Malina Saval Associate Editor, Features Documentarian Emily Wachtel met Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward when she was two years old. They were neighbors in Westport. Conn, the dearest of family friends. “I knew them my whole life,” says Wachtel. “They are the reason I am in film.” Wachtel, producer of CNN’s six-part docuseries “The Last Movie Stars,” which paints a sweeping, intimate, romantic portrait of the life, love and careers of Newman and Woodward, describes her childhood with the famed couple as if something out of a suburban New England dream. “They were incredible people,” says Wachtel. “I was so young when I met them, and I didn’t understand what a movie star was at the time. But part of that is because they were so real. They’d pick you up to go to birthday parties, Joanne made sweaters. They had this big, beautiful barn on the property and they would entertain almost every weekend. Not in a formal way, but with everyone. Not necessarily actors. It was neighbors and friends from all walks of life. They would have everybody over and make hamburgers. They screened movies. I saw a lot of old movies with them, from ‘Lady in the Tramp’ to ‘The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds.’ It was just part of the fabric of that household. And it was a gift.”
How the WGA Decided to Harness — But Not Ban — Artificial Intelligence
23.05.2023 - 14:59 / variety.com
Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer Last summer, Van Robichaux ran for the board of directors of the Writers Guild of America West. Out of 17 candidates, he was the only one who raised a concern about artificial intelligence in his campaign statement. “As far as I know, this issue is not on the radar of anyone else running for the board and while I might sound like a paranoid lunatic talking about it today, in 10 years I’m confident you’ll be glad I brought it up now,” he wrote. He did not win. AI has since become the hottest topic in the creative economy, spurred by the release of models like Stable Diffusion last August and ChatGPT in November. Across disciplines – graphic design, animation, acting, music, writing – artists are terrified of being replaced by robots.
“I think they’re right to be concerned,” said Bruce Schneier, a lecturer in cybersecurity at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. “Things are changing so fast, that things that were true three months ago aren’t true today.” AI has also become a central issue in the writers strike, displacing more familiar fears like the rise of streaming and the decline of residuals. Writers on the picket lines fear that movie studios will use AI to write scripts – either in whole or in part – diminishing the role of writers or even making the job obsolete. “The corporations will push us all into extinction if they can,” said Chap Taylor, a screenwriter and professor at New York University. The AI issue “is life and death,” he said. “That’s the one that turns us into the makers of buggy whips.” Though he did not win his election, Robichaux was partly responsible for pushing AI into the center of the conversation. After his defeat, he was approached and invited to join
Sarah Jessica Parker To Make West End Stage Debut Alongside Husband Matthew Broderick
Sarah Jessica Parker has announced plans to make her debut on London’s West End stage next year, alongside her husband Matthew Broderick.
How the ‘Interview With the Vampire’ Makeup and Costume Team Created ‘Beautiful’ Vampires and ‘Elegant Bloodletting’
Hunter Ingram The first season of AMC’s “Interview With the Vampire” builds a textured, vibrant world, only to watchit burn and bleed. Anne Rice’s beloved story of long-dead vampire Lestat (Sam Reid) and his latest creation, Louis (Jacob Anderson), chronicles a relationship baptized in blood, fueled by passion and gutted by betrayal. Thanks to the series’ crafts teams, Louis and Lestat’s bond lives and dies (and lives again) according to a visually cohesive language that congeals around one thing — color. Production designer Mara LePereSchloop and costume designer Carol Cutshall spent days with fabrics in hand, curating the color palette for the series, which shifts Rice’s 19th-century New Orleans story to the early 20th century and the city’s redlight district Storyville.
Digging Roots Share ‘Emotional’ Reaction To Receiving 2023 Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award, How They Plan To Help The Indigenous Community
Canadian musical group Digging Roots open up about the importance that comes along with being the recipients of Canadian Music Week’s 2023 Allan Slaight Humanitarian Spirit Award.
‘Being Mary Tyler Moore’: How The Doc Came To Be & The Woman Behind The Smile — Deadline FYC House + HBO Max
The HBO Original documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore reveals the life of the titular actress, producer and philanthropist who dazzled family, friends and fans both on and off screen until her death in 2017.
‘Being Mary Tyler Moore’: How The Doc Came To Be & The Woman Behind The Smile—Deadline FYC House + HBO Max
The HBO Original documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore reveals the life of the titular actress, producer and philanthropist who dazzled family, friends and fans both on and off screen until her death in 2017.
‘The Idol’ Creator Sam Levinson On Lily-Rose Depp’s Premiere Performance & How The HBO Series Casts “Skepticism” On Celebrities
SPOILER ALERT! This post contains details from Sunday’s premiere of HBO’s The Idol.
The Celtic Cartel: How the Kinahan crime mob rose to the top of the global drugs trade
They're widely considered to be the most deadly gang operating in the UK and Ireland. Their fearsome reputation puts them on a par with the Italian mafia and the Mexican cartels.
How the 2023 writers strike echoes the previous one from 2007
warns could be used as “plagiarism machines” to craft scripts without writers. According to a WGA memo, the strike is costing Hollywood’s economy $30 million a day. Jack Kyser, the chief economist of the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, estimated that the 2007-2008 strike cost his state $2.5 billion; this time the estimate of potential damages are likely to top at least $3 billion. Midway through the last strike, Kyser told the L.A.
