The Vanderpump Rules Season 10 finale, aptly titled “#Scandoval,” concluded with a dramatic exchange between Tom Sandoval, two-timing paragon of Angeleno scumbaggery whose five-percent ownership stake in one of West Hollywood’s seediest bars made him think he was the second coming of Steve Rubell, and Scheana Shay, an aspiring pop star/vlogger who will fall head over heels for you if you mount a TV in under seven minutes.
During this coda, we saw Scheana — tears streaming down her face, because of course — read Sandoval for filth over his clandestine...
During this coda, we saw Scheana — tears streaming down her face, because of course — read Sandoval for filth over his clandestine...
- 1/31/2024
- by Marlow Stern
- Rollingstone.com
“Le Freaks” will come out at night starting July 27 as Spiegelworld transforms 3535 Las Vegas Blvd. (The Linq hotel-casino) into the epicenter of four-on-the-floor beats and mirror balls with the debut of Discoshow.
More than four years in the making, Discoshow is the latest spectacle from the Las Vegas show producer that characterizes its style of entertainment as “human circus,” led by wizard of “Oz” Ross Mollison. It joins a compendium of Spiegelworld productions, including Absinthe at Caesars, Atomic Saloon in Venetian and The Hook at Caesars Atlantic City, along with bi-coastal versions of psychedelic Italian-American restaurant Superfrico at The Cosmopolitan and Caesars Atlantic City.
Mollison believes that Las Vegas audiences will love disco, even if they don’t know it yet. “We’re wired for disco. It goes through into our soul. People also want an excuse to go out and party. So much of what is produced now is so serious,...
More than four years in the making, Discoshow is the latest spectacle from the Las Vegas show producer that characterizes its style of entertainment as “human circus,” led by wizard of “Oz” Ross Mollison. It joins a compendium of Spiegelworld productions, including Absinthe at Caesars, Atomic Saloon in Venetian and The Hook at Caesars Atlantic City, along with bi-coastal versions of psychedelic Italian-American restaurant Superfrico at The Cosmopolitan and Caesars Atlantic City.
Mollison believes that Las Vegas audiences will love disco, even if they don’t know it yet. “We’re wired for disco. It goes through into our soul. People also want an excuse to go out and party. So much of what is produced now is so serious,...
- 1/30/2024
- by Melinda Sheckells
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
A fourth season of Ryan Murphy‘s “American Crime Story” is in the works, but may no longer focus on Studio 54. A year and a half after announcing the development of “Studio 54: American Crime Story,” FX Chairman John Landgraf said the subject matter is now up in the air.
“On ‘American Crime Story,’ we haven’t designated a subsequent successor or season,” Landgraf said during his executive session Thursday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “We have other things in development, but we haven’t landed on one of them and said, ‘Yes, this is going to be the fourth season of ‘American Crime Story.’”
FX previously said in August 2021 that “Studio 54” would tell the story of the establishment of the famed nightclub in 1977 by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who were convicted of tax fraud three years later.
See FX orders ‘American Sports Story,’ ‘American Love Story’ from Ryan Murphy,...
“On ‘American Crime Story,’ we haven’t designated a subsequent successor or season,” Landgraf said during his executive session Thursday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour. “We have other things in development, but we haven’t landed on one of them and said, ‘Yes, this is going to be the fourth season of ‘American Crime Story.’”
FX previously said in August 2021 that “Studio 54” would tell the story of the establishment of the famed nightclub in 1977 by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who were convicted of tax fraud three years later.
See FX orders ‘American Sports Story,’ ‘American Love Story’ from Ryan Murphy,...
- 1/12/2023
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
FX Boss John Landgraf said today at the network’s TCA day that Ryan Murphy’s American Story spinoff American Sports Story is “heading toward production.”
“We have a fairly complete set of scripts for American Sports Story by Stu Zicherman,” said Landgraf, “We haven’t dated that.”
Announced back in August 2021, along with another spinoff series American Love Story, American Sports Story is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.
The first installment is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc from the Boston Globe and Wondery. The limited series charts the rise and fall of NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez and explores the connections of the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide, and their legacy in sports and American culture.
“We have a fairly complete set of scripts for American Sports Story by Stu Zicherman,” said Landgraf, “We haven’t dated that.”
Announced back in August 2021, along with another spinoff series American Love Story, American Sports Story is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.
The first installment is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc from the Boston Globe and Wondery. The limited series charts the rise and fall of NFL superstar Aaron Hernandez and explores the connections of the disparate strands of his identity, his family, his career, his suicide, and their legacy in sports and American culture.
- 1/12/2023
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
FX Chairman John Landgraf offered several updates on a few popular series including “American Crime Story” Season 4, “American Sports Story,” and “Alien” at the Television Critics Association 2023 winter press tour on Thursday, promising that the shows remain in the works but are moving along.
On FX’s “American Sports Story,” Landgraf shares that the Ryan Murphy collaboration is on its way toward production with a “fairly complete set of scripts.” Based on the “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc” from the Boston Globe and Wondery, the forthcoming series, which was originally announced in 2021, will tell the story of former NFL player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez. Stu Zicherman writes and executive produces alongside Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Martin Woodall, Wondery’s Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery and The Boston Globe’s Linda Pizutti Henry and Ira Napoliello join as executive producers.
Landgraf remains tight-lipped...
On FX’s “American Sports Story,” Landgraf shares that the Ryan Murphy collaboration is on its way toward production with a “fairly complete set of scripts.” Based on the “Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc” from the Boston Globe and Wondery, the forthcoming series, which was originally announced in 2021, will tell the story of former NFL player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez. Stu Zicherman writes and executive produces alongside Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson. Martin Woodall, Wondery’s Hernan Lopez and Marshall Lewy of Wondery and The Boston Globe’s Linda Pizutti Henry and Ira Napoliello join as executive producers.
Landgraf remains tight-lipped...
- 1/12/2023
- by BreAnna Bell
- Variety Film + TV
Throughout his decades-long career, writer, actor, comedian, and director Mike Myers has been part of not one, not two, but three mammoth movie hits. Google his name, and you'll find stories alternating between the mullet hero of "Wayne's World," a psychedelic spy, or a grumpy green ogre -- such is the versatility of this Canadian-born comedy machine.
As if his franchise chops weren't impressive enough, he's also responsible for creating two out of these three blockbuster movie tentpoles. Myers' talent places a focus on character creation and sculpting unique worlds. Audiences have been quick to jump onto whatever bandwagon Myers dreams up. He's one of the most successful and well-known comedians working today.
Funnybones aside, he's also someone who isn't afraid to shake things up and appear where you'd least expect. He recently collaborated on David O. Russell's "Amsterdam," continuing a supporting role trend that saw him appear in...
As if his franchise chops weren't impressive enough, he's also responsible for creating two out of these three blockbuster movie tentpoles. Myers' talent places a focus on character creation and sculpting unique worlds. Audiences have been quick to jump onto whatever bandwagon Myers dreams up. He's one of the most successful and well-known comedians working today.
Funnybones aside, he's also someone who isn't afraid to shake things up and appear where you'd least expect. He recently collaborated on David O. Russell's "Amsterdam," continuing a supporting role trend that saw him appear in...
- 10/20/2022
- by Simon Bland
- Slash Film
Mark Fleischman, the former owner of the legendary celebrity hang-out Studio 54, has died by assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland. He was 82. Last month, the businessman who was once at the center of New York City’s thriving nightlife announced that he planned to end his own life after living with an undiagnosed medical condition since 2016 that affected his ability to speak and left him in a wheelchair. Fleischman told the New York Post that he would use the Swiss nonprofit assisted suicide group Dignitas to end his life on July 13. “I can’t walk, my speech is f***ed up and I can’t do anything for myself,” Fleischman told The Post. “My wife helps me get into bed and I can’t dress or put on my shoes. I am taking a gentle way out. It is the easiest way out for me.” Fleischman bought Studio...
