Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. You may be wondering why this is publishing on a Tuesday, instead of Friday? Well, the good news is this is the first of a special two-part episode series taking place this month. Don’t worry, though! The show will be back for its third season officially on Fridays soon!
Today, I’m chatting with actress, singer and dancer Melissa Barrera, a dynamic, multifaceted talent who has captured the attention of audiences through her versatile and charismatic performances. Barrera can currently be seen starring in the Universal Studios horror film Abigail.
The film follows a group of criminals who have been hired to kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure. All they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion,...
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. You may be wondering why this is publishing on a Tuesday, instead of Friday? Well, the good news is this is the first of a special two-part episode series taking place this month. Don’t worry, though! The show will be back for its third season officially on Fridays soon!
Today, I’m chatting with actress, singer and dancer Melissa Barrera, a dynamic, multifaceted talent who has captured the attention of audiences through her versatile and charismatic performances. Barrera can currently be seen starring in the Universal Studios horror film Abigail.
The film follows a group of criminals who have been hired to kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure. All they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion,...
- 4/30/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast.
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Katy O’Brian, a talented actress who is quickly establishing herself as one to watch. Currently, she stars alongside Kristen Stewart in the Rose Glass-directed film Love Lies Bleeding.
Love Lies Bleeding follows Jackie (O’Brian), an aspiring bodybuilder, as she moves to rural Nevada and falls in love with an employee at her new local gym, Lou (Stewart), and is introduced to the chaotic and damaging world of steroids, murder and obsession. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and was released in theaters March 15.
Later this year, O’Brian will star in Universal’s Twisters opposite Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell. The film is a sequel to the cult classic 1996 film Twister and will be released theatrically July...
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Katy O’Brian, a talented actress who is quickly establishing herself as one to watch. Currently, she stars alongside Kristen Stewart in the Rose Glass-directed film Love Lies Bleeding.
Love Lies Bleeding follows Jackie (O’Brian), an aspiring bodybuilder, as she moves to rural Nevada and falls in love with an employee at her new local gym, Lou (Stewart), and is introduced to the chaotic and damaging world of steroids, murder and obsession. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim and was released in theaters March 15.
Later this year, O’Brian will star in Universal’s Twisters opposite Daisy Edgar Jones and Glen Powell. The film is a sequel to the cult classic 1996 film Twister and will be released theatrically July...
- 4/5/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! I am your host Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
Today, I’m chatting with director Alex Stapleton, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for her thought-provoking projects that have redefined authentic American storytelling across sports, music, pop culture, and social justice.
In a career spanning more than 15 years, Stapleton has collaborated with some of the best documentarians in the industry, releasing projects across all the top networks and studios. She directed one part of the HBO documentary trilogy God Save Texas, with her segment The Price of Oil.
Now, this film series takes viewers on a journey through one of the most controversial states in the United States, guided by three directors, each with a unique and personal perspective. Stapleton’s installment chronicles the energy industry’s impact on the African American community told through her own personal...
Today, I’m chatting with director Alex Stapleton, an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker known for her thought-provoking projects that have redefined authentic American storytelling across sports, music, pop culture, and social justice.
In a career spanning more than 15 years, Stapleton has collaborated with some of the best documentarians in the industry, releasing projects across all the top networks and studios. She directed one part of the HBO documentary trilogy God Save Texas, with her segment The Price of Oil.
Now, this film series takes viewers on a journey through one of the most controversial states in the United States, guided by three directors, each with a unique and personal perspective. Stapleton’s installment chronicles the energy industry’s impact on the African American community told through her own personal...
- 3/29/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Reviews are out for “Civil War,” the controversial thriller from Oscar-nominated writer-director Alex Garland. Critics who saw the film’s premiere at South by Southwest are mostly impressed by the politically charged A24 film. It has an 81% “Fresh” score on Rotten Tomatoes and a “generally favorable” score of 72 on Metacritic. While the trailer drew some derision for U.K. native Garland’s apparent misunderstanding of American politics for suggesting a separatist alliance between California and Texas, critics say that the film itself is much more “politically astute and plausible” than reactions for the trailer gave it credit for. And they emphasize that the film, which follows four journalists as they travel across America during a rapidly escalating civil war in the near future, is something very different than what it appears to be on the surface.
In a rave review, Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com calls “Civil War” “a...
In a rave review, Matt Zoller Seitz of RogerEbert.com calls “Civil War” “a...
- 3/15/2024
- by Liam Mathews
- Gold Derby
Update, 9:16Pm: Several sources have informed Deadline tonight that it was actually Conor McGregor’s manager who became dehydrated and passed out in the Paramount Theatre after the SXSW premiere of Amazon MGM’s Road House. That explains why McGregor was so upset in the moment as we witnessed.
McGregor ultimately found his way to the Road House afterparty, complete with honky tonk blues band, at Austin, TX’s Fair Market venue.
McGregor with his manager who had passed out following the ‘Road House’ world premiere at SXSW on Friday
Previous, 7:28Pm: Shortly after the roaring world premiere of Road House at SXSW, a guest at the screening became dehydrated and passed out at Austin’s Paramount Theatre. The movie’s star Conor McGregor stayed behind to help get the guy back on his feet. Deadline was on the scene and witnessed. Before the Emt arrived, the gentleman was drinking water,...
McGregor ultimately found his way to the Road House afterparty, complete with honky tonk blues band, at Austin, TX’s Fair Market venue.
McGregor with his manager who had passed out following the ‘Road House’ world premiere at SXSW on Friday
Previous, 7:28Pm: Shortly after the roaring world premiere of Road House at SXSW, a guest at the screening became dehydrated and passed out at Austin’s Paramount Theatre. The movie’s star Conor McGregor stayed behind to help get the guy back on his feet. Deadline was on the scene and witnessed. Before the Emt arrived, the gentleman was drinking water,...
- 3/9/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Mayan Lopez, co-creator, writer, co-executive producer and star of the NBC comedy Lopez vs. Lopez. The series starring Mayan, George Lopez and Selenis Leyva returns for its second season April 2.
Mayan plays a fictional version of herself, a modern Gen Z daughter working to rebuild her dysfunctional relationship with her old-school Latino father. She conceptualized the series from her TikTok content, which she used as a creative outlet during the pandemic.
Lopez made her television debut in Season 6 of The George Lopez Show, later participating in the conservatory program at Second City and the Columbia College Comedy Writing and Performance Program in Chicago. Her credits have since included Handsome: A Netflix Murder Mystery, Other People, Jersey and Mr. Troop Mom.
She is also an ambassador...
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Mayan Lopez, co-creator, writer, co-executive producer and star of the NBC comedy Lopez vs. Lopez. The series starring Mayan, George Lopez and Selenis Leyva returns for its second season April 2.
Mayan plays a fictional version of herself, a modern Gen Z daughter working to rebuild her dysfunctional relationship with her old-school Latino father. She conceptualized the series from her TikTok content, which she used as a creative outlet during the pandemic.
Lopez made her television debut in Season 6 of The George Lopez Show, later participating in the conservatory program at Second City and the Columbia College Comedy Writing and Performance Program in Chicago. Her credits have since included Handsome: A Netflix Murder Mystery, Other People, Jersey and Mr. Troop Mom.
She is also an ambassador...
- 3/8/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Ji-young Yoo, who has some anticipated performances on the horizon. It’s no wonder Variety named her one of the 10 Actors to Watch for 2023.
Ji-Young stars as a co-lead in the six-part limited series Expats, which is based on the Janice Y.K. Lee’s international best-selling novel, The Expatriates. Directed by Lulu Wang (The Farewell), the series also stars Nicole Kidman and Sarayu Blue. Set in Hong Kong 2014, the story centers on three American women – Margaret Mercy and Hilary – whose lives intersect after a sudden tragedy. The series made its debut at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival and was released on Prime Video in January.
The actress attended Sundance 2024 for the premiere of the immersive film Freaky Tales alongside Pedro Pascal and Jay Ellis. From Captain Marvel...
I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Ji-young Yoo, who has some anticipated performances on the horizon. It’s no wonder Variety named her one of the 10 Actors to Watch for 2023.
