Sian Heder Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

EXCLUSIVE: Academy Award and Emmy nominated producer David Permut and Dawn Krantz have acquired Chaya Doswell’s script Wildfire. The team are currently meeting directors and plan to shoot early next year.After accidentally starting a wildfire, seven-year-old Lu, mute and from an abusive home, slyly tricks Merribelle, a hard-working trans woman, into kidnapping her — sparking a beautifully unexpected bond with a devastating expiration date.

EXCLUSIVE: Former Mosaic manager Cullen Conly has joined Anonymous Content’s literary department as a manager and producer, based out of the company’s New York office. 

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer In a sign of Hollywood’s escalating internal tensions, a prominent Directors Guild of America member openly advocated against the election of 10 writer-directors to the guild’s board earlier this month on the grounds that they were “primarily writers” and hailed from “fringe groups.” In a leaked email that has been shared widely in the creative community, Linda Montanti, chair of the guild’s Western AD/UPM Council, urged a bloc of DGA voters to not support the board candidacies of a number of multihyphenates who are members of both the DGA and WGA — some of whom have been outspoken about strike issues. The list includes writer-producer Boots Riley, Oscar-winning “CODA” writer-director Sian Heder, actor-filmmaker Justine Bateman, actor-writer Paul Scheer and “Chernobyl” creator Craig Mazin.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor The Inevitable Foundation, an organization which helps disabled screenwriters reach their full commercial and creative potential, has released an open letter to the entertainment industry asking producers to hire disabled creatives for their film and television projects. Written by the organization’s co-founders Richie Siegel and Marisa Torelli-Pedevska, the letter is signed by creatives including Marlee Matlin, “CODA” director Sian Heder, “A Quiet Place” star Millicent Simonds and “Grey’s Anatomy” showrunner Krista Vernoff. In the letter, the foundation is offering several solutions to the issue of disabled screenwriters often not getting jobs writing about disabled characters but rather being hired as low-paid diversity consultants.

16th Annual WIF (Women in Film) Oscar PartyNeueHouse Hollywood, HollywoodHollywood’s women joined hands in solidarity by kicking off Oscar weekend at the 16th Annual WIF (Women in Film) Oscar party, celebrating the 65 women nominated for Academy Awards for their work in 2002.Solidarity is still needed, as the dismal recent studies that show women received only 27% of the possible non-acting nominations, despite being nearly 50% of the worldwide population. That fact was part of the night’s conversation, including last year’s Oscar-winning screenwriter Sian Heder (“Coda”), who told the collected crowd that, “There’s a kind of camaraderie with women filmmakers right now.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Apple took home its first animated short Oscar for “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse,” a magical fable featuring a star-studded voice cast and luxurious hand-drawn animation. The film won at the 95th Academy Awards over the category’s other nominees: Pamela Ribon and Sara Gunnarsdóttir’s buzzy “My Year of Dicks”; “The Flying Sailor” from Amanda Forbis and Wendy Tilby; “Ice Merchants” from João Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano; and Lachlan Pendragon’s “An Ostrich Told Me the World Is Fake and I Think I Believe It.” “The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse” is based on the book of the same name by British artist and author Charlie Mackesy. Apple Original Films acquired the film last year and it debuted on Apple TV+ on Christmas Day 2022. The film was presented in partnership with the BBC, which made it available on broadcast and streaming in the U.K.

Ladies supporting ladies. The 16th annual Women In Film Oscars party gathered some of the fiercest females in Hollywood to celebrate awards season on Friday, March 10.

newly-engaged Mad Men star Christina Hendricks mingling and honoring this year's female Oscars nominees.Christina, who revealed earlier in the day that she was engaged to her partner George Bianchini, a steadicam operator, told HELLO! that George had proposed a week prior in London. The pair shared their news with fans on social media, with the Good Girls star writing; "We proposed to each other and we said yes!!! I will love and care for him forever." Brookyn and Nicola flew in from Paris for the event It was a celebratory evening for the guests, despite the heavy rain in Los Angeles.Tucked away inside Neuehouse Hollywood, Nicola and husband Brooklyn Peltz-Beckham were all smiles as they arrived and enjoyed champagne and Johnnie Walker whiskey.Nicola, 28, whose new film - and her directorial debut - Lola James is expected to be released in 2023, rocked a slimline black tuxedo and joked that she looked like her manager's bodyguard for the evening.Mom-of-three Nicky, who recently spoke to HELLO! for International Women's Day was in town for her mom Kathy's birthday and rocked a gorgeous silver minidress.

Film Independent has announced the presenters for the Film Independent Spirit Awards.

If you don’t know Apple TV+’s “Little America” yet—nominated by BAFTA, Independent Spirit, NAACP Image, and GLAAD Media Award for many accolades— there are plenty of reasons why you should. First and foremost, all the talent involved.