- 7/14/2022
- TV Insider
Mark Fleischman, 82, died today by assisted suicide at a clinic in Switzerland, family and friends said.
Fleischman previously disclosed his plans, saying he had a degenerative condition and was in pain.
Earlier: The man who once ruled New York City nightlife has told a media outlet that he plans to end the party in July.
Mark Fleischman, who owned Manhattan’s Studio 54, once the world’s most exclusive club, is now 82 and confined to a wheelchair. He told the New York Post that he plans to use the Swiss nonprofit assisted suicide group Dignitas to end his life on July 13. The group helps assisted suicides with a lethal dose of barbiturates after a lengthy screening process.
“I can’t walk, my speech is f–ked up and I can’t do anything for myself,” Fleischman told The Post. “My wife helps me get into bed and I can’t...
Fleischman previously disclosed his plans, saying he had a degenerative condition and was in pain.
Earlier: The man who once ruled New York City nightlife has told a media outlet that he plans to end the party in July.
Mark Fleischman, who owned Manhattan’s Studio 54, once the world’s most exclusive club, is now 82 and confined to a wheelchair. He told the New York Post that he plans to use the Swiss nonprofit assisted suicide group Dignitas to end his life on July 13. The group helps assisted suicides with a lethal dose of barbiturates after a lengthy screening process.
“I can’t walk, my speech is f–ked up and I can’t do anything for myself,” Fleischman told The Post. “My wife helps me get into bed and I can’t...
- 7/14/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
Ryan Murphy may have left FX for Netflix, but his franchises will haunt the cable network forever. FX has ordered not one but two spin-offs of the prolific producer’s “American Story” anthology franchise: “American Sports Story” and “American Love Story,” the network announced Friday during the Television Critics Association summer press tour. Additionally, FX revealed that the fourth installment of “American Crime Story” will focus on Studio 54.
Both anthology series, “American Sports Story” and “American Love Story” are about exactly what you think they are. Similar to how “American Crime Story” dramatizes a different real-life crime every season, “Sports” will cover a real sports figure and will re-examine his/her story “through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives,” according to FX, while “Love” will tell “sweeping true love stories that captured the world’s attention.”
The first installment of “Sports” (should we point...
Both anthology series, “American Sports Story” and “American Love Story” are about exactly what you think they are. Similar to how “American Crime Story” dramatizes a different real-life crime every season, “Sports” will cover a real sports figure and will re-examine his/her story “through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives,” according to FX, while “Love” will tell “sweeping true love stories that captured the world’s attention.”
The first installment of “Sports” (should we point...
- 8/13/2021
- by Joyce Eng
- Gold Derby
FX and 20th Television have announced the expansion of Ryan Murphy’s “American Story” franchise, which already includes “American Horror Story,” “American Crime Story,” and the recently launched “American Horror Stories.” Two new spinoffs are being developed titled “American Love Story” and “American Sports Story” from producers Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson.
“When Ryan Murphy came to us with these two spinoffs and the stories for ‘American Sports Story’ and ‘American Love Story,’ we immediately jumped at the opportunity,” said FX Chairman John Landgraf in a statement. “What began with ‘American Horror Story’ has spawned some of the best and most indelible programs of our generation, most notably ‘American Crime Story’ which created a beautiful partnership between Ryan, Brad, Nina, and Brad. Their alchemy and the way in which they construct these stories is done with such care, such clarity and such dimensionality that creates the...
“When Ryan Murphy came to us with these two spinoffs and the stories for ‘American Sports Story’ and ‘American Love Story,’ we immediately jumped at the opportunity,” said FX Chairman John Landgraf in a statement. “What began with ‘American Horror Story’ has spawned some of the best and most indelible programs of our generation, most notably ‘American Crime Story’ which created a beautiful partnership between Ryan, Brad, Nina, and Brad. Their alchemy and the way in which they construct these stories is done with such care, such clarity and such dimensionality that creates the...
- 8/13/2021
- by Zack Sharf
- Indiewire
Ryan Murphy first told us about his idea for Studio 54: American Crime Story on Deadline’s Crew Call in June, and FX made it official today that the fourth installment of the series is in development.
FX Day @ TCA: Deadline’s Full Coverage
Studio 54: American Crime Story will tell the story of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who in 1977 turned their Midtown Manhattan disco into an international mecca of nightlife for the rich and famous and commoners alike — renowned for its lavish parties, music, sex and open drug use. With Rubell and Schrager’s meteoric rise came their epic fall less than three years later when the impresarios were convicted of tax fraud.
In December 1978, Studio 54 was raided after Rubell had been quoted as saying that only the Mafia made more money than the club brought in. The business partners were charged with tax evasion, obstruction of justice,...
FX Day @ TCA: Deadline’s Full Coverage
Studio 54: American Crime Story will tell the story of Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who in 1977 turned their Midtown Manhattan disco into an international mecca of nightlife for the rich and famous and commoners alike — renowned for its lavish parties, music, sex and open drug use. With Rubell and Schrager’s meteoric rise came their epic fall less than three years later when the impresarios were convicted of tax fraud.
In December 1978, Studio 54 was raided after Rubell had been quoted as saying that only the Mafia made more money than the club brought in. The business partners were charged with tax evasion, obstruction of justice,...
- 8/13/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Ryan Murphy is expanding his television footprint once again, with another installment of the “American Crime Story” franchise (tentatively titled “Studio 54: American Crime Story”) in development at FX, as well as two new limited anthology series, “American Love Story” and “American Sport Story.”
The first installment of “American Love Story” will tell a scripted tale about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, while the first installment of “American Sports Story” will focus on former NFL player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez.
Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are set to executive produce all of these projects, which come from 20th Television for FX.
“When Ryan Murphy came to us with these two spinoffs and the stories for ‘American Sports Story’ and ‘American Love Story,’ we immediately jumped at the opportunity,” said John Landgraf, chairman of FX, in a statement. “What began with ‘American Horror Story’ has...
The first installment of “American Love Story” will tell a scripted tale about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, while the first installment of “American Sports Story” will focus on former NFL player and convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez.
Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson are set to executive produce all of these projects, which come from 20th Television for FX.
“When Ryan Murphy came to us with these two spinoffs and the stories for ‘American Sports Story’ and ‘American Love Story,’ we immediately jumped at the opportunity,” said John Landgraf, chairman of FX, in a statement. “What began with ‘American Horror Story’ has...
- 8/13/2021
- by Danielle Turchiano
- Variety Film + TV
Ryan Murphy is expanding his “American Story” universe with two new spinoff limited series, “American Sports Story” and “American Love Story,” and development on a Studio 54-themed fourth season of “American Crime Story,” FX revealed Friday ahead of its virtual panels at the Television Critics Association press tour.
The first season of “Sports Story” will focus on Aaron Hernandez, while the debut installment of “Love Story” will follow John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
Both series will be produced by “AHS” studio 20th Television and FX Productions and executive produced by Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
See the descriptions for the two new series below, provided by FX:
American Sports Story
American Sports Story is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.
The...
The first season of “Sports Story” will focus on Aaron Hernandez, while the debut installment of “Love Story” will follow John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
Both series will be produced by “AHS” studio 20th Television and FX Productions and executive produced by Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
See the descriptions for the two new series below, provided by FX:
American Sports Story
American Sports Story is a scripted anthological limited series focusing on a prominent event involving a sports figure and re-examines it through the prism of today’s world, telling that story from multiple perspectives.
