Universal Television Alternative Studio (Utas) is getting into business with Depp V. Heard producer Empress Films.
The Universal Studio Group-owned Utas has struck an exclusive first-look deal with the UK indie, which filmmaker Emma Cooper launched in 2020.
Empress is known for Netflix and Channel 4’s Depp V. Heard, as well three other Netflix titles, The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, Who Killed Jill Dando? and The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann; and Sky and Peacock co-production Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow.
The partnerships will provide Empress with access to Utas’s transatlantic development resources, IP library and talent roster.
“Emma Cooper is a world class talent who has created some of the most-watched factual hits globally in recent years,” said Toby Gorman, President of Utas. “As we look to grow our documentary and factual output, her track record makes her and the team at Empress ideal...
The Universal Studio Group-owned Utas has struck an exclusive first-look deal with the UK indie, which filmmaker Emma Cooper launched in 2020.
Empress is known for Netflix and Channel 4’s Depp V. Heard, as well three other Netflix titles, The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, Who Killed Jill Dando? and The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann; and Sky and Peacock co-production Ghislaine Maxwell: Epstein’s Shadow.
The partnerships will provide Empress with access to Utas’s transatlantic development resources, IP library and talent roster.
“Emma Cooper is a world class talent who has created some of the most-watched factual hits globally in recent years,” said Toby Gorman, President of Utas. “As we look to grow our documentary and factual output, her track record makes her and the team at Empress ideal...
- 3/14/2024
- by Jesse Whittock
- Deadline Film + TV
Filmmaker Emma Cooper had to turn her notifications off.
The director of Netflix’s “Depp v. Heard” knew that by diving back into the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, her latest project would attract a lot of commentary online. After all, the six-week defamation case between one of the most famous celebrities on the planet and his rising star ex-wife was televised live with viewers around the world consuming explosive testimony, including from both actors who accused each other of domestic violence. In the end, the jury voted in Depp’s favor with Heard ordered to pay him $10 million in damages, and ultimately settling their long-running legal battle for $1 million.
Given the high-profile and polarizing nature of her doc’s subject matter, Cooper was not entirely surprised that Team Johnny and Team Amber commenters took issue with the mere existence of the docuseries.
“You know, it’s a balanced level of hate,...
The director of Netflix’s “Depp v. Heard” knew that by diving back into the trial between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, her latest project would attract a lot of commentary online. After all, the six-week defamation case between one of the most famous celebrities on the planet and his rising star ex-wife was televised live with viewers around the world consuming explosive testimony, including from both actors who accused each other of domestic violence. In the end, the jury voted in Depp’s favor with Heard ordered to pay him $10 million in damages, and ultimately settling their long-running legal battle for $1 million.
Given the high-profile and polarizing nature of her doc’s subject matter, Cooper was not entirely surprised that Team Johnny and Team Amber commenters took issue with the mere existence of the docuseries.
“You know, it’s a balanced level of hate,...
- 8/16/2023
- by Elizabeth Wagmeister
- Variety Film + TV
"Where does it end??" Indeed, the right question to ask. Netflix has unveiled their trailer for a documentary series called simply Depp v. Heard about the infamous Johnny Depp vs Amber Heard defamation trial from 2022. Everyone was expecting Netflix to create a doc about this event, they always have to create some "content" around popular events, always chasing that popularity, and here it is already - as fast as ever. Directed by Emma Cooper (of The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes), Depp v Heard is a three-part series examining the infamous defamation case that captured the world’s attention and became the world's first trial by TikTok. Showing both testimonies side-by-side for the first time, this series explores this global media event, questioning the nature of truth and the role it plays in our modern society. I don't think being this obsessed with celebrities and their personal lives is healthy at all.
- 7/27/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me is a documentary directed by Ursula Macfarlane about the life of Anna Nicole Smith and her years in stardom until her tragic death.
Anna Nicole Smith was a Texan girl who became an icon of American culture in the 1980s. In the wake of Marilyn, her story is also that of a woman with overwhelming sexuality criticized by traditional America and exploited by the media. . This documentary takes us back to his origins and tells us about the path she undertook to become a brilliant star with a profoundly popular style that was able to dazzle the masses.
