Santa Barbara Showbiz Latest News and Updates

Insider at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Saturday. “It’s my secret sauce.

Spring 2023 in Southern California looks a lot like Winter 2023 in Southern California.

The National Weather Service today issued a Flood Watch for most of Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo Counties from late tonight through Wednesday afternoon. The NWS warned that “extensive street flooding and flooding of creeks and rivers are possible.”

Kaia Gerber and her boyfriend Austin Butler are both hard at work as awards season comes to a close.

Rebel Wilson recalled a recent run-in with Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. During that brief exchange, she remembered the royal being unbelievably kind, but she could't say the same for the duchess. However, fans think they know why Meghan was so curt, and they're shocked at Rebel's memory lapse.While speaking to Andy, the "Pitch Perfect" star explained that she was with her mother when she met the royal couple in Santa Barbara via a mutual friend."[He] could not have been nicer," Rebel said.

A royal run-in gone wrong? Rebel Wilson opened up about meeting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry — and claimed the twosome gave off pretty different vibes.

Rebel Wilson is revealing the details of her first encounter with Meghan Markle and Prince Harry.

Rebel Wilson is opening up about meeting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the first time, and it wasn’t exactly great.

Rebel Wilson this week said she met Prince Harry and Meghan Markle for the first time on a recent trip to Santa Barbara, California noting that he "could not have been nicer." Meghan, however, wasn’t as friendly, the comedian told Andy Cohen on "Watch What Happens Live."  "Meghan was not as cool," she revealed, as fellow guest John Oliver cracked up while sitting next to her. "She wasn’t as naturally warm."  The "Pitch Perfect" actress mused that the duchess’ frostiness may have been because "my mom being Australian just asked her all these slightly rude questions like ‘Where are your kids?’ And things like that.

Apparently, Rebel Wilson didn’t have the best experience when she was introduced to Meghan Markle for the first time.

Rebel Wilson is opening up about meeting Meghan Markle and Prince Harry for the first time, and it wasn't exactly great.The star recalled the experience during an appearance on, where they had been talking about the royal family during a commercial break and briefly continued on the subject when they got back from break. Wilson said when she met the couple in Santa Barbara, Markle was a bit standoffish while Harry, on the other hand, was «lovely.»«Meghan was not as cool.

main roads accessing the town closed since Friday.A spokesperson for the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services said National Guard personnel left Fresno early Thursday morning, expected to arrive midday to San Bernardino County.California Gov. Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of emergency in 13 California counties after back-to-back, record-breaking winter storms swept through the state.The weather caused power outages and closed off state roads in the affected areas of Amador, Kern, Los Angeles, Madera, Mariposa, Mono, Nevada, San Bernandino, San Luis Obispo, Santa barbara, Sierra, Sonoma and Tulare.Newsom’s proclamation also cites damaging winds, historic precipitation, snowfall in areas unaccustomed to snow, evacuations and stranded residents.The State Operations Center and the Cal OES have been tasked with response efforts, sending personnel to aid in distributing resources and rescuing those snowed into their homes, especially in San Bernandino County.

A flash flood warning was issued for the entirety of Los Angeles county this afternoon which will remain in place until 10 p.m. Forecasters pointed to Burbank, Griffith Park, Universal City, North Hollywood, Pasadena, Hollywood, downtown, Van Nuys, Beverly Hills, Alhambra, Mount Wilson, Encino, Northridge, Santa Clarita, Chatsworth, Woodland Hills, Whittier, West Covina, Glendora and San Dimas as areas that are likely to experience flash flooding.

Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds have shared details of a headline outdoor Brighton gig this summer.Supported by The Vaccines, The Coral and Gaz Coombes, Gallagher will bring his band to the ‘On The Beach’ show on July 30.Tickets go on general sale this Friday (February 24) at 10am GMT here.Gallagher’s latest announcement comes after booking an outdoor gig in Taunton this August as part of the Somerset Live series. The musician has already confirmed several other outdoor gigs for the summer including festival slots and a homecoming show at Manchester’s Wythenshawe Park.The news follows Gallagher’s band and Garbage announcing a co-headline tour of North America this summer – find more details below and purchase tickets here.A post shared by Noel Gallagher’s HFB (@themightyi)It kicks off in Auburn, Washington on June, 2, 2023 (release day for Gallagher’s new album ‘Council Skies’) followed by stops in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Dallas, Tampa, New York and many more, before rounding up at in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 15.Metric join the bill as special guests on the tour, which will mark the first time Gallagher and his High Flying Birds will have toured North America since 2019.Gallagher announced ‘Council Skies’ last month along with the release of single ‘Easy Now’.

