Film Festival VARIETY.COM In addition to its growing reputation as an awards season launchpad, the event continues to champion indie filmmaking. By GREGG GOLDSTEIN SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER (COVER AND THIS PAGE) PHOTOGRAPHS BY MATTHEW BROOKES; WARDROBE: ROSE FORDE/THE WALL GROUP; GROOMING: PETRA SELLGE/THE WALL GROU WALL GROUP; GROOMING: PETRA SELLGE/THE ROSE FORDE/THE WALL BROOKES; WARDROBE: MATTHEW BY PHOTOGRAPHS AND THIS PAGE) (COVER 3 P.40 FilmNation’s Glen Basner on the future CONTENTS of indie films

TOP BILLING 13 Paying the Price Will buyers at Toronto get caught up in bidding wars for fest hits that don’t pan out? 19 No Impact — Yet The TV business moves on in spite of the stalemate between writers and agents 20 In the Plus Column New Disney streaming service has piqued the interest of consumers, study finds ALSO 21 In the Running INSIDE Emmy producers discuss plans for host-free show 8 Field Notes Editors EXPOSURE weigh in on hot topics 25 Parties MTV Video Music Awards; 10 “It: Chapter Two” premiere Plugged In What’s 29 WWD Report Card trending at Which celebrities hit high and Variety.com low notes at the VMAs? 94 31 Dirt Final Cut Zooey Deschanel finds buyer Crystal Gayle for Manhattan Beach home on her early move from Decca to UA FOCUS Records 69 Walk of Fame Honor Late rock ’n’ roll icon Jackie RSTOCK Wilson to receive a star on Hollywood Boulevard 75 Billion Dollar Filmmaker “It” scribe Gary Dauberman enjoys frightening audiences

ARTISANS 83 Funny Business Editing from production P.30 company Comedy Dynamics fine-tunes stand-up specials Ellen DeGeneres sells in Trousdale Estates 84 Light and Shadow Cinematographer sought contrast for Hulu series on hip-hop group Wu-Tang Clan

REVIEWS

VARIETY.COM 87 Film “Joker” 90 TV “Unbelievable” Y’all are not just props. Y’all are the icing on the cake. Y’all are the beat P.87 to the heart.” SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Missy Elliott, on her dancers, while “Joker” review accepting the Vanguard Award at

4 the MTV Video Music Awards P.26 LOVEKIN/SHUTTE STEPHEN BROS.; ELLIOTT: TAVERNISE/WARNER JONES; DEGENERES: LEE MANNING; JOKER: NIKO AMANDA BY PHOTOGRAPH BASNER: A credible and comprehensive Sunday show focused on issues affecting you.

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Untitled-4 1 8/30/19 11:41 AM Claudia Eller Michelle Sobrino-Stearns EDITOR-IN-CHIEF GROUP PUBLISHER & CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER

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Untitled-6 1 8/30/19 11:42 AM Basking in the Glow

VARIETY IS OWNED & PUBLISHED BY PENSKE MEDIA CORPORATION FIELD NOTES of the Toronto Fest Jay Penske CHAIRMAN & CEO ere we come, Toronto! I know I’ve said it before, but this awesome GEORGE GROBAR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Canadian film festival is my favorite since there GERRY BYRNE are so many movies for a movie lover to see in VICE CHAIRMAN such a short span of time. Four or five a day? SARLINA SEE H CHIEF ACCOUNTING OFFICER Bring it on. CRAIG PERREAULT In fact, there are so many highly anticipated films on this EVP BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TODD GREENE year’s schedule that it’s taken me days on end to figure out how to EVP, BUSINESS AFFAIRS & GENERAL COUNSEL fit most of them into the five days I’ll be at the festival. (Enviable DEBASHISH GHOSH MANAGING DIRECTOR problem, I know.) JENNY CONNELLY Variety will also be in Toronto to fete our cover subject, Robert SVP, PRODUCT Pattinson, who’s superhot again after a cold streak at the box office KEN DELALCAZAR SVP, FINANCE following his heartthrob turn as Edward Cullen in the five-part TOM FINN “Twilight” franchise. SVP, OPERATIONS He’s starring in “The Lighthouse” (with Willem Dafoe), which is NELSON ANDERSON VP, CREATIVE screening at TIFF and generated awards buzz for the 33-year-old JONI ANTONACCI VP, PRODUCTION OPERATIONS

THE VOICES BEHIND THE ISSUE THE VOICES actor when it premiered at Cannes in May. And, of course, he landed REBECCA BIENSTOCK the coveted role of the new Caped Crusader in director Matt Reeves’ VP, TALENT RELATIONS forthcoming film “The Batman,” hitting theaters in June 2021. If that’s STEPHEN BLACKWELL not enough, Pattinson shares the screen with Timothée Chalamet HEAD OF PORTFOLIO SALES GERARD BRANCATO in Netflix’s late fall release “The King,” and he spent the summer VP, PMC DIGITAL ACQUISTION shooting Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet.” ANNE DOYLE VP, HR I love the edge Pattinson brings to all the roles he plays, even in MARA GINSBERG some of his less popular endeavors like 2011’s screen adaptation of VP, HR “Water for Elephants.” As “The Lighthouse” director Robert Eggers YOUNG KO VP, FINANCE tells our writer Ramin Setoodeh in his cover story, “Rob definitely has GABRIEL KOEN a darker side and is comfortable working in that space.” VP, TECHNOLOGY KEVIN LABONGE On the lighter side, it’s always fun to see all the money that VP, GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING Hollywood throws around at festivals to acquire movies. Buyers at NOEMI LAZO VP, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE Toronto, however, should heed the harsh lessons of past festivals as AND MARKETING OPERATIONS outlined in writers Brent Lang and Matt Donnelly’s Top Billing lead BRIAN LEVINE VP, REVENUE OPERATIONS There are so story. The cautionary tale: Don’t overspend for titles when you’re many highly JUDITH R. MARGOLIN caught up in the frenzy of a bidding war with rivals. There are VP, DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL anticipated films countless box office casualties that speak to that problem — “Late JULIE TRINH on this year’s VP, GLOBAL TAX Night” and “Blinded by the Light” among the latest. LAUREN UTECHT schedule that it’s This year, let’s hope everyone goes home without buyer’s remorse. VP, HR & CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS taken me days CHRISTINA YEOH VP, TECHNICAL OPERATIONS on end to figure JULIE ZHU out how to fit VP, AUDIENCE MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTIONS NICI CATTON most of them into ASSOCIATE VP, PRODUCT DELIVERY the five days I’ll GURJEET CHIMA Claudia Eller SENIOR DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS Editor-in-Chief be at the festival.” EDDIE KO SENIOR DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING OPERATIONS ANDY LIMPUS SENIOR DIRECTOR, TALENT ACQUISITION AMIT SANNAD SENIOR DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT KARL WALTER Uncovered SENIOR DIRECTOR, PMC CONTENT MIKE YE

VARIETY.COM Photographed Aug. 14, 2019 SENIOR DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PLANNING & ACQUISITIONS “What a pleasure it was to work with Robert,” says photogra- CONSTANCE EJUMA pher Matthew Brookes, whose portraits have been featured DIRECTOR, SEO in Vanity Fair, Vogue, Interview and The New York Times’ T LAURA ONGARO EDITORIAL & BRAND DIRECTOR, Magazine, among others. “He’s a really soulful and grounded INTERNATIONAL actor with absolutely no ego. He made everyone on set feel KATIE PASSANTINO

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER at ease.” Brookes says he likes to scratch below the surface DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT to find the emotion in his subjects before he photographs DEREK RAMSAY 8 them. Pattinson was clearly willing to collaborate. SENIOR PRODUCT MANAGER A cinema festival for everyone, in Lyon - France FESTIVAL

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Untitled-1 1 8/28/19 6:43 PM A Star Who Stood Up for Herself and Won

VALERIE HARPER WILL FOREVER be known for salary dispute with studio Lorimar. playing Rhoda Morgenstern on “The Mary Tyler But Harper didn’t back down, suing Lorimar PLUGGED IN Moore Show ” and “Rhoda.” But in Hollywood, and NBC for breach of contract. A jury found MichaelMichael she will perhaps be best remembered for that she was wrongfully fired, and awarded her Schneiderhid standing her ground on the NBC sitcom “Valerie.” $1.4 million and 12.5% of the show’s profits. The comedy launched in 1986 and was an Later, Harper took that fighting spirit to SAG, For the full story, immediate hit. Harper was fired from the show where she served on the Hollywood board — head to Variety.com. after its second season, however, following a and to her 10-year battle with lung cancer.

Words for REMEMBERED a Legend 1939-2019 “A beautiful woman, Valerie Harper a wonderful actress, a great friend and Was Television with balls bigger WHAT’S ON VARIETY.COM WHAT’S than mine. Her Comedy Icon brilliance burst through and shined VALERIE HARPER, who played the brash its light upon all sidekick to the Mary Richards character of us. Good night, on “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and beautiful. I’ll see whose Rhoda Morgenstern character spun off into her own series, died Aug. you soon.” 30 from complications of cancer. She was Ed Asner 80. Harper also toplined sitcom “Valerie” in the mid-’80s and appeared on shows “Even when she including “The Love Boat,” “Melrose Place,” “That ’70s Show,” “Sex and the City,” “Hot was down, she in Cleveland,” “Desperate Housewives” danced and and “Columbo.” In 2013, she competed on showed the world “Dancing With the Stars” several years that she refused to after her initial cancer diagnosis. let cancer beat her. • For the full story, head to Variety.com. Now Rhoda is with Mary in heaven. RIP Valerie Harper. You were the epitome of strength and humor.” Career Marlee Matlin Highlights Valerie Harper won “Valerie Harper four Emmys and was nominated for six was one of the Golden Globes (winning in 1975 for “Rhoda”). greatest TV actors Chapter Two (1979) of all time. A true Supporting actress Nominated for comedic genius. Golden Globe She inspired me, Rhoda (1974-78) Lead actress and I loved her 3 Emmy noms (1 win); 2 Golden Globe noms very much.” (1 win) Michael Schur The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-77) Supporting actress “Sad to hear VARIETY.COM 4 Emmy noms (3 wins); 2 Golden Globe nominations about the passing Freebie and the Bean of Valerie Harper. (1974) She was incredibly Most promising newcomer courageous facing Nominated for Golden Globe cancer with her SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Women in Film Crystal humor and grace.” Awards (1987)

10 Humanitarian Award Robin Roberts MOVIESTORE/SHUTTERSTOCK RHODA: PHOTOS/MEDIAPUNCH/SHUTTERSTOCK; HARPER: GLOBE © UNIVERSAL STUDIOS

Untitled-6 1 8/29/19 12:08 PM WHAT ARE MARLBOROS AND CAMELS DOING IN KID-RATED SHOWS NEXT TO BURGER KING AND COKE?

On August 6, just weeks after Netflix launched a new season of Stranger Things (TV-14) with hundreds of tobacco incidents and close-ups of cigarette brands, 43 state Attorneys General told America’s media companies that they should “eliminate or exclude tobacco imagery in all future original streamed content for young viewers,” rate content with tobacco imagery R or TV-MA, and run anti-smoking spots before all content with tobacco imagery. Here’s why: BattleBatt of the brands obacco brands in movies and TV series look like paid product AltriaAltria and PMI brands accountacco for 41% of all placement and act like paid product placement. T tobaccotoba brand displays If tobacco brands appear alongside prominent brands like Burgerger inin filmsfil since 2002, BAT/ King, Coca-Cola, JC Penny or 7-11—as in Stranger Things S3—toxic ReynoldsReyn for 29%. No tobacco brands may shine by association. Or at least appear normal.l. majormajo media company explicitlyexpli prohibits But do non-tobacco brands gain when they appear next to tobaccocco tobaccotoba brand display in brands? Or do they risk consumer confusion and reputational damage?ge? anyany ofo its productions. Promoting tobacco brands is just the tip of the problem. ince 2002, close to 40 percent of the 159 top-grossing U.S. films Now streaming “originals” are repeating a deadly history. Swith a tobacco brand have been kid-rated. More than 95 percent etflix’ Stranger Things S3 delivered an estimated 3.4 billion tobacco of actors posed with brands have been stars or co-stars, not extras. Nexposures to audiences in its first four days online. That’s more than Meanwhile, 56 percent of top-grossing PG-13 films and 76 percent of heavy-smoking PG-13 films like The Great Gatsby (Warner) and The Magni- top-grossing R-rated films released since 2002 feature smoking. ficent Seven (Sony) delivered in their entire domestic theatrical runs. Today, more than a 1,300 of these smoking films are offered on Given the regrettable, decades-long history of promoting tobacco in Internet streaming and cable on-demand services accessible to kids. entertainment media, streaming “originals” are not so original after all. Films with smoking have recruited more than one in three new State AGs have battled tobacco promotion to kids since before their young smokers, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and multibillion-dollar Master Settlement Agreement with Big Tobacco in 1998. Prevention (CDC). That makes “starter” brands like Camel and Marlboro Two decades on, in the strongest terms, they’re telling Big Media how to the main beneficiaries of all the unbranded smoking on screen. protect young viewers. What’s more important than children’s lives? Read the Attorneys General letter at http://bit.ly/AGs0819 SMOKE Smoking in movies kills in real life. Smokefree Movie policies—the R-rating, anti-tobacco spots, certification of no payoffs, and an end to brand display—are endorsed by the FREE World Health Organization, American Medical Association, American Academy of Pediatrics, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, American Lung Association, MOVIES Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights, American Public Health Association, Breathe California, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, Los Angeles County Dept. of Public Health, New York State Dept. of Health, New York State PTA, Truth Initiative and many others. This ad is sponsored by Smokefree Movies, UCSF School of Medicine, San Francisco, CA 94143-1390. smokefreemovies.ucsf.edu

Untitled-12 1 8/26/19 2:24 PM LOOMINGLO IMPACT AND THE STUDY SAYS ... TheT ongoing standoff between writers and agents Consumers pick faves among hasn’th yet affected TV biz — but that may change p.18 new streaming options p.19

Land of Hope and Dreams New Line bought “Blinded by the Light,” starring Aaron Phagura, for $15 million at REVIEWS ARTISANS EXPOSURE FOCUS Sundance. Released Aug. 16, it has earned about $10 million at the domestic box office. TOP BILLING TOP

make some noise. Emerging streaming services such as HBO Max and Disney Plus are Toronto Buyers Face in a race to snap up as much compelling content as possible as they arm themselves for a battle against Netflix. There’s word that Apple will be on the hunt for movies, but the company hasn’t Harsh Lessons of Past been very forthcoming about what kinds of films it plans to highlight on its service. How- ever, Apple certainly has the financial resourc- Fest tests if Hollywood can avoid getting caught in the frenzy es to buy anything that tickles its fancy. In the past, some of these streaming and overpaying for rights Story by BRENT LANG and MATT DONNELLY services may have had to overpay in part because directors wanted their films to have WE’VE SEEN HOW this movie plays out. cutting big checks. Will an all-too-familiar a more traditional theatrical run. There was Festival audiences lose their mind for, say, an narrative of frenzy resulting in flops change a stigma associated with selling to a digital

uplifting drama or a biting satire. Their rap- once Hollywood touches down in Canada? platform. That’s dissipated, in part because VARIETY.COM turous response sends studios scrambling for “People have short memories,” says Tom auteurs on the level of Alfonso Cuarón their wallets. Cue an all-night bidding war, Quinn, founder of Neon, the indie distribu- (“Roma”) and Martin Scorsese (“The Irish- and to the victor goes … an indie movie with tor behind “Parasite” and “Apollo 11.” “A lot man”) have set up shop with Netﬂix and its ilk. iffy commercial prospects. of these failures are the result of companies Consequently, ﬁlmmakers have become more From “Late Night” to “Blinded by the chasing the moment and the headline. A big receptive to alternative distribution avenues. Light,” many of the big sales at this year’s acquisition is alluring for a company that is “A couple years ago, the conversation with

Sundance ended in ﬁnancial failure. As the ultimately trying to make a statement.” ﬁlmmakers was talking them through what 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER movie business gears up for the Toronto Intl. Fortunately for the agents looking to sell day-and-date [releases] meant, and there

WAITHE: MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK; BLINDED BY THE LIGHT: NICK WALL/WARNER BROS. NICK WALL/WARNER THE LIGHT: BLINDED BY MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK; WAITHE: Film Festival, studios may be more wary of movies, a number of players are hoping to was hesitancy,” says Mikey Schwartz-Wright, 13 TOP BILLING | NEWS

the company is looking to sell subscriptions by offering content that can’t be found anywhere else. As for Amazon, it’s showing movies as an incentive to get customers to pay for expedited shipping and thus buy more paper products and household goods. These companies don’t want to overpay for movies or release them to empty theaters, but their bottom lines won’t be impacted dramatically one way or another. That means they’ve been more willing to loosen the purse strings, and that’s forced other, more theatrically oriented companies, such as Fox Searchlight and Focus, to get more comfortable with paying hefty prices for festival favorites. But there’s a wide gap between the select few movies that leave buyers salivating at Toronto and the films that struggle to attract their interest. “There’s seemingly no middle ground,” Promising Pair says Arianna Bocco, executive vice president Documentary “The Capote Tapes” (above) of acquisitions and production for IFC Films. and “Ema,” starring “Either movies sell for a lot of money, or Mariana Di Girolamo they scuffle to find theatrical homes.” and Gael García Bernal, are drawing interest in One thing that could depress prices is the the run-up to Toronto. films themselves. From “Hustlers” to “A Beau- tiful Day in the Neighborhood,” most of the movies heading to Toronto for splashy premieres arrive with their distribution in place. Only a handful of films that are screening at the festival will be looking for a studio home. Compounding things is that two of the more promising acquisition targets, Armando Iannucci’s ‘The Personal History of David Copperfield” and the Bruce Spring- steen documentary “Western Stars,” sold to Fox Searchlight and Warner Bros., respectively, in the weeks leading up to the fest. an agent in UTA’s Independent Film Group. films through the lens of our Prime custom- “When you look at the field, you don’t “Now it’s the new normal.” ers and not solely by box office returns,” says see any ‘Manchester by the Seas,’” says Tom For Vanessa Saal, managing director of Matt Newman, co-head of movies at Amazon Bernard, co-head of Sony Pictures Classics. sales and distribution at Protagonist Pictures, Studios. “The theatrical release is just one “Nothing jumps out at you. You’re going streaming platforms have emerged as a nat- path to supporting the film before its Prime to need to do a lot of searching to find the ural home for films that might be too quirky Video launch.” great movies under the rocks.” to draw a crowd at the multiplexes. She’ll hit Some of the movies it bought have yet to Bernard may be pessimistic, but some this year’s festival with “How to Build a Girl,” be released, but “Late Night” was a painful films are drawing attention from buy- a coming-of-age story with Beanie Feldstein, flop and “Brittany Runs a Marathon” faces an ers eager to fill out their slates. “Bad Educa- that might be a natural fit for a company uphill climb to box office success. Moreover, tion,” the true story of a school-larceny scan- like Netflix, which has done well with young the company has signaled it is less excited dal, is said to showcase Hugh Jackman, and adult fare. However, there are frustrations about the theatrical landscape than it once “The Friend,” about a man who moves in with going the streaming route. It may hurt was. Upcoming movies such as “The Report” with a couple to support them as they grap- to have a movie crater at the box office, but and “The Aeronauts” will have only a limited ple with a terminal cancer diagnosis, smacks at least filmmakers get a sense of how their theatrical run before bowing on Amazon’s of awards bait. Also popping up on studios’ film is performing. Digital services tend to be streaming platform, Prime. radars are “Ema,” a drama about a young tight-lipped about how many people watch “They’ve clearly made some mistakes, dancer that was directed by “Jackie” auteur their movies — refusing to share data on but now they don’t even have a distribution Pablo Larraín; “Sound of Metal,” a music dra- ticket sales or streams with even the directors person,” one top agent notes, speaking anon- ma with Riz Ahmed; and “The Capote Tapes,” or producers, let alone the general public. ymously. The agent says that Amazon hasn’t a documentary about writer Truman Capote “Right now we have no visibility,” says rushed to replace Bob Berney, the veteran that offers up unreleased archival recordings. Saal. She hopes that will change once HBO marketing and distribution chief who left the But festival veterans say that the best Max, Disney Plus and others enter the field. company in June just as it was overhauling “When you acquisitions are often the films that pre- “Maybe more competition will put pressure its theatrical release strategy. Without a sea- look at miere to little buzz. Sony Pictures Classics, on these platforms to share information so soned executive to advise in that area, some the field, for instance, nabbed “Still Alice” at Toronto we as an industry can figure out what is a content-brokers are hesitant to sell a project you don’t in 2014 when few studios were interested in VARIETY.COM success and what is a failure.” to Amazon, because they worry there won’t see any a movie about a professor with Alzheimer’s. One streaming player may remain on the be anyone to orchestrate a successful rollout. ‘Manches- It went on to win Julianne Moore an Oscar. sidelines as the big deals get hammered out. Privately, many agents think Amazon will ter by “You can’t have a lemming mentality,” Amazon Studios dominated the market at be inoculated from festival fever at Toron- the Seas.’ says Bocco. “You have to look at movies that Sundance, shelling out more than $40 mil- to after catching a very bad case of it at Sun- Nothing other people might have walked out of or lion for titles including “Late Night,” “Honey dance. The aftershocks of the spending spree jumps out thought were boring from a different per- Boy” and “Brittany Runs a Marathon.” may take longer to wear off. Streaming ser- at you.” spective. If I went into every festival trying

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Most studios measure success or fail- vices such as Netﬂix and Amazon don’t have to get the same things as everyone else was, Tom Bernard, ure based on ticket sales, but Amazon says to rely on box office performance to justi- Sony Pictures I probably wouldn’t have bought half of

14 it’s different. “We assess the success of our fy splashy acquisitions. In the case of Netﬂix, Classics the movies I did.” OF TIFF EMA: COURTESY PHOTOS; ERWITT/MAGNUM ©ELLIOTT TAPES: CAPOTE EXPERIENCE HOLLYWOOD NORTH FROM A NEW PERSPECTIVE

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TOP BILLING | NEWS

Movable Feast The WGA-ATA Despite the ongoing battle between writers and agents, “The Chi” writer- producer Lena War Drags On; Waithe signed a TV Biz Shrugs deal with Amazon.

The stalemate between writers and their agents has yet to significantly impact dealmaking

By MICHAEL SCHNEIDER franklinavenue NEARLY FIVE MONTHS after the Writers Guild and the Assn. of Talent Agents failed to reach a new franchise agreement, leading to thousands of writers firing their agents, it’s mostly business as usual at the TV networks and studios — for now. But as the impasse drags on and there’s no concrete sign of movement between the two sides, executives warn that the impact will soon be noticeable. “It’s certainly made managers and lawyers have to work a lot harder,” says Show- time entertainment co-president Gary Levine. “There are a few bumps in the road, but we’ve been able to make the deals that we’ve wanted to make without a problem.” Meanwhile, there have been no talks and very little movement in recent months in the dispute over packaging fees and the agencies’ move into production. The conflict has led to suits and countersuits by both sides. As the standoff drags on, there have “It’s really of agents. Production pacts continue to be Speaking at the Television Critics Assn. been plenty of rumors about movement — bizarre made, although “there are probably more to press tour this summer, “Carnival Row” exec- officially, however, “it’s mostly radio silence,” that there’s be had if it were a fully functioning market- utive producer Marc Guggenheim said he says one writer. this high- place,” he adds. “But even given that, it feels was able to staff up the second season of the In the interim, according to network end activity like a robust market.” Amazon show without agents. “It’s possible, insiders, agents are still dealing with their going on Recent TV megadeals include Greg Ber- but I think agents do a lot more than simply A-list clients on existing overall deals, and and yet lanti and John Wells renewing their pacts submit writing samples to showrunners,” he they’re still calling about projects — but tremendous at Warner Bros. TV, Dan Fogelman sticking noted. “We can get by without agents for that, are clear that they’re repping directors discord in with 20th Century Fox TV, Lena Waithe mov- but that’s not to say that we shouldn’t be get- and producers, not writers. Some writers the day- ing from Showtime to Amazon and “Game ting back in a room and working out a deal.” are reaching out to development execs on to-day of Thrones” creators David Benioff and Dan One agent says that broadcast develop- their own. Elsewhere, projects have already structure Weiss leaving HBO for Netflix. ment is fine, since the megadeal producers been stacked up at the premium cable and of it.” “It’s really bizarre that there’s this high- are getting more orders — and it’s the pro- streaming services, and with so much con- Kevin Reilly, end activity going on and yet tremendous ducer business that’s driving packaging. tent in the pipeline, there’s no shortage of HBO Max and discord in the day-to-day structure of it,” But Pedowitz warns that new develop- opportunities for scribes. TBS/TNT/TruTV says HBO Max chief content officer and TBS/ ment is starting to see the effects of the All of that has allowed the business to TNT/TruTV president Kevin Reilly. “Most of standoff, starting with fewer original projects continue on a kind of autopilot despite the this is at a different level. It’s a pipeline of and more intellectual property coming in via sudden absence of the traditional agent- stuff that was in motion; deals were already agencies (a trend that was growing anyway). writer relationship. happening.” “The sad part about it from my perspective is Outgoing AMC entertainment networks The more immediate impact of the stand- the lack of representation is going to impact president of programming David Madden off might have been in show staffing, but diversity writers and young writers who are says he hasn’t been talking with agents as The CW president Mark Pedowitz says he trying to break in,” he says. “What you want much as he used to, and there “certainly isn’t has seen “minimal effect.” Execs can’t call to not happen is the backsliding of new tal- the kind of auction environment that exist- agents to get lists, which leaves showrunners ent coming into the business.”

