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EXCLUSIVE: The Original Discoverer of Questlove’s “Summer of Soul” Footage Says It Was Never “Lost” at All

Joe Lauro, famous documentary filmmaker and archivist, says on Facebook this morning that there’s an untold story behind the footage that has become Questlove’s “Summer of Soul.”

“Summer of Soul” was released on Friday by Searchlight to theaters and is available on Hulu. The film is revives footage from the 1969 Harlem Music Festival that took place two weeks before Woodstock. It contains amazing footage of Stevie Wonder, Sly & the Family Stone, The 5th Dimension, Nina Simone, Gladys Knight and the Pips, and so on. I gave “Summer of Soul” a ‘fresh’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

When “Summer of Soul” was shown at Sundance this past winter, we were told the footage had been “lost” and “forgotten” and was recovered by Questlove, who shaped it into this film.

But Lauro, as you will read below, says that’s not exactly true. His version of the events of the history are surprising and revelatory. The footage was neither lost nor forgotten. Lauro, with a long impressive resume, knows exactly what happened to it.

I spoke to Lauro this morning and he confirmed everything he posted. He allowed me to make some small copy-edits. He refers to Hal Tulchin, the original producer/director.

Lauro concludes: “I assure you, if it were not for my efforts the Harlem Festival master tapes would likely still be molding in Mr. Tulchin’s Westchester County basement and Questlove would still be in totally ignorance of their existence.”

Here’s the Facebook post:

“For nearly 50 years, this (Harlem Festival tapes) just sat in a basement and “no one cared” was one of the key premises of the film itself, as stated in the opening montage, that the Harlem Festival footage was LOST FOR 50 YEARS.

This statement at best is hyperbole.

The reality is that in 2004 I tracked down director/producer Hal Tulchin after screening a 16mm syndication print of an episode of his first, Harlem Festival series.

Mr. Tulchin and I went to lunch to discuss the Harlem Festival footage and shortly thereafter he signed a representational agreement with my company Historic Films.  The idea was to license clips to third parties from the 40+ hours of Harlem Festival footage as well as develop a feature length documentary on the event.

I pulled the video tape masters from his Westchester County basement, digitized the reels, logged their contents, archived the 1” submasters at the Historic Films offices  and insisted that Mr. Tulchin copyright all of the reels.  In fact I filled out the forms for him and filed the copyright registration on his behalf  (and on my dime) with the Library Of Congress.

The Library Of Congress was also sent a complete set of videos of the 40+ hours of Harlem Festival  footage as is their requirement for copyright filing.  Through the years of our representation, we licensed excerpts of the footage to several productions including SONY RECORDS who used a sizable portion of the “lost” Nina Simone set in one of their home video releases.

Morgan Neville (Academy Award Winning director TWENTY FEET  FROM STARDOM) Robert Gordon (Emmy winning co-director BEST OF ENEMIES, author of IT CAME FROM MEMPHIS)  and I developed a feature length documentary film on the festival framing the event within the politics and civil right unrest that existed at the time, created a trailer and shopped the production around to several possible distributors.

A deal with a major distributor was in negotiation in 2007 and we were in contract negotiations.  To our surprise the negotiations broke down  and the rep from that company jumped ship and teamed with Mr. Tulchin  dumping Neville, Gordon and myself and taking the Harlem Festival project on as his own. Some 15 years later we have SUMMER OF SOUL.

As an archivist and filmmaker who has spent his 35 year career creating music documentaries, and unearthing and preserving rare musical content, I am delighted that this film has finally been produced.  I only ask that credit for the Harlem Festival footage’s re-discovery be properly given. Producers of a doc such as this that is touting it’s righteousness and quest for truth should at least give credit where it is due.

I assure you, if it were not for my efforts the Harlem Festival master tapes would likely still be molding in Mr. Tulchin’s Westchester County basement and Questlove would still be in totally ignorance of their existence.”

Box Office: July 4th Weekend Begins with “F9,” “Cruella” Hitting Hot Numbers, “In the Heights,” “Hitman’s Wife” Disappearing

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The July 4th weekend at the box office began with good news and bad news.

Both “F9” and “Cruella” hit hot numbers. The former became a member of the $100 million club. The latter crosses the $75million mark today. Big accomplishments for each. For “Cruella” especially since it was also available on Disney Plus.

The bad news, of course, is that both “In the Heights” and “The Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard” are playing their last rounds in the theaters. They may still be listed at cineplexes, but no one is attending. Cousins of mine caught “In the Heights” down in Charlotte, NC last week and really loved it. There were four people in the theater.

“A Quiet Place 2” is still booming, however, heading now to $150 million. Paramount’s gamble on waiting paid off handsomely.

“Downton Abbey” Sequel Film Will Miss Oscar Eligibility at End of Year, Gets Pushed to March 2022

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Drat!

Well, they tried but the pandemic was too much to overcome. “Downton Abbey 2” started late and will finish late. Originally scheduled for December 20, 2021, the sequel to the movie that followed the beloved PBS Carnival series will not be released until March 2022. They will miss Oscar eligibility cutoff on December 31st, but no matter: “Downton” is not for awards, it’s for its fans.

