Hundreds of Thousands of Entertainment Industry Workers Are Jobless Amid the Economic Wreckage of the Pandemic

HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY WORKERS ARE JOBLESS AMID THE ECONOMIC WRECKAGE OF THE PANDEMIC

BY BRENT LANG AND GENE MADDAUS P.26

APRIL 29, 2020 US $9.99 JAPAN ¥1280 CANADA $11.99 CHINA ¥80 UK £ 8 HONG KONG $95 EUROPE €9 RUSSIA 400 AUSTRALIA $14 INDIA 800 MICHAEL SCHNEIDER VARIETY’S EMMY® EXPERT

Michael Schneider has covered the business of television for over 25 years creating content & commentary that TV award voters trust.

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AWARD SEASON ARTICLES DISTRIBUTED ACROSS VARIETY PLATFORMS READ. WATCH. LISTEN. SHARE. CINEMA VÉRITÉ Small businesses, like this Coxsackie, N.Y., drive-in theater, are especially hard hit by the coronavirus lockdown.

P.2 6 P.3 2 P.4 4 Pandemic’s Price All Joking The Essential Hollywood’s actors, artisans and below-the-line crew Aside for Now Val Kilmer Comedy clubs and schools across the A look at the actor’s genre-spanning members have been heavily affected by the lockdown. country have had to shutter due to the career in such films as “Top Gun,” And their post-shutdown prospects are looking grim. coronavirus crisis, with no end in sight. “Tombstone,” “Heat” and “Real Genius.” By BRENT LANG and GENE MADDAUS By ELAINE LOW and JOE OTTERSON By JENELLE RILEY (COVER) ILLUSTRATION BY MARC ASPINALL; (THIS PAGE) LEV RADIN/PACIFIC PRESS/SHUTTERSTOCK LEV RADIN/PACIFIC (THIS PAGE) ASPINALL; MARC BY ILLUSTRATION (COVER)

VARIETY 3 CONTENTS

TOP BILLING

13 RAISING THE CURTAIN NATO chief John Fithian eyes plan for reopening theaters in July — with a few caveats

18 KUDOS AND COVID-19 The global pandemic will certainly change how Oscar campaigns are handled

20 THE BIG TICKET Variety’s Marc Malkin talks with Jack Osbourne about Ozzy doc and “Osbournes” reboot

EXPOSURE ALSO INSIDE 21 DEVOUR Family-friendly film “Abe” cooks up harmony via cultural 8 traditions in the kitchen FIELD NOTES Musings 25 DIRT on hot topics Music star Pharrell spends P.3 7 about $30 million for an 9 estate in Coral Gables, Fla. PLUGGED IN “The Social Dilemma” is What’s trending one of the documentaries at Variety.com that will be featured in FOCUS a Variety and DocLands 10 virtual panel discussion CLOSE UP The big picture 42 SXSW REBORN The fest, canceled last month P.2 3 due to the coronavirus, goes virtual with Amazon partnership Sports stars Lindsey Vonn and P.K. Subban make real estate moves ARTISANS

50 LIFE THROUGH TECH Amazon series “Upload” imagines a future where the dead can live on virtually

51 WETA’S WORKING The New Zealand-based VFX house took early steps as the coronavirus crisis grew

52 OLD ‘HOLLYWOOD’ Production crew helps Netflix’s limited series travel back to the 1940s. SCHMELZER; POPE & HOLLYWOOD: SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX (2) ADYANI/NETFLIX SAEED POPE & HOLLYWOOD: SCHMELZER;

REVIEWS “One of my first questions for [Ryan Murphy] was about how we’re P.5 5 talking about this black gay man 55 TV who had to exist in a different way “Hollywood” in the ’40s than right now. I wanted “Hollywood” to be very conscious of that.” 57 FILM review Jeremy Pope on his role in the new Netflix limited “Extraction” series “Hollywood,” streaming May 1 P.58 SOCIAL DILEMMA: -EXPOSURE LABS; VONN’S HOUSE: JOE LABS; VONN’S -EXPOSURE SOCIAL DILEMMA:

4 VARIETY - IN MEMORIAM -

JORGE CAMARA 1936-2020

HFPA PRESIDENT 1978-80 1984-86 2007-09

42nd Golden Globe Awards, 1985 66th Golden Globe Awards, 2009

Jorge, We will miss you.

The members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association

Untitled-3 1 4/27/20 3:02 PM Michelle Sobrino-Stearns

GROUP PUBLISHER & CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER

SALES MARKETING Donna Pennestri Dea Lawrence ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER Claudia Eller MILLIE CHIAVELLI JOHN ROSS SVP, SALES & GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS VP, FEATURES & EVENTS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DAWN ALLEN TIM BOYER VP, FILM & TALENT Andrew Wallenstein CREATIVE DIRECTOR MICHELLE FINE-SMITH CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST & PRESIDENT, VARIETY INTELLIGENCE PLATFORM VP, GLOBAL CONSUMER PARTNERSHIPS SUSANNE AULT DIRECTOR, PROGRAMMING EDITORIAL FEATURES JASON GREENBLATT Lesley McKenzie Steven Gaydos VP DIGITAL SALES DAYNA WOLPA DIRECTOR, EVENT MARKETING MANAGING EDITOR EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, GLOBAL CONTENT ERIC LEGENDRE CO-MANAGING DIRECTOR, DAVID S. COHEN ANDREW BARKER INTERNATIONAL SALES SENIOR PRODUCER, Cynthia Littleton SENIOR FEATURES WRITER LINDSEY ELFENBEIN VARIETY CONTENT STUDIO BUSINESS EDITOR PETER CARANICAS MANAGING DIRECTOR, GLOBAL SUMMITS HOLLY DILLON DANIEL HOLLOWAY MANAGING EDITOR, FEATURES & STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS SENIOR PRODUCER, EXECUTIVE EDITOR, TV SHALINI DORE KATE ROACH VARIETY CONTENT STUDIO BRENT LANG FEATURES NEWS EDITOR SALES DIRECTOR JAMIE ARONSON EXECUTIVE EDITOR, FILM & MEDIA HENRY DEAS DIANE GARRETT DIRECTOR, DIRECTOR, MARKETS & FESTIVALS SHIRLEY HALPERIN EDITOR, FEATURES EVENT MARKETING EXECUTIVE EDITOR, MUSIC PATRICE ATIEE CAROLE HORST EMMA SCHMIDT MANAGING EDITOR, FEATURES DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS RAMIN SETOODEH MANAGER, EVENT MARKETING NEW YORK BUREAU CHIEF JENELLE RILEY JUDI PULVER LAURYN KISTNER ASSOCIATE FEATURES EDITOR DIRECTOR, MUSIC ADVERTISING KATE AURTHUR SENIOR BRAND MARKETING MANAGER EDITOR-AT-LARGE MALINA SAVAL CHRISTIE RICCI DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT BIANCA CALOCA MANORI RAVINDRAN EDITOR, FEATURES ASSOCIATE MANAGER, INTERNATIONAL EDITOR VALERIE FATEHI DANIELLE TURCHIANO EVENT MARKETING DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS CONTACT PMC SENIOR FEATURES EDITOR, TV AMY JO LAGERMEIER ALEX BULLARD JEM ASWAD CHRIS WILLMAN » Los Angeles DIRECTOR, STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS MANAGER, FEATURES SENIOR MUSIC EDITOR EDITOR, FEATURES 11175 Santa Monica Blvd., CRISTINA QUITANIA WHITNEY CINKALA Los Angeles, CA 90025 GORDON COX ART & PHOTOGRAPHY MANAGER, SUMMITS & ASSOCIATE BRAND MANAGER +1 323-617-9100 LEGIT EDITOR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS JENNIFER DORN VICTORIA LENNOX » Chicago MARK DAVID PHOTO DIRECTOR KEVIN TAGUE MEDIA PARTNERSHIPS ASSOCIATE 20 West Kinzie St REAL ESTATE EDITOR MANAGER, CONSUMER BRAND TED KELLER Chicago, IL 60654 PARTNERSHIPS HANNA HENSLER MATT DONNELLY DESIGN DIRECTOR MARKETING COORDINATOR SENIOR FILM WRITER SOUMAYA CASSAM-CHENAI » Nashville ELLIOT STOKES INTERNATIONAL SALES MAYA STEINBERG 501 Union St BILL EDELSTEIN ART DIRECTOR & MARKETING MANAGER Nashville, TN 37219 EVENT MARKETING COORDINATOR ASSOCIATE EDITOR JAMES SLOCUM NATASHA MILLMAN » New York TERRY FLORES SPECIAL PROJECTS ART DIRECTOR ASSOCIATE MANAGER, ROBYN OZAKI 475 Fifth Avenue SENIOR EDITOR STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS DESIGNER HALEY KLUGE New York, NY 10017 SEAN SOPER TIM GRAY DEPUTY ART DIRECTOR CASEY KWAN +1 212-213-1900 ASSOCIATE MANAGER, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT JUNIOR DESIGNER RICHARD MALTZ STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIPS » London SENIOR PHOTO EDITOR MAE HAMILTON STEFAN NICOLL LUANA PINTO 11 Golden Square EDITORIAL ASSISTANT, DIRT.COM ALEX GITMAN ACCOUNT MANAGER JUNIOR DESIGNER London, England PHOTO EDITOR (SPAIN, PORTUGAL, LATIN AMERICA) W1F 9JB ANGELIQUE JACKSON PRODUCTION & CIRCULATION EVENTS & LIFESTYLE PRODUCER TARRYN SILVER WILLIAM LIN » Paris PRODUCTION DESIGNER SALES EXECUTIVE, ASIA JUSTIN KROLL ELLEN DEALY 11 Rue Royale WRITER MICHAEL BUCKNER KIMBERLY CERVANTES VP, AUDIENCE MARKETING Paris, France 75008 CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER SALES PLANNING MANAGER ELAINE LOW NATALIE LONGMAN » Milan SENIOR TV WRITER ONLINE AMANDA SCHULZE PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Via Albricci, 7 MEDIA PLANNER 20122 Milan, Italy GENE MADDAUS Stuart Oldham MIKE PETRE SENIOR MEDIA WRITER ISABELLA DALENA EDITOR, VARIETY.COM SALES & MARKETING COORDINATOR DIRECTOR, DISTRIBUTION » Mumbai MARC MALKIN Vishwaroop IT Park, MEREDITH WOERNER SADI KUPERMAN ANDREA WYNNYK SENIOR FILM AWARDS, DEPUTY EDITOR Sector 30A Vashi, SALES COORDINATOR FILM & TELEVISION PRODUCTION MANAGER & GRAPHIC DESIGNER EVENTS & LIFESTYLE EDITOR Navi Mumbai 400703 PAT SAPERSTEIN JAMES MCCLAIN DEPUTY EDITOR » Hong Kong EDITOR-AT-LARGE, REAL ESTATE DAN DOPERALSKI 21/F, The Phoenix DAVE MCNARY DIGITAL ART DIRECTOR 23 Luard Road, Wan Chai FILM WRITER VARIETY BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE Hong Kong MAANE KHATCHATOURIAN MACKENZIE NICHOLS SENIOR ONLINE NEWS EDITOR » Tokyo STAFF WRITER Mark Hoebich ALEX STEDMAN Lapiross Bldg. 4F, PRESIDENT JOE OTTERSON SENIOR ONLINE NEWS EDITOR 6-1-24 Roppongi, Minayo-Ky, Tokyo SENIOR TV WRITER REBECCA RUBIN 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6 VARIETY DocLands “DocTalk from Home” SUNDAY MAY 3 4 PM PDT / 7 PM EDT

A virtual conversation with a selection of ﬁlmmakers from DocLands 2020 moderated by Variety’s Andrew Barker. Conversations will showcase trailers of each film followed by an interactive Q&A with the directors.

Citizen Penn KTF Films Panelist Director, Don Hardy

Dick Johnson is Dead Netflix Panelist Director, Kirsten Johnson

Gather Illumine Films Panelist Director, Sanjay Rawal

John Lewis: Good Trouble Magnolia Pictures Panelist Director, Dawn Porter

Public Trust Patagonia Films Panelist Director, David Garrett Byars

The Social Dilemma Exposure Labs Panelist Director, Jeff Orlowski

Socialism: An American Story Panelist Director, Yael Bridge

TIME Amazon Panelist Director, Garrett Bradley

Free 3-month digital subscription to Variety included with registration FIELD NOTES

Pandemic Hits Industry VARIETY IS OWNED & PUBLISHED BY PENSKE MEDIA CORPORATION Workers in the Wallet Jay Penske CHAIRMAN & CEO

GEORGE GROBAR CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER GERRY BYRNE THIS WEEK’S COMPELLING cover And the governors of some VICE CHAIRMAN SARLINA SEE story by Brent Lang and Gene states, including Georgia and Texas, CHIEF ACCOUNTING OFFICER Maddaus puts an emotional have allowed theaters to reopen, CRAIG PERREAULT human face on the catastrophic though the major circuits are refus- EVP, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT TODD GREENE impact that the pandemic and ing to turn the lights on until at EVP, BUSINESS AFFAIRS & GENERAL resulting economic cataclysm is least July, when they hope to have COUNSEL DEBASHISH GHOSH having on hundreds of thousands new studio releases to show. MANAGING DIRECTOR, of workers who’ve lost their jobs But even when entertainment INTERNATIONAL MARKETS or been furloughed without pay. venues reopen, who knows how long JENNY CONNELLY SVP, PRODUCT These are the people who make it will take for people to feel comfort- KEN DELALCAZAR up the backbone of the film, televi- able enough to frequent them and SVP, FINANCE sion, music and live theater indus- risk being exposed to the virus? TOM FINN SVP, OPERATIONS tries. They are not the A-listers Again, the worst thing for those NELSON ANDERSON earning tens of millions of dollars who have lost their livelihoods in VP, CREATIVE a year, but the workaday actors, this crisis is not knowing when the JONI ANTONACCI VP, PRODUCTION OPERATIONS camera operators, makeup artists, business will come back. REBECCA BIENSTOCK theme park ride operators, stage- Choreographer Alistair David, VP, TALENT RELATIONS hands, crew members and others an unemployed worker quoted in GERARD BRANCATO who work in physical production. our cover story, was in rehearsals VP, PMC DIGITAL ACQUISTION JACIE BRANDES Those who live paycheck to pay- for a U.K. production of “Sister Act” VP, PORTFOLIO SALES check are struggling to pay their and scheduled to work on a music ANNE DOYLE rent and wrestling to get unem- version of “My Best Friend’s Wed- VP, HR “These are the MARA GINSBERG ployment benefits. They are facing ding” in the West End when every- people who VP, HR make up the an unknown future, petrified about thing came to a screeching halt. YOUNG KO backbone of the how long it will be before they can He speaks for so many when he VP, FINANCE get back to work. says, “It’s not knowing the end of GABRIEL KOEN film, television, VP, TECHNOLOGY Production across the globe has this that’s unbearable. There’s no music and KEVIN LABONGE been shut down for more than a timeline for when things go back VP, GLOBAL PARTNERSHIPS & LICENSING live theater month now, with still no clarity to normal. I’m just staring into the NOEMI LAZO industries. … VP, CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE about when cameras will start roll- abyss of the unknown.” AND MARKETING OPERATIONS They are facing ing or when most cinemas will BRIAN LEVINE VP, REVENUE OPERATIONS an unknown reopen and Broadway, Off Broad- future, petrified JUDITH R. MARGOLIN way and London’s West End stages VP, DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL about how long will go live again. Some companies JULIE TRINH it will be before are drawing up back-to-work plans VP, GLOBAL TAX LAUREN UTECHT they can get for what sets might look like with Claudia Eller VP, HR & CORPORATE COMMUNICATIONS back to work.” social distancing measures in place. Editor-in-Chief MIKE YE VP, STRATEGIC PLANNING & ACQUISITIONS CHRISTINA YEOH VP, TECHNICAL OPERATIONS JULIE ZHU VP, AUDIENCE MARKETING & SUBSCRIPTIONS NICI CATTON ASSOCIATE VP, PRODUCT DELIVERY KARL WALTER ASSOCIATE VP, CONTENT Uncovered GURJEET CHIMA SENIOR DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL MARKETS ”Never would I have imagined creating an illustration EDDIE KO SENIOR DIRECTOR, ADVERTISING for our current reality, which very much sounds OPERATIONS like it fell out of a pulpy sci-fi page turner,” says ANDY LIMPUS cover illustrator Marc Aspinall. “I wanted to convey SENIOR DIRECTOR, TALENT ACQUISITION AMIT SANNAD the sad reality that the virus affects us the world SENIOR DIRECTOR, DEVELOPMENT over. I opted for a moody palette, expressions that CONSTANCE EJUMA move and connect with us and the vastness in how DIRECTOR, SEO LAURA ONGARO many are affected — the line goes on and on and EDITORIAL & BRAND DIRECTOR, on.” Aspinall is a U.K.-based lifestyle illustrator of INTERNATIONAL sophisticated, concept-driven work. He tackles KATIE PASSANTINO DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT subjects that range from fashion and pop culture DEREK RAMSAY to business and technology. DIRECTOR, PRODUCT MANAGEMENT

8 VARIETY PLUGGED IN WHAT’S ON VARIETY.COM

companies in Texas would opt to remain Stars of closed. “This is permission to open, not a Upcoming requirement,” he said. He added theaters and other establishments would be allowed TV Premieres to operate at only 25% capacity. That may be uneconomical for many businesses. The major theater chains are unlikely to 76 reopen without the support of major studio releases, which in turn are unlikely to be Jim Parsons distributed until theaters across the coun- Hollywood His Vscore hasn’t made as try are able to screen them. Big a Bang since the sitcom Abbott said that barbershops, hair mainstay ended. salons, bars and gyms would not be allowed to reopen initially, but said he hoped to per- mit them to restart by mid-May. Several other states — including South 47 Carolina, Oklahoma and Alaska — have also taken steps to reopen. Stay-at-home orders Jaimie Alexander in many states expire on April 30. Texas, Blindspot Her score has managed to with a population of nearly 30 million, is by recall five points since the far the largest state to reopen. beginning of March. President Donald Trump said last week he disagreed with Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s decision to reopen that state. Abbott News TEXAS HAS BECOME the latest state to allow said he had cleared Texas’ plan with Deb- 42 movies theaters to reopen, with Gov. Greg orah Birx, who has led the coronavirus Texas Abbott including them along with restau- response at the White House, and had got- Andy Allo rants, retail stores and museums for a May ten the administration’s blessing. “We are Upload She’s virtually assured of 1 restart date. Texans,” Abbott said. “We got this.” to Let a big uptick in advance of The major chains, however, are not The CDC advises that no region reopens this sci-fi series. expected to be open for business until at until it experiences a 14-day decline in the Theaters least July. Georgia allowed its theaters to hospitalization rate. That hasn’t happened reopen April 27; it appears that few, if any, statewide in either Texas or Georgia. Vscore, powered by Variety Business Intelligence, identifies the social have chosen to do so. footprint, familiarity and availability of Reopen over 25,000 actors. For more info please Abbott acknowledged that many • For the full story, head to Variety.com. visit Vscore.com ; ALLO: MARK VON HOLDEN/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; SANTOS: CHELSEA LAUREN/SHUTTERSTOCK CHELSEA SANTOS: HOLDEN/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; MARK VON ; ALLO:

Variety Poll SayS What?

