Georgia Hollywood Review Fall 2021

Georgia Hollywood Review Fall 2021

Watch our exciting interviews with the stars at Georgia Hollywood Review TV on Roku or Amazon Fire or the Thea App.

Melanie Zanetti Gets Romantic in Georgia.

LETTER FROM THE PUBLISHER

Publisher/Founder/Editor-In-Chief: Miles K. Neiman

Managing Editor: Jennifer Thompson

Girls on Film

Proofreader: Sloane Neiman

captivating and compelling ways to tell a story in the universe as we know it. The Georgia Hollywood Review magazine and TV is dedicated to this storytelling. In the pages that follow, and on our TV channel, you will find the stories of the people, places, and things who are telling these stories through the classic and revered art of moving pictures. Whether it’s in Georgia; Hollywood, California; or around the world, we will profile and honor the artists and working men and women who spend their days and nights telling these stories. Beginning in first quarter of 2022, we will be launch- ing our magazine in Los Angeles, California as well. Our goal is to bridge a direct connection, intellectually, and spiritually, between Georgia and Hollywood. A connec- tion of respect, honor, and collaboration. Not only with Georgia being seen as a great incentive for locations, but also celebrating Georgia’s talent pool of artists and hard- working men and women, as well as celebrating Georgia’s unique ability and perspective to tell stories by and about people of color, diversity, and the LGBTQIA space. We welcome you to enjoy and experience our journey. This is just the beginning.

Got your attention? Girls on Film is the third single by Duran Duran, re- leased on July 13th, 1981. The original writer of the song, Andy Wickett, first titled the song Girls in Film . It was an homage to the captivating power of women in cinema. From day one, wom- en have been captivating us in film, including most re- cently Scarlett Johansson’s role as Black Widow, or Jennifer Hudson as iconic

Magazine Designer: Brenda J. Oliver

Advertising Design: Sharon Jollay

Photography: Richie Arpino Dee Flores Mia McCorkle Aaron Romano

Distribution: TGS Media

Aretha Franklin in director Liesl Tommy’s Respect . The list of great and iconic female actors would fill up this entire magazine on its own. Film and cinema have garnered our attention since the first moving pictures were recorded by the Oberammergau Passion Play of 1898. Since then, the art of telling stories through film has continued to be one of, if not the, most

Advertising Sales: [email protected]

Sales Support: Brenda Page Miles Neiman

Georgia Hollywood Review TV Hosts: Angelo Diaz Andry Palacio Jai Santiago

Miles Neiman

Videographer: Jason Jones MONUMENTALmedia Contributing Writers: Carol Badaracco Padgett Connor Judson Garrett Echo Montgomery Garrett Tracey Hawkins Julie Herron Carson Jessica Holthaus Badour Ellen Howle

about the cover

The Georgia Hollywood Review is published every other month by Georgia Hollywood Review, LLC. Reproductions in whole or in part, without expressed written permission of the publisher, are strictly prohibited. The Georgia Hollywood Review is not responsible for the content or claims of any advertising or editorial in this publication. All information is believed to be accurate but is not warranted. Copyright 2021. Send inquiries to 227 Sandy Springs Place, Suite D-288, Sandy Springs, GA 30328. For more information, contact admin@georgia hollywoodreview.com.

Pictured: Actress Melanie Zanetti

Photography: Lauren Orrell

Jerome Jackson Denise K. James

Jessa Jansen Chris LeDoux Autumn Murray Michael J. Pallerino Mary Welch

Visit our webpage: www.GeorgiaHollywoodReview.com

Social Media: FB @gaholllywoodreview IG @georgiahollywoodreview

4 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21

CONTENTS

36

8 documentary Fraser Jones: Where the Butterflies Go 10 education Roybal School of Film and Television Production 11 esports GSU’s Creative Media Industries Institute 12 lgbtqia+ Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Atlanta’s LGBTQIA+ Film Festival 14 new horizons ET ’s Nischelle Turner 16 local talent & projects Nine Days 18 music The Machine Group 19 technology TRICK 3D Studios 20 director Bobby Huntley Films LLC 22 vibes Angelo Diaz is Cuba Gawd 23 music legends Gregg Allman 24 culture & diversity Writer Hieu Gray 25 legal in film Scarlett Johansson v. Disney 26 local industry events Thursday Night Live 28 events 42West Entertainment Group 30 business of modeling SALT Agency 32 sound Pitch Hammer Music 34 a-listers filming in atlanta Melanie Zanetti 36 new releases Luca