The first movie was a big box office hit, earning $96.8 million in the US and the same elsewhere around the world. Total worldwide take was $237 million.

This installment may very well be the end, as Maggie Smith’s Violet Crawley aka the Dowager Countess, was set to expire in the last movie after announcing she had cancer. This will sadly wrap up her story. And the main saga, of the Crawley fortune, should end with Branson marrying the illegitimate daughter of Imelda Staunton’s Crawley cousin Maud Bagshaw. Thus, the dynasty will be preserved.

The Crawleys, thanks to creator Julian Fellowes, have remained stuck in limbo between 1925 and the world economic crash of 1929. With that impending doom would come the end of Great Houses like Downton as the Depression and World War II would usher out their place in British society.

So better to stop before things become grim, and remember all these wonderful people frozen in time. We can celebrate their finale in March 2022.

 

(Watch) Nile Rodgers Has The Number 1 Hit in the UK With Jack Savoretti’s Infectious “Who’s Hurting Who”

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Nile Rodgers– who’s just set up shop in Miami — has the number 1 hit in the UK today. He plays on and produced Jack SAvoretti’s disco smash, “Who’s Hurting Who.”

Savoretti’s album, “Europiana,” debuts at number 1 today on the British charts, and “Who’s Hurting Who” is everywhere on UK radio.

Savoretti told MusicTalkers.com: “It’s my take on the great Kris Kristofferson’s song ‘Nobody Wins.’ About behavior I’m all too familiar with, but hopefully is behind me. It’s a serious song in shiny packaging.”

It’s no coincidence Nile Rodgers is involved in making the song a number 1. He has a long history of them, from David Bowie’s “Last Dance” to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky.” Congrats on more!

Now, where is the US release for Savroretti? Coming soon, I’m sure. And make it snappy. “Who’s Hurting Who” is a summer classic!

Law & Order, Special Parties Unit: Mariska Hargitay Hosts “Black Widow” for Scarlett Johansson in the Hamptons Tonight

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Ahem. I guess our invite got lost in the email.

Call this “Law & Order: Special Parties Unit.” Mariska Hargitay and Peter Hermann are hosting a private screening tonight for Disney’s “Black Widow.”

Why? Well, star Scarlett Johansson and her husband, Colin Jost, live in Montauk, not far away from Olivia Benson’s getaway.

Who’s expected? The usual Hamptons movie crowd, maybe with Alec Baldwin thrown in. Maybe Chris Meloni, aka Elliot Stabler, will turn up. They can arrest anyone who gets out of hand.

Whoever comes will have to dodge the rain, because the forecast calls for a drenching right around the time Natasha Romanoff is set to meet up with her Russian spy parents.

Disney has already had fan events in New York, Los Angeles, and London but sans ScarJo, who, after all, has a six year old and has to limit her events.

“Black Widow” currently has an 84 on Rotten Tomatoes.

 

Cannes: Sean Penn Loses Saturday Premiere Spot to French Movie Starring Johnny Depp’s Ex Wife, Directed by Her New Husband, and to Catherine Deneuve

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Cannes 2021 is coming, and the schedule has been posted.

Sacre bleu! No matter what anyone tells you, in or out of competition, the key premiere time is 7pm at the Palais du Festivals. That’s the premiere hour. That’s when the sun is just starting to set and cool breezes are coming off the Mediterranean.

The ticketed audience and hundreds of locals hoping for billets descend on the Croisette. The former are dressed in formal wear and grip their sea green cardboard passes for dear life as they pass through a sea of aggressive hopefuls who don’t speak English and hold up signs that read: “I need a ticket.” It’s a scene.

So big stars want their films in that hour, and no later. But this year, Sean Penn, who’s bringing a film he directed called “Flag Day,” has been denied that spotlight time. On Saturday, July 10th, Penn will have to wait until 10pm — when most of the festival is at dinner or parties — to show his film at the Palais. “Flag Day” has an A list cast, and features his daughter, Dylan, whose mother is another star, Robin Wright.

Other movies that got the prestigious 7pm premiere slot are Tom McCarthy’s “Stillwater,” Paul Verhoeven’s “Benedetta,” and Wes Anderson’s “The French Dispatch.”

Why was Sean sent to the less glamorous time? The last time Penn brought a movie he directed to Cannes, it was a disaster, unlike previous successful outings like “Into the Wild,” “The Pledge,” and “The Crossing Guard.”

In 2016, he delivered “The Last Face” which starred his then girlfriend, Charlize Theron, and Javier Bardem, in a love story set against war in Africa. It was loathed, hated by everyone who saw it, and never spoken of again. “The Last Face” scored an 8 on Rotten Tomatoes, and Theron disavowed the relationship.

Cannes is taking no chances this time around. “Flag Day” has been hidden at 10pm. Instead, the 7pm slot has gone to a French film starring Vanessa Paradis, aka the ex-Mrs. Johnny Depp. “Love Songs for Tough Guys” is directed by her current husband, Samuel Benchetrit, and is described as romantic and hopeful, “a tribute to poetry, theater, and art.”

