LOS ANGELES -- Three of this year’s five DGA Award nominees are also up for the Best Director Oscar: Alfonso Cuaron for Roma (Netflix), Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman (Focus Features) and Adam McKay for Vice (Annapurna). Cuaron, Lee and McKay were all panelists at this past Saturday’s (2/2) Meet the Feature Nominees daytime DGA event moderated by director Jeremy Kagan. That evening Cuaron won the DGA Award. SHOOT covered the Guild discussion session where some of the insights shared lead off this installment of... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- If history is any indicator, Alfonso Cuaron has to be considered the clear frontrunner to win the Best Director Oscar after last night (2/2) taking the coveted DGA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Feature Film on the strength of Roma (Netflix). He topped a DGA field of nominees that also consisted of Bradley Cooper for A Star is Born , Peter Farrelly for Green Book , Spike Lee for BlacKkKlansman and Adam McKay for Vice . This marks the second career DGA win for Cuaron who took the marquee... Read More, Comment

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. -- Spike Jonze of MJZ won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Commercials last night (2/2) during a gala ceremony at the Hollywood & Highland Center’s Ray Dolby Ballroom. Jonze topped a field of nominees which also consisted of two fellow MJZ colleagues, Steve Ayson and Fredrik Bond, Martin de Thurah of Epoch Films, and David Shane of O Positive Films. Jonze won the DGA honor as Best Commercial Director of 2018 on the strength of a single entry: Apple Homepod’s “Welcome... Read More, Comment

One cinematographer’s reunion with a director resulted yet again in Best Cinematography Oscar, ASC and BAFTA Award nominations. Another DP scored his first Oscar, ASC Award and BAFTA nods for his initial pairing with a celebrated filmmaker. A third lenser received his sixth career ASC Award television nomination--four of which have been for projects in collaboration with the same director. And our fourth DP just garnered his third career ASC Award nom in TV, continuing a run which began back in... Read More, Comment

It’s that time of year--for a new beginning, for New Year’s resolutions, which often aren’t kept, and predictions, which often aren’t accurate. Nonetheless SHOOT called upon a brave cross-section of artists and execs from the production and post community to offer their hopes, goals and plans for 2019. We also asked respondents to reflect on lessons learned from 2018 and how they might be applied to this year. Feedback relative to what may be in store for 2019 ranged from a continuation of... Read More, Comment

During a time of divisiveness and audience fragmentation, the Super Bowl brings us together for one of those increasingly rare shared experiences. The art and strategy of brands taking advantage of that opportunity are subject to scrutiny and conjecture, which are front and center in SHOOT ’s annual tradition of sounding out creatives whose agencies didn’t have spots on this latest Big Game telecast, and thus had no particular axe to grind. Vanessa Fortier, executive creative director, MONO,... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- This year’s Super Bowl ads went heavy on the humor — and surprises. Take, for instance, Jason Bateman’s Hyundai ad about an elevator with unpleasantness on every floor. A surprise “Game of Thrones” tie-in with Bud Light both confused and delighted viewers. And robots seemed to be everywhere as advertisers picked up on Americans’ unease over our growing dependence on artificial intelligence. This year’s ads are “more mild than wild,” said Kelly O’Keefe, a professor at Virginia Commonwealth... Read More, Comment

Director Joe Berlinger is no stranger to Sundance. He has over the years debuted six lauded documentaries there, the last being WHITEY: United States of America v. James J. Bulger in 2014. The first was back in ‘92 when he and colleague Bruce Sinofsky’s Brother’s Keeper won the Audience Award. In ‘96, Paradise Lost: The Child Murders At Robin Hood Hills , also helmed by Berlinger and Sinofsky, earned a Grand Jury Prize nomination as did Berlinger’s Crude in 2009. In between Paradise Lost and... Read More, Comment

PARK CITY, Utah -- After 10 days and 121 feature films, the 2019 Sundance Film Festival’s Awards ceremony took place on Saturday night (2/2), with host Marianna Palka emceeing and jurors presenting 28 prizes for feature filmmaking. Honorees represent new achievements in global independent storytelling. Bold, intimate, and humanizing stories prevailed across categories, with Grand Jury Prizes awarded to Clemency (U.S. Dramatic), One Child Nation (U.S. Documentary), Honeyland (World Cinema Documentary) and The... Read More, Comment

Paul Lambert, visual effects supervisor at Double Negative (DNEG), last month earned his second Best Visual Effects Oscar nomination. It came for First Man (Universal Pictures), a year after he won the Academy Award for Blade Runner 2049 . As VFX supervisor on First Man , Lambert and his team earlier this week won the VES Award for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. This marked his fifth career VES nod, the others being for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature for... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Avengers: Infinity War won the top honor at the Visual Effects Society Awards on Tuesday (2/5) evening at the Beverly Hilton, earning distinction for Outstanding Visual Effects in a Photoreal Feature. The Marvel film scored three more VES Awards--for effect simulations, compositing, and animated character (Thanos) in a photoreal feature. Marvel was also a VES marvel on the animated front as its Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse took home four awards as well--for VFX in an animated feature, best... Read More, Comment