The...
- 8/13/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
“I love doing things that are about fashion,” Ryan Murphy tells us on the latest episode of Crew Call.
“A lot of people think fashion is frivolous and treat it as such. I think it’s true art, it’s how we live and it’s ‘the time’. I take it quite seriously,” adds the EP and writer who made Halston a priority as a limited series in his Netflix production deal.
Producer Christine Vachon and filmmaker Daniel Minahan tried to get the story about the rise and fall of Roy Halston Frowick made as early as 1996. The Des Moines, Iowa native went from being the milliner who made Jackie Kennedy’s famed pillbox hat to a roaring fashion icon known for shimmery, easy to wear one pieces and dresses. Halston was arguably the first among his peers to make couture available to the masses, and his selling-out remains a cautionary tale to the industry.
“A lot of people think fashion is frivolous and treat it as such. I think it’s true art, it’s how we live and it’s ‘the time’. I take it quite seriously,” adds the EP and writer who made Halston a priority as a limited series in his Netflix production deal.
Producer Christine Vachon and filmmaker Daniel Minahan tried to get the story about the rise and fall of Roy Halston Frowick made as early as 1996. The Des Moines, Iowa native went from being the milliner who made Jackie Kennedy’s famed pillbox hat to a roaring fashion icon known for shimmery, easy to wear one pieces and dresses. Halston was arguably the first among his peers to make couture available to the masses, and his selling-out remains a cautionary tale to the industry.
- 6/14/2021
- by Anthony D'Alessandro
- Deadline Film + TV
Midway through the first episode of his new show, Painting With John, John Lurie stands on the porch of his home in the Caribbean, gazing at a serene purplish-pink sunset. “I felt I should I use this beautiful moment to say something poetic, but I don’t have anything. So just imagine I’m saying something poetic,” he says, addressing the viewer. Then, after a beat, “Why put it all on me? There’s a sunset. You think of something poetic.”
The sequence captures a quintessential Lurie-an mood, in which gruff,...
The sequence captures a quintessential Lurie-an mood, in which gruff,...
- 1/21/2021
- by Hank Shteamer
- Rollingstone.com
Spoiler Alert: Do not read if you have not yet watched “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine,” now streaming on Netflix.
When faced with an impossible challenge, some assemble a team of superheroes to get it done. But when Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph took on the challenge of producing the Netflix special “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine,” they assembled the Avengers, plus a queen — Dame Helen Mirren.
“It seems that Helen Mirren might have the greatest sense of humor in all of showbiz. I’m guessing something about being a legend of that size puts everything in the correct perspective,” Lyonne tells Variety of landing Mirren for a cameo in the comedy film.
Though it’s not quite clear how many of Cooper’s viral Trump lip-synching TikTok videos Mirren saw before joining the project, it seems that the Oscar winner was a bit of a “super fan,” saying yes...
When faced with an impossible challenge, some assemble a team of superheroes to get it done. But when Natasha Lyonne and Maya Rudolph took on the challenge of producing the Netflix special “Sarah Cooper: Everything’s Fine,” they assembled the Avengers, plus a queen — Dame Helen Mirren.
“It seems that Helen Mirren might have the greatest sense of humor in all of showbiz. I’m guessing something about being a legend of that size puts everything in the correct perspective,” Lyonne tells Variety of landing Mirren for a cameo in the comedy film.
Though it’s not quite clear how many of Cooper’s viral Trump lip-synching TikTok videos Mirren saw before joining the project, it seems that the Oscar winner was a bit of a “super fan,” saying yes...
- 10/27/2020
- by Angelique Jackson
- Variety Film + TV
Studio 54 may have closed four decades ago, but it becomes more iconic every day. Studio 54: Night Magic, a new exhibit at Brooklyn Museum (and book), studies the nightclub’s history and influence.
Co-founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened Studio 54 on April 26, 1977. It would go on for just 33 months, closing in February 1980. After it was sold to Mark Fleischman, the nightclub would briefly reopen in the Eighties, but the new exhibit solely focuses on the first 33 months — now an integral part of pop culture history.
To understand the significance of Studio 54,...
Co-founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager opened Studio 54 on April 26, 1977. It would go on for just 33 months, closing in February 1980. After it was sold to Mark Fleischman, the nightclub would briefly reopen in the Eighties, but the new exhibit solely focuses on the first 33 months — now an integral part of pop culture history.
To understand the significance of Studio 54,...
- 10/21/2020
- by Angie Martoccio
- Rollingstone.com
Writer’s notes: All DC Comics references imply past events. They do not indicate any criticism or suggest answerability from current management.
I’ve built my career around what I call my Studio 54 philosophy. It’s that philosophy that I’ll use to explain how those dancing on Dan Didio’s grave do so at considerable risk.
If you have not read last week’s article, please do so. If you don’t, this is gonna read strangely.
There’s no way to say this without sounding a bit full of myself, so here goes… I’m the Master Of The Universe. Yep, call me Motu if you like, but I am indeed the Master, etc. etc.
To be the Master of anything requires intelligence, the ability to reason, and self-confidence. Believe it or not, reason and self-esteem are more critical than being smart. If I had to pick one overall,...
I’ve built my career around what I call my Studio 54 philosophy. It’s that philosophy that I’ll use to explain how those dancing on Dan Didio’s grave do so at considerable risk.
If you have not read last week’s article, please do so. If you don’t, this is gonna read strangely.
There’s no way to say this without sounding a bit full of myself, so here goes… I’m the Master Of The Universe. Yep, call me Motu if you like, but I am indeed the Master, etc. etc.
To be the Master of anything requires intelligence, the ability to reason, and self-confidence. Believe it or not, reason and self-esteem are more critical than being smart. If I had to pick one overall,...
- 3/11/2020
- by Michael Davis
- Comicmix.com
“No Bridge or Tunnel people.”
Steve Rubell, owner, Studio 54
That meant if you were not from Manhattan, you had little chance of ever getting into what is now known as the world’s most famous nightclub.
Studio 54.
Back then and even now, only the very rich or very poor live on the isle of Manhattan. I’m neither, although I’ve been poor and have had a bit of wealth.
Wealth, in this case, being able to afford a Manhattan residence. That by no means is a declaration of endless Benjamin’s. The thing about being from no money when you get some, you either blow it (done that) lose it (done that) or finally learn to make it work for you.
If you’re wondering what the difference between losing it and blowing it is, you’re blowing it.
I was able to move on up because of...
Steve Rubell, owner, Studio 54
That meant if you were not from Manhattan, you had little chance of ever getting into what is now known as the world’s most famous nightclub.
Studio 54.
Back then and even now, only the very rich or very poor live on the isle of Manhattan. I’m neither, although I’ve been poor and have had a bit of wealth.
Wealth, in this case, being able to afford a Manhattan residence. That by no means is a declaration of endless Benjamin’s. The thing about being from no money when you get some, you either blow it (done that) lose it (done that) or finally learn to make it work for you.
If you’re wondering what the difference between losing it and blowing it is, you’re blowing it.
I was able to move on up because of...
