Hollywood

A city hearing concerning on-site alcohol sales provided the public a chance to air their opinions on the possible reopening of the Cinerama Dome and ArcLight Hollywood on Tuesday morning.

Though a final letter of determination is still to be issued, Tim Fargo, the associate zoning administrator in charge of Tuesday’s meeting, said he was “inclined to approve” the conditional-use permit under consideration. The permit would cover the Cinerama Dome, 14 adjacent auditoriums and a restaurant café with two outdoor spaces.

The Dome closed in March 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and in April 2021 it was announced that the venue would not be reopening. Film lovers in Los Angeles and around the world have since been hopeful the venue, seen by many as a symbol for Hollywood itself, could reopen.

During the meeting, Elizabeth Peterson-Gower, a land use consultant representing the owner and applicant Dome Center LLC, was asked if there was a timeline for reopening the theaters. She responded, “I too don’t have a schedule yet, but when I do, I’ll convey it to you.”

In a separate phone interview following the meeting Tuesday, Peterson-Gower referred to the approval of the conditional-use permit as a “milestone” in the process of reopening the theaters and added that ownership has noted the intense public interest around the Dome and the ArcLight and that “it will inspire a time frame in the near future.”

Throughout the meeting, Peterson-Gower referred to the success of the Blue Note jazz club that opened on a corner of the property in August 2025.

“What it proves to me is that the ownership cares greatly,” Peterson-Gower said after the meeting. “That’s a big undertaking and a big statement in favor of the fact that ownership care what’s there.”

Numerous other voices were heard throughout the hearing as well. Ted Walker, planning deputy for Council District 13, where the theater is located, said, “Too often we see [historic-cultural monuments] around our city sitting vacant. So we’re very supportive of anything to bring some life back into this. We know there’s a lot of love for the Cinerama Dome and we want to acknowledge the work of all the community members who are advocating for it. We believe resuming these operations will further enhance the vibrancy of Hollywood.”

Burbank City Council member Konstantine Anthony noted that he was a former usher at the Dome and also voiced support for the reopening.

More than 30 people provided public comment. Among those were Kat Kramer, daughter of filmmaker Stanley Kramer, director of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World,” the very first film to play in the Dome in 1963, film critic Wade Major and Ben Steinberg, who has led a grassroots campaign to get the venue reopened.

The Blue Note Jazz Club undergoes construction near the Cinerama Dome on Tuesday, Aug. 5, 2025, in Los Angeles.

(Juliana Yamada / Los Angeles Times)

One commenter said, “Why have they kept it closed? Is this just a strategy to let it rot so that they can get building violations and just tear it down and build condos? There’s a lot of fear about what’s going to happen with this thing that people feel attached to. And to not answer questions over all this time has frankly been offensive.”

Another commenter said that the delays in reopening feel like ownership “keeping a bit of our heritage hostage from us.”

Even those who were asking for clear specifics from ownership were nearly all in favor of granting the conditional-use permit, which was the ostensible purpose of the meeting. As local preservation advocate Kim Cooper said, “I know that this has been hard and it has seemed like the citizens versus the ownership — that’s not what it is. People want to come together and help and bring this place back.”

Speaking after the meeting, Peterson-Gower noted her own history with the Dome, having been involved with many events there in the late ’80s and early ’90s when she was vice president of the Hollywood Athletic Club, located just a few blocks away on Sunset Boulevard.

“Everyone has a story about the Dome that’s lived here, even me,” she added. “I didn’t want to bring my personal life into the hearing, but I care passionately as well about it opening.”

While the final outcome of the hearing is still to be fully determined, all signs point to the permit being granted and the project being free to move forward.

“I was overwhelmingly pleased with the comments,” said Peterson-Gower. “I think that it shows that there’s a great historic use in a historic property and I think that people care passionately about it operating and are very, very proud of the property being here in Hollywood.”

Comedian Conan O’Brien will return to host the 99th Academy Awards set for March 14.

O’Brien, known for his self-deprecating humor, emceed the Oscars this year and in 2025.

“Conan has created remarkable energy around the Oscars,” President of Disney Television Group Craig Erwich said in a statement Tuesday announcing O’Brien’s return. “His singular comedic voice makes Hollywood’s biggest night one of the most entertaining celebrations of the year. We’re proud to welcome him back and look forward to what he and the producing team deliver next.”

Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan are set to return as the show’s executive producers for the fourth consecutive year.

Major changes are in store for the entertainment industry’s biggest night.

Starting in 2029, the Oscars will move from Hollywood’s Dolby Theatre, its home for nearly a quarter century, to the L.A. Live in downtown Los Angeles. The ceremony will also stream on YouTube, ending a five-decade run on ABC, beginning that year.

Oscars viewership has been in flux as younger audiences prefer to view clips of the ceremony on social media, rather than on television.

ABC’s telecast of the 2026 ceremony averaged 17.9 million viewers, down 9% from the previous year, when it garnered 19.7 million viewers. Ratings for the Oscars reached an all-time low of 10.5 million viewers in 2021.

Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Chief Executive Bill Kramer and President Lynette Howell Taylor announced the news at its upfront presentation Tuesday.

For Vince Gervasi, chief executive of Triscenic Production Services, it was yet another body blow.

His company, a leading supplier of set and scenery storage and transportation for the film industry, was poised for a turnaround after nearly three years of losing money.

Then, last week, he said a line producer on “Shark Tank,” one of his long-standing clients, called him to say the hit ABC reality show was relocating production from the Sony Pictures Studios lot in Culver City to Atlanta.

“They said it was too expensive here to do anything,” Gervasi recalled being told. “I said, ‘Are you kidding me?’ This show has money.’”

For the last six years, Triscenic had dedicated a 70,000-square-foot warehouse at its Santa Clarita facility to store the show’s items, transporting them in 30 custom made semitrucks between seasons.

Battered by the pandemic, the dual labor strikes, economic downturns and consolidations, Gervasi told The Times in 2024 that he had laid off 78 of his 85 employees and winnowed down his once-buzzing operations that housed sets and scenery across 2 million square feet in 41 buildings to half that, with the expectation that things would bounce back.

Like many other local film industry veterans, he is still waiting.

Vince Gervasi, at Triscenic Production Services, in Santa Clarita.

(Bob Doyle)

“I’ve been doing this for 41 years. I’ve seen the good and the bad — this is a complete decimation. It’s unprecedented.”

From florists to prop rentals to catering and beyond, production services and craft businesses are the hub and spoke of L.A.’s film and TV industry. But many of these businesses — some of which have been family-operated for generations — are struggling to weather a post-pandemic slump in film activity deepened by runaway production, media consolidation and the end of the streaming boom.

Film shoot days in the Los Angeles region have fallen nearly 50% since 2019, according to FilmLA data reviewed by The Times. Employment in Los Angeles County’s motion picture and sound recording industry has similarly plummeted, with a loss of some 57,000 jobs in the last four years, federal labor data show.

The slowdown has become a major issue in the L.A. mayoral race as evidence mounts of the economic toll on the city.

Just last month major industry vendor Quixote — whose Star Waggons trailers were once ubiquitous on the streets of L.A. — announced that it was winding down most of its sound stage business in Los Angeles, closing its operations in Atlanta and laying off 70 employees.

In a note to its clients and partners, Hudson Pacific Properties Inc., Quixote’s parent company, said that “we have persisted through the prolonged and ongoing slowdown in commercial, television and film production. But ultimately, industry conditions have forced difficult decisions.”

Between 2022 and 2025, more than 80 such businesses across Los Angeles have closed down, according to a list compiled by the ACME Directory, a production resource that connects TV and film professionals with specialized products and services.

“It’s, in many ways, a much bigger reflection of the contraction we’re seeing in the industry right now,” said Kevin Klowden, a senior fellow at the Milken Institute, focused on entertainment and technology. “The surge in demand for streaming and the consequential demand to catch up on content hid the fact that the industry was shrinking.”

Last October, the family-run Costume Rentals Corp. began liquidating its inventory after dressing film and television characters for 50 years. The North Hollywood firm provided costumes for “Forrest Gump,” “Apocalypse Now,” “Fast and Furious” and, more recently, the 2024 Bob Dylan biopic, “A Complete Unknown.”

A year earlier, Valentino’s Costume Group closed its doors after two decades in business and sold off its 400,000 items. At the time, Shon LeBlanc, the North Hollywood shop’s last owner standing, said he had endured a “perfect storm” of calamities and was drowning in debt following the cancellation of 15 shows in a single week.

Even the legendary Western Costume, which has been in business since 1912, has been hurt by the slowdown. During the 2023 strikes by writers and actors, Western Costume furloughed 43 employees, or about two-thirds of its staff. Recently, the North Hollywood costume mecca, which has supplied such classic films as “Gone with the Wind,” “The Wizard of Oz,” “The Sound of Music” and the TV series “Mad Men,” furloughed an unspecified number of its workers, said two people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly.

A representative of Western Costume did not respond to a request for comment.

Marc Meyer, the owner of Faux Library Studio Props, had strained to stay in business through the pandemic shutdown and the 2023 labor strikes — laying off 11 of his 13 employees.

By the start of 2024, Meyer, a set decorator who was credited with inventing the fake movie book, was drastically behind on rent, owing $500,000, he said.

Marc Meyer, closed the doors on Faux Library Studio Props in North Hollywood after almost 25 years in business.

(Mel Melcon/Los Angeles Times)

Meyer’s landlord had given him a week to come up with more than $100,000 in unpaid rent or vacate the 89,000-square-foot warehouse in North Hollywood filled with props, books, antique furniture and other items that have decorated such film and TV sets as “Angels & Demons” and “The X-Files” for almost a quarter-century.

Meyer came up with $45,000 to mollify his landlord, garnering a month’s reprieve. A GoFundMe was set up during the strikes and a host of industry colleagues such as “Top Gun: Maverick” set decorator Jan Pascale stepped up, buying props to help fill his coffers.

A year later, Meyer was out of business, selling off Faux Library for parts in a massive auction. He died last July at 77.

“The change in our city is palpable,” said writer and director Sarah Adina Smith, a co-founder of Stay in LA’s, a grassroots campaign aimed at increasing film and television production in Los Angeles. “It’s not just that so many crafts and artists are out of work, but you see small businesses, too. In L.A., we’re an ecosystem fed in large part by creative jobs, and that is quickly vanishing.”

Marlon Gilbert still waxes nostalgic about the days his Commerce-based company, Gilbert Production Service, stored and transported scenery and props for TV shows including “Dancing with the Stars” and feature films like “Batman.” At one time, he said, he was handling seven active TV shows in a single season.

“When it was still on Fox, the ‘American Idol’ finale, we had like 20 semitrucks going in and out. Money was flowing like crazy,” he said. “But eventually times got hard for them, and they cut back on their production stuff.”

By last year, Gilbert was down to just three clients. “It wasn’t sustainable,” he said.

In December, after three decades, the family-owned business filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and shut down too.

“I couldn’t pay rent on our warehouse lease, I blew through my savings and my 401(k),” he said. After his wife was hospitalized following multiple strokes in 2023, he said, “I didn’t have the energy to beat the bush for new business.”

“I would’ve liked to have gone out with more panache and made a big splash and money selling the business. But there was nothing left to sell.”

Scott Niner, president and owner of Dangling Carrot Creative, checks on a robotic machine as it fabricates at his shop in North Hollywood.

(Jason Armond/Los Angeles Times)

Scott Niner, president and owner of Dangling Carrot Creative, offers a case study in how production service businesses have navigated the tidal wave of upheavals.

After 18 years in business creating graphic signage, custom flooring and wallpaper to make sets look exactly as art directors dreamed up, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last April.