Lack of Sports “Our“O show has always done really well with tackling hot-button issues and ccurrent events. Now that essential workers, people who work at big-box Beginning to Impactt sstories, are really helping us save the day, it’s going to provide us with aan amazing angle on Season 6. ... It’s always tricky when you’re dealing Cable Subscriptions wwith a topic like [COVID-19]. How do you integrate that into our show? With sports on hiatus since mid-March, their BBut we need to. Our world is at the forefront of what’s going on, so we absence is already being felt. Insights firm Maru/ hhave to tackle it.” Matchbox found that among those who cut or “Superstore”“S actor Nico Santos on whether the new season will address the coronavirus downgraded service in the past month, or plan to this month, 14% cited the lack of sports as one of the factors. With events canceled until at least “A lot of girls and boys of color are actually raised in the Western world … June, churn is expected to continue. wwhen their family’s from somewhere else. So it makes you sort of feel iinn the middle. That was the case for me, personally. It’s confusing when 72 To save money yyou’re trying to figure out who [you are]; sometimes you feel like you’re Streaming services provide aan outsider, but you’re on the inside. So that’s a story a lot of people 48 all the content I need ccan relate to.” 18 I just don’t watch TV that much “Never“N Have I Ever” star Maitreyi Ramakrishnan on why her new Netflix show resonates I can download or watch 15 what I’d like to online “Magic“M is genderless. We have all these sorts of genders that we’ve pput on things, and it doesn’t actually matter. It’s not about sex. It’s not 14 Because there are no live sports right now abouta sexuality. It’s not about gender. It’s about magic. It’s about being 4 Other somebody’ss fairy godmother, -father, -person, whatever you want to call it.it That’s what it’s about.” Data provided by Maru/Matchbox for VIP. For more in-depth BillyB Porter on playing the fairy godmother in the “Cinderella” remake ABBOTT: ERIC GAY/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; PARSONS: WILLY SANJUAN/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; ALEXANDER: NINA PROMMER/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK ALEXANDER: SANJUAN/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; WILLY PARSONS: ERIC GAY/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; ABBOTT: data and analysis, variety.com/vip-sample

VARIETY 9 April 26press briefing. days ifwe’re notcareful,” hestated duringan we couldtening that loseinamatter curve of to follow. “All that progress we made by flat- aslow coursereopening, that Cuomo plans rate,hospitalization itmay phased begin region experiences declineinthe a14-day statewide tostay March22. homebeginning York Gov. Andrew Cuomoasked residents 15, according tofiguresfromNYC New Health. pital careat 60—thelowest totalssince March cases were hos- at 1,625,withthoserequiring downward since April 22;onApril 24,new haveThe numbers totrendsteadily begun cases andmorethan1,700hospitalizations. the cityonApril 6,200new 6,withnearly spikedmost in Thepandemic inthenation. 19 andmorethan11,700deaths, by farthe more than158,000confirmed casesof COVID- with amessage for thetimes. shows theLotte New York Palace hotellitup and SaksFifth Avenue inmidtown Manhattan Resolve Building 10 A VIEW FROM BETWEEN A VIEWFROM BETWEEN PRESS/SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTOGRAPH BYLEVRADIN/PACIFIC APRIL 24,2020 NEW YORK Based on CDC recommendations, onCDC Based once a As of April 27,New York Cityhasseen CLOSE UP VREY VARIETY St. Patrick’sSt. Cathedral

GUTTER CREDIT GUTTER CREDIT VARIETY 11 IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

MONDAY, MAY 11 & WEDNESDAY, MAY 13 10 AM PDT / 1 PM EDT

Four virtual conversations with leading entertainment executives about the state of the fast-transforming TV industry.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Robert Greenblatt Chairman WarnerMedia Entertainment & Direct-to-Consumer

Lilly Singh Host A Little Late with Lilly Singh

FEATURING

Keith Le Goy President, Distribution & Networks Sony Pictures Entertainment

Brianna Cayo Cotter SVP, Social Impact Youth & Entertainment Brands Viacom

& more

THE CORONAVIRUS has brought the movie theater business to the edge of ruin. Exhibitors have shuttered cinemas across the The Strategy to country, leaving them without any way to pay the bills. Thanks to the federal stimulus, however, many of those circuits have been saved from bankruptcy, according to John Reopen Cinemas Fithian, CEO of the National Assn. of Theatre Owners. The exhibition industry lobbyist says that owners are still pushing for more government aid, but they’re also preparing to imple- NATO CHIEF JOHN FITHIAN TARGETS JULY DEBUTS ment new safety measures designed to allow them to turn their OF ‘TENET,’ ‘MULAN’ AS THE TIME FOR THEATERS TO marquee lights back on in July with the release of Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” for Warner Bros. and Disney and Niki Caro’s RAMP UP — WITH A FEW CHANGES By Brent Lang “Mulan.” That’s requiring exhibitors to come up with innovative ways to ensure their patrons are adhering to social distancing guidelines, as well as the formidable challenge of making sure that customers feel safe returning to cinemas before medical professionals have developed a vaccine for COVID-19. In his ﬁrst full-length interview since the pandemic broke out, Fithian spoke with Variety about the steps cinema owners are taking to keep their businesses coronavirus-free, what

SIGN OF THE TIMES plans are underway to lure back customers and what he makes The Vista theater in Los Angeles uses its marquee to sum up of Georgia’s decision to reopen theaters before public health ofﬁ- the state of the exhibition business. cials said it was safe. CHRIS PIZZELLO/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

VARIETY 13 TOP BILLING

When NATO was pushing for the stimulus, open and play whatever product they can “Our plans are based on you argued that if it failed, most of your get their handson, but most companies members would be bankrupt. Has it solved that have multiple locations won’t do that the advice of the CDC theater owners’ issues? until they can play new releases. That’s not and health officials.” We’re at the halftime. Many elements of going to happen if you can only show mov- the [stimulus] have been vitally import- ies in one or two states. John Fithian ant, but other components, such as loan guarantee provisions, haven’t been fully Do you have a sense of how many theaters implemented. What has worked is that will be open in Georgia this week? Do you think people will feel safe returning the government has been able to provide I have not talked to one exhibitor who is to theaters? support to our thousands of unemployed going to open up this week. I think people will appreciate the efforts workers through Paycheck Protection that we’re taking and that they will begin to loans. There have been some problems What steps are being taken to ensure that feel comfortable. Going to the cinema is not with the way that this support was imple- people are safe when theaters start show- going to be the same in June or July as it was mented, and we’re lobbying Congress right ing movies again? in January. It’s a different world, and that’s now so that the next piece of legislation There are so many logistical challenges not unique to us. It’s something every busi- will improve on that. The report from the that we’re sorting out. And it’s not just ness is grappling with. field is that some of our members have us. It’s restaurants and bars and any been able to get small business loans, but place where people gather. You have to How will you compensate for the fact that our medium-sized and larger members think about a whole range of risk mitiga- your theaters won’t be operating at full have not. tion. Walking a dog in the park is the least capacity? Will you devote more screens to amount of risk, but going to a gigantic each new release? AMC and Cinemark have suggested that music concert in a crowded venue is the Theoretically that’s something we can do. they will be able to reopen in June or July. most risky. I’d say that moviegoing, like eat- We’ve been having conversations with War- Does that timeline seem feasible? ing out, is in the middle-risk category. ner Bros. and Chris Nolan about “Tenet” Right now, our plans are based on the We’ve put together a task force of our and with Disney about “Mulan.” It’s not like advice of the CDC and health officials, who members, as well as experts on health and we will have had five weeks of new releases project that the number of new cases will safety and supply chains. We’ve sent guid- leading up to those films, so we can devote have dissipated enough by that point where ance to theater owners. Different states will many more auditoriums to screening them. it will be safe to open up with the right pre- have different things in terms of what is cautions. First, they’ll start by showing rep- mandated, but we are trying to think com- Disney and Warner Bros. are taking a risk ertory films. That will allow them to have prehensively. We’re planning for how we by having their films be the first to play in systems in place so they’ll be able to show- open up our seating so we can adhere to reopened theaters. If people don’t show up, case big movies in July. There are possible strict social distancing guidelines. We’re will you let them release them on demand curveballs. One is that the decline in new encouraging companies to lean in on early? cases doesn’t continue or there’s some sort reserved ticketing and to train their staff Our members are motivated to make sure of reversal and that leads states to hold off to prevent congestion in the lobbies. Mem- that these films do as well as possible. We on reopening society. Another is that we as bers are staggering showtimes so every- feel like Disney and Warner are demon- a country and as a global culture succeed one isn’t arriving at the multiplex at the strating their belief in the theatrical model in tamping down the virus, but it comes same time. We are considering innovative by doing this, so we’re going to go the extra back much worse in the winter or early ways to sell concessions in order to reduce mile. I think that traditional windowing next year. If that comes to pass, we’ll have human contact. And we’re making sure will make sense for these movies. They much bigger global economic issues than that employees stay home if they feel sick. will play a lot longer in theaters than they just theaters closing. We’ll be talking about would have a year ago. They won’t open to a depression and not a recession. the kind of numbers they would have a year

TWO-STEP PLAN ago, but there’s going to be tremendous If the recovery is regional and not national, word-of-mouth. People are going to love John Fithian sees with hot spots like New York City slow to cinemas returning “Tenet” and share that on social media, reopen, will that mean that studios will be with repertory but they’re also going to talk about how films in order to hesitant to open new releases in theaters? impressed they are with how seriously the- develop safety Absolutely. Some states will be able to measures that aters are taking their responsibility to pro- reopen relatively quickly. Others may take ready them for vide a safe environment. These films will bigger business. a while. The question is how long will that also have staying power because people will take? We’re not just a national industry. be so sick of being stuck in their houses We’re a global industry. Major studios won’t that they’re going to flood to cinemas. release big, wide-release films if only a couple of states and a handful of countries in Are you planning some sort of advertising Europe are open. They need a wider foot- campaign to encourage people to come print. We don’t need 100% of markets to be back to theaters? in business, but we need a majority of them. Absolutely. Just as we have a task force working on operational issues, we have a task The governor of Georgia allowed movie force working on publicity issues. We’re plan- theaters to reopen on April 27, a move that ning to launch a campaign about how excit- some public health experts called danger- ing it is to come out to cinemas, and we’re ous. What’s your reaction? going to be talking to filmmakers about being We leave it up to each individual company a part of that. I’ve had an outpouring of inter- to make a decision for themselves about est from directors and moviemakers who are when they want to open. Some smaller eager to talk about their excitement in bring-

operators may decide it makes sense to ing about a resurgence in moviegoing. LATOUR/SHUTTERSTOCK ROB

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members have already been mobilized in the guild’s separate battle over packaging fees with the town’s largest talent agencies, WME, CAA and UTA. (In a setback to the guild, on April 27 a federal judge dismissed most of the WGA’s lawsuit against the agencies, including claims that packaging fees amount to illegal kickbacks and are a form of racketeering.) SAG-AFTRA and the WGA had hoped to make gains in this contract negotiating cycle on digital residuals and on adjusted TV series compensation formulas that are out of step with the way production works now. Actors have faced some of the same issues as writers in dealing with what is known in contract jargon as “span” — namely, the expectation that talent can be contractually bound for longer than usual time frames for shows that may produce only 6-12 episodes per season. That has created a cash flow problem for actors and writers who are paid by the episode and traditionally work on 22 or more episodes per season. But with the economy reeling and Holly- wood on the ropes, there’s little doubt that the AMPTP firmly has the upper hand. The conventional wisdom emerging in the creative community is that with more than 26 Studios Wrestle million Americans out of work, the threat of a strike, while already slim for SAG-AFTRA, is effectively disabled for the WGA as well. “There is no way” the WGA would generate With Guild Talks, broad-based support for a work stoppage in this moment, says a veteran showrunner and active guild member. Plans for Reopening The WGA’s frustrations boiled over in public last week when David Young, WGA MAJORS GAIN LEVERAGE AS PANDEMIC-FUELED UNEMPLOYMENT West executive director, asked the AMPTP in a letter to extend health care eligibility for PAIN SPREADS By Dave McNary and Cynthia Littleton guild members through the end of the year. AMPTP president Carol Lombardini said in the letter to Young that she would need to BASEBALL SEASON may have been delayed ever, was the first up, concluding its talks conduct discussions among studio reps, to this year by the coronavirus, but Holly- just days before pandemic-related shut- which Young responded, “There will be an wood’s major studios are about to play a downs began to cripple the global economy agreement when both sides agree there’s doubleheader. in mid-March. one. You people are despicable.” SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of Unfortunately for the performers guild, Labor insiders were stunned, noting that America are simultaneously launching into SAG-AFTRA jumped the line at a time Young’s ask was far greater than what was master TV and film contract negotiations when the entertainment economy has provided by DGA and SAG-AFTRA members. with the Alliance of Motion Picture and been walloped by pandemic shutdowns. Observers said the WGA’s condition on hold- Television Producers. Negotiations will be held virtually, via ing negotiations with a demand outside the The actors guild negotiations, which for- videoconference calls, for the first time scope of the contract could be grounds for mally began April 27, are getting under- ever. SAG-AFTRA is faced with wrangling filing an unfair labor practice grievance with way as studio chiefs keep a wary eye on the a deal in a setting that doesn’t lend itself to the federal government. WGA, which is expected to submit its con- the kind of let’s-take-a-walk interactions Against this backdrop, some industry tract proposals to the AMPTP on May 1 and that often lead to breakthroughs. sources expect the studios to try to get a begin negotiations on May 11. That time- Moreover, SAG-AFTRA talks are coming WGA deal in hand before Hollywood begins table by definition puts a stopwatch on at a time when the leaders of AMPTP mem- to reopen for business in any significant way. SAG-AFTRA talks, although sources close to ber companies are consumed with planning The WGA and SAG-AFTRA both face June 30 FIGHTING MAD the AMPTP insist the organization has the for the gradual reopening of Hollywood, contract expiration dates. But sources also WGA West executive bandwidth to conduct parallel talks with from office towers to location shoots. Some director David voiced some skepticism that the WGA and the both unions if need be. are hoping that process will be addressed Young, shown here AMPTP would be able to stick to the May 1 Rising tensions between the WGA and in an industrywide way through the forum as the union’s chief timetable for exchanging proposals. negotiator in 2008, the AMPTP about the timing of its negotia- of the AMPTP, which is composed of Holly- recently exchanged “You don’t think [the studios] are going tions allowed SAG-AFTRA to elbow past the wood’s largest employers. A spokesman for chilly correspondence to get production back up just to have David WGA for the first time in years in the tri- the AMPTP declined to comment. with AMPTP president Young try to shut it down again,” says a senior Carol Lombardini over ennial queue that unions form to negotiate The WGA is seen as a volatile player this health care eligility talent agency executive who has been closely

TOBY CANHAM/GETTY IMAGES CANHAM/GETTY TOBY three-year master contracts. The DGA, as time around in part because so many of its for guild members. watching the WGA.

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taken me twice as long, and it would have been half as good.” The actor says he finds the voice gig to be “a creative endeavor, and I sometimes suggest adjustments to the copy, so it keeps me engaged. I don’t diminish its level of importance in the realm of storytelling.” The need for self-sufficiency is also boosting tech-savvy performers on the agency roster. UTA clients and couple Nick Offerman and Megan Mullally record their Earwolf podcast “In Bed With Nick and Megan” from home. Offerman uses the same studio to log his vocal performance for the Fox animated series “The Great North.” “Everyone has been learning as they go. One client ended up recording on his iPhone in his closet on Cape Cod for a national commercial, and they’re going to make it broadcast quality,” says Balbo. The bulk of their projects come from feature and TV animation, which has seen an explosion in the past five years thanks to streaming giants Netflix and Amazon, and now Disney Plus and other nascent OTT platforms. Netflix in particular has been gun- ning for a Disney-size vault, expanding from nine original animated series to 30 in the past four years. Episodic animation Mic Check in a recorded nearly 180,000 airings on broadcast and cable last year, according to UTA IQ, the agency’s internal data and analytics Time of Isolation group. Forty-nine of UTA’s clients landed jobs across 37 animated movies in 2019, which earned $1.8 billion at the domestic HOW UTA’S VOICEOVER ARM IS GENERATING REVENUE, PUTTING box office. The agency is hustling in step with its CLIENTS TO WORK AND FIGHTING COVID-19 By Matt Donnelly competitors, naturally. Endeavor operates a considerable team in voiceover and endorsements between holdings WME and IN THE PAST three weeks, Emmy winner unit with agent Sam Stone. “There’s a minor modeling and live events agency IMG. CAA Bryan Cranston booked a job driving down dip because of what’s happening in the works with top brands in marketing as well America’s highways, Tiffany Haddish and overall market, but the volume of that busi- as audio categories like podcasts. ICM also rapper-actor Common staged a roving ness is remarkably consistent.” has interests in the space. date night and chart-topping producer DJ Though not as visible as live-action Clients are also motivated to bring relief, Khaled performed a duet with his 3-year- gigs, the voiceover group brokered 1,500 whether that’s through a scripted laugh or old son for a crowd of more than 300,000. deals in 2019, Balbo and Stone say. From financial measures for first responders. The These gigs happened virtually, of course, a practical standpoint, voice work has Bumble campaign donated $50,000 to local from the safety of coronavirus quarantine. gone uninterrupted thanks to the ease in restaurants and meals to frontline medical But as productions remain shuttered across establishing work-from-home procedures, workers. One client flatly turned down an the globe, ongoing voiceover and endorse- where actors are serving as talent and crew endorsement deal because the prospective ment work from these stars and more are simultaneously. brand would not include a charitable com- bringing client revenue and relief efforts at “Breaking Bad” star Cranston has been ponent, the agents say. United Talent Agency. the voice of Ford Motors since 2018. Bereft “Ford is sensitive to what happens in UTA is one of the big four Hollywood of a slick Los Angeles studio, he’s been our country. In three years I’ve done spots deal-making firms impacted by the eco- recording from a corner in his home office, supporting first responders in the after- nomic fallout from COVID-19, enacting pay on a microphone and mixer he set up him- math of two hurricanes and now a pan- cuts across the board in March to avoid self. Haddish and Common used their cell- demic,” Cranston says. “They are socially the layoffs that have hit some of their com- phones for their date with matchmaking aware spots — well conceived, beneficial petitors. Voiceover work has become a app Bumble. Khaled and son conceived a and creative.” cash-generating silver lining as hundreds song about the importance of hand-wash- Stone acknowledged that when the of actors, writers, directors, artisans and ing with Dove Men Care, shot in his bath- SOUNDING OFF severity of the pandemic became obvious, public speakers have been sidelined due to room and uploaded to his 19.4 million Bryan Cranston is it would have been easy to bury his head in shutdowns. Instagram followers. among the actors the sand. “It’s the one medium that hasn’t really “I’m a whiz at technology,” Cranston tells on the UTA roster “But we have an obligation, not only to Variety whose voiceover gigs skipped a beat,” says Brittany Balbo, who . “All right, I’ll be honest: My assis- have increased since the clients but to our colleagues, to be pro- co-heads UTA’s voiceover and endorsement tant, Noor Lawson, set it up. It would have the shutdown. active and find revenue,” he says.

16 VARIETY TOP BILLING With John Stankey as CEO, AT&T Stays the Course

THE TELECOM GIANT CHANGES HANDS EARLIER THAN EXPECTED, BUT TO A KNOWN PLAYER

By Elaine Low

THE ANNOUNCEMENT Friday that AT&T entertainment world. WarnerMedia hold- CEO Randall Stephenson would be hand- ings include Warner Bros. film and televi- ing over the reins of the major telecom sion studios; DC Entertainment; a bevy of and media company, after 13 years at cable networks that include HBO, TNT and the helm, took industry watchers by sur- TBS and Turner Sports — and the much-an- prise. But longtime lieutenant John Stan- ticipated HBO Max streaming platform, key’s assumption of the role at the start of which will arrive on May 27. July means that the changing of the guard Moffett says that AT&T’s most import- — however unexpected — doesn’t point to ant business, its “center of gravity,” remains much of a shift in the strategic direction its telecom division. But Stephenson of AT&T as it attempts to enter the highly underscored his focus on building out the competitive direct-to-consumer streaming streaming service in AT&T’s annual report, entertainment market. released April 24, calling the traditional “It almost by definition doesn’t change Hollywood model “unsustainable.” anything,” says MoffettNathanson equity “The old business models in which pre- analyst Craig Moffett of the leadership mium content is created for distribution transition. “Staying the course means exclusively through such traditional chan- you’re still going to try to create the mod- nels as theaters, cable and satellite com- ern media company, where proprietary panies just aren’t sustainable,” he wrote. content is produced by one part of AT&T “Technology is driving these business mod- and distributed by another.” els together, and we believe those com- Stankey, who has served as the compa- panies that can integrate scaled content ny’s chief strategy officer and chief tech- creation businesses with scaled distribution nology officer, as well as chief exec of will hold a critical advantage in the years to AT&T’s entertainment group, operations come.” and business solutions units at various AT&T’s approach with HBO Max, points, has been with the company since described by Stephenson in the annual 1985. He ascended to president and chief shareholders’ meeting as aggressive, is operating officer of AT&T last fall. designed to net 36 million customers this But the timing of the transition raised a calendar year and 50 million by the end few eyebrows; Stephenson had as recently head Bob Chapek would immediately of 2025. as February told CNBC that he planned to succeed longtime Disney chief exec Bob At this stage, the change to the eco- stay on board as chief executive through Iger as head of the conglomerate, well in nomic climate is perhaps likelier to have an the end of calendar 2020. It isn’t clear advance of the end of Iger’s contract. That impact on AT&T’s traditional entertainment why the executive shuffle happened when regime change, which occurred just weeks operations and direct-to-consumer space it did, or how much the ongoing public ahead of the coronavirus outbreak hit- than a change in executive leadership. As health crisis or recent new hires played ting U.S. shores, has proved interesting to Stankey said on the first-quarter earnings into the decision. Hulu co-founder and watch unfold. Though Chapek is techni- call, the company is “rethinking” its theat- ex-CEO Jason Kilar was named CEO of cally CEO, it is the familiar face of Iger — rical model, but thus far is planning to stay WarnerMedia at the start of April, succeed- now executive chairman — that has been the course on the production end. ing Stankey as of May 1. shepherding the company through the cri- “The studios are dark for now, but as Most executive appointments do not sis and working on California’s economic soon as we can resume production, we prompt commentary from the White task force with Gov. Gavin Newsom. plan to get back where we left off in March House, but President Trump tweeted Fri- But Stankey’s ascension announcement with the steady stream of new offerings in day that the changeover was “great news!,” seemed deliberate, even with the coun- the fall and winter,” he said. “We are also speculating that Stephenson was possi- try in the thick of the pandemic, and his deep into planning how priority operations bly forced out, despite there being no indi- first day as CEO in July will come as many will return to the workplace as we come cation that such was the case. (Trump’s states make an attempt to get back on out of this pandemic. This experience will

online griping appeared to be rooted in track. The virus’ severe global economic CHANGING change many things, including customer AT&T’s ownership of CNN.) impact has not left AT&T unscathed, reduc- OF THE GUARD behaviors and expectations.” AT&T is not the only major company ing the company’s ﬁrst-quarter earnings John Stankey (top) Adding that AT&T will “weather the takes over as AT&T with media holdings to make a surprise by $433 million. storm,” Stankey promised that the company CEO in July; Randall change in leadership this year. Disney in What remains clear is the company’s Stephenson held the would work hard to “come out of this crisis position for 13 years. STANKEY: EVAN AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; STEPHENSON: RICHARD DREW/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK STEPHENSON: AGOSTINI/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK; EVAN STANKEY: February announced that theme parks commitment to fortifying its place in the stronger than before.”

