Congratulations to Jodi Long who is the first Asian American actress to win the 2021 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Daytime Fiction Program for her turn as Ms. Basil E. in the Netflix Holiday Rom-Com DASH & LILY.
Jodi Long. Photo by Lia Chang
Click here to see photos of Jodi on the Winners Walk.
Jodi Long is a veteran of stage, film and television whose regular series work includes co-starring with Valerie Bertinelli in “Cafe American”; playing Margaret Cho’s mother in “All American Girl” and playing Alicia Silverstone’s secretary in “Miss Match” and Okcha in “Sullivan And Son.” Long has had recurring parts on “The Cosby Show”, “Michael Hayes”, “Eli Stone” and “Law and Order: LA”. She is also known as Patty, “the power lesbian,” in an episode of “Sex in The City”. Long’s film work includes Beginnings, with Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer; Paul Schrader’s Patty Hearst; Mike Newell’s Sour Sweet; Striking Distance; Rollover; The Hot Chick;Striking Distance; and Rollover with Jane Fonda. Ms. Long wrote and co-produced the award winning documentary Long Story Short about her vaudevillian parents. Her one woman show, Surfing My DNA, garnered her an Ovation Nomination for Best Solo Performance.
In 2006, Long’s one-woman play, Surfing DNA, was produced at East West Players in Los Angeles and garnered her an Ovation nomination for Best Solo Performance. She went on to write and co-produce a documentary about her vaudevillian parents, Long Story Short, was directed by Christine Choy. The film played numerous film festivals, including the 2008 Hawaii International Film Festival, and it won the 2008 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival’s Audience Award for Best Documentary. In 2008, Long Story Short was voted one of the top ten documentaries by UCLA’s Asia Institute.
Long made her Broadway debut at age 7 in Nowhere To Go But Up, directed by Sidney Lumet, the first of five Broadway shows in which she would appear. As an adult, she has starred in Loose Ends, with Kevin Kline; The Bacchae, with Irene Papas; Stephen Sondheim’s Getting Away with Murder; and the recent revival of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song, a performance for which she won an Ovation Award at The Mark Taper in Los Angeles.
Numerous off-Broadway productions include Wendy Wasserstein’s Old Money (Lincoln Center), Red and The Wash (Manhattan Theater Club), David Henry Hwang’s Golden Child and Family Devotions (Public Theater); and The Tooth of Crime (LaMama). Long has also performed in the world tour of Phillip Glass and David Henry Hwang’s 90-minute solo piece 1000 Airplanes on The Roof.
NETFLIX’S Holiday Rom-Com Series “DASH & LILY” has received 12 Daytime Emmy nominations including Outstanding Performance by a Lead Actress in a Daytime Fiction Program for Midori Francis, Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actress in a Daytime Fiction Program for Jodi Long as Mrs. Basil E., Outstanding Young Adult Series, Outstanding Writing Team for a Daytime Fiction Program, Outstanding Directing Team for a Daytime Fiction Program, and Outstanding Cinematography.
Liz Coakley, Jacqueline Bensaid and Rebecca Levine won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Makeup for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program on June 25. Other previously announced nominations include Outstanding Casting for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program, Outstanding Art Direction/Set Design for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program, Outstanding Costume Design/STyling for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program, Outstanding Hairstyling for a Drama or Daytime Fiction Program, Outstanding Music Direction and Composition for a Daytime Program.
The Holiday Romantic Comedy is Executive Produced by Shawn Levy and Josh Barry’s 21 Laps Entertainment (Stranger Things, Unsolved Mysteries) and Nick Jonas’ Image 32. Joe Tracz is the Series Creator, Showrunner and Executive Producer.
The cast features Austin Abrams ( Dash), Midori Francis (Lily), Dante Brown (Boomer), Troy Iwata (Langston), Keana Marie (Sofia), James Saito (Arthur), Jodi Long (Mrs. Basil E), Glenn McCuen (Edgar Thibaud), Michael Park (Gordon), Gideon Emery (Adam), Jennifer Ikeda (Grace) and Diego Guevara (Benny).
ABOUT DASH & LILY: A whirlwind Holiday romance builds as cynical Dash and optimistic Lily trade dares, dreams, and desires in the notebook they pass back and forth at locations all across New York City, finding they have more in common with each other than they would have expected. The series is based on the young adult book series Dash & Lily’s Book of Dares from the New York Times bestselling authors Rachel Cohn and David Levithan.
The news was unveiled Monday by the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences as part of its announcement on the nominations for the 48th annual Daytime Emmy Awards in the children’s & animation and lifestyle categories. The awards which will be presented in two live-streamed events on July 17 and 18 on the Emmy® OTT platform at 8:00 p.m. (The Daytime Emmy Awards in several other categories, including daytime drama series, talk show, game show and morning news program, were handed out Friday night.)
The Daytime Emmys are presented to individuals and programs broadcast between 2 a.m. and 6 p.m., as well as certain categories of digital and syndicated programming of similar content.
The Daytime Emmy Awards Children’s Programming and Animation ceremony will be presented in a stand-alone show streaming on the Emmy® OTT platform on Saturday, July 17, 2021 at 8p.m ET.
Awards for individual achievement in animation are selected by a juried panel of peers which selects winners in each of six craft areas without a nomination stage. Accordingly, these winners will be announced at the ceremony on July 17.
In 2018, Emy Coligado landed her dream role as Mary Santos in Mallorie Ortega’s The Girl Who Left Home (formerly Nanay Ko), a musical dramedy film about a Filipino-American who must put her dreams aside to keep her family restaurant from eviction.
The Girl Who Left Home also stars Haven Everly, Paolo Montalban, Liz Casasola, Lora Nicolas Olaes, Russwin Francisco, DonMike H. Mendoza, Toni Katano and Mitch Poulos.
