Jazz Tangcay Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “Saturday Night Live” production designers Leo Akira Yoshimura and Keith Raywood work at breakneck speed under extraordinarily tight schedules to ensure sets for the timely satire are camera-ready each week — with changes being added right up to the very last minute. Raywood, who began as a production designer on the show in 1985, will often start crafting sets late on Wednesday nights. “This show is writer-driven. It all starts with the script,” he says. “One show can haveless complexity to it and fewer special effects are involved, but we never know until it’s handed to us on Wednesday night.” Other sets will be used for two to three scenes. When Yoshimura introduces people to the show, whether it’s cast or friends visiting, they always comment on the stage size — Studio 8H is just over 6,000 square feet, including space for audience seating — or remark on how swiftly the crew shifts scenery.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor REO Speedwagon’s “Time For Me To Fly” plays out in the very last scene of the final episode of ABC’s long-running sitcom “The Goldbergs.” The 1978 hit plays as the titular family gather together and imagine what the future will bring. Mojo co-founder and COO Peter Shane acquired REO Speedwagon’s publishing catalog in 2019, and because of longstanding relationships with both the band and “The Goldbergs” music supervisor Ann Kline, the process to clearing the song was a swift one. Having been in the business for over 25 years, Shane’s closest collaborations are with music supervisors. “We work with them at all stages,” he says. “The beginning, middle and end, when music is being considered for projects.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Issa Rae’s ‘Rap Sh!t” focuses on female friendships, but also female rappers and the challenges facing women in a male-dominated industry. For music supervisors Sarah Bromberg and Philippe Pierre, that meant pulling together a soundtrack of artists that not only reflected Miami’s rap scene but also the strong ties between its main characters. In the Max show, Shawna (Aida Osman, also a writer on the series) has been chasing fame as a solo rapper, and she reunites with her friend Mia (rapper Kamillion) to form a rap duo. Together they navigate success, friendship and the lively city of Miami. Here, Bromberg and Pierre break down key needle drops in the series and how they spent months trying to clear a Drake song, as well as having to change an original song at the last minute due to clearance issues.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Focus Features and Working Title have released the first trailer for Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke’s comedy caper “Drive-Away Dolls.” The comedy is set to open in theaters on Sept. 22. The film follows Jamie, played by Margaret Qualley, who is an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian (Geraldine Viswanathan), who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee, but things quickly go awry when they cross paths with a group of inept criminals. Speaking with Variety, Coen described the film as “filthy fun” and a “chase intrigue movie. In one word, it’s a comedy.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Just last May, the world got to experience a real-life coronation when King Charles ascended to the throne. Over on Shondaland’s new Netflix series “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgeton Story,” there was a coronation too that needed to take place, and it was up to production designer David Ingram to create one. When it came to pulling off Queen Charlotte’s (played by India Amarteifio) coronation, Ingram considers it fortunate that the show was shot in the U.K. “We could get the carriage,” Ingram says, stressing it was a replica one. “We could hire it and adapt it. We were able to reupholster it and repaint it.” But the golden carriage was the least of his problems. The challenge was how to approach Westminster Abbey, traditionally used for real coronations, weddings and funerals, about how to shoot the scene.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “George & Tammy” costume designer Mitchell Travers’ approach to any project is to start with rock solid foundation. “You get asked a billion questions every day, and because I shoot moves so quickly, I love to have that ready,” he says. Travers reunited with Jessica Chastain (the two previously worked on “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”) for the intimate look at country singer Tammy Wynette. With a storyline that spanned three decades, Travers needed to know the answer to any costume questions thrown at him. “When Tammy needed a coat, in the script, it was about what coat did she grab? Was it short? Long? Fitted? Oversized? Embellished?”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Transforming Disney’s award-winning animated feature “Encanto” into a live experience at the Hollywood Bowl in front of an audience of 17,000 people was no easy feat, with factors such as the pandemic, limited access to the venue and unexpected weather conditions all in play. But the production team, cast and crew pulled it off in under 72 hours, delivering a Broadway-quality experience. Unlike a Broadway show, the original voice cast, scores of dancers and production team did not have the luxury of rehearsing at the Bowl. Gabe Turner, executive producer of the event, said, “We could only gain access to the Bowl for four days before we were due to welcome our dancers, orchestra and cast into the space.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor National Geographic’s “A Small Light” takes the well known story of Anne Frank, the Jewish teenager who hid in a cramped Amsterdam attic with her family during the Nazi occupation, and presents it though a new lens. The narrative focuses on a tenacious young woman, Miep Gies (Bel Powley), Otto Frank’s secretary, who risked everything to save the Frank family and many others. While the story centers around the horrors of World War II, the story finds resilience and hope through it all. Here the artisans behind the limited series break down how their respective crafts reflect hope, resilience and the atrocities of war.