News

Bradley Cooper is teaming up with PBS to produce a documentary about the millions of people who provide unpaid care to family members.

The documentary, Caregiving, is in production and is set to air in 2025 on PBS stations. Weta, the public broadcasting station in Washington, is producing the film with Cooper’s Lea Pictures and Ark Media (Finding Your Roots).

The film will examine both systemic issues within the care system — where more than 50 million Americans provide unpaid care to family members — as well as tell personal stories of people who care for loved ones.

Cooper’s involvement also stems from personal experience: “When my father was diagnosed with cancer, that was a wake-up call for me, one that really opened my eyes to the world of caregiving,” the Oscar nominee said in a statement. “Everyone will end up caring for a loved one at some point in their life.

Joanna Merlin, who created the role of the daughter Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof on Broadway and served as a casting director for Stephen Sondheim, Harold Prince and Bernardo Bertolucci, has died. She was 92.

Merlin died Sunday in Los Angeles of complications from myelodysplastic syndrome, a bone marrow disorder, her daughters, documentary filmmaker Rachel Dretzin (Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey) and actress Julie Dretzin (The Handmaid’s Tale), announced.

Merlin also portrayed the dance teacher Miss Berg in Alan Parker’s Fame (1980) and recurred as Judge Lena Petrovsky for more than a decade on NBC’s Law and Order: Svu.

Her acting résumé included the films Hester Street (1975), All That Jazz (1979), Baby It’s You (1983), The Killing Fields (1984), Mystic Pizza (1988), Class Action (1991) and City of Angels (1998) and such TV shows as Naked City, The Defenders, East Side/West Side, Homeland and The Good Wife.

Merlin cast the original Broadway productions of Sondheim’s Company,...

The Better Angels Society, the Library of Congress, and the Crimson Lion/Lavine Family Foundation have unveiled six finalists for the fifth annual Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. Notably, veteran filmmaker Sam Pollard received two of the six noms.

The award, established in 2019, recognizes late-stage documentaries that use original research and a compelling narrative to tell stories that bring American history to life through archival materials.

The six projects that were selected are: Barak Goodman’s “Buckley,” Nicole London’s “The Disappearance of Miss. Scott,” Sam Pollard’s “The Harvest,” Peter Yost and Michael Rohatyn’s “Drop Dead City – New York on the Brink in 1975,” Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro’s “Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes,” and Jason Cohn’s “Modernism Inc.: The Eliot Noyes Design Story.”

This year 125 American history documentary features were submitted for consideration.

“We’ve seen time and again what...

Abraham Lincoln is widely remembered as the Great Emancipator for pushing to end slavery before his assassination. How the 16th president arrived at that decision — and the evolution in his thinking — is at the heart of Lincoln’s Dilemma, this fascinating four-part series. (Credit: Apple TV+) “He worked to change the direction of the country’s history but was also limited in his choices and his vision by that same history,” says codirector Barak Goodman. Spanning the Civil War and narrated by Jeffrey Wright (Westworld), the docuseries — based on David S. Reynolds’ 2020 biography Abe — draws on interviews with experts to offer new perspectives on the man’s “courage as well as his hesitancy to act on behalf of enslaved people,” adds codirector Jacqueline Olive. “A challenging question that Lincoln faced for years was to what degree — and how — he would push politically for emancipation.” Lincoln’s Dilemma, Docuseries Premiere, Friday,...

The new documentary series “Lincoln’s Dilemma” begins and ends outside of Abraham Lincoln’s era — opening with footage of the siege on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and concluding only weeks later, with the journalist Jelani Cobb’s observation that the military “occupied” Washington to keep Joe Biden safe at his inauguration. But the point this series makes is that, indeed, we’re hardly outside Lincoln’s moment at all — that the tenuousness and the peril of his era persist, as does the fundamentally unresolved question of race in this country.

Directed by Jacqueline Olive and Barak Goodman and executive produced by, among others, former HBO chief Richard Plepler, “Lincoln’s Dilemma” uses various techniques to illustrate the life and legacy of the 16th president, and the problems he faced while in office. Among these are readings of Lincoln’s and Frederick Douglass’ words, narration (by Jeffrey Wright), and the introduction of various historians.

Peacock has unveiled the official trailer for its new miniseries “Joe vs. Carole,” starring John Cameron Mitchell and Kate McKinnon.

Based on the Robert Moor-hosted Wondery podcast “Joe Exotic,” “Joe vs. Carole” focuses on the bitter rivalry between big cat zookeeper Joe Exotic (Mitchell) and animal sanctuary CEO Carole Baskin (McKinnon), which was immortalized in the first season of the popular Netflix docuseries “Tiger King.” In addition to Mitchell and McKinnon, the miniseries also stars Kyle MacLachlan, Brian Van Holt, Sam Keeley, Nat Wolf, Marlo Kelly, William Fichtner, Dean Winters and David Wenham.

