Exclusive: In a competitive situation, Universal Television has acquired the rights to Jana Monroe’s memoir Hearts of Darkness: Serial Killers, The Behavioral Science Unit, And My Life As a Woman In The FBI to develop into a series. Winner filmmaker Susanna Fogel and Julia Ruchman (The Walking Dead) will both write and executive produce, with Fogel serving as director. Monroe and Rain Productions will also executive produce.
Hearts of Darkness follows Monroe, who steps out from the shadows to tell the story of her astonishing life in shaping law enforcement and intelligence analysis. Monroe explores the cases that have stayed with her, breaking down victimology, offering new insight into the minds of serial killers, and discussing the psychological toll of the job and the obstacles she faced as a woman in the male-dominated Bureau.
“I’m excited to be working with Utv, Susanna, and Julia as they bring to...
Hearts of Darkness follows Monroe, who steps out from the shadows to tell the story of her astonishing life in shaping law enforcement and intelligence analysis. Monroe explores the cases that have stayed with her, breaking down victimology, offering new insight into the minds of serial killers, and discussing the psychological toll of the job and the obstacles she faced as a woman in the male-dominated Bureau.
“I’m excited to be working with Utv, Susanna, and Julia as they bring to...
- 5/6/2024
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Documentary filmmaking has never been a profession one enters into to get rich — though for a brief period it seemed possible.
Cable expanded documentary’s reach to wider audiences in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and films like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “March of the Penguins,” and “An Inconvenient Truth” became legitimate box-office breakthroughs, but nonfiction features on the whole remained something of a stepchild within the larger Hollywood ecosystem until 2017, when Netflix acquired Brian Fogel’s “Icarus” for $5 million.
At the time, the deal was one of the biggest ever for a non-fiction film. And it was followed by even bigger deals: In 2019 Netflix shelled out $10 million for Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House.” The following year Apple TV+ and A24 partnered to buy Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” for $10 million, and in 2021 Searchlight and Hulu bought Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” for $12 million.
On the surface it seemed like people,...
Cable expanded documentary’s reach to wider audiences in the 1980’s and 1990’s, and films like “Fahrenheit 9/11,” “March of the Penguins,” and “An Inconvenient Truth” became legitimate box-office breakthroughs, but nonfiction features on the whole remained something of a stepchild within the larger Hollywood ecosystem until 2017, when Netflix acquired Brian Fogel’s “Icarus” for $5 million.
At the time, the deal was one of the biggest ever for a non-fiction film. And it was followed by even bigger deals: In 2019 Netflix shelled out $10 million for Rachel Lears’ “Knock Down the House.” The following year Apple TV+ and A24 partnered to buy Jesse Moss’ “Boys State” for $10 million, and in 2021 Searchlight and Hulu bought Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson’s “Summer of Soul” for $12 million.
On the surface it seemed like people,...
- 4/6/2024
- by Addie Morfoot
- Variety Film + TV
The sequel to 2010’s legendary animated film Megamind was released recently on Peacock to negative responses and extreme criticism. Megamind vs. The Doom Syndicate acted as a sequel as well as a pilot for Peacock’s Megamind Rules! TV show. However, fans of the iconic film were not happy with the resulting product, with the film scoring a lousy 0%.
The sequel has been in the making for over ten years and has infuriated fans as their time has been wasted. The film is reportedly the worst-rated film by DreamWorks Animation, who are also awaiting the release of Kung Fu Panda 4. Despite being a popular IP, the film failed to impress any of the audiences, and here are three reasons behind the failure of the sequel.
Lack of Will Farrell, Brad Pitt, and David Cross A still from Megamind
Half of the charm of the original Megamind film was the...
The sequel has been in the making for over ten years and has infuriated fans as their time has been wasted. The film is reportedly the worst-rated film by DreamWorks Animation, who are also awaiting the release of Kung Fu Panda 4. Despite being a popular IP, the film failed to impress any of the audiences, and here are three reasons behind the failure of the sequel.
Lack of Will Farrell, Brad Pitt, and David Cross A still from Megamind
Half of the charm of the original Megamind film was the...
- 3/5/2024
- by Nishanth A
- FandomWire
When it comes to Ryan Murphy productions, you can always count on a glitzy cast, but the ensemble for Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans are especially so. But how did it all come together? “The process is sort of your map to creating this tapestry,” casting director Alexa L. Fogel tells TV Insider. “Ryan’s really good at casting. I think he’s very good at figuring out which projects he and I are good at doing together, what interests us together, and what kinds of things we excel at. And I think he’s been right every time.” Fogel has previously teamed with Murphy for Pose, The Prom, and The Politician, but this is her first time working on a season of Feud. One of the aspects of Capote Vs. The Swans that particularly appealed to Fogel was the fact that “this is a very East Coast story from a very particular age.
- 2/14/2024
- TV Insider
The 2024 Sundance Film Festival was essentially one giant reunion for the flyboys of “Top Gun: Maverick,” with Danny Ramirez, Glen Powell and Jay Ellis all starring in films playing the festival.
The trio trekked to Park City, Ut just days after news broke that a third “Top Gun” movie was in the works at Paramount, and Ramirez told Variety that the cast’s group text — fittingly named with the emojis “up” and “gun” — had been “buzzing” with questions about what’s going on with the developing project.
“Obviously, it’d be amazing to be able to do a third film in this beautiful story. But, as we learned with the second one, it’s got to be absolutely right,” Ramirez said, noting the 30-year gap between the original “Top Gun” and “Maverick.”
“Being cognizant of that, we’re excited at the prospect of everyone back in the air,” he teased.
The trio trekked to Park City, Ut just days after news broke that a third “Top Gun” movie was in the works at Paramount, and Ramirez told Variety that the cast’s group text — fittingly named with the emojis “up” and “gun” — had been “buzzing” with questions about what’s going on with the developing project.
“Obviously, it’d be amazing to be able to do a third film in this beautiful story. But, as we learned with the second one, it’s got to be absolutely right,” Ramirez said, noting the 30-year gap between the original “Top Gun” and “Maverick.”
“Being cognizant of that, we’re excited at the prospect of everyone back in the air,” he teased.
- 2/6/2024
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Ever since The Big Short, Adam McKay’s winking and sardonic explainer about the 2008 financial crisis, a redundant cottage industry of similar-minded criminal biopics has tried to capitalize on the director’s witty and righteous formula. Inserting self-aware narration and commentary at the top of—and throughout—a movie isn’t exactly a new technique. It’s just that, at this point, freeze frames and slow motion sequences of exclamatory moments, coupled with “You’re probably wondering how I got here” preambles feel like uninspired choices. But that’s how Winner, the second movie in the last year to document Nsa whistleblower Reality Winner, chooses to begin this unexpectedly bouncy dramedy—with its protagonist in handcuffs and a lighthearted “let me explain” attitude.
It’s a jarring change in tone if you’ve seen Reality, last year’s lean and mean Max offering featuring Sydney Sweeney in one of her best roles to date.
It’s a jarring change in tone if you’ve seen Reality, last year’s lean and mean Max offering featuring Sydney Sweeney in one of her best roles to date.
- 1/29/2024
- by Jake Kring-Schreifels
- The Film Stage
Emilia Jones in Winner.Heather McIntosh: 'We're exploring her obsessive nature and it does cover a pretty big range, the Ocd that Reality’s navigating, her time in prison. It does sort of ride this wave, very anxietal stuff but also up' Photo: Courtesy of Sundance Institute Reality Winner might sound like a description of the latest Big Brother finale but it’s the genuine name of a US whistleblower who, while working as a National Security Agency leaked a document showing Russian interference in the 2016 elections. She is played by Emilia Jones, who is reteaming with director Susanna Fogel after last year’s Cat Person. Rather than the usual shadowy dramas, along the lines of Official Secrets, Fogel, working from a script from Kerry Howley, instead presents the action through a brightly coloured lens. The scoring, too, from Heather McIntosh - who is also reteaming with Fogel after Cat Person...
