Oz Magazine March / April 2021

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March / April 2021

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OZ NAMING COMPETITION DEADLINE NOVEMBER 1st 2021 Georgia’s entertainment industry has become a true force in the world. As of now, we don’t have a moniker that currently reflects that. We need to define our state with a current descriptive name to cover Georgia’s film, television, music, virtual reality, and gaming industry.

Using the name “Hollywood South” or “Y’allywood” for our whole state has been a huge conversation amongst the people and companies that work here. It is fine to name your company whatever you want; however, Oz Publishing, Inc. is asking those who think they have the branding chops to come up with a moniker that represents all our hardworking entertainment talent in Georgia.

Hollywood is a legacy. Why are we riding on their coattails by using the name “Hollywood” to represent us? We are so different from Hollywood.

Oz Publishing’s naming competition is open today and free to enter. The prize is $1000. Terms and conditions can be found on www.ozmagazine.com. You must be a Georgia resident to apply and 21 years or older.

The submitted monikers will be reviewed and judged by a panel of industry professionals including Brennen Dicker, Robyn Watson, Tammy Hurt, Kathleen Bertrand, Patty Knap Tucker, Tom Luse, Asante Bradford, and LaRonda Sutton.

MEET THE JUDGES Asante Bradford Asante Bradford is Project Manager for Digital Entertainment and Emerging Media for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, the sales and marketing arm for the State of Georgia.

Bradford helps promote the growth of the digital media industry as well as identify initiatives that will help grow businesses for the state of Georgia in interactive entertainment and Esports. He also helps educate potential prospects and provide clients with information about the Georgia Entertainment Industry Incentives Act.

Brennen Dicker Brennen Dicker is a film and television professional with 25 years of experience, and is Executive Director of the Creative Media Industries Institute at Georgia State University. Before joining Georgia State, Brennen was the General Manager for SIM International (Post) Atlanta. SIM provides production and post-production services for many episodic television series and feature film productions, including; “Stranger Things”, Watchmen, “The Gifted”, “Dynasty”, “Good Girls”, “True Detective” S3, as well as the blockbuster, Get Out. Brennen is a current member of Georgia Chamber of Commerce Screen Coalition Committee, and is on the board for the Atlanta Esports Association (AEA). He chairs the CMII Working Group which is comprised of leaders in film, television, gaming and music for the state of Georgia. He also serves on Board of Directors for The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival.

LaRonda Sutton LaRonda Sutton is the Owner/Principal of Entertainment.gov, a consulting firm dedicated to advising policymakers on the long-term economic development benefits of film and entertainment. Sutton is the founding Director of the Mayor's Office of Film & Entertainment for the City of Atlanta, which launched in July 2013. In addition, she lends her time and talents to many community organizations and currently Board Vice President of Women In Film & Television US.

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Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment. SINCE 1990

Kathleen Bertrand Kathleen Bertrand is the Founder and Executive Producer of the BronzeLense Film Festival.

Amongst her many accolades, Bertrand has been named one of “Atlanta’s Top Hospitality Industry Leaders” by the Atlanta Business Chronicle, and in 2018 her alma mater, Spelman College, selected her as the recipient of its Doctor of Humane Letters Honorary degree. In 2019, Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms presented Bertrand with the City of Atlanta’s highest honor, The Phoenix Award. Most recently, Kathleen received the highest honor of Atlanta’s hospitality community when she was inducted into the Atlanta Convention & Visitors Bureau Hospitality Hall of Fame.

Patty Knap Tucker Patty Knap Tucker is a seasoned communications executive who counsels senior leaders on leveraging communications and reputation to gain business value. Her 30 years of agency experience includes 14 years with Edelman and dozens of clients across the marketing, film and creative sphere. She has built and led a $7 million practice, shepherded global best practices across the Americas, and helped help hone the annual Edelman Trust Barometer, which continues to fuel her work in corporate purpose, social responsibility, and reputation.

Robyn Watson Robyn Watson is a Communications Director for WarnerMedia Distribution, based in Atlanta.

Watson is active in mentoring and leadership in the industry. She co-chairs the Strategic Marketing & Communications Committee for the Black Professionals at WarnerMedia, where she is responsible for creating the strategy and communications for leveraging and building the talents of Blackprofessionals. Robyn has been involved in the Women In Film organization for over 10 years having served on the board of directors for New York Women In Film & Television (NYWIFT) and Women In Film and Television Atlanta (WIFTA). She is also on the board of Women In Film & Television International (WIFTI) where she serves on the Knowledge, Advocacy and Activism Committee. Robyn graduated from Emory University and holds a Master’s degree in Organizational Leadership from Benedictine University.

Tammy Hurt Drummer, Tammy Hurt is the managing partner at Placement Music, a boutique entertainment firm specializing in custom music, scoring and post-audio for all forms of media. She is a co-founder of Georgia Music Partners (GMP), the non-profit behind the passage of the Georgia Music Investment Act (tax incentive) and serves as Vice Chair of the National Board Trustees of the Recording Academy.

Tom Luse Tom Luse is currently an artist in residence at Georgia State’s Creative Media Industries Institute in Atlanta. He served as producer and executive producer for the first nine seasons of "The Walking and Dead". Among his many awards and nominations, Luse received an Emmy® nomination for Outstanding Made for Television Movie for What the Deaf Man Heard; was honored with the Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Dramatic Specials for "Paris Trout"; and was awarded AFI's TV Program of the Year for "The Walking Dead". He is currently working as a consulting producer for "Chapelwaite", a series based on the Stephen King story. Jerusalem’s Lot, starring Adrien Brody and Bridge and Tunnel, a TV series set in NYC, developed by Ed Burns.

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MARCH / APRIL 2021

CONTRIBUTORS Rafael Lorié

OZ MAGAZINE

STAFF Editor-in-Chief B. Sonenreich

Publisher

Tia Powell (Group Publisher)

Cover story: The Bewitched Script Behind Marvelous Mrs. Maximoff, p.30 Rafael Lorié is a multi-disciplinary artist and filmmaker based in Atlanta. He graduated from Florida State University’s College of Motion Picture Arts in 2014 and has since actively worked in film production as a designer and prop fabricator. His short film Dent Head Gone (2020) was recently featured on PBS’s Filmmaker Series and he is currently at work on his first graphic novel.

Sales

Kris Thimmesch

Creative Director Michael R. Eilers

Production and Design Christopher Winley Michael R. Eilers

Copywriting

Morgan Williams

Cover:

Image Courtesy of Disney+ & Marvel Studios

Sammie Purcell Feature Story: IATSE 479 Is Here To Help, p.36 Sammie Purcell is a graduate student in journalism at Boston University. She graduated from Vanderbilt University in 2017 and worked in the travel industry for a few years before heading back to school. In the future, she is interested in working in film and television criticism. In her spare time, she enjoys singing in a band with her father.

