Industry & Labor

Filmmakers all use the same tools, more or less, but do so with endlessly varied methods, says cinematographer Roger Deakins. That idea drove the master cinematographer, who won Academy Awards for Denis Villeneuve’s “Bladerunner 2049” and Sam Mendes’ “1917,” to launch with his wife James Deakins the buzzy behind-the-scenes podcast Team Deakins, a streaming chat show that has now hosted more than 60 film artists of all stripes.

COVID-19 forever changed many aspects of our lives this past year, and our collective media and entertainment choices certainly were no exception. The global pandemic fueled a massive industry divide where in-home entertainment choices thrived, while many out-of-home entertainment players, quite literally, died.

The decision to release Warner Bros.’ 2021 films simultaneously on HBO Max and in theaters has angered many filmmakers, financiers, agents and theater owners, and deepened a partisan divide between old-school Hollywood types and tech futurists who believe the exhibition business is due for epic disruption.

Join Local 600/ICG Magazine for our latest "Deep Dive" virtual panel with the creatives behind Disney+'s The Mandalorian.

As COVID-19 hospitalizations surge in Los Angeles, a group representing commercial producers nationwide has agreed to adopt COVID-19 testing for workers on sets.

One of 15 founding Society members, and a key organizer, Phil Rosen served as the ASC’s first president starting in 1919, but almost immediately shifted from the camera to the megaphone. Yes, cinematographers transitioning into directing is nothing new.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — MTV Entertainment Group says it's making a $250 million commitment to spur reality production over the next three years by companies owned and operated by women and people of color.

Cinematographer Shabier Kirchner shot all five films in the “Small Axe” anthology, working alongside director Steve McQueen. “Lovers Rock,” now streaming on Amazon, is the second film in the anthology and focuses on reggae music sub-genre of the same name which was frequently heard at house parties among the Black community. The house parties were a celebration of love and Black culture.

Much praise has been lavished upon the swoon-worthy mod-style costumes and graceful production design of the Netflix miniseries The Queen’s Gambit. But its cinematography was no less instrumental in fashioning the sophisticated feel of the show, which navigates the 1950s and ’60s as the story’s fictional heroine Elizabeth Harmon (Anya Taylor-Joy) — a brilliant yet self-destructive chess prodigy raised in an orphanage — rises to international fame.

Despite COVID pushing back the release of “Dune,” “The French Dispatch, “No Time to Die,” and “West Side Story,” it’s still a very competitive cinematography Oscar race this season, led by “Tenet,” Christopher Nolan’s time inversion spy thriller, with Oscar-nominated Hoyte van Hoytema (“Dunkirk”) leaning more heavily on the large-format IMAX camera; “Mank,” David Fincher’s dazzling deep dive into the tumultuous scripting of “Citizen Kane” by co-writer Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman), shot in black-and-white by Emmy-nominated Erik Messerschmidt (“Mindhunter”); and “The Trial of the Chicago 7,” Aaron Sorkin’s timely account of the 1969 Vietnam protest conspiracy trial, shot by Oscar-nominated Phedon Papamichael (“Nebraska”) in both large-format and documentary styles.

In light of an unprecedented rapid rise in COVID-19 cases across California, Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced a limited stay-at-home order. The order requires “generally that non-essential work, movement and gatherings stop between 10 PM and 5 AM in counties in the purple tier.” That means basically every county in Southern California and 94% of the state’s population.

The  IATSE Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has elected its co-chairs, Kimberly Butler-Gilkeson, trustee of Local 764 (theatrical wardrobe); and Liz Pecos, president of  Local 48 (stage and picture operators).