Best white house correspondents dinner comedian

UPDATE: President Volodymyr Zelensky was greeted by rousing ovations by a joint session of Congress as he told lawmakers that Ukraine would “never surrender” in its war against Russia. In his speech, running about 20 minutes and delivered in English, Zelensky compared his country’s winter fight to that of American soldiers fighting Nazis in the Battle of the Bulge, which also took place in a cold December. “Ukraine holds its line and will never surrender,” he said. It was one of several moments in his speech that connected American history — and American ideals — to what is happening in Ukraine. “It is just a matter of time when [Russia] will strike against your other allies … if we do not stop them now. We must do it,” he said. The speech reflected the former comedian’s gifts at communication, with memorable lines and standout visual moments, as when he presented House Speaker Nancy Pelosi with a Ukrainian battle flag as a “symbol of our victory in this war.” … [Read more...] about Volodymyr Zelensky, In Historic Speech To Congress, Says Ukraine Will “Never Surrender” To Russia

UPDATED with final winners: The Oscar-winning documentary Summer of Soul , Bo Burnham’s Emmy-winning musical comedy special Inside , Barry Jenkins’ The Underground Railroad and Raoul Peck’s Exterminate All the Brutes are among the final list of winners of 2022 Peabody Awards . The Peabodys, in their 82nd year, honor the year’s most powerful content across the fields of entertainment, documentary, news, podcast/radio, arts, children’s and youth, and public service programming. The organization based at the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia wrapped up a a weeklong rollout of all 30 winners Thursday. This year’s awards were presented by the likes of Melissa McCarthy, Morgan Freeman, John Legend, Kevin Bacon, H.E.R., Ethan Hawke, Jon Stewart, Hasan Minhaj, Riz Ahmed, LeVar Burton, Jenny Slate, Malcolm Gladwell and Adam Scott. Newsman Dan Rather and Fresh Air ‘s Terry Gross have already won this year’s Career Achievement Award and … [Read more...] about Peabody Awards: The Complete List Of 2022 Winners

EXCLUSIVE: WME has promoted Amanda Hacohen and Abe Cohen Hoffing to Partner in the Scripted Television department. Hacohen focuses on representing writers, directors, comedians, and growing companies for comedy creators such as Greg Daniels and Mike Judge (Bandera Entertainment), Andrew Goldberg (Brutus Pink), Rob McElhenney (More Better Productions), David Wain, and John Hamburg. Hacohen also signed Saturday Night Live breakout talent Please Don’t Destroy – a comedy trio consisting of Ben Marshall, John Higgins and Martin Herlihy – whose film, produced by Judd Apatow will premiere this summer. Other clients include Anna Drezen ( SNL , Praise Petey ), Punkie Johnson ( SNL ), Joel Kim Booster ( Fire Island , Loot ), Byron Wu (The Brothers Sun), Nicole Byer ( Grand Crew , Nailed It ), and Shiva Baby writer/director Emma Seligman and actor/writer Rachel Sennott, whose sophomore film Bottoms premieres this spring. Hacohen continues to be based in the … [Read more...] about WME Promotes Amanda Hacohen, Abe Cohen Hoffing to Partner In Scripted TV Department

The Peabody Awards are officially moving their annual awards ceremony to Los Angeles, three years after originally announcing the plan that was eventually sidelined by the Covid pandemic. The organization said Thursday it will honor its winners June 11, 2023 at the Beverly Wilshire. It will mark the first time the honors, bestowed annually by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia, will be held in L.A. For the past few events the ceremony was held in person at Cipriani Wall Street in New York City. This year will mark the first in-person event since 2019 for the awards, which honor the year’s stories that best “powerfully reflect the pressing social issues and the vibrant emerging voices of our day” across the sectors of entertainment, documentary, news, podcast/radio, arts, children’s and youth, immersive and interactive media, and public service programming. “Moving the Peabody Awards to Los Angeles, a city practically … [Read more...] about Peabody Awards Ceremony Finally Making Its Move To L.A., Sets 2023 Date

Well, the mostly predictable Oscar nominations arrived Tuesday morning with no disasters or truly egregious missteps. Even the snubs were fairly routine: no female directors, though women won the directing award in the past two years ; James Cameron and Joseph Kosinski, both with Best Picture nominees , were left out too. Such normalcy is too bad. And I mean that in the nicest possible way. It’s a weird but undeniable fact of Hollywood life that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and its pet awards ceremony feed on their own mistakes. Let things go well or follow an expected path, and the Oscars turn into a yawn. But screw something up, and suddenly it’s the Greatest Show on Earth all over again — back on the pedestal, just waiting to be knocked off by the howling crowd. Errors are an asset. Gaffes are gold. The Academy is never so interesting as when it is just, plain, obviously wrong. This is not a casual mechanism. By and large, average … [Read more...] about The Film Academy And Its Oscars Manage To Feed On Their Own Mistakes

French gender equality and diversity group Le Collectif 50/50 has hit out at the lack of female representation at the upcoming César awards, France’s equivalent to the Oscars. The protest comes after not a single woman made it into the Best Director category in nominations announced Wednesday. The awards ceremony is February 24 in Paris. Just one feature by a female director — Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi’s controversy-hit Forever Young — was nominated for Best Film. This outcome raised surprise in some quarters as there was a raft of strong features by female directors on release in France this year including Alice Winocour’s Paris Memories , Rebecca Zlotowski’s Other People’s Children , Léa Mysius’ The Five Devils and 2023 French Oscar submission Saint Omer by Alice Diop. “Le Collectif 50/50 deplores the total absence of women in the Best Director category and their lack of representation in the Best Film category,” the body wrote in a statement … [Read more...] about French Gender Equality Group Launches #CesarSoMale Campaign After Female Directors Shut Out Of Awards

Stubborn and iconoclastic as always, Jean-Luc Godard has passed to another realm –and by his own choice–at age 91. Ever impudent and exasperating, forever pushing boundaries but remaining elusive, and an artist in every fiber of his being, Godard always did exactly what he wanted to do; for a few years many followed him ardently, and for lots of us in the 1960s he led the way into a vastly exciting and personal form of cinema. Thereafter he went entirely his own way, losing most of his audience but remaining at the forefront of exploring what cinema is, could be, and, sometimes, what it absolutely shouldn’t be. The official obituaries and tributes will certainly convey Godard’s importance and influence through the 1960s, the way he helped liberate cinema from its literary and orderly appearance to something far more energized, unexpected, jarring and often exhilarating. Although Godard consumed and brilliantly wrote about the existing cinema as a young critic, he … [Read more...] about Godard Is Gone: A Remembrance Of The Stubborn & Iconoclastic Film Director

EXCLUSIVE : The Gotham Film & Media Institute has unveiled the winners of its fourth annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase. The five filmmakers chosen are Saleem Gondal ( Post Term , Feirstein Graduate School of Cinema), Yingtong Li ( The Silent Whistle , Emerson College), Taylor Mannsman ( Obscura , University of Texas at Austin), Shannon M. Sutherland ( They Flew Like Blackbirds , Florida State University) and Cheryl Wong ( Stigma, Style , NYU). The Gotham’s Short Film Showcase aims to discover and empower a diverse group of emerging filmmakers, and to foster multi-platform distribution of their work. Winners of this year’s showcase, supported by returning partners JetBlue and Focus Features, as well as new partner Soho House, had their works selected by a jury of filmmakers, curators and critics, with shorts from 23 graduate schools having been submitted. Each was recognized during the 2022 Gotham Awards Ceremony on November 28, received … [Read more...] about The Gotham Names Winners Of 4th Annual Focus Features & JetBlue Student Short Film Showcase