Support Leroy on Patreon.
MOVIES - From BoxOfficeMojo: The winner of the 1/29 to 1/31/2016 weekend box office is "Kung Fu Panda 3" with an estimated take of $41 million.
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From Variety: The actor, Frank Finlay, died Saturday, January 30, 2016 at the age of 89. He earned a best supporting actor Oscar nomination for his role in "Othello" (1965). Many may remember him as 'Porthos' in the 1973 version of "The Three Musketeers," with Oliver Reed, Michael York, and Richard Chamberlain.
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MOVIES - From Complex: Manohla Dargis coins the term, "DuVernay Test" in honor of Ava DuVerany.
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MOVIES - From TOH: ACE Awards for film and TV editors winners announced.
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SPORTS - From YahooSports: I'm not a robot, Serena Williams says.
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SPORTS - From YahooSports: There are five high school players named after Kobe Bryant who are hot college basketball prospects.
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STAR WARS - From YahooMovies: Details about Forest Whitaker's character in "Star Wars: Rogue One."
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NEWS - From RSN: A scary article about the Zika virus.
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TELEVISION - From EOnline: "X-Files" creator, Chris Carter, talks about the future of the show.
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TELEVISION: From TheWrap: Jade Pinkett-Smith returning to FOX's "Gotham" for multiple episodes as "Fish Mooney."
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TELEVISION - From TheWrap: "Gilmore Girls" revival is at Netflix, but I'm not interested.
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NEWS - From BuzzFlash: Erin Brockovich says that the Flint, Michigan water crisis is just the tip of the iceberg, in terms of other areas facing lead poisoning.
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CRIME - From Truthout: Supreme Court, Montgomery v. Louisiana, may allow juveniles sentenced to life without parole a chance to be retroactively re-sentenced.
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MUSIC - From YahooMusic: See the Coldplay-Beyonce video, "Hymn for the Weekend."
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COMICS - From WashPost: What Star Wars and Marvel can learn from British cult comic, Judge Dredd.
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CRIME - From YahooNews: The Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, is not living a lonely life in prison.
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HISTORY - From MintPressNews: Famous whistler blower, Daniel Ellsberg (The Pentagon Papers) says top military brass knew in advance that Vietnam War would fail.
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POLITICS - From RollingStone: The mag says that Donald Trump skilled the 1/28/2016 GOP debate because he hates women.
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TRAILERS - From DreamWorks: A new trailer for the CG-animated, Trolls.
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OSCARS - From Vulture: I'm surprised by this. I thought because it was controversially left off the best picture Oscar list, at least one of the producers of the film would be invited to the Oscars ceremony. No, only the four nominated writers have been attended.
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MOVIES - From Deadline: Tom Cruise and Jerry Bruckheimer talk "Top Gun" sequel.
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OSCARS - From RSN: Spike Lee's Facebook post on his decision to boycott the 2016 Oscars.
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HISTORY - From CounterPunch: Mumia Abu-Jamal on Huey P. Newton.
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POLITICS - From DemocracyNow: The father of David and Charles Koch, Fred Kock, collaborated with the Nazis.
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OSCARS - From teleSUR: Hollywood stars - Steven Soderbergh, Mark Ruffalo, Dustin Hoffman, Viola Davis and others - say Oscars and all of America is rife with racism.
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HISTORY - From Gawker: Woody Guthrie hated his landlord, Donald Trump's father, Fred Trump.
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POLITICS - From TheHill: Hacktivist group, Anonymous, wants Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder in jail over Flint, Michigan water crisis.
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COMICS - From DenofGeek: DC Comics teases something called "Rebirth."
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TELEVISION - From BleedingCool: Corey Hawkins of Straight Outta Compton will take the lead in FOX's revival of the TV series, "24," which is being called "24: Legacy."
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GRAMMYS - From YahooMusic: Will Smith once boycotted the Grammys.
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OBIT - From YahooTV: The actor, Abe Vigoda, died today (January 26, 2016). He was 94. Vigoda is best remembered for his role as "Detective Fish" on the television series, "Barney Miller." He also had a pivotal role in "The Godfather," as the mobster, Sal Tessio.
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POLITICS - From YahooNews: How Bernie Sanders will get anything done.
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POLITICS - From YahooPolitics: Ben and Jerry of Ben & Jerry have created a limited edition Bernie Sanders ice cream, "Bernie's Yearning."
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NEWS - From Reuters: McDonald's sales soar, thanks in large part to all-day breakfast menu.
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MOVIES - From Variety: DreamWorks live-action adaptation of the manga, "Ghost in the Shell" (starring Scarlett Johansson) has moved from Disney to Paramount.
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MOVIES/TV - From Vulture: Directors Guild president, Paris Barclay (an African American), says that more than just the Academy's changes are need to address diversity in Hollywood.
TELEVISION - From IndieWire: Woody Allen is reportedly going to star in his Amazon series... with Miley Cyrus.
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MUSIC - From BET: Kanye West reveals track listing for his upcoming solo LP, "SWISH."
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MOVIES - From BET: Nick Cannon, who had a song that was eligible for the Oscars, has written an #OscarsSoWhite poem.
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SPORTS - From YahooSports: 5 early Super Bowl storylines.
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WEBCOMICS - From ComicBookBin: New Constant Chp. 2 Pg. 2
From ComicBookBin: New episode of Johnny Bullet - #58 - in English
From ComicBookBin: New episode in French
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MOVIES - From Vulture: Daniel Radcliffe explains his erection in "Swiss Army Man."
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TELEVISION - From Vulture: Here is a recap from "The X-Files" Episode 1 of the six-issue miniseries.
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POLITICS - From TheAtlantic: Now, that ugly puppy dog is no longer governor, Louisiana embraces Obamacare, thanks to new Gov. John Bel Edwards.
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AWARDS - From Vulture: "I completely deserve this!" Shonda Rhimes says during her acceptance speech at the 2016 Producers Guild Awards.
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OSCARS - From Vulture: Another white actor has to backtrack on diversity in Oscars/Hollywood comments. This time it is the fine Julie Delpy. And... she's not entirely wrong.
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MOVIES - From BoxOfficeMojo: The winner of the 2/22 to 2/24/2016 box office weekend is Oscar-favorite, "The Revenant" with an estimated take of $16 million.
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From YahooGames: See the new "Batman vs. Superman" spot that aired during the NFC Championships Game.
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COMICS - From Patreon: My review of "Obi-Wan and Anakin #1."
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COMICS - From ComicBookBin: My review of "Kimi Ni Todoke Vol. 23."
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POLITICS - From RT: Trump says he could shoot someone and still not lose his loyal supporters.
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RACE - From RSN: “The laws are recast and enforced in order to suppress any type of minority movement.”
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OSCARS - From Variety: Chris Rock will remain as host, and will address #OscarsSoWhite during his monologue. He and his writing staff are rewriting their work for the show.
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TELEVISION - From Variety: Gillian Anderson was offered half the salary of what David Duchovny recieved to return to X-Files. Apparently, the show often treated her like a sidekick.
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OSCARS -
Deadline: Academy unveils major rules changes to diversify Oscars.
Deadline: Historic changes met with praise and outrage.
TheGuardian: Current Oscar-nominee Charlotte Rampling finds #OscarsSoWhite so racist to white people.
From Deadline: Then, Ms. Rampling has to check herself.
From Deadline: On diversity - Oscars at the end of the food chain says Oscar winner and favorite, Alejandro Gonzales Inarritu.
From Deadline: Danny DeVito - We're all racists.
From Deadline: Oscar-winning director, Jonathan Demme, suggests re-calibrating this year's Oscar nominations.
COMICS - From TheWrap: "Thor: Ragnarok" director, Taiki Waititi, talks about about making the film funnier.
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From Zoolander 2 - new video content:
Blue Steel Selfie Studio here and here.
Meet Don Atari from House of Atoz here.
Sunday, January 31, 2016
Review: "Jodorowsky's Dune" Documents the Beautiful Madness of an Iconoclast
[A version of this review was originally posted on Patreon.]
Jodorowsky’s Dune (2013)
Running time: 90 minutes (1 hour, 30 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for some violent and sexual images and drug references
DIRECTOR: Frank Pavich
PRODUCERS: Frank Pavich, Stephen Scarlata, Travis Stevens
CINEMATOGRAPHER: David Cavallo
EDITORS: Paul Docherty and Alex Ricciardi
COMPOSER: Kurt Stenzel
DOCUMENTARY – History, Film, Art
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky, Brontis Jodorowsky, Michel Seydoux, Devin Faraci, Chris Foss, Jean-Paul Gibon, H.R. Giger, Gary Kurtz, Drew McWeeney, Diane O’Bannon, Nicolas Winding Refn, and Richard Stanley
Jodorowsky’s Dune is a 2013 American documentary film from director Frank Pavich. This movie is the story of film director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s ambitious plans to adapt the seminal science fiction novel, Dune, into a film during the mid-1970s.
Dune is an epic science fiction novel that was originally serialized in the American science fiction magazine, Analog, over a two year period, from 1963 to 1965. Chilton Books published Dune as a hardcover in 1965. It won the first Nebula Award for “Best Novel” in 1965, and it shared the Hugo Award for “Best Novel” in 1966 (with …And Call Me Conrad by Roger Zelazny).
In 1971, film producer Arthur P. Jacobs optioned the film rights to Dune, but died before he could develop a film. In 1974, a French consortium purchased Dune’s film rights from Jacobs’ production company. Alejandro Jodorowsky was set to direct the film.
Jodorowsky was born in Chile in 1929. At a young age, he began writing poetry and later also became involved in theater. He moved to France in 1959, where he continued to work in theater and also made his first short film. He moved to Mexico and continued his work in avant-garde theater, but he later gained tremendous fame and notoriety for his work in film, beginning with Fando y Lis. His fame grew with the midnight movie cult classic, El Topo (1970), and with Holy Mountain (1973).
In 1974, Jodorowsky began writing the massive script that would be his adaptation of Dune. He approached progressive rock (prog rock) groups like Pink Floyd and Magma to provide the film score. He sought out Salvador Dalí, Orson Welles, David Carradine, and Mick Jagger, among others, to act in the film. Jodorowsky hired French comic book artist Jean Giraud a/k/a Moebius (1938 to 2012) to draw the film’s storyboards and to provide concept art and designs. He hired British science fiction book cover artist, Chris Foss, to design space ships for the film, and Swiss surrealist, H.R. Giger (February 5, 1940 to May 12, 2014), to provide conceptual art and designs.
After producing a massive hardcover book containing the script, the storyboards, and conceptual art, Jodorowsky and the film’s producers went to Hollywood, but were unable to convince any studio or anyone, for that matter, to finance the film. Jodorowsky’s project ultimately failed, but Jodorowsky’s Dune became a film legend.
Director Frank Pavich interviews Alejandro Jodorowsky and the people who were his collaborators on the stalled Dune project to tell the story that is Jodorowsky’s Dune. The interview subjects include Jodorowsky’s son, Brontis, who was going to play Dune’s lead character, Paul Atreides. Producers Michel Seydoux and Jean-Paul Gibon talk about the overall process of trying to create such a large-scaled film.
