Hollywood Week: Sundance Kicks Off, BAFTA Shocks, SI Shuttered, Alec Baldwin, Arnold Schwarzenegger

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Category: Entertainment News
Published on Saturday, 20 January 2024 12:05
Written by Janet Walker

Sports Illustrated magazine, the grandfather of sports reporting, is undergoing major challenges as current owners, Arena Group Holdings failed to make a licensing payment to Authenticate Brands, resulting in widespread layoffs of the iconic magazine.

Sundance Film Festival Kicks Off

Sundance Film Festival, the annual gathering held in Park City, Utah, kicked off for its two-week run with a star-studded red carpet for BAFTA nominee Oppenheimer Director Christopher Nolan, who was joined by Robert Downey, Jr., who has enjoyed widespread acclaim for his role, as Louis Strauss in the blockbuster true story of the development of the atomic bomb.

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Also in attendance Jesse Eisenberg and Jodie Foster were on hand to honor Kristen Stewart who was "presented the Visionary Award at the festival's Opening Night Gala presented by Chase Sapphire . . . recognizing her work as an "uncompromising artist, [her] contributions to the field of independent film, and her long history with the Sundance Film Festival," per a previous press release," People Magazine reported.

The 2024 Sundance Film Festival will take place January 18–28, 2024, in person in Park City and Salt Lake City, with a selection of titles available online nationwide from January 25–28, 2024. This year marks the 40th edition of the festival, bringing together audiences in Utah and beyond to celebrate Sundance's rich history of supporting engaging new stories and groundbreaking independent artists. Tickets are on sale now at festival.sundance.org. 

Oscar Nominations

Actors Zazie Beetz and Jack Quaid will host the announcement of the 96th Oscars® nominations in all 23 Academy Award® categories in a live presentation from the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater, on Tuesday, January 23, and via global live stream on Oscar.com, Oscars.org and the Academy's digital platforms (TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook), NY and LA Switch pool ports and satellite downlink feed, and national broadcast and streaming news programs, including ABC's Good Morning America, ABC News Live and Disney+, per a previous press release.

The British Academy of Film and Television BAFTA Awards Announce Shortlist

BAFTA Announcements

The British Academy of Film and Television announced their shortlist nominees this week which included surprises and snubs. The critical and awards notice that films such as Killer of the Flower Moon, Martin Scorsese's cinematic masterpiece and the highest grossing film of the year, Barbie, both experienced deep cuts after the longlist announcements.

As both lead the longlist nominations with 15 each, the shortlist narrowed both. The ten films with the most nominations are: 13 nominations for Oppenheimer; 11 nominations for Poor Things. Nine nominations for Killers of the Flower Moon and The Zone of Interest. Seven nominations for Anatomy of a Fall, The Holdovers and Maestro. Six nominations for All of Us Strangers. Five nominations for Barbie and Saltburn.

The BAFTA awards will be held on February 18, 2024.

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Alec Baldwin Charged with Manslaughter

Alec Baldwin, who fired the fatal shot during the 2021 filming of the western Rust, has been changed with involuntary manslaughter in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

"The indictment charged Mr. Baldwin with two different counts of involuntary manslaughter, but he can only be convicted of one. The more serious one accuses him of "total disregard or indifference for the safety of others," while the other accuses him of the negligent use of a firearm. Both are felony counts," The New York Times reported.

The indictment represents the more defined line many jurisdictions, although not all, are insisting represent the definition of equal under the law. For years, celebrity has been considered off limits for prosecutable offenses. With New Mexico becoming a haven for Hollywood production, prosecutors are hoping to make a concrete example of what the law represents in the state, as a harsh and clear reminder to future productions.

Baldwin, who starred and produced the western was not singularly charged for the death of Hutchins and the injury of Director Joel Souza. Both the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who handed the gun to Baldwin and was responsible for all weapons, and subsequently ammunitions, was also charged with two counts of felony involuntary manslaughter. Her trial begins February 2024. The first assistant director, Dave Halls, who handed the gun to Baldwin, took a pela deal to avoid jail time. Both Gutierrez-Reed and Halls are expected to be called to testify.

Baldwin has maintained his innocence, and his original statements of "not firing" the weapon will be rigorously disputed as the weapon had to be fired to discharge a live bullet.

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Arnold Schwarzenegger Held in Germany

Actor and former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, 76, was detained by German custom agents, for failing to declare a luxury watch, after the actor arrived in Munich for a climate charity event.

Schwarzenegger was held for three hours after agents said he was "randomly" selected to be detained and questioned.

His spokesperson Daniel Ketchell explained to The Washington Post, "He was detained for three hours. He owns the watch. None of the people I know and sat next to on our commercial flight filled out a declaration form, including Arnold. He got to customs, and they told him he was 'randomly' selected to be searched."

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Sports Illustrated Shuttered?

Sports Illustrated, the print based weekly once a giant in sports news reporting, has confronted challenging times since its sale from original owners, Meredith Corporation.

"Workers of Sports Illustrated were notified that The Arena Group is planning to lay off a significant number, possibly all, of the Guild-represented workers at SI, a result of Authentic Brands Group (ABG) revoking Arena's license to publish SI," the NewGuild of New York, which represents about 80 editorial workers at the magazine, and the Sports Illustrated Union said in a statement early on Friday," reported The Hollywood Reporter.

The print-based magazine also confronted the growing digital marketplace and reduced its weekly print publications to bi-weekly and then monthly. The annual Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition, which has been a staple and tentpole of the magazine revenues, is still owned by Authentic Brands and was not part of the licensing deal to the Arena Group. The 2023 Swimsuit edition will not be affected by the current upheaval of the former Meredith Corp. publication.

Authentic Brands issued a statement regarding the future of the sports brand, "Authentic is here to ensure that the brand of Sports Illustrated, which includes its editorial arm, continues to thrive as it has for the past nearly 70 years. We are confident that going forward the brand will continue to evolve and grow in a way that serves sports news readers, sports fans, and consumers."