From Neon Pick-up ‘Robot Dreams’ to Fated Hippy Romance Tale ‘Rock Bottom,’ Animation Lifts Off in Catalonia

The day after New York-based pickets were canceled for the week because of smoke, the gathering at Warner Bros. in Los Angeles was a bit smaller on Thursday, with less than 50 people gathering in support of the WGA strike.

The day that SAG-AFTRA began its talks with Hollywood studios over its own film and TV contract with a strike authorization in hand, picketing Writers Guild members on Wednesday hit up Disney and Warner Bros in Burbank.

In Apple TV+ series Shrinking, Jason Segel stars as Jimmy Laird, a therapist desperately in need of therapy. Following the death of his wife, Jimmy has dissolved into drugs and self-destruction, to the disgust of his teen daughter (Lukita Maxwell). And yet, he is curiously likeable and redeemable — such is the magic of Segel. Then comes Jimmy’s revelatory move: he decides his patients need a dose of the unvarnished truth. Disaster and hilarity ensue. In tandem with Ted Lasso’s Bill Lawrence and Brett Goldstein, Segel co-created and produces Shrinking. He stars alongside Harrison Ford, who apparently enjoys a little improv with the best of them.

Even if you haven’t watched CBS’ hit comedy Ghosts, chances are pretty good that you’d recognize Utkarsh Ambudkar — the actor-rapper best known for his breakout role as one of the Treblemakers in Pitch Perfect and as Mindy Kaling’s younger brother in The Mindy Project. But playing Jay Arondekar — the unseeing husband of Rose McIver’s Sam who can see the spirits who live inside their hotel — is his biggest achievement yet, and a job that should keep him busy for a long time. Here, the Maryland native talks about his start in rapping and acting and what’s so brilliant about playing a guy who can’t get spooked by spooky roommates.

Kris Fade, who is regionally known as the “Ryan Seacrest of Dubai” is the host of his own Radio Show, The Kris Fade Show which airs on Virgin Radio Dubai and on KIIS in Australia, with over 4,000,000 million listeners weekly.

Apple may have entered the virtual reality arena earlier today with the unveiling of a new platform and headset, launched with the help of Disney boss Bob Iger, but in the real world it spent the day being targeted by writers.

WGA negotiating committee co-chair Chris Keyser issued a clarion call to members and supporters earlier today.

It was Pride and Drag Queen picket day in Los Angeles, where around 300 people hit up Warner Bros. Discovery to highlight their issues as the strike marches into its second month.

Kim Kardashian was going through hell behind the scenes while Kanye West was acting out over the last year.

As one of Reality TV’s royal family crossed the line, striking film and television writers joined forces on Wednesday in New York City with another group of culture workers involved in a pay dispute: musicians. 

The writers strike has entered its fifth week and is about to enter its second month and shows no sign of abating.

British rock band Royal Blood couldn’t stomach their lukewarm reception at BBC Radio 1’s Big Weekend.

Striking film and television writers got a signal boost on Thursday from U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (d-NY), who spoke at a rally outside the East Coast offices of Paramount Global in the busy heart of Manhattan’s Times Square. 

The Clearing, the actress took little convincing to take on the part – despite the dark subject matter and the disturbing places it would take her.“I was completely riveted by the world that they set up,” Palmer tells WHO over Zoom from her home in LA.WATCH: The Clearing Official Teaser | Disney The opportunity to work back in Australia with a stellar cast and crew of women was also a big drawcard for the podcaster, author, and mother to four young children – Bodhi, 9, Forest, 7, Poet, 4, and Prairie, 1 – with her husband, actor and director Mark Webber, who has a son Isaac, 15, from a previous relationship.The shoot for The Clearing turned out to be as rewarding as it was taxing. As WHO discovered during our chat, multitasking (she breastfed during the interview), mummy time and the support from her family is the key to making it work.You’re extremely busy, not only with your family but all the other projects you have. How do you manage it all?I’m exhausted, honestly.

As the WGA strike entered its fourth week, Tony Kushner swore, Steve Earle sang, Wanda Sykes led union chants and Busy Philipps told CEO jokes for more than 1,000 demonstrators and hundreds of onlookers who filled the street in front of NBCUniversal headquarters Tuesday in Midtown Manhattan. 

There is no dialogue. There are no humans.

Leo Barraclough International Features Editor GFM Animation, Larry Kasanoff’s Threshold Entertainment and Simon Cowell’s Syco Entertainment have teamed to produce animated feature film “X Factor in the Jungle.” The movie is based on Cowell’s singing competition TV show “The X Factor,” which has run for 20 years with 178 international adaptations. In the movie, a karaoke machine is tossed overboard from a sinking boat and lands in a jungle. It is seized by a mouse, who is then challenged by both a jaguar and rhino, who each want it. A sing-off ensues to determine who will have it, and this attracts a huge audience of animals and creatures who demand a song contest open to all.

NEON announced today that they have taken the North American rights to Spanish filmmaker Pablo Berger’s first animated feature film “Robot Dreams,” based on the award-winning graphic novel of the same name by Sara Varon. The movie will be screened for the first time in Cannes this coming Saturday, May 20 in the Special Screenings section of the festival.

Pat Saperstein Deputy Editor In its first acquisition at the Cannes Film Festival, Neon has picked up North American rights to director Pablo Berger’s animated feature “Robot Dreams” ahead of its world premiere in Cannes on Saturday. The Spanish filmmaker of “Blancanieves” based his first animated feature on the award-winning graphic novel by Sara Varon. “Robot Dreams” screens Saturday in the Special Screenings section of the festival. Neon previously scored three consecutive Palme d’Or wins with “Parasite,” “Titane” and “Triangle of Sadness.” “Robot Dreams” is described as a “universal exploration of the importance and fragility of friendship.” It follows DOG, a New York canine who decides to build himself a robot companion. They become inseparable, to the rhythm of 1980s New York city, until the sad summer night when DOG is forced to abandon ROBOT at the beach.