Edward L. Scanlon was the ultimate insider.
The long-serving NBC executive was a hugely influential player in the life of the network during the decades when it was owned by RCA and later General Electric. Scanlon was involved in everything from corporate recruiting and personnel vetting to labor negotiations to high-level M&a activity during his 44 years with RCA, Hertz and NBC. He was a close confidant of Ge chairman Jack Welch. But Scanlon never courted the spotlight, preferring to stay behind the scenes. In 2001, as Scanlon prepared to retire from NBC, the New York Times published a rare profile that described him as “NBC’s Negotiator and Fixer.”
Here, veteran media consultant and corporate recruiter Stuart Sucherman pays tribute to his longtime friend and colleague. Scanlon died March 17 in Naples, Florida, one day before his 90th birthday.
The role that Ed played at NBC for 30 years is hard to define.
The long-serving NBC executive was a hugely influential player in the life of the network during the decades when it was owned by RCA and later General Electric. Scanlon was involved in everything from corporate recruiting and personnel vetting to labor negotiations to high-level M&a activity during his 44 years with RCA, Hertz and NBC. He was a close confidant of Ge chairman Jack Welch. But Scanlon never courted the spotlight, preferring to stay behind the scenes. In 2001, as Scanlon prepared to retire from NBC, the New York Times published a rare profile that described him as “NBC’s Negotiator and Fixer.”
Here, veteran media consultant and corporate recruiter Stuart Sucherman pays tribute to his longtime friend and colleague. Scanlon died March 17 in Naples, Florida, one day before his 90th birthday.
The role that Ed played at NBC for 30 years is hard to define.
- 5/11/2024
- by Stuart Sucherman
- Variety Film + TV
Somehow it’s gone unreported until now, but for several days in 2001, then-SNL writer Paula Pell was believed to be a victim of anthrax poisoning after a letter containing the lethal substance was sent to 30 Rock.
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, letters containing anthrax were sent to a number of politicians and journalists, including NBC’s Tom Brokaw. As was publicly reported at the time, Brokaw’s assistant was exposed to the substance and hospitalized after she tested positive for anthrax poisoning. A second NBC employee, a desk assistant for NBC News who opened the letter, also fell ill.
What we didn’t know until now is that several weeks later, Paula Pell was also sent to the hospital with suspected anthrax poisoning. It’s a pretty remarkable footnote to a story that was front-page news at the time, but for Pell it’s most notable for the...
In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, letters containing anthrax were sent to a number of politicians and journalists, including NBC’s Tom Brokaw. As was publicly reported at the time, Brokaw’s assistant was exposed to the substance and hospitalized after she tested positive for anthrax poisoning. A second NBC employee, a desk assistant for NBC News who opened the letter, also fell ill.
What we didn’t know until now is that several weeks later, Paula Pell was also sent to the hospital with suspected anthrax poisoning. It’s a pretty remarkable footnote to a story that was front-page news at the time, but for Pell it’s most notable for the...
- 5/10/2024
- by Jennifer M. Wood
- LateNighter
When Band of Brothers debuted on HBO — on September 9, 2001, two days before a devastating, epochal terrorist attack on American soil — the miniseries felt like the culmination of a whole era of World War II myth-making. Band of Brothers plays like a companion piece to its producer Steven Spielberg’s Oscar-winning 1998 hit Saving Private Ryan, which itself came out the same year as Tom Brokaw’s bestselling book The Greatest Generation.
All of these projects — the book, the movie, the TV show — venerated the men who fought the Nazis, while also acknowledging that their heroism came at a steep personal cost. HBO’s 2010 sequel miniseries The Pacific (released after a grueling decade in “the war on terror”) reiterated that theme, showing how violence and loss leaves an indelible stain on a soldier’s soul, even when their cause is just.
All of these projects — the book, the movie, the TV show — venerated the men who fought the Nazis, while also acknowledging that their heroism came at a steep personal cost. HBO’s 2010 sequel miniseries The Pacific (released after a grueling decade in “the war on terror”) reiterated that theme, showing how violence and loss leaves an indelible stain on a soldier’s soul, even when their cause is just.
- 1/29/2024
- by Noel Murray
- Primetimer
There’s a reason the word honors is in the title. To help celebrate the lifetime contributions of artists in music, dance, theater, opera, movies and TV, the Kennedy Center Honors routinely pay tribute to its recipients by rewarding them with memorable performances.
Scores of artists have been feted since the Honors got their start in 1978, but there are certain tributes that remain sketched in our hearts forever. In anticipation of the 46th annual event honoring Billy Crystal, Renée Fleming, Barry Gibb, Queen Latifah, and Dionne Warwick on Dec. 27, we look back at some of the show’s most unforgettable performances — starting with Lenny Bernstein’s opening speech from the very first Kennedy Center Honors, of course.
Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris and Rosanne Cash honor Johnny Cash in 1996
Three of country’s greats performed hits from Cash’s eclectic songbook — “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Folsom Prison Blues.” and...
Scores of artists have been feted since the Honors got their start in 1978, but there are certain tributes that remain sketched in our hearts forever. In anticipation of the 46th annual event honoring Billy Crystal, Renée Fleming, Barry Gibb, Queen Latifah, and Dionne Warwick on Dec. 27, we look back at some of the show’s most unforgettable performances — starting with Lenny Bernstein’s opening speech from the very first Kennedy Center Honors, of course.
Kris Kristofferson, Lyle Lovett, Emmylou Harris and Rosanne Cash honor Johnny Cash in 1996
Three of country’s greats performed hits from Cash’s eclectic songbook — “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Folsom Prison Blues.” and...
- 12/26/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Culver City, Calif. – Continuing the fan-favorite and award-winning series—and as part of the upcoming 100th anniversary of Columbia Pictures—Sony Pictures Home Entertainment is proud to debut six more beloved films from its library on 4K Ultra HD disc for the first time ever, exclusively within the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4, available February 13. This must-own set includes films with which audiences around the world have fallen in love: His Girl Friday, Guess Who’s Coming To Dinner, Kramer Vs. Kramer, Starman, Sleepless In Seattle and Punch-drunk Love. Each film is presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range, and five of the films have all-new Dolby Atmos mixes.
The six films in the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 are only available on 4K Ultra HD disc within this special limited edition collector’s set. The collection includes a gorgeous hardbound 80-page book, featuring...
The six films in the Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 are only available on 4K Ultra HD disc within this special limited edition collector’s set. The collection includes a gorgeous hardbound 80-page book, featuring...
- 11/19/2023
- by ComicMix Staff
- Comicmix.com
“Sleepless in Seattle,” “Punch-Drunk Love” and four more films from Columbia Pictures will make their 4K Ultra HD debut Feb. 13, 2024, via Sony Pictures Home Entertainment.
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol. 4, the latest installment in Sphe’s series of limited edition sets culling critical and commercial hits from the studio’s storied library, will feature Nora Ephron and Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic comedies — along with Howard Hawks’ “His Girl Friday,” Stanley Kramer’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Robert Benton’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and John Carpenter’s “Starman.” In addition to more than 30 hours of legacy bonus content for each film, the set includes a bonus disc featuring the entirety of the 1986 “Starman” television series, as well as an 80-page hardbound book exploring the impact and legacy of the six films.
Matching its predecessors, the packaging for the set showcases the included titles, and opens to display...
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Vol. 4, the latest installment in Sphe’s series of limited edition sets culling critical and commercial hits from the studio’s storied library, will feature Nora Ephron and Paul Thomas Anderson’s romantic comedies — along with Howard Hawks’ “His Girl Friday,” Stanley Kramer’s “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” Robert Benton’s “Kramer vs. Kramer” and John Carpenter’s “Starman.” In addition to more than 30 hours of legacy bonus content for each film, the set includes a bonus disc featuring the entirety of the 1986 “Starman” television series, as well as an 80-page hardbound book exploring the impact and legacy of the six films.