18

24

23

19

8

T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21 | 5

CONTRIBUTORS

Carol Badaracco Padgett

Tracey M. Hawkins has been a contributing editor and writer for various print publications,

Connor Judson Garrett

Echo Montgomery Garrett has written for more than 100 media outlets, including Delta Sky, Parade,

is an Atlanta-based writer and copywrit- er. Over the past 30 years she has written

was the 2017 Edward Readicker-Henderson Travel Classics Award recipient, honed his

Photo by Kevin Garrett

such as The Thirty-A Review, American Contemporary Art, and Frontier Airlines magazines; as well as award-winning websites, galleries and novelists. She has served as a collegiate Professor of Art History, as well as a collections consultant, curator, and artists’ representative. traceymhawkins.com and skrybes.com

for the Atlanta Business Chronicle , Oz Magazine, National Real Estate Inves- tor, Waste Age, Retail Traffic, and other B2B and B2C publications. She also worked as a copywriter crafting copy for Revlon, Georgia-Pacific, Stainmaster, and Publix. She loves to meet people, find their spark, and share their stories. Reach her at [email protected] .

craft as an advertising copywriter in Los Angeles. He is the author of two poetry books, Become The Fool and Life in Lyrics; a novel, Falling Up in The City of Angels; and a co-authored mind-body self-help book, The Longevity Game. His writing has appeared in Private Clubs Magazine, South Magazine, and Hook & Barrel.

ABC.com, AARP, The Atlanta Journal- Constitution, and Business Week . She’s the author of 20 books, including multi-award winning My Orange Duf- fel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change. Up next: a book called Unsung about growing up around Nashville’s Music Row with parents in the industry.

Julie Herron Carson ,

Jessica Holthaus Badour From veteran com- munications specialist to preeminent food safety professional,

Denise K. James

Jessa Jansen is the founder of J Squared Ven- tures and a regular contributor at The Boom Bap

is an independent writer and editor based in Atlanta with clients across the Southeast. When she isn’t working, you can find her exploring the city or dancing around her apartment —or on another road trip.

an Atlanta native, has over 30 years of public relations and feature writ-

Hour Podcast Blog, Sociomix, The Borgen Project and more. Connect about writing projects on Medium @jessajansen.

ing expertise. Her specialties in- clude media relations, newsletters, website writing, and cause-related marketing, as well as feature writing for The Thirty-A Review magazine and Atlanta ShowGuide . Julie is a graduate of the University of Geor- gia and lives in northeast Atlanta with her husband and teenage son.

Jessica Holthaus Badour has built a successful and diversified career de- veloping compelling means of sharing information while engaging the public on essential issues. She is currently working full-time for the Georgia Department of Agriculture while freelancing in her spare time. www. linkedin.com/in/jessicaholthausbadour

Autumn Murray has written for various print and online publications includ-

Michael J. Pallerino is an award- winning writer who has written for a number of national B2C and

Mary Welch is a veteran writer and editor who has worked for a number of publi- cations, including the Atlanta Busi- ness Chronicle,

Chris LeDoux Alaskan born and bred, Chris earned degrees in both psychology and sociology, but his fascination with cinema and filmmak- ing instead led him

ing The Plunge, Divine Lifestyle,

and Simply Amazing Living . Authority Magazine and Thrive Global declared her a “Social Media Impact Hero” for her “Choose Love” campaign to pro- mote acceptance and diversity. She is working on a book about her life and overcoming abuse while inspiring oth- ers to Choose Love in all situations. [email protected]

B2B publications. When he is not lost in his writing, music and binge watching, Michael can be reached at [email protected].

to the world of visual effects. Chris’s impressive résumé includes composit- ing and VFX supervision on numerous films and TV shows, including 12 Years A Slave , Doctor Strange , The Greatest Showman , and Better Call Saul . Chris has also directed major music videos and led visual effects teams. craftyapes.com

Travelgirl Magazine, Atlanta Woman, Business to Business, Car Business Today and biography.com . In her spare time she enjoys travel- ing with her son, Grady, and tries to fix up her 100-year-old home in Virginia-Highland. www.marywelchwriter.com

6 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21

DOCUMENTARY

There’s Something About Fraser By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t

“ I’m still experimenting with my own style, but I plan to keep showing people how weird and wonderful the world can be, hopefully through my own unique point of view. ”

