Category: Entertainment

A media sector squeezed by streaming losses, anemic stocks, layoffs and executive turmoil unveiled its latest casualties today – 20% of AMC Networks’ U.S. staff, or about 200 people, along with the departure of CEO Christina Spade.

The news follows Bob Chapek’s equally sudden departure last Sunday from Disney after a quarter of hefty streaming losses and months of PR missteps. No reason was given for Spade’s departure, but it kicked off another round of speculation about the potential for the cuts being a preamble to an M&A transaction. AMC Networks declined to comment when contacted by Deadline.

Jobs are being axed from Warner Bros. Discovery to Paramount Global, Disney and the CW alongside a virtual bloodbath in tech. Today’s staff memo from AMC Networks Chairman James Dolan, whose family is the company’s controlling shareholder, was particularly grim, noting that “the mechanisms for the monetization of content are in disarray.”

He said that means “a large-scale layoffs” and substantial “cuts to every operating area” at the company, which is now searching for a new CEO. The board is “confident” the cuts “will enable AMC Networks to come through this period even stronger and to be well positioned to drive future growth over the long term.” He said the company had come to a realization about the streaming business, expressing it with words capable of sending a chill up the collective media spine: “It was our belief that cord cutting losses would be offset by gains in streaming. This has not been the case.”

Wall Street radiated uneasiness about the situation and the lack of clarity about Spade’s exit. Shares fell more than 5%. Her departure was “a complete surprise and leaves the company in need of new leadership, with no apparent successor in the wings,” said analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen & Company.

AMC like others in the space is faced with an ad downturn on top of rising streaming costs and declining linear revenue. “It’s been sort of the same for a while, which is kind of shuffling along on the top line, with linear still under pressure. They have been spending a fair among of money on content and if they can’t grow revenue, it will pressure margins. It’s not unique to them,” Creutz said.

That’s even as AMC/AMC+ has been on a streak with the last three new series, Dark Winds, Moonhaven and Interview with a Vampire, all received well and earning Season 2 renewals. The network, whose programming team is led by Dan McDermott, President Entertainment & AMC Studios, also has high hopes for the upcoming Mayfair Witches, which debuts in January, as well as the multiple Walking Dead spinoff series that are in the works. The layoffs unveiled today and starting this week are said to be across the board and it’s not clear what divisions will be hit the hardest.

“Ten years ago, we saw that cord-cutting was going to be a thing, and we thought streaming growth would offset it. And streaming has grown. It just required a lot more investment than anyone expected,” said a media fund manager. “There’s been a pretty bad cyclical downturn, and everybody’s had to rethink what they are doing. The same discussions are happening at every media company.”

Another company in the Dolan orbit, Madison Square Garden Entertainment, is also in the midst of cost reductions. “We are looking holistically across all of our businesses to ensure all areas continue to be positioned for success in the future,” its CFO said on a recent call.

The question for AMC is how much can be cut before hitting bone, especially at a company much smaller than a WBD or Disney and that already had a major downsizing in 2020. Longtime CEO Josh Sapan left after that, and former Showtime boss Matt Blank came in as interim chief executive. Spade, a former colleague of his at Viacom, CBS and Showtime was hired as chief financial officer in January of 2021, subsequently added the chief operating officer title and then took over as CEO last Sept. 9 — less than three months ago — with a contract running through 2025. “As I begin my new role as CEO of AMC Networks, I am proud to lead the company at one of the most exciting moments in our history,” she said on an third-quarter earnings call Nov. 5.

The quarterly results were discouraging, joining a pile of other media and tech quarterly numbers hit by a broad pullback in advertising. AMC’s ad revenue fell 10% year-over-year to $180 million for the three months.  

Addressing shortcomings in the corner office is challenging business. Disney brought Bob Iger back. The Disney board had also reportedly approached former Disney executive Kevin Mayer to replace Chapek and will be looking to identify a worthy Iger successor given that the restored CEO’s contract runs out in two years. It’s a lot harder for AMC to attract a heavy hitter given the Dolans’ ultimate control. “Ultimately, a CEO may not feel like they are calling the shots,” said Creutz. Ad cycles are finite. But no CEO can wave a magically wand if cord cutting keeps revenue shrinking and streaming can’t make it up.

A battered stock market make it hard to exit — will-they-won’t-they sell being a perpetual question surrounding Dolan family assets. In an already unsettled landscape, with Lionsgate in the process of finding a new configuration for Starz and its studio and the integration of Discovery and WarnerMedia continuing in fits and starts, the immediate question concerns a logical buyer, especially in a high-interest-rate environment.

