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Exclusive: MacArthur Park Entertainment has unveiled a first look at Armie Hammer and Rainey Qualley in John Bevilacqua’s neo-noir Night Driver and announced completion of principal photography in L.A.

Described as a throwback to classic car genre films of the ’70s but set in contemporary L.A., Night Driver stars Hammer as a man called Sonny who spends his nights driving around town making pickups and deliveries for people who prefer discretion.

Back home after serving tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, Sonny is haunted by the sights of war and suffers from Ptsd. Juggling requests from his criminal boss, his girlfriend and his ex-wife, Sonny is simply trying to make it to the morning intact.

The film wrapped production in L.A. in June.

Armie Hammer, Rainey Qualley, Gabriel Mann, Joely Fisher, Jere Burns, Brit Morgan, Eliseo Romero, Tony Wilson, Gina Kimms, Josh Fogel, Dana Patrick, Bettina Neidemann...

Oscar-nominated actor Sean Astin, best known for his roles in iconic movies like TheLord of the Ringstrilogy, The Goonies, and Rudy, is seeking a new title. Deadline reports that Astin has submitted a bid for and will run for president of SAG-AFTRA, the 160,000-member union that represents actors. The union is currently headed up by Fran Drescher, who has been president of SAG-AFTRA since 2021.

Running on Astin’s ticket is Michelle Hurd, known as Raffi Musiker from Star Trek: Picard, as well as roles in Blindspot and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Hurd also recently appeared in the Netflix hit, You, as psychologist Dr. Val. Hurd is running for secretary-treasurer of SAG.

Also included on Astin’s ticket are Joely Fisher (Ellen) for president of the Los Angeles Local Board, Abbott Elementary’s Lisa Ann Walter for first vice president of the Local Board, and David Joliffe (ParaNorman) to...

Actor Sean Astin filed his candidacy Friday for the 2025 SAG-AFTRA presidential election, posting a “Members First” campaign badge on X minutes after paperwork reached union headquarters, according to the filing notice and his social-media feed. The Lord of the Rings star heads a slate that lists Joely Fisher for the Los Angeles local presidency and Michelle Hurd for national secretary-treasurer, echoing a platform he says will “restore democratic engagement” in the 160,000-member guild.

Ballots are scheduled to mail on Aug. 13 and must arrive by Sept. 12; results will be certified at the union’s virtual convention in late October, the official election notice shows. The nomination window closed July 11, locking the field one business day before Astin went public.

Astin seeks to unseat incumbent Fran Drescher, who steered SAG-AFTRA through the 118-day 2023 strike and has yet to announce a re-election bid. During that walkout Astin invoked the legacy of his mother,...

The Lord of the Rings actor Sean Astin is seeking to replace SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher in the upcoming union election.

Astin has submitted a bid to lead the 160,000-member organization, Deadline confirmed Friday. Also on his ticket are Michelle Hurd for secretary-treasurer, Joely Fisher for president of the Los Angeles Local Board, Lisa Ann Walter for first vice president of the Local Board, and David Jolliffe to return for second vice president.

If elected, Astin would follow in the footsteps of his mother Patty Duke, the Valley of the Dolls and The Miracle Worker actress who became the second woman to ever run the then-Screen Actors Guild in 1985. She held the position for three years.

Astin has previously served on five separate SAG-AFTRA negotiating committees, including the most recent contract won after a historically long, 118-day strike in 2023. He is also a member of SAG-AFTRA National and LA local boards,...

In 1985, Valley of the Dolls and The Miracle Worker actress Patty Duke became the second-ever woman to lead the Screen Actors Guild as president, a position she filled for three years.

Now, decades later, her son Sean Astin is seeking to follow in her footsteps. The actor, perhaps best known for his role as the loyal hobbit hero Samwise Gamgee in The Lord of the Rings, is running for president of the current iteration of the film and TV actors’ union, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

In an interview, Astin pointed to his years on national and L.A. Local boards and on five separate negotiating committees as key preparatory steps for the top job at SAG-AFTRA. “It feels like this moment is a culmination of all of that work,” he said. “The time feels like it’s absolutely right and I’m excited to do it.”

Fran Drescher, who...

The stars turn out for Mariska Hargitay.

Not only did many of her “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” co-stars join her at the Tribeca Festival premiere of her feature film directorial debut, “My Mom Jayne,” but so did Cher, Jamie Lee Curtis and Liam Neeson, among others.

Cher and Mariska Hargitay at the Friday night premiere of "My Mom Jayne" at Tribeca Festival pic.twitter.com/rZJ6exqAO8

— Variety (@Variety) June 14, 2025

Taking place at Carnegie Hall, the evening also included a Q&a with Hargitay moderated by Griffin Dunne.

The documentary tells the story of Hargitay’s mother, Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield.

Mansfield died in a car accident when Hargitay, who was a passenger in the vehicle with her brothers, was three years old.

