Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/861371
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 7 I 2 5 Asian American Committee Hosts A Conversation with Director Destin Daniel Cretton about The Glass Castle Four siblings must fend for themselves as their free-spirit parents abdicate their duties in Director Destin Daniel Cretton's new drama, The Glass Castle. Adapted from Jeannette Walls' bestselling memoir, Cretton's fi lm follows a young woman and her siblings in a dysfunctional family headed by an eccentric artist mother and a charming, but alcoholic, father. On August 6, the Asian American Committee hosted a special screening and reception for The Glass Castle at DGA headquarters in Los Angeles. After an introduction by Committee Co-Chair Michael Goi, Cretton sat down with Director James Ponsoldt and one of the stars of the fi lm, actor Brie Larson, to discuss the making of the fi lm. During the conversation, Cretton described the unusual situation of watching the fi lm seated behind Walls herself. "As soon as the opening shot comes on, I just thought 'Oh shit, this is her life! She's about to watch our version of the memory of her father! I need to get out of here!' I was watching the back of her head for any sign of what she might be feeling. But she immediately began laughing so loud at every little joke and gasping and grabbing her husband shouting 'No! No!' that it became such a fun experience. She stood up at the end with tears in her eyes and just kept saying 'Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.' and gave me a hug. That kind of gratitude just makes you want to do the best you could ever do." Cretton's other credits include the features Short Term 12 and I Am Not a Hipster; the documentaries Drakmar: A Vassal's Journey and Born Without Arms; and the television series Scenes for Minors. He became a DGA member in 2016. 2 1 More detailed descriptions, video highlights and additional photos are posted online at www.dga.org. DGA Events Roundup Directors Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk and Former Vice President Al Gore discuss climate change documentary An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power On July 27, the DGA Special Projects Committee hosted a special screening of Directors Bonni Cohen & Jon Shenk's new documentary, An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power. Presented in the Guild's Los Angeles Theater, the evening featured a discussion with the fi lmmakers and the subject of the fi lm, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, moderated by DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan. The fi lm picks up ten years after Director Davis Guggenheim's Oscar-winning documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, brought the climate crisis into the heart of popular culture. With the stakes now higher than ever, cameras follow former Vice President Gore in his tireless fi ght, traveling around the world training an army of climate champions and infl uencing international climate policy. The fi lm premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for the Golden Eye Award at the 2017 Cannes Film Festival. After the screening, Cohen, Shenk and Gore sat down with Kagan for a discussion about the fi lm and where we are today compared to where we were a decade ago when its predecessor raised the world consciousness to the dangers of climate change. Cohen's other work includes the documentaries The Rape of Europa and Kofi Annan: Eye of the Storm. Shenk's fi lmography includes the documentary Lost Boys of Sudan. Gore spends the majority of his time as chairman of The Climate Reality Project, a non-profi t organization focused on solutions for the global climate crisis. He is also the author of the best-sellers Earth in the Balance, An Inconvenient Truth, Our Choice: A Plan to Solve the Climate Crisis, and most recently, The Future: Six Drivers of Global Change. Gore was the 2007 Nobel Prize Laureate for informing the world of the dangers posed by climate change. See video from this Q&A at www.dga.org. 1 2 photos by Shane Karns See video from this Q&A at www.dga.org. Photos: 1. Former Vice President Al Gore, Directors Jon Shenk and Bonni Cohen and DGA Special Projects Committee Chair Jeremy Kagan (moderator). 2. The DGA Los Angeles Theater audience gives the fi lmmakers and guest a standing ovation. Photos: 1. Director Destin Daniel Cretton. 2. Cretton discusses the fi lm with actor Brie Larson and Director James Ponsoldt (moderator). 3. Cretton poses for a photo with Asian American Committee members during the reception. 3 photos by Byron Gamarro