This Machine News

‘Billie Eilish’ Director R.J. Cutler To Receive Pennebaker Honor At Critics Choice Documentary Awards
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

‘Billie Eilish’ Director R.J. Cutler To Receive Pennebaker Honor At Critics Choice Documentary Awards

Emmy-winning filmmaker R.J. Cutler will be presented with the Pennebaker Award at the Critics Choice Documentary Awards, honoring lifetime achievement, the Critics Choice Association announced Thursday. The presentation will take place Sunday, November 14, as part of the sixth annual edition of the documentary awards show, at BRIC in Brooklyn. During the event the Critics Choice group will hand out a slew of competitive awards, including Best Documentary Feature, Best Director and Best First Documentary Feature.

Read More
‘Supreme Models’ Lands At YouTube
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

‘Supreme Models’ Lands At YouTube

Supreme Models, which premieres in fall 2022, is inspired by Marcellas Reynolds’ book Supreme Models: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Fashion. It is a six-part series that will pay tribute to the Black women who broke down barriers and transformed the fashion and beauty industries. It comes from R.J. Cutler’s This Machine and supermodel Iman, and is exec produced by Cutler, Iman, Marcellas Reynolds, Trevor Smith, Jane Cha Cutler, Douglas Keeve, Rolake Bamgbose, and Donny Jackson.

Read More
The Rough Cut Podcast: ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ Editors Greg Finton and Lindsay Utz
The Rough Cut Podcast Trevor Smith The Rough Cut Podcast Trevor Smith

The Rough Cut Podcast: ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ Editors Greg Finton and Lindsay Utz

Editors Greg Finton ACE and Lindsay Utz ACE hadn’t worked together prior to Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, but they each had plenty of experience in the world of unscripted storytelling to bring to the table for director R.J. Cutler’s film. The story centers around singer-songwriter Billie Eilish and reveals the behind the scenes creation process of her debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

Read More
‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry' Receives 4 Emmy Nominations

‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry' Receives 4 Emmy Nominations

Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry has received 4 Emmy nominations in the following categories: Outstanding Picture Editing For A Nonfiction Program, Outstanding Music Direction, Outstanding Sound Editing For A Nonfiction Or Reality Program (Single Or Multi-Camera) and Outstanding Sound Mixing For A Nonfiction Or Reality Program (Single or Multi-Camera).

Read More
Director R.J. Cutler Talks ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ & The Beauty Of Cinéma Vérité [The Playlist Podcast]
The Playlist Trevor Smith The Playlist Trevor Smith

Director R.J. Cutler Talks ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ & The Beauty Of Cinéma Vérité [The Playlist Podcast]

Unless you’ve been living under a proverbial rock, you’re probably well aware of the name Billie Eilish. The young singer has become one of the biggest names in the music industry and has a legion of devoted fans around the world. But even if you’re completely unfamiliar with the work of Eilish, you’ll still probably really enjoy the recent documentary, “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry.”

Read More
Netflix Orders R.J. Cutler-Directed Docu Series Based On Book ‘Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise Of Juul’
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

Netflix Orders R.J. Cutler-Directed Docu Series Based On Book ‘Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise Of Juul’

Netflix has ordered a documentary series based on Big Vape: The Incendiary Rise of Juul, the new Henry Holt book by Time Magazine correspondent Jamie Ducharme. Series will be directed and executive produced by R.J. Cutler, who’s coming off the Showtime docu Belushi and Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry for Apple TV+ and Neon. Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will be exec producers for Amblin Television, alongside Elise Pearlstein and Trevor Smith for This Machine, and Ian Orefice and Rebecca Teitel for Time Studios.