- 2/27/2020
- by Michael Davis
- Comicmix.com
Matt Tyrnauer's Where's My Roy Cohn? on the streets of New York: "Cohn, I think, was the person who sat between those two worlds and was the gatekeeper between the underworld and the overworld of politics and money and power." Photo: Anne-Katrin Titze
There is only one filmmaker who has documented Valentino Garavani (Valentino: The Last Emperor); Scotty Bowers (Scotty And The Secret History Of Hollywood); Jane Jacobs (Citizen Jane: Battle For The City), and Ian Schrager (Studio 54). And now Matt Tyrnauer has added Roy Cohn to the list with his insightfully dark Where's My Roy Cohn? Last fall, Matt told me that the idea for the film came out of his Studio 54 work, as Roy Cohn was the lawyer for Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, and showed up prominently in the archival of the infamous club.
Matt Tyrnauer on Gore Vidal: "He was prescient and brilliant.
There is only one filmmaker who has documented Valentino Garavani (Valentino: The Last Emperor); Scotty Bowers (Scotty And The Secret History Of Hollywood); Jane Jacobs (Citizen Jane: Battle For The City), and Ian Schrager (Studio 54). And now Matt Tyrnauer has added Roy Cohn to the list with his insightfully dark Where's My Roy Cohn? Last fall, Matt told me that the idea for the film came out of his Studio 54 work, as Roy Cohn was the lawyer for Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, and showed up prominently in the archival of the infamous club.
Matt Tyrnauer on Gore Vidal: "He was prescient and brilliant.
- 9/19/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
There are few better ways to tell a complicated true-life story than a well-made documentary. From Hulu and Netflix’s competing Fyre Festival documentaries, which both capture the mega-disaster of the exclusive event that never happened, to groundbreaking docuseries that rocked the music industry, like Lifetime’s “Surviving R. Kelly” and HBO’s “Leaving Neverland,” 2019 has been the year for riveting documentaries.
And if you’re still itching to see more powerful scammers get exposed, Netflix has you covered. “Dirty Money” chronicles real cases of corruption and corporate greed as it takes shape in drug dealing and politics, while “The Great Hack” reveals how Cambridge Analytica became a propaganda machine during the 2016 election. Other political docs include “Knock Down the House,” “Flint Town,” “Reversing Roe” and “Trump: An American Dream.”
But if you’re craving something more upbeat, you can always watch Beyonce’s “Homecoming,” which chronicles the singer’s...
And if you’re still itching to see more powerful scammers get exposed, Netflix has you covered. “Dirty Money” chronicles real cases of corruption and corporate greed as it takes shape in drug dealing and politics, while “The Great Hack” reveals how Cambridge Analytica became a propaganda machine during the 2016 election. Other political docs include “Knock Down the House,” “Flint Town,” “Reversing Roe” and “Trump: An American Dream.”
But if you’re craving something more upbeat, you can always watch Beyonce’s “Homecoming,” which chronicles the singer’s...
- 8/14/2019
- by BreAnna Bell
- Variety Film + TV
Truman Capote, Martha Graham, Betty Ford, Halston, and Elizabeth Taylor on the scene at Steve Rubell's Studio 54 Photo: Dustin Pittman
Halston, by Dior And I director Frédéric Tcheng, shines light on the designer's crowning achievements and attempts to come to grips with his eventual fall. The first thought of Halston might be of Studio 54 with Andy Warhol or of Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hat and cloth coat for JFK's inauguration at a time when wives in the public eye wrapped themselves in furs.
There is footage from the Nineties of a tipsy interview with Elsa Peretti, recent interviews including Liza Minnelli, Marisa Berenson, Pat Cleveland, Bob Colacello, and Joel Schumacher, and glimpses of the infamous Battle of Versailles Fashion Show that put American fashion on the map, and is documented on film in Deborah Riley Draper's Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution.
Frédéric Tcheng on Liza Minnelli in...
Halston, by Dior And I director Frédéric Tcheng, shines light on the designer's crowning achievements and attempts to come to grips with his eventual fall. The first thought of Halston might be of Studio 54 with Andy Warhol or of Jackie Kennedy's pillbox hat and cloth coat for JFK's inauguration at a time when wives in the public eye wrapped themselves in furs.
There is footage from the Nineties of a tipsy interview with Elsa Peretti, recent interviews including Liza Minnelli, Marisa Berenson, Pat Cleveland, Bob Colacello, and Joel Schumacher, and glimpses of the infamous Battle of Versailles Fashion Show that put American fashion on the map, and is documented on film in Deborah Riley Draper's Versailles '73: American Runway Revolution.
Frédéric Tcheng on Liza Minnelli in...
- 5/26/2019
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
Review by Roger Carpenter
For 33 months in the late 70’s New York City became the epicenter for perhaps the most famous nightclub in the world. Birthed from the dreams of a couple of twenty-somethings and miraculously constructed in mere weeks, the rise and ultimate fall of the hottest discotheque in the world—Studio 54—is the stuff of legend.
Originally constructed as an opera house in 1927, there were a succession of owners until CBS Studios purchased the property in 1943. There the studio broadcast some of its most famous game shows like What’s My Line? and The $64,000 Question, as well as The Jack Benny Show and even Captain Kangaroo until they moved to a new location and started shopping the property around.
Enter two young hotshots named Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who purchased the property and proceeded to renovate it with the backing of Jack Dushey. Rubell was a brash entrepreneur while Schrager,...
For 33 months in the late 70’s New York City became the epicenter for perhaps the most famous nightclub in the world. Birthed from the dreams of a couple of twenty-somethings and miraculously constructed in mere weeks, the rise and ultimate fall of the hottest discotheque in the world—Studio 54—is the stuff of legend.
Originally constructed as an opera house in 1927, there were a succession of owners until CBS Studios purchased the property in 1943. There the studio broadcast some of its most famous game shows like What’s My Line? and The $64,000 Question, as well as The Jack Benny Show and even Captain Kangaroo until they moved to a new location and started shopping the property around.
Enter two young hotshots named Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who purchased the property and proceeded to renovate it with the backing of Jack Dushey. Rubell was a brash entrepreneur while Schrager,...
- 2/21/2019
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
In the 1970s, Studio 54 was the epicenter of New York nightlife. With wildly theatrical sets, a guest list of celebs, and jet-setters that included everyone from Andy Warhol to Grace Jones, and a pulsating disco beat, the nightclub helped define the Me Decade. But its reign was short lived. In 1980, founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager were convicted of tax evasion after skimming nearly $2.5 million in unreported income.
The club and Rubell and Schrager’s rise to the top of the Manhattan social ladder are documented in Matt Tyrnauer’s acclaimed new documentary, “Studio 54.” Rubell died of complications from AIDS in 1989, but the film boasts in-depth interviews with Schrager, who has been hesitant in the past to publicly reflect on that heady time.
It’s easy to see why he’d be wary of revisiting the more painful parts of his past. Schrager successfully reinvented himself, helping to...
The club and Rubell and Schrager’s rise to the top of the Manhattan social ladder are documented in Matt Tyrnauer’s acclaimed new documentary, “Studio 54.” Rubell died of complications from AIDS in 1989, but the film boasts in-depth interviews with Schrager, who has been hesitant in the past to publicly reflect on that heady time.
It’s easy to see why he’d be wary of revisiting the more painful parts of his past. Schrager successfully reinvented himself, helping to...
- 12/10/2018
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
Director Matt Tyrnauer finds himself in contention for awards this year with not one but two feature-length documentaries. Taken together, they offer a unique social and cultural history of America from the late 1940s into the 1980s.
Studio 54 centers on the latter end of that time period, when entrepreneurs Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed an old theater space in Manhattan into “the greatest nightclub of all time,” as Tyrnauer and many others consider it.
“You could look at other genres of nightclub like the Stork Club and say, ‘That was great, too,’” the director notes. “But there was certainly nothing in the modern era that ever approached Studio 54, as hard as everyone tried.”
