Ava Duvernay Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Joe Otterson TV Reporter Chika Chukudebelu Igwilo has joined FX as senior vice president of development Chukudebelu Igwilo joins FX from HBO Max, where she most recently served as vice president of original programming, drama. In her new role, she will report to Gina Balian and Nick Grad, co-presidents of original programming at FX. “Chika is an extraordinarily talented creative executive with a proven track record of discovering and nurturing talent and guiding projects to success in an incredibly competitive environment,” said Grad and Balian. “We are honored to add such a gifted creative executive to our development team, building on the strength of the team to continue FX’s tradition of fearless storytelling.”

Nick Vivarelli International Correspondent Is Hillary Rodham Clinton making the fall film festival rounds? The former U.S. secretary of state will be attending the DVF Awards charity gala being held on the sidelines of the Venice Film Festival on Sept. 1 by fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg to honor extraordinary women.  Clinton will be flying into Venice prior to her previously announced appearance as a guest speaker at the Toronto International Film Festival. Diane von Furstenberg and The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation founded the DVF Awards more than a decade ago. They are being held in Venice for the first time after taking place in Paris last year. This year’s DVF honorees include groundbreaking U.S. director, producer and social justice activist Ava DuVernay; European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde; Ukrainian educator Zoya Lytvyn; climate activist Hindou Oumarou Ibrahim and 10 outstanding women from Afghanistan “who are working to ensure a safe and sustainable future for the most at-risk Afghan women and girls,” a DVF statement said.

Colin Kaepernick and Nessa Diab are now a family of three! On Sunday, the radio personality revealed that she and the former NFL star recently welcomed their first child.«I thought long and hard about sharing our life changing news today. I decided to do so because today is the first day in a few weeks where I stepped out for work with a new life title — MOM,» the 41-year-old wrote alongside a photo of herself, Kaepernick and their baby resting together in what appears to be a hospital bed.«Colin and I welcomed our amazing baby to the world a few weeks ago and we are over the moon with our growing family,» she continued, promising that she would get later into the «journey» of recovering after her delivery.

José Andrés, Clive Davis, Ava DuVernay, Marian Wright Edelman, Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Serena Williams and Venus Williams will be honored at the National Portrait Gallery’s Portrait of a Nation Awards on Nov. 12.

Sam Mendes is set to be honoured by the Toronto International Film Festival following the Canadian premiere of his latest fil, “Empire Of Light”.

Sam Mendes is set to be honoured by the Toronto International Film Festival.

Sam Mendes, whose latest movie from Searchlight, Empire of Light, is making its Canadian premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, will be receiving the event’s TIFF Ebert Director Award.

A coalition of 1,425 showrunners and directors has raised $2.5 million to help women gain access to abortion services in states where they’re now illegal. Organizers of Hollywood4AbortionAccess hope to raise another $2.5 million to help women across the country – not just those working in the entertainment industry. The money will go to the National Network of Abortion Funds.

Just a few hours shy of the deadline set in late July by hundreds of top female writers and showrunners on abortion safety protocols, most of Hollywood’s biggest studios and streamers today opted to side step specifics.

EJ Panaligan editorBuzzfeed announced that Paul Ricci will join the company to lead unscripted television for BuzzFeed Studios. In the role, Ricci will oversee all unscripted television programming for the company’s Hollywood arm and entire portfolio of brands including BuzzFeed, Complex, Tasty and HuffPost.

OWN has set the premiere date for the seventh and final season of Queen Sugar. The series created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay will return on Tuesday, September 6 at 8 p.m. ET/PT.

The seventh and final season of “Queen Sugar” is set to premiere Sept. 6 on the Oprah Winfrey Network.Created and executive produced by Ava DuVernay, the Season 7 premiere will air at 8 pm ET/PT.“Queen Sugar” is about the life of the Bordelon siblings, Charley (Dawn-Lyen Gardner), Nova (Rutina Wesley) and Ralph (Kofi Siriboe).

There were many celebrities in attendance at Louis Vuitton‘s celebration of the opening of 200 Trunks, 200 Visionaries: The Exhibition!

Variety, contains signatures from Shonda Rhimes, Issa Rae, Jenny Han, Amy Sherman-Palladino, Natasha Lyonne, Ava DuVernay and many more.More than a month after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, states ratifying anti-abortion laws include Georgia, Louisiana and Texas.A bulleted list outlines the specific demands all these Hollywood big names are behind, such as an abortion travel subsidy, safeguarding of medical privacy, medical care — including that for ectopic pregnancies and other complications that require medical treatment via abortion, criminal and civil legal protection, and a pledge to discontinue all political donations to anti-abortion candidates.The letter requires for a written response within 10 business days from July 28, 2022. “We also welcome the opportunity to review the written response with your company representatives for additional context should you wish,” the letter concluded.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorNetflix is acquiring Australian animation studio Animal Logic, which is producing films for the streamer including “The Magician’s Elephant,” directed by Wendy Rogers, and “The Shrinking of the Treehorns,”  directed by Ron Howard.Animal Logic has about 800 employees, mostly based in Sydney and Vancouver. The acquisition “will help us accelerate the development of our animation production capabilities and reinforces our commitment to build a world-class animation studio,” Netflix said in its Q2 letter to shareholders.Click here to sign up for Variety‘s free Strictly Business newsletter covering earnings, financial and investment news, and more.The company did not disclose the purchase price for Animal Logic but said it will fund the acquisition from cash on hand.

