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So get this. It’s nearly 5 p.m. Thursday afternoon and I, Academy Award winner Travon Free, am sitting in front of my TV with the Academy Screening Room app open, browsing this year’s nominees. I’ve seen pretty much everything nominated at least once, but there’s a documentary or two I still need to check off my list.

Then, a text appears from my buddy Jason.

“So, are you guys going to have to make a statement about this?”

Oh no. Statements are only required when someone does something bad, and I’ve yet to make a film with Blake Lively or Justin Baldoni, so I can’t imagine why I’d need to make one. After nervously asking “What for?”, he sends me one of the many screenshots of Karla Sofía Gascón’s old, resurfaced tweets, currently in circulation. In this particular Twitter-bullet to the Emilia Pérez Oscars campaign,...

Exclusive: Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, the filmmakers behind the Academy Award-winning 2021 live-action short Two Distant Strangers, have found their next awards play in Will I See You Again?, a live-action short co-written and directed by Michael Perez-Lindsey, which they’ve boarded as executive producers.

Others newly aboard the project as EPs include Mickey Meyer, the duo’s partner in entertainment company Unreasnble, and actress DeWanda Wise (She’s Gotta Have It).

Co-written and executive produced by Rhett Lindsey, the short centers on two former college teammates who find themselves summoned to their late friend’s estate hearing after 20 years of estrangement. To claim their inheritance, they must first confront their past relationship while undergoing a polygraph test.

Pic marks one of the first directorial efforts for Perez-Lindsay, who has worked alongside top cinematographers as a digital imaging technician on productions like Roadside’s Hello, My Name Is Doris and...

Skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and Jackass star Steve-o have boarded Sk8 or Die: The Lee Ralph Story, a new scripted series on the life of the New Zealand skateboarder who reached the peak of the sport in the 1980s before abruptly vanishing from the scene. The show, which is currently in active development, is conceived as a biographical anthology series akin to Ryan Murphy’s Monster, which each new season exploring the life of another skating legend.

Auckland-based outfit Tavake will produce Sk8 or Die with Hawk and Steve-o as executive producers. Vinnie Bennett, who played Young Dom in F9, will star as Lee Ralph, with Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes (Whale Rider, FBI: Most Wanted) as Lee’s sister and life-long partner in crime, Kim Ralph.

The series will follow Lee’s childhood in New Zealand, growing up the son of a heroin-dealing father and his rise to becoming a skating pro in the late 1980s,...

Oscar-winning duo Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe are to direct and executive produce “Sk8 or Die: The Lee Ralph Story.” The upcoming series is an anthology exploring the wild and highly unique life of Lee Ralph, a former pro skateboarder turned folk hero and recluse.

Vinnie Bennett and Oscar-nominee Keisha Castle-Hughes are set to lead the cast, with Bennet portraying Ralph and Castle-Hughes playing his sister and partner in crime Kim Ralph.

The six-part show was hatched by New Zealand-based production company Tavake (“Madam”). Skateboarding ace Tony Hawk and “Jackass” touring comedian and skate culture legend, Steve-o are on board to executive produce. Free and Roe executive produce under their The Unreasnble banner.

Tavake principals Tom Hern and Halaifonua (Nua) Finau (“The Panthers,” “Red White and Brass”) co-wrote the series and will serve as showrunners. Hern will also direct some episodes. Julian Arahanga will act as a producer for Tavake.

Here’s a look at this week’s biggest premieres, parties and openings in Los Angeles and New York, including events for Poolman, A Man in Full and Hacks.

TCM Classic Film Festival

After kicking off with a Pulp Fiction reunion on April 18, the TCM Classic Film Festival continued through the weekend, as Jodie Foster had her handprints and footprints enshrined in concrete at the Tcl Chinese Theatre and then appeared at a screening of her film The Silence of the Lambs; Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins reunited for a screening of their film The Shawshank Redemption; and Mel Brooks introduced a closing night presentation of his film Spaceballs.

Jodie Foster signs her autograph in cement during the Handprint and Footprint Ceremony TCM Host Eddie Muller, Morgan Freeman, Tim Robbins and TCM Host Dave Karger attend ‘The Shawshank Redemption’ screening Mel Brooks speaks onstage at the ‘Spaceballs’ screening

Poolman premiere...

On Saturday, April 20, more than 100 celebrities and influencers gathered with changemakers from around the world at The Mercy For Animals 25th Anniversary Gala ahead of Earth Day to celebrate Mercy For Animals’ history and the positive impact the organization has had on farmed animals, people’s lives and the planet.

Many spoke passionately about the importance of making food choices and supporting initiatives that foster compassion and sustainability.

The star-studded event drew both new faces and longtime friends who have worked alongside Mercy For Animals to promote kindness to animals and protect the planet we all share. Sarah Jeffery, Moby, Daniella Monet, Joseph Morgan, Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Persia White, Jay Shetty, Radhi Devlukia-Shetty and others joined as presenters, while Tabitha Brown, Charo, Travon Free and Kate Mara were honored with awards.