That’s next door in the Debussy Theater. In the main Grand Theater Lumiere, another French film, “De Son Vivant,” directed by Emmanuelle Bercot with Cannes favorite Catherine Deneuve and Benoit Magimel, premieres. Bercot is a much decorated Cannes actress and filmmaker.

For Penn to get that 10pm slot a lot of things are communicated. One is the movie– which MGM has bought for an August release– is a Rough Song for Tough Guys. Also, a 10 pm slot for a two hour movie precludes a big celebration afterwards, as most of the audience will be ready for bed (if they haven’t dozed off already).

So we’ll wait for a happy surprise, glowing reviews, and good news at midnight July 10th.

 

 

Billie Eilish’s Brother Finneas, Plans a Fall Tour, Urges Everyone to Get a Vaccination

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Finneas writes on Twitter just now:

“For specifically the people who follow me- I have a tour routed for the fall- we’re announcing it soon. I cannot wait to play for you all again. We can’t do that if this variant takes off. Please get vaccinated, please encourage your friends and family to get vaccinated.”

He’s right. Everyone must get vaccinated. What’s taking so long?

Finneas will hit the road before his sister, Billie Eilish, starts her tour in February 2022. I’m sure he’ll be in much small venues, and he’ll have to be packaged with someone since he has no record of his own to ride coattails on.

I’m curious to see how this will work because Finneas writes much of Billie’s music but stands in the background like Richard Carpenter but even more so. It seems clear he’s got the potential to become a major songwriter, but it’s unclear how tied he is to Billie and vice versa. I guess we’re about to see what’s up with all this.

Billie’s tour is technically sold out to ticket brokers who have then flipped all the tickets to secondary sellers. On sites like Seat Geek, thousands of tickets are available. Billie’s tour, in big arenas, is asking up to $450 for General Admission standing room tickets on the floor. Plenty are currently available.

As for Finneas, the Bottom Line would have been the place for him. I hope he books the City Winery or Cutting Room, keeps it low key.

Britney Spears’ Potential Conservator Withdraws from Case Leaving Her Father As Sole Manager

Bessemer Trust is passing on the chance to be Britney Spears co-conservator with her father.

The Trust, which hadn’t yet become part of the equation, filed papers today asking to be withdrawn from the soap opera.

The New York Times reports the Trust wrote: “As a result of the conservatee’s testimony at the June 23 hearing, however, Petitioner has become aware that the Conservatee objects to the continuance of her Conservatorship and desires to terminate the conservatorship,” the firm said in the court filing. “Petitioner has heard the Conservatee and respects her wishes.”

That would leave Jamie Spears as sole conservator of Britney’s $60 million estate.

And while it’s popular to yell “Free Britney!” and wish for Spears to be set free of controls, no one who’s saying that is thinking of the implications or responsibility. No one who writes “#Free Britney” on Twitter is willing to take care of her when she breaks down.

Right now, Jamie Spears is protecting Britney, and her two sons with Kevin Federline. Britney does not have custody of the boys, who are now “tweens,” and hasn’t proven that she’s able to care for them on her own.

Meantime, despite all the hoopla, the Times points out that her court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, has not yet filed a formal request to terminate the conservatorship with the court. This is despite Britney’s now famous 24 minute phone call to the judge last week in which she said she wanted to sue her family and have another child.

What hasn’t happened yet in the #FreeBritney case is any kind of psychologist’s report. While her fans are of the best intentions, they might temper their enthusiasm until some actual facts are revealed.

As for Bessemer, they were like gossamer, with little substance. Cowards: no one will miss them.

Oscars: Academy Welcomes 395 New Members Including First Timers Like Maria Bakalova and H.E.R. Music

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Here are the 395 new members. Welcome to all, especially Maria Bakalova from “Borat 2,” who was plucked from obscurity and is now a movie star. What a wonderful world we live in!

 

 

The 2021 invitees are:

Actors
Yahya Abdul-Mateen II – “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” “Us”
Maria Bakalova – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “XIIa”
Vidya Balan – “Tumhari Sulu,” “Kahaani”
Nicole Beharie – “Miss Juneteenth,” “42”
Kingsley Ben-Adir – “One Night in Miami…,” “Noelle”
Hugh Bonneville – “Downton Abbey,” “Paddington 2”
Jesse Borrego – “Colombiana,” “Con Air”
Carrie Coon – “The Nest,” “Gone Girl”
Laverne Cox – “Promising Young Woman,” “Bad Hair”
Andra Day – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Cars 3”
Clea DuVall – “Argo,” “Zodiac”
Henry Golding – “A Simple Favor,” “Crazy Rich Asians”
Eiza González – “I Care a Lot,” “Baby Driver”
Kimberly Norris Guerrero – “The Glorias,” “Hidalgo”
Nicholas Guest – “Big Hero 6,” “Rango”
Ye-ri Han – “Minari,” “Worst Woman”
Vanessa Kirby – “Pieces of a Woman,” “Mission: Impossible – Fallout”
Nathan Lane – “The Producers,” “The Birdcage”
Jonathan Majors – “Da 5 Bloods,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Luis Gerardo Méndez – “Charlie’s Angels,” “Murder Mystery”
Wagner Moura – “Sergio,” “Wasp Network”
Ramsey Nouah – “’76,” “The Figurine”
Leslie Odom, Jr.* – “One Night in Miami…,” “Harriet”
Robert Pattinson – “Tenet,” “The Lighthouse”
Clarke Peters – “Da 5 Bloods,” “Harriet”
Paul Raci – “Sound of Metal,” “No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie”
Issa Rae – “The Lovebirds,” “The Photograph”
Stephen Root – “Get Out,” “Office Space”
Jurnee Smollett – “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” “The Great Debaters”
Isiah Whitlock, Jr. – “Da 5 Bloods,” “BlacKkKlansman”
Steven Yeun – “Minari,” “Burning”
Yuh-Jung Youn – “Minari,” “The Housemaid”

