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2021-02-24 The Hollywood Reporter Flipbook PDF

2021-02-24 The Hollywood Reporter

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BEST ACTRESS BEST ACTOR VIOLA DAVIS

(DRAMA)

(DRAMA)

2

GOLDEN GLOBE® NOMINATIONS

INCLUDING

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTRESS

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

VIOLA DAVIS

WINNER

CRITIC S’ CHOICE AWARD NOMINATIONS CHADWICK BOSEMAN

BEST ACTOR

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

ONE OF THE BEST PICTURES OF THE YEAR

BEST ACTRESS VIOLA DAVIS

“VIOLA DAVIS IS A FORCE OF NATURE.

CHADWICK BOSEMAN IS SIMPLY OFF-THE-CHARTS IN A DISPLAY OF ACTING PROWESS THAT WILL BE TALKED ABOUT FOR YEARS. THEY GIVE THE PERFORMANCES OF THEIR LIVES. A PROUD ACHIEVEMENT FOR ALL CONCERNED.” ABC NEWS

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

VIOLA DAVIS

VIOLA DAVIS

VIOLA DAVIS

BEST ACTRESS

BEST ACTRESS

PHILADELPHIA FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS

WINNER

BEST ACTRESS

BEST ACTRESS VIOLA DAVIS

BLACK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

GOTHAM AWARDS

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHICAGO INDIE CRITICS

GOTHAM AWARDS

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTOR

CHICAGO FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

BEST ACTOR

LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

BEST ACTOR

BLACK FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

BEST ACTOR

BEST ACTOR

ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

WINNER

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

CHADWICK BOSEMAN

BEST ACTOR

MUSIC CITY FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

BEST ACTOR

DENVER FILM CRITICS SOCIETY

F O R

Y O U R

BEST ACTOR

ST. LOUIS FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

BEST ACTOR

SAN FRANCISCO BAY AREA FILM CRITICS CIRCLE

BEST ACTOR

WASHINGTON AREA FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

C O N S I D E R A T I O N

FILM.NETFLIXAWARDS.COM

THE RISKS OF REPRESENTING Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on what it means to speak out in Hollywood as a Black artist

DISNEY’S STAR VS. NETFLIX ABROAD The streaming challenger goes head to head for international subscribers

(VIRTUAL) GOLDEN GLOBES 2021 Who should win vs. who will win PLUS The brutal hit to the awards economy February 24, 2021

ACTOR ROUNDTABLE The pressures of staying at the top of their game and redefining what success means now: ‘The phone has stopped ringing for more talented people than me’

GARY OL D M AN J OH N DAVI D WASHI NGTON BEN AFF LECK S TEV EN Y EUN DELROY L IN D O SACHA BAR ON COH E N

Issue No. 8, February 24, 2021

FEATURES 38 ‘With Actors, There’s No Tenure, There’s No Gold Watch, You’re Only as Good as Your Next Job’ Six awards contenders reflect on the draws and drawbacks of a profession for which they have studied, sacrificed and even risked life and limb.

46 Awards Season Stirs From Its Long Winter’s Nap THR examines the likely winners (and deserving losers) at the Golden Globes, this year’s designated icons (Jane Fonda and Norman Lear) and the economic toll of the town’s biggest party weekend taking place at home.

52 The Making of Malcolm & Marie Zendaya’s restlessness during lockdown and a wish to keep the Euphoria crew paid sparked a collaboration based on director Sam Levinson’s own marital gaffe. “I like a disguise because of my own insecurity. When I can hide, it makes me feel more comfortable,” says Mank star Gary Oldman. He was photographed Jan. 17 in Palm Springs. Photographed here and for the cover by David Needleman

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TO P P E RC E N TAG E RANKED OF ALL ! 2 / Û ! 2 # ! ; Ö

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Compass is a real estate broker licensed by the State of California and abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. License Number 01991628. All material presented herein is intended for WbTdoaBsWdbB_ltoldpOpdb_|BbMWpKdalW_OMTodapdtoKOpMOOaOMoO_WBJ_OJtsVBpbdsJOObyOoWOMàVBbUOpWbloWKOÛKdbMWsWdbÛpB_OdozWsVMoBzB_aB|JOaBMOzWsVdtsbdsWKOà!dpsBsOaObs is made as to accuracy of any description. All measurements and square footages are approximate *National Association of Realtors. based on GCI.

“A BRILLIANT AND LAYERED EXPLORATION OF THE BANALITY OF EVIL”

“PROFOUND, INNOVATIVE, HEARTBREAKING, uplifting and even a little breathtaking. RIZ AHMED IS SUPERB”

“PACINO’S MAJESTIC PERFORMANCE IS ALIVE WITH WIT AND WARMTH”

“SIMPLY ONE OF THE BEST MOVIES OF THE YEAR”

“AN EPIC LANDMARK ACHIEVEMENT IN STORYTELLING”

Issue No. 8, February 24, 2021

36 30 20 11

Disney’s Next Big Streaming Bet The company is turning to a newly launched general interest brand, Star, to scale up subscribers quickly abroad and help it challenge Netflix globally.

16

Feinberg Forecast

18

7 Days of Deals

20 Next Big Thing: Nomzamo Mbatha The South African actress brings “this energy of love” to Coming 2 America.

Will Hollywood Still Back The Lincoln Project? As the political action committee (to which David Geffen donated $500,000) reels amid scandal, an in-the-works documentary could benefit from the drama surrounding the viral ad maker.

THE BUSINESS 28 Creative Space: Tim Story As his take on Tom & Jerry is set to bow on HBO Max, the director

STYLE 34 Globes Glam Slams! The Spring Trends Seen on Seven Nominees Makeup artists for many of this year’s crop of recognized actresses share how they achieved inspiring looks.

30 The Risk and Responsibility of Speaking Out One Night in Miami imagines a heated debate between Malcolm X and Sam Cooke about the duty of successful Blacks to be the public face of the civil rights movement — one Kareem Abdul-Jabbar long has embraced.

ABOUT TOWN

21

opens up about tackling an animation hybrid, adapting to on-set COVID protocols and the progress of Black creators in Hollywood.

32 When Awards Movies Are Talking to One Another Whether due to coincidence or deeper cultural shifts, there’s a genuine dialogue among films in the race as they debate the politics of the ’60s, the role of Black artists and even the metaphor of the organ grinder and the monkey.

36 White Diamonds Dazzle as Sparkling Anchors Ready for a close-up at the virtual Golden Globes? Check out these oneof-a-kind creations that are worthy accessories for the stars.

REVIEWS 56 The United States vs. Billie Holiday

BACKLOT 58 Berlin Film Festival Preview

33 Welcome to Chechnya’s Digital Disguises The first documentary to make the visual effects Oscar shortlist, David France’s film, which goes undercover with activists working to save victims of anti-LGBTQ persecution, pastes in new faces to protect the identities of its subjects.

Dealmakers face ongoing uncertainty about theatrical releases thanks to COVID-19.

60 ‘Canada Is the Place Hollywood Is Looking To’ Producers, crews and VFX houses up north are running at full speed.

Photographed by Joelle Grace

T H E HOL LY WO OD R EP ORT ER

6

F EBRUA RY 24, 2021

20 “It’s important to me to stay rooted and have a single voice, and the voice is of the little girl that I remember from KwaMashu,” says Coming 2 America star Nomzamo Mbatha of her home township. She was photographed Feb. 10 at The Beverly Hilton. 30 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (seted, right) and other Black athletes gathered in Cleveland in June 1967 to support Muhammad Ali (seated, left) at a meeting of the Negro Industrial and Economic Union. 36 This Infinite I ring twinkles with roughly 3.5 carats of Asschercut rubies set in 18-karat rose gold; $14,000, at Hoorsenbuhs, Santa Monica ON THE COVER David Needleman photographed Steven Yeun and John David Washington on Jan. 16 at The Paramour Estate in Silver Lake, Gary Oldman on Jan. 17 in Palm Springs, and Ben Affleck on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles. Katie Lovecraft photographed Delroy Lindo on Jan. 16 in Oakland, California. Steven Chee photographed Sacha Baron Cohen on Jan. 17 at Sun Studios in Sydney.

JEWELRY: COURTESY OF BRAND. ALI: ROBERT ABBOTT SENGSTACKE/GETTY IMAGES.

THE REPORT

WRITERS GUILD OF AMERICA AWARD

NOMINEE

GOLDEN GLOBE® AWARD

NOMINEES

WINNER

HELENA ZENGEL

ONE OF THE YEAR’S BEST FILMS BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY

PAUL GREENGRASS AND LUKE DAVIES

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

JAMES NEWTON HOWARD

BASED UPON THE NOVEL BY PAULETTE JILES

SCREEN ACTORS GUILD AWARD®

PAUL GREENGRASS AND LUKE DAVIES

NOMINEES OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE

BY A FEMALE ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

HELENA ZENGEL

OUTSTANDING ACTION PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE

7 C R I T I C S C H O I C E AWA R D S N O M I N AT I O N S I N C LU D I N G

B E ST PIC T UR E

BEST ACTOR BEST YOUNG ACTRESS

TO M H A N K S

HELENA ZENGEL

BEST

PICTURE P R O D U C E D BY

G A RY G O E T Z M A N p.g.a. G A I L M U T R U X p.g.a. G R E G O RY G O O D M A N p.g.a.

B E S T D I R E C TO R

B E S T A DA P T E D S C R E E N P L AY

PA U L G R E E N G R A S S

S C R E E N P L AY BY

PA U L G R E E N G R A S S A N D LU K E D AV I E S

B E S T AC TO R

B A S E D U P O N T H E N OV E L BY PAU L E T T E J I L E S

TOM HANKS

B E S T C I N E M ATO G R A P H Y DARIUSZ WOLSKI ASC

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE

B E S T S U P P O R T I N G AC T R E S S HELENA ZENGEL

B E S T CO S T U M E D E S I G N MARK BRIDGES

J A M E S N E W T O N H OWA R D

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN D AV I D C R A N K ELIZABETH KEENAN

PRODUCTION DESIGNER S E T D E C O R ATO R

BEST FILM EDITING

W I L L I A M G O L D E N B E R G AC E

BEST SOUND PRODUCTION SOUND MIXER

JOHN PRITCHET T

R E - R E CO R D I N G M I X E R S

MIKE PRESTWOOD SMITH WILLIAM MILLER S U P E RV I S I N G S O U N D E D I TO R / D E S I G N E R O L I V E R TA R N E Y SOUND DESIGNER M I C H A E L F E N T U M

“GRITTY, VISCERAL AND DEEPLY RESONANT. ‘NEWS OF THE WORLD’ WORKS AT THE HIGHEST LEVELS AS A STORY OF TWO LOST SOULS WHO FIND ONE ANOTHER.” – CHICAGO SUN-TIMES

THE HOLLY WOOD REPORTER IS OWNED & PUBLISHED BY P-MRC HOLDINGS, LLC

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Jay Penske

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

CHAIRMAN & CEO

Jeanie Pyun

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Degen Pener

David Katz

DEPUTY EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

EXECUTIVE MANAGING EDITOR

DEPUTY EDITOR

EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Erik Hayden

Lacey Rose

Tatiana Siegel

Ash Barhamand

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, BUSINESS

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, TELEVISION

EXECUTIVE EDITOR, FILM

VISUAL MEDIA DIRECTOR

Gerry Byrne VICE CHAIRMAN

George Grobar CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

Sarlina See CHIEF ACCOUNTING OFFICER

EDITOR-AT-LARGE Kim Masters

Craig Perreault CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

FILM SENIOR FILM WRITERS Borys Kit, Pamela McClintock • TECH EDITOR Carolyn Giardina • STAFF WRITER, FILM Mia Galuppo

TELEVISION

Todd Greene EVP, BUSINESS AFFAIRS AND CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER

Mark Howard

TELEVISION EDITOR, WEST COAST Lesley Goldberg • SENIOR WRITERS Mikey O’Connell, Bryn Sandberg • TELEVISION WRITER Rick Porter

CHIEF ADVERTISING AND PARTNERSHIPS OFFICER

Paul Rainey

REVIEWS

EVP, OPERATIONS & FINANCE

REVIEWS EDITOR Jon Frosch • CHIEF FILM CRITIC David Rooney • CHIEF TELEVISION CRITIC Daniel Fienberg • TELEVISION CRITIC Inkoo Kang

Tom Finn EVP, OPERATIONS & FINANCE

SENIOR EDITOR, COPY Mike Barnes • SENIOR AWARDS EDITOR Rebecca Ford • SENIOR EDITOR, FILM Rebecca Keegan SENIOR EDITOR, DIVERSITY & INCLUSION Rebecca Sun • SENIOR WRITERS Seth Abramovitch, Gary Baum SENIOR AWARDS ANALYST Scott Feinberg • INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EDITOR Georg Szalai

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ART

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CREATIVE

DEPUTY DESIGN DIRECTOR Kelsey Stefanson • ART DIRECTORS Nicholas Brawley, Christopher Hawkins

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ART PRODUCTION MANAGER Amanda Tannen

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Abby Kagle VICE PRESIDENT AND ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL

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EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, NEWS Lee Schneller

Anne Doyle

SENIOR PRODUCER, NEWS Brian Zambuto • VIDEO EDITOR, NEWS Jason Bass • CONTENT MANAGER, NEWS Lauren Alvarez

VICE PRESIDENT, HUMAN RESOURCES

Brian Levine

THR.COM

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MANAGING EDITOR, DIGITAL Kimberly Nordyke • MANAGING EDITOR, EAST COAST Jackie Strause DEPUTY EDITOR, EAST COAST Hilary Lewis • ASSIGNMENT EDITOR Jennifer Konerman • SENIOR EDITOR, HEAT VISION Aaron Couch INTERNATIONAL EDITOR Abid Rahman • NEWSLETTER EDITOR Alex Weprin • ASSOCIATE EDITORS Trilby Beresford, Sharareh Drury, Lexy Perez SENIOR REPORTER Ryan Parker • REPORTER Katie Kilkenny • COPY CHIEF Pete Keeley • SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR, DIGITAL Christina Pompa-Kwok DIRECTOR, SOCIAL MEDIA Erica Myers

Brooke Jaffe HEAD OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS & COMMUNICATIONS

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VICE PRESIDENT AND ASSOCIATE GENERAL COUNSEL

INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR Kevin Cassidy EUROPE BUREAU CHIEF Scott Roxborough • ASIA BUREAU CHIEF Patrick Brzeski • CANADA BUREAU CHIEF Etan Vlessing • U.K. CORRESPONDENT Alex Ritman

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS

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VICE PRESIDENT, TECHNOLOGY

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Elisabeth Deutschman Rabishaw

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EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CO-PUBLISHER

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, CO-PUBLISHER

ADVERTISING VICE PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT Carra Fenton • VICE PRESIDENT, ENTERTAINMENT Scott Perry MANAGING DIRECTOR, ENTERTAINMENT Debra Fink • EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, LUXURY, REAL ESTATE, GENERAL CONSUMER Sue Chrispell MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL Alison Smith-Pleiser ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, CHINA & KOREA Hattie Yu • MANAGING DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL SALES Ryan O’Donnell INTERNATIONAL ACCOUNT DIRECTOR Tommaso Campione • ACCOUNT DIRECTOR, NEW ZEALAND & AUSTRALIA Lisa Cruse ENTERTAINMENT SALES ASSOCIATE Mitchell Brown • INTERNATIONAL SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR Lourdes Costa

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Film

‘A First Step’ N.Y. theater openings give hope to exhibitors p. 14 ↑ TV

The Re ort

Bachelor’s Missteps

Behind the Headlines

A look at the ABC show’s on-air diversity p. 15

Heat Index

Nahnatchka Khan The Young Rock creator’s show resonates on NBC, nabbing 5.3 million viewers in its Feb. 16 premiere and the best 18-49 rating for any liveaction comedy this season.

Mike Lu After Universal Music Group removes its catalog from Triller, its CEO takes another hit as a Billboard report claims the app inflated user figures, which the company denies.

BACHELOR: ABC/CRAIG SJODIN. KHAN: KEVIN WINTER/GETTY IMAGES. SOOK: DESIREE NAVARRO/WIREIMAGE. ERGEN: KARL GEHRING/THE DENVER POST VIA GETTY IMAGES. CHAPEK: COURTESY OF DISNEY. LU: BRIAN VAN DER BRUG/LOS ANGELES TIMES VIA CONTOUR RA.

Perry Sook Buoyed by 2020 campaign political spending, the CEO leads Nexstar broadcasting to $772 million in total TV advertising revenue, a 37 percent rise quarter-to-quarter.

Charlie Ergen After adding 16,000 subscribers to Sling TV in its latest quarter, the Dish chairman says the streamer should have fared better against competitors like Hulu.

Showbiz Stocks

$34.12 (+7.1%) FOX CORP. (FOXA) Reports the broadcaster is in position to keep its Sunday NFL games and jettison its lower-rated Thursday rights pushed the stock higher. $3,194.50 (-2.1%) AMAZON (AMZN) Jeff Blackburn, one of Jeff Bezos top lieutenants, told staff Feb. 23 he would leave the company after taking an extended sabbatical.

Disney’s Next Big Salvo in Its Streaming War With Netﬂix With the global launch of its Star service, the family-friendly Hollywood giant bets that more adult programming will help boost subscribers — at the risk of brand confusion

W

BY NATALIE JARVEY AND SCOTT ROXBOROUGH

hen Disney launched streamer Disney+ in November 2019, it leaned on the global recognition of Luke Skywalker, Iron Man, Moana and Buzz Lightyear to great effect. The service attracted 95 million subscribers in a little more than a year. Soon, Disney will ﬁnd out what happens when characters like Olivia Pope, Betty Suarez and Jack Bauer crash its streaming party. On Feb. 23, Disney began adding programming that skews more adult to Disney+ in such markets as Europe, Canada, Australia and New Zealand under the new streaming brand Star. The entertainment giant’s plan to feature Star as a content hub within Disney+ alongside Lucasﬁlm, Marvel, Pixar and National Geographic is designed to help fuel sign-ups overseas, but it also stands to create confusion for the

family-friendly Disney+ brand. “Everybody knows Marvel and Star Wars and Pixar, but Star is kind of a nebulous generalentertainment thing, so it’s much harder to have an obvious value proposition for people,” says Cowen media and entertainment analyst Doug Creutz. “I don’t know that having Star will incentivize somebody who wouldn’t have bought Disney+ by itself to then go buy Disney+.” Adding to the challenge, Disney plans to increase the price of Disney+ to 8.99 in Europe and Chapek to 7.99 pounds in the U.K. (both equate to about $11) regardless of whether a subscriber intends to watch the new Star programming, which will come from Disney-owned ABC Signature, 20th Television, FX Productions and 20th Century Studios.

By offering Star programming within the Disney+ universe in many markets, Disney is turning the service into a more direct competitor to Netﬂix, which — with hundreds of new releases each year — promises to have something for everyone. Already, Disney is quickly catching up to Netﬂix, which required nearly a decade to amass a streaming subscriber base the size of the one Disney+ has today. Disney also has taken a page from Netﬂix’s playbook by investing in local content. On Feb. 16, the conglomerate unveiled 10 European original series, spanning the drama, comedy and documentary genres, including a four-part French miniseries about the death of a young student in 1986 and an Italian Maﬁa series told from a female perspective. Disney+ plans to commission at least 50 European originals

Illustration by Tim Peacock

Feb. 17-23

T H E HOL LY WO OD R EP ORT ER

11

F EBRUA RY 24, 2021

The Report within the app. “They all said, ‘We love choice.’ And the adults among them had a term that they often used: ‘We would love to have even more choice’ for what they call ‘me time,’ the time when the kids have gone to bed,” Koeppen explained during a Feb. 17 press conference. To account for the broad range of viewers who might be accessing a household’s Disney+ account, the company has strengthened its parental controls and will allow people to ﬁlter content based on age-speciﬁc content ratings. Bisson of Ampere sees a parallel between Disney’s global approach of combining Disney+ and Star and its U.S. strategy of bundling its various offerings — Disney+, Hulu and ESPN — into a single discounted monthly transaction. Bisson has labeled the strategy “compounding” and expects other studio-backed streamers — WarnerMedia’s HBO Max, ViacomCBS’ Paramount+ and NBCUniversal’s Peacock — to copy it as they roll out worldwide. “It’s essentially reinventing the wheel,” he says, “doing with streaming what pay TV and cable has done — bundling channels and services into a single discounted package.” Peter Csathy, chair of advisory ﬁrm CreaTV Media, expects the launch of Star to mark only “the

Behind the Headlines

by 2024. “Like a supercharged Netﬂix, they are following the same global strategy but are rolling it out at a much faster speed,” says Guy Bisson of U.K.-based Ampere Analysis. “Netﬂix already has all its subscriber growth — and 62 percent of its commissioned originals — coming from outside the U.S.” Though Netﬂix continues to grow at a rapid clip, surpassing 200 million subscribers at the end of 2020, analyst ﬁrm Digital TV Research estimates that Disney+ will overtake the streaming pioneer in paid members in the next ﬁve years. (Disney believes it will have between 230 million and 260 million paid subs by the end of ﬁscal 2024.) Disney has shied away from blending family-friendly programming with more adult fare in the U.S., where it operates Disney+ as a separate service from general-interest streamer Hulu. But Jan Koeppen, president of Disney in Europe, Middle East and Africa, says a survey of subscribers showed that they actually wanted a broader content offering

Catching Netflix: The Global Subscriber Race While Disney leans on Hulu for general-entertainment programming stateside, the studio’s Star brand — which launched globally Feb. 23 — will be the home for such fare abroad Netflix 203.6M Disney+ and Star 94.9M HBO and HBO Max* 61M

India’s Disney+ Hotstar brand comprises about 30 percent of Disney+’s global subscriber base.

Hulu** 39.4M Eros Now 36.2M Starz* 28M CBS All Access and Showtime** 17.9M Discovery*** 11M 50M

100M

150M

200M

250M

Source: Company filings; *includes linear network subscribers; **U.S. subscribers only. ***Includes subscribers from Discovery+, Food Network Kitchen and MotorTrend OnDemand

beginning of Disney’s expansion of its subscription streaming Disney+ service,” saying: “Ultimately, Disney+ will be the hub of much more than video. It will be the home of all things Disney and offer different tiers of service that offer diverse beneﬁts, including early admission to theme parks, ongoing specialized Disney merchandise and more.” Disney had considered introducing Hulu as its mass-market service worldwide but concluded that the U.S.-based platform “has no brand awareness outside the U.S.,” per CEO Bob Chapek. Star, meanwhile, takes its name from Star India, the media giant

Disney acquired in its Fox deal that operates the popular Hotstar streaming brand in India and parts of Asia. But launching Star will prove more complicated than the rollout of Disney+. Star won’t be offered in the U.S., for instance, because Hulu already serves a similar role. Meanwhile, in Latin America, the service will be offered as a stand-alone streamer called Star+ and will include live sports. “They’re trying to ﬁt the product to the market as best they can,” says Creutz, “and it’s deﬁnitely not one-size-ﬁts-all.” Georg Szalai contributed to this report.

