While Girls State (Apple TV+) takes place in Missouri, the documentary most notably resides in a state of optimism--which is quite an accomplishment in an era marked by political divisiveness and vitriol. Directed and produced by the Emmy-winning and DGA Award-nominated wife-and-husband team of Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss, Girls State chronicles a group of some 500 Missouri high school students who gather for a weeklong program to delve into politics, democracy and pressing social issues as... Read More 

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) -- A New Mexico judge on Friday rejected an effort by a movie set armorer to challenge her conviction of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film "Rust." After hearing brief arguments during a virtual hearing, Santa Fe-based Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said she would be staying the course and that armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed would remain in custody pending her sentencing in April. Gutierrez-Reed was convicted by a jury... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's time to take another trip to Italy, to the charming, cobblestoned streets of the Amalfi Coast, sipping coffee at cafes and looking for the la dolce vita. And it just wouldn't be fun without our favorite serial killer, right? Tom Ripley is back for another turn at wearing dressing gowns and having Champagne on the terrace in "Ripley," a thrilling new Netflix series based on the enduring character created by novelist Patricia Highsmith in "The Talented Mr. Ripley." It premieres April 4. "The... Read More 

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- Dev Patel first pitched "Monkey Man" as "a revenge film about faith." "Faith can be such a beautiful, powerful thing. It can bring us together. At its best, it should make us fight for each other instead of fighting against each other," says Patel, who is making his feature directorial and screenwriting debut with the action thriller out Friday. "Monkey Man" was inspired by the legend of Hanuman — a Hindu deity revered for his strength, loyalty and courage. Patel says that he saw a lot of... Read More 

It took about 14 years but Carrie Preston is finally playing her dream role full-time. Preston stars in the new CBS procedural " Elsbeth," as Elsbeth Tascioni, a gifted attorney with a sharp eye for detail who is easily distracted. She also possesses joie de vivre and does not put on airs. Make no mistake though, Elsbeth is usually the smartest person in the room. Viewers first met Elsbeth at the end of season one of "The Good Wife" which starred Julianna Margulies as a political wife who... Read More 

BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- Disney shareholders have rallied behind longtime CEO Robert Iger, voting Wednesday to rebuff activist investor Nelson Peltz and his ally, former Disney Chief Financial Officer Jay Rasulo, who had sought seats on the company's board. The company had recommended a slate of directors that did not include Peltz or Rasulo. The dissident shareholders had said in a preliminary proxy filing that they wanted to complete a "successful CEO transition" at Disney and align management pay with performance... Read More 

LONDON (AP) -- As the past few weeks have shown, British royalty and the media can be an explosive mix. The absence of the Princess of Wales after abdominal surgery in January sparked uncontrolled online speculation that was first heightened by the release of a manipulated photo, then eased by a video statement from Kate disclosing that she is being treated for cancer. It's a reminder that when palace privacy meets public curiosity and the public interest, things can get messy. For more evidence, watch "Scoop... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Taylor Swift and her Super Bowl-winning boyfriend Travis Kelce, along with Sydney Sweeney,Ryan Gosling and Timothee Chalamet, are among the nominees for this year's Webby Awards, recognizing the best internet content and creators. The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences announced the nominees on Tuesday, the result of 13,000 entries from over 70 countries. Swift's Instagram message encouraging her 283 million followers to register to vote was nominated in the best creator or... Read More 

NEW YORK -- The International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences (IADAS) has unveiled the nominees for the 28th Annual Webby Awards. Among those advertising industry companies recognized this year are Code and Theory, Condé Nast, Duolingo, Goodby Silverstein & Partners, Jung von Matt AG, Mattel, McCann, Meta, Publicis Media GmbH, R/GA, Saatchi & Saatchi, Snapchat, Squarespace, TBWA\ Media Arts Lab, and The Kitchen North America. All nominees are eligible to win two of the Internet industry’s... Read More 