The trailer depicts McKinnon and Mitchell in character, as Baskin and her husband (MacLachlan) set out to take down Exotic for his abuse of his animals and breeding of big cats for profit.

“He has no idea what I’ve been through in my life,” Baskin says in the trailer. “Individually we are a whimper, but together,...

Today marks the start of Black History Month, with the broadcast and cable networks and streamers planning a slew of TV series, movies, news programming, documentaries, specials and more to roll out over the course of February to celebrate, educate and entertain.

Deadline has compiled a list of programming highlights that touches on some of the myriad ways outlets are commemorating the occasion, from live coverage of the NAACP Image Awards on BET to the documentary series Lincoln’s Dilemma on Apple TV+ and everything in between.

Check out below for some of the content (all times Et) and keep checking back as we add to the list.

ABC News/ABC

ABC News is presenting two primetime specials February 3 from its Soul of a Nation series. Soul of a Nation Presents: Screen Queens Rising, explores how Black actresses, a historically overlooked and under-valued group in Hollywood,...

The Amazon Prime Video competition series “Lol: Last One Laughing” will launch a Canadian edition Feb. 18.

“Last One Laughing Canada” competitors include Caroline Rhea, Dave Foley, Debra Digiovanni, Jon Lajoie, Tom Green, Colin Mochrie, Mae Martin, Brandon Ash Mohammed, Andrew Phung and K. Trevor Wilson. Hosted by Jay Baruchel, the six-part series follows the 10 comedians as they try to eliminate others by making each other laugh, while not laughing themselves. The comedian who outlasts their competitors wins the grand prize of $100,000 for their charity of choice.

Executive Producers are John Brunton, Erin Brock, and Shannon Farr. The series is produced in association with Insight Productions.

“Lol: Last One Laughing Canada” is the latest adaptation of “Documental,” an Amazon Original series in Japan owned by Yoshimoto Kogyo and created by and starring Hitoshi Matsumoto — where Matsumoto leads 10 comedians who bet their own money in a “battle of laughter behind closed doors.

Abraham Lincoln‘s complex journey to end slavery will be explored in the upcoming docuseries from Apple TV+, Lincoln’s Dilemma. The four-parter, based on David S. Reynolds’ book Abe: Abraham Lincoln in His Times, is set to premiere on Feb. 18.

Lincoln’s Dilemma, set against the background of the Civil War, will be narrated by Jeffrey Wright and will feature the voices of Bill Camp as the 16th President of the United States, and Leslie Odom, Jr. as Frederick Douglass.

The streamer revealed viewers will learn more about ” a complicated man and the people and events that shaped his evolving stance on slavery.”

Through archival materials and insight from journalists, educators, and Lincoln scholars, the docuseries promises give a “voice to the narratives of enslaved people, shaping a more complete view of an America divided over issues including the economy, race, and humanity.”

Lincoln’s Dilemma is produced by Eden Productions and Kunhardt Films.

Since she was appointed executive producer of “American Experience” in July 2020, Cameo George has been busy expanding and diversifying the slate of PBS’ signature historical documentary series, with the upcoming 34th season the first produced in full under her direction.

The new “American Experience” season will kick off on Feb. 7 with Michael Bicks and Anna Lee Strachan’s “Riveted: The History of Jeans.” About how jeans became a staple of clothing worldwide, it is one of six feature documentaries in the season, five of which were commissioned by George, the first Black woman to helm “American Experience.” George replaced Mark Samels, who retired from the series in 2020 after serving as executive producer of the program for 16 years.

“I have always thought of ‘American Experience’ as the single most important history series in the doc world, and the chance to build on the incredible legacy of the series, freshen it up a bit,...

The PBS documentary Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation debuted last year in time for the 50th anniversary of that historic cultural happening. But with the country now in the throes of social upheaval, on a scale perhaps not seen since the 1960s, the film has taken on even greater relevance.

“It’s extremely timely to be talking about Woodstock right now, because I think you’d have to go back to that event to see as inspiring an example of generational unity, generational passion,” notes Woodstock director Barak Goodman. “We’re seeing it all around us now.”

The 1969 concert in upstate New York came to represent the essence of the counterculture movement of that earlier era.

“It was a statement of principle of rejecting an old way of living and embracing a new one,” continues Goodman. “And even though the present moment is cloaked in politics, I think...

