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February 1, 2020
‘Minari,’ ‘Boys State’ Win Sundance Film Festival’s Top Jury Awards
The narrative feature “Minari” and the documentary “Boys State” have won the top prizes from the U.S. jury at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, which announced its winners at an awards ceremony on Saturday night. “Minari,” director Lee Isaac Chung’s coming-of-age story about a Korean-American boy, also won the festival’s audience award.
The only other films to win more than one award were “Identifying Features” (“Sin Senas Particulares”), Fernanda Valadez’s drama about a Mexican woman searching for a son who disappeared while attempting to cross the border; and “I Carry You With Me,” in which documentary director Heidi Ewing makes her narrative feature debut about an aspiring Mexican chef whose life changes when his sexuality becomes public. “Identifying Features” won the audience award in the World Cinema Dramatic section and a jury award for its screenplay, while “I Carry You With Me” won the audience award in the NEXT section and the NEXT Innovator Prize.
In the World Cinema section, the winners were the documentary “Epicentro” and the narrative feature “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness.”
Other audience award winners included “Crip Camp” and “The Reason I Jump.”
Also Read: New Sundance Director Tabitha Jackson Talks Boosting Accessibility, Independent Voices
Jury awards included directing prizes for Garrett Bradley (“Time”), Radha Blank (“The 40-Year-Old Version”), Iryna Tsilyk (“The Earth Is Blue as an Orange”) and Maïmouna Doucouré (“Cuties”).
Special jury awards were given to “Shirley” director Josephine Decker for auteur filmmaking, to “Never Rarely Sometimes Always” director Eliza Hittman for neo-realism and to the ensemble cast of “Charm City Kings.”
In short-film awards that were handed out in previous ceremonies, Sofia Alaoui’s “So What If the Goats Die” won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize, while other shorts winners included Daria Kascheeva’s “Daughter,” a current Oscar nominee in the Best Animated Short category.
This year’s Sundance juries included Rodrigo Garcia, Ethan Hawke, Dee Rees, Isabella Rossellini, Wash Westmoreland, Kimberly Reed, Rachel Rosen, Courtney Sexton, E. Chai Vasarhelyi, Noland Walker, Haifaa Al Mansour, Wagner Moura, Alba Rohrwacher, Eric Hynes, Rima Mismar, Nanfu Wang and Gregg Araki.
The complete list of winners:
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Jesse Moss and Amanda McBaine, “Boys State”
U.S. Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Documentary: Hubert Sauper, “Epicentro”
World Cinema Grand Jury Prize: Dramatic: Massoud Bakhshi, “Yalda, a Night for Forgiveness”
Audience Award: U.S. Documentary: Nicole Newnham and Jim LeBrecht, “Crip Camp”
Audience Award: U.S. Dramatic: Lee Isaac Chung, “Minari”
Audience Award: World Cinema Documentary: Jerry Rothwell, “The Reason I Jump”
Audience Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Fernanda Valadez, “Identifying Features” (“Sin Señas Particulares”)
Audience Award: NEXT: Heidi Ewing, “I Carry You With Me”
Directing Award: U.S. Documentary: Garrett Bradley, “Time”
Directing Award: U.S. Dramatic: Radha Blank, “The 40-Year-Old Version”
Directing Award: World Cinema Documentary: Iryna Tsilyk, “The Earth Is Blue as an Orange”
Directing Award: World Cinema Dramatic: Maïmouna Doucouré, “Cuties”
Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award: U.S. Dramatic: Edson Oda, “Nine Days”
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award for Ensemble Cast: the cast of “Charm City Kings”
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Auteur Filmmaking: Josephine Decker, “Shirley”
U.S. Dramatic Special Jury Award: Neo-Realism: Eliza Hittman, “Never Rarely Sometimes Always”
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing: Tyler H. Walk, “Welcome to Chechnya”
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Innovation in Nonfiction Storytelling: Kirsten Johnson, “Dick Johnson Is Dead”
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Emerging Filmmaker: Arthur Jones, “Feels Good Man”
U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Social Impact Filmmaking: Elyse Steinberg, Josh Kriegman, and Eli Despres, “The Fight”
Also Read: The Scene From TheWrap at Sundance (Photos)
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Acting: Ben Whishaw, “Surge”
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Visionary Filmmaking: Lemohang Jeremiah Mosese, “This Is Not A Burial, It’s A Resurrection”
World Cinema Dramatic Special Jury Award for Best Screenplay: Fernanda Valadez and Astrid Rondero, “Identifying Features” (“Sin Señas Particulares”)
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Creative Storytelling: Benjamin Ree, “The Painter and the Thief “
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Cinematography: Mircea Topoleanu and Radu Ciorniciuc, “Acasa, My Home”
World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award for Editing: Mila Aung-Thwin, Sam Soko, and Ryan Mullins, “Softie”
NEXT Innovator Prize: Heidi Ewing, “I Carry You With Me”
Short Film Grand Jury Prize: “So What If The Goats Die”
Short Film Jury Award: U.S. Fiction: “Ship: A Visual Poem”
Short Film Jury Award: International Fiction: “The Devil’s Harmony”
Short Film Jury Award: Nonfiction: “John Was Trying to Contact Aliens”
Short Film Jury Award: Animation: “Daughter”
Short Film Special Jury Award for Acting: “Exam”
Short Film Special Jury Award for Directing: “Valerio’s Day Out”
2020 Alfred P. Sloan Feature Film Prize, presented to an outstanding feature film about science or technology: “Tesla”
Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producers Award for Documentary Features: Diane Becker and Melanie Miller, “Whirlybird”
Sundance Institute | Amazon Studios Producers Award for Narrative Features: Huriyyah Muhammad, “Farewell Amor”
Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Documentary: Carla Gutierez
Sundance Institute | Adobe Mentorship Award for Editing Narrative: Affonso Gonçalves.
Sundance Institute | NHK Award: Kirsten Tan, “Higher”
Related stories from TheWrap:
Sundance Lessons: How the Trump Era Has Focused Indie Filmmakers' Lens
Sundance So Far: A Muted Festival Struggles for Attention in Chaotic Times
New Sundance Director Tabitha Jackson Talks Boosting Accessibility, Independent Voices
Tabitha Jackson is the incoming director of the Sundance Film Festival following John Cooper’s exit — and she has big plans for the festival and how to get independent film seen by as many people as possible.