While Hargitay and Curtis are both children of celebrities, the “Freakier Friday” star told Variety, “We also share being women in our 60s in show...

Mariska Hargitay has the support of her family during her big night at the 2025 Tribeca Film Festival!

The 61-year-old Emmy-winning actress was joined by husband Peter Hermann and their three kids – August, 18, Amaya, 14, and Andrew, 13 – at the premiere of her directorial debut My Mom Jayne on Friday evening (June 13) held at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

For those who don’t know, Mariska is the daughter of legendary actress Jayne Mansfield and the documentary follows her legacy. The documentary revealed a shocking family secret – the identity of Mariska‘s biological father.

Following the event, we compiled photos of all the stars in attendance!

Keep reading to find out more…Keep scrolling to see the stars at the premiere…

Mariska & Peter with kids August, Amaya, & Andrew

Brooke Shields

Cher

Ali Wentworth & husband George Stephanopoulos

Aimé Donna Kelly, Kevin Kane, Peter Scanavino, Christopher Melon, & Danny Pino

Ice-t & wife Coco Austin with...

In a soiree intersection of media, labor and real politick, SAG-AFTRA wants to pull the home of Hollywood together to get Tinseltown working again.

“Revitalizing California’s most recognizable industry isn’t just about making things better for show business, it’s about making things better for everyone,” proclaimed Joely Fisher last week at a literal and figurative high level get-together in the penthouse of the SAG-AFTRA Foundation .

As uncertainty rolls an industry already rocked by change and contraction, the words of the SAG-AFTRA Secretary-Treasurer and National Government Affairs and Public Policy Committee co-chair had an added resonance on May 8 with below-the-line workers and almost everyone else hurting hard as production and jobs are scarce.

In the hopes of turning things around, California Governor Gavin Newsom’s aim of pumping up the Golden State’s film and TV tax incentives to $750 million annually is moving steadily through the Legislature in Sacramento with deep support.

As Hollywood’s employment crisis deepens with no relief in sight, hundreds rallied Sunday in support of amplified incentives intended to convince more film and TV productions to stay in Southern California.

At the “Stay in L.A.” event at a studio services complex in Sun Valley, politicians shared stories of constituents in dire circumstances, industry professionals detailed parenting struggles stemming from working in other jurisdictions, and a labor leader described receiving calls every day from desperate union members as production work has dried up in Southern California in the last few years.

More than 25 speakers, from policymakers to union officers to workaday performers, painted the picture of an unlevel tax incentives playing field that is jeopardizing the livelihoods of working-class and middle-class creatives and crewmembers who may not front a film or show but are crucial to their creation.

The goal: to emphasize a pressing need for California legislators to greenlight Gov.

Hollywood workers threw themselves a pep rally on Sunday in hopes that their grassroots campaigning — not to mention their ability to lure hundreds of people into a hot warehouse in balmy Sun Valley — will be enough to keep production in Los Angeles.

SirReel Studios on Lankershim Boulevard lent its large, production rentals property for the 2 p.m. rally, which featured food trucks and Stay in L.A. merch while local, state and national politicians — along with a few actors and writers — spoke about how their hometown has become a ghost town when it comes to film and TV production.

The goal, of course, is to show support for Governor Newsom’s proposed $750 million tax incentive plan, as detailed in recently introduced legislation Ab 1138 and Sb 630 which aims to stop the bleeding and keep studios from seeking cheaper locales to make their shows and films.

But Newsom’s proposal may not be a slam dunk,...

This article contains discussions of child abuse and sexual assault.

True crime has been a very popular genre for a while now, so it's not surprising that a genuinely horrifying real-life case — which occurred in Austria and came to light in 2008 — served as inspiration for two (admittedly different) movies. So, if you've seen the 2021 Lifetime original film "Girl in the Basement," what is it about ... and how does it connect to real-life events?

Released in 2021, "Girl in the Basement" stars Stefanie Scott as Sarah Cody, a rebellious teenager who's seeing a boy named Chris (Jake Etheridge) and sneaks out to meet up with him against the wishes of her extraordinarily strict father Don. After she returns home, having been out all night, Don does something horrific; he imprisons his own daughter in the soundproofed basement of the Cody family home, unbeknownst to her mother Irene (Joely Fisher) and sister Amy...

Robert Eggers is considered one of the best horror writer-directors of our time. With movies like The Witch and The Lighthouse behind him, his latest idea to remake Nosferatu had horror fans with high expectations. And although the story behind Nosferatu is well-known, from Bram Stoker's book dating back to 1897 to the countless Dracula adaptations over the decades since 1922, this 2024 iteration was able to change some key elements in how it's told. Most notably, it drastically updated how Count Orlok looks and sounds.

Bill Skarsgård definitely deserves a lot of credit for the effectiveness of this new version of the vampire. While the art and makeup departments also did an incredible job on their end, the actor managed to bring a much-needed freshness to the role. His Orlok strongly contrasts with previous versions of the villain and further cements Skarsgård's reputation as a good choice when recasting iconic horror monsters,...