Exclusive: On a day when Boeing announced disastrous financial results and the need to cut 16,000 jobs or 10% of its work force because of billions in losses from the pandemic and the Boeing 737 Max crashes that killed 346 passengers, Participant has set a feature documentary that will re-team the filmmaking duo of Emmy Award-winner Rachel Dretzin and Oscar nominee and Emmy-winner Barak Goodman. Producing the film is Don Edkins, whose son, World Bank employee Max Thabiso Edkins, was tragically killed in the March 20, 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, one of the Boeing 737 Max aircrafts.

The untitled film focuses on the twin tragedies of the Boeing 737 Max air disasters in 2018 and 2019 that prompted criminal and civil scrutiny and laid bare an appalling lack of oversight and quality controls by the manufacturer. Participant will finance the project, which Dretzin and Goodman will direct and produce through their company Ark Media. Participant’s Jeff Skoll...

In today’s film news roundup, Miramax’s owners have sold 49% to ViacomCBS, Imax hires a new investor relations officer and Magnolia is giving early on demand releases to a trio of titles.

Deal Closes

ViacomCBS has closed its previously announced $375 million purchase of 49% of Miramax, giving the conglomerate access to nearly 800 titles including “Pulp Fiction,” “Shakespeare in Love” and “Good Will Hunting.”

BeIN Media Group and ViacomCBS announced the closing on Friday, four months after the deal was announced. BeIN retains a 51% stake in the company, which it acquired in 2016. Miramax’s current leadership team will continue in their existing roles. Bill Block has been CEO since 2017.

Miramax was founded in 1979 by Bob and Harvey Weinstein and sold to the Walt Disney Company in 1993 — by which time, it had transformed the independent film scene by producing such titles as “Sex, Lies, and Videotape” and “The Crying Game.” Miramax’s...

There are few more insidious and less democratic tools in the political toolbox than gerrymandering. The concept of essentially fixing an election to assure you win/your party stays in power indefinitely is inherently against what the United States is meant to stand for. The dangerous nature of gerrymandering, as well as what can potentially do to be done about it, is the concept behind the new documentary Slay the Dragon. Taking a sobering yet ultimately hopeful approach, this doc manages to hammer home the urgency of the matter while never making it feel like a lost cause to fight against. In doing so, it separates itself from the non-fiction pack currently available. The documentary is a look at how the past decade has made gerrymandering a bigger issue than ever before. For those in need of a definition, gerrymandering is the manipulation of a voting body, by a political party,...

The new film, Slay the Dragon, from directors Chris Durrance and Barak Goodman, may prove to be one of the more pivotal, and possibly important films of the year when all is said and done. The film is a mediation and analysis of the political process and effects of gerrymandering—the practice of creating boundaries for electoral districts that ostensibly favor certain political interests within legislative bodies. The triumph of Slay the Dragon though is that this never comes across as dry or dull, rather the film is a thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking analysis of a process that may slowly be eroding the American Democratic ideology.

The film essentially illustrates the history of gerrymandering and how it has become more widespread and dangerous in recent times. After the 2008 election, a secretive, well-funded partisan initiative poured money into state legislative races in key swing states to gain control of their redistricting...

The concept of gerrymandering has been a part of America’s electoral process for generations, but has only gained attention in recent years, as partisan efforts to exploit it have accelerated. Every decade, states go through a labyrinthine process of redistricting, with the ruling party often doodling new lines across local maps that put the voters at the mercy of the people in control. Can you say undemocratic? So can much of the Gop, which picked up its partisan gerrymandering efforts after the 2008 presidential election, and continues using them to exercise control on elections across the country.

“Slay the Dragon,” from directors Chris Durrance and Barak Goodman, encapsulates the latest efforts to correct that equation. While it doesn’t exactly bring new information to the table, the movie provides a welcome breakdown of the dramatic impact that gerrymandering has across American society whenever election season comes around. As it turns out,...

This is, inarguably, a challenging moment for the movie industry. But the shift to home viewing may actually benefit smaller films that deserve wider audiences. This week’s most notable example is “Slay the Dragon,” a documentary that should be seen by every American of voting age.

Filmmakers Chris Durrance (“Frontline”) and Barak Goodman (“Scottsboro: An American Tragedy”) stick closely to a traditional nonfiction format, beginning with a theme-setting opening quote. And what a quote it is:

“Democracy never lasts long.

It soon wastes, exhausts and murders itself.

There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.”

-John Adams, 1814

Also Read: Rhode Island Postpones Primary Election From April to June 2 Amid Coronavirus

The movie focuses primarily on one particular form of self-destruction: political gerrymandering. But for those who don’t feel up to facing more bad news, there is some hope here in the form of citizen activists...