When Leslie Dektor walked away from his advertising career several years ago, he was one of its most accomplished artisans--as 13 DGA Award nominations for best commercial director of the year would attest. He won the DGA Award twice, in 1992 and 2000. Among his lauded spotmaking is the iconic observational Levi’s 501 Blues campaign from Foote, Cone & Belding San Francisco, which came to encompass nearly 20 spots. Using neither scripts nor storyboards, Dektor filmed stylish street scenes... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Bohemian Rhapsody (edited by John Ottman, ACE) and The Favourite (edited by Yorgos Mavropsaridis, ACE) won Best Edited Feature Film (Dramatic) and Best Edited Feature Film (Comedy) respectively at the 69th Annual ACE Eddie Awards on Friday (2/1) where trophies were handed out recognizing the best editing of 2018 in 11 categories of film, television and documentaries. The black-tie ceremony was held in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel with over 1,000 in attendance to... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- SKUNK has brought director Mike Maguire aboard its U.S. roster. An L.A.-based, Long Island native, Maguire became a director after first establishing himself on the agency side as a copywriter (kirshenbaum bond & partners, NY) and associate creative director (Goodby Silverstein & Partners). Maguire has directed critically acclaimed music videos, short films, a feature film and commercials for many premium brands including Nike, Budweiser, Fox Sports, IKEA and Volkswagen. His work,... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Filmmaker Daniel Askill has joined production company Serial Pictures for North American representation in commercials, branded entertainment, and music videos, and partner company Anonymous Content for film and television literary management. Askill has helmed advertising campaigns for Audi, Dior, Smirnoff, XBOX and Sony. Prior to Serial, he was handled by RadicalMedia. Askill’s music videos include Sia’s instantly-iconic duo “Elastic Heart” and “Chandelier” starring Maddie Ziegler—the latter... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Commercial and music video director Katie Bell has joined Grand Large for U.S. representation. Her signing adds another woman director to a roster which already has strong female representation. Known for her ability to elicit natural and moving performances from children and adults, as well as for her ability to create authentic and beautiful scenes, Bell joins Grand Large after several years working freelance from her London base. Prior to joining Grand Large, she had been repped by Wild Plum... Read More, Comment

VENICE, Calif. -- Director Jonathan Barenboim has joined production house Rodeo Show for U.S. commercial representation. His signing comes on the heels of his recent collaboration with Rodeo Show on two campaign spots, “Our Labels” and “Always Valid, Never Optional,” for FDA’s "This Free Life" campaign. With a footprint in both advertising and entertainment, he has worked with studios such as HBO, Netflix, Hulu and FOX, and has directed spots for brands including Coca-Cola, Reebok, Nike, McDonald’s, Chevy, Diner... Read More, Comment

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Nominees for the 91st annual Academy Awards convened at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Monday for this year's Oscar Nominees Luncheon, a gathering that gives honorees a chance to socialize at an event where everyone's name will be called and they'll get a moment onstage. That moment is for the "class photo," but the day is so much more. For some nominees, it's the first time they'll meet someone whose work they cherish. Many will do interviews where they can reflect on their films, and look ahead to... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The Favourite (production designer Fiona Crombie), Black Panther (Hannah Beachler), Crazy Rich Asians (Nelson Coates) and Isle of Dogs (Adam Stockhausen, Paul Harrod) garnered the marquee feature film honors at the Art Directors Guild (ADG) 23rd annual Excellence in Production Design Awards on Saturday evening (2/2). On the TV side, the award recipients included The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel (Bill Groom), The Handmaid’s Tale (Mark White, Elisabeth Williams), The Alienist (Mara LePere-Schloop), GLOW... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Sony’s Spider-Man: Into The Spider-Verse won Best Animated Feature at ASIFA-Holywood’s 46th Annual Annie Awards™ Saturday evening (2/2), and garnered top honors across seven categories--Best Character Animation for David Han; Character Design for Shiyoon Kim; Directing for Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey and Rodney Rothman; Production Design for Justin K. Thompson; Writing for Phil Lord and Rodney Rothman; and Editorial for Bob Fisher, Andrew Leviton and Vivek Sharma. Best Animated Feature-... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Katy Hornaday, EVP and executive creative director of the independent Kansas City agency Barkley, has been named chairperson for the 2019 AMP Awards for Music & Sound. In her role as chair, Hornaday will advise the competition on creative standards and lead its Curatorial Committee, which will be tasked with ensuring that all finalists meet the criteria for their respective categories. The Committee also selects the competition’s prestigious Best in Show winner. Elad Marish, partner at... Read More, Comment