Read More
Trust with his subject takes R.J. Cutler’s Billie Eilish film to a new level of intimacy
The Los Angeles Times Trevor Smith The Los Angeles Times Trevor Smith

Trust with his subject takes R.J. Cutler’s Billie Eilish film to a new level of intimacy

interchangeable. But producer-director R.J. Cutler went back to the source to inspire his Apple TV+ project “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.” The two-hour, 20-minute film, which premiered in February, tracks the teenage Eilish and her older brother Finneas as they write and record her debut album in a now-famous cramped bedroom studio. The camera follows closely as Eilish performs a string of concerts and eventually triumphs at the Grammy Awards amid all the stress and insecurities of adolescence, amplified by eruptive stardom.

Read More
‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ Director R.J. Cutler On His Intimate Portrait Of Young Artist: “We See The Full Picture”
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ Director R.J. Cutler On His Intimate Portrait Of Young Artist: “We See The Full Picture”

Singer-songwriter Billie Eilish is not even out of her teens and she has already won awards in the Grammys’ top four categories: Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, and Best New Artist. She’s achieved something else rare for someone her age—having a documentary made about her by a major filmmaker. Emmy winner R.J. Cutler went behind the lens for Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry, the Apple TV+ film that’s now in contention for Emmy consideration.

Read More
Epix Lands R.J. Cutler & Imagine Documentaries’ ‘Murf The Surf’ On Jewel Thief Jack Roland Murphy
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

Epix Lands R.J. Cutler & Imagine Documentaries’ ‘Murf The Surf’ On Jewel Thief Jack Roland Murphy

Epix has landed Murf the Surf, the four-part docuseries from Imagine Documentaries and R.J. Cutler’s This Machine, about the famed jewel thief Jack Roland Murphy. Cutler, the two-time Emmy winner who’s coming off the docus Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry and Belushi, wrote and directed the series. Epix has greenlit the true crime saga, which gets up and close and personal with America’s most infamous jewel thief. Cutler’s producing with his longtime producing partner Trevor Smith along with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Justin Wilkes and Sara Bernstein for Imagine and Elise Pearlstein for This Machine.

Read More
‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’: How R.J. Cutler Captured “Poets Of Their Moment”
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’: How R.J. Cutler Captured “Poets Of Their Moment”

Paul McCartney once told a Liverpool High School class that when it comes to songwriting, “‘I don’t know how to do this.” Of course, that’s only because songwriting comes so natural to him. While deconstructing songwriting might be a challenge to the great Beatle, sometimes there’s a lot to learn simply by watching the greats do it. And that’s the biggest takeaway in R.J. Cutler’s AppleTV+ documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry.

Read More
‘Dear…’ Nominated For Critics Choice Real TV Award
Deadline Trevor Smith Deadline Trevor Smith

‘Dear…’ Nominated For Critics Choice Real TV Award

“As the number of platforms continues to grow, the quality of unscripted television programming has skyrocketed, and we are thrilled to be able to recognize so much great work, especially at the end of a year when this content was needed more than ever,” said Critics Choice Association CEO Joey Berlin in a statement.

Read More
Netflix Lands Martha Stewart Documentary From ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’ Director R.J. Cutler
Variety Trevor Smith Variety Trevor Smith

Netflix Lands Martha Stewart Documentary From ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’ Director R.J. Cutler

Netflix has emerged the winner of a bake-off for a documentary about the life and times of media mogul Martha Stewart. Oscar-nominated director R.J. Cutler had been shopping a sizzle reel of the all-access look at the history of America’s preeminent hostess in recent weeks. Netflix closed the deal late last week, according to insiders.

Read More
Frame & Reference Podcast: ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ DP Jenna Rosher
Trevor Smith Trevor Smith

Frame & Reference Podcast: ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry’ DP Jenna Rosher

On todays episode of the Frame & Reference Podcast, Kenny talks with Jenna Rosher about DP'ing the new documentary “Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry.” In this new Apple TV+ show we get an intimate look at Billie Eilish’s journey as she navigated life on the road, on stage and at home all while creating her debut album. Jenna has shot a number of music documentaries including “Dave Matthews Band: Stand Up” and “Inside Out: Trey and Dave Go To Africa” as well as the documentary “Robin Williams: Come Inside My Mind.”

Read More