Industry & Labor

BATON ROUGE, La. (KTVE/KARD) — Two creative industry partners in Louisiana have received a $220,372 grant from the state. According to the state, The New Orleans Video Access Center (NOVAC) and the Local 478 of IATSE, the International Alliance of Theatrical State Employees, will share the grant from Louisiana’s new Entertainment Development Fund.

Leaders of the DGA, SAG-AFTRA and IATSE have sent a letter to congressional leaders urging them to work with President Joe Biden to pass the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act, saying that it will provide “much-needed relief for the current crisis and address long-standing vulnerabilities in our economy.”

IndieWire reached out to the cinematographers whose films are in awards contention and among the most critically acclaimed films of the year to find out which cameras and lenses they used and, more importantly, why these were the right tools to create the visual language of their respective films.

The honorees for this year's ECAs have been announced.

The International Cinematographers Guild (IATSE Local 600) announced 10 honorees for its annual Emerging Cinematographer Awards, which aim to spotlight promising cinematographers. Due to the pandemic, the 2020 honorees, as well as this year recipients, will be recognized during a virtual presentation this fall.

“When I first read it, I was quite scared of it,” admits cinematographer Tobias Schliessler of “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” The script was adapted from the play by late playwright August Wilson, and its stage origins meant that the majority of the story takes place within two rooms.

Publicists with the International Cinematographers Guild have canceled their annual awards luncheon to instead support their Local 600 Hardship Fund amid the pandemic.

A Q&A webinar with Simmons is scheduled for Feb. 28, from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. For more information, visit www.casa01001.org

Join ICG Magazine/ICG Local 600 for our next "Deep Dive" with Amazon Studio's One Night in Miami... on February 21.

Watching Spike Lee’s latest joint Da 5 Bloods, you’re immediately taken aback by how NOW it feels. How immediately it renders right in front of you. His film blends a decades-old story with all of the aggression, angst, and anguish of the modern day Black Lives Matter movement. As I’ve said in my review, it feels as if Spike finished editing it moments before you hit play on Netflix.

Telling the true-life story of Black Panther Party leader Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya), “Judas and the Black Messiah” leans on historical authenticity. That was important to director Shaka King, who spent years researching Hampton and William O’Neal (LaKeith Stanfield), the FBI informant involved in the 1969 assassination of 21-year-old Hampton.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Animation Guild (IATSE Local 839) and the Black Artists Group will host a webinar on February 16 that will explore the contributions of Black animation pioneers.