Be My Black-Eyed Valentine
Oscars' Luncheon; All the March Deadlines; The Space Race for Black Pilots; Football Tell All; First Female Cinematography Emmy
Happy Thursday, friends.
Valentine’s Day may be over, but this year’s crop of star-crossed couples live to fight another day on screen. You’ve put your lovelorn characters and battle-scarred subjects through the paces this week…. and it’s made for some great film and TV.
Let’s dive in, if we dare.
Roll of Honor
Premieres, Awards, and More. Say hello to featured members on the app.
What to Watch: Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken
Be My Black-Eyed Valentine
Millennial Marriage: Mr. and Mrs. Smith. The dark, delightful remix of the 2005 film is a “marriage story disguised as a spy thriller” (Vox). Liz Niles, Executive Producer; Steph Zenee Perez, Editor; Rochelle Brown, Account Executive; Victoria Korty, Location Manager. Prime Video.
Grandma Super Team: Nǎi Nai and Wài Pó. “The most powerful sentiment [in Sean Wang’s Oscar-nominated short] comes from his grandmothers’ attitudes in the face of loss and pain” (NYT). Sean Wang, Director; Sam Davis, Cinematographer; Malcolm Pullinger, Producer; Giosuè Greco, Composer;. Disney+.
Love is a Battlefield: Bottoms. The “wild, gonzo” comedy about a female fight club is finally streaming (Variety). Joshwa Walton, Visual Effects. Prime Video.
Rom Com Round Up: They Found Love in a Hopeless…
… Hamptons Consignment Shop. Love… Reconsidered. David Carroll, Cinematographer; Megan Masur, Camera. Amazon/Apple.
… Cancer Crochet Support Group. Irreplaceable You. Don’t miss Whitney Anne Adams’ post on her costume design! Autumn Moran, Camera. Netflix.
… Exes’ Ceremony. My Valentine Wedding. Hana Mitchell, Editor. BET+.
… Brick Bouquet. Valentine Lego Ad starring The Bachelorette’s Tyler Cameron. Miguel Drake-McLaughlin, DP.
Breaking Barriers: Celebrating Black History Month
The Space Race. The new doc “chronicles the parallel timelines of space exploration and the many fits and starts Black astronauts faced on the way” (RogerEbert.com). Jongnic Bontemps, Composer; Inaya Graciana Yusuf, Additional Editor. Hulu/Disney+.
Quilted Stories with Ms. Karen. Produced with PBS as an extension of Reel South: Quilted Education, the miniseries delivers “bite-sized Black history” all month long. Kayla Robinson, Writer, Director, Producer, Editor.
Our Table. Don’t miss the moving Black History spot for MTV. Tari Wariebi, Director; Veronica Bouza, DP; Jordan Tyner, Producer; Chris Licud, 2nd AD.
It Ain’t Over ‘til Tom Brady Says So: February is (Still) for Football
The End of an Era: The Dynasty. “The documentary is gripping and a worthwhile watch, one that reveals how bad things had gotten with the Patriots before Brady’s departure” (The Athletic). Matt Porwoll, Wolfgang Held, Cinematographers; Tristan Baylis, Supervising Sound Editor. Apple TV+.
Super Bowl Commercials: The Best and The Rest. Congrats to Portrait teams listed among the best of the best, including:
PETA Ad with Edie Falco. Julia Liu, DP; Phil Choe, Colorist.
Dunkin’ with Ben Affleck and JLO. Krissie Torgerson, Costume Design
And… we loved Sterling Hampton IV’s on-the-field photography with Will.I.Am! Check out his post on Portrait.
On the Awards Beat
Oscar’s Nominee Luncheon. Can you spot all the Portrait member in the group photo and the studio pics? Get a rundown on Portrait members and their Oscar-nominated films in the app (and say hi!).
Shorty Awards. “Be the Reason” won the Shorty for Impact in the Education Category. Congrats to Christine Ng, Cinematographer, and team.