THR/Morning Consult Poll

Paramount+: What Would Help Persuade Americans to Subscribe? Hint: Big New Movies As ViacomCBS readies a March 4 launch for its own streaming service ($10 a month for the ad-free version), U.S. adults are showing interest in the studio’s tentpole ﬁlm slate, a nationally representative survey ﬁnds How likely are you to subscribe to Paramount+? Somewhat likely 19%

10% Very likely Adults ages 35 to 44 were most interested in subscribing to the service

Somewhat unlikely 16% Very unlikely 32% Adults age 65+ were least interested in subscribing to the service

49%

Showtime

44%

Paramount Network

22% Don’t know/No opinion

More Likely Mission: Impossible 7

42%

34%

A Quiet Place Part II

30%

Scream (2022)

28% 27%

41%

Comedy Central

40%

CBS All Access

39%

NFL

35%

Nickelodeon

34%

MTV

27%

NCAA basketball

35%

Top Gun: Maverick

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

Paramount Pictures

CBS

Would you be more or less likely to subscribe to Paramount+ if the service included access to the following new movies on the same day they are released in theaters?

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run

Would the inclusion of TV shows and movies from each of the following make you more or less likely to subscribe to Paramount+?

Paramount has indicated that it will not release its tentpoles day-and-date in theaters and on streaming.

25%

T H E HOL LY WO OD R EP ORT ER

26%

SEC football

25%

BET

21%

CMT

21%

PGA

Showtime is not included as part of Paramount+, as ViacomCBS plans to keep Showtime a stand-alone brand.

18%

Source: THR/Morning Consult poll conducted from Feb. 18 to Feb. 21 among a national sample of 2,200 adults. Percentages are rounded, don’t equal 100.

12

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Canada. The true North, strong and talented. RDVCANADA CA

POWERED BY

The Report Behind the Headlines

What Can Hollywood Do About the Violence Against Asians in America? Amid a spike in racist attacks during the pandemic, storytellers have a responsibility to spotlight claims and support local leaders who can make a difference at the community level, the Daily Show correspondent writes BY RONNY CHIENG

Here we go again. Another out-of-touch Guest Column so-called celebrity who needs to shut up or do more (depending on whom you ask), preaching to the entertainment industry choir. Who cares what this guy thinks? Believe me, I couldn’t agree with you more. But, as one of Hollywood’s statistically least desired demographics, an Asian man, I have a moral and civic responsibility to take the industry press opportunities I can. In recent weeks, the almost daily videos of physical attacks on innocent elderly Asian Americans ﬁnally hit a cultural tipping point that pushed it into the American news media zeitgeist. Yes, the same American news media zeitgeist that everyone seems to simultaneously hate and seek the validation of ﬁnally found the

pattern of attacks too horrendous to ignore and highlighted them, which led to a wave of solidarity online for Asian Americans and opened a dialogue. Credit for this goes to journalists like Dion Lim, CeFaan Kim and Kimmy Pooh, who have been tirelessly reporting on crimes against Asian people in their cities for years now; the various Asian American news-focused outlets Chieng like NextShark and NBC Asian America; and everyday internet citizens spreading the news. And of course the strongest Asians in America, Daniel Dae Kim and Daniel Wu, making the news with their rock-hard abs and the $25,000 bounty they put out on an attacker involved in a Jan. 31 incident in Oakland, California.

One common denominator? Storytelling. And journalists reporting their stories and actors who have a platform, thanks to the storytelling industry, creating a story in real life with a $25,000 attention-grabbing hook.

Anti-Asian American Discrimination in 2020 Since last March, more than 2,808 incidents of racism and hate have been reported to research center Stop AAPI Hate

21.4% Shunning or avoidance

8.7% Physical assaults

70.9% Verbal harassment 6.4% Coughing/ spitting Source: 2,808 reported incidents nationwide March 19-Dec. 31, 2020, to Stop AAPI Hate; percentages don’t equal 100 in total.

The greatness of America is being able to freely, accurately and authentically talk about the world. This freedom of selfexpression in storytelling can change the narrative, which changes the culture, which changes how people are treated. Yes, we all obviously know that it will take more than just storytelling and the glorious double Daniel abs to solve the problem of Asian Americans being attacked on the streets. Ultimately, the people on the ground putting in their time and energy in their communities will be the ones who can make the most difference. It will take actually getting involved in local politics. For example, you could join or help elect someone to your local community board, which might control zoning laws and affect small businesses in

‘This Is an Important First Step’ hink of it as one small step for mankind but a giant leap for Hollywood ﬁlm studios and moviegoers. That’s the hope, anyway. With little fanfare, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a routine press brieﬁng Feb. 22 that New York City’s movie theaters will be allowed to reopen March 5, nearly a year after cinemas across the ﬁve boroughs were forced to shut off the lights because of the novel coronavirus, along with movie theaters across the country. Yet theater industry insiders note that the celebration won’t be complete until Los Angeles cinemas are open. L.A. and New York City are the two top moviegoing markets in the country, and are key to any ﬁlm’s success, be it a tentpole or a smaller Oscar contender. Chicago and San Francisco are two other major markets that are trying to get back online. “Cuomo’s announcement symbolizes the road to recovery and is emblematic of the things that need to happen,” says Paul Dergarabedian of Comscore. “An actual summer movie season may be in the cards.” Certainly there will be plenty of hurdles upon reopening New York

T H E HOL LY WO OD R EP ORT ER

The AMC Empire 25 in Times Square is the country’s top-grossing theater.

cinemas. Initially, Cuomo said that cinemas will have to operate at 25 percent capacity, or 50 people per auditorium, whichever is greater. Masks are also required in theaters. Similar restrictions apply to theaters across the country that have reopened, although capacity varies. (The National Association of Theater Owners says there hasn’t been a single outbreak of COVID-19 traced back to a movie theater.)

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BOLTON: STEPHEN LAM/THE SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE VIA GETTY IMAGES. CHIENG: ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. BACHELOR: ABC/CRAIG SJODIN. AMC: AMIR HAMJA/BLOOMBERG VIA GETTY IMAGES. ARONSON: ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES FOR CINEMACON.

T

Beginning March 5, New York City theaters will be allowed to reopen — at a much reduced capacity — bringing hope for exhibitors that a summer movie season ‘may be in the cards’ BY PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

From left: The Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce’s Carl Chan speaks with Deputy Chief of Police Chris Bolton and a shopkeeper in the wake of anti-Asian American attacks.

your neighborhood. New York City even has Precinct Community Councils that work directly with the NYPD and can select NYPD precinct commanders. It will take supporting the various existing community legal and civil rights organizations that have been working for decades to advocate for Asian American rights and provide legal help to individuals. Organizations like Chinese for Afﬁrmative Action (CAA) or Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Asian Law Caucus. It will take leaders who have a strong interest in Asian American issues ﬁghting for a seat at the decision-making table at federal, state and local levels. Leaders like U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (N.Y.) and Andy Kim (N.J.) and assembly members Yuh-Line Niou (N.Y.) and Evan Low (CA), who have consistently and capably represented their constituents in these matters. As far as Hollywood goes, storytelling is deﬁnitely part of the solution as well. We often talk about the need for diversity and representation in Hollywood, but what often gets missed is that we don’t need diversity for the sake of diversity — i.e., tokenism. What we need is diversity

for the sake of authenticity. We need diversity to more accurately portray society as we know it to be — a multiracial world with three-dimensional characters. And again, that authenticity in storytelling will resonate, which changes culture, which changes how people are treated in society. For example, true stories about Asian American history would help make Asian contributions to the creation of America more widely known and help change “Yellow Peril” sentiments that exist in America today, also partly due to negative storytelling. The only way to achieve this is by putting more Asian Americans in decision-making positions in Hollywood. So support that Asian American ﬁlm, promote that Asian American production assistant, look for Asian American talent above and below the line. We are still in the opening chapters of the story of what it means to be Asian in America. It might not be the fate of our generation to see our ultimate idealized identity in America. All we can do is ﬁght to write the next chapter better. And thinking intergenerationally? There’s nothing more Asian than that.

The Bachelor’s

Diversity: A Closer Look ABC promised a historically representative cast, but that’s not what aired, a researcher ﬁnds BY JACKIE STRAUSE

A

mid a national racial reckoning in summer 2020, The Bachelor’s producers vowed to make their ABC franchise more diverse. The show cast Matt James, the first Black Bachelor featured in its 19-year history. And, of the 37 castmembers for the season that began airing Jan. 4, 25 women identify as BIPOC. But on Feb. 9, host and exec producer Chris Harrison refused to condemn allegations of racism made about a contestant, Rachael Kirkconnell, who had once attended a plantation-themed college party. Days later, Harrison apologized and stepped aside for the rest of the season. As the show’s missteps receive renewed criticism, an Instagram account, @BachelorData, has been regularly cataloging, in illuminating chart form, on-air disparities for white contestants and contestants of color. For instance, heading into the Feb. 22 episode, James’ final three contestants of color — Serena P., Bri and Michelle — have been seen by viewers for barely 20 minutes in total after 14 hours of run time. “Executive producers committed to showing diverse romantic stories. If they’re going to commit, they need to be looking at data themselves,” says Suzana, a technology director for a school district by day who created the Instagram account in her free time. (Suzana wishes to be identified by her first name to maintain privacy.) ABC declined to comment on the account, but the network has noticed it — the official Bachelor producers’ Instagram account is among @BachelorData’s 44,000 followers.

@BachelorData’s Screen Tally White contestants on season 25 of the ABC hit have received the most airtime through its first seven episodes WHITE

Ronny Chieng is a comedian, actor and correspondent on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show.

MINUTES 0

A top theater owner executive tells THR that being allowed 50 percent capacity is essential to break even. The insider adds that an intense lobbying effort helped persuade Cuomo to reopen cinemas, including input from Sen. Chuck Schumer and top studio chiefs. “We’ve been hammering away,” says the insider. “I’m ecstatic,” says Paramount domestic distribution president Chris Aronson. “This is great news for the industry as we take our ﬁrst step, beginning with 25 percent.” Adds another distribution chief, “It’s a start.” AMC Theatres and Regal Cinemas have the biggest presence in New York City. Regal and its U.K.-based Aronson parent company, Cineworld, have been shut for most of the pandemic. AMC said it will open all 13 of its New York City locations March 5. Combined, Los Angeles and New York City contributed 16.4 percent of all box ofﬁce revenue pre-pandemic, in 2019. They also serve as invaluable media and publicity hubs, and especially New York with its myriad morning, afternoon, evening and late-night shows. “This is an important ﬁrst step,” says another studio executive when asked about Cuomo’s decision. “It gets theaters open and demonstrates they can operate safely, and that will lead us to higher capacity.”

T H E HOL LY WO OD R EP ORT ER

POC

15

5

Sarah Victoria Katie Rachael Serena P. Kit MJ Bri Jessenia Pieper Abigail Michelle Anna Serena C. Chelsea Heather Brittany Mari Marylynn Ryan Khaylah Lauren Kaili Magi Catalina Alicia Illeana Kristin Alana Sydney

F EBRUA RY 24, 2021

10

15

20

25

30

Instagram account @BachelorData documents the amount of screen time during which each contestant is featured, with segments lasting anywhere from 2 to 30 seconds. The top three featured contestants are Sarah (33 minutes, 18 seconds), Victoria (32 minutes, 50 seconds) and Katie (29 minutes, 4 seconds) even though they were eliminated in episodes three, four and six, respectively.

Matt James with contestant Rachael Kirkconnell.

The Report

202 1 AWA R D S S E A S O N

FEINBERG FORECAST

If You Haven’t Seen Any Good Movies Lately, Now’s Your Chance Picture

The Trial of the Chicago 7 On Feb. 19, Netflix made Aaron Sorkin’s film available gratis for 48 hours on YouTube to mark the 51st anniversary of the verdict in the famous case, in which the government accused anti-Vietnam War activists of conspiracy to incite a riot. “The whole world is watching” was their rallying cry, and for one weekend, the whole world could, free of charge.

Nomadland Chloé Zhao’s film had its virtual premiere Feb. 19 and was greeted with rapturous reviews, as it has been ever since the fall film festivals. But it took incoming on social media from some who felt that food-packed baskets sent to premiere attendees was a bad look for a film that touches upon recessionera struggles including food insecurity.

The United States vs. Billie Holiday Lee Daniels’ film about the legendary jazz singer will have a virtual premiere Feb. 24 that is set to feature opening remarks delivered by two U.S. representatives, Maxine Waters and Bobby Rush, as well as conversations with Oprah Winfrey, Kerry Washington, Gladys Knight and Patti LaBelle, among others.

Collective Indie producer Christine Vachon moderated a virtual conversation with director Alexander Nanau for a Feb. 22 screening organized by CAA, Magnolia and Participant. The invite promoted the film — which is shortlisted for both doc and international feature honors — as “for your consideration in all categories including best picture.”

Actor

Documentary Feature

Anthony Hopkins The Father The 1992 Oscar winner, who plays a character named Anthony suffering from dementia in Florian Zeller’s directorial debut, won best actor at the British Independent Film Awards on Feb. 18. The film’s screenplay, by Zeller and Christopher Hampton, also was recognized.

MLK/FBI On Feb. 21, at an American Cinematheque-hosted virtual conversation as part of a Black History Month screening tour, director Sam Pollard discussed his film about the FBI’s attempts to silence Martin Luther King Jr. with David Oyelowo, who portrayed King in 2014’s Selma.

TOGETHER WE INSPIRE PEOPLE TO CONFRONT HATE AND HELP SHAPE A FUTURE DIFFERENT FROM THE PAST. 2021 WESTERN REGION VIRTUAL EVENT THURSDAY, MARCH 11, 7 P.M. PT

Learn more about the Museum’s role in these challenging times of rising antisemitism, racism, and neo-Nazism. Together, we will reaffirm our resolve to ensure the lessons of the Holocaust shape the way forward.

RSVP at ushmm.org/events/2021-west For questions or to discuss sponsorship opportunities, please contact the Western Regional Office at [email protected] or 323.207.0671.

Media Sponsor

TRIAL: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX. NOMADLAND: COURTESY OF SEARCHLIGHT PICTURES. HOLIDAY: TAKASHI SEIDA/PARAMOUNT PICTURES. COLLECTIVE: ALEXANDER NANAU PRODUCTION/SAMSA FILM/MAGNOLIA PICTURES. FATHER: SEAN CLEASON/SONY PICTURES CLASSIC. MLK: COURTESY OF IFC FILMS.

Awards hopefuls make their bids for attention as the March 5 start of Oscar nomination voting grows ever closer BY SCOTT FEINBERG

You’ll never make it. Sometimes less is more. TIFF Talent Development programmes encourage bold experimentation and new perspectives. You’ll learn from industry professionals and connect with other emerging artists. Sound interesting?

Applications open April 2021 tiff.net/industry

The Report

7 Days of DEALS Who’s inking on the dotted line this week

SPOTIFY EXPA NDS TO 80 NEW M AR K ETS, ALONG W ITH HIGHER PR ICE TIER

Ostroff

Spotify chief Daniel Ek is counting on podcasts to drive up non-music streaming.

slew of new podcast projects from high-proﬁle talent. Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo will develop new genre podcast series, Barack Obama and Bruce Springsteen have teamed for a podcast, and Ava DuVernay’s Array will produce a show about holding law enforcement accountable. Spotify also unveiled an in-house marketplace that allows brands to advertise on podcasts, both on and off its platform. Ostroff adds that the newly named Spotify Audience Network will “bring money to creators who maybe haven’t seen it before, and those that have hopefully bring them more advertisers to be able to pair with. For the advertisers, it’s going to bring a much wider array of content for them to get their messages heard.” — NATALIE JARVEY

Keke Palmer

FILM Keke Palmer (3 Arts, Hertz Lichtenstein) and Daniel Kaluuya (CAA, Management 360, Ziffren Brittenham) will star in Jordan Peele’s untitled next directorial project. Regina King (ICM, John Carrabino, Gang Tyre) will play pioneering politician Shirley Chisholm in John Ridley’s Shirley.

Dems Ask Cable Execs About ‘Disinformation’ on TV Congressional Democrats sent letters on Feb. 22 to Big the CEOs of U.S. cable and Deal telecom companies asking how they handle “disinformation” spread through conservative news outlets and questioning why these carriers have not acted against channels spreading lies. “Some purported news outlets have long been misinformation rumor mills and conspiracy theory hotbeds that produce content that leads to real harm,” the letters read, criticizing by name Fox News Channel, Newsmax and One America News Network, calling those outlets “key vectors of spreading misinformation related to the pandemic.” The letters, written by Reps. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) and Jerry McNerney (D-Calif.),

Rep. Anna Eshoo and Rep. Jerry McNerney

were sent to 12 executives, including AT&T CEO John Stankey, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts, Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg, Charter CEO Tom Rutledge, Dish CEO Erik Carlson, Altice CEO Dexter Goei and Roku CEO Anthony Wood. Companies like Comcast and AT&T sell cable or satellite packages, while

Roku and other platforms offer users the ability to pay for streaming video bundles that include channels cited in the letter. Eshoo and McNerney write that cable and telecom execs “have done nothing in response to the misinformation aired by these outlets.” Fox News and Newsmax both criticized the Democrats’ letters to cable distributors. A Newsmax spokesperson called the letters an “attack on free speech and basic First Amendment rights,” while a Fox News rep said, “For individual members of Congress to highlight political speech they do not like and demand cable distributors engage in viewpoint discrimination sets a terrible precedent.” — ALEX WEPRIN

Rights Available! Hot new books with Hollywood appeal

Joaquin Phoenix (WME) will star in the A24 feature Disappointment Blvd., written and directed by Ari Aster. Marwan Kenzari (ICM) is in final negotiations to join Dwayne Johnson in New Line’s DC Comics action-adventure thriller Black Adam. Lenny Kravitz (CAA) has joined Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel in the

BY MIA GALUPPO

The Captive (ZAFFRE, JAN. 12)

Bee People (KENSINGTON, MARCH 30)

BY Deborah O’Connor AGENCY WME

BY Frank Mortimer AGENCY The Rosenberg Group

Set in a near-future U.K. after all prisons have been closed, criminals are locked in cells in the homes of their victims. A widow and her husband’s supposed murderer aim to unravel the conspiracy surrounding the man’s death.

The author offers a ﬁrst-person look into the world of suburban beekeeping, a hobby that is becoming increasingly popular in the states, and the interesting cast of characters who choose the pastime.

T H E HOL LY WO OD R EP ORT ER

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F EBRUA RY 24, 2021

PALMER: GREGG DEGUIRE/GETTY IMAGES. PLEMONS: GEORGE PIMENTEL/FILMMAGIC. PAGE: MIKE MARSLAND/WIREIMAGE. HOME: REDFIN. BOOK: COURTESY OF ZAFFRE. OSTROFF: FRAZER HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES FOR SPOTIFY. EK: PETER BRINCH/COURTESY OF SPOTIFY. ESHOO: GREG NASH/GETTY IMAGES. MCNERNEY: BILL CLARK/CQ ROLL CALL/GETTY IMAGES. TRAN: SLAVEN VLASIC/GETTY IMAGES. FOLEY: ALLI HARVEY/GETTY IMAGES.

Deal of the Week

In a major expansion, Spotify is making its streaming audio service available in 80 new markets, nearly doubling the 93 countries in which it currently operates. The international launches, which will include such countries as Bangladesh, Pakistan and Nigeria, will increase the audio giant’s potential customer base to more than 1 billion people around the world who didn’t previously have access to the service. The global push by Spotify, which has 155 million paying subscribers, is key to the long-term success of most subscription services, including Netﬂix and Spotify rival Apple Music. “When you look at the expansion into all these other markets, it just gives us more opportunity to be able to expand the content that we’re already doing, to localize some of the content that we’re already successful at,” says Dawn Ostroff, Spotify’s chief content and advertising business ofﬁcer. The Daniel Ek-run Spotify shared the news during its Feb. 22 Stream On virtual event, which also included several business and development updates. The company unveiled plans to roll out a new subscription tier, Spotify HiFi, which will offer high-quality music streaming. (Pricing for HiFi wasn’t disclosed, but it will be higher than its current $10-a-month offering.) And it announced a

51.2M

Active Roku accounts at the end of 2020, a 39 percent gain yearBig Number to-year, disclosed by the company in its Feb. 18 earnings results.

Plemons

Page

Jeremi Gorman’s new Hermosa neighbors include Jimmy Kimmel.

Lionsgate action comedy Shotgun Wedding.

Showtime drama The First Lady, alongside Viola Davis and Michelle Pfeiffer.

TV+ thriller Killers of the Flower Moon, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Robert De Niro.

Bridgerton’s Regé-Jean Page (CAA, the U.K.’s Artists Partnership, Mosaic, Ziffren Brittenham) will star in Paramount’s Dungeons & Dragons feature alongside Chris Pine. Sasha Calle (Stewart, Authentic, Del Shaw) will play Supergirl in Warner Bros.’ The Flash. Edgar Wright (CAA, the U.K.’s Independent, Nelson Davis) will direct an adaptation of Stephen King’s The Running Man for Paramount. TELEVISION Gillian Anderson (UTA) will star as Eleanor Roosevelt in

Samara Weaving (WME, Untitled, Gang Tyre) will play Holly Madison in a limited-series adaptation of her book Down the Rabbit Hole: Curious Adventures and Cautionary Tales of a Former Playboy Bunny for Sony TV. Zooey Deschanel (CAA, Hansen Jacobson) and Michael Bolton (CAA) will host a revamped The Celebrity Dating Game series for ABC. DIGITAL Jesse Plemons (TalentWorks, Hirsch Wallerstein) will star in Martin Scorsese’s Apple

Sex Education’s Simone Ashley (Gersh, the U.K.’s Identity, Myman Greenspan) will star in season two of Netflix’s Bridgerton. Kerry Washington (CAA, Washington Square, Hansen Jacobson) and Charlize Theron (WME, Hansen Jacobson) have joined Paul Feig’s Netflix feature The School for Good and Evil. Laurel Marsden (Encompass, Zero Gravity) will play comic book character Zoe Zimmer in the Disney+ series Ms. Marvel.

Mila Kunis (CAA, Curtis, Felker Toczek) will star in the feature adaptation Luckiest Girl Alive for Netflix. Tim Burton (WME, Ziffren Brittenham) is developing Wednesday, a live-action series based on The Addams Family’s Wednesday Addams, for Netflix. J.J. Abrams (CAA, Jackoway Austen) will write and exec produce the original series Subject to Change for HBO Max. REAL ESTATE Snap Inc. chief business officer Jeremi Gorman (Home Smart) has purchased a six-bedroom home in Hermosa Beach for $15.8 million. — COMPILED BY KIRSTEN CHUBA

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Rep Sheet

Kelly Marie Tran, who will

CASE Peloton vs.

star in Disney’s Raya and the Last Dragon, signed with M88 Management.

Mad Dogg Athletics

May Calamawy, who stars on Hulu’s Ramy, signed with WME.

Jessica Alba, who will star in Netﬂix’s Trigger Warning, signed with UTA. Sohla El-Waylly, former Bon Appetit star, signed with Range Media.

