News

Voice actor agency 81 Produce announced on January 6 that voice actor Azuki Shibuya , best known as Dorothy West in the Pripara anime franchise, will resume activities after one-year absence. As reported in June 2023 , Shibuya had taken an indefinite break from voice acting since January 2024. She explained at the time the reason for the hiatus on her official Instagram as: "The main reason is that I have to get braces for my double teeth, but I also want to try many things without regret because I will live only once." In a recent post on January 6 , she wrote: "I had planned to straighten my double teeth during my hiatus, but I had to have root treatment and so on, it was not easy to straighten them as planned. I was able to do many other things I want to challenge in my life, so I will continue to challenge myself and have fun!

The official website for "Dai Pripara-ten" ( The Great Pripara Exhibition ), a special exhibition looking back on the 10th anniversary of the Pripara franchise, has unveiled a key visual featuring seven idol characters — Laala Manaka, Mirei Minami, Sophy Hojo, Shion Todo, Dorothy West, Leona West, and Falulu. The memorial exhibition event is set to be held at the Shibuya Seibu B building's event space (B1F) from August 9 to 25, 2024. It will also be held later in Fukuoka and Osaka. Advance tickets priced at 1,500 yen will be on sale from today, June 19, until August 8. It is also announced that original "Tomochike-style" cards (8 types in total) will be given to all visitors, one card per admission. The first lineup of goods to be sold at the venue to commemorate this exhibition, including perfumes, lips, key holders, clear cards, and penlight ribbons have been revealed. Additionally, those who purchase 3,000 yen or more at the...

Shortly after his star-making turn as the titular count of Universal’s 1931 Dracula, Bela Lugosi appeared on Intimate Interviews. One of the only old Hollywood projects to be directed by a woman, these were publicity vehicles before they were anything else. The openings and closing were staged and several of the questions played into stars’ screen personas and notable projects. Yet the interviews weren’t entirely hokum. When host Dorothy West asked if Lugosi wanted to do any more “mystery” parts, he replied: “Yes, why not? …But I would rather have it combined with some romance.”...

Monica Zanetti’s screenplay of Ellie & Abbie (& Ellie’s Dead Aunt), Ben Lawrence and Beatrix Christian’s Hearts and Bones and Ally Burnham’s Unsound have been nominated for best original feature in the 53rd annual Awgie Awards.

The contenders for the feature film adaptation prize are Thomas M. Wright and Erik Jensen’s Acute Misfortune, Lisa Hoppe’s H is for Happiness, Shaun Grant and Harry Cripps’ Penguin Bloom and C.S. McMullen’s The Other Lamb.

The TV series prize promises to be a close race between episodes of Glen Dolman’s Bloom, Michael Petroni’s Messiah for Netflix, Belinda Chayko’s Stateless, Samantha Strauss’ The End and Pip Karmel’s Total Control.

Timothy Hobart, John Ridley, Jeremy Nguyen, Alan Nguyen and Michele Lee’s Hungry Ghosts will square off against Matthew Cormack and Niki Aken’s The Hunting for best miniseries.

In the TV serial category it must...

George Savvides.

The Federal Government has appointed former Medibank chief George Savvides as chair of Sbs for a five year term.

Savvides has been acting in the role since the conclusion of former chair Dr Bulent Hass Dellal’s term last June. He has also been deputy chair since February 2017, is the current chair of the Sbs Board Remuneration Committee and member of Sbs’s Community Advisory Committee.

“It’s a great honour to have the opportunity to chair Sbs. Over 45 years, Sbs has played a vital role in informing and shaping Australia, not only meeting the needs of multicultural communities and our First Nations people, but helping all Australians explore and celebrate our diversity. It is a truly unique organisation, supporting economic and civil participation, and striving to inspire all Australians to experience the benefits of social inclusion,” Savvides said.

“Sbs’s role for the next 45 years will be...

D.W. Griffith movies at the American Cinematheque (photo: D.W. Griffith circa 1915) A series of D.W. Griffith movies made at Biograph at the dawn of both the 20th century and the art of moviemaking will be screened at the American Cinematheque next weekend. "Retroformat Presents: D.W. Griffith at Biograph, Part 3 - 1909 – 1910" will take place on Saturday, April 26, 2014, at 7:30 p.m. in the Steven Spielberg auditorium of The Egyptian Theatre on Hollywood Boulevard. The evening will be hosted by Tom Barnes; musical accompaniment will be provided by Cliff Retallick. Among the D.W. Griffith films to be presented by Retroformat are the following: Lines of White on a Sullen Sea The Gibson Goddess The Mountaineer’s Honor Through the Breakers A Corner in Wheat Her Terrible Ordeal The Last Deal Faithful D.W. Griffith and his stars As found in Retroformat’s press release, those early D.W. Griffith efforts feature "innovative cinematography" by frequent Griffith collaborator G.W. Bitzer,...