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Filmmaker Sam Hargrave knew he would have to up the ante when it came to filming Netflix’s action sequel “Extraction 2.” The first film, which came out in 2020, contained a 12-minute sequence that included a car chase, gun battles, knife battles and plenty of explosions. It was during early conversations with producer Joe Russo that the idea of a longer sequence came up. Says Hargrave, “Joe said, ‘It’d be cool if we opened the film with Tyler (Chris Hemsworth) extracting someone from a prison. Joe he wrote this into the script, ‘And thus follows the greatest oner in cinema history.’” Hargrave devised a plan forward, and the result was a mind-blowing, 21-minute one-take sequence that sees black ops specialist Tyler Rake entering a prison to rescue the family of a violent gang member. As Tyler and the family members escape the prison and jump into armored vehicles, a chase ensues, and when they board a train, it comes under attack by gangsters who land a helicopter on the train.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Composer Sherri Chung admits she was late to the “Gremlins” party — only because she was too young and found it too scary. But when she grew older and was reintroduced to the movie, she thought “it was the greatest thing ever.” The 1984 film, as well as Jerry Goldsmith’s score, became a key inspiration for her. So when she got the opportunity to score Max’s new animated series “Gremlins: Secret of the Mogwai,” directed by Tze Chun, she decided to “lean into the scary and the fear, but also the emotion” with her music. The series is an origin story that gives a partial explanation as to how Gizmo ends up in a Chinatown antique store at the beginning of 1984’s “Gremlins.” To add a Chinese element to the score, Chung used bamboo flutes, but the meat of the score came from the erhu, a two-stringed bowed musical instrument sometimes referred to as the “Chinese violin.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Lady Gaga‘s concert film for “The Chromatica Ball Tour” is well on its way, according to the pop singer and actor. On Friday evening, Gaga confirmed the news via Instagram as she gave fans an in-depth explanation of her creative process as of late, also sharing what she has recently been working on. She wrote, “I have been running my start-up Haus Labs, doing philanthropic work, and additionally have been working on The Chromatica Ball film edit.” She added, “Here’s a photo of my working on The Chromatica Ball film edit (that’s a frame from the film behind me) — I can’t WAIT for you to experience it.”A post shared by Lady Gaga (@ladygaga) The long and detailed caption also notes that she’s been writing and producing music for a “special project.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The story behind Pixar’s latest animated feature “Elemental” is a personal one to filmmaker Peter Sohn. The opening shows a family arriving at the fictional port of Elemental City, which closely reflected the immigration story of Sohn’s parents from Korea to New York. The story breathes life into the earth elements of fire, water, land and air, depicting them as residents of Elemental City. When Ember (Leah Lewis), a fiery young woman, meets go-with-the-flow water being Wade (Mamoudou Athie), they discover that, despite their conflicts, they have a lot in common. As the two fall in love, Ember is faced with the internal conflict of being with Wade or following in her parents’ footsteps and running the family business. As the son of first-generation immigrants, Ember’s struggle reflected not only Sohn’s personal experience, but that of many of the animators and storytellers behind the scenes.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Pete Docter, Pixar’s creative chief officer, is hoping the animation studio’s 27th release, “Elemental,” will draw families to movie theaters this weekend. Peter Sohn‘s film is a story about immigration, families, duty and love. Not only does Docter say the visuals are “a spectacle,” but believes it should be experienced with an audience. Docter, who has been with the studio since the beginning and was upped to CCO in 2018, has come under criticism recently that Pixar has lost its magic touch. Here, Docter sits down with Variety over Zoom to discuss Pixar’s approach to programming, Cannes, “Elemental,” and what’s next for the studio.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Katori Hall’s “P-Valley,” a show about the female dancers at The Pynk, a popular strip club in Mississippi, uses music to shine a spotlight on southern female rappers and artists. In putting together the soundtrack for the series, music supervisors Sarah Bromberg and Stephanie Diaz-Matos turned to the show’s stars, J. Alphonse Nicholson and Loretta Devine, as well as Beyoncé and Megan Thee Stallion, to curate the anthems for Brandee Evans’ Mercedes, Elarica Johnson’s Autumn Night and Nicco Annan’s Uncle Clifford. Here, Bromberg and Diaz-Matos break down how they landed Beyoncé and other needle drops for the show’s second season.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Jessica Chastain was a “mess” when she won the best actress Oscar for “The Eyes of Tammy Faye” in 2022. Not from the barrage of congratulatory messages from friends and family, but her hair (Stephanie Ingram) and makeup (Linda Dowds) collaborators had also won the best makeup and hairstyling Oscar. Says Chastain, “It was so meaningful to me that they were recognized for their work.” Chastain, Dowds and Ingram first crossed paths in 2013 on “Mama,” and most recently on Showtime’s “George and Tammy,” the story of country singers George Jones (played by Michael Shannon) and Tammy Wynette (Chastain). Since then, the trio has become a tight unit with honesty and trust at the core of their collaboration, whether conceiving real-life transformations or subtle applications as part of their process.