The Santa Barbara International Film Festival (SBIFF) announced its winning films at a ceremony this morning in Santa Barbara.

Nick Frost, Alicia Silverstone & Kevin Connolly To Star In Dark Comedy ‘Krazy House’Nick Frost, Alicia Silverstone, and Kevin Connolly have signed on to star in the dark comedy Krazy House from writer-directors Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil. Production on the pic has just been completed in Amsterdam. The cast is rounded out by Gaite Jansen, Walt Klink, Jan Bijvoet, Chris Peters, and Matti Stooker. Maarten Swart will produce the film for Kaap Holland Film, in a co-production with Haars and van der Kuil. Kaap Holland Film’s Jorn Baars and XYZ’s Todd Brown are executive producers. Splendid Films is handling distribution in the Benelux. XYZ has North American sales rights.

Naman Ramachandran U.K.-based MetFilm Sales has acquired worldwide sales rights, excluding the U.S., Germany and France, to Thomas von Steinaecker’s feature documentary “Werner Herzog: Radical Dreamer” and is representing the project at Berlin’s European Film Market. With exclusive behind-the-scenes access into the legendary German film director’s everyday life, rare archive material and in-depth interviews with Herzog and his collaborators — including Christian Bale, Nicole Kidman and his wife Lena Herzog — the film provides a glimpse into his work process and his personal life.  The documentary is presented by Emmy-winning film studio Wavelength, produced by Spring Films and 3B-Produktion in association with Hot Docs Partners. It is produced by Andre Singer, Bernhard Von Hulsen and Maria Willer. Executive producers include Jenifer Westphal and Joe Plummer for Wavelength, Figs Jackman and Chris Smith for Spring Films and Vijay Vaidyanathan.

A column chronicling conversations and events on the awards circuit.

Kevin Costner is branching out amid rumors he's leaving the hit show "Yellowstone."  The actor has joined TikTok. Costner made the announcement on his Instagram account, posting a throwback photo of himself with the caption, "Feeling young today…got a @tiktok account.

Austin Butler suited up for the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where he was honored with the Virtuosos Award on Wednesday (February 15).

Addie Morfoot Contributor PBS documentary strand “POV” has acquired Jon-Sesrie Goff’s “After Sherman” and Marco Williams’ “Murders That Matter.” Both docus are co-productions with ITVS and will make their national broadcast premieres as part of “POV’s” upcoming 36th season launching in summer 2023. “After Sherman” is comprised of intimate accounts of the lives of the Black community in Goff’s South Carolina hometown, on land that has been in his family for 150 years, where they were once enslaved. The film explores how systemic racial discrimination and violence have affected generations in the South. “After Sherman,” which is Goff’s feature debut, won the best documentary award at four film festivals in 2022: The Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival, Atlanta Film Festival, Tacoma Film Festival, and Fists Up! Film Festival. The docu screened at True/False and Tribeca film fests and was nominated for a 2023 Cinema Eye Honors. Additionally, the film is recipient of the 2022 Gordon Parks Award for Black Excellence at the Tallgrass Film Festival.“The documentary form allows for nuanced storytelling around issues of race in America,” says Goff. “We cannot make a spectacle of the trauma that has besieged many communities to the point of excluding the joy and beauty in the mundane, despite systemic oppression and the reverberations of centuries-long racial violence in this country. ‘After Sherman’ is my love letter to my parents, my family, community, and all the uncelebrated heroes who preserve the practice of hope and abundance as the cancers of white supremacy and anti-Blackness flourishes.”

Brendan Fraser is being honored at the 2023 Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Pink all but dares us to come up with one to describe her place in the pop landscape, besides anything so earthbound as “singer-songwriter.” Maybe “gymnast-therapist” would do it — her appeal mixes literal feats of daring with songs of dysfunction and its hoped-for cessation. As she gets to the inevitable moment in any of her shows where she acrobatically flies over arenas in a harness while encouraging her audiences to get it together before it’s too late, it’s not always clear whether the work she’s doing should be subject to American Psychological Association or Federal Aviation Administration approval. For now, the determinedly athletic Top 40 troubadour is grounded at her home just inland from Santa Barbara, enjoying some calm before the storm that will be her first headlining tour to touch down in some of the biggest stadiums in America. She’ll be touring behind the February release of her ninth studio album, “Trustfall.” The title is figurative, of course, but there is an element that will verge on the literal when she’ll be going out on wires high over the 50-yard line this summer.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The ninth annual Variety Artisans Awards celebrated the craftspeople behind Oscar-nominated films at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Monday. A crowd of movie lovers, local Academy members and students from the nearby University of Santa Barbara came to see the artisans discuss their processes and talk about the biggest misconception people have about their crafts. The full panel of honorees included “RRR” songwriter M.M Keeravaani, composer Ryan Lott representing Son Lux who did the music for “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” “Elvis” costume designer Catherine Martin, “Babylon” production designer Florencia Martin, “Top Gun: Maverick” cinematographer Claudio Miranda, “The Whale” hairstyling and makeup artist Adrien Morot, “Everything Everywhere All at Once” editor Paul Rogers, “Avatar: The Way of Water” VFX supervisor Eric Saindon and “All Quiet on the Western Front” sound designer Markus Stemler.