Deniese Davis, HBO’s Insecure co-exec producer, signed with CAA.

WHY IT MATTERS

The company that owns the trademarks for “spin” and “spinning” is suing Peloton for allegedly stealing the design of its bikes. Mad Dogg Athletics on Dec. 14 sued Peloton for patent infringement. The indoor cycling giant, led by CEO John Foley, responded by asking the U.S. Trademark Ofﬁce on Feb. 16 to cancel Mad Dogg’s trademarks because they’ve now become generic terms.

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About Town People, Places, Preoccupations N E X T BIG T HIN G

Nomzamo Mbatha The South African actress brings ‘this energy of love’ to Coming 2 America By Craigh Barboza Photographed by Joelle Grace

VITAL STATS AGE 30 BORN

KwaMashu, South Africa BIG BREAK

Rififi Pictures’ Tell Me Sweet Something REPS

CAA, Epiphany Agency

“This film felt like my own personal coming to America story. I was surrounded by Hollywood royalty every day,” says Nomzamo Mbatha, photographed Feb. 10 at The Beverly Hilton. Right: Coming 2 America director Craig Brewer (left), Mbatha and Jermaine Fowler on set.

W

Screenshots from a trio of Lincoln Project political ads, among the many created by the group that mercilessly assailed thenPresident Donald Trump and drew millions of views on social media platforms.

Will Hollywood Stand by The Lincoln Project? As the political action committee (to which David Geffen donated $500K) reels amid scandal, an in-the-works documentary could benefit from the drama surrounding the viral ad maker By Peter Kiefer

S

HAIR BY DONTE SMITH FOR SHEA MOISTURE AT EPIPHANY ARTIST GROUP, INC. MAKEUP BY TARA LAUREN FOR DIOR BEAUTY AT EPIPHANY ARTIST GROUP, INC. STYLING BY HARRISON CRITE. AMERICA: QUANTRELL D. COLBERT/AMAZON STUDIOS. GEFFEN: JUANITO AGUIL/GETTY IMAGES. SCHMIDT: JAMIE MCCARTHY/GETTY IMAGES.

hile there is no African country of Zamunda, from which Coming to America’s Prince Akeem hails, the movie had an impact on the continent when it was released in 1988 — particularly in South Africa, home to Nomzamo Mbatha, who makes her big studio debut in next month’s sequel, premiering on Amazon. “So many people back home say Coming to America was the ﬁrst time they’d been to a cinema,” says Mbatha, 30, whose credits include the homegrown hit Tell Me Sweet Something, which earned her an Africa Movie Academy Award nom, and the telenovela iSibaya. “I remember going to get my work visa stamped into my passport. I went to the U.S. embassy in South Africa, and the lady at the counter is like, ‘OK, Paramount. Which movie is it?’ I said, ‘Coming 2 America,’ and she stopped, looked at me and said, ‘Don’t mess it up.’ ” Given her trajectory, that would have been unlikely. For the past few years, the actress’ proﬁle has been steadily rising, with roles as a U.N. Goodwill Ambassador and a brand ambassador — her new Puma collection, Shandu, drops this month — while acting in movies and television on her home continent. In the new ﬁlm, Paramount’s big, splashy sequel to the comedy classic, it’s 30 years later, and King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) is shocked to learn that he has a son, Lavelle (Jermaine Fowler), back in Queens, whose help is needed to stabilize Zamunda. Playing a royal groomer, Mbatha gets Lavelle to listen to his inner vibrations to ﬁnd his path to princehood and injects the story with a sense of wonder and magic. Mbatha projected a similar aura among the cast and crew. “She was this symphony when she walked onto set,” says Coming 2 America director Craig Brewer. “She brought this energy of love, and, being one of the few people in the movie who lives in Africa, she provided this authenticity.” Mbatha, who grew up in the South African township of KwaMashu, broke into entertainment in 2012, when she entered an MTV Africa VJ search on a whim and ﬁnished second. Viacom then signed her as an awards show presenter. Up next for her is Let Them Die Like Lovers, a sci-ﬁ thriller produced by Reginald Hudlin. “I knew I’d get here,” she says. “I’m a hard worker, I’m very steadfast in who I am, and it’s important to me to stay rooted and have a single voice, and the voice is of the little girl that I remember from KwaMashu. I am the one percent of the one percent that makes it out of that place, so I’m prepared for the moment.”

candals involving the anti-Trump should be disbanded). “Their job was to run Lincoln Project PAC, which was psyops [psychological operations] on the backed by some of the entertainpresident of the United States. And I heard ment industry’s most powerful figures, has they were an action line on the president’s thrust donors and activists into a quandary report every morning — they knew how to in the post-Donald Trump era. At stake get into the head of the most powerful man is the durability of the big-tent coalition in the world. That takes backbone and balls that was just barely able to remove Trump and should not be undervalued when we’re from office. building a coalition,” says Hurwitz, who conThe Lincoln Project was established by a demns Weaver’s actions but defends The group of Republican operatives whose goal Lincoln Project, noting how close Trump was the removal of Trump at any came to winning a second term and cost. Their viral ads attacking Trump how, with the 2022 midterms ahead, were widely credited in helping Joe this is no time to jettison alliances. Biden. But after a report surfaced It’s been a dramatic fall for The in January that founding member Lincoln Project, which just weeks Geffen John Weaver had sent unsolicited, ago reportedly was in talks with explicitly sexual messages to at several agencies including UTA to least 20 men (and later stories said help build out Lincoln Media, which that Lincoln Project members knew was going to be the launchpad for about the allegations and failed to programming and podcasts. The Schmidt act), the group has been attacked effectiveness of Lincoln Project politon two flanks: by Trump supporters, who ical ads drew donations from David Geffen are still furious with the group’s apostasy, ($500,000) and Jeffrey Katzenberg and by progressives, many of whom were ($100,000); many other industry names never quite comfortable with a group of contributed low-five-figure sums. Neither Republicans joining their cause. Geffen nor Katzenberg would comment on “From the very start, there was blowthe PAC, which also is under scrutiny for back,” says screenwriter Gregg Hurwitz, its finances. (Millions of dollars raised went who along with writer Billy Ray collaborated to political and strategic communications with The Lincoln Project in creating some consulting firms controlled by the group’s of the group’s ads. “People were concerned founders.) The Lincoln Project could not be about their backgrounds and were sharpreached for comment. ening knives even before the scandal hit.” The biggest winner in all this might end Hurwitz says his main point of contact at up being a group of documentary filmmakthe group was Rick Wilson and that he’d ers — including Karim Amer (HBO’s The never heard Weaver’s name until the stories Vow) and Fisher Stevens — who have been about his texts started to appear. Other following the PAC and its founders. While founding members included former John reps for Amer and Stevens declined to McCain adviser and MSNBC contributor comment, this latest twist in the trajectory Steve Schmidt (who since has resigned) of The Lincoln Project could be nonfiction and George Conway (who left the organiza- gold and may have the town talking about tion last year and recently said the group their project this time next year.

21

About Town People, Places, Preoccupations

1

2

1 Mini Moët bottles at the Golden Globes in 2020. 2 The Finishing Gourmet’s 16-ounce kurobuta double pork chop. 3 A seven-course bento box from Rossoblu. 4 Pizza from L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele.

3

How the Town Will Be Partying at Home for the Globes

4

A

lexis Martin Woodall hasn’t decided

what she’ll wear while celebrating at home during the 78th annual Golden Globes ceremony Feb. 28, but she’s conﬁrmed her drink of choice: a quartersize Moët split bottle. “It will put me in mind of that moment when you’re on the red carpet and you’re handed that little bottle of champagne,” says the producer, nominated for both Netﬂix’s The Prom and FX’s Ratched. Restaurateurs and wine shops around L.A. also are offering ways to make homebound celebrations on the night of the partly virtual awards show feel festive. And in contrast to last year’s Golden Globes — which served a plant-based menu (prompting complaints about “rabbit food” from some guests) — one silver lining of staying at home will be that carnivores will be free to order what they want. Among the spots creating special Golden Globes to-go menus are Culver City’s Akasha (offering jumbo-lump crab cakes and spring pea risotto); Beverly Hills’ Lucques Catering (items include caviar and blinis and

a grilled rib-eye for two); Hollywood’s L’Antica Pizzeria da Michele (arancini with trufﬂes and cacio e pepe pasta); and Beverly Boulevard’s Jar (fried chicken and baby back ribs). Another option is The Finishing Gourmet, a company that launched in December with the goal of creating a steakhouse experience for customers at home. The menu items, from rib-eyes to pork chops, are delivered so that each selection — no matter what Martin degree of doneness is preferred Woodall — requires only one minute of cooking on each side to ﬁnish. Martin Woodall says she’ll likely order from DTLA Italian restaurant Rossoblu, which Levinson features bento box-like packaging of its takeout dinners and is doing a Golden Globes Pizza Party Bundle, a trio of prepared pies (escarole, margherita and salami honey) that can be baked at home. For beverage options, Esters Wine Shop & Bar in Santa Monica offers its Barrel Aged

Negroni as to-go cocktails, while Peter Jarjour, owner of West Hollywood’s Du Vin Wine & Spirits, recommends making an Italicus Spritz to celebrate the Globes. It’s concocted of one part Italicus (an Italian liqueur with bergamot, rose petals and lavender) and two parts prosecco or champagne (Jarjour is a fan of Billecart-Salmon Brut Rosé), ﬁnished with an olive garnish. “It’s very nice, very easy and very delicious,” says Jarjour. Producer Monica Levinson, a Golden Globe nominee for Borat Subsequent Movieﬁlm, says she’ll likely order from Craig’s, the West Hollywood restaurant known for its star sightings and comfort food like honey trufﬂe chicken. But it’s the company Levinson will be keeping at her at-home party that means the most to her. “I get to spend the evening with my mom for the ﬁrst time in a long time because she just got vaccinated [for COVID19],” she says. “We’ll order dinner and root for the ﬁlm, but I don’t need the red carpet this year.” With her mom vaccinated, “I feel like I’ve won already.”

Black Panther Bobby Seale Highlights New NYC Art Show One of the most distressing scenes in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 is when Judge Julius Hoffman orders that Black Panther Bobby Seale be gagged and shackled during the 1969 proceedings. Seale’s inhumane treatment has inspired a new exhibit by artist Karon Davis at Jeffrey Deitch gallery in New York (March 6 to April 24). Titled “No Good Deed Goes Unpunished,” the show features a ghostlike sculpture of Gallery Scene

Seale facing a looming 12-foottall judge’s desk and depictions of jury members. It also includes 50 sculpted grocery bags — representing the Black Panther Party’s free food programs — done in Davis’ signature mummiﬁed style. “I have a love for Egypt and the preservation of history,” says Davis. “I try to do that with my work. The bags represent the preservation of Black culture. “It’s really about how Bobby Seale was mistreated in Judge Hoffman’s court, but also, more

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importantly, about the work that he and the [party] did nationwide to feed, educate and uplift the community,” adds Davis, who is co-founder of L.A.’s Underground Museum. “What I really want to do with this exhibition is juxtapose the truth because of the way they were viliﬁed. “A lot of truths are coming out,” continues Davis, noting that the ﬁlm Judas and the Black Messiah is part of a cultural reappraisal of the Panthers. “People want to hear these stories.” — DEGEN PENER

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Karon Davis’ sculpture of Bobby Seale.

MOET: MICHAEL KOVAC/GETTY IMAGES FOR MOËT AND CHANDON. PORKCHOP: JOHN TROXELL. BENTO: COURTESY OF SUBJECT. PIZZA: WONHO PHOTO. WOODALL: RACHEL LUNA/FILMMAGIC. LEVINSON: CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES. GOD: PHOTO BY JOSHUA WHITE. COURTESY OF KARON DAVIS AND JEFFRY DEITCH, NEW YORK.

With the Feb. 28 ceremony kicking off 2021’s socially distanced awards season, here’s how nominees, L.A. restaurants and wine shops are creating at-home experiences that are both safe and celebratory By Laurie Brookins

About Town

Louise Linton and Ed Westwick at the premiere of Me, You, Madness.

Rambling Reporter By Chris Gardner

Louise Linton’s Drive-In Debut Leads to Drive-Outs Louise Linton was fully in the driver’s seat on Me, You, Madness, making her directorial debut from a script she wrote that cast her as a serial killer opposite Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick. One guest not in attendance at the Hollywood Legion Drive-in premiere Feb. 18 was Linton’s husband, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Steve Mnuchin, who has yet to make a public appearance after his tenure in the Trump administration ended in January. (Rumors swirl that Mnuchin will reloMnuchin cate to Palm Beach, Florida, though Linton recently told his new employer Fox News that she’s “happy to have my husband home in Los Angeles.”) Ahead of the screening, Linton thanked the crowd of roughly 25 cars (mostly ﬁlled with inﬂuencers and ex-reality stars), more than half of which drove off before the ﬁlm ended. — KIRSTEN CHUBA

Bella Thorne on Britney Spears, Her Fellow Disney Alum When Bella Thorne ﬁrst watched Hulu’s Framing Britney Spears in early February, she said she was irate — and has yet to shake the feeling. “It made me so sad, just all the wrongs that society did to her,” she says. “It’s disgusting what she went through, what she is still going through, the whole nine yards, it is literally terrible. And thank goodness they made the documentary so that people

can change their fucking perception on situations.” The actress, 23, shares some similarities with the pop star, after all. They both were groomed for stardom as children and came up through the Disney ranks, Thorne via Shake It Up (opposite Zendaya) and Spears as a Mouseketeer, and both suffered the predations of paparazzi and negative scrutiny. “Even if you didn’t take that photo of Britney Spears, even if you weren’t that paparazzo pushing

her, you were that person talking in your basement with your group of friends about this photo and people were laughing, people were joking about her mental health,” Thorne says. “People were joking about very serious things that no one should be joking about.” Careerwise, she says there are other dark spots to Disney fame. “No one gives Disney kids enough fucking credit — it’s like an immediate ‘X’ mark that you have to work out of,” adds the actresssinger, who recently shot the high school romance drama Time Is Up in Rome with Italian pop star Benjamin Mascolo and is releasing new songs, beginning with “Shake It,” which dropped Feb. 19. Thorne also directed the song’s video, out Feb. 26. — TATIANA SIEGEL

NYC Bigwigs Zoom In on PR Giant’s Memorial Howard J. Rubenstein — the giant of New York City public relations who died Dec. 29 at age 88 — used to say that he never worked a day in his life, a claim that his son, Steven, found puzzling before following in his father’s footsteps at the ﬁrm bearing the family name. “As a young man, I found that odd that a person who woke up at 4 a.m. every single day to do paperwork and go through the

Jesse Williams (center) in Take Me Out.

Author and cultural critic Roxane Gay has partnered with MasterClass on a course about writing for social change. “Through honest discussions around the intersections of race, sexuality, gender and other social justice issues, Gay will teach members how to own their identity, write about trauma with care and courage and hone their voice to contribute to the world in a positive way,” the digital education platform recently announced. Gay, who has taught at Eastern Illinois University, Purdue University and most

Social Action

Roxane Gay’s class instructs on writing for social change.

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Pre-Whedon Furor, Gellar Weighed In on Buffy Reboot Castmembers of Buffy the Vampire Slayer were thrust back in the spotlight in the wake of a Feb. 10 social media post by Charisma Carpenter, who detailed claims of a “hostile and toxic” work environment under series creator Joss Whedon. Star Sarah Michelle Gellar weighed in, saying that while she is proud to have been Buffy Summers, “I don’t want to be forever associated with the

recently Yale, will use her own books including Bad Feminist to analyze her approach to writing as a cultural critic, and Hunger as an example of how to write about trauma. “Making this class was a wonderful experience,” Gay posted on Twitter about the course, available now as part of a monthly $15 subscription. To her 820,000 followers, she credited a team that included director Jasmeet Sidhu, producer Diane Houslin, associate producer Rose Arafat, stylist Meaghan O’Connor, hairstylist Karlotta, makeup artist Isak Freyr and driver Veigar. “We shot in Iceland. It was nice.” — C.G.

Got tips? Email [email protected]

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news and then head out for a jog with a Dictaphone in his hand would say that he never worked,” recalled the younger Rubenstein Feb. 16 during a virtual memorial service for his father attended by nearly 500 people. “He worked all the time, but he meant it; work was joy for him.” Steven added that one of the nice things about a Zoom tribute was being able to scroll through the attendees and see people from so many parts of his father’s life. Among those spotted by THR were Rupert Murdoch, Leonard and Judy Lauder, Michael Ovitz and former New York Gov. George Pataki. “It took me some time to understand what my father meant when H. Rubenstein he said, I choose to live on the sunny side of the street,” added Steven. “He believed … we all could help Murdoch make things a little better simply by showing up, pitching in, saying the right things and, most importantly, doing the right things.”

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MNUCHIN: AL-DRAGO-POOL/GETTY IMAGES. GAY: COURTESY OF MASTERCLASS. TAKE: CATHERINE WESSEL. MURDOCH: NOAM GALAI/GETTY IMAGES. RUBENSTEIN: BEN HIDER/GETTY IMAGES. RIPPON, ROSEN: COURTESY OF SUBJECT. SENTER: COURTESY OF MONKEYPAW PRODUCTIONS. HIGHAM: COURTESY OF WARNERMEDIA. LIMBAUGH: JOHN M. HELLER/GETTY IMAGES. LINTON, DRIVE-IN: ELIZABETH BAKER. THORNE: JEMAL COUNTESS/FILMMAGIC.

Heard Around Hollywood

name Joss Whedon.” The news comes ahead of the show’s 25th anniversary in 2022 and an announced Buffy reboot from showrunner Monica Owusu-Breen. Regarding the reincarnation, Gellar notes that she has no part in it but ﬁnds the possibilities compelling. “I love her story, and if there’s more story to be told, I think it’s interesting,” she said in an interview a few days before the new Whedon furor. “Our demons were the metaphors for the horrors of high school and adolescence, and there’s deﬁnitely new horrors of adolescence.”

Hitched, Hatched, Hired Inside the industry’s celebrations and news

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1 JP Kajaala (left), Adam Rippon 2 Blair Hanna Rosen 3 Keisha Senter

Jesse Williams on Missing His Broadway Debut Due to COVID It’s been almost one year since the COVID-19 pandemic decimated live entertainment from Hollywood to Broadway. Jesse Williams doesn’t need the reminder of the anniversary. The Grey’s Anatomy fan favorite was prepping to make his debut on the Great White Way as Darren Lemming in Take Me Out. Williams tells THR when it got shut down, they were in rehearsals for upward of 10 hours a day, six days a week, “getting my butt kicked” while billboards were up all over Manhattan. “Baseball was a central part of my life growing up and my connection with my father, brothers and peers. I learned a lot of lessons about individual expectation and collective expectations through the game,” he says. “I’ve never looked forward to something as much as I looked forward to this job.”

Bella Thorne

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3

Engagements

Keisha Senter

Emily Cummins was

Olympic ﬁgure skater Adam Rippon, who is co-creating an NBC show based on his sport, and architectural designer JP Kajaala got engaged Dec. 5 in Helsinki.

was tapped as director of social impact for Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions on Feb. 18.

hired as president of Julie Plec’s My So-Called Company on Feb. 16.

Liesl Copland joined Participant as executive vp content and platform strategy Feb. 16.

Births

Public Television Stations on Feb. 11.

Deaths John Hora, the cinematographer on the Joe Dante-directed ﬁlms The Howling and Gremlins, died Feb. 9 of heart failure. He was 80.

Matt Rosen, co-founder of management ﬁrm Grandview, and wife Kim Rosen welcomed

Matthew Segreto was Higham

Blair Hanna Rosen

Miranda Higham was

on Nov. 21 at CedarsSinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

named senior vp and head of communications, international for WarnerMedia on Feb. 18.

Game of Thrones stars Rose Leslie and Kit Harington welcomed a baby boy.

Congrats

Nissa Diederich was named executive vp production for 20th Television on Feb. 19.

Alex Phillips joined Bad Robot as vp television Feb. 17.

B/HI, a new division of 42West, promoted Nicole Yavasile and Jonah Keel to vice presidents Feb. 17.

Ray Starck was hired

Carlos W. Williams

as vp digital strategy for the Recording Academy on Feb. 18.

was upped to executive vp business affairs and operations for 20th Television & Freeform on Feb. 18.

PBS SoCal and KCET president/CEO Andrew Russell was appointed board chair for America’s

Greg Coleman joined Amazon as global head of franchise marketing Feb. 18.

appointed to lead Citrin Cooperman’s entertainment, music and sports practice Feb. 16.

To submit, send email to [email protected]

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Limbaugh

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative radio host, died Feb. 17 of lung cancer in Palm Beach, Florida. He was 70.

Martha Stewart, who starred with Joan Crawford in Daisy Kenyon and Humphrey Bogart in In a Lonely Place, died Feb. 17 in Los Angeles. She was 98.

About Town

Yes, I Did Say That!

Quotes

A look at who’s saying what in entertainment Compiled by Mikey O’Connell

“I was the ninth choice for Devil Wears Prada.” ANNE HATHAWAY

The actress, on RuPaul’s Drag Race, revealing she had to fight “tooth and nail” for her role in the 2006 hit comedy.

SCOTT ROSENBERG

The Roku senior vp and GM, during a Feb. 19 earnings call, citing cord-cutting as one reason for the streaming platform’s growth in 2020.

“By the way, our business is dying. We’re all dying.” AMY POEHLER

The comedian, in The New York Times, explaining how COVID-19 accelerated the potential demise of her venue and improv school, Upright Citizens Brigade.

JOHN OLIVER

The host, on Last Week Tonight, taking former Texas Gov. Rick Perry to task over his defense of the state’s handling of mass power outages, impotable water and mounting deaths after a wave of winter storms.

“That’s not progress, to have to tell a certain kind of story to fit into this film festival.”

“A hatchet job riddled with falsehoods.” WOODY ALLEN AND SOON-YI PREVIN

The couple, through a representative, responding to HBO doc Allen v. Farrow and continued allegations that Allen abused adopted daughter Dylan O’Sullivan Farrow.

CHLOÉ ZHAO

The Nomadland director, in New York magazine, explaining that indie filmmakers are expected to make works about “struggle” to get into competitions.

FLASHBACK!

Did I Really Say That?

MARCH 13, 2018

“I’ve taught him to be a bit more calm or cautious. We’re a good balance.” KIM KARDASHIAN

The reality star once described the compromise in her marriage to Kanye West to Elle. On Feb. 19, a few months after the volatile musician’s unsuccessful presidential run, news broke that Kardashian had filed for divorce.

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DEMI LOVATO

The singer, in new documentary Dancing With the Devil, discussing the 2018 drug overdose that almost took her life.

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“It reminds me of some of the gaslighting I experienced when I was with him.” FKA TWIGS

The singer, during an interview with Gayle King, dismissing ex-boyfriend Shia LaBeouf’s public apology amid her lawsuit alleging assault at the hands of the actor.