Film critics Devin Faraci and Drew McWeeney and film directors Nicolas Winding Refn and Richard Stanley talk about the project from a broader standpoint of art and of making movies in Hollywood. They also comment on how this failure still managed to be potent and influential. Artist Chris Foss and H.R. Giger talk about the sense of freedom that Jodorowsky gave them, and how he encouraged their imagination.
When a director makes a documentary about a person, that person must be a fascinating or compelling figure. Alejandro Jodorowsky is both, and really, Jodorowsky’s Dune is as much about Jodorowsky as it is about his attempt to film Dune, if not more so. Jodorowsky might be insane or be a madman, but he is an artist and a cinematic visionary. Best of all, he wants to make the people who work with him reach for the genius inside themselves. That is the kind of guy around which a director can build a great or, at least, exceptional feature film.
The other interview subjects, for the most part, are guys that I could listen to for hours as they talk about film, art, work, and life. However, the absence of Frank Herbert, the author of Dune, is conspicuous. Herbert died in 1986, and I can’t believe that there is no video or audio of him commenting on Jodorowsky’s attempt to make a film out of his epic novel. Dan O’Bannon, whom Jodorowsky hired to produce the special effects for Dune, died in 2009, but this documentary features audio of him talking about working on Dune. His widow, Diane O’Bannon, is featured in an on-camera interview in this film.
The lack of Frank Herbert in this film is a minor complaint. Jodorowsky’s Dune is one of the best documentary films that I have ever scene. It inspires me to be creative, and it makes me wish I could find a way to get Jodorowsky’s Dune produced. I really want to see that movie. Maybe, if it had been made, his Dune would have been an overblown epic, but just listening to Jodorowsky makes me believe that the film is a lost masterpiece, although it doesn’t exist. Perhaps, the magic that director Frank Pavich performs in Jodorowsky’s Dune make me want to believe that this film project is still alive... somewhere.
9 of 10
A+
Monday, November 2, 2015
NOTES:
2013 Cannes Film Festival: 1 nomination: “Golden Camera” (Frank Pavich)
The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Sony Pictures Acquires to "Eat That Question-Frank Zappa In His Own Words"
SONY PICTURES CLASSICS ACQUIRES WORLDWIDE RIGHTS TO THORSTEN SCHÜTTE’S FRANK ZAPPA DOC EAT THAT QUESTION AT 2016 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL
(Park City) — In advance of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Sony Pictures Classics announced today that it has acquired worldwide rights (excluding France and Germany) from NYC-based sales company Submarine to Thorsten Schütte’s documentary on iconoclastic composer-musician Frank Zappa, EAT THAT QUESTION–FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS, an intimate portrait told through rare archival footage.
EAT THAT QUESTION is an energetic celebration of Zappa told entirely through archival footage culled from the performer's 30-year career in entertainment. Weaving together rare TV interviews and performances from around the world, the film by the German director explores Zappa's unconventional and irreverent handling of the media, his irrepressible quest for enlightenment and his witty self-dramatization.
"I'm delighted and I'm thrilled that Sony Pictures Classics believes in the film and I feel we're in very good hands," remarked filmmaker Thorsten Schütte. "The news of the acquisition is really the cherry on the cake of our world premiere at Sundance."
The deal was negotiated by Sony Pictures Classics with Josh Braun, Dan Braun and David Koh of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.
EAT THAT QUESTION premiered at Sundance on Monday, January 25, 2016 in the Documentary Premieres section. It has also been pre-selected for Germany’s top film awards, the LOLAs, and will next be showcased in the LOLA at Berlinale section of the Berlin Film Festival.
EAT THAT QUESTION is produced by Estelle Fialon of Les Films du Poisson (France) and Jochen Laube of UFA Films (Germany), and co-produced by ARTE France and SWR.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world. Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 32 Academy Awards® (28 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 158 Academy Award® nominations (133 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for WHIPLASH, AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, AND CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.
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(Park City) — In advance of its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, Sony Pictures Classics announced today that it has acquired worldwide rights (excluding France and Germany) from NYC-based sales company Submarine to Thorsten Schütte’s documentary on iconoclastic composer-musician Frank Zappa, EAT THAT QUESTION–FRANK ZAPPA IN HIS OWN WORDS, an intimate portrait told through rare archival footage.
EAT THAT QUESTION is an energetic celebration of Zappa told entirely through archival footage culled from the performer's 30-year career in entertainment. Weaving together rare TV interviews and performances from around the world, the film by the German director explores Zappa's unconventional and irreverent handling of the media, his irrepressible quest for enlightenment and his witty self-dramatization.
"I'm delighted and I'm thrilled that Sony Pictures Classics believes in the film and I feel we're in very good hands," remarked filmmaker Thorsten Schütte. "The news of the acquisition is really the cherry on the cake of our world premiere at Sundance."
The deal was negotiated by Sony Pictures Classics with Josh Braun, Dan Braun and David Koh of Submarine on behalf of the filmmakers.
EAT THAT QUESTION premiered at Sundance on Monday, January 25, 2016 in the Documentary Premieres section. It has also been pre-selected for Germany’s top film awards, the LOLAs, and will next be showcased in the LOLA at Berlinale section of the Berlin Film Festival.
EAT THAT QUESTION is produced by Estelle Fialon of Les Films du Poisson (France) and Jochen Laube of UFA Films (Germany), and co-produced by ARTE France and SWR.
ABOUT SONY PICTURES CLASSICS
Michael Barker and Tom Bernard serve as co-presidents of Sony Pictures Classics—an autonomous division of Sony Pictures Entertainment they founded with Marcie Bloom in January 1992, which distributes, produces, and acquires independent films from around the world. Barker and Bernard have released prestigious films that have won 32 Academy Awards® (28 of those at Sony Pictures Classics) and have garnered 158 Academy Award® nominations (133 at Sony Pictures Classics) including Best Picture nominations for WHIPLASH, AMOUR, MIDNIGHT IN PARIS, AN EDUCATION, CAPOTE, HOWARDS END, AND CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON.
---------------------
2016 Screen Actors Guild Awards Announced; Idris Elba Wins Twice
The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is an American labor union that represents film and television performers worldwide. Most people probably know SAG for the various actors’ strikes or for the Screen Actors Guild Award, which SAG uses to honor outstanding performances by its members. The first SAG Awards ceremony was held in February 1995 (for films released in 1994).
Winners of the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards were revealed during the awards ceremony on Saturday, January 30, 2016 that was simultaneously telecast on TBS and TNT.
The “Ensemble” categories are SAG's equivalent of a “Best Picture” or “Best Television Series” award.
2016/22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards winners:
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
SPOTLIGHT (Open Road Films)
BILLY CRUDUP / Eric MacLeish
BRIAN D’ARCY JAMES / Matty Carroll
MICHAEL KEATON / Walter “Robby” Robinson
RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer
MARK RUFFALO / Michael Rezendes
LIEV SCHREIBER / Marty Baron
JOHN SLATTERY / Ben Bradlee, Jr.
STANLEY TUCCI / Mitchell Garabedian
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / Hugh Glass – “THE REVENANT” (20th Century Fox)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
BRIE LARSON / Ma – “ROOM” (A24)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
IDRIS ELBA / Commandant – “BEASTS OF NO NATION” (Netflix)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
ALICIA VIKANDER / Gerda Wegener – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)
TELEVISION PROGRAMS
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
IDRIS ELBA / DCI John Luther – “LUTHER” (BBC America)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
QUEEN LATIFAH / Bessie Smith – “BESSIE” (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
KEVIN SPACEY / Francis Underwood – “HOUSE OF CARDS” (Netflix)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
VIOLA DAVIS / Annalise Keating – “HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER” (ABC)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
JEFFREY TAMBOR / Maura Pfefferman – “TRANSPARENT” (Amazon)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
UZO ADUBA / Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren – “ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK” (Netflix)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
DOWNTON ABBEY (Masterpiece/PBS)
HUGH BONNEVILLE / Robert, Earl of Grantham
LAURA CARMICHAEL / Lady Edith Crawley
JIM CARTER / Mr. Carson
RAQUEL CASSIDY / Baxter
BRENDAN COYLE / Mr. Bates
TOM CULLEN / Anthony Gillingham
MICHELLE DOCKERY / Lady Mary Crawley
KEVIN DOYLE / Mr. Molesley
JOANNE FROGGATT / Anna Bates
LILY JAMES / Lady Rose
ROBERT JAMES-COLLIER / Thomas Barrow
ALLEN LEECH / Tom Branson
PHYLLIS LOGAN / Mrs. Hughes
ELIZABETH McGOVERN / Cora, Countess of Grantham
SOPHIE McSHERA / Daisy
LESLEY NICOL / Mrs. Patmore
JULIAN OVENDEN / Charles Blake
DAVID ROBB / Dr. Clarkson
MAGGIE SMITH / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham
PENELOPE WILTON / Isobel Crawley
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix)
UZO ADUBA / Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren
MIKE BIRBIGLIA / Danny Pearson
MARSHA STEPHANIE BLAKE / Berdie Rogers
DANIELLE BROOKS / Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson
LAVERNE COX / Sophia Burset
JACKIE CRUZ / Marisol “Flaca” Gonzales
CATHERINE CURTIN / Wanda Bell
LEA DELARIA / Carrie “Big Boo” Black
BETH FOWLER / Sister Jane Ingalls
JOEL MARSH GARLAND / Scott O’Neill
KIMIKO GLENN / Brook Soso
ANNIE GOLDEN / Norma Romano
DIANE GUERRERO / Maritza Ramos
MICHAEL J. HARNEY / Sam Healy
VICKY JEUDY / Janae Watson
SELENIS LEYVA / Gloria Mendoza
TARYN MANNING / Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett
ADRIENNE C. MOORE / Black Cindy
KATE MULGREW / Galina “Red” Reznikov
EMMA MYLES / Leanne Taylor
MATT PETERS / Joel Luschek
LORI PETTY / Lolly Whitehill
JESSICA PIMENTEL / Maria Ruiz
DASCHA POLANCO / Dayanara Diaz
LAURA PREPON / Alex Vause
ELIZABETH RODRIGUEZ / Aleida Diaz
RUBY ROSE / Stella Carlin
NICK SANDOW / Joe Caputo
ABIGAIL SAVAGE / Gina
TAYLOR SCHILLING / Piper Chapman
CONSTANCE SHULMAN / Yoga Jones
DALE SOULES / Frieda
YAEL STONE / Lorna Morello
SAMIRA WILEY / Poussey Washington
SAG AWARDS HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
“GAME OF THRONES” (HBO)
52nd Annual SAG Life Achievement Award
CAROL BURNETT
------------------------
Winners of the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards were revealed during the awards ceremony on Saturday, January 30, 2016 that was simultaneously telecast on TBS and TNT.
The “Ensemble” categories are SAG's equivalent of a “Best Picture” or “Best Television Series” award.
2016/22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards winners:
THEATRICAL MOTION PICTURES
Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
SPOTLIGHT (Open Road Films)
BILLY CRUDUP / Eric MacLeish
BRIAN D’ARCY JAMES / Matty Carroll
MICHAEL KEATON / Walter “Robby” Robinson
RACHEL McADAMS / Sacha Pfeiffer
MARK RUFFALO / Michael Rezendes
LIEV SCHREIBER / Marty Baron
JOHN SLATTERY / Ben Bradlee, Jr.
