It’s two months into 2023, and Roger Ross Williams has just landed in his home state of New York from the Berlin Film Festival, where he debuted his latest documentary, about music superstar Donna Summer. Before that, he had alighted in Los Angeles at the Academy Museum, where he posed on the red carpet with Oprah Winfrey at the premiere of Hulu’s The 1619 Project, after the Sundance Film Festival screening of his narrative directorial debut, Cassandro. The Park City stop took place at the back end of a trip to Pasadena for the TCAs, where he presented projects from his prolific One Story Up production banner.
“This is the busiest my career has been,” says Williams. It was only a decade earlier that the filmmaker had an Oscar to his name but was sleeping on a friend’s couch, unable to raise money for his first feature documentary,...
“This is the busiest my career has been,” says Williams. It was only a decade earlier that the filmmaker had an Oscar to his name but was sleeping on a friend’s couch, unable to raise money for his first feature documentary,...
- 3/10/2023
- by Mia Galuppo
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Netflix has ordered a documentary feature based on the life and career of civil rights attorney Ben Crump, Variety has learned.
The yet-to-be-titled documentary will be directed and produced by Nadia Hallgren, who recently received two Emmy nominations for her work on Netflix’s Michelle Obama documentary “Becoming.” Kenya Barris will produce via Khalabo Ink Society, while Roger Ross Williams will produce under his One Story Up Productions banner. Lauren Cioffi will also produce, with Geoff Martz executive producing.
The doc will examine a number of Crump’s past and current cases, his impact on American civil rights and racial justice, and the toll such work takes on him and his family. The founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law, he first gained recognition while representing the family of Trayvon Martin and is currently working with the families of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. His other clients...
The yet-to-be-titled documentary will be directed and produced by Nadia Hallgren, who recently received two Emmy nominations for her work on Netflix’s Michelle Obama documentary “Becoming.” Kenya Barris will produce via Khalabo Ink Society, while Roger Ross Williams will produce under his One Story Up Productions banner. Lauren Cioffi will also produce, with Geoff Martz executive producing.
The doc will examine a number of Crump’s past and current cases, his impact on American civil rights and racial justice, and the toll such work takes on him and his family. The founder and principal owner of Ben Crump Law, he first gained recognition while representing the family of Trayvon Martin and is currently working with the families of Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and George Floyd. His other clients...
- 8/14/2020
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
CNN Films and Oscar-winning documentarian Roger Ross Williams are teaming for American Jail, a new film that explores what fuels the country’s prison system. The docu is set to premiere at 9 Pm July 1 on CNN.
The logline: Writer-director-producer Williams’ investigation presents a range of stakeholder positions and offers working examples of potential solutions, even traveling to the Netherlands for cases of success, to address the “prison pipeline” that criminalizes the mistakes of the poor and the vulnerable.
Using animation and commentary to illustrate the complexities of the challenge, Williams examines the history of incarceration in America and its origins in the practice of indentured servitude, and even slavery, as well as the need for labor to maintain and fuel the prison industry. He contends that poor people and minorities are more likely to receive the harshest penalties for nonviolent infractions and sometimes can pay a lifetime of punishment for...
The logline: Writer-director-producer Williams’ investigation presents a range of stakeholder positions and offers working examples of potential solutions, even traveling to the Netherlands for cases of success, to address the “prison pipeline” that criminalizes the mistakes of the poor and the vulnerable.
Using animation and commentary to illustrate the complexities of the challenge, Williams examines the history of incarceration in America and its origins in the practice of indentured servitude, and even slavery, as well as the need for labor to maintain and fuel the prison industry. He contends that poor people and minorities are more likely to receive the harshest penalties for nonviolent infractions and sometimes can pay a lifetime of punishment for...
- 5/24/2018
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Most people know Roger Ross Williams from his 2010 Oscar acceptance speech, or rather, his acceptance speech that was interrupted in Kanye-like fashion by his estranged producer Elinor Burkett, who appeared on the Academy Award stage from seemingly nowhere and stole the mic from the director. "I know everyone is like, 'It got you all this attention and you were the big story,' " Williams tells The Hollywood Reporter, "But still, I lost that moment. And I'm probably working so hard, striving so hard, to try to get a little of that back." The good news for
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- 10/30/2013
- by Chris O'Falt
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences kicks off Part Two of its 29th annual .Contemporary Documentaries. screening series with .Food, Inc.. and .Under Our Skin. Tonight, Wednesday, March 23, at 7 p.m. at the Linwood Dunn Theater in Hollywood. Admission to all screenings in the series is Free.
From cruel and unsanitary conditions in cattle and chicken farming to the addition of corn syrup and sodium to many foods, .Food, Inc.. examines the ways in which large corporations in the American food industry dominate the marketplace and affect the quality of what we consume. Directed by Robert Kenner and produced by Kenner and Elise Pearlstein, .Food, Inc.. earned an Academy Award® nomination for Documentary Feature. Robert Kenner & Elise Pearlstein will be present to take questions from the audience following the screening.
Directed and produced by Andy Abrahams Wilson, .Under Our Skin. investigates the untold story of Lyme disease. As...
From cruel and unsanitary conditions in cattle and chicken farming to the addition of corn syrup and sodium to many foods, .Food, Inc.. examines the ways in which large corporations in the American food industry dominate the marketplace and affect the quality of what we consume. Directed by Robert Kenner and produced by Kenner and Elise Pearlstein, .Food, Inc.. earned an Academy Award® nomination for Documentary Feature. Robert Kenner & Elise Pearlstein will be present to take questions from the audience following the screening.
Directed and produced by Andy Abrahams Wilson, .Under Our Skin. investigates the untold story of Lyme disease. As...