Back in 2015, it was announced that The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers (who was, at that time, had only made The Witch) was planning to remake F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it Here). It took Eggers several years to get to Nosferatu, though, and we’ll finally have the chance to see his take on the concept when his movie reaches theatres on Wednesday, December 25th. About eight and half months after Eggers’ Nosferatu was first announced, we heard that filming had begun on a separate Nosferatu remake. Or, as the director referred to it, a remix. That was David Lee Fisher’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror… and that movie has now made its way out into the world! Fisher’s movie is available for purchase on Prime Video, going for the price of $4.99. It will also be released through Apple TV tomorrow,...

Doug Jones is adding another iconic character to his filmography with Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. Jones is generally best known for his work playing characters brought to life with a combination of his physical performance and practical effects, some of the more notable being in his frequent collaborations with Guillermo del Toro, some of which include Hellboy's Abe Sapien, both the Faun and Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth and the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water. Beyond del Toro, Jones has also found acclaim as Admiral Saru in Star Trek: Discovery and Billy Butcherson in the Hocus Pocus movies, among others.

Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror sees Jones reteaming with writer/director David Lee Fisher for their second project, the previous film being the 2005 remake of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, in which they utilized a similar process to updating the original short film by mixing both...

Back in 2015, it was announced that The Witch, The Lighthouse, and The Northman writer/director Robert Eggers was planning to remake F.W. Murnau’s 1922 silent classic Nosferatu (watch it Here). It took Eggers several years to get to Nosferatu, though, and we’ll finally have the chance to see his take on the concept when his movie reaches theatres on Wednesday, December 25th. About eight and half months after Eggers’ Nosferatu was first announced, we heard that filming had begun on a separate Nosferatu remake. Or, as the director referred to it, a remix. That was David Lee Fisher’s Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror… and we hadn’t heard anything about the movie since it started filming eight years ago. Until now. Our friends at Bloody Disgusting have learned that Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror will be released through Apple TV+ on October 18th!

Fisher has experience “remixing” silent classics.

Many of the most popular sitcoms of all time have mundane premises — a group of friends hang out in a coffee shop, brainy nerds share an apartment, office workers struggle with their incompetent boss. But sometimes, Hollywood creatives go out on a limb and pitch something a little wackier, and dumbass networks occasionally make those ideas into reality — a reality that’s usually pretty terrible.

Here are eight supremely dumb sitcom premises that should have been laughed right out of the pitch room…

1 Cavemen

I wish I could say this was the only television commercial turned into a network comedy on this list, but that would be a lie. It is, however, the only one that stars Nick Kroll as a Neanderthal struggling to make it in the suburbs. Relatable.

2 My Mother the Car

It would have been easy to populate this entire list with sitcoms of the 1950s and 1960s,...

California Governor Gavin Newsom has signed into law two bills supported by SAG-AFTRA granting individuals greater control over the use of their voice and likeness.

The Guild sponsored both bills and has been a leading Hollywood advocate of AI guardrails. It secured some measure of protections for performers during contract renewal negotiations with Hollywood studios, streamers and networks last year, following months-long strike action and fiery rhetoric from both sides.

Tuesday’s signing ceremony at SAG-AFTRA’s Los Angeles headquarters enacted Ab 2602, which requires informed consent by performers prior to specified use of digital replicas of their voice or likeness in place of actual services.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom visited SAG-AFTRA headquarters on Monday to sign two bills regulating the use of performances generated by artificial intelligence.

The actors’ union lobbied for passage of the legislation, which builds on the protections won during the four-month actors’ strike against the major studios last year.

The bills cover a wider range of performances than film an TV, including voiceover work, commercials and video game performances.

VIP+ Analysis: Gen AI Fueling ‘Exponential’ Rise in Celebrity Nil Ripoffs: Exclusive Data

“We continue to wade through uncharted territory when it comes to how AI and digital media is transforming the entertainment industry, but our North Star has always been to protect workers,” Newsom said in a statement. “This legislation ensures the industry can continue thriving while strengthening protections for workers and how their likeness can or cannot be used.”

Newsom still has to decide whether to sign several other AI...

On Friday August 23 2024, Axs TV broadcasts The Very Very Best of the 80s!

Sci Fi Movies Season 3 Episode 7 Episode Summary

The upcoming episode of “The Very Very Best of the 80s” titled “Sci Fi Movies” promises to be an exciting journey through some of the most memorable films of the decade. Airing on Axs TV, this episode will explore a range of science fiction movies that captured the imagination of audiences in the 1980s.

Todd Bridges, Anson Williams, Joely Fisher, and other special guests will share their thoughts on what made these films stand out. From heartwarming stories to spine-tingling moments, each guest will offer a unique perspective on the films that shaped the genre. Viewers can expect a mix of nostalgia and insightful commentary as they revisit classics that have left a lasting impact.

The episode will highlight iconic titles that fans know and love, as well as some...