It was precisely her ability to connect with people and her image as a stunning blonde that points her out as an heir to the iconic style that, not only, but no one knew how to promote better than Marilyn.
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me...
Anna Nicole Smith was a Texan girl who became an icon of American culture in the 1980s. In the wake of Marilyn, her story is also that of a woman with overwhelming sexuality criticized by traditional America and exploited by the media. . This documentary takes us back to his origins and tells us about the path she undertook to become a brilliant star with a profoundly popular style that was able to dazzle the masses.
It was precisely her ability to connect with people and her image as a stunning blonde that points her out as an heir to the iconic style that, not only, but no one knew how to promote better than Marilyn.
Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me...
- 5/16/2023
- by TV Shows Martin Cid Magazine
- Martin Cid - TV
BAFTA gave out their Craft Awards on Sunday, 23 April. As with the Primetime Emmys, the British academy also devotes a weekend to celebrating the creative arts. The BAFTA TV Craft Awards are split into 20 categories, with six devoted to fictional programming, six to factual programming, and a further four in combined fields.
The BBC medical drama “This is Going to Hurt” won three awards — Editing (Fiction), Scripted Casting, and Writer (Drama) for show creator Adam Kay. Kay adapted his best-selling memoir, which chronciled his experiences as a doctor in the NHS. Kay won in a stacked category that included Pete Jackson (“Somewhere Boy”), Alice Oseman (“Heartstopper) and Tony Schumacher (“The Responder”). “This is Going to Hurt” will contend at the Emmys in the limited series categories.
Meanwhile, Writer (Comedy) went to Lisa McGee for her work on “Derry Girls,” which follows a teenage girl and family in friends in 1990s Northern Ireland.
The BBC medical drama “This is Going to Hurt” won three awards — Editing (Fiction), Scripted Casting, and Writer (Drama) for show creator Adam Kay. Kay adapted his best-selling memoir, which chronciled his experiences as a doctor in the NHS. Kay won in a stacked category that included Pete Jackson (“Somewhere Boy”), Alice Oseman (“Heartstopper) and Tony Schumacher (“The Responder”). “This is Going to Hurt” will contend at the Emmys in the limited series categories.
Meanwhile, Writer (Comedy) went to Lisa McGee for her work on “Derry Girls,” which follows a teenage girl and family in friends in 1990s Northern Ireland.
- 4/23/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Just as the Primetime Emmys recognize a slew of categories during a weekend devoted to celebrating the Creative Arts, so too do the BAFTAs. The BAFTA TV Craft Awards honor various achievements across 20 different categories. An even dozen of these are devoted to fictional programming, another six to factual, and four are in combined fields. Winners of these awards were handed out in a ceremony on Sunday, April 23, three weeks before the main event. (Here’s the full list of BAFTA TV Awards nominations.) Scroll down for the complete list of BAFTA TV Craft Award winners.
Fiction
Costume Design
“The Crown”
“Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”
X – “The Essex Serpent”
“The English”
Director (Fiction)
Dearbhla Walsh, “Bad Sisters”
Hugo Blick, “The English”
Lucy Forbes, “This is Going to Hurt”
X – William Stefan Smith, “Top Boy”
Editing (Fiction)
“The Crown”
“Andor”
“Slow Horses”
X – “This is Going to Hurt”
Emerging Talent...
Fiction
Costume Design
“The Crown”
“Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”
X – “The Essex Serpent”
“The English”
Director (Fiction)
Dearbhla Walsh, “Bad Sisters”
Hugo Blick, “The English”
Lucy Forbes, “This is Going to Hurt”
X – William Stefan Smith, “Top Boy”
Editing (Fiction)
“The Crown”
“Andor”
“Slow Horses”
X – “This is Going to Hurt”
Emerging Talent...
- 4/23/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard’s blockbuster legal bust-up will be the focus of a three-part Channel 4 documentary, as the British broadcaster unveiled a “provocative” slate of new titles.
Depp V Heard (working title) is billed as the first “in-depth” examination of the defamation trial last year, in which the Pirates of the Caribbean actor emerged victorious.
The series is produced by Bitachon365, a Fulwell 73 label founded by Blowing LA producer Sheldon Lazarus, and Empress Films, which made Netflix documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes.