HATHAWAY: STEVE GRANITZ/WIREIMAGE. OLIVER: DIMITRIOS KAMBOURIS/GETTY IMAGES. ZHAO: ARAYA DOHENY/GETTY IMAGES. TWIGS: DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES FOR BURBERRY. WEST: ROY ROCHLIN/GETTY IMAGES.

“Viewership is leaving linear TV and not coming back.”

“Far be it from me to question the wisdom of a man who failed running for president twice and who came in 12th on Dancing With the Stars.”

“I had three strokes. I had a heart attack. My doctors said that I had five to 10 more minutes [to live].”

WELCOME TO YOUR NEXT FILM LOCATION AlUla is a spectacular region of outstanding natural beauty featuring a diverse variety of unique locations and offering ﬁnancial incentives and support for all productions.

ﬁlming.experiencealula.com

The Business On William Hanna and Joseph Barbera: “Fingers crossed, if they are looking from above, they’ll be proud of what we made,” says Story.

Creative Space

Story’s wife, Vicky, played saxophone in high school. “I promised when I got a big check, I would buy her one. She hasn’t touched it yet.”

Tim Story As his take on Tom & Jerry is set to bow on HBO Max, the veteran director opens up about taking on an animation hybrid film, adapting to on-set COVID protocols and the progress of Black creators in Hollywood By Borys Kit

W

hen Tim Story signed on to direct Tom & Jerry in 2018, he did so in part because he wanted a project he could show off to his then-7-year-old son. Maybe even take him to the premiere. WarnerMedia’s pandemicprompted decision to release the movie on HBO Max as well as select theaters (it debuts Feb. 26) threw a wrench in that plan, but Story, who directed two Fantastic Four movies in a pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe era and helped Kevin Hart launch two comedy franchises (Ride Along, Think Like a Man) doesn’t have time to dwell.

The director, who resides in the Ladera Heights neighborhood of Los Angeles — not far from his childhood home, where his mother still lives — is building a slate that includes a possible reunion with Hart and the adaptation of another children’s classic, Corduroy, as well as a move into TV. In fact, THR caught the married father of three just as he was packing to leave to Atlanta to shoot ABC’s pilot Queens.

Tom and Jerry still don’t speak in this movie. Was that an option? It was. There were questions like, “It’s a 90-minute movie, how are you going to navigate this real

world without them explaining?” And I was always going right to the point of, “This is what this medium is all about. Let’s ﬁnd ways to communicate.” They never spoke in the shorts, so we should ﬁnd a way to do the same. It actually became a fun game. The [live-action] humans could talk to them, we made them literate, we had the angel- and the devil-on-the-shoulders gag.

This is the first movie that Chris DeFaria, the veteran animation executive, is producing. What did you learn from him? He was so instrumental in teaching me about the process

Photographed by Damon Casarez

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Tim Story was photographed Feb. 12 in Los Angeles.

in making a hybrid movie. [The movie is primarily live-action, with some key characters animated.] I had to direct the movie a couple of times, meaning, before you step on set, you had to know actually what your [animated] characters are going to do. And that allows you to plot the set they were going to interact with. If they were going to knock over the chair, you could plan for that chair to wobble a bit. If the actors were speaking, you had to be ready to go back and get a shot of Jerry’s POV. You had to always look at this

I get so much energy from the interaction of people. But I’m going to have to adapt.

The Polaroid is a replica of one Story’s dad used for family photos. Among Story’s art books is one of Glen Friedman’s photography, which mentor Ice-T introduced him to: “I use his work as inspiration.”

I hear you’re a bit of a Kevin Hart whisperer. Will you be reteaming with him for his Netflix movies? We have a couple of projects that we are discussing. We’ve got a few fun high-concept comedy things. Kevin is one of my closest friends, and we talk a lot of getting back on set.

What is the latest on Corduroy?

ﬁlm from the perspective of the cartoon characters.

RÉSUMÉ

What was the biggest challenge coming from the live-action world? The hardest thing was knowing that there were actors that you would later create that don’t have a say in anything. If you’re actors like Chloë [Moretz] and Michael [Peña], and they ask, “What is Tom doing?” normally a human actor would be there to give his or her input. Here, I had to represent the animated characters and say, “Well, he’s going to jump down there and stick out his tongue here.” You had to be the one to make those speciﬁc choices, and that was odd because I’ve always had actors make those choices.

Were you able to test this movie or did the pandemic prevent that? We were about to do one in a theater with about 350 people when the lockdown happened. I was able to do one with 40 people at one point, then another one with 75, virtually. The company hadn’t done this before. We did keep it close to family and friends or employees of [Warner Bros.], but we found that it was fairly successful in terms of feedback. I would have loved to have been in a theater — I get so much from the immediate response — but this was a close second.

How did you feel when you heard the movie was going to HBO Max? My career has been about the theatrical presentation. At ﬁrst, you’re a little bummed because you make this ﬁlm for an

sending the dailies to the studio, and it blew their minds. He was great when he read for it, but when that camera rolled, he was Johnny Storm and had all that energy.

CURRENT TITLE

CEO, The Story Co. EARLY FILMS

You’re about to head to Atlanta to shoot a pilot for ABC. How do you feel about working during the pandemic?

Barbershop (2002), Taxi (2004), Fantastic Four (2005) BIG HIT

First Black director to cross $1 billion at the global box office

audience, for families sitting in a theater. Laughter is infectious, and if the people behind you and in front of you laugh, you’re more prone to laugh. And I really wanted to see that type of reaction. I was upset, to be blunt, but you still have to go, “Hey, this is the world we’re in.” It’s the safest way for people to see my product, and I still believe this ﬁlm resonates no matter where you watch it. The greatest thing is that it was made for families, and I believe it will still ﬁnd that audience. Parents are still going to grab their kids and watch it, even if it is in their living room, no matter how big their TV is. I had to learn to adapt to the situation we’re in and cross my ﬁngers that we’ll be in theaters for the next one.

I am indeed jumping into the COVID shooting environment. It’s scary but very exciting. For me, the showrunner, the producer, the DP, all the guys that would normally be in a room and talking all day and going on location scouts, we all now have to drive separately. We have to get tested a certain number of times a week. When I hear about the amount of extras we can have, about nobody going up to the star without a mask, how bubbles are created between the casts, and keeping certain crews isolated, it’s going to be a little weird for me because

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The book has a lot of meaning to the Black community because it was rare for a book like that to feature Black characters at that time. We’re keeping it in the era in which it was created, the late ’60s. We talked about it a lot. We don’t want it to be too heavy, but we also understand we have an opportunity here to give you a slice of the era in which this was created. We know how important it was in terms of having Black characters. We’re being very true to that and being respectful of what it can bring. At the same time, I want to make something that families can have a good time at and enjoy the adventures of this bear.

You’ve been doing this for more than 20 years. When you look at Hollywood now, in terms of Black storytelling, how do you feel? You have to admit that it is better than it was, especially when I started. This new up-and-coming group of creators have so much freedom and so many opportunities — but we still have a long way to go before it becomes normal, before you don’t have to celebrate that someone got to do this or that. I see some ﬁrst downs being made, but we have a ways to go before we get to the end zone.

In Fantastic Four, you cast a young Chris Evans in one of his earliest roles. What was that like? You could see he was going to be a star. The ﬁrst thing we shot was the sequence in the hospital where Chris and Maria Menounos have a scene together. I remember

I’m waiting for the script to hit my email inbox. The writer [Jon Dorsey] is working on it now. It’s going to be another hybrid project. We found a fun story based on the book, an extended version of that story that I think will be great for families. I’m hoping to get into production on that within the next year.

In his teens, Story played his films for friends and family on this Bell & Howell projector.

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Interview edited for length and clarity.

The Business Analysis

HOLLY WOOD & POLITICS | K AREEM ABDUL-JABBAR

The Risk and Responsibility of Speaking Out The Oscar-contending film One Night in Miami imagines the heated debate between Malcolm X and Sam Cooke about the duty of successful Blacks to be the public face of the civil rights movement — one THR’s columnist long has embraced

H

ere’s what we know happened Feb. 25, 1964: 22-year-old Cassius Clay (soon to become Muhammad Ali) became the heavyweight boxing champion of the world by defeating Sonny Liston. Clay’s close friend, NFL superstar Jim Brown, was a ringside radio announcer. After the ﬁght, Brown had planned a lavish celebration party that Clay nixed in favor of hanging out at a small Black motel along with his other friends, Malcolm X and Sam Cooke. We don’t know what they talked about, but the next morning Clay announced to the press that he had converted to the Nation of Islam. The riveting new movie One Night in Miami imagines what took place among those four Black powerhouses, distilling many of the key struggles facing prominent African Americans into a series of tense, playful, combative and emotional conversations. One conversation that especially resonated with me was the heated debate between political activist Malcolm X and music mogul Cooke about the responsibility of successful Blacks to be the public face of the ﬁght for civil rights. It is the same debate I’ve had with myself and others for the past 50 years. Here’s what else we know: All four of them had lived with discrimination their entire lives. All four had been called the N-word since childhood. All four had been refused service in restaurants, hotels and stores, even at the height of their fame. Two were killed within the year. Cooke was K AREEM ABDUL-JABBAR ,

an NBA Hall of Famer and all-time leading scorer, as well as a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is a columnist for THR. Illustration by The Sporting Press

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ALI: BETTMANN/GETTY IMAGES. COOKE: JESS RAND/MICHAEL OCHS ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES. JORDAN: STEVE GRANTIZ/WIREIMAGE. KAEPERNICK: THEARON W. HENDERSON/ GETTY IMAGES. CHARLES: CATALINA FRAGOSO/NBAE VIA GETTY IMAGES. MOORE: KEVIN C. COX/GETTY IMAGES. ABDUL JABBAR: ROBERT ABBOTT SENGSTACKE/GETTY IMAGES.

shot to death under suspicious circumstances 10 months later. Malcolm X was assassinated 12 months later. Three years later, Ali would be stripped of his title and sentenced to prison. The context of their night of celebration in Miami is that it was a dangerous time to be Black in America — and an even more dangerous time to be a famous Black. As the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer showed, not much has changed. Unarmed African Americans are still murdered by the police. Because of inequities in the health care system, Blacks have a shorter life span and receive less quality medical care than whites. COVID-19 has highlighted the differences: Blacks have a death rate 2.8 times higher than that of whites and are hospitalized 3.7 times more than whites. Which is why the movie’s argument between Cooke and Malcolm X is so relevant today. Malcolm X argues that famous Blacks like Cooke have a responsibility to use their fame to publicly demand civil rights, while Cooke believes he should be able to choose to work quietly behind the scenes building his business empire to gain economic power and freedom. By being entertaining but nonconfrontational, Cooke thinks, Blacks will ﬁnd that whites are more accepting of them. In one memorable conscienceversus-commerce scene, after reprimanding Cooke for not writing more political songs, Malcolm X plays Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”: “This is a white boy … from Minnesota who has nothing to gain from writing a song that speaks more to the struggles of our people, more to the movement, than anything that you have ever penned in your life. Now, I know I’m not the shrewd businessperson you are, my brother, but since you say being vocally in the struggle is bad for business, why has this song gone higher on the pop charts than anything you’ve got

Basketball greats Bill Russell (left) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar flanked Muhammad Ali in 1967.

out?” Cooke has no response, though I would have said Dylan’s song was successful because it was sung by a white boy from Minnesota and not a Black man from Chicago. Whites needed a nonthreatening white Pied Piper to lead them from the sunny suburbs into the murky shadows of civil rights. After that acceptable introduction to Black struggles, they were more receptive to Black voices telling their own stories. I had my own go-tell-it-onthe-mountain moment in 1967, when Jim Brown asked me to be part of the Cleveland Summit, a group of Black athletes tasked with deciding whether we would support Muhammad Ali’s decision to refuse the draft as a conscientious objector. I was only 20, a sophomore at UCLA,

was convicted of draft evasion, sentenced to ﬁve years in prison, ﬁned $10,000 and banned from boxing for three years. Although he remained out of prison while appealing his case (which he eventually won), the ban alone cost him millions of dollars. Seeing Ali willing to sacriﬁce his career and even face imprisonment for the sake of his conscience inspired me to speak out against inequality whenever I could. Clearly, Black athletes, entertainers and businesspeople risk so much when they openly and publicly speak out for equality that I don’t think we should bully anyone into becoming a target. That’s a choice each person has to arrive at on their own. During much of his career, Michael Jordan chose not to use his position

Seeing Ali willing to sacriﬁce his career inspired me to speak out against inequality. surrounded by veteran athletes, some of them also military veterans who were not pleased with Ali’s stance. It was not a rubber-stamp group. We grilled Ali for hours. Some in the group had come with the intention of trying to convince Ali to accept military service, especially since the government had promised he would only do boxing exhibitions and never be sent to Vietnam. So great was Ali’s spiritual conviction that he convinced us all of his sincerity. We voted to support Ali. Two weeks later, he

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as a platform, explaining, “I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in. But I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player. I wasn’t a politician when I was playing my sport. I was focused on my craft. Was that selﬁsh? Probably. But that was my energy. That’s where my energy was.” That pretty much sums up Cooke’s position in the movie. But in May 2020, Jordan changed his mind, issuing a defense of BLM protests: “I stand with those who are calling out the

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ingrained racism and violence toward people of color in our country. We have had enough.” When famous Black athletes like Jordan join Brown, Bill Russell, Colin Kaepernick, LeBron James, Eric Reid, Steph Curry, Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Naomi Osaka and many more, it becomes more difﬁcult for mainstream white society to portray protesters as outliers or complainers. Last summer, between 15 million and 26 million Americans protested in support of BLM, the largest movement in U.S. history. Part of the reason the crowds were so large and so passionate was that the people were made aware of heinous injustices because famous Blacks consistently spoke out against them. So, yeah, I’ve got to side with Malcolm on this issue. As it turned out, Sam Cooke was not that far apart philosophically, because in reality, he released “A Change Is Gonna Come” a few days before that night in Miami, with these lyrics: It’s been a long / A long time coming / But I know a change gonna come / Oh, yes it will. The businessman Sam Cooke was right that “being vocally in the struggle” was bad business; the song was never as popular as his other hits. But Sam Cooke the artist and Sam Cooke the African American was proud because he had ﬁnally found his own voice and, in doing so, the voice of his people. The song quickly became an anthem for the civil rights movement. It also was performed at the celebration of Barack Obama’s 2008 inauguration and at his Nobel Peace Prize Concert. Speaking after his election, President Obama referenced the song: “It’s been a long time coming, but tonight, change has come to America.” Despite Cooke’s reluctance to risk his career by speaking out, when he ﬁnally did, he added a mighty strength that helped us all roll that rock farther up the hill.

When Awards Movies Are Talking to One Another Whether due to coincidence or deeper cultural shifts, there’s a genuine dialogue among a number of awards hopefuls as they debate the politics of the ’60s, the role of Black artists and even the metaphor of the organ grinder and the monkey

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his awards season, it’s almost as if the movies are having a conversation with one another. The year’s pandemicdisrupted release schedule may have resulted in a smaller pool of ﬁlms entering the conversation, but, to an unusual degree, a number of them overlap, both in theme and sometimes even in particulars, making for a denser and perhaps richer class of awards hopefuls. Some of it is just a matter of coincidence as projects that were years in the making ﬁnally reach the screen. The Trial of the Chicago 7, for example, was ﬁrst proposed 15 years ago when Steven Spielberg approached Aaron Sorkin, who would ultimately direct, about writing a screenplay. Early versions of Judas and the Black Messiah didn’t begin making the rounds until nearly a decade later, with the project that Shaka King would direct not coming into focus until early 2019. But both ﬁlms serve to resurrect Fred Hampton, a key ﬁgure in the Black Panther Party in the late ’60s. In Chicago 7, Hampton, played by Kelvin Harrison Jr., ﬁrst appears in the background, advising his fellow Panther Bobby Seale, until his offscreen murder at the hands of the Chicago police comes as a galvanizing shock to the defendants. In Judas, with Daniel Kaluuya taking on the role, he emerges center stage with both his inﬂuence GREGG KILDAY, former THR ﬁlm editor, writes

about awards-season movies for the magazine.

as a powerful force in his community and the government’s campaign to eliminate him explored at length. In other instances, the ﬁlms appear to reﬂect a genuine cultural moment that’s allowing voices, often shortchanged when not altogether ignored, to be heard. Both Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and The United States vs. Billie Holiday revolve around strong Black women who insist on singing the songs they want to sing, the way they want to sing them. (And just as Hampton is pursued by the FBI, Andra Day’s Holiday ﬁnds herself targeted by the Federal Bureau of Narcotics.) The position that Black artists ﬁnd themselves in is a particular concern. Viola Davis’ Ma Rainey, as she holds her ground at a recording session in the 1920s, puts it bluntly: “If you colored and can make them some money, then you all right with them. Otherwise, you just a dog in an alley. I done make this company more money from my records than all the other recording artists they got put together.” And yet, at the end of the day, she signs over the rights to her recordings under pressure. Nearly a century later, the ﬁlm director played by John David Washington in Malcolm & Marie ﬁnds himself in a much more privileged position. He’s just helmed a movie that looks to be a critical hit and has a follow-up about activist Angela Davis in the works. His complaint is that as a Black creator, he can’t escape Illustration by Olivia Fields

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LANEY, VFX: COURTESY OF CINETIC MEDIA. FRANCE BTS: IGOR MYAKOTIN/COURTESY OF CINETIC MEDIA. ISTEEV: COURTESY OF HBO. FRANCE: MICHAEL LOCCISANO/GETTY IMAGES FOR HBO.

THE R ACE | GREGG KILDAY

being viewed through the prism of race. “Not everything I do is political because I’m Black,” he protests, later arguing, “I want to be part of a larger conversation about ﬁlm without always having white writers making it about race.” (The fact, though, that those words actually come from the ﬁlm’s writer-director, Sam Levinson, complicates Malcolm’s position, since they can also be read as Levinson’s complaint that his work shouldn’t be read through the prism of his own whiteness.) Perhaps the season’s most surprising coincidence is the old metaphor of the organ grinder and his monkey, which pops up in Mank and One Night in Miami. In David Fincher’s ﬁlm about screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz, after Gary Oldman’s Mank delivers a searing monologue at one of William Randolph Hearst’s glittering dinner parties, an unamused Hearst, played by Charles Dance, escorts the besotted scribe out. As Hearst references the performing monkey — “Whenever he ventures into the city to perform, he thinks, ‘What a powerful fellow I must be. Look how patiently everyone awaits to watch me dance’ ” — his meaning is clear. He’s got Mankiewicz on a leash. In writing Citizen Kane, Mankiewicz aims to break free by exposing Hearst, but his victory is a mixed one since even as he wins an Oscar, he remains tethered to another organ grinder — or is he just a more celebrated performing monkey? — in the legendary Orson Welles. The metaphor takes on even more sting in Regina King’s Miami, when Kingsley BenAdir’s Malcolm X confronts Leslie Odom Jr.’s Sam Cooke, who’s ﬁrst seen in the ﬁlm performing for an unappreciative white audience at the Copacabana, angrily telling him, “You’re a monkey dancing for an organ grinder to them.” (Aldis Hodge’s Jim Brown recoils in some shock at the pejorative.) But Cooke defends himself. Unlike Ma Rainey, he hasn’t signed away rights, and as he explains, he owns Bobby Womack’s “It’s All Over Now,” which became a lucrative hit when the Rolling Stones recorded a cover. He’s become the organ grinder, not the monkey, because “those white boys are out there touring around, they don’t even know they’re working for us.” And the ﬁlm also gives Cooke the last word — or, rather, the last song — when he performs his “A Change Is Gonna Come,” which would go on to become an anthem for the civil rights movement. Like Holiday’s rendition of Abel Meeropol’s “Strange Fruit,” it echoes well beyond the moment in which it was written, ﬁnding new life among the ﬁlms in this year’s awards circuit that seem to echo one another.

The Business

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Left: The face of a volunteer, captured against bluescreen, is used to hide the identity of one of the men in Chechnya. Above: Director David France tests the bluescreen process. Below: David Isteev, an activist in the film.

BEHIND THE SCREEN | CAROLY N GIARDINA

Welcome to Chechnya’s Digital Disguises The first documentary to make the visual effects Oscar shortlist, David France’s film, which goes undercover with activists working to save victims of anti-LGBTQ persecution, pastes in new faces to protect the identities of its subjects

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n recent years, Hollywood has been exploring the potential of digital tools to alter or replace a human face and head — from consumer-accessible AI-driven deepfakes used in social media to high-end techniques developed to de-age actors in $100 million-plus budgeted ﬁlms. But this year’s VFX Oscar shortlist includes a profound new use: to disguise faces in order to protect the identity of the participants who at great personal risk told their stories in the HBO feature documentary Welcome to Chechnya (which also made the documentary feature shortlist). The ﬁrst doc ever to be included on the Academy’s VFX shortlist, Chechnya, made on a tight $2.2 million budget, chronicles the anti-LGBTQ campaign in the Russian republic and efforts to

CAROLY N GIARDINA is THR’s

tech editor.

rescue victims from its brutality. To tell the involving story safely, 23 participants — activists, victims, their families and those helping with the escapes — were given a digital on-camera “disguise” by the VFX team, work that represented roughly an hour of the ﬁlm’s run time. Director David France, the Oscar-nominated co-helmer of 2012’s How to Survive a Plague, didn’t want to simply blur the faces because “we wanted to express the physical emotions of the journeys of the people who allowed us to tell their stories, who wanted the world to hear their stories, and we wanted to do it in a way that didn’t take away their humanity.” To make the facial disguises possible, France turned to Ryan Laney, a VFX veteran who has worked on such ﬁlms as The Day After Tomorrow and Spider-Man 3. “They presented us an example of

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how we might do it, and we knew that we had found a true disguise. Even their own mothers wouldn’t recognize them,” says France. The approach captured the subtleties of the facial expressions, which the director felt was necessary to allow the viewers to feel empathy with the subjects, whose voices were also altered. Laney describes the technique as a Laney sort of “style transfer, to transfer the style of one person’s face onto the content of the other person’s France face. It’s a bit like a prosthetic where the new face is painted over the old face, so it’s 100 percent the original person’s motion, we’re not fabricating anything new.” For the new faces, the ﬁlmmakers recruited individuals through LGBTQ organizations who did not

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perform but volunteered to allow the production to use their likenesses. “We [digitally] captured these people’s faces in all sorts of lighting environments,” Laney says, adding that once they had this material, they worked on the individual shots by effectively combining AI-driven automation with artists’ work. The ﬁlmmakers made sure every subject and volunteer gave consent. “We were purposely obvious about what we were doing,” says France. A disclaimer appears at the beginning of the ﬁlm, and there is a scene during which a gay man initially identiﬁed only as “Grisha” speaks out about his ordeal and reveals his identity during a news conference, at which point the digital face is removed. Says France, “Once he was given back his name, he is revealed and is vulnerable, and that was the moment that we chose for that reveal.”