A fan favorite on the Film Festival circuit last year, The Girl Who Left Home received the 2020 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival Emerging Filmmaker Award and the 2020 CAAMfest FOWARD Narrative Audience Award. GWLH will stream in 3 more film festivals this year:
Emy Coligado got her start in the business in New York in musical theater and performed on Broadway in Miss Saigon. Coligado later discovered her love for comedy while in sketch comedy shows at Caroline’s Comedy Club and The Duplex. She moved to LA to pursue tv/film, and is best known to television audiences from her recurring roles in the critically acclaimed FOX show, “Malcolm in the Middle” where she played Piama, the wife of the oldest son, Francis; and as Emmy on “Crossing Jordan.”
Emy Coligado and Christopher Masterson in “Malcolm in the Middle”. (FOX)
Other notable tv credits include “Claws,” “Fresh Off The Boat,” and “Shameless.” She has had a number of series regular roles on ABC and NBC pilots. Her films included The Three Stooges and Miss Congeniality 2 to name a few, and she has worked with directors such as the Farrelly Brothers, Wim Wenders & Howard Deutch.
In addition to GWLH, Coligado saw the release of two other films in 2020, Matthew Ya-Hsiung Balzer’s The Catch and Gina O’Brien’s First One In (on Amazon Prime), within a 2 month time span due to COVID. Her latest guest starring roles include the new TV series Run The World (Starz) and Netflix’s Archive 81 series, based on the supernatural horror podcast produced by James Wan’s Atomic Monster.
Emy’s performance in The Girl Who Left Home resonated with me, and she agreed to answer a few questions via email about her slate of indie releases.
Lia: How were you cast for each of the films released in 2020?
Emy: I booked The Catch through my manager and shot my scenes over nine days in Massachusetts in 2018. The Catch was challenging for me because my character, Lily McManus, didn’t have a ton of lines but her presence was very important to the story. Filling up the spaces is really left to the actor’s imagination and the director/cinematographer’s vision. Being comfortable with simplicity and quiet was something new for me.
First One In was exciting because it was a largely female cast with women of different backgrounds, body types, and ages. Having to play tennis and being the weakest player on the team was not a reach for me at all. It was fun because I didn’t have the pressure of having to look skilled. I could still concentrate on trying my best at keeping my eye on the ball and know that my natural lack of talent would come through. Haha! It was also wonderful to shoot in NYC (Long Island specifically) for the first time. I shot over a ten day span in 2019.
I learned about The Girl Who Left Home (GWLH) through Backstage. I later found out that my tape was set aside because I wasn’t the right age range they were looking for. My friend Eymard Cabling knew the writer/director Mallorie Ortega. He recommended me and so they went back into their archives and found my audition.
Haven Everly, Emy Coligado and Paolo Montalban in Mallorie Ortega’s THE GIRL WHO LEFT HOME.
Emy Coligado
GWLH was special to me in many ways. I started my career in musical theater. I stopped singing for something like 15 years and concentrated on my tv/film career in LA. Then 2 years ago, I returned to NY in hopes of doing musical theatre again. GWLH is a musical film. So doing both wasn’t something I planned but was a happy melding of the two. It’s also a Filipino American story. I remember while I was shooting I had a whole new level of happiness. And what I realized was that my happiness was because I finally felt free. I was finally playing a role that was specifically Filipina and a lead role. I had never really had that opportunity in my 25 years of performing. So I guess you could say it was a dream come true that I didn’t dream of. My shooting schedule for GWLH was three weeks in Maryland.
Lia: Was there one particular film that resonated with you more?
Emy: Most definitely GWLH. In the film, Mary loses her husband. The role is particularly special to me because my Dad had just passed away from pancreatic cancer. I moved out of LA and in with my mom to keep her company for 6 months. I had witnessed my own mom mourn her partner of more than 50 years. So loss was very much a part of my life during shooting. Art was imitating life or life was imitating art so to speak. The film is in dedication to Dad and an homage to Mom.
Lia: What was it like to pivot to virtual press and screenings?
Emy: I actually don’t have much experience with independent film to compare it to. But I will say, I enjoy doing interviews online. Getting ready is much easier. You only have to worry about the top half looking good. Commuting in traffic is out the window which I welcome any day. I do wish, however, that we could’ve done physical screenings. I was looking forward to GWLH especially because the cast and crew became so close. I haven’t attended a film festival with one of my own films yet so I hope that will be in my future.
Lia: How have you been managing through the pandemic?
Emy: Business-wise, not knowing when or if you’ll work again is something I have always dealt with. So that part of the pandemic, while not fun is also not new. Thank god for online readings. No, they aren’t the same but it is still a creative outlet & an opportunity to exercise my muscle. Personally, at this very moment I’m anxious. Life again is teaching me (and the world) that health is wealth. I’m not so much worried for my own but for some close people in my life. So I’m sending out good juju to them & anyone who needs it out there. I am so ready for 2021 & am just hoping for a year that is less “exciting.”
The Catch is a Manchester Film Festival official selection. It is available to view online in the UK in March 2021. Visit maniff.com
Lia Chang
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the films Wolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman. She stars in and served as Executive Producer for the short independent films Hide and Seek, Balancing Act, Rom-Com Gone Wrong, Belongingness and When the World was Young. She is also the Executive Producer for The Cactus, The Language Lesson, The Writer and Cream and 2 Shugahs.
Chadwick Boseman, Colman Domingo, Viola Davis, Michael Potts, and Glynn Turman in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom David Lee/Netflix
Tensions and temperatures rise over the course of an afternoon recording session in 1920s Chicago as a band of musicians await trailblazing performer, the legendary “Mother of the Blues,” Ma Rainey (Academy Award® winner Viola Davis). Late to the session, the fearless, fiery Ma engages in a battle of wills with her white manager and producer over control of her music. As the band waits in the studio’s claustrophobic rehearsal room, ambitious trumpeter Levee (Chadwick Boseman) – who has an eye for Ma’s girlfriend and is determined to stake his own claim on the music industry – spurs his fellow musicians into an eruption of stories revealing truths that will forever change the course of their lives.
The film will be released December 18th on Netflix.
