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One of the key initiatives of the American French Film Festival is its long-running education program, which provides 3,000 high school students each year with the opportunity to attend a screening and discussion with filmmakers at the DGA Theatre. For the festival, it’s a rare opportunity to help actively develop younger audiences and expose them to French cinema.

“At a time when everyone is on their phones and in-person interactions are declining, the American French Film Festival Education Program inspires students to truly engage,” says Anouchka van Riel, Deputy Director of Tafff. “Through our screenings and Q&As with French actors and filmmakers at the DGA Theatre, as well as in-class materials we develop with educators, this effective annual program continues to encourage thoughtful discussion and nurture a new generation of French film enthusiasts.”

This year will mark the 17th year of its High School Screenings Program, and the festival...

Sundance Institute has announced the 2024 Directors, Screenwriters, and Native Labs fellows.

The Native Lab takes place in person in Santa Fe, New Mexico, from April 29–May 4 and will support four fellows and two artists in residence. The Lab focuses on centring Indigeneity in the storytelling of participants from Native and Indigenous backgrounds and will work on feature film and episodic scripts through one-on-one feedback sections and roundtable discussions with advisors.

The fellows are: Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan (writer-director) with Hum (Phil-usa); Ryland Walker Knight (writer-director) with The Lip Of The World (USA); Charine Pilar Gonzales (writer-director) with Ndn Time (USA...

The USC Libraries announced the winners for the 36th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.

For the second year in a row, “Slow Horses” took home the prize for episodic series; Cord Jefferson won the 2024 award for film adaptation; both he and the author of the novel he adapted, Percival Everett, were in attendance. Jefferson thanked Everett for trusting him with his 2001 novel, which he felt was written just for him. “He has managed to mine my novel for the material he needed to make this film,” said Everett, who teaches at USC. “And then I sat back and did nothing. So good job. Thank you.”

“I wouldn’t be here without without him,...

In life, spewing hate comes easy; finding the good takes effort. That’s my mantra for “Revenge of the Remakes.” Get dirty and identify value where others hastily — maybe unfairly — laid harsh criticisms. Any remake, in any genre, faces biased outrage from peanut galleries who refuse to remove their nostalgia goggles. It’s easy to prey on the hate clickers out there, which is why I use this column as a voice for the misunderstood and wrongly delegitimized. A remake isn’t trash because it’s a remake, there’s more to the equation.

That said (and believed), not all remakes are created equal. With soaring highs come subterranean lows. Sometimes remakes are nothing but a copy-and-paste cash grab, devoid of creative ambitions. These examples fuel smear campaigns about remakes at large — and today, we’re dissecting one of the worst.

John McTiernan’s Rollerball is an unprecedented studio disaster...

The finalists for the 36th USC Libraries Script Awards, honoring the most accomplished films and episodic series adaptations, have been announced. Among the selected are “American Fiction,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Oppenheimer” and “Poor Things,” all top-tier contenders for Oscar attention. Ava DuVernay’s drama “Origin” was a surprise entry in the lineup, making her the second Black woman recognized by the awards body (the first was Dee Rees for 2017’s “Mudbound”).

A strong bellwether for the Oscars’ best adapted screenplay category, previous Scripter winners that have matched the Academy in the last decade include “12 Years a Slave” (2013), “The Imitation Game” (2014), “The Big Short” (2015), “Moonlight” (2016), “Call Me by Your Name” (2017), “Nomadland” (2020) and “Women Talking” (2022). Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman” (2019) is the only Scripter-eligible film to win the Academy Award without being nominated by the organization.

One of the notable omissions from the group is Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie,” but according to the awards team,...

The USC Libraries has revealed the finalists for the 36th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.

Last year, screenwriter Sarah Polley and novelist Miriam Toews won the film award for “Women Talking,” which was nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay Oscars; Polley won for Adapted at the Academy Awards. Meanwhile, the television prize last year went to English stand-up comedian and screenwriter Will Smith for the episode “Failure’s Contagious,” from “Slow Horses,” based on the novel by Mick Herron. Past winners include “Call Me By Your Name,” “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, before 2019, eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.

The screenwriters and authors behind Oppenheimer, Origin, American Fiction, Poor Things and Killers of the Flower Moon and The Crown, Daisy Jones & The Six, The Last of Us, Winning Time and last year’s TV winner Slow Horses have been nominated for this year’s USC Libraries Scripter Awards.

In its 36th year, the Scripters honor the writers of the year’s best film and TV adaptations.

Last year, Sarah Polley and author Miriam Toews won for Women Talking, which went on to win the Adapted Screenplay Oscar. Will Smith and Mick Harron are back in the hunt this year for Slow Horses, as is Peter Morgan for The Crown, which he adapted based on his stage play The Audience.

The 2024 Scripter selection committee chaired by USC professor Howard Rodman selected the finalists from a field of 80 film and 56 episodic series adaptations. Winners will be revealed March 2 during a black-tie...