“From calling for legislative reforms to collaborating with food industry leaders on sustainable practices, Mercy For Animals is committed...

Winners were celebrated at the 15th Annual Aafca Awards on February 21, 2024. The ceremony took place at the Beverly Wilshire, a Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills, and honored outstanding achievement in film. Gold Derby associate editor Latasha Ford enjoyed an exclusive spot on the red carpet, interviewing many of the celebrities who were honored, presenting or enjoying the night’s festivities.

Watch each short video below by clicking that person’s name:

Colman Domingo, winner for Best Actor

Ava DuVernay, winner for Best Drama, Best Director

Cord Jefferson, winner for Best Comedy, Best Screenplay, Best Emerging Filmmaker

Andra Day

Erika Alexander (“American Fiction” star)

Seydou Sarr and Moustapha Fall

Kim Coles (actress)

Gil Robertson

Travon Free (Oscar-winning director)

Ron G (actor and comedian)

Predict the 2024 Oscar winners through March 10

Make your predictions at Gold Derby now. Download our free and easy app for Apple/iPhone devices or Android (Google Play...

Oscar-winning filmmakers Desmond Roe and Travon Free art set to release the graphic novel Black Solstice, published by Dark Horse Comics, building a narrative world around the genesis of a social media joke. The graphic novel draws inspiration from a viral social media meme, which suggested black people would gain superpowers on December 21, 2020. The opening pages of Black Solstice establish the powers gained by black people, reactions from non-black individuals, and the ongoing study of the phenomenon, diving into the myriad possibilities of this unique concept.

Oscar-winning filmmakers Desmond Roe and Travon Free are reuniting for a brand-new graphic novel called Black Solstice, published by Dark Horse Comics. Screen Rant is thrilled to offer an exclusive first look at the project. Black Solstice follows up Roe and Free's Two Distant Strangers, a short film for Netflix starring Joey Bada$$, which earned the Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film...

Matt Roe has been named head of unscripted for production company Dirty Robber, The Unreasnble, led by Travon Free, Martin Desmond Roe, and Mickey Meyer.

Roe is an Emmy-nominated producer, director, and writer with more than ten years of development and production experience making unscripted premium content.

Starting his career as a story producer, Roe helped shape such projects Kobe Bryant’s Muse for Showtime, The Last Walk Off with David Ortiz for ESPN, and Tom vs. Tom for Facebook.

As a director, he has made content for companies like Religion of Sports and Uninterrupted. As a showrunner, he has helmed the Audience Network’s anthology series Religion of Sports and ESPN Why We Fight.

In addition to his creative credits, Roe has spent the last few years leading development at Dirty Robber during a time when it landed projects such as Heist and We Are The Champions for Netflix,...

Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara so badly want you to see the new documentary film “The Smell of Money,” they will pay back your rental fee out of their own pockets.

Phoenix and Mara, a couple and noted activists for animal rights and environmental causes, will personally reimburse the rental cost for the first 500 people who pre-order the film on iTunes or Google Play ahead of its December 12 digital release date, IndieWire can reveal exclusively. To qualify, you must live in the U.S. and possess a Venmo account; all the fine print can be found here.

The two actors are not just supporting the film with their wallets — Phoenix and Mara have already hosted a screening of “The Smell of Money” in Los Angeles, and have met personally with some of its subjects.

“We hope once audiences watch this film they are as moved by its important message as we are,...

Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe have found their next act.

The Oscar-winning duo behind police brutality short Two Distant Strangers and, more recently, HBO’s Bs High, have teamed with Group Nine Studios’ former president Mickey Meyer to launch a new entertainment company titled The Unreasnble. The goal of the full-service media company is to develop, produce, finance and incubate stories that have had historically limited access to mainstream media.

“The work stoppages and battles we recently experienced and are still experiencing across our industry for fair and equitable pay and ownership of our work is a clear sign we can no longer adapt to the ways of this business,” explains Free, “but instead we have to adapt it to us, the creators, and that’s what we intend to do.”

As part of the launch, the team will also acquire Roe’s award-winning production company Dirty Robber, which...

The Hollywood Reporter thanks the following 322 members of the global film community — listed alphabetically — for taking the time to cast a ballot to help us determine the 100 greatest film books of all time.

Seth Abramovitch

The Hollywood Reporter journalist/It Happened in Hollywood podcast host

Jo Addy

Soho House group film and entertainment director

Casey Affleck

Oscar-winning actor

Rutanya Alda

Author/actress

Stephanie Allain

Filmmaker

Victoria Alonso

Filmmaker/executive

Tony Angellotti

Publicist

Bonnie Arnold

Filmmaker/executive

Miguel Arteta

Filmmaker

Chris Auer

Filmmaker/film professor

John Badham

Filmmaker/film professor

Amy Baer

Executive

Matt Baer

Filmmaker

Lindsey Bahr

Journalist

Ramin Bahrani

Oscar-nominated filmmaker

Cameron Bailey

Toronto International Film Festival CEO/former film critic

John Bailey

Cinematographer/former Academy president

Bela Bajaria

Executive

Sean Baker

Filmmaker

Alec Baldwin

Oscar-nominated actor/author

Tino Balio

Author/film professor

Jeffrey Barbakow

Executive

Michael Barker

Executive

Mike Barnes

The Hollywood Reporter journalist

Jeanine Basinger

Author/film...