- 3/23/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Hey, PopWatchers, remember this? That Wtf moment during the Oscars when Music By Prudence producer Elinor Burkett pulled a Kanye and interrupted director Roger Ross Williams while he was accepting the award for best documentary short? (Burkett told EW in March that the duo, who had been feuding due to creative conflict over the film, had not discussed which would speak on stage if the documentary had won, and she stepped up in order to thank the film’s subjects: “There’s this assumption that had more of a right to speak than I did. His Oscar is not bigger than my Oscar.
- 5/12/2010
- by Kate Ward
- EW.com - PopWatch
Post-Oscar week is nearly over and Elinor Burkett's fifteen minutes of fame ran up before she could make a single actual late night appearance. Fear not, other Academy Award winners made their final victory laps last night. Like Christoph Waltz, who stopped by Jimmy Kimmel Live! to reflect on those 28 awards won this season and that one embarrassing late night sketch in which he mimes sex with rotary phones. That clip, as well as the others you missed last night while putting the finishing touches on your 30-city comedy tour, after the jump.
- 3/11/2010
- Movieline - TVline
There's no real debate about the "viral" moment of the 2010 Academy Awards: when producer Elinor Burkett "Kanye'd" director Roger Ross Williams during their acceptance speech after winning best short documentary for their film Music By Prudence. It was an unknown film for nearly everyone watching the Oscar's that night, except of course for the devoted fans of Last Call with Carson Daly, the late night show that aired a profile on that very film (and its director), just days before they became so widely known.
- 3/11/2010
- by Colby Hall
- Mediaite - TV
Roger Ross Williams won the Best Documentary Short on Sunday for "Music by Prudence," but when he went to accept the award, the movie's producer (Elinor Burkett) wrestled the microphone from him. We later found out that Burkett interrupted his acceptance speech as a way to hurt Williams. She gave him the idea for the movie, but then quit, leaving Williams to make the entire documentary on his own. This was her way of getting some credit. Williams later appeared on "Larry King Live" to talk about his win and was promised that he would be able to read his entire Oscars speech during the show. Unfortunately about ninety second into it, producers cut Williams short due to time constraints. King then signaled Williams to sit down and said: "I wasn't cutting you off, Kanye," referring to the MTV VMAs incident where Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift's acceptance speech.
- 3/11/2010
- WorstPreviews.com
We start the Top 7. You finish the Top 10.
And just like that it’s over. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards have come and gone.
I added up my thoughts on the night, and wouldn’t you know it … I had exactly seven. This is perfect, because we do Top 7 lists here at The Scorecard Review. So as you can see, fate has brought us all here this morning/afternoon/night. Can you feel the goosebumps? Me too, me too.
It’s been three days since the Oscars, but with our news-cycle it seems like three weeks. I remember a day (I’m only 33) when I had to wait an entire week to get my Entertainment Weekly recap of the awards. So please bear with me, if you’ve moved on to only care about what could possibly happen to Robert Pattinson in a film with the title of Remember Me.
And just like that it’s over. The 82nd Annual Academy Awards have come and gone.
I added up my thoughts on the night, and wouldn’t you know it … I had exactly seven. This is perfect, because we do Top 7 lists here at The Scorecard Review. So as you can see, fate has brought us all here this morning/afternoon/night. Can you feel the goosebumps? Me too, me too.
It’s been three days since the Oscars, but with our news-cycle it seems like three weeks. I remember a day (I’m only 33) when I had to wait an entire week to get my Entertainment Weekly recap of the awards. So please bear with me, if you’ve moved on to only care about what could possibly happen to Robert Pattinson in a film with the title of Remember Me.
- 3/10/2010
- by Jeff Bayer
- The Scorecard Review
That perilous tick-tock that you hear this morning over Los Angeles isn't the final seconds running out on Elinor Burkett's fifteen minutes of post-Oscar-crashing fame, but instead 20th Century Fox's countdown to the end of its super-drama series 24. Still, the decision -- which has been on the minds of Fox executives since the beginning of the series' current, eighth season, when the network hired scribe Billy Ray (State of Play) to pen a feature film for Jack Bauer -- is not so cut and dry.
- 3/10/2010
- Movieline - TVline
On the third day of the Music by Prudence Oscar speech fallout, Elinor Burkett, a.k.a. the "Kanye of the Oscars," spoke to Joy Behar. Unlike the previous night's humiliating CNN segment, in which Larry King pulled a one-two-re-interrupt-punch on Prudence director Roger Ross Williams, Burkett immediately asserted good will among viewers and host by heartily agreeing that "yes, the Oscars were so dull that I spent most of the ceremony chain-smoking outside." Charmed, Behar leaned in as her Academy Award-winning doppleganger lurched ahead with a tale of Sunday's events which would pit the raspy documentary producer as the first victim of acceptance speech "bigfooting" in the Academy's history.
- 3/10/2010
- Movieline - TVline
Elinor Burkett made headlines last Sunday when she interrupted Roger Ross Williams' acceptance speech for producers of the Academy Award-winning short-subject documentary Music By Prudence. Last night she explained her "Kanye Moment" with Joy Behar and seemed to ignore the graceful route of explanation, choosing instead to remind us all of why we didn't like her to begin with.
- 3/10/2010
- by Colby Hall
- Mediaite - TV
Oscar winner Roger Ross Williams with Prudence Mabhena at the Governors Ball after the 82nd Annual Academy Awards at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA on Sunday, March 7, 2010. There was a quite a bit of talk after Williams’ speech was cut short by fellow winner Elinor Burkett, who produced the Best Short Film, Documentary, winner Music by Prudence, which Williams directed. Photo: Greg Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S. Click on the photo to enlarge it.