Adapted from two-time Pulitzer Prize winner August Wilson’s play, MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM celebrates the transformative power of the blues and the artists who refuse to let society’s prejudices dictate their worth. Directed by George C. Wolfe and adapted for the screen by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, the film is produced by Fences Oscar® nominees Denzel Washington and Todd Black. Colman Domingo, Glynn Turman, Michael Potts, Taylour Paige and Dusan Brown co-star alongside Grammy® winner Branford Marsalis’ score.
Ronny Chieng’s Netflix comedy special debut, “Asian Comedian Destroys America!,” launches globally on December 17, 2019.
“Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America!” (Marcus Russell Price/Netflix)
Comedian, The Daily Show Correspondent, and Crazy Rich Asians actor Ronny Chieng makes his Netflix comedy special debut in Asian Comedian Destroys America! Born in Malaysia and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire,Singapore, and Australia, Chieng shares his unapologetic perspective about his journey to America thus far. From evaluating the effects of consumerism to theorizing how efficient the U.S. would be with an Asian-American President, Chieng shares what he thinks really makes America great in Ronny Chieng: Asian Comedian Destroys America! when it launches globally on Netflix on December 17, 2019.
Chieng is currently shooting Director Chen Xi Hao’s Chinatown noir thriller A Father’s Son, a short film/pilot based on the characters from Henry Chang’s NYPD Detective Jack Yu crime series novels, which also stars Tzi Ma (Rush Hour, The Farewell, Mulan) and Perry Yung (“The Knick,” “Warrior,” Boogie) . Set in the early ’90s when local street gangs terrorized Manhattan’s Chinatown, the story centers on Detective Jack Yu (Chieng) investigating the murder of a teenage boy involved in a turf war. Amidst the broad distrust and racial divide between the Chinatown community and NYPD, our lone lawman searches for a nondescript immigrant family to deliver a shattering message that also brings forth his own conflicted relationship with Jack’s father. Click here for more information.
Lia Chang. Photo by Garth Kravits. Photo by Lia Chang
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
The 4th Annual Urban Action Showcase and Expo is presenting a Behind The Action Stunt Panel featuring cast members from “Luke Cage” on Saturday, November 12, 2016 at the AMC Empire 25 Theaters, 234 West 42 St, Times Square NYC from 2:00pm-2:50pm Theater #11.
The UAS takes you Behind The Action with the Action Actors and Stunt performers of Marvel’s “Luke Cage” now on Netflix!
Robert Samuels, the 1st and only African American in the Hong Kong Stuntmen’s Association, will moderate the panel featuring distinguished action actors and stuntmen including Jenel Stevens, who doubles for Misty Knight; R Marcos Taylor was “Famous Amos”; Kahlil Maasi, who played Neville; and stuntmen Emmanuel Brown and Manny Ayala.
Samuels will talk with the panel about the excitement of working on New York’s first Black Super Hero show ever.
The Urban Action Showcase & Expo, founded by Demetrius Angelo, is the premier all-action experiential entertainment platform celebrating diversity and honoring the past, present and future multicultural achievements within the blockbuster Action genre including Adventure, Fantasy, Grindhouse, Action Horror, Sci-Fi, and Supernatural content. Cinemax® sponsors the Urban Action Showcase and Expo (UASE) in New York City.
Lia Chang is an actor, a multi-media content producer and co-founder of Bev’s Girl Films, making films that foster inclusion and diversity on both sides of the camera. Bev’s Girl Films’ debut short film, Hide and Seek was a top ten film in the Asian American Film Lab’s 2015 72 Hour Shootout Filmmaking Competition, and she received a Best Actress nomination. BGF collaborates with and produces multi-media content for artists, actors, designers, theatrical productions, composers, musicians and corporations. Lia is also an internationally published and exhibited photographer, a multi-platform journalist, and a publicist. Lia has appeared in the filmsWolf, New Jack City, A Kiss Before Dying, King of New York, Big Trouble in Little China, The Last Dragon, Taxman and Hide and Seek. She is profiled in Jade Magazine and Playbill.com.
Veteran actress and Broadway favorite DALE SOULES has lots to celebrate this spring. She has a featured role in AWOL, an independent film which premieres at the 2016 Tribeca Film Festival on Friday, April 15. She plays Lola Kirke’s mother, Ruthie, a hard-working, loving, single mom coming to terms with her daughter’s sexuality while helping her find her way in the world. Building from her award-winning short, writer-director Deb Shoval’s debut feature is a clear-eyed love story told with an assured voice and impressive attention to details of small town life in rural Pennsylvania. AWOLis a beautiful romantic drama that is both tender and tough in equal measure.
AWOL will be shown on Friday, April 15 at 5:30 PM, SVA Theater; Saturday, April 16 at 6:15 PM, Regal Cinemas Battery Park; Tuesday, April 19 at 3:45 PM, Bow Tie Cinemas Chelsea; and Wednesday, April 20 at 6:15 PM at Regal Cinemas Battery Park. Click here for tickets.
Dale Soules (left, front) – from ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK – Photo courtesy NETFLIX
On Friday, June 17, the highly-anticipated season 4 of the hit NETFLIX series ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACKbegins streaming. Dale plays Frieda, a member of the incarcerated ‘Golden Girls’ clique. In a previous season, Frieda acknowledged that she committed a real crime, one that left audiences speechless. She and the Girls helped Red (Kate Mulgrew) fix up the greenhouse and when problems arose over the smuggling tunnel, the Golden Girls made it clear that they are not to be messed with.
Dale recently received her second SAG Award for her ensemble work on ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Season 3).
