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History typically unfolds step by step. But as Hollywood woke up to the realization that SAG-AFTRA was joining the ongoing Writers Guild strike to effectively shut down large swaths of the entertainment industry, the sense of moment and import was inescapable. The addition of a union boasting 160,000 professionals ranging from DJs and puppeteers to news anchors and actors alongside some 20,000 members of the WGA who had already been on strike for two months changed everything at the stroke of midnight.
The reverberations were felt in London, where the cast of “Oppenheimer” walked out of the film’s premiere Thursday, to Sun Valley, where media moguls biking in the Idaho sun as the strike unfolded suddenly took on a new level of impropriety. Wall Street mostly shrugged off the news, despite a...
History typically unfolds step by step. But as Hollywood woke up to the realization that SAG-AFTRA was joining the ongoing Writers Guild strike to effectively shut down large swaths of the entertainment industry, the sense of moment and import was inescapable. The addition of a union boasting 160,000 professionals ranging from DJs and puppeteers to news anchors and actors alongside some 20,000 members of the WGA who had already been on strike for two months changed everything at the stroke of midnight.
The reverberations were felt in London, where the cast of “Oppenheimer” walked out of the film’s premiere Thursday, to Sun Valley, where media moguls biking in the Idaho sun as the strike unfolded suddenly took on a new level of impropriety. Wall Street mostly shrugged off the news, despite a...
- 7/14/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
For nearly 15 years, Heather Fink has made her living on movie and television sets. She mixes sound, and occasionally writes screenplays and directs. It’s what she loves to do. But Fink has also grown upset over the long hours that she and other crew members are being asked to work in order to get shows and films completed on time and on budget. That frustration has left her not only willing, but ready to go on strike.
“We’ve never had this much momentum and unity, so we cannot settle for anything less than meaningful change with a contract that will protect generations to come,” says Fink. “We need this contract to change the way we live.”
On Thursday morning the possibility that Fink and her fellow union members will soon be hitting the picket line moved a step closer to reality. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees,...
“We’ve never had this much momentum and unity, so we cannot settle for anything less than meaningful change with a contract that will protect generations to come,” says Fink. “We need this contract to change the way we live.”
On Thursday morning the possibility that Fink and her fellow union members will soon be hitting the picket line moved a step closer to reality. The International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees,...
- 10/14/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay
- Variety Film + TV
An overwhelming majority of film and TV workers have given the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees permission to strike if the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers doesn’t offer them a better deal.
The 60,000 crew members representing 13 Locals who often work 16-18 hour days are seeking shorter hours, wage scales and better health and pension benefits. But those are just a few of the issues on the negotiating table.
It is the first time in the 128-year history of the union that a strike has been authorized, but crew members are ready for what lies ahead. Here they share their stories, why they voted yes and why they stand in solidarity with their fellow crew members.
Mandi Line
Local 892
Costume Designer
The thing that I love the most in life, has to stop being the thing that causes me to have no personal life.
The strike scares the shit out of me.
The 60,000 crew members representing 13 Locals who often work 16-18 hour days are seeking shorter hours, wage scales and better health and pension benefits. But those are just a few of the issues on the negotiating table.
It is the first time in the 128-year history of the union that a strike has been authorized, but crew members are ready for what lies ahead. Here they share their stories, why they voted yes and why they stand in solidarity with their fellow crew members.
Mandi Line
Local 892
Costume Designer
The thing that I love the most in life, has to stop being the thing that causes me to have no personal life.
The strike scares the shit out of me.
- 10/8/2021
- by Jazz Tangcay and Dan Doperalski
- Variety Film + TV
The nominees for the 2010 Streamys were announced today. The Streamys celebrate online television programming and this year they have a fantastic line up of nominees. Last year was the Streamys debut year and the winners included high profile shows such as Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and the exceptional Battlestar Galactica web series The Face of the Enemy.
This year there is even more competition with some really interesting content now being released on the web rather than through more traditional media routes. Two of my favourites from this year’s nominee list are the excellent Interview Project which is presented by davidlynch.com and the slightly flawed but thoroughly enjoyable Angel of Death, created by Ed Brubaker and starring Zoe Bell, which also received a DVD release last year.
