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After years of being the top-ranking series, Hiromu Arakawa’s Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood stands as the second-most popular anime in My Anime List. Its predecessor anime, Fullmetal Alchemist, was also a great adaptation (but it included anime-original episodes).

The 2003 Fullmetal Alchemist anime did not have a lot of material to cover since the manga was still ongoing. Thus, the staff decided to include fillers as well as an anime-original villain and ending to conclude the series on a positive note. In an interview, Arakawa revealed just how much she was involved with the anime’s production.

Hiromu Arakawa Trusted the Anime Staff with Fullmetal Alchemist Fullmetal Alchemist | Credits: Studio Bones

In an interview regarding the release of the 2017 live-action movie Fullmetal Alchemist, Hiromu Arakawa was questioned if she gave any directors to the cast or directors about the film. Arakawa admitted that while she had checked the submitted script, she...

For ages, it seemed that live-action adaptations of anime series were destined to fail as the adaptations swayed away from the source material. However, that was not the case with Netflix’s One Piece, the adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s magnum opus of the same name.

Well, it is difficult to say what the secret was behind creating the first great live-action anime adaptation TV Series, as Season 1 of the show was well-received among the fans and were eager for the 2nd season of the show.

The Straw Hats Pirate Crew in Netflix’s One Piece

However, the show has managed to land itself in hot waters as it was preparing to feature Nico Robin, one of the most popular characters of the series. The fans are bashing the series as they criticize the show over reports of race-swapping the character who was going make her debut in the 2nd Season of One Piece live-action.

Fans had every right to approach Netflix and Tomorrow Studios’ One Piece with trepidation. Live-action adaptations of anime and manga have had a troubled history of just being downright terrible, with some of them like Adam Wingard’s Death Note coming from Netflix themselves. Fans were on high alert from the moment the streamer announced an adaptation of Eiichiro Oda’s beloved One Piece manga. However, as more information such as castings came to light and that first trailer dropped, I found myself doing something very much in the spirit of the Straw Hat Pirates: against all the odds, I dared to dream – and those dreams were answered.

For the unfamiliar, the basic gist of One Piece is that it’s an action-adventure series following Monkey D. Luffy, (Iñaki Godoy) a joy-filled pirate who sets out to sea in search of his dream – finding a legendary treasure and becoming the next King of the Pirates.

Sara Dosa, India’s Shaunak Sen and Canada’s Daniel Roher, directors of three documentaries which recently picked up Academy Award nominations, are set as speakers at the upcoming Australian International Documentary Conference.

The Aidc this week announced the full program for its 2023 event which will place in person in Melbourne March 5-8, with an online only international marketplace March 9 -11.

Dosa is the director of “Fire of Love,” Sen director of “All That Breathes” and Roher director of “Navalny.”

Other notable speakers include New Zealand’s David Farrier (“Dark Tourist”), acclaimed Aboriginal filmmaker Dean Gibson, (“Incarceration Nation”) and Australian filmmaker Emma Sullivan ( “Into The Deep”).

With Agents of Change as its unifying theme, the conference will host over 40 sessions, 120 speakers and more than 100 key decision makers from major broadcasters, streamers, distributors and sales agents.

On the business front, Aidc will see an extensive line-up from global streamers in attendance,...

Warning: contains spoilers for Series 11, 12, Doctor Who: Flux and the 2022 Specials.

The mere mention of ex-showrunner Chris Chibnall is enough to trigger rage in some Doctor Who fans, and for a variety of reasons. There are the souls who cling to a past that is widely commercially available, and rant about ‘wokeness’. Whatever they need to help them, it almost certainly won’t be found here. Then there are those who find issue with Chibnall’s writing of the show beyond its entertainment value. And finally, there are the people who enjoy this version of Doctor Who and are furious at the level of abuse hurled at it. Given that we’ve already discussed the shortcomings of the Chibnall era here and here, let’s now look at what has worked over the past three series of Doctor Who.

Series 11 injected some freshness by moving out of London and avoiding returning monsters.

"You're aware that psychopaths exist amongst us." Netflix has unveiled an official trailer for a documentary film titled Into the Deep, which is finally getting an official Netflix release at the end of this month after waiting for two years. It first premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival but hasn't shown up anywhere until now. The film offers a chilling inside look at the story of famous Danish inventor Peter Madsen, who brutally murdered a Swedish journalist while taking her onboard his homemade submarine back in 2017. It's one of the strangest stories because this guy kept changing his story, and trying different tricks with the police and journalists and everything. This doc began as an actual profile on Madsen and his rocket-building company, but everything changed after 2017 and director Emma Sullivan spent years putting together this version. It has been edited since the Sundance 2020 premiere, removing (and digitally altering) three...