STANLEY TUCCI / Mitchell Garabedian
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
LEONARDO DiCAPRIO / Hugh Glass – “THE REVENANT” (20th Century Fox)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
BRIE LARSON / Ma – “ROOM” (A24)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
IDRIS ELBA / Commandant – “BEASTS OF NO NATION” (Netflix)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
ALICIA VIKANDER / Gerda Wegener – “THE DANISH GIRL” (Focus Features)
TELEVISION PROGRAMS
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
IDRIS ELBA / DCI John Luther – “LUTHER” (BBC America)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
QUEEN LATIFAH / Bessie Smith – “BESSIE” (HBO)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
KEVIN SPACEY / Francis Underwood – “HOUSE OF CARDS” (Netflix)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
VIOLA DAVIS / Annalise Keating – “HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER” (ABC)
Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
JEFFREY TAMBOR / Maura Pfefferman – “TRANSPARENT” (Amazon)
Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
UZO ADUBA / Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren – “ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK” (Netflix)
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
DOWNTON ABBEY (Masterpiece/PBS)
HUGH BONNEVILLE / Robert, Earl of Grantham
LAURA CARMICHAEL / Lady Edith Crawley
JIM CARTER / Mr. Carson
RAQUEL CASSIDY / Baxter
BRENDAN COYLE / Mr. Bates
TOM CULLEN / Anthony Gillingham
MICHELLE DOCKERY / Lady Mary Crawley
KEVIN DOYLE / Mr. Molesley
JOANNE FROGGATT / Anna Bates
LILY JAMES / Lady Rose
ROBERT JAMES-COLLIER / Thomas Barrow
ALLEN LEECH / Tom Branson
PHYLLIS LOGAN / Mrs. Hughes
ELIZABETH McGOVERN / Cora, Countess of Grantham
SOPHIE McSHERA / Daisy
LESLEY NICOL / Mrs. Patmore
JULIAN OVENDEN / Charles Blake
DAVID ROBB / Dr. Clarkson
MAGGIE SMITH / Violet, Dowager Countess of Grantham
PENELOPE WILTON / Isobel Crawley
Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (Netflix)
UZO ADUBA / Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren
MIKE BIRBIGLIA / Danny Pearson
MARSHA STEPHANIE BLAKE / Berdie Rogers
DANIELLE BROOKS / Tasha “Taystee” Jefferson
LAVERNE COX / Sophia Burset
JACKIE CRUZ / Marisol “Flaca” Gonzales
CATHERINE CURTIN / Wanda Bell
LEA DELARIA / Carrie “Big Boo” Black
BETH FOWLER / Sister Jane Ingalls
JOEL MARSH GARLAND / Scott O’Neill
KIMIKO GLENN / Brook Soso
ANNIE GOLDEN / Norma Romano
DIANE GUERRERO / Maritza Ramos
MICHAEL J. HARNEY / Sam Healy
VICKY JEUDY / Janae Watson
SELENIS LEYVA / Gloria Mendoza
TARYN MANNING / Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett
ADRIENNE C. MOORE / Black Cindy
KATE MULGREW / Galina “Red” Reznikov
EMMA MYLES / Leanne Taylor
MATT PETERS / Joel Luschek
LORI PETTY / Lolly Whitehill
JESSICA PIMENTEL / Maria Ruiz
DASCHA POLANCO / Dayanara Diaz
LAURA PREPON / Alex Vause
ELIZABETH RODRIGUEZ / Aleida Diaz
RUBY ROSE / Stella Carlin
NICK SANDOW / Joe Caputo
ABIGAIL SAVAGE / Gina
TAYLOR SCHILLING / Piper Chapman
CONSTANCE SHULMAN / Yoga Jones
DALE SOULES / Frieda
YAEL STONE / Lorna Morello
SAMIRA WILEY / Poussey Washington
SAG AWARDS HONORS FOR STUNT ENSEMBLES
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
“MAD MAX: FURY ROAD” (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
“GAME OF THRONES” (HBO)
52nd Annual SAG Life Achievement Award
CAROL BURNETT
------------------------
Saturday, January 30, 2016
New Naruto Novel Out Tues., February 2nd
VIZ MEDIA DELIVERS A BRAND NEW NARUTO NOVEL TO READERS WITH THE DEBUT OF NARUTO: SHIKAMARU’S STORY
New Novel Is The Second Release In A New Series Focusing On Key Characters From Masashi Kishimoto’s Smash Hit Ninja Action Series, NARUTO
San Francisco, CA – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, delivers the next release in a continuing series of NARUTO prose novels focusing on key characters from the internationally acclaimed ninja action series.
NARUTO: SHIKAMARU’S STORY was written by author Takashi Yano and will be released in print and digitally in early February. The book tells the story of the current head of Team 10 and the Nara Clan and features original cover art by Masashi Kishimoto. Allies and enemies from the famed NARUTO series take center stage in these fast-paced adventures, with each novel focusing on a particular clan mate, ally, team…or villain
NARUTO: SHIKAMARU’S STORY
MSRP: $10.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN / $6.99 Digital · Available February 2nd, 2016
Two years after the Great Ninja War, Shikamaru spends his days racing around, hands full as one of Konoha’s key protectors. Then, large numbers of ninja from every region are reported missing. Even Sai disappears. And the place where the missing shinobi end up is the mysterious empire, the Land of Silence. As a ninja, as an adult, to protect all that he is responsible for, Shikamaru must do battle with the shadow of a new generation.
Also don’t miss NARUTO: KAKASHI’S STORY, the first book in the series of NARUTO novels, available now in print and also digitally.
Manga author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Like many kids, he was first inspired to become a manga artist in elementary school when he read Dragon Ball. After spending time in art school, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his story, Karakuri. After considering various genres for his next project, Kishimoto decided on a story steeped in traditional Japanese culture. His first version of NARUTO, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in the world. The series would also spawn multiple anime series, movies, novels, video games and more. Having concluded the series in late 2014, Masashi Kishimoto has kept himself busy this year with the side story, Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, and writing the story for the latest NARUTO movie, Boruto: Naruto the Movie, both of which focus on the title character's son, Boruto.
VIZ Media is the North American master licensor for NARUTO and publishes the bestselling NARUTO manga series in print and digitally and also distributes the NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN anime series and feature films. Additional information on NARUTO is available at www.Naruto.com.
About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
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New Novel Is The Second Release In A New Series Focusing On Key Characters From Masashi Kishimoto’s Smash Hit Ninja Action Series, NARUTO
San Francisco, CA – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, delivers the next release in a continuing series of NARUTO prose novels focusing on key characters from the internationally acclaimed ninja action series.
NARUTO: SHIKAMARU’S STORY was written by author Takashi Yano and will be released in print and digitally in early February. The book tells the story of the current head of Team 10 and the Nara Clan and features original cover art by Masashi Kishimoto. Allies and enemies from the famed NARUTO series take center stage in these fast-paced adventures, with each novel focusing on a particular clan mate, ally, team…or villain
NARUTO: SHIKAMARU’S STORY
MSRP: $10.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN / $6.99 Digital · Available February 2nd, 2016
Two years after the Great Ninja War, Shikamaru spends his days racing around, hands full as one of Konoha’s key protectors. Then, large numbers of ninja from every region are reported missing. Even Sai disappears. And the place where the missing shinobi end up is the mysterious empire, the Land of Silence. As a ninja, as an adult, to protect all that he is responsible for, Shikamaru must do battle with the shadow of a new generation.
Also don’t miss NARUTO: KAKASHI’S STORY, the first book in the series of NARUTO novels, available now in print and also digitally.
Manga author/artist Masashi Kishimoto was born in 1974 in rural Okayama Prefecture, Japan. Like many kids, he was first inspired to become a manga artist in elementary school when he read Dragon Ball. After spending time in art school, he won the Hop Step Award for new manga artists with his story, Karakuri. After considering various genres for his next project, Kishimoto decided on a story steeped in traditional Japanese culture. His first version of NARUTO, drawn in 1997, was a one-shot story about fox spirits; his final version, which debuted in Japan in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999, quickly became the most popular ninja manga in the world. The series would also spawn multiple anime series, movies, novels, video games and more. Having concluded the series in late 2014, Masashi Kishimoto has kept himself busy this year with the side story, Naruto: The Seventh Hokage and the Scarlet Spring, and writing the story for the latest NARUTO movie, Boruto: Naruto the Movie, both of which focus on the title character's son, Boruto.
VIZ Media is the North American master licensor for NARUTO and publishes the bestselling NARUTO manga series in print and digitally and also distributes the NARUTO and NARUTO SHIPPUDEN anime series and feature films. Additional information on NARUTO is available at www.Naruto.com.
About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
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Friday, January 29, 2016
DC Comics to Publish Modernized Scooby-Doo Comic Book - "Scooby Apocalypse"
“Scooby Apocalypse” Featuring Character Designs by Jim Lee Headlines New Lineup of Teen+ Comics
BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Pajamas and a big bowl of sugary cereal is how many of us remember watching our favorite Saturday morning cartoons as kids. Beginning in May, DC Entertainment plans to give old fans and new the chance to relive (and extend) their childhoods with a new, modern lineup of comics based on some of Hanna-Barbera’s most popular cartoon characters, but reimagined in a fresh and contemporary fashion.
“With this initial lineup of titles and talent, we’re excited for fans to experience the reimagining of these Saturday morning classics with a more modern and contemporary look and feel.”
The initial lineup includes:
SCOOBY APOCALYPSE – Featuring character designs by veteran artist Jim Lee and an origin story by Jim Lee and Keith Giffen (JUSTICE LEAGUE 3001), artist Howard Porter (SUPERMAN) will provide his own unique take on Freddie, Velma, Daphne, Shaggy and Scooby-Doo. “Those meddling kids” and their Mystery Machine are at the center of a well-meaning experiment gone wrong and they’ll need to bring all of their mystery solving skills to bear (along with plenty of Scooby Snacks), to find a cure for a world full of mutated creatures infected by a nanite virus that enhances their fears, terrors and baser instincts. This time, the horrors are real in this apocalyptic near-future badland!
FUTURE QUEST – Writer Jeff Parker (AQUAMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE UNITED, BATMAN ’66) and artist Evan “Doc” Shaner (JUSTICE LEAGUE DARKSEID WAR: GREEN LANTERN) join forces to bring fans new tales of adventure’s most iconic teenager, Jonny Quest, along with his sidekick Hadji. This series combines Team QUEST (Hadji, Race Bannon, Dr. Benton Quest and Jezebel Jade) with some of the most well-known action and adventure heroes ever created by Hanna-Barbera, including SPACE GHOST, THE HERCULOIDS, BIRDMAN, MIGHTOR and FRANKENSTEIN Jr., among others.
WACKY RACELAND – Take The Ant Hill Mob, Penelope Pitstop and Dick Dastardly, mix in a healthy dose of “Mad Max” and you get this dark and gritty take on Hanna-Barbera’s “Wacky Races,” courtesy of writer Ken Pontac (REBOOT, HAPPY TREE FRIENDS) and artist Leonardo Manco (HELLBLAZER), with vehicle designs by Mark Sexton (MAD MAX: FURY ROAD). A time of hope and innocence with Utopia at the finish line has given way to planetary Armageddon and a desert wasteland full of radioactive lakes, nanotech dust storms, and cannibalistic mutants. Against this backdrop, the Wacky Racers and their sentient vehicles continue their contest, but now the competition is for survival, and there can only be one winner when the checkered flag falls.
