The legendary Hollywood Director Rob Marshall (Chicago, Pirates of The Carribean: On Stranger Tides, Nine, Memoirs of a Geisha) has given a Masterclass to NFTS students, who were also invited to a press conference to launch his latest film Into The Woods at the Corinthia Hotel, in London, this week.
The Disney live action film with a star-studded cast including starring Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, James Corden, Anna Kendrick and Chris Pine, is a screen adaptation of the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine award-winning Broadway musical.
Inspired by the Grimm Brothers' fairy tales of ‘Little Red Riding Hood,’ ‘Cinderella,’ ‘Jack and the Beanstalk,’ and ‘Rapunzel,’ the fantasy film has been widely praised and described as a “… twisty fairy-tale mash-up (that) shows an appreciation for the virtues of old-fashioned storytelling, along with a welcome dash of subversive wit.”
Into The Woods was filmed in the UK at Shepperton Studios and on location in Buckinghamshire, Kent and Surrey and many NFTS graduates have credits on this production including: Tom Goodwin (Draughtsperson), Kim Frederiksen (Concept Artist) and Jen Groves (Special Effects Assistant).
Speaking in conversation with NFTS senior Script Development tutor Angeli Macfarlane (Script Consultant with Film4 and Pathe, and a development consultant for the BFI, Creative England), Rob Marshall, shared insights into the film’s production giving students valuable advice.
Marshall, who is also a producer and choreographer, talked about his love of musicals and his passion for story-telling that have led to his films and theatre productions winning an astounding number of awards, including nine Academy Award®, three BAFTA Awards plus numerous Golden Globe, Directors’ Guild Awards, Emmy® Awards and many others (full list of awards on imdb).
His most recent film, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz, grossed more than $1 billion at the worldwide box office, making it one of the highest-grossing films in history.
Pictured (l-r) is Angeli Macfarlane with Rob Marshall at the NFTS masterclass.
Into The Woods is released in cinemas in the UK on Friday ( January 9th)
