LOS ANGELES -- For Chris Teague, Russian Doll (Netflix) was a cinematographer’s dream come true. He recalled seeing the lookbook for the show, describing the imagery as “unique,” “absurdist,” full of “surrealist art and photography,” serving to “illuminate what the world of the show was going to be. There was the opportunity to really shape the feel of the show with the cinematography and do something I hadn’t really done before.” “Surrealist” may be an understatement as Russian Doll introduces us to Nadia (... Read More, Comment

BURBANK, Calif. -- On one hand, you should zig while others zag. On the other, you are compelled to stream when so many are accessing content on streaming platforms. These pieces of advice--reflecting, respectively, contrarian and conformist thinking--were imparted jointly by Toby Emmerich, chairman of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, and Peter Roth, president and chief content officer, Warner Bros. Television Group, during an opening session of the Producers Guild of America’s Produced By Conference held at the... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- A recent multiplex marquee is haunting Martin Scorsese. Twelve screens and 11 of them were showing one movie: "Avengers: Endgame." "Now, that's not fair," Scorsese says. "We have to fight back at this practice of overwhelming the market with the blockbuster. The — how should I put it? — the regular film, that's being edged out. It's got to go someplace. It has to go someplace because you know why? There are people that are going to continue to make them." Scorsese, 76, is still making them,... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Women make up roughly half of all executives in animation, but a study released Monday says the numbers fall significantly when it comes to female directors and other leadership roles in the industry. The study by the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative and the nonprofit advocacy group Women in Animation said that in the past 12 years, only 3% of animated film directors were women and only one, "Kung Fu Panda 2" director Jennifer Yuh Nelson, was a woman of color. In some areas, like producing,... Read More, Comment

BURBANK, Calif. -- Quibi, a start-up that stands for “quick bites” of video expressly designed for consumption by on-the-go folks via their smartphones, may carry implications for the advertising community, spawning new sponsored message forms. At least that’s part of the vision shared by Quibi CEO Meg Whitman who along with Jeffrey Katzenberg, co-founder and managing partner of Wndr Co., founder/chairman of the board for Quibi, were featured speakers at this past weekend’s Produced By Conference presented by the... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- The final results for the 57th D&AD Awards have been unveiled, with DDB Worldwide named D&AD Network of the Year 2019. Also, Europe has been confirmed as the top ranking region for D&AD winners. In rank order, the Network of the Year derby broke down like this: 1. DDB Worldwide--D&AD Network of the Year 2. BBDO Worldwide 3. McCann 4. Ogilvy 5. TBWA\Worldwide The D&AD Awards 2019 Regional rankings are as follows: 1. Europe 2. North America 3. Asia 4. South America 5. Oceania... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France -- The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity has received a total of 30,953 entries from 89 countries that will compete to become the global benchmark for excellence in creativity and effectiveness for the year ahead. To ensure that marketers and agencies are able to benchmark all aspects of the industry landscape, two new Lions were launched in 2019. The Creative Strategy Lions recognize strategists and planners within their own defined specialism for the first time, receiving 848... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Production house Hey Wonderful has added filmmaker and photographer Ellen von Unwerth to its roster for commercial representation in North America, the U.K. and France. Her signature style combines fine art and irreverence, often depicting subjects as provocative, flirtatious and powerful. Recent work includes fashion films for Vogue with Georgia May Jagger and Cosmopolitan with Miley Cyrus, a Shiseido commercial featuring Lady Gaga and a campaign for Hunger magazine with a music-driven branded... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Director Christopher Werner has joined Moxie Pictures for commercial and branded opportunities worldwide. This marks his first career representation in the ad arena. Werner is best known for his work as in-house director and supervising producer for HBO’s Last Week Tonight with John Oliver since the show first aired, five years ago. Last Week Tonight has won multiple Emmy awards, with many of Werner’s segments specifically being nominated and winning the award. He readily admits that he has... Read More, Comment

LONDON -- Stink Films has added award-winning Slovakian filmmaker Adam Csoka Keller to its global directorial roster, marking the partnership with the launch of his short film, The Rite . Created in collaboration with the Royal Opera House, Royal Ballet and Nowness, The Rite captures the passionate and primal culmination of dance troupe Culture Device’s residency. The first dance troupe of its kind, Culture Device is comprised solely of extraordinary dancers with Down syndrome. Starring actress Sara... Read More, Comment

