David Fincher delivered a surprise video masterclass to 450 quarantined film students
It’s nice to read about nice things that are just… nice right now, you know? Like this sweet little piece of news from the U.K.’s National Film And Television School, which had none other than David Friggin’ Fincher deliver a surprise video masterclass for 450 quarantined film students:
The filmmaker, who is currently in post-production on Mank, took a break from his own (presumed) self-isolation to impart some directing wisdom via a masterclass live-streamed on Zoom. It was a particularly special treat, given that The Finch rarely gives interviews. In a statement obtained by Indiewire, school director Jon Wardle said, “It’s been a tough week so we wanted to do something to lift the spirits of the National Film and Television School students. So this afternoon 450 students sat down for a masterclass via Zoom with THE David Fincher. David is a legend.” To say the least.
While production has been shut down on numerous film and TV projects, Fincher was (thankfully) already done with principal photography on his next film, Mank. Based on a screenplay written by Fincher’s late father, Mank follows Herman J. Mankiewicz as he battles addiction to complete the screenplay for Citizen Kane. Gary Oldman plays the title role in the drama, which is set up at Netflix, the home of Fincher’s Mindhunter. That series was recently delayed indefinitely so Fincher could focus his efforts on Mank, his first feature since 2014's Gone Girl. If David Fincher is reading this and feels like doing another nice thing for us during this pandemic, perhaps he can consider working on developing another season of Mindhunter. Just a suggestion!