Shady Radical A.A., B.A., M.A., CA Feature Story: The Day to Day of The Costumer, p.38

For Advertising Information:

404.633.1779

For Press Release Submission:

Shady Radical A.A., B.A., M.A., CA is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Film, Media and Theatre at Georgia State University. In 2020, She passed the archivist certification and has been working as an independent researcher. She graduated Cum Laude from New York University with a degree in Curatorial Arts and Costume Studies. She loves teaching Race and Representation in Film & TV; Documenting Performance; and The History of Film at Georgia State University. She has worked as an assistant reviews editor at Media Industries Journal; the content manager for Screening the South; costume assistant for The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade; a key costumer at Tyler Perry Studios; and costumer for many other movies and television shows.

brooke@ozonline.tv

ozmagazine.com /ozmagazine /ozpublishing /ozmagazine Oz Magazine is published bi-monthly by Oz Publishing, Inc. 2566 Shallowford Road Suite 104, #302 Atlanta, GA 30345 Copyright © 2021 Oz Publishing Incorporated, all rights reserved.

Reproductions in whole or in part without express written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. This magazine is printed on recyclable paper.

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Colleen Gardner AKA Colbie Fray Feature Story: Filmmaker on the Rise, p.40 Colleen Gardner AKA Colbie Fray is an American director, cinematographer and photographer, from Charlotte, NC now residing in Atlanta, GA. Fray went to college for journalism and branched out to become an entertainment news reporter. She later founded her film company Dope Artistic Focus Films (Dope AF Films) in Atlanta in 2017. Fray has won the 2020 Serendipity Film Festival grant for her short film, “Laundry Day” which she produced, co-wrote and DPed. She is self-taught and continues to learn new ways of storytelling through lighting and composition. Her work has been featured in Vibe Magazine, Museum of Contemporary Art Georgia, and Auburn Ave Research Library.

MARCH / APRIL 2021

CONTENTS

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OZCETERA

FEATURE STORY

A compilation of recent news and hot projects from and about the Georgia entertainment industry

IATSE 479 Is Here To Help IATSE is having the important conversations about mental health

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FEATURE STORY

OZSCENE

The Day to Day of The Costumer

Industry related events and parties

Oz breaks down the costumer’s job on set

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival

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FILMMAKER ON THE RISE

COVER STORY The Bewitched Script Behind Marvelous Mrs. Maximoff Meeting the the Showrunner, Head Writer, and Executive Producer behind Marvel Studios and Disney+'s hit streaming series, WandaVision"

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A Q&A with Kate E. Hinshaw about tactile filmmaking and publishing

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Let Me Give You My Card

March / April 2021

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OzCetera

VAN GOGH: THE IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCE DEBUTING IN ATLANTA

Van Gogh Immersive Experience at Pullman Yard

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h e Va n G o g h : T h e I m m e r s i v e Experience exhibit will be making its first North American debut in Atlanta this May. Exhibition Hub, a European entertainment producer that has launched over 70 unique exhibitions world-wide, along with Atlanta-based Immersive Hub ensure that Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience goes beyond just an exhibit— it is a 360-degree, mesmeric digital art experience that appeals to audiences of all ages. Through digital projection technology, virtual reality, and breathtaking light and sound installations, visitors will be fully engrossed in Vincent van Gogh’s work, secrets, and overall artistic journey.

“As an Atlanta resident, who has spent decades creating immersive experiences around the world, I am excited to be a part of bringing Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience to our city,” President of Immersive Hub, John Zalle, said. “As a

Left to right, Katy Warren (seated), Clare Methe, Sam Moore, Nalani Dowling, Cullen Gray and Elise Nation (seated)

national leader in art, culture, film, and music, Atlanta is the perfect place to premiere this cut ting - edge ar t and entertainment experience.”

This exhibition is guaranteed to follow COVID-19 safety protocols with multiple hand sanitizing stations throughout the location as well as strict face mask requirements. “We believe there is a pentup demand for immersive entertainment

in a COVID-safe environment,” said Mario Lacampo, CEO of Exhibition Hub. “As the world slowly returns to normal, Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience allows people to once again gather and enjoy art and entertainment in a safe, socially distanced manner.”

Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience will run from May 19th until November 15th 2021 at Kirkwood’s Pullman Yard.

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OzCetera Lodged screenwriter, Scott Sala

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ooty Hoo Productions, the Georgia-based production company behind comedian Eddie Pence’s recent hit comedy special, have optioned feature film Lodged from screenwriter Scott Sala.

This story of recovery is based on Sala’s own experiences at an alcohol rehabilitation facility. The film tells the story of a recovering alcoholic, Ryan, who enrolls in a treatment center, The Lodge, in hopes of beating his addiction. But, his efforts to overcome his personal struggles are furthered complicated as fellow residents at the facility begin dying off.

“I didn’t know I was suicidal until I realized, as an alcoholic, I was absolutely killing myself, just slowly,” Sala said. “Lodged, although fictionalized, accurately portrays an addict's painful, sometimes darkly humorous journey away from self-hatred. And there’s a serial killer in the story, too.”

Hooty Hoo Productions rarely takes on fully scripted projects.

However, the owners of the company, Dustin Jacobs and Chuck Thomas, considered this story to be one that doesn’t come around often and decided to take Lodged on as their first optioned feature script. "Scott and I met at Warner Bros. and this has been a story Scott has wanted to tell for some time,” Jacobs said, “so clearly I'm honored to have helped develop it and now option it for Hooty Hoo Productions."

“As a screenwriter, it’s been fulfilling to help a first-time writer develop his idea,” Thomas said, who is also on the board of nonprofit Film Impact Georgia. “Scott was very open to new ideas and notes which made the process smooth. As a result, we have a script ready to surprise and shock people.”

STARTING IN SUMMER 2021 Connecting: The entertainment industry-film, tv, gaming, animation, music and streaming. Almost all aspects of the entertainment industry overlap in some way, Oz will show you how. Video games become movies or a series; studios become production spaces for tv, film, gaming and music studios; voiceover artists and composers work in film, tv, commercials, gaming, and interactive live music.

These three issues will feature relevant articles, industry directories of creators, and support companies, plus bonus distribution.

Companies or Individuals that want to be seen!

Call or email for more information: Advertising & Listings: Kris Thimmesch

Kris@ozonline.tv

(404) 633-1779

W W W.OZ M A G A Z I N E .CO M

March / April 2021

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OzCetera Matt Barron

Eddie Kesler

Company 3/ Method Studios Fully Integrates Creative Editorial Team

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ompany 3/Method Studios’ Atlanta location has merged its influential creative editorial team (formally provided as Beast Editorial) with Company 3. This merger is a significant investment in allowing this once consolidated editorial team to increase connectivity and remote workflow technology with Company 3’s full suite of post offerings.

This editorial group is led by the award-

winning editors Eddie Kesler and Matt Barron whose mission is to seamlessly integrate into the company pipeline.

"We believe this development will be particularly compelling for clients seeking the convenience and quality assurance we provide as an end-to-end, offline-todelivery post facility," Company 3 Atlanta’s Managing Director/Colorist, Billy Gabor, said.

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"The Atlanta adver tising industr y has embraced our high level of creative editorial work," Company 3/Method Studios’ President, Stefan Sonnenfeld, added. "We're making this investment in Atlanta to pull that team more closely into the Company 3-fold. We will now be able to leverage that infrastructure and the incredible editorial talent to enhance our service offerings overall."

March / April 2021

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OzCetera concrete_savanna official poster

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Gravitas Ventures, one of the top distributors of independent films in North America, has officially picked up the art-house independent horror film, concrete_savanna.