A host of Oscar hopefuls — among them Origin writer/director Ava DuVernay, May December director Todd Haynes, Saltburn writer/director Emerald Fennell and American Fiction writer/director Cord Jefferson — will head south later this month for the Scad Savannah Film Festival, a regional fest that has become a high-profile stop on the road to the Academy Awards, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The fest, which will run Oct. 21-28, will honor Jefferson with its Breakthrough Director Award (Oct. 22), Haynes with its Outstanding Achievement in Directing Award (Oct. 23), Fennell with its Spotlight Director Award (Oct. 24) and DuVernay with its Virtuoso Director Award (Oct. 28).

Other awards hopefuls set for honors: Barbie production designers Sarah Greenwood and Katie Spencer, who will receive the Outstanding Achievement in Production Design Award (Oct. 23); Maestro makeup artist Kazu Hiro, who will receive the Career Achivement Award (Oct. 24); The Bikeriders writer/director Jeff Nichols, who will receive the Auteur Award (Oct.

The Scad Savannah Film Festival, which takes place each year at the Savannah College of Art and Design shortly before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences votes to determine its Oscar shortlists, and which has become a premier showcase for documentary programming, has revealed the names of the 10 documentary features that it will highlight on this year’s edition of its popular Docs to Watch panel.

The Docs to Watch gathering, which features discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 25, midway through the 26th edition of the fest, which will run from Oct. 21 through Oct. 28. For the 10th year in a row, it will be presented by The Hollywood Reporter and moderated by yours truly.

The films represented on this year’s Docs to Watch panel — all of which will also screen during the fest,...

Maybe you remember reading about the Bishop Sycamore scandal. Originally known as the Christians of Faith Academy, the Ohio-based institution was trying to build a reputation around itself as the next big thing in high school football. Its target demo was, according to someone involved with the recruitment program, “[student] athletes who were good at football — or thought they were good at football — but weren’t going to play at the next level.” Many of these kids were at-risk youth, living in environments that tested their ability to thrive and survive on a daily level.

The much-anticipated HBO original documentary film, “Bs High,” is set to premiere on Wednesday, August 23 at 9:00-10:40 p.m. Et/Pt on HBO and will also be available to stream on HBO Max. Directed by Academy Award-winning filmmakers Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, and executive produced by Adam McKay, the documentary delves into the perplexing world of high school football and an astonishing scandal that captured national attention.

“Bs High” centers around the shocking events that unfolded during a nationally televised high school football game on August 29, 2021. The game pitted the well-known Img Academy against the lesser-known Bishop Sycamore High School. The match concluded in a staggering 58-0 victory for Img Academy, but the real drama was just beginning. The ensuing media frenzy questioned the legitimacy of Bishop Sycamore High School and its enigmatic head coach, Roy Johnson.

The documentary unravels the captivating narrative behind one of...

‘Barbie’ Is Coming to Streaming This Fall

Even if summer has to end, “Barbie” Summer doesn’t! While an official streaming release date still has yet to be announced for the box office blockbuster, there is at least now a planned and announced timetable.

In Warner Bros. Discovery’s second-quarter earnings call, CEO David Zaslav announced plans to bring Greta Gerwig’s summer hit to Max as early as September with a guarantee it will arrive to the streamer in the fall.

Watch the ‘Barbie’ trailer below:

Since its July 21 theatrical release, “Barbie” has made over $800 million worldwide and holds an 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Margot Robbie leads the live-action film as the iconic fashion doll opposite Ryan Gosling as Ken. Barbie suffers a crisis that leads her to question her world and her existence. The ensemble cast features America Ferrera, Kate McKinnon, Issa Rae, Rhea Perlman, Will Ferrell, Michael Cera,...

From Executive Producers Adam McKay And Michael Strahan

Academy Award®-Winning Directors Travon Free And Martin Desmond Roe Chronicle Infamous Bishop Sycamore High School Football Team

HBO Original documentary film Bs High, directed by Academy Award®-winning filmmakers Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe (“Two Distant Strangers”), and executive produced by Adam McKay (HBO’s “Succession” and “Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty”) and Todd Schulman for Hyperobject Industries, Smac Entertainment’s Michael Strahan and Constance Schwartz-Morini, and Matador Content’s Jay Peterson and Todd Lubin debuts Wednesday, August 23 (9:00-10:40 p.m. Et/Pt) on HBO and will be available to stream on Max. The documentary had its world premiere at the 2023 Tribeca Film Festival.

