Plan B’s Jeremy Kleiner and Dede Gardner on Their Filmmaker-First Approach, from ‘Nickel Boys’ to Nia DaCosta’s ‘Hedda’

Nobody’s doing it quite like Plan B Entertainment’s Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner. This year, the company’s co-heads (who oversee Plan B with Brad Pitt) brought RaMell Ross’ epic Colson Whitehead adaptation “Nickel Boys” to Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ross with Joslyn Barnes) Oscar nominations after Amazon released the 1960s-set, formally daring civil rights drama in theaters last fall. They join this week’s episode of IndieWire’s “Screen Talk” podcast with co-host Anne Thompson to talk honoring the “acrobatics and the courage and the bravery and the gymnastics” of Whitehead’s text, Ross’ innovative first-person camera work with cinematographer Jomo Fray, and the anxiety-inducing challenge of the film’s ending.

But Plan B is plenty busy elsewhere, with Bong Joon Ho’s “Mickey 17” just premiering in London and heading for a Berlin Film Festival bow. Also with Brad Pitt as executive producer, Gardner and Kleiner have Fernando Eimbcke’s coming-of-age tale “Olmo” premiering in the German festival’s Panorama strand. It follows a 14-year-old boy taking care of his sick father — only to embark on a night of mischief and chaos — and is a buzzy acquisitions title in Berlin. Kleiner and Gardner also tell us about Nia DaCosta’s “Hedda,” an adaptation of Henrik Ibsen’s “Hedda Gabler” play, which shot last year and will enter into festivals in 2025. Plus, Plan B had a banner 2024 with the box office success of “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice,” a Warner Bros. release a la “Mickey 17.”

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Meanwhile on this week’s episode, Anne recaps her busy last weekend at the Critics Choice and DGA and PGA awards, where “Anora” emerged as the Best Picture frontrunner after many pundits pegged films like “Conclave” or “A Complete Unknown” to take the win. It was an invigorating couple of days over what could’ve been a predictable awards show streak. Ryan also previews a few titles he’s seen at Berlin already, including Michel Franco’s dark Mexican immigrant drama “Dreams,” with Jessica Chastain, and Romanian auteur Radu Jude’s absurdist satire “Kontinental ’25.”

Listen to the episode below.

Screen Talk is produced by Azwan Badruzaman and available on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and Spotify, and hosted by Megaphone. Browse previous episodes here, subscribe here, and be sure to let us know if you’d like to hear the hosts address specific issues in upcoming editions of Screen Talk.

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