Magnolia Network Launches to 3 Million Viewers as ‘Fixer Upper: Welcome Home’ Draws Crowd

ISLESFORD, Maine -- Ashley Bryan, a prolific and prize-winning children’s author and illustrator who told stories of Black life, culture and folklore in such acclaimed works as “Freedom Over Me,” “Beautiful Blackbird” and “Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum,” has died at age 98.Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing announced that the longtime Maine resident died “peacefully” Friday in Texas, where he had been staying with relatives.“An early, quiet, and potent force in bringing children of color and issues of racial diversity into the canon of children’s literature, he was committed to opening the eyes of children of all backgrounds to a wide range of themes through poetry, folktales, spirituals, and biblical narratives,” the publisher’s statement reads.Bryan was a Harlem native who showed an early talent for drawing and for a time was the only Black student at the art school at Cooper Union in Manhattan. He served in a segregated military unit for two years during World World II, an experience he recounted in his memoir “Infinite Hope: A Black Artist’s Journey from World War II to Peace,” and resumed his art studies after the war.Bryan worked on more than 70 books and received numerous honors, including Coretta Scott King Awards — given for the year’s best work by a Black author or illustrator — for the folktales “Beautiful Blackbird” and “Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum.” He also received two lifetime achievement prizes: the Laura Ingalls Wilder Award (now known as the Children’s Literature Legacy Award) and the Virginia Hamilton award.Survivors include his brother Ernest, and “many cherished” nieces and nephews, according to Simon & Schuster.“I am deeply saddened to learn of Ashley’s passing,” Gov.

Magnolia star Joanna Gaines has shared an adorable family video that had fans all calling her youngest son the spitting image of her husband Chip.MORE: Tim McGraw and Faith Hill's lavish Nashville home could rival a palace"Snow days at the farm are the best days," Joanna captioned the video that saw three-year-old Crew wrapped up warm against the snowstorm that has hit Texas walking into their farmhouse. As he entered the kitchen, he sat in a rocking chair and gave a big sigh.WATCH: Magnolia Network star Joanna Gaines shares adorable family video that has fans saying the same thing"What a sweet precious moment.

EXCLUSIVE: The Producers Guild of America and Google announces the two projects that will each receive $50,000 grants for the production of new short films as part of “The Short Film Project” presented by the Producers Guild of America and Google.

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema announced a major expansion with seven new theaters including three new regions, Chicago, Birmingham, and St. Louis, and expansions in Washington, D.C. and New York City — with a kung fu-themed Staten island location opening this spring. The move also includes locations in Colorado and Texas.

The Dutton family will be back – obviously.

As the new year is in full swing, the brand new shows and films are set to hit our TV screens this month, including on Netflix.

Brent Lang Executive Editor of Film and MediaLegendary Entertainment has sold a $760 million equity stake to Apollo, the companies announced on MondayThe pact gives the investment giant a minority ownership position in the studio behind “Dune” and “Godzilla vs. Kong.” In July, Variety broke the news that Legendary was exploring a possible sale and merger and had abandoned an earlier plan to merge with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).Wanda, which bought Legendary in 2016 for $3.5 billion, will continue to have a stake in the company.

Netflix has released the first trailer for Texas Chainsaw Massacre ahead of its release next month.Set nearly 50 years after events in the 1974 original, Texas Chainsaw Massacre stars Sarah Yarkin, Elsie Fisher, Nell Hudson and Jacob Latimore as a group of friends who face violent consequences when they stumble into the ghost town of Harlow, Texas.While there, they meet a revenge-seeking Sally Hardesty (played by Olwen Fouere) – the sole survivor of Leatherface’s (Mark Burnham) killing spree from the original film.Texas Chainsaw Massacre is directed by David Blue Garcia (Tejano) from a story written by Fede Álvarez and Rodo Sayagues – who both worked together on 2013’s Evil Dead remake and Don’t Breathe. You can check out the trailer below.While pitched as a direct sequel to Tobe Hooper’s original horror classic, there’s been many sequels over the years.

The family of a man who died following an assault in Leigh have paid tribute to the ‘one in a million’ dad-of-four.

Ready for another legacy requel? AKA, a film, much like “Halloween” (2018), that disregards the entire canon of all the sequels that have arrived since the original opened and takes place after the events of the first film, acting as a new “proper” sequel? That’s “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” from a filmmaking team that includes Fede Alvarez (“Evil Dead“) and co-writer of the 1974 classic “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” Kim Henkel.

above. Fede Alvarez and Rodo Sayagues produce and have “story by” credits on the screenplay, which was written by Chris Thomas Devlin.

Zack Sharf Welcome back, Leatherface. The iconic horror movie killer is back in the official trailer for Netflix’s reboot of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre,” arriving on the streaming platform on Feb. 18.This new “Texas Chainsaw” is directed by David Blue Garcia and produced by “Evil Dead” and “Don’t Breathe” filmmaker Fede Álvarez, which is keeping anticipation high among horror lovers.

Tiger King star Joe Exotic, whose real name is Joseph Allen Maldonado-Passage, has been resentenced to spend 21 years in prison.The former zookeeper, who ran the Greater Wynnewood Exotic Animal Park in Oklahoma for 20 years until 2018, has been campaigning for his jail sentence to be reduced ever since the smash hit documentary Tiger King was released on Netflix in 2020. Joe Exotic, 58, was originally imprisoned for 22 years after he was convicted for attempting to hire two different men to kill animal rights activist Carole Baskin.

After a social media update in November led to a bout of fan speculation, Post Malone has confirmed that his new album is called twelve carat toothache in a new Billboard profile. The new record's release is "imminent," Malone claims. Earlier this month, Malone's manager Dre London claimed Republic Records has been delaying its release due to its relative brevity.

Meat Loaf, whose real name is Michael Lee Aday, sadly passed away at the age of 74, tributes have been pouring in from his followers remembering his incredible music career. READ: Kevin Clifton shares emotional tribute following sad lossHowever, his daughter Amanda recently revealed that his home life was much more humble.

In need of renovations. Chip and Joanna Gaines had high hopes when they launched Magnolia Network, but they were not expecting the controversy that stemmed from Andy and Candis Meredith’s show Home Work.