Emma Cooper, who earned a BAFTA nomination for Mystery of Marilyn Monroe, will direct. The series blends courtroom footage, news sources, existing interview footage, and user generated content from to explore some of the biggest moments of the trial.
Other shows on Channel 4’s slate include Partygate: The True Story from Halcyons Heart Films, which will dramatize a national scandal over lockdown rules.
Depp V Heard (working title) is billed as the first “in-depth” examination of the defamation trial last year, in which the Pirates of the Caribbean actor emerged victorious.
The series is produced by Bitachon365, a Fulwell 73 label founded by Blowing LA producer Sheldon Lazarus, and Empress Films, which made Netflix documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes.
Emma Cooper, who earned a BAFTA nomination for Mystery of Marilyn Monroe, will direct. The series blends courtroom footage, news sources, existing interview footage, and user generated content from to explore some of the biggest moments of the trial.
Other shows on Channel 4’s slate include Partygate: The True Story from Halcyons Heart Films, which will dramatize a national scandal over lockdown rules.
- 4/18/2023
- by Jake Kanter
- Deadline Film + TV
Just as the Primetime Emmys recognize a slew of categories during a weekend devoted to celebrating the Creative Arts, so too do the BAFTAs. The BAFTA TV Craft Awards honor various achievements across 20 different categories. An even dozen of these are devoted to fictional programming, another six to factual, and four are in combined fields. Winners of these awards will be revealed during a ceremony on Sunday, April 23. That’s three weeks before the main event. (Here’s the full list of BAFTA TV Awards nominations.)
Fiction
Costume Design
“The Crown”
“Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”
“The Essex Serpent”
“The English”
Director (Fiction)
Dearbhla Walsh, “Bad Sisters”
Hugo Blick, “The English”
Lucy Forbes, “This is Going to Hurt”
William Stefan Smith, “Top Boy”
Editing (Fiction)
“The Crown”
“Andor”
“Slow Horses”
“This is Going to Hurt”
Emerging Talent (Fiction)
Jack Rooke (writer), “Big Boys”
Lynette Linton (director), “My Name is Leon...
Fiction
Costume Design
“The Crown”
“Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared”
“The Essex Serpent”
“The English”
Director (Fiction)
Dearbhla Walsh, “Bad Sisters”
Hugo Blick, “The English”
Lucy Forbes, “This is Going to Hurt”
William Stefan Smith, “Top Boy”
Editing (Fiction)
“The Crown”
“Andor”
“Slow Horses”
“This is Going to Hurt”
Emerging Talent (Fiction)
Jack Rooke (writer), “Big Boys”
Lynette Linton (director), “My Name is Leon...
- 3/22/2023
- by Jacob Sarkisian
- Gold Derby
The life and tragic unsolved death of one of Britain’s most beloved TV presenters, Jill Dando, is to be profiled in a Netflix documentary series.
The as-yet-untitled show comes from Empress Films and will blend archive with new research and interviews to revisit Dando’s life, career legacy and a death that remains one of the most notorious unsolved murders of the 20th century.
In April 1999, Dando was shot dead outside her home in London prompting the biggest ever murder inquiry conducted by the Metropolitan Police and the country’s largest criminal investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. Yet, with 2,000 potential suspects identified, her killer has still not been found. Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader who spent most of her career at the BBC.
Airing later this year, the doc is directed by Marcus Plowright (Fred and Rose West: Reopened) and executive produced...
The as-yet-untitled show comes from Empress Films and will blend archive with new research and interviews to revisit Dando’s life, career legacy and a death that remains one of the most notorious unsolved murders of the 20th century.
In April 1999, Dando was shot dead outside her home in London prompting the biggest ever murder inquiry conducted by the Metropolitan Police and the country’s largest criminal investigation since the hunt for the Yorkshire Ripper. Yet, with 2,000 potential suspects identified, her killer has still not been found. Dando was an English journalist, television presenter and newsreader who spent most of her career at the BBC.
Airing later this year, the doc is directed by Marcus Plowright (Fred and Rose West: Reopened) and executive produced...
- 1/24/2023
- by Max Goldbart
- Deadline Film + TV
Netflix is in production on a documentary series about the life and death of popular U.K. television presenter Jill Dando, who was killed in 1999.