Before the pandemic, Niner’s Valencia-based business was thriving.

In 2014, he opened a Georgia satellite office to service the film and TV productions that had migrated to take advantage of the state’s generous tax credits. He steadily expanded his workforce to 32 employees in L.A. and Georgia.

Production was so plentiful that he even branched into the bakery business in 2018, delivering graphics and cupcakes in the same order. At its peak, Dangling Carrot generated $800,000 a month.

When the pandemic shutdown hit, Niner’s monthly revenue dropped to $50,000, he said. He kept his workers employed by making face shields that he donated to hospitals.

“I hung in there, and it was painful,” said Niner, who received some government assistance.

During the strikes in 2023, he drained his 401(k) and his union pension to keep his shop open and his workers employed.

Niner said he deployed a strategy of “pivoting and praying.” He shifted his business to focus more on fabrication, making giant 3-D-printed items for movie premieres, 25-foot-long, 8-foot-tall and 8-foot-deep ammo chests for a “Call of Duty” promotion and even graphics at airports.

Last last month, Niner sold off his Georgia business as filming in that state shifted to the U.K. He downsized his home and moved his business from Valencia to a much smaller building in North Hollywood. He is now down to 11 employees.

“I have a very bright outlook on the future, especially because we’re getting phone calls from people who never would have called us because all the other guys are out of business,” he said. “There’s something to be said about the last man standing. But I’m the last man standing on $2 million in debt. I’m more like lying down.”

The industry got a reprieve last week when CBS announced that it was relocating its hit drama “Tracker” to Los Angeles from Vancouver, Canada, after receiving a $48-million tax credit. Many view such moves, however, as small wins over comprehensive ones.

“There’s been a fundamental change happening here over the past five years,” said Cale Thomas, a makeup artist who has worked on “Guardians of the Galaxy 3” and the recent biopic “Michael.”

Thomas, who is a member of Stay in LA, acknowledges that California’s step last year to double its tax incentives has helped to spur an uptick in local production, but that has not stopped the outflow of productions or resolved a host of restrictions and costs that have hampered the industry.

He worked on “The Mandalorian” and other Lucasfilm series that stream on Disney+ for five years. “We shot in Manhattan Beach Studios,” he said, but noted that Lucasfilm has since moved one show to the U.K. and produced two others there.

“This has been devastating for our industry,” he said. “Hundreds of generational family businesses aren’t being used anymore.”

The pain points are not confined to Hollywood.

Last year, Marvel Studios — which had made Georgia, known as Hollywood of the South, its primary filming center for such major franchises as “Avengers: Infinity War” — relocated much of its production to the U.K.

The impact has meant even fewer domestic productions causing an even bigger ripple effect.

Among the high-profile casualties was Hackman Capital Partners, which aggressively snapped up studios, acquiring $10 billion in assets under management before production activity plummeted nationwide.

In January, the company defaulted on its $1.1-billion mortgage on Radford Studio Center, the historic lot where “Seinfeld” and “Gunsmoke” were filmed and which gave Studio City its name.

Earlier this year, Hackman Capital Partners defaulted on its $1.1-billion mortgage on Radford Studio Center, the historic lot where “Seinfeld” and “Gunsmoke” were filmed.

(Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times)

Three months later, lender Deutsche Bank filed a foreclosure complaint on the also-historic Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, N.Y., home to “Sesame Street” and “Succession.”

Kaufman, also owned by Hackman Capital Partners, defaulted on an outstanding loan balance of $359 million that was due to be paid last fall, according to CRE Daily.

Gregg Bilson sold ISS Props, the Sunland-based company his father founded in 1977, to Manhattan Beach Studios, part of Hackman Capital Partners, five years ago, staying on as CEO to help run and expand the company.

After 40 years in the business, he retired last August with a little more than a year and a half left on his contract.

Bilson now sees himself as a Hollywood relic.

“Many of my contemporaries and I have had conversations where we say we saw the best of the film and TV industry when it was an art form,” Bilson said. “It will never be the same.”

On one of her previous visits to Los Angeles, Argentine filmmaker Lucrecia Martel found herself having a smoke on Hollywood Boulevard.

There, while she stepped over the famous concrete-embedded stars, an unhoused man struck up a conversation with her.

“He kept explaining to me that he was poorly dressed because he was currently living on the street after someone robbed him, but he had written a screenplay,” Martel, 59, recalls in Spanish over coffee on a morning in April at a West Hollywood hotel.

“He told me they had stolen a watch from him — not a Rolex but a known brand,” she continues. “The whole time he was trying to convince me he was a millionaire who just so happened to be on the street because of random circumstances.”

One of Latin America’s most indispensable storytellers, Martel is fascinated by how prevalent that dream still is in L.A. — that movies can change your life overnight.

“That particular fantasy is par for the course in this city,” she says, though she’s not above it. It’s the reason she’s back to promote her first documentary, “Our Land,” out Friday.

Unhurried when it comes to her output, Martel has only made four fiction features, among them 2001’s “La Cienaga” and 2008’s “The Headless Woman” (returning to theaters this month in a new 4K restoration). Her biting and formally audacious narratives examine class, politics and — a speciality — the interiority of women through enigmatic portraits of psychologically complex individuals.

“Our Land,” a piercing indictment of the enduring wounds of colonialism, chronicles the murder of Indigenous Argentine activist Javier Chocobar in 2009 and the prolonged trial of the perpetrators in 2018.

Chocobar was shot during a confrontation with armed men over land in the Tucumán province of Argentina where the Chuschagasta Indigenous community has lived for many generations. Martel explores the killing not as an isolated event in her country’s recent past but as part of a long history of dispossession.

“Racism is a foundational element,” she says of her homeland. “The only consistent thing in Argentina, from the country’s birth to the present day, is the rejection of Indigenous people.”

In Argentina, Martel explains, public education has indoctrinated the population into believing Indigenous people no longer exist. Yet many Argentines proudly claim a connection to the Europeans, Italians in particular, who arrived in the country in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

“When giving speeches, our presidents always say, ‘We are a country of immigrants,’ or ‘We came from the boats,’” says Martel. “They use metaphors like these because deep down Argentines feel much more indebted to European immigration than to our Indigenous population. But more than half of the people in Argentina have Indigenous ancestors.”

In 2020, Chocobar’s three convicted murderers appealed their guilty verdicts and were set free. “Our Land” premiered at the Venice Film Festival in September 2025, which brought renewed attention to the case. A month later, the sentence was upheld and two of the men returned to prison (one died in the interim).

Martel believes that outcome was a response to her film. “Communities wage the fight but cinema helps,” she says.

“I believe that we must use cinema for its enormous power to alter perception and not soothe the rich,” Martel says. “It’s not about delivering a message but rather about showing how an idea functions.”

(Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

For over 14 years, Martel worked on “Our Land” on and off. This time included periods when she focused on 2017’s “Zama,” her masterful period piece following a Spanish official in 18th century Argentina “who doesn’t want to be American,” she says, referring to the continent. In her mind, both “Zama” and “Our Land” come from the same impulse to dissect colonialism.

As part of her research process, Martel and her team created a detailed archive of documents related to the case that the Chuschagasta community now has at its disposal. Over the years, Delfín Cata, one of the Indigenous men present during the attack, would call Martel. He never asked about how her film was going, but the director sensed he was tacitly checking in on her progress, hoping that she was not losing faith.

“That was a confirmation that, beyond my own interest, there were people who needed this film,” she says. “I felt the immense satisfaction of knowing I was doing something that would be concretely useful.”

For Martel, the question of whether she was the right person to make this film (one she got in Venice) seems unfair. “It’s wrong to prevent a human being from speaking about their own history because they are not a woman, because they are not Black, or because they are not Indigenous,” she says. “It’s better to make mistakes trying to understand something than not to try at all. The chances of making a mistake are enormous in a film, no matter how good your intentions are.”

A key piece of evidence in the Chocobar case, prominent in the film, is a video that one of the attackers filmed, presumably expecting the Indigenous community to react violently, to justify firing his gun at them. The Chuschagasta men that faced them weren’t armed. As used by their aggressors, the camera functioned as a weapon.

Hollywood feels incompatible with Martel’s sophisticated, confrontational movies rooted in her country’s troubles. By Martel’s own admission, it doesn’t feel like a fit for her.

“I would have to force myself to create something outside my own country, outside my own language,” she says. “And that doesn’t really appeal to me.”

Still, Marvel Studios famously asked to meet with her when seeking a director for 2021’s “Black Widow.” Martel says she was among many directors they contacted, but she was curious to take the meeting even if she knew nothing would come of it.

“They wanted to do it over Zoom and I happened to be here in Los Angeles,” she remembers. “I told them I could come in, because I wanted to see what the whole process was like.”

Martel describes the month she spent in L.A. — an eye injury prevented her from flying home sooner — as a “lot of fun in the end,” even if no blockbuster emerged from it. More recently, another Hollywood offer did tempt her, but she ultimately passed.

“It was a good book suggested to me by an actress of undoubted talent,” Martel shares, careful to avoid names. “I considered it, but you very quickly have to picture yourself spending three years or at least a year and a half living in the United States making a movie. I have a thousand things in Argentina to worry about.”

Still, Hollywood, and its significance to moviemaking, has a singular, unnerving allure on her. Two of Martel’s favorite movies set in L.A. are David Lynch’s nightmarish “Mulholland Drive” and Robert Aldrich’s psychodrama “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?”

“There is something ruthless and utterly devoid of sanity at the heart of this film industry, and I’ve never felt that darkness as clear as in ‘Mulholland Drive,’” she says. “How can an industry that handles so many millions [of dollars] and such impeccably dressed famous people be so full of lunatics? That film captures that perfectly.”

And occasionally, she thinks, a big production breaks the mold, such as Todd Phillips’ “Joker,” which won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 when Martel served as jury president — a controversial choice.

“It certainly had an impact on me,” says Martel. “I didn’t vote for it, though. I had another favorite, a Chinese film that stood no chance of winning.”

Phillips, she thinks, created a premonition for what was to come. “For me, the real killer clowns are Trump, Milei or Orbán,” Martel says, referring to polarizing leaders. “They expose themselves to ridicule and spout all sorts of nonsense. Those are clowns. And I think that movie captured that.”

Not one to mince words, Martel elaborates on the relation of Joaquin Phoenix’s social outcast turned supervillain and President Trump.

“The origin of the Joker is social resentment,” she says. “Trump holds no resentment toward society because the system gave him everything. But he has exploited the people who do harbor resentment. That is where you see the kind of clown he is, one who knows how to use people.”

Artificial intelligence, far-right ideologies, voracious capitalism — all of it makes Martel alarmed, seeing it as pushing us collectively to the brink of collapse. But there is hope, she thinks.

“What we have invented is very dangerous but we can dismantle it,” she says. “That is the only thing I’m betting on, that, at some point, a consensus will emerge and we’ll go, ‘Let’s not do this.’”

“I believe that we must use cinema for its enormous power to alter perception and not soothe the rich,” she says. “It’s not about delivering a message but rather about showing how an idea functions.”

She points to one of her subjects in “Our Land,” an Indigenous man who told her he loves the 1959 Charlton Heston epic “Ben-Hur,” a passion she does not share but understands.

“That’s a blow for all of us who make auteur cinema,” Martel says with a laugh. “That feeling that ‘Ben-Hur’ evoked gave him the strength to continue fighting for his community’s territory.”

The night before our interview, Martel rode around L.A. on a scooter holding onto a friend. These days she uses a cane to help her with mobility. “The city has great light,” she says, still open to being surprised by it.

EMMY award-winning actor William H. Macy has revealed the most difficult Hollywood stars, according to him.

The star, 76, has been acting for four and a half decades and has worked with the who’s who of Hollywood in his time.