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Production designer Tamara Deverell was tasked with creating eight different periods and working with eight different directors for Netflix’s “Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities.” The anthology series required Deverell, 2020’s artisan award recipient for production design, to tap into her love for building gritty sets and build everything from a brutalist architecture room inspired by her work on “Star Trek: Discovery” to using an old warehouse for an alien autopsy. Here Deverell breaks down some of her favorite sets from the series. The first episode tells the story of Tim Blake Nelson as Nick Appleton, who purchases the titular Lot 36 from a recently deceased old man and discovers strange items such as a séance table and rare books. However, the Lot also holds dark demonic secrets

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor In the past few years, Hollywood has taken great strides to increase AAPI representation on screen, with a record number of Asians landing Emmy nominations and wins, from Sandra Oh’s recognition for “Killing Eve” to “Squid Game” picking up six trophies, including Lee Jung-jae for best actor in a drama series. This awards season, more AAPI actors fight for history-making nominations, including Ali Wong for “Beef” and the ensemble cast of “Yellowjackets.” Former nominees contending again this year are “Saturday Night Live’s” Bowen Yang and “Ted Lasso’s” Nick Mohammed.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Filmmaker Victoria Bousis has partnered with Unique Network to enhance the immersive film experience of her award-winning film “Stay Alive, My Son.” Inspired by true events and based on the memoirs of Pin Yathay, “Tu Vivra, Mon Fils” (“Stay Alive, My Son”), Bousis says she wanted to “leverage technology to break the rules of traditional storytelling and educating audiences about Cambodia’s history.” The film, which will screen at Siggraph in August and is currently on the festival circuit, uses augmented reality and a virtual world that audiences experience through a VR headset.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “Fatal Attraction” production designer Nina Ruscio’s visual challenge was taking on an iconic movie, paying homage to it and finding a way to put her creative stamp on it by taking it into 2023. In the eight-part Paramount+ series, Joshua Jackson stars as Dan Gallagher with Lizzie Caplan as Alex Forrest, roles originated by Michael Douglas and Glenn Close in the original film. And while it’s not a remake, the creative team stressed, it’s an expanded adaptation that provides more insight into Alex’s behavior after an affair with a married man drives her to obsession. The series covers Alex’s struggles with her mental health, but it’s also an erotic thriller.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The year was 2001. Catherine Zeta-Jones had yet to do the table read for Rob Marshall’s “Chicago” or even meet co-star Renée Zellweger. But she recalls being in Toronto, walking down a long hallway and entering costume designer Colleen Atwood’s fitting space: “There was an explosion of costumes and fishnet tights.” And thus an enduring collaboration between thespian and costume designer was born. Both would go on to win Oscars for their work on the film. Zeta-Jones would call on Atwood to design her outfit for the 2002 Academy Awards when the actor was days away from giving birth. It would be two decades before they officially reunited for Netflix’s “Wednesday.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor It took a village to build the costumes for Shonda Rhimes’ latest “Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.” Costume designer Lyn Elizabeth Paolo and co-costume designer Laura Frecon paired up to tell young Queen Charlotte’s (India Amarteifio) story and her rise to power in Britain, after her marriage to King George III. But even though Rhimes told Paolo it was going to be a “small spin-off,” the costume designer who had worked with her on “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder” knew that Rhimes would want “everything to be glorious.” There were going to be grand scenes, such as a funeral and a coronation. Frecon says, “We were told there were no balls,” referring to the grandiose costume fetes that marked almost every episode of “Bridgerton.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The desert meets the ’70s meets the Western. That’s how “Poker Face” costume designer Trayce Gigi Field describes the vibe of Peacock’s whodunnit series starring Natasha Lyonne. Lyonne plays Charlie Cale, a casino worker with a knack for solving crimes as she goes on the run across the country. Field knew the first thing she had to do was create a look that was a departure from Lyonne’s previous series, “Russian Doll.” First rule: No black. “We wanted a different color palette, so I put together mood boards, and some of those things like the buttery brown YSL jacket made it into the series,” says Field.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Jadakiss, Busta Rhymes and Lord Afrixana are just a few of the artists whose music is featured in thethird season of MGM+’s 1960s-set “Godfather of Harlem.” “I don’t pick artists based on their names, I pick artists based on what we’re trying to do,” says Swizz Beatz, who serves as the show’s music producer and creative director. In putting the show’s sonic landscape together, Beatz says he tried to be thoughtful when using a placement. “Music is so powerful and with this, I wanted to use it to give the characters an authentic landscape,” he says. He also didn’t want to put himself in a box by selecting music from the 1960s, rather, he was given creative liberties to use new artists which helped him find the right approach and voices.