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The White House said President Joe Biden will present the 2021 National Medals of Arts in conjunction with the 2021 National Humanities Medals on Tuesday during a ceremony in the East Room. The list for the National Medal of Arts recipients includes Bruce Springsteen , José Feliciano, Gladys Knight, Julia Louis-Dreyfus , Mindy Kaling , Antonio Martorell-Cardona, Judith Francisca Baca, Fred Eychaner, Joan Shigekawa and Vera Wang, along with organizations the Billie Holiday Theatre and the International Association of Blacks in Dance. The honor, the highest award given to artists and arts patrons by the U.S. government, goes to individuals or groups who “…are deserving of special recognition by reason of their outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States.” The NEA reviews the nominations each year and provides recommendations to the President, who selects the recipients. The National Humanities … [Read more...] about Bruce Springsteen, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Mindy Kaling, Gladys Knight, More To Receive National Medals Of Arts Tuesday

A singer has apologised for “butchering” the British national anthem at an England football match on Thursday evening. Italian-American singer Ellynora had been asked to perform God Save the King before the kick-off of the European Championship qualifier match in Napoli. However, she appeared to have trouble with the song, singing off-key, repeating the first line twice and fiddling with her earpiece. Cameras caught the players catching each other’s eye in bemusement at the disaster and one TV pundit called the performance “a shambles” while fans watching on social media were quick to chime in, accusing her of “butchering” the anthem: Now Ellynora – who previously attempted to represent San Marino in this year’s Eurovision Song Contest – has apologised, explaining a technical error meant she was hearing the music in her earpiece, but out of sync with her performance, and she found it impossible to catch up. And she told  the Daily Mail newspaper that she was … [Read more...] about Singer Explains Why She “Butchered” UK National Anthem In Front Of Thousands Of Football Fans

The British Film Institute ( BFI ) today announced that it will grant $44m (£36.6m) in cash awards over three years to support fiction feature films as part of its new National Lottery Filmmaking Fund. The cash will be available through four distinct funds: Discovery – The discovery fund will be dedicated to directorial debuts and aim to support six feature films per year, each budgeted below $4m (£3.5m). The first deadline for applications is April 24 for fully-developed projects seeking to shoot this year. Applications will reopen in July and November. Impact — The impact fund will be a rolling fund focused on projects from second-time filmmakers and beyond or debuts budgeted over £3.5m. The cash pot will aim to support five projects a year with an emphasis on scale and audience impact. Development — The development fund will cover costs at all stages of the development process. The fund will aim to support around 60-70 projects per year. Creative … [Read more...] about BFI Unveils New $66m National Lottery Filmmaking Fund

“Vice President Harris, Second Gentleman, former president Selina Meyer, welcome to the White House,” President Joe Biden said Tuesday, opening a ceremony for the 2021 National Medals of Arts and the National Humanities Medals recipients. Veep star Julia Louis-Dreyfus was among “23 extraordinary Americans,” as Biden described them, awarded honors today in a star-studded East Room gathering . Praising “my friend President Julia Louis-Dreyfus” as “one of the most decorated comedic actors of our time,” Biden made a point of noting that “she embraces life’s absurdity with absolute wit.” “I’m going to talk to Julia later about whether she liked being VP or President better,” Biden quipped. Of course, even with the 2019 conclusion of the Emmy-winning Veep , Biden and Louis-Dreyfus/Meyer have a long history on and off the screen. Along with the actor’s appearance at the virtual 2020 Democratic National Convention, it is a relationship perhaps best exemplified by … [Read more...] about Joe Biden Welcomes “Former President Selina Meyer” To White House For National Medal Of Arts Ceremony

Casey Bloys wants Kate Winslet to be venerated in the States. During a closing keynote session here in Lille, France at Series Mania, HBO and HBO Max Chairman and CEO Bloys told delegates he had recently visited London, where Winslet is filming the Stephen Frears, Will Tracy and Frank Rich series The Palace (WT). “If the U.S. could make her a national treasure I would like to do that,” he said, to laughs and applause in the room. “I think she’s great and the dailies I’ve seen of the show are fantastic.” In February, HBO released a first look of Mare of Easttown star Winslet in The Palace , which tells the story of one year within the walls of the palace of an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. Cast also includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton and Hugh Grant. RELATED: Deadline’s Full Coverage Of Series Mania 2023 Bloys delved deep into his slate, pointing to new seasons of House of the … [Read more...] about “I’d Make Kate Winslet A National Treasure”: HBO’s Casey Bloys Talks ‘The Palace’, Upcoming Slate & International Plans – Series Mania