Well, a lot has happened since our last monthly preview. The complete shutdown of film exhibition as we know it due to curb the spread of coronavirus resulted in the delay of numerous films and many others to move up their digital release. So, while we’re not getting Martin Eden, Saint Maud, Promising Young Woman, and No Time to Die, among others, there are still a handful of recommended new releases that will be arriving digitally this month.

11. Slay the Dragon

A new documentary arriving this week explores the fight to make sure democracy doesn’t die. Jared Mobarak said in his review that Slay the Dragon explores those “guilty of gerrymandering (redrawing district lines to benefit the incumbent party) many times in the past themselves, but never had either side been so desperate as the Gop was in 2010. They flipped specific state legislatures through targeted attacks before secretively...

It’s been depressing to watch America fall so far since I have been able to vote. Every passing year has seen the issues grow partisan to the point of rendering debate impossible. We lean into screaming matches instead because neither side is willing to listen. They simply bide time until they can drive home their own parroted viewpoint as some sort of empirical fact despite it being nothing of the sort. People we’ve respected and trusted reveal themselves to be hypocrites and words used in the past become forgotten. Republicans called George W. Bush’s second election by way of receiving the most votes ever (since passed) a victory for our democracy. Then they said Donald Trump winning despite losing the popular vote validated our might as a republic.

That wasn’t a coincidence for anyone paying attention. The last thing Republicans want in America is a true...

Slay the Dragon Magnolia Pictures Reviewed by: Tami Smith, Film Reviewer for Shockya Grade: B+ Director: Barak Goodman, Chris Durrance Screenwriter: Barak Goodman, Chris Durrance Cast: Katie Fahey , Ari Berman, David Daley, Margaret Dickson, Anita Earls, Ruth Greenwood, Chris Jankowski, Justin Levitt, Vann Newkirk Release Date: April 3, 2020 Redistricting is the process of […]

The post Slay the Dragon Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

Magnolia Pictures has pushed the release of “Slay the Dragon” amid increasing concerns over the coronavirus. Previously scheduled to open only in theaters March 13, the film will now be available April 3 in theaters as well as on VOD and digital platforms.

“We saw what was happening with the spread of coronavirus and sat down with Magnolia to discuss a last-minute change in our release plan,” said directors Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance. “They took the concerns seriously and moved quickly, ensuring that nearly every home in America will have access to our film.”

More to come…

Read original story ‘Slay the Dragon’ Release Delayed by Magnolia Pictures Amid Coronavirus Concerns At TheWrap...

Magnolia Pictures is delaying the release of “Slay the Dragon” by a month and overhauling the distribution plan for the documentary about gerrymandering, Variety has learned.

“Slay the Dragon” will open on April 3 instead of March 13 and will now be released on VOD and digital platforms. It was originally supposed to be released exclusively in theaters. The changes come amidst concerns that the fast-spreading coronavirus could keep people from attending movie theaters and might even result in the closure of some cinemas if the rate of infection continues to accelerate.

Magnolia insiders say that the filmmakers were eager to make sure that as many people see “Slay the Dragon” as possible in a presidential election year.

“We saw what was happening with the spread of coronavirus and sat down with Magnolia to discuss a last-minute change in our release plan,” said directors Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance in a statement.

Gerrymandering documentary Slay the Dragon is the latest film to have its release date shifted amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

The Magnolia Pictures release was originally set to hit theaters on Friday, March 13, and will now be available on Friday, April 3, both in theaters and on VOD and digital platforms, making it easier for people to watch the timely film from the comfort of their own homes.

“We saw what was happening with the spread of coronavirus and sat down with Magnolia to discuss a last-minute change in our release plan,” directors Barak Goodman and Chris ...

Gerrymandering documentary Slay the Dragon is the latest film to have its release date shifted amid concerns about the coronavirus outbreak.

The Magnolia Pictures release was originally set to hit theaters on Friday, March 13, and will now be available on Friday, April 3, both in theaters and on VOD and digital platforms, making it easier for people to watch the timely film from the comfort of their own homes.

“We saw what was happening with the spread of coronavirus and sat down with Magnolia to discuss a last-minute change in our release plan,” directors Barak Goodman and Chris ...

Slay The Dragon Magnolia Pictures Reviewed for Shockya.com & BigAppleReviews.net linked from Rotten Tomatoes by: Harvey Karten Director: Barak Goodman, Chris Durrance Screenwriter: Barak Goodman, Chris Durrance Cast: Ari Berman, David Daley, Margaret Dickson, Anita Earls, Katie Fahey, Ruth Greenwood, Chris Jankowski, Justin Levitt, Vann Newkirk Screened at: Park Ave., NYC, 2/12/20 Opens: March 13, […]

The post Slay the Dragon Movie Review appeared first on Shockya.com.