This twisted horror film was written and directed by Matthew Pye and Joshua Mitton of Unicursal Pictures LLC. The two also produced the film along with Demitri Blanco of GrindUp Films and Jonathan Shepard. It features notable actors including Rajeev Jacob (The Big Short, The Outsider, and All Eyez on Me), Mia Matthews (American Soul and Every Witch Way), and introducing Sarah Hitzel.

Concrete_savanna was filmed in Georgia and puts a unique spin on the current social media phenomenon. It portrays a vlogger, Savanna, who is willing to stop at no ends to ensure her success as a social media sensation. Her pursuit of virtual notoriety takes a dark turn when she becomes incessantly haunted by the sinister visions she has dealt with since childhood.

“I think, when it comes to social media and modern culture we kind of feel like strangers in a strange land. It's all just so fascinating to us,” Pye said.

“I think there's a huge audience for this film. Human psychology is very similar throughout the world and I think most people share the same feelings towards the themes of the story.

We hope it'll speak to the subconscious of the viewer. We are really excited to get the film out there in other parts of the world as well,” Mitton added.

March / April 2021

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BAILEY-FORD’S FIRST STUDIO FILM IN PRE PRODUCTION

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Autumn Bailey-Ford

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Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment. SINCE 1990

n 2016, Georgia - based producer, Autumn Bailey-Ford, went to Facebook to announce a call for scripts. It wasn’t an unusual post, as Bailey-Ford often used Facebook to make calls for crew for her films in the past. This time, Brian Egeston, who worked mainly as a screenwriter in Georgia for network television (BET, NBC), replied to the Facebook post. Egeston emailed Bailey-Ford On a Wing and a Prayer, based on a true story about Doug White, who landed a plane in 2009 after the aircraft’s charter pilot died suddenly in mid flight.

Bailey-Ford is the Lead Producer for On a Wing and a Prayer. After 3-4 years of development, Deadline announced that the projec t was going to be an MGM film. This will be both Bailey-Ford and Egeston’s first studio film in their respective careers. The production is currently location scouting in Georgia.

“Sometimes the stories I choose speak to me and resonate with my faith,” Bailey-Ford told Oz Magazine when asked

about the faith based element of the movie. “I do a little bit of everything,” she added, specifically referring to working in different genres.

While On a Wing and a Prayer is an uplifting survivor film, Bailey-Ford can also do horror. “I just successfully did my first COVID movie,” Bailey-Ford referred to her upcoming movie, Karen, which is set to be released in October 2021.

Bailey- Ford is the Founder of Autumn Bailey Entertainment (ABE) and Co-founder of Prominent Productions.

She resides in Georgia with her husband and German shorthaired pointer. When Bailey-Ford is not working on set, she’s representing the Georgia film industry by hosting events like Get Connected Atlanta, the Georgia Entertainment Gala, and more. Bailey-Ford also sits on the board of Atlanta Film Society and is a part of Reel Divas, a member of Producers Guild of America, and Black Women Film and Women in Film Atlanta and Los Angeles.

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March / April 2021

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OzCetera Cinelease Studios + Three Ring Studios

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CINELEASE STUDIOS – THREE RING

inelease Studios –Three Ring is located in Covington which has come to be known as “Georgia’s Backlot” is due to its limitless variety of shooting locations. The studio sits on an expansive 160 acres, 50 of which are fully developed. With a Cinelease Warehouse down the road and a Herc Entertainment

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Services branch onsite, they have any production’s lighting, grip and heav y equipment needs covered. This all-in-one facility was thoughtfully created to serve every television, movie, or custom content creation’s production needs.

“The best way to allow a filmmaker to tell his or her story is to provide them

the box and then get out of the way so they can do their job,” General Manager of Cinelease Studios, Gannon Murphy, said. Cinelease Studios – Three Ring is currently open for booking.

Photograph courtesy of Virtual Line Studios Japan

GEORGIA-BASED PEACH MARIA PARTNERS WITH ZERO DENSITY

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irtual production software developer Zero Density and Peach Maria Productions have joined in a strategic partnership. The agreement will make Peach Maria Productions — producers of the upcoming reality competition series, "GAMEMASTER," with host, Wil Wheaton.

With a 10,000 square foot, purpose-built virtual production sound stage, the new studio will include 13 computing engines, 12 cameras, and real-time rendering. Accompanying support space will include audio and video editing bays, broadcast studios and offices. Peach Maria will oversee the space, including booking it for third party productions beginning in the fall of 2021.

Zero Density is the provider of virtual production/XR software based on the Unreal Engine for film and television studios. They serve a global client base, including BBC, Canal+, Fox Sports, NEP and The Weather Channel. Atlanta-based Peach Maria Productions will bring the new studio on-line in 2021 for production GAMEMASTER. “When we first met Peach Maria Productions, we knew they were visionaries. They saw the full potential of the technology and not just what it can achieve today but in the long run as well. We’re thrilled to become strategic partners to such an organization,” Territory Sales Manager at Zero Density, Onur Gulenc, said. “Zero Density’s disruptive and future-proof Reality suite redefines realtime virtual and augmented reality productions around the globe.

It provides sophistication alongside ease of use, raises the bar with every new release and product. Together, Peach Maria Productions and Zero Density will break the mold in the industry and push what is possible.”

“While evaluating real-time rendering capabilities and virtual production technologies, we knew we wanted to base our workflows on an Unreal Engine platform — but needed a level of functionality to produce the broad range of productions we have slated,”Peach Maria Productions President and "GAMEMASTER" creator, John Colp, said. “We wanted to focus on the capabilities of the platform, how it would align with our use cases, and an ability to achieve a high quality of work at scale. With Zero Density, we are at the forefront of virtual production technology and able to create tremendous experiences for our audiences across a diverse range of content.”

"GAMEMASTER" will be the first reality show featuring elements created in the Zero Density Reality Engine.

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OzCetera

Popular digital creator, Robert Dean III, and Talent Manager, Keith Dorsey of Collabcrib

COLLABCRIB BASED IN ATLANTA

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o p u l a r Yo uTu b e t a l e n t , T i kTo k creators, and Instagram influencers united in Atlanta to share platforms at the “first Black creator mansion.” After conversations about TikTok being banned during US presidential elections, Talent Manager, Keith Dorsey, popular digital creator, Robert Dean III, and BStar PR

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Founder, Brandy Merriweather, incubated a creative environment with influencer marketing teams to strengthen their relationships with other digital talent and brands during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“CollabCribATL is a mansion where multicultural creators of all platforms can come to an environment where

professionalism, collaboration, growth and love are priorit y,” Merriweather wrote in a recent press release on the collaborative space. The CollabCrib prides itself on promoting unity amongst the creator community in Greater Metro Atlanta.

March / April 2021

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n Concert Productions (ICP) has been in the business of audio and sound for over 40 years and is considered an industry leader in Atlanta as well as throughout the Southeast. The company serves Fortune 500 corporate, theatrical, and other industrial and special events, as well as televised events for NBC, ABC, TBS, BET, Tyler Perry Studios, and many others.

Now, ICP is venturing into the new era of audio and sound: digital wireless. “Because of the shrinking frequency spectrum, it is almost mandatory now that you must use digital wireless products,” ICP’s founder, Jay Rabbit, said. The company recently invested in 44 channels of Shure Wireless Axient ADX combo systems, along with additional ADX1M micro beltpacks, will allow them to stay ahead of the ever narrowing frequency spectrum.