Style Beauty

Globes Glam Slams! The Spring Trends Seen on Seven Nominees Makeup artists for many of this year’s crop of recognized actresses share how they achieved inspiring looks, from Viola Davis’ luminescent smoky eye to Andra Day’s sun-inflected monochrome By Fawnia Soo Hoo

V IOLA DAV IS MAKEUP ARTIST Autumn Moultrie

(@autumnmoultriebeauty) TREND The Bright Smoky Eye

“Smoky is back,” says Moultrie, who created a dramatic look for the Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom showstopper on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Dec. 18. After blending gray shadows toward the outer corners of Davis’ eyes, Moultrie added luminescence with a golden highlighter — Charlotte Tilbury’s Beauty Light Wand in Goldgasm ($38, charlottetilbury.com) — at the inner corners and on the brow bone. “It makes it more seamless and lightens up the smokiness,” adds Moultrie, who completed the look with a glossy deep berry lip defined by a violet-purple MAC pencil in Vino. ($18, maccosmetics.com)

EMM A COR RIN MAKEUP ARTIST Florrie White

(@florriewhitemakeup) TREND Fresh and Polished

To showcase the natural glow of The Crown’s young Princess Diana in October, White first prepped Corrin’s skin with a vibrating ionic face massager — U.K. brand Chok Beauty’s Ionic Skin Perfector (about $138, chokbeauty.com) — to create a hydrationabsorbing base. The makeup artist then used a “multitasking” highlighter — included in Hourglass’ Ambient Edit Lighting Sculpture palette ($80, bloomingdales.com) — in the inner corners of the eyes, down the nose and around the temples to illuminate Corrin’s complexion, while Surratt’s Noir Lash Tint ($50, bluemercury.com), precisely applied to curled lashes, brightened the eyes.

LILY COLLINS MAKEUP ARTIST Fiona Stiles (@fionastiles) TREND Mod French Gamine

“It’s a perennial favorite,” says Stiles, about the Emily in Paris star’s ’60s cat-eye (worn with an Oscar de la Renta dress and turtleneck in January). Stiles drew freehand with Lancôme’s fine-tip Artliner liquid eyeliner. A Bardot-esque matte pink lip (Lancôme No. 307) puts focus on Collins’ sparkling eyes, along with her famous arches, which Stiles set with Lancôme’s Sourcils Gel eyebrow cream. $25-$31, lancome-usa.com

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A N DR A DAY MAKEUP ARTIST Porsche Cooper (@porschefabulous) TREND Sultry Monochrome

“The overall goal is to always make Andra’s stunning green eyes sparkle,” says Cooper, who took inspiration from the Renaissance era for the United States vs. Billie Holiday actress-singer when she performed in Times Square on New Year’s Eve 2020. For an artful monochrome effect, she looked to sun-inflected hues: coral, copper, gold and warm brown. Using all Chanel products ($32-$70, chanel.com), Cooper blended the lush, neutral colors (Chanel’s Les 4 Ombres palette) up and out on the upper and lower eyelids. Using a Nude Brun lip pencil, she created a soft perimeter to Day’s lips (in Rouge Allure Beige Rugissant) and finished with a warm matte beige layer (Chanel’s Blush and Illuminating Powders palette).

F R AGR A NCE NOT E

Nose: The New Doc on Dior’s Perfumer

François Demachy in the doc Nose.

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K ALEY CUOCO MAKEUP ARTIST Jamie Greenberg (@jamiemakeup) TREND Highlighter Pink Pop

COLLINS: COURTESY OF FIONA STILES. CORRIN: COURTESY OF FLORRIE WHITE. DAVIS: COURTESY OF ABC. CUOCO: COURTESY OF JAMIE GREENBERG. FANNING: COURTESY OF SUBJECT. DAY: COURTESY OF PORSCHE COOPER. KING: COURTESY OF LATRICE JOHNSON. DEMACHY: COURTESY OF PARFUMS CHRISTIAN DIOR. PRODUCTS: COURTESY OF BRAND (16).

“We wanted to look girly and poppy and alive,” says Greenberg about The Flight Attendant star’s hot pink monochromatic lip and cheek worn in November for a virtual press day for the series. Greenberg first brushed on a vibrant matte lip color, Lancôme’s L’Absolu Rouge Drama in Rose ($38), then swiped on a second layer. She next blotted and dusted with translucent powder for staying power. Greenberg finished the look by dabbing her own blush-highlighter hybrid — Jamie Makeup’s The Blighlighter in The Pink One, a shade to match the lips ($34, jamiemakeup.com) — onto the apples of Cuoco’s cheeks and blended upward.

REGINA K ING MAKEUP ARTIST Latrice Johnson (@makeupbylatrice) TREND ’90s Supermodel

Matte eyes and an ombré lip put a springtime twist on a glam throwback inspiration. For the One Night in Miami director’s appearance on The Graham Norton Show in January, Johnson first lined King’s lips with a MAC pencil in Chestnut ($18, maccosmetics.com), then filled in with a lighter cedar-brown liquid lipstick using Anastasia of Beverly Hills’ Maude shade ($20, nordstrom.com). Johnson finished the look with a glimmering pink gloss — Kiss Me by Juvia’s Place ($13, juviasplace.com) — to feather out the shading. “I don’t want it to ever overpower her because she’s so powerful,” says Johnson.

ELLE FA N N ING MAKEUP ARTIST Erin Ayanian Monroe (@erinayanianmonroe) TREND Champagne Glow

In an ode to spring, Ayanian Monroe created a fresh, effervescent radiance for the star of The Great on The Late Late Show With James Corden on Feb. 10. Using a selection of L’Oréal products available only in the U.K., Monroe dusted a champagne shimmer shadow over a layer of matte taupe on Fanning’s eyelids, dabbed on illuminating highlighting drops over a peachy blush and applied a neutral lip sheen straight from the tube. “We all need some lightness and hope at this point,” says Ayanian Monroe. Comparable L’Oréal products available in the U.S. include the Enchanted Scented Eyeshadow Palette; Blush Please! shimmering blush; and Glow Amour Glow Boosting Drops. $10-$15, lorealparisusa.com

e are animals first,” says François Demachy, the Dior perfumer-creator, of the most frequently undervalued human sense — smell. “Our sense of smell was here for very crucial reasons at first: to find a mate, to search for food, to protect ourselves. Yet given evolution we don’t really need it anymore for basic survival … For most people we smell without actively and consciously smelling, which is kind of like seeing but not watching!” Demachy and his work — his creations include J’Adore, L’Or and Miss Dior — are the subject of the latest documentary by Arthur de Kersauson and Clément Beauvais (who directed 2014 doc The Greasy Hands Preachers, about custom motorcycle culture). Nose follows Demachy to farms around the world that grow the raw materials for perfumes, and explains how a fragrance is developed. The film, created by Mercenary Productions in association with Parfums Christian Dior, premiered Feb. 22 on streaming VOD platforms. “This project helped us grab the importance [smell] has,” says de Kersauson. Beauvais adds that “so many documentaries exist about music, arts, cooking … and not perfume! It was time. It’s a whole world of people who work in this industry with passion, and it deserves to be seen.” Filming took place over two years, with the documentarians following Demachy around the globe, including visiting the patchouli fields of Indonesia. Says de Kersauson, “You have to follow the blossom seasons everywhere for all the raw material we wanted to feature. If you miss the May roseblooming season, you have to wait for a year to go shoot during the next one.” — EMILY HILTON

Style High Jewelry

Boucheron

The Chevron Émeraude necklace features a 61.35-carat emerald drop; price upon request, at The Vault at Saks Fifth Avenue, New York City

Chanel

The Volute Marine earrings spotlight diamonds and lapis lazuli (Margaret Qualley wore Chanel gems at the 2020 Oscars); price upon request, at Chanel Fine Jewelry, Beverly Hills

Cartier

Australian opals and chalcedonies draw the focus on the [Sur]Naturel earrings; price upon request, at Cartier, Beverly Hills

Pomellato

Chopard

The Gourmette Assoluta choker highlights five Himalayan peridots totaling 65.5 carats, surrounded by 2,500-plus white diamonds; $254,200, at Pomellato, Beverly Hills

A 5.48-carat pink diamond tops this Fairmined gold ring (Lupita Nyong’o has worn the brand); price upon request, at Chopard, Beverly Hills

Buccellati

De Beers

Van Cleef & Arpels

The Namib Wonder cuff mixes rough and polished white and yellow diamonds totaling 21.32 carats; price upon request, at De Beers Jewellers, NYC

The Astérisme bracelet is crafted of multicolored sapphires, black spinels and white diamonds (Natalie Portman has worn the brand); price upon request, at Van Cleef & Arpels, Beverly Hills

White Diamonds Dazzle as Sparkling Anchors Ready for a close-up at the virtual Golden Globes? Check out these one-of-a-kind creations — featuring gems that lend brilliant pops and sweeps of color — that are worthy accessories for the stars By Laurie Brookins

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JEWELRY: COURTESY OF BRAND (8). QUALLEY: JEFF KRAVITZ/FILMMAGIC. PORTMAN: AMY SUSSMAN/GETTY IMAGES. NYONG’O: ROY ROCHLIN/GETTY IMAGES.

The Passione ring showcases a 10.72-carat tourmaline, surrounded by 124 diamonds; $66,000, at Buccellati, Beverly Hills

B E N A F F LE C K | SAC H A BA R O N C O H E N | D E LR OY LI N D O | GA RY O LD M A N | J O H N DAV I D WAS H I N GTO N | S T E V E N Y E U N

Above: Gary Oldman on the risk of playing real-life scribe Herman Mankiewicz in Mank without appearance-altering hair and makeup: “I like a disguise because of my own insecurity. When I can hide, it makes me feel more comfortable.” Right: Steven Yeun on telling a story in Minari that brought him closer to his father: “For me to be able to show that I understand him … on a film at Sundance? That was bonkers.” Oldman was photographed by David Needleman on Jan. 17 in Palm Springs. Yeun was photographed by Needleman on Jan. 16 at The Paramour Estate in Silver Lake.

‘With Actors, There’s No Tenure, There’s No Gold Watch, You’re Only as Good as Your Next Job’

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Si x aw a rd s cont enders ref lec t on t he d r aws — a nd d r aw b a ck s — of a profession for wh ich they have st ud ied, s a c r i f ic e d a nd , i n a few c a s e s , even r isked l i fe and l i mb B Y S C O T T F E I N B E R G

A C T O R R O U

“I’ll be 50 in two years,” says Ben Afﬂeck, whose performance as a grieving alcoholic in Gavin O’Connor’s The Way Back has brought him career-best reviews of his acting, as he addressed the ﬁve other standouts from this awards season during The Hollywood Reporter’s Actor Roundtable. “I have three children I want to spend time with, I have a life that I really enjoy, and I want to really love my work and tell these kinds of stories, with characters that are as rich as the ones that you all portrayed.”

N T A B L E

To veteran Gary Oldman, who plays the hard-boozing screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz in David Fincher’s Mank, Afﬂeck — who worked with Fincher on 2014’s Gone Girl — continues, “Watching Mank made me think, ‘God, I have to direct again!’ ” Admiration was mutual and plentiful during the hour-plus conversation in mid-January. The most senior participant, 68-yearold Delroy Lindo, is being feted for his portrayal of a haunted Vietnam vet in Spike Lee’s Da 5 Bloods. The most junior at 36, John David Washington had a breakthrough year playing a time-hopping intelligence agent in Christopher Nolan’s Tenet and a ﬁlmmaker with domestic troubles in Sam Levinson’s Malcolm & Marie. Both Lindo and Washington experienced early breaks — decades apart — via Spike Lee (the former alongside Denzel Washington, who is the father of the latter

and to whom Lindo, Oldman and Afﬂeck passed along their regards). “Delroy, the O.G., I feel like I’m forever connected to you because of that,” acknowledged Washington. Sacha Baron Cohen had polar-opposite dual roles in 2020, playing ’60s activist Abbie Hoffman in Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7 and everyone’s favorite Kazakh TV host in Jason Woliner’s Borat Subsequent Movieﬁlm. And Steven Yeun, best known for TV’s The Walking Dead, portrayed the patriarch of a Korean American family in Lee Isaac Chung’s Minari. The sextet discussed, among other topics, how the ongoing pandemic could reshape the entertainment industry, the ways in which they respond to radically different directors, and how they measure success.

How do you think the business will be different after everyone is

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vaccinated and things get back to “normal”? BEN AFFLECK The business was

changing a lot already. Dramas were largely going away theatrically, having to do with competition from extraordinary stuff on streaming services, being hard to price, and the expense of getting adults out of the house on weekends. Now people have been taught that they can just watch at home and that’s ﬁne, so I think it’ll be very hard to get those kinds of movies back in theaters. If I had to guess, in 2006 there were 300 movies released theatrically, and — excluding qualifying theatrical runs and stuff like that — there’ll probably be 40 movies a year that come out [going

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forward], mostly action, effects, tentpole sequels and superhero, that kind of movie that you can really count on.

This year, with almost everything streaming, how do you gauge the degree to which your movie is resonating? GARY OLDMAN You make a movie

with, say, Netﬂix, you don’t have to have an opening weekend. You don’t have those particular pressures. They log how many people are watching — I think it’s if you’ve clicked on and watched for two minutes, then it counts as a view. So I enjoy the streaming services like everyone else. But I was recently in London and Mank was playing a three-minute walk

PREVIOUS SPREAD: YEUN GROOMING BY HEE SOO KWON FOR DAVINES AT THE REX AGENCY. THIS SPREAD: AFFLECK GROOMING BY DIANA SCHMIDTKE FOR LAURA MERCIER AT ART DEPARTMENT.

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from my hotel, and I thought, “I’ve never seen this on the big screen. I’ll go ﬁnd out what the other customer thought of it.” I went and there were about 11 people in the audience, but there was something to be said for being in this big space in a dark room watching this thing 40 feet across. It played faster. I think the gags worked better. And certainly, the guy behind me was having a good time. So there’s advantages and disadvantages. AFFLECK Gary, your movie is magniﬁcent — it’s a masterpiece and my favorite of David’s movies. I mean, I also happen to identify with being an aging alcoholic screenwriter, so maybe I’m biased, but it’s incredible — and I don’t know that somebody right now in the studio-theatrical world would do it. You’d have a giant amount of pressure to have that movie do a bunch of money in the ﬁrst weekend. So the fact that it got made is probably because a streaming service made it. I’m just glad it happened.

A C T O R

John David, COVID-19 certainly shaped your year. Tenet, like all Nolan movies, was intended for the big screen, and he insisted on that even when most theaters were closed. Malcolm & Marie, however, was entirely made during the pandemic, and is available only on Netflix.

R O U N D T A

JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON

Says Ben Affleck about projects with meaning for him, “Growing older and having had more intense personal experiences has made acting much more interesting, and made me drawn to the kinds of movies about people who are flawed.” Affleck was photographed by David Needleman on Jan. 18 in Los Angeles.

Christopher Nolan has a formula with his rollouts, and I appreciated Warner Bros. honoring those wishes — the worry for me had been, “Oh, here I am, getting this huge opportunity, and it’s not going to get the same treatment as his ﬁlms have before.” Then there’s Malcolm & Marie, which was self-ﬁnanced — I mean, I paid to play, you know? I didn’t get paid to do that. I believed in it that much. But then it becomes, “Wait, are we crazy?” [For more on the making of Malcolm & Marie, see page 52.]

Every possible precaution was taken to make the Malcolm & Marie shoot safe. But a lot less was under your control with the Borat sequel, Sacha, right? SACHA BARON COHEN I believe we

were the ﬁrst movie to shoot

B L during the pandemic. It seemed crazy at the time. We went to Johns Hopkins and found experts on pandemics, and they helped us devise a system that would keep us relatively safe. We spent a million dollars of the budget for testing and PPE. What was tragic was, we had some nurses who’d been working in ICUs in New York, and they said it was the ﬁrst time they’d been given proper PPE. But yeah, fortunately, nobody got sick. Then there were things like the gun rights rally that I went to, where we were told that if they felt people were not Republicans or pro-gun, they’d get COVID-positive people to spit at you. And that’s quite apart from the risks of getting

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shot, because we were obviously antagonizing them.

Delroy, you have a long history with Spike. Your screen career really launched with the films you made with him in the early ’90s: Malcolm X, Crooklyn and Clockers. But then it was 25 years before you guys reunited on Bloods. DELROY LINDO It didn’t feel like 25

years. Obviously, we’d both gotten older. But in terms of the process and the work, it was relatively seamless, and that’s one of the things that I cherish about working with Spike.

Steven, you have a crazy connection with Minari writer-director Lee Isaac Chung …

F EBRUA RY 24, 2021

Delroy Lindo measures the success of a project by “a feeling. When I think about Da 5 Bloods, I felt good inside of the work. Had audiences not responded to it, that would not have impacted how I feel about making the work.” Lindo was photographed by Katie Lovecraft on Jan. 16 in Oakland, California.

E

“Hey, I represent your cousin!” I was like, “What are you talking about?” She was like, “Isaac!” I was like, “Oh, shit! That’s insane!” He’s my wife’s cousin, and I’d only met him at our wedding and a previous wedding or two, three years before. I’d never really spoken to him before. His ﬁrst ﬁlm, Munyurangabo, was one of the ﬁrst ﬁlms I saw with my wife 10 years ago, and I’ll be honest, I didn’t know how to appreciate it then because I was just a starving improviser in Chicago. So to come full circle and be given his script was wild, especially because he wrote something that I’d wanted to say my whole professional life.

Ben, over the past decade you’ve directed The Town, Argo and Live A C T O R R O U N D T A B L E

by Night, and acted in them, too. Is it tough to go back to acting in somebody else’s movie? AFFLECK It’s an easy adjustment for

me to act in something that resonates with me, like this movie. Although some things were hard about it, it was also kind of cathartic and reminded me why I love and started acting in the ﬁrst place. Even with things that were emotional or upsetting in some way, I was thrilled and exhilarated at the end of the day.

You came to it from a raw place. AFFLECK I’m a recovering alcoholic

and I played an alcoholic in the movie. It’s really about grief and losing a child, which, thank God, I have not experienced, and is probably the worst thing you can experience. But also, a lot of it is

about alcoholism. Alcoholism, in and of itself, and compulsive behavior, are not inherently super interesting, but what is sometimes interesting is what you discover about yourself in the course of recovery and trying to ﬁgure out what went wrong, how to ﬁx it, how you want your life to look and what kind of ethics you want to live by. So yes, I’m an alcoholic. Yes, I had a relapse. Yes, I went into recovery again. And then I went and did that movie. But for me, the movie was much more about the fact that — whether it’s having lived enough years, having seen enough ups and downs, having had children and divorce — I’m at a point now in my life where I have sufﬁcient life experience to bring to a role to make it really interesting for

me. I’m not good enough to just invent it from whole cloth, you know? I didn’t have to do research for the alcoholism aspect of the movie — that was covered. It was the Daniel Day-Lewis approach to that!

John David, you were a standout football player. You got injured. And you began acting, knowing that you have parents who are tremendous talents in this business and that you were going to hear all kinds of comparisons and comments. But, after a year like you’ve just had, I can’t imagine you’ll ever again be questioned on whether you belong. Does that feel like a load off your shoulders? WASHINGTON In football, guys

get cut every day, so I don’t care what number I am on the call

BARON COHEN HAIR BY TRAVIS BALCKE, MAKEUP BY LIZ KELSH. STYLING BY MICHAEL AZZOLLINI. FULL LOOK GIORGIO ARMANI.

STEVEN YEUN My agent was like,

“On Borat, you got one take. I can’t go to Mike Pence and say, ‘Oy! Can you just do that again?’ ” SACHA BARON COHEN

sheet, this could be my last day. I’ve been cut before. I was recently watching the Michael Jordan documentary [The Last Dance]. He would ﬁnd any excuse to get the psychological advantage. So maybe I’ve arrived, but I don’t feel that way. I always have something to prove. And that’s equally because of my father and my mother, because I respect them as artists so much. What has helped me is Spike Lee believing in me, Christopher Nolan believing in me, Sam Levinson believing in me. That’s encouraging.

Gary, 30 years after Fincher and you discussed collaborating on Aliens 3, he comes to you with another part. But unlike playing Churchill in Darkest Hour, a role for which you won an Oscar and in which you were virtually unrecognizable, he wanted you to play a real person with no makeup, no wig, no nothing. OLDMAN I like a disguise because

of my own insecurity. When I can hide, it makes me feel more comfortable. I don’t know, maybe it comes back to not feeling worthy. I’m coming up to 24 years of sobriety in March, but I remember all the things that made me want to drink, you know? So when David said, “I want you as naked as you’ve ever been, I do not want a veil between you and the audience,” it played into my insecurities. He said, “Trust me.” So you go, “OK.” And really, it was the best call. Oddly enough, after a couple of days, it was rather liberating.

Sacha, your association with Abbie Hoffman goes back decades … BARON COHEN When I was 20,

Sacha Baron Cohen was photographed by Steven Chee on Jan. 17 at Sun Studios in Sydney, Australia.

I was staying at the YMCA in downtown Atlanta researching a thesis on Jewish involvement in the civil rights movement of the ’60s. Abbie Hoffman was one of a bunch of Jewish radicals who went down South to support voter registration for people of color. So I knew about him from the age of 20. Then, 13 years ago, I heard that Spielberg was making a movie about the Chicago Seven and, with characteristic chutzpah, I called him up and asked if I could audition. He was

TUNE IN ON THR.COM THR Roundtables will roll out through March 2021 in print and online. Watch new episodes of Close Up With The Hollywood Reporter on THR.com/Roundtables and YouTube.

concerned that I wouldn’t be able to do the accent because all he’d seen me do was the ﬁrst Borat, so he put me with a dialect coach and said, “OK, in two weeks’ time, I want this speech done as Abbie Hoffman.” Every night for two weeks, I recorded the beginning and end of the speech. By the end, we had about 38 recordings on this CD. At the beginning, it was dreadful — I sounded like a Northwest London Jewish guy trying to do Abbie Hoffman, who’s this Boston radical with inﬂuences of Brandeis University and Berkeley, a very speciﬁc accent. But by the end of the two weeks, the dialect coach felt I’d nailed it. I said to my assistant, “Put take 38 on a separate CD and deliver it to Steven’s house by 9 a.m.” At lunch time, I met up with Steven in his mother’s kosher restaurant, and Steven sits me down and says, “Listen, I’ve got to be honest, the ﬁrst 15 takes were not very good.” I was like, “What?!” He goes, “By take 20, you’re getting good. By take 37, it was absolutely perfect.” I realized my assistant had given him the wrong CD, and Steven Spielberg had listened for over an hour to the same speech!

For how many minutes after that discovery was your assistant still employed by you? BARON COHEN (Laughs.)

Unbelievably, she’s actually gone on to be a very successful producer. I kept her on for another year. AFFLECK He listened to every take?! BARON COHEN He listened for an hour. Then the writers strike happened and things fell apart. Thirteen years later, I asked whether there’s any way they’d reconsider me for the role of the, like, 35-year-old that Spielberg had cast me as, and somehow, Aaron agreed. [Baron Cohen is 49.]