Documentaries about living subjects are always a bit of a wild card, and "Into the Deep" looks like one of the wildest documentaries to come out in recent memory. The doc premiered to rave reviews at Sundance Film Festival but had its Netflix release put on hold due to concerns about the consent of some of the documentary's participants. Now, Netflix has released a trailer for an edited version of the documentary with the non-consenting parties removed, and this doc looks truly fascinating. 

Documentary filmmaker Emma Sullivan intended to make a documentary about the unique inventions and enterprising spirit of Peter Madsen, an entrepreneur who had built three personal submarines and was working on a rocket to launch himself into outer space. Instead of focusing on the rocket's production and launch, however, the documentary's focus changes when Madsen takes a journalist named Kim Wall out on his submarine and returns alone.

If someone had told me a year ago that I would never set foot in a movie theater or screening room in 2020 after the first week of March (the impressive The Outpost and lousy The Hunt were the last films I saw on big screens) but that I would remain healthy and somehow seeing new films, I couldn’t have guessed what they were talking about. Nor could I have imagined that I’d be experiencing the 2021 Sundance Film Festival by myself on my home screen with no parkas or ski boots by the front door. Maybe I’ll put some on for fun while I watch a couple of Sundance titles at home next month.

But that’s where we’re at right now, with no sure return in sight. All the same, we’ve experienced a downpour of movies, produced by diverse sources and delivered to the public in unprecedentedly unconventional ways.

There can be no question that, as of its halfway point, 2020 has been the most trying, tragic, lamentable and downright unfortunate year most of us have ever experienced. This fact renders the creation of such ephemera as film and television best-lists even more trivial than usual, especially as cinemas were shutting down by March.

But on the other hand, the staggering amount of filmed material — old and new, foreign and domestic — along with the enforced stay-at-home circumstances we’re all still experiencing has offered up more opportunities to sample all sorts of fare one might never have had the time or inclination to check out before. This is one of the few consolations for, and escapes from, of our present earthly predicament.

Very few people will disagree with my jaundiced opinion of the films that were released in 2020 before the Coronavirus Curtain came down 3 1/2 months ago. Bad Boys for Life,...

The "Doctor Who" episode "Can You Hear Me ?", directed by Emma Sullivan, stars Jodie Whittaker, Bradley Walsh, Mandip Gill, Tosin Cole, Clare-Hope Ashitey and Buom Tihngang, airing February 9, 2020 on BBC America:

"...from ancient Syria to present day Sheffield, and out into the wilds of space, something is stalking the 'Doctor' and infecting people's nightmares..."

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Doctor Who: Can You Hear Me ?" ...

When it comes to the majority of true crime documentaries, the research of every facet of the illegalities in question is a vital, necessary part of the process. It can take years of globe-trotting fact-finding, numerous exhaustive interviews, and a ceaseless dedication to pore over endless documents and data in order to recount the truth and do justice to the victims. Rather than compiling the minutia of every detail after the fact, what if the filmmaker was already embedded with those involved–both the perpetrator and those closest to them–as the events were unfolding?

This is the case when it comes to director Emma Sullivan and her harrowing feature debut Into the Deep, which chronicles her initial journey into profiling Danish inventor Peter Madsen and his team. 18 months into filming the documentary, Madsen murdered and dismembered Swedish journalist Kim Wall. In the wake of this horrible act, Sullivan has...

On August 10, 2017, journalist Kim Wall accompanied Peter Madsen on his homemade submarine in order to report a story about the charismatic inventor—but she never emerged to write the story, as Madsen murdered her while the submarine was submerged in the waters outside of Copenhagen. The murder shocked the global community, prompting discussions about protections for journalists and the underlying cruelty of Madsen. Director Emma Sullivan had actually began documenting Madsen the year before he murdered Wall, eventually culminating into the documentary Into the Deep about the culture surrounding Madsen and what led to Wall’s murder. Editor Joe Beshenkovsky […]...

On August 10, 2017, journalist Kim Wall accompanied Peter Madsen on his homemade submarine in order to report a story about the charismatic inventor—but she never emerged to write the story, as Madsen murdered her while the submarine was submerged in the waters outside of Copenhagen. The murder shocked the global community, prompting discussions about protections for journalists and the underlying cruelty of Madsen. Director Emma Sullivan had actually began documenting Madsen the year before he murdered Wall, eventually culminating into the documentary Into the Deep about the culture surrounding Madsen and what led to Wall’s murder. Editor Joe Beshenkovsky […]...