He appeared on the We Might Be Drunk podcast with hosts Mark Normand and Sam Morril as they attempted to get some gossip out of him.

Mark asked: “We gotta ask, which actors do you really hate?,” before listing off some big names, including Tommy Lee Jones, who he acted in the 1994 film, The Client with.

William responded: “He was rough,” before adding: “I’m not letting out any secrets.”

The hosts then asked him what he thought about Jim Carrey, to which he replied: “I did not act with him, but I’ve just heard he can be really tough.

NOT A PRANK

Hollywood icon’s son, 16, is high school sports star – can you guess his dad?

FILM STAR SAB

Sabrina Carpenter rocks tight-fitting frock with thigh-high slit at Met Gala

“You know, there are a lot of actors out there, it p****s me off, who make life miserable for a lot of people and they don’t get busted for it and it p****s me off.”

William began his career on stage in theatre, before building his career by starring in small, independent films.

His breakthrough role was in black comedy crime film Fargo in 1996 which got him critical acclaim and a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He went on to star in big Hollywood films in his career, including Psycho, Jurassic Park 3, Spartan and The Lincoln Lawyer.

William’s television work includes playing Dr. David Morgenstern in ER for 15 years and as Frank Gallagher on the US Shameless for 10 years.

He is a two-time Emmy Award and four-time Screen Actors Guild Award winner, and has been nominated for an Academy Award, a Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.

The Hollywood star married actress Felicity Huffman in 1997 after dating on and off for 15 years.

The pair went on to have two children together – daughters Sophia Grace and Georgia Grace.

Felicity was jailed in 2019 for 14-days for her part in the college bribery scandal.

She admitted to paying $15,000 (£12,000) to rig her daughter’s SAT scores, tearfully apologising to the teen for not trusting her abilities.

SABRINA Carpenter rocked an old Hollywood look at the Met Gala on Monday, rocking a tight-fitting frock with a racy thigh-high slit.

The 26-year-old singing sensation wore a gorgeous dress made out of real old Hollywood film reels as she attended the star-studded event in New York.

The film reels on the dress were of the Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn movie, which is titled Sabrina.

She flashed her toned pins as she strutted her stuff in front of onlookers, smiling and beaming as she made her way up the iconic steps.

Fans were left completely enamoured by her sizzling ensemble.

“The hair is so pretty, the dress is stunning, everything is amazing,” penned one person.

Read More about the Met Gala

DAD BUNNY

Bad Bunny looks unrecognizable with gray hair and waking stick at the Met Gala

‘SCARES ME’

Heidi Klum leaves fans stunned by ‘creepy’ look at Met Gala as a living statue

“This b**ch wrapped herself in Kodak film,” added a second, complete with a laughing emoji.

“That is a cool dress and idea,” said a third.

“She DEFINITELY understood the assignment,” added a fourth.

While a fifth wrote: “Sabrina Carpenter’s dress is one of the most creative I’ve seen tonight. I love that.”

But not everyone was complimentary of her outfit, with some quick to share their critique.

“It’s classy but she could have done a whole lot better,” said one person.

“Boring as usual,” slammed a second.

While a third penned: “the dress itself is beautifully constructed but the choice of the film strips is lost on me and its connection to the theme/dress code?”

This comes off the back of Sabrina’s sensational headline concerts at Coachella last month.

The singer delivered a set dubbed “Sabrinawood” with a Hollywood-themed set across two weekends on April 10 and 17.

Her shows featured some very iconic cameos from the likes of Madonna, Susan Sarandon, Will Ferrell, and Sam Elliott.

The setlist highlighted her most recent album Man’s Best Friend, but also included some of her biggest hits like Espresso and Feather.

“Curly” Williams returned to his old high school campus last week for the first time in 76 years, but did so under his given name — the same name emblazoned on North Hollywood High’s newest attraction: the John Williams Performing Arts Center.

Williams, 94, attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony last Wednesday, which commenced with the composer’s rousing “Raiders March” played by the school’s marching band and accompanied by its blue-clad cheerleaders.

“I think you played that better than we could have,” Williams said, speaking from a wheelchair under the sign of his namesake venue in front of other accomplished alumni and friends, including producer Kathleen Kennedy. “That’s a hard piece.”

The ambitious construction project, initiated in 2015 and designed by CO Architects occupies 35,000 square feet and seats 800. Michael Stebbins, project manager for the BroadStage in Santa Monica, served as project manager. The center is equipped with state-of-the-art amenities to host student performances and school assemblies, but also to train the next generation of theater technicians. Besides an enormous stage, blue velvet curtains, a mixing console and safe catwalks, the building also features new classrooms and rehearsal spaces.

Students, faculty and guests stand for the national anthem before a concert inside the new John Williams Performing Arts Center, named for one of North Hollywood High’s most famous alumni.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A 75-foot hand-painted mural in the lobby, still in the works by artist Ian Robertson-Salt, is inspired by Williams’ formidable filmography, which serves “as a daily reminder to every student who walks these halls that greatness can begin right here,” remarked Andrés Chait, acting superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District.

Due to health complications, Williams has made few public appearances in the last two years. He last conducted a concert in February 2024 — and he has also consistently turned down requests to name buildings after him, including at his beloved Tanglewood in Massachusetts, although the Hollywood Bowl did recently name its stage for Williams. It’s a testament to his affection for his time at North Hollywood High, and his regard for the next generation of students, that he not only blessed this dedication but showed up and spoke to a gathered crowd of hundreds.

“I’m sort of silly happy to be here,” he said, calling the dedication “a singular honor in my life.”

Other showbiz alumni on hand included “Beauty and the Beast” producer Don Hahn (class of ’73), “Independence Day” writer-producer Dean Devlin (’80), and Rob Friedman (’81), CEO of Ascendant Entertainment. Partly due to its proximity to the entertainment industry, North Hollywood High has produced a host of famous artists over the decades, including the late Michael Tilson Thomas, who attended in the early 1960s.

John Williams smiles while applauding a performance by the North Hollywood High School band at the dedication ceremony of the John Williams Performing Arts Center on campus.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

“At some point you have to stop calling that a coincidence,” said Kennedy, a longtime collaborator of Williams who gave brief remarks before handing him the microphone. “Something happened here, and something can happen again.”

Williams moved to North Hollywood with his family in 1947, having grown up in Queens. He transferred to North Hollywood High as a 15-year-old sophomore, and joined the band and orchestra as a jazz-loving trombonist. His classmates included Susan Sontag (“I remember her teaching a class in civics, when the teacher would sit down and listen to her,” he told me in 2023) and many future actors, including Barbara Ruick, who played Carrie Pipperidge in “Carousel.” But his best friends were all music-inclined guys whose dads, like his, were famous musicians.

A poster board featured yearbook photos of John Williams, left, performing with the North Hollywood High School Band, class of 1950, in the lobby of the new John Williams Performing Arts Center on the North Hollywood High School campus.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Williams embraced the nickname “Curly,” given to him by a fellow student in response to his curly red hair, and quickly created his own jazz band with classmates. Ruick sang with them at school events and dances, and they became the house band at a new teens-only venue in Van Nuys called the Dri-Nite Club. Broadcast on local radio, they caught the attention of Time magazine, which ran a story on “Curly’s” band in October 1949.

A newspaper story about John Williams’ high school band from the Los Angeles Unified School District’s archives.

(Los Angeles Unified School District)

Williams has said he fondly remembers his civics and French classes at North Hollywood High, but his time and passion were almost exclusively devoted to music. He rigorously practiced the piano at home, studying with a local concert pianist and MGM arranger named Robert Van Eps; on Wednesday nights he played in jam sessions with his father (Johnny Sr., a drummer) and the Columbia Pictures orchestra. He bopped around clubs in L.A. listening to jazz greats like Oscar Peterson (whose style influenced Williams’ recent piano concerto), and started making a name of his own as a wunderkind performer and arranger.

Long before he scored “Star Wars” or “Harry Potter,” Williams did his earliest arranging and orchestrating for theater productions at North Hollywood High. The impact of his time at North Hollywood High cannot be overstated.

John Williams featured with members of the class of 1950 in the North Hollywood High School Yearbook.

(Los Angeles Unified School District)

During his remarks about the performing arts center on Wednesday, Williams said he felt particularly overwhelmed because the school was “formative in my thinking and my professional work … This is a great, magical place, North Hollywood.”

Williams eventually married Ruick, his high school sweetheart and mother of his three children. Ruick was instrumental in making many of Williams’ earliest career connections. She died from a brain aneurysm in 1974, at the age of 41, just one year before Williams’ career catapulted with “Jaws.” The couple’s youngest son, Joseph, lead singer of Toto, stood proudly behind Williams during the theater’s dedication.

The John Williams Performing Arts Center (JWPAC) is the crescendo of a $319.5 million modernization project at North Hollywood High, which also includes modern classrooms and athletic facilities. It’s a reflection of the diverse public school’s commitment to the arts; students here can play in the orchestra, marching band or modern band, and study drama or modern dance.

“As I think about what else I might say to all of you younger people, students here,” Williams said at his homecoming Wednesday, “two words about this beautiful building: simply use it. Make sure you all use the place.”

Tim Greiving is the author of “John Williams: A Composer’s Life.”

The Great British Bake Off host Alison Hammond appeared on ITV’s Lorraine on Monday

A Great British Bake Off star has opened up about Nigella Lawson’s chemistry with Paul Hollywood.

Nigella has taken over from Prue Leith as the latest judge, where she will join Paul, Alison Hammond and Noel Fielding in the tent for the upcoming season that’s set to air later this year.

Alison appeared on ITV’s Lorraine on Monday (May 4), where she spoke to Lorraine Kelly about the new series, which has begun filming.

Lorraine said: “There’s a new judge. How’s that all going? Have you met up?”

Alison replied: “She’s so lovely. Nigella is incredible. Obviously we’ve started, so I’ve been watching.”

She added: “I’m telling you, the chemistry between her and Paul is unbelievable,” before clarifying: “Not in that sort of way!”

A picture of Paul and Nigella was then shown on screen, with Alison saying: “Don’t they look good looking?”

Lorraine jokingly added: “Do you know what, that looks like a crime scene, doesn’t it?!”

Alison continued: “But honestly, they’re so good together! I’ll be honest with you, they don’t always agree – it’s so good,” with Lorraine concluding: “No, that’s fine, and that works.”

Prue Leith announced her exit from the hit competition back in January after nine years. The 85-year-old restaurateur and broadcaster first joined the series in 2017 when it moved from the BBC to Channel 4, and has been a beloved fixture on it ever since.

In a statement, she said: “Bake Off has been a fabulous part of my life for nine years. I have genuinely loved it and I’m sure I’ll miss working with my fellow judge Paul, Alison and Noel, and the teams at Love Productions and Channel 4.”

Speaking about stepping into Prue’s shoes, Nigella said: “I’m uncharacteristically rather lost for words right now. Of course it’s daunting to be following in the footsteps of Prue Leith and Mary Berry before her, great dames both, but I’m also bubbling with excitement.”

She added: “The Great British Bake Off is more than a television programme, it’s a National Treasure – and it’s a huge honour to be entrusted with it.

“I’m just thrilled to be joining the team and all the new bakers to come, I wish the marvellous Prue all the best, and am giddily grateful for the opportunity!”

The Great British Bake Off returns to Channel 4 later this year

SOPHIA Grace and Rosie were the viral child stars who went from their Essex bedrooms to rubbing shoulders with Hollywood’s finest – landing roles alongside the likes of Ariana Grande, appearing on the Ellen Show and even bagging their own movie.