Matching its predecessors, the packaging for the set showcases the included titles, and opens to display...
- 11/17/2023
- by Todd Gilchrist
- Variety Film + TV
When Apple TV+ first launched, one of its marquee shows was undoubtedly "The Morning Show." Starring Steve Carell, Jennifer Aniston, and Reese Witherspoon as the anchors of a popular morning talk show in trouble, it quickly gained notice for its star-studded cast as much as for its deliberate parallels to the upheavals in real-life broadcast journalism of the time.
Over the seasons, the series has become less directly based on real-life events, but echoes of familiar stories still remain.
Is "The Morning Show" Based on a True Story?
When the first season of "The Morning Show" debuted in 2019, it centered on a badly behaved, popular man anchor on a beloved morning show, which seemed almost ripped from the headlines. Mitch Kessler, the fictional anchor in hot water (played by Carell), is at the center of a sexual misconduct scandal, including the discovery of a remote "close door" button under his office desk.
Over the seasons, the series has become less directly based on real-life events, but echoes of familiar stories still remain.
Is "The Morning Show" Based on a True Story?
When the first season of "The Morning Show" debuted in 2019, it centered on a badly behaved, popular man anchor on a beloved morning show, which seemed almost ripped from the headlines. Mitch Kessler, the fictional anchor in hot water (played by Carell), is at the center of a sexual misconduct scandal, including the discovery of a remote "close door" button under his office desk.
- 9/15/2023
- by Amanda Prahl
- Popsugar.com
A fresh-faced comedian walks through New York after having woken up and feeding his fish. He's got a nearly beatific smile on his face as he's wished good luck and almost instantly told by those same people (with sarcastic tones) that there's no pressure, because he's been chosen to replace one of the most beloved comedians to ever grace the small screen. He's tall, lanky, with a shock of red hair, and he's just barely reached the age of 30. Everyone from John Tesh to Tom Brokaw to passers-by give him some version of these remarks ("Ya better be as good as Letterman!"), and he takes them all in good stride. He walks into 30 Rockefeller Center, gets ready for his first TV hosting gig, taking over the "Late Night" show on NBC at 12:35 am. He walks into his dressing room, where he proceeds to attempt hanging himself. It's only when...
- 9/12/2023
- by Josh Spiegel
- Slash Film
Bob Barker was a pillar of television’s greatest generation.
Barker, the enduring host of “The Price Is Right” who died Aug. 26 at the age of 99, was a World War II veteran who trained as a Navy fighter pilot. But his destiny was not to fly missions in the Pacific theater. Barker’s service to his country came in the years after the war, when he and an elite corps of seasoned radio announcers laid a large part of the foundation for commercial television as we know it today.
Barker was a born broadcaster. He had a resonant voice, and his 6-foot-1 frame didn’t hurt in making an impression on viewers in the early days of grainy TV pictures. But his biggest asset was the gift of being to speak extemporaneously on live television – and make it look and feel natural while doing so.
Bob Barker, Longtime Host of ‘The Price Is Right,...
Barker, the enduring host of “The Price Is Right” who died Aug. 26 at the age of 99, was a World War II veteran who trained as a Navy fighter pilot. But his destiny was not to fly missions in the Pacific theater. Barker’s service to his country came in the years after the war, when he and an elite corps of seasoned radio announcers laid a large part of the foundation for commercial television as we know it today.
Barker was a born broadcaster. He had a resonant voice, and his 6-foot-1 frame didn’t hurt in making an impression on viewers in the early days of grainy TV pictures. But his biggest asset was the gift of being to speak extemporaneously on live television – and make it look and feel natural while doing so.
Bob Barker, Longtime Host of ‘The Price Is Right,...
- 8/27/2023
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
WrapPRO is free this week. See the inside scoops, expert analysis and exclusive data subscribers get daily. Click here for more information.
Olivia Metzger’s client list is a who’s who of some of the biggest names in broadcast journalism: MSNBC president Rashida Jones, “CNN This Morning” anchor Poppy Harlow, newly named host of “Meet the Press” Kristen Welker, CNN senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid and Fox News’ Ben Hall, who was recently gravely injured while covering Ukraine and now a New York Times bestselling author.
It helps to have connections: Before she founded her talent development firm, OManagement, she counted names like Lester Holt and Jeff Zucker as colleagues at NBCUniversal and worked as an agent for 10 years at CAA.
Not bad for someone who started her career as an unpaid NBC intern after “having failed out of college.” She studied at Hartwick College but “didn’t...
Olivia Metzger’s client list is a who’s who of some of the biggest names in broadcast journalism: MSNBC president Rashida Jones, “CNN This Morning” anchor Poppy Harlow, newly named host of “Meet the Press” Kristen Welker, CNN senior legal affairs correspondent Paula Reid and Fox News’ Ben Hall, who was recently gravely injured while covering Ukraine and now a New York Times bestselling author.
It helps to have connections: Before she founded her talent development firm, OManagement, she counted names like Lester Holt and Jeff Zucker as colleagues at NBCUniversal and worked as an agent for 10 years at CAA.
Not bad for someone who started her career as an unpaid NBC intern after “having failed out of college.” She studied at Hartwick College but “didn’t...
- 7/21/2023
- by Kayla Cobb
- The Wrap
David Bohrman, the veteran news producer and executive who worked for ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, Current TV, and most notably CNN, has died. He was 69.
Bohrman died Sunday after complications with hip surgery, his family told CNN.
Famed as a news innovator, Bohrman created dozens of programs over a career that spanned six decades and was widely credited with introducing cutting-edge technology into news broadcasts including interactive video walls, 3D holograms and real-time visualizations. Among the many news programs he created for CNN included State of the Union, Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, MoneyLine News Hour with Lou Dobbs and NewsNight with Aaron Brown.
Born in 1954 in Los Angeles, Bohrman was the son of Delle, a television writer and Stan, a TV news anchor on CBS Kpix in San Francisco. Stan Bohrman made his mark in television news through Kpix’s use of “Instant Eye” feature, the at-the-time...
Bohrman died Sunday after complications with hip surgery, his family told CNN.
Famed as a news innovator, Bohrman created dozens of programs over a career that spanned six decades and was widely credited with introducing cutting-edge technology into news broadcasts including interactive video walls, 3D holograms and real-time visualizations. Among the many news programs he created for CNN included State of the Union, Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer, MoneyLine News Hour with Lou Dobbs and NewsNight with Aaron Brown.
Born in 1954 in Los Angeles, Bohrman was the son of Delle, a television writer and Stan, a TV news anchor on CBS Kpix in San Francisco. Stan Bohrman made his mark in television news through Kpix’s use of “Instant Eye” feature, the at-the-time...
- 6/26/2023
- by Abid Rahman
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Never Give Up is the title of Tom Brokaw’s new book — and, it seems, his attitude toward his struggle with multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. The former NBC News anchor, now 83, sat down with his former Today co-host Jane Pauley for an interview that aired on CBS News Sunday Morning on Sunday, June 25. And he reflected on the nearly-decade-long battle he has waged since his 2013 cancer diagnosis. “I’ve had a bad experience,” Brokaw told Pauley. “I kept thinking bad things wouldn’t happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can. And I’ve had to change my life in some way.” Brokaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma at the Mayo Clinic in August 2013, as his then-employer reported the following year. As the clinic explains, multiple myeloma occurs...
- 6/25/2023
- TV Insider
Tom Brokaw has sat down with his former Today co-host Jane Pauley for an interview on the upcoming CBS News Sunday Morning, this time to give an update on his battle with blood cancer.
“I’ve had a bad experience,” Brokaw said in an excerpt shared by the network. “I kept thinking bad things wouldn’t happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can.”
Brokaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 10 years ago. He’s written about his experiences in the 2015 book A Lucky Life Interrupted. He had continued to make appearances on NBC News and MSNBC, but announced his retirement from the network in early 2021 after 55 years.