“With the Shure digital Axient and ULXD products, it’s possible to get the 30-40 channels of voice wireless that most TV productions we serve require.”

ICP recently finished up working on the production of multiple big-time television shows such as “The Titan Games 2” on NBC, the ABC summer game show “Don’t”, and BET’s “Sunday Best.”

The company is also assisting ATK Versacom and ATK Audiotek with the new season of “Family Feud,” and a new show on TBS for 2021 called “The Go-Big Show.”

“Because of the explosion of film and TV production here in the state of Georgia, the ICP-ATK relationship has grown into a great business model that benefits both companies. As time has gone by, we’ve developed our own broadcast clients and friends, while still being a valuable asset to ATK,” Rabbit added.

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Hope Givers host, Tamlin Hall, alongside Atlanta-based music producer, Mr. 2-17, and the dance troupe, Digital Young Kingz

2021 HOPE FILM CHALLENGE

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ope Givers, an Atlanta-based nonprofit dedicated to saving lives through arts, science, and advocacy, launched the 2021 Hope Film Challenge.

The contest aims to combat the isolation and mental health challenges COVID-19 has brought to students and educators in Georgia. Sixth through twelfth grade students have the entire month of March to participate and have the opportunity

to win a $2,000 prize and have their work showcased nationally in the new documentary series, “Hope Givers with Tamlin Hall.” Students will be challenged to produce a 30-90 second short film to practice their storytelling craft.

The challenge is designed to engage students and give the opportunity to see their work showcased on a national basis. The documentary series, “Hope

Givers with Tamlin Hall,” is about mental wellness and curriculum that is DOE Health Standards Aligned across the state of Georgia (which means the series can be shown and taught in grades 6-12 in all 159 counties). The series will be available to stream for everyone on the national PBS platform and Georgia Public Broadcasting, set to air in September 2021.

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DAD’S GARAGE TV AND KEVIN GILLESE PARTNER FOR HOW TO RUIN THE HOLIDAYS

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fter a one-year hiatus, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Kevin Gillese, former Art Director of Dad’s Garage Theatre, is embarking on a heartwarming new comedy project titled, How to Ruin the Holidays. The project is intended to be a feature-length film and Gillese will be launching a crowdfunding campaign for it in late April.

The film revolves around a character with a developmental disability (played by local Atlanta actor, Luke Davis, who is also disabled), and the complicated realities that his family has to grapple with. Since

stepping down from the artistic director role, Gillese has focused his attention on producing a comedic film featuring adult actors with special needs. Gillese’s younger brother has a developmental disability, and for years Gillese has been concerned about representation of this group in media and entertainment.

Through this project, he hopes to show that there are many talented actors with special needs who can take on these types of roles.

“In movies and television, special needs characters are treated like children,

even if they are full-grown adults. Through How to Ruin the Holidays I want to give adults with special needs their own agency, and deal with the real-world issues that are part of their lives, and I want to do it in a comedic format,” Gillese said.

How to Ruin the Holidays will cover topic s including but not limited to, questions of employment, sexuality, and how adults with special needs take care of themselves when their parents pass away.

Gillese created a script that uses comedy to address these conversations.

TIMES UP CALLS OUT HFPA’S LACK OF DIVERSITY AT 2021 GOLDEN GLOBES

T

hree years ago, some of the biggest names in Hollywood walked down the Golden Globes red carpet donning all black to commemorate the beginning of the Time’s Up movement. The movement put a spotlight on the widespread and historically unacknowledged issues of racial inequality and sexual harassment within the entertainment industry.

Three years later at the 2021 Golden

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Globes, the industry’s lack of progress in diversity among the Hollywood Foreign Press Association’s (HFPA) deciding members was put on display. Days before the award show, Time’s Up launched #TIMESUPGlobes calling out HFPA for having zero Black members out of their current 87 person membership. The association also has not included a single Black member since 1987.

The HFPA has a large hand in deciding who receives Golden Globe nominations as well as who ultimately wins the awards.

The lack of diversity within this deciding group was directly reflected in what many people describe as an apparent snub of Black-led films in the best picture categories.

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OzCetera

GEORGIA STATE HOUSE COMMITTEE APPROVES BETTING ACT

T

his February, the Georgia state House committee approved the “Georgia Lot ter y Mobile Spor ts Wagering Integrity Act,” which would make sports betting legal. Georgia is just one of many states trying to use sports betting as a way to make up for economic loss during the coronavirus pandemic.

“We believe that the folks ought to just make it another lottery,” said Rep. Ron Stephens, R-Savannah. Stephens,

the chairman of the House Economic Development and Tourism Committee, sponsored the bill.

If the bill were to pass, the Georgia Lottery Corporation would have oversight over any vendors, who would have to pay a $50,000 application fee. The annual l ice n si n g fe e wo u l d b e $9 0 0,0 0 0.

Stephens said the profit that could come from sports betting would be about $43 million.

WATCHMEN NOMINATED FOR ASC AWARD

T

he American Society of Cinematographers (ASC) announced its nominees for feature f i l m , d o c u m e n t a r y, a n d t e l e v i s i o n c i n e m a to g r a p h y, re p r e s e n t i n g t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n’s p i c k s f o r t h e m o s t compelling visual filmmaking over the past 14 months. Winners will be named during the 35th ASC Outstanding Achievement Awards on April 18th.

Amongst the nominees is Gregory Middleton, ASC, CSC for his work on the Georgia-lensed HBO series, “Watchmen.”

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The nomination falls under the “Motion Picture, Limited Series, or Pilot Made for Television” category. The category is a standard, competitive category of the ASC awards. Gregory Middleton was previously nominated in the Regular TV Series/Non Commercial categor y

by ASC for “Game of Thrones,” so this is his second nod from the organization.

Past winners of this category include: “The Terror: Infamy”, “Patrick Melrose”, “Genius”, “The Night Of”, “Casanova.”

Not everyone is for the bill. Virginia Galloway from the Faith and Freedom Coalition said the legislation would be bad for the state. “I know it’s addictive and it very much targets young people,” she said.

The bill will go to the House Rules Committee which will decide if it will go before the full House.

A CELEBRATION OF FANS, BY FANS, FOR FANS

ANIMATION GAMING COMICS VENDORS ESPORTS COSPLAY COMICS

40K ATTENDEES 4 DAYS DWTN ATLANTA MAY 2022 JOIN US! 4 days of wall to wall fun with MomoCon, Atlanta's Answer to Comic Con! www.momocon.com

March / April 2021

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OZ SCENE 1

3

2

4

5

Atlanta Jewish Film Festival The Atlanta Jewish Film Festival returned in hybrid form this year. Though the annual festival felt quite different from the 20 editions that preceded it, the goals to entertain, enlighten and engage remained constant. The 2021 film lineup was diverse as ever, with 38 features and 16 short films from around the world. Some of these films were viewed virtually, while others were presented at drive-ins at The Home Depot Backyard of the Mercedes-Benz Stadium.

