Shirley teaches laverne how to drive

Ita O’Brien , the pioneering Intimacy Coordinator who has worked on the likes of Normal People , I May Destroy You and Sex Education , has founded what is being called the “world’s first degree in intimacy practice.” O’Brien’s Intimacy on Set outfit has joined with the Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts on the two-year course, which will teach best practice in the fast-growing world of intimacy co-ordination and help build and support professionals in the increasingly crucial role. The formal nature of the training recognizes recent developments in the industry, for a role that was barely heard of a decade ago. O’Brien, who has led the charge to improve intimacy co-ordination on TV and film sets, said: “Intimacy practice is a young profession, and whilst awareness of its existence has grown considerably in the last few years, deep understanding of good practice is missing. “To ensure we develop a profession which can proudly grow with excellence we need to be … [Read more...] about ‘Normal People’ & ‘I May Destroy You’ Intimacy Coordinator Launches World’s First Intimacy Practice Degree

EXCLUSIVE: American-European media fund APX Group has appointed film industry veteran Anthony Buckner as Director of Film and Television Distribution and Acquisition, to head up a new department created as it continues its international expansion drive. This new department will operate from APX Group’s head office in Twickenham Film Studios in London, with Buckner working alongside CEO Shelley Hammond, who also heads up its UK production subsidiary Herd International Productions. Buckner was previously Head of Sales at Mel Gibson and Bruce Davey’s Icon Entertainment International and then Kaleidoscope Film Distribution and has also worked with companies such as Magnolia Pictures and GFM Films. In 2021, he launched his own company Buckstop Films. The first project to be handled by Buckner and his team is Wish Dragon 2 , the sequel to Sony Pictures Animation and Tencent Picture’s Shanghai-set 2021 film Wish Dragon which debuted internationally on Netflix in 2021. … [Read more...] about APX Group Hires Anthony Buckner To Head Up New Distribution & Acquisition Arm

UPDATED with statement, 10:10 AM: SAG-AFTRA and NPR today issued a joint statement about their ratification of a contract deal that averts a strike against the radio pubcaster: The Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) and NPR are pleased to announce the ratification and signing of a new three-year contract covering NPR’s news and programming employees. The contract was ratified last week by an overwhelming majority of NPR’s SAG-AFTRA represented employees and then signed by SAG-AFTRA and NPR at NPR headquarters in Washington, D.C. on Monday, July 31. NPR and SAG-AFTRA have shared a long and productive relationship throughout the years. This was evident in the recent negotiations, as NPR and SAG-AFTRA’s bargaining teams worked tirelessly and constructively to find common ground. Today NPR and SAG-AFTRA together celebrate the tremendous talents of NPR’s news and programming teams and look forward to supporting NPR’s mission and … [Read more...] about SAG-AFTRA & NPR Ratify Strike-Averting Contract Deal – Update

Bobbi Kelly Ercoline, who, along with her boyfriend (and later husband) Nick became an iconic, if unwitting, symbol of the Woodstock generation when their bedraggled, blanketed and poignant image was featured on the music festival’s 1970 soundtrack album, died Saturday following a lengthy illness. Her death was announced by husband of 54 years, Nick Ercoline. Neither a specific cause of death or age were disclosed, but Ercoline wrote that his wife was surrounded by family when she passed. “She lived her life well, and left this world in a much better place,” Nick Ercoline wrote. “If you knew her, you loved her. She lived by her saying, ‘Be kind.'” He added, “She didn’t deserve this past years nightmare, but she isn’t suffering from the physical pain anymore and that brings some comfort to us.” Nick Ercoline and Bobbi Kelly were both 20 years old and had been dating less than two months when they decided on a whim to drive the 40 miles from their New York State … [Read more...] about Bobbi Ercoline Dies: Blanket-Draped Woodstock Concertgoer Was Pictured On Iconic Album Cover

EXCLUSIVE : In competition, Apple Studios is acquiring rights to Cesca Major ’s latest novel . It will be developed as an Apple Original Film from Apple Studios, with Reese Witherspoon ’s Hello Sunshine set to be producer. The author will be executive producer. There is a Groundhog Day element to this one, as a woman relives the same day over, trying to keep her family and career from imploding as she attempts to save her husband’s life. Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter will produce for Hello Sunshine, and Ashley Strumwasser will be executive producer alongside Major. William Morrow published Maybe Next Time in the U.S. on March 7, and the novel will be published in the UK by HarperCollins on March 30. Major is a novelist and screenwriter who has written several psychological thrillers under the name C.D. Major. Cesca’s titles include A Thin Place and Amazon hit The Other Girl, which was longlisted for a CWA Gold Dagger Award. Cesca has worked in … [Read more...] about Apple Studios Lands Cesca Major Novel ‘Maybe Next Time’; Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine Producing