Documentary filmmaker Emma Sullivan was already there when inventor Peter Madsen’s submarine, the UC3 Nautilus, went missing off the coast of Copenhagen in August 2017, with journalist Kim Wall on board. Sullivan had been filming Madsen, a hobbit-y egotist with electric blue eyes, for 18 months, and until that day, she believed she was making a film about his attempt to blast into space on a scrappy, self-made rocket, with the help of a dozen unpaid volunteers who believed in his charismatic Diy hustle. Madsen is found and flashes a thumbs up to Sullivan’s camera. But Wall isn’t — and the documentary turns into a rare opportunity to study a murderer before his first kill.

“Into the Deep” is structured into two timelines. The first kicks off with Madsen’s team frantically hoping to find its hero alive, and from there sloshes through the drip of information as the killer...

‘Into the Deep’ (Photo credit: Sundance Film Festival).

Australian writer-director Emma Sullivan’s true-crime documentary Into the Deep has been praised as more chilling than some of the horror movies which screened in the Sundance Film Festival’s Midnight section.

Commissioned by Netflix and produced by Denmark’s Mette Heide and Aussie Roslyn Walker, the film premiered in the world cinema documentary competition at Sundance.

Sullivan was filming Danish inventor and rocket engineer Peter Madsen for a doco on his space lab when events took a shocking turn.

On August 10 2017 he brutally murdered Swedish journalist Kim Wall on his homemade submarine in the waterways outside Copenhagen. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.

Among the first reviews, Vanyaland’s Nick Johnston lauded the extensive and genuinely stunning footage that the documentarian filmed over the course of two years, both before the murder and in its immediate aftermath.

“It is a tremendous work,...

Peter Madsen.

Victorian writer/director Emma Sullivan’s feature documentary centred on the aftermath of the brutal murder of a Swedish journalist will premiere in the world cinema documentary competition at the Sundance Film Festival.

Netflix commissioned Into the Deep from Danish producer Mette Heide, who hired Australian producer Roslyn Walker to work with her on the production. Heide produced Amanda Knox for Netflix, an account of the conviction of the American exchange student and eventual acquittal for the 2007 death of another student in Italy.

Sullivan began shadowing the Danish inventor and rocket engineer Peter Madsen in 2016 for a documentary on his workshop, the interns including physics graduates with whom he worked, and his attempt to become the first amateur astronaut in space.

The film took a shocking turn after Madsen was convicted last year of the 2017 murder of Swedish journalist Kim Wall on board his submarine UC3 Nautilus. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

While a few lauded Sundance Film Festival titles like “The Farewell” and “The Report” still seek 2020 awards attention, the 2019 narrative selection became more talent discovery than Oscar launchpad as heated buys like “Late Night” and “Brittany Runs a Marathon” fizzled at the box office. For the documentary section, however, it’s a different story.

While Sundance’s nonfiction program has always been strong, it’s now becoming the festival’s premier showcase. The intensely competitive Sundance doc selections yield a high percentage of Oscar nominations, including four out of last year’s final five. Many of this year’s doc contenders debuted at Sundance 2019, including Gotham Awards winner “American Factory,” “Apollo 11,” “Edge of Democracy,” New York Film Critics Circle winner “Honeyland,” “Knock Down the House,” “One Child Nation,” and “Sea of Shadows.”

Sundance’s fictional narratives remain impressive, producing a countless number that generate great reviews, and launch careers across the industry spectrum.

While a few lauded Sundance Film Festival titles like “The Farewell” and “The Report” still seek 2020 awards attention, the 2019 narrative selection became more talent discovery than Oscar launchpad as heated buys like “Late Night” and “Brittany Runs a Marathon” fizzled at the box office. For the documentary section, however, it’s a different story.

While Sundance’s nonfiction program has always been strong, it’s now becoming the festival’s premier showcase. The intensely competitive Sundance doc selections yield a high percentage of Oscar nominations, including four out of last year’s final five. Many of this year’s doc contenders debuted at Sundance 2019, including Gotham Awards winner “American Factory,” “Apollo 11,” “Edge of Democracy,” New York Film Critics Circle winner “Honeyland,” “Knock Down the House,” “One Child Nation,” and “Sea of Shadows.”

Sundance’s fictional narratives remain impressive, producing a countless number that generate great reviews, and launch careers across the industry spectrum.

Time has not been kind to fans of the long-running time travel drama “Doctor Who,” which has been on hiatus for a year now since ending its 11th season in December 2018. But BBC America has finally announced a premiere date for season 12 along with a new trailer. Watch it above, and get ready for a happy new year.