“My role as festival director will be to focus on how we reflect the world of the most exciting independent work made by the most original distinctive artists,” Jackson told TheWrap.
Jackson takes over after John Cooper, who has held the position since 2009, announced he would be stepping down last July. Jackson, who has been the director of the documentary film programming division since 2013, will be the first women to hold the role of festival director at the festival.
Also Read: Sundance Festival Director John Cooper to Step Down in 2020
“Yes, I am a woman, but I don’t know to what extent that will affect the job I actually do,” she explained. “Each of us brings their own position into the world. If it’s of use symbolically, then that’s meaningful, but I think I need to prove myself on substance and commitment on artists and artistry, and show my desire of getting this work to audiences and the industry and facilitate distribution. And just to have some fun! It’s a serious business in the independent space. The festival should be serious fun!”
After Cooper announced his plans to step down, Sundance CEO Keri Putnam oversaw the search for the next festival director. Putnam told TheWrap that the Institute received 700 applications for the position, and the organization interviewed people inside and outside of the community, as well as domestically and internationally. The shortlist got shorter and shorter, and Jackson continued to impress the committee.
“Throughout it all, Tabitha continued to rise to the top,” Putnam said. “I knew her well from working with her previously, just the rivalrous qualities and including her incredible love of artist and their love of her — it all started from there. Also her leadership skills, the way people are inspired by her, the way she leads, her tastes and I think, at the heart of it all, her real understanding of our purpose in the world dedicated to further independent voices int he culture. Also her openness to the change, the way we further that mission in the time of great change…. I’m thrilled that we landed on her for this job.”
Jackson is an award-winning producer, writer and director and has more than 25 years of experience in the arts and nonfiction film areas. In addition to being the director of the documentary film program at the Sundance Institute, she also served as the head of Arts and Performance at Channel 4 Television in London.
For years, the Sundance Institute has led a diversity initiative to reach new communities as well as have diverse projects submitted to the festival. Additionally, the festival has made efforts to increase diversity among media members covering the annual event. The Press Inclusion Program was created in 2018 after a study by USC Annenberg revealed that two-thirds of movie critics were white men.
Also Read: The Scene From TheWrap at Sundance (Photos)
Jackson will continue to hone in on the diversity initiative and will use data to see where the festival sees gaps.
“The diversity initiative isn’t something that dictates programming, but it’s held within us as a value, that we are a global artist community, and artists are making work from their own perspectives,” Jackson explained. “There are many factors at play: gender, race, religion, social economic class. And if we have blind spots, if we see from our own data — we now ask them to self describe == that’s incumbent on us to address if we see gaps. The bigger endeavor of independent film is at stake.”
Jackson not only wants to make the festival accessible to members of the media who might not have the financial support to attend, but also wants to increase accessibility for the disabled community.
“The ongoing challenge is how to make this incredible thing on a mountain in Utah accessible in all kinds of ways,” Jackson said. “It is expensive being here. But also, we want to increase accessibility in activity: how do you navigate Main Street in the ice in a wheel chair? How can we make it a good experience for a person with autism? Our question is, how can the cinematic work for you. All kinds of accessibility is a project that I’m taking on.”
The Sundance Institute was founded by Robert Redford in 1981 and is a nonprofit organization that aims to preserve space for artists in the independent film, theater and media areas.
Related stories from TheWrap:
Sundance Film Festival 2020: Star-Studded Parties Heat Up Park City (Photos)
Sundance So Far: A Muted Festival Struggles for Attention in Chaotic Times
Tabitha Jackson Named Sundance Film Festival Director
The Sundance Institute has named Tabitha Jackson as the new director of the Sundance Film Festival.
John Cooper, who has served in the role for the last 11 years, will become emeritus director, a newly-created role.
Jackson has served as director of the Institute’s Documentary Film Program for the last six years. Now, she will oversee the Festival’s overall vision and strategy, while leading a senior team in close collaboration with Director of Programming, Kim Yutani. Cooper will shepherd special projects, including preparations for the Institute’s 40th anniversary in 2021.
Also Read: 'Hillary' Film Review: Hulu Doc Offers a Rich, Layered Look at a Life of Political Ambition
“It gives me immense pleasure to announce, Tabitha Jackson, as the new Director of the Sundance Film Festival,” Sundance Institute’s Executive Director, Keri Putnam, said. “Tabitha is fiercely devoted to independent artists, has been a visionary member of the Sundance Institute’s leadership team for the last 6 years. Her authenticity, experience and perspective will serve her well in leading the Festival forward as a beacon for independent artists and audiences.”
“I founded Sundance Institute with the clear mission of celebrating and supporting independent artists and the Festival is the platform where we can showcase their stories,” Sundance Institute founder, Robert Redford, said in a statement. “As we approach our fortieth anniversary, I’m pleased to have Tabitha lead us as we move into the future and meet the next generation of artists and their stories.”
Prior to joining the Institute in 2013, Jackson served as head of arts and performance at Channel 4 Television in London.
“It is exciting to be amplifying the voices and work of independent artists in these challenging and fast-changing times,” Jackson said. “My role, working with a team at the top of their game, will be to ensure that the festival remains as effective, vital and transformational in the years going forward as it has been in the past — and to make sure that we have fun doing it. I can’t wait to get started.”
Related stories from TheWrap:
Sundance Portraits From A to Z: Andy Samberg to Zazie Beetz (Exclusive Photos)
Sundance Lessons: How the Trump Era Has Focused Indie Filmmakers' Lens
‘Jojo Rabbit’ and ‘Parasite’ Win Top Writers Guild Awards (Complete List of Winners)
“Jojo Rabbit” has been named the best adapted screenplay of 2019 by the Writers Guild of America, which handed out its annual awards at simultaneous shows in Los Angeles and New York. “Parasite” has won the award as the best original screenplay, making it the first non-English-language feature to win a WGA award.