- 1/28/2024
- by Amber Wilkinson
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Towards the end of Susanna Fogel’s frustratingly glib biopic “Winner,” a sassy bit of voiceover notes that, although the leaking of said information had life-changing consequences for the person who released it, the actual revelation that the Russian government interfered in the 2016 presidential election didn’t make much of an impact. The report was published, some pundits were smug about it, and everyone moved on. Similarly, the film makes a cute visual joke — a feed scrolls down the screen, combining serious news and lifestyle puff pieces into a numbing firehose of information — and gets back to business.
But — to crib the know-it-all tone of Fogel’s film — here’s the thing: the remaining 102 minutes and change of “Winner” celebrate the ideas of standing for truth, acting on your values, and really doing something that will change the world for the better. If the realization that her plan was ultimately...
But — to crib the know-it-all tone of Fogel’s film — here’s the thing: the remaining 102 minutes and change of “Winner” celebrate the ideas of standing for truth, acting on your values, and really doing something that will change the world for the better. If the realization that her plan was ultimately...
- 1/22/2024
- by Katie Rife
- Indiewire
American translator Reality Winner is probably better known in Europe than the U.S., thanks in part to Tina Satter’s extraordinary arthouse film Reality (2023), which dramatized the 25-year-old Texas translator’s arrest in 2017 using the verbatim transcripts of her interactions with the FBI.
Winner, a funny and surprisingly powerful biopic directed and cowritten by Susanna Fogel, will go quite a long way towards raising her profile back home.
By no means as controversial as previous whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Julian Assange — all she did really was photocopy a piece of paper and send it to a fringe-left website — Reality Winner somehow became a punching bag for the American government, and the disproportionate punishment for her crime could give this film traction in an election year that is being fought more than ever before on a battlefield where principles are the first casualty.
You wouldn...
Winner, a funny and surprisingly powerful biopic directed and cowritten by Susanna Fogel, will go quite a long way towards raising her profile back home.
By no means as controversial as previous whistleblowers Edward Snowden and Julian Assange — all she did really was photocopy a piece of paper and send it to a fringe-left website — Reality Winner somehow became a punching bag for the American government, and the disproportionate punishment for her crime could give this film traction in an election year that is being fought more than ever before on a battlefield where principles are the first casualty.
You wouldn...
- 1/21/2024
- by Damon Wise
- Deadline Film + TV
The U.S. government decided to make an example of Reality Winner, giving the former Nsa translator a five-year prison sentence. So it’s only fair that director Susanna Fogel should be able to make an example of her too — only this time, to very different ends. “Winner” is well acted, well told and … well, a tough sell to people tired of politics. It’s not a typical whistleblower movie, like “The Insider” or “Official Secrets” (both excellent), but more of a prickly character portrait, imbued with humor and a headstrong sense of defiance.
Let’s get this out of the way up front: Reality Winner has an unusual name, one that has proven ironic (as well as fodder for countless talk-show comics) since her act of defiance was made public. Last year, Tina Satter’s superb experimental indie “Reality” stuck to the facts of her crime, relying on the official...
Let’s get this out of the way up front: Reality Winner has an unusual name, one that has proven ironic (as well as fodder for countless talk-show comics) since her act of defiance was made public. Last year, Tina Satter’s superb experimental indie “Reality” stuck to the facts of her crime, relying on the official...
- 1/21/2024
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
In 2018, a judge sentenced Reality Winner to more than five years in prison for leaking information about Russian interference in the 2016 United States presidential election. Judge J. Randall Hall wanted to make an example of the former Nsa translator, who informed Americans of what their government preferred to keep hidden. Winner was 26 years old at the time and received the longest sentence in the country’s history for “an unauthorized disclosure to the media.”
Susanna Fogel’s latest film tries to make a different example of the former federal employee. Winner shapes the somber material of its subject’s life into a jaunty coming-of-age story. It builds a profile of Reality, played here by Emilia Jones (Coda), as a staunchly humanitarian figure who wanted to dedicate her life to service. That ambition finds an odd home in the U.S. military. The screenplay — a collaboration between Fogel and journalist Kerry Howley...
Susanna Fogel’s latest film tries to make a different example of the former federal employee. Winner shapes the somber material of its subject’s life into a jaunty coming-of-age story. It builds a profile of Reality, played here by Emilia Jones (Coda), as a staunchly humanitarian figure who wanted to dedicate her life to service. That ambition finds an odd home in the U.S. military. The screenplay — a collaboration between Fogel and journalist Kerry Howley...
- 1/21/2024
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While fans used to play six degrees of Kevin Bacon at the Sundance Film Festival (or anywhere for that matter), in 2024, it’s all about connecting the dots of alumni from Mike White’s The White Lotus. The stars of the Emmy Award-winning vacation anthology series have returned to the mainland and clocked back in on a flurry of independent films. Below is a roundup of all the White Lotus stars making the Park City rounds this year and why they’re here.
Aubrey Plaza
The actress and producer returns to the festival on the heels of a critically acclaimed turn in Emily the Criminal to star in Megan Park’s comedy My Old Ass opposite Maisy Stella, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks and Percy Hynes White. The plot follows bright-yet-irreverent Elliott (Stella) as she comes face-to-face with her older self (Plaza) during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny...
Aubrey Plaza
The actress and producer returns to the festival on the heels of a critically acclaimed turn in Emily the Criminal to star in Megan Park’s comedy My Old Ass opposite Maisy Stella, Maddie Ziegler, Kerrice Brooks and Percy Hynes White. The plot follows bright-yet-irreverent Elliott (Stella) as she comes face-to-face with her older self (Plaza) during a mushroom trip. The encounter spurs a funny...
- 1/20/2024
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Based on the real-life whistleblower who leaked an intelligence report exposing Russian interference in the 2016 election, director Susanna Fogel’s Winner depicts the events leading up to Texas native Reality Winner’s eventual arrest and sentencing. Cinematographer Steve Yedlin describes his approach to shooting Fogel’s film, which included not getting caught up with references and “not being a slave to superstition” when it came to choosing a camera. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
The post “We’re There To Solve Logistical Problems All Day Every Day”: Dp Steve Yedlin on Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We’re There To Solve Logistical Problems All Day Every Day”: Dp Steve Yedlin on Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/20/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Based on the real-life whistleblower who leaked an intelligence report exposing Russian interference in the 2016 election, director Susanna Fogel’s Winner depicts the events leading up to Texas native Reality Winner’s eventual arrest and sentencing. Cinematographer Steve Yedlin describes his approach to shooting Fogel’s film, which included not getting caught up with references and “not being a slave to superstition” when it came to choosing a camera. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did you wind up being the cinematographer of your film? What were the factors and attributes that led to your […]
The post “We’re There To Solve Logistical Problems All Day Every Day”: Dp Steve Yedlin on Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “We’re There To Solve Logistical Problems All Day Every Day”: Dp Steve Yedlin on Winner first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/20/2024
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
Studiocanal launches short story adaptation ‘Cat Person’.
Thriller Five Nights At Freddy’s heads the new titles at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as one of a selection of genre choices available to audiences on the pre-Halloween weekend.
Opening in 609 cinemas through Universal, Five Nights At Freddy’s is adapted from Scott Cawthon’s videogame franchise of the same name. The film stars Hunger Games actor Josh Hutcherson as a security guard at an abandoned entertainment venue, who discovers that its animatronic mascots move and kill anyone still there after midnight.