Ji-Young stars as a co-lead in the six-part limited series Expats, which is based on the Janice Y.K. Lee’s international best-selling novel, The Expatriates. Directed by Lulu Wang (The Farewell), the series also stars Nicole Kidman and Sarayu Blue. Set in Hong Kong 2014, the story centers on three American women – Margaret Mercy and Hilary – whose lives intersect after a sudden tragedy. The series made its debut at the 2023 Toronto Film Festival and was released on Prime Video in January.
The actress attended Sundance 2024 for the premiere of the immersive film Freaky Tales alongside Pedro Pascal and Jay Ellis. From Captain Marvel...
- 3/1/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
Today I’m chatting with M88 managing partner and co-founder Phillip Sun, who has a unique outlook and philosophy and uses that forward thinking to propel the firm to the top of the business. This is why he’s ascended the ranks as one of the industry’s most dynamic reps.
As a former partner at WME, Sun launched M88, a full-service management firm, in August 2020. This was done in partnership with Marco founder and CEO Charles D. King. The firm represents a diverse generation of talented artists who bring fresh perspectives to create a much needed cultural shift. As the first major Bipoc-led representation company, M88 is behind some of today’s biggest filmmakers and sought after talent of color, passionately elevating clients at all levels (studio fare to...
Today I’m chatting with M88 managing partner and co-founder Phillip Sun, who has a unique outlook and philosophy and uses that forward thinking to propel the firm to the top of the business. This is why he’s ascended the ranks as one of the industry’s most dynamic reps.
As a former partner at WME, Sun launched M88, a full-service management firm, in August 2020. This was done in partnership with Marco founder and CEO Charles D. King. The firm represents a diverse generation of talented artists who bring fresh perspectives to create a much needed cultural shift. As the first major Bipoc-led representation company, M88 is behind some of today’s biggest filmmakers and sought after talent of color, passionately elevating clients at all levels (studio fare to...
- 2/23/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
In great times of despair, come great surprises.
That’s what happened in early 2022 as the specialty box office was looking to regain its footing after the Omicron variant: Just when we thought all was lost, A24 showed up with a rare gem, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and provided arthouses some much-needed heat. The movie grossed $77M stateside, the best ever for A24.
In the wake of two strikes leaving their brutal marks on the box office, arthouses could use a savior again.
Rose Glass wows at Sundance.
And that could be with A24’s steroid- filled lesbian love crime spree action thriller, Love Lies Bleeding from filmmaker Rose Glass. The movie hits theaters in limited release on March 8 and goes wide on March 15. If anything, A24 knows how to harness cool and expand an audience for it. In fact, many moviegoers are mere fans of the brand alone...
That’s what happened in early 2022 as the specialty box office was looking to regain its footing after the Omicron variant: Just when we thought all was lost, A24 showed up with a rare gem, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and provided arthouses some much-needed heat. The movie grossed $77M stateside, the best ever for A24.
In the wake of two strikes leaving their brutal marks on the box office, arthouses could use a savior again.
Rose Glass wows at Sundance.
And that could be with A24’s steroid- filled lesbian love crime spree action thriller, Love Lies Bleeding from filmmaker Rose Glass. The movie hits theaters in limited release on March 8 and goes wide on March 15. If anything, A24 knows how to harness cool and expand an audience for it. In fact, many moviegoers are mere fans of the brand alone...
- 2/22/2024
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast! I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with award-winning filmmaker and advertising agency veteran Deborah Riley Draper.
Draper is getting set to premiere her newest project, James Brown: Say It Loud, on Monday on A&e Network. She directed and co-wrote the four-part docuseries, which examines Brown’s legacy through exclusive interviews, never-before-seen footage and his beloved music catalog. It is executive produced by Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Draper previously directed the two-part series The Legacy of Black Wall Street for OWN/Discovery+, which received an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television). In 2017, she received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her documentary Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, which she also directed, produced and wrote, telling the untold story of the 18 African Americans who defied Hitler...
Draper is getting set to premiere her newest project, James Brown: Say It Loud, on Monday on A&e Network. She directed and co-wrote the four-part docuseries, which examines Brown’s legacy through exclusive interviews, never-before-seen footage and his beloved music catalog. It is executive produced by Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Oscar winner Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson.
Draper previously directed the two-part series The Legacy of Black Wall Street for OWN/Discovery+, which received an NAACP Image Awards nomination for Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television). In 2017, she received an NAACP Image Award nomination for her documentary Olympic Pride, American Prejudice, which she also directed, produced and wrote, telling the untold story of the 18 African Americans who defied Hitler...
- 2/16/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today I’m chatting with Power Book III: Raising Kanan star, Patina Miller. As a major talent across film, television and musical theater Miller portrays Raquel “Raq” Thomas on the Starz original series which is coming up on the end of its third season.
Raising Kanan is the third show in the Power Universe. This one is about a young Kanan Stark (played by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s character from the first series) and how he joins his family’s growing and dangerous drug business. It takes place in Queens, New York during the 1990’s.
Raq is the mother of Kanan. To Kanan, she might come across as affectionate, yet on the streets, she embodies the epitome of toughness, navigating the male-dominated world with a blend of coldness, determination,...
Raising Kanan is the third show in the Power Universe. This one is about a young Kanan Stark (played by Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson’s character from the first series) and how he joins his family’s growing and dangerous drug business. It takes place in Queens, New York during the 1990’s.
Raq is the mother of Kanan. To Kanan, she might come across as affectionate, yet on the streets, she embodies the epitome of toughness, navigating the male-dominated world with a blend of coldness, determination,...
- 2/9/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
In today’s conversation I chat with Latasha Gillespie, the Head of Global Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at Amazon MGM Studios, Prime Video and Freevee. In her role, she is responsible for the development and management of all content-related and customer-facing Deia work for the organization.
Under her leadership, Amazon MGM Studios created the entertainment industry’s first Inclusion Policy and Playbook, and standardized Deia into its Greenlight Process. Latasha also created the Howard Entertainment Program, the first of its kind partnership between a major studio and an Hbcu.
Prior to her current role, Latasha led the Global Diversity and Inclusion organization across Amazon, where she worked with Jeff Bezos and regularly briefed both the Board of Directors, and Congressional members on Amazon’s Deia Strategies and progress. In addition,...
In today’s conversation I chat with Latasha Gillespie, the Head of Global Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Accessibility at Amazon MGM Studios, Prime Video and Freevee. In her role, she is responsible for the development and management of all content-related and customer-facing Deia work for the organization.
Under her leadership, Amazon MGM Studios created the entertainment industry’s first Inclusion Policy and Playbook, and standardized Deia into its Greenlight Process. Latasha also created the Howard Entertainment Program, the first of its kind partnership between a major studio and an Hbcu.
Prior to her current role, Latasha led the Global Diversity and Inclusion organization across Amazon, where she worked with Jeff Bezos and regularly briefed both the Board of Directors, and Congressional members on Amazon’s Deia Strategies and progress. In addition,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline. I missed a few weeks due to being at the Sundance Film Festival, but we are back in business.
In today’s conversation I chat with Justin Chien who currently stars in the lead series regular in the Netflix action-drama series, The Brothers Sun, which also stars Sam Li, and international action star and Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh. I missed a few episodes due to covering the Sundance Film Festival, but we’re back!
The Brothers Sun follows Bruce (Li) and Charles Sun (Chien). Bruce learns about his family’s profession as Taipei’s most renowned gangsters, with his brother Charles being a hardened criminal raised by his crime boss father. After an attempted assassination on his father, Charles has to move to LA to keep his family safe. Additionally,...
In today’s conversation I chat with Justin Chien who currently stars in the lead series regular in the Netflix action-drama series, The Brothers Sun, which also stars Sam Li, and international action star and Oscar Winner Michelle Yeoh. I missed a few episodes due to covering the Sundance Film Festival, but we’re back!
The Brothers Sun follows Bruce (Li) and Charles Sun (Chien). Bruce learns about his family’s profession as Taipei’s most renowned gangsters, with his brother Charles being a hardened criminal raised by his crime boss father. After an attempted assassination on his father, Charles has to move to LA to keep his family safe. Additionally,...