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Production designer Patrick O’Keefe drew inspiration from brutalist architecture, graphic artist Syd Mead and British punk band The Sex Pistols when animating the world of “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.” As Miles Morales crosses path with different Spider-People from other dimensions, it was up to O’Keefe and his team of animators to create visual worlds that reflect those counterparts. With Variety, he breaks down the looks of each world and shares his favorite easter eggs that pay homage to the Canadian animators who worked on the film. “Whenever it comes to developing anything for the film, I’m always asking myself, whose point of view are we seeing this from? And what does it need to do?

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Composer Daniel Pemberton pushed a few boundaries and “made something really creative and different” when he scored 2018’s “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” When he returned to score the sequel, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse,” he knew he would have to “push it as far as we can go.” Pemberton says he had to build the score from the ground up, which was complicated. “You’re trying not to make a score that sounds like other film scores. You’re trying to invent your own language.” Inventing that language took experimentation, research and failure. He explains, “I spent two years researching and developing this score, going through ideas, coming up with concepts and throwing them out.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Rusicals have been a “RuPaul’s Drag Race” institution since Season 6 and something audiences look forward to each season. Executive producer Tom Campbell credits fellow producers John Polley and Michael Seligman for coming up with this year’s “Wigloose: The Rusical.” Says Campbell, “They said ‘Wigloose,’ like ‘Footloose,’ and it writes itself.” The maxi challenge puts the queens’ performing skills to the test, through song, dance and acting, as they tell a musical story. Previous challenges have included “Moulin Ru: The Rusical,” Madonna, Cher and even Donald Trump’s presidency. The idea is that audiences already know the story of the Rusical and condense that into a production that’s less than 12 minutes long.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor In the penultimate episode of “Ted Lasso” season 3, “Mom City” features Sam Ryder’s song “Fought & Lost,” a collaboration with Queen’s Brian May. Playing toward the end of the episode, the song acts as a bridge as Ted (Jason Sudeikis) as he has a heartfelt confrontation with his mother Dottie (Becky Ann Baker). The next day, he’s in his office to reveal a “truth bomb” to Rebecca, but the end credits roll before audiences get an answer. Ryder performed the piece in front of an audience at the Grammy Museum in Downtown Los Angeles at a special event with the show’s star Hannah Waddingham joining him.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Ruth Carter doesn’t need the prefix “costume designer” in front of her name; she is a household name. Carter made Oscar history when she became the first Black woman ever to win two Oscars,thanks to her work on the “Black Panther” films. With credits that include “Selma,” “Malcolm X,” “Coming 2 America” and being Spike Lee’s go-to, Carter has stories to tell.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Nominated for two Tony Awards in best choreography, Jennifer Weber describes “& Juliet” as a show filled with “music that makes you want to dance. It’s got music that everyone has danced to at some point in their lives.” The show uses memorable pop tunes from Britney Spears, Backstreet Boys, Katy Perry and more as it flips the Shakespearean tale of “Romeo and Juliet” by reimagining a world where Juliet doesn’t die. In putting together Act II’s “Problem/Can’t Feel My Face” epic song battle, Weber collaborated closely with costume designer Paloma Young. “We had similar visions in terms of storytelling,” she says. “Her costumes fuse this Elizabethan aesthetic with contemporary pop. A corset and Adidas track pants have never looked better together. Each [look] is super individual.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor The detail in costume design can define a character — especially for Amazon Prime’s epic “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” and its retro “Daisy Jones & the Six.” Whether creating costumes for sea guards and Harfoots, “LOTR” costume designer Kate Hawley created over 2,000 outfits for the series. Hawley used blue rather extensively in stones and costumes to reflect the regal presence of Morfydd Clark’s elf, Galadriel, and Cynthia Addai-Robinson’s Míriel, Queen-Regent of Númenor. She created garments for the nomadic Harfoots that would shield them at night. The idea was that, like wild animals, they avoid detection from perceived enemies by just sitting still and blending into their environment.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor When costume designer Marina Toybina was tasked with building the Beast costume for ABC’s live action “Beauty and the Beast” broadcast, she looked beyond what Disney and the Broadway show had previously done. Instead, she found inspiration in puppetry. Josh Groban, who played the enchanted prince-turned-Beast, would not be relying on prosthetics and makeup for his transformation. Toybina instead built a hollowed-out puppet that stood at around 10 feet tall. Within that, she ensured there was enough mobility for Groban, and with the aid of rods, he would be able to move the arms and feet, all built via a backpack structure. Says Toybina of the contraption, “I wanted to lean into the narrative that there’s this prince trapped inside of a beast.”