Casting Directors
Domnica Circiumaru – “God’s Own Country,” “Charlie Countryman”
Sarah Crowe – “The Personal History of David Copperfield,” “The Death of Stalin”
Leah Daniels Butler – “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” “Lee Daniels’ The Butler”
Kim Davis-Wagner – “Her,” “Being John Malkovich”
Kei Kawamura – “Legend of the Demon Cat,” “Silence”
Jessica Kelly – “Midsommar,” “Hereditary”
Esther Kling – “Asia,” “Aladdin”
Liz Mullane – “The Lovely Bones,” “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
Susan Shopmaker – “Sound of Metal,” “First Reformed”
Patrícia Vasconcelos – “Mysteries of Lisbon,” “Absurdistan”

Cinematographers
Manuel Alberto Claro – “Hope,” “Melancholia”
Christine A. Maier – “Quo Vadis, Aida?,” “Life Guidance”
Tobie Marier-Robitaille – “Night of the Kings,” “Nitro Rush”
Erik Messerschmidt – “Mank”
Andrey Naydenov – “Dear Comrades!,” “Euphoria”
Marcell Rév – “Malcolm & Marie,” “White God”
Piotr Sobocinski, Jr. – “Corpus Christi,” “I Never Cry”
Martin Strba – “Charlatan,” “Sekal Has to Die”
Pablo Valdés – “The Mole Agent,” “Los Reyes”
Nicolás Wong – “La Llorona,” “Muñecas Rusas”
Jing-Pin Yu – “Leap,” “Better Days”

Costume Designers
Lea Carlson – “The Broken Hearts Gallery,” “Room”
Shirley Chan Ku Fang – “Kung Fu Hustle,” “A Chinese Ghost Story”
Beatriz De Benedetto – “The Two Popes,” “The Motorcycle Diaries”
Cindy Evans – “The Way Back,” “Atomic Blonde”
Charlese Antoinette Jones – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Ride”
Muriel Parra – “A Fantastic Woman,” “Neruda”
Kari Perkins – “Boyhood,” “Mud”
Christopher Peterson – “The Irishman,” “Dark Waters”
Marci Rodgers – “Lost Girls,” “BlackKkKlansman”
Catherine Rodríguez – “Birds of Passage,” “Embrace of the Serpent”
Margot Wilson – “The Nightingale,” “The Dressmaker”
Kenneth Chung-Man Yee – “The Wasted Times,” “Curse of the Golden Flower”

Directors
Muhammad Al Darraji – “The Journey,” “Sons of Babylon”
Michael Almereyda – “Tesla,” “Marjorie Prime”
Kaouther Ben Hania* – “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” “Beauty and the Dogs”
Wayne Blair – “Top End Wedding,” “The Sapphires”
Lizzie Borden – “Working Girls,” “Born in Flames”
Janicza Bravo – “Zola,” “Lemon”
Craig Brewer* – “Black Snake Moan,” “Hustle & Flow”
Lee Isaac Chung* – “Minari,” “Munyurangabo”
Cherien Dabis – “May in the Summer,” “Amreeka”
Nia DaCosta – “Candyman,” “Little Woods”
Andrew Dosunmu – “Mother of George,” “Restless City”
Sean Durkin – “The Nest,” “Martha Marcy May Marlene”
Emerald Fennell* – “Promising Young Woman”
Johnathan Glazer – “Under the Skin,” “Sexy Beast”
Nicole Tristan Kassell – “A Little Bit of Heaven,” “The Woodsman”
Shaka King* – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Newlyweeds”
Darius Marder – “Sound of Metal,” “Loot”
Nina Menkes – “Phantom Love,” “Queen of Diamonds”
Alexander Nanau* – “Collective,” “Toto and His Sisters”
Derek Kwok-cheung Tsang – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
George C. Wolfe – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Lackawanna Blues”
Cathy Yan – “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” “Dead Pigs”
Florian Zeller* – “The Father”

