Exclusive: “This is a beautiful piece of art that I had no idea was going to resonate so deeply with me,” Regina King declared at last night’s overflowing tastemaker screening of Ava DuVernay’s Origin. “It’s a film about connectivity,” the Oscar winner added to the heavy hitter crowd. “I believe this is a film that will be studied in Anthropology classes for years and years to come.”
“Stunning, thank you,” King even more bluntly said of Origin to When They See Us vets DuVernay and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and wide applause from influential onlookers.
In a rare public appearance, the acclaimed actor and director took center stage with DuVernay and Ellis-Taylor Thursday to praise and delve into the film based on Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents. The screening at West Hollywood’s London hotel was just the latest in a...
“Stunning, thank you,” King even more bluntly said of Origin to When They See Us vets DuVernay and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor and wide applause from influential onlookers.
In a rare public appearance, the acclaimed actor and director took center stage with DuVernay and Ellis-Taylor Thursday to praise and delve into the film based on Pulitzer Prize winner Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents. The screening at West Hollywood’s London hotel was just the latest in a...
- 1/6/2024
- by Dominic Patten
- Deadline Film + TV
“It was a wild ride,” exclaims 2x Primetime Emmy nominated Grace and Frankie production designer Devorah Herbert about the final season of the Netflix/Skydance Jane Fonda-Lily Tomlin series.
A pinnacle task for Herbert no thanks to the pandemic’s impact on production: Tearing down all the sets she previously built on the hit series at Paramount Studios and rebuilding them at Sunset Gower.
You can listen to our conversation below:
Two weeks of shutdown in early 2020 turned into months with Herbert finally receiving word in November of that year that she had to “put six years of work into the dumpsters.”
“That was really rough,” she adds on today’s Crew Call, “We tore millions of dollars of sets apart and put them in the trash…We kept the set dressing in storage.”
But then a month later, Herbert got the call that Grace and Frankie was...
A pinnacle task for Herbert no thanks to the pandemic’s impact on production: Tearing down all the sets she previously built on the hit series at Paramount Studios and rebuilding them at Sunset Gower.
You can listen to our conversation below:
Two weeks of shutdown in early 2020 turned into months with Herbert finally receiving word in November of that year that she had to “put six years of work into the dumpsters.”
“That was really rough,” she adds on today’s Crew Call, “We tore millions of dollars of sets apart and put them in the trash…We kept the set dressing in storage.”
But then a month later, Herbert got the call that Grace and Frankie was...
- 6/16/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
As the country endures another surge in Covid infections, Netflix today delivered a bit of good news: The streamer has released the first four episodes of the seventh and final season of its comedy Grace and Frankie.
Watch stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin announce the news above.
The four episodes already were in the can when production on Season 7 was halted on March 12, 2020 — along with work on so many other series — as the Covid pandemic engulfed the country and the world. The 13-episode Season 6 hit Netflix January 15, 2020, making these the series’ first new episodes in 19 months.
Not long after filming was paused, the cast held a table read of a Season 7 script to raise\ money for seniors’ needs.
The Skydance TV series’ 16-episode order for Season 7 will bring it to 94 episodes — more than any other Netflix series, comedy or drama. No word yet on a premiere date for the remaining dozen half-hours,...
Watch stars Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin announce the news above.
The four episodes already were in the can when production on Season 7 was halted on March 12, 2020 — along with work on so many other series — as the Covid pandemic engulfed the country and the world. The 13-episode Season 6 hit Netflix January 15, 2020, making these the series’ first new episodes in 19 months.
Not long after filming was paused, the cast held a table read of a Season 7 script to raise\ money for seniors’ needs.
The Skydance TV series’ 16-episode order for Season 7 will bring it to 94 episodes — more than any other Netflix series, comedy or drama. No word yet on a premiere date for the remaining dozen half-hours,...
- 8/13/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
“Grace and Frankie” production designer Devorah Herbert recalls times in her career when she would walk into tech scout meetings and be the only woman in the room.