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OZ SCENE 6

7

8

IMAGES 1. Mark Spatt 2. Sara Glassberg, Evan Glassberg 3. The Home Depot Backyard at MercedesBenz Stadium staffer

4 . D ov W ilker, A JFF B o ard M emb er and Regional Director, AJC Atlanta 5. AJFF's Shellie Schmals, Leah Sitkoff 6 . Natalie Bernstein, A JFF Board Member Emory Professor Matthew Bernstein

7. AJFF Development Co-chair Dr. Kenneth Taylor, AJFF Executive Director Kenny Blank 8. Urban Enterprises staffers * Photography courtesy of AJFF

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Cover Story

T H E B E H I N D

BY:

I

RAFAEL

LORIÉ

B E W I T C H E D

M A R V E L O U S

&

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

M A X I M O F F

B. SONENREICH

t’s been almost two years since any new films from Marvel Studios, leaving fans in a content desert - the longest break since the earliest days of the franchise. At this point the collective fanbase has built a rabid five billion dollar a year appetite. It’s not only the extended hiatus that has audiences thirsty, it’s the yearning to know what will happen in the aftermath of Avengers Endgame

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S C R I P T

M R S .

(2019), the culmination of a decade’s worth of stories and films. While the folks at Marvel are infamously secretive about their upcoming web of interconnected storylines, Oz was able to grab some time with the Head Writer, Showrunner, and Executive Producer for this newest slice of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, “WandaVision’s” Jac Scaheffer.

continued on next page...

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Cover Story

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff and Paul Bettany as Vision in Marvel Studios’ “WandaVision” exclusively on Disney+ .

Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.

Jac Schaeffer is a Princeton graduate with an extraordinary talent that allows her to tap into other universes with her pen. Her first entry as a writer and director into speculative fiction was in her debut feature film, TiMER. TiMER is a science fiction movie that feels relatively close to the present day reality, except for a small piece of technology with monumental influence on people’s everyday lives: a wrist implant device that counts down to the exact moment you will meet your soulmate. It’s a creative romantic comedy that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2009 and received rave reviews.

Schaeffer advanced her screenwriting career with the opportunity to write for Disney’s newest heavy-hitter franchise with Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, a twenty minute short film spinoff of Frozen (2013). There’s an obvious gap between TiMER and the short; however, the transition from writing for older demographics to a younger audience was seamless. “I'm interested in authenticity and I'm interested in entertainment,”

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Schaeffer told Oz in an exclusive interview.

The success of Olaf led to further meetings with the House of Mouse, this time across the lot at Marvel Studios.

After amassing credits on Captain Marvel (2019) as a contributing writer and co-screenwriter on the upcoming (and continuously delayed due to COVID-19) Black Widow (2021), she garnered enough of the studio’s trust to earn a rare steady spot within the studio’s braintrust.

“When you're on the same page with your collaborators or the people that you report to, you have a lot of freedom to make things great,” Schaeffer said.

In tackling “WandaVision”, both Schaeffer and Marvel Studios found themselves wading into unfamiliar territory. Neither had developed episodic television before. “WandaVision” was among a slate of several new limited series being developed for Disney+ where the studio saw an opportunity to explore characters that hadn’t yet had their own stand alone films.

The limited series takes place after

the events of 2019’s Avengers Endgame and follows Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) and Vision (Paul Bettany) living in the idyllic domestic suburbia of Westview, New Jersey. “WandaVision” audiences were in for a surprise as the show isn’t formatted like any previous superhero film. Shot in black and white, utilizing sitcom multi-camera techniques and canned audience laughter, it’s a rich and faithful homage to the domestic sitcoms of the Golden Age of Television. Hijinks ensure as Wanda scrambles to keep her telekinetic powers and Vision’s synthezoid identity a secret from the nosey neighbors while preparing for an evening engagement that neither she nor her “normal husband” can quite remember - a far cry from the typical Marvel fare, but on the edges of the idealized domestic utopia, things are not quite as they seem.

And didn’t audiences watch Vision die a couple years ago?

“I found myself an incredible team,” Schaeffer said about her group of eight writers. They had twenty-four weeks to script out the entire limited series. Their

"I'm interested in entertainment and I'm interested in authenticity."

- Jac Schaeffer biggest challenge in the early stages would be figuring out how to carry the story into an episodic format rather than Marvel’s traditional two hour, three-act feature film. Schaeffer knew the episodic structure for the story was essential to build a believable space for the televised sitcom reality. “There was a lot more freedom in that I think Kevin Feige and I were aligned in how we wanted to pace out the series.”

The shift from solitary screenwriting to leading a collaborative group environment was an easy adjustment for her. “It just was a different skill set.

I had never run a writer's room before,” Schaeffer told Oz, “but I found myself fairly well suited for it. And kind of more importantly for me, I loved it.”

Schaeffer admits to not being the biggest superhero movie fan before her work at Marvel, but found an unlikely safe space to explore nuanced stories within the larger Marvel sandbox. “It was much more about the conversation, which is what I like. I always want the conversation more than anything else.”

Upon first glance, the show itself doesn’t make too many references to the extended Marvel franchise outside of its titular characters, keeping the whole first three episodes contained entirely within the sitcom format, following structures of TV shows like “The Dick Van Dyke Show” and “I Dream of Jeannie.”

Schaeffer and her team were keenly aware of the balance between the Wanda’s imaginary sitcom and the usual franchise reality outside the bubble. As Wanda's grasp on her televised “happily ever after” slips, each subsequent episode has

to morph itself to meet the demands of the week, playing out as a sitcoms-bythe-decade serial until “WandaVision” finally opens its scope to reveal the larger view of the mystery at play. The show within a show format allows for some entertaining meta commentary as both the S.W.O.R.D. agents and audiences tune into “WandaVision,” left to piece together the clues of just what exactly is going on.

While some audiences may have found their captivation with the Marvel franchise starting to wane, “WandaVision” feels like a rush of energy in the right direction. Without a cosmic MacGuffin to motivate our central heroes, there is a fresh landscape to explore these characters on a deeper, personal level as we watch them solve the problems of everyday life. This is one of the original ideas championed by Marvel legend, Stan Lee, who made the original comics so great and relatable to begin with.

Wanda’s life before implementing her new pseudo-reality was already pretty extraordinary. Her traumatic backstory involves her and her twin brother being kidnapped and experimented on by terrorists, their following alliances with murderous robots and her brother’s ultimate death. Now, after watching her lover Vision die before her eyes, all she longs for is the ordinary - a happy domestic life with silly, pedestrian problems.

Neither Wanda nor Vision can quite remember their lives before Westview.

Pattern seeking brains may want to fit the mystery of Wanda’s motivation into a familiar formula - a formula with a simple good and evil binary - but it would be cheap to chalk up Wanda as the central villain of the piece. A number of past comic storylines featuring Wanda have often leaned heavily into portrayals of her struggles with mental illness and borderline personality disorder. While the comics have a history of depicting Wanda as a hysterical character, Schaeffer and her team were sensitive in presenting grief in trauma within Wanda and other characters within the series.

For example, Monica Rambo (Teyonah Parris), a S.W.O.R.D. agent that’s grown up from the child who befriended Captain Marvel in the 2019 film, is a superb addition to the cast as she returns from being “snapped” away for two years to a world that has moved on without her. As Rambo is assigned to investigate the mystery in Westview, she too is digesting her own grief over the loss of her mother and the antagonistic direction the agency she founded has taken during her absence. Rambo’s depth is further evidence that the women in the show are fully realized and beyond what we’re used to with Marvel’s sidelined and supporting love interests.

