This Machine News
Elton John Documentary ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ Lands At Disney In Mega Deal For Hybrid Release
Disney Original Documentary and Disney+ have won the rights to a big feature documentary package, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances And the Years That Made His Legend. No one would comment, but we hear the docu, from Academy Award-nominee R.J. Cutler as well as filmmaker (and longtime Elton John partner) David Furnish, sold for about $30 million.
Elton John to Get the Official Documentary Treatment With ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’
After getting his own blockbuster biopic, Elton John will be fêted with an official documentary, Goodbye Yellow Brick Road: The Final Elton John Performances and the Years That Made His Legend.
Co-directed by R.J. Cutler and filmmaker — and John’s husband — David Furnish, the movie will be centered around John’s farewell tour, while also looking back at 1970 to 1975, the monumental period when John released 10 albums and scored some of his biggest hits. The doc will also include an array of unseen concert footage from the past 50 years, as well as John’s handwritten journals and present-day footage of the musician and his family.
‘Dear…’ Team On How Series Profiles Icons And The People Who Send Them Heartfelt Letters
The world has come to recognize the supreme talent of Viola Davis, the Oscar- and Emmy-winning actress. But she had to overcome huge obstacles to achieve her success, growing up poor in Central Falls, Rhode Island.
The enormity of those obstacles becomes strikingly clear in an episode of the Apple TV+ documentary series Dear… that’s devoted to Davis. Now in its second season, the show profiles a different entertainer, activist or athlete in each installment, built around letters written to the trailblazers by members of the public inspired by their example.
Documentary Director R.J. Cutler Expands His Development and Production Team
This Machine, the production company founded by veteran documentary director and producer R.J. Cutler, has bolstered its development and production team with four new hires. Cutler, the Emmy Award-winning director behind docus including “The September Issue,” “Belushi” and most recently with “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry,” launched This Machine in 2020 with an investment from Los Angeles-based Industrial Media.
In Deleted Scene From Oscar-Contender ‘Billie Eilish,’ Young Pop Star Sings From The Rafters Of Radio City Music Hall
The Oscar-shortlisted documentary Billie Eilish: The World’s A Little Blurry follows the young singer-songwriter’s rise from unknown to worldwide fame. But in a deleted scene from the R.J. Cutler film, Eilish rises to even greater heights – about five stories up inside Radio City Music Hall.
ACE Eddie Awards Nominations - BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY
The American Cinema Editors has spliced together the nominees for its 72nd annual ACE Eddie Awards. Trophies will be presented during the guild’s awards ceremony on March 5 at the Theatre at the Ace Hotel in Los Angeles. The half-capacity show originally was set for February 26.
BAFTA Unveils Longlists For 2022 Film Awards - BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY
BAFTA has unveiled the longlists across all categories for its 2022 Film Awards. These lists have been compiled via Round One of BAFTA’s voting. Round Two, which determines the nominations, opens on January 14 and closes on January 27.
Oscars: Academy Unveils Shortlists in 10 Categories - BILLIE EILISH: THE WORLD’S A LITTLE BLURRY
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday unveiled its shortlists for the 2022 Oscars in 10 categories, including documentary and international features. It also includes documentary short subject, makeup and hairstyling, original score, original song, animated short, live-action short, visual effects, and — returning this year — sound.
Doc Crew Behind ‘Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry’ on Capturing a Star’s Metamorphosis in Real-Time
Filmmaker R.J. Cutler’s interest in documenting Billie Eilish dates back to 2018, when he contacted director of photography Jenna Rosher about a rising star he saw interviewed in Vanity Fair. “I watched those and was completely fascinated and blown away by her from the get-go,” Rosher says of the magazine’s series, which checks in on Eilish yearly.
