By Robert Goldrich

HOLLYWOOD, Calif. --

Whether you view the Oscar sea change from five to 10 best picture nominations as a watering down of the honor or as breaking the dam to open up the flow of competition to other deserving films, clearly the move has heightened interest in–and hopefully will boost TV audience for–next month’s Academy Awards.
    While the number of allotted nominations has not been upped in the other prime Oscar categories, paradoxically it didn’t take such an increase to yield greater inclusiveness in the best director competition.
    Oscar’s best director category duplicates the select field that earned Directors Guild of America (DGA) Award nominations: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker; James Cameron for Avatar; Lee Daniels on the strength of Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire; Jason Reitman for Up in the Air; and Quentin Tarantino for Inglourious Basterds.
    Two of these nominees represent the alluded to, often elusive element of diversity. Bigelow becomes only the fourth woman to be nominated for best director by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. On January 30, she earned the distinction of being the first female to win the DGA Award for outstanding feature directorial achievement, making her the favorite to take the Oscar, which would also be a first for a woman.
    Meanwhile Daniels is only the second African-American to garner a directorial nod from the Academy. If he goes on to win the Oscar, he too would be setting an historic precedent.
    Neither Bigelow or Daniels have focused on gender or race in their public appearances discussing the DGA and Academy Award nominations. Bigelow downplayed the gender angle backstage after winning the DGA Award.
    However, in a SHOOT Chat Room interview in January (1/15), Bigelow said of the possibility of setting such a precedent for female directors, “What’s important to me in that regard is that hopefully by doing what I do, perhaps it can translate into someone thinking that something seemingly impossible is possible. In that respect, I’m thrilled to be in a position to provide some inspiration to other woman filmmakers or woman who aspire to be filmmakers. To me that’s very important.”

Roundtable    The DGA nominees shed light on their work and influences during a DGA panel discussion the day of the Guild’s Awards ceremony. From this discussion (moderated by helmer Jeremy Kagan), SHOOT gleaned insights from these five filmmakers who now comprise the field of best director Oscar nominees.
    Bigelow said she gravitated to Jeremy Renner (a best actor Oscar nominee for his portrayal of expert bomb defuser Sgt. 1st Class William James) for The Hurt Locker based on his performance as serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer in the film Dahmer (2002). Bigelow recalled that somehow Renner was able to portray this gruesome murderer yet still leave room for viewers to feel some sense of compassion for the character. “I talked to Jeremy on the phone for two-and-a-half hours and I felt his acute and flexible imagination, liked his questions and thoughts. I hadn’t met him yet but I began casting the other characters as if he were the guy.”
    Still, though, auditions can also prove necessary in certain situations. While she finds that auditioning can be valuable, Bigelow said she sometimes winces at what actors must confront in the process. Citing how difficult the auditioning process can be for actors, she observed, “I feel more their pain than their prowess.”
    Daniels concurred, noting that he used to manage actors and that he finds the auditioning process “humiliating” and “a game.” Daniels said he prefers “to talk with actors, to connect as spirits” and to see if they can become “one” on a project.
    On the technology front, Cameron addressed a prime misconception about motion capture–that it represents the antithesis of acting. The reality is quite the opposite, he said, explaining that in motion capture, you take away lighting, makeup, hair, wardrobe. You take away every artifice, which enables a director and actor to focus on the core of the scene, to focus on performance.
    As for the best professional advice he had ever received, Reitman recalled that his father, director Ivan Reitman, said, “Your job [as a director] is to capture authenticity…Your barometer for comedy or drama isn’t as good as your barometer for honesty. You may not always know if something is funny or dramatic enough, but you do know whether it feels true.”
    Tarantino credited actor Harvey Keitel for his advice on how a director should handle auditioning actors. Keitel said a director shouldn’t tell the actor anything before he or she does the first reading. You can always adjust later. Adjustment is easy. But you want to get what the actor has at his or her core, what their choices and interpretations are in that first reading. It makes it easier for a director to assess what that actor has to offer.
    Asked what was best and worst about being a director, Bigelow said there is “no worst.” As for the best, she cited legendary director John Ford’s observation that “filming is like painting with an army.” Bigelow added, “I love that collaborative process, the team effort that impacts the result on the screen.”
    Reitman too only had a “best” part, relating simply that he values the opportunity “to tell stories using the culmination of every art form–and to tell those stories to so many people. The best part of directing is I get to do that.”
    Daniels quipped that the worst part is when “your mother tells you she hates your movie” and asks, “Why can’t you make movies like Tyler Perry?” The best part, he said seriously, is “having so many people cry in my arms, that they’ve been touched by the movie.” And he added that he’s also heard from people who have improperly touched children, seen his film and asked him, “How can I get help?”

