Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes CBE (born 1 August 1965) is an English film and stage director, producer and screenwriter. In theatre, he is known for his dark re-inventions of the stage musicals Cabaret (1994), Oliver! (1994), Company (1995), and Gypsy (2003). He directed an original West End stage musical for the first time with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2013).
For directing the play The Ferryman, Mendes was awarded the Tony Award for Best Direction of a Play in 2019.
EXCLUSIVE: Once again, working under the Guild’s restrictive rules for inclusion among nominees for the WGA Awards for Best Original and Adapted Screenplays, several leading Oscar contending screenplays are AWOL on the official WGA ballot sent to eligible voting members this morning.
This is an annual occurence as, unlike other guild competitions including DGA, SAG, and PGA, the Writers Guild remain firm in their golden rule of eligibility for their top film honors: The movie must have been written under the WGA MBA or under a bona fide collective bargaining agreement of various international Writers Guild affiliated organizations Thus such hot Oscar and BAFTA prospects as Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees Of Inisherin, Cannes Palme d’Or winner Ruben Ostlund’s Triangle Of Sadness, and many more did not even make the starting gate for WGA.
In the Original Screenplay category BAFTA just last week longlisted Banshees and Triangle Of Sadness, in addition to others nixed by WGA including Charlotte Wells’ highly critically acclaimed Aftersun, and Good Luck To You, Leo Grande.
Other prominent Original scripts deep sixed by WGA are Sundance sensations Nanny and Cha Cha Real Smooth; Sam Mendes’ personal Empire Of Light; Indian Best Picture contender RRR; and even Ol Parker’s hit George Clooney/Julia Roberts romcom Ticket To Paradise.
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