In 2018, Stacey Abrams, having served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 10 years, ran as the Democratic candidate for governor of Georgia. She was the first African-American woman in the United States to be chosen as a gubernatorial nominee by one of the two major parties. Abrams had tremendous support, and after losing the election by just 50,000 votes, she sued the Georgia board of elections, citing multiple documented allegations of voter suppression. To this day, Abrams has refused to concede the election, and she’s right — there’s a powerful likelihood that the 2018 Georgia governor’s race was, in effect, stolen. That’s a moral, political, and legal outrage.

But as Robert Greenwald’s scary and galvanizing documentary “Suppressed: The Fight to Vote” demonstrates, the meaning of what happened in Georgia has implications that extend far beyond that race. As the film anatomizes, the Georgia election was a textbook case...

George W. Bush is the latest president to get the PBS documentary treatment. Former Bush administration officials Ari Fleischer and Andrew Card joined filmmakers Barak Goodman and Jamila Ephron for a panel at the Television Critics Association 2002 Winter Press Tour to discuss the latter duo’s upcoming two-part “W,” which will premiere sometime in the spring.

The first part of the documentary will focus on Bush’s unconventional road to the presidency — Bush is one of five individuals who became president despite losing the popular vote — while the second part will center on the president’s handling of the September 11 terrorist attacks, Hurricane Katrina, the Iraq War, and the 2008 financial crisis. The documentary features interviews with a variety of Bush administration officials, historians, and journalists.

The documentary’s trailer, which focused on the 9/11 tragedy and Bush’s immediate response, set the tone for a panel that largely glossed over Bush...

Roster includes Slay The Dragon, Allagash.

London-based sales outfit Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) heads to Afm next week with a slate that includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary My Father And Me, sci-fi 2067 starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten, and Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story.

2067 takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change when a utility worker who may hold the key to mankind’s survival is dispatched to the future and lands in a luscious green world where he seems to be the only person around.

Seth Larney directed the Arcadia, Kojo, Freedom Films and Futurism Studios production,...

Roster includes Slay The Dragon, Allagash.

London-based sales outfit Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) heads to Afm next week with a slate that includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary My Father And Me, sci-fi 2067 starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten, and Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story.

2067 takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change when a utility worker who may hold the key to mankind’s survival is dispatched to the future and lands in a luscious green world where he seems to be the only person around.

Seth Larney directed the Arcadia, Kojo, Freedom Films and Futurism Studios production,...

George W. Bush will be the subject of a two-part documentary series for PBS. W is being directed by Barak Goodman, who directed the four-part Clinton doc and Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation.

The film, which will air in spring 2020, will run on PBS’ American Experience strand. It will feature interviews with historians, journalists and several members of the President’s inner circle including chiefs of staff Andy Card and Josh Bolten, speechwriter David Frum and press secretary Ari Fleischer.

It will be exec produced by Mark Samuels, who commissions and oversees all films for American Experience.

Part I of W will follow Bush’s unorthodox road to the presidency through the contested election of 2000, when 36 days passed without a clear president-elect. Finally, a Supreme Court ruling in Bush’s favor resulted in his becoming the 43rd President of the United States. But the new administration’s focus...

A two-part biography on the life and presidency of George W. Bush is coming to PBS next spring, the network revealed during the Television Critics Association press tour Monday.

Titled “W,” the project from PBS and American Experience is the newest installment in the Peabody Award-winning “The Presidents” doc collection. The special will feature interviews with historians, journalists and several members of the president’s inner circle, including chiefs of staff Andy Card and Josh Bolten, speechwriter David Frum, press secretary Ari Fleischer and others, according to PBS.

The two-parter is written, directed and produced by Barak Goodman and executive produced by Mark Samels.

Also Read: Amazon Is Open to More 'Good Omens' From Neil Gaiman, Dying for Another 'Fleabag' Season

Here’s the official description for the biography special, which will premiere in the spring of 2020 on PBS.

Part One of “W” will follow Bush’s unorthodox road to...

In today’s film news roundup, Michael Moore’s film festival will include appearances by Kathy Griffin and Lily Tomlin, a gerrymandering documentary gets sold and pop singer Meredith O’Connor gets cast.

Film Festival

Kathy Griffin and Lily Tomlin have signed on to appear at Michael Moore’s Traverse City Film Festival, now in its 15th year.

