UTA Signs ‘My Octopus Teacher’ Filmmaker, Oscar Nominee Pippa Ehrlich (EXCLUSIVE)

Maria Bakalova and Paris Hilton pose for photos together as they head to an Oscars after party at the Sunset Tower Hotel on Sunday (April 25) in Los Angeles.

NEW YORK -- “My Octopus Teacher,” the tale of an eight-limbed creature and her human companion, has won the Oscar for best documentary.Ten years in the making, “My Octopus Teacher” began as a personal video project by South African filmmaker Craig Foster to rekindle his connection with nature by observing an inquisitive female mollusk while free-diving near Cape Town.He filmed their interactions and became increasingly dazzled by how she could fashion tools from shells, furl herself in ribbons

My Octopus Teacher wrapped its tentacles around the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature, corralling a win for Netflix in that category for the second year in a row and third time in the last four years.

While this year's Oscar Sunday will look different from any before it, that doesn't mean the celebration is off. Hotels and restaurants throughout L.A., open with lessened COVID-19 restrictions, are offering a wide variety of themed cocktails to celebrate this year's nominees and an end to a topsy-turvy awards season.

Who says rivals can’t be friends?

Christopher Vourlias The unexpected Academy Award run of “My Octopus Teacher,” Netflix’s hit, heartfelt documentary about a filmmaker’s unlikely relationship with an octopus living off the coast of South Africa, marks a rare Oscar nomination for an African documentary.

UPDATED, 12:00 PM: Steven Yeun is a surprise last-minute add the ensemble cast of Academy Award presenters, the Oscarcast producer said today. The Minari star is the first Asian-American Best Actor nominee in the Oscars’ 93-year history.

This year’s Oscars may be toned down, but the gift bag will be as glamorous as ever.

And, finally, the pandemic delayed 2021 Oscar season is just days away from a merciful end. Don’t blame the films.

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Nominated for best documentary feature alongside “Collective,” “Crip Camp,” “The Mole Agent” and “Time,” Netflix’s ode to nature, “The Octopus Teacher,” has gained traction in the Oscars race over recent weeks. The film, which chronicles a diver named Craig Foster, who documented his time swimming with an octopus that lives in a kelp forest off the coast of South Africa, has recently picked up wins at the BAFTAs, alongside a surprise win at the Producers Guild of America Award.

EXCLUSIVE: UTA has signed filmmaker Shatara Michelle Ford, who recently made their feature directorial debut with the drama Test Pattern.

Hong Kong director Derek Tsang's harrowing youth drama Better Days is the rare Oscar best international film nominee that was both critically acclaimed and a massive commercial hit. Released in mainland China in October 2019, the film grossed $223 million, which is more than 40 times the total earnings of the other four international feature nominees combined.

Andra Day has shared her new single ‘Phone Dies’ – listen to it below.The track is the star’s fourth release of 2021 following three singles taken from the soundtrack of The United States vs. Billie Holiday.‘Phone Dies’ was produced by Anderson .Paak and was released today (April 16) via Warner Records.

Angelique Jackson UTA has signed award-winning filmmakers Adi Barash and Ruthie Shatz for representation in all areas.Known for making character-driven projects that touch on taboo subjects under their Yulari Films banner, Barash and Shatz created, produced and directed the Netflix docuseries “Lenox Hill,” which takes an intimate look at the lives of four doctors working at the renowned New York City hospital.In his review of the medical documentary series, which launched in June 2020,

In the months after the death of George Floyd, the country started to take a hard look in the mirror. We asked: Was this a nation built on white supremacy? Do we police African-Americans differently? Were we excluding people from opportunities based on the color of their skin? Protestors hit the streets, athletes boycotted games, and we demanded accountability from our politicians.

There’s a chase scene in My Octopus Teacher as suspenseful as anything in a Hollywood thriller. The film’s heroine, a tentacled cephalopod, is being pursued by a pajama shark through a kelp forest off the tip of South Africa.

Academy Awards ceremony, originally set for February and delayed by the pandemic, airs April 25, the birthday of her late father, David Warren, and a coincidence that she calls “so cool.”“He believed in me so much he would take me to music publishers when I was 14 or 15,” Warren said. “My mom would be saying, ‘Why are you doing it? Why are you encouraging her? She can’t make a living off that.’”Warren, who drew up in Los Angeles, recounted her dad’s reply: “She has talent.