It’s nearly time to place your bets as the Entertainment Community Fund is readying its second annual Lights! Camera! Ante Up! Celebrity Poker Tournament.

Scheduled to take place at Candela La Brea in Los Angeles on Sept. 8, the event will feature Annette Bening as chair and Joely Fisher as co-chair. The role is not new for Bening, who also serves as Ecf’s chair. She assumed the position last summer, taking over from Brian Stokes Mitchell who served the organization for 19 years. The poker tournament is designed to raise awareness for and benefit Ecf, with proceeds supporting professionals working in performing arts and entertainment. Last year’s inaugural edition raised north of $170,000.

Among the confirmed players for this second annual event are Reggie Austin (Pretty Little Liars, Agent Carter), William Stanford Davis (Abbott Elementary, Ray Donovan), Alexis Floyd (Inventing Anna, Grey’s Anatomy), Lilli Kay (Rustin, Yellowstone), Mekhi Phifer (ER,...

In the upcoming episode of “The Very Very Best of the 80s,” titled “Sci Fi Movies,” fans can look forward to a nostalgic journey through some of the most memorable films of the decade. This episode, airing on Friday, August 23, 2024, at 8:00 Pm on Axs TV, promises to be a blend of heartwarming moments and spine-tingling thrills.

Todd Bridges, Anson Williams, Joely Fisher, and other familiar faces will share their thoughts on the sci-fi classics that shaped the 1980s. From iconic blockbusters to cult favorites, this episode will explore what made these films special. Viewers can expect lively discussions and personal anecdotes that highlight the impact these movies had on pop culture and their lives.

As the panel dives into the world of intergalactic adventures and futuristic tales, fans will get a chance to reminisce about their own favorite sci-fi moments. This episode is sure to spark memories and discussions...

Actor Jim Carrey had a massive year in 1994. Two of his most classic films, Dumb and Dumber and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, debuted in theaters. Yet Carrey's other 1994 movie, The Mask, is the one that needed his particular brand of comedy the most. The film was an early comic book adaptation -- before the "superhero" genre was well defined. While modern fans want accuracy to the comics, The Mask is an infinitely better film because it ignored its source material. And 30 years later, that's still true, even if it has some terribly dated moments.

Originally appearing in Dark Horse Presents #10, the character known as "The Masque" was created by Mike Richardson, but further developed by Mark Badger, Dough Mahnke, John Acudi and Chris Warner. However, the comics were dark and violent -- a kind of edgy that hasn't aged well. Richardson pitched the film adaptation as a horror piece. Instead,...

Artists are now, officially, in residence in Hollywood.

Officials from developer Thomas Safran & Associates, the Entertainment Community Fund and the City of Los Angeles gathered for a ribbon cutting and open-house celebration at the Hollywood Arts Collective’s Cicely Tyson Residential Building on Wednesday to launch the 151-unit tax credit property in the heart of Hollywood.

The seven-story property — named after the late icon and located at 1630 Schrader Blvd., near the Hollywood Walk of Fame — houses apartments, all of which are occupied exclusively by artists (defined as someone who has regularly engaged in an artistic, creative or cultural practice and who pursues such practice on a professional basis) and their families. Residents were selected first by lottery, then based on income requirements and other factors.

Speakers and attendees at Wednesday’s event included Safran, Keith McNutt, Ecf’s executive director of the Western region, Garrett Gin, senior vp of global marketing at Bank of America,...

My Adventures with Superman is one of the most brilliant superhero animated series. Created by Brendan Clougher, Jake Wyatt, and Josie Campbell, the Adult Swim series tells the story of Superman aka Clark Kent as he starts his new job at The Daily Planet, with his roommate Jimmy Olson, and his senior intern at The Daily Planet who is none other than Lois Lane. They quickly become a team and try to bring in big stories so that they can become real reporters while Clark also tries to become the hero he is meant to be. My Adventures with Superman has great action but the brilliant thing about the series is that it isn’t an action series about Superman, it’s a series about a superhero and his relationships as he figures out who he really is. So, if you love the heart, optimism, great story, and fantastic animation...

(Photo Credit – Instagram)

Amazon MGM Studios is adapting Don Winslow’s novella Crime 101. Mark Ruffalo is reportedly in talks to play the lead role. He is set to co-star with Chris Hemsworth and negotiate to star and produce alongside Ben Grayson, his producing partner.

The film will be directed by Bart Layton, who collaborated with Peter Straughan to develop the screenplay. Layton is famously known for his work as a director and writer of the 2018 heist movie American Animals, which starred Evan Peters, Barry Keoghan, and Ann Dowd. Pedro Pascal was supposed to star in the film alongside Hemsworth last year, but although he was on board, things did not move forward.

Working Title’s Eric Fellner and Tim Bevan, Raw’s Layton and Dimitri Doganis, and Derrin Schlesinger and Shane Salerno all serve as producers. Joely Fisher executive produces for Raw.