F ilmmaker Fraser Jones is not normal. Which is good, because he’s excellent at seeing things in a fresh, somewhat beautifully twisted light. “I think the only reason I’ve gotten into any film festivals is because I’m making something that programmers and audiences haven’t really seen before,” states the creator of offbeat, yet stunningly singular documentaries. “My films don’t have big budgets or big names involved, but there’s always an experiment at the core of any project. Some people like those experiments and want to encourage them, while others have walked out of the theater.” At the same time, wistfully and judiciously, he adds, “My films won’t be enjoyed by everyone, but I don’t think I truly love any films that are unanimously praised and don’t take big risks.” Jones’s most recent documentary, Where the But- terflies Go , is currently in post-production, and then he plans to premiere it on the 2022 festival circuit. He first conceived of the project in December 2016. “I had recently graduated from college (studying film at NYU) and my mom gave me the graduation gift of a meditation retreat in Big Sur, California,” he states. While there, he noticed a tree covered in thousands of monarch butterflies. “I spent the afternoon just staring at this spectacle, and soon began researching monarchs, their lengthy migration, and the threats to their survival.” And then Jones had an epiphany. “It dawned on me that no one had succeeded in spreading the primary action people can do to help the endangered monarch, which is planting the monarch’s host plant called milkweed.” Without milkweed, there would be no monarch butterflies because their larvae feed exclusively on the plant. “The ultimate goal for the film is to save the monarch butterfly from extinction, of course, but I’d be thrilled just to convince a few hundred audience members to plant milkweed and do their part to help pollinators,” he says.

Baron Cohen attended, that I really started incorporating comedy and absurdity into the documentaries I was making,” he explains. “I never set out to be in my own films, but I’ve continuously come up with characters that usually resemble an exaggerated or goofier ver- sion of myself,” says the Atlanta native. Instead of looking for someone else to play these char- acters for free, essentially, he has done it himself and learned from the process. Today, at home in Atlanta, Jones appreciates the fact that films can be made much more affordably than in LA or New York, and that the city provides a wealth of interesting locations practically in his backyard. But there’s something else he truly values about Atlanta. “People making films here make a conscious decision to live here and enjoy the quality of life that comes with it,” he notes. “So, there’s a sense that we’re all lifting each other up and collectively trying to make Atlanta more of a hub for independent film. “There’s a lot of talented people and friends here that I love working with. There’s also a lot of big beautiful trees to look at.” Moving forward, Jones will continue his creative process, bouncing ideas off his partner and close friends who give advice but respect that the filmmaker’s projects ultimately blossom in his own mind. “I’m still experimenting with my own style,” he closes, “but I plan to keep showing people how weird and wonderful the world can be, hopefully through my own unique point of view.”

Fraser Jones

Offhandedly Jones adds, “Aside from saving some monarchs, I also just want to make people laugh.” Making people laugh, as it turns out, is another talent in the filmmaker’s arsenal, one he cultivated early on. “As a kid, I was always making little comedy videos using my mom’s VHS camera… and making my friends laugh.” This joy led Jones into all kinds of storytelling— theater, speech and debate, and spoken word poetry. Of all the kinds of storytelling that Jones engaged in, his favorite proved to be the documentary, mingled with a touch of the absurd. While Jones had learned the technical basics of film- making in film school, it was in another school that he learned to develop his sense of comedy and timing. “It wasn’t until I studied clowning at Ecolé Phillip Gaulier, a theater school in France that my hero Sacha

www.fraserjones.tv/butterf lies | @fraserjones.tv

8 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21

EDUCATION

More Powerful Than Celebrity George Clooney and LA School Superintendent Austin Beutner are creating a powerful new model for education—and they’re using the film industry to do it By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t

E ighty percent of the students we serve live in poverty,” Austin Beutner states. He recently stepped down after a three-year term as super- intendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) in Los Angeles, California. It’s an immense district that serves 26 cities with about 650,000 students across the LA area. “Imagine if all the school districts in Atlanta were one,” Beutner says, “and you’d becloser to what LAUSD is—the second largest in the nation by student and the largest by area.” To serve these students could easily feel like an insurmountable feat. But to George Clooney, who ap- proached Beutner with a new magnet school concept in spring 2021, it looked like a mountain of opportunity. So together, they’re crafting a vision for a new school to be launched fall 2022 in LA: the Roybal School of Film and Television Production for grades 9-12. “Most students in our schools don’t live next door to a cinematographer, songwriter, or makeup artist,” Beutner says. So while they live in the center of the film industry, they do not see themselves as belonging there or having access to the countless jobs that support the industry. “Consider cinematography. Look through a lens and understand what the light is doing,” Beutner says. “It’s physics. It’s science. But physics and science by themselves can be hard to approach.” He continues, “Makeup artistry is chemistry. And there’s a great deal of math in music. Screenwriting and literacy, they go hand in hand.” Of the school that he, Clooney, and their partners are building, Beutner finds, “It’s a different approach in the classroom, and the school will provide internships to every single student.” Beutner acknowledges that the objectives for the Roybal school can easily be overshadowed by the celebrity of its backers. Alongside Clooney are Kerry Washington, Don Cheadle, Eva Longoria, Bryan Lourd, Mindy Ka- ling, and others, and it’s these names that have headlined much of the press on the project. Yet, it’s the opportunity for students in underserved communities in LA—and in Atlanta and across the country, if Clooney and Beutner have their way—that’s the real breaking news. Beutner knows firsthand the impact that a different approach can bring to kids at schools. Five years ago with the help of the Atlanta Hawks and other partners, he brought an initiative to public school students called Vision To Learn.