Three communications execs — Marlea Willis of Marlea Willis Communications, Michael Krause of Foundry Communications and Jolyn Matsumuro of The Brookes Company — are starting a new entertainment PR agency, Luminary Communications.

Marc Malkin Senior Film Awards, Events & Lifestyle EditorColman Domingo says his younger brother gave him the best compliment about his new autobiographical animated short, “New Moon.”“He was overcome,” Domingo tells me on this week’s episode of the “Just for Variety” podcast. “He said, ‘More than anything, you brought the feeling of mom back.’”“New Moon” tells the story of a little boy who is shown how to dream by his hardworking single mom. It is based on Domingo’s play “A Boy and His Soul.”Domingo is the voice of the narrator as well as the mother.

The CAA Amplify summit will make its in-person return on June 22 featuring speakers across entertainment, sports, media, technology, and social justice.

Oscar-winner Marlee Matlin, and past Oscar nominees producer Jason Blum and director Jason Reitman are among first-time members elected to the Board Of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences as AMPAS announced its new 2022-2023 Board today.

Clayton Davis The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced the newly elected Board of Governors for the 2022-2023 year.Elected to the board for the first time are Oscar-winning actor Marlee Matlin, cinematographer Dion Beebe, director Jason Reitman, producer Jason Blum, casting director Richard Hicks and more. In addition, four incumbents were re-elected to the board, including Ruth E. Carter (costume designers), Donna Gigliotti (executives), Howard Berger (makeup artists and hairstylists) and Eric Roth (writers).

Common said working on the film Selma turned him into an activist and that a recent seven-month stay in London, where police don’t carry guns, “felt like a weight was off my shoulders” as he talked over his life and career at an event awarding him the Tribeca Festival’s second annual Harry Belafonte Voices for Social Justice Award.

Producers Eva Longoria and Charles D. King shared their frustrations today at the Produced By conference, relating that studios tell them they looked for diverse crew members, but couldn’t find any. MACRO CEO King and UnbeliEVAble Entertainment founder Longoria said they are creating a database of diverse talent they can present to studios when faced with that question.

 is coming back for another round! On Thursday, the network announced that the Emmy-nominated narrative comedy series has been renewed for a fourth season.The series, which debuted in August 2019, concluded its third season on May 13 and features a core cast of Black women living relatable, hilarious experiences in a magical reality that subverts traditional expectations." has created an indelible mark thanks to the trust and support of the incredible team at HBO. We are ecstatic to be heading into a fourth season that means so much to our cast, crew, and the dedicated audience who so passionately loves our show," show creator, showrunner, executive producer, writer and star Robin Thede said in a statement. «Robin, Gabrielle, Ashley, and Skye brought so much life to each character they portrayed in every sketch.

Ashley Hume Ava Duvernay, Melanie Lynskey and Tamron Hall were among the honorees at The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation’s 47th Annual Gracie Awards on Tuesday night.Holly Robinson Peete hosted the event, which was held in-person for the first time in two years at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles. Named after the late vaudeville performer Gracie Allen, the Gracie Awards honor talented women in television, radio and digital media.The atmosphere inside this year’s gala was subdued, as facts were still emerging just hours after a mass elementary school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that left 19 children and two teachers dead.Lynskey, who accepted the award for best actress in a leading role — drama, began her speech by thanking the Alliance for recognizing her work in the Showtime series “Yellowjackets.” “It’s amazing to be 45 and a size 12, according to this dress, and playing the sexiest, most interesting, most fun character of my career,” Lynskey said.Lynskey went on to express her sorrow over the shooting in Texas as well as the mass shooting in Buffalo, N.Y., which had occurred 10 days earlier.

Melanie Lynskey shows off her award in a cute pic with Rose McIver during the 2022 Gracie Awards held at Beverly Wilshire, A Four Seasons Hotel on Tuesday night (May 24) in Beverly Hills, Calif.

Joshua Jackson meets up with Lauren Ridloff at Starz’ #TakeTheLead Summit held at The West Hollywood EDITION on Thursday night (May 19) in West Hollywood, Calif.

Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff are starring in another project together!

Rebecca Rubin Film and Media ReporterNetflix has pulled the plug on several animated projects, including “Wings of Fire,” from executive producer Ava DuVernay; “Antiracist Baby,” a series aimed at preschoolers; and “With Kind Regards From Kindergarten,” a film tailored to youngsters.The streaming service also scrapped “Stamped: Racism, Antiracism, And You,” a documentary intended to serve as a companion piece to “Stamped From the Beginning.” “Stamped from the Beginning,” which is a hybrid documentary and scripted feature that delves into race in the United States, is still moving forward and is currently in post-production.Sources at Netflix stress the decisions not to move forward with these projects were creative rather than cost related, meaning they would have taken place regardless of the company’s slower revenue growth. Insiders also note that animation has a longer gestation period than live-action.

The stars are stepping out for the Louis Vuitton‘s latest fashion show!

Naomi” was a DC superhero series written and executive produced by Ava DuVernay.“Naomi,” which starred Kaci Walfall as a teenager who realizes she has a hidden destiny, had The CW’s third-most watched season premiere of the 2021-22 season, but lost more than 40 percent of viewers by the time of its May 10 finale.