Directed by Emma Tammi, the film is produced by horror...
Thriller Five Nights At Freddy’s heads the new titles at this weekend’s UK-Ireland box office, as one of a selection of genre choices available to audiences on the pre-Halloween weekend.
Opening in 609 cinemas through Universal, Five Nights At Freddy’s is adapted from Scott Cawthon’s videogame franchise of the same name. The film stars Hunger Games actor Josh Hutcherson as a security guard at an abandoned entertainment venue, who discovers that its animatronic mascots move and kill anyone still there after midnight.
Directed by Emma Tammi, the film is produced by horror...
- 10/27/2023
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
“Cat Person,” the latest film from director Susanna Fogel, tells the story of a young woman (“Coda” breakout Emilia Jones) who engages in a relationship with an older man (Nicholas Braun) that might be dangerous. It’s story of the sticky dynamics between men and women in relationships is drawing commonalities to Netflix’s recent feature, Chloe Domont’s “Fair Play.”
But Fogel isn’t worried about the comparisons that risk overshadowing her film. In fact, she welcomes the connection as an opportunity to have a long overdue conversation about marginalized storytellers.
“We’re overdue to have these stories,” she told TheWrap. “We’re overdue to have many of them.”
As the director explained, there are several films about male/female power dynamics helmed by male directors or stories centered on men.
“No one movie is judged for having to speak for all men,” she said. “There’s this desire...
But Fogel isn’t worried about the comparisons that risk overshadowing her film. In fact, she welcomes the connection as an opportunity to have a long overdue conversation about marginalized storytellers.
“We’re overdue to have these stories,” she told TheWrap. “We’re overdue to have many of them.”
As the director explained, there are several films about male/female power dynamics helmed by male directors or stories centered on men.
“No one movie is judged for having to speak for all men,” she said. “There’s this desire...
- 10/9/2023
- by Kristen Lopez
- The Wrap
Cat Person was previously reviewed at Sundance 2023.
Plot: A college student (Emilia Jones) becomes infatuated with an older man (Nicholas Braun) who frequents the theater she works at.
Review: For those not in the know, Cat Person is based on a New Yorker article that went viral a few years ago. It described, in excruciating detail, the relationship between a 20-year-old college girl and a thirty-something man she had a brief relationship with. The film, adapted by writer Michelle Ashford of Masters of Sex and director Susanna Fogel, embellishes the already fictional story with a third-act twist, but do a good job translating the story to film. The result is a fresh, uncomfortable and often legitimately funny take on a provocative subject.
Power dynamics in relationships are discussed now more than they used to be, even compared to when the article was published in 2017. Nowadays, everyone would look askew at...
Plot: A college student (Emilia Jones) becomes infatuated with an older man (Nicholas Braun) who frequents the theater she works at.
Review: For those not in the know, Cat Person is based on a New Yorker article that went viral a few years ago. It described, in excruciating detail, the relationship between a 20-year-old college girl and a thirty-something man she had a brief relationship with. The film, adapted by writer Michelle Ashford of Masters of Sex and director Susanna Fogel, embellishes the already fictional story with a third-act twist, but do a good job translating the story to film. The result is a fresh, uncomfortable and often legitimately funny take on a provocative subject.
Power dynamics in relationships are discussed now more than they used to be, even compared to when the article was published in 2017. Nowadays, everyone would look askew at...
- 10/5/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
Special announcement: as a special culinary bonus, all ten of this month’s Don’t-Miss Indies are, in fact, pumpkin spiced. Go ahead and lick your laptop or smartphone glass to confirm. No? Hm. Looks like that WordPress update hasn’t pushed through yet. Regardless, the spirit of Autumnal renewal (picaresque decay?) presently fills the October air, heralding the onset of Awards Season and its bountiful horn full of cinematic goodies. Starting here…
Foe
When You Can Watch: October 4 (Film Independent Presents), October 6
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent, Theaters
Director: Garth Davis
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Aaron Pierre
Why We’re Excited: An intricately crafted love story presented under the guise of a sci-fi tinged psychological thriller, writer-director Garth Davis’s latest offering is based on Iain Reid’s 2018 novel by the same name. Living on an isolated farm in the year 2065, Henrietta “Hen” and husband Junior have...
Foe
When You Can Watch: October 4 (Film Independent Presents), October 6
Where You Can Watch: Film Independent, Theaters
Director: Garth Davis
Cast: Saoirse Ronan, Paul Mescal, Aaron Pierre
Why We’re Excited: An intricately crafted love story presented under the guise of a sci-fi tinged psychological thriller, writer-director Garth Davis’s latest offering is based on Iain Reid’s 2018 novel by the same name. Living on an isolated farm in the year 2065, Henrietta “Hen” and husband Junior have...
- 10/4/2023
- by Su Fang Tham
- Film Independent News & More
https://youtu.be/-h4q2e8Rz_U?si=r8xhsaGg7rnURqiT Directed by Award-Winning FilmmakerSusanna Fogel (“The Flight Attendant”, writer Booksmart)Starring: Emilia Jones (Coda)Nicholas Braun (“Succession”)Geraldine Viswanathan (Blockers)Isabella Rossellini (Blue Velvet)Fred Melamed (A Serious Man)Liza Koshy (Transformers: Rise of the Beasts)Michael Gandolfini (The Many Saints of Newark) Written by Michelle Ashford (“Masters of Sex”), the story expands upon Kristen Roupenians’ 2017 short story of the same name published in The New Yorker. Striking a nerve with readers, “Cat Person” was the …
The post Cat Person | Sundance Genre-Bending Thriller Directed by Susanna Fogel | In Theaters Beginning October 6 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
The post Cat Person | Sundance Genre-Bending Thriller Directed by Susanna Fogel | In Theaters Beginning October 6 appeared first on Horror News | Hnn.
- 9/26/2023
- by Janel Spiegel
- Horror News
The Union Solidarity Coalition — founded over the summer by a group of writer-directors moved to support crewmembers amid the strike — launched an eBay auction last week with lots so unique, it seems they were dreamed up in a writers room. And the bids have been rolling in fast and thick.
A sampling of the offerings and current bids (as of publication time) include dinner with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross ($10,200); the cast of Bob’s Burgers singing a custom song ($7,200); Natasha Lyonne helping solve the New York Times Sunday crossword via Zoom ($6,100); Lena Dunham painting a mural in your home ($5,100); John Lithgow painting a watercolor portrait of your dog ($4,450); a pottery class with Busy Philipps in New York ($3,500); Adam Scott walking your dog in L.A. for one hour ($2,500); a Zoom with Barry Jenkins and Nicholas Britell ($1,250); and a relationship advice squabble over Zoom with Rosemarie Dewitt and Ron Livingston ($1,136).
The...
A sampling of the offerings and current bids (as of publication time) include dinner with Bob Odenkirk and David Cross ($10,200); the cast of Bob’s Burgers singing a custom song ($7,200); Natasha Lyonne helping solve the New York Times Sunday crossword via Zoom ($6,100); Lena Dunham painting a mural in your home ($5,100); John Lithgow painting a watercolor portrait of your dog ($4,450); a pottery class with Busy Philipps in New York ($3,500); Adam Scott walking your dog in L.A. for one hour ($2,500); a Zoom with Barry Jenkins and Nicholas Britell ($1,250); and a relationship advice squabble over Zoom with Rosemarie Dewitt and Ron Livingston ($1,136).
The...
- 9/19/2023
- by Chris Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Kristen Roupenians’ viral 2017 New Yorker short story is headed to the big screen: Rialto Pictures has shared the official release date for Cat Person, the upcoming thriller from director Susanna Fogel. After premiering at Sundance earlier this year, it’s set to hit theaters on October 6th.
