News from Thompson on Hollywood

4 articles

31 January 2017 12:00 PM, PST

Given their place on the awards calendar right before the final Oscar voting, the Santa Barbara International Film Festival always packs the lineups for their annual Writers and Producers panel series with Oscar contenders. This year both panels will take place on Saturday, February 4th at the Lobero Theatre.

Among the Best Picture contenders are producers Todd Black (“Fences”), Angie Fielder (“Lion”), Jordan Horowitz (“La La Land”), Theodore Melfi (“Hidden Figures”), David Permut (“Hacksaw Ridge”), Adele Romanski (“Moonlight”), Kimberly Steward (“Manchester by the Sea”) and Julie Yorn (“Hell or High Water”), as well as Arianne Sutner, the producer of the Best Animated Feature nominee “Kobu and the Two Strings.” They will discuss their craft on the “Movers and Shakers” Producers Panel, moderated by the Los Angeles Times’ Glenn Whipp.

I always look forward to moderating the “It Starts With the Script” writers panel, which this year includes Oscar-nominated writers Luke Davies »

- Anne Thompson

30 January 2017 9:53 PM, PST

Spanish auteur Pedro Almodóvar is the next President of the Jury for the Festival International du Film de Cannes, which begins on the Riviera on May 17 and runs through May 28, 2017.

Cannes executives Pierre Lescure and Thierry Frémaux stated:

“For its 70th edition, the Festival de Cannes is delighted to welcome a unique and hugely popular artist. His works have already carved out an eternal niche in the history of film. A long and loyal friendship binds Pedro Almodóvar to the Festival, where he was a member of the Jury under the presidency of Gérard Depardieu.”

The filmmaker said:

“I am grateful, honoured and a bit overwhelmed. I am aware of the responsibility that entails being the president of the jury and I hope to be up to the job. I can only tell that I’ll devote myself, body and soul, to this task, that it is both a privilege and a pleasure. »

- Anne Thompson

30 January 2017 11:54 AM, PST

On January 24, halfway through the 2017 Sundance Film Festival, Sundance received its annual reconfirmation of its long-legged success: The Oscar nominations. This year it’s Kenneth Lonergan’s “Manchester by the Sea,” and documentaries “Life, Animated” and “Oj: Made in America.” (Another five docs were shortlisted.)

Among its many other achievements, Sundance breaks out new talent. Agents, casting directors, producers, and filmmakers trawl screening rooms, looking for their next find. They network and party and pass buzz as they go, even when they must plow through blizzards to do it.

Here’s a look at what we might be celebrating this time next year. But remember, it’s a long long way from January to January.

“Call Me By Your Name”

The most obvious Oscar movie stood out from a sea of aspiring American indies, which is likely what Sony Pictures Classics had in mind when they scooped up the film »

- Anne Thompson

29 January 2017 8:03 PM, PST

“I am an actor,” say the television and film stars in the room at the start of every Screen Actors Guild Awards show. SAG is a great bellwether for where the Academy’s dominant actors’ branch is heading every year. The SAG winners Sunday night got a nice boost heading toward Oscar voting.

This year, SAG nominations alerted awards watchers that “Hidden Figures,” “Hacksaw Ridge,” and “Fences” were contending against perceived frontrunners “La La Land,” “Manchester By the Sea,” and “Moonlight.” When SAG left showbiz musical “La La Land” out of the Ensemble race that often presages the eventual Best Picture winner, Oscar watchers were perplexed. Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling landed nominations, but no Ensemble. Did this reveal some kind of weakness? Obviously not, as the Academy accorded the film 14 nominations. All it means is that the movie is a romance focused on two people.

Best Ensemble: As two-hander »

- Anne Thompson

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