Lady Gaga Decided to Perform at the Oscars 48 Hours Before Showtime — and More Wild Stories From This Year’s Emmy-Nominated Directors

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” created over 240 unique characters who feature across the six different universes in the film, but Daniel Kaluuya‘s Hobart “Hobie” Brown (aka Spider-Punk) was one of the last characters production designer Patrick O’Keefe and head of character Alan Hawkins dove into. Speaking with Variety, Hawkins says the character went through a lot of design tests. “Those tests were educational in that they didn’t work, and we learned about how not to do them.” After that, the character was put on the shelf while the animators refined his design.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Oscar-winning composer Alexandre Desplat has scored the music for Netflix’s “Nyad.” Directed by Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin, “Nyad” stars Annette Bening as Diana Nyad, an athlete, who at 60, achieves her lifelong dream of finishing the 110-mile open ocean swim from Cuba to Florida. In a statement to Variety, Desplat said, “Chai and Jimmy’s direction is very strong.

Hannah Waddingham says she will no longer be hosting the BBC Fantasy, Myths And Legends Prom at the Royal Albert Hall, out of solidarity with the ongoing Hollywood actors’ strike.The actress and singer, known for her performance in the Bafta-winning Apple TV+ series Ted Lasso, said she was “respectfully” stepping down. In a post on social media shortly before the event, she wrote: “Hey guys, I very sadly won’t be able to host tonight’s @‌bbcproms ‘Fantasy, Myths and Legends’. “It will be a magical night, but due to my ongoing support for the @‌sagaftra strike, I must respectfully step down.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This interview contains spoilers for Episode 7 of “The Real Housewives of New York City” Season 14 now streaming on Peacock TV and airing on Bravo TV. Jessel Taank of “The Real Housewives of New York City” is calmly waiting in the reception area of PMC’s New York headquarters Accompanying her is her mother, Nilam, who is visiting from London, and Taank’s patience stands in contrast to how the internet has painted her. Through seven episodes of the new season, among the show’s ardent fandom, she’s the “Real Housewives” cast member audiences love to hate, and has been called both “entitled” and a “princess.” Dressed in an oversized, immaculately crisp white button-down that doubles as a dress by Jill Sander, daringly, Taank sips a hot coffee.

Jon Burlingame A music supervisor has a big job, as defined by the TV Academy: She or he “creatively contributes to the story, character development and overall narrative of the program by engaging in song selection, guiding original song creation and production, overseeing on-camera music performances… contributing to the creation of a unique music aesthetic.” This year’s five nominees reflect those ideals: Frankie Pine, music supervisor for “Daisy Jones & The Six,” was hired five years ago; she was even part of the casting process for the rise-and-fall story of a ’70s rock band. “It was all-encompassing,” she says, “being able to do every aspect of music to help create that authenticity.” Pine submitted episode 8, which depicts the band touring the U.S.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor David Klotz landed three Emmy nominations for his work as a sound editor across very different shows. Klotz worked on “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” “House of the Dragon” and “Stranger Things.” His biggest challenge was tackling the insertion of Metallica’s “Master of Puppets” in “Stranger Things.” With Netflix’s “Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story,” the dark and twisted story of the serial killer, veteran gloom-rocker Nick Cave and his frequent collaborator Warren Ellis worked on the score. Klotz took a different approach since the duo had scored the pilot and wrote an entire library of music.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Emmy-nominated animated feature “Entergalactic” is set amid a vibrant New York City. Scott “Kid Cudi” Mescudi voices Jabari, a graffiti artist who has just moved into a new Manhattan apartment after being hired by a comic book company. He’s just broken up with his ex, Carmen (voiced by Laura Harrier), because he’s too busy to have a personal relationship until he meets his neighbor, Meadow (voiced by Jessica Williams).

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The second single from Barry Manilow and Bruce Sussman’s upcoming Broadway musical “Harmony” has been released, “Every Single Day” sung by Danny Kornfeld. In a statement to Variety, Manilow and Sussman said,“We are both so thrilled to have a cast album full of new, original songs for our first Broadway show. This is where we always wanted to be.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Lenny Kravitz has written and recorded an original song “Road to Freedom” for George C. Wolfe’s upcoming film “Rustin.” Wolfe’s film stars Colman Domingo as the gay activist Bayard Rustin who helped co-organize the historic March on Washington. In a statement to Variety, Wolfe said, “I first met Lenny very early in both of our careers…and the first time I heard him sing was acapella, and I remember the sound quite vividly, and there was something about the quality of his voice that seemed viscerally perfect for the end of the film.

