Month: April 2021

‘Mank’ Wins Oscar for Best Cinematography

MANK Accepts the Oscar for Cinematography

Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt received the statuette at the Academy Awards for his work on Mank.

He had already won the American Society of Cinematographers’ Award for Outstanding Achievement in Cinematography in Feature Film, and the Satellite Award.

The other nominees were Joshua James Richards (Nomadland), Dariusz Wolski (News of the World), Sean Bobbitt (Judas and the Black Messiah), and Phedon Papamichael (The Trial of the Chicago 7).

Mank was nominated in 10 categories: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Production Design, Cinematography, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Original Score. Production Designer Donald Graham Burt and Set Decorator Jan Pascale also won in the category of Best Production Design.

Erik’s acceptance speech:

“Wow! I wish I could cut this into five pieces because it’s such an honor to be nominated amongst all of you. It’s an incredible honor. David, thank you for creating an environment where we could do our best work. I got to go home and feel like I gave it my all, every night (David Fincher: ‘You did’). Ceán [Chaffin], thank you for the endless support. Eric Roth, thank you for the guidance. Amanda, Gary, what a privilege and a joy to watch you work. The entire cast, thank you for hitting your marks. It mattered! This really belongs to an extraordinary crew who I could not do anything without: Brian, Will, Alex, Dave, Gary, Dwayne, Danny, Jerry, and all of your team. You make my job easy. Thank you. And thank you to my beautiful wife, Naiara, who tolerates this crazy business and helped me get through this movie. So thank you so much. Thank you.”

MANK’s Thank You Cam Speech: Production Design

Erik Messerschmidt Backstage Interview

Erik Messerschmidt ‘Oscars: After Dark’ Winner Interview

‘Mank’ Wins Oscar for Best Production Design

MANK Accepts the Oscar for Production Design

Production Designer Donald Graham Burt and Set Decorator Jan Pascale received the statuette at the Academy Awards for their work on Mank.

They had already won the Art Directors Guild Award for Excellence in Production Design, Best Picture and Best Achievement in Decor/Design of a Period Feature Film at the inaugural Set Decorators Society of America Awards, a BAFTA Award and a Critics’ Choice Award.

The other nominees were Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom (Production Designer Mark Ricker, Set Decorators Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton), The Father (Production Designer Peter Francis, Set Decorator Cathy Featherstone), News of the World (Production Designer David Crank, Set Decorator Elizabeth Keenan), and Tenet (Production Designer Nathan Crowley, Set Decorator Kathy Lucas).

Mank was nominated in 10 categories: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Supporting Actress, Production Design, Cinematography, Costume Design, Makeup and Hairstyling, Sound and Original Score. Director of Photography Erik Messerschmidt also won in the category of Best Cinematography.

Pascale had been previously nominated in 2006, for her work on George Clooney‘s Good Night, and Good Luck (another black & white film) but this was Burt’s second Oscar, after his triumph in 2008 with David Fincher‘s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, so he let Pascale have the full time for her acceptance speech:

“It’s a long way down here! First of all, thank you to David Fincher, Ceán Chaffin, and Don Burt, for trusting me with this amazing project. It was such an honor to work with such an amazing group of people. Thank you to my crew, who worked their tails off on this just to make it right. When I was young, I never realized that this was a career that was even a possibility. There were so many people who helped me along the way, and guided me, and I’m so grateful to all of them, and especially to my wife, Louise, who inspires me every day. Thank you so much.”

Don Burt could give his speech in the backstage:

MANK’s Thank You Cam Speech: Production Design

The Art of Production Design: A Panel Discussion with the Oscar Nominees

Thomas Walsh, Jan Pascale
April 24, 2021
Variety / American Cinematheque

Join us for a panel discussion with this year’s Academy Award-nominated production designers and set decorators. Nominated films are: MANK (production design: Donald Graham Burt; set decoration: Jan Pascale), MA RAINEY’S BLACK BOTTOM (production design: Mark Ricker; set decoration: Karen O’Hara and Diana Stoughton), NEWS OF THE WORLD (production design: David Crank; set decoration: Elizabeth Keenan), TENET (production design: Nathan Crowley; set decoration: Kathy Lucas) and THE FATHER (production design: Peter Francis; set decoration: Cathy Featherstone). Moderated by Thomas A. Walsh and Jan Pascale Presented by the American Cinematheque and the Art Directors Guild and Set Decorators Society of America. Sponsored by Variety.

How ‘Mank’s’ Production Designer Recreated Old Hollywood

Bianca Rae, Los Angeles
April 21, 2021
Spectrum News 1

Since his early life, production designer Donald Graham Burt never really had his eyes on Hollywood.