“

Director Austin Beutner working with children in Los Angeles. Plans to bring this program to Georgia are underway.

“One in four kids needs glasses, but most children in low-income communities don’t have them,” Beutner notes. “It’s an issue of access. Before Vision To Learn, maybe a vision screening was done at school and a note went home with the child saying they needed to see an eye doctor. And nothing happened.” With Vision To Learn, local eye care professionals go into schools and conduct eye screenings. If a child doesn’t pass, they’re provided with an eye exam. Then if they need glasses, they get to pick out a pair on the spot. All free of charge to the child and their family. “They’re doing it as a group, so the cool kids are those getting their glasses with the Hawks,” Beutner says. And perhaps even more important: “The kid who gets glasses immediately does better in school. Their self-esteem is better. The child who lacks the glasses they need is misdiagnosed as a behavior problem, mislabeled as a poor learner, and eventually drops out. This simple intervention can have profound consequences.” Beutner brings this thinking full circle, back to the Roybal school’s new model for teaching high school students math, chemistry, physics, and geometry through real-world application and internships centered around the film and television industry. “It’san interesting parallel that seeing a problem clearly is the first step to solving the problem,” he muses. Clooney’s thinking on the matter: “Our aim is to better reflect the diversity of our country. That means starting early. It means creating high school programs

that teach young people about cameras and editing and visual effects and sound, and all the career opportunities that this industry has to offer. It means internships that lead to well-paying careers. It means understanding that we’re all in this together.” career opportunities that this industry has to offer. Our aim is to better ref lect the diversity of our country. [...] It means creating high school programs that teach young people about cameras and editing and visual effects and sound, and all the

@austinlaschools

10 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21

ESPORTS

Introducing Georgia State University’s Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) By Tr ac ey M. Hawk i ns

B

rennen Dicker, Executive Director of GSU’s new Creative Media Industries Institute (CMII) gave us some exciting insight into their fascinating new program. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE OUR READERS TO KNOW ABOUT YOUR

NEW PROGRAM?

We officially opened our doors at CMII in 2017 with approximately 400 students. Com- ing into the fall of 2021, we are looking at serv- ing close to 1000 students! In that short time, CMII students have gained hands-on training with various pipelines in emerging technology, in- cluding tools used for gaming, animation, motion capture, 3D rendering, and virtual and augmented reality. All of these tools help teach the next gen- eration of digital storytellers and prepare them for various entertainment industry careers. We are very excited to offer two distinct under- graduate degrees. Our B.A. in Game Design trains interested students to integrate game arts with re- lated advanced technology software platforms in which videogames are conceptualized, designed, and created. Our B.S. in Game Development trains stu- dents for coding, programming, and software-inten- sive game development careers. The program is for students aspiring to gain the background and technical skill necessary for a career in game development or sci- ence, technology, engineering, and mathematics-related areas in computational media, and connects students to the region’s game design companies and the (regional) industrial ecosystem for games development. WHAT WAS THE MOTIVATING FORCE BEHIND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE PROGRAMS? The gaming sector is growing in Georgia. By some estimates, game development and design has a $3 billion economic impact in Georgia. We also see many gaming companies either growing locally (such as Hi-Rez Studios) or relocating to Georgia, creating a demand for workers. It’s a very exciting time for us to be preparing students for a workforce that is growing so quickly each year. HOW “HANDS-ON” IS THE PROGRAM? WHAT SKILLS MIGHT STUDENTS IN THE PROGRAM EXPECT TO GAIN? As Prof. Max Thomas says: “Students can be as hands on as they want to be. We have many ways to get involved. They typically just have to choose to do so.”

