In his first turn on The White Lotus (HBO), composer Cristobal Tapia de Veer won two Emmys last year--for Original Dramatic Score and Original Main Title Theme Music. He now once again is in the awards conversation for his work on season two of the series. And while seasons one and two are distinctly different, they share some underlying behind-the-scenes similarities in that series creator Mike White found previous music from Tapia de Veer quite inspiring relative to the stories he was trying... Read More 

The weapons supervisor charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of the Alec Baldwin film "Rust" was charged Thursday with evidence tampering for allegedly passing drugs to someone else on the day of the shooting. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed "did transfer narcotics to another person with the intent to prevent the apprehension, prosecution or conviction of herself," the special prosecutors appointed in the case said in a Santa Fe County... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- When Tony Revolori, then a 17-year-old with little Hollywood experience, was beginning to shoot Wes Anderson's "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Jason Schwartzman took him aside to give some advice. No one knew better than Schwartzman what Revolori, who was starring alongside Ralph Fiennes, was in for. Schwartzman was by then a regular member of Anderson's troupe, but he was also 17 when he first broke through as Max Fischer in Anderson's "Rushmore." "He looked at me and he said, 'None of this is... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Fifty days into a strike with no end in sight, about 1,000 Hollywood writers and their supporters marched and rallied in Los Angeles for a new contract with studios that includes payment guarantees and job security. Speakers at the Writers Guild of America's WGA Strong March and Rally for a Fair Contract on Wednesday emphasized the broad support for their cause shown by other Hollywood unions — including actors in their own contract negotiations — and labor at large. "We're all in it together,... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Robert Downey Jr. knows he has amassed an impressive collection of classic cars — one he self-deprecatingly refers to as artifacts of his success. Despite his expectations of what the "accouterments are supposed to be" when one reaches a certain level of fame and wealth, trophies, it turns out for the actor, are not all they are cracked up to be. It's that dissatisfaction that helped to inspire "Downey's Dream Cars," his latest project debuting Thursday on Max. "The cash and prizes, it's never... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- TikTok and Candle Media have entered into a broad strategic partnership in the U.S., that will leverage Candle Media’s storytelling capabilities across its business units to launch new premium content and branded entertainment. The partnership is set to also create opportunities for independent underrepresented TikTok creators, using creator-driven stories, trends, and ideas to contribute to the creative process, with the potential to scale further over time. Candle Media--with business units... Read More 

Gannett has filed a civil lawsuit against Google and its parent company Alphabet, claiming that they unlawfully hold monopolies in the advertising technology tools that publishers and advertisers use to buy and sell online ad space. The largest U.S. newspaper publisher by total daily circulation alleges in the suit that Google controls how publishers sell their ad slots and forces them to sell an increasing amount of ad space to Google at lower prices. This in turn results in less revenue for... Read More 

BRUSSELS (AP) -- European Union regulators hit Google with fresh antitrust charges last week, saying the only way to satisfy competition concerns about its lucrative digital ad business is by selling off parts of the tech giant's main moneymaker. The unprecedented decision to push for such a breakup marks a significant escalation by Brussels in its crackdown on Silicon Valley digital giants, and follows a similar move by U.S. authorities seeking to bust Google's alleged monopoly on the online ad ecosystem. The... Read More 

CANNES, France -- The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity unveiled the winners of its second awards show of the week, including the Film Craft Lions Grand Prix recipient, “We Cry Together--A Short Film,” a compelling music video starring Kendrick Lamar and Taylour Paige directed by Lamar and Dave Free of entertainment company pgLang, and Jake Schreier of Park Pictures. The piece depicts a fiery, at times abusive, seemingly relationship-ending fight between Lamar and Paige--all in one continuous... Read More 

CANNES, France -- On the 70th edition of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, the following Lions were bestowed at the penultimate Awards Show: Brand Experience & Activation, Creative Business Transformation, Creative Commerce, Creative Effectiveness, Creative Strategy Lions, Innovation and Mobile Lions. The Regional Network of the Year awards were also announced. Lions CEO Simon Cook said, “It’s inspiring to see new countries enter and win Lions to raise the creative bar on the global... Read More 