Cat Person follows a college sophomore named Margot (Emilia Jones) who goes on a date with an older man named Robert (Nicholas Braun), with whom she’s been flirting over text. But, despite being a self-proclaimed “cat person,” Robert doesn’t always seem so harmless in person. The film’s press release describes it as “a razor-sharp exploration of the gender divide, the quagmire of navigating modern dating and the dangerous projections we make in our minds about the person at the other end of our phones.”
“Like the short story that stirred so much controversy, ‘Cat Person’ will call upon you to...
Cat Person follows a college sophomore named Margot (Emilia Jones) who goes on a date with an older man named Robert (Nicholas Braun), with whom she’s been flirting over text. But, despite being a self-proclaimed “cat person,” Robert doesn’t always seem so harmless in person. The film’s press release describes it as “a razor-sharp exploration of the gender divide, the quagmire of navigating modern dating and the dangerous projections we make in our minds about the person at the other end of our phones.”
“Like the short story that stirred so much controversy, ‘Cat Person’ will call upon you to...
- 8/24/2023
- by Abby Jones
- Consequence - Film News
Emilia Jones (Coda) and Nicholas Braun (Succession) do not appear to be a match made in heaven in the first trailer for Cat Person.
Set for release Oct. 6 from Rialto Pictures, director Susanna Fogel’s feature premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival and is adapted from author Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker short story of the same name. Cat Person offers a look at contemporary dating by focusing on college student Margot (Jones), who has a fling with an older man named Robert (Braun) but soon gets suspicious about him.
After Margot expresses regrets about her time spent with Robert — who had previously described himself as a cat person — her friend Taylor (Geraldine Viswanathan) asks if at least his pet felines were cute. “I never saw them,” Margot replies ominously as she begins to doubt how honest he’s been.
Later in the trailer, Margot concludes nonchalantly,...
Set for release Oct. 6 from Rialto Pictures, director Susanna Fogel’s feature premiered in January at the Sundance Film Festival and is adapted from author Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker short story of the same name. Cat Person offers a look at contemporary dating by focusing on college student Margot (Jones), who has a fling with an older man named Robert (Braun) but soon gets suspicious about him.
After Margot expresses regrets about her time spent with Robert — who had previously described himself as a cat person — her friend Taylor (Geraldine Viswanathan) asks if at least his pet felines were cute. “I never saw them,” Margot replies ominously as she begins to doubt how honest he’s been.
Later in the trailer, Margot concludes nonchalantly,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Cat Person,” an adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s insanely popular (and equally controversial) 2017 New Yorker short story, has just debuted the first official trailer ahead of its October launch from Rialto Pictures and StudioCanal. You can watch it above and get totally creeped out.
In “Cat Person,” Emilia Jones (“Coda”) plays Margot, who starts to date an older man (“Succession” star Nicholas Braun) before discovering something much more sinister lurking beneath the surface. Geraldine Viswanathan, Hope Davis, Michael Gandolfini, Liza Koshy, Fred Melamed, Isaac Cole Powell and Isabella Rossellini also star in the thriller.
“Cat Person” was written by Michelle Ashford and directed by Susanna Fogel, who cowrote “Booksmart” and directed “The Spy Who Dumped Me” along with episodes of “Amazing Stories,” “The Flight Attendant,” “Utopia” (where she worked with Jones) and “A Small Light.”
The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Our review out of...
In “Cat Person,” Emilia Jones (“Coda”) plays Margot, who starts to date an older man (“Succession” star Nicholas Braun) before discovering something much more sinister lurking beneath the surface. Geraldine Viswanathan, Hope Davis, Michael Gandolfini, Liza Koshy, Fred Melamed, Isaac Cole Powell and Isabella Rossellini also star in the thriller.
“Cat Person” was written by Michelle Ashford and directed by Susanna Fogel, who cowrote “Booksmart” and directed “The Spy Who Dumped Me” along with episodes of “Amazing Stories,” “The Flight Attendant,” “Utopia” (where she worked with Jones) and “A Small Light.”
The movie debuted at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year. Our review out of...
- 8/24/2023
- by Drew Taylor
- The Wrap
The highly-anticipated film “Cat Person” purrs into theaters soon courtesy of Rialto Pictures.
“Cat Person,” which was among IndieWire’s most anticipated films out of Sundance, received distribution later than expected, leaving fans waiting for the big screen adaptation of the viral New Yorker short story of the same name.
“Coda” breakout star Emilia Jones plays college sophomore Margot who meets awkward bachelor Robert (Nicholas Braun) while working at a movie theater concession stand. However, Robert may not be as he seems: For one thing, as a self-described cat owner, there are no furry felines to be found in his apartment. Did Robert lie about having cats to seem non-threatening? Is Robert really a villain, or is Margot paranoid thanks to dating horror stories?
Geraldine Viswanathan and Isabella Rossellini also star in the twisty rom-com meets thriller.
Susanna Fogel directs the film based on Kristen Roupenian’s 2017 The New Yorker fictional short story,...
“Cat Person,” which was among IndieWire’s most anticipated films out of Sundance, received distribution later than expected, leaving fans waiting for the big screen adaptation of the viral New Yorker short story of the same name.
“Coda” breakout star Emilia Jones plays college sophomore Margot who meets awkward bachelor Robert (Nicholas Braun) while working at a movie theater concession stand. However, Robert may not be as he seems: For one thing, as a self-described cat owner, there are no furry felines to be found in his apartment. Did Robert lie about having cats to seem non-threatening? Is Robert really a villain, or is Margot paranoid thanks to dating horror stories?
Geraldine Viswanathan and Isabella Rossellini also star in the twisty rom-com meets thriller.
Susanna Fogel directs the film based on Kristen Roupenian’s 2017 The New Yorker fictional short story,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
After world premiering to much buzz at Sundance back in January, the darkly comedic dating thriller Cat Person has finally unveiled a first trailer and release date, having been set to open in U.S. theaters via Rialto Pictures beginning October 6th.
An adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker short story fully financed by Studiocanal, Cat Person looks at the brief relationship between 20-year-old college sophomore Margot (Coda‘s Emilia Jones) and the somewhat-older Robert (Succession‘s Nicholas Braun) from the perspective of both characters, as a means of commenting on the experience of dating today.
In an appearance alongside her leads at Deadline’s Sundance studio earlier this year, pic’s DGA Award-winning director Susanna Fogel noted that the idea of toggling back and forth between the POVs of her protagonists was compelling, in that it allowed her to explore “miscommunications and the cultural baggage that men and women bring into dating,...
An adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker short story fully financed by Studiocanal, Cat Person looks at the brief relationship between 20-year-old college sophomore Margot (Coda‘s Emilia Jones) and the somewhat-older Robert (Succession‘s Nicholas Braun) from the perspective of both characters, as a means of commenting on the experience of dating today.
In an appearance alongside her leads at Deadline’s Sundance studio earlier this year, pic’s DGA Award-winning director Susanna Fogel noted that the idea of toggling back and forth between the POVs of her protagonists was compelling, in that it allowed her to explore “miscommunications and the cultural baggage that men and women bring into dating,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
“Cat Person,” which launched with a bang at Sundance, will be released in theaters on Oct. 6 through Rialto Pictures.
The wild thriller — which stars Emilia Jones (“Coda”) and Nicholas Braun (“Succession”) as a couple whose signals cross, leading to disturbing interactions — made its world premiere to a huge response at the festival in January.
Susanna Fogel directed the polarizing film, which is based on Kristen Roupenian’s short story of the same name in The New Yorker that went viral following its publication in 2017, becoming the magazine’s most-read piece of fiction ever.