She couldn’t say anything about it at then because “if you asked for equality in the workplace, you were seen as someone who was bitchy,” she says. So instead, she just “got used to it. You incorporate that into your world and it’s how you function as a working woman.”
Herbert’s experience echoes that of many women climbing the ranks in Hollywood — and many more still who have tried to enter into showbiz but were unable to bust through the boys’ club of some departments.
Much has been written about how parity is far from being achieved in areas such as directing and cinematography, but female production designers are further underrepresented. Just last year the Center for the Study...
She couldn’t say anything about it at then because “if you asked for equality in the workplace, you were seen as someone who was bitchy,” she says. So instead, she just “got used to it. You incorporate that into your world and it’s how you function as a working woman.”
Herbert’s experience echoes that of many women climbing the ranks in Hollywood — and many more still who have tried to enter into showbiz but were unable to bust through the boys’ club of some departments.
Much has been written about how parity is far from being achieved in areas such as directing and cinematography, but female production designers are further underrepresented. Just last year the Center for the Study...
- 7/6/2020
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
When it comes to displaying the warmth and California style of the characters on Netflix’s Grace and Frankie, Devorah Herbert continually finds inspiration around her, whether she’s driving around LA, or at a friend’s home.
“That authenticity in the sets is a huge part in my mind of the success of a show,” says the two-time Emmy nominated production designer, “You want people to feel that it’s really real, so that they can relate to it.”
Starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the title roles, the Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston co-starring comedy from Skydance has been an international success for Netflix since its debut in 2015. With Herbert back for her sixth season on the show, the penultimate season of Grace and Frankie launched on the streamer on Jan. 15, 2020. Work on the final and seventh season of the Marta Kauffman and Howard Morris-created series...
“That authenticity in the sets is a huge part in my mind of the success of a show,” says the two-time Emmy nominated production designer, “You want people to feel that it’s really real, so that they can relate to it.”
Starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin in the title roles, the Martin Sheen and Sam Waterston co-starring comedy from Skydance has been an international success for Netflix since its debut in 2015. With Herbert back for her sixth season on the show, the penultimate season of Grace and Frankie launched on the streamer on Jan. 15, 2020. Work on the final and seventh season of the Marta Kauffman and Howard Morris-created series...
- 7/2/2020
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Grace and Frankie are at a crossroads. No, really. At one point in this trailer for this month’s Season 5 debut of the Netflix comedy starring Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin, the title characters are in no hurry to get from one side of a street to another, to the consternation of an impatient cop.
Snaps Fonda’s Grace: “I’ve earned the right to take my sweet f*cking time.”
Picking up where Season 4 of Grace and Frankie left off — their beachside home sold by the kids who no longer trust the aging title characters to live on their own — the odd-couple pals camp out in the vacant house, and even uptight Grace seems to have adopted a new nonchalant approach to life.
Although that’s not how she words it. Asked by the kids what would happen if...
Snaps Fonda’s Grace: “I’ve earned the right to take my sweet f*cking time.”
Picking up where Season 4 of Grace and Frankie left off — their beachside home sold by the kids who no longer trust the aging title characters to live on their own — the odd-couple pals camp out in the vacant house, and even uptight Grace seems to have adopted a new nonchalant approach to life.
Although that’s not how she words it. Asked by the kids what would happen if...
- 1/8/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
“There’s actually a story arc for the house in Season 4 and it’s the same parallel arc for the characters: Everything is falling apart,” says Grace and Frankie production designer Devorah Herbert, who this year counts her second consecutive Primetime Emmy nomination in the half-hour narrative production design category for the Netflix series.
Together with costume designer Allyson B. Fanger, who counts her third nom for the series in the contemporary series costume category, the duo are responsible for telling a deeper, innate story about the aged protagonists of cosmopolitan Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and former hippie Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) in their colors, patterns, set designs and overall personal getsups. “If the sofa is going to be blue, not brown” says Fanger, that’s an important note that the production design immediately relays to her.