THE FLINTSTONES – Based on character designs by Amanda Conner (HARLEY QUINN, STARFIRE), writer Mark Russell (PREZ, GOD IS DISAPPOINTED IN YOU) provides his own unique perspective on everyone’s “modern stone age family.” Russell will use Bedrock’s most popular family to shine a light on humanity’s ancient customs and institutions in a funny origin story of human civilization. Fred is still the simple man, striving to be the king of his castle, Wilma is still the tolerant but not-indulging wife and Barney (with his wife Betty and infant son Bamm-Bamm) is still the original wingman, whose loyalty to Fred often outweighs his common sense.
“I can’t think of anyone that doesn’t look back at these characters with anything but fond memories,” said Dan DiDio, DC Entertainment Co-Publisher. “With this initial lineup of titles and talent, we’re excited for fans to experience the reimagining of these Saturday morning classics with a more modern and contemporary look and feel.”
For more information about Hanna-Barbera and DC Comics, visit the website at DCComics.com.
About DC Entertainment:
DC Entertainment, home to iconic brands DC Comics (Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, Wonder Woman, The Flash), Vertigo (Sandman, Fables) and MAD, is the creative division charged with strategically integrating its content across Warner Bros. Entertainment and Time Warner. DC Entertainment works in concert with many key Warner Bros. divisions to unleash its stories and characters across all media, including but not limited to film, television, consumer products, home entertainment and interactive games. Publishing thousands of comic books, graphic novels and magazines each year, DC Entertainment is one of the largest English-language publishers of comics in the world.
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VIZ Media Offers a Duo of Pokemon DVD Sets
VIZ MEDIA PREVIEWS A PAIR OF NEW POKÉMON HOME MEDIA RELEASES TO START 2016
POKÉMON THE SERIES: XY Set 2 DVD Available Now And POKÉMON: THE MOVIES STEELBOOK BLU-RAY COLLECTION Debuts Next Month
San Francisco, CA – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, expands its POKÉMON catalog for anime fans as it announces a pair of new home media releases.
Inspired by the latest generation of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y video games, Pokémon THE SERIES: XY Set 2 is available now on DVD. POKÉMON: THE MOVIES 1-3 STEELBOOK BLU-RAY COLLECTION contains a trio of full-length POKÉMON feature films and will be available February 9th, 2016. Both are rated ‘TV-Y7’ for viewers ages 7 and older.
POKÉMON THE SERIES: XY DVD SET 2 · MSRP: $26.95 U.S. / $31.98 CAN · Available Now
In the latest home media set inspired by the new generation of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y video games, Ash Ketchum and his friends venture ever deeper into the Kalos region! Ash takes to the skies in a wing suit in his first aerial battle, and the group explores exciting new areas like the majestic Kalos Canyon, the mysterious Cave of Mirrors, and Professor Sycamore’s Pokémon summer camp. Meanwhile, Miette and Serena’s rivalry over Ash heats up, and Team Rocket flummoxes everyone with clever disguises and Pokémon-nabbing schemes! And of course, everyone’s after the secrets of Mega Evolution—but will anyone get a handle on its consequences? The new set contains 3 discs featuring 24 episodes (25-48), presented with dubbed English dialogue.
POKÉMON: The MOVIEs 1-3 Steelbook BLU-RAY COLLECTION · MSRP: $39.99 U.S. / $46.99 CAN · Available February 9th
A special 3-disc Steelbook set featuring three complete POKÉMON feature films— POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE, POKÉMON THE MOVIE 2000, and POKÉMON 3: THE MOVIE. Films are each presented with dubbed English dialogue.
In POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE, the adventure explodes into action with the debut of Mewtwo, a bio-engineered Pokémon created from the DNA of Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. After escaping from the lab where it was created, Mewtwo is determined to prove its own superiority. It lures a number of talented Trainers into a Pokémon battle like never before—and of course, Ash and his friends are happy to accept the challenge!
In POKÉMON THE MOVIE 2000, just one person can make a difference… In the Orange Islands far south of Kanto, a Trainer named Lawrence is on a sinister quest: catching the Legendary Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in an attempt to awaken Lugia, guardian of the sea! When Ash and friends arrive, the islanders ask him to gather three elemental orbs from different islands. As the weather across the world goes out of control, it becomes clear that the capture of the legendary trio has thrown the environment out of balance! With Lugia’s help, can Ash find the orbs, restore the balance, and be the “chosen one” that everyone turns to?
In POKÉMON 3: THE MOVIE, a crystal catastrophe is unleashed upon Greenfield, and Ash, Pikachu, and friends must figure out how to undo the damage to the once-beautiful town. But the unthinkable happens when Ash’s mother is kidnapped by the powerful Entei, a Pokémon thought to have existed only in legend. Now Ash must go to her rescue, uncertain of what he’ll uncover when he unlocks the real secret power behind the unbelievable turn of events: a young girl whose dream world is being turned into a nightmarish reality by the mysterious and unstoppable Unown!
POKÉMON is one of the most successful international entertainment franchises of all time. More than 275 million POKÉMON video game titles and over 21.5 billion Pokémon Trading Cards have been sold in more than 74 countries in addition to substantial publishing and merchandise sales. VIZ Media is the official North American distributor for a wide variety of POKÉMON home media releases including animated series and films and also publishes a variety of POKÉMON manga graphic novel series including POKÉMON ADVENTURES X•Y, POKÉMON ADVENTURES, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: DIAMOND AND PEARL, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: HEART/GOLD & SOUL/SILVER, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: BLACK & WHITE.
For more information on other Pokémon manga and anime titles from VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.
About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family- friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
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POKÉMON THE SERIES: XY Set 2 DVD Available Now And POKÉMON: THE MOVIES STEELBOOK BLU-RAY COLLECTION Debuts Next Month
San Francisco, CA – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, expands its POKÉMON catalog for anime fans as it announces a pair of new home media releases.
Inspired by the latest generation of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y video games, Pokémon THE SERIES: XY Set 2 is available now on DVD. POKÉMON: THE MOVIES 1-3 STEELBOOK BLU-RAY COLLECTION contains a trio of full-length POKÉMON feature films and will be available February 9th, 2016. Both are rated ‘TV-Y7’ for viewers ages 7 and older.
POKÉMON THE SERIES: XY DVD SET 2 · MSRP: $26.95 U.S. / $31.98 CAN · Available Now
In the latest home media set inspired by the new generation of Pokémon X and Pokémon Y video games, Ash Ketchum and his friends venture ever deeper into the Kalos region! Ash takes to the skies in a wing suit in his first aerial battle, and the group explores exciting new areas like the majestic Kalos Canyon, the mysterious Cave of Mirrors, and Professor Sycamore’s Pokémon summer camp. Meanwhile, Miette and Serena’s rivalry over Ash heats up, and Team Rocket flummoxes everyone with clever disguises and Pokémon-nabbing schemes! And of course, everyone’s after the secrets of Mega Evolution—but will anyone get a handle on its consequences? The new set contains 3 discs featuring 24 episodes (25-48), presented with dubbed English dialogue.
POKÉMON: The MOVIEs 1-3 Steelbook BLU-RAY COLLECTION · MSRP: $39.99 U.S. / $46.99 CAN · Available February 9th
A special 3-disc Steelbook set featuring three complete POKÉMON feature films— POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE, POKÉMON THE MOVIE 2000, and POKÉMON 3: THE MOVIE. Films are each presented with dubbed English dialogue.
In POKÉMON: THE FIRST MOVIE, the adventure explodes into action with the debut of Mewtwo, a bio-engineered Pokémon created from the DNA of Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. After escaping from the lab where it was created, Mewtwo is determined to prove its own superiority. It lures a number of talented Trainers into a Pokémon battle like never before—and of course, Ash and his friends are happy to accept the challenge!
In POKÉMON THE MOVIE 2000, just one person can make a difference… In the Orange Islands far south of Kanto, a Trainer named Lawrence is on a sinister quest: catching the Legendary Pokémon Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres in an attempt to awaken Lugia, guardian of the sea! When Ash and friends arrive, the islanders ask him to gather three elemental orbs from different islands. As the weather across the world goes out of control, it becomes clear that the capture of the legendary trio has thrown the environment out of balance! With Lugia’s help, can Ash find the orbs, restore the balance, and be the “chosen one” that everyone turns to?
In POKÉMON 3: THE MOVIE, a crystal catastrophe is unleashed upon Greenfield, and Ash, Pikachu, and friends must figure out how to undo the damage to the once-beautiful town. But the unthinkable happens when Ash’s mother is kidnapped by the powerful Entei, a Pokémon thought to have existed only in legend. Now Ash must go to her rescue, uncertain of what he’ll uncover when he unlocks the real secret power behind the unbelievable turn of events: a young girl whose dream world is being turned into a nightmarish reality by the mysterious and unstoppable Unown!
POKÉMON is one of the most successful international entertainment franchises of all time. More than 275 million POKÉMON video game titles and over 21.5 billion Pokémon Trading Cards have been sold in more than 74 countries in addition to substantial publishing and merchandise sales. VIZ Media is the official North American distributor for a wide variety of POKÉMON home media releases including animated series and films and also publishes a variety of POKÉMON manga graphic novel series including POKÉMON ADVENTURES X•Y, POKÉMON ADVENTURES, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: DIAMOND AND PEARL, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: HEART/GOLD & SOUL/SILVER, POKÉMON ADVENTURES: BLACK & WHITE.
For more information on other Pokémon manga and anime titles from VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.
About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family- friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
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Thursday, January 28, 2016
"Nowhere Men #7" Returns with Second Printing
NOWHERE MEN FLIES OFF THE SHELVES
The return issue to the hit series fast-tracked to a second printing
The bestselling, cult-hit NOWHERE MEN by writer and Publisher at Image Comics, Eric Stephenson, new series artist Dave Taylor, Eisner-award winning colorist Jordie Bellaire, and Fonografiks jump-started the highly anticipated second story arc to early critical-acclaim and fan enthusiasm. NOWHERE MEN #7 is being fast-tracked to a second printing in order to keep up with customer demand.
“I knew, going in, that this would be a unique working experience,” said Taylor. “But even my high hopes have been outdone. Working on Nowhere Men just keeps getting better and better! Hey, and where's all the hate mail??!!”
NOWHERE MEN #7 begins up where NOWHERE MEN, VOL. 1’s cliffhanger ending left off and opens with PLUTONA artist Emi Lenox’s rendering of a sequence plucked from the sketch diary of Emerson Strange’s daughter.
Multiversity Comics describes Lenox’s prologue “wonderful” and “delivered as a sort of online comic diary, she balances Stephenson’s story with some great images and excellent expressions.”
NOWHERE MEN #7 remains available for purchase across all digital platforms, including the Image Comics website (imagecomics.com), the official Image Comics iOS app, ComiXology’s website (comixology.com), iOS, Android, and Google Play.
