South by Southwest (aka SXSW ) has revealed its final round for its already robust lineup of keynotes and featured sessions. The online iteration of the SXSW conference and festival is set to take place March 16-20. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg , host New York Times podcast Together Apart Priya Parker, and Interior Chinatown author Charles Yu join the Keynote lineup that includes previously-announced sessions from political leader and game-changer Stacey Abrams as well as music icon Willie Nelson. “The three Keynote Speakers we’re announcing today are a perfect complement to our Conference lineup for SXSW Online 2021,” said Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer. “Charles Yu’s amazing novel Interior Chinatown brings a completely unique perspective to the immigrant experience in the United States. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg will emphasize SXSW’s continued focus on how technological innovations are transforming mobility. And no one … [Read more...] about SXSW Adds Pete Buttigieg As Keynote; Ava DuVernay, George W. Bush And More Set For Featured Sessions
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Pulitzer Finalist 1MDB Scandal Reporters Bradley Hope & Tom Wright Launch Journalism-Focused Production Co Project Brazen
Tom Wright and Bradley Hope, the former Wall Street Journal reporters who together led the team that broke open the 1MDB scandal, are launching Project Brazen , a journalism studio that will tell true stories and develop IP for multiple formats including series and podcasts. The pair also co-penned the book Billion Dollar Whale, about the fraud’s mastermind, Malaysian playboy Jho Low. The $6 billion scandal brought down a government and forced Goldman Sachs to pay the largest ever penalty under U.S. bribery laws. A series based on the book is in development with SK Global. Project Brazen was the codename Wright and Hope gave to a three-year investigation that spanned the globe from Curaçao to Shanghai, Kuala Lumpur and Los Angeles, and is being repurposed for the duo’s new outfit. The company is aiming to create and develop IP across podcasts, books, documentaries, television series and films. It is initially being self-funded using revenue from the pair’s projects but Hope … [Read more...] about Pulitzer Finalist 1MDB Scandal Reporters Bradley Hope & Tom Wright Launch Journalism-Focused Production Co Project Brazen
Int’l Critics Line: Todd McCarthy On Iran’s Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Sun Children’
Majid Majidi has been making sensitive and trenchant films about kids in Iran for three decades and he’s still doing it in Sun Children ( Khorshid ), a shrewdly observed humanistic drama about some young teens scrambling to make their way in a difficult world. Winner of the Best Picture prize at last year’s Fajr Film Festival and an official Venice Festival entry, this brisk drama focuses sympathetically on several marginalized but striving kids whose every waking moments are devoted to survival strategies. The International Feature Oscar-shortlisted title from Iran is being distributed by Strand Releasing in the U.S. Related Story Int'l Critics Line: Anna Smith On Ivory Coast's Oscar-Shortlisted 'Night Of The Kings' Freckle-faced Ali (Rouhollah Zamani, winner of Venice’s Marcello Mastroianni Award for Best New Young Actor) works in an automobile garage and in the opening scene leads his three good buddies in a botched attempt to steal tires off fancy … [Read more...] about Int’l Critics Line: Todd McCarthy On Iran’s Oscar-Shortlisted ‘Sun Children’
Hear Offspring’s ‘Let the Bad Times Roll,’ From First Album in Nine Years
The Offspring return to their signature mix of guileless pop-punk and forked-tongue irony on “Let the Bad Times Roll,” the title track off their upcoming record, which will be their first in nearly a decade. Although the title puns off the Cars, the track starts off sounding a bit more like the Police, as Dexter Holland mewls the song title over acoustic guitar before the band settles into a hard rock groove and he sings to his lover, “Let me know what you decide, apathy or suicide,” as he sardonically tries to make the relationship work. The full album is due out on April 16th. “I feel like we’re in a unique period in history where instead of our world leaders saying ‘we’re doing our best’ it’s more like they’re saying ‘fuck it’ and it’s really scary,” Holland said of the song in a statement. “Folks are saying, if it’s all going to hell, we might as well make the most out of it, or at least go out swinging,” guitarist Noodles added. “‘Let the Bad Times Roll!'” As with the … [Read more...] about Hear Offspring’s ‘Let the Bad Times Roll,’ From First Album in Nine Years