Sixteen fellows with a dozen projects will be headed to the mythic bunk beds and cabin life of Utah just prior to the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. Here their words on paper will be tested, tried and nurtured with valuable input from the likes of Michelle Satter, Ilyse McKimmie, Jessie Nelson and creative advisors Ritesh Batra, Linda Yvette Chávez, Scott Frank, Phil Hay, Marielle Heller, Walter Mosley, Nicole Perlman, Kemp Powers, Dee Rees, Howard Rodman, Dana Stevens, Joan Tewkesbury, Bill Wheeler, Tyger Williams, Virgil Williams, and Doug Wright. This year’s Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab folks include: Nikesh Shukla & Himesh Patel (Brown Baby), Kaitlin Fontana & Franchesca Ramsey (Cover Girl), Sylvia Khoury (Heather), Jane Casey Modderno (Here for the Weekend), Kawennáhere Devery Jacobs (High Steel), Kristine Gerolaga (Lamok), Francesca Canepa & Miguel Ángel Papalini (La Otra Orilla), Diana Peralta (No Love Lost), Christian Moldes (Quince Kings), Hanna Gray Organschi (Rubber Hut), Sara Crow...

“It’s a road map. People are going to study it like the Torah.”

That’s how one prolific showrunner describes the Writers Guild of America’s tentative new three-year Minimum Basic Agreement, a deal that was reached as Yom Kippur, the day of atonement that serves as the holiest of Jewish holidays, was beginning as the sun set Sunday after five frantic days of bargaining with chiefs from four major conglomerates and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

The tentative agreement, which is now with guild members for ratification, was reached mere days before the 148-day-long work stoppage officially snapped 1988’s record 154-day strike to become the longest in WGA history.

The guild gained protections against the use of artificial intelligence, data transparency and residuals tied to streaming success as well as guarantees for the minimum size of writers rooms among a cadre of other topics as...

The 2023 writers strike has focused attention on recent developments like artificial intelligence and the transition to streaming.

But for film writers, the key issue in the strike has been a constant battle for more than a generation: How do you get paid for a script once it’s finished?

Screenwriters have long been asked to do free revisions before turning in a “first draft” to the studio, which triggers payment. Typically they agree, even though the Writers Guild of America contract sets out minimum rates for revisions and polishes.

“I have boxes of scripts in my garage that are just draft after draft after draft,” said Emily Fox, a WGA strike captain who was walking the picket lines last week. “And it was all ‘first draft.’ But it was like First Draft A, First Draft B. But if they’re like, ‘You’re not ready to hand it in,’ then...

Representatives for major studios and streamers met with the Writers Guild of America for the first time on Friday since their stalled negotiations led to a strike on May 2 — a meeting that the WGA negotiating committee says produced “no agreement” on the issues.

AMPTP president Carol Lombardini and AMPTP staffers as well as WGA West assistant executive director and chief negotiator Ellen Stutzman and general counsel Tony Segall were present at the meeting on Friday afternoon to confer about a resumption of negotiations, the union told members on Friday. Discussed at the meeting was a “potential negotiation protocol” and “a preview of the issues each side intends to bring back to the table upon resumption.” The negotiating committee continued, “As of now, there is no agreement on these items, because the AMPTP said they needed to consult with their member studios before moving forward.”

According to the WGA negotiating committee,...

A day before the Writers Guild of America is set to meet with the group representing Hollywood studios and streamers in contract negotiations, the union is warning its members that management may not be willing yet to cede serious ground.

“We won’t prejudge what’s to come. But playbooks die hard,” the WGA negotiating committee wrote in a message to members on Thursday afternoon. The negotiating committee summarized its version of how the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers handled the WGA’s 2007-08 strike: “After negotiations broke off on October 31st causing the strike, they resumed in late November only to break off for a second time in December as the strike continued. Why? Because when the companies came back to the table they weren’t serious about addressing the WGA’s proposals.”

In a comment on Thursday, the AMPTP called the WGA’s rhetoric “unfortunate.” The group stated,...

Striking Writers Guild of America members expressed both tempered optimism and wariness Wednesday in response to the news that the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers had reached out to restart talks amid stalled contract negotiations.

“I hope they’re serious, I hope that they are coming to this with a much more open mind than they had last time,” said three-time WGA negotiating committee co-chair Billy Ray (Captain Phillips), who is not playing that role this year. “I can tell you if they are, a deal will be made.”

Former WGA West president Howard Rodman added in a written statement: “One hopes that the AMPTP may at long last grasp that the cost of negotiating a fair deal is less than the cost of an ongoing strike. But Friday’s conversation is, quite simply, a single and very preliminary step.”

To one of many WGA leaders, who was...

The Sundance Institute has announced the participants in their famed screenwriters, directors and Native labs.

The directors and screenwriters labs will support 12 fellows, with five fellows selected for the Native lab. Lab participants will develop their original works under the mentorship of notable advisors. Paul Thomas Anderson, Ryan Coogler, David Gordon Green, Sterlin Harjo, Taika Waititi, Lulu Wang and Chloé Zhao are among previous Sundance lab participants.

The directors lab advisor cohort includes Miguel Arteta, Joan Darling, Rick Famuyiwa, Stephen Goldblatt, Keith Gordon, Randa Haines, Ed Harris, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Polly Morgan, Ira Sachs, Michelle Tesoro and Joan Tewkesbury. The screenwriters lab advisor cohort, led by artistic director Howard Rodman, includes Justin Chon, Sebastian Cordero, Cherien Dabis, D.V. Devincentis, Scott Frank, John Gatins, Nicole Kassell, Kasi Lemmons, Tarell Alvin McCraney, Elena Soarez and Robin Swicord. The Native Lab creative advisors include Andrew Ahn, Alex Lazarowich (Cree), Dana Ladoux Miller (Sāmoan) and Jennifer Reeder.