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the location has been properly sanitized.” Smaller events will also mean lower The Race to the costs. Money saved can go toward more media advertising and billboard marketing or simply be reabsorbed by the studios Oscars Is Changing to offset the loss of box office dollars due to theaters being shut down for months. One studio executive insists that talks STUDIOS AND CONSULTANTS ARE ALREADY STRATEGIZING with talent haven’t yet begun to explore AWARDS SEASON CAMPAIGNS AND HOW TO PIVOT FOR AN UNCERTAIN how much live campaigning they’re willing to do, but most expect that actors and POST-PANDEMIC LANDSCAPE By Marc Malkin filmmakers will limit their time at events to avoid close contact with guests. In turn, virtual campaigning will likely replace many such in-person gatherings. “I suspect we’re going to have big Zoom meetings with only the panelists’ and mod- erators’ faces, which I think may be better in the long run because when you think about it, a lot of people don’t stay for those Q&As after the screenings,” the awards consultant says. “They’ve just sat through a two- or two-hour-plus movie. They’re tired. They’re hungry. Now you can see the movie and then log on whenever you want to watch the Q&A.” The question of how — or even if — Q&As will live online is up to the studios. For example, SAG-AFTRA does not currently post its awards season question-and-answer sessions on its website, but studios are often given permission to film them for future marketing and promotion purposes. However, that could be changing. A rep for SAG-AFTRA tells Variety, “Moving forward we are discussing ways to make various types of content, including Q&As, available to members digitally.” Another idea being mulled is limiting the number of attendees at virtual panels in order to allow questions from the audience. Reaching older voters will be critical, as many will be wary of attending in-person events and not tech savvy enough to participate in virtual ones. Consultants and studio execs applaud- ON A SUNDAY NIGHT last November, as LAST YEAR’S MODEL 11 Oscar nominations, with wins going to ed the Academy after it announced on part of the traditional awards-season Joe Neumaier Joaquin Phoenix for lead actor and Hildur April 28 that it will allow consideration moderates a panel ritual, around 100 people drove up Mount for “Once Upon a Time Guðnadóttir for original score. of films that are released digitally, rather Olympus Drive to a gathering at the home in Hollywood” with The run-up to Oscars 2021 will than requiring that they have a seven-day of sound engineer John Ross and his wife Quentin Tarantino, undoubtedly look very different. theatrical run, as long as the studios had David Heyman and Nancy for a screening of “Joker.” Shannon McIntosh in Campaigning amid the coronavirus intended to release them in theaters. “It The evening included pre-screening New York in January. pandemic has studio executives and makes total sense,” an exec tells Variety. cocktails in addition to a 10-minute Q&A awards consultants scrambling in war “It’s only fair that while theaters are closed, with director Todd Phillips moderated by rooms to strategize new ways to get out and assuming their plans for a theatrical Scott Cooper. the vote. run were underway, that they have the As guests left the screening room, Phil- “Anyone who tells you they know chance to qualify.” lips shook almost everyone’s hand. If how they’re going to campaign for next they knew him well enough, there was an year’s Oscars is lying,” says one longtime embrace or a kiss on the cheek. Guests consultant. “No one knows what they’re moved on to fill dinner plates at a sushi bar. going to do.” “Anyone who tells you A meat, cheese and bread spread was set What everyone can agree on is that they know how they’re out on a terrace overlooking the city. in-person events like the “Joker” gather- This was just one of many stops on the ing will be less frequent and far more con- going to campaign for campaign trail after the film premiered to trolled for social distancing. “If a screening next year’s Oscars is rave notices in August at the Venice Film room can seat 100 people, maybe it goes lying. No one knows what Festival (taking the fest’s top prize). All down to 30,” another consultant says. those subsequent months of schmoozing, “Invites may now include directives to wear they’re going to do.”

eating and drinking helped “Joker” earn face masks and gloves and assurances that Awards consultant BUMPHREY/STARPIX/SHUTTERSTOCK KRISTINA

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independent film that will consult with the BFI Embraces Rethink U.K. government on best practices to get the field rehabilitated post-lockdown. Other working groups, all formed under the BFI’s Screen Sector Taskforce, are focusing on on Road to Recovery exhibition and distribution, broadcasting and production. NEW CEO BEN ROBERTS EMERGES AS A CHAMPION FOR “This feels like a sea-change moment” for independent film, Roberts explains, INDEPENDENT FILM IN A TIME OF CRISIS By Manori Ravindran “because it’s all about how you build and invest in stability. How do you make a sector financially viable, so that it attracts more money beyond public investment?” THE BRITISH FILM Institute’s newly installed premieres out of sheer necessity during More broadly, the executive says con- chief executive, Ben Roberts, has said one lockdown, Roberts — who took over fol- versations with the government have been “silver lining” of COVID-19’s devastating lowing the 17-year run of chief executive productive, and the working groups are impact on the U.K. film industry is a “radi- Amanda Nevill — predicts this normaliza- compiling “policies, remedies and financial cal rethink” for the financing and distribution will set a blueprint for a sustainable package proposals that will pull us out the tion prototypes surrounding independent model post-coronavirus. other side.” film, which are now operating on a more “There were already disruptors in the While the country’s lockdown measures equal playing field online. sector, but they were seen as outliers doing are set to remain in place until at least May “We absolutely cannot miss this moment something different, whereas now, we are 7, industry insiders predict it will be mid to rewrite what the model — or a number absolutely seeing that all bets are off,” says to late summer before major productions of models — for independent film may look Roberts, who joined the BFI in early March, that can’t easily adhere to social distancing like” while also observing an extensive two weeks before the U.K. went into lock- measures get rolling again. “upending” of release strategies for the field down on March 23 and the industry effec- “Prior to shut down, the screen sectors due to a paralyzed exhibition sector, says tively came to a standstill. were really emerging as a pillar of the U.K. the former Protagonist Pictures CEO and A BFI study published in January economy, so [the government] is as keen as Universal Pictures exec. revealed that spending on U.K. indepen- everybody else to get us back up and work- In the U.K., independent film is largely dent film production fell by 45% to $218 ing,” says Roberts. “The challenge right funded through the BFI, BBC Films or million (£175 million) in 2019 — a figure now is making sure that we have guidelines Film4, as well as an array of small funds. that sat in sharp contrast to the rest of Brit- in place for production that are achievable Securing distribution, let alone a theatrical ish high-end film and TV production, which and affordable.” release, remains an intensely competitive grew 16% year on year to hit record spend- The BFI’s response in the interim has and costly proposition. ing of $4.49 billion. involved a vast repurposing of around However, as more films look to digital Roberts is leading a working group for $5.7 million in National Lottery funding to target areas of need — such as the freelance workforce and the exhibition sector — as well as adjusting criteria on existing funding schemes, such as its $3.1 million Development Fund, to respond to those with more pressing needs for cash-flow and overhead. The BFI, which operates four screens out of Southbank Centre, was among the first organizations to shutter its cinema and is planning scenarios for the BFI London Film Festival, set to take place Oct. 7-18. Among the options being considered are a hybrid model and an online-only venture. “I personally think festivals are going to be a very important way of reengaging audiences with cinema in communal spaces, because it is such a specific experience,” says Roberts. Part of Roberts’ remit as CEO is also to oversee the BFI’s next five-year strategic plan, running from 2022-27. While planning was meant to kickstart this fall, it will now likely be delayed. “We will definitely emerge from this SILVER LINING as a different organization,” says Roberts, New BFI CEO Ben “and the industry will emerge in [a dif- Roberts believes the pandemic has ferent place]. So for now, my job is very led to a more level much focused on a recovery plan for the playing field BFI and the industry, and to make sure for financing and distribution of we get through this particularly challeng- independent film. ing period.”

VARIETY 19 TOP BILLING Jack Osbourne Says It Might Be Time for an ‘Osbournes’ Reboot OZZY AND SHARON’S SON HAS AN IDEA FOR HOW TO BRING BACK THEIR REALITY SHOW By Marc Malkin

How are you getting I’d always had an interest. through the lockdown? When I was a kid, I used to I’m a bit of a prepper, which read a lot of the “Goosebumps” not many people outside of my books and all that stuff. It’s close circle know. I’ve done always fascinated me. tons of survival courses, and I’ve read a bunch of differ- When was your first ent survival books. So when encounter with a ghost? this popped up in January, I was living in our family home I saw the writing on the wall. in England, and my mom I started stocking up on things. had taken my eldest sister to If they said, “You cannot leave school, and me and my sis- your house for anything for a ter Kelly were home sick. We month,” I’d be totally ﬁne. heard someone walking on the

floor above us. I heard someone You were very emotional walking down the hallway and while talking about your dad’s dragging their hand against the diagnosis during one of your door and it going clunk, clunk, interviews in “Nine Lives.” clunk, clunk. I freaked out. I When we did that interview, locked the door, and I called my we didn’t know if my dad was mom on her cellphone. I nearly ever going to be able to perform jumped out the window because again. With that comes a lot of it was coming toward us. I mean fear because it’s like a race- I heard it. My sister heard it. horse when they can’t race any- Clear as day. more: They give up. That’s the fear I had. Now since doing that interview, my dad went and did Have you thought about a another album. It was one of reboot of “The Osbournes”? his most successful albums to I would be lying to say the con- date. He’s going back in the stu- versations haven’t been coming dio when this coronavirus bull- up recently. I think nostal- shit dies down. But there was a gia is such a huge, hot-button time of huge uncertainty, which word right now. You look at all really kind of shook the founda- these shows coming back from tion of the whole family. 20 years ago. The only thing, and what I struggle with, is It seems like your dad has had we don’t all live together. One way more than nine lives. thought I’ve had is, why don’t JACK OSBOURNE was supposed to go to SXSW last month for the premiere of We pegged it to nine lives we all just move in together for “The Nine Lives of Ozzy Osbourne,” a documentary about his dad that he because our director, Greg two months? It’s 20 years later; produced, before the festival was canceled by the coronavirus pandemic. Johnston, says there are nine we’re all moving back into the “We had a children’s choir that was going to sing ‘Crazy Train,’” Jack says. main phases in the film. But house together. yeah, it’s probably closer to 12 “I’m so heartbroken that we couldn’t do it.” to 15 and ongoing. We didn’t So when is this move going The film, which will debut on A&E this summer, details the Black Sab- even touch on the success of the to happen? bath rocker’s long battle with addiction, run-ins with the law and marital new album, “Ordinary Man,” or I guess when someone pays problems with wife Sharon. They were in the midst of filming when Ozzy his song “Take What You Want” me a hell of a lot … because the was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease — something Jack had to con- with Post Malone. And there amount of therapy I’m going vince his parents to include in the doc because they hadn’t yet gone pub- are some other really big things to have to buy into after that is lic with the news. that I can’t yet talk about but going to be monstrous. “I had to kind of persuade both my dad and mom,” says Jack, who that are in the works. There are a lot of good things that are in co-hosts “Portals to Hell,” a Travel Channel show that investigates loca- This interview has been edited and the pipeline. tions believed to be haunted. “I was like, ‘We would be doing this film an condensed. Hear it in its entirety on this week’s episode of Variety injustice to not do this. This is a monumental moment in your life and in You’re in Season 2 of “Por- and iHeart’s “The Big Ticket” pod- your career. … To ignore that, then we should not even be doing this doc tals to Hell.” Have you always cast, which will be available on

because we’d be lying to your fans.” believed in the paranormal? April 30. LATOUR/SHUTTERSTOCK ROB

20 VARIETY DEVOUR

IsitNoah quiSchapp alicipsunt. Volumtries fuga.to mix Tet laudiaesome harmony pore nonserit vollandeminto mealtime as alitis de sumwith eiur, his Palestinian- Israeli family.

Watch Drink Listen Redbird’s ‘Foam and Savory and Sweet Cocktail Kit Flotsam’ ”STRANGER THINGS” STAR NOAH SCHAPP plays the The goods to make two Nogada and Comedian Chelsea Peretti is so two Old Dog, New Trick cocktails inspired by coffee that her clever, title character in director Fernando Grostein Andrade’s are the perfect prelude to this L.A. caffeinated EP revolves around her tasty indie “Abe,” a movie the whole family can watch restaurant’s takeout menu, with favorite fuel, with tracks including before obsessing over what that night’s meal will be. Abe, mixology lessons via Instagram Live. “Oatmilk,” featuring Reggie Watts. who’s 12, lives in New York with his Palestinian father and Israeli mother, and dreams of alleviating the political tensions over dinner with his grandparents by cooking Read something with traditional elements from each culture that will bring everyone together. But ﬁrst, he needs to ‘Pretty Things’ Set between L.A. and Lake Tahoe, master some kitchen skills and ﬁgure out that “fusion” Janelle Brown’s deliciously twisty isn’t the same as “confusion.” Rent on Amazon or iTunes. thriller about a young con woman and a wealthy influencer has already been greenlit as an Amazon series, with Nicole Kidman on EDITED BY PAT SAPERSTEIN | [email protected] board to star and direct.

Musicians’ Weekly Streams Offer Eclectic Mix Spice up your day by Zooming with Rivers Cuomo or meditating with Stuart Murdoch

Musicians offering livestreamed concerts from their Mandy Moore and her husband, Taylor Goldsmith of homes have become quite the cottage industry during Dawes, are sharing their space every Sunday on Insta- this time of sheltering in place, and every day brings a gram Live; a recent highlight was Moore’s performance fresh chance to peek at artists’ pets and decor choices. of “Only Hope,” from the movie “A Walk to Remember,” The sound and video quality of the shows vary widely, which she sang for the first time in 20 years. Weezer’s but at their best, they provide an intimate glimpse Rivers Cuomo has been doing frequent Zoom sessions into a performer’s life and a chance to hear songs that at islandinthezoom.com, inviting fans to chat during the aren’t often performed. In addition to dozens of one- jam session. Meanwhile, Belle and Sebastian’s Stuart Rivers Cuomo offs, there has been an assortment of repeat program- Murdoch hosts a meditation session on Thursdays on the

ABE: AMAZON PRIME STUDIOS; RIVERS CUOMO: IBL/SHUTTERSTOCK CUOMO: RIVERS PRIME STUDIOS; ABE: AMAZON ming, with some even baking in a degree of interactivity. Scottish band’s Facebook page. PAT SAPERSTEIN

VARIETY 21 An Exclusive Screening of

Plus Q+A with series star Martin Freeman & director Paul Andrew Williams

Moderated by MICHAEL SCHNEIDER Senior Editor, TV Awards, Variety

OLYMPIC CHIC $6.75M Lindsey Vonn’s villa

BHPO 5,600 SQ. FT. 4 BEDROOMS

6 BATHS

behind gates on a high rise of more than Winter Sports Stars half an acre, the single-level sprawler has four bedrooms and six bathrooms in close to 5,600 square feet. Dominated by Warm Property Scene a grand, portico-style porch formed by a row of massive, gleaming white square col- umns, the residence is equipped with a comprehensive smart home system and RECENTLY RETIRED AND NEWLY ENGAGED skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn and pro protected by a state-of-the-art security P.K. Subban hockey standout — she proposed last year — are making real estate apparatus complete with high-definition moves nationwide. Not only have they shelled out $6.75 million for a hilltop villa cameras. There’s also a high-tech water fil- in L.A.’s Beverly Hills Post Office area, but the Olympic gold medalist is also selling tration system, a Tesla charging station in her former home in L.A.’s Sherman Oaks, as well as a mountain retreat in Vail, Colo. the three-car garage and, natch, a swim- Built in the 1950s and refurbished in recent years by JR Builders and KNA Design, ming pool in the backyard. Mia Trudeau at Hilton & Hyland held the listing; Vonn and the pan-European Beverly Hills residence oozes with contemporary glamour. Set Subban were repped in the transaction by The Donaty Group’s Jill Donaty. Over the past few years, Vonn has become a property gossip column regular. MARK DAVID In 2017, she ponied up $2.6 million for a THE REAL ESTALKER 4,000-square-foot contemporary in VONN’S HOUSE: JOE SCHMELZER; VONN: BABIRADPICTURE/SHUTTERSTOCK VONN: HOUSE: JOE SCHMELZER; VONN’S

VARIETY 23 DIRT

Sherman Oaks that came up for sale last and his wife and manager, Carla Ferri- John Wells Rides Off month at just under $3 million. And she’s gno, long owned a 1920s cottage in Santa long owned a 7,000-square-foot rustic-luxe Monica’s coveted Gillette Regent Square From Equestrian Ranch mountain house in Vail that’s priced at $5.2 neighborhood. Purchased in 1980 for John Wells, writer, director and producer million, after it popped up for sale last year about $550,000, the property, which could behind a slew of megahit TV series, includ- amid an avalanche of publicity at $6 million. use some gussying up, was sold in April ing “Shameless,” “ER” and “The West Despite their fancy new digs in L.A., for $3.25 million. Described in marketing Wing,” has hoisted a sprawling equestrian Vonn and Subban are expected to be materials as English Revival in style, with ranch in the rolling hills near the town of bicoastal: He earns a cool $9 million a year quarter-sawn oak floorboards and other Kilauea, on the scenic North Shore of Kauai, as a defenseman for the New Jersey Devils. period details, the roughly 3,500-square- with a sky-high price of $40.5 million. The foot bungalow contains five bedrooms and somewhat remote spread, dubbed Wai Kala, 4.5 bathrooms. A detached garage of some comprises five contiguous parcels that 1,000 square feet was, not surprisingly, sprawl across almost 375 stunning acres of converted to a multi-room gym. mostly undeveloped land with numerous The Santa Monica property was listed waterfalls and swimming holes along with with Simon Salloom at Douglas Elliman; a couple of custom-built truss bridges and the buyers were repped by Dev Tailor at two recently remodeled residences. Westside Estate Agency. The buyers of the The largest of the parcels runs to almost Ferrignos’ former home in Arroyo Grande 140 acres and includes the two houses, were represented by Lindsey Harn at plus a commercial equestrian center. The Richardson Properties, while Jeffrey significantly larger of the two homes sits Landon at Cal Coastal Properties repped above a winding stream and, according the Ferrignos in that sale as well as the to listings held by Neal Norman at Hawaii $3.25M purchase of their new home in Arroyo Life, measures in at just over 3,500 square Grande, which was listed with Shane feet with four bedrooms and 3.5 bath- DeBerti at Miramar Intl. rooms. There’s also a chef-accommodating SANTA MONICA 5 BEDROOMS 3,500 SQ. FT. 5 BATHS

Lou Ferrigno Changes Up Property Portfolio Muscle-bound actor and ﬁtness consultant Lou Ferrigno, star of the 1970s and ’80s TV series “The Incredible Hulk,” has sig- niﬁcantly shifted his California property portfolio over the past several months. Last year, he shelled out $2.9 million for a luxuriously appointed ocean-view villa on more than 5.5 acres in the rolling hills above the little-heralded Central Coast town of Arroyo Grande. The gated estate includes a 7,000-square-foot mansion, a heated swimming pool and an 8,000-square-foot solar-powered shop building. Last month he sold his longtime home in the same community for $1 million. Purchased $40.5M almost 18 years ago for about $730,000, the 3.5-acre spread includes a 2,700-square- KAUAI foot residence with three bedrooms and 4,600 SQ. FT. three bathrooms, plus a 1,200-square-foot building with another bath. 6 BEDROOMS In Los Angeles, the former Mr. Universe 5 BATHS

DIGS Drew Brees’ Childhood and early 1990s. Originally built Home Hits the Market in the 1930s, the home has since been aggressively updated, and Sandra Lee Sells Fast The childhood home of legendary its current owners have tacked on New Orleans Saints quarterback a guesthouse and swimming pool. After stewing on the market for Drew Brees is on the market for The property sports a vaguely just one month, ex-Food Network $1.89 million. Located in Austin Southern revival style, with a brick star Sandra Lee’s three-bedroom just minutes from the University facade and four stately white Georgia townhouse has sold for of Texas campus and a short property feels secluded, since it pillars flanking a carved front door. $315,000. The deal was reportedlyy pass from hip Hyde Park, Brees’ abuts Waller Creek, the center Out back, there’s a large wooden put on a fast track to close due to old house offers four bedrooms of a chain of parks in the city. deck and gazebo that offers increasingly tight lockdown mea- and two bathrooms in a roomy Although born in Dallas, Brees protection from the Texas sun sures that could have left the sale 3,000 square feet. Despite its was raised in Austin and lived in and a place to entertain outdoors. MAE HAMILTON in the lurch. proximity to Austin’s center, the the house during the late 1980s MAE HAMILTON STRAUSS/INVISION/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK LEE: JORDAN

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community, children’s entertainer Stevin John, known to kids around the world as YouTube sensation Blippi, has listed his former home in Las Vegas at a soupçon less than $700,000. The foyer features a curved staircase, and the adjoining wall-to-wall-carpeted combination living-dining room extends the full depth of the house. Arranged around a huge semicircular island, the eat-in kitchen is exposed to a family room decked out with a fireplace and wet bar. Upstairs, the ample master suite offers a gas fireplace, an itty-bitty morning bar and a giant balcony with open views over the rolling greens of the golf course. Built in the late 1990s in a generically Mediterranean style, the spacious and $30M well-maintained but otherwise fairly ordinary suburban tract house was acquired CORAL GABLES, FLA. by the relentlessly high-energy performer 17,000 SQ. FT. just over two years ago for $650,000. 9 BEDROOMS Tucked into a gated golf course development near the southwestern edge of Sin 12 BATHS City, the slightly more than 4,000-square- foot family-sized residence offers five bed- kitchen and a cavernous great room that sale price is a staggering 33% discount rooms and three bathrooms. features a stone fireplace and soaring from its elephantine $45 million price tag. At almost one-third of an acre, the cathedral ceilings. The smaller residence, So the story goes, Pharrell had been irregularly shaped grounds accommo- suitable for vacationing guests or a full- looking around for a South Florida prop- date a variety of leisure and recreational time caretaker, contains two bedrooms and erty for quite some time, and moved to options: a built-in grill, a covered patio, a one bathroom in almost 1,100 square feet. acquire El Palmar in lickety-split fashion free-form swimming pool and a freestand- The equestrian center, named Silver Falls because he plans to quarantine there. ing spa, as well as a meandering putting Stables, is included in the sale. A gated drive makes a grand swoop green. The property is available through through mature tropical gardens before Dorothy Brown at Urban Nest Realty. it passes under a porte-cochere to an enclosed motor court hemmed in by the Pharrell Hunkers Down two-story plantation-style mansion, a spacious detached guesthouse and garage in Coral Gables Estate bays for five or more cars. The compound’s Music industry heavy hitter and entre- living spaces comprise more than 17,000 preneur Pharrell has reportedly ponied square feet, with a total of nine bedrooms up around $30 million for a not-quite- and 11.5 bathrooms spread throughout the 3.5-acre waterfront estate in tony Coral main house, guesthouse and boathouse. Gables, Fla., a 30- to 35-minute drive from Miami’s South Beach. As first reported by the New York Post, the seller of the sprawling spread, dubbed El Palmar, according L.A.-Ensconced Blippi to listings held by Dennis Carvajal at One $700K Sotheby’s Intl. Realty, was former Univi- Lists Vegas Tract House sion executive Ray Rodriguez and his wife, Having plunked down a few million bucks Liana, who were clearly eager to sell the for a modern farmhouse-style home in LAS VEGAS 5 BEDROOMS high-maintenance estate. The reported the heart of L.A.’s affluent Toluca Lake 4,000 SQ. FT. 3 BATHS

Jeff Bezos Adds to building, a classic neo-Gothic the tech titan intends to add Manhattan Holdings New York structure that was built it to plans for a mega dream in 1912. Bezos forked over well space. In fact a few months Although he recently backed above market price for the unit, after purchasing those units in out of a deal to nab the late which sold for $11.25 million in June, Bezos filed for permits Paul Allen’s Beverly Hills estate, 2018. It’s the fourth space Bezos to combine them. His plans Jeff Bezos doesn’t seem to has bought in the skyscraper, to expand his New York home be slowing his pace to add having snatched up two other parallel his business interests in properties to his portfolio. This apartments as well as the expanding Amazon’s presence in time, the Amazon CEO has paid penthouse there last June in a the city. The company recently $16 million for a 3,000-square- single, eye-popping $80 million began leasing an office space foot, three-bedroom apartment deal. His newest apartment is in midtown Manhattan that can on the 20th floor of the directly next to his other units, accommodate 1,500 employees. prestigious 212 Fifth Ave. so it stands to reason that MAE HAMILTON