- 3/10/2010
- by Zac Gille
- Alt Film Guide
When Music By Prudence director Roger Ross Williams was interrupted during his acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short during Sunday's Oscars, viewers were aghast. Who was the woman who cut him off? Why was she up there? Did Kanye West have something to do with this? Turns out the woman who rushed the stage was Music By Prudence producer Elinor Burkett, whose name had also been called for the award. She tells EW that the confusion began because Williams had refused to discuss beforehand which one of them should speak on stage if they won. (The two aren't on speaking...
- 3/9/2010
- by Adam Markovitz
- EW.com - PopWatch
The most awkward moment from Sunday night's Oscar telecast was the acceptance speech hijacking from one Music by Prudence key player, Roger Ross Williams, to another, Elinor Burkett, or as Jon Stewart ID-ed her, "the woman who runs the snack counter at my synagogue's Purim festival." But there is only one person in Hollywood who could present Roger Ross Williams with the opportunity to re-do his speech on live television and then, miraculously, make the moment only more awkward. And that person is Larry King.
After the jump, Movieline breaks the awkwardness down into seven cringe-worthy components.
After the jump, Movieline breaks the awkwardness down into seven cringe-worthy components.
- 3/9/2010
- Movieline - TVline
Hollywood does not like to let a Kanye moment go, and why should it? (I know, I know, though: We should at least stop calling it that.) One night after Best Documentary Short Subject Oscar-winners Elinor Burkett took over the mic from Roger Ross Williams (due to creative differences) during Sunday night's Academy Awards, David Letterman and The Daily Show spoofed the pair's awkward interaction. First, watch something that seems like a spoof but somehow actually happened: Larry King invited Roger Ross Williams to give his Oscar speech uninterrupted And Then Cut Him Off. And then to rub it in,...
- 3/9/2010
- by Annie Barrett
- EW.com - PopWatch
You know an Academy Awards show is boring when the best fodder for late night programs is a non-celebrity stage-crashing. Last night, both David Letterman and Jon Stewart paid tribute to the Oscar's breakout star, Elinor Burkett, with one using an orange wig and the other, wildlife. Those clips, as well as the other highlights you missed last night while weeping over Ticketmaster's denial of a Conan O'Brien comedy tour, after the jump.
- 3/9/2010
- Movieline - TVline
Two of the most astounding video moments this week had to be: Crazy lady Elinor Burkett pulling a Kayne West on director Roger Ross Williams at the Academy Awards during his acceptance speech for the documentary short, Music By Prudence. The Berlin poker robbery where armed gunmen robbed the European Poker Tour in broad daylight. So what if the video of the man never lets the woman talk. Isn't that just the classic thing were combined with the German television footage that captured a $1.2 million heist in action? Hmmm, what would that be like? ...
- 3/9/2010
- by Harmon Leon
- Huffington Post
The Academy Awards are known for giving a boost to the movies they celebrate. This year, lots of films had their moment in the Oscar spotlight, piquing the interest of viewers who haven't seen them yet. Among the films that might have found new audiences on Sunday:• Music by Prudence. The winner of Best Documentary Short provoked the biggest drama of the night, when director Roger Ross Williams and producer Elinor Burkett battled for the microphone during the acceptance speech. A true "Kanye moment." • The Hurt Locker. The night's big winner, it took home Oscars for Best Original Screenplay, Best...
- 3/9/2010
- by Tim Nudd
- PEOPLE.com
Sandy Powell takes gong for The Young Victoria as fellow Brit Rob Beckett wins Best Sound Editing for Hurt Locker
It was not, the commentators all agreed, a vintage night for British talent. But while all lenses were focused on Carey Mulligan and Colin Firth trying to look gracious in defeat, the success of two of their compatriots went almost unnoticed.
Sandy Powell's triumph in the Best Costume Design category meant she has now won more Oscars than Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro – all of whom have just two to her three. "I already have two of these, but I'm feeling greedy," ran the provocative opening line of her acceptance speech, a quip which went down badly at a ceremony where faux modesty rules the day.
The other British winner was Ray Beckett, who won his first Oscar for sound editing on The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow...
It was not, the commentators all agreed, a vintage night for British talent. But while all lenses were focused on Carey Mulligan and Colin Firth trying to look gracious in defeat, the success of two of their compatriots went almost unnoticed.
Sandy Powell's triumph in the Best Costume Design category meant she has now won more Oscars than Marlon Brando, Meryl Streep and Robert De Niro – all of whom have just two to her three. "I already have two of these, but I'm feeling greedy," ran the provocative opening line of her acceptance speech, a quip which went down badly at a ceremony where faux modesty rules the day.
The other British winner was Ray Beckett, who won his first Oscar for sound editing on The Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow...
- 3/9/2010
- The Guardian - Film News
Adam of Club Silencio with a few after-Oscar thoughts...
Mo'Nique rightfully wins Best Supporting Actress and preciously says, "First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics." Mo'Nique doesn't advertise, but she has been officially branded with Oprah's seal of approval, and prefers to be called "Tyler Perry's Mo'Nique."Each one of us is "a brain, an athlete, and a basket case. A princess and a criminal..." Someone help me decide which was which during that John Hughes tribute.The cast of Twilight: New Moon reminds us that the horror genre never gets any respect. Their presentation of said montage is horrifyingly valid proof of that. Included in the clip: Edward Scissorhands (because he resembles someone you'll get at Super Cuts?), Leprechaun (because he's taller than most actors), and The Texas Chainsaw Masscare: The Next Generation...
