By Ryan Pearson, Entertainment Writer
PARK CITY, Utah (AP) --One Sundance movie was literally phoned in — the transgender prostitute tale "Tangerine."
The movie that premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival follows two characters Alexandra and Sin-Dee on a wild Christmas Eve night in Los Angeles as one chases after her pimp. It was shot entirely using iPhone 5s phones with anamorphic lens adapters.
"It made it more cinematic and we used this great app called Filmic Pro. And all of these combined really I think really gave us a really unique, really different look and that's something that we were trying to achieve with this film, because also the subject matter is kind of different," director Sean Baker said.
It was the first major role for transgender actress Mya Taylor, who co-stars with real life friend Kiki Kitana Rodriguez.
"Oh, yes. Everything that's in the movie is exactly what goes on in that area with those transgender people," Taylor said.
Baker said one of his main motivations behind the film was his desire to shoot at a the intersection of Santa Monica Boulevard and Highland Avenue in Los Angeles — and then finding the story that went with that.
"It's a very chaotic area. It's a place that I've always noticed as a very dramatic, colorful area and … I knew that it would be cinematic," he said. "So, it was just about finding a story to tell that took place there. And so we went in and we sort of introduced ourselves to everybody in the area. We worked our way in with the research process and that's where we met Mya."
The movie comes at a moment when transgender characters are being seen more than ever in mainstream media, including Golden Globe winner Jeffrey Tambor's character on the Amazon show "Transparent" and Laverne Cox on Netflix's "Orange is the New Black."
"I'm very happy about what's going on with transgender people coming out into the screen, because it's unheard of, you know? … I'm proud of those shows, I think they're wonderful and this brings a good add-on to it, because it kind of brings you inside some of the lives of transgender people," Taylor said.
"Tangerine" was well-received at Sundance and will be released by Magnolia Pictures later this year.
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