The Sundance Institute on Thursday announced the fellows set for the 2023 edition of their Directors, Screenwriters and Native Labs.

Native Lab participants will include Eva Grant (Degrees of Separation), Quinne Larsen (Trouble), Anpa’o Locke (Growing Pains), Jana Schmieding (Auntie Chuck) and Cian Elyse White (Te Puhi’).

Those taking part in the Directors Lab and/or the Screenwriters Lab include Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Sean Wang (DìDi (弟弟)) and Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies).

A significant part of supporting Indigenous filmmakers for nearly two decades, the Native Lab will kick off online this year from May 1–5 before continuing in person in Santa Fe,...

The University of Southern California Libraries revealed the winners for the 35th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award on Saturday. The awards, which honor the year’s best film and television adaptations (along with the works on which they are based), returned live to USC’s elegant Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library for the annual black tie awards fete.

This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race, presaging 14 eventual Oscar winners, including in the last decade “Argo” (2013), “12 Years a Slave” (2014), “The Imitation Game” (2015), “The Big Short” (2016), “Moonlight” (2017), and “Call Me By Your Name” (2018).

Screenwriter Sarah Polley and novelist Miriam Toews won the film award for “Women Talking,” which is nominated for Best Picture and Adapted Screenplay Oscars, while the television prize went to English stand-up comedian and screenwriter Will Smith for the episode “Failure’s Contagious,” from “Slow Horses,” based...

Though this blog platform is usually reserved for writing about movies, Howard Rodman’s novel is totally filmic and he himself has served as President of the Writers Guild of American, so that is close enough. Moreover after spending a total of two years in Berlin in the past three years and going into my next six months here, this ode to Berlin is particularly pleasing to me. This novel is a fictional account of Fritz Lang’s last year in Berlin, in 1933. Not a very good year. He is estranged from his wife — long time collaborator on his best films, M, Metropolis, Doctor Mabuse… Though they still share living quarters, she is having an affair with an American. He is hurt within and is also suffering from a toothache adding to the interior pain in the life of this great German director, son of a Jewish mother who converted the Catholicism and raised him strictly as a Catholic. Taking place in Weimar Berlin, we see the fashion, the glitz, the clubs, the cars, the interior decoration, and as alluded to before, the interior life of Fritz as he watches his friends and colleagues leaving Germany for U.S. and France, and in the case of Bertolt Brecht, his wife Helen Weigel and their son, for Hungary. The kicker is midway in when Fritz Lcang invites his wife Thea to the UFA screening room where Harold Nebenthal and Edward Ulmer, just back from, and about to return to Hollywood, are together and discover that, because of new Jewish laws, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse’s theatrical release at the UFA Palast has been replaced by Wounded Germany This blog is quite expressionistic, beginning with my quoting off the flyleaf of the book cover here as Howard speaks best for himself. Berlin, the last day of February, 1933. The Reichstag lies in smoldering ruins. A new world is about to spring from its ashes. For German filmmakers, there is a choice. To stay, work with the new order, a government which truly believes in the power of film; or to leave, without looking back. Destiny Express is the story of Fritz Lang and Thea von Harbou. Together, they made some of the greatest films of all time. M, Metropolis, Doctor Mabuse. Married more than a decade, Lang and von Harbou are the most intimate of friends, the closest of enemies. Now, as day after day is torn from the calendar, they watch, as if paralyzed, as one by one. Bert Brecht, Max Ophuls, Billy Wilder take the next train out. Fritz Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou in their Berlin apartment, in 1923 or 1924 (which is, when the script for Metropolis was prepared). The photograph is from a series about this famous couple. Public Domain. At once exhaustively researched and wildly imagined, Destiny Express follows Lang, von Harbou, a host of real and fictional others — American cafe Surrealist Sam Harrison, novelist-turned-minister-of-culture Joseph Goebbels, Mercedes-racing champ Otto Merz, film star Rudolf Klein-Rogge, a pair of not-so-secret police — as their paths converge, intertwine, separate across the grid of Berlin, from the artificial daylight of the UFA soundstage to the artificial night of Berlin’s most exclusive clubs. Both protagonists have separate personal agendas they are following and they try not to get into each other’s way. As we watch the action, the inner life we witness of Fritz Lang as he weighs his options, thinks about his wife — his love and yet his nemesis — thinks about leaving, wishes they could be together, plays the tough guy; and in the end goes his way as she goes hers; these are the keynotes of the novel. Howard Rodman writes with a flair for visuals and for being able to show us the interior of the minds of creatives as if they were the outward reality. He is also able to reveal inward thoughts which run on separate tracks at the same time. This talent is what gives the novel a special edge. Add the expressionistic elongation of shadows, the sounds of heels clicking on the pavements, as in: On Konigstrasse her heels struck the cobbles with a high, flinty click which came back to her in syncopation from the building frontage. the silent river running through Berlin, cars, clubs, cafes, UFA Studios, Prussian apartments, paintings by Otto Dix…a dynamic Berlin, known in a nostalgic way, comes to life Cars: At once the blacktop rejoined Konigstrasse, and Lang slid the Lancea adeptly into the stream of traffic… Howard reminded me he had not been in Berlin when he wrote this making it all the more extraordinary… Shadows: Midway between two lamps Thea cast shadows of equal length before and behind. The shadow in front of her elongated, became more vague, as she approached the next lamp. The echo seemed to come back fractionally later than she’d been anticipating, and she stopped, to see if there were another set of footsteps dogging her own, but there were not. Thoughts running parallel to each other: And finally, as Lang leaves Berlin on the train, “There were fewer tracks. The lines were branching out, each with its specific destination…Then there was just one set of tracks, the one the train was reeling out behnd it. The glow of the train’s rear lights, a dense crimson, did not penetrate to where the rails converged. by raising his eyes a bit, Lang could feel them coming together, as he left all behind. Howard A. Rodman Howard A. Rodman is a screenwriter, novelist, and educator. He was President of Writers Guild of America West 2015–2017; is professor and former chair of the writing division at the USC School of Cinematic Arts; an artistic director of the Sundance Institute Screenwriting Labs; a member of the executive committee of the Writers Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; and a fellow of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities. His films include Savage Grace, starring Julianne Moore, — official selection Cannes Film Festival in 2007 — and August with Josh Hartnett, Rip Torn, and David Bowie. Son of Howard Rodman and Dorothy Rodman. Stepson of Norma Connolly. Brother of Adam Rodman. Howard A. Rodman has been married to Mary Beth Heffernan since June 25, 2017. He was previously married to Anne Friedberg (24 June 1990–9 October 2009) ( her death) with whom he had one child. · President, Writers Guild of America West, 2015–2017. · Named a Chevalier de l’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the Republic of France, 2013. · Inducted into FinalDraft’s Screenwriters Hall of Fame, 2018. Writer (6 credits) 2008 August (written by) 2007 Savage Grace (screenplay) 2000 Takedown (screenplay) 2000 Joe Gould’s Secret (screenplay) 1997 The Hunger (TV Series) (screenplay — 1 episode — which he also directed!), - The Swords (1997) … (screenplay) 1993–1995 Fallen Angels (TV Series) (teleplay — 3 episodes) - The Professional Man (1995) … (teleplay) - The Frightening Frammis (1993) … (teleplay) - The Quiet Room (1993) … (teleplay) As a writer, Howard has had plenty to live up to as his father’s bio, written by Howard himself attests: Howard Rodman, Sr. was an American writer and story editor of such critically acclaimed series such as Naked City (1958) and Route 66 (1960). A Brooklyn native, the son of immigrant parents, Rodman began his career in the 1950s writing for such noted anthology series as Studio One, Alcoa Theater, and Goodyear Theater. He contributed to Have Gun — Will Travel (1957) and was an associate producer on Peyton Place (1964). In the subsequent decades he won a trio of Writer’s Guild awards for his scripts for Naked City: Today the Man Who Kills Ants Is Coming (1962), Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre: The Game with Glass Pieces (1964), and for the NBC/Universal Television drama, The Neon Ceiling (1971). As a feature writer, he scripted the Paul Newman/Joanne Woodward racing film, Winning (1969), and co-wrote three iconic feature films for director Don Siegel: Madigan (1968), Coogan’s Bluff (1968), and Charley Varrick (1973). Rodman also wrote the teleplay adaptation of Martin Caidin’s novel, ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’, essentially creating the television version of the character as well as supplying the format for the subsequent series. Dissatisfied with the final product he removed his name and substituted his pseudonym Henri Simoun, a frequent practice. Rodman was once quoted as saying, “The script isn’t finished until the name comes off”. Rodman also created the David Janssen private eye series Harry O (1973). In 1976, he was presented with the Writers Guild’s Laurel Award for lifetime achievement in television. His final project was the made-for-tv movie Scandal Sheet (1985), starring Burt Lancaster. He died of complications following heart surgery in Los Angeles at age 65. He was survived by his second wife, actress Norma Connolly, and his children: Howard A. Rodman (a writer), Adam Rodman (a writer), Phillip Rodman, and Tiahna Skye. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Howard A. Rodman #Berlin #Movies #Book Review #Nazis #Cinema...

“Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” has become the first animated film to be saluted at the USC Libraries Scripter Awards, an annual honor that goes to the screenwriters of a film adaptation as well as the authors of the original work on which the film is based.

“Pinocchio” was named as a finalist alongside the screenplays for “Living,” “She Said,” “Top Gun: Maverick” and “Women Talking.” Because the original authors are also recognized, 2023 scripter nominees include 19th century Italian writer Carlo Collodi, who wrote the original version of “Pinocchio” in 1880; Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, whose 1886 novella “The Death of Ivan Ilyich” was adapted by Akira Kurosawa for the 1952 film “Ikiru” and by Kazuo Ishiguro for 2022’s “Living”; New York Times reporters Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey, who wrote the book “She Said” about breaking the story of Harvey Weinstein’s sexual misconduct and were played in the film version by Zoe Kazan and Carey Mulligan,...

In a year in which the frontrunners for Best Adapted Screenplay are still unclear, the USC Libraries naming the finalists for the 35th annual USC Libraries Scripter Awards offer more insight into what scripts most stand out. The award, which honors the writers of the year’s most accomplished film and episodic series adaptations, as well as the writers of the works on which they are based, is a major bellwether for the Oscars race, as its winners overlapped with the Best Adapted Screenplay winners from 2011 to 2019. Its voter base is a mix of academics, industry professionals, and critics.