“I’m not saying it would not be attractive to somebody. But are you going to get a decent price for it? With the state of the market and balance sheets and just the reality of streaming right now. I don’t know who will offer them a good price. This is not the time. The market is in the tank right now. Everyone is worried about a recession,” said one Wall Streeter.

“Ask the smartest people, the ones who sold businesses over the past five years, what they think — Jeff Bewkes, Rupert Murdoch, the Scripps family. Maybe they got lucky, but they sold when the selling was good. Bewkes and Murdoch had high regard for their own ability and recognized that it didn’t matter if you have a terrible hand.”

Bewkes sold Time Warner to AT&T in 2018 for about $85 billion. Murdoch handed most film and TV assets held by 21st Century Fox to Disney in 2019 for $71 billion. Scripps Networks Interactive sold itself to Discovery in 2017 for $14.6 billion. All of those deals, however, were completed in comparatively rosier times.

New York Women in Film & Television (NYWIFT) has presented 10 scholarships and 14 festival awards to new and established filmmakers at seven New York-area festivals throughout the past year, a press release has announced. Cash awards and one-year association memberships gifted by the NYWIFT aim to nurture the next generation of women in media.

According to NYWIFT CEO Cynthia Lopez, the organization has expanded its festival partnership as part of its mission to “recognize top-tier talent, emerging voices, and the women content creators making waves in narrative and documentary filmmaking.” Lopez added, “It is so impressive that these recipients not only completed their films during the pandemic – they excelled in reinventing how films are made during this time.”

Festival awards for Excellence in Directing were given to Ellie Foumbi (“Our Father, the Devil”) at the Hamptons International Film Festival, Ju Martins (“Nā Kama Kai – Children of The Ocean”) at the Montauk Film Festival, and Jasmin Mara López (“Silent Beauty”) at UrbanWorld Film Festival, among others.

Along with its scholarships, NYWIFT invests in young talent through the Sabrina Wright-Gilliar Award, given to a high school senior striving for a career in production. This year’s recipient is aspiring assistant director Jasmine Gonzalez. The award honors the memory of Wright-Gilliar, who the organization describes as a “legendary” prop master whose credits include “The Good Wife”. 

“It is vital to support and nurture women creatives as they leave academia to begin the next phase of their professional journeys,” Lopez emphasized. “We are thrilled to welcome them to the NYWIFT community and are excited to see what each of these wildly talented students will accomplish.”

In addition to funding, scholarship recipients were also enrolled in NYWIFT’s Next Wave membership program for early career professionals with less than four years of film or TV experience, per the organization’s site.

NYWIFT is a non-profit that empowers women working in film and TV industries to advance diversity in media. 

A hunter and new father was killed after his own dog accidentally shot him in a freak accident during a hunting trip in Turkey over Thanksgiving weekend, according to reports.

Ozgur Gevrekoglu, 32, was pursuing game with his pals on the Kizlan Plateau in Samsun Province last weekend, Newsflash reports. He had just become a father for the first time 10 days before the tragic shooting.

The trip had gone without incident until the hunter began packing up his belongings to leave.

Turkish Hunter Killed During Hunting Trip After Dog’s Paw Inadvertently Touched Trigger Of Loaded Shotgun

In a completely freak accident, Gevrekoglu was placing his dog into the trunk of the car when the pet’s paw inadvertently touched the trigger of a loaded shotgun, with the weapon being discharged in close range.

Gevrekoglu was transported to Alaçam State Hospital, however he was pronounced dead on arrival, according to the outlet.

His body was then taken to the state capital of Samsun for an autopsy. An investigation is ongoing as Turkish authorities look into the details surrounding the man’s death.

There were several pet dogs brought along the hunting trip, with Gevrekoglu posting photos of himself with several hounds before his tragic death.

A recent picture showed the smiling outdoorsman petting a dog while holding up a string of dead birds.

It remains unclear which pup was actually the one who accidentally managed to fire the gun.

Several News Outlets Claim Hunter Was Murdered, Question Dog Excuse As Possible Coverup

Meanwhile, several Turkish news outlets have claimed that Gevrekoglu was actually murdered, and reported that the dog excuse was a coverup for the actual crime, according to Newsflash.

But as of Monday, authorities have yet to uncover any evidence of foul play.

According to The Washington Post, at least 10 people were reportedly shot by dogs between 2004 and 2015 in the U.S. alone, with several other cases having been reported since then.

A New Mexico man was shot in the back under similar circumstances back in 2018, when his dog accidentally managed to discharge a firearm during a jackrabbit hunting trip, Las Cruces Sun-News reported at the time.

