janine Sherman Barrois (“The Kings of Napa”), and Teri Schaffer and Raynelle Swilling (“Cherish the Day”). TVLine editor Mekeisha Madden Toby moderated the virtual panel.
The “Grey’s Anatomy” creator redefined the network TV landscape before moving on to Netflix in an unprecedented first-look deal for the streamer. There, Rhimes has produced the record-breaking “Bridgerton” and created viral true crime sensation “Inventing Anna,” all while paving the way for other Black female showrunners, according to SXSW virtual panel “Female Showrunners Breaking the Mold.”
At the event, select OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network and The CW filmmakers discussed the “Shonda effect” on modern television, both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Produced by Warner Bros Television and Ava DuVernay’s Array, the “Breaking the Mold” panel included Dee Harris-Lawrence (“All Rise”), Jill Blankenship (“Naomi”), Shaz Bennett (“Queen Sugar”), Janine Sherman Barrois (“The Kings of Napa”), and Teri Schaffer and Raynelle Swilling (“Cherish the Day”). TVLine editor Mekeisha Madden Toby moderated the virtual panel.
- 3/22/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Exclusive: Queen Sugar has a new boss to take the Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey executive produced drama to its conclusion later this year
Shaz Bennett will serve as showrunner for the OWN series in its seventh and final season. Set to start production this month down in Louisiana, Queen Sugar is expected to premiere its last cycle this fall.
“Shaz is a multi-hyphenate who has been a dream to collaborate with because she is kind, open, dedicated and about the work with no ego and all heart,” DuVernay told Deadline today of co-ep, writer and long-time director Bennett.
“From her episodic directing of Queen Sugar to being a true leader as our co-executive producer last season, I’ve reveled in watching her shine, the Oscar nominee noted. “When considering who we wanted to end the series with by our side, Paul and I chose Shaz hands-down and I’m...
Shaz Bennett will serve as showrunner for the OWN series in its seventh and final season. Set to start production this month down in Louisiana, Queen Sugar is expected to premiere its last cycle this fall.
“Shaz is a multi-hyphenate who has been a dream to collaborate with because she is kind, open, dedicated and about the work with no ego and all heart,” DuVernay told Deadline today of co-ep, writer and long-time director Bennett.
“From her episodic directing of Queen Sugar to being a true leader as our co-executive producer last season, I’ve reveled in watching her shine, the Oscar nominee noted. “When considering who we wanted to end the series with by our side, Paul and I chose Shaz hands-down and I’m...
- 3/2/2022
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Are you ready for Queen Sugar Season 6?
OWN announced today the acclaimed drama series, created and executive produced by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, returns Tuesday, September 7 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt on OWN.
In anticipation of the series return, the season six trailer was unveiled, showing glimpses of the Bordelon family reclaiming their lives coming out of the pandemic.
"As Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) plan the arrival of their new baby, Nova (Rutina Wesley) continues to speak out against political corruption, and Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) faces a life-altering decision," according to OWN.
"Throughout the season, we witness the joy amid the struggle and humanity's ability to persevere through whatever life may bring," the logline continues.
In continuing the creative vision DuVernay established in season one of hiring an entirely female directorial team, season six includes five filmmakers making their television directing debut.
The Queen Sugar Season 6 directorial line-up includes: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan,...
OWN announced today the acclaimed drama series, created and executive produced by filmmaker Ava DuVernay, returns Tuesday, September 7 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt on OWN.
In anticipation of the series return, the season six trailer was unveiled, showing glimpses of the Bordelon family reclaiming their lives coming out of the pandemic.
"As Ralph Angel (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) plan the arrival of their new baby, Nova (Rutina Wesley) continues to speak out against political corruption, and Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) faces a life-altering decision," according to OWN.
"Throughout the season, we witness the joy amid the struggle and humanity's ability to persevere through whatever life may bring," the logline continues.
In continuing the creative vision DuVernay established in season one of hiring an entirely female directorial team, season six includes five filmmakers making their television directing debut.
The Queen Sugar Season 6 directorial line-up includes: Bertha Bay-Sa Pan,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Paul Dailly
- TVfanatic
‘Queen Sugar’: Season 6 Trailer Shares Update On The Bordelon Family And Reveals Premiere Date—Watch
The Bordelon family is returning for season 6 on Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. Et/Pt and OWN has your first look at how they’re reclaiming their lives out of the pandemic.
The Ava DuVernay series returns as Ralph (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) are planning for the arrival of their new baby while Nova (Rutina Wesley) continues to speak out against political corruption and Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) faces a life-altering decision. Queen Sugar’s sixth season will reveal joy amid the struggle and humanity’s ability to persevere through whatever life may bring.
There are newcomers expanding this universe including Tammy Townsend, who joined in a series regular role in April. Her character Billie is the daughter of beloved Bordelon family friend Prosper Denton (Henry G. Sanders), who returns to St. Josephine for the first time in 20 years to care for her ailing father.
Paula Jai Parker, Marquis Rodriguez,...
The Ava DuVernay series returns as Ralph (Kofi Siriboe) and Darla (Bianca Lawson) are planning for the arrival of their new baby while Nova (Rutina Wesley) continues to speak out against political corruption and Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner) faces a life-altering decision. Queen Sugar’s sixth season will reveal joy amid the struggle and humanity’s ability to persevere through whatever life may bring.
There are newcomers expanding this universe including Tammy Townsend, who joined in a series regular role in April. Her character Billie is the daughter of beloved Bordelon family friend Prosper Denton (Henry G. Sanders), who returns to St. Josephine for the first time in 20 years to care for her ailing father.
Paula Jai Parker, Marquis Rodriguez,...
- 8/3/2021
- by Rosy Cordero
- Deadline Film + TV
Consider your Mother’s Day viewing plans sorted. Hitting select theaters and streaming on Netflix staring Thursday, May 6 is Shantrelle P. Lewis’ feature directorial debut “In Our Mothers’ Gardens,” a loving, insightful, and inspirational look at the relationships between mothers and daughters. The documentary had its world premiere at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival, winning the Shine Award for Best Film.
Last month, Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing picked up the film as part of its growing selection of films focused on films by people of color and women. Array’s president Tilane Jones explained the documentary’s obvious appeal in an official statement: “‘In Our Mothers’ Gardens’ is a beautiful tribute to the complex relationships between Black women connected by lineage and love. Released in celebration of Mother’s Day, we are honored to present Ms. Lewis’ feature debut highlighting important bonds between daughters, mothers and grandmothers told by a dynamic group of women.
Last month, Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing picked up the film as part of its growing selection of films focused on films by people of color and women. Array’s president Tilane Jones explained the documentary’s obvious appeal in an official statement: “‘In Our Mothers’ Gardens’ is a beautiful tribute to the complex relationships between Black women connected by lineage and love. Released in celebration of Mother’s Day, we are honored to present Ms. Lewis’ feature debut highlighting important bonds between daughters, mothers and grandmothers told by a dynamic group of women.
- 4/29/2021
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
Queen Sugar is currently airing its fifth season on OWN, but work has already begun on season six. Paula Jai Parker, Tammy Townsend, Marquis Rodriguez, and McKinley Freeman have joined the cast of the series which follows the Bordelon siblings in the fictional Louisiana town of Saint Josephine.
