News Briefs

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Friday, Nov. 22, 2019

Crazy Legs Productions launches feature film division

Scott Thigpen

Crazy Legs Productions, a producer of reality, true crime, sports programming, and branded entertainment, has launched a narrative feature film division, Crazy Legs Features. The company has plans to release between four and six films for theatrical and digital distribution per year.

Crazy Legs Features is already in pre-production on several projects, with its first film, Front Row Killer, having just begun principal photography. The female-driven thriller will star Brooke Butler (Ozark), Teressa Liane (Vampire Diaries and Into the Badlands), and Ryan Cooper (Eye Candy). Front Row Killer also marks the feature directorial debut of Marguerite Henry (EP on Her Dark Past and Seduced), who serves as a writer on the project.

“We’ve proven ourselves as innovators and creative storytellers in the non-fiction and branded entertainment spaces,” said Scott Thigpen, Crazy Legs More

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019

Apple cancels premiere of "The Banker" at AFI Fest over "concerns"

This image released by Apple TV Plus shows, from left, Nicholas Hoult, Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie in a scene from “The Banker." (Apple TV Plus via AP)

By Jake Coyle, Film Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Apple has canceled the premiere of one of the tech company's first original films, "The Banker" the day before it was to debut at Los Angeles' AFI Fest.

In a statement Wednesday, Apple said that last week it learned of "some concerns" surrounding "The Banker" and needs "some time to look into these matters." An Apple spokesperson declined to elaborate.

The based-on-a-true-story film stars Samuel L. Jackson and Anthony Mackie. Mackie plays Bernard Garrett who in the 1950s and '60s recruited a white man to pose as the face of his expansive real estate and banking business. In 1968, Garrett was convicted of misusing bank funds.

The film is Apple's boldest step yet into moviemaking. A theatrical release is scheduled for Dec. 6, after which it would be a part of the company's new streaming service, Apple TV Plus.

AFI said it would replace "The Banker" with a screening of Noah Baumbach's Netflix release "Marriage Story" as its More

Thursday, Nov. 21, 2019

East Main Studios opens in NJ

LITTLE FALLS, NJ --

East Main Media, a provider of audio/video production, captioning and transcription, postproduction, and content distribution services for organizations in the New York metropolitan area, has opened East Main Studios (EMS) in Little Falls, NJ. EMS is a newly renovated 5,500 square foot facility billed as being the first and only full-service space in the region for hosting business events, broadcasting, delivering live streaming content, and providing professional media production services.

“Whether it’s a product launch or demonstration, board meeting, professional networking event, book signing, podcast with a live audience, or TEDx-type presentation, EMS offers a customizable space with best-in-class audio/video production capabilities,” said Brian Brodeur, EMS founder and president, adding that “all of our tech talent and a/v equipment is in-house and on premises.”

EMS’ features and services include:

--A 2,000 square foot main More

Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2019

Holly Hunter to play liberal councilwoman in new NBC sitcom

This combination photo shows actress Holly Hunter at the 29th annual Producers Guild Awards in Beverly Hills, Calif., on Jan. 20, 2018, left, and actor Ted Danson at the NBC 2019/2020 Upfront in New York on May 13, 2019. NBC announced that Hunter and Danson will star in a comedy set in the world of local politics. (AP Photo)

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Holly Hunter will star opposite Ted Danson in an upcoming NBC comedy set in the world of local politics.

The network said Wednesday that Hunter will play a liberal Los Angeles city councilwoman in the series from writer-producers Tina Fey and Robert Carlock.

Hunter's character is a veteran politician who's suspicious of Danson's newly elected mayor, a wealthy businessman who's never served in government.

Hunter is an Academy Award winner for the 1993 film "The Piano" and has three other Oscar nominations. She's also worked extensively in TV, most recently in the HBO series "Succession," and received six Emmy nods.

Danson stars in NBC's comedy "The Good Place," which is in its final season.

An air date for the untitled series wasn't announced.

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019

Molly Solomon promoted to lead NBC Olympics coverage

This undated photo provided by NBC shows Molly Solomon. Molly Solomon began her career at NBC Sports as a researcher for its Olympics coverage. Nearly 30 years later, she will lead its coverage. NBC announced on Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019, that it has promoted Solomon to executive producer and president of the network’s Olympics unit, becoming the first woman to be an executive producer for a network sports division. (Virginia Sherwood/NBC via AP)

By Joe Reedy, Sports Writer

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

Molly Solomon began her career at NBC Sports as a researcher for its Olympics coverage. Nearly 30 years later, she will lead its coverage.

NBC announced on Tuesday that it has promoted Solomon to executive president and producer of the network's Olympics unit, becoming the first woman to be an executive producer for a network sports division.

Solomon succeeds Jim Bell, who announced Nov. 4 he was leaving the network. She will continue to be executive producer at GOLF Channel, a position she has held since 2012.

"I have three loves in my professional life; it's sports television, the Olympics and golf, so I feel really very fortunate to be able to combine them," Solomon said during a conference call Tuesday. "I really feel like I'm returning to my roots at NBC Olympics.

"My first job out of college nearly 30 years ago was as an Olympic researcher. So over the next 22 years I really climbed the production ladder at NBC Sports More

Tuesday, Nov. 19, 2019

Terry O’Neill, whose images captured ‘60s London, dies at 81

In this B/W file photo dated Nov 12, 1985, actress Faye Dunaway smiles during opening night of her husband, photographer Terry O'Neill's exhibit at New York's Susan Michael's Galerie Lafayette, as O'Neill celebrates publication of his book "Legends" covering 20-years of his photography. Iconic photographer Terry O'Neill, who chronicled the swinging 60s generation, died Saturday Nov. 17, 2019, aged 81, according to an announcement from his licensing agency. (AP Photo/Erica Lansner, FILE)

LONDON (AP) --

British photographer Terry O’Neill, whose images captured London’s Swinging ‘60s and who created iconic portraits of Elton John, Brigitte Bardot and Winston Churchill, has died at age 81.