Photo by ER Photography Brennen Dicker

Varsity Esports Team. CMII is partnered with the Georgia Film Academy (GFA) and collaborates with GFA on related certifications in esports management for students who want to work in that and associated sectors. We look forward to exploring more course offerings in the future. FOR STUDENTS INTERESTED IN ESPORTS, HOW MIGHT THEY CONNECT TO TOURNAMENT COM-

Photos courtesy of GSU

PETITIONS, THE ESPORTS TEAM, OR OTHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES IN THE GAMING INDUSTRY? At GSU,we have our PantherLAN tournament that goes on in the spring and fall of every academic year. The tournament features game play in Smite , Overwatch , League of Legends , Hearthstone , Super Smash Bros. Ultimate , Tekken 7 , and Dragon Ball Fighter Z . Matches are live-streamed through our GSU Esports Twitch Channels. The tournament was online this year and saw an excellent turnout: PantherLAN had 140 competitors (from all over the country), 45 winners, and more than 2000 viewers on Twitch. We’ve also had sponsors provide over 4k+ worth of prizes.

I think ‘hands-on’ depends on the type of program. The Game Dev. program is hands-on because students learn to build small, tangible products in our courses. For example, every student in Prof. Ying Zhu’s course needs to develop 5 to 6 mini-games (or computer programs) in a semester. These projects can be added directly to their portfolios. We have a good mixture of theory and practice, but the focus is on practice. The skills students gain are through the pipeline we teach, which include storytelling, presentation and pitch, game engine techniques, 3D modeling, animation, visual effects, experimental technology, and a wide range of options to specialize in specific skills and tools. In addition to course work, every student who goes through CMII has an opportunity for an internship by their senior year. It is encouraged and we hope to place them all in their respective fields. DO THESE DEGREE PROGRAMS TIE INTO YOUR ALREADY- ESTABLISHED GSU GAMING TEAM? Since we have degrees in gaming, we think it’s great to have the GSU Esports Team practice in our facility; however, our degree programs are not tied to the GSU

Students can go to this site for more information on our Varsity Team and PantherLAN: cmii.gsu.edu/students/esports/

For students who want to get involved, there are plenty of resources, including Georgia Game Developers Association (GGDA), which holds a number of events throughout the year as well as hosting the Southeasts Premiere Interactive Entertainment and Gaming Expo (SIEGE): ggda.org

T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21 | 11

LGBTQIA

Everybody’s Talking About Jamie Movie on Amazon Prime By Autumn Mur r ay

truly find his authentic self. We are so thrilled to share this joyful and inspirational story with the world.” The movie from New Regency, Film4, and Warp Films brings together the stage show’s original creators in their feature-film debuts, with Jonathan Butterell as director, screenplay and lyrics by Tom MacRae, and songs by Dan Gillespie Sells. RuPaul’s Drag Race superstar, author, comedian, and actress Bianca Del Rio has a cameo in the movie where in 2019 she made her debut on the London stage in the musical. “I am thrilled that our film—the story of taking your place in the world with joy, pride and acceptance—will be seen around the world with the Amazon Family. Let’s come together to celebrate the glorious and fabulous uniqueness of each and every one of us,” exclaims Butterell. Everybody’s Talking About Jamie movie features hit songs, including And You Don’t Even Know It , The Wall In My Head , and Everybody’s Talking About Jamie , as well as an exclusive new song This Was Me , performed by Holly Johnson, lead singer of Frankie Goes to Hollywood. When asked about the diversity of the cast of the film and the importance of diversity and inclusion for him personally, Max Harwood replies, “That’s where I live. Diversity is my world: from my group of friends, the people I went to school with, and the community that I live in. It is second nature. I don’t think the diversity of the cast and crew was an intentional process, it was a natural one as we are a true reflection of the real world. From a queer perspective, it is important to me to tell queer stories that aren’t traumatic and aren’t just a funny side character. It was an honor to play the role of Jamie New and represent not only the LGBTQ+ community, but everyone who has ever felt marginalized for being or wanting to be their true self.” Amazon Studios has long prioritized telling inno- vative and inclusive stories from a diverse range of cre- ative talent, entertaining global audiences. They recently developed an Inclusion Policy and Inclusion Playbook which adds important, additional depth and guidance for their internal teams and external partners to ensure they continue to advance their shared mission of amplifying the best creatives and content around the world.

