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In 2021, Warner Bros. released two hybrid animated releases, which involved some of the most beloved figures in pop culture. Unfortunately, both failed to wow fans upon its release. But while both Space Jam 2 and Chloë Grace Moretz’s Tom & Jerry were critically panned disasters, the latter rubbed most the wrong way, as unlike Looney Tunes, Tom & Jerry has rarely worked on the big screen.

Tom and Jerry | Credit: Warner Bros.

However, this isn’t stopping Warner Bros. from dipping their toes into the beloved IP once again, and hopefully, this time they would reject one aspect of the 2021 release, which proved to be a turn-off for many from the get-go.

Warner Bros. should reject the hybrid model for the new Tom & Jerry feature Tom & Jerry | Credit: MGM

Since the characters’ inception, Tom & Jerry have mostly relied on slapstick comedy and over-the-top action with little to no narrative.

Exclusive: Rashida Jones, Will McCormack and Michael Govier have been set to write Tom and Jerry, a feature that will be made under Bill Damaschke’s Warner Bros Pictures Animation.

They will be starting fresh on the new iteration of the misadventures of the cat Tom and mouse Jerry, hatched in 1940 by William Hanna & Joseph Barbera at MGM. Until MGM shuttered its animation division, they made 114 shorts that won 7 Oscars. Later versions came from Gene Deitch and Chuck Jones, and then others. The characters most recently toplined the 2021 hybrid film Tom & Jerry. While through the years it has been criticized for the sometimes violent ways the cat tries to trap the mouse and pays dearly for it, the venerable franchise has been an influence on many cartoon series including The Simpsons.

Through their prolific Le Train Train banner, Jones and McCormack work as writers, directors and producers with credits include Celeste and Jesse Forever,...

Warner Bros. Discovery is playing a dangerous game of cat and mouse with their massive pile of debt, one that's leading them to some creative—and dubiously productive—solutions. This morning, the company announced that they were separating out their cable channels in order to aid in their mission to "deliver significant shareholder value,...

Exclusive: Peter Morgan — the Academy Award-nominated producer of American Sniper formerly serving as a production exec at Katalyst Films and Gilbert Films — has announced the launch of TantrumPM, a development and production company that will look to produce uniquely accessible and important, A-list driven content.

TantrumPM is currently developing a dozen or so projects, including a reboot of the Poison Ivy franchise of erotic thrillers exec produced by Morgan. Also in the works is a film titled The War and Treaty, to be directed by Numa Perrier from a script by Oscar winner Will McCormack (Toy Story 4) and Oscar nominee Craig Borten (Dallas Buyers Club). Additional producers set for that project include Perrier, Gary Gilbert, John Legend, Mike Jackson, and Harvey Mason Jr.

Financing for TantrumPM was provided by angel investors including tech entrepreneur Brett Markinson, actor Skeet Ulrich, and philanthropist Sydney Holland, among others. Notables serving on its...

There is a lot of advice given to those who are going through the loss of a loved one, but the truth is that there is no formula, each person responds to grief differently. Now, in times of post-pandemic, it is more than necessary to reflect on this subject, both to deal with death and to help those who are bereaved.

Watching films that address the theme can be fruitful to observe and learn, for this reason, we have put together a list of excellent movies with characters who are going through or have gone through the end of a cycle. Among the selections are Little Big Women (2020) by Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu and Bunny Drop by Sabu.

If you are in a grieving situation or know someone who is going through it, comforting the person can be a way to show affection, whether it’s in person or through condolence messages,...

Rashida Jones and Will McCormack are getting into business with Lionsgate TV. The prolific duo have signed a first-look producing deal with the studio via their Le Train Train Productions under which they will produce scripted programming for multiple platforms.

Their first project in development is romantic comedy Lovesick, based on the UK romantic comedy series of the same name. Originally produced by Clerkenwell Films, the project is part of the scripted co-production partnership between Lionsgate and BBC Studios Los Angeles Productions.

The British sitcom, created by Tom Edge, revolved around a group of English friends sharing a house in the West End of Glasgow and their romantic lives. Starring Johnny Flynn, Antonia Thomas, Daniel Ings, Hannah Britland and Joshua McGuire, the show was first broadcast on Channel 4 in October 2014. It later moved to Netflix, which ordered a second season in 2016, and then a third and final season which...

