Canvas on the Silver Screen:
A Live Conversation Program Drawn From The Christophers, the New Film Directed by Steven Soderbergh and Written by Ed Solomon

The Art of Making The Christophers

A live conversation with the filmmakers and cast about the production of The Christophers — the ideas behind the film, how it was cast, how the actors approached their roles to authentically capture the artistic lives of their characters, and what the process revealed about the continuum between art and cinema. The discussion will also address the participants' own experiences navigating multihyphenate creative lives across film, painting (Soderbergh), theater (McKellen) and writing (Coel, Solomon).

Ian McKellen in Conversation with Jerry Saltz

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Magazine art critic Jerry Saltz talks to Ian McKellen about art and cinema, the nature of late-career style, acting as a form of portraiture, and the provocative appeal of art-world reality shows.

Ed Solomon: Bringing the Art World to Life on Film

Screenwriter Ed Solomon in conversation about the personal origins story behind The Christophers, his process of researching and writing the movie, and how he was able to authentically translate the inner worlds and artistic processes of great painters to the silver screen.

Inside the Artist's Studio: The Real Dynamics of the Artist–Assistant Relationship

Behind every major artist is often a network of studio assistants — yet the mythology of the lone genius persists. This panel brings together leading contemporary artists to examine the complex realities of studio production: the blurred boundaries between authorship and collaboration, the emotional and economic dynamics of the studio, and the formative (and sometimes fraught) experience of working under a mentor.