Last week, right before the opening of the new film What Maisie Knew, I was invited to participate in a series of roundtable interviews with some of the talent involved in the movie. The big gets were obviously a few moments with Awards Circuit favorite Julianne Moore and the up and coming heartthrob Alexander Skarsgard, though also on hand were actresses Onata Aprile and Joanna Vanderham as well as the directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Obviously, having to share time with other journalists isn’t ideal, as you’re hoping to get in maybe one or two questions at max in the same time allotted for one on one chats, but you just have to make do. Below you’ll find the bit that I got to take part in, notably with Moore and Skarsgard.
10 minutes of music a day. That’s how much music Dino Meneghin has to compose for MTV’s run away hit Teen Wolf before the show’s premiere on June 3rd. It’s quite a bit of a departure for Dino, who before scoring the show was playing guitar for Michael Buble and Liz Phair (!). In one of the most fascinating interviews I’ve done, I spoke with Dino for 20 minutes on Sunday to talk about his journey to scoring for tv, his process, what it’s like creating at such a fast pace, and what we can look forward to on the new season of Teen Wolf. Check it out after the jump! Read more on WonderCon: Interview with ‘Teen Wolf’ composer Dino Meneghin…
I think it’s safe to say at this point that filmmaker Andrew Dominik has a bit of a following. The director of Chopper (2000), The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007), and most recently Killing Them Softly (2012) has yet to really find commercial success, but critical success has come early and often for Dominik. I’m obviously a fan of his latest film, and pretty much his whole career, so I jumped at the chance to speak to Dominik for a few minutes in advance of the flick coming to Blu-Ray and DVD. We touched on his work to date, what might be next for him, and just what his place in the world of film is. Dominik was a pretty interesting guy, so I hope everyone takes a listen to this interview. It’s after the jump. Read more on Andrew Dominik sits down to talk ‘Killing Them Softly’ and more!…
When you sit and talk with passionate people, it tends to bring out the passion in you. I love talking politics, so getting to chat with author and chef turned activist Tom Colicchio about the way a bill got mangled in Congress was really an incredible experience (almost as good as when I was seated next to MSNBC’s Chris Matthews at a Sundance screening and engaged with him in political chatter). In association with the release of the documentary A Place at the Table (my review of which can be found here), which talks about food insecurity in America, I was invited to attend a press day about a week ago that included a press conference with Jeff Bridges and the minds behind the doc (plus Billy Shore, who is the founder and CEO of No Kid Hungry), while also getting interview Colicchio and the co-directors/co-producers Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush. What follows is the highlight of my 1 on 1 with Colicchio, Jacobson, and Silverbush, as well as a few choice quotes from the press conference (the audio for both could go up soon if all goes according to plan, though you all know what that means). I hope you enjoy, but more importantly I hope you take notice of this incredibly sad and preventable issue that too many American families are dealing with on a daily basis. If enough people make their voices heard, we can eliminate hunger, and I hope we do soon…
One of the best things about attending SXSW is getting to meet awesome people like Reza Safinia. A former record producer, Safinia used his experience to craft the score for Snap, combining industrial and atmospheric sounds with dubstep, a genre that has become massively popular in the last few years. In our brief chat, we talked about everything from his experience on the film, what it’s like to compose for indie films, our favorite pieces of movie music, and I even got him to break down dubstep for me. Check it out after the jump! Read more on SXSW: Interview with ‘Snap’ composer Reza Safinia…
The Awards Circuit Power Hour is focusing on the Oscars 2013 Post Mortem. What were our big gripes with the show? How did Seth MacFarlane do as a host? Was it too long?
We also examine Ben Affleck’s Argo (2012) and its three Oscar wins for Picture, Editing, and Adapted Screenplay. How will the film stand the test of time and look next to other Best Picture winners? Was Ang Lee’s Life of Pi #2 in the lineup?
The Pros and Cons with the Oscar ceremony. What did they do right? What did they do wrong?
A look at all the winners: What was the biggest surprise of the night?
Terence has a rant on this week’s edition of “Stop Making It Happen” while Mark gives us some knowledge on this week’s “Did You Know?”
We introduce the new series that will be brought to you during the off-season including Michael Ward’s “Everything Comes Back Around,” Nicole Melkonian’s “Writer’s Block,” and Tiff Chai’s “International Circuit.”
Since the twelfth season of American Idol has kicked off, we begin our Past Idol Series with a short chat with Season 11′s Hallie Day, who made the Top 24. How was her experience on the show and what she has planned next in this past Idol world? Follow Hallie at @HDayAI11
We preview a bit of the Oscars 2014 and prepping you for next week’s preview. What film are we placing at #1 on our predictions? Also, what do you want to see at next year’s Oscar ceremony?