Sonny Gilligan was shot in the back while sitting in the front seat of his parked pickup truck during a hunting trip for jackrabbits with his three dogs — Charlie, Scooter and Cowboy.

New Mexico Hunter Survived Similar Freak Accidental Shooting Caused By Dog In 2018, Per Reports

“Charlie got his foot in the trigger of the gun and I leaned forward and he slipped off the seat and caught the trigger — and it shot,” Gilligan told the newspaper. “It was a freak accident but it’s true, that’s what happened.”

Charlie, a 120-pound Rottweiler mix, was reported to be the dog that accidentally shot his owner, with the bullet tearing through the driver’s seat before entering Gilligan’s back.

“I was very fortunate I could get to my phone,” Gilligan told the newspaper. “The [Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office] first responders saved my life. If they waited 10 more minutes, I would’ve died. I lost so much blood. I know I actually passed to the other just before getting to the hospital but they were able to revive me through CPR and bring me back.”

Gilligan was fortunate enough to survive the freak accidental shooting, breaking several ribs and his collarbone. He added he was lucky to survive the shooting, and ultimately forgave the pup, calling him “a good boy.”

Returning for its 26th edition and with 2021’s Covid restrictions largely a thing of the past, Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) this year crowned Hilmar Oddsson’s Icelandic dark comedy Driving Mum as the 2022 Grand Prix winner, with the Best Director award going to Ahmad Bahrami for thriller The Wastetown.

Returning for its 26th edition and with Covid regulations largely a thing of the past, Tallinn’s Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) this year crowned Hilmar Oddsson’s Icelandic dark comedy Driving Mum as the 2022 Grand Prix winner, with the Best Director award going to Ahmad Bahrami for the Iranian revenge thriller The Wastetown.

Fears over the continuing pandemic were mostly replaced by concern/support for President Zelensky and the people of Ukraine in their continuing conflict with the amassed Russia forces of Vladimir Putin – events still so tumultuous and ever-evolving that NATO had reportedly increased its presence in Tallinn as the festival opened (the Estonian capital is about 125 miles from the Russian border). The blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag was visible across the snow-sprinkled city, while the almost-near absence of Russian delegates continues to provoke debate.

But what of the films themselves? Stark contrast, as ever, could also be found in the festival’s eclectic blend of festival big-hitters – from the likes of Steven Spielberg, Park Chan-wook, Laura Poitras and Mia Hansen-Løve – with its competition strand of feature debuts and world premieres. Titles well-received by the smattering of trade press attending the festival included Hilmar Oddsson’s Grand Prix winner Driving Mum, identical twin drama A Cup of Coffee and New Shoes On, Matías Bize’s The Punishment and Filip Heraković’s Pelican, amongst others. Heraković’s debut film offered an intriguing counterpoint to the glitz and glamour of football’s winter World Cup in Qatar, following injured professional goalkeeper Josip (nicknamed “Condor”) wandering the corridors and function rooms of a Croatian sanatorium.

Reminiscent at points to Wim Wenders’ The Goalie’s Anxiety at the Penalty Kick, while perhaps more similar in tone to 2017’s Diamantino, Pelican (First Feature Competition, Special Jury Prize) proved a welcome addition to the gradually expanding footballer-in-existential-crisis-drama sub-genre. Committed performances from Edi Celic as Josip and Lucija Barisic helped to elevate Heraković’s film above some of the other titles in competition. Sergio Machado’s Brazilian bonkathon River of Desire had all the he-said/she-said familial hullabaloo of a telly novella and with it a certain sweaty charm, yet struggled to move break free from its gossipy, soapy chains. The film follows a ménage à quatre between three brothers and one of the sibling’s frisky new wife (Sophie Charlotte), with Adrian Teijido’s work behind the camera rewarded with the Best Cinematography prize.

The UK film industry was well-represented this year, with new films from Carol Morley (Typist Artist Pirate King), Ben Parker (Burial), Neil Maskell (Klokkenluider) and more flying the flag for filmmaking and production. A timely portrait of farcical political skullduggery, Maskell’s directorial feature debut – receiving its international premiere at Black Nights – served up a heady mix of dry British humour and Black Mirror-style satire as a skittish government whistleblower Ewan (Amit Shah) and his Belgian wife Silke (Sura Dohnke) await the arrival of a newspaper journalist, all under the watchful eye of two odd-couple bodyguards (played by Tom Burke and a wonderful Roger Evans). As the end of the world rears its head the wine flows, charades commences and beans are gradually spilled.

