Editor Wyatt Smith, ACE was finishing up director Rob Marshall’s Mary Poppins Returns when he got the chance to connect with filmmaker Kasi Lemmons. “I was coming off a big Disney film looking for a smaller character-driven drama,” recalled Smith who acknowledged that on the surface he wouldn’t seem like a leading candidate for such a gig--much less Lemmons' film about the life of Harriet Tubman, a black female hero whose work via the Underground Railroad brought countless slaves to freedom... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- The National Board of Review unveiled its annual honors with Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman earning Best Film distinction as well as Best Adapted Screenplay (Steve Zaillian). Quentin Tarantino earned the Best Director mantle for Once Upon a Time...In Hollywood , a film which also garnered Brad Pitt the Best Supporting Actor honor. Adam Sandler won Best Actor for Uncut Gems while Rene Zellweger’s performance as Judy Garland in Judy scored the Best Actress honor. Melina Matsoukas won Best... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The American Film Institute (AFI) revealed the recipients of AFI Awards 2019. Unique in its celebration of the film and television arts’ collaborative nature, AFI Awards--now in its 20thyear--is the only national program that honors creative teams as a whole, recognizing those in front of and behind the camera. AFI Awards honorees include 10 outstanding films and 10 outstanding TV programs deemed culturally and artistically representative of this year’s most significant achievements in the art... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Noah Baumbach’s “Marriage Story” was the resounding winner at the IFP Gotham Awards, taking four awards including best feature at the annual New York awards-season kickoff. By the end of the night on Monday, Baumbach, having long ago exhausted his one prepared speech, stood at the podium exhorting cast members Adam Driver and Laura Dern to lend him help. Having already given their own speeches — Driver for best actor, Dern as a tribute honoree — they demurred, content to watch Baumbach squirm... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman was named Best Picture by the New York Film Critics Circle, with Joe Pesci also nabbing Best Supporting Actor for his performance in the Netflix movie. Best Director distinction went to Benny and Josh Safdie for Uncut Gems while Quentin Tarantino earned Best Screenplay For Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood . Antonio Banderas and Lupita Nyong’o won Best Actor and Actress, respectively, for Pain and Glory and Us . Laura Dern took Best Supporting Actress for her... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- A documentary on Taylor Swift will kick off the next Sundance Film Festival, where new films including the Will Ferrell-Julia Louis Dreyfus remake of the Swedish film “Force Majeure” and Benh Zeitlin’s long-awaited follow-up to “Beasts of the Southern Wild” are set to premiere. Programmers for the preeminent showcase for independent cinema, founded by Robert Redford and set annually in the mountains of Park City, Utah, announced the lion share of the lineup for its 2020 edition on Wednesday... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Matt Miller, president and CEO of AICP, and Danny Rosenbloom, VP, Digital and Postproduction, have announced the release of an updated and revised AICP Bid Form that fully integrates production and postproduction tasks and categories. he The form is the result of several months of planning and consultation with AICP members across production and postproduction, as well as with a range of stakeholders who play key supporting roles in the making of content in the moving image for agencies and... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Cannes Lions has announced the jury presidents selected for the 2020 Festival of Creativity (June 22-26, 2020). Among the global spread of elite industry experts, 53% of Presidents are also women for the first time (up from 33% in 2019)--ensuring global female talent is equally represented at the head of the juries. The new Creative Business Transformation Lions will also be awarded in 2020, alongside the refreshed PR Lions. Simon Cook, managing director, Cannes Lions, said, “The Cannes Lions... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Bicoastal production partner m ss ng p eces has added Joe Talbot to its directorial roster. Talbot is best known for directing and co-writing The Last Black Man in San Francisco (A24), his feature film debut and one of the most critically acclaimed pictures of 2019. This signing marks his first commercial representation. Talbot co-created The Last Black Man in San Francisco with his childhood best friend and longtime professional collaborator Jimmie Fails, adapted from Fails’ life story. The... Read More, Comment