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Delroy, Spike asked you and the other actors cast as the vets to also play the younger version of yourselves. It was a decision driven by budget, but it feels perfect. LINDO It was a budgetary decision

mixed with Spike’s genius. He took lemons and made lemonade, which is what we have to do oftentimes. When I read it in the script, it felt completely natural, organic and the right thing to do. In the context of making the ﬁlm, it felt even more right, because we’d been working for ﬁve or six weeks before Chadwick [Boseman] arrived. By the time we were ﬁlming the scenes with Chadwick, it felt right that we, as the age we are now, were going back in time to revisit this younger guy. Can I ask a question? I’m on the verge of directing my ﬁrst ﬁlm, and I’m trying to ﬁgure out a way of ﬁlming my scenes separately so that I can then concentrate on the rest of the material. I’m curious to hear from the actor-directors what your experience was, if you don’t mind? AFFLECK I just had this conversation — Michael B. Jordan’s a friend of mine and he’s directing his ﬁrst movie soon. I also asked everybody before I did it. I didn’t act in my ﬁrst one [Gone Baby Gone] because I was too intimidated. But ahead of The Town, I asked a bunch of other actor-directors, “What was it that made you feel conﬁdent enough that you could actually do it?” Because there’s a lot of mystiﬁcation of the process and a lot of people who want to set you back from it. I think actors — and brilliant actors like you, Delroy — make good directors because the most important thing about directing, in my view, is taste, and you clearly have that. David [Fincher] is an example of a guy with extraordinary taste and also the soul of an artist and the mind of an engineer — he’s this

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A C T O R R O U N D T A B L E

BEN AFFLECK

SACHA BARON COHEN

DELROY LINDO

GARY OLDMAN

JOHN DAVID WASHINGTON

STEVEN YEUN

The Way Back

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm, The Trial of the Chicago 7

Da 5 Bloods

Mank

Malcolm & Marie, Tenet

Minari

A C T O R R O U N D T A B L E

In these roles, several of you have incredible monologues, but Steven, your character is a man of few words, and yet you manage to convey so much. When a character doesn’t have much dialogue on the page, is that daunting or exciting for you? YEUN That’s a great question.

Sometimes I actually prefer that. That actually makes me feel freer, because what I’ve found is that most of the work is internal anyhow. I don’t mind saying a lot of dialogue. I love to say a lot of dialogue. But there’s also something beautiful about the space between words and the space between moments. And that’s what was really fun about playing Jacob, just really deeply connecting to the internal dialogue of his reality. He’s a ﬁrst-generation immigrant, so the language is a barrier for him. He’s also coming from a collectivist existence, from a Korean background, and that type of mentality is different than the way we live here, which is very “Here’s who I am!” From the East, it’s more like “You probably already know who I am” or, “I am ﬁtting this box that you need me to ﬁt in for the collective.” And I think that type of existence is in some ways like this movie, the ways that East and West miscommunicate and why they don’t understand each other. And that was the fun in playing that — it’s a glance, a look, the

shoulders, the breathing, the way you sit. Approaching work from that point of view is scary because you don’t know if anybody’s going to see. But wonderful directors always see it. OLDMAN It’s funny that you mention that. Churchill wrote more words than Dickens and Shakespeare put together, and he was a talker. But someone asked me, “What’s your favorite scene in Darkest Hour?” And my favorite scene was Churchill walking down a hallway: He hears Hitler broadcasting, and he turns back and shuts the door so he’s closing Hitler out. There’s no dialogue, just the physicality, the action, the intention, the thought. The way Joe Wright staged it, it’s a quiet moment, and one of my favorites.

Sacha, my understanding is that with Borat, you have an outline, but there’s quite a bit of improv, whereas with Sorkin, you really cannot change a word. BARON COHEN With Borat, there’s a

lot of line learning — I’m rewriting the script continually, often until 30 minutes before we start shooting. I’ll go into a scene and there can be 50 lines that have just been written that I have to memorize. And actually, one of the scenes [when he was staying with the QAnon adherents] was ﬁve days long, so there are pages and pages of dialogue that I’m trying to get in. You’ve got to navigate your way through that and make sure you’ve got the usable lines in there. And then Sorkin hires me, and he wants everything to be precise. My question to him on the ﬁrst day was, “Why me?” Because I’m known for improvising. And obviously, I was trying to pitch that I should improvise. (Laughs.) But the beauty of Sorkin’s language is that it’s perfect. I can’t remember

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who said it, but, “You can make a bad movie with a great script, but you can’t make a great movie with a bad script.” With Sorkin, you’re coming to it with a great script, so you have that safety net.

Fincher famously does dozens of takes, while Sorkin is known for doing very few. OLDMAN If they want to do 10 takes

or 60, I’m on the clock, and I’m there to serve. David is watching everything else in the ﬁrst four, ﬁve, six takes — he’s calibrating the lighting, or he’s saying, “The camera, when it lands, it’s got to be here.” He’s like a conductor of an orchestra. Maybe he’s not really focusing on you yet. Then he comes in and starts to work. By take 17, you’re thinking, “This is interesting.” (Laughs.) Then, maybe take 32, you come out the other side. AFFLECK I had a similar experience. It was quite clear that [Fincher] was going to make something really good. But yeah, sure, there’s moments where you’ll do take 23 and he’s like, “First print!” (Laughs.) BARON COHEN Sorkin is such a precise man that when he says he’s got it, you completely trust him. Even though sometimes I was getting two takes, I was ﬁne with that, because on Borat, you got one. I can’t go to Mike Pence and say, “Oy! Can you do that again?”

How do you measure whether or not a project has been successful? AFFLECK As John David said, with

actors there’s no tenure, no gold watch, you’re only as good as your next job. The phone has stopped ringing for more talented people than me. You’re constantly aware of that. I used to be like, “I want the movie to make money so that I can be seen as hirable by the studio,” and “I want it to be good because I want people that I

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admire to validate me,” and “My father struggled to do this and I want to be able to do it and not struggle.” I’ve just stopped doing all that. There are three or four really good friends who I love and respect, and I’m going to show them the movie and really hope they like it. If they don’t, I try and change it. But honestly, you know if it’s good. You know if you did something interesting. You know if it was a valuable experience. It’s not about what other people say. LINDO I’m going to piggyback on that. It’s a feeling. When I think about Bloods, I felt good inside of the work. Had the ﬁlm come out

“Maybe I’ve arrived, but I don’t feel that way. That’s because of my father and my mother, because I respect them as artists so much.” J O H N DAV I D WAS H I N GTO N

and audiences not responded to it, that would not have impacted how I feel about the process. YEUN I sat next to my dad at Sundance. There’s a lot of ways in which I could never really access him, because he also couldn’t access me for a lot of reasons. And for me to be able to show that I understand him and that I see him? On a ﬁlm at Sundance? On a huge projection? In front of like, hundreds of people? That was

WAY: RICHARD FOREMAN/WARNER BROS. BORAT: COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS. TRIAL: NIKO TAVERNISE/NETFLIX. BLOODS, MANK: COURTESY OF NETFLIX. MALCOLM: DOMINIC MILLER/NETFLIX. TENET: MELINDA SUE GORDAN/WARNER. BROS. MINARI: MELISSA LUKENBAUGH/A24.

rare kind of monster who is so brilliant that it’s almost overwhelming. But you don’t have to be as brilliant as David. You can just be an ordinary guy. I said to Warren Beatty, “How do you feel conﬁdent directing movies?” And he said, “Have you ever been sitting on a movie that you were acting in and looked over at the director and thought, ‘If this asshole can do it …’ ” (Laughs.)

John David Washington was photographed by David Needleman on Jan. 16 at The Paramour Estate in Silver Lake.

bonkers. And yeah, that’s success in its own right. BARON COHEN On Borat, I’m turning to the crew, the director and a young Bulgarian actress and saying, “Listen, you are risking getting arrested today or physically harmed or insulted.” I had to wear a bulletproof vest for two scenes. There’s got to be a reason why you’re going through that. And the reason was, I felt I had to get out that movie before the election to highlight [then-President Trump’s] misogyny, corruption and dangerous slide into authoritarianism, and also the danger in conspiracy theories and lies being spread by social media and the government, which I think we saw the effect of on Jan. 6. Then, in terms of Chicago 7, I felt I had to make that as well because it showed the importance of standing up to racism, immorality and police brutality. I wanted to remind people of the power of peaceful protest. The insurrection that we saw in Washington — that mob was crossing state lines to incite a riot, right? That’s what the Chicago Seven were tried for, wrongly, because they were actually just going across state lines to peacefully protest an unjust [Vietnam] war. So with these two movies, the success was that I could look at myself in the mirror on November the 4th and say I did everything I could do as an actor, writer and comedian. OLDMAN I’m not so concerned with the end product. I like the journey. What’s better than waking up in the morning and going, “God, wow, the car is here early. Hell, I’ll get in it. I want to see these people that I’m working with.” I wake up feeling so blessed that I am in a career where I want to go in to work. Conversation edited for length and clarity.

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A C T O R R O U N D T A B L E

GOLDEN GLOBES PREVIEW

AWARDS SEASON STIRS FROM ITS LONG WINTER’S NAP

Ring lights and the top halves of tuxedos have sat dormant since September’s remote Emmys, and the traditional awards season has been delayed by nearly two months — all courtesy of COVID-19’s continued impact on, well, everything. But the cog that propels so much of the Hollywood machine lurches back into action Feb. 28 (despite new controversy over a lack of diversity at the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and allegations of kickbacks). That’s when hosts TINA FEY and AMY POEHLER are set to hand out the 2021 GOLDEN GLOBES, celebrating a year in which the few movies that were released were mainly seen on TV. In anticipation of the show — the unofﬁcial ﬁrst paver on the road to Oscar — THR examines the likely winners (and deserving losers), this year’s designated icons (Jane Fonda and Norman Lear) and the economic toll of canceling the town’s biggest party weekend, now taking place at home. — EDITED BY MIKEY O’CONNELL

“It’s great having a mentor that you can collaborate with,” says Jackson Lee, who often works with sister Satchel.

GOLDEN GLOBES AMBASSADORS

‘I Thought My Dad Was Just a Big Knicks Fan’

AWARDS 2015: PAUL DRINKWATER/NBCUNIVERSAL VIA GETTY IMAGES. POEHLER: KEVIN MAZUR/GETTY IMAGES. FEY: ANGELA WEISS/AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES. LEE: JULIEN MITCHELL.

Satchel and Jackson Lee talk about growing up with their ﬁrebrand ﬁlmmaker father Spike, forging their own careers in the arts and which causes are getting their HFPA grants By Rebecca Sun

T

he two children of Spike and Tonya Lewis Lee, Satchel and Jackson, were raised to be unafraid of self-expression. But this year’s Golden Globes Ambassadors are surprisingly soft-spoken, mixing thoughtfulness with the candor for which their auteur father is so well known. Satchel, 26, is more reserved but still willing to be frank when discussing institutional inequities facing Black and LGBTQ people. Meanwhile, Jackson, 23, is a down-to-earth optimist quick to credit his mentors (which include his big sister). THR spoke to the duo before the unveiling of the Globe nominations, which shut out their father’s awards contender Da 5 Bloods. Still, one can guess the family’s feelings on the matter: “You’re never going to make everyone happy,” says Jackson, “so you have to be happy and proud of what you’re putting out.”

How old were you when you realized your parents were a big deal? JACKSON LEE It was in fourth grade

when Inside Man came out. All my friends came to school on

the Monday after, and they were like, “Oh my God, your dad’s movie’s amazing!” I loved seeing my dad working, but I didn’t truly understand the magnitude of it. I thought my dad was just a big Knicks fan, honestly, because on the street everyone was all like, “Oh, Spike! How ’bout the Knicks?”

What were the pros or cons of growing up in a public family? SATCHEL LEE We went to private

schools our entire life, and I think it’s very difﬁcult to be a Black person — or anybody outside the majority — in those predominantly white institutions. I know how hard our parents worked to make sure that we were getting the education that we got and also being treated right by the teachers and the schools.

How have your own career goals changed over the years? JACKSON At ﬁrst, I kind of pigeon-

holed myself to photography. Anthony Causi, a [New York Post] photographer who passed away from COVID, was a dear friend and mentor who taught me pretty much everything I

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GOLDEN GLOBES PREVIEW

What’s the most valuable advice your parents have given you? SATCHEL Our father has always

told us to do what we want and not really listen to what anybody else thinks — including him and my mother, which then becomes somewhat of a Catch-22, but

C E C I L B . D E M I L L E AWA R D

6 Essential Jane Fonda Performances As the seven-time Golden Globe winner gets the HFPA’s lifetime achievement treatment, a THR ﬁlm critic walks through her most exceptional performances By Sheri Linden They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969) Fonda’s first film after the bonkers sci-fi sex romp Barbarella is a searing depiction of the Great Depression, centered on a brutal dance marathon. Director Sydney Pollack discerned “a serious actress buried inside this glamour-puss,” and Fonda’s portrayal of a contestant battered by life is as devoid of sentimentality as it is heartrending. Klute (1971) Helmer Alan J. Pakula wanted no one but Fonda to topline his New York crime thriller. Her Oscar- and Globe-winning performance, as a fiercely independent prostitute who reluctantly teams with Donald Sutherland’s detective, shatters clichés with its intricate layers of intelligence and rage.

The Lee family at the 2019 Globes, where their patriarch was up for BlacKkKlansman.

the advice is still good. And our mom’s always been about teaching me to look out for myself, which is probably the most important lesson you can teach someone.

Tell me about why you chose your respective organizations that will be receiving the HFPA grant.

Tout Va Bien (1972) Jean-Luc Godard and Jean-Pierre Gorin’s feature blends Brechtian theatrics and dashes of Keystone Cops to dissect class politics and finds Fonda at home in the avant-garde setting. She and Yves Montand persuasively channel their star wattage into a portrait of intellectuals at a marital impasse. The China Syndrome (1979) Released 12 days before the Three Mile Island meltdown, this thriller about safety breaches at a nuclear plant proved eerily timely. There’s a nod to Brenda Starr in Fonda’s redheaded reporter, but

as her eyes are opened to life-threatening coverups, the nuanced performance takes hard-driving professionalism to emotional depths. 9 to 5 (1980) Sometimes silly is the best subversive, as in this comedy of comeuppance for a sexist jerk (Dabney Coleman). Fonda’s teaming with Dolly Parton and future Grace and Frankie partner Lily Tomlin is a joyous testament to girl power, her ace comic timing and gift for pratfalls on full display. Our Souls at Night (2017) Fifty years after playing newlyweds in Barefoot in the Park, and 38 years after they lit up the screen in The Electric Horseman, Fonda and Robert Redford create a beautifully understated chemistry in this depiction of septuagenarian friendship and love.

Opposite Donald Sutherland, Fonda earned her first Academy Award for Klute.

SATCHEL I chose Callen-Lorde

CA R O L B U R N E T T AWA R D

[Community Health Center] in New York City, which treats over 18,000 patients a year. There’s so much medical mistrust between the queer community and doctors and hospitals, so this type of place is really imperative. JACKSON And I chose Big Brothers Big Sisters because of their work mentoring young creatives, especially young people of color.

A Legacy of Humor and Humility Showrunner Gloria Calderón Kellett explains why Norman Lear can’t be honored enough

Lear

Interview edited for length and clarity.

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A

t 98, Norman Lear has an overall deal, an aggressive development slate and a legacy that would put any power producer to shame. He’s also empowering. Few can better speak to that fact than Gloria Calderón Kellett. The comedy writer, 53 years Lear’s junior, had free creative reign when tapped to run his Cuban American reboot of One Day at a Time.

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LEE: JON KOPALOFF/GETTY IMAGES. ACTS: COURTESY OF HBO. SYNDROME, KLUTE: COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION. LEAR: JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX/WIREIMAGE. KELLETT: EMMA MCINTYRE/GETTY IMAGES. TRIAL: NIKO TAVERNISE/ NETFLIX. NOMADLAND: JOSHUA JAMES RICHARDS/20TH CENTURY STUDIOS. PROMISING: COURTESY OF FOCUS FEATURES. FATHER: SEAN CLEASON/SONY PICTURES CLASSIC. EXIT: COURTESY OF SONY PICTURES CLASSICS. BORAT: COURTESY OF AMAZON STUDIOS (2). LOVECRAFT: ELI JOSHUA ADE/HBO. SAUL: GREG LEWIS/AMC/SONY PICTURES TELEVISION. LASSO: COURTESY OF APPLE TV+ (2). CROWN: DES WILLIE/NETFLIX (2). FLIGHT: COURTESY OF HBO MAX.

know about still photography at Knicks games. But having a father who’s in multiple mediums — he does ﬁlm, sneakers, clothing — showed me I don’t have to do just one thing. SATCHEL If I had to deﬁne my dream job, I’ve always said from a young age that I just want to be a Gertrude Stein-type of person. I want to know everybody, I want to know what you’re working on, and I want you to tell me how I can help make that a possibility.

Jane Fonda’s 1982 workout tape, released two years after The China Syndrome (right), was once the top-selling VHS of all time.

Who Should Win … and Who Will Win No other awards show boasts a greater disparity between odds-on favorites and critical choices — and 2021 is no exception, with THR’s chief ﬁlm and TV critics agreeing with Globes prognostications in a mere three out of 12 main races WHO SHOULD WIN

WHO WILL WIN

FILM

BY DAVID ROONEY

WHO SHOULD WIN

BY SCOTT FEINBERG

BEST PICTURE • Drama Chloé Zhao cements her place as one of the great poets of the new American West with this haunting study of a disenfranchised transient, played with resilience by Frances McDormand. VERDICT: Nomadland

The Crown may be consistent, but Lovecraft Country — with its delirious mixture of smart racial commentary and boisterous horror — has higher highs than any show in this category. VERDICT: Lovecraft Country

BEST PICTURE • Musical or Comedy

Other than Emily in Paris, it’s a solid category of both genre-bending hourlongs and sentimental half-hours. The advantage goes to the bighearted salve audiences required in 2020. VERDICT: Ted Lasso

BEST ACTRESS • Drama Promising Young Woman, up for four prizes, is going to win somewhere, and here seems as likely as anywhere, since Frances McDormand and Viola Davis won recently, whereas Carey Mulligan never has. VERDICT: Mulligan

Emma Corrin’s star-making turn in The Crown feels more like a supporting performance, so give the edge to Laura Linney, who gave Ozark’s third season some previously unavailable emotional heft. Verdict: Linney

BEST ACTOR • Drama

Killing Eve’s Jodie Comer and Ozark’s Laura Linney haven’t won yet for their shows and won’t start now. The HFPA loves Olivia Colman, but they’ll anoint her young Crown co-star. Verdict: Emma Corrin

BEST ACTOR • Drama

Riz Ahmed is an exciting actor who will have many opportunities. Chadwick Boseman, tragically, will not. In Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, his wrenching final performance, he leaves nothing behind. VERDICT: Boseman

Most predict Ma Rainey’s late Chadwick Boseman over The Father’s Anthony Hopkins, but only Hopkins’ film is up for best pic, plus the HFPA adores him (eight noms going back 42 years!). VERDICT: Hopkins

Bob Odenkirk had his best season yet on Better Call Saul, peaking in an ambitious episode in which he spent the full hour lugging a duffle bag of cash around the New Mexico desert in mid-summer. VERDICT: Odenkirk

BEST ACTRESS • Musical or Comedy The HFPA likes to spread its love, but Borat could go three-forthree. Its young breakout has no major competition, the only other hailing from a best pic nominee being Kate Hudson (Music). VERDICT: Maria Bakalova

SAME

In Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist, Jane Levy has to sing, dance, drag viewers through an emotional ringer and make you believe that a broadcast show in 2021 is worthy of award recognition. VERDICT: Levy

Jason Sudeikis took a character who could have been a cartoon and made him feel real. Ted Lasso doesn’t always have high stakes, but it’s the earnest lead who makes you care. VERDICT: Sudeikis

One Day at a Time was an arranged marriage, right? Mike Royce had already been tapped to run One Day at a Time. But once Norman, Brent Miller and Mike were in a room together, they were like, “Well, this isn’t going to work. We can’t tell a story about this Latina single mom with three white guys.” (Laughs.)

And how does that translate on set? When we first got to set, people would go to Norman and

Catherine O’Hara has her Emmy, and Jane Levy is her show’s sole rep. There’s support for The Great’s Elle Fanning, but The Flight Attendant’s Kaley Cuoco’s noms morning reaction sealed the deal. Verdict: Cuoco

BEST ACTOR • Musical or Comedy

Voters may want to acknowledge Lin-Manuel Miranda, but I suspect this is between Palm Springs’ Andy Samberg and Sacha Baron Cohen, who won for the original Borat 14 years ago. VERDICT: Sacha Baron Cohen

What was your first meeting like? I don’t think I even knew what the project was. I just wanted to meet him. Immediately, Norman does this thing where he gives you his full attention. He is so present and so disarming that suddenly I was telling him every personal detail about my life. What a magical quality for a producer to have, right? To be able to cut to the chase and really bust open a person within the first 15 minutes.

Jason Bateman and Bob Odenkirk are perennial bridesmaids. Hunters’ Al Pacino may be tempting, but this likely will go to The Crown’s Josh O’Connor or Perry Mason’s Matthew Rhys. Flip a coin! VERDICT: Rhys

BEST ACTRESS • Musical or Comedy

BEST ACTOR • Musical or Comedy Dev Patel is terrific, but the film left me cold; Andy Samberg’s role doesn’t extend his range; LinManuel Miranda isn’t Hamilton’s strongest player; and James Corden is abrasive in The Prom. VERDICT: Sacha Baron Cohen

Schitt’s Creek’s sixth season brings its first series nom. The Emmys gave it everything, and the HFPA hates to follow, so bet on The Flight Attendant, The Great or Ted Lasso, rookies all. VERDICT: The Great

BEST ACTRESS • Drama

SAME

Michelle Pfeiffer is too seldom ranked among the best of her generation. Her withering hauteur and spent surrender elevate every moment of French Exit, Azazel Jacobs’ depressed comedy. VERDICT: Pfeiffer

First-time nominations abound, for Ozark, Lovecraft Country, The Mandalorian and Ratched. But, with a leading six noms (five for acting), The Crown’s fourth season will win like its first. VERDICT: The Crown

BEST SERIES • Musical or Comedy

Music (poorly reviewed) and Hamilton (not really a movie) are controversial. And Meryl Streep’s snub is a bad sign for The Prom. Palm Springs and Borat 2 are both “LOL” comedies, but one has more to say. VERDICT: Borat 2

Carey Mulligan delivers the most surprising turn, dismantling her subdued persona to create a unique character bristling with a barely suppressed howl of indignation and a thirst for justice at any cost. VERDICT: Mulligan

BY SCOTT FEINBERG

BEST SERIES • Drama Mank has the most noms, but that hasn’t meant anything in recent years. This race often reflects Oscar buzz of the moment, which means Nomadland or The Trial of the Chicago 7. VERDICT: The Trial of the Chicago 7

In a weak category this year, it has to be Thomas Kail’s performance-capture recording of the Broadway juggernaut that bottles the thrill of live theater with rare skill. VERDICT: Hamilton

WHO WILL WIN

TELEVISION

BY DANIEL FIENBERG

Gloria Calderón Kellett with Norman Lear in 2018.