Michelle Ashford wrote the screenplay. In his review for Variety, Peter Debruge called it “wickedly ambiguous Sundance conversation-starter.” Still, some fans of the short story have expressed outrage that the film includes a third act that is not reflected in the source material.
StudioCanal fully financed the film, which is executive produced by Susanna Fogel, Michelle Ashford...
The wild thriller — which stars Emilia Jones (“Coda”) and Nicholas Braun (“Succession”) as a couple whose signals cross, leading to disturbing interactions — made its world premiere to a huge response at the festival in January.
Susanna Fogel directed the polarizing film, which is based on Kristen Roupenian’s short story of the same name in The New Yorker that went viral following its publication in 2017, becoming the magazine’s most-read piece of fiction ever.
Michelle Ashford wrote the screenplay. In his review for Variety, Peter Debruge called it “wickedly ambiguous Sundance conversation-starter.” Still, some fans of the short story have expressed outrage that the film includes a third act that is not reflected in the source material.
StudioCanal fully financed the film, which is executive produced by Susanna Fogel, Michelle Ashford...
- 8/24/2023
- by Tatiana Siegel
- Variety Film + TV
Amanda Stanton is having a baby!
On Thursday, the “Bachelor in Paradise” star shared the happy news that she and husband Michael Fogel are expecting their first child together.
Read More: ‘Bachelor’ Star Amanda Stanton Hits Back At Critics After Being Slammed For Driving To Another State To Get Her Hair Done
“Mom + Dad ,” she wrote on Instagram, showing off her baby bump in photos with her husband. “Baby Fogel due in January We have some catching up to do! I have been dreaming of this day for so long & I am so excited to finally share the news with you all!!”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Amanda Stanton Fogel (@amanda_stantonn)
“The last few months have truly been everything I have dreamt of and more and I’m finding myself constantly trying to just slow down & soak up every second! ,” Stanton continued. huge thank you...
On Thursday, the “Bachelor in Paradise” star shared the happy news that she and husband Michael Fogel are expecting their first child together.
Read More: ‘Bachelor’ Star Amanda Stanton Hits Back At Critics After Being Slammed For Driving To Another State To Get Her Hair Done
“Mom + Dad ,” she wrote on Instagram, showing off her baby bump in photos with her husband. “Baby Fogel due in January We have some catching up to do! I have been dreaming of this day for so long & I am so excited to finally share the news with you all!!”
View this post on Instagram
A post shared by Amanda Stanton Fogel (@amanda_stantonn)
“The last few months have truly been everything I have dreamt of and more and I’m finding myself constantly trying to just slow down & soak up every second! ,” Stanton continued. huge thank you...
- 8/3/2023
- by Corey Atad
- ET Canada
Exclusive: Ed Solomon, film and television writer, has teamed up with the Black List to host Word by Word. The show will broadcast live on Zoom starting Thursday, June 29.
“During a strike years ago, I took some writing classes in order to challenge the way I was approaching my work,” Solomon said in a statement. “This time, I wanted to open it up for others who maybe felt the same. This led to the idea of making a space for creatives at every stage of their practice and career to ask questions and hear others talk about things that aren’t in writing books or better taught elsewhere–in particular, things about the inner process.”
He continued, “I want this series to be casual, accessible, personal, honest, and (hopefully) interesting… but most of all, fun. I’m truly looking forward to learning from the many incredible guests who will be participating.
“During a strike years ago, I took some writing classes in order to challenge the way I was approaching my work,” Solomon said in a statement. “This time, I wanted to open it up for others who maybe felt the same. This led to the idea of making a space for creatives at every stage of their practice and career to ask questions and hear others talk about things that aren’t in writing books or better taught elsewhere–in particular, things about the inner process.”
He continued, “I want this series to be casual, accessible, personal, honest, and (hopefully) interesting… but most of all, fun. I’m truly looking forward to learning from the many incredible guests who will be participating.
- 6/21/2023
- by Armando Tinoco
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Wilds star Shannon Berry has joined the cast of Susanna Fogel’s Canadian feature Winner.
Berry is appearing opposite Emilia Jones, Zach Galifianakis, Kathryn Newton, Danny Ramirez and Connie Britton in the darkly comedic biopic. The casting reunites the emerging Australian actress with The Spy Who Dumped Me director Fogel, who directed her in the pilot of Prime Video drama series The Wilds.
Winner is a biopic of Reality Winner (Jones), a brilliant misfit U.S. Air Force member and Nsa consultant who in 2018 was given the longest prison sentence in American history for the unauthorized release of government information to the media — five years, three months — after leaking an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
We first told you about the film last October, as the film went into principal photography. The feature is set to take on the traditional whistleblower thriller — a coming-of-age story about...
Berry is appearing opposite Emilia Jones, Zach Galifianakis, Kathryn Newton, Danny Ramirez and Connie Britton in the darkly comedic biopic. The casting reunites the emerging Australian actress with The Spy Who Dumped Me director Fogel, who directed her in the pilot of Prime Video drama series The Wilds.
Winner is a biopic of Reality Winner (Jones), a brilliant misfit U.S. Air Force member and Nsa consultant who in 2018 was given the longest prison sentence in American history for the unauthorized release of government information to the media — five years, three months — after leaking an intelligence report about Russian interference in the 2016 election.
We first told you about the film last October, as the film went into principal photography. The feature is set to take on the traditional whistleblower thriller — a coming-of-age story about...
- 5/16/2023
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Ariel Marx recalls that her marching orders after being hired to compose the musical score for the powerful Holocaust-themed Nat Geo limited series “A Small Light” was to put a contemporary modern spin on a story that’s been told many times before but never quite like this. “It was inspiring to bring something that would make it feel lived in and accessible,” she says. “I was told by (executive producers) Tony (Phelan), Joan (Rater) and Susanna (Fogel) that they wanted to dust the cobwebs off the story. For me musically, that meant getting to explore a lot of different genres. The score is inspired by Benny Goodman and Tom Waits and the Squirrel Nut Zippers and contemporary neo-classical. It also has a large use of electronics. All of those elements really helped anchor it.” See our exclusive video interview above.
“A Small Light” tells the true story of Miep Gies,...
“A Small Light” tells the true story of Miep Gies,...
- 5/14/2023
- by Ray Richmond
- Gold Derby
Bel Powley is an actor without subterfuge, which I mean only as a high compliment. I feel the same way about Florence Pugh. Their characters are still capable of lying, but neither performer can lie to the camera. When they’re miserable, it bursts through the screen. When they’re joyful, it’s contagious.
Powley is an interesting and effective choice, then, to play the lead in A Small Light, an eight-part NatGeo limited series that’s all about hiding and subterfuge. Playing an ostensibly ordinary woman who responds to an extraordinary challenge by finding the hero within, Powley sets the tone, or rather a variety of tones, for A Small Light. She brings more humor and hopeful energy than you might expect based on the topic, and underlines every emotionally crushing twist and turn you’d expect from a series adjacent to one of the most beloved and devastating stories ever told.
Powley is an interesting and effective choice, then, to play the lead in A Small Light, an eight-part NatGeo limited series that’s all about hiding and subterfuge. Playing an ostensibly ordinary woman who responds to an extraordinary challenge by finding the hero within, Powley sets the tone, or rather a variety of tones, for A Small Light. She brings more humor and hopeful energy than you might expect based on the topic, and underlines every emotionally crushing twist and turn you’d expect from a series adjacent to one of the most beloved and devastating stories ever told.