VARIETY 25 BREAKING POINT AN UNPRECEDENTED NUMBER OF WORKADAY ACTORS, MAKEUP ARTISTS, STAGEHANDS, CINEMATOGRAPHERS AND MORE HAVE LOST THEIR PAYCHECKS AND ARE GRAPPLING WITH A BLEAK FUTURE

By Brent Lang and Gene Maddaus

VARIETY 27 A-listers like Brad Pitt and Jennifer Lawrence may make head- MAC BRANDT lines for their lavish paychecks and endorsement deals, but they’re the exception to the rule. People who enter the entertainment business have a high tolerance for risk and are no stranger to side gigs as they hustle to make money while waiting for a big break that may WAS ONE OF THE never come. But when work dried up during the coronavirus, it left them with few ways to earn a living. After all, it’s hard to wait tables when most restaurants are closed. LUCKY ONES. “It’s not like I can apply for one of the nonexistent jobs out there,” says Mo Stemen, a 35-year-old production coordinator on “Fast 9” and “The Morning Show.” “The only company hiring right FOR THE PAST SIX YEARS, he’s made a living purely from acting, now is Domino’s.” appearing in television shows like “Kingdom” and “Arrested Devel- The economic carnage from the closures has exposed how close opment,” and scrounging up enough jobs to pay the bills without to the edge many workers in the entertainment industry were liv- having to tend bar or wait tables. But life changed drastically for ing before things shut down. Paula Owens was employed by Wilson Brandt and much of the entertainment industry in March, when Amusements when she was 15 years old, in one of its restaurants. work ground to a halt as the coronavirus swept across the coun- Thirty-eight years later, she manages the company’s movie theater try. Movie theaters have gone dark, soundstages have shut their in Atlantic Beach, a tourist town on the coast of North Carolina. For doors and productions have been delayed indefinitely, leaving tens her entire life, she never had to worry about her next paycheck — of thousands of people like Brandt jobless and forced to navigate a until last month. The theater closed down on March 16 as the pan- grim economic landscape. demic spread across America. “I was on ‘Station 19’ the other night and people must be going, A single mom, Owens is now at home with her 19-year-old ‘Oh this guy’s on TV; he must make a lot of money,” says Brandt. “But daughter. She’s collecting unemployment — but so far the checks it’s a working-class industry. You have to string together enough have been about half of what she’s used to. work and keep auditioning in order to keep going. I can’t do that “It’s the first time I’ve ever had to ask for anything from any- with everything shut down.” body,” says Owens. “I’m blessed compared to others. Things are paid In the meantime, Brandt has filed for unemployment and through April, but May is quickly approaching.” obtained deferrals on his mortgage and car lease payments. He’s Most people who work in physical production aren’t full-time going to refrain from paying off his credit cards, so he’ll have employees. They’re freelance workers, who move from job to job, enough money to buy essentials. And he’s waiting for a $1,200 stim- which sometimes requires them to decamp for different states as ulus check from the federal government. movies or shows go off in search of the best tax breaks. Their reli- “If I paid all my bills, I wouldn’t have money for groceries,” says ance on a gig economy has caused myriad problems when applying the 39-year-old actor. “So you prioritize. I’ve got two young kids, and for unemployment benefits. Many have spent the past few weeks the other night I was freaking out and thinking maybe I should get desperately trying to reassemble a patchwork of past employers to a job at Amazon.” get some relief. The shutdown has lasted for less than two months, but in that “I worked in four different states, and when I talked to my short time the fallout from the pandemic has brought the film, accountant, she said to apply for unemployment in every state,” television, music and theater businesses to their knees. It’s the says Malatynska. “Monday to Friday, it feels like I’m on this pseu- greatest economic calamity to ever hit Hollywood, Broadway and do-apocalyptic vacation, and I’m buried in my computer trying to other entertainment business hubs, dwarfing the wreckage left by make backup financial plans.” such recent catastrophes as 9/11 and the Great Recession. And it’s Across the country, unemployment agencies have been inun- being felt most acutely by production designers, camera operators, dated with applications. That’s led to website crashes and other makeup artists, grips, stagehands, ticket takers, casting agents and frustrations. It’s nearly impossible, workers say, to find someone to character actors, whose names may not adorn cinema marquees but answer questions — a persistent problem given the difficulty that whose work forms the backbone of the business. many entertainment industry employees face in tracking down pre- In February, the Motion Picture Assn. estimated that the film and vious employers or dealing with the hurdles of being listed as inde- TV industry directly employs 892,000 people. It’s not yet known how pendent contractors. many of those jobs have been lost, but it’s possible to make a rough “They are so behind,” says Mike Testin, a 45-year-old cinematog- guess. According to federal data, about 125,000 of those employees rapher. “You could sit on the phone all day and never get in touch are movie theater ushers and concessionaires — nearly all of whom with anybody, and they’re only open from like 8 a.m. to noon. So the have been furloughed or laid off. Another 170,000 work as actors, window of time is very small, and they’ve been just crushed with so directors, camera operators, lighting technicians, set designers and many claims that it’s hard to actually get somebody — get a human other production workers — a large percentage of whom are also — to answer a question.” not working. Some companies, such as Netflix, WarnerMedia and Viacom, Related industries have entirely shut down. Nationwide, about and unions have started funds to support people who have lost 72,000 people work for theater companies. Some 210,000 people work during the shutdown. That’s helped workers string together a work for amusement parks in the U.S., of which about 150,000 are employed in frontline capacities like food service, ride operations, security and janitorial service. The vast majority of them are now on furlough. In sum, several hundred thousand people in the enter- “IF I PAID ALL MY BILLS, I WOULDN’T tainment business, broadly defined, have likely lost their jobs since the first week of March — many times more than lost their jobs in HAVE MONEY FOR GROCERIES. THE OTHER the Great Recession. NIGHT I WAS FREAKING OUT AND THINKING “I don’t know what’s going to happen,” says Anka Malatynska, a 40-year-old cinematographer whose credits include HBO’s “Inse- MAYBE I SHOULD GET A JOB AT AMAZON.” cure.” “I don’t know what’s going to happen in America when people have to pay rent and they’re not making any money.” Mac Brandt, actor

28 VARIETY (OPENING SPREAD) COLLEEN HAYES/NBC; (THIS PAGE) FOR THE PEOPLE: MITCH HAASETH/ABC; COME FROM AWAY: MATTHEW MURPHY Grand CinemaTheatres isinbigtrouble. now, withthecoronavirus outbreak, the as afour-plex for thepastnineyears. But took over andhasbeenrunningtheplace screen intowns theaters farther north, stepped in. ing aprofit. That’s whenJimBillek owner was stillhaving ahard timeturn- selves torestore it.Butin2010, the movie theater, for desperate arenovation. 1895. later, Acentury itwas arun-down tiny sawmill town ofNewLondon, Wis., in need saving. civic treasures thatalways seemsto something, we’re bankrupt.” Billek says. “Ifwe don’t comeupwith The Grand Theatre viewers; ChadKimball(center,in“ComeFromAway”)developedCOVID-19March. WORKING ACTORS IF COVID-19 RESTRICTIONS AREN’TLIFTED SOON SOME REGIONAL CINEMAS HAVE RECEIVED FEDERALLOANS, OTHERS DIDN’TQUALIFY —ALLFACE HARDERTIMES SMALL THEATER OWNERS HANGINTHEBALANCE The town’s voters agreed them- totax It was builtasanoperahouseinthe “I’m atthebottom ofthetotempole,” Billek, whoalsoowns two single- Mac Brandt,in“WethePeople”(top),isafamiliarfaceto

is oneofthose cially thebank.” going towant theirmoneyfast, espe- now. But oncewe’re open,they’re all and thebankare meright notgoingafter around,” hesays. “Thepower companies coming toshows inorder toturn fast andwithalarge amount ofpeople reopen, theaudiencereturns. sit andhopethatwhenthetheaters with thepaperwork. onhandtohelp ofaccountants team ify, andeven ifhedid,doesn’t have a doesn’t have enoughemployees toqual- was notamongthem—hesays he month by thestimulus package.Billek in federal loansmadeavailable last angling togetasliceofthe$350billion Bill Campbell owns threeBill Campbell theaters “You’d have toopenuppretty darn For now, there’s notmuchtodobut haveSome smalltheaters been By GeneMaddaus most of his staff at least through atleast most ofhisstaff May. tion Program. Thatwill allow himtokeep $100,000 —through thePaycheck Protec has received than asmallloan—less resume operationsattheendofMay. He things have gottoreopen.” employees?’” hesays. “At somepoint back to‘Whatdowe do? Lay offour could beaproblem. unscathed.Butalongerclosureless that time,heexpects toemerge more or ment’s unemployment for my staff.” ployment,” hesays. “I’m thegovern- school kidsprobably won’t getunem- and asingle-screen inMontana. — asix-plex inSheridan,Wyo., andatwin Russell Allenruns Theatres, gofour“If itdoes months,thenwe’re areIf theaters allowed toreopen by “Some ofmy collegekidsandhigh thecinemascanHe saidhehopes workers April onfurloughstarting 19. aroundtheworld andputsome100,000 itsparks last month, tered itonthedole. incomeMarch withasteady andended Disney shut- stark asthat.” of Cinematographers.of theAmerican Society “Itisassimpleand arenotworking,”[our members] says Terry McCarthy, president havebers furloughed. been tors andmakeup artists, that asmany predict as98%oftheirmem- such astheunionsthat representcostume designers, cameraopera- at themercyofreally thevirus.” Rutgers University andafellow Foundation. at TheCentury “We’re Recession,”to intheGreat says BillRodgers, economist alabor at manyeclipsed timesover. 31,000jobs. shed Bynow,ture industry that be figurecould easily Recession.figure fromtheGreat In2008and2009,themotionpic- doubletheworst tocomement number closeto20%—ornearly the officialtally. unemploy- But someeconomists expect the“true” workers for arenotlooking jobs, andtherefore won’t in reflected be tosurge,expected thoughby how muchisunclear. Many sidelined coastal Maine. Minnesotatothelobsterto thetaconite piersof minesofnorthern across theeconomy,spread stores onRodeo Drive fromtheluxury But oftheshutdown. to feel thedevastating thebrunt effect has include hotelandrestaurant workers —whowere amongthefirst five weeks, unemployment claims. 26millionAmericansfiled Those 47-year-old makeup Nine-Nine.” on“Brooklyn artist funds orwhatever otherunionhelpwe canget,” says a IrisAbril, again halted bybe anotheroutbreak. closures stretch onthroughthesummerorifwork resumes, onlyto lifeline, even thoughmany outifthe areworried that cashwill run THE PANDEMIC HAS CAUSED Then there are the thousands of theme park workers Then therearethethousandsofthemepark whostarted hasshutdown“I cansay everywhere, production that because arehardtocome by,Though hardnumbers themajorguilds, “We’ve blown intwo past two monthswhat years ittook toget The April unemployment rate, onMay 8,is released whichwillbe “We’re totallyinastandstill andlivingoff of savings oractors - anemployment crisislike noother. In want from toescape life,” hesays. will return. But eventually, hepredicts, audiences there won’t beany movies toshow. the shutdown. workerstime essential during onstaff The loanwillenablehimtokeep hisfull- loan intheneighborhoodof$250,000. easy tobedone.” taken. That’s very disturbing—anditwas to swallow. Ourfreedoms are being telling you you can’t open.It’s a hard pill having thestrong armofthegovernment [the coronavirus],” Allensays. “And you’re New Mexico, there’s nobodythat’s got backlash ifthingsdon’t upsoon. start N.M.Heforeseesbased inLasCruces, a “We’re gonnahave alotofpeople that He’s worried thatwhenhereopens, Allen says hewas approved for aPPP “Some littletowns ofthese around VARIETY 29 both sides.”both on were happening lotsof tears “There cinemachain. souri-based lough you,’” says Bagby, Brock executive VPof B&B Theatres, aMis- you’ve worked withfor your wholelife andsay, ‘We have tofur- tion workers have lost theirlivelihood. that asmany predicts Owners as150,000exhibi- ofTheatre Assn. inCaliforniait hadlaidoff 2,555people alone, andtheNational that Cinemarkdeclared Onasingleday inMarch, hammered. been stylists could cutoutcompletely.” be the roundsat morningshows andtalkshows? Ifit’s the allvirtual, ofsomethinglikeally instead bigjunkets at thehotelsormaking inthefuture.happen Will studios decidethey could dopress virtu- cutoutoftheprocess,”just been shesays. “We don’t know what will the wake of COVID-19, andit’s coming ifthey’re back. unclear Thosegigshave threetofourjuggles about jobsaweek. upin dried whose clientsincludeKristen andAllison Stewart Janney, usually Thosejobsareinjeopardy.ing. Tara Swennen, a40-year-old stylist eventscrews tooffering tomake upstyle aliv- tipsfor red-carpet casts and fromproviding lunchfor hungry oneverything depends anddressers tocaterers, industry whichorbitstheentertainment ing,” hesays. “Myfriendshave allgiven.” viewers cansendhimtipsviaVenmo. wan- money hasstarted “That where videos”—onlineperformances make $1,200from“tip about rest coming fromplaying inbands. says Disney usuallymakes athirdofhisincome, upabout withthe getting ghosted.” toregister“I’ve —itjust tried intothevoid,” goes ment. hesays. “I’m unable toget hisrentandhasbeen topay unemploy-is struggling gave him$193aweek for thefirst two weeks of He theshutdown. show at Disney California Adventure says inAnaheim, thecompany 30 ica have beensheddingjobsatan nomic freefall, newsrooms across Amer- intolockdowntry andtriggered aneco- Since COVID-19 sentmostofthecoun- be unceremoniously given apinkslip. community, thatitreally threw me.” aboutwhatwasstories happening inmy tion, Iwas goingsohard, totell trying “As ajournalistinbreaking newssitua- the middleofgame,” says Brothers. tective masks for care health workers. from makingwrestling singlets topro- about acompany that hadtransitioned she was letgo, shewas filmingavideo from thecoronavirus pandemic. Theday ever, covering aboutthe fallout stories a timewhenBrothers was busier than Post. Thenewshitherhard andcameat as amultimediaproducer atTheDenver that shewas beinglaidofffrom herjob on assignmentwhenshegotthecall Amy Brothers By BrentLangandGeneMaddaus AS THEMEDIAINDUSTRY SHEDS JOBS, JOURNALISTS WONDER WHOWILLKEEPTHEPOWERS THAT BEHONEST NEWSROOMS INDESPERATE STRAITS Brothers isn’t theonlyjournalistto “It was like you acoachtaking outin “It was pretty devastating tohave intheeye people that tolook with—has tobegin —whichwas struggling industry The theater sowe have viaZoom, donevirtually press tourisbeing “Every There’s business, fromflorists alsoaslewof ancillary tohair- “It’s allgone; it’s allshutdown,” hesays. able to Hehasbeen Howell, whois39,hasa12-year-old and4-year-old triplets. He Marquis Howell, whoplays intheFive guitarandbass &Dime was outoftheofficeand VREY VARIETY resents journalists inbroadcast and weeks ago, WGA East—whichrep- calls for government intervention. Two power toaccount.” fantasy tosay thatjournalismholds politicians getaway withmore. It’s nota creases andlocal,regional andnational westudies, know thatcorruptionin- at ColumbiaJournalismSchool.“From of theTow Centerfor Journalism Digital away?” says EmilyBell,founding director social costtoallthiscarnage. There’s jobless. in somecases, alsoa news workers withreduced or, salaries some33,000the pandemichasleft New York Times recently that estimated loughs asadshave shriveled up. The have institutedpay cuts,layoffs andfur- BuzzFeed, CondéNast and Gannett Times, Reporter, TheHollywood les publisherslikeand digital theLos Ange- alarming rate.Newspapers,magazines The fresh wave ofcutshasledto “What happensifjournalismgoes by 10unions. workers represented with thousandsof agreements April19 reached furlough theme parkandresort the coronavirus.The prevent thespreadof was closedtohelp 14 afterthepark Disneyland onMarch the lockedgatesof Visitors lookthrough UNHAPPY PLACE we’re indeeptrouble.” crisis, news inatimeofpublic health everybody gets laid offandthere’s no ple have. Ifthere’s nomoneyand source ofreal information thatpeo- industry,” hesays. “It’s theonly beyond theeconomicsofnews buybacks orexecutive bonuses. spent innewsrooms, andnotonstock be structured suchthatthemoneyis needssomehelp.”the industry open sotheydon’t advertise. ...Ithink not buyingcarads.Retailers are not are notbuyingcars,soadvertisers are executive director oftheunion. “People pays for news,” says Lowell Peterson, shutting down advertising. That’s what geted atthenewsbusiness. tion callingfor loansandgrantstar- newsroomsdigital —circulated apeti- Bell notes that newsorganizationsBell notes “The newsplays arole thatgoes Peterson argues thattheloanscan “The shutdown hashadtheeffect of arts district Therentisrelatively Arabi. innearby arts cheap, hesays, Last year, byacharitable foundation hewas tomove recruited toan That’s what on.” we survive were doing,” hesays. “We’re notgetting any concessions revenue. itors pay $12for art-house films, of which$6comes tohim. back sole caregiver for.” heimer’s andmy sister who’s whoI’ve become the acardiacpatient, says. “Now I’m stuck at homewithmy 85-year-old motherwithAlz- rephouse.gle-screen Rene Broussard theZeitgeist operates &Lounge, Theatre asin- nooneisimmune.But InNew thisgo-round, Orleans, 56-year-old “recession proof,” duringhardtimes. seekescape people because THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY He has run thetheater,He hasrun oranother, inonelocation for 33years. “It’s butthisisnext towhat we tonothingcompared helping, Broussard isable movies tostream onhistheater’s website. Vis- day“I was working except every Tuesday andWednesday,” he of asilver lining.” received,” says Brothers. “That was sort andpositive Ivibes messages by thousandsofpeople. local journalism.Hertweets were shared aboutherbeliefinthepowertalking of people thatshe’d beenlaidoffand Brothers composedathread informing timescale.”much shorter over thelongtermare happeningona newsrooms thatwe expected tohappen incuts andfurloughschanges ing are accelerating,” says Bell.“All the andtrends changes these we were see- declining subscriberbases. publications have longstruggledwith advertisingdigital revenues, andprint gle have siphonedoffthelion’s share of Valley giantssuchasFacebook andGoo- Silicondemic upendedtheirbusinesses. were contracting even before thepan- “I was surprisedby allthegood On herlastday atTheDenver Post, “What’s isallof scary particularly typicallythinksof itselfasrelatively

EUGENE GARCIA/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK and the foundation has been understanding about the emergency. “THERE’S NO TIMELINE FOR WHEN THINGS “They were great about the April rent,” he says. “We haven’t GO BACK TO NORMAL. I’M JUST STUCK talked about May yet.” Broussard has been filling his time by applying for aid. He STARING INTO THE ABYSS OF THE UNKNOWN.” expects to get $300 from the Will Rogers Pioneers Assistance Fund, which helps theater workers in need. He has been unable to get Alistair David, choreographer unemployment benefits, but has been told to keep applying. After Hurricane Katrina, he says business flourished as young people flooded into the city to help rebuild. This time, though, he’s not so sure the audience will be back. “When theaters reopen, a lot of people will have gotten used to watching things on their TVs,” he says. “I’m determined to reopen if Kimball isn’t done giving back. He wants to donate his plasma, I can — when I can — but they’re not giving me much hope.” so that doctors can use the antibodies in his blood to help others For actors, a lack of auditions isn’t stopping some from getting recover from the coronavirus. creative. Kaitlin Puccio, a 30-year-old actor and model in New York, “My blood is actionable right now,” says the actor. “People need was trying out for upcoming television shows when the coronavi- these antibodies. It’s wonderful that this horrible thing that hap- rus halted pilot season in its tracks. Now she’s focusing on getting pened to my body can do incredible things for someone else.” voiceover work, about the only kind of acting gig that can be done remotely. To get ready, Puccio transformed a closet in her apartment into a makeshift recording studio, outfitting it with soundproofing IT’S UNCLEAR WHEN CAMERAS will start rolling again and theaters and a microphone. will open their doors. Many who have lost jobs fear they will return “It beats trying to record voiceovers under a blanket,” says Puc- to a business that’s unrecognizable. They expect that audiences will cio. “It’s not just about making money for me. It’s about wanting to have to social distance, performers may have to wear masks, and keep practicing and wanting to stay in the mindset of trying to get cast and crew members will have to subject themselves to tempera- work. You can’t allow yourself to stop pushing forward.” ture checks and routine testing for the virus. Production coordina- In many cases, the coronavirus slammed the brakes on busy tors like Mo Stemen say that will require logistical challenges, and careers. Alistair David, a 44-year-old choreographer, was enmeshed will likely add days to shoots and cause budgets to balloon. in rehearsals for a U.K. production of “Sister Act” with Whoopi Gold- “People get frustrated if their name isn’t at the studio gate and berg and Jennifer Saunders. In August, he was scheduled to design they have to wait five minutes,” says Stemen. “It’s going to take an the dances for a musical version of “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” hour or more to get tested every morning and fill out a question- slated to debut in London’s West End. All of those plans are now naire with all your medical information. And I’d assume there are on pause. all kinds of privacy issues with that. Then we have to sanitize the “It’s not knowing the end of this that’s unbearable,” says David. sets and make sure you’re getting companies that are certified to do “There’s no timeline for when things go back to normal. I’m just that work. It’s going to have all kinds of ripple effects.” stuck staring into the abyss of the unknown.” Studios and unions are trying to work out how they can go When the virus first upended life, there was a popular meme back to work with skeleton crews, arguing that reducing the num- on social media reminding people that Shakespeare wrote “King ber of people on a set reduces the risk of exposure to COVID-19. Lear” while quarantined during the plague. David’s friends and fam- That means, however, that even when movies and television shows ily have urged him to be similarly productive during his own period resume shooting, there will be fewer jobs to go around. There are of social isolation. even fears that people will be so desperate to go back to work that “People will say, ‘Why don’t you use this time to write a book?’” they’ll be willing to settle for less. says David. “Well, I’m not a writer. My trade is my trade, and I’ve never “I’m worried people will take pay cuts,” says Stemen. “There’s wanted to be anything other than a good choreographer. So until I can going to be more competition for jobs, and if people are willing to do that, I’m stuck working on puzzles and just trying to get through it.” take lower rates, that puts all of us in a really bad position.” Even if life slowly returns to normal, David is skeptical that peo- It’s also likely to have an artistic impact. Studios, already risk- ple will want to spend time in crowded theaters with strangers who averse before the coronavirus erupted and bruised from enduring may be carrying the coronavirus. “It feels like our industry is going months without revenues, may focus almost solely on making fran- to be really affected, because we literally group people together in chise films and comic book adventures. Those bottom-line decisions a small space,” says David. “Are we going to fill up half the theater? will be at the expense of the kinds of edgy and daring stories that Are we going to make everyone wear masks?” made most people want to get into filmmaking in the first place. As with David, Chad Kimball’s career was buzzing when the pan- “It’s going to leave a big void,” predicts Biz Urban, a 41-year-old demic gripped society. He had a prominent role in “Come From casting director whose credits include “Bunk’d” and “The X-Files.” Away,” the long-running Broadway musical about a community ral- “When studios are greenlighting things, are they really going to want lying in the aftermath of 9/11. But Kimball, 43, didn’t just have to to take a chance on something that’s not tried and true?” grapple with canceled performances and a lack of paychecks. He By the time public health officials declare it safe to return to was one of the thousands of Americans who came down with the set, some people likely will have been forced to leave the business virus. In March, a dry cough developed into a low-grade fever, a entirely. Many laid-off and furloughed workers say that they are only headache and intense body aches. The symptoms dogged him for able to wait out the closure for a few more weeks before having to two weeks, but Kimball was fortunate. He never had to be hospital- look for other ways to earn a living. ized. As he recovered, he took to social media, answering fans’ ques- “I am mentally preparing myself for the possibility that this tions and drawing attention to the disease. could become a long-term thing,” says Steffen Schlachtenhaufen, a “My immediate response to things, as an actor and as a person, 41-year-old writer and documentary filmmaker. “The industry may is to shout about them to the world,” says Kimball. “For better or contract, and a lot of our careers may get delayed or may end. It’s worse, I realized I would be able to put a face to the virus, especially possible that I’ll have to move on to something else.” for people in parts of the country who might not be seeing a lot of cases. I want people to know that this disease touches everyone. It Adam B. Vary, Marc Malkin, Rebecca Rubin and Jazz Tangcay contrib- does not discriminate.” uted to this report.