The film awards, which are traditionally held until the end of the show, were the first two categories of the night and were announced at the New York ceremony before the one in Los Angeles. Most of the nominees in those categories were heading to London for Sunday’s BAFTA Awards, so the unusual timing allowed them more time to get there from New York.
Because the Writers Guild limits eligibility to scripts written under the guild’s Minimum Basic Agreement or under the contracts of several allied international guilds, some significant Oscar contenders are always missing from the WGA nominees each year. This year, Quentin Tarantino’s screenplay for “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood,” considered one of the frontrunners in the Oscar race for Best Original Screenplay, was not eligible for a Writers Guild nomination.
Also Read: 'Little Women' Wins Scripter Award for Adapted Screenplay
Since the WGA adapted categories that match the Oscar writing categories in 1984, a little less than two-thirds of Writers Guild winners have gone on to win the Oscar. About half the time, one of the Writers Guild winners also takes the Academy’s Best Picture prize.
Last year, neither film category matched the Academy’s choice, with “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” winning the WGA’s adapted-screenplay prize over Oscar winner “BlacKkKlansman” and “Eighth Grade” winning in original screenplay over “Green Book.”
“Jojo Rabbit” and “Parasite” are both Oscar nominees, but the former is facing tough competition from “Little Women” and “The Irishman,” and the latter from “Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood” and “Marriage Story.”
Alex Gibney’s “The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley” won the award for documentary screenplay.
In the television categories, “Succession” won the award for drama series, “Barry” won for comedy series and “Watchmen” won for a new series. “Chernobyl” won the original long-form award, while “Fosse/Verdon” won for a long-form adaptation.
The “Tern Haven” episode of “Succession” won for episodic drama, while the “Dead to Me” pilot won for episodic comedy.
Other TV winners included “Last Week Tonight With John Oliver,” “Special,” “The Simpsons,” “I Think You Should Leave With Tim Robinson,” “Full Frontal With Samantha Bee Presents Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Part 2,” “The Young and the Restless” and “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”
The Writers Guild was the last of the four major Hollywood guilds to declare its winners, doing so only eight days before the Academy Awards. The Producers Guild and Directors Guild gave their top prizes to “1917,” while the Screen Actors Guild awarded its film-ensemble prize to “Parasite.”
The WGA, West gave out its awards at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, while the WGA, East held its ceremony at the Edison Ballroom in New York City.
Honorary awards presented by guilds included, in Los Angeles, the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement to Nancy Meyers, the Paddy Chayevsky Laurel Award for Television Writing Achievement to Merrill Markoe, the Paul Selvin Award to Charles Randolph and the Valentine Davies Award to Brad Falchuk; and in New York, the Ian McLellan Hunter Award for Career Achievement to Richard Price, the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence to Paula Pell and the Richard B. Jablow Award to Lisa Takeuchi Cullen.
Also Read: The Oscars Homestretch: '1917' Is on Top as Voting Begins
Here is the complete list of nominees. Winners indicated by **WINNER.
Film categories
Original Screenplay
“1917,” Written by Sam Mendes & Krysty Wilson-Cairns; Universal Pictures
“Booksmart,” Written by Emily Halpern & Sarah Haskins and Susanna Fogel and Katie Silberman; United Artists Releasing
“Knives Out,” Written by Rian Johnson; Lionsgate
“Marriage Story,” Written by Noah Baumbach; Netflix
“Parasite,” Screenplay by Bong Joon Ho and Han Jin Won, Story by Bong Joon Ho; Neon **WINNER
Adapted Screenplay
“A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” Written by Micah Fitzerman-Blue & Noah Harpster, Inspired by the Article “Can You Say … Hero?” by Tom Junod; TriStar Pictures
“The Irishman,” Screenplay by Steven Zaillian, Based upon the Book “I Heard You Paint Houses” by Charles Brandt; Netflix
“Jojo Rabbit,” Screenplay by Taika Waititi, Based on the book “Caging Skies” by Christine Leunens; Fox Searchlight **WINNER
“Joker,” Written by Todd Phillips & Scott Silver, Based on Characters from DC Comics; Warner Bros. Pictures
“Little Women,” Screenplay by Greta Gerwig, Based on the Novel by Louisa May Alcott; Sony Pictures
Documentary Screenplay
“Citizen K,” Written by Alex Gibney; Greenwich Entertainment
“Foster,” Written by Mark Jonathan Harris; HBO Documentary Films
“The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley,” Written by Alex Gibney; HBO Documentary Films **WINNER
“Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People,” Written by Robert Seidman & Oren Rudavsky; First Run Features
“The Kingmaker,” Written by Lauren Greenfield; Showtime Documentary Films
Also Read: 3 Reasons Why 'Parasite' Really Could Win Best Picture - And 1 Reason Why It Can't
Television categories
Drama Series
“The Crown,” Written by James Graham, David Hancock, Peter Morgan; Netflix
“The Handmaid’s Tale,” Written by Marissa Jo Cerar, Yahlin Chang, Nina Fiore, Dorothy Fortenberry, Jacy Heldrich, John Herrera, Lynn Renee Maxcy, Bruce Miller, Kira Snyder, Eric Tuchman; Hulu