Synopsis: On August 29, 2021, a nationally televised high school football game between top-ranked Img Academy and unknown Bishop Sycamore High School ended with multiple injuries on the field and a 58-0 blowout win for Img Academy.

When the Directors Guild of America reached a tentative new collective bargaining agreement with the AMPTP over the weekend, all eyes turned back to the writers (now on strike for over a month), and to the actors, who will announce the results of its own strike authorization vote this week as it begins studio negotiations.

Conventional wisdom held that a DGA deal could serve as a framework for writers, just as it did in 2007-08, when the DGA reached a deal on the 73rd day of the WGA’s 100-day work stoppage. But both the WGA and SAG-AFTRA have made clear the outcome of the DGA would not impact their own negotiating agendas.

“Thrilled that the DGA was able to use the power of the WGA’s labor action to secure a deal that works for them,” writer-producer Amy Berg said in a tweet thread. “We proposed a number of these terms…...

ScreenCraft, a writers’ community, is preparing for its annual Writers Summit and has set an A-list guest list.

Tony Gilroy, creator, writer, and executive producer of Disney+’s Andor, Brendan Hunt, co-creator, star and executive producer of Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso and Power creator, showrunner, writer, and producer Courtney A. Kemp are among the keynote speakers for the event.

They will be joined by Robert & Michelle King, co-creators and showrunners of The Good Fight and Evil, Cherry Chevapravatdumrong & Teresa Hsiao, co-creators, writers and producers of Lionsgate’s upcoming comedy feature Joy Ride, and Tracy McMillan, creator and executive producer of the Onyx Collective and Hulu series UnPrisoned.

The two-day virtual summit will run June 10-11 and will operate on a pay-what-you-can basis. All proceeds from this year’s summit will support non-profit organizations that include The Writers Guild Foundation and The Writers Lab. Sponsors include Final Draft and Coverfly.

On Wednesday night, entertainment heavyweights like Netflix co-ceo Ted Sarandos, Spotify exec Bill Simmons, and comedians and actors Tiffany Haddish and Travon Free gathered at République Los Angeles for dinner with Bloomberg Media CEO M. Scott Havens.

The dinner was a celebration of sorts for Bloomberg, which is forging a larger presence on the West Coast as it seeks growth opportunities. The company is pursuing an expansion in video content and building out a development office in L.A. to help it do so. It’s also launching a new live event based on its Screentime newsletter, betting that it can establish an event footprint in Hollywood.

The dinner was “a chance to meet a lot of the movers and shakers in the business and to say, ‘We’re here and we want to talk to you, we want you to come to our events, we want to interview you,...

Exclusive: Fast-rising filmmakers Travon Free and Martin Roe have signed with CAA for representation, at the same time announcing the Paramount Pictures film Razorblade Tears, based on the New York Times bestselling novel by S.A. Cosby, as their next project.

The pic marking their narrative feature directorial debut will be produced by Top Gun: Maverick‘s Jerry Bruckheimer. The story follows Ike and Buddy Lee, two ex-cons with little else in common other than a criminal past and a love for their dead sons, who band together in their desperate desire for revenge. In their quest to do better for their sons in death than they did in life, the pair of hardened men will confront their own prejudices about their sons and each other, as they rain down vengeance upon those who hurt their boys.

Flatiron Books published Razorblade Tears in July 2021. In addition to directing, Free and Roe...

On Wednesday evening, Jeremy Lin, the basketball star whose 2012 run of greatness with the New York Knicks sparked a period of “Linsanity,” came to LA’s Museum in Tolerance for a screening of the Oscar-shortlisted HBO documentary short 38 at the Garden — a film that contrasts the pride that the Linsanity era brought Asian-Americans with the recent rise of hate directed at them — wearing brand new clothes and shoes. That was because, he revealed, he hadn’t planned to be there, but when he decided days earlier to leave the league in China in which he had been playing, he felt it was important to show his support for a film that, in his view, is less about him than a crisis that he wants to help shine a light on.

Introduced by executive producer Lisa Ling and fielding questions from yours truly alongside the short’s director Frank Chi and...

Click here to read the full article.

Robert Downey Jr. still gets emotional watching Sr.

“I shouldn’t have watched the last 20 minutes, I can’t handle it,” the superstar actor and producer said Sunday upon taking the stage for a post-screening Q&a inside the DGA Theater Complex in Los Angeles. After wiping away tears, Downey Jr. sat opposite producer-wife Susan Downey for a conversation about their Netflix documentary about his filmmaker father, Robert Downey Sr., that was moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg.

Downey Jr. wasn’t alone in feeling overwhelmed with emotion. In the final moments of the Chris Smith-directed film, much sniffling could be heard inside the theater where celebrity guests like Tom Holland, Zendaya, Adrien Brody and Oscar winner Travon Free also took in the screening. But Downey Jr. was quick to point out that the filmmakers didn...