The series makes a point of hiring female directors and those working on the sixth season include Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Carmen Marrón, Cierra Glaude, Keisha Rae Witherspoon, Marie Jamora, Shari Carpenter, Shaz Bennett, and Stephanie Turner, with Lisa France now serving as producing director. Across the six seasons, 42 female filmmakers have been hired, 39 of whom are first-time television directors.
Read More…...
The series makes a point of hiring female directors and those working on the sixth season include Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Carmen Marrón, Cierra Glaude, Keisha Rae Witherspoon, Marie Jamora, Shari Carpenter, Shaz Bennett, and Stephanie Turner, with Lisa France now serving as producing director. Across the six seasons, 42 female filmmakers have been hired, 39 of whom are first-time television directors.
Read More…...
- 4/7/2021
- by TVSeriesFinale.com
- TVSeriesFinale.com
Exclusive: Tammy Townsend (K.C. Undercover) has been tapped as a new series regular on the upcoming sixth season of Ava DuVernay’s drama Queen Sugar, which is currently in production in New Orleans.
Paula Jai Parker (The Wayans Bros.), Marquis Rodriguez (When They See Us) and McKinley Freeman (Titans) have joined the OWN series as recurring, while Lisa France, Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Carmen Marrón, Cierra Glaude, Keisha Rae Witherspoon, Marie Jamora, Shari L. Carpenter, Shaz Bennett and Stephanie Turner will all have their turn as helmers for Season 6, which is set to premiere later in the fall. The addition of the nine directors continues DuVernay’s commitment to hiring an entirely woman-led directing team for the show. The latest addition brings the series’ total women director count to 42 filmmakers, 39 of whom are first-time television directors.
Set in rural Louisiana and the fictional community of St. Josephine, the Anthony Sparks...
Paula Jai Parker (The Wayans Bros.), Marquis Rodriguez (When They See Us) and McKinley Freeman (Titans) have joined the OWN series as recurring, while Lisa France, Bertha Bay-Sa Pan, Carmen Marrón, Cierra Glaude, Keisha Rae Witherspoon, Marie Jamora, Shari L. Carpenter, Shaz Bennett and Stephanie Turner will all have their turn as helmers for Season 6, which is set to premiere later in the fall. The addition of the nine directors continues DuVernay’s commitment to hiring an entirely woman-led directing team for the show. The latest addition brings the series’ total women director count to 42 filmmakers, 39 of whom are first-time television directors.
Set in rural Louisiana and the fictional community of St. Josephine, the Anthony Sparks...
- 4/6/2021
- by Alexandra Del Rosario
- Deadline Film + TV
Array Releasing has acquired the documentary “In Our Mothers’ Gardens,” which marks filmmaker Shantrelle P. Lewis’ directorial debut.
Array president Tilane Jones announced the acquisition on Thursday, along with news that the film will be released in select theaters and begin streaming on Netflix on May 6.
“’In Our Mothers’ Gardens’ is a beautiful tribute to the complex relationships between Black women connected by lineage and love,” Jones said in a statement. “Released in celebration of Mother’s Day, we are honored to present Ms. Lewis’ feature debut highlighting important bonds between daughters, mothers and grandmothers told by a dynamic group of women.”
The documentary debuted at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival and subsequently earned the Shine Award for best film. The movie features interviews with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; Tina Farris (tour manager for talent including The Roots and Chris Rock); cultural critic Dr. Brittney Cooper (Rutgers University); Rev. Dr. Theresa S.
Array president Tilane Jones announced the acquisition on Thursday, along with news that the film will be released in select theaters and begin streaming on Netflix on May 6.
“’In Our Mothers’ Gardens’ is a beautiful tribute to the complex relationships between Black women connected by lineage and love,” Jones said in a statement. “Released in celebration of Mother’s Day, we are honored to present Ms. Lewis’ feature debut highlighting important bonds between daughters, mothers and grandmothers told by a dynamic group of women.”
The documentary debuted at the 2020 BlackStar Film Festival and subsequently earned the Shine Award for best film. The movie features interviews with #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; Tina Farris (tour manager for talent including The Roots and Chris Rock); cultural critic Dr. Brittney Cooper (Rutgers University); Rev. Dr. Theresa S.
- 4/1/2021
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Ava DuVernay’s Array Releasing has acquired the documentary In Our Mothers’ Gardens, the feature film debut of director, curator, and author Shantrelle P. Lewis. The film is set to debut theatrically in select cities and on Netflix starting fittingly on Mother’s Day, May 6.
In Our Mothers’ Gardens celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and often times humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters. The film pays homage to Black maternal ancestors while examining the immediate and critical importance of self-care, and the healing tools necessary for Black communities to thrive.
The film features a variety of interviews from #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; The Roots and Chris Rock tour manager Tina Farris; cultural critic Dr. Brittney Cooper of Rutgers University; Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames of Princeton University; holistic lifestyle maven Latham Thomas; photographer Adama Delphine Fawundu and NPR’s Senior Director for Programming Yolanda Sangweni.
In Our Mothers’ Gardens celebrates the strength and resiliency of Black women and Black families through the complex, and often times humorous, relationship between mothers and daughters. The film pays homage to Black maternal ancestors while examining the immediate and critical importance of self-care, and the healing tools necessary for Black communities to thrive.
The film features a variety of interviews from #MeToo founder Tarana Burke; The Roots and Chris Rock tour manager Tina Farris; cultural critic Dr. Brittney Cooper of Rutgers University; Rev. Dr. Theresa S. Thames of Princeton University; holistic lifestyle maven Latham Thomas; photographer Adama Delphine Fawundu and NPR’s Senior Director for Programming Yolanda Sangweni.
- 4/1/2021
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
"What's stopping you, what are you afraid of?" Array has revealed an official US trailer for an indie drama titled Alaska Is a Drag, made by filmmaker Shaz Bennett. This originally premiered in 2017, but has been quietly awaiting release as it's a low film about being gay in Alaska. Thanks to Ava DuVernay's Array, it will finally be available on Netflix at the end of this month. Tough, but still diva fabulous, Leo, an aspiring drag superstar, is stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska. He and his twin sister are trapped in the monotony of fist fights and fish guts. Out of necessity, Leo learns to fight back, which catches the attention of the local boxing coach. When a new boy moves to town and wants to be his sparring partner, Leo has to face the real reason he's stuck in Alaska. Starring Martin L. Washington Jr. as Leo,...
- 12/18/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Monday, Dec. 14 Greenwich Acquires North American Rights to ‘Days of the Bagnold Summer’
Greenwich Entertainment has bought North American distribution rights to “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” the directorial debut of Simon Bird (star of “The Inbetweeners”), for a Feb. 19 release in theaters and on demand.
Bird’s comedy, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, contains a soundtrack by Belle & Sebastian and is based on the graphic novel by Joff Winterhart with a screenplay written by Lisa Owens. Starring Earl Cave, Monica Dolan and Rob Brydon, the film explores the wobbly relationship between a well-intentioned single librarian and her black-clad teenage son, who’d rather listen to Metallica than his mother.