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Producing partners Rashida Jones and Will McCormack are teaming up with Lionsgate Television.

The duo’s Le Train Train company has signed a first-look deal with Lionsgate, under which they’ll produce scripted programming for a range of platforms. The first project for Jones and McCormack is an adaptation of the British romantic comedy Lovesick, in which a guy tries to contact all of his former sexual partners after finding out he has an Sti.

“We are thrilled to be in business with Lionsgate,” Jones and McCormack said in a statement. “Their imagination and blue sky thinking around what’s possible in this rapidly changing landscape of television is incredibly exciting to us as creators and producers.”

Jones and McCormack producing credits via Le Train Train include AMC’s Kevin Can F**k Himself, TNT’s Claws, Netflix’s #BlackAF and TBS’ Angie...

The 93rd annual Academy Awards were handed out tonight, and in a departure from Oscar history, the Best Picture category was not saved for last. Instead, Searchlight’s Nomadland went home with the night’s marquee prize, and its star Frances McDormand took Best Actress, hours after the film’s Chloé Zhao made history as the first woman of color to win Best Director.

Anthony Hopkins won Best Actor for The Father in something of an upset over the late Chadwick Boseman of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.

2021 Oscar Winners Backstage — Photo Gallery

Nomadland was the only three-time winner at the ceremony, with The Father, Judas and the Black Messiah, Mank, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Sound of Metal and Soul as the other multiple winners.

On the studio side, Netflix more than doubled up on the competition with seven wins — two each for Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom and Mank,...

Netflix had a big night at the Oscars, bringing home a total of seven total trophies — leading all studios — although the streamer failed to grab the prize in the best picture category and came up empty in the acting categories.

Netflix had come into Sunday night with 36 nominations, far more than any other studio.

The company’s wins at the 93rd Academy Awards included two Oscars for David Fincher’s “Mank,” the most-nominated film this year with 10 nods, for cinematography (for Erik Messerschmidt) and production design (for Donald Graham Burt and Jan Pascale).

“Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” adapted from the play by August Wilson, also picked up two Oscars: for makeup and hairstyling (with Mia Neal and Jamika Wilson the first Black women to win in the category alongside Sergio Lopez-Rivera) and costume design (Ann Roth). Chadwick Boseman was widely considered the favorite to win a posthumous best actor Oscar...

It's difficult to imagine anything more distressing than losing a child. The male and female figures we see in this Oscar-nominated short animation are each wrapped up in their own worlds, sitting at opposite ends of a table. They can barely summon the will to eat, let alone speak. Yet shadow figures emerge from each, reaching out towards one another, arguing, screaming apparent recriminations like spirits trying to express what their bodies will not. Sometimes, between them, we glimpse the shape of a little girl.

Contrary to popular belief, most couples who experience child loss find a way to stay together. Michael Govier and Will McCormack's film depicts not an end point but a stage along the way in these people's lives. In flashback we witness the birth of their child, see her grow up, see them parting with her at the school gates. Those expressive shadows reach out from them,...

The Best Animated Short category at this year’s Oscars is looking like it’s going to be an easy one to predict. According to our racetrack odds, the Netflix short, “If Anything Happens I Love You,” is way out front to capture the prize. These odds are derived from the predictions made by our Expert film journalists, Gold Derby Editors, Top 24 Users and the numerous Gold Derby users making their own predictions.

But is the short film really that safe? Let’s dive into this category with a closer look at all five nominees in order by their current Gold Derby odds.

“If Anything Happens I Love You” (odds of winning: 31/10)

A husband and wife are forced to navigate their grief after experiencing the tragic and unexpected loss of their daughter.

This is the first Oscar nomination for both Will McCormack and Michael Govier.

Pros: The short may not...

Netflix scored a big haul of Oscar nominations this year – 35 in total – putting the streamer in the top three for a studio in the history of the awards.

The company’s big cheeses, including co-CEOs Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos, were asked today, on their first-quarter financials video, out of these films, which did they most enjoy watching.

Founder Hastings plumped for Aaron Sorkin’s The Trial of the Chicago 7, which scored six nominations, and was joined by investor relations chief Spencer Wang in the pick.

