LOS ANGELES The second season of a hit show is inherently challenging–living up to the high bar set in the first go-around, somehow retaining the spirit of what made the show successful to begin with, and striving to maintain the delicate balance of meeting viewer expectations with a measure of familiarity yet exceeding those expectations by bringing Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) In the 50-plus years of James Bond, the wait between films has never gone longer than six years. The next entry, and first since Daniel Craig’s dramatic exit, may test that — but things are speeding up. On Wednesday, Amazon MGM Studio announced that Denis Villeneuve will direct the 26th Bond movie, putting the franchise Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Oscar-winning producer of “Moonlight” really wanted to get in touch with Eva Victor. Adele Romanski and her producing partner Mark Ceryak were “kind of obsessed” with the short, comedic videos Victor was putting out on various social media platforms. Titles of some that still exist online include “when I definitely did not murder my Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) Damson Idris was trying to tune out the noise, but that’s a little difficult at a Formula One race. The British-Nigerian actor was in the zone, in character, filming the high-octane summer movie “F1” with Brad Pitt at some of the world’s most famous racetracks. While Idris’ profile has been rising in recent years, after Read More 

NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) unveiled the winners of the Documentary categories at the 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmy® Awards, held on Thursday (6/26) at the Palladium Times Square in New York City. The evening was hosted by Negin Farsad, comedian, filmmaker, and writer. National Geographic led the way with Read More 

NEW YORK The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) unveiled and honored the winners of the News categories at the 46th Annual News & Documentary Emmy® Awards, presented at the Palladium Times Square in New York City on Wednesday evening (6/25). CBS topped the News Emmy tally with five wins, including three for 60 Minutes. Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) When American Masters approached Marlee Matlin about doing a documentary, Matlin had one name in mind to direct: Shoshannah Stern. Like Matlin, Stern is deaf. She also hadn’t directed before. But Matlin, who herself became the first deaf person in the Directors Guild of America just a few years ago, was certain she was up Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Author and screenwriter Dennis Lehane has a healthy respect for the power of fire. He learned that the hard way — surviving a house fire in Boston in his 30s. Lehane was living on the top floor of an apartment building when a propane tank on the roof exploded and started a blaze. The landlord Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences invited 534 new members to its organization on Thursday, adding recent Oscar nominees and many more to Hollywood’s most exclusive club. The newest class of Oscar voters includes a number of stars like Dave Bautista, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Danielle Deadwyler and Andrew Scott. They, along with Read More 

CANNES, France As the 72nd Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity comes to a close, the final Awards Show honored the winners of Film, Titanium, Glass: The Lion for Change, Sustainable Development Goals and Grand Prix for Good. Also presented were the Special Awards, the culmination of all points earned by companies throughout the week. Simon Cook, Read More 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A federal judge sided with Facebook parent Meta Platforms in dismissing a copyright infringement lawsuit from a group of authors who accused the company of stealing their works to train its artificial intelligence technology. The Wednesday ruling from U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria was the second in a week from San Francisco’s federal court to Read More 

LONDON (AP) Getty Images dropped copyright infringement allegations from its lawsuit against artificial intelligence company Stability AI as closing arguments began Wednesday in the landmark case at Britain’s High Court. Seattle-based Getty’s decision to abandon the copyright claim removes a key part of its lawsuit against Stability AI, which owns a popular AI image-making tool called Stable Read More 

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) In a test case for the artificial intelligence industry, a federal judge has ruled that AI company Anthropic didn’t break the law by training its chatbot Claude on millions of copyrighted books. But the company is still on the hook and must now go to trial over how it acquired those books by downloading them Read More 

LOS ANGELES & NEW YORK Production company m ss ng p eces has added artist, director and creative director Brian Moore to its immersive roster of talent. Moore is known for designing cultural provocations that playfully comment on modern life. His irreverent projects span product development, digital interventions, and experiences that play with cultural, social, and technological norms. Moore’s collaborations Read More 

LOS ANGELES Eleanor, the production company headed by president Sophie Gold, has added director Zee Ntuli to its roster for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. Ntuli’s work ranges from his sultry feature Hard to Get to the critically acclaimed South African crime thriller TV series Reyka, to a portfolio of award-winning commercials. And his work Read More 