O’Neill died Saturday at his home in London following a long battle with cancer, according to Iconic Images, the agency that represented O’Neill.

“Terry was a class act, quick witted and filled with charm,” the agency said in a statement posted to its website. “Anyone who was lucky enough to know or work with him can attest to his generosity and modesty. As one of the most iconic photographers of the last 60 years, his legendary pictures will forever remain imprinted in our memories as well as in our hearts and minds.”

Born in London in 1938, O’Neill was working as a photographer for an airline at Heathrow Airport when he snapped a picture of a well-dressed man sleeping on a bench. The man turned out to be the British home secretary, and O’Neill More

Monday, Nov. 18, 2019

California sues e-cigarette maker Juul over ads, youth sales

In this Dec. 20, 2018, file photo a woman buys refills for her Juul at a smoke shop in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)

By Matthew Perrone, Health Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) --

California on Monday sued the nation’s biggest e-cigarette maker, alleging that Juul Labs deliberately marketed and sold its flavored nicotine products to teenagers.

The lawsuit from California’s attorney general is the latest legal action against Juul, the multi-billion dollar vaping startup that has been widely blamed for helping spark the teen vaping craze.

California is the second state to sue the company, following a North Carolina lawsuit in May. Illinois, Massachusetts and several other states are also investigating the company.

A Juul spokesman said the company’s intended customers are adult smokers, adding “we do not intend to attract underage users.”

Under intense pressure, the company has suspended its U.S. advertising and halted sales of all but two of its flavors, menthol and tobacco. Additionally, the company shuttered its social media accounts, tightened age verification for online sales and replaced its CEO. More

Monday, Nov. 18, 2019

Chang says his new Netflix show honors Bourdain

This image released by Netflix shows David Chang, left, and Lena Waithe having breakfast at Winsome in Los Angeles in a scene from the Netflix series, "Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner." (Netflix via AP)

By Michael Cidoni Lennox

LOS ANGELES (AP) --

With its food-travel fusion and trips to parts unknown, “Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner” host David Chang says he understands why critics are making comparisons to work done by his late friend and colleague Anthony Bourdain.

“I don't know how you couldn't,” said the restaurateur, chef and food personality. “He was a pretty significant person in my life. But, whether we were successful or not, the last thing we would ever want to do is to not be respectful and pay homage. He was a pretty significant person in my life. ... The whole thing was hard to do, for obvious reasons. But, you know, we tried very hard and we were very aware of trying to make it a different show.”

Bourdain, a chef and author, was known for using culinary traditions as a storytelling tool to explore cultures around the globe in his CNN series, “Parts Unknown." He killed himself in 2018.

Perhaps what’s most different about Chang’s new Netflix series is the sweet More

Saturday, Nov. 16, 2019

Czech filmmaker Vojtech Jasny dies at age 93

In this November 30, 2015, file photo, Vojtech Jasny, Czech film director and scriptwriter, poses for photographers as he receives gold medal of Academy of Performing Arts in Prague (AMU) on the occasion of his 90th birthday and AMUs 70th anniversary in Prague, Czech Republic. (Michal Dolezal/CTK via AP)

PRAGUE (AP) --

Vojtech Jasny, a filmmaker who belonged to the new wave of Czechoslovak cinema in the 1960s, has died. He was 93.

Slovacke divadlo, a theatre he frequently visited, said that Jasny died Friday. A family representative confirmed his death to the CTK news agency.

From the 1950s, Jasny made some 50 movies in Czechoslovakia and later in the West when he emigrated after the 1968 Soviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia.

His most famous film, “All My Good Countrymen,” from 1968, about the brutal changes in the country under communism, was banned in his homeland. It won the best director award at the Cannes Film Festival in 1969.

He also won a Cannes special jury prize for his 1963 film, “The Cassandra Cat.”

In the 1980s, Jasny settled in the United States, lecturing at Columbia University. He later returned home.

Jasny’s “Hell on Earth,” featuring testimonies of Holocaust survivors, was part of 2002’s “Broken Silence,” a More

Friday, Nov. 15, 2019

Pierce Brosnan’s sons named Golden Globe ambassadors

Dylan Brosnan, from left, Pierce Brosnan, and Paris Brosnan attend the Hollywood Foreign Press Association and The Hollywood Reporter celebration of the 2020 award season and Golden Globe Ambassador reveal at Catch LA on Thursday, Nov. 14, 2019, in West Hollywood, Calif. (Photo by Dan Steinberg/Invision/AP)

By Jonathan Landrum Jr., Entertainment Writer

WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. (AP) --

Pierce Brosnan’s sons have been chosen as the Golden Globe ambassadors to assist with the glitzy awards ceremony.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced Thursday evening that 22-year-old Dylan and 18-year-old Paris Brosnan will assume the ambassador roles for the 77th annual Golden Globes Awards in January.

An ambassador is traditionally the child of a celebrity who assists with award presentations, handing out trophies to winners and escorting them off stage.

The Brosnan brothers said they are more excited than nervous to appear on stage at the awards.

“We watched the Globes growing up ... and I’ve gone with him a few times. So it’s truly an honor to be here in this capacity and pay homage to our father’s legacy,” said Dylan Brosnan about his father, a two-time Golden Globe nominee.

Dylan and Paris are the first male ambassadors after the HFPA rechristened the role, formerly known as Miss Golden Globe, in More