Nominate yourself for an award

BAFTA has celebrated the number of older white women nominated for best actress at its Television Awards amid a steep decline in ethnic diversity in performance shortlists. All six nominees in the Leading Actress category are white and have been nominated for BAFTAs across film and TV multiple times in the past. Asked if BAFTA had hoped for a different outcome, CEO Jane Millichip said: “There is representation in that category in the fact that if you look at the age of the actresses and the roles written for them, it is extraordinary. This is something that we’ve discussed for a long time in the television and film world: Are the roles written for women over the age of 40? That is a really impressive result.” BAFTA later clarified that Millichip was referring to “representation” for older women as a separate issue from diversity, which it considers to relate to ethnicity and socio-economic background among other factors. Imelda Staunton (aged 67) has been nominated … [Read more...] about BAFTA Defends All-White Best TV Actress Shortlist Amid Big Drop In Nominations For People Of Color

This morning’s Tony Award nominations favored the familiar, with Mean Girls and SpongeBob SquarePants leading the field with 12 nods apiece. The American debut of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child paced new plays with 10 nominations, and the revival of Angels in America had a strong showing with 11 nominations, most in Tony history for a play. (See the full list below.) Other shows posting impressive tallies included The Band’s Visit , with 11 nominations going to the original musical based on a 2007 Israeli film. An acclaimed revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Carousel also scored 11 nominations, including one for Renée Fleming, who is better known for her career as one of the opera world’s most venerable stars. Lincoln Center’s posh reboot of My Fair Lady garnered 10 nominations, and the Denzel Washington-starring revival of Eugene O’Neill’s The Iceman Cometh received eight. Frozen , the latest Disney adaptation to head to Broadway , joining The … [Read more...] about Tony Award Nominations: ‘Mean Girls,’ ‘SpongeBob’ And ‘Harry Potter’ Lead New Crop; ‘Angels,’ ‘Carousel’ Top Revivals

Bruce Springsteen ’s sold-out run on Broadway was ineligible for the Tony Awards by design. Given the scarcity of tickets, producers (and the Boss) didn’t want to take seats from fans and hand out comp tickets to the awards voters and press who take up a chunk of prime real estate this time of year. Even so, Tony night on June 10 will still be Springsteen-fortified, as the American Theatre Wing announced this morning that he and John Leguizamo will receive special Tony honors during the ceremony. Latin History for Morons , Leguizamo’s solo show, was also nominated for Best Play, its sole competitive Tony nod. Bruce Springsteen will receive his Special Tony Award for his ongoing show Springsteen on Broadway , which offers fans an intimate look at the music icon. The Theatre Wing said Leguizamo’s honorary award will salute his body of work and his “commitment to the theater, bringing diverse stories and audiences to Broadway for three decades.” Even though he … [Read more...] about Bruce Springsteen To Get Special Tony Award For Sold-Out Broadway Run

I suspect we’ll be seeing more than one silly and misleading “frozen out” reference in coverage of this year’s Tony Awards nominations – starting with that one – but the absence of Frozen in the leading actress categories (Patti Murin and Caissie Levy), and director (Michael Grandage) from the 2018 nominations roster has gotta be a sting for Disney, even with major consolations like nods for Best musical, book and original score. Though critical praise for Frozen was hardly unanimous, I’d have thought Levy’s performance of “Let It Go” would have provided safe passage. Same for Murin’s charming, barely-leaves-the-stage performance as the underdog Princess Anna, and I’d have nominated either over…But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Here’s a closer, first-reaction look at some of the categories. Just my opinions, of course, and I might very well be fine-tuning and re-thinking right up until the trophies are handed out June 10. Best Performance by an Actor in a … [Read more...] about Tonys 2018: Snubs, Surprises & Analysis From ‘Harry Potter’ Magic To “Let It Go”

EXCLUSIVE : Amazon Studios has begun setting the supporting cast for its Paul Feig -helmed action-comedy Grand Death Lotto , with Ayden Mayeri ( Somebody I Used to Know ), Seann William Scott ( Welcome to Flatch ), Dolly de Leon ( Triangle of Sadness ) and Donald Elise Watkins ( Project Artemis ) signing on for roles. John Cena, Awkwafina and Simu Liu lead the ensemble of the pic now in production, as previously announced. The Amazon Original Movie is set in a very near future, in which a Grand Lottery has been established in economically challenged California. The only catch? You’ll need to kill the winner before sundown in order to legally claim their prize. New L.A. transplant Katie (Awkwafina) accidentally finds herself with the winning ticket and must join forces with amateur jackpot protector Noel (Cena) to make it to sundown in order to claim her multi-billion-dollar prize, all while dealing with Noel’s protection rival Louis Lewis (Liu), who also … [Read more...] about ‘Grand Death Lotto’: Ayden Mayeri, Seann William Scott, Dolly De Leon & Donald Elise Watkins Join Amazon Action-Comedy

