Month: March 2021

Ernest Hemingway famously once said, “There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed.” What Papa Hemingway meant, of course, is that the craft of writing is emotional, draining and often psychologically taxing, especially when mining stories that bring to the fore crucial social issues such as racism,

Now that Oscar noms are in and planning for the 93rd Academy Awards at the Dolby Theatre and Union Station is underway, I’m hoping the next announcement we hear is that the evening will serve as a fundraiser for COVID relief. Following the Academy’s $6 million donation last April to The Actors Fund, the Motion

It was a really big deal this week that more than 100 of Hollywood’s most powerful public relations firms told the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. they would urge their high-profile clients to avoid working with the organization until it can “swiftly manifest profound and lasting change” to address its longtime discriminatory, unethical and corrupt practices.

Almost inevitably, Hollywood will help shape the cultural memory of the COVID-19 pandemic. But how? Several quarantine films have already come out, but they haven’t quite hit the mark. They emphasize social isolation, while foregrounding their production constraints, or delve into disaster tropes, like the much-panned “Songbird.” It will take some time — and the

With the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. mired in a scandal over its lack of Black members and shoddy ethical practices, many in show business are wondering if the Golden Globes have permanently lost their luster. According to top film executives, agents and celebrity wranglers, studios and stars aren’t quite ready to tell the HFPA to

Vertical Entertainment has landed North American and U.K. rights to “We Broke Up,” a romantic comedy starring William Jackson Harper of “The Good Place” fame and “You’re the Worst” actor Aya Cash. The movie, written and directed by Jeff Rosenberg, is slated to premiere in theaters and on demand on April 23. “We’re thrilled to

When Jeff Lima, an actor of Puerto Rican descent (“Chicago Fire”), began auditioning for television and film work, he noticed something dejecting. “Early on, I can’t tell you how many of the same characters I was going out for,” says Lima, 30, of the stereotypical hardened-Latino roles he was presented with. “Back then I tried

Hollywood producers and filmmakers think they know what audiences want after a roughly a year of being stuck in their homes, cut off from friends and family while a global pandemic raged. “People want to escape,” predicts Milan Popelka, chief operating officer of FilmNation, the company behind “Arrival” and “Late Night.” “Stories that are more

Hong Kong’s FilMart wrapped up its 2021 edition – and second successive wholly online edition on Thursday. Organizers reported that the four day event (March 15-18) had welcomed “nearly 7,000 industry participants from 81 countries and regions over four days, with the release and promotion of some 2,200 film and television productions.” That total was

After years of pining for Hollywood accolades, China has more to celebrate about the Academy’s nominations this year than it has in nearly a decade. But its own politics have prevented its media and many of its citizens from rejoicing. While Beijing’s submission, the propagandistic volleyball drama “Leap,” fell flat, Taiwan’s “A Sun” was shortlisted

Altered Innocence has picked up U.S. rights to Kateryna Gornostai’s debut feature film “Stop-Zemlia,” which just had its world premiere in the Generation 14plus section of the Berlin Film Festival. The film follows Masha, her two best friends, and the rest of their class through parties, field trips and romance in their last year of