NOWHERE MEN #7, 2nd printing arrives in stores on Wednesday, February 3rd, 2016 and can be pre-ordered with Diamond Code DEC158647.
NOWHERE MEN #8 hits stands on Wednesday, February 24th, 2016 and can be ordered with Diamond Code DEC150601.
More praise for NOWHERE MEN #7:
“A welcome return and feels as strong as the issues before it.” —All-Comic
“More compelling than ever.” —Graphic Policy
“Stephenson hasn’t lost his touch either; he still retains the solid characterization that was with the characters before. Seeing these characters on the page again and their interactions reminded me of why I enjoyed the comic. The mix of science-fiction with corporate politics, celebrity status vs. regular people remains ever present and influential in Nowhere Men’s presentation. Those are many of the things that made Nowhere Men so intriguing to begin with so to see their return is welcomed. Really, it’s just great to have Nowhere Men back.” —Bounding into Comics
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
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Image Comics Announces First Collection of "Tokyo Ghost"
The first story arc in the dystopian adventure is collected into trade paperback
“Tokyo Ghost is for fans of hard and fast action, harder and faster dialogue, and heart-stopping moments of insanity.”—Comicosity
Bestselling writer RICK REMENDER (BLACK SCIENCE, DEADLY CLASS) teams up with superstar art team SEAN MURPHY (CHRONONAUTS, Punk Rock Jesus) and MATT HOLLINGSWORTH (WYTCHES, Hawkeye) for a bleak and poignant reflection on the consequences of tech-addiction in TOKYO GHOST, VOLUME 1: ATOMIC GARDEN. This collects issues #1-5 into trade paperback and will be available in March.
TOKYO GHOST, VOLUME 1: ATOMIC GARDEN welcomes readers to the isles of New Los Angeles, 2189. Humanity has become nothing more than a sea of consumers: ravenous and starving wolves, sick from toxic contamination, who have to borrow, beg, and steal for the funds to buy, buy, buy their next digital fix. Getting a thrill, a distraction from reality, is the only thing left to live for. Entertainment is the biggest industry—the drug everyone needs—and gangsters run it all. And who do these gangsters turn to when they need the "law" enforced? Led Dent and Debbie Decay, constables of the law, which is a nice way to say “brutal killing machines." The duo are about to be presented with an assignment that will force them out of the decay of LA and into the mysterious lost nation of Tokyo.
TOKYO GHOST, VOLUME 1: ATOMIC GARDEN (ISBN 978-1-63215-663-1) hits comic book stores on Wednesday, March 9th and bookstores on Tuesday, March 15th, and will be available for $9.99. It can be ordered by retailers from Diamond Book Distributors with Diamond code JAN160652. It can be preordered now on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Indiebound.
Praise for TOKYO GHOST:
“Arrives with style and panache, an entertaining ride across a bleak future.”—CBR
“A great read. It’s fast and frenetic, driven by a strong narrative pulse and some amazing art.”—IGN
“Visually stunning with a topical narrative that takes a stance without feeling pretentious, all wrapped in a fun steampunk adventure…”—Comic Bastards
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
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Wednesday, January 27, 2016
VIZ Media Goes "Behind the Scenes!!"
Comedy Series About A Social Misfit And College Movie Effects Club Is The Latest From The Acclaimed Creator Of OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB And MILLENNIUM SNOW
San Francisco, CA – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, proudly brings creator Bisco Hatori’s dramatic new manga (graphic novel) comedy to English readers with the launch of BEHIND THE SCENES!! on February 2nd, 2016.
The new shojo series by the famed creator of OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB and MILLENNIUM SNOW will be published in print and digital editions under the Shojo Beat imprint. BEHIND THE SCENES!! is rated ‘T’ for Teens, and will carry a print MSRP of $9.99 U.S. / $12.99 CAN. The series also launches digitally on February 2nd via VIZManga.com and the VIZ Manga App, as well as from the Nook, Kobo, Kindle, iBooks, comiXology, and GooglePlay stores. Subsequent volumes of the continuing series will be published in English twice a year.
In BEHIND THE SCENES!!, Ranmaru Kurisu comes from a family of hardy, rough-and-tumble fisherfolk and he sticks out at home like a delicate, artistic sore thumb. It’s given him a raging inferiority complex and a permanently pessimistic outlook. Now that he’s in college, he’s hoping to find a sense of belonging. But after a whole life of being left out, does he even know how to fit in?!
As Volume 1 opens, it’s two months into Ranmaru’s college career, and if he’s learned one thing, it’s that he’s really uncomfortable around other people. But when he stumbles into a zombie mob attack, he’s totally forced out of his comfort zone! Of course it’s just a movie shoot, but when he wakes up from his ignoble faint, he’s been whisked away behind the scenes with the Art Squad! Could this group of weirdos be what Ranmaru’s been looking for all his life?!
“Creator Bisco Hatori continues to demonstrate her skill at capturing all of the complexities, cliques and daily dramas of student life in BEHIND THE SCENES!!,” says Pancha Diaz, Editor. “Ranmaru Kurisu has been a social misfit all of his life but he may have finally found a place to fit in after a chance encounter introduces him to a very unique, and slightly quirky, group of potential new friends.”
Bisco Hatori made her manga debut with Isshun kan no Romance (A Moment of Romance) in LaLa DX magazine. Her first full-fledged series was MILLENNIUM SNOW (published by VIZ Media) and she gained widespread acclaim for the comedy, OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB (published by VIZ Media), which became her breakout hit.
For additional information on BEHIND THE SCENES!! or other manga titles published by VIZ Media, please visit www.VIZ.com.
About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
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Houston Film Critics Named "Spotlight" Best Picture of 2015- Complete List of Winners
Houston Film Critics Society is a not-for-profit, unincorporated voluntary organizaton of print, broadcast, and internet film critics based in the Greater Houston metropolitan area that meet its membership criteria. According its website, the group was founded in 2007 by Nick Nicholson and Danny Minton and helps to organize and coordinate the local area film critics community.
The nominees for the 9th annual Houston Film Critics Society Awards were announced, December 13, 2015. The winners were announced January 9, 2016.
2015 / 9th Houston Film Critics Society winners:
Best Picture: Spotlight
Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs
Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy for The Revenant
Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara for Carol
Best Screenplay: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer for Spotlight
Best Animated Film: Inside Out (Pete Doctor, director)
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant
Best Documentary: Amy (Asif Kapadia, director)
Best Foreign Film: Son of Saul (Hungary; László Nemes, director)
Best Score: Ennio Moriccone for The Hateful Eight
Best Song: Brian Wilson for "Love and Mercy" from Love & Mercy
Texas Independent Film Award: Mark Craig for The Last Man on the Moon
Technical: Guy Norris for Mad Max: Fury Road
Worst Movie: Pixels
Lifetime Achievement: Dennis Quaid
Humanitarian of the Year: Matt Damon
Outstanding Cinematic Contribution: Joe Leydon
--------------------------
The nominees for the 9th annual Houston Film Critics Society Awards were announced, December 13, 2015. The winners were announced January 9, 2016.
2015 / 9th Houston Film Critics Society winners:
Best Picture: Spotlight
Best Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu for The Revenant
Best Actor: Michael Fassbender for Steve Jobs
Best Actress: Brie Larson for Room
Best Supporting Actor: Tom Hardy for The Revenant
Best Supporting Actress: Rooney Mara for Carol
Best Screenplay: Tom McCarthy and Josh Singer for Spotlight
Best Animated Film: Inside Out (Pete Doctor, director)
Best Cinematography: Emmanuel Lubezki for The Revenant
Best Documentary: Amy (Asif Kapadia, director)
Best Foreign Film: Son of Saul (Hungary; László Nemes, director)
Best Score: Ennio Moriccone for The Hateful Eight
Best Song: Brian Wilson for "Love and Mercy" from Love & Mercy
Texas Independent Film Award: Mark Craig for The Last Man on the Moon
Technical: Guy Norris for Mad Max: Fury Road
Worst Movie: Pixels
Lifetime Achievement: Dennis Quaid
Humanitarian of the Year: Matt Damon
Outstanding Cinematic Contribution: Joe Leydon
--------------------------
Bluefin Announces "Bruce Lee" Poseable Action Figure
BLUEFIN DEBUTS NEW BRUCE LEE POSEABLE ACTION FIGURE FROM TAMASHII NATIONS
Exciting Latest Addition To The S.H. Figuarts Line Debuts To Retailers In February And Utilizes Advanced Digital Facial Coloring Technology For Impressive Realism And Includes Multiple Weapon Accessories And Other Interchangeable Parts
Anaheim, CA – Bluefin, the leading North American distributor of toys, collectibles, and hobby merchandise from Japan, Hong Kong and more, is proud to introduce the world’s most posable Bruce Lee action figure!
Renowned Japanese collectibles label, Tamashii Nations, integrates its advanced S.H. Figuarts articulation technology to reproduce all of Bruce Lee's powerful martial arts moves! For this latest release, Tamashii Nations also utilized cutting edge digital facial coloring technology to achieve a stunning level of realism and collectors will be impressed by the incredible level of overall quality.
The Bruce Lee figure debuts in February 2016 with an MSRP of $49.99 from authorized Bluefin retailers nationwide and also from a variety of leading online outlets. Pre-orders continue to be available.
The S.H. Figuarts Bruce Lee figure stands 5 inches tall and includes several trademark martial arts weapons including a nunchaku (nunchuck) and two bo staffs (short and long. Other accessories include interchangeable hands (x9) and interchangeable face parts (x2).
Bruce Lee was a pioneering Chinese American action film star, martial arts instructor, philosopher, and filmmaker. He starred in several highly influential martial arts movies such as Fist of Fury and Enter the Dragon and is widely regarded as one of the most iconic martial artists of all time.
Bluefin is the official North American distributor for Tamashii Nations, an umbrella label that encompasses Japan’s top collectible brands and features products from popular giant robot shows like Mazinger Z and Gundam, anime series like Dragon Ball and Sailor Moon, and live action series like Kamen Rider. The mission of Tamashii Nations is to bring “tamashii,” the Japanese word for soul or spirit, into everything they create. For a complete listing of Tamashii Nations products available from Bluefin, please visit: www.bluefincorp.com/catalog/tamashii-nations.html.
About Bluefin
Based in Irvine, CA, Bluefin built its reputation as a leading distributor of Japanese toys, collectibles, novelty and hobby products. In recent years, Bluefin has grown to include a range of high quality collectible lines from the United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Singapore and established itself as the official North American consumer products and retail development partner for Studio Ghibli. Selling to thousands of specialty, chain and independent stores, Bluefin is an official North American distributor for Bandai Hobby, Kotobukiya and Capcom, is the sole provider of Bandai Tamashii Nations products, and is also the exclusive and official distributor for Hero Cross, Beast Kingdom, Comicave, Mr. Hobby, SEN-TI-NEL and X-Plus. Bluefin also represents TruForce Collectibles products worldwide. Additional information is available at: www.bluefincorp.com.
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"Bitch Planet" Begins New Story Arc in February 2016
Featuring expanded community pages
Eisner Award-nominated writer KELLY SUE DeCONNICK (PRETTY DEADLY, Captain Marvel) and VALENTINE DE LANDRO (X-Factor) will launch a new story arc in their viciously satirical ongoing sci-fi series this February.