VARIETY 31 STANDING TALL

The Flappers staff takes the stage with co-owners Dave Reinitz (at the mic) and Barbara Holliday (center). The boarded-up economy has forced the club to lay off 40 of its 51 employees.

32 VARIETY COMEDY CLUBS AND SCHOOLS CONTEND WITH CORONAVIRUS SHUTDOWNS

By Elaine Low and Joe Otterson

No Laughing Matter

VARIETY 33 which offers forgivable tosmallbusinesses tokeep loans their to figureoutthenuances ofthePaycheck Protection Program, over Relief theCoronavirus Aid, andEconomic Security Act Daveloans, says co-owner Reinitz. Flappers Hehaspored applyingfor spent several hasbeen smallbusinesseffort” stay afloat. afloat. stay industrial-size rollsof toiletpaper. that’s Still, notenoughto shows, itnow offers of and pizza,pasta pickup anddelivery in ordertoget by. ofwelcoming Instead crowds for comedy delivery toofferingthat hastransitioned takeout andgrocery restaurant afull-service operates a former MacaroniGrill, and onlinecomedy classes. The10-year-old venue, builton Calif., for example,Burbank, offering shows hasbegun virtual world forced arebeing toreinvent. thosethat wantuncertain, tomake itinapost-coronavirus exist economies andthetimelinefor deeply local reopening grappling withhow tosurvive. With live events to ceasing have across the country been clubsandschools comedy From closed. Newdoors York toFloridaLosAngeles, Americans inunemployment linesasbusinesses keep their tens ofthousandsliveshas claimed andputmillionsof economic victimoftheongoing coronavirus crisisthat New York andtrainingcenter Citytheater April 21,another 34 UPRIGHT CITIZENSBRIGADE VREY VARIETY ¶ An“enormous, enormousamountoftimeand U

permanently shuttered its shuttered permanently ¶ Flappers Comedy Clubin Flappers long comedy festival was settofeature morethan100live events California instituting itsshelter-in-place began order. Theweek- such asNetflix IsaJoke Fest, inmid-Marchas whichwas scrapped mings andChrisD’Elia. al majorstars, includingDave Chappelle, BillBurr, Whitney Cum- money for theclub’s employees andcomedians. sever- Itfeatured Los Angeles show staged anonlinebenefit onApril 21toraise them now.” audience,” Dworman says. “Idon’t thinkwe have muchvalue to success putting upcontent onlinefromhomefor the timebeing. Given platforms theplethoraofsocial available, canfind comedians would winat agreat theendof be allof this for us.” ful onlineformats Angeles community, totheoutside-Los which able tocontinue tooffer tobe hope someofthesemoresuccess- inGroundlings’onlineclasses overenrolled threeweeks. thepast away asGermany andAustralia. Morethan400students have town students inDenver, Houston andChicago, andeven asfar theurgency of improv.” of tohelpfurther someof therules tools great arecoming upwithsomereally andsometeachers learning, deMichele.Groundlings managingdirectorHeather “But we’re inhow islimited itcansucceed inthoseplaces,”and Zoom says physical —throughadigitalbuffer medium hastaken somework. online classes. torefine thelogistics improv of teaching —a Trying isoffering totheshutdown, inresponse &School, lings Theatre core staff hasdonethesamething.” to notmake money andtowork it’s because ourbusiness. But our ourstaff.about Iwant tocry, it’s because onethingfor theowners day. amountsevery in andmakingmeasly But Icannotsay enough andthenwe’re card, est credit borrowing thereandputting money cardandputtingtaking money itonalower-inter- fromonecredit andgroceries. food comedians whoneed have a“gift-a-meal” alsostarted solicitingdonations for program, and half-off discounts toshopfor andsupplies. groceries They supplying thosestaffers month with$200 giftcertificates every “a hardthingtodo,” says Reinitz —thoughheandHolliday are ther intodebt,” says Dworman. payroll andexpenses,payroll andthoseforced toclosemightonlyget fur- according totheU.S. SmallBusiness Administration. throughtheendof processed June, applications arebeing Loan that we “meaning wouldreopen, notget any forgivable at all.” loans Dworman says, could expire theloans before clubsareable to Reinitz’s withthePPP. frustration Theway theprogramissetup, ability tohelpthemandreceive thehelpthat you need.” that theonlythingthat’s aroundyou arethepeople andyour real flowing reality,” —that isasurreal says Reinitz. “It’s areminder inapress conference thatpresident telleverybody themoney’s can expect tohave and I’m ourapplication at, looked watching the what thehellisgoingidea onwiththePPprogramorwhenwe phone withmy Wells Fargo banker tellingmehehasnohonest that hasnotyet acheck. yielded withwhat they characterizefrustrated asacomplicated process Hollidayemployees Barbara are Reinitz onpayroll. andco-owner “The businesses that never willget two“The closed monthsoffree owner Dworman, Noam ofNew York’s Comedy Cellar, echoed I’m“When sitting having inmy just livingroom, gotten off the The shutdown isalsoaffecting thefilming of comedy specials, But somevenues TheComedy Storein aremakingago ofit. “Normally we physical provide atop-notch andalive space For onlineofferings most arenotaseasy. clubsthough, comedy “We tocontinue hope whenwe reopen,” deMichelesays. “We One upsidetothenewformat isthat ithasattracted out-of- “So andcontact muchof andlistening, energy itisabout Meanwhile, for thefirst timeinits45-year history, Ground- “We’re jugglingmoney,” says Holliday. “We’re We’re balancing. forced tolay hasbeen off40ofits51employeesFlappers —

ALL PHOTOS: COURTESY OF FLAPPERS COMEDY (4) AT-RISK GROUP

Flappers’ server staff (left) includes Jeff Helligar (right), who has worked at the club since 2010; below: Joshua Snyder, Flappers’ booker since 2009, with co-owner Barbara Holliday.

at venues across Los Angeles, with many of those to be filmed for and Wisconsin. His roster of regular comics runs upwards of 400. For him, future Netflix specials. the question of reopening involves a web of decision-making that will not For club owners, figuring out how to get back in gear remains only have to factor in the policies set forth by the various counties, states and abstract, given that it’s hard to tell when the world will reopen Native American sovereign nations in which Bonkerz operates, but the wide- for business. The survival of these comedy clubs and schools will ly ranging sizes of each venue. largely depend on how much longer the shutdowns continue, and Like his peers, Sanfelippo is considering spacing out show attendees. But how willing audiences will be to return to confined, crowded spac- that may not be economically viable if he can allow in only 100 guests in a es for entertainment. space that requires him to sell 150 tickets to break even. At the Margaritaville “I think people are going to tread lightly for a while,” says Resort in Orlando, located next to Walt Disney World, Sanfelippo is looking to de Michele. When Groundlings throws open its doors again, its move the usual Bonkerz performances to one of the larger banquet halls that leaders are floating the idea of selling only 50 tickets at a time to would have housed a now-canceled event. their 100-person theater, so that audience members can be more “If the state of Florida sticks with what they’re saying right now, we would socially distanced. reopen Memorial Day weekend and move the 200-seat [show] into an 800- Dworman adds, “I don’t expect long-term consequences to com- seat venue, but still only book 200 seats,” he says. “We’re also talking about edy. The Spanish flu was followed by the Roaring ’20s. But that getting non-invasive thermometers and taking people’s temperatures at the won’t happen until, in whatever way it happens — be it effective door and having them sign a waiver. It sounds crazy, but what do you do? We therapies, instant testing, more precise risk data, a vaccine or any don’t even really know. It’s going to be trial and error.” combination thereof — people feel basically safe going out again.” Sanfelippo, like Dworman, Reinitz and Holliday, has applied to the PPP, Bonkerz owner Joe Sanfelippo produces comedy shows in though he too has not received any money yet. He has put some staff on half- about 20 resorts, casinos and other venues across eight states: pay and is buying them groceries and offering other support. Florida, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, Texas, Virginia For many of these businesses, the lack of clarity around when they can rev up their show schedules again is the toughest part. “We have money put away for a rainy day, but the rainy day can’t be a rainy year,” says Sanfelippo. “The gray area is not knowing. Once you know, you can plan. And if [the reopen date moves] farther away, then you have to sit down with the employees and figure out a way to keep them with you when you’re “WE HAVE MONEY PUT not able to pay them a lot of money.” Moreover, there’s no telling how long-lasting of an impact this will have AWAY FOR A RAINY DAY, on the careers of stand-up comedians working the club circuit — or for BUT THE RAINY DAY CAN’T up-and-comers who need an opportunity to break onto the scene. Working 40 weeks a year would mark a solid schedule for a stand-up, says Sanfelip- BE A RAINY YEAR. THE GRAY po. Assuming that venues and audiences return at half strength, that would AREA IS NOT KNOWING.” translate to less work for comics. “It’s gonna be really hard to get somewhere to go up [to perform],” he says. Joe Sanfelippo, Bonkerz “And if you can’t go up, you can’t get better.”

VARIETY 35

PREVIOUS CONVERSATIONS INCLUDE

SHOW BUSINESS… BOB BAKISH VIACOMCBS

DAVID ZASLAV IS STRICTLY BUSINESS. DISCOVERY JEFFREY KATZENBERG & MEG WHITMAN Variety Co-Editor-in-Chief Andrew Wallenstein and QUIBI Business Editor Cynthia Littleton’s weekly conversation DANA WALDEN with industry titans and seasoned executives aimed DISNEY entirely at the business side of show business. CHUCK LORRE CHUCK LORRE PRODUCTIONS

JON FAVREAU FAIRVIEW ENTERTAINMENT

ESTHER NEWBERG ICM PARTNERS

FIDJI SIMO FACEBOOK

BYRON ALLEN ENTERTAINMENT STUDIOS

RICHARD PLEPLER EDEN PRODUCTIONS

DAVID NEVINS VIACOMCBS

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SARAH BARNETT AMC NETWORKS

JOHN LANDGRAF FX NETWORKS

STEVE MOSKO VILLAGE ROADSHOW

ERIKA NARDINI BARSTOOL SPORTS

MARK CUBAN 2929 ENTERTAINMENT

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COLIN CALLENDER PLAYGROUND ENTERTAINMENT

MIKE FARAH LISTEN NOW | variety.com/podcasts FUNNY OR DIE FOCUS

PUBLIC PLATFORM Documenary filmmaker David Garrett Byers will discuss his “Public Trust” at a virtual panel.

VIRTUAL FEST DOCLANDS AND VARIETY TEAM UP ONLINE TO GIVE DOCU FILMMAKERS A CHANCE TO TALK UP THEIR FILMS. LEE COHEN/PATAGONIA FILMS LEE COHEN/PATAGONIA

VARIETY 37 SCHEME ALTERNATIVE MAKESFEST POSTPONED 38 FOCUS PANEL WITHEIGHTFILMMAKERS VARIETY

yAde Barker By Andrew DOCLANDS , DOCLANDS SCHEDULEVIRTUAL VREY VARIETY Don Hardy’s“Citizen canceled Tribecaand to screenatthenow- Penn” wasscheduled DocLands festivals. GOOD ‘CITIZEN’ of discussion. notable topic aparticularly film willbe particular, documentary insupporting festivals in andDocLands in general, tion fundsfor theirfilms, so theroleof ing summitlast year tosecurecomple- Pitchfinanc- Doc inDocLands’ pated Bridge andSanjay Rawal —partici of thefilmmakers present—Yael Twofunding going forward. might affect distribution and both andthewaysing, shutdown theglobal filmandfinanc state of documentary reconvene for agroupdiscussion of the implications of films, will allpanelists their creative process andthesocial filmmakersions witheach spotlighting of U.S. electoralpolitics. gence at thehighest ofsocialism levels collection andtheremarkable resur celebrity,talism, memory, death, data national disaster relief,environmen- Native Americansovereignty, inter ness of thecivil-rights movement to busi from thelegacyandunfinished issues,wide range of contemporary touchonastrikingly represented demic, taken together, theprojects withtheeffects pan deal of aglobal 30-May 3inSanRafael. fromApril torun It was scheduled fest.to screenat thenow-postponed ers whoseprojectswere initiallyslated witheightfilmmak- panel ute virtual Film Festival willpresenta90-min ety even OnMay fromisolation. 3, fests replicated most that easily canbe tunately, it’s that latter elementof the festival every schedule.pepper For andQ&Asthat ties orinthepanels carpets, aton red post-screening par engender, whetherinbox office lines, film festivals isthediscussion they years making. spent they’ve withhow tohandlethefilms ing board are now forced tothedraw togo back awareness They andlanddistribution. fests astheironlyoutletstolaunch filmmakers, many of whomrelyon forms. Most obvious istheoneto demic —thelosses take onmany COVID-19 totheglobal pan response —aswe’ve recentlyponed seenin of filmfestivals arecancelled orpost WHEN ANENTIRESEASON’S In additiontoindividualdiscus While obviously noneof thefilms But anotherinvaluable elementof and the DocLands Documentary Documentary andtheDocLands

worth worth Vari ------

TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL CITIZEN PENN of Variety’s 2016 10 Documentary THE SOCIAL DILEMMA as the candidacies of Sen. Bernie DIRECTOR: DON HARDY Filmmakers to Watch, enjoyed EXPOSURE LABS Sanders in two consecutive presi- plentiful access to the 80-year-old DIRECTOR: JEFF ORLOWSKI dential cycles clearly illustrate. Hardy’s film, which was initially lawmaker. She also interviewed Yet, as Bridge’s documentary scheduled to premiere at Tribeca, notable figures from Lewis’ long From a director best-known for demonstrates, the history of is a chronicle of Oscar-winner life in the public eye, as well as his climate change pics socialism in America is far more Sean Penn’s efforts to help orga- congressional colleagues includ- “Chasing Ice” and “Chasing complex than it appears at first nize relief after the devastating ing Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Coral,” Orlowski’s “The Social glance, and her film follows some 2010 earthquake in Haiti, as well (D-N.Y.). The film was picked up Dilemma” represents a change in unexpected evangelists as it grap- as his continuing involvement in for distribution by Magnolia, Par- focus, with the documentarian ples with what the ideology could relief efforts in the country. While ticipant and CNN Films late last instead training his gaze on the mean for American politics going that premise sounds like one that year, the same consortium that data collection practices of cor- forward. could lend itself to Hollywood recently shepherded “RBG,” porations such as Facebook, as do-gooder hagiography, the film is another doc about a long-lived well as the mind-warping effects TIME political hero, to an Oscar nom actually a nuanced look at not of social media writ large. As AMAZON and serious box office. only Penn’s considerable work on Variety’s Dennis Harvey said of DIRECTOR: GARRETT BRADLEY the ground, but also the advan- PUBLIC TRUST the Sundance premiere: “In the tages and drawbacks of celebrity admirably cogent big picture PATAGONIA FILMS Acquired by Amazon after its Sun- activism in general. DIRECTOR: DAVID GARRETT presented by ‘The Social dance premiere, which saw the BYARS Dilemma,’ what’s at risk clearly filmmaker win a documentary DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD isn’t just profit, or even poorly directing prize, Bradley’s film NETFLIX Byars’ film — his second to grap- socialized children, but the takes a hard look at the trauma DIRECTOR: KIRSTEN JOHNSON ple with issues involving nature empathetic trust that binds exerted on families and whole preservation in the United States societies, as well as the solidity communities by mass incarcera- Johnson had already established a — spotlights three increasingly of democratic institutions tion in America. Assembled in part remarkable career as a documen- encroached-upon public lands we’re learning can be all-too- from home movies shot by sub- tary cinematographer when she to illustrate the challenges con- effectively undermined by a ject Fox Rich over 18 years while made her first project as a direc- servationists face in protecting steady diet of perspective- her husband was in prison for a tor, and that project — the widely wilderness from commercial warping memes.” bank robbery, the film brings laurelled self-portrait “Cameraper- interests. Local activists are home the sheer impact that the son” — was well worth the wait. granted ample space to speak on SOCIALISM: AN low-boiling crisis can have on indi- AMERICAN STORY For her second, she offers an even these issues, as Byars moves his vidual lives. Variety’s Peter more idiosyncratic portrait of her camera from Minnesota’s Bound- DIRECTOR: YAEL BRIDGE Debruge wrote: “Bradley’s NATIVE FOOD own father in the early stages of ary Waters to Alaska’s Arctic approach brings this seemingly Director Sanjay Alzheimer’s disease, as father and National Wilderness and Utah’s Long stigmatized by post-Cold overwhelming issue down to a Rawal presented daughter comically imagine Big Ears National Monument. The at Doc Pitch last War fear mongering, socialism personal level, revealing how through the various scenarios just film was initially scheduled to be year and returns has proven remarkably resilient communities are actually worse what his eventual demise might DocLands’ opener. with “Gather.” in American life in recent years, off for ripping families apart.” be. Winner of the Special Jury Award for Innovation in Non-fiction Storytelling at Sundance, where it debuted, Variety’s Guy Lodge called it “a rare, extrava- gantly playful response to the personal terror and tumult of ageing and watching loved ones fade before our own eyes.”

GATHER ILLUMINE FILMS DIRECTOR: SANJAY RAWAL

Director Rawal, whose previous film “Food Chains” took a hard look at the role of migrant labor in American agriculture, finds a rarely told followup in “Gather,” by focusing entirely on food sover- eignty among Native American communities.