The horrors of a different type of warfare – all too familiar to those living on the borders of Ukraine and Russia – was the central focus of Adrian Goiginger’s Second World War drama The Fox, a handsomely staged but somewhat twee film about an Austrian soldier and a wounded fox club he takes under his wing as he pushes past the French front. There were echos of Terrence Malick’s Austrian-set A Hidden Life at points, but the central conceit of fox club-as-symbol-of-innocence draws away the emotional heft of some of the film’s bleaker moments. It was, however, always a pleasure to see Karl Markovics (The Counterfeiters, Breathing) effectively steal the film with an early monologue. One wonders if it should perhaps be mandatory for Markovics to either act or direct in all off the Austrian film industry’s output.

For a full list of PÖFF award winners, please see below:

Official Selection Competition

Grand Prix for Best Film – Driving Mum (Ice) dir. Hilmar Oddsson
Best Director – Ahmad Bahrami, The Wastetown
Best Cinematography – Adrian Teijido, River of Desire
Best Script – Shahar Rozen, Dudu Busi, DUCKS – An Urban Legend
Best Actor – Gurban Ismailov, Cold As Marble
Best Actress – Antonia Zegers, The Punishment
Best Original Score – Tonu Korvits, Driving Mum
Best Production Design – Michael Schindlmeier, Servus Papa, See You in Hell

First Feature Competition

Best First Feature Film – The Land Within (Switz-Kos) dir. Fisnik Maxville
Special Jury Prize – Pelican (Cro) dir. Filip Herakovic; Amar Colony (India) dir. Siddharth Chauhan

Baltic Competition

Best Baltic Feature Film – Poet (Lith) dirs. Giedrius Tamosevicius, Vytautas V. Landsbergis
Best Baltic Poducer for Co-production – Inna Sahakyan, Aurora’s Sunrise

Rebels With A Cause Competition

Rebels With A Cause Award – Rebelión (Col-Arg) dir. Jose Luis Rugeles
Special Mention – Three Thousand Numbered Pieces (Hun) dir. Adam Csaszi

Critics Picks Competition

Critics’ Picks Award – About Us But Not About Us (Phi) dir. Jun Robles Lana
Special Mention – The Bone Breakers (It) dir. Vincenzo Pirrotta

Fipresci Prize – Upon Entry (Sp) dirs. Alejandro Rojas, Juan Sebastian Vasquez

Audience Award – Amusia (It) dir. Marescotti Ruspoli

More information on the 2022 Black Nights Film Festival (PÖFF) can be found at poff.ee.

Daniel Green

The countdown is on for Matt Roloff.

And he knows it, too.

The Little People, Big World star has been dating Caryn Chandler for years now and has openly talked of late about proposing.

It seems like a sure thing that these two will one day walk down the aisle… it’s just become increasingly difficult to predict exactly when that day will arrive.

On the latest episode of his family’s reality show, Matt actually addressed the delay in his engagement, blaming a living situation that finds him “in limbo” as the the reason for why he has not yet put a ring on it.

“It just doesn’t make sense for us, for me to propose to her, for us to get married, until we have a place that we can land in,” he explained on air.

“And neither of our houses work for each other. So it’s just very, very disappointing.”

Matt is busy building his dream home on his property in Oregon and is residing in a mobile home until construction is complete.

Chandler, for her part, has not publicly commented on her boyfriend’s postponement of the big question — but she appears to be making some pretty major life decisions of her own these days.

According to recent reports, Caryn is planning to move to Arizona full-time.

She’s even planning to do so regardless of whether or not TLC picks up Little People, Big World for another season, having allegedly grown sick and tired of all the Roloff in-fighting.

As loyal viewers know well, there’s been extreme tension between Matt and his kids ever since the former put a portion of his farm property up for sale in May 2022.

“Matt really wants another season, but Caryn is completely done,” an insider told The Sun a few weeks ago of where Chandler stands when it comes to running it back on the small screen next year.

“She thinks there are too many disagreements with what they want to say and do on air, and too much family drama.

“She feels as though she’s the one always caught in the middle trying to mediate…

“Caryn is ready to just have Matt hand the farm over and they can go to Arizona and retire. That would be her dream scenario, but whether Matt agrees is yet to be decided.”

Little People, Big World viewers, meanwhile, have seen Matt and Caryn discuss marriage in the past, and just last season, Caryn accidentally referred to Matt as her husband.

“I’m married to the guy that owns a pumpkin patch,” she said on camera before realizing that she had misspoken. “I’m not married. Did I just say married?”

“You’re almost married to a guy with the pumpkin patch, is the way I could put it,” Matt responded.

That was back then, of course.

