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B I Z + BU Z Z
Into the Dark Ages? Festivals boost awards
contenders, but shouldn’t
lose role as new talent
launch pads

By Dan Mirvish

As we head into awards season, it’s

worth considering where all these
contenders are coming from and
how did they get here? For most
of these high-profile movies, the
first time they hit the public con-
sciousness is when they played at
one of the handful of specific film
festivals in the late summer and
early fall. Especially this year, when
Cannes was pushed two months
from its normal May date, almost
every Oscar contender “pre-
miered” in the window between
July and September in some
combination of Cannes, Venice,
Telluride, Toronto and the New
York Film Festival.
All of which is great for those
films, the filmmakers and their
distributors. But this compressed
schedule has also skewed the
landscape of independent film-
making, particularly in the eyes
of the press and industry. With
The Malt Shop

Scott Monahan’s
the class of awards-contending “Anchorage”
films taking so much oxygen played at
out of the air, it’s left it hard to Oldenburg.
8 ● BIZ + BUZZ
breathe (especially through our
N95s) for the rest of the indie film
community — filmmakers and
film festivals alike.
Those “big five” film festivals
have for years used a metric of
success that counted how many
Oscar winners and nominees
played at their festivals. In 12 of
the past 13 years, the winner of the
Toronto People’s Choice award
went on to be an Oscar best pic-
ture nominee, with five winning
the top Oscar. Telluride viciously
fights with Toronto and Venice for
taste-making premieres. The New
York Film Festival fetishizes films
that premiered in Cannes — all
the better if their Oscar-bound
directors come to visit. Venice
loves its Hollywood stars, and
even Cannes finally got a taste of
Oscar glory when Bong Joon Ho’s
“Parasite” became the first Palme
d’Or winner in 65 years to win the
Academy Award for best picture.
And the reality is that an “indie”
film — at least an American one
— won’t seriously be considered
for any of those festivals unless
it already has a U.S. distributor, a
major international sales agent
lobbying for it and/or an A-list
actor in it.
“I think this was the case even
before COVID happened. So many
of the fall film festivals thought,
probably correctly, that if they
became showcases for the Oscar
buzz, that would draw more press
and industry attention to them,”
says producer and distribution
consultant Brian Newman. “This
can be great for local audiences
who want the thrill of seeing
some celebrities, but it deprives
the audiences of new discoveries,
and the industry has less chance
to find them as well [are they even
looking?].”
Filmmaker and film historian
Noel Lawrence adds, “In many
cases, the autumn A-list festivals
Slamdance are giving up their agency. They
co-founder
have the opportunity to add a
Dan Mirvish’s
“18½” is on the
voice to the cultural conversa-
international tion by discovering new talent.
fest circuit. Instead, they are functioning as
Freddie Gibbs
starrer “Down
With the King”
premiered
at the Austin
Film Festival.
the marketing arm of studios and
streaming juggernauts.”
Of course, if you’re a narrative
feature filmmaker who didn’t
have a shot at the Big Five Fests
(which is to say, 95% of American
indie films made each year),
what you’re really looking for is
a “discovery” festival. These are
the kinds of festivals where dis-
tributors get in heated bidding
wars and film critics breathlessly
tweet hyperbolic adjectives. Even
pre-pandemic, the discovery
festival schedule in the U.S. was
skewed toward winter and spring
festivals. If you finished your film
by September, you submitted to
Sundance and Slamdance. A little
later, then SXSW. A month later,
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
you applied to Tribeca, which
has usually been held in late
April/early May. It’s not like any
of those festivals are immune to
distributor pressure, salty sales
agents or saucy star wattage for
their selections. And especially
with Sundance and Tribeca, a
great many slots are taken up by
alumni of their own labs. But at
least a handful of films, with no
juice behind them, would show up
every year at those festivals and
have a very slight chance to make
an impression. Just enough to
keep the dream alive for the next
year’s crop! At least the main met-
ric for success at these festivals
wasn’t how many Oscars their
films would generate, but how
many films got acquired for dis-
tribution. That at least guaranteed
a facade of discovery, even if many
deals were made ahead of time.
There are definitely other
options internationally where
an American indie can premiere
a film and gain some traction
with press and distributors. It’s
still not easy to get into the likes of
Karlovy Vary, Deauville, Locarno,
Tallinn, Rotterdam, San Sebastian,
São Paulo, Vienna, Busan or
Thessaloniki as an American film
without a sales agent. Apart from
anything else, some of these fests
get subsidized by the E.U. or other
governmental bodies and have
de facto quotas keeping the U.S.
numbers to a minimum. There
are bright sparks though, even
during the fall months. Festivals
such as November’s American
Film Festival in Wroclaw, Poland,
and September’s Oldenburg in
Germany specifically have sec-
tions devoted to American indies,
even ones that haven’t yet been
Down with the King: Stage 6 Films; 18 1/2: Bugeater Films
validated by U.S. festivals, agents
or distributors.
“Oldenburg has always been
dedicated to find new voices and
support those who dare to explore
new ground rather than those
who chose the easy approach to
mainstream areas of distribution,”
says festival co-founder/execu-
tive director Torsten Neumann.
“It is still great to see some of our
choices move on towards the
Oscars, but this is different from
just offering a showcase for those
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
films that already collected their
festival merits and have already
secured a strong distribution for
their further way. There are way
too few festivals left on the circuit
who dare to fill these niches.”
The COVID pandemic has
changed so many things in the film
world, including this delicate bal-
ance between awards-pandering
festivals and discovery festivals.
For much of 2020 and early 2021,
most festivals around the world
evolved into online versions, if
they survived at all. A recent sur-
vey by Dear Producer and the Film
Festival Alliance of primarily U.S.
festivals showed that 80% of festi-
vals continued to have some kind
of “event” during the height of the
pandemic, and of those, over 80%
had virtual screenings. Only about
a quarter had drive-in screenings
and less than 18% had in-person
theatrical screenings.
Many festivals also signed a
mutual-non-aggression pact
(spearheaded by Seed & Spark)
that put the ice on premiere-sta-
tus politics that normally pit film
festivals against each other with
filmmakers stuck in the middle.
The festival world was “all in this
together” just trying to survive
along with filmmakers. On the
other hand, many filmmakers
strategically eschewed online
screenings and tried to wait
out the pandemic as best they
could. For some films, such as Jim
Cummings and P.J. McCabe’s “The
Beta Test,” that meant a few rare
live festival screenings (including
Berlin), a deal with IFC and then
a nice theatrical run this fall. For
more esoteric filmmakers includ-
ing Noel Lawrence, who pre-
miered his film “Sammy-Gate”
in Rotterdam a week before the
world shut down, they’ve refused
all online festivals and are plan-
ning a live screening strategy
similar to Neon’s approach
with “Memoria.”
Then there are all the film-
makers who spent the pandemic
making new films sequestered in
their apartments (such as Selina
Ringel and Dan Levy Dagerman’s
“Single Mother by Choice,” which
skipped festivals completely and
sold straight to HBO Max).
Starting last summer, festivals
gingerly returned to more theatri-
cal events, usually hybridized with
online screenings, too. But there
was a lot of catching up to do.
Some festivals, such as Tribeca,
had promised many online-only
films from their 2020 editions
would get in-person screenings
there in 2021, thus cutting down
the number of new films they
could invite.
Most festivals drastically
reduced the number of films
they accepted in 2020 and those
slots have stayed sparse into 2021.
In other words, there’s arguably
twice as many films jockeying
for half as many festival berths
this year. A film that had a snow-
ball’s chance in hell of getting
into Sundance in a normal year,
now arguably has a 25% chance
of being that snowball. Combine
that with the travel restrictions
that still make it difficult to go to
festivals from South America to
Asia to Europe, and it’s clear the
festival world is still not back to
normal, and probably won’t be
until at least the summer.
So for new indie films, where
does that leave us? Sundance still
won’t be back to pre-pandemic
“normal” this year. Not everyone
can, should or wants to wait for six
months to a year for a Sundance
that has promised to show fewer
films than normal (in an environ-
ment that’s a cauldron for viruses
even in a non-pandemic year).
Some filmmakers may have a vari-
ety of political reasons for avoid-
ing Texas, so SXSW might not be
a great option for everyone. And
as the pandemic has shown us,
time and mortality are precious:
If you’ve got a finished film burn-
ing a hole in your hard drive, the
inclination is to get it out, show it to
festival audiences (live ones if you
can find them) and try to get dis-
tribution. Quick! Before you, your
investors or your audience die!
For some filmmakers, myself
included, we’ve embraced the
strategy of making the most of
the fluctuating festival landscape.
Films such as Jack Fessenden’s
“Foxhole” world-premiered
in Oldenburg in September,
U.S. premiered at Woodstock
in October and sold to Samuel
Goldwyn by November — all with
barely a whisper among the elite
film twitterati.
My own new Watergate thriller/
comedy, “18½,” world-premiered
at Woodstock, won jury prizes
at Tallgrass and Rome (Georgia),
played top international festi-
vals from São Paulo to Spain,
and quickly earned 100% on
Rotten Tomatoes.
“I have always been reared that
as filmmakers you premiere your
VARIETY ● 9
films at festivals in the spring,” says
Dean Peterson, director of “Kendra
and Beth,” which also premiered
in Woodstock. “But with the pan-
demic throwing everything into
disarray I ended up premiering
my new film in the fall and had a
really great experience that was
so much more centered around
audiences who were truly there to
see interesting, new films.”
Meira Blaustein, Woodstock’s
co-founder and executive direc-
tor, concurs, “Discovering and
supporting independent new
talents and sharing their work
with an engaged audience that is
savvy and interested is something
that the Woodstock Film Festival
always cherishes.”
What the festival world really
needs is to recalibrate its calen-
dar and hope that the industry
and press take notice. Between
Tribeca and Park City, there’s an
eight-month gap that could be
filled by other fests focused on
discovery rather than awards.
“Toronto could be that festi-
val, but it’s primarily a premiere
slot for much bigger films, to the
extent that even their few solid
indies get lost in the red carpet
maze of the normal years [and
Dean Peterseon’s
this year, for many, it was all vir-
“Kendra and
Beth” premiered
tual],” says Newman. “I can think
at Woodstock in of some quality regional fests who
October. have a handful of premieres, but
none that catch the eye of the
press or industry. Someone could
start it, or reposition for it, but
I’m honestly not sure if the press
or industry would pay attention
when they’re both busy keeping
their minds set on the status quo.”
Even after the pandemic
thinned the ranks of festivals,
there are still some amazing
ones all around the globe, spread
across the calendar, and in every
state in the union. As Newman
says, it’s going to be a challenge.
But now’s the time for some of
them to step up their games and
come out swinging as the next
great discovery festival. It can’t
hurt to try.
Co-founder of the Slamdance Film
Festival, filmmaker Dan Mirvish’s
new film, “18½,” is on the interna-
tional festival circuit and is enter-
taining several distribution offers.
10 ● BIZ + BUZZ 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2