Mike with their questions. Consistently, he’d say, “You need to go to Gloria. Don’t ask me. Ask her.” Never in my career had I been lifted up in that way, let alone by someone with his pedigree. I can’t tell you how transformative it is to be respected in that way. You taped live. What was Norman like on show nights? Oh, it was glorious to watch. He would warm the crowd up every night — like really warm them up. He’d go into the

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SAME

The HFPA won’t follow the Emmys with Eugene Levy. So? The Great isn’t solely dependent on Nicholas Hoult, but Ted Lasso is on Jason Sudeikis. Apple TV+ will get on the board. VERDICT: Sudeikis

audience, give them a little inspiring tale or a funny story. He was just tickled to be there. Do you have a favorite memory of working together on the show? Shooting the pilot, it was a very emotional night. And at the end of it, I went up to him and said, “Thank you, Mr. Lear, for changing my life.” And he said, “Gloria, you would have been just fine without me.” There’s something in him that doesn’t allow him to take the credit for literally changing hundreds of thousands of people’s lives. The people that saw themselves represented in the ’70s and the ’80s, the amount of work he’s done, the laughter he’s given all of us … he has left a mark on this planet that is so indelible. There’s something charming about the fact that he can’t even accept that he’s done that. — M.O. Interview edited for length and clarity.

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Brutal Hit to Awards-Season Economy

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eyond the acceptance speeches and red carpet looks of a usual awards season is a massive industry of those who work to create glamorous moments on and off-camera. Event planners, ﬂorists, limo drivers and DJs count the typical January-to-March window between the Golden Globes and Oscars as their most proﬁtable. This year, amid the pandemic and an awards season that looks to be almost entirely virtual, those industries will miss signiﬁcant portions of their annual income — for some, millions of dollars — after an already trying 11 months. An L.A. County report released Feb. 9 found that 125,900 hospitality jobs and

37,300 arts and entertainment jobs were lost in 2020. Ahead of the Globes, THR spoke to dozens of L.A. vendors about what this season will look like for them.

CATERING After 19 years in business and with clients like Netﬂix and Apple, Bread & Wine Catering has been shut since March and may permanently close, says co-owner Daniel Flores: “We might just shutter. I’ve been waiting to see what’s happening.” Awards season for Bread & Wine used to mean events for CAA, UTA and studios, with a per-event catering budget averaging $100,000; now, “I have a number of friends who are caterers, and they all are just trying to hold onto their kitchens,” says

Flores. Hollywood favorite Patina is closed until further notice, and gone are the days when Wolfgang Puck and a staff of 300 chefs would provide 7,500 shrimp and 1,500 bottles of champagne for the Governors Ball alone, as they did in 2019. Meanwhile, Rise and Shine Catering — which has served the SAG Awards and other events, accounting for 25 percent of its business — has been kept alive by resumed ﬁlming in L.A., says owner Sean Heyman: “It’s all ﬁlm and television production, commercials and photo shoots. That’s what’s out there right now.”

RED CARPET In a typical awards season, L.A.’s Red Carpet Systems supplies 150 events, from Elton John’s

Illustration by Nien-Ken Alec Lu

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annual Golden Globes party to the SAG Awards, with carpet and step-and-repeat packages ticketed at $7,000 for a 35-foot setup. The company now is looking at losing 30 percent of its income with a virtual season, says CEO Toni Kilicoglu. Another company, Celebrity Red Carpets, has furloughed its eight employees and is facing a 35 percent decline. For some virtual awards events, “all they needed was some banners printed,” says CEO London Moore. “The stafﬁng that we would normally use to have guys go out there and set up stuff with big trucks, all that’s gone.”

SALONS “The celebrities are still going to get their hair done,” says Meche

CARPET: RODIN ECKENROTH/GETTY IMAGES. GIBSON: AMY SUSSMAN/GETTY IMAGES. PESCE: DAVID YEH/NBC. FLOWERS: ERIC BUTERBAUGH FLOWER DESIGN.

The ancillary companies and vendors that contribute to creating a glamorous round of parties in a typical year are suffering major losses and have laid off staff as events including the Golden Globes continue to be mainly virtual: ‘I’m basically living off savings right now,’ says one photographer By Kirsten Chuba and Chris Gardner

principal stylist Neil Weisberg, but “that’s just a celebrity. It’s not the producers and the agents and the managers.” Awards season typically brings his Beverly Hills salon a 15 percent to 20 percent customer boost, but with nominees and presenters the only ones on camera during an awards show, the party crowd and entourages are mostly opting out of beauty spending. Ted Gibson of Starring by Ted Gibson salon, who counts Christina Applegate and Sandra Oh as hair clients, adds that the virtual season has delivered a painful “big hit. Not only ﬁnancially but also just the fact of being creative and being able to work with a stylist and the makeup artists and the publicist and come up with the look.” Airbrush tanning expert Alexandra DiMarchi says she’s typically booked solid 72 hours before any awards show, and “there [were] times during awards season where you can almost make your month’s income in a week. [It’s] the peak of the year.” Amid the slowdown, though, DiMarchi has maintained some clients with a mobile service.

PHOTOGRAPHERS With a career that spans 35 years, Alex Berliner has captured everything from intimate backyard gatherings with Hollywood elite to the biggest red carpets. He says that during a regular awards season, he and his staff often have four to ﬁve jobs a day. This year looks much different, as “I’m basically living off savings right now,” he says. He has laid off his entire staff.

EVENT PLANNERS Tony Schubert, founder and CEO of events ﬁrm Event Eleven,

Workers prepared the entrance for the Golden Globes ceremony at The Beverly Hilton in January 2020.

estimates that his company, due to the pandemic, has missed out on about 15 events during awards season at a loss of $5 million to $6 million. His roster of events in past years has included Entertainment Weekly’s Emmy party, Amazon’s Emmy and Globes events and WME bashes. The loss has trickled down to the hundreds of subsidiary vendors he typically employs, Schubert says: “They are suddenly out of work and forced to shift careers.” Sarah Lowy and Jodi Cohen of JOWY Productions have put on the InStyle/Warner Bros. Globes party for the past six years, as well as other celebrations for Warners and NBCUniversal. Awards season typically accounts for 20 percent to 30 percent of their annual income. “I think most everybody is trying to survive and hoping that it will come back,” says Cohen. Adds Joe Lewis, who works with the Academy to organize the Oscar red carpet: “An event that you used to be able to produce with, say, 20 people is now virtual, and you need four people to do that. It’s devastating what it did to our team.”

FLORISTS In 2020, ﬂoral designer Mark’s Garden, with a staff of 40 working for ﬁve days, created 400 arrangements for the Governors Ball. However, the company, says co-owner Michael Uncapher, is still getting some business from a virtual season. “We are doing

something small for the Globes this year, so we’re excited for that.” Eric Buterbaugh counts on live events for 75 percent of his ﬂoral business, 20 percent from a rotation of 10 to 15 annual awards-season parties. Buterbaugh is pleased to be getting a rush of orders for “congratulations on your nominations” ﬂowers.

DJs Michelle Pesce is among awards season’s most in-demand DJs, spinning everywhere from the ofﬁcial Grammy and SAG afterparties to the Night Before Oscar gala. “January and February are my bread-and-butter months,” she says. This year, she has just one event booked, and that translates to more than $250,000 lost. Now she has turned to drive-ins where “we are DJing in parking lots where we can hardly see the people.” DJ Spider (aka Oliver Nathan), who has worked for UTA, Amazon and HBO, says “it’s pretty quiet on the DJ front at the moment without the parties happening,” though he has played virtual gigs through platforms such as Zoom and Twitch.

HOTELS The Beverly Hilton, home to the Globes, is an awards-season staple: The three months between the Globes and Oscars typically sees the hotel’s International Ballroom (holding 1,200 people)

From left: DJ Michelle Pesce at an “SNL at the Drive-In” event on the Universal lot in the fall. An arrangement by Eric Buterbaugh. Hairstylist Ted Gibson with client Jaime King in August.

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GOLDEN GLOBES PREVIEW

hosting a gala four to ﬁve nights a week, says manager Michael Robertson, noting the “huge impact on the business” the shutdown has had. COVID, he says, has hurt “our hotel in particular because we have a higher percentage of our revenue that comes from [events],” including the Globes’ array of on-site afterparties. Occupancy of its 566 guest rooms also has taken a hit; they typically would be nearly sold out from the Rose Bowl through the Oscars, and plenty remain unoccupied. The Four Seasons Los Angeles, which hosts the pre-Globes BAFTA Tea Party and Mercedes-Benz Oscar gathering, usually sees awards shows as “sellout weekends for us, and we won’t be nearly close to being sold out this year,” says marketing director Ana Cruz. The hotel also holds blocks of rooms for each studio for their nominees and execs and expects a major decrease this year. Says Cruz, “Those studios that would give us 20 or 30 rooms that weekend are maybe not sending anybody or sending only the ones and twos that absolutely have to be here.”

LIMOS/VALETS Chuck’s Parking has provided valet services for 50-plus years, working WME and CAA parties, among other awards-season celebrations. This year’s nonexistent party scene has put the company’s 125 employees out of work and resulted in “hundreds of thousands of dollars in losses,” says founder Chuck Pick. “It’s not just the [ofﬁcial] events themselves, it’s the Saturday when Barry Diller has 500 people at his home.” The limo industry has been similarly crushed: Limousine Connection typically has 50 cars ordered for show days but this year has ﬁve set to take a handful of presenters for in-person Globes segments, notes director of operations Kristin Hundley: “I have to be a realist about it and realize that this awards season is shot.”

Anatomy of a Contender

202 1 AWA R D S S E A S O N

THE M A K ING OF

Malcolm & Marie

ack in September 2018, when Sam Levinson forgot to thank Ashley Levinson at the Los Angeles premiere of his feature ﬁlm Assassination Nation, he felt terrible. Not only is she his wife, but she also was a producer on the black-comedy thriller. When the Euphoria showrunner took his seat, he apologized profusely.

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She told him not to worry, and grabbed his hand reassuringly. Levinson’s marital slip-up would become the springboard for Malcolm & Marie, one of the ﬁrst movies shot during the pandemic. Its two sole stars — Zendaya and John David Washington — play a couple whose relationship is tested as they argue over the course of an entire night, in a marathon ﬁght sparked by

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Washington’s character’s own speech omission. The black-andwhite movie, shot in Carmel, California, over 14 days in late June and July, tested the bounds of how lean a production can be when required — only 12 people could be on set at any one time — and helped establish COVID19 protocols for Hollywood by working with epidemiologists in tandem with the major guilds. The

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tiny $2.5 million-budgeted movie would later sell for a hefty $30 million to Netﬂix, which released the ﬁlm on its platform Feb. 5. It was Zendaya — the former Disney child star who recently became the youngest actress in history, at age 24, to win the primetime Emmy for her performance as a troubled teenager on HBO’s Euphoria — who suggested making a movie after the second

BTS: DOMINIC MILLER/NETFLIX (3). MALCOLM: COURTESY OF NETFLIX (2). HOUSE: MARCELL RÉV/NETFLIX.

Zendaya’s restlessness during lockdown and a wish to keep the Euphoria crew paid sparked a collaboration based on director Sam Levinson’s own marital gaffe BY PA M E L A M C C LI N TO C K

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season of the acclaimed series was called off just before shooting was to begin in mid-March. By May, the actress found herself sleeping until mid-afternoon to avoid having to map out the day. “I was in such a weird place. I was already struggling with ‘Who is Zendaya without her work?’ I get everything from acting. It’s my social life. It’s my hobby. It’s my fun thing to do. It’s my challenge,” Zendaya says. “I asked Sam if there was a world in which we could shoot something in my house or somewhere else. There was no intention other than to allow us to all be creative together, and to get our crew from Euphoria paid.” Levinson and Zendaya kicked around a number of ideas, from a psychological horror ﬁlm set in her L.A. home to a one-character drama. Then it came to him: Play out the imbalances in a relationship in real time over one night. Malcolm’s failure to thank Marie at the premiere of his movie — a ﬁctionalized chronicle of her journey as a teenage addict — is the inciting incident that infuriates her. (The ensuing argument also includes Malcolm’s diatribe against critics — which kicked up a fuss on ﬁlm Twitter for being heavy-handed.) Levinson began writing. At the end of the ﬁrst day, he called Zendaya and read her 10 pages. She liked the idea of playing an adult for the ﬁrst time. “I still play a teenager on television, so I get it. People forget I am grown,” she says. On the second day, he told Zendaya he kept hearing one voice in his head as he wrote Malcolm: Washington. The Levinsons had worked on Assassination Nation with producer Katia Washington, the actor’s younger sister, and got his number. Levinson told Zendaya he was going to coldcall the BlacKkKlansman actor. “I asked Sam, ‘Do you really think he would do it?’ ” says Zendaya. “I was so nervous.” It was an immediate yes. “Everything had come to a halt and I was so desperate to work. When this came about, I felt like it was a godsend,” says Washington,

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1 John David Washington and Zendaya during a moment of levity on the set of the relationship drama Malcolm & Marie. 2 The film was one of the first productions shot during the pandemic amid strict protocols. 3 Washington, director Sam Levinson and Zendaya going over the 90-page script. Levinson wrote the first 60 pages in 10 days. 4 Cinematographer Marcell Rév, like many of the film’s cast and crewmembers, also works on Euphoria, the HBO series created by Levinson and starring Zendaya. 5 It was Zendaya’s idea to make a movie during the pandemic. 6 The indie was shot at the Caterpillar House in Carmel, at the time the only jurisdiction in California where a film permit wasn’t needed for private property.

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Anatomy of a Contender

202 1 AWA R D S S E A S O N

1 “Everything had come to a halt and I was so desperate to work. When this came about, I felt like it was a godsend,” says Washington. 2 Zendaya says it was nice to play someone close to her own age, 24 (her character is 25). “I didn’t just turn 20 yesterday.”

who was waiting hopefully for his next ﬁlm, Christopher Nolan’s Tenet, to open in theaters. “It felt a bit like this might be the last thing I would do.” Levinson used the pages he had as sway. Says Washington, “Sam just started reading me the dialogue between Malcolm and Marie. They were beautiful words, but at the same time it was very disturbing hearing the confrontations Sam was describing. I started getting anxious and nervous because I didn’t hear any stage direction — it was all dialogue.” Levinson said, “Not yet” to the actor’s request to see a script. “And then he hung up,” adds Washington. “Even with just those 10 pages, I knew I had to be part of it. It was something I desperately needed artistically.” Levinson also asked Washington if he’d like to invest in Malcolm & Marie. He wasn’t joking. Zendaya and the ﬁlmmakers had already opened up their checkbooks, as had others involved with the movie, and were adamant that the entire crew participate in any proﬁts once the movie was sold. Nearly everyone who worked on the ﬁlm is part of the Euphoria family, or was part of Assassination Nation, including producers Ashley Levinson and Kevin Turen,

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cinematographer Marcell Rév, editor Julio Perez IV, co-executive producer Katia Washington and co-producer Harrison Kreiss (the latter two were the unofﬁcial COVID-19 coordinators). Levinson wrote 60 pages in 10 days, but the third act wasn’t completed by the time the cast and crew, along with two chefs from the Bay Area, arrived at the 500-acre Carmel Valley Ranch to quarantine for 14 days (the luxury resort was otherwise shut to guests). Everyone was tested before they arrived and then several times during the quarantine. And everyone agreed not to go anywhere. “We abided by the strictest of protocols so that we could share them with our community. It was so important to us to help, if we could, to share a path forward, because so many people we cared about faced a disruption in income,” says Ashley Levinson, who conducted Zoom calls with epidemiologists and doctors before coming up with a pod system, in which each department quarantined and worked separately in shifts. Once production began, she kept the guilds informed. “More challenging was keeping people hydrated because of masks, and keeping water bottles separated.”

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The quarantine period also gave Levinson, the two actors and Rév a chance to workshop the script and complete the third act. They used a sprawling conference room appropriately nicknamed the Think Tank, or gathered in the parking lot. “It was incredibly helpful,” says Rév. Carmel was chosen because it was the only jurisdiction in California where no permit was needed to shoot on private property. Production designer Michael Grasley dispatched a location scout to ﬁnd a house for sale that might be available to rent, to no avail. Finally, working with an architecture ﬁrm, he came upon architect Jonathan Feldman’s famous Caterpillar House, a modern-day reimagining of a midcentury home built on the Santa Lucia Preserve. (The owner decamped to a guest house elsewhere on the property.) The COVID-19 protocols meant that Grasley and his production and art pod worked only during the day, and never interacted with the 22-person core crew that shot from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. On set, Sam Levinson and Rév went without a script supervisor or a ﬁrst assistant director, while Zendaya and Washington were in charge of their own makeup and wardrobe.

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The Caterpillar House, encased in wall-to-wall windows, became a third character. Grasley made some adjustments, including removing a giant headboard in the master bedroom. “All we had were the actors and the location. We wanted open architecture so that you are shooting up against the surroundings. The house also had little hallways, so that was another aspect we could use to create tension,” says Rév. “Shooting the movie on ﬁlm also made it more cinematic.” (Many critics have compared the look and lighting of Malcolm & Marie, not to mention its overall themes, to Mike Nichols’ 1966 feature Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) At his L.A. home, Perez edited remotely with a special bay set up in his apartment. He and Levinson spoke before each day of shooting to review how things were cutting together. When Malcolm & Marie was closer to being locked, Levinson and Perez were tested and wore protective gear so that they could work together and reﬁne the cut. Says Zendaya, “We had all these limits because of the pandemic — but it was also limitless, because we didn’t have a studio or anyone else that we had to answer to.”

DOMINIC MILLER/NETFLIX (2)

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NIGHT RAIDERS | Berlinale Panorama Selection Co-production | Canada/New Zealand Ontario Production Companies | Alcina Pictures, Uno Bravo Director Debut | Danis Goulet

TABIJA (The White Fortress) | Berlinale Generation Selection Co-production | Canada/Bosnia Ontario Production Companies | TimeLapse Pictures, Gearshift Films Director | Igor Drljača

Clockwise from top left: Sunset in Brantford, Kingston, Ottawa Rideau Canal, behind the scenes with The Umbrella Academy, Berlinale Selection Tabija (The White Fortress), Berlinale Selection Night Raiders and behind the scenes with Schitt’s Creek.

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Reviews Film

The United States vs. Billie Holiday

Andra Day burns up the screen in her first leading role in Lee Daniels’ messy Hulu bio-drama chronicling the FBI’s unabated persecution of the legendary jazz singer By David Rooney Dropping on Hulu, where it landed after the pandemic scuttled Paramount’s release plans, Lee Daniels’ The United States vs. Billie Holiday showcases a dazzling star turn from Andra Day in her ﬁrst leading role. With effortless command, Day captures the bruising pain of the titular jazz singer’s life onstage and off — not to mention

the smoky vocals, supple phrasing and intimate musical storytelling that made Holiday such a legend. Indeed, Day mesmerizes even when Daniels’ bio-drama careens all over the map with stylistic inconsistency and narrative dysfunction, settling for episodic electricity in the absence of a robust connective thread.

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Previous biographical treatments of Holiday — among them the 1972 Diana Ross vehicle Lady Sings the Blues and 2019’s documentary feature Billie — have shed light on her harrowing childhood experiences of sexual predation and the consequent cycle of addiction and relationships with abusive men.

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Daniels shifts the narrative to focus on Holiday’s signiﬁcance as a ﬁgure in the racialization of the FBI’s war on drugs. Screenwriter Suzan-Lori Parks’ principal source material was a section of journalist Johann Hari’s 2015 book Chasing the Scream, a history of the criminalization of narcotics and its impact, which places Holiday at the birth of the antidrug crusade. As recounted here, this was largely a smoke screen to cover for attempts to stop her from performing one of her signature songs, “Strange Fruit,” a haunting lament for Black Americans lynched in the South. (The song was written by Abel Meeropol, a Jewish schoolteacher from the Bronx whose students had included James Baldwin.) Parks is a brilliant writer known for stage work (she won a Pulitzer for Topdog/Underdog) that dips into the rhythms, repetitions and riffs of jazz for inspiration, which would make her seem an ideal ﬁt for the subject. But the combination of the writer’s theatricality with Daniels’ taste for woozy excess more often serves as a distraction from the blistering sorrow of Holiday’s story. The ﬁlm’s ﬁrst hour gives a semi-coherent account of Holiday’s highs and lows in the 1930s and ’40s. But around the halfway point, the director really starts ladling in fussy stylistic ﬂourishes — B&W, slo-mo, jump cuts, shufﬂed chronology — and neither Parks nor editor Jay Rabinowitz chisel out a satisfying narrative throughline: not the persecution by the Feds, not the contentious inclusion of “Strange Fruit” in Holiday’s repertoire, and decidedly not the framing device that has Leslie Jordan, wearing what looks to be Bea Arthur’s old hair, as a gossipy journalist interviewing Holiday in the late ’50s.

TAKASHI SEIDA/HULU (2)

Andra Day as Billie Holiday, who was targeted by the FBI for singing “Strange Fruit,” a song about the lynching of Black Americans.

The sturdiest thread is Holiday’s involvement with Jimmy Fletcher (Trevante Rhodes), an ex-G.I. recruited by Federal Bureau of Narcotics Chief Harry Anslinger (Garrett Hedlund) to destroy the singer’s career, a campaign championed by Joe McCarthy and Roy Cohn. Fletcher is a Judas ﬁgure whose role lurches in and out of focus, like pretty much everything here. Jimmy inﬁltrates Billie’s inner circle and gains her trust before leading an arrest for heroin possession that lands her in prison for a year. It’s Fletcher’s mother (Adriane Lenox, terriﬁc) who opens his eyes to the ways he’s being manipulated and to the courage of Holiday in using her voice to expose horriﬁc racial violence that the white establishment tacitly condones. After Billie serves her time, Anslinger presses Fletcher to prevent her from going back to work by blocking her New York cabaret license. Jimmy’s remorse becomes increasingly clear as he warns her of the plot against her; he then falls in love with her while tailing her tour bus across the country.

Trevante Rhodes plays Jimmy Fletcher, a veteran recruited by the FBI to infiltrate Holiday’s inner circle and facilitate her arrest for drug use.

