Spike Lee lamented the lack of black executives in Hollywood, saying it was “easier to elect an African American President than get a black person appointed studio head.” He noted that census figures predict whites will be a minority  by 2043, so the industry needs to recognize new realities. That is about as…

Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs got things rolling at tonight’s Governors Awards ceremony with a pointed acknowledgement of tragic events in Paris. “We stand in solidarity in support of France and the French people,” Boone Isaacs said. “Our connection with the film-loving French is deep. As we gather here we…

When I talked to Cheryl Boone Isaacs today, she was excited about the list of the latest Oscar winners of the seventh annual Governors Awards that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced this morning. The Academy president was particularly pleased to note that there was a real “independent spirit&#8221…

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences just unveiled its honorees for the 2015 Governors Awards, with Spike Lee and Gena Rowlands landing the annual honorary Oscars and Debbie Reynolds getting the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. The gala is November 14 in Hollywood. The Oscar org can have up to four…

Oscar-nominated actress Gena Rowlands will receive the LA Film Critics Association’s Career Achievement kudos this winter, the org announced today. In an acclaimed career that’s spanned six decades, Rowlands nabbed Academy Award nominations for her iconic roles in two of her ten films for filmmaker/husband John…

EXCLUSIVE: Jacki Weaver is set to star opposite Gena Rowlands in the indie film 6 Dance Lessons In 6 Weeks based on Richard Alfieri's play. Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman from a screenplay by Alfieri, 6 Dance Lessons In 6 Weeks is described as a touching comedy about a retired woman, Lily Harrison (Rowlands), who…

EXCLUSIVE: On the heels of his comedy pilot getting picked up by NBC, Sean Hayes is finalizing a deal for the lead opposite Gena Rowlands in the independent movie 6 Dance Lessons In 6 Weeks, based on Richard Alfieri’s play. Directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman from a screenplay by Alfieri, 6 Dance Lessons In 6 Weeks is…