“Days of the Bagnold Summer” was produced by Matthew James Wilkinson and co-produced by Isabelle Georgeaux with executive producers James Appleton, James Atherton, Reinhard Besser, Will Clarke, Walter Mair, Andy Mayson, Jan Pace, Mike Runagall and Pat Wintersgill.
Greenwich Entertainment has bought North American distribution rights to “Days of the Bagnold Summer,” the directorial debut of Simon Bird (star of “The Inbetweeners”), for a Feb. 19 release in theaters and on demand.
Bird’s comedy, which premiered at the Locarno Film Festival, contains a soundtrack by Belle & Sebastian and is based on the graphic novel by Joff Winterhart with a screenplay written by Lisa Owens. Starring Earl Cave, Monica Dolan and Rob Brydon, the film explores the wobbly relationship between a well-intentioned single librarian and her black-clad teenage son, who’d rather listen to Metallica than his mother.
“Days of the Bagnold Summer” was produced by Matthew James Wilkinson and co-produced by Isabelle Georgeaux with executive producers James Appleton, James Atherton, Reinhard Besser, Will Clarke, Walter Mair, Andy Mayson, Jan Pace, Mike Runagall and Pat Wintersgill.
- 12/15/2020
- by Dave McNary
- Variety Film + TV
Ava DuVernay is producing the first-ever Native American family drama developed for network television. Titled “Sovereign,” the potential series has received a put pilot commitment, the broadcaster said Friday.
The “When They See Us” creator will executive produce the project, with Bird Runningwater, who belongs to the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribal Nations, acting as co-executive producer. The pilot for the family drama was written by Sydney Freeland (“Drunktown’s Finest”), a member of the Navajo Nation, and Shaz Bennett (“Bosch”) from a story by DuVernay.
Per NBC, “The groundbreaking project chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling, contemporary Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves.”
DuVernay’s Array Filmworks will produce “Sovereign” in association with Warner Bros. Television, where the filmmaker has an overall deal. Freeland and Bennett are executive producers with DuVernay, alongside Array’s Sarah Bremner and...
The “When They See Us” creator will executive produce the project, with Bird Runningwater, who belongs to the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribal Nations, acting as co-executive producer. The pilot for the family drama was written by Sydney Freeland (“Drunktown’s Finest”), a member of the Navajo Nation, and Shaz Bennett (“Bosch”) from a story by DuVernay.
Per NBC, “The groundbreaking project chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling, contemporary Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves.”
DuVernay’s Array Filmworks will produce “Sovereign” in association with Warner Bros. Television, where the filmmaker has an overall deal. Freeland and Bennett are executive producers with DuVernay, alongside Array’s Sarah Bremner and...
- 10/23/2020
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
NBC has given a put pilot commitment to drama Sovereign, from Emmy winner Ava DuVernay and Bird Runningwater. The project, written by Sydney Freeland (Drunktown’s Finest) and Shaz Bennett (Bosch) from a story by DuVernay, marks the first Native American family drama developed for network television.
Sovereign chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves.
The drama is produced by DuVernay’s Array Filmworks in association with Warner Bros. Television. Freeland and Bennett will executive produce with DuVernay. Array’s Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes will co-executive produce with Runningwater.
Through her Warner Bros. Television Group overall deal, DuVernay is currently executive producing the fifth season of her OWN/Warner Bros. TV drama series Queen Sugar and Cherish the Day, as well as the upcoming NBC family social experiment reality series Home Sweet Home...
Sovereign chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves.
The drama is produced by DuVernay’s Array Filmworks in association with Warner Bros. Television. Freeland and Bennett will executive produce with DuVernay. Array’s Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes will co-executive produce with Runningwater.
Through her Warner Bros. Television Group overall deal, DuVernay is currently executive producing the fifth season of her OWN/Warner Bros. TV drama series Queen Sugar and Cherish the Day, as well as the upcoming NBC family social experiment reality series Home Sweet Home...
- 10/23/2020
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
NBC has given a put pilot commitment to the Native American family drama “Sovereign,” which boasts Ava DuVernay among its executive producers.
The pilot was written by Sydney Freeland and Shaz Bennett from a story by DuVernay. All three will executive produce with Bird Runningwater co-executive producing. Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes of DuVernay’s Array Filmworks will also co-executive produce. Array will produce in association with Warner Bros. Television, where DuVernay is currently under an overall deal.
Per NBC, “Sovereign” marks the first Native American family drama developed for network television. The project chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves.
“Sovereign” marks the latest TV project for DuVernay, who is currently executive producer on the OWN shows “Queen Sugar” and “Cherish the Day.” She also set up the unscripted series “Home Sweet Home...
The pilot was written by Sydney Freeland and Shaz Bennett from a story by DuVernay. All three will executive produce with Bird Runningwater co-executive producing. Sarah Bremner and Paul Garnes of DuVernay’s Array Filmworks will also co-executive produce. Array will produce in association with Warner Bros. Television, where DuVernay is currently under an overall deal.
Per NBC, “Sovereign” marks the first Native American family drama developed for network television. The project chronicles the lives, loves and loyalties of a sprawling Indigenous family struggling to control the future of their tribe against outside forces and themselves.
“Sovereign” marks the latest TV project for DuVernay, who is currently executive producer on the OWN shows “Queen Sugar” and “Cherish the Day.” She also set up the unscripted series “Home Sweet Home...
- 10/23/2020
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
NBC has given a put pilot commitment to Sovereign, a Native American family drama from Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated executive producer Ava DuVernay and co-executive producer Bird Runningwater (of the Cheyenne and Mescalero Apache Tribal Nations).
The pilot was written by Sydney Freeland (Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize winner Drunktown’s Finest), a member of the Navajo Nation, and Shaz Bennett (Bosch), from a story by DuVernay.
More from TVLineNBC Orders Social Experiment From Ava DuVernayWhen They See Us' DuVernay Shrugs Off Golden Globes SnubsJohn Mulaney to Host SNL
The first Native American family drama developed for network television, Sovereign “chronicles the lives,...
The pilot was written by Sydney Freeland (Sundance Film Festival Jury Prize winner Drunktown’s Finest), a member of the Navajo Nation, and Shaz Bennett (Bosch), from a story by DuVernay.
More from TVLineNBC Orders Social Experiment From Ava DuVernayWhen They See Us' DuVernay Shrugs Off Golden Globes SnubsJohn Mulaney to Host SNL
The first Native American family drama developed for network television, Sovereign “chronicles the lives,...
- 10/23/2020
- by Matt Webb Mitovich
- TVLine.com
Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not seen “The New Decas,” the season 5 premiere of Showtime’s “Billions.”
Can the group of hardcore characters who fuel the “Billions” universe overcome their baser instincts to find success and happiness? These are the broad themes of the fifth season of “Billions,” Showtime’s twisty-turny drama series set against the backdrop of New York’s investment and high-finance community.