But fast forward 15 years and the cousins have traded the bright lights of Tinseltown for very different lives back home in the UK, as The Sun lifts the lid on how they coped after they were no longer the cheeky youngsters the world fell in love with, and avoided the dreaded child star ‘curse’.

Sophia Grace, now 23, and Rosie, now 19, were cousins who rose to prominence by uploading videos from their Essex bedrooms to YouTube.

In 2011, it was a video of the duo, who were then eight and five, respectively, performing a cover of “Super Bass” by Nicki Minaj that caught the attention of US megastar Ellen DeGeneres.

She invited them to fly across to the US to appear as guests on her eponymous show, which led to a regular slot for the girls and exposure to fans across the pond, who fell in love with the tutu-wearing duo and their British charm.

The girls had their own segment on the show where they would chat with A-listers, from Justin Bieber to Hugh Grant and Taylor Swift. This then led to them bagging appearances on Nickelodeon show Sam and Cat, which featured Ariana Grande in the titular role, and their own movie by the channel, Sophia Grace & Rosie’s Royal Adventure.

Read more influencer news

baby joy

TikTok star Fred Asquith reveals wife has given birth to their first baby

‘IT’S INSANE’

Influencer forced to apologise after locking 6 month old in hotel room alone

However, as Sophia Grace and Rosie got older, the high-flying opportunities also came to a halt, with the young women no longer as in demand as their younger selves once were.

A close friend of the cousins tells The Sun: “People don’t realise how intense it was back then for the girls. One minute Sophia and Rosie were just kids playing dress-up, and the next they were everywhere – on TV, interviews and cashing in on big brand deals. 

“It felt like the world couldn’t get enough of them. But that kind of spotlight doesn’t really grow with you, it stays frozen in time.

“I remember when things started to shift. It wasn’t dramatic, the calls just slowed down. Not because they weren’t talented, but because they weren’t those tiny girls in tutus that the world couldn’t help but fall in love with anymore. The industry loves a moment, it’s not always about the person behind it.”

Now, Sophia Grace is a doting mum-of-two and often shares mumfluencer content with her little ones to her Instagram page, which still boasts an impressive 1.5 million followers.

Whilst Rosie, who has just shy of one million followers, is an aspiring pop star and often shares music videos and new songs to her profile.

Despite the pair still successful online, that doesn’t mean it’s been an easy transition, as they navigated being shunned from Hollywood for simply growing up.

The friend said: “They had to go through that strange identity thing a lot of child stars face. Like, who am I if I’m not that version of me everyone fell in love with? It’s not just about losing jobs, it’s about outgrowing a character the whole world still expects you to be.

“There was definitely a period where it hurt. They’d worked so hard, and suddenly it felt like they had to prove themselves all over again, but as completely different people. That’s exhausting, especially when your past success kind of boxes you in.”

This had the girls thinking about what is next as they reinvented their careers, rather than remaining stuck.

“What people don’t see is how much strength it took for them to step back and rethink everything. They didn’t just cling to what used to work. They had to start asking bigger questions like what do we actually enjoy now? What kind of life do we want outside of all that?

“They’ve had to evolve and figure out who they are without the glitz glam and cameras. And I think that was harder than actually being famous in the first place.

“There’s something bittersweet about it. Now they’re building something quieter, more personal and it actually belongs fully to them this time.”

Child stars who have been catapulted to fame so young are famously at risk of falling victim to the “curse”, which has seen numerous celebrities fall off the wagon after earning their careers at such a young age.

From Drew Barrymore to Macaulay Culkin and Britney Spears, several stars have spoken out about their struggles with mental health, addiction, financial issues and more after being put under such pressure so young.

But Sophia Grace and Rosie have managed to successfully manage becoming household names so young whilst avoiding being plagued with the curse.

“People always expect a sad ending with child stars, like it’s inevitable that something will go wrong once the spotlight fades. But that was never going to be their story,” said the friend.

Explaining how they managed to remain grounded, they said that the pair have always been “normal and down to earth”, even when things were “unpredictable” in their careers.

“Sophia was always the one with that natural warmth. Even as a kid, she had this way of making people feel comfortable around her, what you saw was exactly what you got,” said our insider.

“Becoming a mum didn’t change her either, it’s been the making of her. She talks a lot about wanting to give her child stability, something consistent and safe, because she knows firsthand how unusual her own childhood was.

“What people see online is only a small window into their world – behind the scenes she’s very careful, and very protective of her family life. She’s also been smart financially, which people don’t expect. She made sure early on that she wasn’t just spending what she earned, she was thinking about the future. She’s got investments, savings and she’s financially fine for a very long time.”

And for Rosie, it seems that music was always the long-term plan.

“She stepped back, took time to grow up outside of the spotlight, build up her confidence and then came back to it on her own terms. That’s something I really admire about her. She’s spent years working on her voice, writing, figuring out what she actually wants to say as an artist instead of trying to recreate something from the past. 

“There’s a lot of discipline there, and a kind of quiet confidence that people may have otherwise overlooked. She’s not chasing attention at all because she’s building something meaningful and long term.

“The thing that really stands out about both of them is that they never lost themselves in it. They had good people around them from early on, family who kept things steady and didn’t let the fame become everything. And they listened to that. They made choices that weren’t the flashiest, but they were the right ones for the lives they all wanted.”

The duo were also meticulously careful about money, our source says, despite having an influx of earnings so young.

“At the end of the day, they didn’t just grow out of being child stars, they grew into adults with lives that are  real and wonderful. And that’s something you can’t fake for likes.”

“All the President’s Men” was released 50 years ago this month, an anniversary that’s been greeted with equal parts rue and reverence by the journalists, political junkies and discerning cinephiles who have worshiped the film for five decades.

As a member of all three of those constituencies, I’ve done my share of genuflecting, most recently as chief film critic at the Washington Post, whose city room was as vivid and fully realized in the movie as Robert Redford’s Bob Woodward and Dustin Hoffman’s Carl Bernstein.

Like so many Posties of my generation, I’ll never forget the so-real-it’s-surreal experience of walking into the fifth-floor newsroom for the first time in 2002. By then, standard-issue electric typewriters and six-ply carbon paper had been replaced by far less visually interesting computers. But the office’s pervading atmosphere of hard work and quiet focus felt uncannily similar to its big-screen analog.

For the last two years, I have been researching a book about the making of “All the President’s Men,” whose production involved almost as many contingencies and unresolved questions as Watergate itself. Among the film’s many mysteries, one I’ve found particularly intriguing has to do with Katharine Graham, publisher of the Washington Post and CEO of its parent company during the Watergate investigations. As the movie amply demonstrates, it took guts for Woodward and Bernstein to persevere with their reporting in the face of terrified sources and their own growing paranoia. But, unbeknownst to many observers at the time, Graham was enduring even more withering pressures, with determination that was all the more impressive for being almost entirely invisible.

I’m still in the process of discovering why she remained invisible in “All the President’s Men.” For now, it’s clear that the backstory is more nuanced than mere oversight or, as many are quick to assume, simple sexism.

In fact, William Goldman’s first script of the film featured a sequence with Graham and Woodward, a scene that appeared in every subsequent draft. Based on an actual meeting between the two, it’s a cagey game of cat-and-mouse, with the publisher taking the measure of a nervous, still-inexperienced journalist, looking for reassurance that his reporting will prove out.

Earlier this year, at a January staged reading of “All the President’s Men” at Harmony Gold Theater in Hollywood — a fundraiser for the Stella Adler Academy — it was possible for fans to conjure what might have been. Mark Ruffalo played Woodward and Ethan Hawke played Bernstein in a version of the movie assembled from different Goldman drafts.

A high point of the evening was when Ruffalo and actor Susan Traylor brought the Graham-Woodward scene to tentative, tense and teasingly playful life. After grilling Woodward about his sources and coyly asking him about Deep Throat’s identity, Traylor’s Graham asked him if the truth about Watergate would ever be revealed. “It may never come out,” Ruffalo’s Woodward replied. “Don’t tell me ‘never,’” Graham laments, before bringing the meeting to a close with a gently peremptory “Do better.”

In poring over director Alan J. Pakula and Goldman’s papers, I’ve probably read that scene dozens of times. But when I heard it play out in real time, I was ambushed by the emotions it stirred — a mixture of pride in Graham’s legacy and deep sadness at how that legacy has been so inexplicably ignored in recent years.

I was also sad that Redford, who died in September, wasn’t there. He often expressed regret that Graham wasn’t a featured character in “All the President’s Men.” Keenly aware of how her spine and steadfastness made Woodward and Bernstein’s work possible, he wanted to honor that crucial support. When I interviewed him for the first time in 2005, he insisted that fearless owners were every bit as important in preserving democracy as the reporters he and Hoffman helped glamorize.

Over the next two decades, every time I saw Redford, he bemoaned the “downward slide of this thing,” by which he meant the constellation of institutions “All the President’s Men” celebrates: not just journalism and a robust First Amendment but a Washington where investigators, prosecutors, judges, the Senate and Congress did their jobs regardless of partisan loyalties, and a Hollywood where a studio as mainstream as Warner Bros. would agree to finance a tough-minded film about a contentious and still-raw period in recent history.

Granted, that film was based on a bestselling book and anchored by two huge stars. But today, with political and corporate leaders — including media companies — falling over each other to curry favor with President Trump, “All the President’s Men” feels like an artifact from a vanished age.

Nowhere is this more distressingly true than at the Post itself, where the newsroom immortalized by the movie has been slashed by more than a third, and where Jeff Bezos, who bought the paper in 2013, seems intent on erasing Katharine Graham’s legacy until it vanishes completely. During the first Trump administration, Bezos stood up to threats against the Post and the press at large that would make Nixon blush, or at least pea-green with envy.

Now, Bezos has become a one-man meme of what author Timothy Snyder calls “obedience in advance,” quashing an endorsement of Kamala Harris, ostentatiously grinning his way through Trump’s second inauguration, vastly overpaying for a promotional film about First Lady Melania Trump and staying conspicuously mum (at least publicly) when a Post reporter’s home was raided by the FBI in January.

All of this has come at an enormous moral and material cost, with thousands of readers canceling their subscriptions and an alarming number of the Post’s finest reporters and writers leaving for other publications and platforms. As my former boss Marty Baron told my former colleague Ruth Marcus in the New Yorker in February, Bezos’ turnaround has been “sickening” to witness: “a case study in near-instant, self-inflicted brand destruction.”

Of course, that brand was built, in no small part, by “All the President’s Men,” which taught a generation how to walk, talk, dress and act like real reporters. (Hint: A good corduroy jacket and a pen in your mouth can’t hurt.)

In 1976, Pakula was interviewed about his dealings with Graham, whom he admired tremendously and with whom he would become close friends. “I could do a film about the Katharine Graham story,” he enthused. “It’s a superb story.”

Thirty years later, Steven Spielberg would bring Pakula’s idea to fruition with “The Post,” about Graham’s decision to publish the Pentagon Papers, a dress rehearsal for the even higher stakes of Watergate a year later.

“The Post,” which starred Meryl Streep in a shrewdly judged performance of aristocratic assurance and creeping insecurity, premiered in Washington less than a year into Trump’s first administration. Bezos attended that screening, which many of us saw as tacit acknowledgment that he was taking her lessons in character, comportment and competence to heart.

That was clearly wishful thinking. Graham may have finally assumed her rightful place in the newspaper-movie canon, but we’re still left to ponder her absence from the most iconic journalism movie of the 20th century.

It’s no longer the shoe-leather reporters who need a big-screen tutorial in how to do their jobs. It’s their bosses. A simple place to start would be to memorize the best two-word speech to never appear in a major motion picture: Do better.

Ann Hornaday was a film critic at the Washington Post from 2002 to 2025, when she retired. “All the President’s Men” plays at TCM Classic Film Festival Saturday at 2:45 p.m.