Cannes Lions has unveiled the participants for the 2024 See It Be It talent acceleration program for women. Nineteen creatives from 14 markets have been selected to take part in this unique learning and development program at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, taking place from June 17-21, 2024. The cohort will attend an exclusive four-day program that includes mentorship opportunities, private masterclasses with industry leaders, as well as backstage access and session... Read More 

LOS ANGELES & LONDON -- Raven Jackson, writer and director of A24’s All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt , has joined the Pulse Films’ global commercial and music video roster. Jackson is a filmmaker, poet, and photographer from Tennessee. Her work often explores landscapes of indefinable experiences and emotions, as well as our relationship to nature. Recently nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best First Feature and a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Director, Raven’s debut narrative film, All Dirt Roads Taste of... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Director Kat Keene has signed with DOMO for commercial representation. Her diverse body of work spans commercials, music videos, television, and video journalism. From the moment Keene first picked up a camera as a teenager in North Carolina, she has been guided by a passion for the world and its inhabitants. Her work for outlets including National Geographic, The Guardian, MTV, and The New York Times expresses her signature skill set of captivating audiences with rich characters and immersive... Read More 

NEW YORK -- Publicis New York has hired Joe Mongognia as chief creative officer, effective April 5. Mongognia will oversee creative across Publicis New York, reporting to Publicis New York CEO and Publicis Groupe global chief strategy officer Carla Serrano. Publicis New York is both a world-class creative agency and the creative chassis behind Publicis Groupe’s bespoke Power of One models. This has attracted leading brands including Citi, Pfizer and Walmart, bringing together the best capabilities, talent... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Golden LA has added Ric Cantor to its directorial roster for U.S. representation spanning commercials and branded content. Hailing from Manchester, U,K., Cantor is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker recognized for his unique brand of character-driven humor that brings familiar, uncomfortable scenarios to life. Cantor’s films never lean too hard into the joke, believing that the honesty of the moment is enough. His commercial filmmaking career includes collaborations with brands like Mars, Domino’s,... Read More 

LOS ANGELES -- Independent creative agency MIRIMAR has brought the creative team of Jake Ausburn and Alex Polglase aboard its talent roster. Ausburn and Polglase come over from Sydney’s The Monkeys, part of Accenture Song’s global creative network. Ausburn and Polglase have been working together for two-and-a-half years. In that short time, they’ve won the Cannes Grand Prix, shot on the steps of the Sydney Opera House with Aussie director Kim Gehrig for Play It Safe, sold a script to an acting prime minister... Read More 

HARLEM, NY -- Elite Media has hired Gati Desai Curtis as president, a new role at the independent, Black-owned full service creative agency. A 20-year industry veteran, Desai Curtis will report to Christopher Crawford, founder and CEO of the Harlem-based shop. Desai Curtis was most recently EVP, head of product and services at BBDO, where she oversaw organic growth for the agency as well as worked on clients such as American Red Cross, GE, Meta, Starbucks and more. While at the agency, Desai Curtis excelled... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Elon Musk's X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, has named a new head of safety nine months after the last executive to hold the position departed from the social media company. X said that company veteran Kylie McRoberts will oversee the global safety team. The platform also announced that Yale Cohen, who previously worked for media firm Publicis Media, would become head of brand safety and advertiser solutions. The last executive heading what was formerly called the trust and safety... Read More 

NEW YORK (AP) -- Giancarlo Esposito has long been lauded as a charismatic, scene-stealing thespian and commander of roles who's worthy of leading man stature. But it might be surprising that for first the time, it's actually official. "I say, 'Ask for what you want.' So, I wanted this badly," said the star of "Parish," who's also an executive producer of the new crime drama. "When you ask for what you want, normally you will get it if you believe and if you can endure. So, almost eight years is a long time to... Read More 

In so many ways, TJ Ballantyne is a classic Ken Loach hero: a working-class, middle-aged man trying to simply eke out a dignified living, but meeting obstacles at each turn — a victim of unforgiving social realities that leave people like him in the dust. Like many of these Loach protagonists, TJ can't get a break — even from gravity, as when he tries to fix the wooden letter "K" that rests above the Old Oak, the dilapidated pub he runs in a former mining town that's been in decline for decades... Read More 