Previously in BITCH PLANET, a new crop of non-compliants settled in for their stay on the Auxiliary Compliance Outpost. When a small group was offered a chance to earn their freedom, they took it, knowing the odds would be stacked against them at every turn.
In BITCH PLANET #7, PRESIDENT BITCH: PART 1 (OF 4), Operative Whitney has to answer for Meiko’s death and Kam gets a critical clue to the whereabouts of her sister.
"We’re back to the main narrative with this issue,” said DeConnick. “Meiko’s dad arrives on the outpost, we learn more about Josephson’s plan and Penny’s grief. Oh, and Kam gets a new cellmate. She’s a corker."
"There's a shower scene in this issue, and I only had to lay it out once,” said De Landro. “Enjoy, friends!"
BITCH PLANET #7 (Diamond code: DEC150546) hits stores Wednesday, February 17th, 2016. Final order cutoff deadline for retailers is Monday, January 25th, 2016.
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
EPIX Announces "The 4%: Film's Gender Problem" Documenary Series
EPIX to Air “THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM” – An Original Series of 6 Short Documentaries with First Person Insights About Gender Inequality in Hollywood Debuts March 8, on International Women’s Day 2016
Produced by Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, Directed by Caroline Suh and Featuring Interviews with Jill Soloway, Paul Feig, Toni Collette, Anjelica Huston, Catherine Hardwicke, Judd Apatow, Amy Heckerling, Julie Delpy, Lake Bell, Mira Nair, Amanda Peet, Patricia Clarkson, Mo’Nique, Anne Sweeney, James Franco, Christine Vachon, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Kristin Wiig and more…
Informed by Research Conducted by USC Annenberg Professor, Dr. Stacy L. Smith
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Premium TV network EPIX® announced today that THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM, a series of 6 original short films designed to explore the issues around the current gender gap in Hollywood, has completed production. The 6 shorts will air on the network and across all EPIX platforms on International Women’s Day – March 8, 2016 – and run throughout the month, coinciding with Women’s History Month. The first short will be presented at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival’s “Women at Sundance Brunch” on January 25, 2016.
Produced by Alex Gibney’s award-winning Jigsaw Productions (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, Taxi To the Darkside, Enron: Smartest Men In the Room), the series spotlights directors and creative personalities – both women and men – who share first-person insights, questions and anecdotes about the role of women in Hollywood.
Participants include: Judd Apatow, Joe Arcidiacono, Lake Bell, Amy Berg, Patricia Clarkson, Toni Collette, Jonathan Dayton, Julie Delpy, Valerie Faris, Paul Feig, America Ferrera, James Franco, Donna Gigliotti, Geoffrey Gilmore, Debra Granik, Catherine Hardwicke, Mary Harron, Amy Heckerling, Dawn Hudson, Anjelica Huston, Vicky Jenson, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Rebecca Keegan, Jon Kilik, Ellen Kuras, Mimi Leder, Franklin Leonard, Tina Mabry, Victoria Mahoney, Michael Mann, Lori McCreary, Mo’Nique, Michael Moore, Rachel Morrison, Mira Nair, Amanda Peet, Kimberly Peirce, Keri Putnam, Pamela Romanowsky, Cathy Schulman, A.O. Scott, Melissa Silverstein, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Jill Soloway, Anne Sweeney, Anne Thompson, Rosemarie Troche, Christine Vachon, Mandy Walker and Kristen Wiig.
The series is informed by research conducted by USC Annenberg’s Dr. Stacy L. Smith, a renowned expert in the field, and which was supported by Women in Film Los Angeles and Sundance Institute. The series also has the support of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender In Media and Meryl Streep.
Even though it is widely recognized that female directors are strikingly under-represented in Hollywood, the numbers still manage to surprise. According to a multi-year study led by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and conducted by the USC Annenberg Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative, across 1,300 top-grossing films from 2002 to 2014, only 4.1% of all directors were female. This calculates into a gender ratio of 23.3 male directors to every 1 female director.
Each film will focus on a different theme, with segments varying in tone – from thoughtful, to controversial, to funny, sometimes all at once.
Mark S. Greenberg, President and CEO, EPIX, said, “EPIX has supported Stacy’s research for years and these shorts offer a richer, more authentic portrayal about the role of women and girls in media today. Support for this project has also brought together the talented Alex Gibney, and a prestigious list of some of the most gifted artists and creatives from the worlds of entertainment and the arts. Our objective is to help provide a forum for the discussion of ideas and potential solutions, as we collectively work towards closing the gap that exists today.”
Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the Initiative’s Founder and Director and lead researcher on the investigation, said, “The series offers an opportunity for a national audience to hear from the entertainment industry directly about the issues women face both as filmmakers and in other creative roles. My research is clear: females face a very real fiscal cliff as they pursue work at the highest echelons of this industry. I am proud that my research is associated with a team and a network that cares about female filmmakers and creating systemic change.”
According to research from Dr. Stacy L. Smith:
In the 100 top films of 2014, only 2 women worked as directors.
Across 700 films and 779 directors from 2007 to 2014, only 3 were Black or African American female directors.
Women were only 11% of writers and less than 20% of producers across the 100 top-grossing films of 2014.
Only 30% of all on-screen speaking characters in 700 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2014 were girls or women.
A total of 21 of the 100 top films of 2014 featured a female lead or roughly equal co-lead.
Less than a quarter of all speaking characters were female in the top animated films of 2014.
Only 22% of speaking characters in top action/adventure films of 2014 were female.
34% of characters in top 2014 comedies were female.
Other data on female directors shows:
Only four women have been nominated for a Best Director Oscar® in the past 85 years, with only one winner among them.
“THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM points to the fact there is an undeniably gaping disparity in Hollywood. It’s one that many – including those in Hollywood and at the ACLU and EEOC – believe needs to change. What better way to draw attention to the issue than to have some of the business' most recognizable voices come together in support of more diversity in making movies,” notes director Caroline Suh. “I’m very happy that the project found a partner in Jigsaw, a company known for its activism in exploring human rights violations and the abuse of power. Jigsaw is an amazing group of diverse yet like-minded people whom I’ve loved working with. Further pleased to be working with the support of EPIX, led by Mark Greenberg, who has been committed to these issues for a long time. There’s also a great team of executives and production people who have rallied around the cause.”
THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM is a series of EPIX Original short documentary films produced by Jigsaw Productions. Caroline Suh is the director and Erika Frankel is the producer. Executive Producers are Stacey Offman, Laura Michalchyshyn, Lynne Kirby, Caroline Suh, Betsy West and Alex Gibney. Jocelyn Diaz, Ross Bernard and Jill Burkhart are Executive Producers for EPIX.
About USC Annenberg Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative
Dr. Stacy L. Smith is the Founder and Director of the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. Dr. Smith's work examines gender and race on screen and behind the camera in cinematic content as well as barriers and opportunities facing women and people of color in the entertainment industry. She also conducts economic analyses related to diversity and the financial performance of films. Dr. Smith has written more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and reports on content patterns and effects of the media. In terms of the popular press, Dr. Smith’s research has been written about in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, fivethirtyeight.com, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Slate.com, Salon.com, The Boston Globe, NPR, and USA Today, to name a few. She has a co-edited essay in Maria Shriver’s book, A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything (2009). Dr. Smith’s most recent research reports include a landmark study with Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles, a study of 700 top-grossing films conducted at USC Annenberg, and multiple investigations with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Her work is also generously supported by EPIX, The Harnisch Foundation, LUNAFEST, The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, and other individuals. To learn more, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/mdsci or follow on Twitter @MDSCInitiative.
Jigsaw Productions is helmed by Oscar® and Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney. Jigsaw has produced some of the most acclaimed documentary films in recent years, including the Academy and Emmy Award-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, the Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Showtime’s Emmy-winning History of the Eagles, the Sundance-premiering We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, and the explosive film about Lance Armstrong’s long fall from grace, The Armstrong Lie. More recent Jigsaw releases include the controversial and three-time Emmy winner Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, one of the most watched documentaries in HBO’s history, the Peabody Award-winning Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, the Emmy-nominated two-part series Sinatra: All or Nothing At All for HBO, and Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine for CNN Films, in theaters now. Television projects currently in production include: The New Yorker Presents for Amazon, which adapts the venerable The New Yorker magazine to the screen; Cooked, a four-part food docu-series based on the award-winning Michael Pollan book of the same name for Netflix; and the four-part Parched: The Water Wars for National Geographic.
About EPIX
EPIX is a premium movie and original programming entertainment network delivering the latest movie releases, classic film franchises, original documentaries, comedy and music events on TV, on demand, online and on digital devices. Launched in October 2009, EPIX has pioneered the development and proliferation of “TV Everywhere.” It was the first premium network to provide multi-platform access to its content online at EPIX.com and to launch on Xbox, PlayStation®, Android phones and tablets, and Roku® players. EPIX is also available across Chromecast, Apple® iPhones® and iPads®, Android TV and more and is the only premium service providing all its programming on all platforms, delivering more movies than any other premium network, with thousands of titles available for streaming.
EPIX is a joint venture between Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). Through relationships with cable, satellite and telco partners, EPIX is available to over 50 million homes nationwide. For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHD (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EPIX), YouTube (http://youtube.com/EPIX), Instagram (http://instagram.com/EPIX), Google+ (http://plus.google.com/+EPIX), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/EPIX) and Vine (https://vine.co/EPIX).
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Produced by Alex Gibney’s Jigsaw Productions, Directed by Caroline Suh and Featuring Interviews with Jill Soloway, Paul Feig, Toni Collette, Anjelica Huston, Catherine Hardwicke, Judd Apatow, Amy Heckerling, Julie Delpy, Lake Bell, Mira Nair, Amanda Peet, Patricia Clarkson, Mo’Nique, Anne Sweeney, James Franco, Christine Vachon, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Kristin Wiig and more…
Informed by Research Conducted by USC Annenberg Professor, Dr. Stacy L. Smith
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Premium TV network EPIX® announced today that THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM, a series of 6 original short films designed to explore the issues around the current gender gap in Hollywood, has completed production. The 6 shorts will air on the network and across all EPIX platforms on International Women’s Day – March 8, 2016 – and run throughout the month, coinciding with Women’s History Month. The first short will be presented at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival’s “Women at Sundance Brunch” on January 25, 2016.
Produced by Alex Gibney’s award-winning Jigsaw Productions (Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine, Taxi To the Darkside, Enron: Smartest Men In the Room), the series spotlights directors and creative personalities – both women and men – who share first-person insights, questions and anecdotes about the role of women in Hollywood.
Participants include: Judd Apatow, Joe Arcidiacono, Lake Bell, Amy Berg, Patricia Clarkson, Toni Collette, Jonathan Dayton, Julie Delpy, Valerie Faris, Paul Feig, America Ferrera, James Franco, Donna Gigliotti, Geoffrey Gilmore, Debra Granik, Catherine Hardwicke, Mary Harron, Amy Heckerling, Dawn Hudson, Anjelica Huston, Vicky Jenson, Sam Taylor-Johnson, Rebecca Keegan, Jon Kilik, Ellen Kuras, Mimi Leder, Franklin Leonard, Tina Mabry, Victoria Mahoney, Michael Mann, Lori McCreary, Mo’Nique, Michael Moore, Rachel Morrison, Mira Nair, Amanda Peet, Kimberly Peirce, Keri Putnam, Pamela Romanowsky, Cathy Schulman, A.O. Scott, Melissa Silverstein, Dr. Stacy L. Smith, Jill Soloway, Anne Sweeney, Anne Thompson, Rosemarie Troche, Christine Vachon, Mandy Walker and Kristen Wiig.