Ms. Soules most recently co-starred with Patti LuPone and Michael Urie in Shows For Days at Lincoln Center Theater. Her Broadway credits include Hands On A Hard Body, Grey Gardens, The Crucible, The Magic Show (introducing Stephen Schwartz’s songs Lion Tamer and West End Avenue,) Whose Life Is It Anyway?, Dude, and her debut in the ground breaking Hair. Her Off-Broadway, Regional, National and International work is extensive including Posterity, The Water Engine and The Joy of Going Somewhere Definite (Atlantic Theatre Company), 2014’s award-winning production of I Remember Mama (all women over 65), Marsha Norman’s Getting Out, Candide (Guthrie), All’s Well That Ends Well (Yale Rep.), Caucasian Chalk Circle, Landscape of the Body, and her one person show Chameleons (all Seattle Rep.), Maid (Directors Lab, Lincoln Center Festival). Her television work includes “Unforgettable,” “Law & Order,” “American Playhouse,” “Sesame Street,” Maurice Sendak’s “Really Rosie,” among others. Her awards include two SAG Awards (for her ensemble work-ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK) and the New Dramatists Charles Bowden Award for her dedication to new work and extraordinary contribution to theatre.
Congratulations to BD Wong, Aziz Ansari, Randall Park, Constance Wu and Oscar Isaac on their 2016 Critics’ Choice Award nominations in the Television category.
The Critics’ Choice Awards are the newly combined honors from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalists Association. The winners of the 21st annual Critics’ Choice Awards will be announced at the Sunday, January 17th awards gala, hosted by T.J. Miller at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. It will broadcast live on A&E (8/7c), Lifetime and LMN.
BD Wong as White Rose on Mr Robot. credit: USA Network
Wong’s turn as White Rose in the USA Network’s Mr. Robot has garnered him a Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series nod. Over the summer, he reprised his role as Dr. Wu in the blockbuster Jurassic World, which has been nominated for Best Action Movie, Best Sci-Fi Horror Movie, Best Visual Effects, Best Actor in an Action Movie (Chris Pratt) and Best Actress in an Action Movie (Bryce Dallas Howard) in the Film category. Wong has been shooting the FOX Bat-prequel Gotham portraying the iconic Bat-foe Hugo Strange, a brilliant professor and psychiatrist tapped to head up Gotham City’s notorious Arkham Asylum.
Constance Wu and Randall Park in ABC’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’. Credit: ABC
Fresh Off the Boat‘s Randall Park will go head to head in the Best Actor in a Comedy Series with Master of None‘s Aziz Ansari, who also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series-Musical or Comedy Park’s Fresh Off the Boat co-star Constance Wu has been nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
Aziz Ansari
Oscar Isaac, who starred as Nick Wasicsko in HBO’s Show Me A Hero, won a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television last Sunday, and is nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Actor in a Movie made for Television or Limited Series. Show Me A Hero has also been nominated for Best Movie Made for Television or Limited Series and Best Supporting Actress in a Movie Made for Television or Limited Series (Winona Ryer).
The Guatemalan-American actor and singer received his first Golden Globe nomination for his starring role in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and is know for his lead roles in A Most Violent Year (2014) and Ex Machina (2015), which has been nominated for Best Sci-Fi/Horror Movie, Best Original Screenplay (Alex Garland) and Best Visual Effects.
Oscar Isaac. Photo by Lia Chang
Isaac stars as X-wing pilot Poe Dameron in the seventh Star Wars film – Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and in 2016, can be seen in the ninth X-Men film, X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), as the titular supervillain Apocalypse.
Peter Sohn’s ‘The Good Dinosaur’
Other nominations of note include Peter Sohn’s The Good Dinosaur (Best Animated Feature), The Assassins (Best Foreign Language Film), and Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto (Best Score) for The Revenant.
Congratulations to all of the nominees.
TELEVISION BEST DRAMA SERIES Empire Mr. Robot Penny Dreadful Rectify The Knick The Leftovers UnREAL
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Hugh Dancy – Hannibal
Rami Malek – Mr. Robot
Clive Owen – The Knick
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan
Justin Theroux – The Leftovers
Aden Young – Rectify
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Shiri Appleby – UnREAL
Carrie Coon – The Leftovers
Viola Davis – How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green – Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson – Empire
Krysten Ritter – Jessica Jones
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Clayne Crawford – Rectify
Christopher Eccleston – The Leftovers
Andre Holland – The Knick
Jonathan Jackson – Nashville
Rufus Sewell – The Man in the High Castle
Christian Slater – Mr. Robot
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ann Dowd – The Leftovers
Regina King – The Leftovers
Helen McCrory – Penny Dreadful
Hayden Panettiere – Nashville
Maura Tierney – The Affair
Constance Zimmer – UnREAL
BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Richard Armitage – Hannibal
Justin Kirk – Manhattan
Patti LuPone – Penny Dreadful
Margo Martindale – The Good Wife
Marisa Tomei – Empire
BD Wong – Mr. Robot
BEST COMEDY SERIES black-ish Catastrophe Jane the Virgin Master of None The Last Man on Earth Transparent You’re the Worst
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson – black-ish
Aziz Ansari – Master of None
Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth
Randall Park – Fresh Off the Boat
Fred Savage – The Grinder
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Rachel Bloom — Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Aya Cash — You’re the Worst
Wendi McLendon-Covey — The Goldbergs
Gina Rodriguez — Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross — black-ish
Constance Wu — Fresh Off the Boat
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jaime Camil – Jane the Virgin
Jay Duplass – Transparent
Neil Flynn – The Middle
Keegan-Michael Key – Playing House
Mel Rodriguez – Getting On
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory
Kether Donohue – You’re the Worst
Allison Janney – Mom
Judith Light – Transparent
Niecy Nash – Getting On
Eden Sher – The Middle
BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ellen Burstyn – Mom
Anjelica Huston – Transparent
Cherry Jones – Transparent
Jenifer Lewis – black-ish
Timothy Olyphant — The Grinder
John Slattery – Wet Hot American Summer
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Hotel
Kirsten Dunst – Fargo
Sarah Hay – Flesh and Bone
Alyvia Alyn Lind – Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors
Rachel McAdams – True Detective
Shanice Williams – The Wiz Live!
BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES Childhood’s End Fargo Luther Saints & Strangers Show Me a Hero The Wiz Live!
BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Wes Bentley — American Crime Story: Hotel
Martin Clunes —Arthur & George
Idris Elba — Luther
Oscar Isaac —Show Me a Hero
Vincent Kartheiser — Saints & Strangers
Patrick Wilson — Fargo
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
David Alan Grier – The Wiz Live!
Ne-Yo – The Wiz Live!
Nick Offerman – Fargo
Jesse Plemons – Fargo
Raoul Trujillo – Saints & Strangers
Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Mary J. Blige – The Wiz Live!
Laura Haddock – Luther
Cristin Milioti – Fargo
Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Hotel
Winona Ryder – Show Me a Hero
Jean Smart – Fargo
BEST ANIMATION SERIES Bob’s Burgers BoJack Horseman South Park Star Wars Rebels The Simpsons
BEST TALK SHOW Jimmy Kimmel Live Last Week Tonight with John Oliver The Daily Show with Jon Stewart The Graham Norton Show The Late Late Show with James Corden The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
BEST REALITY SHOW – COMPETITION Chopped Face Off MasterChef Junior Survivor The Amazing Race The Voice
BEST REALITY SHOW HOST
Ted Allen – Chopped
Phil Keoghan – The Amazing Race
James Lipton – Inside the Actors Studio
Jane Lynch – Hollywood Game Night
Jeff Probst – Survivor
Gordon Ramsay – Hell’s Kitchen
BEST STRUCTURED REALITY SHOW Antiques Roadshow Inside The Actors Studio MythBusters Project Greenlight Shark Tank Undercover Boss
BEST UNSTRUCTURED REALITY SHOW Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Cops Deadliest Catch Intervention Naked and Afraid Pawn Stars
FILM BEST PICTURE The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Carol Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Sicario Spotlight
BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston Trumbo
Matt Damon The Martian
Johnny Depp Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio The Revenant
Michael Fassbender Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne The Danish Girl
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett Carol
Brie Larson Room
Jennifer Lawrence Joy
Charlotte Rampling 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan Brooklyn
Charlize Theron Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano Love & Mercy
Tom Hardy The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo Spotlight
Mark Rylance Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara Carol
Rachel McAdams Spotlight
Helen Mirren Trumbo
Alicia Vikander The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet Steve Jobs
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Abraham Attah Beasts of No Nation
RJ Cyler Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Shameik Moore Dope
Milo Parker Mr. Holmes
Jacob Tremblay Room
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE The Big Short The Hateful Eight Spotlight Straight Outta Compton Trumbo
BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes Carol
Alejandro González Iñárritu The Revenant
Tom McCarthy Spotlight
George Miller Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott The Martian
Steven Spielberg Bridge of Spies
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Bridge of Spies
Alex Garland Ex Machina
Quentin Tarantino The Hateful Eight
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley Inside Out
Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy Spotlight
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay The Big Short
Nick Hornby Brooklyn
Drew Goddard The Martian
Emma Donoghue Room
Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Carol
Ed Lachman The Hateful Eight
Robert Richardson Mad Max: Fury Road
John Seale The Martian
Dariusz Wolski The Revenant
Emmanuel Lubezki Sicario
Roger Deakins
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN Bridge of Spies
Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo Brooklyn
François Séguin, Jennifer Oman and Louise Tremblay Carol
Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler The Danish Girl
Eve Stewart, Michael Standish Mad Max: Fury Road
Colin Gibson The Martian
Arthur Max, Celia Bobak
BEST EDITING The Big Short
Hank Corwin Mad Max: Fury Road
Margaret Sixel The Martian
Pietro Scalia The Revenant
Stephen Mirrione Spotlight
Tom McArdle
BEST COSTUME DESIGN Brooklyn
Odile Dicks-Mireaux Carol
Sandy Powell Cinderella
Sandy Powell The Danish Girl
Paco Delgado Mad Max: Fury Road
Jenny Beavan
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP Black Mass Carol The Danish Girl The Hateful Eight Mad Max: Fury Road The Revenant
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Ex Machina Jurassic World Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant The Walk
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Anomalisa The Good Dinosaur Inside Out The Peanuts Movie Shaun the Sheep Movie
BEST ACTION MOVIE Furious 7 Jurassic World Mad Max: Fury Road Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Sicario
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Daniel Craig Spectre
Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Tom Hardy Mad Max: Fury Road
Chris Pratt Jurassic World
Paul Rudd Ant-Man
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt Sicario
Rebecca Ferguson Mission:Impossible – Rogue Nation
Bryce Dallas Howard Jurassic World
Jennifer Lawrence The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Charlize Theron Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST COMEDY The Big Short Inside Out Joy Sisters Spy Trainwreck
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale The Big Short
Steve Carell The Big Short
Robert De Niro The Intern
Bill Hader Trainwreck
Jason Statham Spy
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Tina Fey Sisters
Jennifer Lawrence Joy
Melissa McCarthy Spy
Amy Schumer Trainwreck
Lily Tomlin Grandma
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE Ex Machina It Follows Jurassic World Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Mustang
The Second Mother
Son of Saul
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Amy
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
He Named Me Malala
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next
BEST SONG Fifty Shades of Grey
“Love Me Like You Do” Furious 7
“See You Again” The Hunting Ground
“Til It Happens To You” Love & Mercy
“One Kind of Love” Spectre
“Writing’s on the Wall” Youth
“Simple Song #3”
BEST SCORE Carol
Carter Burwell The Hateful Eight
Ennio Morricone The Revenant
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto Sicario
Johann Johannsson Spotlight
Howard Shore
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Congratulations to BD Wong, Aziz Ansari, Randall Park, Constance Wu and Oscar Isaac on their 2016 Critics’ Choice Award nominations in the Television category.
The Critics’ Choice Awards are the newly combined honors from the Broadcast Film Critics Association and Broadcast Television Journalists Association. The winners of the 21st annual Critics’ Choice Awards will be announced at the Sunday, January 17th awards gala, hosted by T.J. Miller at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica. It will broadcast live on A&E (8/7c), Lifetime and LMN.