- 5/1/2023
- by Daniel Fienberg
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
“Rough Diamonds” is a Flemish-language movie by Rotem Shamir about a family of orthodox Hasidic Jews and how one man must save the family from facing turmoil and possible jail time. Noah Wolfson (Kevin Janssens) comes back from London to his family home in Antwerp, Belgium, for a funeral when the family’s secrets start coming out, and Noah is stuck having to solve every problem one by one. The show manages to provide engaging drama and some interesting mysteries, but it feels dragging at times because of the slow stories. Here’s a recap of what events take place in “Rough Diamonds” Season 1 and a detailed explanation of that surprise ending.
Spoilers Ahead
What Does Noah Find Out About His Family?
When Noah Wolfson comes back to his familial home in Antwerp after his cousin Yanki commits suicide, the man who’d abandoned his Hasidic Jewish family because of...
Spoilers Ahead
What Does Noah Find Out About His Family?
When Noah Wolfson comes back to his familial home in Antwerp after his cousin Yanki commits suicide, the man who’d abandoned his Hasidic Jewish family because of...
- 4/23/2023
- by Indrayudh Talukdar
- Film Fugitives
Oscar-winning documentarian Bryan Fogel has signed for representation with Range Media Partners.
Fogel is best known for his 2018 film “Icarus,” which exposed Russia’s state-sponsored doping program and the whistleblower at its center. The Netflix title won the Academy Award for best documentary, the first such prize for the streamer. Prior to its crowning moment on the Dolby stage, the film sold for $5 million out of the Sundance Film Festival.
Additional laurels for “Icarus” included the special jury prize at that year’s Sundance, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalism, and nominations from BAFTA, the television academy and the Directors Guild of America.
Fogel followed “Icarus” with the nonfiction thriller “The Dissident,” about the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. “The Dissident” premiered at Sundance 2020 to near-unanimous critical acclaim and sold distribution rights to Briarcliff Entertainment. In his review for Variety,...
Fogel is best known for his 2018 film “Icarus,” which exposed Russia’s state-sponsored doping program and the whistleblower at its center. The Netflix title won the Academy Award for best documentary, the first such prize for the streamer. Prior to its crowning moment on the Dolby stage, the film sold for $5 million out of the Sundance Film Festival.
Additional laurels for “Icarus” included the special jury prize at that year’s Sundance, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Journalism, and nominations from BAFTA, the television academy and the Directors Guild of America.
Fogel followed “Icarus” with the nonfiction thriller “The Dissident,” about the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi inside the Saudi consulate in Istanbul in 2018. “The Dissident” premiered at Sundance 2020 to near-unanimous critical acclaim and sold distribution rights to Briarcliff Entertainment. In his review for Variety,...
- 4/20/2023
- by Matt Donnelly
- Variety Film + TV
Miep Gies, as well as her husband Jan, helped hide Anne Frank and her family from the Nazis in Amsterdam, she also saved the girl’s diary. But she never considered herself a hero.
“She didn’t want to be put on a pedestal. Her mantra was: ‘I just did what human beings are supposed to do and helped someone in need,’” Bel Powley, who plays Gies in National Geographic series “A Small Light,” said Saturday at Canneseries. The international premiere of the first episode screened at the international series festival in Cannes, followed by an on-stage discussion.
Amira Casar, “Peaky Blinders” alumnus Joe Cole, Liev Schreiber and Billie Boullet also star in the eight-episode show, which was co-created by Tony Phelan and Joan Rater.
“Everybody feels like they know this story, know [about Anne] and the secret annex. But there is so much more to learn and this was just an incredible journey of learning,...
“She didn’t want to be put on a pedestal. Her mantra was: ‘I just did what human beings are supposed to do and helped someone in need,’” Bel Powley, who plays Gies in National Geographic series “A Small Light,” said Saturday at Canneseries. The international premiere of the first episode screened at the international series festival in Cannes, followed by an on-stage discussion.
Amira Casar, “Peaky Blinders” alumnus Joe Cole, Liev Schreiber and Billie Boullet also star in the eight-episode show, which was co-created by Tony Phelan and Joan Rater.
“Everybody feels like they know this story, know [about Anne] and the secret annex. But there is so much more to learn and this was just an incredible journey of learning,...
- 4/16/2023
- by Marta Balaga
- Variety Film + TV
Exclusive: Rising British actor Emilia Jones has signed with Brillstein Entertainment Partners.
Jones burst into the scene with her starring role as Rubi Rossi, the music-loving hearing daughter of the deaf family in the Sundance hit Coda. For her breakout performance in the Oscar-winning film, she received a BAFTA nomination. Jones was back at Sundance in January with two movies, Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person and Fairyland, produced by Sofia Coppola
She recently wrapped her second feature with director Fogel, Winner, a darkly comedic biopic opposite Zach Galifianikis and Connie Britton. It tells the story of Reality Winner, a former US Air Force member and Nsa translator who was charged under the Espionage Act.
On the TV side, Jones most recently starred as Kinsey Locke in Locke & Key, which wrapped its three-season run on Netflix.
Jones, who didn’t have U.S. management representation, is also repped by CAA,...
Jones burst into the scene with her starring role as Rubi Rossi, the music-loving hearing daughter of the deaf family in the Sundance hit Coda. For her breakout performance in the Oscar-winning film, she received a BAFTA nomination. Jones was back at Sundance in January with two movies, Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person and Fairyland, produced by Sofia Coppola
She recently wrapped her second feature with director Fogel, Winner, a darkly comedic biopic opposite Zach Galifianikis and Connie Britton. It tells the story of Reality Winner, a former US Air Force member and Nsa translator who was charged under the Espionage Act.
On the TV side, Jones most recently starred as Kinsey Locke in Locke & Key, which wrapped its three-season run on Netflix.
Jones, who didn’t have U.S. management representation, is also repped by CAA,...
- 3/28/2023
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
At the Sundance premiere of Cat Person, a psychological thriller following the story of a college-aged concession stand worker and a budding romance with a frequent movie-goer, Michael Gandolfini, son of actor James Gandolfini, talked exclusively with uInterview about what he liked most about working on the film.
“Working with such an incredible cast and getting to know Emilia [Jones] and sort of Susanna [Fogel] and like this incredible group of people,” he said. “It was just really a remarkable no brainer, the story is so important in such a sort of educational piece that you know, in 2017, wasn’t really talked about in this way so just to be a part of it was a no brainer.”
>Watch Nicholas Braun’s uINTERVIEW Now
Gandolfini also discussed how he got started acting.
“Well, you know, at first it was really, I was playing hockey for a while and I thought that...
“Working with such an incredible cast and getting to know Emilia [Jones] and sort of Susanna [Fogel] and like this incredible group of people,” he said. “It was just really a remarkable no brainer, the story is so important in such a sort of educational piece that you know, in 2017, wasn’t really talked about in this way so just to be a part of it was a no brainer.”
>Watch Nicholas Braun’s uINTERVIEW Now
Gandolfini also discussed how he got started acting.
“Well, you know, at first it was really, I was playing hockey for a while and I thought that...
- 3/2/2023
- by Hailey Schipper
- Uinterview
For most people, sex is a private act; sex scenes in movies and TV shows bring it into the light. That creates a tension often borne by the actors and, as Penn Badgley recently revealed, he felt uncomfortable doing what he saw as too many sex scenes in Netflix’s “You.” In a recent interview with Variety, he delved further: “That aspect of Hollywood has always been very disturbing to me — and that aspect of the job, that mercurial boundary — has always been something that I actually don’t want to play with at all…. It’s important to me in my real life to not have them.”
Badgley’s choice should be respected: Doing sex scenes shouldn’t a prerequisite for anyone’s acting career. However, it’s too easy to focus on the generalities of whether sex scenes are necessary, rather than the nuance: As sexual identity becomes a more expansive conversation,...