“It’s like one painting in its entirety,” says Fanger ,who needs to...
Together with costume designer Allyson B. Fanger, who counts her third nom for the series in the contemporary series costume category, the duo are responsible for telling a deeper, innate story about the aged protagonists of cosmopolitan Grace Hanson (Jane Fonda) and former hippie Frankie Bergstein (Lily Tomlin) in their colors, patterns, set designs and overall personal getsups. “If the sofa is going to be blue, not brown” says Fanger, that’s an important note that the production design immediately relays to her.
“It’s like one painting in its entirety,” says Fanger ,who needs to...
- 8/23/2018
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Crew Call Podcast: In a very short time in Hollywood, production designer Devorah Herbert has left an everlasting visual impression in film and television. She brought a gritty, South Central L.A. authenticity to David Ayer’s crime dramas such as End Of Watch and Harsh Times, and she boldly established a red palette in the pilot of ABC’s Revenge — emphasized so greatly during its murder-on-the-beach wedding scene — a motif that continued throughout the series’ first…...
- 8/21/2017
- Deadline TV
If you ever feel homesick, Netflix’s Golden Globe and Emmy-nominated original series Grace and Frankie may be one of the quickest shortcuts to feeling right at home. Featuring an excellent ensemble of actors with strong chemistry, the series’ portrayal of a warm, lived-in world is supported by the work of production designer Devorah Herbert, who incorporates articles from real life—and her own life—to give the series a certain texture and authenticity. In production on…...
- 6/12/2017
- Deadline TV
Amazon has dipped its toe into the subscription streaming-video business, competing with Netflix by turning its Amazon Prime free-shipping service into a source for not just holiday gifts, books and tax-free, two-day-shipped sundries but also movies. It’s obviously a soft-launch for something bigger, and, for those who plunk down their $75 yearly fee for the shipping benefits, a really good deal.
Amazon claims to have launched with 5,000 titles, but one article cited only 1,668 films and 484 TV shows. (The discrepancy was chalked up to counting each episode of a TV series as a separate title.) So, Amazon hasn’t got anything on Netflix with its 11,000+ titles… yet. For now, though, there are some gems in Amazon’s back catalog. Here are 25 Filmmaker-approved movies Amazon Prime members can stream now.
1. Mysterious Skin. Gregg Araki’s adaptation of Scott Heim’s book stars Brady Corbet and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as teenagers who have found...
Amazon claims to have launched with 5,000 titles, but one article cited only 1,668 films and 484 TV shows. (The discrepancy was chalked up to counting each episode of a TV series as a separate title.) So, Amazon hasn’t got anything on Netflix with its 11,000+ titles… yet. For now, though, there are some gems in Amazon’s back catalog. Here are 25 Filmmaker-approved movies Amazon Prime members can stream now.
1. Mysterious Skin. Gregg Araki’s adaptation of Scott Heim’s book stars Brady Corbet and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as teenagers who have found...
- 3/8/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The word "nonsensical" doesn't begin to do justice to "Outta Time", an increasingly ridiculous caper picture starring "Saved by the Bell" alumnus Mario Lopez as a wronged man on the run.
While clunkers like these can still deliver a certain entertainment value, the convoluted plotting and wildly uneven performances ultimately prove deadly.
Expect this low-budget quickie to be outta theaters and onto video in no time flat.
Lopez is nice guy David Morales, a San Diego university student who has to find a way to come up with his tuition after a knee injury effectively wipes out his soccer scholarship.
His dilemma is seemingly solved when his ex-girlfriend (Tava Smiley) hooks him up with Professor Darabont (John Saxon), a shady character who pays David handsomely to sneak suspicious packages having something to do with medical research across the border to Tijuana.
The plan is to keep the gig just long enough to pay off his tuition, but soon David finds himself eluding killers who are after the contents of a red and white Igloo cooler that he must deliver to Darabont in exchange for the well-being of his kidnapped Mexican mother (Dyana Ortelli).