Courtesy of Amazon Studios

L ooking for a heartfelt movie about acceptance and inclusion with vibrant musical dance num- bers? On September 17, Everybody’s Talking About Jamie movie premiers on Amazon Prime Video starring the breakout discovery Max Har- wood as Jamie New, alongside Sarah Lancashire, Lauren Patel, Shobna Gulati, Ralph Ineson, Ad- eel Akhtar, Samuel Bottomley, Sharon Horgan, and Rich- ard E. Grant. The much-anticipated movie is an adaptation of London’s award-winning West End hit musical and is inspired by true events. The plot follows Jamie New (Harwood), a teenager from Sheffield, who dreams of life on stage. While his classmates plan their livelihoods after they leave school, Jamie contemplates revealing his secret career ambition to become a fierce and proud drag

queen. His best friend Pritti (Patel) and his loving mum (Lancashire) shower him with endless support, while local drag legend Miss Loco Chanelle (Grant) mentors him toward his debut stage performance. But Jamie also has to contend with an unsupportive father (Ineson), an uninspired school counselor (Horgan), and his peers at school who attempt to rain on his sensational parade. In vibrant and motivational musical numbers, Jamie and his community inspire one another to overcome prejudice, be more accepting, and to step out of the darkness into the spotlight. “ Everybody’s Talking About Jamie has quickly become one of the most beloved musicals of recent years,” says Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios. “Jamie’s story is one that resonates across all generations—it’s about unconditional love and we know our global audiences will fall in love with Jamie as he overcomes adversity to

Follow Everybody’s Talking About Jamie on social media Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the hashtag #JamieMovie.

12 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21

LGBTQIA

Atlanta’s LGBTQIA+ Film Festival, Out On Film, Blazes New Ground in 2021 By GHR St a f f

T he 34 th edition of Out on Film on Sept. 23– Oct. 3, 2021, in Atlanta, presented by Warner- Media and opening at Landmark’s Midtown Art Cinema (931 Monroe Drive NE), will showcase Oscar-qualifying entries and other groundbreaking titles. Out on Film kicks off with Peeter Rebane’s Firebird , in its Southeastern premiere, as the opening night selection and closes with Stacey Woelfel’s Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way , in its world premiere. And in between, a rich lineup of films has been chosen to engage a diverse audience. All in all, the selection of LGBTQIA+ films curated from around the world for this year’s festival include 43 features—25 of which are narrative films and 18 documentaries. In addition, this year’s event includes 17 shorts programs with 98 films total and two webseries, as well as a world premiere art installation. The Out on Film 2021 format is hybrid to accommodate as many viewers as possible, with both physical screenings and virtual programming. Of the inclusive approach and the current state of the pandemic around the world, Out on Film Festival Director Jim Farmer notes the positives: “As one of the film festivals that are still growing despite all of the challenges present, we are thrilled with this international lineup, including our world premieres and more films that we can’t wait to introduce our audiences to.” A sampling of centerpiece selections beyond Rebane’s and Woelfel’s must-sees include world premieres of T.J. Parsell’s documentary, Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music , Phil Connell’s Jump, Darling starring Chloris international lineup of films to present both in-theater as well as virtually. ” “ It’s wonderful to be back in theaters this year, and its equally wonderful knowing we have such an expansive,

Cloris Leachman and Thomas Duplessie of Phil Connell’s “Jump, Darling”

Tom Prior and Oleg Zagorodnii of Peeter Rebane’s “Firebird”

Photos courtesy of Jim Farmer

made its Atlanta Pride debut in 2019. In this iteration of the exhibit, Terrell uses the original panels of the project to create a soundproof pod where viewers can watch a short, first-person POV documentary about the project—through body-cam footage that gives viewers an experience of taking part in the counter-protest at Atlanta Pride in 2019. Another important first for this year’s Out on Film is the presentation of the 2021 Trailblazer Award to actor Amanda Bearse. Bearse’s career has spanned roles in All My Children , film Fright Night , and Married...With Children . Bearse, who grew up in Atlanta, came out at the prime of her acting career and served as an activist and frontrunner in the LGBT community. Today, Bearse works as a top TV director and appeared most recently in John Heder’s Topawingo , with shooting scheduled for Billy Eichner’s Bros , set to shoot this fall. Of the depth and breadth of this year’s festival, Farmer concludes, “It’s wonderful to be back in theaters this year, and its equally wonderful knowing we have such an expansive, international lineup of films to present both in-theater as well as virtually.” The closing night screening of Woelfel’s Keep the Cameras Rolling: The Pedro Zamora Way on Oct. 3 will take place at Out Front Theatre Company (999 Brady Ave. NW). For information on purchasing passes and tickets for Out on Film, as well as a full run-down of films debuted and concurrent events, visit 2021ooff.eventive.org/ welcome and outonfilm.org. A vaccination card will be required for all in-person screenings and events.