Trending Demon Slayer: Hashira Training Arc Features New...

On Friday, May 10, Multiple Sclerosis (Ms) advocate and Center Without Walls founder Nancy Davis welcomed guests to the Fairmont Century Plaza for the 31st Annual Race to Erase Ms Gala.

The event raised over $1.5 million to benefit the Race to Erase Ms and its Center Without Walls program, a collaboration of top Ms research centers working together as a team on ground-breaking research with the goal of treating and, ultimately, finding a cure for Ms. The star-studded event, hosted by Caroline Rhea, featured performances by Natasha Bedingfield and A Great Big World. Additionally, L’Agence kicked off the evening with a fashion show.

Guests at this year’s landmark event included Race to Erase Ms Founder Nancy Davis, host Caroline Rhea, performers Natasha Bedingfield and A Great Big World, L’Agence Founder and Chairman Jeff Rudes, Fashion Director Tara Rudes-Dann, and other special guests including Alan Bersten, Amanda Kloots, AnnaLynne McCord,...

Some of Hollywood’s biggest stars descended on Washington, DC to attend the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday night (April 27) at The Washington Hilton.

Hosted by Colin Jost, the event featured a celebrity guestlist including the likes of Chris Pine, Rachel Brosnahan, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Coco Rocha, Billy Porter and Fran Drescher.

In all, there were more than 30 stars who posed on the red carpet. Since the guestlist was so full, we pulled together all of the photos you need to see with the fashion credits.

Head inside to see photos of everyone who attended the event…

Keep scrolling to see photos of all of the stars who attended the 2024 White House Correspondents’ Dinner…

Chris Pine

Molly Ringwald

Fyi: Molly is wearing custom Cong Tri.

John Quinones

Hiroyuki Sanada

Lauren Ash

Jason Lee

Sunny Hostin

Coco Rocha

Fyi: Coco is wearing Christian Siriano SS24 Rtw.

Deborah Roberts/strong>

Lynda Carter...

The Palm Springs Film Festival kicked off its 2024 edition Thursday night with its annual Awards Gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center, an event that drew most of the major players for the current awards season to the Southern California desert resort town.

The festival’s honorees this year included Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell and Greta Gerwig from Barbie, Paul Giamatti and Da’Vine Joy Randolph from The Holdovers, Danielle Brooks and Colman Domingo from The Color Purple (and also Rustin for Domingo), Carey Mulligan for Maestro, American Fiction‘s Jeffrey Wright who is getting the Career Achievement Award, Emma Stone of Poor Things and Oppenheimer‘s Cillian Murphy for acting, and the Killers of the Flower Moon team for the fest’s Vanguard Award.

Also on hand tonight were Leonardo DiCaprio and Lily Gladstone, Margot Robbie, America Ferrera, Taraji P. Henson, Joely Fisher, Mark Ruffalo and many more.

The...

After four long months marching on Hollywood picket lines, bargaining inside hostile negotiating rooms, and giving Buddhist sermons, Fran Drescher can finally exhale.

Through the 118-day actors’ strike, The Nanny star turned SAG-AFTRA national president, joined by SAG-AFTRA chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, has served as the face of the 160,000-strong union and says she uses the Nineties sitcom’s message around unity and acceptance in her leadership. “I can be exactly who I am,” she says in her raspy Queens accent, “and still rock a red lip and hold a plushie toy.

So many celebrities walked the red carpet at The Hollywood Reporter’s Women in Entertainment Gala on Thursday (December 7) in Los Angeles.

The event was hosted at The Beverly Hills Hotel, and it was attended by the likes of Adele, Dua Lipa, Helen Mirren and Camila Cabello. That is barely scratching the surface, too.

In all, more than 40 stars were on the guestlist.

Since there were so many stars in attendance, we pulled together a complete rundown with photos and as many fashion credits as possible. That way you can see who was there and what they were wearing.

Head inside to see photos of every star who walked the red carpet at the Women in Entertainment Gala…

Keep scrolling to see all of the stars who walked the red carpet at the Women in Entertainment Gala…

Adele

Fyi: Adele is wearing Schiaparelli SS24 Rtw.

Jane Seymour

Dua Lipa

Xochhitl...

The actors are set to vote on the tentative agreement with the studios after the SAG-AFTRA national board approved the deal.

However, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland said that the board only approved the deal by 86%, not a unanimous vote.

“This has been made possible by the membership’s phenomenal solidarity and support for their negotiating committee and we’re exceedingly grateful for all of the support from the entertainment industry unions who have rallied behind us throughout this strike,” he said.

Voting will begin on Tuesday, according to Crabtree-Ireland, and will end in the first week of December.

It comes as SAG-AFTRA’s press conference, led by President Fran Drescher and Crabtree-Ireland, to reveal some details of the proposals was delayed by around 90 minutes.

It follows a similar process to the WGA, which saw 99% of WGA members vote for their own three-year deal.

However, voting will...

