And the nominees are...
Critics' Choice Awards; Spamalot First Look, "a.k.a Mr. Chow" premieres; New Six-Month Distribution Intensive
Good Thursday to you, friends — and congratulations to the 86 Portrait members with films nominated for the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards.
In the middle of a difficult week in the world, it is a nice thing to look at the important, humanity-affirming work you’ve made this year.
Click on each of the films below to see the film teams and say hello — and learn more in our Critics Choice Special Feature.
American Symphony / Bad Press / Being Mary Tyler Moore / Between Earth & Sky / BS High / Every Body / Going to Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project / It Ain’t Over / Judy Blume Forever / Ladies First: A Story of Women in Hip-Hop / Little Richard: I Am Everything / Love to Love You, Donna Summer / Murdaugh Murders: A Southern Scandal / Orlando, My Political Biography / Pretty Baby: Brooke Shields / Secrets of the Elephants / Smoke Sauna Sisterhood / Stamped from the Beginning / Still: A Michael J. Fox Moxie / The 1619 Project / The Disappearance of Shere Hite / The Lady Bird Diaries / The Last Repair Shop / The Mission / The Thief Collector / Victim/Suspect
Now let’s dive into the other wonderful work you’ve put into the world this week.
Roll of Honor
Premieres, Press, Awards, and Standout Member Work This Week
Watch, Read, Listen: Visual Feasts
Watch: a.k.a. Mr. Chow. Check out the new documentary about the larger-than-life restauranteur and artist — including his path to global restaurant empire and the secrets of his past: “All kinds of unspeakable tragedies, I've kept buried inside me” (THR). Diane Quon, Producer; Tammy Chu, Archival Producer/Co-Producer; Alice Gu, Director of Photography; Rohan McDonald, Animator. HBO.
Read: Spamalot First Look. Costume designer Jen Caprio’s work dazzles in the Broadway musical’s first look in Vanity Fair. The show opens November 16th.
Listen: On Being Podcast. Check out On Being’s latest season — on the show’s Youtube channel, where you can see Elyse Kelly’s beautiful complementary animation for the show.
Behind The Scenes: New Companies, Old Films
Companies Launched: The Oscar-Winning Duo Behind ‘Two Distant Strangers’ Launch “Unreasnble” New Company. Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe are forming a new “full-service media and incubator company.”
1990s Films Revisited: Read Filmhound’s wide-ranging interview with Sav Rodgers, Matthew C. Mills and Lela Meadow-Conner on their film Chasing Chasing Amy — and Sav’s lifelong obsession with the 1997 film. Want more from this crew? Listen to Matthew revisit the 1998 film Out of Site on the podcast Back By Popular Demand.
Window of Opportunity
Weekly Jobs, Grants, Programs, Workshops, Labs, and More
Coming Soon
Upcoming Events and Intensives
Six-Month Distribution Intensive: A weekly, immersive program led by distribution innovator Jon Reiss. In an intimate cohort of up to ten film teams, filmmakers will learn how to create the best path to release and market their film. Portrait members get $300 off. Mention “Portrait member” in ‘how you heard about the intensive’.
Color Collaboration from Inspiration to Post. A conversation between production designers, cinematographers, and colorist at Arri Rental in New York on October 26th.
Upcoming Theatrical Runs
Subject: LA + NY. Watch Subject during its Oscar qualifying theatrical run November 3rd-9th. Camilla Hall, Producer; Ahmed Hassan, Co-Producer.
Reality Winner: NYC, LA, Oakland, DC. More info on screening dates here. Ines Hofmann Kanna, Producer; Aisha Hallgren, Sound Recordist; E.J. Enriquez, Additional Cinematography.
Closing Soon: Programs + Grants
Hillman Grad Rising Voices (10/22 deadline)
Frameline Completion Fund (10/27 deadline)
CAAM Documentary Fund (10/29 deadline)
Athena Writers Lab (10/30 deadline)
Pillars Artist Fellowship (10/31)
The Athena List (10/31 extended deadline)
Roy W. Dean Fall Grant (10/31 deadline)
IDA Direct Access Fund (10/31 deadline)
NYC Women’s Fund (11/1 deadline)
South Arts: Emerging Traditional Artists Program (11/1 deadline)
Stowe Story Labs (11/1 deadline)
From Script to Preproduction Lab (11/10 deadline)
The Miller/Packan Film Fund (11/15 deadline)
NRDC Climate Storytelling Fellowship (11/27 deadline)
Big Sky Pitch (11/30 deadline)
NYFA Artist Fellowship (12/13 deadline)
SagIndie Film Music Connect (rolling deadline)
Elevate Collective (rolling deadline)
Ford Foundation JustFilms Grants (rolling deadline)
Awesome Foundation Grants (rolling deadline)
Jobs/Gigs Roundup
So Yun Um is in search of a Korean-speaking documentary DP. DM her on the app for more info.
Director of Non-Fiction Development, APG Pictures.
Senior Videographer, TopView Group.
Video Producer/Editor (Part-Time Contract Position), SparkCognition.
Sr Video Editor - T-Studios, T-Mobile.
Senior Video Editor, Horizontal Talent.
Seasonal Video Editor, Social Lab, National Football League (NFL).
Producer, Forbes.
Production Manager, Manhattan Neighborhood Network.
Editor / Photographer NBC Miami, NBCUniversal.
Coordinating Producer, The Walt Disney Company.
Supervising Producer – WEST COAST, TeamPeople.
Video Producer, Peak Design.
Rapid Response Creative Producer/Senior Rapid Response Creative Producer, Digital Advocacy, Center for American Progress.
Associate Director, Academy Film Archive, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
Hard Camera, Sports (Temporary), Warner Bros. Discovery.
End Credits: Portrait Post of the Week
We loved this exchange in the comments between Dustin and Cecilia on the creative process.
Until next week, friends. See you on Portrait.