Badgley’s choice should be respected: Doing sex scenes shouldn’t a prerequisite for anyone’s acting career. However, it’s too easy to focus on the generalities of whether sex scenes are necessary, rather than the nuance: As sexual identity becomes a more expansive conversation,...
- 2/14/2023
- by Eric Kohn
- Indiewire
Jonathan Majors is quickly becoming one of the busiest actors in Hollywood. In addition to returning as Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania this weekend, he’ll square off against Michael B. Jordan in Creed III on March 3. As if that’s not enough, Majors plays Killian Maddox in Magazine Dreams, a buzz-worthy film recently picked up by Searchlight Pictures after its Sundance Film Festival premiere.
While everything is coming up Milhouse for Majors and Magazine Dreams, the same cannot be said about director Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person, which is going through hard times on its way to distribution. According to Puck, an email sent by agents Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Siberell of CAA, which represents Coda star Emilia Jones and screenwriter Michelle Ashford, there are “deep concerns” about a Netflix offer for the U.S. rights to the film. Failing to bring Cat Person stateside...
While everything is coming up Milhouse for Majors and Magazine Dreams, the same cannot be said about director Susanna Fogel’s Cat Person, which is going through hard times on its way to distribution. According to Puck, an email sent by agents Hildy Gottlieb and Brian Siberell of CAA, which represents Coda star Emilia Jones and screenwriter Michelle Ashford, there are “deep concerns” about a Netflix offer for the U.S. rights to the film. Failing to bring Cat Person stateside...
- 2/14/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Cat Person, the viral short story by Kristen Roupenian that first appeared in The New Yorker, can stoke the flames of discourse anew with the film adaptation from director Susanna Fogel. The premise remains the same: College student Margot (Emilia Jones) develops a mutual crush on 33-year-old townie Robert (Nicholas Braun). Yet when Margot’s attraction for him fizzles out, she becomes the target of Robert’s misogynistic rejection-fueled ire. Cinematographer Manuel Billeter tells Filmmaker about his experience working with Fogel and shooting the anticipated short story adaptation. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
The post “Weaving a Texture of Human Behavior”: Dp Manuel Billeter on Cat Person first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Weaving a Texture of Human Behavior”: Dp Manuel Billeter on Cat Person first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/28/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Cat Person, the viral short story by Kristen Roupenian that first appeared in The New Yorker, can stoke the flames of discourse anew with the film adaptation from director Susanna Fogel. The premise remains the same: College student Margot (Emilia Jones) develops a mutual crush on 33-year-old townie Robert (Nicholas Braun). Yet when Margot’s attraction for him fizzles out, she becomes the target of Robert’s misogynistic rejection-fueled ire. Cinematographer Manuel Billeter tells Filmmaker about his experience working with Fogel and shooting the anticipated short story adaptation. See all responses to our annual Sundance cinematographer interviews here. Filmmaker: How and why did […]
The post “Weaving a Texture of Human Behavior”: Dp Manuel Billeter on Cat Person first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
The post “Weaving a Texture of Human Behavior”: Dp Manuel Billeter on Cat Person first appeared on Filmmaker Magazine.
- 1/28/2023
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
The talk of the internet in late 2017, Kristen Roupenian’s New Yorker story about a date gone horribly awry lit a short-lived fire of discourse surrounding gender and power dynamics. About five years later does the big-screen adaptation arrive, and while it expands details of the original text in a few compelling ways, its new third-act addition calamitously renders the whole experience a pointless, heavy-handed, misjudged exercise that relies heavier on horror tropes than any sense of humanity.
As adapted by Michelle Ashford and directed by Susanna Fogel (The Spy Who Dumped Me), the approach is one of constant terror, conveying college student Margot’s (Emilia Jones) experience of getting to know the decade-plus-older Robert (Nicholas Braun) as one where she envisions the worst possible outcome at every turn. First meeting when he patronizes the movie-theater concession stand where she works, the two exchange numbers and begin a flirtatious texting...
As adapted by Michelle Ashford and directed by Susanna Fogel (The Spy Who Dumped Me), the approach is one of constant terror, conveying college student Margot’s (Emilia Jones) experience of getting to know the decade-plus-older Robert (Nicholas Braun) as one where she envisions the worst possible outcome at every turn. First meeting when he patronizes the movie-theater concession stand where she works, the two exchange numbers and begin a flirtatious texting...
- 1/26/2023
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
A limited series about Beverley Schottenstein’s legal case against her grandsons is in the works at HBO Max, Variety has learned exclusively.
The drama is based on the upcoming book “Beverley’s War: A Fractured Family Dynasty. Elder Abuse. Millions in Financial Fraud” by Cathy Schottenstein, which is set to be released in November.
Per the official logline, “Beverley Schottenstein said two grandsons who managed her money at JPMorgan forged documents, ran up commissions with inappropriate trading and made her miss tens of millions of dollars in gains. So she decided to teach them all a lesson.”
Julia Ruchman is attached to write and executive produce the series. Susanna Fogel will direct the pilot and executive produce.
Smriti Mundhra and Nina Anand Aujla of Meralta Films will also executive produce along with Gigi Pritzker for Madison Wells. Cathy Schottenstein will serve as co-executive producer.
Mundhra previously directed and produced the documentary short “St.
The drama is based on the upcoming book “Beverley’s War: A Fractured Family Dynasty. Elder Abuse. Millions in Financial Fraud” by Cathy Schottenstein, which is set to be released in November.
Per the official logline, “Beverley Schottenstein said two grandsons who managed her money at JPMorgan forged documents, ran up commissions with inappropriate trading and made her miss tens of millions of dollars in gains. So she decided to teach them all a lesson.”
Julia Ruchman is attached to write and executive produce the series. Susanna Fogel will direct the pilot and executive produce.
Smriti Mundhra and Nina Anand Aujla of Meralta Films will also executive produce along with Gigi Pritzker for Madison Wells. Cathy Schottenstein will serve as co-executive producer.
Mundhra previously directed and produced the documentary short “St.
- 1/25/2023
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Cat Person opens with the Margaret Atwood quote, “Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them.” It cuts to the heart of Kristen Roupenian’s short story adaptation in clashing thematic intent and tones. Playing as a romantic dramedy that frequently spills over into psychological horror, the warring ideas and genres result in a disjointed, bizarre, and often cringe-inducing exploration of the modern dating world.
Twenty-year-old Margot (Emilia Jones) is a sophomore in college living away from home and working a part-time gig at the concession stand of a local theater that regularly plays repertory horror. There, she meets frequent patron Robert (Nicholas Braun) and strikes up an awkward flirtation over Red Vines. That uncomfortable flirtation becomes clear to outside observers that the much older Robert most likely isn’t a suitable match for Margot. Still, the young woman forges ahead,...
Twenty-year-old Margot (Emilia Jones) is a sophomore in college living away from home and working a part-time gig at the concession stand of a local theater that regularly plays repertory horror. There, she meets frequent patron Robert (Nicholas Braun) and strikes up an awkward flirtation over Red Vines. That uncomfortable flirtation becomes clear to outside observers that the much older Robert most likely isn’t a suitable match for Margot. Still, the young woman forges ahead,...
- 1/23/2023
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
One of the most anticipated films of this year’s Sundance Film Festival was “Cat Person,” the feature adaptation of Kristen Roupenian’s viral New Yorker story of the same name. The Jan. 21 world premiere left the audience at the Eccles Theatre cringing and cackling at this dark look at modern dating.
Directed by Susanna Fogel from a screenplay by Michelle Ashford, “Cat Person” stars “Coda” breakout Emilia Jones and “Succession” favorite Nicholas Braun as a new couple whose lives get tangled together amid many red flags and miscommunications. Told from the point of view of Jones’ savvy college student Margot, her relationship with older local man Robert (Braun) starts out strained as, despite mutual attraction, their communication styles don’t match. But as their romance moves forward, the film touches upon contemporary discussions like the shifting nature of consent and honesty in relationships.
