About this Event
On December 13, the Downtown Alliance invites you to immerse yourself in “Inside Man,” the heart-pounding 2006 heist drama directed by the legendary Spike Lee and starring Denzel Washington, Clive Owen and Jodie Foster. Witness the intense twists and turns of a meticulously planned bank robbery that develops on the streets and in the storied buildings of our Lower Manhattan neighborhood.
The screening will be followed by an in-depth conversation with the brilliant minds behind the scenes. Mastermind production designer Wynn Thomas will reveal the artistry and challenges of transforming real locations in Lower Manhattan into the film's captivating world. Neil Rosen, the esteemed film critic, will guide the discussion, providing unique insights into the significance of New York City as a movie set, and the symbiotic relationship between the city and storytelling.
Tickets are $5 and include popcorn and a beverage. All proceeds will be donated to a charity of our speakers' choice.
Wynn Thomas is a graduate of Boston University. He got his BFA in Theatre Design. He started his career designing sets for the theatre. He was the resident designer for the world famous NEGRO ENSEMBLE COMPANY. And he also designed sets for Joe Papp’s Public Theatre, Arena Stage in Wash. DC, Great Lakes Shakespeare Company in Cleveland Ohio and the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven.
Wynn is the first African American Production Designer in the history of films. As an assistant art director he worked with distinguished production designers Richard Slybert on the COTTON CLUB, Patrizia Von Brandenstein on BEAT STREET and THE MONEY PIT and Stuart Wurtzel on BRIGHTON BEACH MEMOIRS. He also assisted on THE PACKAGE with Gene Hackman.
As a production designer Wynn has worked with some of the most important film directors of the 20th century. For director Ron Howard and producer Brian Grazer he designed A BEAUTIFUL MIND, which won the Academy Award for Best Picture and designed the critically acclaimed CINDERELLA MAN, both starring Russell Crowe.
Wynn was the in-house designer for Robert DeNiro’s Tribeca Productions. For them he designed A BRONX TALE directed by Robert DeNiro, WAG THE DOG directed by Barry Levinson starring Robert DeNiro and Dustin Hoffman. He also designed ANALYZE THIS and ANALYZE THAT directed by Harold Ramis and starring DeNiro and Billy Crystal. For director Tim Burton he designed the cult classic MARS ATTACKS.
Wynn had a long term collaborative relationship with Spike Lee. Starting with SHE’S GOTTA HAVE IT, SCHOOL DAZE, DO THE RIGHT THING, MO’ BETTER BLUES, JUNGLE FEVER, the epic film MALCOLM X, CROOKLYN, HE GOT GAME, KINGS OF COMEDY, INSIDE MAN. And he most recent project with Spike was DA 5 BLOODS, which was shot in Thailand and Vietnam. Wynn won the ADG Award for Best Contemporary design for his work on 5 Bloods.
Wynn has been a proud member of United Scenic Artist, Local 829 in NY for 40 years. Wynn is the first African American Designer to become a member of the Art Director’s Guild and the first African American to be nominated for the ADG Awards for his design work on Mars Attacks. For the last six years, Wynn has been on the board of governors at the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. And for the last three years, Wynn was elected to a Vice President position on the Academy Board.
In addition to Wynn’s two ADG Awards for HIDDEN FIGURES and DA 5 BLOODS, the Art Directors Guild will be giving Wynn a Lifetime Achievement Award this coming spring 2024. And finally, Wynn was recently honored with a five week, ten film Retrospective of his production design work at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. After this recognition, Wynn can finally call himself....an artist.
Neil Rosen is an Emmy-award-winning entertainment critic/journalist based in New York City. He is currently the entertainment critic for CUNY TV and PBS, is a frequent on-air contributor to The Today Show (Weekend Today In NY on WNBC) and can be heard regularly on Sirius XM Radio. He is the host, creator, and producer of the popular, Emmy-nominated national TV roundtable movie critic show “Talking Pictures With Neil Rosen.” He was formerly the entertainment critic/reporter for NY1.
He is the Chairman of the NY Chapter of the Broadcast Film Critics Association, the largest film critics organization in the United States and Canada, representing more than 200 television, radio and online critics.
Event Venue & Nearby Stays
Alamo Drafthouse Cinema Lower Manhattan, 28 Liberty Street, New York, United States
USD 5.00