From 1977 to 1979—the height of the disco era—the club became a magnet for celebrities and the non-famous, who cavorted in a drug-fueled atmosphere of revelry and wild abandon.
“It was the perfect expression of...
Studio 54 centers on the latter end of that time period, when entrepreneurs Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager transformed an old theater space in Manhattan into “the greatest nightclub of all time,” as Tyrnauer and many others consider it.
“You could look at other genres of nightclub like the Stork Club and say, ‘That was great, too,’” the director notes. “But there was certainly nothing in the modern era that ever approached Studio 54, as hard as everyone tried.”
From 1977 to 1979—the height of the disco era—the club became a magnet for celebrities and the non-famous, who cavorted in a drug-fueled atmosphere of revelry and wild abandon.
“It was the perfect expression of...
- 12/7/2018
- by Matthew Carey
- Deadline Film + TV
The heavy roster of Specialties heading to theaters in the post-Labor Day period is ebbing a bit this weekend. Cuba Gooding, Jr. makes his debut as writer-director with thriller Bayou Caviar, in which he stars with Famke Janssen and Richard Dreyfuss in a day and date bow this weekend via Gravitas Ventures. Sundance fest debut documentary Studio 54 is the second recent theatrical feature by Matt Tyrnauer, following this summer’s Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood. Zeitgeist opens the title about the legendary New York nightclub in, of course, New York, before heading West next week. Vertical Entertainment is opening drama-thriller A Crooked Somebody directed by Trevor White and starring Rich Sommer, while Music Box is spearheading SXSW’s Finnish metal music-comedy, Heavy Trip.
A couple of studios are also giving their movies a limited start, including Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz starrer, Loving Pablo from Universal, while...
A couple of studios are also giving their movies a limited start, including Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz starrer, Loving Pablo from Universal, while...
- 10/5/2018
- by Brian Brooks
- Deadline Film + TV
Sneak Peek the new documentary "Studio 54", directed by Matt Tyrnauer, opening October 5, 2018:
"...'Studio 54' was the epicenter of 70's hedonism, in a space that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era.
"Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society.
"Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club's hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Studio 54"...
"...'Studio 54' was the epicenter of 70's hedonism, in a space that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era.
"Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly preside over a new kind of New York society.
"Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club's hallowed threshold, a feature documentary tells the real story behind the greatest club of all time..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Studio 54"...
- 10/5/2018
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
In the past few years, Matt Tyrnauer has made it his stock-in-trade to pry into the seamy undersides of glitz and glamour — and all the sexy secrets that go along. Earlier this year, his documentary Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood attempted to shock and awe with the tales of Scotty Bowers, legendary “pimp to the stars,” and his potentially scandalous conquests of famous men and women. He also delved into the backstory of fashion royalty with Valentino: The Last Emperor. But let’s not forget he also gave...
- 10/5/2018
- by Jerry Portwood
- Rollingstone.com
Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood Director Matt Tyrnauer is back with a new feature-length documentary which takes us behind the velvet rope of the world’s most famous nightclub, New York’s Studio 54. Although the club was open in its original incarnation for only 33 months, looking back it encapsulates so much of what defined that late Seventies disco era before the arrival of HIV/AIDS. Largely thanks to the images of its celebrity patrons and anecdotes about the club’s strict door policy, it has remained an indelible icon of popular culture for four decades.
Ahead of Studio 54’s New York opening today, Friday 5th October at the IFC Center before a nationwide Us expansion, James Kleinmann spoke with Matt Tyrnauer about setting out to reveal the untold tale of the club’s history.
Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, and Halston at Studio 54. Photographer: Adam Scull.
Ahead of Studio 54’s New York opening today, Friday 5th October at the IFC Center before a nationwide Us expansion, James Kleinmann spoke with Matt Tyrnauer about setting out to reveal the untold tale of the club’s history.
Liza Minelli, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, and Halston at Studio 54. Photographer: Adam Scull.
- 10/5/2018
- by James Kleinmann
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
The nightclub Studio 54 sought to be a disco paradise in the 1970s, a utopia made up of sex, drugs, dancing, and celebrity display. Many gay men of a certain age in Manhattan still claim to have been one of the shirtless waiters in tight shorts at Studio 54, and like so much else about that club, these claims are hard to verify.
Documentarian Matt Tyrnauer (“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”) sits down with the two surviving co-owners of the club, Ian Schrager and Jack Dushey (the latter functioned as a silent partner), and tries to get them to reveal the tale behind its rise and fall, but this often proves difficult for him. Steve Rubell, the exuberant public face of Studio 54, died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, and so he isn’t around to tell his part of the story. The feeling persists in “Studio 54” that we are...
Documentarian Matt Tyrnauer (“Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood”) sits down with the two surviving co-owners of the club, Ian Schrager and Jack Dushey (the latter functioned as a silent partner), and tries to get them to reveal the tale behind its rise and fall, but this often proves difficult for him. Steve Rubell, the exuberant public face of Studio 54, died of AIDS-related complications in 1989, and so he isn’t around to tell his part of the story. The feeling persists in “Studio 54” that we are...
- 10/4/2018
- by Dan Callahan
- The Wrap
Liza Minnelli, Bianca Jagger, Andy Warhol, and Halston at Studio 54: "The rest of the world sees it as a triumph and a golden age of something that was a kind of paradise lost."
Matt Tyrnauer, the director of Valentino: The Last Emperor, Scotty And The Secret History Of Hollywood, and Citizen Jane: Battle For The City (a 2016 Doc NYC highlight and the opening night selection) joined me for a conversation on his latest documentary Studio 54. I came down from Lincoln Center, following the 56th New York Film Festival morning screening for High Life and press conference with Claire Denis and Robert Pattinson to meet him at the offices of Kino Lorber.
Anthony Haden-Guest, author of The Last Days Of Disco (not Whit Stillman's film), is seen commenting on the crowd outside of Studio 54: "It's like the damned looking into paradise." Ian Schrager "the Greta Garbo...
Matt Tyrnauer, the director of Valentino: The Last Emperor, Scotty And The Secret History Of Hollywood, and Citizen Jane: Battle For The City (a 2016 Doc NYC highlight and the opening night selection) joined me for a conversation on his latest documentary Studio 54. I came down from Lincoln Center, following the 56th New York Film Festival morning screening for High Life and press conference with Claire Denis and Robert Pattinson to meet him at the offices of Kino Lorber.
Anthony Haden-Guest, author of The Last Days Of Disco (not Whit Stillman's film), is seen commenting on the crowd outside of Studio 54: "It's like the damned looking into paradise." Ian Schrager "the Greta Garbo...
- 10/3/2018
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
You probably know the legend of Studio 54. Maybe you’re old enough to have been there for the midtown disco’s flash-in-the-pan heyday, and remember reading about all of the celebrities who passed through its blacked out doors. Or maybe you’re barely old enough to remember the disastrous movie from the summer of 1998, in which Mike Myers played club co-founder Steve Rubell, and a shirtless Ryan Phillippe starred as a fictional bridge-and-tunnel bartender named Shane O’Shea. Either way, Studio 54 feels like a story that’s already been told — like a broad synonym for whatever kind of paradise New York City used to be.
And yet, Matt Tyrnauer’s riveting documentary manages to make it all seem new again — alive, as though it were happening for the first time at warp-speed before your eyes. A simple chronology that’s inflected with evocative archival footage and seasoned with...
And yet, Matt Tyrnauer’s riveting documentary manages to make it all seem new again — alive, as though it were happening for the first time at warp-speed before your eyes. A simple chronology that’s inflected with evocative archival footage and seasoned with...
