Composer Alexandre Desplat, a 10-time Oscar nominee and two-time winner (for Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel in 2015, and Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water in 2018), is once again in the awards season conversation--this time on the strength of Little Women (Sony Pictures Entertainment/Columbia Pictures), his first collaboration with writer-director Greta Gerwig. Desplat was drawn not only to the opportunity to work with Gerwig but also the brilliance of her script, based on the... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Lighthouse and Uncut Gems each scored five Film Independent Spirit Award nominations, topping the field. They were followed by Give Me Liberty and Honey Boy which earned four nods apiece. Nominated for Best Feature are A Hidden Life, Clemency, The Farewell, Marriage Story and Uncut Gems . In the running for Best Director are: Alma Har’el for Honey Boy ; Lorene Scafaria for Hustlers ; Julius Onah for Luce ; Robert Eggers for The Lighthouse ; and Benny Safdie & Josh Safdie for Uncut Gems... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- For the first time, half of all TV episodes were helmed by women or directors of color, the Directors Guild of America revealed in its latest Episodic Television Director Inclusion Report covering the 2018-19 season. That number was up from last year’s prior high of 42.5%, and from 21% just five years ago. The percentage of episodes directed by women grew to a record 31%, more than doubling in the past five years; and the percentage of episodes helmed by directors of color rose to a new high of... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- In the past dozen years, one out of some 1,200 studio films was directed by a Latina, according to the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. Slated to double that tally is actress/producer/director Eva Longoria who is set to helm 24/7 for Universal and Flaming Hot for Fox Searchlight. Longoria was a featured speaker during an AFI Summit session--part of the ongoing AFI Fest proceedings--at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel last week. She was interviewed by Dr. Stacy Smith, founder of the USC... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- The audience appetite for documentaries has grown significantly, fueled by the times according to Steven Bognar who teamed with Julia Reichert to direct American Factory (Netflix, Participant Media, Higher Ground Productions), which chronicles the culture clash that ensues when a shuttered General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio, is taken over by a giant Chinese company. “People are aware that documentaries are vital cinema,” affirmed Bognar, adding that viewers are clamoring for the truth during... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Producers Guild of America (PGA) unveiled its 2020 Documentary Motion Picture nominees that will advance to the final voting process for the 31st Annual Producers Guild Awards. The Producers Guild Awards honor excellence in motion picture and television productions, as well as the most notable names in the industry shaping the producing profession. The Guild’s awards have been established as a bellwether for the Academy Awards, as PGA winners often predict the winners at the Oscars. The... Read More, Comment

Amnesty International issued a scathing indictment of the world’s dominant internet corporations, arguing in a new report that Google and Facebook should be forced to abandon what it calls their surveillance-based business model because it is “predicated on human rights abuse.” The London-based global rights group said in the 60-page report published Thursday that the business model of what it calls the “Surveillance Giants” is “inherently incompatible with the right to privacy.” Google and... Read More, Comment

Twitter’s new ban on political ads will cover appeals for votes, solicitations for campaign contributions and any political content. But the company quickly acknowledged Friday that it expects to make mistakes as individuals and groups look for loopholes. Twitter is defining political content to include any ad that references a candidate, political party, government official, ballot measure, or legislative or judicial outcome. The ban also applies to all ads — even non-political ones — from... Read More, Comment

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Google is making it harder for political advertisers to target specific types of people. The company said that as of January, advertisers will only be able to target U.S. political ads based on broad categories such as gender, age and postal code. Currently, ads can be tailored for more specific groups — for instance, using information gleaned from public voter logs, such as political affiliation. The change will take effect in the UK in the next week, before the general election, and in the... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Game of Thrones earned two honors at the 14th annual Hollywood Professional Association (HPA) Awards this evening (11/21) in Los Angeles. The HBO series’ “Winterfell” episode earned Joe Finley of Sim, L.A., distinction for Outstanding Color Grading--Episodic or Non-theatrical Feature. Meanwhile Game of Thrones ’ “The Bells” episode won in the Outstanding Visual Effects--Episodic (under 13 episodes) or Non-theatrical Feature category, the recipients including artisans from Scanline and Image... Read More, Comment