CANNES, France (AP) -- Jim Jarmusch and Bill Murray's long-running relationship began, fittingly, with a cup of coffee. In the early '90s, Jarmusch was walking north on Manhattan's Columbus Avenue ("not my neighborhood," he notes) when he noticed a guy walking toward him. That's Bill bleeping Murray, Jarmusch said to himself. "Bill walked right up to me and said, 'You're Jim, right?'" Jarmusch recalls. "And I said, "Yeah. You're Bill Murray." And then he said, "You want to get a cup of coffee?" They popped into a... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Women dominate "Big Little Lies," both on the screen and in the behind-the-scenes power of Reese Witherspoon and Nicole Kidman, who are executive producers as well as stars of the HBO series. But how does Adam Scott, who plays husband Ed to Witherspoon's Madeline, feel about flipping the gender dynamic with a male version of the supportive wife or girlfriend role to which actresses have long been relegated? Scott's answer is immediate, and minus any hint of annoyance. "First of all, I think it'... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Ned McNeilage has been appointed executive creative director at BBH LA, reporting to worldwide chief creative officer Pelle Sjoenell. McNeilage will serve alongside Sjoenell, BBH LA CEO Frances Great and Agathe Guerrier, head of strategy LA, as a key member of the BBH LA leadership team. Most recently McNeilage produced a series of campaigns for Apple at Media Arts Lab. He previously served as an ECD at CAA and creative director at Wieden+Kennedy. McNeilage will be responsible for BBH LA’s... Read More, Comment

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Director Greg Popp has joined the roster of Backyard, bringing a body of work which spans such brands as Head and Shoulders, Burger King and Anheuser Busch. His most recent efforts include fare for Atlantic Union Bank, again tapping into his rich vein of ad humor. Popp and Backyard CMO Roy Skillicorn have had a working relationship and strong friendship for more than 25 years, having first worked together when Popp began at DDB. Popp went on to become SVP/executive producer at DDB Chicago... Read More, Comment

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- Director Romain Laurent has landed his first U.S. production house representation, joining Little Minx for commercials, videos and branded entertainment. Little Minx founder Rhea Scott, who has a track record of finding and further developing filmmaking talent, said she was immediately drawn to Laurent’s work, citing such elements as “effects that always had a purpose or story to tell, a lightness, a wit, an element of fun.” Scott noted that Laurent is a director, photographer, and an artist on... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Director Pete Candeland has chosen Partizan as his new creative home. The production company will handle him globally for commercials and branded content. Known for his work in animation and mixed media across 2D, 3D and live action, Candeland has been the creative force behind iconic Gorillaz music videos, genre-defying cinematics for the Rockstar game franchise and numerous highly emotive BBC trailers. SHOOT selected the Candeland-directed “Five and the Missing Jewels” for Great Western... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- The American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) has re-elected Kees van Oostrum as president for the fourth consecutive year. The organization also announced its officers for 2019-2020, including Bill Bennett, Paul Cameron and Stephen Lighthill as vice presidents; Levie Isaacks as treasurer; David Darby as secretary; and Curtis Clark as sergeant-at-arms. “I am grateful to have been chosen to serve the ASC and its membership,” said van Oostrum. “It’s an important time for our craft with imaging... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- SIGGRAPH 2019 has revealed the award winners and lineup of 24 short films, breakdowns, scientific visualizations, advertisements, and more, set to appear in the Computer Animation Festival Electronic Theater next month. Showcasing the latest in computer graphics, the one-night-only Electronic Theater event will premiere on Monday, July 29, at Microsoft Theater, located in L.A. LIVE. “The Computer Animation Festival celebrates the power of telling stories, whether emotional or educational,... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK -- Washington Square Films has signed director Rudolf Peter Kiss for his first U.S. commercial representation. Harnessing a background in cinematography to discover beauty in stolen moments through visually rich narratives, Kiss has worked with international brands such as Telekom, Vodafone, Telenor, Nespresso, Tesco and Audi. His most recent project is a powerful short film for World Down Syndrome Day that opens viewers’ eyes to the need for educational advocates for the Down syndrome community... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES -- Veteran producers Mara Milićević and John Duffin have teamed to launch Emerald Pictures, a Los Angeles-based production company. The new venture opens with a directorial roster that includes Kosta, Rodney Lucas, Peter O’Brien, Jennifer Roberts, and Nathan R. Smith who all gain their first U.S. commercial representation. Raised in Los Angeles in an entertainment family, Milićević is an experienced agency producer who began her career in film and television before transitioning into the world of... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Ask Marta Kauffman if there will be a "Friends" reunion someday, and the answer is a crisp "nope." Kauffman, who created the enduringly popular sitcom with David Crane and was an executive producer from start to finish, is focused on what's now and next, not what's past. She's moved on from the 1994-2004 network-airbrushed adventures of young New York pals to the unvarnished pains and pleasures of older women — and, subordinately, men — in "Grace and Frankie." The Netflix comedy is in the hunt... Read More, Comment

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Actor Jimmie Fails draws from his own story in his portrayal of a young black man navigating a shifting racial landscape in "The Last Black Man in San Francisco." His tale is a familiar one in affluent U.S. cities. Like his character, Fails is a third-generation San Franciscan whose family lost their home in a once-flourishing African American neighborhood called the "Harlem of the West." His relatives scattered as housing prices skyrocketed and he struggles to get by in a city that's not as... Read More, Comment

ALBUQUERQUE, NM (AP) -- "The Buffalo Hunt," a new documentary on the homeland of the Oglala Lakota, attempts to shun clichés around the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota involving poverty and addiction and instead focus on traditions around the Native American tribe. Directed by Philip Di Fiore, the film lets the Lakota Sioux people of today speak without narration as they work to save customs passed down by the elders through the buffalo hunt — a sacred act which extends to all aspects of life. There, in... Read More, Comment

