Molly Manners has joined Biscuit Filmworks’ directorial roster in the U.K. Manners is a versatile director and writer whose natural comedic instincts and arresting art direction mark her commercial, TV, branded content, and short film projects. Born and raised in London, Manners began her career at Channel 4’s in-house agency 4Creative where she created award-winning TV promo campaigns including “Funny Fortnight” and “Short Shorts,” and the viral satirical short form hit Mini in Chelsea. Her work has earned awards from D&AD, The British Arrows, and the Creative Circle. In addition to her experience as a creative and director in the commercial world, Manners also directs longer form narrative projects. Her short film Here Boy, which received funding through Creative England + BFI’s Funny Girls/iShorts program, went on to be picked up by Amazon, and she recently directed an episode of Sky Arts’ comedy series Urban Myths focusing on a 1984 encounter between Andy Warhol and Donald Trump….
Toronto production company Someplace Nice has added director Bo Platt to its roster for Canadian representation. Platt’s body of work spans such brands as Nissan, Acura, YouTube Music, Ducati, Dempsters, Sleeman, Bell and Manulife. Platt started his career in documentary filmmaking at age 19, working on projects in regions as far afield as Africa and India–including a documentary on Tibetan refugees and the Dalai Lama. He began directing as an early member of the Motion Theory collective. Later he moved to Paris, where he established his name as an in-demand international director. Now living in Los Angeles, he is focusing primarily on North American work…..
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