EXCLUSIVE: SAG Award-winning and Grammy-nominated actor and singer Amber Riley has signed with ColorCreative for representation. Known for her breakout role as Mercedes Jones on Fox’s musical comedy series Glee , Riley most recently starred in the Lifetime movie Single Black Female and won Season 8 of The Masked Singer. Riley made her West End debut in 2016 as Effie White in Dreamgirls for which she received the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Musical and the Evening Standard Theater Award for Best Musical Performance. In 2020, Riley released her debut EP Riley and is currently recording a second EP with Grammy-winning producer Harmony Samuels . Born and raised in Compton, Riley most recently became the first celebrity to win both Dancing With the Stars and The Masked Singer . “Amber Riley brings a powerhouse talent to the table with her incredible voice and just as strong acting skills,” said Raj Raghavan, Head of Talent at … [Read more...] about ‘Glee’ Alumna Amber Riley Signs With ColorCreative For Management

EXCLUSIVE: Former CAA agent and Imagine Artist Management partner-manager Raj Raghavan is joining Echo Lake Entertainment as a talent manager, where he’ll continue to rep a roster of accomplished actors, playwrights, comedians and novelists. Raghavan’s clients include Golden Globe Nominee Jason Lee ( My Name Is Earl ), four-time Filmfare Award winner and Bollywood superstar Alia Bhatt ( Gully Boy ), British Independent Film Award winner Ashley Walters ( Top Boy ), BAFTA nominee Suraj Sharma ( Life of Pi, God Friended Me ), Ryan J. Haddad ( The Politician ), Brandon Scott Jones ( The Good Place ), Daria Berenato ( WWE Superstar Sonya Deville ), Sebastián Zurita ( Cómo Sobrevivir Soltero ), Niv Nissim ( Sublet ), Gibran Saleem ( Better Things ), Amanda Shechtman ( Sunnyside ), Thomas Beaudoin ( Shameless ), Anna Maguire ( The Hummingbird Project ), Gil Cates, Jr., and Sameer Pandya (novelist, Members Only ). Raghavan comes to Echo Lake from … [Read more...] about Former Imagine Artist Management Partner Raj Raghavan Joins Echo Lake Entertainment

EXCLUSIVE : Lion Forge Animation, the company behind the Oscar-winning Hair Love , has been rebranded as Lion Forge Entertainment as it is expanding its slate to include live-action in addition to animation. It has named veteran family entertainment executive Stephanie Sperber its President and chief Content Officer. Sperber is joining Lion Forge after recently leaving Imagine , where she was president of Imagine Kids+Family, a division she helped launch. She will report to CEO David Steward II, who founded Lion Forge Animation in 2019, and COO Edward Hamati. “Stephanie’s unparalleled experience, creative instincts, industry relationships, business acumen and work ethos will be a driving force for Lion Forge and pave the way for us to enter exciting new frontiers,” Steward said. “The Lion Forge brand has stood for diversity and representation in animation for the past four years, and I’m thrilled to take that brand and that mission into the live action series and feature … [Read more...] about Stephanie Sperber Named President & CCO Of Lion Forge As Animation Company Expands Into Live-Action

EXCLUSIVE : Aditya Sood has been promoted to President of Lord Miller — the production company of Academy Award-winning filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller ( Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse ) — with Dan Shear joining as EVP and head of Television. These strategic moves are described as a natural evolution for Lord Miller, which has continued to expand in both film and television over the past several years — recently seeing Universal release their Elizabeth Banks -directed comedy Cocaine Bear , with four other projects coming up for release this year. Regarded as having a strong eye for standout original material, Sood has been with Lord Miller as President of Film since 2019, and will now expand his oversight to include all aspects of the company including television, adding to his existing responsibilities for overseeing their film efforts. Shear comes to Lord Miller from Peacock , where he served as EVP of Comedy Development, and will now be … [Read more...] about Lord Miller Ups Aditya Sood To President, Names Dan Shear EVP Of TV

Extremely devastating news: MGM and United Artists Releasing distribution boss Erik Lomis died suddenly Wednesday at his home in Santa Monica, we have learned from sources. No details were provided in regards to his death. He was 64. Lomis was a towering figure behind many filmmakers’ hits including those from Quentin Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, Adam McKay, Sylvester Stallone, Ryan Coogler, David O. Russell, Lee Daniels and Tom Hooper to name a few, and most recently Michael B. Jordan with Creed III . In the wake of Amazon’s purchase of MGM, Lomis, who made the jump, becoming an entrusted consigliere to Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke as the streamer looks to capitalize on more big-screen hits. Lomis gave Amazon a big taste of the box office with its first theatrical hit Creed III, which opened to more than $100 million worldwide and is currently grossing to $225M-plus at the global box office. It was Lomis’ bold decision to move Creed III out of … [Read more...] about Erik Lomis Dies: Veteran MGM Distribution Chief Was 64