On the morning of April 26, 1999, Dando was shot dead outside her home in West London. Her murder became one of the most high profile and complex investigations in British history. Dando’s death led to one of the largest investigations launched in the history of the Metropolitan Police. A suspect was convicted and imprisoned for eight years, but was acquitted after an appeal and retrial. Despite the police identifying several other suspects, Dando’s murder remains unsolved.
After working as a trainee reporter for a local weekly newspaper, Dando began to work for the BBC, where she spent most of her career, starting as a newsreader for BBC Radio Devon in 1985. After stints in regional television, Dando moved to London to present national news from...
On the morning of April 26, 1999, Dando was shot dead outside her home in West London. Her murder became one of the most high profile and complex investigations in British history. Dando’s death led to one of the largest investigations launched in the history of the Metropolitan Police. A suspect was convicted and imprisoned for eight years, but was acquitted after an appeal and retrial. Despite the police identifying several other suspects, Dando’s murder remains unsolved.
After working as a trainee reporter for a local weekly newspaper, Dando began to work for the BBC, where she spent most of her career, starting as a newsreader for BBC Radio Devon in 1985. After stints in regional television, Dando moved to London to present national news from...
- 1/24/2023
- by Naman Ramachandran
- Variety Film + TV
Click here to read the full article.
The 2022 Golden Trailer Awards are led by Coda with 14 nominations — the most of any film — followed by The Matrix Resurrections, which starred Keanu Reeves, with 10.
Coda and Apple TV+ made history when the film captured best picture at the Academy Awards, a first for a streaming service after years of Netflix and other competitors long campaigned for such an honor.
Other multiple nominees include Top Gun: Maverick with five nominations; Dune with four; and Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and The Batman among the movies with three mentions.
The Golden Trailer Awards, which honor creatives who produce trailers and marketing content for new movies, TV and streaming series, will be held live in Los Angeles on Oct. 6 and will be hosted by comedian Henry Cho.
“We’re thrilled to be back in L.
The 2022 Golden Trailer Awards are led by Coda with 14 nominations — the most of any film — followed by The Matrix Resurrections, which starred Keanu Reeves, with 10.
Coda and Apple TV+ made history when the film captured best picture at the Academy Awards, a first for a streaming service after years of Netflix and other competitors long campaigned for such an honor.
Other multiple nominees include Top Gun: Maverick with five nominations; Dune with four; and Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings and The Batman among the movies with three mentions.
The Golden Trailer Awards, which honor creatives who produce trailers and marketing content for new movies, TV and streaming series, will be held live in Los Angeles on Oct. 6 and will be hosted by comedian Henry Cho.
“We’re thrilled to be back in L.
- 8/2/2022
- by Etan Vlessing
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Chicago – The first six months of 2022 have flown by, and although the studios withhold their “prestige films” for the Fall, there were still many notable works of cinema for the first half of the year. Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com breaks it down On-the-Air for Wbgr-fm in Monroe, Wisconsin.
Click Titles For Full Reviews/Interviews: Top Five Films in the First Half of 2022
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes
Interview: Director Emma Cooper of “The Mystery of Marilyn … “
The Northman
Happening
Interview: Director Audrey Diwan and Lead Actor Annamarie Vartolomei of “Happening”
Pompo: The Cinephile
Official Competition
Top Five Films in the First Half of 2022
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Top Five of the First Half of 2022 by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com during the Morning Mess with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm, Monroe, Wisconsin, July 7th, 2022 …
Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com has weekly on-air film review...
Click Titles For Full Reviews/Interviews: Top Five Films in the First Half of 2022
The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes
Interview: Director Emma Cooper of “The Mystery of Marilyn … “
The Northman
Happening
Interview: Director Audrey Diwan and Lead Actor Annamarie Vartolomei of “Happening”
Pompo: The Cinephile
Official Competition
Top Five Films in the First Half of 2022
Photo credit: Patrick McDonald for HollywoodChicago.com
Top Five of the First Half of 2022 by Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com during the Morning Mess with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm, Monroe, Wisconsin, July 7th, 2022 …
Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com has weekly on-air film review...
