First East Coast Omicron Case Identified, Possibly Tied To Recent Anime Convention In New York

Hailey Bieber has added some new ink to her tattoo collection.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorAs the Covid-19 Omicron variant continues to spread, particularly in New York, Brooklyn Steel has canceled the remaining three dates of LCD Soundsystem’s “You Are Here” 20-night residency at the venue: tonight (Sunday) through Tuesday.A statement from the venue reads, “LCD Soundsystem’s shows at Brooklyn Steel on December 19, 20 and 21 have been cancelled.

In one of the longest contract negotiations ever, IATSE and Fox TV stations in New York, New Jersey and Washington, D.C., have been unable to reach a new agreement after more than 10 years of on-again/off-again bargaining. “Our members have not had a raise since 2006,” said Nick Kroudis, business agent of IATSE Local 794, which represents about 100 members employed at WNYW-TV in New York City.

Deadline has launched the streaming site for Contenders Film: New York, its movie awards-season showcase that took place Saturday at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens. A total of 23 Oscar-buzzed films were on display across the day of panel presentations, a one-stop shop for Academy and guild voters as they sort out their ballots.

Stillwater director/co-writer Tom McCarthy and Matt Damon joined Deadline’s Contenders New York event today to discuss the film and what they were looking for in the Bill Baker character.

The Many Saints of Newark writer David Chase and stars Ray Liotta and Alessandro Nivola discussed the Sopranos prequel Saturday at Contenders Film: New York. Speaking with Deadline’s Mike Fleming, Chase and Nivola zeroed in on the explosive rage of Nivola’s character, Dickie Moltisanti, while Liotta had a different perspective on his role.

Oscar Isaac had been waiting a long time to work with filmmaker Paul Schrader, and in The Card Counter, he found a much-longed-for opportunity to portray an antihero directly in the mold of the writer-director’s signature works including Taxi Driver, Light Sleeper and First Reformed.

The heroine of Zola – the unique, Twitter-chain inspired pic about a hastily arranged raunchy road trip – was drawn in part from The Wizard of Oz, director Janicza Bravo told a panel at Deadline’s New York Contenders event. It’s a about  girl who craves adventure, leaves a boring pale life “and is transported into this deeply saturated world, and by the end has made three enemies” (Yes, the end is a twist from the classic.)

For her film CODA, filmmaker Siân Heder found that delving deep into the cultural differences between the deaf and hearing communities to be wildly informative in creating a fresh cinematic experience.

Aunjanue Ellis, who plays Venus and Serena Williams’ mother, Oracene, in King Richard, said her character deserves more credit, including from herself.

Actress Olga Merediz stopped by Deadline’s Contenders: New York on Saturday to talk about reprising her role as Abuela Claudia from Lin-Manuel Miranda and Quiara Alegría Hudes’ Broadway musical In the Heights for Jon M. Chu’s Warner Bros film of the same name.

Jonas Poher Rasmussen joined Deadline’s Contenders Film: New York event Saturday to shed further light on the backstory to his lauded Sundance debut Flee, which is Denmark’s entry for the International Feature Oscar race. The animated documentary from Neon and Participant tells the true story of a man, Amin, on the verge of marriage that compels him to reveal his hidden past for the first time. Amin is also a childhood friend of the director.

Sam Heughan and his Outlander co-star Graham McTavish released their second book Clandlands: The Almanac last month, and already it has made the New York Times Best Seller list.

UPDATE: The first case of the omicron variant has arrived in Los Angeles, according to the County Department of Public Health. Its announcement follows an earlier one on a case in New York City.