Hollywood serves up
There Will Be awards family style

Blood Relations

By Tim Gray

Is it possible that every best pic- Sian Heder, the writer-director

ture nominee this year will be
about families? Among the 2021
Oscar contenders are “Belfast,”
“CODA,” “Dune,” “King Richard,”
“Mass,” “Parallel Mothers” and
“The Power of the Dog” and there
are plenty of other serious con-
tenders with a similar focus.
It’s not unusual for drama to
center on families; that’s been
going on since the 5th century
B.C., when Aeschylus wrote
his “Oresteia.”
However, it IS unusual for
one subject to dominate the
Oscar roster.
Usually the Academy Awards
offer a mix of topics, as last year
when the eight BP contenders
included two family-centric
pieces, “The Father” and “Minari.”
That modest percentage has
been pretty consistent since the
Oscars expanded the category
with the 2009 films.
of “CODA,” tells Variety: “During
COVID, the year of 2020 took
everything away in a sense and
people were trapped — either
with their family or away from
their family. Everybody took
stock of what’s important.”
Marlee Matlin, a supporting-ac-
tress contender for the film, says,
“COVID recharged our memories
of being family.”
Zach Baylin scripted “King
Richard,” centering on the
father of Venus and Serena
Williams. Baylin came to the
project long before COVID, in
fall 2017, at a meeting with Tim
White (who runs Star Thrower
production company with his
brother Trevor).
“Richard” started filming in
March 2020, then shut down
for six or seven months. Baylin “King Richard” As Baylin says, “The Williams family, such as “Luca,” “Tick, Tick
says, “The collective experience is about collective family is so much about collec- … Boom!” and “West Side Story.”
determination of
in COVID: Your life is frozen, tive determination. It wasn’t just It may be a coincidence that
the whole Williams

Many of the 2021 movies were
planned long before COVID, so
it’s interesting that they arrive at
such a timely moment.
and frozen within family unit.
The lockdown crystallized that
these are the most important
things in life.”
family, says
Richard’s plan; it was a total fam-
screenwriter ily effort from both parents and
Zach Baylin. all five sisters. That became an
integral part of the movie.”
Many films this year explore
the ups and downs of families,
and generally come to a posi-
tive conclusion, including “The
Tender Bar,” Asghar Farhadi’s “A
Hero,” “C’mon C’mon,” “The Hand
of God” and “The Humans.”
Other films have a withering
view at blood relations, such
as “House of Gucci,” “The Many
Saints of Newark,” “Spencer” and
“The Lost Daughter,” in which
Olivia Colman re-evaluates
her life and concludes “I’m an
In “Parallel
Mothers” Milena
unnatural mother.”
Smit and Penélope Other movies center on a
Cruz form a unit. group trying to create an ad-hoc
King Richard: Warner Bros.; Parallel Mothers: Iglesias Más/Sony Pictures Classics
so many films arrived at such an
opportune moment, or maybe
Hollywood tapped into the zeit-
geist. Filmmakers and studio
executives need to be a little
psychic in order to predict what
audiences will want a few years in
advance. This year, a lot of them
had perfect timing.
In “Dune,” Mother Superior
reminds Paul: “You have two
birthrights.” He is of the House
of Atreides, with his dad
ruling planet Caladan. But his
mother is a member of Bene
Gesserit, and her mystical talents
prove crucial.
In “Belfast,” Jamie Dornan
debates whether to accept a job
offer in England, separating him
from his family. His father (Ciaran
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
Hinds) says, “The whole family
looks out for you and wherever
you go, that’d be the truth.”
In “Bergman Island,” a film
expert reminds the protagonist
that Ingmar Bergman sired nine
children from six different moth-
ers, adding, “He wasn’t much of
a family man.” The movie by
Mia Hansen-Løve asks: Could
Bergman have created all his
films, TV works and plays if
he had taken the time to be a
better father?
Another absentee dad is at the
center of Amazon’s “The Tender
Bar,” directed by George Clooney.
In a voiceover narration, adult
J.R. (Tye Sheridan) says, “When
you’re 11, everyone wants an
Uncle Charlie.” J.R.’s journey
includes his search for a father
figure, which is filled by his uncle
(Ben Affleck).
Pixar-Disney’s “Luca” centers
on a similar search. Luca is part
of a “sea monster” clan; he takes
human form on dry land, because
he has emotional needs that can’t
be met by his underwater family.
The film was scripted by Mike
Jones and Jesse Andrews.
Mass: Bleecker Street; Power of the Dog: Kirsty Griffin/Netflix
“Luca has a restrictive rela-
tionship with his parents and is
determined to break out of that,”
Jones says. “It’s a search for a
new family.”
Andrews adds that it’s a “found
family” on land: “You’re an out-
sider in your own family and that
makes you an underdog, and you
find other underdogs.”
Filmmakers this year have pre-
sented the family in ways that
seem radical because they are so
far removed from Hollywood’s
usual approach.
There are also
troubled families
such as Ann Dowd,
Reed Birney,
Michelle N. Carter,
Jason Isaacs and
Martha Plimpton in
“Mass” and Kirsten
Dunst’s in “The
Power of the Dog.”
For example, Netflix’s “The
Lost Daughter” gives a startling
view of motherhood: A realistic
one. Over the years, movies have
presented mothers who are mon-
sters (“Mommie Dearest,” “The
Manchurian Candidate”) or pure
love (Bambi’s mom, Marmee
March, Ma Joad).
In “Lost Daughter,” which
Maggie Gyllenhaal wrote and
directed from a novel by Elena
Ferrante, the protagonist Leda
(an outstanding Olivia Colman)
is neither terrifying nor Mother
Earth. She’s human.
On vacation in Greece, she
becomes fascinated with young
mother Nina (Dakota Johnson),
who says of her young daughter,
“She’s driving me crazy … some-
times I just can’t handle it.” Leda
observes, “Children are a crush-
ing responsibility”; it’s not a cry
for help, not a complaint — it’s
just a fact.
VARIETY ● 11
In any year, audiences could
relate. But for those who have
been in prolonged lockdown with
their children, this is reassuring.
The film is telling less-than-per-
fect parents, to use the current
vernacular: You’ve been seen.
Jane Campion’s “The Power of
the Dog” offers another COVID-
era reflection: There’s often trou-
ble when families live in close
quarters, such as the Burbank
brothers (Benedict Cumberbatch,
Jesse Plemons) plus Rose Gordon
(Kirsten Dunst) and her son (Kodi
Smit-McPhee).
“Respect,” starring the amaz-
ing Jennifer Hudson as Aretha
Franklin, gives a nuanced spin to
religion. Usually when Hollywood
depicts a religious family, they
are pious and firm in their con-
victions. Franklin’s father was a
Baptist minister, C.L. Franklin,
and in “Respect,” the Franklins
are firm in their beliefs but exhibit
every sign of human frailty. It hits
home with families whose faith
was challenged or strengthened
— or both — during COVID.
The term “family movie” has
gotten a bad rep because they
often are calculated to appeal
to the widest audience, with
simplistic storytelling. Writer
Baylin says the “King Richard”
team talked about their film as
not a “family movie” but a “movie
about a family.” It’s a subtle but
important distinction.
As “CODA’s” Heder sums up, “I
think many people have emerged
from the pandemic with the
conclusion that nothing matters
except the people we love. ‘CODA’
is a classic story but the timing
here is important.”
12 ● BIZ + BUZZ
Passion Keeps
Hope Alive
Paul Kulak likes to say that sing-
er-songwriters are his only vice.
It’s more like an all-consuming
passion. In 1999 he created, and
has since invested his whole life
in, Kulak’s Woodshed, a North
Hollywood video recording studio
and live performance space. The
Laurel Canyon Boulevard store-
front has hosted thousands of
artists, ranging from the famous
likes of Jackson Browne and
Christopher Cross to teenage
composers and people who’ve
postponed their musical aspira-
tions until their children grew up.
“I had a crazy dream to open a
small venue for singer-songwrit-
ers where they could come in and
feel at home no matter what your
level of talent,” the 62-year-old
Kulak says at the Woodshed, amid
the mismatched used furniture
and wall-mounted album covers,
posters, distressed playthings and
other bric-a-brac that lend the
place a Salvation Army store look.
The appeal to anyone hoping
to be heard in the competitive
and often exploitative L.A. music
scene soon became apparent.
Especially since Kulak provided
everything — staging the shows,
recordings, the Woodshed’s pio-
neering live-video webcasts — for
free to the artists.
Until his money ran out.
“I paid for it myself for the first
10 years, then we had to turn into
some semblance of a real busi-
ness,” Kulak says, still feeling lousy
about the necessary decision.
Some musicians have never
forgiven him for that. Many oth-
ers, though, discovered that what
they got for a nightly rental of
$300 was a bargain unmatched
Paul Kulak in his
Woodshed, a video
recording studio,
on Laurel Canyon,
that he opened
for musicians.
anywhere else in town: recordings
of a live webcast, two-hour show
made with a 24-track console and
six HD cameras (including the
remote-controlled “skateboard
cam” Kulak mounted along tracks
on an upper wall), plus 100% of
any ticket and merch sales they
could generate in the 49-seat
listening room.
“We are the only video/record-
ing studio where you can earn all
of your rental cost back and even
make a profit,” Kulak notes.
Though it has 10,000 hours of
shows archived, the Woodshed
has rarely made a profit. There
have been fundraising perfor-
mances to literally keep the lights
(and sound system) on. Lifelong
bachelor Kulak lives a Spartan
lifestyle; pet doves have been
his main companions since the
COVID pandemic shut the venue
down 22 months ago.
Paul Kulak’s Woodshed
continues to be a resource
for local musicians despite
COVID
By Robert Strauss
Yet it’s still there, thanks to an
SBA grant and a couple of Go
Fund Me campaigns. Kulak has
booked a handful of recording ses-
sions since October, although the
Omicron surge has postponed the
first show with a live audience, fea-
turing Severin Browne (Jackson’s
brother) and James Lee Stanley,
that was scheduled for Jan. 7.
“People have asked me the last
few months, ‘You barely survived
for 20 years while you were open,
and now that you’re closed you’re
still surviving. How do you do
that?’“ Kulak notes. “You might say
that I’ve got some of the toughest
fingernails in town. Hanging on
for dear life for 20 years kind of
prepped me.”
Of course, a lot of musicians
spent lockdown time learning
how to make their own recordings
and webcasts, and Kulak wonders
how many of them will still find
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
what he has to offer relevant.
Another question is, will the cozy
community of local regulars and
visitors from around the world
regenerate under COVID proto-
cols and concerns?
A self-described “socially autis-
tic” loner who’s wrestled with
chronic depression his whole
life, Kulak somewhat dreads the
prospect of interacting with per-
formers and patrons again.
But as with any vice addict,
there’s no choice.
“I don’t have anything else that I
want to do,” Kulak says.
And if history is any indication,
he’ll somehow make it work.
“I think the most impressive
thing is that someone like me, with
all my faults and hang ups, would
be able to not only create some-
thing that others like but to be
able to rather miraculously keep
it going 22 years,” Kulak says.”
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2 SCENE STEALER ● 13