CHICAGO -- Havas Chicago Creative has hired marketing executive Nicole Laughlin as its president. She had most recently been at Facebook where she led global marketing solutions. Laughlin has held senior-level positions at agencies, brands and platforms, where she has helped major retail, CPG and travel brands leverage data and creativity to help better serve their consumers in an ever-evolving marketplace. In her nearly two years in a global marketing role at Facebook, Laughlin was recruited as an... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Nominations for the 72nd Annual Writers Guild Awards have been revealed across television categories with drama series contenders being The Crown (Netflix), The Handmaid’s Tale (Hulu), Mindhunter (Netflix), Succession (HBO) and Watchmen (HBO). Comedy series nominations went to Barry (HBO), The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Amazon), PEN15 (Hulu), Russian Doll (Netflix) and Veep (HBO). Writers Guild nominees in the New Series category are Dead To Me (Netflix), PEN15 (Hulu), Russian Doll (Netflix),... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced that 20 films are in the running in the Visual Effects category for the 92nd Academy Awards®. The films are listed below in alphabetical order: “Ad Astra” “The Aeronauts” “Aladdin” “Alita: Battle Angel” “Avengers: Endgame” “Captain Marvel” “Cats” “Dumbo” “Fast and Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw” “Ford v Ferrari” “Gemini Man” “The Irishman” “Jumanji: The Next Level” “The Lion King” “Men in Black: International” “Midway” “1917” “... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- The One Club for Creativity announced the global creative leaders selected to serve as judges for The One Show 2020. More than 200 top creatives from 35 countries will judge work from around the world. The gender-balanced jury includes creative leaders such as: --Jason Bagley, ECD, CCO, Wieden+Kennedy Portland (Branded Entertainment jury) --Nick Bailey, creative partner, CEO, futurefactor, Amsterdam (PR) --Sandipan Bhattacharyya, CCO, Grey India, Mumbai (Health Wellness & Pharmaceutical) --... Read More, Comment

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- David&Goliath (D&G) has hired Josh Miller as executive creative director and promoted Michele Tebbe to chief marketing officer. Both will report to David Angelo, D&G founder and chairman. Miller’s primary responsibilities include helping to manage the creative department, mentoring new talent, and looking for opportunities to continually optimize in-house production capabilities. He will oversee creative for clients including the California Lottery and Auto–Owners Insurance. Miller... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Director Matt Smukler has joined Rakish--the production boutique launched earlier this year by EPs Brad Johns and Preston Garrett--for commercial representation in the U.S. L.A.-born and bred, Smukler has been directing commercials and films for almost two decades. A former agency creative, he has helmed award-winning ads for brands such as Nike, Toyota, Coca-Cola, the NFL, Microsoft, Budweiser, Reebok, MTV, 20th Century Fox, AT&T, Absolut, and McDonald’s. Prior to coming aboard the Rakish... Read More, Comment

TORONTO -- Juniper Park\TBWA has hired Steve Emmens as managing director of integrated production. Emmens will lead all creative production output for Juniper Park\TBWA, working in tandem with CCO Graham Lang and ECD Jenny Glover, as well as Bolt Content, the agency’s in-house content arm. This newly created role further accelerates the integration of all production disciplines at the agency, from high-touch video to in-house content, digital to print, and the agency makers studio. An industry veteran... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Cicely Tyson, Seth MacFarlane and Walt Disney Co. chief executive Bob Iger will be joining the Television Academy's Hall of Fame. Geraldine Laybourne, who helped create the Nickelodeon channel and co-founded Oxygen Media, and veteran TV director Jay Sandrich also were announced Tuesday as inductees. Sandrich's credits include "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "The Golden Girls." Tyson won three Emmy Awards over her nearly seven-decade acting career, including two trophies for 1974's "The... Read More, Comment

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) -- A special effects worker faces up to 10 years in federal prison after he pleaded guilty to illegally possessing explosives while working on the Georgia set of a movie starring John Travolta and Morgan Freeman. Robert Christopher Bailey, 50, of Los Angeles entered his plea Tuesday before a U.S. District Court judge in Savannah, according to court records. Federal authorities charged him in coastal Georgia last year during filming of “The Poison Rose.” Agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol,... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- The creator of "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" likes to send cryptic texts to her actors while the show is on hiatus . They're often clues about what everyone can expect they'll be doing. Before Season 2, Amy Sherman-Palladino asked Rachel Brosnahan, "Can you ride a bike and play pingpong?" Actress Marin Hinkle was asked if she could speak French and Michael Zegen got an unusual inquiry:"Can you throw a baseball in the air with a cigarette in your mouth and a beer bottle in the other hand?" Sure... Read More, Comment

BURBANK, Calif. -- The International Animated Film Society, ASIFA-Hollywood, unveiled nominations for its 47th Annual Annie Awards™ recognizing the year’s best in the field of animation. This year’s Best Animated Feature nominations include: Frozen 2 (Walt Disney Animation Studios), How To Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (DreamWorks Animation), Klaus (Netflix presents a Production of the Spa Studios and Atresmedia Cine), Missing Link (Laika, LLC) and Toy Story 4 (Pixar Animation Studios). Best Animated... Read More, Comment

