Latest in The Contenders L.A.

Apple TV Plus only launched yesterday, but the tech giant’s new streaming service is already home to some awards-contending films. Hala, from writer-director Minhal Baig, tells the story of a Pakistani-American girl named Hala (Geraldine Viswanathan), who struggles to forge her own identity and explore her sexuality…

Neon brought the films Parasite and Clemency to The Contenders Los Angeles on Saturday. Parasite is a Korean con artist film that won the Palme d'Or at Cannes this year. Clemency is an American drama about a death row warden that won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance this year. The connection is that both filmmakers…

Fox Searchlight Pictures enters the awards conversation this year with a pair of stories set during World War II that are radically different in tone. With Jojo Rabbit, director Taika Waititi manages to create dark satire out of the story of 10-year-old Jojo (newcomer Roman Griffin Davis), who participates in Hitler…

What do you think of the idea of the beloved Little Women — Meg, Jo, Beth and Amy — as material girls? On today's Sony Pictures panel at Deadline’s The Contenders Los Angeles, Little Women writer-director Greta Gerwig said she wanted to bring out the power of money over women's choices in Little Women's Victorian…

Disney presented panels on Frozen 2 and Avengers: Endgame at The Contenders Los Angeles today. Both sets of filmmakers spoke to the secret ingredients that make each franchise such a success. First, Frozen 2 producer Peter Del Vecho spoke about what makes Anna and Elsa the perfect pair of princesses. "Anna is very…

Paramount presented the Elton John biopic Rocketman at The Contenders Los Angeles today. Director Dexter Fletcher and star Taron Egerton were there to speak about representing the singer's life as a musical set to his catalog. Sir Elton was involved in developing the film and throughout the making of it. Egerton felt…

According to a recent survey, only 17 percent of Americans say they can trust the government to do the right thing. That figure is unlikely to increase once audiences get a look at some buzz worthy films coming soon from Amazon Studios, The Report and Seberg. Both films, based on true stories, focus on shocking…

Netflix presented three original films at Deadline's The Contenders Los Angeles today. Marriage Story, The Irishman and The Two Popes each tackle a different sort of true story, and use different techniques to accomplish them. Marriage Story is fictional, but reflects the realities of divorce many families…

According to star Jamie Foxx, the upcoming movie Just Mercy has the scent of authenticity. Let us explain. Foxx portrays real-life character Walter McMillian, who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a white woman in Monroeville, AL. He was released in 1993 after spending six years on…

Exploring the spectacular feats of two automotive mavericks in Ford v Ferrari, James Mangold felt a deep connection to the experiences of his protagonists. "I think that the predicaments and the frustrations of these characters, I recognized in our own world, as the fight to get something new or different made, in a…

After making ParaNorman—the "zombie movie for kids," which served as his first feature—writer/director Chris Butler wanted to go in an entirely different direction, artistically. "The next thing I wanted to try was a big, bold, colorful adventure movie—stepping out of the shadows, if you like," Butler said at The…

Note to would-be directors of animated features: get your composer involved from the start. That was one of the key observations from The Contenders L.A. DreamWorks Animation panel Saturday, that featured filmmaking talent behind How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World and Abominable. "I try to put get [composer]…