As expected, Sarah Polley’s screenplay for “Women Talking,” an adaptation of Miriam Toews’ 2018 novel, of which the filmmaker has already won several critics awards for, is among this year’s Scripter Award finalists. Nobel Prize-winning novelist Kazuo Ishiguro’s “Living” script (a Tolstoy novella adaptation) and Rebecca Lenkiewicz’s “She Said...

Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Living, She Said, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking are the film nominees, and episodes of The Crown, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Slow Horses, Tokyo Vice and Under the Banner of Heaven are the TV finalists, for the 35th USC Scripter Awards, the USC Libraries announced on Wednesday.

The most notable nominations are those of Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio and Top Gun: Maverick, given that the screenplays of those films had not yet received widespread recognition, and that acclaimed adaptations of the novels Lady Chatterley’s Lover and White Noise, the nonfiction work The Good Nurse and the play The Whale were also eligible. (A widely lauded adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front was not eligible, as it is not in the English language.)

This year’s Scripters — the nominations of which were determined, as the winners will be, by a selection committee...

The USC Libraries on Wednesday unveiled nominees for its 35th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the screenwriters of the year’s best film and episodic series adaptations, along with the writers of the works on which they are based.

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This year’s film nominees are the screenwriters and original authors from Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Living, She Said, Top Gun: Maverick and Women Talking. In TV, screenwriters were nominated for penning episodes of The Crown, Fleishman Is in Trouble, Slow Horses, Tokyo Vice and Under the Banner of Heaven.

Winners will be announced March 4 at a ceremony at USC’s Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library,...

The Sundance Institute has named the participants and projects set for the 2023 editions of a pair of its flagship programs: the Screenwriters Lab and Screenwriters Intensive.

Lab participants will include Joseph Sackett (Cross Pollination), Sean Wang (Dìdi (弟弟)), Abinash Bikram Shah (Elephants in the Fog), Gabriela Ortega (Huella), Walter Thompson-Hernández (If I Go Will They Miss Me), Hadas Ayalon (In a Minute You’ll Be Gone), Bernardo Cubría, John Hibey & Joshua Penn Soskin (Kill Yr Idols), Dania Bdeir & Bane Fakih (Pigeon Wars), Rashad Frett & Lin Que Ayoung (Ricky), Farida Zahran (The Leftover Ladies), Masami Kawai (Valley of the Tall Grass) and Audrey Rosenberg (Wild Animals).

Those set for the Intensive are Keisha Rae Witherspoon & Jason Fitzroy Jeffers (Arc), Shireen Alihaji (Blue Veil), Spencer Cook & Parker Smith (Lame), Jesahel Newton-Bernal (Leche), Cynthia Lowen (Light Mass Energy), Rebin Zangana (Qareen), David Liu (Santa Anita), Urvashi Pathania (Skin), Ciara Leina`ala Lacy (Untitled...

Celebrated cartoonist and screenwriter Daniel Clowes discusses his favorite formative films with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Baxter (1989)

Faster Pussycat! Kill! Kill! (1966) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Ghost World (2001) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Art School Confidential (2006)

Help! (1965) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s review

The Russians Are Coming! The Russians Are Coming! (1966) – John Landis’s trailer commentary,

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938) – Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

Gone With The Wind (1939)

Mudhoney (1965) – John Badham’s trailer commentary

Finders Keepers, Lovers Weepers! (1968)

Common Law Cabin (1967)

Beyond The Valley Of The Dolls (1970) – Michael Lehmann’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The Seven Minutes (1971)

Black Snake (1973)

An American Werewolf In London (1981) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray and 4K Blu-ray reviews

Lady In A Cage (1964) – Darren Bousman’s trailer commentary, Charlie Largent’s Blu-ray review

The Wild One (1953)

Hush…...

Josh Olson shares his top 10 movies from his favorite movie year, 1992, with Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Star Wars (1977)

Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)

After Dark, My Sweet (1990)

The Last Of The Mohicans (1992)

Thief (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

Manhunter (1986) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary

The Last Of The Mohicans (1936)

The Player (1992) – Allan Arkush’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Popeye (1980)

Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull’s History Lesson (1976) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Quintet (1979)

​HealtH (1980)

Come Back To the Five And Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean (1982)

Secret Honor (1984)

The Graduate (1967) – Neil Labute’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Criterion Blu-ray review

Touch Of Evil (1958) – Howard Rodman’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Dead Alive a.k.a. Braindead (1992) – Mike Mendez’s trailer commentary

Meet The Feebles (1989) – Mike Mendez’s...

It’s one of the best cop shows of the 1960s! Detective Madigan’s police .38 is stolen by a mad-dog killer, forcing him to take extra risks just as more problems personal and professional close in on him. Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens and Harry Guardino give sterling performances, and the assured direction of Don Siegel keeps us on edge throughout. Siegel’s editing is extra-kinetic, and for warped screen villainy, Steve Ihnat’s maniac has no equal.

Madigan

Region B Blu-ray

Powerhouse Indicator

1968 / Color / 2:35 widescreen (Techniscope) / 101 min. / Street Date September 12, 2022 / available through Powerhouse / £15.99

Starring: Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda, Inger Stevens, Harry Guardino, James Whitmore, Susan Clark, Michael Dunn, Steve Ihnat, Don Stroud, Sheree North, Warren Stevens, Raymond St. Jacques, Bert Freed, Harry Bellaver, Frank Marth, Lloyd Gough, Virginia Gregg, Woodrow Parfrey, Conrad Bain.

