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The germ of the idea for the crime thriller “Skincare” came from a stranger-than-fiction criminal case: A Los Angeles-based aesthetician to the stars was accused of plotting the murder of a rival skincare expert. Yet director and co-writer Austin Peters wasn’t interested in creating a work of journalism or a documentary. Instead, he considered it the perfect jumping-off point for a Southern California Gothic tale.

“It’s inspired by lots of movies and books in this sunshine noir world of Los Angeles,” Peters, who wrote the film with Sam Freilich and Deering Regan, says. “We never set out to tell the true story — that was never our intention. The thing that called to us about the story is that it sounded like a James M. Cain-style noir. It felt new and true to the Los Angeles I know, the world I know.”

Although “Skincare” is Peters’ debut feature,...

“Babylon” got a big boost in its Oscar bid for Best Production Design with a win on February 18 at the Art Directors Guild Awards. Over the first 26 years of these prizes, the eventual Oscar winner has always numbered among the Adg nominees in the various genre categories. “Babylon” prevailed in the period picture race over three of its Oscar rivals – “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Elvis” and “The Fabelmans” — plus “White Noise.”

The fifth Oscar nominee, “Avatar: The Way of Water,” lost the fantasy film prize to “Everything Everywhere All at Once.” The other nominees were “The Batman,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Nope.”

“Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” won the contemporary category over “Bardo,” “Bullet Train,” “Tar” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Period Film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Production Designer: Christian M. Goldbeck

X – Babylon

Production Designer: Florencia Martin

Elvis

Production Designers: Catherine Martin, Karen Murphy...

The Art Directors Guild awarded winners in 14 categories at the 27th Annual Excellence in Production Design Awards February 18 at the InterContinental Los Angeles Downtown Hotel. The awards honored theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and animation features.

All five Academy Award nominees for Best Production Design — “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “All Quiet on the Western Front,” “Babylon,” “Elvis,” and “The Fabelmans” — were also Adg Award nominees, with “Babylon” production designer Florencia Martin taking home the award for Period Feature Film.

Fantasy Feature Film went to “Everything Everywhere All at Once” production designer Jason Kisvarday and Contemporary Feature Film went to “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” production designer Rick Heinrichs, both of whom were not nominated by the Academy. The technical and artistic achievements of “Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio” continued its impressive guild run with production designers Guy Davis and Curt Enderle winning the Adg for Best Animated Feature film,...

Babylon, Everything Everywhere All at Once and Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery won the live-action feature prizes at the 27th annual Art Directors Guild (Local 800) Excellence in Production Design Awards, which were handed out Saturday night at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.

Live-action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary film. Babylon picked up the trophy in the competitive period film competition. Everything Everywhere All at Once won the prize for a fantasy film, while Glass Onion collected the award for a contemporary movie.

Babylon, along with Adg noms All Quiet on the Western Front, Avatar: The Way of Water, Elvis and The Fabelmans, are Oscar-nominated.

Over the past five years, the winner of the Adg’s period film prize has gone on to win the Oscar for production design three times: in 2018 for The Shape of Water, in 2020 for Once Upon a Time...

On January 9, the Art Directors Guild announced the nominees for its 27th annual awards, which will be handed out on February 18. These kudos have a stellar record at previewing the Academy Awards. Over the first 26 years of these prizes, the eventual Oscar winner for Best Production Design has always numbered among the Adg nominees in the various categories.

“Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” is the clear frontrunner to win the Oscar for Best Production Design. It reaped a bid in the fantasy film genre with the Adg as did its strongest Oscar rival, “Avatar: The Way of Water.” The other three likeliest Oscar nominees — “Babylon,” “Elvis” and “The Fabelmans”– contend in the period picture category. That race is rounded out by “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “White Noise.”

The other fantasy film nominees are: “The Batman,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope.”

The contemporary contenders are: “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths...

The 27th annual Excellence in Production Design Awards has announced its nominations in 14 categories, including theatrical motion pictures, television, commercials, music videos and animation features.

Winners will be unveiled at the Adg Awards ceremony on Saturday, February 18, 2023, at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel. The announcement was made today by Adg President Nelson Coates, Adg, and Awards Producer’s Michael Allen Glover, Adg and Megan Elizabeth Bell, Adg.

Returning as producer of this year’s Adg Awards is Art Director Michael Allen Glover, Adg. Joining the team as coproducer is Production Designer Megan Elizabeth Bell, Adg.

Adg Awards are open only to productions when made within the US by producers signatory to the IATSE agreement. Foreign entries are acceptable without restrictions.

Nominees For Feature Film:

1. Period Feature Film

All Quiet on the Western Front

Production Designer: Christian M. Goldbeck...

