“A Screenwriter Is A Creator Of History”: Ukrainian Writers Guild Backs WGA “Unconditionally”

EXCLUSIVE: Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski, the famed writers, directors and producers who have thus far shard two Emmys, two PGA Awards, two WGA Awards, a USC Scripter Award and a Golden Globe, will add another prize to their mantels, having been tapped to receive the Bill Wittliff Award for Screenwriting at the 30th annual Austin Film Festival.

William Earl SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers from “With Open Eyes,” the series finale of HBO’s “Succession,” now streaming on Max. “Succession” has ended, and the finale answered the central question of the show: Who will take over Waystar Royco? Thanks to a last-minute change of heart from Shiv (Sarah Snook) during the tense boardroom vote, GoJo now owns the media company, and GoJo CEO Lukas Matsson (Alexander Skarsgård) has anointed Tom Wambsgans (Matthew Macfadyen) as its American CEO. While in practice the deal will likely involve, by Matsson’s own admissions, a lot of dirty work with very little input, Tom is thrilled to take the crown. According to series creator Jesse Armstrong, it was a natural choice.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer HBO’s buzzy new original series “The Idol” has been steadily building momentum on the road to its June 4 debut — including a lavish world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, followed by one of the most talked-about afterparties on the Croisette. The show follows an embattled young pop star named Jocelyn (Lily-Rose Depp), recovering from a psychotic break after the death of her mother and hounded relentlessly by industry vultures that need her back on top. A sketchy Svengali named Tedros (Abel “The Weeknd” Tesfaye) appears in her life, promising artistic and sexual liberation and fame beyond her wildest dreams. “Euphoria” creator Sam Levinson steers the show with co-creators Tesfaye and Reza Fahim.

Elizabeth Wagmeister Senior Correspondent A Ukrainian influencer was pulled off the red carpet at the Cannes Film Festival, after she covered herself in fake blood on the steps up to the Palais, staging a protest in support of Ukraine. This year, the city of Cannes banned protests along the Croisette and its surroundings during the festival. Ilona Chernobai — a Ukrainian fitness trainer with one million followers on Instagram — walked the red carpet at Cannes in a blue and yellow dress, symbolizing the Ukraine flag. As she got to the stairs, she pulled bags of fake blood from underneath her dress and poured them over herself. Security immediately grabbed her and escorted her off the carpet.

Chernobai walked for the premiere of Just Philippot's Acide wearing a blue and yellow gown—the colors of the Ukraine flag—without incident, seemingly invited to the event. But when she reached the steps leading up to the screening, she removed two packets of fake blood from her cleavage and broke them over her head as an apparent protest against her country's invasion by Russia.

Christopher Vourlias Ukraine’s cinema union issued an open letter on Thursday calling on participants of the Cannes Film Market to halt all business with Russia. The statement asserted that releasing films in Putin’s pariah state is akin to “support for terrorism” amid its ongoing war of aggression in the Eastern European nation. The letter, which was written by the Ukrainian League of Cinemas, singled out a number of leading international indie distributors and sales agents — including Lionsgate, STXInternational, FilmNation, A24 and Pathé — whose films have been released in Russia since the start of the war. “Continuing to do business in Russia means supporting the Russian terrorist state with taxes,” the statement read. “These taxes are then turned into weapons with which peaceful Ukrainian cities are destroyed, and our friends and colleagues are killed and maimed.”

EXCLUSIVE: When millions of Ukrainians fled to the Polish border after the Russian invasion last year, Maciek Hamela, whose film In the Rearview is debuting in the Cannes market this week, was one of a number of volunteers who drove to help assist multiple generations of Ukrainian civilians in fleeing the life-threatening conflict. 

will not negotiate a waiver or interim deal to allow WGA screenwriters to write a script for the show’s broadcast — leaving theater’s biggest night in limbo. “As has been previously reported, the Writers Guilds of America East and West (WGA) will not negotiate an interim agreement or a waiver for the Tony Awards,” the statement said.

76th Annual Tony Awards will go on without having to cross a picket line.The Writers Guild of America announced on Monday that they will not picket this year's show, which is set for June 11, amid the ongoing writers' strike.«Tony Awards Productions (a joint venture of the Broadway League and the American Theatre Wing) has communicated with us that they are altering this year’s show to conform with specific requests from the WGA,» a statement from the guild explained, according to «Therefore the WGA will not be picketing the show.»«As they have stood by us, we stand with our fellow workers on Broadway who are impacted by our strike,» the statement added.The show will proceed, although in an unspecified altered form, as planned.Kate Shindle, president of Actor Equity, took to Twitter to share her thanks with the WGA for their agreement, «Thank you, @WGAWest and @WGAEast. @ActorsEquity members: time to double down on showing up at their pickets.»«Oh, and because it can’t be said enough: this is still #AMPTP’s fault, and the writers should never have been put in this position,» she added. «We can appreciate the grace AND point at the culprits, right?»Oh, and because it can’t be said enough: this is still #AMPTP’s fault, and the writers should never have been put in this position.