In the Spirit    Meanwhile another director finds himself grouped in a best direction category with such notables as Daniels for Precious and the Coens (Ethan and Joel) for A Serious Man. The category is part of the 25th Film Independent Spirit Awards competition, and the alluded to director is Cary Joji Fukunaga for his film Sin Nombre.
    “Awards weren’t on my radar when making this film,” said Fukunaga. “I never thought much about awards but it certainly is nice to be recognized–and in this case, to be in the company of Lee Daniels and the Coen Brothers. Lee and the Coens are nominated for Oscars [Daniels for best director, best picture as a producer, and the Coen Brothers for best picture and best original screenplay] and to be grouped with them is an honor.”

While Fukunaga didn’t have awards in mind when making Sin Nombre (as writer/director), the film last year premiered in the dramatic competition of the Sundance Film Festival and won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award and the U.S. Dramatic Excellence in Cinematography Award (for DP Adriano Goldman). Sin Nombre is a thriller about the collision of a gang member on the run and a Honduran teenager traveling with her family through Mexico in hopes of finding a better life in the U.S.
    Sin Nombre has garnered a total of three Independent Spirit Award noms–the others being for best feature and best cinematography. The Spirit Awards honor films and filmmakers that embody independence and originality.
    Fukunaga, who is repped by Anonymous Content‘s talent management arm, last year became available for select spots and branded content via Anonymous’ commercial division. This led to his landing the centerpiece :60, “America,” in Levi’s “Go Forth” campaign from Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore. “America” features a black-and-white montage of landscapes and people from across the nation with a voiceover of what is thought to be an original wax cylinder recording of Walt Whitman reading from his poem of the same title.
    Fukunaga said he was gratified that W+K gave him the freedom to not only take on the project but to trust him to do so sans script or storyboards. “I was free to come up with shots as I saw them in interpreting and trying to do justice to reflecting the spirit of Whitman’s poem. I had four days to capture that, and it represented risk taking by Levi’s and Wieden.
    SHOOT caught up with Fukunaga in London where he is prepping an adaptation of Jane Eyre for Focus and the BBC. Shooting is slated to start in March.