- 2/2/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
As schedules go, they could not record together, so we’re having another double episode today, but this time with Origin director Ava DuVernay and the film’s star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
Origin is based on Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and tracks the Pulitzer Prize winner’s creative and personal journey over several continents through grief, revelation and the evils of historical stratification. The film draws parallels between historical and modern-day oppression and persecution across the world. By weaving global threads of cruelty and dehumanization together, it underscores the timeless – and timely – dangers of extremist ideology and leaders who exploit prejudice.
King Richard Oscar nominee Ellis-Taylor plays Wilkerson, and she’ll also be featured in Netflix/Lee Daniels’ film The Deliverance opposite Andra Day and Glenn Close,...
As schedules go, they could not record together, so we’re having another double episode today, but this time with Origin director Ava DuVernay and the film’s star Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor.
Origin is based on Isabel Wilkerson’s 2020 bestseller Caste: The Origin of Our Discontents and tracks the Pulitzer Prize winner’s creative and personal journey over several continents through grief, revelation and the evils of historical stratification. The film draws parallels between historical and modern-day oppression and persecution across the world. By weaving global threads of cruelty and dehumanization together, it underscores the timeless – and timely – dangers of extremist ideology and leaders who exploit prejudice.
King Richard Oscar nominee Ellis-Taylor plays Wilkerson, and she’ll also be featured in Netflix/Lee Daniels’ film The Deliverance opposite Andra Day and Glenn Close,...
- 1/12/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
Today, I am chatting with writer-actress-singer Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, who stars as young Celie in the new musical film version of The Color Purple, and with Fatima Robinson, the famed choreographer who helped create the movie’s spectacular dance pieces.
The Color Purple is based on the Tony-winning musical from Marsha Norman, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alice Walker. It comes on the heels of a classic 1985 film adaptation from director Steven Spielberg and centers on Celie, a Black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over the course of 40 years.
Prior to appearing in The Color Purple, Mpasi was a staff writer on the Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,...
Today, I am chatting with writer-actress-singer Phylicia Pearl Mpasi, who stars as young Celie in the new musical film version of The Color Purple, and with Fatima Robinson, the famed choreographer who helped create the movie’s spectacular dance pieces.
The Color Purple is based on the Tony-winning musical from Marsha Norman, Brenda Russell, Allee Willis and Stephen Bray, which was based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning book by Alice Walker. It comes on the heels of a classic 1985 film adaptation from director Steven Spielberg and centers on Celie, a Black Southern woman who struggles to find her identity after suffering abuse from her father and others over the course of 40 years.
Prior to appearing in The Color Purple, Mpasi was a staff writer on the Paramount+ series Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies,...
- 1/5/2024
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
In a cinematic landscape filled with talent, certain performances stand out. From the quiet intensity of Greta Lee in Past Lives to the commanding presence of Taraji P. Henson in The Color Purple, this collection of actors make up some of my favorite performances of the year of films I saw. Each actor brings a unique energy and emotional depth to their roles to not only define their characters but elevate them.
These are not in any particular order.
Greta Lee & Teo Yoo, Past Lives
Lee beautifully navigates the delicate emotional journey put forth in Celine Song’s script. She embodies Nora’s quiet longing with a subtlety, her expressive eyes and gentle smile hinting at the depths of unsaid feelings. When faced with the ghosts of the yesterday, Lee unleashes a rawness that both devastates and resonates, reminding us of the vulnerability it takes to confront the paths not taken.
These are not in any particular order.
Greta Lee & Teo Yoo, Past Lives
Lee beautifully navigates the delicate emotional journey put forth in Celine Song’s script. She embodies Nora’s quiet longing with a subtlety, her expressive eyes and gentle smile hinting at the depths of unsaid feelings. When faced with the ghosts of the yesterday, Lee unleashes a rawness that both devastates and resonates, reminding us of the vulnerability it takes to confront the paths not taken.
- 12/31/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
Today, for the final episode of 2023 (!), we’re talking to director-writer Cord Jefferson and producer Jermaine Johnson about their latest project American Fiction, which won the TIFF Audience Award. The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander and John Ortiz.
American Fiction follows Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright), a respected author and professor of English literature. But his impatience with his students’ cultural sensitivities is threatening his academic standing, while his latest novel is failing to attract publishers; they claim Monk’s writing “isn’t Black enough.” One night, in a fit of spite, Monk concocts a pseudonymous novel embodying every Black cliché he can imagine. His agent submits it to a major publisher who immediately offers the biggest advance Monk’s ever seen.
Today, for the final episode of 2023 (!), we’re talking to director-writer Cord Jefferson and producer Jermaine Johnson about their latest project American Fiction, which won the TIFF Audience Award. The film stars Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Erika Alexander and John Ortiz.
American Fiction follows Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright), a respected author and professor of English literature. But his impatience with his students’ cultural sensitivities is threatening his academic standing, while his latest novel is failing to attract publishers; they claim Monk’s writing “isn’t Black enough.” One night, in a fit of spite, Monk concocts a pseudonymous novel embodying every Black cliché he can imagine. His agent submits it to a major publisher who immediately offers the biggest advance Monk’s ever seen.
- 12/29/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, an associate editor and film writer at Deadline.
Today, we’re talking to television and film director Thembi Banks about her directorial debut film Young.Wild.Free, which premiered at Sundance and stars Algee Smith, Sanaa Lathan, Sierra Capri and Mike Epps. The film is produced by Charles D. King, James Lopez, Poppy Hanks, Tommy Oliver, Baron Davis, and Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd, and was written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier.
Young.Wild.Free follows Brandon (Smith), who between struggling in school, caring for his two younger siblings and having just been let go from his job, tends to use his art as an escape from the confines of his subdued day-to-day life. Enter Cassidy, a bedazzled bad girl dripping in confidence, freedom and danger. Lured in by her whimsy, Brandon teams with Cassidy, seamlessly slipping into the...
Today, we’re talking to television and film director Thembi Banks about her directorial debut film Young.Wild.Free, which premiered at Sundance and stars Algee Smith, Sanaa Lathan, Sierra Capri and Mike Epps. The film is produced by Charles D. King, James Lopez, Poppy Hanks, Tommy Oliver, Baron Davis, and Tracy “Twinkie” Byrd, and was written by Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier.
Young.Wild.Free follows Brandon (Smith), who between struggling in school, caring for his two younger siblings and having just been let go from his job, tends to use his art as an escape from the confines of his subdued day-to-day life. Enter Cassidy, a bedazzled bad girl dripping in confidence, freedom and danger. Lured in by her whimsy, Brandon teams with Cassidy, seamlessly slipping into the...
- 12/28/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
As 2023 draws to a close, Deadline’s film critics have each chosen their top three movies of the year to hail from abroad. Some were festival world premieres, some have made the International Feature Oscar shortlist — and some have not.
Overall, it has been another banner year for international cinema – right from 2023’s earliest festivals, through to the spring and fall circuits, and including some local productions that also hit outside their home markets.
Here are the top international films of 2023, according to Pete Hammond, Damon Wise, Valerie Complex and Stephanie Bunbury, based on their respected individual opinions and listed in alphabetical order under their names.
Pete Hammond’S Picks:
Godzilla Minus One,, Minami Hamabe, 2023. © Toho International / Courtesy Everett Collection
Godzilla Minus One
This one snuck up on me right at the...
Overall, it has been another banner year for international cinema – right from 2023’s earliest festivals, through to the spring and fall circuits, and including some local productions that also hit outside their home markets.
Here are the top international films of 2023, according to Pete Hammond, Damon Wise, Valerie Complex and Stephanie Bunbury, based on their respected individual opinions and listed in alphabetical order under their names.
Pete Hammond’S Picks:
Godzilla Minus One,, Minami Hamabe, 2023. © Toho International / Courtesy Everett Collection
Godzilla Minus One
This one snuck up on me right at the...