JOHN LEWIS: GOOD TROUBLE MAGNOLIA PICTURES DIRECTOR: DAWN PORTER

For the portrait of the storied civ- il-rights advocate and longtime

ILLUMINE GROUP ILLUMINE Georgia congressman, Porter, one

VARIETY 39 FOCUS HOT DOCS

We’re on track to have record or DOCUMENTARY near-record buyer participation in our market” he says. Second, the festival made sure to FEST TAKES release its originally scheduled lineup. Featuring 226 films, more than half of them directed by women — includ- VIRTUAL TOUR ing Hannah Reinikainen and Lia Hieta- la’s “Always Amber” — the festival features such highlights as the premieres TORONTO’S HOT DOCS ATTRACTS PLENTY OF BUYERS of “Hong Kong Moments,” “The Sit-In: By Andrew Barker Harry Belafonte Hosts the Tonight Show” and “AKA Jane Roe,” as well as “Larry Flynt for President,” “Meat the Future” and “Mein Vietnam.” FOR ANY FESTIVAL, the week before done and are trying to do, we bring “When we postponed, we kept hear- announcing the year’s slate of films is back to that mission.” ing from filmmakers saying, ‘When are typically a period of relief and anticipa- Since Hot Docs is a hub of business you going to announce, we want you to tion: your pics are locked in, the direc- activity and acquisitions, the direc- announce,’” says programming directors have been notified and the schedule tors decided to go ahead with industry tor Shane Smith. “ ‘We’ve got the offi- is coming into focus. But for Toronto’s screenings — albeit virtual ones — allow- cial sanction of Hot Docs, and with that Hot Docs — the largest dedicated docu- ing online access to the entire slate to laurel we can start working and promot- mentary festival in the North America — buyers during the dates the festival was ing our films.’ So we tried to see how we that period happened to coincide with initially scheduled to run. This wasn’t could continue to facilitate interaction the near-breakdown of the larger social necessarily something that was brand and business, because our mandate con- order due to COVID-19, and the fest, ini- new to Hendrie, either — back in 2003, tinued to be supporting these filmmak- tially scheduled to run April 30-May 10, when fear of SARS was running rampant ers in any way we can, on any platform was postponed. in Toronto, Hot Docs did online program- we can, in any way that helps.” Nonetheless, Hot Docs has endeav- ming as well. Of course, attracting the attention of ored to make the best of an unprecedent- “Obviously the world is a much more buyers and agents and facilitating sales edly bad situation. sophisticated place, technologically, than is only part of a festival’s mandate. As for “The guiding light for us has been to it was back then,” he says. getting its films out in front of the pub- try and simplify our decision-making Per Hendrie, the festival already has lic, the festival is still looking at options. process by looking at our core vision,” more than 500 registered participants It was initially postponed until the sum- says Hot Docs executive director Brett ONLINE SHOW for its online screening platform. mer, although Hendrie acknowledges Swedish doc Hendrie. “And that vision is to celebrate “We’ve definitely heard from buyers “that timing is looking less likely.” The “Always Amber” and showcase documentary film and to will stream as that there’s a strong appetite for com- fest has already launched a partner- support filmmakers. Everything we’ve part of the slate. pleted or nearly completed content. ship with Canadian broadcaster CBC, Hot Docs at Home, which features selections from the program and past itera- tions across a variety of platforms. Hen- drie says the festival staff is also “very actively investigating a virtual [public] event if it makes sense for the filmmakers, and if we can do it in a way that hon- ors their work.” And there’s certainly plenty on the slate that could strike a chord. “[Screening submissions], we tended to see films that were looking at events of the past through a new lens, through a new perspective, and how that can impact things looking forward. We tend to forget history, and in some ways this pandemic we’re in is a perfect example of that: either not listening to what we’re told or not remembering what happened in times past,” Smith says. “This is the beauty of a long-form feature documentary, that it can look into things that we thought we understood when we were living through them but didn’t have that 10,000-feet- view that a documentary filmmaker is

able to give us.” STORY

40 VARIETY INTERNATIONAL STAR YOU SHOULD KNOW FOCUS

Where are you spending the didn’t bother learning them. ‘OTHE R’NE S S OF coronavirus quarantine? I’m at home in Manchester with all of Did the bad Irish weather my family. during the shoot add to ROLE STIRRED your performance? Definite- How are you passing the time? ly. When Selah is shivering, I’m taking up the new hobby of that is completely genuine. It RAFFEY CASSIDY learning to play the piano. I’m added tension to the film. And certain it will be useful! because there were so many of By Carole Horst us women and girls, we were Are you watching anything in actually forced together — we particular? There’s something didn’t have a choice — we were over here on the BBC called all so close we were genuinely a “The Nest,” and it’s so good, but family because we had to stick it’s on every Sunday so we have together and keep warm. It defi- to wait a week for the next one. nitely worked out for the better. That seems really old now, it’s The cast and crew were all very like, “uh, I want to move on from happy. While very difficult, they this because I hate waiting.” were very happy with what Me and my brother watched ended up on the screen. “The Fighter.” It’s one of my favorite films now. Was there a certain level of trust with a woman director on What attracted you to “The this women’s story? I definitely Other Lamb”? Honestly, I think had massive trust in Malga. We the fact that it was kind of this hit it off straight away when we crazy arthouse thriller was one met each other. of the things that really attract- But I don’t think that trust ed me to this script. It’s twisted was because she was a woman, and so wrong in so many ways because I’ve been lucky enough and also, although it’s not spe- to work with enough directors cifically based on a true story, — male or female — that I’ve this stuff actually happens, so always had that kind of trust there’s so much research I with them. could do. It’s such an interest- Maybe it’s because I’ve been WOMAN ON THE VERGE ing story to tell, and getting to lucky to work with male direc- Raffey Cassidy stars as a play the character that drives tors that I also had trust in so I cult member in the thriller the story I found interesting. At don’t see the difference. I just “The Other Lamb.” the start of it you can’t see that see them as a director. she’s very strong, but then she starts to develop and grow. I Talk about your relationship found it was something that I with the director. Malga is a BRITISH ACTOR RAFFEY CASSIDY has been in blockbusters wanted to take on; I wanted to different kind of director. She’s (“Snow White and the Huntsman”), prestige TV series (“Mr. be challenged. so straightforward, it’s actually Selfridge”) and is busily establishing her arthouse resume, kind of refreshing. If she didn’t with such films as “Vox Lux,” “The Killing of a Sacred Deer” Your resume is full of challeng- like the way we were doing ing roles. At my age now [18] something, she would say, “I and now “The Other Lamb,” from Polish helmer Malgorzata there are lots of parts for teen- don’t like it. Do something else,” Szumowska. An eerie thriller featuring Cassidy as Selah, a age girls playing “the daughter,” which at first, you’re like, “oh, teenager who comes of age in an all-female cult holed up in so when you come across a OK.” When you get used to it the wilderness led by the Shepherd (Michiel Huisman), the script like this with a strong [her method] is quite helpful. character it’s a very rare thing. What a lot of directors do is try film follows Selah’s development, as a “lamb” in the cult’s and be nice and skirt around flock, to a young woman whose choices lead to freedom. There’s not a lot of dialogue what they’re actually trying to “The Other Lamb” debuted last year at Toronto, but its in the film. You give a perfor- say, which takes a lot more time, theatrical run in the U.S. was cut short by the coronavirus mance that could be from a instead of Malga actually saying, silent film. It was kind of run- “I don’t like it. Do something pandemic. She also starred in “Nightwalk,” a short directed ning joke throughout the film different.” It’s refreshing. by Szumowska as part of fashion house Miu Miu’s Women’s because in the script there was Tales series. Her work with Miu Miu on the short is an dialogue and we’d run through What’s next? I’ve been reading extension of her interest in fashion: “Having worked in films the lines in the morning, and different scripts. [I’m doing] there were long monologues, something that’s set during the and having been exposed to amazing costume designers and Malga [Szumowska] would war. It’s based around a bunch sparked my interest in fashion,” she says. “You can say so come and say, “No get rid of it! of girls growing up at that time.

IFC FILMS IFC much about yourself through clothes.” I don’t like it.” By the end we But I can’t say anything more.

VARIETY 41 FOCUS SXSW FEST

a relief,” Pierson says. “But then it was, CANCELED FESTIVAL ‘Oh my God, all these ﬁlmmakers who had invested so much love and energy and talent and years of their lives into GETS ONLINE REBIRTH this work, this was going to be this amazing moment for them.’ It was devastating AMAZON PARTNERSHIP ALLOWS FOR A SLIMMED-DOWN to think about what this meant for them, and we immediately started thinking, VERSION OF THE LINEUP TO STREAM ON ITS PLATFORM could we do anything?” By ANDREW BARKER She continues: “We told the filmmakers right away, ‘You are always an ofﬁcial selection of the 2020 SXSW Film

SCI-FI STREAM Festival, you can use those laurels for- “Tales From the ever,’ and then people are kind of on Loop” will stream as their own to make decisions about what part of the Amazon they want to do going forward. And partnership with SXSW. then Amazon called and we thought this was something really exciting to work together with, because it could be a really compelling, different kind of platform for films that wanted to get in front of a wide audience.” Compared to the massive, multi-sec- tion lineup that was scheduled to unspool in Texas, the Amazon platform offerings are undeniably slender. Just seven full- length features are scheduled to stream — four narrative features, all international productions and three documentaries — as well as more than two dozen short films and three Episodic premieres. But the projects that remain offer plenty of interest, such as Guatemalan revenge tale “Gunpowder Heart,” comic French tech-dystopia compendium “Sel- fie” and doc “My Darling Vivian,” about Johnny Cash’s first wife. The shorts offerings include jury award winners “Dirty” and “Single,” and the Episodics selections include “Tales From the Loop,” featuring Rebecca Hall and Jonathan Pryce. Pierson says she’s excited to see the participating projects “connecting with an audience that might not be the usual audience that they have access to” and stresses that a flexible, open- minded approach is the only real way BY NOW, THE WAVES of event cancella- to give the films in the program what to go forward. tions in the wake of the COVID-19 pan- remains of the festival’s spotlight. First “We’ve actually had inquiries from demic have become so routine that they off, the festival made sure that jurors were some of the films that didn’t opt in [to almost don’t merit mention. But it was given remote access to all of the films in the Amazon program] saying, ‘Hey can scarcely a month and a half ago that the competition, and announced jury prize we just wait and premiere with you next cancellation of SXSW — the first major winners on March 24. Shortly after, year?’ and we’re very open to what next domino in the festival calendar to fall — distrib Oscilloscope and tech company year will look like,” she says. “A lot of really brought the reality of the crisis Mailchimp offered to screen the fest’s the films that we’ve programmed are home to many in the industry. Axed by shorts program for free. And finally, this going out in a lot of other ways. Some of the city of Austin, Texas, just a week week, the festival unveiled an Amazon them already had streamers attached, before it was scheduled to start, the move partnership that allowed films that opted or already had distribution deals, there’s left more than a hundred films suddenly to participate to stream for free on the a lot of VOD stuff, there are a lot of films without a premiere or a way to get in front platform until May 6. that have already made plans. But we’re of buyers, and the festival organizers “When we were shut down on completely open to it. It’s interesting to scrambling to salvage what they could, March 6, the first thought was actually contemplate, too, with production shut- without any sort of a roadmap to do so. like, well now we don’t have to worry downs, with everything else. … The only Since then, SXSW film director Janet about potentially creating this health mistake right now would be to assume

Pierson has been trying to ﬁgure out how disaster in Austin, so that was kind of anything … about anything.” PRIME VIDEO THIJS/AMAZON JAN

42 VARIETY ON TUESDAY, APRIL 21, 2020, JERRY BISHOP (GERALD BLUME), LOVING HUSBAND, BROTHER, UNCLE AND FATHER, PASSED AWAY AT THE AGE OF 84. Jerry was born on October 19, 1935 in Hartford, CT to Marion and Joseph. Jerry is survived by his three daughters Karen Rosenbloom, Michelle Carriker and Stephanie Blume, grandchildren Allison Rosenbloom, Brandon Rosenbloom and Zachary Carriker, brother Daniel Blume, sister-in-law Joanne Blume, nephew Jared Blume, niece Renee Blume and great nephew Micah Blume. Jerry earned his degree in Broadcast Journalism from Emerson College in the 1950’s. It was at Emerson College where he met the love of his life, Velma Leventhal. The two were married in 1956 in Hartford, CT, before uprooting to sunny San Diego, CA. Jerry made his way to Brentwood, CA where he and Velma raised their three beautiful daughters Karen, Michelle, and Stephanie. Jerry’s first job in radio was in Hartford, CT at WDRC-Hartford. Eventually, Jerry was given an opportunity to work for KFI, KIIS, KLAC, among other prominent stations, in Los Angeles, and his career took off. Jerry established himself as a prominent morning drive radio host among the glory days of L.A. Radio in the 1960s through the 1980s, where he interviewed legendary stars like Frank Sinatra, Steve McQueen, and Natalie Wood. As his career progressed, his success skyrocketed into other arenas of entertainment. Eventually, Jerry took a step into the voice over world and landed some prestigious campaigns for companies such as Miller Coors, Budweiser and Burger King. Jerry voiced promos for NBC, ABC and more notably had a 15 year run as the voice of the Disney Channel. Jerry was best known for his work on the long running syndicated Judge Judy show. As the announcer of the show, Jerry’s role lasted up until his final days. His voice was powerful, soothing, and caring, which are three qualities he embodied so well. “Jerry Bishop has been the voice of our program for 24 years. Everybody loved him. He had a golden heart and generous spirit. I adored him and will miss him,” Judge Judy Sheindlin says of Jerry. Widely known in the business as Jerry Bishop, Jerry earned the nickname “The Bish” as he traversed the VO world. Arlene Thornton, Jerry’s agent of 35 years remembers him lovingly, “Jerry was far more than a client, he was a friend and the best friend that anybody could ever have. He was a prince and a mensch but he was truly family.” He had a love for the L.A. Dodgers, the L.A. Lakers, the PGA Tour, but most of all his family. His soulmate, his other half, his wife, Velma, was his world. He cherished every moment they spent together. They together raised three amazing daughters who brought him three grandchildren who he was immensely proud of. Jerry JERRYJERRY and Vel built an incredible life together in Bel Air, CA. Jerry was a caring, devoted, generous and loving father to his daughters. In the last 30 years of his life, Jerry passionately devoted himself to Judaism and all of its teachings. He BBISHOPISHOP attended synagogue every day, observed shabbos weekly, and immersed himself in Talmudic studies. He found peace in his faith in Judaism. Jerry embodied love, laughter, and generosity. He lived his life proudly, and was a pillar of strength in the lives OCTOBER 19, 1935 - APRIL 21, 2020 of many. Due to the funeral requirements surrounding COVID-19, a private funeral service and burial was already held with immediate family. If you wish to donate on Jerry’s behalf, please visit www.chabadofbelair.org.

0429 WV Stacked Ads_BROKEN BIRD & GERALD BLUME OBIT.indd 6 4/27/20 1:03 PM FOCUS IN PRINT

FROM ‘TOP GUN’ TO EARLY YEARS, FAMOUS FACES Kilmer spent his formative years in the Chatsworth neighborhood of Los Angeles, which feels much ’10 COMMANDMENTS’ further from Hollywood than distance would suggest. “We lived next door to Roy Rogers and too close for comfort to Charles Manson,” Kilmer VAL KILMER’S MEMOIR writes, noting that he used to ride horses at the infamous Spahn Ranch. He attended Chatsworth High School alongside future Oscar winner Kevin COVERS HIGHS, LOWS Spacey and future Emmy winner Mare Winning- ham, whom he says “became my first real girlfriend.” He auditioned for Juilliard, which he refers By Jenelle Riley to as “THE Juilliard School” throughout his book, where he completed all four years, despite rebel- VAL KILMER crafted the persona of a serious, brooding (often ling against what he felt was a style based on instilling fear in students. labeled “difficult”) actor in such films as “Heat” and “Tombstone,” so it’s interesting to remember that his film debut was in the goofy STAGE REVOLVING DOORS spy spoof “Top Secret!” in 1984, followed by the comedy “Real While still at Juilliard, Kilmer co-wrote and Genius” in 1985. Kilmer would go on to show his comedy chops in appeared in “How It All Began,” which moved from the school to Broadway after Joseph Papp saw it. “I films including “MacGruber” and “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” but there graduated on a Friday, and on Monday we were has long been an air of mystery around him, perhaps because he doing a tech rehearsal at Papp’s prestigious Public hasn’t been giving big interviews lately. That makes the publication Theater,” Kilmer writes of the show, which would of his memoir, “I’m Your Huckleberry,” all the more cause for cele- run six weeks. He thought his big break would be in 1983’s “Slab Boys.” Kilmer turned down a role in bration. In his autobiography, from Simon & Schuster, Kilmer is bru- Francis Ford Coppola’s “The Outsiders” for the tally frank about his career, his loves and battle with throat cancer. play, which saw him demoted twice, first when Kevin Bacon joined the show, then again when

Sean Penn came on board. MARK HUMPHREY/AP/SHUTTERSTOCK

44 VARIETY IN PRINT FOCUS

THE GOOD AND THE BAD ON THE MEND THE ARTIST’S WAY NOTABLE ROLES Kilmer named his book after a famous In the opening chapter of “I’m Your In addition to the plays he’s written, line uttered by his character Doc Holli- Huckleberry,” Kilmer addresses find- Kilmer has published two books of day in “Tombstone,” one of his most ing a lump in his throat that turned out poetry (including “My Edens After memorable roles. Though the shoot to be cancer. He went to stay with his Burns”) and was nominated for a was plagued with problems — the ex-girlfriend Cher at her home in Mal- Grammy in 2012 for spoken word original director was replaced during ibu, and woke up one night vomiting album for “The Mark of Zorro.” He’s shooting — he loved working with Kurt blood. He eventually underwent two also a visual artist, and used his Russell and is proud of the resulting tracheotomies and says the cancer money from “Top Gun: Maverick” to film. He also has fond memories of has healed, but notes: “Speaking, fulfill a longtime dream and pur- playing Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s once my joy and lifeblood, has chased a gallery space in East Holly- 1991 movie “The Doors.” He told Vari- become an hourly struggle.” He also wood on the corner of Heliotrope ety in 2018 he went to great lengths to states that he sounds like “Marlon and Melrose called HelMel Studios Batman prepare for the part. “I wore those Jim Brando after a couple bottles of and Gallery. The mission statement is Though he only donned the cape once, for 1995’s Morrison leathers for a year. And tequila.” One of his first roles after painted on the wall: “HelMel is a fun, “Batman Forever,” he was an excellent fit for the recorded five entire albums …that was beating cancer was as the creepy title sacred space where electric artists role of Bruce Wayne and Batman. He has fond unusual.” On the other end of the character in 2018’s “The Super,” and gather to collaborate and, through memories of the role, but notes that his kids remain spectrum, he discusses the notorious he notes, “Fortunately, my speaking new technology, inspire giving and unimpressed. When his son and daughter were flop, 1996’s “The Island of Dr. Moreau.” part was limited and my rough voice spark change in our local young, he tried to show them the film, writing: Kilmer had become friends with Mar- worked well with the character.” community.” “They stayed in the room for about 12 minutes and lon Brando and looked forward to then quietly walked out. Like a chump, I sat and working with him, but soon realized watched the entire rest of the film.” the movie, which also changed direc- “Speaking, once my joy tors, was a disaster. He writes that Brando took it in stride. “That night and lifeblood, has become Marlon said to me, ‘It’s a job now, Val. an hourly struggle.” A lark. We’ll get through it.’ I was as sad as I’ve ever been on a set.” Val Kilmer

A RELUCTANT ICEMAN Following “Top Secret!” and “Real Moses Genius,” Kilmer was courted by Kilmer has played Moses three times: in the ani- director Tony Scott for the block- mated film “The Prince of Egypt,” on an audio record- buster “Top Gun.” Kilmer is frank ing for composer-lyricist Walter Robinson and on about his feelings. “I didn’t want the stage in the 2004 musical “The Ten Command- part. I didn’t care about the film. The ments.” The latter was an epic train wreck; Kilmer L/SHUTTERSTOCK; PRINCE OF EGYPT: DREAMWORKS/EVERETT COLLECTION DREAMWORKS/EVERETT PRINCE OF EGYPT: L/SHUTTERSTOCK; story didn’t interest me.” He was won refers to it as “mortifying-at-best,” with actors drop- over by Scott’s enthusiasm and the ping lines and a set that rarely worked right. promise that his role would improve from the initial script. And Kilmer’s performance as hotshot pilot Tom “Iceman” Kazansky, nemesis to Tom Cruise’s character, remains one of his most beloved. Kilmer is set to reprise the role in the film’s sequel, “Top Gun: Maverick,” due out later this year. According to Kilmer, he wasn’t contacted about the film, but reached out to the producers to pitch himself. “The producers went Mark Twain for it. Cruise went for it.” Kilmer is Kilmer wrote and stars in “Citizen Twain,” a one- mum on further details, writing: “As man show in which he portrays Mark Twain. He far as the film’s plot goes, I’m sworn has toured the show for years to raves and even to secrecy.” made a film version, “Cinema Twain,” in 2019. He told Variety in a 2018 interview, “The response has been so overwhelmingly kind, it’s very humbling. I enjoy the depth and soul the piece has that Twain had for his fellow man and America. And the comedy that’s always so close to the surface, and how PILOT SEASON valuable his genius is for us today. Still, we battle Val Kilmer initially resisted being cast in “Top Gun,” but racism and greed. The same country, it’s greatness

TOP GUN: PARAMOUNT/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; BATMAN FOREVER (LEFT) MOVIESTORE/SHUTTERSTOCK; BATMAN FOREVER (RIGHT): WARNER BROS./KOBA (RIGHT): FOREVER WARNER BATMAN (LEFT) FOREVER MOVIESTORE/SHUTTERSTOCK; BATMAN GUN: PARAMOUNT/KOBAL/SHUTTERSTOCK; TOP director Tony Scott won him over. and it’s tragedy.”

VARIETY 45 FOCUS IN PRINT

Julius Caesar

Mark Jack Donald Zuckerberg Dorsey Trump

“In Truth” is that Fraser’s engaging histor- ‘TRUTH’ UNCOVERS ical deep dives are a welcome antidote to TV’s hectoring talking heads. Fraser’s determined to sort out both LONG HISTORY OF LIES the roots and the branches of contemporary lying and Trump is seen, in terms MATTHEW FRASER DIGS INTO POLITICS OF ANCIENT ROME of truth-shredding, as no more or less a damaging social ill than Google or Face- TO PRESENT-DAY D.C. IN SEARCH OF UNDERSTANDING OF book. It helps that Fraser’s able to casually HOW WE GOT HERE By Steven Gaydos rummage through a vast array of think- ers throughout history who’ve never let truth slow down their zeal to find some- PRESIDENT TRUMP RECENTLY addressed caster and university professor have ably thing better. Key figures from Nietzsche the nation with a message of hope and prepared him to take on the tome’s lofty to Derrida to Foucault are noted for their reassurance, noting, “‘While we may be task. Fraser makes the book’s vast politi- roles in creating what Stephen Colbert physically apart, we can use this time to cal history digestible and wildly relevant, famously deemed “truthiness.” pray, to reflect and to focus on our per- without ever losing the thread of what In Fraser’s bleak view, in 2020 we’re sonal relationship with God.’” befalls those who use “alternative facts.” all taking part in a wipeout not unlike Non-fans of the president, whose Fraser notes, “At the end of 2016, the the taking down of Julius Caesar. We all

polls steadily measure at least half of the Oxford English Dictionary declared post- come to praise the truth and then, by ARCHIVE/UIG/SHUTTERSTOCK HISTORY SAL country’s voters, will take little solace in truth as Word of the Year” and he uses accepting the rules of the Google- and those solemn words, having become con- that event to provide the book’s view Facebook-dominated media world, we ditioned to believing virtually nothing that centuries of lying politicians and wind up burying it. this president says on any subject, from gullible citizens, softened up by endless “For some observers, more was at stake his faith to his favorite COVID-19 cures. hucksterism, disruptive technologies than a redistributed media advertising Matthew Fraser’s task in his enter- and countless entertainment diversions, pie. The future of democracy was hang- taining and provocative new book, “In have led us to this moment. ing in the balance. ‘Facebook has become Truth: The History of Lies From Ancient His basic thesis is two-fold: the richest and most powerful publisher Rome to Modern America,” which was First, show-businessmanship, lying in history by replacing editors with algo- published by Prometheus Books in of all sorts and political leadership have rithms — shattering the public square March, is nothing less than charting the always been bedfellows and there’s noth- into millions of personalized news feeds, 2,000-plus-years path from Julius Cae- ing strange about it. shifting entire societies away from the sar’s spin doctors to Trump’s “post-truth” Second, the wages of sin are Trump open terrain of genuine debate and argu- America. Fraser’s many decades as an and all the variations of Trump that ment, while they make billions from our international media journalist, broad- have continually sprung up — through- valued attention,’ observed Guardian edi- out history long past and recent across tor Katharine Viner. ‘This shift presents the political spectrum — when the truth big challenges for liberal democracy.’” becomes either too malleable or forbid- Dubbing today’s tech giants Facebook, den by the powers that are too threat- Google, Twitter and YouTube as “the four ened by it. horsemen of the Apocalypse,” Fraser Fraser’s friendly and deft historical warns that the news industry has been PROVOCATIVE excursions, starting with no less a top-tier vanquished by these companies, which “In Truth” star tyrant than Caesar, deepen our under- he describes as “charging through the (Prometheus Books) takes a long view standing of the current political and social media landscape and slaying everything

of people in power. moment. One of the primary appeals of in sight. UNIVER CAESAR: SHUTTERSTOCK; TRUMP: JEFF GILBERT/SHUTTERSTOCK; DORSEY: TECHNOLOG/SIPA/SHUTTERSTOCK; LEWIS JOLY/VIVA ZUCKERBERG:

46 VARIETY IN PRINT FOCUS

“The subordination of the profession to of Americans venerated his celebrity afterthought for Trump, but a founda- technology was double. Journalists lost persona — his money, his private jets, tional principle of his mortal existence, gatekeeper power to Google and Facebook his mansions, his glamorous lifestyle … here’s Fraser to reassure you that you’re as distribution systems connecting to con- Trump was a self-made billionaire celeb- not just imagining things. sumers, and they lost control over content rity. He was the embodiment of the “Trump was a perfect icon for the post- to the logic of the algorithm in determin- free-market America they cherished. truth era: real-estate tycoon, casino mag- ing what kinds of stories they produced. “Trump could nonetheless claim a nate, Wrestlemania showman, and real- For some in the news industry, this trend longstanding connection with a brand of ity TV celebrity. His media persona promised an apocalyptical endgame.” Christianity that was perfectly compat- belonged to the realm of fantasy. He

While “Lying” sounds the alarm on ible with right-wing evangelical politics. POWER OF THE made no bones about his disregard for high-tech, Fraser also takes an entertain- He was an adherent to the so-called pros- POSITIVE truth; he professed it as a virtue.” ing, insightful dig into Trump’s showbiz perity gospel movement. According to In 1988, Donald In other words, Trump may not have roots. Fraser essentially places Trump’s the prosperity gospel, wealth and fortune Trump and his been technically “lying” when he men- then-wife Ivana training in showbiz as beginning in child- are rewards from God. The stronger your Trump celebrated tioned a “personal relationship with hood and those formative years have faith in God, the richer you will become. the 90th birthday God,” but it’s essential to understand largely gone unexamined, at least in com- Trump had been introduced to this doc- of Norman Vincent Trump’s God is richer, more tan, more Peale with his parison to the amount of ink and angst trine early in his life when attending wife, Ruth (second famous and has a younger Euromodel expended on Trump’s reality TV career. the services of Norman Vincent Peale, from right). trophy wife than your God. Others have written about the influ- his family’s pastor at Marble Collegiate ence of Christian pastor and religious Church on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue.” media star Norman Vincent Peale on the In Fraser’s fairly corrosive view of young Donald Trump, but following the where centuries of power fibbing have convincing historical briefing that pre- delivered us, he recounts how Trump cedes it, Fraser brilliantly illuminates the traveled from rapt attention to Peale’s precise interlinking between Trump’s lectures to leading his own flock of born-again Christian supporters, his free-marketers, billionaires, Christian reality show persona and the shrewd prosperity evangelicals and assorted media strategy that built on those links Fox-following marks and pigeons who and brought him to presidential power. put him in the White House. “A billionaire reality TV star, Trump But there may be some consolation was a perfect celebrity icon in a culture in Fraser’s sober analysis of Trump’s “I that worships success and fame. Before lie therefore I am” leadership style. If he declared his candidacy, he was world you thought you were the only one who famous on ‘The Apprentice’ ... millions suspected that lying isn’t an occasional

TRUMP’S MAMMON MASTERING Trouble?,” Peale’s 1953 faith-based chat show that he presented on WCBS with his wife, MENTOR AS REVIEWED BY VARIETY Ruth, Variety wrote: “This is a Mr. & Mrs. gab show with a twist. By Steven Gaydos Instead of the routine man-wife chitchat familiar to a.m. radio dialers, this series is a serious attempt to get across religioso NORMAN VINCENT PEALE is a familiar char- themes. Its technique, however, is not as POWER OF THE acter to anyone who’s experienced or studied POSITIVE 20th century radio and television program- noteworthy as its purpose. The 15-minute Don Murray ming. The Variety Archives brim with sesh fails to hold interest and has a lulling portrays Norman accounts of his long-running religious pro- effect. If the initialer is any indication of Vincent Peale in the film grams that ran steadily on radio and then things to come, ‘What’s Your Trouble?’ will be “One Man’s Way.” television from the 1930s to 1960s. He sold a celluloid sermon that’ll have trouble finding millions of books, including his mega-best dialer disciples. Dr. & Mrs. Norman Vincent seller, “The Power of Positive Thinking,” and Peale handle the gabbing chores with more founded the still-active Guideposts nonprofit sincerity than showmanship.” inspirational publishing operation. In 1964, While Variety dismissed Peale in his early Don Murray played Peale in the motion pic- TV days as lacking polish or media savvy, by ture “One Man’s Way,” and in 1984 Ronald the time Donald Trump was taking notes from Reagan presented him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom. his perch in Peale’s pews, Trump was learning At the beginning of Peale’s TV career, Vari- from a man who was leading a major Manhat- ety pegged him as a well-meaning tan religious congregation, running an inspi- up-and-coming minister without the chops rational publishing empire, topping the best- he’d need to click in the fast-developing seller charts and also appearing weekly in his medium of television. Reviewing “What’s Your TRUMPS/ PEALES: RON GALELLA/RON GALELLA COLLECTION/GETTY IMAGES; ONE MAN’S WAY: EVERETT COLLECTION WAY: ONE MAN’S IMAGES; COLLECTION/GETTY GALELLA GALELLA/RON PEALES: RON TRUMPS/ own nationally broadcast productions.

VARIETY 47 FOCUS VARIETY ARCHIVES

WHEN KUDOS FACE CRISES

WAR, FLOODS AND OTHER DISASTERS HIT THE WORLD BUT HOLLYWOOD FINDS A WAY TO ADAPT By TIM GRAY

5, 2007-Feb. 12, 2008), WGA gave waiv- PEOPLE ARE EAGER to return to the Old Normal, and the fate ers for the scripted SAG Awards and of awards shows is not the top priority, but it is a concern. Eligi- Indie Spirit Awards, but in mid-Decem- bility is an issue (see story, below), and so is the fate of ceremo- ber announced no waivers for the Golden nies, no matter when the world opens up again. Globes or Oscars. However, the Hollywood Foreign Press In the history of major awards, no show was ever cancelled, Assn. and Dick Clark Prods. persevered but adjustments were occasionally needed. To paraphrase and continued talks with WGA and NBC. Tolstoy, happy kudocasts are all alike; every crisis-stricken When the Screen Actors Guild announced award show is stricken in its own way. solidarity with WGA, it was clear there would be no celebs present. Nobody expects a dramatic change in the upcoming kudo- On Jan. 8, 2008, a week before the casts. But as Monty Python reminded us, nobody expected the show, Cynthia Littleton reported that the Spanish Inquisition either. Here are some past examples of how kudos had been downscaled to an hour- people adjusted. long news conference at the Beverly Hil- ton, “to be covered live by NBC News, with EMMYS However, on Oct. 8, Variety chronicled only journos in attendance — and most The award for the most beleaguered Sunday’s last-minute change. likely with WGA pickets outside.” ceremony goes to the 53rd annual At 9:30 a.m. on the morning Oct. 7, host Variety calculated the financial loss, Emmys. It was scheduled for Sept. 16, Ellen DeGeneres and the production team including the ripple effect (parties, hotels, 2001, but the Academy of TV Arts & Sci- were rehearsing when they got word that airfare, etc.) at $80 million. ences and CBS moved it to October, then the U.S. and the U.K. “had started military All the parties continued to negotiate. shifted it to November. action in Afghanistan … by noon, it was Two days before the event, talks collapsed On Sept. 12, 2001, the day after official: The Emmys had been postponed but the WGA decided not to picket. the 9/11 attacks, Variety’s package of sto- again. But this time, probably for good.” The HFPA staged the news conference, ries included the news that the 53rd Ten days later, Schneider reported with winners announced by TV entertain- Emmys “have been postponed indefi- the Emmys would take place Nov. 4, with ment journalists. NBC opted not to air it; nitely.” The story added that Sept. 23 Gary Smith to produce, after Don Mischer instead, the 35-minute show aired on a seemed a likely date. dropped out. number of stations, including E! and TV Within a few days, Hollywood realized In her Nov. 4 opening, DeGeneres Guide Network. that even a week’s delay was not enough. jokingly welcomed guests to “the 53rd, In a Jan. 16 post-mortem, Variety On Sept. 17, Michael Schneider 54th and 55th Emmy Awards.” A Variety reported that the exterior of the Bev Hil- reported that the date was moved to Oct. 7 review said the show was “less glitzy and ton was quiet, with no red carpet and and added, “CBS execs and Academy lead- more sober, in keeping with the gravity of no crowds. However, “Inside the Ball- ers must now decide whether the telecast the times.” room, the joint was jumping, in an off-kil- will serve as a regular award show, a trib- ter way.” There were about 500 attendees, ute, a fundraiser or all of the above.” GOLDEN GLOBES including 55 TV crews, 40 still photogra- A few days before the new target The 65th annual Golden Globes were held phers and numerous journalists who sat date, ATAS took out an ad in Variety and Jan. 15, 2008, as scheduled — but with no at tables with their laptops. The arrival of promised a secure environment and a nominees or celeb presenters. E! newswoman Mary Hart “was the celeb- “lower-key tone.” During the Writers Guild strike (Nov. rity high point of the evening.”

ELIGIBILITY RULES MAY BE IN PLAY

OVER THE YEARS, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Some protested that a theatrical release of a few weeks Sciences has made tweaks to eligibility requirements. So was a cheat. Others countered that studios for decades the big question is whether it will need to make major have been using an “Oscar-qualifying engagement” to changes for 2020 films. become eligible. One example was “The Deer Hunter,” the Oscar eligibility has always centered on theatrical show- eventual best-picture winner, which had a two-week run in ing. Under current rules, a film can debut online or TV December 1978. simultaneous with (or after) its bigscreen launch, but the The Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. has loosened eligibil- theatrical presence is a must. This year, it depends on ity requirements and “will continue to assess the impact of THEATRICAL TRAIN when movie theaters are back in full swing. the COVID-19 epidemic,” saying it “may extend these sus- “Marriage Story” played in theaters

before streaming on Netflix, but this In the past few years, the AMPAS board and members pensions of the Golden Globe award rules.”

year Oscar rules may change. debated streaming services including Netflix and Amazon. — Tim Gray NETFLIX

48 VARIETY VARIETY ARCHIVES FOCUS

DELAYED OSCARS Robert De Niro, Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford with their trophies at the delayed 1981 Academy Awards.

ACADEMY AWARDS Other Oscars during the war were time as emcee) closed with bigotry must The Academy Awards scaled down their similarly modest. be eliminated: “It is a challenge that each ceremonies during World War II, and But for those complaining politics of us must and will meet.” postponed the event three times: in should not be a part of kudosfests, it’s Thirteen years later, the Oscarcast 1938, 1968 and 1981. worth remembering that at the March scheduled for March 30, 1981, was delayed The first delay occurred for the 10th 4, 1943, rites, Lowell Mellett (chief of after the assassination attempt on Presi- annual Academy Awards, scheduled for Bureau of Motion Pictures, Office of War dent Reagan. March 3, 1938. But rains in Los Ange- Information) talked for 10 minutes, fol- According to Variety on March 31, Oscars les were so heavy that flood waters rose lowed by California Gov. Earl Warren, had planned a salute to Reagan, including to four feet at Paramount studios, and who spoke for another 10 minutes. Pre- his taped remarks. But the shooting caused “many films stars and Academy mem- senters read messages of gratitude from a 24-hour delay. bers were marooned in isolated homes President Roosevelt, Secretary of the The day after the ceremony, April 1, by the storm which swept Los Angeles,” Navy Frank Knox, Madame Chiang Kai- AMPAS prez Fay Kanin told Variety that she, according to Variety that morning. Shek and Lydia Kislova of the USSR Soci- producer Norman Jewison and their teams Even after the U.S. entered World ety of Cultural Relations. “had to move all these mountains” to post- War II in December 1941, the Acad- pone, including reconfirmation of nomi- emy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences OTHER DELAYS nees and presenters, contacting agents, tal- didn’t cancel any rites. The 14th Acad- The show scheduled for April 8, 1968, was ent and film producers all over the country, emy Awards took place on Feb. 26, 1942. postponed for two days after the April 4 not to mention negotiations with ABC, the The following day, Variety reported “it assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. And venue and its staff. was staged under wraps and a great part for the first and only time, the Governors Kanin’s litany shows the scram- of its sartorial glamor was missing.” And Ball was cancelled. bling that occurs when an awards show there was no dancing, a change from Variety on April 8, 1968, noted that the changes. Nearly 30 years later by Al earlier ceremonies. world was mourning. “No death of a private Schwartz, longtime producer of the Globes Note: No other major kudos were citizen in the history of the U.S. ever had an for Dick Clark, summed up his team’s affected by WWII, since the Globes effect” on the world, including showbiz, as attitude. On the evening of the master- started in 1943 as a low-key event, and King’s death. planned-in-48-hours Golden Globes, he other major awards began later, such as When the show aired April 10, AMPAS told Variety, “It’s like anything in Holly- the Tonys (1947), BAFTAs (1949), Gram- president Gregory Peck opened with a wood: You have no time to get things done,

GLOBE PHOTOS/MEDIAPUNCH/SHUTTERSTOCK GLOBE mys (1959) and Cesar Awards (1976). tribute to King, and Bob Hope (in his 14th but somehow you do it.”

VARIETY 49 ARTISANS TOPARTISANS BILLING

FIRST/FAREWELL KISS Allegra Edwards as Ingrid holds the funeral for Robbie Amell as Nathan, who watches as he is uploaded into the digital afterlife.

assistants dubbed “angels” that can pro- How VFX Team Created cure items for the residents. Also available: the ability to change the weather with a turn of a knob, talking-dog therapists and in-app purchases that range from new the Puzzle of ‘Upload’ clothes to promotional food items (also offering product-placement potential). The design of the “real” world in FUTURISTIC STORY THAT FEATURES A VIRTUAL HEAVEN INCLUDES A “Upload” was “a little grittier. It’s not where DIGITAL WORLD THAT MUST REFERENCE ITS ROOTS By Danielle Turchiano you want to be,” says Krasser. “So when we got into the upload land, it needed to feel a little bit more pristine, a little cleaner — IMAGINE A WORLD in which technology has “This crosses the lines of comedy and like you wanted to go there because it was become so advanced the wealthy all have science fiction and the future, and it was nicer.” In order to remind the audience this self-driving cars, 3D-printed food, wrist a great challenge for us at Fuse because was a digital world, Krasser and his team holograms with which to speak to each it shows our diversity,” says Marshall built in select glitches — “freezes and stut- other from afar and the option of living Krasser, visual effects supervisor. “If ters,” he explains. posthumously in a digital afterlife. something exists out there, we had to take Certain story points required Krasser That kind of future may feel like sheer it up to the next level. What would be the and his team to get even more creative. fantasy even as some of it feels like it’s just wrist hologram phones 2.0? We had to be There’s a class system in the digital after- around the corner. It’s also the world Greg a little visionary.” life not unlike the one that exists in the real Daniels (“Parks and Recreation”) created In “Upload,” a young app developer world. Those who have money can pay for with his Amazon Prime series “Upload,” named Nathan (played by Robbie Amell) unlimited data and do whatever they want debuting May 1. Tasked with making that has his consciousness and memories every month, but others are on stricter technology seem real for both the world uploaded into Lakeview, a ritzy after- budgets. The two-gigabyte plan within within the show as well as its virtual afterlife community consisting of any amen- Lakeview becomes an important part of the

life, was the team at FuseFX. ity a person could want — including virtual story: When a character on that plan runs STUDIOS AMAZON

50 VARIETY ARTISANS

“This crosses the lines of comedy and science fiction and the future.”

Marshall Krasser, visual effects supervisor

READY FOR BATTLE out of data, he or she loses color and “Avengers: Endgame” is among the freezes in place — until more money many high-profile movies on which Weta Digital has worked. is added into his or her account. But it wasn’t just a matter of laying a black- and-white filter over the actor. “The windows [only] had blue in them,” Krasser says. The joke was that Weta Confronted Crisis Early there was an unfinished, blue-screen look. “But if you wanted to pay extra, VFX STUDIO HAS PLAN TO KEEP PRODUCTION WHEELS you could get the [full] view. It all comes down to pay per use.” TURNING, WORKERS EMPLOYED DURING PANDEMIC When there’s an issue with the server By Jazz Tangcay that houses Lakeview, everyone in the system gets temporarily downgraded EVEN BEFORE THE CORONAVIRUS CRISIS companies around the world have started to a “low-poly” (low-resolution) avatar, wreaked havoc across the entertainment asking employees to work from home. The Krasser says. Taking inspiration from industry, Weta Digital was monitoring the sit- team at Weta Digital, much like anyone else the early days of computer graphics and uation closely. in post-production, is dependent on the the Dire Straits music video for “Money The VFX house, headquartered in New flow of incoming shots that need attention. for Nothing,” this sequence became “an Zealand and responsible for some of the “Depending on the length of the quarantine, homage to our roots — to show how we most memorable visual effects in film over we would expect to see a dip in work avail- evolved,” Krasser notes. “We found the the past two decades, had to deal with the able to facilities,” Conley says. But if this goes simpler we made it, the more humorous spread of the disease early due to Weta’s on much longer, everyone will run out of it was and the more it captivated the close proximity to China. shots “and then we’ll have nothing.” imagination. The thing about doing a By Jan. 24, the company had formed a Though there is no shortage of jobs in comedy with visual effects is the visual COVID-19 task force, holding weekly meet- VFX, the sector was fragile before the pan- effects aren’t just to set the scene; at ings. By the time it put together a two-part demic struck. Now, with facilities restricting times they were called upon to bring a action plan, including what it thought would access and employees working from home, little bit of humor too.” happen once the pandemic hit New Zealand, there’s no doubt the crisis will have a finan- Lakeview isn’t the only digital after- the country had announced its first case. cial impact on the post-production environ- life option, and the show explores a few “The speed with which it accelerated ment. It all depends on how well a company others in a scene in which Nathan goes caught us off guard,” says David Conley, is positioned to endure a lengthy dry spell. “heaven shopping,” Krasser says. Char- Weta Digital executive VFX producer. The The Weta Digital team has a robust and acters sit in a sales agent’s office, and company had to move 1,500 employees off- wide-ranging CG, 3D library of locations that the backdrop around them changes to site and get them working from home. “We allows the company to build “entirely CG the various options. thought we had five to 10 days,” he says. shots with no [background] plate,” says Dave “That entire sequence was set up “We had three.” Gougé, head of marketing and publicity. For with two rooms. We built a normal room It’s been almost two months since many instance, if a studio can’t get to Vietnam to that we started filming in, and then shoot background, the company can digitally right next to that was an exact match DIGITAL HARVEST replicate what’s needed. of the room but everything was blue. In Conley says communication with studios Weta has been responsible for visual effects on many top-grossing projects order to delineate where the edges of is vital, citing calls to Warner Bros. executive over the past two decades. A tiny sample: the furniture were, we put green tape vice president of visual effects Anne Kolbe

along the borders, so when you saw the Avengers: The Hunger The Avengers and Marvel executive vice president of pro- Endgame Games: 2012 final product, you saw we had a room, 2019 Mockingjay Director: duction Victoria Alonso. “We pick up the but it turned into a giant video display,” Directors: Anthony — Part 2 Joss Whedon phone and try to work with them and achieve Russo, Joe Russo 2015 Krasser says. solutions that help their projects” under the Director: Francis Avatar 2009 The “heaven shopping” sequence Spider Man: Lawrence industry’s current parameters, he says. Both Far From Home Director: James consisted of 120 and 140 visual effects 2019 Dawn of the Cameron Alonso and Kolbe and their executive teams, shots alone, Krasser continues, with Director: Jon Watts Planet of he adds, “have an eye to the long-term stew- District 9 the overall 10 episodes of the first sea- the Apes 2009 ardship of the industry.” Game of Thrones, 2014 Director: son featuring approximately 1,400 Seasons 7, 8 Director: The one common goal for all post-produc- 2017, 2019 Neill Blomkamp Matt Reeves VFX shots. Creators: David tion executives is that the visual effects econ- King Kong “The variety of the work gave an Benioff, D.B. Weiss omy remains vibrant in a post-pandemic Iron Man 3 2005 2013 opportunity that I don’t think you get Director: Jackson world. Conley predicts that once the crisis is Deadpool Director: Shane Black that often,” Krasser observes. “It was 2016 over, there will be a land rush as companies Director: Tim Miller The Lord of the exciting because it’s not a one-trick The Hobbit scramble to get their projects going again. Rings trilogy trilogy 2001-03 pony show. In essence, every shot in Furious 7 2012-14 “Everyone will want to be ﬁrst to get movies 2015 Director: Jackson Director: Peter here was kind of like a puzzle that we Director: James Wan into theaters and on their platforms,” he says. Jackson

MARVEL STUDIOS/DISNEY MARVEL had to solve.” “It’s going to be an interesting period.”

