Innholdsfortegnelse for June 9, 2021 i The Hollywood Reporter

Cable news channels are at a tipping point. Fox News, CNN and MSNBC are coming off a record-smashing news year, propelled by a wild 2020 election (and its aftermath), not to mention an ongoing pandemic. And yet, with the cable TV business in a state of decline driven by cord-cutting, all three channels are planning for a post-cable world, one in which Americans primarily stream their news. “It’s an enormous opportunity for the news brand that gets it right,” says former CNN U.S. president Jon Klein. And their strategies could not be more different, with CNN developing entirely new programming and products, Fox News leaning into its primetime programming, and MSNBC bolstering the priorities of its parent company. The effort drawing the most intrigue at the moment is CNN’s, with…

After 15 months of pandemic restrictions that have kept Los Angeles’ gay bars partly or completely closed, nightlife owners like The Abbey founder and CEO David Cooley are finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. California is set to fully reopen June 15, allowing nightlife to return just in time for Pride month (though West Hollywood’s huge Pride parade is canceled for 2021, for the second year in a row). “For this year’s Pride, there’s no parades, there’s no festivals in West Hollywood, but we will make sure The Abbey is really ready and decorated for Pride,” says Cooley, who recently oversaw the iconic bar’s 30th anniversary celebration, which included a visit from Lady Gaga. “This is going to be the roaring ’20s, people are ready to…

Weddings Lexy Perez, an associate editor for THR, married Jeff Wion on May 6. The couple hosted an intimate celebration with family and friends at Mt. Woodson Castle in Ramona, California. Births Derek Blasberg, head of fashion and beauty at YouTube, and partner Nick Brown, co-founder of Imaginary Ventures, welcomed twins Elizabeth Grace Blasberg-Brown and Frederick Noah Blasberg-Brown on May 18 at Anne Arundel Hospital in Annapolis, Maryland. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle welcomed daughter Lilibet “Lili” Diana Mountbatten-Windsor on June 4 at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital. Congrats Peter Friedlander was promoted to head of U.S. and Canada scripted series for Netflix on June 3. Snoop Dogg joined Def Jam Recordings as executive creative and strategic consultant June 7 and Nicki Farag was upped to executive vp and GM June…

In the spring of 2018 — in the days before Peloton was ubiquitous — the company set out to make a TV ad cool enough to wipe away the perception that its internet-connected bike was a suburban mom thing. CEO and now-billionaire John Foley — a former president of ecommerce at Barnes & Noble — wanted to shoot for the moon, suggesting licensing tracks from bands he loved, including The Rolling Stones. Why not? The music budget was triple what it usually would be, according to a former employee. Eventually, Peloton landed Jay-Z’s “On to the Next One,” which brought the company a measure of cachet. A few months later, Peloton’s pull was such that it could ask — and get — Meghan Trainor to record a cover of “Crazy…

I thought for a time that I was bisexual. But I think I am likely pan and I think I only understand that because I embodied a pan-sexual person on Younger for more than half a decade. I feel so lucky to have played a groundbreaking character — one of the first pan-sexual characters on television. It took me actually living through the experiences that the show put my character, Lauren, through — like Lauren dating Maggie followed by Max, and having a sexual appetite for all genders — to understand, “Oh, it’s not just that a person who is pan wants to sleep with men and women.” That’s essentially bisexual. And I think as we go on to live more in this life, “bisexual” might leave us. Anyone who…

In her thoroughly entertaining and moving new memoir Cack-Handed (a British term for being left-handed), comedian Gina Yashere — co-creator and a castmember of CBS’ Bob Hearts Abishola — writes about growing up in England as a kid transplanted from Nigeria. In addition to dealing with a fearsomely strict mom (who “beat it into us that you have to be the best,” she writes), Yashere encountered rabid racism along the way, from her time as the first female elevator engineer at Otis in the U.K. (“I’d often come in the morning to find pictures of a monkey stuck above my station”) to constantly being subjected to drug searches in Asia and car stops by police in England after her stand-up career took off. It was only years later, in 2012,…