For Rutherford a spell in the Welsh leagues followed but time is now spent split between some coaching, taxi-ing two of his boys to football training and working in a showroom of a hardware store.

All a world away from the millions on the line for the internationals in Parkinson’s squad aiming for the Premier League, one that has been rebuilt season on season with £30m-plus spent last summer alone.

“But even though it’s very different, it’s also the same club,” he says, his middle son part of the club’s academy.

“I’ve been fortunate enough to go back now and then and you see some of the same faces, good people, people who gave up their time for free to keep the club afloat.

“It’s a global brand but the football club is still at the heart of it. It’s kept its soul.”

Rutherford is well-qualified to judge. Although the co-owners never reached out after his release, he was invited to sample the US adulation for his old club as part of an invitational Wrexham side in a tournament in North Carolina alongside the likes of Mark Howard, Lee Trundle and Andy Morrell.

“Honestly, it’s hard to put it into words how big it’s become unless you see it,” he says of Wrexham’s new fanbase. “It was just after the club got into League Two, and I actually said when I was out there that they would be in the Premier League in 11 years.

“I don’t know why I didn’t say 10, but I thought they would land in League One for a few years and then take five or six years to get out of the Championship.

“To think they could do it in four is just phenomenal. I don’t want to say it would be a Hollywood story, it’ll be more like something out of Football Manager.”

Either way, there is a final day to script, with Rutherford a reminder that not every ending is a happy one.

“It’s bittersweet that we couldn’t get that promotion to the league and what happened, but I can look back now and say I was one of those who played a small part in the story and be proud of that,” he says.

“It was difficult at the time but hindsight gives you that context and I hope people keep that context if it doesn’t happen this time.

“It would only be a tiny applying of the brakes on an unbelievable journey – they’re still on their way.”

A weekend in the desert is a go-to getaway for Southern Californians — even if you’re a beloved neon sign.

Nearly two years after the Hollywood Arby’s closed, its cowboy hat shone again this weekend at the Stagecoach Music Festival in Indio.

The restored sign showed up more than 130 miles away from its original home as part of the roast beef chain’s pop-up at the festival at the Empire Polo Club, where it became one of the event’s go-to photo spots.

“As you can see, everyone’s loving it. Everyone’s getting a photo op standing in front of it,” Arby’s franchisee Roger Amaya said.

Over the three days, people moseyed by the pop-up near Diplo’s Honky Tonk, sometimes lining up to wait their turn to take a photo in front of the sign. Some climbed on the surrounding hay bales for a better pose, asking others in line to snap their photo in front of the cowboy hat emblazoned with the words “Arby’s roast beef sandwich is delicious.”

• Share via Close extra sharing options

A number of people we talked to taking photos weren’t from L.A. and didn’t know the lore of the Hollywood Arby’s sign — they just liked the visual.

The sign’s original location was the Arby’s at 5920 Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood, which had been open for more than 55 years when it shuttered in June 2024.

The family that owned the location said at the time that rising food costs, the post-pandemic changes in the neighborhood and a law that raised minimum wage contributed to the closure.

Amaya said that Amir Siddiqi, head of a group of Arby’s franchises, was able to get the sign from the Hollywood location and have it restored.

“We were able to bring it back to life here and bring it to all the fans of Arby’s out there,” Amaya said.

Now that Stagecoach is over, where will the sign go next?

“That’s the big question, so you gotta stay tuned,” Amaya said.

Gogglebox’s Andrew joined the show last year with husband Alfie and the beloved couple quickly became a hit with fans

Gogglebox star Andrew has become a firm favourite since joining in 2025 – but what do we know about his life?

Andrew made his debut on the show in its 26th series along with husband Alfie. The married couple – who live in the Cotswolds – quickly charmed viewers thanks to their witty remarks and playful jibes at one another.

Away from the programme, Andrew and Alfie keep their loyal legion of combined 50k Instagram fans updated on their everyday lives.

But who is the Hollywood star that Andrew is friends with after meeting on a beach in Mexico? And what were their loved ones’ reaction to their romance? Here’s everything you need to know about Gogglebox’s Andrew.

Andrew and Alfie on family’s reaction to age-gap romance

Andrew and Alfie, who share a 30-year age difference, got married in May 2024. Their wedding was a picturesque affair in Italy, attended by close friends and family.

In a recent Instagram video, the pair took part in a Q&A. When asked what were the reactions to their age gap when we get together, Alfie said: “Well it was slightly different for me and you because you were already openly gay. I was coming out as gay and telling people.”

Andrew then said: “But my mother did turn around to me didn’t she and said that if I went out with somebody or marry someone under 30 she would,” before the video bleeped out what Andrew said next.

Alfie quipped: “Lucikly I just hit that threshold. My mum was very supportive. My father was very shocked and upset and he didn’t speak to me for an entire yeah.” Referring to Andrew, Alfie added: “You were the same age as him.” He then said: “Luckily we moved past that one.”

Andrew’s famous friend ‘he met on the beach’

It turns out Andrew is rather pally with a Major Hollywood star. On Instagram in March, Andrew uploaded a photo of him and Alfie posing alongside actress Rose McGowan.

Rose has appeared in several Hollywood flicks and TV shows including Jawbreaker and horror movie Scream. She also played Paige Matthews in the supernatural drama series Charmed from 2001 to 2006.

In the comments section, both Alfie and Rose explained their friendship. Rose wrote: “Andrew and I met on a beach. Been through joy, tragedy, joy again. Love him and delighted to get to meet Alfie. When I saw him on Gogglebox I was floored. Had to find him again. So happy we’ve reconnected.”

Meanwhile Alfie explained: “They both lived in Mexico for 3/4 years…honestly there is rarely a day I’m surprised by something @andrewdnicolls says.”

Andrew and Alfie’s ‘child’

Fans of Andrew and Alfie will also know that the couple are proud dog parents to a beloved pup called Perkins. The dog has made several appearances on the Channel 4 show too.

What’s more, the pair have also set up their dog’s own Instagram, in which they share updates from the four-legged-friend’s life. In September, they shared a photo of Perkins looking adorable on their “daddies’” sofa.

The post was captioned: “Always loved being on the sofa. Now bringing cuteness to your TV screens every Friday at 9pm on @c4gogglebox with my daddies @andrewdnicolls & @sam.alfie.mulhall.”

Gogglebox airs every Friday at 9pm on Channel 4

For years, the NFL has playfully scoffed at conspiracy theories its drama is scripted.

Now, the league has hired some of the best writers in the entertainment industry to do just that.

The NFL is going Hollywood, looking to expand its audience with theatrical motion pictures and its first scripted streaming series. This isn’t just about using the names and logos of real NFL teams, but diving headlong into storytelling about the league in the form of upcoming movies — one about John Madden, another a Christmas Day release about an unlikely hero for the New York Giants — and “The Land,” a dramatic Hulu series centered on fictional characters and the Cleveland Browns starring Christopher Meloni, Mandy Moore and William H. Macy.

It’s the next step in the partnership between the NFL and Skydance Sports, the forming of a premier content studio aimed at creating must-watch storytelling and attracting everyone from hardcore football fans to people who otherwise have no real interest in the game.

The NFL has long contended it’s the world’s greatest reality show and the numbers support that. According to Sportico, NFL games were 84 of the top 100 most-watched television shows last year. And the year before, it was 93 of 100.

“When you have an audience as big as the NFL’s, there are a lot of different demographics to service and engage even more deeply,” said Jason Reed, who heads Skydance Sports. “Those movies work as a fan service. They service towns, fans of those franchises, and they really connect. What they also do is pick up this other group of people who maybe wouldn’t watch a football game.”

Pulling back the curtain on the league is a challenge. The NFL isn’t likely to sanction unflattering content, at least not much of it, yet the goal is to make the stories as realistic as possible. How will the writers handle issues such as concussions, drug use or domestic violence? That was addressed in a presentation at last month’s owners meetings by JW Johnson of the Haslam Sports Group, who oversees the business strategy of the Browns.

“We don’t want this to be — no offense to our friends at ESPN — a ‘Playmakers’ situation,” said Johnson, referring to the popular but short-lived series on the Cougars, a fictional football team, that explored mature themes and was canceled after one season after pressure from the NFL. “We want this to be a really fan-friendly show that also has the authenticity of what happens in a locker room and on the field. We’re very comfortable with it.”

David Corenswet as “John Tuggle” and Isabel May as as “Katie” in Mr. Irrelevant: The John Tuggle Story,” from Paramount Pictures.

(Sarah Enticknap / Paramount Pictures)

Dan Fogelman, creator of “This is Us,” and a lifelong football fan, had long envisioned writing a dramatic series based on his favorite sport. That led to “The Land,” which began production last fall and does not have an official premiere date.

“We’re not making this stuff up out of thin air,” said Fogelman, who also created the Hulu series “Paradise,” a post-apocalyptic political thriller. “The characters are flawed and they do bad things, but the NFL has been great about that. I was worried up top, and it just hasn’t been an issue because we’re not out there looking to be salacious. We’re not trying to do ripped-from-the-headlines, crazy, exaggerated versions of reality. We want things that really happen, done accurately and in a cinematic way.”

To that end, he brought in actual NFL players as consultants to help with the storylines and make sure the details make sense.

“We had a bunch of NFL players come and visit us in our little office, and we’re on the second floor,” he said. “Some of my heroes were in that room. I was genuinely concerned the floor was going to fall through.”

Enter NFL Films, which for more than six decades has turned a violent sport into an art form, filling the frame with meticulous focus on a Matthew Stafford spiral — and without the benefit of a second take. Those camera operators are heavily involved in the production of both the upcoming movies and the streaming series.

“That’s our whole thing,” Reed said. “How do we support great filmmakers and make sure they know how to access the resources and expertise that NFL Films has developed over 60 years, and combine those two together? That, to me, is the secret sauce of the venture.”

What’s more, what the father-and-son combination of Ed and Steve Sabol created in NFL Films provides an incredible library for future projects.

“The well is infinite,” said Jessica Boddy, vice president of commercial operations and business affairs for NFL Films. “We’ve only scratched the surface.”

For Fogelman, “The Land” is scratching a creative itch he’s felt since childhood.

“I’ve wanted to do this show for 20 years,” he said. “I’m a failed athlete myself. My connection with my father growing up — he worked a lot — was I grew up in Pittsburgh as a Steelers fan and also migrated to New Jersey, where we became Giants fans. My dad would let me watch games with him if I was quiet and didn’t act goofy. We would also throw the football back and forth.

“Now, many decades later, my father is 83, and our connection is that we talk every Monday after Giants games. He now talks with my son and me. For me, football has been very much in the fabric of my life and my relationship with my friends. This has been something I’ve been chasing for a very long time.”

Hold everything. Hollywood’s Lexington Park will not be getting a new playground after all, and that’s both good news and bad news.

To explain, let me take you back to April 15, when I tagged along with Sabine Phillips on her weekly three-hour inspection of the neighborhood’s chronic trash problem. Phillips, a housekeeper by trade, was hired by one of her clients a few years ago to help clean up their streets.

So each Wednesday, Phillips went out on her yellow Huffy cruiser and routinely logged 50 or more illegally dumped items and reported them to the city’s 311 system for pickup. And each Saturday, she filled up to four or five big bags with smaller bits and scraps of debris.

Near the end of my three hours with Phillips, who got help that day from volunteer Keith Johnson, we visited the Lexington pocket park. There were no kids there, and there never are, Phillips said. That’s because of the glass and needles in the sand, drug activity, sporadic violence, gang tags on the slide and homeless camps.