Documentary
Karen Akerman – “The Trial,” “Simonal – Nobody Knows the Hard I Had”
Raney Aronson-Rath – “For Sama,” “Abacus: Small Enough to Jail”
João Atala – “The Edge of Democracy,” “The Daily Death”
Philippe Bellaiche – “Advocate,” “The Settlers”
Julie Cohen – “My Name Is Pauli Murray,” “RBG”
Charlotte Cook – “Do Not Split,” “The Gospel of Eureka”
Heino Deckert – “Aquarela,” “Human Flow”
Alice Elliott – “Miracle on 42nd Street,” “The Collector of Bedford Street”
Rodney Evans – “Vision Portraits,” “The Unveiling”
Kristin Feeley
Bryan Fogel – “The Dissident, “Icarus”
Nick Fraser – “The Lovers and the Despot,” “Man on Wire”
Jacqueline Glover – “True Justice: Bryan Stevenson’s Fight for Equality,” “Jim: The James Foley Story”
T. Griffin – “Boys State,” “Life, Animated”
Maya Daisy Hawke – “Janis: Little Girl Blue,” “Cave of Forgotten Dreams”
Wolfgang Held – “All In: The Fight for Democracy,” “Children Underground”
Kathy K. Im
Judy Karp – “Dick Johnson Is Dead,” “Citizenfour”
Lesli Klainberg – “Fabulous! The Story of Queer Cinema,” “In the Company of Women”
Susan Margolin – “A Crime on the Bayou,” “The Rape of Recy Taylor”
Ousmane William Mbaye – “Président Dia,” “Mère-Bi (Mother)”
Lucila Moctezuma – “Living Los Sures,” “The New Americans”
Bill Morrison – “Dawson City: Frozen Time,” “The Great Flood”
Alexander Nanau* – “Collective,” “Toto and His Sisters”
Xan Parker – “Rebuilding Paradise,” “Tigerland”
Kellen Quinn – “Time,” “Midnight Family”
Brenda Robinson – “The Great American Lie,” “United Skates”
Kim A. Snyder – “Us Kids,” “Newtown”
Kathryn Townsend – “Cold Case Hammarskjöld,” “Shirkers”
Angela Tucker – “Belly of the Beast,” “(A)Sexual”
Betsy West – “My Name Is Pauli Murray,” “RBG”
Justin Wilkes – “Rebuilding Paradise,” “What Happened, Miss Simone?”
Peter Yam – “Lost Course,” “Yellowing”

Executives
Byron Allen
Ashley Brucks
Darlene Caamaño Loquet
Bob Chapek
Matt Dentler
Amy Dunning
David Ellison
Jamie Erlicht
Taylor Friedman
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein
Katie Goodson-Thomas
Ryan Jones
Tilane Jones
Wendy Lidell
Naketha Mattocks
Lorenza Muñoz
Nicholas Nesbitt
Peter Oillataguerre
Pilar Savone
Christopher Shaw
Scott Strauss
Tristen Tuckfield
Zack Van Amburg
Kiyoshi Watanabe
Jiafeng Janet Wu
Negeen Yazdi

Film Editors
Debbie Berman – “Love and Monsters,” “Black Panther”
Dana Bunescu – “Collective,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”
Matthew Friedman – “Palm Springs,” “The Farewell”
Jamie Gross – “Booksmart,” “Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping”
Catherine Haight – “Troop Zero,” “Afternoon Delight”
Gesa Jäger – “Tiger Girl,” “Love Steaks”
Brian A. Kates – “We the Animals,” “The Savages”
Justin Krish – “Blinded by the Light,” “Bend It Like Beckham”
Yorgos Lamprinos – “The Father,” “Xenia”
Mikkel E. G. Nielsen – “Sound of Metal,” “A Royal Affair”
Kristan Sprague – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Newlyweeds”
Frédéric Thoraval – “Promising Young Woman,” “Sinister”
Harry Yoon – “Minari,” “Detroit”

Makeup Artists and Hairstylists
Nacho Díaz – “The Endless Trench,” “While at War”
Carla Joi Farmer – “Coming 2 America,” “Dolemite Is My Name”
Morten Jacobsen – “Into the Darkness,” “The Square”
Eryn Krueger Mekash – “Hillbilly Elegy,” “The Prom”
Kristyan Mallett – “Artemis Fowl,” “The Theory of Everything”
Adrien Morot – “The Glorias,” “Barney’s Version”
Mia Neal – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Uncut Gems”
Francesco Pegoretti – “Pinocchio,” “The Happy Prince”
Nadine Prigge – “The Dark Tower,” “Invictus”
Pepe Quetglas – “Musarañas ,” “Pan’s Labyrinth”
Kimberley Spiteri – “Mank,” “Palm Springs”
Megan Tanner – “A United Kingdom,” “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom”
Anna Van Steen – “Bingo – The King of the Mornings,” “City of God”
Scott Wheeler – “One Night in Miami…,” “Star Trek: First Contact”
Louie Zakarian – “Vampires vs. the Bronx,” “Framing John DeLorean”

Marketing and Public Relations
David Michael Bloch
Ginger Chan
Rita Cooper Lee
Megan Crawford
Mary T. Daily
Clare Anne Darragh
Josh DuBois
Venessa Fraguio
Johanna Fuentes
Michelle Anne Hagen
Carol McConnaughey
Billy Mikelson
Joanna Miles
Chad Miller
Christian Parkes
Sara Reich
Graham Retzik
Daniella Haile Robinson-Asfaw
Kevin Shelby
Angela Smith
Tamar Teifeld
Victoria Treole
Denny Tu
Christina Zisa

