Marcus Plantin Dies: ‘Two Ronnies’ Producer & ITV’s First Network Director Was 77

Addie Morfoot Contributor When the American Film Institute announced last year that it was merging AFI Docs, the organization’s annual Washington, D.C., documentary film festival, into the Los Angeles-based AFI Fest, Jamie Shor called Sky Sitney.Shor, president of PR Collaborative, and Sitney, director of the film and media studies program at Georgetown, had both previously worked for AFI Docs. Shor’s publicity firm had done work for the former festival, previously known as Silverdocs, while Sitney served as AFI Docs festival director from 2005-2014.“Sky and I were both thinking to ourselves that Washington, D.C., was not going to have a doc presence,” says Shor.

ITV has provided a timeline of how it responded to rumors of This Morning presenter Phillip Schofield’s relationship with a younger runner three years before the story burst into the public domain.

K.J. Yossman “Reginald the Vampire” producer December Films has inked a first-look deal with Cineflix Studios (“Tehran”). The first project to come out of the deal is a new ten-part series, “Carpe Demon” from showrunner Emily Andras (“Wynonna Earp”). Based on the Julie Kenner novels of the same name, the series about a demon hunting suburban mom is in development for Paramount+ Canada. Canada and LA-based December Films launched in 2020, founded by Julie DiCresce and Todd Berger. The company has numerous series in productions and is in post on feature “Out Come the Wolves” for IFC Films, Altitude Films and Level Film and rom-com “Bootcamp.”

Joni Mitchell had a big moment back on stage.

Neil Young, 77, is hitting the road for the first time since 2019.However, the former Buffalo Springfrield and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young singer will be mixing things up for his ‘Coastal Tour’ taking place exclusively in California, Oregon and Washington this July.At all 13 upcoming acoustic gigs, the two-time Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee will be performing songs he’s never played live before according to the Neil Young Archives.That doesn’t mean he’s just playing new stuff — just not “Heart of Gold” which he doesn’t want audiences to compare to how he sounded singing the classic tune live in 1970, 1980, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020.

J. Harrison Ghee is continuing to make history at the 2023 Tony Awards!

Alex Newell has made history!

Michael Arden won his first Tony Award tonight and one moment during his speech was silenced by CBS even though it got a rapturous applause by the audience.

Joni Mitchell has been one of the most honored musicians of this century. She’s picked up honors from the Kennedy Center, Library of Congress, the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song, and an honorary degree from the Berklee College of Music.

Joni Mitchell played her first full headline show in over 20 years last night (June 10) – see footage, the full setlist and more below.Last July, Mitchell performed a surprise set at the legendary Newport Folk Festival – which she last appeared at in 1969 – delivering a 13-song “JONI JAM” set that featured Brandi Carlile on the tracks ‘Carey’, ‘A Case Of You’ and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’.Soon after that, Carlile announced that Mitchell would play a special ‘Joni Jam’ performance at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state. It was her first headline performance in 23 years.At the show, like the Newport performance, Mitchell played with Carlile and a group of collaborators including Marcus Mumford, delivering a 24-song set of tracks from across her career and a few covers.Opening with ‘Big Yellow Taxi’, she then played favourites from her iconic LP ‘Blue’ including ‘A Case Of You’, ‘Carey’, as well as a cover of George Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ and more.As the LA Times reports, Carlile guided Mitchell through the performance, reading out signs from the audience at one point.

Joni Mitchell is releasing a live album of her comeback live performance at Newport Folk Festival last summer – watch her perform ‘A Case Of You’ with Brandi Carlile and Marcus Mumford below.Last July, Mitchell performed a surprise set at the legendary music festival – which she last appeared at in 1969 – delivering a 13-song “JONI JAM” set that featured Carlile on the tracks ‘Carey’, ‘A Case Of You’ and ‘Big Yellow Taxi’.The new live album, titled ‘At Newport: Featuring the Joni Jam’, will be released on July 28, and the performance of ‘A Case Of You’ has now been shared online.It comes ahead of a special ‘Joni Jam’ performance tonight (June 10) at the Gorge Amphitheatre in Washington state. It will be her first headline performance in 23 years.Watch the performance of ‘A Case Of You’ from Newport below.Mitchell opened up about her endeavours to re-learn the guitar in a recent interview with CBS Mornings.