Now? All this time later?

Caryn still isn’t married to the guy who owns a pumpkin patch, as folks start to wonder: Will she ever be?!?

Yahritza Y Su Esencia is a young band from Mexico made up of siblings that is putting a very fresh spin on regional Mexican music.

It’s as if Lana Del Rey had a go at the genre!

Dripping with sadness and COOL!

You have to check out Esta Noche above!

Then CLICK HERE to listen to more from Yahritza Y Su Esencia!

Coming from a background in photography and cinematography, Alejandro Loayza Grisi embarked on his directorial career with Utama, the tale of an elderly Quechua couple wrangling llamas in the Bolivian highlands.

Coming from a background in photography and cinematography, Alejandro Loayza Grisi embarked on his directorial career with Utama, the tale of an elderly Quechua couple wrangling llamas in the Bolivian highlands.

Presenting both the hardships of a changing climate on people living off the land and the impacts of migration on families and culture, the film is a subtle and intimate drama presented against some astonishing vistas of the Altiplano. The film premiered at Sundance Film Festival, where it won the Grand Jury Prize, and it has gone on to pick up numerous awards at festivals throughout 2022 before becoming Bolivia’s entry for the 95th Academy Awards.

CineVue’s Ben Nicholson was fortunate to get to sit down with the filmmaker when the film screened at the BFI London Film Festival in October.

Ben Nicholson: The film engages with this incredibly complex situation that involves climate change, migration, loss of culture, and language extinction. How did you come to this place and story?

Alejandro Loayza Grisi: I think that Bolivia is a country that has been suffering this loss of culture and language for a long time, in a process that’s taken hundreds of years. In the 70s, we were a country where 70% of the population lived in the countryside. Nowadays, 50 years later, 70% of the population lives in the city. So, many things have changed. Cities are starting to be more like each other with time; you can go to a city in the US, and it could easily be a city in Mexico, or in Europe. I think that was one of the things that drew my attention. Also, I travelled all around Bolivia doing an environmental documentary series called Planeta Bolivia, and I got to see all our environmental problems. It’s very painful to see how such a beautiful country with such amazing nature, is in danger of disappearing – an entire country, an enormous country. The region the film is set in is one that has suffered the most from climate change consequences; there are others that may look healthy today, but with how we are behaving, are in danger in 20-30 years.

We, as Bolivians, since we have many cultures and languages, don’t have a clear identity. It’s a great thing because we are very diverse, but at the same time, it’s a question we always have in the back of our minds. We don’t have a strong national football team [laughs] or strong artists or rock bands. So, it’s hard to identify what it means to be Bolivian. I think these questions are in every Bolivian, and the film is exploring those questions about identity and culture.

BN: You talk about this being a longer process but, in the film, you depict specific points of conflict currently arising between the generations. Do you think this is because that process is speeding up? Are there bigger generational gaps now?

ALG: I think it’s a mix because, clearly, in recent years, everything has been speeding up. Ever since the internet, everything has changed; we are living in the middle of a digital revolution. I think it was a historical process. It’s funny because, nowadays, people are trying to recover what we have lost – people are trying to be prouder of what we were in Bolivia. There was a time in history when it was seen as bad that you spoke an indigenous language; you were a second-class citizen because you didn’t speak Spanish well. That has been happening since the Spanish Empire arrived, probably, but it was a distinguishing mark of the past century. I think that [the film’s younger character] Clever going to the countryside is an exploration of people nowadays trying to go back to their roots. I wanted to show this desire not to forget these roots, not to forget this place where we come from. It’s not only Bolivians. Our nature, as human beings, is to be closer to the earth, to the natural world. To live in huge cities is very recent for us. We have a new clock, since probably the Industrial Revolution, and we respond to this clock. We are living under this time regime. I’m not saying it’s necessarily bad, it’s just the way it is, but it’s always good to remind ourselves of how it used to be.

BN: What was the process like of working with the local community and trying to incorporate into the film how they felt about these things issues you’re talking about?

ALG: Well, we had the help of a person that was very important during the pre-production and shooting – he belongs to the community, and he helped us introduce the project to the community. They’re so abandoned that the state doesn’t represent the government to them. They have internal rules, which is great. They decide everything as a community, so we presented the project to them, and they decided to support us because they felt it was interesting to show this reality. When they saw the film recently, just a couple of weeks ago, they felt the same way. So, I feel it is ‘mission accomplished’ for us. They are very happy with the film representing their reality, representing their stories, and their characters. Working with them was easy because they are very generous people, very open-minded and progressive, so it was easy to engage them and work with them. The lead actors [José Calcina and Luisa Quispe] were the same as the others; they were very committed to the film, they learned the script by heart, and though they were not in the beginning, I think, after the rehearsals, they became professional actors. I think the most important thing was to have a nice shooting process. Our process was so happy that we could repeat it many times. I think that when you have this in the process, you can also sense it in the film.