VARIETY 51 ARTISANS

Matthew Flood Ferguson

‘Hollywood’ Reimagined

PRODUCTION TEAM RE-CREATES NOTED LOCATIONS FOR RYAN MURPHY’S NETFLIX SERIES By Marc Malkin

AS YOU MIGHT EXPECT, Netflix’s new “Hollywood,” which debuts on the streamer May 1, didn’t have to travel far for production. However, the eight-episode THE ORPHEUM THEATRE series, from Ryan Murphy and his “Glee” collaborator Ian Brennan, doesn’t take place in contemporary Holly- Although the exteriors of Murphy and Brennan’s reimagined 1948 Academy Awards were shot at the original location of wood but rather in Los Angeles, just after World War II. the big night, the Shrine Auditorium, Ferguson used the Production designer Matthew Flood Ferguson Orpheum for the ceremony, which included a re-creation of captures the 1940s beautifully. Not only did film- the massive Oscar sitting on top of a 20-foot three-tier round ing take place at many Los Angeles landmarks, but structure in the middle of the stage. “We had it molded out of Ferguson also re-created long-gone institutions like Styrofoam and then sanded it down so it was very smooth Schwab’s Pharmacy. and then sprayed it with gold paint,” Ferguson says. David Corenswet stars in the ensemble as Jack Costello, a G.I. from the Midwest who comes to Holly- wood to be a movie star but finds himself turning tricks with well-to-do Beverly Hills housewives in order to make ends meet for him and his wife (Maude Apatow). Darren Criss plays an aspiring director in a secret relationship with a black actor (Laura Harrier). Archie Coleman (two-time Tony nominee Jeremy Pope in his television debut) is a screenwriter who finds love with Rock Hudson (Jack Picking plays the matinee idol, one of a few real-life Hollywood legends depicted in the series). Patti LuPone takes on the role of a forgotten silent film star who’s now married to the most powerful man in the business, Ace Studios boss Ace Amberg (Rob Reiner). While the Hollywood Sign is seen in the show’s opening credits and is also the location of a scene in a movie being made by Ace Studios, the “H” was the only letter they needed to shoot, so they built the 45-foot struc- 2) 2 ture on a stage. “It’s pretty close to being the same size FLIX (

as the real one,” Ferguson tells Variety. “It’s just a little NI/NET

shorter, but not by much.” LUIS LOPEZ AUTOMOTIVE D ADYA DAD SAEE The letter is also outﬁtted with lightbulbs. “When it : SAEE It took just about a month to transform the Atwater Village auto shop into The was ﬁrst built [in 1923], the Hollywood Sign was illumi- Golden Tip, a gas station that fronts a male prostitution ring run by its owner MOTIVE M nated by 4,000 bulbs. It blinked like a Vegas sign,” Fer-

Ernie (Dylan McDermott). “We did the entire place, from repaving the asphalt ZAUTO Z AUTO guson says. “There were some people on set who looked to painting,” Ferguson says. “We added garage doors. I changed the door to a S LOPE LOPE at it and were like, ‘Wait — what is this? “Cabaret?”’” casement door so that the window and the door would have the same sort of What were some of the real locations used during lines and made from the same materials. We had to add gas pumps because MLUI M, LUI

ﬁlming? Here, Ferguson takes Variety on a tour. the shop was no longer operating as a gas station.” (2) ADYANI/NETFLIX SAEED AUTOMOTIVE: LOPEZ ORPHEUM, LUIS ORPHEU

52 VARIETY ARTISANS

PARAMOUNT STUDIOS The exterior of the lot was used for the fictional Ace Studios. In one of the first scenes of “Hollywood,” aspiring actors crowd the front gate hoping to be discovered or, at the very least, snag some extra work. “Paramount still retains that classic studio look,” Ferguson says. The brightly lit studio commissary was built on a stage, with the walls decorated with framed Kodachrome portraits of Humphrey Bogart, Betty Grable, Bette Davis and others.

BEVERLY HILLS HOTEL Avis takes Jack to one of the hotel’s bungalows for a rendezvous. EL CABRILLO While the exterior of the famously pink-and-green getaway and Known for being the first its signage are seen as they drive up to the entrance, the Chinese American movie star, bungalow was built on a set using the hotel’s iconic banana-leaf- Anna May Wong is another print wallpaper. “We could use the hotel on the show as long we real person depicted on the used the real wallpaper and not a knockoff,” Ferguson says. “It’s show. In “Hollywood,” Wong, not wallpaper you can just go into a store and buy. You have to played by Michelle Krusiec, order it and have it made.” lives at the apartment complex as she struggles to make a comeback after MGM refuses to even consider her for the Chinese female lead in THE JAMES SCHWAB’S PHARMACY “The Good Earth,” opting to OVIATT BUILDING The legendary drug store and ice cast a white actor, Luise The 1928 building was once cream shop closed in 1983, Rainer, instead. “The El home to the men’s clothing followed five years later by the Cabrillo was built by Cecil B. store Alexander & Oviatt. Its demolition of the building it was DeMille in the ’20s to house penthouse apartment, where housed in. The show’s set out-of-state actors,” Ferguson store co-owner James Oviatt decorators spared no detail for says. “It’s a beautiful Spanish lived, was transformed into their homage. “A lot of the product colonial revival building with the office of agent Henry had to be made and it had to be a courtyard.” Willson (Jim Parsons). cleared,” Ferguson says. “It was

ER everything from cigarettes to

CKN shaving needs to lighters to gloves BUCKN and pharmaceutical products and CHAEL ICHAE even alcohol. It ran the gamut.” BY M H BY M H BY TOGRAP S: PHO MENT RTMEN APA ND AP

A LEGE LA LEYENDA

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PARAMOUNT, SCHWAB’S: SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX (2); PARSONS: NETFLIX; LA LEGEND APARTMENTS: PHOTOGRAPH BY MICHAEL BUCKNER BY PHOTOGRAPH APARTMENTS: LA LEGEND NETFLIX; (2); PARSONS: ADYANI/NETFLIX SAEED SCHWAB’S: PARAMOUNT, PARAMO out,” Ferguson says.

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REWRITING THE SCRIPT Jeremy Pope plays a thwarted screenwriter with Darren Criss as an aspiring director in “Hollywood.”

TV REVIEW Wind,” shockingly ahead of its time as a humorlessly held belief in the rightness BY DANIEL D’ADDARIO piece of spectacle and utterly contempo- of his political stances. What results is a rary in its antiheroine lead, also reflected Franken-show that’d have done the old Hollywood on the glories of the antebellum South. Universal monster movies proud, lurching Its supporting turn by Hattie McDaniel, and stumbling through its story’s convo- one that won a pathbreaking Oscar and lutions with great purpose but little worth has been remembered for generations, saying. Murphy’s work can be uneven in represents, too, a gifted actor being told the best of times, but with “Hollywood,” DRAMA: Netflix (seven episodes, all reviewed); that all she can do in a too-short career he has landed upon not merely the sec- May 1 is play a maid. Loving classic Hollywood ond show in a short time to announce a CAST: David Corenswet, Darren Criss, Jeremy Pope for what made it great comes with the major new Netflix creator as perhaps in mournful realization that it frequently need of network- or cable-style creative failed to be good. guardrails (after Kenya Barris’ disastrous TO LOVE CLASSIC HOLLYWOOD and live This is the path Ryan Murphy walks in “#BlackAF”) but also the first outright dud in the world at the same time is hardly “Hollywood,” which he co-created with Ian of his post-“Glee” career. the greatest of conundrums, but a conun- Brennan, effectively Murphy’s debut as a The show follows Jack Castello (David drum it is. It means being transported by Netflix contract player. (His 2019 Netflix Corenswet), an archetypal aspiring actor the craft and the art of films made under comedy series “The Politician” was pro- — amiably blank, burdened with more political conditions one may find entirely duced by his former professional partners charisma than backstory, ready for the unacceptable, or engaging deeply with at Fox.) This limited series braids together screen to provide him a reinvention. Mur- characters who all look a certain way at Murphy’s passionate, camp-inflected phy remains enough in thrall to the Hol- the exclusion of so many others, or finding interest in the movies and moviemaking lywood myth to do little more with Jack’s subtleties in the shadows left by the things culture of yesteryear with another, some- character than that, but also is committed the movies dared not allow themselves say. what conflicting trademark he’s arrived enough to subverting it that he plops Jack To name a single example: “Gone With the at more recently, the passionately and in a purposefully raunchy milieu; after SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX SAEED

VARIETY 55 REVIEWS

meeting a local businessman-slash-pimp brought to Earth wrenchingly, wretchedly. Murphy imagines, in which a movie that (Dylan McDermott), Jack finds himself Murphy has infinite sympathy for some cannot be resisted by any force standing providing the service at an unorthodox of his characters and similarly boundless in its way comes to change the town for- service station. (Staffed by prostitutes, it contempt for others: We seesaw between, ever. No wonder we lose Jack so much in has an analogue in the real-life gas sta- say, scenes in which an imagined Holly- the show’s second half; short of depicting tion owned by Scotty Bowers, subject of a wood that never was falls at our protag- him as a literal superhero, his achieve- superlative recent documentary.) Jack’s onists’ feet and scenes of Jim Parsons’ ments defy belief. It’s telling that — a bit loyal client is a studio head’s wife (Patti Henry Willson — a real-life talent agent like Emma Stone’s entirely unseen one- LuPone); a co-worker (Jake Picking), avail- known for grooming young men into mat- woman show in “La La Land,” similarly a able for male johns, is another aspiring inee hunks — spewing venom toward, or project that largely exists to burnish its actor, and will eventually change his name violating, his client, whom he desperately creator’s legend as a unique genius — we to Rock Hudson. wants both to convert into a straight-act- see little of “Meg.” (Given that the film is It’s through Rock that the story picks ing man for the public eye and to incul- portrayed as being a corrective, equal up; he falls in love with a thwarted cate into a libertine underworld in private. and opposite, to “Gone With the Wind,” would-be screenwriter (Jeremy Pope), (An episode involving a party at George that’s certainly for the best. Even Netflix who cannot hide that he’s black the way Cukor’s house distills a great deal of dis- money can’t sustain that conceit.) It’s also Rock can hide that he’s gay. All together, dain and scorn for gay men into one set- telling that the story “Meg” relates is of with the involvement of a Filipino direc- piece.) It’s not that this sort of behavior, a young woman burned out, and indeed tor (Darren Criss) and a black actor (Laura and this sort of internalized homopho- driven to suicide, by the unfairness and Harrier) who have similarly been blocked bia, didn’t exist, or doesn’t. But choosing prejudices of Hollywood. This, it seems, is from the fame we are meant to under- as the two sorts of gay people who could the tale Murphy wants to tell. Why dress stand they richly deserve, this crew works exist in “Hollywood” either a viperish and it up as hopeful and optimistic when it’s to make the first-ever broadly and deeply cruel villain or a genially frank hero, as caustic, raw and so barely within its cre- inclusive production in Hollywood his- becomes the case when Rock comes out, ator’s control? tory. LuPone’s Avis, a power player with belies above all else a lack of imagination. Murphy has waded into these waters liberal leanings, opens the town’s arms It also raises the question of what Mur- before. His ongoing project of casting to these new stars, and, by the time their phy likes about Hollywood at all. If one’s accomplished women left behind by the movie, “Meg,” comes out, they’re mega- vision of Rock Hudson as a potential hero world of movies makes a sly meta-com- stars. “Racial protests,” we’re told in a is that of someone who used an under- ment on the industry he’d like to see. And newsreel, “simply melted away.” Solving standing of homosexuality that existed he put two of them, Jessica Lange and Hollywood’s lack of inclusivity was as sim- only in nascent form in the cultural con- Susan Sarandon, in “Feud,” a series that ple as just doing it — why hadn’t anyone text of his time to radically reshape Amer- weaponized Murphy’s love of cinema by had the idea before? icans’ understanding of what love could re-creating the world in which Joan Craw- It’s a dreamy fantasy, one so high on look like, then the real one must look ford and Bette Davis were encouraged its own ingenuity that it hardly needs to pretty uninspired, or downright shabby! to mistreat one another. It was a show make time for characterization beyond Similarly, achievements of art and of that wished things could have been dif- the broadest of types. (Every one of these painstaking, incremental progress that ferent but understood that it could never characters, give or take Hudson, is “the actually exist in our Hollywood cannot be so, and through forensic restaging as brilliant one.”) But it’s also a reverie that’s compare with the gains in the Hollywood well as sympathetic imagination for the real artists at its heart, showed us why. The “Hollywood” take on this material would, perhaps, insist that Crawford and Davis find their way toward sharing success (thus suggesting that the real women simply lacked the wit to do so). “Holly- wood” insists that we were just a few people being brave and clever away from living in a world entirely unlike our own, and then yells at us about characters who are only brave and clever — rather than human — until we give in. Part of loving classic Hollywood is wishing that it could do better. But part of it, too, is ﬁnding the nuance and the meaning in stories that were produced by a broken town but written and directed and acted by people doing their best, not as arche- types of ingenuity but as artists. Meeting their work where it is, and hoping for more and better in the years ahead, is more productive and more worthy than inventing alternate histories. It also might make for a more interesting story than the inevitable

SCREEN SIRENS victory of people precisely as smart, back Samara Weaving then, as Ryan Murphy is now. and Laura Harrier perform in the fictional film CREDITS: Executive producers: Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Alexis Martin Woodall, Janet Mock. 60 MIN. Cast: David Corenswet, Darren at the center of Criss, Jeremy Pope, Samara Weaving, Laura Harrier, Jim Parsons, Dylan

“Hollywood.” McDermott, Holland Taylor, Patti LuPone, Jake Picking, Joe Mantello ADYANI/NETFLIX SAEED

56 VARIETY REVIEWS

through incredibly outmatched situations in berserker mode. His adversaries may outnumber him, but he proves to be pretty creative about using them against one another. Rake can grab a gangster by the arm, twist it in a direction the joint wasn’t meant to bend and fire the thug’s weapon into the skull of an oncoming assailant. Or, he might pick up a soldier and spin his body around so fast that it snaps the neck of another when they collide. It shouldn’t be a surprise that a fight specialist like Hargrave has some flashy moves up his sleeve. Working closely with DP Newton Thomas Sigel, the director blocks and shoots the altercations in such a way that audiences can quickly read SAVING GRACE Chris Hemsworth and what’s happening. Rake fights dirty, but Rudhraksh Jaiswal the coverage is clean, emphasizing what an star in “Extraction.” efficient improviser he is in the moment. His mission is to go to Dhaka to locate, liberate and return alive Ovi Mahajan (Rudhraksh Jaiswal), the son of the afore- FILM REVIEW the fight scenes on David Leitch’s “Atomic mentioned Indian drug lord, held for ran- BY PETER DEBRUGE Blonde” — another showcase from a stunt som by Amir Asif (Priyanshu Painyuli), maven-turned-director — and it’s safe to a man so powerful he has the local mili- Extraction assume that’s where he got the idea for the tary at his disposal. That would be tough big set-piece in “Extraction”: a spectacular enough if the man who’d hired Rake (Pan- 11½-minute single-shot action scene that kaj Tripathi) hadn’t ordered his own secu- seems to be the film’s entire raison d’être. rity chief, Saju (Randeep Hooda), to swoop While Hargrave can’t improve upon the in and steal Ovi from his rescuers the virtuoso plan sequence of “Atomic Blonde,” moment he’s been liberated. That’s where DIRECTOR: Sam Hargrave CAST: Chris Hemsworth, Randeep Hooda, the attempt in “Extraction” is undeniably Hargrave chooses to show off, initiating the Golshifteh Farahani impressive all the same, as the camera does single-shot set-piece meant to up the ante seemingly impossible tricks in tracking a on this particular technique. high-speed chase through the Bangladeshi It’s worth noting that Kathryn Bige- capital of Dhaka, where a daredevil named low was among the early pioneers of this ACTION. IT’S RIGHT THERE in the film’s title. Tyler Rake (Hemsworth) undertakes what action-scene-as-oner craze a quarter-cen- The white-savior version of “Man on seems like a suicide mission. tury ago with “Strange Days,” even if it’s Fire,” in which a gruff mercenary (Chris Rake’s one of those enigmatic loners we since become the obsession of a certain Hemsworth) is hired to rescue a kidnapped often meet in such movies, his backstory kind of male director, looking either for rich kid from a dark-skinned drug lord, reduced to a few fleeting glimpses of a dead Oscars (like Cuarón, Iñárritu and Mendes) “Extraction” isn’t the smartest movie you’ll son. Still, tortured and handsome is about or the admiration of cinephiles and fellow see during lockdown, but it’s liable to be as much as the genre often gives us. If any- film professionals (as in “Atomic Blonde” the most kinetic — assuming you have Net- thing, it’s surprising to see slightly more and “John Wick 3”). Other than calling flix, since it’s the service’s big tentpole of time devoted to the personal lives of the attention to itself, it’s not entirely clear the season, a dumbed-down bit of blow- various stock characters Rake encounters. why this approach — which mirrors the uppy distraction that’s every bit as enter- “You’re hoping if you spin the chamber style of first-person-shooter games — has taining as the equivalent pyrotechnic enough times, you’re gonna catch a bullet,” become so popular. If anything, it’s bound offering from a theatrical motion picture offers his handler (Golshifteh Farahani) by to make movies from this period look studio might have been. way of analysis early on. But the line isn’t dated the instant the fad blows over. “Extraction” marks the feature direct- terribly insightful, considering we’ve just Joe Russo’s script is structured much ing debut of “Avengers: Endgame” second seen Rake (a) take what looks like a lethal like a game as well, serving up intimidat- unit director Sam Hargrave, whom produc- bullet in a bloody flash-forward and (b) ing “level bosses” — a teenage street hood CREDITS: A Netflix release and ers Joe and Anthony Russo hand-picked jump off a cliff so high even Thor would’ve presentation of an AGBO Films, with a vengeance, a corrupt general who TGIM Films Thematic Entertain- to helm the project, based on their idea, thought twice about taking the plunge. ment production. Reviewed happens to be the country’s best sniper — online, April 19, 2020. MPAA Rat- an unproduced script that they’d earlier Iranian actor Farahani is one of world ing: R. Running time: 117 MIN. that Rake must defeat every so often before Producers: Joe Russo, Anthony adapted into graphic-novel form as “Ciu- cinema’s most striking actors, and here, Russo, Mike Larocca, Chris advancing in his quest. The Russos’ origi- Hemsworth, Eric Gitter, Peter dad.” It’s the Russo Brothers’ name that she has nothing to do for better part of two Schwerin. Executive producers: nal graphic novel, “Ciudad,” took place on Patrick Newall, Wang Zhongjun, appears above the title on posters (not hours but deliver exposition, such as this Wang Zhonglei, Hu Junyi, Ari a different continent entirely, and the fact Costa, Todd Makurath, David that many people are seeing those at the line to describe the politics of the assign- Guillod, Steven Scavelli. Co-pro- they could relocate it from South America ducers: Pravesh Sahni, Benjamin moment) and, of course, the stubbly “Thor” ment: “Biggest drug lord in India versus big- Grayson, Kelly Gallagher, Fred to Southeast Asia suggests how little atten- Goodman. Director: Sam Har- star’s likeness that’s highlighted crouching/ gest drug lord in Bangladesh.” And yet, she grave. Screenplay: Joe Russo, tion they’ve put into studying either place. based on the graphic novel praying/napping in the key art. finds her way into the field before the show’s “Ciudad” by Ande Parks, from a It’s the action that matters most here, so story by Ande Parks, Joe Russo, Nearly a year to the day after “Infin- over, firing the two most important shots of Anthony Russo. Camera: Newton check your brain going in. But if the only Thomas Sigel. Editors: Peter B. ity War,” it’s startling to think that the big- the movie, and taking down a helicopter via Ellis, Ruthie Aslan. Music: Henry exercise you’re getting is from the couch Jackman, Alex Belcher. Cast: gest new movie being released is this one, a rocket launcher for good measure. Chris Hemsworth, Rudhraksh to the kitchen these days, it’s liable to get Jaiswal, Randeep Hooda, Gol- much leaner endeavor from the same cre- As for Rake, well, he’s just a locomotive shifteh Farahani, Pankaj Tripathi, your heart racing just a little, and that’s not Priyanshu Painyuli, David Harbour.

JASIN BOLAND/NETFLIX JASIN ative team. Hargrave also choreographed with nothing left to lose, barreling his way (English, Hindi, Bengali dialogue) a bad thing.

VARIETY 57 FACETIME

Given that “Hollywood” was created Jeremy Pope by two white men, how much collabo- ration did you ask for in shaping who Archie was? One of my ﬁrst questions for ‘Given the Opportunity, [Ryan] was about how we’re talking about this black gay man who had to exist in a different way in the ’40s than right now. I He Can Be a Trailblazer’ wanted to be very conscious of that, and I asked him if there would be directors or people of color in the writers’ room to have By Danielle Turchiano that voice and experience writing those conversations for me. And he assured me of that. I was able to work hand in hand with Janet Mock, who directed two of our episodes, and that was important and felt JEREMY POPE IS best known for his work on Broadway, starring as Pharus special because we were able to take the in the Tarell Alvin McCraney play “Choir Boy” in 2018, and following time and develop these experiences and relationships. that up last year as singer-songwriter Eddie Kendricks in the musical

“Ain’t Too Proud — The Life and Times of the Temptations.” He was What were some of your influences and nominated for both roles at the 2019 Tony Awards, becoming only the inspirations for Archie? I fell in love with sixth actor in Tony history to be tapped in two categories at the same old Hollywood. I started to learn about the different actors of the time who were ceremony. Now, Pope is poised to break out as a small-screen star as gay successful and what that looked like, what screenwriter Archie Coleman in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s 1940s- kind of pictures they were a part of, what set “Hollywood.” The limited series streams May 1 on Netﬂix. was happening in the world politically down South versus the East and West coasts. James Baldwin was a big inspiration for me, being that he was so cultured and ahead of his time. That felt like, if anything, that’s what Archie should be like.

How did you feel about seeing some of the struggles Archie must have had being young, black and gay in this time period? I didn’t need it. I think because we know a lot. We’re still fighting for equality across the board, so I don’t think it’s one of those things we needed to harp on for the past — because to some extent it’s still very hard for certain people today. But what I found very interesting, especially with Archie, was how confident he was and how fearless he was. It almost felt like a person in 2020 — this younger generation that is speaking out and protesting and really fighting for their voices to be heard. I don’t know that you saw many people in that vein in the ’40s, but here we have this person who believes in what he does and what he wants to be, and given the opportunity, he can be a trailblazer.

How different was your process in finding your character in “Hollywood” from how you work on Broadway? It’s different being that with Broadway you rehearse and you take your time in figuring out what you’re DREAM PRODUCTION creating. And usually you have the whole Dylan McDermott, Jeremy Pope and David Corenswet star in Ryan Murphy script there! It is tricky, popping in and film- and Ian Brennan’s “Hollywood.” ing things out of order and wondering where your character’s feelings go next and what it looks like. But I felt like I learned a lot from Archie — this inspiring dreamer, wishing and hoping for his dreams to come true and THINGS YOU HOMETOWN: Orlando, Fla. AGE: 27 PERSON HE’D MOST LIKE TO MEET: Michelle Obama working as hard as he can to hopefully see DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT CURRENTLY LISTENING TO: Janet Mock’s “Redefining Realness” audiobook CAUSE HE CARES MOST ABOUT: The Actors Fund that. That is every artist that I know — hop- JEREMY POPE IF HE WASN’T PERFORMING: “I’d probably be an art teacher.” ing the world has enough room for their art

and their voice. ADYANI/NETFLIX SAEED

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