Film and TV Crews Pack Up Their Tools in Anticipation of a Strike

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterTo handle pyrotechnics on a movie set in California, you need a license, which requires five letters of recommendation, two years of apprenticeship, and passing a written test.But to be an armorer, all you need is a background check. And in other states, you don’t even need that.“There’s no actual rules,” said Joe Martinez, who works as an armorer in Hollywood.

Police want to speak to this woman after an elderly couple were pick-pocketed while walking through Manchester city centre.

Kate Aurthur editorIn early April, when Netflix and Shondaland announced that Regé-Jean Page, everyone’s favorite duke, wouldn’t be returning for the second season of “Bridgerton,” the news caused an explosion of grief on the internet. “Bridgerton,” after all, was a sensation as soon as it hit Netflix on Christmas Day 2020, and a significant number of the show’s fans had fallen in love with Simon Basset, the Duke of Hastings (Page) and Daphne Bridgerton (Phoebe Dynevor).

Dylan Penn stuns in a red hot dress for the 2021 SCAD Savannah Film Festival on Friday night (October 29) in Savannah, Ga.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA crew member told Variety that he warned the producers of “Rust” that Dave Halls, the first assistant director, was cavalier about set safety during a previous production.Halls has admitted to investigators that he failed to properly check a gun before handing it to Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” on Oct. 21.

Anya Taylor-Joy has found an unexpected perk of her upcoming role. ET's Matt Cohen spoke to the 25-year-old actress at the Los Angeles premiere of  on Monday, and she revealed the best part of getting to voice Princess Peach in the upcoming Super Mario Bros.

Naman Ramachandran Teemu Nikki’s Venice and Antalya winner “The Blind Man Who Did Not Want to See Titanic” won the Golden star for best film at the 5th El Gouna Film Festival in Egypt, which wrapped Friday. The award carries a cash prize of $50,000.The film’s lead Petri Poikolainen won best actor, while Maya Vanderbeque, the young star of “Playground,” won best actress.

Naman Ramachandran Yomna Khattab’s “Fifty Meters” (Egypt) was the big winner at the CineGouna Platform, the El Gouna Film Festival’s industry arm created to support and empower Egyptian and Arab filmmakers and help them find artistic and financial support. This year, the CineGouna Platform disbursed awards worth $300,000 across 13 projects in development and seven films in post-production.

A former celebrity chef has claimed she developed extra sensory perception after being struck by lightning on an idyllic beach, leading her into a new career as a wellness coach.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterNegotiators from the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees have reached a deal for a new three-year contract, averting a strike that would have shut down film and TV production across the country.The deal must still be ratified by the membership, but it appears that the union will not be calling the first nationwide strike in its 128-year history.Talks went past 10 p.m.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterTV writers may soon have to take their own notes as their assistants will be on the picket lines if IATSE calls a strike on Monday morning.Writers assistants and script coordinators provide the essential support functions that keep writers’ rooms operating.

EXCLUSIVE: Gravitas Ventures, a Red Arrow Studios company, has acquired U.S. and Canadian rights to The Accursed, the first feature from writer-directors Elizabeta Vidovic and Kathryn Michelle, which will be released in theaters and on demand November 12.

Naman Ramachandran The fire that engulfed a section of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival’s Festival Plaza on Wednesday turned out to be a minor deterrent as the event’s fifth anniversary got off to a rousing start on Thursday.The fire, the cause of which has not yet been confirmed but is possibly a short circuit, was contained swiftly, with Samih Sawiris, chair of festival parent company Orascom Development Holding, personally supervizing repairs.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterHollywood is starting to brace for a strike that would essentially shut down the entire industry on Monday morning.Talks have stalled on a new contract for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, which has lately accused the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers of refusing to made enough concessions. Matthew D.

EXCLUSIVE: Mary Stuart Masterson (Blindspot), Rob Corddry (The Unicorn), Brandon Flynn (13 Reasons Why), Corey Knight (We Are Who We Are) and Terayle (Judas and the Black Messiah) are joining Michael Chiklis in The Senior, a football drama that Rod Lurie (The Outpost, The Last Castle) is directing from a screenplay by Bob Eisele (The Great Debaters), which is entering production in Texas this fall.

Chris Stapleton and Jimmy Fallon sing about their love of Nancy Meyers films in a new “Tonight Show” skit.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterAn official with IATSE told members on Tuesday that the studios are refusing to make the necessary concessions to avoid a strike, although negotiations are still underway.Cathy Repola, the national executive director of the Motion Picture Editors Guild, told members in an email on Tuesday that the pace of the talks is quickening, and that the timetable continues to be “days, not weeks.”“In the wake of the overwhelming strike authorization vote, the employers

Rege-Jean Page is looking so suave on the red carpet!

“The L Word” star Jamie Clayton will portray the iconic horror villain Pinhead in a new take on the 1987 film “Hellraiser” that’s set up at Spyglass Media Group and Hulu. Also announced as part of the cast on Thursday are Odessa A’zion, who will star alongside Clayton, as well as Brandon Flynn, Goran Visnjic, Drew Starkey, Adam Faison, Aoife Hinds and Hiam Abbass in supporting roles.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterLet the waiting begin.Negotiations between the studios and the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees are expected to continue on Wednesday as the sides try to avoid a strike that would shut down production and immediately cripple Hollywood’s content pipeline.In what could be taken as a sign of progress, the two sides are not saying much publicly about the negotiations.