- 12/28/2023
- by Pete Hammond, Damon Wise, Valerie Complex and Stephanie Bunbury
- Deadline Film + TV
Aquaman 2 Rotten Tomatoes Score Is Out! (Picture Credit: Facebook)
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom started its box office journey on the wrong note. The film has suffered multiple delays, which impacted the buzz created by its billion-dollar original film. It was released in China on December 20 and is hitting the US and Canada screens today, i.e., December 22, 2023. The rotten tomatoes score for Aquaman 2 is out, and below are all the details you need to know.
Directed by James Wan, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is a tale of brotherhood. Jason Momoa, aka Arthur Curry, recruits his half-brother Orm to find and destroy Black Manta. While multiple promos were unveiled before the release, Amber Heard’s absence created a lot of noise. Her role has significantly been reduced from the female lead as Mera, and the decision has caused a huge debate on the internet.
Aquaman 2 Rotten Tomatoes score
Early...
Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom started its box office journey on the wrong note. The film has suffered multiple delays, which impacted the buzz created by its billion-dollar original film. It was released in China on December 20 and is hitting the US and Canada screens today, i.e., December 22, 2023. The rotten tomatoes score for Aquaman 2 is out, and below are all the details you need to know.
Directed by James Wan, Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom is a tale of brotherhood. Jason Momoa, aka Arthur Curry, recruits his half-brother Orm to find and destroy Black Manta. While multiple promos were unveiled before the release, Amber Heard’s absence created a lot of noise. Her role has significantly been reduced from the female lead as Mera, and the decision has caused a huge debate on the internet.
Aquaman 2 Rotten Tomatoes score
Early...
- 12/22/2023
- by Jishika Madaan
- KoiMoi
Hello, and welcome to the Scene to Seen Podcast!
I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode, we’re talking to director, writer, producers, and actress Jennifer Esposito, where we talk about her career and her directorial debut Fresh Kills.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Jennifer Esposito is a Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice and Hollywood Foreign Press award recipient. She has appeared in over 60 films and television productions. She’s appeared in Crash by Paul Haggis, Summer of Sam by Spike Lee and Welcome To Collinwood, directed by The Russo Brothers. Her television work includes Spin City, Samantha Who, Blue Bloods, The Affair, The Boys, and Nora From Queens.
Jennifer makes her writing and directing debut with Fresh Kills, in which she also produced and plays a supporting role. She was also the first to incorporate NFTs as a fundraising tool for independent films.
I am Valerie Complex Associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode, we’re talking to director, writer, producers, and actress Jennifer Esposito, where we talk about her career and her directorial debut Fresh Kills.
With a career spanning over 25 years, Jennifer Esposito is a Screen Actors Guild, Critics Choice and Hollywood Foreign Press award recipient. She has appeared in over 60 films and television productions. She’s appeared in Crash by Paul Haggis, Summer of Sam by Spike Lee and Welcome To Collinwood, directed by The Russo Brothers. Her television work includes Spin City, Samantha Who, Blue Bloods, The Affair, The Boys, and Nora From Queens.
Jennifer makes her writing and directing debut with Fresh Kills, in which she also produced and plays a supporting role. She was also the first to incorporate NFTs as a fundraising tool for independent films.
- 12/8/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!
I am Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I’m chatting with actress Mackenzie Lansing, who stars as Coral, the District Four tribute in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
The film takes place years before Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) would become the tyrannical President of Panem, when the 18-year-old is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a postwar Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.
Lansing is a French-American actress and writer based in New York and LA. She grew up in France and the Democratic Republic of Congo before moving to the U.S. to pursue acting. She started...
I am Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today, I’m chatting with actress Mackenzie Lansing, who stars as Coral, the District Four tribute in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.
The film takes place years before Coriolanus Snow (Tom Blyth) would become the tyrannical President of Panem, when the 18-year-old is the last hope for his fading lineage, a once-proud family that has fallen from grace in a postwar Capitol. With the 10th annual Hunger Games fast approaching, the young Snow is alarmed when he is assigned to mentor Lucy Gray Baird (Rachel Zegler), the girl tribute from impoverished District 12.
Lansing is a French-American actress and writer based in New York and LA. She grew up in France and the Democratic Republic of Congo before moving to the U.S. to pursue acting. She started...
- 12/1/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello, and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast. I am Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. Today’s guest is writer-director Anna Zlokovic, here to talk about her feature-length debut Appendage. The body horror comedy starring Hadley Robinson had its world premiere at this year’s SXSW and debuted October 2 on Hulu.
Robinson plays Hannah, a young fashion designer who seems fine on the surface but secretly struggles with debilitating self-doubt. Soon these buried feelings begin to make Hannah physically sick and sprout into a ferocious growth on her body: The Appendage. As Hannah’s health declines, The Appendage grows more powerful and begins to fuel her anxieties – her perceived lack of talent at work, her deteriorating relationships with her boyfriend and best friend, and her parents’ lack of love and understanding. At her breaking point, Hannah makes a shocking discovery: there are others out there like her.
Robinson plays Hannah, a young fashion designer who seems fine on the surface but secretly struggles with debilitating self-doubt. Soon these buried feelings begin to make Hannah physically sick and sprout into a ferocious growth on her body: The Appendage. As Hannah’s health declines, The Appendage grows more powerful and begins to fuel her anxieties – her perceived lack of talent at work, her deteriorating relationships with her boyfriend and best friend, and her parents’ lack of love and understanding. At her breaking point, Hannah makes a shocking discovery: there are others out there like her.
- 11/3/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
The creative team from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will soon be swinging into Colorado to accept an inaugural award at the Denver Film Festival.
The fest today announced a more complete lineup of events, screenings, honorees, special guests, podcasts and more for this year’s installment, scheduled for Nov. 3-12. Plucked to receive the inaugural Denver Film Festival 5280 Award will be the Spider-Verse team. The prize is designed to honor “exceptional cinematic work and collaboration to achieve new heights,” per officials. It will be presented to writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, executive producer Bob Persichetti, producer Christina Steinberg and senior animation supervisor Humberto Rosa following a screening of the film on Nov. 7 at the AMC 9 + Co 10.
Anthony Chen, whose credits include Ilo Ilo, Wet Season and Ah ma, has been tapped to receive the Denver Film Festival Excellence in Directing Award following the screening of one of his new films,...
The fest today announced a more complete lineup of events, screenings, honorees, special guests, podcasts and more for this year’s installment, scheduled for Nov. 3-12. Plucked to receive the inaugural Denver Film Festival 5280 Award will be the Spider-Verse team. The prize is designed to honor “exceptional cinematic work and collaboration to achieve new heights,” per officials. It will be presented to writers and producers Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, executive producer Bob Persichetti, producer Christina Steinberg and senior animation supervisor Humberto Rosa following a screening of the film on Nov. 7 at the AMC 9 + Co 10.
Anthony Chen, whose credits include Ilo Ilo, Wet Season and Ah ma, has been tapped to receive the Denver Film Festival Excellence in Directing Award following the screening of one of his new films,...
- 10/25/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Cord Jefferson’s feature directorial debut American Fiction is changing up its release plan, shifting from a November 3 limited opening to December 15.
The MGM/MRC theatrical release, which stars Jeffrey Wright, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross and Skyler Wright and just won the Toronto Film Festival’s People Choice Award for the fest’s top film, is a scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers. One of those writers is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright). He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) bestseller We Lives in Da Ghetto.
Originally, MGM planned to expand American Fiction on November 10 and November 17. Now following a mid-December release, an expansion is planned for December 22. Given the pic’s response...
The MGM/MRC theatrical release, which stars Jeffrey Wright, Issa Rae, Sterling K. Brown, Tracee Ellis Ross and Skyler Wright and just won the Toronto Film Festival’s People Choice Award for the fest’s top film, is a scathing satire on the publishing industry and its treatment of serious works by Black writers. One of those writers is Thelonious “Monk” Ellison (Wright). He travels back to his hometown of Boston to attend a book festival, but the turnout is low in favor of another book seminar with author Sintara Golden’s (Issa Rae) bestseller We Lives in Da Ghetto.