After vowing to begin to limit the number of members following a class of 819 in 2020, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has invited just 397 new inductees for 2022. This is a modest two-person increase from 2021.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences said Tuesday that it is inviting 397 artists and executives to join the Oscar organizer’s membership ranks. The prospective 2022 class includes 71 Oscar nominees and 15 winners, with 44% of the invitees women, and 37% of the group belongs to underrepresented communities.

include Denzel Washington, George Clooney, Diane Keaton, Steve Martin, Jane Fonda, Morgan Freeman, Michael Douglas, Al Pacino, the late Sean Connery, Meryl Streep, Robert De Niro and more. The award is the highest honor an individual can receive for a career in film and is bestowed on creatives who have “greatly contributed to the enrichment of American culture.” Held on Thursday, a taped special of the event will premiere on TNT next week, June 16, at 10 p.m.

Malina Saval Associate Editor, FeaturesIt was the late 1990s and future Oscar-winning “CODA” filmmaker Siân Heder was ambling across Harvard Square, close to the home in which she grew up in Cambridge, Mass. There, near the Au Bon Pain sandwich shop on Brattle Street, Heder spotted two buddies from Cambridge Ringe and Latin School, then-unknowns Ben and Casey Affleck, shooting a scene for “Good Will Hunting,” the 1997 film that would score two Academy Awards, help usher in the era of Big Screen Boston and turn the Affleck brothers and Matt Damon, all actors in the movie and Massachusetts natives (“Massholes” in the local vernacular), into giant Hollywood stars.“I knew Ben and Casey from high school — their mom was my teacher in third and fifth grade,” Heder says.

Academy Awards-winning actor Troy Kotsur (CODA, The Mandalorian) will deliver the commencement keynote address at the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television’s upcoming commencement ceremony.

Siân Heder, who directed and won an Adapted Screenplay Oscar for Best Picture winner CODA, will receive the American Film Institute’s 2022 Franklin J. Schaffner Alumni Medal, AFI said today. She will receive the honor June 9 during the AFI Life Achievement Award Gala Tribute to Julie Andrews, which will air June 16 on TNT.

EXCLUSIVE: New York Times best-selling author Chris Bohjalian‘s upcoming novel The Lioness will be adapted for television by eOne. Sherry Marsh will produce via her Marsh Entertainment and eOne will serve as the studio.

EXCLUSIVE: Daniel Durant, who starred alongside Emilia Jones, Marlee Matlin, Troy Kotsur and Eugenio Derbez in Apple’s 2022 Best Picture Oscar winner CODA, has signed with Buchwald for representation.

Apple sources are saying that CODA following its historic Best Picture win for both a streamer, and a predominantly Deaf cast feature saw viewership go up by 300% over the prior week week to become the No. 1 most watched program on AppleTV+, and also drawing 25% new viewers to the OTT service.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorWhat’s the value of winning an Oscar? For Apple, the historic Oscar best picture win for original film “CODA” on Sunday has produced immediate results — drawing 25% new viewers to the Apple TV Plus streaming service, and pushing viewing of the film up more than 300% compared with the week prior.Apple’s Academy Award-winning film “CODA” beat Netflix to grab the crown as having the first film on a streaming service win the top Oscar prize. It’s also the first movie starring a predominantly Deaf cast in leading roles to win an Oscar for best picture.Of course, the numbers about “CODA’s” performance on Apple TV Plus, provided by a source close to the tech company, don’t reveal all that much.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaFresh off its Oscars triumph, Apple will re-release “CODA” in movie theaters on Friday. The film, which tells the story of the only hearing member of a deaf family’s relationship with her parents and brother, will screen in over 600 U.S. locations with open captions.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletterHe said: “I was planning on teaching them some dirty sign language but Marlee Matlin told me to behave myself, so don’t worry Marlee I won’t drop any f-bombs in my speech today. ”He also praised the “wonderful deaf theatre stages, where I was given the opportunity to develop my craft as an actor. ”Addressing his director Sian Heder, he said: “You are our bridge and your name will forever be on that bridge Sian Heder bridge in Hollywood.

After the dismal ratings of last year’s Oscar broadcast, a lot was in the balance for this year’s edition, one less severely curtailed by Covid protocols but with its own share of new worries and controversy. The decision to have the awards from eight categories (documentary short, film editing, makeup/hairstyling, original score, production design, animated short, live-action short, and sound) handed out at the beginning of the ceremony, before the event actually went live on television, was met with strong resistance from all corners of the industry.

Anna Tingley If you purchase an independently reviewed product or service through a link on our website, Variety may receive an affiliate commission.“Coda” won the Oscar for best picture Sunday night, becoming the first Sundance film to take home the night’s most coveted honor — and also helping Apple make history for becoming the first streamer to win best picture. The Apple Original film, which features a predominately Deaf cast, enjoyed a successful awards season all the way through Sunday night; Tony Katsur made history at the SAG awards after becoming the first Deaf nominee and winner to take home the prize for best supporting actor, going on to nab the same award at the Oscars. His win marks the second Deaf actor to ever land an acting Oscar, after his “Coda” co-star Marlee Matlin won in 1986.

The big finale! CODA took home the award for Best Picture at the 2022 Oscars on Sunday, March 27.