Brian Koppelman and David Levien, series co-creators and showrunners, join the Variety After Show, presented by National Geographic, to break down the season premiere and offer some insights about the rest of the season ahead. The opener, “The New Decas,” was penned by Koppelman and Levien and directed by Matthew McLoota.
In the Q&a with Variety business editor Cynthia Littleton, Koppelman notes that the challenge of steering a new season is always to take the characters to new places while continuing the overarching storylines.
Can the group of hardcore characters who fuel the “Billions” universe overcome their baser instincts to find success and happiness? These are the broad themes of the fifth season of “Billions,” Showtime’s twisty-turny drama series set against the backdrop of New York’s investment and high-finance community.
Brian Koppelman and David Levien, series co-creators and showrunners, join the Variety After Show, presented by National Geographic, to break down the season premiere and offer some insights about the rest of the season ahead. The opener, “The New Decas,” was penned by Koppelman and Levien and directed by Matthew McLoota.
In the Q&a with Variety business editor Cynthia Littleton, Koppelman notes that the challenge of steering a new season is always to take the characters to new places while continuing the overarching storylines.
- 5/4/2020
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
CBS has announced the four participants chosen for its 2019-2020 Directors Initiative.
The initiative, which is now in its 16th year, aims to provide a platform for experienced directors to gain access to showrunners, execs, managers and agents, as well as shadowing network and TV studio shows at CBS throughout the year.
This year’s participants are Shaz Bennett, who was formerly a film programmer at Sundance, the L.A. Film Festival and AFI Fest, Jill D’Agnenica, who recently directed her first episode of TV for Freeform’s “Switched at Birth,” Leena Pendharkar, whose sophomore feature “20 Weeks” premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Ian Truitner, whose first feature film “Cutting Room” was one of the early movies to appear Netflix’s streaming platform.
“The access provided through our Directors Initiative gives television directors valuable first-hand exposure to the CBS Television Network’s episodic directing process,” said Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i,...
The initiative, which is now in its 16th year, aims to provide a platform for experienced directors to gain access to showrunners, execs, managers and agents, as well as shadowing network and TV studio shows at CBS throughout the year.
This year’s participants are Shaz Bennett, who was formerly a film programmer at Sundance, the L.A. Film Festival and AFI Fest, Jill D’Agnenica, who recently directed her first episode of TV for Freeform’s “Switched at Birth,” Leena Pendharkar, whose sophomore feature “20 Weeks” premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and Ian Truitner, whose first feature film “Cutting Room” was one of the early movies to appear Netflix’s streaming platform.
“The access provided through our Directors Initiative gives television directors valuable first-hand exposure to the CBS Television Network’s episodic directing process,” said Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i,...
- 10/22/2019
- by Will Thorne
- Variety Film + TV
CBS has named the four helmers selected for its 2019-2020 Directors Initiative. Now in its 16th year, the initiative provides a platform for experienced directors to gain access to showrunners, executives, managers, and agents, as well as the opportunity to shadow CBS Television Network and CBS Television Studio shows throughout the year.
This year’s class includes Shaz Bennett, Jill D’Agnenica, Leena Pendharkar, and Ian Truitner. All are drama directors.
[Read more about them below]
The program helps directors develop strategic objectives aimed at cultivating meaningful relationships with industry professionals that are essential to getting hired.
“The access provided through our Directors Initiative gives television directors valuable first-hand exposure to the CBS Television Network’s episodic directing process,” said Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i, Executive Vice President, Entertainment Diversity, Inclusion and Communications at CBS Entertainment. “Our participants spend quality time on set and begin fostering constructive connections with showrunners, producers and executives with the objective of...
This year’s class includes Shaz Bennett, Jill D’Agnenica, Leena Pendharkar, and Ian Truitner. All are drama directors.
[Read more about them below]
The program helps directors develop strategic objectives aimed at cultivating meaningful relationships with industry professionals that are essential to getting hired.
“The access provided through our Directors Initiative gives television directors valuable first-hand exposure to the CBS Television Network’s episodic directing process,” said Tiffany Smith-Anoa’i, Executive Vice President, Entertainment Diversity, Inclusion and Communications at CBS Entertainment. “Our participants spend quality time on set and begin fostering constructive connections with showrunners, producers and executives with the objective of...
- 10/22/2019
- by Anita Bennett
- Deadline Film + TV
In today’s roundup, “Queen Sugar” added new cast members and directors to its third season, and “American Idol” announced dates and cities for its summer auditions.
Award Shows
PromaxBDA will honor Debra L. Lee, Bet networks chairman and CEO emeritus, with its lifetime achievement award. The marketing, promotion and design association will present Lee with the distinction at the PromaxBDA Conference in New York on June 14.
Dates
ABC has announced the audition tour locations and dates for the second reboot season of “American Idol.” Starting Aug. 25, the “Idol” team will be traveling to 20 cities in search of its next amateur stars. This year’s tour stops include Orlando, Fla. and San Diego, Calif. (Aug. 25); Chattanooga, Tenn. and Scottsdale, Ariz. (Aug. 28); Charlotte, N.C., Albuquerque, N.M., and Seattle, Wash. (Aug. 31); Boise, Idaho (Sep. 2); Richmond, Va. and Plano, Texas (Sep. 3); Houston, Texas (Sep. 4); Austin, Texas, Philadelphia, Pa., and Oklahoma City,...
Award Shows
PromaxBDA will honor Debra L. Lee, Bet networks chairman and CEO emeritus, with its lifetime achievement award. The marketing, promotion and design association will present Lee with the distinction at the PromaxBDA Conference in New York on June 14.
Dates
ABC has announced the audition tour locations and dates for the second reboot season of “American Idol.” Starting Aug. 25, the “Idol” team will be traveling to 20 cities in search of its next amateur stars. This year’s tour stops include Orlando, Fla. and San Diego, Calif. (Aug. 25); Chattanooga, Tenn. and Scottsdale, Ariz. (Aug. 28); Charlotte, N.C., Albuquerque, N.M., and Seattle, Wash. (Aug. 31); Boise, Idaho (Sep. 2); Richmond, Va. and Plano, Texas (Sep. 3); Houston, Texas (Sep. 4); Austin, Texas, Philadelphia, Pa., and Oklahoma City,...
- 6/6/2018
- by Christi Carras
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: One week after Queen Sugar‘s two-part Season 3 debut on Own, the drama executive produced by Oprah Winfrey and Ava DuVernay has announced the final set of directors for the all-female-helmed series and widened its inclusion scope with new castings.
The new directors are Nijla Mu’min, Christina Choe, Ayoka Chenzira and Rachel Raimist, along with the return of Queen Sugar Season 3 showrunner Kat Candler. They join previously announced Season 3 helmers DeMane Davis, Patricia Cardoso, Shaz Bennett, Maria Govan and Lauren Wolkstein.
In addition, Vivien Ngo (Shameless), Tony Aidan Vo (Alternatino) and Elyse Dinh McCrillis (Spider-Man 2) will recur on the show as part of a narrative that focuses on New Orleans’ strong Vietnamese community and of course its interaction with the Bordelons family, friends and enemies.
If you haven’t been watching Queen Sugar, which you should, here is the detailed Season 3 logline to catch you up fpr tonight...