CFO Spencer Neumann and COO and Chief Product Officer Greg Peters both went for White Tiger, the Ramin Bahrani-directed film that starred Priyanka Chopra and Adarsh Gourav, which was nominated for best adapted screenplay.

Sarandos, best known in his role as Chief Content Officer, initially tried to “diplomatically” pass the question to Hastings, before finally answering with If Anything Happens I Love You,...

Oscar-nominated animated short If Anything Happens I Love You follows two parents grieving the loss of their child in a school shooting, and while it was conceived three years ago by writers and directors Will McCormack and Michael Govier, the short — produced independently with Gilbert Films and available on Netflix — remains sadly relevant.

“It never went away,” admits Govier of the subject of gun violence. “I think that’s the saddest thing for us. We are constantly just thinking about the parents, the friends, the relatives, the loved ones that are lost. People should be safe going to the ...

Oscar-nominated animated short If Anything Happens I Love You follows two parents grieving the loss of their child in a school shooting, and while it was conceived three years ago by writers and directors Will McCormack and Michael Govier, the short — produced independently with Gilbert Films and available on Netflix — remains sadly relevant.

“It never went away,” admits Govier of the subject of gun violence. “I think that’s the saddest thing for us. We are constantly just thinking about the parents, the friends, the relatives, the loved ones that are lost. People should be safe going to the ...

As the longer-than-usual Oscars race stretches into a marathon, there’s more time than ever to delve into some of the more obscure categories. Though certainly frowned upon, voters may not always have made time to view every nominated short film in previous years, which makes predicting these categories something of a wild goose chase. With the added time this year, Academy voters have little excuse not to do their due diligence. They will find a rich array of socially-conscious short form narratives, from the traditional to the experimental.

The five animated short film nominees vary widely in tone, visual style, and storytelling approach. Pixar and Netflix, which dominate the Best Animated Feature category with two films apiece, both landed a single nominee among the shorts. The other three, two from outside the U.S., blur narrative conventions to offer poetic moments of social critique. Their perspectives range from playful to fatalistic,...

With If Anything Happens I Love You, directors Michael Govier and Will McCormack, and producer Maryann Garger set out to examine the grief and suffering caused by school shootings.

The Netflix short tells the story of two parents grieving over the loss of their daughter in a school shooting. “We kept reading and hearing and seeing about the seemingly endless gun violence in America,” says McCormack, “and we thought, what would it be like to tackle this story from the point of view of parents who’ve lost a child?”

The parents try to cope with their loss by isolating themselves and disconnecting from their emotions. “It’s an elegy on grief,” says Govier.

Using a hand-drawn style and muted colors, the most dynamic characters in the film are the shadows of the parents, which are disengaged from the actual characters. “Michael pitched me a beautiful image of these shadow...

Those who typically scope the Academy Award-nominated shorts programs hoping to win the Oscar pool will have a particularly tough time of it with this year’s animated roster, as the options are wide-ranging but lack a clear front-runner. A few of the talents have ties to Pixar, though only one short was actually developed at a studio, while the other four are far more personal, independent expressions with little in common, least of all technique. Compared with past editions, this is a relatively weak year, though it’s always a treat to survey the range of offerings, released in theaters and on demand by ShortsTV.

Madeline Sharafian’s adorable but basic bunny toon “Burrow” was developed within Disney/Pixar’s SparkShorts program, a creative sandbox for up-and-coming voices, which also produced previous nominee “Kitbull.” Choosing hand-drawn techniques over the studio’s traditional hyper-polished 3D rendering, the film boasts an old-fashioned,...

Netflix not only grabbed a ton of Oscar nominations for its live-action films, it also grabbed three noms for animated fare including “Over the Moon” and “A Shaun the Sheep Movie: Farmageddon.” They scored in the animated feature category alongside Disney/Pixar’s “Soul” and “Onward,” and GKids/Apple TV Plus’ “Wolfwalkers,” while “If Anything Happens, I Love You” is the frontrunner in animated shorts.

It’s an impressive haul for a part of the streaming giant that is relatively new.

“It’s hard to even find the words to describe how thrilling it is,” says Melissa Cobb, VP of kids and family entertainment at Netflix. She is an animation veteran who was brought over from DreamWorks in 2017 to lead the division.