He told Pauley, “I’ve had to change my life in some way. I really had to give up my daily activity with NBC.
“I’ve had a bad experience,” Brokaw said in an excerpt shared by the network. “I kept thinking bad things wouldn’t happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can.”
Brokaw was diagnosed with multiple myeloma 10 years ago. He’s written about his experiences in the 2015 book A Lucky Life Interrupted. He had continued to make appearances on NBC News and MSNBC, but announced his retirement from the network in early 2021 after 55 years.
He told Pauley, “I’ve had to change my life in some way. I really had to give up my daily activity with NBC.
- 6/23/2023
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
NBC News stalwart Tom Brokaw is doing some of his deepest confessional talking this Sunday via CBS News.
Brokaw talks to longtime friend Jane Pauley, who anchors “CBS News Sunday Morning,” and tells her about his battle with incurable blood cancer, which he has been fighting for a decade. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma ten years ago.
“I’ve had a bad experience,” Brokaw tells Pauley of his illness. “I kept thinking bad things wouldn’t happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can.” He says doctors did not think he would make it to his current age, 83 years.
He says the disease forced him to walk away from NBC News, even as he enjoyed a sort of elder-statesman position there after his exit from anchoring “NBC Nightly News,...
Brokaw talks to longtime friend Jane Pauley, who anchors “CBS News Sunday Morning,” and tells her about his battle with incurable blood cancer, which he has been fighting for a decade. He was diagnosed with multiple myeloma ten years ago.
“I’ve had a bad experience,” Brokaw tells Pauley of his illness. “I kept thinking bad things wouldn’t happen to me. But as I grew older, I began to develop this condition. And what you try to do is control it as much as you can.” He says doctors did not think he would make it to his current age, 83 years.
He says the disease forced him to walk away from NBC News, even as he enjoyed a sort of elder-statesman position there after his exit from anchoring “NBC Nightly News,...
- 6/23/2023
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Jenny Tartikoff has stepped down as Paramount’s EVP of Global Communications, president and CEO Brian Robbins announced Wednesday.
Tartikoff’s departure from the studio is effective immediately.
In his memo to staff, Robbins wrote that “she has been a trusted colleague to us, and I am grateful for her contributions to the studio and our team. Please join me in wishing her the very best.”
In her own memo to staff, Tartikoff added that “there’s no easy way to share this news,” but she’s “made the hard decision to leave the company.”
“In just under two years, we’ve accomplished and achieved so much together, helping to restore Paramount’s legacy as one of Hollywood’s most iconic and successful studios. Without a doubt, the best part was getting to know and work with you,” she wrote. “Along with all our hard work and hustle, we shared...
Tartikoff’s departure from the studio is effective immediately.
In his memo to staff, Robbins wrote that “she has been a trusted colleague to us, and I am grateful for her contributions to the studio and our team. Please join me in wishing her the very best.”
In her own memo to staff, Tartikoff added that “there’s no easy way to share this news,” but she’s “made the hard decision to leave the company.”
“In just under two years, we’ve accomplished and achieved so much together, helping to restore Paramount’s legacy as one of Hollywood’s most iconic and successful studios. Without a doubt, the best part was getting to know and work with you,” she wrote. “Along with all our hard work and hustle, we shared...
- 5/10/2023
- by Umberto Gonzalez
- The Wrap
Get in line, because Cocaine Bear has made its way to Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital following a successful theatrical run. The “Maximum Rampage Edition” features several featurettes, including a fun audio commentary by director/producer Elizabeth Banks and producer (and Banks’ husband) Max Handelman.
Here are eight things I learned from the Cocaine Bear commentary…
1. The film opens with a Wet Hot American Summer reference.
Cocaine Bear opens to the tune of Jefferson Starship’s “Jane,” which many will recognize as the theme song to Wet Hot American Summer, the film in which Banks got her start. She explains:
“This song straight up is an homage to Wet Hot American Summer. Anybody who knows my work knows Wet Hot American Summer was technically my first movie as Elizabeth Banks. That’s my SAG card, got it on that movie. This is the opening song to Wet Hot American Summer, and I sent David Wain,...
Here are eight things I learned from the Cocaine Bear commentary…
1. The film opens with a Wet Hot American Summer reference.
Cocaine Bear opens to the tune of Jefferson Starship’s “Jane,” which many will recognize as the theme song to Wet Hot American Summer, the film in which Banks got her start. She explains:
“This song straight up is an homage to Wet Hot American Summer. Anybody who knows my work knows Wet Hot American Summer was technically my first movie as Elizabeth Banks. That’s my SAG card, got it on that movie. This is the opening song to Wet Hot American Summer, and I sent David Wain,...
- 4/20/2023
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
The Fall of 2001 was a tense time in America, to say the least. The 9/11 attacks had permanently altered the course of history as grief and paranoia swept the country over. A brewing war in Afghanistan heralded escalating violence overseas, while at home there appeared a strange, spooky bioterrorism campaign that weaponized the bacteria called anthrax. "Amerithrax," as the FBI called it, involved a series of infected letters mailed to prominent media figures and two Senators, leading to the death of five people and long-lasting health problems for more. 30 Rockefeller Plaza, headquarters of NBC, was among the targets, which meant that "Saturday Night Live" and its host during the height of the attacks, Drew Barrymore, could do nothing but crack jokes knowing that anthrax may have been floating through the building.
The anthrax saga started with the hospitalization and subsequent death of Robert Stevens on October 4, 2001, an event that initially seemed like an isolated incident.
The anthrax saga started with the hospitalization and subsequent death of Robert Stevens on October 4, 2001, an event that initially seemed like an isolated incident.
- 3/18/2023
- by Andrew Housman
- Slash Film
Andrew Freedman, the news and entertainment publicist who ran the New York-based Andrew E. Freedman Public Relations for more than three decades, died February 8 following a cancer diagnosis last year. He was 67.
His death was announced by sons Al and Chris on the firm’s website.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Crime Procedural 'Archie & Pete' In The Works At Fox From Amy Holden Jones & Matt Nix Related Story Hilary Weisman Graham Tapped As Co-Showrunner For CBS' 'The Never Game' Starring Justin Hartley
“To us, he was our best friend, our biggest supporter, our inspiration, and our hero,” Al and Chris Freedman said of their father. “We’re thankful that he’s without pain and with our beloved mother, Patty, and our family dog Riley.”
Born on March 26, 1955, Freedman’s first major PR post came within the news division of NBC during the 1980s.
His death was announced by sons Al and Chris on the firm’s website.
Related Story Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries Related Story Crime Procedural 'Archie & Pete' In The Works At Fox From Amy Holden Jones & Matt Nix Related Story Hilary Weisman Graham Tapped As Co-Showrunner For CBS' 'The Never Game' Starring Justin Hartley
“To us, he was our best friend, our biggest supporter, our inspiration, and our hero,” Al and Chris Freedman said of their father. “We’re thankful that he’s without pain and with our beloved mother, Patty, and our family dog Riley.”
Born on March 26, 1955, Freedman’s first major PR post came within the news division of NBC during the 1980s.
- 2/16/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Andrew Freedman, the veteran news and entertainment publicist whose clients included Gayle King, Barbara Walters, Joan Collins, Margo Martindale, Christopher McDonald and Harry Shearer, has died. He was 67.
Freedman died Feb. 8 at Mount Sinai West hospital in New York, his son Chris told The Hollywood Reporter. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in August.
Freedman served as a senior spokesman for all NBC News programming from 1984-91 — managing media relations for NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press and the Today show — then was vp corporate communications for Special Olympics International for a year.
Those jobs overlapped with the launch of Andrew E. Freedman Public Relations in 1990 in New York.
His wife of 30 years and business partner, actress Patty Dworkin, died in February 2017 of breast cancer at age 64. She appeared on Broadway with Jackie Gleason, on TV shows including Eight Is Enough and The Love Boat and in such films as Airplane II and Mr. Mom.