Historic Emmy Win. Don’t miss cinematographer Natalie Kingston’s feature in British Cinematographer following her history-making cinematography win.
I hope this inspires many other women and non-binary cinematographers to keep grinding at their crafts and to know that this is possible… I hope this is one step closer to dropping the word ‘female’ in front of the ’cinematographer.’
Don’t forget to check our round up of winter and spring festivals and awards! Click “Attending” to connect with other filmmakers and industry attendees. Next up: Berlinale, Big Sky, BAFTAs, True/False, SXSW… and so many more.
Window of Opportunity
aka The Discover Tab 🔍
Check out the Discover Tab on Portrait for grants, programs, festivals, and jobs.
Coming soon
The Rule of Thirds: Session 1 on Crediting and Communication Across the Cinematic Journey is today at 11 AM PT | 2 PM ET. Join the DPA x DCA on zoom, nonmembers welcome. Register to join here.
Closing Soon: Programs + Grants
Have an opportunity to share? Post it on the app or fill out our form.
Jordan Peele’s company Monkeypaw teams up with Universal and TIFF on “No Drama,” a fellowship for six filmmakers to create their own short. (2/29 deadline)
Catapult Film Fund Development Grant begins accepting submissions March 11. Info here
Future of Film Is Female Grant (2/15 deadline)
Sony Future Filmmakers (2/15 deadline)
Princess Grace Awards (2/15 deadline)
Sundance Director Lab (2/16 deadline)
Woodstock Residency (2/16 nomination deadline)
Proof of Concept - Advancing Women Filmmakers (2/16 deadline)
New Voices Filmmaker Grant (2/22 deadline)
Visions Sud Est (2/23 deadline)
Telly Awards (2/23 deadline)
Film Independent Episodic Lab (2/26 deadline)
Long Story Short (3/1 deadline)
Wscripted Cannes Screenplay List (3/1 deadline + discount)
Chicken&Egg Research and Development Grant (3/4 deadline)
NBC TV Writers (3/7 deadline)
Sundance Episodic Lab (3/9 deadline)
The To Be Commissioned Initiative (3/15 deadline)
Michael Collier Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting (3/15 deadline)
MamaCash Resilience Fund (3/17 deadline)
Roy Dean Spring Grant (3/31 deadline + waivers)
Chicken&Egg Project: Hatched (4/1 deadline)
Commercial Directors Diversity Program (4/1 deadline)
SagIndie Film Music Connect (rolling deadline)
Elevate Collective (rolling deadline)
Ford Foundation JustFilms Grants (rolling deadline)
Awesome Foundation Grants (rolling deadline)
Perspective Fund (rolling deadline)
Jobs/Gigs Roundup
Have a job to share? Share it on the app or fill out our form.
Development Director, Lucasfilm.
Executive Director, Development, Sony Pictures.
Video Producer/Editor, Variety.
Photographer/Videographer - WFXT TV, Cox Media Group.
Freelance Photographer/Videographer, Justice Jena and Co. Branding Agency.
Senior Animator, Amazon, Amazon.
Sr. Creative Producer, Dallas Mavericks (NBA).
SR. CREATIVE DIGITAL PRODUCER - WANF, Gray Television.
Senior Executive Producer, Reporter Video, The New York Times.
Senior Photo & Video Producer, Lux, Ralph Lauren.
Photo/Video Editor, Brand Group Studios.
Physical Production Director, Blumhouse.
VP, Physical Production, FilmNation Entertainment.
Investigative Producer, Hearst Television.
Producer, NOUVEAU.
Weekend/Part Time Line Producer (ABC News), The Walt Disney Company.
End Credits: Portrait Post of the Week
Thomas speaks the truth — Jon Stewart’s return boosted ‘The Daily Show’ to 1.9 Million viewers, its biggest episode since 2018. Congrats Thomas and team!
Until next week, friends. See you on the app.
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