Erik Anderson

2026 True/False Film Fest Dispatch #1: ‘The Oldest Person in the World,’ ‘Broken English’ This time last year, I received an email about attending a mid-size film festival showcasing, celebrating the best of domestic and international nonfiction cinema. Though I was unable to attend the festivities last year, it fueled me to want to make the trip in 2026; therefore, when I got the email again to fly out to True/False Film Fest for a weekend of artistic discovery within all forms of powerful, moving, fascinating documentaries, as well as local music, art installations, and other creative events, my response was a resounding yes.

2026 True/False Film Fest Dispatch #1: ‘The Oldest Person in the World,’ ‘Broken English’

This time last year, I received an email about attending a mid-size film festival showcasing, celebrating the best of domestic and international nonfiction cinema. Though I was unable to attend the…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: BEST CASTING The first new category at the Oscars in two decades and even with three available precursors the results are impacted by everything from inconsistent competition to winners that aren't nominated here. We'll start with Casting Society (CSA), which has been around for 41 years and has no less than six live action feature film categories and a membership requirement for a nomination.

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: BEST CASTING

The first new category at the Oscars in two decades and even with three available precursors the results are impacted by everything from inconsistent competition to winners that aren't nominated here. We'll start with Casting Society (CSA), which has been…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: FILM EDITING With ACE and BAFTA, One Battle After Another has the edge over Sinners and F1 in film editing, a crucial connector to the Best Picture race. All three films went head to head to head at Critics Choice, where F1 won, then BAFTA where One Battle won. American Cinema Editors (ACE) split their categories between drama and comedy where Sinners…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: FILM EDITING

With ACE and BAFTA, One Battle After Another has the edge over Sinners and F1 in film editing, a crucial connector to the Best Picture race. All three films went head to head to head at Critics Choice, where F1 won, then BAFTA where One Battle won.…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: VISUAL EFFECTS I guess it's sort of a forgone conclusion that if an Avatar film is up for visual effects, congrats to everyone else on their nomination. It's hard, impossible really, to see something topple it so until we do, the winner this year will be Avatar: Fire and Ash. If, and it's a big if, there was going to be an upset, it would come from the extensive vfx done in concert with live action that both…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: VISUAL EFFECTS

I guess it's sort of a forgone conclusion that if an Avatar film is up for visual effects, congrats to everyone else on their nomination. It's hard, impossible really, to see something topple it so until we do, the winner this year will be Avatar: Fire…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED FEATURE, DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM The worldwide phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters and its dominance in the critics and precursor races--save BAFTA where it wasn't eligible--makes for one of the easiest predictions of the season. Documentary Feature seems a bit more tricky as The Perfect Neighbor finds itself as an incredibly weak frontrunner. While it's the only nominee to BAFTA, DGA and PGA, it lost all of them.

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED FEATURE, DOCUMENTARY FEATURE, INTERNATIONAL FEATURE FILM

The worldwide phenomenon that is KPop Demon Hunters and its dominance in the critics and precursor races--save BAFTA where it wasn't eligible--makes for one of the easiest predictions of the season.…

Predictions for Sound (CAS, MPSE), Cinematography (ASC) and Writers Guilds (WGA) It's a big weekend of major guilds with Cinema Audio Society (CAS), American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) all revealing their winners the weekend before the Oscars. This slate of guilds could be the stage for Sinners that SAG set last weekend as it challenges F1 in sound categories and…

Predictions for Sound (CAS, MPSE), Cinematography (ASC) and Writers Guilds (WGA)

It's a big weekend of major guilds with Cinema Audio Society (CAS), American Society of Cinematographers (ASC), Motion Picture Sound Editors (MPSE) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) all revealing their winners…

Interview: Shawn Hatosy on Directing ‘The Pitt,’ Camera Choreography, and Being Online Since its first season premiered last January, The Pitt has been on a steep climb to being the best drama on television. Acting as a true ensemble show, every character gets their moment, however small it may feel in the moment. A sprawling cast that characterizes nurses, doctors, security guards, clerks, and patients seems unwieldy to handle, but Emmy winner Pitt actor Shawn Hatosy chose to direct an episode on top of being a guest star in the series.