“Mindhunter,” Written by Pamela Cederquist, Joshua Donen, Marcus Gardley, Shaun Grant, Liz Hannah, Phillip Howze, Jason Johnson, Doug Jung, Colin Louro, Alex Metcalf, Courtenay Miles, Dominic Orlando, Joe Penhall, Ruby Rae Spiegel; Netflix
“Succession,” Written by Jesse Armstrong, Alice Birch, Jon Brown, Jonathan Glatzer, Cord Jefferson, Mary Laws, Lucy Prebble, Georgia Pritchett, Tony Roche, Gary Shteyngart, Susan Soon He Stanton, Will Tracy; HBO **WINNER
“Watchmen,” Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO
Comedy Series
“Barry,” Written by Alec Berg, Duffy Boudreau, Bill Hader, Emily Heller, Jason Kim, Taofik Kolade, Elizabeth Sarnoff; HBO **WINNER
“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” Written by Katherine Fodor, Noah Gardenswartz, Daniel Goldfarb, Alison Leiby, Dan Palladino, Sono Patel, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Jordan Temple; Prime Video
“PEN15,” Written by Jeff Chan, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Gabe Liedman, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Andrew Rhymer, Jessica Watson, Sam Zvibleman; Hulu
“Russian Doll,” Written by Jocelyn Bioh, Flora Birnbaum, Cirocco Dunlap, Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Tami Sagher, Allison Silverman; Netflix
“Veep,” Written by Gabrielle Allan-Greenberg, Rachel Axler, Emilia Barrosse, Ted Cohen, Jennifer Crittenden, Alex Gregory, Steve Hely, Peter Huyck, Erik Kenward, Billy Kimball, David Mandel, Ian Maxtone-Graham, Dan Mintz, Lew Morton, Dan O’Keefe, Georgia Pritchett, Leila Strachan; HBO
Also Read: How 'Barry' Avoided a Sophomore Slump and Allowed Bill Hader to Embrace His Dark Side
New Series
“Dead To Me,” Written by Rebecca Addelman, Njeri Brown, Liz Feldman, Kelly Hutchinson, Anthony King, Emma Rathbone, Kate Robin, Abe Sylvia; Netflix
“PEN15,” Written by Jeff Chan, Maya Erskine, Anna Konkle, Gabe Liedman, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Andrew Rhymer, Jessica Watson, Sam Zvibleman; Hulu
“Russian Doll,” Written by Jocelyn Bioh, Flora Birnbaum, Cirocco Dunlap, Leslye Headland, Natasha Lyonne, Amy Poehler, Tami Sagher, Allison Silverman; Netflix
“Watchmen,” Written by Lila Byock, Nick Cuse, Christal Henry, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Cord Jefferson, Jeff Jensen, Claire Kiechel, Damon Lindelof, Stacy Osei-Kuffour, Tom Spezialy, Carly Wray; HBO **WINNER
“What We Do in the Shadows,” Written by Jesse Armstrong, Sam Bain, Jemaine Clement, Josh Lieb, Iain Morris, Stefani Robinson, Duncan Sarkies, Marika Sawyer, Tom Scharpling, Paul Simms,Taika Waititi; FX Networks
Original Long Form
“Chernobyl,” Written by Craig Mazin; HBO **WINNER
“The Terror: Infamy,” Written by Max Borenstein, Alessandra DiMona, Shannon Goss, Steven Hanna, Naomi Iizuka, Benjamin Klein, Danielle Roderick, Tony Tost, Alexander Woo; AMC
“Togo,” Written by Tom Flynn; Disney+
“True Detective,” Written by Alessandra DiMona, Graham Gordy, Gabriel Hobson, David Milch, Nic Pizzolatto; HBO
Adapted Long Form
“El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie,” Written by Vince Gilligan; Netflix
“Fosse/Verdon,” Written by Debora Cahn, Joel Fields, Ike Holter, Thomas Kail, Steven Levenson, Charlotte Stoudt, Tracey Scott Wilson, Based on the book Fosse by Sam Wasson; FX Networks **WINNER
“The Loudest Voice,” Written by John Harrington Bland, Laura Eason, Tom McCarthy, Alex Metcalf, Gabriel Sherman, Jennifer Stahl, Based on the Book The Loudest Voice in the Room and the New York Magazine Articles by Gabriel Sherman; Showtime
“Unbelievable,” Written by Michael Chabon, Susannah Grant, Becky Mode, Jennifer Schuur, Ayelet Waldman, Based on the Pro Publica & The Marshall Project article “An Unbelievable Story of Rape” and This American Life radio episode “Anatomy of Doubt;” Netflix
Also Read: How 'Fosse/Verdon' Addressed #MeToo Moment Without Making Fosse 'One-Dimensional Punching Bag'
Original Short Form New Media
“After Forever,” Written by Michael Slade & Kevin Spirtas; Prime Video
“Special,” Written by Ryan O’Connell; Netflix **WINNER
Animation
“Bed, Bob & Beyond” (“Bob’s Burgers”), Written by Kelvin Yu; Fox
“The Gene Mile” (“Bob’s Burgers”), Written by Steven Davis; Fox
“Go Big or Go Homer” (“The Simpsons”), Written by John Frink; Fox
“A Horse Walks Into A Rehab” (“BoJack Horseman”), Written by Elijah Aron; Netflix
“Livin’ La Pura Vida” (“The Simpsons”), Written by Brian Kelley; Fox
“Thanksgiving of Horror” (“The Simpsons”), Written by Dan Vebber; Fox **WINNER
Episodic Drama
“407 Proxy Authentication Required” (“Mr. Robot”), Written by Sam Esmail; USA Network
“A Good Man is Hard to Find” (“Ray Donovan”), Written by Joshua Marston; Showtime
“Mirror Mirror” (“The OA”), Written by Dominic Orlando & Claire Kiechel; Netflix
“Moondust” (“The Crown”), Written by Peter Morgan; Netflix
“Our Little Island Girl” (“This Is Us”), Written by Eboni Freeman; NBC
“Tern Haven” (“Succession)”, Written by Will Tracy; HBO **WINNER
Also Read: 'Succession' Star Nicholas Braun Tells Us What's on the Papers Greg Kept - IRL
Episodic Comedy
“Here’s Where We Get Off” (“Orange Is the New Black”), Written by Jenji Kohan; Netflix
“It’s Comedy or Cabbage” (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”), Written by Amy Sherman-Palladino; Prime Video
“Nice Knowing You” (“Living With Yourself”), Written by Timothy Greenberg; Netflix
“Pilot” (“Dead to Me”), Written by Liz Feldman; Netflix **WINNER
“The Stinker Thinker” (“On Becoming a God in Central Florida”), Written by Robert F. Funke & Matt Lutsky; Showtime
“Veep” (“Veep”), Written by David Mandel; HBO
Comedy/Variety Talk Series