Griffin will appear at a screening of “Kathy Griffin: A Hell of a Story,” which explores how a photograph of the comedian holding a fake severed head of Donald Trump led to an FBI investigation. Tomlin, who co-stars in “Grace & Frankie” with Jane Fonda and is a Detroit native, will receive a lifetime achievement award.

The festival runs from July 30 to Aug. 4 with the theme “cinema saves the world.” More than 200 movies will be screened. “When the world spins madly out of control, leave it to the artists to respond, to inspire,...

Exclusive: Federal judges are withdrawing from the gerrymandering debate, but Magnolia Pictures is jumping in. Magnolia has acquired North American rights to Slay the Dragon from Participant Media with an eye toward a spring 2020 theatrical release for the timely gerrymandering documentary.

The documentary directed by Barak Goodman and Chris Durrance could hardly have more urgency given the ruling Thursday by the U.S. Supreme Court that federal judges must stay out of gerrymandering disputes, a decision that effectively gives state legislatures unfettered authority to redraw electoral maps as a tactic for consolidating political power. The ruling split the court (5-4 for the conservative majority) and gives a major advantage to the incumbent party that is currently in power in each state’s legislature.

Of the 49 states with a bicameral system (Nebraska has a unicameral legislature with members elected on a nonpartisan basis), the Gop holds sway in 30 states, making the...

In today’s film news roundup, Elizabeth Banks will receive the Pioneer of the Year Award, “The Great Hack” launches a festival, Women In Media launch the CAMERAderie Initiative and UCLA, University of Michigan and USC are receiving $50 million.

Banks Honored

The Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation has selected Elizabeth Banks as the recipient of its Pioneer of the Year Award.

The honor will be presented on Sept. 25 at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills. Banks is the first female director to receive the honor, which is given to a member of the motion picture community who exemplifies professional leadership, service and commitment to philanthropy.

Banks made her directorial debut with Universal Pictures’ “Pitch Perfect 2,” the top grossing musical comedy of all time with $287 million. she is also currently directing, producing, co-writing and starring as Bosley in “Charlie’s Angels” for Sony Pictures and has starred in “The Hunger Games...

Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress wins €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award.

Fifteen projects from Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece and Turkey were presented at the Transilvania Pitch Stop (Tps) at the Transilvania International Film Festival (Tiff) in Cluj-Napoca in Romania last week.

The €20,000 Eurimages co-production development award went to Hungarian filmmaker Mihály Schwechtje’s Democracy Work In Progress. The project had been developed at the Nipkow Programme in Berlin last year.

Turkish director Selman Nacar’s Between Two Dawns was awarded €25,000 in postproduction services from Chainsaw Europe. The project is being co-produced by Romania’s Oana Giurgiu of...

One of the most well-documented cultural events of the last fifty years, 1969’s Woodstock Festival probably doesn’t need another exhaustive overview of the social and political environment that contributed to the most iconic music event of all time. Yet, while director Barak Goodman’s “Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation” may not be essential, the documentary still serves as a compelling introduction to the infamous event in upstate New York.

Continue reading ‘Woodstock: Three Days That Defined A Generation’ Is Content With Just Playing The Hits [Review] at The Playlist.

Andrew Slater’s music documentary Echo In The Canyon opened with a bang in two Los Angeles theaters over the Memorial holiday weekend, crooning out the second-highest opening weekend per theater average of 2019, solidifying further non-fiction as the star genre among the specialties so far this year.

The Greenwich Entertainment release grossed a three-day estimate of $103,716 from its showings at the ArcLight Hollywood and The Landmark in West L.A., giving the title a $51,858 PTA. The year’s top debut average remains with Avengers: Endgame at $76,601 in over forty-six hundred theaters. It is also the best PTA for a doc this year.

Echo In The Canyon debuted at last year’s final Los Angeles Film Festival where Greenwich first viewed the feature. The film celebrates the explosion of popular music that came out of La’s Laurel Canyon in the mid-’60s as folk went electric and The Byrds, The Beach Boys,...

How do you follow one of the most critically acclaimed rock docs of all time? Michael Wadleigh’s seminal 1970 documentary “Woodstock ” was immersive and electric, a definitive, you-are-there experience rather than a here’s-what-happened chronicle.

Despite its ambitious title, “Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation” is a here’s-what happened chronicle. There’s nothing wrong with that; most documentaries fit a similar category. And this one — which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and opens theatrically in May — was made for PBS’ “American Experience” series to mark the event of Woodstock’s 50th anniversary. So even if it never steps out of the shadow of its powerful predecessor, its relatively smaller scale is perhaps inevitable.

But let’s start by taking it on its own terms. Director Barak Goodman (“Oklahoma City”) brings us back to 1967, when buds John Roberts and Joel Rosenman have the wild idea to throw a really groovy party.