“I started there about 3½ years ago, and for filmmakers to choose to entrust their film, but also their time — three or four years of their life that it...

Every year, ShortsTV brings the best in short film to the big screen, with a presentation of Oscar nominated shorts in the Animated, Live-Action and Documentary arenas. While movie theaters only recently reopened in Los Angeles and Orange County—with Covid cases, hospitalizations and fatalities on the descent—the distributor has already set theatrical and virtual premiere dates in both counties, for the Oscar Nominated Shorts of 2021.

ShortsTV’s live-action and animated short film programs will be released theatrically and virtually on Friday, April 2. Its documentary program, meanwhile, will become available virtually on April 2, with a theatrical opening scheduled for April 9.

Nominees in the category of Best Live-Action Short Film that will screen for LA audiences include Feeling Through (directed by Doug Roland), Oscar Isaac-starrer The Letter Room (Elvira Lind), The Present (Farah Nabulsi), Two Distant Strangers (Travon Free and Martin Desmond Roe) and White Eye (Tomer Sushan).

Doc...

The Oscar race for animated short reflects the zeitgeist and the ascendance of streaming. And all five nominees explore the turmoil of a divided country and world, where the need for unity is the best salvation for attaining happiness and closure.

The favorite is Netflix’s first animated short, “If Anything Happens I Love You,” about a grieving mother and father visited by shadows of themselves and their deceased young daughter (who was the victim of a school shooting). The monochromatic, hand-drawn short, directed by Will McCormack (who wrote the original “Toy Story 4” script with Rashida Jones) and Michael Govier (“Conan”), boasts an illustrated style that represents haunting memories, bolstered by an all-female animation team supervised by CalArts graduate Youngran Nho. Laura Dern executive produced the short and Maryann Garger (“The Lego Ninjago Movie”) produced with Gary Gilbert (“La La Land”), Gerald Chamales (“The Irishman”), and Govier.

This season,...

Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Adarsh Gourav's co-star in The White Tiger and her husband, actor-singer Nick Jonas, today announced the Oscar nominations of Writer-director Ramin Bahrani's The White Tiger. Ramin Bahrani's film has been nominated in the Best Adapted Screenplay category at the upcoming 93rd Academy Awards.

Mank, with 10 nominations, has garnered the highest number of nominations this year. The black and white biopic, based on the life of 'Citizen Kane' co-screenplay writer Herman J Mankiewicz, garnered nominations in the categories of Best Picture, Best Director (for David Fincher), Best Actor (Gary Oldman) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Amanda Seyfried).

Other notable films that won multiple nominations include "The Trial Of The Chicago 7" (six nominations), "Judas And The Black Messiah" (six), "The Father" (six) and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" (five).

The late Chadwick Boseman is a contender in the Best Actor category for "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom...

Making sure to strike the right tone was paramount for Michael Govier and Will McCormack when they were developing their animated short film, “If Anything Happens I Love You,” which has recently been shortlisted for Best Animated Short Film at this year’s Oscars. Govier explains in our recent webchat (watch the exclusive video above), “We really wanted to find a perfect tone and a perfect balance to show what grief looks like but also to not just sit in it too much. We wanted to show how it also moves and it kind of hits you in waves.” He also cited that they both found that there are quiet moments where grief can be immensely overwhelming. “There’s a huge public grieving but there’s also grieving alone and it showed grief in a fuller spectrum so you could really connect to the characters.”

“If Anything Happens I Love You,...

Variety's Awards Circuit is home to the official predictions for the upcoming Oscars from Film Awards Editor Clayton Davis. Following Academy Awards history, buzz, news, reviews and sources, the Oscar predictions are updated regularly with the current year's contenders in all categories. Variety's Awards Circuit Prediction schedule consists of four phases, running all year long: Draft, Pre-Season, Regular Season and Post Season. Eligibility calendar and dates of awards will determine how long each phase lasts and will be displayed next to revision date.

To see all the latest predictions, of all the categories, in one place, visit The Collective

Draft>>>Pre Season>>>Regular Season>>>Post Season

2021 Oscars Predictions:

Best Animated Short Film

Updated: Feb. 25, 2021

Awards Prediction Commentary: The Academy announced the shortlist for the animated short contenders, and they produced an interesting crop of selections. Netflix is placing all their power and influence behind the emotional “If Anything Happens I Love You.