“Who’s” on first — January 1, that is. It premieres its new season on New Year’s Day 2020 at 8pm Eastern and Pacific before moving to its regular time slot on Sunday nights at 8:00pm starting January 5. And fans can expect a “big, serious crisis,” at least according to the Doctor herself (Jodie Whittaker). The trailer teases new alien threats, plus at least one old alien threat in the form of the Cybermen.

Sign UPfor Gold Derby’s free newsletter with latest predictions

But the gang’s all back for another round of adventures.

The BBC's science fiction TV series "Doctor Who" will premiere new episodes in 2020, starring Jodie Whittaker as the 'Thirteenth Doctor" incarnation of an alien 'Time Lord', who travels through space in the 'Tardis':

Directors of the new season include Jamie Magnus Stone, Lee Haven Jones, Nida Manzoor and Emma Sullivan.

Cast also includes Bradley Walsh, Tosin Cole, Mandip Gill, Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair and Yasmin Khan.

Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek "Doctor Who"...

"Doctor Who" Comic Books ...

Pennyworth’s Anna Chancellor and Outlander’s James Fleet have joined the cast of BBC America’s The Watch, based on Sir Terry Pratchett’s Discworld novels.

The pair are the latest actors to join the BBC Studios and Narrativia-produced series, joining lead Richard Dormer.

Chancellor stars as Lord Vetinari, The Patrician of Ankh-Morpork, and architect of the city’s normalized wrongness and ramshackle system of governance, while Fleet stars as The Archchancellor, wizard, magical advisor, and the Head of the Unseen University.

Set in the fictional city of Ankh-Morpork, where crime has been legalized, The Watch is a “punk rock” drama. The eight-part series centers on a group of misfit cops as they rise up from decades of helplessness to save their corrupt city from catastrophe.

Elsewhere, Ingrid Oliver (Doctor Who) stars as the Head of The Assassins’ Guild, Doctor Cruces. Ruth Madeley (The Rook) stars as the wiry Throat,...

Doctor Who showrunner Chris Chibnall has regenerated the BBC show’s writing team ahead of the launch of season 12 in early 2020.

Nina Metivier, writer of BBC and Netflix series The A List, and A Discovery Of Witches writer Charlene James have penned their first episodes of the sci-fi drama, as has Maxine Alderton, who has written for Cbbc’s The Worst Witch.

They join three writers who worked on Doctor Who last season: Vinay Patel (Murdered By My Father), Ed Hime (Skins), and Pete McTighe (Wentworth). It means there was an even split of male and female writers who worked on season 12.

In addition to the writers, four new directors got to grips with Jodie Whittaker’s time lord: Nida Manzoor (Enterprice), Emma Sullivan (Call the Midwife), Jamie Magnus Stone (Orbit Ever After) and Lee Haven Jones (Vera).

Chibnall said: “Along with our returning faces, we’re excited to welcome new...

With the Thirteenth Doctor, played by Jodie Whittaker, and her friends well on their way to landing back on our screens, BBC America today announced an exciting host of new directors as well as both new and returning writers for the next season of Doctor Who. Three new writers have jumped on board the Tardis for the upcoming season: Nina Metivier, Maxine Alderton and Charlene James. Also making their debut in 2020 are four new directors ready to travel through space and time: Nida Manzoor, Emma Sullivan, Jamie Magnus Stone and Lee Haven Jones. In addition, three writers return from last season: Vinay Patel (episode 1106 – “Demons of The Punjab”), Ed Hime (episode 1109 – “It Takes You Away”), and Pete McTighe (episode 1107 – “Kerblam!”) Showrunner Chris Chibnall said: “We’re thrilled that Doctor Who continues to attract some of the most exciting and dynamic talent working in television. Along with our returning faces, we...

The Tardis has today swung open its midnight-blue doors to a host of new writers (and directors!) in anticipation of Doctor Who season 12.

Per DoctorWhoTV, the BBC has welcomed three new recruits – namely Nina Metivier, Maxine Alderton, and Charlene James – to the writer’s room, each of whom will join the existing scribes from series 11, including Vinay Patel (“Demons of The Punjab”), Ed Hime (“It Takes You Away”), and Pete McTighe (“Kerblam!”).

Beyond script duties, we also have confirmation that four new directors have climbed aboard for Doctor Who series 12: Nida Manzoor, Emma Sullivan, Jamie Magnus Stone, and Lee Haven Jones. Current showrunner Chris Chibnall has also penned four episodes of Doctor Who‘s latest adventure, and welcomed this new wave of creative talent with open arms.