“We want to show people the...
Directed by Susanna Fogel from a screenplay by Michelle Ashford, “Cat Person” stars “Coda” breakout Emilia Jones and “Succession” favorite Nicholas Braun as a new couple whose lives get tangled together amid many red flags and miscommunications. Told from the point of view of Jones’ savvy college student Margot, her relationship with older local man Robert (Braun) starts out strained as, despite mutual attraction, their communication styles don’t match. But as their romance moves forward, the film touches upon contemporary discussions like the shifting nature of consent and honesty in relationships.
“We want to show people the...
- 1/22/2023
- by William Earl
- Variety Film + TV
Editor’s note: This review was originally published at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival. Rialto Pictures releases the film in theaters on Friday, October 6.
The final word of Kristen Roupenian’s viral 2017 New Yorker short story “Cat Person” is a gut-punch, a fitting capper on 7,000-or-so words that alternate between the hilariously true and the painfully honest. As short stories go, Roupenian’s was a winner, a discomfiting tale that turned played-out romantic tropes (he’s awkward! she’s cute!) into something far richer and wiser. It follows the seemingly ill-fated and short-lived affair between college student Margot and older man (but not too much older) Robert as it dips from sweet to scary, awkward to downright creepy. For many women, it felt terribly, painfully familiar, and that it ended the way it did, with that single horrible word, was just perfect.
One small problem for the inevitable film adaptation: that...
The final word of Kristen Roupenian’s viral 2017 New Yorker short story “Cat Person” is a gut-punch, a fitting capper on 7,000-or-so words that alternate between the hilariously true and the painfully honest. As short stories go, Roupenian’s was a winner, a discomfiting tale that turned played-out romantic tropes (he’s awkward! she’s cute!) into something far richer and wiser. It follows the seemingly ill-fated and short-lived affair between college student Margot and older man (but not too much older) Robert as it dips from sweet to scary, awkward to downright creepy. For many women, it felt terribly, painfully familiar, and that it ended the way it did, with that single horrible word, was just perfect.
One small problem for the inevitable film adaptation: that...
- 1/22/2023
- by Kate Erbland
- Indiewire
In the wickedly ambiguous Sundance conversation-starter “Cat Person,” two singles a half-generation apart see their relationship quite differently. Even the word “relationship” is relative. Margot (Emilia Jones), a 20-year-old sophomore, works the concession stand at a repertory theater, where she flirts with a patron (Nicholas Braun of “Succession”) who looks kinda like a young Nicolas Cage. Not “Valley Girl” young. More like “Wild at Heart”-era Nicolas Cage, minus the charisma. Margot describes him as “tall, dark and … problematic” to her roommate. Still, she’s intrigued enough to give him her number. The two start to text, sending what could aptly be called “mixed messages,” and things get complicated.
A co-writer on Gen Z coming-of-ager “Booksmart,” director Susanna Fogel likes complicated. Back in 2017, “Cat Person” originated as a fiction entry in The New Yorker, but quickly became something more. Long before anyone thought of adapting it to the big screen,...
A co-writer on Gen Z coming-of-ager “Booksmart,” director Susanna Fogel likes complicated. Back in 2017, “Cat Person” originated as a fiction entry in The New Yorker, but quickly became something more. Long before anyone thought of adapting it to the big screen,...
- 1/22/2023
- by Peter Debruge
- Variety Film + TV
It will not surprise anybody that the centerpiece of Cat Person — an adaptation of the viral New Yorker short story by Kristen Roupenian, the literary lit-fuse that launched a million response articles and the sun’s-surface–hot ticket at Sundance — is a sex scene. It is as inevitable as the fact that it will be a “bad sex” scene, regardless of whether it is a badly-made sex scene or not. The only question is to the level of awfulness you will witness when the two people at the center of...
- 1/22/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Like most viral internet obsessions heralded as evidence of the zeitgeist, Kristen Roupenian’s “Cat Person” was more cultural litmus test than anything else.
The short story, published in The New Yorker during the winter of 2017, was met with almost vertiginous levels of fanfare and debate. On one side: applause for Roupenian’s blunt portrayal of 21st-century dating, which mirrored the confessional verve of a New York Magazine “Sex Diaries” column. On the other: eye-rolls directed at the hype machine, criticisms aimed at the writer’s style, complaints filed from offended parties.
The story, a provocative tale of a curdling romance between a college sophomore and a man more than a decade her senior, was obscured in the cacophony of the discourse. The conversation — on the merits of the story, on why it elicited such a strong reaction, on what it says about communication — spiraled, and the plot was lost.
The short story, published in The New Yorker during the winter of 2017, was met with almost vertiginous levels of fanfare and debate. On one side: applause for Roupenian’s blunt portrayal of 21st-century dating, which mirrored the confessional verve of a New York Magazine “Sex Diaries” column. On the other: eye-rolls directed at the hype machine, criticisms aimed at the writer’s style, complaints filed from offended parties.
The story, a provocative tale of a curdling romance between a college sophomore and a man more than a decade her senior, was obscured in the cacophony of the discourse. The conversation — on the merits of the story, on why it elicited such a strong reaction, on what it says about communication — spiraled, and the plot was lost.
- 1/22/2023
- by Lovia Gyarkye
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It’s unheard of for a short story to go viral, but Kristen Roupenian’s “Cat Person,” published in The New Yorker in December 2017, hit a raw nerve, arriving at the height of the #MeToo movement a couple of months after the bombshell revelations about Harvey Weinstein inspired a cultural reckoning about sex and power. “Cat Person” was a self-reflective, first-person narrative that explored the awkward gender and sexual power dynamics in a dalliance between a college sophomore and an older man she meets working at a movie theater.
Roupenian’s “Cat Person” served as a mirror to the reader, many of whom could relate to the uncomfortable feelings that Roupenian laid bare, others who perhaps questioned their own actions and choices they may have recognized in her prose. That kind of reflection made “Cat Person” a discourse-generating machine, which revved into gear again in 2021 when Alexis Nowicki wrote an...
Roupenian’s “Cat Person” served as a mirror to the reader, many of whom could relate to the uncomfortable feelings that Roupenian laid bare, others who perhaps questioned their own actions and choices they may have recognized in her prose. That kind of reflection made “Cat Person” a discourse-generating machine, which revved into gear again in 2021 when Alexis Nowicki wrote an...
- 1/22/2023
- by Katie Walsh
- The Wrap
For her third feature film, “Cat Person,” which plays in the Premieres section of Sundance Film Festival, director Susanna Fogel and screenwriter Michelle Ashford felt strongly that the film should be the “next instalment in the conversation that we’ve been having with these films that have dealt with issues of gender, relationships, consent, sexuality and dating over the past several years,” Fogel tells Variety.
There has been a “crop of movies that spoke of this moment in the zeitgeist by presenting this sort of revenge feminism, where the woman is avenging the years of oppression and the men are put in their place, and it’s more of a binary between women and men in terms of women taking the power back and men being chastized for their cultural role,” she says.
They wanted to ask themselves: “What’s the next move in that conversation?,” she says, and try...
There has been a “crop of movies that spoke of this moment in the zeitgeist by presenting this sort of revenge feminism, where the woman is avenging the years of oppression and the men are put in their place, and it’s more of a binary between women and men in terms of women taking the power back and men being chastized for their cultural role,” she says.
They wanted to ask themselves: “What’s the next move in that conversation?,” she says, and try...
- 1/21/2023
- by Tara Karajica
- Variety Film + TV
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