“Conan,” Head Writer: Matt O’Brien Writers: Jose Arroyo, Glenn Boozan, Daniel Cronin, Andres du Bouchet, Jessie Gaskell, Michael Gordon, Brian Kiley, Laurie Kilmartin, Stephen Kutner, Todd Levin, Levi MacDougall, Conan O’Brien, Andy Richter, Frank Smiley, Mike Sweeney; TBS
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee,” Head Writer: Melinda Taub Writing Supervised by: Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg Writers: Samantha Bee, Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi, Special Material by: Allison Silverman; TBS
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” Senior Writers: Dan Gurewitch, Jeff Maurer, Jill Twiss, Juli Weiner Writers: Tim Carvell, Daniel O’Brian, John Oliver, Owen Parsons, Charlie Redd, Joanna Rothkopf, Ben Silva, Seena Vali; HBO **WINNER
“Late Night with Seth Meyers,” Supervising Writers: Sal Gentile, Seth Reiss, Writers: Jermaine Affonso, Alex Baze, Karen Chee, Bryan Donaldson, Matt Goldich, Dina Gusovsky, Jenny Hagel, Allison Hord, Mike Karnell, John Lutz, Seth Meyers, Ian Morgan, Amber Ruffin, Mike Scollins, Mike Shoemaker, Ben Warheit; NBC Universal
“The Late Late Show with James Corden,” Writers: Demi Adejuyigbe, James Corden, Rob Crabbe, Lawrence Dai, Nate Fernald, Caroline Goldfarb, Olivia Harewood, David Javerbaum, Lauren Greenberg, Ian Karmel, John Kennedy, Kayleigh Lamb, James Longman, Jared Moskowitz, CeCe Pleasants, Tim Siedell, Benjamin Stout, Tom Thriveni, Louis Waymouth, Ben Winston; CBS
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” Head Writers: Jay Katsir, Opus Moreschi Writers: Michael Brumm, River Clegg, Aaron Cohen, Stephen Colbert, Paul Dinello, Ariel Dumas, Glenn Eichler, Django Gold, Gabe Gronli, Greg Iwinski, Barry Julien, Daniel Kibblesmith, Eliana Kwartler, Matt Lappin, Asher Perlman, Tom Purcell, Kate Sidley, Jen Spyra, Brian Stack, John Thibodeaux; CBS
Comedy/Variety Specials
“Desi Lydic: Abroad,” Written by Devin Delliquanti, Lauren Sarver Means; Comedy Central
“Full Frontal with Samantha Bee Presents: Not the White House Correspondents’ Dinner Part 2,” Head Writer Melinda Taub, Writing Supervised by Joe Grossman, Nicole Silverberg, Writers Samantha Bee, Kristen Bartlett, Pat Cassels, Sean Crespo, Mike Drucker, Mathan Erhardt, Lewis Friedman, Miles Kahn, Sahar Rizvi, Special Material by Allison Silverman; TBS **WINNER
“The Late Late Show Carpool Karaoke Primetime Special 2019,” Head Writers Lauren Greenberg, Ian Karmel, Writers Demi Adejuyigbe, James Corden, Rob Crabbe, Lawrence Dai, Nate Fernald, Caroline Goldfarb, John Kennedy, James Longman, Jared Moskowitz, CeCe Pleasants, Tim Siedell, Benjamin D. Stout, Tom Thriveni, Louis Waymouth, Ben Winston; CBS
“Ramy Youssef: Feelings,” Written by Ramy Youssef; HBO
Comedy/Variety Sketch Series
“At Home with Amy Sedaris,” Writers: Cole Escola, Amy Sedaris, Allison Silverman; truTV
“I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson,” Writers: Jeremy Beiler, Zach Kanin, Tim Robinson, John Solomon; Netflix **WINNER
“Saturday Night Live,” Head Writers: Michael Che, Colin Jost, Kent Sublette Supervising Writers: Anna Drezen, Fran Gillespie, Sudi Green, Streeter Seidell Senior Writer: Bryan Tucker Weekend Update Head Writer: Pete Schultz Writers: James Anderson, Neal Brennan, Andrew Briedis, Dan Bulla, Megan Callahan, Steven Castillo, Emma Clark, Andrew Dismukes, Alison Gates, Tim Herlihy, Steve Higgins, Sam Jay, Erik Kenward, Steve Koren, Rob Klein, Michael Koman, Dan Licata, Alan Linic, Eli Coyote Mandel, Dave McCary, Dennis McNicholas, Lorne Michaels, John Mulaney, Josh Patten, Simon Rich, Josh Patten, Jasmin Pierce, Katie Rich, Gary Richardson, Marika Sawyer, Robert Smigel, Mark Steinbach, Will Stephen, Julio Torres, Bowen Yang; NBC Universal
Quiz and Audience Participation
“Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader?,” Head Writer Bret Calvert, Writers Seth Harrington, Rosemarie DiSalvo; Nickelodeon **WINNER
“Hollywood Game Night,” Head Writers Ann Slichter, Grant Taylor, Writers Michael Agbabian, Marshall Davis, Allie Kokesh, Dwight D. Smith; NBC
“Jeopardy!,” Writers Matthew Caruso, John Duarte, Harry Friedman, Mark Gaberman, Deborah Griffin, Michele Loud, Robert McClenaghan, Jim Rhine, Steve D. Tamerius, Billy Wisse; ABC
“Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,” Head Writer Stephen Melcher, Writers Kyle Beakley, Patricia A. Cotter, Ryan Hopak, Gary Lucy, James Rowley, Ann Slichter; Disney/ABC Syndication
Daytime Drama
“Days of Our Lives,” Writers: Lorraine Broderick, Ron Carlivati, Joanna Cohen, Carolyn Culliton, Richard Culliton, Rick Draughon, Dave Kreizman, Rebecca McCarty, Ryan Quan, Dave Ryan, Betsy Snyder, Katie Schock; NBC Universal
“General Hospital,” Head Writers: Shelly Altman, Christopher Van Etten Associate Head Writers: Anna T. Cascio, Dan O’Connor Writers: Barbara Bloom, Suzanne Flynn, Charlotte Gibson, Lucky Gold, Kate Hall, Elizabeth Korte, Donny Sheldon, Scott Sickles; ABC
“The Young and the Restless,” Writers: Amanda L. Beall, Jeff Beldner, Sara Bibel, Matt Clifford, Annie Compton, Christopher Dunn, Sara Endsley, Janice Ferri Esser, Mellinda Hensley, Anne Schoettle, Natalie Minardi Slater, Teresa Zimmerman; CBS **WINNER
Children’s Episodic, Long Form and Specials
“It’s Just… Weird” (“Alexa & Katie”), Written by Romi Barta; Netflix
“Remember Black Elvis?” (“Family Reunion”), Written by Howard Jordan, Jr.; Netflix **WINNER
“Remember How This All Started?” (“Family Reunion”), Written by Meg DeLoatch; Netflix
“Stupid Binder” (“Alexa & Katie”), Written by Nancy Cohen; Netflix
“Time to Make… My Move” (“Jim Henson’s The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance”), Written by Javier Grillo-Marxuach; Netflix