Suzanna Son
‘Red Rocket’

By Stuart Miller

On the first day of her first for two hours and I want to see Baker called and soon she was I am. I was very frightened as a
movie, Suzanna Son had to play that person on screen for two transforming herself into the teenager,” Son says.
keyboards and sing a song for a hours,’” Baker says. “When I saw 17-year-old Strawberry, who flirts While Strawberry has a “soft
crucial, poignant scene. Oh, and Suzi I said to Samantha, ‘If she’s with Rex’s porn star Mikey Saber, sadness” underneath the surface
before that, she launched her not already a star she will be.’” both aware of and heedless and no one to advocate for her,
film career off by shooting her Son, who had a background of the consequences. “she’s very buoyant and two steps
sex scenes. in music and dancing, had just “I listened to young, poppy ahead of everyone else. I really
“Red Rocket” director Sean arrived in Los Angeles to try to music and started a diary as appreciate how she’s not scared,
Baker wasn’t happy about the make it as an actor. “I thought, Strawberry,” Son says. and I think I’m bringing some of
logistical constraints that thrust ‘This is it,’ and I lost my mind,” She worked on her character’s that along with me.”
Son into that situation — he only she says. “I became obsessed physicality — “I tried to keep Shedding her fears is what
had that house as a location for and watched all Sean’s films her very up, light on her toes” — helped her get through the day
one day — but she had no qualms and interviews.” and her voice, lifting the timbre on the roller coast, though she
about it, in part because she had But while she was “hopelessly to sound younger, and finding also knew she had to nail her
been in Texas rehearsing and hopeful,” Son didn’t hear from the accent by writing out cru- lines because she didn’t want to
getting to know Baker and star Baker for two years. And while cial lines in the international have to go again and again.
Simon Rex for a month. she’d made two music videos, her phonetic alphabet. “I actually had a fun time and
No, what really gave her the acting career had not happened. Son found it easy to inhabit we did get the scene,” Son says.
shakes came later in the pro- But just as she was wondering if Strawberry in part because “After that I felt like I could call
cess when she had to ride an old she’d misplaced her optimism, “she’s so far removed from who myself an actor.”
wooden roller coaster … while
hitting all her lines.
“It was helpful to get the hard-
est scenes out of the way the first
day,” Son says, calling her sex
scenes “a great icebreaker.”
“ I t m a d e my c o n n e c t i o n
with Simon better, getting thr-
ough that rough beautiful first
day together.”
Leading up to the day of the
roller-coaster scene, however,
Son grew so fearful that “I was
sobbing because I knew it was
coming on the schedule. On the
day of I told Sean I might throw
up and he said, ‘Well, drink some-
thing green so it’s a pretty color.’”
Baker and his wife, Samantha
Quan, had first spotted Son at the
ArcLight Hollywood movie the-
ater more than two years earlier
and approached her to see if she
was interested in acting. “When
Director Sean
I street cast, I’m looking for that Baker discovered
aura, that energy where you say, Suzanna Son at the
A24

‘I can see that person on screen ArcLight Hollywood.

