Articles tagged with hollywood

This week in New York, television network executives are presenting their offerings for the fall season – and pitching those shows to press and major advertisers. The goal? To allow marketers to buy commercial airtime “up front,” before the fall season begins.
About $9 billion in advertising revenue is expected to be raised at the Upfronts.
Kim Masters hosts KCRW’s The Business and spoke with KCRW’s …

Normally Hollywood’s favorite game is figuring out who will be nominated, and who will win, in the big awards ceremonies. But right now the biggest guessing game in Hollywood is figuring out who will be tapped by President Barack Obama for some plum diplomatic posts.
KCRW’s Steve Chiotakis handicapped the odds with Matthew Belloni, executive editor at The Hollywood Reporter.
A White House announcement on the …

Meningitis scare. The AIDS Healthcare Foundation is offering free antibiotic vaccines today at its pharmacies and offices in West Hollywood and Hollywood. A 33-year-old West Hollywood man died after attending an annual Easter weekend gathering of gay men in Palm Springs known as the White Party. Brad Shaad is believed to have contracted meningities from other men attending the event from New York City. …

Prop. A fallout. The president of the L.A. City Council says the defeat of Proposition A in this week’s election means more budget pain for city departments. The proposed half-cent sales tax increase was rejected by a margin of 55 to 45 percent. It would have raised more than $200 million annually to bolster city coffers. Council President Herb Wesson warns that “things are …

The folks who put a tiger on a boat for “Life of Pi” won the Oscar for Best Visual Effects last night – but it was a bittersweet triumph.
Rhythm & Hues, the Marina del Rey studio that led the effects team, has filed for bankruptcy.
Some of the artists who lost their jobs were among about 400 people protesting at Hollywood and Vine last night …

Saluting Buss. The Los Angeles Lakers are reportedly planning to hold a ceremony honoring owner Jerry Buss during tomorrow night’s game at Staples Center. Fittingly, the Lakers will play their biggest rival, the Boston Celtics. Buss died of kidney failure yesterday at Cedars Sinai Medical Center after a long battle with cancer. Team officials say the Lakers will remain in the Buss family. Jerry …

If there’s a narrative that’s been consistent during this season of awards ceremonies, it’s been “the year of women.”
From Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s much-applauded performances hosting the Golden Globe awards, to Kathryn Bigelow directing the Oscar-nominated “Zero Dark Thirty,” and at Sundance, for the first time ever, women made half of the 16 U.S. competition dramas.
There’s another woman making waves in Hollywood, Kathleen …

“Argo” was the big winner at last night’s Screen Actors Guild Awards, which took place at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. He also mopped up at the Producers Guild Awards.
And there’s new leadership that’s been announced at Warner Brothers. Kevin Tsujihara, who now heads the home entertainment division, is the company’s new chief executive.
Kim Masters, editor-at-large at The Hollywood Reporter and host of …

Last night NBC aired The Golden Globes and for those who stuck around instead of switching over to watch “Downton Abbey” or the series premiere of “Girls” you may have actually enjoyed yourselves. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler hosted the show and by all accounts they didn’t disappoint. The irreverence and wit was in full force not just from the hosts but from presenters like Will …

Vice President Joe Biden has been meeting with  film industry representatives and video game makers to talk about the prevalence of gun violence on the big, little, and mobile screen. While the film industry won’t give into government controls over content, might they be open to a ratings system?   Variety’s Ted Johnson told Warren, ”The industry is in somewhat of a pickle because you do have so many within the entertainment community who are in …

Oscar nominations are out. There were some surprises, and some not-so-surprising developments from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences as they released their list of those up for awards this year. That ceremony coming up on Sunday, February 24th.
Stephen Galloway from The Hollywood Reporter spoke to Steve Chiotakis with his thoughts on the nominees. The two discussed that, among several surprises this …

 
Update: School shooting in Kern County.
This morning an armed 16-year-old student walked into Taft High School in Kern County and shot one student. He reportedly fired at another and then missed. A teacher and another staff member managed to to talk him into surrendering. The injured student was flown to a Bakersfield hospital and is in critical condition. Following the shooting Sen. Dianne Feinstein, released …

Looking to do a bit of star-gazing at the 19th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards?
Starting today you’ll get a chance to bid for seats along the red carpet. SAG’s bleacher seat auction begins tonight at 6 p.m., and continues through Sunday, January 13.
Up for grabs are 135 seats in the bleachers outside the Shrine Auditorium. Proceeds will benefit several SAG Foundation programs — including …

Jim Pauley started with a Thomas guide and hit the road in search of locations around Los Angeles that match up with scenes from the films of the Three Stooges.
(That’s how long he’s been at it. Does anyone use a Thomas guide anymore?)
On trips to LA and then from his home base of Philadelphia, Pauley sleuthed out the backdrops of these fabled slapstick bits …

Like most of us, Brian Stanton wanted to know who he was. Or rather, where he’d come from. But his questions were framed by the fact that he’d been adopted as a newborn. Raised in Kansas City in a loving home, he went on a quest as an adult to find out more about the circumstances that lead to his birth.
That quest and the …

This week’s Hollywood Reporter carries the story, “The Most Sinful Period in Hollywood History,” about that publication’s role in the anti-Communist witch-hunt that led to the blacklisting of movie stars, writers and others who refused to cooperate with the House Committee on Un-American Activities.  Accompanying the story is an apology from Willie Wilkerson, whose father founded the Hollywood Reporter itself — and then used …

For years, California’s been trying to stem runaway film and TV production to other states and countries. Is the effort a failure? A new report says LA County has lost 16,000 jobs since 2004, the year of peak production. Another study says the state as a whole lost $3 billion in wages from the decline. We get the latest on what’s still a major …

Ken Burns Subpoenaed
Filmmaker Ken Burns— famous for documentaries about Americana like Baseball and Jazz— has co-directed a movie with his daughter Sarah Burns and her husband David McMahon called “The Central Park Five“. It’s about the infamous Central Park jogger case of 1989 when five black and Latino teenagers were convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park. After they spent between 6 to 13 …

What kind of person, particularly someone who loves L.A., says no if they get an invitation to visit the Hollywood sign? I mean, come on, this is a monument that’s seen by millions from a distance,  but only a few get to actually visit and touch. I got the opportunity so I could profile current on-going work to repaint the sign. The project is …

It’s rare for me to meet someone exactly twice my age, but as of today, the actor Norman Lloyd qualifies.  Spry, charming and sweetly flirtatious at 98, he’s being celebrated tonight at the Egyptian Theater with a screening of some of the episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents he produced.  And, a cake with the appropriate number of candles.
Breaking into Hollywood and “Hitch’s” inner circle …