Editor’s note: On Friday, December 9, IndieWire is co-hosting a special screening of 2023 Oscar-qualified short films as part of LA3C in partnership with National Geographic Documentary Films and ShortsTV. Apply to the attend the event in Los Angeles at this link.

Almost 40 years ago, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences issued a rule change that would send a ripple effect throughout the film community. Years before the expansion of Best Picture to 10 categories or the introduction of a Best Animated Feature category, the Academy made a small adjustment to its bylaws that would inject a powerful new variable to the film festival circuit in the years to come.

In 1983, the Academy ruled that in order for a short film to be eligible for one of its three categories — Live Action, Documentary, and Animated — it would either have to receive a theatrical release or participate in a “recognized” film festival.

For Kendrick Lamar’s “We Cry Together” short film, it was crucial that the visuals captured the vulnerability and toxicity of a relationship in an intimate space.

“It challenged me to actually live in what I was writing, and really be there and be present with Taylour [Paige],” Lamar said. “And I remember us going back and forth and feeling like, damn, I understand this character even more because I’m evoking the energy from it and the passion from it because it’s alive, and it’s direct.”

Directed by Free, Lamar and Jake Schreier, “We Cry Together” follows Lamar in a heated argument with his partner, played by “Zola” star Taylour Paige. The video features the theatrical song from his fifth album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers.” The immersive experience was shot in one single take with live vocal tracks.

“We Cry Together” is among the many films hoping...

Katy Perry is taking heat for a voting-booth photo she posted to Instagram revealing she cast her Los Angeles Mayoral race vote for billionaire developer Rick Caruso.

“l am voting for a myriad of reasons (see the news) but in particular because Los Angeles is a hot mess atm,” wrote Perry in the post.

Caruso is running as a Democrat in overwhelmingly Blue L.A. County, but he was a registered Republican until recently. Perry, who performed for Hillary Clinton at the Democratic National Convention in 2016, was quickly and widely criticized for the post, on which the comments were disabled.

In reaction, comedian Travon Free tweeted, “As much as the right try to spin it, Katy Perry voting for Rick Caruso is not an indication of anything other than a rich white woman voting for a fake democrat who will ultimately have no effect on the quality of her life...

Click here to read the full article.

The Scad Savannah Film Festival, which takes place at the Savannah College of Art and Design each year shortly before the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences votes to determine its Oscar shortlists, and which has become a premier showcase for documentary programming, in particular, has revealed the names of the 10 documentary features that it will highlight on this year’s edition of its celebrated Docs to Watch panel.

The one-of-a-kind Docs to Watch gathering, which features discussion about the challenges and rewards of documentary filmmaking, will take place at the Lucas Theatre on the evening of Wednesday, Oct. 26, midway through the 25th edition of the fest, which will run from Oct. 22 through Oct. 29. For the ninth year in a row, it will be presented by The Hollywood Reporter and moderated by yours truly.

The films represented on the panel will be:...

Click here to read the full article.

HBO has begun production on a documentary about the Bishop Sycamore football scandal. Meanwhile, one of the film’s producers is being told to stop payment to a key participant who’s involved in a fraud case.

A refresher: A year ago, ESPN broadcast a game between powerhouse Img Academy — a Florida prep school for top-level high school athletes — and Bishop Sycamore of Columbus, Ohio, which claimed to have a number of sought after recruits on its own roster. Img won the game 58-0, and during the broadcast ESPN’s crew expressed concern for the safety of the Sycamore players. “Bishop Sycamore told us they had a number of Division I prospects on their roster, and to be frank, a lot of that we could not verify,” play-by-play announcer Anish Shroff said during the game.

After the game, reporting from a number of...

Exactly one year ago today, the Bishop Sycamore high school football team took the field in a nationally televised game on ESPN, and proceeded to suffer a horrible 58-0 pounding by elite Img Academy. That was just the beginning of the program’s problems. Investigations and dismissals followed, amid allegations Bishop Sycamore wasn’t even a legitimate high school and, indeed, operated more like a scam.

HBO announced today it is in production on Bs High, a documentary about the scandal-plagued school in Columbus, Ohio, with a premiere expected next year on the cable network and streamer HBO Max. Filmmakers Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, who earned Academy Awards last year for their live action short Two Distant Strangers, are directing.

Hyperobject Industries’ Adam McKay and NFL Hall of Famer-turned GMA host Michael Strahan are among the project’s executive producers.

After the Centurions’ lopsided loss to Img Academy,...

HBO is jumping into production on the upcoming “Bs High” documentary. Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe (“Two Distant Strangers”) have been named to direct the film, which will debut on HBO and be available to stream on HBO Max in 2023.

According to the documentary’s synopsis, the story follows the investigation that ensued after August 29, 2021, when the Bishop Sycamore Centurions, a presumed high school football team from Columbus, Ohio, took on perennial prep powerhouse Img Academy.

