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  • Monday, Feb. 15, 2016
"Star Wars: Episode VIII" starts filming, adds del Toro
In this Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016, file photo, actor Benicio Del Toro poses for photographers upon arrival at the BAFTA 2016 film awards at the Royal Opera House in London. (Photo by Joel Ryan/Invision/AP, File)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

"Star Wars: Episode VIII" has begun filming and has added Benicio del Toro and Laura Dern to its cast.

The Walt Disney Co. announced that "Episode VIII" started principal photography at London's Pinewood Studios on Monday. Written and directed by Rian Johnson, the "Star Wars" sequel will follow J.J. Abrams' box-office smash "The Force Awakens." It's set for release in December 2017.

Joining returning cast members are the Oscar-winning del Toro, the Oscar-nominated Dern and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran.

The production start announcement was accompanied by a brief video that showed shooting picking up right where "The Force Awakens" left off. (Stop here if you don't want to read a reference to the ending of "The Force Awakens.") Johnson is shown directing Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) on a remote island off the coast of Ireland.

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  • Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016
Head of BAFTA: Film industry not diverse enough
In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016, set builder Charlie Wright works on a giant replica of the BAFTA trophy which will be displayed during the forthcoming BAFTA awards ceremony on Sunday, Feb 14th, in London. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
LONDON (AP) -- 

The head of the British Academy Film and Television Awards says its annual ceremony does not feature more ethnic minority nominees because the film industry itself is not diverse enough.

Amanda Berry says she supports a peaceful protest against the lack of diversity outside the star-studded event, being held in London on Sunday.

Berry told the Daily Telegraph newspaper that not enough movies are made with diverse talent so "the pool of people to draw award winners from isn't diverse enough." She added that "people can only vote on what they've seen."

Her comments follow a controversy surrounding racial diversity at the Oscars.

Two black actors have been nominated for BAFTAs this year: Idris Elba for best supporting actor and "Star Wars" actor John Boyega for a rising star award.

  • Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016
Documentary "Fire at Sea" opens at Berlin Film Festival
Director Gianfranco Rosi attends a press conference for the competition film 'Fire At Sea' at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Saturday, Feb. 13, 2016. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt)
By Kirsten Grieshaber
BERLIN (AP) -- 

The director of "Fire at Sea" - a documentary about the Italian island of Lampedusa, where thousands of asylum-seekers have been arriving from lawless Libya - says he wanted "to show the tragedy that's playing out in front of our eyes ... We're all responsible."

Director Gianfranco Rosi spoke after the film was screened Saturday at the Berlin International Film Festival, where it is one of two documentaries in competition for the prestigious Golden Bear award.

The Italian director contrasts the native islanders' everyday life with the arrival of the many men, women and children making the dangerous trip from Africa across the Mediterranean Sea on decrepit smugglers' boats. Longing for freedom and prosperity, many of the migrants drown on the perilous passage to Europe, their dead bodies often pulled out of the water in Lampedusa.

Rosi brings the viewer closer to the emotional world of some of More

  • Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016
Cannes Festival of Creativity to bestow Lion of St. Mark upon Marcello Serpa
Marcello Serpa
LONDON -- 

The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity will honor groundbreaking agency creative Marcello Serpa with the Lion of St. Mark at this year’s Festival.

“The Lion of St. Mark recognizes individuals who have made significant and outstanding contributions to creativity across our industry,” said Philip Thomas, CEO, Cannes Lions. “Marcello’s achievements are known the world over, but perhaps most notably he was responsible for taking home Latin America’s first Grand Prix in 1993. He’s since served on juries four times, twice as president, and during his tenure, AlmapBBDO won Agency of the Year three times.”

After successes at GGK, DPZ and DM9, Serpa moved to AlmapBBDO in 1993, where together with José Luiz Madeira, they brought the agency out of deep decline and built it into one of the most successful agencies in São Paulo. Over two decades later, Serpa is recognized as the most awarded art More

  • Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016
Berlin Film Festival jury questioned over diversity
Jury Member Lars Eidinger, Jury President Meryl Streep and the Jury Members Clive Owen and Malgorzata Szumowska, from left, pose during a photo call of the jury members at the 2016 Berlinale Film Festival in Berlin, Germany, Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016. (AP Photo/Axel Schmidt)
By Frank Jordans
BERLIN (AP) -- 

The Berlin International Film Festival became embroiled Thursday in the debate about diversity in the movie industry, with jury president Meryl Streep dismissing questions about the all-white panel by telling reporters that "we're all Africans, really."

Streep, who heads a festival film jury for the first time, said she was committed to equality and inclusion "of all genders, races, ethnicities, religions." The seven-member jury also includes German actor Lars Eidinger, British film critic Nick James, French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, British actor Clive Owen, Italian actress Alba Rohrwacher and Polish director Malgorzata Szumowska.

"This jury is evidence that at least women are included and in fact dominate this jury, and that's an unusual situation in bodies of people who make decisions," Streep said. "So I think the Berlinale is ahead of the game."

