Film director job outlook

The mistreatment and persecution of the LGBTQ community in Chechnya has been an ongoing issue, but in March 2017 a glaring spotlight was put on the Russian republic as reports of gay and bisexual men being abducted, tortured, beaten and even killed at the hands of authorities started coming to the forefront. Oscar-nominated director David France did not waste any time in deciding to confront this issue head-on with the documentary Welcome to Chechnya , which debuts June 30 on HBO . In a place where there are no protections for those in the LGBTQ community and where they are openly mistreated and oppressed, France already had a volatile landscape to navigate. In the documentary, he follows a group of undercover activists in Chechnya who risk their lives to rescue victims and provide them with safe houses and visa assistance to escape an oppressive system. We are introduced David Isteev, the Crisis Response Coordinator for the nation-wide Russian LGBT Network as well as Olga … [Read more...] about ‘Welcome To Chechnya’ Director David France Talks Dangerous Risks And Lifesaving Hope Of LGBTQ Docu

With The Willoughbys , writer/director Kris Pearn adapted a beloved children’s book of the same name by Lois Lowry, looking to be as faithful as possible to the “subversive” nature of her story, while bringing to it his own personal touch. Pearn’s second feature, following 2013’s Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 , centers on the Willoughby children, who grew up with parents who could not be more disinterested in them. Exploring the sometimes-wide gap between the families we’re born into and those we choose, it watches as the kids send their selfish guardians off on vacation, setting off on a globetrotting adventure and forging new connections. In conversation with Deadline, Pearn breaks down his narrative and visual approach to the feature—which debuted on Netflix last April—a clever, darkly comedic parable, through which he hoped to say “something real.” Related Story 'The Willoughbys' Review: Ricky Gervais As A Chatty Cat Leads Cool Voice Cast In … [Read more...] about ‘The Willoughbys’ Director Kris Pearn Adapts Children’s Book By Lois Lowry For Netflix, Leaning Into Its “Roald Dahl Subversiveness”

EXCLUSIVE: Discovery + continues to ramp up it documentary slate. The fast-growing streamer has acquired rights to Rebel Heart , the Pedro Kos -directed documentary that premiered at this year’s Sundance Film Festival . It will now get a theatrical release as well as a global bow on the streamer later this year. Rebel Hearts centers on a trailblazing group of nuns in 1960s Los Angeles who stood up to the patriarchy of the Catholic Church. The sisters that ran the progressive Immaculate Heart College in L.A. fought for equality (they marched in Selma), their livelihoods and their own freedom against an all-powerful Cardinal who opposed their actions. Their acts of faith, defiance and activism turned the church upside down. The pic uses archival footage, animation and two decades of never-before-seen interviews gathered by the film’s producer Shawnee Isaac-Smith to tell the tale at the center of the film, a co-production between Merman and Anchor Entertainment in … [Read more...] about ‘Rebel Hearts’, The Sundance Documentary About 1960s Activist L.A. Nuns, Lands At Discovery+

On Welcome to Chechnya , VFX supervisor Ryan Laney introduced game-changing tools with huge implications for the future of documentary filmmaking. Directed by David France, the HBO film spotlights anti-gay purges transpiring in Chechnya in the late 2010s, following LGBT refugees as they make their way out of Russia, with the help of a network of activists. In telling this story, France would have to address a pair of almost paradoxical drives. Because he wanted viewers to invest themselves, emotionally, in the stories of survivors, he knew he needed to give the doc a human face. At the same time, he realized early on that he would have to develop a method of disguise, which would protect the identities of his vulnerable subjects. Related Story 'Welcome To Chechnya' Director David France Talks Dangerous Risks And Lifesaving Hope Of LGBTQ Docu Ultimately, Laney would help the director to fulfill both of these objectives by placing “digital prosthetics” … [Read more...] about How VFX Supervisor Ryan Laney Developed Game-Changing Technology For ‘Welcome to Chechnya,’ Shielding Identities Of LGBT Refugees

The British government has announced plans to extend by six months the £500M ($698M) Film & TV Production Restart Scheme, which is offering a substitute to coronavirus insurance for UK shoots. The insurance scheme is considered a world-leading intervention, which has helped give producers the confidence to return to production. It will be extended until the end of December, meaning it will capture the glut of summer shoots. Sky/FX comedy Breeders is one of the 160 productions to have taken advantage of the initiative, and the government has claimed that it has protected nearly 20,000 jobs. Feature Boxing Day has also used the scheme. The extension was announced by Chancellor Rishi Sunak in his Budget on Wednesday. Commenting on the scheme last month, he said: “Tens of thousands of jobs in our Film & TV sector have already been protected by the Production Restart Scheme. The sector is not only a national treasure, but also a significant driver of our … [Read more...] about UK Government Extends $698M Covid Production Insurance Scheme By Six Months