LOS ANGELES Neighborhood Watch has added filmmaking collective Encyclopedia Pictura to its roster of directorial talent. Formed by a trio of childhood friends–Isaiah Saxon, Daren Rabinovitch, and Sean Hellfritsch–Encyclopedia Pictura is known for its handcrafted aesthetic and inventive storytelling–often combining analog and digital techniques to explore themes of nature, adventure, science fiction, and fantasy. Encyclopedia Pictura’s work Read More 

LOS ANGELES Creative studio SixTwentySix has brought director Tom Morris aboard its roster, marking his first official signing with a U.S. production company for branded content, commercials and campaigns. Midwest-born and Los Angeles-based, Morris cut his teeth behind the camera at a young age and brings over 15 years of directing experience spanning viral music videos, award-winning Read More 

LOS ANGELES Creative and production company Stept has signed directorial duo the Truesdell Brothers–consisting of Tim and Will Truesdell–for exclusive commercial representation in the U.S. “Our roster is built around directors who are shaping the future of filmmaking, and the Truesdell Brothers embody that,” said Nick Martini, co-founder of Stept. “Their command of tools like Unreal Engine Read More 

BROOKLYN, NY Bicoastal production company Greenpoint Pictures has added Sage Bennett to its directorial roster. Brands like Dior, Jim Beam, Saforelle, and 1-800-FLOWERS have tapped Bennett to helm their commercial campaigns. Three of Bennett’s recent short films have premiered on NOWNESS: the award-winning “Placebo,” the dance film “Childhood Homesick” starring Angela Trimbur, and the unscripted and raw Read More 

LOS ANGELES Two comedy-driven production companies–World War Seven (WW7) in L.A. and London-based MindsEye–have officially joined forces in a new creative partnership. The deal sees each company representing the other’s directorial talent in their respective home markets, with WW7 handling a selection of MindsEye’s directors in the U.S., and MindsEye repping WW7’s full roster in the U.K. Read More 

LOS ANGELES MOCEAN, a full service creative agency and production company for entertainment and brands, has appointed Jared Sapolin as VP and creative director of theatrical. Having previously worked for nearly a decade at Mark Woollen & Associates, Sapolin led creative on award-winning campaigns for The Substance, Severance, Dune, Pam & Tommy, La La Land, AStar is Read More 

SACRAMENTO, Calif. Forty-eight feature films have been approved for the California Film Commission’s Film and Television Tax Credit Program. Governor Gavin Newsom recently proposed to double down on this vital program, by expanding the tax credit from $330 million to $750 million to help boost this iconic industry and production in California. This diverse slate of feature Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) Lalo Schifrin, the composer who wrote the endlessly catchy theme for “Mission: Impossible” and more than 100 other arrangements for film and television, died Thursday. He was 93. Schifrin’s sons William and Ryan confirmed his death to trade outlets. The Associated Press’ messages to Schifrin’s publicist and representatives for either brother were not immediately returned. Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Bill Moyers, the former White House press secretary who became one of television’s most honored journalists, masterfully using a visual medium to illuminate a world of ideas, died Thursday at age 91. Moyer died in a New York City hospital, according to longtime friend Tom Johnson, the former CEO of CNN and an assistant to Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Sean “Diddy” Combs thought his “fame, wealth and power” put him above the law as he led a criminal enterprise for two decades, using “power, violence and fear” to carry out brutal crimes, a prosecutor told a jury at the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial during closing arguments Thursday. “Over the last several weeks, you’ve Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) If you want to know how big an upgrade the “M3GAN” sequel has on the original, look no further than the very first scene. “M3GAN” was mostly set in a Seattle house, but “M3GAN 2.0” starts at the Turkish-Iranian border — with a murderous rampage in a secret military installation and the presence of Saudi Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) The first thing to love about writer-director-star Eva Victor’s extraordinary debut “Sorry, Baby” is how she, as the young professor Agnes, tries, and fails, to hide a tryst with her neighbor. Agnes lives in a quaint New England home where her best friend and fellow former grad student Lydie (Naomi Ackie) is visiting. We are Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) Neither Pixar nor zombies were enough to topple “How to Train Your Dragon” from the No. 1 slot at North American box offices over the weekend. The Universal Pictures live-action remake remained the top film, bringing in $37 million in ticket sales in its second weekend, despite the sizeable new releases of “Elio” and “28 Read More 

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