Freedman died Feb. 8 at Mount Sinai West hospital in New York, his son Chris told The Hollywood Reporter. He was diagnosed with liver cancer in August.
Freedman served as a senior spokesman for all NBC News programming from 1984-91 — managing media relations for NBC Nightly News, Meet the Press and the Today show — then was vp corporate communications for Special Olympics International for a year.
Those jobs overlapped with the launch of Andrew E. Freedman Public Relations in 1990 in New York.
His wife of 30 years and business partner, actress Patty Dworkin, died in February 2017 of breast cancer at age 64. She appeared on Broadway with Jackie Gleason, on TV shows including Eight Is Enough and The Love Boat and in such films as Airplane II and Mr. Mom.
- 2/16/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Brian Williams has enlisted the representation of CAA, a signal that the veteran TV journalist is devoting more thought to his career trajectory after leaving longtime home NBCUniversal at the end of 2021.
In December of that year, Williams signed off from his MSNBC program, “The 11th Hour,” warning viewers that, in the wake of the insurrection in Washington on January 6, 2020, “the darkness at the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It’s now at the local bar and the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store, and it must be acknowledged and answered for.”
He may seek out new opportunities to do so in the not-too-distant future.
In CAA, Williams has selected an agency that also works with some of his contemporaries, including MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace and ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. Williams will retain his longtime attorney, Robert Barnett,...
In December of that year, Williams signed off from his MSNBC program, “The 11th Hour,” warning viewers that, in the wake of the insurrection in Washington on January 6, 2020, “the darkness at the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It’s now at the local bar and the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store, and it must be acknowledged and answered for.”
He may seek out new opportunities to do so in the not-too-distant future.
In CAA, Williams has selected an agency that also works with some of his contemporaries, including MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace and ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. Williams will retain his longtime attorney, Robert Barnett,...
- 1/19/2023
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Comedian Dana Carvey appeared as a regular cast member on "Saturday Night Live" from 1986 to 1993, and it could be argued those were some of the best years of the long-running sketch comedy show. And many of the accolades from that era go to Carvey. The list of his memorable characters is long and led to two successful "SNL"-inspired films, "Wayne's World" and "Wayne's World 2." Party on, Garth!
But Garth Algar is just the tip of the iceberg for Carvey's "SNL" career. President George Bush Sr., presidential candidate Ross Perot, Johnny Carson, and Tom Brokaw (Brokaw's pre-tapes remain one of my favorite "SNL" skits) were some of his memorable impersonations. Original characters included Hans from the weightlifting Hans and Franz duo, The Grumpy Old Man, and singer/songwriter Derek Stevens (you know you sang along about "Choppin' Broccoli").
But Church Lady ... oh, Church Lady. The indelible host of the fictional...
But Garth Algar is just the tip of the iceberg for Carvey's "SNL" career. President George Bush Sr., presidential candidate Ross Perot, Johnny Carson, and Tom Brokaw (Brokaw's pre-tapes remain one of my favorite "SNL" skits) were some of his memorable impersonations. Original characters included Hans from the weightlifting Hans and Franz duo, The Grumpy Old Man, and singer/songwriter Derek Stevens (you know you sang along about "Choppin' Broccoli").
But Church Lady ... oh, Church Lady. The indelible host of the fictional...
- 1/10/2023
- by Travis Yates
- Slash Film
Dick Ebersol is one of the seminal figures in the past 50 years of broadcast television. He helped create “Saturday Night Live.” He hired Brandon Tartikoff, genius programmer and innovator, to revive NBC’s primetime fortunes. As president of NBC Sports, he oversaw the network’s Olympic strategy for many years. “Sunday Night Football” was his idea.
Ebersol recounts the high (and sometimes low) points of his career in television in a new autobiography, “From Saturday Night to Sunday Night: My Forty Years of Laughter, Tears and Touchdowns in TV,” published this week by Simon & Schuster.
While all of the great moments in his career were at NBC, Ebersol, now 75, started as a researcher at ABC Sports in 1967. Legendary ABC Sports chief Roone Arledge, Ebersol tells Variety, “was the most important figure in my life,” and the executive who eventually took on Ebersol as a trusted associate.
It was also...
Ebersol recounts the high (and sometimes low) points of his career in television in a new autobiography, “From Saturday Night to Sunday Night: My Forty Years of Laughter, Tears and Touchdowns in TV,” published this week by Simon & Schuster.
While all of the great moments in his career were at NBC, Ebersol, now 75, started as a researcher at ABC Sports in 1967. Legendary ABC Sports chief Roone Arledge, Ebersol tells Variety, “was the most important figure in my life,” and the executive who eventually took on Ebersol as a trusted associate.
It was also...
- 9/17/2022
- by Jon Burlingame
- Variety Film + TV
Sun Valley, Idaho — The Elon Musk watch is on.
The first full day of Allen & Co.’s exclusive conference and retreat for the wealthy and well-connected concluded Wednesday at the luxe Sun Valley resort. Even among the assembled 1-ers, there was anticipation for the arrival of the maverick leader of Tesla and SpaceX, who is expected to make an appearance at the annual meeting of moguls and C-suite titans.
Following Tuesday’s many arrivals and some solo morning time, during which Verizon chief Hans Vestberg went for a run around the resort in the 6 a.m. hour, the agenda kicked off with an outdoor breakfast held for the business, media and tech moguls and their guests in a shaded area behind the lodge.
After the catered affair, the day was filled with private meetings and well-guarded guest speaker sessions, which usually focus on heady global economic and public policy topics.
The first full day of Allen & Co.’s exclusive conference and retreat for the wealthy and well-connected concluded Wednesday at the luxe Sun Valley resort. Even among the assembled 1-ers, there was anticipation for the arrival of the maverick leader of Tesla and SpaceX, who is expected to make an appearance at the annual meeting of moguls and C-suite titans.
Following Tuesday’s many arrivals and some solo morning time, during which Verizon chief Hans Vestberg went for a run around the resort in the 6 a.m. hour, the agenda kicked off with an outdoor breakfast held for the business, media and tech moguls and their guests in a shaded area behind the lodge.
After the catered affair, the day was filled with private meetings and well-guarded guest speaker sessions, which usually focus on heady global economic and public policy topics.
- 7/6/2022
- by Jennifer Maas
- Variety Film + TV
“I’m always interested in the moral ambiguities in all of us,” declares Tony Goldwyn about the complicated character he portrays in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” the latest installment of the hit National Geographic anthology drama thriller. “We all cross moral boundaries and tell ourselves that we’re not doing it, so Bruce had a need to see himself as a hero, and as a patriot and as a soldier of good and a do-gooder and that was tremendously important to him,” he explains, adding for our recent webchat that, “he really formed an identity of goodness, service, expertise, intellect and faith.” Watch our exclusive video interview above
See over 400 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders
Goldwyn stars as real-life microbiologist Bruce Edwards Ivins in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” which is based on the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name by Richard Preston. Developed by Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders, it also stars Daniel Dae Kim,...
See over 400 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders
Goldwyn stars as real-life microbiologist Bruce Edwards Ivins in “The Hot Zone: Anthrax,” which is based on the 1994 non-fiction book of the same name by Richard Preston. Developed by Brian Peterson and Kelly Souders, it also stars Daniel Dae Kim,...
- 6/8/2022
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
His goal was to become the second-best filmmaker in his house. Well, George Stevens. Jr. accomplished that and much more.
When he was celebrated last week in Washington, D.C. — where Stevens has lived for many years — the joke became: Is there anyone who hasn’t met this man, now 90 and the author of a new autobiography? “I want to be George when I grow up,” three-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tom Friedman said.
Tom Brokaw, another longtime friend who will interview Stevens at New York City’s 92nd Street Y on Sunday, added, “George has written a wonderful book about his showbiz parents, especially his dad, who was a top-tier director in the ’30s and then took his skills to World War II.”