BN: And were there specific things that you got from the community that impacted the story? Were there things that you hadn’t really thought about that the change of perspective brought to it?

ALG: I shared the script with many people during the process, or at least the story. I needed to investigate this particular region, this particular problem. So, I shared it with climate experts, with Quechua experts, and with this person from the community. He gave me some notes, and I went and corrected them. The actors also showed me the things they did – so many of the things they are doing in daily life are brought to the film by them; that was great for me to have these actions performed in a natural way because they know how to do it. As for the story, the only scene that was not fully written out with dialogue was the scene where they discuss, as a community, what to do. We did that with rehearsals the same day as shooting. I asked for two hours of rehearsals with them, and I said to them, “okay, this is the problem: it hasn’t rained, it’s already February. What would you do as a community? What happens?” So, they started giving me their arguments and I chose what was interesting. I might give advice, like asking them to make something shorter, but they built the scene themselves because these are true concerns they have.

BN: It’s one thing to agree to be in a big group dialogue scene like this, but what was it like convincing José and Luisa to be your leads? Did you always know you wanted non-professionals, from the local community, to play those roles?

ALG: We knew it would be better to have local people play the roles because they could relate to the story better and could engage with the characters more. We knew it was not going to be an easy casting process, but I knew I wanted them since the first minute I saw them. I started talking with Luisa and then the husband came out, and he was also great – so I was very happy. But they were not interested. It’s a new thing for them and they have a very different perception of cinema. I was just a stranger in a car, asking them to do a crazy thing. So, at first, they were not interested, but then they saw we were serious – they saw us coming back again and again, doing casting in the entire region – so they came back and knocked on the door and said, “we’ll do it. We’re interested.”

BN: I remember reading that they found it difficult to be argumentative with each other because they’re actually not like that at all. How much do you feel you need to properly direct them, and how much was it about making it comfortable for them? It’s always interesting to hear from directors working with non-professional actors and how you go about getting them to do things that they feel less comfortable with, or feel are less authentic.

ALG: Yes, exactly. I must say that in this case, they were acting the entire time. My method – the rehearsals, the shooting – was that way. It was better for me to let them know everything that was happening. Of course, they have natural reactions, but it’s not that we were hunting with the camera. Other processes, other films, and other directors might need to do that. For this film, I didn’t need to. They were responding so well in rehearsals, that it was better for me to have them acting all the time. It was also very important to distinguish between work and real life because real life is more important than work. I didn’t want them to be sad or depressed about the characters, about death, about the situation. So, they were having a blast, they were having a laugh, and then off they went to shoot a death scene. So yeah, they really became professional actors and none of the reactions are natural, it’s all performance. I’m very proud of what we achieved as a team.

BN: In that team, you were taking on a new role, as director. What was it like for you, having to relinquish some of the control of the cinematography?

ALG: It was a natural process and very easy for me. First, I was a photographer, then a director of photography, then a director. I guess I could have seen the role of the director from another side with less responsibility, but I wanted that for myself – I learned a lot from all the directors I worked with. Also, this film arrived with no pressure because I was not a director, I was just doing a film. I feel that when you study to be a director, and you do some short films in university, people are going to ask you ‘when is the first feature? What’s it about?’ You have a lot of pressure from yourself, from the people that know you, from the debt you have acquired with the bank, or the money your parents paid for university. In my case, it was with no pressure. I also felt I had the greatest cinematographer I could have – Barbara Alvarez. So, when I was directing, I could just hand off all the lighting and cinematography responsibilities, I was very comfortable because I could not have done it better than her – that’s clear. She’s amazing and we share sensitivities, so it was an easy process, and no one could have made it better than Barbara. Also, the production team gave me all the comfort I could have asked for to be directing in peace.

BN: I recall Barbara saying in an interview that you shared some visual inspirations with her, to illustrate particularly how you wanted the images to convey the people and how they exist in the landscape. What kind of inspirations were in your mind and what was the visual language you were trying to get to with her?