The series is informed by research conducted by USC Annenberg’s Dr. Stacy L. Smith, a renowned expert in the field, and which was supported by Women in Film Los Angeles and Sundance Institute. The series also has the support of the Geena Davis Institute on Gender In Media and Meryl Streep.
Even though it is widely recognized that female directors are strikingly under-represented in Hollywood, the numbers still manage to surprise. According to a multi-year study led by Dr. Stacy L. Smith and conducted by the USC Annenberg Media, Diversity and Social Change Initiative, across 1,300 top-grossing films from 2002 to 2014, only 4.1% of all directors were female. This calculates into a gender ratio of 23.3 male directors to every 1 female director.
Each film will focus on a different theme, with segments varying in tone – from thoughtful, to controversial, to funny, sometimes all at once.
Mark S. Greenberg, President and CEO, EPIX, said, “EPIX has supported Stacy’s research for years and these shorts offer a richer, more authentic portrayal about the role of women and girls in media today. Support for this project has also brought together the talented Alex Gibney, and a prestigious list of some of the most gifted artists and creatives from the worlds of entertainment and the arts. Our objective is to help provide a forum for the discussion of ideas and potential solutions, as we collectively work towards closing the gap that exists today.”
Dr. Stacy L. Smith, the Initiative’s Founder and Director and lead researcher on the investigation, said, “The series offers an opportunity for a national audience to hear from the entertainment industry directly about the issues women face both as filmmakers and in other creative roles. My research is clear: females face a very real fiscal cliff as they pursue work at the highest echelons of this industry. I am proud that my research is associated with a team and a network that cares about female filmmakers and creating systemic change.”
According to research from Dr. Stacy L. Smith:
In the 100 top films of 2014, only 2 women worked as directors.
Across 700 films and 779 directors from 2007 to 2014, only 3 were Black or African American female directors.
Women were only 11% of writers and less than 20% of producers across the 100 top-grossing films of 2014.
Only 30% of all on-screen speaking characters in 700 top-grossing films from 2007 to 2014 were girls or women.
A total of 21 of the 100 top films of 2014 featured a female lead or roughly equal co-lead.
Less than a quarter of all speaking characters were female in the top animated films of 2014.
Only 22% of speaking characters in top action/adventure films of 2014 were female.
34% of characters in top 2014 comedies were female.
Other data on female directors shows:
Only four women have been nominated for a Best Director Oscar® in the past 85 years, with only one winner among them.
“THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM points to the fact there is an undeniably gaping disparity in Hollywood. It’s one that many – including those in Hollywood and at the ACLU and EEOC – believe needs to change. What better way to draw attention to the issue than to have some of the business' most recognizable voices come together in support of more diversity in making movies,” notes director Caroline Suh. “I’m very happy that the project found a partner in Jigsaw, a company known for its activism in exploring human rights violations and the abuse of power. Jigsaw is an amazing group of diverse yet like-minded people whom I’ve loved working with. Further pleased to be working with the support of EPIX, led by Mark Greenberg, who has been committed to these issues for a long time. There’s also a great team of executives and production people who have rallied around the cause.”
THE 4%: FILM’S GENDER PROBLEM is a series of EPIX Original short documentary films produced by Jigsaw Productions. Caroline Suh is the director and Erika Frankel is the producer. Executive Producers are Stacey Offman, Laura Michalchyshyn, Lynne Kirby, Caroline Suh, Betsy West and Alex Gibney. Jocelyn Diaz, Ross Bernard and Jill Burkhart are Executive Producers for EPIX.
About USC Annenberg Media, Diversity, & Social Change Initiative
Dr. Stacy L. Smith is the Founder and Director of the Media, Diversity, and Social Change Initiative at the Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism at the University of Southern California. Dr. Smith's work examines gender and race on screen and behind the camera in cinematic content as well as barriers and opportunities facing women and people of color in the entertainment industry. She also conducts economic analyses related to diversity and the financial performance of films. Dr. Smith has written more than 100 journal articles, book chapters, and reports on content patterns and effects of the media. In terms of the popular press, Dr. Smith’s research has been written about in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, fivethirtyeight.com, The Atlantic, The Huffington Post, Newsweek, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Slate.com, Salon.com, The Boston Globe, NPR, and USA Today, to name a few. She has a co-edited essay in Maria Shriver’s book, A Woman’s Nation Changes Everything (2009). Dr. Smith’s most recent research reports include a landmark study with Sundance Institute and Women in Film Los Angeles, a study of 700 top-grossing films conducted at USC Annenberg, and multiple investigations with the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. Her work is also generously supported by EPIX, The Harnisch Foundation, LUNAFEST, The Jacquelyn and Gregory Zehner Foundation, and other individuals. To learn more, visit http://annenberg.usc.edu/mdsci or follow on Twitter @MDSCInitiative.
Jigsaw Productions is helmed by Oscar® and Emmy® Award-winning filmmaker Alex Gibney. Jigsaw has produced some of the most acclaimed documentary films in recent years, including the Academy and Emmy Award-winning Taxi to the Dark Side, the Oscar-nominated Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, the multiple Emmy Award-winning Mea Maxima Culpa: Silence in the House of God, Showtime’s Emmy-winning History of the Eagles, the Sundance-premiering We Steal Secrets: The Story of Wikileaks, and the explosive film about Lance Armstrong’s long fall from grace, The Armstrong Lie. More recent Jigsaw releases include the controversial and three-time Emmy winner Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, one of the most watched documentaries in HBO’s history, the Peabody Award-winning Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown, the Emmy-nominated two-part series Sinatra: All or Nothing At All for HBO, and Steve Jobs: The Man in the Machine for CNN Films, in theaters now. Television projects currently in production include: The New Yorker Presents for Amazon, which adapts the venerable The New Yorker magazine to the screen; Cooked, a four-part food docu-series based on the award-winning Michael Pollan book of the same name for Netflix; and the four-part Parched: The Water Wars for National Geographic.
About EPIX
EPIX is a premium movie and original programming entertainment network delivering the latest movie releases, classic film franchises, original documentaries, comedy and music events on TV, on demand, online and on digital devices. Launched in October 2009, EPIX has pioneered the development and proliferation of “TV Everywhere.” It was the first premium network to provide multi-platform access to its content online at EPIX.com and to launch on Xbox, PlayStation®, Android phones and tablets, and Roku® players. EPIX is also available across Chromecast, Apple® iPhones® and iPads®, Android TV and more and is the only premium service providing all its programming on all platforms, delivering more movies than any other premium network, with thousands of titles available for streaming.
EPIX is a joint venture between Viacom Inc., its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM). Through relationships with cable, satellite and telco partners, EPIX is available to over 50 million homes nationwide. For more information about EPIX, go to www.EPIX.com. Follow EPIX on Twitter @EpixHD (http://www.twitter.com/EpixHD) and on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/EPIX), YouTube (http://youtube.com/EPIX), Instagram (http://instagram.com/EPIX), Google+ (http://plus.google.com/+EPIX), Pinterest (http://pinterest.com/EPIX) and Vine (https://vine.co/EPIX).
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"Star Darlings" Bring Their Magical Brand to Disney Channel
Disney ‘Star Darlings’ Debuts First On-Air Special on Disney Channel
Tween Property Expands Across Television and Music with All-New Content; Teen Singer-Songwriter Skylar Stecker Premieres Special Remix of Theme Song “Wish Now”
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Disney today announced the television premiere of the first on-air special of its original new tween property “Star Darlings” FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel. The on-air special will extend the stories from the popular “Star Darlings” book series from Disney Publishing Worldwide that feature 12 unique girls who encourage tweens to celebrate their individuality, make positive choices, and show that they can make any wish a reality. “Star Darlings” first debuted in North America in September 2015 as a multiplatform lifestyle experience featuring content, music, and products spanning across books, online, mobile, toys and apparel.
“We are excited to expand the world of Starland to television and give fans across the country even more ways to join the ‘Star Darlings’ on their magical adventures.”
“The ‘Star Darlings’ digital short form content has already garnered millions of views across multiple platforms,” said Andrew Sugerman, executive vice president, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “We are excited to expand the world of Starland to television and give fans across the country even more ways to join the ‘Star Darlings’ on their magical adventures.”
The 30-minute on-air special, “Becoming Star Darlings,” introduces viewers to 12 “Star-Charmed” girls who pursue their individual wishes with determination and the help of their friends. The story begins on Starland where a major crisis is afoot, and the girls are chosen to be the first student Starlings to venture to Earth, or as they call it, “Wishworld.” Determined to succeed, the girls show courage and ingenuity—plus a whole lot of humor—as they guide others on Earth to discover happiness and fulfillment.
“Star Darlings” is rich with themes of friendship, confidence, leadership, and teamwork, and centers on characters that embody the qualities and characteristics of today’s tweens. The stories and journeys represented in the animated specials and book series are designed to inspire tweens to go after their dreams.
Music is a key element of the “Star Darlings” property, and as part of the property’s expansion to television, teen singer-songwriter and actress Skylar Stecker was brought on to remix the “Star Darlings” theme song, “Wish Now.” The remix, along with a live-action music video, features Stecker’s powerhouse vocals coupled with hip-hop-inspired beats and electro-pop synths. The Wisconsin native, whose debut album This Is Me is out now on Cherrytree Records, has been featured on Vevo’s DSCVR and iHeart Radio’s Next Up series which showcase in-studio performances from the most exciting new artist discoveries in music today. Also an actress, Skylar recently guest starred on Disney Channel’s hit TV show, Austin & Ally.
“I am so honored to be a part of the incredible world of ‘Star Darlings,’” said Stecker. “I’ve always wanted to be a singer. To be able to live out my dream and do what I love inspires me to encourage others to do the same. ‘Star Darlings’ feels like my own personal story and I can’t wait for my fans to check it out.”
The “Wish Now” remix is now available for download on iTunes, and on the “Star Darlings” Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels.
The second “Star Darlings” on-air special, “Star Darlings Friendships,” is scheduled to air on the Disney Channel on March 25, 2016.
“Star Darlings” books, dolls and apparel are now available at mass retailers nationwide. The “Star Darlings” doll line, created in collaboration with master toy partner JAKKS Pacific, features dolls from both Starland and Wishworld. The Starland Fashion Dolls let their inner star shine with “out-of-this-world” fashions, while the Wishworld Fashion Dolls feature stylish, down-to-earth fashions for adventures on Wishworld. A full range of all-new products for tweens including fashion, accessories, beauty, and more will be available in fall 2016.
