MOVIES

Photo Credit: Rick Taber

Union leaders told striking Hollywood writers Tuesday night that they plan to meet with representatives for studios to discuss restarting negotiations after the first official communication between the two sides since the strike began three months ago.

The Writers Guild of America sent an email to members saying that the head of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents major studios, streaming services and production companies in negotiations, requested a meeting on Friday to discuss the resumption of contract talks.

“We’ll be back in communication with you sometime after the meeting with further information,” the email read. “As we’ve said before, be wary of rumors. Whenever there is important news to share, you will hear it directly from us.”

Photo Credit: AP

Zoe Saldana has been lucky enough to be part of some of the best movie franchises: 'Avatar', 'Guardians of the Galaxy', 'Star Trek'.

What some may not remember is that she was also in the first film of 'Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl'.

The actress did not return for the sequels of the Disney saga and although they were a success, Saldana doesn't regret not being part of them.

When asked about her portrayal of the pirate Anamaria in an interview with Buzzfeed UK, she said, "What a great movie, it really was fun and entertaining and very well shot, very well performed. It was all around such a diverse cast as well, all ages, all walks of life.

"But a hard production, it was just so big. It was too big of a machine for me, and it was too out of control.

Photo Credit:Scott Garfitt

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Malaysia's government Saturday cut short a music festival after the lead singer of British band The 1975 slammed the country's anti-gay laws and kissed a male bandmate during their performance.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil slammed Matty Healy's conduct late Friday at the start of the Good Vibes Festival as “very rude.”

Healey used profanity in his speech criticizing the government's stance against homosexuality, before kissing bass player Ross MacDonald. Footage of the incident was posted on social media and sparked a backlash in the predominantly Muslim nation.

Photo Credit: AP

Thousands of writers have added their names to a letter calling on AI companies to stop using copyrighted work without permission.

Margaret Atwood, Jonathan Franzen, James Patterson, Suzanne Collins and Viet Thanh Nguyen are among the prominent authors endorsing the letter addressed to the CEOs of OpenAI, Meta, Microsoft, Alphabet, IBM and Stability AI.

In the letter organised by the Authors Guild, the largest professional writers’ organisation in the United States, the signatories call attention to the “inherent injustice in exploiting our works as part of your AI systems without our consent, credit, or compensation”.

Photo Credit:Charles Sykes

Solidarity and stamina were picket-line themes Monday as striking screenwriters and actors in New York and Los Angeles braced for a long, hot summer standoff with studios.

Picketers emphasized unity between writers, who have been on the lines for more than two months, and performers, who are only on Day 2 of striking — as well as camaraderie between highly paid actors and those with spare screen credits who struggle to scrape by.

Kevin Bacon, who was among the famous faces picketing among unknowns outside Viacom headquarters in New York, said his presence was about “seeing people out here and being aware that not all actors are super high paid actors, that they are working class people who are trying to make a living.”