Hot on the heels of Contenders Film: London, Deadline is back home in Los Angeles where it all began — the birthplace of our Contenders and the original beloved city of Hollywood moviemaking. Contenders Film: Los Angeles gets underway today at 9:30 a.m. PT, with the daylong, in-person-only event for awards voters showcasing the stars and creatives behind 13 films on the awards-season hot lists.
Here on our stage, we will have some of the most talked-about films of the season, and a level of talent that truly stands the test of time. Here’s looking at you, June Squibb! While she will be beaming in virtually to our stage to chat with Eleanor the Great screenwriter and executive producer Tory Kamen, the 95-year-old Squibb has a pretty decent excuse for not being here in person: she’s busy preparing to tread the boards every night on Broadway right now.
Speaking of the theater, we’ll have a nod to Ibsen on hand with the team from Hedda, Nia DaCosta’s innovative screen adaptation of the play Hedda Gabler. DaCosta will be joined by star Tessa Thompson and production designer Cara Brower.
In another period story, we’re going back to WWII with Nuremberg — writer-director James Vanderbilt’s close-up on a psychiatrist, played by Rami Malek, assigned to watch over the Nazis approaching the Nuremberg trials. Vanderbilt and Malek will be with us to talk about the film, which also stars Russell Crowe in the role of Hermann Göring.
Going further back still, we’re in 1930s Mississippi for some vampire magic with Sinners, starring Michael B. Jordan, not once, but twice. Writer-director-producer Ryan Coogler will be on stage to discuss.
And it’s back to school with Luca Guadagnino’s After the Hunt, the college-set drama written by Nora Garrett and starring Julia Roberts, Ayo Edebiri and Andrew Garfield.
That’s not all. We return to the ’90s with Christy, a true-life story of a champion boxer fighting her way to freedom from an oppressive marriage. Sydney Sweeney will be here to talk about taking on this very punchy role as an actor and producer, alongside producer Kerry Kohansky-Roberts.
All the way from South Korea, we have the satirical black comedy No Other Choice from filmmaker Park Chan-wook, who’ll have his lead actor Lee Byung-hun with him on our stage to talk about this film that takes unemployment issues to a whole new level.
And from Norway, we’ll have the team behind Sentimental Value, led by filmmaker Joachim Trier, with his The Worst Person in the World collaborator Renate Reinsve, Stellan Skarsgård, Elle Fanning and newcomer Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas joining him fo a discussion.
The makers of Homebound, the Oscar submission for India, will take to our stage too, with director Neeraj Ghaywan and actors Ishan Khatter and Vishal Jethwa. We’ll also have some stunning animation on board, with Japanese fantasy feature Dragon Heart: Adventures Beyond this World, from director Isamu Imkake.
You’ll also want to strap in for the ride with F1, the film that puts us in the hot seat with both Brad Pitt and Damson Idris as they race their way to Formula 1 stardom. Director-producer Joseph Kosinski will be at Contenders with supervising sound editor Al Nelson, to talk about capturing the roar of the racetrack, among other things.
If you need a little soothing music after all that, we’ve got you covered with not one, but two biopics for you. We’ll have the team from Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere, including writer-director-producer Scott Cooper, and Ethan Hawke and Richard Linklater will be here with their Blue Moon, Linklater’s film about songwriter Lorenz Hart.
Last but definitely not least, we’ve giving a shout-out to those brave, unsung heroes of the screen: stuntpeople. They will have their own panel, along with those other all-too-hidden gems: casting directors.
Check out our lineup below and stay with Deadline all day for panel coverage both on the site and on social via #DeadlineContenders, followed Monday by the launch of the event’s streaming site featuring all the panel videos.
Contenders Film: Los Angeles Lineup
(Order, panelists subject to change)
BLACK BEAR
Christy
Sydney Sweeney (Producer/Actor)
Kerry Kohansky-Roberts (Producer)
NEON
Sentimental Value
Joachim Trier (Writer/Director)
Renate Reinsve (Actor)
Stellan Skarsgård (Actor)
Inga Ibsdotter Lilleaas (Actor)
Elle Fanning (Actor)
No Other Choice
Park Chan-wook (Writer/Director/Producer)
Lee Byung Hun (Actor)
APPLE ORIGINAL FILMS
F1
Joseph Kosinski (Director/Producer)
Al Nelson (Supervising Sound Editor)
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
After the Hunt
Allan Mandelbaum (Producer)
Malik Hassan Sayeed (Cinematographer)
Jessica Ronane (Casting Director)
CONTENDERS STUNT PANEL
Andy Gill, (Stunt Coordinator, Sinners)
Brian Machleit (Stunt Coordinator, One Battle After Another)
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Eleanor the Great
June Squibb (Actor)
Tory Kamen (Writer/EP)
Blue Moon
Ethan Hawke (Actor)
Richard Linklater (Writer/Director)
Nuremberg
James Vanderbilt (Writer/Director)
Rami Malek (Actor)
HS PICTURES STUDIOS
Dragon Heart: Adventures Beyond This World
Isamu Imakake (Director)
DEADLINE CASTING PANEL
Susanne Scheel, Casting Director (A House of Dynamite)
Francine Maisler, Casting Director (Sinners, Springsteen: Deliver Me From Nowhere, Ella McCay)
Bernie Telsey, Casting Director (Wicked, Wicked: For Good)
Mary Vernieu, Casting Director (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
Bret Howe, Casting Director (Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery)
Nina Gold, Casting Director (Jay Kelly)
WARNER BROS PICTURES
Sinners
Ryan Coogler (Writer/Director/Producer)
CONTENDERS HALL OF FAME AWARD
Guillermo del Toro
DHARMA PRODUCTIONS
Homebound
Neeraj Ghaywan (Director)
Ishaan Khatter (Actor)
Vishal Jethwa (Actor)
20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
Springsteen: Deliver Me from Nowhere
Scott Cooper (Writer/Director/Producer)
Ellen Goldsmith-Vein (Producer)
Eric Robinson (Producer)
AMAZON MGM STUDIOS
Hedda
Nia DaCosta (Writer/Director/Producer)
Tessa Thompson (Producer/Actor)
Cara Brower (Production Designer)