The 10 shortlisted films in the Oscars Best Animated Short category include four from major U.S. studios and a number of international entries.

The category also contains a couple of straightforward commercial shorts designed to amuse and charm, and a few experimental ones that at times border on the surreal.

These 10 will be narrowed down to five with the nomination voting from March 5-10. This is the second in TheWrap’s guide to the shortlisted films in all three shorts categories. Read the guide to the shortlisted short documentaries here.

“Burrow” (Pixar)

“Burrow”

Director: Madeline Sharafian

The first of two Pixar films on the shortlist is a guided tour of all the things that live underground, courtesy of a rabbit who is looking for his own home. To the strains of Mozart’s “The Magic Flute,” the bewildered and intimidated bunny encounters bugs, badgers and a whole menagerie of burrowing...

It runs at only 12 minutes, but the animated short “If Anything Happens, I Love You” is a sweeping story of grieving parents after losing their daughter to gun violence.

Devoid of dialogue, the 2D animation relies on a colorless world as a couple argues over dinner. Their shadows are dark and the world is a grim place.

Writers and directors Will McCormack and Michael Govier explain: “We wanted to create an elegy for all the parents and families who lost loved ones to gun violence. These are not numbers, but lives.”

It was up to animation director Youngran Nho to bring that elegy to life. “I was trying to convey the emotions in the script of grief and loneliness, and to also show the great love and hope they manage to find.”

The film stresses its message on gun violence in the simplistic animation, using grays and earth tones throughout.

Oscar-nominated live-action short films often tackle human-rights violations and other issues plaguing society. The animated shorts tend to lean toward lighter fare, such as a celebration of Black hair and single fatherhood in Mathew Cherry’s 2019 winner “Hair Love,” or Pixar’s fanciful 2018 winner “Bao.” However, short-form animation also has a unique ability to spin visual poetry on hard-hitting issues. Speaking to grief, school shootings, and racist violence, an eclectic group of three animated shorts from Netflix prove the power of animation to go deep.

After video of the murder of Ahmaud Arbery went viral months after his death, writer/performer Timothy Ware-Hill dusted off an old poem and filmed himself reciting it while running in his neighborhood, as Arbery was doing when he was killed. The video gained attention of many, including director Arnon Manor, who had the idea to transform the poem into a collage of different animation styles.

It’s not every day that a short film resonates across the globe, managing to connect emotionally with people of all different ages and backgrounds. But in the case of If Anything Happens I Love You, from directors Will McCormack and Michael Govier, this is precisely what happened.

Executive produced by Laura Dern, and guided visually by up-and-comer Youngran Nho, the dynamic duo’s first animated short centers on parents who struggle to deal with the death of their daughter, in the aftermath of a school shooting.

A meditation on grief and memory that speaks powerfully to the tragic prevalence of gun violence today, without a word being said, the striking, minimalist short was the first to break into Netflix’s Top 10 list of most-watched programs. Upon its November release, it quickly went on to be streamed tens of millions of times on the social networking platform TikTok, generating countless...

View Conference has set its first three PreVIEW events for 2021. The free virtual talks feature the gamut of animated films: shorts, VR and feature.

First up, on Friday, Jan 15, will be the filmmakers behind Netflix’s three animated shorts: “Canvas,” directed by Frank Abney and produced by Paige Johnstone; “Cops and Robbers,” directed by Arnon Manor and Timothy Ware-Hill; and “If Anything Happens I Love You,” directed by Will McCormack and Michael Govier. The shorts employ three different styles, but each tell powerful and socially relevant stories.

“Canvas” follows a grieving grandfather who learns to embrace his creativity again with the help of his young granddaughter. “If Anything Happens” examines the aftermath of a school shooting. And “Cops and Robbers” uses animation to illustrate Ware-Hill’s poem about racial injustice and the murder of Ahmaud Arbery. The virtual talk, dubbed “Go Behind the Scenes of Netflix’s First Three Animated Shorts,...