Music
Jon Batiste – “Soul,” “Red Hook Summer”
Amanda Brown – “Babyteeth,” “Red Obsession”
Len Calvo – “Finding Agnes”
Dernst Emile II – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Photograph”
H.E.R. – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Photograph”
Janet Jackson – “Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too?,” “Poetic Justice”
Nora Kroll-Rosenbaum – “In Case of Emergency,” “Remember Me”
Aska Matsumiya – “I’m Your Woman,” “Selah and the Spades”
Emile Mosseri – “Minari,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Meshell Ndegeocello – “How Stella Got Her Groove Back,” “love jones”
Leslie Odom, Jr.* – “One Night in Miami…”
Lolita Ritmanis – “Blizzard of Souls,” “Wild Daze”
Lisbeth Scott – “All My Life,” “The Passion of the Christ”
Adam Milo Smalley – “Missing Link,” “The Town”
Tiara Thomas – “Judas and the Black Messiah”
Pinar Toprak – “Captain Marvel,” “The Angel”
Amelia Warner – “Wild Mountain Thyme,” “Mary Shelley”

Producers
Mo Abudu – “Òlòturé,” “The Royal Hibiscus Hotel”
Miranda Bailey – “Being Frank,” “The Diary of a Teenage Girl”
Paula Barreto – “João, o Maestro,” “Reaching for the Moon”
Rosemary Blight – “Top End Wedding,” “The Sapphires”
Caroline Bonmarchand – “Spring Blossom,” “Head above Water”
Philippe Carcassonne – “The Father,” “Ridicule”
Darren Dale – “Deep Water – The Real Story,” “The Tall Man”
Kylie du Fresne – “The Invisible Man,” “Upgrade”
Fernando Epstein – “Monos,” “Whisky”
Ainsley Gardiner – “Boy,” “Two Cars, One Night”
Fabiano Gullane – “The Traitor,” “Querô: A Damned Report”
Dan Janvey – “Nomadland,” “Beasts of the Southern Wild”
Ekta Kapoor – “Dream Girl,” “Once upon a Time in Mumbai”
Shobha Kapoor – “Udta Punjab,” “The Dirty Picture”
Emilie Lesclaux – “Bacurau,” “Aquarius”
Jean-Louis Livi – “The Father,” “Wild Grass”
Nadine Marsh-Edwards – “Been So Long,” “Bhaji on the Beach”
Amanda Marshall – “Don’t Think Twice,” “Swiss Army Man”
Paula Mazur – “Let Him Go,” “Corrina, Corrina”
Muriel Merlin – “The Truth,” “Slack Bay”
Ben Odell – “Overboard,” “How to Be a Latin Lover”
Christina Oh – “Minari ,” “The Last Black Man in San Francisco”
Inna Payán – “The Golden Dream,” “Lucia Lucia”
Tim Perell – “Wolves,” “Shortbus”
Katrin Pors – “Wildland,” “Birds of Passage”
Andrea Barata Ribeiro – “Xingu,” “City of God”
Alex Saks – “The Glorias,” “The Florida Project”
Shrihari Sathe – “The Sweet Requiem,” “It Felt Like Love”
Peter Spears – “Nomadland,” “Call Me by Your Name”

Production Design
Grant Armstrong – “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “Les Misérables”
Matt Callahan – “The Descendants,” “Get Smart”
Tina Charad – “Once upon a Time…in Hollywood,” “La La Land”
Cathy Featherstone – “The Father,” “Supernova”
Peter Francis – “The Father,” “The Children Act”
Beat Frutiger – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Dolemite Is My Name”
Trish Gallaher Glenn – “Mank,” “Frost/Nixon”
Charles Harrington – “Knives Out,” “Detroit”
Alan J. Hook – “Black Panther,” “Syriana”
Elizabeth Keenan – “News of the World,” “Selma”
Sebastian Till Krawinkel – “A Hidden Life,” “Inglourious Basterds”
Alan E. Muraoka – “I Hate Kids,” “Little Miss Sunshine”
Susan Ogu – “The Big Short,” “Party Monster”
Vicki Pui – “Black Panther,” “Pacific Rim”
Jean Rabasse – “Vatel,” “The City of Lost Children”
James Rothwell – “The Lion King,” “Free Birds”
Diana Stoughton – “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” “Dogma”
Warren Alan Young – “Harriet,” “Twin Falls Idaho”