VARIETY.COM ed pre-clients ﬁring their agents.” Madden to drive those hirings. One showrunner tells For FX Networks chairman John Landgraf, notes that the majority of deals were made Variety that his staffing went “surprisingly the toll is also personal. “On a human lev- prior to separation, so for now the long-term smoothly” despite the lack of agents. “I hired el, as somebody who has many friends and effect would be minimal — that is, if the a writer with no agent and two others who close associates who are on both sides of this writers went back to their agents tomorrow. hadn’t gotten one yet,” he says. “More writers conﬂict, I can see there’s a lot of stress and “But if this goes on another six months, it are getting meetings and being read because anxiety,” he says. “I see there’s a human cost will be a lot more challenging,” he says. of way guild membership banded together to what’s going on with people that I care

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER HBO programming president Casey and helped each other out. ... Those alterna- about. But it hasn’t impinged on our ability Bloys says that more dealmaking has fall- tives are just going to improve over time, and to try to ﬁnd the right path toward working

18 en to entertainment lawyers in the absence people will adjust.” with writers.” ROB LATOUR/SHUTTERSTOCK Streaming Wars Disney Plus fare like “The Mandalorian,” set in the “Star Wars” universe, has viewers intrigued.

package expected to debut in November. The survey also didn’t gauge reaction Disney: The Next Stream King? to Disney’s plan to bundle Disney Plus, ESPN Plus and Hulu for a reduced price of $12.99 monthly. Given consumer frustration proprietary content the media conglom- with the growing fragmentation of sub- Media giant poised for solid debut erates had licensed to Netflix (like “Friends,” scription streaming, the Disney triple play as study forecasts shakeup in how which is heading to WarnerMedia’s HBO could prove enticing, says Langston Co. consumers value services Max, and “The Office,” to be exclusively principal Spencer Imel. “Bundled services streamed on NBCU’s offering). Even with will likely do quite well,” he says. And on this new rivals, Netflix is expected to enjoy the front, “Disney is much further along than By TODD SPANGLER best value ranking. In the chart, services in the other media companies.” @xpangler the bottom-left quadrant have lower overall THE STREAMING-VIDEO BATTLEFIELD ratings than those in the upper right. is about to get some major new combatants However, as with any research, there Streaming Value Map — and fresh research suggests that Disney are caveats. For starters, the consumer is best equipped to grab new territory. reactions the Langston study measured Consumers rated the three major current services for value and Once Disney, WarnerMedia and were based on hypothetical, not actual, content (amber squares), then those same services with the three NBCUniversal launch their direct-to- behavior. Another issue: Pricing for HBO expected new players (blue circles). Services at the upper-right quadrant rank highest; those at the bottom left lowest. consumer services, customers’ perceived Max and NBCU’s service isn’t known at this value of incumbent players Netflix, Hulu point, so researchers asked participants to 9 and Amazon Prime Video will drop signifi- assume each of the services were priced Netflix Hulu Netflix [current] cantly, according to a study conducted by about the same — which will not be the [expected] [current] Langston Co., a Denver-based behavioral case. Disney Plus will bow at an aggressive 8 Prime Video consumer research and consulting $7 monthly, versus Netflix’s $13-per-month [expected] firm, shared exclusively with Variety. standard HD plan. HBO Max is widely Prime Video [current] Disney Plus, which will include expected to cost more than the $15 baseline Disney Plus powerful brands that span Lucasfilm’s monthly price of HBO alone. The upshot: 7 [expected] “Stars Wars,” Pixar and Marvel, is forecast Disney’s overall value could be even better Hulu [expected] to have a better price-to-content rating than Langston’s study predicts, while NBCU

ratio than both WarnerMedia and WarnerMedia’s could be worse. 6 [expected] VARIETY.COM NBCU, Langston’s research shows. The The study’s data is based on an online sur- HBO Max [expected]

accompanying chart illustrates a before- vey of 1,250 U.S. adults (24-54) from July 28 of Content Quality

and-after picture: Respondents were asked to Aug. 8, census-balanced to reﬂect nation- angston Co., August 2019 5 about their perceived value ratings for al population by income, age and geography. The L Netﬂix, Hulu and Amazon Prime prior to The researchers focused on millennials and the media companies’ launches; then they Gen Xers as the age groups most representa-

4 Source: rated the six services after being informed tive of purchasing decisions in the market. 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER 9 of the entertainment options coming to The research has other gaps. It omitted 4568 7

FRANCOIS DUHAMEL/LUCASFILM LTD. FRANCOIS DUHAMEL/LUCASFILM the new services — which includes Apple TV Plus, the tech giant’s streaming Value for Expenditure 19 Celebrating the ﬁlm industry’s best on Monday, September 9, 2019

Congratulations to the 2019 TIFF Tribute Award recipients:

MERYL STREEP JOAQUIN PHOENIX TAIKA WAITITI ROGER DEAKINS TIFF Tribute Actor Award TIFF Tribute Actor Award TIFF Ebert Director Award TIFF Variety Artisan Award Sponsored by RBC

MATI DIOP JEFF SKOLL DAVID LINDE DAVID FOSTER Mary Pickford Award Participant Media Participant Media Special Tribute Supported by MGM TIFF Impact Award TIFF Impact Award

TIFF’s annual awards fundraiser supports our year-round programmes and our core mission to transform the way people see the world through ﬁlm.

Untitled-7 1 8/30/19 11:44 AM TOP BILLING

Michael Schneider show. We have to keep that in mind.” significance of those particular genres of In the Running The Emmys’ biggest problem is the sheer television in the past season,” Mischer says. number of kudos that need to be televised: Some of the night’s segments will cele- 27, more than any other major awards show. brate the large number of landmark shows The Television Academy previously float- leaving TV this year — “Game of Thrones,” Host-Free Emmys ed the idea of handing out some of those “Veep,” “The Big Bang Theory” and others. awards before the ceremony or during com- Mischer and Carrington also say they hope mercial breaks (aiming to edit down accep- they now have a bit of a time cushion to Will Focus tance speeches and air them tape-delayed allow the more poignant winners’ speeches during the ceremony), but the various guilds to go longer, rather than cutting them have protested those attempts. “It’s not easy off after 45 seconds. — I’ll be honest,” Mischer says of balanc- But there’s no guarantee another Glenn on Awards ing the network’s and TV Academy’s needs, Weiss event will happen. That’s where the which are often contradictory. winners really need to step up their game. Without a host, the show is expected to Ideally, no one will walk onstage, open up Producers hope to get watercooler jump immediately into the awards, and rely a crinkled piece of paper and recite a lita- moments from the winners — but on the night’s presenters to “do more than a ny of thanks to names the audience has nev- no one’s making any vows little bit of patter and then throw to a nom- er heard of. Yet pleas for winners to make inations package,” Carrington says. “We had it entertaining often fall on deaf ears. And a discussion very early about getting into it almost never fails: As soon as the produc- one+Dusted partner Guy the awards as quickly as possible. You have a ers cue the orchestra to start playing off a Carrington was in the pro- host, and it can be a bit hit or miss. It’s a lot winner whose boring speech has droned on duction truck last year at the of time before you give out the first award, for too long, he or she will suddenly perk up D Emmys when director Glenn and the awards are what we’re there for. and offer the deeply emotional reaction that Weiss, who had just won the We’re there to celebrate the content and the should have been given in the beginning. Emmy for helming the Oscars, surprised the people who make it. We made a conscious “For those of us who do these kinds of Microsoft Theater audience by proposing effort to focus on that.” programs, we get an adrenaline rush from to his girlfriend. The producers have divided the Emmy rolling the dice and knowing we’re going to “For me in the truck, it was a horrifying telecast into five parts, centering on key have to ride this thing out no matter what moment,” says Carrington, who told me it TV genres: Comedy, drama, limited series, happens,” Mischer says. “It’s kind of the fun added about seven minutes to a show that unscripted and variety. “We want the first of being in this business. I love live televi- was already running long. “But at the same presenters to come out and talk about the sion, and that’s one reason why.” time, it was gold. It’s what a show like this needs. You watch the clock tick away ... but you know that this is going to be a moment that everyone is going to talk about.” Giving Them a Hand This year, Done+Dusted and Don Mischer This year’s Emmys will honor the final bows Prods., which are jointly producing the of landmark series Emmys for Fox on Sept. 22, are hoping for a including “Game of few more Glenn Weiss-like elements. Without Thrones,” co-starring Peter Dinklage. a host to create any watercooler moments, it will be up to the show’s winners to provide a bigger share of the surprises that people will be talking about on social media. “The moment that can make or break these kinds of shows, that make them mem- orable, are often things producers have absolutely no control over,” Mischer says. “Are there surprise wins? Are there underdogs that win? Is there someone who’s been nominated dozens of times who hasn’t won and finally wins? These all carry more emotional freight. We don’t have any idea who’s going to win until the envelope is opened, and we “We’re have no control over what a winner will say. there to So if a winner gets up there and makes an celebrate eloquent, emotional speech about what this the moment means to them, that’s not some- content thing we can produce or write.” and the Without a host, Mischer and Carrington people say there will at least be extra time to let who make VARIETY.COM winners create those moments. Getting rid it. We of a full monologue and other host rou- made a tines will save nearly 20 minutes that can be conscious applied to other elements — including, most effort to importantly, ending the show on time. focus on “When you go past 11, I don’t care who’s that.”

on that stage or what they’re doing, peo- 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Guy Carrington, ple turn you off,” Mischer says. “That really Emmy

HELEN SLOAN/HBO affects the overall ratings and success of the co-producer 21 TOP BILLING | FACETIME

Looking Up Andy Muschietti directs Isaiah Mustafa on the set of “It: Chapter Two.”

You had a big career switch. Did you grow as an actor on times worse than not getting a I just take the opportunity that’s the set of “It: Chapter Two”? job or not booking a role. When Isaiah Mustafa given to me. I love basketball. I Absolutely. They always say you don’t book a role, you don’t played it all through high school, you get better by working ever know what you did wrong. but I was vertically challenged with people who are better They just say it’s not going as far as being in the NBA. I than you. I had all these awe- further, and someone else gets switched to something that I some people working with the job. When you get cut from ‘They Would Check thought would be a little easier, me. A coach of mine said a team, they would literally give so I played football. I was able when you play football in a you a sheet. They would check to get a scholarship, and I made high-caliber game, like a cham- off boxes so you would know Off Boxes So You it on a couple of NFL practice pionship game, your game exactly what you did wrong. It’s squads. I did that as long as I elevates because you rise so traumatizing to get cut and could. After that, all I really want- to the occasion. have to go through that. And ed to do was acting. I got cut at least four times. Would Know Exactly Was transitioning from com- But the rejection in Hollywood When did acting first edy to horror a challenge? isn’t that bad. You get rejected, come to mind? It was a whole new world. To nobody knows. You pick your- What You Did Wrong’ My mom took me to see “Trading be in a horror movie, that’s one self up and try again. Places” when I was 9. I don’t of my favorite genres. I had to Isaiah Mustafa was a journeyman pro football wide know what she was thinking. go back and look at a bunch Things You Didn’t Know receiver with a dream of becoming an actor. Then Immediately, Eddie Murphy of horror movies: “Evil Dead,” became my favorite movie star. I “Friday the 13th,” “Aliens,” “Drag About Isaiah Mustafa he landed the spot as the suave Old Spice spokes- wanted to do what he was doing. Me to Hell.” My daughter and AGE: 45 BIRTHPLACE: Portland, man who burst out of the shower wearing nothing People were laughing at what he I have these midnight movie Ore. FAVORITE WIDE RECEIVER: Tim Brown FAVORITE HORROR

VARIETY.COM but a bath towel and deodorant. The moment led was doing. He was so quick and marathons where we watch a witty and hilarious. And then my lot of horror movies. MOVIES: “Scanners,” “Invasion to appearances in sitcoms like “Anger Management” of the Body Snatchers” (1978) brother started [acting] and I was and “Baby Daddy,” after which he landed a recurring OLD SPICE SCENT OF CHOICE: like, “My brother is doing it too? Any lessons from football Captain TOUGHEST COACH: Josh role on Freeform’s “Shadowhunters.” Next up, he stars Why not try to keep going?” I that apply to acting? Gruden BEST NFL OPPONENT: 1997 alongside Jessica Chastain as the adult Mike Hanlon wanted to follow in his footsteps. My work ethic transferred Pittsburgh Steelers SPORT YOU He wasn’t too successful at it. over from football and also the in “It: Chapter Two,” opening Sept. 6. Here, Mustafa DIDN’T KNOW HE PLAYED: Hockey

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER He didn’t carry on. He became a ability to ignore rejection and (started at 39) discusses career changes and his experience on the set lawyer. Whatever he was doing keep pushing. Being cut from

22 of Stephen King’s killer clown franchise. made an impression on me. any athletic team, it’s 1,000 Interview by DANO NISSEN BROS. BROOKE PALMER/WARNER Untitled-7 1 8/30/19 11:44 AM Untitled-7 1 8/30/19 11:43 AM SEND IN THE CLOWN THE HILLS HAVE BUYERS Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader scare up a Ellen DeGeneres unloads Hollywood good time at the ‘It: Chapter Two’ premiere p.27 Regency villa in Trousdale Estates p.30

OUT OF THIS WORLD Brad Pitt arrives at the Venice Film Festival for the world premiere of “Ad Astra” on Aug. 29. FOCUS ARTISANS REVIEWS ARTISANS FOCUS EXPOSURE TOP BILLING TOP VARIETY.COM SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER CHASTAIN: JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; PITT: ETTORE FERRARI/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK ETTORE PITT: STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; JORDAN CHASTAIN: Edited by MARC MALKIN 25 EXPOSURE | PARTIES

Shawn Mendes and LiLill NaNass X MTV Video Camila Cabello Music Awards PRUDENTIAL CENTER, NEWARK, AUG. 26

Taylor Swift delivered a politically charged speech while accepting the award for video of the year for the LGBTQ anthem “You Need to Calm Down.” “I first want to say thank you to the fans, because in this video several points were made,” she said. “You voting for this video means you want a world where we’re all treated equally under the law, regardless of who we love, regardless of how we identify.” Other highlights included a powerhouse performance by Lizzo, real-life couple Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes’ steamy duet of “Señorita” and a medley of greatest hits from Video Vanguard Award winner Missy Elliott.

Taylor Swift Halsey

Missy Nick, Joe and Queen Elliott Kevin Jonas Latifah ER/SHUTTERSTOCK; JONAS BROTHERS, HADIDS: CHARLES SYKES/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK (2); (2); HADIDS: CHARLES SYKES/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK JONAS BROTHERS, ER/SHUTTERSTOCK;

Bebe Rexha

LizLizzozo VARIETY.COM SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Gigi and Normani Bella Hadid LATIFAH, LIZZO, NORMANI: CHRISTOPHER POLK/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK (3); REXHA: MATT BARON/SHUTTERSTOCK (3); REXHA: MATT POLK/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK NORMANI: CHRISTOPHER LIZZO, LATIFAH, 26 ANDREW H. WALK ELLIOTT: LOVEKIN/SHUTTERSTOCK; STEPHEN (3); SWIFT: ERIK PENDZICH/SHUTTERSTOCK LIL NAS X, HALSEY: MENDES/CABELLO, WWD REPORT CARD DIRT

Chosen Jacobs and Isaiah Mustafa

Warner Bros.’ Ann Sarnoff and Toby Benjamin Wallfisch Emmerich flank Bill and wife Missy Skarsgård

James Ransone, Peter Bogdanovich Jeremy Ray Taylor and Andy Bean

Gary Dauberman and Finn and Nick Barbara Muschietti Wolfhard

Bill Hader OCK (2); DAUBERMAN/MUSCHIETTI, RANSONE/TAYLOR/BEAN, WOLFHARDS: ERIC CHARBONNEAU/SHUTTERSTOCK (3); (3); WOLFHARDS: ERIC CHARBONNEAU/SHUTTERSTOCK RANSONE/TAYLOR/BEAN, OCK (2); DAUBERMAN/MUSCHIETTI,

Jaeden Martell, Andy Muschietti, Sophia Lillis, Wyatt Oleff and Jack Dylan Grazer

HADER: JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK (2) STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK HADER: JORDAN ‘It: Chapterr Two’ Premiereere REGENCY VILLAGE THEATRE, WWESTWOOD,ESTWOOD, AUG. 2626 VARIETY.COM With the first “It” film making more thanthan $700 million world-worldwide, is the Losers Club feeling the prpressureessure for another boxbox office hit? “I feel zero pressure,” Jessicaca Chastain,Chastain, whowho starsstars asas the adult Beverly Marsh, told Variety, llaughing.aughing. “T“Thishis ain’t my machine. … I’m a peg. We’re all a part of the machine; I’m like a screw in the machine.” Bill Hader playsys the adult Richie Tozier, Jessica

a role his younger counterpart, Finn WWolfhard,olfhard, suggested him Chastain 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER for. So what thank-you gift did Hader ssendend in return? “Nothi“Nothing.ng. BOGDANOVICH: NINA PROMMER/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK; CHASTAIN, CHASTAIN, NINA PROMMER/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK; BOGDANOVICH: WALLFISCHS: MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK; JACOBS/MUSTAFA, SARNOFF/SKARSGARD/EMMERICH: MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERST SARNOFF/SKARSGARD/EMMERICH: JACOBS/MUSTAFA, MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK; WALLFISCHS: He’s a 16-year-old and he’s famous; hee doesn’t need anything.”anything.” 27 EXPOSURE | PARTIES WWD REPORT CARD DIRT

Performers Peer Group Celebration SABAN MEDIA CENTER, NORTH HOLLYWOOD, AUG. 25 Television Academy governors Bob Bergen and Patrika Darbo welcomed Emmy-nominated actors — including Marsha Steph- anie Blake (“When They See Us”), Ed Begley Jr. (“Ctrl Alt Delete”) and Jared Harris (“Chernobyl”) — and “RuPaul’s Drag Race” stars Carson Kressley and Silky Nutmeg Ganache to the annual cocktail party presented with Sterling Vine- / SCOTT yards and Ferrari Trento wines. Joey King (nominated for lead ; actress in a limited series for her portrayal of Gypsy Rose

Blanchard in Hulu’s “The Act”) paid homage to the streamer’s BARON/SHUTTERSTOCK MATT SCOTT/WEBSTER/JENNER: ERSTOCK; logo by wearing a lime green ensemble. Ron Cephass Jones, Marsha Stephanieephanie Blake Ed Begley Jr. and Glynn TurmanTurman

Michelle Visage and Carson Kressley BARATTA/TRUJILLO/JAMES: FRANK MICELOTTA/FX/PICTUREGROUP/SHUTTERSTOCK BARATTA/TRUJILLO/JAMES: ; JoeyJoey KingKing

Television Academy’s Bob Bergen and Patrika Darbo Silky Nutmeg Ganache KING: JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK (3) STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK KING: JORDAN , BERGEN/DARBO, KING: JORDAN STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK (3); BARATTA/TRUJILLO/JAMES: FRANK MICELOTTA/FX/PICTUREGROUP/SHUTT (3); BARATTA/TRUJILLO/JAMES: STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK KING: JORDAN BERGEN/DARBO, BERGEN/DARBO , RMAN ‘Mayans M.C.’ U Travis Scott and Kylie Jenner with Season 2 Premiere daughter Stormi ARCLIGHT CINERAMA DOME, HOLLYWOOD, AUG. 27

At the event, Kurt Sutter said he would step down as co-showrunner if the FX series is renewed for a third season, leaving co-creator Elgin James solely at the helm: “It’s time for the white man to leave the building.” Before the announcement, James — who is Latino — emphasized the importance of accurately portraying his culture through the show. “We have to tell our own emotional truth, particularly people of color,” he told Variety. “Some of us have lived that life. It took us a long time to get out of that cycle, andand now we’re trytryinging to tetellll a story iinsidenside out.out.”” BEGLEY JR., GANACHE: MEDIAPUNCH/SHUTTERSTOCK (2); JONES/BLAKE/TURMAN, MEDIAPUNCH/SHUTTERSTOCK BEGLEY JR., GANACHE:

CarCarlala Baratta, ‘Travis Scott: Look Mom Raoul Max TruTrujillo,jillo, ElElgingin JJamesames I Can Fly’ Premiere VARIETY.COM BARKER HANGAR, SANTA MONICA, AUG. 27

Travis Scott wasn’t talking to the press at the event for his Netflix documentary, but he had plenty of friends and colleagues in attendance who were more than happy to gush about the rapper and his latest project. “I’m just excited for everyone to watch this and for it to be out,” Sheck Wes, Variety SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER who’s signed to Scott’s Cactus Jack Records, told . “For people to understand Trav better, the game, what we stand for better.” Also spotted

28 were Swae Lee, Offset, Murda Beatz and producer Mike Dean. MOLOSHOK/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; DANNY VISAGE/KRESSLEY: Report Card 2019 MTV VMAs

Lil Nas X and Normani sparkle while Shawn Mendes suits up By LEIGH NORDSTROM and ALEX BADIA

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$15.5m

BEVERLY HILLS 5,100 SQ. FT. 5 BEDROOMS 4 BATHS Ellen DeGeneres Offloads Villa in Trousdale Estates

Almost as well known for their perpetually in-ﬂux portfolio of fearsomely pricey homes as their many showbiz accomplishments, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi have sold a soignée Hollywood Regency villa in the trendy Trousdale Estates area of Beverly Hills for $15.5 million, a huge amount by any standard but far less than the almost $18 million they originally asked. Considering the

VARIETY.COM comprehensive updates and real estate fees that easily ticked up into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, it seems unlikely the property-mad pair turned much, if any, proﬁt on the eye-catching Mark residence, which they scooped up almost exactly a year ago for $15 million. David The characteristically theatrical work of iconoclast architect John Elgin Woolf, The the sophisticated single-story villa, built in the early 1960s and once home to late actress Marjorie Lord, sprawls over about 5,100 square feet, mixing classic Old

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Real Estalker Hollywood elegance with new-fangled creature comforts. There are ﬁve bedrooms,

30 one of them outﬁtted as a gym, and 4.5 bathrooms, including a master bath that DEGENERES’ HOUSE: LEE MANNING DEGENERES: MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK; features boldly veined navy-blue and white marble throughout. The graciously proportioned, deceptively casual combination living and dining room is done up with a rare- ﬁed and costly collection of collectible vin- tage furniture and spills out to a huge, heated loggia with a glittering city-lights view over the swimming pool. The colossal, high-end kitchen is open to a cozy den. DeGeneres and de Rossi were represented in the deal by Kurt Rappaport of Westside Estate Agency; the buyers brought Hilton & Hyland’s Stephen Resnick.