14 ● G R AY ’S G O L D
Joel Coen
Serves
Scotch,
Neat
Whole lotta Shakespearin’
going on in ‘Tragedy of
Macbeth’
By Tim Gray
GRAY’S GOLD
Never underestimate Joel Coen.
In a year when nine of the
top-grossing films are part
of a franchise, his new film is
Shakespeare. Entirely filmed
on soundstages, with abstract,
Expressionistic sets. It’s in black
and white. The stars are over 60.
It’s not exactly a safe bet, but
Coen’s “The Tragedy of Macbeth”
is one of the year’s best, and
one of the best adaptations of
Shakespeare on film.
When a play has been per-
formed onstage for 400 years and
filmed multiple times by directors
including Orson Welles, Akira
Kurosawa and Roman Polanski,
it’s hard to bring anything new
to the table. But Coen makes the
material feel fresh and urgent, and
it’s filled with potential Oscar con-
tenders, including Coen, Denzel
Washington, Frances McDormand
and the team of artisans.
“Macbeth” opened in theaters
Christmas Day and begins stream-
ing on Apple TV Plus Jan. 14.
A theatrical superstition says
people cannot mention the title
backstage, but should refer to it
as “the Scottish play.” The expla-
nation that’s generally accepted
is that it has a history of bad luck;
one version says the actor play-
ing Lady Macbeth died on open-
ing night so Shakespeare himself
had to step in, and that was fol-
lowed by centuries of trouble-
plagued productions.
That’s possible, but another
theory is credible: Ever since
Shakespeare wrote it early in the
1600s, “Macbeth” has been a crowd-
pleaser. And when theatrical
managers would tour their plays
around the country, if they found
certain shows weren’t selling well,
they would add “Macbeth,” which
guaranteed good box office. So
whenever actors heard “Macbeth,”
it meant their company was hav-
ing financial troubles.
“Macbeth” is great material.
Like recent hits such as “Game of
Thrones” and “Succession,” it is
filled with plots and counterplots,
sometimes with guilt, sometimes
in cold blood. Plus it has insight
into human nature, beautiful
poetic language, violence and
witches. What’s not to like?
Filmmakers recognized the
surefire material from the early
days, including an 1898 short and
a nine-minute version in 1908. In
a 1971 review of Polanski’s adap-
tation, Variety said it was the 16th
known film version. In 2021, IMDb
listed more than 100 productions,
including Ian McKellen & Judi
Dench (1979); and Patrick Stewart,
directed by Rupert Goold (2010).
There are also international
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
Director Joel adaptations, such as Japan’s 1957
Coen and his “Throne of Blood.” In its review,
wife, star Frances
Variety praised Toshiro Mifune for
McDormand,
also produced
his “ranting, raving, rooting, toot-
“The Tragedy of ing performance” and admired
Macbeth.” Kurosawa’s “masterful direc-
tion.” The review bemoaned that
Shakespeare’s language was lost
in translation, but enthused over
the “achievement of mood and
photographic invention,” wishing
it had been in color instead of B&W
— “but the element of surprise
vanishes when one beholds what
has been accomplished by these
artisans in two basic shades.”
Coen’s version retains the lan-
guage and matches the achieve-
ments of Kurosawa’s artisans.
Produced by Coen, McDormand
and Robert Graf, it boasts an
honor roll of artisans: DP Bruno
Delbonnel, production designer
Stefan Dechant, costume designer
Mary Zophres, composer Carter
Burwell, sound designer Craig
B e r ke y a n d e d i t o r L u c i a n
AppleTV+
Johnston (working with “Reginald
Jaynes,” Coen’s nom de editing).
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
Define the ‘Best’
In most Oscar categories, it’s clear
what “best” means. Not so the
annual animated feature race,
in which the ballot presents per-
haps the greatest range of any
category every year — certainly,
in terms of budget, subject mat-
ter, artistic style and formal inno-
vation. Where else can you see a
pair of superhero movies com-
peting against an ultra-personal
Japanese anime and stop-motion
Wes Anderson movie, to use 2018
as an example?
Consider this year ’s crop:
Among the 26 films that quali-
fied, you’ll find everything from
a splashy studio hit (“Sing 2”) to a
cult-interest Sundance indie (Dash
Shaw’s hand-drawn “Cryptozoo”),
from a Sony-animated pop-cul-
ture phenom (“The Mitchells vs.
the Machines”) to a highly tar-
geted, “Heavy Metal”-esque mid-
night movie (“The Spine of Night”).
Many of the more eccentric sub-
missions will be eliminated in the
next phase — including perhaps
anime entry “The Laws of the
Universe: The Age of Elohim,” a sort
of inspirational/recruitment tool
for Japan’s fringe Happy Science
spiritual group. On the other hand,
“Mirai” nominee Mamoru Hosoda
stands a real chance with “Belle,”
Illumination Entertainment/Universal Pictures
a standout anime submission. In
the past, popularity and box office
success have been no guarantee
of a nomination. Two years ago,
“Frozen 2” failed to make the cut,
and in many years, Illumination
movies are routinely excluded.
Part of the confusion around
the category comes from a rel-
atively small group of Academy
members selecting the nominees,
while the entire organization is
free to vote on the winner. For
years, the first cull was done by
members of the animation branch
(many of them short filmmakers),
who brought their professional
expertise — and personal taste —
to their selections, often skewing
the noms toward more indie and
artistic contenders.
Four years back, the Academy
adjusted the rules so any member
can participate in the nominat-
ing stage, provided they commit
to seeing enough of the eligible
contenders. In theory, obliging
voters to watch all (or most) of
the submissions gives smaller
films a chance — compared to
best picture, in which films must
campaign for voters to watch
them. So what should Academy
members be looking for in the
cartoon category?
Technique clearly matters.
Voters routinely acknowledge
the sheer industrial achieve-
ment represented by top-tier
computer-animated films, such
as Pixar’s “Luca” and the visually
innovative “Mitchells,” which intro-
duced an appealing doodled-over
style in which the CG characters
appear to be hand-embellished by
the teenage lead character.
The Academy appreciates slick
studio-grade animation, but
not to the exclusion of smaller
projects — especially those that
require a painstaking amount of
effort, which explains why even
so-so Aardman movies make the
cut. Stop-motion is as hands-on
as the medium gets, though there
are no such films competing this
year. So, while a hand-drawn
movie such as Annecy festival
winner “My Sunny Maad” looks
downright crude by compari-
son to, say, “Ron’s Gone Wrong,”
the Academy seems to scale
its expectations accordingly.
(It’s the mid-range stuff that
tends to get passed over, e.g. CG
“Spirit Untamed.”)
VARIETY ● 15
Oscar voters must decide
what makes a good
animated movie in a
wide-ranging category
By Peter Debruge
As in virtually all Academy
Awards categories (except perhaps
the most technical), an emotional
connection often translates into
Oscar love. Ergo, “best” can reflect
a well-told story and, increasingly,
a socially conscious message. In
addition to the technical advances
they represent, both of this year’s
Disney originals expand the realm
of representation beyond the clas-
sic, passive-white-princess mold:
Female-empowerment adventure
“Raya” serves as an amalgam of
Southeast Asian cultures, while
crowd-pleasing musical “Encanto”
centers on Latino characters, dou-
bling as a metaphor for the immi-
grant experience.
The question of what defines
“best” in the Academy’s eyes
potentially matters most for the
Big-budget hits unconventional Danish documen-
such as “Sing
tary “Flee,” a Cannes 2020 label film
2” compete on
equal footing with
that’s been racking up awards over
small indies in the the past 12 months on the festival
animation race. circuit. Director Jonas Poher
Rasmussen chose hand-drawn
animation to mask the identity of
his subject, a gay Afghan refugee,
which is a formally audacious deci-
sion (reminiscent of the face-re-
placement strategy used in last
year’s “Welcome to Chechnya”),
but one that some animation pros
don’t care for, given the rudimen-
tary, rotoscoped look of the result.
As with all toon contenders, is
the animation impressive enough
for the Academy’s taste, or will the
bigger picture win them over?
“Flee” is an undeniably strong film,
eligible in the animated, interna-
tional and doc categories, and yet
it’s conceivable that it could fall
outside the rather specific crite-
ria voters look for in those races.
16 ● ARTISANS
VFX Resurrects Villains
and Boosts Epic Action
“Spider-Man: No Way Home”
shattered the pandemic box
office at the end of December,
but also sent fans into the social-
media orbit with the return of
villains from previous Spider-
Man movies including Green
Goblin, Doc Ock and Sandman.
Working behind the scenes to
bring those villains back to life
was VFX supervisor Kelly Port.
“While technology had sig-
nificantly advanced, the vil-
lains stayed the same,” says
Port of the distinct looks they
had to revive. “A lot of the digi-
tal assets from the [Sam] Raimi
and [Marc] Webb films no lon-
ger exist, so those we had to get
going from scratch.”
With that, Port and his team
examined ideas such as looking
at the most practical, efficient
way to get Sandman across the
living room floor. “Would you
make yourself into a human
form and walk? Or would you
just blow over there? How would
that work? Does he create vocal
cords out of sand?” Port asks.
The idea was Sandman would
always shift so there would be
a constant flow of sand.
Port and his team wanted
audiences to see Jamie Foxx’s
performance as Electro. In the
same way electricity is sparked,
they created feelers — small
electrical pulses that emanate
out of the character.
Says Port: “What’s really inter-
esting is that he can get into
action poses, fights and power
moves, but he doesn’t have to
obey his own physical space.
He can throw a punch that goes
through his own body.”
A significant change was Doc
Ock. In prior outings, his arms
had been created through practi-
cal effects. This time around, Port
says: “We re-scanned the physical
prop from the archive and took
lots of additional reference pho-
tography. One of the things we
noticed is that there are different
looks of those arms from shot to
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
‘Spider-Man’ and
‘No Time to Die’ relied on
digital enhancements
for eye-popping effect
By Jazz Tangcay
shot, so we had to settle on our
look and make it ours.”
For another action movie
with an iconic hero, “No Time
to Die” special-effects supervi-
sor Chris Corbould was tasked
with ensuring that there was
an emotional connection to
Daniel Craig’s performance and
the VFX. Additionally, amid the
exotic locations, production
designer Mark Tildesley built
huge sets while Lee Morrison and
his team performed epic stunts
while the visual effects supported
the efforts.
In one action-filled sequence,
James Bond is cornered by vil-
lains in a quaint town square as
his Aston Martin DB5 fires count-
less rounds of ammunition while
the car does donuts. Corbould
required 10 versions of the car
kitted out with gadgets — some-
thing 007 is renowned for. But
the weapons would have been
slightly upgraded, so the team
put in pyrotechnics for the scene.
“We went out there 13 times
during the pre-viz,” Corbould
says, as they mapped out the
entire sequence. Since the
sequence was shot on a historic
town square, concrete blocks
were put in place to blend in with
the building. -“We had to protect
those old buildings. We had cars
going off into the ravine, and
Union Jack parachutes opening
up as they jump off the roof.”
But those ideas didn’t make
the final scene since the idea of
VFX pre-viz keeping that emotional connec-
Sony Pictures (2)
of “Spider-Man:
tion with Bond would have been
No Way Home”
shows Dr. Strange
missed. Instead, the sequence
and Spidey was kept — grounded in reality
having it out. — and “short and sharp.”
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2 VARIETY ● 17

A W A R D S C I R C U I T

Animation
&
Music

Black animators push for more representation behind the scenes while this year’s
Gutter Credit