Oscar/ASC/BAFTA nominees    Receiving his first career cinematography nominations for an Oscar, ASC Award and British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award was Mauro Fiore, ASC, on the basis of Avatar. Also garnering his first career Oscar and ASC noms was Barry Ackroyd, BSC, for The Hurt Locker. Ackroyd additionally landed a BAFTA nomination for The Hurt Locker, marking his fourth career nomination in that competition–the other three coming for the short film The Butterfly Man in ’97 (shared with Robin MacPherson), TV’s The Lost Prince in ’04,’ and the acclaimed feature United 93 in ’07.
    The latter, directed and written by Paul Greengrass, told the story of United Flight 93, one of the planes hijacked on 9/11 that crashed near Shanksville, PA, when passengers foiled the terrorist plot.
    Director Bigelow contacted Ackroyd about The Hurt Locker because she was drawn to his work on United 93. “That’s what brought us together and I’m so glad it did,” said Ackroyd. “Kathryn is a director who gives you her trust and going hand in hand with that she gives you space and freedom to work. I think the trust she placed in me stemmed from United 93, which had a style and signature I try to carry that’s rooted in my documentary background. My approach is to foster a sensitivity and humanism in looking at the characters whether it’s a documentary or a written script with actors. And certainly The Hurt Locker is a personal film that gets into the minds and faces of its characters, their interactions and reactions with each other.
    “Kathryn put together a great ensemble cast,” continued Ackroyd. “I’m very proud of her winning the DGA Award–one, because she made history as a woman, and also because it was for a small film with a big heart.”
    Ackroyd noted that his documentary experience helped him on The Hurt Locker which had a challenged budget and a pressing schedule. “In documentaries, you’re used to having to shoot something underlit or difficult to get or a once-in-a-lifetime moment,” he said. “Working that way has you keeping the attitude that you have to get it, that this may be your only opportunity. I have that attitude on every shoot.”
    Ackroyd feels extremely gratified over his first Oscar and ASC nominations. “They are such high honors–to be one of five films recognized means so much.”
    Repped by William Morris Endeavor (WME) for features and commercials, Ackroyd has been active in spots over the years and is looking to garner more choice ad work stateside via WME.
    For Avatar, Fiore caught the eye of Cameron on the strength of his cinematography on Tears of the Sun (’03), directed by Antoine Fuqua, and The Island (’05), directed by Michael Bay. “James was interested in my treatment of the jungle scenes in those films. He liked the way I treated and lit the environment, how natural it felt–and of course the jungle environment is a big part of Avatar. For him it was important to have a cinematographer whose job was lighting and camera compositions to make sure he had the right live action platform for the motion capture renderings.”
    Fiore said of Cameron, “His discipline and unbelievable dedication and patience with the technology he decides to use is inspiring. His commitment to a vision is a huge lesson for anyone who works with him. I know the importance of being committed in my lifetime but Jim makes you realize even more how vital that commitment is. I have never known anybody that dedicated 100 percent every waking moment.”
    Of the ASC, Oscar and BAFTA nominations, Fiore said, “I’m overwhelmed by them. To have my peers and colleagues regard and respect the work in that way is a huge honor.”
    Fiore added that his experience over the years in commercials helped him on Avatar. “Commercials are often very visually and technically involved, and entail having to put together things quickly. You sort of have to be able to embrace new technologies and ideas quickly, and just run with it.”
    At press time Fiore, who is repped as a DP by ICM, had wrapped lensing of a Samsung 3D television spot directed by The Twins of Rabbit Content for Leo Burnett, Chicago. Fiore is handled as a commercials director/cameraman by Independent Media, Santa Monica. Via Independent he recently directed a campaign for the NFL as well as promos for the FX Channel.

Short takes    Director Joachim Back of Park Pictures is steeped in spotmaking experience. He decided to diversify into longer form for the first time with a short film, The New Tenants, produced by Park Pictures and M&M Productions. Last week The New Tenants earned an Oscar nomination for best live action short. Back collaborated on the film with his commercial industry colleagues, including DP Pawel Edelman and editor Russell Icke (of The Whitehouse).
    A dark, twisted mistaken identity caper, the premise of The New Tenants, said Back, was an ideal outlet for the “fun madness I have inside.” The cast includes Vincent D’Onofrio, Jamie Harrold, Kevin Corrigan and David Rakoff. It was Rakoff who adapted the original script by Danish writer Anders Jensen.
    Since receiving the Academy Award nomination, Back said he’s been “getting emails and calls from interesting places” (a.k.a., different companies and agents) as momentum is starting to build for perhaps other long-form directing opportunities. “I’d like to do both–ads and features. I’m in love with telling stories.”
    Back observed that his commercialmaking regimen helped him immeasurably on The New Tenants. “I’ve shot more film over the years than some feature directors. Commercials have had me constantly working on different concepts, in different nationalities, crews, equipment and emotions. You collect a lot of experiences and you learn to express a message. The more you can turn over a camera, the better you can be.”

Spot ties    While the spot backgrounds of Back, Fiore and Ackroyd have been cited, several other nominees have commercialmaking ties, which were referenced last week in a SHOOT piece (2/3)–including Bigelow’s affiliation with RSA Films for commercials and branded content.
    The BAFTA Awards are slated for Feb. 21. The ASC Awards will be held on Feb. 27. The Spirit Awards ceremony is March 5. And the Academy Awards take place on March 7.

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