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Cover Story

(L-R): Director Matt Shakman with Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany in Marvel Studios' "WandaVision" exclusively on Disney+. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. ©Marvel Studios 2020. All Rights Reserved.

"This era of my career has been about inheriting characters and mythology and working with groups of people and making it the best that it can be."

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It’s not surprising that the masterminds behind these stories of multidimensional women are also women themselves. It’s one of the first Marvel Studios properties to be led by a team of mostly women, including four female writers. Schaeffer is accompanied by Marvel producer Mary Livanos. “Mary Livanos is kind of my walking Marvel encyclopedia,” Schaeffer said. “I do not enjoy research and the way I’ve operated at Marvel, that’s not a big part of [my job].” The two made an effective team as Livanos would provide any relevant references from Wanda and Vision’s dense comic history, freeing Schaeffer from massive deep dive research and allowing her and the rest of her writers room to focus on the more nuanced elements of these established characters. “This era of my career has been about inheriting characters and mythology and working with groups of people and making it the best that it can be,” Schaeffer added.

“My natural voice tends to not be terribly dark. I like things to be exciting and thrilling, and challenging intellectually. But I think where I land on the spectrum has been well-suited to the Marvel brand so far,” she continued.

Schaeffer was tight lipped about what’s next for her, aside from the upcoming release of Black Widow, however she did laugh as she shared an unexpected take away from this experience, “It's sort of hard to imagine going back to sitting in a room with my computer by myself.”

As “WandaVision” reached the conclusion of its limited-run, and the scope of its initial sitcom pseudoreality lens expanded, the series keeps suggesting wider implications on the future of the greater Marvel Universe.

Marvel Studios has indicated that the events of this series will directly lead into the upcoming Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness (2022), where Elizabeth Olsen is set to reprise her role.

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff in Marvel Studios' "WandaVision" exclusively on Disney+.

Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. ©Marvel Studios 2021. All Rights Reserved.

January / February 2021

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BY: SAMMIE PURCELL

“There’s an old saying, you can’t keep what you got unless you give it away.”

Billy Duncan and the rest of the team at IATSE Local 479 have always taken that old saying to heart. But over the past year, it’s taken up a special kind of resonance.

IATSE – the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees – represents those who make magic happen behind the scenes. Make-up artists, editors, audio visual technicians, stagehands – all of the people it takes to make movies and television come alive on our screens.

Back in March 2020, more than 120,000 IATSE jobs had already been lost to the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. While filming has picked back up around the world and in Georgia, so many film industry workers have been able to get back to the grind, the pandemic has still raged on. With shut down rules constantly in flux, anxiety over the vaccine and COVID-safety protocols on sets, the future is still murky for many.

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“In the best of times, our industry is very high pressure, it’s very demanding.

Our people work long hours, they’re separated from their families, they travel a lot,” said Duncan, Director of Substance Abuse Recovery Program at IATSE 479 – which represents film and television production workers from mostly Alabama and Georgia. “In the very best of times this is a hard, stressful way to make a living.

With what’s going on in the world today, with COVID, the lay-offs, the shut downs – it’s exacerbated a situation that’s already hard.”

Need Help?

Right now, if you go to IATSE 479’s website, you’ll find a small blue box on the right hand side of your screen that says “Need Help?” By clicking on that box, you’ll find a note from Duncan, followed by a plethora of recovery and mental health services.

According to Duncan, information about recovery services for things like addiction have been available for IATSE 479 members for some time now.

“We compiled as much information as we possibly could,” he said. “Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Overeaters Anonymous, Gamblers Anonymous – any possible issue that our members may have.”

Adding mental health services to that comprehensive online list is a relatively new step for IATSE 479. But over the past year, it’s proved to be a necessary one.

Duncan said IATSE’s main office in New York has recognized mental health issues as a prominent issue for its members right now, but he also knew that from his own experience. During the past six months, Duncan said, he’s seen an uptick in the number of members reaching out for help with depression, anxiety and more.

“

There’s an old saying, you can’t keep what you got unless you give it away.”

“The mental health issue – it’s not just the film industry, it’s everybody across the country,” Duncan said.

The effect the coronavirus pandemic has had on mental health over the past year is one that can’t be overstated. Fortyone percent of adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depression in January 2021, consistent with data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in August of 2020 that showed 40% of U.S. adults were struggling with mental health or substance abuse in June of last year.

CDC data from early 2020 also showed an increase in drug-related overdoses, coinciding with COVID-19 lockdowns.

Those mental health statistics and the number of calls coming from members struggling with their mental health led the IATSE 479 team to act.

“Specifically in the last six months, I’ve gotten numerous phone calls from people who are saying, ‘I’m at my wits end,” Duncan said. “What do I do?’”

That’s where “Need Help” comes in.

From the outside, it might seem to be a simple fix – just putting as many resources as you can in one place. But streamlining the member dashboard, the public webpage, and making things as easy to find as possible can be a massive help to someone in need.

“There are so many avenues that people could go through, just through our website, to get all the help they need,” Duncan said.

In the event a member doesn’t know which recovery program might be the best for them, Duncan’s own number is listed on the site, and he’s available to give them guidance. He said the often long turnaround times waiting for a counselor made it clear there needed to be an option for immediate relief.

“A couple of times when I first got these calls, I was trying to reach out

and find counselors or psychologists for these people, just to give them a contact number,” Duncan said. “What I found is most of these people are booked out weeks and months in advance.”

Resources readily available on the “Need Help” page include the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, Georgia’s Mobile Crisis Services for depression and anxiety, Alcoholics Anonymous, Georgia Overdose Prevention, Narcotics Anonymous, National Problem Gambling Helpline, Gamblers Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery and Overeasters Anonymous – all in one place.

“When people are in crisis, they don’t need to wait three weeks to see a psychologist,” Duncan said. “They need some help right then and there.”

Hardship Committee Another helpful tool members of IATSE 479 have at their disposal is the organization’s Hardship Committee. Jobs in the film industry can be extremely physically demanding. The committee was created in 2013 as a way to assist members who were suffering from some sort of illness or injury that might keep them from returning to work.

“If they did not have enough finances in their CAPP account – which is what their insurance is paid out of – we would supplement that to keep them covered until they were healthy and able to return to work,” Vice President of IATSE 479, Whit Norris, said.

Norris said the Hardship Committee has helped members suffering with everything from debilitating injuries to the addiction recovery process. In the past, the Hardship Committee has paid bills, car payments, rent payments, and more.

On the local’s website, members are

encouraged to reach out to the Hardship Committee if they or someone in their immediate family has been diagnosed with a condition that prevents them from working, they have experienced the loss of an immediate family member causing a large or unexpected loss of income, of if they or their family are the victims of an unexpected catastrophe.

Last year, everyone in the world experienced one of those conditions with the coronavirus pandemic. Norris said he couldn’t for sure say there had been an uptick in members reaching out to the Hardship Committee for assistance, but the film industry – and IATSE specifically – were affected by loss.

“Everybody suffered from depression last year,” he said. “I want to say it hit me around July. We weren’t built just to sit at home as human beings. That’s just not in our DNA.”

As far as mental health programming in the future, IATSE 479 is focused on making sure its members know where to find help. It will continue to send out email blasts to members and run social media campaigns to remind them these resources exist, and they don’t have to wait.