Documentary Script – Current Events
“Coal’s Deadly Dust” (“Frontline”), Written by Elaine McMillion Sheldon; PBS
“The Mueller Investigation” (“Frontline”), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
“Trump’s Trade War” (“Frontline”), Written by Rick Young; PBS **WINNER
Documentary Script – Other Than Current Events
“Chasing The Moon Part One: A Place Beyond The Sky” (“American Experience”), Written by Robert Stone; PBS
“Right To Fail” (“Frontline”), Written by Tom Jennings; PBS **WINNER
“Supreme Revenge” (“Frontline”), Written by Michael Kirk & Mike Wiser; PBS
News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
“Terror in America: The Massacres in El Paso and Dayton” (special edition of “The CBS Evening News with Norah O’Donnell”), Written by Jerry Cipriano, Joe Clines, Bob Meyer; CBS News **WINNER
News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“Atlanta, EP. 3” (“A King’s Place”), Written by Jessica Moulite, Ashley Velez; TheRoot.com
“Fly Like An Eagle” (“60 Minutes”), Written by Katie Kerbstat Jacobson, Scott Pelley, Nicole Young; CBS News **WINNER
“‘Tis the Season: Here’s How Jesus Became So Widely Accepted as White,” Written by Joon Chung, Felice León, Ashley Velez; TheRoot.com
“Toxic Water Crisis Still This Haunts New York Town”, Written by Lena Jackson; HuffPost.com
Digital News
“A Gridiron of Their Own,” Written by Kelsey McKinney; Deadspin.com
“Stories About My Brother,” Written by Prachi Gupta, Jezebel.com **WINNER
Radio/Audio Writing
Radio/Audio News Script – Regularly Scheduled, Bulletin or Breaking Report
“CBS News on the Hour with Norah O’Donnell – El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio – Communities in Mourning,” Written by James Hutton; CBS News Radio
“Hail and Farewell: Remembering Some Headline Makers,” Written by Gail Lee; CBS News Radio **WINNER
“World News This Week, August 9, 2019,” Written by Stephanie Pawlowski and Jim Ryan; ABC News Radio
“World News This Week, September 13, 2019,” Written by Joan B. Harris; ABC News Radio
Radio/Audio News Script – Analysis, Feature or Commentary
“The Enduring Legacy of Jackie Kennedy Onassis,” Written by Dianne E. James, Gail Lee; CBS News Radio **WINNER
“Woodstock: Back to the Garden,” Written by Gail Lee, CBS News Radio
Promotional Writing
On Air Promotion
“CBS Promos”, Written by Molly Neylan; CBS
“Star. Kill. Evil. FBI.,” Written by Ralph Buado; CBS
“Star Trek: Picard” and “All Rise Promos,” Written by Jessica Katzenstein; CBS **WINNER
Thom Geier contributed to this report.
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‘The Fugitive’ Teaser: Kiefer Sutherland Declares Boyd Holbrook as ‘Our One and Only Suspect’ in Quibi Reboot (Video)
Kiefer Sutherland is on a frantic hunt for a suspected bomber in Quibi’s first teaser for its reboot of “The Fugitive.”
The series, which also stars Boyd Holbrook, will premiere on Quibi, the short-form streaming service from Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman that launched in April.
Watch the video above.
Produced by Thunder Road Films with 3 Arts Entertainment and developed with Riverstone Pictures, the short-form series follows Mike Ferro (Holbrook), a blue-collar worker who must prove his innocence after being wrongly accused of blowing up a Los Angeles subway train. Sutherland plays Det. Clay Bryce, the cop who is trying to track him down.
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“The Fugitive” was both a 1960s TV series, and more famously, a 1993 film that starred Harrison Ford and Tommy Lee Jones. In that film, Ford was the man on the run, Richard Kimble, with Jones playing U.S. Marshall Deputy Samuel Gerard. The ’60s TV series starred David Janssen and Barry Morse as Kimble and Gerard, respectively.
The Quibi series is from “Scorpion” creator Nick Santora, who is also heading up the “Jack Reacher” series for Amazon.
Quibi is set to launch on April 6. It’ll cost $4.99 per month for ad-supported streaming, and $7.99 for ad-free service. Katzenberg and Whitman gave the world its first look at Quibi earlier this month at CES 2020 in Las Vegas and shared it’ll have 175 new shows in its first year.
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Andy Gill, Gang of Four Guitarist and Co-Founder, Dies at 64
Andy Gill, lead guitarist and co-founder of the British post-punk band The Gang of Four, died Saturday. He was 64.
“This is so hard for us to write, but our great fiend and Supreme Leader has died today,” the band announced on social media. “Andy’s final tour in November was the only way he was ever going to bow out; with a Stratocaster around his neck, screaming with feedback and deafening the front row.”
No cause of death has been announced yet, but the band’s statement said he was “listening to mixes for the upcoming record, whilst planning the next tour from his hospital bed.”
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The band’s statement reads in full:
This is so hard for us to write, but our great fiend and Supreme Leader has died today.
Andy’s final tour in November was the only way he was ever going to bow out; with a Stratocaster around his neck, screaming with feedback and deafening the front row.
His uncompromising artistic vision and commitment to the cause meant that he was still listening to mixes for the upcoming record, whilst planning the next tour from his hospital bed.
But to us, he was out friend – and we’ll remember him for his kindness and generosity, his fearsome intelligence, bad jokes, mad stories and endless cups of Darjeeling tea. He just so happened to be a bit of a genius too.