Also Read:
AFI Fest 2022 Announces Dates and Calls for Entries
The elder Stevens enlisted and spent three years away from his wife and son, filming virtually...
When he was celebrated last week in Washington, D.C. — where Stevens has lived for many years — the joke became: Is there anyone who hasn’t met this man, now 90 and the author of a new autobiography? “I want to be George when I grow up,” three-time Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Tom Friedman said.
Tom Brokaw, another longtime friend who will interview Stevens at New York City’s 92nd Street Y on Sunday, added, “George has written a wonderful book about his showbiz parents, especially his dad, who was a top-tier director in the ’30s and then took his skills to World War II.”
Also Read:
AFI Fest 2022 Announces Dates and Calls for Entries
The elder Stevens enlisted and spent three years away from his wife and son, filming virtually...
- 5/31/2022
- by Michele Willens
- The Wrap
“One of the things we loved about the first season is that it was a bit of a procedural, a bit of a horror story,” declares co-creator and co-showrunner Brian Peterson about revisiting the high-stakes tension of the acclaimed “Hot Zone” anthology series, particularly in a time when we are living within a shared experience of a real-lie pandemic. “it really, at the end of the day was a character study of these people caught in this impossible situation,” he explains, adding for our recent Q&a, “what ‘Anthrax’ gave us was another one of those situations.”
We talked with Peterson and co-creator and co-showrunner Kelly Souders as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022 Emmy Awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See over 200 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders
“The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is the second installment in National Geographic’s “Hot Zone” anthology series,...
We talked with Peterson and co-creator and co-showrunner Kelly Souders as part of Gold Derby’s special “Meet the Experts” Q&a event with 2022 Emmy Awards contenders. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
See over 200 interviews with 2022 Emmy contenders
“The Hot Zone: Anthrax” is the second installment in National Geographic’s “Hot Zone” anthology series,...
- 5/22/2022
- by Rob Licuria
- Gold Derby
Richard C. Wald, a former president at NBC News and a senior vice president at ABC News who worked behind the scenes with Tom Brokaw, Jane Pauley, Ted Koppel and Roone Arledge, died May 13 after suffering a stroke earlier in the month. He was 92.
Wald was involved with the creation of “Nightline,” the signature ABC News late-night program that grew out of special coverage in 1979 on the taking of U.S. embassy staff in Tehran by Iranian militants. Wald gave the show, which devoted itself to a single topic each night under the aegis of Koppel and remains on the air at ABC in modernized form, its name, trying to create an analogue to the “morning line” at a race track. He also put Brokaw on NBC’s “Today,” and hired Pauley, while working to modernize the format of “NBC Nightly News.”
His time in TV news, however, was preceded...
Wald was involved with the creation of “Nightline,” the signature ABC News late-night program that grew out of special coverage in 1979 on the taking of U.S. embassy staff in Tehran by Iranian militants. Wald gave the show, which devoted itself to a single topic each night under the aegis of Koppel and remains on the air at ABC in modernized form, its name, trying to create an analogue to the “morning line” at a race track. He also put Brokaw on NBC’s “Today,” and hired Pauley, while working to modernize the format of “NBC Nightly News.”
His time in TV news, however, was preceded...
- 5/13/2022
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Jim Hartz, who hosted the Today show with Barbara Walters in the mid-1970s, died April 17 in Fairfax County, Va. He was 82 and passed from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, according to his wife, Alexandra Dickson Hartz.
Hartz was in mid-career when he joined Today, deploying a low-key style that was the low-key foil to the energy put out by Walters. He was 34 and succeeded Frank McGee, who died at 58. Hartz was a reporter for Wnbc covering local stories when he got the nod.
He joined Today and covered President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, the end of the Vietnam War, and the American Bicentennial during his two years as a part of the morning show.
Hartz was born on Feb. 3, 1940, in Tulsa, Okla., the fifth child of Rev. Marvin Dillard Hartz, an Assembly of God minister, and Helen Elvira (Potter) Hartz.
After college, he was hired as a reporter for...
Hartz was in mid-career when he joined Today, deploying a low-key style that was the low-key foil to the energy put out by Walters. He was 34 and succeeded Frank McGee, who died at 58. Hartz was a reporter for Wnbc covering local stories when he got the nod.
He joined Today and covered President Richard M. Nixon’s resignation, the end of the Vietnam War, and the American Bicentennial during his two years as a part of the morning show.
Hartz was born on Feb. 3, 1940, in Tulsa, Okla., the fifth child of Rev. Marvin Dillard Hartz, an Assembly of God minister, and Helen Elvira (Potter) Hartz.
After college, he was hired as a reporter for...
- 4/24/2022
- by Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
David Letterman celebrates his 40th anniversary as a late night talk show host today. His first episode of “Late Night with David Letterman” aired on February 1, 1982, following “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” for the next decade (plus an 11th year after Jay Leno‘s show). Letterman returns to his former NBC home tonight to visit “Late Night with Seth Meyers.”
He departed NBC in 1993 for a 22-year run as host of “Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS. His combined 33+ years on both NBC and CBS make him the longest-running late night talk show host in American history.
That remarkable length of service and his influence on younger hosts like Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and others should make him a lock for induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. But they’ve never asked him to join. Several of his...
He departed NBC in 1993 for a 22-year run as host of “Late Show with David Letterman” on CBS. His combined 33+ years on both NBC and CBS make him the longest-running late night talk show host in American history.
That remarkable length of service and his influence on younger hosts like Conan O’Brien, Jon Stewart, Jimmy Kimmel, Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Fallon, Seth Meyers and others should make him a lock for induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. But they’ve never asked him to join. Several of his...
- 2/1/2022
- by Chris Beachum
- Gold Derby
It’s the end of an era at MSNBC, as Brian Williams ventures into “the great unknown” following a 28-year stint at NBC News.
Williams announced Nov. 9 that he would be leaving NBC News entirely by year’s end — and exactly one month later, the veteran journalist signed off as host of The 11th Hour. As he bid a fond farewell to his audience on Thursday night, Williams reflected on the state of democracy and his three decades with NBC.
More from TVLineBrian Williams Leaving NBC News After 28 Years: 'I Have Been Truly Blessed'Rachel Maddow Renews Deal to Stay at...
Williams announced Nov. 9 that he would be leaving NBC News entirely by year’s end — and exactly one month later, the veteran journalist signed off as host of The 11th Hour. As he bid a fond farewell to his audience on Thursday night, Williams reflected on the state of democracy and his three decades with NBC.
More from TVLineBrian Williams Leaving NBC News After 28 Years: 'I Have Been Truly Blessed'Rachel Maddow Renews Deal to Stay at...
- 12/10/2021
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
Brian Williams didn’t go gentle into that good night.
In a noticeable break from the journalistic demeanor he has projected for nearly three decades at NBC News and MSNBC, the veteran anchor used the final minutes of his tenure on MSNBC’s “11th Hour” to warn viewers of the frailty of American democracy and urged them to keep it safe — if they could.
“My biggest worry is for my country. I’m not a liberal or a conservative. I’m an institutionalist,” he told viewers as the clock neared midnight on the east coast and his five-year term on the show came to a close. “I believe in this place and in my love of country. I yield to no one, but the darkness at the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It’s now at the local bar and the bowling alley,...
In a noticeable break from the journalistic demeanor he has projected for nearly three decades at NBC News and MSNBC, the veteran anchor used the final minutes of his tenure on MSNBC’s “11th Hour” to warn viewers of the frailty of American democracy and urged them to keep it safe — if they could.
“My biggest worry is for my country. I’m not a liberal or a conservative. I’m an institutionalist,” he told viewers as the clock neared midnight on the east coast and his five-year term on the show came to a close. “I believe in this place and in my love of country. I yield to no one, but the darkness at the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It’s now at the local bar and the bowling alley,...