Zooey Deschanel Sells Manhattan Beach Home $2.3m After more than a year on the market and ENCINO a series of declining prices that started out 5,100 SQ. FT. at an in-hindsight too rosy $5.25 million, “New Girl” star Zooey Deschanel and indie 5 BEDROOMS film producer Jacob Pechenik have sold 5 BATHS their house, a family-sized Cape Cod-inspired residence in affluent Manhattan Beach, Calif., for $4.7 million. Unfortunately for the Hollywood scion, musician and met kitchen is open over a large island to a their residential circumstances in Los internet entrepreneur, once improvement window-lined breakfast room and a family Angeles with the close to $2.3 million pur- expenses and real estate fees are factored room with fireplace. Sequestered privately chase of an opulently appointed Tuscan-inin, she and Pechenik likely took a loss on in a wing of its own, the master suite com- spired villa in the affluent foothills above the property they picked up about 4½ years prises a spacious bedroom with fireplace Encino. Hidden up a discreet private drive ago for a bit more than $4.5 million. and vaulted ceiling, a private balcony, a fit- and fortified behind a high wall and deco- A charcoal-colored flagstone path passes ted walk-in closet and a luxury bathroom ratively scrolled iron gates, the just shy of through a gated and secured courtyard to with a two-person soaking tub and sepa- 5,100-square-foot, family-sized home packs the front door of the handsomely unas- rate, glass-enclosed shower. Both the living in five bedrooms and 5.5 bathrooms. suming residence that measures in at room and family room have glass sliders to Imposing glass and wrought-iron doors more than 5,300 square feet with six bed- the backyard, where a stone-paved loggia open to a grandly proportioned, dou- rooms and 6.5 bathrooms. Inside, formal with ceiling-mounted outdoor heaters over- ble-height foyer and stair gallery sur- living and dining rooms flank the central looks a patch of grass bordered by clipped rounded by commodious formal living and entrance hall; the marble-countered gour- plantings and verdant trees that shield it dining rooms. Beyond the dining room, from the neighboring homes. a lavishly equipped kitchen is arranged Deschanel doesn’t appear to have moved around a large island and has a small, very far. In early 2018, she and Pechenik semicircular breakfast bay. A U-shaped wet shelled out nearly $5.6 million for another bar separates the kitchen from an adjoin- family-sized Cape Cod-inspired home in ing family room with fireplace. A curved another Manhattan Beach neighborhood staircase leads to a second-floor lounge sur- that’s substantially closer to the beach. rounded by three en suite guest bedrooms, each with walk-in closet and balcony access, plus a master suite replete with fireplace, private terrace, walk-in closet and m Shane Johnson, Keili spacious bathroom. In the backyard, there’s $4.7 Lefkovitz Upsize in Encino a trellis-shaded terrace outside the dining room, a verdant sweep of lawn with trop- MANHATTAN BEACH 6 BEDROOMS The celebrity real estate gossip grapevine ical plantings and a slender terrace along- 5,300 SQ. FT. 6 BATHS is abuzz that “Power” star Shane Johnson side a tile-accented swimming pool. The and actress Keili Lefkovitz have upgraded property was listed with Chelsea Lazkani at

Digs Proposal to Move and a bridge across the tar-laden Mammoths Raises Ire lake. The most controversial plan

Along with the Los Angeles is the one that suggests mov- VARIETY.COM Famed Mansion Goes County Museum of Art and the ing the lake pit mammoths inside to Marvel Director Academy Museum of Motion Pic- the museum. However, longtime “Avengers: Endgame” direc- tures, the adjoining La Brea Tar park-goers are ready to rise up tor Anthony Russo has bought Pits are scheduled to get a large- in protest if their favorite models Pasadena’s “Dynasty” mansion scale makeover. Three plans have of mammoths are moved. All the for a bargain $15 million. Seen been submitted, two from New Page Museum: One would add proposed projects will minimize

in numerous shows and movies, York architectural firms and one another story, one would enclose the open parking lot and exces- 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER the 106-year-old villa still has its from a Danish firm. The plans it below grade in a giant berm, sive fencing in favor of a more

RUSSO: DAVID FISHER/SHUTTERSTOCK; LA BREA TAR PITS: WEISS/MANFREDI ARCHITECTURE/LANDSCAPE/URBANISM WEISS/MANFREDI ARCHITECTURE/LANDSCAPE/URBANISM PITS: LA BREA TAR FISHER/SHUTTERSTOCK; RUSSO: DAVID famous lily pond. JAMES MCCLAIN have varying ideas for the tar pits’ while the third would add a wing modern look. PAT SAPERSTEIN 31 EXPOSURE | DIRT

Vincent Gallo Buys Trump Tower Condo Spectacularly enigmatic Vincent Gallo, who hasn’t been seen on the silver screen in more than five years, has paid just under $1.5 million — in cash — for a one-bedroom and 1.5-bathroom condominium on a high floor of New York City’s Trump Tower. Gallo, who makes no secret of his support for the building’s owner, told the New York Post he “could smell a slowdown in the market” and made a “lowball” offer for the just over 1,000-square-foot unit, which had languished on the market for more than three years with asking prices as unrealisti- m cally high as $3.4 million. $3 The front door opens efficiently if inel- SANTA MONICA egantly onto a 30-foot-long combination living-dining room stripped of almost all 2,300 SQ. FT. architectural detailing, with basic par- 3 BEDROOMS quet floors and two huge floor-to-ceiling 3 BATHS windows that provide up-close views of the surrounding towers and a spectacular bird’s-eye view down Fifth Avenue toward and beyond the Empire State Building. A Rodeo Realty; Steven Foonberg at Westside average-quality stainless steel appliances, short corridor with an itty-bitty coat closet Realty Group represented Johnson. practical if pedestrian beige ceramic floor and a convenient powder room leads to a Johnson and Lefkovitz seem to have tiles and a small, window-lined dining windowless kitchen. The master bedroom, upsized their West Coast digs from a not space. Both guest bedrooms are ample, also with spectacular views, includes two quite 1,700-square-foot architectural on while the master suite incorporates a sep- closets, one almost as big as the kitchen, a busy canyon road in Bel Air that tax arate office, a skylight-topped dressing hall and a sizable bathroom with a bidet. The records indicate Lefkovitz acquired more and the most stylishly updated of the three unit was listed with Leonel Piraino and than 15 years ago for a tetch over $730,000. bathrooms. French doors in the master bed- Rafael Salas of Brown Harris Stevens. room lead to the simply landscaped back- Residents pay hefty fees — Gallo’s unit yard, which has a sun-dappled patch of traded with monthly common charges lawn and, behind a detached two-car garage of nearly $1,900 plus almost $2,200 in Pierce Brosnan Snags at the end of a brick-paved gated drive, a monthly taxes — that provide them with a huge patio for alfresco dining and lounging. full-time doorman, valet and concierge ser- Santa Monica Cottage The listing was held by Alejandra Marti- vices as well as elevator operators. Pierce Brosnan and Keely Shaye have shelled nez-Sorensen of The Agency; Brosnan and out close to $3 million for an unpreten- Shaye were repped by Sandro Dazzan, also tious but hardly inexpensive 1940s tradi- at The Agency. tional cottage on a pretty, tree-lined street It’s unclear if the property was in a coveted Santa Monica, Calif., neighbor- acquired for personal use, as the four-time hood. Described in marketing materials as James Bond actor custom-built a much “turn-key,” the handsome and clean, if not larger and far more luxurious, Bali-in- especially chic, single-story home has three spired oceanfront estate along Malibu’s bedrooms and three bathrooms in just over Broad Beach that some years ago popped 2,300 square feet. up as an ultra-luxe short-term summer With a stone-faced fireplace and a bay rental at a sky-high $250,000 per month. m window that overlooks the front yard, the Brosnan and Shaye have also long main- $1.5 formal living room has wood floors that tained an expansive foothold in Hawaii, extend into an unexpectedly long combi- where they preside over a multi-cottage NEW YORK CITY 1 BEDROOM nation family room and dining area. The compound along a pristine stretch of sand 1,000 SQ. FT. 1 BATH separate, galley-style kitchen has updated, on the North Shore of Kauai.

Digs around the city serve the same purpose for new arrivals in town,

VARIETY.COM but with recording studios, hot Hollywood Hopefuls tubs and Wi-Fi instead of strict Get a Leg Up at Upstart supervision. Bunks or sleeping During the Golden Age of Holly- pods at the shared houses rent wood, aspiring actresses shared for around $800 per month, with rooms at boarding houses with no leases required. The co-liv- chaperones to keep them safe. ing spaces are offered for artists,

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER The Upstart Creative Living actors, musicians, DJs, models, houses in Silver Lake, Holly- comedians, writers, directors and 32 wood and other neighborhoods dancers. PAT SAPERSTEIN INTERVIEWS INCLUDE

AND MORE

CHECK OUT OUR STUDIO VIDEOS THROUGHOUT THE FESTIVAL AT VARIETY.COM

TOTTOTOTTOO THE THE TTHE THEHE LIGHTHLIGHTHOUS LIGHTHOUSE LIGHTHOUSLIGHTHOU LIGHTHOUSELIGHTHOUSESEEEE

WITH OSCAR BUZZ, A CHRISTOPHER NOLAN DRAMA AND THE COVETED ROLE AS THE NEW BATMAN, ROBERT PATTINSON IS HAVING A BIG YEAR

Story by RAMIN SETOODEH

Photographs by MATTHEW BROOKES

35 ROBERT PATTINSON couldn’t stop Googling himself. In mid-May, the 33-year-old actor found himself obsessively refreshing his phone on a flight from Los Angeles to the south of France. Pattinson was headed to the Cannes Film Festival for the world premiere of his new movie, “The Lighthouse,” just days before he was set to start shooting the next Christopher Nolan film, “Tenet.” But someone had tipped off the press about another top-secret project, one the entire world was now reporting on: Pattinson had been cast as the next Batman. The stories were premature — Pattinson hadn’t even auditioned yet — and he was horrified that all the chatter would spook Warner Bros. executives into not hiring him. “When that thing leaked, I was fucking furious,” Pattinson recalls on a recent rainy afternoon in London. “Everyone was so upset. Everyone was panicking from my team. I sort of thought that had blown up the whole thing.” As he scoured the internet for any clues that he’d been cut from the studio’s wish list, the man next to him leaned over to say hello. “I was sitting next to Christopher McQuarrie,” Pattinson says. “I’d never met him before. Oh, God! He’d seen me Googling myself for the past hour!” Pattinson tried to explain to the director behind the latest “Mis- sion: Impossible” films what had happened. “No worries,” McQuarrie said, nodding. “I’d probably be doing the same thing.” Robert Pattinson never stopped being an internet phenome- non after playing Edward Cullen in the five-part “Twilight” series, which grossed an extraordinary $3.3 billion worldwide and turned him into the most lusted-after mortal since Leonardo DiCaprio in “Titanic.” But after the franchise ended in 2012, Pattinson took the opposite path from mass blockbusters, working instead with indie the Warner Bros. tentpole from director Matt Reeves that will start auteurs such as David Cronenberg (“Maps to the Stars” and “Cos- shooting this winter and debuts in June 2021. mopolis”), James Gray (“The Lost City of Z”), the Safdie brothers Pattinson can’t say exactly what contributed to his process of (“Good Time”), Claire Denis (“High Life”) and David Michôd (“The choosing roles in the past few years. “Big movies, generally the Rover” and “The King”). Pattinson relished playing character parts, parts aren’t as interesting — at least the stuff that was coming not needing to worry about hype and audience expectations. my way,” he says. “I guess there was some fear.” After “Twilight,” “Rob definitely has a darker side and is comfortable working he wanted to land on solid ground, not lead a life where he was in that space,” says Robert Eggers, the director of A24’s “The Light- stalked by the paparazzi on his day-to-day errands. He was drawn house,” which screens this week at the Toronto Intl. Film Festival to quirky and under-the-radar characters that he could sink his and opens in theaters on Oct. 18. “And he has good taste in cin- teeth into. “I think I probably would have been a little bit ner- ema. I think a lot of directors he likes are doing stuff that isn’t vous to have gone straight into it immediately afterwards,” he run-of-the-mill Hollywood.” says about “Batman.” But in the past few months, Pattinson’s career has taken This is Pattinson’s first interview since being formally anointed another turn as he’s begun gravitating back toward the stormy as the Dark Knight. And he still seems to be pinching himself clouds of movie stardom. He spent most of his summer in Esto- about being next in line to put on the latex boots after Michael nia making the Nolan film, which arrives in theaters in July 2020. Keaton, Val Kilmer, George Clooney, Christian Bale and Ben Affleck. And of course, despite his concerns, he was cast in “The Batman,” Growing up in England, he watched the Tim Burton “Batman”

36 VARIETY “IT’S MUCH MORE FUN movies. “When I was a kid, it was the only outﬁt that I had,” Pat- tinson says. But he won’t reveal where he used to wear his Bat- WHEN YOU’RE AN man costume. “If I actually said it in an incterview, I would deﬁ- UNDERDOG. THERE’S NO nitely have a lot of abuse afterwards,” he says with an outburst of nervous laughter. “If I successfully play the character, I can say EXPECTATION OF YOU.” it at the end.” —ROBERT PATTINSON When Pattinson was named as the front-runner for the role, the backlash on social media was intense — a petition even sur- faced on Change.org asking WB to reconsider. “This will ruin my childhood and my dreams,” one commenter posted. But Pattin- son is surprisingly upbeat about the mixed reaction. “To be honest, it was less vitriolic than I was expecting,” he says. And he’s not deterred by the doubters: “It’s much more fun when you’re an underdog. There’s no expectation of you.” Pattinson splits his time between London and Los Angeles, but he prefers to live on a movie set. He’s restless if he’s not working, and he’s not the kind of person who could travel for months

VARIETY 37 for fun. “I think I’d come back and my house would have flown At least he still does. Pattinson says he can sneak into a mul- off,” he says. “I would have absolutely nothing. I’m constantly liv- tiplex, and nobody will bother him. He tried to do that the other ing in terror.” Of what? He searches for an answer. “If you experi- day for Quentin Tarantino’s “Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood,” ence a loss of momentum, you don’t want that to happen again,” but all the shows were sold out. “It’s literally impossible to get a he says. “And I really enjoy working. There’s no part of me that can ticket anywhere in London,” Pattinson says with a sigh. Couldn’t go off and disappear.” he have called in a favor? “I used to have a tiny bit of power. And Besides, he’s come to appreciate the camaraderie of the movie- the power is completely gone. I can’t do anything anymore. I actu- making business. “There’s something about people who work in ally just called my publicist: ‘Can I get some free stuff? Just any- the film industry — they very much wear their heart and dreams thing!’” he says in a mock-pleading voice. “‘I just want a package.’” on their sleeve,” Pattinson says. “There’s so much desire falling out of them. I think people in other jobs, their dreams aren’t valued BEFORE HE TAKES ON GOTHAM CITY, Pattinson will first as highly. Also, there’s nowhere to put them.” He says that if he’s in tend to “The Lighthouse.” The black-and-white drama is his first an Uber and a driver starts to pitch him a movie idea, he doesn’t performance that’s generating serious awards buzz, although it’s shudder like other actors would. “I’m so, so into it,” Pattinson says. not your typical Oscar movie. True to its title, “The Lighthouse” is “I don’t want to be in L.A. to talk about fucking restaurant reser- set in a watchtower in the middle of nowhere, as tension builds vations. I want to be in L.A. because I love movies.” between a pair of watchmen. (Willem Dafoe plays the other role.) Yet times have changed. Many movie stars have been craft- Slowly, things start to happen as the men succumb to their iso- ing career trajectories similar to Pattinson’s, swinging from inde- lation, booze and hallucinations involving a mermaid who lives pendent films to blockbusters and back. And indie directors such off the coast. “I remember doing it thinking I don’t know how I’m as Ryan Coogler have infiltrated the superhero world. Pattinson going to promote it,” Pattinson says. “Every single scene is just reveals he had an informational meeting with Marvel around the sprinting up to a cliff.” time of “Guardians of the Galaxy,” but nothing came of it. “I don’t Pattinson had seen Eggers’ 2015 Sundance horror film, “The know what I would really be chasing,” Pattinson says. “The idea Witch,” and he reached out to him about working on something of trying that transition after ‘Twilight,’ I never saw a road in down the line. The first idea that Eggers suggested wasn’t weird that direction.” Batman was different because he was the only enough for Pattinson, so Eggers offered him an alternative script comic book character Pattinson always loved. “It’s actually an called “The Lighthouse.” He threw himself into preparing for the interesting part,” he says. “I think it’s because he doesn’t have any role, poring through historical studies about men in lighthouses, superpowers.” reading macabre stories and listening to audio tapes of dialects He’s noticed how much the entertainment industry has trans- of New England, where the story is set. And Pattinson moved formed since the first “Twilight” hit screens a decade ago. “It felt three months early to Cape Forchu, Nova Scotia, where Eggers had like the mid-budget movie completely disappeared, but then it constructed a 70-foot wooden lighthouse, to acclimate to the kind of came back with Netflix and the streaming services,” he location. To settle into the character, Pattinson grew a mustache, says, adding that he wishes Netflix offered a better way to navi- which he’d been trying to persuade directors to let him do for gate all its titles. “Hardly anyone sees independent movies at the other parts. He’s not offended when a reporter asks if it was a cinema anyway. It would be amazing if people did.” prosthetic. “It’s actually real,” he says. “I thought it looked a bit fake as well.” Dafoe says that Pattinson will sometimes use humor to dis- arm others. “He’s wildly self-effacing,” Dafoe says. “If you ever talk to him about performing, he acts like he doesn’t know what he’s doing. That’s a little bit of a device to allow him more freedom. And I might add that Rob really wants to jump into things, sometimes with his eyes closed.” On “The Lighthouse,” he had trouble seeing anything due to the stylized cinematography. “We realized, because of the combination of shooting on black-and-white negative and the 1920s lenses, you need so much light just to get anything,” Pattinson says. “We were doing one scene which was talking to each other over a table. The light is so bright, you couldn’t see the other actor. OK, this is an unexpected turn of events.” Since his character is

OSCAR BUZZ inebriated for most of the ﬁlm, Pattinson had to double down Robert Pattinson on throwing his equilibrium off-balance. But he didn’t attempt with Willem Dafoe a Method approach like on 2011’s “Water for Elephants,” where in “The Lighthouse” he actually got plastered. “All you’re doing is trying to stay sober (top) and on set afterwards and hoping that no one will ﬁnd out you’re drunk for with Robert Eggers a drunk scene,” he says. Pattinson relishes all the peculiarities of “The Lighthouse.” He reveals that the crew had to move a sex scene from the frigid waters of the ocean to the shore. “We were just sitting there con- vulsively shivering,” he says. “It’s not very sexy at all.” And he’s eager to discuss the moment when his character pleasures him-

self while thinking about a ﬁgurine of a mermaid that he’s just CHRIS REARDON/A24 (BOTTOM) ERIC CHAKEEN/A24; (TOP)

38 VARIETY “THE LIGHT IS SO BRIGHT, YOU COULDN’T SEE THE OTHER ACTOR. OK, THIS IS AN UNEXPECTED TURN OF EVENTS.” —PATTINSON

found. “I keep masturbating,” Pattinson says of a theme that runs into something. Once you’ve got it on, it’s like, ‘Yeah, I feel strong, through his recent work. “In the last three or four movies, I’ve got I feel tough, even though I had to have someone squeezing my a masturbation scene. I did it in ‘High Life.’ I did it in ‘Damsel.’ And butt cheeks into the legs.’” ‘The Devil All the Time.’ I only realized when I did it the fourth Although he had a clear take on how he’d play Batman, he had time. But when I saw the clay figure of the mermaid, if you’re get- to adjust his movements to his new latex body. “You’re trying to ting turned on by that, you’re in a very strange place in your life.” think of the way to balance, how to bring something new to it and not want to scare people off,” Pattinson says. “And work in the con- PATTINSON BEGAN THE YEAR as an unemployed actor, feel- fines of the costume.” ing fidgety about his empty schedule. But his concerns were put Five days later, he officially became the Dark Knight. “I was to rest when his agents phoned him in January to say that Nolan absolutely relieved when Matt called,” says Pattinson, who got

ND PANTS; BERLUTI; SHIRT: RAG & BONE; PREVIOUS SPREAD: DIOR & BONE; PREVIOUS SPREAD: RAG SHIRT: BERLUTI; ND PANTS; wanted to meet with him. “I couldn’t believe it,” Pattinson says. the role over actor Nicholas Hoult. In fact, Pattinson received the “He’s one of those people who seem quite out of reach.” career-changing news on his first day on the set of Nolan’s film. He’d been chasing Batman for much longer than anyone “It’s so bizarre,” he says. “I was like, ‘What a coincidence this is hap- knew. Pattinson had heard that Reeves was working on a script pening. It’s absolutely crazy.” A surprise benefit was that he was that reimagines Bruce Wayne in the younger years of his life. “I’d able to pepper Nolan, who made the “Dark Knight” trilogy, with had Batman in my mind for a while,” Pattinson says. “It’s such an questions. “I was talking about things to do with the Batsuit,” Pat- absurd thing to say. I sort of had an idea to do it, and I’d been prod- tinson recalls. “How to get more movements in it.” ding Matt. He didn’t accept any prods. I kept asking to meet him.” Pattinson won’t say whether he’s committed to additional “Bat- When Reeves finally finished a script, he relented and agreed to man” movies. “I don’t know anything,” he says. “I’ve got an idea a meeting in Los Angeles. “And then I had to kind of try to imag- how to do about four scenes, and then I’m working on the rest ine what he’d written, and I hadn’t even read the script,” Pattin- gradually.” At one point in our conversation, he offers a mundane son says. “I’d come with this pad full of notes.” As discussions con- comment about Joaquin Phoenix, who stars in “Joker” (a movie he tinued, Pattinson arrived in Cannes in May, and all hell broke hasn’t seen yet), before asking to retract it. “Oh shit,” he says, add- loose in the press. “It was terrifying,” he says. “I was like, ‘Oh fuck! ing that he’s not accustomed to thinking about spoilers. “I defi- Does that screw me because they are so intent on secrecy?’” He nitely should not say that. I’m so used to pretty art-house movies, found himself attending the “Lighthouse” premiere in the mid- where you can watch the movie three times and still not know dle of reading the script pages that he’d just been sent. “I’m liter- what it’s about.” ally in Cannes in my hotel room [rehearsing],” Pattinson says. “The It’s likely that playing Batman will invite the paparazzi back whole thing was a lot.” into his life, but he’s not concerned. He says that Instagram has After "The Lighthouse” screened to a rapturous standing ova- taken the pressure off movie stars, because there’s so much free tion, Pattinson promptly flew back to L.A. to try on the Batsuit for photo content of celebrities (and wannabe celebrities) on the web. the final phase of the high-stakes audition. “It’s maybe the crazi- “There’s no money in it for people to follow you around,” Pattin- est thing I’ve ever done in terms of movie stuff,” Pattinson says. son says. “There are just so many photos of me you can get in “I put it on. I remember saying to Matt, ‘It does feel quite transfor- a black baseball cap getting a diet peach Snapple. Or on Friday mative!’ He was like, ‘I would hope it does! You’re literally in the Bat- night, getting a Kit Kat.” suit.’” Pattinson describes what the moment was like: “You do feel Like Bruce Wayne, Pattinson has taken shelter in his own Bat- very powerful immediately. And it’s pretty astonishing, something cave. “I made it impossible for people to follow me,” he says. “I’d that is incredibly difficult to get into, so the ritual of getting into be completely hermetic. It wouldn’t be worth it to wait outside

WARDROBE: ROSE FORDE/THE WALL GROUP; GROOMING: PETRA SELLGE/THE WALL GROUP; OPENING SPREAD AND THIS PAGE: COAT: DIOR; JACKET A JACKET DIOR; COAT: OPENING SPREAD AND THIS PAGE: GROUP; WALL PETRA SELLGE/THE GROOMING: GROUP; FORDE/THE WALL ROSE WARDROBE: it is pretty humiliating. You’ve got ﬁve people trying to shove you my house, because I wouldn’t come out.”

VARIETY 39 TORONTO CANNES SUNDANCE AFM FESTIVAL WARRIOR.