Originally, MGM planned to expand American Fiction on November 10 and November 17. Now following a mid-December release, an expansion is planned for December 22. Given the pic’s response...
- 9/21/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: A24 and Chernin Entertainment’s Dicks: The Musical, in the wake of having a rowdy world premiere at TIFF’s Midnight Madness, is tweaking its release date, now going limited on Oct. 6 instead of Sept. 29.
The movie, directed by Borat filmmaker Larry Charles and starring and written by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, will go wide on October 20. Chernin Entertainment produced and co-finance alongside A24.
The bawdy movie follows two fiercely competitive salesmen (Sharp and Jackson) who discover that their twins, after separately being raised by their mother (Megan Mullally) and gay father (Nathan Lane). The duo try to get their parents back together. SNL‘s Bowen Yang stars as God, and Megan Thee Stallion stars as the guys’ ruthless boss.
The pic received a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement 36 hours before its world premiere at TIFF clearing the way for Jackson, Sharp and Yang to appear on stage and do interviews during the fest.
The movie, directed by Borat filmmaker Larry Charles and starring and written by Aaron Jackson and Josh Sharp, will go wide on October 20. Chernin Entertainment produced and co-finance alongside A24.
The bawdy movie follows two fiercely competitive salesmen (Sharp and Jackson) who discover that their twins, after separately being raised by their mother (Megan Mullally) and gay father (Nathan Lane). The duo try to get their parents back together. SNL‘s Bowen Yang stars as God, and Megan Thee Stallion stars as the guys’ ruthless boss.
The pic received a SAG-AFTRA Interim Agreement 36 hours before its world premiere at TIFF clearing the way for Jackson, Sharp and Yang to appear on stage and do interviews during the fest.
- 9/14/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Ava DuVernay’s new indie feature “Origin” had its world premiere at the 2023 Venice Film Festival as the fest was starting to wrap up on Wednesday, September 6. In the process, DuVernay made history as the first African American female filmmaker ever to have a movie perform at Venice in competition. The import of the moment as relates to festival gender diversity wasn’t lost on DuVernay – “Origin’s” writer and producer as well as its director – who on Wednesday told the Venice press corps in advance of the screening, “We are often told you cannot play international film festivals, no one will come, people will not come to your press conference, people will not come to the P&i screenings, you will not get into this festival, don’t apply.”
DuVernay credited the fact the film was made independently for her breaking the female color barrier at such a prestigious festival as Venice.
DuVernay credited the fact the film was made independently for her breaking the female color barrier at such a prestigious festival as Venice.
- 9/6/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
**Editor’s Note: This episode of Scene 2 Seen was taped before the July 14th start of the actor’s strike.
Hello and Welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast I am your host Valerie Complex, Associate Editor at Deadline Hollywood. In this episode, I chat with French actor and screenwriter Salif Cissé.
Cissé began his acting and screenwriting career while still in high school, where he discovered his passion for the stage. He attended local conservatories before being admitted to the prestigious Conservatoire Nationale Supérieure d’Art Dramatique de Paris (National Academy of Dramatic Arts) in 2017.
During that time, he staged his first project, High Sign (Lewis John Carlino) at the Cartes Blanches Festival. From there he went on to be cast in 2019 by Guillaume Brac in his film, All Hands on Deck. Salif starred in his own original mini-series, Couronnes (Crowns), directed by Julien Carpentier and produced by Golden Network.
Hello and Welcome to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast I am your host Valerie Complex, Associate Editor at Deadline Hollywood. In this episode, I chat with French actor and screenwriter Salif Cissé.
Cissé began his acting and screenwriting career while still in high school, where he discovered his passion for the stage. He attended local conservatories before being admitted to the prestigious Conservatoire Nationale Supérieure d’Art Dramatique de Paris (National Academy of Dramatic Arts) in 2017.
During that time, he staged his first project, High Sign (Lewis John Carlino) at the Cartes Blanches Festival. From there he went on to be cast in 2019 by Guillaume Brac in his film, All Hands on Deck. Salif starred in his own original mini-series, Couronnes (Crowns), directed by Julien Carpentier and produced by Golden Network.
- 7/29/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
**Editor’s Note: This episode of Scene 2 Seen was taped before the July 14th start of the actor’s strike.
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen podcast! I am Valerie Complex, and today we’re talking to actress, producer and director Eva Longoria about her latest directorial film, Flaming Hot.
Director Eva Longoria, in Flaming Hot, tells the real life story of Richard Montañez whose drive and dedication saw him rise up the ranks at Frito-Lay as he helped establish Flamin’ Hot Cheetos – the snack that disrupted the food industry and became a global pop-culture phenomenon.
Montañez went from a janitor to become an executive at Frito-Lay and experienced a level of success that exceeded even his most ambitious dreams. He became a role model for Mexican Americans who finally had a hero of their own: a man from the same background, roots and poverty, who faced the same discrimination and racism,...
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen podcast! I am Valerie Complex, and today we’re talking to actress, producer and director Eva Longoria about her latest directorial film, Flaming Hot.
Director Eva Longoria, in Flaming Hot, tells the real life story of Richard Montañez whose drive and dedication saw him rise up the ranks at Frito-Lay as he helped establish Flamin’ Hot Cheetos – the snack that disrupted the food industry and became a global pop-culture phenomenon.
Montañez went from a janitor to become an executive at Frito-Lay and experienced a level of success that exceeded even his most ambitious dreams. He became a role model for Mexican Americans who finally had a hero of their own: a man from the same background, roots and poverty, who faced the same discrimination and racism,...
- 7/22/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen podcast season 2! I am your host Valerie Complex.
I had planned to take a 6 week hiatus from the podcast in order to plan the next season but ended up being gone for three months. Unfortunately, I had a family tragedy I had to deal with and It took me some time to regroup. Now we’re back in business with guest Teyana Taylor and A.V. Rockwell, star and director of Focus Feature film A Thousand and One which is now available on Peacock TV and Prime Video streaming platforms.
Rockwell is an award-winning screenwriter and director. Named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” her distinctive voice has been celebrated for slyly addressing issues of race, identity and systemic oppression. Rockwell’s debut feature film, A Thousand and One, was written and directed for Focus Features.
I had planned to take a 6 week hiatus from the podcast in order to plan the next season but ended up being gone for three months. Unfortunately, I had a family tragedy I had to deal with and It took me some time to regroup. Now we’re back in business with guest Teyana Taylor and A.V. Rockwell, star and director of Focus Feature film A Thousand and One which is now available on Peacock TV and Prime Video streaming platforms.
Rockwell is an award-winning screenwriter and director. Named as one of Filmmaker Magazine’s “25 New Faces of Independent Film,” her distinctive voice has been celebrated for slyly addressing issues of race, identity and systemic oppression. Rockwell’s debut feature film, A Thousand and One, was written and directed for Focus Features.
- 6/2/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
It’s hard to believe, but it took almost a decade to bring Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves to movie screens. The film has been in development hell since 2013, with Warner Bros. initially expressing interest in bringing the tabletop role-playing game to life.
However, the film later moved to Paramount Pictures. Chris McKay and Michael Gilio were originally tapped to write and direct the movie, but were replaced in 2019 with Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who used elements from McKay and Gilio’s script.
And though there are plenty of references to the Dungeons & Dragons game, the film’s directors said they “definitely took some liberties” when making the movie.
A quick overview of ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves follows a charming thief, Edgin Darvis, who recruits a band of unlikely adventures to undertake an epic heist to recover a lost relic.
However, the film later moved to Paramount Pictures. Chris McKay and Michael Gilio were originally tapped to write and direct the movie, but were replaced in 2019 with Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who used elements from McKay and Gilio’s script.
And though there are plenty of references to the Dungeons & Dragons game, the film’s directors said they “definitely took some liberties” when making the movie.
A quick overview of ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves follows a charming thief, Edgin Darvis, who recruits a band of unlikely adventures to undertake an epic heist to recover a lost relic.