BD Wong as White Rose on Mr Robot. credit: USA Network
Wong’s turn as White Rose in the USA Network’s Mr. Robot has garnered him a Best Guest Actor in a Drama Series nod. Over the summer, he reprised his role as Dr. Wu in the blockbuster Jurassic World, which has been nominated for Best Action Movie, Best Sci-Fi Horror Movie, Best Visual Effects, Best Actor in an Action Movie (Chris Pratt) and Best Actress in an Action Movie (Bryce Dallas Howard) in the Film category. Wong was recently cast in the FOX Bat-prequel Gotham as iconic Bat-foe Hugo Strange, a brilliant professor and psychiatrist tapped to head up Gotham City’s notorious Arkham Asylum.
Constance Wu and Randall Park in ABC’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’. Credit: ABC
Fresh Off the Boat‘s Randall Park will go head to head in the Best Actor in a Comedy Series with Master of None‘s Aziz Ansari, who also received a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series-Musical or Comedy Park’s Fresh Off the Boat co-star Constance Wu has been nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.
Aziz Ansari
Oscar Isaac was riveting as Nick Wasicsko in HBO’s Show Me A Hero and has received a Critics’ Choice Award nomination for Best Actor in a Movie made for Television or Limited Series and a Golden Globe nomination in the Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series or Motion Picture made for Television.
Oscar Isaac. Photo by Lia Chang
The Guatemalan-American actor and singer received his first Golden Globe nomination for his starring role in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013), and is know for his lead roles in A Most Violent Year (2014) and Ex Machina (2015). He stars as X-wing pilot Poe Dameron in the seventh Star Wars film – Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), and in 2016, can be seen in the ninth X-Men film, X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), as the titular supervillain Apocalypse.
Peter Sohn’s ‘The Good Dinosaur’
Other nominations of note include Peter Sohn’s The Good Dinosaur (Best Animated Feature), The Assassins (Best Foreign Language Film), and Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto (Best Score) for The Revenant.
Congratulations to all of the nominees.
TELEVISION BEST DRAMA SERIES Empire Mr. Robot Penny Dreadful Rectify The Knick The Leftovers UnREAL
BEST ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Hugh Dancy – Hannibal
Rami Malek – Mr. Robot
Clive Owen – The Knick
Liev Schreiber – Ray Donovan
Justin Theroux – The Leftovers
Aden Young – Rectify
BEST ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Shiri Appleby – UnREAL
Carrie Coon – The Leftovers
Viola Davis – How to Get Away With Murder
Eva Green – Penny Dreadful
Taraji P. Henson – Empire
Krysten Ritter – Jessica Jones
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES
Clayne Crawford – Rectify
Christopher Eccleston – The Leftovers
Andre Holland – The Knick
Jonathan Jackson – Nashville
Rufus Sewell – The Man in the High Castle
Christian Slater – Mr. Robot
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Ann Dowd – The Leftovers
Regina King – The Leftovers
Helen McCrory – Penny Dreadful
Hayden Panettiere – Nashville
Maura Tierney – The Affair
Constance Zimmer – UnREAL
BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A DRAMA SERIES
Richard Armitage – Hannibal
Justin Kirk – Manhattan
Patti LuPone – Penny Dreadful
Margo Martindale – The Good Wife
Marisa Tomei – Empire
BD Wong – Mr. Robot
BEST COMEDY SERIES black-ish Catastrophe Jane the Virgin Master of None The Last Man on Earth Transparent You’re the Worst
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Anthony Anderson – black-ish
Aziz Ansari – Master of None
Will Forte – The Last Man on Earth
Randall Park – Fresh Off the Boat
Fred Savage – The Grinder
Jeffrey Tambor – Transparent
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Rachel Bloom — Crazy Ex-Girlfriend
Aya Cash — You’re the Worst
Wendi McLendon-Covey — The Goldbergs
Gina Rodriguez — Jane the Virgin
Tracee Ellis Ross — black-ish
Constance Wu — Fresh Off the Boat
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES
Andre Braugher – Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Jaime Camil – Jane the Virgin
Jay Duplass – Transparent
Neil Flynn – The Middle
Keegan-Michael Key – Playing House
Mel Rodriguez – Getting On
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Mayim Bialik – The Big Bang Theory
Kether Donohue – You’re the Worst
Allison Janney – Mom
Judith Light – Transparent
Niecy Nash – Getting On
Eden Sher – The Middle
BEST GUEST ACTOR/ACTRESS IN A COMEDY SERIES
Ellen Burstyn – Mom
Anjelica Huston – Transparent
Cherry Jones – Transparent
Jenifer Lewis – black-ish
Timothy Olyphant — The Grinder
John Slattery – Wet Hot American Summer
BEST ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Kathy Bates – American Horror Story: Hotel
Kirsten Dunst – Fargo
Sarah Hay – Flesh and Bone
Alyvia Alyn Lind – Dolly Parton’s Coat of Many Colors
Rachel McAdams – True Detective
Shanice Williams – The Wiz Live!
BEST MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES Childhood’s End Fargo Luther Saints & Strangers Show Me a Hero The Wiz Live!
BEST ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Wes Bentley — American Crime Story: Hotel
Martin Clunes —Arthur & George
Idris Elba — Luther
Oscar Isaac —Show Me a Hero
Vincent Kartheiser — Saints & Strangers
Patrick Wilson — Fargo
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
David Alan Grier – The Wiz Live!
Ne-Yo – The Wiz Live!
Nick Offerman – Fargo
Jesse Plemons – Fargo
Raoul Trujillo – Saints & Strangers
Bokeem Woodbine – Fargo
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS IN A MOVIE MADE FOR TELEVISION OR LIMITED SERIES
Mary J. Blige – The Wiz Live!
