The Ad Council’s 70th Annual Public Service Award Dinner Galvanizes Media and Marketing Industries to Unite for Change
On Thursday, December 5, the Ad Council, America’s leading organization harnessing the power of communications for social change, held its Annual Public Service Award Dinner. Bob Iger, CEO of The Walt Disney Company, was honored for the company’s outstanding corporate citizenship, including its support for multiple Ad Council efforts. Held at the Glasshouse in New York City, the event raised a record-breaking $9.2 million to support the nonprofit and its national social impact campaigns.
Disney's Supersized 2024 Upfront Parade, Complete with a Live Jimmy Kimmel Grand Slam
If it's a Tuesday afternoon in mid-May, you know what media colossus has a capacity audience for its Upfront Week presentation. The always memorable Walt Disney Company showcase was on memorable mode again May 14th for two hours-plus inside North Javits Center's main showroom, with nearly 4,000 attendees. Two reasons why: the first Upfront appearance in years at the top by Walt Disney Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger, and the first in-person appearance in three years by ABC late-night and Academy Awards host Jimmy Kimmel, wrapping things up with his always memorable monologue on TV industry foibles -- Upfront/NewFronts included.
The 2023 Academy Awards: An Emotional Night of Comebacks and History-Making
After last year’s #SlapGate left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth, the 95th Academy Awards brushed those memories aside for an evening filled with warmth, heartfelt speeches and a few surprising but welcome wins, including Best Actor for Brendan Fraser’s heartbreaking work in The Whale and Best Actress for Michelle Yeoh's genre-bending performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once. Everything won an additional six awards. German-language war film All Quiet On the Western Front was the next big winner with four.
D23 Expo Recap: Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios and 20th Century Studios Reveal Exclusive Content
Anaheim, CA -- While day one of the D23 Expo at the Anaheim Convention Center focused on content from Disney Animation, Pixar and Disney Live Action, the inner (and outer) nerd in all of us was especially excited for what was to come from the studio presentations the following day: Lucasfilm, Marvel Studios and 20th Century Studios. While some Disney-affiliated networks and streaming platforms had interactive exhibits, like the Disney Bundle Pavillion featuring Hulu, Disney+ and ESPN content, some of the biggest spaces were dedicated to Marvel Studios and Lucasfilm -- and for good reason. Both studios combined released nearly two dozen titles since the last D23 Expo in 2019 and will release almost as many before the next expo in 2024.
It's Beautiful: More Women are Rejecting Anti-Aging and Embracing Aging
While rubbing a pricy "anti-aging" lotion on one's face is seemingly harmless, the social effects run much deeper. Beyond the fact that much anti-aging beautification is scientifically baseless, its promotion is inherently ageist as it casts getting older as a negative experience and older people in need of a reversing effect. Anti-aging turns the entirely natural development of wrinkles, gray hair, and other biological markers of age into enemies to conquer. Rather than embracing aging as a normal and positive thing (the alternative being death), in other words, we are being told to fight aging off as long as we can and, if possible, make the inconvenient truth go away.
Critics Choice Tonight! The CW Presents the First Annual Super Awards
Award season is about to begin, and with it the usual accolades for the most impressive motion pictures and the best programs on broadcast, cable and streamers (though not necessarily in that order). While there are many high-profile award shows, including the Golden Globes, the SAG Awards, the BAFTAs, the Independent Spirit Awards, the Oscars and the Critics Choice Awards (and, much later in the year, the Emmys), it seems there is never very much room to honor genre content -- that is, movies and television shows in the science-fiction, horror, action, animation, comic-book and fantasy arena. Obviously, certain big-budget break-out shows from this category -- especially on HBO, home of Watchmen, Game of Thrones, Westworld and Lovecraft Country -- and the occasional feature film (think Night of the Parasite) have been singled out for certain of these honors.
"Black Panther" Has Set the Stage for Big Changes in Hollywood
Black Panther. That title alone is provocative, powerful and iconic, whether it’s being used in reference to a leopard with black fur, a militant political organization from the sixties, or the king and protector of a fictional African nation. Marvel Studios’ most recent contribution to its ever-expanding cinematic universe is the Afro-futuristic country of Wakanda, with all its beauty and wonder. Not shockingly at all, Black Panther is a box office smash, but more than that, it’s a cultural phenomenon. Make no mistake, there are many levels to this story, and I’m going to walk you through a few of them.