GLEN BASNER’S FILMNATION HAS BACKED PROJECTS THAT HAVE SCORED BOX OFFICE SUCCESS AND WON OSCARS AND TONYS. NOW, WITH MARKET FORCES CHALLENGING INDEPENDENT FILM, HE’S GOT A PLAN TO ADDRESS ALL PLATFORMS

Story by Photographs by BRENT LANG AMANDA JONES VARIETY 41 VARIETY 41 G

GLEN BASNER LIVES TO MAKE DEALS. Be it Toronto or Cannes, Sundance or AFM, you’ll find the FilmNation founder in the throes of negoti- ations over pricing and marketing plans, schmoozing and working every angle to nail the best pact. Director Armando Iannucci, who worked with FilmNation on the HIDDEN GEM? upcoming “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” FilmNation is backing recalls seeing Basner in action after he presented the “Promising Young Woman,” the feature directing debut Charles Dickens adaptation to potential buyers at the of Emerald Fennell (second 2018 Berlin Film Festival. from left), on set with DP “He was running from booth to booth, having all Benjamin Kracun and stars Sam these conversations, and he just kind of lit up with this Richardson and Carey Mulligan. infectious smile,” says Iannucci. “Fundamentally, all of the things he’s doing on the business side are borne out of a love of film. That what makes him so good at what he does.” Onstage, the company invested in “The Band’s Visit,” which won 10 Tony Awards, Basner will be on hand at the Toronto Intl. Film Fes- including best musical, lead actor and actress, director and score; a revival of “True tival for the world premiere of “David Copperfield,” with West” with Kit Harington that was a hot ticket when it ran in London; and “The Dev Patel in the title role, and the screening of Pedro Sound Inside,” a Broadway-bound drama with Mary-Louise Parker. On the podcast- Almodóvar’s “Pain and Glory,” starring Antonio Ban- ing front, it produced sci-fi anthology series “Hyper-Thetical” for subscription ser- deras, for which he sold the international rights. He will vice Luminary. And in television, it has started production on “I Know This Much Is also likely be selling yet-to-be-revealed packages to buy- True,” an adaptation of Wally Lamb’s best-selling novel that stars Mark Ruffalo and ers at the market. will appear on HBO. It’s also preparing TV series adaptations of Isabel Allende’s “The His genuine enthusiasm for moviemaking has well House of the Spirits,” Daisy Goodwin’s “American Heiress” and John Updike’s “Rabbit served Basner, 52, and the company he founded in Run,” the last a co-production with U.K. outfit Lookout Point. 2008. In the decade since FilmNation opened its doors, “Our decision to diversify was all about storytelling,” says Milan Popelka, the com- it has established itself in the top ranks of film produc- pany’s chief operating officer. “There are a lot of stories out there to be told, and not tion and sales companies. Its résumé includes critically all of them work as movies. We want to be a place where anyone with an idea can acclaimed box office hits such as “The Big Sick,” “Gloria come, regardless of what form that story ultimately takes.” Bell,” “Arrival” and “The King’s Speech.” The company One of those new avenues for storytell- has also been responsible for some of the biggest sales ing emerged out of FilmNation’s unique to come out of festivals and markets, partnering with “You have to corporate culture. Seven of the company’s 30West and CAA to sell domestic rights for “Late Night” 40 employees, ranging from assistants to to Amazon at Sundance for a record-setting $13 million, deliver an emotional senior executives, cooked up the pitch to go and working with CAA to sell rights to “Down Under experience that into podcasting as part of something the Cover,” a Chris Hemsworth and Tiffany Haddish com- company has dubbed InnovationNation. It’s edy, at Cannes for more than $40 million. satisfies people, an initiative that’s been in place since 2014, “Our taste, aesthetic and our approach to doing busi- and if you don’t do one that enables employees to take time off ness is to be best in class in our execution,” says Basner. to explore business opportunities or come At a time when many indie films are faring poorly at that, you’re done.” up with proposals to do things more effi- the box office and some smaller companies are strug- ciently. FilmNation’s startup vibe is further gling financially, Basner has also seized upon a simple GLEN BASNER fostered in the many retreats it hosts for but effective creative strategy for making movies. Don’t staffers, as well as its insistence on calling bore people. “Movies have to be entertaining,” he says. workers “citizens” as opposed to employees. “That doesn’t mean they have to be light and fun and It’s a warmer, friendlier sensibility that’s in keeping with its founder. There’s some- breezy. They can be serious and sad. But you have to thing low-key about Basner. He’s certainly got a natural way with people, and has a deliver an emotional experience that satisfies people, salesman’s knack for putting them at ease. Yet, he doesn’t have the hard-charging, and if you don’t do that, you’re done.” bare-knuckle persona that characterizes other Hollywood players. Now, FilmNation is taking an approach that’s served “Oftentimes people mistake being tough with being nasty, or being nice with it well in the features business and applying it to other being soft,” says Basner. “I don’t know if people consider me nice or not nice, but I’m mediums. Two years ago, as part of a larger diversifica- going to be true to myself. I didn’t get into the movie business until later in life, so tion strategy, the company branched into theater, tele- I didn’t carry any of the baggage or insecurities that I may have if I started when I vision and podcasting. And though it’s early days, the was in my early 20s.” moves appear to be paying off. Indeed, Basner’s entry into the world of moviemaking wasn’t conventional. MERIE WEISMILLER WALLACE/FOCUS FEATURES MERIE WEISMILLER WALLACE/FOCUS

42 VARIETY became more conservative about the number of films it backed. Ultimately, it was able to survive, and announced itself as a major player in the space with the release of “The King’s Speech,” which went on to win the best picture Oscar and gross more than $400 million globally. “Things happened for us because we were able to navigate those strong headwinds and actually get movies sold and financed and made when others couldn’t,” says Bas- ner. “That allowed us to move up the food chain years ahead of when we might have.” From that rocky start, FilmNation has expanded beyond its New York headquarters to install offices in London and Los Angeles. The company has established itself as a haven for filmmakers who make quirkier and more offbeat fare that studios shy away from. When Universal punted on “The Big Sick” or when Fox 2000 put “Late Night” into turnaround, it was FilmNation that swooped in and put the projects together. Often it will reach out to filmmakers it admires such as Iannucci or Emerald Fennell, the “Killing Eve” showrunner who will make her feature film directing debut in the Film- Nation-produced “Promising Young Woman.” “Often producers will try to make a film in their own image, but they [FilmNation] don’t interfere unless you need their help,” says Fennell. “My film is quite an odd one that is sitting across a lot of genres, but there was never any pressure to make it more mainstream. On the contrary, they were like, ‘Lean into it. Make it more crazy.’” Not every film has gone as planned. FilmNation made money selling movies such as “Late Night” and “Life Itself” to Amazon, but both movies failed to resonate with audiences, flopping badly when they were released in theaters. “When a movie, regardless of how great the sale is or how much money we made on it, doesn’t connect with audiences theatrically, it’s soul crushing,” says Basner. “You feel terrible for the filmmakers and the cast and for your distribution partner.” FilmNation is privately held, so it doesn’t disclose its financial performance, though executives say it has been profitable since 2010. Revenues and profits have grown each year, they say. The company also boasts a $120 million credit facility from Bank of Amer- ica and Union Bank that gives it the capacity to make four to six movies a year. FilmNation executives take pains to stress that even as they move into podcasting, theater and television, they’ll continue to make feature films, such as the upcoming Cold War thriller “Ironbark” and an untitled documentary about pornographer Larry Flynt’s presidential campaign. But the reality is that independently financed movies are being brutalized. “Late Night” wasn’t the only festival favorite to collapse at the box office in recent months — “Blinded by the Light,” “Vox Lux” and “Wild Rose” are just a few of the movies to score big deals at Sundance or Toronto before going on to bomb. That could depress prices for movies at future festivals, since distributors are likely to be wary of After college, he got a job working for his father’s overspending for something with murky commercial potential. clothing business in New York’s garment district. But To that end, FilmNation is making some concessions to the new ways that movies he didn’t feel fulfilled. His career pivot began when are being released and monetized. Going forward, the company plans to make two to his friend, filmmaker Edward Burns, enlisted him to three films annually that will forgo a theatrical release in favor of debuting on stream- help with production on “The Brothers McMullen,” a ing platforms such as Netflix or the soon-to-launch HBO Max and Disney Plus. “There’s 1995 indie comedy that broke out at the box office. an amazing proliferation of new buyers,” says Ben Browning, co-president of produc- From there, Basner got an entry-level job at Good tions and acquisitions at FilmNation. “We took a pitch out in July to six of these ser- Machine, the influential film production company vices, and we realized that three of them haven’t even launched yet. But they need con- behind Ang Lee’s “The Ice Storm” and Todd Solondz’s tent, and they need it now.” “Happiness.” He loved the atmosphere, and relished There are some things Basner does appear to be ruling out. He’s not interested in the chance to watch Nicole Holofcener huddling over self-distributing the movies he makes, nor is he gearing up for any kind of public offer- the editing bay on “Walking and Talking” or arrang- ing. And while he’s willing to produce short-form video for, say, a Quibi, he doesn’t have ing last-minute private plane travel to ensure that anything in the works yet. Good Machine executives could circumvent a snow- “When you’re building a business, there’s always these shiny, exciting things, and you storm to make a Sundance premiere. But it was only think why don’t I do this or why don’t I do that?” says Basner. “On the creative side, we after David Linde, one of the company’s co-founders, like that. We don’t want there to be boundaries. But on the business side, if we want to tapped him to help out with international sales that last for another 10 years, we need to remain disciplined.” Basner found his calling. “I knew he would be great,” says Linde. “If you can sell sweaters, you can sell anything.” TORONTO PREMIERE After Good Machine, Basner had a stint at The FilmNation’s “The Weinstein Co., where he founded its international Personal History of sales operations. Through it all, he nursed ambitions David Copperfield” to create his own company, one that would enable stars Dev Patel. auteurs to direct the movies they wanted to make at a time when studios were shuttering their independent film labels and concentrating more aggressively on franchise fare. He launched FilmNation with backing from real estate developer, film producer and finan- cier Steve Samuels and developers Dominic A. Vis- consi Jr. and Anthoni Visconsi II. (Roadshow Distribu- tion would buy a 30% stake in the company in 2014.) The business plan, calling on Basner to tap into his network of foreign distributors to finance productions, may have been sound. However, the timing was not propitious. FilmNation launched in the fall of 2008 just as the financial markets began to tee- ter and the global economy slid into recession. The company scaled back plans to hire more staff and DEAN ROGERS/FILMNATION ENTERTAINMENT ENTERTAINMENT DEAN ROGERS/FILMNATION

VARIETY 43 abortion and the gun debate — and that was just in Season 1. Its main characters all work ‘IT’S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA’ at a fictional Philadelphia bar called Paddy’s By Joe Otterson Pub, where they engage in various schemes TAKES AN UNLIKELY PATH TO TV HISTORY and illicit dealings for personal gain or simply to undermine each other. The show also helped redefine what a comedy, particularly one on basic cable, was capable of in the early aughts. One need only look at the shows that were up for the best comedy Emmy in 2005 — “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Arrested Development,” “Will & Grace,” “Scrubs” and “Desperate Housewives” — to see how the landscape has changed in the years since “Always Sunny” started. The show connected early with college-age men. But DeVito notes that longevity has brought with it a broader audience. “I’ve experienced this where 11-year-olds will come up to me on the street,” DeVito says. “Almost the same fans as ‘Matilda’! I expect them to say, ‘I’m such a big fan of “Matilda,”’ Low Road, but this kid goes, ‘My favorite was the water park episode!’ I think of it, and I say to myself ‘Holy shit, I was running around in that one talking about having AIDS to get to the front of the line of a water slide.’” “Always Sunny” has never been a favorite of the awards community. In fact, the show did an entire episode spoofing exactly that High Results in its ninth season. The plot revolves around the gang trying to win the award for best bar in Philadelphia; the episode ends with Day’s character singing a song to awards voters in Paddy’s Pub that culminates with him belting out, “Go fuck yourselves,” and spitting on the bewildered patrons. Yet the series remains popular even after more than a decade. According to FX, the 13th season averaged just over 3 million viewers per episode in multiplatform viewing. That’s up from 2.2 million multiplatform viewers in Season 10. Part of the show’s early appeal was its almost homemade aesthetic, which was influ- A group of friends hang out in a bar. It’s a typical sitcom setup. enced by the original pilot that McElhenney, Day and Howerton shot for next to nothing But “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” has never been typical — with a digital camera before pitching it to and FX Entertainment president Eric Schrier can attest to that. various networks. He was one of the executives “laughing our asses off” a decade “We knew what we liked, but we didn’t and a half ago at a screening of the show’s pilot. ¶ “I think what know how things were supposed to be done,” Howerton says. “It was sort of that bullheaded was so great about it was that it was an alternative version of a attitude and being told, ‘You can’t do it that sitcom, where you had these crazy characters that said and did way,’ that emboldened us.” all things totally politically incorrectly,” he says. “But there was a All three agree, however, that they’re glad smarter understanding behind the show. They were dealing with they knew so little going in about making a societal issues, so there was this great combination of a high- show, something McElhenney calls a “trial by fire.” He does say there’s one thing he would brow side of it masked with a very broad-based lowbrow side.” change though: “To remember to enjoy the The single-cam series, which debuted in 2005 on FX, will air its 14th season this month. process a little bit more, which we certainly In doing so, it will tie “The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet” for longest-running live-action started to do as time went on,” he says. “When TV comedy in history, making it an unlikely entry into the television pantheon. “Always we started, I was 25 or 26, and I so desperately Sunny” has now aired more seasons than “Cheers,” “MASH,” “Seinfeld,” “Friends” or “Frasier.” didn’t want to wait tables anymore that I was “Always Sunny” was one of FX’s first originals, airing alongside early hits like “The Shield,” willing to do anything and everything to make “Rescue Me” and “Nip/Tuck.” It is also FX’s longest-running show, period. Its core cast — Rob sure that this was going to succeed. We just McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Charlie Day, Kaitlin Olson and Danny DeVito — has remained killed ourselves to make sure that it held up to intact virtually throughout its run. a certain standard, which I’m proud of doing, The show has endured in part because of its willingness to push the boundaries of comedy. but at the same time it wasn’t as enjoyable as

Topics lampooned on the series have included pedophilia, incest, racism, alcoholism, it could have been if we lightened up a little bit.” COHEN/FXX BYRON (TOP) MCELHENNEY/FXX; PATRICK (BOTTOM)

44 VARIETY LONG LEGS Rob McElhenney, Glenn Howerton, Kaitlin Olson, Danny DeVito and Charlie Day (below left)have been together for more than a decade on “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.”

“It was sort of that bullheaded That early effort has clearly paid off, with all of the core cast members pursuing successful attitude and being told, ‘You can’t do projects since the show began. DeVito continues to star in ﬁlms like the live-action “Dumbo”; Howerton toplines the comedy series “AP Bio,” which was recently revived for a third season at it that way,’ that emboldened us.” the NBCUniversal streaming service after two seasons on NBC; Olson starred in the Fox series “The Mick”; and McElhenney and Day are prepping a comedy series for Apple. Glenn Howerton Howerton is also branching out within “Always Sunny,” making his directorial debut in the new season. He says it was always his intention to start directing on the series, but he held off until now. “The reason I haven’t done it before, besides the fact it’s hard to do because we shoot multiple episodes at one time, is I have a tremendous amount of respect for directors and what that takes,” he says. “I never wanted to just jump into it like, ‘Oh, I could do this.’” But one of the drawbacks of being on a series as successful as “Always Sunny” is that network executives are essentially expecting the same show when they hear about a new project. “Rob and I went through that with our Apple show,” Day says. “There’s always some expectation that they’re going to get ‘Sunny,’ but then there is always the hope that they are going to get us as a cast. ‘Sunny,’ beyond the writing, is us performing and the chemistry that we have together. So there is the hurdle of saying, ‘Well, you’re not going to get that, but you are going to get something great.’” Olson echoes that sentiment, saying she’s often pitched projects in which she would basically be playing her character from “Always Sunny,” adding those shows “just aren’t as well written.” “I would love to play some other characters in some different endeavors, but it’s nice to be able to come back here because I realize how great we have it.” “I really feel like I hit the jackpot,” she continues. “It’s hard to imagine another show ending up as fun and as special as this one.”

VARIETY 45

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MEET THE TOP EAST COAST DEALMAKERS. 'IT' SCRIBE JOINS BILLION-DOLLAR CLUB. TIFF GALA HONORS TOP TALENTS. VARIETY SUMMIT EXPLORES NEW TECH GROUND.

ILLUSTRATION BY JUAN BERNABEU SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 | VARIETY.COM | 47 48 digital media, entertainment andadvertis- and defense. and Washington’s focus oncybersecurity tech, Pittsburgh’s leadership inrobotics ton region’s concentration ofhealth-care such specializations astheBos- reflecting Beach. Those numbers measure all tech, ter-Providence andNo. Angeles-Long 4Los ark asNo. 2, ahead ofNo. 3Boston-Worces- Insights MoneyTree placesNew York-New- atmetropolitanlooking areas, PwC/CB quarter the size ofleader California. When quarter of2019, but thesum islessthana ment measured indollars for thesecond among states for tech deals andinvest- Tree counts Report New York second Silicon Valley. The PwC/CB Insights Money- ranks adistant after intech second heft Technology program. director ofNYU’s Entertainment, & Media Stern ofBusiness andexecutive School erman, professor atNew York University’s mented intheshort term,” says AlLieb- [concepts] imple- thatcanbe to-earth meant to re-paint thesky but more down- for larger companies. realized, are acquisitions ideal asbite-size cepts thatare magnets for and, funding if ethosbymoon emphasizingpractical con- toopposition SiliconValley’s shoot-for-the- ambitions. The tech culture local stands in human expertise, money andcorporate a densely populated area loaded with NEW YORK’S SILICONALLEY FOCUS FOCUS IN TECH WORLD ALLEY APART SETS SILICON PRACTICALITY down-to-earth approach down-to-earth build up industry with companies York New STORY BY ROBERT MARICH | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 3, |SEPTEMBER |VARIETY.COM The New York tech industry’s focus isin By allmeasures, theBigAppleregion “There’s lessofthe ‘giant idea’ that’s DEALMAKERS ELITEDEALMAKERS NY occupies York's tophubs Hudson Yards, Trains roll in for thetech one ofNew TECH ON and outof industry. TRACK cosmopolitan old-world atmosphere and cating people. are The already people here.” keting. You don’t have to worry re-lo- about it’s developers, engineers, CFOs andmar- jobfront youspecific want to hire, whether providesthe population “expertise inevery from PWP Growth Equity inAugust, says which scored a$40millioninvestment ticketingand sports company TickPick, Brett Goldberg, ofonlineconcert co-CEO vation Lab. general manager oftheWarnerMedia Inno- care … they’re all here,” says Jesse Redniss, ment but tech alsofinancial andhealth many verticals, notjust media/entertain- the first generation ofdigital natives. and ayouth-skewing population, which is with avast cadre workers ofwhite-collar York’s to appeal employers isits sheer size, lyn andadjacent Island. Long AmongNew estate development, aswell asinBrook- cially attheemerging HudsonYards real touchpoints.media atestingbe andproving ground for digital sea ofManhattan neighborhood thatwill WarnerMedia Innovation intheChel- Lab pany AT&T isbuilding a20,000-square-foot For example, Warner Bros. parent com- leaguessports headquartered inthecity. publishingazine andbook andthepro ing, broadcasting, networks, cable TV mag- hometown industries such asadvertis- ing. Those are insynch withestablished Other New York advantages includea Manhattan-based tech entrepreneur “When you allthedrivers see across Tech congregates inManhattan, espe- New Yorker. inSando see Francisco,” says onedigital and norevenue, which issomethingyou building somethingwithaton of eyeballs cal. “There isvery little tolerance here for and anorientation toward thepracti- andentertainmenttional media industries ing thedigital sideoftheregion’s tradi- through blood, sweat andtears.” through engineering. financial It’s done investments.with media “That’s notdone peau Ventures, a Manhattan-based VC firm Hippeau, managingpartner ofLerer Hip- “company building specialists,” says Eric venture-capitalspecialist who funders are off thebusiness rails —istherealm of tech-skilledkeeping wizards from running willingtopockets take abet. high-net-worth angels financial withdeep region,affluent there’s potential to attract tech’s startups. boom-or-bust But asan quartered elsewhere. the majortech players are largely head- the city’s infrastructure iscrumbling;and Labor, operating andlandcosts are high; fortable driving canlive acar-less lifestyle. advantage, tech workers because uncom- trainin-city transit system iscited asother Manhattan high-rise. The region’s extensive music-streaming isa Spotify behemoth ple, theU.S. headquarters for Sweden-based companies setting upU.S. offices. For exam- geographic thatattracts location European New York tech mushroomed by embrac- Nurturing companies from scratch — Moneywise, Wall Street rarely funds Of course, New York hasdrawbacks.

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shaped showbiz with big deals in the past year HOODED JUSTICE BY ROBERT MARICH Attorney Victoria Cook helped talent cut deals for HBO's upcoming "Watchmen" series, starring Regina King.

RUDY ADOLF BOB BAKISH BRUCE CAMPBELL CHARLES S. COHEN VICTORIA COOK

Founder, Chairman and CEO President and CEO Viacom Chief Development, Distribution Chairman and CEO Partner, Entertainment Group, Focus Financial Partners & Legal Officer, Discovery Cohen Media Group Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz New York-based Adolf is the JOE IANNIELLO New York-based Campbell Buying leading indie-movie Cook finds that creative tal- President and Acting CEO CBS Corp. great consolidator for says today’s direct-to-con- cinema circuit Landmark ent today comes from broader Hollywood business-man- Bakish revived Viacom since sumer connection enables Theatres and its 252 screens backgrounds and geography, agement firms providing taking the helm in 2016, lay- “going deep with passionate in December, Cohen grew his so Hollywood gigs are “not as accounting, financial planning ing the groundwork for the audiences, including a partic- company’s footprint in the cookie-cutter as they used to and banking services. With blockbuster deal last month to ipatory element and not just arthouse cinema business. be,” making a bigger impact acquired companies, Adolf reunite with CBS. In the past long-form video content.” He The New York-based entrepre- on the culture. She repped the pursues a scalable approach year, Bakish catapulted Viacom adds that brand-name intel- neur and self-described “lover creators and co-stars of “Desus to owner-succession plan- into mainstream streaming lectual property is needed to of all things film” adds Land- & Mero” in their move to Show- ning and executive recruit- with the $340 million acqui- stand out in a cluttered landmark to a portfolio that has time; Oscar-nominee Dee Rees ment, sharing of best-prac- sition of Pluto TV, partnered scape. This past year saw him already expanded into film in nabbing the directing gig on tices knowledge and the clout with Tyler Perry on streamer set up a global video-stream- distribution, film restoration “The Last Thing He Wanted” as of combined purchasing BET Plus, acquired the Gar- ing business using BBC con- and VOD. In 2015, he bought her second feature with Netflix; power. Since December, Focus field property and, for MTV, tent and unwind a 50/50 TV the revered Merchant Ivory and director Alison Klayman has bought Neuman + Asso- the SnowGlobe Music Festival. channel venture with the BBC, film library. Forbes magazine and producer Marie Therese ciates; David Weise & Asso- Ianniello accelerated content giving Discovery full ownership puts Cohen’s net worth at Guirgis for doc “The Brink.” ciates; Altman, Greenfield & investment for CBS All Access of three U.K. channels. He also $3.4 billion, which is grounded The New York attorney also Selvaggi; Wasserman, Gross- and Showtime streaming, con- established joint ventures with in real estate. Cohen says repped talent for HBO projects: man & Sloan; and U.K.-based cluded an AT&T TV channel home-improvement gurus Chip that today’s audiences, facing Nicole Kassell for directing and Skeet Kaye Hopkins. Neuman carriage deal ending a black- and Joanna Gaines; the PGA mushrooming digital online producing “Watchmen” and and Weise merged into NKSFB, out, and bought full ownership Tour to create streamer GolfTV; options, may temporarily Augustine Frizzell for directing Hollywood’s largest such firm, of Pop TV. Bakish sees Pluto with Tiger Woods for a con- freeze from content overload. “Euphoria.” which Focus acquired in early “as a platform to work with dis- tent partnership; and acquired “There’s a lot to navigate and 2018. Focus is publicly traded, tributors, to create incremen- “Golf Digest.” find what they are passionate with a $1.5 billion stock market tal value in broadband, mobile about,” he says. capitalization. and video sub bases, both through advertising and by up-selling additional video." WATCHMEN: MARK HILL/HBO; ADOLF: FOCUS FINANCIAL PARTNERS; BAKISH: ASA MATHAT; IANNIELLO: CBS; CAMPBELL: ADAM LERNER CBS; CAMPBELL: ADAM IANNIELLO: MATHAT; ASA BAKISH: MARK HILL/HBO; ADOLF: FOCUS FINANCIAL PARTNERS; WATCHMEN:

50 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019

ROB FREEMAN DEXTER GOEI BRIAN GOLDNER

Partner, Co-head of Technology, Media CEO, Altice USA CEO Hasbro & Telecommunications. Proskauer “In an increasingly disag- JON STEINBERG DARREN THROOP gregated world, the issue President, Altice News CEO Entertainment One becomes whether some ser- Goei negotiated the $200 mil- Digital-media ambitions are vice emerges that once again lion acquisition in April of mil- behind Pawtucket, R.I.-based aggregates the best brands lennial-focused financial news Hasbro’s agreement to buy and content under one roof,” streamer Cheddar. Helming Entertainment One for $4 bil- says the New York-based law- the No. 4 cable-system opera- lion. Goldner says that tap- yer who focuses on entertain- tor, Goei also launched Altice ping eOne’s “immersive enter- ment and sports. Freeman Amplify (partnered with Ama- tainment capabilities … better advised longtime client Discov- zon and Devialet) and Altice positioned [us] to unlock the ery Inc. on launching its direct- Mobile (partnered with AT&T full franchise value of our to-consumer streamer GolfTV for roaming). Founding Ched- brands.” Goldner bought the in association with PGA Tour; dar in 2016, Steinberg grew the Power Rangers brand last year on acquiring the Golf Digest the company to $27 million in for $522 million. Hasbro also magazine; and on acquir- 2018 revenue and 190 employ- licenses merchandise rights ing BBC programming for a ees. Along the way, Steinberg for Marvel, Star Wars, Disney streaming initiative. Other cli- raised tens of millions of dol- Princesses and Frozen. Throop ents include cable system lars from Jeremy Liew’s Light- orchestrated eOne’s physical operator Cox Communications, speed, Raine Group, Altice USA and digital distribution deal TOP TOYS Charter Communications’ and others. Steinberg, former with Universal Pictures Home The "Star Wars" toy Spectrum arm, Caribbean-fo- BuzzFeed president, is struck Entertainment and bought license is an anchor cused multichannel provider by the proverb that “the con- U.K.’s Audio Network for $215 for Hasbro, which Digicel, NBA Media, Hulu, and ventional wisdom is usually million earlier this year. Head- last month acquired online wagering company the right but seldom profitable.” quartered in Toronto, eOne is Entertainment One Stars Group for its partnership He finds going against the an original investor in Steven for $4 billion. with Fox Sports. grain increases risks, but reaps Spielberg's Amblin Partners greater rewards if successful. and owns foreign-film sales Both execs are in New York. company Sierra/Affinity.

ANTES; HAMILL: GITTINGS JUSTIN G. HAMILL RICHARD B. HELLER Partner, Latham & Watkins Partner & Co-chair, Entertainment Group, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz Hamill observes that while China is formally opening its With long-predicted conver- local media and tech econ- gence now a reality, Heller omy wider, there’s a chill from says the downside is now the larger U.S.-China trade bat- apparent as “information over- tle. “It’s an interesting puzzle load” from the overflowing as a result,” Hamill says. “Peo- media. Going forward, he sees ple are trying to figure out how dealmaking around entertain- to place their bets. It’ll play ment brands from “iconic tal- out over the next 18 months.” ent and storytellers that cut The New York-based lawyer through the clutter.” Working is advising long-time client the literary scene in New York, Endeavor on its mammoth IPO, Heller repped Roald Dahl Story now in registration. He also Co. to Netflix for family-ori- advised Endeavor on the April ented animated series, Aaron sale of its creative ad agency Sorkin for the Broadway adap-

DISNEY STUDIOS/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: JULIETA CERV KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: JULIETA TO DISNEY STUDIOS/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; Droga5 and the December tation of “To Kill a Mocking- merger of its sports marketing bird” and author Dean Koontz business, which created the for a new book-publishing deal sizeable Learfield IMG College. with Amazon. Heller also works Other clients include Richard Hollywood talent, celebrity Branson’s Virgin Group. branding, motion pictures and TV, publishing, streaming KILLER DEAL and Broadway. Richard B. Heller repped Aaron Sorkin in his deal to adapt "To Kill a Mockingbird" for Broadway. THROOP: DAVID LEYES; STAR WARS: LUCASFILM/BAD ROBOT/WALT ROBOT/WALT LUCASFILM/BAD WARS: LEYES; STAR THROOP: DAVID

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 | VARIETY.COM | 51 FOCUS DEALMAKERS ELITE NY

HERITAGE ACT Jonathan Levine signed the Johnny Cash estate to Paradigm's Nashville roster.