Cinematography: Russell Metty

Film Editor: Milton Shifman

Visual Effects: Albert Whitlock

Original Music: Don Costa...

Producer Mike Finnell (Joe Dante’s long time producing partner) joins Josh and Joe to discuss a few of his favorite movies.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Avalanche (1978)

Airport (1970)

Earthquake (1974) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Matinee (1993) – Illeana Douglas’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s review, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Hollywood Boulevard (1976) – Jon Davison’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Deceived (1991)

Newsies (1992)

Milk Money (1994)

Rock ‘n’ Roll High School (1979) – Eli Roth’s trailer commentary

The Howling (1981) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairings

Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)

Gremlins (1984) – Glenn Erickson’s 4K Blu-ray review, Tfh’s 30th anniversary celebration

Explorers (1985) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

The ’Burbs (1989) – Ti West’s trailer commentary, Tfh’s ’Burbs Mania

Gremlins 2: The New Batch (1990)

Small Soldiers (1998)

A Matter of Life and Death (1946) – Glenn Erickson’s...

Angus MacLane, animation veteran and director of the new Pixar adventure Lightyear, discusses his favorite movies with hosts Josh Olson and Joe Dante.

Show Notes: Movies Referenced In This Episode

Taking Off (1971)

Reign of Terror (1949)

Kiss Me Deadly (1955) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Glenn Erickson’s review

Lightyear (2022)

Toy Story (1995)

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) – Brian Trenchard-Smith’s trailer commentary, Dennis Cozzalio’s Beyond Furious series, Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Innerspace (1987) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Mars Attacks! (1996)

The ’Burbs (1989) – Ti West’s trailer commentary, ’Burbs Mania at Tfh

Alive (1993)

Star Wars (1977)

Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs (1937)

The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (1999)

The Matrix (1999)

Alien (1979) – Josh Olson’s trailer commentary, Randy Fuller’s wine pairing

Aliens (1986) – Glenn Erickson’s Blu-ray review

Tron (1982)

The Blues Brothers (1980) – Adam Rifkin’s trailer commentary

Howard The Duck (1986) – Alex Kirschenbaum’s review

Wall-e (2008)

Predator 2 (1990)

Alien vs. Predator...

The USC Libraries has revealed the finalists for the 34th annual USC Libraries Scripter Award, which honors the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based. This group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race.

Last year’s Scripter film winners were “Nomadland” screenwriter Chloé Zhao and author Jessica Bruder (non-Scripter nominee “The Father” took home the Oscar); past winners include “Call Me By Your Name,” “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game,” which all won Oscars. In fact, before 2019, eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.

The finalist writers for film adaptation are, in alphabetical order by film title:

Screenwriters Eric Roth, Jon Spaihts, and Denis Villeneuve for “Dune” (Warner Bros. Pictures/Legendary Pictures and Ace), based on the novel by Frank Herbert

Maggie Gyllenhaal...

Emmanuel Mouret’s “Love Affair(s),” Samir Guesmi’s “Ibrahim” and Elie Wajeman’s “Night Doctor” won top prizes at Colcoa, the French film and TV festival.

The festival, which marked its 25th edition, wrapped at the DGA on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles on Nov. 7. It was attended by 14,000 people.

The festival, programmed by Francois Truffart, is organized by the Franco-American Cultural Fund, a collaboration between the Directors Guild of America (DGA), the Motion Picture Association (MPA), The Writers Guild of America West (Wgaw) and France’s Society of Authors, Composers and Publishers of Music (Sacem).

Colcoa shifted its spring dates to the fall in 2019 as the DGA was being renovated and is now ideally positioned at the start of the awards season in the U.S. The awards ceremony took place at the Sacem headquarters near Paris in the presence of many honorees, notably Guesmi and “Love Affair(s)” producer Frédéric Niedermayer,...

Traditionally mounted by the USC Libraries as an elegant black-tie, sit-down dinner at the historic Edward L. Doheny Jr. Memorial Library at the University of Southern California, this year the Scripter Awards went global. On Saturday, March 13, the USC Libraries opened up their exclusive awards show to honor the year’s best film and television adaptations, as well as the works on which they are based, as a virtual event.

This diverse group of academics, industry professionals, and critics (for which I vote) is often predictive of the Adapted Screenplay Oscar race. Last year’s Scripter winners on the film and TV side were Oscar and Emmy nominees Greta Gerwig (“Little Women”) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (“Fleabag”), respectively. Past winners of both the Scripter and the Oscar include “Call Me by Your Name,” “Moonlight,” “The Big Short,” and “The Imitation Game.” In fact, before 2019, eight Scripter Award winners went on to win Oscars.

Using a new preferential ballot to streamline the election process, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences added director Ava DuVernay (“A Wrinkle In Time”) and 2020 Oscars producer Lynette Howell Taylor (“A Star is Born”) to its newly elected 2020–2021 Board of Governors, increasing the number of female Academy governors from a record 25 to 26, and people of color from 11 to 12, including the three Governors-at-Large. Three newly elected or reelected governors are Black, with a total of six on the Board. The governors will take office at the first regularly scheduled board meeting of the new term.

New governors joining the Board for the first time:

Debra Zane, Casting Directors Branch

Ava DuVernay, Directors Branch

Stephen Rivkin, Film Editors Branch

Linda Flowers, Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Branch

Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers Branch

Rob Bredow, Visual Effects Branch

Incumbent governors reelected to the Board:

Whoopi Goldberg, Actors Branch

Mandy Walker, Cinematographers Branch

Isis Mussenden,...

