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Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Dawn Hudson (Finally) Gets Vote of Confidence from the Board of Governors
18 April 2017 3:41 PM, PDT
No one was angrier than Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences CEO Dawn Hudson after the Oscar-night envelope fiasco. You could see steam coming out of her ears at the Governor’s Ball. After the #OscarsSoWhite controversy and several less-than-popular ABC Oscar telecasts, the 2017 edition produced by Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd with host Jimmy Kimmel had — until the last possible moment — gone swimmingly.
But that momentary upswing was snatched away by two PricewaterhouseCoopers accountants who will never return to Hollywood & Highland. Amid internal debates about whether to fire the firm, the Board of Governors on March 28 voted for rule changes and to retain the venerable PwC, which has been counting votes and handing out envelopes for 83 years. And, as the Academy finally alerted their membership Monday night, Hudson will extend her six-year term as CEO, running the nonprofit staff of 350. She has renewed her lucrative contract worth »
- Anne Thompson
‘Let It Fall’ Exclusive Clip: John Ridley’s Los Angeles Uprising Documentary Resurrects History — Watch
18 April 2017 2:37 PM, PDT
Writer-director John Ridley had long wanted to make a movie about the Los Angeles uprising of April 29, 1992. But even though he won an Oscar for his screenplay for “12 Years a Slave” and created the Emmy-winning ABC anthology series “American Crime” (now in its third season), the subject wasn’t exactly sexy to potential backers. So when ABC came to him with the idea of a documentary timed to the 25th anniversary, he jumped at it.
Read More: ‘Guerrilla’ Review: John Ridley’s ’70s London Black Power Drama Tries to Show All Sides of a Revolution
Ridley was already familiar with many of the key participants in the uprising and interviewed many of them himself for this in-depth look at the forces that led to the explosive anger, looting, rioting and mayhem after a Simi Valley jury acquitted the four L.A. police officers on trial for the vicious beating of motorist Rodney King. »
- Anne Thompson
Marvel Opens Its Doors: 4 Reasons the Studio Continues to Rule Hollywood’s Comic Book Realm
18 April 2017 12:29 PM, PDT
On Monday evening, Marvel Studios opened up its sleek offices at Disney’s Frank Wells building in Burbank for a press tour ahead of a screening of “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.”
As long as media were arriving on the lot to see the movie anyway, Marvel Studio president Kevin Feige figured they might as well get a behind-the-scenes Marvel sneak peek. “We haven’t done this, come upstairs and walk around,” he told me, “and it felt like it was time to do it. We have some cool stuff on the walls.”
Indeed, much like the Lucasfilm headquarters in San Francisco or Steven Spielberg’s Amblin on the Universal lot, the hallways are studded with sacred icons and objects from the Marvel Comics Universe, from iterations of “Iron Man” suits and Captain America’s shield to Thor’s mighty hammer. Work cubicles are lined with comics and action figures, »
- Anne Thompson
Why ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Is the Most Anticipated Screening of the Tribeca Film Festival
17 April 2017 8:00 AM, PDT
You can’t accuse the Tribeca Film Festival (April 19-30) of bandwagon jumping: Back in 2005, it screened the series finale of “Friends” outdoors on a Hudson pier for rapturous fans. Today, TV is a fait d’accompli as Tribeca expands its second annual TV program to 15 shows and five series. Golden-age TV draws viewers, Hollywood filmmakers, and a wider audience.
Last year, the TV program included world premieres of “The Night Of” (HBO, from Oscar-winning executive producer Steve Zaillian), “The Night Manager” (AMC, directed by Oscar-winning Susanne Bier), and “O.J.: Made in America” (Espn, directed by eventual Oscar-winner Ezra Edelman).
Read More: ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ Review: The Scariest TV Show Ever Made, Because It Feels So Real
This year’s highest-profile debuts include the adaptation of Margaret Atwood’s dystopian novel “The Handmaid’s Tale” (Hulu) starring Elisabeth Moss and Joseph Fiennes, and directed by indie filmmaker Reed Morano »
- Anne Thompson
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