Prime Video and Variety collaborated to host Master Crafts at NYA Studios East, an event featuring the Emmy-nominated artisans behind Prime Video’s shows. Moderated by Variety’s senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay, the five panels included “Music to Our Ears,” with music supervisors, sound editors and mixers; “World Building” with cinematographers, production designers and a VFX supervisor; “Looking the Part,” with costume designers and makeup artists; “Names and Faces” with casting directors; and “The Final Cut” with producers. The creatives behind critically acclaimed shows such as “The Marvelous Mrs.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Prime Video has debuted the trailer for their upcoming drama “A Million Miles Away.” Based on a true story, Michael Peña stars as José Hernández, the first migrant farm worker to become an astronaut and go to space. The film will be released on Sept. 15 in honor of Hispanic Heritage Month.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “My job is to make sure that every production, wherever it is in the world, is to make it seem like nobody has ever seen it before,” theater producer Sir Cameron Mackintosh says talking about his shows like “Cats,” “Miss Saigon,” “Oliver,” “Mary Poppins” and “Les Miserables.” It’s the latter which is currently dazzling audiences at Hollywood’s Pantages through Sept. 10 and has undergone a makeover for its latest incarnation. Over 71 million people worldwide have seen the show.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor BAFTA-nominated visual effects supervisor Jake Morrison has joined VFX studio DNEG. Morrison, who has worked on films such as “Thor: Love and Thunder,” “Thor: Ragnarok” and Disney’s “Jungle Cruise,” has over 25 years of experience in visual effects.

Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie heads into final Emmy Awards voting with more nominations than any other nonfiction project this year: seven in all, including Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special, as well as recognition for director Davis Guggenheim and picture editor Michael Harte. 

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Ever since 1977, Star Wars has been a franchise with recognizable aesthetics: The distinctive hum of a lightsaber. Rusty armor and billowing capes on the costumes. The iconic Millennium Falcon.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large Keeping that in mind, there I was once again backstage last year in the press room when I realized that no one else was going to ask a similar question to the “Ted Lasso” cast and producers. Having won back-to-back Emmys for outstanding comedy, “Ted Lasso” was on a roll. And yet, there were already signals that “Ted Lasso” might wrap after a third and final season.

Sophia Scorziello editor This season, television was pushed to its limits and into spaces that teetered genres and kept audiences guessing. From an improv show about a fake court trial to mockumentaries about public schools and vampires, a sci-fi drama about nuns, the 2023 Emmy nominations were a grab bag full of interesting television, and artisans helped take them even further.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor MGM+’s “Domina” actress Joelle goes by one name like Madonna and Cher. She steps back in time this season and into a Roman world, post Julius Caesar as Tiberius’ wife Vipsania.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This contains spoilers from “Shortcomings,” now in theaters. Sherry Cola calls working with Randall Park in his directorial debut, “Shortcomings,” a full circle moment. Not only has she been watching the actor-director’s work for years, encountering him at parties, and having mutual acquaintances, but she had always wanted to be on MTV’s “Wild ‘N Out,’ a show Park was a regular on. “I was so impressed seeing an Asian dude representing with the rhymes and comedy,” she says that she auditioned to be a cast member.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor SPOILER ALERT: This contains spoilers from “Shortcomings, now in theaters. When Ally Maki received the script for Randall Park’s “Shortcomings,” she read it in one sitting and knew she had to be a part of it. Whether it was just to audition or land the role, “I’d be happy to just perform that piece, the opening which was a nine-pager,” says the actor, who has appeared in shows including “Wrecked” and “Hacks.” Maki ended up landing the role of Miko, who is in a complicated relationship with her boyfriend, Ben (Justin H. Min) which slowly disintegrates when he is caught surfing porn on the internet, and Miko takes a leap, accepting an internship in New York.