other toon contenders celebrate different cultures and the music races heat up
1 8 ● AB W
I ZA R
+ DBSU C
Z ZI R C U I T ● A N I M A T I O N
Animators Draw Up Inclusion
Artists of color push for more representation behind the scenes
By Karen Idelson
In the wake of public outcry
over the lack of Black representa-
tion in the film industry, animation
studios and entertainment com-
panies at large have publicized
their commitment to diversity
and hiring more people of color
at every level.
While these statements look like
a cultural shift, a significant ques-
tion hangs over them: Does this
mean real change is taking place
in the animation landscape and do
films such as “Soul” help the push
toward representation?
“That’s a tough question to
answer because only time is going
to tell,” says Kemp Powers, co-di-
rector of Oscar-winning “Soul”
and director of the upcoming
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
2.” “Animation is a slow business. It
takes four to seven years to get one
of these films made. It’s going to be
years before we see what impact,
if any, the film has had. What I do
hope that ‘Soul’ did so was to have
an impact on how animated films
featuring characters of color can
also be universal. I think so just
based on the global audience that
I saw [“Soul”] had and countries
like Russia and China, proves
that being hyper-specific, having
characters from different cultures,
does not exclude any audiences,
especially when you are telling
universal human stories. So, that’s
the positive lesson I hope others
have learned from the success of
the film, but again, only time is
going to tell.”
Kerri Grant, who has been nom-
inated for eight Daytime Emmys
and is showrunner and co-ex-
ecutive producer of “Ada Twist,
Scientist,” thinks the storytelling
won’t do all the work on its own.
“I think the films and the shows
do a good job of showing what’s
possible to audiences,” says Grant.
“I think it works in the sense of kids
out there and people out there and
families out there seeing them-
selves on screen. I think the possi-
bility is the first step for people to
even think it’s possible to end up
Oscar-winner in an in a career like this. As far as
“Soul” embraced
nuances of the so those films and TV shows help-
Black experience. ing to open doors, I think in only to
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
the extent that the people behind
the scenes make an effort to really
extend opportunities to people
of color in the industry. So I was
a staff writer on ‘Doc McStuffins’
and that definitely opened that
door for me.
“I think then it’s sort of like up
to me, people like me in the in the
kind of deciding ranks of the cor-
porations that are airing or pro-
ducing the shows to open doors
for people of color in the industry
who work behind the scenes. I’m
not sure if the shows themselves or
the films themselves necessarily
open doors, but I think they show
Gutter Credit
Pixar/Disney
what’s possible.”
For Breana Williams, a pro-
duction coordinator for Disney
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
TV Animation on “The Proud
Family” and co-founder of Black
N Animated and co-host of the
Black N Animated podcast, com-
mitments to increasing repre-
sentation and diversity have
historical significance.
“Yes, there is a mandate, but it
is a bummer to me that the man-
date came from Black trauma,”
says Williams. “And that’s some-
thing that I’ve sort of echoed in
the past where people have asked
me, ‘Isn’t it really great that there’s
like more of a push?’ It’s great, but
it is a little bit unfortunate that it
took the murder of someone for it
to happen. That’s what’s kind of a
double-edged sword for me, when
I look at it. I’m really excited with
the content that’s been coming
out. I just wish that it didn’t take
something so awful for people to
realize, ‘oh, Black people are in my
workplace and when I go outside
they’re my, my friends, my peers,
neighbors.’ We’ve been saying this
for a while.”
The Black N Animated organi-
zation was started to help form
a community for Black anima-
tors and help them break into
toon careers.
Rise Up Animation is also advo-
cating for animators of color and
seeks to broaden representation.
One of the group’s co-founders,
Frank E. Abney III, has worked
at Disney, DreamWorks and
Pixar over his extensive career
that includes titles such as “The
Incredibles 2,” “Coco” and “Toy
Story 4.”
“I’ve started to see some small
changes,” says Abney. “I feel on
Credit Animation (2)
GutterPictures
Sony
the executive side, there’s still a
lot of work to be done. When it
comes to the decision-making
on the creative front for some of
our large studios, I can think of
two Black women executives, so
that’s a problem. I think there’s
still a lot more work to be done,
but I think there have been some
small changes that have started
to happen. I think there have been
waves [of diverse characters] in
animation on the feature side
more now than I’ve seen in the
past. Growing up, I can’t think of
a feature that had people of color
that I identified with or felt like
[people of color] were repre-
sented in an authentic way.”
Aphton Corbin, director of the
lauded Pixar short film “Twenty
Something,” has seen how infor-
mation about animation careers
and the high cost of anima-
tion education and equipment
can be an additional hurdle for
Black creatives.
“I think within the studios,
people are recognizing the need
to have more diverse voices for
sure,” says Corbin, who is at work
on a feature project for Pixar.
“But I think there’s a gap between
accessibility to getting into the
industry for people of color. I’ve
experienced a lot of people who
are eager and hungry to help but
then how to get more people
through the door is still a bit of a
struggle. I think it all boils down
to accessibility. For me, being able
to go to CalArts was a huge benefit.
But I wouldn’t have been able to
afford it without taking on a ridic-
ulous amount of loans and a lot of
Black animators
and producers
were the driving
force behind “Hair
Love,” which won
the animated
short Oscar.
people can’t take that risk or even
have access to that.”
Marshell Becton, line producer
on “Gen: Lock,” has worked as
a producer on “SuperMansion”
and the movie “My Little Pony:
Rarity, the Queen of Fashion!” She
believes diversity will increase as
Black creatives are given more
opportunities to begin their ani-
mation careers.
“I think there has been some
progress but there’s still a lot of
room to grow,” Becton says. “I still
have to fight just as hard for a job as
I did 10 years ago. It was a challenge
to be seen but I’ve made sure my
voice was heard. One of the things
I think about is whether diversity
is a trend or whether it will stay,
and it’s hard to tell at this moment.
I think it’s important to start giving
diverse folks the opportunity. They
don’t always have as much expe-
rience but if you’re going to lean
Miles Morales led into diversity with your crew you
a diverse roster have to start somewhere because
of characters in many people aren’t getting that
Oscar-winning
“Spider-Man: Into first opportunity.”
the Spider-Verse.” Animation writer Aydrea
Walden, who has worked on “Ada
Twist: Scientist” and “Pete the
Cat,” sees social media as a way
for creatives to break through the
noise by showcasing their talent
and networking with animation
professionals. This could address
some accessibility issues for those
who aren’t able to invest thou-
sands in a high-end program.
“For the individual and for the
studio to find people was very dif-
ficult even if the studio was going
to have a big diversity fair in the
mid-2000s,” Walden says. “When
I got here it was still very difficult
because studios or recruiters
VARIETY ● 19
would kind of need to know indi-
vidual people or it was focused on
college requirements and by the
time people get to college some
sifting has occurred. So I do think
the effort is sincere and I’ve been
able to connect with people in
both directions on social media.”
Creators including Chris
“Ludacris” Bridges, executive
producer of “Karma’s World,” a
show based on the life of his oldest
daughter, are making the content
they hope will lead the way for
more representative program-
ming. They also see it as a way to
speak to the next generation.
“Inclusivity and representation
are very important,” Bridges says.
“I have four daughters and I love
for them to see themselves on
screen. It’s important for them
to see this animation is beautiful
and that they are beautiful, too,
because art imitates life. I want to
be part of the solution, I am trying
to be the change that I want to see
in the world.”
“Karma’s World” was based on
an interactive website of the same
name. Bridges is also the founder
of Kid Nation, an entertainment
platform created with the goal of
providing children with health and
academic support.
Carl Jones, widely known for
his work on “The Boondocks,” the
first Cartoon Network show to
win a Peabody Award, agrees that
there’s still a lot of work to be done
in terms of advancing diversity
but, like Bridges, he’s also looking
for ways to create opportunities.
“I’m really hopeful just because
I’m having an opportunity now to
explore so much talent across the
world,” says Jones.
20 ● AWA R D S C I R C U I T ● A N I M AT I O N
Toons Stay True to Culture
Animated features use research and first-person accounts to be
authentic to stories and subjects
By Zoe Hewitt
As society evolves, media
follow. With the current crop
of potential Oscar contenders
in the animated feature cate-
gory, it’s more than coincidence
that all incorporate and pre-
serve different ethnic cultures
within the storytelling, a sharp
deviation from the more com-
monplace all-white casts and
culturally expunged stories of
the past. While “Raya and the Last
Dragon” (Disney), “Luca” (Pixar)
and “Encanto” (Disney) seem
distinctly of 2021, they were all
in the works for over five years
before audiences caught their
first glimpses of the characters.
Encouragingly, this world
reflection is more accurate than
in the past. It’s not that Disney’s
1991 “Beauty and the Beast”
wasn’t a groundbreaking movie
in its own right, but in terms of
place and culture as a character,
Belle’s clothing, songs and setting
didn’t place her anywhere spe-
cific beyond a few French words
on shopfronts.
Contrast that now with Disney’s
“Encanto” and the Madrigal fam-
ily of Colombia. Details like the
embroidery on Mirabel’s cloth-
ing, characters pointing with
their lips and the corn grinder in
the family kitchen help provide
a sense of culture and place. Of
particular importance was incor-
porating the ethnic diversity in
Colombia . There’s more to Latin
American representation than
one group and it was important
that Colombia was reflected on
screen as accurately as possible to
the creatives involved in the film.
Director and writer Jared Bush
says, “[There’s] this amazing mix of
indigenous and Afro-Colombian
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
and European … and it was critical
for us to represent that.”
In fact, that’s an area where
this year ’s “In the Heights,”
based on the award-winning
Broadway musical of the same
name, received criticism that cre-
ator-writer Lin-Manuel Miranda
acknowledged. Miranda, who
wrote the songs for “Encanto,”
was part of the project from the
very beginning having worked
with Bush on “Moana.”
The team consulted Colombian
documentarians, writers and
directors, in addition to a Latin
identifying group of Disney
peers to make sure their voices
were included.
One of the team’s break-
through moments was three
years in the making. While on
a trip to Barichara, the Disney
contingent experienced a per-
sonalized Bambuco concert — a
regional style of music played on
the 12-stringed tiple. Later, when
Mirabel’s song wasn’t coming
together, Miranda used that night
as inspiration.
“It’s the only song in the whole
movie that’s in 3/4 time like a
waltz,” Bush says. “So, even rhyth-
mically Mirabel’s out of time with
the rest of her family.”
For all the details that make
Mirabel’s stor y uniquely
Colombian, her experiences are
universal, and that’s what the
filmmakers hope resonates. “My
whole life I’ve had self-worth
issues. That’s something that’s
always been difficult for me,” says
Bush, noting that curated social
media isn’t helpful. “So, I think
Pixar/Disney
Italy-set “Luca” the thing I’m the most proud of
played with is having this character who goes
specific cultural
mores.
on this journey and who realizes
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
not only that she has worth, but
that everyone around her who
looks like they have these great
lives is struggling just the same.”
Walt Disney animation studios
chief creative officer Jennifer
Lee has long maintained her
stance that talent is universal
but access is not, and by commit-
ting to diversifying, the studio’s
storytelling will improve. “Our
greatest humanities are shared
experiences across our cultures,
across our worlds, and getting to
know each other,” she says.
For perspective, USC’s Annen-
berg Inclusion Initiative’s Sep-
tember 2021 report on Hispanic
and Latino Representation in
Film analyzed 1,300 top-gross-
ing movies from 2007 to 2019.
Findings reflected that only 3.5%
of the leads identified as Hispanic
or Latino as compared to 18.7%
of the United States population
who do. Cameron Diaz, whose
last billed feature-length role