ALG: Well, one of the main things, visually, was that we needed the outside to be very different from the inside. We needed to contrast them because when you’re outside, you’re not safe – the sun is high and tough on you, and you’re this small human creature in this desolate place. Inside, you’re comfortable – you are with family, and you are in a small, warm place. We wanted to have this contrast. The light in the highlands is very particular because of course it’s more than 4000 metres above sea level, so it’s different, and we wanted to show that as well. I had been collecting photos during the years I was writing – since I am a photographer myself – and I had a very clear picture of how I wanted the film to look. When Barbara joined, I showed her these references and we worked on storyboards and adjusted everything. So, in terms of framing on set, she already knew what I wanted and would then propose better shots. It was a very natural process. She also backed me up with her experience. Being a first-time director, you are always tempted to show how good you are – you have this temptation to do things, to show off your skills – but she backed me and helped me to escape this anxiety.

UTAMA is released in UK/Irish cinemas 25 November – Cinema Listings

Ben Nicholson | @BRNicholson

We all know some wonderful scripts and blockbusters have been a product of Novel Adaptations. As difficult as it is, to create a 2 to 3 hours movie out of a full length novel, yet it is books that have always inspired movie makers to bring stories onscreen. Some are successful, others don’t do justice entirely to the literary product; Nonetheless it is always exciting to see books turned into movies. Being an ardent reader myself, I have come across these few books which I feel, would inspire some wonderful movie scripts.

Dash and Lilly’s Book of Dares by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan

This is frankly the kind of book which if adapted as a movie, will be a Christmas treat. Snuggled up in our blankets with hot chocolate in our hands as it snows outside, it will be a perfect movie to watch. Dash finds a red notebook in a bookshop which turs out to be a diary of dares. As he decodes the clues which lead to the first dare, he creates some of his own dares for the owner of the diary to decode i.e. Lily. They both start daring each other to carry tasks all throughout New York city making the other do stuff they wouldn’t have otherwise dared. All this time, not revealing their identities to each other. A whirlwind of adventures and lots of fun, this book was a wonderful read. It gives rise to a very vivid imagination which has a great scope of being turned into an onscreen Rom- Com. Movie makers can give it thought. Until then, readers can give it a read.

Stolen by Lucy Christopher

There are talks regarding making a movie out of this book. But nothing productive has been set in motion yet. But this is a story that will win hearts on screen as much as it did in its literary format.  “You saw me before I saw you.”- The first line in the book. A line that I can easily hear in my head as the trailer begins. This book will become a MIND BLOWING film. But it is extremely demanding of the actors who will play the two main roles ; Ty and Gemma.
16- year old Gemma is kidnapped from the Bangkok airport by Ty and taken away to the isolated interiors of the Australian Dessert. Alone, afraid and cut off from the entire world, Stolen is a letter written by Gemma to her captivator. The book explores the emotions of fear and freedom, love and hate and two mindsets starkly different from each other. In the midst of sand, heat and life that dwells in the lap of nature, Gemma will explore emotions that lied buried in the sands of her heart. At the same time Ty, who is a kidnapper and should be hated for what he is done, as you get involved in his story alongwith Gemma, it is hard to see him under the light of evil. It also hard not to fall for him time and again. Two characters, one dessert and a tornado of emotions, the actors for this movie will have to do a real time character study. But the book is written so well, you can imagine the scenes vividly play in front of your eyes. Every reader of Stolen asks the same question “When is the movie coming out?’’ and so will you, when you read this masterpiece.

My Heart and Other Black Holes by Jasmine Wagra

Asyel and Roman, two depressed teenagers find each other on a suicide support website. They make a pact to become suicide partners and decide on a date to die on, which leaves them with almost less than one month to live. Roman’s parents are aware of his depression and suspect the suicidal tendencies. Thus, Roman desperately needs Asyel to accomplish his suicide as she is the “normal” friend who his parents allow him to hang out with. This gives him time away from them, to bring his plan into action. But Roman is afraid Asyel might bail on him in the end. As the days come closer, Asyel actually isn’t sure if she wants to go forward with the plan and wishes to change Roman’s mind too. A brewing of a strong and intense friendship as days towards end come closer, this book touches the matter of depression through a simple yet engaging style of writing.

Asyel compares her depression to a black hole, something that sucks everything in. It gives an insight in the mind of a depressed person but at the same time, the scenes aren’t depressive or sad. They are humorous and quite easily relateable. This novel is a heartbreaking journey into the minds of victims of depression and is also a realization of the essence of being alive. Through the characters of two teenagers a very concerning subject is placed in a very interesting manner in front of the readers. A movie made on the same, would be a delightful watch yet it would come with a strong message, and isn’t that an actual cinematic success? A movie is successful in its real terms when it is able to entertain yet at the same time it leaves a mark on the audience’s mind, provoking them to think and question subjects they generally overlook. A well written script and screenplay adapted from My Heart and Other Black Holes can be the backbone of a wonderful movie.