on Friday to denied a waiver to CBS and Paramount+ that would allow the ceremony to be broadcast and streamed. And indeed, WGA specifically blamed CBS, Paramount “and their allies,” for making the changes necessary.“As has been previously reported, the Writers Guilds of America East and West (WGA) will not negotiate an interim agreement or a waiver for the Tony Awards.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media Writer The Directors Guild of America is continuing its negotiations with the AMPTP, as companies hope to get a deal that could play a role in ending the two-week-old writers strike. Meanwhile, the Writers Guild of America told members Monday that the guild is winning the “PR war” against the studios, as members share their stories in the media. “It seems the whole world is on our side,” wrote Lisa Takeuchi Cullen, a WGA East vice president, in an email to members titled “Our Momentum Grows.” “Members’ individual stories of our broken system — of getting by on ten weeks of work a year, of residual checks amounting to pennies — are resonating with the public. They understand we are losing out on the middle-class American Dream. We are not the elite. We are just like them. We are them.”

The hometown of the Ukrainian act Tvorchi representing their country at Eurovision was bombed by Russia moments before they took the stage.

As Eurovision reaches it’s exciting conclusion on Saturday, actress and comedian Catherine Tate will be the lucky star reading out the results of the UK’s vote at the annual song contest. The actress and comedian, 53, will deliver the results of the country’s national jury – including the coveted “douze points” – live from the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool on Saturday. It will be the first time a UK spokesperson has announced the scores from the same location as the contest itself.

Rep. Katie Porter joined writers on the picket line at the Culver Studios in Los Angeles on Friday in solidarity with the ongoing WGA strike.

Manori Ravindran Executive Editor of International At Sunday night’s BAFTA TV Awards in London, the most popular couple in the room won’t actually be British. Given the U.K. reception to Australian series “Colin From Accounts” — which was acquired by the BBC in one of its smartest deals in years — that honor will likely go to Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall, the real-life partners who created and star in the half-hour rom-com. The couple will be presenting a BAFTA during the ceremony, and afterwards, they’re available for selfies. “If we land in the U.K. and people recognize us on the street, that’ll be massive, because it’s never happened to me,” says Dyer. “I’ve lived in L.A. for five years, and I’m on a network television show, and not a single person has gone, ‘Are you from “American Auto?”’ Not one. So I’m pumped. I want to take some pictures with some people.”

K.J. Yossman Ukrainian leader President Zelenskyy has reportedly been barred from making an address during the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Saturday. The Times of London reports the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which runs the contest, turned down Zelenskyy’s request on the grounds that it would politicize the event. “The Eurovision Song Contest is an international entertainment show and governed by strict rules and principles which have been established since its creation. As part of these, one of the cornerstones of the contest is the non-political nature of the event,” an EBU spokesman told the Times. “This principle prohibits the possibility of making political or similar statements as part of the contest. The request by Mr Zelenskyy to address the audience at the Eurovision Song Contest, whilst made with laudable intentions, regrettably cannot be granted as it would be against the rules of the event.”

Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds and guitarist Daniel Wayne Sermon surprised the Writers Guild Of America strikers with a mini-performance on the Netflix picket line in Hollywood yesterday (May 9).Performing an acoustic set of hits including ‘Radioactive’ and ‘Whatever It Takes’, the rock band provided entertainment to the writers who were on strike Tuesday outside of the Netflix headquarters.The Writers Guild Of America, also known as WGA, have been on strike since last week as they fight for higher pay and improved working conditions.Reynolds shared his support for the writers, telling TMZ: “We just want fair compensation for people who put in the time and are incredible creators. We have many friends who are writers.

Before a note is song of their Eurovision entry, Ukraine has already won cultutral accolades in Greater Manchester today. Two Ukrainian Catholic Churches in Salford and Oldham have been granted Grade II listed status.

Biden’s comments came after a special screening of the upcoming Disney+ series “American Born Chinese,” held to honor Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.“Nights like these are a reminder of stories and the importance of treating storytellers with the dignity, respect and the value they deserve. I sincerely hope the writers strike in Hollywood gets resolved and the writers are given a fair deal they deserve as soon as possible,” Biden said.“This is an iconic, meaningful American industry.

Jennie Punter Last year, during an online panel at Hot Docs film festival featuring Ukrainian documentary filmmakers who were staying in place, Oksana Karpovych told attendees how she’d gained knowledge working alongside foreign media crews covering the war, and was now applying that to her own creative documentary projects. This year, at the festival’s 30th anniversary edition, Karpovych attended the in-person Forum market event to pitch “Intercepted” — her observational doc exploring the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — which ended up winning the 2023 CMF-Hot Docs Canadian Pitch Prize. With Ukraine in the spotlight at Hot Docs this year, both audiences and industry attendees are getting wide exposure to the films and ideas of leading Ukrainian documentary creators. The timing of this programming is perfect, said Hot Docs programmer Myrocia Watamaniuk, not only for the obvious reason.