"Housekeeping for Beginners" begins with a shot of a painting on a wall hanging just a little askew. It's an apt metaphor for what's in store. Writer and director Goran Stolevski gives us an atypical family portrait that's brilliantly political without being preachy, loving without being maudlin and epic by being specifically tiny. This is the complex story set mostly in a villa outside Skopje, the capital city of North Macedonia, that has become a refuge for those not in the mainstream — queer... Read More 

Has there been a more satisfying actor to watch mature on screen in recent years than Dev Patel? The endearingly earnest, scrawny kid of "Slumdog Millionaire" has steadily grown into a singularly intense and sensitive leading man. It's a transformation that, for anyone who missed "Lion,""The Personal History of David Copperfield" or "The Green Knight," may be especially jarring in watching Patel's new film, "Monkey Man." Like "Slumdog Millionaire," the film is set in Mumbai and has a touch of... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Louis Gossett Jr., the first Black man to win a supporting actor Oscar and an Emmy winner for his role in the seminal TV miniseries "Roots," has died. He was 87. Gossett's first cousin Neal L. Gossett told The Associated Press that the actor died in Santa Monica, California. A statement from the family said Gossett died Friday morning. No cause of death was revealed. Gossett's cousin remembered a man who walked with Nelson Mandela and who also was a great joke teller, a relative who faced and... Read More 

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Godzilla-King Kong combo stomped on expectations as "Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire" roared to an $80 million opening on 3,861 North American screens, according to Sunday studio estimates. The monster merger from Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures starring Rebecca Hall and Brian Tyree Henry brought the second-highest opening in what has been a robust year, falling just short of the the $81.5 million debut of "Dune: Part 2." Projections had put the the opening weekend of "Godzilla x Kong:... Read More 

Hyundai’s IONIQ5 robotaxi has achieved a new milestone, becoming what's billed as the first autonomous vehicle to take and pass a standard driving license test in Nevada. As shown in this surprising film directed by Daniel Mercadante of Park Pictures for agency Jung von Matt, the car was put through its paces in Las Vegas by a real-life driving examiner, undergoing a road test around the famous Las Vegas Strip and some suburban areas of the city. The results? IONIQ5 robotaxi aced the test with... Read More 

Niall O’Brien of production company Furlined directed this film for eir, the mobile/broadband/TV network in Ireland. Titled “For All,” the film is part of the inaugural campaign created by TBWA following the agency’s appointment last October (as BBDO Dublin). “This campaign celebrates our first public steps in a new direction for the brand and the business,” said Oisín Masterson, director of brand and marketing at eir. “Our core purpose has always been to connect for a better Ireland, and ‘For... Read More 

This music video titled “The Beauty of Gaps” from agency VML is part of Colgate’s longstanding “Bright Smiles, Bright Futures” program targeting kids worldwide. “The Beauty of Gaps” shares a variety of smiles with gaps between teeth, showing us that these smiles too are beautiful, helping to build smile confidence. “Our research has shown that when your smile doesn’t match the idealized version portrayed in the world, it’s easy to doubt its beauty,” said Diana Haussling, SVP and general manager... Read More 

In this campaign from Wieden+Kennedy New York, Delta Air Lines is moving past just enticing consumers with the amazing parts of the destination. Instead “Home,” Delta Air Lines’ first brand campaign of 2024, leans into the Delta level comfort of travel with the focus on the trip back home. At the center of the campaign is this film depicting a group of friends coming back from a bachelorette party to a grandmother returning home after visiting her grandkids. Directed by Mark Molloy of SMUGGLER... Read More 

In the Arab world, many young Arab girls from conventional families grow up believing that sports are not for them. This belief stems from the notion in traditional Middle Eastern society that sports are more suitable for boys and men. Sadly, this mindset has led to a startling statistic: an average of 73% of young Arab girls give up playing sports by the age of 14. To challenge this status quo and raise awareness about the transformative impact of sports on women and girls, adidas and agency... Read More 

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