One of the best to ever do it, his influence on guitar music and the creative process was inspiring for us, as well as everyone who worked alongside him and listened to his music. And his albums and production work speak for themselves. Go give ‘em a spin for him…
Love you mate.
John, Thomas and Tobias
GANG OF FOUR
Andy Gill. pic.twitter.com/DHNCz5lAe6
— GANG OF FOUR (@gangof4official) February 1, 2020
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Gill co-founded The Gang of Four in 1976 with lead singer Jon King. It was considered one of the leading bands of the post-punk movement of the late ’70s into the early ’80s. Its debut album “Entertainment!” went on to be named the fifth greatest punk album of all time by Rolling Stone.
Known for his jagged guitar work, R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe and Flea of the Red Hot Chili Peppers have called Gang of Four the chief influences of their style, and Kurt Cobain listed “Entertainment!” among his favorite albums.
Gill went on to produce albums for Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Jesus Lizard, the Stanglers, the Futureheads and more.
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Everything We Know About ‘The Masked Singer’ Season 3 – So Far
In just one day, “The Masked Singer” will return to Fox with a new season that promises new levels of insanity, including more contestants competing in whacky costumes than ever before and a fresh tournament-style format for eliminating those masked celebrities from the whosungit competition.
While we don’t know everything about Season 3 yet, TheWrap has gathered up enough details to share them with you, dear readers. See our list below, which we will continue to update as more information becomes available.
1. When does it premiere?
Though it really doesn’t need the ratings boost, “The Masked Singer” Season 3 will debut immediately after Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers. Following its premiere in the coveted post-game slot, the show will air its next episode on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at 8/7c and then continue in that time period weekly.
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2. Who is hosting and who are the judges?
Don’t worry, your standard team is still intact for Season 3: Nick Cannon will be returning as host and Ken Jeong, Nicole Scherzinger, Robin Thicke and Jenny McCarthy will once again serve as the show’s panelists.
3. Who are the guest judges?
Right now we know of at least three: Jamie Foxx, who will join the panelists for the show’s Season 3 premiere on Sunday, Jason Biggs and Leah Remini. But Fox says that “Season 3 promises celebrity guest panelists in many episodes,” so we’ll keep you posted as soon as we know if previous “Masked Singer” guest judges like Joel McHale, Anthony Anderson and Triumph the Insult Comic Dog will be back — and which new faces will be stopping by the show.
4. How many celebrities are competing this time?
In Season 1, “The Masked Singer” had 12 celebrity contestants competing. For Season 2, 16 contestants competed. In Season 3, the show will boast its largest lineup yet: 18 masked competitors.
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5. What costumes have been revealed so far?
Fox has now revealed all 18 new costumes: Llama, Banana, Miss Monster, Frog, Mouse, Robot, Kangaroo, White Tiger, Turtle, Astronaut, Swan, Kitty, Rhino, Bear, Elephant, T-Rex, something called Night Angel and, as exclusively unveiled by TheWrap, Taco.
6. Will the show’s format see any changes, like the “SmackDown” rounds that were added for Season 2?
According to Fox, “The format will be changing slightly in season three.” “The contestants will be split into three groups of six – Group A, B, and C. Group A will kick off the first three episodes as they whittle down from 6 to 3 singers,” per the network. “Then we will meet Group B as they go from 6 to 3, then Group C. The final 9 contestants from these three groups will then come together and battle it out the rest of the season for the golden mask trophy. As always, one celebrity will still be unmasked in every episode, including the premiere.”
7. What clues do we have about the identities of this crop of competitors?
“The Season Three contestants have amassed a combined 69 Grammy Award nominations, 88 Gold records, 11 Super Bowl appearances, three stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, more than 160 tattoos and one title in the Guinness Book of World Records,” per Fox.
Fox’s “The Masked Singer” Season 3 premieres immediately after Super Bowl LIV on Sunday, when the Kansas City Chiefs will take on the San Francisco 49ers.
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Is There a New ‘SNL’ Episode Airing This Week?
We’re deep into the 45th season of “Saturday Night Live” now, and also deep into the holiday season. In the most recent episode of “SNL,” which aired on Jan. 25, Adam Driver hosted for the third time, and gave us a rare instance where the host appeared in a cold open sketch. Driver played Jeffrey Epstein in the sketch, which focused on Jon Lovitz as Trump lawyer Alan Dershowitz paying a visit to hell to appear on Satan’s podcast and encountered Epstein and others.
In season 45, Alec Baldwin has made four appearances as Donald Trump thus far — he’s shown up in the last two episodes, as well as in the premiere episode, and in the cold open on October 26, when he shared the stage with Darrell Hammond, the former “SNL” cast member who played Trump on the show for years. Baldwin popped up less often in season 44 than he did in the previous two seasons, when he would appear as Donald Trump in the cold open most weeks. Thus far he’s made one appearance per month in season 45.
This week, on Saturday, January 25, there WILL be a new episode of “SNL.” The first new episode of the new year will be hosted by Houston Texans defensive end JJ Watt, with Luke Combs as the musical guest. It’ll be the first time on “SNL” for both Watt and Combs. Yes, it’s pretty unusual for a football player to host, though not unprecedented with Peyton Manning having hosted an episode a decade ago.
Since it’s a new episode, “SNL” will be simulcast from coast to coast, meaning it’ll air at the standard 11:30 p.m. on the East Coast and 8:30 p.m. out west.
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Next week, RuPaul will host, with Justin Bieber coming on as the musical guest.
While season 44 saw “SNL” seemingly tire of doing political commentary late in the season, season 45 has seen it return its politics-heavy form. Every cold open this season has been political, and each has featured some surprise celebrity cameos. Including, perhaps most shockingly, Darrell Hammond’s brief appearance — Hammond was devastated three years ago when it picked Baldwin to play Trump over him. We’ve also seen Lin-Manuel Miranda and Billy Porter feature in one cold open, and Matthew Broderick in another.
While it certainly was surprising how light “SNL” was on politics in the back half of last season, it’s certainly no surprise that it’s back to its old ways given that we’re now neck deep in a new presidential election cycle. So the focus has been not just on mocking Trump, but also the circus that has been the run up to the Democratic primaries.