The new directors are Nijla Mu’min, Christina Choe, Ayoka Chenzira and Rachel Raimist, along with the return of Queen Sugar Season 3 showrunner Kat Candler. They join previously announced Season 3 helmers DeMane Davis, Patricia Cardoso, Shaz Bennett, Maria Govan and Lauren Wolkstein.
In addition, Vivien Ngo (Shameless), Tony Aidan Vo (Alternatino) and Elyse Dinh McCrillis (Spider-Man 2) will recur on the show as part of a narrative that focuses on New Orleans’ strong Vietnamese community and of course its interaction with the Bordelons family, friends and enemies.
If you haven’t been watching Queen Sugar, which you should, here is the detailed Season 3 logline to catch you up fpr tonight...
- 6/6/2018
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
Now in its eighth year, the American Film Festival offers a unique perspective on recent developments in U.S. indie filmmaking. That’s because it happens in Poland, staged at the stylish Kino Nowe Horyzonty film center in Wroclaw, also home to the summer New Horizons festival, which has more of a European tilt.
Although the festival, which recently concluded, surveys many favorites from Sundance and South by Southwest, the curation doesn’t merely transpose selections to a new setting. It imports a lively assortment of filmmakers, as well, and creates a cozy, engaged atmosphere more akin to the communal vibe of the Maryland Film Festival. Indeed, to rub shoulders in a crowd that included Jody Lee Lipes, Noel Wells, Dustin Guy Defa, Nathan Silver, producer Mike Ryan, Jessica Oreck and Mike Ott is to experience a deep dive into the creative bustle of current indie ferment.
That spirit is...
Although the festival, which recently concluded, surveys many favorites from Sundance and South by Southwest, the curation doesn’t merely transpose selections to a new setting. It imports a lively assortment of filmmakers, as well, and creates a cozy, engaged atmosphere more akin to the communal vibe of the Maryland Film Festival. Indeed, to rub shoulders in a crowd that included Jody Lee Lipes, Noel Wells, Dustin Guy Defa, Nathan Silver, producer Mike Ryan, Jessica Oreck and Mike Ott is to experience a deep dive into the creative bustle of current indie ferment.
That spirit is...
- 11/14/2017
- by Steve Dollar
- Indiewire
The American Film Institute has named 25 alumnae of the AFI Conservatory and AFI Conservatory Directing Workshop for Women to participate in the next phase of the Fox Filmmakers Lab. A partnership between AFI and 20th Century Fox, the Lab aims to increase the number of women directing major studio films — which was even lower last year than it was in 2015 — by giving them the chance to direct short films based on Fox titles: “Alien,” “Die Hard,” “The Omen,” “The Fly,” etc.
Read More: Number of Female Directors Working in Hollywood Declines, New Study Shows
After developing their concepts in the coming months, the 25 directors will pitch their concepts to Fox executives; one or more of them will be chosen to make a short film based on their idea. Here are the 25 women who’ve advanced to the next phase of the Lab:
Read More: ‘Xx’ Trailer: Karyn Kusama, Roxanne Benjamin...
Read More: Number of Female Directors Working in Hollywood Declines, New Study Shows
After developing their concepts in the coming months, the 25 directors will pitch their concepts to Fox executives; one or more of them will be chosen to make a short film based on their idea. Here are the 25 women who’ve advanced to the next phase of the Lab:
Read More: ‘Xx’ Trailer: Karyn Kusama, Roxanne Benjamin...
- 1/15/2017
- by Michael Nordine
- Indiewire
Drama wins feature, screenplay and audience prizes. Manchester by the Sea’s Casey Affleck is best actor and Elle’s Isabelle Huppert best actress.
Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (pictured) won a record four awards at the Independent Filmmaker Project Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York on Monday.
The acclaimed drama, which last week got six Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, won the Gotham Award for best feature and its script, with a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney and a screenplay by Jenkins, won in the screenplay category.
The film also won the Gotham Audience Award and cast members Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders were presented with the previously announced Special Jury for Ensemble Performance.
In other Gotham Award categories, Casey Affleck was named best actor for his performance in Manchester by the Sea, another leading awards contender, and [link=nm...
Barry Jenkins’ Moonlight (pictured) won a record four awards at the Independent Filmmaker Project Gotham Independent Film Awards in New York on Monday.
The acclaimed drama, which last week got six Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, won the Gotham Award for best feature and its script, with a story by Tarell Alvin McCraney and a screenplay by Jenkins, won in the screenplay category.
The film also won the Gotham Audience Award and cast members Mahershala Ali, Naomie Harris, Alex Hibbert, André Holland, Jharrel Jerome, Janelle Monáe, Jaden Piner, Trevante Rhodes and Ashton Sanders were presented with the previously announced Special Jury for Ensemble Performance.
In other Gotham Award categories, Casey Affleck was named best actor for his performance in Manchester by the Sea, another leading awards contender, and [link=nm...
- 11/29/2016
- ScreenDaily
Top row: Andrew Ahn, Shaz Bennett, Bernado Britto, Steve Caple Jr, Jonas Carpignano, Marta Cunningham, Alistair Banks Griffin. Bottom row: Siân Heder, Marielle Heller, Anna Rose Holmer, Crystal Moselle, Felix Thompson, Yared Zeleke Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute Sundance Institute has announced a new FilmTwo Inititative, which aims to help second-time feature filmmakers, in a bid to address what it describes in its press release as "a growing need in the field of independent storytelling, especially for women and filmmakers of colour".
Second films have long been known as tricky territory and the initiative, with support from founding Partner NBCUniversal, will offer a lucky 13 directors specialist creative and tactical guidance in navigating the unique challenges of making their sophomore movies, such as identifying and/or writing their second project, defining their voice and scaling up and creating more ambitious projects in terms of budget and scope. Through the initiative, four...
Second films have long been known as tricky territory and the initiative, with support from founding Partner NBCUniversal, will offer a lucky 13 directors specialist creative and tactical guidance in navigating the unique challenges of making their sophomore movies, such as identifying and/or writing their second project, defining their voice and scaling up and creating more ambitious projects in terms of budget and scope. Through the initiative, four...
- 5/18/2016
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
While making a first film is notoriously difficult, making a second film can often be even more challenging. To help a talented crop of filmmakers avoid the dreaded “sophomore slump,” the Sundance Institute today unveiled the FilmTwo Initiative. Led by the Institute’s Feature Film Program, with support from Founding Partner NBCUniversal, the FilmTwo Initiative will offer 13 directors creative and strategic guidance in navigating the unique challenges of making their second feature films. The inaugural FilmTwo Fellows are Andrew Ahn (Spa Night), Shaz Bennett (Alaska is a Drag), Bernardo Britto (Jacqueline (Argentine)), Steven Caple Jr. (The Land), Jonas Carpignano (Mediterranea), Marta Cunningham […]...