- 7/10/2022
- by PatrickMcD
- HollywoodChicago.com
Infamous mystery man D.B. Cooper is at the center of a new Netflix documentary about the enduring legacy behind his 1971 headline-grabbing supposed disappearance.
“D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!” debuts on the streamer July 13. The official logline reads: “In 1971, a skyjacker parachutes off a plane with a bag of stolen cash — and gets away with it. Decades later, his identity remains a compelling mystery.”
Cooper demanded 200,000 and four parachutes after hijacking a flight out of Portland, Or, in the middle of the night. He then jumped out of the aircraft and was never seen (or caught) again. Cooper has become a sort of folklore anti-hero, with commentators musing on his “badass” persona that made him “kind of a god.”
Dubbed an “anti-hero individualist thinker,” Cooper has been at the center of numerous conspiracy theories, with the FBI saying that now “citizen sleuths” may have cracked what really happened to Cooper.
“D.B. Cooper: Where Are You?!” debuts on the streamer July 13. The official logline reads: “In 1971, a skyjacker parachutes off a plane with a bag of stolen cash — and gets away with it. Decades later, his identity remains a compelling mystery.”
Cooper demanded 200,000 and four parachutes after hijacking a flight out of Portland, Or, in the middle of the night. He then jumped out of the aircraft and was never seen (or caught) again. Cooper has become a sort of folklore anti-hero, with commentators musing on his “badass” persona that made him “kind of a god.”
Dubbed an “anti-hero individualist thinker,” Cooper has been at the center of numerous conspiracy theories, with the FBI saying that now “citizen sleuths” may have cracked what really happened to Cooper.
- 6/18/2022
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Miami-based Btf Media and Loz Dos Studios, a Latinx production studio, are jumping on the Marilyn Monroe bandwagon, with a still untitled biopic in the works that promises an untold look at the iconic movie star’s Latina heritage and one of her final trips to Mexico. Details of the script are drawn from released FBI documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The upcoming project will be another addition to the pantheon of film and TV projects that have proliferated through the years since Monroe’s untimely death in 1962, with the latest being Netflix docu “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” and the upcoming Nc-17-rated drama “Blonde,” starring Ana de Armas, that is slated for release this year on the giant streamer.
Btf Media founders Francisco Cordero and Ricardo Coeto are partnering with Dennis Polar from Loz Dos Studios to co-produce the film inspired by the life of Monroe.
The upcoming project will be another addition to the pantheon of film and TV projects that have proliferated through the years since Monroe’s untimely death in 1962, with the latest being Netflix docu “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” and the upcoming Nc-17-rated drama “Blonde,” starring Ana de Armas, that is slated for release this year on the giant streamer.
Btf Media founders Francisco Cordero and Ricardo Coeto are partnering with Dennis Polar from Loz Dos Studios to co-produce the film inspired by the life of Monroe.
- 6/7/2022
- by Anna Marie de la Fuente
- Variety Film + TV
The word “tabloid” has a sleazy mystique. It’s such a potent word that it can influence the way you think about the subjects that fall into that category. “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” is a documentary that dives into what we think of as the most tawdry and sensational aspects of the Marilyn Monroe story: her death, on August 4, 1962, from an overdose of barbiturates; the hideous downward spiral of depression and narcotics that led up to it; and, buried deep in the weeds of all of that, the most scandalous piece of gossip ever connected to Marilyn Monroe — her clandestine affairs with John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy.
This is dark, squalid, squinting-through-the-keyhole stuff, and it can make a film like “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe” sound like a guilty-pleasure piece of true-crime trash, one of those glorified tabloid-tv exposés with a patina of investigative credibility.
This is dark, squalid, squinting-through-the-keyhole stuff, and it can make a film like “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe” sound like a guilty-pleasure piece of true-crime trash, one of those glorified tabloid-tv exposés with a patina of investigative credibility.
- 5/7/2022
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
Chicago – The movie star Marilyn Monroe, arguably the brightest star in the history of Hollywood, led a life of triumph and tragedy, up to and including her death in 1962. The recent Netflix release of “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” – directed by Emma Cooper – is a documentary that seeks truth, through never-heard-before audio interviews.