For reasons known only to writers Ned Kerwin and Scott Duncan, David spends most of the movie toting the highly conspicuous cooler, making him a pretty silly-looking target. Apparently he has never heard of a duffel bag.
Despite the Latin flavor and the man-on-the-run theme, the scripters and director Lorena David end up with an unintentionally funny muddle.
While Lopez, who co-hosts "The Other Half" with Dick Clark and Danny Bonaduce, at least possesses a certain affability, the same cannot be said for "Access Hollywood" host Nancy O'Dell, who is determined to show her range by playing an evil but brilliant surgeon.
We'll resist the easy temptation to make some crack about sticking to their day jobs.
Only comic Carlos Mencia manages to generate a little spark, popping in and out as Lopez's supportive buddy Juancho.
With both plot and performances straining credibility at every turn, director David does, however, manage to work in a couple of nicely choreographed action sequences that would have been right at home in a more expensive production -- and one without that dumb cooler.
OUTTA TIME
A Pathfinder release
Artisan Home Entertainment presents
in association with Filmstar Prods.
and Silverstar Prods.
A Roberts/David production
Credits:
Director: Lorena David
Screenwriters: Scott Duncan, Ned Kerwin
Producer: Mark Roberts
Executive producers: Larry Crowder, John Powell, David M. Grey
Director of photography: Lisa Wiegand
Production designers: Devorah Herbert, Cliff Spencer
Editor: Allan Spencer Wall
Costume designer: Luellyn Harper Thomas
Music: Scott Gilman
Cast:
David Morales: Mario Lopez
Bella: Ali Landry
Professor Darabont: John Saxon
Dr. Drake: Nancy O'Dell
Juancho: Carlos Mencia
Gloriana: Dyana Ortelli
Emma: Tava Smiley
Franco: Richard Lynch
Felix: George Lopez.
MPAA rating: R
Running time 90 minutes...
While clunkers like these can still deliver a certain entertainment value, the convoluted plotting and wildly uneven performances ultimately prove deadly.
Expect this low-budget quickie to be outta theaters and onto video in no time flat.
Lopez is nice guy David Morales, a San Diego university student who has to find a way to come up with his tuition after a knee injury effectively wipes out his soccer scholarship.
His dilemma is seemingly solved when his ex-girlfriend (Tava Smiley) hooks him up with Professor Darabont (John Saxon), a shady character who pays David handsomely to sneak suspicious packages having something to do with medical research across the border to Tijuana.
The plan is to keep the gig just long enough to pay off his tuition, but soon David finds himself eluding killers who are after the contents of a red and white Igloo cooler that he must deliver to Darabont in exchange for the well-being of his kidnapped Mexican mother (Dyana Ortelli).
For reasons known only to writers Ned Kerwin and Scott Duncan, David spends most of the movie toting the highly conspicuous cooler, making him a pretty silly-looking target. Apparently he has never heard of a duffel bag.
Despite the Latin flavor and the man-on-the-run theme, the scripters and director Lorena David end up with an unintentionally funny muddle.
While Lopez, who co-hosts "The Other Half" with Dick Clark and Danny Bonaduce, at least possesses a certain affability, the same cannot be said for "Access Hollywood" host Nancy O'Dell, who is determined to show her range by playing an evil but brilliant surgeon.
We'll resist the easy temptation to make some crack about sticking to their day jobs.
Only comic Carlos Mencia manages to generate a little spark, popping in and out as Lopez's supportive buddy Juancho.
With both plot and performances straining credibility at every turn, director David does, however, manage to work in a couple of nicely choreographed action sequences that would have been right at home in a more expensive production -- and one without that dumb cooler.
OUTTA TIME
A Pathfinder release
Artisan Home Entertainment presents
in association with Filmstar Prods.
and Silverstar Prods.