was 2014’s “Annie,” accounted for
five of those credits.
That same analysis of Asian
and Pacific Islanders dropped
to 3.4% representation — with
actor Dwayne Johnson cast in 14
of the roles.
“Raya and the Last Dragon”
brought in three women as
voice leads who weren’t already
established on the Annenberg
list: Kelly Marie Tran (Raya),
Disney (2)
Awkwafina (Sisu) and Gemma
Chan (Namari).
Avoiding the pitfalls of ste-
reotype were at the forefront of
the core team’s considerations.
Director Don Hall notes that they
were “cognizant of the tropes
[such as the] stoic solitary war-
rior” and consciously wanted to
avoid them.
Raya’s quippy, comedic and,
yes, also wears the stereotypical
Vietnamese conical hat. It’s a cos-
tume element that screenwriter
Qui Nguyen says he pushed to
include in order to create a posi-
tive affiliation for it.
“Being Vietnamese, the conical
hat is part of my family and my
culture … and I hated that it had
this negative stereotype [and]
connotation,” Nguyen says. “I
“Encanto’s” wanted to take that same image
creators studied
and make it heroic.”
the diversity of
Colombia for the It’s representation that led to
hit movie. its inclusion. “It’s the difference
between having someone who’s
in the room and who has skin
in the game to be able to talk
about it, than someone totally
based on good intentions, saying
‘Oh, maybe we should avoid it
because it’s scary,’” Nguyen says.
“Intentions don’t ultimately help
evolve the conversation.”
Including many Asian voices in
the process make Raya distinctly
of her culture. For instance, one
iteration of animation had her
chucking off her shoes in a tem-
ple. Though the action seems
appropriate for a character in
a hurry, it doesn’t fit Southeast
Asian Raya, who would have
been educated early on how to
leave them properly on the step.
While Raya’s society and set-
ting are significant components
to the story, her experiences
are global. Nguyen explains
that “her ultimate super heroic
moment is a human moment.”
Raya’s inner strength is the core
of the movie, regardless of her
culture. But, by the same token,
her culture is what grounds
“Raya and the the story.
Last Dragon” People from any society
brought Southeast develop as informed by their
Asian culture and
traditions into its cultures, and those elements
storytelling. are uniformly important.
VARIETY ● 21
In Pixar’s “Luca,” writer and
director Enrico Casarosa wanted
to set a film in the Italy of his
youth. “We do love pasta. It’s true,
no lie to it,” admits Casarosa, who
feels that truth may exist within
stereotype, but specifics lead to
balance. So it’s not just any pasta
and pesto in the movie, but “pesto
the traditional away, Genovese,
which is with potatoes and string
beans” cooked the same way his
grandmother made it.
There were long discussions
about the characters’ gesticulat-
ing, how it should be done, and
what the line was between cliché
and truth. Casarosa recalls a mem-
orable Zoom call with the Disney
team in Italy all demonstrating
how they would send someone to
Hell as a means of figuring out the
movie’s body language.
Another challenge was casting
an English speaker to have an
Italian accent. Parroting a dif-
ferent ethnic accent, once com-
monplace, didn’t sit right. In fact,
it was as recently as January 2020
that Hank Azaria stepped aside
after decades of voicing Apu on
“The Simpsons.”
C a s a r o s a s ay s t h e t e a m
searched for kids with authen-
tic accents, but came up short.
“Kids that come here from Italy
[quickly lose their accent] which
is actually fascinating because it
speaks a lot about peer pressure
and wanting to fit in,” he notes.
Instead, they divided the worlds
of sea monster and human so it
made sense that they spoke with
American accents. “They go into
this world of human Italian and
don’t understand it very well,” he
says, likening it to his own experi-
ence in America.
No doubt these aren’t the same
movies, or considerations, of
before. With increased diversi-
fication, the weight of an entire
culture won’t wind up resting
solely upon the shoulders of a
few representative characters.
Until then, it’s a process of
listening and evolving. “It’s not
easy and the answers aren’t clear
all the time,” says Lee. “[But] the
commitment is easy and the con-
tinuing to try is easy, so we’ll keep
seeing where we go.”
22 ● AWA R D S C I R C U I T ● A N I M AT I O N
The Internet According
to Mamoru Hosoda
The creator of ‘Belle’ weighs in on his particular
point of view regarding alternate reality
By Peter Debruge
With “Belle,” anime director
Mamoru Hosoda introduces
audiences to yet another virtual
world, which he dubs “U” — a
place where U can be another you,
as the title character does, trans-
forming from a shy, freckle-faced
high school student, Suzu, to a
Disney-style singing sensation
named, well, Belle.
Elaborate, conceptually inno-
vative metaphors for the internet
are something Hosoda’s fans have
come to expect from the man who
oversaw the original “Digimon
Adventure” short (in which char-
acters escaping to a digital world
for Pokemon-esque creature bat-
tles) as far back as 1999.
“I am perhaps the only direc-
tor who has been depicting the
internet in various forms for this
long,” Hosoda says, noting how it
was a much more hopeful space
in the beginning.
That’s reflected in a realm fit-
tingly called Oz that Hosoda imag-
ined for his 2009 feature “Summer
Wars.” In the film, a Japanese fam-
ily takes its fight to Oz, but the
space is white and welcoming,
like an early 21st century Apple
Store, populated with thousands
of colorful, cartoony avatars.
“The internet has definitely
evolved a lot since then,” Hosoda
says. “It has become a closer
reflection of our own reality in
many ways, which unfortunately
means we’ve brought a lot of the
problems that we have in reality
to internet space: the toxicity, the
fake news, all the bullying and
cancel culture. How are the next
generations supposed to come to
terms with all of this and still not
lose hope?”
There’s more darkness to the
design of U than Oz, for sure, but
also more opportunity.
“I’ve thought a lot about this
visual depiction of the internet,
this abstract idea,” Hosoda says.
“A long time ago, before ‘Digimon’
even, other filmmakers attempted
to depict it, and you’d often have a
very black background with these
green glyphs or perhaps this very
wire-framey expression” — vir-
tual environments such as those
seen in “The Matrix” and “Tron.”
“It was often a very masculine
depiction, something boys would
like,” he continues. “But I didn’t
want the internet to be a world just
for boys. It’s being used by every-
one, so why is the visual depiction
skewing so masculine? It should
be more inviting and a space
where everyone can participate.”
With that in mind, he conceived
Oz as an open space with lots of
color in “Summer Wars.” “If it was
a clothing collection, this would
be the spring/summer collection,
where you have a lot more pastel
and brighter colors that feel more
inviting to a female demographic.”
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
And for “Belle,” U was imagined
not as an alternate world, but an
extension of the one we inhabit.
“Graphically, we wanted to depict
another reality that is this mir-
rored projection of our own,
which is how this idea of a mega-
city look came to be,” he says.
Whereas some tend to view
Hosoda’s movies as a form of sci-
ence fiction, he insists that anima-
tion allows him to present a much
more accurate representation of
our current society, starting with
the dual way humans now express
different aspects of themselves in
real life and online.
“I think my generation may be
the last to live solely in one world.
Look at the younger generation,
the kids: They’re born into a world
where two realities already exist
and they need to figure out ‘how
should I express different aspects
of myself in these different reali-
ties?’” he says.
In “Belle,” the idea is that Suzu
is emotionally limited in her
real life, but through U, a more
empowered projection of herself
showing dimensions she couldn’t
previously express (inclujding
song), through which she is able
to grow, feeding back strength to
her real-world self.
“It feels almost cramped in a
single reality. This internet world
has become a kind of second real-
ity where we’re allowed to spread
our wings,” Hosoda says. The way
Mamoru Hosoda he sees it, “we need more realities
envisions an
online alternate to express the different aspects of
reality in “Belle.” ourselves and our identities — so
this massive shift in thought is a
fascinating phenomenon,” both
to observe and to document
in his films.
“I think a lot of other movies
and media tend to paint a much
more dystopian image of the
internet and how it strips us of
our humanity,” he says, dismissing
conversations about “good ver-
sus evil” vis-à-vis the internet as
“nonsense,” while admitting that
he’s really concerned how his own
daughters will adapt, hoping they
Studio Chizu/GKids
won’t fall for the “like sickness”:
“It’s very much another world that
exists that we all need to under-
stand and interpret with our own
set of values.”
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
Quantum of Choices in Scores Races
Composers’ works ranged from quirky to classical, epic to intimate
By Jon Burlingame
The Academy’s music branch
was particularly broad-minded
for this year’s Oscar shortlist,
choosing 15 scores that run the
gamut from conventional to
experimental, echoing ancient
times as well as anticipating the
music of the future.
Academy voters were espe-
cially encouraging of women
(one score) and people of color
(four), statistics that are heart-
ening and may bode well for the
nominations themselves.
Gutter Credit
Warner Bros.
At this point, “Dune” would
seem to be the front-runner, as
Denis Villeneuve’s adaptation of
the Frank Herbert sci-fi classic
has been acclaimed for many
of its craft accomplishments.
Veteran composer Hans Zimmer
(already an Oscar winner for
“The Lion King”) pulled out all the
stops, including months of exper-
imenting with women’s voices,
having instruments designed
and built, and merging it all with
world-music and synthesized
M U S I C ● A W A R D S VC AI RR CI EUTI YT ● 2 3
sounds appropriate for the desert
planet Arrakis.
Also high on many lists are two
Jonny Greenwood scores: “The
Power of the Dog” and “Spencer.”
They are equally creative and
original in concept. “Power of
the Dog” has Greenwood play-
ing a cello like the banjo that
Hans Zimmer
composed the Benedict Cumberbatch’s charac-
acclaimed score ter plucks throughout the film,
for “Dune,” adding the period sounds of a
starring Zendaya
and Timothée mechanical piano. For “Spencer,”
Chalamet. the Radiohead multi-instrumen-
talist arranged a musical collision
between a traditional baroque
ensemble (for the royals) and a
jazz group (for Princess Diana).
The sole animated film to make
the shortlist is “Encanto,” which
also boasts the only woman:
Mexican-American composer
Germaine Franco — who ear-
lier had orchestrated “Coco” —
supplied the colorful sounds of
Colombia for the popular Disney
film. She enlisted dozens of
Latin American musicians and
2 4 ● AB W
I ZA R Z ZI R C U I T ● M U S I C
+ DBSU C
singers to achieve an authentic
Colombian backdrop.
“Parallel Mothers” marks
the 13th feature collabora-
tion between director Pedro
Almodóvar and Spanish com-
poser Alberto Iglesias (every-
thing from “All About My Mother”
to “Talk to Her”). This is perhaps
the most classically styled of all
this year’s contenders, boasting
a rich string section and parts for
piano and woodwinds, all serv-
ing the story about two dispa-
rate women whose lives become
intertwined after they give birth
for the first time.
French composer Alexandre
Desplat is in the race with his
fifth film for Wes Anderson (he’s
been nominated for three of
them, and took home the Oscar
for “Grand Budapest Hotel”). This
time piano is the central instru-
ment, played by classical artist
Jean-Yves Thibaudet, but — as
is typical of Anderson’s quirky
scenarios, this one set in a 1960s
fantasy France — there are also
offbeat instruments ranging
from harpsichord to banjo.
Other previous Oscar nom-
inees could also return to the
competition. Nicholas Britell
(“Moonlight”) has “Don’t Look
Up,” Adam McKay’s satire on
government, social media and
the news, soundtracked by a
wild blend of raucous big-band
jazz, heroic orchestra and fun
electronics. And Carter Burwell
(“Carol”) designed the “Tragedy
of Macbeth” score to be appropri-
ately dark and disturbing, mostly
for lower strings — to accom-
For ‘The Green Knight,’ composer Daniel Hart
spent months researching Middle English poetry
in order to create authentic-sounding period
songs for an Arthurian tale.
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
pany, but not interfere with,
Shakespeare’s classic dialogue
— and an offbeat solo fiddle for
the witches.
Two films set in medieval
times merited attention. Harry
Gregson-Williams’ “The Last
Duel” combines lute, a consort
of viols (precursors to modern
stringed instruments), organ,
soloists and choir for Ridley
Scott’s examination of sexual
assault in 14th-century France.
Gregson-Williams, shockingly,
has never been Oscar-nominated, Harry Gregson-
despite great work on other Williams’ music
Scott films from “Kingdom of for “The Last
Duel” could land
Heaven” to “The Martian,” and him his first Oscar
maybe it’s time. nomination.
For “The Green Knight,” com-
