Columns
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Widow’s Bay and the Genre Jump Scare
In recent years, a trend has emerged in horror: auteurs have moved into the genre after first establishing themselves in sketch comedy. In 2018, Jordan Peele of Key & Peele won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Get Out, his feature directorial debut (which he would follow up with 2019’s Us and 2022’s Nope). This year, Amy Madigan won Best Supporting Actress for her devious turn in the horror film Weapons, the second feature from Zach Cregger (after 2022’s Barbarian), a founding member of the comedy troupe The Whitest Kids U’ Know. There’s clearly a connection between comedy and horror. Both genres succeed by getting a response—a laugh […]
by Tyler Coates
in Considerations
on May 29, 2026 -
Ready or Not, the Emmys Are Coming
To quote Schitt’s Creek’s Moira Rose: My favorite season? Awards. And for some of us, it’s a year-round venture. Weeks before the Academy Awards took place on March 15, I began tracking the dozens of shows that would soon be campaigning for Emmys. The Emmys take place each year in September, but like its cinematic counterpart, the preparation begins many months earlier. After all, Oscar futures are currently being debated as Cannes rolls into its second week. Similarly, the Emmy luncheons, billboards, screenings, and Q&As have been in the works for a long time already. But we’re now in the […]
by Tyler Coates
in Considerations
on May 20, 2026 -
Making Sense of Lynn Hershman Leeson’s Monumental Life’s Work
Last year, I stumbled on a bootleg copy of Twists in the Cord (1994), an experimental documentary shot on video by Lynn Hershman Leeson. I’ve followed the prolific artist for years, but I had never heard of the piece until it appeared in a search result when I was looking for something else. It’s classic Leeson, depicting technology as a catalyst to subvert identity and authenticity. She was an established—if unsung—artist in the 1970s when she started making films and videos, and her just-published memoir, Private I, reveals this turn was less of a second act than a lifelong pull […]
by Joanne McNeil
in Speculations
on Apr 22, 2026 -
Silver Linings Playbook: Meet the New Indie Distributors
Has there ever been a good time to launch an independent film distribution company? Maybe not, admits Danielle DiGiacomo, former executive at Utopia and The Orchard, and one of the partners at a new distribution outfit launched at Sundance called Subtext. “We’ve always been operating under the shadow of giants, and it’s always been an uphill battle,” she says. “But we think the market has been correcting itself over the last few years,” says Subtext co-head Brian Levy. “And that we are now on the precipice of fertile ground for new opportunities.” Subtext is not alone. In the past several […]
by Anthony Kaufman
in Industry Beat
on Mar 30, 2026 -
For Once, the Oscars Are Unpredictable
As we come to the end of a long awards season—the Oscars are, miraculously, less than two weeks away, and final voting closes this Thursday—it’s remarkable that the race feels as up-in-the-air as it did many months ago, before the contenders began screening for pundits and voters. The sure-things have now become the maybes; there’s only one performer whose acting trophy is a sure thing. I take pride in my ability to predict the winners at the Academy Awards. It’s a dubious skill I’ve been honing ever since I won my local video store’s Oscar pool back in high school. […]
by Tyler Coates
in Considerations
on Mar 3, 2026 -
“I’m a Reactor”: Stellan Skarsgård, Back To One, Episode 382
Stellan Skarsgård is a celebrated Swedish actor whose career spans more than five decades across European and Hollywood cinema. He first gained attention in Scandinavia before becoming an international screen presence in films such as Breaking the Waves and Good Will Hunting. He went on to deliver acclaimed performances in movies like The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Dune, Dune Part 2, and television series like Andor and Chernobyl. In his latest, Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value, Skarsgård gifts us with perhaps his most robust and richest work in the form of Gustav, a once-prominent filmmaker struggling to mend fractured ties with his daughters. On this episode, he details the environment […]
by Peter Rinaldi
in Back to One
on Feb 26, 2026 -
How a Controversial BAFTA Broadcast Scrambled the Oscar Race
The Academy Awards are still three weeks away, but this is a vital week for the contenders. We’re approaching the end of campaigning, with the final Oscar voting opening on Feb. 26 and closing March 5. In between those dates are two key precursors: the Producer’s Guild Awards on Feb. 28 and the Actor Awards (formerly the SAG Awards) on March 1. Both events have strong—though not infallible—track records of foretelling the eventual Oscar winners. If Sunday’s BAFTAs ceremony proved anything, it’s that surprises and upsets can still happen. I’m not talking about the controversy that overshadowed the ceremony when […]
by Tyler Coates
in Considerations
on Feb 24, 2026 -
The Indie Spirits Flip the Oscar Script
In a big studio-backed awards season, it’s rare to see much overlap between the Film Independent Spirit Awards and the Oscars. A west coast cousin of sorts to the Gotham Awards, the Indie Spirits often celebrate the movies that the Academy skipped over with its nominations. The ceremony itself is also more fun (there’s some day-drinking involved) than the more staid guild awards that dot the homestretch ahead of the similarly serious Academy Awards. Having said that, the Indie Spirits still matter quite a bit to campaign strategists and the people who employ them. They take place in the heart […]
by Tyler Coates
in Considerations
on Feb 17, 2026 -
“I Feel Like It’s Very Sacred, What Happens Between the Camera and You”: Samantha Smart, Back To One, Episode 380
Samantha Smart is the lead actress, writer and producer of Charliebird, the feature debut of director Libby Ewing, which won the top prize at the 2025 Tribeca Festival, calling it “a deeply affecting portrait featuring grounded and complex performances.” On this episode, Smart describes the process of writing it, getting to a crisis point of wondering if she could still play the character she was creating for herself, and miraculously finding young Gabriela Ochoa Perez who skillfully plays Charlie. She details the fine-tuning that needed to happen with the central scene, how the camera operator’s energy affects actors, talks about her […]
by Peter Rinaldi
in Back to One
on Feb 17, 2026 -
“Anything I’ve Enjoyed Doing in My Career I Can Trace Back to a Little Thing That I Did, a Little Step That I Took”: Sarah Coffey, Back To One, Episode 379
Sarah Coffey starred as Eva Shapiro in the feature film 31 Candles, and instantly made her an iconic romanic comedy character. She can also be seen in Queens Of The Dead, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival last year. And her viral success as a comedian led to a role in Stapleview, the first-ever fully produced live sketch show on TikTok. On this episode, she talks about the blessings and drawbacks of finding a spotlight through her own online content. She takes us back to her early days, discovering an early love of singing, and talks about how that […]
by Peter Rinaldi
in Back to One
on Feb 10, 2026
