Bicoastal postproduction studio Modern Post has added colorist Taylor Schafer to its roster of creative talent. Bringing almost a decade of experience in the post industry, Taylor has made a career journey that includes roles as an assistant editor at AMC Networks and as both an assistant editor and colorist at Uppercut. Notably, she pioneered and expanded the color department, becoming that company’s first colorist. Schafer’s portfolio includes collaborations with brands such as Volvo, Meta, Verizon, MLB, Oscar de la Renta, Dockers, and Victoria’s Secret.
Schafer noted, “Modern Post has grown their finishing department a lot over the past year and I’m thrilled to contribute to the color team. The opportunity to work alongside another colorist and bounce ideas off each other is amazing.”
“Taylor’s work fits in beautifully with the Modern Post style and aesthetic. She is able to work alongside our team of editors to elevate their creative vision with the subtle art of color,” said Modern Post managing director Charlyn Derrick. “It’s also really exciting for us to bring on a female colorist. Having visibility across all levels and types of roles is something that is extremely important to us.”
Review: Malcolm Washington Makes His Feature Directing Debut With “The Piano Lesson”
An heirloom piano takes on immense significance for one family in 1936 Pittsburgh in August Wilson's "The Piano Lesson." Generational ties also permeate the film adaptation, in which Malcolm Washington follows in his father Denzel Washington's footsteps in helping to bring the entirety of The Pittsburgh Cycle — a series of 10 plays — to the screen.
Malcolm Washington did not start from scratch in his accomplished feature filmmaking debut. He enlisted much of the cast from the recent Broadway revival with Samuel L. Jackson (Doaker Charles), his brother, John David Washington (Boy Willie), Ray Fisher (Lymon) and Michael Potts (Whining Boy). Berniece, played by Danielle Brooks in the play, is now beautifully portrayed by Danielle Deadwyler. With such rich material and a cast for whom it's second nature, it would be hard, one imagines, to go wrong. Jackson's own history with the play goes back to its original run in 1987 when he was Boy Willie.
It's not the simplest thing to make a play feel cinematic, but Malcolm Washington was up to the task. His film opens up the world of the Charles family beyond the living room. In fact, this adaptation, which Washington co-wrote with "Mudbound" screenwriter Virgil Williams, goes beyond Wilson's text and shows us the past and the origins of the intricately engraved piano that's central to all the fuss. It even opens on a big, action-filled set piece in 1911, during which the piano is stolen from a white family's home. Another fleshes out Doaker's monologue in which he explains to the uninitiated, Fisher's Lymon, and the audience, the tortured history of the thing. While it might have been nice to keep the camera on Jackson, such a great, grounding presence throughout, the good news is that he really makes... Read More