Mo'Nique rightfully wins Best Supporting Actress and preciously says, "First, I would like to thank the Academy for showing that it can be about the performance and not the politics." Mo'Nique doesn't advertise, but she has been officially branded with Oprah's seal of approval, and prefers to be called "Tyler Perry's Mo'Nique."Each one of us is "a brain, an athlete, and a basket case. A princess and a criminal..." Someone help me decide which was which during that John Hughes tribute.The cast of Twilight: New Moon reminds us that the horror genre never gets any respect. Their presentation of said montage is horrifyingly valid proof of that. Included in the clip: Edward Scissorhands (because he resembles someone you'll get at Super Cuts?), Leprechaun (because he's taller than most actors), and The Texas Chainsaw Masscare: The Next Generation...
- 3/9/2010
- by Adam
- FilmExperience
Kanye West wasn't at the Oscars but his legacy was. When the award for Best Documentary Short Subject was handed to director Roger Ross Williams for "Music by Prudence", producer Elinor Burkett did a "Kanye" and interrupted him mid-speech.
Williams excitedly ran on stage to accept the trophy. And when he was just warming up with his speech, Burkett unceremoniously jumped on stage and stole his thunder.
"Two years ago when I got on a plane to Zimbabwe, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would end up here. This is so exciting." he said before Burkett snatched the mic.
Williams have taken it in stride and smiled throughout Burkett's speech, although there were moments when they appeared to be competing with each other to speak.
Williams excitedly ran on stage to accept the trophy. And when he was just warming up with his speech, Burkett unceremoniously jumped on stage and stole his thunder.
"Two years ago when I got on a plane to Zimbabwe, never in my wildest dreams did I think I would end up here. This is so exciting." he said before Burkett snatched the mic.
Williams have taken it in stride and smiled throughout Burkett's speech, although there were moments when they appeared to be competing with each other to speak.
- 3/9/2010
- icelebz.com
So what exactly was up with that Oscars acceptance speech last night? No, not Mo'Nique, railing against the Oscars being about politics or whatever, but the vaunted documentary short film category. If you missed it, it's being called the Oscars' "Kanye moment," in which director Roger Ross Williams had his acceptance speech interrupted by a strange woman.
At the time, I thought she was just really nervous, but it turns out she had no real business on that stage. Her name is Elinor Burkett, and she was a producer of the short, Music by Prudence, emphasis on was. She left the project about a year ago, according to Williams, who also told Salon the he was the only one supposed to be on stage to accept, in keeping with an Academy stipulation regarding acceptance speeches.
There is, as you might suspsect, bad blood between the documentarians. Each of them told...
At the time, I thought she was just really nervous, but it turns out she had no real business on that stage. Her name is Elinor Burkett, and she was a producer of the short, Music by Prudence, emphasis on was. She left the project about a year ago, according to Williams, who also told Salon the he was the only one supposed to be on stage to accept, in keeping with an Academy stipulation regarding acceptance speeches.
There is, as you might suspsect, bad blood between the documentarians. Each of them told...
- 3/9/2010
- by Colin Boyd
- GetTheBigPicture.net
Documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams felt like Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when his former producer stole his spotlight at the Oscars on Sunday, March 7. Audience members at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and viewers around the world were puzzled when Elinor Burkett joined Williams onstage and pushed him aside as he started his Best Documentary Short acceptance speech.
Stunned Williams admits he was too shocked to do anything, but now insists Burkett should never have been there after removing her name from the credits of the film following a bust-up over the film "Music by Prudence". Burkett tells Salon, "The director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court."
"But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn't invited to any of them. And he's not speaking to me.
Stunned Williams admits he was too shocked to do anything, but now insists Burkett should never have been there after removing her name from the credits of the film following a bust-up over the film "Music by Prudence". Burkett tells Salon, "The director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court."
"But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn't invited to any of them. And he's not speaking to me.
- 3/9/2010
- by AceShowbiz.com
- Aceshowbiz
The Oscar for Best Documentary Short Subject has been long on drama. In what was a classic example of acceptance speech thunder-stealing, aka "a Kanye," producer Elinor Burkett jumped onstage to say more than a few words while director Roger Ross Williams was accepting the Academy Award for Music by Prudence, breaking ceremony protocol and kinda making a jerk of herself in the process. Burkett later said that Williams' elderly mother used her cane to block her passage to the stage. Risky business, going after a man's mama like that... That's ridiculous," Williams said Monday on Larry King Live when asked about the alleged cane-blocking episode. "My mother got...
- 3/9/2010
- E! Online
Regardless of the Kanye West-like activity when Music by Prudence producer Elinor Burkett grabbed the mic from director Roger Ross Williams during his acceptance speech for winning the award for Best Documentary Short Subject, the two played sorta nicely at the Ida's DocuDays 2010 Los Angeles event (even if Burkett was, shall we say, quicker, to answer questions--even when they were directed toward Williams).
See the full Music by Prudence post-screening Q&A which features Williams, Burkett, the film's subject Prudence Mabhena and others right there:
We had another Oscar-winner to-be in our ...
See the full Music by Prudence post-screening Q&A which features Williams, Burkett, the film's subject Prudence Mabhena and others right there:
We had another Oscar-winner to-be in our ...
- 3/9/2010
- by IDA Editorial Staff
- International Documentary Association
James Cameron is ecstatic that Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker was the night’s big winner First the good news: the Adam Shankman-Bill Mechanic-produced 2010 Oscar telecast drew 14% more viewers than last year, when Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture. Whether that was because of Avatar, the Super Bowl Ratings Effect, Sandra Bullock, The Twilight Saga: New Moon’s Taylor Lautner, Kristen Stewart, and Robert Pattinson (who wasn’t there), Twitter, The New Tenants‘ Joachim Black, the Elinor Burkett-Roger Ross Williams to-do, the rotten economy, or the John Hughes & horror movie tributes, no one can tell. Now the not-so-good news: Reviews for the Oscar show have been mostly negative. And even the ones that weren’t downright pans were at best unenthusiastic. Tom O’Neil at [...]...