“We want to be available to people everyday, because you never know when these issues are going to come up,” Duncan said. “You never know when somebody’s going to have the realization, ‘Hey, I need help. And I need it bad and quick.’”

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THE COSTUMER

The Day to Day of

By: Shady Radical A costumer is part of the team responsible for the costumes or wardrobe within a stage or screen production. The duties of the costumer are the most fundamental parts of costuming, making the costumer the basis from which all work builds upon.

veteran Costume Designer Keith G. Lewis continues to describe himself as a costumer in spite of years of industry success and working as a department head since 1987. It is not unusual for costume designers to think about their work in terms of a costumer’s responsibilities.

The day to day tasks of the costumer, from dayplayer to Key Costumer, reflect the core expectations of performance of the Costume Department.

1.

Be flexible and friendly

The days are long and demanding.

Costumers work for long hours, in confined spaces, with the same people.

Oftentimes the costumer who is chill, willing to do whatever is needed (in spite of their title), and friendly gets called over the highly skilled and decorated costumer. The demands of a supercapitalist system creates a really tense environment. You will be all the more in demand if you can bring a smile to faces when you enter the room.

While there are a few different levels of a costumer, reflecting the experience, skill, variations in duties and needs of the production, the costumer is essentially responsible for the organization, maintenance, and screen continuity of the clothing worn by everyone within the mise-en-scene.

The costumer is a craft covered worker, which means the job is protected by the law, regardless of whether or not the costumer is part of the local union.

According to the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE), the duties of a costumer are divided into two different roles: the costumer and the key costumer. The costumer is hired for the length of the production or works at least 50% of the production. While every production varies, they are primarily responsible for the department’s day to day operations involving anything worn or to be worn on camera. The key costumer is the team leader and ensures that the costumes are available and properly prepared for the camera.

Continuity filmmaking makes this task the most critical aspect of costuming.

The key costumer must be keenly aware of the shooting schedule in order to make the costumes available for the actors. This can include providing costumers with tools necessary to execute their tasks, planning and preparing costumes in accordance with the schedule, cleaning, teching, retrieving costumes, overseeing the continuity records and other related materials. While many of these duties may overlap depending on the availability and skill set of the team, the costumer is always responsible for what is seen worn on camera.

Depending on the contract between the production and the local union, there are minimum wage requirements based on these distinctions. This contract, and delineation of duties keep the crew worker fairly paid and employed and their job from being exploited. Costumers are typically hired by and report to the costume supervisor, but also take direction from the Costume Designer who leads the department and ultimately has the final say.

While the tasks of the costumer certainly vary, the demands of the production culture are a greater factor in how distinctions are made within the role of the aforementioned costumer.

As a costumer, he or she may work as a dayplayer, a costumes coordinator, background costumer, set costumer, personal costumer, truck costumer, or quick-change costumer. While costumers are typically hired for the length of the production, the dayplayer is hired per day or for a set of dates, to accommodate increases in labor in accordance with the shooting schedule. The increases are associated with more actors on set, usually background (think about scenes with large crowds).

As technology advances, costuming needs change and new work assignments are created or further focused and codified. I am sure we will continue to see even more titles created and jobs available under the rubric of “costumer.”

2.

Your Network is currency

Get to know people on set, in the department, in the office. Many people work in many different departments, so you never know who might refer you for your next job. Be cool with everyone, from accounting to the zookeepers, it is all in who you know. Your reputation precedes you.

3.

Learn your craft

The more you can do (with a smile), the more you are in demand. The costumer’s reach is not limited to the racks, holding, or the costume shop. Learn everything: how the production assistants perform the accounting tasks of shopping, how the designers prefer the costumes to be arranged, how the script supervisor keeps continuity, who the producers are, which films the director has directed before, and the rich and dynamic vocabulary of the set.

4.

Know Nurse Buttons, Dr. Safetypins and Topstick the surgeon

It is inevitable, clothes will rip, tear, break, and just about disintegrate before the camera and before your eyes. As a costumer, you must be able to quick fix all minor a major costume faux pas in record breaking time. Have pre-threaded needles handy, safety pins fashionably decorating your work vest; and topstick in every small pocket at all times. Even when props like watches, glasses, or backpacks break, production will often call “COSTUMES '' and you just need to be prepared.

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39

FILMMAKER A Q&A WITH

KATE E. HINSHAW BY: COLBIE FRAY

The use of celluloid film continues to

Hinshaw works with 16mm and super

decline each year. Over 90 % of major films

8mm film through bleaching, scratching,

have been shot on digital video, but there is

painting, and burning the emulsion in order

still a small percentage of filmmakers who

to tell stories through color and texture. She

still use film to tell their stories, oftentimes

is the founder of the publication, Analog

this is a stylistic choice. Currently, things

Cookbook, a biannual film journal and

are moving faster and technology continues

space for celluloid artists to be fearlessly

to improve. Kate E Hinshaw is a tactile

weird, artistic, and relentless in the pursuit

filmmaker and cinematographer who works

of visual storytelling. Oz sat down with

with digital and film cameras alike. Coming

Hinshaw to learn more about how her

from an experimental background, she is

filmmaking process and journey are going.

interested in using the cinematic gaze to render visible the interiority of the feminine.

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Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

ON THE RISE

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FILMMAKER ON THE RISE

42

Where are you from and how did you get into shooting on film?

Kate E. Hinshaw: I'm from right here in Atlanta, so this is my hometown and I actually grew up not too far from where the Kodak Film Lab Atlanta is now. Really did not stray very far at all, but I got into film I think back in 2011 or 2012. I purchased a super 8mm camera, a Braun Nizo, for $150 or something like that and in part it was because that was cheaper than buying a DSLR.

In some ways we talk about filming being so inaccessible, but in some ways it can be more accessible.

In my case, I just kind of picked up this camera and then was able to find other film cameras at yard sales around Atlanta that I could work with. I just was really interested in this idea of texture in filmmaking that I felt like digital didn't have.

When you're shooting with film, you just get this really beautiful, amazing kind of organic feeling with film that makes it feel more alive. I've kind of been chasing that ever since.

As far as tactile filmmaking, what are the particular textures that you use to put on the film and what is the process?

Hinshaw: The process looks like using whatever household things I can get my hands on, be that bleach or stickers or things from craft stores. I'm a big fan of raiding Michaels to just find whatever inks and paints I can apply to the film itself. It's a very physical process too.

I spend a lot of time scratching and kind of drawing these animations within the film itself.

I'd also say it's a process of letting go because you don't really know what it's going to look like.

Usually when I start a project, I'm not even sure what I'm trying to say.

I'm kind of just feeling ... I'm doing what feels good, adding what colors feel right and then deciding the meaning after the fact, or letting the form kind of dictate the content of it, if that makes sense.

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

How do you prepare a shot without the use of a monitor?

Hinshaw: If it's a narrative film I'm working on with film, I'm going to rent an ARRIFLEX SR3 from PC&E because that actually has the ability to have a monitor. You won't get the same histogram false colors.

You won't be able to really see the exposure for what it actually is, but at least allows a team to be able to look at the frame. Your production designer can come in and say, "That doesn't look right," or your boom operator can see where they're standing. That kind of becomes very important with narrative work.