“Argentina 1985’s” director Santiago Mitre spent over two years researching his film on the story of th public prosecutors who took on the country’s brutal dictators. He said his film was able to get the audience thinking about the real-world problems that go on in their own countries. Mitre joined fellow international film directors on a panel that included Jerzy Skolimowski (“EO”), Lukas Dhont (“Close”), Colm Bairéad (“The Quiet Girl”), Edward Berger (“All Quiet on the Western Front”) and Santiago Mitre (“Argentina, 1985”). Roger Durling, the festival’s director moderated the panel.

Noel Gallagher‘s High Flying Birds and Garbage have announced a co-headline tour of North America this summer – find all the details below and purchase tickets here.The tour will kick off in Auburn, Washington on June, 2, 2023 – release day for Gallagher’s new album ‘Council Skies’ – followed by stops in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego, Denver, Dallas, Tampa, New York and many more, before rounding up at in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 15.Metric join the bill as special guests on the tour, which will mark the first time Gallagher and his High Flying Birds will have toured North America since 2019.Tickets for all upcoming shows go on sale this Friday, February 17 at 10am local time.

Filmmaker and producer Ryan Coogler introduced Angela Bassett at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, where she won the Montecito Award for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.”For almost 15 minutes, Coogler explained how Bassett was influential to him when he was just a five-year-old boy watching “Boyz n the Hood” with his father in 1991. From that movie to Spike Lee’s “Malcolm X” to “What’s Love Got To Do With It” to “Waiting to Exhale” – Coogler said watching Bassett in those movies helped him grow an appreciation for the arts.“I didn’t understand it then, I didn’t know I wanted to be a filmmaker,” Coogler said.

The makers of Call Me Dancer are going from coast to coast to unveil the documentary about the struggles and triumphs of astonishing talent Manish Chauhan. The film directed by Leslie Shampaine and Pip Gilmour held its world premiere at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival on Thursday and last night it opened the Dance on Camera Festival at New York’s Lincoln Center.

Hello and welcome back to the Scene 2 Seen Podcast, I am your host Valerie Complex. On today’s episode we’re chatting with director/producer Dina Amer.

EXCLUSIVE: Kino Lorber has acquired all North American distribution rights to Four Quartets, the film version of the Ralph Fiennes-starring stage adaptation of T.S. Eliot’s seminal poem.

The Santa Barbara Film Festival has today unveiled the lineup for its 38th edition, taking place in-person from February 8-18.

On Monday afternoon residents in Santa Barbara County were ordered to evacuate after the state continues to see storm damage which has trapped many in their homes and left 12 people dead. 

A deep appreciation. Kevin Costner shared a heartfelt message upon winning the 2023 Golden Globe for best actor in a TV drama despite not being able to attend the ceremony due to the flooding in California.

While HFPA president made a short late in the program speech about how the organization has righted the ship, it is worth noting that 27 of those nominated for Golden Globes did not show up last night, by our count. There were valid excuses for some like Kevin Costner and Jeff Bridges who were held back because of flooding in Santa Barbara. But it is certainly plausible that others thought it best to sit out the 80th installment of the scandalized awards show.

While HFPA president made a short late in the program speech about how the organization has righted the ship, it is worth noting that 28 of those nominated for Golden Globes did not show up last night, by our count. There were valid excuses for some like Kevin Costner and Jeff Bridges who were held back because of flooding in Santa Barbara. But it is certainly plausible that others thought it best to sit out the 80th installment of the scandalized awards show.

A little roast to go with that win. Kevin Costner won a 2023 best actor Golden Globe for his role in Yellowstone, but presenter Regina Hall couldn’t help but poke fun at his current situation.