The Writers Guild of America, East will present Steve O’Donnell with the Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence at the 2017 Writers Guild Awards ceremony at New York’s Edison Ballroom on Sunday, February 19.
The Sargent Award is awarded to a writer who embodies the spirit, commitment and comic genius of Mr. Sargent, as well as his dedication to mentoring new writers. A legendary writer and television producer, Sargent served as president of the WGAE for 14 years and his credits include being a writer/producer of Saturday Night Live for more than 20 years. The Sargent Award has been presented to influential comedy writers Judd Apatow, Gary David Goldberg, Norman Stiles, Lorne Michaels and James L. Brooks.
A Guild member since 1982, O’Donnell has mentored a whole generation of late night comedy writers who have been influenced by his irreverent reverence for crafting jokes that are unpredictably edgy and sublimely More
News Briefs
- Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017
- Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017
Ryan Gosling says the late Debbie Reynolds served as an "inspiration" to the cast and crew of his critically-acclaimed musical "La La Land."
Gosling thanked Reynolds "for her wonderful career of work" while accepting an award for the film at the Palm Springs Film Festival on Monday night. Gosling says the cast and crew watched Reynolds in the 1952 classic musical "Singin' in the Rain" every day for inspiration. Gosling calls Reynolds "a truly unparalleled talent."
Reynolds died Wednesday at the age of 84. She died a day after her daughter, actress Carrie Fisher, died at the age of 60. Fisher died four days after reportedly suffering a heart attack.
- Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2017
Amazon has greenlit a third season of the original dramatic series The Man in the High Castle. Additionally, Eric Overmyer (Treme, Bosch, The Affair) will serve as showrunner and executive producer for this new season. Seasons one and two of the Emmy Award-winning drama series are now available exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in the US, UK, Germany and Austria via the Amazon Prime Video app for TVs, connected devices including Fire TV, mobile devices and online here. Following in the footsteps of its first season, season two of The Man in the High Castle premiered with the most viewers over its debut weekend of all scripted Amazon Original Series.
The Man in the High Castle stars Alexa Davalos (Mob City), Rupert Evans (American Pastoral), Luke Kleintank (Pretty Little Liars), DJ Qualls (Z Nation), Joel De La More
- Sunday, Jan. 1, 2017
The family of William (Bill) Marshall, founder of the Toronto International Film Festival, announced that he died today (1/1/17) at the age of 77.
He passed away early this morning from a cardiac arrest while in hospital in Toronto, the city where he made such an impact.
Marshall immigrated to Canada from Glasgow, Scotland, in 1955 and was a proud Canadian and Member of the Order of Canada, an honor he received for his many contributions to the arts.
As much as Marshall loved and cherished the arts, he also played a significant role in shaping the political landscape of Toronto, where he served as campaign manager and Chief of Staff for 3 different Toronto Mayors. Marshall was a trusted advisor to many senior politicians in Canada and the United States and his legacy continued with his recent support of current Toronto Mayor, John Tory.
Marshall was a visionary in the Canadian film industry, producing 13 feature films, More
- Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016
A fabled music studio where acts including the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan recorded hits hasn't even reopened following an extensive renovation, yet it's already being named Alabama's No. 1 tourist stop of 2017.
The Alabama Tourism Department has selected Muscle Shoals Sound Studio as the state's top attraction of the New Year.
Located in the northwestern Alabama town of Sheffield and once a sought-after recording location for some of the world's best-known musical acts, the concrete-block building fell into disrepair years ago after being used for other things, including an appliance store. Inspired by the 2013 documentary "Muscle Shoals," officials from Beats Electronics provided nearly $1 million to renovate the studio.
With the work nearly done and the studio set to reopen Jan. 9 for tours and later as a nonprofit recording center, the tourism agency expects it to become a major draw for visitors. The main studio has been More
- Saturday, Dec. 31, 2016
Genealogy detectives have discovered that Benedict Cumberbatch, the British actor who portrays Sherlock Holmes in the PBS television series, is distantly related to the author who created the iconic character more than a century ago.
