The Piano Lesson, directed by Malcolm Washington and co-written by Washington and Virgil Williams, will receive the 2024 Gotham Awards Ensemble Tribute at the 34th Annual Gotham Awards ceremony on Monday, December 2, 2024 at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City.
The Gotham Awards Ensemble Tribute was created in 2005 to recognize the talented casts whose artistry and chemistry captivate audiences on the big screen. With this tribute, The Gotham will honor The Piano Lesson’s cast which includes Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington, Ray Fisher, Danielle Deadwyler, Michael Potts, Corey Hawkins, and Erykah Badu.
“The Piano Lesson is a stunning adaptation, bringing August Wilson’s play to life with captivating cinematic artistry,” said Jeffrey Sharp, executive director of The Gotham Film & Media Institute. “The remarkable talent, effort, and chemistry of this brilliant ensemble cast forms the heart of the film, elevating its touching story of family legacy. It’s precisely this kind of collaborative excellence that our Ensemble Tribute Award aims to recognize.”
Constanze Romero-Wilson, executive producer of The Piano Lesson, said, “What Malcolm Washington, his brilliant filmmaking team and ensemble cast of John David Washington, Samuel L. Jackson, Danielle Deadwyler, Ray Fisher, Corey Hawkins, Michael Potts, Erykah Badu and Skylar Smith have achieved is an August Wilson story in cinematic form. His words still resonate…are still singing but so are the images, the performances, and the intimate window into each character’s inner world. I am honored and grateful to be part of this project which brings August Wilson’s meaningful stories to a new generation of audiences.”
Set in 1936 Pittsburgh during the aftermath of the Great Depression, The Piano Lesson–adapted from the Wilson play of the same name–follows the lives of the Charles family in the Doaker Charles household and an heirloom, the family piano, which documents the family history through carvings made by their enslaved ancestor.
Following a premiere at Telluride Film Festival in August, The Piano Lesson will be shown in select theaters starting November 8 and will be available to stream on Netflix on November 22. Produced by Denzel Washington and Todd Black, executive producers on the project include Constanza Romero Wilson, Jennifer Roth, and Katia Washington.
Since the category’s inception in 2005, the Gotham Awards’ Ensemble prize has been awarded to notable projects, including Fire Island, The Hurt Locker, Babel, Winter’s Bone, Moonlight, The Favourite, and The Trial of the Chicago 7.
Winners of the 34th Annual Gotham Awards will be honored at the same awards ceremony on Monday, December 2.
SCHROM x Yacht Club and Be Electric Studios Launch Electric XR for Virtual Production
SCHROM x Yacht Club, a full-service live-action, tabletop, and postproduction company, has teamed with Be Electric Studios, a soundstage, equipment rental, and virtual production company, to launch Electric XR, a virtual production collective.
Industry veteran Thomas Rossano will lead the new venture, which provides advanced virtual production solutions across multiple facilities. He brings over 25 years of experience in live-action, tabletop, postproduction and talent curation to enhance Electric XR’s offerings as a resource for brands and agencies, as well as other production companies in need of virtual production solutions. Additionally Rossano continues to serve as EP at XR New York (XR-NY), a role he’s held since December 2022. SCHROM x Yacht Club originally established XR-NY to help provide XR services for third-party rentals. While XR-NY will continue to function independently for SCHROM X Yacht Club, it now operates under the Electric XR umbrella.
Rossano’s expertise spans producing live-action commercials, branded content, interactive and experiential content. In addition to leading Electric XR, he holds responsibilities at SCHROM x Yacht Club which include driving business development, collaborating with sales reps and expanding the company’s creative talent network. Rossano’s career includes serving as an exec producer at Hungry Man for about 11 years, right from that company’s inception. He then went on to become a partner at Station Film where he also had a lengthy tenure. Later he was a partner at PRISM. Then after the pandemic hit, he became a freelance EP for nearly two years, looking into opportunities in virtual production, which led him to XR NY and now Electric XR. Over the years, he has produced high-profile... Read More