With Harvey Weinstein gone, the entertainment industry operates under a new ruler: The gut check. He’s now a punching bag to represent abuse by powerful men, but now the real work begins. What about everyone else?

“Harvey is aberrant, to be sure, but no anomaly,” veteran screenwriter and USC professor Howard Rodman wrote me in an email. “He’s a rapist, but not the only rapist in our industry, and not the only serial predator by a very long shot. If we use his evident and overweening guilt to exculpate the rest of us, this will be for naught. What’s needed is a sea change. And maybe — just maybe — its time has come.”

Weinstein’s predation has a very, very long tail; new stories arrive daily, with the Los Angeles Police Dept. now opening an investigation into an alleged rape in 2013. “It’s been such crazy couple of weeks,...

With Harvey Weinstein gone, the entertainment industry operates under a new ruler: The gut check. He’s now a punching bag to represent abuse by powerful men, but now the real work begins. What about everyone else?

“Harvey is aberrant, to be sure, but no anomaly,” veteran screenwriter and USC professor Howard Rodman wrote me in an email. “He’s a rapist, but not the only rapist in our industry, and not the only serial predator by a very long shot. If we use his evident and overweening guilt to exculpate the rest of us, this will be for naught. What’s needed is a sea change. And maybe — just maybe — its time has come.”

Weinstein’s predation has a very, very long tail; new stories arrive daily, with the Los Angeles Police Dept. now opening an investigation into an alleged rape in 2013. “It’s been such crazy couple of weeks,...

David A. Goodman, executive producer of “Family Guy” and “The Orville” was elected president of Writers Guild of America, West, the union announced Monday. He takes over for Howard Rodman. Veteran “90210” writer Marjorie David was chosen as vice president. Both ran unopposed for leadership of the union. In the only contested race, Aaron Mendelsohn was elected secretary-treasurer, picking up 1,322 votes compared to board member Carleton Eastlake’s 663. Also Read: Writers Guild of America West Blasts Trump Charlottesville Comments: 'Disgraces Our Nation' The following eight members were elected to the Wgaw’s Board of Directors for two-year terms, effective immediately: John August,...

Updated with letter from Howard Rodman below, 1:25 Pm: Saying that President Donald Trump's latest comments on the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va, have disgraced the United States, the WGA West has issued a statement today: "The Writers Guild of America West believes in free speech – even from Nazis and white supremacists. But we completely disavow their views, which reflect the worst stains of American history, a history that still lives through racism, prejudice…...

Updated with letter from Howard Rodman below, 1:25 Pm: Saying that President Donald Trump's latest comments on the recent violence in Charlottesville, Va, have disgraced the United States, the WGA West has issued a statement today: "The Writers Guild of America West believes in free speech – even from Nazis and white supremacists. But we completely disavow their views, which reflect the worst stains of American history, a history that still lives through racism, prejudice…...

The WGA West will have a new president and vice president come September. Howard Rodman, the guild's president, is not seeking re-election as the guild's election season gets underway, and he's likely to be succeeded by David Goodman, currently the guild's vice president. Rodman has served one two-year term as president and was eligible under guild rules to serve another, but chose not to. The guild's nominating committee selected to candidates to succeed him, but only…...

The WGA West will have a new president and vice president come September. Howard Rodman, the guild's president, is not seeking re-election as the guild's election season gets underway, and he's likely to be succeeded by David Goodman, currently the guild's vice president. Rodman has served one two-year term as president and was eligible under guild rules to serve another, but chose not to. The guild's nominating committee selected to candidates to succeed him, but only…...

Last week, Stephen Colbert sparked controversy due to a joke he made about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin during his opening monologue of “The Late Show.” “The only thing [Trump’s] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin’s c–k holster,” the host joked, prompting the Federal Communications Commission to announce it planned to review the joke following some complaints from viewers. On Monday, the Writers Guild of America (WGA) issued a statement slamming the FCC.

Read More: Stephen Colbert’s Trump/Putin Joke Is Being Reviewed by the FCC, but Don’t Freak Out

“As presidents of the Writers Guilds of America, East and West, we were appalled to read recent remarks by Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai,” WGA East chief Michael Winship and WGA West chief Howard Rodman told Deadline. “He said the FCC would investigate a joke about Donald Trump by Writers Guild member Stephen Colbert,...

With a strike adverted at the last minute last week, the WGA today struck up a defense of Stephen Colbert against the FCC's so-called investigation of last week’s scathing and lewd late-night monologue against President Donald Trump. "As presidents of the Writers Guilds of America, East and West, we were appalled to read recent remarks by Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai,” said WGA East boss Michael Winship and WGA West chief Howard Rodman this morning…...

The Writers Guild is furious over the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) decision to investigate Stephen Colbert‘s recent “c*ck holster” monologue joke directed towards Donald Trump.

WGA East president Michael Winship and West president Howard Rodman sent the following statement out to media on Monday: As presidents of the Writers Guilds of America, East and West, we were appalled to read recent remarks by Federal Communications Commission chair Ajit Pai. He said the FCC would investigate a joke about Donald Trump by Writers Guild member Stephen Colbert, “apply the law” and “take appropriate action” if the joke were found to be “obscene.