A Roberts/David production
Credits:
Director: Lorena David
Screenwriters: Scott Duncan, Ned Kerwin
Producer: Mark Roberts
Executive producers: Larry Crowder, John Powell, David M. Grey
Director of photography: Lisa Wiegand
Production designers: Devorah Herbert, Cliff Spencer
Editor: Allan Spencer Wall
Costume designer: Luellyn Harper Thomas
Music: Scott Gilman
Cast:
David Morales: Mario Lopez
Bella: Ali Landry
Professor Darabont: John Saxon
Dr. Drake: Nancy O'Dell
Juancho: Carlos Mencia
Gloriana: Dyana Ortelli
Emma: Tava Smiley
Franco: Richard Lynch
Felix: George Lopez.
MPAA rating: R
Running time 90 minutes...
- 4/12/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Those who have followed all the behind-the-scenes histrionics documented on HBO's "Project Greenlight" series will likely find the end product to be a much kinder, gentler picture than anticipated.
A sweetly benign slice-of-life period piece that tells of a friendship between a Catholic schoolboy on a mission and the 7-year-old rabbi's son he's determined to convert, the family-friendly film begins promisingly with some nicely observed bits of comedy before drifting permanently into the kind of heavier message mode that would have made for the ideal after-school special.
Or is that after-Sunday-school special?
Either way, this first feature by native Chicagoan Pete Jones is harmless enough (and budgeted low enough) for Miramax to benefit from a substantial widening beyond this weekend's initial four-city release.
The first winner of the Project Greenlight competition co-sponsored by Miramax, HBO, LivePlanet (whose principals include Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Chris Moore) and Sam Adams, "Stolen Summer" is set in Chicago circa 1976 when shag carpeting and plaid bell-bottoms still reigned supreme.
It's the last day of school, and rambunctious Pete O'Malley (Adi Stein) has been given an ultimatum by his habit-wearing teacher -- to either shape up over the summer or find himself well along the path to eternal damnation by September.
Because his firefighter dad (Aidan Quinn) and his full-time mom (Bonnie Hunt) have their own problems to deal with, including his five brothers and sisters, Pete takes it upon himself to go on a soul-saving quest.
Setting up shop outside a synagogue, he offers a free glass of lemonade and a free trip to heaven to anyone wishing to see the light. Despite some hesitant encouragement from Rabbi Jacobsen (Kevin Pollak), Pete isn't finding any takers, but he does strike up a friendship with the rabbi's little boy, Danny (Mike Weinberg).
It turns out Danny has leukemia, and although he's in remission, Pete realizes there's no time to waste in ensuring he makes it through the Pearly Gates.
On the surface, the "Stolen Summer" script has much in common with "Good Will Hunting". Both trade in themes of loyalty and friendship rooted in heavily working-class communities. But while Gus Van Sant was able to steer the latter away from most of its softer edges, Jones' inexperience as a director is all too apparent.
While he obviously knows of what he writes, much of the film's initial period color and amusing characterizations are abruptly pushed aside to make room for the ensuing drama, and the storytelling never fully recovers from the stiff staging of the more serious stuff.
In front of the camera, Quinn and the always-welcome Hunt, both Chicago natives, make for a highly credible parental unit. Pollak also does some fine work as does, in a lesser role, Brian Dennehy as Pollak's ecclesiastical counterpart, the bemused Father Kelly.
As the two young friends who teach the grown-ups a thing or two about tolerance, Stein and Weinberg are certainly cute, though Haley Joel Osment won't be losing any sleep over their cable-ready performances.
Creating the illusion of a bigger budget are production designer Devorah Herbert ("The Fluffer") and costume designer Stacy Ellen Rich, whose evocation of all things '70s is disturbingly authentic.
