Michael Taylor has been editing the work of America’s independent filmmakers since 2004. Taylor has cut films for Ira Sachs (Love Is Strange), Rick Alverson (Entertainment) and Julia Loktev (The Loneliest Planet), to name a few. In 2017, he edited two films to appear at the Sundance Film Festival: Elvis & Nixon and Deidra & Laney Rob a Train. He returns to the festival this year having edited A Kid Like Jake, a New York-set drama starring Claire Danes, Jim Parsons and Octavia Spencer. In the interview below, Taylor goes in depth on how he broke into editing, his love of New York’s repertory cinemas and why he prefers characters to be “accessible” rather than “likable.”Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the editor of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?Taylor: I first met Silas Howard while I was editing Liza Johnson’s Elvis & Nixon the spring of 2015. He was … [Read more...] about “You Can’t Just Slash and Burn through a Cut”: Editor Michael Taylor on
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“My Goal Was to Make More than Just Pretty Pictures or Just Cover Scenes”: DP Denson Baker on
Cinematographer Denson Baker’s recent projects have included the award-winning New Zealand drama The Dark Horse, the Oliver Stone-produced documentary Ukraine on Fire and the 2009 India-set romance The Waiting City. That last film was directed by Claire McCarthy, Baker’s wife and the director of Ophelia. Ophelia, which screens at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival, casts Daisy Ridley, Naomi Watts and Clive Owen to reframe Shakespeare’s Hamlet from the perspective of the ill-fated Ophelia. Baker speaks with Filmmaker below about the key paintings that influenced the film, collaborating with his wife and capturing the film’s tricky opening shot.Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?Baker: I have shot several projects with the director, Claire McCarthy, over the past nine years or so. We have developed a visual style and rapport … [Read more...] about “My Goal Was to Make More than Just Pretty Pictures or Just Cover Scenes”: DP Denson Baker on
“I Was Aiming for a Stylized Naturalism”: DP Nanu Segal on
EU-based cinematographer Nanu Segal has shot more than 30 shorts and features since 2001. She’s also DP’d commercial spots for UNICEF, Playstation and a host of other clients. Her latest project is An Evening with Beverly Luff Linn starring Aubrey Plaza and Emile Hirsch. The film marks a return to Sundance for director Jim Hosking, who premiered his debut film The Greasy Strangler at the festival in 2016. Below, Segal discusses lighting the film’s key locations and the influence of Ali: Fear Eats the Soul on the film.Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your being hired for this job?Segal: The script came to me via my agent. It was very funny, but also visually interesting, which, of course, is key for me. I met Jim and discussed his vision for the project, and I really took to that — a lot of shared sensibilities and visual references, … [Read more...] about “I Was Aiming for a Stylized Naturalism”: DP Nanu Segal on
Lupita Nyong’o Is Writing a Children’s Book About Embracing One’s Natural Beauty
Lupita Nyong'o is coming soon to a library near you. The actress is dipping her toes into the world of children's literature with a new book titled Sulwe, which is due out in January 2019 from Simon & Schuster for Young Readers. According to the New York Times, which broke the news Thursday, the picture book is about a 5-year-old Kenyan girl named Sulwe (which means "star" in Nyong'o's native language) who, as the darkest-skinned member of her family, wants to lighten her skin. Words of wisdom from her mother, however, eventually help Sulwe look at the idea of beauty from a new perspective.Nyong'o confirmed the project on Instagram on Thursday, writing, "I am pleased to reveal that I have written a children's book!... Sulwe is a dark skinned girl who goes on a starry-eyed adventure, and awakens with a reimagined sense of beauty. She encounters lessons that we learn as children and spend our lives unlearning. This is a story for little ones, but no … [Read more...] about Lupita Nyong’o Is Writing a Children’s Book About Embracing One’s Natural Beauty
Scaramucci Piles on ‘Bad Hire’ Steve Bannon: ‘He Just Didn’t Want To Play Inside the Sandbox’
Anthony Scaramucci joined CNN’s Chris Cuomo in primetime Tuesday night, and naturally one of the first things to be brought up was Steve Bannon’s terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.Back in August of last year, Scaramucci was hired and then (very) quickly fired as White House communications director after an interview of him went public. In the interview Scaramucci discussed his disdain for the then-White House Chief Strategist, using especially colorful language. Cuomo started out saying, “The president says he always hires the best people, how do you explain him having Steve Bannon?”“Well, I would say that Steve had a voice. Steve was a good writer. Steve — the biggest problem that Steve had in my opinion and I said it, I didn’t say it perfectly, he was more focused on Steve.” Scaramucci added, “Well, he’s not a team player.”The Mooch went on to praise his own abilities to evaluate talent, which … [Read more...] about Scaramucci Piles on ‘Bad Hire’ Steve Bannon: ‘He Just Didn’t Want To Play Inside the Sandbox’