Burt grew up in Kansas and became a janitor right after college, but after living in Los Angeles for 40 years, he now has the chance at winning his second Academy Award.

“There are so many places in LA that are undiscovered, and sometimes they’re in the periphery and you don’t even notice them because you’re looking at the other things,” he said.

LA, however, does see Burt. In all his glory, like the Huntington Library Art Museum and Botanical Gardens — the gem that helped him embark on a nearly impossible journey to recreate old Hollywood.

Read the full article and watch the featurette

How ‘Mank’ Cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt Illuminated a Monochrome Palette

We pull back the curtain on David Fincher’s nod to Citizen Kane.

Daron James
April 23, 2021
No Film School

Heading into Oscar weekend, Mank cinematographer Erik Messerschmidt, a first-time nominee and ASC winner, is already deep into his next project. The Emerson College grad earned his chops as a best boy and gaffer before moving into cinematography full-time.

He spoke with No Film School via phone about working on one of this year’s biggest films.

It was the series Mindhunter where Messerschmidt teamed with director David Fincher, pushing the boundaries of digital workflows. With Mank, audiences are taken back in time to the 1930s as the story follows how Citizen Kane screenwriter Herman J. Mankiewicz (Gary Oldman) finishes the screenplay for Orson Welles in a gripping biographical drama.

Read the full profile

FIDM Online Lecture Series: Setting the Scene, Inside the World of Mank

Tom Henkenius
April 19, 2021
FIDM Museum / Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising

Join us for a live Q&A with Production Designer Donald Graham Burt and Set Decorator Jan Pascale about their Academy Award nomination for Best Production Design on the hit Netflix film Mank, nominated for 10 Academy Awards this year including Best Picture, Best Director (David Fincher), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Gary Oldman), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Amanda Seyfried), and Best Costume Design (FIDM Grad Trish Summerville).

About Your Moderator, Tom Henkenius: Tom is an Emmy award-winning broadcast journalist, director of FIDM’s Bachelor of Arts degree in digital marketing and principal partner at Thunder Communications, a content production company. Tom spent 10 years as a television news journalist after graduating from USC Annenberg. Tom holds a Master’s of Science from USC’s Iovine and Young Academy in Integrated Design, Business and Technology.

SBIFF 2021: Outstanding Directors of the Year Award Panel

Scott Feinberg
April 3, 2021
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival Outstanding Directors of the Year Award is given to directors not afraid to push the envelope in the cinematic world, with an expertise that is both gracious and bold.

Moderated by The Hollywood Reporter Awards Columnist Scott Feinberg, the recipients are:

Chloé Zhao (Nomadland)
David Fincher (Mank)
Lee Isaac Chung (Minari)
Thomas Vinterberg (Another Round)

Watch the full panel in the following playlist:

Ethan Hawke and David Fincher present the Montecito Award to Amanda Seyfried at Santa Barbara Film Festival

Anne Thompson
April 9, 2021
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)

At the 36th Annual Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Amanda Seyfried was presented with the Montecito Award by her “First Reformed” co-star Ethan Hawke and “Mank” director David Fincher, who both shared their respect and admiration for the star.

Amanda Seyfried Discusses Mank, Gary Oldman & David Fincher

SBIFF 2021: Producers Panel

Glenn Whipp
April 3, 2021
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival annual Producers Panel moderated by the Los Angeles Times’ Glenn Whipp, assembles top producers to dig into the business and creative sides of producing the year’s top films. Panelists include multi-hyphenate Shaka King (“Judas and the Black Messiah“), Christina Oh (“Minari“), Ceán Chaffin (“Mank“), Dan Janvey (“Nomadland“), David Parfitt (“The Father“), Josey McNamara (“Promising Young Woman“), Marc Platt (“The Trial of the Chicago 7“), and Sacha Ben Harroche (“Sound of Metal“).

SBIFF 2021: Variety Artisan Award. Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Donald Graham Burt, and Jan Pascale

Jazz Tangcay
April 5, 2021
Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF)

Variety’s seventh annual Artisan Awards celebrates those essential to the filmmaking process and who have exhibited the most exciting and innovative work of the year in their respective fields.

The Variety Artisans Award were presented to Editor Alan Baumgarten (The Trial of the Chicago 7), Supervising Sound Editor Nicolas Becker (Sound of Metal), Costume Designer Alexandra Byrne (Emma), Production Designer Donald Graham Burt and Set Decorator Jan Pascale (Mank), Visual Effects Supervisor Sean Faden (Mulan), Hair Department Head Mia Neal (Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom), Actor and Musician Leslie Odom Jr. (One Night in Miami), Musicians Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (Mank, Soul), Cinematographer Joshua James Richards (Nomadland).