Sophia Scorziello editor What does it mean to be a funny girl? Actors Elle Fanning (“The Great”), Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary”), Gina Rodriguez (“Not Dead Yet”) and Kerry Washington (“UnPrisoned”) discuss being a woman in comedy at Variety TV FYC Fest’s Disney Women of Comedy panel, moderated by Variety’s Angelique Jackson. Each TV character they play — whether she’s an empress of Russia, a public school principal, a family therapist or a journalist who talks to the dead — is layered and complicated. Through comedy, these actors have found the freedom to be contradictory, to not have it all together and to be a little messy.

Astrud Gilberto, who was just 22 years old when her lovely, laid-back and sultry vocals on the jazzy bossa nova “The Girl from Ipanema” made the song a massive global hit and one of the most recognizable melodies of the 1960s, died Monday. She was 83.

Sophia Scorziello editor Peter Meyer, beloved entertainment industry manager, died on May 14 at St. John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif. after a five-year battle with sarcoma, his sister Patty K. Meyer shared. He wast 68. Meyer was an agent and manager to numerous Hollywood industry professionals. Since 1990, he represented clients under his agency, Meyer Management. “He was known and beloved by hundreds of industry pros,” Patty said. Most recently, he represented rights holders and producers on Denzel Washington’s “The Equalizer.” Meyer attended Yale University where he wrote his senior thesis, “MGM and the Studio System in the Age of Mass Production.” The thesis was later published as an award-winning book and was also printed in Variety.

Keanu Reeves helped Kate Beckinsale avoid an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction during one of her earliest big appearances.

William Earl Leaders in the TV industry will convene at Variety’s in-person TV FYC Fest on June 7 in Los Angeles, featuring Christina Applegate, Kerry Washington, Elle Fanning and more. Fanning (“The Great”), Janelle James (“Abbott Elementary”), Rodriguez (“Not Dead Yet”) and Washington (“UnPrisoned”) will participate in a roundtable celebrating Disney’s TV female comedy standouts, moderated by Angelique Jackson, Senior Entertainment Writer, Variety. Jean Smart will present Christina Applegate with the 2023 Variety TV Fest Legacy award, recognizing her storytelling achievements as an actor and producer.

Angelique Jackson Grammy winner Erykah Badu has joined the all-star ensemble for Netflix’s feature adaptation of August Wilson’s “The Piano Lesson.” The singer-songwriter (“What Men Want”) will make a cameo, delivering “her soulful sound and eclectic style” with musical performances in the film,” starring Oscar winner Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington. Jackson and Washington reprise their roles from the highly successful Broadway revival of Wilson’s play, which recently received two Tony Award nominations (best revival of a play and best performance by an actor in a featured role in a play for Jackson).

Gary Kent, an actor, director and, most notably, stuntman whose career is thought to have been an inspiration for Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, died Thursday at an assisted care facility in Austin, Texas. He was 89.

ITV have confirmed the show Phillip Schofield will present solo following his This Morning exit last week.This Morning veteran Phil, 61, called it quits after 21 years of fronting the smash hit morning show, as reports of a "feud" with his co-host Holly Willoughby, 42, raged on. On Saturday (May 20), ITV released a statement confirming his "immediate" exit but revealed he will continue to present peak time shows for ITV, including next month's The British Soap Awards - and a new prime time series.

Pete Brown, the cowriter for the massive Cream hits “Sunshine of Your Love” and “White Room” in the 1960s, died Friday in London of cancer. He was 82 and his death was confirmed on his official Facebook page.