Short Films and Feature Animation
Rita del Rosario Basulto – “Eclosión,” “Rain in the Eyes”
Ossama Bawardi – “The Present,” “Haneen”
Will Becher – “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon,” “The Pirates! Band of Misfits”
Jerry Beck – “Wicked City,” “Robot Carnival”
John Bryant – “The Wild Thornberrys Movie,” “Rugrats in Paris”
Réka Bucsi – “Solar Walk,” “Symphony No. 42”
Clara Chan – “Over the Moon,” “Storks”
Peilin Chou – “Over the Moon,” “Abominable”
Sharon Colman – “The Croods,” “Badgered”
Anca Damian – “Marona’s Fantastic Tale,” “Crulic – The Path to Beyond”
Philippe Denis – “Trolls,” “Megamind”
Travon Free – “Two Distant Strangers”
Andrew Gent – “Isle of Dogs,” “Frankenweenie”
Michael Govier – “If Anything Happens I Love You,” “Space for Rent”
Gísli Darri Halldórsson – “Yes-People,” “Kókó the Killer Whale”
SungHo Hong – “Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs,” “Sky Blue”
Joey Horvitz – “Game,” “Friday Night”
Brenden Hubbard – “The Helping Hand,” “Cul-de-Sac”
Jeanette Jeanenne – “Departures,” “Trusts & Estates”
Sebastian Kapijimpanga – “Over the Moon,” “Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation”
Sara Koppel – “Embraces & the Touch of Skin,” “Seriously Deadly Silence”
Christophe Lautrette – “The Croods,” “Bee Movie”
Carolina Markowicz – “The Orphan (O Órfão),” “Tatuapé Mahal Tower”
Will McCormack – “If Anything Happens I Love You,” “Toy Story 4”
Adrien Mérigeau – “Genius Loci,” “Song of the Sea”
François Morisset – “Bonobo,” “Sin Cielo”
Dana Murray – “Soul,” “Lou”
Farah Nabulsi – “The Present,” “Nightmare of Gaza”
Erick Oh – “Opera,” “The Dam Keeper”
Gennie Rim – “Over the Moon,” “Dear Basketball”
Martin Desmond Roe – “Two Distant Strangers,” “Buzkashi Boys”
Madeline Sharafian – “Burrow,” “Onward”
Tomer Shushan – “White Eye,” “Inside Shells”
Lisa Stewart – “Turbo,” “Monsters vs Aliens”
Ross Stewart – “Wolfwalkers,” “The Secret of Kells”
Erez Tadmor – “Sirens,” “Dear God”
Charles Williams – “All These Creatures,” “Home”
Nate Wragg – “The Croods: A New Age,” “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”
Carlos Zaragoza – “The Emoji Movie ,” “Gnomeo & Juliet”

Sound
Kristian Eidnes Andersen – “Into the Darkness,” “The Hunt”
Maurizio Argentieri – “The Life Ahead (La Vita Davanti a Se),” “All the Money in the World”
Christopher S. Aud – “The Way Back,” “The Disaster Artist”
Jaime Baksht – “Sound of Metal,” “I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí)”
Christopher Barnett – “Come Away,” “Icarus”
Nicolas Becker – “Sound of Metal,” “The Summer of Sangaile (Sangailes Vasara)”
Phillip Bladh – “Sound of Metal,” “The Little Hours”
Onnalee Blank – “Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn,” “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Vince Caro – “Soul,” “Toy Story 4”
Carlos Cortés – “Sound of Metal,” “Our Time (Nuestro Tiempo)”
Marko Anthony Costanzo – “Greyhound,” “BlacKkKlansman”
Michellee Couttolenc – “Sound of Metal,” I’m No Longer Here (Ya No Estoy Aquí)”
Valérie Deloof – “Portrait of a Lady on Fire,” “BPM (Beats Per Minute)”
Coya Elliott – “Soul,” “Toy Story 4”
Steve Fanagan – “Room,” “Albert Nobbs”
Dominic Carl Gibbs – “The Gentlemen,” “Aladdin”
Paul Hackner – “Trolls World Tour,” “Crawl”
Andy Hay – “One Night in Miami…,” “American Woman”
Mirosław Makowski – “Cold War,” “Ida”
Isabel Muñoz – “Miss Bala,” “Backyard (El Traspatio)”
Nathan Nance – “Mank,” “Toy Story 4”
Whit Norris – “Hillbilly Elegy,” “Godzilla: King of the Monsters”
Erin Oakley – “Charlie’s Angels,” “Zombieland: Double Tap”
Barry O’Sullivan – “Brooklyn,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
David Paterson – “I, Tonya,” “Drive”
Bjørn Schroeder – “Roald Dahl’s The Witches,” “Kajillionaire”
Marlowe Taylor – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “The Marksman”
Juli Vandenberg – “Fiela se Kind,” “Otelo Burning”
Thomas “Tommy” Vicari – “Moonlight,” “Bridge of Spies”
David Wyman – “Greyhound,” “Deepwater Horizon”
Ken Yasumoto – “Climax,” “Love”