- 3/9/2010
- by Steve Montgomery
- Alt Film Guide
During the Academy Awards on Sunday, the most uncomfortable moment of the night came during the Best Documentary Short category when producer Elinor Burkett wrestled the microphone away from director/producer Roger Ross Williams in a Kanye West-type moment. But what really happened? After the awards show, Burkett explained that she and the director had a difference of opinion over the direction of "Music by Prudence" that resulted in lawsuit (settled out of court). After that, Williams was invited to lots of Hollywood events, but never passed on the invitation to her. So she wasn't going to let him take all the credit during the Oscars. "The movie was my idea. I live in Zimbabwe. Roger had never even heard of Zimbabwe before I told him about this," she said. "And then, as I'm sure you saw, when we won, he raced up there to accept the award. And...
- 3/9/2010
- WorstPreviews.com
Like many, I really hated last night's Oscars. But for the moment I'll try to put my complaints behind me (or elsewhere), mostly for the sake of my mother, who still loves the Oscars and often told me "if you can't say anything nice, don't say it at all." Well, by the logic of the classic phrase I only need to find some positive things to say about some of the honorees in order to allow for my usual negativity. Anyway, I agree with Dustin that it should be about celebrating great films and performances. So here goes:
1. I'm glad The Cove won, though most Americans will still ignore the film just as they do other documentaries, even those with cameos from the Heroes cheerleader and produced by the white guy who basically went blackface to play an Indian in series of popular movies about robot tolerance.
2. I'm glad Mo'Nique won,...
1. I'm glad The Cove won, though most Americans will still ignore the film just as they do other documentaries, even those with cameos from the Heroes cheerleader and produced by the white guy who basically went blackface to play an Indian in series of popular movies about robot tolerance.
2. I'm glad Mo'Nique won,...
- 3/9/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
During the Academy Awards last night, there was some drama between two of the winners, whose disagreement over the direction of their documentary short film led to an on-stage conflict that's drawn comparison's to Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the VMAs last fall. Music by Prudence won the best documentary short Oscar, and producer Roger Ross Williams was accepting the award when producer Elinor Burkett interrupted, standing sort of in front...
- 3/8/2010
- by Andy Dehnart
- Reality Blurred
Documentary filmmaker Roger Ross Williams felt like Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards when his former producer stole his spotlight at the Oscars on Sunday.
Audience members at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and viewers around the world were puzzled when Elinor Burkett joined Williams onstage and pushed him aside as he started his Best Documentary Short acceptance speech.
Stunned Williams admits he was too shocked to do anything, but now insists Burkett should never have been there after removing her name from the credits of the film following a bust-up over the film Music By Prudence.
Burkett tells Salon.com, "The director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court. But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn't invited to any of them. And he's not speaking to me. So we weren't even able to discuss ahead of the time who would be the one person allowed to speak if we won.
"When we won, he raced up there to accept the award and his mother took her cane and blocked me. So I couldn't get up there very fast."
But Williams tells the website, "Only one person is allowed to accept the award. I was the director, and she was removed from the project nearly a year ago, but she was able to still qualify as a producer on the project, and be an official nominee. But she was very angry - she actually removed herself from the project because she wanted more creative control...
"She just ambushed me. I was sort of in shock... I just expected her to stand there.
"She pulled a Kanye and it's a shame, because this is such positive, happy film."
West upstaged Swift at the MTV Vma Awards last year when he ripped the microphone from her to protest the country music star's Best Female Video win over Beyonce.
And, as for Burkett's claim that the director's mother tried to keep her from going up onstage at the Oscars, Williams adds, "My mother got up to hug me, and my mother is 87 years old."...
Audience members at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood and viewers around the world were puzzled when Elinor Burkett joined Williams onstage and pushed him aside as he started his Best Documentary Short acceptance speech.
Stunned Williams admits he was too shocked to do anything, but now insists Burkett should never have been there after removing her name from the credits of the film following a bust-up over the film Music By Prudence.
Burkett tells Salon.com, "The director and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court. But there have been all these events around the Oscars, and I wasn't invited to any of them. And he's not speaking to me. So we weren't even able to discuss ahead of the time who would be the one person allowed to speak if we won.
"When we won, he raced up there to accept the award and his mother took her cane and blocked me. So I couldn't get up there very fast."
But Williams tells the website, "Only one person is allowed to accept the award. I was the director, and she was removed from the project nearly a year ago, but she was able to still qualify as a producer on the project, and be an official nominee. But she was very angry - she actually removed herself from the project because she wanted more creative control...
"She just ambushed me. I was sort of in shock... I just expected her to stand there.
"She pulled a Kanye and it's a shame, because this is such positive, happy film."
West upstaged Swift at the MTV Vma Awards last year when he ripped the microphone from her to protest the country music star's Best Female Video win over Beyonce.
And, as for Burkett's claim that the director's mother tried to keep her from going up onstage at the Oscars, Williams adds, "My mother got up to hug me, and my mother is 87 years old."...
- 3/8/2010
- WENN
The 82nd Academy Awards have come and gone, and, instead of running a copy and pasted list of the winners (and inevitable losers), I’ve decided to grade the awards show itself. There were very few surprises, but, as the following list indicates, there were some interesting take-aways from the festivities.
Here you go:
Hamish Hamilton served as director of the show for the first time. Take from that what you will. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were very funny in their roles as co-hosts, but didn’t it seem like they were under-used? Martin was strapped into that cherry picker in the beginning. Baldwin wasn’t. This proves my theory that Alec Baldwin is more of a man than Steve Martin. The faux disdain between Baldwin and George Clooney was brilliant and should have been re-visited throughout the night.