Interview: Shawn Hatosy on Directing ‘The Pitt,’ Camera Choreography, and Being Online

Since its first season premiered last January, The Pitt has been on a steep climb to being the best drama on television. Acting as a true ensemble show, every character gets their moment, however small it may…

Director Watch Ep. 142 ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ (Powell and Pressburger, 1943) with Special Guest Bilge Ebiri On episode 142 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by film critic Bilge Ebiri discuss the latest film in their Powell and Pressburger series, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943). Welcome back to Director Watch! On this AwardsWatch podcast, the boys attempt to breakdown, analyze, and ultimately, get inside the mind of some of cinema’s greatest auteurs.

Director Watch Ep. 142 ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ (Powell and Pressburger, 1943) with Special Guest Bilge Ebiri

On episode 142 of the Director Watch Podcast, co-hosts Ryan McQuade and Jay Ledbetter are joined by film critic Bilge Ebiri discuss the latest film in their Powell and…

‘Rooster’ Review: New Series from ‘Ted Lasso’ Creator Gives Steve Carell Something to Crow About [B-] Life at Ludlow College hasn’t been the same since a married couple, both professors, has had a public break-up after one of them slept with a student – not his own student, technically, but still a student. For Katie (Charly Clive, The Lazarus Project), a visit from her father is actually something she’s been excited for. Her dad, Greg Russo (Steve Carrell), is a novelist giving a lecture on writing at Ludlow, fielding questions about his relationship with misogyny while speaking about his popular series that follows Rooster, an action hero overflowing with macho energy and one-liners.

'Rooster' Review: New Series from 'Ted Lasso' Creator Gives Steve Carell Something to Crow About [B-]

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTRESS Like the men in supporting actor, their women counterparts in supporting actress have gotten a wealth-spread of precursors that even more inconclusive. While Sean Penn (One Battle After Another) was able to secure the two industry prizes, here they've been split between Wunmi Mosaku (Sinners) at BAFTA and Amy Madigan (Weapons) at SAG. By itself, SAG has a stellar record for eventual Oscar winners but you'd have to go back to Penélope Cruz in 2008's…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTRESS

Boots Riley’s ‘I Love Boosters’ Lands West Coast Premiere as Centerpiece of 69th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM) Today, SFFILM announced the Centerpiece program of the 69th San Francisco International Film Festival with a hometown and West Coast premiere of award-winning writer/director Boots Riley’s latest feature film, I Love Boosters, at Oakland’s historic movie palace, the Grand Lake Theatre. Riley will be in person for an onstage conversation. SFFILM’s Executive Director Anne Lai lauded Riley’s talent and Bay Area spirit as central to his work. 

Boots Riley's 'I Love Boosters' Lands West Coast Premiere as Centerpiece of 69th San Francisco International Film Festival (SFFILM)

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR A true see-saw of a category this season, where one contender dominated early critics wins but as we got closer to the televised awards season, faded into the background as others rose. Benicio Del Toro came out of the gates running with his brief but impactful turn in One Battle After Another, collecting two trifecta prizes in NYFCC and NSFC on his way to…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: SUPPORTING ACTOR

‘The Bride!’ Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal Goes For Baroque in Messy, Misguided Post-Modern Monster Movie [D] When the opening frames of The Bride! displays introductory text establishing that Mary Shelley wrote her classic Gothic tragedy, Frankenstein, on a dare, it feels like needless table-setting. Surely audiences don't need reminding of one of the most famous monster stories ever told, or even of its iconic offshoots, including the James Whale film this one is updating, Bride of Frankenstein.

'The Bride!' Review: Maggie Gyllenhaal Goes For Baroque in Messy, Misguided Post-Modern Monster Movie [D]

‘Sinners’ Dominates Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Dorian Awards; Rose Byrne, Amy Madigan Win Acting Prizes Eva Victor’s Sorry, Baby Garners Two Wins The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, the second largest entertainment journalists organization in the world, today announced the group’s 2026 Dorian Film Awards, with Sinners emerging as the year’s undeniable standout with 7 wins. In a rare alignment of commercial success and critical acclaim, Ryan Coogler’s sweeping historical horror epic, Sinners, became one of the few recent blockbusters to sweep the Dorians’ top prizes, underscoring its cultural resonance and artistic ambition.

'Sinners' Dominates Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics Dorian Awards; Rose Byrne, Amy Madigan Win Acting Prizes

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED SHORT, DOCUMENTARY SHORT, LIVE ACTION SHORT As they've often been, the short film categories can often make or break your office Oscar pool (is that still a thing?) or at least boost your online street cred. But at their hearts are 15 films from burgeoning filmmakers, often taking years to complete projects as short as 18 minutes long. In a recent conversation with The Singers' director Sam A.

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ANIMATED SHORT, DOCUMENTARY SHORT, LIVE ACTION SHORT

29th Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF): ‘Poetic License,’ ‘I Swear,’ Conversations with Julian Schnabel, Barry Jenkins and Lulu Wang The lineup of the 29th annual Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF) has been announced, unveiling a program that features 41narrative features, 16 documentary features, and 47 shorts. The festival will open with Poetic License, the feature directorial debut from Maude Apatow, have Steven Soderbergh's The Christophers, starring Ian McKellen and Michaela Coel, as the centerpiece, and close with the shot in Sonoma feature…

29th Sonoma International Film Festival (SIFF): 'Poetic License,' 'I Swear,' Conversations with Julian Schnabel, Barry Jenkins and Lulu Wang

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTRESS That's a wrap, folks. In what's been a very topsy-turvy season in the acting categories, one thing has remained steadfast and that's Irish rose Jessie Buckley in Best Actress. The only clean sweeper this year, Buckley made history at BAFTA and SAG becoming the first Irish actress to ever win there and will make history again in less than two weeks when the…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: BEST ACTRESS

4th Children’s & Family Emmys: ‘Sesame Street,’ ‘Heartstopper,’ ‘Descendants: The Rise of Red’ Among Top Winners Programs under the Disney+/Disney Channel/Disney Jr. umbrella ruled the 4th Children’s & Family Emmys tonight, collecting 19 wins thanks to programs like Descendants: The Rise of Red, which was the evening’s most-awarded show, with five Emmys, including outstanding fiction special. Part of the Disney haul were four wins for Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, which was named outstanding young teen series, and four for…

4th Children's & Family Emmys: 'Sesame Street,' 'Heartstopper,' 'Descendants: The Rise of Red' Among Top Winners

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ORIGINAL SCORE and ORIGINAL SONG Among the few but very solid locks of Oscar night will be Ludwig Göransson's score for Sinners, earning him his third Oscar in this category in just seven years, after 2018's Black Panther and 2023's Oppenheimer. A win here will be historically substantial as he'll become the first composer to win three Oscars for original score in the 21st century and, at 41, will be the second youngest to ever do it after André Previn, who was 35 when he won his third Oscar for 

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: ORIGINAL SCORE and ORIGINAL SONG

AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 335 – Reactions to the Split PGA and SAG Awards On episode 335 of The AwardsWatch Podcast, Executive Editor Ryan McQuade is joined by AwardsWatch Editor-In Chief Erik Anderson and AwardsWatch contributor Josh Parham to discuss The Actor Award and 2026 PGA Award winners, and what these wins mean going into the final days of Oscar voting. You can listen to The AwardsWatch Podcast wherever you stream podcasts, from iTunes, iHeartRadio, Soundcloud, Stitcher, Spotify, Audible, Amazon Music and more.

AwardsWatch Podcast Ep. 335 - Reactions to the Split PGA and SAG Awards

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING Once more, with feeling. A Frankenstein sweep this season says it's winning but I'm keeping an eye out for Sinners here. Here are my final winner predictions in Makeup and Hairstyling for the 98th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 15, live at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California. 1. Frankenstein (Netflix)

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: MAKEUP and HAIRSTYLING

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: PRODUCTION DESIGN Another clean sweep for Frankenstein keeps Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau at the top where they've been for months. Here are my final winner predictions in Production Design for the 98th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 15, live at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California. 1. Frankenstein (Netflix)Production Design: Tamara Deverell; Set Decoration: Shane Vieau BAFTA…

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: PRODUCTION DESIGN

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: COSTUME DESIGN Great gowns, beautiful gowns. But really, they are. With a clean sweep of every precursor--BAFTA, Critics Choice and the Costume Designers Guild--Kate Hawley should sail to an easy victory here with Frankenstein barring a late surge for Sinners, which feels like that could be a common refrain in many categories in this final stretch. Here are my final winner predictions in Costume Design for the 98th Academy Awards, which will take place on March 15, live at the Dolby Theater in Hollywood, California.

FINAL 2026 Oscar Predictions: COSTUME DESIGN

‘Hoppers’ Review: Pixar is Back With Their Best Film in Years [B+] The symptoms of Pixar’s near-decade-long fallow period are well-known. No new Pixar property has had any cultural stickiness since Coco in 2017. The diagnosis is very much up for debate, but red flags are planted by looking at the filmographies of the directors responsible for the recent projects. Pixar has become obsessed with promoting from within and seemingly demanding complete, unwavering devotion to The Brand.

'Hoppers' Review: Pixar is Back With Their Best Film in Years [B+]

32nd SAG Actor Awards: Winners List [Updating Live] Tonight are the 32nd SAG Actor Awards, the final major guild of the 2025/2026 awards season, live on Netflix from the Shrine Auditorium and Expo Hall in Los Angeles, California, and hosted by Kristen Bell. One Battle After Another is the film nomination leader with seven, a new record for the SAG Awards, followed by Sinners with five. Both films are nominated for cast in a motion picture, male actor in a leading role female actor in a supporting role and stunt ensemble, with…

32nd SAG Actor Awards

30th Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards: ‘Frankenstein,’ One Battle After Another,’ ‘Severance’ and More The 30th Annual Art Directors Guild (ADG, IATSE Local 800) awards, honoring excellence in production design have given their top prizes to Frankenstein, One Battle After Another, Severance and more. In feature film, where there are three different categories, Frankenstein won period film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps won fantasy film and One Battle After Another won contemporary film.

30th Art Directors Guild (ADG) Awards: 'Frankenstein,' One Battle After Another,' 'Severance' and More

16th Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS) Awards: ‘Sinners,’ ‘Marty Supreme,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ The Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS) have announced the winners of their 16th Annual Guild of Music Supervisors Awards where Sinners, Marty Supreme and One Battle After Another all took home prizes. The ceremony honors outstanding achievement in the craft of Music Supervision in film, television, documentaries, advertising, trailers, and video games.  On the TV side, the music supervisors of 

16th Guild of Music Supervisors (GMS) Awards: 'Sinners,' 'Marty Supreme,' 'One Battle After Another'

37th Producers Guild Awards (PGA) – Winners Updating The 37th Annual Producers Guild Awards are being held tonight at the Fairmont Century Plaza, honoring the producing side of film and television. Mara Brock Akil (The Game, Girlfriends, Being Mary Jane) will receive the Norman Lear Award for Achievement in Television. Blumhouse horror producer Jason Blum (Get Out, M3GAN, The Black Phone…

37th Producers Guild Awards (PGA)

57th NAACP Image Awards: ‘Sinners’ Dominates, Michael B. Jordan Named Entertainer of the Year On the final night of the 57th NAACP Image Awards, Sinners continued its domination from the previous nights, winning Outstanding Motion Picture while star Michael B. Jordan won Actor in a Motion Picture and Entertainer of the Year. Jordan dedicated his lead actor award to his Black Panther co-star Chadwick Boseman, who died at the age of 43 in 2020.

57th NAACP Image Awards: 'Sinners' Dominates, Michael B. Jordan Named Entertainer of the Year

76th American Cinema Editors ACE Eddie Awards: ‘Sinners,’ ‘One Battle After Another,’ ‘The Pitt’ Take Top Wins Sinners and One Battle After Another have topped the feature film winners of the 76th Annual ACE Eddie Awards presented by American Cinema Editors (ACE), announced tonight from UCLA’s Royce Hall in a ceremony hosted by actor and comedian Asif Ali. Sinners editor Michael P. Shawver took home the ACE for theatrical drama while Andy Jurgensen's work on One Battle After Another…

76th American Cinema Editors ACE Eddie Awards: 'Sinners,' 'One Battle After Another,' 'The Pitt' Take Top Wins