The tapes in the title are a cache of audio interviews that were conducted by Anthony “Tony” Summers from 1982 through 1985, as he created the Marilyn biography book “Goddess,” which was released in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, Summers and Cooper publishes the audio again for this new doc, a fresh look at the secrets he had revealed, with people who were still alive in the ‘80s – only 20 years after Monroe’s death – willing to talk about the actress and her mysterious demise.
Emma Cooper (inset) Directs ‘The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes’
Photo credit:...
The tapes in the title are a cache of audio interviews that were conducted by Anthony “Tony” Summers from 1982 through 1985, as he created the Marilyn biography book “Goddess,” which was released in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, Summers and Cooper publishes the audio again for this new doc, a fresh look at the secrets he had revealed, with people who were still alive in the ‘80s – only 20 years after Monroe’s death – willing to talk about the actress and her mysterious demise.
Emma Cooper (inset) Directs ‘The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes’
Photo credit:...
- 5/5/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Tom Holland is having quite a moment on the VOD charts right now. “Uncharted” (19.99) leads at Vudu and iTunes, while the actor’s other blockbuster, “Spider-Man: No Way Home” is #1 at Google Play. Sony’s dominance of this week’s PVOD charts, with newly released “Uncharted” and long running “Spider-Man: No Way Home” (5.99) splitting the #1 spots on the three charts we follow, reinforces two narratives.
First, not having an in-house streaming service need not deprive a studio from reaping strong at-home revenues. Second, and critical for theaters as they recover, is that a long window is no hindrance to reaping the benefits of initial high return PVOD prices.
Contrast that with “The Batman” (Warner Bros./24.99). After two full weeks out on PVOD and on HBO Max (free there for subscribers), along with an HBO cable showing, the biggest 2022 grossing film fell to #3 at Vudu, and #6 at both iTunes and Google Play.
First, not having an in-house streaming service need not deprive a studio from reaping strong at-home revenues. Second, and critical for theaters as they recover, is that a long window is no hindrance to reaping the benefits of initial high return PVOD prices.
Contrast that with “The Batman” (Warner Bros./24.99). After two full weeks out on PVOD and on HBO Max (free there for subscribers), along with an HBO cable showing, the biggest 2022 grossing film fell to #3 at Vudu, and #6 at both iTunes and Google Play.
- 5/2/2022
- by Tom Brueggemann
- Indiewire
The Netflix documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes uncovers the secrets beneath the movie-star surface
Last month, at a parlor in West Hollywood, Emma Cooper got a tattoo of Marilyn Monroe’s face on the underside of her arm. The director of the new Netflix documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes didn’t initially count herself among her subject’s fandom, just aware of the major building blocks in her movie-star mythology: white dress, blonde coiffure, beauty mark, natural sex-bomb charisma, undercurrent of psychological stress ending in tragedy. “But that’s the thing about Marilyn,” Cooper says. “She pulls you in.”
“I did not think I’d end up having her as part of my body, but you become obsessed with her,” she tells the Guardian. “On my first research trip in Los Angeles, I went to see her grave and visit the Academy.
Last month, at a parlor in West Hollywood, Emma Cooper got a tattoo of Marilyn Monroe’s face on the underside of her arm. The director of the new Netflix documentary The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes didn’t initially count herself among her subject’s fandom, just aware of the major building blocks in her movie-star mythology: white dress, blonde coiffure, beauty mark, natural sex-bomb charisma, undercurrent of psychological stress ending in tragedy. “But that’s the thing about Marilyn,” Cooper says. “She pulls you in.”
“I did not think I’d end up having her as part of my body, but you become obsessed with her,” she tells the Guardian. “On my first research trip in Los Angeles, I went to see her grave and visit the Academy.
- 5/2/2022
- by Charles Bramesco
- The Guardian - Film News
The life and legacy of Hollywood icon Marilyn Monroe is being explored in Netflix's new documentary "The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes." The late starlet's tumultuous life and tragic death has been subject to endless speculation over the years, including those she was romantically involved with since she emerged on the big screen in the 1950s.
Throughout her life, Monroe was married three times, but rumors about affairs and flings with movie costars like Milton Berle to even former president John F. Kennedy followed her relentlessly. Following Monroe's sultry performance of "Happy Birthday" at the Democratic Rally for JFK in 1962, there was an influx of rumors circulating that the two had an affair, though there's no evidence to support the long-enduring theory.