Just for the record, this was a Slanket, not a Snuggie.
Here you go:
Hamish Hamilton served as director of the show for the first time. Take from that what you will. Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin were very funny in their roles as co-hosts, but didn’t it seem like they were under-used? Martin was strapped into that cherry picker in the beginning. Baldwin wasn’t. This proves my theory that Alec Baldwin is more of a man than Steve Martin. The faux disdain between Baldwin and George Clooney was brilliant and should have been re-visited throughout the night.
Just for the record, this was a Slanket, not a Snuggie.
- 3/8/2010
- by Kirk
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
The Oscar winner for 'Best Documentary: Short Subject' was interrupted while giving his acceptance speech at last night's ceremony, similar to how Kanye West interjected Taylor Swift at the VMAs. According to The Toronto Star, Music by Prudence director Roger Ross Williams and producer Elinor Burkett already had a falling-out prior to the awards. "Let the woman talk," Burkett blurted out over Williams when she took over the mic. "Isn’t that just the classic thing?" (more)...
- 3/8/2010
- by By Aaron Broverman
- Digital Spy
Roger Ross Williams -- the guy who got Kanye'd last night on the Oscars by that crazy redhead -- will get a second shot at his acceptance speech tonight on "Larry King Live" ... so our spies tell us.Williams -- who won the Academy Award for "Music by Prudence" -- was interrupted mid-acceptance by producer Elinor Burkett. Burkett and Williams had been feuding over creative control of the project, and they struck an out-of-court settlement.
- 3/8/2010
- TMZ
Kanye West and Taylor Swift were not in attendance at Sunday's 82nd Annual Academy Awards - but the ceremony still managed to have an interruption heard round world... albeit by two much lesser known people.
When director-producer Roger Ross Williams took the stage at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday to accept the Best Documentary Short award for "Music By Prudence," he was confronted by an unexpected guest onstage - the film's other producer Elinor Burkett - who claims she was shut out the Oscar events related to the award-winning short.
"What happened was the director and I had ...
Copyright 2010 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
When director-producer Roger Ross Williams took the stage at the Kodak Theatre on Sunday to accept the Best Documentary Short award for "Music By Prudence," he was confronted by an unexpected guest onstage - the film's other producer Elinor Burkett - who claims she was shut out the Oscar events related to the award-winning short.
"What happened was the director and I had ...
Copyright 2010 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
- 3/8/2010
- by AccessHollywood.com Editorial Staff
- Access Hollywood
I'm sure all of you saw how Kanye West interrupted Taylor Swift at the MTV Video Music Awards, well there was something of a "What the hell?" moment at last night's Oscars after Music By Prudence won Best Documentary (Short Subject) and director-producer Roger Ross Williams hit the aisle running and started his acceptance speech before he was interrupted by a woman out of the left field.
Well, that woman was Elinor Burkett, also a credited producer on the film, but it appears the reason she didn't make it to the stage at the same time as Williams is because the director's mother used her cane to keep her in place giving Williams time to claim first dibs on the mic. After that, who thinks anyone is going to make a spectacle of themselves at the Oscars of all places? Burkett is not to be underestimated.
As to the story behind the ordeal,...
Well, that woman was Elinor Burkett, also a credited producer on the film, but it appears the reason she didn't make it to the stage at the same time as Williams is because the director's mother used her cane to keep her in place giving Williams time to claim first dibs on the mic. After that, who thinks anyone is going to make a spectacle of themselves at the Oscars of all places? Burkett is not to be underestimated.
As to the story behind the ordeal,...
- 3/8/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Sure, last night's Oscar ceremony had a lot to be delighted about-- Kathryn Bigelow's historic Best Director win, Michael Giacchino's pitch-perfect acceptance speech, the Paranormal Activity parody starring Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. But no Oscar ceremony is without gaffes and bad judgment, and this year was no exception-- in fact, this year seemed to have a lot more going wrong for it than years past. From jokes that fell flat to uncooperative stars to a hugely memorable Kanye moment, at parts the ceremony felt more like an underrehearsed talent show than the most important Hollywood night of the year. Below we take you through some of the most regrettable parts of the evening, the ones that were hilarious and the ones that were just awkward. Save your warm fuzzies for the fashion post; this is all about schadenfreude. Music By Prudence producer Elinor Burkett interrupts the film's...
- 3/8/2010
- cinemablend.com
There was only one real shock during last night's 82nd Annual Academy Awards -- more specifically, a shock of orange hair that bum rushed the Kodak Theater stage during Music by Prudence director Roger Ross Williams' acceptance speech for Best Documentary Short. Perhaps more stymying than the onstage assault was the one detail that separates the woman underneath the orange hair, Elinor Burkett, from the other delinquent stage-rusher she is being most compared to today, Kanye West. Unlike West, who crashed Taylor Swift's acceptance speech during this year's VMAs to proclaim that another artist deserved the honor, Burkett was actually attached to the category's winner, Music of Prudence, as a producer. So what's the big deal?...
- 3/8/2010
- Movieline - TVline
Last night's 82nd Annual Academy Awards saw a host of changes made to the format that's dominated for the past bunch of years. From the 10 nominees in the newly expanded Best Picture category to the paring down of musical numbers and use of two co-hosts, there was a decidedly different vibe to the proceedings.
As with any year, there were high points and there were low points. The difference last night is that everyone was watching so much more closely. Why? Well there's a commonly held belief that the changes this year came as part of the Academy's effort to broaden the appeal of the 82-year-old awards show. A lot of moviegoers were left feeling alienated when "The Dark Knight" didn't land a Best Picture nomination in 2008, only the latest of many such sleights that more pop-oriented fare has suffered through the years.
So since everyone was watching so closely anyway,...