JOEL A. KATZ JONATHAN LEVINE DAVE LOUGEE Founding Chairman, Global Music Executive Leadership Group, President and CEO, TEGNA Paradigm Talent Agency Entertainment and Media Practice, Lougee orchestrated nearly Greenberg Traurig $1.5 billion in broadcasting The Atlanta-based music attor- DALE MORRIS acquisitions this year that, Founder, Morris Higham Management ney says music talent needs to when consummated, will lift be vigilant to get a fair share Morris sold his decades-old the Tysons, Va.-based com- of streaming bounties from concert touring arm Dale Mor- pany to 62 TV stations reach- record labels and music pub- ris & Associates to Paradigm ing 39% of the U.S. In June, lishers. He sees streaming as in November, adding coun- TEGNA paid $77 million for the a blessing because “much try acts Kenny Chesney and 85% stake that it didn’t already more money is being spent Old Dominion to the agen- own of multicasters Justice by record companies on the cy’s Nashville roster. Levine Network and Quest. Looking discovery and promotion of signed country singer Kacey at consumer behavior, Lougee new talent.” Katz repped Big Musgraves for touring and the feels “what’s kind of lost … in Machine Label Group in its Johnny Cash estate for lega- discussion around cord cutting sale, reportedly for more than cy-building. Morris remains at is there’s actually a lot of cord $300 million. Katz also advised his separate personal manage- shaving” as households pull Australian concert promoter ment company, Morris Higham out some cable tuners. Yet, Frontier Touring in selling a Management, though his tour- those households are counted 50% stake to AEG Presents ing lieutenants, Mike Betterton as full cable homes though and the employment contract and Nate Ritches, joined Para- more reliant on over-the-air TV. for Randy Goodman to remain digm. Morris was a songwriter head of Sony Music Nashville. when he quit his pharmaceuti- POT OF GOLD Katz is also general counsel to cals sales job for music in the Eric Piecuch of City National Bank handles accounts for the Recording Academy. 1970s. Morris recalls that in the Broadway hits such as "Harry 1980s, when concert fees for Potter and the Cursed Child." top country acts topped out at $25,000, he booked venues directly for Alabama generating $125,000. “Just remember … if your act sells tickets, you have to do the math,” he says. NER PHOTOS NYC; HARRY POTTER: MANUEL HARLAN POTTER: HARRY NYC; NER PHOTOS

STACY MARCUS ERIK PIECUCH Partner, Entertainment & Media Senior VP and Team Leader — Industry Group, Reed Smith Entertainment, City National Bank With high-quality digital video Piecuch handles bank equipment widely available, accounts for half of Broad- the New York-based lawyer way’s shows, including says that “the definition of “Harry Potter and the Cursed ‘celebrity’ has evolved. It now Child,” “Dear Evan Hansen” includes YouTubers and people and eight-time Tony winner who are not professional per- “Hadestown.” The New York- formers by training as advertis- based banker finds Broadway ers are attempting to connect an epicenter of two-way traf- with consumers in an authen- fic for acting talent: Entertain- tic way.” Marcus repped adver- ers from other sectors hit the tisers and advertising agen- boards, as producers seek cies in the three-year, $3 billion “brand names” that sell tick- commercials contract nego- ets, while newcomers look tiated in April with SAG-AF- to the Great White Way as a TRA. In the past year, she also launch pad to stardom and worked $58 million in corpo- eventual career diversifica- rate sponsorships and celebrity tion. He also arranged $20 endorsements, including lux- million in new private bank- ury fragrances, cosmetics and ing loans in the past year to accessories for talent endors- individuals and companies in ers and a cannabis company entertainment. tie-in with a rapper. LEVINE: JOHN SHEARER; MORRIS: JON-PAUL BRUNO; LOUGEE: BUSINESS WIRE; CASH: MOVIESTORE/SHUTTERSTOCK; PIECUCH: PATRICK NUGENT/WAG PIECUCH: PATRICK MOVIESTORE/SHUTTERSTOCK; BUSINESS WIRE; CASH: BRUNO; LOUGEE: LEVINE: JOHN SHEARER; MORRIS: JON-PAUL

52 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 Congratulations to our Dealmakers honoree Marc H. Simon

Entertainment Law. Coast to Coast.®

Attorney Advertising.

Untitled-7 1 8/26/19 2:16 PM Disney's "Frozen Jonathan Levine with Paradigm. soundtrack to signed Kacey Jess L. RosenJess L. FOCUS FOCUS 54 agreements, touring deal song onthe also repped Musgraves, including a above, toa Musgraves for several | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 3, |SEPTEMBER |VARIETY.COM II," right. TUNES TOON DEALMAKERS ELITEDEALMAKERS NY porepud anihil inusa dolorem quas velitia TKTKTKT esseriae Parchita grated interactive features." sporting events; [and]inte- chronization; low latencyfor subscriber-based content;syn- targeted advertising; premium ming choice,VOD assetsand more intheway ofprogram- ATSC 3.0, whichoffers “much by interactive standard TV streamer Stirr. Ripleyisjazzed and launchedlocallyfocused ance withtheChicagoCubs regional sportschannelalli- with 191 stationsalsoinked a Baltimore-based company offering in four tranches. The the follow-on $9.6 billiondebt Rutishauser alsoengineered network lastweek. Ripleyand bought NewYork’s YESsports and isinaconsortiumthat for roughly $10billioninMay, Fox regional sportsnetworks ish, having bought21Disney/ Sinclair diversified withaflour- Entertainment &MediaPractice Sinclair Broadcast Group Chief Financial Officer President andCEO LUCY RUTISHAUSER CHRIS RIPLEY for $55 million,ayear ago. caster StuffMedia, reportedly bolstered by acquiringpod- andpodcasting—concerts radio streaming, award shows, Pittman diversified intodigital Live was unveiled inMarch. live-events streamer LiveX- ing inJuly. with Apartnership that upwithadirect stocklist- debtandfollowingwith less wrapped inMay through abankruptcythat and its850-plusstations guided theradiobroadcaster A founder ofMTV, Pittman with advertising giantWPP. unveilediHeartMedia inJune the Project Listenpartnership ing, whichisanobjective of advertis-pete withdigital toemulateandcom- lytics andana- data leading-edge legacy mediashouldadopt New York-based Pittmansays Chairman andCEO iHeartMedia BOB PITTMAN

— emerging way,” hesays. everybody ispushingtheright “Ithelpsif business. smart represented female as artists streamers toembraceunder- Rosen radioand nudges for the“Frozen 2” soundtrack. special for Amazonandasong aChristmasTV motional deal, Musgraves for anApplepro- Rosen alsohandledKacey ner/Chappell publishingdeal. imprint andrenewing herWar- with herSongs&Daughters in mentoringfemale artists tihyphenate NicolleGalyon Adidas endorsementand mul- rapper PushaT.'s multiyear Machine Records contract, Lady Antebellumfor itsBig year Live deal, Nationconcert ida Georgia Linefor amulti- Flor- tourdeal, 2020 stadium repped Kenny for Chesney his Music-maven lawyer Rosen Greenberg Traurig Entertainment &MediaPractice, Shareholder &Co-Chair, Atlanta JESS L.ROSEN Macmillan Entertainment. Other clientsincludeEpixand and two otherNetflixprojects. tainment for “Locke &Key” and comicshouseIDW Enter- Earth” for series, anAppleTV for hisnonfictionbook“Losing repped writerNathanielRich Lawrence” for TV. Pulmanalso cle “TheStolenKidsofSarah of theAtlantic magazinearti- Showtime, andanadaptation ing “TheGoodLord Bird” at Blumhouse Television, includ- lawyer works transactionsfor cial terms.TheNewYork-based ative involvement andfinan- ing” for usagesgranted,cre- pursue aggressive dealmak- sion allows rightsholdersto tinued goldenageoftelevi- Pulman says that“the con- Hollywood production boom, With streaming ignitinga & Sheppard Practice, Cowan, Debaets,Abrahams Partner andCo-Chair, Entertainment SIMON N.PULMAN

MUSGRAVES: RMV/SHUTTERSTOCK; PITTMAN: ANDREW H WALKER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK; PULLMAN: MARTIN BENTSEN; FROZEN II: DISNEY; ROSEN: CLIFF ROBINSON Congratulations to our colleagues, Victoria Cook and Richard Heller, on their recognition in Variety’s Dealmakers Elite New York

488 Madison Avenue 2029 Century Park East New York, NY Los Angeles, CA www.fkks.com (212) 980 0120 (310) 579 9600

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams and Sheppard LLP congratulates all of the honorees named to VARIETY’S 2019 DEALMAKERS ELITE NEW YORK

including our partner SIMON N. PULMAN

for his leadership and contributions to major entertainment industry deals.

CDAS is a strategically growing New York and Los Angeles media, entertainment and IP law ﬁ rm that is committed to understanding our clients’ businesses. CDAS fuses individualized attention and in-depth industry knowledge with focused legal advice in transactional and litigation matters.

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RICHARD SARNOFF LAWRENCE SHIRE Chairman, Media, Entertainment and Partner, Head of New Media, Education for Private Equity/ Motion Picture, Theater, Publishing Americas, KKR and Sports, Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks The New York-based Sarnoff is connected to investments in Shire finds that diverse deal Epic Games; UFC, as a minority templates proliferate across investor in the Endeavor-con- traditional Hollywood, pod- trolled mixed martial arts casts, other new media and sports business; fantasy sports licensed merchandise. “Each company FanDuel; smart- of the forms of media grew audio-speaker maker Sonos; up at different times and have spoken-content producer RB evolved differently,” he says. Media; and KKR subsidiary Shire repped Bruce Spring- Internet Brands' acquisition steen for his “Western Stars” of WebMD. KKR is elsewhere doc, acquired by Warner a consolidator in the German Bros.; journalist Gayle King for entertainment and media her “CBS This Morning” deal; business, after earlier this year rapper Drake for his SiriusXM/ acquiring content and media Pandora partnership; and Rob- outfit Tele Munchen Group ert De Niro for Netflix’s “The and movie distributor Irishman.” For client Scott Universum Film. Rudin, the New York-based lawyer handled Broadway productions “To Kill a Mocking- HOUSE WORK bird” and the upcoming “West Marc H. Simon Side Story” revival. Other cli- represented the ents include LeBron James producers of the documentary "Knock and Elton John. Corporate cli- Down the House." ents include Facebook, iHeart- Media and Spotify.

HIT 'MEN' Lawrence Shire represented Robert De Niro for Martin Scorsese's upcoming Netflix organized crime feature THE IRISHMAN: NETFLIX MICHAEL HOWARTH; KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE: BOROWSKI; SIMON: DAVID NETFLIX; SHIRE: DAPHNE "The Irishman."

MARC H. SIMON JOHN STANKEY

Vice Chair of Entertainment & CEO, WarnerMedia Sports Law, Fox Rothschild Stankey’s purview this past In the past, intellectual prop- year includes preparing to erty fit in obvious Hollywood launch HBO Max into the high- silos, but Simon notes that stakes global streaming wars, media’s proliferation blurs naming Ann Sarnoff the first lines today so “there’s a fork woman chair and CEO in the in the road” between scripted history of Warner Bros., and and non-scripted avenues for courting top creative tal- development. Non-scripted ents such as J.J. Abrams (“Star can mean quicker to market, Wars: The Force Awakens”) though potentially with lower to join the Warner stable. A production budgets. The New 34-year veteran of parent AT&T York-based attorney repped who is based in New York, exec producers of the Alexan- Stankey sees eventual con- dria Ocasio-Cortez doc “Knock vergence for disrupter video Down the House,” acquired streaming and traditional linear by Netflix at Sundance report- TV. “Two or three years from edly for $10 million, and Joe now, they’re probably going Pesci in big-budget drama "The to merge and you’ll have a Irishman." Simon also han- single product that does both,” dles Stacey Reiss as producer though it likely will tilt more of Netflix hit “The Perfection,” toward on-demand content, supermodel Adriana Lima's he says. transition to brand entrepreneur, and Alec Baldwin’s El Dorado Pictures.

56 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 &RQJUDWXODWLRQVWRWKHKRQRUHHVRIVariety’V 'HDOPDNHUV(OLWH1HZ

/:FRP

CONGRATULATIONS TO DEBBIE WHITE

FOR HER RECOGNITION BY VARIETY AS ONE OF THEIR DEALMAKERS ELITE: NEW YORK

YOU CONTINUE TO INSPIRE US.

Los Angeles New York Chicago Nashville Washington, DC San Francisco Beijing Hong Kong www.loeb.com

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FINANCIAL 'FATE' Debbie White repped China's Tencent in co-financing deal for the upcoming feature "Terminator: Dark Fate."

POWER PLAY Tim Sweeney led "Fortnite" game maker Epic Games through a billion-dollar round of financing. TERMINATOR: KERRY BROWN/PARAMOUNT PICTURES; FORTNITE: EPIC GAMES; WHITE: OF THRONES: HELEN SLOAN/HBO GITTINGS; EPIC GAMES; GAME FORTNITE: PICTURES; BROWN/PARAMOUNT KERRY TERMINATOR:

WESTEROS STYLE Matthew Syrkin repped John Varvatos' deal for fashions based on "Game of Thrones."

TIM SWEENEY MATTHEW SYRKIN DEBBIE WHITE Partner & Vice Chair, Music Industry Founder and CEO, Epic Games Partner and Global Chair Media, Tech- nology and Commercials Transactions Group/Entertainment, Loeb & Loeb Epic’s “Fortnite” e-sports tour- Group, Hughes Hubbard & Reed The New York-based lawyer nament in July pulled in 2 mil- Syrkin believes dealmakers says that music-streaming ser- lion live online viewers, filled a need to be savvy in econom- vices’ appeal on increased New York-area arena and doled ics and technology, as digital mandatory publishing royal- out $30 million in prize money, disrupts traditional deal tem- ties for music streaming bears reflecting the heights to which plates. He says that requires watching because the out- Sweeney has led the North smarts in e-commerce, “pri- come “is going to have a pro- Carolina-based video-game vacy and data collection, alter- found effect on the liveli- maker. In December, Epic’s dig- native data deals, subscription hood of songwriters who rely ital store shook up the indus- models and how influencers on that income.” White reps try, raising the developers’ cut drive brand presentation, as South Korea’s Big Hit Enter- from sales from 70% to 88%, well as emerging technologies tainment and its K-pop sensa- and the company was valued like holograms and augmented tion BTS, including global sta- at $15 billion in an October reality.” The New York-based dium-tour merchandise with investment round from KKR, attorney negotiated Epix’s first Live Nation. White also leads ICONIQ Capital, Smash Ven- direct-to-consumer stream- the team handling China’s tures, aXiomatic, Vulcan Cap- ing distribution affiliation, with Tencent, including its co-fi- ital, Kleiner Perkins and Light- Roku. For luxury brand John nancing deal on the next “Ter- speed Venture Partners. They Varvatos, Syrkin guided fash- minator” movie. Other clients join earlier investors Tencent, ion product deals with rock include Christie Brinkley, Mel- Endeavor and Walt Disney Co. band Led Zeppelin and HBO’s anie Martinez, Regina Spektor, Bloomberg News estimates “Game of Thrones.” Other cli- the Who for North America Sweeney’s personal net worth ents include AMC Networks, and singer-songwriter James at $7.2 billion. Bumble, CBS, Ernst & Young TW. She also handles music for transactional matters and and sponsorships for Citibank Madison Square Garden. and Uber.

58 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 0903 WV Stacked Ads_DELUXE & MILLER KAPLAN.indd 6 8/30/19 12:18 PM TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL THE TORONTO INTL. FILM FESTIVAL is no longer just one of the biggest fests in the world. As sequels, reboots and franchises CINEMA OASIS IN dominate the 2019 box office, TIFF now rep- resents a cross-section of the industry’s few remaining attempts at original feature film- UNCERTAIN TIMES making. And given numerous specialty film B.O. disappointments, few if any award con- tenders so far and a fourth quarter that Toronto gains strength as a marketing tool and awards season launchpad seems more backloaded with highbrow STORY BY GREGG GOLDSTEIN releases than most years in recent memory, the 2019 edition seems especially pivotal. TIFF’s offerings include big-budget studio films that aspire to be more than tentpoles (Fox’s “Ford v Ferrari,” Warner Bros.’ “Joker”); award-season bait (A24’s “Waves,” Netflix’s “Marriage Story,” Roadside Attractions/LD Entertainment’s “Judy”); acquisition hopefuls (“Jungleland,” “How to Build a Girl,” “Bad Education,” “The Burnt Orange Heresy”); docs; and foreign films. Adding to the uncertainty are a slew of new streaming platforms, with a few owned by the newly supersized Disney, raising further questions about majors’ already shaky commitment to theatrical exhibi- tion for films without recognizable brands. Fox Searchlight’s uncertain level of support from new owners Disney, and Amazon (in a Netflix-style move) now cutting the theatrical window on films like its Imax-bound adventure “The Aeronauts” and its Sundance pickup “The Report” to a couple weeks before they hit Amazon Prime, only further unsettles the specialty marketplace. “I think it’s a great opportunity for filmmakers now that everyone is investing in content, but at the same time, there’s too much product,” says TIFF executive director Joana Vicente, who is co-heading her first Toronto with artistic director Cam- eron Bailey. “So how does that product, especially the smaller, more specialized films, actually get seen? That’s scary, and then you have films that people have lots of hope will do well theatrically that got amazing reviews, like ‘Booksmart,’ that don’t live up to expectations.”

FAST TRACK Disney inherited drama “Ford v Ferarri,” starring Christian Bale (in car, above) and Matt Damon, when it bought Fox, It’s a problem that Exhibitor Relations and now the pic’s screenings at Telluride and Toronto take on much more importance for its awards season marketing team. senior box office analyst Jeff Bock is all too

DIRECTING, SCREENWRITING, MFA IN FILM TELEVISION WRITING, CREATIVE PRODUCING MA IN FILM & MEDIA STUDIES MERRICK MORTON/20TH CENTURY FOX CENTURY MERRICK MORTON/20TH

Photo by Joel Jares. arts.columbia.edu/Variety 60 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 FOCUS TORONTO FILM FESTIVAL

familiar with. “Because of how the release “It used to be at the end of March, so calendar lines up and how many franchise you had a very long time to maximize the films have taken over the media, it’s hard value of your movie or pick a spot to open for these [specialty] films to gain any sort it,” Bernard says. “Now everything’s moved of foothold in theaters for longer than two up a few weeks, and so Toronto becomes a weeks,” he says. “At the end of August, there much bigger Oscar showcase because the are 10 feature-length releases and most of voting and dates have all changed.” them are going into over 2,500 theaters — And with adult-oriented major stu- good luck trying to hold any of those. So dio fare like this year’s best picture winner when you play in summer, it’s much easier “Green Book” from Universal becoming all to get burned as an indie. And by the end of the more rare, the importance of the film’s summer, when you think things are going to 2018 win of the TIFF People’s Choice Award cool off, they don’t. That’s when the studios (which has predicted best picture nominees have dumped everything that they have. and winners — with only one exception — They have the marketing power. So even if since 2007) only grows. “ ‘Green Book’ would you’re going to be lucky enough to be in 700 have disappeared if it hadn’t been for the theaters, a bomb like ‘The Kitchen’ is going Oscar [race],” Bernard says. to be [on] 2,700 [screens].” It’s something Vicente is well aware The dependence on festivals and the of. As the former head of IFP, she saw how awards season as a launching pad is only the org’s Gotham Awards raised her orga- likely to increase at those few risk-averse nization’s profile and helped indie films majors still making original titles — even gain traction. ones featuring big stars, brand names and In that vein, TIFF is launching an awards subject matter (like the racing drama “Ford component, presenting honors to Meryl v Ferrari”) that once might’ve been consid- Streep (Steven Soderbergh’s TIFF player ered a safe summer bet. “The Laundromat”), “Joker” star Phoenix, “It’s an incredible, commercial film, but Participant Media (behind fest entries “Just it also has quality performances, and we Mercy” and “Sing Me a Song”), Mati Diop feel like it functioned on all cylinders,” says (“Atlantics”) and Taika Waititi (“Jojo Rab- EMBRACEABLE YOU Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and Glory” started its “Ford” producer Jenno Topping, who made prestige run at Cannes and continues its fall campaign at TIFF. bit”). Cinematographer Roger Deakins (“The the Matt Damon/Christian Bale-toplined Goldfinch”) will take home the Variety Arti- film at Fox before Disney’s March acquisi- san Award. “We are really excited about tion of the studio. “So one of the ideas was Even with the backing of a studio, having the opportunity to honor amazing to maximize its potential [along the lines adult dramas face a field of landmines artistic achievements during the festival,” of] a movie like ‘The Martian.’ It’s also just like mergers and regime changes. “This is Vicente says. “At the same time, it is a fund- so beautifully made that to not give it its a true Cinderella story, in the sense that raiser for the organization, and we’re given moment in the sun in the fall seems like a [‘Ford v Ferrari’] is not an easy movie to the opportunity to remind people of all of waste.” The bet paid off as the film was also get made in this climate, because it’s a our activities year round.” accepted into the prestigious Telluride Fest. very expensive [under-$100 million] drama Making TIFF more of an awards-ori- Similarly, part of the “Joker” fest strategy with action,” Topping says. “But once the ented fest — something its organizers seems to be to highlight the awards poten- takeover happened, [we] had nothing but resisted for years — may be one way to tial of Joaquin Phoenix’s performance and complete support and engagement from help its films gain attention and traction, position it as a character study as well as a Disney. So thankfully we didn’t get hung and make the event a more attractive stop DC Comics film. up in any way in terms of the transition.” on the ever-competitive fest circuit. Sony Classics co-president Tom Ber- But most importantly, TIFF offers films nard arrives in Canada with five titles, traction in a market with ever-increas- including Pedro Almodovar’s “Pain and ing options from series that have sucked “EVERYTHING’S MOVED UP A FEW Glory,” which earned Antonio Banderas a up talent and revenue that’s traditionally WEEKS, AND SO TORONTO BECOMES best actor award in Cannes. He ties TIFF’s gone to features. As Bernard puts it, “it’s a increased significance in this year’s spe- business where the bottom line eventually A MUCH BIGGER OSCAR SHOWCASE.” cialty market to the Oscars’ move from Feb. catches up with you if you’re not paying — TOM BERNARD 24 to Feb. 9. attention to it.” SONY PICTURES CLASSICS SONY PICTURES

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GLOBAL ISSUES director. “I was open to that and also wish- ing for that, but she hasn’t changed her version of history and she is so convincing that I realized I had to bring in other voices — DRIVE DOC SLATE what I call truth tellers — to give a more accurate version of history.” Veteran helmers tackle non-U.S. politics in Toronto’s stellar lineup Hovannisian’s “I Am Not Alone” also explores decades of corruption, specifically, STORY BY ADDIE MORFOOT corruption involving former Armenian president Serzh Sargsyan, and protests that led to a peaceful citizens resistance movement led to Sargsyan’s resignation. “The Armenian genocide was the dom- FUELED BY STREAMERS and strong B.O. — a fighter — you learn to embrace.” inant story of the Armenian people,” says on high-profile titles, the documentary Like Khodorkovsky, Imelda Marcos is a Hovannisian. “But here right in front of genre has exploded, and Toronto Intl. Film dynamic, flawed character. me was another story not about death or Festival documentary programmer Thom When Greenfield began shooting “The destruction, but finally a story about the Powers sifted through 850 possibilities Kingmaker” five years ago, she thought the hope and the possibility of regaining your before determining this year’s non-fiction film would be in large part be about a Phil- freedom and regaining your nation.” lineup. While these 25 films vary widely, ippine island that was turned into an Afri- Andrew Renzi’s “Ready for War” (Show- “politics is going to be ever-present in this can animal park, its indigenous inhabitants time) focuses on losing one’s nation. Renzi section,” Powers says. sent to a nearby island that couldn’t sustain follows three of the estimated thousands Last year, filmmakers including Michael their agricultural life. of immigrants who volunteer for service in Moore, Alexis Bloom and Errol Morris But the focus of “The Kingmaker” the U.S. military only to be deported, often explored American politics and the people changed when it became clear to Green- due to petty crimes, once their tours of behind President Donald Trump’s rise. But field that Marcos was attempting to regain duties are over. Renzi says the film, execu- the 2016 election is nowhere in site at this power through her son Bongbong’s bid to tive produced by Drake, doesn’t preach to a year’s fest. Instead, veteran doc filmmakers become vice president of the Philippines. liberal choir. Alex Gibney and Lauren Greenfield as well The former first lady was also using her “People on the left, they’re generally very as first time non-fiction helmer Garin Hov- son’s campaign as a vehicle to rewrite the sympathetic about immigration issues and annisian are examining politics in foreign history of the Marcos family and replace it people on the right are generally very sym- lands, and issues such as election manip- with the narrative of a matriarch’s lavish pathetic to veterans. I think with this film ulation, corruption, fake news and fragile love for her country. I have a very specific, nonpartisan entry democracies. “I was just so surprised that somebody point into the conversation about immigra- Gibney’s “Citizen K” looks at post-So- who had gone into exile and the entire tion,” says Renzi. viet Russia from the perspective of Mikhail world basically saw as a dictator who had The fact that “Ready for War” is one of Khodorkovsky, an oligarch turned politi- stolen five to 10 billion (from her country) the only docs at TIFF 2019 that spotlights cal dissident, while Greenfield’s “The King- was able to go back (to the Philippines) and American politics doesn’t surprise Powers. maker” (Showtime) aims its lens at former get back into politics,” says Greenfield. “It is not as though [the programming first lady of the Philippines Imelda Marcos. DISTANT After shifting the film’s focus to Marco’s team] weren’t seeing films that relate to U.S. Both films are cautionary tales about VOICES return, Greenfield initially thought she was politics,” he says. “Those films are definitely democracy, corruption and demagoguery. Alex Gibney’s making a doc about redemption. being made. We just didn’t see any this year “Citizen K” looks After the dissolution of the U.S.S.R., at dissident “Because she is such a generous, nice that really stood out strongly enough to us. Khodorkovsky amassed a fortune in financ- oligarch Mikhail and appealing person when you meet her, It’s difficult to find a real original take when Khodorkovsky, ing and oil production. But when Vladi- who lives in exile I thought that maybe there would be some there is a daily churn in other media (out- mir Putin became president, Khodorkovsky in London. wisdom that had been gained,” explains the lets) about U.S. politics.” sensed the country’s democracy was in danger and rallied against him. Soon after, Khodorkovsky was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison. In 2013, Putin pardoned Khodorkovsky, who lives in exile in London. Gibney was attracted to the oligarch’s story because it was a way “to look into how power works inside Russia. “After the fall of the Soviet Union, there was a vacuum and a kind of zeal to embrace something new, with no understanding of what that was,” the helmer explains. “What I found interesting was that the businessmen chose to believe that they were separate from politics, except there would be no business without access to and manipulation of the political process. If Americans want to know how bad it can get when business determines politics, all they have to do is look at Russia in the ’90s.” The director admits that Khodorkovsky was equally charming and troubling. “I liken him to Jake La Motta in ‘Raging Bull,’” Gibney says. “A dynamic flawed character TIFF

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WINE BAR WITH A TWIST NEWLY SEAFOOD CENTRIC

Per locals, Grand Cru Deli Festival standby Luma (on the second floor is a hidden gem. Plus, it’s of the TIFF Bell Lightbox) now features sea- steps from TIFF’s Scotia- sonally changing, sustainably sourced bank Theatre. The upscale Canadian shellfish and seafood served in wine bar meets deli fea- all their possible incarnations. There’s a tures a finely tuned selec- daily oyster selection and sumptuous sea- tion of Canadian and Euro- food platter, a Nova Scotia lobster roll, cod pean wines. There are tacos and native Haddock fish-and-chips. Canadian beers on tap The daily savory soup is always vegetarian plus a full spirits list pro- and non-fish mains veer from roast chicken viding a buzzy stop before to a beef burger presented “paleo” style or after screenings. A spe- (no bun). Expect TIFF-themed cocktails cial TIFF menu is in the off- too. A tasty menu of small bites is available ing, but typically there are in the lounge after 3 p.m. deli faves like matzo ball soup and lox and bagels TIFF Bell Lightbox, 350 King St. W

GOOD EATS GOOD EATS plus wine-friendly noshes lumarestaurant.com such as charcuterie, arti- IN TORONTO san cheese and caviar.