poser Daniel Hart spent months
researching Middle English
poetry in order to create authen-
tic-sounding period songs for an
Arthurian tale of 15th-century
England. He also learned how
to play the Scandinavian nyckel-
harpa to add a raw, ancient string
sound to the score.
Kris Bowers’ music for “King
Richard” (with Will Smith as
the determined father-coach
of future tennis stars Venus
and Serena Williams) empha-
sizes rhythm throughout, both
in its propulsive string pieces Jeymes Samuel
to accompany tennis matches wrote, directed
and penned the
and in his modernist use of “pre- score for “The
pared piano,” placing objects Harder They Fall.”
(including putty, ping-pong
balls, nails, clothespins and felt) turned to a “classic” Hollywood the writer and director of the
inside the instruments to make style of large orchestra and strong film. His score for the revisionist
unusual sounds. melodic themes to nostalgically Western incorporates conven-
For “Being the Ricardos,” English echo the 1950s showbiz setting for tional ideas (guitars, harmonica,
composer Daniel Pemberton Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz during orchestra) as well as elements
Patrick Redmond/Fox; Harder They Fall: David Lee/Netflix
a particularly fraught week of pro- of gospel, reggae and hip-hop.
duction on “I Love Lucy.” While no composer-director has
A second Zimmer score made been nominated for a score since
the shortlist: the James Bond Charlie Chaplin’s “Limelight” in
film “No Time to Die,” co-written 1972, Chaplin did win that year.
by frequent Zimmer collabora- (The 1952 “Limelight” was not
tor Steve Mazzaro. Bond films released in Los Angeles until 1972;
require plenty of music, much of under Academy rules at the time,
it high-octane action material, it was allowed to compete.)
although this installment also had The longest shot in the field may
its share of tragedy. If nominated, it be the horror remake “Candyman,”
would be only the third of 25 Bond an electro-acoustic soundscape
films to make the cut in the Oscars’ by Robert Aiki Aubrey Lowe that
score category. incorporates processed vocal
Credit
Jeymes Samuel’s “The Harder sounds and electronically altered
Duel:
Gutter
They Fall” is unusual in that he is sounds that he recorded at the
Last
not only the composer but also Chicago filming location.
26 ● AWARDS CIRCUIT ● MUSIC
Original Song Shortlist
Long on Star Power
It’s sure to be a glitzy Oscar night thanks to an
abundance of top name recording stars in contention
By Jon Burlingame
Oscar’s original song shortlist
— 15 tunes that will vie for the final
five nomination slots come Feb.
8 — may be the most star-stud-
ded in Academy history. Is Oscar’s
music branch smitten by such
A-list names, or did 2021 just hap-
pen to be a particularly strong
year for well-known recording
stars or high-powered writers?
It’s hard to say, but one thing is for
sure: the 375 members who get to
vote on the nominees have a glit-
tering array of choices.
Leading the list is Billie Eilish’s
“No Time to Die,” the theme for
the James Bond film that finally
arrived in October and marks
Daniel Craig’s swan song as 007.
She’s already won the Grammy
for movie song, and Eilish, along
with co-writer Finneas, are cer-
tain to be nominated. If she wins,
it will mark the third consecutive
Bond film to take home an origi-
nal song Oscar.
Three songs hail from previ-
ous Oscar winners. H.E.R., who
took home last year’s award for
“Fight for You,” is in the running
with “Automatic Woman” from
“Bruised,” while “La La Land”
songwriters Benj Pasek and Justin
Paul (along with co-star Amandla
Stenberg) penned the new song
“The Anonymous Ones” for the
film version of their Broadway hit
“Dear Evan Hansen.”
Yet the mixed critical and
audience reception for both
movies could negatively impact
the voting, leaving the third one
with an Oscar pedigree — “Here
I Am (Singing My Way Home)”
from the Aretha Franklin biopic
“Respect” — by past winner
Jennifer Hudson, revered pop
writer Carole King and English
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
writer Jamie Hartman, as a more
likely nominee. They’re already
nominated for a Grammy and a
Golden Globe.
King isn’t the only legendary
singer-songwriter in the running.
Kenneth Branagh’s childhood
memoir “Belfast” is soundtracked
with Van Morrison songs, and he
wrote a new one, “Down to Joy,”
for the occasion. The Beach Boys’
Brian Wilson, subject of the doc-
umentary “Brian Wilson: Long
Promised Road,” co-wrote and
sings “Right Where I Belong,” and
could be a sentimental favorite.
U2 (technically “music by U2,
lyrics by Bono”) contributed
“Your Song Saved My Life” to “Sing
2,” one of two animated features
with songs in contention. The fact
that Bono voices a key character
in the film, and the song is per-
formed as part of the film and not
an end-title afterthought, could
work in the iconic rocker’s favor.
The other animated film in this
category is Disney’s “Encanto,”
with songs by L in-Manuel
Miranda. He entered the evoc-
ative “Dos Oruguitas,” sung by
Colombian pop star Sebastián
Yatra. It could become only the
second Spanish-language song to
be nominated (after “Al otro lado
del rio” in 2004), and if Miranda
wins he will officially obtain EGOT
status, having already earned two
Emmys, three Grammys and a trio
of Tonys during his time in the
post-“Hamilton” limelight.
Songs performed on screen
always have an advantage, and
two musicals offer numbers vot-
ers may remember: “Annette,”
written by Ron and Russell Mael
aka rock duo Sparks, whose open-
ing number “So May We Start?”
is shot outside L.A.’s renowned
Village recording studio; and
“Cinderella,” with its pivotal,
thought-provoking number
“Dream Girls,” co-written and
sung by Idina Menzel as the not-
so-wicked stepmother.
For “Don’t Look Up,” Ariana
Billie Eilish’s “No Grande and Kid Cudi (billed
Time to Die” from
as co-writers with composer
Nicola Dove/MGM
the latest James
Bond film, starring Nicholas Britell and songwriter
Daniel Craig and Taura Stinson) sing “Just Look
Ana de Armas,
should land on the Up,” which plays a role in Adam
Oscar nom list. McKay’s narrative about moronic
 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
Americans ignoring scientific
fact. That could make a difference
for voters choosing their final five.
Perhaps the most interesting
matchup pits spouses against
each other: Beyoncé has a con-
tender in “Be Alive” from “King
Richard,” the story of Serena and
Venus Williams’ determined
tennis-coach dad, while her hus-
band, Jay-Z, is co-writer (along
with Kid Cudi and director-com-
poser Jeymes Samuel) of “Guns
Go Bang” from Samuel’s all-Black
Western “The Harder They Fall.”
What’s doubly intriguing is
that “Be Alive” plays under the
end titles of “King Richard,” while
“Guns Go Bang” has a far more
prominent role (complete with
rap lyrics and gunshots punctu-
ating the rhythm track à la old
Sergio Leone movies) under the
Sing 2: Illumination Entertainment/Universal Pictures; Candyman: Universal Pictures/MGM
opening titles of “The Harder
They Fall.”
Another end-title song that
may face an uphill battle for rec-
ognition is “Somehow You Do,”
which Reba McEntire sings at
the end of the drug-addiction
drama “Four Good Days.” The
movie was practically forgotten
after its April 30 release, but the
song is by veteran Diane Warren,
a 12-time Oscar nominee who is
a showbiz favorite still without a
win. It’s also the only country-fla-
vored tune in the bunch.
Another longshot is the end-ti-
tle song from “CODA,” an instance
of a good song concluding a senti-
mental crowd favorite. Star Emilia
Jones sings “Beyond the Shore,”
by Grammy winner Marius de
Vries and co-writers including
director Sian Heder.
The Landscape Sound
of ‘Candyman’
A popular horror film enters the score race bringing
atmosphere to the screen via unlikely instruments
By Jon Burlingame
The rare horror contender,
U2 contributed “Candyman” features an elec-
“Your Song tro-acoustic score by New York
Saved My Life” to
composer Robert Aiki Aubrey
animated “Sing 2.”
Lowe that contributes to the eerie
and ultimately terrifying atmo-
sphere of Nia DaCosta’s update of
the 1992 classic.
“Candyman” was co-written
and produced by Jordan Peele
and wound up among the year’s
top 20 grossing films. Lowe spent
more than nine months compos-
ing music for it.
“To be able to enhance the story
by way of creating a score that
exists as a character within the
landscape of the film, that’s most
important to me,” says Lowe.
The appeal? “The racial over-
tones of the film, the history of
brutality and trauma for Black bod-
ies, concepts of ancestry, folklore,
mythology, stories that are handed
down orally.”
Lowe actually lived within a
Yahya Abdul-
Mateen II stars
in “Candyman,”
with a score
by Robert Aiki
Aubrey Lowe.
few blocks of Chicago’s Cabrini-
Green housing project while in
his 20s, and returned to those
now-abandoned row houses
that are the focus of the film to
capture the sounds of the place.
Lowe recorded “the wind rushing
through the buildings, the creak-
ing of doors, [sounds inside] old
electrical boxes, insects around.
Also, I prompted some of the
actors to say certain words or
phrases into the recorder. Then
I took those words and phrases
and granularly processed them
down to where they were no lon-
ger understandable as a word or
voice, and used those as textural
elements within the score.”
In fact, most of the vaguely
recognizable voice sounds are
those of either Lowe himself
or his friend, Oscar-winning
Icelandic composer Hildur
Guðnadóttir (“Joker”); she also
plays cello on the score.
VARIETY ● 27
“I also had [actor] Colman
Domingo say ‘Candyman’ and
really crushed it, made it into a
buzzing, skittering sound. … I was
treating a lot of the voices, and
sounds in general, as apparitions.
It’s almost like you have all of
these ghosts weaving in and out
of the story, or imparting their
own particular story, in different
moments throughout the film.”
Lowe used a variety of mod-
ern techniques to create a mood
of unease, an atmosphere of
dread — but, he notes, “without
providing any emotional bias. If
you lay it on too thick it becomes
coy. I like the idea of playing with
illusion, something that factors
quite heavily into this film — this
concept of reflection, illusion,
reality versus fantasy. …
“Technically, ‘Candyman’ is
a horror film, but it works on
other levels. There are whimsi-
cal moments within the score.”
28 ● AWARDS CIRCUIT ● MUSIC
Finding Melody for Medieval Times
‘The Green Knight’ put music to a tale from King Arthur’s court
By Jon Burlingame
One of the surprises on the
Oscar music shortlist was Daniel
Hart’s score for “The Green
Knight,” which is awash with medi-
eval musical touches appropriate
for a 15th-century tale of King
Arthur’s court.
The Los Angeles-based Hart, a
violinist who was once a member
of St. Vincent’s band, has scored
all of David Lowery’s films includ-
ing “Pete’s Dragon” and “A Ghost
Story.” But “The Green Knight”
posed unique challenges, not the
least of which was the idea of writ-
ing songs in the ancient Middle
English language.
“I didn’t know anything about
medieval music, really,” Hart says.
But he grew up singing liturgical
music in his parents’ Dallas-area
Episcopal church choirs, much of
which is rooted in ancient British
music, so he had a starting point.
Research into Middle English
poetry, the source of most of
his lyrics, followed, and songs
including “O Nyghtegale,” “Be
Merry, Swete Lorde” and “Aiganz
O Kulzphazur,” lend an air of musi-
cal authenticity to the saga of
Gawain (Dev Patel) and his quest
to find the mysterious Green
Knight far from Camelot.
Other choices included the use
of a quartet of recorders, a sev-
en-voice choir of sopranos and
altos, and an ancient stringed
instrument called the nyckel-
harpa, which Hart had specially
built and learned to play (“It
sounds like a rustic viola,” he says).
Hart also played all the violins
and violas in the score, and aug-
mented those with a six-member
London cello ensemble.
Much of this was recorded prior
to the pandemic, but when the
March 2020 lockdown forced a
postponement of the film’s release
date, director Lowery began recut-
ting his film, leading to multiple
revisions in the score — mostly
accomplished in Hart’s studio and
with the help of other musicians
and singers recording remotely.
Gawain earned “a very play-
ful, slightly off-kilter melody that
reprises several times in the first
section of the film,” but that imma-
ture-Gawain theme disappears as
he departs on his adventure-filled
quest and grows up over the com-
0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2
Dev Patel as
Gawain in “The
Green Knight,”
with a score
by Daniel Hart.
ing months. A theme for his lover
Essel (Alicia Vikander) and one for
King Arthur (Sean Harris) and the
sword Excalibur are also heard.
Surprisingly, he also added
the sounds of the Prophet Rev2
synthesizer, mostly for “creating
atmosphere” in the spirit of Wendy
Carlos’ ominous opening music for
Stanley Kubrick’s “The Shining.”
It was a long process, start-
ing with his first song in August
2018 and finishing final revisions
in October 2020. Hart, who has
never won a major industry
Eric Zachanowich/A24
award, was surprised to find
himself on Oscar’s shortlist of 15
finalists for nomination.
His first thought upon receiv-
ing the news? “That list isn’t very
short,” he cracks.
30 ● FACETIME 0 1 .1 0 . 2 0 2 2