- 10/3/2018
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
‘Studio 54’
by Peter Belsito
A feature documentary of a strange gay New York club scene in the late 1970s.
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism — a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era, basically the wildest aspects of the pre AIDs gay New York
.
Diana Ross with 54 club founders Rubell and Shrager sitting on the club’s former movie theater balcony
Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly conceive and preside over a new kind of New York society.
Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold in a former Broadway theater, this feature documentary tells the real story behind the most audacious club of all time.
This is a first hand look into the inside of the amazing Studio...
by Peter Belsito
A feature documentary of a strange gay New York club scene in the late 1970s.
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism — a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era, basically the wildest aspects of the pre AIDs gay New York
.
Diana Ross with 54 club founders Rubell and Shrager sitting on the club’s former movie theater balcony
Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly conceive and preside over a new kind of New York society.
Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold in a former Broadway theater, this feature documentary tells the real story behind the most audacious club of all time.
This is a first hand look into the inside of the amazing Studio...
- 10/2/2018
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
‘Studio 54’
A feature documentary of a strange gay New York club scene in the late 1970s.
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism — a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era, basically the wildest aspects of the pre AIDs gay New York
.
Diana Ross with 54 club founders Rubell and Shrager sitting on the club’s former movie theater balcony
Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly conceive and preside over a new kind of New York society.
Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold in a former Broadway theater, this feature documentary tells the real story behind the most audacious club of all time.
This is a first hand look into the inside of the amazing Studio 54 told here...
A feature documentary of a strange gay New York club scene in the late 1970s.
Studio 54 was the epicenter of 70s hedonism — a place that not only redefined the nightclub, but also came to symbolize an entire era, basically the wildest aspects of the pre AIDs gay New York
.
Diana Ross with 54 club founders Rubell and Shrager sitting on the club’s former movie theater balcony
Its co-owners, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, two friends from Brooklyn, seemed to come out of nowhere to suddenly conceive and preside over a new kind of New York society.
Now, 39 years after the velvet rope was first slung across the club’s hallowed threshold in a former Broadway theater, this feature documentary tells the real story behind the most audacious club of all time.
This is a first hand look into the inside of the amazing Studio 54 told here...
- 10/2/2018
- by Peter Belsito
- Sydney's Buzz
“Lizzie” (Sept. 14)
Chloe Sevigny stars as the 19th-century axewoman who killed her father and stepmother — but also had a romantically charged relationship with the family’s live-in maid (Kristen Stewart).
“Colette” (Sept. 21)
Keira Knightley stars as the early-20th-century French author who confronts not only the patriarchy but also dallies with women, including the cross-dressing noblewoman Mathilde de Morny (Denise Gough).
“Studio 54” (Oct. 5)
Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary, which debuted at Sundance, looks at the legendary New York City nightclub of the 1970s created by college pals Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.
“The Happy Prince” (Oct. 10)
Rupert Everett directs and stars as the Irish author Oscar Wilde as he lives out his last days in exile following his conviction for “gross indecency” with men.
“Boy Erased” (Nov. 2)
Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”) plays the gay son of a Baptist minister who is sent off to a gay conversion therapy program.
Chloe Sevigny stars as the 19th-century axewoman who killed her father and stepmother — but also had a romantically charged relationship with the family’s live-in maid (Kristen Stewart).
“Colette” (Sept. 21)
Keira Knightley stars as the early-20th-century French author who confronts not only the patriarchy but also dallies with women, including the cross-dressing noblewoman Mathilde de Morny (Denise Gough).
“Studio 54” (Oct. 5)
Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary, which debuted at Sundance, looks at the legendary New York City nightclub of the 1970s created by college pals Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager.
“The Happy Prince” (Oct. 10)
Rupert Everett directs and stars as the Irish author Oscar Wilde as he lives out his last days in exile following his conviction for “gross indecency” with men.
“Boy Erased” (Nov. 2)
Lucas Hedges (“Manchester by the Sea”) plays the gay son of a Baptist minister who is sent off to a gay conversion therapy program.
- 8/29/2018
- by Thom Geier
- The Wrap
To mark the release of Studio 54 on 6th August, we’ve been given 3 copies to give away on DVD.
With rare footage, a parade of colourful patrons and staff, and brutally honest interviews with notorious owner, Ian Schrager, Studio 54 is a riveting study in contradictions. The palatial theatre-turned-disco had an atmosphere of total acceptance, whether drag queen, octogenarian, waiter, or celebrity. Yet outside, a frenzied, excluded mob yearned to catch the eye of the doorman and beckoned to be ushered into the sanctum of pulsating love. The glittering club sprang from carefree naiveté and unbridled ambition — yet those same instincts managed to destroy it.
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor), Studio 54 provides unbridled access and often brutally honest insight into the nightclub that people were dying to get into. The bracing story of how two best friends from Brooklyn, Schrager and Steve Rubell, founded the most talked...
With rare footage, a parade of colourful patrons and staff, and brutally honest interviews with notorious owner, Ian Schrager, Studio 54 is a riveting study in contradictions. The palatial theatre-turned-disco had an atmosphere of total acceptance, whether drag queen, octogenarian, waiter, or celebrity. Yet outside, a frenzied, excluded mob yearned to catch the eye of the doorman and beckoned to be ushered into the sanctum of pulsating love. The glittering club sprang from carefree naiveté and unbridled ambition — yet those same instincts managed to destroy it.
Directed by Matt Tyrnauer (Valentino: The Last Emperor), Studio 54 provides unbridled access and often brutally honest insight into the nightclub that people were dying to get into. The bracing story of how two best friends from Brooklyn, Schrager and Steve Rubell, founded the most talked...
- 8/1/2018
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Here are lyrics from a song in the new musical “This Ain’t No Disco” that creatives Stephen Trask (“Hedwig and the Angry Inch”) and Peter Yanowitz hope will make us yearn for the golden age of disco, circa 1979-80, when everyone was flocking to after-hours clubs like Studio 54. Give a listen: “Rollerboy angels are skating / Glistening pectorals smooth / The beat and the pulse are creating / An anthem your soul for to soothe.”
Doesn’t it just make you want to jump over that velvet rope and claw your way inside, where all the beautiful people are getting drunk and stoned and having fun? No? Well, consider yourself saved, because the rest of this new musical is just as dumb as that dopey lyric.
In its heyday, the nightclub that Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell (played here by a crazed-looking Theo Stockman) built into the honeypot known as Studio 54 was,...
Doesn’t it just make you want to jump over that velvet rope and claw your way inside, where all the beautiful people are getting drunk and stoned and having fun? No? Well, consider yourself saved, because the rest of this new musical is just as dumb as that dopey lyric.
In its heyday, the nightclub that Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell (played here by a crazed-looking Theo Stockman) built into the honeypot known as Studio 54 was,...
- 7/25/2018
- by Marilyn Stasio
- Variety Film + TV
Filmmaker Angela Robinson on Thursday issued a call to action to attendees of the opening night of Outfest, telling the audience gathered at the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles to vote and encourage others to participate in the upcoming midterm elections.
Outfest, the largest Lgbtq film festival in North America, took on a decidedly political tone this year amid a rolling back of protections for members of the Lgbtq community by the Trump administration and a looming fight over the confirmation of conservative judge Brett Kavanuahg to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Robinson, who was honored with the Outfest Achievement Award Thursday, said that rather than speak about her career, she felt compelled to speak on the need for political organizing ahead of election that will decide the balance of Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
“I’m here to remind you tonight that we – queer folks – are warriors,” said Robinson,...