HACKS HBO MAX Las Vegas comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and Ava (Hannah Einbinder), a comedy writer who has been hired to help freshen up Deborah’s material, run into each other in the underground tunnels of the Vegas casino. Deborah is drunk, and Ava is high and with a man she just met. Deborah decides to share with Ava’s date that Ava is bisexual and a few other details about her sexual preferences, which embarrasses Ava. “Oh, please. Roman Polanski is still feasting on foie gras in the 6th. I think I can say my bisexual employee has bisex,” quips Deborah. Co-creators Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello and Jen Statsky say this was a scene that took some workshopping in the writers room when it came to using the Polanski…

Beginning in 2017, the stage version of Derek DelGaudio’s In & Of Itself ran for 72 weeks at the Daryl Roth Theatre in New York. But for the many who didn’t get to catch the conceptual magic show, DelGaudio and director Frank Oz created a filmed version that was released on Hulu in January. Amid the series of illusions, DelGaudio uses his personal stories and an allegory to explore the concept of identity, and through the film, he’s allowing viewers to see the show in a way even those in the audience could not. “The performance was one long performance for me, from beginning to end, from the first time I did it to the last time I did it,” he tells THR. “And each night was a fragment of…

A year ago, when the Banff World Media Festival went all-virtual because of COVID-19, organizers figured the event, nestled high in the Canadian Rockies, would be back to normal by 2021. They thought wrong. A year later, the province of Alberta — home to Banff — is still awash in uncertainty thanks to inconsistent lockdown protocols and a vaccine drive that lags behind the U.S., leading the festival to go virtual again this month. Other international festivals also are grappling with the effects of COVID more than a year later. The Cannes Film Festival — the biggest in the world — is struggling to pull off its planned in-person event, with travel restrictions and COVID protocols seemingly changing by the day. In Canada, however, the situation is unique in that,…

Just as WarnerMedia has some hope for the future, the company is alarmingly stuck in the past. With the Discovery merger likely to take a year or more to close, the company is to some degree hamstrung: Top executives who are seen as lame ducks will be showing up on Zoom calls (or in-person meetings?) for months to come. And, after chafing at AT&T-imposed spending constraints, the wait for federal regulatory approval looks like “another year of treading water in the middle of the most competitive streaming marketplace,” as one company veteran tells THR. Dealing with the delay is the last thing the team at Warners needs, and Wall Street is nervous about it, too. “The single greatest challenge that investors are worried about is that you’re in the middle…

With Eric Garcetti expected to land a new role as U.S. ambassador to India, he’ll leave behind a checkered legacy as Los Angeles’ 42nd mayor. While the city’s decades-long homeless problem didn’t start on his watch, it did balloon into an out-of-control humanitarian crisis during his eight-year term. Yet Hollywood will lose an advocate who understood and relied on the media and tech industries to help define his tenure. A member of the Screen Actors Guild who’s a classically trained pianist, Garcetti counts a number of industry players, including Jenji Kohan, Joey Soloway and Jimmy Kimmel, as friends. He appointed the city’s first film czar during his first term and was integral in convincing state lawmakers to triple annual funding for California film and TV tax credits to $330 million,…

Woody Allen’s Rainy Day Is Streaming on Amazon After All Though its fate sparked a major legal battle between Woody Allen and Amazon, A Rainy Day in New York has found a home … on Amazon. The film starring Timothée Chalamet and Elle Fanning is streaming for free and carries the Prime logo, indicating Amazon released it. But a source says Rainy Day — the first of four films covered under a $68 million deal between the streamer and auteur in 2017 — shouldn’t have Prime branding. In 2019, an undisclosed settlement was made after Allen sued for breach of contract following Amazon severing ties and returning the film to him; accusations of Allen molesting daughter Dylan Farrow had resurfaced, and the film’s stars were publicly distancing themselves from the…