Ruthie Foster, Diunna Greenleaf, Matt Underwood of T.J. Parsell’s “Invisible: Gay Women in Southern Music”

Leachman, and Vivian Kleiman’s No Straight Lines: The Rise of Queer Comics documentary. Other world premieres at this year’s festival include Jan Miller Corran’s Along Came Wanda , Anthony Hickling’s Down in Paris , Jade Winters’ One Four Three , and Alessandro Guida and Matteo Pilati’s Mascarpone , in its U.S. premiere. Additional feature films slated for virtual viewing include Disruptor Conductor , A Distant Place , Emergence: Out of the Shadows , Euromerica , The Fandom , The Greenhouse , Iftah , Gemmel & Tim , The Novice , Port Authority , P.S. Burn This Letter Please , See You Then , A Sexplanation , The Sixth Reel , and Yes I Am–The Ric Weiland Story . Another category, Short Film Programs (In Person), includes sub-categories for Best of Women’s Shorts, Best of Men’s Shorts, Local Shorts, Horror Shorts, Best of Trans Shorts, and Drama Shorts. A virtual Shorts Programs and Webseries category includes sub-categories for Animated Shorts, Around the World, Comedy Shorts, Documentary Shorts, Everything Under the Rainbow Shorts, Everything Under the Rainbow Shorts II, Finding Your Voice, Latinxtraordinary, Sexy Shorts, Webseries, and Worldly Affairs. Yet another world premiere for 2021—“The Hate Shield Project” installation by artist Matthew Terrell that

@outonf ilm | @warnermedia

T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21 | 13

NEW HORIZONS

A Goddess and a Girlfriend By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t

When she speaks with celebs they open up to her as if she were a trusted girlfriend. And for her own part, she holds nothing back. “

M y mind went blank. I cried tears of joy. Of relief. But honestly, it was a real lesson in surrender for me.” That’s how the first Black female host of CBS’s Entertainment Tonight , Nischelle Turner, describes the moment she learned she would fill that role alongside co-host Kevin Frazier. And then she backs up to explain how she truly came to this point of surrender in the first place. The coveted job had been open for several years following the departure of ET host Nancy O’Dell. “I was told I was a candidate, and I believed I was the best person for the job, but time went by and people came in and out. And they didn’t make a move,” Turner says. And so she waited, the kind of waiting that every on- air talent, actor, or player in the entertainment industry knows firsthand. But waiting and guessing can be games that aren’t very fun to play. “I had to decide … maybe this won’t happen for me,” she says. “I had to make a choice about how to look at it. So I grieved this job during the pandemic, and I let it go.” So, Turner signed a new deal to continue as a correspondent at ET . And although it wasn’t “the” job— she decided she would dig in and blossom anyway. “I decided that I have to be the best version of me for me,” she says, adding, “If you’re not gonna build your castle over here you have to build it somewhere else.” With an attitude like this, it’s easy to understand why Turner got the ET host gig. In addition to possessing the glittering gusto of somebody who ought to be headlining the long-running entertainment talk show, she is a wizard at building rapport. When she speaks with celebs they open up to her as if she were a trusted girlfriend. And for her own part, she holds nothing back. This gift of complete authenticity is something she shares with and admires about Kelly Ripa of ABC’s Live with Kelly and Ryan .

“Kelly Ripa came on and made a mark and paved the way for a lot of women,” Turner notes. “And she’s a boss because she demanded the pay scale that she deserved.” But the air stills to a near-sacred hush when another groundbreaking female talk show host comes up: Oprah Winfrey. “Oprah changed the game. She’s my platinum standard. Nobody will ever do it again like her.” And yet, despite having role models at every turn—Gayle King at CBS This Morning and Robin Roberts of ABC’s Good Morning America ,” as she notes— Turner is a first in her own right at ET , and she fully appreciates that. “I’m part of a pantheon of firsts with people like that. My part is minuscule, but they gave me a road map for how to do it.” Before these stratospheric women in entertainment were paving the way for her, though, Turner had several other aces in the hole: no. 1, her

Nischelle Turner

Photo by Paul A. Hebert

fierce and fabulous role-model mother. And no. 2, the renowned University of Missouri School of Journalism in her hometown of Columbia, Missouri, where she received her BJ in 1998. When asked about the J School’s role in her development as a top-tier journalist, Turner states, “It was everything, you know? They make it so tough that they weed out people who don’t have a deep, honest love for journalism and storytelling.” Turner shares that through her hours on-air, as a student at KOMU-TV in Columbia, a dual NBC/CW+ affiliate allied with Mizzou’s Journalism School, she learned to genuinely pull for the up-and-comer. As such, she notes the progress that Atlanta has made in its meteoric rise as an entertainment force over the past 15 years. “Atlanta right now is the Hollywood of the South, and between Atlanta and Vancouver it’s top of the heap,”

