Ross Katz, a two-time Best Picture Oscar nominee (for In the Bedroom, and Lost in Translation) as a producer, has launched Sui Generis Pictures. Plans call for the new L.A.-based venture to be active in feature films, TV and both short- and long-form documentaries.
Katz has also made his mark in the directorial arena, winning a DGA Award in the Movies for TV/Miniseries category in 2010 for Taking Chance (HBO), which he also wrote and exec produced. Based on a true story, Taking Chance chronicled the journey of Lieutenant Colonel Michael Strobl, USMC (portrayed by Kevin Bacon), a volunteer military escort officer who was assigned to accompany the body of 19-year old Lance Corporal Chance Phelps, USMC, stateside. Phelps was killed in action in Iraq. Strobl escorted the fallen soldier across America back to Phelps’ hometown of Dubois, Wyoming, in the spring of 2004.
In his DGA acceptance speech, Katz thanked Quentin Tarantino, noting that his first industry job was as an unpaid grip on that director’s cult classic Reservoir Dogs. “Quentin was so great to me back then. I was probably the most enthusiastic unpaid grip in the industry.” Katz described Tarantino as “an awesome mentor.”
Prior to the DGA win, Taking Chance earned Katz inclusion in SHOOT’s 2009 New Directors Showcase. Taking Chance also earned Katz and Strobl a Writers Guild Award in 2010.
Taking Chance garnered three Emmy nominations for Katz in 2009–for writing, directing and Outstanding Made for TV Movie.
Katz thus far has five career Emmy noms–the other two being for Outstanding TV Movie as executive producer, on the strength of The Laramie Project in 2002 and My Dinner with Herve in 2019.
The Grammys’ voting body is more diverse, with 66% new members. What does it mean for the awards?
For years, the Grammy Awards have been criticized over a lack of diversity — artists of color and women left out of top prizes; rap and contemporary R&B stars ignored — a reflection of the Recording Academy's electorate. An evolving voting body, 66% of whom have joined in the last five years, is working to remedy that.
At last year's awards, women dominated the major categories; every televised competitive Grammy went to at least one woman. It stems from a commitment the Recording Academy made five years ago: In 2019, the Academy announced it would add 2,500 women to its voting body by 2025. Under the Grammys' new membership model, the Recording Academy has surpassed that figure ahead of the deadline: More than 3,000 female voting members have been added, it announced Thursday.
"It's definitely something that we're all very proud of," Harvey Mason jr., academy president and CEO, told The Associated Press. "It tells me that we were severely underrepresented in that area."
Reform at the Record Academy dates back to the creation of a task force focused on inclusion and diversity after a previous CEO, Neil Portnow, made comments belittling women at the height of the #MeToo movement.
Since 2019, approximately 8,700 new members have been added to the voting body. In total, there are now more than 16,000 members and more than 13,000 of them are voting members, up from about 14,000 in 2023 (11,000 of which were voting members). In that time, the academy has increased its number of members who identify as people of color by 63%.
"It's not an all-new voting body," Mason assures. "We're very specific and intentional in who we asked to be a part of our academy by listening and learning from different genres and different groups that... Read More