Bob Newhart has died. He wouldn’t want people to be anything other than low-key about it… perhaps a deadpan quip. And 94 years is a great run for a person. Maybe not for an elf, mind you, but remember he was management. Still, I’m quite bummed, and I’m hardly alone. You can read obituaries and appreciations from CinemaBlend has a good rundown of where you can see and hear some of his work. And the…
I’m very happy to announce an audio fiction gig I did some moons back, Clutch, is coming to the podwaves… today! I am part of a huge and very talented cast — and the mini-series all comes from the mind of Kennedy Phillips, whom some of you may know from Magus Elgar. But you don’t have to take my word for it! Listen (and take a look at) the many wonderful and wonderfully silly characters…
Donald Sutherland, whose acting career spanned generations of filmgoers, has died at age 88. You can read about it in: As one might expect from working so many decades, many in the film industry are mourning and sharing their remembrances. One of the aspects that I find so interesting about the lanky actor with the piercing eyes is he did prodigious character actor work, yet didn’t submerge into the role as some character actors are…
As mentioned the other week, Star Trek: Discovery has begun its final season. One of the highlights of the series for me has been the character of Saru, played by Doug Jones. There are a lot of actors whose mere presence bodes well for a production, but Doug Jones is one who historically has done so with his physical presence. In fact, one one level, he’s harder to spot than Gary Oldman, because while Gary…
While I was covering the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes last year, an obvious question for a follow-up was what the future of Hollywood would be. While there’s certainly been a lot of pieces since the end of the strikes, one of the conversations I found that touched on this was with Adam Conover on his Factually podcast. It’s from August of last year, arguably during the height of the strikes. I actually linked to it…
So, the actors’ union, SAG-AFTRA, approved a tentative agreement with AMPTP on November 8th, but the agreement has yet to be ratified by the membership and there appear to be a lot of questions about how AI is being dealt with (actors’ concerns being similar yet different in some important regards than writers). So I’ll plan to write something post-ratification (and yes, the presumption is that the agreement will be ratified). But the ratification vote…
Like many, many other people, I had hoped that the end to the WGA strike would lead to a quick negotiation with SAG-AFTRA in its wake. Unfortunately, the AMPTP has evidently walked away from the negotiating table because learning nothing is… a power move? I’m not sure. Anyway, I am already speculating on what the future will bring, because even though we’ve heard a lot about how streaming isn’t the most lucrative business model ever…
Evidently, meetings will resume between the WGA and AMPTP staring tomorrow, Wednesday, September 20th, so just a few things to update from the Strikes. “Hot Strike Summer” continues to radiate heat throughout the film industry and beyond. The studios suspended some development deals with more established writers, some of whom were about to meet with the studios before the main WGA/AMPTP meeting was announced. Related to labor organizing Marvel VFX artists have been feeling the…
We’re at the end of Summer with the start of Labor Day Weekend, we’re well over 100 days into the WGA strike, and we do have some developments since both strikes began. But before I get to that, I should cover what hasn’t changed. It’s still a puzzler as to why the companies haven’t settled considering what is being asked. AMPTP, the group representing the companies (both the traditional studios like Paramount and the streamers…
I’ve been fortunate enough to record parts for several audio fiction pieces this year and the first one to drop hits me right in the vintage radio feels. It’s a great reworking of a episode of Escape starring perennial Gunsmoke voice actor and the iconic Paladin of Have Gun, Will Travel, John Dehner. Escape is one of my favorites of those old shows and is similar to the more long-running, better known anthology show Suspense.…