- 3/26/2023
- by Produced by Digital Editors
- Showbiz Cheat Sheet
The curtain has dropped on another South by Southwest, but this was no ordinary year for the Austin-based tech and media event. Two days after the festival started, “Everything Everywhere All At Once” claimed seven Oscars and gave it the bonafide of having premiered a Best Picture winner (2022’s slate also produced a Best Actress contender in “To Leslie’s” Andrea Riseborough). Now considered an “Oscar launchpad,” SXSW unsurprisingly attracted more than its usual share of attention.
“Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” filled this year’s Opening Night slot. The movie got a warm reception and looks to spearhead a new franchise for Paramount. Laura Bradley (The Daily Beast) thinks it does an admirable job balancing accessibility and fan service, writing, “Those who have played Dungeons & Dragons will find plenty of details to love in ‘Honor Among Thieves’ (including an excellently deployed owlbear), but the film also avoids...
“Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves” filled this year’s Opening Night slot. The movie got a warm reception and looks to spearhead a new franchise for Paramount. Laura Bradley (The Daily Beast) thinks it does an admirable job balancing accessibility and fan service, writing, “Those who have played Dungeons & Dragons will find plenty of details to love in ‘Honor Among Thieves’ (including an excellently deployed owlbear), but the film also avoids...
- 3/21/2023
- by Ronald Meyer
- Gold Derby
Hello and welcome back to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast, I am your host Valerie Complex. On today’s episode we’re chatting with director-producer Dina Amer.
Amer is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist. She helped produce the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary The Square, in which the Egyptian Revolution was chronicled from the front lines. Growing up between the U.S. and Egypt, her work has focused on sharing nuanced, human stories with a global audience.
From documentary, she’s moved over to features and has debuted her first film, You Resemble Me, which tells the true story of Hasna Ait Boulahcen, a woman falsely accused of being Europe’s first female suicide bomber.
At the time, police had confirmed the 26-year-old Boulahcen was the woman who died when she blew herself up during a police raid on an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in the aftermath of the 2015 terror attacks in the city.
Amer is an award-winning filmmaker and journalist. She helped produce the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning documentary The Square, in which the Egyptian Revolution was chronicled from the front lines. Growing up between the U.S. and Egypt, her work has focused on sharing nuanced, human stories with a global audience.
From documentary, she’s moved over to features and has debuted her first film, You Resemble Me, which tells the true story of Hasna Ait Boulahcen, a woman falsely accused of being Europe’s first female suicide bomber.
At the time, police had confirmed the 26-year-old Boulahcen was the woman who died when she blew herself up during a police raid on an apartment in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis in the aftermath of the 2015 terror attacks in the city.
- 2/9/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 Seen podcast, and I am your host, Valerie Complex. Sorry for not posting last week, but the Sundance Film Festival was brutal and couldn’t get an episode out in time.
Today’s guest is Till star Jalyn Hall.
At 15 years old, Hall has already developed a following as fan favorite on the uber-popular CW series All American, where he has played Dillon James since 2018. Segueing into film, he turned in a groundbreaking performance portraying civil rights icon Emmett Till in MGM/Orion Pictures’ Till, which hit theaters in October. The film, an biographical drama written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu, also stars Danielle Deadwyler and Whoopi Goldberg, who also produced the film. It tells the real-life story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Deadwyler), an educator and activist who pursues justice after the 1955 lynching of her 14-year-old son Emmett.
In addition to Till, Hall recently wrapped...
Today’s guest is Till star Jalyn Hall.
At 15 years old, Hall has already developed a following as fan favorite on the uber-popular CW series All American, where he has played Dillon James since 2018. Segueing into film, he turned in a groundbreaking performance portraying civil rights icon Emmett Till in MGM/Orion Pictures’ Till, which hit theaters in October. The film, an biographical drama written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu, also stars Danielle Deadwyler and Whoopi Goldberg, who also produced the film. It tells the real-life story of Mamie Till-Mobley (Deadwyler), an educator and activist who pursues justice after the 1955 lynching of her 14-year-old son Emmett.
In addition to Till, Hall recently wrapped...
- 2/2/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
New data from Illuminative, the Native women-led social justice organization, and Nielsen’s Seen on Screen case studies reveals the number of indigenous people in lead roles across TV and streaming has expanded over the past two years, but there’s still much room for growth.
The findings claim the number of indigenous lead recurring roles increased 100 between 2021 and 2022, despite overall representation of indigenous people remaining below population parity. Only 1 of shows across all platforms feature indigenous representation as a lead or recurring character.
“Visibility is power, and we as Native peoples know firsthand the importance of being seen and shown on screen in an authentic and equitable way,” said Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative. “We’re so grateful for the researchers at Nielsen who helped bring this data to light and reaffirm what we’ve already known – Native representation and Native-led content is good for business.
The findings claim the number of indigenous lead recurring roles increased 100 between 2021 and 2022, despite overall representation of indigenous people remaining below population parity. Only 1 of shows across all platforms feature indigenous representation as a lead or recurring character.
“Visibility is power, and we as Native peoples know firsthand the importance of being seen and shown on screen in an authentic and equitable way,” said Crystal Echo Hawk, founder and executive director of IllumiNative. “We’re so grateful for the researchers at Nielsen who helped bring this data to light and reaffirm what we’ve already known – Native representation and Native-led content is good for business.
- 1/21/2023
- by BreAnna Bell
- Variety Film + TV
Hello and welcome to another episode of the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!! I am your host Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode is actress Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
In her latest project, the Apple TV+ series Surface (where she also serves as executive producer), Raw stars as Sohie, a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her with extreme memory loss, believed to be a result of a suicide attempt. As Sophie embarks on a quest to put the pieces of her life back together with the help of her husband and friends, she begins to question whether or not the truth she is told is in fact the truth she has lived. Showrunner is Veronica West (High Fidelity). You can view the trailer here to get a taste.
Looking back into her career history, Raw is an award-winning actor of the stage and screen.
In her latest project, the Apple TV+ series Surface (where she also serves as executive producer), Raw stars as Sohie, a woman who has suffered a traumatic head injury that has left her with extreme memory loss, believed to be a result of a suicide attempt. As Sophie embarks on a quest to put the pieces of her life back together with the help of her husband and friends, she begins to question whether or not the truth she is told is in fact the truth she has lived. Showrunner is Veronica West (High Fidelity). You can view the trailer here to get a taste.
Looking back into her career history, Raw is an award-winning actor of the stage and screen.
- 1/19/2023
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
We’re fast approaching the end of the third year of Covid and it’s clear by now, if it wasn’t before, that filmgoing will never be the same. The habit is gone, everyone has become accustomed to checking out films at home rather than in theaters, it’s unclear what films people are actually seeing and what they think of them, and it’s evident that most people have, with certain exceptions, simply lost the incentive to mobilize, to actually get off their butts and plunk them down in a theater to see a movie. For a life-long film fanatic as well as a critic for more than a few decades, I’m dismayed that it’s all come to this, but I can’t pretend otherwise, that I don’t see the writing — and the images — on the wall.
Related Story Pete Hammond's 10, Ok 11, Best Movies...
Related Story Pete Hammond's 10, Ok 11, Best Movies...
- 12/29/2022
- by Todd McCarthy
- Deadline Film + TV
There’s a lot of talk about how 2022 was a ‘flop’ year for film. The quality of the movies was constantly called into question without considering that many of these films were shot during the height of the pandemic where money, space, and resources were limited. Regardless of what anyone thinks, this year produced some phenomenal cinema, with even better performances. My best of 2022 list is meant to highlight some of the titles that left an impression on me. The choices range across genres from action, drama, documentary, and animation.
What are your top ten films of the year? Did you struggle finding movies to fill slots? Let me know in the comments!
Eo
Give these Donkeys an Academy Award today! I have never seen live-action animals perform with more personality, and emotion than the ones in Eo. With his own take on Au Hasard Balthazar, director Jerzy Skolimowski follows...
What are your top ten films of the year? Did you struggle finding movies to fill slots? Let me know in the comments!
Eo
Give these Donkeys an Academy Award today! I have never seen live-action animals perform with more personality, and emotion than the ones in Eo. With his own take on Au Hasard Balthazar, director Jerzy Skolimowski follows...
