It’s Thursday, and I spent yesterday on a scoring stage with strings and horns and a composer who loves his Sprinkles cupcakes.
Hello from Los Angeles, where we’re scrutinizing the Venice lineup, contemplating a post-Game of Thrones HBO, and getting outbid at Leonardo DiCaprio’s charity auction.
INSIDE THE THRONES ROOM
VF.com’s Joanna Robinson e-mails:
The Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour is in full swing, and Wednesday’s session was dominated by one question: what, exactly, will happen to HBO after Game of Thrones? Casey Bloys, who recently graduated from head of comedy development at the network to president of all programming, assured journalists that he wasn’t preoccupied with finding the next Game of Thrones, but the network’s upcoming programming slate does still have one foot in the past, as I wrote from TCA yesterday. With new projects from Wire alums David Simon (The Deuce) and Sonja Sohn (Baltimore Rising), the already controversial Confederate from Thrones showrunners D.B. Weiss and David Benioff, and the return of old (mostly) favorites Deadwood and True Detective, Bloys is betting on brands he knows for his dramatic offerings.
But the comedy slate, Bloys’s former stomping grounds, seems a bit more willing to experiment. Room 104 is a quirky, hotel-set anthology series created by Mark and Jay Duplass but helmed by lesser-known directors and featuring an up-and-coming cast. Made on a shoestring, Room 104 hearkens back to the Duplass’s origins in the indie scene and HBO’s early willingness to experiment with form and late-night (the show airs Fridays at 11:30) programming. When it comes to comedy, Bloys, basking in the success of last year’s freshman success Insecure, still demonstrates the innovative spirit that landed him his big promotion in the first place. If he can turn that instinct to dramas, HBO may hold on to its crown, even if it does lose its Thrones.
CIAO, BELLAS
The fall film festivals compete mightily with each other over clout and timing. But with the Venice and Toronto Film Festival lineups dropping this week, there’s one metric where the Canadians are clearly beating the Italians: women. Venice festival director Alberto Barbera unveiled his slate Thursday in Rome, revealing an intriguing list that includes new films from directors George Clooney, Darren Aronofsky, and Guillermo del Toro, in addition to the already announced Alexander Payne film that will open the fest, Downsizing, and the latest documentary from Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. But among its 21 competition titles, Venice counts only one female director, Chinese filmmaker Vivian Qu. (Woodshock, the first movie from Rodarte founders Kate and Laura Mulleavy, will screen outdoors and out of competition). Contrast that with all the women packing their bags for Toronto, including Angelina Jolie, Greta Gerwig, Angela Robinson,…
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