- 12/10/2021
- by Brian Steinberg
- Variety Film + TV
Brian Williams ended his MSNBC show The 11th Hour – and his long career at NBC – with a warning of what is happening to democracy, telling viewers in his sendoff, “My biggest worry is for my country.”
“The truth is I am not a liberal or a conservative. I’m an institutionalist,” he said. “I believe in this place and in my love of country I yield to no one. But the darkness on the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It is now at the local bar and the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store. And it must be acknowledged and answered for.”
He added, “Grown men and women, who swore an oath to our Constitution, elected by their constituents, possessing the kind of college degrees I could only dream of, have decided to join the mob and become something they are not,...
“The truth is I am not a liberal or a conservative. I’m an institutionalist,” he said. “I believe in this place and in my love of country I yield to no one. But the darkness on the edge of town has spread to the main roads and highways and neighborhoods. It is now at the local bar and the bowling alley, at the school board and the grocery store. And it must be acknowledged and answered for.”
He added, “Grown men and women, who swore an oath to our Constitution, elected by their constituents, possessing the kind of college degrees I could only dream of, have decided to join the mob and become something they are not,...
- 12/10/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Bob Dole, a longtime elder statesman in the Republican party who was its vice presidential nominee in 1976 and presidential nominee 20 years later, has died. He was 98.
The Elizabeth Dole Foundation, named for his wife, said in a statement that Dole died early Sunday morning in his sleep. Dole had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer earlier this year.
With a baritone voice and sharp wit, Dole was a leading figure on the political scene for more than a generation, with a career highlighted by his work on behalf of veterans and veterans issues. Dole himself faced life threatening injuries in World War II, when he was severely injured in a German attack in Italy in 1944. He spend three years in rehabilitation, and his right arm was permanently paralyzed. Dole was awarded two Purple Hearts and two awards of the Bronze Star.
Dole was from a bygone era of the Senate,...
The Elizabeth Dole Foundation, named for his wife, said in a statement that Dole died early Sunday morning in his sleep. Dole had been diagnosed with stage four lung cancer earlier this year.
With a baritone voice and sharp wit, Dole was a leading figure on the political scene for more than a generation, with a career highlighted by his work on behalf of veterans and veterans issues. Dole himself faced life threatening injuries in World War II, when he was severely injured in a German attack in Italy in 1944. He spend three years in rehabilitation, and his right arm was permanently paralyzed. Dole was awarded two Purple Hearts and two awards of the Bronze Star.
Dole was from a bygone era of the Senate,...
- 12/5/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
“Our nation is gripped with fear,” declares news anchor Tom Brokaw (a mannered impersonation by Harry Hamlin) as anthrax-laced letters are sent to media outlets, including NBC, in the weeks after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. Office workers and unsuspecting postal employees from Florida to the Northeast are among the early victims of the airborne menace. I remember the panic well. At the time, our offices occupied the same midtown Manhattan building as the New York Post, which received one of the poisoned envelopes. Unfortunately, National Geographic’s six-hour (over three nights) procedural docudrama The Hot Zone: Anthrax rarely works up more than a lukewarm head of tension as it depicts the dogged investigation by FBI agents who tend to talk in terse headline-speak. “We don’t need just the smoking gun. We need the bullet,” barks Dylan Baker as an FBI bureaucrat particularly prone to cliché. Lacking the in-depth and wrenching...
- 11/26/2021
- TV Insider
MSNBC’s The 11th Hour will soon go dark, with veteran journalist Brian Williams set to depart NBC News after a 28-year run.
Per Variety, Williams opted not to renew his contract with MSNBC, where he has hosted The 11th Hour since 2016. He will leave NBC News entirely by year’s end.
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“After nearly three decades as an award-winning journalist and anchor at MSNBC and NBC News,...
Per Variety, Williams opted not to renew his contract with MSNBC, where he has hosted The 11th Hour since 2016. He will leave NBC News entirely by year’s end.
More from TVLineRachel Maddow Renews Deal to Stay at MSNBC Beyond 2022Natalie Morales Leaves NBC News to Join CBS' 'The Talk'Natalie Morales Exiting NBC News After 19 Years -- to Join CBS' The Talk?
“After nearly three decades as an award-winning journalist and anchor at MSNBC and NBC News,...
- 11/10/2021
- by Ryan Schwartz
- TVLine.com
Brian Williams is leaving MSNBC and NBC News at the end of the year but says he’ll “pop up again somewhere.”
The news came in a memo to staff from MSNBC president Rashida Jones.
“After nearly three decades as an award-winning journalist and anchor at MSNBC and NBC News, Brian Williams has informed us he would like to take the coming months to spend time with his family. He will be signing off from The 11th Hour at the end of the year.” (Read her full memo below.)
Said Williams in a statement: “This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another. There are many things I want to do, and I’ll pop up again somewhere.”
Williams’ contract expires at the end of the year.
The news comes two months after MSNBC and NBCUniversal inked a new multiyear deal with their star 9 p.m. anchor Rachel Maddow.
The news came in a memo to staff from MSNBC president Rashida Jones.
“After nearly three decades as an award-winning journalist and anchor at MSNBC and NBC News, Brian Williams has informed us he would like to take the coming months to spend time with his family. He will be signing off from The 11th Hour at the end of the year.” (Read her full memo below.)
Said Williams in a statement: “This is the end of a chapter and the beginning of another. There are many things I want to do, and I’ll pop up again somewhere.”
Williams’ contract expires at the end of the year.
The news comes two months after MSNBC and NBCUniversal inked a new multiyear deal with their star 9 p.m. anchor Rachel Maddow.
- 11/10/2021
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Willard Scott, a veteran weatherman who spent 65 years at NBC and 35 as a Today show regular, has passed away. He was 87.
The news was confirmed on the show’s official Instagram page: “#WillardScott — the legendary Today weatherman known for his exuberant personality and launching the tradition of celebrating fans who reached the century mark — died this week.”
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Scott,...
The news was confirmed on the show’s official Instagram page: “#WillardScott — the legendary Today weatherman known for his exuberant personality and launching the tradition of celebrating fans who reached the century mark — died this week.”
More from TVLineGrey's Anatomy Season 18 Set to Make Maggie/Winston and Teddy/Owen Rarities Among the Show's CouplesMichael K. Williams Remembered by The Wire Co-Star Wendell Pierce as 'Always Truthful, Never Inauthentic'Michael K. Williams, of The Wire and Lovecraft Country, Dead at 54
Scott,...
- 9/4/2021
- by Nick Caruso
- TVLine.com
2021 marks the 20th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. The nation has continued to process the terrorist event over the past two decades in many ways, including through television specials, documentaries and dramatized retellings. On and before the anniversary, networks will air content unpacking the politics of the event, commemorating the victims, speaking with the survivors and more.
Read a full list of 9/11 programming below. (More programming will be added to the list as networks announce titles.)
“9/11: Inside The President’s War Room” – A new special telling the story of 9/11 from the perspective of President George W. Bush and his advisors and cabinet members, including Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell among others. Jeff Daniels narrates the film. Adam Wishart directs, with Simon Finch as creative producer, Neil Grant as executive producer and Serena Kennedy as head of production. The documentary will also be free to non-subscribers on Sept.
Read a full list of 9/11 programming below. (More programming will be added to the list as networks announce titles.)
“9/11: Inside The President’s War Room” – A new special telling the story of 9/11 from the perspective of President George W. Bush and his advisors and cabinet members, including Dick Cheney, Condoleezza Rice and Colin Powell among others. Jeff Daniels narrates the film. Adam Wishart directs, with Simon Finch as creative producer, Neil Grant as executive producer and Serena Kennedy as head of production. The documentary will also be free to non-subscribers on Sept.
- 9/3/2021
- by Selome Hailu
- Variety Film + TV
“Reporting 9/11 and Why It Still Matters,” a new documentary about the experiences Tom Brokaw, Savannah Guthrie and other journalists had covering the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and its companion docuseries, “Women Journalists of 9/11: Their Stories,” will debut on SVOD platform Wondrium in September, TheWrap has learned exclusively.
