The SXSW Countdown Begins
Latest Sundance Acquisition Deal; Cinematographers Talk Shop; Long-Awaited Trailer Drops
Happy Thursday, friends.
SXSW is two weeks away! We can’t wait to celebrate at our Making Waves Party. RSVP, share with friends, and click attending SXSW in the Portrait app to connect with attendees — and receive personalized recs. Shout out to our co-host Futurific Studios and sponsors ARRI Rental and Lighthouse International Film Festival.
Until Austin: we’ve got behind-the-scenes exclusives and more great new work this week. Let’s dive in.
Roll of Honor
Premieres, Awards, and More. Say hello to featured members on the app.
New This Week: Cinematographers Talk Shop
As big films come out on VOD, read how the teams achieved the desired look and feel:
DP Bill Kirstein on fitting the emotion of each scene in Mean Girls:
We were shooting all on location and wanted the texture of the lived-in environment… we wanted to see how the characters were affected by the world around them.” (IGC Magazine)
DP Jamie Ramsay on how lighting amplified grief in All Of Us Strangers:
We’ve all felt loneliness in our lives… That isolation was a very cerebral feeling, very conscious… when [lead character Adam] goes back to his parents, that’s when the lighting starts to develop this ethereal sense, and the ghost of the past starts to affect his real life.”(Variety)
And coming up: The Borderlands trailer has finally dropped. Read about how the video game, known for its vivid colors and graphic novel style, is coming to the big screen (shout out to colorist Andrea Chlebak):
The production design and art direction alone are so close to the game. You can't believe they put this much love and attention into the details... They really meant it. (Collider)
Now Streaming: Docs on Breaking Barriers…
Breaking The News. Heading into an election year, now’s the time to watch the efforts of women and LGBTQ+ journalists to launch a new kind of newsroom. Chelsea Hernandez, Princess Hairston, Heather Courtney, Directors; Diane Quon, Sarah Wilson, Producers; Keith Maitland, Nico Opper, Executive Producers; Gil Talmi, Music; Carla Gutierrez, Jamie Boyle, Kristina Motwani, Editors; Anita Hei-Man Yu, Post-Production Supervisor. PBS Independent Lens.
Fly With Me. Watch the chronicle of how women fought back against sexism in the airline industry — and read NYT’s interview with a pioneer of the movement. Charnelle "Cha" Quallis, Editor. PBS.
And coming up: Transition. The film’s trailer premiered on Variety this week. Monica Villamizar, Jordan Bryon, Co-Directors; Juan Manuel Betancourt, Joedan Okun, BJ Levine, Executive Producers; Farzad Fetrat, Cinematographer.
… And Docs on Busting Sports Records
Nascar: Full Speed. Charlie Sato, Post-Production Supervisor. Netflix.
Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend. Curtis McConnell, Carlos David Rivera, Editors. Apple TV+.
And coming soon: Joe Sabia is set to co-direct a new documentary on Roger Federer’s retirement from Tennis for Amazon Studios.
On the Awards and Acquisitions Beat
Acquired: Sugarcane. NatGeo has struck a deal in the low seven figures, the latest big doc deal coming out of Sundance. Emily Kassie, Director; Kellen Quinn, Producer; Christopher Lamarca, DP; Elliott Whitton, Executive Producer.
Pay or Die. The film won the Cinema For Peace Dove Award on Global Health this week. Rachael Dyer, Scott Ruderman, Directors; Yael Melamede, Producer; Toby Shimin, Will Rogers, Editors; Jenise Morgan, Story Producer.
On the Tony Run: What to Know About This Crazily Crowded Broadway Spring Season. Shout out to great coverage for The Wiz (Cedric Leiba, Jr., Producer). Also: read about the 60 Artisans Who Helped Make the Costumes for Spamalot (Jen Caprio, Costume Design).
And congrats to Sterling Hampton IV, Director of Sundance short Merman, signed by Sugar23 this week!
Window of Opportunity
aka The Discover Tab 🔍
Check out the Discover Tab on Portrait for grants, programs, festivals, and jobs.
Closing Soon: Programs + Grants
Have an opportunity to share? Post it on the app or fill out our form.
New Voices Filmmaker Grant (2/22 deadline)
Visions Sud Est (2/23 deadline)
Telly Awards (2/23 deadline)
The Gotham Owning It Pitch Deck Accountability Challenge (2/24 deadline)
Film Independent Episodic Lab (2/26 deadline)
WBD Canadian Directors Program (2/26 deadline)
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)
Long Story Short (3/1 deadline)
Native American TV Writers Lab (3/1 deadline)
Wscripted Cannes Screenplay List (3/1 deadline + discount)
Chicken&Egg Research and Development Grant (3/4 deadline)
Edinburgh Pitch (3/4 deadline)
NBC TV Writers (3/7 deadline)
Squeaky Wheel Residency (3/8 deadline)
Sundance Episodic Lab (3/9 deadline)
Film Independent Episodic Lab (3/11 deadline)
The To Be Commissioned Initiative (3/15 deadline)
Michael Collier Memorial Fellowship in Screenwriting (3/15 deadline)
Claims Conference (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)
SFFILM Rainin Grant (5/3 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.
Vice President Programming, Audacy, Inc.
Group Editor, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Vice President of Programming and Development, Fox TV Stations.
Managing Producer, ESPN.
VP - People & Organizations, AMC Networks Inc.
People & Culture Partner, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Content Creator - WFOX TV, Cox Media Group.
Photographer/Editor (Part-Time) - WHIO TV, Cox Media Group.
Senior Animation R&D Programmer: GPU, Rockstar Games.
Director, Cinematographer, Editor, Burn the Boats Productions.
Director of Broadcast, Samford University.
Director of Broadcast Operations, National Women's Soccer League.
VIDEOGRAPHER/ EDITOR - WOIO/WUAB, Gray Television.
Content Producer, Tesla.
Digital Media Producer - NBC/Telemundo San Diego, NBCUniversal.
Vice President, Video, BerlinRosen.
Creative Executive, Boutique Production Company.
VIDEO SHOOTER AND EDITOR, Sportfive.
Post Editor, ESPN.
Editor - Long Form, Carolina Panthers.
Video Content Producer, Digital Music Alliance.
End Credits: Portrait Post of the Week
Until next week, friends. See you on the app.
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