- 12/28/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
For director Gina Prince-Bythewood, making the historical epic The Woman King was a dream come true. Despite dealing with a seven-year-long development process, Prince-Bythewood was determined to prove that Hollywood stories centering on powerful Black women deserve to be seen. Based on a real all-female faction of West African soldiers known as the Agojie, the film follows its leader Nanisca (Viola Davis), and her fierce tribe of warriors as they defend the kingdom of Dahomey from a violent neighboring empire and Europeans capitalizing on the slave trade. Here, Prince-Bythewood talks about creating a sisterhood of warriors, world-building, and the importance of seeing yourself on screen.
Related Story ‘The Woman King’: Read The Screenplay Dana Stevens Forged For The Viola Davis-Starring West African War Epic Related Story Valerie Complex's Best Films Of 2022 Related Story 'All Quiet On The Western Front' Director Edward Berger On Re-Creating The Hell...
Related Story ‘The Woman King’: Read The Screenplay Dana Stevens Forged For The Viola Davis-Starring West African War Epic Related Story Valerie Complex's Best Films Of 2022 Related Story 'All Quiet On The Western Front' Director Edward Berger On Re-Creating The Hell...
- 12/27/2022
- by Destiny Jackson
- Deadline Film + TV
Another week, another episode of the Scene 2 Seen podcast. I am your host Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode is Everything Everywhere All at Once actress Stephanie Hsu. On today’s episode, Hsu and I discuss how she deals with pressure, working with Yeoh and Jamie Lee Curtis, and the universal relatability of her character Joy in Everything, Everywhere All at Once.
Just a reminder that the podcast has moved to Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. Et. This change allows for us to prep promotion leading up to the episode debut. There will be other changes coming, so stay tuned for those as well. Anyway, back to our guest!
*(At 7:10 should be Gina Prince-Bythewood, not Gina Price-Bythewood)*
Hsu stars in the dual role Joy/Jobu in The Daniels’ latest film Everything, Everywhere All at Once alongside Michelle Yeoh as her mother,...
Just a reminder that the podcast has moved to Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. Et. This change allows for us to prep promotion leading up to the episode debut. There will be other changes coming, so stay tuned for those as well. Anyway, back to our guest!
*(At 7:10 should be Gina Prince-Bythewood, not Gina Price-Bythewood)*
Hsu stars in the dual role Joy/Jobu in The Daniels’ latest film Everything, Everywhere All at Once alongside Michelle Yeoh as her mother,...
- 12/22/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Another week, another episode of the Scene 2 Seen podcast. I am your host Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline. On today’s episode is comedian Lil Rel Howery.
Now you may be wondering why this is posting on a Thursday morning instead of the usual Tuesday afternoon. The podcast has moved to Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. Et. This change allows for us to prep promotion leading up to the episode debut. There will be other changes coming, so stay tuned for those as well. Anyway, back to our guest!
Howery is a comedian, actor, writer and producer who has occupied a variety of roles in film and television. His breakout role as Tsa agent in the Oscar-winning Get Out kinda made him a household name overnight. It garnered him an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance in a Movie, and an Image Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Now you may be wondering why this is posting on a Thursday morning instead of the usual Tuesday afternoon. The podcast has moved to Thursdays at 11:30 a.m. Et. This change allows for us to prep promotion leading up to the episode debut. There will be other changes coming, so stay tuned for those as well. Anyway, back to our guest!
Howery is a comedian, actor, writer and producer who has occupied a variety of roles in film and television. His breakout role as Tsa agent in the Oscar-winning Get Out kinda made him a household name overnight. It garnered him an MTV Movie Award for Best Comedic Performance in a Movie, and an Image Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
- 12/15/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello and welcome to the Scene 2 See podcast. I am your host Valerie Complex associate editor and film writer at Deadline Hollywood. On today’s episode is actress Hong Chau.
Hong Chau is the moment. She has delivered one fantastic performance after another. This year she starred in Showing Up, The Menu, and The Whale (a role that is garnering heavy awards buzz), and all the hype is deserved. Chau offers real honesty and authenticity in every role and the actress has had years of experience honing her skills.
On IMDb her first role is listed back in 2006 in a show called Finding My America for one episode. She appeared in episodes of NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, and Cis (Crime Scene Investigation) before landing a recurring role on the television series Treme in 2011. Soon after, she had a small role in Inherent Vice (2014) and in 2018 she had her...
Hong Chau is the moment. She has delivered one fantastic performance after another. This year she starred in Showing Up, The Menu, and The Whale (a role that is garnering heavy awards buzz), and all the hype is deserved. Chau offers real honesty and authenticity in every role and the actress has had years of experience honing her skills.
On IMDb her first role is listed back in 2006 in a show called Finding My America for one episode. She appeared in episodes of NCIS, How I Met Your Mother, and Cis (Crime Scene Investigation) before landing a recurring role on the television series Treme in 2011. Soon after, she had a small role in Inherent Vice (2014) and in 2018 she had her...
- 12/9/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
It was fascinating to see my good colleague Valerie Complex describe, in her review of the Antoine Fuqua/Will Smith slavery drama Emancipation, having almost walked out of the film, not because it was unworthy, but because she found the depiction of Black suffering and death almost too much to watch.
In the end, Complex stuck with it. But her review ended with perhaps the most moving plea I’ve ever seen from a critic. “There has to be another way to tell these stories,” she wrote. “There has to be another way.”
Wow.
Sometimes, if you take movies seriously enough, you actually have to look away. Even the good ones—especially the good ones, perhaps—can be too intense, or too direct, or too emotionally unsettling for a thoughtful viewer.
So, very occasionally, you have to walk out. Many, I know, regard this as a crime against cinema. Every movie,...
In the end, Complex stuck with it. But her review ended with perhaps the most moving plea I’ve ever seen from a critic. “There has to be another way to tell these stories,” she wrote. “There has to be another way.”
Wow.
Sometimes, if you take movies seriously enough, you actually have to look away. Even the good ones—especially the good ones, perhaps—can be too intense, or too direct, or too emotionally unsettling for a thoughtful viewer.
So, very occasionally, you have to walk out. Many, I know, regard this as a crime against cinema. Every movie,...
- 12/2/2022
- by Michael Cieply
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello and welcome to a special Wednesday episode of the Scene 2 Seen podcast. I am your host Valerie Complex, assistant editor and film writer at Deadline.
Gamechanger Films launched in 2013 as the first equity fund dedicated to financing feature films directed by women in order to address gender disparity in the film industry. In January 2020, veteran producer Effie Brown was named CEO of Gamechanger Films.
Related Story Toronto Review: Elegance Bratton's 'The Inspection' Related Story Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union & RuPaul Join Co-Producing Team Of Broadway's 'Ain't No Mo'' Related Story Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Director Nyla Innuksuk Discusses Her Feature Debut Film 'Slash/Back' And Her Experience Shooting In The Arctic
A longtime advocate and voice for diversity and inclusion within the film industry, Brown produces, develops and finances content by and about women, Poc, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities.
Prior to joining Gamechanger, Brown produced Real Women Have Curves,...
Gamechanger Films launched in 2013 as the first equity fund dedicated to financing feature films directed by women in order to address gender disparity in the film industry. In January 2020, veteran producer Effie Brown was named CEO of Gamechanger Films.
Related Story Toronto Review: Elegance Bratton's 'The Inspection' Related Story Dwyane Wade, Gabrielle Union & RuPaul Join Co-Producing Team Of Broadway's 'Ain't No Mo'' Related Story Scene 2 Seen Podcast: Director Nyla Innuksuk Discusses Her Feature Debut Film 'Slash/Back' And Her Experience Shooting In The Arctic
A longtime advocate and voice for diversity and inclusion within the film industry, Brown produces, develops and finances content by and about women, Poc, LGBTQ+ and people with disabilities.
Prior to joining Gamechanger, Brown produced Real Women Have Curves,...
- 11/16/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Zoe Kazan recalls her research for playing New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor in the film She Said taking on a “mimetic quality” as the real-life similarities accumulated.