304 Richmond St. W LUNCH TO LATE NIGHT COOKING WITH HEARTH grandcrudeli.com MARBL’s green and shaded patio is a wel- One of the trio of Momofuku’s Toronto con- coming spot for lunch close to the TIFF cepts, the conceit of Kojin is elementary: Bell Lightbox; the modern eatery recently meats (and more) are cooked on an open updated its lunch menu. Crowd-pleasers flame within view of diners. The menu include the spinach and artichoke dip with reflects executive chef Paula Navarrete’s grilled pita, Daffy wings (crispy salt and emphasis on culinary skills and seasonality. pepper seasoned duck wings), mussels and The griddled corn flatbread and daily selec- fries and the loaded turkey club. On two tion of sausages are among the items made floors, the downstairs has a champagne in-house. Steaks and chops are the hits: the lounge for celebratory occasions. During pasture-raised beef comes directly from the TIFF, the restaurant will be open until 4 a.m. Ontario countryside. The wine and beer lists emphasize selections from Canadian wine- 455 King St. W makers and breweries. Desserts are ele- marbltoronto.com vated comfort food classics from the fruit cobbler to the rich chocolate soufflé.

Third Floor, 190 University Ave.

kojin.momofuku.com POST SCREENING ROMP On weekend nights, craft beer brewpub Northern Maverick Brewing Co. transforms into a sultry nightclub complete with bottle service, caviar and towers of Cana- da-sourced cheese, endless oysters and a New concepts DJ-led dance party. There is also an ample supply of fresh drafts made in-house by and time-tested the King West brewery from sours to the favorites get signature lager. ready for the 115 Bathurst St. influx of hungry mavnightlife.com movie lovers

STORY BY KATHY A. YORKVILLE CLASSIC CHIC HOSPITALITY MCDONALD After more than 20 Victor Restaurant, within Le Germain Mer- years, Sassafraz remains cer hotel, expands its service during TIFF. TORONTO festivalgo- a go-to spot for TIFF The continental breakfast buffet is still avail- ers can mix and match attendees. Notable for able along with a-la-carte indulgences like between the famil- its fresh take on Canadian the mascarpone-stuffed French toast. How- iar and novel between ingredients, in-demand ever, during the festival, lunch is also on screenings and meet- dishes include the Que- the menu from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. Settle into a ings as the city has a bec wild boar chop, tuna comfortable teal leather booth or secluded dining spot to fit every and shrimp ceviche and corner; ample natural light infuses the styl- mood, budget and the Fogo Island cod and ish space. A new private dining room, chips. Late-night partygo- called the Sullivan Room, seats 50. Exec- schedule. From quick ers opt for the fish tacos, utive chef Lanny MacLeod’s Concession bites to late-night rev- says Sassafraz’s Zoran Stand Brownie is his refined and very sweet elry to of-the-moment Kocovski. homage to movie theater snacks. deliciousness, it’s all happening close to 100 Cumberland St. 30 Mercer St. TIFF venues. sassafraz.ca victorrestaurant.com KOJIN: KAYLA ROCCA KAYLA KOJIN:

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CINEMATIC EXCELLENCE This year, the Toronto Intl. Film Festival launches a new array of awards “that highlights some of the year’s best ﬁlms, as well as longtime contributors to our industry,” according to fest co-head Joana Vicente. Besides recognizing on-screen talent, the awards also spotlight artisans and emerging voices in world cinema.

ROGER DEAKINS MATI DIOP PARTICIPANT MEDIA VARIETY ARTISANS AWARD TIFF MARY PICKFORD AWARD TIFF IMPACT AWARD

THESE DAYS, CINEMATOGRAPHERS have THE TIFF MARY PICKFORD AWARD recog- THE NEW TIFF IMPACT AWARD is being given their choice of a dizzying array of cameras, lenses nizes an emerging female talent in film, and this to Participant Media, which backs movies and pro- EPA/SHUTTERSTOCK and every imaginable gizmo designed to move, sta- year’s inaugural recipient, Diop, is the first black grams that both entertain and inspire social change. bilize or otherwise impact a shot. But legendary cin- female director to screen a film in competition at “Participant Media is celebrating their 15th anni- ematographer Deakins asks one pointed question Cannes, with her debut “Atlantics.” The film went on versary this year,” says Joana Vicente, executive when discussing his way of composing for film: to win the Grand Prix. director and co-head of the Toronto Intl. Film Festi- “Why move the camera if there isn’t a reason to “This year United Artists is celebrating their 100th val. “They obviously had a great year last year, with do it?” says Deakins. “I mean, I used to shoot a lot of anniversary, and honoring Mary’s legacy felt right,” ‘Roma’ and ‘Green Book.’ Their work just aligns with music videos, and whenever you lost confidence in says Jonathan Glickman, president of MGM Studios’ our mission. Our mission is about transforming the the band you started to move the camera, so if you motion picture group. “As Mary was a Toronto native way people see the world through film, and they’re believe in what you’re filming, why move it?” and a trailblazing industry leader, we are thrilled about inspiring social change.” Deakins’ belief in holding on moments that are to partner with TIFF, which continues to recognize For Participant Media CEO David Linde, above, solid and significant is just part of what makes him a groundbreaking achievements in filmmaking. Our that impact can be measured through three differ- legend in the film world. “The Shawshank Redemp- goal was to continue cementing a legacy that was ent kinds of change. There’s cultural change, such as tion,” “Fargo,” “A Beautiful Mind,” “No Country for representative of Mary and her impact in the indus- in the case of documentary “An Inconvenient Truth,” Old Men,” “Skyfall” and “Blade Runner 2049,” which try now and for future years.” “where literally a film’s impact campaign can change earned him an Academy Award, all illustrate the style The Paris-born Diop has acted in films by Claire the culture’s perception of an issue.” There’s also that has made him a sought-after collaborator. Denis and Antonio Campos, and she has filmmak- behavioral change, such as in the case of doc “Food Production designer Pierre-Olivier Vincent, who ing in her blood. Her uncle was the renowned Sene- Inc.,” “where literally people change the way they has worked with Deakins on all three “How to Train galese director Djibril Diop Mambéty, whose “Touki live their lives because of the film.” And finally, there’s Your Dragon” films, believes Deakins encouraged Bouki” inspired her own documentary short “A Thou- tactical, legislative change. Consider the impact them to reach new heights on the animated films. sand Suns.” “Atlantics,” which elaborates upon her campaign around “Roma,” which galvanized the “When he came in to work with us, I was expect- earlier short of the same name, “is a romantic and fight for a National Domestic Workers Bill of Rights. ing something, I don’t know, to be intimidated,” says melancholy film, part social commentary, part ghost The Participant team doesn’t seem threatened Vincent. “But he wasn’t like that at all. He wanted tale, that works best in its evocation of loss and by the 24-hour news cycle and polarization of to help us and I think when we decided we wanted female solidarity,” wrote Variety critic Jay Weissberg. political media. “This is the golden age of impact to do certain things visually and the studio knew “Diop, like Mary Pickford, is active in social media,” says Jeff Skoll, founder of Participant Media. he believed it, they said yes, so our films became causes and has an abundance of talent both in front “Audiences are increasingly demanding the kinds even better.” of and behind the camera,” Glickman adds. “If ‘Atlan- of films Participant has been producing for 15 years. Deakins also runs RogerDeakins.com, where tics’ is any indication, we are confident she will con- The universe of digital tools for organizing and advo- he answers questions from filmmakers and fans tinue to make an influential difference in the industry cacy has made it much easier for consumers to take who are interested in learning about his work and look forward to what she has in store for us.” actions on the issues that concern them.” and techniques. — Karen Idelson — Akiva Gottlieb — Akiva Gottlieb DEAKINS: CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; DIOP: ARTHUR MOLA/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; PARTICIPANT MEDIA: ALEXANDRA WEY/ PARTICIPANT MOLA/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; DIOP: ARTHUR DEAKINS: CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK;

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JOAQUIN PHOENIX MERYL STREEP TAIKA WAITITI TRIBUTE ACTOR AWARD TRIBUTE ACTOR AWARD TIFF EBERT DIRECTOR AWARD

JOAQUIN PHOENIX HAS MADE his mark THE RECIPIENT OF THE Toronto Intl. Film NEW ZEALAND DIRECTOR WAITITI, whose K on contemporary cinema in a series of stunning, Festival Tribute Actor Award is a no-brainer: Meryl satire “Jojo Rabbit” unspools at Toronto, surely Oscar-nominated roles — Freddie Quell in “The Mas- Streep is regularly referred to as the world’s greatest embodies the spirit of the TIFF Ebert Director Award, ter,” Johnny Cash in “Walk The Line,” Commodus in film actress, having received a record 21 Academy which honors a filmmaker whose work reflects the “Gladiator” — but those lucky enough to have seen Award nominations, most recently for playing news- late film critic Roger Ebert’s passion for cinema. “He’s his latest performance can talk about nothing else. paper publisher Katharine Graham in “The Post.” really such a maverick filmmaker,” says Cameron Bai- “We were all blown away by his performance in This fall, fresh off her oddball turn as the high- ley, artistic director and co-head of TIFF. “He’s able ‘The Joker,’” says Joana Vicente, Toronto Intl. Film light of Season Two of HBO’s “Big Little Lies,” Streep to do Marvel movies like ‘Thor: Ragnarok,’ and also Festival executive director and co-head. The film is stars in Steven Soderbergh’s fact-based drama really affecting, moving independent films in New director Todd Phillips’ standalone origin story for the “The Laundromat,” and appears as Aunt March in Zealand. And his new film, ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ is one of the “Batman” villain, which promises to bring an intensi- Greta Gerwig’s adaptation of “Little Women.” must-sees of the year.” fied psychological realism to the comic-book genre. According to TIFF artistic director and co-head “Jojo Rabbit,” which will have its world premiere But Phillips says he mostly ignored the comic books, Cameron Bailey, there wasn’t much deliberation at TIFF, is a boundary-pushing satire set during World conceiving the film as an original story about how a on the subject of who would get the award. “Meryl War II. It follows a German boy who discovers a Jew- character like the Joker might have emerged. is a genius,” he says. “Simply put, she sets the ish girl hiding in his home and consults with his “We saw Heath Ledger’s groundbreaking work standard in screen acting.” imaginary friend, Adolf Hitler — played by Waititi. Fox [as the Joker in ‘The Dark Knight’] several years Whether playing late British Prime Minister Mar- Searchlight will release the film in October. back,” adds Cameron Bailey, artistic director and garet Thatcher (“The Iron Lady”) or a thinly disguised Waititi’s previous features include “Boy” and

co-head of TIFF. “Just when you think that no one version of Vogue editor Anna Wintour (“The Devil “Hunt for the Wilderpeople,” which rank as No. 2 and MICHAEL BUCKNER/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOC WAITITI: BARON/SHUTTERSTOCK; else could take on this role, Phoenix has contributed Wears Prada”), Streep has a way of commanding the No. 1, respectively, as New Zealand’s top-grossing something entirely new to the canon of comic-book screen, but for Bailey, “what I like most about her is films of all time. More recently, he directed the cult movies. This is a performance so deeply rooted, so that she’s technically brilliant. You watch the details favorite “What We Do in the Shadows” and the block- anguished, so sure of itself, that you can’t take your of her performance and it’s really quite astounding.” buster Marvel pic “Thor: Ragnarok.” eyes off him every moment he’s onscreen. He goes “The Laundromat” will have its North American “Roger Ebert famously says that movies are a to some pretty deep, dark places with this role, and premiere at TIFF, and Bailey says that “her perfor- machine that generates empathy,” Bailey says. “And you’re right there with him the whole time.” mance is really the emotional heart of the film.” Her I think every director we’ve honored with the Direc- “The Joker” will have its North American director clearly agrees; Soderbergh just announced tor award — Martin Scorsese, Wim Wenders, Agnes premiere at TIFF, before an Oct. 4 theatrical release that he’s started shooting “Let Them All Talk” with Varda, Ava DuVernay — has reflected that. I think in North America. Streep. Streep has already wrapped filming on an Roger would say the same about Taika Waititi. He’s The consistently daring Phoenix is next slated to untitled Martin Scorsese movie with co-stars Rob- hilarious, and as savage as the satire can be, he’s star in friend Casey Affleck’s 1916-set Western adven- ert De Niro and Sharon Stone. No title, plot synopsis making movies to bring people together. He takes a ture “Far Bright Star,” about the hunt for the Mexican or production details are currently available, but it’s lot of risks with ‘Jojo Rabbit,’ but I think the film is ulti- revolutionary Pancho Villa. — Akiva Gottlieb clearly already a must-see. — Avika Gottlieb mately about empathy.” — Avika Gottlieb PHOENIX: CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; STREEP: MATT MATT STREEP: PHOENIX: CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK;

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0903 WV Wilson Family.v2.indd 1 8/29/19 12:46 PM FOCUS WALK OF FAME +

‘MR. EXCITEMENT’ GETS HIS STAR

Groundbreaking music icon Jackie Wilson receives honor HIGHER AND and revives memories of his hit records and dynamic live act HIGHER Wilson scored Top STORY BY STEVE BLOOM 40 hits from the late-1950s through the late-’60s.

KNOWN IN THE MUSIC WORLD as “Mr. Excite- ment,” singer Jackie Wilson was a shell of his dynamic former self when he died in a hospital at the age of 49 in 1984. His fruitful, if short, career will be remembered on Sept. 4 when he receives a long overdue star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. One of the great hitmakers of the early rock ’n’ roll period, Wilson first charted with “Reet Petite” (No. 66, 1957), “Lonely Teardrops” (No. 7, 1958) and “That’s Why (I Love You So)” (No. 13, 1959). His later hits included “Baby Workout” (No. 5, 1963), “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher” (No. 6, 1967) and “I Get the Sweet- est Feeling” (1968, No. 38). Wilson’s stage act drew attention: he was a magnetic performer with a multi-octave vocal range and electrifying dance moves that included splits, knee drops and assorted shuffles. He regularly removed his jacket and flung it to his side to the delight of cheering audiences. All he needed was a cape and you might have thought you were seeing an alternative version of James Brown. At the time, he was dubbed the “Black Elvis,” though Presley scoffed at the com- parison: “I guess that makes me the white Jackie Wilson.”

Tipsheet

WHAT: Jackie Wilson receives a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. WHEN: 11:30 a.m. Sept. 4 WHERE: 7057 Hollywood Blvd. WEB: walkoffame.com EVERETT COLLECTION

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 | VARIETY.COM | 69 FOCUS WALK OF FAME +

NIGHTSHIFT Wilson was a fixture on ‘60s TV shows like “American Bandstand.”

1963. Capitalizing on “The Twist” dance craze, he rode back into the Top 10 with the high-energy “Baby Workout,” which he co-wrote. In the mid-’60s, Wilson was a ﬁx- ture on TV variety music shows including “Hullabaloo,” “Shindig!,” “American Band- stand” and “The Ed Sullivan Show,” playing to adoring white audiences. His other signature song, recorded in 1967, certainly lifted him “Higher and Higher.” Another heavily orchestrated track, it swings heavily with horns and a modernized Wilson sound, courtesy of fre- netic backing from Motown’s Funk Bros. Now that he had found his “one in a million girl,” Wilson sings with purpose, “Honey, I can stand up and face the world.” Rita Coolidge slowed down the pace for her soulful cover version in 1977, which peaked at No. 2. A rendition by Howard Huntsberry appeared on the “Ghostbusters 2” soundtrack in 1989 and Bruce Springsteen has also been known to break it out in concert. Wilson’s last signiﬁcant hit, “I Get the Sweetest Feeling,” co-written by Van McCoy, But except for his slick dance moves, he which hit No. 1 on the R&B charts and returned to his early soul-pop style, had little in common with Presley, or with crossed over to the Top 10. Wilson’s signa- complete with the orchestration and Brown, who went from doo-wop to creat- ture song features kitschy orchestration backup vocals that would mark most of ing funk. Wilson was more of a crooner and backup harmonies as Wilson begs his material. than a belter, a smooth soul-pop singer in his woman for “another chance,” his alto Sadly, Wilson suffered a heart attack the vein of Nat “King” Cole, Sammy Davis soaring as he pleads, “Just say you will, on stage in 1975. He survived, but would Jr. and Johnny Mathis, at least until later say you will.” never perform again. His last years were in his career. Years later, Michael Jackson, who loved spent in nursing homes and hospitals in Born in Detroit in 1934, he wasn’t brash Wilson’s voice and stage presence, recorded New Jersey. By the time Wilson died in and Southern like Little Richard and a version of the song, as did Jose Feliciano 1984, he was all but broke. Chuck Berry, but urbane and sophisticated. and Bryan Hyland. Like so many artists in the early rock ’n’ Had he come up in the big band era, he America’s newest pop star was off and roll era, Wilson was taken advantage of by probably would have been a jazz singer. running. But this didn’t last long. his label. In 1975, Nat Tarnopol and several After being discovered by Johnny Otis In 1960, Wilson was arrested for assault- other execs at Brunswick were indicted for singing with the Falcons, which included ing an officer during a concert in New mail fraud and tax evasion, though Tar- eventual Four Top Levi Stubbs, Wilson Orleans (fans had stormed the stage) nopol was later cleared. At the time, they joined Bill Ward & the Dominoes. It and a year later was shot in his Manhat- allegedly owed Wilson $1 million. wasn’t long before he decided to become a tan apartment by a jealous girlfriend. His Respected by many — Jackson called solo artist. suave good looks, pompadour hair style him a “wonderful entertainer” at the In 1957, Wilson signed with Bruns- and charismatic personality proved to be Grammy Awards in 1984, Van Morrison wick Records, based in New York, where he a magnet to women. He was married twice dedicated the song “Jackie Wilson Said (I’m had his early hits. Future Motown founder and fathered nine children. in Heaven When You Smile)” to him in Berry Gordy co-wrote “Lonely Teardrops,” Wilson resumed his singing career in 1972, and he was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987 — Wilson’s accomplishments remain underappreci- ated today. A biopic was planned but has yet to be produced, and a quality biogra- phy of his life has never been written. “HIS STYLE WAS URBANE AND Hopefully, with the star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, there will be SOPHISTICATED. HAD HE COME UP IN THE renewed interest in this legendary singer BIG BAND ERA, HE PROBABLY WOULD HAVE and performer who thrilled and inspired BEEN A JAZZ SINGER.” so many. TOM COPI/GETTY IMAGES COPI/GETTY TOM

70 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 Congratulations to JACKIE WILSON His family, and

for your well deserved

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Untitled-7 1 8/26/19 2:15 PM LIVE! WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 4 AT 11:30AM PDT

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The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce invites you to watch our Walk of Fame ceremonies LIVE from anywhere in the world exclusively on walkoffame.com. Your front row seat awaits you!

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Untitled-12 1 8/26/19 2:23 PM GARY DAUBERMAN

WE ARE SO THANKFUL AND FORTUNATE TO HAVE YOU IN THE NEW LINE FAMILY FOR TEN YEARS AND COUNTING…

CONGRATULATIONS ON THE BILLION DOLLAR MILESTONE!