CANNES, France -- Cannes Lions kicked off the 70th edition of the Festival with the first Awards Show of the week. The winners of the Pharma, Health & Wellness, Outdoor, Print & Publishing and Radio & Audio Lions were announced, as well as the Lions Health and United Nations Foundation Grand Prix for Good. The latter honor--which celebrates the use of creativity to positively impact not only business and brand, but also the world at large--went to Working with Cancer, the cross-industry coalition... Read More 

CANNES, France -- On the third day of the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity the winners in the Creative B2B, Creative Data, Direct, Media, PR and Social & Influencer Lions were unveiled. The prestigious Media Network of the Year Award was also honored. Lions CEO Simon Cook said, “There’s an incredible breadth of notable wins from every corner of the globe among the winners. First-time Creative Data Lions were awarded to the UAE and Poland, and Kenya won its first-ever PR Lion. We’ve seen a... Read More 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- Federal regulators on Thursday launched a legal attack on Microsoft's proposed $69 billion takeover of video game maker Activision Blizzard by depicting it as an anticompetitive weapon while Microsoft hailed the deal as a way to make popular games such as Call of Duty more widely available at cheaper prices. Those were the dramatically contrasting pictures drawn by lawyers arguing before U.S. District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley on the first of five days of scheduled hearings in San Francisco... Read More 

VANCOUVER, B.C. -- Filmmakers Trevor Cawood and Ozan Biron have re-branded their production company Slice Films, re-launching it as Slime Force and adding director Neill Blomkamp, a longtime friend, to the roster for commercials, branded content and short films. Blomkamp has directed this summer’s highly anticipated blockbuster, Gran Turismo , which is slated to premiere in August. “The three of us have been super close friends above being business partners for decades, yet the trajectories of our careers have... Read More 

CANNES, France -- Havas has launched Welltainment™, billed as a new approach to creativity that harnesses the power of culture, content, and inclusion to close the health equity gap. Unveiled at the 2023 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Welltainment™ aims to co-create entertainment content with writers, producers, musicians, and game programmers that educates, motivates, and advocates for underserved communities most impacted by health inequities. Havas is making a significant investment to... Read More 

CANNES, France -- Following a launch at Davos in January, a mass media global campaign around the Super Bowl, and a Health Grand Prix for Good win this week at the Cannes Lions, Working with Cancer is adding to its momentum with the opening of a brief to the industry at large to help do away with the stigma of cancer in the workplace. Entitled “The Big C,” the Working with Cancer brief will be rolled out at Cannes Lions on Thursday morning (6/22) in the Lumiere theatre, Palais I. Entrants will be briefed to... Read More 

CANNES, France -- Following seven competitions over four days, the Cannes Lions International Festival for Creativity has unveiled its 2023 Young Lions winners. The Young Lions competitions, which are sponsored by Adobe, are at the heart of the Cannes Lions School. They embody a true celebration of creativity across the world where young professionals have the opportunity to showcase their talent and achievements. All of the entries have been judged by members of the Cannes Lions juries live in Cannes. Talent in... Read More 

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) -- Facing corruption charges linked to the Tokyo Olympics, Japanese marketing giant Dentsu will no longer be a major broadcast rights holder in Asia. The International Olympic Committee said Thursday it has awarded exclusive rights for four Olympics from 2026 to 2032 to the Switzerland-based, Chinese-owned sports marketing agency Infront. The 22-market Asian deal includes Hong Kong, Indonesia, Iran, Taiwan and Vietnam, but not China, Japan or South Korea. A statement from the IOC and Infront did... Read More 

PARIS (AP) -- French police searched the Paris Olympic organizers' headquarters on Tuesday as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the Games, according to prosecutors, the third straight time graft allegations have dogged a Summer Olympics. The Paris organizing committee said in a statement that a search was carried out at its headquarters in the suburb of Saint-Denis and it was cooperating with investigators. It defended what it called "stringent procedures" around several hundred... Read More 

LONDON -- Bartle Bogle Hegarty (BBH) in London has partnered with industry charity NABS to launch HERd, a network and training program for women in advertising which is designed to make work better for women and accelerate the next generation of leaders. HERd marks the first time the charity has partnered with a business on a training program specifically for women. HERd will be tailored to suit women at all stages of their careers, giving them tools and techniques to support their career progression and... Read More 