Rather than basking in the sun over Memorial Day weekend, fitness instructor Peter Tucci donned a punky wig to channel Cruella de Vil (in sync with Cruella’s May 28 release) while leading live cardio dance classes for virtual fitness platform Obé — short for Our Body Electric. Founded in 2018 by former talent agents Mark Mullett and Ashley Mills (who met while at CAA), Obé is distinguishing itself in the fitness space by partnering with networks and streaming services. Last year, the company teed up special sweat sessions in partnership with HBO Max around shows including Euphoria, Game of Thrones, Sesame Street and Sex and the City. In March, Walt Disney Animation Studios paired Obé with Raya and the Last Dragon screenwriter-choreographer Qui Nguyen to design martial arts workouts. And…

Actor-Director CLEA DUVALL DuVall grew up loving Christmas movies, but there was always a problem with them: Her experience as a queer woman was never onscreen. So after more than two decades as an actress, including a career-defining performance in the LGBTQ cult comedy But I’m a Cheerleader, she decided to stop waiting around for someone else to make the film she desperately wanted to see. With last winter’s Happiest Season, which she co-wrote and directed, DuVall made history by creating the first holiday rom-com about a same-sex couple to hail from a major studio (Sony’s TriStar Pictures and eOne sold the feature to Hulu). A semiautobiographical take on DuVall’s own experiences with her family, the coming-out story stars Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart as a couple navigating a Christmas…

Best actress. Best actor. These are the labels generations of starry-eyed performers have dreamed of claiming. But what if neither of those is actually capable of describing who you really are? What if both cause an uncomfortable twinge in your stomach, because they neglect to consider the full scope of who an artist can be? We’re talking, of course, about being nonbinary within the long-standing binary of Hollywood. Other spheres of our culture don’t divide their top honors into gendered categories: There isn’t a Nobel Prize for best female peacemaker, nor a James Beard Award for best male chef. So why are the Oscars split male-female? Obviously, we need to see more trans men and women represented in our media. But they fit neatly into the Hollywood awards system, as…

The collaboration between Marcus Mumford and Tom Howe on the theme song and score for Ted Lasso began when star Jason Sudeikis left Mumford “the world’s longest voice note” — something Sudeikis apparently is famous for doing. He asked his good friend (and lead vocalist of Mumford & Sons) whether he’d be interested in teaming with composer Howe to create the music for Apple TV+’s heartfelt soccer comedy. “Thankfully Tom’s become one of my grown-up friends who can actually read music,” says Mumford. “He’s a real musician.” Mumford and Howe spoke to THR about how they came up with Lasso’s unique sound. What was your initial intention with the music for the show? MARCUS MUMFORD We felt the theme song had to be placed somewhere right in the middle of…

You know how you mention to somebody that you need blue jeans and suddenly you find yourself getting served ads for Levis on social media? So far, it feels as if Marvel’s new run of Disney+ shows are similarly sensitive — however unlikely the causality — to the smallest murmurings of audience dissatisfaction. WandaVision was well respected, but some fans were disappointed by the lack of traditional superhero thrills. So The Falcon and the Winter Soldier opened with 10 solid minutes of high-flying, effects-driven excitement. But then the primary complaint about that series was that audiences weren’t given the buddy-comedy high jinks they felt they had been promised. The third Marvel show for Disney+ is Loki, and it’s a safe bet that viewers are going to love the cleverly written…

It’s not like she didn’t warn us. In the Dec. 31, 1947, issue of THR, Joan Crawford penned a page-long paean to the wonders of motherhood that began, “I’ve been reading in the newspapers and magazines about how noble it is of Joan Crawford to adopt four children.” Three paragraphs later, the star of Mildred Pierce and The Last of Mrs. Cheyney writes of her kids, “They’ve taught me the value of moulding firmness with love. They get spanked the same as any youngsters when they’re naughty, which isn’t very often, and I don’t delegate the spankings to others. I administer them myself — and then feel badly the rest of the day until I see them and they kiss me and make up, and everything’s fine once again with…