Untitled-2 1 8/30/19 11:39 AM FOCUS BILLION DOLLAR FILMMAKER

HOLLYWOOD’S

join the cast), the scares, the emotion, not ‘IT’ WRITER to mention the real-life stakes — the first film is one of the most profitable and her- Gary Dauberman has made a killing out of scaring audiences alded horror films of all time. If the writer is feeling the pressure, it’s STORY BY JENELLE RILEY not showing. Seated in a coffee shop he refers to as his office, Dauberman expresses more excitement than nerves. “There’s a lot to live up to with the first one because everyone just killed it,” he says. “And I know that it’s hard to catch lightning in a bottle Then Dauberman took on one of the twice — but they did it.” most enviable but also intimidating tasks Dauberman grew up outside Philadel- AN EVIL DOLL. A DEMONIC NUN. A killer for any fan of horror: adapting Stephen phia in Glen Mills, which could almost pass clown. While such creatures are night- King’s massive novel “It” for the big screen. for one of those idyllic towns featured in mare fuel for some, screenwriter Gary The first installment of the film, directed so many genre films, with its trees chang- Dauberman embraces them. “These char- by Andy Muschietti and released by Warner ing color and wrought iron and brick struc- acters have been very good to me,” the Bros. in 2017, was a critical and box office tures. “When Halloween would roll around, filmmaker says with a laugh. “So I’m not smash, grossing over $700 million world- it felt like a Ray Bradbury story come to life scared of them. They don’t show up in wide off a $35 million budget. This week and I loved it,” Dauberman recalls. my nightmares.” sees the release of “It: Chapter Two,” set 27 He has vivid memories of seeing “Pol- Dauberman has made an art of out find- years after the first film and again helmed tergeist” at a sleepover at the age of 7. ing new and creative ways to scare audi- by Muschietti. Movies like “Nightmare on Elm Street” ences, having written all three installments The first movie followed seven young and “Friday the 13th” were staples, but of the “Annabelle” series, focusing on the friends batting a demonic force that fre- HOME BEHIND he was also influenced by “Raiders of the THE CAMERA porcelain doll that serves as a conduit for quently appeared to them in the form of a Gary Dauberman Lost Ark” (the face-melting scene in par- evil that was first featured in 2013’s “The grinning, drooling clown named Pennywise. on the set of ticular) and “The Lost Boys” (look for Conjuring.” When 2016’s “The Conjuring 2” The sequel finds the ensemble brought “Annabelle that film’s poster in “It: Chapter Two”). Comes Home,” introduced a new breakout villain in the back to finish the job, weaving in flashbacks which marked his And then there were the books; authors form of the demon nun Valak, Dauberman and new scenes with the young actors who feature directorial like Lois Duncan, Christopher Pike and debut. He wrote was tasked with creating the mythos for originated the roles. Everything is bigger: all three films in R.L. Stein were required reading. And, of 2018’s “The Nun.” the stars (Jessica Chastain and Bill Hader the trilogy. course, Stephen King. JUSTIN LUBIN/WARNER BROS. LUBIN/WARNER JUSTIN

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 | VARIETY.COM | 75 FOCUS BILLION DOLLAR FILMMAKER

“It was an event when King would release DAUBERMAN’S “Annabelle Comes Home.” But developing a back- something,” he notes. “I’d rush to Waldenbooks MONSTERS story and legend was a conversation between and there was a big display with these great cov- Dauberman, Wan and New Line. ers and I can remember buying them and crack- One of the biggest challenges of penning the ing open that binding.” first “Annabelle” film was simply justifying why But it wasn’t just King’s writing; it was the anyone would ever keep such a disturbing-looking man himself. “I remember seeing him in inter- doll. “People always ask about that,” Dauberman views and thinking, ‘Oh, he seems so normal.’ says with a laugh. “But have you seen the creepy He was a great ambassador for horror because dolls people have? It’s not so outside the norm.” he seemed like a regular guy, not someone hold- Made in a condensed time frame on a $6 mil- ing rituals in his basement of the middle of the lion budget, the film went on to make $257 mil- night,” Dauberman says. Annabelle lion worldwide; 2017 follow-up “Annabelle: Cre- Dauberman says he really learned to write ation” improved both in box office ($306 million) through reading. Originally, he wanted to write Don’t call her possessed! A conduit for and reviews. When it came time to make a third and draw comics or be a Disney animator. The evil, the porcelain figurine appeared in movie, this year’s “Annabelle Comes Home,” only problem, he notes, is that he wasn’t a great the opening scene of 2013’s “The Con- Dauberman not only wrote the script, but stepped artist. “So I put all my eggs in the writing basket,” juring” and now has more stand-alone behind the camera for his directorial debut. he says. films than the original with “Annabelle,” Dauberman says the original “Annabelle” was Things actually worked out in comics — “Annabelle: Creation” and “Annabelle the first time he was on a set for an extended Dauberman penned an entry for the DC Com- Comes Home.” time, and he used the opportunity to learn every- ics anthology “Cursed Comics Calvacade,” and thing he could. Wan took notice. has just released the first issue of “The Mall,” a “I would catch Gary taking ‘filmmaking’ notes four-part graphic novel he penned with Michael during discussions between the producers and Moreci for Vault Comics. He also adapted the DC director,” Wan says. “We all felt it was time for comic “Swamp Thing” for a 10-episode series on Gary to step behind the camera, and direct ‘Anna- DC Universe this year. belle Comes Home’ — and he’s so naturally tal- After graduating from Temple University, ented at it. What I love most about Gary as a Dauberman moved to Los Angeles and found an director is his focus on creating interesting and early supporter in Cathryn Jaymes, a manager likable characters. His writing skill is one of his who once worked with Quentin Tarantino. “I was big secret weapons as a filmmaker.” On another The Nun waiting tables when I saw a posting on Craig- note, Wan adds, “Oh, and like myself, he’s a fried slist from her, looking for an intern,” he reveals. The demon Valak first appeared in “The chicken fanatic!” “I didn’t even tell her I wanted to be a writer at Conjuring 2” and was such a fan favor- One of the biggest challenges with scripting first.” When he finally did show her a script, she ite, she received her own origin story. the horror genre is coming up with new ways to was impressed, and became a mentor to him. Dauberman scripted “The Nun,” and scare audiences looking for a bigger adrenaline He cut his teeth on two 2007 films for SyFy, also serves as a producer on the film. rush. Dauberman is aware of this, and says he “In the Spider’s Web” and “Blood Monkey,” which tries to get ahead of expectations. he refers to as a great film school. “It was like my “You try to zig when they think you’re going Roger Corman years,” he says. “It taught me how to zag,” he says. This is also where comedy can to write and to write quickly.” come in handy, something that is a trademark of A spec sent to New Line Cinema impressed Dauberman’s scripts — nervous laughter is often them enough to bring him onto a horror round- a necessary release following a tense moment. BROS/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK BROOKE PALMER/WARNER BROS. TELEVISION; IT: NORRIS/WARNER table, and a fruitful relationship was born. “Gary So it’s no surprise to hear one of this other favor- came in with such great ideas and we knew ite genres is the romantic comedy, citing “When immediately he was someone we wanted to keep Harry Met Sally…” as a big influence. He notes, Swamp working with,” says Richard Brener, president & Thing “The timing of comedy and horror are actually chief creative officer at New Line Cinema. “Fast very similar. You’re setting something up, then hit- forward 10 years and he has written eight mov- Dauberman brought the cult comic ting the punchline.” ies for New Line, served as an EP, a producer, and hero to the small screen, serving as To hear his actors tell it, Dauberman’s screen- recently made his directorial debut with ‘Anna- executive producer and co-writing the plays often contain laughs that aren’t intended belle Comes Home.’ Gary is an exceptional talent pilot about a scientist transformed into for audiences. and collaborator.” (New Line is also one of the pro- a human/plant hybrid. Bonnie Aarons, who plays the titular charac- duction companies behind the “It” films.) ter in “The Nun,” says the scripts are as fun to read Dauberman was already a fan of James Wan’s as to see. “His scripts are very lyrical and he is so “Saw” when he met the filmmaker at an early detailed. As you’re reading his words, you see it screening of New Line’s “The Conjuring.” He coming alive,” she says. “Also, he writes these lit- THING: FRED SWAMP BROS/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; THE NUN: WARNER instantly knew it was going to be one of his favor- tle side notes in parentheses that are very humor- ite horror movies of all time. Wan, for one, is also ous.” For example, Dauberman says the “Annabelle a fan of his protégé. “It feels like I’ve known him Comes Home” screenplay contains the descrip- forever,” Wan tells Variety. “He’s truly one of my tion: “There’s a Remington typewriter, which I’m favorite people in the business.” It going to steal after production is over.” “The Conjuring” launched a cinematic universe Adds Brener, “Gary has an unmistakable by introducing audiences to Ed and Lorraine War- Pennywise sprang from the imagina- voice in his storytelling and you know a Gary ren (played by Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga), tion of Stephen King, first played in Dauberman script without seeing the cover page. the real-life paranormal investigators who col- the ABC miniseries by Tim Curry, and He is an incredibly visual writer and has a way lected artifacts from their cases for their Occult is now played in the films by Bill Skars- of putting you in the story, which is valuable for Museum in Connecticut. gard. Dauberman shares screenwrit- horror because it gives you the visceral effect of The real-life Annabelle is a Raggedy Ann doll ing credit with Chase Palmer and Cary a given scene. Gary carefully crafts every detail that still resides at the museum — eagle-eyed Fukunaga on the first film and is the to draw you in and you can feel every beat and viewers might spot a Raggedy Ann cameo in sole screenwriter on “It: Chapter Two.” emotion alongside the characters.” ANNABELLE: NEW LINE CINEMA/EVERGREEN MEDIA GROUP/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; ANNABELLE: NEW LINE CINEMA/EVERGREEN MEDIA GROUP/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK;

76 | VARIETY.COM | SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 CONGRATULATIONS GARY ON REACHING A BILLION!

FROM ALL YOUR FRIENDS AT

ONE MORE BILLION AND YOU GET A FREE ANNABELLE DOLL!!!

0903 WV Atomic Monster - Gary Dauberman.v3.indd 1 8/29/19 11:42 AM FOCUS BILLION DOLLAR FILMMAKER

Dauberman says he doesn’t always like the American remake of the Korean zombie to script frights out too carefully. “Some- hit “Train to Busan,” both for New Line. times when it’s too planned out, it can feel “Horror isn’t a stepping stone for me. I a little joyless. I like a little messiness,” he love horror,” he notes. “With this genre, you admits. “And if you’re fortunate enough to get comedy and drama and suspense and work with a great director like James or you get to play around. Plus, I love the hor- Andy, they’ll come up with amazing ideas ror community. It’s a nice, familiar atmo- on the day.” sphere where I get to work with a lot of the As for every artist’s real-life nightmare, same people.” writer’s block, Dauberman says he works Dauberman also notes how cathartic through that by actually yelling at him- the genre can be and how it can be used as self on the page. “I will write out: ‘What is a metaphor for bigger statements. “It” isn’t going on with this scene, why can’t I fig- just about a murderous clown, it’s a com- ure it out?’” he reveals. “Whatever my inter- ing-of-age tale about facing your fears and nal monologue is, I try to get it on the page. the value of friendship. “The Nun” grap- Because if it’s stuck in my head, I’m just ples with issues of faith while “Annabelle: spinning my wheels.” Creation” is a study of grief. In “Annabelle Having found so much success in hor- Comes Home,” the evil doll’s powers aren’t ror, it’s inevitable that people will ask when unleashed out of malice — it’s because a he intends to leave it behind — moving young girl has lost her father and is hoping onto more “prestigious” genres. But Dauber- to find proof of life after death. man has no intention of departing anytime His directorial debut was even person- soon. He’s currently scripting an adaptation ally healing for Dauberman, who lost his of King’s vampire classic “Salem’s Lot” and own father before filming began. “When I TEAM told my sister what the film was about, she PLAYERS said, ‘Well, that’s interesting,’” Dauberman The grown-up “Loser’s Club” recalls. “I didn’t know what she meant. She cast of “It: pointed out our father had just passed. I Chapter Two” don’t know how I didn’t see it. If I had con- (top); Vera “HIS SCRIPTS ARE Farmiga with LYRICAL AND HE IS sciously known that going in, I might not her infamous have done it. But it ended up being a won- co-star in SO DETAILED.” “Annabelle derful experience and really helping me

Comes Home.” — BONNIE AARONS through it.” BROS/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK MONSTER/WARNER BROS.; ANNABELLE COMES HOME: ATOMIC TWO: BROOKE PALMER/WARNER IT CHAPTER

CONGRATULATIONS GARY DAUBERMAN Variety’s Billion Dollar Screenwriter HERE’S TO THE NEXT BILLION!

LARS THERIOT AND ALL YOUR FRIENDS AT A BILLION DOLLARS What an incredible journey!

Congratulations Gary from the bottom of our hearts. We are so happy for you. Here’s to the next billion.

0903 WV Felker Toczek_full page.v3.indd 1 8/30/19 11:14 AM FOCUS ENTERTAINMENT AND TECHNOLOGY L.A. SUMMIT

‘KING’ MAKER “Lion King” director Jon Favreau will take part in a keynote conversation at DIGITAL MAVENS the summit. EXPLORE NEW AVENUES

Tech leaders converge for Variety confab

STORY BY TODD LONGWELL

FOR THOSE LOOKING TO GET AN EASY handle on how thoroughly the digital rev- olution has reshaped the entertainment landscape, look no further than actor/ comedian David Spade’s new Comedy Central talk show “Lights Out With David Spade,” which was inspired by a series of Instagram posts. “I’d walk around and try to do jokes rewards, just the satisfaction of a job as an author (her latest book “My Drunk instead of just here’s my food, here’s my well done. Kitchen Holidays!” is due in October). dog, and it sort of started talk,” says Spade, “It cost nothing, just time scheduling “I feel really good that it’s a less-lucra- who begins each episode of the talker with people and getting there and doing it,” tive space because it means there’s less a video selfie. “I had network executives says Nealon. “I edit the final product, too, pressure and you get to just explore,” says DM’ing me, saying, ‘This is different. Could and that takes a long time. It would be Hart. “It makes it less readily accessible to you spin this into half hour?’ And that got great to have sponsorship, but it’s really people who want to follow the same for- me thinking, and then it started meetings a passion for me.” mula, just trying to get views on YouTube.” and started pilots.” Nealon does get a piece of the ad rev- The other good news for creators is the Spade will be joining Kevin Nealon, enue generated by his YouTube channel, ever-growing array of new digital outlets Hannah Hart and Pete Holmes on the but it’s chump change compared to a for content, from SVOD services to ad-mon- “Comedy Renaissance in the Digital Age” typical Hollywood paycheck. And these etizable social video platforms such as panel at Variety’s Entertainment & Tech- days it’s harder for up-and-coming talent Facebook Watch. nology L.A. Summit Sept. 5. They are just to build sustainable careers on the plat- “With Watch, we’re trying to create a a few of the 50 leading creatives and execs form in the wake of rule changes that destination video service,” explains Ricky appearing at the event to discuss, debate demonetize less-popular channels and Van Veen, Facebook’s global head of cre- and explain targeted audience engage- risqué content. ative strategy, who will appear with Crypt ment, live over-the-top programming and But that’s not necessarily a bad thing, TV co-founder and CEO Jack Davis. “That’s other hot button topics. “Lion King” direc- according to Hart, an eight-year YouTube where the longer-form content works. tor Jon Favreau, Sony Pictures Entertain- veteran who parlayed her popular online Once you have people there, the old les- ment CEO Tony Vinciquerra, Paramount series “My Drunk Kitchen” into acting roles sons from 10 years ago about how people TV’s Nicole Clemens and Spotify’s Court- (“Camp Takota,” “Dirty 30”) and a career will only watch short videos on the inter- ney Holt are among the other notables net are no longer true.” that will share their insight at the event. One of the big appeals of digital Nealon had an experience similar to platforms for execs and, to a lesser degree, Spade’s with his YouTube talk show “Hik- Tipsheet creatives, is the ability to use the wealth ing With Kevin,” which began when he WHAT: Variety’s Entertainment & of data they generate to shape and sell spontaneously decided to record an out- Technology L.A. Summit the content. of-breath interview with his friend, actor WHEN: Sept. 5 “You learn where audiences really are Matthew Modine, on his phone as they WHERE: Four Seasons Beverly Hills into content and where they’re dropping walked a canyon trail in the Pacific Pal- WEB: events.variety.com off,” says Davis, whose 14-episode Crypt TV isades. Unlike Spade, he produces the thriller “The Birch” premieres on Facebook resulting show all by himself and, at this Watch on Oct. 11. “But you always need the point, there’s little in the way of monetary components of great storytelling.” ROB LATOUR/VARIETY/SHUTTERSTOCK

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VIDEO | SOCIAL POSTS | ARTICLES | PHOTO GALLERIES | LIVE MEDIA EVENTS CHECK OUT OUR BRANDED CONTENT SHOWCASE VARIETY.COM/CONTENTSTUDIO VARIETY CONTENT STUDIO VARIETY'S BRAND MARKETING DIVISION For more information email [email protected] WU-TANG: HULU; VOLK-WEISS: STEPHANIE DAVIS KLEINMAN IT WAS ASTAND-UP ensure seamless performances on-screen Production company Comedy Dynamics’ techniques high-tech editing Fixes Stand-up Snafus Digital Fine-Tuning again three more times. ble luck, thesame line to proceeded flub well-known comic, onastream ofmisera- corrected inpost-production —except this shows insuccession, somistakes can be this are exactly why comics record several and screwing upthepunchline. Gaffes like ing aword atapivotal momentinthejoke cracked underthepressure, mispronounc- recordedbe for special, aTV thecomic for thefirst offour shows thatwould mare: Taking thestage awhile back trailblazers Wu-Tang ClaninHulubiopic DP useslightandshadow to show journey ofhip-hop A MATTER OFCONTRAST comic’s worst night- well-delivered line. bit ofCGI. The result? Agreat show, and a nal footage withsomecraftyediting and a pasted hishead onto hisbody inthe origi- green screen. Then they digitally cut-and- repeatingcomedian thejoke infront ofa the gigs. There, heandhisteam the filmed Dynamics’ Burbank studio afew days after asked to thecomedian come to theComedy tributed theshow, hadto get creative. He edy Dynamics, which produced anddis- “Do Ithink we to“Do doit?No,” needed says So BrianVolk-Weiss, founder ofCom- Story by CALUM MARSH p.84 had occasion tohad occasion consider. which theaverage stand-up hasnever to production designto sound, most of preferences ofthecomic, from lighting of questions to settled based be onthe has stepped foot onstage. There are dozens process starts longbefore thecomedian interact with Q&Avideos New technology lets viewers ANSWERS FROMTHEPAST ing comics look theirbest. ing comics look blending sets, matching footage andmak- these specials, andhasmastered the artof edy Dynamicshasproduced hundreds of commission themalmost endlessly. Com- to streaming like services Netflix, which genre thathasswelled inpopularity thanks the makingofastand-up comedy special, a wizardry thatgoes intobehind-the-scenes moment, notinathousand years,” hesays. you would never ableto be figure out the was seamless. you“If Ihanded theDVD, artists to feel good.” Inany case, the work ist was aperfectionist, andwe want our never would have given ashit. But theart- Volk-Weiss, back. looking “The audience “Do you“Do have walk-on music? Are you For Volk-Weiss, thedecision-making This isanextreme example ofthe comic clients. spots for his the rough smooths out Dynamics Weiss’ Comedy Brian Volk- Mix Master p.85

TOP BILLING EXPOSURE FOCUS ARTISANS REVIEWS 83 SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 VARIETY.COM 84 SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 VARIETY.COM ARTISANS look here.”look so they brave. can be That’s our out- Weiss says. “Make your pilots feel safe a great saying the AirForce has,” Volk- ant isthatthecomic ishappy. “There’s date either approach. What’s import- gle frame.” bay,the editing going over every sin- spend, conservatively, 150hours in says. are there comedians who“Then watched thespecial,” Volk-Weiss best ofmy knowledge have never come into bay, theediting andto the wraps, shake our handsandnever that,comedians astheshow assoon ers prefer to involved. be “There are in Comedy Dynamics’ hands;oth- rience. Somecomics leave itentirely delicate touch ofaneditor withexpe- complex, can be edit andrequires the joke show.” inthesecond show part andthesecond ofthesame thefirst part ofajoke inone flubbed ‘ums,’ orput two linestogether ifthey through andtake out the ‘uhs’ andthe punchy, hilarious whole. “I might go bitsbest from each setinto one something coherent, blendingthe back-to-back —andsculptitinto cameras shooting two orthree sets material ofthegig—seven oreight against thejokes.” says. “The should editing notwork attention to atall,” theediting she enjoy thecomedian, andnotpay go unnoticed. “You to want people everyperfect show. ing,” andcredits herwithhelpingto edit-“the Mozart ofstand-up-special 200 specials. Volk-Weiss says Carlson is edy Dynamicswho hascutmore than Brenda Carlson, aneditor withCom- turnminus into aC anAminus easily.” mance into anA,” hesays. “But we can of ashow. “We can’t turn aDperfor- ics can radically improve thecaliber room. It’s there thatComedy Dynam- Volk-Weiss’ team optionsintheediting times oncamera inonenightgives through thesame acttwo orthree formances isrepetition —running outthe carpet between shows.” everythingmessed up. We hadto tear done 10,000shows onsolidsurfaces! It had ahorrible show,” hesays. “They’d dian wanted there to carpet. be They act. “We where didaspecial thecomedian isstanding onduring hisorher think itmatters much what thecome- process. “Not ascience.” they’re completely disjointed. eras are rolling, onething’s wrong and 10 years, andsuddenly, once thecam- to used thesamemight be thingfor but they’re soimportant. Acomedian Weiss says. “These are smallthings, wired micorawireless mic?” Volk- you announced? Do being want a Comedy Dynamicscan accommo- Of course, thenitty-gritty ofthe It’s Carlson’s jobto take theraw Carlson prefers thatherwork This isthanksinnosmallpart to The saving grace for most per- Consider thestage. You mightnot “It’s really anart,” hesays ofthe Sheldon Candis Director: 2012 LUV Rainwater Director: Rotimi 2013 Sugar 34 episodes 2012-13 TableTop Bogdanovich Antonia Director: 2014 Phantom Halo Meyers Jonathan Director: 2014 A FineStep Travis Z Director: 2016 Cabin Fever 10 episodes 2018 9-1-1 26 episodes 2016-19 Horror Story American genres. a variety of and TVacross worked infilm Gavin Kelly has the Shot Getting

Atoms asAson. withT.J.The RZA, Sanders (right)as starring Ashton American Saga,” “Wu-Tang: An Clan inHulu’s of theWu-Tang the earlyjourney shadows suggest Brightness and World ofExtremes

Wu-Tang Clan Series Pop rise of the seminal hip-hop group rise oftheseminalhip-hop DP useslightandshadow toshow the By VALENTINA VALENTINI origin story. The series chronicles its char- drama, part family drama andpart hero that’sect part musical biopic, part crime emotionally forming theheart ofaproj- from shadow into light, thematically and inspirations andphilosophies. terms anddelve into thegroup members’ “The Tao ofWu” —which explain Wu-Tang by The RZA— “The Wu-Tang Manual” and ine Television andisbased ontwo books Alex Tse, theseriesisproduced by Imag- sive membership. Created by The RZAand group but ofthesolowork ofits exten- and culture viathesuccess notonly ofthe hop andhadahuge impact onmusic, arts Wu-Tang Clan, which transformed hip- and tells the story oftheformation ofthe andtone.”the look and layered color textures were central to ror Story.” “Lighting-wise, richcontrast from three seasons ofFX’s “American Hor- world,” says Kelly, who comes to thebiopic and victories take place inahigh-stakes where our characters’ conflicts, [losses] theedgesabout oflightandshadow, most history. groups important inhip-hop York’s Staten Island to form oneofthe early 1990scrack-cocaine epidemicinNew Diggs, aka The RZA, amidthe assembled the dozen young blackmenthatBobby set out to capture theheroic journeys of can Saga,” cinematographer Gavin Kelly FOR HULU’S “WU-TANG: Dramatic Contrast Helps @tiniv Kelly wove together scenes thatmoved seriesdebuts Sept.The 10-episode 4 “The oftheshow look for mewas An Ameri- and triumphs.” in thecharacters’ intimate struggles stories while usgrounded alsokeeping our heroes andtheirinterconnected that gave alarger-than-life presence to a dramatic lightingandlensing approach wanted for thepast. for theflashbacks —thatcreamier feel we softer withmore wildflares, which we use also employed thatare theH-series even they catch lightandflare,” says Kelly. “We Artistes, which are more expressive inhow Panavision“I mixed Primo70sandthe ered ondramatic anddreamy visuals. era was Kelly’s choice oflensesthatdeliv- verse oftheWu, asKelly explains it. cues to follow: avisual oftheuni- tapestry in timeandplace andgive the audience his basement —to each character position The RZAwork inthemusical deep hive of housing projects inStaten Island, orseeing — shooting inthePark HillorStapleton acters inrelation to theirenvironment frames thatwould create portraits ofchar- low depthoffield. Healsowanted strong would have aricherfeel alongwithashal- that even shots medium andclose-ups nium DXL2, alarger-format camera, so in between.” the complexities ofnavigating everything liveslook inthisworld ofextremes and propel themforward,” Kelly says. “The inspiration, family, andhope connection that often flares over them when music, conflict lived —to bright, washy light where often violence, hardship and shadowsor-bleeding ofthestreets — aloneandcollectively.both acters’ journeys through many realities, “Ultimately,” heexplains, “I wanted Complementing thelarger-format cam- Kelly shot onthePanavision Millen- for“I aimed thedense, murky, col-

HULU Technology Enables Virtual Q&A With Recorded Subject

and by 2017 the technology had advanced probably never otherwise get to meet — StoryFile aims to make interactive video enough where we could take it further and and have a conversation and learn from of people’s lives accessible to all really refine the concept.” their experiences,” she notes. “Imagine being Since then, StoryFile has filmed about able to do that with scientists, artists, ath- 20 full-length interviews, including the one letes, musicians, politicians, writers and so By IAIN BLAIR with Virts, as well as some 30 shorter ones. on. It’s a really revolutionary way of dealing ASTRONAUT TERRY VIRTS was trained to “Others are scheduled and in the pipeline,” with aural history, but it’s still a very new deal with cutting-edge technology and high- says Smith. technology, and I think the upcoming beta stress situations on his numerous space mis- “It means that anyone will be able to talk launch will help people get used to it and sions, but NASA failed to prepare him for to someone like Terry — someone they’d see the endless possibilities it offers.” his latest career challenge: sitting absolutely Smith says the technology also has a still for hours in a small studio in Los Ange- strong library component, both for private les and baring his soul. and public users. “This is far more stressful,” he says, only “We’re talking to museums about doing half-joking. this with some very high-profile names, The two-day shoot for StoryFile — a Anyone will be able to talk to and we also see applications ranging from mobile app expected to launch in the fall someone they’d probably never online education to hiring and even dat- — saw a 360-degree volumetric camera rig otherwise get to meet and have ing,” she says. “There are many direc- capture Virts’ answers to hundreds of ques- a conversation, and learn from tions we could take it, but right now we’re tions about his life and career. The result: their experiences.” focused on getting the app out there and a holographic version of the astronaut that Heather Smith, StoryFile CEO getting it scalable.” can interact with viewers. “You’ll be able to have a conversation with me and ask me anything,” says Virts, who spent more than 200 days in space aboard the Space Shut- tle Endeavour and the International Space Station on a pair of missions between 2010 and 2015. StoryFile uses artificial intelligence and natural-language processing to allow the platform to mimic a real conversation, pre- serving the subject’s answers for future gen- erations to explore. The app will present the stories of historically significant people, as well as putting that tech into the hands of everyday users, allowing families to document the lives of their loved ones. The company was founded by the wife- and-husband team of Heather and Ste- phen Smith. “Our initial inspiration for the whole idea came from trying to replicate the memories of Holocaust survivors for the public, especially the Q&A parts,” says Heather Smith. “We saw that the Q&A parts really engaged audiences, and then we realized that so many people wanted to do the same thing for themselves and create memories for their families and children and For Posterity grandchildren.” Astronaut While that was the catalyst, the tech Terry Virts relates his wasn’t available a decade ago when the cou- experiences to ple started, Smith says. “Back then it was a 360-degree camera at very expensive and labor-intensive,” she the StoryFile explains. “We knew it had to be automated, studio in L.A.

