Matthew Heineman’s documentary profiling Grammy and Oscar winning musician Jon Batiste and the medical struggles for his wife that have marked trying times in their marriage leads the pack of nominees for the 8th Annual Critics Choice Documentary Awards with six. The inspiring docu from Barack and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground was picked up by Netflix after premiering and winning acclaim at the Telluride Film Festival last month. Not far behind are a trio of docus each with 5 mentions including 20 Days In Mariupol, Kokomo City, and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. And not to be ignored, this weekend’s boxoffice champ, Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour which landed a nomination as Best Music Documentary. The CCDA nod marks the first awards recognition for the film (however it is not eligible for a Documentary Oscar) which only just had its first premiere screening on Wednesday of last week and came in just under the eligibility wire.
Hello Mr. President: Barack Obama Takes Meetings At CAA For Higher Ground Projects – The Dish
29.09.2023 - 03:23 / deadline.com
EXCLUSIVE: The Republican contenders for his old job were debating up at the Reagan Library in Simi Valleylast night, but today Barack Obama was in town seeking more higher ground.
The 44th President of the United States was on the westside of LA Thursday for a sit-down at CAA with the agents for his and former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground production company.
According to a source close to the uber-agency, Obama met with his film, TV, and non-scripted team to discuss projects for Higher Ground. As casual as it can be when the ex-leader of the free world is in the house, the gathering was held in one of CAA’s large conference rooms.
Michelle Obama did not join her husband and business partner today at the meeting. However, Higher Ground president Vinnie Malhotra, plus Joe Paulson, Tanya Davis and other member of the production company’s team were there with President Obama Thursday, I hear.
No details on what the specifics of the discussion at CAA were, but with Higher Ground’s track record of the Oscar-winning American Factory, Oscar-nominated Crip Camp, and the Emmy-winning and Obama-fronted Our Great National Parks, among others, the quality had to be high – pun intended.
Describing the Secret Service presence outside and inside CAA’s Avenue of the Stars HQ as “noticeable,” during Obama’s afternoon visit, one on-looker also said a “lightning bolt went through the floor when we heard he was here.” Certainly, in the constellation of big stars that routinely show up at the Bryan Lourd-run CAA, few shine as bright as the two-term President.
Which, even by Tinseltown standards, can be an event, as one Twilight Zone scribe noted:
Going to CAA to sit with your agents post strike and realizing that Obama is in
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