Kate Winslet says she never set out to become a director – but after reading her son’s first screenplay, she simply “couldn’t let it go”.

In 2023, Joe Anders, whose father is director Sam Mendes, signed up to a screenwriting course at the National Film and Television School.

His mother read one of his assignments and insisted it was worth making into a film – so they did.

Anders created a story around adult siblings who reunite around Christmastime to say goodbye to their dying mother.

Abiding by Mark Twain’s phrase “write what you know”, it was inspired by the death of Winslet’s mother Sally Bridgers-Winslet from ovarian cancer in 2017.

Speaking to Sky News, the Titanic actress says they learned “how to develop a completely new relationship” as colleagues”.

“I’m incredibly impressed by him and really proud of him, not least because he wrote this screenplay and started writing it when he was 19,” she says.

“But he had to adapt and learn very, very quickly that when you’re developing something, you take notes, you take feedback.

“Netflix became involved at some stage that they were also giving notes to, and then I was sort of playing the role of kind of protecting the project and also protecting him at the same time from things that, you know, may necessarily not have been useful, things that actually were great ideas.”

Anders isn’t her only child to have got their start alongside their famous parent.

Mia Threapleton, who most recently starred in the Wes Anderson film The Phoenician Scheme, made her on-screen debut in the 2014 Winslet-led movie A Little Chaos.

They worked together again in the series I Am… which won Winslet a TV BAFTA award for best leading actress.

An actor’s director

Winslet has starred in some of the biggest films of all time, with Titanic, Avatar and Sense And Sensibility, to name a few.

She says it’s that experience in front of the camera that helped her tailor the on-set experience to help its actors explore their emotions and creativity.

“We know what works for us as actors from a director,” she says. “We know what does not work, and we also know what’s actively destructive and sometimes that can mean the environment, the working environment.

“Film sets are very busy places it can often be frantic, sometimes it’s hard to kind of follow what’s going on or what you’re doing next, and it mattered to me enormously that everybody always felt extremely safe, completely informed, and very free.”

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Winslet adds: “In this country, we’re not necessarily so good at processing, especially when it comes to talking about grief.

“And so hopefully through this film, which is also very funny, hopefully through this film, people might see something of themselves and connect with it in that way.”

‘One of the greats’

Co-star Timothy Spall says “it’s not surprising she’s such a good director” – and calls her “one of the great actresses in the world.”

“I worked with her when she was 20. She was impressive then, just before she got Titanic… and she’s paid attention. She’s listened. She’s a great actress,” Spall says of Winslet.

“She knows how it works, and she helps other actors to do the best they can. And she’s all over the crew. She’s great with them. She’s paid attention in every department.”

Goodbye June is out on Netflix on 24 December

The Oscars will be streamed live on YouTube from 2029 after being broadcast on the ABC network for decades.

It means the annual film awards will be available to the video-sharing platform’s two billion users for free around the world in four years.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the deal with Google-owned YouTube on Wednesday, saying the streaming giant will have the exclusive global rights to the Hollywood awards from 2029 to 2033.

YouTube will effectively be the home to all things Oscars, including red-carpet coverage, the Governors Awards and the Oscar nominations announcement.

The Academy Awards ceremony has been broadcast by ABC for most of its history, but 2028 will be its last year showing the Oscars as they celebrate their 100th anniversary.

“The Oscars, including red carpet coverage, behind-the-scenes content, Governors Ball access, and more, will be available live and for free to over two billion viewers around the world on YouTube, and to YouTube TV subscribers in the United States,” an announcement on the Academy Awards’ website read.

“We are thrilled to enter into a multifaceted global partnership with YouTube to be the future home of the Oscars and our year-round academy programming,” said academy chief executive Bill Kramer and academy president Lynette Howell Taylor.

They said the new partnership with the platform “will allow us to expand access to the work of the academy to the largest worldwide audience possible”.

‘Inspiring new generation of creativity and film lovers’

“The Oscars are one of our essential cultural institutions, honouring excellence in storytelling and artistry,” said YouTube chief executive Neal Mohan.

“Partnering with the academy to bring this celebration of art and entertainment to viewers all over the world will inspire a new generation of creativity and film lovers while staying true to the Oscars’ storied legacy.”

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The awards will be available with audio tracks in many languages, in addition to closed captioning.

Last year’s Academy Awards were watched by 19.7 million viewers on the Disney-owned ABC, a five-year high but far below the show’s biggest audience of 57 million in 1998.

The network has been the broadcast home to the Oscars for almost its entire history. NBC first televised the Oscars in 1953, but ABC picked up the rights in 1961.

Aside from a period between 1971 and 1975, when NBC again aired the show, the Oscars have been on ABC.

Rob Reiner’s son Nick made his first court appearance on Wednesday on two counts of first-degree murder in the killing of his parents.

Wearing a suicide prevention smock and shackles, the 32-year-old did not enter a plea as he appeared from behind the glass wall of a custody area.

His next court appearance will be on 7 January.

As it happened: Nick Reiner makes first court appearance

Nick Reiner spoke only to say, “yes, your honour” to agree to the date.

He was charged Tuesday with killing the 78-year-old actor and director Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Singer Reiner, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman announced at a news conference.

Nick Reiner is being held without bail and could face the death penalty.

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Reiner’s lawyer tells public don’t ‘rush to judgement’

Along with the two counts of first-degree murder, prosecutors added a special circumstance of multiple murders, as well as an allegation that he personally used a dangerous and deadly weapon, a knife.

Speaking outside the court, Nick Reiner’s lawyer, Alan Jackson, called on the public not to “rush to judgement”.

Mr Jackson pointed to “complex and serious issues that are associated with this case” that needed to be thoroughly and “very carefully dealt with and examined”.

He added that it was a “devastating tragedy that has befallen the Reiner family”.

‘Unimaginable pain’

Nick Reiner’s two siblings Jake and Romy have released a statement, saying “words cannot even begin to describe the unimaginable pain we are experiencing every moment of the day”.

“The horrific and devastating loss of our parents, Rob and Michele Reiner, is something that no one should ever experience,” they said.

“They weren’t just our parents; they were our best friends. We are grateful for the outpouring of condolences, kindness, and support we have received not only from family and friends but people from all walks of life.”

The two asked for “respect and privacy” and for speculation to be treated with “compassion and humanity”.

Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the killings.

Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner were found dead from apparent stab wounds in their home in the upscale Brentwood neighbourhood of Los Angeles.

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Nick Reiner did not resist when he was arrested hours later near the University of Southern California, about 14 miles (22.5 kilometres) from the crime scene, according to police.

Rob Reiner was a celebrated director, whose work included some of the most memorable films of the 1980s and 1990s, including This Is Spinal Tap, The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally and A Few Good Men.

He met Michele Singer, a photographer, movie producer and advocate for LGBTQ+ rights, in 1989, while directing When Harry Met Sally.