Visual Effects 
Lance Baetkey – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
Peta Bayley – “Dolittle,” “Shazam!”
Dennis Berardi – “Shazam!,” “The Shape of Water”
Daniele Bigi – “Aladdin,” “Ready Player One”
Axel Bonami – “Artemis Fowl,” “Godzilla”
Genevieve Camilleri – “Love and Monsters,” “Velvet Buzzsaw”
Raymond Chen – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “The Meg”
Yeenshi Chen – “Over the Moon,” “Life of Pi”
Santiago Colomo Martinez – “The One and Only Ivan,” “The Jungle Book”
Michael Joseph Conte – “Terminator Genisys,” “Elysium”
Michael Cozens – “Alita: Battle Angel,” “Pete’s Dragon”
Ferran Domenech – “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil,” “Alien: Covenant”
Benoit Dubuc – “Missing Link,” “X-Men: Days of Future Past”
Scott Edelstein – “Avengers: Endgame,” “Avengers: Infinity War”
Matt Everitt – “Love and Monsters,” “Skyscraper”
Pawl Fulker – “Dolittle,” “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom”
John Haley – “Hellboy,” “The Amazing Spider-Man 2”
Sherry Lynn Hitch – “Mank,” “The Irishman”
Nick Hsieh – ‘Monster Hunt,” “Looper”
Chia-Chi Hu – “Soul,” “Incredibles 2”
Steve Ingram – “Mulan,” “Pete’s Dragon”
Ben Jones – “The One and Only Ivan,” “The Lion King”
Shannon Justison – “Spider-Man: Far from Home,” “Captain Marvel”
Matthew Kasmir – “The Midnight Sky,” “Paddington”
Michael Kennedy – “The Jungle Book,” “Prometheus”
Ryan Laney – “Welcome to Chechnya,” “Ant-Man”
David Lee – “Tenet,” “John Carter”
May Leung – “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Star Trek Beyond”
Viktor Muller – “Voyagers,” “Gemini Man”
Max Solomon – “The Midnight Sky,” “Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw”
Sheldon Stopsack – “Gemini Man,” “Terminator: Dark Fate”
Damien Stumpf – “Cruella,” “Maleficent: Mistress of Evil”
Stephen Unterfranz – “Shadow in the Cloud,” “Rampage”
David Watkins – “The Midnight Sky,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”

Writers
Kenya Barris – “Coming 2 America,” “Girls Trip”
Peter Baynham – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Kaouther Ben Hania* – “The Man Who Sold His Skin,” “Beauty and the Dogs”
Paul Mayeda Berges – “Blinded by the Light,” “Bend It Like Beckham”
Craig Brewer* – “Black Snake Moan,” “Hustle & Flow”
Lee Isaac Chung* – “Minari,” “Munyurangabo”
Will Collins – “Wolfwalkers,” “Song of the Sea”
Emerald Fennell* – “Promising Young Woman”
Anthony Hines – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Jon Hurwitz – “American Reunion,” “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”
Brad Ingelsby – “Our Friend,” “The Way Back”
Shaka King* – “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Newlyweeds”
Lam Wing Sum – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
Li Yuan – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
Dan Mazer – “Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Delivery of Prodigious Bribe to American Regime for Make Benefit Once Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” “Borat Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan”
Tarell Alvin McCraney – “High Flying Bird,” “Moonlight”
Kemp Powers – “One Night in Miami…,” “Soul”
Hayden Schlossberg – “American Reunion,” “Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle”
Alice Wu – “The Half of It,” “Save Face”
Xu Yimeng – “Better Days,” “Soulmate”
Florian Zeller* – “The Father,” “Florida”

Members-at-Large
Cameron Bailey
John Buzzetti
Jennifer Jo Caputo
Giovanna Fossati
Craig Gering
Kari Grubin
Eugene Hernandez
Chung Chi Li
Peter Mavromates
Ann Murphy
Loren Nielsen
Nikki Penny
Darin Read
Alice Taylor
Jeremy Zimmer

While Kate McKinnon Weighs “SNL” Return, Her “Joe Exotic” Movie Loses Dennis Quaid to Scheduling Conflict

Kate McKinnon? You know much I love her work. Is she coming back to “Saturday Night Live?” My guess is, if her “Joe Exotic” movie ever gets going, she’ll have to take a break from the show that made her. While she’s waiting, the Emmy winning genius of a comedic actor is currently seen everywhere on Verizon commercials.

Now the “Joe Exotic” movie, set for NBC’s Peacock if it ever gets made, has suffered a casting loss. Dennis Quaid is out as Rick Kirkham, the American journalist based in Norway who was the reality show producer of Netflix’s “Tiger King.” It’s a big part. Quaid’s reason is “scheduling conflict.” But he’s finishing playing Ronald Reagan in a mini-series right now and has nothing on the front burner. So who knows?

In Quaid’s place is William Fichtner, late of the comedy “Mom,” where he was stuck in a wheelchair for a couple of seasons. A graduate of “As the World Turns,” circa Julianne Moore, Fichtner has a stellar movie career resume. He adds to every project he’s involved with.

John Cameron Mitchell will play Joe Exotic, the title character. McKinnon is Carole Baskin, famous for possibly feeding her husband to tigers. Kate is a gifted actress, and this is her big dramatic moment. But she’s really a modern Lily Tomlin. She needs to be in great comedies. Somebody just to write her one. Maybe she should remake “All of Me,” the classic Carl Reiner film they made with Steve Martin.

Meanwhile, McKinnon’s “SNL” castmate Cecily Strong made cryptic remarks this week on “ET” about whether she’ll return for a 10th season. “SNL” is definitely in a flux mode. Lorne Michaels has his hands full this summer!