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “Yellowjackets” composers and songwriters Craig Wedren and Anna Waronker jumped at the chance to write the original music and lyrics contender “Sit Right Down” for Episode 7 of the Showtime series.“We were deep into the blood, fragmentation, descent and sanity-shattering music,” Wedren says, referring to the events that the survivors have to endure this season. The producers asked them to write an “MGM, old school standard number meets Bob Fosse.” The dream sequence happens as Simone Kessell’s Lottie asks the adult Yellowjackets to choose a therapy option treatment at her “wellness retreat.” Misty, played by Christina Ricci, finds herself in a sensory tank after picking “Guidance.” She needs it. In the teen timeline, Misty (played by Samantha Hanratty) makes a new bestie in Crystal, a fellow theater lover. Except, Misty’s openness with her BFF during a round of rapid-fire secrets comes to a sad end when Misty confesses she sabotaged the flight’s black box recorder. Mortified, Crystal asks if Misty will “poison her,” to which she replies “I’ll fucking kill you.” Moments later, Crystal has accidentally fallen off the cliff to her death. Meanwhile, adult Misty is racking up the “deaths” after kidnapping and spiking a reporter’s cigarette.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Production designers had their hands full the past year, recreating everything from an 18th century palace large enough for indoor badminton games to retro kitchens that looked like they were straight out of the 1970s. To achieve their period-accurate sets, they consulted books, photos and guild archives. For the third season of “The Great,” production designer Francesca Di Mottola a built a “gigantic games room where anything could happen and served many different purposes,” horse breeding among them. The production designer began scouting locations in the U.K., where the black comedy about Catherine the Great is filmed, but none quite fit what she was looking for, so she built the room on a soundstage.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor “Prey” director Dan Trachtenberg wanted his “Predator” spinoff, which is set in 1719, to be shot in a naturalistic way, so cinematographer Jeff Cutter made use of available light whenever possible — especially from fire and the moon. In the movie, Comanche warrior Naru (Amber Midthunder) tracks and hunts down a killer alien through the woods. “I would use fire as much as possible and augment it if we had to,” says Cutter.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Transforming actors into well-known figures such as Tammy Wynette and Princess Diana was a challenge for artisans, who experimented with techniques to come up with hair and makeup that would look authentic to viewers. Cate Hall spent hours with Elizabeth Debicki while recreating Princess Diana’s sophisticated coiffure from the early 1990s for Season 5 of “The Crown.” Through a series of incremental adjustments to the wig — and plenty of patience from Debicki – Hall got the look she desired. “You hold one another’s hand as you keep slicing the wig with a razor and inching towards a shape that feels recognizable,” she recalls of her collaboration with Debicki.

Jazz Tangcay Artisans Editor Max will be celebrating Pride Month in June through a series of events, programming and partnerships highlighting LGBTQ+ voices. Among the initiatives will be partnerships with Them and Newfest to help amplify queer voices, stories and content. The streamer has planned an in-app Pride takeover of the LGBTQ+ Voices page which will highlight queer content premiering in June. Among the programs will be the premiere of the HBO documentary “The Stroll,” which tells the powerful and poignant history of transgender sex workers in New York’s pre-gentrified meatpacking district in the 1990s. The Max original documentary reality series “Naked. Loud. Proud.” will stream. HBO documentaries “Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed” and TaylorMac’s “24-Decade History of Popular Music” are set to air.