STOLEN SUMMER
Miramax
Miramax Fims presents
a LivePlanet production
Director-screenwriter: Pete Jones
Producers: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore
Executive producers: Pat Peach, Michelle Sy
Director of photography: Pete Biagi
Production designer: Devorah Herbert
Editor: Gregg Featherman
Costume designer: Stacy Ellen Rich
Music: Danny Lux
Color/stereo
Cast:
Joe O'Malley: Aidan Quinn
Margaret O'Malley: Bonnie Hunt
Rabbi Jacobsen: Kevin Pollak
Patrick O'Malley: Eddie Kaye Thomas
Pete O'Malley: Adi Stein
Danny Jacobsen: Mike Weinberg
Father Kelly: Brian Dennehy
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
A sweetly benign slice-of-life period piece that tells of a friendship between a Catholic schoolboy on a mission and the 7-year-old rabbi's son he's determined to convert, the family-friendly film begins promisingly with some nicely observed bits of comedy before drifting permanently into the kind of heavier message mode that would have made for the ideal after-school special.
Or is that after-Sunday-school special?
Either way, this first feature by native Chicagoan Pete Jones is harmless enough (and budgeted low enough) for Miramax to benefit from a substantial widening beyond this weekend's initial four-city release.
The first winner of the Project Greenlight competition co-sponsored by Miramax, HBO, LivePlanet (whose principals include Ben Affleck, Matt Damon and Chris Moore) and Sam Adams, "Stolen Summer" is set in Chicago circa 1976 when shag carpeting and plaid bell-bottoms still reigned supreme.
It's the last day of school, and rambunctious Pete O'Malley (Adi Stein) has been given an ultimatum by his habit-wearing teacher -- to either shape up over the summer or find himself well along the path to eternal damnation by September.
Because his firefighter dad (Aidan Quinn) and his full-time mom (Bonnie Hunt) have their own problems to deal with, including his five brothers and sisters, Pete takes it upon himself to go on a soul-saving quest.
Setting up shop outside a synagogue, he offers a free glass of lemonade and a free trip to heaven to anyone wishing to see the light. Despite some hesitant encouragement from Rabbi Jacobsen (Kevin Pollak), Pete isn't finding any takers, but he does strike up a friendship with the rabbi's little boy, Danny (Mike Weinberg).
It turns out Danny has leukemia, and although he's in remission, Pete realizes there's no time to waste in ensuring he makes it through the Pearly Gates.
On the surface, the "Stolen Summer" script has much in common with "Good Will Hunting". Both trade in themes of loyalty and friendship rooted in heavily working-class communities. But while Gus Van Sant was able to steer the latter away from most of its softer edges, Jones' inexperience as a director is all too apparent.
While he obviously knows of what he writes, much of the film's initial period color and amusing characterizations are abruptly pushed aside to make room for the ensuing drama, and the storytelling never fully recovers from the stiff staging of the more serious stuff.
In front of the camera, Quinn and the always-welcome Hunt, both Chicago natives, make for a highly credible parental unit. Pollak also does some fine work as does, in a lesser role, Brian Dennehy as Pollak's ecclesiastical counterpart, the bemused Father Kelly.
As the two young friends who teach the grown-ups a thing or two about tolerance, Stein and Weinberg are certainly cute, though Haley Joel Osment won't be losing any sleep over their cable-ready performances.
Creating the illusion of a bigger budget are production designer Devorah Herbert ("The Fluffer") and costume designer Stacy Ellen Rich, whose evocation of all things '70s is disturbingly authentic.
STOLEN SUMMER
Miramax
Miramax Fims presents
a LivePlanet production
Director-screenwriter: Pete Jones
Producers: Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Chris Moore
Executive producers: Pat Peach, Michelle Sy
Director of photography: Pete Biagi
Production designer: Devorah Herbert
Editor: Gregg Featherman
Costume designer: Stacy Ellen Rich
Music: Danny Lux
Color/stereo
Cast:
Joe O'Malley: Aidan Quinn
Margaret O'Malley: Bonnie Hunt
Rabbi Jacobsen: Kevin Pollak
Patrick O'Malley: Eddie Kaye Thomas
Pete O'Malley: Adi Stein
Danny Jacobsen: Mike Weinberg
Father Kelly: Brian Dennehy
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 3/22/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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