As with any year, there were high points and there were low points. The difference last night is that everyone was watching so much more closely. Why? Well there's a commonly held belief that the changes this year came as part of the Academy's effort to broaden the appeal of the 82-year-old awards show. A lot of moviegoers were left feeling alienated when "The Dark Knight" didn't land a Best Picture nomination in 2008, only the latest of many such sleights that more pop-oriented fare has suffered through the years.
So since everyone was watching so closely anyway,...
- 3/8/2010
- by Adam Rosenberg
- MTV Movies Blog
Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges and Mo'Nique also win big during the 82nd Annual Academy Awards.
By Eric Ditzian
Kathryn Bigelow accepts the award for Best Director at the 2010 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
The much-hyped Oscar fight between Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" and James Cameron's "Avatar" turned out to be a knockout Sunday night (March 7), as "Hurt Locker" won Best Picture and Bigelow became the first woman in Academy Award history to win for Best Directing.
2010 Oscars Show
Those wins were two of six "Hurt Locker" took home from its nine nominations during the live ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, including Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Shut out of the major categories, "Avatar" nabbed a total of three wins — out of nine noms — in categories like Cinematography, Visual Effects and Art Direction.
Taking the stage to accept the win for Best Picture...
By Eric Ditzian
Kathryn Bigelow accepts the award for Best Director at the 2010 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
The much-hyped Oscar fight between Kathryn Bigelow's "The Hurt Locker" and James Cameron's "Avatar" turned out to be a knockout Sunday night (March 7), as "Hurt Locker" won Best Picture and Bigelow became the first woman in Academy Award history to win for Best Directing.
2010 Oscars Show
Those wins were two of six "Hurt Locker" took home from its nine nominations during the live ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, including Film Editing, Sound Editing and Sound Mixing. Shut out of the major categories, "Avatar" nabbed a total of three wins — out of nine noms — in categories like Cinematography, Visual Effects and Art Direction.
Taking the stage to accept the win for Best Picture...
- 3/8/2010
- MTV Movie News
The HBO Documentary Films presentation Music By Prudence received an Academy Award in the category of Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 82nd annual Academy Awards, presented at the 2010 ceremony of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on March 7. The short film tells the inspiring story of a band of disabled Zimbabwe teenagers and their lead singer, Prudence Mabhena. The film follows Prudence and her fellow musicians as they find social acceptance in a society where physical disabilities are seen as a curse and the afflicted are often disowned by their families. The film from Director/producer, Roger Ross Williams; producer, Elinor Burkett debuts May 12 on HBO2.
- 3/8/2010
- by April MacIntyre
- Monsters and Critics
Academy Awards' Kanye moment resulted from falling-out between documentary's director and producer.
By Eric Ditzian
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett accept the award for Best Documentary Short at the 2010 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
In the midst of an Oscar ceremony Sunday night that presented little in the way of you'll-be-talking-about-this-tomorrow spontaneity came the dustup between the filmmakers of Best Documentary Short winner "Music by Prudence." Director Roger Ross Williams had just begun his acceptance speech when Elinor Burkett, a producer of the short, went and pulled a Kanye West, interrupting Williams mid-sentence.
"The man never lets the woman talk," she said. "Isn't that just the classic thing?"
So what exactly brought about this awards show wackiness? Salon.com spoke separately to both Burkett and Williams following the ceremony to get the inside word. Turns out that the two had a falling-out over the direction of the short,...
By Eric Ditzian
Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett accept the award for Best Documentary Short at the 2010 Oscars
Photo: Kevin Winter/ Getty Images
In the midst of an Oscar ceremony Sunday night that presented little in the way of you'll-be-talking-about-this-tomorrow spontaneity came the dustup between the filmmakers of Best Documentary Short winner "Music by Prudence." Director Roger Ross Williams had just begun his acceptance speech when Elinor Burkett, a producer of the short, went and pulled a Kanye West, interrupting Williams mid-sentence.
"The man never lets the woman talk," she said. "Isn't that just the classic thing?"
So what exactly brought about this awards show wackiness? Salon.com spoke separately to both Burkett and Williams following the ceremony to get the inside word. Turns out that the two had a falling-out over the direction of the short,...
- 3/8/2010
- MTV Movie News
The Oscars delivered on many levels Sunday night (March 7), even providing an unexpected "Kanye West" episode.
In a bizarre moment during the 82nd Academy Awards, "Music by Prudence" producer Elinor Burkett commandeered the microphone from director-producer Roger Ross Williams after their documentary short won the Oscar.
In the middle of his speech, Burkett began talking, while he stood there bemused. Although the incident wasn't quite as dramatic as Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, it was apparent that something was not quite right.
See for yourself:
Salon got the dirt from both sides, and it's a matter of he said, she said, in which Burkett wanted more creative control over how the documentary should be shot. There was a lawsuit, words were exchanged, bad blood festered. Williams says that even though Burkett still had a producer's credit on the film, that's about it,...
In a bizarre moment during the 82nd Academy Awards, "Music by Prudence" producer Elinor Burkett commandeered the microphone from director-producer Roger Ross Williams after their documentary short won the Oscar.
In the middle of his speech, Burkett began talking, while he stood there bemused. Although the incident wasn't quite as dramatic as Kanye West interrupting Taylor Swift's acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, it was apparent that something was not quite right.
See for yourself:
Salon got the dirt from both sides, and it's a matter of he said, she said, in which Burkett wanted more creative control over how the documentary should be shot. There was a lawsuit, words were exchanged, bad blood festered. Williams says that even though Burkett still had a producer's credit on the film, that's about it,...