Outfest, the largest Lgbtq film festival in North America, took on a decidedly political tone this year amid a rolling back of protections for members of the Lgbtq community by the Trump administration and a looming fight over the confirmation of conservative judge Brett Kavanuahg to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Robinson, who was honored with the Outfest Achievement Award Thursday, said that rather than speak about her career, she felt compelled to speak on the need for political organizing ahead of election that will decide the balance of Republicans and Democrats in Congress.
“I’m here to remind you tonight that we – queer folks – are warriors,” said Robinson,...
- 7/13/2018
- by Ricardo Lopez
- Variety Film + TV
Tonight, A&E IndieFilms’ latest documentary, Matt Tyrnauer’s “Studio 54,” opens Outfest in Los Angeles before hitting theaters via Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber in October. Unusually, A&E IndieFilms senior VP Molly Thompson believes in theatrical play for her documentaries as a way to build awareness before they hit the air.
With streaming, she said, “it’s harder for the films to stand out. Theatrical is good for films. You have a whole year to go out to festivals and theaters before they come to A&E. We’re the opposite of HBO and Netflix.”
All these funding and distribution options make it “a great time for documentary filmmakers,” she said. “Even seven years ago people were starving. It was a difficult time. We were a big whale for filmmakers. Now they have so many options, and people are able to pay their bills.”
Thompson’s first job was...
With streaming, she said, “it’s harder for the films to stand out. Theatrical is good for films. You have a whole year to go out to festivals and theaters before they come to A&E. We’re the opposite of HBO and Netflix.”
All these funding and distribution options make it “a great time for documentary filmmakers,” she said. “Even seven years ago people were starving. It was a difficult time. We were a big whale for filmmakers. Now they have so many options, and people are able to pay their bills.”
Thompson’s first job was...
- 7/12/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Indiewire
Tonight, A&E IndieFilms’ latest documentary, Matt Tyrnauer’s “Studio 54,” opens Outfest in Los Angeles before hitting theaters via Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber in October. Unusually, A&E IndieFilms senior VP Molly Thompson believes in theatrical play for her documentaries as a way to build awareness before they hit the air.
With streaming, she said, “it’s harder for the films to stand out. Theatrical is good for films. You have a whole year to go out to festivals and theaters before they come to A&E. We’re the opposite of HBO and Netflix.”
All these funding and distribution options make it “a great time for documentary filmmakers,” she said. “Even seven years ago people were starving. It was a difficult time. We were a big whale for filmmakers. Now they have so many options, and people are able to pay their bills.”
Thompson’s first job was...
With streaming, she said, “it’s harder for the films to stand out. Theatrical is good for films. You have a whole year to go out to festivals and theaters before they come to A&E. We’re the opposite of HBO and Netflix.”
All these funding and distribution options make it “a great time for documentary filmmakers,” she said. “Even seven years ago people were starving. It was a difficult time. We were a big whale for filmmakers. Now they have so many options, and people are able to pay their bills.”
Thompson’s first job was...
- 7/12/2018
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
NewportFILM will screen documentaries by Morgan Neville, Matt Tyrnauer, Nathanel Kahn, and Andrew Solomon as part of its annual summer series.
The festival has become something of an institution in the posh seaside community — Newport, Rhode Island is an old world resort, with Gilded Age mansions that are straight out of an Edith Wharton novel. Part of the attraction is that the sunset screenings are hosted in several different historic venues, including Rosecliff, a mansion featured in the 1974 version of “The Great Gatsby” with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, the Eisenhower House, which was the “Summer White House” for President Dwight D. Eisenhower or his Mar a Lago, and the Newport International Polo Grounds.
The screenings kicked off Thursday with Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a look at the enduring legacy of Fred Rogers, and runs through September 6th. Past films that have played at newportFILM include Brett Morgan’s “Jane,...
The festival has become something of an institution in the posh seaside community — Newport, Rhode Island is an old world resort, with Gilded Age mansions that are straight out of an Edith Wharton novel. Part of the attraction is that the sunset screenings are hosted in several different historic venues, including Rosecliff, a mansion featured in the 1974 version of “The Great Gatsby” with Robert Redford and Mia Farrow, the Eisenhower House, which was the “Summer White House” for President Dwight D. Eisenhower or his Mar a Lago, and the Newport International Polo Grounds.
The screenings kicked off Thursday with Neville’s “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?,” a look at the enduring legacy of Fred Rogers, and runs through September 6th. Past films that have played at newportFILM include Brett Morgan’s “Jane,...
- 6/22/2018
- by Variety Staff
- Variety Film + TV
The story of the nightclub as told by its founders
This documentary about the notorious New York nightclub tells the story of its inception in 1977, and its eventual downfall, in its founders’ words. Created by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, two entrepreneurial Brooklyn boys, Studio 54 co-opted the culture of black and queer underground nightlife and made it high-end and exclusive. The film is interested in the dry particularities of what would happen to Rubell and Schrager – both went to prison for tax evasion – and what the club represented as the seductive new-money era of the 80s beckoned, though it’s frustratingly broad on its place in club culture.
This documentary about the notorious New York nightclub tells the story of its inception in 1977, and its eventual downfall, in its founders’ words. Created by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, two entrepreneurial Brooklyn boys, Studio 54 co-opted the culture of black and queer underground nightlife and made it high-end and exclusive. The film is interested in the dry particularities of what would happen to Rubell and Schrager – both went to prison for tax evasion – and what the club represented as the seductive new-money era of the 80s beckoned, though it’s frustratingly broad on its place in club culture.
- 6/17/2018
- by Simran Hans
- The Guardian - Film News
Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary delivers a lively account of how Studio 54 opened its doors to disco music, hedonism and celebrity revellers
Studio 54 is the legendary New York club on Eighth Avenue at 54th Street that opened in the late 70s on the site of a disused CBS TV studio. Co-owners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell cleverly modified its theatrical space, keeping the balcony and lighting rig and levelling the auditorium with the stage. With wild entrepreneurialism and reckless press-baiting, they captured lightning in a bottle and Studio 54 became world famous for its disco music, its hedonism, its exclusive celebrity guest list, its gay party aesthetic at a time when homophobia was rife on the streets outside. But, after a couple of years, the party was over. Rubell and Schrager were arrested for tax evasion and drugs; they ratted out competitor club-owners to reduce their own jail time...
Studio 54 is the legendary New York club on Eighth Avenue at 54th Street that opened in the late 70s on the site of a disused CBS TV studio. Co-owners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell cleverly modified its theatrical space, keeping the balcony and lighting rig and levelling the auditorium with the stage. With wild entrepreneurialism and reckless press-baiting, they captured lightning in a bottle and Studio 54 became world famous for its disco music, its hedonism, its exclusive celebrity guest list, its gay party aesthetic at a time when homophobia was rife on the streets outside. But, after a couple of years, the party was over. Rubell and Schrager were arrested for tax evasion and drugs; they ratted out competitor club-owners to reduce their own jail time...
- 6/14/2018
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
MaryAnn’s quick take… A hugely entertaining exploration of the mythology of the legendary nightclub as something truly worth celebrating, and a towering Scorsese-esque drama of the men who invented it brought down by hubris. I’m “biast” (pro): nothing
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film
(learn more about this)
Anything could happen, and it did” is how someone describes the vibe at the fabled New York City nightclub and discotheque in documentary Studio 54… and it’s difficult to reconcile the jolt of recognition that characterization sets off in the brain — even if you were never there, even if you are too young to have ever possibly experienced it — with the fact that the venue existed for a mere 33 months in the late 1970s. The legend, nay, the mythology of Studio 54 is...