“Elvis,” “Babylon,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “All Quiet on the Western Front” and “Top Gun: Maverick” are among the films nominated by the Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800).

The guild announced the nominations for its 27th Excellence in Production Design Awards in motion pictures, television, commercial and music video categories.

Winners will be named at the Adg Awards ceremony on Feb. 18 at the InterContinental Hotel Los Angeles Downtown Hotel.

The Adg divides live-action features into three categories. “All Quiet on the Western Front, “Babylon,” “Elvis, “The Fabelmans” and “White Noise” were nominated in the period feature film category.

“The Batman,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Nope” earned recognition in the fantasy feature film category.

Rounding out the contemporary feature film nominations were “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths, “Bullet Train,” “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.

The Art Directors Guild (IATSE Local 800) announced the nominations for the 27th annual Adg Excellence in Production Design Awards.

Live-action features are divided into three categories: period, fantasy and contemporary film. Nominees for a period film are All Quiet On The Western Front, Babylon, Elvis, The Fabelmans and White Noise. Fantasy film nominees are Avatar: The Way of Water, The Batman, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Everything Everywhere All At Once and Nope. The contemporary film category nominees are Bardo, Bullet Train, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tár and Top Gun: Maverick.

Over the past five years, the winner of the Adg’s period film prize has gone on to win the Oscar for production design three times: in 2018 for The Shape of Water, in 2020 for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood and in 2021 for Mank. The production design Oscar went to the winner of the fantasy category in 2019, for Black Panther; and 2022 for Dune.

“Babylon,” “Elvis,” “Avatar: The Way of Water,” “Everything Everywhere All at Once” and “Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery” are among the films that have been nominated by the Art Directors Guild for the 2023 Adg Excellence in Production Design Awards, the guild announced on Monday.

In the Period Feature Film category, “Babylon” and “Elvis” will be competing against “The Fabelmans,” “White Noise” and “All Quiet on the Western Front,” the German film that has been scoring extremely well in guild awards and on shortlists so far this awards season.

In the Fantasy Feature Film category, “Avatar” and “Everything Everywhere” are nominated alongside “The Batman,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” and “Nope.”

And in Contemporary Feature Film, “Glass Onion” will go up against “Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths,” “Bullet Train,” “Tár” and “Top Gun: Maverick.”

Also Read:

‘Tár’ Wins Best Picture Award From National Society of Film Critics

Of those three live-action feature categories,...

Exclusive: Roadside Attractions and Vertical Entertainment have prevailed in a bidding war surrounding the Sundance thriller Emily the Criminal, starring and produced by Aubrey Plaza, claiming North American rights. They’ve slated the film for an exclusive theatrical release this year, with Redbox joining the partnership for home entertainment distribution.

John Patton Ford’s feature directorial debut follows Emily (Plaza), who is saddled with student debt and locked out of the job market due to a minor criminal record. Desperate for income, she takes a shady gig as a “dummy shopper,” buying goods with stolen credit cards supplied by a handsome and charismatic middleman named Youcef (Theo Rossi). Faced with a series of dead-end job interviews, Emily soon finds herself seduced by the quick cash and illicit thrills of black-market capitalism, and increasingly interested in her mentor Youcef. Together, they hatch a plan to bring...

Tiff Midnight Madness breakout has already scored deals in key European territories.

Elle Driver has acquired international sales rights to Us director Keith Thomas’s buzzed-about supernatural horror The Vigil, revolving around the Jewish custom of shemira, or watching over the corpse of a recently deceased person ahead of their burial.

Under the seven-figure deal, the Paris-based company is selling the world aside from the Us, which is being handled by CAA Media Finance.

Elle Driver has already scored deals in the key European territories of Spain (Vertigo), France (Wild Bunch Distribution), Italy (Bim) and Germany (Wild Bunch Germany).

The...

The 3rd annual Portland Oregon Women’s Film Festival (Pow!) has announced their full festival lineup, which includes 44 films from all over the world. The fest will run March 18-21 at the Hollywood Theatre.

Maybe this year, the Pow! fest will have something extra to celebrate if Kathryn Bigelow wins the Best Directing Academy Award on March 7th. Bigelow is the odds on favorite to take home the Oscar statuette this year for directing The Hurt Locker and, if she does, she’d be the first woman ever to do so. Actually, only four women have ever even been nominated: Bigelow, Lina Wertmuller, Jane Campion and Sofia Coppola.

The lineup below proves that women are a powerful force sitting in the director’s chair and Pow! has assembled an impressive lineup of animated films, shorts, features, documentaries, experimental films and more:

March 18

7:00 p.m.: “Local Shorts”

Nous Deux Encore,...