A powerful, shapeshifting teenage girl and a disgraced knight-in-training suspected of killing a beloved queen are at the heart of " Nimona," a vibrant and irreverent animated adventure set in a futuristic fantasy kingdom. It is a familiar story — a society governed by ancient rules and a crippling fear of outsiders — even by recent Netflix animation standards (see "The Sea Beast"). But "Nimona" is wrapped in new, exciting packaging with a wildly fun soundtrack featuring the likes of Metric,... Read More 

In a saner world, we would have already had a dozen Jennifer Lawrence comedies. When aliens arrive they will surely go directly to IMDB to survey her filmography and wonder why one of Hollywood's funniest and most naturally charismatic stars spent the first decade of her career in dystopias, action movies and whatever it is you call "Mother!" As if to make up for lost time, Lawrence has in "No Hard Feelings" made the kind of R-rated teen comedy that has usually launched young actors. She plays... Read More 

In Taylor Sheridan's interconnected "Yellowstone" TV shows, Sam Elliott is proud to be No. 1. His prequel "1883" was the first "Yellowstone" spinoff. "I'm glad I was there at the beginning and not three or four or five shows down the line," said Elliott, who played Shea Brennan, a guide tasked with helping Tim McGraw, Faith Hill and Isabel May's characters migrate west to settle land. The role earned him a Screen Actors Guild award earlier this year. "1883," which debuted in 2021 exclusively on... Read More 

DC and Warner Bros.' long-in-the-works superhero movie "The Flash" opened to $55 million in its first three days in North American theaters, according to studio estimates on Sunday. Though a fair amount of money by normal standards, a sizable jump from DC's last release, the "Shazam!" sequel, and enough for a first place start, it's also muted by superhero standards where $100 million debut weekends are almost commonplace. The weekend also saw Pixar get its worst three-day opening ever with a $... Read More 

Apple showcases the filmmaking capabilities of iPhone 14 Pro with this action-packed skate film, Grand Escape . Two teens set out to create an epic skate film only to be pursued by a group of policeman through Istanbul’s Grand Bazaar. The chase features twists, turns and ultimately a daring leap-of-faith escape by our skate boarding protagonists. Sinan Sevinc of Stink Films directed this shot on iPhone adventure for agency TBWA\Media Arts Lab, London. Read More 

Energy and sustainable solutions provider E.ON UK has issued a rallying cry to fight the climate crisis in this “It’s Time” campaign from creative collective, House 337. Directed by Hans Emanual of production house Familia, this 60 second hero commercial launches on June 24 across TV and cinema, running in the U.K. until August. Written by House 337 sr. creatives Kenny Meek and Mary Johansen, the idea is simple. Using striking CGI, businesspeople and homeowners are captured on melting ice caps... Read More 

Jared Malik Royal wrote and directed this short film, Dear Dad , which premiered over Father’s Day weekend at the American Black Film Festival in Miami as part of festival sponsor Walmart’s three-film showcase and panel platform for its Black & Unlimited series. Produced by RSA Films, Dear Dad is the story of a Black father named Kamal Bell, a former educator who nurtures the earth for a living as a farmer, and instills his inventiveness, imaginative spirit and scientific know-how in his... Read More 

ITV’s streaming platform, ITVX, launches its new season of available comedies with an aptly timed series of advertisements starring actors from ITVX exclusive shows. Included in the mix of spots in the “Comedy is Back in the Building” campaign from agency ITV Creative--and directed by JILL, the team of Phil Morrison and Joe Ventura, via production house Epoch Film UK--is this piece titled “Stand Up Desk.” JILL’s Ventura said, “Phil and I largely prefer the style of comedy where it takes place... Read More 

Haya Waseem of production house Object & Animal directed this “Work/Life” PSA, part of the “Working with Cancer” campaign which just won the Cannes Lions Health and United Foundation’s Grand Prix For Good. The spot from Publicis Groupe agency Le Truc introduces us to what workers with a cancer diagnosis are facing--including a man who is more worried about losing his job than losing his life. Read More 

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