Laura Haddock – Luther
Cristin Milioti – Fargo
Sarah Paulson – American Horror Story: Hotel
Winona Ryder – Show Me a Hero
Jean Smart – Fargo
BEST ANIMATION SERIES Bob’s Burgers BoJack Horseman South Park Star Wars Rebels The Simpsons
BEST TALK SHOW Jimmy Kimmel Live Last Week Tonight with John Oliver The Daily Show with Jon Stewart The Graham Norton Show The Late Late Show with James Corden The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
BEST REALITY SHOW – COMPETITION Chopped Face Off MasterChef Junior Survivor The Amazing Race The Voice
BEST REALITY SHOW HOST
Ted Allen – Chopped
Phil Keoghan – The Amazing Race
James Lipton – Inside the Actors Studio
Jane Lynch – Hollywood Game Night
Jeff Probst – Survivor
Gordon Ramsay – Hell’s Kitchen
BEST STRUCTURED REALITY SHOW Antiques Roadshow Inside The Actors Studio MythBusters Project Greenlight Shark Tank Undercover Boss
BEST UNSTRUCTURED REALITY SHOW Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown Cops Deadliest Catch Intervention Naked and Afraid Pawn Stars
FILM BEST PICTURE The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Carol Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Sicario Spotlight
BEST ACTOR
Bryan Cranston Trumbo
Matt Damon The Martian
Johnny Depp Black Mass
Leonardo DiCaprio The Revenant
Michael Fassbender Steve Jobs
Eddie Redmayne The Danish Girl
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett Carol
Brie Larson Room
Jennifer Lawrence Joy
Charlotte Rampling 45 Years
Saoirse Ronan Brooklyn
Charlize Theron Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Paul Dano Love & Mercy
Tom Hardy The Revenant
Mark Ruffalo Spotlight
Mark Rylance Bridge of Spies
Michael Shannon 99 Homes
Sylvester Stallone Creed
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Jason Leigh The Hateful Eight
Rooney Mara Carol
Rachel McAdams Spotlight
Helen Mirren Trumbo
Alicia Vikander The Danish Girl
Kate Winslet Steve Jobs
BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Abraham Attah Beasts of No Nation
RJ Cyler Me and Earl and the Dying Girl
Shameik Moore Dope
Milo Parker Mr. Holmes
Jacob Tremblay Room
BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE The Big Short The Hateful Eight Spotlight Straight Outta Compton Trumbo
BEST DIRECTOR
Todd Haynes Carol
Alejandro González Iñárritu The Revenant
Tom McCarthy Spotlight
George Miller Mad Max: Fury Road
Ridley Scott The Martian
Steven Spielberg Bridge of Spies
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Matt Charman and Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Bridge of Spies
Alex Garland Ex Machina
Quentin Tarantino The Hateful Eight
Pete Docter, Meg LeFauve, Josh Cooley Inside Out
Josh Singer and Tom McCarthy Spotlight
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Charles Randolph and Adam McKay The Big Short
Nick Hornby Brooklyn
Drew Goddard The Martian
Emma Donoghue Room
Aaron Sorkin Steve Jobs
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY Carol
Ed Lachman The Hateful Eight
Robert Richardson Mad Max: Fury Road
John Seale The Martian
Dariusz Wolski The Revenant
Emmanuel Lubezki Sicario
Roger Deakins
BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN Bridge of Spies
Adam Stockhausen, Rena DeAngelo Brooklyn
François Séguin, Jennifer Oman and Louise Tremblay Carol
Judy Becker, Heather Loeffler The Danish Girl
Eve Stewart, Michael Standish Mad Max: Fury Road
Colin Gibson The Martian
Arthur Max, Celia Bobak
BEST EDITING The Big Short
Hank Corwin Mad Max: Fury Road
Margaret Sixel The Martian
Pietro Scalia The Revenant
Stephen Mirrione Spotlight
Tom McArdle
BEST COSTUME DESIGN Brooklyn
Odile Dicks-Mireaux Carol
Sandy Powell Cinderella
Sandy Powell The Danish Girl
Paco Delgado Mad Max: Fury Road
Jenny Beavan
BEST HAIR & MAKEUP Black Mass Carol The Danish Girl The Hateful Eight Mad Max: Fury Road The Revenant
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS Ex Machina Jurassic World Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant The Walk
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE Anomalisa The Good Dinosaur Inside Out The Peanuts Movie Shaun the Sheep Movie
BEST ACTION MOVIE Furious 7 Jurassic World Mad Max: Fury Road Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation Sicario
BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Daniel Craig Spectre
Tom Cruise Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation
Tom Hardy Mad Max: Fury Road
Chris Pratt Jurassic World
Paul Rudd Ant-Man
BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt Sicario
Rebecca Ferguson Mission:Impossible – Rogue Nation
Bryce Dallas Howard Jurassic World
Jennifer Lawrence The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2
Charlize Theron Mad Max: Fury Road
BEST COMEDY The Big Short Inside Out Joy Sisters Spy Trainwreck
BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Christian Bale The Big Short
Steve Carell The Big Short
Robert De Niro The Intern
Bill Hader Trainwreck
Jason Statham Spy
BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Tina Fey Sisters
Jennifer Lawrence Joy
Melissa McCarthy Spy
Amy Schumer Trainwreck
Lily Tomlin Grandma
BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE Ex Machina It Follows Jurassic World Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM The Assassin
Goodnight Mommy
Mustang
The Second Mother
Son of Saul
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE Amy
Cartel Land
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief
He Named Me Malala
The Look of Silence
Where to Invade Next
BEST SONG Fifty Shades of Grey
“Love Me Like You Do” Furious 7
“See You Again” The Hunting Ground
“Til It Happens To You” Love & Mercy
“One Kind of Love” Spectre
“Writing’s on the Wall” Youth
“Simple Song #3”
BEST SCORE Carol
Carter Burwell The Hateful Eight
Ennio Morricone The Revenant
Ryuichi Sakamoto and Alva Noto Sicario
Johann Johannsson Spotlight
Howard Shore
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Beasts of No Nation, A Netflix Original Film directed, written, filmed and produced by Cary Fukunaga, has garnered five 2016 Film Independent Spirit Award nominations.