It takes a village to make a motion picture come to life, with different departments and talents working together. We spoke to some of the artists who collaborated on films about how they enhance each other’s contributions and serve a filmmaker’s overall vision.

“Over the Moon”(Netflix)

Songwriters: Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield, Helen Park

Music is the crutch of the success of Glen Keane’s magically moving “Over the Moon.” Alongside producer Peilin Chou, the two worked closely with songwriters Christopher Curtis, Marjorie Duffield and Helen Park. Wanting to honor the script by the late Audrey Wells was of the utmost importance. Each writer would take turns taking the lead on a song. Curtis and Duffield were already a writing team, but when Park arrived at Curtis’ apartment during a January snowstorm without a coat, the three became a family. After Curtis loaned his coat, the trio worked passionately,...

Executive producer Laura Dern wanted to leap on board when she and producing partner Jayme Lemons (also an executive producer), had the chance to support the animated short, “If Anything Happens I Love You.”

The story follows the aftermath of tragedy as parents grieve the loss of a child and through a dialogue-free narrative, tracks them as they grapple with their emotional void.

Dern spoke with Variety about how the animation team was all-female. She also talks about partnering with the non-profit organization Everytown for Gun Safety, and why it was important for her to be a part of the narrative for the short which drops on Netflix Nov. 20.

Why was it important for you, as an executive producer to tell this story?

Laura Dern: Jayme Lemons and I wanted to leap on board as executive producers and support [writers and directors] Michael Govier and Will McCormack in any way we could to...

Netflix has acquired its first animated shorts for Oscar consideration. There are three: “If Anything Happens I Love You,” an elegy about grief following a school shooting, directed by Will McCormack (who wrote the original “Toy Story 4” script with Rashida Jones) and Michael Govier (“Conan”); “Canvas,” about a Black painter who seeks to rekindle his artistic passion after the passing of his wife, directed by former Pixar animator Frank E. Abney III (“Soul”); and “Cops and Robbers,” directed by Arnon Manor (indie web series “Mondays”) and Timothy Ware-Hill (“Kinky Boots” national tour), inspired by Ware-Hill’s poem about the racially motivated murder of Ahmaud Arbery earlier this year in Georgia.

“Our goal is to bring our members best-in-class animation in all types of formats — features, series, adult animation, anime, and short form,” said Gregg Taylor, Netflix’s director of animated features. “Animated storytelling is most compelling when it can transport,...

Palm Springs Intl. ShortFest has announced a slate of 332 films in its official selection that will be eligible for jury award consideration, including “I Lost My Mother’s Ashes,” starring Mandy Moore; Kevin Dunn in “Josiah”; and Maya Rudolph, Jay Ellis and Laroyce Hawkins in “Thirsty.”

ShortFest will screen a portion of the selected films beginning June 16 and will be available to stream on its website for free through June 22.

“We’re proud to share all the work filmmakers have put into making their films and all of the work our staff has put into making ShortFest happen,” said artistic director Lili Rodriguez. “No one ever imagines launching a film festival during a pandemic, let alone launching one during such politically charged and urgent times. We remain firm believers that movies are empathy machines and stay committed to sharing cinema from different parts of the world, from different and diverse perspectives.

Laura Dern, Rashida Jones and Chelsea Handler, along with survivors and family members affected by gun violence, came together to celebrate Will McCormack and Michael Govier's short film If Anything Happens I Love You on Wednesday night.

Held at UTA's Beverly Hills theater, the private screening of the 12-minute animated short, about parents navigating grief after losing their daughter in a school shooting, kicked off with a mother's emotional recount of the day she lost her 34-year-old son. Everytown for Gun Safety member and Moms Demand Action advocate Brenda Moss spoke about the 2014 murder of her son,...

Laura Dern, Rashida Jones and Chelsea Handler, along with survivors and family members affected by gun violence, came together to celebrate Will McCormack and Michael Govier's short film If Anything Happens I Love You on Wednesday night.

Held at UTA's Beverly Hills theater, the private screening of the 12-minute animated short, about parents navigating grief after losing their daughter in a school shooting, kicked off with a mother's emotional recount of the day she lost her 34-year-old son. Everytown for Gun Safety member and Moms Demand Action advocate Brenda Moss spoke about the 2014 murder of her son,...