EXCLUSIVE: Thirteen-time Emmy and 10-time DGA winner Don Mischer may be very busy preparing the upcoming 67th annual Primetime Emmy Awards for broadcast on Fox on September 20, but that hasn’t stopped him and his Don Mischer Productions team from making a rare foray into the movies. And it’s a big one: Director Ang Lee has engaged the company to help put together the football game halftime show for his new movie Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk , which Tri Star will release in November 2016.
The film, as first reported by my colleague Mike Fleming Jr., is about 19-year-old Billy Lynn, an Army private, who, along with his “Bravo” company, survive a harrowing Iraq battle covered by news cameras that instantly makes them famous enough to be brought home by the Defense Department for a promotional tour culminating in a spectacular halftime show at a Thanksgiving Day football game. Joe Alwyn plays Billy and the cast includes Vin Diesel, Chris Tucker, Kristen Stewart and Steve Martin. The movie is based on Ben Fountain’s bestselling novel.
Mischer, a true creature of live television having produced numerous Emmy, Oscars and Olympics, has been brought in to make the halftime show as real as possible. And who better? Mischer Productions has produced several real Super Bowl halftimes with the likes of Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Michael Jackson, Prince and Bruce Springsteen, not to mention a few Olympics Opening Ceremonies along the way. He was nominated for Emmys for directing Super Bowl Halftime Shows in 2007 and 2009. Lee first approached Mischer in December about working on the new film and how could he resist?
“We were thrilled,” Mischer said. “We have such respect for Ang and his work, and we jumped at the opportunity to work with such a gifted director.” Mischer and Lee actually first met and worked together more than 10 years ago when developing themes and concepts for the Beijing Olympic Opening Ceremonies , which were then presented to the Beijing Olympics Organizing Committee.
Although Tri Star is keeping most of this under wraps, the film is being shot with state-of-the-art Sony F65 cameras in native 3D, with 4k resolution, and an ultra-high frame rate of 120 frames per second. It should look spectacular. The film is being produced by Marc Platt, Stephen Cornwell, Rhodri Thomas, Simon Cornwell and Lee.
As this is wrapping up Mischer is turning his full attention to producing the Emmys, with nominations set to be announced July 16.
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