SAG-AFTRA kicked off its National Convention 2023 this week under the banner “Future Forward Union Power,” and they closed up shop pretty quickly in the same vein.

Just over after the gathering began, SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher hit the pause button as it was announced Saturday afternoon that shuttered negotiations with the studios and streamers would re-start on Oct. 24. “While it’s disappointing to have to adjourn the convention early, the Negotiating Committee must immediately get back to the hard work of preparing to secure a fair contract,” Drescher said.

Initially set to run from Oct. 20 – 24, the 2023 convention will start up again once new dates are decided upon by the Guild’s National Board. SAG-AFTRA has been on strike 100 days as of today, with the first set of renewed talks running from Oct. 2 – 11 before the AMPTP walked away and “suspended” deliberations.

Drescher, who opened the event by inviting first responders, active...

Celebrities descended on Washington, D.C., for a mental health roundtable with the White House Office of Public Engagement and Domestic Policy Council.

Mädchen Amick, Kal Penn and Katori Hall were just a few of the Hollywood stars who attended the conversation about how to further include accurate mental health storylines in film and television series. The roundtable was a part of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ ongoing work to address the nationwide mental health crisis.

The entertainment figures and administration officials discussed the opportunities for proactive mental health storylines, according to the White House. They also spoke about the lessons they’ve learned from previous campaigns for positive representation of mental health in entertainment and how to tackle depictions of it sensitively.

Other celebrities who attended the roundtable include Tzi Ma, Freddie Highmore, Bianca Lawson, Lisa Ann Walter, David Shore, Millicent Shelton, Shawn Ryan and Joely Fisher.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill giving unemployment benefits to striking workers, which was backed by the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA. “Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote in his veto message Saturday.

Senator Anthony J. Portantino (D-Burbank), who had sponsored the bill, was disappointed by the veto. “The labor unrest and concern we all witnessed this summer earned the Legislature’s action to pass unemployment benefits for striking workers. The need continues and so will efforts to make this the law in California. The hardworking women and men in California need to put food on their table and pay their rent. Sb 799 would have injected a small piece of security to working families that is needed and deserved,” he said in a statement.

The California Legislature had passed the bill, Sb 799, on Sept. 14. The bill was supported by...

Updated, with WGA comment: California Governor Gavin Newsom vetoed a bill that would have made striking workers eligible for unemployment benefits.

WGA and SAG-AFTRA backed the legislation amid their walkout, but Newsom said in a statement that the state’s Ui trust fund is “vulnerable to insolvency.”

“Any expansion of eligibility for Ui benefits could increase California’s outstanding federal Ui debt projected to be nearly $20 billion by the end of the year and could jeopardize California’s Benefit Cost Ratio add-on waiver application, significantly increasing taxed on employers,” Newsom said, adding that the state is responsible for the interest payments on the federal Ui loan and has paid $362.7 million in interest with another $302 million due this month.

“Now is not the time to increase costs or incur this sizable debt,” he wrote.

His decision to veto the legislation comes after the WGA and AMPTP reached a tentative agreement to end the strike,...

The California Senate voted on Thursday to grant unemployment benefits to workers who are on strike. The bill passed with a 27-12 vote.

The Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA have each expressed support for the bill. If approved by Gov. Gavin Newsom, the bill would take effect on Jan. 1.

Dozens of unions have lined up in support of the bill, while the California Chamber of Commerce and more than 130 business groups have expressed opposition.

Only New York and New Jersey currently extend unemployment benefits to workers on strike. The California bill, authored by Sen. Anthony Portantino, would grant benefits once a strike has lasted at least two weeks.

“Let’s inject a modicum of stability into the conversation,” Portantino, a Democrat, said on the Senate floor on Thursday. “When somebody goes on strike, it’s not a romantic thing… It’s hard to go through it.”

Sen. Brian Dahle,...

A bill that would make striking workers in California eligible to receive up to $450 a week in unemployment insurance benefits passed in the state Senate on Thursday by a vote of 27-12. Senate Bill 799, which passed in the state Assembly last month, now heads to the desk of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who can either sign it into law or veto it.

His signature, however, is by no means certain. Last year, he vetoed 169 bills while signing nearly 1,000. In 2019, a similar bill failed in the Senate by just two votes.

Striking workers in New York and New Jersey are entitled to collect unemployment benefits after two weeks on the picket line, but those in California currently aren’t eligible because they’re considered to have left their jobs “voluntarily.”

Senate Bill 799 would change that. It has received support from numerous unions and labor organizations across the state, including the Writers Guild,...

Bill Maher announced that he is resuming production on his HBO show “Real Time,” even though the WGA strike has not been resolved.

“‘Real Time’ is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing,” Maher wrote Wednesday on X.

“It has been five months, and it is time to bring people back to work. The writers have important issues that I sympathize with, and hope they are addressed to their satisfaction, but they are not the only people with issues, problems and concerns,” he continued.