SAG Award for Best Ensemble and the PGA Award for Best Picture, both signifiers of potential Oscar glory to come.Awards aside, “CODA” from writer-director Sian Heder, resonates as a loving depiction of a deaf family and their hearing daughter (“CODA” stands for “child of deaf adults”), Ruby (Emilia Jones), who must navigate between her family duties and her desire to strike out on her own. Unlike “La Famille Bélier,” the 2014 film on which it’s based, all of “CODA”s deaf characters are portrayed by deaf actors.

CODA capped off the wild last hour of tonight’s Oscars with a history-making win for Best Picture, making Apple the first streaming winner in the top category.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorApple made history by nabbing Hollywood’s most coveted honor, as “CODA” won the Oscar for best picture at Sunday’s Academy Awards.Apple Original Films’ “CODA” marks the first time a streaming service has won the best picture Oscar — beating rival Netflix to the punch. “CODA” took the top prize over Netflix’s “The Power of the Dog” from director Jane Campion, which was the other leading contender in the category.In addition, “CODA” star Troy Kotsur won the supporting actor trophy — the first time a Deaf male actor has landed an acting Oscar, and the second Deaf actor ever to do so after “CODA” co-star Marlee Matlin won for “Children of a Lesser God” in 1986.

Sian Heder brought the Oscar audience to its feet winning her first Academy Award for adapting CODA (Child Of Deaf Adult), from the 2014 French film  La famille Bélie written by Victoria Bedos. This is the first Oscar and nomination for Heder.  

A streamer has won the Oscar for Best Picture, but, surprisingly, it isn’t the industry’s leader, Netflix. Instead, Apple TV+ has made history, taking the Academy Award’s top honor for “CODA.” It’s a win that is historic on a number of levels.

stuck her foot in her mouth with her comments about tennis legends Venus and Serena Williams at the Critics’ Choice Awards March 13 — but insiders told The Post she’ll still win an Oscar on Sunday because the Academy of Motion Pictures Art and Sciences is determined to give the award to a woman.“If the director of ‘CODA’ had been nominated, Jane might be in trouble,” said one Oscars voter of female director Sian Heder. “But Sian wasn’t, so Campion’s fine.”Echoed a second voter: “Not giving it to the only woman out of five directors would be a much bigger non-PC statement.”During her acceptance speech for Best Director at Critics’ Choice, Campion noted her admiration for the Williams sisters — who are the subject and producers of the much-nominated “King Richard” — but said that, unlike in their tennis careers, she has had to compete against men.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorApple is getting ready to party on Oscar night.As the love and stack of awards for “CODA” have grown throughout awards seasons, I hear Apple is hosting a post-Academy Awards bash at the newly renovated mid-century building at 8899 Beverly Blvd.Not only does “CODA” have more than a strong possibility of picking up best picture but Troy Kotsur has been the long-time favorite to take home the gold for supporting actor.The festivities kick off at 8 p.m. The invitation requests “cocktail attire.”The Apple soiree joins several others taking place on Sunday, including the annual Governor’s Ball, the Elton John AIDS Foundation Academy Awards Viewing Party, Mercedes-Bens Viewing Party and Vanity Fair’s legendary dinner and after-party.

Clayton Davis This past weekend proved to be a wild ride on the awards circuit.The Producers Guild of America Awards bestowed their top honors upon Apple Original Film’s “CODA” on Saturday night while the Cinema Audio Society went with Warner Bros’ “Dune.”At the Writers Guild of America Awards, several of the Oscar nominees for screenplay – “Belfast” (Kenneth Branagh), “Drive My Car” (Ryûsuke Hamaguchi, Takamasa Oe), “The Lost Daughter” (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and “The Power of the Dog” (Jane Campion) – were not eligible for recognition. So instead, the group went with “Don’t Look Up” from Adam McKay and David Sirota in original, with “CODA” tacking another trophy for adapted following BAFTA.And the final shoe to drop was the American Society of Cinematographers delivering Greig Fraser (“Dune”) the statuette, his second win following “Lion” (2016).

The 2022 Writers Guild Awards are underway Sunday in a virtual ceremony that will see winners crowned in three motion picture, 17 television, and three radio and audio categories along with one category for promotional writing. A Black Lady Sketch Show and Ted Lasso scribe Ashely Nicole Black is emceeing the event, during which honorary awards will be bestowed on talk show icon Dick Cavett and Barry Jenkins, the latter of which is up for a WGA Award tonight for his limited series The Underground Railroad.

Kristen Stewart has been making the rounds for awards season, and she’s looking absolutely fabulous while doing it! The star — who’s nominated for a Best Actress Oscar for her work as Princess Diana in Spencer — proved on point when she was spotted at the 33rd Annual Producers Guild Awards in Los Angeles on Saturday (March 19). Kristen stole the spotlight in a gorgeous white gown as she presented the top honors at the celeb-packed event.

“CODA” won the top prize at Saturday night’s Producers Guild Awards, giving momentum to the possibility that the small film could have a big night at next week’s Oscars.