In Production

TITLE/DISTRIBUTOR GENRE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR/SHOWRUNNER CASTS SHOOTHO START LOCATION VARIETY.COM The Sinner (Season 3) Universal Content Prods., Bill Pullman, Drama Derek Simonds (showrunner) 9/99/9 New York USA Network Zaftig Films, Iron Ocean Films Matt Bomer Homecoming (Season 2) Amazon Studios, Universal Content Prods., Red Om, Micah Bloomberg & Eli Stephan James,s, Drama 9/9 Los Angeles Amazon Prime Video Anonymous Content, We Here At Corp., Esmail Corp. Horowitz (showrunners) Janelle Monáee Ghost Draft Betty Gilpin, Yvonnevonne Action Paramount Pictures, Skydance Media Chris McKay (director) 9/109/10 Atlanta, Iceland Paramount Strahovski, Chrisris Pratt SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER Girl Thriller Envision Media Arts, Double Dutch Intl. Chad Faust (director) Bella Thorne 9/169/16 Sudbury, Ontario

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Untitled-1 1 8/28/19 6:42 PM FAILURE TO COMMUNICATE FINAL CUT ‘Unbelievable’ is unsurpassed as a depiction of one Crystal Gale’s start with sis’s woman’s pursuit of justice and self-empowerment p.90 label was challenging p.94

Nowhere Man Joaquin Phoenix stars as Arthur in “Joker.” REVIEWS TOP BILLING EXPOSURE FOCUS ARTISANS ARTISANS BILLING EXPOSURE FOCUS TOP

FILM REVIEW nemesis, stands before us not as a grand is to laugh, and he’s got a collection of BY OWEN GLEIBERMAN villain but as a pathetic specimen of raw contrived guffaws — a high-pitched deliri- human damage. Even as we’re drinking in ous giggle, a “hearty” yock, a stylized cackle Joker his screw-loose antics with shock and dis- that’s all but indistinguishable from a sob. may, there’s no denying that we feel some- In each case, the laughter is an act that thing for him — a twinge of sympathy, or parades itself as fakery. What it expresses at least understanding. isn’t glee; it expresses that Arthur feels Early on, Arthur, in full clown regalia, nothing, that he’s dead inside. He’s a bit- is standing in front of a store on a jam- ter, mocking nowhere man on the edge of Director: Todd Phillips Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, packed avenue, where he’s been hired a nervous breakdown. Frances Conroy, Zazie Beetz to carry an “Everything Must Go” sign. A For all two hours of “Joker,” Arthur, a bunch of kids steal the sign and then kick two-bit professional clown and aspiring the holy crap out of him. The beating ful- stand-up comic who lives with his batty ﬁlls a certain masochistic karma Arthur mother (Frances Conroy) in a peeling-paint carries around, but that doesn’t negate the apartment, is front and center — in the udiences, as we know, can’t fact that we feel sorry for him. movie, and in our psychological viewﬁnder. get enough of a great bad “Joker” tells the story of Arthur’s He’s at the dark heart of every scene, the guy — the kind we love to descent (and, in a way, his rise), but it’s way Travis Bickle was in “Taxi Driver”; and hate. The worse he acts, the clear from the outset that he’s a basket “Joker,” set in 1981 in a Gotham City that

more we stare. Of course, the case, a kind of maestro of his own mis- looks, with uncanny exactitude, like the VARIETY.COM Afact that we relish a villain doesn’t mean ery. He would like, on some level, to con- squalid, graffiti-strewn, trash-heaped New that we’re on his side; getting off on the nect, but he can’t. He’s too far out there, York City of the early ’80s (you can feel the catchy, scary spectacle of bad behavior like Norman Bates; he’s a self-conscious, rot), is a movie made in direct homage to isn’t the same as identifying with it. But postmodern head case — a person who that classic, though there are other ﬁlms in “Joker,” Todd Phillips’ hypnotically per- spends every moment trying to twist him- it will make you think of, too. As the story verse, ghoulishly grippingly urban-night- self into a normal shape, but he knows the of a putz trying to succeed as a stand-up

mare comic fantasia, Arthur Fleck (Joa- effort is doomed, so he turns it all into a comedian, it evokes Scorsese and De Niro’s 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER quin Phoenix), the mentally ill loser-freak “joke” that only he gets.

UNBELIEVABLE: BETH DUBBER/NETFLIX; JOKER: NIKO TAVERNISE/WARNER BROS. TAVERNISE/WARNER BETH DUBBER/NETFLIX; JOKER: NIKO UNBELIEVABLE: who will, down the line, become Batman’s Arthur’s response to almost everything 87 satirical gloss on “Taxi Driver,” “The King of Comedy.” There are also elements lifted from “Death Wish,” “Network,” “V for Vendetta,” “The Empire Strikes Back,” “The Shining” and “The Purge.” More than that, though, the whole movie, in spirit, is a kind of origin-story riff on Heath Led- ger’s performance in “The Dark Knight”: the comic book villain as Method psycho, a troublemaker so intense in his cuckoo hostility that even as you’re gawking at his Method to violence, you still feel his pain. the Madness Phoenix’s performance is “Joker” tells the story astonishing. He appears to have of Arthur’s lost weight for the role, so that descent into his ribs and shoulder blades pro- villainy. trude, and the leanness burns his face down to its expressive essence: black eyebrows, sallow cheeks sunk in gloom, a mouth so “The King of Comedy.” For a film- around after hours, watching the pens, and it spins around the rubbery it seems to be snarking maker gifted enough to stand late-night talk-show host Murray question: How will someone this at the very notion of expression, on his own, Todd Phillips is too Franklin (played, by De Niro, as a weak and inept, this trapped in all set off by a greasy mop of hair. beholden to his idols. Yet within piece of old-school Carson vaude- the nuttiness of his self-delusion, Phoenix is playing a geek with an that scheme, he creates a daz- ville), and as much as we think evolve into a figure of dark power? unhinged mind, yet he’s so con- zlingly disturbed psycho moral- Arthur should move out and leave At night, on the subway, Arthur, trolled that he’s mesmerizing. He ity play, one that speaks to the his mommy behind, we hardly still wearing his clown suit, is stays true to the desperate logic of age of incels and mass shoot- know the half of it. When he gets taunted and attacked by three Arthur’s unhappiness. ers and no-hope politics, of the fired (for revealing a handgun young Wall Street players. So he You’re always aware of how kind of hate that emerges from during a clown gig on a children’s pulls out his gun like Charles much the mood and design of crushed dreams. hospital ward), there’s a suspense Bronson and shoots them dead. “Joker” owe to “Taxi Driver” and Arthur and his mother sit built into everything that hap- The case becomes tabloid fodder (“Killer Clown on the Loose”), and the sensation of it is that the den- izens of Gotham think he’s a hero. UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT, DISTRICT OF DELAWARE That sounds like a standard comic Chapter 11 In re book-movie ploy, but the twisted Case No.: 18-12012 (LSS) OPEN ROAD FILMS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, et al.,1 (Jointly Administered) commitment of Phoenix’s perfor- Debtors. Re Docket No. 819 mance lets us feel how the vio- NOTICE OF (I) APPROVAL OF DISCLOSURE STATEMENT, (II) ESTABLISHMENT OF VOTING RECORD DATE, (III) HEARING ON CONFIRMATION OF PLAN AND PROCEDURES AND DEADLINE FOR OBJECTING TO CONFIRMATION OF PLAN, AND (IV) PROCEDURES AND DEADLINE FOR VOTING ON PLAN lence cleanses Arthur; doing tai PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF THE FOLLOWING: chi in a bathroom after the mur- 1. Approval of Disclosure Statement. By order dated August 22, 2019 [Docket No. 819] (the “Disclosure Statement Order”), the United States Bankruptcy Court ders, he’s reborn. And we believe for the District of Delaware (the “Court”), having jurisdiction over the chapter 11 cases of Open Road Films, LLC and its affiliated debtors and debtors in possession (the in his thirst for escape, because “Debtors”), approved the Disclosure Statement for the Joint Plan of Liquidation Proposed by Debtors and Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, attached as Exhibit 4 to the Disclosure Statement Order (as it may be amended, supplemented, or modified from time to time, the “Disclosure Statement”) as containing adequate information Phillips, working with the cine- within the meaning of section 1125 of title 11 of the United States Code (the “Bankruptcy Code”), and authorized the Debtors to solicit votes to accept or reject the Joint matographer Lawrence Sher (who Chapter 11 Plan of Liquidation Proposed by Debtors and Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (as it may be amended, supplemented or modified from time to time pursuant to the terms thereof, the “Plan”),2 annexed as Exhibit A to the Disclosure Statement. evokes the gray-green documen- 2. Deadline for Voting on the Plan. By the Disclosure Statement Order, the Court established September 23, 2019 at 5:00 p.m. (prevailing Eastern Time) (the tary steaminess of “Taxi Driver”), “Voting Deadline”) as the deadline by which Ballots accepting or rejecting the Plan must be received. Only holders of Claims in Classes 3 and 4 under the Plan are entitled to vote on the Plan and will receive ballots for casting such votes. To be counted, original Ballots must actually be received on or before the Voting Deadline by creates an urban inferno so life- Donlin, Recano & Company, Inc. (the “Voting Agent”) at Open Road Films Ballot Processing, c/o Donlin, Recano & Company, Inc., Attn: Voting Department, P.O. Box 199043, like that it threatens to make the Blythebourne Station, Brooklyn, NY 11219. Ballots cast by e-mail, facsimile, or any other electronic format will not be counted. Classes that are presumed to accept the Plan and Classes that are deemed to reject the Plan are not entitled to vote on the Plan and, therefore, will receive a Notice of Non-Voting Status rather than a Ballot. film noir Gotham of “The Dark 3. Confirmation Hearing. A hearing (the “Confirmation Hearing”) will be held before the Honorable Laurie Selber Silverstein, United States Bankruptcy Judge, on Knight” look like a video game. October 2, 2019 at 1:30 p.m. (prevailing Eastern Time), in Courtroom 6 of the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, 824 Market Street, 5th Floor, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, to consider confirmation of the Plan, and for such other and further relief as may be just or proper. The Confirmation Hearing may be Of course, a rebellion against continued from time to time without further notice other than the announcement of the adjourned date(s) at the Confirmation Hearing or any continued hearing or on the the ruling elite, which is what applicable hearing agenda. The Plan may be modified in accordance with the Bankruptcy Code, the Bankruptcy Rules, the Plan, and other applicable law, without further notice, prior to or as a result of the Confirmation Hearing. If the Court enters an order confirming the Plan, Bankruptcy Code section 1141 shall become applicable with Arthur’s vigilante action comes respect to the Plan and the Plan shall be binding on all parties to the fullest extent permitted by the Bankruptcy Code. to symbolize, is more plausible 4. Deadline for Objections to Confirmation of Plan. Objections, if any, to confirmation of the Plan, must (i) be in writing; (ii) state the name and address of the objecting party and the nature of the claim or interest of such party; (iii) state with particularity the legal and factual basis and nature of any objection or response; and (iv) now than it was a decade ago. be filed with the Court and served on the following parties so as to be actually received before September 25, 2019 at 4:00 p.m. (prevailing Eastern Time): (i) counsel “Joker” is a comic book tale ren- for the Debtors, (a) Klee, Tuchin, Bogdanoff & Stern LLP, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Thirty-Ninth Floor, Los Angeles, California 90067, Attn: Michael L. Tuchin, Esq. and Jonathan M. Weiss, Esq., and (b) Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor, LLP, Rodney Square, 1000 North King Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, Attn: Michael R. Nestor, dered with sinister topical fer- Esq. and Robert F. Poppiti, Jr., Esq.; (ii) counsel to the Committee, Pachulski Stang Ziehl & Jones LLP, 919 Market Street, 17th Floor, P.O. Box 8705, Wilmington, Delaware vor. When Arthur, on the eleva- 19899, Attn: Robert J. Feinstein, Esq. and Maxim B. Litvak, Esq.; (iii) counsel to the Prepetition Lenders, (a) Paul Hastings LLP (x) 1999 Avenue of the Stars, 27th Floor, Los tor, connects with Sophie (Zazie Angeles, California 90067, Attn: Susan Williams, Esq. and (y) 200 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10166, Attn: Andrew V. Tenzer, Esq., and (b) Ashby & Geddes, P.A., 500 Delaware Avenue, 8th Floor, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, Attn: Bill Bowden, Esq.; and (iv) the U.S. Trustee, J. Caleb Boggs Building, 844 King Street, Suite 2207, Lockbox Beetz), his neighbor, the two take 35, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, Attn: Linda Richenderfer, Esq.

VARIETY.COM turns miming Travis Bickle’s fin- 5. Release, Injunction, and Exculpation Provisions Contained in Plan. Article IX of the Plan contains certain release, injunction, and exculpation provisions. You should carefully review the Plan, including these provisions, as your rights may be affected. ger-gun-against-the-head suicide 6. Copies of the Plan and Related Documents. Copies of the Plan, the Disclosure Statement, the Disclosure Statement Order, and related documents are available gesture, which becomes the film’s for review at www.donlinrecano.com/Clients/orf/Index, or upon request to the Debtors’ Voting Agent by email to [email protected] or by telephone at (212) 771- 1128. key motif. It’s a way of saying: Dated: August 22, 2019, /s/ Ian J. Bambrick , YOUNG CONAWAY STARGATT & TAYLOR, LLP, Rodney Square, 1000 North King Street, Wilmington, Delaware 19801, Tel: This is what America has come (302) 571-4757 -and- KLEE, TUCHIN, BOGDANOFF & STERN LLP, 1999 Avenue of the Stars, 39th Floor, Los Angeles, California 90067, Tel: (310) 407-4000, Counsel for the Debtors and Debtors in Possession to — a place where people feel like blowing their brains out. The 1 The Debtors and the last four digits of their respective federal taxpayer identification numbers are as follows: Open Road Films, LLC (4435-Del.); Open Road Releasing,

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER LLC (4736-Del.); OR Productions LLC (5873-Del.); Briarcliff LLC (7304-Del.); Open Road International LLC (4109-Del.); and Empire Productions LLC (9375-Del.). The relationship between Arthur and Debtors’ address is 1800 Century Park East, Suite 600, Los Angeles, CA 90067. Sophie doesn’t track if you think 2 All capitalized terms used but not otherwise deﬁned herein shall have the meaning provided to them in the Plan.

88 about it too much, but it’s a refer- BROS. TAVERNISE/WARNER NIKO WORK IN FILM? GET INVOLVED

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0903 WV Stacked Ads_BIFF & RE GUIDE HOUSE AD.indd 6 8/30/19 12:25 PM ence to one that itself didn’t totally track, again in “Taxi Driver”: the link, however fleeting, between Travis and Cybill Shep- herd’s Betsy. Arthur, in a funny way, hides his brains (they’re revealed only when he passes through the looking glass of villainy). He’s got a piece missing. But what fills the space is violence. Many have asked, and with good reason: Do we need another Joker movie? Yet what we do need — badly — are comic book films that have a vérité gravitas, that unfold in the real world, so that there’s something more dramatic at stake than whether the film in question is going to rack up a billion-and-a-half dollars worldwide. “Joker” manages the nimble feat of telling the Joker’s origin story as if it were unprecedented. We feel a tingle when Bruce Wayne comes into the picture; he’s there less as a force than an omen. And we feel a deeply deranged thrill when Arthur, having come out the other side of his rage, emerges wearing smeary makeup, green hair, an orange vest and a rust-colored suit. When he dances on the long concrete stairway near his home, like a demonic Tough Michael Jackson, with Gary Glitter’s Enough TV REVIEW “Rock and Roll Part 2” bopping on the Merritt BY DANIEL D’ADDARIO soundtrack, it’s a moment of transcen- Wever and Toni dent insanity, because he’s not trying to Collette are be “the Joker.” He’s just improvising, going tenacious Unbelievable with the flow of his madness. And when police officers in he gets his fluky big shot to appear on TV, “Unbelie- we think we know what’s going to happen vable.” (that he’s destined to be humiliated), but Limited series: Netflix (eight episodes, all reviewed); Sept. 13 what we see, instead, is a monster reborn Cast: Toni Collette, Merritt Wever, Kaitlyn Dever with a smile. And lo and behold, we’re on his side. Because the movie does something that flirts with danger — it gives evil a clown-mask makeover, turning it

VARIETY.COM into the sickest possible form of cool. he top-billed stars of “Unbe- the entire eight-episode run — belong to lievable” don’t appear at all Kaitlyn Dever, a phenomenally talented in the first episode. young performer who brings to life the CREDITS: A Warner man, Jason Cloth, Film Festival (Com- Bros. release of a Joseph Garner, petition), Aug. 31, Emmy winners Toni Col- consequences of violence and of mis- DC Films production Aaron L. Gilbert, 2019. MPAA Rating: T in association with Walter Hamada, R. Running time: lette and Merritt Wever trust of women. Her life is marked twice, Village Roadshow Michael E. Uslan. 122 MIN. Cast: Joa- Pictures, BRON Director: Todd Phil- quin Phoenix, Rob- are the big names in this limited series, first by the crime she suffers and then Creative, A Joint lips. Screenplay: ert De Niro, Fran- Effort. Produc- Phillips, Scott Sil- ces Conroy, Zazie playing police officers who team up by the protracted inability of society to ers: Bradley Coo- ver. Camera (color, Beetz, Brett Cullen,

SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER per, Emma Tillinger widescreen): Law- Brian Tyree Henry, to solve the case of a serial rapist. But believe her. Koskoff, Todd Phil- rence Sher. Editor: Marc Maron, Dante lips. Executive pro- Jeff Groth. Music: Pereira-Olson, Doug- the first hour — and the viewer’s most The series, an adaptation of a Pulit- ducers: Richard Hildur Gudnadóttir. las Hodge, Sharon 90 Baratta, Bruce Ber- Reviewed at Venice Washington strongly held sympathies throughout zer-winning ProPublica and Marshall BETH DUBBER/NETFLIX Music forScreens Fall 2019

Music for Screens goes live on October 29 as Variety presents its second annual summit focused on the intersection of music and visual media. To accompany the event, the Music for Screens fall feature will preview the day’s programming and address the pressing issues facing music supervisors, songwriters, executives and creators as they navigate an increasingly disruptive digital world.

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CONTACT JUDI PULVER (323) 654-5433 [email protected] True to To bring one wrongdoer to jus- Herself tice before he can do yet more Kaitlyn Dever harm. The series, whose produc- stars as rape ‘Unbelievable,’ at its survivor ers include “Erin Brockovich” best, is focused less Marie. writer Susannah Grant, Katie on the system at large Couric and the real Marie (the than on one individual name she went by in the jour- ground up by it.” nalistic account of her story), feels like a crusade, the power of which is drawn both from the Project story that feels almost belief that Marie was wronged too painful to have been true, and by her tremulous but grow- begins in an aftermath: Dev- ing faith in herself, movingly er’s Marie, comforted by her for- portrayed by Dever. mer foster mother (Elizabeth Elsewhere, Collette and Marvel), is telling a story of hav- (especially) Wever bring plenty ing her home invaded by a rap- of themselves to an odd-cou- ist who undertook an hours-long ple routine that might in other assault on her. (It’s a siege on her hands seem stale: Collette’s a body and spirit that we, merci- hard-nosed individualist; Wev- fully, see only in short glimpses er’s a nurturer who knows how of memory.) to speak to victims, as she does From the earliest stages of the in scenes that show the soft- investigation, Marie finds her- ness and heart that lie behind self put to the test by author- homes, she had moved out on cannot believe to be true, because Wever’s usual tough attitude ities whose methods and atti- her own and begun a job — and Dever’s crystalline performance on screen. But aspects of the tudes seem to lie somewhere now becomes a spiraling eddy provides a certainty that the law show’s depiction of the race to between spuriousness and outof repetitious communications cannot, and because, in their justice feel nearly as disconcert- right scorn. “Again?” she asks a with cops who care less about plotline, Collette and Wever are ing as its depiction of the mis- nurse who demands she give tes- finding justice than about pok- working to find a man whose handling of Marie’s case feel timony. “I already told the cop. ing holes in her story. crimes fit a very specific pattern. assured. The tendency to treat Two cops.” Marie’s independent Marie eventually faces charges Their investigation breaches, at any method as within bounds life had only just begun — after against her for filing a false times, the letter of the law, ani- in pursuit of a larger sort of jus- turbulent years moving between report — a charge that we doubly mated as it is by a larger goal: tice is both big-hearted and troubling if thought through. And in later installments, the show depicts at some length a victim impact statement. It’s a moving bit of acting that is an admirably righteous-minded extension of the spirit of “Unbe- lievable,” but it pushes past the tendency of such statements to stack the deck. Even monsters, MORE THAN CHICAGO, IL in our legal system, have the JUST ANOTHER right to a fair trial. lming Yet, “Unbelievable,” at its PRETTY BEACH. best, is focused less on the sys- With literally a world of diverse locations, tem at large than on one indi- free permitting, a turnkey infrastructure and vidual ground up by it. It tells its story — directed in the first few beaucoup industry incentives, lmwe make fi your production in Greater Fort Lauderdale installments by Lisa Cholodenko sunny.org/fi exceptional — from every angle. See the with lack of adornment or nar- unexpected at LOS ANGELES, CA rative excess — without flash and with a humanistic sense of VENICE BEACH, CA the ways in which Marie suffers. TOMBSTONE, AZ Unlike fellow Netflix streamer “13 Reasons Why,” there’s no relish here, no sense that a HUDSON BAY, CANADA young woman’s pain is inher- ently entertaining. This series has things it wants to say: That ROCKPORT, MA it says them plainly is a virtue, SUGAR PLANTATION, JAMAICA

VARIETY.COM and allows us to see the story more clearly. As a document of trauma, overcome both through justice and through a hard-won ﬁght to ﬁnd self-worth, “Unbe- lievable” soars. THE AMAZON, BRAZIL

CREDITS: Executive pro- Chabon, Katie Couric, Rich- SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER ducers: Susannah Grant, ard Tofel, Neil Barsky, CHURCHILL DOWNS, KY Sarah Timberman, Carl Robyn Semien, “Marie.” 60 Beverly, Lisa Cholodenko, MIN. Cast: Toni Collette, Ayelet Waldman, Michael 92 Merritt Wever, Kaitlyn Dever BETH DUBBER/NETFLIX #VARIETYENTTECH

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You recorded for Decca, you have hit records. I your sister’s label, and loved singing and I were produced by Owen loved what I was doing, FINAL CUT Bradley, who also produced though I probably did your sister’s classic more things because the records. Sounds like a lot agency wanted it than of pressure straight out of because I enjoyed it. My the gate. sister was more ambi- My ﬁrst record, “I’ve Cried tious. I watched her work the Blues Right out of My herself into the hospital, Eyes,” was actually writ- and I didn’t want that. I ten by Loretta. She also thought, “Nope, I’m not wrote some other songs going to kill myself.” I recorded. That was a time when they leaned What would you have done on having Loretta on the if you hadn’t become a team helping me. They country singing star? wanted me to do what I would have become the she wanted. And I knew I head of the FBI or some- was only there because I thing like that. was her sister. That’s quite an ambition! But it wasn’t really working. I know it wouldn’t Starting in the business have been easy, being was fun. I got to work a woman. I probably with Owen Bradley. I would have started as was scared every min- a secretary. But I would ute I was around him, but have worked my way up those were fun times. to the top!

Until it wasn’t. Thankfully for your fans, Not when it’s clear you’re UA Records signed you, not going to be on the and you started making label. People tell you hit records with producer things, and then you see Allen Reynolds. they’re not telling the I loved Allen’s writ- truth. It was only a three- ing, and his songs fit year contract that was my voice. He was some- put together by Loret- one I didn’t think I was ta’s husband, Mooney. going to find in Nash- We ended that deal by ville. The first thing was, mutual agreement. I was he always asked me if I actually thinking about liked the songs. He val- not pursuing a career. ued my opinion. And I’d sing, and he’d say, That’s surprising to hear. “Let’s try it another way.” Did being Loretta Lynn’s He was very wise, and sister prepare you for the I knew right away that MY FIRST TIME IN VARIETY difficulties? he knew what he was I grew up with my sis- talking about. We worked ter in the business. So I in a way that was very thought, “This is simple. refreshing compared to Crystal Gayle You just go to Nashville a lot of what goes on in “People tell you things, and then you see they’re not and record songs, and Nashville. telling the truth. It was only a three-year contract that was put together by Loretta’s husband, Mooney.”

With her self-titled debut album for United Artists Records in Nashville nearly 45 years ago, singer Crystal Gayle immediately established a winning sound that would take the 24-year-old younger sister of country music legend Loretta Lynn repeatedly to the top of the music charts. Hit records such as “Wrong Road Again,” “I’ll Get Over You,” “When I Dream,” “Half the Way,” “Talking in Your Sleep” and the ubiquitous jazz-ﬂavored ballad “Don’t It Make My Brown Eyes Blue” erased all VARIETY.COM shadows cast over her career by her big sister. Gayle releases her ﬁrst new album in 16 years this month, “You Don’t Know Me: Classic Country.” But she arrived in the pages of Variety 47 years ago, on Oct. 25, 1972, when rights org SESAC was celebrating one of the singles from her short-lived association with Decca Records. SEPTEMBER 3, 2019 SEPTEMBER

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