- 5/17/2016
- by Paula Bernstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Those in the know (his following might have discovered him via his pair of novels in The Blue Bourbon Orchestra and Saguaro) appreciate his off the beaten track humor and array of trippy characters and their limitless inscribed legends. The fanfare has steadily grown in Park City with trio of animated short films in Bobby Bird: The Devil in Denim (2007), Chonto (2008), Field Notes from Dimension X : Oasis (2009). Running the full gamut of Sundance Institute’s workshops with Ajax (this could logically be his sophomore feature film), production on Carson Mell‘s directorial debut took place in November of 2014 in Arizona. With recent writing creds for Eastbound & Down and Silicon Valley, described as a supernatural comedy, the live-action Another Evil in definitely in ready mode after showing up at Champs-Élysées Film Fest’s U.S. in Progress this past June. Steve Zissis stars and somewhere in the mix…you’ll...
- 11/23/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Shaz Bennett has her own unique history with the Sundance Film Festival having worked for them as a programmer before it was even known as Sundance. Flash-forward a couple of decades later, and Bennett took her 2012 short of the same name and elongated it into a feature length film. Alaska is a Drag is self-described as if Rocky and Hedwig had a love child and not only did the Lgbt friendly, loud and proud Diy title become a hit on Kickstarter but this summer emerged as the big winner at the Us in Progress in Poland this October landing major post production coin. No doubt this feels a little reckless, spirited and memorably micro.
Gist: Leo dreams of becoming an International Superstar, but these dreams are hard fought stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska.
Production Co./Producers: Bennett, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller.
Prediction: Next section or a Narrative Comp item at SXSW.
Gist: Leo dreams of becoming an International Superstar, but these dreams are hard fought stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska.
Production Co./Producers: Bennett, Diane Becker, Melanie Miller.
Prediction: Next section or a Narrative Comp item at SXSW.
- 11/23/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Naturally the post production process can be a lengthier one when latticeworking critical sci-fi elements with technical aspects. As is the nature with our set of predictions, sometimes we jump the gun. No updates have been made in the interim, but Mark Elijah Rosenberg‘s debut should logically be ready to dock in 2016. Starring Mark Strong, Sanaa Lathan, Charles Baker and Bettina Skye, Ad Inexplorata received support from Indian Paintbrush Fellowship (2011), Creative Producing Summit (2011), Creative Producing Feature Film Lab (2011), 2011 June Screenwriters Lab (2011), 2012 Screenplay Reading Series (2012) and coin from the San Francisco Film Society and it received the Sundance Nhk Filmmaker Award (2014).
Gist: Captain William D. Stanaforth (Strong), is a Nasa pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown. Faced with mechanical problems, physical suffering from long distance space travel, and the mental obstacles of a journey into the unknown, the trip begins to take its toll on the ship…...
Gist: Captain William D. Stanaforth (Strong), is a Nasa pilot alone on a one-way mission toward the unknown. Faced with mechanical problems, physical suffering from long distance space travel, and the mental obstacles of a journey into the unknown, the trip begins to take its toll on the ship…...
- 11/23/2015
- by Eric Lavallee
- IONCINEMA.com
Us in Progress is a biannual event held in June during the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris and in October during the American Film Festival in Wroclaw. It’s a five-year-old industry event that aims to strengthen transatlantic film collaborations and partnerships between European industry and emerging American filmmakers. The fifth Us in Progress recently held in Wroclaw featured six films in various editing and post-production stages. The participants included: Mike Ott and Nathan Silver, Actor Martinez Shaz Bennett and Melanie Miller, Alaska is a Drag Zachary Shedd and Daniel Patrick Carbone, Americana Benjamin Kruger, It Had to Be You Joel […]...
- 11/11/2015
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Us in Progress is a biannual event held in June during the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris and in October during the American Film Festival in Wroclaw. It’s a five-year-old industry event that aims to strengthen transatlantic film collaborations and partnerships between European industry and emerging American filmmakers. The fifth Us in Progress recently held in Wroclaw featured six films in various editing and post-production stages. The participants included: Mike Ott and Nathan Silver, Actor Martinez Shaz Bennett and Melanie Miller, Alaska is a Drag Zachary Shedd and Daniel Patrick Carbone, Americana Benjamin Kruger, It Had to Be You Joel […]...
- 11/11/2015
- by Taylor Hess
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The 5th edition of the Us in Progress co-production forum was held on October 22-23, 2015, during the 6 th American Film Festival in Wrocław. Director Shaz Bennett and producers Melanie Miller and Diane Becker acquired the most awards and therefore emerged as Us in Progress winners for "Alaska is a Drag".
Us in Progress is an industry event that aims to strengthen the trans-Atlantic film industry collaborations and partnerships and help European film professionals establish working relationships with new emerging American filmmakers. The event is a bi-annual program conducted at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris during the summer before kicking-off in Wroclaw at Aff during the fall.
At the 6th American Film Festival, six films in various stages of post-production have conducted private screenings for film industry professionals, including Laurent Danielou (Loco Films), Mathieu Delaunay (Memento Films), Oda Schaeffer (k5), Silje Grimsdal (Trust Nordisk), and festival programmers from Edinburgh, Locarno, Tribeca, and a jury composed of yours truly, Sydney Levine, and Polish post-producers, to compete for post-production and promotional packages. In addition to the filmmaking duo, Shaz Bennett and Melanie Miller, two films have earned significant post-production awards - "Actor Martinez" by Nathan Silver and Mike Ott and "The Loner" by Daniel Y-Li Grove.
Here is a detailed listing of the awards:
"Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Millerwill received:
post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (e.g. color grading or conforming, master Dcp, master Hdcam Sr, master Blu-ray, master DVD) from Chimney Poland, based in Warsaw; part of Chimney Groupa score composed by Maciej Zielinski from Soundflower Studiofinal mix 5.1 sound post-production to the value of $20.000 Euro (including rental of sound mixing studio with Thx and Dolby Premier certificates) from Toya Studios an offer to acquire Polish TV rights from Ale Kino+Several years ago, the filmmakers also received a couple of grants to develop the script from Clever in San Francisco (Cheryl Dunye’s company) and Naked Angels.
The script was developed through several programs at Sundance, Film Independent and Fox as well as the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.
"The Loner" by Daniel Grove and produced by Reza Sixo Safai received:
digital post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (excluding 35mm processing/scan; including conforming, color grading, grain/noise management, finishing, mastering, simple VFX, Dcp and other file based master from Fixafilm based in Warsaw and free registration to Producers' Network at Cannes 2016. "Actor Martinez" (working title) by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver (produced by Britta Erickson) received a second acquisition offer by Ale Kino+
Selected projects participating in last year's Us in Progress Wrocław or 2015 Us in Progress Paris were included in the Aff program: "Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel (Polish premiere); "Stinking Heaven" (dir. Nathan Silver); "Ma" (dir. Celia Rowlson-Hall) and Reza Safai and Daniel Y Grove-produced "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" returned to the Aff to let the audiences benefit from the creators' attendance.
For the missing color correction, sound mix, VFX, and other deliverables for Bennett's and Miller's "Alaska is a Drag", the Us in Progress prize adds significant value in the finishing stage of post-production. The organizers and programmers of Us in Progress, Ula Śniegowska (artistic director of Aff), Adeline Monzier and Marie Zeniter (Black Rabbit Film), and Chantal Lian (Champs-Elysées Film Festival), look forward to following all the participating unfinished projects, and the future work and collaborations of all Us in Progress filmmakers.