A guy from the Recreation and Parks Department showed up and said the park was in line for a possible upgrade that could cost as much as $300,000. In my April 18 column, I questioned the wisdom of investing in a playground that would remain unsafe unless there was a plan to address all the aforementioned issues.

Nick Barnes-Batista, communications director for L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez, wrote to tell me his office was unaware of any playground projects planned for that park.

A spokesperson for Recreation and Parks told me that despite what was said by the employee I met in the park, there is no “immediate playground replacement project on the books.” But the department is “working closely” with the councilman’s office “to identify funding sources and to work with the community on broader park improvements and/or uses.”

OK, so it’s good news that taxpayer funds won’t be plowed into a park that could well be lost to the neighborhood almost immediately, due to all the aforementioned problems.

But it’s bad news and sad commentary that a park in the densely populated heart of the city will remain unusable for the foreseeable future.

The more important consideration, though, is the question of what’s being done to prevent the illegal dumping of furniture, mattresses and other items that sit curbside and often end up as the building blocks of new homeless encampments.

There’s a concentration of social service agencies in the neighborhood, said Stefanie Keenan, a longtime neighborhood volunteer and activist. She’s the one who hired her housekeeper to help look after the neighborhood, and she insists there is not enough enforcement of existing laws to address problems that are both a nuisance and a public safety threat, given the crime and all-too-frequent fires.

A woman pushes her walker past debris in Council District 13 in Los Angeles on Friday.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

Soto-Martínez agreed to talk to me about all of this on Friday morning, when he dropped by the Bresee Foundation, a nonprofit with a range of enrichment activities for youngsters and families in the largely low-income immigrant community, as well as homelessness prevention programs. Staff and volunteers, recruited with support from the council office, were about to head into nearby streets with shovels, brooms and trash bags.

Soto-Martínez acknowledged his district’s many challenges, told the gathering that the strength of a community is its people, and thanked them for their service.

The councilman, a former labor leader who joined the growing progressive wing of the L.A. City Council in 2022 with support from the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America, has three challengers in the June 2 primary (Colter Carlisle, Dylan Kendall and Rich Sarian). He told me the city has to do a better job of educating people about illegal dumping and how to report it. A related challenge, he said, “is how quickly can we get to it. And that is a budget issue because we’ve cut so many positions on trash pickup.”

Soto-Martínez said his office used discretionary funds to hire two crews from the L.A. Conservation Corps for trash pickup. On homelessness, he said, he has a team strategizing to address the needs, and a medical team that works the streets, and a tiny home village is in the works.

But the housing shortage is a major challenge, he said, and when it comes to entrenched homelessness, “we’re now starting to deal with much more difficult cases.” Namely severe mental illness and serious addiction, both of which generally come under county jurisdiction.

“We created another team that goes out every single day. We door-knock, email and phone-bank people who are at risk of eviction,” Soto-Martínez said, adding that homelessness has declined by 25% during his three years in office.

So what is his message to constituents who say they don’t see enough progress?

“We ask them to give us patience and grace,” he said. “There’s a lot of examples like this, where we’re not just dealing with one thing. We’re dealing with four or five things.”

All of that is true, but the patience he asks for is wearing thin among some constituents.

“We need to find common ground and work together,” Soto-Martínez said. “You know, they see trash as an issue, and they’re doing it their way and we’re doing it our way. But how can we team up and do it together? You know, we’re happy to build those networks out, and under many of the issues they describe, I’m not disagreeing. … We all have the same goal.”

L.A. City Councilmember Hugo Soto-Martínez gives a pep talk to volunteers before they leave to clean their neighborhood streets of garbage and debris.

(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

When Soto-Martínez departed for another appointment, the volunteers took to the streets, filling trash bags. They worked their way up Vermont, and a Bresee employee told me he works the same streets every day, trying to clear a path for “safe passage” as students walk to and from school.

As I said in the earlier column, it’s an inspiration to see people step up for their communities, whether out of pride or frustration. And it’s also reasonable to expect more from City Hall.

I drove over to Western and Sierra Vista, met up with Keenan, and told her about my conversation with Soto-Martínez. She said lax city policies and frequent non-response to citizen pleas for help have created the unsolved problems residents deal with daily. She said city officials have to do a better job of helping homeless people off the streets and preventing further deterioration of neighborhoods.

She was encouraged by a message she got from a representative of Mayor Karen Bass’ office who wants to tour the neighborhood with her.

We walked west on Sierra Vista and came upon a dumped sofa, some cabinets, mattresses, and a man who has been living in a curbside encampment for months. He sat near his belongings, which spilled into the street.

Why hasn’t this been addressed? Keenan wondered aloud. She has decided to stop paying her housekeeper to help address the neighborhood’s needs, and she predicted things will only get worse because of it.

I drove over to the Lexington pocket park, which Soto-Martínez called a priority, among many other priorities. Friday was a holiday — Armenian Genocide Remembrance Day. With schools closed, the park would have been a great little neighborhood asset.

But the entrance was closed, with a lock on the gate, and two tarped dwellings were set up against the iron fencing of the empty park.

steve.lopez@latimes.com

After back-to-back appearances at both weekends of Coachella, David Lee Roth popped out Saturday at Stagecoach to sing Van Halen’s “Jump” with Teddy Swims for the third (and final?) time. To discuss what he called his “three-peat,” I caught up later with the 71-year-old singer, who wore a bedazzled jacket and a leather vest.

Have you bought property in Indio? Do you just live here now?
No, I’ve bought property in the American musical fabric that extends beyond time frame, that extends beyond shoes and haircuts. It includes cowboy hats and yarmulkes.

• Share via Close extra sharing options

Next weekend this place is gonna be barren. Will you be back to sing “Jump” with nobody?
There’ll be plenty of people here for the Diamond Dave Big Rig Trucking School and Day Care Center.

You’re on your own tour right now. How are those shows going?
They go exquisitely because if you enjoy what you saw onstage [tonight], it’s that times 22 songs.

Twenty-two songs in the set.
Oh yeah. I wrote every word that I sing, I wrote every note that I sing — all the melodies — and I stacked all the harmonies. Ed [Van Halen], of course, contributed all the great guitar parts. And we wrote all of those parts literally sitting in a tiny little alcove room where you put a washer and a dryer. We would sit knee-to-knee the room was so small, and he’d play the electric guitar. His mom wouldn’t let him plug in because it would be too loud, so I had to lean over. Every song that you know of Van Halen, I heard from an unplugged-in electric guitar from four inches away, going, “Too long.”

Tighten it up.
Cut it short. All great musicians finish long after the ending.

Last time we talked, you said you were wearing Artemis II. What’s the outfit tonight?
This is classic Nudie’s western wear from Lankershim. This is from the ’50s. This has been all over the world. This is made by Nudie’s of Hollywood, who made all of Roy Rogers’ and Jean Autry’s [clothes] and all of “Bonanza,” “Gunsmoke,” “Rawhide’s” wear. Look up Nudie of Hollywood, OK? This baby’s worth more than my shoes, and they’re custom-made. This jacket’s worth more than my teeth — same thing.

Writing obituaries is a sacred, tricky task. Major news organizations compose advance obits on major figures, a just-in-case endeavor that feels both hugely important and somewhat macabre.

Several years ago, it fell to me to compose an advance death notice for the legendary conductor Michael Tilson Thomas, who was confronting a terminal brain cancer diagnosis by doubling down on his performance schedule and delivering — by all accounts — spectacular performances.

The piece lay blessedly dormant for longer than anyone thought possible as Tilson Thomas persevered in the face of his illness — an inspiration to all who knew and loved him. And then, yesterday morning, it became necessary to publish. There was a rush to update the writing, to fact-check the timeline, to be sure that all salient points were included. Here was the final story of a remarkable human’s life. The sense of responsibility cannot be overstated.

I was surprised to learn that a former colleague at the paper had also written an advance obit on Tilson Thomas, so my editor worked to meld the two together. The other writer included information that I had missed and vice versa, so in many ways it turned out to be a good thing that we had mistakenly doubled up on the weighty task.

One detail that the other writer included that was formerly unknown to me: A Times story from 1985 reported Tilson Thomas walking off the stage at the Hollywood Bowl nearly 15 minutes into the hourlong second movement of Part II of Gustav Mahler’s Symphony No. 8. Tilson Thomas did this, according to the archived news clip, because a noisy police helicopter simply would not go away.

A reader wrote in after the obituary went live to say that he had been there when it happened, and offered up this fresh insight:

“I was at the concert. The helicopter was hovering long, low and loud(!) with a bright searchlight scanning the trees behind the shell. It was an impossible situation which [Tilson Thomas] handled with quiet dignity. And when he returned to the stage he opted to re-start the Second Movement of Mahler VIII from the top! It was a long and memorable night at the Bowl.”

Our obituary described Tilson Thomas as storming off the stage. Not so, said the reader.

“More determination than storm,” he wrote.

And suddenly I could picture it, that moment from more than 40 years ago, with Tilson Thomas displaying the singular determination and love for his craft that would sustain him much later in life when he faced down death with the same quiet grace, the same unwavering resolve. And the music … I can hear it over the chop-chop-chop of the helicopter, until Tilson Thomas is all that remains.

I’m Arts editor Jessica Gelt feeling grateful for stories past. This is your arts and culture news for the week.

The week ahead: A curated calendar

FRIDAY

Craft Contemporary hosts CLAY LA this weekend.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

CLAY LA
Emerging and established ceramic artists gather their wares for Craft Contemporary’s ninth annual fundraiser, a vibrant marketplace with complimentary refreshments, music and hands-on air-dry clay activities. Fun fact: The museum was founded by Edith R. Wyle, grandmother of “The Pitt’s” Noah Wyle.
Market Preview Night, 6-9 p.m. Friday, $20 general admission, $15 members; weekend market, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Saturday (free with $9 museum admission) and Sunday (pay-what-you-wish admission); regular museum hours, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesday-Sunday; noon-8 p.m., the first Thursday of the month. Craft Contemporary, 5814 Wilshire Blvd. craftcontemporary.org

Music director James Conlon of at L.A. Opera will conduct his farewell concert Friday at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.

(Ariana Drehsler/For The Times)

James Conlon Farewell Concert
The maestro, who is stepping down after 20 years as LA Opera’s music director, leads the organization’s full orchestra and chorus for an evening of Mozart, Verdi and Wagner as his grand finale. The event is followed by a celebratory gala on the stage of the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion.
7 p.m. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laopera.org

SATURDAY
John Adams & Conrad Tao
The LA Phil’s John and Samantha Williams Creative Chair conducts the orchestra in a program that includes Piazzolla’s “Two Tangos,” Stravinsky’s “Song of the Nightingale” and Prokofiev’s “Lieutenant Kijé Suite,” plus pianist Conrad Tao performing Adams’ composition “Century Rolls,” inspired by 1920s self-playing pianos.
8 p.m. Saturday; 2 p.m. Sunday. Walt Disney Concert Hall, 111 S. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. laphil.com

Brewery Artwalk & Open Studios
This free semi-annual event at the former Pabst Blue Ribbon Brewery north of downtown features more than 100 artists sharing, discussing and (ideally) selling their work in the very spaces that much of it is created.
11 a.m.-6 p.m Saturday and Sunday. Brewery Arts Complex, 2100 N. Main St., L.A. breweryartwalk.com

Jerrika Hinton and Bradley Gibson in “Fremont Ave.” runs April 25-May 23 at South Coast Repertory.