NEW YORK (AP) -- Every time a popular HBO series ends, the network faces a round of stories essentially asking, “is there life for HBO after (fill in the blank). This time, it was “Game of Thrones.” Based on early indications, its executives shouldn’t worry too much. The series “Big Little Lies” returned for its second season, adding Meryl Streep to the cast, and reached 2.5 million people across HBO’s various platforms on Sunday. The Nielsen company said that beat the show’s premiere episode by 34 percent. HBO... Read More, Comment

It's futile to ask "why more" in the movie business, but it's hard not to go in a little suspicious of a fourth "Toy Story." The trilogy was so perfect. What more could we ask of Woody and Buzz? What more did we as an audience need? If we got another, would it live up to the unbridled joy and emotional satisfaction of the first three? And if it was bad, would it tarnish the others? Sure it might sound a little dramatic to get this emotionally invested in the legacy of an animated series about... Read More, Comment

Would any fictional gadget be more coveted by Hollywood executives than the memory-erasing "Men in Black" neuralyzer? Imagine the lucrative benefits of being able to, with a single flash, make moviegoers forget the film they just saw. Franchises would be endlessly renewable. IP could last forever. Instead, we get film series perpetuated beyond their natural end with the hope that you remember them enough to get you in the door but not enough that you're much bothered by regurgitated storylines... Read More, Comment

The latest "Shaft ," which adds a new generation of bad mother------- to the mix, is not what you might expect. It's not gritty or raw or even attempting to be all that cool. Instead it maintains intoxicatingly upbeat sitcom-style energy, with gentrification jokes, generational jabs (mostly at the expense of millennials) and Samuel L. Jackson, reprising his nearly 20-year-old role as John Shaft II, seemingly having a blast every step of the way. It's not that it's sanitized or without violence... Read More, Comment

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- After nearly 20 years and a dozen films, the current manifestation of X-Men movies is going out with a whimper. Scorched by poor reviews, the $200 million "Dark Phoenix" earned a franchise low of $33 million from 3,721 North American locations over the weekend for a second place finish, according to studio estimates Sunday. First place went instead to "The Secret Life of Pets 2." The Universal Pictures and Illumination sequel, featuring the voices of Kevin Hart, Tiffany Haddish and Harrison... Read More, Comment

This short film The Rite --directed by Adam Csoka Keller via Stink Films--captures the artistry of Culture Device, the first dance troupe of its kind. The group is comprised solely of extraordinary dancers with Down syndrome. Created in collaboration with the Royal Opera House, the Royal Ballet and Nowness, the troupe's performance marks the 106th anniversary of Stravinsky’s scandalous work "The Rite of Spring." The Rite is Keller’s first endeavor with Stink Films, the production house he... Read More, Comment

Pioneering tech company Uber has another revolutionary transportation offering in the offing. Uber Elevate is poised to bring to market for the first time the ability for consumers to use aerial ridesharing within cities as soon as 2023. Uber Elevate handpicked Cannes Mobile Grand Prix and AICP-winning creative and production boutique Bipolar Studio for the innovative marketing campaign which launched this week at Uber Elevate Summit. The integrated campaign includes this centerpiece film... Read More, Comment

Gatorade’s inspirational new film, “Every Day Is Your Day,” features sports icon Mia Hamm and rising U.S. star Mallory Pugh and taps into the iconic Dr. Seuss poem, “Oh the places you’ll go,” to demonstrate the powerful impact that sports can have on young athletes’ lives. The film is part of the brand’s Sisters in Sweat initiative, which addresses an alarming stat: by age 17, girls drop out of sports at 1.5x the rate of their male peers, and as a result, disproportionately miss out on the... Read More, Comment

This spot promoting Hulu features 11 players from the Women’s U.S. Soccer team and Mia Hamm that will run through the Women’s World Cup. Dave Laden of Hungry Man directed the comedy piece, “Goal Celebration,” for agency Big Family Table in which the women athletes celebrate success on the field by pantomiming being able to watch the game at home on Hulu, underscoring that viewers can access live sports on the platform. Read More, Comment

Jefferson Stein, a 2015 SHOOT New Directors Showcase alum, wrote and directed this Apple Music spec spot titled “Magic Will Find You.” The concept was inspired when Stein got a first-hand look via his girlfriend, pop music artist Teddi Gold, at the songwriting process for rising music artists in L.A. The director was struck by how the ups and downs of the writing process for many singer-songwriters mirrored his own experiences in screenwriting, and filmmaking in general. We’ve all heard the... Read More, Comment

The Coalition for Gun Control has launched a project to show how gun violence touches every corner of Toronto, the fourth largest city in North America and one that has seen a major rise in gun violence over the past year. Titled Dodge the Bullet, the project--explained by this film--uses geo-location technology to show how many meters away residents of the city of Toronto were from an actual shooting. The project taps into the Toronto Police Services’ API of shootings and homicide data to... Read More, Comment

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