Growing up, there were few things I liked to watch more than ‘The Simpsons’. It was absolute genius to me, especially those first classic seasons. Fast forward to 2012, and my favorite animated film of the year was Wreck-It-Ralph. Go figure, the director of that flick is also one of the early helmers of ‘the hit FOX show. That sure got me excited for the chance to chat with filmmaker Rich Moore when Disney presented the opportunity to me. We had a fun chat which you’ll be able to see below. We pick things up right after our introductions and chatter about my puppy Ben (no, he’s not named after Ben Affleck, though I get asked that a lot). Enjoy!
It’s not every day you get to speak with someone who has even been to a porn shoot, let alone made a documentary about one of the bigger studios. But that’s what happened when I sat down with kink director Christina Voros at Java Cow in Park City last week. In what was perhaps the most fun I’ve had during an interview, Christina and I discuss her lightning rod of a film, the challenges of shooting porn without bias, and what it’s like working with James Franco. Check it out after the jump! Read more on SUNDANCE: Interview with ‘kink’ director Christina Voros…
One of the best things about Sundance is that you get to meet every matter of person involved in indie film. Miriam Cutler has been composing music for documentary films since 1988, authoring over 100 scores. She’s also been a longtime advisor in the Sundance Composers Lab, as well as a long time board member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. This year she’s back at Sundance having done the score for the documentary American Promise. We sat down at the hp Lounge to chat about the film, how the film scoring process works, and what she most enjoys about the work. Check out the interview after the jump! Read more on SUNDANCE: Interview with ‘American Promise’ composer Miriam Cutler…
Michael C. Hall is having a bit of a film breakout. Sure we all recognize him from Six Feet Under and Dexter, but his role as David Kammerer in the Sundance film Kill Your Darlings is something of a marvel, allowing the actor to show of his immense talent on the big screen. I got to chat with Michael about his experience working with John Krokidas, his character David Kamerer, and how much fun he had on set. Also, all you Dexter fans will want to listen till the end of the interview where he sheds some light on the new season. Check out the interview after the jump! Read more on SUNDANCE: Interview with ‘Kill Your Darlings’ star Michael C. Hall…
When I sat down with director Pablo Larrain, he was in great spirits. Who wouldn’t be after having their film nominated for an Academy Award and having it play at Sundance Film Festival to good reviews? Through the course of the interview Pablo talked about how thrilling it was to film using U-matic tape, the benefits of having a star like Gael Garcia Bernal in your film, and how he’s enjoyed the festival circuit. Check out the full audio after the jump! Read more on SUNDANCE: Interview with ‘No’ Director Pablo Larrain…
It’s that time of the year where we want to hear from all of you. There is a short 10 question survey for you to fill out and I beg that you take a few moments to fill out the survey in order to make the Awards Circuit a better place for all entertainment enthusiasts. Greatly appreciated!
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We’re kicking off our Park City Dispatch by bringing you an interview with Fred Melamed, one of the stars in Lake Bell’s U.S. Dramatic Competition entry In a World. The film, written and directed by Bell, is about an underachieving vocal coach that is motivated by her father (Melamed), the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voice over star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. As an accomplished voice actor himself (he’s done tons of work for the Grand Theft Auto series), Fred gets to use his unique experiences in a new way. We spoke with Fred this past Sunday about his Sundance film, his voice over experience, and his work with famed directors Woody Allen and the Coen Brothers. Check out the full audio interview after the jump!
Today I’m bringing you my chat with ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ co-star Jason Clarke. I had the pleasure of speaking in person with him a few weeks back at a luncheon in New York City, and Jason was kind enough to schedule a longer talk over the phone shortly thereafter. He’s a lot of fun to just shoot the breeze with, but he also has plenty to say about the Oscar hopeful film he has out now, as well as what’s coming up next for him.
Shortlisted for the 2013 Academy Awards, ‘Chasing Ice’ (2012) is considered a frontrunner in the Oscar race. Jeff Orlowski has agreed to answer a few questions before the holidays begin.
Q: How does it feel to be shortlisted for the 2013 Oscars?
JO: It somewhat goes without saying, but it is incredibly amazing to be on the shortlist. Our whole team is beside ourselves. There really are no words to describe how amazing it feels to be recognized like this. But most importantly, all the accolades are drawing more and more attention to the issue. That’s really the amazing thing about all of this. Read more on Chatting with Jeff Orlowski, Director of ‘Chasing Ice’…
Of the several feature documentaries that have been shortlisted for the 2013 Academy Awards, ‘Chasing Ice‘ (2012) is considered a frontrunner in the Oscar race. To share some thoughts after the completion and making it onto the 2013 Academy Awards shortlist for best documentary is one of the producers, Paula Dupré Pesmen, who also produced the multi-awarded and 2010 Oscar winner, ‘The Cove’ (2009). While preparing for film festivals and promotional events, she answered a few questions.