We’re thrilled that Doctor Who continues to attract some of the most the most exciting and dynamic talent working in television.

Michael Ahr Kayti Burt Jan 17, 2020

A corner of Terry Pratchett’s classic Discworld series will be adapted for the small screen by BBC America in The Watch.

The sprawling universe of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld, a comic fantasy series of novels that has long since reached classic status, is getting a television adaptation treatment courtesy of BBC America in the form of a new original scripted series, The Watch, but the show will necessarily narrow its focus to the misfit cops that inhabit a subset of stories in the beloved series. BBC America will co-produce with Narrativia, and Simon Allen (The Musketeers) will pen the series with Hilary Salmon (Luther) at the helm.

The Watch's 8-episode inaugural season will follow the legendary City Watch along with recognizable characters such as Captain Sam Vimes, the last scion of nobility Lady Sybil Ramkin, the naïve but heroic Carrot, the mysterious Angua,...

Participants revealed for year-long initiative.

Bafta has named the 15 female directors taking part in its inaugural career development programme for under-represented groups in film and TV.

Launched in February, Elevate will initially focus on helping women progress their directing careers in high-end television and film. According to 2016 data from Directors UK, only 13.6% of working directors between 2004 and 2014 were female.

The group of 15 was selected from 250 applicants, and reflect a range of experience levels and backgrounds.

Participants include My Brother the Devil director Sally El Hosaini, who co-directed Channel 4 and Sundance TV’s Babylon; Wolfblood and Dates director Sarah Walker; Tina Gharavi, founder of media production company Bridge + Tunnel; and Vanessa Caswill, a lead director on BBC3’s Thirteen.

Full list of Bafta Elevate directors:Alicia DuffyAmanda BlueCathy BradyChristiana Ebohon-GreenDawn ShadforthDelyth ThomasEmma SullivanKate SaxonLindy HeymannLisa ClarkeRebecca JohnsonSally El HosainiSarah WalkerTina GharaviVanessa Caswill

The year-long initiative will include panel discussions, masterclasses and workshops, These will build...

Chloe Catchpole Apr 24, 2017

A Twitter hashtag last week highlighted just some of the challenges that female directors face in the film industry...

A frustrating yet unsurprising hashtag suddenly appeared on my Twitter timeline the other day: #thingsonlywomendirectorshear. Now it should be no bombshell that female directors face an ever oppressive glass ceiling which spurns from seemingly all corners of the testosterone-fuelled film industry. Whether it be a multi-million dollar franchise or a minimalist indie feature, there is a noticeably startling lack of visible female auteurs.

Discrimination against women is prevalent in nearly every professional industry and yet absolutely nothing seems to have changed in the film making business. We hear similar news stories each year reporting how Kathryn Bigelow is the only female to have ever won Best Director (come Oscar season) alongside mouth-dropping studies which show that the number of female directors making films is actually on the decline in Hollywood.

If you haven’t already taken a look at Ink, the Indie film brought to us by Double Edge Films, then now is the time.

Telling the story of a little girl who is caught in a sort of metaphysical battle between good and evil. In a world where “Storytellers” come to us in our dreams, a young girl and her father are sucked into an incredible dream-world battle for their souls.

And now, two trailers for your viewing pleasure… perhaps you will be as intrigued as I am.

This breakout film, written and directed by Jamin Winans, stars Quinn Hunchar as 8-year-old Emma Sullivan, Chris Kelly as her damaged father while the “Storytellers” are played by of Jessica Duffy, eremy Make, Jennifer Batter, Eme Ikwuakor and Shelby Malone.

If you take a quick trip over to the movie’s IMDb page you can see everyone’s comments and quite...

• With only nine chosen titles, Cannes Short Films competition is probably the most exclusive competitive event at the festival. I can only imagine what the ratio was from submitted pictures to the lucky nine selected. Apart from an offering from New Zealand, this year's batch of short films resembles the dominance and output of European films in all sections of the festival this year. And like what Sundance has been doing for over two decades now, Cannes and The Cannes Cinefondation have lined-up short film offerings from the cinema schools from the four corners of the globe. Look for some form of coverage on our part Live at the festival.  Cannes Short Films In Competition "Ciao Mama," Croatia, Goran Odvorcic "Larsog Peter," Denmark, Daniel Borgman "L'homme a la Gordini," France, Jean-Christophe Lie "Klusums," Latvia, Laila Pakalnina "Missen," Netherlands, Jochem de Vries "The Six Dollar Fifty Man," New Zealand, Mark Albiston,

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