For more information and to connect with Disney “Star Darlings,” please:
Visit the “Star Darlings” website: www.disneystardarlings.com
Like “Star Darlings” on Facebook: www.facebook.com/disneystardarlings
Follow “Star Darlings” on Instagram: www.instagram.com/disneystardarlings/
Subscribe to “Star Darlings” on YouTube: http://di.sn/6002B3McO
Download the “Star Darlings” mobile app: http://bit.ly/Star-Darlings-App
About Disney Publishing Worldwide
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) is the world's largest publisher of children's books, magazines, and apps, igniting imagination through storytelling in ever-inventive ways. DPW creates and publishes books and magazines both vertically in-house and through an extensive worldwide licensing structure. As a leader in digital products, DPW creates best-selling eBook titles and best-in-class original apps. DPW is also committed to the educational development of children around the world through Disney Learning, which includes Disney Imagicademy, as well as Disney English and other Disney-themed learning products. Headquartered in Glendale, California, DPW publishes books, magazines and digital products in 85 countries in 75 languages. For more information, visit www.disneypublishing.com.
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Tween Property Expands Across Television and Music with All-New Content; Teen Singer-Songwriter Skylar Stecker Premieres Special Remix of Theme Song “Wish Now”
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Disney today announced the television premiere of the first on-air special of its original new tween property “Star Darlings” FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016 (8:00 p.m., ET/PT) on Disney Channel. The on-air special will extend the stories from the popular “Star Darlings” book series from Disney Publishing Worldwide that feature 12 unique girls who encourage tweens to celebrate their individuality, make positive choices, and show that they can make any wish a reality. “Star Darlings” first debuted in North America in September 2015 as a multiplatform lifestyle experience featuring content, music, and products spanning across books, online, mobile, toys and apparel.
“We are excited to expand the world of Starland to television and give fans across the country even more ways to join the ‘Star Darlings’ on their magical adventures.”
“The ‘Star Darlings’ digital short form content has already garnered millions of views across multiple platforms,” said Andrew Sugerman, executive vice president, Disney Publishing Worldwide. “We are excited to expand the world of Starland to television and give fans across the country even more ways to join the ‘Star Darlings’ on their magical adventures.”
The 30-minute on-air special, “Becoming Star Darlings,” introduces viewers to 12 “Star-Charmed” girls who pursue their individual wishes with determination and the help of their friends. The story begins on Starland where a major crisis is afoot, and the girls are chosen to be the first student Starlings to venture to Earth, or as they call it, “Wishworld.” Determined to succeed, the girls show courage and ingenuity—plus a whole lot of humor—as they guide others on Earth to discover happiness and fulfillment.
“Star Darlings” is rich with themes of friendship, confidence, leadership, and teamwork, and centers on characters that embody the qualities and characteristics of today’s tweens. The stories and journeys represented in the animated specials and book series are designed to inspire tweens to go after their dreams.
Music is a key element of the “Star Darlings” property, and as part of the property’s expansion to television, teen singer-songwriter and actress Skylar Stecker was brought on to remix the “Star Darlings” theme song, “Wish Now.” The remix, along with a live-action music video, features Stecker’s powerhouse vocals coupled with hip-hop-inspired beats and electro-pop synths. The Wisconsin native, whose debut album This Is Me is out now on Cherrytree Records, has been featured on Vevo’s DSCVR and iHeart Radio’s Next Up series which showcase in-studio performances from the most exciting new artist discoveries in music today. Also an actress, Skylar recently guest starred on Disney Channel’s hit TV show, Austin & Ally.
“I am so honored to be a part of the incredible world of ‘Star Darlings,’” said Stecker. “I’ve always wanted to be a singer. To be able to live out my dream and do what I love inspires me to encourage others to do the same. ‘Star Darlings’ feels like my own personal story and I can’t wait for my fans to check it out.”
The “Wish Now” remix is now available for download on iTunes, and on the “Star Darlings” Facebook, YouTube and Instagram channels.
The second “Star Darlings” on-air special, “Star Darlings Friendships,” is scheduled to air on the Disney Channel on March 25, 2016.
“Star Darlings” books, dolls and apparel are now available at mass retailers nationwide. The “Star Darlings” doll line, created in collaboration with master toy partner JAKKS Pacific, features dolls from both Starland and Wishworld. The Starland Fashion Dolls let their inner star shine with “out-of-this-world” fashions, while the Wishworld Fashion Dolls feature stylish, down-to-earth fashions for adventures on Wishworld. A full range of all-new products for tweens including fashion, accessories, beauty, and more will be available in fall 2016.
For more information and to connect with Disney “Star Darlings,” please:
Visit the “Star Darlings” website: www.disneystardarlings.com
Like “Star Darlings” on Facebook: www.facebook.com/disneystardarlings
Follow “Star Darlings” on Instagram: www.instagram.com/disneystardarlings/
Subscribe to “Star Darlings” on YouTube: http://di.sn/6002B3McO
Download the “Star Darlings” mobile app: http://bit.ly/Star-Darlings-App
About Disney Publishing Worldwide
Disney Publishing Worldwide (DPW) is the world's largest publisher of children's books, magazines, and apps, igniting imagination through storytelling in ever-inventive ways. DPW creates and publishes books and magazines both vertically in-house and through an extensive worldwide licensing structure. As a leader in digital products, DPW creates best-selling eBook titles and best-in-class original apps. DPW is also committed to the educational development of children around the world through Disney Learning, which includes Disney Imagicademy, as well as Disney English and other Disney-themed learning products. Headquartered in Glendale, California, DPW publishes books, magazines and digital products in 85 countries in 75 languages. For more information, visit www.disneypublishing.com.
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Image Comics Announces New Series, "The Fix"
An all-new series from Nick Spencer and Steve Lieber
The Eisner-award nominated team of bestselling writer Nick Spencer (MORNING GLORIES) and artist Steve Lieber (Detective Comics, Whiteout) are in cahoots again for an all-new, ongoing crime series, THE FIX, which will be launching from Image Comics this April.
"After working with Steve on Superior Foes of Spider-Man, and having so much fun there—it's an absolute thrill getting to work together again here at Image on a book that's creator-owned, and being able to push the envelope of our humor to new, um, lows,” said Spencer. “The Fix is us at our most demented, and it's a blast.”
THE FIX is a story of the crooked cops, scheming mobsters, and corrupt politicians that run Los Angeles—and the sex toy that can bring them all down. Oh, and the hero is a drug-sniffing beagle named Pretzels. Bad people do bad things to each other in this frenetic, outrageous, sometimes off-putting new caper that gives nod to classic crime comics like CRIMINAL and 100 Bullets.
Lieber added: "I'm happy to say that The Fix is a truly funny story about truly awful people. Nick Spencer, Ryan Hill, Nic Shaw and I are all working hard together to create an endlessly surprising tale full of shining moments of self-centered garbage humanity."
THE FIX #1 (Diamond Code FEB160465) will hit comic book stores on Wednesday, April 6th, 2016. The final order cutoff deadline for comic book retailers is Monday, March 14th, 2016.
ABOUT IMAGE COMICS
Image Comics is a comic book and graphic novel publisher founded in 1992 by a collective of best-selling artists. Image has since gone on to become one of the largest comics publishers in the United States. Image currently has five partners: Robert Kirkman, Erik Larsen, Todd McFarlane, Marc Silvestri and Jim Valentino. It consists of five major houses: Todd McFarlane Productions, Top Cow Productions, Shadowline, Skybound and Image Central. Image publishes comics and graphic novels in nearly every genre, sub-genre, and style imaginable. It offers science fiction, fantasy, romance, horror, crime fiction, historical fiction, humor and more by the finest artists and writers working in the medium today. For more information, visit www.imagecomics.com.
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VIZ Media Celebrates 4th Anniverary of Digital English Edition of "Weekly Shonen Jump"
VIZ MEDIA CELEBRATES THE 4th ANNIVERSARY OF WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP WITH SPECIAL ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP OFFER AND SWEEPSTAKES
Limited Time Promotion Delivers Special Subscriber Pricing On The World’s Most Popular Weekly Manga Magazine And The Opportunity To Win A Wide Variety Of SHONEN JUMP Premiums
San Francisco, CA – VIZ Media, LLC (VIZ Media), the largest publisher, distributor and licensor of manga and anime in North America, marks the 4th anniversary of the official digital English edition of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP, the world’s most popular weekly manga magazine, with a special subscription offer for readers.
WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is published digitally every week by VIZ Media and features the latest chapters of a wide variety of serialized fan favorite manga (graphic novel) titles presented in English and released on the same day as the magazine’s general print release in Japan.
For a limited time until January 31st, 2016, special 4 Year Anniversary promotional pricing will offer annual WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP memberships for only $19.99 (U.S. / CAN) through shonenjump.viz.com. In addition, fans that subscribe by February 8th will have the opportunity to win a variety of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP premiums and collectibles including jackets, t-shirts, and more! More information on the sweepstakes is available here: http://bit.ly/1K1rqzx (*Note: this sweepstakes is available only to residents of the U.S. and Canada (excluding Quebec))
WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP annual members receive 48 weekly digital issues as well as special premiums such as Yu-Gi-Oh! Collectable Trading Cards, rare one-shot manga releases, digital-only promotions, and access to additional subscriber-only content including creator interviews and insightful promo videos. Current subscribers can also access their accounts via VIZManga.com, the VIZ Manga App, and shonenjump.viz.com or with the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP App on iOS and Android devices.
Manga series currently featured in WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP include BLACK CLOVER, BLEACH, BLUE EXORCIST, FOOD WARS!, MY HERO ACADEMIA, NISEKOI, ONE-PUNCH MAN, ONE PIECE, SERAPH OF THE END, TORIKO, WORLD TRIGGER and YU-GI-OH! ARC-V. WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP also regularly gives readers an advance peek at the latest new series debuts in Japan with special JUMP START features.
“WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is essential reading for manga fans and we invite both new and current readers to take advantage of this special promotion. This is a great opportunity to dive into the latest chapters of some of the hottest series each week and receive a variety of other cool premiums throughout the year!” says Andy Nakatani, Editor in Chief of WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP.
WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP is also available to readers in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa via ShonenJump.VIZ.com and the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP Newsstand App available for the Apple iPad®, iPhone and iPod touch or the WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP App on the Google Play Store for Android devices. International issues debut each Monday at 10:00am (PST) and monthly subscriptions are available with automatic monthly renewals. Additional information on international subscriptions is available at: http://shonenjump.viz.com/international-wsj-app.
For more information on WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and exclusive subscriber offers, please visit shonenjump.viz.com.
For more information on VIZ Media manga titles, please visit www.VIZ.com.
About VIZ Media, LLC
Headquartered in San Francisco, California, VIZ Media distributes, markets and licenses the best anime and manga titles direct from Japan. Owned by three of Japan's largest manga and animation companies, Shueisha Inc., Shogakukan Inc., and Shogakukan-Shueisha Productions, Co., Ltd., VIZ Media has the most extensive library of anime and manga for English speaking audiences in North America, the United Kingdom, Ireland and South Africa. With its popular digital manga anthology WEEKLY SHONEN JUMP and blockbuster properties like NARUTO, BLEACH and ONE PIECE, VIZ Media offers cutting-edge action, romance and family- friendly properties for anime, manga, science fiction and fantasy fans of all ages. VIZ Media properties are available as graphic novels, DVDs, animated television series, feature films, downloadable and streaming video and a variety of consumer products. Learn more about VIZ Media, anime and manga at www.VIZ.com.
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