On Monday I was able to conduct a couple of ‘Zero Dark Thirty’ interviews on behalf of The Awards Circuit. Today I’m bringing you my chat with editors William Goldenberg and Dylan Tichenor. Both gentlemen are Oscar nominated craftsmen who rank in the top tier of their field. Collaborating on ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, they’re each having standout years and deserve all of the accolades being thrown their way. The guys were kind enough to speak to me by phone during the Los Angeles based Craft Junket for the film, and the transcript of our chat can be found below. Enjoy!
We had our first LIVE show this past Sunday at 6:00 pm on the Power Hour. For the most part, it was a success and with small kinks to work out, it may be something we adopt and do much more often.
This week we were joined by Ann Dowd, winner of the National Board of Review’s Best Supporting Actress award for her powerful performance in Craig Zobel’s Compliance. We speak with Ann about her most iconic roles, what’s next for the actress, and how she’s taking in the awards chatter thus far.
Following Ann’s chat, we have out FYC talk and take questions from you, the readers and suggestions about what films and performances we should consider for our year-end awards.
Last week I was invited to interview the actor/writer/director Edward Burns, a man who’s career I’ve followed with a great deal of interest for quite some time now. I’m a big fan of his new film ‘The Fitzgerald Family Christmas’, which is now out in limited release (my review can be found here), and he was more than happy to sit down with me and chat about all manner of things. The transcription begins shortly after him asking about my short time as a member of the New York City Police Department (his father Edward J. Burns was a former member of the NYPD as well, though he was a sergeant and the department spokesman, whereas I left early on in the Academy). The transcription of the interview can be found below:
It’s hardly a spoiler to say that ‘The Imposter’ is a documentary where all is not as it seems. Just look at its tagline: “Deception Comes Home”. Few films in general this year have inspired so much post viewing conversation among those who have seen it, so it was a no brainer to accept the offer to interview the director behind the doc Bart Layton. I was complimentary to the film when I saw it over the summer (my review is found here), though I had very mixed feelings about some of his filmmaking decisions. I’d come around on them a bit since then though, so getting to talk to Layton about it really helped to flesh out what exactly he was trying to accomplish. We’ll know soon-ish if the doc is truly in play for a Best Documentary Feature nomination at the Oscars, but it’s well worth seeing no matter what. Here’s the transcript of my interview with Bart Layton, a man fascinated by ‘The Imposter’, much like I was. Enjoy!
Sometimes the very first moment where you meet the person you’re about to interview really sets the tone for the talk to come. In the case of Kelly Reilly, I walked into the room we were going to use just as she was finishing up dealing with getting an apartment, so I’m sure the last thing on her mind was me. Still, she was incredibly warm and funny right from the start, so much so that we just chatted for about 10 minutes before I turned on the recorder. Even after that, we had a great talk about her work in ‘Flight’, among numerous other things, which is all you can ask for. I enjoyed the film (my review of which can be found here), so I was eager to talk with her, and she definitely didn’t disappoint.
There’s no two ways around it…getting to interview James Spader is a bit of an intimidating experience. Just look at the roles that he’s played over his career, and it’s hard to not think of those characters when you sit down to speak with him. Luckily for me, when I was invited to interview him about ‘Lincoln’ (a film I loved, and my review of which you can find here), I was delighted to learn he’s of course nothing like those individuals and was a gregarious and talkative guy, eager to chat with me about the likes of Nate Silver, the politics of ‘Lincoln’, and of course his scene stealing part in the film. It was a good, if short talk with an incredibly fascinating man.
Press junkets are a strange animal, to say the least. Sometimes they’re a lot of fun, but sometimes they can frankly be a mess. Luckily, late last week I was privy to one of the good ones, a morning in New York City spent in an upscale hotel interview just about everyone involved with the new film ‘Hitchcock’. I gave the film my thumbs up in a recent review (found here), but I freely admit that it’s not perfect, so I was interested in seeing why some of the talent made the choices that they did. The day consisted of several 1 on 1 interviews as well as a live press conference with a number of people, plus a video press conference with Anthony Hopkins. The interviews I conducted were with director Sacha Gervasi, stars James D’Arcy, Michael Stuhlbarg, Toni Collette, and Danny Huston, along with writer John McLaughlin, costume designer Julie Weiss, and production designer Judy Becker. Gervasi, D’Arcy, Stuhlbarg, Collette, and Huston were joined for the press conference by Helen Mirren and Jessica Biel, with Hopkins coming last. I didn’t get the chance to talk personally with Biel or Mirren, but I did wind up having Hopkins talk with me. That’s a funny story, and I’ll get to it momentarily, but for now sit back and enjoy the highlights of my ‘Hitchcock’ press junket coverage! I may wind up posting the entire interviews at a later date, but at the moment I’ve got a collection of the choice remarks from each individual. The time was very short with each one, but I’ll try and give a sense of what we talked about in those brief periods. Here we go.