Jason Kilar has more than 20 million reasons to stay on as CEO of WarnerMedia for the time being as the company awaits regulatory approval to merge with Discovery. When Kilar was hired in spring 2020, he was granted more than 1.6 million shares of AT&T stock, set to vest over four years beginning Feb. 15, 2021, according to the agreement, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The second tranche of shares (valued at just over $12 million as of June 7) would vest Feb. 15, 2022, if he still works at the company. In addition, Kilar’s employment agreement includes a dedicated severance payout in the event that WarnerMedia is sold and he is not retained as CEO. Critically, there is a step-up in severance benefits at…

I am the showrunner of Rutherford Falls, a new comedy on Peacock. According to TV critics and my mom, the show is a game-changer for Native American representation. While doing press, I was often asked, “Do you remember ever seeing yourself represented onscreen?” For a Native woman, this is a toughie. I knew I couldn’t blurt “literally never” — because, well, it’s a bummer. And in reality, my blind love for TV and movies provides me with the mental gymnastics required to see myself in a ton of characters. The following is a list of some of my faves. (Please note: I don’t know if any of these have become problematic. I’d really appreciate your not telling me.) SALLY ROGERS THE DICK VAN DYKE SHOW (1961-66) Watching this show in…

Big Deal After cancelling last year amid the pandemic, the Cannes Film Festival is going all out for its 74th edition, set for July 6-17. The lineup unveiled June 3 reveals that Cannes 2021 will be heavy on French cinema with familiar faces, including Cannes regulars François Ozon, who returns to the Croisette with Tout s’est Bien Passé, and Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, back with Un Héros (A Hero). Thai director Apichatpong Weerasethakul, who won the Palme d’Or in 2010, returns to competition with Memoria, starring Tilda Swinton. U.S. indie director Sean Baker (The Florida Project) will premiere his feature Red Rocket in competition, and Sean Penn’s Flag Day landed a prime Cannes slot as well. The festival will open with the premiere of Annette, a musical drama from French…

In time for Father’s Day, actress-producer Abigail Spencer’s County Line Florals flower-delivery service has opened its first retail space at Free Market, a new collective of shops in Playa Vista. “We are creating a space that people will want to hang out at,” Spencer says of the shop, which will feature a “florista bar.” All bouquets (from $65) are predesigned and listed on an iPad menu. “You can go around Free Market, get a glass of wine or some ice cream, and then sit back at the bar and watch your florista make your creation.” Spencer (Rebel, Suits) launched County Line Florals as a mobile flower truck and subscription service last year. The company is an homage to her late dad, surf legend Yancy Spencer, who died 10 years ago…

EGOT winner Whoopi Goldberg will have another award to add to her collection June 15, when she’ll be honored during a Moving Mountains virtual fundraiser. The nonprofit, founded and led by Bosch star Jamie Hector, provides free programs and opportunities for underserved youth to learn the creative and business sides of the arts. Goldberg joins a roster of previous honorees that includes Jesse Williams and Steve Buscemi. The fundraiser also features a cook-along with former NBA star Charles Oakley. “Whoopi is just an amazing person,” says Hector. “I reached out to her and thanked her for being [a force] in the industry. She understands … how important it is to be a part of a community and give back to our youth.” Moving Mountains is open to ages 8 to…

Even the tiniest change in demographics or a soft showing in certain regions can send the most sanguine Hollywood studio executives scrambling for answers and solutions. There was no preparing, however, for the COVID-19 crisis, which resulted in unprecedented theater closures. Now, as people begin to resume “normal” activities and the box office attempts to recover, executives face the arduous task of understanding and analyzing a dramatically different landscape of moviegoing habits, according to polls conducted over the past 15 months by top research firm National Research Group and separate exit polls conducted by PostTrak. So far, the box office recovery in the U.S. is being turbocharged by males — especially in the 17-to-34 age group — while women 35 and older are far more reluctant to return to the…