(Marc J. Franklin)

Fremont Ave.
The world premiere of Reggie D. White’s multi-generational drama about three Black men in L.A. and the woman who is the glue in their lives. Directed by Lili-Anne Brown. Part of the Pacific Playwrights Festival.
Previews, 8 p.m. Saturday; 7 p.m. Sunday and Tuesday-Thursday; opening night, May 1; regular performances, May 2-23. South Coast Repertory, Segerstrom Stage, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scr.org

The Liminary
It’s 2042 in Last Call Theatre’s latest immersive experience and the U.S. is run by a nationalistic, isolationist government. Do you dare join the resistance? With interactive exhibits on immigration, community and hope, plus multiple endings and narratives inspired by the saga of immigrants.
8 p.m Saturday; 8 p.m. May 1-2, May 7-9 and May 14-16. 1919 3rd Ave. L.A. lastcalltheatre.com

Liz Larner, “smile (abiding),” 1996-2005; Rachel Harrison, “The Prepper,” 2024; and Rebecca Morris, “Untitled (#15-25), 2025” from the exhibition “planchette” at Regen Projects.

(Regen Projects)

planchette
A group exhibition featuring contemporary abstract sculptures and paintings by influential artists Rachel Harrison, Liz Larner and Rebecca Morris.
Opening reception, 6-8 p.m.; exhibit runs through May 23. Regen Projects, 6750 Santa Monica Blvd. L.A. regenprojects.com

SUNDAY
Gabriel Kahane & Roomful of Teeth
The eclectic singer-songwriter-composer teams up with the multi-Grammy-winning vocal group to perform music from their recently-released collaborative album, “Elevator Songs.”
7 p.m. Sid The Cat Auditorium, 1022 El Centro St., South Pasadena. sidthecat.com

WEDNESDAY

The Australian Chamber Orchestra comes to the Segerstrom Center for the Arts on Wednesday, April 29.

(Nic Walker)

Australian Chamber Orchestra
The ensemble from down under performs Purcell’s “Fantasia on One Note,” Handel’s “Concerto Grosso in A Major, Op. 6 No. 11,” a new work by John Luther Adams titled “Horizon,” Vaughan Williams’ “The Lark Ascending” (arranged by Adam Johnson), and Schubert’s ”Death and the Maiden” in the candlelit intimacy of the Samueli Theater.
7 p.m. Segerstrom Center for the Arts, 600 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa. scfta.org

Jason Delane, left. and Chuma Gault in “Hymn” at the Odyssey Theatre.

(Cooper Bates)

Hymn
In this drama by British playwright Lolita Chakrabarti, best known for her stage adaptations of the novels “Life of Pi” and “Hamnet,” two Black men meet at a funeral and discover a life-changing connection. Gregg T. Daniel directs this co-production between the Odyssey Theatre and the Lower Depth Theatre.
Previews 8, p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and May 1; 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays (an Wednesday, May 27); 3 p.m. Sundays (except May 31), through June 14. Odyssey Theatre, 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd. odysseytheatre.com

THURSDAY

Los Angeles Ballet presents “Giselle” with Kate Inoue at the Ahmanson Theatre, April 30-May 3.

(Alex Lopez)

‘Giselle’
The Los Angeles Ballet’s staging of this classic supernatural romance features the original 1841 choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot (updated by Marius Petipa) and score by composer Adolphe Adam.
7:30 p.m. Thursday-May 2 and 2 p.m. May 3. Ahmanson Theatre, 135 N. Grand Ave., downtown L.A. losangelesballet.org

The 1967 romantic comedy “Barefoot in the Park,” starring Jane Fonda and Robert Redford, opens the TCM Classic Film Festival on Thursday.

(Paramount Pictures)

TCM Classic Film Festival
Hollywood Boulevard comes alive with four days of movie magic beginning with the opening night presentation of the 1967 romantic comedy “Barefoot in the Park,” starring Robert Redford and Jane Fonda. Other screenings include “Alice In Wonderland” (1951), “A Place In The Sun” (1951), “Gaslight” (1944), “Out Of The Past (1947) , “Modern Times” (1936), “The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951) and “The Magnificent Seven” (1960), with appearances by Fonda, Barbara Hershey, Carol Burnett, John Turturro and many more.
Thursday-May 3. TCL Chinese Theatre IMAX, 6925 Hollywood Blvd.; Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel; TCL Chinese 6 Theatres multiplex, 6801 Hollywood Blvd.; El Capitan Theatre, 6838 Hollywood Blvd.; Egyptian Theatre, 6712 Hollywood Blvd. filmfestival.tcm.com

Arts anywhere

New and recent releases of arts-related media.

French Violinist Renaud Capucon, seen performing during the 2024 Paris Olympics, has a new live album featuring the works of composer Ernest Chausson.

(Kristy Sparow / Getty Images)

Chausson
This concert album pairs two pieces by French Romantic composer Ernest Chausson: “Concerto for Violin, Piano and String Quartet, Op. 21.,” performed by violinist Renaud Capuçon, the late pianist Nicholas Angelich and the Ébène Quartet, and “Poème” for violin and orchestra, featuring Capuçon and the Brussels Philharmonic led by conductor Stéphane Denève. The show was recorded live in 2020. Warner Classics/Erato: Digital ($10) and CD ($17).

The City Unseen
Emmy-winning producer-director Daniel Sackheim, whose credits include “Law & Order,” “The X-Files” and “The Americans,” is also a serious photographer. His new book of black-and-white images casts Los Angeles as the protagonist in a noir landscape of nocturnal beauty where its darkest secrets lurk in the deepest shadows. Hat & Beard Press: 108 pages, $60.

International Jazz Day
The 15th annual event is Thursday in Chicago, but you can celebrate early with PBS’ broadcast of last year’s International Jazz Day All-Star Concert from Abu Dabai. Hosted by Jeremy Irons, the lineup includes Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Kurt Elling, Jose James, John McLaughlin, Helene Mercier, Danilo Perez, Arturo Sandoval and more.
10 p.m. Friday. PBS SoCal and streaming at pbssocal.org

— Kevin Crust

Culture news and the SoCal scene

Attendees walk around the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s new David Geffen Galleries in Los Angeles on Sunday, April 19, 2025.

(Ariana Drehsler/For The Times)

The Los Angeles County Museum of Art news did not stop last week as it threw a glitzy opening gala for the new David Geffen Galleries, and — a few days later — welcomed members for previews prior to opening its doors to the general public on May 4. I attended the gala and checked in with a number of wonderful artists, including Mark Bradford, Ed Ruscha and Jeff Koons, about their thoughts on the new building. Then, on Sunday, we sent a team to get member reactions to the new space. Later in the week we published critic Leah Ollman’s review of the inaugural installation. Spoiler alert: Nope, not gonna give you one. You’ll have to read it.

We also ran a lovely profile by contributor Tara Anne Dalbow about Eileen Harris Norton whose jaw-dropping art collection is currently on display at Hauser & Wirth in downtown L.A. “Few people have done more to shape Los Angeles’ art scene than Eileen Harris Norton,” writes Dalbow. “The third-generation Californian, born and raised near Watts Towers in South Los Angeles, bought her first artwork at the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, co-founded Art + Practice in Leimert Park, and has spent 50 years collecting artists who were, in many cases, her friends and neighbors.”

Joey Stromberg and Jenny Soo in “For Want of a Horse” at the Echo Theater Company.

(Cooper Bates)

Times theater critic Charles McNulty was — as always — incredibly busy, publishing two reviews and a feature in the past week. First up, his take on “For Want of a Horse” by Olivia Dufault, currently receiving its world premiere in an Echo Theater Company production at Atwater Village Theatre. “The subject is zoophilia, not to be confused with bestiality, though for many of us it will be a distinction without much of a difference,” McNulty writes. Curious? Read on.

McNulty also delivered a thoughtful profile Nicholas Christopher, who he dined with on a recent trip to New York. “A new Broadway star emerges each season, and this year the spotlight has alighted on Nicholas Christopher, who has been dazzling audiences and insiders alike as part of the awe-inspiring triumvirate powering the thrilling new revival of the musical ‘Chess,’” McNulty writes.

Finally, McNulty reviewed “Eat Me,” by Talene Monahon, having its world premiere at South Coast Repertory. A fan of Monahon‘s previous work, McNulty was not as impressed at he would have liked. The play, he writes, “is a relentlessly quirky work that gorges on its own dark whimsy.”

In other news, I got the scoop that new media artist Refik Anadol’s museum of AI arts, Dataland has set its opening date for June 20.

Elinor Gunn in “Joan” at South Coast Repertory. SCR has announced its 2026-27 season.

(Scott Smeltzer)

South Coast Repertory announced an expanded 2026-27 season, featuring nine productions, including “Hamlet,” starring Raymond Lee; Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s “Into the Woods;” Lauren Yee’s “Mother Russia;” and Oscar Wilde’s classic, “The Importance of Being Earnest.” “The 2026-27 season reflects programming changes established in SCR’s recently adopted strategic plan, which includes more classics, modern masterpieces and the continuation of an annual musical on the Segerstrom Stage,” a news release notes.

“GUAC,” the heartbreaking one-man show by a father who lost his son in the 2018 Parkland school shooting, returns Tuesday to Center Theatre Group’s Kirk Douglas Theatre after playing to a packed house last September. Manuel Oliver’s devastating plea for gun control runs for three weeks only, through May 17.

— Jessica Gelt

And last but not least

If you’re sad that you missed Coachella, this story about how much people paid to attend will make you feel all better.

Streaming entertainment giant Netflix is in negotiations to buy the historic Radford Studio Center lot in Studio City.

Netflix plans to purchase the Los Angeles studio that has been home to generations of landmark television shows, including “Gunsmoke” and “Seinfeld,” according to two people with knowledge of the pending deal who were not authorized to speak about it publicly.

The studio’s previous operator, Hackman Capital Partners, defaulted on a $1.1-billion mortgage in January. Investment bank Goldman Sachs took over the property and is in talks with Netflix to sell it for between $330 million and $400 million.

Representatives for Hackman and Netflix declined to comment on the planned sale.

Culver City-based Hackman Capital Partners and Square Mile Capital Management teamed up to buy the Radford Avenue property from ViacomCBS in 2021 with a winning bid of $1.85 billion, after a competitive battle for the 55-acre studio beloved by the television industry.

At the time, the staggering price tag underscored the value — and scarcity — of TV soundstages in Los Angeles as content producers scrambled for space to shoot TV shows and movies to stock their streaming services. It was one of the largest-ever real estate transactions for a TV studio complex in Los Angeles.

Since then, production has substantially declined in Southern California. L.A. continues to battle the loss of production to other states and countries, as well as the lingering effects on the industry of the pandemic and the 2023 dual writers’ and actors’ strikes. Cutbacks in spending at the major studios after a surge in streaming-fueled TV production have further damped film activity in the region.

Founded by silent film comedy legend Mack Sennett in 1928, the lot became known as “Hit City” in the decades after World War II as popular TV shows such as “Leave It to Beaver,” “Gilligan’s Island,” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” “The Bob Newhart Show” and “Will & Grace” were made there. The storied lot gave the Studio City neighborhood its name,

Netflix, which has a market cap of about $455 billion — more than double that of Walt Disney Co. — has maintained its dominance in the global streaming business with more than 325 million subscribers.

The Los Gatos-based company has production offices worldwide, including facilities in Albuquerque, Brooklyn, London, Madrid and Toronto.

Netflix had secured an $82.7-billion deal to buy Warner Bros. studios and streaming services in December, but withdrew from the bidding war in late February after Paramount Skydance offered $31 a share. As part of the switch, Netflix was paid a $2.8-billion termination fee.

Several private equity firms and Hollywood power players, including United Talent Agency and longtime agent Patrick Whitesell, have expressed interest in buying parts of Casey Wasserman’s music and sports management firm after it abruptly went up for sale.

Wasserman became ensnared in controversy earlier this year after his salacious decades-old emails to Ghislaine Maxwell, an accomplice of child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, were released as part of the U.S. Justice Department’s trove of Epstein files.

