By Robert Goldrich
Welcome to the Special Fall 2015 Edition of SHOOT’s Directors Series. Our mix of profiles consists of Lenny Abrahamson, whose feature Room won the Toronto International Film Festival’s coveted Audience Award, often a harbinger of Oscar recognition; Ridley Scott, the celebrated filmmaker behind The Martian which has gained critical acclaim and box office success; Lauren Greenfield of Chelsea Pictures whose “#LikeAGirl” for P&G/Always last month won the Primetime Commercial Emmy, adding to its collection of awards; Scott Cooper, helmer of Black Mass, lauded on several fronts including for the performance of Johnny Depp as James “Whitey” Bulger; Todd Haynes whose Carol starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, won this year’s Queer Palm Award at the Cannes Film Festival; Cary Fukunaga, writer/director/cinematographer on Beasts of No Nation, the first in a slate of feature films from Netflix; and Brendan Gibbons of Station Film who’s breaking new ground in comedy with Red Velvet, an experimental 360 virtual reality short.
A number of these directors—in addition to Gibbons and documentarian Greenfield—have a spotmaking connection. Scott of course founded the venerable RSA Films, got his start in commercials, and has credits that include the iconic Apple Super Bowl spot “1984.” Fukunaga, whose filmography includes “America,” the wrap to Levi’s “Go Forth” campaign, continues to be handled for spots by Anonymous Content (which also produced the first season of HBO’s True Detective, earning Fukunaga an Emmy Award for directing). Haynes is repped by Moxie Pictures for select ad assignments. And Cooper has taken on his first career commercialmaking representation, joining the roster of the newly formed Superprime Films.
Meanwhile our lineup of promising, up-and-coming directorial talent includes: a duo whose first feature premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival, led to a second feature and a commercial production house affiliation; a Cannes Lion-winning director in India who is making his first foray into the American ad market; a sibling duo who recently signed with a high-profile production company for commercials, bringing with them a track record in the documentary discipline spanning both a feature and a series of docu shorts for ESPN; an accomplished VFX supervisor who has successfully settled into the director’s chair; and a husband-and-wife team who just landed their first formal representation in the U.S., a market in which they’ve experienced success on their own with client-direct work for the likes of Nike, among others.
And then in our Cinematographers & Cameras Series, we meet three DPs—one who lensed The 33, a narrative feature chronicling the real-world survival and rescue of 33 miners trapped for 69 days in a gold and copper mine in Chile; another who’s been prolific with her recent shooting of the features Freeheld, Creed and The Visit; and a third whose gaining acclaim for his work on the feature Suffragette.
Plus we have a sponsored Profile in which Tröll Pictures’ Peter Steinzeig discusses directors The Snorri Brothers and Natalie Johns.
So read on and enjoy. As always, we welcome your feedback.
Director's Profiles:
Lenny Abrahamson
Scott Cooper
Cary Joji Fukunaga
Brendan Gibbons
Lauren Greenfield
Todd Haynes
Ridley Scott
Sponsored Profile:
Troll Pictures
Features:
Cinematographers & Cameras
Up-And-Coming Directors
Rom-Com Mainstay Hugh Grant Shifts To The Dark Side and He’s Never Been Happier
After some difficulties connecting to a Zoom, Hugh Grant eventually opts to just phone instead.
"Sorry about that," he apologizes. "Tech hell." Grant is no lover of technology. Smart phones, for example, he calls the "devil's tinderbox."
"I think they're killing us. I hate them," he says. "I go on long holidays from them, three or four days at at time. Marvelous."
Hell, and our proximity to it, is a not unrelated topic to Grant's new film, "Heretic." In it, two young Mormon missionaries (Chloe East, Sophie Thatcher) come knocking on a door they'll soon regret visiting. They're welcomed in by Mr. Reed (Grant), an initially charming man who tests their faith in theological debate, and then, in much worse things.
After decades in romantic comedies, Grant has spent the last few years playing narcissists, weirdos and murders, often to the greatest acclaim of his career. But in "Heretic," a horror thriller from A24, Grant's turn to the dark side reaches a new extreme. The actor who once charmingly stammered in "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and who danced to the Pointer Sisters in "Love Actually" is now doing heinous things to young people in a basement.
"It was a challenge," Grant says. "I think human beings need challenges. It makes your beer taste better in the evening if you've climbed a mountain. He was just so wonderfully (expletive)-up."
"Heretic," which opens in theaters Friday, is directed by Scott Beck and Bryan Woods, co-writers of "A Quiet Place." In Grant's hands, Mr. Reed is a divinely good baddie — a scholarly creep whose wry monologues pull from a wide range of references, including, fittingly, Radiohead's "Creep."
In an interview, Grant spoke about these and other facets of his character, his journey... Read More