The WGA won't be announcing the results of its ongoing strike vote until Monday, but we already know for sure that at least one ballot has been cast in favor of granting strike authorization if next week's talks fail to produce an agreement. "This is my ballot receipt," tweeted WGA West president Howard Rodman. "Please join me in voting Yes to give us the power we need to get a fair deal." WGA East and West members have until noon Monday to vote online, but there's…...

The WGA won't be announcing the results of its ongoing strike vote until Monday, but we already know for sure that at least one ballot has been cast in favor of granting strike authorization if next week's talks fail to produce an agreement. "This is my ballot receipt," tweeted WGA West president Howard Rodman. "Please join me in voting Yes to give us the power we need to get a fair deal." WGA East and West members have until noon Monday to vote online, but there's…...

When you think about the Writers Guild of America, which hosted two award ceremonies on Sunday night in two Blue cities, New York and Los Angeles, it’s no surprise that the writers spoke out. (Check out videos of some of the best bits below.)

For example, while accepting his life achievement award, filmmaker Oliver Stone got two standing ovations. After conservative James Woods was targeted at the top of the evening by WGA West Awards show host Patton Oswalt, retaliating by going onstage to steal his shoe, Woods presented the WGA award to the ultra liberal Stone, who starred him in “Salvador,” won three Oscars for “Midnight Express,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Platoon,” and penned “greed is good.”

Stone thanked mentors Robert Bolt and Ernest Lehman as well as Wma agent Ron Mardigian. He reminded that when he told Billy Wilder about his “Nixon” running time of 3 hours 10 minutes,...

When you think about the Writers Guild of America, which hosted two award ceremonies on Sunday night in two Blue cities, New York and Los Angeles, it’s no surprise that the writers spoke out. (Check out videos of some of the best bits below.)

For example, while accepting his life achievement award, filmmaker Oliver Stone got two standing ovations. After conservative James Woods was targeted at the top of the evening by WGA West Awards show host Patton Oswalt, retaliating by going onstage to steal his shoe, Woods presented the WGA award to the ultra liberal Stone, who starred him in “Salvador,” won three Oscars for “Midnight Express,” “Born on the Fourth of July” and “Platoon,” and penned “greed is good.”

Stone thanked mentors Robert Bolt and Ernest Lehman as well as Wma agent Ron Mardigian. He reminded that when he told Billy Wilder about his “Nixon” running time of 3 hours 10 minutes,...

The USC Scripter Literary Achievement Awards often get handed out just as a bunch of nominees are flying to London for the BAFTA Awards. The Scripters go to adapted scripts — 80 were eligible this year — as well as the original writers. And the last six winners have won the Oscar.

“Moonlight” writer-director Barry Jenkins sent his video acceptance from London; he’s the frontrunner for the Adapted Screenplay Oscar. (Oddly, he’s competing in the Original category for the Writers Guild Award.) He and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney beat out adapted screenplays for “Arrival,” “Hidden Figures,” “Fences” and “Lion,” which is based on the memoir by Saroo Brierley, who told me that the movie of his story was often hard for him to watch.

Read More: How To Watch the BAFTAs: Live Stream Online

The winners are selected by some 40 critics, screenwriters and film professionals, including me, wrangled by USC professor...

The USC Scripter Literary Achievement Awards often get handed out just as a bunch of nominees are flying to London for the BAFTA Awards. The Scripters go to adapted scripts — 80 were eligible this year — as well as the original writers. And the last six winners have won the Oscar.

“Moonlight” writer-director Barry Jenkins sent his video acceptance from London; he’s the frontrunner for the Adapted Screenplay Oscar. (Oddly, he’s competing in the Original category for the Writers Guild Award.) He and playwright Tarell Alvin McCraney beat out adapted screenplays for “Arrival,” “Hidden Figures,” “Fences” and “Lion,” which is based on the memoir by Saroo Brierley, who told me that the movie of his story was often hard for him to watch.

Read More: How To Watch the BAFTAs: Live Stream Online

The winners are selected by some 40 critics, screenwriters and film professionals, including me, wrangled by USC professor...

The 2017 USC Scripter awards, which recognizes an adapted screenplay and its source material, were handed out Saturday night, with Moonlight, The People v. O.J. Simpson and The Night Manager as the night's big winners.

The film award has been handed out since 1988, with the TV award added last year. The Scripter selection committee, chaired by USC professor and Writers Guild of America president Howard Rodman, chose the finalists from a field of 80 film and 45 TV adaptations.

The five film nominees were all frontrunners for a best picture Oscar nomination, and four of them are <a...

USC Libraries on Wednesday announced the finalists for its annual Scripter Awards, which recognize movie and TV screenwriters alongside the authors of the original works they adapted.

The film award has been handed out since 1988, with the TV award added last year. The Scripter selection committee, chaired by USC professor and Writers Guild of America president Howard Rodman, chose the finalists from a field of 80 film and 45 TV adaptations.

The five film nominees are all frontrunners for a best picture Oscar nomination, and four of them are frontrunners for the adapted screenplay Oscar...

The WGA West is reaching halfway across the world to lend its support to the Scriptwriters Guild of Israel in its ongoing battle against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the fate of Israel's new Public Broadcasting Corporation. "The new Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation is the result of a law passed by your government only last year, which you are now attempting to dismantle," WGA West president Howard Rodman wrote in a letter to the conservative prime…...