One of the ﬁlm’s more affecting moments involves Billie stepping away from Jimmy, basically telling him that his kind of tenderness is too unfamiliar for her, and reverting back to the slap-happy men to whom she’s accustomed. It’s a weakness, though, that these men are largely interchangeable — musicians, husbands, lovers, managers, often in the pocket of Anslinger and almost all of them betraying her RELEASE DATE Friday, Feb. 26 (Hulu) CAST Andra Day, Trevante Rhodes,

Garrett Hedlund, Leslie Jordan, Miss Lawrence, Adriane Lenox, Natasha Lyonne DIRECTOR Lee Daniels 130 minutes

in one way or another. That may be part of the point Daniels and Parks are trying to make, but it would have had more impact with greater character deﬁnition. The introduction of Holiday’s friend and occasional lover Tallulah Bankhead adds little to the retelling, and underutilizes the always welcome Natasha Lyonne in the role. The ﬁlm summons more poignancy in casual observations of Billie with her entourage, the most devoted of them played by Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Miss Lawrence. Not that we ever learn much about them, but the camaraderie of a raucous interlude on the tour bus is lovely in showing the safe haven

of her friendship with a woman and a gay man compared to her rocky experiences with most men. There’s plenty to quibble about in terms of their placement and editing, but the musical performances ultimately save the movie. Day looks spectacular in Paolo Nieddu’s stage gowns, and she sounds intoxicating, creating a ﬂirtatious complicity with the audience in one song and drifting into far-off introspection in another. The playfulness of “Ain’t Nobody’s Business” has a sharp double edge, its lyrics expressing a willing female subjugation reﬂected in Holiday’s own life. But it’s clearly a failing when the biggest gut punch of a biopic comes not in dramatic scenes but in the postscript, revealing details of Holiday’s death and illuminating footnotes against newsreel clips of her funeral. Perhaps the most sickening part of this epilogue concerns the currently named Emmett Till Antilynching Act, which remains in limbo awaiting unanimous Senate approval more than 100 years after a version of it was ﬁrst introduced.

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Backlot Innovators, Events, Honors

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March 1-5 Virtual

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‘Berlin Is Going to Be a Litmus Test’ Dealmakers face ongoing uncertainty about theatrical releases thanks to COVID-19 By Scott Roxborough

year of the coronavirus — lockdowns, virtual ﬁlm markets, online festivals and quarantined sets — has left its mark. While virtual Cannes was a blockbuster — with monster global deals for $50 million-plus indie packages including The Blacksmith (Nick Jonas and Laurence Fishburne), Ferrari (Hugh Jackman) and Armageddon Time (Oscar Issac, Robert De Niro and Cate Blanchett) — challenges in ﬁnancing and producing under COVID-19, a continued uncertainty over theatrical’s future and a backlog of ﬁnished but unreleased movies has put a damper on presales. AFM in November was marked by caution. A strong Sundance — with big deals for ﬁlms like Jockey (Sony Pictures Classics), Passing (Netﬂix) and the record $25 million that Apple TV+ paid for Coda — suggests buyers would prefer to cherry-pick ﬁnished ﬁlms rather than guess what an in-development project today might be worth when it comes out in a few years’ time. “There’s also the question: When cinemas reopen, what will people want to see? Depressing dramas or feel-good art house? No one knows,” says Dirk Schuerhoff of Germany’s Beta Cinema. For the moment, increased VOD sales — to new streamers like HBO Max and Disney+ — has helped balance a falloff in theatrical. “We had ‘just’ a 20 percent drop in revenue last year thanks to streaming,” notes Schuerhoff. Adds Mark Gooder of Cornerstone: “Berlin is going to be a litmus test. A lot of buyers who pre-bought in Cannes last year thought they’d have full slates by now, but many of these ﬁlms haven’t gone into production. The question now is: Will they be gun-shy or will they be willing to keep buying?” While there are a few strong packages on offer at Berlin 2021, expect much of the business to be for the handful of buzzy titles screening across the festival’s ofﬁcial program, with work from art house darlings (Céline Sciamma, Hong Sang-soo, Claire Denis) among the hottest titles.

After We Fell DIRECTOR Castille Landon CAST Josephine Langford,

Arielle Kebbel, Hero Fiennes Tiffin BUZZ After We Collided, the sequel

to the 2019 sleeper hit After, managed to gross more than $50 million worldwide in the middle of a pandemic, a performance that should whet appetites for this third installment of the YA romance franchise based on the Anna Todd best-sellers. SALES Voltage Pictures Best Sellers DIRECTOR Lina Roessler CAST Michael Caine, Aubrey Plaza,

Cary Elwes BUZZ The cross-generational

appeal of Caine, Parks and

Recreation alum Plaza and Princess Bride star Elwes is a strong selling point for this upscale drama, which sees Caine play a cranky author reluctantly embarking on one ﬁnal book tour. SALES Foresight Unlimited Blueback DIRECTOR Robert Connolly CAST Eric Bana, Mia Wasikowska,

Radha Mitchell BUZZ Australia, as one of the

few territories still open and nearly COVID-free, is having a moment, and Down Under features — especially ones like this family-friendly adaptation of a Tim Winton novella featuring some of the most recognizable onscreen Aussie talents — could

From left: Daisy Ridley, Juliette Binoche and Eric Bana

FELL: COURTESY OF VOLTAGE PICTURES. MAMAN: COURTESY OF LILIES FILMS. MAN: CHRSTINE FENZL/COURTESY OF BERLIN. NINJABABY: COURTESY OF MOTLYS. SELLERS: COURTESY OF ATOMIC AUTUMN PRODUCTIONS. RIDLEY: DAVID M. BENETT/DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES. BINOCHE: ELISABETTA A. VILLA/WIREIMAGE. BANA: RACHEL LUNA/GETTY IMAGES.

Berlin Film Festival

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1 After We Fell 2 Petite Maman 3 I’m Your Man 4 Ninjababy 5 Best Sellers

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appeal to buyers starved of English-language product. SALES HanWay Films

THE (SOCIALLY DISTANT) BERLIN JURY IS IN

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The jurors who will decide the winners of the 2021 Berlinale will be the only ones watching competition titles in person thanks to special dispensation and plenty of COVID-19 testing

erlin this year, at least the first leg of the film festival in March, will be online only, with everyone — critics, reporters and the international film industry — watching the lineup of the 2021 Berlinale from home on their laptops. Everyone, that is, except for this year’s competition jury. Thanks to the efforts of Berlinale artistic director Carlo Chatrian, an old-school cinephile who believes you can’t judge a movie from its online stream, the members of this year’s jury will watch the 2021 competition as it was intended: on the big screen. The festival will fly five of the six jurors — Israeli director Nadav Lapid (Synonyms), Romanian filmmaker Adina Pintilie (Touch Me Not), Italian director Gianfranco Rosi (Notturno), Bosnian director Jasmila Zbanić (Quo Vadis, Aida?) and Hungary’s Ildikó Enyedi (On Body and Soul) — to Berlin and, after COVID-19 testing, screen the 2021 competition titles for them in a theater in the German capital starting Feb. 25. The jury will watch the movies together — masked and socially distanced — and discuss them in group sessions as they would in a normal year.

DIRECTOR Claire Denis CAST Juliette Binoche,

Vincent Lindon, Mati Diop BUZZ French auteur Denis (High-

Life, Beau Travail) is a bankable name for international art house distributorships, and the all-star French cast of this love-triangle drama, led by Oscar winner Binoche, should boost the ﬁlm’s prospects in virtual Berlin. SALES Wild Bunch Int’l/Anton I’m Your Man DIRECTOR Maria Schrader CAST Dan Stevens, Sandra Hüller

Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof, winner of last year’s Berlinale Golden Bear for There Is No Evil, is still under house arrest and unable to leave the country. He will watch the competition films from a private screening room in his home and take part in the jury discussions via Zoom. “It’s a strong sign of solidarity that we will be together, watching these films on the big screen,” says Rosi, “because cinema was meant to be seen this way, not on a phone or a laptop.” Aside from the new hygienic measures, the jury this year is unique. All six members are former Golden Bear winners and know all too well how important Berlin can be for the career of an international independent filmmaker. Lapid, Pintilie and Zbanić all won Berlin with their debut films. The Golden Bear helped put them on the map. “Winning in Berlin was crucial for my career,” says Zbanić. “The Berlinale has always been open to films from the margins. It’s part of its energy. As an artist and as a political person who sees herself as coming from the edges, it’s a big reason why I love Berlin.” — S.R.

BUZZ Intimacy issues are of the

moment in the COVID era — see Netﬂix drama Malcolm & Marie and Sundance hit How It Ends — which could play well for this sci-ﬁ rom-com from Emmy winner Schrader (Unorthodox), in which a scientist takes part in an experiment with a robot (Stevens) programmed to make her happy. SALES Beta Cinema The Marsh King’s Daughter DIRECTOR Neil Burger CAST Daisy Ridley BUZZ Burger’s adaptation of Karen

Dionne’s hit psycho-thriller novel has been doing the market rounds for a while, but the new

attachment of Star Wars alum Ridley should move it into the buy column for major distributors. SALES STX International Ninjababy DIRECTOR Yngvild Sve Flikke BUZZ This quirky, partly animated

dramedy from Norway, about a 20-something cartoonist who gets pregnant but is not ready to be a mother — looks like the antidote for buyers wanting to escape the dread of the current news cycle. SALES TrustNordisk

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Petite Maman DIRECTOR Céline Sciamma BUZZ After the crossover success of

Portrait of a Lady on Fire, art house distributors will be clamoring to see the latest from the French auteur. While her sophomore ﬁlm Tomboy dealt with adolescence, for her ﬁfth feature Sciamma delves back further into childhood, focusing on 8-year-olds Nelly and Marion, who meet by chance after the death of Nelly’s beloved grandmother. SALES MK2 Films

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The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry DIRECTOR Hettie Macdonald CAST Jim Broadbent BUZZ Feel-good redemption stories

are golden these days, and this adaptation based on Rachel Joyce’s best-seller about a man who walks across the U.K. to save his friend’s life ﬁts the bill. Buyers will be reassured by the presence of Oscar winner Broadbent and Normal People helmer Macdonald behind the camera. SALES Embankment

Backlot World Lens

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s Hollywood travels a long, bumpy road to recovery from pandemic lockdowns, Canada is raising its production game. On local soundstages and location sets, agile Canadian crews and talent have managed to keep cameras rolling through a combination of resourcefulness, careful planning and sheer will. In fact, the swift, industrywide embrace of strict safety protocols and social distancing has led to so much activity for the country’s locations sector that productions have surpassed pre-pandemic levels. “What’s nice is we’re busy,” says Karen Thorne-Stone, president and CEO of Ontario Creates, which markets Ontario to Hollywood. Her province saw a production shutdown in March and reopened in May with a pandemic playbook that includes quarantining, continuous COVID-19 testing and socially distanced sets. There have been no government-imposed shutdowns of sets. While shooting in L.A. began to return in June, it was mostly restricted to commercials and

small indie productions, with a full return to TV and ﬁlm shoots ramping up in late summer. Momentum is accelerating as major U.S. studios and streamers tap Canada’s talent, crews, soundstages and VFX houses in the race to scale up and shoot fresh content for subscribers stuck indoors and craving entertainment. Streamers like Netﬂix and CBS All Access had already created new production hubs in Vancouver and Toronto pre-pandemic, with younger digital platform rivals like Disney+, HBO Max and Apple TV+ also increasingly heading north to shoot originals. And with the North American industry operating at varying

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rates of recovery, Canada expects even greater production growth this year and next as Hollywood increases production post-COVID. “We’ve always positioned ourselves as a leader, as a nosurprises, reliable jurisdiction,” Thorne-Stone adds. “And we just built on that reputation in the context of COVID and hope that carries us through to 2022.” Despite shifting government directives and lockdowns, provincial ﬁlm and TV production sectors have been allowed to continue production nearly uninterrupted on COVID-secure stages with tight restrictions and scrutiny.

It’s not just the production epicenter of Ontario that has thrived. TV dramas like The CW’s Batwoman and ABC’s Big Sky and A Million Little Things have also spurred the production sector of British Columbia’s West Coast to a record pace. “This is the busiest January on record, and there are no signs of stopping. Vancouver is clearly a destination that U.S. studios and networks see as a reliable place to come,” says Zach Lipovsky, who directed the 2018 sci-ﬁ release Freaks and is also the Directors Guild of Canada’s B.C. caucus representative. High in the mountains of the West Coast province, Mark Miller, Clockwise from top: Big Sky, A Million Little Things and Mud Mountain Haulers, all shot in British Columbia. “B.C. is seen as a safe place to bet on,” says Zach Lipovsky, a rep for the province with Canada’s Directors Guild.

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SKY: ABC/DARKO SIKMAN. MUD: SEAN F. WHITE/GREAT PACIFIC MEDIA, A THUNDERBIRD COMPANY. MILLION: COURTESY OF DISNEY. LOCKE: KEN WORONER/NETFLIX. VANCOUVER: ANDREW DORAN/COURTESY OF SUBJECT.

‘Canada Is the Place Hollywood Is Looking To’ Producers, crews and VFX houses up north are running at full speed, surpassing pre-pandemic levels By Etan Vlessing

founder and executive producer of Great Paciﬁc Media, recently oversaw strict health and safety protocols to shoot the ﬁrst season of Mud Mountain Haulers, a reality series for Discovery Canada, while navigating forests, logging roads and lakes. “Our crews tend to be smaller, between two and three people. Sometimes it’s a one-man band. The advent of 4K Go Pro and cameras like that allow us to do more remote shooting. And on Mud Mountain, we didn’t have a single case of COVID,” Miller reports. In neighboring Alberta, Erin O’Connor, business development manager at the Calgary Film Centre, a studio hosting a shoot for ABC’s Fraggle Rock reboot, says her province has hit new records for foreign production activity. “Local crews are inspired. They’re willing to step up and do what it takes, whether that’s working in minus 30 and plus 30 Celsius weather [minus 22 to 86 degrees Fahrenheit],” O’Connor says. The Canadian VFX and post front is similarly eyeing a strong summer and beyond as concerns about a second COVID-19 wave fade. “Despite the challenge of COVID, it’s been an exciting year, as we’ve remained busy,” says Ontario Film Commissioner Justin Cutler. “We’ve been able to advance our studio space and we’re supporting new technology and creative that’s a calling card for Ontario.” Laura Fitzpatrick, managing director at Mr. X, the Torontobased visual effects house, adds that a changing theatrical landscape and expanded streaming content has her studio artists working nonstop on genre projects like HBO Max’s Raised by Wolves, Disney+’s WandaVision and Searchlight’s upcoming thriller Nightmare Alley, directed by long-time collaborator Guillermo del Toro. Says Fitzpatrick: “Canada is deﬁnitely the place Hollywood is looking to. We’re top of the list in what we can provide to American ﬁlmmaking. We have a bright future and deﬁnitely intend to scale up and to expand our offerings.”

CONTENT BOOM SPARKS SPACE RACE With no end in sight for the Canadian production surge, shooting facilities from Vancouver to Toronto are scrambling to meet demand

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hooting in Canada has become so busy, the country’s production sector is running out of room. Welcome to the Canadian space race, where the need for more shooting facilities is driving a building boom from coast to coast. The construction fever is especially high in and around Toronto and Vancouver, with earthmovers and jackhammers a common sight as developers scramble to meet the seemingly endless demand for international film and TV shoots. “We’ve seen steady growth in terms of our stage space. The global demand is so high,” Ontario film commissioner Justin Cutler tells THR. In Toronto, developers have submitted bids to CreateTO, the city’s real estate agency, to turn 8.9 acres of land on the waterfront into a 500,000-square-foot film studio near Pinewood Toronto Studios, which is also building another 200,000 square feet of new soundstages and support space. Vancouver’s Martini Film Studios is building a 600,000-square-foot facility to include 300,000 square feet of new soundstages and 300,000 square feet of production support space for wardrobe, workshops and offices. “It’s the final space, the final

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frontier. Every meeting, it’s not about lighting and grips and cameras. It’s all about space and what you can do,” says Paul Bronfman, CEO of Comweb Corp., which has studios in Toronto and Vancouver, and who is also chair of Pinewood Toronto Studios. “The only question is: Do you have any space?” adds Peter Mitchell, Vancouver Film Studios president and COO. “We get that day in and day out.” The region in and around Vancouver has about 118 film studios with 2.45 million square feet of space, and another 37 stages are forecast to be added during the next three years, according to Creative B.C., which markets the West Coast province to Hollywood. Questions over available studio space in Montreal also came up during a virtual trade mission in early February held by the Quebec Film and Television

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1 Interiors for Netflix’s Locke & Key are shot at Cinespace Studios in Toronto. 2 Vancouver Film Studios has 12 soundstages totaling approximately 240,000 square feet of space.

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Council to promote Quebec’s visual effects and postproduction facilities to U.S. studios. “A lot of projects are lurching into and out of production unexpectedly as stages and cast become available or unavailable, and people are moving quickly into plan A or plan B as they need to get something up and rolling very quickly,” says Jennifer Price, Los Angeles representative at the QFTC, which markets Quebec to global entertainment producers. Local studio operators also see U.S. producers increasingly signing long leases on Canadian stages to create stable production hubs where they can sublet space if a series pauses production. Says Mitchell: “People are looking for multiyear deals and will slot their productions in as they see fit. That makes for a chaotic sub-rental market, but it keeps everybody happy.” — E.V.

World Lens

‘SCI-FI IS AN AMAZING GENRE TO TROJAN-HORSE ISSUES WE MAY FIND DIFFICULT TO TALK ABOUT’ In her feature debut, Indigenous ﬁlmmaker Danis Goulet tapped local diversity funds for Night Raiders, a thriller that looks to the future to confront Canada’s troubled past

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anis Goulet’s Night Raiders, executive produced by Oscar-winning Jojo Rabbit writerdirector Taika Waititi, is no typical sci-fi thriller. An entry in this year’s Berlin Film Festival’s Panorama section and Goulet’s feature debut, the film flips the genre on its head by using the future to confront Canada’s past colonization and subjugation of its First Nation peoples. “I found it incredibly liberating and a lot of fun. You’re really not constrained by reality,” Goulet tells THR about her bleak dystopian tale of a woman who’s a member of the Cree First Nations tribe, played by actress-director

Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers, and who joins underground vigilantes known as night raiders to free her daughter (Brooklyn Letexier-Hart) from an oppressive state school run by a dominant “far-right faction” in a post-civil-war North America. Goulet, who identifies as Cree and Metis (of Indigenous and EuroAmerican ancestry), says her use of sci-fi genre tropes will immediately resonate with Indigenous moviegoers. “Indigenous audiences can easily think of themselves as the rebels fighting the [evil] empire,” the filmmaker explains. She adds that referencing real historical events in a futuristic space will allow non-Indigenous audiences

From left: Brooklyn Letexier-Hart and Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers in Night Raiders.

to see in Night Raiders’ militaryoccupied North America, circa 2043, the legacy of Canada’s past “residential schools,” where Indigenous kids were taken from their parents, and the reserves where First Nation peoples were marginalized. “The notion of even imagining ourselves in the future can be a very powerful act, especially when in the creation of Canada we [First Nations] were not supposed to exist in the future,” Goulet argues. “These are serious things that any colonized country should really be grappling with: how they were founded upon the attempted genocide of

Indigenous people. But when you work in the genre space, in a funny way, you can hit your message harder, because in fiction you’re allowed to embellish.” Adds Night Raiders producer Tara Woodbury, “Sci-fi is an amazing genre to Trojan-horse issues we may find difficult to talk about.” Goulet sees the sci-fi storytelling portal as an opportunity to allow her Indigenous characters, especially women and children, to emerge as proud victors and no longer silenced victims. “Every character’s arc has them coming out of just getting by to really finding their voice and finding their place,” she explains. With Goulet’s friend Waititi playing a key role in bringing on the New Zealand Film Commission as a coproducer (the cast includes Maori actor Alex Tarrant), Night Raiders is part of a larger effort in Canada to support new film voices. Telefilm Canada, the country’s largest film financier, which invests about $100 million a year in homegrown movies, is increasingly backing films by creators from Canada’s underrepresented Black, Indigenous and POC communities to foster greater inclusivity and diversity. Recent Indigenous projects backed by Telefilm include Tailfeathers’ Kiimaapiipitsin, a documentary about opiate addiction on a First Nations reserve. With additional funding from provincial investment agency Ontario Creates, Night Raiders will be on offer at the upcoming European Film Market in Berlin, where it will be repped by XYZ Films. “This is just the beginning,” says Christa Dickenson, executive director of Telefilm Canada. “As we continue our efforts to elevate a diversity of storytellers, we can expect to celebrate more successes like this one.” — E.V.

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91 Years of THR Memorable moments from a storied history

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In 1984, Barbra Streisand Made History at the Globes While this year’s Golden Globe director nominees include an unprecedented three women — Emerald Fennell, Regina King and Chloé Zhao — in 1984, Barbra Streisand was an anomaly. “I was totally shocked and couldn’t believe it when they announced my name as best director,” Streisand, 78, tells THR of the night she became the ﬁrst — and to this day, only — woman to win that Globe, for Yentl. “It was an incredibly thrilling moment for me. And deeply meaningful, because I had been trying to make this movie for 15 years. There was so much controversy around it. People had made such a big deal about an actress who tried to do more than one job. I was doubly surprised when they told me in the press room that I was the ﬁrst

woman to get this award.” The musical saw Streisand playing a young Jewish woman in 1904 Poland who masquerades as a man to study in a yeshiva, where she falls for another student (Mandy Patinkin). Continues Streisand, “Then to sit down and be called up again when Yentl won best picture comedy or musical was overwhelming. When I got home that night, I couldn’t sleep from sheer excitement. Of course, eating a pint of coffee ice cream probably didn’t help.” In accepting the directing award, Streisand said, “I’m very proud because it also represents, I hope, new opportunities for so many talented women to try to make their dreams become realities, as I did.” Looking back, she feels Hollywood has delivered “very slowly” on that

hope. “I’ve always thought women are intrinsically powerful,” she says. “And some men still don’t want the competition. Thirtyseven years ago, the industry was mostly run by men. Directors were mostly men. It’s taken years for women to accept their power and say, ‘I can do this!’ Initially, I was looking for someone else to direct Yentl, until I realized that none of the men I approached had as strong a vision of this movie as I did. So I took the chance. It’s only recently, with the Me Too movement, that women have come together in strength to support each other. And that makes a huge difference.” As for this year’s history-making females, Streisand says, “I love it. I never thought I’d see the day. It brings a smile to my face.” — SETH ABRAMOVITCH

The Hollywood Reporter, Vol. CDXXVI, No. 8 (ISSN 0018-3660; USPS 247-580) is published weekly; 40 issues — one issue in May and July; two issues in October; three issues in September and December; four issues in January, February, June, August and November; and five issues in March and April; plus 22 special issues: 5 in January; 1 in February; 2 in March; 1 in April; 7 in June and 6 in August — by The Hollywood Reporter, LLC, at 11175 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. Periodical postage paid at Los Angeles, CA, and additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send all UAA to CFS. Non-postal and military facilities, send address changes to The Hollywood Reporter, P.O. Box 125, Congers, NY 10920-0125. Under Canadian Publication Mail Agreement No. 41450540, return undeliverable Canadian addresses to MSI, P.O. Box 2600, Mississauga, ON L4T OA8. Direct all other correspondence to The Hollywood Reporter, 11175 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025. Subscription inquiries: U.S., call toll-free (866) 525-2150. Outside the U.S., call (845) 267-4192, or email [email protected]. Copyright ©2021 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All rights reserved. THR.com PRINTED IN THE U.S.A.

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Barbra Streisand with her Golden Globes for Yentl on Jan. 28, 1984; THR’s Jan. 30 awards recap (inset). Before 2021, only five women had been nominated for best director in 77 years of the Globes.

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