I’m always cognizant of how lucky I am to be doing what I do for a living, but sometimes, to be frank, I have the best job on the planet. Early yesterday was one such day, as I was lucky enough to be among the limited non-sports press to be invited to chat with New York Mets player R.A. Dickey. For those of you who don’t know anything about him, he’s a pitcher for the Mets who utilizes a very rare pitch called the knuckleball. Dickey literally is a real life fairy tale, and the embodiment of hope and perseverance. He’s currently actually the only pitcher in baseball who throws the pitch and was one of the subjects of the documentary ‘Knuckleball!’ this year (my review of which can be found here). He’s one of my very favorite individuals in sports, and just a few days ago he was awarded the Cy Young, which is a prize given to the best pitcher in the league. It’s a great moment in sports, and as a diehard Met fan this was an opportunity I just couldn’t pass up.
Last week, right before the opening of the new film What Maisie Knew, I was invited to participate in a series of roundtable interviews with some of the talent involved in the movie. The big gets were obviously a few moments with Awards Circuit favorite Julianne Moore and the up and coming heartthrob Alexander Skarsgard, though also on hand were actresses Onata Aprile and Joanna Vanderham as well as the directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel. Obviously, having to share time with other journalists isn’t ideal, as you’re hoping to get in maybe one or two questions at max in the same time allotted for one on one chats, but you just have to make do. Below you’ll find the bit that I got to take part in, notably with Moore and Skarsgard.
One of the best things about attending SXSW is getting to meet awesome people like Reza Safinia. A former record producer, Safinia used his experience to craft the score for Snap, combining industrial and atmospheric sounds with dubstep, a genre that has become massively popular in the last few years. In our brief chat, we talked about everything from his experience on the film, what it’s like to compose for indie films, our favorite pieces of movie music, and I even got him to break down dubstep for me. Check it out after the jump! 
It’s not every day you get to speak with someone who has even been to a porn shoot, let alone made a documentary about one of the bigger studios. But that’s what happened when I sat down with kink director Christina Voros at Java Cow in Park City last week. In what was perhaps the most fun I’ve had during an interview, Christina and I discuss her lightning rod of a film, the challenges of shooting porn without bias, and what it’s like working with James Franco. Check it out after the jump! 
One of the best things about Sundance is that you get to meet every matter of person involved in indie film. Miriam Cutler has been composing music for documentary films since 1988, authoring over 100 scores. She’s also been a longtime advisor in the Sundance Composers Lab, as well as a long time board member of the Society of Composers and Lyricists. This year she’s back at Sundance having done the score for the documentary American Promise. We sat down at the hp Lounge to chat about the film, how the film scoring process works, and what she most enjoys about the work. Check out the interview after the jump! 
Michael C. Hall is having a bit of a film breakout. Sure we all recognize him from Six Feet Under and Dexter, but his role as David Kammerer in the Sundance film Kill Your Darlings is something of a marvel, allowing the actor to show of his immense talent on the big screen. I got to chat with Michael about his experience working with John Krokidas, his character David Kamerer, and how much fun he had on set. Also, all you Dexter fans will want to listen till the end of the interview where he sheds some light on the new season. Check out the interview after the jump! 
When I sat down with director Pablo Larrain, he was in great spirits. Who wouldn’t be after having their film nominated for an Academy Award and having it play at Sundance Film Festival to good reviews? Through the course of the interview Pablo talked about how thrilling it was to film using U-matic tape, the benefits of having a star like Gael Garcia Bernal in your film, and how he’s enjoyed the festival circuit. Check out the full audio after the jump! 
We’re kicking off our Park City Dispatch by bringing you an interview with Fred Melamed, one of the stars in Lake Bell’s U.S. Dramatic Competition entry In a World. The film, written and directed by Bell, is about an underachieving vocal coach that is motivated by her father (Melamed), the king of movie-trailer voice-overs, to pursue her aspirations of becoming a voice over star. Amidst pride, sexism and family dysfunction, she sets out to change the voice of a generation. As an accomplished voice actor himself (he’s done tons of work for the Grand Theft Auto series), Fred gets to use his unique experiences in a new way. We spoke with Fred this past Sunday about his Sundance film, his voice over experience, and his work with famed directors Woody Allen and the Coen Brothers. Check out the full audio interview after the jump!