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- The co-founders of Google are stepping down as executives of its parent company, Alphabet, ending a remarkable two decades during which Larry Page and Sergey Brin shaped a startup born in a Silicon Valley garage into one of the largest, most powerful — and, increasingly, most feared — companies in the world. Sundar Pichai, who has been leading Google as CEO for more than four years, will take on additional duties as Alphabet's CEO, the position held by Page. The company isn't filling Brin's... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- NBC and the guild that represents television performers said they are investigating Gabrielle Union's allegation that she was fired as a judge on "America's Got Talent" because she complained of racism and other on-set issues. The Screen Actors Guild‐American Federation of Television and Radio Artists issued a statement Monday saying it is looking into the allegations. "We take issues of workplace health and safety very seriously." The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television said... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- "Frozen 2" kept a wintry wind at its back in its second week, setting a Thanksgiving record with a whopping box office bounty, while newcomer "Knives Out" found its own broad audience. Disney's new set of adventures for Anna, Elsa and Olaf brought in $85.3 million in the U.S. and Canada over the weekend and earned an unprecedented $132.7 million for the holiday frame of Wednesday through Sunday, according to studio estimates. The first "Frozen" opened on Thanksgiving in 2013, but the sequel... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- NBC's victory during the November ratings sweeps period means there's a new king of broadcast television — at least for now. The network ended CBS' 18-year winning streak in November, a period when ratings are watched closely to set advertising rates. A combination of factors, including football, producer Dick Wolf and the absence of "The Big Bang Theory" all contributed. NBC's "Sunday Night Football" telecast has averaged 20.2 million viewers this fall, making it the most popular program on TV... Read More, Comment

Besides its food, Chick-fil-A has been a place for folks to gather and spend some time with one another. But lately, the brand noticed people aren’t spending as much quality time in its 2,500 restaurants as they had in the past. They’re eating alone or glued to their phones, always on the go. So in the spirit of the season, Chick-fil-A teamed with McCann NY and animation/FX studio Psyop on the brand’s first-ever holiday film to tell the story of a little girl named Sam who visits a whimsical... Read More, Comment

In this humorous yet thoroughly offbeat spot, a man is hounded by a llama who has a penchant for spitting at him. This occurs at different venues though thankfully there’s always a window or other glass barrier--at a bank teller station or on the subway--preventing the guy from being directly hit. Nonetheless being targeted and stalked by a llama can be a bit unnerving--until the gent gets a chance to respond. While sitting behind the wheel of his car, the man is again confronted by the llama... Read More, Comment

Folgers mornings just got a lot more real, and a lot more entertaining, in a hysterically modern take on the iconic notion that The Best Part of Wakin’ Up Is Folgers in Your Cup®. Enter the new Folgers Choir--more formally known as the Folgers Morning Harmonizers--a red satin-clad ensemble of seven men and women who randomly show up in the midst of difficult mornings, helping alleviate tension with both a smile and a steaming hot cup of Folgers Coffee. The Folgers Choir is sure to brighten your... Read More, Comment

The holidays are a special time for the New York Lottery. It’s the time of year when there’s something special in the air—when anything seems possible, including winning. To announce this year’s seasonal Scratch-Off Games, the New York Lottery and McCann New York enlisted a group of woodland animals to deliver a little holiday magic to an enchanting wildlife reserve in a film titled, “Special Delivery.” The story begins as a beloved park ranger loses her Scratch-Off on her way home for the... Read More, Comment

A woman is in her kitchen one morning, her smartphone tuned into a traffic report which carry prospects for another slow commute. She then switches over to Pandora, selecting Tones & I’s song “Dance Monkey” which fuels some uninhibited dancing on her part, breaking up the kitchen in the process. Strutting her stuff to the rhythm of the upbeat track, she escapes reality for a stretch. An end tag for the Pandora brand reads, “Be You. We’ll Be Your Music.” The spot is one of three in the new... Read More, Comment

This Nike spot from R/GA showcases fast-paced New Yorkers who keep the city moving, whether they call themselves runners or not. Directed by Adam Donald of production house The Custom Family, the piece features the world’s fastest marathoner, Eliud Kipchoge, alongside the tenacious city dwellers of NYC dashing to make the subway, sprinting through traffic and bounding to sneak a bite from their local bodegas. Titled “Ready to Run NYC,” the commercial moves to music from Racket Club and sound... Read More, Comment

---