The nationally televised game ended in the Centurions 58-0 loss, causing fans and audiences to question the legitimacy of the Bishop Sycamore program and the activities of now-fired head coach Roy Johnson. However, the final score and a fired head coach turned out to be just the beginning of the story.

Roe, who shares an Academy Award with Free for their 2020 short film, has a list of documentary credits which includes “Heist,” “We Are the Champions,...

Click here to read the full article.

The three Oscar categories that recognize films which run 40 minutes or shorter — best live action short, best documentary short and best animated short — are often regarded as “minor,” but this year’s contenders for them will include some major names.

On the heels of recent Academy Awards ceremonies at which Oscars for short films were taken home by the likes of retired NBA legend Kobe Bryant, former NFL player Matthew A. Cherry and Hollywood A-lister Riz Ahmed, The Hollywood Reporter has learned that Taylor Swift’s filmmaking debut All Too Well: The Short Film — which the pop star has described as “a film about an effervescent, curious young woman who ends up completely out of her depth” — received an Oscar-qualifying run, making it eligible for the best live action short Oscar, and is working with a top consulting firm to guide its awards campaign.

Click here to read the full article.

Jak Knight’s death sent shockwaves through Hollywood on Friday as word spread of his untimely passing at age 28.

Originally from Seattle and based in L.A., Knight was a regular on the stand-up stage and collected many admirers, friends and fans during a brief but bright career that included writing and voicing a character on Big Mouth, co-creating and starring in Peacock’s just-released Bust Down opposite close friends like Chris Redd and Sam Jay, and opening for stand-up legends like Dave Chappelle.

Below is a roundup of tributes and responses making the rounds on social media.

Rest In Peace Jak Knight. Hilarious comedian and a great guy. I can’t believe it.

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) July 16, 2022

I’m in shock. There was no one like Jak Knight. A singular talent, actually funny and a genuinely kind person, a rare combo. I...

Exclusive: Saladin Ahmed (Miles Morales: Spider-Man) has partnered with filmmakers Shaka King (Judas and the Black Messiah) and Travon Free (Two Distant Strangers) to create Drac: Son of Dante—a new, 15-part webcomic series for Tapas Media and Endeavor Content, which is now free to read exclusively via the former company’s website and mobile app. The series’ first two episodes have already launched, with more to come weekly on Fridays.

Drac is said to introduce a new and contemporary mythology around the origins of the iconic goth villain Dracula that will resonate with multicultural and youth audiences alike. The narrative follows Dante, an eerie, flute-playing immortal who finds himself drawn to the human condition against the natural order and better judgment of his species. Dante follows this obsession no matter how much trouble it gets him into — but a conflict for the ages erupts when his monstrous son Drac chooses a human bride.

Jeremy Lin’s historic NBA eruption in 2012, highlighted by a stunning performance on a particular night at Madison Square Garden, is detailed in 38 at the Garden, a documentary making its world premiere at Tribeca on Sunday and newly acquired by HBO.

Another crucial aspect to “Linsanity,” as the fan craze around the ballplayer became known, was his identity as an Asian-American athlete. On Monday, following the film’s premiere, Tribeca will host a conversation featuring Lin and moderated by Hasan Minhaj about the perception of Asian-Americans in sports and racism in America.

The film is directed by Frank Chi and produced by Travon Free and Samir Hernandez, who won an Oscar for the 2020 short Two Distant Strangers. ”) HBO will air the film on its linear networks and it will also stream on HBO Max this fall.

Lin, an undrafted point guard who graduated from Harvard, shocked fans, stunned his teammates...

Updated, 11:37 a.m.: Filmmakers Travon Free and Samir Hernandez of Two Distant Strangers fame have unveiled a new trailer for 38 at the Garden, a documentary project examining the cultural impact of NBA trailblazer Jeremy Lin and the cultural phenomenon known as “Linsanity” that surrounded him during his 2011-12 season with the New York Knicks.

Watch the trailer above. Read more about the short below.

Previous, April 19: Travon Free and Samir Hernandez, the writer-director and EP behind last year’s Best Live-Action Short Oscar winner Two Distant Strangers, today unveiled 38 at the Garden, a new documentary project examining the cultural impact of NBA trailblazer Jeremy Lin and the cultural phenomenon known as “Linsanity” that surrounded him during his 2011-12 season with the New York Knicks.

The short from director Frank Chi revisits the athlete’s unlikely story 10 years down the line, in a hostile time for Asian Americans,...

Exclusive: Endeavor Content and Anonymous Content are teaming on a new joint venture focused on developing and producing premium scripted television series, Deadline can tell you first.

As part of the partnership, Anonymous and Endeavor will serve as co-studios on all scripted television projects produced and developed under the deal.

The new alliance will be led by Anonymous Content’s Cco, David Levine and Endeavor Content’s EVP, TV, Joe Hipps.

One of the first projects to be produced under the deal include The Lazarus Files, based on the Stephanie Lazarus novel by Matthew McGough, which Deadline first reported about in March 2021.

