NEW YORK Lora Schulson, an 11-year veteran of 72andSunny, was recently promoted to global chief production officer, a newly created role at the agency. She continues to lead North America production while overseeing production strategy, workflow optimization, AI innovation, and creative execution across 72andSunny’s international offices, including Amsterdam and Sydney. That global province has just expanded with Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) Paul Thomas Anderson spent about 20 years writing “One Battle After Another.” After two decades, it’s never felt more relevant. The epic action thriller, inspired by Thomas Pynchon’s “Vineland,” hits theaters Friday. With a running time of 2 hours and 50 minutes, “One Battle After Another” wastes no time immersing audiences in its politically charged Read More 

LOS ANGELES The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has announced that director Christopher Nolan was elected president during its Biennial National Convention by acclimation. 167 delegates who represented more than 19,500 Guild members in the election also chose a new slate of officers and members of the National Board of Directors. “To be elected president of the Read More 

WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump has signed an executive order that he says will allow TikTok to continue operating in the United States in a way that meets national security concerns laid out by the law. President Joe Biden signed legislation last year calling for China’s ByteDance to sell TikTok’s assets to an American company by early Read More 

LOS ANGELES The American Film Institute (AFI) has announced that Jay Kelly, Nuremberg, Dead Man’s Wire and Christy will complete the Red Carpet Premieres section at this year’s AFI Fest. The Jay Kelly Gala Screening will take place on Thursday, October 23; Nuremberg on Friday, October 24; Dead Man’s Wire on the afternoon of Saturday, October 25; Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) Fear is not something one typically associates with Dwayne Johnson. Certainly not in the ring, as the charismatic heel with the cocked eyebrow, and not in Hollywood, where he has cemented himself as one of the industry’s most bankable, and singular, action stars and producers. By all accounts the formula was working. Yet for years Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Jimmy Kimmel is back on his ABC late-night show, but it’s still a mystery when — or if — viewers in cities such as Washington, Seattle and St. Louis will be able to see him again on their televisions. ABC stations owned by the Nexstar and Sinclair corporations took Kimmel off the air last week Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Jimmy Kimmel returned to late-night television Tuesday after a nearly weeklong suspension and, in an emotional monologue where he appeared close to tears, said that he wasn’t trying to joke about the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. “I have no illusions about changing anyone’s mind, but I do want to make something clear, because Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Bassem Youssef, the Egyptian satirist whose “Daily Show”-like program was canceled after the military seized the once pro-democracy government, watched the suspension of Jimmy Kimmel with an immediate sense of familiarity. “My Fellow American Citizens,” Youssef wrote on X. “Welcome to my world.” Youssef’s show skewering public figures led to a criminal investigation in 2013 Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Jessica Chastain says she disagrees with Apple TV+’s decision to postpone the release of the political thriller series “The Savant” following the assassination of Charlie Kirk. Chastain, who is also the show’s executive producer, took to Instagram Wednesday to says she was “not aligned on the decision to pause the release,” arguing that the show Read More 

TORONTO (AP) There are 70-year-olds who want to be like June Squibb when they grow up. Squibb, 95, wasn’t the lead of a movie until she was 94. Now, a year after she turned action star in “Thelma,” Squibb is again the leading lady and face on the poster again, for “Eleanor the Great,” Scarlett Johansson’s directorial Read More 

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) After deflecting the U.S. Justice Department’s attack on its illegal monopoly in online search, Google is facing another attempt to dismantle its internet empire in a trial focused on its abusive tactics in digital advertising. The trial that opened Monday in an Alexandria, Virginia, federal court revolves around the harmful conduct that resulted in U.S. Read More 

LOS ANGELES Superprime Films has signed acclaimed actress and filmmaker Maggie Gyllenhaal for representation as a director in branded and commercial work in the U.S., U.K. and France. This marks her first signing with a production company in the advertising space. A creative force both in front of and behind the camera, Gyllenhaal fundamentally understands both performance Read More 

MILAN (AP) Gucci soft launched its new era under artistic director Demna, turning a short film red carpet on Tuesday evening into a preview runway. Instead of the runway glare, Demna showcased his Gucci premiere looks in a film by Spike Jonze and Halina Reijn starring Demi Moore as a Gucci heiress struggling to find her identity Read More 