The agency auction is in the early stages, according to three people close to the process but not authorized to comment.

Earlier this week, several interested parties submitted proposals to meet a preliminary deadline in the auction, two of the sources said.

The company, which changed its name to the Team last month, is expected to be valued at around $3 billion.

Providence Equity Partners holds the majority stake. The private equity firm has discussed selling the entire company or carving off Wasserman’s minority interest. Providence also has considered selling the bulk of the firm and staying on as a minority investor, one of the sources said. Another scenario could involve separating, then selling the individual business units that make up the Team.

Wasserman and Providence’s company boasts an enviable roster of music artists, including Kendrick Lamar, Coldplay and Ed Sheeran. Its sports marketing practice is viewed as particularly lucrative and has potential to grow in value as big dollars flow into sports that draw large crowds.

Wasserman, who declined to comment, has a veto right over any sale of the company that he has spent a quarter of a century building.

UTA, which also declined to comment, is among the most aggressive suitors, the sources said. The Team’s sports marketing and music representation divisions would dramatically boost the Beverly Hills agency’s profile and client roster.

Whitesell, former executive chairman of Endeavor, separately has been motivated to make investments in sports, media and entertainment since last year when he left the talent agency that he and Ari Emanuel built. Whitesell launched a new firm with seed money from private equity firm Silver Lake and last spring he started WIN Sports Group to represent professional football players.

Whitesell wasn’t immediately available for comment.

European investment firm Permira also has expressed interest, according to a knowledgeable source. Permira declined comment.

The New York Times first reported that Permira, UTA and Whitesell had expressed interest.

The sales process is expected to stretch into summer, the knowledgeable people said. The auction could become complicated particularly if Providence decides to unwind the business.

For example, UTA could not buy the entire company because of the Brillstein television unit. The agency is bound by an agreement with the Writers Guild of America that prevents it from owning television production.

Investment bank Moelis & Company is managing the sale. A representative of the firm declined comment.

Wasserman also is the chairman of LA28, the nonprofit group that will be staging the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles in two years.

Following revelations of Wasserman’s 2003 emails with Maxwell, several musicians and athletes — led by pop artist Chappell Roan and soccer star Abby Wambach — said that, to stay true to their values, they would leave the agency then known as Wasserman.

Wasserman apologized to his staff for “past personal mistakes” and said he would sell the agency.

He had limited dealings with Epstein, flying on the financier’s jet along with former President Clinton for a September 2002 humanitarian trip through Africa.

Wasserman, a prolific Clinton fundraiser whose legendary grandfather, Hollywood titan Lew Wasserman, helped the Democrat win the 1992 presidential election, was joined on Epstein’s jet by his then-wife, Laura, actor Kevin Spacey, Epstein, Maxwell — who was convicted of sexual abuse in 2021 — and others, including security agents.

LA28 board’s executive committee unanimously voted to keep Wasserman as chairman, citing his “strong leadership” of the Games.

Amid the bustle and glitz of last week’s CinemaCon in Las Vegas, one question loomed over the annual trade convention — how will the proposed Paramount Skydance-Warner Bros. Discovery deal affect the movie theater business?

That anxiety showed up in a state of the industry speech from Cinema United trade group President Michael O’Leary, who reiterated his organization’s opposition to further industry consolidation.

It showed up in a trailer for Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming film “Spaceballs: The New One,” when a voiceover poked fun at Hollywood studios “merging willy-nilly” as images of the Paramount sign and Warner Bros. water tower flashed across the screen.

And the subject again took center stage — literally — when Paramount Chief Executive David Ellison himself gave a speech during his studio’s presentation at Caesars Palace. He sought to reassure the assembled movie theater operators and exhibition executives that the combined company would indeed release a minimum of 30 films a year.

“I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word,” he said during an onstage speech, in which he also committed to a 45-day theatrical window and 90-day period before films go to streaming services. “People can speculate all they want, but I am standing here today telling you personally that you can count on our complete commitment. And we’ll show you we mean it.”

It’s true that Paramount has nearly doubled its theatrical releases since Ellison took over. As he noted in his speech, the storied studio is now planning 15 films this year, up from eight in 2025.

But as I’ve written previously, theater owners and other studio executives question how releasing 30 movies a year across the combined Paramount-Warner Bros. would work — not only in terms of giving each film the proper marketing campaign to succeed in theaters but also because of the massive cost cuts that will inevitably occur once the merger is final.

Still, Ellison’s commitment to 30 films a year got a round of enthusiastic applause — and at least one high-profile boost.

A day earlier, AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Adam Aron told me in an interview that he backed Ellison’s takeover of Warner, saying he and AMC believed in the tech scion’s talent as a filmmaker and a movie executive, as well as his pledge to release those 30 films a year.

“We’re enthusiastic that David will fulfill his promises,” Aron said. “And that in the end, this will prove to be a good thing for our company and our industry.”

Not everyone shares that enthusiasm.

More than 4,000 people have now signed an open letter opposing the Paramount-Warner deal, arguing that consolidating two studios will lessen consumer choice and job opportunities for creatives, particularly at a time when Hollywood is already struggling. (Notable signatories include “Dune” director Denis Villeneuve, actors Glenn Close and Emma Thompson, as well as director and producer JJ Abrams.)

O’Leary of Cinema United similarly wasn’t convinced.

“While recent pledges attempt to address the threats of consolidation to our industry, they are not yet sufficient in addressing our concerns,” he said in a statement released hours after Ellison’s speech. “We remain open to tangible commitments that will ensure a vibrant global theatrical exhibition industry for years to come.”

Elsewhere at CinemaCon, the mood was upbeat.

Warner Bros. film chiefs Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy struck a triumphant tone after an award-winning year for the studio, capped off by the best picture win for “One Battle After Another.”

They unveiled footage from new films like the upcoming “Digger” from director Alejandro G. Iñárritu and brought out lead actor Tom Cruise to a sustained standing ovation from the audience. And both De Luca and Abdy espoused optimism for the future of the theatrical business. The studio plans to release 14 films this year and as many as 18 for 2027.

“The film business has always required smart betting, and we have 4 billion reasons from last year to think we’re holding the right cards,” De Luca said during the presentation, referring to the studio’s worldwide box office revenue last year.

“We all know they’re not all going to work. That comes with taking swings,” Abdy said of the studios’ films. “There’s no version of this business that’s risk-free. But our job is to step up, make our bets and own it when it doesn’t work.”

But the end of the presentation felt more somber, with the executives asking the heads of Warner Bros.’ labels to come to the stage and be recognized. Shortly after, they asked Warner Bros. employees in the audience to stand for applause. It was hard to escape the feeling that this may be the end of an era.

Stuff We Wrote

Film shoots

Number of the week

1,000

Last week, Walt Disney Co. began a sweeping round of layoffs that’s expected to cull 1,000 jobs across multiple divisions.

As my colleague Meg James reported, the cuts hit Disney’s television and movie studios, sports giant ESPN, its product and technology unit, corporate functions and marketing. Even Marvel Studios’ visual development team was affected.

The layoffs are one of the first major moves under new Disney Chief Executive Josh D’Amaro, who took the reins of the company last month. In a message to employees, he said the company needed to “constantly assess how to foster a more agile and technologically-enabled workforce to meet tomorrow’s needs.”

What I’m watching

Some friends and I watched “Fukushima: A Nuclear Nightmare” this past weekend, a truly eye-opening documentary that explains what happened during the March 11, 2011, nuclear accident and whether the world has learned anything from it.

The KISS Breakfast radio hosts appeared on Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch this weekend

Tyler West and Chloe Burrows made an unexpected admission on Sunday Brunch.

Lorraine presenter Tyler, 30, and Love Island legend Chloe, 30, landed radio host roles on Kiss FM earlier this year, with the pair taking over the Breakfast show from Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely.

Tyler and Chloe made an appearance on the latest episode of Channel 4’s Sunday Brunch (April 19), where they spoke to hosts Tim Lovejoy and Simon Rimmer about their radio show.

The pair excitedly spoke about meeting a variety of A-list stars through their new show, including Halle Berry, Margot Robbie and Chris Hemsworth. Chloe said: “They were so lovely. Everyone’s been really nice.”

Tim then asked: “Who are the rotten ones?” with Tyler issuing a very candid reply.

“Do you know what I’m going to say, I’m not going to say rotten ones. We had a really awkward one, I’m just going to say it, with Ryan Gosling,” he shared.

Chloe added: “Oh god, it was awful! I think he was really jet lagged and we were his first interview of the day, and we are kind of like a massive ball of energy. We’re like punchline, punchline, punchline, and he looked slightly bewildered.”

Tyler said: “He looked so confused. It literally got to the point where we had three minutes left of the interview and [we were] like, ‘Anything you want to chat about?'”

Chloe continued: “He looked for help,” before adding: “He asked us at one point if we’d actually seen the film, so that was good. And we had.”

Tim then noted: “I reckon if you interviewed him tomorrow, he’d be a lovely bloke, do you know what I mean? That’s how it is.”

Following the announcement of his role at KISS, Tyler previously said in a statement: “KISS FAM! The mornings are gonna be unreal! Taking over from my boys Jordan and Perri is huge… but trust me, I’m ready to bring it! It’s time for big laughs and bigger tunes. KISS is where home is – this is your new breakfast show where the door is always open. It’s gonna be carnage!”

Chloe added: “I can’t believe I’m saying this – I’m joining KISS! While I know I’ve got big shoes to fill, stepping into the station that I’ve been a HUGE fan of growing up will feel like being launched into my dream job at 100 miles an hour.

“Being the newbie, I know that working alongside Tyler and a world-class team of producers will give me the perfect introduction. I’m more than ready to bring the laughs and every ounce of energy I’ve got for the KISS Breakfast listeners. I’m buzzing!”

As well as hosting the morning show on KISS, Chloe also recently attended Coachella in California, with the star posting smiling snaps with her best friend Millie Court on social media. They were also joined by Love Island: All Stars winner Samie Elishi, and Sophie Piper.

Sunday Brunch is available to stream on Channel 4, while KISS Breakfast airs weekdays from 6am

Dylan Sprouse sprang to action early Friday morning when he encountered a trespasser at his Hollywood Hills home.

Sources familiar with the incident told The Times that “The Suite Life of Zack & Cody” star tackled a man on the lawn near his home after his wife, Victoria’s Secret model Barbara Palvin, spotted “the creepy guy.” Palvin made an emergency call to police around 12:30 a.m. and reported a possible burglary.

TMZ, citing unnamed sources, reported that Sprouse had a gun and held the trespasser down until police arrived.

Police told The Times that the suspect was taken in on outstanding warrants and that no injuries were reported. Additionally, the suspect did not make it inside the couple’s 1920s Spanish-style home, only onto the property.

TMZ obtained footage of the arrest, which showed a suspect, whose face was blurred out, being handcuffed outside a police vehicle. A skateboard was leaned against the fence of the Disney alum’s property, and a “Private Property, No Trespassing” sign was posted on the gate.

Representatives for Sprouse and Palvin have not responded to The Times’ request for comment.

The couple met at a party in 2017 and by the fall of 2018, Palvin was gushing to Vogue that she was “very much in love.”

“I feel like I found the perfect guy,” she said of Sprouse. “He’s very kind and gentle.”

The couple tied the knot in the summer of 2023. In 2024, Palvin walked in the Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show and during a backstage interview said that Sprouse always has something up his sleeve to surprise her.

Outside the show, Sprouse revealed on the pink carpet that he had signs made with the faces of the couple’s fur babies, a French bulldog named Piggy Cow and a cat named Klaus Von Sprouse, to hold up while Palvin strutted the catwalk.