Turner states. “Tyler Perry alone put Atlanta above where we thought it would be in terms of entertainment.” As for her next moves, Turner is focusing on the blessing of her ET co-host position and working on several other projects she has in the mix. She launched a podcast called The Big Podcast alongside Shaquille O’Neal, and her 10-episode CBS primetime series Secret Celebrity Renovation debuted this summer. Although the level and volume of work can make her days long and hectic, there’s a sense that ET ’s new face is supremely up to the task. After all, Turner’s first name, Nischelle, means “like God” in Hebrew. Or perhaps it’s more aptly, “like goddess.”

Catch Nischelle every night on ET . Check local listings. @entertainmenttonight

14 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | F A L L 2 0 21

LOCAL TALENT&PROJECTS

Nine Days and a Lifetime Acclaimed film Nine Days examines the fleeting gift of the human experience By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t

E very single moment that you smile, cry, laugh, argue, sing, shout, peacefully sit in silence, or slump in despair is, quite frankly, an inestimable gift. One that another soul might heartachingly long to embody if only given the chance. “For me, what was important about this film was the idea of duality within life—that grief can come in hand with joy,” says Zazie Beetz, who stars as Emma in Nine Days , when Georgia Hollywood Review caught up with her at the August 2021 premiere of the modern-day masterpiece at AMC Phipps Plaza in Buckhead. An existential drama executive produced by Spike Jonze, Nine Days was released in summer 2021 by Sony Pictures Classics. “It’s not mutually exclusive, and to be in both places is what it is to be balanced, and what it is to be human,” Beetz adds. The directorial debut of LA-based Edson Oda, a Japanese Brazilian writer and director and Sundance Institute Screenwriters Lab alumus, Nine Days first pre- miered at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2020 to high acclaim. Alongside Beetz, its cast includes Bill Skars- gard, Tony Hale, Benedict Wong, and Arianna Ortiz. The premise: In a quiet craftsman-style house alongside an expanse of wind-blown beach lives an austere, methodical man, Will (played by award winner Winston Duke), whose job is to vet unborn souls for the chance at life when a vacancy opens up on earth. On a series of TV screens, Will watches the everyday lives of countless people until one day a favorite of his takes her life behind wheel of a car. Devastated, Will must do his job of interviewing unborn souls to fill the vacancy. Five souls come to him and are each given nine days in which to go through a series of interviews and tests to prove their suitability for the chance to experience life. In a series of situations presented to them, the souls express how they would conduct themselves and react when faced with various human circumstances. The four souls that Will does not choose will simply cease to exist. But first, he asks each one not selected what moment they have witnessed in the lives of others that they most loved and would like him to replicate for them before they depart. For one soul, it’s time spent enjoying the wonders of a beach—the sand, wind, waves, water, vastness. For another, it’s a bike ride down the side roads of a beautiful town, wind in hair, gazing on the trees and shops, and listening to people strolling down the street. But for each soul not chosen, it is universally a tearful and softly frantic acceptance of the fact that life is never to be theirs.

David Rysdahl and Zazie Beetz

Jash’d Belcher, event organizer

our very existence is a complex mystery, a nearly random, mystical chance among a sea of infinite possibilities and potential outcomes. A rare and precious treasure that the human mind struggles to endure and comprehend, in shining glimpses and secret realizations, and can never fully grasp before it’s over. For actor David Rysdahl, who plays the part of vulnerable soul Mike, the film’s mental health message was an important reason he was drawn to the script. “I read the script and I was crying,” he notes. “It was, in a way, like [the experience of ] 2019. I live with anxiety and I like to be reminded how beautiful this life is—and how to be present.” At the end of the Atlanta screening hosted by HBCU Power/>Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5 Page 6 Page 7 Page 8 Page 9 Page 10 Page 11 Page 12 Page 13 Page 14 Page 15 Page 16 Page 17 Page 18 Page 19 Page 20 Page 21 Page 22 Page 23 Page 24 Page 25 Page 26 Page 27 Page 28 Page 29 Page 30 Page 31 Page 32 Page 33 Page 34 Page 35 Page 36 Page 37 Page 38 Page 39 Page 40

www.georgiahollywoodreview.com

Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs