Eliza McNitt

Last updated

Eliza McNitt is an American writer and director who specializes in virtual reality.

Contents

Career

McNitt produced her first documentary, Requiem for the Honeybee, in high school. McNitt later released two short films Without Fire, a survival story, and Artemis Falls, which follows an astronaut on her journey into space. [1]

McNitt's first VR production, Fistful of Stars, focused on the explorations of The Hubble Telescope. 2018's Spheres, produced by Darren Aronofsky, debuted at the Telluride Film Festival and was later acquired in a seven-figure deal. [2] Its second chapter was a finalist in the "“Innovation in Interactive Media" category at the 2018 Emmy Awards and won the grand prize in the VR category at the 2018 Venice Film Festival. [3]

Awards and nominations

YearNominated workAwardCategoryResultRef.
2014 Without Fire Santa Fe Film Festival Director's Choice AwardDramaWinner [4]
Arizona International Film Festival PrizeBest Dramatic Short FilmWinner [4]
2018 SPHERES Emmy AwardsFinalistFinalist [5]
Venice Film Festival Grand PrizeVRWinner [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Aronofsky</span> American filmmaker

Darren Aronofsky is an American filmmaker. His films are noted for their surreal, melodramatic, and often disturbing elements, frequently in the form of psychological fiction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sean Gullette</span> American actor

Sean Leland Sebastian Gullette is an American film director, writer, screenwriter, actor, and producer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Lion</span> Highest prize awarded at the Venice Film Festival

The Golden Lion is the highest prize given to a film at the Venice Film Festival. The prize was introduced in 1949 by the organizing committee and is now regarded as one of the film industry's most prestigious and distinguished prizes. In 1970, a second Golden Lion was introduced; this is an honorary award for people who have made an important contribution to cinema.

<i>The Fountain</i> 2006 American film by Darren Aronofsky

The Fountain is a 2006 American epic romantic drama film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz. Blending elements of fantasy, history, spirituality, and science fiction, the film consists of three storylines involving immortality and the resulting loves lost, and one man's pursuit of avoiding this fate in this life or beyond it. Jackman and Weisz play sets of characters bonded by love across time and space: a conquistador and his ill-fated queen, a modern-day scientist and his cancer-stricken wife, and a traveler immersed in a universal journey alongside aspects of his lost love. The storylines—interwoven with use of match cuts and recurring visual motifs—reflect the themes and interplay of love and mortality.

<i>The Wrestler</i> (2008 film) 2008 film by Darren Aronofsky

The Wrestler is a 2008 American sports drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Robert Siegel. The film stars Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei, and Evan Rachel Wood. Rourke plays an aging professional wrestler who, despite his failing health and waning fame, continues to wrestle due to financial hardship and in an attempt to cling to the success of his 1980s heyday. He also tries to mend his relationship with his estranged daughter and to find romance with a woman who works as a stripper.

<i>Requiem for a Dream</i> 2000 American psychological drama film by Darren Aronofsky

Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and starring Jared Leto, Ellen Burstyn, Jennifer Connelly, Christopher McDonald, and Marlon Wayans. It is based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Hubert Selby Jr., with whom Aronofsky wrote the screenplay. The film depicts four characters affected by drug addiction and how it alters their physical and emotional states. Their addictions cause them to become imprisoned in a world of delusion and desperation. As the film progresses, each character deteriorates, and their delusions are shattered by the harsh reality of their situations, resulting in catastrophe.

<i>Black Swan</i> (film) 2010 film by Darren Aronofsky

Black Swan is a 2010 American psychological horror film directed by Darren Aronofsky from a screenplay by Mark Heyman, John McLaughlin, and Andres Heinz, based on a story by Heinz. The film stars Natalie Portman in the lead role, with Vincent Cassel, Mila Kunis, Barbara Hershey, and Winona Ryder in supporting roles. The plot revolves around a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake by the company of New York City Ballet. The production requires a ballerina to play the innocent and fragile White Swan, for which the committed dancer Nina Sayers (Portman) is a perfect fit, as well as the dark and sensual Black Swan, which are qualities better embodied by the new rival Lily (Kunis). Nina is overwhelmed by a feeling of immense pressure when she finds herself competing for the role, causing her to lose her tenuous grip on reality and descend into madness.

Gina Kim is a filmmaker and academic. Kim's five feature-length films and short films have garnered acclaim through screenings at most major film festivals and at venues such as the MOMA, Centre Pompidou and the Smithsonian. According to Film Comment, Kim has "a terrific eye, a gift for near-wordless storytelling, a knack for generating a tense gliding rhythm between images and sounds, shots and scenes, and for yielding a quality of radiance in her actors". Between 2004–2007 and 2013–2014, Kim taught film production and theory classes at Harvard University, being the first Asian woman teaching in her department. Kim was also a member of the Jury for the 66th Venice Film Festival and the Asian Pacific Screen Awards in 2009. Currently, Kim is a professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">68th Venice International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 68th annual Venice International Film Festival was held in Venice, Italy between 31 August and 10 September 2011. American film director Darren Aronofsky was announced as the Head of the Jury. American actor and film director Al Pacino was presented with the Glory to the Film-maker award on 4 September, prior to the premiere of his upcoming film Wilde Salomé. Marco Bellocchio was awarded with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement in September. The festival opened with the American film The Ides of March, directed by George Clooney, and closed with Damsels in Distress by Whit Stillman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Protozoa Pictures</span> American production company

Protozoa Pictures is an American production company founded in 1997 by American filmmaker Darren Aronofsky, headquartered in New York City. It is mainly a handle for Aronofsky's filmography, but has financed other projects alongside Aronofsky's.

<i>Mother!</i> 2017 film by Darren Aronofsky

Mother! is a 2017 American psychological horror film written and directed by Darren Aronofsky, and starring Jennifer Lawrence, Javier Bardem, Ed Harris, Michelle Pfeiffer, Domhnall Gleeson, Brian Gleeson, and Kristen Wiig. Its plot, inspired by the Bible, follows a young woman whose tranquil life with her husband at their country home is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious couple.

<i>Jackie</i> (2016 film) 2016 film by Pablo Larraín

Jackie is a 2016 biographical drama film directed by Pablo Larraín and written by Noah Oppenheim. The film stars Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy. Peter Sarsgaard, Greta Gerwig, Billy Crudup, and John Hurt also star; it was Hurt's final film released in his lifetime before his death in January 2017. The film follows Kennedy in the days when she was First Lady in the White House and her life immediately following the assassination of her husband, United States President John F. Kennedy, in 1963. It is partly based on Theodore H. White's Life magazine interview with the widow at Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, in November 1963.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Within (company)</span> Technology company

Within Unlimited, Inc., or commonly Within, is a studio based in Los Angeles developing the VR fitness service Supernatural on the Meta Quest. The company was founded by Chris Milk and Aaron Koblin in 2014 and initially created, acquired, and distributed 360-degree video, AR, and VR experiences across web, mobile, console, and headsets. In February 2023, Meta Platforms Inc., acquired the company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">74th Venice International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 74th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 30 August to 9 September 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Darren Aronofsky's unrealized projects</span>

The following is a list of unproduced Darren Aronofsky projects in roughly chronological order. During his long career, American film director Darren Aronofsky has worked on a number of projects which never progressed beyond the pre-production stage under his direction. Some of these projects fell in "development hell" or were cancelled.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lance Oppenheim</span> American film director

Lance Oppenheim is an American filmmaker, documentarian, & producer. His work blends nonfiction storytelling with heightened, cinematic formalism. Oppenheim has received critical acclaim for his films Some Kind of Heaven (2021) and Spermworld (2024). He is also known for creating the HBO documentary series Ren Faire (2024).

Spheres: Songs of Spacetime is a three-part virtual reality (VR) experience created by Eliza McNitt and produced by Darren Aronofsky that takes the viewer on a journey through space and the sounds that can be heard there. It was notably the first known VR product to secure a seven figure deal coming out of a film festival, namely Sundance, provoking significant media interest in the state of the VR film industry.

<i>The Whale</i> (2022 film) 2022 American psychological drama film by Darren Aronofsky

The Whale is a 2022 American psychological drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play of the same name. The film stars Brendan Fraser, Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins, and Samantha Morton. The plot follows a reclusive, morbidly obese instructor of the English language who tries to restore his relationship with his teenage daughter, whom he had abandoned eight years earlier. The film was shot from March 8 to April 7, 2021, in Newburgh, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">79th Venice International Film Festival</span> Film festival

The 79th annual Venice International Film Festival was held from 31 August to 10 September 2022. Noah Baumbach's White Noise was the festival's opening film, and Francesco Carrozzini's The Hanging Sun was the closing film.

Phoebe Greenberg is an actress, writer and producer based in Montreal, Canada. She is the daughter of Irving Greenberg, one of the founders of Minto Group in 1955 and Shirley Greenberg. She is also the mother of artist Miles Greenberg.

References

  1. "ABOUT". ELIZA MCNITT. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  2. Roettgers, Janko (2018-01-24). "Sundance Sees First Seven-Figure VR Deal as CityLights Buys Darren Aronofsky's 'Spheres'". Variety. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  3. "Eliza McNitt's 'SPHERES' Collects Grand Prix at Venice Film Festival | LBBOnline". lbbonline.com. Retrieved 2024-06-26.
  4. 1 2 "Eliza McNitt". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
  5. 1 2 "UGFTV Alum Eliza McNitt series Spheres released at Rockefeller CNTR".