In light of Netflix's documentary, here are all the people Monroe romanced in her life.
Throughout her life, Monroe was married three times, but rumors about affairs and flings with movie costars like Milton Berle to even former president John F. Kennedy followed her relentlessly. Following Monroe's sultry performance of "Happy Birthday" at the Democratic Rally for JFK in 1962, there was an influx of rumors circulating that the two had an affair, though there's no evidence to support the long-enduring theory.
In light of Netflix's documentary, here are all the people Monroe romanced in her life.
- 4/29/2022
- by Alicia Geigel
- Popsugar.com
Existing in the marginal space between conspiracy Twitter-thread and National Enquirer article, Emma Cooper’s Marilyn Monroe Netflix doc, the unwieldy “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes,” is a 100-minute rehashing of Anthony Summers’ 1985 book “Goddess: The Secret Lives of Marilyn Monroe.” Updated little since that book was published almost four decades ago, Cooper’s doc plays out like mad libs for the conspiracy-minded.
Continue reading ‘The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes’ Review: A Surface, Tabloid-y Dive Into Monroe’s Death at The Playlist.
Continue reading ‘The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes’ Review: A Surface, Tabloid-y Dive Into Monroe’s Death at The Playlist.
- 4/29/2022
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Playlist
"The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes" is a new doc feature, directed by Emma Cooper, following the life and untimely death of the American actress and cultural icon 'Marilyn Monroe' told through archival footage and unseen interviews with the ‘inner circle’ of the star, now streaming on Netflix:
“…the death of Hollywood movie icon ‘Marilyn Monroe' spawned conspiracies and rumors for decades, often overshadowing her talent and shrewdness.
“Now by piecing together her final weeks, days, and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best, the film illuminates more of her glamorous, complicated life and offers a new perspective on that fateful night…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“…the death of Hollywood movie icon ‘Marilyn Monroe' spawned conspiracies and rumors for decades, often overshadowing her talent and shrewdness.
“Now by piecing together her final weeks, days, and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best, the film illuminates more of her glamorous, complicated life and offers a new perspective on that fateful night…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 4/28/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
When making a documentary about Marilyn Monroe and the Kennedys, there’s more to sift through than mere facts. They occupy such prominent roles in the public consciousness that our idealized images of them have impacted pop culture just as much as their real selves. How can a documentarian possibly cut through preconceived notions and say something new about people who serve as foundational bricks in our national narrative?
In Emma Cooper’s words, “it’s quite helpful that I’m British.”
“Of course I knew who they are,” she said in an interview with IndieWire. “But I know way more about Prince Charles.”
Cooper, the director of “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes,” admits she never understood the mystique surrounding Marilyn Monroe before she began work on the film. Nor did she have any sentimental attachments to the idealized America that the Kennedy presidency represented.
When she was approached by Anthony Summers,...
In Emma Cooper’s words, “it’s quite helpful that I’m British.”
“Of course I knew who they are,” she said in an interview with IndieWire. “But I know way more about Prince Charles.”
Cooper, the director of “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes,” admits she never understood the mystique surrounding Marilyn Monroe before she began work on the film. Nor did she have any sentimental attachments to the idealized America that the Kennedy presidency represented.
When she was approached by Anthony Summers,...
- 4/27/2022
- by Christian Zilko
- Indiewire
Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com audio film review on “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes,” the latest documentary on the movie star who passed away in 1962 but is still revered. The film will stream on Netflix beginning April 27th.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
The tapes in the title are a cache of audio interviews that were conducted by Anthony Summers from 1982 through 1985, as he created the Marilyn biography book “Goddess,” which was released in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, Summers publishes the audio again for this new doc and for a fresh look at the secrets he had revealed, with people who were still alive in the ‘80s – only 20 years after Monroe’s death – willing to talk about the actress and her mysterious demise.
”The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” is streaming on Netflix beginning April 27th. Directed by Emma Cooper. Rated “TV-ma”
Click Here for Patrick McDonald’s audio...