More about Us in Progress and American Film Festival on www.americanfilmfestival.pl.
Us in Progress is an industry event that aims to strengthen the trans-Atlantic film industry collaborations and partnerships and help European film professionals establish working relationships with new emerging American filmmakers. The event is a bi-annual program conducted at the Champs-Elysées Film Festival in Paris during the summer before kicking-off in Wroclaw at Aff during the fall.
At the 6th American Film Festival, six films in various stages of post-production have conducted private screenings for film industry professionals, including Laurent Danielou (Loco Films), Mathieu Delaunay (Memento Films), Oda Schaeffer (k5), Silje Grimsdal (Trust Nordisk), and festival programmers from Edinburgh, Locarno, Tribeca, and a jury composed of yours truly, Sydney Levine, and Polish post-producers, to compete for post-production and promotional packages. In addition to the filmmaking duo, Shaz Bennett and Melanie Miller, two films have earned significant post-production awards - "Actor Martinez" by Nathan Silver and Mike Ott and "The Loner" by Daniel Y-Li Grove.
Here is a detailed listing of the awards:
"Alaska is a Drag" by Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Millerwill received:
post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (e.g. color grading or conforming, master Dcp, master Hdcam Sr, master Blu-ray, master DVD) from Chimney Poland, based in Warsaw; part of Chimney Groupa score composed by Maciej Zielinski from Soundflower Studiofinal mix 5.1 sound post-production to the value of $20.000 Euro (including rental of sound mixing studio with Thx and Dolby Premier certificates) from Toya Studios an offer to acquire Polish TV rights from Ale Kino+Several years ago, the filmmakers also received a couple of grants to develop the script from Clever in San Francisco (Cheryl Dunye’s company) and Naked Angels.
The script was developed through several programs at Sundance, Film Independent and Fox as well as the AFI Directing Workshop for Women.
"The Loner" by Daniel Grove and produced by Reza Sixo Safai received:
digital post-production services up to the value of €10.000 (excluding 35mm processing/scan; including conforming, color grading, grain/noise management, finishing, mastering, simple VFX, Dcp and other file based master from Fixafilm based in Warsaw and free registration to Producers' Network at Cannes 2016. "Actor Martinez" (working title) by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver (produced by Britta Erickson) received a second acquisition offer by Ale Kino+
Selected projects participating in last year's Us in Progress Wrocław or 2015 Us in Progress Paris were included in the Aff program: "Take Me to the River," dir. Matt Sobel (Polish premiere); "Stinking Heaven" (dir. Nathan Silver); "Ma" (dir. Celia Rowlson-Hall) and Reza Safai and Daniel Y Grove-produced "A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night" returned to the Aff to let the audiences benefit from the creators' attendance.
For the missing color correction, sound mix, VFX, and other deliverables for Bennett's and Miller's "Alaska is a Drag", the Us in Progress prize adds significant value in the finishing stage of post-production. The organizers and programmers of Us in Progress, Ula Śniegowska (artistic director of Aff), Adeline Monzier and Marie Zeniter (Black Rabbit Film), and Chantal Lian (Champs-Elysées Film Festival), look forward to following all the participating unfinished projects, and the future work and collaborations of all Us in Progress filmmakers.
More about Us in Progress and American Film Festival on www.americanfilmfestival.pl.
- 11/6/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Alaska Is A Drag director Shaz Bennett and producer Melanie Miller were the big winners at Us in Progress at the American Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland.
The fifth edition of Us in Progress, an industry event that showcases in-progress Us films to European film professionals, screened six films in various stages of post-production.
Alaska Is A Drag now receives post-production services worth €10.000 at Chimney Poland in Warsaw; a sound mix from Toya Studios; a score compsed by Soundflower Studio; and a TV rights deal with Ale Kino+.
The film is about an aspiring superstar, Leo (Martin L. Washington Jr.) and his twin sister Tristen (Maya Washington), who are stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska.
Attendees at Us in Progress included Laurent Danielou (Loco Films), Mathieu Delaunay (Memento), Oda Schaeffer (K5), Silje Grimsdal (TrustNordisk), and festival programmers from Edinburgh, Locarno and Tribeca.
A jury composed of Sydney Levine and Polish post-producer awarded packages to [link...
The fifth edition of Us in Progress, an industry event that showcases in-progress Us films to European film professionals, screened six films in various stages of post-production.
Alaska Is A Drag now receives post-production services worth €10.000 at Chimney Poland in Warsaw; a sound mix from Toya Studios; a score compsed by Soundflower Studio; and a TV rights deal with Ale Kino+.
The film is about an aspiring superstar, Leo (Martin L. Washington Jr.) and his twin sister Tristen (Maya Washington), who are stuck working in a fish cannery in Alaska.
Attendees at Us in Progress included Laurent Danielou (Loco Films), Mathieu Delaunay (Memento), Oda Schaeffer (K5), Silje Grimsdal (TrustNordisk), and festival programmers from Edinburgh, Locarno and Tribeca.
A jury composed of Sydney Levine and Polish post-producer awarded packages to [link...
- 11/5/2015
- by wendy.mitchell@screendaily.com (Wendy Mitchell)
- ScreenDaily
The American Film Festival is building families. The 6th edition (October 20-25, 2015) of the Wroclaw, Poland film fest was better than any of the previous four I have attended as a jury member for the Us in Progress section. Networking with the USiP filmmakers, past participants Matt Sobel (“Take Me to the River”),Leah Meyerhoff (“I Believe in Unicorns”),Reza Sixo Safai (“A Girl Walks Home at Night Alone”) and whose present project “ The Loner” (he produced and stars in it, Daniel Grove directed) won at USiP, etc. mingled with Indie Star Awardees David Gordon Green and Hal Hartley and other filmmakers like Jenner Furst ("Welcome to Leith") invited to present their films and to eat and party together over five days and four nights which lasted until the wee hours of the morning.
African American Women's classics also showed for the first time ever to appreciative Polish audiences. Though luckily for them, but a sad miss for the audiences, every one of the filmmakers was too busy with other work to attend. The selected films brought rarely before scenes of life in America to a new public.
You can be sure Ava DuVernay was invited, and you can be equally certain that she was very busy with multiple projects.
When I was in Trinidad, I heard from the film's distributor, Michelle Materre, a well known lecturer and film curator whose film series and discussion group, Creatively Speaking, takes place at the N.Y. Film Society’s Lincoln Center and in L.A. that Julie Dash was busy working on a TV series or a doc. I hope one of you reading this will email me a more news of her, because since her film “Daughters of the Dust” premiered at Sundance in 1991, her fan base has grown and eagerly awaits more stories from her. For those who missed her instant classic at Sundance, "Daughters of the Dust" presents a transgenerational saga set on the fictitious island of Ibo's Landing in 1902 about a young woman's quest for identity. Guichees, or Gullahs, aka the Georgia Sea Islanders are U.S.'s most African community still living today off the Georgia and South Carolina coast. The film was presented to the audience as a radical feminist manifesto and landmark of independent American cinema.