BERLIN (AP) -- The first of the year's major European film festivals got underway in Berlin on Thursday with a strong contingent of movies from female directors, which jury president Juliette Binoche greeted as "a good step forward." The 69th Berlin International Film Festival was starting with Danish director Lone Scherfig's "The Kindness of Strangers," which follows an ensemble of characters through a New York City winter. It is the first of 17 contenders for the event's top Golden Bear award, whose winner... Read More, Comment

There are few more seductive things to watch onscreen than a big, wine-soaked, multi-generational family wedding like the one that happens early in "Everybody Knows," Asghar Farhadi's new thriller set in a picturesque Spanish village. But as good as Farhadi is at portraying the infectious revelry binding a family together, he's even better at exploring what happens when those binds start to fray. And they do, pretty fast. The wedding cake is barely cut before anguished cries ring out and smiles... Read More, Comment

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Tech companies and nearly two dozen U.S. states clashed with the government in federal court Friday over the repeal of net neutrality, a set of Obama-era rules aimed at preventing big internet providers from discriminating against certain technology and services. Judges challenged arguments made by both sides in the faceoff in an appeals court in Washington. Lawyers for the states and the companies tried to persuade the three-judge panel to restore the net neutrality regime, set in 2015 during... Read More, Comment

LONDON (AP) -- British actor Albert Finney, the Academy Award-nominated star of films from "Tom Jones" to "Skyfall," has died at the age of 82. Finney's family said Friday that he "passed away peacefully after a short illness with those closest to him by his side." Finney was a rare star who managed to avoid the Hollywood limelight for more than five decades after bursting to international fame in 1963 in the title role of "Tom Jones." The film gained him the first of five Oscar nominations. Others followed... Read More, Comment

PASADENA, Calif. (AP) -- The evening news may be one of television’s most overlooked institutions, but the programs are still looked at. Between them, the newscasts anchored by David Muir, Lester Holt and Jeff Glor were seen by an average of 26.9 million viewers each weeknight last week. If they were seen in prime time, both ABC’s “World News Tonight” and NBC’s “Nightly News” would be top 10 shows. Their audiences are older, which makes them far from trendy, but loyal. The mid-winter, when they air when it’s dark... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- With the distraction of the Super Bowl, freezing temperatures affecting large portions of North America and only one big new release in theaters in "Miss Bala," movie going audiences largely took the weekend off from the theaters in what is estimated to be the lowest-earning Super Bowl weekend in nearly two decades. M. Night Shyamalan's "Glass" kept a fragile hold on the No. 1 spot for the third time while "The Upside" stayed in a close second on this sleepy box office weekend. Studios on... Read More, Comment

Sound, image, and emotion unite in this online brand film for Jeep that goes beyond words, even ones known throughout the land. Featuring music by OneRepublic, the piece is an ode to service and small moments that add up to something big. Mark Toia of Zoom USA directed and Sai Selvarajan of Lucky Post edited this two-minute film from agency The Richards Group. Read More, Comment

Kiran from production house Slash Dynamic directed Cut Golf’s first commercial. Titled “The Mix Up,” the spot features a king penguin, and debuted Super Bowl Sunday on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram. The ad tells the story of a golf enthusiast with a conscience. He scales glaciers to find the penguin who has mistaken a Cut Golf Ball for its egg and disappears. Our golfer valiantly searches for the penguin, braving the arctic weather. He eventually finds the penguin and safely returns it egg... Read More, Comment

During the second quarter of the Super Bowl, HBO and Bud Light delivered a quintessential Game of Thrones- twist ending to the latest entry in Bud Light’s series of “Dilly Dilly” commercials. What starts as a classic Bud Light Super Bowl commercial featuring the King and Bud Knight descends into chaos when the menacing Game of Thrones character the Mountain (Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson) makes a surprise appearance, defeating the defender of the “Dilly Dilly” kingdom in a jousting contest. Building... Read More, Comment

In this two-minute tongue-in-cheek comedy piece, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman produce commercials for each other’s drink brands--Reynolds’ Aviation Gin, and Jackman’s Laughing Man Coffee--thus signaling an end to their playful social media feud. The twist is that judging from his spot for Aviation Gin, Jackman didn’t know the feud was over. Bryan Rowland of production company Escape Velocity Content directed the supposed Reynolds/Jackman truce film, which was written by Reynolds, Jackman and... Read More, Comment

Glenn Schuster of Industrial Strength Productions wrote, produced and edited this animated PSA for Alcoholics Anonymous directed by Elliot Lim of animation studio Bullpen. The moving piece shows us the value of AA to three individuals and how the organization has helped improve their lives by not only helping them to stay sober but also providing a community that enables them to escape isolation and alienation. The :60 is currently airing in English, Spanish and French across the U.S. and... Read More, Comment

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