3+ week, 2+ day ago (116+ words) LA Times Studios produced content is developed from press releases, announcements and contributor content. It does not involve the Los Angeles Times editorial staff. Questions? Please email ... Faith Pinnow is a host for LA Times Studios in Washington D.C. She thrives on telling impactful stories that resonate with audiences across platforms, meeting viewers where they get their news. Before joining the Times, Pinnow worked as a sports writer for Boston Globe Media Partners, where she covered the Celtics" banner 18 championship season. A graduate of Emerson College, Pinnow has reported on everything from national elections to the Super Bowl, always focused on bringing moments to life through thoughtful, fact-driven storytelling. Latest From This Author...

5+ day, 3+ hour ago (496+ words) Los Angeles is seeing a steady decline in the number of scripted projects filmed in the area, as U.K.-based shoots increase, according to a new report. Last year, 157 scripted projects were filmed in L.A., down 14.2% compared to 2023, according to an analysis by FilmLA, a nonprofit that tracks production in the greater Los Angeles area. The report defines scripted projects as television shows, including streaming, cable and broadcast series, as well as movies made for TV, theatrical release and streaming platforms. Part of the problem is that the number of scripted projects decreased overall last year, a result of the dual writers" and actors" strikes of 2023, which stymied production, as well as cutbacks at studios after massive spending to stock their streaming platforms with content. In 2024, the total number of scripted projects released was 857, down 13.4% from 2023. Shows such as "Baywatch" and "Mr....

1+ week, 5+ day ago (431+ words) Porsha Williams of "The Real Housewives of Atlanta" appears to have gotten a mouthful from a woman on her flight back to Georgia from Las Vegas on Sunday night, her lawyer says. The Atlanta Police Department said Tuesday that it had investigated the incident, then handed off victim and witness statements to the FBI. It didn't identify Williams specifically. BravoCon, the three-day fan experience celebrating Bravo's reality series and stars, will stream on Peacock this year. Andy Cohen says the goal is to "be as inclusive as possible.' "Upon arrival, officers made contact with two females who may have been involved in the dispute," the department said in a statement on its website. "Preliminary investigation indicated that both parties may have been involved in a verbal dispute that reportedly escalated into a physical dispute during an inbound flight to Atlanta....

2+ week, 2+ day ago (435+ words) Sometimes a person needs to find a new hobby " one that doesn't involve terrifying celebrities. An Australian man who threw his arms around Ariana Grande after charging at her Thursday during arrivals at the Singapore premiere of "Wicked: For Good" has been charged with being a public nuisance, the BBC reported. Ariana Grande reportedly returned home to Florida on Tuesday after the bombing outside her Manchester, England, concert that left 22 dead and at least 59 injured. Security then escorted the man away from the very shaken star, who plays Glinda in the "Wicked" movies. He was arrested, charged and later released, according to the BBC, which identified him as Johnson Wen, 26. If convicted, he could be fined more than $1,500 in U.S. dollars. One video of the event, incidentally, can be seen on Wen's Instagram grid, where he had the nerve to write…...

2+ week, 4+ day ago (411+ words) The "Purge" movies are missing from the list, as are the entries in the "Saw" franchise. There are no "Evil Dead" titles. "The Exorcist" is suspiciously absent. The list, in this case, is the favorite four films of Pope Leo XIV, f.k.a. Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago. The pontiff released the list via video ahead of a planned meeting Saturday with luminaries from the world of cinema. To avoid the risk of being played off the stage by the academy's orchestra, let's share the winners quickly: 1. "It's a Wonderful Life," 19462. "The Sound of Music," 19653. "Ordinary People," 19804. "Life Is Beautiful," 1997 That's it. No "The Agony and the Ecstasy." No "Pope Joan" or "Spotlight" or "Conclave," for obvious reasons. No "Sister Act" or "Oh, God!" or any of the associated sequels, for less obvious reasons. As a matter of fact, not a single…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (484+ words) The most insulting thing about the success of Breaking Rust, an artificial intelligence "artist" that topped Billboard's Country Digital Song Sales Chart this week, is the titles of the hits. "Living on Borrowed Time." The EP " which is also on the charts " is called "Resilient," as if Breaking Rust spent years playing for tips in empty bars. And maybe Aubierre Rivaldo Taylor, who is credited for writing the songs, did. But the bluesy voice we hear singing about pain and suffering did not overcome anything. "I think it's a fad," he said, adding that he finds it fun. "When people like a song or connect with an artist the ultimate thing for them is then to go experience that artist with people who also like that artist, that's the ultimate payoff. You're not going to be able to do that with…...

1+ week, 4+ day ago (411+ words) We are at the dawn of the era of "experimental cinema." The L.A. venue has won an audience for its sports programming and all-encompassing screen. Now it's reimagining how we watch movies. In turn, has the film's new magic replaced its subtle mystery? Or is that the wrong question to ask at screenings meant to feel like a social event, complete with chocolate tarts filled with peanut butter mousse and bright red vodka drinks with gold glitter salt rims? The cherished 1939 fantasy has been expanded by generative AI to fit the giant parameters of the Las Vegas immersive venue. Has too much creative license been taken? I was distracted, for instance, when Wilder's Wonka made his grand limping entrance, as the sheepish building behind him was now dwarfed by sparkly, shiny warehouses. Yet I was transfixed when Wilder's character near the…...

2+ week, 2+ day ago (1160+ words) Remember the brave, talented theater students at Eliot Arts magnet school who lost their school, homes and theater to January's Eaton fire and went on to perform their spring musical, "Shrek Jr.," to a sold-out crowd at the Ahmanson Theatre? Those kids are still displaced from their school, but not from the tenacious community spirit that guided them through the aftermath of that trauma. Their next chapter: a four-day, three-night class trip to New York City to see the sights and attend Broadway shows and workshops. "After "Shrek' last spring, I sat down with a group of my advanced theater students, and I said, "Dream big. What else would you want in your fantasy world?' Big things have happened for us this semester after the fires," their drama teacher, Mollie Lief, said in a phone interview. "And they said, "We…...

6+ day, 13+ hour ago (587+ words) Walt Disney Co. likes to resurrect a famous Walt Disney quote saying that the empire was "started by a mouse." But when it comes to Disneyland, its theme park that become a SoCal institution, fans and history buffs crave specifics. A new exhibit at San Francisco's Walt Disney Family Museum aims to chart the beginnings and early evolution of the Anaheim resort, and it begins with a trip Disney took with friend, animator and fellow train aficionado Ward Kimball to Chicago. The Midwest city, as many know, is Disney's birthplace, but in 1948 he and Kimball embarked on a vacation to that city's railroad fair. By the time the trip had concluded, Disney's vision of Disneyland had begun to take shape. Within days of returning to Los Angeles, Disney had written a memo capturing his ideas that would ultimately appear in…...

1+ week, 6+ day ago (455+ words) Thirty years after Selena Quintanilla's death, a recently released autopsy report revealed new details about her murder. The autopsy report, obtained by Us Weekly, was carried out three hours after Quintanilla's death. Her death, which had been ruled a homicide by the coroner's report, was caused by a bullet wound that had entered through her shoulder. The bullet's path continued through her ribs until it eventually punctured her chest and exited her body from her upper chest. The autopsy report shows that the gunshot wound hit the subclavian artery " a major blood vessel that brings blood to the arms, neck and head. Coroner Lloyd White wrote in the report that her death was "a result of an exsanguinating internal and external hemorrhage, in other words massive bleeding, due to a perforating gunshot wound of the [chest]." It also noted that…...