The deal marks the latest joint venture for Anonymous Content, the media company having already set up several with such international studios as AC Federation, AC Nordic, AC Brazil and Chapter One in the UK.

“We are excited to partner with Endeavor Content to launch this new venture.

Sherri Shepherd wasn’t a nominee at the 13th Aafca Awards on Wednesday night, but she certainly had the look of a winner.

Shepherd was on hand at the annual awards show — which celebrates the best in film each year — to present the best actress award to her “Chi-town sister” Jennifer Hudson, who the organization’s near-100 members honored for playing Aretha Franklin in “Respect.”

“I’m so in awe of her, that she has reinvented herself but she’s still singing those soulful gospel songs, then she’s pop, then she can get in there and act her butt off and did an amazing job in ‘Respect,’” Shepherd told Variety about Hudson on the red carpet outside the Sls Hotel in Beverly Hills. “Now the girl’s got her own talk show — welcome to the block, sis! — so, it’s very, very exciting to support her in this manner.

Though rarely given their due at the ceremony, the Oscars marks the one time a year most American audiences encounter short films. With more government arts funding available in other countries, short film is a more respected endeavor internationally, seen as a valued art form on its own rather than a mere stepping stone to making a feature. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that only one of the five Oscars nominees for Best Live Action Short hails from a U.S. filmmaker.

Though not much ties the nominees together thematically, each film sheds light on some specific window of human suffering, from personal grief to long-endured discrimination. As with most compelling stories, the search for connection, belonging, and coping with the world’s cruelty pulls focus.

Ranging in tone from futuristic satire to gritty rural drama, the films in this section offer as broad a range of...

Embracer Group, a Swedish video game holding company, unveiled plans to buy Dark Horse Media, the comic book and entertainment group founded and led by Mike Richardson.

Dark Horse, with operations in LA and Milwaukie, Oregon owns or controls more than 300 intellectual properties and has 181 employees across business units, Dark Horse Comics, which owns The Mask, Time Cop, Father’s Day, and Ghost and licenses other titles including Star Wars, Avatar the Last Airbender, Stranger Things and Witcher, Japanese manga Berserk, Lone Wolf & Cub, and creator-owned material Big Guy and Rusty and Grendel. Dark Horse is also a leader in game art collections with books like the best seller The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia.

Deadline reported earlier today on Black Solstice, a new graphic novel written by Oscar winners Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, that Dark Horse will publish next December.

Production company Dark Horse Entertainment’s 40+ films...

Exclusive: Dark Horse Comics today unveiled Black Solstice, a new graphic novel written by Oscar winners Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe, which it will publish next December.

The comic illustrated by Aremo Massa picks up following a winter solstice which saw the world transform when every Black person in America gained superpowers—powers that gave an unthinkable amount of hope, but then disappeared the following morning. Now, with only three days before the next winter solstice, the entire nation is holding its breath, waiting to see if the powers will return.

But not everyone’s been just waiting. Kesa, Quentin, and Deja—the Wallace siblings—have been planning the biggest heist in history, something that would change everything for Black people. And they are ready. All they need are those powers to kick in for 24 more hours.

“This journey began on December 21, 2020, when practically every Black person on Twitter started declaring,...

HollyShorts Film Festival Announces Dates and Lineup

Short films starring Taika Waititi, Jessica Chastain, Tiffany Haddish and those produced by Octavia Spencer and Leonardo DiCaprio are among highlights of the Oscar-qualifying HollyShorts Film Festival, running Sept. 23-Oct. 1 at the Tcl Chinese Theatres and online.

Selections include Spencer Susser’s “Save Ralph,” starring Zac Efron, Waititi and George Lopez; Aneil Karia’s “The Long Goodbye” starring Riz Ahmed; Orlando von Einsiedel’s “Into Dust” produced by DiCaprio; Aidan Tanner’s “The Sands Between” starring Chastain; Minsun Park and Teddy Tenenbaum’s “Koreatown Ghost Story,” starring Margaret Cho; Zeberiah Newman’s “Right to Try,” produced by Spencer.

Other films on the slate are: Geoff Dunbar’s “When Winter Comes”; Lindiwe Suttle Müller-Westernhagen’s “Desmond’s Not Here Anymore;” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman’s “Life Unexpected,” Julien Joslin’s “No Longer Suitable for Use,” Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe’s Oscar-Winning “Two Distant Strangers,...

Matt Damon bizarrely admitted in a new interview that he only recently stopped using the “the f-slur for a homosexual” after his daughter wrote a “treatise” on why using the word to refer to people, gay or otherwise, is unacceptable.

After confessing this in an interview with the U.K.’s Sunday Times to promote his new movie “Stillwater,” Damon was the target of many memes as well as pointed criticism as many people online questioned both why he decided to share this information — and also why he was still using such a derogatory term in 2021.

The Boston-born leading man said the “f-slur for a homosexual” was “commonly used when I was a kid, with a different application.”