The question of diversity was raised More

  • Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016
"Star Wars" producers charged over Harrison Ford accident
In this December 10, 2015 file photo Harrison Ford walks during a Star Wars fan event in Sydney. (AP Photo/Rob Griffith, File)
LONDON (AP) -- 

British health authorities announced Thursday they have issued criminal charges against the producers of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" over an on-set accident in which Harrison Ford broke his leg.

The actor was struck by a hydraulic door on the set of the Millennium Falcon - his character Han Solo's spaceship - at Pinewood Studios near London in June 2014. He was airlifted to a hospital where he underwent surgery.

Production on the film was suspended for two weeks after the injury to Ford, who was 71 at the time.

The Health and Safety Executive said Thursday it had charged Foodles Production (UK) Ltd. - a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Co. - with four breaches of workplace health and safety laws.

It said "by law, employers must take reasonable steps to protect workers - this is as true on a film set as a factory floor."

Foodles Production said the safety of cast and crew was "a More

  • Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016
7 innocents spend time in jail for new TV show
This image released by A&E Networks shows a scene from "60 Days In," a 12-episode series about a group of innocent civilians who spent two months in an Indiana jail. The series premieres with a double episode on March 10 on A&E. (A&E Networks via AP)
By David Bauder, Television Writer
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Seven innocent civilians agreed to spend two months in an Indiana jail and have their experiences filmed for an A&E Network series, "60 Days In," that will air starting next month.

Backgrounds of the fake inmates, whose jail time ended in December, were kept from both corrections officers and real inmates at the Clark County Jail in Jeffersonville, Indiana. Even though one of the participants dropped out after being punched by an inmate, the show's producer and Clark County Sheriff Jamey Noel said Wednesday that the stunt was worth the risk.

"We wanted to create a show that really shows what it is like to do time, from a perspective that hadn't been seen before," said Gregory Henry, executive producer for the Lucky 8 TV production company.

The 12-episode series begins 9 p.m. EST Thursday, March 10, with two back-to-back episodes, then moves to 10 p.m. EST starting March 17.

The More

  • Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016
HBO Now has 800,000 paying subscribers since April launch
In this March 9, 2015, file photo, HBO CEO Richard Plepler talks about HBO Now for Apple TV during an Apple event in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg, File)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

HBO Now, the standalone online version of the premium TV channel, has gained about 800,000 paying subscribers since it launched in April, contributing significantly to the 2.7 million net new HBO customers last year.

The figure was revealed by HBO CEO Richard Plepler in a conference call following the release of parent Time Warner Inc.'s quarterly earnings results.

The gains didn't seem to wow investors, as Time Warner shares fell 3.5 percent to $61.02 in afternoon trading Wednesday.

Stifel analyst Benjamin Mogil said the 3.2 percent gain in HBO subscriber revenue was lower than the 4.7 percent rise that Wall Street expected.

Initially available for $15 a month only on Apple TV and other Apple devices, HBO Now has steadily rolled out to other platforms including Amazon, Roku, Google's Chromecast and certain smart TVs.

Plepler said the service has yet to be offered on two major More

  • Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016
Twitter tweaks its timeline to look a bit more like Facebook
This Friday, Oct. 18, 2013, file photo, shows a Twitter app on an iPhone screen, in New York. (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)
NEW YORK (AP) -- 

Twitter is tweaking its timeline.

The social media site will let people turn on a setting that lets popular tweets related to people you follow show up first in your timeline, followed by the real-time feed most people on Twitter are used to.

It's a significant change for the microblogging service, although its existing "while you were away" feature also highlights tweets from the recent past.

The Twittersphere exploded over the weekend on rumors that Twitter was changing its feed to look more like Facebook's newsfeed. CEO Jack Dorsey was compelled to tweet that the real-time stream won't change.

Pressure has been building on Twitter to accelerate user growth, and its stock has declined significantly. 

  • Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016
Viacom CEO defends self in testy exchange on 1Q results
In this Wednesday, June 13, 2012, file photo, Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman waits for the start of an event in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
By Ryan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- 

Viacom Inc. CEO Philippe Dauman defended himself in a testy exchange with analysts during a quarterly earnings conference call Tuesday after the media company behind MTV and Paramount Pictures missed revenue expectations for the fifth quarter in a row.

The call occurred as 92-year-old chairman emeritus Sumner Redstone — who has a speech impediment and requires a feeding tube — was said to be listening in. It came just a few days after Dauman replaced Redstone as executive chair to go along with his job as CEO, and three weeks after Viacom awarded Dauman a $17 million contract renewal bonus that boosted his overall pay 22 percent to $54.2 million last year.

In reaction to the weak quarter and a call that didn't inspire investor confidence, Viacom's shares fell more than 21 percent Tuesday to $32.86, their lowest close in more than five years.

"Given the exceedingly poor performance of Viacom More

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