With more experimental works, again, there's a little bit of that letting go. If it's just me shooting or just me and one other person, it's a little less scary in thinking about what's going to turn out. I use a light meter. I have a Sekonic light meter that I live and die by, and check three times before I actually roll film. The color is a big part that is determined by the film stock you're using. If you’re using 500T, that’s going to be tungsten balanced with an ASA of 500. That’s going to look very different than a 50D roll of Kodak Vision3.

To be completely honest, it's a process of challenging your own perfectionism and kind of letting go of a lot of that. If the color looks a little bit off, I'm usually not bothered by that. For things that, maybe if it's really off, you can correct it in digital if you need to.

For the most part, I would say it's thinking about the film stock that is going to give you the look of the film.

Hinshaw working

How do you choose to look for the actual film?

Hinshaw: I tend to favor a more naturalistic look. I really like shooting through windows when using heavy diffusion. I think that looks really lovely, especially with film and creating this kind of ethereal look. It also depends on the project because every project is different. I just shot a 16mm documentary and that was mostly just working with natural light because that's what we had. That was using Ektachrome, which is my go-to film stock. I love Ektachrome.

It's a very saturated and beautiful stock that, if you've ever opened up a National Geographic that's from the '80s or '70s, that's all kind of like the Ektachrome look. Even that 16mm film, I worked with a colorist on that and he asked me the same question, "What's the look of this piece?" I was like, “It's Ektachrome.

I want it to stay Ektachrome. I don't want to... ...lose that quality." He really worked with me to kind of just enhance that look a little bit, but I don't do heavy color on most projects.

How does the film get developed?

Walk us through that process.

Hinshaw: I like to develop a lot of film on my own. If I'm shooting Ektachrome, I'm going to process E6 which I actually have some cans of chemicals up ... It's a three-step process. It's very easy. I have my recipe that I share on my website and I've shared in my film publication that I use. That process is, mostly just for me, has been developing in my own bathroom.

I also have processed a lot of black and white film using Caffenol, which is a coffee-based film processor or film developer, rather. It's instant coffee, vitamin C and washing soda, or soda ash. Really easy process, non-toxic, which is great, and that's... ...what I do when it's my own projects that are a little bit more experimental.

In other cases, I've sent my work off to either Kodak Colorlab or Mono No Aware in New York. Out of those three labs, I think my favorite lab to work with is Mono No Aware because they're an artist-run organization in Brooklyn that does a great job, offers great prices and price becomes a huge factor.

March / April 2021

43

FILMMAKER ON THE RISE What kind of protection does the film require of you and the film itself?

Tell us about your Analog Cookbook.

44

Hinshaw: I'm usually wearing rubber gloves and a face mask.

Before the pandemic started, I had a 100 pack of the surgical masks just because you don't really want to breathe in particularly E6 Chemistry.

It's a pretty nasty chemical, so you don't really want to breathe it in.

Regarding the film itself, I find film much more resilient than I ever kind of think it is when I go into the project.

When processing film, you can use a spiral tank, like a LOMO tank that keeps the film from touching each other. Essentially, the tank allows the image to get processed because that's where you're going to get in trouble. If the film sticks to itself, it won't process. It can create double exposures. A spiral tank allows film to kind of be evenly spaced out throughout. That said, I don't have a spiral tank. I shove all my film like spaghetti into a 35mm tank. I get mistakes in my film when I process it myself. I get double exposures. Occasionally, I get parts where the emulsion is starting to come off and, more often than not, I get watermarks. If you're not using a LOMO tank, watermarks are unavoidable in some ways. But again, it's part of the process and part of just having fun with it. If it's film that I really care about and want it to be very clean, I'm going to send it off to the lab.

Hinshaw: Analog Cookbook is a zine that I started in 2019. It's specifically geared to celebrate and share analog filmmaking. It's got dark room recipes, projects people are working on, artists profiles, things like that.

I would say 16mm film, VHS 35mm, even some photography projects, 120 film and the idea kind of came about. It was actually inspired by a zine made by Helen Hill, who is a filmmaker who created this zine called Recipes for Disaster.

I'm a huge fan of Helen Hill.

She always kind of talked about accessibility in filmmaking and...

Oz Magazine - film. tv. entertainment.

...this idea that it's not about the big budget or the gear that you have. It's about the story behind the film. I really wanted to create a space to promote accessibility in filmmaking in a space that someone could pick up this book and get inspired, regardless if they've ever picked up a camera or not. I want people to feel that, if they want to shoot on a film, that they can and I want to be able to provide the tools to do that and share this community that I'm a part of with anyone and everyone who wants to be a part of it.

Is there anything film offers over digital?

Hinshaw: What film offers over digital is this kind of texture and organic feeling to it that digital doesn't have. I think it changes the process entirely in filmmaking. If you're shooting and you only have so much film, if you're shooting with actors, for example, you're going to need to rehearse with those actors many, many times before shooting. The process just becomes so different and I think that process is really fascinating.

It provides us a space of continual self-discovery. You don't know what's going to happen after you shoot. You've gotten your color temp or your light readings, but you don't really know until you see it.

It creates this way to interact with your work differently than you get with just shooting on an ARRI or RED camera and just plopping it into the computer. It allows the filmmaker to be present every step of the way. The way I work, I'm shooting and then I'm processing the film myself, and then I'm pasting the film. I'm there every step of the way and touching every frame of film. That process is the coolest feeling in the world.

WHAT FILM OFFERS OVER DIGITAL IS THIS KIND OF TEXTURE AND ORGANIC FEELING TO IT THAT DIGITAL DOESN'T HAVE. I THINK IT CHANGES THE PROCESS ENTIRELY IN FILMMAKING.” What are some of the struggles you face while shooting on film?

Hinshaw: I've had the camera jam on set and you just hear the camera make some blood curdling sound for a second. You're like, "oh, that's not good." I've definitely lost film. I worked as a camera assistant before I worked as a cinematographer and I have definitely, in the process of loading 16mm film, have dropped an entire roll on the floor while in the dark. Just shot it, we were changing out the film, the roll basically spiraled out and all the film went all over the place, like a jack-in-the-box.

Wow!

Tell us about what you’re working on now.

Hinshaw: That sounds terrible, but you'd be amazed. One, that roll came out. Two, I think any camera assistant who's ever loaded film has found themselves in that similar situation at some point, so that's terrifying when that happens.

Then, of course, not having the film turn out, particularly when I was just starting out and didn't quite know how to get proper exposure with my super 8mm...camera. I got a lot of black rolls back from the lab and that's disappointing when you're spending your college budget on this roll of film. I think at that point, you just kind of bleach it, you paint it, you do something else with it, right? You've already invested your money into this, so might as well just try and make it work.

Hinshaw: So I am in the process of promoting my film that just got into South by Southwest (SXSW 2021). It’s a 16mm documentary called Ten Leaves Dilated and it’s a documentary that uses the make believe world crafted by Cabbage Patch Kids to explore discourses surrounding childbirth in the south. It uses a lot of hand painted film, a lot of hand process film, stopmotion animation, and archival footage with the idea of talking frankly and openly about childbirth and the myths and folklore around childbirth and talking about Cabbage Patch Kids too [laughs].

Hinshaw on the set of Kudzu with the Arriflex SRIII in 2019

March / April 2021

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