LOS ANGELES Director Aaron Ruell has joined production house Little Minx for commercial representation in the U.S. Ruell is an American director, photographer and former actor who has worked with a wide range of brands, including Burger King, NY Lottery, Serta, Macy’s, Kerrygold and Coca‑Cola. California raised and Portland based, Ruell works with an editor’s sense of Read More 

LOS ANGELES Angus Wall–a multiple Oscar and Emmy winner who also has a long and successful track record in the ad industry as a trusted partner of agencies and brands–is this fall officially launching MakeMake, a studio he’s quietly and methodically built over the past three decades. Long established in branded content and advertising, MakeMake takes on Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) When Laila Lockhart Kraner first slipped on the headband and cat ears for “Gabby’s Dollhouse” at age 11, she couldn’t have predicted how her character’s mantras of positivity and resilience and “failing fantastically” without giving up would shape her own life. Six years later, those lessons are so embedded in Kraner’s life that they’ve become Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) There’s something about Laura Sharp and Simon Tavistock. Close friends since college, they share jokes that no one else understands and instinctively know how to make the other feel better. “What’s the deal with you two?” a woman asks Simon after watching them interact. “We’re like BFFs,” he responds, which is true and also not Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) There is a lovely story of friendship, grief and starting over at the heart of “Eleanor the Great.” The film, directed by Scarlett Johansson in her feature debut, gets tangled in a plot contrivance that is, at best, unnecessary and at worst, loathsome. That’s the problem with the elevator pitch mentality, though. A story about Read More 

ROME (AP) Acclaimed Italian actor Claudia Cardinale, who starred in some of the most celebrated European films of the 1960s and 1970s, has died, AFP reported Tuesday. She was 87. She starred in more than 100 films and made-for-television productions, but she was best known for embodying youthful purity in Federico Fellini’s “8½,” in which she co-starred Read More 

LOS ANGELES Production company Tomorrow has brought director Ben Nakamura Whitehouse aboard its roster for U.S. commercial representation. Most recently, Whitehouse has directed campaigns for Masterclass, Amazon, Pinterest, Google, Crea, and Weetabix. Chris Zander, Tomorrow’s managing director, said of Whitehouse, “His work is a rare combination of visual sophistication and comedic wit. Hit pause on any frame Read More 

LOS ANGELES JEAN’S SISTER–a full-service creative studio spanning ideation, production and post–has been officially launched by founders/partners Eric Eckelman, Armand Prisco and Nat Prisco. Coming aboard the new venture’s directorial roster is JEAN, the duo consisting of Eckelman and Armand Prisco. “We were looking for the perfect directors for our first signing,” quipped Armand Prisco, with Eckelman Read More 

LOS ANGELES Good Behavior, the comedy commercial production outfit launched last year by director Pete Marquis and his partners Victoria Guenier and Adam Lawson, has added Brandt Lewis to its roster of directors. Lewis worked as an art director at Deutsch, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, 72andSunny, and Wieden+Kennedy before taking the leap into commercial directing in 2018. Read More 

LOS ANGELES Neighborhood Watch has added filmmaker Douglas Guillot to its talent roster. This marks his first signing in the U.S. market. The French director’s career began at the avant-garde publication Desillusion Magazine where he shot key figures from the world of skateboarding, surfing, and snowboarding through candid, documentary-style short films. An ode to the meditative practice Read More 

LONDON VCCP has appointed the multi award-winning Yan Elliott as creative director, bringing a celebrated advertising mind to its growing creative team. With 25 years of experience across many of London’s top agencies–including Mother, Engine, Lucky Generals, The&Partnership and AMV BBDO–Elliott has created some of advertising’s most iconic and enduring work. His career highlights include the Read More 

NEW YORK SPCSHP, a creative agency that’s part of the MSQ family of shops, has appointed Taryn Crouthers as its new CEO. Crouthers succeeds Ranae Heuer who spent a collective 11 years at SPCSHP leading the business. “As we began our search for a new CEO of SPCSHP, Taryn was at the top of our list for Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) Neither a Jordan Peele-produced horror nor a Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell romantic drama were enough to continue the September hot streak at the movies. After back-to-back weekends that had films majorly overperforming, first “The Conjuring: Last Rights” followed by the anime “Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle,” the North American box office Read More 

---