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Tool of North America has added Mad Ruffian, a directing duo consisting of Christopher Watson-Wood and Amanda Jones, to its content roster. Mad Ruffian is known for highly visual storytelling, in-house VFX, clever transitions, and tongue-in-cheek attitude. The duo has directed spots for Reese’s, Jack Daniel’s, Tesco, Panda Express, and Fujifilm’s Instax camera. Most notably, their U.K. PSA for M&C Saatchi London tackling texting while driving attained global success and aired on the Today... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Bicoastal Station Film has signed director Declan Whitebloom for commercials in the U.S. His work spans noted spots and music videos. On the former score he has directed for brands such as Pinterest, Target, Fiat and Lipton. His music video fare has featured such artists as Taylor Swift, Demi Lovato and Rita Ora. Among Whitebloom’s most recent work are commercials for Google and Pinterest, and the music video “No One” for Jess Glynne, his seventh promo for the singer/songwriter who’s set... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Furlined, a Los Angeles and London based production company, has added directors Jon + Torey to its roster for U.S. commercial representation. Jon and Torey met in 2004 during their first year at college, and so began their partnership as filmmakers. After graduation, the young directing duo made a short documentary film in Rwanda, A Generation after Genocide. The film explores the redemptive power of sports and the human paradox--that out of grief can come joy. Over the next decade, Jon and... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Mark Ruffalo learned about corporate attorney Rob Bilott, who for 20 years battled DuPont to expose the harmful effects of the chemical PFOA, along with most of the country: In 2016 through an article in The New York Times Magazine. A cold call from a West Virginia farmer in 1998 who believed his creek was being contaminated and his animals poisoned by DuPont runoffs began the long investigation that ended in 2017 when DuPont and Chemours Co. agreed to pay more than $600 million in a class... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Tom Hanks has never played a superhero. But when the actor recently donned a very simple cardigan sweater, and the slacks to go with it, he felt like one. "I felt like Batman. It felt like I was wearing the cape and the cowl of the Dark Knight detective," Hanks says. "There's only one person you can be when you put those things on, and that's Fred Rogers." Since it was first announced, Hanks' casting as the beloved children's television host in "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" has had the... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- "There's nothing I believe more than this, that laughter adds time to one's life," Norman Lear told an audience gathered to honor him and other four other television comedy greats. "I believe that as much as I believe my mother loved me," the writer-producer added. "She said she did. But I wasn't sure." Like the 97-year-old Lear, who made his name — and TV history — with groundbreaking sitcoms like "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," the other honorees at Thursday's Paley Center for Media... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- “The Crown” opens with a clever acknowledgment that time has passed for Queen Elizabeth II and taken with it the Emmy-winning actress who played her in the Netflix drama’s first two seasons. In the scene, postage stamp portraits are displayed for the monarch: one with Claire Foy’s likeness as the alluring young queen, the other showing a woman edging toward middle-age mundanity. A subordinate clumsily tries to gloss over the physical differences, but Elizabeth, now embodied by Olivia Colman,... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Director Tamika Miller has joined production house LAIR for commercial and branded content representation in the U.S. Earlier this year, Miller earned a slot in the SHOOT New Directors Showcase on the strength of “Get Answers NOW,” her Amazon Echo spec commercial which was facilitated by the Commercial Directors Diversity Program (CDDP), the joint initiative of the AICP and DGA designed to create opportunities for women and ethnic minorities. She was one of just six Fellows chosen for the CDDP... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Director Robertino Zambrano has signed with Nexus Studios for commercials and branded content worldwide except for Australia. Zambrano gained international recognition with Love in the Time of March Madness which won honors at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2014 and was Oscar shortlisted (Best Animated Short) in 2016. His multidisciplinary approach developed during his time at R/GA New York where he worked on a diverse range of animation projects and digital products for clients including Nike,... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Drew Kirsch, a 2019 MTV VMA-winning director, has joined Tomorrow for commercials and branded content in the U.S. This marks his first production company roost for representation in the American ad market. He is repped for commercials in Germany by Bears Calling and in France by Superette. His production home for music videos is Happy Place. Kirsch was born in San Diego, raised in Reno, and now lives in Venice Beach. A self-taught artist, he has established himself as a sought after music video... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Directors Elena Parasco and Emily Elizabeth Thomas have joined New York-based Sibling Rivalry for commercial representation in the U.S. Born and raised in New York, and a graduate of Wesleyan University, Parasco is known for her engaging, docu-grounded style, Through a carefully considered lens, influenced by the female POV, she looks to redefine how stories in culture, sport, and movement are approached. Her work is unapologetic and raw, a constant play of hard meets soft and anthemic meets... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Paul Reiser and Helen Hunt thought long and hard about whether to do a reboot of "Mad About You," the NBC sitcom staple of the '90s set solidly inside the Buchman family bubble. "We had 20 years of lunches where we said, 'Absolutely never, ever.' It was the worst idea," recalled Hunt, who played Jamie Buchman to Reiser's Paul. Reiser added during a recent interview: "It was a joke." Time hop to Wednesday and the debut of the "Mad About You" redux on Spectrum Originals, a limited series... Read More, Comment