Maher continued that many on his staff are “struggling mightily” and that he’d decided to act when the strike continued past Labor Day.

“I love my writers, I am one of them, but I’m not prepared to lose an entire year and see so many below-the-line people suffer so much,” he said.

Real Time is coming back, unfortunately, sans writers or writing. It has been five months,...

At a rally outside Paramount on Wednesday morning, Harold & Kumar duo Kal Penn and John Cho made a surprise appearance to pump up a massive group of SAG-AFTRA members.

“We were just in the back, here to support and they asked, ‘Do you want to come up?'” said Penn, with Cho adding, “It was like a scene from one of our struck works.”

Penn, who worked as an associate director in the White House Office of Public Engagement during the Obama administration, called out the AMPTP’s hiring of a “progressive DC PR firm.” At the end of August, THR reported that the AMPTP hired The Levinson Group, run by Molly Levinson, a former political director at CNN and CBS. “You know the work we are doing with our union and our sister unions is working if they are taking steps like that,” said Penn.

Cho concluded, yelling,...

SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher urged actors to stay strong in their fight against the Hollywood studios at a SAG-AFTRA strike rally on Wednesday outside Paramount Studios.

“Do not give up because this is the moment that is going to change the future,” she told the crowd of thousands of writers and actors and supporters, who chanted, “One day longer, one day stronger” as they marched over from Netflix HQ.

The newly reelected guild official thanked SAG-AFTRA members for “this amazing turnout and your strength and your solidarity.”

“Your resolve is going to get us to the other side of this,” Drescher added. “This is history in the making right now.”

“I know that this strike is not easy. In fact, it’s hard, it’s very hard. And with the passing of time, it’s going to even get harder,” Drescher, who was reelected to her leadership position at SAG-AFTRA on Sept.

As the SAG-AFTRA strike clocked its 62nd day, and the WGA’s 135th, the former held a massive solidarity march today from Netflix HQ on Van Ness Blvd to the Melrose gates of Paramount to juice guilds’ spirits with the entertainment industry work stoppage running past Labor Day.

Or as California Federation of Labor Executive Secretary Treasurer Lorena Gonzalez told those guild members who showed up today, “This is an endless union summer.”

“We are not giving up because it’s September, we will not give up in October, we will not give up when the temperature goes down,” said Gonzalez to the crowd of around 4,000.

Attendees included SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher, National Executive Director and Chief Negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, Los Angeles Local President Jodi Long, Los Angeles Local First Vice President Sheryl Lee Ralph, as well as such stars as Marvel thespian Clark Gregg, Frances Fisher,...

A bill that would make striking workers in California eligible to receive unemployment benefits was approved on Wednesday by a 4-1 vote of the state Senate’s Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee. Senate Bill 799, which has already been passed by the state Assembly, now goes to a vote of the full Senate. If approved there, it will be up to Governor Gavin Newsom to either sign it into law or veto it. Last year, he vetoed 169 bills while signing nearly 1,000.

The WGA has been on strike since May 2, and SAG-AFTRA since July 14, but the bill would extend unemployment benefit coverage to all striking workers in the state, not just writers and actors. In 2019, a similar bill failed in the Senate by just two votes. Strikers in New York and New Jersey are entitled to collect unemployment benefits after two weeks on the picket line, but those in California currently...

Exclusive: Fran Drescher is less concerned with a meeting of several showrunners with Writers Guild leadership this week and more concerned with studios and streamers getting back to the bargaining table to make a fair deal.

“The showrunners meeting with the WGA? I don’t know really how that makes me hopeful for the studio CEOs coming to the table,” the recently reelected SAG-AFTRA president told Deadline on Wednesday as she was leaving an L.A. solidarity march and rally outside Paramount Studios.

After an on-off-on-off back and forth over the past few weeks, Black-ish creator Kenya Barris, Fargo’s Noah Hawley and others are set to sit down with the guild negotiating committee Friday at WGA headquarters on Fairfax and 3rd. Always intended as an “information session,” drama around scheduling the meeting has been perceived by some as an attempt by the AMPTP to carve out discord among the scribes and their guild.

A bill that would provide unemployment insurance to striking workers in California passed the state Assembly on Monday and now is headed to the Senate Labor Committee and then to the Senate floor. If passed there, Senate Bill 799 would go to Gov. Gavin Newsom for his signature.

A similar bill passed the Assembly in 2019 but failed in the Senate by two votes.

The bill has received the backing of the Writers Guild, which has been on strike since May 2, and SAG-AFTRA, which has been striking since July 14. Strikers in New York and New Jersey are entitled to collect unemployment benefits after two weeks on the picket line, but those in California aren’t eligible because they’re considered to have left their jobs “voluntarily.”

“California is seeing an unprecedented number of striking workers who are facing significant uncertainty about the economics of their industries and changing business models,” State Sen.