‘Dave’ Star Lil Dicky on Those Brad Pitt and Drake Guest Spots, How the Show Helped Him Grow and When to Expect His New Album
Todd Gilchrist editor SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for the Season 3 finale of “Dave,” titled “Looking for Love,” now streaming on Hulu. The already guest-star-studded Season 3 of FX’s “Dave” ends with not one but three of the biggest guests any show could hope to have in their cast: Rachel McAdams, completing a three-episode arc by appearing in the music video for rapper Lil Dicky’s (Dave Burd) tribute to idealized love, “Mr. McAdams;” superstar rapper Drake, Lil Dicky’s personal hero, and now, his mentor; and none other than Brad Pitt, who after making a cameo in the “Mr. McAdams” video shows up at Dicky’s door looking for a musical mentor of his own.
Britney Spears wants her kids ‘to be happy’ amid their move to Hawaii with ex-husband
Britney Spears wants her kids to be happy. The fan-favorite singer has consented to her ex-husband Kevin Federline’s wishes, to move with their kids to Hawaii, despite the former backup dancer sharing a public letter about their plans, as reported by TMZ.However, it seems Britney is not happy about the family matter being made public, with her lawyer Matthew Rosengart revealing that she does not want to interfere.
As The CW Reinvents Itself, Remembering How the Emmys Overlooked Its Iconic Leading Ladies
Michael Schneider Variety Editor at Large The simultaneous demise of both Twitter and The CW as we knew it reminds me, however, of one of my favorite industry Tweets of all time. On July 19, 2012, a sharp CW social media staffer posted this: “#Emmy nomination day! Or as we call it, Thursday.”
Memorial Day Weekend 2023: How Heather Rae and Tarek El Moussa, Chrissy Teigen and More Celebrated
Summertime is finally here! Heather Rae El Moussa (née Young) and Tarek El Moussa were among the many celebs who kicked off the season with Memorial Day celebrations.
The Jonas Brothers Reveal How They ‘Met’ On ‘Chicken Shop Date’
The Jonas Brothers are finally shedding light on the way they all “met.”
‘Succession’ Creator Jesse Armstrong & Director Mark Mylod On How The Series Finale Highlights The Inevitability Of The Roy Family Tragedy
SPOILER ALERT! This post contains spoilers for the series finale of HBO’s Succession.
Louisiana Is The Only Deep South State Not Banning Trans Youth Health Care
only state in the Deep South that does not expressly prohibit doctors from recommending gender-affirming treatments for transgender youth.Louisiana’s bill failed in a vote in the state Senate Health and Welfare Committee when Sen. Fred Mills (R-New Iberia), the committee chairman and a pharmacist by trade, voted to defer the bill rather than pass it out of committee.Mills said his decision was heavily influenced by a 2022 Louisiana Health Department study on gender-affirming health care, which found that no gender-affirming surgical procedures had been performed on any minors enrolled in Medicaid in the state between 2017 and 2021.Instances in which medications, such as hormones or puberty blockers, were prescribed to transgender minors were also exceedingly rare, according to the report.Mills said he trusts physicians more than legislators to make medical decisions in a patient’s best interests.“I always in my heart of hearts have believed that a [medical] decision should be made by a patient and a physician,” he said, according to The Hill.Had it passed, the bill would have barred healthcare professionals from prescribing gender-affirming treatments to minors, or referring minor patients to places where they could obtain such treatments.
How 'The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel's Final Scene Pays Tribute to an Iconic Comedy Duo (Exclusive)
took its final bow on Friday, as the season 5 finale showed us exactly where Rachel Brosnahan's titular comedienne ended up in the later years of her A-list career.The flash-forward-heavy final season of the Emmy-winning comedy took away the suspense of Midge's success early on in the final episodes, sharing with viewers that she did, in fact, become one of the biggest names in comedy. The unique story structure was one that the creative team had been planning for some time, executive producer Dan Palladino told ET.«Once we decided it was the last season, we just dove right into it,» he recalled. «It was fun, because we got to do time travel, but we're not science fiction.
Dame Esther Rantzen says she's 'not good at regrets' as she issues stage 4 cancer update
Dame Esther Rantzen has admitted she's 'not good at regrets' after revealing her lung cancer has progressed to stage four. The 82-year-old broadcaster, known for presenting BBC series That’s Life! and founding charities such as Childline, confirmed in January that her lung cancer had spread.
Netflix and Sky customers stream for free by making a change to how they watch TV
TV fans can get their hands on an entire month of Sky TV and Netflix content for absolutely nothing with an incredible new trial deal from Sky. With the introduction of the satellite giant's latest set-top box, Sky Stream viewers can binge on thousands of hours of first-class entertainment streamed directly to any TV, just by using the WiFi.
Global Citizen Sets Paris Concert Livestream With Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste and Others to Press Governments and World Bank on Climate Change Lending
Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Global Citizen has announced another all-star concert aiming to help force a real effect on world poverty and climate change, this one set to stream live from Paris’ Champ de Mars on June 22 and featuring Billie Eilish, Jon Batiste, Lenny Kravitz and H.E.R., with additional special appearances by Ben Harper, Finneas and Mosimann. The Live Nation-produced event, “Power Our Planet: Live in Paris,” will be held before a ticketed audience and streamed from in front of the Eiffel Tower on the Global Citizen channel on Amazon’s Twitch, with further broadcast or streaming partners to be announced in the coming weeks. The location wasn’t chosen just for its scenic value. The Summit for a New Financial Pact is being held in Paris on June 22-23, and Global Citizen’s stated hopes are that the concert will help compel World Bank President Ajay Banga, the U.S. government’s Janet Yellen and all the G20 Nations to take action on loosening up funds for less developed nations to deal with climate change.