Other films included in the series, curated by Ula Sniegowsk and a young film academic Ewa Drygalska, included Katherine Collins' (who tragically died of cancer at age 46) 1982 film "Losing Ground", Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us", the popular and fabulous " The Secret Life of Bees" another Sundance premiering film, by Gina Prince-Blythewood (2008), Dee Rees' 2012 Sundance film "Pariah" and her recent HBO (who incidentally is an important sponsor of the festival with a showcase of its own films) fictional doc "Bessie" starring the one and only Queen Latifah, and Ava DuVernay's "Middle of Nowhere" and "Selma".
While we're on the subject of African American movies, the Spike Lee mentored new talent Michael Larnell, was here with my favorite "Next" generation film " Cronies".
Us in Progress had two out of six selected films about African Americans, the Four Award winning "Alaska Is a Drag" directed by former L.A. and Sundance Festival worker, debuting director Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Miller and Diane Becker; and "The Alchemist Cookbook" written and directed by Joel Potrykus. Other films included "Dope", documentarians' Albert Maysles' " In Transit", Nick Broomfield's "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and Frederick Wiseman's "In Jackson Heights", Mark Silver's "3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets", sleeper hit "Tangerine" by Sean Baker, "Field Niggas" a nocturnal portrait of Harlem by Khalik Allah, David Gordon Green's “George Washington", and last, but by no means least, Clint Eastwood's "Bird" as part of his extensive retrospective.
This festival is held in the largest Arthouse multiplex in Europe, built and owned (as is the festival itself, along with New Horizons Film Festival in July and several others) by arthouse film distributor and entrepreneur Roman Gutek.
Fabulous. Written by Sydney Levine in her hotel room at The Monopole where an opera rehearsal wafts through the morning air of a sunny, dry 50*F metropolis mixing with the sound of the streetcar. This has been a fabulous experience topped off by a fabulous tour of the city and today a visit to Europe's most fabulous zoo and aquarium.
African American Women's classics also showed for the first time ever to appreciative Polish audiences. Though luckily for them, but a sad miss for the audiences, every one of the filmmakers was too busy with other work to attend. The selected films brought rarely before scenes of life in America to a new public.
You can be sure Ava DuVernay was invited, and you can be equally certain that she was very busy with multiple projects.
When I was in Trinidad, I heard from the film's distributor, Michelle Materre, a well known lecturer and film curator whose film series and discussion group, Creatively Speaking, takes place at the N.Y. Film Society’s Lincoln Center and in L.A. that Julie Dash was busy working on a TV series or a doc. I hope one of you reading this will email me a more news of her, because since her film “Daughters of the Dust” premiered at Sundance in 1991, her fan base has grown and eagerly awaits more stories from her. For those who missed her instant classic at Sundance, "Daughters of the Dust" presents a transgenerational saga set on the fictitious island of Ibo's Landing in 1902 about a young woman's quest for identity. Guichees, or Gullahs, aka the Georgia Sea Islanders are U.S.'s most African community still living today off the Georgia and South Carolina coast. The film was presented to the audience as a radical feminist manifesto and landmark of independent American cinema.
Other films included in the series, curated by Ula Sniegowsk and a young film academic Ewa Drygalska, included Katherine Collins' (who tragically died of cancer at age 46) 1982 film "Losing Ground", Tanya Hamilton's "Night Catches Us", the popular and fabulous " The Secret Life of Bees" another Sundance premiering film, by Gina Prince-Blythewood (2008), Dee Rees' 2012 Sundance film "Pariah" and her recent HBO (who incidentally is an important sponsor of the festival with a showcase of its own films) fictional doc "Bessie" starring the one and only Queen Latifah, and Ava DuVernay's "Middle of Nowhere" and "Selma".
While we're on the subject of African American movies, the Spike Lee mentored new talent Michael Larnell, was here with my favorite "Next" generation film " Cronies".
Us in Progress had two out of six selected films about African Americans, the Four Award winning "Alaska Is a Drag" directed by former L.A. and Sundance Festival worker, debuting director Shaz Bennett, produced by Melanie Miller and Diane Becker; and "The Alchemist Cookbook" written and directed by Joel Potrykus. Other films included "Dope", documentarians' Albert Maysles' " In Transit", Nick Broomfield's "Tales of the Grim Sleeper" and Frederick Wiseman's "In Jackson Heights", Mark Silver's "3 ½ Minutes, Ten Bullets", sleeper hit "Tangerine" by Sean Baker, "Field Niggas" a nocturnal portrait of Harlem by Khalik Allah, David Gordon Green's “George Washington", and last, but by no means least, Clint Eastwood's "Bird" as part of his extensive retrospective.
This festival is held in the largest Arthouse multiplex in Europe, built and owned (as is the festival itself, along with New Horizons Film Festival in July and several others) by arthouse film distributor and entrepreneur Roman Gutek.
Fabulous. Written by Sydney Levine in her hotel room at The Monopole where an opera rehearsal wafts through the morning air of a sunny, dry 50*F metropolis mixing with the sound of the streetcar. This has been a fabulous experience topped off by a fabulous tour of the city and today a visit to Europe's most fabulous zoo and aquarium.
- 10/28/2015
- by Sydney Levine
- Sydney's Buzz
Round-up of news from the sixth American Film Festival and Us in Progress showcase.
Shaz Bennett’s Alaska Is A Drag was the big winner at the fifth edition of the Us In Progress showcase during Wroclaw’s sixth American Film Festival (Oct 20-25).
The strand’s jury awarded post-production services worth up to $40,000 to the project. This will include colour correction from Chimney Poland, a score composed by Maciej Zielinski from Soundflower Studios, and a final sound mix from Toya Studios, as well as an offer to acquire TV rights from Ale Kino+.
The film, which is writer-director Bennett’s feature version of her 2012 short of the same name, was produced by her 4248 Productions with Melanie Miller’s Fishbowl Films.
The cast of the $700,000 project includes Matt Dallas, Jason Scott Lee, Margaret Cho, newcomer Martin L. Washington Jr. and Christopher O’Shea.
Daniel Grove, an executive producer on acclaimed horror A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night,picked...
Shaz Bennett’s Alaska Is A Drag was the big winner at the fifth edition of the Us In Progress showcase during Wroclaw’s sixth American Film Festival (Oct 20-25).
The strand’s jury awarded post-production services worth up to $40,000 to the project. This will include colour correction from Chimney Poland, a score composed by Maciej Zielinski from Soundflower Studios, and a final sound mix from Toya Studios, as well as an offer to acquire TV rights from Ale Kino+.
The film, which is writer-director Bennett’s feature version of her 2012 short of the same name, was produced by her 4248 Productions with Melanie Miller’s Fishbowl Films.
The cast of the $700,000 project includes Matt Dallas, Jason Scott Lee, Margaret Cho, newcomer Martin L. Washington Jr. and Christopher O’Shea.
Daniel Grove, an executive producer on acclaimed horror A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night,picked...
- 10/26/2015
- by screen.berlin@googlemail.com (Martin Blaney)
- ScreenDaily
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