The awards ceremony takes place on April 11th 2010 and the full list of nominees is listed below with handy links...
This year there is even more competition with some really interesting content now being released on the web rather than through more traditional media routes. Two of my favourites from this year’s nominee list are the excellent Interview Project which is presented by davidlynch.com and the slightly flawed but thoroughly enjoyable Angel of Death, created by Ed Brubaker and starring Zoe Bell, which also received a DVD release last year.
The awards ceremony takes place on April 11th 2010 and the full list of nominees is listed below with handy links...
- 3/1/2010
- by Craig Skinner
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The Bannen Way has now released 11 of its 16 episodes in its debut season on Crackle, and we have some more video extras from the series. Above is a behind the scenes segment from creators Mark Gantt and Jesse Warren along with producer Bailey Williams on creating the celebrated 'Bannen Style.' It wasn't easy marrying Warren's love of comics and video game action with Gantt's more romanticized "French cinema" tastes, but somehow they managed to craft what is really a sexually charged action comic. We also hear from Dp Roger Chingirian and Editor Zack Arnold, talking about the challenge of crafting the creators' stylized vision within the limits of low budget production. Also out this week is the latest episode (below) of hosted web series interview series The Web.Files, where host Kristyn Burtt sits down with Gantt and Warren to find out their secrets. She also asks the pair...
- 1/15/2010
- by Marc Hustvedt
- Tubefilter.com
Opened Friday, April 7
In "Phat Girlz", a comedy about plus-size women, the first word of the movie's title stands for Pretty Hot and Thick. The second word is never spelled out, but it could mean Good Intentions Ruined by Lousy Zingers. Because it's not a bad idea to look for comic opportunities on the subject of women's self-image in this age of anorexic supermodels and worship of weight loss.
Indeed, Patricia Cardoso's endearing HBO film "Real Women Have Curves" already has shown the way. Regrettably, the approach taken here by debuting writer-director Nnegest Likke is to hurl every imaginable fat joke on the screen in hopes that some will stick. Few do.
After a short run in urban areas, this Fox Searchlight release could perform better on home video.
Mo'Nique, the comic who starred on UPN's "The Parkers" for five years, not only stars in the film but embodies the underlying problem: Mo'Nique's in-your-face, combative approach runs roughshod over any attempt to examine the cultural, generational or social attitudes that lead to America's fixation on thinness.
The writing is rudimentary and the direction often awkward, but Mo'Nique would confound a veteran director. Because she is not really an actress, essentially she can convey two emotions -- bubbly excess or petulant pout, with the threat of violence hanging over each. Which turns any character into a manic depressive.
Mo'Nique plays Jazmin Biltmore -- yes, Biltmore, you wanna make something of it? Body size has destroyed her social life and self-esteem. She works in a department store's women's department and does have good ideas about a clothing line for plus-size women, but her boss, Dick (Jack Noseworthy) -- oh, does Mo'Nique have fun with that name -- won't let her show her sketches to the head buyer (Eric Roberts).
When Jazmin wins a week at a Palm Springs spa, she takes along her companion in corpulence Stacey (Kendra C. Johnson) and her cousin Mia (Joyful Drake) who, working from a different family Gene Pool, is a knockout.
At the spa, they run into a group of Nigerian doctors. Wouldn't you know it, in their culture, fat is where it's at. So muscular Tunde (Jimmy Jean-Louis) puts the moves on Jazmin, and Akibo (Godfrey) whisks Stacey off to bed, while Godwin (Dayo Ade) gets stuck with "matchstick" Mia.
Although the course of true love proves bumpy, the experience transforms Jazmin's self-esteem. She eventually launches her clothing line, then flies off to Africa to claim her stud doctor without a thought of how she might run an American business while acting as a Nigerian housewife.
Production values are substandard for a studio release.
