Kobalt Signs Pulitzer Prize-Winning Playwright Michael R. Jackson to Publishing Deal (EXCLUSIVE)

Murray Schisgal, the comedy writer who received two Tony nominations for his work on the 1960s Broadway hit Luv and an Oscar nomination for his contribution to the screenplay for Tootsie, has died. He was 93.

NEW YORK -- Two of crime fiction's most famous storytellers, Raymond Chandler and Agatha Christie, also knew how to get a laugh.Chandler, beyond the terse and cynical narratives of such Philip Marlowe novels as “The Big Sleep” and “The Long Goodbye,” was able to poke fun at his own life.

Actor Rick Moranis was attacked while walking in New York City on Thursday, Fox News can confirm. The "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids" star, 67, was sucker-punched by an unknown assailant while walking on a sidewalk near New York's Central Park, a rep for the star confirmed to Fox News on Friday.

Olivia Jade Giannulli‘s boyfriend Jackson Guthy was arrested.

Louisville, Kentucky-born, Staten Island-raised Michael Rainey Jr. may be only 20, but his acting résumé already spans more than a decade.

Bethenny Frankel made a startling confession in a new interview – she’s still married to Jason Hoppy!

NEW YORK -- Sir Harold Evans, the charismatic publisher, author and muckraker who brought investigative moxie to the British press, newsmaking dash to the American book business through best-sellers like “Primary Colors” and synergetic buzz to all as author-publisher Tina Brown’s husband, has died. He was 92.Brown said he died Wednesday in New York of congestive heart failure.

Gene Maddaus Senior Media WriterA judge in Florida agreed Thursday to transfer ex-prosecutor Linda Fairstein’s defamation lawsuit against Netflix to New York, finding that is a more appropriate venue for the case involving a TV series about the Central Park Five.Fairstein filed the suit in March, alleging that she was wrongfully depicted in “When They See Us” as a racist prosecutor who orchestrated the railroading of five innocent teenagers.

NEW YORK -- A “behavior change" company founded by Arianna Huffington is teaming with Hachette Book Group on a series of wellness guides. The first release, “Your Time to Thrive,” comes out in March.“With ‘Your Time to Thrive,’ we’ve brought together the latest science, storytelling and ancient wisdom to create a behavior change system that’s both timeless and tailored to our moment," Huffington said in a statement Tuesday.

NEW YORK -- Nikky Finney has won the Wallace Stevens Award, a $100,000 lifetime achievement honor presented by the Academy of American Poets. Judges praised Finney, known for such collections as “Head Off & Split” and “Rice,” for her “fierce moral conviction” and as a bard “for the African diaspora.”Finney's prize was among dozens announced Wednesday by the poets academy, with money exceeding $1.2 million.

Tom Grater International Film ReporterEXCLUSIVE: Los Angeles and Oslo-based management outfit Inner Voice Artists has signed Yago and Carlo Munoz Osio, aka the Munoz Brothers, the Mexican directing duo behind indie pic Paper Boats.The film premiered at HBO’s New York Latino Film Festival in 2019, where it won the Best Feature Award, and also screened at the Indie and Foreign Film Festival in NY among others.

Antonia Blyth Deputy Editor, AwardsLineOn Saturday night Cherry Jones took home her third Emmy award, this time for her guest role of Nan Pierce in the “Tern Haven” episode of HBO’s Succession.Jones’ character heads up the powerful Pierce family, who own a fictional newspaper called The New York Mail. Thus far, the show centered on the rise and fall of media mogul Logan Roy (Brian Cox) and his family has received 23 nominations and five wins.

A Californian judge this week sided with Nicki Minaj over one key aspect of her copyright dispute with Tracy Chapman: the sampling of uncleared music behind closed doors in the studio definitely constitutes fair use. However, the other key element of the case – focused on how Minaj’s unreleased track with an uncleared Chapman sample got to a New York radio DJ – will proceed to a full jury hearing.This dispute relates to a track Minaj intended to include on her 2018 album ‘Queen’.

Amanda N'Duka pmc-editorial-managerGrasshopper Film has secured the U.S. distribution rights to IWOW: I Walk on Water, a documentary feature from New York-based photographer and filmmaker Khalik Allah, to released in physical and virtual theaters later this year. In IWOW, Allah focuses on longtime muse Frenchie, a 60-something schizophrenic, homeless Haitian man, who he becomes increasingly intertwined with.

Anthony D'Alessandro Editorial Director/Box Office EditorEXCLUSIVE: Denis O’Sullivan and Jeff Kalligheri’s Compelling Pictures have closed a deal to produce and finance a feature adaptation of Michael Connelly’s recent New York Times bestseller Fair Warning which is being seen as a potential franchise. Connelly will write the screen adaptation and produce alongside O’Sullivan and Kalligheri.

Dade Hayes Finance EditorEXCLUSIVE: The Paley Center for Media and Verizon have set a partnership that will see the organization’s events, including PaleyFest, streamed on Verizon-owned platforms like Yahoo.The exclusive streaming arrangement covers the 2020-21 lineup.

Naomi Osaka is a US Open champion once again!