- 3/8/2010
- by editorial@zap2it.com
- Zap2It - From Inside the Box
Some of the best filmmaking stories involve fueds, and while the run-up to the Oscars in the press was largely concerned with the constructed narrative of Cameron vs. Bigelow, it was a smaller but far more real conflict that took center stage for a moment. In an Oscar telecast that was noticeably light on dramatic moments, one odd near-confrontation really stands out. When the Oscar was presented to the creator of Music by Prudence, winner in the documentary short category, director/producer Roger Ross Williams took the stage, only to be forcibly interrupted by producer Elinor Burkett, who wrestled the mic away from Williams to make her own speech. What was that all about? Turns out the duo aren't exactly copacetic, and that there is some difference of opinion as to who is more important to the film's genesis. Salon has a good rundown of the history of the film,...
- 3/8/2010
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
Aside from a surprise appearance by Music by Prudence co-producer Elinor Burkett -- the "Kanye of the Oscars" -- no more scandalous event occurred than the omission of Farrah Fawcett and Bea Arthur from the annual "In Memoriam" montage. Or... was it scandalous? While I've got to say their exclusion threw my In Memoriam pool ballot into a tailspin, there's a case to be made today for leaving out two actresses not exactly best-known for their big-screen work.
- 3/8/2010
- Movieline
One of the few unscripted moments last night came when Elinor Burkett, producer of the Best Documentary Short winner "Music by Prudence," stormed the stage and hijacked the microphone as director Roger Ross Williams delivered his acceptance speech.
It was a moment reminiscent of MTV's 2009 Video Music Awards when Kanye West took the mic from Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift. Last night's moment perhaps wasn't as high-profile, but there was at least more to the story than Kanye's questionable decision to drink excessively before the VMAs. So why did Burkett feel the need to get her own comments out to the world?
As she told Salon in an interview at the tail end of the ceremony, "[Williams] and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court." Despite the settlement, Burkett claims that she was left...
It was a moment reminiscent of MTV's 2009 Video Music Awards when Kanye West took the mic from Best Female Video winner Taylor Swift. Last night's moment perhaps wasn't as high-profile, but there was at least more to the story than Kanye's questionable decision to drink excessively before the VMAs. So why did Burkett feel the need to get her own comments out to the world?
As she told Salon in an interview at the tail end of the ceremony, "[Williams] and I had a bad difference over the direction of the film that resulted in a lawsuit that has settled amicably out of court." Despite the settlement, Burkett claims that she was left...
- 3/8/2010
- by Adam Rosenberg
- MTV Movies Blog
Elinor Burkett interrupted Roger Ross Williams' Oscar acceptance speech Sunday, in what's being described as the "Kanye moment" of the Academy Awards. Williams, the director-producer for "Music by Prudence," a film about a disabled Zimbabwean musician, took to the stage Sunday evening to accept the award for best documentary short. Williams got just a few sentences into his speech when he was interrupted and dominated by Elinor Burkett, another producer of the film. Williams stood on stage while Burkett raved about the people behind "Music by Prudence." Burkett explained in a post-speech interview with Salon that the pair had a disagreement over the "direction of the film" and that she was late to the podium because Williams' mother used a cane to keep her from the stage. Burkett: What happened was [Williams] and I had a bad difference over the direction of...
- 3/8/2010
- by Katy Hall
- Huffington Post
The appeal of the Oscars telecast is the giddy hope that follows any live show or broadcast -- we want a train wreck (figuratively, not literally, unless you're a sicko) to happen. In the 21st century, the Academy Awards have passed by in relatively boring splendor, the days of streakers and Cher gowns forgotten. But this year, shock came in the most unexpected of places: Best Documentary Short. Music by Prudence won, director Roger Ross Williams began to thank everyone, and then a loud lady in a purple dressed jumped on stage. Chaos reigned for 30 seconds and was hastily shooed off for the next category. Watch the whole thing after the jump.
The woman in purple was revealed to be Elinor Burkett, producer of Prudence, and Salon immediately investigated. Burkett was more than happy to reveal why she crashed the stage, and declared it was all Williams' fault. "The director...
The woman in purple was revealed to be Elinor Burkett, producer of Prudence, and Salon immediately investigated. Burkett was more than happy to reveal why she crashed the stage, and declared it was all Williams' fault. "The director...
- 3/8/2010
- by Elisabeth Rappe
- Cinematical
Miley Cyrus was weedy, the Brat Pack survivors were scary, and the director of Crazy Heart built his part up. Here are the Oscars the Academy should have dished out
Biggest cop-out
While Neil Patrick Harris was ace, it felt completly disconnected from everything else in the Academy plan: It was like "Hugh Jackman was good last year" + "Nph was good at the Emmys last year" + "audiences like things that are old and safe and unthreatening like Steve Martin. Let's mix all of those without actually letting them intersect in any interesting fashion, yeah?"
Weakest hosting hit
Some hosts manage to make that bit where they run through every important nominee and namecheck them, by rote, without leaving anyone out and with equal weight given to their mention, with complete dignity. Addressing James Cameron with the 3D glasses was less than sledgehammer-obvious; he stared at them like the tall guy...
Biggest cop-out
While Neil Patrick Harris was ace, it felt completly disconnected from everything else in the Academy plan: It was like "Hugh Jackman was good last year" + "Nph was good at the Emmys last year" + "audiences like things that are old and safe and unthreatening like Steve Martin. Let's mix all of those without actually letting them intersect in any interesting fashion, yeah?"
Weakest hosting hit
Some hosts manage to make that bit where they run through every important nominee and namecheck them, by rote, without leaving anyone out and with equal weight given to their mention, with complete dignity. Addressing James Cameron with the 3D glasses was less than sledgehammer-obvious; he stared at them like the tall guy...
- 3/8/2010
- by Anna Pickard
- The Guardian - Film News
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