TMZ.com The 2021 NBA All-Star Game is in Atlanta -- so it's only fitting organizers booked the woman behind "Midnight Train to Georgia" to sing the national anthem! The NBA announced the legendary Gladys Knight will do the honors of singing the Star-Spangled Banner at the State Farm Arena on March 7, as part of a tribute to HBCUs [historically black colleges and universities]. In fact, the NBA notes Knight graduated from Shaw University in North Carolina -- one of the oldest HBCUs in the country. Knight has experience singing the anthem at high-profile events -- remember when she crushed it at the Super Bowl in 2019?! As for the NBA All-Star Game, entertainment will also include an original rendition of “Lift Every Voice and Sing” -- known as the Black National Anthem -- to be performed by the Clark Atlanta University Philharmonic Society Choir. "The rendition will honor NAACP leader and Black national anthem songwriter James Weldon Johnson, who … [Read more...] about Gladys Knight Tapped to Sing National Anthem at 2021 NBA All-Star Game

The new National Lottery Filmmaking Fund is the BFI ’s attempt at creating a clearer and more transparent funding mechanism with an emphasis on equity, diversity, and inclusion, Mia Bays , director of the fund, told the Deadline shortly before the launch of the new plan Tuesday morning. The fund, first announced late last year as part of the BFI’s 10-year strategic plan, will grant $44m (£36.6m) in cash awards over three years to support fiction feature films. The cash will be available through four separate funding strands focused on different parts of the filmmaking pyramid, from debut features and development to more experienced filmmakers. The fund will also hand out $21m (£17.4m) in cash awards to support documentaries, shorts, talent development, and immersive works. The total sum will be $66m (£54M) across three years. “The fund is moving from being a very wide brief into being very focused,” Bays told Deadline. “It’s very much evidence-informed. It’s informed … [Read more...] about BFI’s Mia Bays Talks New Filmmaking Fund, The End Of The Vision Awards & The Challenge Of Supporting UK Film With Less Money

EXCLUSIVE: Oscar winners Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin and BAFTA-nominated director Natalie Hewit are boarding the National Geographic documentary Endurance (working title), the incredible story of “the epic search to find the lost ship of Antarctic explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton.” The announcement comes almost exactly a year after Shackelton’s ship Endurance was discovered eerily intact on the Weddell Sea floor near the northernmost part of the Antarctic, more than a hundred years after the vessel sank. The Falklands Maritime Heritage Trust organized and funded the mission to find the historic wreck. Shackelton and his crew of 27 set sail in late 1914 on an exploratory mission endorsed by Winston Churchill, then Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty. The ship became trapped in sea ice, forcing the crew to quit the vessel and set up camp on an ice floe. Then, on November 27, 1915, Endurance sank. As one crewman wrote, “She went down bow first, her stern … [Read more...] about NatGeo Doc On Dramatic Find Of Shackelton’s Ship Endurance To Be Directed By Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin And Natalie Hewit

At about 8:18 p.m. Monday, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning in parts of Los Angeles and Ventura Counties. “Take cover now,” read the alert that flashed across phones in Northwestern Malibu and Southern Ventura County. Local TV stations also issued push alerts with the warning that took many residents by surprise. The National Weather Service in Oxnard warned of “a severe thunderstorm capable of producing a tornado was located over Point Mugu State Park, or 10 miles south of Camarillo, moving northeast at 35 mph.” The notice stated that local “radar indicated rotation” and “this dangerous storm will be near…Western Malibu around 825 PM PDT. Newbury Park around 830 PM PDT.” Under precautionary measures, the alert urged residents to “TAKE COVER NOW! Move to a basement or an interior room on the lowest floor of a sturdy building. Avoid windows. If you are outdoors, in a mobile home, or in a vehicle, move to the closest substantial shelter and protect yourself … [Read more...] about Los Angeles Tornado Warning Flashes Across Phones As NWS & Local TV Stations Push Out Rare Alert

World class climber Jimmy Chin met his future wife, filmmaker Chai Vasarhelyi , over a mountain – of footage. He had been working for a number of years on the documentary that would become Meru , the story of an attempt by Chin and his fellow alpinists and friends Conrad Anker and Renan Ozturk to become the first to summit the perilous Shark’s Fin peak in the Himalayas. Perhaps because he was so close to the subject matter, the film wasn’t quite cohering. “I had submitted it to a few film festivals and got turned down,” Chin explained during an Artists & Auteurs conversation at CPH:DOX in Copenhagen. He told moderator Thom Powers, TIFF’s documentary programmer and host of the Pure Nonfiction podcast, that while struggling over the film he crossed paths with Vasarhelyi at a conference. “I knew that she had quite an accomplished career as a filmmaker,” Chin said. “So, I asked her to screen what I had cut so far. She didn’t call me back for three months, but it … [Read more...] about Oscar-Winning Filmmakers Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin On Love Stories – Their Own, And They One They Tell In ‘Wild Life’ – CPH:DOX