I’m “biast” (con): nothing
(what is this about? see my critic’s minifesto) women’s participation in this film
(learn more about this)
Anything could happen, and it did” is how someone describes the vibe at the fabled New York City nightclub and discotheque in documentary Studio 54… and it’s difficult to reconcile the jolt of recognition that characterization sets off in the brain — even if you were never there, even if you are too young to have ever possibly experienced it — with the fact that the venue existed for a mere 33 months in the late 1970s. The legend, nay, the mythology of Studio 54 is...
- 6/13/2018
- by MaryAnn Johanson
- www.flickfilosopher.com
Charting the rise and fall of one of the most iconic haunts in the history of New York’s club scene, Matt Tyrnauer’s new documentary Studio 54 offers a detailed and thoroughly engaging insight into the lives of the club’s creators Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell and tells the story of how a couple of ex-college friends took the city by storm overnight with limited funds and almost no business knowledge.
Opening on April 26 1977 amidst a fury of excitement and youthful exuberance on the part of its founders and their friends, Studio 54 became an overnight sensation after creating a huge buzz in the media resulting in thousands of New Yorkers and out-of-town revelers flocking every night in the hope of making it past Steve Rubell’s strict, near fascistic door policy. Making sure that only the hippest, coolest and most outrageously dressed club-goers were ever allowed in,...
Opening on April 26 1977 amidst a fury of excitement and youthful exuberance on the part of its founders and their friends, Studio 54 became an overnight sensation after creating a huge buzz in the media resulting in thousands of New Yorkers and out-of-town revelers flocking every night in the hope of making it past Steve Rubell’s strict, near fascistic door policy. Making sure that only the hippest, coolest and most outrageously dressed club-goers were ever allowed in,...
- 6/12/2018
- by Linda Marric
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Zeitgeist Films and Kino Lorber have picked up U.S. rights for Matt Tyrnauer’s “Studio 54,” a documentary about the club that was at the epicenter of New York city nightlife in the 1970s.
The deal between Kino Lorber and A&E IndieFilms, the company that produced the film, was finalized during Cannes Film Festival. “Studio 54” will be released in theaters in the fall of 2018. The companies are planning to campaign the film for Academy Awards consideration.
Tyrnauer, a Vanity Fair editor-at-large turned filmmaker, previously directed “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City,” and “Scotty and the Secret of Hollywood.” He’s shown a knack for getting under the skins of iconoclasts and myth-makers. He hit pay dirt with Steve Rubell, the flamboyant outer-bourough social-climber who created the ultimate playground for the rich and glamorous with his partner co-owner Ian Schrager. Over the course of a mere 33 months,...
The deal between Kino Lorber and A&E IndieFilms, the company that produced the film, was finalized during Cannes Film Festival. “Studio 54” will be released in theaters in the fall of 2018. The companies are planning to campaign the film for Academy Awards consideration.
Tyrnauer, a Vanity Fair editor-at-large turned filmmaker, previously directed “Valentino: The Last Emperor,” “Citizen Jane: Battle for the City,” and “Scotty and the Secret of Hollywood.” He’s shown a knack for getting under the skins of iconoclasts and myth-makers. He hit pay dirt with Steve Rubell, the flamboyant outer-bourough social-climber who created the ultimate playground for the rich and glamorous with his partner co-owner Ian Schrager. Over the course of a mere 33 months,...
- 5/21/2018
- by Brent Lang
- Variety Film + TV
A sprawling yet compact history of the iconic night club, Studio 54 focuses on the club’s founders, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, two men who turned a small business throwing balls for rich kids on Long Island into the venue to be during the disco era. Lasting only four years, the converted theater became a theatrical experience all its own. As explained by disco legend and club regular, Nile Rodgers – the models would hang with the gays, the straight guys would show up to meet the models, and the disco (at least in Manhattan) became a rare place of diversity and unity.
Directed by Matt Tyranauer, Studio 54 provides an aerial overview of the club, fittingly concerned more with the battles that took place behind the scenes than those out on stage, – by design, the club was a theatre with participants down below with a dark balcony for voyeurism and other activities.
Directed by Matt Tyranauer, Studio 54 provides an aerial overview of the club, fittingly concerned more with the battles that took place behind the scenes than those out on stage, – by design, the club was a theatre with participants down below with a dark balcony for voyeurism and other activities.
- 5/18/2018
- by John Fink
- The Film Stage
Deals for ‘Studio 54’ include Scandinavia and Australia and New Zealand.
UK documentary specialist Dogwoof has locked a series of deals across two of the titles on its Cannes sales slate.
Matt Tyrnauer’s Studio 54, about how two young men, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, conquered New York’s club scene with their pulsating, hedonistic club, has sold to Scandinavia (Edge Entertainment), Australia and New Zealand (Mad Man), Germany and Austria (Weltkino) and Italy (Bim).
An Altimeter Films and Passion Pictures production, Studio 54 was produced by John Battsek and Corey Reeser, and executive produced by Robert Sharenow, Elaine Frontaine-Bryant...
UK documentary specialist Dogwoof has locked a series of deals across two of the titles on its Cannes sales slate.
Matt Tyrnauer’s Studio 54, about how two young men, Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell, conquered New York’s club scene with their pulsating, hedonistic club, has sold to Scandinavia (Edge Entertainment), Australia and New Zealand (Mad Man), Germany and Austria (Weltkino) and Italy (Bim).
An Altimeter Films and Passion Pictures production, Studio 54 was produced by John Battsek and Corey Reeser, and executive produced by Robert Sharenow, Elaine Frontaine-Bryant...
- 5/9/2018
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Feature was produced by John Battsek and Corey Reeser.
UK-based documentary specialist Dogwoof has taken a selection of international sales rights to Studio 54, Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary about the titular New York nightclub famous for excess and exclusivity.
The film, which premiered at Sundance last month, depicts how club owners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell presided over the venue during a celebrated and controversial time in clubbing history.
Dogwoof will handle rights for Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and will present to buyers at this week’s European Film Market (Efm). Cinetic is handling North America while A+E Networks covers the rest of the world.
Dogwoof will also distribute the film in the UK - theatrical releases are planned for this year.
Tyrnauer’s previous documentaries include Citizen Jane: Battle For The City and Valentino: The Last Emperor.
Studio 54 was produced by John Battsek and Corey Reeser.
UK-based documentary specialist Dogwoof has taken a selection of international sales rights to Studio 54, Matt Tyrnauer’s documentary about the titular New York nightclub famous for excess and exclusivity.
The film, which premiered at Sundance last month, depicts how club owners Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell presided over the venue during a celebrated and controversial time in clubbing history.
Dogwoof will handle rights for Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and will present to buyers at this week’s European Film Market (Efm). Cinetic is handling North America while A+E Networks covers the rest of the world.
Dogwoof will also distribute the film in the UK - theatrical releases are planned for this year.
Tyrnauer’s previous documentaries include Citizen Jane: Battle For The City and Valentino: The Last Emperor.
Studio 54 was produced by John Battsek and Corey Reeser.
- 2/13/2018
- by Ben Dalton
- ScreenDaily
As you made your film during the increasingly chaotic backdrop of the last year, how did you as a filmmaker control, ignore, give in to or, conversely, perhaps creatively exploit the wild and unpredictable? What roles did chaos and order play in your films? As a documentary filmmaker, my favorite approach to storytelling is through the freshness and spontaneity of cinema vérité. With Studio 54, we were presented with the challenge of telling a story built on the unique and intimate friendship between the founding partners, Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, while grappling with the reality of Steve’s untimely death […]...
- 1/28/2018
- by Filmmaker Staff
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
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