PHAT GIRLZ
Fox Searchlight
Fox Searchlight Pictures and Outlaw Prods. present an Outlaw/Sneak Preview Entertainment production in association with 10 Times Greater Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Nnegest Likke
Producers: Bobby Newmyer, Steven J. Wolfe
Executive producers: Mo'Nique, Steven Imes III
Directors of photography: John Njaga Demps, Dean Lent
Production designers: Warren Alan Young, Natasha Baumgardner
Music: Stephen Endelman
Costumes: Ronda Bell, Susan Chan, Marvlyn Harrison
Editor: Zack Arnold. Cast: Jazmin: Mo'Nique
Tunde: Jimmy Jean-Louis
Akido: Godfrey
Stacey: Kendra C. Johnson
Mia: Joyful Drake
Dick Eckhard: Jack Noseworthy
Robert Myer: Eric Roberts
Running time -- 109 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
In "Phat Girlz", a comedy about plus-size women, the first word of the movie's title stands for Pretty Hot and Thick. The second word is never spelled out, but it could mean Good Intentions Ruined by Lousy Zingers. Because it's not a bad idea to look for comic opportunities on the subject of women's self-image in this age of anorexic supermodels and worship of weight loss.
Indeed, Patricia Cardoso's endearing HBO film "Real Women Have Curves" already has shown the way. Regrettably, the approach taken here by debuting writer-director Nnegest Likke is to hurl every imaginable fat joke on the screen in hopes that some will stick. Few do.
After a short run in urban areas, this Fox Searchlight release could perform better on home video.
Mo'Nique, the comic who starred on UPN's "The Parkers" for five years, not only stars in the film but embodies the underlying problem: Mo'Nique's in-your-face, combative approach runs roughshod over any attempt to examine the cultural, generational or social attitudes that lead to America's fixation on thinness.
The writing is rudimentary and the direction often awkward, but Mo'Nique would confound a veteran director. Because she is not really an actress, essentially she can convey two emotions -- bubbly excess or petulant pout, with the threat of violence hanging over each. Which turns any character into a manic depressive.
Mo'Nique plays Jazmin Biltmore -- yes, Biltmore, you wanna make something of it? Body size has destroyed her social life and self-esteem. She works in a department store's women's department and does have good ideas about a clothing line for plus-size women, but her boss, Dick (Jack Noseworthy) -- oh, does Mo'Nique have fun with that name -- won't let her show her sketches to the head buyer (Eric Roberts).
When Jazmin wins a week at a Palm Springs spa, she takes along her companion in corpulence Stacey (Kendra C. Johnson) and her cousin Mia (Joyful Drake) who, working from a different family Gene Pool, is a knockout.
At the spa, they run into a group of Nigerian doctors. Wouldn't you know it, in their culture, fat is where it's at. So muscular Tunde (Jimmy Jean-Louis) puts the moves on Jazmin, and Akibo (Godfrey) whisks Stacey off to bed, while Godwin (Dayo Ade) gets stuck with "matchstick" Mia.
Although the course of true love proves bumpy, the experience transforms Jazmin's self-esteem. She eventually launches her clothing line, then flies off to Africa to claim her stud doctor without a thought of how she might run an American business while acting as a Nigerian housewife.
Production values are substandard for a studio release.
PHAT GIRLZ
Fox Searchlight
Fox Searchlight Pictures and Outlaw Prods. present an Outlaw/Sneak Preview Entertainment production in association with 10 Times Greater Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Nnegest Likke
Producers: Bobby Newmyer, Steven J. Wolfe
Executive producers: Mo'Nique, Steven Imes III
Directors of photography: John Njaga Demps, Dean Lent
Production designers: Warren Alan Young, Natasha Baumgardner
Music: Stephen Endelman
Costumes: Ronda Bell, Susan Chan, Marvlyn Harrison
Editor: Zack Arnold. Cast: Jazmin: Mo'Nique
Tunde: Jimmy Jean-Louis
Akido: Godfrey
Stacey: Kendra C. Johnson
Mia: Joyful Drake
Dick Eckhard: Jack Noseworthy
Robert Myer: Eric Roberts
Running time -- 109 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
- 4/10/2006
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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