Acclaimed Documentary Editor Lindsay Utz Signs First Look Directing Deal With This Machine
Acclaimed Documentary Editor Lindsay Utz Signs First Look Directing Deal With This Machine. Award-winning documentary editor Lindsay Utz is turning her attention to directing. Utz, who edited 2020 Academy Award winner American Factory and this year’s Oscar contender Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, has signed a first-look deal with This Machine to direct her own documentary films. This Machine, an Industrial Media company, is headed by filmmaker R.J. Cutler, who directed the Billie Eilish doc.
Behind the Mic and in Front of the Camera, Billie Eilish Became a Movie Star in 2021
It was the fall of 2019, and 17-year-old Billie Eilish was at one of the lowest moments of her very enchanted life so far. Six months earlier, the Soundcloud supernova had exploded into a major recording artist with the release of the double platinum debut album that she and her older brother Finneas had recorded together in his childhood bedroom. Six months later, that same LP would see her become the youngest artist to ever sweep the Grammys. But for a minute in the middle there, she was just another teenager who felt betrayed and ashamed by a world that had been waiting to slip through the slightest crack in her armor.
D.A. Pennebaker Award Presented To R.J. Cutler At The Critics' Choice Documentary Awards
The D.A. Pennebaker Award was presented to documentarian R.J. Cutler at The Critics' Choice Documentary Awards. The award, formerly known as the Critics Choice Lifetime Achievement Award, is named in honor of Pennebaker, a past winner. It was presented to Cutler by Chris Hegedus, Pennebaker’s longtime collaborator and widow.
Billie Eilish Speaks Out About Oscar-Contending Film Documenting Her Rise To Fame: “It Was Not Acting… It Was Real Life Footage”
There’s an emotional realness to singer-songwriter Billie Eilish, a disinclination to disguise experience behind euphemism or pretense. It manifests in her music and in Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry, the Oscar-contending documentary that follows her on her journey to global stardom. In the film directed by R.J. Cutler Eilish doesn’t censor dark moments from her past, occasional frustrations attendant to fame, and a major romantic disappointment—young love ultimately unrequited.
Here are the nominees for the 2021 People's Choice Awards
Awards season is here once more, and it's almost time for the ceremony that gives the power to the people. On Wednesday, NBC and E! announced the nominees and the start of voting for the 2021 People's Choice Awards, which span 40 categories and numerous forms of entertainment across movies, television, music, and pop culture.
'Billie Eilish: The World's A Little Blurry' Nominated for 'Best Music Documentary' at the Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards
Billie Eilish: The World's A Little Blurry Nominated for 'Best Music Documentary' at the Critics' Choice Documentary Awards. Winners will be revealed at a gala event Sunday November 14 at BRIC in Brooklyn, NY. National Geographic Documentary Films is the Presenting Sponsor. Catalyst Sponsors are HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix and Showtime Documentary Films.
‘Billie Eilish’ Director R.J. Cutler on How Ted Sarandos Helped Him Predict the Documentary Boom
Before Netflix had grown into a world-conquering streaming giant, “Billie Eilish: The World’s a Little Blurry” director R.J. Cutler would routinely bump into the company’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos on the film festival circuit. Netflix was still a DVD-by-mail rental service at the time, and Sarandos confided to him that “The War Room” – Cutler’s Oscar-nominated Bill Clinton campaign doc – was among its most popular rentals.
‘Dear…’ Showrunner Donny Jackson Inks First-Look With R.J. Cutler’s This Machine
Emmy-winning nonfiction producer Donny Jackson has inked a first-look deal with This Machine, the banner from documentary director R.J. Cutler. The duo has frequently worked together in the past and is currently in production on the upcoming season of Apple TV+ series Dear…, on which Jackson serves as the showrunner. Their previous credits include the Sundance Award-winning The September Issue.
Person Place Thing: R. J. Cutler
His first feature-length documentary, The War Room, was Oscar-nominated. He won an Emmy for American High, a TV series. Years earlier he received this professional tip from his mentor, D. A. Pennebaker: “You’re not a director until you wake up screaming in the middle of the night.” Apparently I am a director. As are we all.