If you’ve ever seen the 1990 documentary Paris Is Burning or even encountered the phrase “The category is …” or “Tens, tens, tens across the board!” — you’re familiar with the artistry of Junior LaBeija. And that’s just the beginning. “Shake the dice and steal the rice!” “O-P-U-L-E-N-C-E! Opulence. You own everything!” “It do take nerve.” All sprung from the oratorically gifted LaBeija. Had circumstances been different, he might have ended up an influential rapper or stand-up comic. As luck would have it, he grew up Black, gay and living in Harlem. And so he wound up a legendary ballroom emcee. “All the quotes from Paris Is Burning, they’re all over Europe, on T-shirts, hats,” he says. Today he sits on a bench on the Christopher Street Pier in Greenwich…

BENEDETTA The 17th century-set drama, directed by Paul Verhoeven and starring Virginie Efira (right), is set to premiere at Cannes. “I am so there for whatever the guy who brought us Showgirls and Starship Troopers wants to do with religious ecstasy and lesbian nuns. Bring it, Paul, you always do,” says Eliot Laurence, creator-showrunner of Motherland: Fort Salem. ETERNALS The Chloé Zhao-directed MCU film is due out Nov. 5. “I’ve really missed seeing movies on the big screen. So being the big gay nerd that I am, I’ve been eagerly waiting for Eternals to come out. It features the first openly gay superhero and couple in a Marvel movie! C’mon, representation! Come for the superheroes, stay for the gays,” says Superstore’s Nico Santos. EVERYBODY’S TALKING ABOUT JAMIE Amazon releases the…

There’s nothing Zach Braff likes more than directing. It’s where he’s happiest, he says, surrounded by creative people, encouraging them to do their best work. It is also stressful — sometimes hugely so. “I read somewhere that first [assistant directors] don’t live very long, and that’s one of the reasons the DGA has such good insurance,” the Ted Lasso helmer shares. True or not, the morsel was digested with a mix of laughs and “makes sense” shrugs from the six others — Industry’s Lena Dunham, Fargo’s Noah Hawley, The Mandalorian’s Rick Famuyiwa, Hacks’ Lucia Aniello, The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elisabeth Moss and Pose’s Steven Canals — gathered for THR’s annual Director Emmy Roundtable. During the course of an hour in mid-May, the group spoke candidly about everything from awkward sex scenes…

As the co-head writer of Saturday Night Live and half of its “Weekend Update” team, Michael Che gets plenty of laughs — while also taking frequent heat for his provocative comedy. Raised on the Lower East Side, the 38-year-old Che (actually his middle name — his dad was a fan of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevara) — stepped out from under the SNL umbrella with his own sketch show, That Damn Michael Che on HBO Max, where he gets a little more personal as he explores themes like race, police brutality and COVID-19 paranoia. Covering the Trump administration on “Weekend Update,” you didn’t take the obvious route. You’re willing to maybe offend people — because you’re looking for material hidden in the nooks and crannies. There are a lot of comedy…

As quarantine programming phenomena go, Netflix’s Lupin was unlikely, arriving with no hype and typically large barriers to entry like a foreign language and source material far more celebrated in France than in the United States. Plus, it was a huge tease. Lupin premiered in January with five episodes that raced toward an abrupt cliffhanger. Who expects their new Netflix obsession to stop after five episodes? Followed by six months of silence? What kind of sadists are Netflix bankrolling? The wait is finally over. Lupin “Part 2,” as Netflix is designating it, probably doesn’t benefit from now-high expectations. There are cracks in its too-flashy veneer that appear with the application of pressure. Some imperfections, though, don’t detract from the gravitational force of Omar Sy’s star power, from the healing escapism…