Produced in collaboration with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, “Reporting 9/11 and Why it Still Matters” “provides a definitive account of what journalists encountered at the attack sites, traveling with President Bush and aboard Air Force One, reporting from the anchor desk and the sky above Manhattan, at New York’s Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and in the fields of Shanksville following the crash of United Flight 93,” per the film’s description.
Executive produced and directed by journalists Allison Gilbert and Phil Hirschkorn, co-editors of “Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11,” the nearly two-hour film includes interviews with 45 broadcast and print journalists who “shared their urgent,...
Produced in collaboration with the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, “Reporting 9/11 and Why it Still Matters” “provides a definitive account of what journalists encountered at the attack sites, traveling with President Bush and aboard Air Force One, reporting from the anchor desk and the sky above Manhattan, at New York’s Ground Zero, at the Pentagon, and in the fields of Shanksville following the crash of United Flight 93,” per the film’s description.
Executive produced and directed by journalists Allison Gilbert and Phil Hirschkorn, co-editors of “Covering Catastrophe: Broadcast Journalists Report September 11,” the nearly two-hour film includes interviews with 45 broadcast and print journalists who “shared their urgent,...
- 8/12/2021
- by Jennifer Maas
- The Wrap
Since he bid adieu after 28 years as a late-night TV host this past June, people have been stopping Conan O’Brien on the streets telling him “’Well, congratulations on your retirement.’ They have no idea I’m as far from retired as you could possibly imagine.’’ In fact, he seems busier than ever. During a fun Variety Zoom conversation to promote the Emmy nomination for his TBS series “Conan” in the variety talk series category, the lanky self-deprecating O’Brien ticked off everything he’s doing.
“First of all, we started doing podcast just a couple of years ago I started on a whim,” he noted. “There’s no polite way to say it, it just blew up. It became a thing. It’s just been a fantastic experience because I spent 28 years honing these interview skills and then suddenly, I could use it but in a completely different format.” And...
“First of all, we started doing podcast just a couple of years ago I started on a whim,” he noted. “There’s no polite way to say it, it just blew up. It became a thing. It’s just been a fantastic experience because I spent 28 years honing these interview skills and then suddenly, I could use it but in a completely different format.” And...
- 8/11/2021
- by Susan King
- Gold Derby
Barry Diller is all for President Joe Biden’s efforts to rein in some of the more aggressive business tactics favored by Big Tech giants.
As the sun rose on day three of the annual Allen & Co. moguls gathering here in the Idaho mountain resort, Diller, the veteran executive who has long straddled the world of content and digital with his Iac Corp. holding company, gave a thumbs-up to Biden’s just-announced executive order. The move takes aim at Big Tech and Big Pharma on restrictive contracts and employment terms that the administration says raise prices and hurt employees.
Speaking about the Big Tech angle, Diller alluded to the dominance of the Faang giants — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google and Netflix — who are steadily carving out their turf to dominate in digital content production and distribution, advertising, financial technology and cultural conversations and trends as amplified by the megaphone of social media.
As the sun rose on day three of the annual Allen & Co. moguls gathering here in the Idaho mountain resort, Diller, the veteran executive who has long straddled the world of content and digital with his Iac Corp. holding company, gave a thumbs-up to Biden’s just-announced executive order. The move takes aim at Big Tech and Big Pharma on restrictive contracts and employment terms that the administration says raise prices and hurt employees.
Speaking about the Big Tech angle, Diller alluded to the dominance of the Faang giants — Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Google and Netflix — who are steadily carving out their turf to dominate in digital content production and distribution, advertising, financial technology and cultural conversations and trends as amplified by the megaphone of social media.
- 7/9/2021
- by Cynthia Littleton
- Variety Film + TV
Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation director Lisa Immordino Vreeland on Truman Capote and Tennessee Williams: “He was always a mise-en-scène of himself, while Tennessee was just there.” Photo: courtesy of Getty Images
In Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s universal and revealing Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation, Truman Capote notes that Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Carl Van Vechten, Charles Baudelaire, Marcel Proust, and Cole Porter would have loved Studio 54, and Tennessee Williams states “I think the most moving writer to me that ever lived was Chekhov.” The director of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, and Love, Cecil on Cecil Beaton captures the spirit of strong individuals of the 20th century like no other documentarian.
Lisa Immordino Vreeland with Anne-Katrin Titze on Dick Cavett and David Frost: “We had Truman first and when we added Tennessee in the mix, we saw that we had another great interview.
In Lisa Immordino Vreeland’s universal and revealing Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation, Truman Capote notes that Toulouse-Lautrec, Oscar Wilde, Carl Van Vechten, Charles Baudelaire, Marcel Proust, and Cole Porter would have loved Studio 54, and Tennessee Williams states “I think the most moving writer to me that ever lived was Chekhov.” The director of Diana Vreeland: The Eye Has To Travel, Peggy Guggenheim: Art Addict, and Love, Cecil on Cecil Beaton captures the spirit of strong individuals of the 20th century like no other documentarian.
Lisa Immordino Vreeland with Anne-Katrin Titze on Dick Cavett and David Frost: “We had Truman first and when we added Tennessee in the mix, we saw that we had another great interview.
- 6/12/2021
- by Anne-Katrin Titze
- eyeforfilm.co.uk
We may soon begin to run low on famous cases from the past to reframe into true-crime series. Following on recent series about the Night Stalker and the Ted Bundy murders, Netflix now drops “The Sons of Sam: A Descent Into Darkness,” about the Son of Sam killings in New York City in the late 1970s. That the title and subject differ by a letter is the engine of this story: We follow the late investigative journalist Maury Terry through his belief that the murders, for which David Berkowitz was convicted, have their roots in a grander conspiracy, rooted in a cult with possible ties to other crimes and to the Manson family.
Terry died in 2015, but filmmaker Joshua Zeman had access to his notes and has cast Paul Giamatti to read them in voice-over. The picture that emerges from Giamatti’s committed performance is that of a person who...
Terry died in 2015, but filmmaker Joshua Zeman had access to his notes and has cast Paul Giamatti to read them in voice-over. The picture that emerges from Giamatti’s committed performance is that of a person who...
- 5/5/2021
- by Daniel D'Addario
- Variety Film + TV
Saving Private Ryan’s loss of the Best Picture Oscar in 1999 still hurts. It’s a sentiment shared by many, and not just because of the disappointment they experienced when Shakespeare in Love took home that night’s top prize. After all, there have been plenty of upsets before and since. Just ask Brokeback Mountain’s producers about Crash, or La La Land’s about Moonlight. If Orson Welles was still alive, the stories he’d surely have to tell about How Green is My Valley.
Yet when it comes to Steven Spielberg’s seminal World War II epic losing to an amusing (if somewhat lightweight) romantic comedy, never before had there been an upset so fundamentally unexpected that it changed the way awards were won; and never before had a generally celebrated studio hit with frontrunner status run into the political machinations of Harvey Weinstein. The Oscars would never be the same.
Yet when it comes to Steven Spielberg’s seminal World War II epic losing to an amusing (if somewhat lightweight) romantic comedy, never before had there been an upset so fundamentally unexpected that it changed the way awards were won; and never before had a generally celebrated studio hit with frontrunner status run into the political machinations of Harvey Weinstein. The Oscars would never be the same.
- 4/13/2021
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
A docuseries based on “The 1619 Project” from New York Times Magazine’s and Nikole Hannah-Jones has been ordered at Hulu.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams will produce and oversee the series under his One Story Up production banner with producing partner and co-executive producer Geoff Martz. Williams will also direct the first episode. Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winner Shoshana Guy will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Kathleen Lingo, editorial director for film and TV at The New York Times, will also executive produce as will Caitlin Roper, The Times’ executive producer for scripted film and TV.