Sarah Tanno ‘I was inspired by Gina Lollobrigida, and both

Ridley Scott and Gaga loved that reference.’

By Jazz Tangcay

mentation looking at photos, vid- because back then women did

eos and interviews. straight lines.
But there wasn’t a lot of photo • Ridley didn’t shoot the film in
evidence of her from earlier order, what did that mean when
years and before her wedding. creating the looks and you’re
Freddy [Frederic Aspiras, Gaga’s doing ’70s one day, and ’80s the
hairstylist] and I did so much next and back to the ’70s? Fred-
research about her looks and eric and I spent months making
who her inspirations could be. our guide. It had references with
Together with Gaga, we devel- shades of colors and a hairstyle for
oped what she would look like every single scene of the movie. We
and kept in mind that her char- could pull up scene 78 and know
acter had to span 30 years. exactly where we were in the script
It was also about taking those and what we needed.
little nuances such as brow shape We had a whole wall — like a
and lip shape and building it into forensics team — of photos of
the makeup look so that it’s never her, and where she was in her
distracting or overpowering. life, and we would try to mimic
• What was the key to Patriz- it. When something was missing,
ia’s early looks? I wanted to strip we would fill it in with what we
it down. I wanted to keep her as thought that look was. We also
young and as pure as possible. didn’t age her with prosthetics, I
That meant the littlest amount of used makeup techniques.
makeup, a perfect amount so it • How did you find the perfect
doesn’t look like she was wearing red lip from the era? I had to do
any. I would round her eyebrows a lot of research, but in the end,
because brows back then were with Haus Labs [Gaga’s makeup
not blocked. brand where Tanno is global art-
• What about the ideas for her istry director], I created a collec-
wedding day?I was inspired by tion of lipsticks inspired by Italian
Gina Lollobrigida, and both Rid- glamour and the shades that were
ley Scott and Gaga loved that ref- popular in Italy at the time. We
erence. In the movie you see the developed a color called Stefa-
double-winged liner, it’s subtle nia — named after Gaga. It’s the
Makeup artist Sarah Tanno has Tanno created a makeup arc for and a little bit messy because they perfect cherry red that we tested
done almost every look imagin- the character, whose story spans didn’t use liquid liner back then. on all skin tones. It’s perfectly
able on Lady Gaga, but her big- three decades. I used products that they would bright, not too deep, not too blue.
gest challenge came when Gaga • What was the starting point have used. Italian makeup in the It’s just a little bit sheerer than a
signed on to play Patrizia Reggiani for transforming Lady Gaga into ’70s was a little bit behind the U.S. typical lipstick.
in Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci.” Patrizia Reggiani? It was about They were still doing cool makeup We also created an all-over
The actor told her friend and dissecting the script in a way — in looks from the ’60s. I did a winged rouge that can be used on eyes,
collaborator that she didn’t want a way that not only did I read it and liner and went straight to elongate cheeks and lips because that’s the
to see herself on screen, she try to understand her as a person, the eye, like Sophia Loren, than the formula type that women would
wanted to disappear into the role. I went through any kind of docu- up-wing I’d typically do on Gaga use back then.

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