Rating: 5.0/5.0
The tapes in the title are a cache of audio interviews that were conducted by Anthony Summers from 1982 through 1985, as he created the Marilyn biography book “Goddess,” which was released in 1985. Nearly 40 years later, Summers publishes the audio again for this new doc and for a fresh look at the secrets he had revealed, with people who were still alive in the ‘80s – only 20 years after Monroe’s death – willing to talk about the actress and her mysterious demise.
”The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” is streaming on Netflix beginning April 27th. Directed by Emma Cooper. Rated “TV-ma”
Click Here for Patrick McDonald’s audio...
- 4/27/2022
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Marilyn Monroe would surely be unsurprised by the morbid fascination that followed (and continues to follow) her shocking death at the age of 36 in 1962 — after all, the public’s insatiable appetite for her private dramas was a constant presence throughout the last 15 years of her life, and a contributing factor to the barbiturate overdose that cut it short. Monroe understood better than anyone how dehumanizing it was to become a symbol. She knew that titillation led to entitlement, that a single woman’s sexuality could spark an entire country’s schadenfreude, and that tabloids would breathlessly continue to report or invent new details about their most unknowable subjects until they ran out of column inches to fill. Even if she had lived to be 100, the obsession with Marilyn Monroe was always going to outlast the body of Norma Jeane Mortenson.
What Monroe may not have been able to anticipate is...
What Monroe may not have been able to anticipate is...
- 4/26/2022
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
The brief, brilliant career of Marilyn Monroe has haunted Hollywood for more than 50 years, her life and work and untimely death the subject of endless litigation and debate. A new Netflix documentary, “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes,” dives back into the lurid lore surrounding Monroe, tapping into all too familiar themes of trauma and addiction before landing right back where it began.
Directed by Emma Cooper, “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” focuses not directly on Monroe herself but on writer and journalist, Anthony Summers, author of the book “Goddess” (about who else but Monroe). “Goddess,” published in 1985, is a requisite biography, full of conversations with Monroe affiliates and allies. Cooper’s documentary, in turn, pulls from the audio used for that book, hours of Summers in conversation with people who knew Marilyn (or who knew people who knew Marilyn). What follows is more like a podcast,...
Directed by Emma Cooper, “The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes” focuses not directly on Monroe herself but on writer and journalist, Anthony Summers, author of the book “Goddess” (about who else but Monroe). “Goddess,” published in 1985, is a requisite biography, full of conversations with Monroe affiliates and allies. Cooper’s documentary, in turn, pulls from the audio used for that book, hours of Summers in conversation with people who knew Marilyn (or who knew people who knew Marilyn). What follows is more like a podcast,...
- 4/25/2022
- by Fran Hoepfner
- The Wrap
"The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes" is a new doc feature, directed by Emma Cooper, following the life and untimely death of the American actress and cultural icon 'Marilyn Monroe' told through archival footage and unseen interviews with the ‘inner circle’ of the star, streaming April 27, 2022 on Netflix:
“…the death of Hollywood movie icon ‘Marilyn Monroe' spawned conspiracies and rumors for decades, often overshadowing her talent and shrewdness.
“Now by piecing together her final weeks, days, and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best, the film illuminates more of her glamorous, complicated life and offers a new perspective on that fateful night…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
“…the death of Hollywood movie icon ‘Marilyn Monroe' spawned conspiracies and rumors for decades, often overshadowing her talent and shrewdness.
“Now by piecing together her final weeks, days, and hours through previously unheard recordings of those who knew her best, the film illuminates more of her glamorous, complicated life and offers a new perspective on that fateful night…”
Click the images to enlarge…...
- 4/10/2022
- by Unknown
- SneakPeek
"I can't say anything. And I knew it all." Netflix has revealed an official trailer for a new documentary film titled The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe: The Unheard Tapes, the latest from a doc filmmaker named Emma Cooper. Yet another true crime documentary to keep everyone glued to their TVs watching content endlessly. The film examines the various rumors and conspiracies related to Marilyn Monroe's untimely death in 1962 at the age of 36. Sixty years later, the Netflix doc uncovers new details about the night that Monroe allegedly overdosed on drugs. Back in 1982, Monroe's case was reopened after a news channel's "The Marilyn Files" investigative report. "Marilyn and the truth – it's like going into the lion's den and I indeed found out things which had not been found out before." I also quite like the tagline from this trailer: the brighter the star, the ...
- 4/1/2022
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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