At Deadline’s Contenders Film: New York event, Kazan described feeling “in communion” with Kantor, one-half of the duo who broke the Harvey Weinstein story. “Our kids went to the same preschool. We’re taking the same subway to work. The New York Times building is down the street from all the theaters I’ve worked at,” she said. “I felt like, ‘Oh, I know Jodi — we wear the same backpack to work!’ There’s some sense in which, she’s a Brooklyn mom, I’m a Brooklyn mom.”
Related: Contenders New York 2022: Deadline’s Complete Coverage
An additional “deep tie with Jodi,” she said, was their shared experience of having their parents provide child care for their toddlers. Given the...
At Deadline’s Contenders Film: New York event, Kazan described feeling “in communion” with Kantor, one-half of the duo who broke the Harvey Weinstein story. “Our kids went to the same preschool. We’re taking the same subway to work. The New York Times building is down the street from all the theaters I’ve worked at,” she said. “I felt like, ‘Oh, I know Jodi — we wear the same backpack to work!’ There’s some sense in which, she’s a Brooklyn mom, I’m a Brooklyn mom.”
Related: Contenders New York 2022: Deadline’s Complete Coverage
An additional “deep tie with Jodi,” she said, was their shared experience of having their parents provide child care for their toddlers. Given the...
- 11/5/2022
- by Dade Hayes
- Deadline Film + TV
Roku has welcomed Netflix into the ad streaming market.
As SVoD service Netflix this week launches a low-cost, ad-supported tier in 12 territories, Roku Head of Originals David Eilenberg said his platform doesn’t see a direct threat and instead is focused on the benefits of long-term market changes.
“We believe the that the catalytic effect of [Netflix’s entrance] will have on the holistic shift from linear to streaming on ad spend outweighs short-term competition,” he said.
He also argued that the Roku box is a “fundamentally different” product to Netflix and other low-cost streamers “as ours is truly free and they ultimately require a monthly subscription, even at a reduced fee. They resonate differently with consumers.”
Netflix is also available through Roku in the U.S. “All of these companies who are competitors in one respect are partners in another,” said Eilenberg.
Roku certainly faces challenges, as despite total revenues and user...
As SVoD service Netflix this week launches a low-cost, ad-supported tier in 12 territories, Roku Head of Originals David Eilenberg said his platform doesn’t see a direct threat and instead is focused on the benefits of long-term market changes.
“We believe the that the catalytic effect of [Netflix’s entrance] will have on the holistic shift from linear to streaming on ad spend outweighs short-term competition,” he said.
He also argued that the Roku box is a “fundamentally different” product to Netflix and other low-cost streamers “as ours is truly free and they ultimately require a monthly subscription, even at a reduced fee. They resonate differently with consumers.”
Netflix is also available through Roku in the U.S. “All of these companies who are competitors in one respect are partners in another,” said Eilenberg.
Roku certainly faces challenges, as despite total revenues and user...
- 11/4/2022
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: Writer-director Elegance Bratton and producer Chester Algernal Gordon have signed with WME.
The filmmaking duo, who co-run production company Freedom Principle, are the filmmakers behind A24’s The Inspection which made its world premiere at TIFF and stars Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union.
The drama, which serves as Bratton’s feature directorial debut and stars Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and is based on the director-writer’s own life.
The Inspection centers around a young homeless gay man who joins the Marine Corps to win back his mother’s love, but learns how to respect himself at bootcamp.
The pic is the closing film at the New York Film Festival and will follow up with a European premiere at the London Film Festival.
Deadline Film Critic Valerie Complex beamed about the movie “The Inspection is a strong first outing for the writer-director.
The filmmaking duo, who co-run production company Freedom Principle, are the filmmakers behind A24’s The Inspection which made its world premiere at TIFF and stars Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union.
The drama, which serves as Bratton’s feature directorial debut and stars Jeremy Pope and Gabrielle Union, premiered at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, and is based on the director-writer’s own life.
The Inspection centers around a young homeless gay man who joins the Marine Corps to win back his mother’s love, but learns how to respect himself at bootcamp.
The pic is the closing film at the New York Film Festival and will follow up with a European premiere at the London Film Festival.
Deadline Film Critic Valerie Complex beamed about the movie “The Inspection is a strong first outing for the writer-director.
- 10/13/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power blasted off its PR tour at San Diego Comic-Con and it’s winding it down at New York Comic-Con with the streamer dropping a season one finale trailer, that episode dropping on Friday, Oct. 14 at 12 am Edt. A majority of the trailer has footage from the first seven episodes.
Coming away from an episode 7, “The Eye”, which finds the Queen-Regent Míriel blinded, and the Southlands getting erased off the map and renamed Mordor as the orcs settle into their new homeland. Also in Ep. 7, King Durin III steps in between the bromance of Elrond and Durin, given his distrust of elves, declaring that elves won’t be helping the dwarves out with any resources. The trailer teases the arrival of Sauron, the forging of rings, as well as “Mordor will rise, heroes will fall, and all will be revealed...
Coming away from an episode 7, “The Eye”, which finds the Queen-Regent Míriel blinded, and the Southlands getting erased off the map and renamed Mordor as the orcs settle into their new homeland. Also in Ep. 7, King Durin III steps in between the bromance of Elrond and Durin, given his distrust of elves, declaring that elves won’t be helping the dwarves out with any resources. The trailer teases the arrival of Sauron, the forging of rings, as well as “Mordor will rise, heroes will fall, and all will be revealed...
- 10/7/2022
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Welcome back to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast, I am your host Valerie Complex — assistant editor and film writer at Deadline. Had some technical difficulties so that’s why this latest episode didn’t publish Tuesday, but it’s a new day, and here we are.
On today’s episode, I chat with native New Zealanders actor Cliff Curtis and director Tearapa Kahi about the new film Muru, which had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this year. In the discussion, Curtis and Kahi talk about the incident that inspired Muru, police brutality within the Maori community, and their personal encounters with the police.
Inspired by actual events, Muru is the powerful story of local Police Sergeant “Taffy” Tāwharau who recently returned home to the remote Ruatoki valley to look after his sick father.
Taffy’s father’s close associate, Tame Iti, runs a series of boot camps in the...
On today’s episode, I chat with native New Zealanders actor Cliff Curtis and director Tearapa Kahi about the new film Muru, which had its premiere at the Toronto Film Festival this year. In the discussion, Curtis and Kahi talk about the incident that inspired Muru, police brutality within the Maori community, and their personal encounters with the police.
Inspired by actual events, Muru is the powerful story of local Police Sergeant “Taffy” Tāwharau who recently returned home to the remote Ruatoki valley to look after his sick father.
Taffy’s father’s close associate, Tame Iti, runs a series of boot camps in the...
- 10/5/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
Hello and welcome back to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast!
I am your host Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline.com
Sorry again for the hiatus. I wish you could know how hard it is to do a podcast right in the thick of festival season. There are a lot of worries about publishing and a bunch of logistical stuff that’s complicated to navigate. Anyway, no hiatuses for a good while, so we can get on with the show!
On today’s episode, Nikyatu Jusu, and actress Anna Diop, talk about the supernatural horror film Nanny. We get into some heavy topics, including discussing the fallout of Covid and its impact on the film, criticisms Nanny has faced, and how race and gender factor into some of the challenges the director faced while making the movie. Diop also discusses her time on Titans and some of the...
I am your host Valerie Complex, associate editor and film writer at Deadline.com
Sorry again for the hiatus. I wish you could know how hard it is to do a podcast right in the thick of festival season. There are a lot of worries about publishing and a bunch of logistical stuff that’s complicated to navigate. Anyway, no hiatuses for a good while, so we can get on with the show!
On today’s episode, Nikyatu Jusu, and actress Anna Diop, talk about the supernatural horror film Nanny. We get into some heavy topics, including discussing the fallout of Covid and its impact on the film, criticisms Nanny has faced, and how race and gender factor into some of the challenges the director faced while making the movie. Diop also discusses her time on Titans and some of the...
- 9/27/2022
- by Valerie Complex
- Deadline Film + TV
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.