Ezra Knight has been reelected president of SAG-AFTRA’s New York Local in a landslide victory that also gave his running mates a clean sweep of the election. Knight received nearly 73% of the votes cast in a four-person race for president. His four vice presidential running mates – Linda Powell, Anthony Rapp, Jim Kerr and Liz Zazzi – were also elected.

Knight is the leader of the local’s ruling Usan party that endorsed the unity slate led by SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher and Secretary-Treasurer Joely Fisher, who also won landslide victories last night.

Knight was also the top vote-getter in the NY local’s national board races, and here too his Usan running mates won every race, including Avis Boone, Christine Bruno, Samantha Mathis, Michael Gaston, Phoebe Jonas, Samantha Macivor and Jim Kerr.

Usan was formed by New York members of SAG and AFTRA who were dedicated to the merger and to “Uniting Screen Actors Nationwide.

Joely Fisher re-elected secretary-treasurer.

Fran Drescher, the fiery SAG-AFTRA figurehead who alongside chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland is leading the union in a strike that has now entered its ninth week, has been convincingly re-elected president.

Drescher earned 23,080 votes compared to 5,276 for Maya Gilbert-Dunbar. Ballots for the national officers election were mailed to 124,477 eligible voters on August 9 and 28,430 were returned on Friday (September 8) in a 22.84% voter turnout.

The actors union president has begun her new two-year term alongside Joely Fisher, who was re-elected secretary-treasurer with 19,777 votes versus 8,361 for Peter Antico.

Drescher, pictured with national executive director and chief negotiator Crabtree-Ireland in July,...

SAG-AFTRA members re-elected Fran Drescher as their president with a landslide victory Friday. It’s a firm nod of confidence in “The Nanny” star as the actors union’s strike hit 56 days.

Drescher, 65, won a second term with 81.4% of the vote while beating Maya Gilbert-Dunbar, actress and the wife of “9-1-1” star Rockmond Dunbar. Gilbert-Dunbar took 18.6% of the vote.

In the race for secretary-treasurer, Joely Fisher received 70.3% while her opponent, Peter Antico, had 29.7%.

“These are dynamic times,” Drescher said in a statement. “And as one member body, we will weather the storms, stand on our principles and make sure our major contributions to this collaborative art form shall never again be diminished but rather be exalted.

“I want all members to be equal in all ways and I will continue to fight against marginalization and discrimination within our union, from our employers and the world at large,” said Drescher,...

Updated with L.A. Local results: Fran Drescher has been re-elected president of SAG-AFTRA in a landslide. Drescher, winning a second two-year term in votes counted Friday, handily defeated independent candidate Maya Gilbert-Dunbar. Drescher received 23,080 votes to Gilbert-Dunbar’s 5,276, with 22.84% of the guild’s 124,477 eligible members casting ballots.

Drescher’s unity slate running mate, Joely Fisher, also won reelection as the guild’s secretary-treasurer, handily defeating independent candidate Peter Antico by a vote of 19,777 to 8,361.

Related: Fran Drescher Mobbed On SAG-AFTRA Picket Lines, Says Studios Are “Doing Bad Things To Good People”

“I am honored to serve my union as president for another term,” Drescher said in a statement. “These are dynamic times and as one member body, we will weather the storms, stand on our principles and make sure our major contributions to this collaborative art form shall never again be diminished but rather be exalted. I want all...

Fran Drescher has been elected to a second term as president of SAG-AFTRA, as the union’s first studio strike in 43 years nears the two-month mark.

Drescher was elected with 81.4% of the vote, defeating Maya Gilbert-Dunbar, who took 18.6%.

Joely Fisher took 70.3% in her race for a second term as secretary-treasurer. Her opponent, Peter Antico, got 29.7%.

Drescher has become the public face of the strike, calling out corporate greed and demanding an overhaul of the actors’ basic contract. In her campaign, she said she intends to lead the union toward a “seminal” agreement.

“These are dynamic times and as one member body, we will weather the storms, stand on our principles and make sure our major contributions to this collaborative art form shall never again be diminished but rather be exalted,” Drescher said in a statement Friday night.

Drescher was first elected in 2021, and has worked to unify the warring factions within the union.

In an election cycle that took place amid a historic strike, Fran Drescher has been reelected SAG-AFTRA president.

Meanwhile, Joely Fisher was reelected the union’s secretary-treasurer. Drescher received 23,080 votes, over competitor Maya Gilbert-Dunbar’s 5,276 votes. Fisher received 19,777 votes, while challenger Pete Antico garnered 8,361 votes. The voter turnout was 22.84 percent.

“I am honored to serve my union as president for another term,” Drescher said in a statement. “Much has been accomplished in the past two years but I feel great optimism that the next two will be our greatest ever! As we let go of tribalism and gain more empathy for one another, as we realize that with each experience comes opportunity to better ourselves on our journey of self-refinement, we will also enter a golden age for SAG-AFTRA.”

In her own statement, Fisher said, “When we’re fighting against the entire show business establishment, the last thing we needed was to fight each other.