Cumberbatch, 40, and the late Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, who died in 1930, were 16th cousins, twice removed, according to the web site Ancestry.com.
Cumberbatch and "Sherlock" return for three new episodes beginning Sunday night. With the British actor rocketing to movie stardom, it's likely to be his last time in the character.
Ancestry.com wasn't asked to dig into the backgrounds of Cumberbatch and Doyle, but its researchers love both the series and historical puzzles, said spokesman Dallin Hatch. They haven't told the actor of the connection.
Doyle and Cumberbatch's common ancestor was John of Gaunt, the duke of Lancaster and the fourth son of King Edward III of England, who lived in the 14th More
- Friday, Dec. 30, 2016
An HBO documentary about the relationship between actress and writer Carrie Fisher and her Hollywood legend mother, Debbie Reynolds, will air Jan. 7.
"Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds," was expected to premiere on the cable network this spring but HBO moved it up after the pairs' deaths.
Although it hasn't been on television, "Bright Lights" was shown earlier this year at film festivals in New York and at Cannes.
Fisher died Tuesday after being stricken on an airplane flight last week. Her mother was rushed to the hospital and died the next day.
The filmmakers have described the project as Fisher's initial idea. Her mother was about to give her final live performances in Las Vegas two years ago, and Fisher wanted to document them.
- Friday, Dec. 30, 2016
The rap group Run-DMC filed a $50 million lawsuit in New York accusing Wal-Mart, Amazon, Jet and other retailers of selling products that traded on the group's name without permission.
A founder of the group and owner of the Run-DMC brand, Darryl "DMC" McDaniels, was listed as the plaintiff in the lawsuit, which was filed Thursday in the Southern District of New York.
The complaint said the defendants are "advertising, selling, manufacturing, promoting and distributing multiple products" in the group's trademarked name. The products include glasses, hats, t-shirts, patches, wallets and other items.
The lawsuit alleged that the retailers have improperly profited, diluted and harmed the Run-DMC brand, which it said has generated more than $100 million in revenue since its inception in the 1980s.
Run-DMC was founded in New York in 1981 by McDaniels, Joseph "Run" Simmons, Darryl "DMC" and Jason "Jam Master Jay" Mizell, who was More
- Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016
The contrast between mainstream and fringe news sites isn't just about content. A web analytics firm has found clear differences in their underlying advertising technology.
While the content on fringe news sites may be out of the mainstream - from made-up stories to ones with a grain of truth twisted to fit hyper-partisan views - the technology used to track readers and show them ads isn't. It doesn't appear that advertisers are shunning fringe news sites the way they do with porn and gambling.
Fringe sites, however, tend to be less sophisticated in their advertising. For instance, fringe sites typically aren't as good about employing tools to maximize ad revenue by auctioning spots to the highest bidder, according to the study from New-York based Mezzobit. Instead, they generally tap run-of-the-mill services from ad networks like Google's and Facebook's.
One reason? While mainstream sites need to make a lot of money, that's not the More
- Thursday, Dec. 29, 2016
The older brother of JonBenet Ramsey is suing CBS and others for $750 million, saying his reputation was ruined after a television series that concluded he killed his 6-year-old sister two decades ago.
In the lawsuit filed Wednesday, Burke Ramsey claims that the network, its production company and the experts interviewed in the series on the unsolved murder conspired to defame him for publicity and profit. The series, called "The Case of JonBenet Ramsey," aired in September ahead of the 20th anniversary of JonBenet's death.
The beauty pageant star was found dead in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colorado, the day after Christmas in 1996. A prosecutor cleared her parents and brother in 2008 based on DNA evidence. But the district attorney currently overseeing the case has said it was premature to exonerate the Ramseys and ordered additional tests using new DNA testing technology that authorities hope will further the More