The nominations included best director and best cinematography for Fukunaga, best feature, and acting nods for Abraham Attah (best male lead) and Idris Elba (best supporting male).
Beasts of No Nation (Netflix)
Beasts of No Nation is based on the highly acclaimed novel by Nigerian author Uzodinma Iweala, bringing to life the gripping tale of Agu, a child soldier torn from his family to fight in the civil war of an African country. Newcomer Abraham Attah gives a stunning portrayal of Agu, while Idris Elba dominates the screen in the role of Commandant, a warlord who takes in Agu and instructs him in the ways of war.
Idris Elba and director Cary Fukunaga on the set of Beasts of No Nation. (Netflix)
Cary Joji Fukunaga is an Emmy Award-winning director, writer, and cinematographer who created and directed the HBO show True Detective, starring Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson. At the 2014 Emmy Awards he was awarded Outstanding Director for a Drama Series for his work on the show.
Fukunaga’s first film, Sin Nombre, was critically acclaimed and catapulted him into the limelight as a director to watch. The film, which he wrote and directed, was a thriller about the collision of a gang member on the run from his violent past and a Honduran teenager traveling with her family through Mexico in hopes of finding a better life in the U.S. It premiered in dramatic competition at the Sundance Film Festival, where it won the U.S. Dramatic Directing Award and the U.S. Dramatic Excellence in Cinematography Award.
Jane Eyre followed Sin Nombre. Starring Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska the film was critically acclaimed and was nominated at both the BAFTA and Academy Awards.
Fukunaga launched his career as a second-year NYU Film School student with the short, Victoria Para Chino, which screened at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and went on to earn more than two dozen international awards, including the Silver Medal at the Student Academy Awards and an honourable mention from BAFTA’s Los Angeles chapter.
Fukunaga is also the recipient of a 2008 USA Rockefeller Foundation Fellowship, the John H. Johnson Film Award, a 2005 Princess Grace Foundation Fellowship and a 2007 Katrin Cartlidge Foundation Bursary.
His first commercial was a moving :60 piece for the Levi’s Go Forth campaign. Working closely with W+K, Portland, Cary tapped into the unbendable reputation of the Levi’s brand, the optimism of a generation recharged by recent political change, and the authority of an American icon to create the award-winning spot.
This was followed by the launch film for the Sony PS Vita The World is in Play campaign. Another beautifully crafted piece, it embraced the metaphor of gamers interacting with the world around them and each other.
The California native is an M.F.A. candidate from New York University’s Graduate Film Program, and a graduate of the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Film Independent Members (and members of IFP) vote to determine the winners of the annual Film Independent Spirit Awards. Become a Film Independent Member by visiting filmindependent.org/membership. All Members must be paid and current as of December 4, 2015 to be eligible to vote. Click here to cast your vote.
The 2016 Film Independent Spirit Awards will be broadcast exclusively on IFC on February 27, 2016, LIVE at 2:00 pm PT / 5:00 pm ET.
ABOUT THE FILM INDEPENDENT SPIRIT AWARDS
Now in its 31st year, the Film Independent Spirit Awards is an annual celebration honoring artist-driven films made with an economy of means by filmmakers whose films embody independence and originality. The Spirit Awards recognizes the achievements of American independent filmmakers and promotes the finest independent films of the year to a wider audience.
The winners of the Spirit Awards are voted upon by Film Independent and IFP Members. Awards are given in the following categories: Best Feature, Best First Feature, Best First Screenplay, Best Director, Best Screenplay, John Cassavetes Award (given to the best feature made for a budget under $500,000), Best Male Lead, Best Female Lead, Best Supporting Male, Best Supporting Female, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best International Film and Best Documentary. The Filmmaker Grants include the Piaget Producers Award, the Kiehl’s Someone to Watch Award and the Truer Than Fiction Award. The Film Independent Spirit Awards are sponsored by Premier Sponsors Piaget, Bank of America, Heineken, American Airlines, Jaguar and IFC. FIJI Water is the Official Water of the 2016 Spirit Awards. WireImage is the Official Photographer of Film Independent.
ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT
Film Independent is a nonprofit arts organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds an audience for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Film Independent’s Board of Directors, filmmakers, staff and constituents is comprised of an inclusive community of individuals across ability, age, ethnicity, gender, race and sexual orientation. Anyone passionate about film can become a Member, whether you are a filmmaker, industry professional or a film lover.
In addition to producing the Spirit Awards, Film Independent produces the Los Angeles Film Festival and Film Independent at LACMA Film Series, a year-round, weekly program that offers unique cinematic experiences for the Los Angeles creative community and the general public.
With over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent’s Artist Development program offers free Labs for selected writers, directors, producers and documentary filmmakers and presents year-round networking opportunities. Project Involve is Film Independent’s signature program dedicated to fostering the careers of talented filmmakers from communities traditionally underrepresented in the film industry.
ABOUT IFC IFC is the home of offbeat, unexpected comedies. Series like Portlandia, Documentary Now!, Maron and Comedy Bang! Bang! air alongside fan-favorite movies and comedic cult TV shows. IFC is owned and operated by AMC Networks Inc., and available across multiple platforms. IFC is Always On Slightly Off.
Click here for the Lia Chang Articles Archive and here for the Lia Chang Photography Website.
Emy: I booked The Catch through my manager and shot my scenes over nine days in Massachusetts in 2018. The Catch was challenging for me because my character, Lily McManus, didn’t have a ton of lines but her presence was very important to the story. Filling up the spaces is really left to the actor’s imagination and the director/cinematographer’s vision. Being comfortable with simplicity and quiet was something new for me.
First One In was exciting because it was a largely female cast with women of different backgrounds, body types, and ages. Having to play tennis and being the weakest player on the team was not a reach for me at all. It was fun because I didn’t have the pressure of having to look skilled. I could still concentrate on trying my best at keeping my eye on the ball and know that my natural lack of talent would come through. Haha! It was also wonderful to shoot in NYC (Long Island specifically) for the first time. I shot over a ten day span in 2019.
Bev's Girl Films 