The series will be made in collaboration between Lionsgate Television, The New York Times, and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films. The series falls under a distribution agreement between Lionsgate and Disney General Entertainment Content’s Bipoc Creator Initiative led by Tara Duncan.
“The 1619 Project” connected the centrality of slavery in U.S. history...
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Roger Ross Williams will produce and oversee the series under his One Story Up production banner with producing partner and co-executive producer Geoff Martz. Williams will also direct the first episode. Emmy-nominated and Peabody Award-winner Shoshana Guy will serve as showrunner and executive producer. Kathleen Lingo, editorial director for film and TV at The New York Times, will also executive produce as will Caitlin Roper, The Times’ executive producer for scripted film and TV.
The series will be made in collaboration between Lionsgate Television, The New York Times, and Oprah Winfrey’s Harpo Films. The series falls under a distribution agreement between Lionsgate and Disney General Entertainment Content’s Bipoc Creator Initiative led by Tara Duncan.
“The 1619 Project” connected the centrality of slavery in U.S. history...
- 4/1/2021
- by Joe Otterson
- Variety Film + TV
Roger Mudd, the longtime CBS News correspondent and anchor who later teamed briefly with Tom Brokaw on NBC Nightly News, has died. He was 93.
Mudd died Tuesday of kidney failure at his home in McLean, Va, according to CBS News.
With a to-the-point style, Mudd was a familiar face for decades on network television, starting on CBS in the early 1960s, as he reported on Congress, politics and government. He became a star correspondent and filled in for Walter Cronkite in the anchor chair in the late 1960s and early 1970s and on the weekend CBS Evening News broadcasts.
But no moment stood out more in Mudd’s career than an interview he did in 1979 with Sen. Edward Kennedy, readying a challenge to President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. Mudd’s question was short and a bit of a softball — “Why do you want to be president?” — but Kennedy...
Mudd died Tuesday of kidney failure at his home in McLean, Va, according to CBS News.
With a to-the-point style, Mudd was a familiar face for decades on network television, starting on CBS in the early 1960s, as he reported on Congress, politics and government. He became a star correspondent and filled in for Walter Cronkite in the anchor chair in the late 1960s and early 1970s and on the weekend CBS Evening News broadcasts.
But no moment stood out more in Mudd’s career than an interview he did in 1979 with Sen. Edward Kennedy, readying a challenge to President Jimmy Carter for the Democratic nomination. Mudd’s question was short and a bit of a softball — “Why do you want to be president?” — but Kennedy...
- 3/9/2021
- by Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
Roger Mudd, a longtime news anchor and political correspondent for both CBS News and NBC News, has died. He was 93.
In his long career at CBS and NBC, Mudd won the Peabody Award and also picked up five Emmys while serving as the host of “Meet the Press,” “NBC Nightly News” and “CBS Evening News.” Later, he also worked as an anchor at the History Channel.
Mudd died Tuesday at his home in Virginia due to complications of kidney failure, his son Jonathan told The Washington Post.
Mudd was known for his concise and folksy interview style, as well as an infamous 1979 interview with Sen. Ted Kennedy that effectively ended the Massachusetts Democrat’s presidential ambitions to challenge President Jimmy Carter for the party’s nomination.
Mudd asked Kennedy pointed questions about his involvement in the 1969 death of a woman in Chappaquiddick, Mass., and doomed Kennedy with the simplest of questions: “Senator,...
In his long career at CBS and NBC, Mudd won the Peabody Award and also picked up five Emmys while serving as the host of “Meet the Press,” “NBC Nightly News” and “CBS Evening News.” Later, he also worked as an anchor at the History Channel.
Mudd died Tuesday at his home in Virginia due to complications of kidney failure, his son Jonathan told The Washington Post.
Mudd was known for his concise and folksy interview style, as well as an infamous 1979 interview with Sen. Ted Kennedy that effectively ended the Massachusetts Democrat’s presidential ambitions to challenge President Jimmy Carter for the party’s nomination.
Mudd asked Kennedy pointed questions about his involvement in the 1969 death of a woman in Chappaquiddick, Mass., and doomed Kennedy with the simplest of questions: “Senator,...
- 3/9/2021
- by Brian Welk
- The Wrap
Exclusive: The Matthew Miele-directed documentary Alan Pakula: Going For Truth is going out to distributors to give a posthumous appraisal of an understated filmmaker who directed some of the most seminal films of his era.
Pakula was killed in a freak accident in 1998, when a metal pipe was turned into a deadly projectile on the Long Island Expressway after a car in front him ran it over and sent it airborne. The object smashed through the windshield of Pakula’s black Volvo station wagon and struck him in the head, killing him instantly at age 70.
Pakula’s passing stunned Hollywood at the time. The film, which was first revealed by Deadline in 2017 and which played last fall at an AFI tribute to the director, celebrates the iconic works that Pakula left behind. That includes the films All The President’s Men, The Parallax View, Klute, Sophie’s Choice, Presumed Innocent, Consenting Adults and The Pelican Brief.
Pakula was killed in a freak accident in 1998, when a metal pipe was turned into a deadly projectile on the Long Island Expressway after a car in front him ran it over and sent it airborne. The object smashed through the windshield of Pakula’s black Volvo station wagon and struck him in the head, killing him instantly at age 70.
Pakula’s passing stunned Hollywood at the time. The film, which was first revealed by Deadline in 2017 and which played last fall at an AFI tribute to the director, celebrates the iconic works that Pakula left behind. That includes the films All The President’s Men, The Parallax View, Klute, Sophie’s Choice, Presumed Innocent, Consenting Adults and The Pelican Brief.
- 2/17/2021
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Barack and Michelle Obama’s foray into children’s programming at Netflix will unspool with the debut of Waffles + Mochi on Tuesday, March 16.
In the 10-episode kids’ cooking series — produced by the former President and First Lady’s Higher Ground Productions and featuring Mrs. Obama — follows two best friends named Waffles and Mochi, who lived deep in The Land of Frozen Food and shared a dream: “to become chefs! The only problem? Everything they cooked was made of ice,” per the official synopsis.
More from TVLineTVLine Items: Obamas' Netflix Slate, Allen v. Farrow Doc Teaser and MoreTVLine Items: Young Rock Teaser Trailer,...
In the 10-episode kids’ cooking series — produced by the former President and First Lady’s Higher Ground Productions and featuring Mrs. Obama — follows two best friends named Waffles and Mochi, who lived deep in The Land of Frozen Food and shared a dream: “to become chefs! The only problem? Everything they cooked was made of ice,” per the official synopsis.
More from TVLineTVLine Items: Obamas' Netflix Slate, Allen v. Farrow Doc Teaser and MoreTVLine Items: Young Rock Teaser Trailer,...
- 2/9/2021
- by Vlada Gelman
- TVLine.com
Exclusive: Harry Hamlin and Dylan Baker have joined the cast of The Hot Zone: Anthrax, the second installment of National Geographic’s scripted anthology series.
The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where another deadly act of terrorism rocked the United States. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the country. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists, FBI agents and government departments slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.
Hamlin will portray Tom Brokaw, the respected journalist and anchor for NBC News. On camera, Brokaw is the steady voice of reason for a post-9/11 nation. Off camera, he is a protective father figure to those who work for him. Brokaw himself became a...
The Hot Zone: Anthrax takes place in 2001, just weeks after 9/11, where another deadly act of terrorism rocked the United States. Letters containing anthrax were sent to unsuspecting victims in Florida, Washington, D.C. and New York. The anonymous assault claimed five lives and caused panic throughout the country. Despite interagency turf wars and many false leads, an unlikely team of scientists, FBI agents and government departments slowly closed in on a shocking prime suspect.
Hamlin will portray Tom Brokaw, the respected journalist and anchor for NBC News. On camera, Brokaw is the steady voice of reason for a post-9/11 nation. Off camera, he is a protective father figure to those who work for him. Brokaw himself became a...
- 2/9/2021
- by Nellie Andreeva
- Deadline Film + TV
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