Till the Last Breath by Durjoy Dutta

This was the first book (and the only book till now) I have read of Durjoy Dutta. No offense, but the titles of his books turns me off and I don’t have it in me to pick the book thereafter. But this  was a story I read in desperate times when I could not get my hands on any book and this was the only option that lay before me. So, I picked it up and honestly, I don’t regret the decision. It was actually a great story. Or I should say two great parallel stories. The book revolves around 4 characters and has its main setting in a hospital. Two patients with entirely different but quite critical and serious issues are admitted on the same day in a hospital. Two different Doctors are assigned to these patients respectively, but they both break the same rule together – “Be emotional about the disease, not the patient.” At the risk of their licenses, the Doctors get involved in saving their patients. The patients too; a boy and a girl, are starkly different personalities.

Pihu – an ambitious 19- year old girl who wishes to pursue a career as a Doctor and Dushyant who couldn’t care less about life is an alcoholic and drug- addict. Pihu is assigned to Doctorn Armaan who has a story of his own which he hides behind a professional demeanour. Zara an intern under Armaan, who has her own dark past sees to Dushyant’s case. The book is a fine reminder of fragility of life and that every person has a story. It’s easier to judge but hard to understand why someone is the way they are. The book does leave one teary eyed so it is bound to give some real time emotional feels through a movie. Also, I feel the story of these 4 people can make for a very interesting bollywood script. A great casting and scripting is bound to bring a hit to the theatres. After all, we can do a lot better than Humari Adhuri Kahani, Aashiqi 2 and Ek Villian. This can be that ‘better’.

The Shiva Trilogy by Amish Tripathi 

The Shiva Trilogy is a fairly famous trilogy known for its revolutionary representation of Lord Shiva. A figment of Amish Tripathi’s imagination, the three novels “The Immortals of Meluha”, “The Secret of the Nagas” and “The Oath of the Vayuputras”; are all work of art. A very captivating fictional mythological piece of literature which created a wave of Shiva among Teenagers and young adults after it’s release. This book has inspired a sudden interest of many young readers in Indian mythology. The story line itself makes for an epic Bollywood motion picture.
Immortals of Meluha was under discussion for a movie. Infact Karan Johar had bought the rights for the book, but the project didn’t start off and the rights expired. Now the buzz around the town is that Sanjay Leela Bhansali shows interest in the movie adaptation and has bought the rights as well. Immortals of Meluha if created onscreen, will be a larger than life, stunning and dramatic cinematic experience. Bhansali and the book fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. So if there is any truth to the rumours, this will be a Bollywood Blockbuster. Veteran filmmaker Shekhar Kapur is set to direct the series adaptation of author Amish Tripathi’s critically-acclaimed book series “Shiva Trilogy”. But a lot of other pieces will have to be put together to finally release the movie version of Tripathi’s work of art. That is something, only time will tell. All we can do, is wait, to watch!

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President Joe Biden, 80, took his youngest grandchild to visit a fire station in Nantucket, Mass. on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 24. Little Beau Biden, the two-year-old son of Hunter Biden, was absolutely adorable while hanging out with firefighters and exploring the station with his “Pop” Joe and “Nana” Jill Biden, 71.

It looked like Beau was in for a big adventure with grandma and grandpa. He had wide eyes while walking around the station hand-in-hand with grandma, who was chic in a suede jacket, black sweater, dark jeans, over-the-knee boots, and a matching scarf.

Bundled up in a blue puffer jacket, jeans, and little sneakers, Hunter’s son with wife Melissa Cohen was just the cutest. He topped off his long blonde locks with a red toy helmet while a friendly firefighter knelt down to chat with the little guy. They got a tour of the brick-walled station before leaving with Grandpa Joe, who looked casual yet presidential wearing a baseball hat and a peacoat with blue slacks and shiny shoes.

The Bidens have been in celebration mode lately. Last weekend, the First Couple hosted an intimate White House wedding for granddaughter Naomi Biden, 28, and husband Peter Neal, 25, on Saturday, Nov. 19. The ceremony took place on the South Lawn, followed by an intimate luncheon in the State Dining Room, and a more formal reception later that evening.

President Biden and the First Lady gushed about their granddaughter and the latest addition to the family in an official White House statement, telling the public, “It has been a joy to watch Naomi grow, discover who she is, and carve out such an incredible life for herself.”

“Now, we are filled with pride to see her choose Peter as her husband and we’re honored to welcome him to our family. We wish them days full of laughter and a love that grows deeper with every passing year.”