Does the world really need another movie about Woodstock? There are fewer of them than you might imagine, but the two that most readily spring to mind feel like a closed parenthetical: Michael Wadleigh released his definitive 1970 concert documentary when the music was still echoing across the fields of upstate New York, and Ang Lee’s 2009 “Taking Woodstock” suggested we should have left it at that.

Barak Goodman (“Oklahoma City”) and co-director Jamila Ephron (“Far from the Tree”) must have disagreed. Made in conjunction with PBS, timed for the 50th anniversary, and set for a proper theatrical run before airing on the television channel later this year, their “Woodstock: Three Days that Defined a Generation” revisits the epochal music festival as if it had never been done before — as if the Aquarian Exposition isn’t the only rock concert in American history that gets its own page in high school textbooks.

“Slay the Dragon” is the most important political film of the year, and it may prove to be one of the key political films of the decade. It’s a documentary about gerrymandering, and offhand it would be hard to think of a subject less sexy — or a phrase less inviting to audiences than “a documentary about gerrymandering.” But that issue, more than any other, is the subject from which American democracy now hangs. By a thread.

And “Slay the Dragon” is an incisive, morally suspenseful, and stirring film. It deals with gerrymandering on a human level — as the endgame in the fight for democracy — and it shows us what the resistance to it now looks like: a bunch of ordinary citizens, with no power beyond what the Constitution gave them, building the crusade for voter rights into the ultimate liberal holy war.

A lot of us have a concrete...

A new trailer for Barak Goodman’s upcoming documentary Woodstock: Three Days That Defined a Generation captures the chaos and utopia that defined the legendary festival.

The clip opens with the logistical nightmares the festival caused, starting with the massive traffic jams that piled up as 400,000 people descended upon Max Yasgur’s farm in upstate New York. The festival site itself was plagued by sanitation and medical issues, and at one point the governor of New York even considered sending in the National Guard.

Of course, there’s a reason few remember these massive problems.

New documentaries about D’Angelo, Woodstock, Rolling Stones bassist Bill Wyman and Blind Melon’s late lead singer Shannon Hoon are among the music films set to premiere at the 2019 Tribeca Film Festival.

The stacked lineup also includes films about Linda Ronstadt, Sublime and late Inxs frontman Michael Hutchence. Jared Leto is also set to debut his new film, A Day In the Life of America, a collaborative project filmed in all 50 states over the course of a single July 4th. The Tribeca Film Festival will take place April 24th...

Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History, a three-hour documentary executive produced by Burns, will premiere over three nights in Spring 2020, PBS announced this morning at TCA.

Barak Goodman-directed Woodstock will premiere on PBS in 2019, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the historic three-day concert that defined a generation.

And Henry Gates, Jr.’s four-hour documentary, Reconstruction: America After The Civil War, will premiere next spring on PBS stations nationwide.

Now in active production, the Burns’ presented The Gene: An Intimate History, will use science, social history, and personal stories to weave together a historical biography of the human genome while also exploring breakthroughs in understanding the impact genes play on heredity, disease and behavior. From the earliest gene hunters and the bitterly fought race to read the entire human genome, to the unparalleled ethical challenges of gene editing, the documentary will journey through key genetics discoveries. Pulitzer Prize-winning author Siddhartha Mukherjee,...

PBS has ordered a trio of documentaries: “Woodstock,” “Reconstruction: America After the Civil War” and Ken Burns’ “The Gene: An Intimate History,” the public broadcaster announced Monday at the Television Critics Association press tour.

“Woodstock” is a two-hour Barak Goodman doc tied to the 50th anniversary of the legendary 1969 concert held in upstate New York.

The four-hour “Reconstruction: America After the Civil War” is executive produced and hosted by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and chronicles the confusing years immediately after the Union Army defeated the Confederacy in a divided America. Like “Woodstock,” “Reconstruction” is set to air next year.

Also Read: Tavis Smiley Admitted to 'Multiple Sexual Encounters With Subordinates,' PBS Says

“Ken Burns Presents The Gene: An Intimate History” is a three-hour adaptation of Siddhartha Mukherjee, M.D.’s book “The Gene: An Intimate History.” That one, in which Burns (pictured above) explores the breakthroughs in understanding the impact genes play on heredity,...

Winners of the 2018 Writers Guild of America Awards were revealed on Feb. 11 in ceremonies held simultaneously in Los Angeles and New York. As only screenplays written under the guild’s guidelines or those of several international partners are eligible for consideration, these kudos, which are celebrating their 70th anniversary, have not been the most reliable barometer of the Oscars.