The word has always been a slur and unacceptable to use even in a joking fashion, but it’s definitely odd that Damon decided to own up to his apparently frequent use of it in private.

Tributes flooded Twitter following the news that rapper Biz Markie died Friday at age 57. The rapper nicknamed “the clown prince of Hip Hop” was best known for his humorous lyrics, original flow and his 1989 hit single “Just a Friend.”

“It is with profound sadness that we announce, this evening, with his wife Tara by his side, Hip Hop pioneer Biz Markie peacefully passed away,” the rapper’s family said in a statement. “We are grateful for the many calls and prayers of support that we have received during this difficult time. Biz created a legacy of artistry that will forever be celebrated by his industry peers and his beloved fans whose lives he was able to touch through music, spanning over 35 years.

Markie’s brother, the musician Diamond Shell shared his condolences on Facebook saying, “To the baddest in the beats icon legend … my brother Biz Markie… I’LL miss...

Oscar-winning filmmaker Travon Free (“Two Distant Strangers”) is among the panelists for the inaugural “Hbcu in LA – Hollywood Summit,” presented by the Entertainment Industry College Outreach Program (Eicop).

The free, four-day virtual program, developed by the Eicop (the non-profit educational arts workforce development program), will bring together talent and executives from across the entertainment industry and students and faculty from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). The summit is intended to highlight the impact and relevance of HBCUs and their relationship to Hollywood and to create pipelines for employment as the industry advances its efforts toward wide-spread diversity and inclusion.

“We’re thrilled to have this resounding response in participation from the entertainment industry,” Stacy Milner, Eicop’s founder and CEO says, announcing the program. “It shows the value and importance they place in creating a pipeline of talent from HBCUs to their companies, and their commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Free’s short film won the Oscar on Sunday night

Travon Free, the director of this year’s Oscar winner for Best Live Action Short “Two Distant Strangers,” has signed a first look producing deal with Endeavor Content.

Free directed “Two Distant Strangers” along with Martin Desmond Roe, and the film that was acquired by Netflix tells the story of a Black man trying to get home to his dog who is stopped by police and killed, only to find himself caught in a “Groundhog Day”-style infinite time loop in which he relives the morning and gets killed by the same police officer over and over again no matter what he does differently. The film starred Joey Bada$$, Zaria and Andrew Howard.

On Sunday night during their acceptance speech, Free and his co-director spoke powerfully about police brutality, explaining that on average police kill three people every day. Their colorful,...

Exclusive: Hot off of winning the Best Live Action Short Film Oscar for Two Distant Strangers, Travon Free has inked a first look producing deal with Endeavor Content.

Free wrote Two Distant Strangers and co-directed with Martin Desmond Roe. The Netflix short which stars Joey Bada$$, Andrew Howard and Zaria follows a man who is trying to get home to his dog, but gets stuck in a time loop that forces him to relive a deadly run-in with a cop.

Said Free, “Over the last year I’ve developed some great creative relationships with some wonderful people at Endeavor Content, who I’ve found to be as committed as I am to making art that is not only entertaining but challenges our society, our culture and the world we live in. I’m really excited about the road ahead and the chance to create with their impressive team.”

Added Joe Hipps,...

Writer-director Travon Free has signed a first-look producing deal with Endeavor Content after, along with co-director Martin Desmond Roe, winning the Oscar for best live-action short for Two Distant Strangers.

“Over the last year, I’ve developed some great creative relationships with some wonderful people at Endeavor Content, who I’ve found to be as committed as I am to making art that is not only entertaining, but challenges our society, our culture and the world we live in. I’m really excited about the road ahead and the chance to create with their impressive team,” Free said in a statement.

Two Distant ...

Writer-director Travon Free has signed a first-look producing deal with Endeavor Content after, along with co-director Martin Desmond Roe, winning the Oscar for best live-action short for Two Distant Strangers.

“Over the last year, I’ve developed some great creative relationships with some wonderful people at Endeavor Content, who I’ve found to be as committed as I am to making art that is not only entertaining, but challenges our society, our culture and the world we live in. I’m really excited about the road ahead and the chance to create with their impressive team,” Free said in a statement.

Two Distant ...

HFPA and South African journalist Margaret Gardiner has responded on Twitter for mistakenly asking Judas and the Black Messiah Best Supporting Actor Oscar winner Daniel Kaluuya what it was like working with director Regina King. The Warner Bros. movie, which won two Oscars Sunday night, was directed by Shaka King. One Night in Miami, another Oscar contender last night, was directed by Regina King.

Gardiner, who reportedly was covering the Oscarcast for The Sunday Times of South Africa, asked Kaluuya remotely, “I’ve been following you since the beginning of your career, and I was wondering what it meant for you to be directed by Regina, what this means for you at this time with the world and the state that it’s in?”

The actor responded, “Say, that question again, please?”

Gardiner then asked, “I was wondering what it meant for you to win with the world and the...