Director Marielle Heller frames “ A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood ” as if it were an episode of “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood,” with miniature sets of cars and bridges to illustrate New York and Pittsburgh. Mr. Rogers, played with clear-eyed purpose by Tom Hanks, introduces the audience to the film’s protagonist, journalist Lloyd Vogel (Matthew Rhys), using his “picture window” in that all-too-familiar living room where he’s just changed into his sneakers and sweater. It’s even rated PG. But... Read More, Comment

Todd Haynes' "Dark Waters," about the prolonged (and ongoing) legal fight to uncover the environmental damage of cancer-inducing "forever chemicals" and hold their corporate makers accountable, is a sober and ominous docudrama. On its surface, it's an unspectacular one. Its lead character, a corporate defense attorney played by Mark Ruffalo, is no Erin Brockovich. The movie, itself, is gray and murky like the toxic West Virginia waters that provide the film's first gloomy sense of trouble. But... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- “Ford v Ferrari” left its competition in the rearview, racing to an estimated $31 million debut at the box office in a No. 1 finish that counted as a win for big-budget originality. James Mangold’s racing drama rode into the weekend with strong reviews and Oscar buzz for its leads, Christian Bale and Matt Damon. And audiences enthusiastically greeted it, giving the $98 million movie an A+ CinemaScore. “Ford v Ferrari,” which dramatizes the Ford Motor Co.’s push to unseat the perennial power... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- CBS won the television ratings crown last week despite being without the most valuable ratings commodity in this era, a primetime football game. Two relatively lackluster games on NBC and Fox last week enabled CBS’ strong entertainment schedule to rule the week, the Nielsen company said. The long-running “60 Minutes” newsmagazine was CBS’ top-rated program. The week’s best primetime football game was the “Monday Night Football” matchup between Seattle and San Francisco on ESPN, making it the... Read More, Comment

This film conceived by London agency adam&eveDDB for clients John Lewis and Waitrose introduces us to a girl named Ava and her friend Edgar. The latter is a young dragon who lacks control when he breathes fire, thus causing Christmas festivities to often go up in smoke and alienating townsfolk in the process. However Ava looks to win back the community’s love for Edgar by getting him to light the Xmas pudding. Dougal Wilson of production house Blink directed “Excitable Edgar,” with visual... Read More, Comment

Each year, there are 400,000 burn victims in France, of whom 10,000 are considered by medicine as severe. Once out of a health care pathway often long and painful, burn victims must face the gaze of others and an outside world who is easily reluctant to help them get back to the normal course of their lives. Their condition, widely misunderstood, further reinforces their sense of isolation. To change our way of looking at burn victims is the aim of this new TBWA\Paris campaign, fruit of a... Read More, Comment

This Xmas spot for telecom brand Orange out of agency Publicis Conseil in Paris shows a group of youngsters who capture Santa Claus when he comes to visit a home--except it’s not just any home but rather Orange’s “connected house” which enables the kids to communicate and coordinate with one another on the fly. Kids deploy the connected home technology to get Santa just where they want him--or do they? Did this happen or is it a meticulously planned caper that's still on the drawing board?... Read More, Comment

A lad and his piggy bank--a character unto himself--team to get a Christmas present for a loved one in this Walmart spot directed by Rodrigo Garcia Saiz via Toronto production house Frank for agency Cossette Toronto. (Saiz is with Central Films, L.A. and Mexico City) The piggy bank is on hand as we see the boy perform various chores in exchange for spare change. The coins of course wind up in the piggy bank. Effects house behind the charming piggy bank was a52. Titled “Piggy Bank Holiday,” the... Read More, Comment

The newest addition to the Ford Mustang family, the electric vehicle Mach-E, promises to be a game-changer. And a new breed of Mustang deserves a new breed of launch from agency BBDO. The communications plan relies on influencers, experiences, branded content and an online/offline digital film to target the sophisticated, next wave of electric vehicle adopter--lovers of the new. The latest component to be unveiled is a short film, titled “New Breed,” featuring actor Idris Elba as brand... Read More, Comment

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