Indeed, one of this year’s leading contenders for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars — Martin McDonagh for “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” — was ruled out of the running by the guild. However, that WGA race does include four of the other Academy Awards nominees — “The Big Sick,” “Get Out,” “Lady Bird” and “The Shape of Water.” It is rounded out by “I, Tonya.” Jordan Peele won for “Get Out” edging out Greta Gerwig, who had been predicted to win for “Lady Bird.”

All five of the Oscar contenders for Best...

The 2018 Writers Guild of America Awards take place on Feb. 11 with simultaneous ceremonies held in both New York and Los Angeles. Only scripts written under the guild’s guidelines or those of several international partners are allowed to vie for these awards. As such, these kudos are not the most reliable barometer of the Oscars.

In the past nine years only 59 of the WGA nominees have numbered among the 90 screenplays that reaped Academy Awards bids. Indeed, 2014’s Oscar winner for Best Original Screenplay, “Birdman,” was deemed ineligible. Likewise for one of this year’s leading contenders for that award: “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.”

On the television side, the leading nominees are “Better Call Saul,” which competes for best drama series writing as well as for two individual episodes and “The Americans,” which is up for both overall drama series writing and an individual episode. Over in comedy, reigning Emmy...

The 2018 Writers Guild Awards will be handed out on Sunday night, February 11, during a ceremony hosted by Patton Oswalt at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in California. Representing industry scribes, the WGA honors the best writing in film, television, radio and more. So who will be the big winners? We’re forecasting 10 categories. Scroll down to see our complete list in the order of our racetrack odds. The projected winners are highlighted in gold.

Our odds are based on the combined predictions of more than 1,200 users who have entered their picks in our predictions center thus far. That includes Expert journalists from top media outlets, the Editors who cover awards year-round for Gold Derby, our Top 24 Users who got the highest scores predicting last year’s WGA Awards and our All-Star Top 24 who got the highest scores when you combine the last two years’ WGA predictions.

Based on our collective wisdom...

One of the biggest surprises on Oscar nominations morning on January 23 was the absence of “Jane” from Best Documentary Feature. The film recounts the life and career of famed primatologist Jane Goodall, and going into the announcement it had actually been our front-runner to win the award based on the combined predictions of thousands of awards watchers at Gold Derby. Despite that omission, however, its script by Brett Morgen is the overwhelming favorite to win Best Documentary Screenplay at the Writers Guild Awards on February 11. It has leading odds of 1/10. But Morgen will have to watch out for one of the WGA’s favorite documentarians, Alex Gibney (“No Stone Unturned”).

As of this writing more than 1,200 users have made their WGA Awards predictions. That includes nine Expert journalists we’ve polled from top media outlets, who are unanimous that “Jane” will win: Thelma Adams (Gold Derby), Erik Davis (Fandango), Edward Douglas,...

Other nominees include The Big Sick, The Shape Of Water and Logan.

Source: Universal

‘Get Out’

The writers of Get Out, La La Land, Call Me By Your Name and Logan are among the nominees for this year’s Writers Guild Awards, set to be presented at ceremonies hosted by the West and East branches of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) on Feb 11.

The full list of film nominations for original screenplay, adapted screenplay, and documentary are below.

Original Screenplay The Big Sick, Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani; Amazon Studios Get Out, Written by Jordan Peele; Universal Pictures I, Tonya, Written by Steven Rogers; Neon Lady Bird, Written by Greta Gerwig; A24 The Shape of Water, Screenplay by Guillermo del Toro & Vanessa Taylor; Story by Guillermo del Toro; Fox Searchlight Adapted Screenplay Call Me by Your Name, Screenplay by James Ivory; Based on the Novel by André Aciman; Sony Pictures Classics The Disaster Artist, Screenplay...

Get Out, Lady Bird and more land nominations from the Writers Guild of AmericaGet Out, Lady Bird and more land nominations from the Writers Guild of AmericaAdriana Floridia1/4/2018 2:56:00 Pm

Today we got another peak into the Oscar race when the WGA announced their nominees for Best Original Screenplay, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Documentary.

As expected, we're seeing love for Jordan Peele's breakout film Get Out, and critical darling Lady Bird. While there aren't really any surprises among the nominations, the omission of films like The Post, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing Missouri, and Phantom Thread make us wonder about the Oscar chances for these three, at least in the writing categories.

Check out the 2018 WGA Nominations below! Original Screenplay

The Big Sick, Written by Emily V. Gordon & Kumail Nanjiani

Get Out, Written by Jordan Peele

I, Tonya, Written by Steven Rogers

Lady Bird, Written by Greta Gerwig

The Shape of Water,...