Not that the sketch show has in any way shied away from mocking Trump. The impeachment has certainly been a common topic for cold open sketches this season. There was the one where Baldwin’s Trump went through his contacts list trying to find a fixer who could make the impeachment stop, ending with a call to Liev Schreiber playing himself — Trump thought his character Ray Donovan, a fixer on the eponymous Showtime series was actually a real person.
There was also that one where “SNL” sent up the impeachment hearings by doing a “Days of Our Lives” parody that starred Jon Hamm.
As for the madness with the Democratic primary, we’ve had numerous big cameos in the debate sketches, as presumably “SNL” is already preparing for how season 46 will handle the general election this fall. So we’ve had Woody Harrelson make a couple appearances as Joe Biden, as well as Lin-Manuel Miranda as Julian Castro, Larry David as Bernie Sanders, Rachel Dratch as Amy Klobuchar, Fred Armisen as Michael Bloomberg, Mara Rudolph as Kamala Harris and Will Ferrell as Tom Steyer.
That’s a lot of cameos, and “SNL” actually managed to jam nearly all of those folks into a single sketch — a 12-minute debate parody from a late November episode. Miranda did not appear in that one, but he had previously popped up as Castro in October in a parody of the Democrats’ LGBTQ town hall that was moderated by Billy Porter in character as himself.
Meanwhile, the show is staying in-house for Elizabeth Warren, who has been played this season by “SNL” cast member Kate McKinnon several times, including a town hall sketch that she had all to herself.
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Mary Higgins Clark, Best-Selling Suspense Novelist, Dies at 92
Mary Higgins Clark, the best-selling author of 40-plus suspense novels, died Friday in Naples, Florida at age 92, publisher Simon & Schuster announced.
Starting with “Where Are the Children” in 1975, Higgins Clark’s novels followed a similar formula — a woman in peril from a dangerous man who figures her own way out of her dilemma — that appealed to legions of fans and inspired a raft of imitators. According to her publisher, more than 100 million copies of her books are in print in the U.S. alone.
Two of her novels were made into feature films — 1982’s “A Stranger Is Watching” with Kate Mulgrew and 1986’s “Where Are the Children” with Jill Clayburgh — while more than a dozen more were adapted for television.
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In a 1997 interview with the New York Times, the Bronx-born author said she was inspired to write stories that would prompt readers to think: “This could be me. That could be my daughter. This could happen to us.”
In recent years, she also collaborated with her daughter, Carol Higgins Clark, as well as the mystery writer Alafair Burke on two separate book series.
Higgins Clark, who had been writing since she was a teenager and submitting short stories for publication, took to writing in part to support her family of five children — particularly after the 1964 death of her husband, shipping executive Warren Clark, when she was just 37.
According to her 2002 memoir, “Kitchen Privileges,” she woke at dawn to write her children were still in bed and then carpooled into Manhattan for her job at an advertising agency.
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‘F9: The Fast Saga’ Trailer Also Brought Back These Two ‘Tokyo Drift’ Characters
The first trailer for the ninth “Fast & Furious” movie, dubbed “F9: The Fast Saga,” was full of big surprises. Yeah we’ve got those completely insane action sequences, but we’re here for the plot. And this trailer contained two major twists: that John Cena is, somehow, playing Dominic Toretto’s evil brother, and that Han (Sung Kang) actually did not die in that car crash in Tokyo. Those reveals are so big it can be easy to miss the brief shot of two major characters from “Tokyo Drift” making their returns to the franchise.
“F9” is big for “Fast” fans not just because it’s another crazy looking movie in this wonderful franchise — it also marks the return of director Justin Lin, who was behind the lens on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth movies, to the franchise. And it looks like “F9” is about halfway to being a full-on “Tokyo Drift” reunion with Lin bringing back at least three characters who originated in that film.
The first of the three is, of course, Han. But the “F9” trailer also gave us a brief glimpse of two other characters from “Tokyo Drift”: Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) and Earl (Jason Tobin). Sean, as you may recall, was the main character of that film, the country teen who got in one too many street racing accidents and had to be shipped to live with his father in Japan. Earl was not a major character, but he was a member of the #family of that movie, helping keep Sean and Neela’s cars in tiptop shape. You can see Sean and Earl’s brief trailer appearance in the header image on this post.
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Aside from a brief cameo in “Furious 7,” Lucas Black has been totally absent from the franchise since his first appearance. Part of that is because of chronology shenanigans — “Tokyo Drift” actually takes place between “Fast & Furious 6” and “Furious 7,” despite being released most of a decade prior to those films. So by the time he popped up in the seventh film, Black was in his mid-30s playing an 18 year old. And Black does not have the face or hairline to pull that off convincingly. But hey, while they’re bringing people back from the dead, might as well go for it.
And, really, they couldn’t bring back Han and not have Sean show up. Han was Sean’s mentor in Tokyo back in the day, more of a father figure to him than his actual dad was. If you’re gonna bring back Han, you gotta also have him reunite with Sean.
It seems entirely possible that more “Tokyo Drift” alums will pop up in “Fast 9,” since Tokyo will be one of the major locations in the movie. There are three other main folks to watch out for: the aforementioned Neela (Nathalie Kelly), who was the female lead; Twinkie (Shad “Bow Wow” Moss), who was Sean’s instant BFF in Japan’ and Reiko (Keiko Kitagawa), who worked with Earl tuning engines. And maybe Sean’s dad (Brian Goodman) too. And now that we think about it, Japanese film legend Sonny Chiba, who played Yakuza boss Kamata, is still very much alive as well.
With the planned tenth movie expected, for now, to bring the series to a close, I can’t help but wonder if we’re gonna run through every major character who has ever shown up in one of these movies before the end. I hope they do — Universal should go full “Avengers: Endgame” here. Jakob and Cipher (Charlize Theron) should break Carter Verone (Cole Hauser) from “2 Fast 2 Furious” out of prison and do battle against the combined might of everybody who has ever been a part of the #family. Let’s do it.
“F9: The Fast Saga” hits theaters on May 22.
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